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Tag Archives: village voice
Paul Beatty, 1990
In honor of America’s first Man Booker Prize winner, I’m reposting my 1990 Village Voice feature on Paul Beatty, back when he was still a poet.
Filed under Evelyn's articles
Tagged as Man Booker, Paul Beatty, village voice
In honor of his win of the National Book Critics Circle Award and Throwback Thursday, here’s my 1990 Village Voice story on Paul Beatty. We had dinner last night and I’m happy to report he’s as modest and flat-footed as ever.Paul Beatty 1990
Filed under Evelyn's articles, Throwback Thursdays, Uncategorized
Tagged as National Book Critics Circle Awards, Paul Beatty, The Sellout, village voice
The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 1991 — #TBT
In my own version of Throw-Back Thursday, I’m going to start posting articles from my publishing past. In 1991 I wrote a feature story for The Village Voice about the literary renaissance that was unfolding largely in Downtown venues, particularly the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. I called it guerrilla poetry. This was the first in-depth article on this scene, long before New York magazine put Edwin Torres on its cover. I still consider many of the poets and novelists I wrote about — Miguel Algarin, Tracie Morris, Mike Tyler, Paul Skiff, etc. — to be some of the most talented people I’ve had the honor to meet, let alone write about. Nuyorican Article
Filed under Evelyn's articles, Throwback Thursdays
Tagged as Edwin Torres, guerrilla poets, Miguel Algarin, Mike Tyler, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Paul Skiff, poetry, Tracie Morris, village voice
November 9, 2011 · 4:08 am
Kim, What’s Wrong with Lita’s Ass?
Rather salivating but typically funny and self-promotional interview with Kim Fowley in my alma mater.
Nine Questions For Kim Fowley, MC Of This Weekend’s Norton Records Anniversary Spectacular – New York Music – Sound of the City.
Tagged as Kim Fowley, lita ford, village voice
Ellen Willis Review
Ellen Willis still inspires and intimidates me. I first encountered her personally when I was a young copy editor and aspiring music critic at The Village Voice, and she was the vaunted feminist and veteran music critic in house. Researching my 1992 Voice story “The Feminine Critique,” I was amazed by her reviews I found in old issues of The New Yorker, and very nervous when I interviewed her. Two decades later, those essays floored me all over again when I read them in the new anthology Out of the Vinyl Deeps, which I reviewed for the New York Times Book Review.
Filed under Evelyn's articles, Populism, Recommended reading, Uncategorized
Tagged as ellen willis, music critic, New York Times, New Yorker, Out of the Vinyl Deeps, village voice
Crazy Rhythms
In about 1984 or 85, my then-boyfriend Brian Parks played an obscure record for me, Crazy Rhythms, by the Feelies. The Feelies were in one of their fallow phases, hadn’t played in a while, so it felt like a nugget from the past, and we were insta-fans. Then the band started playing again, and we became even bigger fans. I interviewed them in my nascent music-journalism days in Providence. Brian and I broke up, I moved to New York, began working for The Village Voice, Brian moved also and joined me at the paper. That was two decades ago.
So it felt immensely circular and satisfying when Brian, one of the few people from those halcyon early-’90s Voice days who’s still there, asked me to write the music picks for the Voice‘s spring music guide. It’s the first Voice story I’ve written in more than a decade, and serendipitously, I wound up writing about the Feelies, who are also back. Plus, I got to write about my current obsession: Adele.
Filed under Evelyn's articles, Populism, Recommended listening
Tagged as Adele, Feelies, village voice
Hedwig Returns
I was so obsessed with Hedwig and the Angry Inch when it first came out (so to speak), I remember Carrie Brownstein or Kathleen Hanna, or maybe both of them, making fun of me. Mitchell and Trask were such a brilliant (and cantankerous) theater team. I wrote about the musical for The Village Voice. I’m amazed it’s finally making it to Broadway — and glad they’re working on it together again. “Rock ‘n’ roll is about identification across lines,” Stephen told me back then. In these days of factionalization, that’s a refreshing sentiment.
Tagged as broadway, hedwig, john cameron mitchell, stephen trask, village voice
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Peregrine: Empowering You Through Global Immigration Knowledge
04 May 2017: JAPAN – Relaxation of Visa Requirements for Chinese Nationals
In this news alert:
What are the key changes? Action items
JAPAN – Relaxation of Visa Requirements for Chinese Nationals
Effective 8 May 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will introduce several measures to relax the visa requirements for Chinese nationals.
What are the key changes?
A new three-year multiple-entry visa will be available to Chinese nationals who can prove sufficient financial means, and their families. It will allow stays of up to 30 days per visit, and the first visit must be for sightseeing – subsequent visits may be for business purposes.
The five-year multiple-entry visas for Chinese individuals with substantially high incomes and their families (with a period of stay of up to 90 days allowed for each visit), will no longer be limited to first visits to Japan for sightseeing, and may also be used for business affairs and visits to relatives/acquaintances. Additionally, this visa will become available to individuals who are able to arrange their plane tickets and accommodation themselves without having to use a travel agency.
The three-year multiple-entry visa for individual Chinese tourists visiting the Tohoku region will be expanded from three prefectures to six, and will abolish the requirement for a travel history to Japan within the past three years that had been imposed on applicants with a certain level of financial capability.
Chinese nationals who are frequent business visitors to Japan, and their employers, should consult an immigration specialist for the latest advice on visa compliance.
The information in this alert was provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this immigration alert has been abridged from laws, court decisions, and administrative rulings and should not be construed or relied upon as legal advice. If you have specific questions regarding the applicability of this information, please contact Peregrine © 2019 Peregrine Immigration Management Ltd.
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Email: info@periobasics.com
Periobasics A Textbook of Periodontics and Implantology
Text Book of Basic Sciences for MDS Students
Clinical procedure for dental implant placement
periobasicsImplantology, Recent Posts
The most important factors determining the long-term success of dental implant treatment are an accurate diagnosis, a well-designed treatment plan, and a well-performed surgical protocol. The surgical protocol is developed after gathering detailed data which includes complete medical and dental history, clinical findings, photographs, mounted diagnostic casts and radiographs. It must be noted here that while determining the surgical protocol, consultation with other specialists such as an oral surgeon, orthodontist, endodontist or prosthodontist should be done so that best possible post-operative results can be achieved.
Surgical protocol
The endosseous implant systems can be categorized as two-stage (submerged) or one-stage (non-submerged).
Two-stage implant system:
In this procedure, the implant is placed and covered with soft tissue to allow the osseointegration for a particular duration of time. As the implant is completely under the soft tissue, the system is also called as submerged implant system. A second stage surgery is then done to expose the implant on which a healing screw is attached. Once the healing of soft tissue occurs around the healing screw, the abutment is placed and super-structure is fabricated. This approach is indicated when there is an excessive bone loss at the implant site or there is poor bone quality or when ridge augmentation has been performed along with implant placement.
One-stage implants system:
In this procedure, the implant is kept exposed to the oral environment throughout the healing period. The major advantage of this technique is that mucogingival and esthetic management around the implant is easy in many cases. Furthermore, the patient’s acceptance is more because only one surgical procedure is required in one stage implant system.
Flap design
Incision:
The clinician should be well versed with the important anatomical landmarks and location and path of the blood vessels and nerves. All the vital structures should be preserved and protected during the surgical procedure. After a thorough evaluation of the surgical area, the incision is placed to expose the underlying bone.
During implant surgeries, two most commonly used incisions are crestal or para-crestal incision. If the alveolar crest is wider (Division A) and overall ridge shape is normal, the crestal incision is used. It starts at the distal end of the mid-crestal region of the ridge and is extended mesially. On the other hand, if the ridge is deficient, a para-crestal incision is given, buccal to the crest of the ridge. In the case where there is reduced quantity of keratinized tissue, the crestal incision should be placed towards the palatal aspect; the area where more keratinized tissue is available. It is recommended that ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
When ridge augmentation has been planned using bone graft and membrane placement, the relieving incisions should be placed at least one tooth proximal to the area of augmentation. Furthermore, during augmentation procedure, if it is anticipated that vital structures such as incisive nerve may get damaged, then wider flap design which includes adjacent papillae is recommended.
Flap reflection:
The full-thickness flap is reflected buccally and lingually to get an adequate access to the underlying bone. However, it should be remembered that periosteum is the major source of blood supply to the bone, so the maximum amount of periosteum should be preserved over the bone. If any papilla is involved, it should be completely involved in the flap and should not be bisected. The flap tissue should not be manipulated excessively because it can lead to necrosis as well as can lead to deleterious esthetic results. The flap should be kept moist during the complete duration of the surgery. In longer surgical procedure when a high degree of hemostasis has been achieved, the flap tissue may become dry. Intermittent saline irrigation should be done on the surgical site to keep it moist and prevent excessive heat production.
Preparation of osteotomy site:
Although, many experienced clinicians do not use a surgical stent for a single implant or few implant placement, but it is recommended that for an accurate preparation of osteotomy site a surgical stent should be used. The size of the implant is selected according to the mesiodistal and buccolingual dimensions of the ridge and proximity to vital structures. The osteotomy site is prepared with the help of physiodispenser and implant kit which is provided by various implant companies for placing their implants.
Physiodispenser:
Physiodispenser is a machine which is used to prepare the osteotomy site for implant placement. It is equipped with a motor in the central unit which provides high torque at varying rpm, handpiece attachment, foot paddle and a peristaltic pump for irrigation. The rpm, as well as torque values, can be adjusted on the machine. Most of the presently available physiodispensers can provide a torque up to 70-80 Nm. The foot paddle attached to the unit has press buttons for various functions and settings. Most of the presently available physiodispensers are equipped with memory function, where the rpm and required torque for each subsequent drill can be stored. Along with this, they also have an auto-off function by which the rotation stops if ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
Periobasics: A Textbook of Periodontics and Implantology
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Surgical implant kit:
A surgical implant kit is provided by all the implant manufacturers along with their implant system. The drills provided in implant system correspond to the diameter of the implant. While placing the implant of a particular diameter, drills are used in a particular sequence as specified by the manufacturer.
Preparation of osteotomy and implant placement
Although, the drills in implant kit vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but following is the usual sequence of using the drills,
Stage I surgery:
1. The first drill to be used at the site of osteotomy is small round bur or spiral drill which is used to mark the site where the implant has to be placed. This drill is used after placing the stent in its position and the cortical plate is punctured. It must be remembered that a continuous saline irrigation should accompany the drilling, throughout the surgical procedure. As already stated in “Biological aspect of dental implants”, heating of the bone is not desired because osteocytes damage occurs above 47⁰C.
2. After this, a 1.5 diameter drill is used at 2500 rpm with which drilling is done 2 mm shorter to the desired depth and axis of drilling is established. It must be remembered that while drilling for implants, finger rest should not be taken because the axis of drilling may change along the axis of finger rest. The drilling depth is kept 2 mm short of the final osteotomy depth to make sure that the vital structures such as the mandibular canal or maxillary sinus floor are at a safe distance, which is confirmed by taking a radiograph.
3. Once the drilling with 1.5 mm drill has been done 2 mm shorter than the desired depth, paralleling pin/pins (guiding pins) are placed in the osteotomy. Their diameter is same as that of the previous drill. A radiograph is then taken to verify the position of the paralleling pins placed inside osteotomy. The relative parallelism of the pins to each other and to the neighboring teeth is checked. If the angulation is not correct, it is changed with the use of the next drill with a larger diameter. Safe distance from vital structures is ensured.
4. If the angulation and parallelism are found to be accurate and vital structures are at a safe distance, final depth of drilling is achieved with 1.5 mm drill.
5. A larger diameter drill is then used to increase the diameter of the osteotomy. If the angulation was not correct with 1.5 mm drill, it is corrected with this drill. It must be remembered that while drilling, the rotating drill should be inserted and removed from the osteotomy site. The drill should be intermittently moved in and out of the osteotomy site, facilitating appropriate irrigation of the site and removal of the bone debris.
6. Drills with increasing diameter are then used with less rpm (500-600) until the final diameter corresponding to the diameter of the implant is achieved. The final drill should be inserted and removed in one go so that the final diameter of the osteotomy is precise. It must be ensured that after placement, the implant is covered with 1.5-2 mm of bone all around. When placing multiple implants the length of the edentulous span should be carefully estimated and position of implants in this span is determined to make sure that a minimum of 1.5-2 mm bone surrounds the implants. Two implants should be positioned at least 3-4 mm away from each other to provide space for super-structure (crowns) and for adequate maintenance of oral hygiene.
7. In the case of high-density bone (D1 or D2), countersink drill is used to widen the entrance of the osteotomy.
8. A tap may be used to create screw threads in the osteotomy to facilitate easy implant placement.
9. Finally, the implant is engaged with manual or handpiece attachment and is placed in the osteotomy site. Implant placement is done with low speed (25 rpm) with hand-piece or by hand with a wrench. An implant insertion torque of ~ 45 Ncm should be achieved during implant placement.
Radiograph after paralleling pin placement
Radiograph after implant placement
The standard implant surgical procedure may be modified according to the clinical situation under consideration.
1. While making osteotomy, sometimes the final drill hits the bottom of osteotomy before it reaches the desired depth. This problem can be avoided by making the osteotomy 0.5 mm deeper to the desired depth with a smaller diameter drill. The narrow drill does not remove the bone from the lateral walls, thus facilitating the implant to reach the final depth without compromising the primary stability.
2. While placing multiple implants, the inappropriate axial orientation of the implants can be avoided by placing a direction indicator (Figure 91.2 a) on the adjacent site. A surgical guide is very useful in these cases. When a single implant has to be placed, adjacent teeth can be used as a guide for implant orientation.
3. If the bone is soft (with loose trabecular bone), under preparation of the site is helpful in achieving final stability. The final drill should be used to a shallower depth than the previous drill. It avoids removal of much of bone and increased stability of implant is achieved.
4. While performing bone expansion in the anterior maxilla, osteotomy should be made around 0.5 mm palatal to the usual mid-crest position. This is because the major movement is in the labial plate while expansion. If the labial plate is kept thin, there are more chances of its fracture during the expansion process. Furthermore, labial periosteum should be reflected to a minimum when the bone expansion is planned. This is because bone gets its blood supply primarily from the periosteum. If it is detached from the bone, slight bone resorption usually results.
5. As a general rule, the implant should be placed preferably in tooth position. Because of resorption pattern of maxilla and mandible, starting point of osteotomy in mandible should be towards the buccal side of the alveolar crest and towards the palatal side of the alveolar crest in the maxilla.
6. While planning implant for maxillary central incisor with adequate space, it should be placed slightly distal to the center of the final mesiodistal length of the crown. It allows appropriate angulation of the crown of the central incisor.
7. It must be remembered that occlusal loads distributed most effectively when forces are applied in an axial direction. The posterior teeth are oriented perpendicular to the curve of Wilson, the lateral curve of the occlusal table formed by the inclination of the posterior teeth. As already stated, implant placement should be done as close as possible to the natural orientation of the teeth. As the implant angulation reaches 25⁰ or more, the supporting bone is severely compromised.
8. It is recommended that in partially edentulous areas at least three implants should be placed instead of two to ensure that implants are not overloaded. It has been reported that the rate of implant failure is more with two implants than with three of more implants 2.
9. Placement of the implant platform at, below or above alveolar crest level has been a matter of controversy. However, Misch 3 suggests that the implant platform should be kept at or slightly above the level of the alveolar crest. Reason suggested is, the placement of the implant platform below alveolar crest results in increased probing depth which may contribute to peri-implantitis.
10. If the alveolar ridge is sharp where the implant has to be placed, the sharpness of the ridge should be reduced and then osteotomy should be made till the desired depth. It must be noted here that the depth of osteotomy will increase due to crestal bone removal. However, excessive bone removal is not recommended. According to Lindhe 4, as a general rule, no bone should be removed from the start, except when the alveolar crest is very thin.
11. If possible, implants should be placed in a tripod arrangement rather than in a straight line to minimize transmission of bending forces on to each individual implant.
12. Implants should never be placed in the midline of maxilla or mandible because it may result in the expansion of the suture resulting in bone related and/or esthetic problems.
Clinical photographs of a patient demonstrating the placement of implants and preparation of abutments
Stage II surgery:
In two-stage implant placement, a second surgery is required to expose the implant. The implant is exposed under local anesthesia by placing a small incision over the mucosa where the implant has been placed. After exposing the implant, the cover screw is removed and a healing screw or gingival former is attached to the implant. If necessary, sutures are ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
The exposure should be planned, keeping in mind the final tissue architecture. If soft tissue architecture achieved is not esthetically acceptable, soft tissue augmentation procedure can be carried out. To achieve a proper emergence contour, gingivoplasty can be done with a coarse diamond bur. On the other hand, if the interdental papillae are deficient, the subepithelial connective tissue graft can be placed to compensate for the soft tissue deficiency. Gingival former/healing screw is placed over the implant after removing cover screw and left in place for one week. After one week an adequately healed area can be seen around the gingival former once it is removed.
Clinical photographs of a patient demonstrating the placement of implants in esthetic region
Healing period
The most important factor that determines the duration of time required before the implant is loaded is the quality of bone in which implant has been placed. The general rule is, softer the bone more is the time required for healing. For a good quality of bone the healing period for mandible is 3-4 months and for maxilla, it is 5-6 months 8, 9. If the bone quality is poor (D3 or D4), the healing period should be extended by a month or two. It must be remembered that bone density may not be similar in either jaws or different portions of the same jaw. In such cases, the healing period is decided by implant placed in the bone with least density 9. To analyze the stability of the implant in bone, resonance frequency analysis can be done. It can provide us useful information regarding initial implant stability as well as during the healing period without using any invasive technique. It has been suggested that an implant stability quotient value of 60 or above indicates the suitability of implant for loading 10.
Complex situations
Availability of the bone is the primary factor determining the treatment planning for implant placement. However, when excessive resorption of the ridges has taken place, implant placement requires bone augmentation. Bone deficiency can be encountered as,
Vertical bone deficiency in anterior maxilla:
Bone resorption in the anterior maxilla poses difficulty for implant placement as well as may adversely affect the esthetic result in partially edentulous cases. Bone augmentation procedures are done to increase the bone height in these areas. Two procedures are commonly done to augment the deficient bone,
1. Onlay bone grafting
2. Distraction osteogenesis
In onlay bone grafting autogenous block of bone can be taken from either intraoral sites (ramus or chin) or extraoral site (iliac crest or calvaria) 11. The greater the defect, more the bone is required. Depending on the quantity of bone required, the donor site is selected. For most of the cases, intra-oral bone graft from intraoral sites is sufficient. For larger defects, extra-oral grafts may be taken. However, extra-oral sites require general anesthesia and increase the risk of morbidity. After the graft has been harvested, it is ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
Lack of horizontal width in anterior maxilla:
The bone resorption pattern in anterior maxilla creates a knife edge ridge or ridge that is too thin due to concavities. Furthermore, the incisive foramen is sometimes large, restricting the implant placement in the maxillary central incisor positions. If the deficiency is borderline, spreading the bone with osteotomes can be utilized to expand the bone and the desired diameter implant can be placed. However, when the deficiency is more, bone grafting has to be done to increase the bone volume. The ridge expansion using osteotomes is indicated only when at least ≥ 4 mm of buccal to palatal ridge width is available. After achieving profound anesthesia, an incision is placed over the ridge crest without reflecting the flap or elevating the flap. A surgical stent is placed and 1.5 mm drill is used to make initial osteotomy till desired depth. The smallest osteotome is then inserted into the ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
The best suitable treatment of maxillary knife edge ridge is veneer grafting where an onlay intra-oral block of the cortico-cancellous autogenous graft is fixed with fixation screws on the labial surface of the ridge. It is a quite predictable method of increasing the labio-lingual dimensions of bone. Another method that can be used to treat maxillary knife edge ridge is guided bone regeneration (GBR). The procedure may utilize autogenous graft or non-autogenous grafts. In case autogenous graft is used, an intra-oral block is harvested from the ramus or otherwise a scraping device (Safescraper, 3i Palm Beach, Florida, USA or Ebner 502 grafter, Maxillon Lab Inc. Hollis, NH. USA) can harvest scrapings off the ramus cortical plate which can then be mixed with an osteoconductive material to create a particulate graft. The principles and procedure of GBR are described in “Guided bone regeneration”. The bone graft is then stabilized in position by using a titanium-reinforced membrane. This membrane also functions for space maintenance 13.
Another technique used for treating narrow ridges is split ridge technique. The technique is usually done in cases where the alveolar ridge is as wide as 3-5 mm and as high as 8-10 mm 14. The procedure involves splitting the alveolar ridge into two cortical plates as buccal and palatal/lingual in corono-apical direction. The buccal/labial and palatal/lingual plates are not completely separated from each other and their apical connection is maintained in the form of green stick fracture. The technique is preferably used in the maxilla and less commonly preferred in mandible due to the highly cortical structure of the lower jaw. The implant placement can be done in a one-step procedure or in a two step procedure. In one step procedure, the splitting of ridges and placement of implants is done during the same surgery. On the other hand, in a two-step procedure, the splitting of ridges is followed by a waiting period of 4-6 months and after the augmentation has been achieved, implant placement surgery is done in the second step. Initially, the splitting of ridges was done with the help of bone cutting burs but presently most preferred device for this purpose is the piezoelectric surgical device. It uses micrometric ultrasonic vibrations to cut the bone producing a precise cut in the bone. Furthermore, it offers a clear vision of the surgical site due to its cavitation effect and also does not damage the soft tissue. It has been shown that bone tissue heals more quickly and seamlessly following ridge split made by piezosurgery device 15, 16. The survival rate of implants inserted in ridge split alveolar ridges is reported between 86% and 97% 17, 18.
Rule of 5 for obtaining autogenous graft from mandibular symphysis:
Our primary goal while obtaining a graft from the mandibular symphysis is to obtain sufficient bone, so the entire bone defect/augmentation dimensions are completely filled with the harvested graft. The preferable site for harvesting an autogenous graft from the mandible is mandibular ramus. The primary advantages while harvesting graft from ramus include,
Ease of harvesting the graft,
Less postoperative discomfort,
Less neurosensory complications,
Less incision line opening,
Less requirement of local anesthetic agent to achieve profound anesthesia, and
Less concern of changes in facial morphology.
The primary disadvantage of harvesting graft from the ramus area includes less width of bone in some patients. As a result, when inadequate bone is present in the ramus site, attention is brought to the mandibular symphysis region. In such situation, the mandibular symphysis area becomes primary choice to harvest a graft. The average interforaminal distance is greater than 4 cm, thus a graft with adequate dimensions can be harvested from this site. The basal bone thickness of an anterior mandible ranges from 5 to 15 mm below the roots of the anterior teeth. To harvest a graft from the mandibular symphysis area, we follow the rule of 5. According to this rule, it has been recommended to stay at least 5 mm mesial to the mental foramen on each side for a donor bone harvest. Along with this, there should be minimum 5 mm distance from the base of the mandible and 5 mm from the root apices of the mandibular anterior teeth.
The 5 mm rule
Vertical bone deficiency in posterior maxilla:
From the beginning of implant dentistry, deficient posterior maxilla has been one of the most challenging areas for the implant placement. Tooth loss is common in this area due to furcation involvement 19. The bone loss following extraction in this area results in limited bone for implant placement due to sinus proximity. Furthermore, the bone is also usually soft (D3 or D4 type) which further compromises the situation. To stabilize implants in this area, maxillary sinus lift techniques have been described.
Maxillary sinus lift
As already stated, loss of teeth and progressive pneumatization of the maxillary sinus results in insufficient vertical bone volume in the posterior maxilla. The sinus lift procedure was introduced by Tatum at an Alabama dental implant conference in 1976 and was subsequently described by Boyne and James in 1980 20, 21. Augmentation of the sinus floor can be done by crestal approach or lateral approach. As already stated, the indication for maxillary sinus lift is severely atrophic maxilla with insufficient residual bone height (less than 10 mm of bone height) for implant placement. However, there are certain conditions where the maxillary sinus lift is contraindicated,
Any pathology such as tumor or cyst associated with maxilla.
Systemic conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes mellitus.
Acute / chronic maxillary sinusitis.
Heavy smoker.
Alcohol abuse.
Recent irradiation of maxilla.
Severe allergic rhinitis.
Oro-antral fistula.
There are various procedures to achieve sinus lift. These include,
1. Sinus augmentation using crestal approach:
a. Osteotome mediated sinus floor elevation.
b. Piezoelectric internal sinus elevation.
c. Hydrodynamic piezoelectric internal sinus elevation.
d. Balloon-mediated internal sinus lift.
2. Sinus augmentation using lateral window approach.
Sinus augmentation using crestal approach:
Osteotome mediated sinus floor elevation:
In the technique, the sinus floor is elevated with the help of osteotome and a surgical mallet. A crestal incision is placed over the ridge and full thickness flap is raised to expose the bone. A pilot drill is used to make osteotomy 1-2 mm short of the sinus floor to accommodate osteotome to sinus floor. However, if the bone thickness is less than 2 mm, the osteotome is used directly without the prior use of a pilot drill. A small osteotome is placed at the site of implant placement and is tapped with a mallet. The thin bone covering the sinus floor is then broken and sinus floor is pushed. Osteotome with larger size is then used to expand the alveolus and compress the bone. To elevate the sinus floor indirectly and to provide buffering, bone graft is taken up in an amalgam dispenser and is placed in the osteotomy. This additional pressure exerted by bone graft causes the elevation of the membrane. After the desired amount of bone graft is inserted and sinus floor has been raised, implant, slightly larger in diameter than the osteotomy is inserted into the osteotomy site 22, 23. Generally, if 3-4 mm of sinus elevation is required, grafting material should be placed 4 to 6 times with osteotome insertion. In case where 5-7 mm sinus elevation is required, the procedure is repeated 7 to 10 times.
Maxillary sinus augmentation with crestal approach using osteotomes.
Advantages and disadvantages:
The advantages of this procedure include its simplicity and post-operative patient comfort. However, there are many disadvantages also associated with this procedure. This procedure is commonly associated with the perforation of Schneiderian membrane. Although drilling should be done approximately 2 mm short of sinus floor, sometimes the drill perforates the membrane and the procedure has to be stopped. The approximate depth of drilling is determined by radiographs but conventional radiographs may have enlargement of the area, thus miscalculation of the drilling depth may occur 24. The sinus floor is fractured with tapping using an osteotome and surgical mallet, but sometimes because of the presence of slope or a septum (Underwood’s septa), the fracturing of sinus floor becomes difficult and more traumatic. Benign positional paroxysmal vertigo (BPPV) can result from the excessive tapping of the sinus floor due to damage to internal ear 25-27.
The sinus membrane elevators (a) and osteotomes (b)
Piezoelectric internal sinus elevation:
This technique of sinus elevation was introduced by Vercellotti et al. in 2001 28. In this technique, use of surgical mallet is eliminated and instead ultrasonic piezoelectric vibration based bone cutting is used. The advantage is that technique is free from postoperative vertigo. However, bone compaction is required to elevate the sinus floor. The procedure involves making a window in the alveolar bone with the help of bone scalpels, which work with ultrasonic modulating vibrations. The piezoelectric device automatically ceases the surgical action when the scalpel comes in contact with non-mineralized tissue, which is a ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book……
Hydrodynamic piezoelectric internal sinus elevation:
The technique is similar to that explained in the previous section, except the sinus elevation is achieved by applying water pressure instead of using the osteotome to push the graft. The piezoelectric device is equipped with an internal irrigation device which puts hydropneumatic pressure with the physiologic solution over the membrane, gently elevating it 29. The hydraulic pressure with irrigant should be applied for several seconds to detach sinus membrane from sinus floor. Once the membrane has been elevated, the surgeon can observe the up and down movement of the membrane concomitant with breathing. The procedure achieves a broad elevation of the Schneiderian membrane. It has been reported that this procedure is associated with dramatically reduced incidences of intraoperative bleeding and membrane perfora-tion than do rotary diamond burs 30.
Balloon mediated internal sinus lift:
This technique is similar to the hydrodynamic sinus lift except that in this technique, an elastic catheter is used and saline is forced in the catheter. As the balloon swells, it pushes the membrane, lifting the membrane. The main advantage of this technique is that it is safe with predictable results.
Elastic catheters used for balloon-mediated sinus lift.
Sinus augmentation using lateral window approach:
In this approach, the window is prepared in the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus. The procedure is started with the placement of crestal or para-crestal incision on the alveolar ridge 20. A full-thickness flap is then raised to expose the lateral wall of the maxillary sinus. A round bur is then used to create a U-shaped trapdoor on the lateral wall of the maxilla. The width and height of the trapdoor should be ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
In one-stage technique during surgery, the osteotomy is then made in the ridge and implant of the desired length is placed. After implant placement, its apical portion which is in sinus below the elevated Schneiderian membrane is packed with bone graft. The window is then covered with the membrane and the area is closed. On the other hand, in two stage surgery only desired amount of bone graft is placed and the area is allowed to heal for up to 12 months. Once the graft gets integrated and matures implant placement is done following the regular procedure of implant placement. It must be remembered that overfilling of bone graft may lead to membrane necrosis 20, 22.
Maxillary sinus augmentation using lateral window approach.
Patient instructions after maxillary sinus lift:
Both oral, as well as written instructions, should be given to the patient 31. The patient should be asked to apply ice at the site of surgery after surgery, keep the head elevated and take rest 3. The patient should be asked to avoid smoking because it adversely affects healing. Several studies have shown higher failure rates among smokers 32-35. The patient should be told to avoid all those actions which create a negative pressure in the oral cavity such as sucking through a straw or blowing the nose, especially during the first post-operative week. Sneezing is a natural reflex, but after the sinus lift procedure, the patient should be asked to keep the mouth open while sneezing so that minimal pressure is exerted within the sinus 31. The patient should not try to look at the operated site in the mirror by pulling the lip because it may open the surgical incision line. The patient should be told about the symptoms that may appear shortly after surgery, including slight bleeding from the operated site, swelling, pain and discomfort. Small bone granules may also come in the mouth or from the nose, which is not unusual 3. The patient should regularly take medications as prescribed by the surgeon.
Bone deficiency in anterior mandibular region
The bone deficiency in the anterior mandibular region may be horizontal or vertical. The procedure for bone augmentation is selected according to the type of bone deficiency. The mandible area anterior to mental foramen is considered as a safe zone because there is no limiting neurovascular structure present in this area and implants can be ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
Bone deficiency in posterior mandibular region
The bone deficiency in the posterior mandibular area is a common problem faced during planning for implants. Mandibular molars are commonly lost due to periodontal bone loss and furcation involvement.
Mandibular nerve lateralization:
The inferior alveolar nerve enters the mandibular canal, accompanied by the corresponding blood vessels, forming the inferior dental plexus. This plexus provides nerve and blood supply to the lower teeth and gingival tissue. Hence, the mandibular canal acts as a limiting factor for implant placement. One method of placing implants in the atrophic posterior mandible is repositioning the inferior dental plexus on the lateral surface of the implant. The procedure of inferior alveolar nerve repositioning was published in 1977 by Alling 36 describing prosthetic rehabilitation in patients with severe atrophy where the emergence of the nerve was close to the alveolar crest. For osseointegrated implants, this procedure was first described by Jensen and Nock in 1987 37.
The mandibular nerve lateralization by (a) laterlalization technique and (b) fenestration technique.
Surgical procedure:
There are two techniques which have been described for this purpose: lateralization and fenestration. Both the procedures start with the application of the local anesthetic agent and achieving a profound anesthesia. Crestal incision is placed according to the area to be exposed. Minimum of the lingual flap should be elevated to preserve the periosteum on the bone.
Lateralization technique:
In this technique, the osteotomy is performed at the mental foramen to expose the neurovascular bundle. The window made to expose the nerve may be extended 5 mm anterior to the mental foramen so as to protect the nerve from any injury. The cortical bone is then removed posteriorly over the trajectory of the mandibular canal to expose the nerve. To completely mobilize the nerve, incisal branch which is present at around 5 mm distance from the mental foramen is sectioned. The nerve is then completely lateralized and implants are placed in direct vision, most preferable to engage both upper and lower cortical plates. Once the implants are placed, the nerve is positioned laterally on the implant surfaces. The autogenous bone removed during the procedure is placed alone or in combination with bone grafting material at the surgical site and the area is then closed.
Fenestration technique:
In this technique, there is no need for sectioning of the terminal branches of the nerve. The window is prepared posterior to the mental foramen where the implant/implants have to be placed. Once the neurovascular bundle is carefully freed, the implant ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
Advantages of nerve lateralization 37, 39-43:
1. Implants of greater length can be placed in the same surgical step.
2. Because of the bi-cortical mandibular fixation of implants, greater primary implant stability can be achieved.
3. No sophisticated radiographic examination is required.
4. Increased protection of the dental neurovascular bundle is afforded during implant placement.
5. No bone grafting is needed, and donor site morbidity is avoided.
6. The option for immediate loading for the enhancement of masticatory function, dramatically improving the patient’s quality of life.
Disadvantages of nerve lateralization:
The most important disadvantage of nerve lateralization is that any injury to the neurovascular bundle may result in permanent paresthesia in the area supplied by the affected portion of the nerve. Peleg et al. (2002) 44 has recommended the use of cylindrical non-threaded implants during the nerve lateralization procedure because threaded implants in close contact with the nerve may cause neurosensory problems. However, it may be a disadvantage because non-threaded implants have a lower surface area as compared to threaded implants, which is directly related to the degree of osseointegration. The procedure results in a ……..Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…….Contents available in the book…..
The success of implant therapy depends on an appropriately osseointegrated implant and its appropriate prosthetic rehabilitation. There are many difficulties which are encountered during implant placement in deficient bone. Since the introduction of implants in dentistry, surgical techniques have been introduced to manage the problems associated with deficient bone. Above is the description of well-described and investigated techniques for implant placement in various situations. However, new innovative surgical techniques are being introduced in the field of implant dentistry and one should constantly be in touch with the research going on in this field to adopt new techniques into the clinical practice.
References are available in the hard-copy of the website.
Komarnyckyj OG, London RM. Osteotome single-stage dental implant placement with and without sinus elevation: a clinical report. International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants. 1998 Nov 1;13(6):799-804.
Brodala N. Flapless surgery and its effect on dental implant outcomes. The International journal of oral & maxillofacial implants. 2009 Oct 2;24:118.
Kola MZ, Shah AH, Khalil HS, Rabah AM, Harby NM, Sabra SA, Raghav D. Surgical templates for dental implant positioning; current knowledge and clinical perspectives. Nigerian journal of surgery. 2015;21(1):1-5.
Leonetti JA, Koup R. Localized maxillary ridge augmentation with a block allograft for dental implant placement. Implant Dentistry. 2003 Sep 1;12(3):217-26.
Miyamoto I, Tsuboi Y, Wada E, Suwa H, Iizuka T. Influence of cortical bone thickness and implant length on implant stability at the time of surgery—clinical, prospective, biomechanical, and imaging study. Bone. 2005 Dec 1;37(6):776-80.
Borges FL, Dias RO, Piattelli A, Onuma T, Gouveia Cardoso LA, Salomão M, Scarano A, Ayub E, Shibli JA. Simultaneous sinus membrane elevation and dental implant placement without bone graft: a 6‐month follow‐up study. Journal of periodontology. 2011 Mar;82(3):403-12.
Bover-Ramos F, Viña-Almunia J, Cervera-Ballester J, Peñarrocha-Diago M, García-Mira B. Accuracy of Implant Placement with Computer-Guided Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Comparing Cadaver, Clinical, and In Vitro Studies. International Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Implants. 2018 Jan 1;33(1).
Turkyilmaz I, McGlumphy EA. Influence of bone density on implant stability parameters and implant success: a retrospective clinical study. BMC Oral Health. 2008 Dec;8(1):32.
Hultin M, Svensson KG, Trulsson M. Clinical advantages of computer‐guided implant placement: a systematic review. Clinical oral implants research. 2012 Oct;23:124-35.
Al-Ansari BH, Morris RR. Placement of dental implants without flap surgery: a clinical report. International Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Implants. 1998 Nov 1;13(6).
Treatment planning for an implant patient: A general overview
Dental implant treatment- associated complications, their prevention and management
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Orthodontic-periodontal interrelationship
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Piezosurgery in periodontics and oral implantology
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This website is a small attempt to create an easy approach to understand periodontology for the students who are facing difficulties during the graduation and the post-graduation courses in our field. The information presented in this website has been collected from various leading journals, books and websites.
Periodontal maintenance (Supportive periodontal therapy) May 29, 2020
Orthodontic-periodontal interrelationship May 23, 2020
Periodontic-endodontic interrelationship May 18, 2020
Furcation involvement and its management May 17, 2020
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Profoto stories
Elisabeth Hoff: Making subjects feel fantastic
29 六月, 2017
作者: Seth Chandler
Elisabeth Hoff is a London-based fashion, celebrity and beauty photographer working for major advertising and editorial clients such as Adidas, Coca-Cola, Nike, Vogue, Glamour and the BBC in the UK and abroad. She has photographed such celebrities as Bob Geldoff, Dannii Minogue, Emily Blunt, Naomi Campbell and many more.
Born in Norway, Elisabeth spent five years of her childhood sailing around the world aboard her family’s sailboat. After graduating from university, she attempted to become the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic. After a near-disaster at sea, she realized the importance of making the most of now and decided to pursue he lifelong dream of becoming a photographer.
You’ve been doing this for quite a few years. How do you think your work has changed over time?
You get more levels of awareness as you get older and intellectually understand more. You develop a skill set to see what’s going on. When you are younger, it’s more of a gut feeling. When I look at my early work I don’t think it has enough layers.
How do you use light?
I’ve used Profoto throughout my career. I recently got a Profoto B1 and have found myself using a mix of daylight and flash. Using a mix of different heads you can get amazing results. It almost looks like daylight but with a better result.
The women in your photographs are not shrinking violets. A lot of bold personalities come across in the images. How do you bring that out of the subjects?
I’m really happy you said that. My job is to make people look like a better version of themselves. I work on making my subjects feel fantastic and like they can’t do anything wrong. I never use negative language, I just nudge people in the right direction. Sometimes you have members of the team judging the subject, like a stylist crassly pointing out how the model doesn’t fit the sample size clothing. I don’t like to work with people like that. You should not leave a shoot feeling neurotic!
In the shot with the young ballet students, they all look so happy and are smiling so naturally. I know from my daughter’s school photos that that is no easy trick. What’s your secret?
When shooting children I really steer away from telling them exactly what to do. There is no stand up straight and smile from me as I think that is the wrong approach. I try to create a fun environment and gently nudge them along with words of encouragement. I played Justin Bieber during this shot, and they started singing at one point while I was shooting, which proves how incredibly comfortable they all were. I think I asked them not to look at the camera. They were allowed to have a little chat if they wanted.
How important is it to just go with the flow?
Sometimes I’m not ready but if the subject is in a moment, I’ll just take the picture anyway. I also sometimes have to shoot through the person being “not ready.” It can take a while for people to get used to you before you can get something good. You have to be very present.
You’ve taken a lot of photographs of famous people. Do they tend to be difficult? What’s the secret to working with celebrities?
With famous people, you have to be quite confident. You have to sell your idea in. Sometimes, they have a strong resistance to an idea or a strong idea of what they want instead. So you try it their way first. And then you say, “How about if we just try this and see what you think.” It’s psychology. You have to listen to people before you can bring them around.
What is the secret to getting a great shot that people will remember?
It’s easy to become obsessed with technology. But if there isn’t a performance, it won’t be a great picture, no matter how perfect the exposure. The subjects have to share a bit about themselves or I’m not going to get the result I’m looking for.
Elisabeth Hoff
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Bridging Borders From Silicon Valley To Kyrgyzstan
The Ministry of Social Development labored on increasing minimal wage to the minimal residing wage, which is 5,292 soms ($76) per 30 days. Recent reforms to administrative and legal codes eliminated employer liability for late cost of wages, allowance, and different social benefits. It also eradicated liability for violating labor protections and safety regulations. Many unions reportedly operated as quasi-official establishments that took state pursuits into consideration quite than representing workers’ pursuits completely. The Federation of Trade Unions remained the one umbrella trade union within the country. Labor rights advocates reported the existence of a number of smaller unaffiliated unions. The regulation allows unions to conduct their actions with out interference and supplies them the best to arrange and discount collectively.
On March three, 2017, these trainings culminated in a national discussion board held in honor of International Women’s Day. Women Members of Parliament and WDN leaders introduced collectively practically 100 ZDS members, newly-elected women local councilors, a local youth NGO and a variety of both male and female university college students to honor the successes of girls across Kyrgyzstan’s a number of sectors.
It companions with state businesses on supporting youth-friendly health companies and bettering information availability and policy formulation around inhabitants dynamics, sexual reproductive health and gender equality. Kloop put out a name for women and girls with some coding experience to affix the class. About 50 younger women turned up, and now, a devoted group of a dozen meet twice a week at Kloop’s workplace, where they’re led by two alumni of Kloop’s programming course.
Additionally, based on HRW, a 2016 Supreme Court examine found that a majority of suspects prosecuted for terrorism and extremism, including underneath Article 299, were ethnic Uzbeks from the south. According to UNICEF, the federal government and families institutionalized one-third of youngsters with disabilities. As in previous years, psychiatric hospitals supplied substandard conditions to their patients, stemming largely from inadequate funding. The government did not adequately present for basic wants, similar to meals, water, clothes, heating, and health care, and did not adequately handle overcrowded situations.
Feminism Through Pictures: How Girls Of South Kyrgyzstan Fight For Womens Rights
Moreover, it demonstrated to younger men and women that regardless of their exclusion from elected workplace or decision-making, it is possible to reach their goals. Likewise, elected women are also taking management of their futures and proving their value as ready governors and leaders. IRI followed swimsuit in the northern regions of Kyrgyzstan, training more than 200 lately-elected women councilors in Talas, Naryn, Issyk-Kul and Chui Oblasts. Similar to the southern area trainings, these periods raised the prospect of impacting gender equality on a nationwide scale. Not only was this an amazing opportunity for native and nationwide women leaders to debate points dealing with women, but in addition to collaborate in creating options. Collectively, these are the very cornerstones of consultant democracy, and so they start at the local-stage.
New Law In Kyrgyzstan Toughens Penalties For Bride Kidnapping
In addition individuals with disabilities typically had issue discovering employment as a result of negative societal attitudes and high unemployment among the basic inhabitants. In 2018 UNICEF estimated that 12.7 % of married women between the ages of 20 and forty blog link nine married earlier than age 18. A 2016 legislation criminalizes spiritual marriages involving minors; nevertheless, prosecutors didn’t file any cases of legal charges for spiritual marriages involving minors.
The regulation supplies for a nationwide minimal wage, which is lower than the official government’s 2015 poverty line. The legislation on minimal wage states it should rise gradually to satisfy the cost of living. The government did not successfully enforce laws associated to the minimal wage.
F Arbitrary Or Unlawful Interference With Privacy, Household, House, Or Correspondence
They’ve spent the first part of the category studying engineering fundamentals, together with how to solder and work withArduinohardware. They’re also receiving instruction in coding (in the event that they’re not already proficient) and 3D printing.
Workers could strike, but the requirement to obtain formal approval made hanging tough and complicated. The legislation on authorities service prohibits authorities staff from hanging, however the prohibition does not apply to teachers or medical professionals. In 2014 HRW released a report based mostly on interviews with 40 LGBTI persons chronicling cases of official extortion, beatings, and sexual assault. The report described intimately how police patrolling parks and bars frequented by gay men would threaten them with violence and arrest or threaten to reveal their homosexuality to their families if they did not pay bribes. These practices, according to representatives of the LGBTI community, continued through the yr. NGO leaders in the southern part of the country reported an even larger risk. During the 12 months members of the LGBTI neighborhood reported that authorities often monitored chatrooms and dating websites in an effort to punish and extort those that had been seeking homosexual intercourse through on-line venues.
Despite appreciable improvements in sexual and reproductive well being and the success of the ongoing well being-care reform, the Kyrgyz Republic has one of the highest maternal mortality within the region. UNFPA places stronger focus to assist the nation make progress in direction of lowering maternal mortality and works on integration of reproductive well being services into the final health care supply system.
Built to accommodate around 10,000 people, its numbers swelled after the SDF and the U.S.-led coalition routed ISIS from its final stronghold in Baghouz in early 2019, and tens of a thousand’s of women and kids fled the preventing. The circumstances on the camp’s “foreigner annex”, an space constructed to allow the YPG to detain over eleven,000 women and kids except for the camp’s common inhabitants, have been egregiously poor almost because the outset. In the early 2000s, we began providing humanitarian assistance to educational establishments throughout the nation, together with meals and infrastructure repairs. Since 2012, we’ve been the implementing associate of theUSDA McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutritionprogram. We rehabilitate college kitchens and set up faculty orchards, which create revenue-generating opportunities for the local people and small businesses.
Legal Rights And Gender Equality
Tensions between ethnic Uzbeks–who comprised almost 15 percent of the population–and ethnic Kyrgyz remained problematic, significantly in Southern Osh Oblast where ethnic Uzbeks make up nearly one-half the inhabitants. Discrimination against ethnic Uzbeks in business and government, as well as harassment and reported arbitrary arrests, illustrated these tensions. Ethnic Uzbeks reported that enormous public works and street building tasks in predominantly ethnic Uzbek areas, usually undertaken with out public session, interfered with neighborhoods and destroyed properties.
Marriage, Family And Kinship
The regulation prohibits discrimination in opposition to persons with bodily, sensory, mental, and psychological disabilities. The authorities typically did not guarantee proper implementation of the law, and discrimination endured.
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← Here we go again
No, fluoridation is not associated with leading causes of death →
Anti-fluoridationists exploit infant deaths by fiddling statistics
Posted on April 9, 2017 | 440 Comments
A useful reminder of how activists lie with statistics
The local anti-fluoride people have not stopped rabbiting away with their “science” – searching for anything bad they can argue is caused by community water fluoridation. The latest claim they make – fluoridation is responsible for infant deaths!
And they have some statistics to “prove” this. The table below presented by well-known US anti-fluoride activist, Karen Favazza Spencer, in her article America First – Chemical Warfare on Infants:
That table is simply lifted from a conspiracy style web page Why Pregnant Women Should Not Drink Fluoridated Water.
OK – these statistics might fool some people – especially if you have a bias to confirm. But the more critical person might pick up that these figures are most likely cherry-picked and want to see the full data set or some analysis of the data.
It’s not hard to find this data as there are tables of all sorts of things for US people organised by state. So, is there a relationship between infant deaths in each state and the extent of fluoridation in each state?
There actually does appears to be one at first sight – here is the graph of the data for infant deaths in 213 plotted against the extent of fluoridation in 2012.
But, just a minute – it is not actually statistically significant (p=0.106) and would account for only about 5% of the variance in infant deaths. Fluoridation is certainly not the main factor – and probably involved at all if other factors are considered.
Here I will just take into account the influence of state elevation – because I know from previous work that fluoridation extent is related to mean state elevation (see ADHD linked to elevation, not fluoridation).
Here is that relationship for the extent of fluoridation in 2012:
So, the extent of fluoridation in each state is related to mean state elevation and this relationship is statistically significant (p=0.005). Actually not surprising as the larger and older cities where fluoridation might be expected are generally situated at lower elevations for a number of reasons.
But what is the relationship between infant death and mean state elevation? Well, it is stronger than for the extent of fluoridation (p=0.002). Elevation accounts for about 18% of the variance in infant deaths in 2013.
Finally, let’s combine both elevation and extent of fluoridation into a multiple regression and see what the relationship when both factors are combined.
This multiple regression shows a statistically significant association (p=0.007) of the extent of infant deaths in each state in 2013 with the mean state elevation. However, there is no statistically significant association (p=0.592) with the extent of state fluoridation.
So while infant deaths could be explained by mean state elevation and most probably one or more other factors, they certainly are not explained by the extent of fluoridation. Not at all!
Preterm birth and conspiracy theory
In her article, Karen Favazza Spencer makes the bald claim “Fluoridation is positively correlated with preterm birth and increased death rates by state “ – again citing from the conspiracy style web page mentioned above.
Sure, that page makes that claim – “Domestic water fluoridation was independently associated with an increased risk of PTB [preterm birth].” But that is hardly credible evidence because that page goes on the say:
“This study was never published nor was any follow-up research done, despite the fact that 2 years earlier, the US Institute of Medicine reported: ‘Those born preterm have an appreciable risk of long-term neurological impairment and developmental delay.'”
Strange! It is not hard to find data for preterm birth. In fact, here it is for 2014 compared with the extent of state fluoridated in 2012:
Clearly, there is no association between preterm births and extent of fluoridation. Yet that web page claimed there was and that the information had been suppressed!
I guess that is another way ideologically motivated activists “prove” these sort of things – invoke a conspiracy theory to claim a relationship exists but the data is suppressed.
So, once again the lesson is – never take at face value the claims made by anti-fluoridation activists – no matter how “sciency” their information looks or what data they invoke to “prove” them.
Always check such claims for yourself.
This entry was posted in Health and Medicine, SciBlogs, science, Science and Society and tagged fluoridation, fluoride, infant deaths, preterm births., SciBlogs. Bookmark the permalink.
440 responses to “Anti-fluoridationists exploit infant deaths by fiddling statistics”
chris | April 9, 2017 at 2:56 pm |
Nothing new there. Ms Spencer is a master at quoting Papers that have nothing to do with the argument she is trying to defend.
So the point, cited to check all anti fluoride links is so relevent
More water can be consumed in pregnancy but less probably at higher altitudes which are cooler.
Rather than extent of fluoridation need to work with extent of fluoridated water consumed as that increases fluoride intake.
Elevated towns may be smaller and use sodium fluoride for fluoridation. Do they add lime in similar quantities or maybe alkalinise with sodium carbonate or hydroxide?
And we already came across a sodium fluoride fluoridation health problem didn’t we?
And its all crap unless you allow for magnesium
Brian, I am afraid your comment is all crap – it does not even refer to the point of my article – the misuse of statistics.
A proper look at these shows absolutely no association of infant death or preterm births with fluoridation. None at all!
Hence your attempted diversion.
I was saying the things a “proper look” should consider.
So your comment is a criticism of FFNZ and of Karen Favazza Spencer, Brian?
Well, why didn’t you say. I think my criticism was fundamental.
“And it’s all crap.”
That sentence would have been accurate if it stopped there.
Writers should be encouraged to take many possible variables into account.
Altitude affects air pressure which is not good for pre-term births. It also affects UVB which may be good for pregnancy via vitamin D.
If some individuals be more susceptible to fluoride via COMT variant I assert it be not fair to write them off using the excuse altitude shows a greater affect over the whole population.
Even low air pressure at altitude does not affect all individuals the same.
Here compare Tibet: the “original” inhabitants vs the newly arrived Han Chinese as regards neonatal troubles:
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199511093331903#t=article
The Dunedin Study which TV series Ken asked us to watch related of the COMT variant and how it did not have to be followed by antisocial characteristics but might even be banked on for special ability. It would be interesting to look at advanced rugby players and their COMT variants. They may be more affected by fluoride.
I assert it be not the simple affect on all the sports people that Stuartg is suggesting.
Ken I think your chart of infant deaths vs average state elevation should be segmented with an increase in the rate to about 7,000 feet as air pressure decreases followed by a decrease as the increased UVB effect shows.
There are a few high outliers possibly.
Need also to investigate residence in high rise buildings and note the Trumps live on the 66th floor where the air pressure must be a percent lower than ground level.
(I can find my thinking to be not so clear even on a plane ascending to 18,000 feet where pressurisation keeps it like 900 – about 3,000 feet.)
“the simple affect on all the sports people that Stuartg is suggesting”
If you read back, you will see that I’ve made no mention at all about the mental health of sports people. Oh, wait, it’s yet another spelling mistake that wasn’t picked up by proof reading.
I suggest that you read back over the last few years and see exactly who has suggested that CWF has an effect, either simple or complex, on sports people.
All I’ve ever done is ask that person to provide evidence why they believed the coincidences they’d found weren’t. They haven’t provided any.
14th June last year TV1 played a Dunedin Study episode which dealt the forms of the MAOA gene. 30% of people have the weak form and it is claimed they can become antisocial if maltreated up to age 11. Professor James Fallon who found 7 convicted murderers in his father’s family tree got his own brain scanned and it showed the problem pattern. But his mother had treated him well and his energy chanelled him to be a professor if you call that mental health.
Stuartg: “If you read back, you will see that I’ve made no mention at all about the mental health of sports people.”
I imagine top rugby players need controlled aggression if you call that mental health.
I have been talking about top players but Stuartg wants me to extend the study to all players, suggesting that any problem of fluoridation on top players should affect all players.
“I have been talking about top players”
I suggest that you read back.
Let us know who extended their fantasy to lower grade players by first mentioning lower grade rugby teams, such as Timaru and Petone.
Let us know who first mentioned football teams in the lower UK leagues such as Birmingham City.
In fact, you could let us know who first raised the fantasy that CWF could reduce sports players performance by “more than 10%”.
Then let us know who hasn’t been able to demonstrate significance in the tiny number of coincidences he’s been able to cherry pick among the thousands (millions?) of results available for him to peruse.
FYI, affect ≠ effect.
“Stuartg wants me to extend the study to all players, suggesting that any problem of fluoridation on top players should affect all players.”
Read back.
I’ve asked you to follow the scientific method:
1. Spot an oddity – done
2. Get an idea – done
3. Formulate a hypothesis – not yet achieved
4. Test the hypothesis for non-coincidence – not yet achieved
5. Present your research findings to the rest of the world – not yet achieved
6. Defend your research findings by answering the questions expected from the rest of the world – not yet achieved
You’ve gone from stage 1, where you’ve spotted an odd result, to stage 2, getting an idea. You then appear to fantasise that means you’ve achieved all the rest of the stages. Or maybe you imagine that you’ve achieved ultimate proof, definitively established cause and effect, and that you are now merely awaiting the Nobel?
In reality, you’ve managed to get stuck at the stage many non-scientist or anti-science people end up at. And you’ve even started calling your idea a “study”.
You haven’t been able to recognise logical extensions to your idea. (eg more than 10% impairment in sports performance would be immediately obvious over all sports, over all grades)
You haven’t been able to recognise when your ideas are self-contradictory. (eg you tell us that more than 10% impairment in sports performance would only be evident in the very peak grades whilst telling us you’ve observed it in lower grades)
You haven’t been able to answer valid questioning of your ideas.
You have perceived valid questions of your ideas as a personal attack.
It would appear that you are unaware that all scientists have to defend their findings and reasoning. I suggest that you look up what earning a PhD entails.
All in all, soudhill, you’re not managing the scientific method very well.
Perhaps you should follow my suggestion and attend high school classes in the subject?
Stuartg: “Let us know who extended their fantasy to lower grade players by first mentioning lower grade rugby teams, such as Timaru and Petone.
Timaru (Sounth Canterbury) was in Division 1 until fluoridation and producing lots of All Blacks.
Petone was in the top Wellington competition (Jubilee Cup) until the Petone Tech closed and boys had to go to school in fluoridated Hutt.
Birmingham CIty was winning against Manchester United and playing in the top competition (becoming Premier League). 8 years after fluoridation it was still playing in the top competition but not winning against Manchester United. So it was relegated.
And Stuartg claims I am comparing top teams against lower ones. Only because they become lower some time after fluoridation.
Stuartg wrote: “You haven’t been able to recognise logical extensions to your idea. (eg more than 10% impairment in sports performance would be immediately obvious over all sports, over all grades)”
Unless the genetics and environment are different for the top players.
Stuartg: “Then let us know who hasn’t been able to demonstrate significance in the tiny number of coincidences he’s been able to cherry pick among the thousands (millions?) of results available for him to peruse.”
Going through your list to check here’s one I have come across that does not give a correlation: Aston Villa vs Blackburn Rovers. But the p value is so high using my system that the result cannot be trusted.
While 47 clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, only six have won the title: Manchester United (13), Chelsea (4), Arsenal (3), Manchester City (2), Blackburn Rovers (1) and Leicester City (1). The current champions are Leicester City, who won the title in 2015–16. A small part of Leicester is fluoridated but I can’t find when it started.
With 10% of England fluoridated shouldn’t 10% of the winning years tend to be from fluoridated areas?
Stuartg: “and that you are now merely awaiting the Nobel?”
No I know I make too many spelling mistakes.
Good spotting of unusual results. You’ve obviously had an idea. 💡
Now it’s up to you to do something with that idea. Don’t just remain stuck there and complain no-one pays attention to your idea. Do something with the idea that’s worth someone paying attention to. Be scientific about it.
First you’ve got to formulate a hypothesis.
Then you need to test your hypothesis for non-coincidence by using fresh data. (Re-using data that was used to generate a hypothesis isn’t testing it). I’ve already pointed out how you can get such data from the ‘net.
Then publish your observations, your data and your results.
Then defend your data, thinking and results against scientists’ questioning.
At that stage you may, or may not, have demonstrated a correlation between CWF and sports performance. You want it investigated further? Then you have to demonstrate non-coincidental correlation.
Until you’ve done all of that, your appearance to the world remains that of an anti-fluoridationist living in a conspiracist fantasy world of your own imagination, one who is denying the many decades of epidemiological research that confirm the benefits and safety of optimally fluoridated water supplies.
“Then you need to test your hypothesis for non-coincidence by using fresh data.”
How about you testing your claim that anything which affects some teams must affect all,
Ken if it makes a difference you may have used the maximum elevations rather than the average for the states. Colorado is the highest at 6,800 ft.
Maximum elevation is only “explaining” a bit over 60% of average elevation
I make no claim other than that you appear to have spotted coincidence.
You, however, claim to have observed detrimental effects (more than 10%) from CWF over multiple sports, multiple teams, multiple grades of sport, and multiple countries.
But if you’ve changed your mind and are now no longer claiming there’s an effect on all teams, all sports, all grades, all countries, then you’ll have to allow for that when you produce your hypothesis before testing it. Your idea now begins to sound very close to the default of you having spotted coincidence.
Personally, I think that you’ll be unnecessarily complicating your hypothesis if you start claiming the effect only occurs sometimes, some places, some sports, some grades: it would be like you, as an electrical technician, trying to find an rare intermittent fault on a circuit board – most of the time your testing would show nothing wrong with the board.
Now, how about you providing some evidence of this effect (more than 10%) you claim to have observed?
Bear in mind that repeating the coincidences that you’ve cherry picked to highlight your idea does not constitute providing evidence.
Form your hypothesis from your cherry picked data, then use fresh data to test that hypothesis for non-coincidence. You could even pretend to be a scientist when you use the scientific method.
Stuartg as with the “testing” of earthquake hypotheses which you related of, new types of foundations, it may take some time for new test circumstances to occur.
Stuartg: “Bear in mind that repeating the coincidences that you’ve cherry picked to highlight your idea does not constitute providing evidence.”
I relate them as a reminder then in discussion with you new ideas emerge that I have not seen before such as early this morning: “With 10% of England fluoridated shouldn’t 10% of the winning years tend to be from fluoridated areas?”
I find it hard to do a correlation test over all the sorts of things I noticed, but maybe someone else can become interested.
As I said I noticed unfluoridated Canterbury to be doing well. That formed my hypothesis then I started looking more widely. I don’t think myself to be seriously cherry picking.
“I find it hard to do a correlation test over all the sorts of things I noticed”
Why can’t you do it? Your comments about other people’s statistical analyses imply that you are conversant with doing them yourself. Go ahead, no-one is stopping you. No data? Well, I’ve pointed out how to find sources for the new data that you need to do the testing. Why don’t you use them? Not doing the correlation testing suggests that you already know there is no correlation between sports performance and CWF.
“But maybe someone else can become interested”
Highly unlikely. After the multiple decades of epidemiological research into populations with optimally fluoridated water supplies that completely contradict your beliefs, scientists are aware that the prior probability that your observations are non-coincidental is close to zero. So why should they waste the time and energy?
But maybe you could interest some of your anti-fluoride cronies in doing the correlation studies that are evidently beyond your abilities? Or maybe they also think you’ve noticed coincidence and so can’t be bothered?
“That formed my hypothesis”
No. Hypotheses are for testing. That you haven’t tested one in – how many years now? – shows that you don’t have a hypothesis. Just fantasies.
You claim to have observed detrimental effects (more than 10%) from sports people drinking optimally fluoridated water, occurring over multiple sports, over multiple teams, over multiple grades of sport, and over multiple countries. You now say you are unable to provide evidence to back that claim.
I think an applicable phrase is: put up, or shut up.
Stuartg: “Highly unlikely. After the multiple decades of epidemiological research into populations with optimally fluoridated water supplies that completely contradict your beliefs,”
I have asked for how many studies. Let’s make it easier, which of these ranges?:
101-1,000
1,001- 10,000
Or better still give me some citations.
Stuartg I wonder if you have ever seen cases of pellagra.
Is ir showing again with poverty or idiosyncratic diets reappearing which were extremely uncommon when you went to medical school?
Imagine yourself back in history you are seeing patients with varying degrees of dermatitis, diarrhoea, dementia, death.
What sort of proof would you have wanted of a cause before treatment? Could you have encompassed the three or four symptoms into one disease or would you have had to separate them?
How is correlation done when one cause can have a number of outcomes, as you note for my fluoridation/sport picture?
And my fluoridation picture is further complicated by temperature/water consumption, modification of calcium/magnesium level and balance in water and the possibility for effects pre-conception to current with possibility for apparently delayed action.
Stuartg you must have come across pellagra, possibly without knowing it and prescribing antidepressants, in patients on certain medications or even alcoholics.
“The classical triad of pellagra is dermatitis, diarrhea and
dementia. The symptoms do not have to appear in this order.
Early symptoms of pellagra include lassitude, weakness,
loss of appetite, mild digestive disturbances and psychiatric or emotional distress (anxiety, irritability and depression).”
Click to access 56c0990b08aeedba05647102.pdf
You will say I am diverting the topic but I say you are trying to force an oversimplified approach to studying
possible fluoridation effects.
As I said: put up, or shut up.
Brian – thanks for pointing out my mistake with the figure where I use maximum rather than mean state elevations. I have checked it out and fortunately, the mistake is only with that graph (I pulled out some information at the last minute for the graph and must have been confused). Fortunately, I have used the correct elevation figures in all the statistical analysis, etc.
I have also corrected the figures where I wrongly cited infant death rates as percent.
I guess that comes from missing my daily power nap. 🙂
Stuartg wrote: “As I said: put up, or shut up.”
How about you stop shutting up and answer my questions which help elucidate about getting an agreed framework.
Some of the time pellagra shows up as black tongue in creatures. But you can’t demand black tongue as a symptom before your treat with vitamin B3 rather than antidepressants like Prozac.
Fluoridation could have one or more of several possible synptoms in sports teams from an area. The effects could be caused by
1. quantity of water consumed by players
2. change in the balance and concentration of calcium/magnesium when the water is treated.
3. interaction with other issues such as low iodine and or COMT and MAOA gene variants which may affect drives.
4. epigenetic effects – that gene switching on or off adaptation is inherited by offspring.
5. effect of results of 1-4 above on secondary school players with a follow on result on the adult teams they may be at the top of in 8 years.
6. possible other interactions or direct effects.
So the sampling and correlation testing be not simple,
Ken possibly to improve your analysis please note that the average dweller in a state may be in cities which are on average below or above the average elevation of the state.
That if your elevation – preterm/morbidity/morality figures be correct they impact on the assumption in the Han/Tibetan blood oxygen saturation I cited, don’t they?
Itâs not my analysis, Brian, and I am not interested in digging deeper into searching for causes. I do not have such expertise.
I was simply showing how that the information being promoted by the FFNZ is completely wrong.
They are scaremongering.
Just as they did with the offensive email to Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter:
https://matterchatter.wordpress.com/2017/04/15/an-open-letter-on-fluoride-science-and-kindness/
Ken though when research papers are claiming that altitude reduces oxygen saturation and causes trouble and your result claims altitude reduces trouble doesn’t that clash need to be sorted?
Not by me.
Are you attempting to divert again away from the lies being told by the FFNZ people?
That is what the article is about.
Ken your relationship with altitude could be a coincidence just as Stuartg claims about a result of mine even though it had an excellent p value.
Of course it could be, possibly. Correlation is never causation.
But we do know that the association with fluoridation is bogus, don’t we?
Correlation is not causation. But the issue is that your p value of 0.002 means that there are 2 chances in a 100 that the correlation is only by chance before even thinking about causation.
My correlation at 3:05pm https://openparachute.wordpress.com/2017/03/23/fluoride-coffee-and-activist-confusion/#comment-81572
Results n=106, Rs=0.3041, t=3.26,
p (two tailed) = 0.001506
has a better p value than yours but Stuartg pointed out it could be coincidence.
You must be careful not to be tending to get people to think into circular thinking when you say, “But we do know that the association with fluoridation is bogus, don’t we?” since you are basing the bogusity claim on the correlation aren’t you?
No I am not – did you not understand the article.
I am basing the bogus charge on the fact that there is no statistically significant correlation with percentage of fluoridation in a state. And when covariates are included the level of significance drops even further – through the floor.
Fluoridation should be the last fact to consider.
Ken your p value of 0.592 means that your calculation cannot be relied on for its assertion of low correlation.
What do you mean, Brian? Do you interpret such a large p value as indicating a statistically significant association? Surely not!
Ken the p value says whether the r value (correlation) obtained is “significant.”
You haven’t given the r value you obtained. Whatever it be, high or low means little since the p value is high.
To claim a low correlation you state it and p must be<0.05 or better.
Al you have shown is that your calculation has not come up with a good enough p value to say anything.
I am not the one saying anything – it is your mates in FFNZ claiming that fluoridation is associated with increased infant deaths.
The extremely high p value shows they are wrong when elevation is included as a covariate. Even without including any covariates their association is still not statistically significant.
There is absolutely no association between fluoridation and infant death – why try to claim there is?
Ken: “The extremely high p value shows they are wrong when elevation is included as a covariate.”
No it just shows that the data you have put into that sort of calculation is not sufficient to make any claim and the p value is telling you.
The high p value means a correlation cannot be claimed using those figures and that method. But it cannot be ruled out.
To rule it out the calculation needs to produce a very low r
and p<0.05 or better.
Ken you might try this, entering in say your r values you have for any relationships between say pre-term and fluoridation, pre-term and altitude, and altitude and fluoridation. I presume N will be 51 if you have data for every state. Vassarstats will do its sort of calculation and give t and two-tailed p values., holding each of the three variables controlled in turn.
http://vassarstats.net/par.html
By putting in larger values of N it is possible to see how many states would be necessary to give significant partial correlations when the non-partial correlations are low.
Please do not confuse “significant” with notable – the magnitude of the correlation. “Significance” (the p value) only indicates whether the correlation which has been calculated can be trusted.
“Fluoridation could have one or more of several possible synptoms (sic) in sports teams from an area. The effects could be caused by”
“could”? You’re not sure?
The first thing you need to do then is to actually show if an effect actually exists. If the effect is “more than 10%”, as you say, then there should be plenty of evidence for you to cite.
Why are you not able to cite evidence that the effect actually exists? Why are you unable to “put up”?
The logical answer is that you can’t provide evidence for the simple reason that CWF has no effect on sports performance.
Brian, you are welcome to try whatever you want in your efforts to retrieve a nasty role of fluoride. The data is freely available. But I am not going to waste my time.
But there is clearly no association of preterm births with fluoridation extent – you can tell that just be eyeballing the data in the figure. Why bother attempting to revive the claim. It is clearly another lie from the FFNZ people. You are just attempting to cover that lie up with yet another diversion.
Stuartg I have produced many observations putting fluoridation under suspicion. They are of differing scenarios. I am not all the way there yet as you aren’t when you prescribe mental health treatment without checking vitamin B3 status.
“the average dweller in a state may be in cities which are on average below or above the average elevation of the state.”
Yep. Average is average.
“I have produced many observations putting fluoridation under suspicion”
But you still haven’t produced any evidence that your observations are not coincidence. Until you do so the suspicion remains entirely your own fantasy.
As I said: put up, or…
As Ken, along with many others, said: correlation is not causation.
You haven’t yet demonstrated correlation. But you fantasise that you’ve demonstrated causation.
You really should attend classes about the basics of science.
Perhaps someone else talking about the toxicity of fluoride may help?
Ken perhaps you should also take into account induced abortion rate. On your preterm births chart the high points would be Mississippi, Louisianna, Alabama and West Virginnia. They are in the lower half of abortion rates. So might it be expected that less viable babies are being kept as long as possible?
Those states are about half way long your altitude chart, making the line more horizontal than it would be if they were not at that point.
Induced abortion rates are negatively correlated with altitude
r -0.3638
t -2.62
P two-tailed
so presumably positively correlated with fluoridation extent, so going by averages these four states could be further along the chart increasing the slope.
Have you not got the message, Brian?
My article pointed out how FFNZ was using cherry picked data to lie about the relationship of infant deaths to fluoridation. I showed there is no statistically significant association – particularly when one possible covariate (which is related to fluoridation extent) is included. The weak and statistically non-significant relations they claimed is not due to fluoridation.
As for preterm births – they advanced a conspiracy theory to imply measurements have found a statistically significant relationship but this information had been suppressed. I simply showed there is no statistically significant relationship, the data is readily available and they are lying about suppression.
I have shown that yet again, FFNZ is lying and they a fiddling statistics. Yet again!
My task is complete – I have absolutely no interest in doing any of the things you suggest. You are simply trying to divert attention away from the purpose of my article and what I have shown.
That FFNZ is lying – yet again.
And the top 3 of those states have African American percentages of MS 37.3 (2nd in US)
LA 32.4 (3rd)
AL 26.38 (7th)
and when working with all subjects you still need to be fair comparing like with like, then the line would be steeper.
One way of lying with statistics – in epidemiology – is to leave out categories who don’t support your case, as the CDC did with MMR, Black boys and ADHD. Or to include non-equivalent group members when it suits.
Making a start to get equivalent groups I have left off Hawaii and the 10 states with about 20% or more African American population. (Actually 19.91% or above).
Then correlating preterm births against fluoridation extent I calculate from Vassarstats
number of states 40
correlation 0.3628 or fluoridation “explaining” 13% of preterm births.
t value 2.4
(two-tailed)
That last comment demonstrates two things you lack: knowledge of statistics and inability to question anti-fluoride propaganda.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/01/06/the-cdc-whistleblower-data-dump-redux-even-william-thompson-appears-not-to-believe-the-antivaccine-spin/
But well done for trying to divert again.
Stuartg so you make a big thing about where Thompson saved the computer files at the time of the document destruction: “All the associated MMR-Autism Study computer files have been retained on the Immunization Safety Office computer servers since the inception of the study and they continue to reside there today.”
Stuartg:”you lack: knowledge of statistics”
I think you to be referring to my race-based selection of subjects which then shows a result.
What protocol would you use about comparing likes with likes?
I’d refer to a statistician, someone who knew more than me about the subject.
I’m aware I don’t have the knowledge to comment.
I only have two years of statistics at university so am much less qualified to talk on the subject than an electrical technician who hasn’t managed high school science.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning–Kruger_effect
“Thompson saved the computer files at the time of the document destruction”
Haven’t you heard? Hooker’s incompetent “re-analysis” (subsequently retracted) was of Destefano et al’s already published data. He had no need to save data files already in the public arena.
You continue to demonstrate that you are unable to question anti-fluoride doctrine.
I’m curious.
Do you have an anti-fluoride catechism? One that you use for cut and paste? One that you’re not allowed to deviate from? Even when it’s been repeatedly proven wrong?
You give that impression.
Stuartg: “He had no need to save data files already in the public arena.”
The files only remained on the computer because Thompson saved them. They are not exactly in the public arena now it is very hard to get permission to review them.
Stuartg: “Do you have an anti-fluoride catechism? One that you use for cut and paste? One that you’re not allowed to deviate from?”
No I think things out for myself. Another example 7 or 8 years ago
http://tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2009/03/someone-please-tell-national-that.html
“At 27/4/09 3:47 pm, Blogger soundhill said…
Ian Wishart wrote:
“And memo to Bomber, the planet is currently cooling overall, not warming. Latest data, FWIW, shows Antarctica in particular has cooled by up to 0.21C since 1980.”
I would expect Antarctica to cool with global warming. Deep ocean currents bring heat to calve icebergs which then travel to latitudes where they reflect away heat which was formerly being absorbed by seawater. ”
I also sent emails to some scientists and the subject is turning up in Scientific American years later.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/antarctica-rsquo-s-sleeping-ice-giant-could-wake-soon/?WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20170412
Stuartg are you referring to this DeStefano paper?:
Click to access PediatricsDeStefanoMMRAtlanta113(2)259.pdf
They specify male and female, and race but do not give race by sex.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/01/05/the-cdc-whistleblower-documents-a-whole-lot-of-nothing-and-no-conspiracy-to-hide-an-mmr-autism-link/
An earlier comment of mine was:
I notice that you still haven’t shown correlation, that you still haven’t shown that your observations are not coinidental.
The obvious conclusion is that any relationship between CWF and sports performance that you noticed is pure coincidence.
Unless you show correlation, that is…
Coincidental, not coinidental.
No, I refer to the complete original paper.
Stuartg my cite was a complete paper not just an abstract. If you think there to be something more “original” dividing Blacks by sex, then please cite.
Stuartg I have shown several correlations.
You have not shown any correlations. What you have done is to mention some interesting coincidences.
Nothing you have written or cited has demonstrated non-coincidence of those observations.
I’ve pointed several ways that you can demonstrate non-coincidence of your observations, any of which could be easily used by an expert statistician.
Once you demonstrate non-coincidence, then you have correlation.
Unless you demonstrate correlation, all you have is coincidence.
But then, expert statistician that you claim to be, you already know all of that.
Failing to attempt demonstration of non-coincidence suggests that you already know there is no correlation and that your entire purpose is spreading FUD about CWF.
You want the original data from Destefano et al?
Simple. Such data is never deleted as the authors may want to re-analyse when additional data becomes available. It’s still available from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/developmentaldisabilities/maddsp-data-sets.html
Stuartg, from that how is anyone supposed to know what data sets are available?
And Dr Hooker says Destefano was the one who had ordered the destruction of the data and took over from Thompson and presented fraudulent data in a talk to the Institute of Medicine which Thompson had been supposed to give.
Stuartg a correlation can be by coincidence – chance. The associated p value tells of the chance the correlation is only the result of chance.
At p=0.05 there is one chance in 20 that that correlation only happened by chance – coincidence. My p values were usually better. So my correlations are regarded as statistically significant.
You may only claim I have not demonstrated a causal connection – the same with any set of correlations.
The figures I gave for South Canterbury’s contribution to the All Blacks appears that I would get a significant negative correlation with fluoridation. That does not mean that I would get the same for other places say like Tauranga, Then I would look for other factors such as low South Canterbury iodine compared to Tauranga.
Small numbers mean unreliable statistics. Even a high school student of statistics could tell you that. But then, as an electrical technician who has never done science, your skills with statistics are obviously so much greater than someone who’s actually been taught statistics.
“That does not mean that I would get the same for other places say like Tauranga” – and I’m encouraging you to do the same for places like Tauranga. Or New Plymouth. Or Southland. Or Marlborough. Or Northland… In fact, why don’t you include everywhere in the country so that you have significant numbers and can allow for confounding variables?
I’ve pointed out how you can do the same for UK football teams. I’ve pointed out how you can check secondary level NZ teams. I’ve pointed out how you can check with different sports, using different grades, both sexes, all ages.
…But you don’t do so.
I suspect that you already know that you would demonstrate coincidence and non-correlation by checking other, larger, numbers.
So, instead, you ignore the science and continue to use cherry-picked coincidences to spread FUD about CWF.
Here’s a simple challenge for you, directly related to your “observations’ and “studies”:
After over 70 years and many hundreds of millions of people enjoying the benefits of optimally fluoridated water, please cite one documented example of any physical harm to any person, or to any population, because they drank optimally fluoridated water, even for as much as a lifetime.
Stuartg, if I do the same for Tauranga, then if the correlation for Tauranga be statistically significant, then it be worth comparing it to Timaru, if Timaru also be statistically significant.
Stuartg perhaps an analogy will help.
If I am on holiday Is it safer to drive a car on the right or left side of the road? Say I holiday in Australia of Japan and do OK on the left in a statistically significant fashion, then you are like someone who holidayed in the USA or China who claims driving on the left be not safe for them in a statistically significant fashion. You are like saying I ought take a larger sample over more countries.
In that case there is the obvious difference where we know that the rules are different. Some countries drive on the left and some on the right. Taking the wider average does not help. If I holiday in several countries I should soon find out the two statistically significant patterns. Unless I am slow at learning and think there should be one way overall to be testing.
If my thinking ability develops I may see there may be something to do with which side of the car the steering wheel is on. Or there may be arrows on the road.
All that is so easy to see so why not for possible interactions of fluoridation with temperature, activity, amount of water drunk, in combination with other inputs, balances of minerals and sunlight/ vitamin D at various latitudes/altitudes/skin colours, other genetic types of person?
Do you see that to leave out more principles and just ask for one overall tally for fluoridation be wrong, just as it be wrong to leave out knowledge of different driving rules in various countries?
It is like you keep asking me for one example where driving on the left side of the road isn’t safe because it has been proven it works in the whole “British Commonwealth.” There may be better analogies.
Do go on…
Everyone is noting how you are unable to provide any evidence that people or individuals have been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water in more than seventy years.
“perhaps an analogy will help”
No. Evidence would help your argument. If you have any.
Stuartg please define “optimally fluoridated water.”
Are you going to give me the 1990 version or what?
Why has the definition changed? If no harm then no need for change.
Unable to answer the question?
You can use today’s definition, or that of 70 years ago, or any intervening, as long as you justify your choice.
Everyone is still noting how you are unable to provide any evidence that populations or individuals have been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water for over seventy years, even over entire lifetimes.
Evidence would really help your argument.
But you still haven’t produced any.
If you have difficulty in deciding what an optimal level of CWF is, you could always use the level from somewhere that democratically chose to continue CWF.
Perhaps the level in Ken’s home, Hamilton?
Stuartg: “As I said: put up, or…”
Do you only accept overt symptoms?
Stuartg do you have to see bandy legs in a child before you prescribe vitamin D? (By which time it be too late of course)
Stuartg how large does a patient’s thyroid have to be before you are prepared to send them for a thyroid test? Don’t you think it be more fair to be awake to earlier signs?
Stuartg: “I suspect that you already know that you would demonstrate coincidence and non-correlation by checking other, larger, numbers.”
I have shown correlation figures and their associated p values which demonstrate statistical significance at much better than what may be accepted in many studies.
What level of p value do you demand?
Stuartg: “If you have difficulty in deciding what an optimal level of CWF is, you could always use the level from somewhere that democratically chose to continue CWF.
In other words, not answering my question but proclaiming: “Obey me! Abracadabra you shall forget history.”
It should be obvious that my references to overt symptoms, bandy legs and enlarged thyroid are follow-ons to earlier indications that could have been dealt with to prevent the eventual aggravated conditions. And that I maintain such matters as correlations between fluoridation and poorer community sports performance ought to be noted and acted upon before overt symptoms in individuals appear.
We can still see that you are unable to cite any evidence that individuals or populations have been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies in the more than seventy years since CWF was started.
Even when you are allowed to define “optimally” and “harm” yourself, provided you also justify your definition, you are still unable to cite evidence.
What next? Do you need someone else to define the terms “water”, “drinking”, “fluoridated”, “seventy”, or “years” for you?
You may have shown “correlation figures”, but you have not yet shown correlation or non-coincidence.
But then, could we expect an electrical technician with no secondary education in science to understand that? Maybe not, especially when the Dunning-Kruger effect is so strong.
Stuartg: “You may have shown “correlation figures”, but you have not yet shown correlation or non-coincidence.”
The likelihood of “coincidence,” or the calculated correlation value happening by chance is given by the p value. At p=0.05 it is a 1 in 20 chance, which is accepted in many studies as a statistically significant correlation.
What p value limit do you require?
Stuartg: “What next? Do you need someone else to define the terms “water”, “drinking”, “fluoridated”, “seventy”, or “years” for you?”
The point is that “optimally fluoridated,” has changed from meaning a range: 0.7 – 1.2 mg/l to meaning only 0.7 mg/l in USA and NZ may be catching up.
The story goes mild dental fluorosis is not an illness in fact it be good for you. But because it is increasing a little with better tooth brushing with fluoridated toothpaste the level put into water is going to be decreased. You weren’t being harmed it has been good for you but we’re going to decrease fluoridation level because of that increase in that good effect.
“That good effect in which fluoride was damaging the cells which form tooth enamel causing the enamel to get develop with white opacities.”
…And the point is that even though you are able to specify your own level for optimal fluoridation, provided you justify that level, you still have been unable to cite an individual or a population that has been harmed by drinking such optimally fluoridated water, even for over seventy years consumption.
And though fluoridation plus toothpaste was damaging the cells which form your tooth enamel especially in some people, and so causing the white opacities on the teeth, we don’t know if it be genetic and we don’t think it to be damaging anything else.
Stuartg: “you still have been unable to cite an individual or a population that has been harmed by drinking such optimally fluoridated water”
I have cited populations it is just that you have a mind set that illness has to be really bad before you accept it. Bad like too late to do anything much except arrange extra carers.
You have the option to define “harm”, as long as you are able to justify your definition.
You have the option to define the level of fluoride at which “optimal fluoridation” occurs. Again, you have to be able to justify your definition.
Now, given your ability to set those definitions, could you please explain to us why you are unable to cite any documentation of harm that has occurred to individuals or to populations from drinking optimally fluoridated water over at least the past seventy years?
Of course, the default answer, the obvious answer, is that in more than seventy years of study epidemiologists have never found any harm to individuals or populations from drinking optimally fluoridated water.
Your inability to cite evidence to the contrary is merely supporting the epidemiologist finding of no harm.
Stuartg: “You have the option to define “harm”, as long as you are able to justify your definition.”
Why not reduced community rugby performance?
Stuartg: “You have the option to define the level of fluoride at which “optimal fluoridation” occurs. Again, you have to be able to justify your definition.”
The accepted level for that community at that time.
Stuartg: “could you please explain to us why you are unable to cite any documentation of harm”
The discussion on this group could lead to eventual publication by me or others. Until then no citation of published work can be produced.
You appear to try to be convincing readers that since nothing has been peer reviewed yet that it never can be. Funny, by your logic we would never see any new discoveries.
You believe that harm is/has been produced by CWF. At least, that’s what you tell us.
So why is it that you cannot cite any documents that support your beliefs? Unless there is no evidence out there?
After all, CWF has been used by millions of people for more than seven decades now. Hundreds, if not thousands, of epidemiologist have been studying those communities, searching for harm. Hundreds, if not thousands, of local and national governmental departments have been monitoring those communities – and most, if not all, of their monitoring data has been published online.
And yet you are still unable to cite any published documents that support your beliefs.
Maybe those unsubstantiated beliefs are better called fantasies?
https://thelogicofscience.com/2017/04/23/science-matters-because-it-works/
Stuartg: “You believe that harm is/has been produced by CWF. At least, that’s what you tell us.”
Reduced community football performance for one thing
Documents have to be written before they can be cited.
How about 100 cites then? I doubrt they be what you imply.
It always has to start somewhere.
Everything starts as a fantasy.
You brought up the factor of trading of players between teams. I think it would work against my observations as players move from fluoridated to non-fluoridated areas or vice versa, not reinforce them. That will be something to eventually publish then people will be able to cite it.
Stuartg cited: “Now, at this point, inevitably lots of people are going to get offended and respond with something to the effect of, “I’m not anti-science, but…I disagree with the way that science is being done, I think that massive corporations are buying off scientists, I have anecdotes that don’t match the science, scientists have been wrong in the past, scientists are close-minded, etc.,” but those aren’t valid responses and by using them you are standing in opposition to science, which makes you, by definition, anti-science.”
Give a verification for that, please.
You are not standing in opposition to science you are doing what science demands – challenge.
Continuing, one thing we are led to believe is science, that is vaccines, is actually just a business venture.
The vaccine manufacturers don’t even have need to work for safety since unlike most health areas they are absolved from any liability.
Dr Hooker: “There is no inertia and there is no impetus for the CDC or the vaccine manufacturers to
make safe vaccines. They know that vaccines are block-buster business. Many employees
at the CDC end up in industry. Case in point Dr. Julie Gerberding, who was the director of
the CDC from 2001 until 2008, took a very lucrative position as the head of the vaccine
division in Merck in 2009. She was given stock options in the millions for that particular
position so she overnight became a millionaire. There have been other employees that
have gone on to lucrative positions. There’s actually a revolving door between the CDC
and the vaccine industry.
Dr. Thompson himself came from Merck. He worked at Merck before he worked at the
CDC. Dr. Frank DiStefano who is the current head of the immunization safety office at
the CDC actually left the CDC, went into industry and then came back to the CDC.”
soudhill,
OK, I understand what you’re saying. I suspect that so does everyone else.
You fantasise that drinking optimally fluoridated water impairs sports performance. By about 10%, you said, which would reduce professional or Olympic grade athletes to about high school level.
Absolutely no epidemiologists have ever noted that drop in performance, even though they’ve been actively searching for something like this for over seventy years. Neither have sports scientists – and they look for fractions of a percentage improvement or impairment.
The truth is that you’ve observed some minor sporting coincidences, none of which have been duplicated elsewhere, and you now believe that with those coincidences you have proved harm occurs from CWF.
Go ahead, write it up. Don’t forget to mention that you have no references to cite and that the entire thing depends on those coincidences you’ve observed.
Even your anti-fluoride cronies will recognise it as fantasy.
All your comments up to date show you agree with the scientific maxim that the dose makes the poison; the higher the amount of fluoride ingested, the greater the degree of fluorosis on teeth and the greater degree of other effects.
That maxim means that any effect of fluoride on sports performance is not going to be an on/off effect. It would be expected to be greater with increased fluoride intake, just as happens with other effects.
The effect would be most evident in areas with high levels of fluoride in the water, exactly like the increased level of fluorosis in those areas.
We can find such areas around the world: China, India, parts of the USA, many areas in Africa, areas in South America, areas of the Middle East, several of the ‘Stans, parts of Australia.
How come no epidemiologists in those areas have noted a massive (“greater than 10%”, remember?) impairment of sporting performance from fluoride? Not even Chinese researchers, those that you have so frequently cited in the past for their dubious recognition of effects of high water fluoride, managed to observe the massive changes in sporting performance that you claim occur.
Thousands of scientists, working worldwide, haven’t been able to detect an effect of CWF on sporting performance, in over seventy years of searching, even though they were actively searching for such things.
Or what if the effect was not dose dependent, but instead it actually was an on/off effect, with optimally fluoridated water capable of triggering your claimed 10% impairment of sporting performance? 10% impairment would mean that NZ would not have any international level athletes from Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Dunedin… Indeed, there would not be any international level athletes from any areas of the world with CWF or higher water fluoride.
We can readily see that’s not the case by looking at the sporting pages of most newspapers. Why look at p values when even The Press contradicts the idea of an on/off effect?
p values (sigh!) You claim Birmingham City results to be statistically significant, p=0.05 for significance. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_football_clubs_in_England.
Birmingham City is just one club in the top 27 leagues in England. Each league has about 20 clubs, some more. Each club has several teams. And you’ve noticed an effect on just one team from a list of well over 500 clubs? There should be many more teams with similar records, purely by coincidence. (Back of the envelope calculation: over 2,500 teams, so we should be able to identify similar records in over 120 teams)
You have failed to identify a simple coincidence; instead you used that coincidence to reinforce your own beliefs, fantasising that you had identified cause and effect.
Your logical reasoning is highly flawed, soundhill. Maybe if you had taken secondary school classes in science it would be better? Maybe you would understand statistics enough to recognise your lack of knowledge in the area? Maybe you would be able to identify coincidence?
Stuartg: “Not even Chinese researchers, those that you have so frequently cited in the past for their dubious recognition of effects of high water fluoride, managed to observe the massive changes in sporting performance that you claim occur.”
Tibet has to compete under the Chinese flag in the Olympics. Out of its over 3 million people it has only ever achieved one medal: a bronze in a women’s walk in 2012. Compare to New Zealand which achieved 18 for 4.5 million people last year. Tibetans drink a lot of brick tea which is high in fluoride.
China with 1.7B people came 76th in the number of population per medal (70 total medals.)
Yet again you cherry pick. Didn’t you notice that China has multiple high fluoride areas, not just Tibet, yet continues to gain multiple gold medals? So does the USA. And Australia. And African countries. And even NZ, with its areas of CWF, still manages to gain gold medals at the Olympics.
And, hadn’t you noticed, your idea of “more than 10%” impairment in sports performance from CWF (or even high fluoride area) implies that no-one from Tibet would even qualify for the Olympics? Someone from Tibet winning a gold medal at the Olympics implicitly suggests that your idea is wrong.
And, yet again, I will point out that you are still unable to cite any published evidence that any individual or population has been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water in the more than seventy years during which such harm has been sought.
Stuartg: “And, hadn’t you noticed, your idea of “more than 10%” impairment in sports performance from CWF (or even high fluoride area) implies that no-one from Tibet would even qualify for the Olympics?”
It is that the correlation offers 10% and in the case of Aston Villa 5%, if I remember, explanation for the order of wins related to fluoridation plus 8 years. It does not mean take the percent off the score. Sorry I let you say it a few times before commenting.
So to comment on your other Olympic comments take a look overall at the Olympics.
http://fluoridealert.org/content/bfs-2012/ gives the percent of a country which is fluoridated. If not shown I have assigned 0.
http://www.medalspercapita.com gives the number of Olympic medals per capita.
86 countries are shown. For ones on the fluoridation list but not on the medals list such as SIngapore (100% fluoridation) I have assigned rank 87.
Using Vassarstats rank correlation I get those further down the rank are correlated to greater percent fluoridation of the countries.
95 values entered.
rank correlation 0.2382 and squaring that gives 5.7% explanation.
t value 2.36
P one-tailed
two-tailed
whether you think this to be one or two-tailed.
Check it for me please.
And please note if I were working with fluoride in the water the correlation may be greater. That be because countries like China with 0 fluoridation actually have quite a lot of natural fluoride. Its low medal ranking would then be associated with more fluoride not zero as for its fluoridation.
Please note I work with rank correlations, that is comparing the 1st 2nd 3rd …&c. largest variables in each set. So my correlations relate to position on the list, not the scores.
You still have not cited any published evidence to demonstrate that drinking optimally fluoridated water has caused harm to individuals or populations for more than seventy years, in spite of millions of people benefiting from CWF.
Some actual evidence from you may benefit your claim.
Stuartg just because evidence is published does not mean it to be infallible. See Retraction Watch.
And the lack of publication is not infallible either. Have you heard of publication bias?
I never interpreted your claim of “more than 10%” sports impairment by CWF as “take the percent off the score.” (Except maybe in your imagination?)
I interpreted it to mean what you typed, that CWF impairs sports performance by “more than 10%”. After all, if that’s not what you meant, then why did you bother to type it?
You have previously claimed that what you typed is not what you meant, and so I then advised that you should review your typing before hitting “Post.” Obviously you didn’t bother to take that advice, either.
So what made you decide that, among all the people in the world, you are the only one whose claims do not require any evidential support?
Claims without evidence are known as fantasies.
I note that at least one paper you cite (on a topic other than CWF) has had the distinction of appearing on Retraction Watch.
But you still appear to treat it as infallible gospel.
Stuartg: “I note that at least one paper you cite (on a topic other than CWF) has had the distinction of appearing on Retraction Watch.”
The paper by Seralini et al was retracted by Food and Chemical Toxicology after a Monsanto employee came on to the board of the journal and a story was made up that Seralini had not used enough rats for a cancer study but it was not a cancer study. It was a toxicology study and used same number and type of rats as Monsanto. Unlike the Monsanto study it did not stop at 3 months. Since then several authorities are classifying glyphoste as a cancer promoting possibility. Seralini was only reporting tumours as is proper protocol if they occur.
Stuartg: “So what made you decide that, among all the people in the world, you are the only one whose claims do not require any evidential support?”
I am not making claims I am pointing out possible connections. I am working with published sports data.
If everyone has to work with cited research data then new discoveries could not show up.
Stuartg:”I interpreted it to mean what you typed, that CWF impairs sports performance by “more than 10%”. After all, if that’s not what you meant, then why did you bother to type it?”
I can’t find the original statement but here’s what I said to David Gierstien:
“Using the Manchester United vs Birmingham City football results – 106 games starting 19th century I have given Manchester United 1 for a win 0 for a draw and -1 for a loss.
Starting from 1979, 8 years after fluoridation stated in Birmingham City, Manchester United had no more losses against them. I assert that Birmingham City players were harmed by fluoridation.
Using 0 for the years up to 1978 and 1 for the years from then on I have used Vassarstats to do a rank correlation.
p (two tailed) = 0.001506.
Correlation is not causation, however in this case the chance is 15 parts per 10,000 that it is only chance that fluoridation after a short delay “explains” over 9% of the results.”
Have you converted 9 to 10 Stuartg? Not that that amount is important just that you seem to be bending things then being so sure about your bent results. Sorry I let you go on so long with the “10%.” If I did say it I apologize and how about you refer me to the place.
There is no claim there that fluoridation has affected the results. It is stating results and a calculation to think about. Note “explains” I put in in inverted commas. It is a common use of the word, isn’t it, for statistical connection and does not mean actual causation?
I didn’t recall the Seralini paper. That makes at least three retracted papers that you continue to cite.
“More than 10%” – note the quotation marks I use when quoting you directly.
“I am not making claims” – in that case, why are you attempting to use statistics to back up your non-claims?
Let’s summarise.
You’ve observed some interesting results in multiple sports in multiple countries.
You haven’t investigated them further, for instance by looking to see if the results extend to other, similar teams.
That’s commonly known as cherry picking.
You have then directly related those interesting observations to the presence or absence of CWF at various stages in the life of the players.
You have not considered other causes, including coincidence.
You have attempted some statistics without actually identifying the complete population you need to work with, making your results irrelevant.
Based on your cherry picking and inappropriate statistics, you then claim that CWF causes harm to populations: “Reduced community football performance for one thing” – yes, that’s a claim made by “I am not making claims” soundhill.
Another claim you make is “more than 10%” impairment of sporting performance.
And all of this without being able to cite a single shred of evidence.
CWF has been in use for over seventy years. Millions of people drinking CWF have been extensively studied by epidemiologists and both local and national governmental organisations for those seventy plus years. Many of their results and studies are freely available.
And, amongst all that evidence, you have been unable to find anything to support your claims.
That alone is a pretty good refutation of your claims.
Stuartg: “WOW! More than 10% impairment in sports performance is attributable to CWF! That amount of impairment is really noticeable:
About 1 second in the 100 metres
About 23 seconds in the 1500 metres
Then please explain what you said:
“I never interpreted your claim of “more than 10%” sports impairment by CWF as “take the percent off the score.””
I have been talking about ranks.
I see you quoted me about the 10% before:
““(The reference) says 10% which does not explain the differences I believe may be related to fluoridation.””
[I am not sure if you or I wrote “(the reference)” which is by the way]
but it is not what you say: ““More than 10%” – note the quotation marks I use when quoting you directly.”
What I was saying was that you had said it had been said the colour of the gear could produce a 10% improvement. I thought you were serious, and I said I thought (believed) fluoridation to have more effect than that, yes. But when I calculated the correlation from the Birminghan Manchester United results it only came out to just over 9% – obtained by squaring the correlation I obtained.
Stuartg: “I didn’t recall the Seralini paper. That makes at least three retracted papers that you continue to cite.”
Please cite again.
Stuartg, I am not making claims I am pointing out statistically significant correlations in certain groups from certain geographical areas.
You have wanted me to look wider which I believe my Olympics medals rate and percent fluoridation does.
Stuartg: ““I am not making claims” – in that case, why are you attempting to use statistics to back up your non-claims?”
You are the one making a claim – fluoridation to be safe. I have not made a claim that it isn’t – I have only presented statistically significant correlations which caste doubt and which need to be investigated carefully, not just write them off as many coincidences.
Ken investigates – he introduces new possible “causes” (statistically thinking.) then does multiple regressions and finds no statistically signficant result in the controlled situation. That does not prove no connection. A statistically significant near-zero correlation be required for that. Also Ken ought to try to compare similar populations across USA. Some of the states have very different African American population proportions, and we know from Thompson of the CDC that their young males can relate differently in some matters, for example MMR- autism.
It be no use the way you did, Stuartg, giving the anecdotes about a few fluoridated countries and their Olympic successes. Well it would be if it led to better correlating.
Come on science!
I’ve told you this before, several times, but it bears repeating.
One of the first rules of statistics is that you do not use the data used to generate an idea or hypothesis to then test the hypothesis. After all, you already know the outcome and are just duplicating your own work.
To test an idea or hypothesis you need to generate a completely new set of data and do the statistical analysis on the new data.
I’ve pointed out several ways to get new data to test your ideas but you have completely ignored my suggestions.
Because you’ve never sought out new data (possibly because it disproves your ideas?), we can completely ignore any statistical work you have done on the original, idea generating, observations.
But then you would already know that if you had bothered to learn science at secondary school level.
You give a brilliant example of the Dunning-Kruger effect in action, believing you have an advanced knowledge in a subject because you don’t actually understand the basics.
Stuartg don’t you think the Olympics data to be new?
“The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which low-ability individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability as much higher than it really is.”
No Stuartg, I always express a level of uncertainty, sometimes quantified as a p value in a particular set of circumstances.
I am working with new ideas, which have to enter into science somehow. I seems to be rather your high-handed “we can only take proven publications into account,” to be Dunning Kruger.
Should be “It seems to be.”
And Stuartg like Unison Network wanting to tax solar power you come under suspicion of trying to suppress new stuff.
“don’t you think the Olympics data to be new?”
No. Just another idea created by an entirely unrelated set of data.
To test an idea, the new set of data actually has to be related to the original idea:
To test an idea about team captains, you need data about the captains of other teams.
To test an idea about UK football team results, you need data from the results of other UK football teams.
To test an idea about second grade rugby teams, you need data from other second grade rugby teams.
Yet you appear to be trying to test an idea about rugby team captains by using data from the Olympic games. And it’s not even data from Olympic rugby games!
And yet you can’t understand what’s wrong with your “study”.
So why is it that you think you’re an expert at statistics?
As I said previously, you provide a good example of the Dunning-Kruger effect in action.
You would get better reception for your “new stuff” if you actually had some evidence to support it.
You now accuse me of “trying to suppress new stuff” when I’m asking you to supply evidence in support of your “new stuff.”
When you prove you can’t provide the evidence, I’m giving you advice on how to actually obtain such evidence.
Exactly how is that suppressing you?
…Or is accusing me of “trying to suppress new stuff” another claim that you’re not making?
You appear not to listen unless it already be published evidence.
Any already published is old, not new.
Stuartg has been saying put up published evidence or shut up. What is that if not intended to discourage the new as yet unpublished material from being discussed?
Of course I’m asking for published evidence.
Tell us exactly how, if evidence has not been published, anyone is expected to evaluate it? How can it even be called evidence?
Evidence: “that which is seen”
You want me to cite retracted papers you keep referring to? Hardly.
Some names: Seralini. Hooker. Wakefield.
Is that enough?
“What is that if not intended to discourage the new as yet unpublished material from being discussed?”(sic)
Soundhill, explain exactly how you expect unpublished material to be discussed.
Or maybe I could “suppress” you further by encouraging you to publish your observations and subsequent “studies”, along with the claims you’re not making, so that we can see the data, the data analysis, the results of the analysis and your interpretation of them, any claims that you’re not making, and open all of that for discussion.
After all, if there is any evidence to support the claims you aren’t making then shouldn’t it be released to the world rather than remaining hidden inside a single persons’ brain?
I see that you are still unable to cite evidence to support your “I am not making claims” claim that drinking optimally fluoridated water has resulted in harm to any individual or population in the more than seventy years that CWF has been around.
After all, there’s been more than seventy years of epidemiologists actively searching for any harm. More than seventy years of local and national governmental agencies publishing data about those populations.
But up to now, your silence makes it appear that you haven’t found even one citation to support your “I am not making claims” claim.
Stuartg: “But up to now, your silence makes it appear that you haven’t found even one citation to support your “I am not making claims” claim.”
I am dealing with as yet unpublished, maybe never to published, things I have observed, and stating appropriate caution and p values where i have done correlations. They are things for discussion, not claims.
Stuartg: “Soundhill, explain exactly how you expect unpublished material to be discussed.”
On groups like this.
Such as I cited from Tumeke and perhaps also sci.geo.oceanography I think about mechanisms of polar ice and temperature, some of which has now appeared in Nature to some extent.
Tell me, Brian, why you donât submit such âthings for discussion, not claimsâ to FFNZ blogs, websites or Facebook pages?
You might get a more sympathetic hearing there than you are going to get here where we recognise your bias and eccentricity.
Ken I am not looking for sympathetic hearing.
FFNZ Facebook page is complex as it has in it a lot of material easy to contradict, and I wonder if some of it has posted there with that purpose.
“FFNZ Facebook page is…easy to contradict”
And so are your “I am not making claims” claims. The more so because you are unable to cite any evidence supporting them, even with more than seventy years of published research into the topic.
Since you seem to be keen on discussing things that have never been published, please discuss why seventy years of epidemiological research have been unable to demonstrate any harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water, resulting in no publications being able to support your “I am not making claims” claim of harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water?
Bear in mind that, since you ask others to cite evidence supporting their viewpoint, the same is expected of you.
Stuartg: “Bear in mind that, since you ask others to cite evidence supporting their viewpoint, the same is expected of you.”
I have presented figures which indicate not enough research has been done. Let’s see yours to criticise it, especially for lack of looking at genetic types and other factors such as iodine intake.
Do you have an opinion on whether quality of sleep ,may affect athletic performance?
The pineal gland is close to the blood stream and so able to uptake fluoride. Where is your research which says all genetics types are safe and none will suffer early menarche and or poorer sleep from impaired pineal melatonin or other hormone production?
I note that, in spite of your claim of wanting to discuss unpublished data, you are not willing to discuss the dearth of data showing harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water, even though there’s more than seventy years of research data that has been unable to show harm.
You also seem to be going on to a Gish Gallop in an attempt to divert from your inability to demonstrate harm from CWF. That’s being kind: sleep, menarche, pineal gland, blood supply, iodine and genetics in one comment are probably better described as flight of ideas.
You appear to be more concerned about imaginary unpublished “studies” (for want of a better word) than about what science actually shows us about the real world.
If you are complaining that no-one has done the studies, then nothing prevents you from doing them yourself. (Apart from maybe the lack of knowledge about high school science and statistics, lack of grounding in research methods from university bachelors, masters and doctorates, lack of decades of research work and experience in the field…)
“I have presented figures which indicate not enough research has been done” Have you? Please cite your publication.
CWF has been place for more than seventy years. Epidemiological research into CWF has been continuing and being published for all that time. Local and governmental organisations have been monitoring and publishing about those populations for all that time. Millions of people have been documented as benefiting from CWF over that time.
Yet from amongst that flood of research and evidence you are unable to cite anything that documents harm in an individual or population from drinking optimally fluoridated water, even for entire lifetimes.
You make “I am not making claims” claims that CWF effects IQ, thyroid function, sports performance, (and now menarche, pineal function, sleep and genetics?).
Well, if any of those things happen in the real world, you have more than seventy years of research and data, involving populations of millions of people, that will be capable of demonstrating just those effects.
That’s why it is so telling that you are unable to cite anything that documents harm in an individual or population that has resulted from drinking optimally fluoridated water.
Seventy years of research. No harm shown. It’s highly improbable that any harm results from CWF.
Stuartg: “CWF has been place for more than seventy years. Epidemiological research into CWF has been continuing and being published for all that time. ”
Show me one that has followed up on Lin FF et al low iodine interaction. Or else there must be publication bias or bias on what research is approved for funding.
Show me the followups on COMT variants.
Show me the followup division of early menarche related to fluoridation studies divided by genetic types.
If I ask for funding for a study and Stuartg is on the approvals panel it is likely I would be told, there is no evidence of that therefore we will not fund it. So new evidence is being suppressed. Same for other people, possibly.
Drug companies do not publish so many negative studies. And governments want to fund things to prove their policy.
I believe that I asked you to cite evidence supporting your “I am not making claims” claim that harm has been caused to either individuals or populations from drinking optimally fluoridated water in the millions of people who have had documented benefits.
For instance: show that there has been an effect on menarche from CWF that actually requires further research. Why do the research if there’s no effect to study?
For instance: Lin et al studied high fluoride areas. Show that the same effect (which can also be termed “harm”) is present in areas with optimally fluoridated water supplies. If the effect is not present in areas with optimally fluoridated water supplies, then why does Lin et al have to be followed up? The most generous interpretation of their paper is that fluoride levels in those areas need to be reduced to the optimum level.
So, where is your cited evidence that anyone has been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water in the more than seventy years it has been supplied to the millions of people who have documented benefits?
I’m not on any approval panel.
But if I were, anyone who could cite evidence of harm to individuals or populations from drinking optimally fluoridated water would get my support.
There’s more than seventy years of data out there, not all of which has been included in the published research. If there is any documentation of harm in that data, I would want to know a lot more and would support more research – after all, that’s how science works (or weren’t you aware?)
Or you could bear in mind that large amounts of research are published for which the author(s) did not request or require funding. I would suspect that online data mining of public databases from local and national governmental agencies and comparing whether CWF was present or not, such as I’ve previously suggested that you do, does not require much, if any, funding to support. A few hours on the ‘net and you’d have your data ready for statistical analysis. How much funding support does that require?
Many years ago there was a comedy song “My boomerang won’t come back”, about a little aboriginal boy full of misery. The culminating line of the song was “first, you’ve got to throw it!”
You’re like that miserable little boy in that you’re complaining that no-one is discussing or paying attention to your data. In your case the culminating line is “first, you’ve got to show us!”
Humans have not evolved the ability to directly extract data by mind reading. That’s why we use the medium of written language to convey ideas and data between each other. You seem to have missed out on learning that point, instead expecting others to be able to discuss ideas and data that exist only in your head.
I encourage you to publish your ideas, data, analyses and references so that people other than just yourself are able to discuss them.
Stuartg: “In your case the culminating line is “first, you’ve got to show us!”
“I would suspect that online data mining of public databases from local and national governmental agencies and comparing whether CWF was present or not,”
but not from sports bodies? For that’s really what I have been doing.
Anyway you now seem to be being less demanding about it being already published research.
So, are you actually going to cite any evidence to support your “I am not making claims” claims about CWF?
Or just carry on whining that, because you don’t cite any supporting evidence, no-one wants to discuss your evidence-free fantasies?
In case you hadn’t noticed, sports results are also available on the ‘net.
I’ve even pointed you to them and how to use them when you asked in another thread.
Just because someone uses a single example does not mean that example cannot be expanded upon.
“You now seem to be being less demanding about it being already published research”
You want to discuss data, ideas and hypotheses that have not yet been published?
Fine. Tell us exactly how you fantasise that anyone can partake in a discussion without the subject of the discussion having been published.
Then you can cite the evidence supporting your “I am not making claims” claim that CWF has caused harm to individuals or populations in the more than seventy years it has been supplied.
Stuartg: “Fine. Tell us exactly how you fantasise that anyone can partake in a discussion without the subject of the discussion having been published.”
When they are interested in helping to check out or formulate new ideas with a view to building towards an excellent publication.
soundhill1 | May 1, 2017 at 7:43 am |
Sruartg: “Then you can cite the evidence supporting your “I am not making claims” claim that CWF has caused harm to individuals or populations in the more than seventy years it has been supplied.”
My claim is that my annoying statistically significant localised correlations be noted.
“For instance: Lin et al studied high fluoride areas. Show that the same effect (which can also be termed “harm”) is present in areas with optimally fluoridated water supplies.”
Their words “high fluoride” and “low fluoride” were just distinguishing their two groupings. Their “high” was like optimally fluoridated water.
Click to access fa-fu-et-al-1980-low-iodine-and-high-fluoride-environment-to-subclinical-cretinism-ln-xinjiang-term-effects-of-theiodine-slow-re.pdf
Stuartg | May 1, 2017 at 8:42 am |
“When they are interested in helping to check out or formulate new ideas with a view to building towards an excellent publication”
That sounds like authors writing an article for publication.
How do you expect others, not included in the list of authors, to participate in the discussion without communicating the data, analysis, thoughts and ideas to them, ie publication?
CWF has been used for more than seventy years.
Millions of people have received the documented benefits of CWF.
Investigation of fluoride in water began prior to introduction of CWF.
Epidemiologist have monitored the populations and individuals with CWF for more than seventy years so far.
Epidemiologists continue to monitor those populations.
National governments release population data for those areas with/without CWF.
Local governments release population data from those areas with/without CWF.
Many other agencies release data about populations with/without CWF.
In more than seventy years of research and data analysis, no-one has been able to demonstrate any harm, to individuals or to populations, from drinking optimally fluoridated water.
What do you think is the most likely reason that drinking optimally fluoridated water has never been shown to cause harm? People with an understanding of science or logic would consider it’s because optimally fluoridated water does not cause harm.
But not you?
You argue that CWF causes reduction in IQ because of some poor quality studies from high fluoride areas. Well, you’ve got more than seventy years of data from both fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas, data from tens of millions of people, and more than seventy years of examination results from those same areas as a marker for IQ. Show us that there’s an effect of CWF on IQ in the real world, not just in your imagination.
You argue (I think – do you intentionally stay vague?) that CWF prevents people from captaining international sports teams by cherry picking a coincidence from the All Blacks. Well, it should be easy enough to demonstrate that’s not a cherry picked coincidental result. Look at the captains of other international sports teams – All Whites, Tall Blacks, Silver Ferns, Wallabies, FIFA teams, etc, etc. Show us that there’s an effect from CWF in the real world, not just in your imagination.
You argue that there’s an impairment in sporting ability caused by CWF by cherry picking some coincidental results from an individual rugby team in the Wellington area. Well, it should be easy enough to demonstrate whether this is coincidental or not. There are many other rugby teams from fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. Their results are freely available on the ‘net. How do their results compare? Show us that there’s an effect from CWF in the real world, not just in your imagination.
You argue that there’s an impairment in sporting ability caused by CWF in the UK football leagues. You’ve again cherry picked a set of coincidental results, this time from two teams that play in different leagues because they have different skill levels. You claim that the, not unsurprising, result of the team in the higher league winning more games is because the lower league team drinks CWF. Well, there are many other pairs of fluoridated and non-fluoridated clubs out there, in many countries, some of them even playing in the same league. Their results are all on the ‘net. Use those other results to show us you haven’t just cherry picked a coincidental set of results. Show us that there’s a harmful effect of CWF in the real world, not just in your imagination.
You argue something about thyroid function and CWF. Again on the basis of very poor quality studies (has there ever been a negative study out of China?) Well, population health and diagnoses are available for both CWF and non-CWF areas on the ‘net. Even from outside of china. Why not look up incidences of thyroid disease in those areas and compare? Or you could compare use of thyroid medication between CWF and non-CWF areas. Show us that there’s an effect of CWF on thyroid metabolism in the real world, not just in your imagination.
I could go on, but you, and others, should get the picture.
Imagination is a great thing, but when it comes to discussions about the real world, evidence is of huge benefit.
You imagine great harm from CWF. You even manage to cherry pick a few coincidences. But you have not managed to produce or cite any evidence to support your imagination.
In the real world there has been more than seventy years of ongoing epidemiological and other research into populations drinking optimally fluoridated water. None of that research has found any harm.
Against that there’s a single person with a scattering of cherry picked results who cannot demonstrate that those results are not coincidental.
Please discuss.
Stuartg: “You argue that CWF causes reduction in IQ because of some poor quality studies from high fluoride areas.”
In true political fashion Stuartg repeats assertions over and over in the hope it will be believed which they often are.
People who have taken the time to read the Lin Fa Fu study note their “high fluoride” level was 0.88 mg/L, which is like NZ’s optimally fluoridated water.:
“Area with high fluoride and low iodine levels (Area A) – ln
the township Xinyuan in the lower reaches of Kliya river in the county of Yutian, north of the highway, we examined 250 schoolchildren, aged 7-14 years. The goiter prevalence was 91 % and dental fluorosis 20.80%. The average level of iodine in drinking water was 5.21 micrograms per litre, and that of fluoride 0.88 milligrams per litre.”
The “low fluoride” level was 0.34 milligrams per litre, some 50% more than the Waikato River before fluoridation for Hamilton:
“Area with low iodine level (area B) – ln the townships of
Langan and Jiayi in the alluvial plain before the mountains and to the south of the highway, we examined 256 schoolchildren, aged 7-14 years. The goiter prevalence was 82% and dental fluorosis of 16.00%. The average water iodine level was 0.96 mcg/L and that of fluoride 0.34 mg/L.
Ken has maintained the Lin FF article to be in a ‘news’ publication. A translation of it was in “Iodine Deficiency Disease News.” But as I have said before the original was in the “Endemic Disease Bulletin.”
http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-DFBT199102016.htm
Stuartg: “How do you expect others, not included in the list of authors, to participate in the discussion without communicating the data, analysis, thoughts and ideas to them, ie publication?”
On blogs.
Stuartg: “You argue (I think – do you intentionally stay vague?) that CWF prevents people from captaining international sports teams by cherry picking a coincidence from the All Blacks.”
I point out that Auckland being NZ’s largest city and mainly fluoridated with some 30% of our inhabitants it should be statistically likely for a good proportion of our All Black captains to be born there. Indeed that was the case until 1966 and fluoridation. Since then not one has been born there, which is statistically unlikely out of the 12 born in NZ since then.
30% population gives a probability of 0.3. There are 12 choices since then (I’ll neglect Samoa). The number of “successes” for Auckland is 0.
From the binomial calcuator
http://www.danielsoper.com/statcalc/calculator.aspx?id=69
I get the chance of that to happen coincidentally to be about 1.4%.
Ken | May 2, 2017 at 7:15 am |
Donât misrepresent me again, Brian. I have never asserted that Linâs article was âin a ‘news’ publication.â
I have simply pointed out it was a brief article in a newsletter.
Stuartg: “But you have not managed to produce or cite any evidence to support your imagination.”
This is the blog discussion time searching for associates to work with me and demonstrate evidence by publishing which you demand has to be in respected journal.
Brian you writeâ
âStuartg: “How do you expect others, not included in the list of authors, to participate in the discussion without communicating the data, analysis, thoughts and ideas to them, ie publication?”
On blogs.â
The why do you not set up your own blog to facilitate this?
Our experience of your comments is that they are rambling nonsense. Completely undisciplined and unorganised.
If you had your own blog you could set forth your ideas as organised articles â rather than obscure comments.
Get to it.
Ken “The why do you not set up your own blog to facilitate this?”
“Why” because yours has somewhat academic fluoridation readership already.
Ken: “I have never asserted that Linâs article was âin a ‘news’ publication.â”
Somehow Stuartg thinks the article to be low quality. I would call it concise rather than brief.
Brian â doesnât this show a degree of opportunism or dishonesty: â”Why” because yours has somewhat academic fluoridation readership already.â
The fact is you have not been able to win a single example of approval from this readership.
If you honestly think there is any substance to your ideas then it would be normal to present them consistently and in an organised fashion. Impossible to do in a brief comment â but a blog article would be ideal.
Personally, I would offer you space for an article here if I thought there was anything in your claims â but I cannot see anything at all. I donât think anyone else can either -although you might find some sort of acceptance at FFNZ.
So, I repeat â why not produce your own blog. It is not difficult. If your articles prove useful it will win a readership.
You are not winning either acceptance or readership with these weird comments here.
Over seventy years of CWF worldwide.
Millions of people worldwide experiencing documented benefits from CWF.
More than seventy years of research and publications into the effects of humans drinking optimally fluoridated water worldwide.
That’s more than seventy years of testing for harm from CWF! And you are unable to cite any harm to individuals, or to populations, from drinking optimally fluoridated water. Well, welcome to the rest of the world!
Instead you try to provoke FUD about CWF by repeating your cherry-picked coincidences or repeatedly mentioning poor quality newsletter articles with faulty mathematics and uncertainties of translation.
You steadfastly refuse to test your cherry-pickings for non-coincidence even though simple methods of doing so have been repeatedly pointed out to you.
When you “discuss” your ideas, you ignore comments of others. If they contradict your ideas they are immediately discarded. Advice is disregarded with disdain. Anyone using established data to reason contrary to you is instantly wrong. Your ideas have to be correct, because they are yours, and anyone questioning them has to be wrong (I suggest that you look up the “Galileo gambit.”)
Your unwillingness to test your ideas, your refusal to use the scientific method on them, your hesitance in discussion of them – all give the impression that you have a total lack of confidence in the veracity of your “I am not making claims” claims.
Have you ever considered that you convey the impression of someone living in a blinkered fantasy world? Someone who is completely unable to accept reality?
soundhill1 | May 2, 2017 at 10:57 am |
Stuartg: “You steadfastly refuse to test your cherry-pickings for non-coincidence even though simple methods of doing so have been repeatedly pointed out to you.”
I just use available data. Got any other places to look for lists of representative NZ captains? Not easy to find.
Stuartg | May 2, 2017 at 1:23 pm |
You have told us that you can see the effects of CWF in multiple sports.
“Got any other places to look for lists of representative NZ captains?”
As I’ve suggested before: captains of the All Whites, the Silver Ferns, the Black Sticks, the Black Ferns, the Tall Blacks, the Black Caps… All are available on the ‘net.
Or are you now denying that you see an effect of CWF in Association Football and all the sports of the Olympics as you previously suggested?
Thanks for confirming my recent comment: “Advice is disregarded with disdain.”
soundhill1 | May 2, 2017 at 2:21 pm |
Stuartg, I can’t see a list of captains for the Black Sticks. Hockey is an interesting game because it does not perhaps have so much head injury as rugby or soccer. My impression is that team photos of hockey teams show more smiley faces than rugby or soccer. So maybe they have more brain space left to cope with other impacts if fluoridation may be called one.
It is fairly time consuming looking for sports results. I have tried NZ cricket captains since around the time of fluoridation. Since about half the people of NZ live in fluoridated water areas I would wonder if half the NZ representative cricket matches should be captained by men from fluoridated areas.
Sorry this is hard to read:
Captain grew up fluoridated matches captained total
Lee Germon 1968 Christchurch 0 12
Stephen Fleming 1973 Christchurch 0 80
Dion Nash 1971 Dargaville 0 3
Kane Williamson 1990 Tauranga 0 9 104
Daniel Vettori 1979 Auckland/Hamilton 1 32
Ross Taylor 1984 Masterton 1 14
Brendan McCullum 1981 Dunedin 1 31 77
So 104 matches captained by men who grew up in non-fluoridated areas and 77 from fluoridated areas.
I test that with http://vassarstats.net/binomialX.html
which tells me that the probability that the fluoridated areas could get 77 or less captained matches is about 0.027 with a p value of just over 0.05 if you are thinking of this as a two-tailed situation which is still confusing me.
I am not sure how the calculation is affected by the way captains hold on to the top job for a long time.
Now Stuartg will say this data is part of what I use to form my hypothesis so I can not used it in testing?
If data is used to generate a hypothesis, it cannot be used to test the hypothesis. Since the data has already been used, how can it test itself? Fresh data is needed to test a hypothesis.
That’s basic science. Stuff you’d already know if you’d attended high school classes in science or statistics.
“I can’t see a list of captains for the Black Sticks”
Well, I can’t see one for All Black captains. It just takes a bit of searching.
“It is fairly time consuming looking for sports results.”
But you are willing to do so if it supports your fantasies? Like All Black captains? Like MUFC vs BCFC? But not Black Sticks captains? Not MCFC vs BCFC?
And we’re still waiting for any citations from you that demonstrate that anyone has been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water during the more than seventy years it has been supplied.
Why no citations?
1. No-one has been harmed by CWF in over seventy years?
2. Is there any other reasonable answer?
Stuartg: “Fresh data is needed to test a hypothesis.”
Every time I produce fresh data Stuartg says that it is just being used to formulate the hypothesis.
Count your hypotheses (allowing for your vagueness):
1. Something to do with All Black captains and whether the place they were born has CWF.
2. Something about second rate rugby teams and players currently drinking CWF.
3. Something about three rugby teams in NZ and their relative altitude. (There’s something about CWF there, too, but it’s not clear.)
4. Something about an English lower league football team losing games to a top league team about a decade after they started drinking CWF.
5. Something about people from areas with CWF not being able to win Olympic medals. Apart from the exceptions.
6. I can’t be bothered with others, these will suffice…
Basic science tells us these are separate hypotheses and require separate sets of data. But you’d know that if you had lessons in high school science.
Since you didn’t have those lessons in high school science, you think that English football results can be used as data to test All Black birthplaces. Or Tibetan athletes can test lower division NZ rugby team results. Or…
I’m beginning to wonder if you are intentionally attempting to parody the scientific method. …but to be successful with parody, first you would have learn about what you’re parodying.
I really do suggest that you take high school classes in science.
You really don’t understand why Tibetan Olympic results, English football teams, or second rate NZ rugby teams cannot be used to test All Black birthplaces, do you?
Your blinkered view of CWF has completely blinded you to the lack of evidence supporting your fantasies. It’s also blinded you to what evidence actually is.
Stuartg, if an adult patient presents to you with some of these symptoms you know to suspect lead poisoning as a possibility:
Joint and muscle pain
Difficulties with memory or concentration
Reduced sperm count and abnormal sperm
Miscarriage, stillbirth or premature birth in pregnant women.
If the patient has only reported the mood disorders I suspect you will tend to think of prescribing an antidepressant. I am asking you to check for bigger patterns.
With CWF I am asking for acknowledgment not just of patterns in individuals but in communities. If you have all members of a family in your practice you might diagnose an environmental toxin by the various members of the family showing various aspects of the poisoning in varying degrees. Or of a deficiency.
One person with a headache might not suggest to you to send them for a blood test for lead. And even if another is becoming forgetful. What when a third is suffering stomach pain and a fourth has stillbirth? None of those symptoms by themselves might suggest to you to send the patient for a lead test but seeing the range in a family you might. Each by itself could be weak evidence of lead poisoning.
Could there be a pattern like that with CWF where it may be useful to be awake to several possible symptoms when together correlated by some mathematical means, I am not sure what?
Still there would be room for mistake.
I see I have made a mistake about the date of fluoridation in Birmingham which is 6 years earlier than I thought. So a longer delay may be involved for soccer symptoms to appear.
Stuartg: MCFC v BCFC
The correlation is smaller though still statistically significant at the accepted level if we think of this as one-tailed, which still confuses me for this sort of example.
n= 146 games,
correlation r=0.156
one-tailed p= 0.03
I have put the changeover when ability is tending to drop at 1980, that being about 16 years after fluoridation in Birmingham.
Teams can change in what division they play. Birmingham has not always been in a lower division than Manchester.
And contrary to what you are suggesting teams mainly do not play one another if they are not in the same division. In NZ a team in any division can challenge for the Ranfurly shield. In the case of Birmingham vs Manchester the results stop at 2011 and so Birmingham must have been relegated then. The drop in division could be pointing to CWF or other factors.
I understand computer diagnosis of medical conditions is available. How does it deal with family patterns when different members show different symptoms of a conditions such as scurvy? What is the correlation algorithm?
Ken: “You are not winning either acceptance or readership with these weird comments here.”
I think that because my points are a bit challenging Stuartg tries to take a laugh which is not amenable to readership. Readers want some serious discussion.
Stuartg: “You really don’t understand why Tibetan Olympic results, English football teams, or second rate NZ rugby teams cannot be used to test All Black birthplaces, do you?”
You just don’t get it, do you?
I’ll reiterate:
The scientific method is a process.
Data generates an idea – “That’s odd”
Further thinking about the idea generates a hypothesis.
To test the hypothesis, the original data is discarded and new data is sought – fresh data, appropriate data, larger amounts of data.
Then a statistician works on the new data.
The statistician can determine whether a correlation is present or not by using that completely new data.
…and after all that there’s still no proof, just an indication of where further research may point to proof.
Your method:
An idea: “CWF causes harm”
How can I prove it?
Here’s some coincidences from the world of sport.
Data? Why do I need more data? Aren’t these coincidences enough?
Look, I’ve found some more coincidences.
“The coincidences are mounting”.
Hey, I’ve managed to use a computer program to produce some numbers.
These numbers prove CWF causes harm.
No, I can’t cite any actual evidence that CWF causes harm, even though scientists have been searching for harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water for over seventy years. (Actually, I won’t admit that because my ideas can never be wrong)
My coincidences and numbers prove CWF causes harm.
Why does nobody think CWF causes harm? I’ve proved it.
You proudly proclaim that you are self taught in science. It’s obvious that you had a terrible teacher. Maybe those high school classes in science that I suggested you undertake wouldn’t be a bad idea after all.
“With CWF I am asking for acknowledgment not just of patterns in individuals but in communities.”
Then it’s simple. All you have to do is to demonstrate non-coincidental patterns, in either individuals or in communities, that can actually be acknowledged by scientists. That’s what you’ve repeatedly been told but don’t seem to understand.
Your most appropriate comment so far has been: “The coincidences are mounting.” And that comment tells us that you are certainly aware that the examples you uses are coincidence.
I asked: You really don’t understand why Tibetan Olympic results, English football teams, or second rate NZ rugby teams cannot be used to test All Black birthplaces, do you?
Why do you think I’m trying to inject humour?
Look back. You brought up English football results to support your vague ideas about All Black birthplaces. You brought up results of lower grade rugby teams to support the same idea. You even asked me whether I thought your Olympic data was new enough to support your idea: “Stuartg don’t you think the Olympics data to be new?”
OK, some humour was there. But it truly appears that you don’t understand why data from English football teams is irrelevant to All Black birthplaces. You don’t understand why rugby team results are irrelevant to All Black birthplaces. You certainly didn’t understand why I rejected your “new” Olympic data as irrelevant to your “studies” about All Black birthplaces.
In your fantasy world any coincidences that you see have to be due to CWF in some way or another. All it takes is sufficient mangling of coincidences to allow you to reject reality.
Stuartg you are like: A med student is interested in public health. They want to confirm or not their hypothesis that lead poisoning may be a cause of stomach pain. In the initial observations they notice still-births. You tell them that has nothing to do with their study. Rather you should allow two studies.
Stuartg: “You don’t understand why rugby team results are irrelevant to All Black birthplaces.”
Is memory loss relevant to premature birth? Yes if they are both caused by lead poisoning.
You’re continuing to ignore the science.
You’re continuing to ignore your errors.
You’re continuing to ignore when others point out your errors (exactly the opposite of what a scientist does).
You’re continuing to attempt diversion away from your errors, “if I ignore people pointing out my errors then they’ll never have happened, because I can never be wrong.”
Your obvious opinions on fluoride: “I am correct. I cannot be wrong. More than seventy years of research is wrong. Science is wrong. The rest of the world is wrong, because my fantasies have to be correct.”
And you still don’t understand why lower rugby team results, English football results, and Olympic medal totals are completely irrelevant to All Black birthplaces. You brought them all up, saying they were a test of your vague ideas about All Black birthplaces, yet not even your cronies at FFNZ can understand how you reached that conclusion.
You really do need to be taught the basics of science and logic.
Introduction of new evidence to a pre-existing worldview (with a USAnian bent)
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe
Stuartg: “And you still don’t understand why lower rugby team results, English football results, and Olympic medal totals are completely irrelevant to All Black birthplaces. You brought them all up, saying they were a test of your vague ideas about All Black birthplaces,”
The non-fluoridation status of All Black birthplaces, or rather where the parents and infants were living around the time of birth appears to be correlated to appointment as captains. It is not vague.
Olympic medal status of a country per population appears to be correlated to non-fluoridation status.
English football successes appear to be correlated to non-fluoridation status.
In Wellington the team from Petone which remained non-fluoridated did much better after fluoridation of the other teams’ areas. It was a top team until Petone Tech closed and the boys went across the Hutt River to school in a fluoridated area. Then it was no longer a top team. You are trying to apply that label as if it remains constant same as you are doing about Birmingham soccer teams. What part of your medical training is that? Do they teach you to try to confuse patients in drug company seminars? Or do you just learn it yourself in order to get the target prescription levels?
I did not bring up those points saying they were a test of All Black birthplaces!! (Are you trying to suggest I have been talking astrology?!!) I brought them up as part of a picture in which fluoride is present as a variable and because of the correlations it has to be considered as to whether it may be a cause in them. And please note with your sales talk that is not a claim of fluoridation’s harm. It is a list of correlations. It is not even a claim that the fluoride has to be a problem. It could be that a change in the calcium and magnesium levels in the water or their balance owing to the treatment process may be implicated.
Stuartg | May 4, 2017 at 10:10 pm |
You keep saying that.
I simply ask you to demonstrate that your “studies”, relating to multiple ideas, are not coincidental.
You don’t, won’t, or can’t demonstrate that your “studies” are not coincidences.
If you can’t, or won’t, answer that question, then you could answer a simpler one: given that thousands of epidemiologists have been searching for harm caused by drinking optimally fluoridated water for more than seventy years, and neither they nor yourself are able to cite such harm, why do you think that no harm has ever been documented from drinking optimally fluoridated water in millions of people in the real world?
soundhill1 | May 4, 2017 at 11:03 pm |
Stuartg: “You don’t, won’t, or can’t demonstrate that your “studies” are not coincidences.
I am gradually working through the Birmingham Manchester water related teams if you hadn’t noticed.
Even a small correlation has not turned to negative. Would expect half to be negative if it were only random.
All Black captains were easy to find. Not so easy for other teams. They list current players and a few eminent ones. Searching “black sticks” “grew up” seems to show more ones from non-fluoridated areas. That is not just captains.
Do you know the history of the knowledge about scurvy? I suppose for a while it colud have been treated as a number of unrelated diseases by some physicians.
Were there experiments done to prove each symptom is caused by a lack of vitamin C totally in isolation from developing a whole picture? Or was it easy to realise all the various symptoms were part of the same disease?
Like the sports facets I relate of considering any fluoridation connection.
And Stuartg you don’t seem to have acknowledged the Black Caps captains analysis: https://openparachute.wordpress.com/2017/04/09/anti-fluoridationists-exploit-infant-deaths-by-fiddling-statistics/#comment-82128
You’ve completed a circular argument, from All Black captains to All Black captains. What you haven’t done is produce any evidence.
Why does no-one pay attention to your ideas? Because you haven’t provided any evidence.
You have not, will not, or can not show that your “studies” are not coincidence. For that to happen you need to produce evidence, and you don’t realise that observations used to develop an idea, or even a hypothesis, are not evidence.
It appears that you are unable to understand even the basics of science and statistics, that you have to test a hypothesis and show non-coincidence before anyone will pay attention to your ideas.
You don’t even understand that you have to formulate a hypothesis before you gather data to test it.
So, soundhill, can you tell us what your hypothesis about English football results actually is? If you can’t produce the hypothesis, why then are you “gradually working through the Birmingham Manchester water related teams”?
Stuartg
Leave out All Black captains if you so judge as part of a case for checking on whether fluoridation impairs sporting performance by impinging at any stage of of a player’s or future player’s development. Though I maintain my hypothesis was generated before checking up on them.
Are you going to be like: “This patient’s teeth are falling out. It could be scurvy. My hypothesis will be that the patient has scurvy and I shall not take the falling teeth into account as part of my diagnosis since it generated my hypothesis.
By circular argument I think you mean I am suggesting that because All Black captains were not born in Auckland after fluoridation started that they were not born in Auckland after fluoridation started. They are just one point on the chart of fluoridation’s correlation to sport impairment.
I had thought Birmingham to be fluoridated in 1970, I am not sure why. I saw Birmingham teams impaired 8 years after that. Though some of the correlations are low none are negative which would be expected if the effect were random coincidence. Now I see it was fluoridated in 1964 so the time of impact could go back to infancy. So that adolescence effect hypothesis (if you want me to generate separate hypotheses) disappears to some extent though I need to think more about Petone boys starting to go to Hutt Valley High School. There may be another impact on the Petone team there, that the boys started playing for Hutt Valley and went on to the Old Boys there. However that would not affect the earlier rise of Petone after fluoridation of the other areas of Wellington playing in the top competition the Jubilee Cup.
How about a comment on the Black Caps calculation?
You don’t even understand that you haven’t provided any evidence, do you?
“What counts is not what sounds plausible, not what we would like to believe, not what one or two witnesses claim, but only what is supported by hard evidence rigorously and skeptically examined. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” – Carl Sagan.
Where is your evidence, soundhill, so that it can be examined?
Stuartg: “Where is your evidence, soundhill, so that it can be examined?”
It’s a bit of a long list. Where shall we start?
“Where shall we start?”
Maybe by producing some evidence?
Which do you wish to examine first?
A science paper does not start by producing evidence, if it be the published sort you need.
Publication comes after review so we need to start with that.
Evidence?
Well, since CWF has been used for more than seventy years, with millions of people, you could start by citing evidence that even a single person has been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies. You haven’t managed to find any evidence so far – care to tell us why not?
There’s hundreds of international sports teams – rugby, football, netball, hockey, cricket, basketball, ice hockey, American football, Australian rules, etc, etc. Both male and female. Tens of countries – NZ, Australia, England, Scotland, France, Germany, South Africa, Argentina, etc, etc. You only use the All Blacks – why don’t you use any other teams? There’s thousands of captains of international sports teams to get data from, but you cherry-pick a couple of dozen All Blacks and ignore the rest – why is that?
Hundreds, if not thousands, of English football clubs, but you cherry-pick the results of only two teams and ignore the rest – why is that?
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of lower grade rugby teams around the world, but you ignore most of them and cherry-pick only Timaru and Petone. Care to explain why you don’t use results from anywhere else?
You’ve had some ideas. Great.
You haven’t yet produced hypotheses from those ideas. Not good.
And that’s it. Nothing further.
You still haven’t provided any evidence.
What’s worse, you don’t even seem to understand that you haven’t provided any evidence.
“Publication comes after review”
Actually, reviewing of papers by other scientists can’t actually happen until after publication.
Unless you’ve managed to discover a method of distribution of knowledge that doesn’t involve publication/communication?
Stuartg: “Actually, reviewing of papers by other scientists can’t actually happen until after publication.”
Very few papers are published without peer review happening before publishing. Often the peer reviewers make suggestions which the authors must attend to before the journal will accept the paper for publication.
A study covering the whole world is often preceded by a limited pilot study. The peer reviewers will not turn it down stating the reason it does not cover the whole world yet.
Stuartg: “You haven’t yet produced hypotheses from those ideas. Not good.”
That CWF is correlated with facets of reduced community competitive sport levels.
You don’t seem to wish to comment about my statistical approach with regards to Black Caps captains.
“CWF is correlated with facets of reduced community competitive sport levels” is not yet a testable hypothesis. As you would know if you had attended high school classes in science. But a least you have acknowledged what everyone else has identified – that you have not demonstrated any correlation between CWF and sports performance.
“You don’t seem to wish to comment about my statistical approach with regards to Black Caps captains” – statistics relating to less than a couple of dozen people’s birthplaces? It’s just as useless as your “statistical analysis” of All Black birthplaces. Is that a good enough comment for you?
If you knew the basics of statistics you would know not to bother with such small numbers; they won’t tell you anything. Why else would I be encouraging you to test your idea using hundreds, if not thousands, of international sporting team captains?
And you still don’t seem to wish to comment about your inability to cite any harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water, even though scientists have been looking for such harm in millions of people for more than seventy years worldwide. Even though you make “I am not making claims” claims alleging such harm.
Look in all that data, soundhill. Millions of people. Decades of CWF. Hundreds, if not thousands, of research papers. Hundreds, if not thousands, of local and national governmental agencies looking at and providing data. Hundreds, if not thousands, of NGOs looking at and providing data. And amongst all of that data, you are still unable to cite any harm from CWF.
So, since you can’t find any harm from CWF in those millions of people in that huge mass of data, you try to perform a completely useless “statistical analysis” on a couple of dozen people with birthdates scattered over a century or so?
Very much the non-scientist.
Stuartg how do you quantify how many subjects required for a statistically significant result?
Stuartg: ““CWF is correlated with facets of reduced community competitive sport levels” is not yet a testable hypothesis.”
Winter is correlated with worse weather. Is that testable?
Worse weather has a number of facets: lack of sunshine, frost, hail, rain, wind, snow. (Though they can occur in summer.)
Fluoridation is correlated with poorer sport performance: fewer captains, fewer wins, relegation to lower division.
soundhill, if you have to ask that question then you obviously know very little about statistics. Perhaps you should start with a high school course?
Stuartg they do not teach me about you, Stuartg, in a school class. I want you to say what you think because it seems different from what others think.
How much frost, snow, wind, hail, rain. cloud, fog, sunshine, blue sky weather in how many cities for how many years at how many latitudes is it necessary to check up before a summer – winter pattern starts to appear and Stuartg no longer calls it coincidence?
“Fluoridation is correlated with poorer sport performance”
Feel free to cite some evidence in support of your belief. You haven’t done so yet.
Maybe you weren’t taught what evidence actually is because you haven’t taken lessons in high school science?
But, then again, maybe you could find some evidence of harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water among the millions of people drinking fluoridated water supplies worldwide? There’s been more than seven decades of data and research into the subject.
It’s been more than a month since you were asked to cite evidence of harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water.
Not only have you been unable to cite evidence of harm, you’ve undertaken the Gish Gallop several times, squirming and wriggling in your attempts to divert attention away from your inability to cite evidence.
Well, it hasn’t worked.
We can still see that you are unable to cite evidence of harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water.
To those watching, it is obvious that you have no evidence to cite.
Have you considered that maybe the reason you can’t cite any harm from CWF is because drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies has not actually caused harm to anybody?
The way I think is known as “scientific” to all but the self-taught in science.
If someone claims “my car can do 400 km/hr”, the scientist says “prove it”.
If someone claims “I’ve built a man-powered helicopter”, the scientist says “prove it”.
If someone claims “Fluoridation is correlated with poorer sport performance”, the scientist says “prove it”.
If someone claims CWF causes reduction in IQ, the scientist says “prove it”.
When soundhill makes an “l am not making claims” claim that CWF has caused any harm at all in the millions of people drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies in the more than seventy years it has been available, I ask soundhill to cite evidence to back up that claim – in other words “prove it”.
soundhill obviously is unaware of how a scientist thinks and is also unaware that proof is required when someone makes a claim.
“An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof.” Marcello Truzzi.
Stuartg, I gave correlation figures and p values.
You say it is coincidence and it could be at the 1 in 20 to 1 in 1000 or something level. For the indivual results.
But when several effects like captains, losses, relegations are taken together, like cold temperatures, rain, cloud in summer/winter then the 1 in 20 and better coincidence possibility of each of the scenarios reduces considerably.
I said a long time ago I am not quite sure about how much adding of the various scenarios reduces the coincidence probability that fluoridation is doing something.
Enough of your 400km per hour talk! We know fluoridation at optimal levels damages the cells of infants which are supposed to be producing tooth enamel in many more of the population than are likely to have a 400 km/hr car.
As I has said before it does not have to be fluoride causing trouble. Does anyone know if lime started to be added to Auckland water at a similar time to when fluoridation was begun?
For calcium can affect the thyroid.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229080539_Dietary_calcium_induced_cytological_and_biochemical_changes_in_thyroid
There once was a boy named StuG
Who came to New Zealand from England.
So puzzled was he
When he did see
The very good weather at Christmas.
So he got to thinking in whispers
I’ll wait for June to see what is brought
Cause that ought
To be warm holiday weather
But oh my I never,
Was putting on a show.
It’s a small sample
Only one example
So probably coincidence
But in great diligence
He wrote home
To find if snow on its own
As a sign of winter
Could begin to
With help of other sign
Like more days fine
Sort the Christmas matter
But came back the old patter
What’s that got to do
With the snow?
“We know fluoridation at optimal levels damages the cells of infants which are supposed to be producing tooth enamel”
Prove it. Cite any harm done in the real world to people drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies in the more than seventy years since they were introduced.
Another coincidence to add to your list:
Fluoridated Birmingham City remains in Championship League; non-fluoridated teams relegated.
Since 1991 the Premier League has been the top of the table. So Div 1 was no longer as high after then.
Wiki: “The Football League Championship, which was introduced for the 2004–05 season, was previously known as the Football League First Division (1992–2004), and before that was known as Division Two (1892–1992).”
Stuartg it is a misconception to think that the white markings on teeth are something extra added by fluoride. They are where the enamel is not properly mineralised because the cells which are supposed to do it are no longer working as a result of fluoride or other trauma.
So, you’re saying that we can ignore your claims about Birmingham City because they’re not in the Premier League.
I recall saying something similar early on when you first started comparing football teams in different leagues.
You still haven’t cited any evidence that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies can cause harm, even though the research and data collection has been happening for more than seventy years and involves millions of people.
Stuartg: “I recall saying something similar early on when you first started comparing football teams in different leagues.”
I was comparing competing teams. Usually they have to be in the same league to compete.
Birmingham were in LEVEL ONE about 65% of the years before fluoridation (leaving out 12 for the wars) and 37% of the of the years since fluoridation.
They were in LEVEL THREE for 4 years starting 15 years after fluoridation, but not at all before fluoridation.
Because the names of the levels have changed I have given the names “LEVEL ONE” to the new Premier League and to the old division one which it was. LEVEL TWO to the Championship, which was introduced for the 2004–05 season, was previously known as the Football League First Division (1992–2004), and before that was known as Division Two (1892–1992). LEVEL THREE to the old Division Three equivalent to the new Division Two.
There’s no need for you to rename the football leagues – they have perfectly good and understandable names already.
I undersrtand that you are saying that the purported effect of CWF on sporting performance only occurs at the very highest levels of a sport. You imply that we can ignore promotion and relegation in the Championship League because it is not the highest level of the sport.
In that case, we can ignore your observations about Petone since they play in local Wellington leagues – hardly the very highest level of the sport. Certainly nowhere near as high in the sport as Birmingham City is in theirs.
And do we ignore your observations about Timaru as well? Every one of Birmingham City’s players is a full time professional, but the same can’t be said of Timaru.
It appears that your observations are now limited to just two “coincidences” – your term – that you have noted:
Some of the All Black captains are from non-fluoridated areas.
Manchester United started paying more for better players several years after CWF was introduced to Birmingham.
Conversely, if you still wish to include lower level NZ rugby teams in your list of “coincidences”, then you must also include lower league teams in the England. In that case, your ideas have to account for why non-fluoridated teams are relegated this year and fluoridated teams are not.
Extraordinary ideas require extraordinary evidence.
I’m going to repeat something I said earlier, something that you have previously completely ignored, in the (I suspect vain) hope that you will not ignore it this time:
Stuartg the thing about the highest level **in an area** is that it tends to eliminate teams just having social fun.
They will be players working to their max the whole week/season and putting stresses on their metabolism so showing up any weak link in the chain.
Petone indeed did not compete nationally. But it was frequently at the top of Greater Wellington, some half million people. And it was much more at the top after most of the rest of Greater Wellington became fluoridated but not Petone.
Stuartg: “What’s worse, you don’t even seem to understand that you haven’t provided any evidence.”
According to you I can’t provide it till I have published it.
Stuartg | May 10, 2017 at 8:19 pm |
“They will be players working to their max the whole week/season”
You mean just like the full time professionals that play in the Championship League? Those with CWF Birmingham City remaining in the League and other full time professional non-fluoridated teams being relegated?
Or do you mean “teams and players that are only able to be found by soundhill and by no-one else”?
It seems like you mean the latter, doesn’t it? And if you are the only person able to find affected teams or players, then that suggests it’s purely your imagination doing the finding.
Publish: to make information available to people.
Providing, even on a blog, is publishing.
You may have made some hypothesis-generating observations, but you haven’t done anything with them other than spread FUD about CWF. You haven’t even managed to generate a testable hypothesis!
Idea: “That CWF is correlated with facets of reduced community competitive sport levels.”
What type of correlation?
What facets?
“community” – so not necessarily international, professional, levels? What sort of “community” levels? High school, primary school, semi-professional, keen amateur, local pub teams?
“sports” – what sports? We’ve got rugby, football, Olympic sports from you so far. Any others? Are any sports not included? If not, why not?
“competitive” – what level of competition is required for it to be evident? Why is it not evident below that level?
Your idea needs to be turned into a testable hypothesis. Or do you just want to leave it untestable, demonstrating how little you know about the scientific method?
Publish/provide your hypothesis.
Publish/provide your additional research data, the data needed to test your hypothesis.
You could provide it to a peer reviewed journal and let them “publish”. You could provide it to a non-peer reviewed journal. You could provide it to Fluoride. You could set up a blog of your own to publish/provide the data and hypotheses. Maybe Ken would let you provide it here?
What you have not done so far is go to beyond observing a few “coincidences”, telling people that “the coincidences are multiplying”, and having an idea.
If you really want to discuss your ideas, your hypotheses, your data, – don’t you think it would be a good idea to let others actually know what they are?
Erm… not quite. Maybe you’ve got it the wrong way around?
Non-fluoridated Hull City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland have been relegated from the Premier League.
Fluoridated Newcastle is being promoted, and non-fluoridated Blackburn, Wigan and Rotherham are being relegated from the Championship League.
Remember, soundhill, all of these clubs are composed of full time professional players. These clubs aren’t playing in local amateur leagues like Petone is.
Are you going to ignore those results because they don’t fit in with your fantasy world?
Remember: fluoride in water has been studied for well over seventy years. Community water fluoridation has been used worldwide for over seventy years. Millions of people have been drinking optimally fluoridated water for over seventy years. Those populations have been extensively studied by epidemiologists, by local government agencies, by national government agencies, by non-governmental agencies. Many of those studies and much of the data is freely available on the ‘net.
And amongst all those studies and data, you are unable to cite anything that shows harm, even to a single individual, that has been caused by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
“In God we trust. All others must bring data.” – attributed to W. Edwards Deming.
You have not brought any data with which to test your observed “coincidences”.
soundhill1 | May 11, 2017 at 11:14 am |
Stuartg: “And amongst all those studies and data, you are unable to cite anything that shows harm, even to a single individual”
I talked of lead poisoning but take noise deafness.
Workers go deaf when exposed to noise over a certain level. That level having been found then if a worker goes deaf it will be accepted it is noise damage and they will get compensation if they have been exposed to over that level.
If a person has bigger outer ears collecting more I maintain or for some other genetic reason they may be more susceptible to noise deafness from a certain level of sound.
If the levels had not been determined by the plight of unfortunate individiduals as in the early days of industrial noise there would be no compensation – no proof of noise deafness in an individual.
I maintain that as with my idea of the size of the outer ear in hearing loss (not proven either) or other genetic difference or perhaps environmental difference, that sports players working extremely hard will be more at risk from fluoride toxicity or from something else done to the water at the time of water treatment associated with fluoride like changing the balance/levels of calcium and magnesium.
I suspect I shall eventually be able to prove damage to a single individual form fluoride but not until after I have proved a connection in a group.
“I talked of lead poisoning” That’s right, among many other things. You talked of anything but water fluoridation in a discussion that was about water fluoridation. It was as though you had no evidence and were doing anything to avoid revealing your lack of evidence.
The one thing that you never did was to cite any harm caused to individuals, or to communities, caused by drinking optimally fluoridated water. Millions of people, more than seventy decades, and you are still unable to cite any harm done by CWF. Even after I’ve given you suggestions on how to go about searching for it.
You’ve been given the opportunity to provide your own definition of harm, or your own definition of optimal fluoridation level, provided that you could justify the definitions, but you have still been unable to cite any harm, to individuals or to populations, caused by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies. It’s exactly as though optimally fluoridated water supplies do not cause harm, isn’t it?
“I shall eventually be able to prove damage to a single individual form (sic) fluoride but not until after I have proved a connection in a group.”
That’s nice. But will you?
You still haven’t provided anything other than an idea after observing “coincidences.” You haven’t even produced a hypothesis from that idea that can be tested for non-coincidence. Develop the hypothesis, then you will know in what population to look for data in order to test for non-coincidence.
I guess you believe you have had a vision of harm from CWF. You certainly haven’t seen any proof. I urge you to remember that most visions turn out to be hallucinations.
By the way, where are your comments about the apparent inverse correlation between English football success and non-fluoridation seen in the Leagues this year? You were so keen on that subject before…
soundhill1 | May 11, 2017 at 6:16 pm |
Stuartg: “By the way, where are your comments about the apparent inverse correlation between English football success and non-fluoridation seen in the Leagues this year? You were so keen on that subject before…”
Need to average over a number of years. Probably also average out where players come from. As soccer has become big business the amount of player trading may have increased.
Stuartg | May 13, 2017 at 7:52 am |
Changing your mind again?
“Need to average over a number of years” – how many years? Does you now mean that if a change happens immediately CWF is introduced (Petone…) then we can ignore CWF as the cause?
“As soccer has become big business the amount of player trading may have increased.”
Football has been big business with player trading since before CWF was introduced. Previously you were saying it was all about whether there was fluoridation at the sportspersons’ birthplace. Is it? Or is it about CWF where a person works – as with football teams? What happens to rugby teams with player trading?
You really need to develop hypotheses that can be tested, not this wishy-washy changing your ideas every time someone points out where the real world disagrees with your ideas.
And I still note that you are unable to cite any harm documented by anybody drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies, even though those supplies have been drunk by millions of people over multiple decades.
Stuartg: ““Need to average over a number of years” – how many years? Does you now mean that if a change happens immediately CWF is introduced (Petone…) then we can ignore CWF as the cause?”
Don’t draw a conclusion from one year.
“Football has been big business with player trading since before CWF was introduced.”
Proportion not changed of players traded?
“What happens to rugby teams with player trading?”
If teams get enough good players from non-fluoridated areas they may start to win and spoil my effect.
You also think vaccines have not caused serious harm whereas hundreds of millions of dollars per year are paid out in vaccine injury compensation in USA.
Vaccines have nothing to do with CWF.
That comment is just yourself trying to divert from your inability to cite any evidence that anybody has ever been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water in the more than seventy years it has been supplied.
Try three thought experiments.
Suppose that CWF actually did impair sporting performance. What evidence would you expect to find?
Suppose that CWF actually improves sporting performance. What evidence would you expect to find?
Suppose that CWF has absolutely no effect on sporting performance. What evidence would you expect to find?
soundhill1 | May 14, 2017 at 9:17 am |
Stuartg: “Vaccines have nothing to do with CWF.”
So you can say whatever you want about them., true or not, without making people suspicious about your statements about CWF?
Stuartg: “Suppose that CWF actually did impair sporting performance. What evidence would you expect to find?
You will try to tell me that nothing has anything to do with anything else but I suggest that there are certain principles underlying metabolic effects.
Varying effects depending on the intake if a proportional effect is to be expected.
On or off effects like light switching the body’s hormonal cycle from the night time relaxing cycle to the more constrictive daytime serotonin cycle.
Effects which vary depending on different types genetic or epigenetic.
Interactive effects depending on other environmental influences UVB from sunlight, iodine from food or water,
That studies would be produced averaging out effects so bringing the effect on some genetic types or activity types to be below statistical significance.
I would also consider the principle like a car without its petrol gauge working which works very well till the petrol runs out.
If you have had contact with heavy alcohol drinkers you may know of some saying they cannot drink spirits any more. I presume some of their liver, which detoxifies alcohol, has been converted to fatty – cirrhosis.
So if the fluoride metabolism has been overloaded in early life, when the body sends some half of intake to bones and teeth, then there may be less ability to deal with intake later on, under stress. Or perhaps other mechanisms which may have been damaged such as the pineal gland (melatonin serotonin) may be more noticeably impaired when the organism is placed under stress such as in demanding sport.
You can try to divert from the subject of CWF all you like.
All that it achieves is to show that you are unable to maintain the subject; that you prefer to divert away from your inability to provide evidence supporting your claims about CWF.
What would we expect to see if CWF provided an advantage in sporting performance? I’ll use your already used assumptions.
Rugby: captains of international teams would all come from areas with CWF. So would the locks. And the backs. In fact the entire of the team and squad would be expected to come from areas with CWF. Because they would outperform players from unfluoridated areas.
The same would apply to international netball teams. Cricket teams. Basketball teams. Football teams. Hockey teams. Even bowls teams.
The Premier and Championship Leagues would be absolutely full of clubs from CWF areas. Maybe one or two clubs from unfluoridated areas. After all, it takes years to get to the highest spots in the UK football leagues.
Unfluoridated Petone would be bottom of its Wellington league, beaten by the rest of CWF Wellington. So would Onehunga in Auckland. And Mosgiel in Dunedin. That would apply to rugby clubs. Or football clubs. Or netball clubs…
That’s just a brief summary of what we would expect to see if CWF provided an advantage in sporting performance. You can extend it if you wish.
What would we expect to see if non-fluoridation provided an advantage in sporting performance over CWF? Again, I’ll use your already used assumptions.
Rugby: captains of international teams would all come from non-fluoridated areas. So would the locks. And the backs. In fact the entire of the team and squad would be expected to come from non-fluoridated areas. Because they would outperform players from areas with CWF.
The Premier and Championship Leagues would be absolutely full of clubs from non-fluoridated areas. Maybe one or two clubs from areas with CWF. After all, it takes years of consistent performance to get to the highest spots in the UK football leagues.
Unfluoridated Petone would be top of its Wellington league, beating the rest of fluoridated Wellington. So would Onehunga in Auckland. And Mosgiel in Dunedin. That would apply to rugby clubs. Or football clubs. Or netball clubs…
That’s just a brief summary of what we would expect to see if non-fluoridation provided an advantage in sporting performance over CWF. You can extend it if you wish
What would we expect to see if there were no adverse effects on sporting performance from CWF? That sporting performance from CWF and non-CWF areas were exactly the same?
Well, we’d expect that international rugby teams and squads would have a mix of players from CWF and non-CWF areas. That there may be some coincidental runs of locks or captains from CWF areas. Or non-CWF areas. That the same could be seen in international football teams. And netball teams. And hockey teams. And croquet teams.
We would see that the UK Premier and Championship Leagues were full of a mixture of teams from fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas. That promotion and relegation between the major (and minor) UK football leagues would be randomised between fluoridated and non-fluoridated clubs.
We would see random results in local leagues – Petone may rise or fall. Onehunga may rise or fall. Mosgiel may rise or fall. Whether the team be rugby, football, netball or bowls.
That’s a brief summary of what we would expect to see if community water fluoridation had absolutely no effect on sporting performance. Again, you can extend the thought experiment if you wish.
Stuartg | May 14, 2017 at 10:20 pm |
Now, soundhill, which of the three thought experiments give results closest to those seen in the real world?
Well, obviously, the All Blacks are composed of players from a mix of CWF and non-CWF areas. So are the All Whites. And the Silver Ferns. And the Black Caps. And the rugby teams from Australia, England, Argentina… And the FIFA football teams. Even Olympic bowling teams.
So there may be an occasional run of captains, or goalkeepers, or full backs, or goal defence, or goal keepers, from fluoridated or non-fluoridated areas. But we can be expect that merely from random chance.
The Premier and Championship Leagues have clubs from fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas distributed at random. Promotion and relegation of clubs are unrelated to fluoridation status – as has already been pointed out.
Local clubs show results entirely unrelated to fluoridation status, with rugby, football, netball, hockey and other teams being randomly scattered through their leagues irrespective of fluoridation status. Check out Petone, Onehunga, and Mosgiel sporting teams in their relevant leagues for instance.
Overall, the results we see in sporting teams, irrespective of the level at which they play, are exactly what we would expect if there were no effect of CWF on sporting performance.
You therefore have to show that the observations in your “studies” are not the occasional coincidental results that we would expect if there is no effect on sporting performance from CWF.
It would greatly help your position if you were able to cite any evidence, from more than seventy years of available data and studies, that there has been harm sustained by even one individual from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
soundhill1 | May 14, 2017 at 10:51 pm |
Stuartg how about some p values?
Stuartg: “It would greatly help your position if you were able to cite any evidence, from more than seventy years of available data and studies, that there has been harm sustained by even one individual from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.”
As a doctor you ought to know that whereas some types of harm such as traffic accidents are obvious, there are other types that we accept because we know from effects to varying degrees on populations exposed.
People can be harmed without it being accepted as caused by a particular cause at the time but we know later.
Wiki: “Curie died in 1934, aged 66, at a sanatorium in Sancellemoz (Haute-Savoie), France, due to aplastic anemia brought on by exposure to radiation while carrying test tubes of radium in her pockets during research, and in the course of her work at field hospitals during World War I.”
Surely if Marie Curie had known she were being harmed by the radium she carried in her pocket she would have stopped doing that.
“The acute effects of radiation exposure were first seen in 1896 when Nikola Tesla purposefully subjected his fingers to X-rays and reported that this caused burns to develop, although at the time he attributed the burns to ozone.”
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Radiation-Poisoning-History.aspx
The harm could not be attributed to radiation burn at that time. It had to wait for more researchers to notice damage associated with radiation. Then it would be proved in retrospect that Tesla was harmed by radiation.
So we must wait for population studies before we can say fluoridation be harmful to sports performance.
Wiki “Discovery of X-ray mutagenesis
1926 marked the beginning of a series of major breakthroughs. Beginning in November, Muller carried out two experiments with varied doses of X-rays, the second of which used the crossing over suppressor stock (“ClB”) he had found in 1919. A clear, quantitative connection between radiation and lethal mutations quickly emerged. Muller’s discovery created a media sensation after he delivered a paper entitled “The Problem of Genetic Modification” at the Fifth International Congress of Genetics in Berlin;”
(Muller sometimes written Meller)
“By 1928, others had replicated his dramatic results, expanding them to other model organisms such as wasps and maize.”
Stuartg please note it did not require a wait for the problem to be seen in wasps and maize before being accepted. It took a much smaller sample and in a similar fashion fluoridation injury does not have to be proven in every sports person on earth to be accepted as injury. A small group and a p value is all that is required to have a “statistically significant” result for someone to follow up on and who knows whether someone may be interested enough to be following up on my results?
Furthermore even after injury from radiation to corn and wasps had been shown it still required a huge amount of work to have it accepted.
“An estimated 4,000 workers were hired by corporations in the U.S. and Canada to paint watch faces with radium. At USRC, each of the painters mixed her own paint in small crucibles, and then used camel hair brushes to apply the glowing paint onto dials. The then-current rate of pay, for painting 250 dials a day, was about a penny and a half per dial (equivalent to $0.280 in 2016). The brushes would lose shape after a few strokes, so the U.S. Radium supervisors encouraged their workers to point the brushes with their lips (“lip, dip, paint”), or use their tongues to keep them sharp. Because the true nature of the radium had been kept from them the Radium Girls painted their nails, teeth, and faces for fun with the deadly paint produced at the factory.[6] Many of the workers became sick. It is unknown how many died from exposure to radiation.
Many of the women later began to suffer from anemia, bone fractures and necrosis of the jaw, a condition now known as radium jaw. It is thought that the X-ray machines used by the medical investigators may have contributed to some of the sickened workers’ ill-health by subjecting them to additional radiation. It turned out at least one of the examinations was a ruse, part of a campaign of disinformation started by the defense contractor.[4] U.S. Radium and other watch-dial companies rejected claims that the afflicted workers were suffering from exposure to radium. For some time, doctors, dentists, and researchers complied with requests from the companies not to release their data. At the urging of the companies, worker deaths were attributed by medical professionals to other causes; syphilis, a notorious sexually transmitted infection at the time, was often cited in attempts to smear the reputations of the women.[7]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls
Again we see you trying to divert attention from your inability to provide evidence supporting your “I am not making claims” claims about harm from CWF.
Vaccines, petrol gauges, now radiation – not one of them relevant to a discussion about purported harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water! Flailing around, trying to change the subject at random – all point towards your inability to support your claims.
In spite of more than seventy years of research and data, involving millions of people, you are unable to cite any evidence that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies has ever caused harm, even to a single person.
Your own observations, or “studies”, show expected normal variations in sporting results, but you don’t recognise this and don’t bother actually testing your observations for non-coincidence.
You now tell us, in a poorly thought out sentence, that you expect any evidence not to reach statistical significance: “That studies would be produced averaging out effects so bringing the effect on some genetic types or activity types to be below statistical significance”. And then you ask others for p-values!
So, no evidence, failure to acknowledge coincidence, not expecting ever to see evidence, inability to understand how statistics works… What you have there is faith/belief/fantasy. It’s certainly not science.
But you don’t understand that. You provide a good example of the Dunning-Kruger effect in action.
I really do think that you should attend some basic lessons in how science and statistics work, rather than relying on self-taught systematic errors. Maybe basic high school classes would be in order?
Stuartg: “Vaccines, […] now radiation – not one of them relevant to a discussion about purported harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water! ”
They have relevance as to whether doctors tell the truth. You have strongly supported the safety of fluoridation and vaccination. Note that in the USA the vaccine injury court pays out hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
“They have relevance as to whether doctors tell the truth” – which is yet again irrelevant to your “I am not making claims” claim that CWF causes harm.
All you are doing is attempting a diversion and hoping that people don’t remember what you have previously written.
You are unable to cite any harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies from more than seventy years of research and data.
You don’t recognise that your own “studies” merely show expected coincidences.
You are unwilling or unable to test your observations for non-coincidence.
You don’t expect any research to into harm from CWF to reach statistical significance – implying that you understand that harm is not being caused.
You don’t understand why your own “statistical analyses” aren’t.
You don’t understand the scientific method.
I recommend that you turn off your imagination and use science to find out how the real world works. For starters, go and learn about science and statistics at your local high school.
Stuartg: “All you are doing is attempting a diversion”
No, you claim fluoridation has not been shown to hurt anyone but why should we trust your claim when you also claim vaccination is not harmful despite hundreds of millions of dollars in vaccine adverse event payouts?
I have given data which point to possible sport impairment by fluoridation.
Look back. Just scroll back and read. It’s easy to do. Confirm your (fallible, human) memory, or realise that your fallible, human memory is wrong.
I make no claims about lack of harm from vaccination. It’s only your imagination that tells you that.
I also make no claim that CWF has never caused harm. Again, it’s just your imagination that tells you that.
All I have done is to ask you to provide evidence to back your “I am not making claims” claim that CWF has and does cause harm. But you have been and still are unable to back your claim. That’s in spite of you having more than seventy years of data and research available, involving millions of people, into the effects of drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
You make the claim, so you have to provide the evidence. It’s one of the first things a high school student would learn in science classes. It’s a pity that you didn’t attend the lessons and admit only self teaching in science. You obviously had a poor teacher.
No. You have observed coincidences that are expected to be seen if CWF has absolutely no effect on sporting performance. And you’ve probably observed them at a lower frequency than would be expected if no harm comes from CWF. You haven’t even bothered to test those observations for non-coincidence, even though you have had advice on how to go about that task.
And now you say you don’t expect to observe any evidence that reaches statistical significance.
Seriously, soundhill, all you are managing to do is to point out that your idea/fantasy/dream about optimally fluoridated water supplies affecting sporting performance is just that – a dream or fantasy.
If you don’t wish to learn about science in high school classes, this may help: http://psc.dss.ucdavis.edu/sommerb/sommerdemo
The problem is, I suspect that you may need the basics of high school science before you gain any insight (that Dunning-Kruger effect again…)
Stuartg: “I make no claims about lack of harm from vaccination.”
You implied it when you wrote on last Aug 4: “Just for your information, I have encountered exactly one post vaccination side effect in my entire career.
I didn’t report it because we realised the painful deltoid was the opposite one to that which had been injected.”
A report to the NZ Parliamentary Select Committee: “Between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2009, 4,757 reports of adverse events following
immunisation were submitted to the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring.”
Now say there are some 4,000 or 5,000 doctors working in general practice in NZ that would mean on average one report per GP every 5 years but you have reported none in probably 40 years.
From the same report: “The vast majority of reports describe known and expected reactions such as injection site pain, swelling, redness and itching or raised temperature, headache and general malaise. Expected
reactions such as these are estimated from clinical trial information to occur at a rate of between 2
to 10 percent of people immunised.”
So if a doctor happens to be reporting the adverse events at 1 every five years and those make up 3 percent of the vaccinations that would mean they are either severely under-reporting or else it means 1 vaccination is 3% of the vaccinations they perform in 5 years in other words they are doing in total some 6 vaccinations per year or one every two months.
Exactly what has vaccination got to do with your inability to cite any evidence backing your claim that CWF causes harm?
Apart from you use of the subject to divert from your inability to use the scientific method, of course.
“I have encountered exactly one post vaccination side effect in my entire career”.
According to your logic, since I have encountered only one traumatic arm amputation in my career, that means that I imply they don’t happen…
Your ability to think logically is demonstrably somewhat impaired.
I guess that’s why you still claim that CWF causes harm, even when you are unable to cite supporting evidence. You don’t bother, or are unable, to test your observations for non-coincidence. You are unable to recognise coincidence. You don’t understand how statistics works. You even tell us that you don’t expect an investigation to reach statistical significance.
…but you still believe/fantasise that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies causes harm. Definitely impaired logic.
Perhaps philosophy should be added to those lessons in science and statistics that you lack?
Stuartg I have not a cite until someone gets around to publishing, the way they have done with other matters… in gradual progression. A fairly recent example is the recognition of a toxicity in glypohsate-based herbicides, now taking into account the interaction with tallowate surfactant substances in them, when up until recent times the toxicity of a glyphosate-based herbicide only took into account the glyphosate working in isolation.
You Stuartg are similarly hanging on to old reports about fluoridation which do not take into account interactions.
If you are trained properly you know not to vaccinate people in poor health if avoidable – you acknowledge that, but you want to apply blanket safety categorization for fluoridation to everyone, regardless of their iodine status of their environment, or the greater demands which may be placed on the metabolism of sports people.
I suggest you are working by a general principle of trying to suppress annoying new public knowledge. It shows in that you are not notifying adverse vaccine associated events. You are supposed to be notifying, not because you have proof that a vaccine caused the event, but to offer the info to others to analyse, in case they can see some pattern when taking into account the stuff from several doctors.
Stuartg: ““I have encountered exactly one post vaccination side effect in my entire career”
You left off the bit where you say it was only caused by a squash ball implying that you have seen none in your career so implying to people who may not have read the data that they ought to believe there to be much less risk than there actually is, because you have reported none.
Stuartg your UCDavis ref is interesting, however it does not deal with “self plagiarism.”
Self plagiarism is when you are still analysing your own data from last study in your new study, if you forgot to cite it I think. Oponents of your work can have your study retracted for self plagiarism. Then if the journal had asked for the rights to your study I am not sure what happens to your further work.
“I have encountered only one traumatic arm amputation in my career”.
The logic is that if one statement implies I claim lack of harm from vaccination, as you say, then the second must also imply that I claim lack of harm from traumatic arm amputation. But then no-one ever accused you of clarity of logic, did they?
But again, you are merely trying to divert from your inability to cite any evidence, even though you have more than seventy years of data documenting its’ effects, that CWF has ever caused harm to any individual.
Can you explain to us why you are unable to cite any evidence to support your “I am not making claims” claim that CWF causes harm? Evidence that the scientific method requires you to supply to endorse your claim?
You haven’t yet been able to show us that even one person, among the millions drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies for over seventy years, has had harm from CWF.
Please tell us why not.
“your UCDavis ref is interesting, however…”
It is a semester long course from the University of California. How did you manage to complete it in under a day?
Maybe your belief that you have completed a semester long course from the University of California in less than a day is merely another example of the Dunning-Kruger effect in action?
I note that there is no science that supports your fantasies. If there was, I assume that you would have produced it in the comments of this or other threads.
Since you have no evidence to support your “I am not making claims” claims, you attempt to divert to irrelevant topics (vaccines, lead, herbicides, VAERS, radiation, petrol gauges – in the last thirty or so comments in this thread alone) in your endeavours to hide your lack of evidence. It hasn’t worked. Then you start attacking persons who have asked you to cite your evidence, who have supplied advice on how to obtain evidence and test for non-coincidence…
It’s almost as though you know know that you are completely wrong with the science, yet still are trying to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt about one of the most proven, effective, and cheap methods of improving the health of a community.
Are you a shill for “big dentistry”, trying to increase the incidence of dental caries by reducing the availability of optimally fluoridated water supplies and so assuring a greater number of teeth to repair? That seems to be the most likely reason for you comments.
Of course, lack of knowledge about science, statistics, logic and health care could be an alternative reason…
Stuartg there is a difference between a vaccine side effect and a vaccine adverse effect. The adverse effects are bad effects which happen after vaccination but are not necessarily side effects. Vaccinators report them in case there may be a new side effect not yet known about or maybe in relation to further improving knowledge, of incidence, severity &c., of known side effects.
If accidents, such as your squash ball incident, increase in frequency after vaccination that might point to a side effect of poorer physical co-ordination in addition to headache, nausea &c., known side effects of vaccination.
Stuartg: “You haven’t yet been able to show us that even one person, among the millions drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies for over seventy years, has had harm from CWF.
Because by “show” you mean cite a published paper.
A few years ago I could not cite a published paper that glyphosate-based herbicies cause harm. Now work has been published which does not only consider the effect of the glyphosate in isolation but in association with tallowate surfactants which increase its entry into cells. So now it is possible to show harm.
So far papers have been published showing increased harm from excess iodine in association with increased fluoride. Both excess and deficient iodine can cause thryoid trouble. I have discussed quite a bit the Lin Fa Fu paper which deals with iodine deficiency, fluoride at a level equivalent to that used in CWF, and increased IQ impairment. As with lead poisoning, knowing that populations are harmed by a certain lead level, individuals with that level are considered to be proven poisoned by lead if they have that level in association with accepted symptoms. With radium burns it took a while to associate them to radium’s ionisation radiation tissue damage. Dentists’ knowledge gradually increases and now it is known what was causing the burns on their finger when they held xray plates in many patients’ mouths with their finger. That was learned quite a while ago but about how glyphosate is much more toxic in association with surfactants is fairly recently proven as publicly released. So relying on studies before Lin FF to show CWF to be safe I maintain to be invalid. Maybe brick tea could have been involved with Lin FF but they did urinary fluoride tests.
Stuartg you are claiming CWF to be perfectly safe.
I am not claiming it to be harmful, only that data I have casts doubt on its safety when considering certain ages of exposure, interacting factors such as iodine deficiency, genetic types and people like dedicated energetic sports players who may be using their metabolism to the max so any small impairment becomes more punishing.
So we shall go on and on, with Stuartg saying there is no evidence of harm of CWF and I shall go on saying published evidence is further starting to develop. I shall go on giving examples from other areas of how that happens and Stuartg will go on pretending he can see no relevance.
You say “I am not making claims”, but go on to claim that CWF harms by reducing sporting performance. You do so even though the observations you have made, calling them your “studies” and “evidence”, show results less than would be expected by coincidence. You don’t bother testing for non-coincidence, even though how to develop the new data sets to test your observations for non-coincidence has been pointed out to you. You then tell us that you don’t expect any harm from CWF to reach statistical significance.
“I am not making claims.” Yeah, right.
You didn’t need to continue making this many comments if you hadn’t made the claims that you continue to attempt to justify.
“I shall go on saying published evidence is further starting to develop” …and I’ll keep asking you to cite that “published evidence” as long as you make evidence-free claims. So far your “published evidence” appears to exist only inside your imagination and you appear unwilling to actually share that evidence in any way whatsoever.
If you weren’t making claims, then just acknowledge you have absolutely no evidence supporting a claim of harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies. Don’t be ashamed of not having any evidence to support the claim; no-one else has any evidence either and that’s the simple reason why you are unable to cite anything.
Stop trying to divert away from your inability to provide any evidence that CWF causes harm. Just acknowledge that there is no evidence to cite, even though there’s more than seventy years of data and research available, and the harm caused by higher concentrations of fluoride in untreated drinking water supplies is well known.
Then you can keep your evidence-free fantasies to yourself and no-one will make any more comments about the evidence-free conspiracist world of fantasies that you appear to live in.
And let the rest of us live in the real world.
Stuartg you are not understanding the process by which new points arise to be tested. You have not understood the vaccine adverse event reporting system and when I point that out you say I am attacking you, I thinking it must be about that point. A vaccine adverse event does not have to be caused by the vaccine in order to be reported. It is anything a little out of the ordinary which happens after vaccination that when reports from many vaccinators are taken into account may suggest the need for further study.
You say I have not proved non-coincidence but you should know such a proof is not possible. It is only possible to give a level of probability.
Perhaps I’m just ignoring your comments about vaccines because you are merely using them to attempt diversion of discussion from your evidence-free “I am not making claims” claim that CWF causes harm?
“You say I have not proved non-coincidence”
No. You haven’t even attempted to prove non-coincidence, either because you are unable to or you can’t be bothered.
At least seventy years of data and research into CWF for you to scrutinise. No citable evidence to show that CWF causes harm. A few coincidental observations (of your own?) No attempt to test those observations for non-coincidence. Inability to formulate a testable hypothesis. Expecting any future research (presumably by someone else) not to reach statistical significance.
It’s almost as though you believe that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies doesn’t cause harm to individuals or to populations.
“I am not making claims”
Not even to the Health Services Select sub committee?
“Brian R SANDLE
Presentation to the Health Services Select sub committee on 23 March 2014 (corrected 2017) on the
Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Bill”
But you seemed so proud of those claims that you didn’t make!
Stuartg you said I should not be looking at p values. It seem you want me to have proof of a relationship first?
How is “proof” found without the first researchers starting by examining p values and their associated correlation values?
Stuartg I presented some facts to the Select Committee. In my **opinion** they cast doubt on the safety of fluoridation if your are going to want your baby to excel as a rugby player, or if you are living in a low iodine environment, or of a certain genetic type (COMT variant maybe). Therefore I asked for the legislation to require district health boards to enquire into possible costs other than than the technology and materials to fluoridate water.
One of the first things you would have learned, if you had ever been to classes on statistics, is that before you can test for non-coincidence you first have to develop new data sets.
You would also have learned that the observations used to develop a hypothesis cannot be part of the data set used for testing the hypothesis. You are obviously unaware of both of those.
By the way, opinion without supporting data is commonly termed fantasy.
Your “facts” were evidence-free claims.
If you still have the belief that you have supporting data, after multiple comments advising you why you don’t actually have any data but rather have coincidental observations, then you really do need to enroll in science and statistics classes at your local high school to find out why.
If they aren’t claims, they don’t require defending. So why write hundreds of comments on blogs attempting to defend them? The scientific method would suggest that you acknowledge your opinions are evidence-free and either test them for non-coincidence or just drop them.
Stuartg: “One of the first things you would have learned, if you had ever been to classes on statistics, is that before you can test for non-coincidence you first have to develop new data sets.”
Before you go to the bother of developing new data sets you need to know whether it is going to be worth it. Stupid taking a guess and being wrong 95% of the time.
You are confusing facts with drawing conclusions.
It still isn’t proof. It just reduces the probability of coincidence as the p value decreases.
I was thinking about troubles of fluoridation. I noticed Canterbury (non-fluoridated) rugby to be excellent.
So I hypothesised that fluoridation impairs strongly competitive sport performance. One area I am still thinking about, about the only one I have found so far that the effect may not seem to happen is women’s rugby.
Women’s rugby didn’t get serious until about the 1990s. And it seems more to attract Maori or maybe Polynesian players so will rugby be stronger where their population density and total number to select from is greater.
Stuartg: “You would also have learned that the observations used to develop a hypothesis cannot be part of the data set used for testing the hypothesis.”
In other words when you form a hypothesis about a patient’s medical condition and do a diagnosis you do not include what formed your hypothesis in your diagnosis?
That is supposed to offer protection, from cherry picking a result at p <0.05 and then saying it to be significant.
Even starting with new data sets does not verify anything better than the p value says. So I think this new data set idea is pumping up false confidence. Am I the only one to have had that idea or is it dismissed in the text books?
This seems to have a connection to what Ken does when he does multiple correlations which alternatively may be connected to things fluoridation is said to be connected and cherry picks one like altitude, and you don't complain, Stuartg.
Yet more bluster.
Still no evidence.
And very obviously no understanding. An excellent example of the Dunning-Kruger effect, in fact.
Rather than you using the comments section of a blog to ask for advice on statistical methods, I really suggest that you take lessons in statistics. Your local high school may be able to help you.
“when you form a … diagnosis you do not include what formed your hypothesis in your diagnosis”
You apparently have no idea of the process here, either. Dunning-Kruger again?
Any provisional diagnosis is tested by getting new data – labs, imaging, more history, repeat examinations, procedures… Just like a hypothesis in science is tested by getting new data.
theStoartg: “Any provisional diagnosis is tested by getting new data – labs, imaging, more history, repeat examinations, procedures… Just like a hypothesis in science is tested by getting new data.”
Yes bur the parallel is the original symptom you saw is then ignored, going by your requirement that only new data may be used.
Stuartg: “Still no evidence.”
But you have not denied that the original symptom in medical diagnosis, which instigated your hypothesis, still forms part of your diagnoisis, is actually part of your evidence for your diagnosis.
Stuarth, so my initial cursory diagnosis was that sport is stronger in non-fluoridated Canterbury than fluoridated areas of NZ. So I looked for new data. * No All Black Captains born in our most populous city since fluoridation started there.
* English soccer teams do better from non-fluoridated areas after the young children raised there have time to grow up.
* Rugby in Greater Wellington’s half million population was topped much more frequently by Petone after the rest of Wellington was fluoridated.
* More of the Hawke’s Bay representative rugby team come from the unfluoridated part.
* Many All Blacks came from the South Canterbury/Timaru rugby team until fluoridation of Timaru then no more did and its division was also relegated.
In the Super Rugby that non-fluoridated Canterbury/West Coast-based Crusaders have achieved much better than teams from two fluoridated regions.
* Eminent All Black Captain Richie McCaw did not even achieve a place in the NZ secondary schools rugby team while boarding at a school in fluoridated Dunedin. He only started to excel when he went to non-fluoridated Lincoln.
* Captains from non-fluoridated areas have captained the NZ cricket team team in many more matches since fluoridation started than captains from fluoridated areas. Though the sample is not very large,
*Contrarily the pattern may not show in women’s rugby however the interest comes very much from Maori players who do not have such a wide geographical distribution in great numbers for testing and serious interest only started in the 1990s a long time after most fluoridation started in the mid 1960s. Or there could be a sex-based effect as with MMR-autism link showing in boys.
Ken | May 23, 2017 at 11:26 am |
Brian – you said in a previous comment:
This seems to have a connection to what Ken does when he does multiple correlations which alternatively may be connected to things fluoridation is said to be connected and cherry picks one like altitude,”
That misrepresents me. I have never “cherry-picked” altitude. Why should I? I am making absolutely no claims about altitude.
What I have done is included several likely covariates in a multiple regression of ADHD prevalence and fluoridation extent. This was to show how the Malin and Till paper was faulty7.
The lack of any significant relationship of ADHD prevalence with fluoridation is hardly surprising. Yet you avoid accepting that and look for any way to avoid facing up to the objective evidence.
As for altitude – it is Huber et al (2015) who made that investigation because of their existing model of possible causes of ADHD. I have no views on that model or their explanation of the significant correlation.
As I have often said parameters like altitude could really be acting as surrogates for other things connected to city living.
Similar parameters like fluoridation extent can also be acting proxies – as was certainly the case for Malin & Till’s faulty analysis.
Ken but you originally did a correlation table and picked elevation but no mention of Huber. https://openparachute.wordpress.com/2015/03/22/adhd-linked-to-elevation-not-fluoridation/
Your p value was 0.009 and I think your were justified in pointing it out. However technically I maintain you were cherry picking. My point is whether cherry picking should always be ruled out. I think not.
According to the protocol which Stuartg points out, Ken should have been only using his US ADHD – altitude correlation as forming a hypothesis, then discarding that data and testing the hypothesis in many other regions.
Ken | May 23, 2017 at 12:43 pm |
Yes, I did, Brian. So what?
I identified a range of possible confounders which, because of the significance in a simple regression, should be considered as covariates.
I have not in any way promoted any significance for that except to point out that Malin and Tillâs conclusion was clearly wrong. Something you refuse to acknowledge because of your unfounded assumption that fluoride must be bad.
Donât be silly, Brian.
Ken: “Donât be silly, Brian.”
In this case Ken did not have to do the extra work since he later found it being done by Huber.
I do not say fluoridation to be bad for everyone, just there is the chance it impairs certain categories of people who are wiped out in the wider averaging. That always can be a problem in a democracy.
Ken: “I identified a range of possible confounders which, because of the significance in a simple regression, should be considered as covariates.”
Same for me with the fluoridation confounder and strongly competitive sports success.
Ken | May 23, 2017 at 1:56 pm |
Stop your continuing dishonest silliness, Brtan. No extra work was required because I showed that when several covariates were included the association claimed by Malin and Till was completely unsupported. You are refusing to accept that.
As for Huber, they did not include fluoridation as a covariate so in fact their contribution was not directly related to my original article (except to confirm altitude had a significant relationship.
Brian, if you are into identifying a range of covariates let’s see them put together in a multiple regression.
I don’t think you have used any substantial data to establish a single covariate yet.
Ken fluoridation is the single “covariate” or variable, that I have considered and I have given substantial data for pilot purposes. Why do you think not?
Do you suspect fluoridation might be overshadowed in its effect by altitude? In NZ and England there is not a great variation of altitude in the populated areas.
I might include climate, and note higher temperatures mean more water consumption.
Take a look at success of 3 rugby teams from varying temperature areas in New Zealand the the Super Rugby competition
In the first column I have the tally of the points won by the Auckland, Canterbury and Otago-based Super 12 rugby teams, less the points again st them.
In the second column is the population of the province.
The third column gives won – lost points per 10,000 population.
Unfluoridated Canterbury is far ahead.
Fluoridated, but cool climate Otago in southerly NZ is in the middle and hot fluoridated Auckland in hotter northerly NZ is very behind.
696— 1377000– 5 Auckland (Blues)
2141— 600100– 36 Canterbury (Crusaders)
518 –– 219200– 24 Otago (Highlanders)
So things are a bit complex.
Fluoridation of course includes possible changes to calcium and magnesium hardness of water, but they might be divided out. Including any interaction between them. I note you criticise studies of fluoride vs IQ when they fail to note low iodine. You seem to want the impairment to be thought of only as either/or fluoride/iodide (and indeed not fluoride), not having breadth for accounting for interaction between iodide and fluoride, meaning low iodide may not be so bad without fluoride’s increase.
Brian, I have not seen any data from you – let alone substantial data. That is why I keep suggesting that you set up your won blog or website where such data can be presented. it cannot be presented in comments here and I simply refuse to attempt to sort out the mess you continually post in comments. If you do not respect readers sufficiently to use a forum enabling proper presentation then don’t expect us to read such messes.
And, really, don’t expect me to look at a 3 sample dataset. Come off it.
“According to the protocol which Stuartg points out…”
That’s news to me. I can’t recall pointing out protocols, just the first things you need to do when you have a problem.
It’s like your own job. As an electronic technician, what is the first thing you do when given something that doesn’t work? It’s broken. How can you fix it?
Well, I would suggest that your first step is to seek new data. Look at the soldered joints, the wires, the individual components. Get out the multimeter and check for continuity, resistance, capacitance…
Without new data, how do you expect to fix that broken electronic device? Or is your method to just throw it out and tell the owner to get a new device?
Why is it that you believe that science, medicine, statistics, epidemiology, work any different to your own profession?
If you’ve got a problem, test it. Testing it means that you necessarily acquire new data.
Test whether the All Black captains being from non-fluoridated areas is coincidence? Get data about the captains from other national sports teams. You can use the captains from rugby teams around the world. You can use captains from the FIFA football teams. You can use captains from netball, hockey, ice hockey, cricket, bowls, baseball, basketball, Americas cup yachting… Thousands of team captains available for testing, but you restrict yourself to cherry-picking just a couple of dozen rugby players from NZ and don’t bother to test your idea.
If you did that as an electronic technician, you would rapidly lose your job.
The same can be said for your UK football league results. And I have done. But, again, you stick with your cherry-picked results and don’t bother to get new data in order to test your idea.
The same can be said for Petone. And I did. And, yet again, you stuck with your cherry-picked data and didn’t bother to get a new data set and test whether your idea had any validity.
I repeat, if you did that as an electronic technician, you would rapidly lose your job.
Your ideas are interesting, but the results you have observed are well within the normal range that would be expected if CWF has absolutely no effect on sporting performance. They are well within the normal range that would be expected if drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies does not cause harm to individuals or to populations.
If you wish to pursue your ideas further, you need to follow the well established methods of science, statistics and epidemiology.
My suggestion is that you start by learning the basics – high school classes in science and statistics would be a good start.
“there could be a sex-based effect as with MMR-autism link showing in boys”
Citation required.
“(I) note higher temperatures mean more water consumption.”
Especially when you are discussing peak sporting performance where the cooling requirements are related more to the maximum heat generation capacity of the human body than to environmental temperatures.
“Take a look at success of 3 rugby teams from varying temperature areas”
Especially about the temperature variations. Which province is hottest, coldest, has the highest temperature variations, rainfall, sunshine hours, etc.
Also about the transferring of players between those teams, overseas origins of those players, out of province origins, etc. And why you cherry-picked those teams and didn’t bother mentioning the many other provincial teams. And why you cherry-picked Super-12 rugby, but didn’t mention the performance of provincial teams in netball, football, hockey, cricket, other forms of rugby…
Or is the performance of other provincial teams and other sports in disagreement with your fantasies?
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/5/21/15505812/lancet-teach-informed-health-choices-teaching-kids
Maybe it’s just too late for you to learn about science, statistics and epidemiology?
Stuartg: “Well, I would suggest that your first step is to seek new data. Look at the soldered joints, the wires, the individual components. Get out the multimeter and check for continuity, resistance, capacitance…”
Indeed and make sure the big capacitors are not put in by the assemblers in reverse polarity or else the whole factory gets a big surprise. There is a lot to check and often only a small sample of each fault. You have to take action much sooner than a statistical research protocol would allow. Get the circuit diagram and component specifications books and make sure the printed circuit board is designed properly. There is a lot more discarding these days with new products being cheaper than time spent on repair. My notion is that the same discarding is happening to humans.
Stuartg: “there could be a sex-based effect as with MMR-autism link showing in boys”
If you think the CDC were correct in eliminating children without easy access to birth certificate data which turned out to be the affected Back males then there is other stuff where sexes react differently a 2003 study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15562745
“Gender differences regarding reactogenicity were evident and should be considered when designing future studies.”
Stuartg: “Citation required.
Especially about the temperature variations.”
I am not sure how trustworthy this may be anout avaerage monthly temperatures:
http://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/new-zealand-climate-and-weather/
Auckland 10.9 to 19.7
Dunedin 6.6 to 15.3
And it is not only about playing/training but amount drunk at other times including by the pregnant mum.
“For a given individual, water consumption increases with temperature,
humidity, exercise and state of health, and is modified by other factors including
diet. Roughly, the closer to the Equator, the higher the water consumption
(Murray, 1986).”
Click to access fluoride_drinking_water_full.pdf
Stuartg your VOX cite:
A proper scientific educator would have explained to the children the power of placebo/suggestion and that that is what they were investigating. That course is very lacking,
“Colour of medication: Patients’ compliance of medication and treatment is strongly influenced by the role (they think) medicine plays [22]. The size and colour of the tablets are significant factors. Blue is seen as depressant-sedative, and yellow as stimulant antidepressants [23]. Blue preparations are more soothing; and red, pink or yellow as more stimulating [24]. De Craen et al. [25] confirmed that stimulation was associated with medicine which was marketed in hot colours (red, orange, yellow), and antidepressants were marketed in cold colours (blue, green, purple). In a study with volunteer medical students, similar observations were made [26]. Expectations thus drive the placebo effect [27]. Where patients see their illness as hot or cold, they will only accept medication which deals with the heat or cold. Buckalew and Coffield [23] demonstrated that white capsules were seen as analgesics by Caucasians, but as stimulants by African Americans, whereas black capsules were seen as stimulants by Caucasians and as analgesics by African Americans. Interestingly, among passive individuals who were intellectually oriented, sedative agents produced higher (than expected) levels of sedation [2].
Regrettably, in drug trials, these factors are not taken into account.”
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acps.12422/full
Stuartg: “Also about the transferring of players between those teams, overseas origins of those players, out of province origins, etc.”
If it were happening more I would expect the differential to decrease. Maybe it is.
Citation still required.
…but your comment is about provincial rugby, not cities. Dunedin temperatures are hardly representative of Otago – try looking at Alexandra temperatures, for instance.
So, citation still required.
And let’s not forget that, in spite of there being more than seventy years of data and research into the subject, you are completely incapable of citing any harm caused by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
So, as I said, interesting ideas, but no evidence available to support them.
Stuartg: ““According to the protocol which Stuartg points out…”
You suggested I should not do some correlations and select the ones with low p and ignore others and say I have proven significance, didn’t you? It is a wrong protocol. For if I do 20 correlations I should by probability get one “statistically significant” at p<0.05 purely by chance.
You didn't call it a protocol but what is supposed to be done is to get a notion using reason then test it for statistical significance, as I have begun to do with temperature and fluoridation. Even at p<0.01 one correlation per 100 meeting that p value happens purely by chance.
A notion I have to test: increase in violence and suicide against increase consumption of food with unfermented soy bean protein extender in it (soy being a problem for thyroid as a possibility), fluoridated toothpaste and water (fluoride also being a thyroid problem at low iodine which may add or interact.)
Fortunately NZ health ministry recommend not to feed infants on soy milk where avoidable. In rats soy has been shown to interfere with development of the endocrine system. It is strongly hormonal, more so if treated with glyphosate-based herbicide.
Traditional soy food in Asian countries is fermented which early peoples seem to have found improves it. The fermented products are called natto in Japan, fluffy tofu in China and Tempeh in Indonesia.
So I have set out that notion beforre doing a p value table and selecting.
Fluoridated toothpaste, water, soy consumption, violence and suicide have all increased. What else would you put in the list, giving a reason for the notion?
Stuartg as far as I can see no Highlanders players come from Central Otago.
Out of the 41 current squad at least 16 were born in non-fluoridated areas maybe more since i do not know about 4 from places in Samoa and Tonga and I am not sure when Garth Evans’ mother came from Zimbabwe.
Only 4 seem to be born in fluoridated Dunedin.
“You suggested I should not do some correlations and select the ones with low p and ignore others and say I have proven significance, didn’t you?”
“Out of the 41 current squad at least 16 were born in non-fluoridated areas” “Only 4 seem to be born in fluoridated Dunedin”
Check your maths. 41 – 16 = 27, not 4.
“Only 4 seem to be born in fluoridated Dunedin”
If less than 10% of the squad was born in Dunedin, why do you use weather averages for Dunedin as representative of the >90% not born there? Are you doing the same for Canterbury? For Auckland? Why haven’t you included Taranaki? Southland? Lot’s of other provinces?
The obvious lack of thought you have put into your “I am not making claims” claims implies egregious cherry picking.
If you remember, I did suggest that you could cite any evidence you have to support your claim that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies, in the form of CWF, causes harm.
You still haven’t cited any evidence to support your claim.
Stuartg: “If less than 10% of the squad was born in Dunedin, why do you use weather averages for Dunedin as representative of the >90% not born there?”
Stuartg I think you still have that either-or thing going. You want me not to claim fluoride could affect initial human development as well as later functioning. You were very big on it before, “what has that got to do with that?” in a very obfuscating fashion, too. Or maybe I suppose you are trying to hope people will realise that you want it to be two separate investigations.
One perhaps being the early-life effect on pineal development with ongoing change to the melatonin/serotonin mechanism, the other being the effect on the thyroid noticeable in people working extremely at their limit. Dunedin being better for environmental iodine may avoid that somewhat. Yes over half of these players came from fluoridated birth regions, it looks. About 5 from Palmerston North I think, though sometimes the description “Manawatu” could mean elsewhere.
Sorry it’s a bit hard to trace the players’ origins.
Josh Dickson was born in fluoridated Perth but grew up, went to primary school, in non-fluoridated Wanaka which is almost Central Otago. I don’t know at what age he went there. That may increase the non-F births to 18.
The team (with reserves) which is playing internationally (Perth) has some other players not in the main list. (Including 7 reserves 9 from fluoridated birth places 10 from non-fluoridated and 3 not sure. So there is a small shift to increased non-F proportion for international match.
Sorry I have not done every team yet. It takes a bit of time.
Stuartg: “If you remember, I did suggest that you could cite any evidence you have to support your claim that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies, in the form of CWF, causes harm.
Whay don’t you consider Lin Fa Fu et al’s work to be evidence?
Point out to us all where Lin Fa Fu et al studied people who had been drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
http://www.skepticalob.com/2017/05/alternative-health-dunning-kruger-and-the-tuteur-corollary.html
Substitute your own thinking about Community Water Fluoridation if you wish.
Stuartg: “Point out to us all where Lin Fa Fu et al studied people who had been drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies”
So you think there is more to fluoridation than the level of fluoride?
Then tell us why their basic maths contains errors.
Then perhaps you could find a certified translation.
After all, if the authors/editor/typesetter/translator demonstrably leave numerical errors in their tables, who knows what other errors are present in their text?
Stuartg: “Point out to us all where Lin Fa Fu et al studied people who had been drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.”
By “fluoridated” do you exclude naturally to a similar level as artificial?
A problem of “science-based medicine” is that science finds it much easier to look at one illness one drug when the door may have more than one key to open it. Not just Ken’s confounding variables which may act independently but variables interacting – working together.
In the case of iodide Ken refers to its lack as a confounder but it’s lack in the presence of slightly elevated fluoride may make things worse.
What maths errors is it Stuartg?
Stuartg: it is not a typesetting error.
ig means micrograms.
http://acronymsandslang.com/definition/103129/IG%2FDL-meaning.html
Ken | May 26, 2017 at 7:30 am |
Extremely rare? First time I have seen that abbreviation â after a long career in chemistry research.
I suggest one would only use it for pretentious reasons or out of ignorance. After all, the purpose of communication is to be understood â why resort to use of abbreviations not recognised by people in the appropriate community?
Incredibly rare – first time I’ve ever seen that use as well!
But it was actually the numerical errors I referred to, not nomenclature. I’ve pointed out the errors to you in the past, as have others, and they are still present in the translation. It’s remarkable that you have elected to ignore those errors in your quest to find small, low quality, cherry picked studies that you believe add to your fund of anecdotes. It’s interesting to note that you were ready to defend this incredibly rare and non-recommended SI usage, though; I hadn’t even registered it!
Microgram is usually abbreviated to µg, or ug if your keyboard can’t manage the mu. That’s the SI standard. Handwritten medical notes are recommended to use mcg to reduce risk of error (handwritten µg often misinterpreted as mg).
But those comments are just another example of your use of diversion.
You still are unable to provide any citations to support your evidence-free imaginative speculation that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies causes harm to individuals or to populations. And that’s with more than seventy years of research and data available from the real world among which you would surely be able to find evidence to support your speculation.
If CWF doesn’t cause harm, then I would not expect you to be able to cite any evidence of harm.
Interestingly, your lack of citations thus tends to support the scientific consensus that CWF does not cause harm.
Stuartg: “Microgram is usually abbreviated to µg, or ug if your keyboard can’t manage the mu. That’s the SI standard. Handwritten medical notes are recommended to use mcg to reduce risk of error (handwritten µg often misinterpreted as mg).”
If ug, the u being the second letter of mu, the english for the Greek µ, why not go more English and use the second letter of micro? Both are using the second letter to avoid the common confusion between micro and milli. Though I suppose it is the second letter of milli also.
People familiar with nutrition should know by the figures.
Stuartg we had a good go at this 6 months ago:
“soundhill, I’m not going to do your library searches for you. I’m just not interested enough to follow it further. I’ll trust the scientific consensus rather than rely on the three papers you think contradict the scientific consensus.”
So I give 3 papers then you talk about a contrary consensus and tell me to look up the data for your consensus?
People won’t be trusting you to be other than trying to create a perception unless you give some studies to back up your claim for consensus of no effect involving people subjected to fluoride levels relevant to fluoridation when they are low or high on iodine intake.
“If ug, the u being the second letter of mu, the english for the Greek µ, why not go more English and use the second letter of micro?”
As you never learned science at school, you obviously never learned about how and why SI standards were developed and why they are standards.
Is your comment derived from the Dunning-Kruger effect, or is it just your automatic “my fantasies have to be right, so all those thousands of experts have to be wrong in spite of their evidence and many years of learning” approach?
You want me to give you evidence about the scientific consensus? Again? As though I hadn’t done it several times before?
Take a modern textbook on dentistry. It doesn’t matter which. Or perhaps a modern textbook on epidemiology. Or both. Or more than one of each. In any language. Or take all of them.
Turn to the chapters on community water fluoridation.
Read them.
Read the references.
Read their references.
That’s the scientific consensus on community water fluoridation.
Against that consensus you have a fantasy that CWF causes harm.
In your opposition to the scientific consensus, the sum total of your citable evidence is… nothing.
That’s in spite of more than seventy years of research and data into the millions of people who have benefited from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies over the decades.
Surely there’s something in all that evidence to support your fantasy? Well, since you haven’t found anything, maybe not.
You are denying the science and the scientific consensus because you have a fantasy.
Stuartg the SI system of units is not about the symbols used to represent those units.
It just replaced the foot pound second system and the centimeter gram second system with the metre kilogram second system, didn’t it?
And now when I try to find the original occurrence of ig/L in Lin FF Google brings up the Greek mu but when I copy and paste it here the result is /ig/L.
And viewing the version of Lin FF that Ken linked uses the Greek.
So you are looking silly making so much out of it, And you are weakening your case as you try to create a perception that Lin FF carries no weight.
I may be a bit wrong about there. But “mcg” is not part of SI.
“When the Greek lowercase “μ” (Mu) in the symbol μg is typographically unavailable, it is logically replaced by the Latin lowercase “u”.
The United States-based Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommend that the symbol μg should not be used when communicating medical information due to the risk that the prefix μ (micro-) might be misread as the prefix m (milli-), resulting in a thousandfold overdose. The non-SI symbol mcg is recommended instead.[1][2] However, the abbreviation mcg is also the symbol for an obsolete CGS unit of measure known as millicentigram, which is equal to 10 μg.”
“But “mcg” is not part of SI.”
Who said it was?
Perhaps you could actually read what I said, rather than relying on your imagination?
Both Ken (“Extremely rare? First time I have seen that abbreviation â after a long career in chemistry research”) and myself (“Incredibly rare – first time I’ve ever seen that use as well!”) merely commented about your defence of Lin Fa Fu et al using the term “ig” – ” it is not a typesetting error. ig means micrograms”
If you read back you will see my comment that I hadn’t even noticed their use of “ig”,
So, by bringing it up, who is making “so much out of” the use of “ig”?
And how much do you think it diverts away from your inability to cite evidence to support your fantasy about CWF causing harm?
“It (the SI system) just replaced the foot pound second system and the centimeter gram second system with the metre kilogram second system, didn’t it?”
You really should take those high school science classes.
Stuartg which text book gives the consensus on any interaction between moderate fluoride and low or high iodine?
Unfortunately the way medical scientific research goes there are things like liability that doctors have to cope with. If they give two new drugs together and the patient suffers a reaction how do they know which one it was to apportion liability? Liability is a very heavy weight on doctors. So taking account of things working together is often off the radar. You may not find it in the text books as much as it should be for positive actions, but often it is cited for bad drug interactions that have been obvious. But who takes liability for nutrient deficiency? Then next who takes liability for interaction of deficiencies? Will I find that written in the ethics texts?
soundhill.
If you read back you will see my comment that I hadn’t even noticed their use of “ig”
…because on checking it, my copy didn’t have that usage.
So why are you making yourself look silly by making so much fuss about it?
…and why can’t you find any citable evidence supporting your fantasy that drinking CWF causes harm?
“Will I find that written in the ethics texts?”
You will find that discussed in ethics textbooks. As you would know if you had read them.
Here is another example of dealing with a moderate supplement of something (folic acid) and the problem effect if something is low (vitamin B12), and the mess that people are being subjected to:
http://anhinternational.org/2013/09/04/fighting-forest-fires-with-teaspoons-folic-acid-fortification-and-vitamin-b12-deficiency/
Where can I find citable evidence to support your “I am not making claims” insistence that drinking CWF causes harm?
Keep on trying to divert if you like.
It makes it really obvious how much you are denying the science, denying the evidence of multiple decades of research and data into the lack of harmful effects of drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies in the millions of people who have benefited from it.
“Here is another example” …of attempting diversion using irrelevancies unrelated to CWF.
(FYI, I first diagnosed SCD over thirty years ago – it’s not as uncommon as you appear to think, as most NZ third year medical students could tell you)
Stuartg: “If you read back you will see my comment that I hadn’t even noticed their use of “ig”
…because on checking it, my copy didn’t have that usage”
You talked about typographical errors and I suppose it will be your strategy to leave us guessing over and over and take a laugh each time we get it wrong. You are lacking.
https://consultations.health.gov.au/chronic-disease-and-food-policy-branch/review-of-the-2006-nutrient-reference-values-for-a/supporting_documents/AustraliaandNewZealandNutrientReferenceValuesforIodine.pdf go to the Pettigrew Porter ref which I pasted/
You had said “What is the measurement “Ig/L” you are using in your cut & paste?
I cannot find any reference to it in the official SI units.”
Stuartg: “(FYI, I first diagnosed SCD over thirty years ago – it’s not as uncommon as you appear to think, as most NZ third year medical students could tell you)”
Sickle Cell Disease is a genetic affliction. Sufferers may actually have better survival than normal in malaria prone areas.
If you prescribed folic acid or folate did you also prescribe Vitamin B12 to try to avoid the nerve damage that folic acid may mask?
You do not have to have sickle cell disease to be short of vitamin B12 and be at risk of getting only folic acid supplementation as in our breads.
Silly who will be writing a citable paper on my claims or lack of them?
Sruartg: “It makes it really obvious how much you are denying the science, denying the evidence of multiple decades of research and data into the lack of harmful effects of drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies in the millions of people who have benefited from it.”
Science does reviews. Ken brought up a review of Lin FF last November whcih I challenged parts of. But no review of Fugui Hong or Dali Ren et al..
Soundhill1: “Sickle Cell Disease is a genetic affliction. Sufferers may actually have better survival than normal in malaria prone areas.”
Sorry it may be just those with one copy of the gene, I am not sure.
Stuartg: ““It (the SI system) just replaced the foot pound second system and the centimeter gram second system with the metre kilogram second system, didn’t it?”
To my knowledge the units kept the same names it was just decided to adopt different ones from amongst them.
In the MKS system one newton acceleartes a mass of 1 kg at 1 metre per second per second
In the FPS system one poundal accelerates a mass of one pound at a rate of one foot per second per second.
In the CGS system a force of one dyne accelerates a mass of one gram at a rate of one centimeter per second per second.
The MKS system was adopted and school children no longer had to work in poundals and dynes.
Feet as a measurement of length was replaced by metres. Pounds were replaced by kilograms. But I don’t think the decimal multipliers of metres and kilograms &c changed for SI.
Though the kilogtam became the accepted unit of mass they did not call a gram a millikilogram
SCD – subacute combined degeneration of the cord. Caused by B12 deficiency and can be contributed to by folate deficiency.
Or had you no idea what you were talking about and just cited something that you thought was near enough?
“To my knowledge…”
It’s obvious that your knowledge doesn’t include why the Système International was introduced, or why it is in use today.
You really should attend some lessons in basic science, rather than assuming that you have a good teacher whilst being self taught.
You still keep attempting to divert from your inability to cite evidence that can support your assertions that CWF can cause harm to the people that drink it.
Would you explain to us why you are completely incapable of citing such evidence?
After all, you’ve got more than seventy years of research and data, involving millions of people, from which to provide such evidence.
If it exists.
Perhaps you should read this: http://www.skepticalob.com/2017/05/alternative-health-dunning-kruger-and-the-tuteur-corollary.html
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before and can’t be bothered looking back on a Saturday night when I’m trying to recover from a series of night shifts.
Stuartg: “SCD – subacute combined degeneration of the cord” It’s not in this list of acronyms:
https://www.allacronyms.com/_medical/SCD
But those don’t leave off essential parts of the concept such as “cord” in your definition.
It has to be worse than the old Latin prescriptions and doctors’ bad handwriting which must have caused much confusion before computers.
How about standardising the medical acronyms into a Systeme Internationale (SI) like the physical and chemical units?
So I didn’t get it correct but I did get something related to a vitamin B12 connected disease,
It avoids a lot of conversion to be required going from one system to another. The Anericans tend not to use it so much.
There is some standardisation of powers of 10. Like for Americans a billion is 1,000,000,000 but the English used to call 1,000,000,000,000 a billion and 1.000.000.000.000.000.000 a trillion. so giga, tera, exa and zeta have been substituted to reduce confusion.
What is the SI for billionaire?
Tuteur: Who is doing this to me?
Why is the doctor sticking to a failing protocol if I have terminal cancer?
Why is a clinical trial aimed at advancing science, not doing the best for an individual patient? Why is it aimed at one key when the door to cancer may have several requited?
Who are these monsters putting me down with names like Tuteur and Dunning Kruger when my life is ebbing?
Stuartg: “CWF can cause harm to the people that drink it.”
You don’t listen, Some people that drink it.
“Some people that drink it.”
So give us some citeable evidence that “some” people get harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
Or citable evidence that even one person has been harmed by CWF.
Definitely there has been death with CWF accident at only 150 times the recommended optimum level.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199401133300203
Brian, can you not realise that providing a single example of an accident in response to Stuart’s question:
is extremely damning for your case?
You are admitting that you cannot find a single example of harm to individuals from CWF.
No Ken, one person died and a lot were made sick who would not have been if CWF were not taking place.
It wasn’t at the LD50 level where half die. More like LD0.3.
The point is that responses to fluoride vary. At what level can no risk be associated? What do all the studies which Stuartg goes on about say about the tails of their distributions? Low or high iodine segment? COMT variant?
Where are the papers that look at EQ on top of IQ yet?
The paper you cite documents harm from water with a fluoride concentration of 150mg/L. That’s 150 parts per million when NZ has recommended the optimum fluoride concentration in water to be 0.7 to 1.0 ppm.
Could you please justify your selection of 150 ppm as the optimum fluoride concentration in drinking water supplies. After all, if you didn’t select that as optimum, the paper has zero relevance to your claims.
We’re still waiting for you to provide citable evidence demonstrating harm to even a single individual, let alone “some” people, from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
Haven’t you produced them yet?
After all, we still haven’t seen citations from you to support your assertion that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies affects IQ.
“The point is that responses to fluoride (at optimal water fluoridation concentrations) vary.”
You’re making an assumption there. You need to back that supposition with citations justifying your use of such speculation.
No problems if you are talking about fluoride concentrations well above those optimal for reticulated water supplies, but then your statement would be completely irrelevant to discussion of CWF.
“At what level can no risk be associated?”
Well, unless you can provide citations that harm has been caused to any individual from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies, we can be pretty certain it includes the level recommended for reticulated water supplies.
Stusrtg: “Could you please justify your selection of 150 ppm as the optimum fluoride concentration in drinking water supplies. After all, if you didn’t select that as optimum, the paper has zero relevance to your claims.”
They were intending/attempting to do 1ppm or so as you say they should. NO escaping.
Stuartg: “The point is that responses to fluoride (at optimal water fluoridation concentrations) vary.”
You’re making an assumption there. You need to back that supposition with citations justifying your use of such speculation”
Of course they vary. Some get dental fluorosis more than others.
Even cats learn to avoid other cars when one hits them. Unless they are trained not to as you seem to try to be doing to people who see dental fluorosis and wonder what else may be happening.
So you can only find evidence of harm from drinking fluoride in water when the concentration of fluoride is one hundred and fifty times that recommended?
Hardly surprising. Most things can cause harm when one hundred and fifty times the recommended amount is ingested – try eating one hundred and fifty scones for morning tea.
In NZ optimal fluoridation is currently set at 0.7 to 1.0 ppm. The recommendations will never include the 150 ppm that caused the only harm you have been able to cite.
Where are your citations showing harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies? More than seven decades of CWF. Millions of people benefiting. Yet you can’t show harm in even one person from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies?
If you had bothered to acquaint yourself with the scientific consensus on CWF you would know why you can’t cite evidence of harm from CWF. It’s all there in the textbooks and their references.
Threshold concentrations for harm from fluoridated water supplies were known from observations of people drinking naturally fluoridated water worldwide well before CWF was introduced. In other words, they’ve been known for over seventy years. There have been, and always will be, minor jiggles in the evaluation of that threshold – but that’s just how the scientific method works.
The recommended concentration for optimally fluoridated water supplies always has been, and always will be, much less than the threshold known to cause harm.
Epidemiologists have been studying those populations with CWF for over seventy years, specifically looking for evidence of harm from CWF. They haven’t found any.
Amateurs (probably the kindest way of describing anti-fluoridationists) have also been looking for evidence of harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies for over seventy years as well. They haven’t found any evidence, either.
Let’s repeat that. No-one, not scientists, not epidemiologists, not anti-fluoridationists, has ever found evidence of anybody being harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water.
The simple reason that you can’t cite evidence of even a single person being harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies, soundhill, is that no-one has actually been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
I’d have thought you would have figured it out by now.
I know that you won’t believe my comment above – simply because you think that everyone who doesn’t believe your fantasies are shills – but the comment is there for others to see why your belief/fantasy/faith that CWF causes harm means that you are denying the reality demonstrated by the scientific method.
As I see it, you’ve got a couple of options to choose from:
1. Ask an anti-fluoridationist cobber to cite evidence of harm to persons drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies. (I doubt you’ll manage to find any yourself)
2. Go to high school classes, learn about science, statistics, logic and philosophy. Then maybe some advanced work at university. Then read the textbooks on Community Water Fluoridation, the references and their references. In other words, you can read and understand the scientific consensus on CWF.
If you attempt the first, you’ll find even Connett is unable to cite harm caused to an individual from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies. And, believe me on this, he’ll have been looking longer and harder than you have.
If you manage the second, including the all important understand, it will take many years of your time and at the end of it all I suspect that you will find that you support CWF. Because by then you’ll have learned and understand the scientific method, what the evidence is, and why your current beliefs have no supporting evidence.
Or you can go to option 3:
Keep on attempting diversion to irrelevant topics in your endeavours to conceal your basic lack of knowledge of science, statistics, medicine and logic.
I wonder which it will be?
Stuartg: “So you can only find evidence of harm from drinking fluoride in water when the concentration of fluoride is one hundred and fifty times that recommended?”
Accepts there is harm when there has been a death.
“Threshold concentrations for harm from fluoridated water supplies were known from observations of people drinking naturally fluoridated water worldwide well before CWF was introduced.”
Define “harm.”
Please cite evidence in support of your claim that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies has caused harm to individuals or to populations in the more than seventy years it has been available.
I will repeat myself: you are able to define both “harm” and “optimally fluoridated” provided you are able to justify those definitions. Do you want to re-define “drinking”, “water” and “seventy years” as well?
So far you appear to have defined “optimally fluoridated” at one hundred and fifty times the NZ recommended level, but you have neglected to justify that definition.
“Accepts there is harm (from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies) when there has been a death”.
Only if soundhill is able to justify resetting the definition of optimally fluoridated water supplies to 150 ppm fluoride.
Accepts there has been harm when fluoride level has got to 150mg/l and there has been a death.
But does not accept damage to the ameloblasts as harm, or it seems anything until the level gets up to 150mg per liter and there is a death.
I’ll repeat what I said earlier:
You can define “harm” to a human being in any way you like, providing you can justify that definition.
Personally though, If I were you, I would use one of the already accepted expert definitions of harm.
Following that, you can continue to demonstrate to us that there is no citable evidence of harm, to individuals or to populations, that is caused by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
And if you continue to insist that 150ppm fluoride causing harm is “optimally fluoridated”, then: {citation required}
Stuartg: ““Where are the papers that look at EQ on top of IQ yet?”
If EQ is to have anything to do with suicide I have to note suicide seems to have a small negative correlation of -0.26 to proportion of state fluoridated in USA. p value about 0.065 two-valued.
Could be that there may be more suicide in rural regions which may have less fluoridation. In NZ correlation of suicide to population of DHB gives about 0.4 p=about 0.06 two-tailed.
Taking a wild guess at fluoridation of NZ DHBs usng only 1 for more fluoridated , 0 for less fluoridated and 0.5 for Hastins/Napier sort of area I get a rank correlation about -0.3 but the p value is too large at two-tailed 0.18. But taken together with USA there may be an effect.
The partial correlation holding population constant is -0.29. Used Vassarstats.
Brian, you are implying there is ” damage to the ameloblasts” from CWF.
Could you please provide a citation and/or link?
Soundhill1: “In NZ correlation of suicide to population of DHB gives about 0.4 p=about 0.06 two-tailed.”
sorry should be -0.4 with the smaller DHBs having more suicide.
“does not accept damage to the ameloblasts as harm (to a human being)”
Exactly what damage is caused to ameloblasts by exposure to optimal fluoride concentrations?
Before you start a rant, yes, I know that excess fluoride makes ameloblasts incorporate more fluoride into the enamel matrix and results in dental fluorosis, but they’re still healthy, undamaged cells. And, yes, I know that zero fluoride means the enamel matrix ameloblasts produce is more porous and so more prone to dental caries, but they’re still healthy, undamaged cells. And yes, I know that ameloblasts with optimal fluoride levels are also healthy, undamaged cells.
So can you cite anyone with evidence that the same optimal fluoride levels are causing damage to ameloblasts? And if you can, exactly what sort of harm does that cause to the human organism? After all, you are the one with the “I am not making claims” insistence of human harm from CWF.
And, once you’ve done that, you can continue to demonstrate the lack of citable evidence you have that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies causes harm to individuals or to populations, even though some have drunk it for a lifetime.
Stuartg: “Before you start a rant, yes, I know that excess fluoride makes ameloblasts incorporate more fluoride into the enamel matrix and results in dental fluorosis, but they’re still healthy, undamaged cells.”
Cite please.I don’t think you will find a cite and you still have the misconception I have spoken of several times.
What I have read is that fluorotic white marks are “hypomineralisation.” Hypo meaning less than should be.
The ameloblasts no longer form proper transparent hydroxyapatite.
In severe cases protein is left where enamel should be causing brown marks.
Stuartg: “I am not making claims” insistence of human harm from CWF.”
No just caution. Even if fluoridation were to be reducing suicide would it be doing it by some mechansim such as that other very light and reactive element lithium which though may dampen the affect may damage the liver?
StuartgL “And, yes, I know that zero fluoride means the enamel matrix ameloblasts produce is more porous”
No on the contrary. More porous with fluoride. It is just that jydroxyapatite is less resistant to acid attack than fluorapatite.
If tooth enamel without fluoride were more porous it also would not be transparent the way it is.
Citation? Certainly.
http://m.jbc.org/content/280/24/23194.full
Or you could try the relevant dental textbooks.
Now why can’t you provide the citations to support your claims?
Probably because evidence for your claims exists only in your imagination.
Suicide: another diversion attempting redirection from your inability to cite evidence to support your “I am not making claims” insistence that CWF causes harm.
“No on the contrary. More porous with fluoride. It is just that jydroxyapatite (sic) is less resistant to acid attack than fluorapatite.
Your imagination is running away again. Read the scientific consensus. Or, failing that, the citations I provided.
Perhaps you can tell us why you are unable to cite harm to individuals or to populations from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies?
After all, with more than seventy years of data and research into the effects of CWF, your lack of citations makes it highly unlikely that CWF causes any harm to humans from drinking it.
If your “I am not making claims” insistence is indeed “just caution” then the absolute lack of evidence available in its support (millions of people, multiple decades…) would be indicative that the “just caution” is no longer warranted.
Initial opposition to the railways were concerned that humans would not survive speeds over 30 mph. In spite of the lack of evidence to support that concern, are you still exhibiting “just caution” and sticking to walking and horse riding like those people?
“For the first 10 kg of weight, a child needs 100 mL per kg of weight.”
“Children who are vomiting, have diarrhea, are sweating excessively, or who are exposed
to extremely high temperatures, require even more fluids than listed above.”
Click to access 00037.pdf
Now Stuartg from your second ref
“Enamel fluorosis is observed in young children at fluoride intakes as low as 0.03 mg F/kg body weight,”
That would be 0.3mg for a 10 kg child, and at a fluoridation rate of 0.7mg/l its fluid requirement of 1 litre would inflict over double that.
Stuartg: “If tooth enamel without fluoride were more porous it also would not be transparent the way it is.”
Thanks for reminding me about those citations.
Non-porous hydroxyapatite is not as resistant to acid as fluorapatite.
Due to the scattering of light at the interface between the apatite and any pores in it, porous hydroxyapatite would be translucent but not transparent.
Stuartg’s second ref: “the effects of fluoride on ER stress require further study at lower doses.”
The endoplasmic reticulum is involved in many body processes.
As a doctor do you know how a person’s kidneys have to have their function considerably reduced before they present with symptoms? The kidneys have quite an amount of spare capacity. What percent would you say would be gone before a patient presents? Would a hard working sports person, like Jonah Lomu, notice the impairment earlier?
Would the number of hard working sports people in the Dunedin Study be sufficient for them to statistically significantly sway the population picture about any bodily development aspects where the ER may have affected reserves?
Soundhill1: “Even if fluoridation were to be reducing suicide would it be doing it by some mechansim such as that other very light and reactive element lithium which though may dampen the affect may damage the liver?”
“The affect” there related to affection, and being sort of the set of emotions.
Lithium is used to treat manic depression but can result in death from failed liver.
So, still no citations to support your evidence-free fantasies that CWF causes harm?
After all, more than seven decades of research, seven decades of data accumulation, multiple countries, millions of people benefiting, yet you’re still not able to find evidence that even one person in the real world has been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
You can fantasise and speculate for as long as you like, but your inability to provide supporting evidence from the real world exposes those fantasies for exactly what they are: make-believe from your world of pure imagination.
I suggest that you read back. The reason I placed that phrase in quotation marks is because it originated with you. Don’t try attributing it to me. It has nothing to do with my opinions and everything to do with yours.
We note, yet again, your attempt at diversion from your inability to provide evidence supporting your claims. It still doesn’t work. It still makes you look foolish – your insistence that others produce evidence whilst you convincingly demonstrate that you are incapable of doing so yourself is somewhat injudicious of you.
You haven’t even acknowledged that your completely inaccurate evidence-free belief that fluoride damages ameloblasts has been shown to be wrong – by evidence available from the real world.
So, yet again, where are your citations from the real world that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies causes harm to humans? Surely somewhere amongst those millions of people, decades of data, you can find evidence that even one person has been harmed by CWF? Or do we conclude that your “I am not making claims” assertations and speculations are the products of pure fantasy?
Stuartg: “So, yet again, where are your citations from the real world that drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies causes harm to humans? ”
You are talking legal proof. Knowledge that the speed of train travel shouldn’t be feared indeed took a while to develop and legal proof of asbestos and lead injury took a while to develop.
Just because there may be no legal proof of fluoridation injury in NZ does not have to mean there to be no impairment.
I think Stuart was actually talking about scientific proof â not âlegal proof.â One does not rely on lawyers when considering safety issues.
But you have certainly exposed your desperation n with this comment that absence of âproof of fluoridation injury in NZ does not have to mean there to be no impairment.
There is no proof there are fairies at the bottom of your garden â are you then going to use this absence to argue that they are really there?
Stuartg | June 1, 2017 at 12:00 am |
“Knowledge that the speed of train travel shouldn’t be feared indeed took a while to develop”
Certainly. It took one short trip lasting less than an hour.
Confirming Ken’s comment: I don’t have the knowledge of law or the legal system to make comments about legal proof. Unless otherwise stated, all my comments are, and have been, about scientific proof. (FYI, in case you hadn’t noticed, that’s why I keep mentioning science, the scientific method and the scientific consensus)
So how long do you think we have to wait for (scientific) proof that CWF does not cause harm?
Many countries (not just your insistence of NZ). Millions of people. More than seven decades. Even entire lifetimes. There’s lots of proof of the health benefits of CWF. There’s lots of proof showing how CWF works. There’s lots of proof showing that CWF does work. There’s even lots of proof of the financial benefits of CWF (But here I’ll take the word of others because I’m not an economist)
And yet you still have no citable evidence, despite those millions of people and those multiple decades, that even a single person worldwide has been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
Probably because CWF does not actually cause harm?
soundhill1 | June 1, 2017 at 9:50 pm |
Ken: “There is no proof there are fairies at the bottom of your garden â are you then going to use this absence to argue that they are really there?”
We tend to attribute things to fairies when we do not understand them such as the rate of infant language acquisition about which there has been much debate.
I think you left out “not.”
Just because Marie Curie did not scientifically know she was being damaged by nuclear radiation doesn’t mean she wasn’t being damaged.
Just because my observations are not as yet accepted in a scientific journal does not mean there is nothing in them. And Stuartg seems to want a much higher level of testing than is normally required for a pilot study. And what he is asking like for all sports to be tested does not work unless all those sports are played in as wide areas and for a similar long duration spanning years before fluoridation as rugby in NZ.
So my caution still remains.
Ken | June 1, 2017 at 10:11 pm |
“Just because my observations are not as yet accepted in a scientific journal does not mean there is nothing in them.”
And it does not mean there is anything in them.
It is up to you to provide evidence – and arguing along those line is not evidence. It is simply an admission of lack of evidence and pleading for a free pass – the right to claim something as a fact when you have no evidence.
That is religion, not science.
You are demanding a free pass to scaremonger. You don’t get it here. You only get laughed at.
soundhill1 | June 1, 2017 at 11:02 pm |
Ken: “You are demanding a free pass to scaremonger. You don’t get it here. You only get laughed at.”
No I am just responding to Stuartg who is keeping on suggesting many times that because I have not provided peer-reviewed published evidence that there must be no effect.
“Stuartg seems to want a much higher level of testing than is normally required for a pilot study.”
No. Just any testing at all.
Perhaps attending high school lessons in statistics, where you would learn what is actually required of a pilot study, would be of help?
Hint: a pilot study needs a larger, entirely new set of related data to test for non-coincidence. Looking at scanty numbers and saying “that’s odd” does not consist a pilot study.
But epidemiologists looking at multiple countries, over multiple decades, with millions of people involved, and finding absolutely no citable evidence of harm from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies, well that does provide some pretty compelling evidence that Community Water Fluoridation does not harm the populations that benefit from it. And the level of evidence from that science is much, much greater than that of a pilot study.
So can tell us why you are denying the science of thousands of experts? Why do you fantasise that the scanty numbers of your make-believe “studies” are so much more definitive than those thousands of experts?
Perhaps, not having learned the basics of science, statistics, logic and philosophy, you have succumbed to the Dunning-Kruger effect and your knowledge is insufficient to know that you lack knowledge?
Or maybe you’re just a science denier?
You maintain “I am not making claims” protestations that Community Water Fluoridation causes harm – by impairing sporting performance in rugby, football, Olympic and probably other sports. To everyone but yourself, those are claims. You even provided a couple of dozen observations and called them “studies”, imagining they supported your claims.
Those are extraordinary claims, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
So where is your extraordinary evidence? Where is even a single citation that just one person has ever been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies?
All you have given us is make-believe fantasies based on some observations that would be consistent with the coincidences that occur in all sporting endeavours from time to time.
You need scientific evidence to support your claims, not fantasies from your imagination.
As I said before: “put up, or shut up”.
Put another way:
I ask for the scientific evidence to support your claims that CWF causes harm.
You repeatedly demonstrate that you are unable to supply any scientific evidence in support of those claims.
As Ken says, the obvious conclusion is that you have a religious fantasy belief that CWF causes harm. You certainly don’t have any evidence from the real world.
Ken | June 2, 2017 at 9:54 am |
Brian – again you are demanding a free pass to scaremonger.. You say:
“because I have not provided peer-reviewed published evidence that there must be no effect.”
Your statement means either that you are completely inept at searching the literature or that there is no credible published evidence. If the latter is the case then according to logic and the normal process of human progress the best conclusion is that there is no effect.
We are theretofore justified in proceeding with CWF, always keeping in mind that new evidence may appear to cause us to review our consensus. And, no, you are not advancing any credible new evidence despite your hubris.
We do that with lost of things – if we didn’t we would have long ago expired as a species.
Your demand for a free pass is again rejected and I repeat – such demands just get you laughed at around here.
soundhill1 | June 2, 2017 at 11:13 am |
Ken I am gradually extending back my list of All Black captains to compare who were born in Auckland before fluoridation started to after it started. You are keen for me to do multiple regression. What variables do you suggest?
Stuartg | June 2, 2017 at 2:15 pm |
“I am gradually extending back my list of All Black captains…”
If the effect you postulate actually exists, then the effect would be seen among the full backs of the All Blacks, among the hookers of the All Blacks, the five-eighths of the All Blacks, indeed in every position of the All Blacks.
It would also be found among the captains of the All Whites, Tall Blacks, Black Sticks, Silver Ferns, Black Caps… And in every position of the All Whites, Tall Blacks, Black Sticks, Silver Ferns, Black Caps…
It would be found among the captains of all international rugby teams, netball teams, football teams, cricket teams, hockey teams… No matter from which country they originated. And found in every position of all international rugby teams, netball teams, football teams, cricket teams, hockey teams… No matter from which country they originated.
Actually, it would be found in every level of competitive sport in every country in the world and there would be no need for you to cherry pick your teams and players. It would be obvious in any team, any sport, no matter which level of competition.
Your inability to cite any evidence that even a single person has been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies is extremely good evidence that you will never be able to scientifically demonstrate the validity of your claims that CWF impairs sporting performance.
All your cherry picking does is to remind us that runs of coincidences are a feature of competitive sports, because of the vagaries of chance, and that we need to test any unusual run of results for non-coincidence before we can reach any conclusions.
You have approached from the opposite direction: you have reached the conclusion, as a religious belief, and are now obviously cherry-picking in the entirely erroneous belief that you are emulating the scientific process. You really need to go to those high school classes to learn exactly what the scientific process involves. It would help if you attended classes in statistics at the same time.
I’ve repeatedly informed you how you can get new information to test for non-coincidence, in the quantities that are needed for statistical significance. It would be extremely easy for you to gather the required information and then test for non-coincidence, but you haven’t bothered to do so. You actually have no idea why the scientific process requires you to do the testing.
Instead, your words tell us that you are examining each sportsperson as a single entity before deciding whether to include them in your make-believe “studies” or not.
It’s self-confessed cherry-picking.
But I guess that you are unaware of that because you haven’t even been taught high school statistics or science. The Dunning-Kruger effect means that you don’t even know what is wrong with your approach.
Stuartg Ken asked for multiple regression. Are you going to deny their possibility in Auckland by not commenting?
I presume he would want them in every region/team if you require every team to be calculated for.
But you do know vaccines do not have to be proved in every person in every country before they are declared sufficiently safe. What proportion of the world was tested for Gardasil?
Sruartg: “are now obviously cherry-picking”
No I am not cherry picking. You say “obviously” because your “religious” belief (if you are wanting to down grade religion) is that fluoridation could not be causing harm and when you see my figures you flail around looking to how to discredit them.
I am just reporting as I go along. As I said women’s rugby may not fit the pattern. It may not be so widely played. Ahead of my study I mentioned EQ and had the notion to look at suicide as one indicator of poor EQ, But I found it to be negatively correlated to fluoridation in US and NZ. Now because I suggest fluoridation may blunt emotions therefore it may reduce suicide, like the other compound of a very reactive very light substance, lithium, do you say I am cherry picking about that?
In most research the notion is about a positive result. Choosing what you are going to statistically check when it looks like it might be positive is not cherry picking. It happens to be the normal way of science.
I forgot I had a bit of a look at Te Matatini which had a good representation from a fluoridated part of Auckland but a lot from unfluoridated areas.
May take a look at the Michael HIll International Violin Competition, live at the moment
http://www.violincompetition.co.nz/2017-competition/quarter-finalists/
It looks there to be not a good representation from countries largely fluoridated.
Stuartg: “You really need to go to those high school classes to learn exactly what the scientific process involves.”
What text book do you recommend now?
Bluster again? Is that why you’re attempting diversion to vaccines? It hasn’t worked.
All I did was suggest, long ago, that you test your observations for non-coincidence.
You didn’t test them.
So, I suggested ways that you could get larger amounts of new data that would be needed to test for non-coincidence.
You didn’t get that new data to test.
“when you see my figures you flail around looking to how to discredit them”. Actually, soundhill, I ignore them:
A couple of dozen rugby players from tens of thousands worldwide? That’s either cherry picked or coincidence unless further testing for non-coincidence is done.
Two football teams out of thousands in the UK? Out of tens of thousands worldwide? Again, either cherry picked or coincidental unless further testing for non-coincidence is done.
One rugby team out of a local league? Out of 18,000 teams worldwide? Yet again, it’s either cherry picked or coincidental unless further testing for non-coincidence is done
And now “I am just reporting as I go along” and “women’s rugby may not fit the pattern” – in other words, you’re examining each result and then deciding whether it fits your fantasy “pattern” or not. You are telling us that you are picking results and fitting them to a pattern!
If, as is likely in the real world, women’s rugby results don’t fit your fantasy “pattern”, it provides evidence to scientists and statisticians that your “pattern” does not exist. But that won’t matter to you; you will just ignore and disregard the contrary data.
As everyone but yourself seems to understand, first you get the data, in sufficient numbers (at least hundreds of data points for significance, out of the many thousands available, rather than the few non-random points that you think is sufficient), and once you have obtained the data, only then do you analyse it. You do not perform statistical analysis by “just reporting as I go along” …well, obviously you do, and that’s a marvelous way for you to introduce bias when statistics is supposed to be about elimination of bias.
If we step back and look objectively at the way you are approaching your “observations”, we see a few options:
You don’t understand about coincidence and why you need to test for non-coincidence (lack of basic knowledge about science)
You don’t understand how to test for non-coincidence (lack of basic knowledge about statistics)
You don’t understand why we have to use statistics in analysis (lack of basic knowledge about statistics)
You have a belief that CWF causes harm so there’s no way you are going to test your ideas for non-coincidence, and you will ignore anything that does not “fit the pattern” (your fantasy means that no amount of scientific evidence is going to influence your religious beliefs)
It’s obvious that your “self-taught” methods have sent you down multiple dead end byways that have many times been shown to be detrimental and useless in both science and statistics. Not having a teacher able to point out your most basic of errors has been a complete waste of your time. The textbooks you “self-taught” from were not rudimentary enough and you missed out on many of the basics.
So, soundhill, that’s why I recommend that you attend your local high school classes in science and statistics.
Stuartg: “If, as is likely in the real world, women’s rugby results don’t fit your fantasy “pattern”, it provides evidence to scientists and statisticians that your “pattern” does not exist. But that won’t matter to you; you will just ignore and disregard the contrary data.
No just that women rugby players may not be selected from a wide enough geographical area. I have lived by a rugby club for many years and women do not play here except for touch in the summer.
Here is the proportion of Black Ferns to All Blacks that the provinces have produced. Mid Canterbury proportion looks high but it is only total 1 Black Fern 3 All Blacks to make the 33%
0.00% BULLER
0.00% EAST COAST
0.00% HOROWHENUA-KAPITI
0.00% KING COUNTRY
0.00% NORTH HARBOUR
0.00% NORTH OTAGO
0.00% POVERTY BAY
0.00% SOUTH CANTERBURY
0.00% TASMAN
0.00% THAMES VALLEY
0.00% WAIRARAPA BUSH
0.00% WEST COAST
1.35% TARANAKI
2.00% SOUTHLAND
5.88% WANGANUI
9.30% HAWKE’S BAY
10.00% NORTHLAND
10.53% COUNTIES MANUKAU
13.51% OTAGO
14.71% MANAWATU
17.57% WELLINGTON
19.25% CANTERBURY
24.19% WAIKATO
27.27% BAY OF PLENTY
30.27% AUCKLAND
33.33% MID-CANTERBURY
The data came from this:
http://nzrugby.co.nz/about-us/our-members/provincial-unions
Stuartg: “So, soundhill, that’s why I recommend that you attend your local high school classes in science and statistics.”
But you are not offering the name of a text book. How do you know what is being taught?
Look back quite a few years when you may have taken UE physics. It could have been the PSSC course which attempted to introduce the scientific process Newton &c.
But a lot of kids found it too boring or hard and I think school physics went back to explaining principles and problem-solving didn’t it?
Mostly now when I look up about the normal distribution and physics all I get is about scaling up marks to get more kids to pass.
soundhill1 | June 5, 2017 at 3:02 am |
Stuartg since you bring fear of train rides into the discussion I do not think it to be fair to stop me from bringing in vaccination statistics.
Stuartg: “And now “I am just reporting as I go along” and “women’s rugby may not fit the pattern” – in other words, you’re examining each result and then deciding whether it fits your fantasy “pattern” or not. You are telling us that you are picking results and fitting them to a pattern!”
Yes or matching them up against a pattern to see if more fit or not.
Stuartg: “Two football teams out of thousands in the UK?”
Stuartg you are forgetful.
How about this for a null hypothesis?: “There is no difference between the fraction of All Black captains born in the area of Auckland which was fluoridated, before and after fluoridation.”
Or: “There is no difference between the number of Black Caps matches captained by captains from fluoridated areas to non-fluoridated areas.”
But we already know there is difference.
Fluoride is said to have a different effect on female hormones compared to male.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12011-016-0726-z
It may decrease testosterone in men and increase it in women. Though the high level in this paper is higher than fluoridation level by a factor of 3 or a bit more:
Let’s take a null hypothesis that fluoridation has no effect on Silver Ferns captains.
Looking at the Sliver Fern captains and how many caps since about the time of fluoridation.
https://www.mynetball.co.nz/silver-ferns/history/captains.html
I am not right up with this but I’ll get some thought going:
—————————-born——————Fluor–caps
Katrina Grant 1987 Papakura 1 94
Laura Langman 1986 Hamilton 1 141
Casey Kopua 1985 Hamilton 1 101
Adine Wilson 1979 Hawera 1 79
Anna Stanley 1976 Christchurch 0 92
Julie Seymour 1971 Wigan 0 90
Belinda Colling 1975 Cromwell 0 92
Bernice Mene 1975 Christchurch 0 76
Lesley Rumball 1975 Invercargill 1 110
Sandra Edge 1962 Gisborne 0 94
Julie Carter 1975
Julie Townsend 1960 Waipawa 0
It looks like the null hypothesis might be destroyed with more caps to captains from fluoridated areas.
Stuartg | June 6, 2017 at 9:22 am |
That all sounds like special pleading to me – if you can’t make the data fit your “pattern” then you decide to ignore the data.
No Stuartg, I said a while back that males and females might be affected differently.
Let’s imagine for a few minutes that CWF does have an effect on sporting performance, and then contemplate what effects we would expect to see.
(Sorry about the length of this comment, Ken)
You’ve previously suggested a 10% deterioration in sports performance, but such an effect would be immediately obvious, being similar to the difference between high school sports performance and international representative sports performance. So exactly how much sporting performance deterioration do we expect from CWF?
If we look at the peak of performance, say your favourite of the All Blacks, then a change in individual performance of a mere 1% would be sufficient to drop a player out of the squad. It could be argued that so would a change of 0.1%; after all much less than 0.1% of NZ rugby players are in the All Black squad.
So, since you can name at least some All Blacks from CWF areas, that implies the change in sporting performance between CWF and non-CWF players has to be less than 1%, and probably less than 0.1%.
That tiny signal, if it existed, would be very difficult to pick out from random background noise. No scientist or statistician would expect to be able to pick it out from a random list of a couple of dozen players; it would need several hundred players chosen at random in order to have a chance to detect the signal. But then we all noted that your list is not a random list of players, but is actually a carefully chosen list.
So, your tiny list of All Black captains does not have the numbers to detect such small changes in performance, unless it has been cherry-picked precisely for that reason. Such a tiny list, if randomly selected, would only be able to detect massive changes of performance that were immediately obvious to coaches, spectators, journalists, etc.
That’s why I suggest that you need to test your idea on a much larger and random list. But if you knew the basics of statistics then you would already know that to detect such small changes in performance a random list needs to be much larger than a couple of dozen.
So, let’s get a larger list of randomised players, one that has a chance of picking out a signal from random noise. Or, more accurately, a chance of determining that there is no weak signal present among the noise. How large a list do we need? Well, you claim to be the expert at statistics so I’ll let you decide. But it’s going to be several hundred. At least. Not just your cherry-picked couple of dozen.
So you’ll need to look at all other positions in the All Blacks. After all, if that tiny difference in sports performance is really there from CWF, we can expect to see it in all positions in the team, not just the captain. Or are you arguing that the rest of the All Blacks are not at the peak of their sport? (And anyway, you claim the effect is present at much lower levels of sports, otherwise why did you mention Petone, Timaru, Birmingham City?)
If we look at the entire All Black squads since the start of fluoridation in NZ, will we have sufficient numbers to rule out the presence of a weak signal among the noise? Possibly, but I doubt it. I suspect that you are going to have to include other international squads to get sufficient numbers, which is why I previously suggested that you will need to look at the squads from England, Australia, Ireland, South Africa, etc.
But then again, if there really was a diminution from sporting performance from CWF, would we have to go that far? Is there another way? Wouldn’t we expect to see the same result in all All Black positions as you cherry-picked with the captains? Because even a slight diminution of performance would mean that almost no players from CWF areas would be in the All Black squad, wouldn’t it?
So, soundhill, what percentage of All Blacks would be expected to be from non-CWF areas if CWF impaired sports performance? 90%? 95%? 98%? Higher? I’ll leave it to you, as the self-taught expert in statistics, to work out which of those you would expect.
I’m not going to do the research for you, but a brief look at the All Black squad shows many members from Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin – all areas with CWF. The percentage appears to be nearer to 50%.
If there were any difference in sporting performance attributable to optimally fluoridated water supplies then it would be overwhelmingly obvious. To everybody. Not just to one electronic technician self-taught in science and statistics. More than 90% of the All Blacks would be from non-fluoridated areas. So would the Black Sticks. And the Silver Ferns. And the Black Ferns. And the All Whites. And the Black Caps… And the members of any international squad from any sport, from any country you care to name.
(Just a random thought – would anyone with dental fluorosis (meaning they’re drinking water with a higher than optimum fluoride level) be capable of playing any sport at international level? Wouldn’t that be in accordance with your ideas? Or do you go to special pleading again?)
So, we can reach some conclusions. The cherry-picked list(s) that you supply do not have the numbers required to demonstrate a non-coincidental correlation between CWF and impaired sporting performance. Findings that we would expect if CWF actually did impair sporting performance are not present. Findings from the real world are highly suggestive of no effect on sporting performance from CWF.
But then, you already knew that, didn’t you? You have been unable to produce any citable evidence that anyone has ever been harmed by drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies. Not from among millions of people. Not from multiple countries. Not from over seventy decades of research and data. Not even from your anti-fluoridationist cronies.
The lack of effect on sporting performance from CWF is just extending the evidence you are unable to provide in trying to bolster your “I am not making claims” assertions that CWF causes harm.
Said? An opinion?
How about citing evidence showing harm from optimally fluoridated water supplies, rather than evidence of fluoride poisoning from water with toxic levels of fluoride?
Netball captains:
Exactly how valid is a statistical analysis performed on just twelve people?
I’ll bear in mind that I’m asking the question of a self-taught, self-proclaimed, “expert” in statistics, so I don’t exactly expect an intelligible answer.
Stuartg | June 6, 2017 at 12:00 pm |
“There is no difference between the fraction of All Black captains born in the area of Auckland which was fluoridated, before and after fluoridation.”
“that fluoridation has no effect on Silver Ferns captains.”
All three different. And different, yet again, from your initial All Black “study”.
Why not use the same “hypothesis” for all three? Or four? Are the differences the only way you can fit the answers into your non-existant “pattern”?
Lots of little “observations”. None of them with numbers capable of reaching statistical significance. None of them able to be combined with another.
Yet all are labelled as “studies” by someone who demonstrably doesn’t understand the first principles of statistics.
“But you are not offering the name of a text book.”
Because the textbooks you “self-taught” from previously were obviously not rudimentary enough and you manifestly missed out on many of the basics.
You need a teacher who can correlate your lack of learning with the level of textbook required. Then they would have to point out where you are fantasising that you have read something different to what was actually in the book.
Stuartg: “Exactly how valid is a statistical analysis performed on just twelve people?”
A couple of those were born before fluoridation started in most places. So it’s really would be just 10 in any analysis. Same as with the Black Caps captains are holding on for quite a while. In both cases it is possible to think of the games as the variable. Then the statistics is a bit like tossing a coin for each game of which there are quite a number.
In the case of males the ones in non-fluoridated areas show up in many more games, while for females the converse.
Besides the restricted geographical areas the Black Ferns are arising from this sex-fluoride effect might be showing up for Black Ferns, too.
Why wouldn’t there be any sex difference? Sex differences can be obvious as for premature menopause after Gardasil. But sex differences don’t only show in obvious ways.
You’re making assumptions again.
At the age of 11, well before UE, I knew about and was using the scientific process. And Newton. At the age most sit UE, I was playing with the physics of fission and fusion. I’m still interested in physics today, it’s just not my job.
How do I know what is being taught in high schools? Because I work with high school children and help them at times when they have difficulties.
Not all education is capable of being taught from books, as you so obviously demonstrate, so the ideal way of acquiring knowledge requires human interactions as well as book learning.
Your local high school science teacher will advise you on the best textbook for your level of education, and they will expect to have to assist you with the parts you don’t realise you aren’t understanding.
I guessed wrong. It’s not an unintelligible answer. It’s not an answer.
Just what question do you think I asked? (Hint: it was about statistics).
Stuartg: “Why not use the same “hypothesis” for all three?”
“There is no difference between the number of (a) All Black (b) Black Caps (c) Silver Ferns, matches captained by captains from fluoridated areas to non-fluoridated areas.”
However it loses the possibility that Auckland’s climate may have an effect and controlling for that.
“But we already know there is a difference.”
For you it’s got to be fluoride. Nothing but fluoride. No matter that you have exactly zero citable scientific evidence in support of your idea, it just has to be fluoride. It can’t be any other reason, can it?
The captains of international teams come from non-fluoridated areas! All of them! Well, except for all rugby teams that aren’t the All Blacks. Or women’s teams. And maybe a lot of other teams as well. It looks a lot like cherry-picking, soundhill.
Fluoridated football teams don’t win as many games as non-fluoridated and they get demoted! Except for the ones that win more games and get promoted. And I’ll just ignore the non-fluoridated teams that lost games and got demoted. Looks like cherry-picking again, soundhill.
Non-fluoridated Petone wins more games after the rest of the league they play in gets CWF! Let’s not mention Onehunga and Mosgiel which didn’t start winning after the rest of their leagues got CWF. Yet again we see you cherry-picking, soundhill.
So. More than seventy years of data and research. Millions of people involved. Multiple countries involved. Thousands of researchers. Even multiple languages. And not a single citation demonstrating harm to an individual or to a population.
It’s exactly as if drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies doesn’t actually cause harm in the real world.
Sruartg: “…Mosgiel which didn’t start winning after the rest of their leagues got CWF. ”
Taieri is the Mosgiel Club. I can’t find many results but Taieri seem to several times be the top team holding the Speights Challenge Shield for the Metro rugby. I would like to see history.
Stuartg: “Fluoridated football teams don’t win as many games as non-fluoridated and they get demoted! Except for the ones that win more games and get promoted.”
Do you know of some teams from fluoridated areas which got promoted when in a league playing against teams from non-fluoridated areas? Please tell me which ones then I can calculate what happens on average.
I wonder if Stuartg is able to avoid, when coaching school pupils, getting them to think it all has to be one way or one other way, and nothing in between.
“I would like to see history.”
So would we all. In this case it’s called evidence.
You haven’t yet managed to produce any scientific evidence from the real world that supports your fantasies about CWF.
Tiny numbers from the sportsfield, incapable of producing valid statistical results – interesting, and short runs of coincidence can be expected, especially in sports, so why don’t you test them to see if they are coincidence or not?
More than seventy years of data and research from multiple countries, involving many millions of people, and absolutely no citable evidence showing harm to individuals or to populations from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
Haven’t you noticed the cognitive dissonance that you hold? You consider a couple of dozen sports players to be absolute proof that CWF causes harm. Yet you also consider that the evidence from millions of people over multiple decades is insufficient to demonstrate lack of harm from CWF.
Clear demonstration that you don’t understand the first principles of statistics. Also highly suggestive that you are a science denier.
“I wonder if Stuartg is able to avoid, when coaching school pupils, getting them to think it all has to be one way or one other way, and nothing in between ”
Like your fantasy that CWF causes harm? In spite of absolutely no citable evidence?
I’m prepared to accept that it is possible for CWF to cause harm. I just need to see some evidence of the harm.
In contrast, you say CWF HAS to cause harm, even though you have zero citable evidence of such harm. And remember – thousands of researchers, many countries, millions of people, and more than seventy years of data and research suggesting (not proving) no harm.
You definitely demonstrate a binary outlook on life.
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
https://todayinsci.com/S/Schopenhauer_Arthur/SchopenhauerArthur-Quotations.htm
Stuartg please keep that in mind.
You quoted me and replied:
You have made your pronouncement about Onehunga without evidence, then.
I shall try to get more Taieri results. Last year they lost the Speights Challenge Shield to Harbour, another region apparently without fluoridation.
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/services/water-supply/metro-water-system/treatment-plants
Ken: “Your statement means either that you are completely inept at searching the literature or that there is no credible published evidence. If the latter is the case then according to logic and the normal process of human progress the best conclusion is that there is no effect.”
“according to logic and the normal process of human progress” – an assertion of faith?
Discussion of peer review failure:
Ken | June 8, 2017 at 5:12 pm |
Brian, you dihoestly deleted important aspects of what I wrote.
We do that with lots of things – if we didn’t we would have long ago expired as a species.
You are demanding a free pass – arguing that absence of evidence supports your position because evidence may well turn yup in the future. Ignoring all the evidence against your position we currently have and may well get in future.
Now that does require faith – and if humanity had operated that way we would have become extinct long ago.
And as an argument it is completely dishonest.
“But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” – Carl Sagan.
And, just like Carl Sagan, I rely on scientific evidence. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
On one hand there is an electronic technician with no training in logic, philosophy, science or statistics who asserts that CWF causes harm in everyone who drinks it, yet is unable to supply any citable scientific evidence at all to support his protestations.
On the other hand there is the scientific consensus, reached by thousands of epidemiologists, dentists, and other researchers, that Community Water Fluoridation is cheap, effective and safe. And backing that consensus there is more than seventy years of experience, research and data, sourced from millions of people in multiple countries, which has failed to find scientific evidence of harm in either individuals or populations from drinking optimally fluoridated water supplies.
Which of the two is most likely to be correct? soundhill or the scientific consensus?
I would submit that with the current state of evidence it is self-evident that the scientific consensus is correct. It is likely to remain so, no matter how much soundhill tries to oppose and ridicule it.
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June ’14 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking Controversial IQ study hammered in The Lancet New group challenging the anti-science brigade Fluoridation: what about reports it is ineffective? Approaching scientific literature sensibly Declan Waugh’s misinformation on fluorosilicic acid A healthy attitude towards quantum mechanics An open letter to Declan Waugh – new mechanism for fluoride toxicity? Toxicity is in the dose or concentration of fluoride Councils and scientists targeted by anti-fluoride activists Lugansk – a modern Guernica? Inna Kukuruza – “her eyes spoke to the whole world” Connett’s hypocrisy on fluoride & IQ May ’14 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking Confirmation blindness on the fluoride-IQ issue Where do teeth come from? The stork theory There is research and there is “research” Fluoridating water does not lower IQ – New Zealand research Fluoride and IQ – once more Another anti-fluoride myth in the making A balanced debate It’s all the fashion in Ukraine Fluoridation: What a difference a year makes? Wishart misrepresents fluoride science to advance his extreme ideology Fluoridation: emotionally misrepresenting contamination April ’14 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking Peer review, shonky journals and misrepresenting fluoride science Ingested fluoride is beneficial to dental health. Anti-fluoridation advertising deceptive Fluoridation: putting chemical contamination in context The first victim! An outdated tax anomaly – charitable status of relgion Declan Waugh scaremongers over fluoride – again Arrogance of ignorance? Pandering to anti-fluoridation campaigners International cooperation in space serving humanity Is anyone listening? March ’14 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking Scientific cooperation despite political posturing Fluoridation returns to Hamilton City. European border changes over 5000 years Dental fluorosis: badly misrepresented by FANNZ What makes something right or wrong? How do we know what is true? Cherry-picking and ring-fencing the scientific literature Fluoride and heart disease – another myth Graphic information in science Corporate backers of anti-fluoride movement lose in NZ High Court. Terry Pratchett making sense Fluoride and the 5 easy steps of a conspiracy theory February ’14 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking Pseudoscience in your supermarket Another god debate Repeating bad science on fluoride Truth about those science fairs Quality and selection counts in fluoride research The precautionary principle How can scientists use social media? Curiosity sees a familiar “evening star.” The fluoride debate – what do the experts say? January ’14 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking Entertainment is brain exercise Download The Fluoride Debate Determining scientific knowledge by petition Fluoride debate: Final article – Ken Perrott Fluoride debate: Paul Connett’s Closing statement The good(?) old days of scientific writing Most of us missed this one False balance and straw clutching on fluoridation Who is funding anti-fluoridation High Court action? Astro-turfing for scientific credibility Losing trust in religious leaders Conspiracy theorists misuse analytical evidence All things bright and beautiful December ’13 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking Fluoride debate: Ken Perrott’s closing response to Paul Connett? Putting vaccination risks into context Fluoride debate: Arguments Against Fluoridation Thread. Part 8. Paul Alan Turing receives royal pardon The true meaning of Christmas Where is the heat going? Fluoride debate: Response to Paul’s 5th article Back to the moon! Fluoride debate: Arguments Against Fluoridation Thread. Part 5. Paul
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Statistical analysis of iron geochemical data suggests limited late Proterozoic oxygenation
Nature. 2015 Jul 23;523(7561):451-4. doi: 10.1038/nature14589.
Erik A Sperling 1 , Charles J Wolock 2 , Alex S Morgan 3 , Benjamin C Gill 4 , Marcus Kunzmann 5 , Galen P Halverson 5 , Francis A Macdonald 3 , Andrew H Knoll 6 , David T Johnston 3
1 1] Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA [2] Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 90089, USA.
2 Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
3 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
4 Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA.
5 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences/GEOTOP, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0E8, Canada.
6 1] Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA [2] Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Sedimentary rocks deposited across the Proterozoic-Phanerozoic transition record extreme climate fluctuations, a potential rise in atmospheric oxygen or re-organization of the seafloor redox landscape, and the initial diversification of animals. It is widely assumed that the inferred redox change facilitated the observed trends in biodiversity. Establishing this palaeoenvironmental context, however, requires that changes in marine redox structure be tracked by means of geochemical proxies and translated into estimates of atmospheric oxygen. Iron-based proxies are among the most effective tools for tracking the redox chemistry of ancient oceans. These proxies are inherently local, but have global implications when analysed collectively and statistically. Here we analyse about 4,700 iron-speciation measurements from shales 2,300 to 360 million years old. Our statistical analyses suggest that subsurface water masses in mid-Proterozoic oceans were predominantly anoxic and ferruginous (depleted in dissolved oxygen and iron-bearing), but with a tendency towards euxinia (sulfide-bearing) that is not observed in the Neoproterozoic era. Analyses further indicate that early animals did not experience appreciable benthic sulfide stress. Finally, unlike proxies based on redox-sensitive trace-metal abundances, iron geochemical data do not show a statistically significant change in oxygen content through the Ediacaran and Cambrian periods, sharply constraining the magnitude of the end-Proterozoic oxygen increase. Indeed, this re-analysis of trace-metal data is consistent with oxygenation continuing well into the Palaeozoic era. Therefore, if changing redox conditions facilitated animal diversification, it did so through a limited rise in oxygen past critical functional and ecological thresholds, as is seen in modern oxygen minimum zone benthic animal communities.
Atmosphere / chemistry
Geologic Sediments / chemistry
History, Ancient
Iron / analysis*
Iron / chemistry*
Oxygen / analysis*
Oxygen / chemistry*
Oxygen / metabolism
Seawater / chemistry
Sulfides / metabolism
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Archaeology of Pull Tabs
This page will provide some backgrounds on the history and design of pull tabs, in coherence with the dominant narrative which can be found in many other online and printed sources, like beer-can collector manuals and websites and some scientific papers and research posters.
But first, are pull tabs archaeology? Sure they are, especially since they passed the age of fifty years. See this video from the Woodstock dig from 2019, by Binghamton University.
So what is a pull tab?
A pull tab – or ‘ring pull’ in the U.K. – is defined in this project as a device attached to a food or beverage can, with the purpose of providing an easy means of opening that can by tearing off, or pushing in a prepared tear strip in the can end. Although pull tabs can be found on a multitude of different canned products – from sardines and tomatoes, to coffee and motor oil – the Pull Tab Archaeology Project’s primary concern is pull tabs used on beverage cans and with a tear strip.
The origins of Pull Tabs
The evolution of pull tabs is closely related to the development of the metal beer can. In the 1930s can manufacturers in the United States experimented with this form of packaging as a competitor for the common, but in weight and volume less economic glass beer bottle. Although tinned-steel cans had been used for food conservation already since the 19th century, beer proved a challenging product due to the higher pressure inside the can during pasteurization and the property of beer to denaturate (taste bad) in contact with a metal surface.
In 1934 the American Can Company produced the first commercially viable beer can with a flat top, strong enough to withstand the pressure and with an inside liner – patented as Vinylite – that prevented the beer touching the metal. The first marketing attempts yielded successful sales and the can’s market share grew rapidly. It was not before long that Continental Can produced a competitive can which was bottle, or cone-shaped. One year after the introduction in 1935 over 200 million metal beer cans were sold on the American market.
Although can packaging revenue grew exponentially in the first years, the spread of this innovation was perceived to be relatively slow. Traditional brewers doubted if the new lined cans would effectively prevent denaturation and the glass bottle industry fiercely resisted the new packaging developments. The branch launched a new thin glass bottle called ‘the stubby’ to counter the market loss and was soon sold in bigger quantities than all canned beer in the United States combined. However, the no-refund, use-once, light metal can proved to be a more economic choice for many brewers in the decades to come.
The first pull tab
First designs 1939 (Cited from W.Schroeder 2017.)
It was not long after the beer can’s introduction that inventors started designing easier means of opening. The first device closely resembling a modern pull tab was already patented in 1939, but never made it to production, possibly because of the outbreak of the Second World War. War policy restricted the use of steel and tin in the consumer market in favour of the war industry.
When the restrictions for consumer products were relieved after 1945, the canned beer consumption really took off. Sales proved metal cans to be economically viable and after 1950 it was clear they would not leave the scene any time soon. Around 1960 aluminum – or aluminium in Europe – was introduced as a material for the can end, which made it much easier to punch open. A ‘can end’ is the flat top of a standard can. By 1960 people had gotten accustomed to opening tin-plated steel beer cans with a special tool called a ‘church-key’. This device was used to make two triangular holes in the can end to access its content. The flat-top cans which used this type of opening where therefore also called ‘punch tops’. In the brief time-window in which steel ends were replaced with aluminum ends, the latter were called ‘soft tops’. However, soft tops did not make it long in the world of packaging…
Early pull tab design by Ermal Fraze, 1963. Patent USD195604.also
Striving for an even easier opening means than punching holes in aluminium, Ermal Fraze in Ohio invented the first pull tab around 1961, consisting of a a solid ‘tab’ riveted to a scored tear strip in the aluminum can end. The design was test-marketed firstly by ALCOA and the Pittsburgh Brewing Company in 1962 on ‘Iron City Beer’. In 1963 Fraze patented a new design which would further revolutionize the market and would soon make the punch top and church key obsolete (see also the work of archaeologist W. Schroeder at Montana University 2017).
From zip-top to stay-on-tab
The introduction in 1962/1963 of the solid pull tab (sometimes referred to as ‘zip-tops’) was followed by a commercial patent war between can manufacturers for ingenuity and market share. Responding to complaints about low grip and sharp edges of zip-top tabs, which apparently cut fingers and lips, American Can Company (ACCO) started production of one of the first designs in 1965 using a pull ring, in stead of a solid flat zip-top tab. In effect the rings on these tabs proved too small to actually put a finger through for pulling, so the design was replaced by bigger rings that same year by ACCO and by Continental Can in 1966. Both companies introduced designs that in essence would stay in production for at least a decade in the USA and longer in other countries. Cans sold in the Dutch market at the end of the 1980s still held a tab very similar to the one produced by Continental in 1965-1967.
Responding to consumer and governmental complains that the ring pull tabs could still cut hands, lips and feet when stepped upon on recreational beaches, were sometimes swallowed when put in the can, and were littering the environment, can companies switched to a new style of tab in the 70s. Instead of tearing a scoured tear-strip from the can, these new ‘stay-tabs’ or ‘statabs’ would now push and bend the tear-strip downwards into the can without the tab detaching from the can end. Partly under pressure of legislation in some USA states, manufacturers switched fully to statabs after 1975 with designs patented with names like ‘Easy Open Ecology End’ or ‘Envirocan’ . European countries made a similar switch some 10 to 15 years later.
Pull tabs are here to stay-tab
As our Pull Tab Archaeology project will show, developments did not stall after 1975. In continued efforts to ease opening, reduce costs and gain more profit, tab designers have come up with numerous small variations and improvements up to today. The number of different types of pull tabs that exist in the world is unknown and just one of many questions addressed in our project. Beverage cans and tabs have come a long way since 1934 and there is no indication they will leave shortly. The Container Recycling Institute reported 100 billion units of beverage packed and sold in cans with pull tabs in the Unites States alone in 2010. That is on average over 31.000 cans every second! A 2017 chart of Can Central depicts the economic impact of beverage can industry; it shows a market share of 71,8 billion US-dollar every year and provides close to 83000 jobs in the USA.
Although the market, ideas about packaging and society will keep evolving – and let’s not forget the notion that climate change might threaten everything we know to be our world – one thing is sure: archaeologists today, tomorrow or 10.000 years in the future will keep finding 20th century pull tabs in every corner of the planet for ever.
Text: Jobbe Wijnen 2019 (last revised January 2020)
Pull Tab Archaeologist Ivar in Paris, 2019
Collectors and can information:
Crowntainer Central http://crowntainer-central.com/
Rusty Cans (tip!) http://www.rustycans.com/index.html#collect (USA)
Coca cola dosen https://cocacoladosen.de/ (German / Deutsch)
The Rusty Bunch http://www.therustybunch.com/
Ball www.ball.com
Ardagh group www.ardagh.com
Can Pack https://www.canpack.com/
Trivium Packaging https://triviumpackaging.com/
Crown Packaging https://www.crowncork.com/beverage-packaging
Manufacturers’ lobby
https://www.cancentral.com/
https://canmakersbenelux.com/ (Benelux)
Littering and cash-refund
http://www.container-recycling.org/ (USA)
https://www.litterati.org/ (international)
https://recyclingnetwerk.org/ (Benelux)
https://gocleandeliemers.nl/ (Dutch)
https://www.zwerfafvalkompas.nl/ (Dutch)
http://zwerfinator.nl/ (Dutch)
© 2021 Pull Tab Archaeology. Gebouwd met behulp van WordPress en de Materialis Thema
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Abalone shell collected by George Peard
Lieutenant George Peard collected shells, birds and minerals during his voyage of discovery on HMS Blossom.
George Peard and HMS Blossom
On the 19 May 1825 HMS Blossom set sail from Spithead in Hampshire. The voyage of discovery took her to little known areas of the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Straits. Commander Frederick William Beechey captained the Blossom. While there he wanted to explore and meet with two other ships commanded by Captains Parry and Franklin. They were conducting Arctic missions and also attempting to reach the Bering Straits by new routes.
Also on board the Blossom was the naturalist George Peard who held the rank of Lieutenant. During this voyage he collected shells, birds, minerals and ethnographic objects including coins and Eskimo weapons, wherever the Blossom made port. The shells and minerals are well documented and most are identified. Peard even had a text written by the taxonomist Lamarck to help him identify the shells he found, which would have been unusual that time.
George Peard and RAMM
Family members donated material from Peard’s collection to the Museum in 1916 and 1938. Browse these objects on Collections Explorer.
Among the shells donated to RAMM are six abalone shells. The one pictured was collected along America’s pacific coast somewhere between California and the Baja Peninsula. Others came from as far afield as the seas around Japan. Peard’s field notes mention that one particular specimen was collected while in the Loochoo Islands (now Ryukyu Islands) in 1827.
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What the Bible Reveals to Us -Revelation 2:8-11
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In community: А dead man needs life(a9d6)
,, And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and [I know] the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but [are] the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast [some] of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.”
Rev. 2:8-11
The news of the gospel probably reached Smyrna through the apostle Paul, who preached in the church of Ephesus for about two years.
,, And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”
Based on this text, we can conclude that the church in Smyrna was created under the influence of the sermon of the Apostle Paul, because it is very possible that someone listened to the Apostle Paul and then conveyed the good news in Smyrna where the church was formed. they worship Roman emperors who were proclaimed deities, so it was in Smyrna where they built a temple in which they worshiped Roman emperors. Roman law prescribed that every citizen of the Roman Empire should take a piece of incense and throw it on the altar in front of the imperial figure and It was an acknowledgment that Caesar was the Lord. After this ritual, the citizen could worship and respect at any time. Since the Romans knew that the Jews would not want to observe this, they were exempted from these ceremonies and only needed to offer sacrifices to the Lord the happiness of kings and to send them gifts.
In the beginning, apart from the Jews, Christians were also released from this obligation because the Romans did not differentiate between Jews and Christians, but after the sixtieth year, more than thirty years have passed since Jesus' death and resurrection. of the Apostle Paul, who eventually reached Rome itself because no solution could be found before various lower courts. From now on, the Romans began to distinguish between Christians and Jews because Christians did not belong to any legal religion and therefore considered that they did not have the same rights. as Jews, which resulted in them no longer being relieved of the obligation to worship Roman emperors.Natural Christians did not want to do so so there was the first persecution of Christians.Soonly after 64, when Rome was burned to take off guilt and removed suspicion Nero accused the Christians that they were responsible for the event. Persecutions, dungeons, death sentences have since become frequent and a large number of Christians were persecuted or suffered because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
In Smyrna, the main source of income was oil called "myrrh" and it was extracted from bitter wood to be processed into a perfume that was sold. This perfume was used to make clothes smell nice.
,, All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia,”
Ps.45: 8
it was used to beautify girls and women
"for so long they were to beautify themselves, six months with myrrh oil, and six months with fragrances and other things for female beauty."
,, … according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their purifications accomplished, [to wit], six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with [other] things for the purifying of the women;)”
Esth.2:12
and was also used to anoint priests.
,, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred [shekels], and of sweet cinnamon half so much, [even] two hundred and fifty [shekels], and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty [shekels], And of cassia five hundred [shekels], after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. "
Exodus 30: 23-25
Finally, this perfume was used when placing the body of Jesus in the canvas according to Jewish custom.
,, And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound [weight]. Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.”
John 19: 39-40
"And thou shalt write unto the angel of the church of Smyrna, Thus saith the First and the Last, which was dead, and, behold, he liveth."
Since the church in Smyrna was persecuted and many of its members were killed by the Roman Empire, Jesus approached this church with consolation, who was dead and is alive: "These words were to comfort the believers of the church in Smyrna because Jesus tells them that He was dead, but now he is alive, which means that the brothers who were killed by Rome are not dead but alive, and it was really a lot of people killed, and some building of about a thousand Christian heads was built.
,,,, And write to the angel of the church of Smyrna: "We saw earlier that the angel of the church is a preacher, so now here we have a preacher of the church in Smyrna named Polycarp and he lived from 70 to 155 and is known to have been a friend of the apostle John.
We have seen that "myrrh" is mentioned far in the past in the second book of Moses and they probably knew that this perfume has been used since "antiquity" but Jesus tells them "Thus saith the First" or "I am the first". I am before myrrh ",,, I am from eternity" ,, I am the eternal God and then immediately ,, and the Last ". So ,, your" myrrh "will pass but I will never" ,, I am through eternity " hence the Eternal God,
So Jesus continues, "who was dead," Jesus reminds them that he died on the cross so that they and we can live because Jesus is alive, so we will live too.
,,... b because I live, ye shall live also.”
"I know your deeds, and your affliction and poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemies of those who say they are Jews and they are not, but a collection of Satans." Because of the sale of perfume the inhabitants of Smyrna were rich but the church was poor and persecuted because Christians were not they wanted to worship the statues of the gods and they did not make a statue of Jesus in order to worship him and if they did, the rest of the people would probably act as they did towards other false gods, ie their statues.
,, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:”
,, Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.”
Because of all these problems, perhaps the Christians of the Church in Smyrna thought that Jesus had forgotten them, so such troubles happen to them, but here is what Jesus tells them:
"I know your deeds, and trouble and poverty"
Jesus knows everything and of course what happened to the church in Smyrna and that is why he adds something "but you are rich" and this sounds strange but the apostle Paul wrote
,, As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and [yet] possessing all things.”
2 Cor.6: 10
So the Christians in Smyrna were poor materially but they were rich spiritually and that gave them hope and strength to resist all the problems they were facing ..
"And blaspheme those who say they are Jews and they are not, but the assembly of Satan
Here Jesus calls the Jews a "collection of Satan" because they were good merchants, businessmen in Smyrna built a synagogue where they had worship but at the same time hated Christians and accused and slandered them so they blasphemed Christians and Jesus says that they were not "Jews" but a "collection of Satan" because they "allied themselves with Satan" and wanted to destroy the Christians they even went so far as to bribe the Roman authorities to succeed in destroying the Christians of Smyrna. the first persecutor of Christians and history records that two Jews persuaded Nero to falsely accuse Christians of burning Rome, thus giving them cause for persecution and murder.
"They say that they are Jews and they are not" and why they are not Jews when they are from Israel we can see from the text written by the apostle Paul.
,, For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither [is that] circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God.”
Rom.2: 28-29
True, these Jews were Jews in the flesh, but they became "Satan's collection" because one of Satan's names is "the accuser of the brethren," just as these "Jews" did to the Christians in Smyrna.
"Don't be afraid of what you will suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tempted, and ye shall have tribulation within ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the wreath of life. "The preacher of the church in Smyrna was Polycarp, who was also persecuted and executed by being burned because he did not want to renounce the Lord Jesus. He was replaced by a preacher named Pion, but he was later burned because of his faith in Jesus Christ. .
"Behold, the devil will throw some of you into prison," and Christians were thrown into dungeons, and here we see why they were thrown, "to be tempted," was the answer of the Lord Jesus. temptations have time and certain limits, and here we see how long those trials lasted, "and you will have trouble for up to ten days." That was the measure they could bear. Here is what the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, and of course it applies to everyone. even to the Christians of Smyrna.
,, There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].”
1 Cor.10: 13
The church in Smyrna has become a symbol of the persecution of Christians and that is why the Lord Jesus sends them encouragement and a promise to receive the "crown of life", "Be faithful until death itself, and I will give you the crown of life." This is a reward for faithfulness and not eternal life. and such a wreath is given to those who suffer martyrdom for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."
So whoever wins will not be harmed by the "second death" and what the second death is is written in Revelation.
",,And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death”
,, But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Rev.21: 8
Based on this we see that the second death is a lake of fire and it is not a place where believers will end the truth will go through physical death to heavenly glory except a group of believers who will be alive to be taken to heaven when the Lord Jesus comes to the clouds for the church. which we can conclude we can also confirm on the basis of what it says that all who are not faithful will be thrown into the lake of fire.
"He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" this is a warning but also an encouragement not only to the church in Smyrna but to all who can "hear and understand" what the Spirit says to the churches and speaks of victory and victory is faith and only the newborn have it, and whoever believes in Jesus also receives a rebuke from Jesus, "Whoever overcomes will not be harmed by another death."
",,For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”
1 Job 5: 4-5
Only newborns have an ear that can "hear" this because it clearly says:
“,,That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
John 3: 6
,, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.”
And those who can "hear and understand" have promises
,, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
,, Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
Rev. 20: 6
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Drama Fantasy Movies news Reviews Saskia Slider
Saskia November 13, 2018
Flippin' great
I enjoyed the first Fantastic Beasts movie. So if you and I are already at odds about that, then you might not want to trust my thoughts on the second one. You can check out my review of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them here.
I’m also aware that Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald is getting a little hammered by negative critic reviews. I truly don’t understand it. I’m going to just unashamedly tell you right now, I loved Crimes of Grindelwald from start to finish and I plan to go see it at the movies again. I also want to make it clear that I don’t really care about all the plot details making perfect sense in relation to Harry Potter canon – I love all the references and easter eggs (obviously), but I’m still able to enjoy Fantastic Beasts as a separate entity.
Now that you know where I stand and have accepted me (I hope), I am ready to continue baring my soul to you.
It was easy to tell that Fantastic Beasts was aiming for a slightly older audience than Harry Potter. It still had a lot of humour, charmingness (a real word – according to me) and lovable characters in it, but they sometimes felt quite jarring, in among all the heavier themes. Right from the opening sequence it’s obvious that The Crimes of Grindelwald is going to be a whole lot darker than it’s predecessor. It makes Harry Potter feel like pure ‘kids stuff’ and is an opportunity to see that same world through the experiences of older characters who are better equipped to deal with (and deliver) heavier content. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the film may cross some lines for people who struggle with negative things happening to babies/toddlers (as a relatively new first-time Mum, a couple of scenes were a little difficult to sit through). Nothing, however, feels gratuitous and the content I’m referring to definitely gives more weight to circumstances surrounded certain characters (am I being vague enough? XD).
Voldemort seems slightly cartoonish when stacked up against Johnny Depp’s all-too-plausible antagonist, Grindelwald. Even though controversy surrounded his casting in the role, Depp does seem like a good choice for the character. Despite his alarming appearance, he maintains an inexplicable appeal that Johnny Depp has become a master at over his career. Grindelwald’s name may be in the title of the film, but I don’t feel like you really get a good look at who he is this time around, and I really look forward to learning more about him and his motivations. Johnny Depp, however, is not the stand out. Not even close.
You’ll hear it from a lot of people, and it’s true – Jude Law is the perfect young Dumbledore. Is it the cheeky twinkle in his eye that make him the perfect fit? His posture? His unreadable expressions? I really couldn’t tell you why he’s so ‘right’. You just need to see it for yourself and then you need to agree with me. Or else. Of course, the old crew is back, and Eddie Redmayne is as delightfully awkward and FREAKIN’ ADORABLE as ever. Newt Scamander has a slightly different vibe this time round. In the first Fantastic Beasts film I found myself swinging rapidly from finding him insanely charming to mildly irritating. In The Crimes of Grindelwald he never once irritated me on any level. However, this could be entirely dependent on my mood at the time of viewing it. It feels like Eddie Redmayne has developed a deeper understanding of the character and he has some of the most satisfying character development in the film.
The beautiful Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) and lovable regular-bloke Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) are back for some VERY memorable moments. I cannot wait to see what J.K Rowling has planned for them in future installments. Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein (crazy Queenie’s sensible sister), is somehow sidelined a bit in this movie. Her character feels very much like she’s there to serve the ‘love interest’ role – which wasn’t the case in the first film and could be to do with the focus shifting to some new additions to the lineup. Ezra Miller is back as Credence Barebone, but this time he’s accompanied by a beautiful witch played by Claudia Kim (aka Nagini. Yes, as in Voldemort’s pet snake). Zoe Kravitz brings Leta Lestrange (Newt’s old flame) to life and sheeesh…she’s a babe. The dynamic between her and Newt was absolutely captivating. Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner) is introduced as Newt’s brother and Leta’s fiance. Turner is brilliantly cast in the role and even though he doesn’t have enough of an opportunity to really shine in The Crimes of Grindelvald – there is the promise of a blossoming future bromance between him and Newt. In fact, even with the short amount of screen time it was given, the relationship between Newt, Leta and Theseus felt just as real, well-developed and complex as the friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione in the later Harry Potter installments.
And of course, the film is filled with Fantastic Beasts! There’s the old favourites like the naughty Niffler and Pickett the Bowtruckle, but the whole movie is littered with wonderful new discoveries that I won’t spoil for you now. I’m confident you’ll adore at least one of them. Overall The Crimes of Grindelwald kicks the use of magic and special FX up several notches. Despite what other people might say, I found it to be an exhilarating and spellbinding experience from the opening moments and throughout the entirety of it’s 2 hours and 14 minutes!
About Pretty Much Geeks
We are a bunch of humans who like to watch movies, play games, and dress up as our favourite characters.
We're not critics, we're lovers of entertainment!
Other humans like to call us geeks. Which is pretty much true.
Yeah, we're pretty much geeks.
March 27, 2020 1330 views
No Man’s Sky beyond Trailer release
PriceSpy reveals the games most of you have been peepin’ on in June! (spoiler alert – Sony CLEANS UP!)
August 6, 2019 1779 views
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Halo Infinite Is Larger Than Both Halo 4 and Halo 5 Put Together
Regardless of feelings on the gameplay reveal for Halo Infinite, one thing is for sure: that's a big boy.
Published July 28, 2020, 3:51 p.m. about Halo Infinite
Regardless of feelings on the gameplay reveal for Halo Infinite, one thing is for sure: that's a big boy. 343 Industries devs recently spoke a little more on what fans can expect from Halo Infinite, including the massive scope of the game itself and how it relates to prior launches.
343's Chris Lee and Paul Crocker recently sat down with the folks over at IGN to talk about the sheer size of the Halo Infinite campaign, and according to the duo, it's going to be massive. Lee told the site that Halo Infinite's campaign will be "several times larger" than that of both Halo 5 and Halo 4 combined in terms of the areas of exploration. It was also hinted that players will be able to explore outside worlds as well, though no straight-out confirmation on that at this time.
Personally, the Halo Infinite gameplay was everything I wanted and more. As a massive Halo fan, so much so that I don't even use the remastered visuals with the Master Chief Collection because I want organic Halo, Infinite very much made me feel the way Halo Reach and ODST did. While the graphics weren't incredibly impressive as one would expect from the next generation of gaming, they were very much in-line with what fans of Halo have come to know and love.
This franchise has always been on the cartoony side of graphics and why should that change just because of ray-tracing? I know I'm in the minority on that one and for reasons I definitely understand, but hearing the news that this game is going to be much bigger than prior launches has me excited beyond measure.
Related: Halo: Infinite's Craig the Brute Has Become the Internet's Best New Meme
Split reactions aside, this previous Xbox Games Showcase was our first chance to actually see in-game gameplay, though the studio has assured fans that this was a live demo, therefore the quality wasn't necessarily indicative of the final quality. Still, Halo Infinite is launching later this year during the holiday season and the team did promise a few more looks at what is in store before launch day happens.
Halo Infinite: All Confirmed Weapons So Far
Halo Infinite Kicks Off Xbox Games Showcase With Campaign Footage
Does Halo Infinite Support Split-Screen?
What do you think about the news that Halo Infinite is larger than 4 and 5 combined? What did you think about the latest Infinite gameplay reveal? Hit us up with all of those thoughts over on Twitter @PrimaGames, we'd love to hear what you think!
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Dealing with Inbound Issues
How to Deal with Issues for Inbound Students in School and at Home
AT SCHOOL:
If Host Parents are made aware of the issue between the school and the student, the host parents should begin by going through school channels to resolve the issue. At any time during this process, the host parents may communicate with the Rotary club’s Counselor for general information or advice. If the issue cannot be resolved, the host parents should contact the club Counselor for direct help.
The club Counselor should go through school channels to help resolve the issue. The club Counselor may proceed up the Rotary chain of command as needed for assistance. This chain should include the club Youth Exchange Officer, the club President, and RMRYE district committee members including the country contact, inbound chair, the overall program chair, and the District Governor.
The host family and student should openly and calmly discuss any issue which may be upsetting the family unit. Please remember the student is a young person alone in a foreign country with no other family support – be gentle. If the issue within the family remains unresolved, either party should speak with the student’s club Counselor for assistance.
The club Counselor should begin dealing with the issue as soon as it has been called to his or her attention. The club Counselor may proceed up the Rotary chain of command as needed for assistance. This chain should include the club Youth Exchange Officer, the club President, and RMRYE district committee members including the country contact, inbound chair, the overall program chair, and the District Governor.
Sometimes families need a ‘break’ from the student. If this situation appears to be the case, the club Counselor should encourage background-cleared Rotarians to take the student out for a meal, for the day, or perhaps away for the weekend (subject to the travel notification requirements). During the entire resolution process, counterparts in the student’s home country are often informed of the situation by the student and the country Contact.
The RMRYE committee works hard to ensure fair and proper resolution. The student may be moved to another home, or as a last resort, sent home at the direction of the RMRYE overall program chair.
The student or the host parents may at any point in the process choose to document the issue by completing a confidential Incident Report, which suggests a very serious issue, or an Ad Hoc MAAD Report (student only), which implies a lesser concern.
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https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/2020/12/01/kevin-durant-downplays-reports-of-james-harden-recruitment/
Kevin Durant downplays reports of James Harden recruitment
It was less than three weeks ago when reports emerged that Brooklyn’s Kevin Durant had spoken with Houston Rockets superstar James Harden about potentially teaming up with the Nets. Within days, “The Beard” had reportedly asked the Rockets to trade him there.
Harden and Durant, of course, remain good friends after having played together for three seasons in Oklahoma City (2009-2012).
But the Rockets and Nets never seriously engaged in trade talks, in large part due to Brooklyn lacking the desired assets to satisfy Houston with a blockbuster offer. With Harden under contract for at least two more seasons, the Rockets hold enormous leverage in any negotiations, so Harden remains in Houston for the immediate future.
With the NBA’s training camps for the 2020-21 season opening this week, players across the league are being made available in press conferences for the first time since last season. On Tuesday, Durant was asked about reports connecting him to Harden, and he largely downplayed it.
I don’t know where you’re making these stories up, that me and James talked about any of this at a workout. I don’t know where that came from. James is a friend of mine, but I let the front office handle all of that stuff. I was just so focused on working out.
I heard all the noise that James potentially wanted to come to the Nets. But anyone can make up stories, anyone can write a story, and it gets some traction. Nothing’s ever set in stone until it’s set in stone. So I’ve never thought too much about it, just focused on myself. My teammates probably did the same thing, and we just move forward.
Harden’s side of the story should become public within days, as the Rockets are poised to begin their camp interviews on Wednesday.
Nets' Kevin Durant reacts to James Harden-to-Brooklyn rumors
Rockets don't feel obligated to trade James Harden to Nets, per ESPN
Report: James Harden eyes Nets, wants to move on from Rockets
Kevin Durant on reports that he & #Rockets James Harden talked at a work out in LA this offseason about Harden's desire to join #Nets via trade this offseason:"I don't know where you're making these stories up that me & James talked about any of this at a workout." Full answer ➡ pic.twitter.com/JYPioMBrrQ
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Royal Dutch Shell News 3 Jan 2019
Author Andrew Toh Wanda Wang Eric Yep
Editor Wendy Wells
03 Jan 2019 | 07:14 UTC
Singapore — Shell will load the first condensate cargo from Australia’s Prelude FLNG project at end January, according to shipping reports and sources Thursday.
The condensate will be loaded in a 80,000 mt clip over January 31 to February 2, shipping reports showed.
A vessel has not been fixed for the cargo, and shipbrokers said Shell began looking for an Aframax tanker to load the cargo Thursday.
Shell did not immediately respond to an email query seeking comment.
The destination of the cargo is unclear, though trade sources have said that the oil major will likely use the cargo within its own network of splitters and refineries.
Shell has not been actively marketing condensate cargoes from the project in the spot market, and an assay has not been made publicly available, trade sources added.
The first condensate cargo comes shortly after Shell announced on December 26 that it had started production of natural gas and condensate from the project, paving the way for the first cargoes of LNG, LPG and condensates to be shipped in coming months.
Prelude FLNG was one of the most anticipated LNG projects in recent years due to the deployment of the world’s largest floating facility, with a production capacity of 3.6 million mt/year of LNG, 1.3 million mt/year of condensate and 0.4 million mt/year of LPG.
The facility, located 475 kilometers north-northeast of Broome in Western Australia, is operated by Shell with a 67.5% stake, with Japanese explorer INPEX holding a 17.5% stake, South Korea’s KOGAS 10% and Taiwan’s CPC Corp 5%.
–Andrew Toh, [email protected]
–Wanda Wang, [email protected]
–Eric Yep, [email protected]
–Edited by Wendy Wells, [email protected]
Jan. 2, 2019 8:21 AM ET | By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor
Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) says China has awarded it a licenseto independently trade oil products in the country’s domestic wholesale oil market, allowing it to carry out purchases and sales of oil products for its customers in the Chinese market.
“The wholesale business of refined products has long been dominated by Chinese national oil companies and is typically reserved for Chinese companies,” says Kang Wu, head of S&P Global Platts Asia analytics. “The latest license to a wholly-owned foreign company is unique and set to increase the competitiveness of the wholesale market in China.”
China has been showing more willingness to work with international companies in its oil sector; Cnooc last month signed agreements with nine international oil companies for offshore exploration in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in southern China.
Posted in: Australia, China, Environment, Gas, Gas-to-liquids, LNG, Oil, Prelude FLNG Project, Royal Dutch Shell, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Seeking Alpha, Shell.
Tagged: Australia · China · Gas · LNG · Royal Dutch Shell Plc · Shell
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NNationalNNews
National / Last date to file ITR today, deadline not extended, clarifies I-T dept
Last date to file ITR today, deadline not extended, clarifies I-T dept
12:21 PM, 31 Aug 2019
Income Tax Department (File Photo)
The I-T department on Friday dismissed social media reports which claimed that the government has extended the due date for filing of income tax returns (ITRs) by a month and advised taxpayers to complete the process by the set deadline of August 31.
“It has come to the notice of CBDT that an order is being circulated on social media pertaining to extension of due date for filing of IT Returns. It is categorically stated that the said order is not genuine. Taxpayers are advised to file Returns within extended due date of 31.08.2019,” the Income-Tax department said on its official Twitter handle.
The handle, @IncomeTaxIndia, is operated by the Central Board of Direct Taxes that frames a policy for the I-T department.
The clarification came after a fake order dated August 29 started doing the rounds on various social media platforms, including Twitter and WhatsApp groups, claiming that the government has extended the due date for filing income tax returns for individuals (financial year 2018-19) by a month till September 30.
The I-T department also put up a photo of the fake order on its Twitter handle and put a red cancellation cross across it making clear that the contents are not genuine.
On July 23, the government had extended the due date for filing income tax returns by individuals for the financial year 2018-19 by a month till August 31.
The earlier deadline was July 31.
Individuals, including salaried taxpayers, and entities- who do not need to get their accounts audited – are required to file their ITRs for fiscal 2018-19 (the assessment year 2019-20) by Saturday, August 31.
(PTI)
deadline, I-T dept, Income Tax department, Income Tax Return, ITR, ITR 2019, Last Date
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Fauci Admits He Lied About Herd Immunity To Trick Americans Into Vaccine
December 28, 2020 in News by RBN Staff
via: Health Impact News
Did Fauci Just Admit He Lied About Herd Immunity To Trick Americans Into Vaccine?
ZeroHedge.com
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Democrat-approved ‘science’ in ‘trust the science,’ appears to have just admitted to lying about COVID-19 herd immunity in order to goad more people into taking the vaccine, according to a new report in the New York Times.
At issue is the percentage of the population which must require resistance to the coronavirus – through infection or vaccination – in order for the disease to disappear.
Early into the pandemic, Fauci repeatedly claimed ‘60-70%‘ herd immunity was required to achieve herd immunity. Beginning around a month ago, however, Fauci’s estimate drifted higher – to “70, 75 percent,” and more recently telling CNBC “75, 80, 85 percent” and “75 to 80-plus percent.”
When asked about it, Fauci essentially said he lied for political purposes due to vaccine skeptics.
In a telephone interview the next day, Dr. Fauci acknowledged that he had slowly but deliberately been moving the goal posts. He is doing so, he said, partly based on new science, and partly on his gut feeling that the country is finally ready to hear what he really thinks.
Hard as it may be to hear, he said, he believes that it may take close to 90 percent immunity to bring the virus to a halt — almost as much as is needed to stop a measles outbreak.
Asked about Dr. Fauci’s conclusions, prominent epidemiologists said that he might be proven right. The early range of 60 to 70 percent was almost undoubtedly too low, they said, and the virus is becoming more transmissible, so it will take greater herd immunity to stop it.
Dr. Fauci said that weeks ago, he had hesitated to publicly raise his estimate because many Americans seemed hesitant about vaccines, which they would need to accept almost universally in order for the country to achieve herd immunity.
And with polls now suggesting more Americans are willing to take the vaccines, Fauci (who said in November COVID-19 ‘won’t be a pandemic for much longer‘) says he’s ready to come clean.
“When polls said only about half of all Americans would take a vaccine, I was saying herd immunity would take 70 to 75 percent,” he said, adding “Then, when newer surveys said 60 percent or more would take it, I thought, ‘I can nudge this up a bit,’ so I went to 80, 85.”
“We need to have some humility here,” Fauci then said. “We really don’t know what the real number is. I think the real range is somewhere between 70 to 90 percent. But, I’m not going to say 90 percent,” because doing so might discourage Americans.
The Times’ Ross Douthat called Fauci out for shifting the goalposts.
When you can’t just “trust the science” because the scientists keep lying to you and then saying, “oh, that was just a noble lie, sorry about that.” https://nytimes.com/
Read the full article at ZeroHedge.com.
Tags: coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, herd immunity, vaccines
Comments Off on Fauci Admits He Lied About Herd Immunity To Trick Americans Into Vaccine
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Yearly Archives: Knowledge CenterApril 2014
Functional Testing – Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
QA InfoTech
Functional Testing simply put, testing a system’s functions (functionalities) per defined specifications has traditionally been a very important component of software quality control and assurance. Even before the days of independent testing, when testing was done by the same team that developed the code, functional testing has been a core focus area of people who were responsible for the product’s quality. Functional testing is often very large in its scope and potential that it continues to be done in a variety of ways – be it manual or automated, scripted or exploratory, as part of a core test pass as well as a regression test effort. If it has been so deep rooted in the testing history, you may ask what has changed over the years that we now need special consideration. As with any discipline, process or technique, the evolution of functional testing also has to be looked at from a past, present and future angles to ensure we are geared to align our testing efforts with the needs of the day. So, let’s look at functional testing from these 3 buckets of the past, present and future.
Past – As stated, over the years, testing for a product’s functionality was largely based on the defined system or functional specifications. These documents were the base for the tester to define his tests, map his test coverage on, and build his test entry and exit criteria. Functional testing was given more emphasis than non-functional test areas such as performance, security, usability etc. Globalization testing that included both internationalization and localization tests were also in part mapped to a functional test effort and were done sequentially after core functional testing in English was completed. The tester was more of a black box tester taking on functional verification in ensuring the system was built accordingly to define specifications, rather than validation
Present – When I say present, I talk about the last few years – say a timeline of about the last 3-5 years. This is a time when so much has happened in the software world – right from technology evolutions in the mobile, cloud, social computing spaces, to changes in development methodologies – a more active adoption of Agile, to more progress and acceptance of open source tools and technologies. The tester has been seeing and partaking in a lot of change including a new facelift to his role. The detailed system or design specifications that they used in the past are no longer prevalent. High level user specifications is what they have now and they understand that system functions need to be robust yet dynamic to accommodate changing user needs. So, while they are complex in nature they are also simultaneously light weight and modular. The tester has moved into a role where he does more system validation than in the past and then verification. This saves a lot of his time and effort in the verification test cycle, also giving more time for the equally important non-functional test areas such as performance, security and usability. These have become inevitable given how the applications are now accessed across a range of devices and platforms making them more vulnerable to these non- functional issues. Test automation, especially for functional tests are being closely looked at to understand what the return on investment is, and is being carefully chosen and done, rather than being looked at as pure numbers. Also, domain knowledge that lets the tester take on functional testing with an improved understanding of the domain’s workflows have become increasingly important
Future – The trends that we are seeing at the present will likely continue into the future years as well. These are all positive changes in the functional testing space that the testers should feel happy about. As more organizations take on Test Driven Development (TDD), where tests are designed upfront even before source code is written, these would largely continue to be functional tests that form part of the TDD suites. Functional testing will thus give the tester the required breakthrough to completely drive the product’s validation and verification rather than being blocked by dependencies on the team (including system understanding) that may have earlier impacted their productivity. More end users may also be brought in to partake in functional testing along with the core test team. Optimizing the large functional test suite along with the regression test suite to determine what tests to run on what locales and what devices will become core in differentiating an effective test team from a not so effective one. The future is all about scale and complexity to be able to make end user’s experience very rich yet simple. If so, functional testing which is a core element in this whole 9 yards, will have to be optimized and geared to continue to be central to the application yet not overwhelming in a tester’s drive to deliver a quality product to the end user. To this effect, the tester will have to see how to delegate portions of functional testing (be it a sanity suite or a regression suite) to other members such as developers and build engineers such that together the entire team is able to achieve the required functional coverage they desire.
Functional testing has and will continue to outlive the test of time. It is however in our hands as testers to see how to shape this in the coming years in the best interest of the quality of the product / application under test and the overall team’s productivity and morale standpoints.
The Future of Independent Testing
Independent Testing in other words, testing that is officially done by a third party team that has not been engaged with the source code development, is a serious business. It is a discipline of its own under the larger umbrella of software testing with people who specialize in testing activities ranging from manual to automated, from functional to performance, from compatibility to internalization. A study by Ambysoft in 2013 talks about how Agile organizations claiming to be Agile were. In this study while evaluating the parameter of “validation and verification”, one of the checks done was to see whether an independent third party team was used for testing the software under development. While in several organizations there is a discussion of merging the developer and tester into a single role, especially with how Agile and nimble they need to be, the role of an independent tester is never going to go away, at least in the foreseeable future, given the value they bring in, to the quality of the product. We do continue to see organizations as large as Facebook not having a quality team of its own, but we also steadily continue to see newer organizations (e.g. WIKIMEDIA) christening the new role of a software tester.
While we continue to emphasize the prominence of the role in the future, despite mergers with that of the developer in certain groups and organizations, the tester has an important role to play in shaping his and the discipline’s future. He needs to the quality consultant and advocate not just in own team but also within the larger product team, has to be ready to take on bigger and better challenges (whether it is TDD, whether it is interfacing with end users, whether it is learning new test automation tool functionalities or whether it is understanding newer computing technologies). Such readiness of the tester and actual implementation on the ground are critical to give “independent testing”, its facelift into the future. Also, there will be situations where the tester will need to collaborate with the developer to a larger extent than he did in the past – whether it is pairing with him to understand the system internals, or taking on a paired development and testing effort. These are going to increasingly become inevitable in the future. In all of these situations, it is in the tester’s best interest that he has to step out of the development zone and mind set, to maintain his independence in the testing effort.
The scope of software testing is only going to rise, with technology becoming omnipresent in all disciplines – whether it is wearable computing that is slowly penetrating the market, or the ongoing aggressive software development in the mobile app world or end user centric web applications or enterprise world applications, to name some. Independent testing is a better understood and accepted term in the industry now than it was, a decade ago. While, there are some forces, including a questioning on the cost spent on independent testing, that will attempt to merge it with the product development effort, with the right focus from the test team and the other market forces (be it end user needs, competition, time to market etc.) at play, the world of independent testing will stand tall and high into the coming years, staying clear of all the distractions it may occasionally face.
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Bettendorf News
Watch: Martin Luther King Center virtual service to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Developer looking at new use for Hotel Davenport
Jan 19, 2018 Updated Oct 8, 2019
Hotel Davenport and Conference Center at 5202 Brady St., Davenport
Kevin E. Schmidt, QUAD-CITY TIMES
The new owner of the Hotel Davenport & Conference Center is exploring a number of options for redeveloping the hotel property at Brady and 53rd streets.
Located at 5202 N. Brady St., the hotel was purchased last fall by the hotel company Jay Shreeji 1 LLC.
Charlie Armstrong, a real estate broker with NAI Ruhl Commerical Co., said the Eldridge company is evaluating whether to keep the hotel and redevelop it, demolish it or repurpose it.
“We’re seeing what kind of users we can get in there,” said Armstrong, who is co-brokering the site with Ruhl’s Chris Wilkins.
The hotel, which has now closed, sits on eight acres along 53rd Street, between Brady Street and Welcome Way. It was built in the early 1970s as a Holiday Inn and became a Clarion in 2006.
Armstrong said one idea is to anchor the site with a smaller hotel and convert the remainder into new retail or office space. The agents already have had interest in an outlot. "Based on our success that will determine what decisions the owner makes," he said.
The redevelopment comes nearly a year after the hotel faced a number of fire, life safety and health code violations.
-- Jennifer DeWitt
Charlie Armstrong
Jay Shreeji Llc
Chris Wilkins
Hotel Davenport
Christopher & Banks files Chapter 11, NorthPark and SouthPark mall stores to close
Christopher & Banks has filed for bankruptcy, and more than 400 of its stores are closing, including units at NorthPark and SouthPark malls.
Barrel House Silvis location will not reopen
The Barrel House will not be reopening its Silvis location at 685 Avenue of the Cities, according to a Facebook post by company officials.
Q-C International Airport to restore Denver flights
The Quad City International Airport and United Airlines will restore twice daily service to Denver after a year that obliterated the travel industry.
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In March, Kelli Greenland faced a devil of a choice – should she accept a retail job as an essential worker, or should she remain home to keep…
Brian Duffy named CEO of Per Mar Security Services
Per Mar Security Services, the largest family-owned full-service security company in the Midwest, has promoted Brian Duffy from Chief Operatin…
BIZ BYTES: New downtown Davenport restaurant set to open
Cavort, the newest addition to downtown Davenport’s hospitality scene, will open Tuesday, Jan. 12. It is located at 229 Brady St., inside the …
DAILY RECORD
MARK-TO-MARKET: COVID-19 surge hits labor market
Mark Grywacheski spent more than 14 years as a professional trader in Chicago, where he served on various committees for multiple global financial exchanges and as an industry Arbitrator for more than a decade. He is an expert in financial markets and economic analysis and is an investment adviser with Quad-Cities Investment Group, Davenport.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. Any prices or quotations contained herein are indicative only and do not constitute an offer to buy or sell any securities at any given price. Information has been obtained from sources considered reliable, but we do not guarantee that the material presented is accurate or that it provides a complete description of the securities, markets or developments mentioned. Quad-Cities Investment Group LLC is a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.
Biz Bytes: Glassdoor honors Kwik Trip as one of best places to work
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Kwik Trip, Inc. has been honored with a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, recognizing the Best Places to Work in 2021. Kwik…
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ABOUT THE MASTERS
FOUR STEP ACTION PLAN
SOME FUN IN EDUCATION
QR Nanoparticles replace Uranium
"For Immediate Release"
Nuclear Plants Can Now Be Converted with Safe Non-Radioactive Fuel Rods
Since the announcement of the QR nanoparticles the reaction was for immediate applications into existing troublesome energy systems. We can never forget nuclear disasters of Chernobyl, Fukushima, Three Mile Island and others which residual has not gone away. Currently, there are 440 nuclear reactors in operation in some 30 countries around the world.
Excerpt; "The cocktail of the QR nanoparticle has been modified for heat energy to create a non-radioactive fuel rod. This rod is the same dimensions and form of existing radioactive fuel rods. Our goal is to replace existing rods in existing nuclear power generating plants with QR rods. No other changes to infrastructure are necessary. The result is a quantum leap in safety and costs. The Non-radioactive emissions (NRE) of heat energy given off by the QR fuel rods are continuous and gain in efficiency over time rather than being diminished. The usual radioactive decay of nuclear fuel rods is no longer needed to drive the ‘core’ of the generation plant. All the radiation containment is no longer needed but can remain as existing plants will house some residual radiation as a result of the past work." Estimate on installations can start as soon as 12 months. For more information on the technology: www.quantum-rise.org/pages/technology
Non-radioactive fuel rods have many advantages over existing Uranium dioxide fuel rods.
Environment. No toxic waste, no storage needed for spent rods, no radioactive half life, no pollution.
Humans. Safe to handle, no special equipment needed to store, remove, replace or handle. No radioactive contamination, no pollution of air, water, sea or food.
Flora and fauna. No radioactive fallout, no damage or mutation to DNA, no threat to food safety.
Existing nuclear power plants. Safe replacement of existing toxic fuel rods with NRE rods.
Saving on expenses of protection of radiation, storage of uranium based fuel rods, disposal of waste, no accidents, reduced insurance, no health hazards to humans.
Economy. NRE will eliminate need for mining radioactive minerals, will stimulate technology, create new jobs and provide cheap electricity.
www.quantum-rise.org
Media contact: Media@quantum-rise.org
© Copyright 2021 Quantum-Rise.org. All Rights Reserved.
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Osky Sports
MUCH AT STAKE AS SUPREME COURT WEIGHS FUTURE OF �OBAMACARE�
Much at stake as Supreme Court weighs future of ‘Obamacare’
Posted on November 10, 2020 by Rick Watts
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Supreme Court weighs the fate of “Obamacare,” arguments will revolve around arcane points of law like severability — whether the justices can surgically snip out part of the law and leave the rest.
But what’s at stake has real-world consequences for just about every American, as well as the health care industry, a major source of jobs and tax revenues. Whether the Affordable Care Act stays, goes or is significantly changed will affect the way life is lived in the U.S.
The argument against the law from the Trump administration and conservative states is that the 10-year-old statute was rendered unconstitutional in its entirety when Congress dialed down to zero a penalty on those remaining uninsured. The court has shifted solidly to the political right under President Donald Trump. Here’s a look at some of what’s at stake if the opponents of the law prevail:
COVID-19 A NEW PRE-EXISTING CONDITION
Before the ACA, insurers could turn a person down for an individual policy, or charge them more, based on their medical history. The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that about 54 million working-age adults have health issues that would have made them “uninsurable” before former President Barack Obama’s signature law.
Tens of millions more have issues that could have led to higher premiums. Female gender was one, as insurers routinely charged women more.
COVID-19 would become America’s newest pre-existing condition, for more than 10 million people who have tested positive so far.
Under the ACA, a coronavirus case cannot be used to deny someone coverage or charge them more. If Obamacare is gone, that becomes a real question.
Trump promised to always protect people with preexisting conditions, but never said how he’d do it.
COVERAGE FOR MORE THAN 20 MILLION
The ACA’s two main programs for covering uninsured people would be wiped out if the law is overturned, leaving more than 20 million people uninsured unless a divided Congress can put a new safety net in place.
About 12 million low-income people are covered through the health law’s Medicaid expansion, now available in most states. Most of them are adults working in jobs that don’t pay all that much, and don’t come with health insurance. Some have lost jobs in businesses like hotels, restaurants, and movie theaters, which continue to struggle because of the pandemic.
Another group, more than 11 million people, has private coverage purchased through taxpayer-subsidized private markets such as HealthCare.gov
That’s also in jeopardy.
Most American women now pay nothing out of their own pockets for birth control. That’s covered as a preventive service, free of charge to the patient, under the ACA.
Many other services, from colonoscopies to flu shots, are also free.
If people again face copays for routine preventive care, that may discourage some to go for tests shown to detect diseases like cancer at early stages when they are easier to treat.
RETURN OF A MEDICARE GAP
“Obamacare” took the first major steps to close Medicare’s unpopular “doughnut hole,” a coverage gap that used to leave older Americans on the hook for hundreds of dollars in prescriptions drug costs. Congress later accelerated the timetable.
Repealing the ACA would mean the return of the coverage gap, sure to infuriate older voters, many of whom say their medications still cost too much.
That’s just one of many potential consequences to Medicare. The ACA slowed payments to hospitals and insurers to extend the life of the Medicare trust fund.
LONGER RUNWAY SHORTENED
One of the earliest benefits to take effect after the passage of “Obamacare” was a requirement that insurers allow young adults to stay on a parent’s plan until they turned 26.
That provided a longer economic runway for millions of young adults, who back then were struggling with the lingering effects of the Great Recession. Nowadays it’s the consequences of the coronavirus economy.
Before the ACA’s coverage extension, insurers routinely cut off young adults upon graduation.
TAX CUT FOR THE WEALTHY
“Obamacare” raised taxes on upper income individuals to help finance its coverage expansion.
If the entire law is repealed, that would deliver a tax cut to well-to-do people, many of whom have escaped the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic because stock market investors have continued to do well.
POLITICAL RUBIK’S CUBE
Passing the 900-page-plus ACA was a political challenge that took more than a year at a time when Democrats controlled the White House and both chambers in Congress.
Putting together a replacement under a divided government would be the ultimate political puzzle. Neither Democrats nor Republicans agree even within their own ranks what that should look like.
President-elect Joe Biden would build on the ACA by improving it and adding a new public health insurance option. But party liberals want a government-run system for all Americans, including the 160 million covered through employer plans.
Many Republicans, meanwhile, want to scale back the government’s support for health care. They would make deep cuts to Medicaid financing, and leave the ACA’s insurance markets as a state option. Protections for people with pre-existing conditions could be eroded under new rules.
Trump once famously said, “nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” That was in 2017, when he and a Republican-controlled Congress harbored hopes they could “repeal and replace” the ACA.
It didn’t happen then because Republicans could never agree on what a replacement would look like.
Fast forward to 2020. Health care has only gotten more complicated.
Posted in National News, News
Fire alarm malfunction forces OHS students to learn from home Tuesday
Born on this day in 1946: Yardbirds guitarist Chris Dreja
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Fran Yanity: President & CEO NOISY TRUMPET
by SA Woman | Nov 30, 2020 | Business, Current Issue, Nov/Dec 20, Profile | 0 comments
Founded in August 2017, Noisy Trumpet is a nationally recognized integrated digital and public relations agency driven by statistical insights and designed to elevate brands across various marketing channels. Noisy Trumpet is led by a staff of digital and communications specialists who craft a brand’s voice, activate the relevant platforms to tell their story, and ultimately generate awareness and sales.
With deep expertise in digital, web, social media and public relations, Noisy Trumpet stays abreast of the latest industry trends to identify new opportunities for clients in for profit and nonprofit industries.
The understanding of business and the customer’s journey through the buying process has helped Noisy Trumpet give brands a voice to further their mission and deliver results.
Most recently, Noisy Trumpet was recognized by the American Marketing Association, PR Daily Nonprofit Awards and PR News Platinum Awards, respectively, for their continued work and contribution to San Antonio Sports’ “Power of Sport” campaign. In 2020 alone, the agency received the Public Relations Society of America – San Antonio’s La Plata of Excellence Award for their work with San Antonio Sports “Power of Sport” campaign as well as La Plata Merit Award for the Devils River Conservancy’s “Don’t Blow It” social media campaign. Noisy Trumpet was also ranked as the 2nd largest public relations firm and top 10 social media marketing firm by the San Antonio Business Journal in the San Antonio and South Texas area.
Noisy Trumpet President and CEO Fran Yanity’s leadership in business and the community has led to her being invited into the San Antonio Business Journal Trust, an invitation-only organization for top influential CEO’s and business leaders. In 2018, she chaired the Go Red for Women campaign for the American Heart Association in San Antonio. This year, Fran was selected as a 2020 Bizwomen mentor and invited to chair the Marilyn Potts Endowment Fund for the Public Relations Society of America – San Antonio chapter in 2021.
NOISY TRUMPET
7550 IH-10 West Suite 150
noisytrumpet.com
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Tag: iPod Touch 4G
Apple Now Actively Taking A Stance Against Jailbreakers
For years people have been jailbreaking their iOS devices to run things that Apple won’t allow, whether it be apps or themes. They’ve never actively done a lot against the jailbreaking community, until now.
I’m due to take my iPhone into the Apple Store due to some hardware issues, but of course I was running a jailbroken iOS 4.3.2, so I spent 3 hours trying to restore it. It got stuck in a constant restore cycle. I tried using RecBoot, TinyUmbrella and iRecovery to try and get it out of it but it just wouldn’t work.
Turns out that Apple have now updated iTunes to check the hosts file on the computer and if there is an entry under ‘gs.apple.com’ it will put your device into a constant restore cycle. This is because some of the tools used for jailbreaking will add the ‘gs.apple.com’ entry to the hosts file to stop the local machine talking back to the server. Of course it’s simple to remove the entry and restore but for whose who don’t know about this will be stuck with a very expensive paperweight. It does rise some other issues, some people may have very large host files and therefore it will simply take too long and then iTunes will assume the device is jailbroken and put it into the constant recovery cycle.
sbraidley Article, iPAD, iPhone, iPod, News Leave a comment September 25, 2011 1 Minute
FaceTime for Mac beta Released
One of the smaller announcements from todays event is FaceTime now has it’s own app for Mac and although it’s in beta it works just like you’d expect. It imports your contacts and then allows you to call either their phone number or email address of the other device and will attempt to call them. I’ve tried calling my MacBook from my iPhone 4 and vice versa and it both cases it worked flawlessly. The best thing is there is nothing to set up it’s just ready to go straight away. Hopefully we will see this technology being deployed in Windows and Linux soon but for now if your on a Mac and know someone with a FaceTime capable device then install it now and give them a surprise call.
sbraidley Apple, iOS 4, iPhone, iPhone 4, iPod, News Leave a comment October 20, 2010 1 Minute
Limera1n Released A Day Prior To greenpois0n’s Release
In the last few hours a big disruption in the jailbreak scene with the release of limera1n, the untethered jailbreak from geohot. That’s right the same geohot who left the jailbreak scene after he kept getting pestered by people about jailbreak releases. Over the last 6 months, geohot has been working on the jailbreak for the last 6 months. On the website, over at limera1n.com, it says that it’s unpatchable and that it will work on the iPad, iPod Touch 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G on the firmware 4.0 and above. This jailbreak is in beta and so is very messy and so MusleNerd of the Chronic Dev-Team has said on Twitter to wait for the release of greenpois0n.
The limera1n jailbreak is only currently avaliable for Windows but geohot is working on a Mac & Linux version of the software. There have been a few reported issues with the jailbreak so far such as the 3GS new bootrom not being supported. The release comes a day before The Chronic Dev-Teams release of their untethered jailbreak greenpois0n, which uses a different exploit.
Currently it’s not known what The Chronic Dev-Team will do as they have 3 options available to them, they can either: not release greenpois0n and save the exploit, release the greenpois0n jailbreak and use a second exploit or use geohot’s exploit and then possibly break the ETA of 10:10:10 10/10/10 GMT.
It seems that geohot has done thing on purpose but has released in a sense, an incomplete solution just to spite The Chronic Dev-Team and their efforts. The Chronic Dev-Team are still talking at this point and trying to come to a decision of what to do, the best decision in most peoples opinion would be for them to implement the limera1n exploit and keep the SHAtter exploit for future releases.
If your thinking of using the limera1n release please know that the iPhone Dev-Team and The Chronic Dev-Team were not involved in it’s creation and therefore any issues caused by it shouldn’t have to be fixed by them as it’s geohot’s software which he choose to release in beta. I would recommend waiting for the greenpoison release, it may take a few more days but at least you’ll know all the issues will be fixed. I’ll keep everyone updated on the happenings in the jailbreak scene, make sure to check back frequently for any updates.
Update: The Chronic Dev-Team have chosed to release the greenpois0n jailbreak tool using geohot’s exploit and not the SHAtter exploit.
sbraidley Apple, iPAD, iPhone, iPod, News 1 Comment October 9, 2010 October 9, 2010 2 Minutes
Game Center Now Live On iOS 4.1, Sans iPhone 3G
So today when Apple released iOS 4.1 everyone thought that it’d bring the new social gaming platform, Game Center to all recent devices except the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch 2G. Turns out that Apple is supporting the second generation iPod Touch but still not the iPhone 3G. Not quite sure as to the reasoning, except to make money but I don’t think Game Center requires recent hardware as it’s just a social gaming platform.
sbraidley Apple, iOS 4, iPhone, iPhone 4, iPod, News Leave a comment September 8, 2010 1 Minute
iOS 4.1 Live For Download
Apple has pushed out the iOS 4.1 update as promised, if your running a iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 2G, iPod Touch 3G or iPod Touch 4G then the update is available for free to you now. It’s not a huge update but it fixes the iPhone 3G performance issues, Game Center is now activated and proximity sensor and bluetooth issues have been fixed for the iPhone 4.
As usual, if your a jailbreak user, or someone who relys on a hacked unlock then do not update yet until the iPhone Dev-Team give the go ahead. Make sure to backup your SHSH blobs whilst you still have the chance as well.
sbraidley Apple, iOS 4, iPhone, iPod, News Leave a comment September 8, 2010 1 Minute
iOS 4.1 Confirmed for 8th September Release
Earlier today this screenshot was captured of the Apple UK website, stating that iOS 4.1 will arrive on the 8th September, it has now reverted back to the Coming Soon message that we find on the US website. This likely means that it’s also the day when the new iPods are released seeing as the touch uses iOS 4.1.
iPod Touch 4G Announced
One of the biggest announcments of the Apple event today was the iPod Touch 4G which brings similar features found on the iPhone 4. You now get the Retina Display, HD Video and FaceTime. This is great for those who don’t know many people who have iPhone 4’s as the iPod Touch market is a lot bigger so a lot more people to connect with.
Not only has it got the Retina Display, HD Video Recording and FaceTime but it has an Apple A4 CPU, 3-axis gyroscope and Game Center. It comes in a variety of sizes from 8GB to 64GB. Pre-orders start today and it will ship next week.
8GB £189 $229
32GB £249 $299
sbraidley Apple, iPod, News 1 Comment September 1, 2010 September 1, 2010 1 Minute
Apple Claims 50% of Portable Gaming Market
Steve Jobs announced today that the iPod Touch alone outsells the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP combined, not just in America but worldwide. Jobs said that 1.5 billion games and entertainment apps have been downloaded from the App Store. This fact only takes into consideration the iPod Touch and not the iPhone which would make it an even bigger market lead.
There have been some concerned comments questioning the fact seeing as only 120 million iOS devices have been sold worldwide. Apple have been contacted about this discrepancy.
sbraidley Apple, iPhone, iPod, News Leave a comment September 1, 2010 1 Minute
Apple Announces iOS 4.1
Apple announced iOS 4.1 which fixes many of the issues that were causing major issues, fixing the issues with the proximity sensor, Bluetooth and the iPhone 3G performance along with completely new features such as HDR camera mode. Also HD video uploads over WiFi, Game Center and TV show rentals. Look for the update to hit iTunes sometime next week as a free download for your iPhone or iPod touch.
Possible Next-Generation iPod Touch & iPod Nano Cases Appear Online
Less than a week before an Apple event is set to take place, cases for devices which have been rumored to be featured at the event appear online. The picture comes courtesy of Chinese case retailer X-Doria. The image seems to show what appears to be a 4th generation iPod Touch, which is rumored to have the front facing camera built-in for FaceTime.
The second case is said to be for the iPod Nano 6th generation, but it could easily be a case for a new iPod shuffle. It also appears to match a 1.7 inch Apple touchscreen that turned up in Taiwan.
The September event usually revolves around music and the iPod family so we know there’s updates coming just not sure on which devices.
sbraidley Apple, iOS 4, iPod, News Leave a comment August 27, 2010 1 Minute
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US believes Russia has ship with weapons, troops en route to Syria
By Barbara Starr, with reporting from Jill Dougherty
The United States says it is tracking a Russian military cargo ship as it makes its way to Syria carrying weapons, ammunition and a small number of Russian troops.
U.S. intelligence believes the Russians are sending the ship to help fortify its naval base in Syria as the situation in country continues to spiral out of control, Pentagon officials told CNN Friday.
The presence of the ship was first reporting by NBC News.
Classified U.S. imagery shows the ship, called the Nikolay Filchenkov, began loading in the port of Sevastapol on the Black Sea on June 7 and is headed for the Syrian port of Tartus, where the Russians have a naval facility. The port is vital for Russian naval access to the entire Middle East.
Under maritime rules, Russia should declare what the ship is carrying when it enters the Mediterranean, U.S. officials said.
The sources could not say how many troops are on board, though it is not believed to be a large number. In addition, the officials said, it is not clear if the troops are only to help secure and transport the weapons and equipment or if they will stay in Syria.
For now, the United States believes Russia's intention is to defend its naval base. But it is not clear how much of a threat the Russians really are facing from Syrian opposition forces. There have been no reports of significant fighting in the area lately.
U.S. officials are worried there could be other plans for the troops and military gear should the Russians offload the ship in Tartus.
The Nikolay Filchenkov is a large landing ship capable of carrying up 1,700 tons and 300 troops, according to Human Rights Watch, which monitors ship activity in relation to Syria.
Russia has already been in a fierce back-and-forth with the United States, after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Russians were shipping attack helicopters to Syria. The Russian government has said the helicopters are not new, but rather were refurbished under an existing contract with Syria.
"As we said before, there are no new combat helicopters supplies to Syria. Our military and technical cooperation with Syria is limited to delivery of defensive arms. As for helicopters, earlier we did a planned maintenance of equipment that had been supplied to Syria many years ago," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on its website Friday.
A former Russian presidential adviser tells CNN that it does not make sense for Moscow to send troops to offload at the port.
Andranik Migranyan, director of the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation in New York, a Kremlin-backed non-governmental organization, said Russia has opposed introducing any outside troops into Syria because, Russian officials argue, it would create more problems in the violence-torn country.
"I don't see any logic in it," Migranyan told CNN, referring to the reports of troops on their way. "If Russia did that it would invite other countries to send forces to Syria."
Filed under: Russia • Syria
Bertie Tradup
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Chong Haydel
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I have asked several questions, and many of the replies suggest that I consider FIREFOX. I'm not sure what it is – probably a browser. Is it similar to Netscape and Internet Explorer? What are its good features and its bad features?.
theazcowboy
What would the Great Satan do if the Russian fleet was about to take out their Bahrain naval base? Fight like hell, right? Then why all this caca about Russians naval base in Syria being threatened by ther United Snakes (US/NATO). huh 'boyze?!!!'
The United Snakes (US/Israel/NATO) have helped murder thousands of Syrian civilians using their Libyan 'Rebel' thugs and murders and then tried to blame the Syrian military for the massacres and deaths. Pretty low down politics. Hillary needs to be captured by Assad and burn at the stake (Joan of Arc, I presume?) for being the heart of the killing in Libya, Syria, and indirectly in Palestine. Trying to make the Middle East safe for Jewish terrorism isn't working and US Imperialism is at a threshhold of running or declaring victory and leaving. Yassar Taliban 'patriots' you got the bankrupt US/NATO baby kilers and oil thieves in retreat in AFghanistan – Burn their tail feathers off!
Arianny
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Marcus Luttrell
Russia is protecting its Naval Base that is located in Syria. It is also hoping that maybe if their ships are docked in the Port of Tartus, it will stop International Forces from taking further part in the conflict. It may not look like it on the U.S. or U.K. News but The Free Syrian Army is made up of Rebel Al Qaeda Terrorists! Why does the U.S. arm them?
Ever notice the the great Satans allies in the Middle Easst consists of low life killers of innocents, interlopers and adventurers that spread racisl hatred . From Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, el al. You see kings that were once merely low life camel drivers that were at the right place at the right time when the US/Britain and France were creating that rubics cube we call the Middle East these dayze? In Israel, you see the interloper Kahzars that migrated from their homeland in the Black Sea Cacasus area in 520 BC and moved north to destroy Czarist Russia and the Romanov's and then onwards to Hungry and Poland where like biblical locusts they raped the people, the land and everything in-between in the name of Judaism and their G-d', the golden Calf that ruled their life then and up until Wall Street 2009-10-11 where 'derivitives' and 'mortgage wraps' scams helped them to rape the American people of pension, investment and discretionaly funds like a thief steals from a baby.
you damn right, I wouldn't trust Putin two inches, he is like a snake, with alot of snake oil in his pocket, he can not be trusted, you do not have a role in the KGP for nothing, he is trained to be a spy, so anything he thinks he can get away with, he will take total advantage of the situation, its in his blood, why do you think he wanted the Presidents position again, he can not be truthful at all to nobody, its the way it is.
Interesting, in a world led by the Great Satan, it's Jewish hemmorhoid Israel and a gaggle of Sunni king despots the Pilgrim here disparages Putin?! Hell, Messer Putun and his Chinese allies represnts what's left of decent governments on the planet, Bubba. You must be thinking Stalin is still running the CCCP, huh? Hey 'Kyle' Putin has already warned the United Snakes (US/Israel/NATO) that an attack on Syria/Iran is an attack on Russia. I would think the bankrupt low life oil thieves and predator hyena pack of the US.NATO would think twice before they die! Jajajaja.
ccsroscoe@gmail.com
The Russian troops are needed to guard its last warm water port and the stockpile of nukes.
desert voice (troubledgoodangel or Nathanael or Bohdan or Voiceinthedesert)
Vladimir Putin ought to be asked to show his 'contract with Syria." Is this a pre-Berlin Wall contract? If so, it is not valid now. Secondly, injecting war helicopters into a civil war would be insanity. The UN must make Putin clear this much! What I would do if Russia furnishes alAssad with helicopters? I would impose a UN mandated no-fly zone for those helicopters!
Organizing and Activism works with the various methods MLK used– if you become active– you will find yourself doing the same kinds of things that are found deep within the MLK story–
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Opens:
(...)http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=i8GcdSdZ5Yg(...)
PBJ
Obama commemorates 1965 civil rights march in Selma, AL
(...)http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=DdYByptC8mY(...)
WATCH THIS CLOSELY ITS 99.8 PERCENT NO BS:
NOTE: I HAVE NOT SEEN ALL OF THIS SINCE IT FIRST AIRED–IT SHOULD ANSWER MANY QUESTIONS PEOPLE HAVE OR MIGHT HAVE STATED FROM ABOVE:
C-SPAN: Barack Obama Speech at 2004 DNC Convention
(...)http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DeWynt87PaJ0&v=eWynt87PaJ0&gl=US(...)
PERSONALY WHEN I SEE OR HEAR ABOUT PLACES OF WORSHIP BEING DAMAGED BY GOONS IT TELLS ME THINGS ARE GOING TO GET WORSE BEFORE THEY GET BETTER AND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY AROUND IT–IT IS HISTORY–
AlexShch
Wow! Over 600 comments about NONEXISTING NEWS. Folks around here, Large landing ship "Nikolay Filchenkov" has not been moved for over 1 years and is not going anywhere. This is completely made up story just to tease you.
I HAVE A DREAM... MARTIN LUTHER KING – August 23 1963
(...)http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=1UV1fs8lAbg(...)
nsnbc
For a comprehensive analysis – including that of disinformation being systematically spread through main stream media, I highly recommend the following article.
East-West Standoff over Syria and Iran: Explosive Diplomacy and Brinkmanship at the Brink of World War III.
The systematic Manufacturing of War, challenging Russia and China in Race for either Global Full Spectrum Dominance or Global Full Spectrum Devastation. A Comprehensive Analysis.
http://nsnbc.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/east-west-standoff-over-syria-and-iran-explosive-diplomacy-and-brinkmanship-at-the-brink-of-world-war-iii/
Selma Alabama Story Civil Rights Newsreel:
(...)http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=ALyk8xOc5ZU(...)
One story of one day in many such marches that were never recorded:
U.S. Representative John Lewis, Selma, Alabama March Story
(...)http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=yr9X_vVsOXs(...)
Everett Wallace
let's do this then pootin pootin pootin.
Lennon your going to have to work harder and faster for a raise this decade
(...)We couldn't bury our martyrs in the cemetery because... it is targeted by Assad's forces(...)
(...)Sunday's dead also included a 17-year-old boy "who was thrown from a fifth floor apartment by security forces after they raided his home in the (Damascus province) town of Daraya," the Observatory said citing activists(...)
(...)Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2 "US Festival" 1983-05-30 Pro Shot(...)
(...)http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=ODsFZmr-JlM(...)
(...)China president urges G20 members to stick together
Posted: Sunday, 17 June 2012 11:55AM(...)
The Communist Leader
This is just the first step. Soon the world will bow down to Communism, and than evantually America.
Allahban
All hail Allah
Uh, I appreciate you've been living in a cave for the past 20 years, but you really need to start reading up on recent history. Start with 1991, and the fall of the Soviet Union.
And what if some crazy "End of Days" terrorist group attacks the Russian ship...We really do not need to start WWIII over Al-Assad..Russia should just assassinate Al-Assad for World Peace...and take his money...
IT IS 1:00 A.M. IN SYRIA:
DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FOES ARE–
Rudolph vs
Hmm... Let us hope Russia is excercising restrain.
ITS ELEVEN OCLOCK IN THE EVENING IN SYRIA DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR FRIENDS ARE–
WE ALL HAVE ISSUES/PROBLEMS BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN GIVING UP THE FIGHT
@ CharlieSeattle
June 17th, 2012 1:24 pm ET--
That does not sound (read) right to me–
although when mitt romney takes the whitehouse in 2013 karl rove will be right back in the drivers seat in america chasing the axis of evil
and it will be the "supreme" courts fault
so you see it will not matter who is in the whitehouse because israel will be back in complete control it is what it is
I don't make the rules but the republican donars do and all ten of them are all mega rich israel americans who only care about their personal bottom line
The Russian troops were sent to protect the nuclear weapons that they and Iran and North Korea have stored there. That is, if they have not been smuggled elsewhere yet.
It is about 7 P.M. in Syria–DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE–
Obama ask Putin for favour in South Korea !
when obama leaned into the arm pit of Russia in South Korea In March & ask Putin for a favour which results in out comes such as this clearly shows the weakness of Obama on so many levels .
Really? If someone can help you, you think it's more macho to go it alone? Maybe Putin can't help. There's a difference between prudence and weakness. How do you propose Obama show himself to be "strong"? Too much of American thinking seems to flow from thinking of our military as our one big hammer, in which every problem in the world is a nail. Not every problem in the world is solvable by the military; in fact, not every problem in the world is solvable. By what arrogance have we decided, god-like, that we can, and therefore should?
In other words, let them go all in. They'll pay a heavy price, and we can watch it from the sidelines.
Russia is clearly taking Assad's side. This is NOT a humanitarian mission. Remember just the other day the military laid out theorize plan "just in case" we need to get involved in Syria? They knew this ship was on its way. This news was never meant to be published I bet you – another leak. And today a bombshell we are in a secret war with Yemen and Somalia? Sad times indeed. War is made without us even knowing. And now, when this ship lands, and when we realize the resupply is being used to amplify the mass killings, and Russian T tanks are roaming the streets, and every dissenters is executed, then what? Then, we got a big choice.... Fight the red bear, or ignore the slaughter. War with Russia, a nuclear war, seems more likely every day.
Why should we go to war with Russia over this? Why would we think they would have better luck in Syria than we did in Iraq? Actually, chances are their luck would be worse, if they are so foolish as to intervene militarily. This has Putin's fingerprints all over it, and it may be his downfall.
Onikami
so the russians want a beachead in the med and middle east. al-assad can be resupplied by russian forces thru that beachhead and russia can clean up when one side wins. What's china's reward for backing the ruskies and al-assad?
azezel
China's reward for standing against the american empire would be oil... If I need to say more then look at the old geography textbooks if you can get a hold of them and notice how the map shapes up. We will be lucky to keep alaska if the dollar goes kaput.
Had a briefing by a China geo-political SME at my base in Elmendorf AFB...the Chinese backing Assad is about them sending a "message" to their substantial Muslim population in western half of their country on how they will be "handled" if they so choose to "rise up". Lose Alaska? Who's going to "take" it?
...lose Alaska? hm, at least Sarah Palin won't be a citzen anymore!
WHO WANTS TO FIGHT FOR THIS:
(...)http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=XJBnHMpHGRY
BBC News – June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre(...)
(...)Drunk Boris Yeltsin was found outside White House in underpants trying to hail cab 'because he wanted some pizza(...)
http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&rl=yes&v=1Rm-Fu8rBms(...)
(...)Dead Kennedys – Holiday In Cambodia (1981)(...)
Why are you americans so stupid? Deaths of your troops in Iraq are not enough for you?
Why are you Chinese trolls such pieces of crap that hide behind other nationalitiies?
Lol my name is Germany therefore I'm a US ally saying bad things about the US.
MORON.
It's funny how America is always scorned and ridiculed for action we take to stabalize the world... yet other nations turn the blind eye and pretend as if the world is a perfect place while innocent people die under the hands of ruthless leadership... Contrary to what many believe the US presence in the middle east stabalizes the entire region... if we were to leave, just pack up and haul butt, then you would truly see caos... but then again maybe that is what we should do, then when the rest of the world cries for our assistance... maybe we should turn our blind eye.... but we won't don't worry Germany, I'll leave my family for 10 months at a time, to ensure world stabalization while you sit behind your keyboard and bash my country... by the way your welcome....
I wish we were that stupid but the reality is bush sr was a tactical genius. A type of scary you don't want to play in chess. The american public understands what is going on better than most think and they have decide to close their eyes and hope the party continues.
Would be fascinating to be a fly on the wall right now at the Russian version of the Pentagon. Because I have to think there are many a Russian general right now going, "Nyet! Nyet! Nyet!" Surely they have some officers who recognize the perils of being sucked into a disastrous conflict, in the Middle East no less. Might some Russian general say, "What if we get sucked into this thing? Look what happened to the Americans in Iraq!" Maybe another Russian would say, "The Russian army is not the American army." And if he did so, he would be repeating the words of another Russian general thirty-odd years ago when the Russians were criticized for sending troops to another Muslim country. That country was Afghanistan, and the resulting Russian disaster was one of the main reasons for the subsequent fall of the Soviet Union. This policy is clearly Putin's. Power has gone to his head; he sees himself now as a new czar of the Third Rome redivivus, the successor to the Byzantine hegemons. Rather than being smart, realizing that Assad's days are numbered, and trying to dissociate himself from a regime that must, sooner or later, dissolve into hunted bands of desperate criminals, he has just doubled down on the disastrous policy of preserving Russia's last strategic holdover from the Cold War in the Middle East, by sheer application of force. This intervention may prove to be his downfall.
Americans keep saying this is not our problem, its makes me laugh its seems Russia and china makes them scared, they r right can can be wiped out with israel by russian, china and of corse cuba and other latin americans.
You guys know syria wont be like irak.
Now i think Turkey should be quite about it, this is not their problem they should wipe that PKK out of the country.
CNNSUCKS
let your country deal with it.. USA isnt going to police the world because other countries cannot take care of themselves..
China.. Bring it.. This isnt 200BC anymore.. Technology over numbers
Russia < piece of crap
Truethier than truth!
Chinese always copy us because they are unoriginal idiots.
I'm Chinese and I hate my country.
nuke emall
Russia is all for money. It could care less how many innocent lives perished in Syria as soon as it kept on raking billions of dollars from Al-Assad from the sell their garbage.
This must be stopped, AT ALL COST!
Large Landing Ship "Nikolay Filchenkov"
Project 1171 / Alligator Class
The Project 1171 Tapir Large Landing Ship (Bol'shoy Desatnyy Korabl' BDK) is a beachable, general-purpose LST-type design with bow and stern ramps for unloading vehicles. Produced in at least four different types beginning in 1966, there are numerous variations in detail between units. Many have been retired, and remaining units may be in reserve, given the Russian Navy's decreased emphasis on amphibious operations.
Large Landing Ship "Nikolay Filchenkov" was built by Yantar Zavod, Kaliningrad. Laid down 30 Jan 1974, completed 29 March 1975, commissioned on 12 Dec 1975.
Builder: Yantar Zavod, Kaliningrad
Displacement: 4,650 tons full load
Speed: 16,5 knots
Range: 10,000 miles at 15 kts
Dimensions: 113.1 x 15.6 x 4.5 meters/371.1 x 51.2 x 14.7 feet
Propulsion: 2 diesels, 9,000 hp, 2 shafts
Crew: 55
Cargo: 300 troops + 1,700 tons including about 20 tanks and various trucks or 40 AFV's
Missiles: 3 SA-N-5 Grail launchers manual aiming
122 mm UMS-73 Grad-M bombardment RL
Guns: 1 dual 57 mm/70 DP
2 dual 25 mm AA
I am a proud American but I think that we should keep our noses out of these things it's none of our business what Russia wants to do Unless it is to pertain to us
agree – Syrian has been and will always be a Soviet – err pardon – Russian vassal state
I'm Chinese and we have no hope for the future 🙁
SSSR > usA :)
this one has a brain! Ты Молодец! Комунисты тебя оставят живым. 😉
yob'tvoyu mat, Communism is the way of the past. It's a broken system
SSSR > usA
Recon, it was joke 😉 Relax dude :))
China is gay, lets side with USSR because China is gay.
I'm Chinese and I admit the USA is best country in the world.
You will never beat the USA, they invented everything you use.
What has Russia and China done in the last 60 years that equals the US. Combine both and compare.
Seems bad
blackhawkmom
We need to stay out of this – we should not be the world policeman or savior.
yuri pelham
We are doing a real good job of staying out. Very smart Prez
that's right! Anyway USA was stopped by Russia and China hahahahah :)) You can nothing. 😉
That's not true. We can pickles, tomatoes and peppers.
tiredofwars
This is not good...even poor Russia is intervening while we stand aside and do absolutely nothing?
Yes, you do -> DEBTS, DEBTS, DEBTS, DEBTS :))))
Russisapiecrap
Perhaps, US is in debt especially to China. Because US spend billions and even trillions of dollars on its support to humanitarian causes and saving innocent lives. On the other hand Russia and China were raking trilions of dollars by selling their trash supporting atrocities.
American Formerexpatriate
I agree. USA needs to stop being big brother and leave RUSSIA THE HELL ALONE! MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! They're so caught up in control and want power -world power. Lame. USA is already established in the lowest demeanor, they should focus on real American problems. We're showing fear by this article. Ha!
+1 dude
Obiously, you're not American, both of you!
Russia is a pain in the ass...
I dont think so dude 🙂 Look this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt
I think you are the one. Get your head out of your A^& and smell fresh air...
Perhaps, US is in debt especially with China. Because US spend billions and even trillions of dollars on its support to humanitarian causes and saving innocent lives. On the other hand Russia and China were raking trilions of dollars by selling their trash supporting atrocities.
Leave a Reply to Badonkadonk!
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Reviews & Essays
Interactive Storytelling & Design
Mobile Media Package
Shannon Cuthrell
Freelance Journalist & Editor
A few reviews and essays I’ve written:
‘The First Bad Man’ By Miranda July Review: Thrilling, Thoughtful And Unexpected — The independent filmmaker, multimedia artist, writer and curly haired icon, has written a fantastic first novel, The First Bad Man, which defied contemporary literary conventions and set the 2015 publishing year on a splendid course.
‘How To Be a Woman’ by Caitlin Moran Beautifully Proclaims a Regaining of Feminism — Caitlin Moran’s How To Be a Woman is a sort of feminist proclamation manifested through wildly hilarious stories from her own life.
HBO’s Girls — A look into the wildly popular television show molded by Lena Dunham.
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg — The book that ignited a movement to demand gender equality in the workplace.
‘Yes Please’ Review: Amy Poehler’s Book Is Both True And Hilarious — Amy Poehler‘s beautifully designed hardcover Yes Please reads like an elderly woman’s scrapbook – an elderly woman who is reminiscing on her life and reveling in her past carelessness and stupidity. The work simultaneously reads like eloquently written poetry.
Blankets by Craig Thompson — The graphic masterpiece standard for a coming-of-age story.
Not that Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham — Thoughts on a well-crafted memoir that was met with great controversy upon publication.
Comedy Central’s Broad City — Prominent female comedian and actress Amy Poehler produced critically acclaimed Broad City, a Comedy Central installment that takes the viewer on an excursion through the frenzied lives of two strange, yet relatable female twenty-something’s in New York City.
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The Woes Of Keith
June 11, 2016 James Schapiro Leave a comment
I spent most of my afternoon attempting to teach a little-league team of 8-to-10 year olds how to chase down a ball in the outfield and hit the cutoff man. After a few hours, there’d been some improvement, albeit a slim amount — now, nearly every time, we were executing the plays without impromptu, hollered advice from the supervising coaches.
Maybe the Brewers should have attended. Or the Mets. Or the umpires. Or anyone — meaning, most everyone — who completely failed to understand how we came away with a second run that still doesn’t feel completely legitimate.
Here’s how it went, to the best of my understanding, which I will say in all honesty is pretty comprehensive, based almost entirely of my obsessive perusal of books like Baseball Brain Teasers as a kid:
Reynolds lines a ball to Jonathan Villar. Villar drops it. Runners are all forced.
Villar tosses to Scooter Gennet; Gennett catches it, comes off the base, steps back on the base. Kelly Johnson, the runner on first, is forced at second. He’s out. No one seems to realize.
Wilmer Flores now has a right to second base, because Gennett stepped on second without tagging Flores first, which if I’m not mistaken would have resulted in a double play, as Flores no longer had a right to the base. But now he does again, because Gennett stepped on second. So he can stay on second. But he doesn’t: he goes on to third. Again, nobody seems to notice.
Meanwhile, Asdrubal Cabrera comes home, and as far as I saw was relatively uncontested.
The Brewers chase Kelly Johnson, who you will remember is already out, back to first, where he is tagged out for the second time, by a Brewers team that — you may have caught on to a pattern here — does not realize. Meanwhile, Flores, who is not yet already out, goes to third completely unencumbered, although I should note that Aaron Hill at third was holding his hands up for the ball, as if he had any more sense of what was happening than anyone else did.
Meanwhile, Matt Reynolds has already crossed first — in fact, he crossed first long before most of the confusion started.
So, in the end, here’s what you’ve got: Fielder’s Choice, 6-4-3, one runner retired (twice!), one other runner advances, one run scores.
Or, to save time, you could just sum it up the way Keith Hernandez did: “Send everyone back to school.”
Perhaps it wouldn’t have been notable — in a game that saw, say, sixteen or twenty runs score. But this game was different. Over eleven innings, three runs scored.
So, this absolute miscarriage of sense and sensibility, not to mention fundies, accounted for a third, and ultimately, the most important third, of the game’s total scoring.
It’s almost karmic: earlier in the game, the Brewers had appeared to score, then, after a terrible slide — “That’s a terrible slide!” Keith had said, his righteous anger at the awful baseball being played in front of him quite evident — had, after two reviews, or maybe a review and a half, lasting a combined six minutes, lost the run, and then had the loss of the run confirmed.
People wonder what problems others have with replay: well, today, I hope, demonstrated those problems amply. Here, as I understand it, is what happened with two outs and a runner on second in the bottom of the third:
Aaron Hill is on second. Jonathan Villar hits a ball that deflects off Matt Harvey, and toward the shortstop hole. Asdrubal Cabrera attempts to barehand it, but misses. Hill rounds third and comes home. Cabrera throws home. Hill is called safe.
Then, Terry Collins comes out. He challenges the call. After a review of the play, culminating in a not-so-spectacular tag by Plawecki and an even more mediocre slide by Hill, the run is erased, and the inning is over on the tag play at the plate.
Now things start to get interesting.
Brewers’ manager Craig Counsell comes out looking for a rule clarification. Specifically, he wants to know whether Plawecki’s block of the plate was challengeable in its legality.
In essense, the Brewers are challenging whether a play can be challenged.
It’s not completely ridiculous: “record keeping” is included under aspects of the game that are challengeable, and record-keeping includes application of the rulebook. But the Brewers aren’t actually challenging: they’re just asking for a clarification, and apparently, the umpires agree to provide one purely out of the goodness of their hearts.
And the weirdest part is, the clarification takes almost three more minutes to come through the headphones. Then, it turns out that the play can be challenged, and the Brewers are offered the opportunity to challenge. And they decline.
Keith summed up these six minutes of inaction aptly: “The managers should know the rules.”
Oh yeah, and mixed in with these seven or so minutes of complete absurdity, there was also another good-almost-great start from Matt Harvey, a towering shot from Cespedes, and three hits from Wilmer.
But honestly, who’s really going to remember those? These moments of ridiculousness so far off the spectrum of sensibility that they make your jaw drop and your eyes flutter — those are the moments we’ll remember. And that we take moments like that, like today, so well, is perhaps the most important reason I’m so glad that I’m a Mets fan.
→ (Don’t) Take It Easy
← Superheroes In Uniform
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The world may seem like a pretty strange place right now, but if nothing else that’s forced us into realizing that being human is a shared experience. That sentiment lies at the core of Earth Is A Black Hole, the second full-length from the Los Angeles rock act Teenage Wrist.
The album also marks the group’s first release as a duo, with guitarist Marshall Gallagher stepping up as frontman, and longtime drummer Anthony Salazar backing him up in spectacular fashion. Gallagher explains. “I wanted to keep this band going and we didn’t know exactly what that would look like, so I wrote two songs and demoed them myself to see if everyone was still on board.” Those songs turned out to be the jangly power ballad “Yellowbelly” and spacey rocker “Wear U Down”—and with that, a new era of Teenage Wrist was born.
The artistic liberation of this lineup change, coupled with the past two years the band spent touring alongside genre-smashing acts such as Thrice, allowed Teenage Wrist to expand on the shoegazing sound that helped establish them as one of the most exciting rock bands around today. From lush, guitar-driven songs like “High Again” to the atmospheric ambience of “Stella” and syncopated aggression of “Earth Is A Black Hole,“—most evidently on the swirling anthem “Silverspoon,“— Earth Is A Black Hole sees the band.
Label: EPITAPH
Visualizers plus on cover videos.
Earth Is A Black Hole
Artist: Teenage Wrist
Vinyl - Crystal Clear LP
1. Squeeze (Intro)
2. Taste Of Gasoline
3. New Emotion
4. Yellowbelly
5. Silverspoon
6. Wear U Down
7. High Again
8. Wasting Time
9. Earth Is A Black Hole
10. Stella
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Neural Vulnerability in Huntington’s Disease Tied to Immune Response to Genetic Material
TOPICS:Cell BiologyDNAGeneticsImmunologyMental HealthMITNeuroscience
By Picower Institute at MIT July 17, 2020
On the right are neurons from a Huntington’s model mouse, showing much more PKR (a marker of immune response to mitochondrial RNA) in green than neurons on the left, which are from a healthy mouse. Credit: Hyeseung Lee/MIT Picower Institute
In the first study to comprehensively track how different types of brain cells respond to the mutation that causes Huntington’s disease (HD), MIT neuroscientists found that a significant cause of death for an especially afflicted kind of neuron may be an immune response to genetic material errantly released by mitochondria, the cellular components that provide cells with energy.
In different cell types at different stages of disease progression, the researchers measured how levels of RNA differed from normal in brain samples from people who died with Huntington’s disease and in mice engineered with various degrees of the genetic mutation. Among several novel observations in both species, one that particularly stood out is that RNA from mitochondria were misplaced within the brain cells, called spiny projection neurons (SPNs), that are ravaged in the disease, contributing to its fatal neurological symptoms. The scientists observed that these stray RNAs, which look different to cells than RNA derived from the cell nucleus, triggered a problematic immune reaction.
“When these RNAs are released from the mitochondria, to the cell they can look just like viral RNAs and this triggers innate immunity and can lead to cell death,” said study senior author Myriam Heiman, Associate Professor in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. “We believe this to be part of the pathway that triggers inflammatory signaling which has been seen in HD before.”
Picower Fellow Hyeseung Lee and former visiting scientist Robert Fenster are co-lead authors of the study published in Neuron.
Mitochondrial mishap
The team’s two different screening methods, “TRAP,” which can be used in mice, and single nucleus RNA sequencing, which can also be used in mice and humans, not only picked up the presence of mitochondrial RNAs most specifically in the SPNs but also showed a deficit in the expression of genes for a process called oxidative phosphorylation that fuel-hungry neurons employ to make energy. The mouse experiments showed that this downregulation of oxidative phosphorylation and increase in mitochondrial RNA release both occurred very early in disease, before most other gene expression differences were manifest.
Moreover, the researchers found increased expression of an immune system protein called PKR, which has been shown to be a sensor of the released mitochondrial RNA. In fact, the team found that PKR was not only elevated in the neurons, but also activated and bound to mitochondrial RNAs.
The new findings appear to converge with other clinical conditions that, like Huntington’s disease, lead to damage in a brain region called the striatum, Heiman said. In a condition called Aicardi-Goutières syndrome, the same brain region can be damaged because of a misregulated innate immune response. In addition, children with thiamine deficiency suffer mitochondrial dysfunction and a prior study has shown that mice with thiamine deficiency show PKR activation, much like Heiman’s team found.
“These non-HD human disorders that are characterized by striatal cell death extend the significance of our findings by linking both the oxidative metabolism deficits and autoinflammatory activation phenomena described here directly to human striatal cell death absent the [Huntington’s mutation] context,” they wrote in Neuron.
Other observations
Though the mitochondrial RNA release discovery was the most striking, the study produced several other potentially valuable findings, Heiman said.
One is that the study produced a sweeping catalog of substantial differences in gene expression, including ones related to important neural functions such as their synapse circuit connections and circadian clock function. Another, based on some of the team’s analysis of their results, is that a master regulator of these alterations to gene transcription in neurons may be the retinoic acid receptor b (or “Rarb”) transcription factor. Heiman said that this could be a clinically useful finding because there are drugs that can activate Rarb.
“If we can inhibit transcriptional misregulation we might be able to alter the outcome of the disease,” Heiman speculated. “It’s an important hypothesis to test.”
Another more basic finding in the study is that many of the gene expression differences the researchers saw in neurons in the human brain samples matched well with the changes they saw in mouse neurons, providing additional assurance that mouse models are indeed useful for studying this disease, Heiman said. The question has dogged the field somewhat because mice typically don’t show as much neuron death as people do.
“What we see is that actually the mouse models recapitulate the gene expression changes that are occurring in these stage HD human neurons very well,” she said. “Interestingly some of the other, non-neuronal, cell types did not show as much conservation between the human disease and mouse models, information that our team believes will be helpful to other investigators in future studies.”
The single nucleus RNA sequencing study was part of a long-standing collaboration with Manolis Kellis’s group in MIT’s Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Together the two labs hope to expand these studies in the near future to further understand Huntington’s disease mechanisms.
Reference: “Cell Type-Specific Transcriptomics Reveals that Mutant Huntingtin Leads to Mitochondrial RNA Release and Neuronal Innate Immune Activation” by Hyeseung Lee, Robert J. Fenster, S. Sebastian Pineda, Whitney S. Gibbs, Shahin Mohammadi, Jose Davila-Velderrain, Francisco J. Garcia, Martine Therrien, Hailey S. Novis, Fan Gao, Hilary Wilkinson, Thomas Vogt, Manolis Kellis, Matthew J. LaVoie and Myriam Heiman, 17 July 2020, Neuron.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.06.021
In addition to Heiman, Lee and Fenster, the paper’s other authors are Fan Gao, Sebastian Pineda, Whitney Gibbs, Shahin Mohammadi, Jose-Davila-Velderrain, Francisco Garcia, Martine Therrien, Hailey Novis, Hilary Wilkinson, Thomas Vogt, Manolis Kellis, and Matthew LaVoie.
The CHDI Foundation, The National Institutes of Health, Broderick Fund for Phytocannabinoid Research at MIT and the JPB Foundation funded the study.
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Synthetic Antioxidant Suppresses Symptoms of Huntington’s Disease in Mice
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Once Thought to Have No Function, “Dark Matter” DNA Is Vital for Rice Reproduction
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Infusion of Young Blood Reverses Age-Related Impairments in Mice
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Searching for Workers in Keywords
Devil's Dyke Fun Fair
Early film footage of fun fair workers and revelers at Devil's Dyke on the South Downs, taken by pioneer James Williamson in around 1896.
The Miller and the Sweep
A miller and chimney sweep collide as moving sails of the windmill behind provide an animated backdrop in this 1897 George Albert Smith production.
[Train Entering Watford Station] or [Railway Traffic on the L.N.W.R.]
Passengers alight a train at a railway station, shot from a fixed position by Charles Goodwin Norton.
Washing the Sweep
A chimney sweep who disturbs two washer women gets his comeuppance in this 1898 film by James Williamson.
The Postman and the Nursemaid
[1899 -1909?]
Two mischievous boys disrupt a postman and a nursemaid in a garden in this comedy by Charles Goodwin Norton.
Stop Thief!
A butcher and a pack of dogs pursue a thief in this film, produced by James Williamson in 1901.
Mary Jane’s Mishap; or, Don’t Fool with the Paraffin
An accident-prone woman meets an explosive end in this 1903 production by George Albert Smith.
Petticoat Lane Market
Sellers and customers at Pettticoat Lane Market are captivated by Cecil Hepworth's camera.
A Day in the Hayfield
Men and children are seen at work and play in a hayfield in this 1904 film by Cecil Hepworth.
Oyster Fishing at Whitstable
Released through Charles Urban's postwar cinemagazine Movie Chats, but made much earlier, this film charts oyster fishing, packing, preparation and feasting in Whistable in around 1905.
A Visit to Peek Frean and Co. Biscuit Works
~A Visit to Peek Frean and Co.'s Biscuit Works~ represents one of the earliest surviving examples of a film documenting British industry. The film records the stages involved in the semi-automated manufacture of biscuits at the Peek Frean and Co. factory (Clements Road) in Bermondsey, South London, from the delivery of raw materials to the distribution of the finished article. Each stage is introduced by an explanatory intertitle.
[Christmas Shopping]; Surrey Women War Workers; The Path of Duty was the Path of Glory
A compilation of three separate films made in or near Godalming, Surrey during the early twentieth century. The first shows shoppers on the busy High Street in Godalming, the second shows women from the newly established Women's Land Army in 1917 demonstrating ploughing skills, and the third shows a memorial commemorating RMS Titanic’s Chief Radio Telegraphist.
[Bognor High Tide]
[ca. 1920s?]
This two film compilation shows a very brief shot of a car driving through a flooded street in Bognor, followed by intertitled scenes showing a woman carding some wool; spinning wool by hand and later using a spinning 'Jenny' wheel before weaving cloth using a loom; end title.
The story of Tansy, a shepherd's granddaughter, who is adored and mistreated by the men in her life, told over nearly an hour of footage and intertitles. Scenes are shot on location, setting action in the rolling hills of the Devon countryside, as well as interior sets. Intertitle styles make visual distinctions between spoken phrases by the characters, shown in bold white type over black, and the writer's voice, which is conveyed by elaborate script over the same still image. Several interjections are made by Hepworth himself, remarking on the narrative as it unfolds.
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Theme Fashion
Films in the Screen Archive South East collection feature every day life, work life, military life, leisure activities, travel abroad and sporting activities across the Twentieth Century. All of these films show the changing history of clothing and dress: for adults and children; those at work and on holiday; uniforms and fancy dress costumes; those in formal wear and in casual attire.
This theme includes a small selection of early films which illustrate various aspects of fashion and dress through the clothing worn by the people on film.
This theme was initially developed for the collaborative project 'Screen Search Fashion' which focussed on research into fashion history in the 1920s and 1930s. Therefore, films from this era form the majority of films selected to be part of the thematic collection.
To find out more about 1920s and 1930s fashion on film in the collection, you can visit the Screen Search Fashion microsite - click on the heading 'Portfolio' above and follow the link to Screen Search Fashion.
Films in this theme:
Showing 1 to 15 of 62 results.
The Young Squire's Wedding at Warnham Court
This black and white film shows the wedding of Charles Eric Lucas ('Joe') and Doris Brander ('Biddy') on the 7th of June 1923. The film also shows some scenes filmed at a later date showing Biddy and Joe with a baby.
[Reigate Borough Carnival]
A compilation of two films showing the Reigate carnival in 1927 and 1926. The films show the procession through the town as well as portraits of individuals in costumes and on floats.
[Garden Fete at Broughton House]
A traditional English garden fete takes place in the grounds of Broughton House near Sevenoaks. This professional film with intertitles focuses much of its attention on the local people who attended the event.
[Stella’s Wedding]
This black and white film features the wedding day activities of Stella Reed, eldest daughter of Austin Reed, outside St Mark's Church on North Audley Street, London. A large number of friends and family attend the service, lining the street outside the church. The shots focus on family members and guests as they enter the shot.
[The Heath Cinema in Haywards Heath]
A short film of men, women and children exiting the 'Heath' cinema in Haywards Heath in the 1920's, having watched the 1928 silent film 'Baby Cyclone', starring Lew Cody.
[Simpsons Wedding in Shanghai Cathedral]
This short film shows a newlywed couple at their garden reception in Shanghai having their wedding photographs taken with the bridesmaids and pageboys. The group are dressed in co-ordinated western style clothing.
An edited home movie showing playful scenes of the Staley family at the beach in their home town of Bognor Regis and in their garden in the late 1920s. The film includes some camera effects using slow and reverse motion.
[Goodwood Hunt]
Film of the Staley family at home and on outings, including attending a hunt meet at Goodwood. The film begins with scenes of the family on the beach at Bognor and on the Esplanade. At the hunt meet servants bring out trays of 'stirrup cups' for the huntsman, and the hunt sets off. Mrs Staley and daughter Pam are also seen with horses at the stables.
A film of the Staley Family enjoying the Summer in the garden and at the beach in their home town of Bognor Regis. Ralph and Nellie, are seen playing with their daughter Pam at the local public gardens, at the beach and at home with the family.
Java Tour; Christmas 1929; Batavia to Soerabaya en Voiture
This amateur film with intertitles charts the motor holiday of a British couple to the Indonesian island of Jawa (Java). Whilst there they film the people, the landscape and excursions with other Europeans.
[Summer Seaside Holiday and Family Scenes]
March - October 1929
This compilation of home movie material with intertitles was filmed by doctors Thomas and Catherine Violet Burne whilst on leave from their medical posts in Malaya. The doctors film their children enjoying leisure time in England, on the beach, in the countryside and in the garden.
[Boat Trip Along the Suez Canal: Port Said to Aden]
Doctors Catherine Violet and Thomas Burne film part of their return trip to Malaya, where they were both stationed. Husband and wife had spent the preceding months with their children in England, as recorded in ~[Summer Seaside Holiday And Family Scenes]~ (March - October 1929).
Bognor Regis Review
1929; [ca. 1930s]
A compilation of local news in and around Bognor Regis. The items have been edited together at a later date; intertitles, some animated, introduce each item.
At Home and Holiday Scenes
This film mixes home movies taken in and around Brighton and Hove, showing Tanner family life and local points of interest, along with landscape holiday footage from Naples and Monte Carlo.
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Farming bills
After Punjab, Rajasthan government introduces three bills to counter Centre’s farm laws
Apart from them, the Ashok Gehlot-led government also introduced the Code of Procedure (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020.
Oct 31, 2020 · 02:58 pm
File photo of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. | PTI
The Rajasthan government on Saturday introduced three bills in the state Assembly to counter the three farm legislation recently enacted by the Centre, reported PTI. Rajasthan is the second state after Punjab to formally reject the controversial laws.
Shanti Dhariwal, a Cabinet minister in the Rajasthan government, introduced the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020, the Essential Commodities (Special Provisions and Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020 and the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation and Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020 on the first day of the state Assembly session. The minister also introduced the Code of Procedure (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020.
The Speaker adjourned the House after passing the obituary remarks on the demise of former President Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders.
Punjab had approved three bills to counter the Centre’s farm laws on October 20. One of the bills provides for imprisonment of not less than three years for the sale or purchase of wheat or paddy below the minimum support price. The bill also makes forcing farmers to sell below MSP punishable.
Another bill cleared by Punjab prevents black-marketing of food grains. Farmers owning up to 2.5 acres have also been given protection against the attachment of their land.
The farm laws
The Parliament had passed three ordinances – Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Ordinance 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Assurance and Farm Service Ordinance 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 – in September. They were signed into laws by President Ram Nath Kovind on September 27.
Protests had erupted against the laws continue to be staged in many parts of the country. When two of the legislations were tabled during a chaotic session in Parliament on September 20, some Opposition MPs claimed that they would prove to be the “death warrant” for the agricultural sector.
Taken together, the three legislations loosen regulations on the sale, pricing and storage of agricultural produce. They allow farmers to sell outside mandis notified by the Agricultural Produce Market Committee. They enable contract farming through deals with private sector companies. They take food items like cereals and pulses off the list of essential commodities, lifting stock limits on such produce.
The government claims the new laws would give farmers the freedom to sell in the open market. But farmers disagree. They say the laws will weaken the minimum support price mechanism under which the government buys agricultural produce, leave farmers to the mercy of market forces and threaten food security.
Most Opposition parties and farmers’ organisations across the country have strongly opposed the bills. The Shiromani Akali Dal, one of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s oldest allies, pulled out of the National Democratic Alliance in protest against these bills.
Farm Laws
Rajasthan government
‘BJP is the real tukde tukde gang’: Sukhbir Badal criticises former ally amid farm law protests
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Permissions & Licensing
JCBJournal of Cell Biology
JEMJournal of Experimental Medicine
JGPJournal of General Physiology
LSALife Science Alliance
JGP
search filter All ContentAll JournalsJournal of General Physiology
Milestones in Physiology
Editors & Staff
Policies & Permissions
Article| November 29 2010
A single lysine in the N-terminal region of store-operated channels is critical for STIM1-mediated gating
Annette Lis,
Annette Lis
Center for Biomedical Research, The Queen’s Medical Center, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Susanna Zierler,
Susanna Zierler
Christine Peinelt,
Christine Peinelt
Andrea Fleig,
Andrea Fleig
Correspondence to Reinhold Penner: rpenner@hawaii.edu
Author and Article Information
Received: June 14 2010
Accepted: November 10 2010
© 2010 Lis et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.rupress.org/terms). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).
J Gen Physiol (2010) 136 (6): 673–686.
https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.201010484
Annette Lis, Susanna Zierler, Christine Peinelt, Andrea Fleig, Reinhold Penner; A single lysine in the N-terminal region of store-operated channels is critical for STIM1-mediated gating. J Gen Physiol 1 December 2010; 136 (6): 673–686. doi: https://doi.org/10.1085/jgp.201010484
Store-operated Ca2+ entry is controlled by the interaction of stromal interaction molecules (STIMs) acting as endoplasmic reticulum ER Ca2+ sensors with calcium release–activated calcium (CRAC) channels (CRACM1/2/3 or Orai1/2/3) in the plasma membrane. Here, we report structural requirements of STIM1-mediated activation of CRACM1 and CRACM3 using truncations, point mutations, and CRACM1/CRACM3 chimeras. In accordance with previous studies, truncating the N-terminal region of CRACM1 or CRACM3 revealed a 20–amino acid stretch close to the plasma membrane important for channel gating. Exchanging the N-terminal region of CRACM3 with that of CRACM1 (CRACM3-N(M1)) results in accelerated kinetics and enhanced current amplitudes. Conversely, transplanting the N-terminal region of CRACM3 into CRACM1 (CRACM1-N(M3)) leads to severely reduced store-operated currents. Highly conserved amino acids (K85 in CRACM1 and K60 in CRACM3) in the N-terminal region close to the first transmembrane domain are crucial for STIM1-dependent gating of CRAC channels. Single-point mutations of this residue (K85E and K60E) eliminate store-operated currents induced by inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and reduce store-independent gating by 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate. However, short fragments of these mutant channels are still able to communicate with the CRAC-activating domain of STIM1. Collectively, these findings identify a single amino acid in the N terminus of CRAC channels as a critical element for store-operated gating of CRAC channels.
Stromal interaction molecules (STIMs) STIM1 and STIM2 in the ER function as luminal Ca2+ sensors that activate the calcium release–activated calcium (CRAC) channels CRACM1/2/3 (Orai1/2/3) in the plasma membrane after store depletion and give rise to the store-operated CRAC current (ICRAC) (Liou et al., 2005; Roos et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2005; Feske et al., 2006; Spassova et al., 2006; Vig et al., 2006b; Lis et al., 2007; Parvez et al., 2008). Only the combined overexpression of sensor and channel proteins reconstitutes amplified CRAC currents (Mercer et al., 2006; Peinelt et al., 2006; Soboloff et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2006; Parvez et al., 2008). All three mammalian CRAC channel homologues (CRACM1, CRACM2, and CRACM3) represent functional store-operated channels, but with distinct characteristics (Lis et al., 2007). STIM1 functions as a Ca2+ sensor in the ER (Liou et al., 2005; Roos et al., 2005; Zhang et al., 2005), and store depletion causes it to redistribute from a diffuse localization throughout the ER into puncta near the plasma membrane, followed by CRAC channel migration to these areas (Luik et al., 2006). The distance between ER-resident STIM1 puncta and the plasma membrane is in the range of 10–25 nm (Wu et al., 2006), enabling a direct interaction as evident from fluorescence energy transfer signals from fused fluorophores (Barr et al., 2008; Muik et al., 2008; Navarro-Borelly et al., 2008) or coimmunoprecipitation (Co-IP) (Vig et al., 2006a; Yeromin et al., 2006; Yuan et al., 2009). It has also been suggested that CRACM1 is part of a larger molecular complex, as CRACM1 requires larger space between the two membranes (11–14 nm) compared with STIM1 (4–6 nm) (Várnai et al., 2007). A recent study shows that STIM1–CRACM1 interaction is sufficient to gate the CRAC channel into the open state in the absence of other proteins of the CRACM1 channel complex (Zhou et al., 2010). For the cytosolic part of STIM1, a direct interaction has been suggested by at least three independent studies that identified a minimal region in STIM1 that is needed for coupling to and activation of CRACM1. When overexpressed, these soluble fragments of STIM1, termed CRAC-activating domain (CAD) (Park et al., 2009), STIM1 Orai-activating region (Yuan et al., 2009), or Orai-activating small fragment (Muik et al., 2009), induce constitutive CRAC currents.
Within CRACM proteins, the C-terminal cytoplasmic coiled-coil region has been reported to play a critical role in the binding of STIM1, and single-point mutations within this region disrupt STIM1 coupling (Muik et al., 2008; Navarro-Borelly et al., 2008; Frischauf et al., 2009). However, the role of the N terminus of CRACM1 in the STIM1/CRACM1 signaling machinery is less clear. Deletion of the entire N-terminal portion of CRACM1 inhibits activation of CRAC, but not co-clustering of the mutant with STIM1 (Li et al., 2007). Furthermore, STIM1 inefficiently activates a CRACM1 variant in which the majority of the N-terminal residues are deleted (Δ1–73) (Li et al., 2007; Yuan et al., 2009), whereas the STIM1 Orai-activating region and CAD domains are both capable of coupling to and activating this deletion variant (Park et al., 2009; Yuan et al., 2009). In addition, the highly conserved region proximately to the first transmembrane domain (74–91) not only plays an important role in the binding of CAD and activating ICRAC (Park et al., 2009) but also in calcium-dependent inactivation via calmodulin (CaM) binding (Mullins et al., 2009). Recently, this region has been implicated to interact with another protein that may be part of the CRACM-STIM coupling machinery, called CRAC regulator 2A (CRACR2A), as this Ca2+-binding protein has been shown to regulate store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) by interacting with both CRACM1 and STIM1, and possibly participating in the assembly and stabilization of the CRACM1–STIM1 interaction (Srikanth et al., 2010).
A significant problem in assessing CRAC channel mutations is that channel opening is the final step of a complex series of events, and any defect in the cascade results in lack of channel opening. In particular, it remains unknown whether any molecular manipulation that disrupts STIM1-mediated CRAC channel activity does so because of the inability of STIM1 to interact with the channel or because the mutation prevents channel gating. The highly conserved region between amino acids 74 and 91 in the N-terminal region of the CRACM proteins is very important for CRAC channel activation and STIM1 binding. Because this region contains positively charged amino acids, we wondered if they might play a role either in the communication between STIM1 and CRACM proteins or in gating of the channel. We assessed this question using site-directed mutagenesis and chimeric constructs of CRACM1 and its homologue CRACM3, and by taking advantage of recent observations that CRACM3 channel function can be probed independently of store depletion and STIM1 signaling (DeHaven et al., 2008; Peinelt et al., 2008; Schindl et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2008). Our results suggest that a single residue near the first transmembrane segment of CRAC channels might be a crucial element for CRAC channel function.
Molecular cloning, mutagenesis, and overexpression
The N-terminal deletion mutants of CRACM1, ΔN35, ΔN49, ΔN66, and ΔN87, and CRACM3, ΔN41 and ΔN62, were prepared by PCR method using appropriate primers. The chimeras CRACM1-N(M3) (M1N3) and CRACM3-N(M1) (M3N1) were obtained by replacing the N-terminal region of CRACM1 (1–87) with the N-terminal region of CRACM3 (1–64) and vice versa by using overlapping primers with introduced restriction sites and PCR method. Junction sites of all chimeras were chosen based on conserved amino acid residues to avoid missing, changed, or additional residues at the junction sites. Full-length human CRACM1 and CRACM3 were subcloned as described previously (Lis et al., 2007). All PCR products were subcloned into HA-pCAGGSM2-IRES-GFP vector for the expression in mammalian cells. CRACM1 (amino acids 48–91) and CRACM3 (amino acids 23–66) constructs were generated by PCR with appropriate primers and cloned into pECFP-C1 vector using XhoI and BamHI restriction sites. All point mutations were introduced using the QuikChange XL site-directed mutagenesis kit (Agilent Technologies), and PCR products and constructs were verified by sequencing. The FLAG-Myc-CAD construct was provided by R. Lewis (Stanford University, Stanford, CA).
For electrophysiological analysis, CRACM proteins were overexpressed in HEK293 cells stably expressing STIM1 (Soboloff et al., 2006) or transiently expressed FLAG-Myc-CAD using lipofectamine 2000 (Invitrogen), and the GFP-expressing cells were selected by fluorescence. Experiments were performed 24–72 h after transfection. Cells cotransfected with FLAG-Myc-CAD (Park et al., 2009) and CRACM constructs were cultured in low calcium media (20 µM) to minimize the toxicity of constitutively active ICRAC.
Patch clamp experiments were performed in the tight-seal whole cell configuration at 21–25°C. High-resolution current recordings were acquired using an EPC-9 amplifier (HEKA). Voltage ramps of 50-ms duration spanning a range of −150 to +150 mV were delivered from a holding potential of 0 mV at a rate of 0.5 Hz over a period of 100–300 s. All voltages were corrected for a liquid junction potential of 10 mV. Currents were filtered at 2.9 kHz and digitized at 100-µs intervals. Capacitive currents were determined and corrected before each voltage ramp. We assessed the low-resolution temporal development of currents by extracting the current amplitude at −80, +80, and +130 mV from individual ramp current records. Where applicable, statistical errors of averaged data are given as means ± SEM, with n determinations. Standard external solutions were as follows (in mM): 120 NaCl, 2 MgCl2, 10 CaCl2, 10 TEA-Cl, 10 HEPES, 10 glucose, pH 7.2 with NaOH, and 300 mOsm. In the CAD experiments, the cells were kept in nominal calcium-free external solution, and the standard external solution containing 10 mM Ca2+ was applied. In some experiments, 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB) was added to the standard external solution at a final concentration of 50 µM. Standard internal solutions were as follows (in mM): 120 Cs-glutamate, 20 Cs · BAPTA, 3 MgCl2, 10 HEPES, 0.02 inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3), pH 7.2 with CsOH, and 300 mOsm. All chemicals were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich.
Immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscopy
HEK293 cells stably expressing STIM1 were transfected with various CRACM1 and CRACM3 constructs (see above). For staining, cells were fixed with ice-cold methanol for 20 min at −20°C. Unspecific binding sites were blocked with 2% BSA in 1× PBS for 1 h at room temperature. Thereafter, cells were stained with an anti-HA antibody (1:600 in blocking solution; rat α-HA; Roche) for 1.5 h at 37°C and a detecting antibody conjugated with Alexa 658 (1:1,200 in PBS; goat α-rat; Invitrogen) for 40 min at 37°C and visualized via confocal microscopy (LSM510; Carl Zeiss, Inc.) using z-stack imaging and a Plan-Apochromat 63×/1.4 oil DIC objective with optical zoom of three. Stacks ranged between 1.5 and 2 µm, and the pinhole was kept constant at 274 µm. For excitation, a HeNe laser (70%) was used at 543-nm wavelength. Emission was collected with a 560-nm long-pass filter, and images were analyzed with LSM Image Browser Software (Carl Zeiss, Inc.). Quantifications of plasma membrane and cytosolic fluorescence levels were performed in individual cells by analyzing fluorescence integrals of a narrow band of the cells’ contour (cortical plasma membrane region, 4–8-pixels wide) and central cell area enclosed by the band. Fluorescence densities per unit area were obtained by dividing the cumulative fluorescence intensities by the respective areas.
Western blotting and Co-IP
HEK293 cells were transiently cotransfected with FLAG-Myc-CAD and CFP-CRACM constructs (as described above). 24 h after transfection, cells were harvested in PBS and lysed in 0.5 ml of lysis buffer (in mM): 150 NaCl, 20 Tris-HCl, 10% glycerol, 1% Triton, and protease inhibitor cocktail (Sigma-Aldrich). The lysates were spun down at 8,000 g for 10 min, and the supernatant was precipitated with anti-FLAG M2 agarose beads (Sigma-Aldrich) for 4 h at 4°C. The total protein amount was determined by Bradford assay, and 50 µg of the lysates was loaded as a control. Beads were washed four times with lysis buffer, and complexes were released with SDS-loading buffer. Lysates and immunoprecipitations were resolved by SDS-PAGE and analyzed using anti-GFP goat polyclonal antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc.) at a dilution of 1:1,000 or an anti-FLAG mouse monoclonal antibody at a dilution of 1:7,500 (Sigma-Aldrich). Anti–mouse IgG (1:12,500; GE Healthcare) and anti–goat IgG (1:80,000) peroxidase conjugate (Sigma-Aldrich) were used as secondary antibodies according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Proteins were detected by using the ECL Plus Western Blotting Detection System (GE Healthcare).
Online supplemental material
Fig. S1 shows small but enhanced 2-APB currents in the overexpression of CRACM1-N(M3) and CRACM1. Fig. S2 illustrates the function of double mutants in CRACM1, CRACM3, and CRACM3-N(M1). Fig. S3 summarizes the analysis of positively charged amino acid residues in the N-terminal region of CRACM1. Fig. S4 indicates that CRACM1-K85E and CRACM3-K60E reduce the store-operated current in co-overexpression with the CRACM-wt proteins but not as efficiently as the SCID mutation CRACM1-R91W. Figs. S1–S4 are available at http://www.jgp.org/cgi/content/full/jgp.201010484/DC1.
N-terminal region truncations
To investigate the role of the N-terminal region of CRACM1 and CRACM3 in STIM1-mediated channel activity, we constructed mutants in which the proximal end of the N-terminal region was sequentially deleted (refer to Materials and methods). Fig. 1 shows average current amplitudes of inward currents in stable STIM1-expressing HEK293 cells transiently overexpressing the various deletion mutants. With increasing N-terminal region truncations up to amino acid residue 50 in CRACM1, the kinetics and current densities of inward currents were essentially identical to those obtained from wild-type (wt) CRACM1 (Fig. 1 A), and the I-V relationships were typical of CRAC currents (Fig. 1 D; currents were extracted at the end of the experiment at 120 s). Even the CRACM1-ΔN66 mutant reached similar maximal currents as wt CRACM1, although the kinetics of activation was slower. However, the complete removal of the cytoplasmic N-terminal region (CRACM1-ΔN87) resulted in the complete loss of CRAC currents, demonstrating that CRACM1 N-terminal region deletions remain functional up to amino acid residue 66 and suggesting that ∼20 amino acids close to the plasma membrane are important for CRAC channel activity. These observations are in line with previous studies (Liao et al., 2007; Takahashi et al., 2007; Muik et al., 2008).
We next analyzed the CRACM3 protein, which is also activated in a store-operated and STIM1-dependent manner but can be activated and probed for channel function by 2-APB, which can gate the channel independently of store depletion, even in the absence of STIM1 overexpression (DeHaven et al., 2008; Peinelt et al., 2008; Schindl et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2008). We generated two truncation mutants, CRACM3-ΔN41 and CRACM3-ΔN62, which are equivalent mutants to CRACM1-ΔN66 and CRACM1-ΔN87, respectively. We assessed the ability of both mutants to be activated via STIM1 by IP3-induced store depletion (Fig. 1 B) as well as pharmacological STIM1-independent gating by 2-APB (Fig. 1 C). Similar to CRACM1, in CRACM3 the partial truncation of the N-terminal region up to amino acid residue 41 did not change IP3-mediated currents compared with wt CRACM3, whereas the full truncation mutant CRACM3-ΔN62 resulted in complete loss of IP3-dependent activation (Fig. 1, B and E). The current arising from the CRACM3-ΔN41 truncation was even slightly larger (−20 vs. −15 pA/pF; Fig. 1 B) compared with wt CRACM3 currents but showed the characteristic ICRAC I-V relationship (Fig. 1 E). Because CRACM3 can be activated independently of STIM1, we tested the truncated mutations for 2-APB–activated CRAC currents (Fig. 1, C and F). The application of 2-APB induced similar current amplitudes in the CRACM3-ΔN41 construct as in the wt CRACM3 (Fig. 1 C) with similar I-V relationships (Fig. 1 F). The CRACM3-ΔN62 construct, however, showed an inward current of about −4 pA/pF at −80 mV and an outward current of about +11 pA/pF at +80 mV (Fig. 1, C and F). The reduced current amplitudes compared with wt channels were likely a result of lower expression levels and fewer channels being incorporated into the plasma membrane, as evident from immunofluorescence staining and confocal analysis (Fig. 2, B and E). Nevertheless, this demonstrates that this mutant can in principle form functional channels that can be activated by 2-APB but remain refractory to store depletion and STIM1-mediated gating.
The above results could be interpreted to mean that the N-terminal 20 amino acids proximal to the plasma membrane are involved in STIM1-mediated gating of CRACM1 and CRACM3, or that they are required for adequate transport, localization, and/or formation of functional channels. To resolve this question, we assessed the subcellular distribution of the full CRACM1 N-terminal region truncation (CRACM1-ΔN87) and found that the protein was at least targeted properly and localized within the plasma membrane (Fig. 2, B and E). Immunofluorescence also showed that although the CRACM3-ΔN41 construct efficiently translocated to the plasma membrane (not depicted), the full truncation mutant (CRACM3-ΔN62) largely remained intracellularly (Fig. 2, B and E). Thus, it appears that STIM1-dependent gating of CRACM1 and CRACM3 requires some 20 amino acids of their N-terminal regions right next to the plasma membrane. In addition, it appears that these 20 residues may be important for proper targeting of CRACM3 to the plasma membrane.
Chimeras
We have previously reported differences in kinetics and amplitude of STIM1-dependent activation of CRACM1 and CRACM3 (Peinelt et al., 2008). CRACM1 currents typically activate more rapidly and to higher amplitudes compared with CRACM3, and we hypothesized that this might reflect differences in CRACM/STIM1 coupling. We addressed this question through chimeric constructs in which we mutually exchanged N- and C-terminal regions of both proteins and where the N-terminal region of CRACM1 (amino acids 1–87) was substituted with that of CRACM3 (amino acids 1–62) and vice versa. Data obtained from these chimeras are shown in Fig. 3. The N-terminal region of CRACM1 conferred a significant increase in current amplitude and acceleration of activation kinetics on CRACM3 channels (Fig. 3 A), whereas the typical I-V relationships of currents remained unchanged. The CRACM3-N(M1) chimera (M3N1) localized in the plasma membrane (Fig. 2, B and E) but was expressed at higher levels than the parent CRACM3 channel, which likely accounts for this chimera’s larger current amplitudes. The accelerated kinetics of activation of this chimera (τ = 26.9 ± 4.3 s) was similar to that of CRACM1 (τ = 24.7 ± 4.4 s) rather than CRACM3 (τ = 66.2 ± 8.3 s), suggesting that the N-terminal region harbors crucial structural elements mediating STIM1-dependent activation of CRACM1 and CRACM3. Conversely, exchanging the N-terminal region of CRACM1 with that of CRACM3 (CRACM1-N(M3), short M1N3) did not reproduce the CRACM3 current behavior, but instead resulted in severely reduced store-operated currents of just −0.8 pA/pF (Fig. 3 A), despite normal expression levels and localization to the plasma membrane (Fig. 2, A and E). This current is ∼20-fold reduced compared with CRACM3-wt and just slightly larger than endogenous CRAC currents observed in control cells stably overexpressing STIM1 (−0.5 pA/pF; see Fig. S1). These currents are unlikely to represent endogenous channels alone because the application of 2-APB to STIM1 cells overexpressing CRACM1-N(M3) produced significantly larger currents than in STIM1 control cells (Fig. S1). Collectively, these data suggest that the N-terminal region of CRACM channels determines the STIM1-mediated kinetics of activation.
CRACM1-K85E and CRACM3-K60E mutants
The 20-residue stretch proximal to the plasma membrane in the cytosolic portion of the N-terminal region of CRACM proteins is crucial for STIM1-dependent gating of CRACM1 (amino acids 67–87) and CRACM3 (amino acids 42–62) channels (Fig. 1). Sequence analysis of that part of the protein identifies it as a conserved region of high homology among CRACM proteins that contains a putative CaM-binding motif. This stretch of amino acids is able to bind CaM in a Ca2+-dependent manner and plays a role in Ca2+-dependent inactivation (Mullins et al., 2009). Therefore, we first created a double-point mutation construct that would disrupt the CaM-binding motif in CRACM1 and the CRACM3-N(M1) chimera to investigate the potential effects on STIM1-mediated channel activation (Fig. S2). This double mutation in CRACM1 (K78E-K85E) failed to activate large IP3- (Fig. S2, A and C) or 2-APB–induced currents (Fig. S2, B and D). This indicates a loss of function effect that not only prevents STIM1-mediated activation but also abolishes STIM1-independent gating of the channel because HEK293 cells transfected with wt CRACM1 still yield small IP3-induced currents that can be enhanced by 2-APB (Fig. S1).
We then proceeded with single-point mutations of these residues and analyzed CRACM1 mutants in which we changed alkaline residue K78 to acidic glutamate residue (E) (Fig. S3) and K85 to glutamine (Q) or alanine (A) (Fig. 4). Mutation K78E in CRACM1 was able to produce sizeable IP3-induced inward currents of −17 pA/pF, similar in magnitude to those of wt channels (Fig. S3, B and C). However, the K85E mutant of CRACM1 essentially abolished IP3-induced currents, producing inward currents of just −0.2 pA/pF (Fig. 4, A and C), although this mutation did localize to the plasma membrane (Fig. 2, C and E). Nevertheless, 2-APB still evoked significant channel activation as evident from the outward currents in Fig. 4 B and the I-V curve in Fig. 4 D. The substitution of the alkaline amino residue (K) by alanine, a not particularly hydrophobic and nonpolar amino acid, yielded similarly small IP3-induced inward currents of around −0.5 pA/pF (Fig. 4, A and C). However, 2-APB enhanced the outward currents to 8 pA/pF (at +130 mV), indicating that this mutation was also present and properly assembled in the plasma membrane and could be gated STIM1-independently. A more conservative mutation of this residue is K85 to glutamine (Q), an amino acid with a polar side chain that differs from glutamate (E) only in that it contains an oxygen in place of the amino group. This point mutation, K85Q, was less efficient in suppressing STIM1-induced CRAC currents, yielding −10 pA/pF or ∼50% of the inward current typically seen with wt CRACM1. This indicates that the K85 residue in CRACM1 is indeed involved in tuning the STIM1-mediated gating process. Interestingly, the K85Q mutant, while yielding reduced IP3-induced inward current, actually produced larger 2-APB–induced currents compared with the CRACM1 wt channel (Fig. 4, B and D).
Therefore, we next asked whether this residue modified channel function above and beyond STIM1-mediated gating and also affected store-independent gating. To assess this, we used the CRACM3-N(M1) chimera, which confers the CRACM1 gating phenotype on CRACM3 (Figs. 3 A and 5 A) and can also be activated STIM1-independently by 2-APB (Fig. 5 B). The double mutation K78E-K85E in the CRACM3-N(M1) chimera produced reduced IP3-induced currents of −0.65 pA/pF (Fig. S2, A and C), which were not significantly different from those recorded in wt HEK293 cells overexpressing STIM1 alone (Fig. S1) (Peinelt et al., 2006). Although 2-APB was able to activate these channels (Fig. S2, B and D), indicating store-independent and direct gating of the channel, the current amplitudes did not reach the levels typically seen with the CRACM3 wt channel (DeHaven et al., 2007; Peinelt et al., 2008; Schindl et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2008). The singular K78E mutation introduced into the CRACM1-based N-terminal region of the chimera behaved normally and produced large IP3-induced inward currents of −32 pA/pF at −80 mV, and these were further activated by 2-APB (Fig. 5, A and B). However, the K85E mutation in this chimera strongly suppressed STIM1-mediated activation of CRAC currents, producing just −1.7 pA/pF of inward current at −80 mV. Although strongly reduced compared with the unmutated chimera, this amount of current was still above the levels of endogenous CRAC currents, suggesting that channels were expressed in the plasma membrane but functionally impaired with respect to STIM1-dependent activation. Store-independent gating by 2-APB was clearly present, although smaller than with the K78E mutant, suggesting that this mutant may additionally have a STIM1-independent functional defect (Fig. 5, B and F).
Finally, we asked whether STIM1-mediated gating of CRACM3 involved a similar structural requirement as that observed for K85 in CRACM1. At first we tested whether the equivalent double-point mutation in CRACM3, CRACM3-R53E-K60E, was able to prevent IP3- and 2-APB–mediated currents like the CRACM1-K78E-K85E did. Indeed, the STIM1-dependent activation was reduced to −0.4 pA/pF (Fig. S2, A and C), and the store-independent gating by 2-APB was also dramatically suppressed (Fig. S2, B and D). The equivalent single-point mutation to K78E (CRACM1), R53E in CRACM3, produced 50% smaller IP3-induced currents (−6 pA/pF; Fig. 5, C and G) than the CRACM3 wt, and these were further activated by 2-APB application (Fig. 5, D and H). Next, we mutated the residue K60 in CRACM3 to glutamic acid (E) and tested for IP3- and 2-APB–induced activation. Just like the equivalent K85E mutant in CRACM1, the CRACM3-K60E mutant failed to produce store-operated currents (current amplitude at −80 mV was −0.4 pA/pF), suggesting that CRACM3 also relies on this residue for STIM1-mediated gating. Interestingly, the 2-APB–induced currents were also strongly reduced compared with the large currents evoked in wt CRACM3 (Fig. 5, D and H). This reduced amplitude, however, may not necessarily have been caused by impaired channel function but likely resulted from less efficient trafficking, as immunofluorescence staining indicated that this mutant is largely retained intracellularly with less prominent plasma membrane staining (Fig. 2, D and E). The substitution with a more conservative mutation of this residue, K60 to glutamine (Q), was less efficient in suppressing CRAC currents, reducing the inward current typically seen with wt CRACM3 by ∼75% to −3.5 pA/pF (Fig. 5, C and G), which indicates that this residue is also involved in tuning the STIM1-mediated gating process. Store-independent activation by 2-APB was also clearly present, although smaller than with the CRACM3 wt, suggesting that this mutant additionally affects the STIM1-independent activation (Fig. 5, D and H).
Because the N-terminal region close to the first transmembrane domain in CRACM1 and CRACM3 contains several basic amino acid residues (Fig. S3 A), we assessed their relevance for STIM1-mediated channel activation. The substitutions of arginine (R) at position 77 and lysine (K) at position 87 to glutamic acid reduce the IP3-induced current to −4 and −8 pA/pF (Fig. S3, B and C) compared with CRACM1. However, the overexpression of other point mutations at positions 69 and 87 in HEK293 cells stably expressing STIM1 resulted in normal current sizes comparable to the wt channel (Fig. S3, B and C). Collectively, these results suggest that the K85 residue in CRACM1 and K60 in CRACM3 are critical amino acids required for functional store-operated and STIM1-dependent activation of CRAC channels.
To assess whether the K85E and K60E mutations can assemble into heteromeric channel complexes and to test for dominant-negative phenotype, we co-overexpressed K85E and K60E with respective wt constructs. Fig. S4 (A–C) illustrates that the co-overexpression of K85E and K60E in equal amounts with the wt homologues reduced IP3-mediated currents by ∼50% to −10.97 pA/pF of the wt CRACM1 current and ∼90% to −0.79 pA/pF of CRACM3. These results suggest that K85E and K60E mutants indeed form heterometric complexes with wt homologues. We also investigated another crucial amino acid within the N terminus of CRACM1, the previously identified R91W mutant that results in a human severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) phenotype (Feske et al., 2006), and cotransfected it with CRACM1 wt protein into HEK-293 cells stably expressing STIM1. As illustrated in Fig. S4 D, CRACM1-R91W prevented the activation of large CRAC currents and produced current amplitudes of just 1–3 pA/pF (Fig. S4 E). This amounts to ∼10% of the normally observed current amplitudes observed with the wt channels in the absence of this mutant and results in a stronger suppression of channel activity than the K85E mutant, which results in ∼50% reduction. These data indicate that the R91W mutant can coassemble with the wt CRACM1 subunit (Fig. S4, D and E), exerting a dominant-negative effect on CRAC current in such heteromeric channels.
CRACM1-K85E and CRACM3-K60E mutants disrupt CRAC current activation by CAD but not by its binding
A minimal cytosolic region of STIM1 has been shown to functionally activate CRAC currents (Muik et al., 2009; Park et al., 2009; Yuan et al., 2009). This highly conserved CAD encompasses a putative coiled-coiled region and part of the ERM domain of STIM1. Park et al. (2009) also demonstrated that CAD binds directly to N and C termini of CRACM1/Orai1 and that the membrane-proximal region of the CRACM1 N terminus (amino acid residues 68–91) is required to activate the CRAC channel. Because the lysine residue we identified in the N terminus of CRACM1 lies exactly in this region (K85E), we asked whether it is required for CAD-mediated gating of CRAC currents. We obtained the FLAG-myc-CAD construct (Park et al., 2009) and confirmed that its coexpression with wt CRACM1 resulted in constitutive activation of CRAC currents (Muik et al., 2009; Park et al., 2009; Yuan et al., 2009) that were revealed when the cells were exposed to 10 mM of extracellular Ca2+, producing a CRAC-like inward current of −43 pA/pF (Fig. 6 A) and an I-V relationship characteristic of ICRAC (Fig. 6 B). Similar to CRACM1, the CRACM3-wt construct was able to produce a small inward current in response to 10 mM Ca2+ (−3.6 pA/pF; Fig. 6 C) with an ICRAC-like I-V relationship (Fig. 6 D). The introduction of point mutant CRACM1-K85E completely abolished CAD-mediated gating of this construct (Fig. 6, A and B), and so did the CRACM3-K60E mutant (Fig. 6, C and D). Thus, altering this particular lysine residue in the N-terminal region of both CRACM1 and CRACM3 channels creates a mutant that can no longer be gated by CAD.
Because the above mutants abolished the CAD-mediated gating of CRAC currents, we asked whether this residue is part of a CAD-binding site at the N terminus of CRAC channels. To address this question, we designed a short CRACM1 wt (CFP-M1-N48-91) construct based on the previously identified membrane-proximal region of the CRACM1 N-terminal domain (amino acids 48–91) (Park et al., 2009). In addition, we designed a corresponding 44–amino acid construct (amino acids 23–66) of the wt CRACM3 protein (CFP-M3-N23-66). To test if the lysine point mutations interfere with CAD binding to CRACM1 and CRACM3, we performed site-directed mutagenesis on these constructs and assessed Co-IP of FLAG-myc-CAD and the various short CRACM1 and CRACM3 constructs, respectively. As demonstrated previously (Park et al., 2009), the short N-terminal CFP-M1-N48-91 construct (amino acid residues 48–91) can directly bind to the CAD construct (Fig. 6 E). We used this short construct to avoid binding to the C-terminal region of the full-length CRACM1 protein. The K85 mutant (CFP-M1-N48-91-K85E) retained the ability to bind to CAD, although possibly a little weaker than the wt construct, as seen in Fig. 6 E. Although we cannot rule out that a slightly weaker binding could be sufficient to disrupt STIM1’s ability to gate CRACM1, the binding activity that remains with K85E would indicate that the lysine residue does not fully account for the interaction of CAD to the N terminus of CRACM1. Because the mutation of the arginine amino acid residue 91, which gives rise to a SCID phenotype in humans (Feske et al., 2006), lies in the same membrane-proximal region that has been shown to be relevant for CRAC channel gating, we also tested whether a CFP-M1-N48-91-R91W construct could bind to CAD. Our Co-IP, using the CAD of STIM1 (Fig. 6 E), confirmed earlier results by Derler et al. (2009) that the arginine residue is not relevant for the binding of STIM1. Finally, we tested for the binding of CAD to the corresponding short CRACM3 constructs (Fig. 6 F). The binding assay of CAD to CFP-M3-N23-66 yielded similar results, as the short CRACM1 wt construct showed a clear Co-IP band. In addition, the K60E mutant (CFP-M3-N23-66-K60E) as well as the CFP-M3-N23-66-R66W mutation (corresponding to the CRACM1-R91W SCID mutant) also exhibited CAD binding (Fig. 6 F). Thus, although these mutations in the short CRACM1 and CRACM3 constructs do not significantly interfere with the binding of CAD, they represent crucial residues for the STIM1-dependent gating of the CRAC channel downstream of STIM1 binding.
Collectively, our results indicate that the opening of CRACM1 and CRACM3 channels is completely abolished when modifying the newly discovered lysine residue in the N terminus (K85E and K60E, respectively). Both short-construct mutants (CFP-M1-N48-91-K85E and CFP-M3-N23-66-K60E) are able to bind to the nominal CAD in STIM1, indicating that the binding of STIM1 might be functional and not impaired. However, the lack of constitutively active CRAC currents in CAD-overexpressing cells indicates a defect in channel gating and/or stable channel assembly despite CAD binding. Additionally, the K60E mutation in CRACM3 (but not the K85E mutation in CRACM1) may also experience impaired channel trafficking to the plasma membrane (Fig. 2, D and E) and may contribute to reduced 2-APB–induced currents.
This study provides an additional and complementary assessment of the structural requirements of store-dependent as well as store-independent activation of CRACM1 and extends it to its close homologue CRACM3. Here, we confirm that the N-terminal region between amino acid residues 67 and 87 is crucial for the activation of CRAC channels via STIM1. Our main novel observations are (a) the same N-terminal region (amino acids 42–62) is also crucial for store-operated activation of CRACM3 channels; (b) chimeric constructs demonstrate that the efficacy of STIM1-mediated gating in terms of kinetics and magnitude depends on the N terminus; (c) point mutations identify a single crucial lysine residue in the N-terminal region of CRAC channels (K85 and K60 in CRACM1 and CRACM3, respectively) that participates in the gating of CRAC channels; (d) the K60E mutation in CRACM3 also shows reduced 2-APB–induced currents; (e) additionally, the K60E mutation in CRACM3 also seems to impair channel trafficking to the plasma membrane and may contribute to the strong suppression of STIM1- and 2-APB–induced currents; and (f) a short stretch of the CRAC N terminus (amino acids 48–91 and 23–66) hosting the lysine residues K85E and K60E, respectively, can still bind to the CAD region of STIM1 in an artificial binding assay, and so does the N terminus of CRAC with SCID mutations R91W and R66W, respectively.
Although the available data indicate a critical role of the C-terminal region in interacting with STIM1, the functional role of the N-terminal region is less clear. Previous studies have demonstrated that the cytoplasmic C-terminal region is required for its interaction with STIM1, and the C-terminal region of STIM1 is able to bind to the C-terminal region of CRACM1 but not to the N terminus (Muik et al., 2008). Also, deletion of the C-terminal region or an L273S mutation in CRACM1 completely suppresses STIM1 binding and activation of ICRAC (Li et al., 2007; Muik et al., 2008). On the other hand, Takahashi et al. (2007) proposed that the N-terminal region plays an essential role in STIM1-mediated SOCE. The chimeric constructs in which we exchanged N termini of both channels with each other support the notion that the N-terminal region of CRACM1 indeed may also be involved in STIM1-mediated gating because it can confer the gating phenotype of CRACM1 onto CRACM3 in terms of current kinetics and magnitude (Fig. 3).
Complete truncation of the N-terminal region up to residue 87 of CRACM1 results in failure of channel opening (Fig. 1). These constructs localize to the plasma membrane (Fig. 2) and can interact with STIM1 (Liao et al., 2007; Muik et al., 2008). Our data further identify a single amino acid, K85 in CRACM1 and K60 in CRACM3, as crucial residues for store-operated current activation. Although these residues are located within a putative CaM-binding domain, it seems unlikely that they mediate their effects by disrupting CaM binding, because structural modeling would require at least a double mutation to do so; the single lysine mutations still retain the highest possible score for a functional CaM-binding motif. In addition, although CaM binds to CRACM1 in a Ca2+-dependent manner (68–91), it is not thought to mediate CRAC channel activation, but rather plays a role in Ca2+-dependent inactivation (Mullins et al., 2009) and may also inhibit STIM2-dependent activation of CRACM1 (Parvez et al., 2008). Finally, it would appear that CRAC channels and STIM proteins are entirely sufficient to produce channel openings in a reconstituted system where CaM is likely absent (Zhou et al., 2010).
The dramatic reduction in store-operated activation of CRAC channels with mutations in the critical N-terminal lysine residue suggests that this residue is involved in conformational changes that lead to channel opening, despite the ability of STIM1 to bind. An alternative or contributing factor might be that these residues are required for the assembly or stability of CRAC channel complexes. Recently, Srikanth et al. (2010) identified a CRAC regulator protein (CRACR2A) that is thought to be essential for the assembly and/or stability of the CRACM-STIM clusters and whose binding sites on CRACM1 and STIM1 partially overlap with those of CaM. They demonstrated that a double mutation on CRACM1, K85A/K87A, completely disrupted CRACR2A binding. Furthermore, a minimal region of the STIM1 protein has been identified that is needed for coupling to and inducing constitutive activity of CRAC channels (Muik et al., 2009; Park et al., 2009; Yuan et al., 2009). C and N termini of CRACM1 are both necessary to activate ICRAC, but the first 73 amino acid residues in CRACM1 protein are not absolutely required for activation (Li et al., 2007; Park et al., 2009). However, the additional deletion of the amino acid residues 73–84 from CRACM1 eliminated CAD binding to the N-terminal region and resulted in suppressed Ca2+ influx induced by CAD (Park et al., 2009). Nevertheless, the reported interaction of CAD with both the C and N termini of CRACM1 (Park et al., 2009) suggests an essential regulatory role in the CRACM1 channel gating. In the present study, the short N-terminal fragments of the K85E mutant in CRACM1 and K60E (CRACM3), respectively, are still able to bind to the minimal binding domain of STIM1 (CAD) (Fig. 6, E and F), but the gating or stable assembly of the channel is impaired. This position K85 has been suggested to be important for the CRACM1 binding to the CRAC regulator (CRACR2A) and thus might destabilize the interaction of CRACM and STIM1 (Srikanth et al., 2010). Therefore, it is possible that STIM1 is still able to bind to the N-terminal region of CRACM1 or CRACM3; however, CRACR2A is not, possibly affecting SOCE. It should be noted, however, that the role of CRACR2A in SOCE requires further investigation because this protein is not required for STIM1 and CRAC channel interaction in reconstituted systems where the protein is likely absent (Zhou et al., 2010). In any event, our observations suggest that a simple binding of STIM1 to the C- and/or N-terminal region of CRACM1 or CRACM3 may not by itself be sufficient to trigger channel gating into the open state. Instead, at least one further conformational step appears to be required to open the channel pore, and the lysine residues within the N terminus identified here might be critical for this step.
Exchanging the positively charged and polar lysine residue for an uncharged and nonpolar amino acid such as alanine (CRACM1-K85A) completely abolished IP3-induced currents and strongly decreased store-independent responses with 2-APB. When switching to the uncharged but polar amino acid residue glutamine (CRACM1-K85Q), the IP3-induced currents could be restored, indicating that glutamine may create a sufficiently polar environment to support STIM1-mediated activation. Interestingly, however, this mutant exhibited enhanced outwardly rectifying currents when exposed to 2-APB compared with CRACM1 wt channels (Peinelt et al., 2008). The reason for this might be a better accessibility of the 2-APB compound to the channel, resulting in altered ion selectivity (Peinelt et al., 2008; Schindl et al., 2008). Alternatively, during 2-APB application, the N terminus may contribute to inward rectification of CRAC currents by impeding outward movement of monovalent cations, with mutations in this region being less effective in doing so and enabling limited outward currents in conjunction with changes in pore selectivity induced by 2-APB. Introducing a negative charge by mutating the lysine residue into the polar but negatively charged amino acid residue glutamic acid (CRACM1-K85E or CRACM3-K60E) again resulted in complete disruption of the IP3-mediated CRAC currents. In this case, the presence of a negative charge strongly impaired the gating function of the CRAC channel and almost completely abolished the store-independent response to 2-APB (Fig. 4). At the same time, position 85 in the N-terminal region close to the first transmembrane domain appeared to be particularly important for channel gating because the equivalent mutations of other positively charged amino acid residues at positions 69, 77, 78, 83, and 87 (Fig. S3) had no such strong inhibitory effect and were still able to elicit IP3-mediated current activation.
N terminus truncations CRACM1-Δ87 and the corresponding CRACM3-Δ62 truncations (resulting in the deletion of crucial lysine residues K85 and K60, respectively) strongly suppress both channels but appear to affect CRACM1 and CRACM3 differentially in terms of trafficking, because CRACM1 localization appears normal, whereas CRACM3 is partly retained in intracellular compartments (Fig. 2). Although the trafficking defect reduces the number of CRACM3 channels in the plasma membrane, those channels remain functional, because 2-APB can gate the channels that do transfer to the plasma membrane. Previous publications dealing with CRACM1/STIM1 binding and regulation have not considered the two distinct gating modes of CRAC channels: a store-operated (STIM1-dependent) and non–store-operated gating by 2-APB (STIM1-independent) (DeHaven et al., 2007; Peinelt et al., 2008; Schindl et al., 2008; Zhang et al., 2008). The results in the present study now demonstrate that the CRACM3 N-terminal region is essential for store-operated STIM1-dependent gating but not essential for non–store-operated gating of CRACM3 channels by 2-APB. This is not entirely surprising, because the STIM1-dependent gating requires binding of STIM1 to the C-terminal region and subsequent conformational changes of the N-terminal region. In general, we found that CRACM3 trafficking may rely more heavily on the structural integrity of its N terminus because truncating or mutating this segment results in improper targeting to the plasma membrane (see Fig. 2).
Detailed analysis of the current densities supports the notion of a strong inhibitory effect of the CRACM3 point mutation, suggesting that a single K60E subunit is enough to strongly block the channel function. Assuming equal expression levels and unbiased assembly into tetramers, there are 16 possible assemblies. Under these conditions, homomeric wt CRACM3 assemblies remaining fully functional would then be able to generate 6.25% of wt current (or −0.79 pA/pF of −12.75 pA/pF in controls). Experimentally, the amount of current we observe is −1.37 pA/pF, suggesting that the insertion of a single mutant subunit into a tetrameric channel appears to be sufficient to reduce channel function almost completely. In the case of the CRACM1 mutant K85E, we see a 50% inhibition of current compared with wt (or −10.97 pA/pF of −23.4 pA/pF in controls), and this would indicate that at least two subunits are necessary to account for the inhibitory effect we observe.
Because a mutation in the K85/K60 residue disrupts store-operated calcium influx, we would assume that in humans the K85E mutation might yield a similar SCID phenotype as demonstrated for the R91W mutation. However, there are differences in the behavior of these residues because the mutation of a positive amino acid residue to a negatively charged residue K85E mutant completely disrupts STIM1-dependent current activation (−0.2 pA/pF), whereas the corresponding R91E mutation does not affect CRAC current activation (−6–8 pA/pF; Derler et al., 2009). The mutation to a neutral amino acid, K85A, also resulted in a nonfunctional channel (−0.37 pA/pF), whereas the corresponding R91G does not disrupt current activation (−6–8 pA/pF; Derler et al., 2009). Thus, on a molecular basis, the two residues are clearly distinct from each other.
Similar to the CRACM3-R66W (SCID), the CRACM3-K60E mutation disrupts STIM1-dependent current activation, but unlike R66W, it still can be activated in a store-independent manner by 2-APB to a certain amount. With respect to the CRACM1-R91W mutation, our results confirm that overexpression of this mutant alone results in almost complete suppression of CRAC currents below control levels and therefore may act as a dominant-negative subunit for endogenous channels (Fig. S4, A and B). The co-overexpression experiments further demonstrate that the CRACM1-R91W mutant can suppress CRACM1 channel subunits, presumably because they can form heteromultimers (Lis et al., 2007). These data (Fig. S4) are at odds with a recent report that showed relatively normal CRACM1 current amplitudes when coexpressing the mutant and wt channels, with just a slower kinetics after passive store depletion (Muik et al., 2008). A possible explanation for this discrepancy might be differences in the efficacy of mutant subunit expression in the two studies. Analysis of the amount of reduction suggests that a single R91W subunit is enough to essentially block channel function. Assuming equal expression levels and unbiased assembly into tetramers, there are 16 possible assemblies. Under these conditions, homomeric wt CRACM1 assemblies remaining fully functional would then be able to generate 6.25% of the wt current, namely 1.75 pA/pF of 28 pA/pF in controls, which is almost exactly the amount of current we observed: 1.76 pA/pF. Based on the above considerations and with the caveat of necessary assumptions in the calculations, we propose that incorporation of just one R91W subunit into the CRAC channel complex may be sufficient to essentially block its current flow. Hence, the effect of this mutant could result from a dominant-negative effect if it formed heteromeric channels with endogenous channel subunits, which has been demonstrated to be the case for wt CRACM proteins (Vig et al., 2006a; Lis et al., 2007).
So far, four single amino acids in CRACM1 have been identified as crucial for channel function, and point mutations in these residues result in complete loss of function. (1) E106Q is a pore mutant that disrupts ion conduction and acts as a dominant-negative subunit (Prakriya and Lewis, 2006; Vig et al., 2006a; Yeromin et al., 2006). (2) R91W is a mutation that disrupts SOCE in T cells and underlies the SCID pathology in human patients (Feske et al., 2006). The protein expresses in the plasma membrane, but it cannot support ion currents. The increased hydrophobicity at the interface of the N terminus–membrane has been claimed as the main cause for the nonfunctional channel (Derler et al., 2009). (3) L273S (Muik et al., 2008) and (4) L276D (Navarro-Borelly et al., 2008) are C-terminal–region mutants that have been proposed to be crucial for STIM1-dependent activation of CRACM1 because they localize to the plasma membrane but fail to interact with STIM1. The new K85 residue does not appear to be a part of the selectivity filter because the K85Q mutation develops IP3-induced currents with the distinctive I-V relationship of ICRAC (Fig. 4 C), whereas the K85E mutant appears to be a loss-of-function mutation. Because the same mutation in the chimera (CRACM3-N(M1)-K85E) remains unavailable for STIM1-dependent gating but can still be activated in a store-independent manner with 2-APB (Fig. 5, B and F), we propose that this residue is essential for the gating and/or stable assembly of CRAC channels.
CRAC channel opening is the final step of a complex series of events (Muik et al., 2009; Park et al., 2009; Yuan et al., 2009), and any defect in the cascade results in lack of channel opening. The initial step in STIM1/CRAC communication seems to be preserved, as judged from the Co-IP experiments that suggest intact binding properties of mutants that render CRAC channels silent. Nevertheless, these experiments might not represent the actual mechanism of interaction of full-length CRACM and STIM1 proteins because only the minimal fractions are used for our binding studies. However, the lack of channel opening supports the concept of the K85 and K60 residues in CRACM1 and CRACM3, respectively, as critical for the gating of the channel. Finally, our results support the hypothesis that the opening of CRAC channels may entail a sequential process that involves the binding of STIM1 to the coiled-coil region within the C-terminal region, which then causes a bridging toward the N-terminal region, resulting in a conformational change in CRAC channels to accomplish channel gating (Park et al., 2009). In light of recent work that proposes a tetrameric assembly of CRAC channel subunits interacting with dimeric STIM1 (Li et al., 2008; Mignen et al., 2008), and the direct binding of CAD to N and C termini of CRACM1 (Park et al., 2009), we further propose that the basic amino acid lysine (K) at the position 85 in CRACM1 (and K60 in CRACM3) is indispensable for the conformational changes to drive the opening of the CRAC channels and Ca2+ entry.
We thank L. Addington, L. Tsue, S. Johne, and M. K. Monteilh-Zoller for excellent technical support. The authors thank R. Lewis for the FLAG-Myc-CAD construct.
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants R01-AI050200, R01-GM080555 (to R. Penner), and 5G12 RR003061-22 (UH imaging core); Queen Emma Research Fund (to A. Lis); the German Research Foundation (DFG) grants Li 1750/1-1 (to A. Lis) and PE 1478/5-1 CP; and Austrian Science Fund (FWF) grant J2784 (to S. Zierler).
Angus C. Nairn served as editor.
Gwack
Balagopalan
Helman
Oh-Hora
Samelson
Dynamic movement of the calcium sensor STIM1 and the calcium channel Orai1 in activated T-cells: puncta and distal caps
Mol. Biol. Cell.
https://doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E08-02-0146
DeHaven
W.I.
Calcium inhibition and calcium potentiation of Orai1, Orai2, and Orai3 calcium release-activated calcium channels
Complex actions of 2-aminoethyldiphenyl borate on store-operated calcium entry
Derler
Muik
Bergsmann
Schindl
Frischauf
Eshaghi
Increased hydrophobicity at the N terminus/membrane interface impairs gating of the severe combined immunodeficiency-related ORAI1 mutant
Feske
Prakriya
Puppel
Tanasa
A mutation in Orai1 causes immune deficiency by abrogating CRAC channel function
Groschner
Molecular determinants of the coupling between STIM1 and Orai channels: differential activation of Orai1-3 channels by a STIM1 coiled-coil mutant
Sukumar
Milligan
Z.Y.
Munsch
Jiang
Interactions, functions, and independence of plasma membrane STIM1 and TRPC1 in vascular smooth muscle cells
Circ. Res.
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Xie
Mapping the interacting domains of STIM1 and Orai1 in Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ channel activation
Abramowitz
Birnbaumer
Orai proteins interact with TRPC channels and confer responsiveness to store depletion
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.
Liou
Ferrell
STIM is a Ca2+ sensor essential for Ca2+-store-depletion-triggered Ca2+ influx
Peinelt
Monteilh-Zoller
Fleig
CRACM1, CRACM2, and CRACM3 are store-operated Ca2+ channels with distinct functional properties
The elementary unit of store-operated Ca2+ entry: local activation of CRAC channels by STIM1 at ER-plasma membrane junctions
Large store-operated calcium selective currents due to co-expression of Orai1 or Orai2 with the intracellular calcium sensor, Stim1
Mignen
Shuttleworth
Orai1 subunit stoichiometry of the mammalian CRAC channel pore
J. Physiol.
https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2007.147249
Hesch
Polzinger
Dynamic coupling of the putative coiled-coil domain of ORAI1 with STIM1 mediates ORAI1 channel activation
A cytosolic homomerization and a modulatory domain within STIM1 C terminus determine coupling to ORAI1 channels
https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.C800229200
F.M.
Dolmetsch
STIM1 and calmodulin interact with Orai1 to induce Ca2+-dependent inactivation of CRAC channels
Navarro-Borelly
Somasundaram
STIM1-Orai1 interactions and Orai1 conformational changes revealed by live-cell FRET microscopy
P.J.
Bachhawat
Raunser
STIM1 clusters and activates CRAC channels via direct binding of a cytosolic domain to Orai1
Soboloff
STIM2 protein mediates distinct store-dependent and store-independent modes of CRAC channel activation
https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.07-9449com
Koomoa
Koblan-Huberson
Kinet
Amplification of CRAC current by STIM1 and CRACM1 (Orai1)
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb1435
2-Aminoethoxydiphenyl borate directly facilitates and indirectly inhibits STIM1-dependent gating of CRAC channels
Regulation of CRAC channel activity by recruitment of silent channels to a high open-probability gating mode
J. Gen. Physiol.
DiGregorio
Yeromin
Ohlsen
Lioudyno
Safrina
Cahalan
STIM1, an essential and conserved component of store-operated Ca2+ channel function
2-Aminoethoxydiphenyl borate alters selectivity of Orai3 channels by increasing their pore size
Spassova
Hewavitharana
Orai1 and STIM reconstitute store-operated calcium channel function
STIM1 has a plasma membrane role in the activation of store-operated Ca(2+) channels
Whitelegge
A novel EF-hand protein, CRACR2A, is a cytosolic Ca2+ sensor that stabilizes CRAC channels in T cells
Watanabe
Ohba
Munehisa
Nobori
Iijima
Essential role of the N-terminus of murine Orai1 in store-operated Ca2+ entry
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2007.02.107
Várnai
Tóth
Hunyady
Visualization and manipulation of plasma membrane-endoplasmic reticulum contact sites indicates the presence of additional molecular components within the STIM1-Orai1 Complex
CRACM1 multimers form the ion-selective pore of the CRAC channel
Rabah
CRACM1 is a plasma membrane protein essential for store-operated Ca2+ entry
Ca2+ store depletion causes STIM1 to accumulate in ER regions closely associated with the plasma membrane
Molecular identification of the CRAC channel by altered ion selectivity in a mutant of Orai
Zeng
Dorwart
Choi
Y.J.
Muallem
SOAR and the polybasic STIM1 domains gate and regulate Orai channels
Deerinck
Ellisman
Stauderman
STIM1 is a Ca2+ sensor that activates CRAC channels and migrates from the Ca2+ store to the plasma membrane
X.H.
Genome-wide RNAi screen of Ca(2+) influx identifies genes that regulate Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) channel activity
Store-dependent and -independent modes regulating Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ channel activity of human Orai1 and Orai3
Meraner
Machnes
Stura
STIM1 gates the store-operated calcium channel ORAI1 in vitro
https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.1724
Abbreviations used in this paper:
2-APB
2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate
calcium release–activated calcium–activating domain
Co-IP
coimmunoprecipitation
calcium release–activated calcium
CRACR2A
CRAC regulator 2A
inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate
severe combined immunodeficiency
SOCE
store-operated Ca2+ entry
stromal interaction molecule
wild type
A. Lis and S. Zierler contributed equally to this paper.
C. Peinelt’s present address is Dept. of Biophysics, Medical Faculty, Saarland University, D-66421 Homburg, Germany.
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Effects of N-terminal region truncations in CRACM1 and CRACM3. Average CRAC current densities at −80 mV induced by 20 µM IP3 in stable STIM1-expressing HEK293 cells transiently overexpressing truncation mutants. (A) CRACM1-wt (black; n = 45), CRACM1-ΔN35 (green; n = 6), CRACM1-ΔN49 (orange; n = 5), CRACM1-ΔN66 (red; n = 5), and CRACM1-ΔN87 (blue; n = 6). (B) Magnified plot of the initial 120-s data from C. (C) CRACM3-wt (black; n = 9), CRACM3-ΔN41 (red; n = 7), and CRACM3-ΔN62 (blue; n = 5). Bars indicate external application of 50 µM 2-APB. (D–F) Average I-V relationships of CRAC currents extracted from representative HEK293 cells shown in A–C obtained at 120 s (D and E) and 180 s (F). Data represent leak-subtracted current densities (pA/pF) evoked by 50-ms voltage ramps from −150 to +150 mV. Error bars indicate SEM.
Subcellular localization of CRAC channel variants. Stable STIM1-expressing HEK293 cells were transfected with pCAGGSM2 vectors of various constructs. Cells were stained with an anti-HA antibody and a detecting antibody conjugated with Alexa 658 and visualized via confocal microscopy (LSM510; Carl Zeiss, Inc.). Bars, 10 µm. Images show representative examples of at least 10 individual cells for each construct. (A) CRACM1-wt construct (left) and chimera of CRACM1 with the CRACM3 N-terminal region (right). Both proteins, including the chimera, are expressed in the plasma membrane. (B) CRACM3-wt construct (left) and chimera of CRACM3 with the CRACM1 N-terminal region (right). Both proteins are expressed in the plasma membrane, although the expression of the latter appears to be less. (C) CRACM1-ΔN87 (left) and CRACM1-K85E (right). Both constructs are inserted into the plasma membrane. (D) CRACM3-ΔN62 (left) has reduced plasma membrane expression, and the CRACM3-K60E construct (right) shows expression in the plasma membrane. (E) Fluorescence densities obtained from confocal images, as shown in A–C. Values represent the average fluorescent intensities normalized to the unit area of the cortical and intracellular regions of 8–15 cells each.
Function of N terminus chimeras of CRACM1 and CRACM3. (A) Average CRAC current densities at −80 mV induced by 20 µM IP3 in stable STIM1-expressing HEK293 cells transiently overexpressing CRACM1-wt (black; n = 43), CRACM3-wt (red; n = 70), CRACM1-N(M3) (green; n = 5), and CRACM3-N(M1) (blue; n = 5). Error bars indicate SEM. (B) Average I-V relationships of CRAC currents extracted from representative HEK293 cells shown in A and obtained at 120 s. Data represent leak-subtracted current densities (pA/pF) evoked by 50-ms voltage ramps from −150 to +150 mV.
Functional role of CRACM1-K85 mutation. Average CRAC current densities at −80 and +130 mV induced by 20 µM IP3 in stable STIM1-expressing HEK293 cells transiently overexpressing point mutations. Black bars indicate the application of an external solution containing 50 µM 2-APB. Error bars indicate SEM. (A) Magnified plot of the initial 120-s data from B. (B) CRACM1-K85E (red; n = 6), CRACM1-K85Q (blue; n = 11), CRACM1-K85A (green; n = 10), and CRACM1-wt (black; n = 4: from a total of n = 12, four cells with the smallest current densities [induced by IP3] were averaged to approximate the lower current density of CRACM1-K85Q). (C and D) Average I-V relationships of CRAC currents extracted from representative HEK293 cells shown in A and B and obtained at 120 s (C) and 180 s (D), when current was fully activated by 2-APB. Data represent leak-subtracted current densities (pA/pF) evoked by 50-ms voltage ramps from −150 to +150 mV.
Functional role of N-terminal amino acid mutation in CRACM3-N(M1) chimera and CRACM3. Average CRAC current densities at −80 and +130 mV induced by 20 µM IP3 in stable STIM1-expressing HEK293 cells transiently overexpressing point mutation or chimera. Black bars indicate the application of an external solution containing 50 µM 2-APB. Error bars indicate SEM. (A and C) Magnified plot of the initial 120-s data from B and D. (B) CRACM3-N(M1) (black; n = 6), CRACM3-N(M1)-K78E (blue; n = 6), and CRACM3-N(M1)-K85E (red; n = 6). (D) CRACM3-R52E (green; n = 8), CRACM3-R53E (blue; n = 8), CRACM3-K60E (red; n = 7), and CRACM3-K60Q (orange; n = 9). (E–H) Average I-V relationships of CRAC currents extracted from representative HEK293 cells shown in A–D and obtained at 120 s (E and G) and at 180 s (F and H), when current was activated by 2-APB. Data represent leak-subtracted current densities (pA/pF) evoked by 50-ms voltage ramps from −150 to +150 mV.
Lysine residue point mutations of short CRACM1 and CRACM3 N-terminal constructs bind to the CAD of STIM1 but suppress current activation. (A) HEK293 cells were transfected with the FLAG-myc-CAD and CRACM1 or CRACM1-K85E construct, respectively (refer to Materials and methods). Normalized current densities of CAD-mediated CRAC currents at −80 mV are plotted against time of the experiment. Cells were kept in nominal Ca2+-free solution, and the bar indicates the application of external solution containing 10 mM Ca2+. In control experiments, the application of Ca2+ produced an inward current, characteristic of ICRAC (black; n = 7). The K85E mutation completely abolished current activation upon Ca2+ application (red; n = 9). Data represent the average leak-subtracted current densities (pA/pF) evoked by 50-ms voltage ramps from −150 to +150 mV. Error bars indicate SEM. (B and D) Average I-V relationships of CRAC currents extracted at 120 s from representative cells shown in A and C. (C) Cells were transfected with FLAG-myc-CAD and CRACM3 or CRACM3-K60E constructs, respectively, and the average normalized current densities at −80 mV are plotted against time of the experiment. Similar to CRACM1, CRACM3 gave rise to ICRAC when 10 mM Ca2+ was applied (black; n = 5), indicated by the bar. Likewise, the K60E mutation in CRACM3 completely abolished current activation (red; n = 5). Error bars indicate SEM. (E and F) Representative Co-IP analysis of HEK-293 cells transfected with FLAG-myc-CAD construct and various short N-terminal constructs of CRACM1 (E) or CRACM3 (F), respectively. Immunoblotting of the corresponding lysates is shown in the left row. Lines represent control experiments of cells transfected with the CAD construct only (∼14 kD), no transfected HEK293 cells, and the short N-terminal construct of CRACM1 or CRACM3 (∼32 kD) alone or cotransfected with the CAD construct. Blots in the upper lane were immunoblotted with anti-GFP antibody, and those in the lower lane were immunoblotted with anti-FLAG antibody. The upper right lane shows the actual Co-IP, using agarose beads coated with FLAG antibody. For both CRACM1 and CRACM3, all three N-terminal constructs bound to CAD. The lower right lane represents the immunoprecipitated fraction immunoblotted with anti-FLAG. The arrow indicates the band representing the light chain of the FLAG antibody.
Orai3 TM3 point mutation G158C alters kinetics of 2-APB–induced gating by disulfide bridge formation with TM2 C101
J Gen Physiol (September,2013)
State-dependent block of Orai3 TM1 and TM3 cysteine mutants: Insights into 2-APB activation
J Gen Physiol (April,2014)
Mitochondrial proteome design: From molecular identity to pathophysiological regulation
J Gen Physiol (May,2012)
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Glycerol-3- phosphate dehydrogenase [NAD(+)], cytoplasmic Glycerol-3- phosphate acyltransferase 1-Acyl-sn- glycerol-3- phosphate acyltransferase Phosphatidate phosphatase Diacylglycerol O- acyltransferase Dihydroxyacetone phosphate NADH H+ NAD Glycerol 3-phosphate γ-Linolenoyl- CoA CoA LPA(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/0:0) LPA(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/0:0) Arachidonyl-CoA CoA PA(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)) H2O DG(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)/0:0) Pi Osbondoyl-CoA TG(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)/22:5(4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z)) CoA Glycolysis Mitochondria Outer Membrane Endoplasmic Reticulum Membrane Cytosol
Mitochondria Endoplasmic Reticulum GPD1 GPAM AGPAT1 LPIN1 DGAT1 Dihydroxyacetone phosphate NADH Hydrogen Ion NAD Glycerol 3-phosphate γ-Linolenoyl- CoA Coenzyme A LPA(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/0:0) LPA(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/0:0) Arachidonyl-CoA Coenzyme A PA(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)) Water DG(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)/0:0) Phosphate Osbondoyl-CoA TG(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)/22:5(4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z)) Coenzyme A Glycolysis
GPD1 GPAM AGPAT1 LPIN1 DGAT1 Dhapp NADH H+ NAD Glyc1P Gla-CoA CoA LPA(18: LPA(18: AracCoA CoA PA38:7 H2O DG38:7 Pi OC TG60:12 CoA PW000146 Mitochondria Outer Membrane Endoplasmic Reticulum Membrane Cytosol
Mitochondria Endoplasmic Reticulum GPD1 GPAM AGPAT1 LPIN1 DGAT1 Dhapp NADH H+ NAD Glyc1P Gla-CoA CoA LPA(18: LPA(18: AracCoA CoA PA38:7 H2O DG38:7 Pi OC TG60:12 CoA PW000146
Pathway Description
De Novo Triacylglycerol Biosynthesis TG(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)/22:5(4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z))
Metabolic Pathway
A triglyceride (TG, triacylglycerol, TAG, or triacylglyceride) is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. Triglycerides are the main constituents of body fat in humans and other animals, as well as vegetable fat. They are also present in the blood to enable the bidirectional transference of adipose fat and blood glucose from the liver, and are a major component of human skin oils. (Wikipedia) De novo biosynthesis of triglycerides is also known as the phosphatidic acid pathway, and it is mainly associated with the liver and adipose tissue. All membrane-localized enzymes are coloured dark green in the image. First, dihydroxyacetone phosphate (or glycerone phosphate) from glycolysis is used by the cytosolic enzyme glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [NAD(+)] to synthesize sn-glycerol 3-phosphate. Second, the mitochondrial outer membrane enzyme glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase esterifies an acyl-group to the sn-1 position of sn-glycerol 3-phosphate to form 1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate (lysophosphatidic acid or LPA). The next three steps are localized to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. The enzyme 1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase converts LPA into phosphatidic acid (1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol 3-phosphate) by esterifying an acyl-group to the sn-2 position of the glycerol backbone. Next, magnesium-dependent phosphatidate phosphatase catalyzes the conversion of phosphatidic acid into diacylglycerol. Last, the enzyme diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase synthesizes triacylglycerol from diacylglycerol and a fatty acyl-CoA.
De Novo Triacylglycerol Biosynthesis TG(18:3(6Z,9Z,12Z)/20:4(5Z,8Z,11Z,14Z)/22:5(4Z,7Z,10Z,13Z,16Z)) References
Chen YQ, Kuo MS, Li S, Bui HH, Peake DA, Sanders PE, Thibodeaux SJ, Chu S, Qian YW, Zhao Y, Bredt DS, Moller DE, Konrad RJ, Beigneux AP, Young SG, Cao G: AGPAT6 is a novel microsomal glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase. J Biol Chem. 2008 Apr 11;283(15):10048-57. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M708151200. Epub 2008 Jan 31.
Agarwal AK, Sukumaran S, Cortes VA, Tunison K, Mizrachi D, Sankella S, Gerard RD, Horton JD, Garg A: Human 1-acylglycerol-3-phosphate O-acyltransferase isoforms 1 and 2: biochemical characterization and inability to rescue hepatic steatosis in Agpat2(-/-) gene lipodystrophic mice. J Biol Chem. 2011 Oct 28;286(43):37676-91. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M111.250449. Epub 2011 Aug 27.
Orland MD, Anwar K, Cromley D, Chu CH, Chen L, Billheimer JT, Hussain MM, Cheng D: Acyl coenzyme A dependent retinol esterification by acyl coenzyme A: diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2005 Oct 15;1737(1):76-82. doi: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2005.09.003. Epub 2005 Sep 20.
Lehner R, Kuksis A: Biosynthesis of triacylglycerols. Prog Lipid Res. 1996;35(2):169-201.
Pubmed: 8944226
Joshi M, Eagan J, Desai NK, Newton SA, Towne MC, Marinakis NS, Esteves KM, De Ferranti S, Bennett MJ, McIntyre A, Beggs AH, Berry GT, Agrawal PB: A compound heterozygous mutation in GPD1 causes hepatomegaly, steatohepatitis, and hypertriglyceridemia. Eur J Hum Genet. 2014 Oct;22(10):1229-32. doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2014.8. Epub 2014 Feb 19.
Menaya J, Gonzalez-Manchon C, Parrilla R, Ayuso MS: Molecular cloning, sequencing and expression of a cDNA encoding a human liver NAD-dependent alpha-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1995 May 17;1262(1):91-4. doi: 10.1016/0167-4781(95)00069-s.
Ota T, Suzuki Y, Nishikawa T, Otsuki T, Sugiyama T, Irie R, Wakamatsu A, Hayashi K, Sato H, Nagai K, Kimura K, Makita H, Sekine M, Obayashi M, Nishi T, Shibahara T, Tanaka T, Ishii S, Yamamoto J, Saito K, Kawai Y, Isono Y, Nakamura Y, Nagahari K, Murakami K, Yasuda T, Iwayanagi T, Wagatsuma M, Shiratori A, Sudo H, Hosoiri T, Kaku Y, Kodaira H, Kondo H, Sugawara M, Takahashi M, Kanda K, Yokoi T, Furuya T, Kikkawa E, Omura Y, Abe K, Kamihara K, Katsuta N, Sato K, Tanikawa M, Yamazaki M, Ninomiya K, Ishibashi T, Yamashita H, Murakawa K, Fujimori K, Tanai H, Kimata M, Watanabe M, Hiraoka S, Chiba Y, Ishida S, Ono Y, Takiguchi S, Watanabe S, Yosida M, Hotuta T, Kusano J, Kanehori K, Takahashi-Fujii A, Hara H, Tanase TO, Nomura Y, Togiya S, Komai F, Hara R, Takeuchi K, Arita M, Imose N, Musashino K, Yuuki H, Oshima A, Sasaki N, Aotsuka S, Yoshikawa Y, Matsunawa H, Ichihara T, Shiohata N, Sano S, Moriya S, Momiyama H, Satoh N, Takami S, Terashima Y, Suzuki O, Nakagawa S, Senoh A, Mizoguchi H, Goto Y, Shimizu F, Wakebe H, Hishigaki H, Watanabe T, Sugiyama A, Takemo
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Society for the History of Astronomy
shedding light on the history of astronomy
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Allan Chapman : Acceptance Article on becoming SHA President
This was published in the First Newsletter in November 2002
It was with a genuine sense of delight and honour that I accepted the Society for the History of Astronomy’s invitation to become its Inaugural President. For while I have been concerned with the history ofastronomy since childhood, I never dreamt that I would ever have been Honorary President of such a Society.
But what is the value of the history of astronomy? I would argue that, without a coherent sense of our past, human beings are deprived of any real awareness of where we stand within the wider process of human culture. And to understand modern astronomy – just like understanding contemporary politics, art, or medicine – we need to know where we have come from. Otherwise, we become blinkered and self-obsessed, believing that we are the only people that matter. History – in the widest, noblest sense – therefore, teaches us our place.
Yet what should historians of astronomy do? Perhaps the most important thing which we must do is divest ourselves of any romantic or quaint views of the past. While it is true that the history of astronomy is full of curious, exotic, and seemingly larger-than-life figures, we must be careful not to see the history of science simply in terms of the heroic or the sensational. Far more important is our growing understanding of why certain types of people, be they Galileo, Sir William Herschel, or Edwin Hubble, flourished at particular times in the past, real historical scholarship is concerned with context. When we read historical books, undertake original pieces of research into particular astronomers, or prepare talks for societies, we must never lose sight of how a particular person, discovery, or technological innovation fits into the wider picture. History is preeminently about a depth of understanding in time, and true greatness or originality takes on an especial significance when seen in relation to other things.
And what, one might ask, are these ‘other things’? I would argue that we must seek to understand astronomy not simply with reference to itself, such as linking one discovery to another, but in relation to the broader social and historical culture within which developments took place. Why, for instance, were so many clergymen active in astronomy before 1900? Why were Continental European astronomy’s personnel very largely paid professionals, whereas the science in Britain was controlled by ‘Grand Amateurs’? And what technical factors limited the development of cosmology before 1800? Historians of astronomy, therefore, are not simply astronomers with a passing interest in the ‘old days’, but rather people with a broad and open-minded curiosity about those forces which drove human endeavour in the past.
Yet with all these broad historical caveats taken into account, how should a historian of astronomy set about his or her work on a practical level, and what should they look for?
At the most fundamental level, the historian must make an accurate record of surviving astronomical material, for without solid and verifiable facts, there is no history. Do you know of
an astronomically-connected ruin, historic building, or artefact that has somehow evaded the historical record? If so, record it. Observatories, houses, instruments, and the like need to be carefully measured, photographed, and sketched. It is amazing how many such places there are still awaiting historical investigation. I personally have seen ‘time capsule’ observatories – sometimes the workplaces of distinguished astronomers – left untouched for over a century. I have also seen people living in elegantly converted observatories, and used to know a man
who rescued the mahogany mount of a Herschel reflecting telescope from the hallway of a house where it was being used as an umbrella stand. On drawing the owners attention to the
significance of the umbrella stand, he was allowed to buy it –along with the tube, mirror and other bits that had been put in the attic – for a fiver.
So always be on the lookout for interesting artefacts, and after obtaining an owner’s permission, be quick to add solid facts to the historical record. In this respect the Society’s own archive housed in the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, can become a valuable resource for the future.
And just as one might record buildings and objects, so one can also catalogue, conserve, and publish astronomical manuscripts that turn up in all sorts of unlikely places. A couple of years ago, for instance, when I was visiting a church in the depths of the Suffolk countryside, one of the Church Wardens drew my attention to a thick bundle of letters written by one of the most famous of all Victorian astronomers, which had lain in a cupboard in the vestry for 150 years! There is an enormous amount of documentary material out there – surviving observing books, letters, charts, and the like – and it is our job to bring then out of the darkness and into the light.
And when historians write up their findings for record of publication, they should always remember to cite their original sources fully and clearly. For just as a scientist would never dream of presenting conclusions without also citing the full observational or experimental evidences upon which those conclusions are based, so the historian must be equally thorough.
Never simply say that some piece of information came from an ‘old book’. Always record and cite its full details: when the book or manuscript was first written or published, its exact title, and where it is currently deposited. Transparency and retrievability of primary research data is crucial. For a historian’s published claims and conclusions are made stronger, not weaker, by inviting others to verify his or her results.
Then in addition to speaking to each other as fellow historians of astronomy, we must always remember that it is our duty to communicate the importance of historical understanding to the wider public, both within and without the astronomical community. We live, after all, at a time when people are fascinated by all kinds of history, and whether our medium of communication is talks to societies, writing, television, radio, or the internet, we should not forget that people out there are fascinated by the history of science. And it is our business to inform them, clearly, precisely, and with enthusiasm.
Dr Allan Chapman
ONLINE TALK: 12TH JAN 2021 7PM. CAPE OBSERVATORY AT 200 BY IAN GLASS
For further details click on picture below
SHA ONLINE TALK: 12TH JAN 2021 at 7PM. CAPE OBSERVATORY BY IAN GLASS
The SHA Bulletin 33 : Spring 2020
STATEMENT FROM OUR CHAIRMAN
The Oxford Spring Conference 2019
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About Solidarity
Founding Statement (1986)
Basis of Political Agreement
Gendered Violence Process
Her Majesty, Aretha
Kim D. Hunter
Aretha Franklin performs, November 7, 2017
Photograph: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
You can find Aretha Franklin’s teenage church recordings online. She was a star if not the main attraction at her father’s Detroit church, where there were plenty of great singers including the pastor himself. We know in hindsight that she would develop her raw talent to become a music icon. What may have not been known is how she would use her gospel roots in her incredible career.
Towards the end of her life, the unchallenged Queen of Soul went back to performing primarily religious music. But in one sense, Aretha Franklin never really left gospel, just blended it with a secular, not so sublimated eroticism, ecstasy by any other name.
The tug-of-war in African-American culture between sacred and secular music is almost as old as the blues itself. Ironically, it’s been pointed out that changing a gospel song to a secular song is often as easy as changing the word “God” to the “baby” in a song because there’s no serious musical difference between much of R&B and gospel. Aretha along with other great African American artists such as Sam Cooke, Little Richard, James Brown and the Staple Singers made that all too clear. Her mother’s death when she was still a child caused her to seek solace in church where she was raised.
She was from the last of a generation to make “crossover” from sacred to secular music at a time when such a move was still a bit controversial in the Black church community. But virtually no one was able to so skillfully and successfully blend the joys of earthly love with a heavenly sound. One of the many tributes summed it up best by saying “Aretha could take you to church even when she was talking about a no good man.”
The first piano chords of “I Ain’t Never Loved a Man,” her pioneering recording on Atlantic Records after the eclectic early years at Columbia, are as iconic as any ever played, and as fine an example of no daylight between gospel and blues as can be had. That piano is followed by Franklin in deep, soulful lament. The lyrics are about a ne’er do well lover. The tone is pure Sunday morning blues in the church.
That was an early hit before she covered Otis Redding’s “Respect” and turned it into a blockbuster. Singing as a woman of unabashed power, Franklin transformed the song from a request for respect into a demand. Later on, she would team up with Annie Lennox to record an overtly feminist song, “Sister Are Doing it for Themselves.” But “Respect” was one an early high points in an illustrious, award-laden career where she would stamp material and old familiar work with her unique talent.
From the 1970s Spirit and Dark, another deft unique blend of gospel and funky R&B, to her work with the “Three Tenors,” Aretha Franklin commanded the stage with power and presence.
Of course, those of us in Detroit felt a special bond with Aretha not just because she was raised here in her father’s iconic New Bethel Baptist Church, but because just as she never really left gospel music, she also never really left Detroit. She lived in the city proper for decades after becoming a superstar and when she returned for shows, she frequently hired Detroit musicians to accompany her, a testament to her loyalty and the pool of Detroit talent that nurtured her.
She was also nurtured by her very gifted father and civil rights leader Rev. C.L. Franklin. Just as Pops Staples of the Staples Singers guided his family from sacred to secular music, so too, did C.L. Franklin approve and guide his daughters Carolyn, Aretha and Erma into careers beyond pop music outside the church. He even helped them navigate the often treacherous waters of record label contracts and relations.
But Aretha was the one to take what she found in a great Black Detroit church along with her natural talent and become the embodiment of sacred and secular or as others have put it, the “majesty of the blues.”
Kim Hunter is a Detroit poet and cultural activist, author of the newly published collection The Official Report on Human Activity, published by Wayne State University Press.<
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Home Is Where the Money Is: Germany's Migrants Ship Out Record Amounts of Cash
© AFP 2020 / Christof Stache
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201709031057043887-germany-migrants-economic-benefit-remittance/
Many Germans welcomed the influx of refugees and migrants that have arrived in the country since mid-2015 in the belief that the newcomers would provide a shot in the arm to the economy, but many experts remain unconvinced that Merkel's gamble will pay off.
Germany spent 21.7 billion euros ($25.7 billion) on refugees and asylum seekers in 2016, but experts remain divided over whether the country will eventually benefit economically from this outlay.
In July, the Chicago Booth Review published a report which asked a panel of European economic experts to consider whether Germany's refugee influx, of more than one million people since mid-2015, will benefit German citizens economically over the course of a decade.
© CC0
US-Germany 'Failed Marriage': Dividing the Property, Bringing Back Gold After Divorce?
A plurality of the experts, 38%, was uncertain, while 28% said they thought the influx would generate net economic benefits.
Those who view the influx positively argue that the migrants who have arrived are a fairly skilled and young group, who will counter Germany's aging population and boost the economy by taking jobs and increasing consumer spending.
Some economists think the benefits will take more than a decade to appear, whereas others are cautious about the difficulties of integrating migrants and the potential for social unrest.
German government ministers are also pessimistic about the migrants' prospects for quick integration.
© AP Photo / Bernd von Jutrczenka
Refugees and migrants wait outside the Berlin State Office for Health and Social Affairs in Berlin, Germany, Friday Sept. 11, 2015
In July, Germany's commissioner for refugee integration Aydan Ozoguz told the Financial Times that only a quarter to a third of the newcomers would enter the labor market over the next five years, and "for many others, we will need up to ten."
The flow of migrant has already had an impact on German consumption patterns in some ways. In July, Bloomberg reported that German pork consumption has fallen to an 11-year low, citing figures from the Bonn-based Agriculture Market Information Co.
© AP Photo / Axel Schmidt
Merkel Mulls Revision of Relations With Ankara as Two Germans Detained in Turkey
The migrant impact is believed to have had a short-term impact on growth thanks to increased government spending. Germany projected an additional 0.5% of GDP per annum of public spending in 2016 and 2017 to meet initial needs of the newly arrived immigrants and to integrate them in the labor market.
However, it appears that migrants to Germany have spent less money on boosting the German economy than hoped.
On Monday, Germany's Wirtschaftswoche magazine reported figures from the German Bundesbank which show that last year, migrants in Germany sent home a record number of remittances. In 2016, migrants sent 4.2 billion euros ($5.0 billion) back home; up to 67 million euros ($79 million) of which was sent to Syria. The total amount exceeded the amount that migrants sent to their home countries in 2015 by almost 700 million euros.
Trump Nominates US Ambassadors to Germany, India – White House
'Demonization of Russia Doesn't Help Anyone,' Ex-German Leader Schroeder Warns
Trump Card: Germany's Schulz Lays Into US President Over 'Nazi Mobs' (VIDEO)
Five-Star Brothels: Germany's Working Girls Create Gold Seal for Sex Services
migrant, remittances, labor migration, migration, money, Germany, EU, Syria
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We are proud to release "Midwest Electric Rails", our most ambitious production to date. This extensive presentation will paint the transportation picture that once wrapped around the lower part of the Lake Michigan-from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, down through Chicago, Illionois and ending in South Bend Indiana. The Chicago street car lines were claimed to be the largest system of its kind at one time. From 1858 it grew from a number of small lines using horse drawn trolleys that ran on tracks in the street.The scenes you are about to view are nearly all from the 1950 period to the early 1960's. Most of these electric inturban lines are gone with one exception. Plus, we have a few other surprises of how people commuted and traveled in these areas. This program has a wealth of color movie film mainly from 1950's, thru the changes into the 1960's. The accurate sound recordings, accompanying these movie scenes, bring back the auditory experience of living in those bygone years. Maps and graphics were specially created to enhance the relevance of the beautiful and nostalgic color movie scenes. These are presented with a well-researched and meaningful historic narrative.
It took many more years of smaller lines combining into what eventually was one giant system. The Chicago Surface Lines boasted 1000 miles of track and over 3000 streetcars of various designs. See hundreds of nostalgic views of streetcars, interurban trains, city and suburban life.
Sparkling beautiful 16mm color film Visions you can no longer see today!
MIDWEST ELECTRIC RAILS DVD SD149 $26.50
Anchor Videos
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Justia Patents US Patent Application for MEMORY CONFIGURED TO PERFORM LOGIC OPERATIONS ON VALUES REPRESENTATIVE OF SENSED CHARACTERISTICS OF DATA LINES AND A THRESHOLD DATA VALUE Patent Application (Application #20200372960)
MEMORY CONFIGURED TO PERFORM LOGIC OPERATIONS ON VALUES REPRESENTATIVE OF SENSED CHARACTERISTICS OF DATA LINES AND A THRESHOLD DATA VALUE
Aug 10, 2020 - MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Memory having an array of memory cells and configured to store a first value representative of a characteristic sensed from a first data line, store a second value representative of the characteristic sensed from a second data line, perform an operation on the first value and the data value at a first logic circuitry, and perform an operation on an output of the first logic circuitry and a threshold data value at a second logic circuitry.
Latest MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. Patents:
Memory Arrays
APPARATUSES AND METHODS FOR CONTROLLING WORD LINE DISCHARGE
Memory Arrays And Methods Used In Forming A Memory Array Comprising Strings Of Memory Cells And Operative Through-Array-Vias
APPARATUSES INCLUDING TEMPERATURE-BASED THRESHOLD VOLTAGE COMPENSATED SENSE AMPLIFIERS AND METHODS FOR COMPENSATING SAME
Memory Cells And Methods Of Forming A Capacitor Including Current Leakage Paths Having Different Total Resistances
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/515,134, filed on Jul. 18, 2019, and titled “MEMORY CONFIGURED TO GENERATE A DATA VALUE FROM A DATA LINE CONNECTED TO MORE THAN ONE STRING OF SERIES-CONNECTED MEMORY CELLS,” which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/009,541 filed Jun. 15, 2018, and titled “METHODS OF OPERATING MEMORY,” now U.S. Pat. No. 10,403,371 issued on Sep. 3, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/241,496 filed Aug. 19, 2016, and titled “METHODS OF OPERATING MEMORY,” now U.S. Pat. No. 10,068,653 issued on Sep. 4, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/774,553 filed Feb. 22, 2013, and titled “NEURAL NETWORK IN A MEMORY DEVICE,” now U.S. Pat. No. 9,430,735 issued on Aug. 30, 2016, which is commonly assigned and incorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. application Ser. No. 13/774,553 is a non-provisional application of provisional application U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/602,344, filed Feb. 23, 2012, and titled “NEURAL NETWORK IN A MEMORY DEVICE,” and related to provisional application U.S. Ser. No. 61/476,574, filed Apr. 18, 2011, titled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PATTERN MATCHING” which are commonly assigned.
The present disclosure relates generally to memory and in particular, in one or more embodiments, the present disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for facilitating neural network operations in a memory device.
Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic systems. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and flash memory.
Flash memory devices have developed into a popular source of non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption. Changes in threshold voltage of the cells, through programming of a charge storage structure, such as floating gates or trapping layers or other physical phenomena, determine the data state of each cell. Flash memory devices are commonly used in electronic systems, such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, digital media players, digital recorders, games, appliances, vehicles, wireless devices, cellular telephones, and removable memory modules, and the uses for flash memory continue to expand.
Flash memory typically utilizes one of two basic architectures known as NOR flash and NAND flash. The designation is derived from the logic used to read the devices. In NOR flash architecture, a logical column of memory cells is coupled in parallel with each memory cell coupled to a data line, such as those typically referred to as digit (e.g., bit) lines. In NAND flash architecture, a column of memory cells is coupled in series with only the first memory cell of the column coupled to a bit line.
Neural networks are networks which process information by modeling a network of neurons, such as neurons in a human brain, to process information (e.g., stimuli) which has been sensed in a particular environment. Similar to a human brain, neural networks typically comprise multiple neuron models to process information. The demand for improved operating characteristics of neural networks continues to increase. Such desirable neural network operating characteristics improvements are increased speed, capacity and processing power of neural networks, for example.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for methods and devices for improving operating characteristics of neural networks.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of an array of NAND configured memory cells.
FIG. 2 illustrates a graphical representation of a neuron model.
FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical representation of a neural network.
FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic representation of a portion of a memory device configured to facilitate neural network operations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate a schematic representation of a portion of a memory device configured to facilitate neural network operations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a schematic representation of a portion of a memory device configured to facilitate neural network operations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 8 illustrates a graphical representation of a neural network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 9 illustrates a graphical representation of a portion of a memory device configured to facilitate neural network operations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 10 illustrates a graphical representation of a portion of a memory device configured to facilitate neural network operations according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 11 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a memory device coupled to a memory access device as part of an electronic system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments. In the drawings, like numerals describe substantially similar components throughout the several views. Other embodiments may be utilized and structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
The memory array 100 shown in FIG. 1 comprises an array of non-volatile memory cells 102 (e.g., floating gate memory cells) arranged in columns such as series strings 104, 106. Each of the cells is coupled drain to source in each series string 104, 106. An access line (e.g., word line) WL0-WL31 that spans across multiple series strings 104, 106 is coupled to the control gates of each memory cell in a row in order to bias the control gates of the memory cells in the row. Data lines, such as even/odd bit lines BL_E 108, BL_O 110, are coupled to the series strings and eventually coupled to sense circuitry 130 which typically comprise sense devices (e.g., sense amplifiers) that detect the state of each cell by sensing current or voltage on a selected bit line. The bit lines BL_E 108, BL_O 110 are also coupled to page buffers (not shown) which may comprise one or more latches and can be programmed with data from each selected word line, for example. The sense circuitry and page buffers may be part of the same circuitry or the page buffers can be separate circuitry.
Each series string 104, 106 of memory cells is coupled to a source 112 by a source select gate 114, 116 (e.g., transistor) and to an individual even or odd bit line BL_E, BL_O by a drain select gate 118, 120 (e.g., transistor). The source select gates 114, 116 are controlled by a source select gate control line SGS 122 coupled to their control gates. The drain select gates 118, 120 are controlled by a drain select gate control line SGD 124.
In a typical programming of the memory array 100, each memory cell is individually programmed as either a single level cell (SLC) or a multiple level cell (MLC). The cell's threshold voltage (Vt) can be used as an indication of the data stored in the cell. For example, in an SLC, a Vt of 2.5V might indicate a first data state while a Vt of −0.5V might indicate a second data state. An MLC uses multiple Vt ranges that each indicates a different data state. Multiple level cells can take advantage of the analog nature of a traditional charge storage cell by assigning a bit pattern to a specific Vt range. Single level memory cells permit the storage of a single binary digit (e.g., bit) of data on each memory cell. Meanwhile, multiple level cells permit the storage of two or more binary digits per cell (e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5 bits), depending on the quantity of Vt ranges assigned to the cell and the stability of the assigned Vt ranges during the lifetime operation of the memory cell. By way of example, one bit (e.g., 1 or 0) may be represented by two Vt ranges, two bits by four ranges, three bits by eight ranges, etc
Neural networks implement methods for interpreting particular types of information (e.g., data), such as information obtained in response to sensing a physical phenomenon (e.g., sensing stimuli) in a particular environment, and in response generating one or more outputs. A common goal of neural networks is to mimic a system, such as the human brain, so as to learn to interpret and respond to particular stimuli. For example, human beings have an ability to observe and identify an object even without having an exact match in their memory of what is being observed. A person might be able to recognize another person even though one or more traits of the other person have changed. For example, a person might still be able to recognize another person even though the other person has changed their hair color, grown or removed facial hair, etc.
Electronic systems typically are proficient at confirming an exact match between something sensed by the system, such as with an electronic camera, and something stored in its memory. However, electronic systems are less proficient at identifying and interpreting an object that might be similar, yet somewhat different, than what the system might have stored in its memory. Continuing with the previous example, an electronic system might not be able to identify a person whose image is stored in the system memory if that person has changed their hair color or added/removed facial hair, etc.
A typical structure of neural networks is to mimic networks of neurons, such as found in a human brain, by utilizing small building blocks (e.g., neuron models) to attempt to emulate the neurons of a neural network. FIG. 2 illustrates a graphical example of a simulated neuron (e.g., neuron model) used to attempt to mimic a neuron of a human brain, for example. These neuron models are sometimes referred to as perceptrons. The neuron model 200 comprises a number of inputs INPUT_1-INPUT_N 202. Signals applied to these inputs might take the form of various types of signals (e.g., sometimes referred to as features) and are generated responsive to sensing some form of stimuli, such as a voltage, a current or a particular data value (e.g., binary digits), for example. The number of inputs of a particular neuron model might be one to N. The neuron model 200 includes a function, such as a summation function 204, to process signals received on the one or more inputs 202. For example, the summation function 204 might perform an addition operation on signals received at the inputs 202, for example. The neuron model 200 further comprises a function 208 to respond to a value corresponding to the summed inputs 206 and to generate a particular response at the output 220. Outputs of neuron models are sometimes referred to as classes.
Various functions might be utilized for the function 208. For example, function 208 might comprise a function to determine if the summed value 206 is above or below a particular threshold level. Such a threshold function might generate a logic high output potential on the output 220 if the summed inputs 206 are equal to or greater than the particular threshold level and might generate a logic low potential on the output 220 if the summed inputs 206 are below the particular threshold level, for example. According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the function 208 might comprise a sigmoid function, wherein the sigmoid function might be expressed as f(x)=1/(1+e−λx), where λ might comprise some constant value. Thus, the function 208 might comprise a non-linear function. The generated output value at the output 220 can be applied to one or more additional neuron models (e.g., such as to inputs 202 of different neuron models) which comprise a neural network of neuron models according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical representation of a neural network 300. The neural network shown in FIG. 3 comprises an input stage 304, a first level of neuron models N1, N2 306, a second level of neuron models N3, N4 308 and an output stage 310. Neural networks according to various embodiments can comprise many more than two inputs and two outputs. Neuron model N1 302 might comprise a neuron model such as neuron model 200 shown in FIG. 2. The arrows indicated at 316 might correspond to INPUT_1 2021 and INPUT_2 2022 shown in FIG. 2, whereas the output 220 of neuron model 200 is indicated at 320 shown in FIG. 3. As discussed with respect to output 220 of FIG. 2, the output 320 of neuron model 3021 might be applied to one or more different neuron models of the network such as indicated by arrows 322. Thus, the output of each neuron model of a first level (e.g., LEVEL 1 306) is applied to an input of each neuron model of a second level (e.g., LEVEL 2 308) of the neural network 300, for example. This can be referred to as a feed-ward design neural network.
The input stage 304 comprising initial input signals (e.g., VIN1, VIN2) to the neural network 300 may have been supplied by additional circuitry of an electronic system incorporating the neural network. Each input node 312 might comprise circuitry such as registers and/or driver circuits, for example. The output stage 310 is configured to transfer neural network output values to additional circuitry of the electronic system. Output nodes 314 might comprise circuitry such as registers and/or driver circuits, for example.
Memory devices and methods according to various embodiments of the present disclosure include operating memory cells of a memory array as one or more neuron models such as to facilitate a neural network in the memory device. The memory array might comprise a NAND configured array of charge storage (e.g., Flash) memory cells, for example. FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of an array 400 of NAND configured memory cells 410-416 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The memory cells 410-416 can be charge storage memory cells, for example. A first string of memory cells 402 is coupled to a bit line BL 408. A second string of memory cells 404 is coupled to the same bit line BL 408. Although FIG. 4 illustrates two strings of memory cells 402, 404, various embodiments according to the present disclosure might comprise one or more strings of memory cells coupled to a bit line. Bit line 408 is coupled to sense circuitry 430. Sense circuitry 430 might comprise sense amplifiers, comparators and data latches. For example, the sense circuitry 430 can latch single or multiple bits of data corresponding to a current or voltage sensed on the bit line BL 408 during a sense operation (e.g., read operation) performed on one or more memory cells coupled to the bit line 408.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a neuron model as facilitated in a NAND array of memory cells may comprise one or more concurrently selected memory cells of one or more strings of memory cells coupled to a common bit line. The number of inputs of a neuron model might equal the number of selected strings comprising a selected memory cell which are coupled to the same bit line. For example, one or more two input neuron models may be described by way of reference to FIG. 4. A two input neuron model might comprise a selected memory cell from string 402 and concurrently a selected memory cell from string 404, such as memory cells 4101 and 4102, for example. A three input neuron model might comprise a selected memory cell from string 402, a selected memory cell from string 404 and a selected memory cell from a third string of memory cells (not shown) where each string is coupled to the same bit line, such as BL 408, for example. An output of the neuron model might comprise a signal generated on an output line 432 coupled to the sense circuitry 430, for example.
A memory cell of each of one or more strings of memory cells coupled to the same bit line can be selected to collectively form a portion of a neuron model. Thus, the neuron model might comprise a selected memory cell from one or more strings of memory cells, a bit line coupled to each of the selected strings of memory cells and the sense circuitry coupled to the bit line. For example a neuron model according to various embodiments of the present disclosure might comprise selected memory cells 4121 and 4122, bit line 408 and the sense circuitry 430. A different neuron model might comprise selected memory cells 4141 and 4142, the bit line 408 and sense circuitry 430, for example.
The operation of a neuron model incorporating one or more memory cells of one or more strings of memory cells might be further described by way of example. Word lines of a first sector of memory, such as Sector J 420, can be driven independently from word lines of a second sector, such as Sector J+1 422. Word lines of sectors 420, 422 are driven by word line drivers (not shown) coupled to the word lines. To operate the memory array 400 as a first neuron model, a memory cell from string 402 and a memory cell from string 404 are selected. For example, memory cells 4101 and 4102 might comprise the memory cells of a first neuron model having two inputs. It should be noted that each of the memory cells of string 402 and/or each of the memory cells of string 404 may have been programmed to a respective one of a number of different data states during a previous operation of the memory device.
The word lines 4201 and 4202 coupled to the selected memory cells 4101, 4102 might each be biased to a first potential and to a second potential, respectively. The first potential and the second potential comprise input potentials for the particular neuron model presently operating. The input potentials might comprise inputs received by a memory device as initial inputs for the neural network to act upon. Alternatively, the input potentials may comprise output signals generated previously by other neuron models of the memory device, for example. The signals (e.g., input potentials) applied to the word lines coupled to the selected memory cells might have been subject to some amount of signal conditioning prior to being applied to the word lines. The remaining word lines of each string (e.g., other than those coupled to selected memory cells) might be biased at a potential (e.g., Vpass potential) sufficient to cause the coupled memory cells to be activated (e.g., conduct) regardless of their respective data states.
During a sense operation, BL 408 might be pre-charged to a particular level prior to concurrently applying the first and second input potentials to the two selected memory cells 4101, 4102 comprising the first neuron model. As discussed above, unselected memory cells of strings 402 and 404 are operated in a pass through mode to conduct regardless of any data state they might be in. Thus, the amount of current present on the bit line BL 408 during the sense operation is dependent upon the data states of the two selected memory cells and the potentials (e.g., input potentials) applied to their respective word lines. For example, the bit line current on BL 408 comprises a sum of the current, if any, flowing through each string of memory cells responsive to the conductive state of the selected memory cells of strings 402 and 404. As discussed above, unselected memory cells of strings 402 and 404 are operated in a pass through mode to conduct regardless of any data state they might be in.
Sense circuitry 430 is configured to respond to the bit line current and generate an output responsive to the bit line current. The generated output might comprise various types of signals. The output signal might comprise a particular voltage level. The generated output signal might comprise a digital representation (e.g., one or more bits) representative of the current sensed in the bit line BL 408, for example. The generated output signal might then be applied to an input of one or more different neuron models and/or to an output of the neural network, for example.
A second neuron model (e.g., different neuron model than the neuron model comprising memory cells 4101, 4102 described above) might be facilitated utilizing the same strings of memory cells 402, 404 coupled to the same bit line BL 408 shown in FIG. 4. However, a different memory cell of each string is selected for facilitating the second neuron model. For example, memory cells 4121 and 4122 might comprise the selected memory cells for the second neuron model and the remaining memory cells of each string are operated in a pass through mode when performing a sense operation on the second neuron model. A third neuron model might be facilitated by selecting memory cells 4141 and 4142 and operating the remaining memory cells of each string in pass through mode. Thus, the number of neuron models which can be facilitated by one or more strings of memory cells coupled to the same bit line might be equal to the number of memory cells comprising each string, for example.
The number of inputs (e.g., such as up to INPUT_N 2033 shown in FIG. 2) of each neuron model might comprise the number of selected strings of memory cells coupled to the same bit line. For example, FIG. 4 illustrates two selected strings of memory cells 402, 404 where each selected string comprises four memory cells. Thus, four different neuron models each having two inputs might be facilitated using the two strings of memory cells 402, 404 shown in FIG. 4. However, the strings of memory cells can comprise one or more memory cells, such as 64, 128 or more memory cells per string according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, the number of inputs of each neuron model can be assigned by selecting a particular number of strings of memory cells coupled to the same bit line. It should be noted that not all memory cells of each string of memory cells and not all strings of memory cells coupled to the same bit line must be selected to comprise one or more neuron models. A number less than the number of memory cells comprising each string might be selected and a number of strings less than the total number of strings coupled to the same bit line might be selected, for example.
FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate a portion of a memory device 500 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 5A illustrates four strings of memory cells 502-508. Each string of memory cells is coupled between a bit line 510, 512 and a source 514. Each string 502-508 comprises four memory cells per string, although various embodiments are not limited to four memory cells per string. Each bit line 510, 512 is coupled to sense circuitry 516 and 518, respectively. The sense circuitry 516, 518 might comprise circuitry configured to sense a particular current and/or voltage present on the associated bit line. Sense circuitry 516, 518 might further comprise one or more registers to store particular data values (e.g., bits) representative of a current and/or voltage sensed on the associated bit line, for example. The sense circuitry 516, 518 are further configured to drive an output line 520, 522, respectively. The output lines 520, 522 might comprise one or more signal lines each or might be combined to form a bus (e.g., serial or parallel bus) for example. Output signals presented on the output lines 520, 522 might comprise discrete signals (e.g., logic high, logic low) or might comprise analog signals, such as a particular voltage within a certain range of voltages, for example. In a 5V system the output signals might either be 0V or 5V in a digital representation whereas the output signals might be any voltage from 0V to 5V in an analog system, for example.
The memory device illustrated in FIG. 5A further illustrates a controller 530. The controller 530 comprises an access line (e.g., word line) register 532. The word line register 532 can be configured to store data representative of particular voltages to be applied to word lines 524, 526 coupled to the strings of memory cells 502-508 during operation of the memory device, for example. Controller 530 further comprises word line drivers 534, 536. The word line drivers 534, 536 are configured to generate and apply particular voltages to the word lines 524, 526, such as responsive to data stored in the word line register 532, during operation of the memory device 500. Controller 530 might further comprise an input/output (e.g., bi-directional) interface 538 configured to transfer and/or receive data and or commands into and out of the controller 530, for example. Interface 538 may comprise a multi-signal bus, for example.
A method of facilitating a neural network in a memory device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure can be described by way of reference to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIGS. 5A-5D. The strings of memory cells 502-508 shown in FIG. 5A may have been programmed to particular data states (e.g., which define operating characteristics of the neural network) during a previously performed memory device operation. A neural network comprising two inputs and four levels where each neuron model of the network comprises two inputs can be described by reference to FIGS. 5A-5D. Two input values (e.g., initial input) are received by the word line register 532, such as received over the interface 538. The two input values might comprise data values each comprising one or more bits of data, for example. The word line register 532 facilitates the configuration of the word line drivers 534, 536 responsive to the received input values.
The first level of neuron models of FIG. 5A, such as similar to neuron models N1, N2 306 shown in FIG. 3, might be illustrated by the dashed lines 540 and 542 shown in FIG. 5A, respectively. The dashed line region, such as 540 is representative of a first neuron model N1 3021, such as shown in FIG. 3 The dashed line region 542 is representative of a second neuron model, such as N2 3022. The input nodes to the neuron model 540 might be represented by the word lines 5241, 5261 coupled to the two selected memory cells comprising the neuron model 540. The output 520 of the neuron model 540 might be represented by the output signal line 220 of FIG. 2, for example.
During a first sense (e.g., read) operation of the neural network illustrated by FIG. 5A, the word lines 5241, 5261 coupled to the first level neuron models 540 and 542 are biased by the word line drivers 534, 536 with potential responsive to the two input values initially received and stored in the word line register 532. The remaining word lines are biased to a Vpass potential to activate each unselected memory cell of the memory cell strings. Sense circuitry 516, 518 performs a sense operation on the bit lines BL1 510 and BL2 512. The current and/or voltage sensed on the bit lines will be dependent on the word line bias applied to each memory cell of the two neuron models and the respective data state of each memory cell of each neuron model. For example, the current sensed on BL1 510 might correspond to the sum of current flowing through the two memory cells (shown enclosed by dashed line 540) of neuron model 540 from BL1 to the source 514 while word lines 5241 and 5261 are biased with the two initial input potentials. A data value representative of the current sensed in BL1 510 during the first read operation might be latched in the sense circuitry 516 and transferred over the output signal line 520, for example. The data value representative of the current sensed in BL1 510 might comprise a single bit data value (e.g., a ‘1’ or ‘0’). Alternatively, the data value may comprise a multi-bit value, such as a four bit data value, for example. The data value latched in the sense circuitry 516 may be transferred over the output signal line 520 in a serial or parallel manner. A similar sense operation as described above with respect to BL1 510 is concurrently performed on the bit line BL2 512 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
Upon completion of the first sense operation of the neuron models 540 and 542, the word line register 532 receives the sensed data values transferred over the output signal lines 520, 522 and stores them in the word line register. A second sense operation is then performed on a second level of neuron models. The second level of neuron models are represented (e.g., by dashed lines) by neuron models 544, 546 shown in FIG. 5B. For example, the two neuron models 544, 546 shown in FIG. 5B might be representative of the neuron models N3, N4 shown in LEVEL 2 308 of FIG. 3, for example.
During the second sense operation of the neural network illustrated by FIG. 5B, the word lines 5242, 5262 coupled to the memory cells of the second level neuron models 544 and 546 are biased by the word line drivers 534, 536 with potentials responsive to the two output data values transferred by the sense circuitry 516, 518 to the word line register 532 following the completion of the first sense operation. The remaining word lines coupled to unselected memory cells might be biased to a Vpass potential to operate the remaining memory cells in a pass through mode. Sense circuitry 516, 518 performs a sense operation on the bit lines BL1 510 and BL2 512 as part of the second sense operation. Data values representative of the current sensed in the bit lines during the second sense operation are latched in the sense circuitry 516, 518 and are transferred over the output signal lines 520, 522 to the word line data register 532. The current and/or voltage sensed on the bit lines BL1, BL2 will be at least partially dependent on the word line potential applied to each memory cell of the two neuron models 544, 546 and the respective data state of each of the selected memory cells comprising the two neuron models 544, 546.
A third sense operation is illustrated by way of reference to FIG. 5C, such as to facilitate a third level of the neural network not shown in FIG. 3 but similar to LEVEL 2 308 shown in FIG. 3. It should be noted that FIG. 3 only illustrates a two level neural network in contrast with a four level neural network shown and described with respect to FIGS. 5A-5D. During the third sense operation of the neural network illustrated by FIG. 5C, the word lines 5243, 5263 coupled to the third level neuron models 548 and 550 are biased by the word line drivers 534, 536 with potentials responsive to the two output data values transferred by the sense circuitry 516, 518 to the word line register 532 following the completion of the second sense operation. The remaining word lines coupled to unselected memory cells might be biased to a Vpass potential to operate the remaining memory cells in a pass through mode. Sense circuitry 516, 518 performs a sense operation on the bit lines BL1 510 and BL2 512 as part of the third sense operation. Data values representative of the current sensed in the bit lines during the third sense operation are latched in the sense circuitry 516, 518 and are transferred over the output signal lines 520, 522 to the word line data register 532, for example. The current and/or voltage sensed on the bit lines BL1, BL2 will be at least partially dependent on the word line bias applied to each memory cell of the two neuron models 548, 550 and the respective data state of each memory cell comprising the two neuron models 548, 550.
A fourth sense operation is illustrated by way of reference to FIG. 5D, such as to facilitate a fourth level of the neural network similar to LEVEL 2 308 shown in FIG. 3. During the fourth sense operation of the neural network illustrated by FIG. 5D, the word lines 5244, 5264 coupled to the fourth level neuron models 552 and 554 are biased by the word line drivers 534, 536 with potentials responsive to the two output data values transferred by the sense circuitry 516, 518 to the word line register 532 following the completion of the third sense operation. The remaining word lines coupled to unselected memory cells might be biased to a Vpass potential to operate the remaining memory cells in pass through mode. Sense circuitry 516, 518 performs a sense operation on the bit lines BL1 510 and BL2 512 as part of the fourth sense operation. Data values representative of the current sensed in the bit lines during the fourth sense operation are latched in the sense circuitry 516, 518 and are transferred over the output signal lines 520, 522 to the word line data register 524, for example. The current and/or voltage sensed on the bit lines BL1, BL2 will be at least partially dependent on the word line bias applied to each memory cell of the two neuron models 552, 554 and the respective data state of each memory cell of the two neuron models.
Upon completion of the fourth sense operation of the neural network, the output data values, such as generated by sense circuitry 516, 518 during the fourth sense operation, might be transferred from the sense circuitry registers to the word line register 532 as discussed above. The word line register 532 can transfer the data values from the word line register over the bidirectional interface 538 to another portion of the memory device (not shown) such as control logic or to a memory access device (e.g., processor) coupled to the memory device, for example. According to additional embodiments, the output data values generated responsive to the fourth sense operation might be made available as input values to another neural network within the memory device, such as located in different sectors, pages or blocks of memory, for example. Thus, the output data values of a first neural network might comprise the input values for a second neural network within the memory device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
Although the example discussed with respect to FIGS. 5A-5D illustrated neural network sense operations wherein each memory cell of each string is included within a neuron model, the various embodiments are not so limited. Further, the example illustrated and discussed with respect to FIGS. 5A-5D comprises a four level neural network having two input neuron models with two neuron models per level. However, many different configurations of neural networks might be facilitated according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the configuration of a particular neural network might be assigned by selecting a number of variables to define the network. The number of inputs per neuron model might be assigned by selecting a number of strings of memory cells coupled to each of one or more selected bit lines. For example, a two input neuron model might concurrently comprise a selected memory cell from two strings of memory cells coupled to the same bit line. A three input neuron model might concurrently comprise a selected memory cell from three strings of memory cells coupled to the same bit line, etc. The number of neuron models per level (e.g., two neuron models per level as shown in FIG. 3) might be assigned by selecting a number of bit lines coupled to strings of memory cells. A number of levels of a particular neural network (e.g., 2 levels as shown in FIG. 3) can be assigned by selecting a number of memory cells of each string which will be selected as part of each neuron model. A four level neural network, such as discussed with respect to FIGS. 5A-5D can be facilitated with strings of memory cells having at least four memory cells per string, a 64 level neural network can be facilitated with strings of memory cells comprising at least 64 memory cells per string, etc.
The operating characteristics of a neural network according to various embodiments of the present disclosure might be at least partially defined by programming the memory cells used in neuron models comprising the neural network to various data states. The respective data state (e.g., threshold voltage Vt) of individual memory cells can facilitate a weighting function respective to inputs applied to the memory cells. For example, a higher Vt of a memory cell will require a higher input potential be applied to activate the memory cell. These data states might be determined in various ways. For example, the data states might be determined by applying particular stimuli to the neural network, such as in a laboratory environment, to determine a particular programming pattern of the memory cells which generates one or more desired operating characteristics of the neural network. This is sometimes referred to as a learning phase for the neural network. It should be noted that one or more methods of facilitating weighting effects in a memory device, such as to affect currents sensed on bit lines of memory devices, is disclosed in U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/625,286, which is commonly assigned.
Operating characteristics of neural networks according to various embodiments of the present disclosure might further be established by configuring the sense circuitry of the memory device. For example, the sense circuitry (e.g., sense circuitry 516, 518 shown in FIG. 5A) can be configured to affect the manner in which output data corresponding to currents sensed during read operations are determined. For example, the gain of amplifier circuitry comprising the sense circuitry might be adjusted. The gain might be permanently configurable. The gain might also be set, such as at power up of the memory device, responsive to setting a value in a register or other controlling circuitry wherein the value is representative of a desired gain setting to be utilized.
Particular neuron models have been described comprising strings of memory cells coupled to a single bit line. However, a particular neuron model might be facilitated by memory cell strings coupled to more than one bit line. For example, the current sensed on two or more bit lines might be combined (e.g., summed) to generate a single data output for the particular neuron model comprising the two bit lines. Combining the outputs generated from sensing two bit lines might facilitate improved sensing margin and reduce issues such as current saturation effects during sense operations, for example.
As discussed above, FIG. 5A illustrates two neuron models as indicated by 540 and 542. However, according to one or more embodiments the output data values transferred on output signal lines 520 and 522 might be combined (e.g., summed) to generate a single output data value for the particular neuron model. For example, the summed output data value might comprise a value representative of the sum of the current sensed on bit lines 510 and 512. Thus, a number of inputs assigned to a particular neuron model might comprise the number of selected bit lines associated with the particular neuron model multiplied by the number of selected strings coupled to each selected bit line. For example, by combining the outputs of the two neuron models 540 and 542, a single four input neuron model might be realized.
Similar to combining the output data generated responsive to sensing two or more bit lines to generate a single output data value discussed above, two or more word lines coupled to each string might be biased with input data during a sense operation according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Remaining word lines coupled to unselected memory cells of the string of memory cells might be biased to a Vpass potential as discussed above. For example, referring to FIG. 4, a first neuron model might comprise selected memory cells 4101 and 4121 of string 402 and selected memory cells 4102 and 4122 of string 404 along with BL 408 and sense circuitry 430. Thus, during a first sense operation on the first neuron model, word lines 4201, 4221, 4202 and 4222 might be biased with potentials representative of initial input data to the neural network. A second neuron model might comprise selected memory cells 4141 and 4161 of string 402 and selected memory cells 4142 and 4162 of string 404 along with BL 408 and sense circuitry 430. Thus, during a second sense operation, word lines 4241, 4261, 4242 and 4262 might be biased with potentials generated responsive to output data generated during the first sense operation. The first and second sense operations might be performed to sense a current or a voltage on the BL 408 during the sense operation, for example.
Although the present example discusses two word lines coupled to two selected memory cells per string being biased during a particular sense operation, the various embodiments are not so limited. For example, one or more word lines coupled to one or more selected memory cells per string of memory cells might be biased during a particular sense operation performed on the neural network, for example. A method of biasing two selected memory cells of the same string of memory cells and facilitating a sense operation on a bit line coupled to the string is disclosed in U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/602,249, which is commonly assigned. As discussed above, remaining memory cells (e.g., unselected memory cells) of each string might be biased to a Vpass potential to operate the unselected memory cells in a pass through mode during each sense operation performed on the neural network, for example.
FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of a method of operating a memory device as a neural network, such as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5A-5D according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 6, a portion of a memory array of a memory device might be configured (e.g., partitioned) 600 to facilitate a neural network. The partition might comprise the entire array of memory cells or might comprise a part of the memory array. For example, portions of particular blocks, sectors, pages and/or strings of memory cells can be configured to facilitate a neural network operating mode according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Portions of the array not configured to facilitate a neural network might be operated as a standard memory storage device, for example.
A programming operation can be performed 602 on memory cells of one or more neural network partitions of the memory device. The memory cells might be programmed as single level memory cells and/or multi level memory cells. The data states of the memory cells might have been previously determined in order to facilitate a particular operating characteristics which the neural network is to exhibit. The partitioning and programming of the memory array is performed prior to operating the memory device in a neural network operating mode according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
The data programmed in the array of memory cells might be generated by performing an operation to model a system that the neural network is intended to emulate. For example, the desired response characteristics of the system responsive to particular stimuli (e.g., inputs) might be modeled in a laboratory setting. A particular data set can be generated which when programmed into a memory device according to various embodiments of the present disclosure mimics the response of the system modeled in the laboratory. Thus, the operating characteristics of a neural network can be changed by changing the data state of one or more memory cells comprising the neural network, for example.
Subsequent to partitioning 600 and programming 602 the memory array comprising the neural network, the memory device might receive an indication, such as a command from a memory device controller coupled to the memory device, to access the neural network partition of the device. The command might comprise a command to access the neural network along with one or more signals as input values to the neural network. The received input values 604 are used to facilitate a first sense operation on the neuron models of a first level (e.g., LEVEL 1 306 shown in FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 5A) of neural models of the neural network.
A sense operation is performed 606 on the neural models of the first level of neural models responsive to the received inputs 604. Output signals (e.g., output data) are generated 608 responsive to the sense operation performed 606 on the first level of neural models. The generated output data of the first level of neural models is transferred 610 to a controller, such as controller 530 shown in FIG. 5A. Word line drivers generate word line voltages responsive to the received neural network LEVEL 1 output data and bias the word lines of the array to perform another (e.g., second) sense operation on a second level of neural models of the neural network. Thus, the memory cells of the neural models of the second level of neural network receive 612 their respective inputs by the potential of the word lines generated responsive to the output data generated during the first sense operation.
A second sense operation 614 of the neural models comprising the second level of neural models can be performed. Output signals (e.g., output data) are generated 616 responsive to the second sense operation performed 614 on the second level of neural models. If it is determined 618 that additional levels of neural models comprise the neural network 620, the generated output signals of the second level of neural models can be output 622 to the controller to facilitate another (e.g., third) sense operation on a third level of neural models of a third level of the neural network, and so on. Thus, according to various embodiments, output data generated during a first sense operation on a first level of a neural network is utilized to determine the inputs to be applied to neuron models of a second level of the neural network during a second sense operation. The output data generated during the second sense operation is utilized to determine the inputs to be applied to neuron models of a third level of neuron models of the neural network, and so on. This process might repeat until no additional levels of neuron models remain to be facilitated in the neural network. Thus, as discussed above, the data state of each memory cell of the neuron models comprising the neural network affect the output data generated during each sense operation thereby defining the operating characteristics of the neural network. Neural networks according to various embodiments can have an associated number representative of the levels of neural models comprising a neural network, such as a number ‘P’ levels of neural models, for example. Thus, a counter might be maintained by the controller where the counter value can be compared to the number P levels of neural models in determining 618 if additional levels of a neural model remain to be sensed, for example. The number of neuron levels P for a neural network might be loaded into the controller during initialization of the memory device, for example.
If it is determined 618 that no additional levels of neural models remain to be facilitated 624, the generated output data of the last level of neural models might be transferred from the neural network 626 as neural network output data. The transferred neural network output data can be transferred to additional circuitry of the memory device, such as data registers or other controlling circuitry configured to store the transferred neural network output data, for example.
FIG. 7A illustrates a portion of a memory device 700 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 illustrates a graphical representation of a neural network corresponding to the memory device 700 shown in FIG. 7A. FIG. 8 illustrates a ‘P’ level 810 (e.g., comprising levels 1-P) neural network 800. Each of the P levels (e.g., LEVEL 1-LEVEL P 806-810) of the neural network 800 comprise ‘N’ neuron models 802. The input stage 804 of the neural network model 800 further comprises ‘M’ input nodes 814. The output stage 812 comprises ‘R’ output nodes 820 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The set of variables M, N, P and R might have equal values. However, according to one or more embodiments, a subset of the set of variables M, N, P and R might be equal or each variable might have different values, for example.
The memory device 700 shown in FIG. 7A comprises an array of memory cells (e.g., flash memory cells), such as memory cell 702 logically arranged in rows and in columns, and further arranged into strings 704 (e.g., NAND strings) of memory cells. The memory device 700 comprises N bit lines BL1-BLN 706, where each bit line has M strings of memory cells coupled to it, for example. Each string of memory cells comprises P memory cells per string where each memory cell of each string are coupled source to drain between the coupled bit line and a source. The number of memory cells P per string might be 32, 64, 128 or more memory cells, for example.
The memory device 700 of FIG. 7A further comprises a word line register 710 and ‘M’ word line driver circuits 712. Sense circuitry 714 is coupled to each bit line 706 of the memory device shown in FIG. 7A. The sense circuitry 714 is configured to sense a voltage and/or current on the coupled bit line during a sense (e.g., read) operation, for example. The sense circuitry is further configured to store (e.g., latch) a data value representative of a voltage and/or current sensed on the coupled bit line during a sense operation. The data value might be stored in a register 716 in the sense circuitry, such as a data latch. The sense circuitry data register might be configured to store one or more binary digits (e.g., bits) of data representative of the voltage and/or current sensed on the coupled bit line. For example, the sense circuitry data register 716 might comprise four latches configured to collectively store a four bit (e.g., ‘0000’-‘1111’) representation of the sensed voltage and/or current, for example.
FIG. 7A further illustrates a configuration of a number of neuron models of a neural network, such as the LEVEL 1 neuron models 806 shown in FIG. 8, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Each neuron model 720, 722, 724 shown in FIG. 7A is indicated by the dashed lines enclosing a memory cell from each string coupled to a bit line and further coupled to sense circuitry. By way of example, the number of neuron models indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 7A might comprise a first level of the neural network as indicated by the selection of the first memory cell of each string of memory cells coupled to each bit line BL1-BLN 706. For example, the neuron models 720-724 indicated by dashed lines shown in FIG. 7A might correspond to neuron models 8021-802N shown in FIG. 8, respectively.
The number of input data values which can be applied to each neuron model 720-724 comprises in one embodiment the number of strings of memory cells coupled to each bit line and selected for operation in the neural network. Each neuron model comprises a particular number of inputs, such as inputs 202 shown in FIG. 2. Thus, each input of each neuron model might comprise each word line coupled to each memory cell comprising each neuron model according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Thus, the number of input data values applied to one or more neuron models might comprise one through and including M inputs as there are one through M strings of memory cells coupled to each bit line. Thus, each neuron model 720-724 as shown in FIG. 7A and represented by dashed lines, might comprise M inputs.
The number of neuron models per level might be one through and including N neuron models per level of the neural network, for example. A number of neuron models per level of a neural network according to various embodiments, such as a first level (e.g., LEVEL 1 806 shown in FIG. 8) of a neural network indicated in FIG. 7A, might comprise up to and including the number of selected bit lines 706. As shown in FIG. 7A, the number of neuron models per level of the neural network might comprise N neuron models per level as the dashed lines representing neuron models 720-724 indicate that N bit lines are selected, for example. However, as discussed above, results of sense operations performed on two or more bit lines might be combined to generate a single output value. Thus, the number of neuron models per level might comprise N bit lines divided by the number of bit lines to be combined to generate a single output. For example, 100 bit lines might be selected for a particular neural network where the sensed output of pairs of bit lines are to be combined. Thus, the number of neuron models per level might be 50 neuron models, for example.
FIG. 7B illustrates the same neural network facilitated in an array of memory such as that shown in FIG. 7A. FIG. 7B illustrates the neuron models 730-734 of the neural network comprising the last level of the neural network. For example, the neuron models of the last level are indicated and comprise memory cells selected during a final sense operation performed on the neural network (whereas FIG. 7A illustrates the neuron models 720-724 selected during a first sense operation performed on the neural network, for example.) As there are P memory cells per string of memory cells as discussed above, the neuron models 730-734 indicated in FIG. 7B might be neuron models selected during a ‘Pth’ sense operation performed on the neural network, for example.
The size of a particular neural network that can be facilitated according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure might be further described by way of example and reference to FIG. 7A. A memory device might comprise an array of memory cells comprising 1000 bit lines, such as N bit lines BL1-BLN 706 shown in FIG. 7A. The same array might further comprise 1000 strings of memory cells coupled to each of the 1000 bit lines, such as the M strings 704 of memory cells coupled to each bit line as shown in FIG. 7A. Each string of the 1000 strings of memory cells might comprise 64 memory cells, such as P memory cells 702 per string shown in FIG. 7A. Thus, the particular neural network according to one or more embodiments might facilitate up to 1000 inputs, up to 64 neuron levels with 1,000,000 interconnections between neurons of each level (e.g., as indicated at 830 of FIG. 8), and 1000 outputs of the neural network, for example.
As discussed above with respect to FIGS. 5A-5D, following each sense operation performed on the neural network shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, an output data value is determined for each bit line (e.g., neuron model at each level of the neural network) and is stored in the data register 716 of the sense circuitry 714 coupled to each bit line 706. Each stored output value can be fed back to (e.g., transferred to) the word line data register 710. The word line drivers 712 can be configured to apply potentials to the word lines to facilitate the next sense operation on a next level of neuron models of the neural network. For example, the data output values generated during a previous sense operation can be utilized to facilitate generating the word line potentials to be applied during the next sense operation performed on a next level of the neural network. The word line potentials are generated and applied during a current sense operation responsive to the output data values received from the sense circuitry as determined during a previous sense operation. Thus, the output data values determined during a first sense operation are utilized by the word line register 710 and word line drivers 712 to facilitate the generation and application of word line potentials during a second sense operation following the first sense operation. The output data values determined during the second sense operation are utilized by the word line register 710 and word line drivers 712 to facilitate generation and application of word line potentials utilized during a third sense operation following the second sense operation, and so on.
Following the final sense operation to be performed on a particular neural network, the output data values might be transferred from the word line data register 710 over a bi-directional communications interface 740, such as to other portions of the memory device and/or out of the memory device, such as to a memory access device coupled to the memory device as part of an electronic system, for example. Between each sense operation, the output data values might be transferred to other portions of the memory device.
Application of the various word line potentials might be facilitated by various methods according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The applied potentials might comprise a static application of one or more potentials to the various word lines. For example, one or more word lines coupled to unselected memory cells might be biased with a Vpass potential during a sense operation performed on a selected memory cell of one or more strings of memory cells. The potential applied to selected memory cells can comprise a static potential applied to the selected word lines, for example. According to one or more embodiments, the potential applied to one or more selected memory cells might comprise an increasing (e.g., stepped or ramped) potential or might comprise a decreasing (e.g., stepped or ramped) potential applied during the particular sense operation.
As discussed above, the current sensed on more than one bit line might be combined to generate a single output. For example, an output data value for a particular neuron model might comprise a combination of output data values of two or more bit lines. For example, referring to FIG. 7A, the output data values generated by the sense circuitry 714 coupled to BL1 and BL2 might be combined (e.g., summed) to generate a single value to be transferred to the word line register 710 An effect of combining the output data values of more than one bit line may be a reduction in saturation (e.g., current saturation) of currents sensed on bit lines. Thus, an increase in sensing resolution and/or sensitivity might be realized by neuron models comprising more than one bit line and subsequently combining the results of the sense operations performed on the two or more bit lines of the neuron models.
Word line drivers, such as those described with respect to FIG. 7A-7B, are configured to facilitate various memory device operations, such as sense (e.g., read), write and erase operations. The word line drivers 712 are configured to apply particular potentials to particular word lines responsive to data latched in the word line data registers 710. The data stored in the word line data register corresponding to a particular word line might indicate one or more of a sense (e.g., read) potential, programming (e.g., write) potential and/or erase potential that is to be applied to the particular word line. A voltage supply Vs 742 might provide sixteen different voltages, although various embodiments according to the present disclosure are not limited to sixteen voltages. The word line drivers 712 can be configured to selectively apply any of the sixteen available voltages where each available voltage is represented by a four bit data value (e.g., ‘0000’-‘1111’) which is stored in the word line register 710 location associated with the particular word line driver, for example.
Data corresponding to word line potentials to be applied to particular word lines which is stored in the word line data register 710 might be changed during the execution of a particular memory device operation thereby facilitating applied word line voltages that vary over at least a portion of a duration of the particular memory device operation. For example, these time varying voltages might comprise an increasing or decreasing potential (e.g., stepwise increasing potential and/or stepwise decreasing potential) on one or more word lines during the particular memory device operation. The word line drivers 712 may be further configured to apply one or more time varying voltages on corresponding word lines while concurrently maintaining steady state voltages on one or more different word lines, for example. An example of a steady state potential which might be applied during a read operation might comprise a potential that when applied to memory cells (e.g., unselected memory cells), those memory cells are activated (e.g., exhibit a conductive state) regardless of their data state (e.g., as represented by a programmed threshold voltage) of the memory cells. These potentials facilitate operating one or more unselected memory cells in a pass-through mode.
FIG. 9 illustrates a simplified diagram of a neuron model 900 according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. By way of example, FIG. 9 illustrates five bit lines BL0-BL4 902. FIG. 9 further illustrates an additional bit line BLS1 904. Each bit line shown in FIG. 9 902, 904 is coupled to sense circuitry 906, such as sense circuitry 714 discussed above with respect to FIG. 7A, for example. The sense circuitry 906 coupled to each bit line comprises a signal conditioning circuitry portion 908 and a register portion 910 configured to latch one or more bits of data representative of a sensed current or voltage on the coupled bit line 902, for example.
Each oval region 920-928 shown in FIG. 9 is representative of a portion of a particular neuron model. For example, oval 920 might comprise one or more strings of memory cells coupled to its corresponding bit line (e.g., bit line BL0 passing through the oval 920 as shown.) According to various embodiments, at least one memory cell from each string of memory cells comprising each oval are concurrently biased during a sense operation performed on the particular portion of the neuron model, such as described above with respect to FIG. 7A, for example. The oval 930 might comprise one or more strings of memory cells (not shown) coupled to the corresponding bit line BLS1 904.
Memory cells comprising oval 930 might be programmed to a data state representative of a threshold level for one or more corresponding neuron models. Each memory cell comprising the oval 930 might be programmed to the same or different data states according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, during a sense operation of a first neuron model, a first memory cell of a string of memory cells comprising the oval 930 and corresponding to the first neuron model might be sensed to determine its data state. The data state determined from the first memory cell of oval 930 might be representative of the overall threshold level of the first neuron model. During a sense operation of a second neuron model, a second memory cell of a string of memory cells comprising the oval 930 and corresponding to the second neuron model might be sensed to determine its data state. The data state determined from the second memory cell of oval 930 might be representative of the overall threshold level of the second neuron model, and so on. The number of data states that memory cells comprising the oval 930 can be programmed to might be the same or might be different than the number of data states that memory cells comprising ovals 920-928 can be programmed to according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, for example.
Although shown as single lines to improve readability of the figure, the word lines WLs0-WLs4 940 and WLsTS 960 intersecting each oval 920-930 are each representative of multiple word lines (e.g., word line groups) coupled to the one or more strings of memory cells comprising the portions of neuron models comprising each oval. For example, WLs0 shown in FIG. 9 might be representative of word lines 420 and 422 shown in FIG. 4, for example.
A sense operation according to various embodiments of the present disclosure can be described by way of reference to FIG. 9. The various inputs signals (e.g., such as inputs to a particular neuron model, such as inputs indicated at 832 shown in FIG. 8) can be applied to each word line of each word line group WLs0-WLs4 940 which is coupled to selected memory cells of strings of memory cells comprising each oval 920-928. Remaining word lines of the word line groups 940 coupled to unselected memory cells might be biased with a pass (e.g., Vpass) voltage, for example. Word line group WLsTS 960 might be biased so as to perform a sense operation on a memory cell of a string of memory cells comprising oval 930 in order to determine a particular threshold level for the present neuron model being stimulated. The input signals applied to word line groups 940 and 960 might have been supplied by an input stage 804 of the neural network and shown at 832 of FIG. 8, for example. Alternatively, the input signals applied to these word line groups 940, 960 may have been supplied as outputs from a previous level of the neural network, such as indicated by 834 shown in FIG. 8, for example.
During the sense operation, data values indicative of a current or voltage sensed on the bit lines BL0-BL4 and BLS1 are latched in the registers 910 of the sense circuitry 906 coupled to each bit line. The latched data can be transferred 912 from the registers 910 to additional circuitry (not shown) of the memory device. The transferred data can also be transferred to circuitry, such as word line registers and word line drivers (not shown in FIG. 9) of the memory device to facilitate generating inputs (e.g., input signals) to stimulate neuron models comprising additional levels of the neural network, such as inputs indicated at 834 shown in FIG. 8, for example. Additional processing of the data transferred 912 from the registers 910 might be performed by the control circuitry prior to generating and applying input signals to different neuron models of the neural network. Data transferred from the latches 910 may be transferred from the neural network as neural network output values such as indicated as the output stage 812 shown in FIG. 8, for example. Data latched in the sense circuitry registers 810 might be transferred in a serial or a parallel fashion according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
FIG. 10 illustrates a portion of a memory device 1000 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The region indicated by dashed lines 1002 might comprise the portion of a memory device such as discussed above and shown in FIG. 9. Ovals 1020, 1028 and 1030 shown in FIG. 10 might correspond to ovals 920, 928 and 930 shown in FIG. 9 respectively, for example. An example of stimulating and sensing a particular neuron model according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure can be described by way of reference to FIG. 10.
FIG. 10 further illustrates word line register 1004, word line drivers 1006 and a voltage supply 1042, such as similarly described above with respect to FIG. 7A, for example. FIG. 10 further illustrates a bi-directional communications bus 1046 coupled to the word line register 1004. The communications bus 1046 facilitates receiving input values, such as initial input values 832 from input stage 804 shown in FIG. 8, for example. FIG. 10 further illustrates control circuitry 1032 to facilitate operation of the neural network according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Although shown separately, word line registers 1004, word line drivers 1006 and/or control circuitry 1032 can individually, in combination, or in combination with other elements, form a controller (e.g., internal controller) according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Control circuitry 1032 can comprise registers and logic circuitry 1034 which performs one or more operations on data received from the sense circuitry registers 1010, such as data latched during a sense operation, for example. The one or more operations might comprise addition, subtraction, multiplication and/or division operations which can be performed on data received (e.g., transferred) from each sense circuitry register 1010.
Control circuitry 1032 further comprises additional logic circuitry 1036 such as to facilitate a comparison operation of one or more data values generated during sensing, such as those combined together to generate a single data value 1038 for a sense operation performed on a particular neuron model. For example, a single data value 1038 (e.g., summed value) generated as a result of adding currents sensed on bit lines BL0-BL4 might be compared to a data value 1040. The data value 1040 might comprise the threshold level of the particular neuron model. The threshold level of the particular neuron model might be determined by sensing the data state of a memory cell of the oval 1030 which corresponds to the particular neuron model, such as determining a neuron model threshold level from a memory cell of the oval 930 as discussed above with respect to FIG. 9, for example. The control circuitry 1032 might perform a comparison operation to determine if the summed data values from the data registers coupled to ovals 1020, 1028 are equal to or greater than the threshold level of the particular neuron model.
Control circuitry 1032 might be configured to access an operating characteristic table which defines particular operating characteristics for one or more neuron models and/or the complete neural network. The operating characteristic table might be stored in non-volatile memory of the memory device. The operating characteristic table can be retrieved from the non-volatile memory, such as following a reset operation of the memory device, and be loaded into additional memory (e.g., RAM) (not shown) within the control circuitry 1032. The operating characteristics table might comprise a range of input data values and corresponding range of output data values. The operating characteristic table might facilitate a particular function where the summed value (e.g., summed value of currents sensed in bit lines BL0-BL4) 1038 comprises an input value to the particular function and the output of the particular function comprises the output (e.g., output data value) 1050. The data value (e.g., threshold level) 1040 may also comprise an input variable to the particular function. According to various embodiments, the particular function might comprise one or more linear and/or non-linear functions. For example, the operating characteristics table might facilitate a sigmoid function discussed above. Thus, the control circuitry 1032 can translate an input value (e.g., summed data value 1038) to a corresponding output value (e.g., output 1050) based on the contents of the operating characteristics table.
The operating characteristics table might facilitate a threshold function (e.g., comparator function) where the output data value 1050 comprises a first value when the input (e.g., summed data value 1038) is below a particular threshold level corresponding to the neuron model. When the input to the table is equal to or above the particular threshold level, the output data value comprises a second value, such as facilitating a step function, for example.
The output value 1050 may be transferred to word line registers 1004 as inputs for stimulating another neuron model such as in another level of the neural network, for example. The output value might be transferred 1052 to additional circuitry and/or out of the memory device, such as to a memory access device (e.g., processor) coupled to the memory device, for example.
FIG. 11 is a simplified block diagram of an electronic system having a memory access device (e.g., processor) 1130 coupled to a memory device 1101 according to an embodiment of the disclosure, and on which various embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced. Memory device 1101 includes an array of memory cells 1104 arranged in rows and columns. Although the various embodiments have been described primarily with reference to NAND memory arrays, the various embodiments are not limited to a specific architecture of the memory array 1104. Some examples of other array architectures suitable for the present embodiments include NOR arrays, AND arrays, and virtual ground arrays. In general, however, the embodiments described herein are adaptable to any array architecture permitting generation of a data signal indicative of the data state of each memory cell.
Row decode and control circuitry 1108 and a column decode and control circuitry 1110 are provided to decode address signals provided to the memory device 1101. Address signals are received and decoded to access memory array 1104. Row decode and control circuitry 1108 further facilitates biasing word lines according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Row decode and control circuitry 1108 might comprise word line registers, word line drivers and voltage supply circuitry described above, for example.
Memory device 1101 also includes input/output (I/O) control circuitry 1112 to manage input of commands, addresses and data to the memory device 1101 as well as output of data and status information from the memory device 1101. An address register 1114 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 1112 and row decode and control circuitry 1108 and column decode and control circuitry 1110 to latch the address signals prior to decoding. A command register 1124 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 1112 and control logic 1116 to latch incoming commands. Control logic 1116 controls access to the memory array 1104 in response to the commands and generates status information for the external processor 1130. The control logic 1116 is coupled to row decode control circuitry 1108 and column decode control circuitry 1110 to control the row decode control circuitry 1108 and column decode control circuitry 1110 in response to the addresses.
Control logic 1116 can be coupled to a sample and hold circuitry 1118. The sample and hold circuitry 1118 latches data, either incoming or outgoing, in the form of analog data signals. The sample and hold circuitry 1118 can comprise the sensing circuitry and registers comprising the sense circuitry coupled to bit lines as described above with respect to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, for example. The sample and hold circuitry 1118 could contain capacitors or other analog storage devices for sampling either an incoming data signal representing data to be written to a memory cell or an outgoing data signal indicative of the threshold voltage sensed from a memory cell. The sample and hold circuitry 1118 may further provide for amplification and/or buffering of the sampled signal to provide a stronger data signal to an external device. It is noted that the sample and hold circuitry 1118 could include analog-to-digital conversion functionality and digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) functionality to convert read data from an analog data signal to a digital bit pattern and to convert write data from a digital bit pattern to an analog signal, such as part of sense operations and/or word line potential generation according to various embodiments the present disclosure.
According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, control logic 1116, control circuitry 1112 and/or firmware or other circuitry (e.g., any or all of 1114, 1122, 1124, 1110, and 1108) can individually, in combination, or in combination with other elements, form an internal controller. Control logic 1116 is one example of control circuitry, such as control circuitry 1032 discussed above with respect to FIG. 10. As used herein, however, a controller need not necessarily include any or all of such components. In some embodiments, a controller can comprise an internal controller (e.g., located on the same die as the memory array) and/or an external controller, for example.
During a write operation, target memory cells of the memory array 1104 can be programmed until voltages indicative of their Vt levels match the levels held in the sample and hold circuitry 1118. This can be accomplished, as one example, using differential sensing devices to compare the held voltage level to a threshold voltage of the target memory cell. Much like traditional memory programming, programming pulses could be applied to a target memory cell to increase its threshold voltage until reaching or exceeding the desired threshold value. In a sense operation, the Vt levels of the target memory cells are passed to the sample and hold circuitry 1118 for transfer to an external processor (not shown in FIG. 11) either directly as analog signals or as digitized representations of the analog signals depending upon whether ADC/DAC functionality is provided external to, or within, the memory device.
Threshold voltages of memory cells may be determined in a variety of manners. For example, a word line voltage could be sampled at the point when the target memory cell becomes activated. Alternatively, a boosted voltage could be applied to a first source/drain side of a target memory cell, and the threshold voltage could be taken as a difference between its control gate voltage and the voltage at its other source/drain side. By coupling the voltage to a capacitor, charge would be shared with the capacitor to store the sampled voltage. Note that the sampled voltage need not be equal to the threshold voltage, but merely indicative of that voltage. For example, in the case of applying a boosted voltage to a first source/drain side of the memory cell and a known voltage to its control gate, the voltage developed at the second source/drain side of the memory cell could be taken as the data signal as the developed voltage is indicative of the threshold voltage of the memory cell.
Sample and hold circuitry 1118 may include caching, i.e., multiple storage locations for each data value, such that the memory device 1101 may be reading a next data value while passing a first data value to an external processor, or receiving a next data value while writing a first data value to the memory array 1104. A status register 1122 is coupled between I/O control circuitry 1112 and control logic 1116 to latch the status information for output to the external processor.
Memory device 1101 receives control signals at control logic 1116 over a control link 1132. The control signals may include a chip enable CE #, a command latch enable CLE, an address latch enable ALE, and a write enable WE #. Memory device 1101 may receive commands (in the form of command signals), addresses (in the form of address signals), and data (in the form of data signals) from the processor over a multiplexed input/output (I/O) bus 1134 and output data to the external processor over I/O bus 1134.
In a specific example, commands are received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] of I/O bus 1134 at I/O control circuitry 1112 and are written into command register 1124. The addresses are received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] of bus 1134 at I/O control circuitry 1112 and are written into address register 1114. The data may be received over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] for a device capable of receiving eight parallel signals, or input/output (I/O) pins [15:0] for a device capable of receiving sixteen parallel signals, at I/O control circuitry 1112 and are transferred to sample and hold circuitry 1118. Data also may be output over input/output (I/O) pins [7:0] for a device capable of transmitting eight parallel signals or input/output (I/O) pins [15:0] for a device capable of transmitting sixteen parallel signals. The control link 1132 and the I/O bus 1134 might be combined or might be combined in part to form a communications channel between the processor 1130 and the memory device 1101. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that additional circuitry and signals can be provided, and that the memory device of FIG. 11 has been simplified to help focus on the embodiments of the present disclosure.
While the memory device of FIG. 11 has been described in accordance with popular conventions for receipt and output of the various signals, it is noted that the various embodiments are not limited by the specific signals and I/O configurations described. For example, command and address signals could be received at inputs separate from those receiving the data signals, or data signals could be transmitted serially over a single I/O line of I/O bus 1134. Because the data signals represent bit patterns instead of individual bits, serial communication of an 8-bit data signal could be as efficient as parallel communication of eight signals representing individual bits, for example.
Methods of facilitating neural network operations in memories, and memories using the methods have been described. In particular, some embodiments facilitate concurrently stimulating one or more memory cells where the one or more memory cells comprise a neuron model. Neuron models can be operated concurrently to be responsive to inputs and generate outputs. Additional embodiments facilitate operating neural networks within a memory device where the neural networks can comprise multiple levels of neuron models. Outputs generated by neuron models of a particular level of the neural network can be supplied as inputs to a different level of neuron models of the neural network thus facilitating a feed-ward type neural network, for example. Methods of establishing operating characteristics of neural networks according to various embodiments have also been described.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement, which is calculated to achieve the same purpose, may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. Many adaptations of the disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the disclosure.
1. A memory, comprising:
an array of memory cells comprising a plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells; and
a plurality of data lines, wherein each string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of series-connected memory cells is selectively connected to a respective data line of the plurality of data lines;
a plurality of sense devices, wherein each sense device of the plurality of sense device is connected to a respective data line of the plurality of data lines, and wherein each sense device of the plurality of sense devices is configured to sense a characteristic of its respective data line selected from a group consisting of a current and a voltage level of its respective data line;
a plurality of data registers, wherein each sense device of the plurality of sense devices corresponds to a respective data register of the plurality of data registers, and wherein each data register of the plurality of data registers is configured to store a value indicative of the characteristic sensed by its respective sense device;
a first logic circuitry, wherein an input of the first logic circuitry is connected to each data register of a subset of data registers of the plurality of data registers; and
a second logic circuitry, wherein a first input of the second logic circuitry is connected to an output of the first logic circuitry and wherein a second input of the second logic circuitry is connected to receive a threshold data value.
2. The memory of claim 1, the second logic circuitry is connected to receive the threshold data value from a register of the plurality of data registers mutually exclusive of the subset of data registers.
3. The memory of claim 1, wherein the first logic circuitry is configured to sum the values of each data register of the subset of data registers.
4. The memory of claim 3, wherein the second logic circuitry is configured to compare the output of the first logic circuitry to the threshold data value and to output a first logic level in response to a value of the output of the first logic circuitry being greater than the threshold data value and having a second logic level different than first logic level in response to the value of the output of the first logic circuitry being less than the threshold data value.
5. The memory of claim 1, further comprising:
a controller for access of the array of memory cells, wherein the controller is configured to cause the memory to: apply a respective voltage level to each access line of a first group of access lines of the plurality of access lines, wherein the first group of access lines comprises one or more access lines, wherein each access line of the first group of access lines is connected to a control gate of a respective memory cell of a respective string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells selectively connected to a first data line of the plurality of data lines, and wherein the respective voltage level applied to each access line of the first group of access lines is configured to selectively activate its respective memory cell depending upon its data state; while applying the respective voltage level to each access line of the first group of access lines, activate each remaining memory cell of the respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the first group of access lines while each respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the first group of access lines is connected to the first data line and to a source; apply a respective voltage level to each access line of a second group of access lines of the plurality of access lines, wherein the second group of access lines comprises one or more access lines, wherein each access line of the second group of access lines is connected to a control gate of a respective memory cell of a respective string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells selectively connected to a second data line of the plurality of data lines, and wherein the respective voltage level applied to each access line of the second group of access lines is configured to selectively activate its respective memory cell depending upon its data state; while applying the respective voltage level to each access line of the second group of access lines, activate each remaining memory cell of the respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the second group of access lines while each respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the second group of access lines is connected to the second data line and to the source; store a first data value representative of the characteristic sensed from the first data line to the respective data register of the respective sense device for the first data line; and store a second data value representative of the characteristic sensed from the second data line to the respective data register of the respective sense device for the second data line.
6. The memory of claim 1, wherein each register of the plurality of registers is configured to store more than one digit of data.
a first logic circuitry, wherein an input of the first logic circuitry is connected to each data register of a subset of data registers of the plurality of data registers;
a second logic circuitry, wherein a first input of the second logic circuitry is connected to an output of the first logic circuitry and wherein a second input of the second logic circuitry is connected to receive a threshold data value; and
a controller for access of the array of memory cells, wherein the controller is configured to cause the memory to: apply a respective voltage level to each access line of a first group of access lines of the plurality of access lines, wherein the first group of access lines comprises one or more access lines, wherein each access line of the first group of access lines is connected to a control gate of a respective memory cell of a respective string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells selectively connected to a first data line of the plurality of data lines, and wherein the respective voltage level applied to each access line of the first group of access lines is configured to selectively activate its respective memory cell depending upon its data state; while applying the respective voltage level to each access line of the first group of access lines, activate each remaining memory cell of the respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the first group of access lines while each respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the first group of access lines is connected to the first data line and to a source; apply a respective voltage level to each access line of a second group of access lines of the plurality of access lines, wherein the second group of access lines comprises one or more access lines, wherein each access line of the second group of access lines is connected to a control gate of a respective memory cell of a respective string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells selectively connected to a second data line of the plurality of data lines, and wherein the respective voltage level applied to each access line of the second group of access lines is configured to selectively activate its respective memory cell depending upon its data state; while applying the respective voltage level to each access line of the second group of access lines, activate each remaining memory cell of the respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the second group of access lines while each respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the second group of access lines is connected to the second data line and to the source; store a first data value representative of the characteristic sensed from the first data line to the respective data register of the respective sense device for the first data line; store a second data value representative of the characteristic sensed from the second data line to the respective data register of the respective sense device for the second data line; perform a particular operation on the first data value and the second data value at the first logic circuitry to generate a third data value, wherein the particular operation comprises one or more operations selected from a group consisting of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; and apply a particular function to the third data value and the threshold data value at the second logic circuitry to generate a fourth data value, wherein the particular function is selected form a group consisting of a linear function and a non-linear function.
8. The memory of claim 7, wherein the controller being configured to cause the memory to generate the first data value comprises the controller being configured to cause the memory to generate the first data value comprising one or more digits of information.
9. The memory of claim 7, wherein the controller being configured to cause the memory to apply the particular function to the third data value and the threshold data value to generate the fourth data value comprises the controller being configured to cause the memory to generate the fourth data value having a data value indicative of whether the third data value is greater than or less than the threshold data value.
10. The memory of claim 7, wherein the second logic circuitry is configured to cause the memory to provide the fourth data value at an output of the second logic circuitry.
11. The memory of claim 10, wherein the controller is further configured to cause the memory to determine the respective voltage level to be applied to each access line of the first group of access lines in response to a prior data value provided at the output of the second logic circuitry.
12. The memory of claim 7, wherein the second logic circuitry is configured to output the fourth data value to a device external to the memory.
13. The memory of claim 7, wherein the second logic circuitry is connected to receive the threshold data value from a data register of the plurality of data registers mutually exclusive of the subset of data registers of the plurality of data registers.
14. A memory, comprising:
a plurality of data registers, wherein each sense device of the plurality of sense devices corresponds to a respective data register of the plurality of data registers;
a second logic circuitry, wherein a first input of the second logic circuitry is connected to an output of the first logic circuitry and wherein a second input of the second logic circuitry is connected to receive a threshold data value from a particular data register of the plurality of data registers mutually exclusive from the subset of data registers; and
a controller for access of the array of memory cells, wherein the controller is configured to cause the memory to: apply a respective voltage level to each access line of a first group of access lines of the plurality of access lines, wherein the first group of access lines comprises one or more access lines, wherein each access line of the first group of access lines is connected to a control gate of a respective memory cell of a respective string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells selectively connected to a first data line of the plurality of data lines, and wherein the respective voltage level applied to each access line of the first group of access lines is configured to selectively activate its respective memory cell depending upon its data state; while applying the respective voltage level to each access line of the first group of access lines, activate each remaining memory cell of the respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the first group of access lines while each respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the first group of access lines is connected to the first data line and to a source; apply a respective voltage level to each access line of a second group of access lines of the plurality of access lines, wherein the second group of access lines comprises one or more access lines, wherein each access line of the second group of access lines is connected to a control gate of a respective memory cell of a respective string of series-connected memory cells of the plurality of strings of series-connected memory cells selectively connected to a second data line of the plurality of data lines, and wherein the respective voltage level applied to each access line of the second group of access lines is configured to selectively activate its respective memory cell depending upon its data state; while applying the respective voltage level to each access line of the second group of access lines, activate each remaining memory cell of the respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the second group of access lines while each respective string of series-connected memory cells for each access line of the second group of access lines is connected to the second data line and to the source; store a first data value representative of the characteristic sensed from the first data line to the respective data register of the respective sense device for the first data line; store a second data value representative of the characteristic sensed from the second data line to the respective data register of the respective sense device for the second data line; sum the first data value and the second data value at the first logic circuitry to generate a third data value; and compare the third data value and the threshold data value at the second logic circuitry to generate a fourth data value having a first logic level in response to the third data value being greater than the threshold data value and having a second logic level different than first logic level in response to the third data value being less than the threshold data value.
15. The memory of claim 14, wherein the controller being configured to cause the memory to generate the first data value, the second data value and the third data value comprises the controller being configured to cause the memory to generate the first data value, the second data value and the third data value each comprising one or more digits of information.
16. The memory of claim 14, wherein the controller being configured to cause the memory to generate the fourth data value having the first logic level in response to the third data value being greater than the threshold data value comprises the controller being configured to cause the memory to generate the fourth data value having the first logic level in response to the third data value being greater than or equal to the threshold data value.
17. The memory of claim 14, further comprising:
an access line register configured to store data representative of the respective voltage level to be applied to each access line of the first group of access lines and data representative of the respective voltage level to be applied to each access line of the second group of access lines;
wherein the access line register is configured to receive the fourth data value from an output of the second logic circuitry.
19. The memory of claim 14, wherein the second logic circuitry is configured to output the fourth data value to a device external to the memory.
20. The memory of claim 14, wherein the second logic circuitry is connected to receive the threshold data value from a data register of the plurality of data registers mutually exclusive of the subset of data registers of the plurality of data registers.
Applicant: MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. (BOISE, ID)
Inventors: Tommaso Vali (Sezze), Kenneth J. Eldredge (Boise, ID), Frankie F. Roohparvar (Monte Sereno, CA), Luca De Santis (Avezzano)
International Classification: G11C 16/26 (20060101); G06N 3/04 (20060101); G11C 16/08 (20060101); G11C 7/10 (20060101); G11C 16/04 (20060101); G06N 3/063 (20060101);
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Justia Patents Including Adding Ancillary Growth Medium For MicroorganismUS Patent for Single vessel multi-zone wastewater bio-treatment system Patent (Patent # 7,008,538)
Single vessel multi-zone wastewater bio-treatment system
A process for treating wastewater and a system for practicing the process includes: providing a plurality of zones within a single vessel wastewater treatment system; feeding wastewater into the system; maintaining an aerobic zone in the upper central portion of the vessel; feeding air into the aerobic zone for oxygenation and creating an upflow; maintaining an annularly disposed anoxic zone about said aerobic zone; causing the upflow from the aerobic zone to produce a downflow in the anoxic zone; causing at least a portion of the downflow from the anoxic zone to pass into the upflow of the aerobic zone; maintaining an annularly disposed clarification zone about said anoxic zone for clarified liquid, including an upflow; causing at least a portion of the downflow from the anoxic zone to pass into the upflow of the clarification zone; maintaining a facultative transition zone below the upper aerobic, anoxic and clarification zones; maintaining an anaerobic zone below the facultative zone for absorbing solids settled by gravity and synthesizing volatile fatty acids; withdrawing substantially clarified liquid from the upflow of the clarified liquid zone; withdrawing substantially solids from about the bottom of the anaerobic zone; employing the aerobic zone for breaking down carbon chains and oxidizing volatile fatty acids dispersed from the anaerobic zone; interacting the aerobic and anoxic zones for the removal of nitrates; and interacting the aerobic, anaerobic ananoxic zones for the removal of phosphorus.
This invention relates to a biological process for treating wastewater, including processing the wastewater to reduce its waste strength to desirable levels for ground water return or better, reducing the total amount of suspended solids in the wastewater to acceptable levels, and removing harmful nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients from the wastewater. The invention also relates to a practical system and method for performing the process.
DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
Traditionally, it has been the overall objective of wastewater treatment to prevent the pollution of surface waters by decreasing the amount of suspended solids, decrease the BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand normally measured in milligrams per liter and also referred to as BOD-5 signifying measurements over 5 days) in the final effluent and also decrease of the nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in the final effluent. Another important objective was the reduction of pathogens responsible for diseases. Further definitions for terms used herein are set forth in the definitions attached at the end of the written description.
Wastewater treatment typically includes primary, secondary and tertiary treatment. Typically, during primary treatment, floating materials are screened out; sandy materials are removed; oil and grease is skimmed off; floating materials are shredded and ground; and, finally, solid materials are settled out in sedimentation tanks. In this stage of treatment, biological activity is not particularly important, although some digestion of sludge and dissolved organic matter can occur during long holding times.
During secondary treatment, the sewage effluent from primary treatment has typically been biologically processed using either an activated sludge process or a trickling filter process. The objective of secondary treatment has traditionally been the reduction of most of the BOD and, in some systems (e.g., the Bardenpho system), the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus.
Tertiary treatment has traditionally included abiotic treatments (eg. chemical addition and filtering) that further remove BOD, harmful nutrients, pathogens and some toxic compounds. Phosphorus, e.g., was typically precipitated out to calcium phosphate through liming and small particulate organic matter was typically removed with sand and charcoal filters. Further, sludge from primary or secondary treatment is typically transferred to an anaerobic sludge digester, so as to reduce the total mass of the sludge, reduce odors and other offensive characteristics and to decrease the population of pathogens residing therein. In the activated sludge process, air or pure oxygen is added to the effluent coming from primary treatment. Under these conditions, a conglomerate of metabolizing microbes consisting of bacteria, fungi and protozoa (e.g., a floc) is visible. The formation of the floc is desirable, since it reduces BOD, suspended solids and colloidal materials (e.g., clay) from the effluent. The floc may also be important in reducing the concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in the effluent. A good floc may be characterized by its capacity to adsorb substrates, to assimilate and oxidize organic matter, to oxidize nitrogen compounds and to settle out along with the majority of organic matter and colloidal materials. As a floc settles, it reduces BOD, suspended solids and colloidal materials, such as clay from the effluent. Under aerobic conditions, the most abundant bacteria in the floc is usually thought to be Zooglea such as, chemoorganoheterotrophs. However, chemolithoautotrophs, such as the nitrifyers, (e.g., nitrosomonas and nitrobacter) are common. Protozoa are important in the constitution of a floc since they contribute to its structure and reduce effluent turbidity. The most common of these types of protozoa are cilliates but amoeba are also present. Bulking refers to the condition where a floc is bulky and loosely compacted. This condition prevents the floc from settling and is commonly associated with an overabundance of filamentous bacteria such as Sphaerotilus and Thiothrix. Bulking is particularly undesirable since large quantities of the floc may be associated with final effluent due primarily to it.
In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition by environmental protection professions of the adverse impact caused by the discharge of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients to aquatic environments. Ammonia-nitrogen discharges can result in increased oxygen demand in the receiving stream, as well as depressed dissolved oxygen concentrations. Ammonia-nitrogen can also be toxic to aquatic organisms. Nitrite-nitrogen can also be toxic. Nitrogen and phosphorus discharges can enrich receiving water bodies, resulting in the undesirable growth of algae and other aquatic plants, which is known as eutrophication. In an effort to address this problem, the Bardenpho Process was developed. This process primarily involves the modification of conventional secondary treatment to include steps for the removal of nitrogen and phosphorous. See, e.g., Barnard, J. L. (1978) The Bardenpho process, In Advances In Water and Wastewater Treatment, Biological Nutrient Removal (eds. M. P. Wanielista and W. W. Eckenfelder), Ann Arbor Science, pp. 79–114.
The use of microorganisms (e.g., bacteria contained in an activated sludge) in the breakdown of organic wastes in influent streams, while simultaneously removing nutrients (the term ‘nutrient’ in wastewater context normally refers primarily to undesirable Phosphorus and Nitrates), has now gained almost universal acceptance in the field of sewage treatment. This raw sewage has a relatively high biological oxygen demand (BOD), and the breakdown products are typically lower molecular weight volatile fatty acids (VFA) such as acetic, propionic or butyric acids. The composition is also high in suspended solids. Nitrogen is present as ammonia and organic and phosphorous is present as inorganic phosphates.
It is known that the naturally occurring populations of microorganisms found in activated sludge are highly diverse, and represent a spectrum of genera ranging from strict aerobes to facultative anaerobes to obligate anaerobes. Each of these classes of organisms under appropriate manipulation can achieve some objective of the waste treatment process. Increasingly, it has become an objective of wastewater treatment processes to remove undesirable nutrients such as total nitrogen including organic nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, and oxidized nitrogen and phosphates, in addition to achieving removal of organic matter, which can affect delicate ecological balances. An understanding of the metabolism and catabolism of different classes of microbes has led to the design of various treatment protocols taking advantage of these natural processes.
Organic compounds provide food for bacterial growth. The organics, both simple and complex, contained in wastewater, fuel this growth. Under aerobic conditions, three types of metabolism can occur: (1) substrate oxidation in which organic compounds are converted to carbon dioxide and water; (2) synthesis in which organic compounds and nutrients are converted to cell protoplasm; and (3) endogenous respiration in which protoplasm is converted to carbon dioxide, nutrients, and water, as described in Metcalf & Eddy, Waste Water Engineering, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill: 1991. In addition, energy and a metabolizable carbon source are also needed for nutrient utilization. Under anaerobic conditions, organic compounds can be further fermented to VFAs (Volatile Fatty Acids), primarily by anaerobic and facultative species. The two principal undesirable nutrients requiring removal from wastewater are inorganic phosphate and nitrogenous compounds. Influent wastewater typically contains organic nitrogen and ammonia in the form of ammonium (NH4+). Hydrolysis of organic nitrogen and conversion of ammonia to free nitrogen gas (N2), which can readily be stripped from solution to the atmosphere, requires two distinct processes. During nitrification, ammonia is converted first to nitrite (NO2−) by autotrophic oxidation involving Nitrosomonas spp. and related organisms, followed by further oxidation to nitrate (NO3−) involving Nitrobacter spp. A relatively broad range of heterotrophic facultative organisms then convert nitrate to free nitrogen (N2) in a series of steps. The basic multi-step process for nitrification and denitrification is set forth in the following reactions:
Nitrification:
NH4+1.5 O2→NO2+2H++H2O (1)
(Nitrosomonas)
NO2+0.5 O2→NO3 (Nitrobacter) (2)
Denitrification:
NO3+organic carbon→N2+CO2+OH− (facult.) (3)
Studies have shown that step (1) is rate limiting for nitrification and that Nitrobacter converts NO2− as an electron acceptor very quickly to NO3−. Meanwhile, denitrification is dependent on the availability of organic carbon sources. It will be apparent that the nitrogen removal process requires first an aerobic step in which oxidation of ammonia to nitrate occurs (nitrification), followed by an anoxic step in which anoxic organisms convert nitrate and nitrite to free nitrogen, which can be released (denitrification). The earliest and most basic biological water treatment utilized constant aeration. There are of two treatment methods: fill, reactions and draw, and conventional flow through reaction followed by settling.
In more recent fill, reactions and draw processes, wastewater undergoes alternating anaerobic/anoxic and aerobic phases to attain carbonaceous organic oxidation, nitrification, and denitrification. After a settling phase, the clarified water is drawn off. In a multi-cell approach, primary clarified water is mixed with activated sludge to form mixed liquor, which is then passed through multiple aerobic/anoxic cells in a continuous flow process, and finally it enters a secondary clarifier. A portion of the sludge that settles out is returned to be mixed with wastewater to form the mixed liquor. The aeration step helps to create biomass under the two aerobic processes outlined above and also to nitrify ammonia. Denitrification then occurs to some extent upon establishment of anoxic conditions in the anoxic cells and secondary clarifier. In the latter, denitrification depends only on endogenous respiration.
Phosphorous Removal
Modern systems also seek to remove phosphorus species while simultaneously exchanging VFAs (Volatile Fatty Acids) for phosphates. Removal of phosphates occurs in two steps. It is mediated by a group of phosphorous-rich microorganisms (Bio-P), principally Acinetobacter spp. and some Aeromonas. These organisms, when present in sludge passing through an anaerobic zone, use stored energy in the form of poly-phosphate to absorb food materials, principally VFA, and store it as poly-□-hydroxybutyrate (PHB). In the process, the organisms release phosphates as the polyphosphates are broken down to release energy. This treatment zone must be anaerobic rather than anoxic, so that it is depleted of nitrates which would otherwise inhibit phosphate release and VFA absorption by the microorganism. Occasionally, raw wastewater contains oxidized nitrogen species that may inhibit the process.
In the second step of phosphate removal, the aerobic bacteria contained in the sludge now moving through an aerobic zone metabolize the PHB and take up phosphates as biomass increases. Since more phosphate is taken up by the Bio-P organisms than was previously released, the difference is known as luxury uptake. In many conventional processes, VFAs from primary sludge fermentation are added to provide a carbon source for growth, and a low molecular weight carbonaceous compound such as acetic acid or methanol is added to provide an organic carbon source during denitrification. As cell growth depletes the absorbed organic carbon source with concomitant phosphorus uptake, the organisms switch to endogenous respiration with formation of flocks of senescent cells that settle out typically in a secondary clarifier.
The metabolic characteristics of these classes of organisms have been exploited in configuring a number of industrial processes designed to improve the efficiency of wastewater treatment. In the basic A/O system (a single-sludge suspended growth system that combines anaerobic and aerobic sections in sequence), two successive tanks or basins are provided. Influent water first undergoes an anaerobic digestion step in which organics are fermented to VFAs along with phosphorous release and VFA absorption, followed by an aerobic step in a separate tank. The effluent is then further purified by settling in a clarifier. From a nutrient standpoint, denitrification can occur in the first tank, with further nitrification of ammonia and stripping of nitrogen gas in the second tank. In this process, the recycling of sludge is important for two reasons: the biomass acts as a source of mixed liquor in the first tank and the recycled nitrates are denitrified. Phosphates are released under the anaerobic conditions of the first tank, and taken up under the aerobic conditions in the second tank. Examples of a basic A/O type process are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,153 (Spector) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,722 (Nicholas).
Even though there is a coupling of anaerobic and aerobic processes, this system is relatively inefficient, with large volumes of fluid and long retention (treatment) times. Inorganics, undesirable nutrients and organic matter escape into the clarifier because not all of the dissolved material is distributed properly.
Another source of inefficiency is the constant dilution of raw material in the anaerobic tank with recycled sludge containing oxidized nitrogen and new influent.
There are many modifications of the basic A/O type process, which can generally be divided into linear versus sequencing (nonlinear) categories. Variations of the A/O linear configuration include the A2O process which includes separate anaerobic, anoxic, and aerobic zones with two recycle loops, one from the final clarifier to the anaerobic zone, and one from the aerobic outlet to the anoxic zone. The A2O system splits the anaerobic and aerobic zones to several cells, and is very similar to the Bardenpho process. The advantage of this system is that it does not compromise the anaerobic zone by recycling material containing high levels of nitrates. Rather the high nitrate material is returned to anoxic conditions for denitrification. The five stage Bardenpho process adds a second anoxic and aerobic zone in series to the anaerobic, anoxic and aerobic A2O system, but retains the A2O recycle loops. While theoretically increasing the capacity of the system, it also has the advantage of combining the nutrient/BOD reducing recycle steps with a separate anoxic, aerobic cycle that treats the entire effluent volume.
Other linearly configured treatment systems employ a second oxic cell after settling and prior to mixing to form mixed liquor. U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,967 (Block) contains a number of linear treatment cells connected by bottom-disposed apertures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,585 (Hong) has a series of anaerobic cells and aerobic cells that are interconnected within a treatment series by bottom disposed apertures, but where the anaerobic cell series is connected to the aerobic series by a top disposed aperture, which in turn communicates through a top aperture with a clarifier. An interesting variation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,043 (Kos) in which recycled sludge from the oxic tank is returned to the anaerobic tank after being retained in an exhaust tank to deplete nitrate levels. Another more complex linear-type system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,681 (Kos) in which a series of anaerobic/aerobic treatment loops containing an exhaust tank are connected together in series with a terminal recycle after clarification.
In the alternating or sequencing reactor systems, mixed liquor or treatment sludge can be directed to more than one tank destination at various times. Thus, a given tank can carry out one treatment process in one-step and another treatment process in a different step. There is generally a more efficient use of equipment because each tank or treatment cell is not dedicated to a single treatment step. This provides for flexibility in designing treatment protocols, especially in varying treatment times for different steps in response to the content of the influent.
An early sequencing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,965 (Tholander) in which influent is directed to one of two raceways interconnected by a valved conduit. Water entering one raceway can be treated under an aerobic or anaerobic condition as desired, passed to the second raceway also capable of varied treatment and then discharged to a large clarifier. In a second cycle, influent is directed to the second raceway, passed to the first and is discharged to the same clarifier. These systems are also known as DE-Ditch processes when influent and mixed liquor is first conditioned in an anaerobic tank. In a variation, a clarifier can be eliminated by using, alternatively, one or the other ditch as a settling container, with clarified water being discharged over an adjustable weir. An advantage of the process is the creation of an anoxic zone in a non-aerated ditch, while providing a carbon source for denitrification, in this case by adding influent wastewater containing degradable carbon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,996 (Lansdell) discloses an alternating system having three series of cells linearly interconnected for continuous flow operation in which two of the three cell series are operated aerobically at any given time and one series operates anoxically. At each treatment cycle, a different set of two series is aerobic, and the other set is quiescent for settling. The system operates without a separate clarifier, and is not equipped with a sludge return. This is possible because the activated sludge is alternately subjected to anoxic or aerobic conditions by changing the conditions in the respective cell series. The alternating conditions thus are the biological equivalent of a return cycle to the counter conditions of an earlier treatment phase.
In a variation of Tholander, U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,636 (Bundgaard) combines the alternating two-tank anoxic/aerobic treatment strategy with a second aerobic treatment cell followed by a clarifier. Clarified sludge is returned to the inlet manifold. Various other nitrogen and phosphorous removal schemes are described in books “Phosphorus and Nitrogen Removal from Municipal Wastewater, Principles and Practice” Second Edition, Richard Sedlak, Editor, Lewis Publishers, 1991, “Biological and Chemical Systems for Nutrient Removal” A Special Publication, Prepared by the Task Force on Biological and Chemical Systems for Nutrient Removal, Movva Reddy, Chair, Water Environment Federation, 1998, and in patents, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,788,127, 2,875,151, 3,236,766, 3,964,998, 4,056,465, 4,162,153, 4,183,807, 4,183,808, 4,183,809, 4,183,810, 4,271,026, 4,488,967, 4,500,427, 4,500,429, 4,874,519, 4,867,883, 4,874,519, 4,917,805, 4,948,510, 4,999,111, 5,013,441, 5,022,993, 5,076,928, 5,076,929, 5,098,572, 5,160,043, 5,182,021, 5,213,681, 5,288,405, 5,480,548, 5,601,719, and 5,651,891.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634 awarded to Haskell Edwards reveals an apparatus and method for treating wastewater and solids and Biological Nutrient Removal in a single vessel and also provides clarification of the treated water within the single vessel. The vessel contains an airlift located in the upper portion and center of the vessel. Air is introduced at the bottom of the inverted cone shaped airlift ending with a narrow neck, transferring dissolved oxygen to the liquid and providing circulation of liquid between the airlift and the outer aerated zone. Water entering the bottom of the airlift flows out of the top of the airlift and creates an adjacent aerated zone. The adjacent aerated reactor is a vertical zone created by a baffle parallel to the airlift and clarification zone within the vessel. Immediately below the airlift and aerobic reactor is an anoxic zone. A sludge zone exists below the anoxic zone. This prior design is capable of lowering BOD levels and biologically removing a portion of nitrogen and phosphorus. However, the method of U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634 uses an airlift for transferring dissolved oxygen and movement of MLSS (Mixed liquor and Suspended Solids) into an aeration zone and then still another adjacent aerated zone that does not provide denitrification. Also by having the anoxic zone as a lower extension of the aeration zone in the prior art Edwards apparatus, there is no continuous controlled and interactive processing between the aeration zone and the anoxic zone whereby the aeration zone breaks down long-carbon chain material and digests fatty acids, in the process producing undesirable nitrates, which can only be removed effectively in a well defined anoxic zone that requires more retention time for denitrification than the aeration zone requires for aerobic treatment. By having the lower anoxic zone and upper aeration zone vertically contiguous, it is not possible to individually control the important treatment (retention) times of the mixed liquor in the vertically juxtaposed lower anoxic zone and its contiguous upper aeration zone, since narrowing or widening of the aeration zone affects the flow in both zones that are virtually in series. Additionally, the prior art apparatus attempts to produce an anoxic environment under the aeration zone by drawing liquid through the vessel's lowermost sludge zone and mixing that polluted liquid from the sludge zone with the influent and then delivering that mixture into the treatment vessel (FIG. 2 in U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634). Such mixing of liquid drawn through the sludge zone for the purpose of promoting an anoxic zone adversely affects the characteristics of the influent before even treatment begins. That mixing also affects all the upper zones of the Edwards prior art apparatus through further intermingling of a portion of the influent that emanates from the sludge zone with the aerated mixed liquor. Further undesirable intermingling of a portion of the polluted influent occurs with the mixed liquor in the adjacent aerated containment vessel and consequently intermingling occurs with the liquid that enters the annular junction of the clarifier. Such mixing is not conducive to achieving controlled treatment environments through well-defined treatment environments that are necessary for the required biological processes. Furthermore the prior art Edwards apparatus lacks controlled retention time related interaction between the aerobic and anoxic zones required for the removal of nitrates and the aerobic, anaerobic and anoxic interactions necessary for phosphorus removal.
Thus, despite the foregoing advancements in the prior art, there nonetheless exists a broad and long felt need for a process that more effectively treats wastewater and removes undesirable nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients from wastewater. There also is the need for performing such an effective process in a system that is more compact, self-contained, easy to maintain, easy to operate, widely applicable, less cumbersome mechanically and more cost-effective than traditional processes and systems. The instant invention satisfies those long felt needs and otherwise provides solutions to various problems recognized by the prior art.
Thus, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a new and advantageous wastewater treatment system and process that has aerobic, anoxic, facultative, anaerobic, clarification and sludge zones in a single vessel. It is another object of the instant invention to configure the aerobic, anoxic, facultative, anaerobic, clarification and sludge zones of a single vessel wastewater treatment vessel in a new configuration that achieves a more beneficial interaction between those zones to achieve an overall better processing of the wastewater, including removal of undesirable nitrates and phosphorus.
It is yet another object of the invention to control the respective retention (treatment times) in the aerobic and anoxic treatment environments so as to optimize the turnover of the mixed liquor required for proper aerobic and anoxic processing. The instant invention renders those objects and other advantages over the prior art by providing a process that includes: maintaining horizontally adjacent aerobic, anoxic and clarification processing zones, with the aerobic processing zone being the innermost zone of the three concentric annularly disposed zones, the anoxic processing zone being the middle zone and the clarification processing zone being the outermost zone; feeding air into the bottom of the aerobic processing zone and causing an upflow; causing the upflow from the aerobic processing zone to pass into the downflow of the anoxic processing zone; causing at least a portion of the downflow from the anoxic processing zone to pass into the upflow of the aerobic zone; causing at least a portion of the downflow flow from the anoxic processing zone to pass into the upflow of the clarification processing zone; the process further including a vertical processing configuration with the highest processing zone being the aerobic processing zone, under which is a facultative processing zone followed lower by an anaerobic processing zone and finally a sludge zone at the bottom; causing solids to settle from the higher aerobic treatment zone by gravity, by the downflow of the anoxic processing zone and by the upflow of the clarified liquid zone to settle those solids into the anaerobic zone; withdrawing substantially clarified liquid from the uppermost portion of the upflow of the clarified liquid zone; and, finally, withdrawing a substantially solids material from about the bottom of the sludge zone. The invention also provides a system and method for practicing the process. The system includes a bioreactor vessel containing the aforementioned processing zones in a single, vertical and preferably cylindrical treatment vessel.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows a top schematic view of the system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectioned side schematic view of the system of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a vertical sectioned, side view of the system of the present invention, together with its processing zones, auxiliary equipment and support ancillaries.
FIG. 4 show another shows another embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a single vessel multi-zone wastewater bio-treatment system 10 includes a vessel 12 having three concentric (annularly disposed) treatment zones 14, 16, and 18 located in the upper portion of the system. The innermost or center zone 14 is the aerobic zone. Horizontally adjacent to aerobic zone 14 in the middle annulus is the anoxic zone 16. Horizontally adjacent to anoxic zone 16 in the outer annulus is the clarification zone 18. The aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16 zone boundaries are formed by baffles 20, 22 extending vertically down from the upper end of the vessel 12 into the facultative zone 23. The vessel 12 is also referred to herein as the bioreactor or bioreactor vessel.
An influent line 26 feeds influent to aerobic zone 14 from a source, not shown. An effluent line 28 discharges the treated water from the clarification zone 18 to a receiving site, not shown. A sludge conduit 30 is located at the bottom of vessel 12 and discharges the sludge produced in the process of treatment to a disposal site, not shown.
The system 10, as described in detail below, may be operated remotely by control system 32 coupled to a telemetry system 34 and connected to the various control components attendant to operating the treatment processes.
The vessel 12 comprises a cylindrical upper section 40, an inwardly and downwardly tapered frustoconical middle section 42 and a cylindrical lower section 44. The inner baffle 20 forms the outer boundaries of aerobic zone 14. The lower end of baffle 22 has a frustoconical section 43 having an outwardly and downwardly sloping wall towards the outer wall of the middle section 42 establishing therebetween and annular inlet port 48 to the clarification zone 18. The outer baffle 22 and the outer wall of bioreactor vessel 10 form the clarification zone 18. Means of controlling the flow into clarification zone 18 (not shown) may be disposed at or about port 48. The sloping walls assist in sliding solids into lower zones and similarly slide off any solids that gain entry into the clarification zone 18 through the inlet port 48. An air conduit 49 feeds an air diffuser array 50 located at the bottom of aerobic zone 14 creating an aerobic environment thereabove.
The area below air diffuser array 50 is the facultative zone 23, which is a transition zone between the upper and lower treatment zones of vessel 12. The facultative zone 23 is created by the mixing of flows from the upper and lower environments of vessel 10. Thus, facultative zone 23 is an environment for facultative organisms that can digest hydrocarbons in both the presence and absence of oxygen (facultative bacteria can live under aerobic or anaerobic conditions).
Under facultative zone 23, the level of oxygen drops to anaerobic level conditions, forming anaerobic zone 52 that is the above sludge zone 54 at the base of the lower section 44. The demarcations between the lower treatment zones are not as well defined as the upper treatment zones, due to the inherent nature of the processing in the lower zones. As an example, depending on the amount of sludge produced (which depends on the characteristics of the wastewater at any given time), the sludge ‘blanket’ (details of sludge not shown) level at the bottom of vessel 10 can rise or fall, affecting the ‘boundaries’ of the anaerobic zone 52 right above it. The sludge conduit 30 at the bottom of vessel 12 discharges the sludge produced from the treatment process.
The walls of middle section 42 of the vessel 12 below the upper treatment zones 14, 16, and 18 are sloped down towards the center of vessel 12 to promote the sliding down of remaining heavier particles from clarification zone 18 into the lower anaerobic zone 52. The base 56 of the lower section 44 is also sloped down towards the center of vessel to help with the settling of the sludge.
The interaction of aerobic zone 14 and anaerobic zone 52 was discussed earlier with respect to the removal of nitrates, which are produced by aerobic zone
It will be appreciated that the processes and the system of the invention employ an anoxic zone 16 that is adjacent to an aerobic zone 14, whereas the prior art Edwards apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634 only has an aerated zone adjacent to its central aerating inverted funnel. The configuration of the system of the invention allows aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16 to be independently sized for controlling the desired retention (treatment) time in each of those zones inasmuch as they perform different tasks.
The aerobic zone 14 of the system of the invention performs the breaking down of long carbon chains and digesting (oxidizing) fatty acids produced through interaction with lower anaerobic zone 52, which digests the heavier solids settling down by the gravity. The digestion of the heavier solids in anaerobic zone 52 produces volatile fatty acids that disperse into aerobic zone 14. The upflow of the volatile fatty acids into aerobic zone 14 is also assisted by the upflow current induced by the airflow introduced by air diffuser array 50 as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 3. The aerobic processes performed by aerobic zone 14 produce undesirable nitrates, which are removed through close and continuous interaction between aerobic zone 14 and its adjacent anoxic zone 16.
For a better understanding of how aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16 are sized to achieve desirable treatment times of the mixed liquor in each of those zones, the following illustrative data relates to the design of a full-scale plant for treating wastewater from a slaughterhouse. For treatment through these zones, it has been experimentally discovered that a desirable retention time for treatment in aerobic zone 14 is around ⅓ of the time and the desirable retention time for treatment in anoxic zone 16 is around ⅔ of the time. As an illustration, engineering considerations for a single vessel multi-zone wastewater treatment plant using the processes of the system of the invention can include the following:
Flow: 650 m3/day.
BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand): 1000 mg/l
Reactor organic loading rate: 650 kg/day
Reactor design criteria: 2 kg/m3
Reactor volume: 325 m3
Aerobic reactor zone ⅓ (10 minutes): 108 m3
Anoxic reactor zone ⅔ (20 minutes): 217 m3
Resultant reactor diameter and height respectively:
Aerobic portion 5.14 m by 5.2 m (app. 17 ft. by 17 ft.)
Anoxic portion 8.92 m by 5.2 m (app. 30 ft. by 17 ft.)
Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the system and process of the instant invention, together with auxiliary equipment and support ancillaries. For clarity, repetitions of descriptions previously covered are minimized. Therein, the bioreactor vessel 12 includes aerobic zone 14, anoxic zone 16 and clarification zone 18 that are annularly disposed within the upper portion of vessel 12. The vessel 12 has the upright cylindrical upper section 40, the inwardly tapering frustoconical middle section 40 and the conical bottom or lower section 44. The wastewater influent line 26 feeds wastewater to aerobic zone 14 at the top of vessel 12. Alternately, the wastewater can be fed at the lower portion of aerobic zone 14. Air conduit 49 provides air to the bottom of aerobic zone 14 through the air diffuser array 50.
In a filled vessel per FIG. 3, when air is introduced at the bottom of aerobic zone 14 through air diffuser array 50, an upflow in the direction of the arrows is produced of the mixed liquor (the fluid with a culture of microorganisms—a mixture of liquid and lighter biosolids that have not settled into the lower zones of vessel 12) in aerobic zone 14. As the mixed liquor from aerobic zone 14 overflows into its adjacent anoxic zone 14, a downward flow is produced into anoxic zone 16 as indicated by the flow direction arrows. As the downflow from anoxic zone 16 reaches the bottom of the inner baffle 20, some of the flow leaving anoxic zone 16 is induced to flow back into aerobic zone 14 from the upflow current caused by the upflow of air from air array diffuser 50 reversely into aerobic zone 12 as indicated by the inwardly directed arrows. Another portion of the flow leaving anoxic zone 16 goes into clarification zone 18 through its narrow entry port 48 between outer baffle 22 and middle section 42 as indicated by the outwardly curved arrows. The sloping walls cause solids entering clarification zone 18 to slide out of that zone. It was discovered that throttling port 48, slows the upflow into clarifier 18, increasing the filtration action of the liquid flowing into the clarifier 18 though facultative zone 23. The filtering affect is produced from the consistency of the contents of facultative zone 23, which act similar to sand in nature filtering water flowing through it. The solids from the upper treatment zones are caused to settle into the anaerobic zone 52 by gravity and by the flow out of anoxic zone 16, passing through the transition facultative zone 23 where facultative organisms remove some hydrocarbons. The solids reaching the anaerobic zone 52 are absorbed by anaerobic bacteria and synthesize volatile fatty acids, portions of which disperse into aerobic zone 14 where oxidation occurs producing nitrates. The anoxic zone 16 performs continuous denitrification (removal of nitrates) and interacts with aerobic zone 14 though the flows described above. Another interaction between aerobic zone 14 and the anaerobic zone at the bottom portion of vessel 12 performs the complex task of phosphorus removal. The process of biological removal of phosphorus was discussed earlier and is here discussed specifically in relation to the system and process of the invention. Removal of phosphorus from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants is critical in preventing eutrophication (increased growth of non-beneficial plants and animals due to phosphorus) of surface waters. Exposing the mixed liquor to the anaerobic/aerobic sequence and interaction (including some anoxic interaction) that occurs in the vessel 12 selects microorganisms that accumulate higher levels of intracellular phosphorus than other microorganisms. As discussed above, the anaerobic fermenter organisms of the anaerobic zone 52 absorb and synthesize volatile fatty acids. Phosphorus-removing microorganisms are able to rapidly assimilate and store those volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and other fermentation products under the anaerobic conditions in the anaerobic zone 52 of the bioreactor vessel 12. Phosphorus is released in anaerobic zone 52 to produce the energy needed to take up the fermentation products, which are stored as poly-β-hydroxybutyrate. The stored fermentation products are utilized by phosphorus-removing microorganisms to produce energy by oxidizing the stored fermentation products in the aerobic zone while simultaneously accumulating intracellular phosphate.
In summary, the ability of phosphorus-removing microorganisms to rapidly assimilate the fermentation products under anaerobic conditions of the anaerobic zone of vessel 12 gives them a competitive advantage over other microorganisms and results in their preferential growth in the wastewater treatment system of the invention. Thus, the configuration and the processes of the system of the invention produce a selection of a large population of phosphorus-removing microorganisms and an efficient aerobic/anaerobic (and some anoxic) interaction for removal of undesirable phosphorus.
From the above discussed nitrate and phosphorus removal provisions, configuration and interactions that characterize the system and process of the invention, it can be comparatively determined that it is a substantial advancement over prior art discussed, especially the Edwards U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634, which essentially is a BOD reduction system, with no specific provisions for the removal of undesirable and harmful nitrates and phosphorus, whereas the system and process of the invention performs better overall treatment that also includes removal of undesirable and harmful nitrates and phosphorus.
A sludge rake 58 adjacent the base 56 is driven through its shaft by sludge rake motor 57 shown at the top of vessel 12. Also connected to the shaft of sludge rake motor 57 is a scum rake 60 that removes debris, such as leaves, from the top of vessel 10. The debris removed by the scum rake 60 is discarded through scum removing conduit 62, which connects to the sludge discharge conduit 30. A line 64 provides a fluid utility connection from clarification zone 16 into the sludge discharge conduit 30. It can be used to partially empty the top portion of clarification zone 18 during maintenance and to provide clean water to clear or water-down sludge buildup that may occur at an automatic sludge valve 66 in the conduit 30. Sludge valves are available from a variety of sources, such as Red Valve Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. Accordingly, substantially only wet solids are withdrawn through sludge discharge conduit 30.
An oxygenation blower 70 delivers air to the air diffuser array 50 through air conduit 49. An optional dosing pump 72 adds beneficial biological nutrients to influent line 26. Beneficial biological nutrients (also referred to as accelerants) can be used with the system of the invention to enhance the diversity and activity of desirable microorganisms in bioreactor vessel 12 and are available from a variety of sources, such as Pegasus Solutions, 486 Bankhead Hwy Carrollton in Georgia. The beneficial biological nutrients can be of a general type or specifically designed for specific wastewater applications, where it would be advantageous to add a custom beneficial nutrient to the influent to enhance a desired diversity of microorganisms. Manufacturers provide application rate recommendations. Dosing pumps are available from a variety of sources, such as Hanna Instruments, Inc. in Woonsocket, R.I.
A lifting station 80 is used to draw influent from a wastewater sump 82 and deliver it to the system of the invention through influent line 26. Two pumps 84 are depicted as is common practice for ensuring the availability of a standby pump in case of problems with the main pump. The pumps normally connect to a common manifold through check valves 86 that prevent the flow of one pump from going into the other pump. The manifold connects to influent line 26. The sump normally receives the wastewater to be treated from a stabilization basin (not shown) that acts as a buffer when the source of influent is intermittent as in a day operation and night stoppage of a process. The pumps used depend on the flow rate desired and the head pressure to be encountered, as anyone skilled in the art can determine. Where the influent source is steady, the system of the invention allows direct pumping of the influent into the vessel 12. The pumps can be acquired from a wide variety of sources, such as from HOMA Pump Technology, in Ansonia, Conn.
The motors of the pumps of lifting station 80, the oxygenation blower 70, the optional beneficial nutrient dosing pump 72 and sludge/scum rake 58 are controlled and powered by conventional methods, such as contactors with on/off and interlocked controls, as any one skilled in the art can choose to implement. A catwalk 90 facilitates performing desired measurements and routine inspections of bioreactor vessel 12.
Another illustrative control approach for the process and system of the invention would include an off-the-shelf programmable logic controller (PLC) at the heart of the control system 32. Control system 32 includes inputs, outputs, software for instructions and networking capability. Inputs to the control system 32 would include inputs from dissolved oxygen sensors located at different points and levels in the aerobic, anoxic, facultative-transition and anaerobic zones. Additionally, inputs to control system 32 can also include the speed of the oxygenation blower 70, sludge density, sludge level, float switch positions, the level of the optional beneficial biological nutrient, flow rate indications in the various zones and other sensed conditions that reflect on the operation of the process and system performance and which can be used for affecting adjustments, related outputs, related reporting, diagnostics and alarm outputs as well. Controller 32 provides outputs based on its software instruction acting in conjunction with sensed input conditions as discussed above. As an example, control outputs to pumps 84 will be based on the input into control system 32 from a float switch (not shown) which would reflect the level of influent in the aerobic zone. Control outputs to control the speed of oxygenation blower 70 would be correlated by control system 32 to the sensed demand for Oxygen in the aerobic zone. Programmed timed control outputs from control system 32 to the optional dosing pump will regulate the intervals of dosing pump 72. Control system 32 can also regulate the rate of flow from aerobic zone 14 into anoxic zone 16 by means of one or more adjustable ports between the zones (port 59 as shown in FIG. 4) based on sensed oxygen levels in the anoxic zone. Other control outputs for control system 32, such as alarm indications and reporting on the control positions or status of the various controlled elements can be programmed. The software for the PLC in control system 32 can be written in any language convenient, such as C++ language and compiled into Assembler or Machine Language. Control system 32 would be further interfaced with the power control systems that can be solid state or electromechanical, as well known to those skilled in the art of making electrical control panels. Most modern programmable logic controllers also allow networking with local computers, supervisory terminals and local area networks for communication with system elements and remote supervisory equipment, such as remote supervisory computers.
An example of a commercially available PLC that can be used as the heart of control system 32 is the GPC553 general-purpose industrial programmable logic controller made by MicroSHADOW Research, Via Garibaldi, 19020 Ceparana (SP), Italy. The GPC553 PLC uses embedded firmware programming in C, C++, Assembler and other programming languages using DOS or Windows. It interfaces to computers via its RS232 interface. The illustrative GPC553 PLC unit utilizes a Philips80C552 microcontroller. It has 8 outputs for solid state or relay operation, 8 analog/digital channels and 15 optically isolated inputs.
The instant system of the invention is integrated in a single vessel and thus can be enhanced economically and advantageously through the incorporation of a telemetry and remote control system 34, working in conjunction with the control system 32 to allow remote monitoring and control of the system of the invention. The remote control system 34 can operate over a local area network, over the Internet or wireless networks. The local area networks and Internet-based networks are widely used and well know to those skilled in the art. For wireless operation, illustratively, the telemetry and remote control system 34 can include a communication portion, a decoder, a microprocessor, a logic line interface, inputs outputs and software. The decoder can be discrete or embedded in the microprocessor. The telemetry and remote control system 34 can operate over cellular networks that are designed for narrow band or wide band PCS operation, using well known TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and FDM (Frequency Division Multiplex) protocols as convenient. The remote control system 34 can also utilize satellite bands and their common protocols where remote monitoring and control is desired over large distances. Alternately, less commonly known but preferable for nationwide coverage, would be the use of two-way paging networks, such as ReFlex two-way paging networks.
An illustrative example of a communication approach for monitoring and remote control that can readily used with the system of the invention because of its single vessel integrated design is Motorola's CreataLink2XT unit that operates over two-way ReFlex networks in the 800–900 MHz UHF (Ultra High Frequency) Band. It is equipped with serial and parallel interface ports, 8 custom configurable inputs/outputs, 6 collector outputs and operable on 5 to 12 Volts DC (Direct Current). The software for such remote control would be written so that each command from a remote control location includes a destination identification (ID) of the treatment plant of the invention to be accessed, a source ID, a security code corresponding to the security code embedded in the remote receiving unit at the plant and instructions that will be received by remote control system 34 and communicated via a communication port to the PLC in control system 32.
For monitoring the remote integrated wastewater treatment system of invention, the control system 32 can be polled remotely or by the program instructions to provide remote monitoring of the status of the system and its sub-elements, to provide confirmation of remote commands, to provide diagnostic data based on sensor inputs to the PLC of control system 32 and alarms when required. Transmissions from the remote control system 34 at the single vessel integrated treatment plant of the invention would include a plant ID, a security code and a message including reporting data, such as the status of the system and its sub-elements, confirmations of remote commands, diagnostic data based on inputs to the PLC of control system 32 and alarms when required.
The telemetry and remote control system 34 is made practical by the integrated design of the system of the invention and affords great advantages to the user, who can contract remote monitoring and adjustment tasks with the supplier of the plants based on the system of the invention and minimize the risks of problems caused by inexperienced operators and illegitimate users, while providing pre-emptive resolutions to anticipated or changing conditions in vessel 10 and changes in the parameters that affect the performance of the system.
The wireless embodiment of telemetry and remote control system 34 can operate in any desired portion of the frequency spectrum, including HF (High Frequency), VHF (Very High Frequency), UHF (Ultra High Frequency) and SHF (Super High Frequency—commonly referred to as microwave) Bands. Even portions of the radio and TV broadcasting spectrum can be utilized for facilitating the wireless operation of telemetry and remote control system 31.
From tests conducted, the process of the invention requires an environment of around 3 mg/liter of oxygen for ideal treatment in the aerobic zone 14. For proper treatment, anoxic zone 16 requires an environment with an oxygen level of around 0.05 to 0.2 mg/liter. The facultative zone 23 usually functions in the range of around 0.2 to 0.5 mg/liter of oxygen depending on the oxygen levels in the upper, more critical aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16. These oxygen level in aerobic zone 14 can be adjusted by adjusting the rate of air delivery to the aerobic zone in response to sensed oxygen levels that are measured at around 6 ft (or 9 ft for larger vessels) from the top level of the contents in vessel 10. The air delivery can be varied by varying the speed of blower 70 according to sensed oxygen levels according to the programmed instructions of control system 32. The oxygen level in anoxic zone 16 is influenced by the flow rate of mixed liquor from aerobic zone 14 into anoxic zone 16 and is discussed under a description of FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 4, another embodiment of the invention is shown with several enhancements that can be readily integrated into the system of the invention and process discussed in previous figures to accommodate special applications and custom requirements. One such enhancement is the integration of port 59 into the baffle 20 separating the aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16. It has been discovered that the incorporation of one or more ports, such as port 59 between aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16 affects the oxygen levels in anoxic zone 16. The size of the port determines how much aerated mixed liquor flows into the anoxic zone and thus affects the oxygen levels in the anoxic zone. The smaller the opening of port 59, the lower the oxygen level will be in anoxic zone 16. Conversely, the larger the opening of port 59, the higher the oxygen level will be in anoxic zone 16. The opening of port 59 can be made adjustable to adapt automatically or manually to sensed oxygen levels in anoxic zone 16.
Another enhancement in the embodiment of FIG. 4 is the incorporation of a throttling system at the port 48 of the clarification zone 18. As mentioned earlier, it has been discovered that slowing the upflow into the clarification zone 18 at port 48, allows additional filtering of the potential effluent by the environment of facultative zone 23 in a manner similar to sand filtering water flowing though it. Thus, such controlled slowing of the upflow from facultative zone 23 can significantly improve the quality of the effluent in general use and during special conditions, such as storms that can dramatically affect a municipal influent. However, testing has indicated that continuous throttling of port 48 at any point eventually starts drawing in the filtering medium itself from facultative zone 23 and negatively affects the quality of the influent. The solution to deriving the benefits of this additional filtering and not its drawbacks (when overused) is in the form of wheel 55 that is mounted on the shaft of rake motor 56.
Wheel 55 is positioned directly under port 48. It is an open wheel with spokes that does not affect the interactions of the upper and lower treatment zones. The perimeter of wheel 55 is shaped similar to a cam with a perfect circle in its center. Just as with a cam, the outer edge of wheel 55 changes from a narrow strip to a wider strip as shown in the top view detail of wheel 55 in FIG. 4. As the rake shaft turns slowly, at any given point of the circular port 48, wheel 55 gradually throttles the port opening at that point and then gradually opens it up as the eccentrically edged wheel continues to turn. Thus, temporary and gradual slowing of flow into port 48 is realized at every point around the clarifier circumference, followed by gradual and smooth increased flow into port 48. Wheel 55 can be made of corrosion resistant metal or composites.
For illustration of the post-treatment interfacing capabilities of the system of the invention, the incorporation of a post-treatment disinfecting unit 89 is shown in FIG. 4. Disinfecting unit 89 is directly integrated with the system of the invention and can an ultraviolet disinfecting unit that is located on the effluent line 28, before the effluent is delivered for use. Such disinfection units are already in wide use in wastewater treatment systems, but the system of the invention makes them especially practical since they can be directly incorporated to derive a single vessel wastewater treatment system with integral means of disinfecting the effluent. The same applies to the incorporation of a post treatment filter 88, which can be any type of ultrafiltration unit that is available on the market.
Where certain stringent applications, such as hog wastewater treatment applications, require treatment of influents with very high levels of total suspended solids (TSS) that exceed 22,000 mg/liter, the system of the invention can be readily integrated with a screening and separation system. A preferred screening and separation system developed for direct integration with the system of the invention is shown in FIG. 4. It consists of a screening unit 95 and flocculating unit 94 that are integrated with vessel 10, or located adjacent to it, to intercept the influent with high TSS and deliver screened and flocculated influent into the influent line of vessel 10. Flocs were discussed earlier, including their benefits in wastewater treatment.
Referring to FIG. 4, raw influent with high TSS is pumped into screening unit 95 at the bottom of inverted cone 99. Cone 99 is perforated to screen out large particles. Although screening cone 99 is preferably in the shape of an inverted cone, other suitable shapes can be used based on the same concept. The screened influent from screening unit 95 then flows into flocculating unit 94, where dosing pump 92 injects a flocculating agent 93, such as polymeric aluminum, into the screened influent in flocculating unit 94. Dosing pump 91 is supplied by container 91. Flocculating agents and their dosing rates depend on the type of influent being encountered. The basic system of the invention as described in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 has been tested for influents of 100 to 22,000 BOD-5 mg/liter with up to 20,000 of TSS. Flocculating agents can be formulated by the suppliers to target specific requirements and this is greatly facilitated in the case of the system of the invention due to its extensive treatment range inherent from the incorporation of six specially configured treatment zones and their interactions. One specialized supplier of flocculating agents and related dosing systems is CIBA Specialty Chemicals, located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Since screening cone 99 can be eventually clogged by the high TSS raw influent that flows through it, a back-flush system with nozzles, such as nozzle 98 shown, is included to periodically flush back material that clogs the perforations of screening cone 99. A portion of the clean effluent is pumped through pipe 96 into injectors 98 and through flow control device 97 which can be a solenoid or butterfly valve. When flow control is activated per programmed timing of control system 32, nozzle 98 and other similar nozzles eject high pressure water jets into the screening cone 99 to clear any clogging. Control valves 85 and 87 are programmed to periodically discharge any accumulation respectively in screening unit 95 and flocculating unit 94 into the sludge line 30 or to return the accumulation to the raw influent source, depending on the nature of the raw influent in a particular application. The discharging from valves 85 and 87 can be carried out when the raw influent supply 83 is stopped automatically when vessel 10 is full or through periodic programmed stopping of the raw influent pumps for several minutes. The back-flush system is momentarily activated to facilitate the discharge. Although screening cone 99 is in the shape of an inverted cone, other shapes can be used based on the same concept.
The instant system of the invention is quite versatile and compatible with virtually all pretreatment systems and post treatment systems depending on the requirements of the application due to its single vessel integrated design. When total suspended solids of the influent line 26 are abnormally high, in addition to the above integral screening and flocculation approach, the process and system of the invention can be easily and economically used in conjunction with other screening and separation units, such as centrifugal and screw type separators that typically include a means of screening. When the integrated system of the invention has to cope with substantially varying influent volumes and influent characteristic changes that can also produce sludge rise and contamination of its treatment zones, a pretreatment vessel can be economically used with the invention's integrated design as a buffer and repository for the sludge, which can be facilitated with some aerobic treatment through the introduction of some air into the pretreatment vessel, just as in the process and system of the invention. Where influents are unstable and also there is an abnormally high level of total suspended solids, the above pretreatment vessel can economically and advantageously operate in conjunction with the above mentioned separators due to the single vessel and integrated design of the system of the invention.
Other pretreatment systems that can be readily incorporated into the process and system of the invention because of its unique design and treatment process, include ultrasonic units available from a variety of sources, such as Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com). Ultrasound applications are well knows to those skilled in the art. Ultrasound normally refers to sound energy above the audible range. When such energy is applied to wastewater at sufficiently high intensities its can cause a phenomenon known as ‘cavitation’. This cavitation effect can be used to derive a range of physical, chemical and biological reactions, including the breakup of carbon chains, break up of solids into smaller particles and destruction of various undesirable bacteria, depending on the frequency of the ultrasound energy and location of its source. In the single vessel system of the invention a suitable and convenient location for the breakup of long carbon chains and solids where the ultrasound transducers can be located is influent line 11, before it delivers the wastewater for further processing in its various treatment zones.
The description of the instant invention in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 provide a detailed explanation of the process, system and method of the invention. In addition, various modifications can be made to what is described under those figures without departing from the spirit of the process, system and method of the invention for treating wastewater. As an example, the bottom portion of vessel 10 can be extended in applications where sludge contamination from abnormally varying influent flows would be encountered. As another example, for a similar abnormal situation where some sludge rise would be encountered, an inverted cone baffle made of non-corrosive material and smaller than the diameter of the lower portion of the vessel can be placed above the sludge zone with an opening in the center. The sludge rising from the center opening and sides will encounter some retention and slide off the sloping walls of the inverted cone baffle rather than readily being captured by abnormal upflow currents during abnormal conditions.
Below are illustrative examples derived from tests with respect to the performance of the instant system and processes of the invention, compared to the performance of the prior art Edwards apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,534.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE 1
As an illustration of the process in an experimental slaughterhouse wastewater treatment system, the influent of the prior art experimental system around U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634 includes: water, total suspended solids ranging from 500 to 900 mg/l, Bio-Chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD-5) ranging from 650 to 1000 mg/l, Total Nitrogen ranging from 150 to 200 mg/l and phosphorus ranging from 20 to 40 mg/l.
The effluent of the prior art process and system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634 treating wastewater from the above illustrative slaughterhouse includes water, suspended solids, nitrogen, and phosphorus.
The influent of the instant invention for the above slaughterhouse includes the same characteristics as the influent of the prior art Edwards apparatus.
The effluent of the instant invention treating wastewater from the above slaughterhouse also includes water, suspended solids, nitrogen, and phosphorus.
Table 1 below illustrates the dramatically better processing achieved through application of the process and system of the invention versus the prior art process and apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634.
1. Slaughterhouse Wastewater Treatment System
Total EFFLUENT Suspended Total CHARACTERISTICS BOD-5 Solids Nitrogen Phosphorus Prior Art 38 mg/l 36 mg/l 39 mg/l 32 mg/l Edwards Process Average Values Invention Process 18 mg/l 16 mg/l 9 mg/l 3 mg/l Average Values
The relevant influent compositions (liquid and solid) of the prior art pilot wastewater treatment system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634 with a flow of 2870 liters per day, providing treatment for the discharge of a food processing facility producing French fries includes: water, total suspended solids averaging 3300 mg/l, Bio-Chemical Oxygen Demand BOD-5 averaging 2480 mg/l, Total Nitrogen averaging 140 mg/l and phosphorus averaging 44 mg/l.
The effluent of the prior art system treating wastewater from the above food processing facility includes water, suspended solids, Total Nitrogen and phosphorus.
For the illustrative experimental pilot food processing wastewater treatment system, the influent of the system of the invention includes the same contents and characteristics as the prior art Edwards system.
The effluent of the prior art system treating wastewater from the above food processing facility includes water, suspended solids Total Nitrogen and phosphorus.
Food Processing Wastewater Treatment System
Total EFFLUENT Suspended Total CHARACTERISTICS BOD-5 Solids Nitrogen Phosphorus Prior Art 38 mg/l 39 mg/l 36 mg/l 22 mg/l Edwards Process Average Values Invention Process 19 mg/l 18 mg/l 10 mg/l 3 mg/l Average Values
Table 2 above illustrates the significantly better performance of a food processing pilot experimental wastewater treatment plant that employs the process and system of the invention versus the prior art experimental process and system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,634.
The recirculation in the instant invention can be analyzed using the equations of Euler and Bernoulli for the separation of the flow between each zone at facultative zone 23. As discussed earlier, the flow that emanates from anoxic zone 16 is separated into two different flows. One flow returns to aerobic zone 14, and the other flow enters the clarification zone.
QA (mass balance)=Q clarifier+Q aerobic
QA is the flow from anoxic zone 16.
Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 4, in the system of the instant invention, wastewater is added to the reactor 10 at a given flow rate from the top of aerobic zone 14 on a continuous basis. Since there is no accumulation of liquid inside reactor 10, an equal volume of liquid exits reactor 10 on a continuous basis. The liquid content of reactor 10 continuously circulates between aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16. Tests indicate that desirable retention times of the circulating liquid in aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16 is ideally 12 minutes in aerobic zone 14 and 18 minutes in anoxic zone 16. These values are preset during tests by adjusting the aperture of the inter-zone ports, such as port 59, between aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16, as well as the input power of air compressor 70 that introduces air through air diffusers 50 into aerobic zone 14. The air diffuser array 50 is located at the bottom of aerobic zone 14. This implies that the length of a full cycle of liquid between the two zones of aerobic zone 14 and anoxic 16 is 30 minutes.
Assuming that the volume (Vr) of reactor 10 and the influent wastewater flow rate (Q) are constant, a constant percentage of the reactor 10's liquid content leaves the reactor during any given period. Therefore, the change in time of the mixed liquor volume (dYr/dt) is directly proportional to the volume of mixed liquor in the reactor. This relationship can be mathematically expressed as follows:
dYr/dt=−kYr 1)
Yr=Yie−kt 2)
Where Yr is the volume of mixed liquor at time (t), Yi is the initial volume of mixed liquor that is equal to the overall reactor's volume (Vr), and k is a constant representing the specific rate of liquid volume discharged from the reactor. This constant defines the fraction of liquid discharged from reactor 10 per hour. The fraction of mixed liquor volume in reactor 10 at any given time (t) can be expressed by the following equation:
% Yr=Yr*100/Yi=e−kt*100 3)
Similarly, the volume of wastewater inside reactor 10 at any given time may be expressed as follows:
Yw=Yi(1-e−kt) 4)
Where Yw is the volume of influent wastewater inside the reactor.
The fraction of wastewater liquid based on the total content of reactor 10 is:
% Yw=Yw*100/Yi=(1-e−kt)*100 5)
The following conclusions can be made from equations 1 to 5:
When t=0Yr=Yi The initial volume of mixed liquor is equal to the reactor's overall volume.
When t=0Yw=0 There is no wastewater inside the reactor at time zero and the initial mixed liquor is the only liquid that occupies the reactor.
Similar equations can be used to determine the time-dependent changes in the volume of a discrete volume of wastewater added to reactor 10. It assumes that a fraction of wastewater is continuously leaving reactor 10 as the process is in a continuous mode of operation and there is no liquid accumulation inside reactor 10. The time-dependent change in the volume of this wastewater (Yw) inside reactor 10 is expressed by the following equation:
Yw=Ywie−kt 6)
Where Ywi is the volume of wastewater liquid added to reactor 10 at time zero.
The percentage of wastewater that has left reactor 10 at any given time (t) is found as follows:
% wastewater liquid volume that has left the reactor=(Ywi−Yw)/Ywi 7)
Using Equation 6, the following relationship will result:
% wastewater liquid volume that has left reactor 10 at time (t)=1-e−kt 8)
The average number of cycles for a given quantity of wastewater entering reactor 10 is estimated from the following relationship:
t=−1/k ln(Yw/Ywi) 10)
Average=−1/k□ln(Yw)dYw=−1/k[Yw ln(Yw)−Yw](0-1) 11)
Average=−1/k[−1−0}=1/k 12)
Therefore, the average number of cycles between aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16 for a given quantity of wastewater is equal to 1/k.
The system and process of the invention produce a low amount of biological sludge that is considerably lower than that found in traditional biological treatment systems, such as activated sludge systems. This phenomenon has been observed under different testing conditions, even when the invention's operating conditions are less than favorable, constituting one of the most important attributes of the technology of the invention. The high solids retention time (SRT) of frequently greater than 50 days and the use of an optional beneficial nutritional supplement contribute to the digestion of accumulated sludge in the anaerobic zone and lower the volume of discharge (waste) sludge. However, the main reason behind the generation of low amounts of sludge in the system of the invention is related to its production of considerably less microbial biomass compared to other aerobic, suspended-growth biological treatment systems. The low production of microbial cells that constitute 60%–70% of biological sludge, translates into the generation of considerably lower amounts of sludge by the system of the invention.
The process of the invention employs a high cell concentration biological treatment system. Due to its special design, it has been observed during testing that the major fraction of influent BOD is converted to microbial biomass during the initial stabilization period. During this period, the produced biomass continues to accumulate in the mixed liquor, reaching concentrations of 5–10 times greater than that of the influent BOD while circulating between aerobic zone 14 and anoxic zone 16. After the stabilization period, it has been observed that the influent BOD can no longer support unrestricted microbial growth due to the very high biomass concentration and only supports cell maintenance and minimal cell growth The accumulated microbial biomass continuously degrades the carbonaceous material in the influent wastewater, transforming it into by-products, notably CO2 and water. The other components of wastewater are also metabolized by the active heterotrophic and autotrophic cells in the mixed liquor.
The performance of the system of the invention can be further understood from the results of early tests in 1999 over approximately 2 months. The tests required treating wastewater discharge from a hog slaughterhouse. The flow for the test was 5.5 cu. Meters per day (around 1452 gallons per day):
Influent Wastewater Characteristics
Parameters measured in mg/l
Total TSS COD Soluble COD BOD5 Soluble BOD5 Ammonia-N TKN P
Aug 19 780 2600 1200 1600 910 150 230 25 Aug 24 1100 2800 1100 2200 750 120 180 18 Sep 2 1300 3300 1100 1600 550 110 190 24 Sep 8 810 2300 900 1400 480 55 200 20 Sep 17 790 2800 1300 2100 1100 72 220 29 Sep 21 710 1800 1100 1500 700 59 200 21 Sep 23 860 3000 1100 2300 540 64 230 28 Sep 29 600 2000 780 1500 500 82 190 23 Oct 1 630 3100 1200 1900 940 98 260 29 Oct 5 430 2200 1100 1500 830 55 180 20 Oct 7 1200 2900 1000 2500 580 73 230 21 Oct 13 350 1400 860 1200 520 94 180 16 Average 797 2517 1062 1775 700 86 208 23
Effluent Wastewater Characteristics
In mg/l
Aug 19 10 110 75 24 15 22 30 4.1 Aug 24 10 98 51 14 4.2 19 24 0.5 Sep 2 10 66 51 17 5.9 15 15 1.5 Sep 8 9 47 24 27 7.3 7.1 18 0.6 Sep 17 9 86 51 16 5.3 6.7 11 3.2 Sep 21 10 59 51 19 15 4.4 14 2.0 Sep 23 8 66 47 16 9.1 4.8 16 1.7 Sep 29 10 43 27 18 6 8 12 3.1 Oct 1 10 51 51 9,4 10 5.4 12 3.9 Oct 5 10 70 43 24 4.8 3.8 8.6 3.8 Oct 7 5 66 35 2 2 3.9 4.3 2.3 Oct 13 8.8 66 47 27 13 1.8 8.3 3.5 Average 9 69 46 18 8 8 14 3
Removal of Undesirable Constituents
Total % TSS COD Soluble COD BOD5 Soluble BOD5 Ammonia-N TKN P
Aug 19 99 96 94 99 98 85 87 84 Aug 24 99 97 95 99 99 84 87 97 Sep 2 99 98 95 99 99 86 92 94 Sep 8 99 98 97 98 98 87 91 97 Sep 17 99 97 96 99 100 91 95 89 Sep 21 99 97 95 99 98 93 93 90 Sep 23 99 98 96 99 98 93 93 94 Sep 29 98 98 97 99 99 90 94 87 Oct 1 98 98 96 100 99 94 95 87 Oct 5 98 97 96 98 99 93 95 81 Oct 7 100 98 97 100 100 95 98 89 Oct 13 97 95 95 98 98 98 95 78 Average 99 97 96 99 99 91 93 89
Thus, the system and processes of the instant invention perform wastewater treatment in a single vessel that includes all necessary treatment zones. The treatment zones are so configured as to interact and perform effective treatment of wastewater, including removal of undesirable and harmful nitrates and phosphorus. Advantages derived from the system and process of the invention, when compared to prior art systems and processes, include: a) a smaller plant footprint compared to systems using multiple vessels or spread-out ponds, b) simplified electrical operation of the single vessel system that has only 3 or optionally 4 motors, c) less tankage compared to multiple vessels or ponds, d) removal of undesirable nitrates in the single vessel, e) significant removal of undesirable phosphorus in the same vessel, f) less maintenance requirements due to the simplicity of the single vessel system, g) lower capital cost due to the simplicity of the single vessel system, h) co-treatment of solids and liquids as described, i) no chemical requirements for treatment and j) substantially fewer mechanical elements to adjust.
Activated Sludge Process: An Activated Sludge Process is the process, wherein air or pure oxygen is added to the effluent coming from primary treatment. Under these conditions, a conglomerate of metabolizing microbes consisting of bacteria, fungi and protozoans, referred to as a floc, is visible.
Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP): A common energy-donating molecule in biochemical reactions, an important compound in transfer of phosphate groups.
Aerobic: (i) having molecular oxygen as a part of the environment. (ii) Growing only in the presence of molecular oxygen, as in aerobic organisms. (iii) Occurring only in the presence of molecular oxygen, as in certain chemical or biochemical processes such as aerobic respiration.
Anaerobic: (i) Absence of molecular oxygen. (ii) Growing in the absence of molecular oxygen, such as anaerobic bacteria. (iii) Occurring in the absence of molecular oxygen, as a biochemical process.
Anaerobic Respiration: Metabolic process whereby electrons are transferred from an organic, or in some cases, inorganic compounds to an inorganic acceptor molecule other than oxygen. The most common acceptors are nitrate, sulfate, and carbonate.
Anoxic: Literally meaning “without oxygen.” An adjective describing a microbial habitat almost devoid of oxygen.
ATP (adenosine triphosphate): A common energy-donating molecule in biochemical reactions. It is also an important compound in transfer of phosphate groups.
Autotroph: An organism which uses carbon dioxide as the sole carbon source.
Autotrophic Nitrification: Refers to the oxidation of ammonium to nitrate through the combined action of two chemoautotrophic organisms, one forming nitrite from ammonium and the other oxidizing nitrite to nitrate.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (abbreviated as BOD or BOD-5, the latter signifying a measurement over 5 days): Biochemical Oxygen Demand is an indirect measure of the biologically degradable organic matter in water. It refers to the amount of oxygen that would be consumed if all the organics in one liter of water were oxidized by bacteria and protozoa.
Bulking: Bulking is a condition commonly associated with an overabundance of filamentous bacteria such as Sphaerotilus and Thiothrix. The presence of these organisms causes the floc to be bulky, loosely compacted, thus preventing the floc from settling.
Carbon Cycle: A sequence where carbon dioxide is converted to organic forms by photosynthesis or chemosynthesis, recycled through the biosphere, with partial incorporation into sediments, and ultimately returned to its original state through respiration or combustion.
Catabolism: The biochemical processes involved in the breakdown of organic compounds, usually leading to the production of energy.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): Chemical Oxygen Demand refers to an indirect measure of the amount of oxygen used by inorganic and organic matter in water. The measure is a laboratory test based on a chemical oxidant and, therefore, does not necessarily correlate with biochemical oxygen demand. It is the amount of oxygen, expressed in ppm or mg/l, consumed under specific conditions in the oxidation or organic and oxidizable inorganic matter contained in water.
Chemoautotroph: An organism that obtains energy from the oxidation of chemical, generally inorganic, compounds and carbon from carbon dioxide.
Chemolithotroph: An organism that obtains energy from the oxidation of inorganic compounds and uses inorganic compounds as electron donors.
Chemoheterotroph: An organism that obtains energy and carbon from the oxidation of organic compounds.
Denitrification (Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction): The reduction of nitrate or nitrite to molecular nitrogen or nitrogen oxides by microbial activity (dissimilatory nitrate reduction) or by chemical reactions involving nitrite (chemical denitrification).
Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium (DNRA): The use of nitrate by organisms as an alternate electron acceptor in the absence of oxygen resulting in the reduction of nitrate to ammonium.
Electron Acceptor: A substance that accepts electrons during an oxidation-reduction reaction. An electron acceptor is an oxidant.
Electron Donor: A substance that donates electrons in an oxidation-reduction reaction. An electron donor is a reductant.
Electron-Transport Chain: The final sequence of reactions in biological oxidations composed of a series of oxidizing agents arranged in order of increasing strength and terminating in oxygen.
Eutrophication: A several step process that results from a sudden harmful nutrient enrichment, followed by an explosive algal bloom. This bloom results in exhaustion of microharmful nutrients, resulting in an algal population crash. The decomposition of the dead algal biomass exhausts the dissolved oxygen in the water, precipitating fish kills.
Facultative Anaerobe: Organisms that do not require oxygen for growth but nonetheless grow better in its presence.
Facultative Organism: Organism that can digest hydrocarbons in both the presence and absence of Oxygen. Facultative organisms can live under aerobic or anaerobic conditions.
Heterotroph: An organism capable of deriving carbon and energy for growth and cell synthesis from organic compounds; generally also obtain energy and reducing power equivalents from organic compounds.
Heterotrophic Nitrification: The biochemical oxidation of ammonium to nitrite and nitrate by heterotrophic microorganisms.
Metabolism: All biochemical reactions in a cell, both anabolic and catabolic.
Microorganism (Microbe): A living organism too small to be seen with the naked eye (<0.1 mm); includes bacteria, fungi protozoa, microscopic algae, and viruses.
Nitrate Reduction (Biological): A process whereby nitrate is reduced by plants and microorganisms to ammonium for cell synthesis (nitrate assimilation, assimilatory nitrate reduction) or to various lower oxidation states (N2, N2O, NO) by bacteria using nitrate as the terminal electron acceptor in anaerobic respiration.
Nitrification: The biological oxidation of ammonium to nitrite and nitrate, or a biologically induced increase in the oxidation state of nitrogen.
Nitrifying Bacteria: Chemolithotrophs capable of carrying out the transformations from NH3 to NO2- or NO2- to NO3-.
Obligate Aerobe: Organisms that are dependent on oxygen for growth.
Obligate Anaerobe: Organisms that die in the presence of oxygen.
Oxidation: The process by which a compound gives up electrons, acting as an electron donor, and becomes oxidized.
Oxidation-Reduction (Redox) Reaction: A coupled pair of reactions, in which one compound becomes oxidized, while another becomes reduced and takes up the electrons released in the oxidation reaction.
pH: The negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion activity. The degree of acidity (or alkalinity) of a soil as determined by means of a glass or other suitable electrode or indicator at a specified moisture content or soil-water ratio, and expressed in terms of the pH scale.
P: Phosphorus
Phosphorus Cycle: The sequence of transformations undergone by phosphorus where it is transformed between soluble and insoluble, and organic and inorganic forms.
Poly-□-hydroxybutyrate (PHB): In order for the bacteria to more effectively remove phosphorus by “luxury” uptake under aerobic conditions, the bacteria must first be “conditioned” by exposure to an anaerobic environment containing a selected substrate. The substrate is anaerobically absorbed by the bacteria in the form of poly-□-hydroxybutyrate (PHB). The substrate is absorbed (but not metabolized) under anaerobic conditions by means of hydrolysis of ATP, which in turn provides energy for active transport of substrate into microorganisms for later use. The anaerobic hydrolysis of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) results in the release of a certain quantity of orthophosphate from the microorganisms, which is an indicator that the “luxury” uptake mechanism is in operation. The released orthophosphate is removed with the other orthophosphate indigenous in the wastewater as part of the “luxury” uptake occurring under aerobic conditions. “Luxury” uptake occurs through the metabolism of BOD under aerobic conditions. With the metabolism of BOD, ATP is derived from ADP (adenosine diphosphate). For each unit of ATP created, a unit of orthophosphate is removed from the wastewater.
Protozoan (plural, Protozoa): Unicellular eukaryotic microorganisms that move by either protoplasmic flow (amoebae), flagella (flagellates) or, cilia (ciliates). Most species feed on bacteria, fungi, or detrital particles
TKN: Total Kjelhahl Nitrogen is the combination of NH3 and total organic nitrogen
Zooglea: A jelly-like matrix of microorganisms developed by bacteria, which is abundant in activated sludge flocs and trickling filter slimes.
Although the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that many variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the broad principles of the invention. Hence, it is intended that the preferred embodiments and all of such variations and modifications be included within the scope and spirit of the invention, as defined by the following claims.
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined hereafter.
1. A process for treating wastewater containing liquid and solids, comprising the steps of: providing a process vessel for containing said liquid and solids; establishing a plurality of zones in an upper portion of said processing vessel including an aerobic zone, an anoxic zone and a clarification zone; feeding the wastewater into said processing vessel including said plurality of zones; maintaining aerobic conditions in said aerobic zone; maintaining anoxic conditions in said anoxic zone; maintaining clarification conditions in said clarification zone; maintaining a facultative zone in a middle portion of said process vessel below said aerobic zone, said anoxic zone and said clarification zone; maintaining an anaerobic zone in a lower portion of said processing vessel below said facultative zone; supplying air into said aerobic zone and creating an upflow in said aerobic zone; causing said upflow from said aerobic zone to create a downflow into said anoxic zone; causing a first portion of said downflow from said anoxic zone to pass into said upflow of said aerobic zone; causing a second portion of said downflow from said anoxic zone to create an upflow into said clarification zone; withdrawing substantially clarified liquid from said clarified zone; and causing settling of a portion of said solids from said plurality of zones into said anaerobic zone; and withdrawing substantially solids from about the bottom of said anaerobic zone.
2. The process as recited in claim 1 including feeding said wastewater into about the top of said aerobic zone.
3. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein said anoxic zone is annularly disposed about said aerobic zone.
4. The process as recited in claim 1 wherein said clarification zone is annularly disposed about said anoxic zone.
5. The process as recited in claim 1 further including the step of feeding air into at about the bottom of said aerobic zone.
6. The process as recited in claim 1 further including the step of withdrawing substantially said clarified liquid from about the top of said clarification zone.
7. A process for treating wastewater containing liquid and solids, comprising:
(a) providing a multi-zone vessel;
(b) providing a feedwater inlet for feeding wastewater into said vessel;
(c) creating in an upper portion of said vessel (i) an aerobic zone in the center of said upper portion, (ii) an anoxic zone contiguous to said aerobic zone, and (iii) a clarification zone for clarified liquid contiguous to said anoxic zone;
(d) establishing upflow conditions in said aerobic zone;
(e) providing a first passage for enabling said upflow conditions from said aerobic zone to pass into the downflow of said anoxic zone;
(f) providing a second passage for enabling at least a portion of the downflow from said anoxic zone to pass into establish upflow conditions in said clarification zone;
(g) providing a third passage for enabling at least a portion of the downflow conditions from said anoxic zone to pass into the upflow conditions of said aerobic zone;
(h) providing an air inlet for feeding air into said aerobic zone;
(i) establishing a facultative zone in said vessel disposed below said aerobic zone;
(j) establishing an anaerobic zone in said vessel at a level substantially below said aerobic zone;
(k) providing a clarified liquid effluent outlet in said vessel for withdrawing substantially clarified liquid from said upflow of said clarification zone;
(l) providing a substantially solids outlet disposed at about the bottom of said anaerobic zone;
(m) supplying said wastewater into said vessel through said feedwater inlet;
(n) supplying air into said system through said air inlet;
(o) effecting settling of solids into said anaerobic zone;
(p) withdrawing substantially solids from said system through said substantially solids outlet; and,
(q) withdrawing said clarified liquid from said upflow of said clarification zone through said clarified liquid effluent outlet.
8. The process as recited in claim 7 further comprising feeding said wastewater into about the upper portion of said aerobic zone through said feedwater inlet.
9. The process as recited in claim 7 further comprising feeding said wastewater into about the lower portion of said aerobic zone through said feedwater inlet.
10. The process as recited in claim 7 wherein said anoxic zone is annularly disposed about said aerobic zone.
11. The process as recited in claim 7 wherein said clarification zone is annularly disposed about said anoxic zone.
12. The process as recited in claim 7 further comprising feeding air into at about the bottom of said aerobic zone.
13. The process as recited in claim 7 further comprising withdrawing said clarified liquid from about the top of said clarification zone.
14. The process as recited in claim 7 further comprising withdrawing substantially solids from about the bottom of said anaerobic zone.
15. A method for wastewater treatment comprising the steps of: providing first cylindrical barrier means to establish an aerobic zone located in the center of a single treatment vessel supplied with effluent; introducing air into the bottom of said aerobic zone to create aerobic conditions and creating an upflow through said aerobic zone; employing said aerobic zone for aerobic processing, including breaking down long carbon compound chains and oxidizing volatile fatty acids; providing a second cylindrical barrier means surrounding and spaced from said first cylindrical barrier means to establish an anoxic zone; means for transferring a portion of said upflow in said aerobic zone to said anoxic zone for anoxic processing; creating a downflow in said anoxic zone; merging a portion of said downflow from said anoxic zone into said upflow in said aerobic zone; interacting said aerobic processing and said anoxic processing in said aerobic zone through said merging for removing nitrates produced from said aerobic processing; providing a clarification zone in said vessel surrounding said anoxic zone; drawing a portion of said downflow from said anoxic zone into said upflow in said clarification zone; discharging clarified liquid from said clarification zone; creating a facultative transition zone below said aerobic zone, said anoxic zone and said clarification zone; using anaerobic conditions below said facultative transition zone to create an anaerobic zone to absorb settled solids gravitating from said aerobic zone, said anoxic zone, said clarification zone and said facultative zone; employing said anaerobic zone for anaerobic processing, including synthesis of said settled solids into said volatile fatty acids; dispersing said volatile fatty acids into said aerobic zone; causing the removal of phosphorus through said aerobic processing interacting with said anaerobic processing in said anaerobic zone; collecting sludge that settles from said aerobic zone, said anoxic zone, said clarification zone, said facultative zone and said anaerobic zone; and discharging said sludge from the bottom of said vessel.
16. The method as recited in claim 15 further comprising the addition of a beneficial biological nutrient to said influent.
17. A single vessel system for treating wastewater, comprising: vessel means; a source of wastewater; a plurality of upper treatment zones in said vessel means including an aerobic zone, disposed in the upper center portion of vessel means, an anoxic zone annularly disposed about said aerobic zone, a clarification zone annularly disposed about said anoxic zone; an inlet for feeding said wastewater into said vessel means including said upper treatment zones; first fluid flow inducing means for creating upflow fluid conditions in said aerobic zone; second fluid flow inducing means for creating downflow fluid conditions in said anoxic zone; third fluid flow inducing means for creating upflow fluid conditions in said clarification zone; a first passage fluidly interconnecting said anoxic zone with said clarification zone for enabling at least a portion of said downflow fluid conditions from said anoxic zone to pass into said upflow fluid flow conditions of said clarification zone; a second passage fluidly interconnecting said anoxic zone and said aerobic zone for enabling at least a portion of said downflow fluid conditions from said anoxic zone to pass into said upflow fluid conditions of said aerobic zone; a third passage fluidly interconnecting said aerobic zone and said anoxic zone for enabling said upflow fluid conditions from said aerobic zone to pass into said downflow fluid conditions of said anoxic zone; a facultative zone in said vessel means disposed in vessel means at a level below said aerobic zone; an anaerobic zone in said vessel means disposed below said facultative zone; a sludge zone disposed in the bottom of said vessel means; an air source; air outlet means for feeding air from said air source into said aerobic zone; a liquid effluent outlet for withdrawing said clarified liquid from said clarification zone; and a sludge removal facility disposed at about the bottom of said anaerobic zone for facilitating the discharge of substantially solids.
18. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein said sludge removal facility is a sludge rake for facilitating said discharge of substantially solids.
19. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein said air source is an oxygenation blower for enabling said feeding of air into said aerobic zone.
20. The system as recited in claim 17, wherein said feedwater source for said feeding of said wastewater into said system is a lifting station.
21. The system as recited in claim 17, further comprising a substantially cylindrical baffle annularly disposed in said vessel means for separating said aerobic zone from said anoxic zone.
22. The system as recited in claim 17, further comprising a substantially cylindrical baffle annularly disposed in said vessel means for separating said anoxic zone from said clarification zone.
23. The system as recited in claim 17, further comprising a nutrient dosing pump for adding beneficial biological nutrient to said inlet for said feeding of said wastewater into said vessel means.
6787035 September 7, 2004 Wang
Date of Patent: Mar 7, 2006
Inventors: Kaspar A. Kasparian (Raleigh, NC), Eric Verret (Montreal, QC)
Primary Examiner: Chester T. Barry
Attorney: Mills Law Firm PLLC
Current U.S. Class: Including Adding Ancillary Growth Medium For Microorganism (210/610); And Internally Circulating The Liquid (210/629); And Anaerobic Treatment (210/630); Directly Applied To Separator (210/209); Submerged Fluid Inlet (210/220)
International Classification: C02F 3/00 (20060101);
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Justia Patents Timer-controlledUS Patent for Wild game feeder with collapsible reservoir Patent (Patent # 7,028,635)
Wild game feeder with collapsible reservoir
A wild game feeding apparatus includes a support structure, a food distributor, and a collapsible reservoir. The reservoir is made collapsible in order to minimize the size of the apparatus for ease of storage and transport. Wild game feed, such as corn, wheat, or other particulate food is loaded into the collapsible container, whence it exits out of the bottom of the container and contacts the distributor. The distributor includes a rotating plate for distributing the food in a limited radius from the feeder apparatus. Optionally, the apparatus may include a control mechanism including a timer, to actuate operation thereof at specific time intervals which are pre-set by a user.
The present invention relates to wild game feeders, which are used to spread food in order to entice and attract wild game animals, such as deer, to a specified geographical area, in order to create observational and gaming opportunities for hunters and/or wildlife enthusiasts.
2. Description of the Background Art
Wild game feeders, of several varieties and designs, are commercially available today, and are known to wild game hunters. Such known feeders generally include a bucket or similar container for holding particulate food therein, and a distributor for spreading food from the container over an area of ground.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a wild game feeder 50, of a prior art type which is known and which is commercially available on the market today. The feeder 50 of FIG. 1 includes a reservoir 52 in the form of a bucket, with a central hole (not shown) formed in the base thereof, to allow aggregate food such as corn, commercial pellets or the like to pass through.
The reservoir 52 is provided with a removable lid 54 and a handle 60. A distributor 56, including an electric motor 57, is attached to the bucket base, to distribute the food after it passes outwardly from the bucket. Supports, such as legs 58, are also attached to the reservoir 52, to space it upwardly away from the ground.
Examples of previously issued patents relating to wild game feeders are given below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,220 discloses a game feeder that uses a distributor to spread food from a container. The distributor includes a spinning member that cuts excessively large food pieces down to smaller pieces, thereby allowing the game feed to be more easily distributed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,777 discloses a feeder that uses a distributor with a rotational plate in order to distribute the game food. The apparatus according to this invention is mounted on a single support leg, which is inserted into the ground to support the apparatus.
Other wild game feeders of this general type are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,034,480, 3,195,508, 4,945,859, 5,143,289, 5,333,572, 6,082,300, 6,481,376, and 6,510,813.
A limited number of collapsible containers are separately known, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,837,860, 4,036,361, 4,290,468, 4,557,378, 4,693,386 and 5,190,179.
Some collapsible bird feeders are also known, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,479,881, 6,047,661 and 6,073,582.
Although the known devices are usable for their intended purposes, it would be advantageous if a wild game feeder apparatus could be made using a collapsible reservoir for the food. This would make the apparatus more convenient to store and ship, and would take up less space on a retail shelf, allowing retailers to store more units in a given area.
The present invention provides an improved wild game feeder, including a collapsible food reservoir. The apparatus according to the invention may be stored and transported with the reservoir in a smaller, collapsed configuration, but is easily expandable to full size in the field.
The present invention provides an improved, space-saving feeder apparatus, which is easier to store and transport than the previously known feeders.
A collapsible game feeder according the present invention, generally, includes a collapsible reservoir, a support structure used for supporting the collapsible reservoir in relation to a substrate, and a distributor attached to the bottom of the reservoir.
The collapsible reservoir makes the game feeder according to the present invention adapted for more efficient storage and transportation than the prior art game feeders.
The collapsible reservoir may have a form selected from many different options, including compressibly collapsible forms. Examples of compressibly collapsible reservoirs include suspended cloth or wire mesh bag, collapsible segmented annular housing, or flexible fabric or plastic bag with internal springs or stiffeners.
Other forms that the collapsible reservoir can take include foldably collapsible box structures and a composite box, made in separate pieces, which can be easily assembled in the field by a user.
In a first illustrative embodiment of the present apparatus, the collapsible reservoir is made of a plurality of substantially rigid annular plastic sections, the edges of which are adapted to frictionally engage one another in the expanded configuration of the reservoir.
The collapsible reservoir also includes a lid that fits onto the top thereof.
The collapsible reservoir is supported by a support structure. The support structure may include legs for supporting the reservoir on a flat surface such as the ground.
Alternatively, the support structure may include a handle and/or a hook at the top of the reservoir, to allow the feeder to be suspended from a tree branch or other overhead substrate.
The support structure also supports the distributor, which includes a motor and a rotatable spreader plate operatively connected to the motor. The distributor is attached to the collapsible reservoir by a plurality of vertically oriented bolts or studs, extending between the motor housing and the bottom of the reservoir, or attached to a separate frame structure.
The distributor operates in the following manner. With the reservoir in its expanded, operational configuration, particulate food is placed into the reservoir, from whence it passes outwardly through a reduced opening at the base of the reservoir. The food comes to rest on the rotatable spreader plate, and forms a substantially conical pile thereon. When the pile becomes high enough to reach the reservoir outlet, it effectively stops the flow of any more food passing outwardly through the reduced opening. Once the motor is activated, the spreader plate spins, and food is thrown therefrom to an area within a certain radius of the feeder apparatus.
In another embodiment of the collapsible reservoir, a collapsible cylindrical body with flexible support means may be used. In this embodiment, the collapsible reservoir includes a cylindrical body having an upper and lower end, where the body is defined by a fabric sleeve, with stiff hoop segments affixed horizontally throughout the inner diameter of the reservoir, separated and supported by stiffening members affixed horizontally therebetween.
In yet another embodiment of the collapsible reservoir, the collapsible reservoir includes a substantially cylindrical fabric bag, a pair of metal or plastic reinforcement hoops disposed at the top and bottom of the bag, and a spring which is operatively connected to the bag. The spring runs spirally along the inner circumference of the fabric bag.
Additional embodiments of the collapsible reservoir may also be used.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, the reader is referred to the following detailed description section, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description and in the drawings, like numbers refer to like parts.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art wild game feeder;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a wild game feeder according to a first illustrative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3A is a first cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 2, showing the reservoir in its expanded, upright and operational configuration;
FIG. 3B is a second cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 2, showing the reservoir in its collapsed storage configuration;
FIG. 3C is a detail bottom plan view of a lid, which is a component part of the apparatus of FIG. 2;
FIG. 3D is a detail bottom plan view of a reservoir base, which is another component part of the apparatus of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a wild game feeder according to a second illustrative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a reservoir and support structure therefor, which are components of a wild game feeder according to a third illustrative embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a reservoir for a wild game feeder according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a reservoir and food metering funnel which are components of a wild game feeder according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a collapsible reservoir usable as a component of a sixth embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a foldable reservoir usable as a component of a seventh embodiment of the present invention, shown in a collapsed and fully unfolded configuration thereof.
Referring now to the drawings, a first embodiment of a game feeder apparatus, according to the present invention, is shown generally at 110. It will be apparent that the game feeder apparatus 110 has many structural features in common with the prior art game feeder 50 of FIG. 1. However, the game feeder apparatus 110 hereof is different from the prior art game feeder 50 in an important way.
The apparatus 110 according to the invention includes a collapsible reservoir 112, while the prior art game feeder 50 does not. Unlike the prior art game feeder, the game feeder according to the present invention can be placed in an expanded configuration for use, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A, and can also be compressed into a compact, collapsed configuration for storage and transport, as shown in FIG. 3B.
As used herein, the term “collapsible” means capable of being placed into a collapsed configuration which is smaller than an expanded operational configuration. The reservoir hereof may be collapsible because it is capable of being compressed into a smaller configuration without disassembly, as in the embodiments of FIGS. 2, 4, and 6 herein. Alternatively, the reservoir may be characterized as collapsible because it includes multiple component parts which are capable of being separated, disassembled and stacked or reassembled in a collapsed configuration, as in the embodiments of FIGS. 7 and 9.
The inclusion of the collapsible reservoir 112 in the game feeder 110 according to the invention provides significant commercial advantages. The game feeder 110 can be stored and transported in a significantly smaller package than, and takes up less space on the store shelf than the prior art feeder 50. Accordingly, the game feeder 110 hereof can be more densely packed in a given space, when stored in its compact configuration, whether that space is in a warehouse, in a truck trailer, in a stockroom, or on a store shelf.
First Embodiment Overview
Referring now to FIGS. 2–4, the feeder apparatus 110 according to the first illustrative embodiment of the invention includes a reservoir 112 in the form of a collapsible bucket, with an integral funnel member 114 including a spout 116 having a hole formed in the base thereof. The funnel member 114 is provided to direct the flow of particulate food such as corn, commercial pellets or the like, and to pass such food outwardly through the spout 116.
The collapsible reservoir 112 is provided with a removable lid 118 and a handle 120, as shown in FIG. 2. A distributor 122 including an electric motor 125 is attached to the base portion of the reservoir 110, to distribute the food after it passes outwardly from the funnel member 114. Supports such as legs 128 are also attached to the reservoir 112, to space it upwardly away from the ground.
The Collapsible Reservoir
The collapsible reservoir 112 is used to store and to meter out particulate food for wild game animals. The reservoir 112 includes a plurality of concentrically aligned annular plastic sections such as those shown at 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140 and 142. Each of the sequentially successive annular sections 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140 and 142 is made from a durable, relatively rigid plastic material, and is tapered outwardly as it moves from the lower end to the upper end thereof. In addition, each of the sections 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140 and 142 is slightly larger in diameter than the section below it.
The respective upper and lower edges of adjacent sections, such as those shown at 130 and 132, are adapted to frictionally engage one another in the expanded configuration of the reservoir 112, shown in FIG. 3A. In this way, the reservoir is able to support its own weight, and to remain in the expanded configuration shown in FIGS. 2 and 3A, until such time as a user wishes to manually collapse it.
The collapsible reservoir includes a substantially cylindrical base 113, which is integrally formed with the funnel member 114. Optionally, the base 113 may have an external horizontal flange 117 extending outwardly thereon, to support the annular sections 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 140 and 142 when the reservoir 112 is in its collapsed configuration.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3C, the method of attachment of the lid 118 to the collapsible reservoir 112 is through the use of a groove 141, formed in the lower surface of the lid, that travels circumferentially along the outer periphery thereof, near the outer edge 119. The groove 141 permits the lid 118 to be attached to an upwardly extending lip 115, formed on top of the uppermost section 142 of the reservoir 112.
The Support Structure
The collapsible reservoir 112 is supported by a support structure 109. In the embodiment of FIGS. 2–3, the support structure 109 includes a plurality of legs 128 attached to the base portion 113 of the reservoir 112, with attachment points 106 for the legs located at the bottom of the collapsible reservoir 112. Optionally, the support structure may include a flat, circular reinforcing ring 107, preferably made of metal, attached to the reservoir 112 at the bottom of the reservoir base 113.
The collapsible reservoir 112 has holes 111 formed in the base 113 at the bottom thereof for receiving appropriate hardware, such as bolts or threaded studs 102 therethrough, to support the distributor 122, which includes the motor 125 and a rotating plate 126 connected to the shaft of the motor, the plate including two integral perpendicular actuators 105. The motor 125 is attached the collapsible reservoir 112 by three vertical studs 102 extending from the reservoir base 113, and attached to a mounting plate 104 which, in turn, is attached to the motor housing using welding, screws (not shown) or other conventional fasteners.
The Distributor
The distributor 122 is operated by the motor 125. Particulate food is placed into the collapsible reservoir 112, and passes through the reduced opening provided by the spout 116 at the bottom of the reservoir. The food comes to rest onto the rotation plate 126, and accumulates in a conical pile thereon, shown in phantom in FIG. 3A. Once the food accumulates to a certain height, it blocks the outlet and effectively stops the flow of any more food passing through the spout 116. Once the motor 125 is activated, the plate 126 spins, and food is distributed therefrom in a circular pattern within a certain radius of the feeder apparatus 110.
Optionally, the feeder apparatus 110 may include a control mechanism (not shown) including a timer, to actuate operation thereof at specific time intervals which are pre-set by a user.
Referring now to FIG. 4, a compressibly collapsible wild game feeder, according to a second embodiment of the invention, is shown generally at 233.
The collapsible game feeder 233 of FIG. 4 has many features in common with the game feeder 110 of the first embodiment, as previously described. For example, the game feeder 233 includes a funnel member 114, reservoir base 113, and distributor 122 which are substantially identical to those components as described herein in connection with the first embodiment.
All features of the game feeder 233, which are not specifically described herein as being different from the game feeder 110 of the first embodiment, will be understood as being substantially similar or identical to the game feeder of first embodiment, as previously described herein.
In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the wild game feeder 233 has a collapsible reservoir 212 which is used to store particulate food for wild game animals. In this second embodiment, the reservoir 212 includes a bag member 215 made of a flexible material, which may be cloth fabric, plastic, or wire mesh. The bottom end of the bag member 215 is attached to the reservoir base 113 around the circumference thereof by suitable hardware such as a circular clamping band 211.
A metal or strong plastic reinforcing hoop 217 is provided at the top of the bag member 215 to give structure and definition thereto. The bag member 215 is attached to the reinforcing hoop 217 in any appropriate fashion, such as by wrapping the material of the bag member around the reinforcing hoop, as shown, and then fastening the bag member to itself. In this embodiment, a wire handle 220 is provided, attached to the reinforcing hoop 217, to allow the entire apparatus 233 to be suspended from an elevated substrate such as a tree branch.
Referring now to FIG. 5, an alternative version of a collapsible reservoir is shown at 312. It will be understood that the reservoir shown in FIG. 5 can be substituted for the reservoir 212 in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, to create a modified version of the second embodiment.
In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the reservoir 312 includes a bag member 315 made of a flexible material, which may be woven or nonwoven fabric material, strong flexible plastic sheeting, or wire mesh. The bottom end of the bag member 315 is attached to the reservoir base 113, around the circumference thereof, by suitable hardware such as the circular clamping band 211 shown in FIG. 4.
A collapsible cage 317, made of a plurality of hingedly interconnected bars 319, is provided for substantially surrounding the bag member 315, to give structure and definition thereto. The bag member 315 is attached to the cage 317 in any appropriate fashion, such as by wrapping the material of the bag member around the upper bars of the cage, and then fastening the bag member to itself. In this embodiment, the cage 317 can be connected in conventional fashion to other support structure, such as legs or a handle.
Referring now to FIG. 6, a collapsible reservoir in connection with a fourth embodiment of the invention is shown generally at 412. It will be understood that the reservoir shown in FIG. 6 can be substituted for the reservoir 212 in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, to create a modified version of the game feeder apparatus according to the second embodiment.
In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the reservoir 412 includes a bag member 415 made of a flexible material, which may be woven or nonwoven fabric material, strong flexible plastic sheeting, or wire mesh. The bottom end of the bag member 415 is attached to the reservoir base 113, around the circumference thereof, by suitable hardware such as a circular clamping band 411.
Also in the embodiment of FIG. 6, the reservoir 412 includes a coil spring 440 disposed on the interior of the bag member 415.
A metal or strong plastic reinforcing hoop 417 is provided at the top of the bag member 415 to work together with the spring 440, to give structure and definition to the reservoir 412. The bag member 415 is attached to the reinforcing hoop 417 in any appropriate fashion, such as for example, by wrapping the material of the bag member around the reinforcing hoop and then fastening the bag member to itself. In this embodiment, a wire handle 420 is provided, attached to the reinforcing hoop 217, to allow the entire apparatus 233 to be suspended from an elevated substrate, such as a tree branch.
Alternatively, in this embodiment, the reservoir 412 can be connected in conventional fashion to other support structure, such as the legs 128 used in the first embodiment. Vertical support for the reservoir 412 is provided by upward pressure of the spring 440, and in order to remain in the collapsed configuration thereof, appropriate clamps (not shown) must be placed on the collapsed bag member 415 to keep the spring compressed. In the field, when the apparatus is ready to be used, the clamps are removed, and the reservoir automatically assumes its expanded configuration.
In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the reservoir 412 may be collapsibly compressed by pressing the opposite ends of the bag member 415 inwardly against the force of the spring 440, and collapsing the spring and bag member into a small, collapsed configuration. It will be understood that in order to keep the reservoir 412 in such a collapsed configuration, appropriate clamping members of a known type should be placed surrounding the collapsed spring 440.
Fifth Embodiment
Referring now to FIG. 7, a collapsible reservoir in connection with a fifth embodiment of the invention is shown generally at 512, along with a funnel member 514 having a square outline shape as seen from the top. It will be understood that the reservoir and funnel member shown in FIG. 6 can be substituted for the reservoir 212 and funnel member 214 in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 2–3, to create a modified version of the game feeder apparatus according to the first embodiment.
In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the reservoir 512 is made from a plurality of separate flat panel members 502, 504, 506, 508 which can be stored and shipped flat, but which can be interlockingly assembled in the field to form the rectangular box-shaped reservoir. The funnel member 514 is made in a size to fit inside of the reservoir, and is attached thereto by conventional fasteners. The remainder of the structure of the game feeder for the embodiment of FIG. 7, including the support structure and the distributor is similar or identical to that shown and discussed herein in connection with the first embodiment 110.
Sixth Embodiment
Referring now to FIG. 8, a collapsible reservoir in connection with a sixth embodiment of the invention is shown generally at 612. It will be understood that the reservoir 612 of FIG. 8 can be used with or without a funnel member. If a funnel member is desired, the funnel member 514 of FIG. 7 can be used together with the reservoir of FIG. 8.
It will be understood that the reservoir 612 shown in FIG. 8 can be substituted for the reservoir 212 and funnel member 214 in the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 2–3, to create a modified version of the game feeder apparatus according to the first embodiment.
In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the reservoir 612 is made from a plurality of separate flat panel members 602, 603, 604, 605, 606, 607 and 608, which are hingedly connected together by hinges 630–636 in the manner illustrated. The reservoir 612 may be made of a semi-rigid plastic material. The hinges 630–636, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, may be living hinges.
The reservoir 612 can be stored and shipped in a flat, collapsed configuration, but which can be expanded in the field to form the rectangular box-shaped reservoir.
The funnel member 514, where used, is made in a size to fit inside of the reservoir 612, and is attached thereto by conventional fasteners. The base panel 605 is provided with a hole 611 formed centrally therein to distribute particulate food therefrom. The remainder of the structure of the game feeder for the embodiment of FIG. 8, including the support structure and the distributor, is similar or identical to that shown and discussed herein in connection with the first embodiment 110.
Seventh Embodiment
Referring now to FIG. 9, a collapsible reservoir in connection with a seventh embodiment of the invention is shown generally at 712. It will be understood that the reservoir 712 of FIG. 8 can be used with or without a funnel member. If a funnel member is desired, the funnel member 514 of FIG. 7 can be used together with the reservoir of FIG. 9.
In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the reservoir 712 is made from a plurality of separate flat panel members 702, 703, 704, 705, and 706, which are hingedly connected together by hinges 730–733 in the manner illustrated. The reservoir 712 may be made of a semi-rigid plastic material. The hinges 730–733, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, may be living hinges. The base panel 704 is provided with a hole 711 formed centrally therein to distribute particulate food therefrom.
The reservoir 712 can be stored and shipped in a flat, collapsed configuration, but which can be expanded in the field to form the rectangular box-shaped reservoir. The abutting panel sides may be fastened together by clips, snap-fittings, or other conventional disconnectable fasteners.
The funnel member 514, where used, is made in a size to fit inside of the reservoir 712, and is attached thereto by conventional fasteners. The remainder of the structure of the game feeder for the embodiment of FIG. 8, including the support structure and the distributor, is similar or identical to that shown and discussed herein in connection with the first embodiment 110.
1. An apparatus for dispensing particulate food, comprising:
a reservoir for holding a quantity of said food, said reservoir having a base with a hole formed therein: a support structure for supporting said reservoir in relation to a substrate; a distributor operatively attached to the bottom of said reservoir for distributing food from said reservoir into an area around said apparatus, said distributor comprising a motor and a rotatable plate operatively connected to said motor for rotation thereby; wherein said reservoir is collapsible into a compressed configuration for storage and transport, and is also expandable from said compressed configuration into an expanded configuration for use, said apparatus being larger with the reservoir in the expanded configuration than it is with the reservoir in the compressed configuration thereof; and wherein said reservoir comprises a bag formed from a flexible material, and a coil spring operatively attached to said bag.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a timer.
3. An apparatus for dispensing particulate wild animal food, comprising:
a reservoir for holding a quantity of said food, said reservoir hang a base with a hole formed therein, said reservoir comprising a hollow cylindrical body having a upper and lower end, where said cylindrical body comprises a sleeve formed from a flexible material, and a spring operatively attached to said hollow cylindrical body;
a support structure for supporting said reservoir in relation to a substrate;
a distributor for distributing food, which passes outwardly from said reservoir, into an area around said apparatus, said distributor comprising a motor and a rotatable plate connected to said motor;
wherein said reservoir is compressably collapsible into a compressed configuration for storage and transport, and is also expandable from said compressed configuration into an expanded configuration for use, said expanded configuration being larger than said compressed configuration.
a reservoir for holding a quantity of said food, said reservoir comprising a bag formed from a flexible material, and a coil spring operatively attached to said bag, said bag having a base with a hole formed therein;
1790045 January 1931 Harvey
2789534 April 1957 Landgraf
2837860 June 1958 Norling
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3949909 April 13, 1976 Sterner
4036361 July 19, 1977 Jacobson et al.
4204500 May 27, 1980 Podjan
4290468 September 22, 1981 Rosenbloom, Jr. et al.
4557378 December 10, 1985 Klebold
4693386 September 15, 1987 Hughes et al.
4945859 August 7, 1990 Churchwell
4986220 January 22, 1991 Reneau et al.
5105766 April 21, 1992 Montgomery
5143289 September 1, 1992 Gresham et al.
5190179 March 2, 1993 Richter et al.
5291854 March 8, 1994 Tzanet et al.
5333572 August 2, 1994 Nutt
5479881 January 2, 1996 Lush et al.
5862777 January 26, 1999 Sweeney
6047661 April 11, 2000 Lush
6073582 June 13, 2000 Lush
6082300 July 4, 2000 Futch
6390021 May 21, 2002 Krenzel
6427629 August 6, 2002 Lush
6481376 November 19, 2002 Finklea
6510813 January 28, 2003 Boone, Jr.
Inventor: Robert Eastman, II (Flint, MI)
Primary Examiner: Yvonne R. Abbott
Attorney: Carrier, Blackman & Associates, P.C.
Current U.S. Class: Timer-controlled (119/51.11); Having Feed Scatterer (119/57.91)
International Classification: A01K 5/00 (20060101);
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Justia Patents Access Or Authorization (e.g., Game Selection, Security, Etc.)US Patent for Game facility monitoring system and game facility Patent (Patent # 7,258,612)
Game facility monitoring system and game facility
May 7, 2002 - Seta Corporation
A system providing greatly improved monitoring against wrong or fraudulent acts. A game facility monitoring system includes game machines or game-related devices provided with detectors that detect the state of a device and the operation of the device resulting from wrong or fraudulent acts, detects the state of the device and the operation of the device possibly resulting from wrong or fraudulent acts, and gives out a notification. The system may also include an anomaly warning unit that operates, when any of the detectors is triggered, a warning operation determined by an anomaly level corresponding to the detected contents of multiple anomaly levels.
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This invention relates to a system for monitoring game facilities and a game facility. In particular, this invention is suitable for application to a system adapted to monitor abnormal, wrong, or illegal acts by employees, players, or wrongdoers in game facilities for example furnished with pachinko game machines and slot machines.
The game balls (pachinko balls) remaining when a play is over with a pachinko game machine for example, have in a sense monetary values because they are exchanged with prize commodities. Therefore, it is possible that skilled wrongdoers attempt to swindle pachinko balls through illegal tricks.
In recent years, pachinko balls are also rented out in various ways. In a way, game balls are rented out by inserting cash into the so-called sandwiched device placed between pachinko game machines. In another way, a player first buys with cash a prepaid card or a like card having the same function as the prepaid card, and inserts the card into the sandwiched device to receive pachinko balls. As described above, in game facilities there are many devices to handle money such as bills or coins, or quasi money having the same values as money.
In such a situation, there are many devices and machines furnished in game facilities to monitor wrongdoings. For example, the pachinko game machines are furnished with a cheat sensor for detecting electromagnetic waves, magnetic forces, or vibration used by a cheater in an attempt to swindle game balls. When such a sensor is actuated, warning is issued or notification is given to a higher rank computer. Devices for handling quasi money for example are also furnished with a theft sensor to perform similar monitoring and warning functions, or arranged that internal operation of the device is permitted to limited employees on condition that an employee inserts an employee's card the employee carries, so that a warning is issued or notification is given to a higher rank computer when the operation is wrong.
In still another arrangement, for example, the entire hall of a game facility is watched with a single or plural monitoring video cameras.
In still another arrangement, history of employee's operation of the devices for handling quasi money is successively recorded to discourage employees from wrongdoing.
Now, there are many types of wrong acts that are thought to be perpetrated in game facilities. Conventionally, those acts are handled as a whole with a limited number of personnel who are also busy doing other ordinary jobs. So the wrong acts are not necessarily immediately coped with.
Even if the employees' history record is taken to find wrong acts of employees, the types of wrong acts are numerous and wrong acts are not easy to find.
Furthermore, wrong acts may be perpetrated not only during the business hours but also outside the business hours, and since power supply to various devices is turned off outside the business hours, there is the possibility that anomaly sensors do not work, or detection and measures are delayed.
Still another problem is that employees versed in the monitor functions may replace a memory (such as a RAM) that has recorded the history of wrong operations, or erase such wrongdoing history without using a regular monitoring computer. Conventionally, such a problem is not sufficiently taken into consideration.
Therefore, a game facility monitoring system with improved wrongdoing monitoring functions is in demand.
The present invention provides a game facility monitoring system comprising: a plurality of game machines or game-related devices, at least one of the game machines or game-related devices having a detector for detecting a state of the game machine or game-related device or an action of the game machine or game-related device, the state or the action being possibly related to an abnormal act; and anomaly notifying means for performing, when the detector performs a detecting action, a notifying action determined with an anomaly level corresponding to a content detected with the detector out of plural anomaly levels.
Here, an abnormal act is typically a wrong or illegal act. The state or action of a device possibly related to an abnormal act may be such a state or action caused by or possibly caused by an abnormal act. The detector typically gives out notification of the state or action of the game machine or game-related device, besides detecting the state or action. Typically, each of the game machines or game-related devices has the detector, and when any of the detectors performs a detecting action the anomaly notifying means performs the notifying action.
Preferably, the above game facility monitoring system further comprises anomaly data recording means for recording anomaly data that includes information on the anomaly level corresponding to the content detected with the detector.
Here, typically, the anomaly data recording means records the anomaly data when the detector performs the detecting action.
Preferably, in the above game facility monitoring system, the anomaly data recording means records the anomaly data mixed with data having nothing to do directly with a function of the monitoring.
Here, the data having nothing to do directly with the monitoring function typically include the anomaly data of the past that have already been read or dummy data.
Preferably, the above game facility monitoring system further comprises an anomaly data searching means capable of taking out anomaly data of a specified anomaly level out of plural anomaly data recorded in the anomaly data recording means.
Preferably, the above game facility monitoring system further comprises operator limiting means for permitting only a specified person or specified persons to gain access to the anomaly data recording means.
Preferably, in the above game facility monitoring system the game machine or game-related device having the detector has an auxiliary power supply that compensates for the action of the detector when a main power supply is off.
The present invention provides a game facility comprising: a game facility monitoring system as described above; a main power supply for supplying power to the game facility monitoring system; and a game facility hall for placing the game machines or game-related devices.
The present invention provides a game facility monitoring system comprising: a plurality of game machines or game-related devices, at least one of the game machines or game-related devices having a detector for detecting a state of the game machine or game-related device or an action of the game machine or game-related device, the state or the action being possibly related to an abnormal act; and a computer for performing, when the detector performs a detecting action, a notifying action determined with an anomaly level corresponding to a content detected with the detector out of plural anomaly levels.
Preferably, the above game facility monitoring system further comprises anomaly data file for recording anomaly data that includes information on the anomaly level corresponding to the content detected with the detector.
Preferably, in the above game facility monitoring system, the anomaly data file records the anomaly data mixed with data having nothing to do directly with a function of the monitoring.
The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the entire constitution of the game facility card system in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is an perspective view showing an external image of the entry card issuing machine 2 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram showing the constitution of the entry card issuing machine 2 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4 is an perspective view showing an external image of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is a detailed block diagram showing the constitution of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 6 is an perspective view showing an external image of the game ball supply command device 4 and the pachinko game machine 5 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 7 is a detailed block diagram showing the constitution of the game ball supply command device 4 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the constitution of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 9 is an explanatory drawing of the record constitution of the entry card file 93 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 10 is an explanatory drawing of the record constitution of the game ball supply card file 94 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 11 is an explanatory drawing of the record constitution of the membership card file 95 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 12 is an explanatory drawing of the record constitution of the employee's card file 96 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 13 is an explanatory drawing of the record constitution of the anomaly data file 97 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 14 is a detailed block diagram showing the constitution of the system control computer 7 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 15 is a detailed block diagram showing the constitution of the employee's card device 8 in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram of operation when an employee comes to the workplace in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 17 is a sequence diagram of operation when a player enters a game shop in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 18 is a sequence diagram of operation when putting in additional money in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 19 is a sequence diagram (1) of operation when game balls are supplied in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 21 is a sequence diagram of operation when settling an account in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 22 is a sequence diagram of operation when the light amount sensor works in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 23 is a sequence diagram of operation when the cheat sensor works in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 24 is a sequence diagram of operation when an employee leaves the workplace in an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 25 is a flowchart of the process of searching anomaly data occurring in an embodiment of the invention; and
FIG. 26 is an explanatory drawing showing the relation between the types of anomaly and the system in an embodiment of the invention.
The basic Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-124224 filed on Apr. 25, 2000 is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference into the present application.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow. However, the detailed description and the specific embodiment are illustrated of desired embodiments of the present invention and are described only for the purpose of explanation. Various changes and modifications will be apparent to those ordinary skilled in the art on the basis of the detailed description.
The applicant has no intention to give to public any disclosed embodiment. Among the disclosed changes and modifications, those which may not literally fall within the scope of the patent claims constitute, therefore, a part of the present invention in the sense of doctrine of equivalents.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (A) Embodiment
A game facility monitoring system as an embodiment of the invention will be hereinafter described in detail in reference to appended drawings.
While the game machines in the game facility monitoring system of this embodiment may be of any type as far as they use game balls (balls, tokens, etc.), for the simplicity of explanation, in the following explanation the game machines placed in a game facility are assumed to be pachinko game machines.
(A-1) Constitution and Various Functions of the Embodiment.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the constitution of the game facility monitoring system of this embodiment. The system for various cards used in the game facility to which the game facility monitoring system of this embodiment is applied has also special features. The components of the game facility monitoring system described below are also the components of the game facility card system. Therefore, the following explanation is made in terms of not only monitoring but also card processing.
FIG. 1 shows a game facility monitoring system 1 of this embodiment constituted with, an entry card issuing machine 2, a machine 3 for issuing card for dispensing game balls and settling account, a game ball supply command device 4, a pachinko game machine 5, a card issuing and account settling control computer 6, a system control computer 7, an employee's card device 8, and a video camera 9, all connected each other with a network (such as a LAN)N.
(A-1-1) Entry Card Issuing Machine 2.
The entry card issuing machine 2 is to issue an entry card 10 which becomes a condition of issuing a game ball supplying card 35 which will be described later, and is placed for example near the game facility entrance. The entry card issuing machine 2 has an appearance for example as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 2 and its functions are as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 3.
As shown in FIG. 2, the following components are visible on the outside of the entry card issuing machine 2: a card issuing button 10, a card outlet 11, a card discharge lamp 12, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device 13, an attendant calling button 14, a signal tower lamp (hereinafter called ‘signal tower’) 15, and an optical window portion 16a facing a digital camera 16 (See FIG. 3).
In addition to the above components, the entry card issuing machine 2 comprises also the components as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 3. They are a digital camera 16, a control section 21, a card rolling out section 22, a card storing section 23, a card identifying information reading section 24, a communication processing section 25, a light amount sensor 26, a door sensor 27, a destruction sensor 28, and a lamp off button 29.
The LCD device 13 under the control of the control section 21 (made of for example a microcomputer) displays a guidance message that prompts a player to operate, and information on the state (such as abnormal state) of the entry card issuing machine 2.
The card issuing button 10 is pressed by a player when the player wants to have an entry card 20 issued. The information on pressing the button is given to the control section 21. The card storing section 23 stores a large number of entry cards 20. The card rolling out section 22 under the control of the control section 21 rolls out an entry card 20 from the card storing section 23, so that the entry card 20 passes through the card identifying information reading section 24 and is discharged out of the card outlet 11. The card identifying information reading section 24 reads information recorded on the entry card 20 that is about to be discharged, and gives the information to the control section 21. The card discharge lamp 12 lights up or blinks when the entry card 20 is discharged under the control of the control section 21.
The attendant calling button 14 is operated by a player to call an attendant (employee) when the player who wants the entry card issued encounters a trouble or the like of the entry card issuing machine 2, and the operation information is given to the control section 21. The signal tower 15 is lit up under the control of the control section 21 to notify the employees of a trouble or anomaly in the entry card issuing machine 2. (Incidentally as a matter of course, a buzzer or the like may be provided as a means for the notification.) The signal tower 15 is lit up for example when the attendant calling button 14 is pressed or when a delivery monitoring sensor (not shown) for the entry card 20 detects an anomaly in the transfer of the entry card 20. The lamp off button 29 is provided in the housing of the entry card issuing machine 2 to turn off the signal tower 15.
The door sensor 27 detects the open/closed state of the door (not shown) of the entry card issuing machine 2 or the locked/unlocked state of the door, and gives signals to the control section 21. The destruction sensor 28 detects destructive anomaly of the entry card issuing machine 2, and gives signals to the control section 21. The sensor is, for example, a vibration sensor or a tilt sensor.
The digital camera 16 is for example a still camera such as a CCD camera or the like (it may also be one that takes images successively for a period of about five seconds) to take an image (or images for a certain duration) under the control of the control section 21 (in other words in response to an image-taking trigger signal given from the control section 21) and to give image signals to the control section 21. The direction of taking images with a digital camera 16 is such that the image of a person (player or employee) who operates the entry card issuing machine 2 can be taken under the condition of the door of the entry card issuing machine 2 closed (including an unlocked state). Incidentally, the digital camera 16 may be provided with a flash lamp to light up under the control of the control section 21.
The optical window portion 16a shown in FIG. 2 is an optical aperture (either a simple aperture or an aperture with a glass plate). The main part of the digital camera 16 is placed in the housing. The window portion 16a is made larger than the aperture of the object lens of the digital camera 16. Alight amount sensor 26 is placed inside the housing and in the immediate vicinity of the window portion 16a.
The light amount sensor 26 monitors and detects an anomaly that the window portion 16a is obstructed, namely detects by monitoring the light amount a situation anomaly in which the digital camera 16 cannot take images, and sends an anomaly signal to the control section 21.
The communication processing section 25 under the control of the control section 21 exchanges information with other devices such as the card issuing and account settling computer 6, the system control computer 7, etc. connected to the network N.
The control section 21 controls the entire entry card issuing machine 2. The control function of the control section 21 is roughly divided into the two types, the function of controlling the issue of the entry card 20 and the function of monitoring anomalies. These control functions will be further described later in relation to operations.
Next will be described the entry card 20 issued from the entry card issuing machine 2. On the entry card 20 is fixedly recorded identification information (ID for discriminating from a game ball supplying card 35 or from a membership card 70, to be described later) peculiar to the entry card. While the entry card 20 itself has no value like money, it has the function of making it more prudent to issue the game ball supplying card 35 having monetary values, to be described later. The peculiar ID of the entry card 20 is preferably such that it can discriminate not only the entry card 20 but also the game facility itself The fixedly recording method is for example bar code marking or embossing (forming dent information). Any method suffices for the purpose as long as the record cannot be rewritten.
Though not shown in FIG. 3, it is arranged that power is automatically supplied to the entry card issuing machine 2 when the main power supply of the game facility is turned on. Or, it is arranged that the entry card issuing machine 2 is provided with a power switch, so that power is supplied from outside through a power supply line when the power switch is turned on.
In this embodiment, the entry card issuing machine 2 has a built-in auxiliary power supply 30 to supply power at least to the digital camera 16, the control section 21, the communication processing section 25, the door sensor 27, and the destruction sensor 28 under the condition of power not being supplied from the mains (for example at night). In other words, it is arranged to ensure a minimum of anomaly monitoring function using the auxiliary power supply 30 even if power is not supplied from the mains.
(A-1-2) Game Ball Supplying Card Issuing and Account Settling Machine 3.
One of the functions of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 is to issue game ball supplying cards 35 required when renting pachinko balls (game balls) for playing pachinko games. The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 may be placed in any place in the game facility, for example in every group of pachinko game machines.
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 has for example the appearance as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4 and the function shown in the block diagram of FIG. 5.
Components visible on the outside of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 shown in FIG. 4 are, an LCD device 36, an attendant calling button 37, a signal tower 38, a selection button 39, a settlement button 40, a cancel button 41, a card slot 42, a card passage lamp 43, an employee's card slot 44, an employee's card passage lamp 45, a coin outlet 46, a coin discharge lamp 47, a bill inlet 48, a bill inlet lamp 49, a bill outlet 50, a bill discharge lamp 51, and an optical window portion 52a facing a digital camera 52 (See FIG. 5).
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 has further the following components as shown in a functional block diagram of FIG. 5 in addition to those enumerated above. Namely, a digital camera 52, a control section 55, a card information reading section 56, an entry card retrieving section 57, a game ball supplying card holding section 58, a game ball supplying card retrieving section 59, an employee's card access section 60, a bill discriminating device 61, a bill holding section 62, a coin holding section 63, a communication processing section 64, a light amount sensor 65, a door sensor 66, a destruction sensor 67, and a light off button 68.
The LCD device 36, the attendant calling button 37, and the signal tower 38 in the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 have also the same functions as the counterparts in the entry card issuing machine 2.
The settlement button 40 is operated by a player when a balance for supplying game balls is present in relation to the inserted game ball supplying card 35 to request settlement of the possible ball supply balance. Information on operating the button is sent to a control section (for example a microcomputer) 55.
The cancel button 41 is operated by a player or the like person to cancel an operation mode or the like of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3. The information on operating the button is sent to the control section 55.
The card slot 42 serves as the inlet and outlet for the entry card 20, the game ball supplying card 35, and the membership card 70 as described below. The card passage lamp 43 is controlled with the control section 55 to light up or blink when various types of cards are inserted or discharged through the card slot 42.
The entry card retrieving section 57 is to retrieve and store the entry cards 20 inserted through the card slot 42 under the control of the control section 55.
The game ball supplying card storing section 58 is to store the game ball supplying card 35 to be discharged through the card slot 42, and is provided with a card rolling out mechanism. The stored game ball supplying cards 35 are discharged under the control of the control section 55.
The game ball supplying card retrieving section 59 is to retrieve and store the game ball supplying card 35 inserted through the card slot 42 under the control of the control section 55.
The card information reading section 56 is to read information from the entry card 20, the game ball supplying card 35, and the membership card 70, inserted through the card slot 42, or from the game ball supplying card 35 which is about to be discharged through the card slot 42, and to give the read information to the control section 55.
In this embodiment, the game ball supplying card 35 is necessary to rent out pachinko balls (game balls) for playing pachinko games as described above. On the game ball supplying card 35 is fixedly recorded identification information only (ID for discriminating from the entry card 20 and the membership card 70) peculiar to the game ball supplying card. The peculiar ID of the game ball supplying card 35 is also preferably such that it can discriminate not only the difference in the game ball supplying cards 35 but also the difference in the game facilities. The method of fixedly recording is for example marking bar codes or embossing. Any method suffices for the purpose as long as the record cannot be rewritten.
Although the game ball supplying card 35 has no balance information recorded on itself for supplying game balls, its card ID enables access to the card issuing control computer 6, so that information on the balance for possible game ball supply may be acquired. Therefore, it has similar nature to that of the prepaid card.
For any player who has contracted the game facility for a membership agreement, the membership card 70 has the same function as that of the entry card 20. That is to say, the game ball supplying card 35 is issued to the member player on condition that an authentic membership card 70 is inserted into the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3.
On the membership card 70 is fixedly recorded only peculiar identification information (ID to discriminate from the entry card 20 and the game ball supplying card 35). The peculiar ID of the membership card 70 can also preferably discriminate not only the difference in the membership card 70 but also the difference in the game facilities themselves.
The employee's card slot 44 is to serve as insertion inlet and discharge outlet for the employee's card 71. The employee's card passage lamp 45 is controlled with the control section 55 to light up or blink when the employee's card 71 is inserted or discharged through the employee's card slot 44.
The employee's card access section 60 reads information from the employee's card 71 inserted through the employee's card slot 44 to give the read information to the control section 55 and writes information given from the control section 55 onto the employee's card 71.
The employee's card 71 is for example an IC card which it is possible to write on and to read from, and to be issued and retrieved with the employee's card device 8. An employee must insert the employee's card 71 into the employee's card slot 44 to operate the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3.
This embodiment is described on the assumption that the device to be operated on condition of inserting the employee's card 71 is only the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3. However, also the other devices such as the entry card issuing machine 2 and the game ball supply command device 4 may be adapted to be operable on condition of inserting the employee's card 71. It may also be arranged that an employee permitted to operate a device varies from one device to another, or that the types of operation of a device permitted to be operated by plural employees vary from one employee to another. Information on such difference is recorded as described later in relation to the employee's card 71.
The bill inlet 48 is an opening for the player to insert bills. The coin outlet 46 is an opening for dispensing coins to the player. The bill outlet 50 is an opening to dispense bills to the player. In relation to the above components, bill inlet lamp 49, the coin discharge lamp 47, and the bill discharge lamp 51 are provided to appropriately light up or blink under the control of the control section 55.
Under the control of the control section 55, the bill storing section 62 retrieves bills put in through the bill inlet 48 and rolls out bills through the bill outlet 50. Under the control of the control section 55, the coin storing section 63 rolls out coins to be dispensed through the coin outlet 46.
The bill discriminating device 61 is to discriminate the denominations and authenticity of bills inserted through the bill inlet 48 and dispensed out through the bill outlet 50. Information on the discrimination is given to the control section 55.
There are two cases of inserting bills into the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3. One is putting in an amount of money as a condition on setting a balance for possible ball supply (the amount of money for which game balls may be supplied) in relation to the game ball supplying card 35 to be issued. The other is putting in an amount of money as a condition on increasing the balance for possible ball supply related to the game ball supplying card 35 already issued.
On the other hand, there are two cases of dispensing bills and coins from the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3. One is dispensing change when there is a difference between the amount put in and the specified initial setting amount or the increased amount when setting an initial balance for possible ball supply (when issuing a game ball supplying card 35) related to the card 35 or when increasing the ball supply balance. The other is dispensing change according to the balance for possible ball supply in relation to the game ball supplying card 35 when settlement is instructed as the settlement button 40 is pressed.
The selection button 39 is for setting initial balance amount for possible ball supply or for setting an increase in the amount of balance for possible ball supply in relation to the game ball supplying card 35 (at the time of issuing a card 35). A plurality of selection buttons 39 are provided for different values to be specified (for example yen 1000, yen 2000, yen 3000, yen 5000, and yen 10000).
Also the digital camera 52 of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 is for example a still camera such as a CCD camera or the like (it may also be one that takes images successively for a period of about five seconds) to take an image (or images for a certain duration) under the control of the control section 55 (in other words in response to an image-taking trigger signal given from the control section 55) and to give image signals to the control section 55. The direction of taking images with the digital camera 52 is such that the image of a person (player or employee) who operates the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 can be taken under the condition of the door of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 closed (including an unlocked state). Incidentally, the digital camera 52 may be provided with a flash lamp to light up under the control of the control section 55.
A light amount sensor 65 of similar function to that of the light amount sensor of the entry card issuing machine 2 is provided near the optical window portion 52a in the housing shown in FIG. 4 of the digital camera 52.
The communication processing section 64, the door sensor 66, the destruction sensor 67, and the lamp off button 68 of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 have similar functions to that of the counterparts of the entry card issuing machine 2. Therefore, explanation of the functions is omitted.
The control section 55 controls the entire game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3. The control function with the control section 55 is roughly divided into four: controlling the issue of the game ball supplying card 35, controlling information on the increase in the balance related to the game ball supplying card 35, controlling information on the settlement of the balance related to the game ball supplying card 35, and anomaly monitoring. The control function of the control section 55 will be clarified later with the explanation of operation.
Though not shown in FIG. 5, it is arranged that power is automatically supplied to the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 when the main power supply of the game facility is turned on. Or, it is arranged that the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 is provided with a power switch, so that power is supplied from outside through a power supply line when the power switch is turned on.
In this embodiment, the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 has a built-in auxiliary power supply 69 to supply power at least to the digital camera 52, the control section 55, the communication processing section 64, the door sensor 66, and the destruction sensor 67 under the condition of power not supplied from the mains (for example at night). In other words, it is arranged to provide a minimum of anomaly monitoring function using the auxiliary power supply 69 even if power is not supplied from the mains.
While the system constitution shown in FIG. 1 is assumed to have only the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, other system components may also be provided as a matter of course, such as a game ball supplying card issuing machine with the function of only increasing the balance for possible supply and issuing the game ball supplying card 35 and a game ball supplying card settling machine with the function of only settling the balance for possible supply related to the game ball supplying card 35. Also there may be a device for only issuing the game ball supplying card 35 and a device for only increasing the balance for possible supply.
(A-1-3) Game Ball Supply Command Device 4 and Pachinko Game Machine 5.
The above-described game ball supplying card 35 is effectively used to supply game balls with sets of game ball supply command devices (so-called ‘card sand’) and pachinko game machines. Components and functions of an example set of a game ball supply command device 4 and a pachinko game machine 5 will be described below.
The explanation below assumes that a game ball supply command device that supplies game balls as coins and bills are put in, which is different from the game ball supply command device 4 of this embodiment, is not provided. That is to say, the explanation assumes that the pachinko game machine 5 itself is a so-called CR machine having game ball supplying (ball renting) function. As a matter of course, a game ball supply command device that supplies game balls as coins and bills are put in may be provided in addition to the game ball supply command device 4 of this embodiment.
A set of a game ball supply command device 4 and a pachinko game machine 5 looks in external appearance as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 6. The game ball supply command device 4 has functions shown in the block diagram of FIG. 7. Since the pachinko game machine 5 may be a conventional so-called CR machine as it is, its internal details are not shown. Therefore the block diagram shows only the components of the game ball supply command device 4.
In FIG. 6, various components are visible on the outside of the set of the game ball supply command device 4 and the pachinko game machine 5. On the outside of the game ball supply command device 4 are visible: a status lamp 75, a card slot 76, a remote control signal receiving section 77, and an optical window portion (image taking window portion) 81a for a digital camera 81(See FIG. 7). On the outside of the pachinko game machine 5 are visible: a balance display section 78, a ball renting button 79, and a return button 80. While many other components are visible on the pachinko game machine 5, their explanation is omitted here.
The game ball supply command device 4 also comprises, in addition to the above components, components as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 7: a digital camera 81, a control section 82, a card identifying information reading section 83, a communication processing section 84, an interface circuit 85, a light amount sensor 86, a door sensor 87, and a destruction sensor 88.
The status lamp 75 comprises for example plural lamps to indicate various statuses, by combinations of lighting up and blinking, such as one in which a game may be played by inserting a game ball supplying card 35 into the game ball supply command device 4 or one in which the game ball supplying card 35 is inserted. Lighting up, blinking, and turning off the status lamp 75 is controlled with the control section 82.
The card slot 76 is an opening through which the game ball supplying card 35 is inserted and discharged. To start a game with the pachinko game machine 5, the player must insert the game ball supplying card 35 into the card slot 76. The inserted game ball supplying card 35 is drawn in up to the position of the card identifying information reading section 83. The card identifying information reading section 83 reads the ID from the inserted game ball supplying card 35 and sends the read ID to the control section (made of a microcomputer or the like) 82 in the game ball supply command device 4. The ID is used to determine the authenticity of the game ball supplying card 35.
The remote control signal receiving section 77 is to notify the control section 82 of contents instructed by an employee using a remote control transmitter (not shown). In other words, it is arranged that the operation of the game ball supply command device 4 may be controlled by remote control communication, not through an entry section or various buttons.
The balance display section 78 provided on the pachinko game machine 5 comprises plural digits (for example three digits), seven segments for each, to indicate balance information on possible game ball supply related to the inserted game ball supplying card 35. Incidentally, the indicated balance for possible ball supply may be in money amount itself or the number of times obtained by dividing the money amount by a unit of money amount for one time.
The ball renting button 79 provided on the pachinko game machine 5 is to indicate supplying (renting) game balls for a unit. The return button 80 is to indicate giving back the game ball supplying card 35.
The interface circuit 85 of the game ball supply command device 4 has an interface function to exchange information with the pachinko game machine 5. Although not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a cheat sensor is provided inside the pachinko game machine 5 to detect electromagnetic waves, magnetic forces, or vibration used by a cheater in an attempt to swindle game balls. It is arranged that the information detected with the cheat sensor is also given through the interface circuit 85 to the control section 82 of the game ball supply command device 4.
The digital camera 81 of the game ball supply command device 4 is also for example a still camera such as a CCD camera or the like (it may also be one that takes images successively for a period of about five seconds) to take an image (or images for a certain duration) under the control of the control section 82 (in other words in response to an image-taking trigger signal given from the control section 82) and to give image signals to the control section 82. The direction of taking images with the digital camera 81 is such that the image of a person (player or employee) who operates the game ball supply command device 4 and the pachinko game machine 5 combined with the device 4 can be taken. Incidentally, the digital camera 81 may be provided with a flash lamp to light up under the control of the control section 82.
A light amount sensor 86 of similar function to that of the light amount sensor of the above-described devices is provided near the optical window portion 81a within the housing shown in FIG. 6 of the digital camera 81.
The communication processing section 84, the door sensor 87, and the destruction sensor 88 of the game ball supply command device 4 have similar functions to the functions of the counterparts of the devices already described above. Therefore, explanation of such functions is omitted.
The control section 82 is to control the entire game ball supply command device 4. Depending on the subjects of the control, the control section 82 also controls indirectly the pachinko game machine 5 combined with the game ball supply command device 4. The control function with the control section 82 is roughly divided into two. One is to control the game ball supply command using the game ball supplying card 35 and the other is to monitor anomaly. The control function of the control section 82 will be clarified later with the explanation of operation.
Although not shown in FIG. 7, it is arranged that power is automatically supplied to the set of the game ball supply command device 4 and the pachinko game machine 5 when the main power supply of the game facility is turned on. Or, it may be arranged that the set of the game ball supply command device 4 and the pachinko game machine 5 is provided with a power supply switch so that power is supplied from outside through a power supply line when the power supply switch is turned on.
In this embodiment, the set of the game ball supply command device 4 and the pachinko game machine 5 has a built-in auxiliary power supply 89 to supply power at least to the digital camera 81, the control section 82, the communication processing section 84, the interface circuit 85, the door sensor 87, the destruction sensor 88, and although not shown to a door sensor of the pachinko game machine 5, under the condition of power not supplied from the main power supply (for example at night). In other words, it is arranged to provide a minimum of anomaly monitoring function for the set of the game ball supply command device 4 and the pachinko game machine 5 with the auxiliary power supply 89 even if power is not supplied from the main power supply.
(A-1-4) Card Issuing and Account Settling Control Computer 6.
The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 is a computer device, placed for example in an office of the game facility, comprising a display and a keyboard to permit minimum work of data entry, with a main function of a database for accumulating data required in the game facility monitoring system 1. The accumulated data are related to various cards used in the game facility and to monitoring the game facility.
The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 functionally comprises as shown in FIG. 8, a control section 90 (made of for example a microcomputer), a memory section 91 (made of a large capacity memory device such as a hard disk), and a communication processing section 92 (with entry section and display omitted in the drawing). Incidentally, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 also has an auxiliary power supply 98 as well as a main power supply (not shown).
In the memory section 91 are stored, an entry card file 93, a game ball supply card file 94, a membership card file 95, an employee's card file 96, and an anomaly data file 97.
As shown in FIG. 9, one record of the entry card file 93 has fields of the ID 93a of an entry card 10 currently handled in the game facility, the registration date (and time) 93b on which the record of the ID is registered in the file 93, the date of issue 93c in case it is issued, the number of issues (uses) 93d made so far with the entry card issuing machine 2, the serial number 93e of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 that retrieves the entry card 10.
Incidentally, data in respective fields 93a to 93e are not necessarily stored in successive addresses in the address space of the memory section 91. Although not shown in FIG. 9, control data are also present to make it possible to combine together the data of respective fields, so that they are handled as a single data.
As shown in FIG. 10, one record of the game ball supply card file 94 has for example the following fields: the ID 94a of the game ball supplying card 35, the registration date (and time) 94b on which the record of the ID is registered in the file 94, the date (and time) of issue 94c in case it is issued, the serial number 94d of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 which issued the card, the settlement date (and time) 94e, the total amount of money 94f received on that day, the balance 94g, the operation history 94h from the issue of the game ball supplying card 35 to the settlement, the number of issues (uses) 94i made so far with the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, whether or not the game ball supplying card 35 is inserted to any device and if inserted, the serial number 94j of the device into which the game ball supplying card 35 is inserted, the serial number 94k of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 that retrieves the game ball supplying card 35, the membership card ID 941 (member's ID) recorded when issued by the membership card 70, and the member's information 94m.
Incidentally, data in respective fields 94a to 94m are not necessarily stored in successive addresses in the address space of the memory section 91. Although not shown in FIG. 10, control data are also present to make it possible to combine together the data of respective fields, so that they are handled as a single data.
As shown in FIG. 11, one record of the membership card file 95 has for example the following fields: the ID 95a of the membership card 70 currently handled in the game facility, the registration date (and time) 95b on which the record of the ID is registered in the file 95, the date (and time) of issue 95c in case the game ball supplying card 35 is issued, the accumulated money amount 95d put in by the member, the member's detailed information 95e such as address and name, the number of issues 95f of the game ball supplying card 35 made so far with the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, and the ID 95g of the game ball supplying card 35 issued on that day as the membership card 70 is utilized.
Incidentally, data in respective fields 95a to 95g are not necessarily stored in successive addresses in the address space of the memory section 91. Although not shown in FIG. 11, control data are also present to make it possible to combine together the data of respective fields, so that they are handled as a single data.
As shown in FIG. 12, one record of the employee's card file 96 has for example the following fields: the ID (including the employee's code of that day to be described later) 96a of the employee's card 71, the employee's name 96b carrying the employee's card 71, the operation history 96c, the possible operation level 96d, the attendance time 96e on that day, the accumulated work hours in that month 96f, and the fingerprint image data 96g. Many fields are provided for the operation history 96c, with each field recording the time duration from opening to closing the door of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, operation details, etc. In case other devices are operated, it may be arranged that insertion of the employee's card 71 is a condition. In that case, the history of operating the devices is also stored.
In the field 96a of the employee's card 71 are recorded the card ID and the employee's code of the day. The employee's code of the day is, as described later, made up of the employee's fixed code and a random number affixed to the fixed code, and recorded in the field 96a so that the card ID, the employee's fixed code, and the random number are easily separated.
Here, the large number of operation history data to be recorded in the operation history field 96c are recorded not in time sequence but under the control of the control section 90 in mixed sequence for example by interleaving or shuffling process using random numbers. It may also be arranged to record together with dummy data, or to store in the operation history field 96c the operation history data of the past that have been read and checked by the managing person of the game facility and so may be erased, so that a third person cannot find easily the operation history the third person wants to see.
In this embodiment, the control section 90 permits the contents of the operation history field 96c to be displayed on the display section on condition that a dedicated code of the entry section (a code that is known to limited persons such as an executive of the game facility or a managing person) is entered through the entry section. Displaying after searching according to the operation time or after arranging in different order is also conditioned on the entry of a different code.
As shown in FIG. 13, one record of the anomaly data file 97 has for example the following fields: the picture data (still image data) 97a (picture data may not be present depending on the type of the anomaly), the contents of anomaly 97b (it may happen to be an event which has become a trigger for obtaining the picture data), the date and time 97c of occurrence of the anomaly, the card ID 97d considered to be related to the person (player or employee) related to the anomaly, the serial number 97e of the device in which the anomaly has occurred, the level of the anomaly 97f occurred, whether or not the anomaly has been notified 97g to an outside system such as the security company, and whether or not images are taken 97h with the video camera 9.
Incidentally, data in respective fields 97a to 97h are not necessarily stored in successive addresses in the address space of the memory section 91. Although not shown in FIG. 13, control data are also present to make it possible to combine together the data of respective fields, so that they are handled as a single data.
Here, the large number of records about the anomaly data file 97 are recorded not in the order of the anomaly occurrence date and time but under the control of the control section 90 in mixed sequence using for example interleaving or shuffling process using random numbers. It may also be arranged to record together with dummy data, or to store in the anomaly data file 97 the anomaly data records of the past that have been read and checked by the managing person of the game facility and so may be erased, so that a third person cannot find easily the anomaly data the third person wants to see.
This embodiment is arranged that the control section 90 shows the contents in the anomaly data file 97 on the display section on condition of entering a code special to the entry section (a code that is known only to such persons as an executive of the game facility or a managing person). To search and put in different order according to the time and date of occurrence and to display, entry of a different code is also required as a condition.
As described above, the operation history in the employee's card file 96 and the records in the anomaly data file 97 are arranged that general employees cannot see them on the display or cannot erase them as a matter of course.
Incidentally, since the operation history in the employee's card file 96 and the records in the anomaly data file 97 may become large in number, it may be arranged that data are compressed at the time of recording and expanded at the time of reproduction.
Further details of data in the fields 97a to 97h in the anomaly data file 97 are described below.
The picture data related to the field 97a are basically still picture data taken with the digital cameras provided in the entry card issuing machine 2, the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, or the game ball supply command device 4. In case pictures are taken for several seconds depending on the nature of the anomaly (depending on the type of the picture taking trigger), the data may be for successive images over a short period of time. It may happen that images cannot be taken with cameras in case anomalies occur for example at night. In that case, no picture data are recorded. Picture data of anomalies occurring at night may be obtained with a camera with a flashing function. Here, the picture data stored may be raw image data as taken with the digital camera or compressed data. In the latter case, the compression may be performed with either the control section of the picture taking device or the control section 90 of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6.
The recorded contents of anomaly related to the field 97b are those which identify the types of anomaly. By the way, even when operation is normal, data that are necessary for the analysis of anomalies which occur later are recorded. In that case, the contents are recorded as being normal. Most of the contents indicate the causes (events) that caused the digital camera to take pictures.
The events that trigger taking pictures may be roughly divided into those which cause triggers to be produced with devices with a digital camera mounted (for the game ball supply command device 4, including the pachinko game machines 5 which make up a set) and those which cause triggers to be produced with devices without a digital camera mounted (mainly the system control computer 7).
The device provided with a digital camera produces a trigger for example, (1) when a specified sensor (a destruction sensor, a cheat sensor, a door sensor or the like) works, (2) when anomaly is recognized with causes other than the sensor's output (such as a wrong card as a result of collation), and (3) when an entry card 20 or a game ball supplying card 35 is issued wrongly.
The cases in which triggers are produced with a device without a digital camera may be divided into (1) those in which triggers are produced automatically, and (2) those in which triggers are produced by manual operation by a managing person of the game facility. The triggers are automatically produced for example, when the system control computer 7 detects an anomaly in the number of discharged game balls from a pachinko game machine 5 (abnormally large number of game balls discharged when not in a big hit, or unusual game ball discharge suspected to have resulted from the use of a fake ROM of a big hit), or when the light amount sensor 86 of a game ball supply command device 4 detects anomaly and gives a trigger signal to another game ball supply command device 4 located in an opposite position. Manual operation by a managing person of the game facility is made to the system control computer 7.
The anomaly occurrence date and time data related to the field 97c represent the date and time of occurrence of anomalies (and the date and time of the end of normal operations), preferably specified to the second in time.
The card ID related to the field 97d is that of the entry card 20, the game ball supplying card 35, the membership card 70, or the employee's card 71.
For example, if an image is taken in response to the actuation of the cheat sensor of a set-forming pachinko game machine 5 under the condition of the game ball supplying card 35 being inserted into the game ball supply command device 4, the ID of the game ball supplying card 35 is recorded. Also for example, if an image is taken when a game ball supplying card 35 is issued as an authentic membership card 70 is inserted into the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, both IDs of the cards 35 and 70 are recorded.
The serial number of the device related to the field 97e is the ID of the device in which an anomaly occurs. The ID may be that of the device with the digital camera which has taken the pictures or that of the digital camera. It may also be arranged to record together the ID of the sensor that has outputted a detection signal, a trigger for taking pictures.
The anomalies occurring in relation to the field 97f are recorded with anomaly levels determined by the type of anomaly. For example, the anomalies are classified into four levels from 0 to 3. The level 0 represents a normal state. The level 1 is one that represents a normal state requiring confirmation. The level 2 is a doubtful one that, though abnormal, cannot be attributable to illegal or fraudulent acts, such as mistakes done by employees or players. The level 3 is one that is almost certainly attributable to illegal or fraudulent acts. Therefore, the level 1 may be referred to as a normal attention level, the level 2 as a caution level, and the level 3 as a warning level.
The information on outward notification 97g related to the field 97g represents whether or not an anomaly notification has been given to an outside system such as a security company, and may include information on the notification addressee. For example, it may be arranged that an anomaly of the level 3 occurring at night is notified to an outside system.
The information on taking images with the video camera 9 related to the field 97h shows whether or not images have been taken with the video camera 9 in response to the anomaly that has occurred this time. In case plural video cameras 9 are provided, the information also includes one denoting a definite video camera 9.
The card issuing and account settling control computer 6, upon requests for collation from the entry card issuing machine 2, the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, the game ball supply command device 4, the employee's card device 8 or the like, gains access to corresponding files and returns the results, or updates information in the above files according to information sent from the above-enumerated devices. The control section 90, when an anomaly is determined as a result of collation, returns a reply to that effect and also records to that effect in the memory section 91.
Though not shown in FIG. 8, it is arranged that power is automatically supplied to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 when the main power supply of the game facility is turned on. It may alternatively be arranged that the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 is provided with a power supply switch so that power is supplied from outside through a power supply line when the power supply switch is turned on.
In this embodiment, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 has a built-in auxiliary power supply 98 to supply power to the communication processing section 92 under the condition of power not supplied from the main power source (for example at night), and it is arranged that power is supplied from the auxiliary power supply 98 to the entire card issuing and account settling control computer 6 when the communication processing section 92 receives anomaly occurrence information from an external device. In other words, it is arranged to implement a minimum of anomaly monitoring with the auxiliary power supply 98 even if power is not supplied from the main power source.
Incidentally, it may also be arranged that the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 is connected through a network different from the network N of the game facility so that a third party (such as a card issuing company or a card supplier company) can gain access to make judgment on replenishing various cards from a distant place.
(A-1-5) System Control Computer 7.
The system control computer 7 is made of a computer device placed for example in an office of the game facility. The computer device is for example a personal computer having communicating function for the executives or the managers of the game facility to control the entire monitoring system and the card system. It controls the card system including the control of the number of devices such as the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 and the game ball supply command device 4, their addresses on the communication network, parameter setting, and monitoring them. Moreover, the system control computer 7 may be connected to a conventional hall control computer (not shown) that controls information on the ball discharge from the pachinko game machine 5 and on the member's cards 70. Or, those systems may be integrated in the system control computer 7. The following description assumes the latter.
As described above, the system control computer 7 is made of the computer device, and has, as shown in FIG. 14, a control section 100, a memory section 101, an input (entry) section 102, a display section 103, a communication processing section 104, and a printing section 105.
The system control computer 7, in relation to the above-mentioned various cards, updates individually the contents of various card files of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 in response to operations made to the entry section 102 by a managing person or the like. It also records information on the appearance of a wrong card (anomaly) and issues warning.
The system control computer 7, in terms of monitoring function, instructs digital cameras provided in various devices and the video camera 9 to take pictures. For example, it instructs any of the digital cameras to take pictures according to the operation made to the entry section 102 by a managing person, or instructs the digital camera 81 of the game ball supply command device 4 to take pictures related to the pachinko game machine 5 which has discharged an unusually large number of balls.
The system control computer 7 has also the function of search in the anomaly data file 97 in terms of monitoring function. For example, it searches data of specified pictures in response to the operation of entering search conditions through the entry section 102 by a managing person or the like. The search function may be started automatically. For example, in case a cheat sensor detects a cheat, all the picture data related to the game ball supplying card 35 inserted in the game ball supply command device 4 paired with the pachinko game machine 5 in question are searched using the ID of the game ball supplying card 35 as a key.
The system control computer 7 is also provided with an auxiliary power supply 106 having the same function as that of the auxiliary power supply in the card issuing and account settling control computer 6.
(A-1-6) Employee's Card Device 8.
The employee's card device 8 issues employee's cards 71 to be carried by employees who are allowed to be operators of the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 or the like, and retrieves the employee's cards 71 issued. The employee's card device 8 also has the function of a time clock. An employee's card 71 is issued when an employee attends the day's work and is retrieved when the employee leaves the work site.
FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of the functional constitution of the employee's card device 8. It shows not only an electrical functional constitution but also a mechanical functional one.
The employee's card device 8 has an employee's card holding section 110 for storing the employee's cards 71. The holding section 110 is to roll out the stored employee's cards 71 and to retrieve the employee's cards 71 inserted through the card slot 112, under the control of the control section 111.
An employee's card access section 113 is provided on the transfer passage of the employee's cards 71 between the employee's card holding section 110 and the card slot 112. The employee's card access section 113 is to store information on and erase information from the employee's card 71 under the control of the control section 111. In this embodiment, the card ID only is stored on the employee's card 71 held in the employee's card holding section 110, and the employee's code or the like is not stored. The employee's card access section 113 stores on the employee's card 71 being issued for example the employee's fixed code with a random number and erases the employee's fixed code together with the affixed random number from the employee's card 71 being retrieved.
The employee's card device 8 has an individual's body information reading section 115 for checking the identity of the employee.
The individual's information reading section 115 is made up of for example a fingerprint reading device, a palm print reading device, and an iris reading device, and gives the read individual information (fingerprint, palm print, or iris information; image information) to the control section 111. Collation of the read individual information with pre-registered information (identifying employees) is performed with the control section 111 or the card issuing and account settling control computer 6.
The employee's card device 8 has an entry section 116, a random number generating section 117, a display section 118, a communication processing section 119 and the like. A timer for determining date and time is assumed to be included in the control section 111.
The entry section 116 has for example plural keys for use by an operator to enter certain information (such as the employee's fixed code) into the employee's card device 8. The entered information is given to the control section 111.
The random number generating section 117 generates random numbers under the control of the control section 111 and gives the generated random number to the control section 111. While an employee's fixed code is allocated to each employee, it is arranged that, when an employee's card 71 is issued as the employee attends the day's work, a random number is produced and affixed to the employee's fixed code and stored on the employee's card 71, so that the employee's fixed code with the random number affixed is the employee's code on the employee's card 71 issued (namely the employee's code of the day).
The display section 118 displays under the control of the control section 111 a guidance message prompting an operator to operate, or information on the state of the employee's card device 8.
The communication processing section 119 performs communication through the dedicated line N with devices such as the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, the system control computer 7 and the like under the control of the control section 111.
The control section 111 is made of for example a microcomputer to control the entire employee's card device 8. The contents of the control will be clarified later in the description of the operation.
Also the employee's card device 8 is provided with a digital camera 120 and a light amount sensor 121 having similar function to the devices already described.
(A-1-7) Video Camera 9.
The video camera 9 is to take internal pictures of the game facility hall and the game facility control room. FIG. 1 shows only one of the plural video cameras 9 actually provided. While detailed constitution of the video camera 9 is not shown, this embodiment is provided with a moving mechanism to change the photographing direction and a mechanism to take pictures in response to remote controlled photographing instruction from the system control computer 7. Generally, dim lighting is done for security even in an unattended condition at night in game facility halls. The video camera is preferably capable of taking pictures under such a condition.
(A-2) Operation of the Embodiment System, and Operation by Players and Employees.
Next, operation of various sections of the game facility monitoring system 1 of the embodiment will be described together with the operation by employees and players. The following description is made mainly on the assumption that main power is being supplied to each device.
(A-2-1) Operation When Employees Come to the Workplace.
First, the operation when an employee comes to the workplace is described in reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 16.
The control section 111 of the employee's card device 8 in its standby state causes the display section 118 to display a message demanding the entry of the employee's fixed code. The employee, upon coming to the workplace, uses the entry section 116 to enter the employee's own fixed code (T121).
At this time, the control section 111 transfers the employee's fixed code through a communication processing section 119 to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to have its authenticity checked (T122, T123).
In case the employee's fixed code entered is wrong, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends the information to that effect to the employee's card device 8 or to the system control computer 7 (not shown in FIG. 16). The employee's card device 8 displays a message of anomaly (if a buzzer is provided, sound notification is given as well as the visual message; likewise with other devices), a picture is taken with a digital camera 120, the display is returned to a standby state, and the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds anomaly occurrence data including picture data to the anomaly data file 97 (T124, T125). At the time of this addition, shuffling and interleaving are done as described before. Incidentally, since incorrect entry of the employee's fixed code can occur, the anomaly level of this case is level 2 (the caution level). It may also be arranged that the picture data obtained by taking pictures when an anomaly occurs are automatically printed if the main power is being supplied to the system control computer 7.
In the system computer 7 to which a notification is given that the code is wrong, an anomaly notification process of the level 2, not shown in FIG. 16, is performed, and whether or not searching picture data is necessary is determined. It may also be arranged that the system control computer 7 causes the video camera 9 to take a picture of the person who entered a wrong employee's fixed code. It is further arranged that the system control computer 7 starts taking pictures with the video camera 9 under the condition in which the data of an anomaly level other than 0 are added to the anomaly data file 97. Therefore, the start of taking pictures with the video camera 9 is not mentioned repeatedly in the following explanation.
When an anomaly notification of the level 2 is given with the system control computer 7, the game facility manager or the like person, if there is no other urgent task, takes out the data about the anomaly from the anomaly data file 97 and checks them. Even if the anomaly data are taken out, checked, and the anomaly data need not be recorded any more, the anomaly data are still left recorded so as to disturb a third party who attempts to take out the other anomaly data. The amount of such past anomaly data to be left for the above purpose is for example for several days or one week.
Incidentally, the above process is also performed when other anomaly data are added. Therefore, the process is not mentioned repeatedly in the following explanation.
On the other hand, when the employee's fixed code entered is right, a notification to that effect is given from the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to the employee's card device 8, the control section 111 causes the display section 118 to display a message prompting the employee to bring his or her finger into contact with the individual's information reading section (here it is assumed to be a fingerprint reading device) 115 (T126). Accordingly, the employee has the image of his or her finger read with the individual's information reading section 115. The control section 111 transfers the fingerprint image data through the communication processing section 119 to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to have it verified whether or not it corresponds to the employee's fixed code (T127 to T129).
When the fingerprint image data are in disagreement with those registered, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends signals to that effect to the employee's card device 8 and to the system control computer 7 (not shown in FIG. 16). The employee's card device 8 displays a message of anomaly, causes the digital camera 120 to take pictures. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds the anomaly data including the picture data to the anomaly data file 97 (T130, T131). Incidentally, since it may happen to touch with a wrong finger, the level of anomaly in this case may be set to 2 (caution level). Or, the anomaly level may be set to 3 (warning level) assuming that an attempt is made to obtain fraudulently an employee's card 71.
In the system control computer 7 to which a notification is given that the fingerprint image data do not agree with those registered, although the process is not shown in FIG. 16, an anomaly notification process of the level 2 or 3 is performed, and whether or not searching picture data is necessary is determined. It may also be arranged that the system control computer 7 causes the video camera 9 to take a picture of the person who made a wrong fingerprint read. In case an anomaly notification of the level 3 is given, the game facility manager or the like person is to take immediate measures.
On the other hand, if the fingerprint image data are right, a notification to that effect is given from the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to the employee's card device 8, the control section 111 causes the random number generating section 117 to generate a random number and simultaneously takes current time data (work attendance time data) from a built-in timer (T132).
And the control section 111 causes the employee's card holding section 110 to roll out an employee's card 71, obtains the ID of the rolled out employee's card 71 from the employee's card access section 113, causes the employee's card access section 113 to store on the rolled out employee's card 71 the employee's code of the day made up of the employee's fixed code with a generated random number affixed and the work attendance time, and causes the employee's card 71 to be discharged through the card slot 112. The employee receives the employee's card 71 (T133, T134).
The control section 111 causes the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to transfer and store in the anomaly data file 97: the ID of the rolled out employee's card 71, the day's employee's code made up of the employee's fixed code with a generated random number affixed, the work attendance time, and the picture data taken at that time with the digital camera 120 (T135, T136). Since the employee's card 71 in this case is issued through a correct procedure, the anomaly level is set to 0. Incidentally, in case the employee's card device 8 is placed in a position that cannot be seen from the other persons, the anomaly level may be set to 1 (normal attention level).
(A-2-2) Operation When a Non-Membership Player Enters a Game Shop.
Next, the operation of a non-membership player will be described from the time when the player enters the game facility to the time when the player obtains a game ball supplying card in reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 17.
When a non-membership player enters the game shop, he or she first pushes a card issuing button 10 of the entry card issuing machine 2 (T0). At this time, the entry card issuing machine 2 rolls out one of the entry cards 20 it holds, and takes a picture with the digital camera 16. The non-membership player receives the entry card 20 rolled out (T1, T2). At this time, the ID (and information on the date and time of issue) of the entry card 20 and picture data and the like are sent from the entry card issuing machine 2 to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 and, in response to it, the anomaly data file 97 and the entry card file 93 of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 are updated (T3). Since the process is only to issue the entry card 20, the anomaly level is set to 0. The anomaly level may also be set to level 1 (normal attention level) in consideration that the entry card 20 is a condition for issuing the game ball supplying card 35.
The non-membership player who obtained the entry card 20 inserts it into the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 placed near the pachinko game machine 5 the player wants to play with (T4). The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 obtains the ID of the inserted entry card 20 with the card information reading section 56 and sends the ID to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, which in turn refers to the contents in the entry card file 93 to check if the card 20 is right (T5, T6).
For example, in case no record of issue remains for the entry card 20, or a specified period of time (for example 2 hours) has passed from the date and time of issue of the entry card 20 (including the issue before the previous day as a matter of course), the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 determines that the card is not right.
If the card is not right, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends information to that effect to the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 and the system control computer 7 (not shown in FIG. 17). The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 displays a message of anomaly. The digital camera 52 takes a picture. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds anomaly occurrence data to the anomaly data file 97 (T7, T8). In this case, the level of anomaly is set for example to level 2 (caution level).
In the system control computer 7 to which a notification is given that the card is not right, although the process is not shown in FIG. 17, an anomaly notification process of the level 2 is performed, and whether or not searching picture data is necessary is determined. For example, when the reason for not being right is that a specified period of time (for example 2 hours) has passed from the date and time of issue of the entry card 20, picture data at the time of the issue of the entry card 20 are automatically searched from the anomaly data file 97. Incidentally, since the entry card 20 has no monetary value, the automatic picture data searching function may not be provided.
In case the entry card 20 is right, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends information to that effect back to the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 which in turn displays a message of prompting the player to put in money (T9).
In response to that, the non-membership player inserts a bill or bills into the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 and specifies a prepaid amount (possible supply balance, may be in the number of times) using the selection button 39 (T10, T11).
Though not shown in FIG. 17, when the inserted bill is a counterfeit one, a picture is taken with the digital camera 52, data are added to the anomaly data file 97 of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, and anomaly notification of a specified anomaly level is made with the system control computer 7. The managing person or the like appropriately causes the printing section 105 of the system control computer 7 to print the picture data.
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, in case a possible supply balance is specified that is greater than the amount of bill or bills inserted, indicates an instruction to redo the specification (T12, T13).
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, in case a possible supply balance is specified that is smaller than the amount of bill or bills inserted, obtains with the card information reading section 56 information such as the ID, date and time of issue, and balance of the game ball supplying card 35 which is about to be discharged, and transfers the information to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6. In response, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 updates the contents in the game ball supply-purpose card file 94, etc. (T14, T15). At this time, the inserted entry card 20 is retrieved into the entry card retrieving section 57.
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 discharges the stored game ball supplying card 35 and, if necessary, discharges change (T16), and the non-membership player receives them (T17). The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 when discharging the game ball supplying card 35 takes pictures with the digital camera 52 and transfers picture data to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds the data to the anomaly data file 97 (T18, T19). Here, since the process is a normal issue of the game ball supplying card 35, the anomaly level is set to level 0.
On the other hand, a membership player, when entering the game shop, without obtaining an entry card 20, inserts a membership card 70 in the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 placed near the pachinko game machine 5 the player wants to play with. The operation of the device and the actions of the player after the membership card 70 is inserted are nearly the same as those occurring when the entry card 20 is inserted, and so their explanations are omitted (also a sequence diagram is omitted).
Incidentally, a membership card 70 is determined to be wrong when the fixed ID of the membership card is not registered in the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 or when the membership contract period, if any, has expired or when a game ball supplying card 35 has already been issued on that day.
(A-2-3) Money Adding Actions
Next will be described actions for increasing the balance for the possible supply of game balls in reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 18.
When the player wants to increase the balance for possible ball supply as the balance becomes low (or zero), he or she inserts a game ball supplying card 35 into the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 (T20). The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 obtains the ID of the inserted game ball supplying card 35 through the card information reading section 56 and transfers it to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 (T21). The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 refers to the contents in the game ball supply card file 94 to check the ID for authenticity (T22).
The game ball supplying card 35 is determined to be wrong when for example its registration record does not exist any more, its date of issue is not that day but someday in the past, or its ID is the same as an ID of a game ball supplying card 35 already inserted in some other game ball supply command device 4 or in other game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3.
If it is wrong, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends signals to that effect to the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 and to the system control computer 7 (not shown in FIG. 18). The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 displays an anomaly message and takes pictures with the digital camera 52. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds anomaly occurrence data to the anomaly data file 97 (T23, T24). Here, the anomaly level is set to level 2 (caution level).
In the system control computer 7 to which a notification is given that the card is wrong, although the process is not shown in FIG. 18, an anomaly notification process of the level 2 is performed, and whether or not it is necessary to search picture data is determined. For example, when the reason for the wrong card is that the ID is the same as an ID of a game ball supplying card 35 already inserted in some game ball supply command device 4 or in any other game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, all the picture data having the ID of the game ball supplying card 35 are automatically searched from the anomaly data file 97. At the same time, pictures are taken with the game ball supply command device 4 or with the other game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 into which a game ball supplying card 35 of the same ID is inserted.
In this way, supervising persons such as executives and managers of the game facility can sequentially check the searched picture data and currently taken picture data and recognize illegal persons and illegal acts. If necessary, picture data may be printed out.
When the inserted game ball supplying card 35 is right, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 returns to the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 signals to that effect and the possible supply balance up to that time point (it may be a possible additional money amount) (T241). The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 displays a message of prompting the player to put in money or settle the account while showing the possible supply balance and/or possible additional money amount (T25).
In response to the above, the player inserts a bill or bills into the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 and uses the selection button 39 to specify an amount up to which the possible supply balance is to be increased (T26, T27). Incidentally, the process of the case in which counterfeit bills are inserted is the same as the above.
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, in case an additional amount is specified that is greater than the amount of bill or bills inserted, or in case an additional amount is specified that is over the additional possible money amount, indicates an instruction to redo it (T28, T29).
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, in case a right amount is specified, transfers to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 information such as the ID and updated balance (or additional amount) of the inserted game ball supplying card 35 (T30). The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 accordingly updates the contents (in particular the possible supply balance) in the game ball supply card file 94 (T31) and the like.
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 also causes the inserted game ball supplying card 35 to be discharged and if necessary causes change to be dispensed (T32) to be received by the player (T33).
The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, when the game ball supplying card 35 is discharged, takes pictures with the digital camera 52, transfers the picture data to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 which in turn adds the data to the anomaly data file 97 (T34, T35). Here, since the process is normal for increasing the possible supply balance, the anomaly level is set to level 0.
(A-2-4) Operation in Game Ball Supply
Next, operation when game balls are supplied (rented) will be described in reference to sequence diagrams shown in FIGS. 19 and 20.
When the player wants to start to play with the pachinko game machine 5, he or she inserts a game ball supplying card 35 into the game ball supply command device 4 (T40). The game ball supply command device 4 reads the ID of the inserted game ball supplying card 35 and sends it to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 and causes it to check if the game ball supplying card 35 is authentic (T41, T42).
Also here, a game ball supplying card 35 is determined to be wrong when for example its registration record does not exist any more, its date of issue is not that day but someday in the past, or its ID is the same as an ID of a game ball supplying card 35 already inserted in some other game ball supply command device 4 or in some game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3.
In case the card is wrong, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends information to that effect to the game ball supply command device 4 and the system control computer 7 (not shown in FIG. 19). The game ball supply command device 4 locks the inserted game ball supplying card 35 so that it cannot be transferred, displays a message of anomaly, and takes pictures with a digital camera 81. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds anomaly occurrence data to the anomaly data file 97 (T43 to T45). Here, the anomaly level is set for example to level 2 (caution level).
In this case too, in the system control computer 7 to which a notification is given that the card is wrong, although the process is not shown in FIG. 19, an anomaly notification process of the level 2 is performed, and whether or not it is necessary to search picture data is determined. For example, when the reason for the wrong card is that the ID is the same as the ID of a game ball supplying card 35 already inserted in any other game ball supply command device 4 or in some game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 all the picture data having the ID of the game ball supplying card 35 are automatically searched from the anomaly data file 97. At the same time, pictures are taken at the game ball supply command device 4 or at the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 into which a game ball supplying card 35 of the same ID is inserted.
When the inserted game ball supplying card 35 is right, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 returns to the game ball supply command device 4 signals to that effect (T46) and the possible supply balance. The game ball supply command device 4 causes the inserted game supplying card 35 to be discharged if the possible supply balance is 0 (T47 to T49) or causes the pachinko game machine 5 to display the balance if the balance is not 0 (T50).
The game ball supply command device 4 may also be arranged to take the picture of the player when the game ball supplying card 35 is recognized to be right. Taking the picture before starting the game in this way makes it possible to find a player who perpetrates fraudulent practices while covering the picture taking opening 81a.
The player is to check the possible supply balance and operate a game ball renting button 79 (T51). At this time, the pachinko game machine 5 supplies (rents) game balls in number for a unit at a time, and deducts the possible supply balance by the number supplied for a unit every time the supply is finished, and continues the game ball supply until a return button 80 is pressed or the number of game balls for the units set to the game ball supply command device 4 is rented out or game ball renting finish signal becomes 0 (T52 to T55).
When the supply of game balls stops, the game ball supply command device 4 sends together with the ID of the inserted game ball supplying card 35 the updated possible supply balance to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, which in turn updates the balance in the game ball supply card file 94 (T56, T57).
Also, when the possible supply balance becomes 0, the inserted game ball supplying card 35 is discharged to be received by the player (T58 to T60).
In case the player wants to stop playing with the pachinko game machine 5 with which the player has been playing, the player presses the return button 80 (T61). At this time, the game ball supplying card 35 is discharged from the game ball supply command device 4, and the player receives the card (T62, T63).
Whatever may be the cause, when the game ball supplying card 35 is discharged from the game ball supply command device 4, although not shown, information on the discharge is sent to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, which in turn empties the card insertion device field in the game ball supply card file 94.
(A-2-5) Operation for Settlement
Next, the operation for settling the possible supply balance related to the game ball supplying card 35 will be described in reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 21.
Incidentally, part of the settling operation up to the middle of the process is similar to that of increasing the possible supply balance. Therefore, explanation of the similar part will be made simply.
To settle the possible supply balance related to the game ball supplying card 35, the player inserts the game ball supplying card 35 into the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 (T70). The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 obtains the ID of the inserted game ball supplying card 35 through the card information reading section 56 and transfers the ID to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 (T71), which in turn checks the card for its authenticity by referring to the contents in the game ball supply card file 94 (T72).
In case the card is wrong, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends the information on being a wrong card to the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 and to the system control computer 7. The game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 displays information on the anomaly, and takes pictures with the digital camera 52. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds anomaly occurrence data (level 2) to the anomaly data file 97 (T73, T74). In the system control computer 7 to which the information on the anomaly is notified, anomaly notification process of the level 2 is performed and whether or not searching picture data is necessary is determined.
When the inserted game ball supplying card 35 is right, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends information to that effect and the possible supply balance up to that time point back to the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 (T75) and the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3 displays a message of prompting the player to put in money or settle the account while clearly showing a possible supply balance (T76).
If the possible supply balance is not 0, the player presses the settlement button 40 (the possible supply balance may or may not be 0; T77). At this time, the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3, after confirming that the possible supply balance is not 0 (T78), dispenses bills and coins for the balance money amount, and retrieves the inserted game ball supplying card 35 (T79, T80). It also sends information on the completion of the settlement together with the card ID to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, which in turn sets the balance field of the game ball supply card file 94 to 0 and empties the card insertion device field (T81, T82).
Here, it may also be arranged to erase the picture data related to the card ID in question in the anomaly data file 97 when the settlement is completed. However, it may also be arranged for the later utilization for security that the picture data are automatically erased after a specified period of time from the completion of the settlement (for example two to three days), or that the data are erased only when the managers or the executives of the game facility manually enter an instruction to erase into the system control computer 7.
(A-2-6) Operation When the Light Amount Sensor Works.
Next, in reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 22, the operation of a device provided with a light amount sensor will be described when the light amount sensor detects shortage in the light amount for taking pictures.
Players can recognize that their pictures are taken with various devices. Bad players may cover the picture taking window portions (16a, 52a, 81a) to obstruct taking pictures. To detect such a practice, light amount sensors 26, 65, 86, and 121 are provided.
When the light amount sensors 26, 65, 86, and 121 detect shortage in the light amount, the devices 2, 3, 4, and 8 provided with the light amount sensors issue warning and transfer, to the system control computer 7, the IDs of the respective devices, if any inserted card is present, together with its ID (T90).
Here, the system control computer 7 issues warning of the level 2 (the reason for the level 2 is that a hand or the like may be inadvertently placed over the window portion), determines the devices 2, 3, and 4 provided with digital cameras and video cameras 9 in positions where the player can be taken pictures (either from behind or from the side) on the basis of the IDs of the devices, causes the determined devices to take pictures, and notifies the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 of the data of the anomaly occurrence (T91, T92).
The obtained picture data and video signals are transferred to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 and to the system control computer 7. In the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, the information is additionally stored in the anomaly data file 97. The system control computer 7 receives the transferred data (T93, T94).
The system control computer 7 checks the device in which the light amount sensor has worked if any inserted card is present (T95), if present, gives the card ID to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, causes the field of the card ID in the picture data obtained this time to store the ID, and causes a search for the picture data taken in the past in relation to the card ID (T96, T98).
In case no card is inserted in the device in which the light amount sensor worked or in case past picture data are obtained by the search, the system control computer 7 calls attention of a watchman by giving forth warning sound and performs the process of displaying picture data obtained currently or picture data and video signals obtained in the past (T97).
(A-2-7) Operation When Cheat Sensor Works
The operation when a cheat sensor of the pachinko game machine 5 detects a cheat will be described in reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 23.
The game ball supply command device 4, to which a detection signal is given from the cheat sensor of the pachinko game machine 5, first checks if the light amount sensor 86 has detected shortage in the light amount (T100). In case the light amount shortage has been detected, since the above process at the time of detection with the light amount sensor 86 is being performed, the process is left as it goes even if the cheat sensor works.
On the other hand, in case the light amount sensor 86 has not worked for detection, the game ball supply command device 4 takes pictures using the digital camera 81 and transfers obtained picture data to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 and to the system control computer 7. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 additionally stores the anomaly occurrence data of the level 2 into the anomaly data file 97. The system control computer 7 stores the data into the reception buffer or the like in the communication processing section 104 while giving forth a warning of the level 2 (T101 to T103).
The system control computer 7 checks if the game ball supplying card 35 is present as inserted in the game ball supply command device 4 (T104) and, if present, performs a search for the picture data taken in the past in relation to the card ID (T105, T107).
In case no game ball supplying card 35 is inserted in the game ball supply command device 4 or in case past picture data are obtained by the search, the system control computer 7 again calls attention of a watchman by giving forth warning sound and performs the process of displaying picture data obtained currently or picture data obtained in the past (T106).
(A-2-8) Operation When an Employee Leaves Workplace
Next, the operation when an employee leaves the workplace will be described in reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 24.
The control section 111 of the employee's card device 8 in its standby state causes the display section 118 to display a message of demanding entry of the employee's fixed code. The employee who is about to leave the workplace enters his or her own fixed code through the entry section 116 (T140).
Here, the control section 111 transfers the employee's fixed code through the communication processing section 119 to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to have it check if the employee's fixed code is right (T141, T142).
In case the employee's fixed code entered is wrong, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends information to that effect to the employee's card device 8 and to the system control computer 7 (omitted in FIG. 24). The employee's card device 8 displays information to that effect, causes the digital camera 120 to take pictures, and sets the display back to the original state. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds anomaly occurrence data including the picture data to the anomaly data file 97 (T143, T144). Here, the anomaly level is level 2 (caution level).
In the system control computer 7 to which a notification is given to the effect that the employee's code is wrong, although not shown in FIG. 24, anomaly notification process of the level 2 is performed and at the same time whether or not a search for the picture data is necessary is determined.
On the other hand, when the employee's fixed code entered is right, information to that effect is given from the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to the employee's card device 8, and the control section 111 causes the display section 118 to display a message prompting the player to touch the individual's information reading section (here, it is assumed to be a fingerprint reading device) 115 with a finger (T145). Accordingly, the employee has his or her finger image read with the individual's information reading section 115. The control section 111 transfers the fingerprint image data through the communication processing section 119 to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to check if the image corresponds to the employee's fixed code (T146 to T148).
In case the fingerprint image data do not agree with those registered, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends information to that effect to the employee's card device 8 and to the system control computer 7 (not shown in FIG. 24). The employee's card device 8 displays a message of the anomaly and causes the digital camera 120 to take pictures. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds to the anomaly data file 97 anomaly occurrence data of the level 2 (caution level) including the picture data (T149, T150).
In the system control computer 7 to which a notification is given to the effect that the fingerprint image data do not agree with the registered data, although not shown in FIG. 24, anomaly notification process of the level 2 is performed and at the same time whether or not a search for the picture data is necessary is determined.
On the other hand, if the fingerprint image data prove to be right, a notification to that effect is given from the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to the employee's card device 8. The control section 111 causes the display section 118 to display a message demanding insertion of the employee's card 71 into the card slot 112 (T151). As the code has been checked and the person is confirmed to be the employee at work, the employee is demanded to insert the employee's card 71. In response, the employee inserts the employee's card 71 into the card slot 112 (T152). The information recorded on the employee's card 71 is read with the employee's card access section 113 and given to the control section 111.
At this time, the control section 111 transfers the information obtained by the reading to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 through the communication processing section 119 to have the inserted employee's card 71 checked for authenticity (T153, T154). For example, the inserted employee's card 71 is determined to be wrong if the employee's fixed code affixed with a random number (the day's employee's code) or the operation history is different from that registered in the card issuing and account settling control computer 6.
In case the inserted employee's card 71 proves to be wrong, the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 sends information to that effect to the employee's card device 8 and to the system control computer 7 (not shown in FIG. 24). The employee's card device 8 displays a message of the anomaly and causes the digital camera 120 to take pictures. The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 adds anomaly occurrence data of the level 2 (caution level) including the picture data to the anomaly data file 97 (T155, T156).
In the system control computer 7 to which a notification is given to the effect that the inserted employee's card 71 is wrong, although not shown in FIG. 24, anomaly notification process of the level 2 is performed and at the same time it is determined whether or not a search for the picture data is necessary.
On the other hand, when the employee's card 71 proves to be right, information to that effect is given from the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 to the employee's card device 8, and the control section 111 causes the card access section 113 to erase the other information than the card ID of the inserted employee's card 71 and to retrieve it into the employee's card holding section 110 (T157).
The control section 111 picks up the (workplace leaving) time data at that time from a built-in timer, and transfers to the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 the card ID of the retrieved employee's card 71, the day's employee's code consisting of the employee's fixed code and a generated random number, and the workplace leaving time, updates and adds various data in the employee's card file 96 and in the anomaly data file 97 (T158, T159). After that, the control section changes the display to that showing the completion of the process (T160). The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 calculates for example the employee's work hours of the day, etc. The anomaly data added here is of level 0 (normal).
(A-2-9) Process of Searching Anomaly Data Produced
Next will be described, in reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 25, the process in which the supervisors of the game facility such as executives and managers operate the system control computer 7 to search and display the produced anomaly data stored in the anomaly data file 97 of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6. FIG. 25 shows the process performed with the system control computer 7.
Incidentally, as described above, the system control computer 7, when certain conditions are met, may occasionally automatically search the produced anomaly data stored in the anomaly data file 97.
When a managing person wants to search and display the produced anomaly data (record) recorded in the anomaly data file 97 of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6, gains access to the system control computer 7 to start up the process routine shown in FIG. 25.
Here, the system control computer 7 (strictly speaking, its control section 111) requires an entry of a relevant code for certifying that the managing person in question is permissible to gain access to the anomaly data file 97, and picks up the code entered by the managing person (T170). Although the steps are not shown in FIG. 25, it is arranged that the process does not go further when a wrong code is entered. As described above, this embodiment is arranged to restrict the persons who are permitted to gain access to the anomaly data file 97, so that an unauthorized person cannot erase or rewrite the anomaly data fraudulently.
When the managing person is confirmed to be permissible to gain access to the anomaly data file 97, an entry of an anomaly level of the produced anomaly data related to the search and display is requested. The anomaly level entered by the managing person is picked up and a determination is made whether the levels 2 and 3 are also specified as subjects (T171, T172). The managing person may specify either all the anomaly levels of 0 to 3 or only a single level such as 0 or 3.
When the specified anomaly levels include at least the level 2 or level 3, an entry of a relevant code (preferably different from the above-mentioned relevant code) for certifying that the managing person is permissible to gain access to the anomaly data is required, and the code entered is picked up (T173). Here also, it is arranged that the process does not go further when a wrong code is entered. As described above, this embodiment is arranged that the access to the anomaly data of the levels 2 and 3 is gained through prudently arranged steps, and that unauthorized persons cannot erase or falsify the anomaly data of the levels 2 or 3.
In case a right code is entered or only the level 1 or below is specified as the anomaly level related to the search and display, the order of display of plural produced anomaly data is requested, the order of display entered by the managing person is taken in, and the content is determined (T174, T175).
As described above, a large number of produced anomaly data (record) are recorded in the state of being shuffled or interleaved independent of production time in the anomaly data file 97 of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6. Dummy data or past data that have undergone reading out process are also inserted and recorded. Therefore, it is preferable to provide a method of displaying in the order of storage addresses and a method of displaying in the order of production time, so that, when a display in the order of production time is demanded, the entry of a relevant code (preferably different from the above-mentioned two types of relevant codes) is required and the code entered by the managing person is taken in (T176). Also here, it is arranged that the process does not go further when a wrong code is entered. This embodiment is arranged that the display in the order of production time is also permitted through prudently arranged steps and that it is difficult for unauthorized persons to find data they want to erase or falsify.
In case a right code is entered or the method of displaying in the order of storage addresses is specified, the system control computer 7 takes in another search display condition and takes out one or plural relevant anomaly data from the anomaly data file 97 of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 and displays them (T177, T178).
The anomaly data displayed in this way and to which relevant measures are taken may be erased from the anomaly data file 97. However, as described above, they are left recorded for a certain period of time as the past data already read, so that a third party has difficulty in finding the other anomaly data.
(A-2-10) Relation Between the Type of Anomaly and the System Process
Some of the types of anomaly (including normalcy) for which data are registered in the anomaly data file 97 of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6 are described above in relation to the operation. However, there are many other types. Although all of them cannot be described here, some other types of anomaly for which data are registered in the anomaly data file 97 will be described in reference to FIG. 26, with some redundancy with the above description. Also, corresponding operation on the system side will be described.
Although part of FIG. 26 looks like a flowchart, it does not show the process flow but classification of the anomaly types. It can be seen as a flowchart from the side of the card issuing and account settling control computer 6.
In FIG. 26, “certificate picture” means a picture (data) taken with a digital camera, and “video” means a video camera 9. As for the sound produced when anomalies occur, the sound of the level 2 is termed as “caution sound” and that of the level 3 as “warning sound.” The difference in sound enables the managing persons or the like of the game facility to recognize the anomaly level and decide if a quick measure is required.
Wrongdoers include players, employees, and nighttime intruders.
The wrongdoing perpetrated by the players in connection with the game is obtaining game balls through fraudulent practices. The fraudulence can be recognized by detecting anomalous discharge of game balls with the system control computer 7 (control software) or a cheat sensor.
(a) In case the game ball discharge is anomalous (See B1), the system side produces warning sound, the system control computer 7 issues warning, takes picture data and video signals, and records data (of the level 2) of the player's card ID.
When such an anomaly occurs, the staff members watch video screens, or go to the pachinko game machine 5 to watch the site. Since the ball discharge anomaly occurs without the cheat sensor working, they check the pachinko game machine 5 for the presence of a fake ROM after the business hours.
(b) In case a cheat sensor works (See B1), the action on the system side is similar to that for the ball discharge anomaly. When such an anomaly occurs, the staff members watch video screens, or go to the pachinko game machine 5 to watch the site. Since the cheat sensor works, the internal check need not wait for the end of the business hours.
Most of the wrongdoings perpetrated by players, employees, or nighttime intruders are accompanied by opening or closing doors of the devices such as the pachinko game machine 5 and the game ball supplying card issuing and account settling machine 3. In case any door is opened or closed, even if the event is normal, it is arranged to record data of the event.
(c) In case that any door is opened or closed during the business hours under conditions of the main power supply remaining on and that the operator is confirmed to be permissible to operate the device in question on the basis of the employee's card 71 or the like (See B1 to B4), the system side simply records specified data (of the level 0) in normal operation. Incidentally, also in that case, it may be arranged to take pictures with the video camera 9. Staff members need not take any special actions here.
(d) In case any door is opened or closed during the business hours under conditions of the main power supply turned off (opening or closing a door with the main power supply turned off indicates high probability of wrongdoing), or the operator cannot be confirmed to be permissible to operate the device in question on the basis of the employee's card 71 or the like although the main power supply is not turned off (See B1 to B4; Since the confirmation is impossible in spite of the door being opened or closed, it is highly probable that the act is a wrongdoing), the system side produces warning sound, the system control computer 7 issues warning, obtains picture data and video signals, and records data of the card ID or the like (level 3). The staff members take immediate actions against this anomaly.
(e) In case that any door is opened or closed outside the business hours under conditions of the main power supply remaining on and that the operator is confirmed to be permissible to operate the device in question on the basis of the employee's card 71 or the like (See B1, B2, B5, and B6), the system side records specified data in normal operation (level 1). Incidentally, also in this case, it may be arranged to take pictures with the video camera 9. The confirmation here in relation to the employee's card 71 includes confirming that the employee has not yet left the workplace.
Although the above case is determined to be normal, since it occurs outside the business hours, a shop manager or the like checks, if necessary, the device at an appropriate time such as before opening the shop.
(f) In case any door is opened or closed outside the business hours under conditions of the main power supply turned off (opening or closing a door with the main power supply turned off indicates high probability of wrongdoing), or the operator cannot be confirmed to be permissible to operate the device in question on the basis of the employee's card 71 or the like although the main power supply is not turned off (See B1, B2, B5, and B6; Since the confirmation is impossible in spite of the door being opened or closed, it is highly probable that the act is a wrongdoing), the system side produces warning sound, the system control computer 7 issues warning, takes picture data and video signals using if possible the auxiliary power supply, records various data (of the level 3), and notifies the security company (which may be through wireless means). Also here, the confirmation in relation to the employee's card 71 includes confirming that the employee has left the workplace.
Even under the condition of the main power supply turned off, the function of the above-described auxiliary power supply enables the above monitoring operation to be performed on the system side.
In relation to the above anomaly, the staff members, if they are in the game facility, immediately take actions and if not in the game facility, check first thing in the next morning the devices according to the display (which may be shown when the main power supply is turned on) with the system control computer 7.
(A-3) Effects of the Embodiment
The above embodiment is arranged to classify the anomaly such as fraudulent and illegal acts perpetrated by employees and players by the level of anomaly, and the method of visual and/or acoustic notification and coping operations are changed according to the levels. Therefore, a limited number of employees can cope with various anomalies efficiently.
The above embodiment is also arranged to record the anomaly data together with the level information. Therefore, it is possible to search and find recorded data of fraudulent acts quickly by specifying level information. It is also arranged to record the anomaly data in the state of being shuffled or interleaved, so that it is difficult for the wrongdoers to find and erase the data related to the wrongdoings they have perpetrated.
Fraudulent acts may be perpetrated not only during the business hours but also outside the business hours. However, since the components related to the monitoring function are arranged to receive power supplied from the auxiliary power supply even when the main power supply is off, the monitoring function works effectively even when the main power supply is off such as during outside the business hours.
(B) Other Embodiments
While various modified embodiments are described above, the other modified embodiments may be enumerated as follows.
The devices on which the digital camera is mounted are not limited to those described above. For example, the digital camera may be mounted on money changing machines, prepaid card issuing machines, or automatic vending machines placed in the game facility hall. The pachinko game machines themselves may be provided with a digital camera. The digital camera may also be mounted on various devices placed in the control room of the game facility. It may be arranged that data obtained from those devices are recorded in the anomaly data file 97.
While the above embodiments are described assuming that the employee's operation history is recorded in a file separate from the anomaly data file 97, the employee's operation history may be recorded as a type of anomaly data in the anomaly data file 97. The concept of levels applied to the anomaly data may also be applied to the employee's operation history when the employee's operation history is recorded separately from the anomaly data. Incidentally, the term “anomaly data” in the present claims includes data of the operation history.
Shuffling and interleaving of data may also be applied to the operation history recorded on the employee's card 71. Also, dummy data and data of the past that have already been read may also be inserted.
The above embodiments are arranged that the employee's operation history and anomaly data are transferred immediately to and recorded in the card issuing and account settling control computer 6. However, it may also be arranged that such data are recorded in the operated devices (including the other devices such as the pachinko game machines as well as the game ball supply card issuing and account settling machine) and the anomaly-produced devices. Also at such recording, shuffling and interleaving may be applied, or dummy data and data of the past that have already been read may be inserted.
As the recording medium in the above devices, the semiconductor memory is most likely to be used (the semiconductor memory may also be used in the card issuing and account settling control computer 6). It may be arranged that shuffled or interleaved data are distributed and recorded in plural semiconductor memories. In that way, even fraudulent replacement of the semiconductor memory can be recognized with the system.
According to the above description, either dummy data or past data that have already been read are mixed. However, both of them may be mixed. For example, in case the amount of past data within a storage period is small, certain number of dummy data may be added to the former. Incidentally, the greater the amount of dummy data and already read past data, the harder for the wrongdoers, along with the function of shuffling and interleaving, to find intended data.
It may also be arranged that total erasure of the anomaly data or the operation history data is prohibited and that warning is given to a person who inadvertently gives an instruction. Likewise, it may be arranged that warning is given against the removal of a semiconductor memory, on which anomaly data or operation history data are recorded, from the device. In that case, a detection means such as a removal sensor is necessary.
In the above description of embodiments, the anomaly sensor is not described in detail for its constitution. However, the sensors as enumerated below are preferable. In particular, they are preferably of such constitution that detects anomaly occurring when no managing persons or employees of the game facility are present such as at night or when the game facility is closed, by utilizing power from the auxiliary power supply.
That is to say, a preferable constitution in terms of power consumption is that which holds a contact point open when no anomaly is present, to close the contact point when anomaly occurs to cause an electric current to flow, and the flow of current is used as a detection signal. Preferable anomaly sensors are for example, one that closes the contact point when the door is opened, and a vibration sensor that closes the contact point as vibration causes a weight to move. In case the game facility is closed over several days, the above is preferable because the monitoring time with the auxiliary power source is long.
In case the above type of anomaly sensor is used, it may be arranged that an electronic switch made of a transistor or the like is provided parallel to the contact point of the anomaly sensor to monitor breakage of wire (breakage caused by a wrongdoer or the like) of an anomaly sensor in positions other than the contact point by periodically (for example at 5 minute intervals) closing the electronic switch with the control section.
The card issuing and account settling control computer 6 and the system control computer 7 may be constituted with a single computer.
Furthermore, while the game machine described above is the pachinko game machine, it may be any other game machine such as a slot machine.
As described above, the game facility monitoring system of the present invention comprises plural number of game machines or game-related devices provided with detecting means that detects the state of a device or the operation of a device resulting from wrong or illegal acts, detects the state of a device or the operation of a device possibly resulting from wrong or illegal acts, and gives out notification, and anomaly warning means that performs warning operation determined by an anomaly level corresponding to the detected contents out of plural anomaly levels when any of the detecting means works. Therefore, the above system is provided with a greatly improved monitoring function against wrong or illegal acts.
As described hereinbefore, to solve the problems, a game facility monitoring system according to the embodiment comprises, (1) plural game machines or game-related devices (pachinko game machines 5 or machines 3 which issue cards for dispensing game balls and settle account) having detecting means for detecting and giving out notification of a device state or a device action caused by a wrong or illegal act or possibly related to the wrong or illegal act, and (2) anomaly notifying means (such as a computer 6 for issuing cards and settling accounts or a system control computer 7) that, when anyone of the detecting means performs a detecting action, performs a notifying action determined with one of plural anomaly levels corresponding to the contents of the detection.
Here, it is preferable for the system to further comprise anomaly data recording means for recording anomaly data that include also information on the anomaly level corresponding to the detected contents when any of the detecting means has performed a detecting action.
It is also preferable that the anomaly data recording means is such that records anomaly data together with dummy data having nothing to do with monitoring function or the anomaly data of the past that have already been read and processed, with such data mixed in the anomaly data.
It is also preferable that the system has anomaly data searching means capable of taking out a piece of anomaly data of a specified anomaly level out of plural pieces of anomaly data recorded in the anomaly data recording means.
It is also preferable for the system to comprise operator limiting means for permitting only specified persons to have access to the anomaly data recording means.
It is also preferable that the plural game machines or game-related devices with the detecting means have an auxiliary power supply for permitting continued action of the detecting means when a main power supply is off.
1. A game facility monitoring system comprising:
a plurality of game machines and game-related devices, at least one of the game machines and game-related devices including means for providing a transaction with a person, upon input by the person of identification information identifying the person, means for detecting disagreement between identifying information input and previously recorded identifying information, means for assigning one of a plurality of anomaly levels based on degree of disagreement between the identification information input and the previously recorded identification information, wherein each of the anomaly levels indicates a different, respective probability of a fraudulent transaction, a first of the anomaly levels represents a non-fraudulent transaction, a second of the anomaly levels represents a potentially fraudulent transaction, and third of the anomaly levels represents a fraudulent transaction, and a camera capturing an image of a person attempting a transaction only when the transaction attempted has an anomaly level exceeding a threshold anomaly level; and
a computer connected to the at least one of the game machines and the game-related devices for recording transactions and, when the threshold anomaly level has been exceeded, a captured image of the person, wherein the computer includes a processor programmed so that, in response to assigning the first of the anomaly levels to a disagreement, to permit completion of the associated non-fraudulent transaction, in response to assigning the second of the anomaly levels to a disagreement, to trigger the camera to capture an image of the person attempting the associated potentially fraudulent transaction and to record transaction information for later review, and
in response to assigning the third of the anomaly levels to a disagreement, to trigger the camera to capture an image of the person attempting the associated fraudulent transaction, to record transaction information, and to trigger an alarm for immediate response.
2. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the game-related devices sells balls for playing a game on a game machine.
3. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the game-related devices includes means requiring two different and sequential transactions for authenticating each employee, and admitting each employee to and releasing each employee from the game facility.
4. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the game machines and game-related devices includes alarm means for issuing respective alarms corresponding to respective anomaly levels whenever the threshold anomaly level is exceeded.
5. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 1, further including a light sensor associated with the camera for detecting when the camera has been obscured to prevent capturing of an image of the person.
6. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the previously recorded identifying information relates to a card issued to a person who plays one of the game machines.
7. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the previously recorded identifying information relates to a card issued to a person who is employed in the game facility.
8. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the means for assigning one of a plurality of anomaly levels assigns anomaly levels based on the disagreement in combination with at least one additional factor.
9. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 8, where the additional factor is selected from the group consisting of detecting opening of a door of any of the game machines and game-related devices, activity of any of the game machines or game-related devices outside business hours of the game facility, and activity of any of the game machines or game-related devices when electrical power to the game facility is disrupted.
10. The game facility monitoring system according to claim 5, further including an alternative camera for capturing an image of the person when the camera has been obscured, wherein the light sensor is coupled to the computer and the computer causes the alternative camera to capture an image of the person when the computer determines from the light sensor that the camera has been obscured.
5496032 March 5, 1996 Okada
5683081 November 4, 1997 Takatoshi et al.
5850076 December 15, 1998 Morioka et al.
6641484 November 4, 2003 Oles et al.
6804763 October 12, 2004 Stockdale et al.
6-7529 January 1994 JP
6-39127 February 1994 JP
8-110992 April 1996 JP
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11-57186 March 1999 JP
2000-61117 November 1999 JP
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2001-300105 October 2001 JP
Email From Morohashi, Chisato Regarding the translation of Fujimoto Atsushi/Jun and JP2000-124224, May 16, 2006.
Date of Patent: Aug 21, 2007
Assignees: Seta Corporation (Tokyo), Aruze Corporation (Tokyo)
Inventor: Jun Fujimoto (Tokyo)
Primary Examiner: Mark Sager
Assistant Examiner: Robert Mosser
Attorney: Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd.
Current U.S. Class: Access Or Authorization (e.g., Game Selection, Security, Etc.) (463/29); Credit/debit Monitoring Or Manipulation (e.g., Game Entry, Betting, Prize Level, Etc.) (463/25)
International Classification: A63F 9/24 (20060101); G06F 17/00 (20060101);
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Justia Patents Direct Access Storage Device (dasd)US Patent for Integrated-circuit implementation of a storage-shelf router and a path controller card for combined use in high-availability mass-storage-device shelves and that support virtual disk formatting Patent (Patent # 7,634,614)
Integrated-circuit implementation of a storage-shelf router and a path controller card for combined use in high-availability mass-storage-device shelves and that support virtual disk formatting
Nov 4, 2003 - Sierra Logic
An integrated circuit implementing a storage-shelf router used alone, or in combination with other storage-shelf routers, and in combination with path controller cards, to interconnect the disks within a storage shelf or disk array to a high-bandwidth communications medium through which data is exchanged between the individual disk drives of the storage shelf and a disk-array controller. In various embodiments, the present invention provides virtual disk formatting by a storage shelf router and the storage shelf in which the storage-shelf is included, to external computing entities, such as disk-array controllers and host computers. By providing virtual disk formatting, a storage-shelf router can provide to a disk-array controller, and other external computing entities, the disk-formatting convention expected by the disk-array controller, even though disk drives and other storage systems that do not conform to the expected formatting conventions may be included in the storage shelf and interconnected to a disk-array controller and other external processing entities via an interface provided by a storage-shelf router. Virtual disk formatting, in addition, allows a storage-shelf router to format a disk drive differently from the disk formatting expected by external computing entities, so that the storage-shelf router can transparently include additional information into disk sectors, such as additional error detection and error-correction information.
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This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/602,529, filed Jun. 23, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,353,321, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/341,835, filed Jan. 13, 2003.
The present invention relates to disk arrays and other mass-storage-devices composed of numerous individual mass-storage-devices and, in particular, to an integrated-circuit implementation of a storage-shelf router and to path controller cards that provide a virtual disk formatting facility through which the high-availability storage-shelf router provides a virtual disk formatting interface to external controllers and computers in order to isolate disk-drive-specific formatting within a storage shelf and in order to increase error-detection capabilities of a storage shelf.
The fibre channel (“FC”) is an architecture and protocol for a data communication network that interconnects a number of different combinations of computers and peripheral devices. The FC supports a variety of upper-level protocols, including the small computer systems interface (“SCSI”) protocol. A computer or peripheral device is linked to the network through an FC port and copper wires or optical fibers. An FC port includes a transceiver and an interface controller, and the computer peripheral device in which the FC port is contained is called a “host.” The FC port exchanges data with the host via a local data bus, such as a peripheral computer interface (“PCI”) bus. The interface controller conducts lower-level protocol exchanges between the fibre channel and the computer or peripheral device in which the FC port resides.
A popular paradigm for accessing remote data in computer networks is the client/server architecture. According to this architecture, a client computer sends a request to read or write data to a server computer. The server computer processes the request by checking that the client server has authorization and permission to read or write the data, by mapping the requested read or write operation to a particular mass storage device, and by serving as an intermediary in the transfer of data from the client computer to the mass storage device, in case of a write operation, or from the mass storage device to the client, in case of a read operation.
In common, currently-available and previously-available communication network architectures, the server computer communicates with the client computer through a local area network (“LAN”) and the server computer communicates with a number of mass storage devices over a local bus, such as a SCSI bus. In such systems, the server is required to store and forward the data transferred as a result of the read or write operation because the server represents a bridge between two dissimilar communications media. With the advent of the FC, client computers, server computers, and mass storage devices may all be symmetrically interconnected by a single communications medium. The traditional client/server architecture is commonly ported to the FC using the same type of client/server protocols as are used in the LAN and SCSI networks discussed above.
SCSI-bus-compatible mass-storage devices, including high capacity disk drives, are widely available, and widely used, particularly in mid-sized and large-sized computer systems, and many FC-based systems employ FC-compatible disk drives, each including one or more FC ports and logic needed for the disk drives to function as FC responders. In smaller systems, including personal computers (“PCs”), a different family of disk drives, referred to as Integrated Drive Electronics (“IDE”) or Advanced Technology Attachment (“ATA”) disk drives is widely employed. A serial ATA disk (“SATA”) generally interconnects with a system via an Industry Standard Architecture (“ISA”) bus.
The present invention is related to FC, SCSI, and IDE/ATA technologies. Each will be discussed, in turn, in three separate subsections, below. Those familiar with any or all of these technologies may wish to skip ahead to the final subsection of this section, describing FC-based disk arrays, and to the Summary of the Invention section that immediately follows that subsection.
The Fibre Channel (“FC”) is defined by, and described in, a number of ANSI Standards documents, including the standards documents listed below in Table 1:
TABLE 1 Acronym Title Publication
10 Bit Interface TR 10-bit Interface Technical Report X3.TR-18: 1997 10GFC Fibre Channel - 10 Gigabit Project 1413-D AE-2 Study AE-2 Study Group Internal Study FC-10KCR Fibre Channel - 10 km Cost-Reduced NCITS 326: 1999 Physical variant FC-AE Fibre Channel Avionics Environment INCITS TR-31-2002 FC-AL FC Arbitrated Loop ANSI X3.272: 1996 FC-AL-2 Fibre Channel 2nd Generation Arbitrated NCITS 332: 1999 Loop FC-AV Fibre Channel - Audio-Visual ANSI/INCITS 356: 2001 FC-BB Fibre Channel - Backbone ANSI NCITS 342 FC-BB-2 Fibre Channel - Backbone - 2 Project 1466-D FC-CU Fibre Channel Copper Interface Project 1135-DT Implementation Practice Guide FC-DA Fibre Channel - Device Attach Project 1513-DT FC-FG FC Fabric Generic Requirements ANSI X3.289: 1996 FC-FLA Fibre Channel - Fabric Loop Attachment NCITS TR-20: 1998 FC-FP FC - Mapping to HIPPI-FP ANSI X3.254: 1994 FC-FS Fibre Channel Framing and Signaling Project 1331-D Interface FC-GS FC Generic Services ANSI X3.288: 1996 FC-GS-2 Fibre Channel 2nd Generation Generic ANSI NCITS 288 Services FC-GS-3 Fibre Channel - Generic Services 3 NCITS 348–2000 FC-GS-4 Fibre Channel Generic Services 4 Project 1505-D FC-HBA Fibre Channel - HBA API Project 1568-D FC-HSPI Fibre Channel High Speed Parallel NCITS TR-26: 2000 Interface (FC-HSPI) FC-LE FC Link Encapsulation ANSI X3.287: 1996 FC-MI Fibre Channel - Methodologies for INCITS TR-30-2002 Interconnects Technical Report FC-MI-2 Fibre Channel - Methodologies for Project 1599-DT Interconnects - 2 FC-MJS Methodology of Jitter Specification NCITS TR-25: 1999 FC-MJSQ Fibre Channel - Methodologies for Jitter Project 1316-DT and Signal Quality Specification FC-PH Fibre Channel Physical and Signaling ANSI X3.230: 1994 Interface FC-PH-2 Fibre Channel 2nd Generation Physical ANSI X3.297: 1997 Interface FC-PH-3 Fibre Channel 3rd Generation Physical ANSI X3.303: 1998 Interface FC-PH: AM 1 FC-PH Amendment #1 ANSI X3.230: 1994/AM1: 1996 FC-PH: DAM 2 FC-PH Amendment #2 ANSI X3.230/AM2-1999 FC-PI Fibre Channel - Physical Interface Project 1306-D FC-PI-2 Fibre Channel - Physical Interfaces - 2 Project FC-PLDA Fibre Channel Private Loop Direct Attach NCITS TR-19: 1998 FC-SB FC Mapping of Single Byte Command ANSI X3.271: 1996 Code Sets FC-SB-2 Fibre Channel - SB 2 NCITS 349–2000 FC-SB-3 Fibre Channel - Single Byte Command Project 1569-D Set - 3 FC-SP Fibre Channel - Security Protocols Project 1570-D FC-SW FC Switch Fabric and Switch Control NCITS 321: 1998 Requirements FC-SW-2 Fibre Channel - Switch Fabric - 2 ANSI/NCITS 355–2001 FC-SW-3 Fibre Channel - Switch Fabric - 3 Project 1508-D FC-SWAPI Fibre Channel Switch Application Project 1600-D Programming Interface FC-Tape Fibre Channel - Tape Technical Report NCITS TR-24: 1999 FC-VI Fibre Channel - Virtual Interface ANSI/NCITS 357–2001 Architecture Mapping FCSM Fibre Channel Signal Modeling Project 1507-DT MIB-FA Fibre Channel Management Information Project 1571-DT Base SM-LL-V FC - Very Long Length Optical Interface ANSI/NCITS 339–2000
The documents listed in Table 1, and additional information about the fibre channel, may be found at the World Wide Web pages having the following addresses: “http://www.t11.org/index.htm” and “http://www.fibrechannel.com.”
The following description of the FC is meant to introduce and summarize certain of the information contained in these documents in order to facilitate discussion of the present invention. If a more detailed discussion of any of the topics introduced in the following description is desired, the above-mentioned documents may be consulted.
The FC is an architecture and protocol for data communications between FC nodes, generally computers, workstations, peripheral devices, and arrays or collections of peripheral devices, such as disk arrays, interconnected by one or more communications media. Communications media include shielded twisted pair connections, coaxial cable, and optical fibers. An FC node is connected to a communications medium via at least one FC port and FC link. An FC port is an FC host adapter or FC controller that shares a register and memory interface with the processing components of the FC node, and that implements, in hardware and firmware, the lower levels of the FC protocol. The FC node generally exchanges data and control information with the FC port using shared data structures in shared memory and using control registers in the FC port. The FC port includes serial transmitter and receiver components coupled to a communications medium via a link that comprises electrical wires or optical strands.
In the following discussion, “FC” is used as an adjective to refer to the general Fibre Channel architecture and protocol, and is used as a noun to refer to an instance of a Fibre Channel communications medium. Thus, an FC (architecture and protocol) port may receive an FC (architecture and protocol) sequence from the FC (communications medium).
The FC architecture and protocol support three different types of interconnection topologies, shown in FIGS. 1A-1C. FIG. 1A shows the simplest of the three interconnected topologies, called the “point-to-point topology.” In the point-to-point topology shown in FIG. 1A, a first node 101 is directly connected to a second node 102 by directly coupling the transmitter 103 of the FC port 104 of the first node 101 to the receiver 105 of the FC port 106 of the second node 102, and by directly connecting the transmitter 107 of the FC port 106 of the second node 102 to the receiver 108 of the FC port 104 of the first node 101. The ports 104 and 106 used in the point-to-point topology are called N_Ports.
FIG. 1B shows a somewhat more complex topology called the “FC arbitrated loop topology.” FIG. 1B shows four nodes 110-113 interconnected within an arbitrated loop. Signals, consisting of electrical or optical binary data, are transferred from one node to the next node around the loop in a circular fashion. The transmitter of one node, such as transmitter 114 associated with node 111, is directly connected to the receiver of the next node in the loop, in the case of transmitter 114, with the receiver 115 associated with node 112. Two types of FC ports may be used to interconnect FC nodes within an arbitrated loop. The most common type of port used in arbitrated loops is called the “NL_Port.” A special type of port, called the “FL_Port,” may be used to interconnect an FC arbitrated loop with an FC fabric topology, to be described below. Only one FL_Port may be actively incorporated into an arbitrated loop topology. An FC arbitrated loop topology may include up to 127 active FC ports, and may include additional non-participating FC ports.
In the FC arbitrated loop topology, nodes contend for, or arbitrate for, control of the arbitrated loop. In general, the node with the lowest port address obtains control in the case that more than one node is contending for control. A fairness algorithm may be implemented by nodes to ensure that all nodes eventually receive control within a reasonable amount of time. When a node has acquired control of the loop, the node can open a channel to any other node within the arbitrated loop. In a half duplex channel, one node transmits and the other node receives data. In a full duplex channel, data may be transmitted by a first node and received by a second node at the same time that data is transmitted by the second node and received by the first node. For example, if, in the arbitrated loop of FIG. 1B, node 111 opens a full duplex channel with node 113, then data transmitted through that channel from node 111 to node 113 passes through NL_Port 116 of node 112, and data transmitted by node 113 to node 111 passes through NL_Port 117 of node 110.
FIG. 1C shows the most general and most complex FC topology, called an “FC fabric.” The FC fabric is represented in FIG. 1C by the irregularly shaped central object 118 to which four FC nodes 119-122 are connected. The N_Ports 123-126 within the FC nodes 119-122 are connected to F_Ports 127-130 within the fabric 118. The fabric is a switched or cross-point switch topology similar in function to a telephone system. Data is routed by the fabric between F_Ports through switches or exchanges called “fabric elements.” There may be many possible routes through the fabric between one F_Port and another F_Port. The routing of data and the addressing of nodes within the fabric associated with F_Ports are handled by the FC fabric, rather than by FC nodes or N_Ports.
The FC is a serial communications medium. Data is transferred one bit at a time at extremely high transfer rates. FIG. 2 illustrates a very simple hierarchy by which data is organized, in time, for transfer through an FC network. At the lowest conceptual level, the data can be considered to be a stream of data bits 200. The smallest unit of data, or grouping of data bits, supported by an FC network is a 10-bit character that is decoded by FC port as an 8-bit character. FC primitives are composed of 10-bit characters or bytes. Certain FC primitives are employed to carry control information exchanged between FC ports. The next level of data organization, a fundamental level with regard to the FC protocol, is a frame. Seven frames 202-208 are shown in FIG. 2. A frame may be composed of between 36 and 2,148 bytes, including delimiters, headers, and between 0 and 2048 bytes of data. The first FC frame, for example, corresponds to the data bits of the stream of data bits 200 encompassed by the horizontal bracket 201. The FC protocol specifies a next higher organizational level called the sequence. A first sequence 210 and a portion of a second sequence 212 are displayed in FIG. 2. The first sequence 210 is composed of frames one through four 202-205. The second sequence 212 is composed of frames five through seven 206-208 and additional frames that are not shown. The FC protocol specifies a third organizational level called the exchange. A portion of an exchange 214 is shown in FIG. 2. This exchange 214 is composed of at least the first sequence 210 and the second sequence 212 shown in FIG. 2. This exchange can alternatively be viewed as being composed of frames one through seven 202-208, and any additional frames contained in the second sequence 212 and in any additional sequences that compose the exchange 214.
The FC is a full duplex data transmission medium. Frames and sequences can be simultaneously passed in both directions between an originator, or initiator, and a responder, or target. An exchange comprises all sequences, and frames within the sequences, exchanged between an originator and a responder during a single I/O transaction, such as a read I/O transaction or a write I/O transaction. The FC protocol is designed to transfer data according to any number of higher-level data exchange protocols, including the Internet protocol (“IP”), the Small Computer Systems Interface (“SCSI”) protocol, the High Performance Parallel Interface (“HIPPI”), and the Intelligent Peripheral Interface (“IPI”). The SCSI bus architecture will be discussed in the following subsection, and much of the subsequent discussion in this and remaining subsections will focus on the SCSI protocol embedded within the FC protocol. The standard adaptation of SCSI protocol to fibre channel is subsequently referred to in this document as “FCP.” Thus, the FC can support a master-slave type communications paradigm that is characteristic of the SCSI bus and other peripheral interconnection buses, as well as the relatively open and unstructured communication protocols such as those used to implement the Internet. The SCSI bus architecture concepts of an initiator and target are carried forward in the FCP, designed, as noted above, to encapsulate SCSI commands and data exchanges for transport through the FC.
FIG. 3 shows the contents of a standard FC frame. The FC frame 302 comprises five high level sections 304, 306, 308, 310 and 312. The first high level section, called the start-of-frame deliminator 304, comprises 4 bytes that mark the beginning of the frame. The next high level section, called frame header 306, comprises 24 bytes that contain addressing information, sequence information, exchange information, and various control flags. A more detailed view of the frame header 314 is shown expanded from the FC frame 302 in FIG. 3. The destination identifier (“D_ID”), or DESTINATION_ID 316, is a 24-bit FC address indicating the destination FC port for the frame. The source identifier (“S_ID”), or SOURCE_ID 318, is a 24-bit address that indicates the FC port that transmitted the frame. The originator ID, or OX_ID 320, and the responder ID 322, or RX_ID, together compose a 32-bit exchange ID that identifies the exchange to which the frame belongs with respect to the originator, or initiator, and responder, or target, FC ports. The sequence ID, or SEQ_ID, 324 identifies the sequence to which the frame belongs.
The next high level section 308, called the data payload, contains the actual data packaged within the FC frame. The data payload contains data and encapsulating protocol information that is being transferred according to a higher-level protocol, such as IP and SCSI. FIG. 3 shows four basic types of data payload layouts 326-329 used for data transfer according to the SCSI protocol. The first of these formats 326, called the FCP_CMND, is used to send a SCSI command from an initiator to a target. The FCP_LUN field 330 comprises an 8-byte address that may, in certain implementations, specify a particular SCSI-bus adapter, a target device associated with that SCSI-bus adapter, and a logical unit number (“LUN”) corresponding to a logical device associated with the specified target SCSI device that together represent the target for the FCP_CMND. In other implementations, the FCP_LUN field 330 contains an index or reference number that can be used by the target FC host adapter to determine the SCSI-bus adapter, a target device associated with that SCSI-bus adapter, and a LUN corresponding to a logical device associated with the specified target SCSI device. An actual SCSI command, such as a SCSI read or write I/O command, is contained within the 16-byte field FCP_CDB 332.
The second type of data payload format 327 shown in FIG. 3 is called the FCP_XFER_RDY layout. This data payload format is used to transfer a SCSI proceed command from the target to the initiator when the target is prepared to begin receiving or sending data. The third type of data payload format 328 shown in FIG. 3 is the FCP_DATA format. The FCP_DATA format is used for transferring the actual data that is being read from, or written to, a SCSI data storage device as a result of execution of a SCSI I/O transaction. The final data payload format 329 shown in FIG. 3 is called the FCP_RSP layout, used to transfer a SCSI status byte 334, as well as other FCP status information, from the target back to the initiator upon completion of the I/O transaction.
The SCSI Bus Architecture
A computer bus is a set of electrical signal lines through which computer commands and data are transmitted between processing, storage, and input/output (“I/O”) components of a computer system. The SCSI I/O bus is the most widespread and popular computer bus for interconnecting mass storage devices, such as hard disks and CD-ROM drives, with the memory and processing components of computer systems. The SCSI bus architecture is defined in three major standards: SCSI-1, SCSI-2 and SCSI-3. The SCSI-1 and SCSI-2 standards are published in the American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”) standards documents “X3.131-1986,” and “X3.131-1994,” respectively. The SCSI-3 standard is currently being developed by an ANSI committee. An overview of the SCSI bus architecture is provided by “The SCSI Bus and IDE Interface,” Freidhelm Schmidt, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, ISBN 0-201-17514-2, 1997 (“Schmidt”).
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a common personal computer (“PC”) architecture including a SCSI bus. The PC 400 includes a central processing unit, or processor (“CPU”) 402, linked to a system controller 404 by a high-speed CPU bus 406. The system controller is, in turn, linked to a system memory component 408 via a memory bus 410. The system controller 404 is, in addition, linked to various peripheral devices via a peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) bus 412 that is interconnected with a slower industry standard architecture (“ISA”) bus 414 and a SCSI bus 416. The architecture of the PCI bus is described in “PCI System Architecture,” Shanley & Anderson, Mine Share, Inc., Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, ISBN 0-201-40993-3, 1995. The interconnected CPU bus 406, memory bus 410, PCI bus 412, and ISA bus 414 allow the CPU to exchange data and commands with the various processing and memory components and I/O devices included in the computer system. Generally, very high-speed and high bandwidth I/O devices, such as a video display device 418, are directly connected to the PCI bus. Slow I/O devices 420, such as a keyboard 420 and a pointing device (not shown), are connected directly to the ISA bus 414. The ISA bus is interconnected with the PCI bus through a bus bridge component 422. Mass storage devices, such as hard disks, floppy disk drives, CD-ROM drives, and tape drives 424-426 are connected to the SCSI bus 416. The SCSI bus is interconnected with the PCI bus 412 via a SCSI-bus adapter 430. The SCSI-bus adapter 430 includes a processor component, such as a processor selected from the Symbios family of 53C8xx SCSI processors, and interfaces to the PCI bus 412 using standard PCI bus protocols. The SCSI-bus adapter 430 interfaces to the SCSI bus 416 using the SCSI bus protocol that will be described, in part, below. The SCSI-bus adapter 430 exchanges commands and data with SCSI controllers (not shown) that are generally embedded within each mass storage device 424-426, or SCSI device, connected to the SCSI bus. The SCSI controller is a hardware/firmware component that interprets and responds to SCSI commands received from a SCSI adapter via the SCSI bus and that implements the SCSI commands by interfacing with, and controlling, logical devices. A logical device may correspond to one or more physical devices, or to portions of one or more physical devices. Physical devices include data storage devices such as disk, tape and CD-ROM drives.
Two important types of commands, called I/O commands, direct the SCSI device to read data from a logical device and write data to a logical device. An I/O transaction is the exchange of data between two components of the computer system, generally initiated by a processing component, such as the CPU 402, that is implemented, in part, by a read I/O command or by a write I/O command. Thus, I/O transactions include read I/O transactions and write I/O transactions.
The SCSI bus 416 is a parallel bus that can simultaneously transport a number of data bits. The number of data bits that can be simultaneously transported by the SCSI bus is referred to as the width of the bus. Different types of SCSI buses have widths of 8, 16 and 32 bits. The 16 and 32-bit SCSI buses are referred to as wide SCSI buses.
As with all computer buses and processors, the SCSI bus is controlled by a clock that determines the speed of operations and data transfer on the bus. SCSI buses vary in clock speed. The combination of the width of a SCSI bus and the clock rate at which the SCSI bus operates determines the number of bytes that can be transported through the SCSI bus per second, or bandwidth of the SCSI bus. Different types of SCSI buses have bandwidths ranging from less than 2 megabytes (“Mbytes”) per second up to 40 Mbytes per second, with increases to 80 Mbytes per second and possibly 160 Mbytes per second planned for the future. The increasing bandwidths may be accompanied by increasing limitations in the physical length of the SCSI bus.
FIG. 5 illustrates the SCSI bus topology. A computer system 502, or other hardware system, may include one or more SCSI-bus adapters 504 and 506. The SCSI-bus adapter, the SCSI bus which the SCSI-bus adapter controls, and any peripheral devices attached to that SCSI bus together comprise a domain. SCSI-bus adapter 504 in FIG. 5 is associated with a first domain 508 and SCSI-bus adapter 506 is associated with a second domain 510. The most current SCSI-2 bus implementation allows fifteen different SCSI devices 513-515 and 516-517 to be attached to a single SCSI bus. In FIG. 5, SCSI devices 513-515 are attached to SCSI bus 518 controlled by SCSI-bus adapter 506, and SCSI devices 516-517 are attached to SCSI bus 520 controlled by SCSI-bus adapter 504. Each SCSI-bus adapter and SCSI device has a SCSI identification number, or SCSI_ID, that uniquely identifies the device or adapter in a particular SCSI bus. By convention, the SCSI-bus adapter has SCSI_ID 7, and the SCSI devices attached to the SCSI bus have SCSI_IDs ranging from 0 to 6 and from 8 to 15. A SCSI device, such as SCSI device 513, may interface with a number of logical devices, each logical device comprising portions of one or more physical devices. Each logical device is identified by a logical unit number (“LUN”) that uniquely identifies the logical device with respect to the SCSI device that controls the logical device. For example, SCSI device 513 controls logical devices 522-524 having LUNs 0, 1, and 2, respectively. According to SCSI terminology, a device that initiates an I/O command on the SCSI bus is called an initiator, and a SCSI device that receives an I/O command over the SCSI bus that directs the SCSI device to execute an I/O operation is called a target.
In general, a SCSI-bus adapter, such as SCSI-bus adapters 504 and 506, initiates I/O operations by sending commands to target devices. The target devices 513-515 and 516-517 receive the I/O commands from the SCSI bus. The target devices 513-515 and 516-517 then implement the commands by interfacing with one or more logical devices that they control to either read data from the logical devices and return the data through the SCSI bus to the initiator or to write data received through the SCSI bus from the initiator to the logical devices. Finally, the target devices 513-515 and 516-517 respond to the initiator through the SCSI bus with status messages that indicate the success or failure of implementation of the commands.
FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate the SCSI protocol involved in the initiation and implementation of read and write I/O operations. Read and write I/O operations compose the bulk of I/O operations performed by SCSI devices. Efforts to maximize the efficiency of operation of a system of mass storage devices interconnected by a SCSI bus are most commonly directed toward maximizing the efficiency at which read and write I/O operations are performed. Thus, in the discussions to follow, the architectural features of various hardware devices will be discussed in terms of read and write operations.
FIG. 6A shows the sending of a read or write I/O command by a SCSI initiator, most commonly a SCSI-bus adapter, to a SCSI target, most commonly a SCSI controller embedded in a SCSI device associated with one or more logical devices. The sending of a read or write I/O command is called the command phase of a SCSI I/O operation. FIG. 6A is divided into initiator 602 and target 604 sections by a central vertical line 606. Both the initiator and the target sections include columns entitled “state” 606 and 608 that describe the state of the SCSI bus and columns entitled “events” 610 and 612 that describe the SCSI bus events associated with the initiator and the target, respectively. The bus states and bus events involved in the sending of the I/O command are ordered in time, descending from the top of FIG. 6A to the bottom of FIG. 6A. FIGS. 6B-6C also adhere to this above-described format.
The sending of an I/O command from an initiator SCSI-bus adapter to a target SCSI device, illustrated in FIG. 6A, initiates a read or write I/O operation by the target SCSI device. Referring to FIG. 4, the SCSI-bus adapter 430 initiates the I/O operation as part of an I/O transaction. Generally, the SCSI-bus adapter 430 receives a read or write command via the PCI bus 412, system controller 404, and CPU bus 406, from the CPU 402 directing the SCSI-bus adapter to perform either a read operation or a write operation. In a read operation, the CPU 402 directs the SCSI-bus adapter 430 to read data from a mass storage device 424-426 and transfer that data via the SCSI bus 416, PCI bus 412, system controller 404, and memory bus 410 to a location within the system memory 408. In a write operation, the CPU 402 directs the system controller 404 to transfer data from the system memory 408 via the memory bus 410, system controller 404, and PCI bus 412 to the SCSI-bus adapter 430, and directs the SCSI-bus adapter 430 to send the data via the SCSI bus 416 to a mass storage device 424-426 on which the data is written.
FIG. 6A starts with the SCSI bus in the BUS FREE state 614, indicating that there are no commands or data currently being transported on the SCSI device. The initiator, or SCSI-bus adapter, asserts the BSY, D7 and SEL signal lines of the SCSI bus in order to cause the bus to enter the ARBITRATION state 616. In this state, the initiator announces to all of the devices an intent to transmit a command on the SCSI bus. Arbitration is necessary because only one device may control operation of the SCSI bus at any instant in time. Assuming that the initiator gains control of the SCSI bus, the initiator then asserts the ATN signal line and the DX signal line corresponding to the target SCSI_ID in order to cause the SCSI bus to enter the SELECTION state 618. The initiator or target asserts and drops various SCSI signal lines in a particular sequence in order to effect a SCSI bus state change, such as the change of state from the ARBITRATION state 616 to the SELECTION state 618, described above. These sequences can be found in Schmidt and in the ANSI standards, and will therefore not be further described below.
When the target senses that the target has been selected by the initiator, the target assumes control 620 of the SCSI bus in order to complete the command phase of the I/O operation. The target then controls the SCSI signal lines in order to enter the MESSAGE OUT state 622. In a first event that occurs in the MESSAGE OUT state, the target receives from the initiator an IDENTIFY message 623. The IDENTIFY message 623 contains a LUN field 624 that identifies the LUN to which the command message that will follow is addressed. The IDENTIFY message 623 also contains a flag 625 that is generally set to indicate to the target that the target is authorized to disconnect from the SCSI bus during the target's implementation of the I/O command that will follow. The target then receives a QUEUE TAG message 626 that indicates to the target how the I/O command that will follow should be queued, as well as providing the target with a queue tag 627. The queue tag is a byte that identifies the I/O command. A SCSI-bus adapter can therefore concurrently manage 256 different I/O commands per LUN. The combination of the SCSI_ID of the initiator SCSI-bus adapter, the SCSI_ID of the target SCSI device, the target LUN, and the queue tag together comprise an I_T_L_Q nexus reference number that uniquely identifies the I/O operation corresponding to the I/O command that will follow within the SCSI bus. Next, the target device controls the SCSI bus signal lines in order to enter the COMMAND state 628. In the COMMAND state, the target solicits and receives from the initiator the I/O command 630. The I/O command 630 includes an opcode 632 that identifies the particular command to be executed, in this case a read command or a write command, a logical block number 636 that identifies the logical block of the logical device that will be the beginning point of the read or write operation specified by the command, and a data length 638 that specifies the number of blocks that will be read or written during execution of the command.
When the target has received and processed the I/O command, the target device controls the SCSI bus signal lines in order to enter the MESSAGE IN state 640 in which the target device generally sends a disconnect message 642 back to the initiator device. The target disconnects from the SCSI bus because, in general, the target will begin to interact with the logical device in order to prepare the logical device for the read or write operation specified by the command. The target may need to prepare buffers for receiving data, and, in the case of disk drives or CD-ROM drives, the target device may direct the logical device to seek to the appropriate block specified as the starting point for the read or write command. By disconnecting, the target device frees up the SCSI bus for transportation of additional messages, commands, or data between the SCSI-bus adapter and the target devices. In this way, a large number of different I/O operations can be concurrently multiplexed over the SCSI bus. Finally, the target device drops the BSY signal line in order to return the SCSI bus to the BUS FREE state 644.
The target device then prepares the logical device for the read or write operation. When the logical device is ready for reading or writing data, the data phase for the I/O operation ensues. FIG. 6B illustrates the data phase of a SCSI I/O operation. The SCSI bus is initially in the BUS FREE state 646. The target device, now ready to either return data in response to a read I/O command or accept data in response to a write I/O command, controls the SCSI bus signal lines in order to enter the ARBITRATION state 648. Assuming that the target device is successful in arbitrating for control of the SCSI bus, the target device controls the SCSI bus signal lines in order to enter the RESELECTION state 650. The RESELECTION state is similar to the SELECTION state, described in the above discussion of FIG. 6A, except that it is the target device that is making the selection of a SCSI-bus adapter with which to communicate in the RESELECTION state, rather than the SCSI-bus adapter selecting a target device in the SELECTION state.
Once the target device has selected the SCSI-bus adapter, the target device manipulates the SCSI bus signal lines in order to cause the SCSI bus to enter the MESSAGE IN state 652. In the MESSAGE IN state, the target device sends both an IDENTIFY message 654 and a QUEUE TAG message 656 to the SCSI-bus adapter. These messages are identical to the IDENTITY and QUEUE TAG messages sent by the initiator to the target device during transmission of the I/O command from the initiator to the target, illustrated in FIG. 6A. The initiator may use the I_T_L_Q nexus reference number, a combination of the SCSI_IDs of the initiator and target device, the target LUN, and the queue tag contained in the QUEUE TAG message, to identify the I/O transaction for which data will be subsequently sent from the target to the initiator, in the case of a read operation, or to which data will be subsequently transmitted by the initiator, in the case of a write operation. The I_T_L_Q nexus reference number is thus an I/O operation handle that can be used by the SCSI-bus adapter as an index into a table of outstanding I/O commands in order to locate the appropriate buffer for receiving data from the target device, in case of a read, or for transmitting data to the target device, in case of a write.
After sending the IDENTIFY and QUEUE TAG messages, the target device controls the SCSI signal lines in order to transition to a DATA state 658. In the case of a read I/O operation, the SCSI bus will transition to the DATA IN state. In the case of a write I/O operation, the SCSI bus will transition to a DATA OUT state. During the time that the SCSI bus is in the DATA state, the target device will transmit, during each SCSI bus clock cycle, a data unit having a size, in bits, equal to the width of the particular SCSI bus on which the data is being transmitted. In general, there is a SCSI bus signal line handshake involving the signal lines ACK and REQ as part of the transfer of each unit of data. In the case of a read I/O command, for example, the target device places the next data unit on the SCSI bus and asserts the REQ signal line. The initiator senses assertion of the REQ signal line, retrieves the transmitted data from the SCSI bus, and asserts the ACK signal line to acknowledge receipt of the data. This type of data transfer is called asynchronous transfer. The SCSI bus protocol also allows for the target device to transfer a certain number of data units prior to receiving the first acknowledgment from the initiator. In this transfer mode, called synchronous transfer, the latency between the sending of the first data unit and receipt of acknowledgment for that transmission is avoided. During data transmission, the target device can interrupt the data transmission by sending a SAVE POINTERS message followed by a DISCONNECT message to the initiator and then controlling the SCSI bus signal lines to enter the BUS FREE state. This allows the target device to pause in order to interact with the logical devices which the target device controls before receiving or transmitting further data. After disconnecting from the SCSI bus, the target device may then later again arbitrate for control of the SCSI bus and send additional IDENTIFY and QUEUE TAG messages to the initiator so that the initiator can resume data reception or transfer at the point that the initiator was interrupted. An example of disconnect and reconnect 660 are shown in FIG. 3B interrupting the DATA state 658. Finally, when all the data for the I/O operation has been transmitted, the target device controls the SCSI signal lines in order to enter the MESSAGE IN state 662, in which the target device sends a DISCONNECT message to the initiator, optionally preceded by a SAVE POINTERS message. After sending the DISCONNECT message, the target device drops the BSY signal line so the SCSI bus transitions to the BUS FREE state 664.
Following the transmission of the data for the I/O operation, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, the target device returns a status to the initiator during the status phase of the I/O operation. FIG. 6C illustrates the status phase of the I/O operation. As in FIGS. 6A-6B, the SCSI bus transitions from the BUS FREE state 666 to the ARBITRATION state 668, RESELECTION state 670, and MESSAGE IN state 672, as in FIG. 3B. Following transmission of an IDENTIFY message 674 and QUEUE TAG message 676 by the target to the initiator during the MESSAGE IN state 672, the target device controls the SCSI bus signal lines in order to enter the STATUS state 678. In the STATUS state 678, the target device sends a single status byte 684 to the initiator to indicate whether or not the I/O command was successfully completed. In FIG. 6C, the status byte 680 corresponding to a successful completion, indicated by a status code of 0, is shown being sent from the target device to the initiator. Following transmission of the status byte, the target device then controls the SCSI bus signal lines in order to enter the MESSAGE IN state 682, in which the target device sends a COMMAND COMPLETE message 684 to the initiator. At this point, the I/O operation has been completed. The target device then drops the BSY signal line so that the SCSI bus returns to the BUS FREE state 686. The SCSI-bus adapter can now finish its portion of the I/O command, free up any internal resources that were allocated in order to execute the command, and return a completion message or status back to the CPU via the PCI bus.
Mapping the SCSI Protocol onto FCP
FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate a mapping of FCP sequences exchanged between an initiator and target and the SCSI bus phases and states described in FIGS. 6A-6C. In FIGS. 7A-7B, the target SCSI adapter is assumed to be packaged together with a FCP host adapter, so that the target SCSI adapter can communicate with the initiator via the FC and with a target SCSI device via the SCSI bus. FIG. 7A shows a mapping between FCP sequences and SCSI phases and states for a read I/O transaction. The transaction is initiated when the initiator sends a single-frame FCP sequence containing a FCP_CMND 702 data payload through the FC to a target SCSI adapter. When the target SCSI-bus adapter receives the FCP_CMND frame, the target SCSI-bus adapter proceeds through the SCSI states of the command phase 704 illustrated in FIG. 6A, including ARBITRATION, RESELECTION, MESSAGE OUT, COMMAND, and MESSAGE IN. At the conclusion of the command phase, as illustrated in FIG. 6A, the SCSI device that is the target of the I/O transaction disconnects from the SCSI bus in order to free up the SCSI bus while the target SCSI device prepares to execute the transaction. Later, the target SCSI device re-arbitrates for SCSI bus control and begins the data phase of the I/O transaction 706. At this point, the SCSI-bus adapter may send a FCP_XFER_RDY single-frame sequence 708 back to the initiator to indicate that data transmission can now proceed. In the case of a read I/O transaction, the FCP_XFER_RDY single-frame sequence is optional. As the data phase continues, the target SCSI device begins to read data from a logical device and transmit that data over the SCSI bus to the target SCSI-bus adapter. The target SCSI-bus adapter then packages the data received from the target SCSI device into a number of FCP_DATA frames that together compose the third sequence of the exchange corresponding to the I/O read transaction, and transmits those FCP_DATA frames back to the initiator through the FC. When all the data has been transmitted, and the target SCSI device has given up control of the SCSI bus, the target SCSI device then again arbitrates for control of the SCSI bus to initiate the status phase of the I/O transaction 714. In this phase, the SCSI bus transitions from the BUS FREE state through the ARBITRATION, RESELECTION, MESSAGE IN, STATUS, MESSAGE IN and BUS FREE states, as illustrated in FIG. 3C, in order to send a SCSI status byte from the target SCSI device to the target SCSI-bus adapter. Upon receiving the status byte, the target SCSI-bus adapter packages the status byte into an FCP_RSP single-frame sequence 716 and transmits the FCP_RSP single-frame sequence back to the initiator through the FC. This completes the read I/O transaction.
In many computer systems, there may be additional internal computer buses, such as a PCI bus, between the target FC host adapter and the target SCSI-bus adapter. In other words, the FC host adapter and SCSI adapter may not be packaged together in a single target component. In the interest of simplicity, that additional interconnection is not shown in FIGS. 7A-B.
FIG. 7B shows, in similar fashion to FIG. 7A, a mapping between FCP sequences and SCSI bus phases and states during a write I/O transaction indicated by a FCP_CMND frame 718. FIG. 7B differs from FIG. 7A only in the fact that, during a write transaction, the FCP_DATA frames 722-725 are transmitted from the initiator to the target over the FC and the FCP_XFER_RDY single-frame sequence 720 sent from the target to the initiator 720 is not optional, as in the case of the read I/O transaction, but is instead mandatory. As in FIG. 7A, the write I/O transaction includes when the target returns an FCP_RSP single-frame sequence 726 to the initiator.
IDE/ATA Disk Drives
IDE/ATA drives were developed in order to integrate a disk logic controller and a hard disk together as a single module. IDE/ATA drives were specifically designed for easy integration, via an ISA bus, into PC systems. Originally, IDE/ATA drives were designed with parallel, 16-bit interconnections to permit the exchange of two bytes of data between the IDE/ATA drives and the system at discrete intervals of time controlled by a system or bus clock. Unfortunately, the parallel bus interconnection is reaching a performance limit, with current data rates of 100 to 133 MB/sec., and the 40 or 80-pin ribbon cable connection is no longer compatible with the cramped, high-density packaging of internal components within modern computer systems. For these reasons, a SATA (“SATA”) standard has been developed, and SATA disk drives are currently being produced, in which the 80-pin ribbon cable connection is replaced with a four-conductor serial cable. The initial data rate for SATA disks is 150 MB/sec, expected to soon increase to 300 MB/sec and then to 600 MB/sec. Standard 8B/10B encoding is used for serializing the data for transfer between the ATA serial disk drive and a peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”)-based controller. Ultimately, south-bridge controllers that integrate various I/O controllers, that provide interfaces to peripheral devices and buses, and that transfer data to and from a second bridge that links one or more CPUs and memory, may be designed to fully incorporate SATA technology to offer direct interconnection of SATA devices.
The ATA interface, in particular the ATA-5 and ATA-6 standard interfaces, support a variety of commands that allow an external processor or logic controller to direct the logic controller within the ATA disk drive to carry out basic data transfer commands, seeking, cache management, and other management and diagnostics-related tasks. Table 2, below, relates a protocol number, such as protocol “1,” with a general type of ATA command. The types of commands include programmed input/output (“PIO”), non-data commands, and direct-memory-access (“DMA”) commands.
TABLE 2 protocol type of command
1 PIO DATA-IN COMMAND 2 PIO DATA OUT COMMAND 3 NON-DATA COMMAND 4 DMA COMMAND 5 DMA COMMAND
Table 3, provided below, lists a number of ATA commands, along with a Corresponding protocol indicating the command type to which the command belongs, As defined above in Table 2:
TABLE 3 protocol ATA Command
3 CHECK POWER MODE 2 DOWNLOAD MICROCODE 3 EXECUTIVE DEVICE DIAGNOSTICS 3 FLUSH CACHE 3 FLUSH CACHE EXTENDED 1 IDENTIFY DEVICE 3 IDLE IMMEDIATE 4 READ DMA 4 READ DMA EXTENDED 3 READ VERIFY SECTORS 3 READ VERIFY SECTORS EXTENDED 3 SEEK 3 SET FEATURES 3 SLEEP 4 WRITE DMA 4 WRITE DMA EXTENDED
The CHECK POWER MODE command allows a host to determine the current power mode of an ATA device. The DOWNLOAD MICROCODE command allows a host to alter an ATA device's microcode. The EXECUTIVE DEVICE DIAGNOSTICS command allows a host to invoke diagnostic tests implemented by an ATA device. The FLUSH CACHE command allows a host to request that an ATA device flush its write cache. Two versions of this command are included in the table, with the extended version representing a 48-bit addressing feature available on devices supporting the ATA-6 standard interface. Additional extended versions of commands shown in Table 3 will not be discussed separately below. The IDENTIFY DEVICE command allows a host to query an ATA device for parameter information, including the number of logical sectors, cylinders, and heads provided by the device, the commands supported by the device, features supported by the device, and other such parameters. The READ DMA command allows a host to read data from the device using a DMA data transfer protocol, generally much more efficient for large amounts of data. The READ VERIFY SECTORS command allows a host to direct an ATA device to read a portion of the data stored within the host and determine whether or not any error conditions occur without transferring the data read from the device to the host. The SEEK command allows a host to inform an ATA device that the host may access one or more particular logical blocks in a subsequent command, to allow the device to optimize head positioning in order to execute the subsequent access to the specified one or more logical blocks. The SET FEATURES command allows the host to modify various parameters within an ATA device to turn on and off features provided by the device. The SLEEP command allows a host to direct an ATA device to spin down and wait for a subsequent reset command. The WRITE DMA command allows a host to write data to an ATA device using DMA data transfer that is generally more efficient for larger amounts of data.
FC-Based Disk Arrays
In mid-sized and large computer systems, data storage requirements generally far exceed the capacities of embedded mass storage devices, including embedded disk drives. In such systems, it has become common to employ high-end, large-capacity devices, such as redundant arrays of inexpensive disks (“RAID”), that include internal processors that are linked to mid-sized and high-end computer systems through local area networks, fibre-optic networks, and other high-bandwidth communications media. To facilitate design and manufacture of disk arrays, disk manufacturers provide disk drives that include FC ports in order to directly interconnect disk drives within a disk array to a disk-array controller. Generally, the FC arbitrated loop topology is employed within disk arrays to interconnect individual FC disk drives to the disk-array controller.
FIGS. 8A-D illustrate several problems related to the use of FC disks in disk arrays. FIG. 8A shows a relatively abstract rendering of the internal components of a disk array. FIGS. 8B-D and FIG. 9, discussed below, employ the same illustration conventions. In FIG. 8A, the disk-array controller 802 is interconnected to remote computer systems and other remote entities via a high-bandwidth communications medium 804. The disk-array controller includes one or more processors, one or more generally relatively large electronic memories, and other such components that allow disk-array-control firmware and software to be stored and executed within the disk-array controller in order to provide, to remote computer systems, a relatively high level, logical-unit and logical-block interface to the disk drives within the disk array. As shown in FIG. 8A, the disk-array includes the disk-array controller 802 and a number of FC disk drives 806-813. The FC disk drives are interconnected with the disk-array controller 802 via an FC arbitrated loop 814. An FC-based disk array, such as that abstractly illustrated in FIG. 8A, is relatively easily designed and manufactured, using standard and readily available FC disks as a storage medium, an FC arbitrated loop for interconnection, and standard FC controllers within the disk-array controller. Because the FC is a high-speed, serial communications medium, the FC arbitrated loop 814 provides a generous bandwidth for data transfer between the FC disks 806-813 and the disk-array controller 802.
However, at each FC node within the FC arbitrated loop, such as an FC disk drive, there is a significant node delay as data is processed and transferred through the FC ports of the node. Node delays are illustrated in FIG. 8A with short arrows labeled with subscripted, lower case letters “t.” The node delays are cumulative within an FC arbitrated loop, leading to significant accumulated node delays proportional to the number of FC nodes within the FC arbitrated loop.
A second problem with the disk-array implementation illustrated in FIG. 8A is that the FC arbitrated loop represents a potential single point of failure. Generally, FC disks may be augmented with port bypass circuits to isolate nonfunctional FC disks from the arbitrated loop, but there are a number of different modes of failure that cannot be prevented by port bypass circuits alone.
A third problem arises when an FC port that links a node to the arbitrated loop fails. In such cases, complex, and unreliable techniques must be employed to try to identify and isolate the failed FC port. In general, a failed FC port disrupts the loop topology, and the disk-array controller must sequentially attempt to activate port bypass circuits to bypass each node, in order to isolate the failed node. However, this technique may fail to identify the failed node, under various failure modes. Thus, node failure is a serious problem with arbitrated loop topologies.
FIG. 8B illustrates a solution to the potential single-point failure problem. As shown in FIG. 8B, the disk-array controller 802 is interconnected with the FC disks 806-813 via two separate, independent FC arbitrated loops 814 and 816. Using two separate FC arbitrated loops largely removes the single-point failure problem. However, the node-delay problem is not ameliorated by using two FC arbitrated loops. Moreover, because each FC disk must include two separate FC ports, the individual FC disks are rather more complex and more expensive. Finally, the failed port identification and isolation problem is only partly addressed, because, in the case of a node failure that disrupts one of the two arbitrated loops, the other arbitrated loop continues to function, but there is no longer a two-fold redundancy in communications media. In order to restore the two-fold redundancy, the disk-array controller still needs to attempt to identify and isolate the failed node, and, as noted above, many failure modes are resistant to identification and isolation.
FIG. 8C illustrates yet an additional problem with the FC-based implementation of disk arrays. In general, greater and greater amounts of available storage space are required from disk arrays, resulting in the addition of a greater number of individual FC disks. However, the inclusion of additional disks exacerbates the node-delay problem, and, as discussed above, a single FC arbitrated loop may include up to a maximum of only 127 nodes. In order to solve this maximum-node problem, additional independent FC arbitrated loops are added to the disk array. FIG. 8D illustrates a higher capacity disk array in which a first set of FC disks 818 is interconnected with the FC controller 802 via two separate FC arbitrated loops 814 and 816, and a second set of FC disks 820 is interconnected with the disk-array controller 802 via a second pair of FC arbitrated loops 822 and 824. Each of the sets of FC disks 818 and 820 are referred to as shelves, and are generally included in separate enclosures with redundant power systems, redundant control paths, and other features that contribute to the overall fault tolerance and high-availability of the disk array. However, the addition of each shelf increases the number of FC controllers and FC ports within the disk-array controller 802. Note also that each separate FC arbitrated loop experiences cumulative node delay of the FC nodes included within the FC arbitrated loop. Designers, manufacturers, and users of disk arrays have thus recognized the need for a more flexible, more cost effective, and more efficient method for interconnecting disk-array controllers and FC disks within FC-based disk arrays. In addition, designers, manufacturers, and users of disk arrays have recognized the need for a method for interconnecting disk-array controllers and FC disks within FC-based disk arrays that allows for easier and more reliable identification of port failures and other communications and component failures.
Disk-Drive-Specific Formatting and Disk-Drive Error Detection
Disk-drive technologies and implementations, as with other types of mass storage devices, continues to evolve. Disk-array manufactures wish to use the most cost-effective and technologically advanced disk drives in disk arrays. However, disk-array controllers may be implemented to interface to only one or a few currently available disk-drive interfaces, and incorporating new disk drives with new interfaces, including new formatting conventions, may involve costly and time-consuming re-engineering of disk-array controllers.
Although currently available disk drives generally provide rudimentary error checking and error correction, using parity check codes and other techniques. However, this level of error checking provided by current disk drives may fall short of the error-detection requirements for disk-array storage devices used in commercial applications. Although additional error detection can be programmed into disk-array controllers, disk-array-controller-based techniques may be costly, requiring re-implementation of complex disk-array controller software and firmware, and may also be inefficient, involving increased data transfer between disk-array controllers and storage devices. Moreover, the disk-array controller error-detection techniques would require a great deal of disk-drive specific logic.
Designers, manufacturers, and users of disk arrays and other mass-storage devices have therefore recognized the need for cost-effective and efficient methods for incorporating new types of disk drives withing disk arrays and other mass storage devices, and for increasing error-detection capabilities of disk arrays without needing to re-implement disk-array controllers
One embodiment of the present invention is an integrated circuit implementing a storage-shelf router, used in combination with path controller cards and optionally with other storage-shelf routers to interconnect SATA disks within a storage shelf or disk array to a high-bandwidth communications medium, such as an FC arbitrated loop. A storage shelf employing a single storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention does not provide the component redundancy required of a high-availability device. When two, four, six, or eight or more storage-shelf routers are used within a storage shelf, and the interconnections between the storage-shelf routers, disk drives, and external communications media are properly designed and configured, the resulting storage shelf constitutes a discrete, highly-available component that may be included in a disk array or in other types of electronic devices.
In various embodiments, the present invention provides virtual disk formatting by a storage shelf router and the storage shelf in which the storage-shelf is included, to external computing entities, such as disk-array controllers and host computers. Virtual disk formatting serves several purposes. First, disk-array controllers may expect one or a few specific disk formatting conventions in the disks included in storage shelves managed by the disk-array controller. By providing virtual disk formatting, a storage-shelf router can provide to a disk-array controller, and other external computing entities, the disk-formatting convention expected by the disk-array controller, even though disk drives and other storage systems that do not conform to the expected formatting conventions may be included in the storage shelf and interconnected to a disk-array controller and other external processing entities via an interface provided by a storage-shelf router. Thus, virtual disk formatting isolates disk-drive-specific formatting conventions and other characteristics from the external computing entities, such as disk-array controllers. Virtual disk formatting, in addition, allows a storage-shelf router to format a disk drive differently from the disk formatting expected by external computing entities, so that the storage-shelf router can transparently include additional information into disk sectors, such as additional error detection and error-correction information. Thus, virtual disk formatting allows a storage-shelf router to isolate storage-shelf-router-specific formatting conventions within a storage shelf, preserving the expected disk-formatting interface exported to external computing entities, such as disk-array controllers and host computers.
FIGS. 1A-1C shows the three different types of FC interconnection topologies.
FIG. 2 illustrates a very simple hierarchy by which data is organized, in time, for transfer through an FC network.
FIG. 3 shows the contents of a standard FC frame.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a common personal computer architecture including a SCSI bus.
FIG. 5 illustrates the SCSI bus topology.
FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate the SCSI protocol involved in the initiation and implementation of read and write I/O operations.
FIGS. 7A-7B illustrate a mapping of the FC Protocol to SCSI sequences exchanged between an initiator and target and the SCSI bus phases and states described in FIGS. 6A-6C.
FIGS. 8A-D illustrate several problems related to the use of FC disks in disk arrays.
FIG. 9 abstractly illustrates the storage-shelf router, representing one embodiment of the present invention, using the illustration convention employed for FIGS. 8A-D.
FIG. 10 illustrates the position, within a hierarchically interconnected system of computers and a disk array, occupied by the storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 11 and 12 show a perspective view of the components of a storage shelf implemented using the storage-shelf routers that represent one embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 13A-C illustrate three different implementations of storage shelves using the storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 14A-B illustrate two implementations of a path controller card suitable for interconnecting an ATA disk drive with two storage-shelf routers.
FIG. 15 is a high-level block diagram illustrating the major functional components of a storage-shelf router.
FIGS. 16A-G illustrate a number of different logical interfaces provided by a high-availability storage shelf incorporating one or more storage-shelf routers that represent one embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 17A-F illustrate the flow of data and control information through the storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 18 shows a more detailed block-diagram representation of the logical components of a storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 19 shows a more detailed diagram of the FC-port layer.
FIG. 20 is a more detailed block-diagram representation of the routing layer.
FIG. 21 is a more detailed block-diagram representation of the FCP layer.
FIG. 22 shows a more detailed block-diagram representation of the SATA-port layer.
FIG. 23 is a more detailed, block-diagram representation of an SATA port.
FIG. 24 shows an abstract representation of the routing topology within a four-storage-shelf-router-availability storage shelf.
FIGS. 26A-E illustrate the data fields within an FC-frame header that are used for routing FC frames to particular storage-shelf routers or to remote entities via particular FC ports within the storage shelf that represents one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 27 illustrates seven main routing tables maintained within the storage-shelf router to facilitate routing of FC frames by the routing layer.
FIG. 28 provides a simplified routing topology and routing-destination nomenclature used in the flow-control diagrams.
FIGS. 29-35 are a hierarchical series of flow-control diagrams describing the routing layer logic.
FIGS. 36A-B illustrate disk-formatting conventions employed by ATA and SATA disk drives and by FC disk drives.
FIGS. 37A-D illustrate a storage-shelf virtual-disk-formatting implementation for handling a 520-byte WRITE access by an external entity, such as a disk-array controller, to a storage-shelf-internal, 512-byte-based disk drive.
FIGS. 38A-B illustrate implementation of a 520-byte-sector-based virtual READ operation by a storage-shelf router.
FIG. 39 is a control-flow diagram illustrating storage-shelf-router implementation of a virtual WRITE operation, as illustrated in FIGS. 37A-D.
FIG. 40 is a control-flow diagram illustrating storage-shelf-router implementation of a virtual READ operation, as illustrated in FIGS. 38A-B.
FIG. 41 illustrates calculated values needed to carry out the virtual formatting method and system representing one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 42 illustrates a virtual sector WRITE in a discrete virtual formatting implementation that represents one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 43 illustrates a virtual sector WRITE in a storage-shelf-based discrete virtual formatting implementation that represents one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 44 illustrates a two-level virtual disk formatting technique that allows a storage-shelf router to enhance the error-detection capabilities of ATA and SATA disk drives.
FIG. 45 illustrates the content of an LRC field included by a storage-shelf router in each first-level virtual 520-byte sector in the two-virtual-level embodiment illustrated in FIG. 41.
FIG. 46 illustrates computation of a CRC value.
FIG. 47 illustrates a technique by which the contents of a virtual sector are checked with respect to the CRC field included in the LRC field of the virtual sector in order to detect errors.
FIG. 48 is a control-flow diagram illustrating a complete LRC check technique employed by the storage-shelf router to check a retrieved virtual sector for errors.
FIG. 49 illustrates a deferred LRC check.
FIG. 50 illustrates a full LRC check of a write operation on a received second-level 512-byte virtual sector.
One embodiment of the present invention is an integrated circuit implementation of a storage-shelf router that may be employed, alone or in combination, within a storage shelf of a disk array or other large, separately controlled mass storage device, to interconnect disk drives within the storage shelf to a high-bandwidth communications medium that, in turn, interconnects the storage shelf with a disk-array controller, or controller of a similar high capacity mass storage device. The described embodiment also includes path controller cards that provide redundant communications links between disk drives and one or more storage-shelf routers. As discussed above, with reference to FIGS. 8A-D, disk arrays may currently employ FC-compatible disk drives within storage shelves, each FC-compatible disk drive acting as an FC node on one or two FC arbitrated loops, or other FC fabric topologies, that interconnect the FC compatible disk drives with a disk-array controller. By contrast, the storage-shelf router that represents, in part, one embodiment of the present invention serves as an intermediary communications hub, directly connected by point-to-point serial communications media to each disk drive within the storage shelf, and interconnected with the disk-array controller via one or more high-bandwidth communications media, such as fibre channel arbitrated loops.
FIG. 9 abstractly illustrates the storage-shelf router, representing one embodiment of the present invention, using the illustration convention employed for FIGS. 8A-D. In FIG. 9, disk-array controller 902 is linked via a LAN or fiber-optic communications medium 904 to one or more remote computer systems. The disk-array controller 902 is interconnected with a storage-shelf router 906 via an FC arbitrated loop 908. The storage-shelf router 906 is directly interconnected with each of the disk drives within a storage shelf 910-917 via separate point-to-point interconnects, such as interconnect 918. Comparing the implementation abstractly illustrated in FIG. 9 with the implementations illustrated in FIGS. 8A-D, it is readily apparent that problems identified with the implementation shown in FIGS. 8A-D are addressed by the storage-shelf-router-based implementation. First, the only node delay within the FC arbitrated loop of the implementation shown in FIG. 9 is that introduced by the storage-shelf router, acting as a single FC arbitrated loop node. By contrast, as shown in FIG. 8A, each FC-compatible disk drive introduces a separate node delay, and the cumulative node delay on the FC arbitrated loop 814 is proportional to the number of FC-compatible disk drives interconnected by the FC arbitrated loop. The storage-shelf router is designed to facilitate highly parallel and efficient data transfer between FC ports and the internal serial interconnects linking the storage-shelf router to individual disk drives. Therefore, there is no substantial delay, and no cumulative delay, introduced by the storage-shelf router other than the inevitable node delay introduced by on board FC controllers that interconnect the storage-shelf router to the FC arbitrated loop 908.
The FC arbitrated loop 908 employed in the implementation shown in FIG. 9 contains only two nodes, the disk-array controller and the storage-shelf router. Assuming that each storage-shelf router can interconnect eight disk drives with the FC arbitrated loop, a single FC arbitrated loop can be used to interconnect 125 storage-shelf routers to a disk-array controller, or 126 storage-shelf routers if an address normally reserved for the FC fabric is used by a storage-shelf router, thereby interconnecting 8,000 or more individual disk drives with the disk-array controller via a single FC arbitrated loop. As noted above, when high availability is not needed, 16,000 or more individual disk drives may be interconnected with the disk-array controller via a single FC arbitrated loop. By contrast, as illustrated in FIG. 8C, when individual FC-compatible disk drives each function as a separate FC node, only 125 disk drives may be interconnected with the disk-array controller via a single FC arbitrated loop, or 126 disk drives if an address normally reserved for the FC fabric is used for a disk drive.
The disk drives are connected to the storage-shelf router 906 via any of a number of currently available internal interconnection technologies. In one embodiment, SATA-compatible interconnects are used to interconnect SATA disk drives with the storage-shelf router. A storage-shelf router includes logic that translates each FCP command received from the disk-array controller into one or more equivalent ATA-interface commands that the storage-shelf router then transmits to an appropriate SATA disk drive. The storage-shelf router shown in FIG. 9 is interconnected with the disk-array controller via a single FC arbitrated loop 908, but, as discussed below, a storage-shelf router is more commonly interconnected with the disk-array controller through two FC arbitrated loops or other FC fabric topologies.
FIG. 10 illustrates the position, within a hierarchically interconnected system of computers and a disk array, occupied by the storage-shelf router that represents, in part, one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 10, two server computers 1001 and 1004 are interconnected with each other, and with a disk-array controller 1006 via a high-bandwidth communications medium 1008, such as any of various FC fabric topologies. The disk-array controller 1006 is interconnected with a storage shelf 1010 via two separate FC arbitrated loops. The first FC arbitrated loop 1012 directly interconnects the disk-array controller 1006 with a first storage-shelf router 1014. The second FC arbitrated loop 1016 directly interconnects the disk-array controller 1006 with a second storage-shelf router 1018. The two storage-shelf routers 1014 and 1018 are interconnected with an internal point-to-point FC interconnection 1020 that carries FC frames from the first storage-shelf router 1014 to the second storage-shelf router 1018 as part of the first FC arbitrated loop 1012, and carries FC frames between the second storage-shelf router 1018 and first storage-shelf router 1014 as part of the second FC arbitrated loop 1016. In addition, the internal FC link 1020 may carry FC frames used for internal management and communications internally generated and internally consumed within the storage shelf 1010. As discussed below, it is common to refer to the two FC arbitrated loops interconnecting the disk-array with the storage shelf as the “X loop” or “X fabric” and the “Y loop” or “Y fabric,” and to refer to the exchange of internally generated and internally consumed management FC frames on the internal FC 1020 as the S fabric. The storage shelf 1010 includes 16 SATA disk drives represented in FIG. 10 by the four disk drives 1022-1025 and the ellipsis 1026 indicating 12 disk drives not explicitly shown. Each storage-shelf router 1014 and 1018 is interconnected with each SATA disk drive via point-to-point serial links, such as serial link 1028.
As shown in FIG. 10, there is at least two-fold redundancy in each of the intercommunications pathways within the disk array containing the disk-array controller 1006 and the storage shelf 1010. Moreover, there is a two-fold redundancy in storage-shelf routers. If any single link, or one storage-shelf router, fails, the remaining links and remaining storage-shelf router can assume the workload previously assumed by the failed link or failed storage-shelf router to maintain full connectivity between the disk-array controller 1006 and each of the sixteen SATA disk drives within the storage shelf 1010. The disk-array controller may additionally implement any of a number of different high-availability data-storage schemes, such as the various levels of RAID storage technologies, to enable recovery and full operation despite the failure of one or more of the SATA disk drives. The RAID technologies may, for example, separately and fully redundantly restore two or more complete copies of stored data on two or more disk drives. The servers intercommunicate with the disk-array comprising the disk-array controller 1006 and one or more storage shelves, such as storage shelf 1010, through a communications medium, such as an FC fabric, with built-in redundancy and failover. The disk-array controller presents a logical unit (“LUN”) and logical block address (“LBA”) interface that allows the server computers 1002 and 1004 to store and retrieve files and other data objects from the disk array without regard for the actual location of the data within and among the disk drives in the storage shelf, and without regard to redundant copying of data and other functionalities and features provided by the disk-array controller 1006. The disk-array controller 1006, in turn, interfaces to the storage shelf 1010 through an interface provided by the storage-shelf routers 1014 and 1018. The disk-array controller 1006 transmits FC exchanges to, and receives FC exchanges from, what appear to be discrete FC-compatible disk drives via the FCP protocol. However, transparently to the disk-array controller, the disk-shelf routers 1014 and 1018 translate FC commands into ATA commands in order to exchange commands and data with the SATA disk drives.
FIGS. 11 and 12 show a perspective view of the components of a storage shelf implemented using the storage-shelf routers that represent one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 11, two storage-shelf routers 1102 and 1104 mounted on router cards interconnect, via a passive midplane 1106, with 16 SATA disk drives, such as SATA disk drive 1108. Each SATA disk drive carrier contains an SATA disk drive and a path controller card 1110 that interconnects the SATA disk drive with two separate serial links that run through the passive midplane to each of the two storage-shelf routers 1102 and 1104. Normally, a SATA disk drive supports only a single serial connection to an external system. In order to provide fully redundant interconnections within the storage shelf, the path controller card 1110 is needed. The storage shelf 1100 additionally includes redundant fans 1112 and 1114 and redundant power supplies 1116 and 1118. FIG. 12 shows a storage-shelf implementation, similar to that shown in FIG. 11, with dual SATA disk drive carriers that each includes two path controller cards and two SATA disk drives. The increased number of disk drives necessitates a corresponding doubling of storage-shelf routers, in order to provide the two-fold redundancy needed for a high-availability application.
Storage Shelf Internal Topologies
FIGS. 13A-C illustrate three different implementations of storage shelves using the storage-shelf router that represents, in part, one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 13A, a single storage-shelf router 1302 interconnects 16 SATA disk drives 1304-1319 with a disk-array controller via an FC arbitrated loop 1320. In one embodiment, the storage-shelf router provides a maximum of 16 serial links, and can support interconnection of up to 16 SATA disk drives. The storage shelf shown in FIG. 13A is not highly available, because it contains neither a redundant storage-shelf router nor redundant serial links between one or more routers and each SATA disk drive.
By contrast, the storage-shelf implementation shown in FIG. 13B is highly available. In this storage shelf, two storage-shelf routers 1322 and 1324 are linked via point-to-point serial links to each of the 16 SATA disk drives 1326-1341. During normal operation, storage-shelf router 1322 interconnects half of the SATA disk drives 1326-1333 to the disk-array controller, while storage-shelf router 1324 interconnects the other half of the SATA disk drives 1334-1341 to the disk-array controller. The internal point-to-point serial links employed during normal operation are shown in bold in FIG. 13B, such as serial link 1342, and are referred to as “primary links.” Those internal serial links not used during normal operation, such as interior serial link 1344, are referred to as “secondary links.” If a primary link fails during operation, then the failed primary link, and all other primary links connected to a storage-shelf router, may be failed over from the storage-shelf router to which the failed primary link is connected to the other storage-shelf router, to enable the failed primary link to be repaired or replaced, including replacing the storage-shelf router to which the failed primary link is connected. As discussed above, each of the two storage-shelf routers serves as the FC node for one of two FC arbitrated loops that interconnect the storage shelf with a disk-array controller. Should one FC arbitrated loop fail, data transfer that would normally pass through the failed FC arbitrated loop is failed over to the remaining, operable FC arbitrated loop. Similarly, should a storage-shelf router fail, the other storage-shelf router can assume the full operational control of the storage shelf. In alternative embodiments, a primary path failure may be individually failed over, without failing over the entire storage-shelf router. In certain embodiments and situations, a primary-path failover may be carried within the storage-shelf router, while in other embodiments and situations, the primary-path failover may involve failing the primary path over to a second storage-shelf router.
FIG. 13C illustrates implementation of a 32-ATA-disk high availability storage shelf. As shown in FIG. 13C, the 32-ATA-disk storage shelf includes four storage-shelf routers 1350, 1352, 1354, and 1356. Each storage-shelf router, during normal operation, interconnects eight SATA disks with the two FC arbitrated loops that interconnect the storage shelf with a disk-array controller. Each storage-shelf router is interconnected via secondary links to eight additional SATA disk drives so that, should failover be necessary, a storage-shelf router can interconnect a total of 16 SATA disk drives with the two FC arbitrated loops. Note that, in the four-storage-shelf-router configuration, storage-shelf router 1350 serves as the FC node for all four storage-shelf routers with respect to one FC arbitrated loop, and storage-shelf router 1356 serves as the FC node for all four storage-shelf routers with respect to the second FC arbitrated loop. As shown in FIG. 13C, the first FC arbitrated loop for which storage-shelf router 1350 serves as FC node is considered the X loop or X fabric, and the other FC arbitrated loop, for which storage-shelf router 1356 serves as the FC node is considered the Y fabric or Y loop. FC frames transmitted from the disk-array controller via the X loop to an SATA disk within the storage shelf are first received by storage-shelf router 1350. The FC frames are either directed to an SATA disk interconnected with storage-shelf router 1350 via primary links, in the case of normal operation, or are directed via the internal FC link 1358 to storage-shelf router 1352 which, in turn, either transforms the FC frames into one or more ATA commands that are transmitted through a primary link to an SATA disk, or forwards the FC frame downstream to storage-shelf router 1354. If a response FC frame is transmitted by storage-shelf router 1356 via the X fabric, then it must be forwarded through internal FC links 1360, 1362, and 1358 via storage-shelf routers 1354 and 1352 to storage-shelf router 1350, from which the response frame can be transmitted to the external X fabric. In the described embodiment, a high availability storage shelf needs to contain at least two storage-shelf routers, and needs to contain a storage-shelf router for each set of eight SATA disks within the storage shelf.
Path Controller Card Overview
As discussed above, two components facilitate construction of a high availability storage shelf employing SATA disks, or other inexpensive disk drives, and that can be interconnected with an FC arbitrated loop or other high-bandwidth communications medium using only a single slot or node on the FC arbitrated loop. One component is the storage-shelf router and the other component is the path controller card that provides redundant interconnection of an ATA drive to two storage-shelf routers. FIGS. 14A-B illustrate two implementations of a path control card suitable for interconnecting an ATA disk drive with two storage-shelf routers. The implementation shown in FIG. 14A provides a parallel connector to a parallel ATA disk drive, and the implementation shown in FIG. 14B provides a serial connection to a SATA disk drive. Because, as discussed above, SATA disk drives provide higher data transfer rates, the implementation shown in FIG. 14B is preferred, and the implementation that is discussed below.
The path controller card provides an SCA-2 connector 1402 for external connection of a primary serial link 1404 and a management link 1406 to a first storage-shelf router and secondary serial link 1408 and second management link 1410 to a second storage-shelf router. The primary link and secondary link are multiplexed by a 2:1 multiplexer that is interconnected via a serial link 1414 to a SATA disk drive 1416. The management links 1406 and 1410 are input to a microcontroller 1418 that runs management services routines, such as routines that monitor the temperature of the disk drive environment, control operation of a fan within the disk drive carrier, and activate various light emitting diode (“LED”) signal lights visible from the exterior of the disk drive enclosure. In essence, under normal operation, ATA commands and data are received by the path controller card via the primary link, and are transferred via the 2:1 multiplexer to the serial link 1414 input to the SATA disk drive 1416. If a failover occurs within the storage shelf that deactivates the default storage-shelf router connected via the primary link to the path controller card, a second storage-shelf router assumes transfer of ATA commands and data via the secondary link which are, in turn, passed through the 2:1 multiplexer to the serial link 1414 directly input to the SATA disk drive 1416.
The path controller card provides redundant interconnection to two separate storage-shelf routers, and is thus needed in order to provide the two-fold redundancy needed in a high availability storage shelf. The storage-shelf router provides interconnection between different types of communications medium and translation of commands and data packets between the different types of communications media. In addition, the storage-shelf router includes fail-over logic for automatic detection of internal component failures and execution of appropriate fail-over plans to restore full interconnection of disk drives with the disk-array controller using redundant links and non-failed components.
Storage-Shelf Router Overview
FIG. 15 is a high-level block diagram illustrating the major functional components of a storage-shelf router. The storage-shelf router 1500 includes two FC ports 1502 and 1504, a routing layer 1506, an FCP layer 1508, a global shared memory switch 1510, 16 SATA ports 1512-1518, a CPU complex 1520, and an external flash memory 1514. Depending on the logical position of the storage-shelf router within the set of storage-shelf routers interconnecting within a storage shelf, one or both of the FC ports may be connected to an external FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric, and one or both of the FC ports may be connected to internal point-to-point FC links. In general, one of the FC ports, regardless of the logical and physical positions of the storage-shelf router within a set of storage-shelf routers, may be considered to link the storage-shelf router either directly or indirectly with a first FC arbitrated loop, and the other FC port can be considered to directly or indirectly interconnect the storage-shelf router with a second FC arbitrated loop.
The routing layer 1506 comprises a number of routing tables stored in a memory, discussed below, and routing logic that determines where to forward incoming FC frames from both FC ports. The FCP layer 1508 comprises: various queues for temporary storage of FC frames and intermediate-level protocol messages; control logic for processing various types of incoming and outgoing FC frames; and an interface to the CPU complex 1512 to allow firmware routines executing on the CPU complex to process FCP_CMND frames in order to set up FC exchange contexts in memory to facilitate the exchange of FC frames that together compose an FCP exchange.
The global shared memory switch 1510 is a extremely high-speed, time-multiplexed data-exchange facility for passing data between FCP-layer queues and the SATA ports 1512-1518. The global shared memory switch (“GSMS”) 1510 employs a virtual queue mechanism to allow allocation of a virtual queue to facilitate the transfer of data between the FCP layer and a particular SATA port. The GSMS is essentially a very high-bandwidth, high-speed bidirectional multiplexer that facilitates highly parallel data flow between the FCP layer and the 16 SATA ports, and is, at the same time, a bridge-like device that includes synchronization mechanisms to facilitate traversal of the synchronization boundary between the FCP layer and the SATA ports.
The CPU complex 1512 runs various firmware routines that process FCP commands in order to initialize and maintain context information for FC exchanges and translate FCP commands into ATA-equivalent commands, and that also monitor operation of the SATA disk drives and internal components of the storage-shelf router and carry out sophisticated fail-over strategies when problems are detected. In order to carry out the fail-over strategies, the CPU complex is interconnected with the other logical components of the storage-shelf router. The external flash memory 1514 stores configuration parameters and firmware routines. Note that the storage-shelf router is interconnected to external components via the two FC ports 1502 and 1504, the 16 SATA ports 1512-1518, 16 serial management links 1520, an I2C BUS 1522, and a link to a console 1524.
Storage-Shelf Interfaces
As discussed above, storage-shelf-router-based storage-shelf implementations provide greater flexibility, in many ways, than do current, FC-node-per-disk-drive implementations. The storage-shelf router can provide any of many different logical interfaces to the disk-array controller to which it is connected. FIGS. 16A-G illustrate a number of different logical interfaces provided by a high-availability storage shelf incorporating one or more storage-shelf routers that, in part, represent one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16A shows the interface provided by current FC-compatible disk drive implementations of storage shelves, as described above with reference to FIGS. 8A-D. FIG. 16A uses an abstract illustration convention used throughout FIGS. 16A-H. In FIG. 16A, each disk drive 1602-1605 is logically represented as a series of data blocks numbered 0 through 19. Of course, an actual disk drive contains hundreds of thousands to millions of logical blocks, but the 20 logical blocks shown for each disk in FIG. 16A are sufficient to illustrate various different types of interfaces. In FIG. 16A, each separate disk drive 1602-1605 is a discrete node on an FC arbitrated loop, and therefore each disk drive is associated with a separate FC node address, represented in FIG. 16A as “AL_PA1,” “AL_PA2,” “AL_PA3,” and “AL_PA4,” respectively. Note, however, that unlike in current, FC-arbitrated-loop disk-array implementations, such as those discussed with reference to FIGS. 8A-D, there is no cumulative node delay associated with the nodes, because each node is interconnected with the complementary SATA port of the storage-shelf router via a point-to-point connection, as shown in FIG. 9. Thus, a disk-array controller may access a particular logical block within a particular disk drive via an FC address associated with the disk drives. A given disk drive may, in certain cases, provide a logical unit (“LUN”) interface in which the logical-block-address space is partitioned into separate logical-block-address spaces, each associated with a different LUN. However, for the purposes of the current discussion, that level of complexity need not be addressed.
FIG. 16B shows a first possible interface for a storage shelf including the four disk drives shown in FIG. 16A interconnected to the FC arbitrated loop via a storage-shelf router. In this first interface, each disk drive remains associated with a separate FC node address. Each disk drive is considered to be a single logical unit containing a single logical-block-address space. This interface is referred to, below, as “transparent mode” operation of a storage shelf containing one or more storage-shelf routers that represent, in part, one embodiment of the present invention.
A second possible interface provided by a storage shelf is shown in FIG. 16C. In this case, all four disk drives are associated with a single FC-arbitrated-loop-node address “AL_PA1.” Each disk drive is considered to be a different logical unit, with disk drive 1602 considered logical unit zero, disk drive 1603 considered logical unit one, disk drive 1604 considered logical unit two, and disk drive 1605 considered logical unit three. Thus, a disk-array controller can access a logical block within any of the four disk drives in the storage shelf via a single FC-node address, a logical unit number, and a logical block address within the logical unit.
An alternative interface to the four disk drives within the hypothetical storage shelf is shown in FIG. 16D. In this case, all four disk drives are considered to be included within a single logical unit. Each logical block within the four disk drives is assigned a unique logical block address. Thus, logical blocks 0-19 in disk drive 1602 continue to be associated with logical block addresses 0-19, while logical blocks 0-19 in disk drive 1603 are now associated with logical block address 20-39. This interface is referred to, below, as a pure logical-block-address interface, as opposed to the pure LUN-based interface shown in FIG. 16C.
FIG. 16E shows yet another possible logical interface provided by a hypothetical storage shelf containing four disk drives. In this case, the first set of two disk drives 1602 and 1603 is associated with a first FC node address “AL_PA1,” and the two disk drives 1602 and 1603 are associated with two different LUN numbers, LUN 0 and LUN 1, respectively. Similarly, the second pair of disk drives 1604 and 1605 are together associated with a second FC node address “AL_PA2,” and each of the second pair of disk drives is associated with a different LUN number.
FIG. 16F shows yet another possible interface. In this case, the first two disk drives 1602 and 1603 are associated with a first FC node address, and the second two disk drives 1604 and 1605 are associated with a second FC node address. However, in this case, the two disk drives in each group are considered to both belong to a single logical unit, and the logical blocks within the two disk drives are associated with logical block addresses that constitute a single logical-block-address space.
A final interface is shown in FIG. 16G. In this case, as in the previous two interfaces, and each pair of disk drives associated with a single FC node address are considered to constitute a single LUN with a single logical-block-address space. However, at this interface, the logical block addresses alternate between the two disk drives. For example, in the case of the pair of disk drives 1602 and 1603, logical block address 0 is associated with the first logical block 1610 and the first disk drive 1602, and logical block address 1 is associated with the first block 1612 in the second disk drive 1603.
FIGS. 16A-G are meant simply to illustrate certain of the many possible interfaces provided to a disk-array controller by storage-shelf routers that represent, in part, one embodiment of the present invention. Almost any mapping of LUNs and logical block addresses to disk drives and physical blocks within disk drives that can be algorithmically described can be implemented by the storage-shelf routers within a storage shelf. In general, these many different types of logical interfaces may be partitioned into the following four general types of interfaces: (1) transparent mode, in which each disk drive is associated with a separate and locally unique FC node address; (2) pure LUN mode, in which each disk drive is associated with a different LUN number, and all disk drives are accessed through a single FC node address; (3) pure logical-block-addressing mode, in which all disk drives are associated with a single FC node address and with a single logical unit number; and (4) mixed LUN and logical-block-addressing modes that employ various different combinations of LUN and logical-block-address-space partitionings.
Storage-Shelf Router Implementation
FIG. 17A is a high-level overview of the command-and-data flow within the storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention. The storage-shelf router exchanges serial streams of data and commands with other storage-shelf routers and with a disk-array controller via one or more FC arbitrated loops or other FC fabrics 1702-1703. The serial streams of data enter FC port layer 1704, where they are processed at lower-level FC protocol levels. FC frames extracted from the data streams are input into first-in-first-out buffers (“FIFOs”) 1706-1707. As the initial portions of FC frames become available, they are processed by the routing layer 1708 and FCP-layer 1710, even as latter portions of the FC frames are input into the FIFOs. Thus, the FC frames are processed with great time and computing efficiency, without needing to be fully assembled in buffers and copied from internal memory buffer to internal memory buffer.
The routing layer 1708 is responsible for determining, from FC frame headers, whether the FC frames are directed to the storage router, or to remote storage routers or other entities interconnected with the storage router by the FC arbitrated loops or other FC fabrics. Those frames directed to remote entities are directed by the routing layer to output FIFOs 1712-1713 within the FC-port layer for transmission via the FC arbitrated loops or other FC fabrics to the remote entities. Frames directed to the storage router are directed by the routing layer to the FCP-layer, where state machines control their disposition within the storage-shelf router.
FCP-DATA frames associated with currently active FC exchanges, for which contexts have been established by the storage-shelf router, are processed in a highly stream-lined and efficient manner. The data from these frames is directed by the FCP-layer to virtual queues 1714-1716 within the GSMS 1718, from which the data is transferred to an input buffer 1720 within the SATA-port layer 1722. From the SATA-port layer, the data is transmitted in ATA packets via one of many SATA links 1724 to one of the number of SATA disk drives 1726 interconnected with the storage-shelf router.
FCP-CMND frames are processed by the FCP-layer in a different fashion. These frames are transferred by the FCP-layer to a memory 1728 shared between the FCP-layer and the CPUs within the storage-shelf router. The CPUs access the frames in order to process the commands contained within them. For example, when an incoming WRITE command is received, a storage-shelf-router CPU, under control of firmware routines, needs to determine to which SATA drive the command is directed and establish a context, stored in shared memory, for the WRITE operation. The CPU needs to prepare the SATA drive to receive the data, and direct transmission of an FCP-XFER-RDY frame back to the initiator, generally the disk-array controller. The context prepared by the CPU and stored in shared memory allows the FCP-layer to process subsequent incoming FCP-DATA messages without CPU intervention, streamlining execution of the WRITE operation.
The various logical layers within the storage-shelf router function generally symmetrically in the reverse direction. Responses to ATA commands are received by the SATA-port layer 1722 from SATA disk drives via the SATA links. The SATA-port layer then generates the appropriate signals and messages, to enable a CPU, under firmware control, or the FCP-layer to carry out the appropriate actions and responses. When data is transferred from an SATA disk to a remote entity, in response to a READ command, a CPU generates an appropriate queue entry that is stored in shared memory for processing by the FCP-layer. State machines within the FCP layer obtain, from shared memory, an FC frame header template, arrange for data transfer from an output buffer 1730 in the SATA port layer, via a virtual queue 1732-1733, prepare an FC frame header, and coordinate transfer of the FC frame header and data received from the SATA port layer to output FIFOs 1712 and 1713 of the FC-port layer for transmission to the requesting remote entity, generally a disk-array controller.
FIG. 17A is intended to provide a simplified overview of data and control flow within the storage-shelf router. It is not intended to accurately portray the internal components of the storage-shelf router, but rather to show the interrelationships between logical layers with respect to receiving and processing FCP-CMND and FCP-DATA frames. For example, a number of virtual queues are shown in FIG. 17A within the GSMS layer. However, virtual queues are generally not static entities, but are dynamically allocated as needed, depending on the current state of the storage-shelf router. FIG. 17A shows only a single SATA serial connection 1724 and SATA disk drive 1726, but, as discussed above, each storage router may be connected to 16 different SATA disk drives, in one embodiment.
FIGS. 17B-F provide greater detail about the flow of data and control information through the storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention. In describing FIGS. 17B-F, specific reference to both components of various pairs of identical components is not made, in the interest of brevity. The figures are intended to show how data and control information moves through various components of the storage-shelf router, rather than as a complete illustrated list of components. Moreover, the numbers of various components may vary, depending on various different implementations of the storage-shelf router. FIG. 17B shows the initial flow of FCP-DATA frames within the storage-shelf router. The FCP-DATA frame is first received by an FC port 1736 and written to an input FIFO 1737, from which it may be begun to be processed by the router logic 1738 as soon as sufficient header information is available in the input FIFO, even while the remainder of the FCP-DATA frame is still be written to the input FIFO. The FC port signals arrival of a new frame to the router logic to enable the router logic to begin processing the frame. The router logic 1738 employs routing tables 1739 to determine whether or not the frame is directed to the storage-shelf router, or whether the frame is directed to remote entity. If the FCP-DATA frame is directed to a remote entity, the frame is directed by the router logic to an FC port for transmission to the remote entity. The router also interfaces with context logic 1740 to determine whether or not a context has been created and stored in shared memory by a CPU for the FC exchange to which the FCP-DATA frame belongs. If a context for the frame can be found, then the router logic directs the frame to the FCP Inbound Sequence Manager (“FISM”) state machine 1741. If a context is not found, the frame is directed to shared memory, from which it is subsequently extracted and processed as an erroneously received frame by a CPU under firmware control.
The DISM 1741 requests a GSMS channel from an FCP data mover logic module (“FDM”) 1742, which, in turn, accesses a virtual queue (“VQ”) 1743 within the GSMS 1744, receiving parameters characterizing the VQ from the context logic via the FISM. The FDM then writes the data contained within the frame to the VQ, from which it is pulled by the SATA port that shares access to the VQ with the FDM for transmission to an SATA disk drive. Once the data is written to the VQ, the FDM signals the context manager that the data has been transferred, and the context manager, in turn, requests that a completion queue manager (“CQM”) 1745 queues a completion message (“CMSG”) to a completion queue 1746 within a shared memory 1747. The CQM, in turn, requests that a CPU data mover (“CPUDM”) 1748 write the CMSG into shared memory.
FIG. 17C shows flow of FC-CMND frames, and frames associated with errors, within the storage shelf router. As discussed above, frames are received by an FC port 1736 and directed by router logic 1738, with reference to routing tables 1739, to various target components within the storage-shelf router. FCP-CMND frames and FC frames received in error are routed to shared memory 1747 for extraction and processing by a CPU. The routing logic 1738 issues a request for a frame buffer queue manager (“FBQM”) 1746 to write the frame to shared memory 1747. The FBQM receives a buffer pointer, stored in shared memory 1750, from the CPUDM 1748, and writes the frame to a frame buffer 1749 within shared memory 1747. Finally, the router requests the CQM 1745 to write a CMSG to the CQ 1746. A CPU eventually processes the CMSG, using information contained within the CMSG to access the frame stored in a frame buffer 1749.
FIG. 17D shows the flow of FC frames from one FC port to another. In the case that the router logic 1736 determines that a frame received via an input FIFO 1737 within a first FC port 1736 is not directed to the storage router, but is instead directed to a remote entity, the router logic writes the frame to an output FIFO 1751 within a second FC port 1752 to transmit the frame to the remote entity.
FIG. 17E shows flow of data and control information from a CPU within the storage-shelf router to an FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric. A CPU, under firmware control, stores an entry within a shared-memory queue SRQ within shared memory 1747 and updates an SRQ producer index associated with the SRQ to indicate the presence of an SRQ entry (“SRE”) describing a frame that the CPU has created for transmission to an FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric. An SRQ manager module (“SRQM”) 1755 detects the update of the SRQ producer index, and fetches a next SRE from shared memory 1747 via the CPUDM 1748. The SRQM passes the fetched SRE to an SRQ arbitration module (“SRQ_ARB”) 1756, which implements an arbitration scheme, such as a round-robin scheme, to ensure processing of SREs generated by multiple CPUs and stored in multiple SRQs. The SRQ_ARB selects an SRQM from which to receive a next SRE, and passes the SRE to a FCP outbound sequence manager (“FOSM”) state machine 1757. The FOSM processes the SRE to fetch an FC header template and frame payload from shared memory 1747 via the CPUDM 1748. The FOSM constructs an FC frame using the FC header template and a frame payload via the CPUDM from shared memory and writes it to an output FIFO 1758 in an FC port 1736, from which it is transmitted to an FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric. When the frame has been transferred to the FC port, the FOSM directs the CQM 1745 to write a CMSG to shared memory.
FIG. 17F shows the flow of data and control information from the GSMS and shared memory to an FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric. Many of the steps in this process are similar to those described with reference to FIG. 17E, and will not be again described, in the interest of brevity. In general, the control portion of an FCP-DATA frame, stored within the FC-frame header, is generated in similar fashion to generation of any other type of frame, described with reference to FIG. 17E. However, in the case of an FCP-DATA frame, the process needs to be staged in order to combine the control information with data obtained through the GSMS from an SATA port. When the FOSM 1757 receives the SRE describing the FCP-DATA frame, the FOSM must construct the FCP-DATA-frame header, and request the data that is incorporated into the frame via a GSMS channel through the FDM 1742, which, in turn, obtains the data via a VQ 1759 within the GSMS 1744. Once the data and control information are combined by the FOSM into an FCP-DATA frame, the frame is then passed to an FC port, and a CMSG message queued to the CQ, as described previously.
FIG. 18 shows a more detailed block-diagrammed view of the logical components of a storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention. The logical components include two FC ports 1802 and 1804, the routing layer 1806, the FCP layer 1808, the GSMS 1810, the SATA-port layer 1812, and the CPU complex, including two CPUs 1814 and 1816, described above, with respect to FIGS. 16 and 17. The communications paths and links shown in FIG. 18 with bold arrows, such as bold arrow 1818, represent the performance-critical communications pathways within the storage-shelf router. The performance-critical pathways are those pathways concerned with receiving and outputting FC frames, processing received frames in order to generate appropriate ATA commands for transmission by SATA ports to SATA disk drives, funneling data from received FCP-DATA frames through the GSMS to SATA ports, generation of FC frames for transmission through FC ports to an FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric, and incorporating data obtained from SATA ports through the GSMS into outgoing FCP-DATA frames. Non-performance-critical pathways include various programmed I/O interfaces that interconnect the CPUs 1814 and 1816 directly with the various logical components of the storage-shelf router. For example, there are PIO interfaces between a central arbitration switch 1820 and the GSMS, SL-port layer, and an internal BUS bridge 1822 in turn interconnected with 17 UART ports 1824, an I2C BUS interface 1826, a general PIO interface (“GPIO”) 1828, a timer component 1830, and several interrupt controllers 1832. These PIO interfaces are shown in FIG. 18 as non-bolded, double-headed arrows 1834-1836. In addition, there is a PIO interface 1838 between the CPUs 1814 and 1816 and a flash-memory controller 1840 that, in turn, interfaces to an external flash memory 1842. The external flash memory is used to store specialized configuration management information and firmware images. The CPUs are connected through another PIO interface 1844 to an internal SRAM controller 1846 that, in turn interfaces an SRAM memory 1848 that stores non-performance path code and data, including firmware routines for directing fail-over within and between storage-shelf routers. The CPUs 1814 and 1816 are interconnected with the FCP layer 1808 and the SATA-port layer 1812 via shared memory queues contained in two data-tightly-coupled memories 1850 and 1852, also used for processor data space. Each CPU is also interconnected with a separate memory that stores firmware instructions 1854 and 1856. Finally, both CPUs are connected via a single PIO channel 1858 to both FC ports 1802 and 1804, the routing layer 1806, and the FCP layer 1808.
FIG. 19 shows a more detailed diagram of the FC-port layer. The FC-port layer comprises two FC ports 1902 and 1904, each of which includes an input FIFO 1906 and 1908 and two output FIFOs 1910-1911 and 1912-1913. The FC ports include physical and link layer logic 1914-1917 that together transform incoming serial data from an FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric into FC frames passed to the input FIFOs and that transform outgoing FC frames written to output FIFOs into serial data transmitted to the FC arbitrated loop.
FIG. 20 is a more detailed block-diagram representation of the routing layer. As shown in FIG. 20, the routing layer 2002 includes separate routing logic 2004 and 2006 for handling each of the FC ports. The routing layer also includes routing tables 2008 stored in memory to facilitate the routing decisions needed to route incoming FC frames to appropriate queues. Note that FC data frames can be relatively directly routed by the routers to the GSMS layer 2015 under control of the FISMs 2010 and 2012 via the FDM 2011, as described above. Frames requiring firmware processing are routed by the routing layer to input queues under control of the FBQMs 2014 and 2016 via the CPUDMs 2017 and 2018.
FIG. 21 is a more detailed block-diagram representation of the FCP layer. Many of these internal components shown in FIG. 21 have been described previously, or are described in more detail in subsequent sections. Note that there are, in general, duplicate sets of components arranged to handle, on one hand, the two FC ports 1902 and 1904, and, on the other hand, the two CPUs 2102 and 2104. Information needed to generate outgoing frames is generated by the CPUs, under firmware control, and stored in shared memories 2106 and 2108, each associated primarily with a single CPU. The stored information within each memory is then processed by separate sets of SRQMs 2110 and 2112, FOSMs 2114 and 2116, SRQ_ARBS 2118 and 2120, CPUDMs 2122 and 2124, and other components in order to generate FC frames that are passed to the two FC ports 1902 and 1904 for transmission. Incoming frames at each FC port are processed by separate router modules 2004 and 2006, FISMs 2010 and 2012, and other components.
FIG. 22 shows a more detailed block-diagram representation of the SATA-port layer. The primary purpose of the SATA-port layer is for virtual queue management, a task shared between the SATA-port layer, the GSMS, and the FCP layer, and for exchange of data with the FCP layer through the GSMS and individual SATA ports.
FIG. 23 is a more detailed, block-diagram representation of an SATA port. The SATA port includes a physical layer 2302, a link layer 2304, and a transport layer 2306 that together implement an SATA interface. The transport layer includes an input buffer 2308 and an output buffer 2310 that store portions of data transfers and ATA message information arriving from an interconnected SATA disk, and that store portions of data transfers from the GSMS layer and ATA commands passed from interfaces to CPUs and shared memory, respectively. Additional details regarding the SATA port are discussed in other sections.
Storage-Shelf-Router Routing Layer
FIG. 24 shows an abstract representation of the routing topology within a four-storage-shelf-router-high-availability storage shelf. This abstract representation is a useful model and template for discussions that follow. As shown on FIG. 24, each storage-shelf router 2402-2405 is connected via primary links to n disk drives, such as disk drive 2406. As discussed above, each storage-shelf router is connected via secondary links to a neighboring set of n disk drives, although the secondary links are not shown in FIG. 24 for the sake of simplicity. One storage-shelf router 2402 serves as the end point or FC-node connection point for the entire set of storage-shelf routers with respect to a first FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric, referred to as Fabric X 2408. A different storage-shelf router 2405 serves as the end point, or FC node connection to a second FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric 2410 referred to as Fabric Y. Each storage-shelf router includes two FC ports, an X port and a Y port, as, for example, X port 2412 and Y port 2414 in storage-shelf router 2402. The four storage-shelf routers are interconnected with internal point-to-point FC links 2416, 2418, and 2420. For any particular storage-shelf router, as for example, storage-shelf router 2404, FC frames incoming from Fabric X are received on the X port 2422 and FC frames output by storage-shelf router 2404 to Fabric X are output via the X port 2422. Similarly, incoming FC frames and outgoing FC frames are received from, and directed to, the Y Fabric, respectively, are input and output over the FC port 2424. It should be noted that the assignments of particular FC ports to the X and Y fabrics are configurable, and, although in following illustrative examples and discussions referencing the example FC port 0 is assumed to be the X fabric port and FC port 1 is assumed to be the Y port, an opposite assignment may be configured.
S-fabric management frames, identified as such by a two-bit reserved subfield within the DF_CTL field of an FC-frame header that is used within the S fabric and that is referred to as the “S-bits,” are directed between storage-shelf routers via either X ports or Y ports and the point-to-point, internal FC links. Each storage-shelf router is assigned a router number that is unique within the storage shelf, and that, in management frames, forms part of the FC-frame-header D_ID field. The storage-shelf routers are numbered in strictly increasing order, with respect to one of the X and Y fabrics, and strictly decreasing order with respect to the other of the X and Y fabrics. For example, in FIG. 24, storage-shelf routers 2402, 2403, 2404, and 2405 may be assigned router numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, and thus may be strictly increasing, or ascending, with respect to the X fabric and strictly decreasing, or descending, with respect to the Y fabric. This ordering is assumed in the detailed flow-control diagrams, discussed below.
FIG. 25 shows an abstract representation of the X and Y FC arbitrated loop interconnections within a two-storage-shelf-router, two-storage-shelf implementation of a disk array. In FIG. 25, the disk-array controller 2502 is linked by FC arbitrated loop X 2504 to each storage shelf 2506 and 2508, and is linked by FC arbitrated loop Y 2510 to both storage shelves 2506 and 2508. In FIG. 25, storage-shelf router 2512 serves as the X-fabric endpoint for storage shelf 2506, and storage-shelf router 2514 serves as the X-fabric endpoint for storage shelf 2508. Similarly, storage-shelf router 2516 serves as the Y-fabric endpoint for storage shelf 2506 and storage-shelf router 2518 serves as the Y-fabric endpoint for storage shelf 2508. Each individual disk drive, such as disk drive 2518, is accessible to the disk-array controller 2502 via both the X and the Y arbitrated loops. In both storage shelves, the storage-shelf routers are internally interconnected via a single point-to-point FC link 2520 and 2522, and the interconnection may carry, in addition to X and Y fabric frames, internally generated and internally consumed management frames, or S-fabric frames. The internal point-to-point FC link within storage shelf 2506 is referred to as the S1 fabric, and the internal point-to-point FC link within storage-shelf router 2508 is referred as the S2 fabric. In essence, the internal point-to-point FC links carry FC frames for the X fabric, Y fabric, and internal management frames, but once X-fabric and Y-fabric frames enter the storage-shelf router through an endpoint storage-shelf router, they are considered S-fabric frames until they are consumed or exported back to the X fabric or Y fabric via an FC port of an endpoint storage-shelf router.
FIGS. 26A-E illustrate the data fields within an FC-frame header that are used for routing FC frames to particular storage-shelf routers or to remote entities via particular FC ports within the storage shelf that represents one embodiment of the present invention. The FC-frame header is discussed, above, with reference to FIG. 3. Of course, the FC header is designed for directing frames to FC nodes, rather than to disk drives interconnected with storage-shelf routers which together interface to an FC arbitrated loop or other FC fabric through a single FC node. Therefore, a mapping of FC-frame-header fields onto the storage-shelf router and SATA disk drive configuration within a storage shelf is needed for proper direction of FC frames. The three-byte D_ID field 2602 in an FC-frame header 2604 represents the node address of an FC node. In the case of FC arbitrated loops, the highest-order two bytes of the D_ID generally have the value “0,” for non-public loops, and the lowest-order byte contains an arbitrated-loop physical address (“AL_PA”) specifying one of 127 nodes. Generally, one node address is used for the disk-array controller, and another node address is reserved for a fabric arbitrated-loop address. The three-byte S_ID field contains the node address of the node at which a frame was originated. In general, the S_ID field is the node address for the disk-array controller, although a storage-shelf may be interconnected directly to an FC fabric, in which case the S_ID may be a full 24-bit FC fabric address of any of a large number of remote entities that may access the storage-shelf.
As shown in FIG. 26A, two reserved bits 2602 within the DF_CTL field 2604 of the FC frame header 2606 are employed as a sort of direction indication, or compass 2608, for frames stored and transmitted within a storage shelf or, in other words, within the S fabric. Table 4, below, shows the encoding of this directional indicator:
TABLE 4 DF_CTL 19:18 Address Space
00 Reserved 01 X 10 Y 11 S
Bit pattern “01” indicates that the frame entered the S-fabric as an X-fabric frame, bit pattern “10” indicates that the frame entered the S-fabric as a Y-fabric frame, and bit pattern “11” indicates that the frame is an S-fabric management frame. This directional indicator, or internal compass, represented by bits 18:19 of the DF_CTL field is needed because both S-fabric and external-fabric frames may be received by the storage-shelf router through a single FC port. As noted above, bits 18:19 of the DF_CTL field are collectively referred to as the “S-bits.” The S-bits are set upon receipt of an X-fabric or a Y-fabric frame by an endpoint storage-shelf router, and are cleared prior to export of an FC frame from an endpoint storage-shelf router back to the X fabric or the Y fabric.
FIG. 26B illustrates FC-frame-header fields involved with the routing of an FCP-CMND frame. The D_ID field 2610 directs the FC frame to a particular FC node, but, as discussed above, a storage shelf, when operating in transparent mode, may contain a number of FC nodes, and when not operating in transparent mode, may contain a large number of data-storage devices to which FC frames all containing a single D_ID need to be dispersed. The routing logic of the storage-shelf router is essentially devoted to handling the various mappings between D_IDs, storage-shelves, storage-shelf routers, and, ultimately, disk drives. The routing logic cannot determine from the value of D_ID field, alone, whether or not the FC frame is directed to the storage-shelf router. In order to determine whether the D_ID directs an incoming FC-CMND frame to the storage-shelf router, the routing logic needs to consult an internal routing table 2612 and several registers, discussed below, to determine whether the D_ID represents the address of a disk drive managed by the storage-shelf router. Thus, as shown in FIG. 26B, the D_ID field, as interpreted with respect to the internal routing table 2612, specifies a particular storage-shelf router within a storage shelf 2616 and a particular disk interconnected to the storage-shelf router. In addition, the routing logic consults addition internal tables 2614, discussed below, to determine whether the source of the FC frame, specified by the S_ID field 2611, is a remote entity currently logged in with the storage-shelf router, and whether the remote entity is identified as interconnected with the addressed disk drive. Thus, the S_ID field, as interpreted with respect to various internal tables 2614, act as an authorization switch 2620 that determines whether or not the command represented by the FC-CMND frame should be carried out.
FIG. 26C illustrates FC-frame-header fields involved with the routing of an FCP-DATA frame. The D_ID and S_ID fields 2610 and 2611 and internal tables 2612 and 2614 are used, as with routing of FCP-CMND frames, to specify a particular storage-shelf router within a storage shelf 2616 and a particular disk interconnected to the storage-shelf router, and to authorize 2620 transfer of the data to a disk. However, because FCP_DATA frames may be part of multi-FCP_DATA-frame WRITE sequence, additional fields of the FC-frame header 2606 are employed to direct the FCP_DATA frame within the storage-shelf router, once the routing logic has determined that the FC_DATA frame is directed to a disk local to the storage-shelf router. As shown in FIG. 26C, the RX_ID field 2622 contains a value originally generated by the storage-shelf router, during processing of the FCP_CMND frame that specified the WRITE command associated with the FCP_DATA frame, that specifies a context 2624 for the WRITE command, in turn specifying a virtual queue 2626 by which the data can be transferred from the FCP layer to the SATA-port layer via the GSMS. In addition, the parameter field 2628 of the FC-frame header 2606 contains a relative offset for the data, indicating the position 2630 of the data contained in the FCP_DATA frame within the total sequential length of data 2632 transferred by the WRITE command. The context 2624 stores an expected relative offset for the next FCP_DATA frame, which can be used to check the FCP_DATA frame for proper sequencing. If the stored, expected relative offset does match the values of the parameter field, then the FCP_DATA frame has been received out-of-order, and error handling needs to be invoked.
FIG. 26D illustrates FC-frame-header fields involved with the routing of an internally generated management frame. In the case of a management frame, the lowest-order byte of the D_ID field 2610 contains a router number specifying a particular storage-shelf router within a storage shelf. The router number contained in the D_ID field is compared with a local-router number contained in a register 2634, to be discussed below, to determine whether the management frame is directed to the storage-shelf router, for example storage-shelf router 2636, or whether the management frame is directed to another storage-shelf router within the storage shelf, accessible through the X-fabric-associated FC port 2638 or the Y-fabric-associated FC port 2640.
Finally, FIG. 26E illustrates FC-frame-header fields involved with the routing of an received FCP_TRANSFER_RDY and FCP_RESPONSE frames. IN the case of FCP_TRANSFER_RDY and FCP_RESPONSE frames, the routing logic immediately recognizes the frame as directed to a remote entity, typically a disk-array controller, by another storage-shelf router. Thus, the routing logic needs only to inspect the R_CTL field 2642 of the FC-frame header to determine that the frame must be transmitted back to the X fabric or the Y fabric.
FIG. 27 illustrates the seven main routing tables maintained within the storage-shelf router to facilitate routing of FC frames by the routing logic. These tables include the internal routing table (“IRT”) 2702, X-fabric and Y-fabric external routing tables (“ERT_X”) and (“ERT_Y”) 2704 and 2706, respectively, X-fabric and Y-fabric initiator/target tables (“ITT_X”) and (“ITT_Y”) 2708 and 2710, and X-fabric and Y-fabric login pair tables (“LPT_X”) and (“LPT_Y”) 2712 and 2714, respectively. Each of these seven routing tables is associated with an index and a data register, such as index and data registers (“IRT_INDEX”) and (“IRT_DATA”) 2716 and 2718. The contents of the tables can be accessed by a CPU by writing a value indicating a particular field in the table into the index register, and reading the contents of the field from, or writing new contents for the field into, the data register. In addition, there are three registers SFAR 2720, XFAR 2722, and YFAR 2724 that are used to store the router number and the high two bytes of the D_ID corresponding to the storage-shelf router address with respect to the X, and Y fabrics, respectively. This allows for more compact IRT, ERT_X and ERT_Y tables, which need only to store the low-order byte of the D_IDs.
The IRT table 2702 includes a row for each disk drive connected to the storage-shelf router or, in other words, for each local disk drive. The row includes the AL_PA assigned to the disk drive, contained in the low-order byte of the D_ID field of a frame directed to the disk drive, the LUN number for the disk drive, the range of logical block addresses contained within the disk drive, a CPU field indicating which of the two CPUs manages I/O directed the disk drive, and a valid bit indicating whether or not the row represents a valid entry in the table. The valid bit is convenient when less than the maximum possible number of disk drives is connected to the storage-shelf router.
The ERT_X and ERT_Y tables 2704 and 2706 contain the lower byte of valid D_IDs that address disk drives not local to the storage-shelf router, but local to the storage shelf. These tables can be used to short-circuit needless internal FC frame forwarding, as discussed below.
The X-fabric and Y-fabric ITT tables 2708 and 2710 include the full S_ID corresponding to remote FC originators currently logged in with the storage-shelf router and able to initiate FC exchanges with the storage-shelf router, and with disk drives interconnected to the storage-shelf router. The login-pair tables 2712 and 2714 are essentially sparse matrices with bit values turned on in cells corresponding to remote-originator and local-disk-drive pairs that are currently logged in for FCP exchanges. The login tables 2712 and 2714 thus provide indications of valid logins representing an ongoing interconnection between a remote entity, such as a disk-array controller, and a local disk drive interconnected to the storage-shelf router.
Next, the routing logic that constitutes the routing layer of a storage-shelf router is described with reference to a series of detailed flow-control diagrams. FIG. 28 provides a simplified routing topology and routing-destination nomenclature used in the flow-control diagrams. FIGS. 29-35 are a hierarchical series of flow-control diagrams describing the routing layer logic.
As shown on FIG. 28, the routing layer 2802 is concerned with forwarding incoming FC frames from the FC ports 2804 and 2806 either directly back to an FC port, to the FCP layer 2810 for processing by FCP logic and firmware executing on a CPU, or relatively directly to the GSMS layer, in the case of data frames for which contexts have been established. The routing layer receives incoming FC frames from input FIFOs 2812 and 2814 within the FC ports, designated “From_FP0” “From_FP1,” respectively. The routing layer may direct an FC frame back to an FC port by writing the FC frame to one of the output FIFOs 2816 and 2818, designated “To_FP0” and “To_FP1,” respectively. The routing layer may forward an FCP_DATA frame relatively directly to the GSMS layer via a virtual queue, a process referred to as “To_GSMS,” and may forward an FC frame to the FCP layer 2810 for processing, referred to as “To_FCP.” The designations “From_FP0,” “From_FP1,” “To_FP0,” “To_FP1,” “To_GSMS,” and “To_FCP are employed in the flow-control diagrams as shorthand notation for the processes of reading from, and writing to FIFOs, data transfer through the GSMS virtual queue mechanism, and state-machine-mediated transfer through a shared-memory interface to CPUs.
FIG. 29 is the first, and highest level, flow-control diagram representing the routing layer logic. The routing layer logic is described as set of decisions made in order to direct an incoming FC frame to its appropriate destination. In a functioning storage router, the routing logic described with respect to FIGS. 29-35 is invoked as incoming FC frame is processed. The routing logic resides within state machines and logic circuits of a storage-shelf router. The storage-shelf router is designed to avoid, as much as possible, store-and-forward, data-copying types of internal data transfer, instead streamlined so that frames can be routed, using information in the frame headers, even as they are being input into the FIFOs of the FC ports. In other words, the routing logic may be invoked as soon as the frame header is available for reading from the FIFO, and the frame may be routed, and initial data contained in the frame forwarded to its destination, in parallel with reception of the remaining data by the FC port. The storage-shelf router includes arbitration logic to ensure fair handling of the two different input FIFOs of the two FC ports, so that FC frames incoming from both the X fabric and Y fabric are handled in timely fashion, and neither the X fabric nor the Y fabric experiences unnecessary FC-frame handling delays, or starvation. The routing logic is invoked by signals generated by FC ports indicating the availability of a newly arrived frame in a FIFO.
In step 2902, the routing layer logic (“RLL”) reads the next incoming FC frame from one of the input FIFOs of the FC ports, designated “From_FP0” and “From_FP1,” respectively. In step 2904, the routing layer logic determines whether or not the FC frame is a class-3 FC frame. Only class-3 FC frames are supported by the described embodiment of the storage-shelf router. If the FC frame is not a class-3 FC frame, then the FC frame is directed to the FCP layer, To_FCP, for error processing, in step 2906. Note that, in this and subsequent flow-control diagrams, a lower-case “e” associated with a flow arrow indicates that the flow represented by the flow arrow occurs in order to handle an error condition. If the FC frame is a class-3 FC frame, as determined in step 2904, the RLL next determines, in step 2908, whether the FC port from which the FC frame was received is an S-fabric endpoint, or, in other words, an X-fabric or Y-fabric node. A storage-shelf router can determine whether or not specific ports are endpoints with respect to the S fabric, or are, in other words, X-fabric or Y-fabric nodes from configurable settings. The FC-frame header contains the port address of the source port, as discussed above.
If the source port of the FC frame is an S-fabric endpoint, indicating that the FC frame has been received from an entity external to the local S fabric, then the RLL determines, in step 2910, whether any of the S bits are set within the DF_CTL field of FC frame header. If so, then an error has occurred, and the FC frame is directed to the FCP layer, To_FCP, for error processing in step 2906. If not, then appropriate S bits are set to indicate whether the FC frame belongs to the X fabric, or X space, or to the Y fabric, or Y space in step 2912. Note that one of the two FC ports corresponds to the X fabric, and other of the two FC ports corresponds to the Y fabric, regardless of the position of the storage-shelf router within the set of interconnected storage-shelf routers within a storage shelf. As noted above, the association between FC ports and the X and T fabrics is configurable. Next, the RLL determines, in step 2914, whether the S bits are set to indicate that the frame is an S-fabric frame. If so, then the sublogic “Management Destination” is invoked, in step 2916, to determine the destination for the frame, after which the sublogic “Route To Destination” is called, in step 2918, to actually route the FC frame to the destination determined in step 2916. If the FC frame is not an S-fabric management frame, as determined in step 2914, then, in step 2920, the RLL determines whether or not the RLL is currently operating in transparent mode, described above as a mode in which each disk drive has its own FC node address. If the storage-shelf router is operating in transparent mode, then the sublogic “Transparent Destination” is called, in step 2922, in order to determination the destination for the frame, and then the sublogic “Route To Destination” is called in step 2918 to actually route the frame to its destination. Otherwise the sublogic “Destination” is called, in step 2924, to determination the destination for the frame, after which it is routed to its destination via a call to the sublogic “Route To Destination” in step 2918.
FIG. 30 is a flow-control diagram representation of the sublogic “Management Destination,” called from step 2916 of FIG. 29. In step 3002, the RLL determines whether the storage-shelf router number stored in the D_ID in the header of the FC frame is equal to that of the storage-shelf router. This determination can be made using the router number assigned to the storage-shelf router within the storage shelf, and stored in the SFAR register. If the router number contained in the D_ID matches the router number in the SFAR register, as determined in step 3002, then a variable “destination” is set to the value “To_FCP” in step 3004, indicating that the frame should be sent to the FCP layer. If the router numbers do not match, then, in step 3006, the RLL determines whether the router number in the D_ID of the FC frame is greater than the storage-shelf router's router number. If the router number in the D_ID of the FC frame is greater than that of the storage-shelf router stored in the SFAR register, then control flows to step 3008. Otherwise control flows to step 3010. In both steps 3008 and 3010, the RRL determines if the frame has reached an S-fabric endpoint within the storage shelf. If so, then the management frame was either incorrectly addressed or mistakenly not fielded by the appropriate destination, and so, in both cases, the destination is set to “To_FCP,” in step 3004, so that the frame will be processed by the CPU as an erroneously received frame. However, in both steps 3008 and 3010, if the current storage-shelf router is not an S-fabric endpoint, then the destination is set to “To_FP0,” in step 3012, in the case that the router number in the D_ID is less than the current router's router number, and the destination is set to “To_FP1” in step 3014, if the router number in the D_ID is greater than that of the current storage-shelf router. It should be noted again that the numeric identification of storage-routers within a storage shelf is monotonically ascending, with respect the X fabric, and monotonically descending, with respect to the Y fabric.
FIG. 31 is a flow-control-diagram representation of the sublogic “Destination,” called from step 2924 in FIG. 29. This sublogic determines the destination for an FC frame when the storage-shelf router is not operating in transparent mode or, in other words, when the storage-shelf router is mapping multiple disk drives to an AL_PA. In step 3102, the RLL determines if the frame is an XFER_RDY or RSP frame. These frames need to be sent back to the disk-array controller. If so, then, in step 3102, the RLL determines whether the frame belongs to the X fabric. If the frame does belong to the X fabric then the variable “destination” is set to the value “To_FP0,” in step 3104, to direct the frame to the X FC port. If the frame is a Y-fabric frame, as determined in step 3102, then the variable “destination” is set to “To_FP1,” in step 3106, in order to direct the frame to the Y FC port. If the frame is not an XFER_RDY or RSP frame, as determined in step 3102, then, in step 3108, the RLL determines whether the frame is an FCP_CMND frame. If so, then the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP,” in step 3110, indicating that the frame is an FCP_CMND frame directed a LUN local to the storage-shelf router, and that the frame needs to be directed to the FCP layer for firmware processing in order to establish a context for the FCP command. If the frame is not an FCP_CMND frame, as determined in step 3108, then, in step 3112, the RLL determines whether or not the frame is an FCP_DATA frame. If the frame is not a data frame, then a variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP,” in step 3114, to invoke error handling by which the firmware determines what type of frame has been received and how the frame should be handled. If the frame is an FCP_DATA frame, as determined in step 3112, then, in step 3116, the RLL determines whether or not the frame was sent by a responder or by an originator. If the frame was sent by an originator, then the variable “destination” is set “To_FCP,” in step 3110, to direct the frame to FCP-layer processing. If a data frame was sent by a responder, then, in step 3118, the RLL determines whether the frame was received initially from outside the S fabric or if the S-bit-encoded fabric indication within the frame header is inconsistent with the port opposite from which the frame was received. If either condition is true, then the frame has been received in error, and the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP,” in step 3114, to direct the frame to the CPU for error processing. Otherwise, control flows to step 3102, for direction to either the X port or the Y port.
FIG. 32 is a flow-control-diagram representation of the sublogic “Transparent Destination,” called from step 2922 in FIG. 29. This sublogic determines destinations for FC frames when the storage-shelf router is operating in transparent mode, in which each disk drive has its own AL_PA. In step 3202, the RLL determines whether or not the high two bytes of the D_ID field of the header in the FC frame are equivalent to the contents of the XFAR or YFAR register corresponding to the source port in which the frame was received, and whether the low byte of the D_ID field contains an AL_PA contained in the IRT table indicating that the AL_PA has been assigned to a local disk drive. If so, then the FC frame was directed to the current storage-shelf router. Otherwise, the FC frame is directed to another storage shelf or storage-shelf router. In the case that the FC frame is directed to the current storage-shelf router, then, in step 3204, the RLL determines whether the originator of the FC frame is a remote entity identified as an external FC originator currently capable of initiating FC exchanges with disk drives interconnected with the storage-shelf router, by checking to see if the S_ID corresponds to an S_ID contained in the appropriate IIT table, and, if the S_ID is found in the appropriate ITT table, the RLL further checks the appropriate LPT table to see if the remote entity associated with the S_ID contained in FC-frame header is currently logged in with respect to the disk to which the frame is directed. If the S_ID represents a remote entity currently logged in, and capable of undertaking FC exchanges with the disk drive, interconnected with the storage-shelf router, to which the frame is directed, as determined in step 3204, then, in step 3206, the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP,” in order to direct the frame to the FCP layer for processing. If, by contrast either the S_ID is not in the appropriate IIT table, or the source and disk drive to which the FC frame is directed is not currently logged in, as indicated by the appropriate LPT table, then the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP” in step 3208 in order direct the frame to the FCP layer for error handling.
If the D_ID field does not match the contents of the appropriate FAR registers, as determined in step 3202, then, in step 3210, the RLL determines whether or not the frame is an X-fabric frame. If so, then, in step 3212, the RLL determines whether or not the frame is directed to another storage-shelf router within the storage shelf. If not, then the variable “destination” is set to “To_FP0” to return the frame to the external X fabric for forwarding to another storage shelf in step 3214. If the ERT_X table contains an entry indicating that the destination of the frame is a disk drive attached to another storage-shelf router within the storage shelf, as determined in step 3212, then, in step 3216, the RLL determines whether or not the current storage-shelf router represents the Y-fabric endpoint. If so, then the frame was not correctly processed, and cannot be sent into the Y fabric, and therefore the variable “destination” is set to the value “To_FCP,” in step 3208, so that the frame can be directed to the FCP layer for error handling. Otherwise, the variable destination is set to “To_FP1,” in step 3218, to forward the frame on to subsequent storage-shelf routers within the storage shelf via the S fabric. If the received frame is not an X-fabric frame, as determined in step 3210, then, in step 3220, the RLL determines whether or not the received frame is a Y-fabric frame. If so, then the frame is processed symmetrically and equivalently to processing for X-fabric frames, beginning in step 3222. Otherwise, the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP,” in step 3208, to direct the frame to the FCP layer for error handling.
FIG. 33 is a flow-control-diagram representation of the sublogic “Route To Destination” called from step 2918 in FIG. 29. This sublogic directs received FC frames to the destinations determined in previously invoked logic. In step 3302, the RLL determines whether the value of the variable “destination” is “To_FP0” or “To_FP1.” If so, in the same step, the RLL determines whether the destination is associated with the port opposite the port on which the FC frame was received. If so, then, in step 3304, the RLL determines whether the destination indicated by the contents of the variable “destination” is a queue associated with a port representing an S-fabric endpoint. If so, then in step 3306, any S-space bits set within the DF_CTL field of the FC-frame header are cleared prior to transmitting the frame out of the local S fabric. In step 3308, the RLL determines to which of the X fabric or Y fabric the frame belongs, and queues to frame to the appropriate output queue in steps 3310 or 3312. If the contents of the variable “destination” either do not indicate the FP0 or FP1 ports, or the destination is not opposite from the port on which the FC frame was received, as determined in step 3302, then, in step 3314, the RLL determines whether or not the contents of the variable “destination” indicate that the frame should be directed to one of the FC ports. If the frame should be directed to one of the FC ports, then the frame is directed to the FCP layer in step 3316, for error processing by the FCP layer. If the contents of the variable “destination” indicate that the frame is directed to the FCP layer, “To_FCP,” as determined by the RLL in step 3318, then the frame is directed to the FCP layer in step 3316. Otherwise, the RLL checks, in step 3320, whether the R_CTL field of the FC-frame header indicates that the frame is an FCP frame. If not, then the frame is directed to the FCP layer in step 3316, for error handling. Otherwise, in step 3322, the RLL determines whether or not the frame is an FCP_CMND frame. If so, then the sublogic “Map Destination” is called, in step 3324, after which the RLL determines whether or not the contents of the variable “destination” remain equal to “To_FCP” in step 3326. If so, then the frame is directed to the FCP layer, in step 3316. Otherwise, if the contents of the variable “destination” now indicate forwarding of the frame to one of the two FC ports and the FC port destination is the same FC port on which the frame was received, as determined in step 3328, the frame is directed to the FCP layer, in step 3316, for error handling. Otherwise, control flows to step 3304, for queuing the frame to one of the two FCP ports. If the frame is not an FCP_CMND frame, as determined in step 3322, then the sublogic “Other Routing” is called in step 3330.
FIG. 34 is a flow-control-diagram representation of the sublogic “Map Destination,” called in step 3324. The RLL first determines, in step 3402, whether LUN, LBA, or a combination of LUN and LBA mapping is currently being carried out by the storage-shelf router. If not, then the RLL determines, in step 3404, whether the storage-shelf router is currently operating in transparent mode. If so, then the value of the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP” in step 3406. If the storage-shelf router is not operating in transparent mode, as determined in step 3404, then the RLL determines, in step 3408, whether the appropriate LPT table indicates that the source of the frame is logged in for exchanging data with the destination of the frame. If so, then the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP” in step 3406. Otherwise, the destination is also set to “To_FCP” in step 3406 in order to direct the frame to the CPU for error processing. If LUN, LBA, or a combination of LUN and LBA mapping is being carried out by the storage-shelf router, then the RLL determines, in step 3410, whether the designated destination disk has an associated entry in the IRT table. If so, then control flows to step 3404. Otherwise, in step 3412, the RLL determines whether or not range checking has been disabled. If range checking is disabled, then, in step 3414, the RLL determines if the frame was received on the FP0 port. If so, then the variable “destination” is set to “To_FP1” in step 3416. Otherwise, the contents of the variable “destination” is set to “To_FP0” in step 3418. If range checking is enabled, then, in step 3420, the RLL determines whether the designated destination disk is accessible via the FP0 port. If so, then control flows to step 3418. Otherwise, in step 3422, the RLL determines whether the designated destination disk is accessible via the FC port FP1. If so, then control flows step 3416. Otherwise, the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP” in step 3406 for error handling purposes. In a final step, for frames mapped to one of the two FC ports in either steps 3416 or 3418, the RLL, in step 3424, determines whether the port to which the frame is currently directed is an S-space endpoint. If so, then the value of the variable “destination” is set to “To_FCP” in step 3406 in order to direct the frame to the FCP for error processing.
FIG. 35 is a flow-control-diagram representation of the sublogic “Other Routing,” in step 3330 of FIG. 33. In step 3502, the RLL determines whether the RX_ID field of the frame indicates that the current storage-shelf router, or a disk drive connected to it, is the FC responder for the frame. If so, then in step 3504, the RLL determines whether or not the frame is an FCP_DATA frame. If so, then in step 3506, the RLL determines whether or not there is a valid context for the frame. If so, then the frame is directed to the GSMS, “To_GSMS,” in step 3508, for transfer of the data to an SATA port, as discussed above. Otherwise, the frame is directed, in step 3510, to the FCP layer for error processing. If the RX_ID field of the FC-frame header does not indicate this storage-shelf router as the FC responder for the frame, as determined in step 3502, then, in step 3512, the RLL determines whether the storage-shelf router identified by the RX_ID field within the FC-frame header is accessible via the port opposite from the port on which the frame was received. If not, then the frame is queued to the queue “To_FCP” for error processing by the FCP layer. Otherwise in the case that the RX_ID identifies a storage-shelf router accessible from the port opposite from the port on which the frame was received, the RLL, in step 3514, determines whether that port is an S-fabric endpoint. If so, then in step 3516, the RLL removes any S-space bits set in the DF_CTL field of the FC frame header. In step 3518, the RLL determines to which of the X fabric and Y fabric the frame belongs and, in either step 3520 or 3522, queues the same to the queue appropriate for the fabric to which the frame belongs.
SCSI Command/ATA Command Translation
As discussed above, a the storage-shelf router that represents one embodiment of the present invention fields FCP_CMND frames, directed by the disk-array control to the storage-shelf router as if the FCP_CMND frames were directed to FC disk drives, and translates the SCSI commands within the FCP_CMND frames into one or more ATA commands than can transmitted to an SATA disk drive to carry out the SCSI command. Table 5, below, indicates the correspondence between SCSI commands received by the storage-shelf router and the ATA commands used to carry out the SCSI commands:
TABLE 5 ATA Command to which SCSI Command SCSI Command is Mapped
TEST UNIT READY CHECK POWER MODE REQUEST SENSE FORMAT UNIT PMA WRITE INQUIRY IDENTIFY DEVICE MODE SELECT SET FEATURES MODE SENSE IDENTIFY DEVICE START UNIT IDLE IMMEDIATE STOP UNIT SLEEP RECEIVE DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS SEND DIAGNOSTIC EXECUTE DEVICE DIAGNOSTICS READ CAPACITY IDENTIFY DEVICE READ DMA READ WRITE DMA WRITE SEEK SEEK WRITE AND VERIFY DMA WRITE/READ VERIFY SECTORS VERIFY READ VERIFY SECTORS WRITE BUFFER DOWNLOAD MIRCOCOPE WRITE SAME DMA WRITE
Virtual Disk Formatting
In various embodiments, a storage-shelf router, or a number of storage-shelf routers, within a storage shelf may provide virtual disk formatting in order to allow disk-array controllers and other external processing entities to interface to an expected disk-formatting convention for disks within the storage shelf, despite the fact that a different, unexpected disk-formatting convention is actually employed by storage-shelf disk drives. Virtual disk formatting allows the use of more economical disk drives, such as ATA disk drives, without requiring disk-array controllers to be re-implemented in order to interface with ATA and SATA-disk-formatting conventions. In addition, a storage-shelf router, or a number of storage-shelf routers together, can apply different disk-formatting conventions within the storage shelf in order to incorporate additional information within disk sectors, such as additional error-detection and error-correction information, without exposing external computing entities, such as disk-array controllers, to non-standard and unexpected disk-formatting conventions.
FIGS. 36A-B illustrate disk-formatting conventions employed by ATA disk drives and by FC disk drives. As shown in FIG. 36A, a disk drive is conceptually considered to consist of a number of tracks that are each divided into sectors. A track is a circular band on the surface of a disk platter, such as track 3602, an outer-circumferential band on an ATA disk-drive platter. Each track is divided into radial sections, called sectors, such as sector 3604, the first sector of the first track 3602. In general, disk access operations occur at the granularity of sectors. Modem disk drives may include a number of parallel-oriented platters. All like-numbered tracks on both sides of all of the parallel platters together compose a cylinder. In ATA disk drives, as illustrated in FIG. 36A, each sector of each track generally contains a data payload of 512 bytes. The sectors contain additional information, including a sector number and error-detection and error-correction information. This additional information is generally maintained and used by the disk-drive controller, and may not be externally accessible. This additional information is not relevant to the current invention. Therefore, sectors will be discussed with respect to the number of bytes of data payload included in the sectors.
FIG. 36B shows the conceptual track-and-sector layout for an FC disk drive. FC disk drives may employ 520-byte sectors, rather than the 512-byte sectors employed by ATA disk drives. Comparing the conceptual layout for an ATA or SATA disk drive, shown in FIG. 36A, to that for a FC disk drive, shown in FIG. 36B, it can be seen that, although both layouts in FIGS. 36A-B support an essentially equivalent number of data bytes, the ATA-disk drive format provides a larger number of smaller sectors within each track than the FC disk drive. In general, however, ATA disks and FC disks may not provide an essentially equal number of bytes, and FC disk may also be formatted with 512-byte sectors. It should be noted that FIGS. 36A-B illustrate disk formatting conventions at a simplified, conceptual level. In reality, disk drives may include many thousands or tens of thousands of tracks, each track containing a large number of sectors.
The storage-shelf router that, in various embodiments, is the subject of the present invention allows economical ATA disk drives to be employed within storage shelves of a fiber-channel-based disk array. However, certain currently available FC-based controllers may be implemented to interface exclusively with disk drives supporting 520-byte sectors. Although the manufacturer of an ATA or SATA-based storage shelf may elect to require currently-non-ATA-compatible disk-array controllers to be enhanced in order to interface to 512-byte-sector-containing ATA or SATA disk drives, a more feasible approach is to implement storage-shelf routers to support virtual disk formatting. Virtual disk formatting provides, to external entities such as disk-array controllers, the illusion of a storage shelf containing disk drives formatted to the FC-disk-drive, 520-byte-sector formatting convention, with the storage-shelf router or storage-shelf routers within the storage shelf handling the mapping of 520-byte-sector-based disk-access commands to the 512-byte-sector formatting employed by the ATA disk drives within the storage shelf.
FIGS. 37A-D illustrate the virtual-disk-formatting implementation for handling a 520-byte WRITE access by an external entity, such as a disk-array controller, to a storage-shelf-internal 512-byte-based disk drive. As shown in FIG. 37A, external processing entities, such as disk-array controllers, view the disk to which a WRITE access is targeted as being formatted in 520-byte-sectors (3702 in FIG. 37A), although the internal disk drive is actually formatted in 512-byte-sectors (3704 in FIG. 37A). The storage-shelf router is responsible for maintaining a mapping, represented in FIG. 37A by vertical arrows 3706-3710, between the logical 520-byte-sector-based formatting 3702 and the actual 512-byte-sector formatting 3704. FIGS. 37B-D illustrate operations carried out by the storage-shelf router in order to complete a WRITE operation specifying virtual, 520-byte sectors 257-259 3712-3714 to the 512-byte-sector-based internal disk drive 3704. Assuming a sector-numbering convention in which the first sector of a disk drive is considered to be sector 0, and all subsequent sectors have monotonically increasing sector numbers, the virtual 520-byte sector 256 3716 begins at the beginning byte of the 512-byte sector 260 3718 on the actual disk drive, since 256×520=260×512=133,120. In other words, virtual 520-byte sector 256 and actual 512-byte sector 260 both begin with byte number 133,120. Although the beginning of virtual sector 256 and actual sector 260 mapped to the same byte address, 3706, virtual sector 256 extends past the end of actual sector 260, indicated by the mapping arrow 3707 in FIG. 37A. Therefore, the beginning of virtual sector 257 is offset from the beginning of actual sector 261 by a displacement of eight bytes 3720, and the beginnings of virtual sectors 258-260 are offset from the beginnings of actual sectors 262-264 by 16-byte, 24-byte, and 32-byte offsets 3722-3724. Therefore, in order to write virtual sectors 257-259 to the disk drive, the storage-shelf router needs to write data supplied by an external processing entity for virtual sectors 257-259 to actual disk sectors 261-264 (3726-3729).
FIG. 37B illustrates a first phase of the WRITE-operation processing carried out by the storage-shelf router in a virtual-formatting environment. As shown in FIG. 37B, the storage-shelf router first reads actual disk sectors 261 (3726) and 264 (3729) into a memory buffer 3730. The crosshatched portions of the data in the memory buffer 3732 and 3734 correspond to data read from the disk drive that is included in virtual sectors distinct from the virtual sectors to which the WRITE access is addressed. Sectors 261 and 264 (3726 and 3729, respectively) are referred to as “boundary sectors,” since they include the virtual sector boundaries for the access operation. The storage-shelf router concurrently receives the data to be written to virtual sectors 257-259 (3712-3714 in FIG. 37A, respectively) in a second memory buffer 3736.
FIG. 37C shows a second phase of storage-shelf router processing of a WRITE access. In FIG. 37C, the cross-hatched portions of the received data 3738 and 3740 are written to portions 3742 and 3744, respectively, of the buffered data read from the actual disk drive, shown in FIG. 37B.
FIG. 37D illustrates a final phase of the storage-shelf-router implementation of a WRITE access. In FIG. 37D, the buffered data prepared in memory buffer 3730 for actual disk sectors 261 and 264, along with the portions of the received data in the second memory buffer 3736 corresponding to actual disk sectors 262 and 263 (3746 and 3748, respectively), are all written to actual disk sectors 261-264. Note that the non-boundary disk sectors 262 and 263 can be written directly from the received-data buffer 3736.
Summarizing the storage-shelf-router implemented WRITE access in a virtual formatting environment, illustrated in FIGS. 37A-D, the storage-shelf router generally needs to first read the boundary sectors from the actual disk drive, map received data into the boundary sectors in memory, and then WRITE the boundary sectors and all non-boundary sectors to the disk drive. Therefore, in general, a 520-byte sector-based virtual write operation of n sectors is implemented by the storage-shelf router using two actual-disk-sector reads and 2+n−1 actual-disk-sector writes:
WRITE I/O (n virtual 520 sectors)→2 reads+2 writes+(n−1) writes
with a correspondingly decreased write efficiency of:
WRITE I / O Efficiency = n 4 + ( n - 1 ) × 100
assuming that the virtual sectors are relatively close in size to actual disk sectors.
FIGS. 38A-B illustrate implementation of a virtual, 520-byte-sector-based READ operation by a storage-shelf router. FIG. 38A illustrates the same mapping between virtual 520-byte-based sectors and the 512-byte-sectors of an actual disk drive as illustrated in FIG. 37A, with the exception that, in FIG. 38A, an external processing entity, such as a disk-array controller, has requested a read of virtual sectors 257-259 (3712-3714, respectively). FIG. 38B illustrates the operations carried out by the storage-shelf router in order to implement a READ access directed to virtual sectors 257-259. The storage-shelf router first determines the actual disk sectors that contain the data requested by the external processing entity, which include boundary sectors 261 and 264 (3726 and 3729, respectively) and non-boundary sectors 262 and 263 (3727 and 3728, respectively). Once the storage-shelf router has identified the actual disk sectors containing the data to be accessed, the storage-shelf router reads those sectors into a memory buffer 3802. The storage-shelf router then identifies the virtual-sector boundaries 3804-3807 within the memory buffer and returns the data corresponding to the virtual sectors within the memory buffer 3802 to the requesting external processing entity, discarding any memory-buffer data preceding the first byte of the first virtual-sector 3804 and following the final byte of the final virtual sector 3807.
The illustration of the implementation of virtual disk formatting in FIGS. 37A-D and 38A-B is a high-level, conceptual illustration. Internally, the storage-shelf router employs the various data transmission pathways, discussed in previous subsections, in order to receive data from incoming FC_DATA packets, route the data through the storage-shelf router to an SATA port for transmission to a particular SATA disk drive, receive data from the SATA disk drive at a particular SATA port, route the data back through the storage-shelf router and transmit the data and status information in FC_DATA and FC_STATUS packets transmitted back to the external processing entity. While several discrete memory buffers are shown in FIGS. 37B-D and 38D, the actual processing of data by the storage-shelf router may be accomplished with minimum data storage, using the virtual-queue mechanisms and other data-transport mechanisms described in previous subsections. The memory buffers shown in FIGS. 37B-D and 38B are intended to illustrate data processing by the storage-shelf router at a conceptual level, rather than at the previously discussed detailed level of data manipulation and transmission carried out within a storage-shelf router.
To summarize the read operation illustrated in FIGS. 38A-B, the storage-shelf router needs to read n plus 1 disk sectors in order to carry out a virtual READ of n virtual sectors, with a correspondingly decreased read efficiency, as expressed in the following equations:
READ I/O (n virtual 520 sectors)→1 reads+n reads
with a correspondingly decreased read efficiency of:
READ I / O Efficiency = n n + 1 × 100
FIG. 39 is a control-flow diagram showing the implementation, by a storage-shelf router, of a WRITE operation of a number of virtual sectors, as illustrated in FIGS. 37A-D. First, in step 3902, the storage-shelf router receives a WRITE command from an external processing entity specifying virtual sectors. Next, in step 3904, the storage-shelf router determines the actual disk sectors to be written, including the low-boundary and high-boundary sectors. Next, the storage-shelf router may undertake, in parallel, processing of the boundary sectors 3906 and processing of the non-boundary sectors 3908. Processing of the boundary sectors includes determining, in step 3910, whether there is a low-boundary sector associated with the received WRITE command. If so, then a read of the low-boundary sector is initiated in step 3912. Similarly, in step 3914, the storage-shelf router determines if there is a high-boundary sector involved in the WRITE operation, and, if so, initiates a READ operation for the high-boundary sector in step 3916. Note that, when the beginning of a virtual sector coincides with the beginning of an actual disk sector, as for virtual sector 256 and actual disk sector 260 in FIG. 37A, then no low-boundary sector is involved in the WRITE operation. Similarly, when the end of the high virtual sector coincides with the end of an actual disk sector, then there is no high-boundary sector involved in the WRITE operation.
When the READ operation of the low-boundary sector completes, as detected in step 3918, the storage-shelf router writes the initial portion of the received data associated with the WRITE command to the low-boundary sector in step 3920, and initiates a WRITE of the low-boundary sector to the disk drive, in step 3922. Similarly, when the storage-shelf router detects completion of the read of the high-boundary sector, in step 3924, the storage-shelf router writes the final portion of the received data into a memory buffer including the data read from the high-boundary sector, step 3926, and initiates a WRITE of the high boundary sector to the disk drive, in step 3928. In a one embodiment of the present invention, the disk sectors are written to disk in order from lowest sector to highest sector. For non-boundary sectors, the storage-shelf router writes each non-boundary sector, in step 3932, to the disk drive as part of the for-loop including steps 3930, 3932, and 3934. When the storage-shelf router detects an event associated with the virtual WRITE operation, the storage-shelf router, step 3936, determines whether all initiated WRITE operations have completed. If so, then the WRITE operation has successfully completed in step 3938. Otherwise, the storage-shelf router determines whether the WRITE operation of the virtual sectors has timed out, in step 3940. If so, then error condition obtains in step 3942. Otherwise, the storage-shelf router continues to wait, in step 3944, for completion of all WRITE operations.
FIG. 40 is a control-flow diagram for implementation by a storage-shelf router of a READ operation directed to one or more virtual sectors, as illustrated in FIGS. 38A-B. In step 4002, the storage-shelf router receives the read command from an external processing entity. In step 4004, the storage-shelf router determines the identities of all actual disk sectors involved in the read operation, including the boundary sectors. Next, in the for-loop composing steps 4006-4008, the storage-shelf router reads each actual disk sector involved in the read operation. When the storage-shelf router detects occurrence of an event associated with the virtual READ operation, the storage-shelf router determines, in step 4010, whether a disk sector requested via a READ operation has been received. If so, then in step 4012, the storage-shelf router determines whether a boundary-sector READ has completed. If so, then in step 4014, the storage-shelf router extracts from the boundary sector the data relevant to the virtual READ operation and writes that data to a buffer or queue for eventual transmission to the requesting processing entity. If the received sector is not a boundary sector, then the storage-shelf router, in step 4016, simply writes the received data to an appropriate position within a buffer or queue for eventual transmission to the requesting processing entity. If all reads have successfully completed, as determined in step 4018, then the virtual READ operation successfully terminates in step 4020, of course providing that the data read from the disk drive is successfully transmitted back to the processing entity. Otherwise, the storage-shelf router determines whether a timeout has occurred, in step 4022. If so, then an error condition obtains, in step 4024. Otherwise, the storage-shelf router continues to wait, in step 4026, for completion of another READ operation.
The mapping of 520-byte FC-disk-drive sectors to 512-byte ATA-disk-drive sectors, in one embodiment of the virtual formatting method and system of the present invention, can be efficiently computed. FIG. 41 illustrates the calculated values needed to carry out the virtual formatting method and system representing one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 41, the top-most, horizontal band of sectors 4102 represents virtually mapped, 520-byte sectors, and the bottom horizontal band 4104 represents physical, 512-byte ATA sectors. FIG. 41 illustrates mapping virtual sectors 4106 through 4108 to physical sectors 4110 through 4112. For the example shown in FIG. 41, assume that virtual sectors 400-409 are to be mapped to corresponding physical sectors. The logical block address (“LBA”) of the first virtual sector, “fc_lba” 4114, therefore has the value “400,” and the number of virtual blocks to be mapped, “fc_block_count” 4116, is therefore 10. The calculated value “fc_lba_last” 4118 is “410,” the LBA of the first virtual sector following the virtual sector range to be mapped. The logical block address of the first physical sector including data for the virtual sectors to be mapped, “ata_lba” 4120, is computed as:
ata—lba=fc—lba+(fc—lba>>6)
using familiar C-language syntax and operators. In the example, the computed value for ata_lba is “406.” This calculation can be understood as adding to the LBA of the first virtual sector a number of physical sectors computed as the total number of virtual sectors preceding the first virtual sector divided by 64, since each continuous set of 64 virtual sectors exactly maps into a corresponding contiguous set of 65 physical sectors, or, in other words:
64*520==65*512==33280
The offset from the beginning of the first physical sector to the byte within the first physical sector corresponding to the first byte of the first virtual sector, “ata_lba_offset” 4122, is computed as follows:
ata—lba_offset=(fc—lba & 63)<<3
In the example, the value calculated for ata_lba_offset is “128.” This computation can be understood as determining the number of 8-byte shifts within the first physical block needed, 8 bytes being the difference in virtual sector and physical sector lengths, with the number of virtual sectors following the starting virtual sector LBA divided by 64 corresponding to the number of 8-byte shifts needed. The last, physical, boundary-block LBA, “ata_endingjlba” 4124, is computed as:
ata_ending—lba=fc—lba_last+(fc—lba_last>>6)
In the example, the calculated value for ata_ending_lba is “416.” The above computation is equivalent to that for the first physical sector “ata_lba.” The offset within the last, physical boundary block corresponding to the first byte not within the virtual sectors, “ata_ending_lba_offset” 4126, is computed as:
ata_ending—lba_offset=(fc—lba_last & 63)<<3
In the example, the calculated value for ata_ending_lba_offset is “208.” If the computed values for ata_ending_lba_offset is “0,” then:
ata_ending—lba=ata_ending—lba−1
since the final byte of the virtual sectors corresponds to the final byte of a physical sector, and no last, partially relevant, boundary sector needs to be accessed. In the example, the value for ata_ending_lba is unchanged by this final step. The number of physical blocks corresponding to the virtual sectors, “ata_block_count,” is finally computed as:
ata_block_count=ata_ending—lba−ata—lba+1
In the example, the calculated value for ata_block_count is “11.” It should be noted that similar, but different, calculations can be made in the case that the virtual sectors are smaller than the physical sectors. Any size virtual sectors can be mapped to any size of physical sectors by the method of the present invention.
FIG. 42 illustrates a virtual sector WRITE in a discrete virtual formatting implementation that represents one embodiment of the present invention. The discrete virtual formatting implementation involves a firmware/software implementation of the storage-router functionality within a storage-router-like component that employs a general-purpose processor and stored firmware/software routines for providing the storage-router interface provided by the integrated-circuit storage-router implementation that represents one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 42, the physical boundary sectors 4202-4203 are read into a 128K disk buffer 4204, and the received contents of the virtual sectors 4206-4207 are written into the 128K disk buffer 4204, overwriting portions of the physical boundary data corresponding to virtual sector data. The contents of the 128K disk buffer 4204 are then written to the ATA disk drive 4208. Thus, virtual disk formatting can be carried out using a software/firmware/general-processor-based component.
FIG. 43 illustrates a virtual sector WRITE in an integrated-circuit storage-shelf-based virtual formatting implementation that represents one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 43, the physical boundary sectors 4302-4303 are read into a first sector buffer (“FSB”) 4304 and a last sector buffer (“LSB”) 4306 within the GSM 4308, the FSB and LSB are overlaid with the virtual sector data, and the remaining virtual sector data is set up for transfer through a virtual queue 4310 within the GSM 408 associated with the FSB and LSB. The contents of the FSB and LSB and data directed to the virtual queue are then transferred to the ATA disk by the data transfer mechanisms discussed in previous subsections.
Note that the control-flow diagrams in FIGS. 39-40 represent fairly high, conceptual illustration of storage-shelf operations associated with virtual WRITE and virtual READ commands. In particular, the details of data flow and disk operations, detailed in above sections, are not repeated, in the interest of brevity and clarity.
The virtual disk formatting described with reference to FIGS. 36-43 allows, as discussed above, a storage-shelf router to provide an illusion to external computing entities, such as disk-array controllers, that the storage shelf managed by the storage-shelf router contains 520-byte-sector FC disk drives while, in fact, the storage shelf actually contains 512-byte-sector ATA or SATA disk drives. Similarly, virtual disk formatting can be used by the storage-shelf router to provide an interface to any type of disk formatting expected or desired by external entities, despite the local disk formatting employed within the storage shelf. If, for example, a new, extremely economical 1024-byte-sector disk drive becomes available, the virtual disk formatting technique allows a storage-shelf router to map virtual 520-byte-sector-based access operations, or 512-byte-sector-based access operations, to the new, 1024-byte-sector-based disk drives. In addition, multiple layers of virtual disk formatting may be employed by the storage-shelf router in order to provide or enhance error-detection and error-correction capabilities of disk drives that rely on added information stored within each sector of the disk drive.
FIG. 44 illustrates a two-layer virtual disk formatting technique that allows a storage-shelf router to enhance the error-detection capabilities of ATA disk drives. In FIG. 44, the ATA disk drives employ 512-byte sectors, indicated by a linear subsequence of sectors 4402 with solid vertical lines, such as solid vertical line 4404, representing 512-byte sector boundaries. The storage-shelf router, as illustrated in FIG. 44 by a short subsequence 4406 of 512-byte sectors, uses the above-discussed virtual disk formatting technique to map 520-byte sectors to the underlying disk-drive-supported 512-byte sectors. Each 520-byte virtual sector, such as virtual sector 4408, includes a 512-byte payload and an additional eight-byte longitudinal redundancy code (“LRC”) field appended to the 512-byte payload. In other words, the storage-shelf router employs a first virtual disk formatting layer to map 520-byte sectors to underlying 512-byte sectors of ATA disk drives. However, in this embodiment, the storage-shelf router employs a second virtual disk formatting level to map externally visible, 512-byte, second-level-virtual sectors, such as virtual sector 4410, to 520-byte first-level-virtual sectors, such as first-level virtual sector 4408, which are in turn mapped by the storage-shelf router to 512-byte disk sectors. This two-tiered virtualization allows the storage-shelf router to insert the additional eight-byte LRC fields at the end of each sector. Although an external processing entity, such as a disk-array controller, interfaces to the second-level virtual disk formatting layer supporting 512-byte sectors, the same formatting used by the disk drives, the external processing entity views less total sectors within a disk drive than the actual number of sectors supported by the disk drive, since the storage-shelf router stores the additional eight-byte LRC fields on the disk drive for each sector. Moreover, the external entity is not aware of the LRC fields included in the disk sectors.
FIG. 45 illustrates the content of an LRC field included by the storage-shelf router in each first-level virtual 520-byte sector in the two-virtual-level embodiment illustrated in FIG. 44. As shown in FIG. 45, the first 512 bytes of a 520-byte virtual sector 4502 are payload or data bites. The final eight bytes of the LRC field include two reserved bytes 4504, a cyclic redundancy check (“CRC”) subfield comprising two bytes 4506, and a logical block address 4508 stored in the final four bytes. The CRC field includes a CRC value computed by the well-known CRC-CCITT technique. Computation of this value is described below, in greater detail. The logical block address (“LBA”) is a sector address associated with the virtual sector.
The contents of the LRC field allows the storage-shelf router to detect various types of errors that arise in ATA disk drives despite the hardware-level ECC information and disk-drive controller techniques employed to detect various data-corruption errors. For example, a READ request specifying a particular sector within a disk drive may occasionally result in returning data by the disk-drive controller associated with a different sector. The LBA within the LRC field allows the storage-shelf router to detect such errors. In addition, the disk drive may suffer various levels of data corruption. The hardware-supplied ECC mechanisms may detect one-bit or two-bit parity errors, but the CRC values stored in the CRC field 4506 can detect, depending on the technique employed to compute the CRC value, all one-bit, two-bit, and three-bit errors as well runs of errors of certain length ranges. In other words, the CRC value provides enhanced error-detection capabilities. By employing the two-tiered virtual disk formatting technique illustrated in FIG. 44, the storage-shelf router is able to detect a broad range of error conditions that would be otherwise undetectable by the storage-shelf router, and to do so in a manner transparent to external processing entities, such as disk-array controllers. As mentioned above, the only non-transparent characteristic observable by the external processing entity is a smaller number of sectors accessible for a particular disk drive.
FIG. 46 illustrates computation of a CRC value. As shown in FIG. 46, the payload or data bytes 4602 and the LBA field 4604 of a 520-byte virtual sector are together considered to represent a very large number. That very large number is divided, using modulo-2 division, by a particular constant 4606, with the remainder from the modulo-2 division taken as the initial CRC value 4608. Note that the constant is a seventeen-bit number, and therefore the remainder from modulo-2 division is at most 16 bits in length, and therefore fits within the two-byte CRC field. The initial CRC value is subject to an EXCLUSIVE OR (“XOR”) operation with the constant value “FFFF” (hexadecimal notation) to produce the final CRC value 4610. The constant 4606 is carefully chosen for algebraic properties that ensure that small changes made to the large number comprising the data bytes 4602 and LBA field 4604 result in a different remainder, or initial CRC value, following modulo-2 division by the constant. Different CRC computational techniques may employ different constants, each with different algebraic properties that provide slightly different error-detection capabilities.
FIG. 47 illustrates a technique by which the contents of a virtual sector are checked with respect to the CRC field included in the LRC field of the virtual sector in order to detect errors. For example, when the storage-shelf router reads the contents of a virtual sector from two disk sectors, the storage-shelf router can check the contents of the virtual sector with respect to the CRC field to determine whether any detectable errors have occurred in storing or reading the information contained within the virtual sector. When a virtual sector is read from a disk, the storage-shelf router combines the data bytes 4702, the LBA field 4704, and the CRC field 4706 together to form a very large number. The very large number is divided, by modulo-2 division, by the same constant number 4708 employed to compute the CRC value, and the remainder is employed as a check value 4710. When the CRC-CCITT technique is employed, the check value 4710 is “1D0F” (hexadecimal) when the retrieved data, LBA, and CRC fields are identical to the data and LBA for which the initial CRC value was computed. In other words, when the check value 4710 has the constant value “1D0F,” then the storage-shelf router is confident that no errors have occurred in the storage and retrieval of the virtual sector. Of course, the CRC technique is not infallible, and there is a very slight chance of silent errors. Note that the constant check value occurs because appending the initially calculated CRC to the data and LBA is equivalent to multiplying the number comprising the data and LBA by 216, and because the number comprising the data, LBA, and initially calculated CRC is, by the CRC-CCITT technique, guaranteed to be evenly divisible by the constant value 4708.
FIG. 48 is a control-flow diagram illustrating the complete LRC check technique employed by the storage-shelf router to check a retrieved virtual sector for errors. In step 4802, the storage-shelf router receives the retrieved virtual sector, including the CRC and LBA fields. In step 4804, the storage-shelf router determines whether the LBA value in the retrieved virtual sector corresponds to the expected LBA value. If not, an error is returned in step 4806. Otherwise, in step 4808, the storage-shelf router computes the new CRC value based on the data, LBA, and CRC fields of the retrieved virtual sector, as discussed above with reference to FIG. 44. If the newly calculated CRC value equals the expected constant “1D0F” (hexadecimal) as determined in step 4810, then the storage-shelf router returns an indication of a successful check in step 4812. Otherwise, the storage-shelf router returns an error, in step 4814.
The storage-shelf router may carry out either full LRC checks or deferred LRC checks during WRITE operations. FIG. 49 illustrates the deferred LRC check. As shown in FIG. 49, and as discussed earlier, when a single, second-level virtual 512-byte sector 4902 is written by the storage-shelf router to a disk drive, the storage-shelf router must first read 4904-4905 the two boundary sectors 4906-4907 associated with the second-level virtual sector 4902 into memory 4910. The boundary sectors 4906-4907 generally each includes an LRC field, 4912 and 4913. The second LRC field 4913 occurs within the first-level 520-byte virtual sector 4914 corresponding to the second-level virtual sector 4902. In deferred LRC mode, the storage-shelf router inserts the data and LBA value into a buffer 4916, carries out the CRC computation and inserts the computed CRC into the CRC field 4918, and then writes the resulting first-level virtual sector into the memory buffer 4910. The contents of the memory buffer then are returned to the disk drive via two WRITE operations 4920 and 4922. Note that the contents of the LRC field 4913 associated with the first-level virtual sector are assumed to be valid. However, the two WRITE operations also write data and an LRC field corresponding to neighboring first-level virtual sectors back to the disk drive. Rather than checking that this data and additional LRC field is valid, the storage-shelf router simply defers checking of neighboring first-level virtual sectors until the neighboring first-level virtual levels are subsequently read.
FIG. 50 illustrates a full LRC check of a WRITE operation on a received second-level 512-byte virtual sector. Comparison of FIG. 50 to FIG. 49 reveals that, in the full LRC check, the storage-shelf router reads not only the boundary sectors 4906 and 4907 that bracket the second-level virtual sector 4902, but also reads the next-neighbor sectors 5002 and 5004 of the boundary sectors 4906 and 4907 into a memory buffer 5006. This allows the storage-shelf router to check that the lower and upper neighboring first-level 520-byte virtual sectors 5008 and 5010 are error free, by using the LRC check method described with reference to FIG. 48, before proceeding to write the received second-level virtual sector 4902 into the memory buffer 5012 and then write the two boundary sectors back to the disk drive 5014 and 5016. The full LRC check therefore requires two additional writes and involves a correspondingly decreased write efficiency, as described by the following equations:
The storage-shelf router may employ various additional techniques to detect problems and correct problems transparent to external processing entities. For example, should the storage-shelf router fail to successfully read the lower-boundary sector 4906 in FIG. 50, the storage-shelf router may nonetheless write the portion of the lower boundary sector received in the second-level virtual sector 4912 to the lower boundary sector on the disk, and return a “recovered error” status to the disk-array controller. Subsequently, when the preceding virtual sector is accessed, the disk-array controller trigger data recover from a mirror copy of the sectors involved in order to retrieve that portion of the original lower-boundary sector that was not read during the previous write operation, and write the data to the disk drive, correcting the error. Thus, an LRC failure can be circumvented by the storage-shelf router.
Although the present invention has been described in terms of a particular embodiment, it is not intended that the invention be limited to this embodiment. Modifications within the spirit of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, as discussed above, the virtual disk formatting technique that represents various embodiments of the present invention can be used by the storage-shelf router to provide an almost limitless number of virtual disk format interfaces to external processing entities, and thus isolate internal disk formats from the external processing entities. Any size virtual sectors can be mapped to any size physical sectors by the method of the present invention. Not only does this allow the storage-shelf router to include additional error-detection information in each sector and to employ disk drives that use formatting conventions unanticipated by external processing entities, the virtual disk formatting technique may be used for a variety of other purposes. For example, virtual disk formatting may allow a storage-shelf router to encode virtual sector payloads into expanded, encoded payloads in order to provide extremely secure data storage. As another example, the storage-shelf router might use virtual disk formatting to store sufficient, redundant data within a disk drive to allow the storage-shelf router not only to detect, but to correct many types of data errors that occur within individual sectors and even errors that occur across sector boundaries. As with any hardware implementation, an almost limitless number of different hardware, firmware, and software components can be designed to implement many different embodiments and types of embodiments in virtual disk formatting. A vast number of optimizations are available to those ordinarily skilled in the art, depending on the design and capabilities of the storage-shelf router, internal disk drives, and other components of the storage shelf.
The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the specific details are not required in order to practice the invention. In other instances, well-known circuits and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessary distraction from the underlying invention. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention are presented for purposes of illustration and description; they are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, obviously many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications and to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents:
1. A virtual disk formatting system comprising:
a plurality of mass-storage devices having physical sectors of a first sector length; and
a routing component that provides to external entities a first virtual disk interface to the mass-storage components by mapping each access operation, received from one of the external entities, directed to the first virtual disk interface having virtual sectors of a second sector length to an internal, virtual disk interface with internal-virtual-disk-sectors having a third sector length larger than the second sector length, and then routing the access operations from the internal, virtual disk interface to one or more mass-storage devices of the plurality of mass-storage devices;
wherein the first sector length and the second sector length refer to data-payload lengths of physical sectors.
2. A virtual disk formatting system of claim 1 further including:
including, by the routing component, error detection information within the internal-virtual-disk-interface sectors in order to provide routing-component-mediated error checking.
3. The virtual disk formatting system of claim 2 wherein the error detection information is a longitudinal redundancy check code.
4. The virtual disk formatting system of claim 1 wherein the routing component is an integrated-circuit storage-shelf router.
5. The virtual disk formatting system of claim 4 wherein the storage-shelf router provides a fibre-channel-disk-based virtual disk formatting interface to external processing entities and maps fibre-channel-disk-based access operations to a number of ATA disk drives included in a storage shelf containing the storage-shelf router.
6. The virtual routing system of claim 1 wherein the routing component includes a processor and firmware/software programs that carry out virtual disk formatting.
7. A method for including additional information in disk sectors of a plurality of mass-storage devices having a first sector length, the method comprising:
providing a routing component;
mapping, by the routing component, access operations, received from one of the external entities, directed to a first virtual disk interface having virtual sectors of a second sector length to an internal, virtual disk interface with internal-virtual-disk-sectors having a third sector length larger than the second sector length, and then routing, by the routing component, the access operations from the internal, virtual disk interface to one or more of the plurality of mass-storage devices;
8. The method of claim 7 further including:
including, by the routing component, within the internal-virtual-disk-interface sectors one of:
error-detection information;
additional information that, together with the data contained in the internal-virtual-disk-interface sectors, provides an encrypted version of the data directed to the first virtual disk interface by external processing entities; and
error-detection and error-correction information.
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6928509 August 9, 2005 Surugucchi
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Filed: Nov 4, 2003
Date of Patent: Dec 15, 2009
Assignee: Sierra Logic (Roseville, CA)
Inventors: Joseph Harold Steinmetz (Roseville, CA), Murthy Kompella (Roseville, CA), Matthew Paul Wakeley (Roseville, CA)
Primary Examiner: Christian P Chace
Assistant Examiner: Jared I Rutz
Attorney: Olympic Patent Works PLLC
Current U.S. Class: Direct Access Storage Device (dasd) (711/112); Dynamic-type Storage Device (e.g., Disk, Tape, Drum) (711/4)
International Classification: G06F 12/00 (20060101);
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Justia Patents Specific Material For Heart ValveUS Patent for Medical device and method for conducting a surgery through a body opening Patent (Patent # 9,339,339)
Medical device and method for conducting a surgery through a body opening
Sep 11, 2012 - Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc.
A medical device and method for facilitating a surgery through a body opening is disclosed. The medical device includes a flexible member configured to be placed within the body opening so as to cover a portion of the body opening. The flexible member includes a distal end portion with a closed end, a proximal end portion with an open end and an elongate portion joining the proximal end portion and the distal end portion. The proximal end portion is configured to extend out of the patient's body opening to cover an area around and outside the patient's body opening.
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This application is a Nonprovisional of, and claims priority to, U.S. Patent Application No. 61/535,617, filed Sep. 16, 2011, entitled “A MEDICAL DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONDUCTING A SURGERY THROUGH A BODY OPENING”, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
1. Field
The present invention generally relates to surgical devices and procedures, particularly devices and methods used for facilitating surgery through a body opening.
Often, surgical devices, equipment, implants, or any other material passed through a body opening such as an ear, nose, mouth, throat, vagina, or rectum have a potential to carry undesirable contaminants such as biological organisms within a patient's body. These undesirable organisms may be pathogenic bacteria, viral particles, fungi, and the like, which can be carried during the course of a surgical procedure. These contaminants, if carried within the patient's body, may create severe complications. Therefore, surgeries require proper sterilization of a surgical field or a surgical site to ensure safety from these contaminants.
Various techniques have been developed for sterilization of the surgical field during a surgical procedure through the body opening. Existing sterilization techniques and devices involve use of disinfectants and sterile gloves. The disinfectants may kill most of the germs, bacteria, and similar organisms. The sterile gloves are used to reduce the contact of bare hands (that may carry harmful organisms) with the devices, equipment, implants, or any other material being used during the surgical procedure. The disinfectants and the sterile gloves may be used individually as well as together. However, it has been found that even after using the disinfectants and the gloves, the surgical devices, equipment, implants, or any other material passed within the body opening during the surgical procedure may contain these undesirable contaminants or organisms.
In accordance with the foregoing, there is a need for a device and a method for facilitating sterilization of the entire surgical field or site during the surgical procedure performed through the body opening.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The invention and the following detailed description of certain embodiments thereof may be understood by reference to the following figures:
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a medical device for facilitating a surgical procedure through a patient's body opening, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a medical device for facilitating a surgical procedure through a patient's body opening, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the medical device of FIG. 2, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates placement of a medical device in a patient's vaginal opening for facilitating a surgical procedure, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates delivery of a bodily implant in a patient's vaginal opening through a medical device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a medical device covering a patient's entire vulva, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of conducting a surgery, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting, but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention.
The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having”, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open transition). The term “coupled” or “operatively coupled,” as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly and mechanically.
The present invention relates to a medical device configured to be inserted into a patient's body opening for facilitating a surgical procedure. In an embodiment, the medical device may be used for maintaining sterilization during the surgery. For example, the medical device may be used to sterilize an inner surface of the body opening or an entire surgical field or site, including the inner surface of the body opening and an area adjacent the body opening. In some embodiments, the medical device may be used during implantation of bodily implants or grafts through a vaginal opening for the treatment of pelvic floor disorders.
The terms proximal and distal described in relation to various medical devices, apparatuses, and components as discussed in the subsequent text of the present invention are referred with a point of reference. The point of reference, as used in this description, is a perspective of an operator. The operator may be a surgeon, a physician, a nurse, a doctor, a technician, and the like, who may perform the procedure of surgery through the patient's body orifice as described in the present invention. The term proximal refers to an area that is closest to the operator. The term distal refers to an area that is farthest from the operator. The patient referred here as a human female may be a male or any other mammal.
FIG. 1 illustrates a medical device 100 for facilitating a surgical procedure conducted through a patient's body opening. In an embodiment of the present invention, the medical device 100 is utilized to help maintain sterility of a surgical field or a surgical site during the surgical procedure. The body opening can be a natural orifice or cavity such as an opening in the ear, nose, mouth, throat, vagina, rectum, and the like. In an embodiment of the present invention, the disclosed medical device 100 is configured to be used during implantation of a bodily implant or graft for the treatment of pelvic floor disorders in a human body. In such embodiments, the medical device 100 is configured to be inserted and placed within the vaginal opening.
The medical device 100 includes a flexible member 102 having a distal end portion 104, a proximal end portion 106 and an elongate portion 108. The flexible member 102 is hollow and is configured to receive surgical devices such as endoscopes, bodily implants, or the operator's hands. The flexible member 102 is configured to be placed within the body opening to cover a portion inside and outside the body opening. For example, a portion of the flexible member 102 may reside within the body opening and cover a surface therein, while the remainder portion may stay outside the body opening and cover a surface around and outside the body opening. The flexible member 102 includes an inner surface and an outer surface. The inner surface of the flexible member 102 is configured to come in contact with surgical devices or equipment and/or the operator's hand. The outer surface of the flexible member 102 is configured to come in contact with an inner surface of the body opening.
The distal end portion 104 of the flexible member 102 has a closed end. In some embodiments, the distal end portion 104 with the closed end has a substantially circular cross section. In some other embodiments, the distal end portion 104 can have an elliptical or any other shaped cross section. In an embodiment of the present invention, the distal end portion 104 includes a fixation mechanism. The fixation mechanism facilitates adherence of the closed end of the distal end portion 104 to the inner surface of the body opening. In some embodiments, the fixation mechanism is temporary so that the flexible member 102 can be detached from the inner surface of the body opening by decoupling the fixation mechanism. In an embodiment of the present invention, the fixation mechanism may include a ring-shaped element or a ring referred to as a first ring such that the first ring can directly come in contact with the inner surface of the body opening and facilitate adherence of the flexible member 102 therein. In some embodiments, the first ring is substantially circular at its cross section. The first ring holds the distal end portion 104 together with the inner surface of the body opening such that the flexible member 102 is appropriately attached. In an embodiment of the present invention, the outside surface of the flexible member 102 may contain an adhesive coating layer to contact and adhere to the inner surface of the body opening. In an embodiment of the present invention, the flexible member 102 may contain and release antimicrobials or antibiotics to further eliminate potential risk of infections.
The proximal end portion 106 of the flexible member 102 has an open end. In some embodiments, the proximal end portion 106 with an open end has a substantially circular cross section. In some other embodiments, the proximal end portion 106 can have an elliptical or any other cross section. In some embodiments, the shape of the proximal end portion 106 and the distal end portion 104 can be the same. In some other embodiments, the shape of the proximal end portion 106 and the distal end portion 104 are different.
The open end of the proximal end portion 106 provides an entrance to insert surgical instruments and bodily implants, or similar devices or materials within the hollow flexible member 102. In some embodiments, the proximal end portion 106 can include a ring referred to as a second ring. The second ring can directly come in contact with a body portion outside and around the body opening to facilitate adherence of the flexible member 102 therein. In some embodiments, the second ring is substantially circular at its cross section. In other embodiments, the second ring can have an elliptical or any other shaped cross section. In some embodiments, the second ring is similar to the shape of the first ring. In other embodiments, the shape of the second ring can be different from the first ring.
In some embodiments, the proximal end portion 106 of the flexible member 102 is configured to extend out of the body opening, thereby covering an area around and outside the body opening. For example, when the medical device 100 is placed within the body opening of the patient, the proximal end portion 106 of the medical device 100 may cover an area outside and around the body opening to help avoid any contact with an undesirable material or organism with the bodily implant (or any other material) or bodily tissues in the surgical field. In some embodiments, the proximal end portion 106 can be stretched or otherwise extended to cover an area outside and around the vaginal opening during placement of the bodily implants.
The elongate portion 108 of the flexible member 102 joining the proximal end portion 106 and the distal end portion 104 has a tubular shape. The elongate portion 108 is configured to be stretched or extended radially and longitudinally, and its shape can be adjusted for appropriate adherence and attachment with the body portion or the inner surface of the body opening when the medical device 100 is placed inside the body opening. In some embodiments, an outer surface of the elongate portion 108 can contact a portion of the inner surface of the body opening so as to help prevent the contacted portion of the inner surface from contamination. In some embodiments, the elongate portion 108 can be configured to take a shape in accordance with an anatomical structure of the inner portion of the body opening. For example, in cases where the medical device 100 is configured to be inserted into a vaginal opening, the elongate portion 108 can be configured to take a shape in accordance with the anatomical structure of the inner portion of the vaginal opening. In some embodiments, the elongate portion 108 can be configured to take a shape in accordance with the shape of outer surfaces of the anterior and posterior vaginal walls.
The medical device may employ several types of polymeric or/and biologic materials. For example, in some embodiments, the flexible member is composed of a polymeric material. Examples of polymeric material include natural rubber latex (NRL), polyethylene, polyurethane, polypropylene, and derivatives and mixtures thereof. In other embodiments, the flexible member is composed of a biologic material. Examples of biologic materials include bovine dermis, porcine dermis, porcine intestinal sub mucosa, bovine pericardium, a cellulose based product, cadaveric dermis, and the like. Also, in some embodiments, the first ring and the second ring of the flexible member may be made of a resilient material. The resilient material of the first ring and the second ring provides elasticity to the first ring and the second ring such that the resilient and elastic nature of the rings helps them fix on appropriate portions of the inner surface of the body opening by stretching. Therefore, the resilient material of the rings can be stretched for covering a desired contact area. Subsequently, the rings can regain their shape and be used to attach at other locations for adjustment purposes.
The distal end portion 104 has a size referred to as a first size 110, the proximal end portion 106 has a size referred to as a second size 112, and the elongate portion 108 has a size referred to as a third size 114. In some embodiments, the second size 112 is greater than the first size 110 and the third size 114. In some embodiments, the second size 112 is equal to the first size 110, but greater than the third size 114. In some other embodiments, the first size 110, the second size 112, and the third size 114 can be equal. In some embodiments, the first size 110, the second size 112, and the third size 114 can represent a first diameter, a second diameter, and a third diameter when cross sections of the distal end portion 104, proximal end portion 106, and the elongate portion 108 are circular.
In some embodiments, the medical device 100 further includes an adhesive 116 spread over a portion or throughout the outer surface of the flexible member 102. The adhesive 116 is spread over the outer surface of the flexible member 102 to enable its adherence to body portions such as the inner surface of the body opening and an area outside and surrounding the body opening. In an embodiment, the adhesive 116 is spread along the elongate portion 108 of the flexible member 102. In another embodiment, the adhesive 116 is spread over the outer surface of the elongate portion 108 and the distal end portion 104. In yet another embodiment, the adhesive 116 is spread over the entire outer surface of the flexible member 102, including the elongate portion 108, distal end portion 104, and the proximal end portion 106. The adhesive 116 facilitates proper placement or adherence of the flexible member 102 with the body portions. In some embodiments, the adhesive 116 also helps in sealing the flexible member 102 with the inner surface of the body opening. The adhesive, thus, keeps the flexible member 102 in place when it is pierced. For example, when the operator pierces the flexible member 102 to create an incision, the adhesive 116 ensures that the flexible member 102 or a portion of the flexible member 102 surrounding the pierced location is appropriately attached and sealed with the inner surface of the body opening and any foreign body or material or equipment does not come in contact with the inner surface.
In some embodiments, the medical device 100 may include a coating of an active agent to further enhance sterility of the surgical field during the surgical procedure. In some embodiments, the coating may be provided on the entire inner surface of the flexible member 102. In other embodiments, the coating may be provided only on a portion of the inner surface of the flexible member 102. In an embodiment of present invention, antimicrobial agents may be used as active agents in the coating. Antimicrobial agents useful for the practice of the present invention may include triclosan, chlorhexidine, nitrofurazone, benzalkonium chlorides, and silver protein; silver bromide, silver fluoride, silver lactate and silver nitrate; as well as other sources of silver ions including silver-based ion-exchange materials, and the like.
In another embodiment of the present invention, antiviral agents may be used as active agents in the coating. Antiviral agents useful for the practice of the present invention may include amantadines, rimantadines, ribavirins, idoxuridines, vidarabines, trifluridines, acyclovirs, ganciclovirs, zidovudines, foscarnets, interferons their homologs, analogs, fragments, derivatives, pharmaceutical salts and mixtures thereof.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, antifungal agents may be used as active agents in the coating. Antifungal agents useful for the practice of the present invention may include Dapsone, Fluconazole, Flucytosine, Griseofulvin, Itraconazole, Ketoconazole, Miconazole KI, Amphotericin B, Carbol-Fuchsin, Ciclopirox, Clotrimzole, Econazole, Haloprogin, Mafenide, Miconazole, Naftifine, Nystatin, Oxiconazole, Silver Sulfadiazine, Sulconazole, Terbinafine, Tioconazole, Tolnafiate, Undecylenic acid, Butoconazle, Clotrimazole, Econazole, Gentian Violet, Miconazole, Nystatin, Terconazole, and Tioconazole.
In accordance with other embodiments, various types of active agents having specific sterilizing properties may be used for coating on the inner surface of the flexible member 102.
In some embodiments, the medical device 100 may further include a coating of a bio-compatible lubricant. The coating of the bio-compatible lubricant is applied at the inner surface of the flexible member 102. The coating of the bio compatible lubricant allows an easy passage of the bodily implant, surgical instruments, or similar devices through the body opening such as the vaginal opening.
FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a medical device 200 configured to be inserted into a patient's body opening during a surgical procedure. The medical device 200 includes a flexible member 202. As illustrated, the flexible member 202 has a distal end portion 204, a proximal end portion 206, and an elongate portion 208 extending from the distal end portion 204 to the proximal end portion 206. The flexible member 202 includes an outer surface 216 and an inner surface 218.
The distal end portion 204 of the flexible member 202 has a closed end. In some embodiments, the distal end portion 204 with the closed end has a substantially circular cross section. In some other embodiments, the distal end portion 204 can have an elliptical or any other cross section. In an embodiment of the present invention, the distal end portion 204 includes a fixation mechanism, which facilitates adherence of the closed end of the distal end portion 204 to an inner surface of the body opening. In some embodiments, the fixation mechanism is temporary so that the flexible member 202 can be detached from the inner surface of the body opening by decoupling the fixation mechanism. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the fixation mechanism includes a ring-shaped element or a ring referred to as a first ring 220 such that the first ring 220 can directly come in contact with a body portion and facilitate adherence of the flexible member 202 therein. The first ring 220 is substantially circular at its cross section. In other embodiments, the first ring 220 can have an elliptical or any other cross section. The first ring 220 holds the distal end portion 204 together with the body portion such that the flexible member 202 is appropriately attached to the body portion.
As illustrated, in some embodiments, a central axis of the distal end portion 204 passing through the center of the distal end portion 204 is inclined by an angle to a central axis of the elongate portion 208 passing through the center of the elongate portion 208. The angle of inclination may be specified or configured to suit the surgical requirements and the anatomy of a specific patient. The angle of inclination is illustrated as the angle Ø in FIG. 3.
Referring again to FIG. 2, the proximal end portion 206 of the flexible member 202 has an open end. The open end of the proximal end portion 206 has a substantially circular cross section. The open end of the proximal end portion 206 provides an entrance to insert surgical instruments and bodily implants, or similar devices within the hollow flexible member 202. The proximal end portion 206 includes a ring referred to as a second ring 222. The second ring 222 can directly come in contact with a body portion outside and around the body opening to facilitate adherence of the second ring 222 therein. As shown in FIG. 2, the second ring 222 is substantially circular at its cross section. In other embodiments, the second ring 222 can have an elliptical or any other cross section. In some embodiments, as discussed in more detail below, an adhesive coating is disposed on the outside surface of the device. In such embodiment, the device may or may not include the ring 222.
The proximal end portion 206 of the flexible member 202 is configured to extend or stretch out of the body opening, thereby covering an area around and outside the body opening. For example, when the medical device 200 is placed within the body opening of the patient, the proximal end portion 206 of the medical device 200 covers an area outside and around the body opening to help avoiding any contact of unwanted material or organisms with a bodily implant or bodily tissues in the surgical field. In some embodiments, the proximal end portion 206 can be stretched to cover an area outside and around the vaginal opening during placement of the bodily implants for the treatment of pelvic floor disorders.
As illustrated, the elongate portion 208 of the flexible member 202 extends from the distal end portion 204 to the proximal end portion 206. The elongate portion 208 of the flexible member 202 has a tubular shape that is hollow from inside and its outer surface is configured to come in contact with the inner surface of the body opening. The elongate portion 208 is configured to be stretched or extended radially and longitudinally and its shape can be adjusted when the medical device 200 is placed inside the body opening for appropriate adherence and attachment to the body portion or the inner surface of the body opening. The elongate portion 208 can be configured to take a shape in accordance with an anatomical structure of the inner surface of the body opening. For example, in cases where the medical device 200 is configured to be inserted into a vaginal opening, the elongate portion 208 can be configured to take a shape in accordance with the anatomical structure of the inner surface of the vaginal opening.
In some embodiments, the flexible member 202 or a portion of the flexible member 202 such as the first ring 220 and the second ring 222 may be stretched or extended using a sterile gloved hand. In other embodiments, the flexible member 202 or a portion of the flexible member 202 such as the first ring 220 and the second ring 222 may be stretched or extended using a balloon catheter.
As described above, the flexible member 202 includes the outer surface 216 and the inner surface 218. The outer surface 216 of the flexible member 202 is coated with an adhesive 224. In some embodiments, the adhesive 224 is spread partially on an outer surface of the elongate portion 208. In other embodiments of the present invention, the adhesive 224 is spread completely and evenly over the entire outer surface of the elongate portion 208. Further, in other embodiments of the present invention, the adhesive 224 is spread at the entire outer surface 216 of the flexible member 202 including its distal end portion 204, elongate portion 208, and proximal end portion 206. In some embodiments, the adhesive 116 also helps in sealing the flexible member 102 with the inner surface of the body opening. The adhesive, thus, keeps the flexible member 102 in place when it is pierced. For example, when the operator pierces the flexible member 102 to create an incision, the adhesive 116 ensures that the flexible member 102 or a portion of the flexible member 102 surrounding the pierced location is appropriately attached and sealed with the inner surface of the body opening and any foreign body or material or equipment does not come in contact with the inner surface.
The inner surface 218 of the flexible member 202 may include a coating of an active agent to further enhance sterility of the body opening during the surgical procedure. In some embodiments, the coating may be provided on the entire inner surface 218 of the flexible member 202. In other embodiments, the coating may be provided only on a portion of the inner surface 218 of the flexible member 202. In an embodiment of the present invention, antimicrobial agents may be used as active agents in the coating. In another embodiment of the present invention, antiviral agents may be used as active agents in the coating. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, antifungal agents may be used as active agents in the coating. In accordance with other embodiments, various types of active agents having specific sterilizing properties may be used for coating on the inner surface 218 of the flexible member 202.
In some embodiments, the medical device 200 may further include a coating of a bio-compatible lubricant. The coating of the bio compatible lubricant is applied on the inner surface 218 of the flexible member 202. The coating of the bio-compatible lubricant allows an easy passage of the bodily implant, surgical instruments, or similar devices or materials through the body opening such as a vaginal opening.
As illustrated, the distal end portion 204 has a size referred to as a first size 210, the proximal end portion has a size referred to as a second size 212, and the elongate portion has a size referred to as a third size 214. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the second size 212 is greater than the first size 210 and the third size 214. The increased dimension of the proximal end portion 206 facilitates stretching of the proximal end portion 206 toward an external periphery and around the body opening such as the vaginal opening. Therefore, the proximal end portion 206 can safely cover an appropriate and desired area around the vaginal opening and helps preventing contamination therein.
The illustrated embodiment of the medical device 200 is configured to be placed inside the vaginal opening for the treatment of pelvic floor disorders. Accordingly, the medical device 200 is designed in conformation to the anatomical structure of the vaginal opening. However, it must be appreciated that various other designs of the medical device 200 and the flexible member 202 are possible and they can be configured to be placed in other body openings as well such as ear, nose, mouth, throat, anus, rectum, and the like. Accordingly, the length of the flexible member 202 and its various portions (distal 204, proximal 206, and elongate 208) is provided in accordance with the depth and anatomy of the particular body opening to be operated.
FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the medical device depicted in FIG. 2. As illustrated and discussed above, with respect to the perspective view of FIG. 2, the flexible member 202 includes the proximal end portion 206, distal end portion 204, and the elongate portion 208. The second size 212 is substantially greater than the first size 210 and the third size 214. Also, in some embodiments, the first ring 220 is inclined with respect to the second ring 222 (or the elongate portion 208). For example, in some embodiments, the first ring 220 may be inclined by an angle Ø.
FIG. 4 illustrates placement of a medical device 400 in a patient's body opening, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The medical device 400 includes a flexible member 402. The flexible member 402 includes a distal end portion 404, a proximal end portion 406, and an elongate portion 408. The distal end portion 404 includes a temporary fixation mechanism. In an embodiment, the temporary fixation mechanism has a ring referred to as a first ring 410. The proximal end portion 406 of the flexible member 402 has an open end. In an embodiment, the proximal end portion 406 includes a ring referred to as a second ring 412. The body portions of the patient such as a rectum 414, a uterus, 416, a vagina 420, and a urinary bladder 418 are also illustrated in FIG. 4. As shown, the flexible member 402 is placed inside the vagina 420 of the patient. The ring-shaped temporary fixation mechanism (first ring 410) coupled to the distal end portion 404 of the flexible member 402 is attached to an inner surface of the vagina 420 near the uterus 416. The elongate portion 408 of the flexible member 402 is in contact with outer surfaces of vaginal walls. The proximal end portion 406 of the medical device 400 extends out of the vagina 420 and covers an area around and outside the vaginal opening 420. In accordance with various embodiments, the flexible member 402 can be configured to cover an entire portion within the vaginal opening 420 (entire vulva) to help protect the surgical field from any foreign contamination. As discussed above also, in some embodiments, the medical device 400 may be placed in the patient's body for delivering a bodily implant such as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 illustrates delivery of a bodily implant 502 through the medical device 400 in a patient's body opening, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A piercing needle 504 for piercing the flexible member 402 at a desired location is also shown. The bodily implant 504 is placed at a desired location within the body opening via the incision created through the flexible member 402. The bodily implant 502 facilitates treatment of pelvic organ prolapse by providing a support to the prolapsed organ. The bodily implant 502 may be a sling, a mesh based device, and the like. In some embodiments, the body implant may be secured with specific tensions at posterior and anterior walls of the prolapsed organ to provide a support thereto.
In some embodiments, the flexible member may cover an entire portion of the vulva to help avoid contamination in the entire surgical field. FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-sectional diagram showing covering of a patient's entire vulva by the flexible member.
Referring now to FIG. 7 in conjunction with FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, a method 700 for conducting a surgery using the medical device 400 is described in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The medical device 400 is hereafter used to describe the surgery in an exemplary embodiment. However, in certain other embodiments, other medical devices such as the medical device 100, the medical device 200 may also be employed.
The method 700 includes placing a portion of the medical device 400 inside the body opening of the patient at step 702. The body opening is a natural orifice. In an embodiment of the present invention, the body opening may be the vaginal opening 420. In other embodiments, the body opening can be an ear, nose, mouth, throat, rectum, and the like. In some embodiments, a portion of the medical device 400 resides outside the body opening such that it can surround the opening at its external periphery. For example, the distal end portion 404 and the elongate portion 408 can be placed inside the body opening while the proximal end portion 406 resides outside the opening 420. In still other embodiments, only the second ring 412 provided at the proximal end portion 406 resides outside, while the rest of the proximal end portion 406 is placed inside the opening.
The method further includes stretching the distal end portion 404 and the elongate portion 408 of the flexible member 402 at step 704 so as to facilitate the adherence of the medical device to the inner surface of the body opening. In some embodiments, the stretching can be done radially to allow the outer surface of the flexible member 402 adhere to the inner surface of the vaginal opening 420. In some other embodiments, the stretching can be done longitudinally also to allow the flexible member 402 to cover an entire length of the inner surface of the vaginal opening 420. The distal end portion 404 includes the fixation mechanism for facilitating the adherence of the closed end of the distal end portion 404 to the inner surface of the body opening. The fixation mechanism has the first ring 410 such that on stretching the distal end portion 404, the first ring 410 stretches and contacts body locations near the uterus over a large surface.
The method further includes stretching the proximal end portion 406 of the flexible member 402 at step 706 so that the proximal end portion 406 of the flexible member 402 extends out of the body opening and covers an area outside and around the body opening. In some embodiments, the stretching can be done longitudinally to allow the extension of the proximal end portion 406 out of the body opening. In some other embodiments, the stretching can be done radially also to allow the proximal end portion 406 to cover an entire area around the body opening.
In some embodiments, the medical device may include an adhesive spread over a portion or throughout the outer surface of the flexible member 402. The adhesive spread over the outer surface of the flexible member 402 facilitates its adherence to body portions such as the inner surface of the body opening and an area outside and surrounding the body opening. The method may include fixing the flexible member to the body portions with the use of the adhesive for ensuring proper adherence of the outer surface of the flexible member 402 at appropriate locations inside the body opening. The adhesive facilitates proper placement or adherence of the flexible member 102 with the body portions.
Once the medical device 400 is placed and adhered to inside the body opening, the medical device 400 is pierced at a desired location at step 708 for conducting the surgical procedure. In accordance with various embodiments, the medical device 400 may be pierced using the piercing needle 504 which may be a surgical needle, piercing knife, or similar devices.
In some embodiments, the adherence of the flexible member 402 may involve sealing of the inner surface of the body opening by the flexible member 402 using an adhesive. The adhesive, keeps the flexible member 102 in place when it is pierced. For example, when the operator pierces the flexible member 102, the adhesive ensures that the flexible member 402 or a portion of the flexible member 402 surrounding the pierced location is appropriately attached and seals the inner surface of the body opening from any foreign body or material or equipment.
In some embodiments, thereafter, a bodily incision is created within the body opening at step 710 through the pierced medical device 400. Further, in an embodiment, the body incision may be dilated using incision tools or dilators if required. For example, if the bodily implant requires more space than the width of the incision, the operator may dilate the body incision to provide enough space.
Subsequently, the bodily implant 502 is delivered within the body opening at step 712. The bodily implant 502 is delivered through the pierced portion of the medical device 400 and through the incision within the body opening. The bodily implant 502 facilitates treatment of different types of prolapsed organ by providing support to the prolapsed organ. The bodily implant 502 may be a sling, a mesh based device, or the like. In some embodiments, the body implant 502 may be secured with specific tensions at posterior and anterior walls of the prolapsed organ to provide a support thereto.
The bodily incision is closed at step 714. The bodily incision may be closed using a suitable closure technique such as stitching, clamping, suturing, or the like. The medical device 400 is removed from within the body opening at step 716 after the surgical procedure is completed.
In accordance with the described embodiment, an incision is made to perform the surgical procedure. In some embodiments, the medical device described above may be used in conjunction with endoscopic guidance or other similar systems providing visualization of the surgical field. The endoscope or any other similar device for visualization may be inserted within the body opening through the medical device 400 and examine interior of the body opening to accurately fix the flexible member 402 and create an incision through it. The endoscope may also include a light delivery system to illuminate the interior of the opening.
In some embodiments, a medical device is configured to be inserted into a patient's body opening for facilitating a surgery. The medical device includes a flexible member. The flexible member is configured to be placed within the body opening so as to cover a portion of the body opening. The flexible member includes a distal end portion with a closed end, a proximal end portion with an open end, the proximal end portion is configured to extend out of the patient's body opening to cover an area around the patient's body opening, and an elongate portion joining the proximal end portion and the distal end portion.
In some embodiments, the medical device is configured to sterilize a surgical field during the surgery. In some embodiments, the flexible member is made of a polymeric material. In some embodiments, the distal end portion includes a fixation mechanism configured to expand and fix temporarily inside the body orifice. In some embodiments, the fixation mechanism includes a ring. In some embodiments, the proximal end portion includes a ring configured to be stretched out of the body opening.
In some embodiments, the device further includes an adhesive provided on a portion of the flexible member contacting an inner surface of the body opening. The adhesive is configured to facilitate adherence of the flexible member on the inner surface of the body opening. In some embodiments, the flexible member is coated with an active agent for enhancing sterility of the flexible member. In some embodiments, the active agent is an antimicrobial agent. In some embodiments, the active agent is an antiviral agent. In some embodiments, the active agent is an antifungal agent.
In some embodiments, the device includes a coating with a biocompatible lubricant for facilitating passage of the medical device inside the body opening.
In some embodiments, a method for conducting a surgery through a body opening of a patient, the method includes placing a portion of a medical device inside the body opening, the medical device including a distal end portion with a closed end, a proximal end portion with an open end, and an elongate portion joining the proximal end portion and the distal end portion, wherein the distal end portion and the elongate portion contacts an inner surface of the body opening and the proximal end portion resides out of the body opening upon placement; and piercing the medical device at a desired location for conducting the surgery.
In some embodiments, the method includes stretching the distal end portion and the elongate portion so that the medical device adheres to the inner surface of the body opening.
In some embodiments, the method includes stretching the proximal end portion of the medical device so that it extends out of the patient's body opening to cover an area outside and around the patient's body opening.
In some embodiments, the method includes creating a bodily incision within the body opening through the medical device. In some embodiments, the method includes delivering a bodily implant to a location within the patient's body through the pierced location formed in the medical device. In some embodiments, the method includes closing the bodily incision. In some embodiments, the method includes removing the medical device from the body opening after completing the surgery.
In some embodiments, a method for conducting an implant surgery through a vaginal opening of a patient includes placing a portion of a medical device inside the vaginal opening, the medical device including a flexible member having a distal end portion with a closed end, a proximal end portion with an open end, and an elongate portion joining the proximal end portion and the distal end portion, wherein the distal end portion and the elongate portion contacts outer surfaces of vaginal walls and the proximal end portion resides out of the vaginal opening upon placement; piercing the medical device at a desired location for conducting the implant surgery; and delivering a bodily implant within the patient's body through the pierced location formed in the medical device.
In some embodiments, the implant surgery is performed for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse. In some embodiments, the method includes covering an entire vulva of a patient's body with the flexible member before piercing the medical device. In some embodiments, the method includes fixing the flexible member onto the outer surfaces of the vaginal walls using an adhesive provided on an outer surface of the flexible member such that the adhesive allows adherence of the flexible member with the outer surfaces of the vaginal walls.
While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is not to be limited by the foregoing examples, but it is to be understood in the broadest sense allowable by law.
1. A medical device configured to be inserted into a patient's body opening for facilitating a surgery, the medical device comprising:
a flexible member configured to be placed within the body opening so as to cover a portion of the body opening, the flexible member having a sidewall defining a lumen configured to receive an implant, the flexible member including: a distal end portion having a closed end that closes the lumen of the flexible member, a proximal end portion having an open end configured to receive a portion of the implant, the proximal end portion configured to extend out of the patient's body opening to cover an area around the patient's body opening, and the sidewall including an elongate portion, the elongate portion joining the proximal end portion and the distal end portion, the lumen extending through the elongate portion, the elongate portion having an outer surface configured to contact body material inside the patient's body and an inner surface configured to contact the portion of the implant as the implant is inserted into the elongate portion via the open end, the inner surface including an active agent to promote sterility during a surgical procedure, the outer surface including an adhesive coating to assist with maintaining a position of the flexible member within the body opening,
wherein the sidewall of the flexible member includes a flexible material adapted to conform to a shape of an anatomical structure of an inner surface of the body opening, the flexible member being devoid of an opening through the sidewall before a surgical procedure, the flexible member configured to be pierced by a piercing needle during the surgical procedure thereby creating the opening through the sidewall.
2. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the flexible member includes a first ring coupled to the distal end portion and a second ring coupled to the proximal end portion, the second ring configured to be disposed outside of the patient's body while the first ring is configured to be disposed inside the patient's body.
3. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the elongate portion of the flexible member is a polymeric material.
4. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the distal end portion comprises a fixation mechanism configured to expand and fix temporarily inside a body orifice.
5. The medical device of claim 4, wherein the fixation mechanism includes a ring.
6. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the proximal end portion includes a ring configured to be stretched out of the body opening.
7. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the closed end of the distal end portion includes a ring having a central axis passing through a center of the distal end portion, the central axis of the ring being inclined by an angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the elongate portion.
8. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the flexible member has a hollow tubular shape.
9. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the active agent is an antimicrobial agent or an antiviral agent.
10. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the active agent is an antifungal agent.
11. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the inner surface of the elongate portion further includes a biocompatible lubricant for facilitating passage of the implant through the lumen of the flexible member.
12. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the elongate portion has a material with an elasticity such that the elongate portion can stretch laterally and longitudinally.
13. A system comprising:
a flexible member configured to be placed at least partially within a body opening, the flexible member having a sidewall defining a lumen configured to receive an implant, the flexible member having an outer surface configured to contact body material inside a patient's body and an inner surface configured to contact a portion of the implant as the implant is inserted into the flexible member, the inner surface including an active agent to promote sterility during a surgical procedure, the outer surface including an adhesive coating to assist with maintaining a position of the flexible member within the body opening; and
an insertion device configured to be coupled to the implant, the insertion device configured to move the portion of the implant into the lumen of the flexible member and pierce the sidewall of the flexible member,
wherein the flexible member includes a distal end portion having a closed end that closes the lumen of the flexible member, and a proximal end portion having an open end configured to receive the portion of the implant, the flexible member including a first ring coupled to the distal end portion of the flexible member and a second ring coupled to the proximal end portion of the flexible member.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first ring has a central axis passing through a center of the distal end portion of the flexible member, and the central axis of the ring is inclined by an angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the flexible member.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein the flexible member includes a flexible polymeric material configured to stretch laterally and longitudinally.
a flexible member configured to be placed at least partially within a vagina, the flexible member having a sidewall defining a lumen configured to receive an implant, the flexible member having an outer surface configured to contact an inner surface of the vagina, the flexible member having an inner surface configured to contact a portion of the implant as the implant is inserted into the flexible member, the inner surface including an active agent to promote sterility during a surgical procedure, the outer surface including an adhesive coating to assist with maintaining a position of the flexible member within the vagina; and
an insertion device configured to be coupled to the implant, the flexible member being devoid of an incision through the sidewall before a surgical procedure, the insertion device including a piercing portion configured to pierce the flexible member during the surgical procedure thereby creating the incision through the sidewall of the flexible member,
wherein the insertion device is configured to move the portion of the implant into the lumen of the flexible member and then out of the lumen via the incision of the sidewall.
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International Preliminary Report on Patentability for PCT Patent Application No. PCT/US2012/054860, Mar. 18, 2014, 7 pages.
Filed: Sep 11, 2012
Assignee: Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc. (Maple Grove, MN)
Inventors: Jamie Li (Lexington, MA), Timothy P. Harrah (Cambridge, MA)
Primary Examiner: David Bates
Current U.S. Class: Specific Material For Heart Valve (623/2.42)
International Classification: A61B 19/08 (20060101); A61B 17/34 (20060101); A61B 19/00 (20060101);
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Justia Patents Combined Inlet And OutletUS Patent for Ultrasonic consumption meter with locking mechanism Patent (Patent # 9,726,528)
Ultrasonic consumption meter with locking mechanism
Oct 11, 2016 - APATOR MIITORS APS
An ultrasonic consumption meter includes two ultrasonic transducers for emitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, a flow channel, an electronic circuit for operating the meter, and a housing for the ultrasonic transducers and the electronic circuit. The housing is locked in position relative to the flow channel by a locking mechanism, and the flow channel has two holes for allowing the housing to get into contact with a media flowing in the flow channel.
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This invention concerns an ultrasonic consumption meter for metering fluid substances such as water or gas, especially a meter exposed to condensing conditions or other harmful environments.
Electronic consumption meters are delicate equipment that will suffer when placed in harmful environments, unless sensitive parts are well protected. The main cause of dysfunction is due to corrosion of the electronic circuit or the components.
As an example, an electronic meter for cold water is exposed to condensing water from the surrounding air, due to the temperature difference between the water in the meter and the potentially humid air. Other potentially harmful components in the environment could be aggressive gases or dust. An electronic water meter is also in risk of being dysfunctional, if water from the flow channel penetrates the barrier between the flow channel and the electronics.
Several known ways exist for protecting sensitive electronics in an ultrasonic consumption meter, which will be discussed below
Hermetically sealed box for the electronics with sealed electrical connections between the transducers and the electronics. This is an effective solution, but unfortunately it is very costly, as sealed electrical connections are complex to manufacture.
Potted electronics with or without potted transducers (an example is shown in EP1983311). This is not a very effective solution for long-term exposure of moisture or water, as known materials for potting of electronics has a relatively high degree of vapor penetration. A water meter is typically used for many years, and in some cases it will even be submerged in water for very long periods. Thus the risk of damage to the meter is high in these conditions.
Multilayer protection of electronics and transducers (an example is shown in EP2083251). This can be effective in some applications, but it is complex and expensive.
Thus it is an objective to provide a cost-effective ultrasonic based consumption meter in which the sensitive parts are effectively protected against water and other harmful substances. Other parameters to take into consideration are the strength and durability of the meter, in particular the flow channel and the connections to connecting tubes such as treads.
It is the object of this invention to provide a low cost, durable, and long-lived ultrasonic consumption meter protected against moisture, water and other substances coming from the surroundings and from the inside of the flow channel.
The ultrasonic consumption meter comprises:
a flow channel for the media to be measured;
ultrasonic transducers for emitting and receiving ultrasound;
electronic circuit for operating the meter;
a housing for the transducers and electronic circuit; and;
a locking mechanism that locks the housing in position relative to the flow channel.
The flow channel directs the media to be measured between an inlet and an outlet. The flow channel has to be able to withstand the pressure of the media inside, and it has to be able to withstand forces applied to it from the outside. For a water meter, this is most preferably obtained if the flow channel is made of a metal such as brass or stainless steel, for a gas meter the strength requirements can be satisfied by polymers. In a beneficial embodiment, other features are placed in the flow channel between the inlet and the outlet, such as reflectors for redirecting ultrasonic waves, flow disturbance correctors, and dimension changes for optimization of the flow directions and velocities inside the flow channel. Such features can be made of several different materials, such as polymers, glass filled polymers or metal.
The housing comprises at least two parts: a cup and a lid, with a hermetical seal between the two.
The cup is most preferably made of a low-diffusion, high strength polymeric material, such as High Density-polymers like PPS (Polyphenylene Sulphide) or PSU (Polyether Sulfone). Although these materials are not completely impenetrable for water, the penetration rate is very small, and many years of safe operation can be expected. Further increase in material strength is achieved by a mixing the polymer with fibers, such as glass fibers or mineral fibers. 40% glass fibers are preferred, as this makes a comfortable compromise between produceability, cost, and strength. As an alternative the cup can be manufactured out of metal, but this is considered less optimal, due to cost and design constraints.
Some optional features as mentioned in the description of the flow channel can be mounted on the cup, such as reflectors or flow correctors.
The lid is also most preferably made of a low-diffusion material such as a High Density-polymer. Unfortunately most of these are opaque or light-tight, so if a display is a part of the electronic circuit, it cannot be seen. Thus in such cases, glass or special polymers like COC (CYCLIC OLEFIN COPOLYMER) are favorably used for the lid. These materials exhibits transparency as well as a low diffusion rate of water vapor.
The hermetical seal between the lid and the cup can be one or more o-rings, a fluid rubber material, a welding seam or glue.
The lid is preferably held in place by a locking ring. The locking holds the cup and the lid together, and it can be secured by a legal seal, so that opening of the meter leaves visible traces.
Depending on the materials used and the effectiveness of the seal, a small amount of water vapor might penetrate the housing during the years of use. In this case further protection of the electronics from corrosion is obtained by placing a desiccant inside the housing. Examples of desiccants are silica gel, calcium sulfate, calcium chloride, some types of clay, and molecular sieves.
Especially advantageous is a housing impenetrated by electrical wires, as this lowers the risk of imperfections and leakage of water vapor and other hazardous substances into the housing.
The ultrasonic transducers are typically made of a piezo electrical material, typically of the Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) type. The transducers emit ultrasonic waves when a voltage differential is asserted to them, and they produce an electrical charge when an ultrasonic pressure wave is asserted to them. At certain frequencies, depending on the material parameters and the mechanical shape of the transducers, the transformation between the energy forms voltage, ultrasonic pressure waves, and electrical charge is most efficient. Such frequencies are called resonance frequencies. When the piezo material is directly acoustically coupled to other materials, this will affect the resonance frequencies and the level of transformation between the different forms of energy. An advantageous position of the piezo electric material is inside the housing, so that electrical connections penetrating the housing are avoided. This means, that the piezo electric material is pressed against the housing at appropriate places, with an acoustical coupling material in between. The acoustical coupling material assures that acoustical energy is transported with little energy loss between the piezo electric material and the housing, and it can preferably be of the following types: silicon oil, silicon gel, glycol, glue, conducting glue, or oil. Appropriate force on the piezo electric material towards the housing is most preferably achieved by springs on the backside of the piezo electric material. Especially advantageous are metallic springs, with the additional function that they can be used for electrical connections between the piezo electric material and the electronic circuit.
The electronic circuit controls the emission and reception of ultrasonic signals, and converts the received signals to one or more usable values, depending on the flow in the flow channel. The values are shown on a display inside the housing, or it is transmitted to the outside of the housing by radio waves, magnetic pulses, electrostatic pulses, light pulses, or wires, or a combination of the six alternatives. Wireless transmission of values is preferred, so that electrical connections penetrating the housing can be avoided.
The electronic circuit is connected to a power supply, most preferably a battery placed inside the housing. Other solutions for the power supply are: a wired connection to an energy source outside the housing or an energy harvesting circuit placed inside the housing collecting mechanical, electromagnetic, magnetic, electrostatic, thermal, or radioactive energy from the environment and converting it to electrical energy. A harvesting circuit needs a power supply back-up system such as a rechargeable battery or a high capacity capacitor for periods without external energy sources.
The locking mechanism ensures that the housing does not move relative to the flow channel. This is important, as the piezo electric material is placed inside the housing, and thus movements between the housing and the flow channel potentially affects the measurement results.
Further, preferably the flow channel will have holes, so that ultrasound transmitted from the piezo electric material through the housing will enter easily into the media streaming in the flow channel. These holes must be sealed, so that the media will not flow outside the flow channel, so the sealing is placed between the housing and the flow channel. The locking mechanism ensures that this sealing has to absorb only small or no movements between the flow channel and the housing.
A simple locking mechanism could be screws holding the two pieces together, but a preferred solution is a locking mechanism with no screws, as this is the optimal solution for automated production. Such a locking mechanism is proposed in this invention.
On the outside of the flow channel protrusions are made so that one or more fixing pins locks the housing in position, when the fixing pins are inserted into matching holes in the cup, after this is correctly placed in position at the flow channel.
Alternatively, the holes in the cup can be incomplete, such as not completely surrounding the pins when they are inserted.
In the simplest form, the protrusions on the flow channel are positioned above protrusions on the cup with an offset. This allows the protrusions on the two parts to pass each other in the assembly process, so that the cup can be mounted on the flow channel without any protrusions from the two parts touching each other. The locking process is thus operating like a zipper, the housing and the flow channel being zipped together by the one or more locking pins.
It is preferred that the one or more locking pins are moved into position in a movement parallel to the flow channel as this allows a larger distribution area for the forces that arises on the housing, when the pressure in the flow channel rises.
An invisible locking mechanism can be obtained by hiding all the locking protrusions of one of the parts, by protrusions on the other part.
The one or more locking pins may advantageously be secured by a sealing, so that disassembly of the meter leaves a visible trace.
FIG. 1 illustrates a drawing of a complete consumption meter
FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the three parts involved in the locking mechanism
FIG. 3 illustrates an exploded view of the complete meter
FIG. 4 illustrates a sliced view of the complete meter. The insert 10a is fixed in its position, by the feature 10b on the cup
FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b illustrate a detail of the locking mechanism, with full holes in the cup as part of the locking mechanism
FIG. 5c and FIG. 5d illustrate a detail of the locking mechanism, with simple protrusions on the cup as part of the locking mechanism
FIG. 6 illustrates a detail of an invisible locking mechanism
Referring now to the drawings, the elements are numbered as follows:
A lid (1) is part of the housing. If a display or a front plate is present inside the housing, a transparent lid is advantageous. The lid is a part of the housing.
A front plate (2) with information about the consumption meter, is visible through the lid. The information can be of the following kind, but is not limited to: meter number, approval number, meter type, vendor name, utility name, meter size, or machine readable information such as barcodes or patterns.
An electronic circuit (3), comprising a Printed Circuit Board, electronic components, a power supply unit, such as a battery, and a display is part of the meter. In an advantageous embodiment, the interfaces for communication, such as optical communication, radio communication, or wired communication are a part of the electronic circuit. In addition to values derived from measurements, the display can optionally show information received via the communication interfaces. In an especially advantageous embodiment, a pressure sensitive device is included in the electronic circuit, so that the pressure in the hermetically sealed housing is supervised.
A locking ring (4) holds the lid and the cup together. The ring is divided at one place on the perimeter, so that it can be fixed around the lid and the cup. In a consumption meter used for billing it is advantageous to secure the locking ring with a seal, so that it is impossible to open the lid without breaking the seal or the locking ring. An advantageous means for sealing is a wire drawn through two holes on the locking ring, one hole on each side of the division of the ring. Alternatively a piece of marked adhesive tape that breaks when it is removed can be used as a seal. A polymeric material is most advantageous for the locking ring the material can be with or without reinforcing fibers.
A piezo electric material, transducers, (5) emit and receive ultrasound signals. A suitable material is PZT sintered and machined to size and then polarized. In Doppler effect based consumption meters a single piece of piezo electric material suffices in most cases, for consumption meters based on the transit time principle, at least two pieces of piezo electric material are needed.
A cup (6), is a part of the housing that holds the electronic circuit and the piezo electric material. In some embodiments it is beneficial to design the cup large enough for a desiccant to be placed inside the housing. The desiccant can be placed in a separate compartment with a separate lid inside the cup, or it can be handled in a small bag which is put inside the cup. The cup is attached to the flow channel with one or more locking pins. The cup is most preferably made in a single piece of fiber reinforced polymer. As the housing is hermetically sealed, it can be difficult to press the lid into the cup in an environment with normal air-pressure, as the air trapped inside the housing will apply an increased pressure on the lid from the inside when the lid is closing. Thus it is beneficial to locally lower the pressure of the air surrounding the housing during the assembly process, such as in an air tight assembly box. Alternatively a small hole on the side of the cup will allow air to be pressed out during the assembly of the lid, and then the hole can be plugged at a later stage. The plug can be of the same material as the cup or another material, and it can be glued, welded or pressed to the cup, alternatively the plug is sealed with an o-ring or similar. For practical reasons, the diameter of the cup is typically less than 15 cm and larger than 3 cm. The height of the cup is typically less than 6 cm and larger than 1 cm.
A sealing means (7) can be located between the flow channel and the housing. In the preferred embodiment this sealing means consists of one or more o-rings. The o-rings prevent the media to be measured by the meter to escape from the flow channel. The o-ring has preferably a material diameter of 0.5 to 4 mm, and the hole typically has a diameter of 5 to 15 mm. The o-rings are made of rubber-like or thermoplastic material.
One or more locking pins (8) fasten the housing to the flow channel. The locking pin is inserted parallel or perpendicular to the flow channel between protrusions in the cup and the flow channel. This way the two parts are locked together. After insertion, the locking pin can be secured by sealing means that prevents extraction of the pin without leaving a visible trace on the seal or the housing or the flow channel. An advantageous sealing means is a wire drawn through a hole in the locking pin. The seal securing the locking pin can be combined with the seals securing the locking ring.
A flow channel (9) directs the media to be metered from an inlet to an outlet. In a preferred embodiment, the media is water, and the flow channel is made of an extruded piece of brass that is cut to a suitable length and then machined for the desired shape. On one side of the flow channel, protrusions are cut out of the brass with a milling cutter, so that shapes suitable for a locking mechanism are made. On the same side of the flow channel as the protrusions, one or more circular holes are made in the flow channel. The holes have an extended diameter on the outer side for o-rings. These one or more holes fit with circular shapes on the cup, so that a water tight sealing can be designed with the one or more o-rings between the flow channel and the cup. In another preferred embodiment, the media is gas, and the flow channel is made of a polymeric material. In this case the holes and the protrusions are created at the time of casting of the flow channel.
Features 10b, 13 are inside the flow channel. These are preferably made by an insert 10a, made of polymeric material reinforced with glass fibers. On the insert 10a, metallic objects are optionally fixed for reflexion of the ultrasound or for redirection of the flow of the media to be metered. The shape of the polymeric insert serves as reflectors 10b or redirectors in an especially advantageous embodiment. In some embodiments, some of the features such as reflectors 13 are fixed to the cup before it is mounted on the flow channel. In an especially advantageous embodiment, an insert 10a put into place from either the inlet or the outlet is fixed into place by the placement of the cup on the flow channel. This is achieved by having features on the cup 13 going into indents or holes on the insert.
Protrusions (11) on the cup serve as a part of the locking mechanism. In an embodiment that needs maximum strength, it is an advantage to design these protrusions as holes. In an embodiment with less constraints on strength, it is an advantage to design the protrusions as incomplete holes, such as simple protrusions.
Protrusions (12) on the flow channel, serve as part of the locking mechanism. In some embodiments it is an advantage to protect the locking mechanism from tampering, and a hidden locking mechanism is preferred. This is designed by extending the protrusion on the flow channel or the cup over the locking mechanism, so that it cannot be seen or manipulated from the outside.
Features (13) in the flow channel fixed to the cup.
Sealing means (14) can be located between the cup and the lid. In the preferred embodiment, this sealing means consists of one or more o-rings. Redundant o-rings will increase the robustness of the meter in the case of imperfections on one of the parts involved in the sealing that is the lid, the cup or an o-ring. The one or more o-rings is made of a rubber-like or thermoplastic material.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with preferred and advantageous embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specified form and applications. Rather, the scope of the present invention is limited only by the accompanying claims.
In this section, certain specific details of the disclosed embodiments are elaborated for purposes of explanation rather than limitation, so as to provide a clear and thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it should be understood readily by those skilled in this art that the present invention may be applied in other embodiments which do not conform exactly to the details shown, without departing significantly from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Further, in this context, and for the purposes of brevity and clarity, detailed descriptions of well-known apparatus, circuits and methodology have been omitted so as to avoid unnecessary detail and possible confusion.
1. An ultrasonic consumption meter comprising:
a flow channel through which flows a media to be measured;
two ultrasonic transducers that emit and receive ultrasound;
an electronic circuit that operates the meter;
a single sealed housing enclosing the transducers and the electronic circuit;
the housing comprising a cup, a lid and a seal;
a locking mechanism that locks the housing in position relative to the flow channel; and
wherein the flow channel has two holes by which the housing is in contact with the media.
2. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism consists essentially of screws holding the housing and flow channel together.
3. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism consists of screws holding the housing and flow channel together and protrusions on said cup.
4. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism is positioned below said lid.
5. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism extends from a lower part of the housing and connects to an upper part of the flow channel.
6. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 1, wherein said lid is transparent.
7. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 6, further comprising a display inside the housing.
8. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 7, further comprising a front plate inside the housing.
9. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 8, wherein said display is a part of the electronic circuit.
10. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 1, further comprising a locking ring that holds said lid and said cup together.
11. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 1, wherein the lid is not penetrated by electrical wires.
12. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 8, wherein said cup has a diameter less than 15 cm and larger than 3 cm such that said housing is of sufficient volume to accommodate said transducers, electronic circuit, display and front plate.
13. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 12, wherein said cup has a height less than 6 cm and larger than 1 cm.
14. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 12, wherein said cup diameter extends beyond a width of said flow channel.
15. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 1, further comprising an o-ring that provides a water tight seal for the housing.
16. The ultrasonic consumption meter according to claim 10, further comprising an o-ring that provides a seal for the housing.
17. An ultrasonic consumption meter comprising:
a display for displaying values, said display being part of the electronic circuit,
a single sealed housing enclosing the transducers, the electronic circuit, the display, and a front plate and a power supply;
the housing comprising a cup, a transparent lid that is not penetrated by electrical wires, a seal between said lid and said cup, a locking ring that holds said lid and cup together and an o-ring that provides a seal for the housing;
a locking mechanism, comprising screws positioned below said lid, extending from a lower part of the housing and connecting to an upper part of said flow channel, wherein said locking mechanism locks said housing in position relative to the flow channel; and
a display for displaying values that is part of the electronic circuit,
the housing comprising a cup with protrusions, a transparent lid that is not penetrated by electrical wires, a seal between said lid and said cup, a locking ring that holds said lid and cup together and an o-ring that provides a seal for the housing;
a locking mechanism, consisting essentially of screws and said protrusions on said cup for holding the housing and flow channel together, said locking mechanism being positioned below said lid, extending from a lower part of the housing and connecting to an upper part of said flow channel, wherein said locking mechanism locks said housing in position relative to the flow channel;
wherein the flow channel has two holes by which the housing is in contact with the media; and
wherein said cup has a diameter less than 15 cm and larger than 3 cm and a height less than 6 cm and larger than 1 with sufficient volume to enclose the transducers, the electronic circuit, the display, the front plate and the power source.
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Filed: Oct 11, 2016
Date of Patent: Aug 8, 2017
Assignee: APATOR MIITORS APS
Inventor: Jens Drachmann (Viby J)
Primary Examiner: Jewel V Thompson
Current U.S. Class: Combined Inlet And Outlet (285/30)
International Classification: G01F 1/66 (20060101); G01F 15/14 (20060101); G01F 15/18 (20060101);
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Introducing the Pearl and Maude Design Studio
by Teale
Teale Hatheway and the view from above Broadway, Los Angeles
Hi. My name is Teale, and I am the Pearl and Maude Design Studio. I am a Los Angeles based fine art painter and installation artist who is obsessed with classical design, historic architecture, color and interior design. I’ve been showing and selling my work in museums and galleries for about six years. I love the art world and the seriousness with which we approach our processes and concepts. I am also a firm believer that joy brings joy and the weight of the world is more easily carried by a focus on beauty, wisdom and generosity.
Being an artist from Los Angeles, you may wonder how I could know anything about historic architecture. The stereotype that LA has no history is changing, but for most of my life, Los Angeles has been known as the blank canvas upon which people re-invent themselves: leave their history behind. Not me! As a fifth generation Angeleno, born and raised in Pasadena, the LA area IS my history. From our long-gone family farm in the Hollywood Hills to the Brock and Company Jewelry Building where my grandparents romantically met over an alarming case of cyanide poisoning, Los Angeles is filled with stories of my heritage.
The artistry of the remaining buildings where these events transpired makes the stories more tangible. Elements such as vaulted ceilings, Art Deco sculptures and Moroccan tiles provide powerful anchors to memories that transcend generations. I have a spiritual connection to the world around me through its beautiful textures, colors and structures.
A Pearl and Maude pattern derived from a vibrant painting of an old street light by Teale.
As we seek to house a rapidly growing urban population, things around Southern California have been changing. It seems every block has a new, four story, international style box of apartments. Facades are intermittently set back and painted different colors resulting in a faux-urban fabric. On the interiors, floors are indistinguishable from each other, resulting in a surreal feeling of always being lost. Of significant note, this trend is not specific to Southern California. US cities and towns and homes are coming to lose their unique characters. One neighborhood at a time, they are becoming indistinguishable from each other. Simultaneously, studies show a quickly growing interest in preserving our architectural heritage and that people naturally gravitate to historic districts. Herein lies the beauty, wisdom and generosity on which we, at Pearl and Maude focus. We are here to help create memorable spaces and places.
Great, great grandfather Jacob Miller’s ranch at Nichols Canyon and what would become Hollywood Boulevard. 1870s
The Pearl and Maude design studio was born from my obsession with place-making and style. Interpreting space is my super-power, color is my secret weapon, texture and layers are my favorite tools, and lighting is almost everything else. Turning my contemporary classicist paintings into rhythmic, new traditional patterns for home, fashion and lifestyle is my way of bringing the beauty of heritage design into daily life. If we will live in plain, functional buildings, let us fill them with inspired forms and features. If we live in historic structures, let’s update them with contemporary riffs on traditional motifs. Bring beauty, craftsmanship and joy into your surroundings. Create new memories that last generations.
We are here to create memorable spaces and places
We at Pearl and Maude (which is currently just me and my spiritual advisors Pearl and Maude) invite you to join us on our journey to reveal the true value of beauty. To do this, we are launching our VIP Collectors’ Circle as a way to support our search for the highest quality American-made products. Our mission is to help you express your unique style while supporting organizations working to protect our historic buildings. Pearl and Maude donates 10% of all proceeds from Collectors’ Circle to a charity working to save our history.
Subscribe here to join the movement: {{Privy:Embed campaign=335334}}
Architecture, Beautiful Design, Historic Buildings, Los Angeles, Teale
Pearl and Maude is a contemporary design studio based out of Los Angeles, California. We are interested in the broad cross cultural relevance of architecture and classical forms. All Pearl and Maude designs are derived from urban, cityscape paintings by Teale Hatheway. We aim to delight and add depth to our daily lives through lively patterns and thoughtful gestures. Thank you for joining us!
Categories Select CategoryEvents (2)Holiday Greetings (1)How To (1)Inspiration (8)Quotes (1)The VIP Collectors’ Circle (1)
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The Skier Scribbler
Skier TV
A glance back at 2020
Edwin Ryerson, Staff Writer|January 8, 2021
Photo courtesy of Smith Agley
Local protestors marching in the streets to support Black Lives Matter.
A look back at the year of solitude and tragedy with touches of success and inspiration.
Jan. 3 – President Donald Trump was notified of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.
Jan. 16 – The US Senate began the impeachment trial of President Trump after his impeachment in the US House of Representatives in late 2019.
Jan. 26 – A helicopter crash in Calabasas left nine dead, including retired NBA star Kobe Bryant.
Jan. 30 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern.
The US had reached 11 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of January.
Feb. 5 – The US Senate acquitted President Trump on the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Feb. 27 – The Dow Jones Index suffers its biggest fall after closing down 1,190.95 points.
Feb. 29 – The US and the Taliban agreed on terms to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan.
The US had reached 66 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of February.
March 3 – The World Bank pledged $12 billion for developing countries to fight against the coronavirus.
March 11 – The WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic.
March 15 – Aspen Ski Co closed all four mountains following an order from Colorado governor Jared Polis.
March 18 – The US and Canadian governments agreed to close the US-Canada border.
March 23 – The UN Secretary-General called for a global ceasefire.
March 27 – President Trump signed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package into law.
The US had reached 140,640 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of March.
Aspen residents continued to hit the slopes as hiking and skinning became a popular pastime.
April 1 – Aspen School District began remote learning after taking an extra week of spring break to prepare for the new learning landscape.
April 20 – US oil went negative for the first time.
The US had reached 1,003,974 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of April.
Irish fundraisers raised over $2 million for the US Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation as repayment for aid given to them during the Irish Potato Famine. The tribes have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic.
May 1 – Canada announced a ban on 1,500 types of assault-style weapons.
May 1 – Armed protestors gathered outside of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s house to protest the new stay-at-home order.
May 19 – Nature Climate Change published a study showing that global greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% while in lockdown.
May 25 – George Floyd was murdered while in the Minneapolis police custody, prompting racial justice protests nationwide.
The US had reached 1,734,040 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of May.
The US government released data showing that African Americans are four times more likely to be hospitalized than whites highlighting the racial disparities experienced in the US.
June 8 – Kathy Sullivan, a former astronaut, became the first woman to reach the ocean’s deepest point, along with being the first American woman to spacewalk.
June 9 – The US Senate confirmed General Charles Q. Brown as Air Force Chief of Staff, making him the first African American to lead a US Armed Forces branch.
June 15 – The Supreme Court ruled in a landmark case 6-3 that gay and transgender workers cannot be discriminated against in the workplace.
June 18 – The US Supreme Court ruled that the Dreamers Program (DACA) would stay.
The US had reached 2,537,636 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of June.
July 1 – The US recorded 50,000 new cases in one day for the first time.
July 9 – The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mcgirt in McGirt v. Oklahoma, a massive victory for Oklahoma’s Native American population.
The US had reached 4,388,566 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of July.
Aug. 11 – Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate, announced Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Aug. 19 – Apple became the first US company to reach a $2 trillion valuation.
Aug. 23 – Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot Jacob Blake, prompting more racial justice protests nationwide.
Aug. 31 – Aspen High School officially started remote learning.
The US had reached 5,899,504 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of August.
Sept. 6 – Los Angeles County recorded their hottest day ever, with temperatures reaching 121℉.
Sept. 9 – Bob Woodward’s new book, Rage, reveals that President Trump downplayed the pandemic to avoid panic.
Sept. 15 – Scientific American issued their first-ever presidential endorsement of a candidate in 175 years by backing Joe Biden.
Sept. 18 – Ruth Bader Ginsburg, US Supreme Court Justice and women’s rights activist, died at 87 years old.
Sept. 22 – The US reached 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.
Sept. 24 – President Trump nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement, Amy Coney Barrett, just 39 days before the polls close on election day.
The US had reached 7,077,015 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of September.
Oct. 2 – President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for coronavirus. The President was then hospitalized later that day; he returned to the White House just days later while still infectious.
The US had reached 8,852,730 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of October.
Nov. 2 – Aspen High School students returned for one full hybrid learning cycle.
Nov. 3 – The next day, the polls closed as the decisive election came to an end, with over 156 million Americans voting and the highest turnout rate since 1900.
Nov. 7 – Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election; Kamala Harris made history as the first woman and first woman of color to be elected to the vice presidency.
Nov. 9 – BioNTech and Pfizer announced their coronavirus vaccine to be over 90% effective after phase 3 trials.
Nov. 16 -Moderna announced that their vaccine was at least 94% effective.
Nov. 25. – Aspen Mountain and Snowmass opened for social distanced skiing and snowboarding. Nov. 29 – Joe Biden and Kamala Harris announced the first all-female communications team for the White House.
The US had reached 13,082,877 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of November.
Dec. 14 – The Electoral College reaffirmed Joe Biden’s victory.
Dec. 14 – The US reached 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.
Dec. 14 – Colorado started administering COVID-19 vaccines for frontline workers.
Dec. 18 – Aspen Valley Hospital received Pitkin County’s first COVID-19 vaccines; Buttermilk and Aspen Highlands opened for skiing and snowboarding.
The US had reached 19,346,790 recorded coronavirus cases by the end of December.
As we look back on this wild year, we should appreciate the positive aspects and the support communities have provided to those in need. We must move into this new year with purpose and remember to stay vigilant in social distancing/safe practices.
Edwin Ryerson,
Edwin is a freshman at AHS, and this is his first year writing for the Skier Scribbler. He enjoys exploring the mountains, running, climbing, skiing, mountain...
Wednesday Workshops: community through learning
Power to Pakistan’s Covid-19 masks help girls achieve their dreams
COVID and the holidays
Winter activities in Aspen: the alternative to skiing
Skier Scribbler Teacher and Staff Appreciation
The importance of skiing during COVID
TikTok songs, the Billboard Charts, and the albums they stem from
New pilot Robert Holton soars to great heights
A needle away from recovery
What does level red mean for tourism?
AHS teachers coping with constant changes
Guest Interview from IB French
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What Are the Observations of a Goals-Based Evaluation?
By George N. Root III
Examples of Project Rationale
What Is a Strategic Project?
The Milestones in Marketing Plans
Components of Project Scope Statements
Three Keys to Making a Strategic Analysis
Goals-based evaluation is a method used to determine the actual outcome of a project when compared to the goals of the original plan. Performing a goals-based evaluation helps a company to further develop successful processes and either discard or reconfigure unsuccessful ones. There are certain observations that are used to gauge a project when using a goals-based evaluation that can help the efficiency of a small business.
An understanding of how the goals were established for a particular project is an important part of a goals-based evaluation. Project goals need to be grounded in research and use historical data to be effective as performance measuring tools. For example, a sales goal for an upcoming marketing project may have used two years of historical data. The goals-based evaluation of the project may determine that four years of historical data is a better way to create sales projections.
Part of planning a project is establishing a timeline for achieving goals. The timeline includes milestones that are used as points where the actual data is compared to projections. One of the observations made by a goals-based evaluation is whether the timeline was appropriate for the project and if the milestones were placed effectively. For example, data may indicate that a marketing promotion that ran for six months saw a decline in revenue after only three months. This data is used to determine the schedule for future projects.
A project needs the proper resources to ensure completion. Part of a goals-based evaluation is to determine if the necessary resources were allotted to the project. These resources include personnel, funding, preliminary research and third-party participants such as media outlets and product distribution companies.
Projects are developed based on the list of priorities that will help to achieve the final goal. A goals-based evaluation will indicate if those priorities were correct, or if any changes need to be made for future projects. For example, a marketing plan indicates that advertising should be designed before contacting media outlets for pricing. But the goals-based evaluation of the project indicates that advertisers can give a variety of prices that can save the company money. The advertising should, therefore, be developed after discussing pricing options with advertisers.
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich; Goal-Based Evaluation; April 2009
Institute of Museum and Library Services; Outcome Based Evaluation; Matt Birnbaum
The Grantsmanship Center; A Basic Guide to Program Evaluation; Carter McNamara; 2002
Western Michigan University; Goal-Free Evaluation and Goal-Based Evaluation; Brandon W. Youker
George N. Root III began writing professionally in 1985. His publishing credits include a weekly column in the "Lockport Union Sun and Journal" along with the "Spectrum," the "Niagara Falls Gazette," "Tonawanda News," "Watertown Daily News" and the "Buffalo News." Root has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York, Buffalo.
Project Evaluation Strategies
The Key Points of a Marketing Plan
How to Write a Marketing Research Proposal
Needs Identification for a Team Project
Limitation for a Marketing Research Project
Guidelines for Conducting a Project Audit
How to Convert Boardmaker to PDF
Evaluation Techniques of Promotion
Success Factors for Projects
1 Project Evaluation Strategies
2 The Key Points of a Marketing Plan
3 How to Write a Marketing Research Proposal
4 Needs Identification for a Team Project
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Climbing Up Like a Spider – Alpine Echoes – Part 2.
SurLaJante in Roads to Ride June 28, 2019 June 28, 2019 2,779 Words
Total Distance: 59 km/37 miles with 1,752 m of climbing
Route & Ride Profile
L’Alpe d’Wheeze
I wake hale and hearty after a reasonable night’s sleep, much to everyone’s consternation as, based on past experience, they were expecting a shambling, pallid, hollowed out, shell of a man to emerge after a night of intense sickness.
I cram down a cereal bar and set to work re-assembling the bike. It seems to have survived its passage through three airports unscathed. The same can’t be said of the bike bag, which bears a large rip across the bottom. It’s more cosmetic than crucial, but annoying nonetheless.
It takes half an hour or so to build the bike up and then I’m good to go. (Lying to the British Airways baggage handler and assuring him my tyres were deflated helped. Contrary to popular myth, they didn’t explode in the hold and I’d read that keeping them inflated could help protect your rims, so that’s what I did. )
My cabin companions are not so lucky. Kermit finds his headset cap is missing, or more precisely, he suspects it isn’t missing, it just hasn’t travelled with him and is sitting proudly on display, in the middle of his kitchen table at home.
Even worse, he then discovers he’s forgotten to pack his pedals.
Meanwhile, Biden Fecht has assembled his bike, but his rear derailleur seems askew and is making his chain rattle like a rusty anchor dropping through a ships scupper.
An urgent trip is scheduled to the bike shops in Bourg d’Oisans, to be there as soon as they open. The van is loaded up with the bikes and away they go.
While we wait, after about seven years of riding with me, Crazy Legs finally notices how stupidly long my stem is. I explain it’s a consequence of having gibbon-like arms and I immediately become Mr. Tickle to Crazy Legs. Oh well, it keeps him tickled while we wait.
Then, Buster determines his derailleur is playing up. Shifting up the cassette is a decidedly hit-and-miss affair and then, after a bit of (supposedly) remedial fiddling, just a miss affair. Climbing the Alpe under the best of circumstances is a daunting prospect, doing it without leg-friendly, climbing gears sounds like utter madness, so Buster too departs for the local bike shops.
The rest of us are ready to go by the time Biden Fecht and Kermit return. Their trip has been a success, but they’ve still got a degree of fettling, preparation, essential male grooming and breakfasting to do. Crazy Legs suggest the rest of us make a start, while he hangs back to wait for Buster, Kermit and Biden Fecht and then they’ll follow in a second group.
It seems like a reasonable plan, so the rest of us saddle up, clip in and ride out.
At the entrance to the campsite we’re passed by a camper van trailing the unmistakable odour of burning clutch. Ah, the traditional smell I’ve learned to associate with l’Alpe d’Huez. I’m confused when we turn left onto the main road though, heading away from the climb and out into the town.
This diversion, it turns out is our warm up, a quick blast through town, an equally quick turnaround and then we’re heading for the Alpe. Ah OK, guess that makes sense, but I’m not sure it was all that effective as a warm up. We pass the entrance to the campsite and almost immediately begin to climb.
The first few ramps are by far the hardest and a shock to the system. It’s no surprise to hear a chorus of clunk-clunk-clunk-clunk-fuck! as everyone quickly finds they’ve run out of gears. The Hammer starts to open up a lead and I follow at a more relaxed pace, with Ovis and Steadfast in close attendance. The Big Yin and, more surprisingly, Caracol are hanging back.
Approaching the third hairpin and our way is blocked by a cyclist and what appears to be his support car. Neither of them are travelling all that fast, as the cyclist takes the longest sticky bottle hand-off I have ever seen. I’m talking minutes here. If the riders already struggling this much, I’m not sure how he’ll cope with the remaining hour plus he’ll need to climb the mountain.
We finally forge a way past the cyclist and support car and settle into a steady rhythm. It’s cool, the roads are wet and the air damp. I seemed to have found a pace that’s comfortable for Ovis and Steadfast and the three of us form a tight knot as we push upwards, occasionally swapping turns on the front.
At some point in the early stages of the climb Caracol glides past and slowly disappears up the road, en route to a sub-hour ascent.
I remember to occasionally rise out of the saddle, just so I don’t get locked in to one posture, and I count down the hairpins, once again squinting at the tiny signs to try read the TdF stage winners. I find a sign commemorating Joop Zoetemelk’s win, but its for his 1979 triumph on the mountain, not the ’76 version, where he had the temerity to beat Van Impe.
Armstrong’s still up there (#boohiss) but then again, so is Pantani (#boohisstoo). I quite easily spot those for the most recent winners (perhaps they’re a bit shinier?) – Turbo Peanut (as a website has fabulously nicknamed one of the two, great French hope’s for the Tour) and Geraint Thomas, the very first Brit (or Welshman if you prefer) to win a TdF stage on the Alpe. Still, I miss more of the signs and their associated names than I actually see.
It’s cold, overcast and a little rainy, but there’s never a point when I actually feel cool and the backwash of chilled air from the few streams that tumble down the hillside before ducking under the road, provides brief, welcome relief.
Names and messages of encouragement disappear under my wheels at regular intervals, scrawled across the road surface in spidery, mostly white lines. The majority seem to be aimed at everyday club riders, rather than the pro’s. None of them make much of an impression.
We’re too early in the morning for the first of the photographers, but the second one gets a few shots of our compact trio and I get complaints as I’m on the front and supposedly hogging the limelight. I don’t know … what do these people expect to happen when they choose to ride alongside someone so obviously charismatic and photogenic?
Meanwhile, back in reality, we’re onto the last, long and straight drag up to the village of Huez itself. We turn the corner and drive across the unofficial-official finish line, opposite the bars already busy with cyclists. Then of course we keep going, because, despite the finish line and the flags and bunting and the photo-podium, we know this isn’t actually the finish of the climb.
We head through the underpass, made famous by all those TV broadcasts of the Tour and continue to climb upwards. I took a wrong turn the last time and ended up completing a circuit of an immense empty coach park, right next to where the last few ski chalets petered out. I then had to drop downhill until I met Crazy Legs climbing up the other way, turn around again and follow him to the official finish.
This time I’m glad to have Steadfast in tow, assured he knows the right route. I’m also forearmed with instructions from Crazy Legs to turn right at the big boulders … except the boulders appear to have been removed and even Steadfast seems unsure of the way.
We zig and we zag our way across the mountainside, until we find what we think is the right road. In our defence, all of them, including the “right” one, look remarkably bland, characterless, municipal and indistinguishable from each other. We spot Caracol and the Hammer waiting, know we’re on the right track, so I kick hard and jump away from my two companions to finish with a bit of a flourish.
I needn’t have bothered, for whatever reason, but most probably operator error, my Garmin covered an entire 1 second of my ride from the campsite to the summit, so Steadfast had to “tag” me onto his Strava file and I shared the same time as him.
The actual finish is marked by the smallest, most easily overlooked, tattiest and most unprepossessing of signs. Perhaps it’s no wonder most people stop in the village, it’s certainly not worth the extra effort to get up here and see.
Inadequate signage seems to be a recurring theme in France-land. They’re not big on signs and what signs they do have are not big. I mean, I’m not asking for some of the visual graffiti you find in other urban landscapes, but there’s a fine line between discrete and invisible. A case in point, it’s not until we actually start to head back down to the village that I see a few “Route de Tour” signs directing you to the official finish. They’re small and blend so seamlessly into their surroundings that no one else in our group even seems to notice them.
I complained last time about the signs naming the hairpins on the Alpe being paltry and utterly underwhelming – they’re really difficult to read when riding up (and obviously impossible to read when swooping down). I still feel the same way – and personally think these near mythic rides and riders deserve celebrating with a grand gesture, not an afterthought.
Once we ‘ve all arrived safely, we press gang an innocent bystander into taking the obligatory group photo …
And then we head back to Huez to join the other cyclists in the cafe for some well-earned refreshments and to wait for the rest of our crew to appear.
The first through is Kermit, looking mildly startled by the sudden burst of cheering and applause that erupts from the side of the rode as he scoots past, failing to spot us. He’s followed in close order by Biden Fecht, Buster and Crazy Legs, all crossing the “finish line” in a burst of wild cheering and applause, before disappearing through the underpass and away.
It isn’t too long before they’re back and we’re a united group again. We order lunch and another round of drinks, the sun breaks out and we can sit back and relax for a while, watching all the coming and going’s and admiring some of the glossy, sleek bikes lined up in the racks at the side of the road.
We learn that all the local bike shops in Bourg d’Oisans are good, helpful and friendly. They’d fixed all our bikes and happily sold Kermit a brand new pair of pedals, that perfectly match the over-looked pair from home that he finally rediscovers in his bag later that day.
Buster’s problems were caused by a badly frayed gear cable, which could have snapped at any time, including halfway up a mountain. The mechanic also insists on changing out his worn brake blocks, which seems sensible as, I think even Biden Fecht might blanch at descending l’Alpe D’Huez without brakes, despite his past experience with such things.
As we’re sitting there, some sprightly, older feller, with a strong Central European accent, asks if he can borrow the posh, shiny and expensive-looking Cannondale hanging on the rack in front of us, apparently so he can be photographed with it. It seems like a harmless, but strange request. We explain it’s not our bike and he wanders off, before returning again, with the same odd enquiry.
“I’m sponsored by Cannondale,” he explains, “but I’m riding my Pinerello today.”
What? Yeah, right. Get-away …
We reiterate that it’s not our bike. He takes it anyway. Too weird.
We start to discuss our options, with no one in favour of a direct return to the campsite. We could continue on to the Col de Sarenne, which we did last time, or, the Hammer suggests we could descend almost to the bottom of the Alpe, to the village of La Garde and then take the road that clings to the side of the mountain, the Balcon d’Auris.
A Road By Any Other Name
The quartet who did the Sarenne last time all feel it wasn’t that great a route, so we agree on the balcony ride. It became a route whose name seemed to change every time we talked about it, until it became a bit of a running joke and was referred to variously as the balcony ride, the ledge ride, the mantelpiece ride, the pelmet ride, the shelf ride, the terrace ride and even, at one point, the skirting board ride.
It would add another 25km, or so to our total, heading along the “Route de la Roche” as we climbed from just over 700 to almost 1,600 metres, with a maximum gradient of 13%.
This road clings precariously to the side of the mountain, with a low, stone parapet the only thing shielding you from a long, vertical drop and doing nothing to restrict brilliant views right across the valley floor. In places the road narrows to about a cars width, but thankfully, on the day we rode it, is mostly traffic free. I think we only encountered one car on our great traverse, although even this produced a modicum of uncomfortable tension as it squeezed past.
Things were going well until just before the village of Le Cert, where we ran into a roadblock and route barrée signs. For once these signs were quite prominent and unmissable. Here we paused for a rest and to assess our options.
Should we ignore the signs and press-on, hoping that whatever disruption there was we could get through, or walk around, or should we follow the suggested diversion that could take us well out of our way and potentially lead back up the mountain.
One option discussed was to send Kermit on ahead, to see if he could get through, “our canary in a mine” as Crazy Legs put it. In the end we just bit the bullet and followed the diversion. Looking at the map afterwards, it seemed to add a kilometre or so to our journey and just a touch more climbing, before we were back on track and on the long snaking descent down to Le Frency d’Oisans.
Here, we took a wrong turn, up toward Lac de Chambon, but quickly realised our mistake and we turned back again, eventually rolling down into the valley of La Romanche, from where it was a straightforward run, following the river to the camp.
Back to “that Dutch bar” that evening, we spread across a couple of tables, while the owner desperately tried to persuade us to sit inside, where he had a criminally underused table that would actually seat ten together. We explained that we were British, so never got a chance to sit out at home and wouldn’t give up the option now.
As we ate, other packs of feral-looking Englishmen with lean looks, hungry eyes and odd tan lines circulated, or shuffled into the seats around us. It wasn’t as busy as a couple of years ago, but there were still plenty of cyclists in town.
We spent a good few minutes counting the hairpins on the Alpe, handily depicted on the restaurant place mats, concluding there were more than 21, before conversation turned to plans for tomorrow.
Along with the Hammer and Steadfast, I was happy to accompany any of the others brave (or foolish enough) to attempt the Circle of Death, a monster loop which is basically the Marmotte route minus the final ascent of l’Alpe D’Huez, yet still ran over 100 miles and with 4,000 metres of climbing.
From past experience this was going to be 9 hours of riding, plus re-fuelling and rest stops and first time we’d done it had been a struggle to get home before daylight ran out. We determined to have a little more discipline in planning and executing the stops and I pushed for as early a start as possible. We agreed to meet and ride out at 7.30. Ulp!
Crazy Legs and Buster decided to go on a shorter ride, to the Croix de Fer and back, with a few additional bits tagged on. They only mentioned a dozen or so times that they were looking forward to a long lie-in and much more relaxed start. Bastards… did they think they were on holiday or something?
That’s tomorrow sorted then.
Oh dear, remind me why am I doing this again?
Geraint Thomas
Joop Zoetemelk
Lucien Van Impe
Thibaut Pinot
2 thoughts on “Climbing Up Like a Spider – Alpine Echoes – Part 2.”
We’ve got (new)great cycling sign posts in Alpes Maritimes. Maybe you should pay us a visit next year, perhaps coinciding with Le Grand Depart in Nice?
Thanks Sheree, discussions have already started about where to go next year. I think we’ll easily defeat those lobbying for a trip to the Netherlands and be looking for more mountains – I’ll add the Alpes Maritimes to the mix!
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The CSPA
Climate Change Theatre Action
Resource & Tools Catalog
Recent Open Calls
A Think Tank for Sustainability in the Arts and Culture
Artist’s Talk by Kimberley Hart at Mixed Greens Gallery, NYC
January 8, 2010 EcoArtSpaceAgricultural Sustainability, Cattle Ranch, Conscious Effort, Convenience Foods, Current Environmental Problems, Food Revolution, Justice Advocates, Kimberley, Life Changes, Michael Pollan, Omnivore, Organic Foods, Passio, Permaculture, Plastic Bags, Popular Books, Self Sufficiency, Urban Homesteading, Whole Foods, York Artist
On Saturday December 12, 2009, New York artist Kimberley Hart gave a talk about her recent exhibition Scout at Mixed Greens in Chelsea. The event was co-sponsored by ecoartspace and NYFA.
The works in Scout contemplate specific themes surrounding self-sufficiency, sustainability, observation, labor, cultivation, exploration, defense and tenacity.
Before mentioning any of the artworks in the show, Kimberley began by explaining that her new body of work came out of major life changes involving food and her interest around issues of agricultural sustainability. In the past few years, in an effort to eat healthy locally grown foods, she decided to give up all convenience foods and made a conscious effort to eat mostly organic foods. Kimberley feels that to a large part – many current environmental problems are due to our culture’s worship of convenience. To confront this dependence, Kimberley gave up packaged foods, ate strictly whole foods and eventually consumed only local and sustainably farmed food. She instituted a “no plastic” rule in her home which began with giving up bottled water and proceeded to take out containers, plastic bags and all plastic packaging.
Kimberley was influenced by reading many current popular books on the food revolution such as Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma which led her towards living a more sustainable life. She started urban homesteading, canning, composting, and cutting garbage down to one small bag a week. She joined a CSA, bought only grass fed, pastured meats and stopped eating out or ordering take-out. She is striving to have as small of a footprint as possible and is giving serious thought to starting a farm on a former cattle ranch in the South. This passion about food, sustainability, farming, and stewardship, led Kimberley to meet various people involved with permaculture and the transition movement, environmentalists and social justice advocates. She feels that as an artist she is coming from a different place but can potentially end up with similar and interrelated solutions.
In order to create this new show, Kimberley spent time contemplating a way to integrate her new outlook on life and focus on sustainability and self-sufficiency into her artwork. She decided to continue utilizing narrative and allegory as in her past bodies of work. Through drawing and sculpture, she exposes her alter ego represented as a mischievous, irreverent young girl who is
self-reliant but more vulnerable and suspicious than in years past. Though noticeably absent from the work, this girl was once full of sparkles and glitter. She is no longer fantasizing about her hunting prowess or setting traps for inappropriate prey. Instead, we find her hunkered down in an austere outpost with few essentials and a concern for an unknown adversary. There are vestiges of a carefree girlhood, but the tenor has changed—a sense of uncertainty has eroded her daring as she struggles to maintain some bravery in the face of a new, foreboding reality.
The works in the exhibition reveal her alter ego’s surroundings, shelter and possessions. A “bank” holds prized, as well as scavenged, provisions and doubles as a repository for a personal currency and objects to barter in this new world. Beautifully crafted, ominous vultures skulk and spread their wings near a pivotal piece titled, The Death of Sparkle. While Kimberley’s alter ego has proven to be equally prissy and cunning in past exhibitions, she is now overwhelmed by apprehensions and threatened by the malicious marauder responsible for Sparkle’s death.
Fantasy and fine craftsmanship remain hallmarks of her work, but the tone has shifted to reflect a change—both imagined and real—in her environment. There is a marked shift in her alter ego from mischief-maker of the vernal woodlands to a menaced and solitary defender in a dystopic landscape.
“In an allegory of our shared hopes and fears, an itinerant, young heroine and an elusive, predatory force struggle for prominence. Survival for these characters is symbiotic; their lives intertwine in a closed loop of cause and effect where the lonely girl, in the face of a malicious entity and in a degrading environment, maintains an acute sense of optimism through her own perseverance. This dystopian fantasy explores an uncertain future, an existence outside of modern convenience where subsistence is the primary concern. Referencing issues ranging from institutional critique, environmental stewardship, egalitarianism and our shared literary and visual culture, this work of speculative fiction offers a potential outcome to our current socioeconomic crisis.
We are all scouts now.” Kimberley Hart, 2009
Go to EcoArtSpace
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Support CCTA
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CCTA2019 Anthology: Lighting the Way
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE————PURCHASE THE 2017 ANTHOLOGY
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News Amer Didic earns first call up to Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team
Men's National Team August 19, 2017
Amer Didic earns first call up to Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team
From Edmonton to Kansas to Canada
Amer Didic’s breakout season in Kansas has earned him his first call up to Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team. The 193cm tall centre back has been included in Head Coach Octavio Zambrano’s squad for an upcoming home friendly at BMO Field in Toronto on Saturday 2 September.
The former Canada Soccer National Training Centre youth player is having an encouraging year as a professional, splitting his time between Swope Park Rangers and parent club Sporting Kansas City. Just last year, his play earned him USL All-League First Team honours.
“It’s been a good career start and great last few months and year no doubt,” said Didic shortly before his call up was announced. “I’m proud of my accomplishments in the USL and definitely looking to build off on that in Major League Soccer and potentially the Men’s National Team.”
Didic is one of two debutants in Zambrano’s squad for the September match, with the other 20-year old David Choinière of Impact Montréal FC. In camp, Didic joins centre backs Dejan Jakovic of New York Cosmos and Manjrekar James of Vasas Budapest in Hungary.
Canada Soccer builds strong squad for home match at BMO Field
24 players https://t.co/zZvrSAdatz
Story https://t.co/IR4kd2uhOc#CANMNT pic.twitter.com/uLLdGUKJiN
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) August 19, 2017
Didic has already gained valuable experience from playing in CONCACAF Champions League and a call-up to the Men’s National U-23 side in March. He was then officially signed by the Major League Soccer side, becoming the second Canadian on the roster alongside Tyler Pasher.
Didic gives special praise to his father Zehrudin, who played soccer in Bosnia before joining the military, as his biggest influence for playing the sport. From his earliest days, the young Amer Didic remembers being immediately immersed in the Edmonton soccer community.
“Soccer has always been part of my life and I started playing at about age four,” said Didic. “My dad always had me either going with him to watch a local game in the city or going to every other opportunity, be it soccer camps or clubs.”
Like many young soccer players, Didic didn’t originally start out as a defender, nor was it a position he necessarily wanted to play.
“Growing up I started out playing forward or midfield, but never playing in defensive positions.That trend continued during my first year of college (Baker Wildcats University in Kansas). The change came in second year when my coach thought I had the ability to play in the backline. From then on, I’ve put all of my energy into this role.”
Didic grew up playing youth soccer in the Edmonton area with Sherwood Park SA, Edmonton Southwest United SC, Edmonton Victoria SC, and FC Edmonton Reserves. He also played on Alberta Soccer provincial all-star teams. Today, he lists Sergio Ramos and Emir Spahic as two centre backs that he enjoys watching.
With Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team in late August and September, Didic will join an Alberta contingent that includes Nik Ledgerwood of Lethbridge, Samuel Adekugbe of Calgary, and both Tosaint Ricketts and Alphonso Davies of Edmonton.
He will also get to catch up with Mark-Anthony Kaye and Michael Petrasso who he met with Canada’s U-23 squad in Qatar. Both Kaye and Petrasso were part of Canada’s young and exciting team at the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
“Watching the Canadian team during the CONCACAF Gold Cup was very positive for Canadians, especially with the young guys getting an opportunity to test themselves against the best in CONCACAF,” said Didic. “I’m excited to be involved and it’s been one of my goals in last couple years – to be a part of Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team.”
So what can Canadian soccer fans expect from Didic when he gets his chance to wear the red and white?
“Here at Sporting Kansas City and with Swope Park Rangers, we are coached and encouraged as defenders to bring the ball out of the back on a regular basis,” said Didic. “That, along with being aggressive and using my height to my advantage in both attack and defence, are the skills I’d like to think I’ve been developing well that can serve the Men’s National Team, especially as our nation continues to build with all our younger players.”
Didic and Canada will be in action at BMO Field on 2 September 2017, with the match broadcast coast to coast on TSN.
Words by Colin Benjamin
CANADA IN TORONTO ON 2 SEPTEMBER
Canada Soccer’s Men’s National Team returns to Toronto to face CONCACAF Gold Cup finalists Jamaica on Saturday 2 September. The Toronto match serves as a re-match from the Canada-Jamaica quarter-final match at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Tickets to the Men’s International Friendly match start as low as $20 (plus applicable fees) and can be purchased online via Ticketmaster.ca, by phone at 1.855.985.5000, or in person at the BMO Field Box Office. As the match takes place during the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), all match tickets include free admission to the CNE grounds on match day. The 2 September match kicks off at 19.00 ET with complete ticket details at canadasoccer.com/tickets.
TORONTO!! Be at BMO Field on 2 September to cheer on Canada’s rising stars!
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The Encrypted State
David Nugent
What is the state? How is it implicated in the reproduction of relations of domination? Theorists from Marx to Weber, from Durkheim to Gramsci, from Abrams to Foucault have pondered these questions. In The Encrypted State, anthropologist David Nugent sheds new light on these questions by focusing on disorder and delusion... Read more
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Home/Gadgets/Best of CES 2021 finalists
Best of CES 2021 finalists
0 23 minutes read
Best Accessibility Tech
Wearable Devices Ltd. Mudra Band
Wearable Devices Ltd.
The technology underpinning the Mudra Band might seem fanciful: sensors capture neural electrical impulses in the wrist and map them onto specific movements like a swipe or a tap, essentially letting you control an Apple Watch with subtle finger movements on one hand. There’s no doubt the benefit of convenience — you can operate your watch when your hands are wet or dirty, for instance. But some of the most interesting implications of this technology might relate to accessibility, like helping amputees use their devices. The band connects to the Apple Watch via Bluetooth, making it a simple integration with compelling possibilities. — Chris Ip, Features Editor
GoodMaps Explore (presented by American Printing House for the Blind)
Goodmaps
GoodMaps Explore is a navigation tool that’s all about the next step. Designed for people who are visually impaired or blind, the app delivers detailed directional information through a combination of text and clear, responsive voice commands. Hold up your phone and the app will identify nearby businesses, streets and points of interest, adapting as you move and reading out cardinal directions along the way. The team has begun mapping the inside of buildings using LiDAR as well, and plans to bring the GoodMaps Explore technology to more indoor spaces over time. GoodMaps and the American Printing House have partnered on the app, which is now available on Android after initially launching on iOS. — Jessica Conditt, Senior Editor
Samsung’s CES 2021 presentation showcased a desk-bound woman in a leg cast, assisted only by her robot, Bot Handy. With an extendable gripper arm, the robot could load the dishwasher, pour a drink, and perform other delicate household tasks. The demo is just that: an illustration of how Samsung’s AI can identify and physically handle objects of different shapes and fragility. But it’s easy to imagine that some of the most meaningful applications of this technology could be in assisting people with physical disabilities. — C.I.
Best Digital Health and Fitness Product
Omron VitalSight
Over the last 10 months, leaving the house and entering hospitals has become especially fraught for those whose health is most vulnerable, while doctors have faced challenges diagnosing patients remotely, without their equipment. Omron’s VitalSight service includes a connected blood pressure monitor that links directly with patients’ physicians, so healthcare professionals can monitor for signs of trouble without requiring regular in-person checkups. Omron already has a reputation for making top smart blood pressure monitors, but VitalSight happens to be ideal for pandemic-era telehealth. — C.I.
Wondercise Live Motion Matching System
Wondercise
Wondercise is one of many on-demand fitness services available right now, but it’s more focused on form than anything else. The company brought Apple Watch integration to its service at the end of last year, and for CES, it’s introducing arm and leg bands as part of its new “multi-point motion matching system.” These sensor-laden straps work with your smartwatch of choice (be it the Apple Watch, a Garmin device or the company’s own band) to track real-time movements and compare them to those of an on-screen instructor. A score indicating how well you’re mirroring the trainer’s movements shows up on the video, so you know immediately if you need to adjust. On top of that, the IMU sensors track heart rate and cardio burn, and the battery is rated for at least seven days on a charge. — Valentina Palladino, Commerce Editor
Quantum Operation Non-invasive Blood Glucometer
Quantum Operation Inc.
When you’re unable to see a product in person, it can be hard to be sure if the device can deliver on its promises. But if Quantum Operation has managed to solve the problem of non-invasive glucose monitoring, then its new wearable will become a must-have for diabetics the world over. One in 10 Americans have diabetes and a continuous blood sugar monitor that doesn’t require a finger-prick test would be a huge deal. It may also help the rest of us better manage our sugar intake if — and it’s a big if — the technology is as effective as its creators claim. — Daniel Cooper, Senior Editor
ArcX Smart Ring
ArcX
When you’re out running, cycling or on the water, the last thing you want to do is to fiddle with your device while in motion. After all, breaking your run to touch your smartwatch to set a lap could knock precious seconds off your time. That’s why ArcX’s wearable joystick, which sits on your finger and can be controlled by your thumb, is such an ingenious solution. The Bluetooth remote lets you control your phone or watch from your clenched fist, making for an elegant — and possibly safer — user experience. — D.C.
Best Wearable
The $179 Mudra band from Wearable Devices brings gesture control to the Apple Watch, but it’s not just for early adopters. The band, which attaches like any other Apple Watch strap and connects to the wearable via Bluetooth LE, has a sensor inside that detects electrical signals sent by your brain to your fingers. It then uses a deep-learning algorithm to analyze those signals and map them to finger motions you’d use on the Watch’s touchscreen to open apps, type out a short text and more. This is not only an intriguing new way to interact with your Apple Watch, but it could also be useful for those with certain disabilities: The company already built a proof of concept that allows ALS patients to type on a virtual keyboard. — V.P.
TCL Wearable Display
After years of showing its prototype at various tradeshows, TCL is finally ready to share some launch details about its heads-up display. Simply called the TCL Wearable Display for now, the headset stands out for its simplicity. It has two Full HD OLED screens that create a 140-degree field of view… and that’s it. There’s no battery onboard or chunky arms for processors (although a small onboard chip powers the displays). Just connect the device to your phone, laptop or tablet via USB-C to project your media to the glasses. Because it’s so simple, the Wearable Display is one of the lightest and smallest headsets of its kind that we’ve seen. While we wait for details on pricing, availability and the types of content that will be supported at launch, it’s encouraging to see TCL is close to bringing the device to the masses. — Cherlynn Low, Reviews Editor
Earin A-3
The latest earbuds from Earin, the A-3, experiment with the sort. of open design that only a few companies have attempted in the past (most notably, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live). The A-3 are shaped almost like little discs with thin ovals slightly sticking out of one side. Not only are they much more discreet than standard earbuds, but they have no left or right designation so you can freely swap them between ears. The open design lets you listen to tunes while also allowing you to hear what’s going on around you. Although they don’t have active noise cancellation, the A-3 include wind noise reduction algorithms to improve the listening experience. They’re also sweat, splash and dust resistant and have up to 30 hours of battery life with the included wireless-charging case. — V.P.
Lenovo ThinkReality A3 Smart Glasses
Sure, augmented reality glasses for enterprise aren’t the most approachable product. But Lenovo’s ThinkReality A3 headset has plenty of intriguing features that might one day change the way we work. For starters, the A3 can support up to five virtual 1080p displays at once, allowing for better multitasking in augmented reality. The A3 is also less bulky than its predecessor, and offers dual fish-eye cameras for room-scale tracking in addition to an 8-megapixel camera for video calls. Though the device uses a relatively old Snapdragon XR1 processor (the XR2 came out in 2019), Lenovo is one of few companies to continue working on a HoloLens competitor. For the industries that might benefit most from a hands-free AR experience, a device like the ThinkReality A3 is a reminder that companies haven’t given up. — C.L.
Best Transportation Technology
When Mercedes’ new EQS luxury electric SUV arrives later this year, folks may have difficulty not staring — at its monumental cabin display, that is. Measuring 56 inches across (nearly the entire width of the vehicle’s interior) the MBUX Hyperscreen will serve as an all-in-one replacement for the existing driver’s instrument cluster, navigation screen and infotainment system. It even adds a secondary “screen” on the passenger side for the rider’s convenience. This entire setup runs on its own integrated eight-core CPU with 24GB of RAM. And, unlike earlier iterations of the MBUX, the Hyperscreen has been designed with a “zero layer” aesthetic, ensuring that the most critical controls are always within arm’s reach and not buried in a byzantine menu system. — Andrew Tarantola, Senior Editor
Volvo Penta Assisted Docking System
Most of us have probably never had to dock a boat before, much less in whipping winds or a quick moving tide. And if you’re trying to park your ride in a particularly crowded marina, you’ve probably got other boats to contend with. Two years ago, Volvo Penta (the maritime arm of Volvo) demoed a self-docking system that attempted to remove human error from the equation. Now, it’s going to become a commercial reality. The Volvo Penta Assisted Docking system is basically the same as the assisted parking feature on many high-end cars, but for boats. Using GPS and other on board sensors it can make adjustments on the fly to slide your yacht into even the tightest spots. — Terrence O’Brien, Managing Editor
Panasonic Automotive AI-enhanced AR HUD
Navigating through unfamiliar streets is challenging enough even when you’re not glancing at Google Maps on your phone or your navigation screen every few seconds. But with Panasonic’s prototype AI-powered augmented reality HUD, drivers will get exactly the information they need without taking their eyes off the road. It’s equipped with eye tracking technology to ensure that the projected 4K resolution images always remain in focus, along with AI navigation capabilities that monitor traffic around the vehicle up to three lanes away, overlaying GPS guidance while highlighting traffic hazards. — A.T.
Best Home Theater Product
Sony 360 Reality Audio speakers (SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000)
Two years after Sony debuted its 360 Reality Audio platform at CES 2019, the company is preparing to ship the first speakers built for this immersive sound ecosystem. The SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000 are WiFi-connected wireless units that work in a similar fashion to Sonos. If the music you’re listening to isn’t in the 360 format, the speakers are equipped with an algorithm that converts the content. — Billy Steele, Senior News Editor
Samsung C-Lab EZCal
Samsung C-Lab
New TVs are capable of amazing image reproduction, but if they’re not set up correctly then all of those pixels will go to waste. Calibration setups that involve users phones have started to become common with more precise control of settings at very deep levels, but Samsung’s experimental C-Lab division proposes automating the process altogether. Your phone is capable of judging the screen’s output and ambient lighting conditions, so why not let AI do the work of setting things up while you pick out something to watch? — Richard Lawler, Senior News Editor
TCL Alto R1 soundbar
This Roku TV Ready soundbar doesn’t require you to run a cord to your TV, offering a wireless setup that keeps your living room free of another cable. All you need to do is plug in the Alto R1 and it guides you through the setup. You can also use your TV’s remote to control sound, and TCL promises better audio syncing, simple settings and automatic software updates. — B.S.
Samsung HW-Q950A Q-series soundbar
Samsung is taking things a step further on multiple fronts this year when it comes to its flagship Q-series soundbar. First, the HW-Q950A offers 11.1.4 channel surround sound with both upward- and side-firing speakers. That’s an improvement over the 9.1.4 spec on the company’s previous model, which was already the most audio channels supported in a single soundbar. Samsung also added calibration mics to the included subwoofer to better tailor the setup to your living room. Plus, all of the usual connectivity and compatibility is here: AirPlay 2, HDMI eARC Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and more. — B.S.
Best Connected Home Product
Samsung’s JetBot 90 AI+ gives the humble robot vacuum some new AI-powered smarts. It combines LiDAR and 3D sensors with object-recognition algorithms to be really good at knowing what’s on your floors. For example, the device should be able to recognize small, circular objects like cereal or pet food and vacuum them up while avoiding messes it can’t properly clean up (like an accident your dog had). All these sensors help the vacuum plan the most efficient route around a room while helping it avoid fragile objects entirely. It can even lower itself under furniture if needed. These smarts don’t seem. superfluous either — they should help the vacuum better achieve its goal of keeping your home clean. — Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Managing Editor
TP-Link Deco Voice X20
TP-Link’s new Deco Voice X20 isn’t the first router that also functions as a smart speaker. But this Alexa-powered mesh networking system works with the relatively new WiFi 6 standard, giving it a leg up in speed over similar options like Google’s Nest WiFi system. TP-Link is selling them in a two-pack, which should be enough to blanket 4,000 square feet with fast WiFi 6 coverage. At the same time, you’ll have multiple smart speakers around your house right off the bat. It sounds like an ideal starter kit for improving your WiFi and getting into the Alexa game. — N.I.
LG InstaView Refrigerator with Voice Recognition
LG’s InstaView Door-in-Door refrigerators have always been some of the most high-tech on the market. The signature feature is a see-through mirrored glass panel that lights up with two quick knocks so you can take a quick peek without opening the door. This year’s model brings a few new features, most notably voice recognition. Now you can open the door just by saying “Open the refrigerator door,” which is great if you have your hands full. You can also ask for the day’s agenda or check if you’re low on ice or water. What’s more, the new fridges have UVnano tech built into the water dispenser to help reduce bacteria. — Nicole Lee, Senior Editor
Sony is ready to take on Sonos with the SRS-RA5000 and SRS-RA3000. They utilize Sony’s own 360 Reality Audio immersive audio platform, which impressed us back when the company first demonstrated it to us two years ago. The RA5000 houses seven total drivers while the RA3000 uses five, and are both capable of filling the room with ambient sound. These WiFi-connected speakers can be controlled with a Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa device, and you can use them as part of a multi-room audio system. — N.L.
Best Phone or Mobile Device
LG has sat out the foldable smartphone craze so far, and this week we got some clues as to why that is. During the briefest of teasers at the top and bottom of its CES press conference, the company officially showed off the Rollable, a smartphone with a full-size display (instead of a too-narrow one like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2’s external screen) that unfurls to become a small tablet. For now, the Rollable is still shrouded in secrecy, but there are two things we know for sure about it. First, LG is committed to releasing it this year. And second, it’s perhaps LG’s best chance to get people excited about their phones again. — Chris Velazco, Senior Mobile Editor
Thinking of the Lenovo-made NEC Lavie Mini as just a tiny laptop is to miss the point. Yes, you could plop it on a table and send some emails, or edit documents on its 8-inch screen. That said, the president of Lenovo Japan himself told us he nurtured this concept machine because he wanted an ultraportable PC powerful enough to play his favorite flashy games, but small enough that people could hold it in both hands and peck out messages with their thumbs. The end result: a strange, charming netbook lookalike that doubles as a game console and a huge phone. Consider us intrigued. — C.V.
TCL teased its full-color paper-like NXTPAPER display last year, and now it’s arrived in an actual device: an 8.89-inch Android tablet awkwardly called the TCL NXTPAPER. The company claims that the low-power reflective LCD combines paper-like readability (in color!) with relatively high framerates. NXTPAPER can play videos at 30 frames per second, which is much better than the E Ink displays found in typical e-readers.
Until now, color e-readers have been a niche category, but the NXTPAPER combines this functionality with Android tablet features, including video playback, responsive web browsing and standalone apps. All told, it makes for a compelling package. — Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief
TCL made a splash at this year’s CES, and its latest phones, while not the most headline-grabbing reveal, could help the company establish itself as a mobile force to be reckoned with. The TCL 20 5G ticks a lot of the boxes you’d hope it would. There’s a big 6.67-inch display with a cut-out front camera and HDR10 support; a Snapdragon 690 processor with 5G support; and an array of cameras around back. That includes a 48-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 2-megapixel macro camera. In Europe, the phone will retail for €299, roughly $365. Although TCL isn’t pushing the boundaries of what smartphones can do, then, the pricing here forces us to consider, once again: Do you need a thousand-dollar smartphone? — M.S.
Best TV Product
LG C1 OLED
LG’s latest OLEDs don’t change up the company’s formula too much — they still have gorgeous screens with rich colors and incredibly deep black levels — but now they feature the company’s Alpha 9 Gen 4 AI processor, which promises far better image processing. The company claims it can “analyze and optimize content” and improve picture quality on a scene by scene basis. (But of course, you can always turn that off.) The C1 OLED TVs also feature LG’s Sound Pro, which can produce a virtual 5.1.2 surround sound up-mix with its built in speakers, and they run an upgraded OS, webOS 6.0. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior Editor
TCL 6-Series (8K)
Two years ago, TCL’s 6-Series Roku TV was among many good value-priced 4K options. Last year, TCL refreshed the lineup with mini LED technology that competitors are only adding just now. Now, TCL is betting that this is the right time to switch to shift its mainstream TV to 8K. These TVs feel like they’re bringing the future to us now, and at an “accessible” price. — R.L.
Samsung Neo QLED
Every year, Samsung pushes LCD TVs to a new level of excellence, and for 2021 it’s adding mini LED backlighting to the package. That should give these TVs an advantage when it comes to contrast, with lights that are 1/40th the size of traditional tech. Samsung didn’t stop there either: For 2021 it rethought everything from the slim, bezel-less design to the more recyclable box your TV will come in. Google Duo, FreeSync Premium Pro and easy wireless connections to your PC come built in, as well as an advanced audio setup that combine with a matching soundbar for improved audio. And did we mention that the remote can charge its battery from sunlight? — R.L.
Sony Cognitive Processor XR
Perhaps more so than any other TV maker, Sony’s devotion to image processing is legendary. After all, it doesn’t matter what your display is made of if it has trouble actually rendering images. With the Cognitive Processor XR, Sony says it’s taking a step beyond “AI” image processing and closer towards the way our brains handle images. The chip gives Sony’s new Bravia XR TVs the ability to analyze a scene in real time and devote improved image quality to the sections your eyes are drawn to. It could be a face in a close-up, or the lights on a billboard as a character walks through a city. According to Sony, the Cognitive Processor XR will also be a huge help for 8K upscaling, as well as refining such a large image. — D.H.
Best Gaming Product
Intel Tiger Lake-H laptop chips
Intel announced a number of CPUs at CES this year, but it’s Tiger Lake-H that looks set to make the biggest impact. Rather than go for all-out power or battery life, the H series strikes an interesting balance. With a relatively conservative 35W power target, the chips focus more on high clock speeds than many cores, with the 35W line maxing out at four cores but able to hit peak turbo speeds of 5GHz. Intel believes the new chips will create a new gaming laptop segment, one that’s capable of playing games at 1080p while looking more like an ultraportable. — Aaron Souppouris, Executive Editor
Razer Blade 15 with NVIDIA RTX 30 graphics
Razer’s Blade series has long been among the best laptops money can buy, mixing outrageous performance with, by gaming standards, subdued looks. This year, Razer’s updates are significant. NVIDIA’s latest RTX 30 series graphics will improve performance significantly over previous models, but it’s the display we’re most excited about: 1440p is a sweet spot for desktop PC gaming, and you’ll be able to pick up this year’s Blade with an ultra-fast 240Hz 1440p panel. — J.C.
AMD Ryzen 5000 laptop chips
AMD continued its resurgence in desktop chips last year with its 5000 series CPUs. At CES, the company announced a full lineup of CPUs based on the same Zen 3 cores for laptops. There’s all-out power from chips like the 5900H, which looks like it will keep pace with most desktop CPUs, but there’s also chips like the 5600U, which are designed for ultra-portables with long battery life and strong performance. In 2021, it seems the best laptops will leave all but the strongest desktop PCs wanting for power. — A.S.
The ASUS ROG Flow X13 is lightweight, slim and convertible, while packing enough power to run current-gen games and render art in 4K. It has an eight-core Ryzen 9 5980HS CPU and dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 GPU, plus a 360-degree hinge and touchscreen. However, if you need a little more juice in the tank, the laptop also supports an external dock to expand its graphics capabilities, incorporating a GeForce RTX 3080 GPU that connects directly to the CPU. At just 13 inches wide, 15.8mm thick and 2.9 pounds, the ROG Flow X13 is ultraslim and extra sleek, inside and out. — D.C.
Most Unexpected Product
If you’ve never piloted a boat, you may think the experience is like driving a car, except with a bigger wheel. But the road doesn’t actively try and push you away from your destination the way the sea does even on a quiet day. That’s why Volvo Penta’s Assisted Docking System is so compelling, since it uses the vessel’s on-board sensors and a computer to compensate for the natural variation in the water. The only thing the pilot needs to do is point their joystick in the right direction and the computer does the rest. Sure, for now this will be the reserve of bougie yacht owners, but hopefully it’ll open up to others in the next few years. — D.C.
Samsung Solar Cell Remote
It’s ridiculous that remote controls, one of the most common devices found in the home, still use AAA batteries even though most other things have switched over to rechargeable solutions. That’s what makes Samsung’s announcement of the Solar Cell Remote such a pleasant surprise — it can be powered off outdoor and indoor light, or supplemented with USB power if it’s too dark. Best of all, you won’t have to wait too long to check one out, as they’ll be included with all of Samsung’s 2021 TVs. — Kris Naudus, Buyer’s Guide Editor
Targus 2Office Antimicrobial Backpack
“Unexpected” is such a tricky thing to define when you can find pretty much anything at CES if you look in the right corner. And while COVID-19 has been on everyone’s mind, the fact that a major luggage and accessory maker has made a product like this is still fairly surprising. The 2Office Antimicrobial Backpack has germ-killing coatings on “key touchpoints” to help cut the risk of picking up something nasty. It looks like, if this is any indication, we’re going to see companies promote how good their gear is at killing germs for years to come. — D.C.
Kohler Stillness Bath
You can outfit your home with mood lighting for movies and gaming, and now Kohler would like to see some color in your bathroom as well with its Stillness Bath. But it’s not just cool blues and soothing pinks that make this Japanese-styled tub a soothing repast, but a fog generator and even scent for that full at-home spa experience. It’s sure to cost a pretty penny, but it also may make a good alternative in a year when you can’t make it to a sauna. — K.N.
Best Sports Tech
Samsung Trainer
With just a TV and a camera, Samsung’s new Smart Trainer can help you maintain the proper form while working out. It’s a new feature of the company’s Health app, which debuted in its TVs last year. Using the help of a third-party camera (most any webcam will work), the app will tell you if your push-ups are straight enough or if you’re holding your plank properly. It even counts reps for you, which is great for the absent-minded among us. — N.L.
Wondercise’s on-demand workout service has used wearables like the Apple Watch and Garmin devices to track your exercise form for a while now, but in 2021, the company has added hardware to the mix. They’re essentially IMU sensor straps that you can add to your existing wearable that promise to make arm-and-leg tracking even more accurate. You’ll see alerts on the video if your form is aligned with the trainer’s, and if it isn’t, it’ll prompt you to correct your stance. — N.L.
Best PC or Tablet
HP Elite Dragonfly Max
Setting aside HP’s ludicrous marketing claim that the original Elite Dragonfly was “lighter than air,” the company’s thin and light business laptop was truly impressive. With the new Dragonfly Max, HP expands the series and brings features like a 5-megapixel webcam and an embedded Tile tracker. That’s one of the sharpest cameras on a laptop yet, in one of the lightest notebooks around, too. As part of a growing trend, the Dragonfly Max’s screen also meets Eyesafe requirements for vision protection. It also comes with features like a mechanical webcam shutter and built-in privacy screen that should appeal to those looking to shield themselves from prying eyes. The Dragonfly Max shows that HP wasn’t just making a one-off gimmick with the original and is expanding the line thoughtfully with useful updates. — C.L.
Dubbed the “thinnest ThinkPad ever” by Lenovo, the X1 Titanium measures a scant 11mm-thick and weighs just 2.5 pounds. And while it doesn’t really stray too far from the company’s ThinkPad aesthetic, it still manages to be an attractive looking notebook. As the name suggests, it relies on titanium to achieve that slim design while keeping its case sturdy. And since the X1 Titanium is a member of Lenovo’s convertible Yoga family, you’ll be able to spin its screen around in a variety of orientations. You can also look forward to a low-power 13.5-inch screen, Dolby Vision HDR, Atmos Sound and Dolby Voice to make you sound clear during conference calls. — D.H.
Unannounced ASUS device
We’re unable to reveal what this finalist is at this moment in time, but it is under consideration for a prize. Unfortunately, this means it is excluded from the People’s Choice award. We will update this post once the device has been formally unveiled.
TCL NXTPAPER tablet
It’s not often that an Android tablet grabs my attention at CES, but thanks to its unique display tech, the TCL NXTPAPER has me intrigued. It’s the first real product to use the company’s new LCD-based screen, which reflects light to create a paper-like experience and does away with backlighting altogether. Because of that, the company says it’s able to make devices that are much thinner and longer-lasting than before. Plus, NXTPAPER is capable of rendering full color, as well as animations and videos of up to 30 frames per second — something e-ink struggles with due to its low refresh rates. As an e-reader that also boasts Android apps and game or video playback, the TCL NXTPAPER is a fresh entrant in a fairly stale product category. — C.L.
Best Robot or Drone
Sony Airpeak AI drones
That sound? We presume it’s the thud of fist on wood from DJI headquarters. Sony, about the biggest name in consumer technology and cameras, is officially in on the drone game. The newly unveiled Airpeak platform is a business-focused aerial platform, launching this spring. The quadcopter is strong enough to carry one of the company’s Alpha mirrorless cameras yet Sony claims it’s the smallest craft to be able to do so. Sony even claims Airpeak uses AI for improved stabilization. Specific details are sparse, but it’s exciting to see a household name enter the space. — James Trew, Managing Editor
Vanguard Industries Moflin
After quite the year, we bet you could use a hug right now. Moflin might not have the required limbs, but it’s designed to give you the same good feels and is just generally adorable, to boot. Essentially, it’s an AI, emotionally capable pet laden with sensors and connectivity options, allowing it to potentially get more capable over time. Whether you just want something responsive to stroke as you read a book, or a critter to nurture and grow with you, we can see this furry little bag of joy filling that spot perfectly. Even if just so we can watch it peacefully “sleep” (charge) in its delightful egg-shaped nest. — J.T.
We can all use a hand with household chores from time to time. Samsung’s prototype domestic robot does exactly that but with a mechanical gripper. The Bot Handy uses cameras mounted on its head and extendable arm to identify the material composition of items around it — including their sizes, shapes and weights — simply by looking at them. This allows the robot to consistently use just the right amount of grip force when picking up and moving objects so it won’t crack plates when loading the dishwasher or accidentally crush your delicate stemware when pouring drinks. There’s no word on when, or even if, the Bot Handy will make it into production, but we’re keeping our grippers crossed. — A.T.
Best Sustainability Product
Samsung Upcycling at Home
It’s a notion we’ve seen before: harnessing an unwanted smartphone’s screen, mic and processor to create a single-use device like a security camera. Samsung’s Galaxy Upcycling at Home program aims to streamline that conversion process. While details are still pending, we know that Samsung will release a software update allowing users to choose what they want their old phone to become. A baby monitor and light detector for the smart home were two of the examples showcased at CES. The apps themselves may not be the breakthrough technology here — the true innovation is that Samsung is smoothing the accessibility to those functions by building them right into its phones. — C.I.
Samsung Solar Cell Remote Control
Sometimes crucial sustainability innovations are simple and small, but done at massive scale. Starting this year, Samsung TV remote controls will have solar panels built in, allowing them to recharge by both indoor and outdoor light. (There will be USB-C charging, too.) No need to cycle through rechargeable batteries or, worse, consume and throw out the single-use variety. On top of that, the remote control is made in part from upcycled plastic bottles. Given how many TVs Samsung sells each year, the net impact of this change could be significant. — C.I.
LivingPackets The Box
Living Packets
LivingPackets is developing a box. Not just any box, though: the kind that can be reused again and again. The company was nominated for an Innovation Award at CES last year. Since then, the team has developed a second-generation box with an integrated camera and sensors that measure temperature, humidity, pressure and other factors that could affect the goods inside. It also has an E Ink display, which can be used to display human and machine-readable shipping labels.
The team says that the revamped Box is rolling off the production line right now. The company is also scheduled to make an announcement tomorrow, which we believe could bring the concept closer to reality. The Box could reduce our reliance on cardboard. It’s always been a problem, but the ongoing coronavirus pandemic —which has forced many to shift their shopping away from bricks-and-mortar stores — has brought it into sharper focus. If enough retailers jump on board, LivingPackets could help society move away from boxes that are own thrown out after a single use. — Nick Summers, Senior Editor
Lasso wants to radically change how the world recycles. The startup is working on a stylish appliance that accepts seven types of material, including glass, plastic and aluminum. You submit materials and a series of cameras and sensors figures out whether they’re recyclable. Approved items are then cleaned, ground down and organized into neat little boxes. Once your Lasso is full, you’ll be able to open a smartphone app and schedule a curbside collection. Because the materials have already been processed, they can skip the recycling center and go straight to companies that have the expertise to turn them into brand new products.
The team behind Lasso is working on a prototype that should be completed this quarter. It will then move into a pilot phase, which will inform the final design. Despite this timeline, we’re excited by the concept and the impact it could have on our environment. Everyone wants to recycle, but too much ends up in a landfill. That’s because the rules surrounding what you can recycle vary from place to place. Sometimes materials are contaminated, too, because they contain leftover food or have been mixed in with non-recyclable materials. Lasso could solve these issues, reduce our reliance on recycling centers and make the world a greener place. — N.S.
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France stocks higher at close of trade; CAC 40 up 0.06% By Investing.com
Inauguration rehearsal evacuated after fire near Capitol | Joe Biden News
Home/World/Republican support for Trump impeachment grows after Capitol riot | Donald Trump News
Republican support for Trump impeachment grows after Capitol riot | Donald Trump News
The United States House of Representatives is moving forward to impeach President Donald Trump as an increasing number of Republicans break with their president following last week’s attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Beginning at 9am EST (14:00 GMT) on Wednesday, the House will take up debate on one article of impeachment against President Trump for insurrection. If approved, likely late on Wednesday, it would make Trump the first president in US history to be impeached twice.
An increasing number of Republicans say they will join Democrats in impeaching Trump, which would make the House vote a resounding rebuke of Trump with just seven days left in his turbulent presidency.
Representative Liz Cheney, the number-three Republican in House leadership, issued a stinging statement on Tuesday announcing she would vote for impeachment.
“Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough,” Cheney said.
“The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled this mob and lit the flame of this attack,” she said.
“Everything that followed was his doing.”
Trump had addressed a crowd of thousands of his supporters on January 6 on the Ellipse, a park just south of the White House in Washington, claiming the presidential election was being stolen from him and exhorting them to march on the Capitol where lawmakers were voting to certify Joe Biden’s election. Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building, and six people including two police officers lost their lives.
Military police in the National Guard have been called in to secure the US Capitol following the attack on January 6 amid fears of new violence from Trump supporters ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20 [Erin Scott/Reuters]
Cheney is chair of the House Republican Conference and the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. According to media reports, she told Republicans in a conference call on Tuesday that they were free to vote their conscience on impeachment.
Representative John Katko, a former federal prosecutor, said the facts surrounding the mob attack on the Congress make clear Trump incited the violence and should be removed from office.
“The president’s role in this is undeniable,” Katko said in remarks on the House floor on Tuesday night.
“Both on social media and on January 6th in his speech, he deliberately promoted baseless theories creating a combustible environment of misinformation and division,” Katko said.
Illinois Republican Adam Kinzinger, a former Air Force pilot who has been a critic of Trump’s false claims about election fraud, said he would vote in favour of impeachment.
If a president’s actions “inciting a deadly insurrection against” the Congress “are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?” Kinzinger asked in a statement.
Trump “used his position” as president “to attack” the legislative branch of government, said Kinzinger, who was the first Republican to publicly call for Trump’s removal from office after the January 6 attack.
Kinzinger was the sole Republican to join Democrats in voting 223 to 205 on Tuesday night to approve a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to replace Trump immediately under the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Vice President Mike Pence, in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying he would not invoke the 25th Amendment, called on Democrats ‘to lower the temperature and unite our country’ [Samuel Corum/Pool via AP]
Michigan Republican Fred Upton said he would vote for Trump’s impeachment after Trump claimed on Tuesday that his rally remarks to supporters were “totally appropriate” and refused to express regret for the insurrection at the Capitol.
“The Congress must hold President Trump to account and send a clear message that our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any president to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next,” said Upton.
In office since 1987, Upton is one of the longest-serving Republican members of the House.
In the US Senate, Republican leader Mitch McConnell has so far remained silent on impeachment even as some other Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham have called it unnecessary and divisive.
McConnell is said to be furious about the attack on the Capitol and to believe Trump committed an impeachable offence by inciting the crowd, according to media reports citing unnamed Republican sources.
Elaine Chao, McConnell’s wife, resigned her position as Trump’s secretary of transportation after the Capitol attack. Three Republican senators have already called for Trump to resign including Lisa Murkowski, Pat Toomey and Ben Sasse.
At the same time, McConnell has not answered a call by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to bring the Senate back into emergency session to consider removing Trump from office before his term ends.
The Senate is presently in recess until January 20, when Joe Biden is to be inaugurated president.
“We could come back ASAP and vote to convict Donald Trump, and get him out of office now before any further damage is done,” Schumer said at a news conference in New York on Tuesday.
President-elect Biden has asked Senate leaders not to allow the impeachment issue to slow his agenda, which includes passage of new COVID-19 relief legislation and confirmation of key officials in his new administration.
The Senate trial in Trump’s first impeachment by the House on charges of abuse of power for withholding US military aid to Ukraine lasted two weeks, from January 21 to February 5, 2020.
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BACK To 2020 level up
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Signed Mou With the Czech Technical University to Further Opportunities in Science and Research
Mr. Ching-Jong Liao, President of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Vice-Rector for Information System of the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague, Radek Holý.
The agreement aims at fortifying academic research cooperation, coordinating joint research projects and promoting academic exchanges between Taiwan and the Czech Republic. NTUST-CTU relations are not only the oldest, timewise, but also the most prolific of all similar such academic agreements between Taiwanese universities and the Czech Republic.
Strengthening of NTUST-CTU ties will spawn mutual communication and investment in the fields of intelligent transportation systems, information security, artificial intelligence and other such engineering domains in the years to come. It is hoped and expected that such developments will promote expanded international industry-university cooperation opportunities and advanced research project creation.
Vice-rector of the Czech Technical University in Prague Radek Holy presented the honorary CTU Gold Medal to President Ching-Jong Liao on behalf of CTU President Vojtech Petracek to express what he said was President Liao’s unflagging contribution to the development of higher education in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic and Taiwan to Establish Cooperation on Smart City
Forum on Supply Chain Restructuring: Improving Resilience Amongst Like-Minded Partners
Czech - Taiwanese Business Chamber
Rybná 716/24, Staré Město,
110 00 Praha, Czech Republic
info@taiwanchamber.cz
© 2020 Czech - Taiwanese Business Chamber. All rights reserved. Created by canalmedia™
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Our DNA Journey celebrity line up confirmed for new ITV series
Posted December 10, 2020 16:44 by Josh Darvill
ITV has announced a full series of its ancestry show Our DNA Journey - here are the celebrities on the line up.
It follows a one-off special featuring Ant and Dec which aired in 2019.
The show will be back with brand new celebrity pairings who, via their DNA, will embark on some truly epic and emotional journeys to explore their family history.
Our DNA Journey celebrity line up
Those taking part are:
Comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.
Sporting legends Freddie Flintoff and Jamie Redknapp.
TV personalities Amanda Holden and Alan Carr.
Father & son duo Martin and Roman Kemp.
ITV say: "In this journey of discovery, guided by expert genealogists and historians and using cutting edge DNA technology and hidden genealogy, the celebrities will explore long held secrets and uncover relatives they never even knew they had.
"As Ant and Dec before them, they bring with them friendly rivalry and humour, as well as the proverbial shoulder to cry on for the emotionally charged revelations and dramatic twists, in what promises to be a life changing experience they’ll never forget.
"Whose family emigrated to Canada after just missing out on a place on the doomed Titanic? Which famous face discovered that their ancestor was involved in the biggest robbery of 1840? Whose ancestor received a prestigious award from a King and who is related to a former British Strong Man?
"They are guided along the way by expert genealogists and historians who, using cutting edge DNA technology and hidden genealogy, unlock the mysteries of their family history, helping them discover the shocking secrets that will change their lives forever."
The show will be co-produced for ITV by Voltage TV and Mitre Television, Ant and Dec's production company.
Ant & Dec said: “DNA Journey was such an incredible experience for us. It’s such an emotional rollercoaster of a show and this new series doesn’t disappoint”.
Kathleen Larkin, Executive Producer at Voltage TV added: "This series brings joy, warmth and a bit of escapism to the screen. You'll laugh, cry and be gobsmacked at the spooky coincidences that run through our favourite celebs' family DNA".
More on: Alan Carr Amanda Holden Freddie Flintoff ITV Jamie Redknapp Martin Kemp Our DNA Journey Rob Beckett Roman Kemp Romesh Ranganathan TV
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THE ECONOMIST DOES CLIMATE
SPATIAL PATTERN OF TROPICAL CYCLONES?
CLIMATE CHANGE WILL UNLEASH INDIAN OCEAN EXTREMES
Posted by: chaamjamal on: May 7, 2020
IMAGE#1: CLIMATE VARIABILITY SYSTEMS OF THE TROPICS
IMAGE#2: INDIAN OCEAN DIPOLE
IMAGE#3: CARLSBERG RIDGE: INDIAN OCEAN
[LINK TO THE HOMEPAGE OF THIS SITE]
RELATED POSTS: [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK] [LINK]
THIS POST IS A CRITICAL REVIEW OF “DiNezio etal, “Emergence of an equatorial mode of climate variability in the Indian Ocean”, Science Advances, 06 May 2020: Vol. 6, no. 19, eaay7684 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay7684. Abstract: Presently, the Indian Ocean (IO) resides in a climate state that prevents strong year-to-year climate variations. This may change under greenhouse warming, but the mechanisms remain uncertain, thus limiting our ability to predict future changes in climate extremes. Using climate model simulations, we uncover the emergence of a mode of climate variability capable of generating unprecedented sea surface temperature and rainfall fluctuations across the IO. This mode, which is inhibited under present-day conditions, becomes active in climate states with a shallow thermocline and vigorous upwelling, consistent with the predictions of continued greenhouse warming. These predictions are supported by modeling and proxy evidence of an active mode during glacial intervals that favored such a state. Because of its impact on hydrological variability, the emergence of such a mode would become a first-order source of climate-related risks for the densely populated IO rim. The full text of the article is provided below at the end of this post.
The researchers find that the Indian Ocean is remarkable in terms of its stability because of an absence of variability in sea surface temperature (SST) seen elsewhere either as short term monthly time scale “marine heat waves” [LINK] , or as cyclical decadal time scale changes changes in the SST pattern over large sections of ocean such as the ENSO cycle.
In that context, the authors note that the paleo data show that during the most recent deglaciation into the Holocene, the Indian Ocean was not stable and had undergone intense “climate variability” in terms of SST and rainfall changes contemporaneous with vigorous upwelling and flattening of the thermocline. Since deglaciation is a time of rapid warming, it is postulated on that basis and verified with climate models that an increasing warming rate in AGW climate change may create similar conditions and cause the same kind of climate variability seen in deglaciation in the Indian Ocean but not seen at present.
Here we present contrary evidence to contest the claim that the Indian Ocean is unusually stable in terms of SST and that SST changes necessarily have a climate change implication. SST variability in the Indian Ocean at two different time scales is presented in paragraphs 5 and 6 below.
It is true that compared with the Pacific, the Indian Ocean is relatively stable. That difference is generally attributed to the unique geography of the Indian Ocean in being “landlocked” in the north and thereby isolated from the Arctic Ocean, as seen in the map below. Although that may inhibit climate variability to some degree, we show below that climate variability is seen nevertheless both the short term and the long term.
THE INDIAN OCEAN IS LANDLOCKED IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
5. MARINE HEAT WAVES: The GIF image below is taken from a related post on marine heat waves [LINK] . It shows the location and intensity of marine heat waves (MHW) month by month from December 2018 to January 2020. It was created with data provided by marineheatwaves.org, an excellent keeper of MHW data. The intensity of MWH is denoted by the darkness of color with darker colors indicating higher temperatures in the SST anomaly that can be described as an MWH event. Here we find MHW events in the southwestern part of the Indian Ocean in most of the 14 months of data although at a relatively lower intensity than the intense dark events in the Arctic and the northern part of the Pacific. In terms of marine heat waves at brief time scales, it cannot be said that the Indian Ocean does not show SST variability.
MARINE HEAT WAVES DEC 2018 TO JAN 2020 (MONTHLY TIME SCALE)
6. THE INDIAN OCEAN DIPOLE: At a longer multi decadal time scale, the Indian Ocean goes through an intense SST cycle similar to the ENSO called the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) that cycles through three SST states as (1) No SST anomaly, (2) A large area of high SST anomaly in the Southwest Indian Ocean and not anywhere else in the Indian Ocean, and (3) A large area of high SST anomaly in the Southeast Indian Ocean and not anywhere else in the Indian Ocean. The IOD cycle is depicted graphically in the GIF image below. Much of the climatology in the region from Arabia to Australia is understood in terms of the IOD. In view of this intense climate variability, it cannot be said that the Indian Ocean does not show SST or climate variability.
INDIAN OCEAN DIPOLE DYNAMICS: DECADAL TIME SCALE
7. THE CARLSBERG RIDGE AND THE CHAGOS-LACCADIVE RIDGE: It is known that the seafloor south and southwest of India (map below) is geologically active with significant geological features in terms of a series of ridges and their role in the Late Cretaceous Deccan Traps Volcanism recorded in the paleo data. Currently the Carlsberg Ridge, the Laccadive Ridge and the Chagos Ridge are all geologically active. The Chagos Ridge is not shown in the seafloor map below and can be thought of as a southern extension of the Laccadive Ridge. Sporadically hydrothermal plumes and volcanism can release enormous amounts of heat and materials from the mantle into the Indian Ocean. It is noted that the reference paper reports that during the deglaciation SST anomalies the thermocline had flattened. We interpret that in this way. When the sun/atmosphere system is the heat source, SST is the hot part of the ocean in a vertical temperature profile in which the water is cooler the deeper you go. This is the thermocline. A flattening of the thermocline means there is no temperature gradient with the implication that there is a heat source in the bottom of the ocean too. The flattening of the thermocline reported by the authors suggests that the significant sources of geological heat in ridge system in the southwest Indian Ocean can create the the kind of temperature profile that is used in the study to propose that global warming will cause the Indian Ocean to become more climatically volatile. This conclusion does not take the geological features of the Indian Ocean into consideration. These features can transfer significant amounts of heat from the mantle to the ocean and can explain what the authors are trying to explain in terms of the atmosphere with climate models. It is a case of the atmosphere bias in climate research. It is noted that both in terms of MHW and the IOD, the high temperature events are found only in known geologically active areas.
DECCAN TRAPS VOLCANISM
INDIAN OCEAN GEOLOGY: THE CARLSBERG RIDGE
8. With regard to the climate model runs that led the authors to the conclusion that global warming will change the Indian Ocean from a region with no climate variability to a region with more and more climate variability, it is imperative that we consider the language used in the paper to present this conclusion. The paper states its findings as “Present-day conditions do not favor the coupled interactions required for the mode’s emergence, and indeed, historical observations do not show evidence of the occurrence of these extreme events. A potential activation under greenhouse warming, however, could lead to record-breaking SST and rainfall fluctuations, rendering the emergence of the mode a main factor determining future climate risks, including more frequent and devastating wildfires, flooding, and droughts“. The plain language translation of this conclusion is that “We think that global warming will make the Indian Ocean more changeable in terms of climate variables. We don’t see it in the Holocene data and we don’t see it in the model runs but the possibility exists that it could happen because we saw it during deglaciation. This conclusion does not really say what the paper is supposed to say.
9. In this critical review, we find that the climate variability in the paleo data was assumed to be an atmospheric effect without the relevant geological data and it was thought that the effect could be re-produced in climate models with atmospheric forcing but that this exercise did not produce useful results. The conclusion that “it is still possible that global warming might increase climate variability in the Indian Ocean anyway” does not contain useful information and it is not a useful research finding.
A very different interpretation and review of the DiNezio paper is found at Science Alert Magazine [LINK] where the authors refer to the deglaciation variability identified by DiNezio as “an ancient El Nino system of the Indian Ocean” and promote the paper’s findings as a dangerous and alarming climate change impact in the form of re-activating an ancient El Nino system in the Indian Ocean. The author is David Nield of the Guardian.
FULL TEXT OF THE RESEARCH PAPER:
INTRODUCTION: Predicting changes in the pattern and magnitude of sea surface temperature (SST) fluctuations over the tropical oceans is critical for attributing changing climate variability and extreme weather over large parts of the world (1). Observations show that the Indian Ocean (IO)—a tropical ocean long considered a minor driver of climate variability relative to the Pacific or the Atlantic oceans (2)—is experiencing changes in its mean state that could favor stronger SST variations (3–5). These long-term changes appear to be forced by increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations (5–7); however, models are inconclusive on whether SST variability will increase or not (8–12). Paleoclimate records show that SST variability in the eastern IO has increased since the 1850s (13), a trend that, if continued, could exacerbate the already sizable climatic impacts of subtle variations in IO temperatures over surrounding land masses (11, 14–17). While the changes in mean state—particularly a shoaling thermocline in the eastern IO—are likely to strengthen the coupled feedbacks governing SST variability (9–12), the lack of model consensus limits our ability to attribute the observed trends and predict future changes. The tropical IO exhibits much weaker SST variability than the tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans (Fig. 1A). Unlike these oceans, where the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon and the Atlantic Niño drive pronounced basin-wide SST anomalies (SSTAs), variability in the IO is restricted to the western side of the basin and along the coast of Sumatra and Java (18). Large SSTAs spanning the equatorial IO are extremely rare because the uniformly deep thermocline (Fig. 1B, shading) and a lack of equatorial upwelling (not shown) hinder coupled ocean-atmosphere interactions in this ocean (19). Depending on the season, the dominant mode of SST variability in the IO has a uniform warming pattern over the entire basin. This IO Basin (IOB) mode is not generated via ocean dynamical processes and instead is forced by El Niño events via changes in evaporation and cloud cover (20–23). The IO Dipole (IOD) is the second mode of variability in terms of explained SST variance and has SSTAs restricted to the western IO and the off-equatorial region along the coast of Sumatra and Java (18). SSTAs driven by IOD events do not reach the equatorial IO, which only responds during very rare extreme cold events, such as during 1997 (11). (A) SST variability, (B) annual mean subsurface ocean temperature along the equator (5°S to 5°N), and (C) annual mean SST (shading) and surface wind stress (vectors). SST variability is computed as the SD of monthly anomalies relative to the monthly mean seasonal cycle. In the tropical oceans, a metric of variability that is dominated by variations occurring on interannual time scales. SST and surface wind stress are from TropFlux (46) and subsurface ocean temperature data are from ORAS-S4 (37). The intensity and spatial pattern of SST variations in the IO are thus determined by the direction of the prevailing winds along the equator, which are weakly westerly (Fig. 1C, vectors), and by the subtle east-west SST gradient underlying them (Fig. 1C, shading). Model simulations show that continued greenhouse warming could alter these features, and the IO could evolve into a mean state similar to the Pacific or Atlantic oceans (5, 7, 10). Historical observations support this prediction, showing a tendency for easterly winds along the equator, an eastward shoaling thermocline, and a reversal of the east-west SST gradient since the 1950s (3–6). These changes should be accompanied by increased SST variability along the equatorial IO (19); however, model predictions are not consistent with this theoretical expectation (8–11). Furthermore, the possibility that the IO could harbor stronger modes of climate variability has remained largely unexplored. Here, we address these questions using numerical simulations of past and future climate changes in which the mean state of the IO could favor stronger variability. Our goal is to assess physical processes that could cause new modes of variability to emerge in the IO under continued greenhouse warming as well as the potential existence of these modes during past climate intervals. We analyze an ensemble of simulations of 21st-century climate performed by 36 models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5). These simulations were run under increasing GHG concentrations following a “business as usual” high-emission scenario (see “Data” and “Methods” sections). These models accurately reproduce the observed patterns of variability in the southeastern IO (fig. S1) as well as long-term changes in the east-west gradient over the 1900–2017 period (fig. S2), lending credibility to their predictions of an altered mean state under continued greenhouse warming throughout the second half of the 21st century (see Supplementary Text 1 for additional model evaluation). We also analyze simulations of the climate at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM)—a past climatic interval ∼21,000 years before present when the IO exhibited a similarly altered mean state featuring stronger upwelling and an eastward shoaling thermocline (24, 25). The LGM simulations were performed with the Community Earth System Model version 1.2 (CESM1) (26), a model that simulates changes in IO mean state supported by multiproxy syntheses from this climate interval (24) and consistent changes in variability (27). To our knowledge, CESM1 is one of the very few climate models capable of simulating physical processes in the IO amplifying regional climate changes during the LGM (24), justifying the use of a single model for this part of our study. Despite being triggered by exposure of continental shelves due to lower glacial sea level (28), these changes result in changes in IO mean state and variability (24, 25, 27) analogous to those simulated under greenhouse warming, albeit in a globally colder climate. Additional CESM1 LGM simulations are used to isolate changes associated with both emergent and existing modes (Materials and Methods).
RESULTS: Our simulations indicate that under greenhouse warming and LGM conditions, the IO can exhibit increased SST variability in the eastern equatorial IO (EEIO) (Fig. 2, A and B). This pattern of intensification resembles modern variability in the other tropical oceans and represents a pronounced departure from current variability in the IO, which is minimal along the equator (Fig. 1A). The increase in gSST variability occurs during late boreal summer (August-September-October) following changes in the mean state favoring stronger coupled interactions during the preceding months. Increased equatorial upwelling and an eastward shoaling thermocline during July-August-September (JAS) (Fig. 2, C and D) favor the development of SSTAs in the EEIO. The changes in mean state are also part of a coupled ocean-atmosphere response. Equatorial winds become more easterly under greenhouse warming and glacial conditions (Fig. 2, E and F, vectors), a response that is reinforced by the changes in the underlying SST gradient (Fig. 2, E and F, shading) via the cooling effect of a shallower thermocline. These coupled responses are initiated by different atmospheric processes: a reversal of westerly winds over the eastern IO driven by a weaker Walker circulation, for greenhouse warming (7); and an atmospheric response to shelf exposure, for the LGM (28). Despite the different triggering mechanisms, the same coupled feedbacks amplify the changes in both cases, generating an oceanic mean state reminiscent of the eastern equatorial Pacific and Atlantic oceans, with a shallow equatorial thermocline and vigorous upwelling favoring stronger air-sea interactions and SST variability (19). Changes in (A and B) SST variability, (C and D) subsurface ocean temperature (shading, m), vertical velocity (contours, m/day), and (E and F) SST (shading) and surface wind stress (vectors). Glacial changes (left) are computed from a simulation of LGM relative to a simulation of preindustrial (PI) climate, both performed with the CESM1. Changes under greenhouse warming are computed for the 2050–2100 interval in high-emission scenario [Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5)] simulations performed by 36 CMIP5 models relative to the 1850–1950 interval from historical simulations. The changes in variability are computed as the difference in SD of SSTAs during the August-September-October (ASO) season. Changes in mean state are computed for the JAS season. The changes under greenhouse warming are the average among the changes simulated among all 36 CMIP5 models. Dashed and solid red curves in (C) and (D) indicate the depth of thermocline in the reference (PI and historical) and altered (LGM and RCP8.5) climate states, respectively. (G) Relationship between changes in SD of SST anomalies in the EEIO (70°E to 95°E, 2.5°S to 2.5°N) during the ASO season and zonal wind stress in the equatorial IO (50°E to 80°E, 2.5°S to 2.5°N) during the JAS season for each model simulated response to greenhouse warming (blue circles) and LGM boundary conditions (red circle). Models with mode activation are outlined in red. The CMIP5 models show a direct link between the changes in mean climate and the increase in variability under greenhouse warming. The magnitude of the increase in SST variability, measured by the change in SD of SSTAs averaged over the EEIO, is strongly anticorrelated with the changes in zonal wind stress along the equator (r = −0.73, P <0.001; Fig. 2G). This indicates that greater easterly wind stress leads to a larger increase in variability, a relationship that reflects the influence of zonal winds on seasonal upwelling and thermocline depth over the EEIO. Most CMIP5 models predict increases in variability and more easterly winds for the second half of the century (Fig. 2G); however, the magnitude of these responses differs by an order of magnitude. Some CMIP5 models predict pronounced changes in equatorial winds accompanied by increases in SST variability of up to 100%. In these models, the magnitude of the changes represents a reversal of the climatological winds, i.e., absolute easterlies develop across the equatorial IO along with seasonally colder SSTs over the EEIO. A similar wind reversal and seasonal “cold tongue” is simulated under LGM conditions (not shown), resulting in the largest changes in variability among all simulations (Fig. 2G, red circle). These seasonal variations are similar to those occurring in the modern Pacific and Atlantic oceans, which sustain the ENSO and Atlantic Niño modes. Likewise, the simulated changes in the IO give rise to its own El Niño–like variability. Under the altered mean states of the LGM and high-emission scenarios, climate variability in the IO manifests as warm and cold events that are physically different from those associated with the IOD—currently a dominant mode of IO climate variability (18, 29)—although superficially similar to very extreme IOD events. To isolate the dynamics of the emergent mode, we use our subset of LGM simulations in which ENSO and IOD modes are disabled (see “Methods” section). Results from these simulations show that events associated with the emergent mode are independent from the IOD (fig. S3) and, more importantly, that they are triggered by a distinct atmospheric precursor on the western IO (fig. S3A). Because additional simulations cannot be run with CMIP5 models, we isolate the events associated with the emergent mode using a methodology based on this wind precursor (fig. S4; also Materials and Methods). The CMIP5 simulations also show that these events are driven by a coupled mode that has not been observed in historical observations and could become active under continued greenhouse warming. Unlike IOD events, which are triggered by wind fluctuations in the southeastern IO along the coast of Java and Sumatra (16, 30), events associated with the emergent mode are initiated remotely by an atmospheric circulation anomaly over the western IO and Arabian Sea (Fig. 3, left; vectors). This atmospheric precursor develops during late boreal spring and influences the EEIO via propagation of downwelling oceanic Kelvin waves along the equator (Fig. 3, left; contours). For warm events, the atmospheric precursor has a westerly wind stress anomaly along the equator that drives a Kelvin wave response characterized by a thermocline deepening toward the East (Fig. 3, A and C, contours). This response suppresses climatological cooling over the EEIO during late boreal summer, when the thermocline is seasonally shallower and upwelling is strong (Fig. 2, C and D), driving an initial warming in the EEIO. An anomalous zonal SST gradient is established along the equatorial IO, further weakening surface winds. These wind changes drive oceanic responses, thermocline deepening, and reduced upwelling that continue the warming of the EEIO until its peak during late boreal summer (Fig. 3, B and D, shading). Such coupled responses are akin to the positive feedback loop proposed by Bjerknes (31) for the growth of El Niño events in the Pacific Ocean. First column: SST (shading), surface wind stress (vectors), and thermocline depth (contours) anomalies associated with the atmospheric precursor of warm equatorial mode (A) in a subset of CMIP5 greenhouse warming simulations, (C) a LGM simulation, and (E) historical observations. Second column: Same as first column but for the peak of the event, 3 months after the occurrence of the precursor. Warm equatorial events are triggered by the atmospheric precursor under (B) greenhouse warming and (D) LGM conditions, but not (F) under historical conditions because the mean state is not conducive for coupled interactions. Events are identified and composited, when the April-May-June standardized zonal wind stress anomalies averaged over the western IO (40°E to 60°E, 2.5°S to 2.5°N) exceeds 0.5. The precursor phase is during May and the peak in August. The LGM simulation has modes of variability disabled as described in the “Methods” section. At their peak, westerly wind anomalies coupled to the underlying SST gradients span most the basin (Fig. 3, B and D, vectors). These anomalous winds keep the thermocline anomalously deep in the EEIO (Fig. 3, B and D, contours) and suppress equatorial upwelling (not shown) sustaining the positive SSTAs in the EEIO. The pronounced equatorial signature of these events is consistent with the pattern of SST variability increase (Fig. 2, A and B), and their activation occurs under large changes in mean state, such as under LGM conditions (Fig. 2G, red circle), and in the subset of simulations of future climate with the largest increases in variability (Fig. 2G, blue circles with red outline). The changes in mean state also favor the emergence of equatorial cold events with negative SSTAs exhibiting similar magnitude, spatial patterns, and underlying dynamics as the warm events (fig. S5; see Supplementary Text 2). Observations do not show an active mode under current conditions (Fig. 3, E and F, and fig. S5, E and F) because the mean state is not favorable for large-scale coupled interactions. The emergence of the equatorial mode could drive rainfall variability with stronger amplitude and altered patterns over the IO and surrounding land masses relative to currently experienced. Warm events, with their positive SSTAs spanning much of the equatorial IO, could drive rainfall deficits over the Horn of Africa as well as over Southern India, in addition to increased rainfall over Indonesia and Northern Australia (Fig. 4C). Rainfall anomalies with such patterns and magnitudes have not been observed during the historical period because warm IOD events are extremely weak and their rainfall impacts are restricted to the southeastern IO (Fig. 4A). On the other hand, cold events associated with the equatorial mode could drive rainfall anomalies with a similar spatial pattern and magnitude as the warm events, but with opposite polarity and subtle, yet important differences for terrestrial precipitation (Fig. 4D). For example, cold equatorial events are associated with increased rainfall over peninsular India and thus drive a response opposite to the impacts of a typical cold IOD event (Fig. 4B). These high-amplitude rainfall impacts have only been observed in 1997, during the strongest, cold IOD event on record (11)—the only observed event with SSTAs reaching the EEIO. The emergence of the equatorial mode could make these high-amplitude SSTAs a common occurrence by the second half of the 21st century when CMIP5 models predict two to four events (warm or cold) per decade (range was estimated from the subset of models with mode activation). Over Sumatra and Java, the associated rainfall fluctuations could represent a surplus (or deficit) of 30 to 50% of current seasonal rainfall during the JAS season. Thus, predicting and attributing changing distributions of future extremes in a warming climate must consider these dynamical changes in rainfall variability alongside with thermodynamic effects (32). Composite rainfall anomalies (shading) during (A, B) observed Dipole Mode events and (C, D) simulated Equatorial Mode events active in the IO under greenhouse warming. In both cases, warm (A, C) and cold (B, D) events are, respectively, characterized by positive or negative SST anomalies (contours) over the eastern IO. SST contour interval is 0.25 K. Equatorial Mode events show rainfall and SST anomalies spanning much of the equatorial IO. Anomalies correspond to the peak season of each mode, September-October-November (SON) for the Dipole Mode and August-September-October for the Equatorial Mode. Observed Dipole Mode events are selected and composited on the basis of SON values of the Dipole Mode Index (18) with a 0.5σ threshold. Equatorial Mode events are selected and composited on the basis of indices of the western IO atmospheric precursor and the peak SSTA in the EEIO during the ASO season with a 0.5σ threshold (see “Data” and “Methods” sections). Both criteria combined isolate events that evolve into large-scale SST anomalies. Dipole Mode composites are based on the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (42) and TropFlux (36) observational datasets over the 1980–2017 period. Equatorial Mode composites are based on output from CMIP5 rcp85 simulations over the 2050–2100 period composited for each model run and then averaged across the 10 models with mode activation.
DISCUSSION: In addition to revealing previously unrecognized dynamics of the IO, our results explain the lack of consensus in model predictions of future changes in SST variability in this ocean (9–12). Not all models show increasing SST variability under future greenhouse warming because the equatorial mode does not become active because of muted changes in mean state. Activation might require a change in direction of surface winds along the equator—at least seasonally—so that large-scale upwelling can be established along the equatorial IO. Larger changes rather than just a reversal in winds might be required so that the balance of positive and negative feedbacks in the EEIO favors unstable growth of SSTAs. Addressing these questions could help clarify the interpretation of model simulations, which show consistent predictions of a strengthening thermocline feedback, yet equivocal results regarding changes in SST variability (9–12). Additional questions must be answered to accurately predict this disruptive outcome, such as whether the changes in the mean state after 2050 will be sufficiently large to favor activation of the equatorial mode. The magnitude of these changes will depend on whether they are amplified by coupled feedbacks, an issue that remains hotly contested (33, 34). All available observational evidence, however, supports predictions of large changes in mean state potentially amplified by coupled feedbacks (fig. S2). Historical observations show pronounced changes in the east-west SST gradient, particularly during the season when coupled feedbacks are stronger (3–5). Here, we showed that only models with equatorial mode activation can simulate changes in the SST gradient as observed (fig. S2). Furthermore, multiple paleoclimate datasets from the LGM show large changes in mean state potentially amplified by coupled feedbacks (24) along with much stronger climate variability (27), attesting to this ocean’s ability to experience large changes in mean state and variability via coupled feedbacks. In summary, we have demonstrated that the IO can sustain an equatorial mode of climate variability under altered mean states predicted for the second half of the 21st century. This mode manifests as cold and warm interannual events with large-scale SSTAs spanning the central and EEIO. These events, particularly warm ones, represent a marked departure from current variability, characterized by weaker and more spatially confined warm IOD events. Because of their basin-wide and stronger SSTAs, future warm events could drive unprecedented hydrological extremes across the basin. They could bring more frequent droughts to East Africa and southern India, in addition to increased rainfall over Indonesia, exacerbating the effect of a warmer climate on these hydrological extremes (11). Cold and warm events are governed by physical processes similar to those driving El Niño and La Niña and could therefore be predictable at least a season in advance. However, further research on its predictability and global impacts will be needed to improve adaptation efforts to climate change. The emergence of the equatorial mode is supported by a consistent link between changes in variability and mean state across climate models, although a sufficiently large change is required for its activation. These predictions are supported by paleoclimate data from the LGM, which show mean state changes of a magnitude comparable to those predicted under high emissions (24) along with an active equatorial mode (27). Furthermore, the activation of the equatorial mode appears to be less sensitive to common biases in the simulation of seasonal climate by CMIP models (fig. S6 and Supplementary Text 3), supporting our conclusion that this disruptive outcome will be largely determined by the magnitude of the changes in mean state. Further work is needed to accurately assess threshold behavior in this key component of the climate system, particularly under lower-emission scenarios or past climatic states other than the LGM.
Present-day conditions do not favor the coupled interactions required for the mode’s emergence, and indeed, historical observations do not show evidence of the occurrence of these extreme events. A potential activation under greenhouse warming, however, could lead to record-breaking SST and rainfall fluctuations, rendering the emergence of the mode a main factor determining future climate risks, including more frequent and devastating wildfires, flooding, and droughts.
3 Responses to "CLIMATE CHANGE WILL UNLEASH INDIAN OCEAN EXTREMES"
1 | uwe.roland.gross
Reblogged this on uwerolandgross.
chaamjamal
Thank you uwe
https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/05/09/the-economist-does-climate-part-1/
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Group of 16 countries to coordinate actions at UN in defense of Venezuela
Earlier, sources at the UN revealed that on February 13 the representatives of those countries held a meeting in New York
UN, February 14. /TASS/. A group of 16 countries, including Venezuela, Russia, China, Iran and Syria plan to coordinate their actions in defense of international law in Venezuela, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told TASS on Thursday.
Sources at the UN informed TASS that on Wednesday, the representatives of those countries held a meeting in New York.
"We begin collective work with this group of countries to protect the principles of international law," Arreaza said. "In all instances - at the UN General Assembly, at the UN Security Council, we will coordinate our actions.".
Political crisis in Venezuela
Number of COVID-19 cases in Africa exceeds 3.261 million, WHO reports
The overall number of COVID-19 cases in Africa currently stands at 3,261,271, with 86,610 cases confirmed during the past three days
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Apple to release three ‘iPhone 11’ models this fall, including A13 chip, new Taptic Engine, more
: July 25, 2019
Similar to last year’s introduction of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, Apple will release three new ‘iPhone 11’ models this fall. The new iPhones will feature the Apple A13 chip, internally known by its platform codename Cebu, model T8030.
According to people who’ve seen the devices, all three iPhone 11 models will still feature a Lightning port, contrary to some speculation that they would be moving to USB-C after the change on iPad Pro last year.
The ‘iPhone 11’ models are known as D42 (iPhone12,3), which will replace the iPhone XS, D43 (iPhone12,5), which will renew the iPhone XS Max, and N104 (iPhone12,1) which will replace the iPhone XR. D42 and D43 will have a 3x OLED Retina display, while N104 will still feature the 2x Liquid Retina display just like the current generation. All three iPhones will feature the same screen resolution as their predecessors.
‘iPhone 11’ Taptic Engine
This year’s models will also feature a new type of Taptic Engine, known by the codename leap haptics. It’s unclear what kinds of features this new engine will enable at this point, but it’s possible that it’s geared towards improving Haptic Touch since the new devices won’t feature 3D Touch as we know it today.
Apple has not been able to include 3D Touch in any iPad model since it debuted with the iPhone 6s. iOS 13 brings Haptic Touch – which requires a slightly longer press – to all devices, including iPad and iPod touch. The changes introduced with iOS 13 and the hardware improvements made to this year’s devices should allow for the removal of 3D Touch without causing too much disruption to users who are accustomed to it. Read more
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this cage is worms
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Boris Groys, Ernst Jünger, Agent 47: Identity and the Hitman Franchise
Posted on 07/27/2012 by kunzelman
I recently finished Boris Groys’ Introduction to Antiphilosophy, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It is a collection of essays that Groys wrote at various times; as he says in the introduction, they were not written to be read together, but when juxtaposed they form an interesting kind of assemblage. The heart of Groys’ work, as I have read him, centers on the archive as a way of understanding new movements and the avante garde in politics, art, and everything else. For Groys, the maintenance of a good archive is important–completion is a fundamental form of that.
This entails a praxis of rescue. A good bit of Groys’ writing is about making sure that forgotten philosophers can be seen, particularly Russian ones–there is a long period of expatriate Eastern European philosophers fleeing to Western Europe, influencing the intellectual sphere heavily, and then being promptly forgotten by history. So the process of remembering the past, and the ideas that had heavy weight there, seems to be really important for Groys.
That was a digression that I didn’t mean to make, but I wanted to make sure that the idea behind Groys’ writing was clear. In Introduction to Antiphilosophy, he performs a reading of Ernst Jünger and his theories of the total destruction of the individual in the wake of technological progression. Instead of individuals, we are left with infinitely replaceable, infinitely serial human beings–for Jünger, this was combined under the figure of the worker.
Groys writes about Jünger’s theory: “The technological and serial nature of modern experience has a certain effect on human subjectivity (which is itself a sum of those experiences): it renders the human subject exchangeable and replicable.” If the value we place in experience is not in the actual experiencing, but rather in the serial nature of those experiences, then human subjectivity becomes serial rather than unique; we become a mob defined by proclivities and monocultural desires.
For example, lets think about the Call of Duty franchise. They are all defined by their serial gameplay: the same mechanics, the same ideology, the same kinds of levels. And we want those things, as consumers; as the producer who was anonymously interviewed at Kotaku said, “ don’t spend [their] money on new IPs”. Jünger’s examples are contemporary for him–film is his technological devil, but the sentiments are the same. As a species, we like the repeatable. In civil life, this is called safety; economically, this is job security. We desire tropes in every aspect of our lives.
For Jünger, there is an infinite seriality that comes with modern technological life, and Groys reads an additional step into that: immortality. If every worker or soldier, every cognitariat in Bifo’s words, is replaceable and absolutely nonunique, then the single is totally eroded into the multiple. Any time the multiple rears its head, the same is invoked; everything lives forever. We are already comfortable with this idea as a concept. Movie Tropes exists to fulfill this very function, to prove to us that there is nothing unique in the world, that we are serially living through experiences that come from before–everything is an evocation of the prior.
Groys writes:
To this extent, then, Jünger considers both the soldier and the worker to be immortal. In order to survive in a technological civilization the individual human being must mimic the machine–even the very war machine that destroys him. . . . The machine actually exists between life and death; although it is dead, it moves and acts as if it were alive. As a result, the machine often signifies immortality. It is highly characteristic, for example, that Andy Warhol. . . . also desired to ‘become a machine’, that he also chose the serial and the reproducible as routes to immortality. (135)
Which takes us to Agent 47.
The Hitman games are marked by a couple things: large, elaborate levels and mimicry. As Agent 47, a killer clone hitman who is “the best in the business,” the player is shown a target and given a number of mission conditions and told to go complete them in whatever way the player desires. This can be as stealthy as impersonating a waiter and delivering a bomb to a target in her dinner tray or as violent as rolling into a residential neighborhood and shotgunning through everything between player and target.
Of course, you are rewarded by the game for doing things in as stealthy a manner as possible–diegetically, Agent 47 is the best because he can mimic anyone and do anything. He is bald, of average build, and wears a nondescript suit; he is also a perfect clone, a combination of all the best genes that humanity has to offer. Aesthetically and ontologically, Agent 47 is the everyperson.[1]
My claim here is that the Hitman games are the perfect example of the way that Jünger’s thesis can play out. Each level is its own little clockwork world with its own serial repetitions. The very nature of scripting behavior as a method of game creation means that patterns emerge–this policeman always walks by that trash can where you can easily store his body. This also means that the game is repeatable; any player of Hitman knows that you have to start a level over and over again so you can test out every possible combination of events that ends with the best possible success for the mission. The game’s ability to run a program over and over again, to mimic a set of conditions serially, both allows for every player to have the same experience and for the single player to play the same conditions over and over again. The connection to Jünger is apparent–the individual experience of the game doesn’t matter so much as the reproducibility of conditions that enable gameplay to happen. Of course, there are experiences–the way I solve a level is different than the way that someone else solves it. But these experiences don’t matter because they can always be overwritten. There isn’t a possibility for beautiful mistakes or uniqueness in the game. Instead, there is overwriting of the personal in favor of the machinic.
There’s a problem with the way I’m characterizing this: isn’t this how all games work Well, yeah. That’s sort of why Jünger is so easily applied here. But there is something else that makes the Hitman games so appropriate to talk about from Jünger’s theoretical viewpoint: mimicry.
Agent 47 is successful in his missions because he can easily, and convincingly, mimic anyone. He can put on a new set of clothing, carry a weapon, and literally become another person. There is a level in Hitman: Blood Money where Agent 47 has to infiltrate a rehab clinic. A possible solution is walking in, stealing clothes from the head therapist, and walking around as him. 47 walks past a number of guards, security cameras, and orderlies who deal with the head therapist every day, but none of them ever become suspicious. None of them yell out that the therapist has a beard and 47 does not.
The central thesis of the Hitman series mimics Jünger: all humans are infinitely replaceable. Agent 47 can be any person because, to other people, aesthetically mimicing is being. On a technical level, 47 changes; he takes on properties that prevent processes of alert and violence from occurring. 47 is infinitely polyvalent. He is one state change away from any subjectivity.
And what is the cause of this thesis? What makes it rear its head in this game? Is it because a key developer thought, like Jünger, that the modern period was characterized by the elimination of the individual in favor of the matted-down Same? More than likely, no. A likely point, though I have no evidence of this, could be the way that games are forced to handle assets because of memory limitations. It is more resource efficient to display a single element and apply it to a number of different positions on the screen–having to create fewer elements is a material motivation from the roots of animation, and the application to video games makes sense. So we see the same backgrounds, the same storefronts, the same rock models.
But we also see the same character models. We see the same people, repeating infinitely, filling up the screen.
A final example: a large street party in New Orleans. The streets are filled with copies, mostly only differentiated by skin color or a hat or a glowstick necklace. It saves system resources, surely, and makes technical sense. But it is more than that? Is it a meditation of replaceability, on immortality, and of the collapse of the Many-Possible into the One-That-Is?
1. He is also white and male, which means that the “perfect human” is really just a combination of those qualities. I recognize everything wrong with this; that discussion just doesn’t fit into the scope of this blog post.
Groys, Boris. “Ernst Jünger’s Technologies of Immortality.” Introduction to Antiphilosophy.
This entry was posted in Video Games and tagged boris groys, ernst Jünger, hitman, mimesis, seriality, video games. Bookmark the permalink.
This is a blog about video games, comic books, film, and philosophy. It is mostly research-oriented stuff. The art in the current header is from Prophet #29. The blog icon was made by Tara Ogaick.
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Tkachenko O. – Editor-in-Chief, D.Sc. in Philology, Professor
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Google Maps Now Supports Offline Navigation In India. Is It Anywhere near HERE?
By Anand Karwa Last updated Nov 19, 2015
Almost every one of us have got lost in some unknown areas at some point or the other. The technology has made us so adventurous that we wish to explore new areas every time we visit a place. A part of this desire is fueled by our over reliance on the technology.
I literally go to a lot of new places thinking that my phone and Google Maps will help me from getting lost, but I still get lost! Many a times I land up in areas with no or spotty mobile internet connectivity, and that’s where Google Maps used to fail me. But not anymore…
Google has acknowledged this issue and has now launched offline Maps for India.
This launch of a new version of Google Maps comes just a week after Google began letting its Maps users download and retain tub-by-turn navigation.
What’s There & What’s Missing In The New Update?
With this offline mode support, Google Maps will show you the transit directions for car (not for public transport and walking directions). It will also not show you live traffic, at this point of time.
You can search for specific places and find useful information about various places with this new offline support in Google Maps.
All you have to do is to search for an area you’re interested in, and then Download it.
You can also add new offline areas to Google Maps by going to “Offline Areas”, tapping on the “+” button after selecting the area you wish to save for offline navigation.
Note: As of now, you can save areas for offline navigation only over a Wi-Fi connection.
Google Maps Vs. HERE MAPS
Soon after the launch of offline navigation in Google Maps, HERE Maps was quick to respond with a comparison between their offering and Google Maps.
If you scan through the comparison chart below, you’ll find out that HERE Maps is still way ahead of Google Maps in terms of offline navigation and other features. HERE Maps not only consumes significantly lesser storage space for storing offline maps, but also supports offline directions for going anywhere on foot and via public transport also.
All of this is enough for me to make an easy choice but more is yet to come. Google Maps will be updated again by the end of year with more features and then we will be able to do a better comparison.
"Google Maps Now Supports Offline Navigation In India. Is It Anywhere near HERE?", 5 out of 5 based on 2 ratings.
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Anand is an Electronics Engineers by education, and has a keen interest in scrutinizing the hardware that powers Smart Phones. He is known to be a compulsive tinkerer.
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MGM Resorts Pledges $1 Million Employee Emergency Fund
Travelivery » All News » Hotel News » MGM Resorts Pledges $1 Million Employee Emergency Fund
Hotels, Las Vegas
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) today announced an array of initiatives intended to support those impacted economically by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, including a $1 million crisis and disaster relief pledge into an employee emergency grant fund and donating the equivalent of 400,000 meals across the United States.
“As we confront extraordinary events and an unprecedented global pandemic crisis, we know that this is an extremely challenging and uncertain time for many of our employees, their families, friends, and neighbors and we are committed to help those in need,” said Bill Hornbuckle, Acting CEO and President of MGM Resorts International. “We have done a number of things to help our colleagues, including significantly expanding eligibility coverage for the MGM Employee Emergency Grant Fund. MGM Resorts International is donating $1 million towards disaster relief to offer additional support to employees impacted by the crisis and who may be experiencing hardships.”
Hornbuckle added, “We’ve also stepped up our commitment to communities around the country. Over the past week, MGM has donated the equivalent of 400,000 meals through local food banks to alleviate food insecurity in the United States.”
In November, MGM Resorts launched its bold vision for social impact and sustainability, Focused on What Matters, a companywide program focused on a goal-centered approach to making positive impacts in its communities. Company goals by 2025 include 5 million meals to be donated through its Feeding Forward program and surpassing 1 million volunteer hours within the community.
“In battling the current global crisis, at MGM Resorts we intend to embrace humanity, exemplify inclusion and exhibit compassion. Our commitment to our employees and the communities in which we operate, conduct business and serve our customers, remains steadfast,” said Jyoti Chopra, Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity & Sustainability Officer for MGM Resorts International.
Additional information below:
MGM Resorts Emergency Relief Fund
The MGM Resorts Emergency Relief Fund provides employees and their immediate families with short-term relief in making payments or to meet obligations during unexpected hardships and emergencies. MGM Resorts’ $1 million pledge will provide expanded coverage for the fund to assist those impacted by the coronavirus, including full-time employees, on-call employees and those facing layoff, separation or furlough.
Community Food Donations Across the Nation
Because of the difficult decision to temporarily close its properties across the country, to date, MGM Resorts International has donated over 480,000 pounds of food – or 400,000 meals – to the communities in which it operates. The company is working with local food banks to ensure all available fresh food from its resorts is safely and quickly donated to charitable organizations in several underserved areas.
MGM Resorts International (Las Vegas, NV): Across Las Vegas, MGM Resorts has provided extensive on-the-ground support and in-kind donations to several local community organizations and agencies. So far, the resort group has donated 301,000 pounds of food to Three Square Food Bank, providing 251,000 meals to community members in need. Nonperishable food has been donated from multiple MGM Resorts’ properties across The Strip along with bags for the distribution of food and meals to those in need. MGM will continue to work with Three Square as well as other food banks throughout the city to manage donation intake and food storage.
MGM National Harbor (Oxon Hill, Md.): MGM National Harbor worked with food donor partner Nourish Now to contribute 55,000 pounds of food to community nonprofits such as Nourish Now. The food will provide more than 45,000 meals to Maryland residents throughout Montgomery County and Prince George’s County.
MGM Springfield (Springfield, Mass.): MGM Springfield has donated 12,000 pounds to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Open Pantry Community Services and Friends of the Homeless. These donations will provide over 10,000 meals to Springfield residents in need.
Beau Rivage (Biloxi, Miss.): Beau Rivage has donated 25,000 pounds of food to multiple organizations including Extra Table, Loaves & Fishes, Lord is My Help and the Hancock County Food Pantry for individuals and families across the city. The effort will provide more than 20,000 meals to South Mississippi families who may have suddenly found themselves in need.
Gold Strike: (Tunica, Miss.): Gold Strike has donated 10,000 pounds of food which is more than 8,000 meals to Sacred Heart Southern Mission.
MGM Northfield Park (Northfield, Ohio): Working with JACK Casino and JACK Thistledown, MGM Northfield Park has donated more than 3,000 pounds equal 2,500 meals of food to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, offering support to the Northeast Ohio community. They are continuing to donate throughout the week.
MGM Grand Detroit (Detroit, Mich.): To provide critical help to the city, MGM Grand Detroit has donated approximately 15,000 pounds of produce and dairy products to Forgotten Harvest, a food distribution channel equal to 12,500 meals. MGM Grand Detroit also donated 3,000 gloves to medical professionals in the City of Detroit.
Borgata: (Atlantic City, NJ): The Borgata has donated more than 35,000 pounds or about 30,000 meals to the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic County and to the Community Food Bank of NJ.
Empire City:(Yonkers, NY): Caritas of Port Chester NY received approximately 25,000 pounds of food from Empire City which equals 20,000 meals.
ABOUT MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500® global entertainment company with national and international locations featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife, and retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive, iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts portfolio encompasses 29 unique hotel and destination gaming offerings including some of the most recognizable resort brands in the industry. Expanding throughout the U.S. and around the world, the company recently acquired the operations of Empire City Casino in New York and Hard Rock Rocksino in Ohio, which was rebranded as MGM Northfield Park. In 2018, MGM Resorts opened MGM Springfield in Massachusetts, MGM COTAI in Macau, and the first Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. The over 80,000 global employees of MGM Resorts are proud of their company for being recognized as one of FORTUNE® Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies®. For more information visit their website.
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Industry Adoption
Weekly Updates – 23.09.2019
Update: Week of 23 September 2019
Dear Tezos community, We can’t wait to connect with community members from around the world at the upcoming TQuorum Global Summit this Sunday through Tuesday at Spring Street Studios in NYC. The conference will run for three days, with one day focused on the proof of stake ecosystem and one day focused on digital assets.
I will be speaking on Monday morning to welcome all of you to the conference. From there – those attending will hear from a number of our grantees and other funded entities, including Cryptium Labs, Nomadic Labs, Truffle, TQ Tezos, and many more. You can purchase your ticket for the summit here.
We are excited to see that the promotion vote period recently began for the current voting cycle in the Tezos amendment process. It will end in about three weeks. As in past voting cycles the Foundation will vote “pass” (meaning “abstain”) for the current period. We are encouraged by the substantive discussions in the community around proposals for protocol upgrades and are confident in the decision that the rest of the community makes.
Grantees & Funded Entities
Below are some updates on our grantees and other funded entities from the last week:
Happy Tezos released Tezos-as-a-Service (TaaS), which provides real-time updates to various applications on the Tezos blockchain by leveraging SignalR (WebSocket).
Edukera introduced its new Archetype website, which demonstrates how Archetype helps to develop more secure smart contracts on Tezos.
During the testing phase of protocol Babylon 005_PsBABY5H, Nomadic Labs discovered a bug affecting bigmaps in Michelson smart contracts, and corrected it in a proposal for a new version of Babylon. Cryptium Labs wrote its own summary of the bug and how it can be addressed.
ECAD Labs’ Jev Björsell introduced Taquito, a new TypeScript library suite that can be used to build dApps or traditional web applications on top of the Tezos blockchain.
Tulip Tools gave a sneak peek of its upcoming beta of TPlus, which lets developers manage any number of Tezos nodes for use with mainnet, or alphanet, as well as sandbox environments used for local testing and (smart contract) development, and offers a ready-to-go development experience.
TQ Tezos published a guide to TQuorum Global Summit. Take a look if you are planning on attending.
Simple Staking published a guide on the Tezos peer-to-peer layer and its Rust implementation.
Nomadic Labs announced the first release of data-encoding, a library to encode and decode values to JSON or binary format.
Stove Labs released an update on its work over the past few weeks.
The Tezos Foundation participated in the latest round of funding for Securitize, one of the leading players in the digital securities sector. The $14 million financing round in which the Tezos Foundation participated was led by Nomura Groups and Santander InnoVentures and will help Securitize accelerate its go-to-market strategy. This investment aims to increase the adoption of Tezos in digital securities issuances.
On top of the Foundation’s regular duties this week, the team is excited to join the rest of the community at the TQuorum Global Summit in New York City from 29 September – 1 October. Ryan Jesperson and Ryan Lackey will both be speaking, with Hubertus Thonhauser, Michel Mauny, and Roman Schnider also attending. Grab your ticket now!
FAQs: What is inflation funding? How does it work?
Inflation funding is a mechanism that the Tezos protocol can use to fund the development of the core protocol and other public goods. Essentially how it works is simple – if an upgrade is approved via the Tezos governance process, the protocol itself mints new Tezos tokens (XTZ) and issues them to the developer(s) behind the upgrade. This process increases the total supply of XTZ and is designed to solve the free rider problem that open-source projects are particularly prone to. Inflation funding presents a sustainable source of funding that is not reliant on token price appreciation or private investment.
Announcements - 10.07.2020
Tezos Foundation Personnel Updates
Following a recent Council meeting, the Tezos Foundation is proud to announce that Danny Masters, Co-founder of the CoinShares Group, has been appointed as a non-executive Council Member of the Tezos Foundation.
Weekly Updates - 27.11.2020
Q&A with Enrique Suárez, Co-Founder & CEO of MountX
Following MountX and Vertalo’s completion of the first successful tokenization of real estate in Mexico, we caught up with MountX Co-Founder and CEO Enrique Suárez to discuss the project, real estate asset tokenization, and other properties in the pipeline.
Digital assets such as tokenized stocks and derivatives will be the future of capital markets and the Tezos protocol is the basis of it.
Copyright © 2020 Tezos Foundation -
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AFRICITIES
Death toll rises to 28 in Uganda protests after presidential candidate Wine’s arrest
November 20, 2020 November 20, 2020 The African Mirror Bobi Wine, Bobi Wine arrested, Yoweri Museveni
ELIAS BIRYABAREMA
TWENTY-EIGHT people have died and 577 have been detained in unrest in Uganda triggered by the arrest of presidential candidate and pop star Bobi Wine, police have revealed.
Authorities have deployed the military across the capital Kampala and surrounding areas to help police forces disperse protesters. They have used live bullets, tear gas and water cannon in efforts to quell the unrest.
Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was arrested on Wednesday while campaigning in eastern Uganda for allegedly holding mass rallies in violation of restrictions on gatherings imposed by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Police spokesman Fred Enanga said detained protesters were involved in violence including targeting members of the public who do not support Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) party.
“What we have seen in the last few days, that is violence, vandalism, looting, intimidation and threats, are crimes that were being committed (against) people who are not pro-NUP. This is not something that we can tolerate.”
Wine, 38, was due to appear in court on Friday to be formally charged, judicial officials said.
Uganda, a nation of 42 million people, is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 14, with Wine emerging as a serious threat to veteran President Yoweri Museveni, 76, who aims to extend his rule to at least 40 years.
Wine has amassed a large following among Ugandan youth, attracted by his bold criticism of the government, often in his song lyrics.
His arrest triggered immediate protests in Kampala and other major towns across the East African country. Youths have burnt tyres and other material on roads and erected barriers to block traffic, demanding his release. – Thomas Reuters Foundation.
Uganda's Bobi Wine released on bail as protest death…
16 people killed as Uganda's security personnel…
Uganda opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine…
Uganda's Bobi Wine says bodyguard killed by police;…
← South African judge has refused to step down from corruption probe: this was the right call
South African broadcaster SABC delays job cuts plan by a week →
info@theafricanmirror.africa
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Wolves defeat Flames behind Lehtonen’s near-shutout
Link to Tuesday’s boxscores
CHICAGO 4, QUAD CITY 1
Alexandre Giroux scored twice and goaltender Kari Lehtonen came within 10 seconds of a shutout in the first start of his conditioning assignment as Chicago downed Quad City, 4-1, on Tuesday at the Allstate Arena. Lehtonen, a two-time AHL All-Star with the Wolves, stopped 27 of 28 shots to help Chicago improve its record to a league-best 16-2-1-0.
Giroux scored Chicago’s first two goals of the game. He tallied a power play marker at 8:08 of the first period and added an even-strength goal at 19:01 of the second. Steve Martins assisted on both goals, and Lehtonen picked up a helper on the first one.
Joel Kwiatkowski and Jason Krog built the lead to 4-0 with third-period goals, and Brett Sterling assisted on both tallies.
The Flames broke up Lehtonen’s shutout bid on a power play goal by defenseman Adam Pardy at 19:50 of the third period.
The game marked Lehtonen’s first AHL action since the 2005 Calder Cup Finals, which the Wolves lost to Philadelphia.
In that 2004-05 season, Lehtonen was named a Second-Team AHL All-Star after posting a 38-17-2 record with a 2.27 goals against average and a .929 save percentage in 57 games. He earned a spot on the PlanetUSA squad at the AHL All-Star Classic in both 2004 and 2005.
Lehtonen is 58-43-9 with a 2.84 goals against average and a .910 save percentage in 115 career NHL games, all with the parent Atlanta Thrashers.
MILWAUKEE 5, SAN ANTONIO 4
Janne Niskala, Dave Scatchard, and Rich Peverley all scored in the third period to lead visiting Milwaukee to a 5-4, come-from-behind win over San Antonio at the AT&T Center.
Antti Pihlstrom and Mike Santorelli also scored for the Admirals. Santorelli and Peverley each added an assist, and goaltender Pekka Rinne made 27 saves in the win.
Milwaukee pulled even on its five-game road swing at 2-2-0-0.
The Rampage took a 4-2 lead into the second intermission as Joel Perrault, Bryan Helmer, and Curtis Fraser all lit the lamp in the second period.
Joey Tenute also scored for San Antonio, his goal coming in the opening period.
IOWA 3, HOUSTON 2
Defenseman Bryce Lampman netted the game-winner in the third period as Iowa rallied past Houston by a 3-2 final at the Wells Fargo Arena.
Iowa, which snapped a three-game winless skid at home (0-2-1), also received goals from Janos Vas and James Neal.
The Aeros got out to a 2-1 lead late in the first period on goals by Petr Kalus and Troy Riddle, with the later coming unassisted at 19:45 of the stanza.
Neal tied it for the Stars with a power play goal at 19:59 of the second period, and Lampman’s game-winner followed just 26 seconds into the third. It was Lampman’s first point in his fourth game since joining Iowa from the Norfolk Admirals.
Iowa goaltender Tobias Stephan improved to 6-4-0 with 24 saves on 26 shots.
Greiss mask auction running through Nov. 30
Marlies host Griffins in Wednesday morning start
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HomePosts tagged 'pineapples'
Top Chinese trade delegation seeks PH food exports at IFEX Philippines: NXTFOOD ASIA
May 16, 2019 May 16, 2019 CITEM IFEX Philippines avocado, bananas, China MArket, citem, DTI, durian, Food Trends, IFEX Philippines, mango, mangosteen, NXTFOOD ASIA, papaya, pineapples, Premium 7
Banana is one of the Philippines top agricultural exports to China.
A delegation of top food companies from Shanghai, China and its surrounding cities seek to source food products and ingredients from the Philippines in the upcoming 13th edition of IFEX Philippines: NXTFOOD ASIA on May 24, 2019, at the World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM).
This Chinese buyer delegation will represent 12 companies from the seafood, snacks, cold chain and agricultural products sectors. They were given the “Very Important Buyer” (VIB) status by the Department of Trade and Industry through the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (DTI-CITEM).
“One company is seeking to increase banana orders from 120 to 300 containers per week while another is looking to find sources for snacks, fruit chips, nuts and other new and exciting food that they can carry in more than 2,700 outlets across China,” said Vice Consul Mario Tani from the Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC-Shanghai) and in-charge of bringing the delegation.
Organized by DTI-CITEM, IFEX Philippines is the biggest export-oriented food fair in the Philippines with more than 2,000 buyers and over 800 exhibitors participating this year.
Presenting “NXTFOOD ASIA,” this edition will host a grand showcase of the innovations and culinary techniques behind the country’s top agricultural export products with a focus on the Premium 7.
Selected Chinese representatives will also hold a forum and panel discussions titled, “How to Launch Your Food Brand Successfully in the China Market” and “Key Food Trends in China,” to help food companies in the Philippines enter the Chinese market. These talks will be held from 2PM to 6PM on May 24 at the Hidalgo Room of the WTCCM.
“During this activity, there will also be ample time provided for business meetings and matching with the participating Chinese companies,” noted Vice Consul Tani.
China is the Philippines’ largest trading partner with bilateral trade amounting to 55.7 billion US dollars in 2018. Total agricultural exports to China from the Philippines increased by 62% in 2018 to 678.6 million US dollars, with products such as Cavendish bananas, pineapples, papaya and mango as top contributors.
Other food-related industries, such as the snack industry in China, are showing robust growth with forecasts of a 444 billion US dollars valuation by 2020 to serve the growing needs of the Chinese population, which is projected to grow to 1.42 billion by the end of 2019.
According to Vice Consul Tani, there are still a lot of products that China can source from the Philippines. These include fresh and processed seafood, individually quick-frozen (IQF) fruits, coconut-related products, avocado, durian, mangosteen, sauces and various condiments, among others.
“IFEX is a great platform to showcase the best of what the Philippines can offer and help push for more exports of bananas and other food and agricultural related products, which is also one of the DTI’s key initiatives,” he added.
China’s food imports have quadrupled over the last decade and China aims to import US $5 trillion worth of products and services in the next 5 years.
With its growing economy and consistent increase in consumption trends, there is enormous potential for suppliers from the Philippines to benefit from China’s market and increase their footprint as well as their revenues.
Food Philippines to showcase premium, healthy and Halal-certified products in Dubai
January 27, 2016 CITEM Food Philippines, GULFOOD Africa, Asia, cavendish banana, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, citem, coconut water, Department of Trade and Industry, DTI, Dubai, dubai world trade center, Europe, food and hospitality, food industry, Food Philippines, Food Philippines Pavilion, fresh fruits, GCC, GULFOOD, Gulfood 2016, Gulfood: Food Hotel and Equipment Exhibition and Salon Culinaire, halal-certified, healthy, mangoes, melting pot of flavors, Middle East, natural, Organic, Philippine Food Market, pineapples, premium, Rosvi C. Gaetos, UAE, United Arab Emirates
Food Philippines will usher in more trade opportunities for the country’s food industry as it brings premium, healthy and halal-certified food products in the forthcoming 21st “Gulfood: Gulf Food Hotel and Equipment Exhibition and Salon Culinaire” slated at the Dubai World Trade Center on February 21-25, 2016.
Twenty-four food companies have been tapped by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), to represent the country in the biggest annual trade show in food and hospitality. CITEM aims to engage the prospect market in the Middle East by featuring a new lineup of healthy food products that are natural as well as organic.
The Food Philippines Pavilion in last year’s GULFOOD participation.
“There is an overwhelming feedback from the last year’s Gulfood participation, which only proves that there is a potent market in the Middle East which we can strongly influence,” said Rosvi Gaetos, executive director of CITEM.
In response to the increasing demand for healthy and halal-certified food in the international market, part of the country’s objective this year is to expand food choices to offer to the buyers and to introduce new product lines.
Last year, the Food Philippines Pavilion garnered an impressive sales of USD104.34 M, surpassing its record over the years. Breaking down top products from last year’s participation, 26 percent of the total sales came from coconut water and juice; 23 percent from dried mangoes, dried fruits and banana chips; and 18 percent from fresh fruits like cavendish bananas, pineapples, and mangoes.
The Philippine delegation in Gulfood 2016 hopes to strengthen the market for the Philippine food products in Dubai. Dubai is a strategic trading point in the Middle East, located between Asia, Europe and Africa, which makes Dubai a melting pot of flavors and a strategic domain for Philippine trade. The GCC population is expected to grow beyond 50 million mark by 2020, which will incite the growth of various development sectors, including the food sector in the region.
“The United Arab Emirates is one of the leading trade partners of the Philippines. Establishing the Philippine Food Market in UAE will further develop our booming export industry in the Middle East,” said Gaetos.
Visit the Food Philippines Pavillion at booth number E8-10 / F8-9, Hall 8, at the Dubai World Trade Center on February 21-25, 2016.
CITEM introduces DEFood at Anuga 2013
September 13, 2013 CITEM Food Philippines, Food Philippines 2013 anuga, banana, cacao, coconut, coffee, DEFood, Design For Exports Program for the Food Sector, food event, food exports, food show, food trade fair, IFEX Philippines, mango, Philippine food, Philippine food exports, Philippine Food Products, pineapples, Premium 7, premium foods, tuna
The Philippines continues to grow as one of Asia’s most reliable source for high-grade food products, showcasing a feast of flavors through participations in trade fairs abroad under the unifying country brand of Food Philippines. This year at Anuga, the world’s leading food fair, the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) takes the Philippine food industry a notch higher as it launches the Design for Exports Program for the Food Sector (DEFood) , featuring seven of the country’s top commodities dubbed the Philippine Premium 7.
The DEFood program is an initiative of CITEM that entails products development and branding, food packaging development and enhancement, alignment to market requirements, and promotion across the local and international markets. The program focuses on seven commodities – Coconut, Pineapple, Mango, Banana, Coffee, Cacao, and Tuna – chosen for versatility, global demand, and its strength in exports. Natural, healthy, artisanal, and distinctly Filipino – these define the products that will be developed for Philippine Premium 7.
In creating DEFood’s Philippine Premium 7, the goal is to create and promote a Philippine brand for premium foods. The program partners with small and medium scale food companies, producers, and manufacturers in crafting products that will cater to the premium market. Not limited to simply developing food products, the program will also bring together a team of chefs and baristas that will develop menus and recipes using the Premium 7 commodities. All these work towards positioning the Philippines as a source for high-quality, premium-grade, and innovative food offerings.
Food Philippines, featuring DEFood and the Philippine Premium 7 will be at Anuga, 05 – 09 October 2013, so don’t forget to SAVE THE DATES and visit the Philippine Pavilion, Hall 1, A-057g/B-060g & A-050/B059 at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany.
For more information on the participation, visit www.ifexphilippines.com/anuga2013
A Feast of the Philippine Premium Flavors at Anuga 2013
September 6, 2013 CITEM Food Philippines, Food Philippines 2013 anuga, banana, cacao, coconut, coffee, DEFood, Design For Exports Program for the Food Sector, food event, food exports, food show, food trade fair, IFEX Philippines, mango, Philippine food, Philippine food exports, Philippine Food Products, pineapples, Premium 7, premium foods, tuna
Food Philippines presents a feast of the country’s distinct flavors in the international food market, bringing the country’s top-of-the-line and premium food products to this year’s Anuga on 5-9 October 2013, Hall 1, A-057g/B-060g & A-050/B059 at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany.
The Philippine participation in Anuga 2013, with the country brand Food Philippines, is organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) and the Department of Agriculture’s Agribusiness Marketing and Assistance Service (DA-AMAS).
Food Philippines serves an array of premium textures and flavors that fully embody the Philippines’ food offerings that are grown and manufactured to satisfy the ever-changing demands of the world market, be it for fresh or processed food products.
At Anuga 2013, Food Philippines will showcase the country’s finest food products featuring tropical fruits, marine food products, value-added coconut products, and more. The participation at the food show will also mark the launch of CITEM’s Design For Exports Program for the Food Sector (DEFood), highlighting seven commodities: coconut, pineapples, banana, mango, coffee, cacao, and tuna – the Philippine Premium 7. Through Anuga, the participation aims promote the Philippines as a viable source for top-quality food products, as well as grow and sustain Philippine food exports performance in the European market.
Anuga is one of the biggest and most attended food shows in the world, attracting a great number of companies to exhibit, plus a multitude of food brokers, importers, wholesalers, and other industry players and experts from all over the globe. Bringing Food Philippines to the event presents new opportunities for the country’s food industry, allowing Philippine manufacturers to form partnerships with fresh business prospects and also strengthen connections already formed with the industry’s movers and shakers.
Food Philippines will be bringing the finest products from these companies: Andy Albao Enterprise; B-G Fruits & Nuts Manufacturing Corporation; Brandexports Phils. Inc. / Profood Int’l. Corp.; Celebes Canning Corporation; Fitrite Inc.; GSL Premium Food Export Corporation; KSK Food Products; Linkage Foods Venture Corporation; M. Lhuillier Food Products Inc; Mega Fishing Corporation; Monde M.Y. San Corporation; Philbest Canning Corporation; Philfresh Corporation; Philippine Grocers Food Exports, Inc.; Prime Fruits International Inc.;Q-Phil Products International; Raw Brown Sugar Milling Co., Inc.; and See’s International Food Mfg. Corp.
Discover more of what the Philippines has to offer at IFEX Philippines, Asia’s Ethnic Food and Ingredients Show, 21 – 24 May 2015.
For more information on Food Philippines at Anuga, visit www.ifexphilippines.com/anuga2013.
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The Divulge
General World News
‘Sick to my stomach’: Louisville awaits Breonna Taylor decision | US & Canada
September 22, 2020 The Divulge
Louisville, the United States – The mayor of Louisville, Kentucky has declared a state of emergency ahead of an expected decision on whether charges will be brought against the officers involved in the police killing of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman.
Mayor Greg Fischer said in a statement on Tuesday that he does not know when State Attorney General Daniel Cameron will announce a decision in the case, “but we must prepare for it”.
“Our goal is ensuring space and opportunity for potential protesters to gather and express their First Amendment rights after the announcement,” Fischer added.
The declaration will allow the mayor to implement curfews and other restrictions as needed, the statement said.
Memorial to Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky [Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath/Al Jazeera]
Parts of downtown Louisville were eerily quiet on Tuesday after the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) closed down traffic to vehicles, barricading streets and prohibiting street parking. The LMPD on late Monday declared its own state of emergency in preparation for the expected announcement. The department also cancelled all off-day and holiday requests until further notice.
“Due to increased attention and activity in anticipation of an announcement from Attorney General Daniel Cameron regarding the Breonna Taylor case, a decision was made to accelerate plans to physically restrict access to the downtown area,” the LMPD said in a statement early on Tuesday.
Many businesses in the area were boarded up. One local university announced it would move to online cases on the day Cameron makes his announcement.
Protesters accused police of “caging in a section” of the city.
“What’s happening in this city is once again a sign of the failed leadership. Who in their right mind thought caging in a section of this city was smart? It reminds me of a lyric in No Love by Lil Wayne that says, ‘OK, you want me up in a cage, then I’ll come out in beast mode,’” tweeted Louisville-based activist and writer Hannah Drake.
“You don’t cage ANYONE into submission. This was not the way. The leadership in this city doesn’t think. They just do – poorly,” she added.
What’s happening in this city is once again a sign of the failed leadership. Who in their right mind thought caging in a section of this city was smart? It reminds me of a lyric in No Love by Lil Wayne that says, “OK, you want me up in a cage, then I’ll come out in beast mode.” pic.twitter.com/7rfnL5KYwW
— Hannah Drake (@HannahDrake628) September 22, 2020
Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder on Tuesday morning apologised to those who viewed the restrictions as a lockdown, but said they were necessary during this time.
“We just ask that people bear with us as we go through these unprecedented times,” Schroeder said at a news conference. “We felt these steps were necessary to help protect the public.” LMPD officials also stressed they do not know when Cameron plans to announce a decision in the case.
Cameron has not publicly commented on the case since September 9, when he cautioned against reading into “conflicting rumours”.
“When the investigation concludes and a decision is made, we will provide an update about an announcement. The news will come from our offices and not unnamed sources. Until that time, the investigation remains ongoing,” Cameron said in a statement at the time.
The attorney general’s office did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Tuesday.
Several dozen demonstrators, meanwhile, gathered in Jefferson Square Park, the site of ongoing protests, on Tuesday. Protesters mostly quietly talked amongst themselves. Some walked around the makeshift memorial that has been erected to remember Taylor and call for justice. At one point, a woman removed the silver bracelet she was wearing, placed it on the memorial and bowed her head in reflection before walking away.
Louisville native Travis Nagdy, who has participated in the protests since May, said he was “emotional, very emotional”.
“I’m sick to my stomach for one, just anxious,” Nagdy told Al Jazeera. “I’ve been crying a lot.”
He said he was especially emotional on Monday morning after a large caravan of cars passed protesters in support. “It kind of set it in, like, oh s***, this is like D-day.”
Racial justice activist Chris Wells called the police barricades an overreaction and “just a back-door way of controlling the situation.”
Standing in Jefferson Square Park on Tuesday, he said he did not know how protesters would react if the Kentucky attorney general’s announcement falls short of demonstrator demands that the officers involved in Taylor’s killing be charged with murder. He said he would encourage people to vote local leaders out of office, and noted “We just need change.”
Demonstrators calling for justice for Breonna Taylor [File: AP Photo/Steven Senne]
‘Say her name’
Taylor, 26, was killed by police in the early hours of March 13 when plainclothes officers conducting a narcotics investigation barged into her home to serve a “no-knock” warrant. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he mistook police for intruders and fired his weapon, injuring one officer. LMPD Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Myles Cosgrove and then-Detective Brett Hankison returned fire. Taylor was hit at least five times and left bleeding in her hallway where she died, according to the Courier-Journal.
Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, speaking during a protest at the Jefferson County offices of Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron as the community awaits the findings of the grand jury in the case of Breonna Taylor, in Louisville, Kentucky, the US [Bryan Woolston/Reuters]
The case garnered little national and international attention at the time, but it became a focal point during daily Black Lives Matter protests in Louisville after the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Chanting “say her name”, protesters have taken to Louisville’s streets for more than 115 days, demanding the officers involved in Taylor’s death be charged.
Last week, the city of Louisville announced it will pay Taylor’s family $12m and implement police reforms.
Taylor’s family welcomed the settlement, but demanded criminal charges against the officers involved.
“I’m hoping to hear that there will be charges – that these people will be fired and arrested,” Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, told National Public Radio last week.
Sam Marcosson, a professor at the University of Louisville School of Law, said he believes homicide charges are unlikely, in part because officers could claim they acted in self-defence after Taylor’s boyfriend fired a gun.
Lesser charges could include wanton endangerment against Hankison, who was fired in June. Chief Schroeder in his termination letter said Hankison fired “wantonly and blindly” into the apartment.
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Serving Selflessly the Poor, Rejected And Destitute: Abdul Sattar Edhi
Abdul SattarEdhi is 82 years old. 60 years ago, he stood on a street corner in Karachi and begged for money for an ambulance, raising enough to buy a battered old van. In it, he set out on countless life-saving missions.
Gradually, MrEdhi set up centres all over Pakistan. He diversified into orphanages, homes for the mentally ill, drug rehabilitation centres and hostels for abandoned women. He fed the poor and buried the dead. His compassion was boundless.
He would hurtle round the province of Sindh in his poor man’s ambulance, collecting dead bodies, taking them to the police station, waiting for the death certificate and, if the bodies were not claimed, burying them himself. He and his organization have buried over 200,000 dead bodies. recovered these stinking cadavers “from rivers, from inside wells, from road sides, accident sites and hospitals… When families forsook them, and authorities threw them away, I picked them up… Then I bathed and cared for each and every victim of circumstance.
MrEdhi discovered that many Pakistani women were killing their babies at birth, often because they were born outside marriage. So MrEdhi placed a little cradle outside every Edhicentre, beneath a placard imploring: “Do not commit another sin: leave your baby in our care.” MrEdhi has so far saved 35,000 babies and, in approximately half of these cases, found families to cherish them. Once again, this practice brought him into conflict with religious leaders. They claimed that adopted children could not inherit their parents’ wealth. MrEdhi told them their objections contradicted the supreme idea of religion, declaring: “Beware of those who attribute petty instructions to God.”
Edhi Foundation is the largest and most organized social welfare system in Pakistan. Foundation works round the clock, without any discrimination on the basis of color, race, language, religion or polictics. The Foundation modifies the phrase “Live and let live” to “Live and help live”.
Note from Rafik Beekun. This article was written based on material from the following newspaper article published in the UK. You may also go here to visit the website of the Edhi Foundation.
Posted in: Balance vs Extremism, Charity and Philanthropy, Ethics & Morals
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"Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from error; whoever rejects evil and believes in God has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And God hears and knows all things." - (The Qur’an, Al-Baqarah, 2: 256)
"Be tolerant to be tolerated." Prophet Muhammad (s) as narrated in Ahmad B. Hanbal, Musnad 1/248.
"No mercy would be shown to him who does not show mercy." Prophet Muhammad (s) in Sahih Bukhari 18 and in Sahih Muslim 85.
"Every soul is held in pledge for its deeds." - (The Qur'an, Al-Muddathir, 74:38)
God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) was asked what type of earning was best and replied, ”A man’s work with his hand and every business transaction which is approved." Rafi‘ ibn Khadij, Mishkat al Masabih, hadith no. 2783.
"Woe to those who give short measure, who demand of other people full measure for themselves, but give less than they should when it is they who weigh or measure for others! Do these people not realize that they will be raised up on a mighty Day, a Day when everyone will stand before the Lord of the Worlds? " (The Qur'an, Al-Mutaffifin, 83:1-4)
"O you who believe! Fulfill your obligations" (The Qur'an, Al-Ma'idah, 5:1)
"If the debtor is in difficulty, then delay things until matters become easier for him; still, if you were to write it off as an act of charity, that would be better for you if you only knew."(The Qur'an, Al-Baqara, 2: 280)
On the Day of Judgment, the Prophet (saaw) will be a witness against “one who employs a laborer and gets the full work done by him, but does not pay him his wages." Abu Hurayrah, Sahih al Bukhari, hadith no. 3.430.
"O you who believe! Give of the good things which you have (honorably) earned. And of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it you may give away something, when you yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes.(The Qur'an, Al-Baqarah, 2: 267)
"He who buys the stolen property, with the knowledge that it was stolen, shares in the sin and shame of stealing.“ Prophet Muhammad (s) in a hadith reported by al Bayhaqi and cited in al Qaradawi.
"God commands you [people] to return things entrusted to you to their rightful owners, and if you judge between people, to do so with justice." (The Qur'an, An-Nisa, 4:58)
"And spend of your substance in the cause of God. And make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction; But do good; for God loves those who do good."(The Qur'an, Al-Baqarah, 2: 195)
"None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself "(Hadith #13 in An Nawawi and related by Bukhari and Muslim)
"When someone helps the good deeds to be practiced, it is as if he performed those good deeds indeed," Prophet Muhammad (s) in Tirmizi, 14.
"The blessed of mankind is the one who is the most beneficial for mankind." Prophet Muhammad (s) in Beyhaki 6/112.
"I am to my servant as he expects of Me, I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him to Myself, and if he remembers Me in assembly, I mention him in an assembly better than his, and if he draws nearer to Me a hand's span, I draw nearer to him an arm's length, and if he draws nearer to Me an arm's length, I draw nearer to him a fathom length, and if he comes to me walking, I rush to him at [great] speed" (Bukhari and Muslim).
“O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as its.” (Tirmidhi)
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By Hibatur Rehman on November 23, 2011 • ( Leave a comment )
UK: Head of RAF warns of civil war in Afghanistan
The head of the Air Force has admitted that Afghanistan could descend into civil war when Nato forces leave in 2014 with the RAF having to remain behind to help with security.
In a wide ranging interview Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton denied that Prince William’s imminent deployment to the Falkland Islands was controversial despite Argentine protests.
Asked if Afghanistan could return to the internal conflict that has ravaged the country for the last three decades when Western forces leave he told the BBC’s World at One: “That is always a possibility.”
It was unlikely that Nato would know that it has been successful in Afghanistan “until five to 10 years” after it has left, the Chief of the Air Staff suggested.
“That will be the timescale which we will look back and say did we do enough to provide them the space and opportunity to take on governance.”
The RAF would be expected to remain in some strength after 2014 in terms to supporting and training Afghan security forces and secure the country’s borders. “I am not sure how long the RAF would be expected to remain but it would certainly be a possibility and opportunity, ” ACM Dalton said. He added over the next three of four years. There would be an “organised, orchestrated and properly integrated withdraw programme leaving the Afghans in charge.”
Categories: Europe, UK
UN says law protecting Afghan women has ‘long way to go’
Spain’s King left with black eye after walking into a door
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Go Dance Announces Pro Lineup at Dancing for the Horses
Apr 8, 2019 | Entertainment
Celebrity Dancers to compete in a ‘Cirque Du Soleil’ inspired show, produced by Go Dance.
KNOXVILLE, TN, April 08, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ — Go Dance, Knoxville’s longest running ballroom dance studio, today announced its professional dancer (Pro) lineup competing at Dancing for the Horses. The studio will provide dance lessons and choreography for local celebrities participating in the event. Go Dance will also design and produce a themed dance show, in which its Pros will dance with their celebrity dance partners to raise funds for Horse Haven of Tennessee.
Go Dance Professional Dancers and celebrity partners performing at Dancing for the Horses
– Rachel Bracken and Ty Bossey (Personal Trainer/Owner, Bossey Fit)
– Jeffery Bryant and Sarah Merrell (Director of Client Services, Fletcher PR)
– Patrick Guzman and Dale Mackey (Co-founder, Central Collective)
– Taylor Hooks and Robert Grant, (Reporter, WVLT)
– Shannon Jones and Leif Becker (Martial Artist, Guinness Book of World Record Holder)
– Drew McElyea and Hailey McLaughlin (Owner, HM Dressage LLC)
– Chuck Norris and Katie Inman (Reporter, WBIR)
“Dancing with the Horses is a truly unique celebrity dance competition,” said Sam Gordon, Owner of Go Dance. “In addition to the competition aspect of the event, the dancers will be performing in a fully produced show with sets, costumes and professional lighting. Guests will be treated to an evening of entertainment, all while showing their supporting and helping raising money for Horse Haven of Tennessee.”
Dancing for the Horses will be held Saturday, May 19 from 6:00 p.m. to 11p.m. at Bridgewater Place, located in Knoxville, TN. Tickets are $100 per person or $800 per table and can be purchased by visiting http://www.dancingforthehorses.com. Parking is complimentary.
About Dancing for the Horses
Horse Haven of Tennessee presents Dancing for the Horses, an evening of entertainment, a benefit to raise money for the care of abused and neglected horses across Tennessee. Dancing for the Horses pairs local celebrities with professional dancers to compete for awards and bragging rights. In addition to his or dance, celebrity dancers have the chance to earn additional votes before the event through fundraising. Each dollar donated is one vote towards their final score. At the end of the night, we will announce the winners and give out the coveted Isaac Award to the dancer with the highest total of their dancing score and their fundraising efforts. For more information, please visit, http://www.dancingforthehorses.com.
About Horse Haven of Tennessee
Horse Haven of Tennessee is an equine welfare organization that works with local law enforcement and state agriculture investigators to rescue abused and neglected equine across the state. We also provide evidence of abuse and neglect to local law enforcement for use in prosecution cases. When a horse’s case is done in court and has been released into our care, we make sure that it is healthy enough for a new home and find it an adopter. We do also provide assistance programs for owners who are going through hard times. For more information, please visit, http://www.horsehaventn.org.
About Go Dance
Go Dance is Knoxville’s ultimate dance experience. As the highest awarded ballroom dance studio in the region, we offer first-in-class private ballroom dance lessons, group classes and social events exclusively available to our students. The studio is owned and operated by East Tennessee’s only three-time, Triple Crown Dancesport Champion, Sam Gordon. We are staffed by highly-talented, full-time, dance professionals, who train daily in all forms and styles of ballroom dance. Popular dances include, but are not limited to: Foxtrot, Salsa, Swing, Tango and Waltz. For more information, please visit, http://www.godanceknox.com.
Brandon Belcher, Go Dance
Jacqui Pearl, Horse Haven of Tennessee
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Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.
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TV ReviewsThe Simpsons (Classic)Season 3
The Simpsons (Classic): "I Married Marge"
TV ReviewsAll of our TV reviews in one convenient place.
The Simpsons (Classic)Season 3
"I Married Marge"
The primary criticism lobbied at Family Guy is that it fatally lacks the heart that makes The Simpsons emotionally resonant. But it goes far beyond that. The Simpsons isn’t just capable of great emotional depth. At best, it can break your goddamned heart like Ralph Wiggum on live TV. If you freeze-frame you can pinpoint the exact moments in “I Married Marge” where hearts break. There are a lot of them.
“I Married Marge” explores how much of our lives are determined by compromises. It’s a flashback episode that begins with Homer and Marge in a state of high anxiety after Barnacle Bill’s excessively nautically themed Home Pregnancy test turns up maddeningly unclear and the family is faced with the terrifying possibility of another mouth to feed.
Babies are adorable burdens. They ground us. If you’re a twenty-four year old with the best job in the world and a girlfriend you love, as Homer is during the flashback sequences here, they don’t ground you so much as they weigh you down. There is a reason they call it the old ball and chain.
The tone in “I Married Marge” veers somewhere between “achingly bittersweet” and “almost unbearably sad.” It is the story of dreams deferred, of hopes never realized, of aspirations sacrificed on the altar of adult responsibilities. It’s the story of how a boy became a father and a husband without ever becoming a man.
In flashbacks to the 1980s, Homer is living the dream of the doggedly non-ambitious: he has the perfect job working the grounds at a miniature golf course, a girlfriend far better than he deserves and best of all, no responsibilities beyond making sure the windmill at the miniature golf course stays turning. Then Homer receives news that changes his life forever: Marge is pregnant. Suddenly those carefree days sipping champagne inside the miniature castle feel a million miles away.
The perfect fusion of the hilarious and the heartbreaking: that's a specialty of early Simpsons. I teared up when Marge tells Homer that he doesn’t need to buy a fancy wedding ring because any old thing would do and Homer gives her an onion ring that she admires very politely for a moment before admonishing him to take it off before it burns her more. This is the essence of Homer and Marge’s relationship: Marge knows exactly who Homer is and loves him all the same. She’s loving and indulgent enough to let Homer place an onion ring on her finger but sensible enough to not want her finger burned over a gesture, no matter how sweet or romantic. I was equally touched when Marge reads Homer’s accidentally eloquent marriage proposal while directly facing the crack of his ass.
Homer’s triumph and Marge’s tragedy is that a man with no skills is free to go about in the world and run amok while a smart, capable woman is enslaved by her domestic duties. There’s a real sense of hurt and desperation as Homer finds his once sweet life increasingly shaped by hardship. Its contours are molded and shaped by the hardships of having to provide for a wife and the hardship of having to provide for a family.
Parenthood greatly curtails the parameters of Homer’s life but it damn near imprisons Marge. “I Married Marge” somehow just gets sadder and sadder as it goes along and Homer tries to pull himself out of the mess he created. There’s something methodical and rigorous about the storytelling and the way all the pieces fall together until they form a portrait of a family doomed to a lifetime of just barely getting by. In the end, Homer is so defeated and broken that he doesn’t grudgingly trudge to his fate as a wage-slave at the Springfield Power Plant: he angrily demands it by promising to be the most kiss-ass sycophant in the history of kiss-ass sycophants. Homer’s ultimate triumph is getting a job that would crush his soul if he had any sort of emotional investment in it.
“I Married Marge” presents such an unflinching, unsparing yet poignant and wonderfully human portrayal of young parenthood that when the pregnancy test finally turns up negative it is a cause for rapt celebration. That’s parenthood: the gift and the curse. The thing that ruins your life and gives it meaning. “I Married Marge” powerfully captures that duality in a way that illustrates indelibly why we feel for The Simpsons in a way that would be unimaginable with Family Guy. It’s not just funny. It has a soul. Or at least it did.
—the look on Homer’s face before he answers the question of whether or not they’ll have another baby with “maybe” is perfect. It so vividly captures the awful tension of not knowing.
—“It’s not our fault our generation has such short attention spans. We watch an appalling amount of TV”
—“Who would have thought Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father?”
—“You’re as pretty as Princess Leia and as smart as Yoda.”
—“God, he’s always happy. No, wait. He’s always mad.”
—When Grandpa tells Homer, “You’ve got to marry that girl because you’ll never do any better” it’s funny because it’s true.
—“He not only failed the aptitude test, he got stuck in a closet on the way out.”
—Mr. Burns really seems to enjoy Pac-Man.
—Did anyone else find this episode as sad as I did? Or am I just a little overly sensitive these days?
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A.S. Council Authorizes Election for Division-I Vote
January 27, 2016 April 9, 2016 Kriti Sarin
Members of A.S. Council unanimously voted during tonight’s meeting to hold a student body election that will decide whether or not UCSD will facilitate a transition from NCAA Division-II to Division-I athletics. The special election to increase student fees by $160 per quarter starting Fall 2016 will be held during Week 8 of Spring Quarter.
Former national ESPN sports commentator and UCSD alumnus Beth Binger told the UCSD Guardian the transition to Division I will improve the university’s academics as well as its athletic presence.
“[The long-term effects of going Division I] will be tremendous,” Binger said. “It will pull more alumni back to campus, just by virtue of the profile of Division I, which will hopefully lead to more giving. Ultimately, what we’re most interested in is funding student scholarships and continuing the excellence of students, both academically and athletically. Division I will help do that, while giving students who are superior athletes a platform, a level playing field, with their peers.”
The current ICA student activity fee is $129.38 per quarter, or $388.14 per academic year. If the university proceeds with the divisional change, this amount will rise in increments annually for three years; $189.38 per quarter in 2017, $244.38 per quarter in 2018, $289.38 per quarter in 2019.
Sixth College senior and UCSD swimmer Colleen Daley described how athletics allow for more community recognition.
“We deserve the chance to be excellent and we deserve to be recognized for our excellence,” Daley said. “Moving to Division I will provide that visibility and allow all areas of the UCSD community to be recognized [by the public] in the way that we recognize ourselves already.”
UCSD ‘91 Muir College alumna Annamarie Bezzerides stated that obtaining Division-I status would impact alumni and future students alike.
“It is so important for students to have a chance to vote on this and realize that it’s not just about the four years that you are here,” Bezzerides told Council. “It’s about the legacy that you, as future alumni of this institution, will carry with you forever.”
Eleanor Roosevelt College senior Joey Tompkins said that though he will be graduating in June and will not experience attending a Division-I university during his academic tenure, he is optimistic about the impact the change will have on future generations of Tritons.
“Our student athletes work very hard balancing academics and athletics year-round on a daily basis,” Tompkins commented. “I definitely believe they should be recognized for that level of commitment to their sports and academics.”
Engineering alumnus Ping Yeh, who received a bachelor’s degree from UCSD in 1999 and a master’s degree in 2001, described his experiences as a student on campus and the legacy his class left behind; Yeh asked Council members what they want to leave behind. Yeh cofounded the Triton Engineering Student Council, which still hosts the Disciplines of Engineering Career Fair every year. His graduating class gifted the university the 750-pound bronze statue of King Triton that stands in front of Price Center.
“When I walk on campus and I now see people taking pictures with the [Triton] statue, I smile with pride, because that’s something that my class built — we did that,” Yeh said. “But when I look beyond the statue and see Price Center and RIMAC, I feel thankful because previous generations paid for those [amenities] so that the next generation could benefit.”
According to A.S. President Dominick Suvonnasupa, if passed, the fee increase will need to be approved by Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Life Gary Ratcliff, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Juan Gonzalez, UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla and then the UC Office of the President.
UCSD Class of 2000 alumnus Ryan Olson voiced concerns that changing the university’s athletics standing will be ineffective.
“I’m skeptical that going to Division I will help build student support, especially when students will be asked to pay hundreds more per year in fees,” Olson wrote in a comment on the Guardian Facebook page. “I respect that this is the students’ decision. Please choose wisely and consider that there are other ways to accomplish your goals without going to Division I.”
Four other undergraduate students expressed support for going Division I during the public input portion of the meeting. No members of the public voiced opposition to the referendum. UCSD Athletics Director Earl Edwards, Senior Associate Athletics Director Ken Grosse and Deputy Athletics Director Wendy Taylor May were also present at the meeting, but did not address Council. Suvonnasupa initially proposed the Division-I referendum at the first Council meeting of Winter Quarter on Jan. 6.
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Home / HEADLINES / INDIA / Taliban say ceasefire will not be extended, as suicide attack kills 18
Taliban say ceasefire will not be extended, as suicide attack kills 18
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the suicide attack in Jalalabad city, outside the office of the Nangarhar provincial governor. The Islamic State group, which was not part of the truce, had claimed an even deadlier blast near the city a day earlier.
Further dampening hopes for peace after jubilant scenes during the ceasefire over the Muslim holiday, the Taliban announced they would not be extending the truce beyond Sunday. That has raised concerns among some Afghans over the number of Taliban who have taken advantage of the ceasefire to enter cities around the country, including the capital Kabul, and may still be there when the truce ends.
Nangarhar provincial health director Najibullah Kamawal put the death toll from Sunday’s blast at 18 with 49 wounded. “Some of the wounded are in a serious condition,” Kamawal added, suggesting the death toll could rise. Governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani put the death toll slightly higher at 19. He said a bomber on foot blew himself up among a crowd of Taliban fighters, local elders and civilians leaving the governor’s compound after attending a special event for Eid.
On Saturday a suicide assault on a gathering of Taliban, security forces and civilians in the province killed at least 36 people and wounded 65. The Islamic State group’s Afghanistan franchise claimed responsibility for that attack. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid announced the decision to resume fighting after President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday a government truce with the militants would be extended. He had asked the group to reciprocate.
The government has extended its ceasefire with the Taliban by 10 days but security forces would defend themselves if attacked, a spokesman for President Ghani tweeted.
The first formal nationwide ceasefire since the 2001 US invasion had been widely welcomed across the country as Afghans — Taliban, security forces and civilians — celebrated Eid, the holiday that caps the fasting month of Ramadan. Taliban fighters and security forces embraced and took selfies with each other over the first two days of the Muslim holiday.
Civilians also flocked to greet the militants, who had left their posts or areas under their control to celebrate the halt in hostilities, fuelling hopes among war-weary Afghans that peace was possible. Ghani’s extension of the government’s eight-day ceasefire, which had been due to expire Tuesday night, drew immediate international support and calls for the Taliban to follow suit.
The Taliban had agreed to a truce but only for the first three days of Eid, which started Friday, promising not to attack Afghan soldiers or police. They would, however, continue attacking US-led NATO troops. With the ceasefire due to end Sunday night, fighting is likely to resume on Monday. Adding to unease among ordinary Afghans, who have borne the brunt of the nearly 17-year war, is the number of Taliban fighters now inside cities around the country.
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Black Friday: Fights Mar UK Retail Frenzy
(c) Sky News 2014
Police have criticised supermarket chains after stores were over-run by bargain-hunters overnight as the US Black Friday retail phenomenon hit the UK.
Websites also crashed under the strain of online shoppers as sales began at midnight, with hordes descending on stores in a rush to pick up goods ahead of Christmas.
Officers were called to at least four supermarkets in London alone because of over-crowding while shoppers took to Twitter (Xetra: A1W6XZ - news) to describe "carnage" in stores, with some reports of people being stripped of cheap TVs and other goods by rivals in the scramble.
Queues were seen up and down the country and frustrations boiled over.
Greater Manchester Police said on its Twitter feed: "Keep calm, people!"
It reported a number of arrests as three Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) stores were forced to close because of unruly behaviour.
Fights broke out at a Tesco Extra in Stretford and a woman was hurt by a falling TV.
In Salford, officers arrested a man for allegedly threatening to "smash" a staff member's face in.
Poor security numbers have been criticised by both police and shoppers alike.
The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy, said: "The events of last night were totally predictable and I am disappointed that stores did not have sufficient security staff on duty.
"This created situations where we had to deal with crushing, disorder and disputes between customers."
South Wales Police also reported receiving a number of calls from staff at Tesco stores after they became "concerned due to the volume of people who had turned up to sale events."
There were also disturbances at a Tesco in Glasgow which had to close for a period as people clashed over discounted goods.
Many choosing to go online instead found intense traffic had overcome websites including Tesco Direct, Argos and Currys - with customers forced to wait.
Black Friday was introduced in the US on the day after the Thanksgiving holiday and was so-named because brisk business was said to have helped retailers back into profit - into the black.
UK retailers are expecting their biggest day of spending this year.
Visa (Xetra: A0NC7B - news) is predicting that £518m will be splashed out on its cards alone, and analysts believe that almost half of UK shoppers are planning to snap up a Black Friday deal.
And the shopping frenzy is expected to continue right through until Monday, with estimates that £1.7bn will be spent during the so-called "cyber weekend".
More retailers have been wheeling out their best deals to lure Christmas shoppers, after Black Friday offers caused a gold rush at the tills last year.
The craze was introduced to the UK by Amazon back in 2010, with Asda joining the frenzy in 2013. This year, the supermarket is foraying into big-ticket items such as quad bikes, with some products carrying a hefty price tag of £3,500.
Bargain hunters are being reminded to "keep their cool".
John Hannett, from the shop workers' union USDAW, warned: "Black Friday can be very difficult for staff. With overcrowded shops and highly excited customers, sometimes tempers flare and things can get out of control.
"Retail staff are keen to give great customer service and are trained to provide a good shopping experience, but that can be difficult if people are angry and aggressive.
"So my message to the shopping public is clear. Enjoy Black Friday, I hope you get what you're looking for and at a great price, but please keep your cool and respect shop workers."
(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin hovered near $36,000 on Monday, below a level that strategists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. see as an inflection point for the digital coin.The cryptocurrency could be hurt by an exodus of trend-following investors unless it can “break out” above $40,000 soon, a team including Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said. The pattern of demand for Bitcoin futures and the $22.9 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust will help determine the outlook, they added.“The flow into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust would likely need to sustain its $100 million per day pace over the coming days and weeks for such a breakout to occur,” the strategists wrote in a note on Friday.Traders seeking clues about investor appetite for risk have been gripped by Bitcoin’s stunning rally and turbulent 10% slide from a record of almost $42,000 on Jan. 8. The cryptocurrency boom since March has reflected the ebullience of financial markets awash in stimulus -- as well as concern over whether gains will ultimately prove fleeting.The JPMorgan strategists said Bitcoin was in a similar position in late November, except with $20,000 as the test. Flows of institutional investment into the Grayscale trust helped the world’s largest cryptocurrency extend its rally, they wrote.Trend-following traders “could propagate the past week’s correction” and “momentum signals will naturally decay from here up till the end of March” if Bitcoin’s price fails to break above $40,000, they said.Bitcoin fell 1.4% to $36,014 as of 3:25 p.m. in London on Monday.Exactly what’s driven the yearlong near-quadrupling in Bitcoin’s price remains murky. Commentators have cited day traders, wealthy buyers, hedge funds, companies and even signs of interest from long-term investors like insurers.‘Dread to Think’Some, like Chris Iggo, remain skeptical of Bitcoin’s appeal to large institutions.“I dread to think what most risk officers would think about that being in a core investment portfolio,” the chief investment officer of core investments at Axa Investment Managers wrote in a note. “For assets to be considered in a long-term investment portfolio one should be able to attach some fundamental intrinsic value to them.”Bitcoin’s proponents argue it’s maturing as a hedge for dollar weakness and the possibility of faster inflation in a recovering global economy. Others say its defining characteristic remains speculative booms followed by busts.Read more: Does Bitcoin Boom Mean ‘Better Gold’ or Bigger Bubble? QuickTakeFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Yellen to Enter Firing Line on Aid as Recovery Fades
(Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen on Tuesday steps into a new role following more than a quarter-century in government: salesperson for economic policy after years of defending Federal Reserve thinking and actions.The Senate Finance Committee’s 10 a.m. hearing Tuesday is likely to feature topics from foreign-exchange policy to taxes, but it will also serve as the first congressional forum where lawmakers will vet President-elect Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief plan. Yellen will tell them that low borrowing costs mean it’s time to “act big,” according to her prepared remarks.Read more: Biden’s Top Cabinet Choices -- Who May Not Be on the Job Day OneYellen, 74, will need to sell a package that includes a minimum-wage hike and substantial expansion in family and medical leave -- social safety-net programs that have already triggered Republican opposition. Democratic lawmakers, who will soon enjoy majority control of the chamber, are set to press for their own priorities.For Yellen, a former economics professor who’ll become the first woman to run the Treasury if confirmed, it’s a marked difference from previous service as Fed chair and vice chair, and running the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She also headed President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, which she ran more as an economic think-tank for the administration rather than a group that set policy.Read QuickTake: Biden’s Stimulus Hopes May Depend on ‘Reconciliation’This time she comes to Congress as a political appointee in an environment charged by the possible impeachment trial of Donald Trump and the repercussions of this month’s violence at the Capitol.“We don’t know what kind of salesperson she’s going to be in a political context -- she’s never had to do that before,” said Tony Fratto, who worked at the Treasury and White House during the George W. Bush administration. She will need to “figure out the best way to win support for the administration’s policies,” he said.The stakes of getting stimulus through Congress, where Democrats have control with the vice president’s tiebreaker in a 50-50 partisan split, are high. There are still nearly 11 million unemployed Americans in an economy that continues to be battered by the pandemic. Declines in payrolls and retail sales in December left the nation limping into the new year. More than 17 million people say they have little to no confidence in their ability to pay rent next month.Yellen, who’s due to participate virtually in the hearing, will tell the committee that the U.S. economy has been suffering from entrenched inequality -- and that the administration’s longer-term goal will be to create “more prosperity for more people.”“Well before Covid-19 infected a single American, we were living in a K-shaped economy, one where wealth built on wealth while working families fell further and further behind,” Yellen will say, according to a text of her prepared remarks obtained by Bloomberg News. “This is especially true for people of color.”Here are some of the other key issues she can be expected to address:Deficit FinancingYellen will echo the case made by Biden that cheap borrowing costs are an opportunity for public spending to boost the economy. “Right now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest thing we can do is act big,” she’ll say, according to the prepared text. But Yellen will likely get asked what the safe limit is, now that debt is on the verge of surpassing 100% of GDP.Respected by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, Yellen may be crucial in making the case for significant additional borrowing, said Julia Coronado, a former Fed economist and president of MacroPolicy Perspectives. “She’ll be there to assuage worries that we’re going in a radical direction.”Yellen could also be asked about debt-issuance tactics, and whether she agrees with former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in seeking to tilt borrowing toward longer-dated securities. That could lock in cheap funding, though many bond dealers have been skeptical about introducing a 50-year or 100-year bond.Read More: Mnuchin Eyes 100-Year Debt Wall Street May Not Be Ready ForFed CoordinationSteven Mnuchin, the outgoing Treasury secretary, phased out five emergency Fed facilities at the end of December, something he said was required by the language in the March 2020 Cares Act that set them up.Democrats sharply disagreed. Republicans sought to prevent any resurrection of the programs with language inserted in the December pandemic aid bill. It’s unclear whether the Biden administration sees a role for fresh Fed initiatives.Read More: Republicans Will Keep Trying to Limit Fed’s Emergency Loan PowerYellen more broadly may be asked about the Fed’s intention to keep buying large quantities of Treasuries, and whether the central bank is enabling excessive government borrowing.“She’s going to have to work out a modus vivendi with the Fed that doesn’t look like a conspiracy and is explicable to Congress,” said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.Currency PolicyAfter years of mixed messages on U.S. currency policy, and occasional outright endorsement of a weaker currency, Yellen is facing some pressure to restore the embrace of a strong dollar. But she’s also in the past highlighted the negatives from a strengthening greenback.Yellen, in her testimony, will affirm the U.S.’s commitment to market-determined exchange rates and make clear the country doesn’t seek a weaker dollar for competitive advantage, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing Biden transition officials. Biden transition spokespeople were unable to confirm the report.The Treasury also oversees a semiannual assessment of U.S. trading partners’ foreign-exchange policies, determining whether they are manipulating their currencies. Mnuchin made three such designations -- for China from August 2019 to January 2020, and starting mid-December 2020 for Switzerland and Vietnam.Read more: U.S. Tags Switzerland Currency Manipulator, Keeps China on WatchChina TiesWhile the Treasury isn’t directly in charge of trade negotiations, the department is typically involved, and the secretary in the past has been the leading economic official in engagement forums with China. It remains unclear whether the Biden administration plans to resurrect some type of regular dialogue and what Yellen’s role in any framework might be.Regulation, TaxesThe Treasury secretary also usually has a prominent role in setting financial regulatory and tax policy, although many other officials are involved and can take the lead. Biden’s administration is expected to strengthen scrutiny of financial institutions and he has pledged to roll back many of Trump’s tax cuts.Yellen will also head the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a cross-agency panel designed to monitor risks. She could face questions on strengthening its powers or oversight, and on whether climate change could be a new area of supervision.(Corrects date of WSJ report in 2nd paragraph under ‘Currency Policy’ subheadline)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
The story of Joe Biden, football star
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Ozark and The Crown Lead Critics Choice Awards TV Nominations — See the Full List
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Meet Biden’s climate crisis army
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Global Augmented Reality (AR) Market 2020-2024: Market Analysis, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities, and Threats - Technavio
The Augmented Reality (AR) Market will grow by $ 76.99 bn during 2020-2024
Boris Johnson kindly and civilly abstains on helping the poorest
Boris Johnson kindly and civilly abstains on helping the poorestPM’s damascene conversion on language doesn’t extend to supporting Labour attempts to extend universal credit
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Domestic Freight Market in US to Grow Over $ 170 Billion During 2021-2025 | Featuring Vendors Including Deutsche Post DHL Group, DSV Panalpina A/S, and Others | Technavio
The Domestic Freight Market in US will grow by $ 170.10 bn during 2021-2025
Central African Republic's Touadéra calls for national reconciliation as re-election upheld
Central African Republic's highest court on Monday confirmed the re-election of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, rejecting rivals' objections as the government fends off a rebel offensive. In a speech broadcast on national television on Monday evening, Touadéra called for national reconciliation. "I extend the hand of patriotism to the democratic opposition in order to bring our country out of this vicious cycle of violence and destruction. After I am sworn in, we will pursue national reconciliation in order to defuse the political climate pre- and post-election," Touadéra declared.The weeks before and after the December 27 election have been marred by a rebel assault on major cities. The rebels attacked the capital Bangui last week before being repelled by the army and UN peacekeepers.Two peacekeepers – one from Gabon and one from Morocco – were killed on Monday in a rebel ambush outside the southern city of Bangassou, which militia fighters had partially occupied until being forced out last Friday, the UN mission said.In all, seven peacekeepers have been killed since the rebels launched their offensive last month.The fighting has forced nearly 60,000 people to flee the country, compounding an already dire refugee crisis.Low election turnoutTen of Touadéra's challengers said the election should be re-run, citing low turnout due to the violence as well as alleged voting irregularities.The constitutional court rejected those arguments on Monday, declaring Touadéra the winner with 53.16 percent of the vote. It did, however, reject ballots from two towns because of irregularities, reducing Touadéra's percentage from the 53.9 percent declared by the electoral commission earlier this month."I am very happy and I thank the Central African people who renewed their confidence in me," Touadéra told supporters afterward. He said he was open to dialogue with his rivals but also promised to be firm with the authors of "blind violence"."The justice system will take care of them," he said.The government and the United Nations say ex-president François Bozizé, who was forced out in a 2013 rebellion, is backing the rebels. He has not directly responded to that accusation.More than 1 million of the 4.7 million people in the gold- and diamond-rich nation have fled their homes since Bozizé's ouster, and vast swathes of territory remain beyond the central government's control.(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)
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BBC Radio Nottingham Appearance | News | Trident Security
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BBC Radio Nottingham Trident Security Appearance
0March 1, 2020
Trident Security recently had a chance to be interviewed on BBC Radio Nottingham about the Close Protection Services that we provide. We were thrilled to be invited to the interview, which was following the release of the BBC popular TV Series “Bodyguard” and aimed to help the public understand what actually a bodyguard is. And who better to ask, than some real-life bodyguards!
We happily took the responsibility of explaining and giving some examples of what a Close Protection Officer is and what jobs he or she would undertake, of course without giving any information out on the clients as privacy and protection is the vital point as a close protection operative.
It was a fantastic day for our team and it was great to meet Mark Dennison who is the host of BBC Radio Nottingham. He is a truly great person and wonderful radio speaker. We played out a scenario of what to look out for when on duty and protecting a VIP. Mark Dennison was our VIP and one of our operatives was showing him what he would be looking out for and what situation might occur during their protection.
Roman Yuriychuk “Managing Director” explained: “A close Protection officer is not what people think it is, most of us think that a Bodyguard is this huge guy with no emotions who just stands near their client and scares people, but in fact, it is not the case. A close Protection officer could be big or small, tall or short, visible or unnoticeable, a female or male. Our clients choose what type of person they require whether it is to protect them on meetings, holidays or business trips etc.”
It was a great experience for us to represent our company and sharing our thoughts and experiences. We would like to say BIG THANK YOU to BBC Radio Nottingham, Mark Dennison and Nigel Bell for the opportunity and a great day at the studio.
Bodyguard: The Series
Bodyguard, a crime/police-thriller based in the UK and first broadcast by the BBC in August 2018, is about an army veteran who suffers from PTSD and is now working in London for the Metropolitan Police Service’s Royalty and Specialist Protection team. After a series of events leads him to become something of a hero, he becomes a bodyguard for Julia Montague, the Home Secretary and a politician who due to some of her controversial policies and his time serving the war in Afganistan, has him torn between his beliefs and duty as a bodyguard. A thrilling and captivating series that’s been very well-received by the British public and has had us hooked!
Want to Know More About Close Protection?
At Trident Security, we specialise in close protection and VIP security services and have a large team of friendly, professional bodyguards. Based in Nottingham, we operate throughout the UK, including locations such as London, Milton Keynes and local areas such as Derby. We are SIA licenced and we also offer a full spectrum of security services. To know more about our close protection or other security services, just get in touch, we’ll be happy to help!
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Somadina: The nomadic teenager spreading her wings one bop at a time
By Adewojumi Aderemi
Words: Adewojumi Aderemi
Photography: Omofolarin Omolayole
It’s a breezy Sunday evening in Lagos, and the entire audience at African Arts Foundation is enchanted. We are gathered at the request of Femme: a by women, for women concert series, aimed to shine a spotlight on the unbelievable female talent in the country. As the four artists picked for this edition slalomed through their sets, I spot a familiar face in the audience. Somadina Onuoha – fresh off touring with Odunsi The Engine on his UK tour – is front and centre, cheering on her friends and fellow artists.
Somadina has been a feminist advocate for longer than she can recall. Working in a space where women are often pitted as competitors, Somadina uses every opportunity she can to deconstruct the idea that her fellow female musicians are her rivals. In fact, this 19-year old newcomer has professionally enveloped herself with female creativity, surrounding herself with a band of girls almost as dedicated to their relentless support of each other as they are to dominating their respective fields.
For Somadina, this field is music — singing and songwriting — which she has thus far channelled into two commendable singles: “IHY” and “Lay Low”. Both distinctly pop records, “IHY” in particular is a telling glimpse into he artist and writer that she is. It’s one of those songs that you swear you’ve heard before – but you haven’t. An ear-worm that could have been constructed right in the middle of those major label writing camps in California. A song that would sound right at home on the top 40 charts. One of those brilliant pop songs that you can bop along to if you’re not paying attention, or sing at the top of your lungs if you’re having one of those days. The music isn’t coming from a ray of light, but rather a tunnel of torment.
“I don’t want to say I’m good friends with pain, but I’ve been through a lot of things in my life that I really hope other people don’t have to go through,” Somadina tells me, oddly expressionless considering the dark admission she just evoked. I failed to react outwardly, but in her next few words Somadina would explain to me her placid demure:
“And music has helped me in a lot of ways… I think my music speaks to everyone and anyone who can relate to pain, [but] it also speaks to me – that’s the most important thing.”
So, as much as Somadina makes music for pretty much everybody, she would never wish for you to relate – it is simply unfortunate that we do. Somadina’s music is a medium by which she may channel her emotions, permitting her some form of control over how she feels; when I suggest the adjective “therapeutic” she incessantly repeats that I’ve hit the nail on the head. Somadina’s songs are for Somadina’s mind, and yes it is unfortunate that we can relate, it is also a gift to have her candid words — deliberately watered down by KD’s upbeat production — to comfort us through our grievous times.
Grief. This is the emotion which Somadina hopes to explicate in her first body of work, titled Five Stages, a contemplative reflection on the five stages of grief. Somadina has always been certain she would explore these five concepts on a body of work, but it wasn’t until she shared a flat with a grieving room mate in her first year at university, who had just lost her father, that she decided now would be the time to begin. Reminded of her erratic post-break-up behaviour, Somadina came to the realisation that mourning the loss of someone, no matter the scale, always leads its victims through the five stages of grief. It is with this amplified understanding of loss and hurt that Somadina finally embarks on her long-imagined dream of vocally illustrating the different phases we’ve all endured in mourning.
So far, Five Stages is two songs deep and holds a tenuous release date, “by the end of this year,” she says but, with a Sociology degree to balance alongside her fast-rising career in music, setting rigid schedules seems almost futile.
Succeeding in music whilst excelling academically is an incredibly difficult feat, but Somadina is determined to master it – she has been, even since before she arrived at the distinctly uni-town of Coventry. When selecting institutions for higher education, Somadina carefully considered which locations would afford her quick trips to-and-from London, landing in Warwick, a mere hour and a half from the vibrant capital city.
Somadina Onuoha is equally as prepared for the leap in intellectual exertion that she has been warned will ensue during her second and third years of university. She tells me she has returned to Lagos for a working holiday, recording as much music as she can now, so that she has releases ready for the future, thereby easing the workload she has to juggle during her final two years of higher education.
“[In] my second year and my third year I’m going to obviously focus more on school itself, because, as much as I want to do music, I still want to get a degree – that’s something I’ve always wanted for myself.”
“Music obviously is not the [sole] priority at this point.” A statement that surprises me due to the brutal honesty, but is very much in line with the self-assuredness she carriers herself with. As my inquiry into Nigerian music (that sits outside the mainstream) has deepened, so have the roots Somadina’s cherubic voice have planted – her name has become almost inescapable. Boasting such initial attention, even when the music is second in seniority, one can only imagine the popularity Somadina will face once she leaves university and fully commits to her creative craft. But for now, Somadina is willingly walks the path of the conventional, as has been the case throughout her life.
Born in Port Harcourt, Somadina was raised in the Netherlands for the first 9 years of her life. Between her Russian piano teacher and her music-loving father, who would inundate his children with gospel music throughout their childhood weekends, Somadina returned to Nigeria with a musical inclination far beyond the typical commercial intrigue. At thirteen, she became a fully fledged performer, captivating the audience at her mum’s 40th birthday, doing the same two years later at Lagos’ Muson Centre, to a crowd so receptive that Somadina, then and there, decided to embrace her destiny as a professional vocalist.
Four years later, she has amassed an impressive catalogue of live performances, most notably opening for Davido, in her birth-city – an accomplishment that seems particularly proud of. For an artist with such a sparse discography, Somadina has attained remarkable triumphs, that have understandably ridded her of any doubt in her mind or her heart that “the music is going to work out”.
Both in England and in Nigeria, Somadina has plans to conquer the charts – and she is certain she will fulfil those dreams. She’s got the voice, sincerity in her lyrics, an authentic sound and allure in how she presents herself. But upon the conclusion of our first meet, as Somadina amicably hugs me goodbye and thanks me profusely for *doing my job*, I’m left in awe at a young lady with her feet firmly planted on the ground. Despite her increasing popularity and the attention that brings, she is still on her mission. She is still driving down her path, at her own pace. And she’s still only 19.
Somadina’s tribe of cheerleaders has grown one woman stronger.
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Slaves Release New Single “Talk To A Friend” From Upcoming Album
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The Theodore Newsletter
Providing one person's critical analysis of topical subjects since 1990.
The Case for Energy Conservation: Commercial Property, Industrial Sector and Domestic Level by Lou Theodore
THE HOFSTRA 2016-17 SEASON: FINAL ANALYSIS — AND DEFENSE
This month’s article was originally going to be concerned with a summary analysis of Hofstra’s 2016-17 men’s basketball season. However, I decided, because of the team’s defensive shortcomings, to include some defensive suggestions that will ultimately appear in a later newsletter and the next edition of my BASKETBALL COACHING 101 Book. In effect, there are two components to this newsletter. We’ll start with a presentation on the Hofstra analysis.
One could best describe Hofstra’s 2016-17 season with one word: underperformance. Mary and I sat next to a radio announcer from Northeastern University at the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament in Charlestown during March 4-7. (Note: A great city to visit). I believe his evaluation of Hofstra hit the nail on the head. He excused some of the team’s performance to the loss of three key starters, including the CAA Player of the Year; but then again, they had two excellent guards, two excellent big men (one of whom hardly played), the potential Freshman of the Year is Pennington, and the league’s premier 3-point shooter. On the other hand, I felt the team would improve with time and hopefully peak during the tournament. It turns out that they got knocked off in the first round in what I would consider an embarrassing loss; a victory would have resulted in their playing UNCW, the #1 seed. Almost everybody there in Charleston from the other schools were rooting for Hofstra because they felt that Hofstra had the personnel to beat UNCW. As we now know, that game did not take place.
On to the analysis for the season. Here are my bullet pointers.
Once again (as with last year) defense was woefully weak.
Once again, bench help was essentially non-existent.
Sabathy (the reserve center) was underutilized.
Rokas had a disappointing season. His defense play was often missing and also had a poor shooting season.
Foreman emerged as a force to be reckoned with the next two years.
The loss of Buie could have made a difference.
Buie’s contribution the next three seasons is currently a wild card.
The club lacked a floor leader.
I don’t see a leader emerging next year; this should be potentially worrisome.
Here are my bullet pointers for next season.
Hire an assistant coach to help reduce/eliminate defensive problems.
STOP playing zone; Wisconsin had several players who couldn’t guard one-on-one and yet played a solid man-to-man defense.
Recruit players who play stellar defense.
Although the team’s goal should be to win games, the ultimate goal is to win the CAA tournament – and that should be reflected in the team’s philosophy and overall preparation during the season.
Players should understand that the magic word in defense is INTENSITY! And this is where bench help comes into play.
DEFENSIVE STRATEGIES
Here are some earlier comments on defense that appeared in my BASKETBALL COACHING 101 book.” The author repeatedly told basketball aficionados that defense is 50% of the game. And every individual has responded with something to the effect: “of course, I (or we) know that’. But really? Who believes them? After all, from the first day a player is introduced to basketball, offense has been stressed. The novice is taught and/or learns how to shoot, dribble, pass, etc. Defense was almost always an afterthought. In fact, the author has repeatedly claimed that it is great guards that get a team to a championship game, but it is great defensive guards that win championships. It is their ability to create havoc on the opponent’s offense that makes the difference.”
“How important is defense? Here is a case in point. Stevie Mejia served as the point (or 1) guard for the 2012-2013 Hofstra team. Some in press row commented on several occasions that Stevie wasn’t playing to his full potential. What they were referring to was his scoring. Yet during the season, he stopped the star guards Scott Machado and Michael Alvarado of Iona and Manhattan College, respectively, COLD! These two players were projected first-round and second-round picks, respectively. Interestingly, Hofstra lost three games during the 2013-2014 season because of an inability to stop the star guard of the opposing team.”
Since I’m ranting and raving about defense, here are a baker’s dozen on some defensive suggestions that did not appear earlier in my book BASKETBALL COACHING 101. I hope to expand this material and add new offensive suggestions in a later newsletter.
Need an assistant coach who can teach defense.
Need to recruit (great) defensive plays.
Need to play defensive players.
Can’t allow the opposing offense an offensive rebound on a foul shot.
Box out when a shot goes up, even if one has to resort to grabbing.
Keep defensive scoring statistics for each player.
Continuously stress the importance of defense.
Continuously stress the importance of intensity on defense.
Practice double teaming.
Never allow the opposing offense to setup for the last play.
Know who to foul at the end of a game.
Anyone slacking off on defense gets substituted for immediately.
Place one’s best defender on the opponent’s best scorer at the end of the game.
I hope this helps some young (perhaps not-so-young) aspiring coaches.
And, what about offense? This is a topic that will also be unveiled and addressed in both a later article and the next edition. Forget about the “triangle offense” that is more confusing than it is nearly impossible to implement; I can’t figure it out. My interest will primarily be on “my umbrella offense” that is certain to revolutionize the offenses of those teams with forward-thinking coaches.
Visit the author at:
www.theodorenewsletter.com or on his Facebook page at Basketball Coaching 101
NEXT POSTINGS:
MAY 1: On the EWSD Budget Vote
JUNE 1: On Great Eats II
JULY 1: On Six Months Later
AUGUST 1: On Purely Chaste, Pristine and Random Thoughts XXV
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Views from Others
Submission of articles by other authors is welcome. Publication is subject to approval by the editor and publisher. There is no charge to submit an article for consideration and no compensation for published articles. Contact the editor at loutheodore1@verizon.net.
Subject to unforeseen circumstances, newsletter readers can expect one or more articles to appear on the first Monday of each month.
Accepted comments and articles will appear in the "Views from Others" section.
ON PURELY CHASTE, PRISTINE, AND RANDOM THOUGHTS XXX
ON A (NOTHER) BAKER’S DOZEN
On a Baker’s Dozen
ON THE ULTIMATE QUIZ III
ON THE NEW YORK RACING ASSOCIATION (NYRA)
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About The Overcast
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Shortlists Announced for 2016 “Excellence in Visual Arts Awards”
by TheOvercast
VANL's 11th annual Excellence in Visual Arts Awards will take place on May 13th at the Rooms
VANL’s 11th annual Excellence in Visual Arts Awards will take place on May 13th at the Rooms.The EVA Awards are the only awards program solely dedicated to celebrating the visual culture of Newfoundland and Labrador.
“This year’s EVA Awards jury reviewed submissions from across the province, representing a wide spectrum of artistic mediums and styles,” reads the press release. Below are the shortlists for four of the five awards – the winner of the Long Haul Award will be announced at the ceremony.
The Emerging Artist Award
Virginia Mitford
Amery Sandford — Perhaps you remember her from our December issue cover?
This award honors the promising start made by an emerging visual artist in the early stages of their career. The $2000 award is sponsored this year by Grenfell Campus – Memorial University.
The Large Year Award
Kailey Bryan
Kay Burns
Philippa Jones
This $2000 award celebrates a visual artist who has enjoyed an exceptional year, with at least one exhibition and critical recognition. It is sponsored by Lat49 Architects Inc.
The Kippy Goins Award
The Art Association of Newfoundland and Labrador
Sylvia Bendzsa
This award is so named for the small pieces of wood one throws on a fire to “keep it going.” It thanks an individual or organization whose efforts have helped to sustain and build the visual arts sector. It is sponsored this year by Perfect Day. The prize is a piece of original artwork by Michael Gough.
The Critical Eye Award
Heather Igloliorte
Mary MacDonald
Jennifer McVeigh
This $2000 award recognizes a visual arts writer for an exceptional piece of writing on a NL artist in any print or online publication worldwide. It is sponsored in 2016 by Emma Butler Gallery.
A limited number of seats for the award ceremony on May 13th will be available to the public. To be put on the seating list, please contact the VANL office.
TheOvercast
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Lawnya Vawnya VI: Parting Thoughts
Chad and Lukas's final thoughts LV6.
Best of NL 2017: The Arts
Help Philippa Jones Map the Dreamworld of St. John’s
Land of Mirrors Imagines the New Newfoundland We’re Transitioning Towards
The Overcast Is Over
Overcast Burger Battle 2019: The Critic’s Pick Crowns a 3-Peat Burger Battle Legend
#Overcast Burger Battle: The Final Round
1. Rob Calling BS: Newfoundlanders Are NOT the Country’s Friendliest Canadians
Ben...I find your slurs to be; 1) Offensive to yourself! 2) Written like the uneducated inbred that you are . I have to ask, "Why don't you sell your trailer…
2. “I’ve Never Been to Clattice Harbour”: New Doc Will Capture Parents’ Return to Resettled Community
My dad James Parsons also born in Clattice Harbour Jan 1, 1925. Son of John Parsons and Mary (Maher) Parsons. Would love to see this documentary when it becomes available.…
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The Clarenville incident was repeated in Stephenville later that same year in December. I reported that incident in person to the RCMP detachment in Stephenville. As a matter of fact…
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The Overcast is a multi-award-winning media body in St. John’s, NL.
Best known for its monthly print magazine, its website, TheOvercast.ca, also posts 1-2 articles a day, hoststhe St. John’s Eats dinning and review directory, and administers the $12,500 Albedo Grant to help entrepreneurs get their big idea off the ground, as well as Newfoundland’s richest award for a local album of the year: The Borealis Music Prize.
Annie McEwen: Where Is She Now? (Radiolab in New York, Atop the Podcasting World!)
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the police magistrate
tales from the Police courts of the metropolis
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‘The weakness of the dangerous classes’: attitudes to poverty are at the heart of my teaching this term
A light fingered minister is caught in the act
A servant so drunk she could hardly stand up
No happy ending for buttons in this East End pantomime
Inconsistency and the legacy of slavery as two assaults come before the courts
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Untold Arsenal
Tag: TB
‘I would rather send her to Australia than have it done’. A misguided father refuses to vaccinate his daughter
In 1867 parliament passed one of its more sensible pieces of legislation, the Vaccination Act (30 & 31 Vict. c.84). This built upon several previous smaller acts to insist that all newborn children were vaccinated (at the parish’s expense) within three months of birth. If they did not, or if they failed to bring in their children to be examined, they faced summary conviction and a fine of up to 20s (or prison if they could not pay).
It was this act that James Bovingdon fell foul of in late August 1868. The Merton based poulterer was summoned before the magistrate at Wandsworth Police court by Edwin Bailey, the registrar of births and deaths for Mitcham. He explained that Bovingdon was yet to vaccinate his daughter Emily, who had been born on 3 December 1867.
James Bovingdon told Mr Dayman that he had not vaccinated his child ‘on principle’. When issued with a notice to vaccinate on 8 January he had declared that he ‘would rather send it [Emily] to Australia than have it done’.
The magistrate asked him why he took this view. Bovingdon replied that he’d heard several opinions on the merits of vaccination and was under the impression that it was optional. There was misread mistrust of vaccination and immunisation in the 1800s, born in part of a more general mistrust of the medical profession by the working classes. Powerful anti-vaccination images (like the one of the right) were produced with dark warnings that doctors were more liable to kill your child with the vaccine than save it from smallpox (the killer disease of the nineteenth century).
Bovingdon said also that he’d no idea that a new law compelled him to vaccinate his child. He had, he added, taken the child to be vaccinated after he was summoned to court. That was good but he was still in breach of the law and Mr Dayman fined him 10s with a further 10s costs (20s in all, as the law prescribed). He added that if he didn’t pay the fine he would go to prison for 14 days.
In 1898 a new act was appeased that recognized that some magistrates were not applying the law (which had been tightened further in 1873 to make vaccination compulsory). The 1898 act allowed parents to avoid conviction and a penalty if they ‘made a statutory declaration that [they] confidently believed that vaccination would be prejudicial to the health of the child, and within seven days thereafter delivered, or sent by post, the declaration to the Vaccination Officer of the district’.
Today we have reached a situation where vaccination (for diseases such as measles) has become a serious issue once again. As a result of misinformation being circulated on the Internet some parents fear vaccination even when it is both safe and essential. This risks the return of killer diseases (like smallpox and TB) that were thought to have been eradicated by modern medicine. It is hard not to see the parents that risk their children’s lives (and the lives of many others) as ignorant at best and willfully stupid at worst. Surely it is time to take that decision away from them and reintroduce compulsory vaccination for all children, with appropriate punishment for parents that do not comply.
[from The Morning Post, Monday, August 31, 1868]
By the Police Magistratein Uncategorized, Wandsworth Police Court August 31, 2019 August 31, 2019 547 WordsLeave a comment
A mother who was ‘a perfect disgrace to society’ is gaoled.
I feel that today’s story from the Metropolitan Police courts needs to come with a health warning, for the nature of the case is really quite upsetting. It concerns a mother who is accused, either indirectly or wilfully, with causing the death of her own daughter.
At the beginning of September 1859 Mary Ingliss was brought before Mr Tyrwhitt at Clerkenwell Police court and questioned as to the death of her daughter, who wasn’t named in the report. Not only do we not know Miss Ingliss’ name, her age isn’t recorded eater. However, we can be fairly sure she was at the very least a young woman in her late teens or early twenties, as Mary herself was 40 years of age and it was alleged in court that she forced her daughter to prostitute herself, and lived off the profits.
Mrs Ingliss was, going by the reports of severe witnesses, one of whom was a police officer, a drunk. Reynolds’ Newspaper described her as a ‘dirty, dissipated woman’ who lived at 52 Turnmill Street, in Clerkenwell. Sergeant Wooton (401A) said he’d not known her to be ‘ properly sober for years’. Others said that she’d been drunk every day in the lead up to her daughter’s death.
Miss Ingliss was suffering from consumption, the nineteenth-century name for tuberculosis. She been diagnosed by Dr Goddard who told her family and friends that there was nothing he could do for. All he could prescribe was rest, and so the young woman had been confined to her bed in Turnmill Street. She’d had several visitors, all concerned about her and all came to court to testify to her mother’s cruelty towards her daughter.
It seems Mary Ingliss had tried to get her daughter out of bed and had beat her about the head when she refused to leave it. Mrs Sarah Rutherford told the magistrate that when she had witnessed Mary’s abuse first hand:
‘This morning I heard some children crying, and saying that their mother was murdering their sister. I went up-stairs, and in a dirty room I saw the defendant, who was abusing the deceased, and making use of very disgusting language. I saw the defendant drag the deceased by the breast, and pull her by the hair about the room.’
‘There could be no doubt about the defendant being the worse for liquor’, she added. Mrs Anna Higgs told a similar story; she was sitting next door when she was called to help. She saw Ingliss pulling the girl by the hair and threatening to ‘bash her down on the floor’ if she didn’t get out of bed by herself.
The invalid asked Anna Higgs to help her to lie flat on the floor of the room but as she did so Mary came up behind her and assaulted her. Amongst this the daughter was heard to cry out that her mother wished her dead and would be the cause of her demise. She passed away shortly afterwards.
Mary Ingliss wrung her hands in court and attempted (it seemed) to make out she was disturbed mentally. Mr Tyrwhitt wasn’t falling for her display of madness, which he thought a sham. Mary said her ‘poor husband’ would back her up but he was nowhere to be found, clearly having left the family some time ago. Nor was he convinced by her protestations that she’d always loved and cared for her dead daughter. The other children were neglected and she was a drunk, but Tyrwhitt was unsure whether he could commit her for murder or manslaughter.
‘I am innocent and everybody swears falsely against me’, Mary pleased from the dock but the magistrate silenced her by telling her what was clear was that she had assaulted Anna Higgs and would be punished for that offence at least.He fined her the large sum of £3 (about £180 today) or six weeks in the house of correction (where at least she might be forced to sober up). Mary didn’t take this well, claiming she ‘was being wronged’ and asking what would become of her.
The justice now turned his cold stare on her and declared that:
‘a more cruel, hateful, and disgraceful case had never come before the court – a court in which he was constantly hearing and deciding cases of the grossest brutality. He trusted no one would would ever afterwards associate with such a woman – a woman who was a perfect disgrace to society‘.
Mary Ingliss was then led away to start her sentence (she didn’t have the £3 of course, all the money she’d got from pimping out her daughter had been poured down her throat in the form of cheap gin). As the gaoler propelled her away she screamed loudly at the injustice of it all.
[from Reynolds’s Newspaper, Sunday, September 4, 1859]
By the Police Magistratein Clerkenwell Police Court, Uncategorized September 4, 2018 August 29, 2018 800 Words1 Comment
One man’s complaint reveals ‘considerable excitement’ about the trade in pauper bodies at Lambeth
In December 1857 a poor man appeared at the Lambeth Police court to ask the magistrate’s advice. In November his elderly sister was so sick with consumption (TB as we know know it) she was ordered to be admitted to the sick ward at the Newington workhouse. There, on the 3 December, she died.
Before she died she had begged her friends and family to give her a decent burial because rumours were swirling around the parish about what happened to the bodies of those that died inside the ‘house.
The next day her husband and friends presented themselves at the workhouse to collect her but she was ‘nowhere to be found’. They asked the undertaker there, and all he could tell them was she had been buried by mistake the body mistaken for that of another pauper, a Mr Bazely. Deeply unsatisfied, and understandably upset, they decided to pursue the matter with Mr Norton at Lambeth.
A local parish constable named Cook was called to give evidence of local practice. He told the court that the workhouse master ‘had been in the habit of disposing of the bodies of deceased paupers for anatomical purposes’. This had caused ‘considerable excitement’ amongst the poor of the parish’.
‘Persons who supposed they were following a deceased relative or friend to the grave not infrequently followed perfect stranger, brought from other parishes, while that over which they supposed they were mourning had been disposed of in a different way; and the thought of such deception created great dissatisfaction’.
Cook’s evidence was damning and must have been shocking to the reading public. Dr Elizabeth Hurren (at Leicester University) has demonstrated that there was a lively trade in the bodies of the poor in Victorian England after the the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834. Elizabeth has also suggested that the Whitechapel murders of 1888 may well be connected to this dark history in London. The trade was exposed by a series of articles in the popular press leading, as Hurren explains, to the arrest and prosecution of Albert (or Alfred) Feist at the Old Bailey in May 1858. Feist had broken the terms of the Anatomy Act (1832) which had prohibited the sale of dead bodies for profit. That act had been the government’s reaction to the illegal trade in the dead which was exposed by the Burke and Hare murders in Edinburgh and that of the ‘Italian boy’ in London in 1831.
Feist was convicted but sentence was reserved. The case then went for review and he was subsequently acquitted. The use of pauper bodies for the training of surgeons was legal under the Anatomy Act but the practice was effetely concealed from the public and, most importantly, from the poor themselves. As Hurren’s work show:
‘Summaries of the Anatomy Act, just like the New Poor Law, were supposed to be available to the poor, pinned on walls in places they might congregate. However, in such pieces of legislation, the word “dissection” itself was often concealed behind that of “anatomical examination”.’*
The families of paupers were often unaware of what had happened or unable to do anything about it afterwards. The pressure of finding enough body parts to train all the new doctors increased after 1858 when legislation required that all medical students must study anatomy for two years. Whole bodies were now routinely cut up into their composite parts so students could practice, explore and understand.
It must have made grim reading over breakfast and supper and its interesting to see the story unfold within the reportage of the summary courts. At Lambeth Mr Norton told the complainant that the workhouse master (who was of course Mr Feist) had been guilty of a misdemeanour in allowing his sister’s body to be buried so quickly after death. He was required, by law, to keep it for 48 hours so the family could arrange a funeral themselves. He told him he was happy to issue a summons.
As we now know Alfred Feist would face trial for this and a total of 62 other instances of supplying dead pauper bodies for the anatomy trade. In the end of course he, and his accomplice in the trade – the undertaker Robert Hogg – escaped scot free. Hurren estimates that a staggering 125,000 pauper bodies were sold in the Victorian period to benefit the study of medicine.
Poor lives didn’t matter in the 1800s but the reading public didn’t really want to be reminded of that too often. The exposure of the body trade, like the scandals surrounding the treatment of paupers in the Andover workhouse in 1845-6 reminded society of the harsh realities of being poor in Victoria’s Britain in perhaps a similar way that the tragedy at Grenfell Tower has caused a considerable amount of soul searching this year. Ultimately, it seems, even today poor lives don’t matter as much as rich ones.
[from The Morning Chronicle, Wednesday, December 16, 1857]
*Review by Laurence Talairach-Vielmas, Elizabeth T. Hurren, Dying for Victorian Medicine: English Anatomy and Its Trade in the Dead Poor, c. 1834–1929, in Miranda [http://journals.openedition.org/miranda/4586] accessed 16/12/17
By the Police Magistratein Lambeth Police Court, Uncategorized December 16, 2017 847 WordsLeave a comment
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The new US concept of a “perfect” mission: 32 out of 103
Yup, he said “mission accomplished“, “perfectly executed” and that he was “so proud” of his “great military“.
That considering that 71 out of 103 missiles were intercepted.
That there were no Syrian (or Iranian or Russian) fatalities.
That not a single airfield was hit.
That the buildings destroyed were empty.
That only Syrian air defense were used.
That Russian air defenses were completely bypassed.
Called the strikes “Precise, overwhelming and effective” (does he also look like an alcoholic to you?)
Finally, and this is weird, there is no evidence of the French doing anything at all (go figure?). Oh, speaking of the French, it appears that they warned the Russians about what would happen. So, technically speaking, the US generals are being truthful when they say that they did not warn the Russian but just “deconflict”. The French did all the warning for them.
As for that pathetic scorecard, the Pentagon “spokesperson” said that they had noticed a 2000% increase of “Russian troll” activity over the past 24 hours.
I would think that completely destroying a non-existing Syria chemical warfare capability could even be called a “infinite success”.
Let’s wait for further details (a lot of pro-Syrian outlets did exaggerate the number of missiles shot down) but it appears that the AngloZionist went for the “least bad” option in terms of risk for our planet: a symbolic and completely useless “pretend strike”. And for that I am personally grateful. Let’s hope that, at least for a while, they need to establish their “indispensableness” will be satisfied.
I also think that the Russians need to dramatically increase both the speed and the magnitude of the delivery of their air defense systems to the Syrians. One Russian general remarked this morning that they were considering delivering S-300s to the Syrian. I guess that is better a case of better late than never. But the one system most needed are Pantsirs. The Russians need to built then on an emergency 24/7 schedule and deliver as many and as fast as possible as they are much better suited for the kind of tasks (cruise missile point defense) than the much larger S-300s.
One more thing: all this pathetic Disney-like show is a shame and a disgrace. The USA as truly sunk to the level of the kind of degeneracy shown by Brezhnev in his last years or by Eltsin. Frankly, I think that Trump is even more of a buffoon than these two. What a disgrace!
[Sidebar: as for those bitching about Trump being as bad as Hillary, this is both true and false. Inherently yes, of course, he is. And he is far dumber than her. But getting him in the White House bought Russia (and Syria) about 1 year of time to prepare for what happened yesterday. So, no matter how sub-pathetic Trump is, keeping the Neocons away from power for a year or so bought some very precious time for the rest of the planet. That is a good thing even if Trump himself is a maniacal coward, a narcissistic piece of shit and dangerous buffoon of the worst kind]
Also, I want to comment on one more thing. Even the two arch-villains of our official historiography, that would be Hitler and Stalin, compare favorably to Trump in terms of a) actually using diplomacy and b) trying to build alliances. Yes, I know, both Hitler and Stalin did use force (and even false flags!), but force was ONE of the the tools in their international relations toolkit. At least both Hitler and Stalin were capable of negotiations and the building of alliances. The clowns in the White House can’t even do that.
Yes, sorry if that offends anybody, but US Presidents have now sunk even lower than Hitler, Stalin, Brezhnev or Eltsin.
So ask yourself: what awaits them and their regime in the future?
US aggression against Syria
ProtoSec on April 14, 2018 · at 10:24 am EST/EDT
As the US is reporting things:
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2018/04/breaking-pentagon-calls-out-russian-disinformation-trolls-gives-details-on-syrian-missile-strike/?utm_source=quayle&utm_campaign=alt&utm_medium=facebook
Mulga Mumblebrain on April 14, 2018 · at 6:01 pm EST/EDT
It won’t be long before the ‘Russian trolls’ ie anyone who has broken out of the lifelong brainwashing, will be declared the ‘Enemy Within’ and rounded up. Fascism has a certain pathopsychological progression towards greater and greater repression.
Den Lille Abe on April 15, 2018 · at 5:59 am EST/EDT
Does that include 3 meals a day ?
de kuyper on April 26, 2018 · at 7:05 am EST/EDT
rgl on April 15, 2018 · at 11:06 am EST/EDT
We are already at that point.
“No! No meals.
Arab Adighe on April 14, 2018 · at 10:26 am EST/EDT
Old S200 in action: https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/first-images-from-mezzeh-airbase-after-defending-against-us-led-airstrikes/
Al Qaeda airforce doing nation building… https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/aftermath-from-us-missile-strike-on-barzeh-research-center-photos/
Syrian air defense https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-air-defense-downs-71-out-of-103-us-coalition-cruise-missiles-russian-military/
Daesh is far from defeated in Syria despite Washington, Moscow spin https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/isis-is-far-from-defeated-in-syria/
Turkey 101… https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/turkey-welcomes-us-attack-on-syria-despite-close-ties-with-russia/
Daesh offensive around Damascus following Air Al Qaeda attacks https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/isis-launches-offensive-in-southern-damascus-after-us-coalition-bombs-syria/
Severe warnings from Tehran, read the words from the Islamic Guard Corps… The swamp’s creatures better take note… http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/04/14/558444/Iran-Syria-Damascus
Mindset in Damascus: they eat Mad Dogs for breakfast, these are real men and women, the Swamp populace cannot comprehend, the ROTW does https://youtu.be/iXI6R69hUxY
WW3 started in 1945, it goes on… today in Syria, tomorrow?
Spassiba Russia, Iran, Hezbollah! Great job RAF, SAF, IAF!
Btw Russia (and China) has its back on the wall regarding one single issue! Syrian direct control over its air defence systems has to be honestly adressed now: the “no S300 to Syria defense forces to honor a promise made to our israeli partners” will be all the more untanable, however Moscow tries to spin the reluctance, no rationalisation of that single issue is credible anymore. In that sense Bolton and co in the Deep State just made a bad move for the Zionist artficial entity. Otherwise excellent job from Russia, now we can expect new moves in coming weeks, months from the takfiri terrorists who will try the “chemical attack dance” with their Mattis and Bolton brides. The multiform war on Russia/China/Iran will only intensify, from the economic/trade front to the prop front. The West will be further sovietized or nazified in terms of info control and corporate politics. American people is poisoned by chemicals in their water, soil caused by insane fracking and neonicotinoid pesticides while their brains are polluted by “Skripal and Ghouta fake news”. Rome goes down, fighting like it knows how…
Straight-Bat on April 15, 2018 · at 5:54 am EST/EDT
Can’t agree more. If Russia does not sell S400 to Iran and Syria with what they will fight in the coming weeks/months when at least 300 to 500 missiles will rain down on Syria during each attack (for ‘consumption’ of the old ‘stock’ of missiles in order to place new purchase orders on the Zionist-owned MIC to replenish missiles and fighters and destroyers) ?
While calling an enemy ‘a partner’ is appreciated in the diplomatic circle, Russian reluctance to do the needful for an ally to ‘honour promises’ made to an enemy is simply deplorable ! More so because, those Zionists are merrily staging one after another false flags (so-called accidental fire etc.) within Russian territory killing innocent children, women and men.
Robin on April 15, 2018 · at 6:07 pm EST/EDT
“reluctance” , “simply deplorable” ….. You lag behind of the news. Russia DOES sell S-400 to Iranians,and Russia DOES give S-300 to Syria , and that’s not all what Russia gives them .
Calm down with your deplorable assertions .
“The Russians need to built then on an emergency 24/7 schedule and deliver as many and as fast as possible”
The one combination I haven’t seen put into mass effect is Russia supplying the technology to the Chinese then the Chinese making lots of them with their large population and industrial base. Let Russia develop the technology, then let the Chinese make lots of them.
Trump wants to sanction cell phones. Well, if China can make that many cell phones, they can make a lot of the electronics for AA systems and missiles as well.
I saw two Imperial psychopaths this week who asserted that the genocide in Iraq was an exercise in ‘nation-building’. When you are dealing with Evil lunacy this deranged, what hope for humanity is there.
Mulga Mumblebrain on April 15, 2018 · at 5:59 am EST/EDT
Arab, in my opinion WW3 didn’t start in 1945-WW2 never ended. The USA just took over from Germany as the ‘Thousand Year Reich’.
WW1 never ended. 1917 is the year when America makes her first move to take over the dying Empires. Their ultimate target, Russia, proved to be the hardest nut to crack. China too. But America did not give up hope. They won’t ever give up, that’s the reason of America existence after all, ‘manifest destiny’, ‘city on the hill’ and all that crap.
Almost two centuries ago (in 1835) Alexis de Tocqueville, the famed author of ‘Democracy in America’ wrote:
“There are at the present time two great nations in the world, which started from different points, but seem to tend towards the same end. I allude to the Russians and the Americans. Both of them have grown up unnoticed; and whilst the attention of mankind was directed elsewhere, they have suddenly placed themselves in the front rank among the nations, and the world learned their existence and their greatness at almost the same time.
All other nations seem to have nearly reached their natural limits, and they have only to maintain their power; but these are still in the act of growth. All the others have stopped, or continue to advance with extreme difficulty; these alone are proceeding with ease and celerity along a path to which no limit can be perceived. The American struggles against the obstacles which nature opposes to him; the adversaries of the Russian are men. The former combats the wilderness and savage life; the latter, civilization with all its arms. The conquests of the American are therefore gained with the ploughshare; those of the Russian by the sword. The Anglo-American relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free scope to the unguided strength and common sense of the people; the Russian centres all the authority of society in a single arm. The principal instrument of the former is freedom; of the latter, servitude. Their starting-point is different, and their courses are not the same; yet each of them seems marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.”
So you can say that, in actual fact the war between Russia and America was sparked when these oppositely charged entities touch each other over the… Pacific Ocean. And China in the middle. But don’t make any mistake over who would win the war.
peter on April 20, 2018 · at 6:34 am EST/EDT
@anonymous; ‘The conquests of the American are therefore gained with the ploughshare’?? America’s aboriginals would certainly disagree with that remark as the Mexicans would disagree with it as well.
benevolent dictator on April 15, 2018 · at 7:18 pm EST/EDT
You are single sourcing from a source with no credibility. Try again so that each source’s evidence corroborates with the other sources and the more the better. Use Google Earth to show before(dated by Google) and use a drone to show after with a dated newspaper at lift off and landing..quick.
You are not convincing your target audience so your actions are in vain/pointless.
Steven Hayden on April 14, 2018 · at 10:33 am EST/EDT
Putin said there would be ” consequences” but where are they ? A few weeks ago Putin said an attack against Russian ally is attack against Russia.So this is how he responds to an attack on Russia ? Whose credibility is really damaged? Trump ineffective attack or Putin lack of consequences?
the real history on April 14, 2018 · at 10:53 am EST/EDT
Please read and analyse what really happened. There is nothing to respond to. Absolutely nothing!
Now Russia has a perfect excuse to give Syria better weapons and step up cleaning the country from ziozombies without dragging the entire humanity into Armageddon. Personally, I’m very happy and relieved. Moreover, once again, I learnt not to rush to any judgments in regards to Russia. The Russian leadership is borderline magical.
US Britain France proved they can attack Russian allies without retaliation . No wonder that list of Russian allies is so small. The saying is “a friend in need is a friend indeed.”
mod-to note: Perhaps when the “attacks” are ineffectual bravado, there is no need for retaliation.
ioan on April 14, 2018 · at 12:47 pm EST/EDT
In fact, at the press conference (in Pentagon) they said ” all chemical producing facilities have been destroyed ” and ” mission accomplished”. It means that the takfiris cannot make a new false flag attack of this kind because “all chemical facilities (of the Syrian “regime”) have been destroyed”. If they do that, what will be the new lie as excuse ?
Manimal on April 14, 2018 · at 2:36 pm EST/EDT
Finally someone who noticed that :-).
I heard it this morning from some aussie female (completely irrelevant politically and militarily) that Assad can`t produce anymore (HAH!) “chemical weapons”.
So, it looks to me like the door for wiping out “moderates” is wide open.
Maybe I`m wrong, but Dunford looks like a very smart and capable general.
And all of you bloodthirsty teens in old bodies – watch some porn…
Russia did not lose anything, or betrayed anyone.
Oh, and I hope that those generals in ussa will really drain that swamp…
Absolutely ! These bloodthirsty creatures are not kids , but stupid old farts looking for some fun .
JJ on April 14, 2018 · at 4:17 pm EST/EDT
Well rhey claimed OPCW might have missed something…as Syria had hidden stuff…..just as UK claims Russia had secretly developed and stockpiled….which claims almost certainly will continue I believe….and in both cases OPCW has certified destruction…..note they have been inflitrated one inspector going to Douma says they were deliberately held up delayed…which Haley said and Mattis implied before kinda saying if they ever get there….soooo it is all a stich up.
It ain’t over.
Graeme - Australia on April 14, 2018 · at 5:19 pm EST/EDT
Headline in the Australian ABC News Site
‘US, allies have drawn a red line on chemical weapons, but Syria retains capacity’
At a Pentagon briefing, director of the Joint Chiefs Lieutenant General Kenneth F McKenzie said that the strikes were precise, overwhelming and effective, but that some of Syria’s chemical weapons infrastructure remained.
“I think we’ve dealt them a severe blow,” he said.
“[But] I would say there’s still a residual element of the Syrian program that’s out there.
“I’m not going to say that they’re going to be unable to continue to conduct a chemical attack in the future. I suspect, however, they’ll think long and hard about it.”
So …. the door remains open
There must be a lot going on behind the scenes
Did someone with some brains spot the obvious stupidity that they were spouting? They were bragging about having “destroyed Assad’s chemical weapons capability.” It obviously took a while for someone to have the brainwave and say “hey, we might want to use this excuse again.” Which is the sort of reason why their stories keep changing and changing and changing and changing and…..
Dimitar on April 15, 2018 · at 5:56 am EST/EDT
Ioan, wasn’t the surrender of Syria’s so-called chemical production facilities and “all existing stocks” – an earlier precondition by the West – buttressed with Putin’s guarantee, already once accepted as legit, staying Obama’s hand from attacking back in 2013? Here we are again a few short years later with a replay of the same old song as the latest cassus beli trumpeted by the West. Recent history is ignored, logic is never employed and of course, emotion trumps everything. Any lie will do, even the same old one if necessary, again and again and again. All thats needed is an endless line of “experts” parroting the carefully doctored line, and voilà, the conditions are once again ripe and ready.
Ben Sampson on April 14, 2018 · at 9:33 pm EST/EDT
yes! I must admit that if the reports are true Putin did pull off some magic here. the world is still in place and Russia has lost no face to the intelligent. even with Steve Hayden and his ‘false flag’ comment. he clearly knows better but is playing games
Ally on April 14, 2018 · at 3:03 pm EST/EDT
stanley on April 14, 2018 · at 3:42 pm EST/EDT
Am awed by Russian leadership,real brains on the job.Allow hubris intoxicated westerners do their act and then -Get out and be gone.Time to burn and sweep the remaining head chopping cannibals in S.Damascus
Doug Kennedy on April 14, 2018 · at 5:19 pm EST/EDT
Well said , America and it’s vassals just proved how truly weak they are , Putin’s playing them off the world stage at each crisis point. .Bravo Syria Bravo Russia.
There were apparently no reported Russian casualties, a precondition for threatened retaliation.
Here is one who addresses your concerns in the best way I have seen yet:
http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/the-neocons-started-ww-iii-and-russia-didnt-even-blink/
The only allies that receive an attack are Putin allies, Message do not be a Putin ally.
Bro 93 on April 14, 2018 · at 11:53 am EST/EDT
You (appear to) wish. SH.
British?
Or colonial slave?
anon23554363 on April 14, 2018 · at 1:03 pm EST/EDT
I’m not so sure about that, the message seems to be if you’re not a Putin ally then you,your people will be bombed and killed like in Iraq,Libya by the USA-led West, however if you’re a Putin ally the USA-led West will only bomb deserted buildings.Personally I think it’s a massive improvement.
lance on April 14, 2018 · at 1:44 pm EST/EDT
BS is no match for truth
Your lying machine is breaking down.
mod-to note: silliness removed
Sometimes its incredibly obvious that there are rooms full of computers with people in military uniforms sitting in front of them typing something out onto the internet.
The US and NATO regularly announce spending hundreds of millions of more dollars on “countering Russia propaganda.” You just seen somebody’s tax dollars at work, and it didn’t fix any potholes.
TRM on April 14, 2018 · at 6:00 pm EST/EDT
Like Yemen is a Putin ally? Sudan? I could go on but you get the point. The USA is targeting all allies of Russia, Iran & China and anyone else who dares to challenge their financial scam. They want to drive a wedge between the 3 but it isn’t working. They know divided they will fall.
jpk on April 14, 2018 · at 11:51 am EST/EDT
No need to respond. Syrians did that the job by themselves.
Dick Lenning on April 14, 2018 · at 2:13 pm EST/EDT
IMHO I think now would be a good time for Moscow to respond with more economic sanctions against the West, such as:
*Banning sales of Titanium to Boeing & other enemy companies
*Closing Russian airspace to Air France, British Airways, United Airlines, & other enemy air carriers
*Immediately and unequivocally announce that US dollars will NO LONGER be accepted as payment for Russian oil & any other products from Russia.
*Sanction American oligarchs like Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet, Koch brothers, Rex Tillerson, Sheldon Adelson, & all of those working for the deep state “think tanks” like Rand, American Enterprise Institute, etc.
In addition to ramping up Pantsir production, Moscow should:
*Give to Syria its current stock of aircraft that Syrian pilots are already familiar with, such as MiG-29, Su-25, Mi-24, etc. (Moscow can replenish those units with Su-57, Su-39, Ka-52, etc.)
*Provide its current stock of S-300 to Syria via China. (Moscow can replenish its units with S-500.)
*Provide its current stock of T-72s to Syria. (Moscow can replenish those units with T-14 Armatas.)
*Provide SS-N-22 “Sunburn” anti-ship missiles to Syria. (Moscow can replenish those units with hypersonic anti-ship missiles.)
Anon on April 14, 2018 · at 4:15 pm EST/EDT
It’s time the US was sanctioned by the rest of the world until it mended its ways. Just cut it off completely including a total travel ban. I note Russia is proposing several key new sanctions now such as rocket motors, titanium.
Ralph on April 14, 2018 · at 4:47 pm EST/EDT
Putin needs to get through the next 3 months until after the World Cup, then I think you will see – perhaps – some responses more to your liking; have you got the patience to wait and see?
I’ve been watching what Putin has been doing for 3.5 years, in particular regarding the Donbass republics, and I think he has done very well.
Consequences …..
1) Trump looks like….
a) a fool who believes anything on social media
b) a loudmouth blowhard who’s tweet is much worse than his bite.
c) has people wondering if he isn’t some combination of senile and insane.
2) The US military looks powerless and ineffective (again).
3) The jihadists suffered a major defeat. They played their Trump Card with the fake chem weapons attack and all it got them was a blown up dismantled old lab complex.
4) Israel showed they are equally powerlless and ineffective with their weak and symbolic attack on the T-4 airbase.
5) Everyone now knows that it is highly likely that Theresa May is a baldfaced liar.
6) Everyone now knows that Germany will not stand with this coalition.
7) Everyone now knows that even older Russian/Soviet air defense systems can stop a US missile strike.
8) Everyone now knows that Israel and the US are afraid to fly into Syrian airspace and challenge those old air defenses. They only launch weak attacks from very long range.
9) Everyone now knows that the governments of the UK and the US both hate democracy. Trump didn’t follow the US Constitution and get even a fig-leaf “use of force” resolution. May had to directly overturn the Parliamentary democracy and launch her attack on only her say so.
10) The US just lost access to rocket engines and titanium parts.
11) Everyone now knows that if they are Putin’s ally then the US can’t hurt them.
There are probably more consequences than that. But my fingers are sore from typing. :)
Saker's reader on April 14, 2018 · at 6:35 pm EST/EDT
These words is an official attack vector of Zionist shills. I see a lot of this kind of shit in russian sector of Internet also.
Arayik K on April 14, 2018 · at 10:35 am EST/EDT
Hitler and Stalin were not absolute superpowers that’s why they needed diplomacy. If you are an absolute superpower like America, it would be a waste of time to negotiate or do diplomacy. Russia is a superpower in her immediate region, like, over Chechnya. It’s inconceivable that Russia right now would go and use diplomacy in Chechnya or Armenia, they look at these states as vassals and lower than russians. And Russians are America’s Chechens in a way. Diplomacy is for powers that are relatively equal, not for powers and countries that have infinity in their differences of strengths and class and sophistication. I am not expressing any opinion on yesterday’s strikes, I was actually holding my breath that there would be peace after that and this shall also pass. But as far as America and western europe going and using diplomacy with Russia that’s just ludicrous. The real russian economy is as good as dead, as it’s always been since individuals dont have much rights and the state permiates everywhere, their culture is moribund, no one likes to listen to Russian music, their soccer just manages to get a team or so into European league which they always get blasted away. Russia is behind in everything and will remain so for centuries. They look at the West with wonder and amazement and yet they can’t figure out how to emulate the west, they look like idiots in their attempts to look like the west. And you enter their churches it stinks like a soviet bathroom, and their understanding of the Christian god is some kind of a grotesque and mysterious being who is far off and can’t communicate with his creatures. And no institutional investor is putting any money in Russia(or china) as these countries, their governments and their peoples are very unpredictable, no one trusts them.
Though it’s a noble effort on the part of this website to try to be a soldier of righteousness and justice and try to oppose the American bullyness. But try to be less detached from reality.
Robert Ferrin on April 14, 2018 · at 11:01 am EST/EDT
I think you give the American Empire way to much credit, or have swallowed their propaganda hook,line and sinker,Korea failed,Vietnam failed,Iraq failed and of course Afghanistan is a sinkhole swallowing up billions we don’t have.
Is Russia a super power of course it is, and China is well on its way to being a super power too,any country that has the capability of destroying the Empire has to be considered a super power ,and it would serve people better to consider that rather then mouthing the Empire is the sole,only superpower of the world for that to is a form of propaganda…
tomo on April 14, 2018 · at 9:08 pm EST/EDT
exactly – many people believe Hollywood BS made by Harvey Weisnteins of this world..
USSA is a failed state in pretty much every respect.
Just look at the level of poverty all over the place – I have not seen anything like that in any other place and I ahve been around the world a few times.
I spent 13 years in the US and have left recently – and am very happy about it – there is nothing I miss there. What a waste of time and money that has been.
At least I’ve become an expert on psychopaths – they run away from me these days after so much practice with them in LA and London (the biggest shithole of psychopathic fraud in the world)
Lysander on April 14, 2018 · at 11:19 am EST/EDT
Total nonsense. The US/NATO bombed Serbia for 75 days for nothing and even though Serbia never had the slightest intention of attacking them. They destroyed civilian infrastructure. And then they overthrew the Serbian government.
Russia was actually attacked by Georgia. It could have easily bombed it into nothing, marched into Tblisi and set up a pro Russian puppet government. But they didn’t. The contented themselves with simply repelling the Georgian attack.
Chechnya is part of Russia so diplomacy plays no role there. The Union did not practice diplomacy with the confederacy. Sherman did not ask Georgia’s permission to burn Atlanta or march to the sea.
Marcel Leutenegger on April 14, 2018 · at 11:50 am EST/EDT
Do you know what I find depressing?
Your notion that military power achieves anything and faster than diplomacy. In my limited historical experience, diplomacy achieved way more and on better terms than military power ever did. I think this is true even for super-powers.
joaopft on April 15, 2018 · at 8:43 am EST/EDT
War without diplomacy and political prowess achieves little. The military wars of Habsburg Austria-Spain all over Europe (and the world) come to my mind, as these attempts at submitting the (then demonized) protestants, by the Habsburg dinasty, mostly resemble the neocon US attempts at submitting the Russians and the Muslims. But results seem the same: many countries ravaged by war, but no victory.
Due to its overwhelming military power, the Habsburg House did not think it needed diplomacy. Thus it was defeated. The Peace of Westphalia installed simple rules to avoid permanent conflict between nations, sparked by frivolous pretexts and cheap pseudo-religious propaganda. It is the core Westphalian Principles of sovereignty of nations that neconservative America effectively opposes, as it affirms that its right to violate Westphalian Principles.
The 20th century had already weakened the Westphalian sovereignty principle, with the rise of entities like NATO, the Warsaw Pact and the European Union. It is no surprise to me a status of permanent war has emerged, in these Westfailure times.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westfailure
Alkali on April 14, 2018 · at 11:52 am EST/EDT
@Arayik
I see that you have learned your daily propaganda.
Continue your acculturation with wapo and nyt …
However you should, despite everything, that a large part of the World rejects now your vision of the civilization of the “everybody contreeverybody” as well as your self-proclaimed US pseudo-exceptionalism.
@Alkali
I recommend to read the http://theriseofrussia.blogspot.com.au/. You will understand what an Armenian ‘Choban in Armani suit’ is.
anon23554363 on April 14, 2018 · at 12:55 pm EST/EDT
Oh boy, somebody woke up in the wrong century.
Where to start?Mind if I ask you a few questions?Why do you think the USA/UK missiles carefully avoided entering Russian defended airspace and stayed away from Russian military assets?Why do you think USA needed UK and France for the strike?Why do you think an ‘absolute superpower’ like USA needs to hide behind NATO and a number of other allies when they engage in military adventures on foreign soil?Why do you think the USA has an embassy in Russia?
Then let’s check how valid your claims are, in order of top to bottom.For power difference, the Soviet Union defeated Germany while the USA lost to Vietnam.The Russian economy is in a better shape than debt-ridden,fraudulent economies of the USA and Western Europe.At this point I’m fairly certain Russians have more freedom and rights than any individual in USA or Europe.Have you seen American ‘culture’?Want me to share links of a few Russian music videos?Not much into sports myself but isn’t the World Cup going to be held in Russia?Is that why USA is hitching rides on Russian rockets to get to space?Pretty sure it’s horror and sadness, not wonder and amazement these days.Russia and much of the world wish to forge a different path from the one the West is going in, not emulate them, which is why these conflicts exist in the first place.Have you seen the leaders of the ‘free world’ Trump,Merkel,May and Macron?Well, it would be rather disturbing to hear God like President Bush did.Try reading the business section of Russia Today.Predictable people are boring and personally, I trust Russia and China far more than any Western nation.You should take your own advice to Saker.
You have an very active imagination and strong faith in America similar to an religious extremist, but the truth is USA never was and isn’t today an equal(much less superior) to Stalin’s Soviet Union or Hitler’s Germany – the only place USA is an absolute superpower greater than WW2 Soviet Union or Germany is in their own propaganda.USA is a nation which became a superpower due to the fact the other great powers of the day which were superior to the USA destroyed each other in wars, leaving the USA as the only great power.Now these great powers have rebuilt themselves(or in the process of doing so) and recovered from the past wars, so naturally the USA is losing it’s hegemony – well due to that and other reasons.
What struck my eye, was not your political and history related issues, it was the penetrating bashing of Russian economy, culture and social system as a whole, it stinks from distance the “democratic values” method and views. You are very fast to judge, probably with time (if we will have that) you’ll learn much more
That’s the result of his four hours of training before they sat him in front of a computer.
3 hours on how to type and press a submit button. 1 hour on why to hate Russia.
Takethatandthat on April 15, 2018 · at 4:38 am EST/EDT
…or her in front of a computer.
Mish on April 15, 2018 · at 4:50 am EST/EDT
Methinks he already hates Russia viscerally. No need for training there
Arayik K did a piss poor copy and paste job (he / she / it is not even worth the expenses for training).
Muslim on April 14, 2018 · at 4:16 pm EST/EDT
@Arayik K
Quite interesting.
By the way, how many Army Veterans of this “absolute superpower” are committing suicide a day? Official figure will tell you around 22.
But who cares, after all they are the “absolute superpower”, free to commit even a national suicide.
Thanks for enlightening.
a country with thousands of dirt poor homeless in every big city (SF, LA, Seattle, NYC, Honolulu….) sleeping in gutters and using the whole place as a toilet, where even in Chicago, LA, NY etc (not just Flint- according to an article Erin Bronkovitch posted on her FB today) tap water is polluted with lead (explains high level of mental retardation and other defects nationwide?) , with so much poverty, lack of any meaningful collaboration (due to being brainwashed to distrust others always and to compete irrationally against them forever) – cannot be a super – anything.
It’s 100% propaganda – lies, fraud and misinformation. I’ve lived in the US for 13 years or so – trust me they are not super- anything. Mostly dumb, very fearful Anglosheeple and without us foreigners they would be nothing
Reader1 on April 15, 2018 · at 1:27 pm EST/EDT
Perhaps everything you said maybe true but one thing is for certain is that Russia is nobody’s lapdog. If this were true the Marines would be planting their flag on the Kremlin now. There are some things that countries can’t have. One of them is Sovereignty. With all Russia may lack, for sure they have Sovereignty. (And this is the one thing that burns the West’s arse)..Are the people in Russia free? Maybe not. Either way they’ll be taking orders from the West like all the other European Zombies. If you have to be ruled and dominated at least be ruled by your own.
Arayik K, being able to give your opponents a bloody nose can be considered a superpower in this league (the US and Russia can blow up the Earth several times). As far as I know Chechnya’s president Kadyrov is a well respected person in Moscow. (Do you remember Trump refusing to shake hands with Merkel or the group photo of European leaders and Trump pushing himself to the front? That’s the way vassals have to be treated.)
Regarding your information about the Russian economy I’ve got some disappointing message for you: Russians are doing pretty well. Of course, the economy could be better, but it’s okay. They don’t need the western GMO shit or those fast food chains to super size the citizens. (On a side note: for several years now I’ve boycotted every fast food chain – mainly US ones. I prefer family owned and operated restaurants.)
Just a thought,
delivering S-300 and upgrading their air-defense is a large financial effort for Russia (and IMO that is in large part the reason for that not happening or rather slowly).
So a question, to me, is why doesn’t China get in and help in that department? China is non-committal on the military side, and I can understand that. But they can do larger damage by doing what they can. Why wait, wait for what? Everybody’s looking for Russians/RF to solve all the world problems, and even get angry if they don’t react (which is hypocritical to say the least, what are all the internet warriors doing).
That’s to say the least, unrealistic, they can’t do it alone, this is a world affair, a matter for all the rest of the ‘sane’ world.
Sorry to disagree with respect, no S300 because of Russia’s promise to The zionist entity. Do not get me wrong, Moscow cannot be blamed for having good relations with Hell Aviv, it is their national interest first, the Arab World, sorry the Arab Madhouse (with the exception of the islands of sanity aka small Syria, tiny Shia Lebanon and Isolated Algeria) should have been acting as consistent civilization structuring force of resistance alongside Iran and later Russia, then maybe Putin would have found more strategic impulse for negotiating a liberation of Palestine, getting garantees for russian jews in the post apartheid state. Dysfunctional, mentally colonized Arab elites, and traitorous palestinian bourgeoisie, are the first to blame. Nonetheless, Moscow considers that Syrian should not have efficient, self managed air defense of S 300 type, no armchair judgment on my part here, but i doubt this acrobatic diplomacy can be sustained any longer, Trump and his court of zionists just pushed Putin closer to a decisive choice… I may well be wrong…
Per/Norway on April 14, 2018 · at 11:58 am EST/EDT
i hope ur right..
You are wrong. The Israelis have had full access to export S-300 systems supplied to Greece. They already know about it. Note that foreign countries get export versions of Russian military hardware which have reduced range, reduced tracking and targetting capabilities and are generally one generation behind the systems Russia uses itself. Russia also built the system so it knows its strengths and weaknesses.
So there is (in terms of increasing capability)
S-300 export – S-300 – S-400 export – S-400 – S-500
Note that the S-500 system is currently in production in Russia. Thus the S-300 export system is 4 generation behind the best Russia has.
Arab adighe on April 14, 2018 · at 3:32 pm EST/EDT
Thank you for the detailed response. Indeed i knew for the export versions of russian systems, this is common sense anyway. But regarding zionist entity access via Greece, i did not know. Thanks for your knowledge btw!
@Anonymous – the fact that they know about it still doesn’t mean they’d want Syria to have it – that was the whole point, as it presents a ‘danger’ for Israeli air dominance.
Also S 500 is not a new model of S 400 – it’s complementary to S 400 – 500 is for more lucrative, ICBM-s, higher altitude etc. they theoretically work hand in hand and S 400 is still the king in its domain.
It’s not “in production ” S- 500 , but Russia already has one.
you may have a point, there’s been lot of talk today about that ‘promise’. But they could send Pantzirs etc.
But my feel is that regardless, financially, RF just can’t do it alone, and that is holding them back being more decisive (sending ships etc. back home often). They need a good backing, and China is a logical choice. The rest of the world needs to come together if any of this is to make sense, or the evil printing press is going to win or destroy everything simply by pure money power and numbers on their side.
Yes great point, China could contribute in that financial capacity, it seems at least from my little nobody’s point of vue. God willing it might happen soon…
@Arab Adighe – yes, that’d be a game changer, things are changing (for the worse I’d say) and China is coming around, I’ve read today somewhere, (true/false some source) that China is holding drills in S. China Sea to help divert attention (resources of the empire’s), that’s a good step. There’s so much that they can do. Smart, and calm, as they are, but firm and clear.
I’ve seen several references to this supposed deal between Russia and Israel. Can anyone supply any backgound info as to this?
I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but on the internet these days, I prefer to have some evidence. Otherwise you can wind up believe all sorts of nonsense. Like fake chemical attacks for example.
the best source I’ve heard is someone from RF gov – I think it’s that general during the conference today, saying that RF will reconsider their decision not to sell S 300 (and he mentioned because of the promise made to their ‘partners’ – he didn’t mention which partner). On some other side it was specifically said that’s Israel, but no links (could be just a guess I don’t know). That does make sense as Israel is the one most concerned to keep air dominance (which a good AA system negates pretty much), and given their special relationship w/ Rusia.
Not so sure that China was/is “non-commital on the military side”.
Remember, the Chinese general who is Defense Minister went to Moscow and promised very publicly to stand with Russia.
Just saw this on Sputnik. Perhaps one of the reasons the US backed down…..
As Moscow’s Partner, China Aims to ‘Cause Trouble for US’ – Reports
https://sputniknews.com/asia/201804141063567321-china-navy-exercises-goal/
As the situation in Syria was reaching its climax, the Chinese had a large fleet in the South China Sea holding ‘live fire drills’. Nearly 50 ships.
They also held more exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
Of course, both exercises serve to put fleets on active duty in key locations. And of course each could convert from drill to wartime mission on very short notice.
Thus, China was threatening to close the South China Sea to both military and economic US/NATO traffic. And China had the forces in place to quickly invade Taiwan. Both could happen quickly if the US had decided to go to war with Russia. That was certainly noticed in DC, and might be a part of what made the US back down. China was very much signalling that they were with Russia and if the war was starting then they were ready to go and the US was going to pay in the South China Sea and lose Taiwan.
sorry, a bit slow to respond.
we’re all only guessing here, I’m not sure either.
But what I’m getting at is this:
Let’s say US, Russia did exchange blows or that could happen very soon. If we’re lucky China may have time to react and get into it. If we’re not lucky, it may be too late for that, and we’re all off to the spirit world.
It’s becoming pretty urgent for China (anyone else?) to fully commit, in order to balance the powers and possibly avoid bigger conflict. We may not have much time.
Currently only Russia/RF, Iran are fully committed (Syria naturally), Iraq somewhat (it’s complicated). On the other side (of the spectrum) we have US, good part of EU, Israel, Saudis and many other satellites, many of them are equally fully committed to this fight. NZ, Australia and alike are like China, playing safe and giving their support to the cause. And then there is India and alike, ‘the neutrals’.
CN sending their support to Moscow, or making some noise in the China sea, is improvement but that’s not going to scare US much. US doesn’t care, they know that neither RF nor China will make any sudden moves. US is the one pulling the strings (firing the first shots). And that’s a problem for RF, I think that’s a big issue with their strategy, defensive as it is (and commendable as that is, it’s not practical), it’s making RF too predictable. China even more so.
I’ve seen news saying that China ships were side by side with Russian ships in the Med. I’m not sure if that was true, I don’t remember but some of it was reliable. That’s the kind of support and commitment the world needs. Full economical (like I’ve mentioned) but behind the weapons supplies, to give RF a solid ‘back’, to supply all the little countries and so on. And generally show of force, not ‘twitching’ and drawing a red line. That may make the other side pause and think.
RF, Iran alone are not match enough – for the empire’s forces. Weapons are ok, but there’s more to that (if it goes nuclear then it’d be enough, but). Economically, and in shear numbers, they’re outnumbered. There’s too little, no other countries standing behind them, almost pathetic. RF needs allies (so much it’s even trying to make Turkey into one). Put China into the picture, but not playing safe, and that changes a lot and adds lot of weight.
jeff on April 14, 2018 · at 10:49 am EST/EDT
To be honest, I’m not so worried about these strikes as I am the mechanism that made them happen. The little lackey 1st generation “Americans”, the “journalists,” foundation people, hoax artists, that put pressure on the system to work in such a criminal way need to be treated as terrorists. We look at Trump. Who’s in Trump’s ears? The guy is out-of-control. You could get him to rant on volleyball. Who’s making him rant (and don’t say the Israelis, please) though.
Let’s be clear. The White Helmets should now have a bounty on them. All of them. All the people involved with the production are war criminals.
Second, people like Amy Goodman need to be publicly compared to nazi propagandists. They are doing things that necessitate war crimes tribunals. Goodman needs to be told, to her face, that evidence is mounting against her. Go after the weak links. It’s all the slithery little snakes with speech impediments, pancake faces, hunch backs, no lips; the flat chested, balding women, the tooth pick stick-men; it’s the freaks making this happen.
100% agree with you in regards to Amy Goodman. I can’t stand her duplicitous face while she is yapping about fake freedoms and pretends to be some kind of activists. I would through Chomsky into the same pile of fake zombies (he certainly speaks like a zombie). This dude is still getting his paychecks from the Pentagon, while saying things everybody always knew anyway.
Amy Goodman has changed massively from who she was a decade ago.
During the anti-war protests before Dubya’s wars, she used to be out in the streets with radio gear broadcasting the anti-war point of view. I know because I marched in those protests, and I looked over and saw her there.
Back then her show was the voice of the anti-war protesters. Now she’s straight Dem party we-want-war-and-we-want-it-now.
Of course, back then her show was a radio show that was simulcast on cable TV with only a camera or two. Somewhere she got a bunch of money for fancy sets and expensive production tools. Funny how that goes together with someone changing their direction.
Amy Goodman has returned to her roots. Who wants to be known as a ‘self-hating Jew’ or a ‘kapo’?
Chomsky has done more work exposing the reality of the Real Evil Empire than a million of his detractors.
James on April 14, 2018 · at 9:26 pm EST/EDT
The real history wrote: “[Noam Chomsky] is still getting his paychecks from the Pentagon, while saying things everybody always knew anyway.”
On the surface, Noam Chomsky appears to be strikingly outspoken against the global warmongers and in support of those who are resisting the warmongers, including the heroic Julian Assange. Chomsky is covered favourably and cited in much of the alternative newsmedia, including rt.com, sputniknews.com and presstv.com .
However, as noted in 2006 by Barrie Zwicker, who once idolised him, Chomsky endorses the Warren Commission coverup of the murder of JFK! Chomsky accepts and promotes the Warren Comission’s ludicrous finding that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, on 22 November 1963, was able to murder John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, the most powerful country on earth.
The murder of JFK, his brother Robert Francis Kennedy (RFK) and Martin Luther King are critical events in late 20th Century history. It is because of these assasinations, and others, that the deep state was able to maintain control of the United States government right up until now in April 2018. As a consequence, humanity has since endured deaths totalling several millions in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Libya, Syria and Yemen. Humanity still faces the prospect of nuclear annihilation.
Much of humanity’s basic misunderstanding of critical events of the late 20th century, caused by the likes of Chomsky, makes it that much harder for humanity to overcome the grave peril it faces. This vastly outweighs whatever good Chomsky appears to be doing.
Here is a 10 minute video of Barrie Zwicker talking about Noam Chomsky in 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhrZ57XxYJU
It turns out that Chomsky has also helped provide a cover for the United States proxy war against Syria, See “Considering Noam Chomsky’s take on Syria” (24/3/16) by Susan Dirgham at https://www.candobetter.net/node/4807 .
APOLOGIES for the error in my last post on April 14, 2018 (yesterday) at 12:30 pm UTC
The paragraph:
Even if the United States now, in April 2018, apparently lags somewhat behind Russia in military technology, it continues to wreak death and destruction in Yemen, even if it may not be able to do so for much longer IN SYRIAN SYRIA, the United States has contributed to the deaths of 400,000 by one estimate.
… should have been:
Even if the United States now, in April 2018, apparently lags somewhat behind Russia in military technology, it continues to wreak death and destruction in Yemen, even if it may not be able to do so for much longer in Syria. In Syria, the United States has contributed to the deaths of 400,000 by one estimate.
James on April 14, 2018 · at 12:30 pm EST/EDT
I mostly agree, but surely, it was only good fortune that the Russia currently has the edge over the United States in military technology, and were able, on this occasion, to stand up to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia, Israel and other rogue states trying to destroy Syria? Can we presume that that superiority will last indefinitlely?
The United States still remains a menace to all of humanity.
Humanity will only be safe once and for all, once the criminals,in the united States and elsewhere, who are wantonly responsible for all this death destruction all this death and destruction are removed from power and properly held to account for their crimes, ideally in a criminal court before a jury.
One hundred years ago, another group of Russian political leaders similarly acted to remove, from power, those in Russia who had helped cause the terrible bloodshed that had cost 18 million lives, including at least 1,700,000 Russian lives and to hold them to account for their crimes.
Those leaders are demonised today, not only by corporate historians and corporate newsmedia, but even by much of todays alternative, anti-corporate, anti-war, anti-imperialst newsmedia, including Russia Insider (https://russia-insider.com/en/).
Sadly the Russian October Revolution failed to spread elsewhere, most notably, in Germany. As a result, we got Nazism in Germany, Stalin in the Soviet Union and the Second World War in which another 60 million died, including, 25 million Soviet citizens by one estimate.
Whilst countries like Russia and Iran, which are ouside the United States’ Empire, may not be socialist in the sense that the Soviet Republic was initially, they are strikingly different from the lassez-faire free market economies of the Western powers. In those economies, much of the essential infrastructure is controlled by the government and it appears that corporations have to act in ways that do not harm the interests of the Russian people.
If the people in the west replaced their crooked governments with governments more like that of Russia, then I think that there is every hope that war can be abolished once and for all.
Not only would we no longer face the prospect of hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions more being killed, but vast amounts of resources used to build intruments of destruction, including the S-300 missile, mentioned above, could, instead, be used to improve the health and standard of living of all members of humanity and t help presrve our environment.
@Sadly the Russian October Revolution failed to spread elsewhere, most notably, in Germany.
One of the major aims of the planners of WW1 was to prevent the “geopolitical nightmare that was to haunt the world’s two sea powers during the first half of the twentieth century—Great Britain and, later on, the United States. The nightmare was that if Germany or Russia were allowed to control East Europe then this could lead to the domination of the Eurasian land mass by one of these two powers as a prelude to mastery of the world.any combination between Russia and Germany”.
It was clearly spelled out by Halford MacKinder in 1904 (see Wikipedia).
“He outlined the following ways in which the Heartland might become a springboard for global domination in the twentieth century:
1) Successful invasion of Russia by a West European nation (most probably Germany). Mackinder believed that the introduction of the railroad had removed the Heartland’s invulnerability to land invasion. As Eurasia began to be covered by an extensive network of railroads, there was an excellent chance that a powerful continental nation could extend its political control over the Eastern European gateway to the Eurasian landmass. In Mackinder’s words, “Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland.”
2) A Russo-German alliance. Before 1917 both countries were ruled by autocrats (the Tsar and the Kaiser), and both could have been attracted to an alliance against the democratic powers of Western Europe (the US was isolationist regarding European affairs, until it became a participant of World War I in 1917). Germany would have contributed to such an alliance its formidable army and its large and growing sea power.
3) Conquest of Russia by a Sino-Japanese empire
“if Germany or Russia were allowed to control East Europe then this could lead to the domination of the Eurasian land mass by one of these two powers as a prelude to mastery of the world”.
Therefore both Russia’s and Germany’s power must have been destroyed, in a mutual war. Russia was destroyed, but a revolution in Germany allying itself with Russia would have annulled the principal objective, the Russian-German alliance. The ‘revolution’ was immediately switched off.
The same scenario was applied in WW2. Nazism was created for the continuation of the war with Russia, whose power proved to be ‘resurgent’. In addition the ‘sanitary cordon’ of ‘East Europe-Mitteleuropa-Intermarium’ meant to isolate Germany from Russia collapsed. The aim was again to exhaust both, this time allowing America to occupy Western Europe, with the aim to implement the other part of MacKinder program:
“Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland;/ who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island;/who rules the World-Island commands the world.”
This is the expansion of NATO to the East.
But (besides the fact that a conquest of Russia is impossible) the next geopolitical nightmare quickly came to haunt the ‘maritime powers’: an alliance between Russia and China. All that happened since 1945 was geared to the prevention of this alliance to materialize.
Another Anonymus
Actually we might consider that the WW1 started in 1904, the year MacKinder warned that the development of terrestrial transportation across Eurasia poses the greatest threat to the maritime transportation from Asia to Europe. It is precisely at that time that the Transsiberian and its connection with China Eastern Railway, both built by Russia in record time were nearing completion.
Trump is not out of control. He is fully controlled by the Anglo-Zionist puppet masters. Like all recent US presidents, he has probably been shown the out-takes from the JFK murder films.
pb on April 14, 2018 · at 2:14 pm EST/EDT
well put,it’s the process that’s the problem.
In the public eye, the empire have demonstrated and rehabilitated their right to bomb Syria if and when it chooses, another link in the chain of “we did, so we can” evidence of their righteousness and Assad’s wickedness. the OPCW report will be “Inconclusive” (as it is anytime they can’t get spun US’s way).
If Russia had hole a fighter or ship, that would have shown this can not happen again. They chose instead to play for more time, which isn’t a bad idea. The western media is non-agreement compatible, a sovereign and lawful strike will not be acknowledged by them, the UN would not back up international law and the west would not report it that way. Strike late and last.
Watafak on April 14, 2018 · at 10:50 am EST/EDT
Beware:
No no, it is just mostly destroyed. Indeed (French msm already explained that), some chemicals may still remain hidden somewhere. Indeed, some doors need to be let opened for a sequel…
B.F. on April 14, 2018 · at 10:50 am EST/EDT
Nothing has been said of the Russian Khirbiny electronic jamming system. It must have been used, as it was last year. This means the Russians had no real need to use the S-300 and S-400 missile systems. Shooting down 71 of 103 cruise missiles must be a serious warning to the Pentagon not to play with Russia, as the Pentagon cannot even handle old Soviet missile systems used by the Syrians.
Why waste an S400 on a cruise missle (unless its high probablity of nuclear payload)? Seems like a better option for strategic bombers, fighters and stealth aircraft.
Guest on April 14, 2018 · at 10:55 am EST/EDT
Don’t you get it? Trump is still at war with the neocons. Of course this is an action to keep the media and warmongering politicans busy. His alleged unreliability is his strategy to counter his oponents, while he pulls the US out from Eurasia and makes the world realise that it’s time to search for another hegemon, at the same time demolishing the EU crazies. Merkel was the clever one this time, but there are still many globalists in the German government, she cannot lean East as far as she might wish to. Johnson, May and Macron were so keen on joining the falling hegemon, and look what they got: three of the worlds most powerful, nuclear powers working together to attack Syria on false pretenses, and they manage to destroy an office, a university’s building and a ammunition depot, and 70% of their missiles got intercepted by some 30 year old Russian missiles (the few they didn’t want anymore). Oh, the fame – future generations will sing their praises. Trump is a mod-to note: word deleted, please no profanity genious, he is playing them all and making the world realize what’s going on. Even if they would impeach him, their international credibility is damaged beyond repair.
Chris GG on April 16, 2018 · at 11:10 am EST/EDT
Chapeau…. you got it definitively!
Trust POTUS!
POTUS de chambre, Moliere would have said.
Merkel was the clever one this time …
You must be kidding. Merkel stated that agreed with the attack. Her statement on the facebook page of the German federal government says “Wir unterstützen es, dass unsere amerikanischen, britischen und französischen Verbündeten als ständige Mitglieder des UN-Sicherheitsrats in dieser Weise Verantwortung übernommen haben. Der Militäreinsatz war erforderlich und angemessen, um die Wirksamkeit der internationalen Ächtung des Chemiewaffeneinsatzes zu wahren und das syrische Regime vor weiteren Verstößen zu warnen.” (freely translated: “We support that our American, British and French allies, as permanent members of the UN security council, took responsibility in this way. The military operation was necessary and appropriate in order to protect the efficacy of the international ostracism of the usage of chemical weapons and to warn the Syrian regime from further violations.”).
anon23554363 on April 14, 2018 · at 10:58 am EST/EDT
On the flip side if they failed nobody would even know about it.
Thorvid on April 14, 2018 · at 11:00 am EST/EDT
Well the Pentagon post action press conference says it all really. I took these points:-
* OPCW is irreverent, and the Russians and Syrians are blocking access anyway….
* It’s irresponsible to deploy air defence systems to defend yourself when attacked by a foreign power.
* We’ve only degraded the CW capability, thus allowing the possibility of future false flag operations.
* Reports of any of allied missiles being shot down, are absolutely false.
* They all get very uncomfortable when any one mentions actual facts and the possibility of presenting there so called ‘evidence’.
* The facts are what we tell you, there is no other valid point of view
Additionally the MSM here in the UK are starting to complain about the limited nature of the strikes, and questioning Secretary of Defence Matis’s role in the limiting of the strikes.
Larchmonter445 on April 14, 2018 · at 11:00 am EST/EDT
Who is telling the truth?
105 for 105 or 71 shot down out of 103 launched?
Did the Russian MOD get it right or wrong?
Also, the Marine general up there at the top, he said all missiles hit in one minute of each other.
No waves, no swarms. Just a launch simultaneously from all platforms to overwhelm the Syrian defenses.
Most people on the ground say the attack lasted one hour.
What we know is the Russian radars were on. Even the Marine up there said the Russian systems were “on” but not employed.
As for Russian knowing ahead of time, even the US Ambassador to Russia, Huntsman, said the Russians had been informed of the strike ahead of time.
The very real issue left is how many missiles were shot down or never got to their targets?
Interesting also is the USS Donald Cook was not used as a platform.
Finally, the B 1Bs used to launch were poised at the al Tanf base on the Jordanian border. This is big in US mentality. From this base they hope to control the supply line of Iran to Hezbollah.
This is why I have said from the getgo that al Tanf should be struck and wiped out the next time the US acts against Iran or Russia in Syria. The US is illegally in Syria and has no right to any bases there, much less killing Russians and Iranians. It should be automatic. Not a siege. A massive rocket and missile attack.
If you want the Hegemon to go home, you pave the way with his dead troops. Vietnam taught the world that lesson. General Giap did it in Nam, Cuban General Ochoa did it twice, to US mercs in Angola and to the Contras in Nicaragua. You have to fill Dover with coffins. It’s the only way.
The voters are very much against US in Syria. Exploit that. No propaganda needed. No bots. Just missiles.
Next time the US does what they did to the Wagner contractors, or mortars fly into Russian zones, remove al Tanf base from the map.
If the Russians are staying in Syria for 50 years, they need to bring all their tools of trade to the theater. Most importantly, like in Kaliningrad and Crimea, Iskanders. The Syrian bases are now a new Mediterranean military district for the Russians. They need to build that district.
FromTheStates on April 14, 2018 · at 12:50 pm EST/EDT
Depending on your point of view, Russia is actually protecting those American troops in Syria. I don’t think they would be there if it weren’t for the agreements of the generals.
Great comment, indeed Russia and Iran will have to do what is required. My guess, Moscow (maybe Tehran too) saw these vulnerable bases in Syria as a future bargaining tool (once again the old cold war cynical diplomatic games, less and less relevant and efficient in 2018 with a decaying US empire, a Russia that is NOT USSR, western elites much more irrational.
Moscow (fear of an Afghanistan 2.0? Unconscious desire to reproduce cold war diplomacy with the relatively safe and predictable context?) may be making a choice that will cost a lot to the region and maybe to russia itself by preventing a vietnamisation of syria since the establishment of official us, brit and french bases. Cold war Diplomacy will not work…
Arioch on April 16, 2018 · at 10:17 am EST/EDT
An interesting overlooked detail about recent attack at Syria.
In the prior wars – Serbia, Libya, Iraq – it was NOT the case that victim nation did not have air defense – they did. Libya, Iraq, Serbia – they all had similar 1970-s and 1980-s Soviet AD equipment as Syria reportedly used against the attack.
In all those cases however NATO used first few days to “Shrike” those AD units into oblivion. Then NATO used clear skies to comfortly hunt whatever they wanted to hunt. NATO quite reasonably never tried to attack ground forces of a nation which AD were yet turning and burning. NATO rationally first attacked AD network itself, and only after removing it from the battle it switched to phase two – destruction of the targets themselves.
I guess it was because Russia-Syria AD integration that NATO could no more tell Syrian (permitted) from Russian(prohibited) AD stations. NATO dared not to “Shrike” Syrian AD to tatters. And then low speed Tomahawks were easy game.
The difference between my reading of the primary difference cause and Smoothie’s is not that Syrian AD was somehow extraordinary good, it was usually good, but that Russia de facto prohibited NATO their phase one: dedicated and specialized strike against AD itself.
Rus MoD briefing has a list of targets attacked. For what i read there was not a one AD installation aimed at. And that was the principal difference. Russia barred NATO from using its most efficient pattern of bombing AD-less victim.
Well, there may be other explanations why NATO did not even try to pretend clearing Syrian skies for their Tomahawks. But the fact seems to stand: Syrian AD were not targeted by NATO in defiance with both common sense and lots of prior precedents, but somehow all talking heads seem to evade noting this dissimilarity…
JackJC on April 14, 2018 · at 11:07 am EST/EDT
I’ve been reading a lot of negative comments about Putin looking weak now and Xi needing to provide a show of force to the west and I don’t agree with either of those statements. Maneuvering and managing the fall of a global empire that has the capacity to turn earths crust into radioactive glass is, quite frankly, a monumental task and nobody should allow their emotions to get out of control – that’s how wars start.
The reality is that the USA, by avoiding Russian defended air space and providing such a symbolic strike, looks weak. The bully refused to engage the kid who simply said, ‘hit me and I’ll kick your arse from here to hell and back’. Syria (the even smaller kid), by achieving a 68.9% kill ratio on modern missiles, has now shown the weakness and ineffectiveness of western arsenals. The effectiveness of AA missiles in capable hands – even aging ones – has once again been demonstrated. The result of this will be a further weakening of respect among other nations for the US and its’ hegemony; this can be seen in how Germany and Italy did not participate, Turkey paid lip service, and France provided emotional support only. So while Russia provides the military counterpunch to contain the US, China provides the financial counterweight.
Many posters here have commented that China needs to ‘blood’ their army to get combat experience and I’ve even seen comments that China has never won a war, only ever been overrun and absorbing the conquerer’s and I think to myself – read some *real* history. The cultural affectation of China is ‘trade, trade, and more trade’. China responds to force by trying to keep trade routes open, they’ve been doing that for over 4,000 years. However, when they’ve had enough of the raping, pillaging and burning the Chinese send in a huge army and level the place – don’t believe me? Xiong Nu, Rouran, they no longer exist as cultures although some of their bloodlines *might* have been absorbed into the Chinese population. Ghengis Khan was only able to conquer the Northern Song dynasty as they were falling and weak, he hit the Southern Song border and bounced – impenetrable – before pushing further west into Afghanistan and the rest of the world. It took his nephew Kublai Khan over 20 years to finally subjugate the Southern Song. After about 200 years of Mongol rule, China kicked them out and for over 600 years made Mongolia a Chinese province. But I digress.
China has stopped buying US treasury debt – this is serious. China has just launched the gold convertible Renminbi for oil transactions – also serious. These steps are leading to a slow erosion of the US dollar in monetary transactions and over time will destroy US dollar value. One of the tools in the US ability to retain bases across the globe is to pay local governments in US dollars that are also required for global trade. The same process I’ve described above is how the British pound fell out of favour as a reserve currency – the US dollar displaced it – and the British bases started to close as countries left the empire.
Russia and China are old countries with long histories and cultures. China is particularly a survivor country and they’ve survived due to how their cultural mindset operates. The older the country, the larger the kit of cultural tools they have for adapting and surviving. Personally, I think China and Russia are doing a good job of managing the decline of the USA while avoiding war.
monika on April 14, 2018 · at 12:21 pm EST/EDT
– JackJC: I fully agree with you.
It costs a good restraint and nerve not to play into the hands of others. This means: old cultures might have been learnt some things which the Western countries didn’t get until yet. Western countries are still following the path of the Roman Empire (including the incorporated mindset of being better than any other cultures or even like he USA and Israel still point out being “indispensable” and/or “choosen” !!).
Sure China and Russia ware working together – each in a certain field.
So what I see is that they complement each other in a certain ways.
We shall see what the outcome !!
Most of the times – not only in war times – the better outcomes of solving big problems are those who have been slept over. In other words: it is like to play chess in order to remove the king – strategic way of thinking.
The big mistake is to think that hitting back immediately doesn’t always be very wise !! But Westeners have this in their mind usually !
PS: by the way – does any of those “important people” in the US government play chess ??
“..mindset of being better than any other cultures ”
trust me they don’t really believe they are special – Americans are actually quite insecure and fearful slavish people. They fear their neighbors, their government…everything. Marketing promotes ‘panoramic fear’ to make Anglosheeple more impulsive and on the edge – so to spend more – it works particularly well on Americans.
This is just a propaganda tool (they excel at – they spend a lot of money on it) – try to persuade foreigners that Americans are confident people who really think they are special and confident.
It’s an old psychological social-pressure trick (i.e. – you mist believe X – everyone does!)
I’ve lived there for 13 years and more and have met normal people, billionaires, executives of Big Pharma, etc- trust me they don’t think they are special at all they know their country is a shithole of fraud
and due to lack of meaningful social interaction (and having entered a dark age of social interaction a long ago) – its next to impossible to develop real confidence and self-respect. Hence the mania, depression and fear
the psychopaths who rule them have managed to turn Anglosheeples biological instinct against them – and Anglosheeple have internalized it
Westerners simply cannot take out of their minds the idea that they are always victorious over Russia or China. Look how Napoleon has always beaten the Russians (Austerlitz, Friedland, Borodino)! Look how Hitler has beaten them and how much he resisted the counter-attack! Had not been for the winter… But certainly we’ll beat them next time, we have a ‘bigger button’!
The West beat China in the Opium Wars, occupied China for 100 years, they boxed the ‘Boxers’. Where are they now?
Dimitar on April 14, 2018 · at 11:07 am EST/EDT
More like imprecise, underwhelming and hopelessly ineffectual, but lets be thankful thats thats what it was and I certainly wish ‘Empire’ further successes like this one. If Russia, Syria and their allies continue meanwhile to strengthen whatever weaknesses become apparent with each new adventure, hopelessness, fear and despair will slowly become hope, strength and eventual victory. Heartening too, the global response from ordinary folk everywhere who are slowly coming around as to the bizzaro world of their “leaders”. Yes, even in darkness, there is light. In fact, thats when light shines most brightly. Thank you Saker, to a little “light relief” after so much tension in recent days.
bored muslim on April 14, 2018 · at 11:07 am EST/EDT
I knew this was going to happen.
No gain for the AngloZionists at all. In fact, this and Israel’s strike only go to further enrage the Shia, Sunni, Christian masses in the immediate region.
Irans Basij volunteer forces have issued threats to the U.S. and Israel, of coming doom. Now, one high ranking Iranian General even stated not long ago that Iran could muster up to 5 million volunteer forces besides the IRGC and national armed forces. Then there’s the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, who , answer directly to Khamenei. And are led by Iranian General Solemienie.
Then you got Hezbollah and the Syrian Arab Army, who have been distilled now to the most effective fighting forces in the world. You have the hard core Houthi’s in Yemen.
All these I have stated above want nothing more than a chance to sink their collective teeth into their enemies, the Anglo-Jewish nexus.
I seriously hope the U.S., Israel, France and Britain decide to commit a regional war, and commit themselves in a war that will bring about the end of the Zionist Jewish state of Israel, and the ultimate defeat and final eviction of the AngloZionsts from the Middle East for good.
This latest attack on Syria was an ultimate show and sign of desperation, and Israel is in a panic.
vot tak on April 14, 2018 · at 11:08 am EST/EDT
Very good news nobody was killed. Also interesting that only 32 missiles got through. That no doubt probably is why the casualties we’re so low, the missiles aimed at more high value targets that might have caused more harm were probably those that got intercepted.
While the Russians didn’t use their own AD batteries, I wonder if their electronic warfare assets had any influence on the zionazi missiles, like they are thought to have on previous missile attack last year? A lot of details will necessarily remain classified for now, in the interests of security, so a lot of information won’t be available to the public.
Павел (Paul) on April 14, 2018 · at 11:19 am EST/EDT
“And you enter their churches it stinks like a soviet bathroom” …
… but surely not as bad a stench as all those homeless areas in North American cities where homeless people are forced to live and defecate on the pavements etc.
The industrial engines of North America are at full speed so importing Chinese products is all about keeping the Chinese happy isn’t it ?
The Federal Reserve is fully owned and operated by the US government, independent and sustainable as you surely know, and food stamps are a great idea.
I have also not met one person who likes Russian music, but everybody loves US music and all US television shows !
Made in US Rose Coloured Glasses are the very best. You take care now and have a nice day.
Roman on April 14, 2018 · at 3:41 pm EST/EDT
“The Federal Reserve is fully owned and operated by the US government…” Might I suggest that given the great diversity of readership on this site that the sarcasm (generally fine) here might reinforce or make people believe that the Federal Reserve System “IS” federally owned instead of, in reality, being a set of *12 private banks* ?
Private banks, nearly all controlled by-but that would be ‘antisemitic’, wouldn’t it.
Christian on April 14, 2018 · at 11:28 am EST/EDT
“have now sunk even lower than Hitler, Stalin, Brezhnev or Eltsin”
:-) You should better understand what may going on here (imho): A civil war — or better yet, and independence war — opposing factions in the US. This attack, like the one last year, was all FOR SHOW. Get real. If Trump is removed, things will only get worse. With the military, he seems to be defusing the MIC. You realize that the provocations were done following his announcing a retreat from Syria. What course of action would have HRC taken? These “strikes” were probably coordinated with Russia through France — as you hinted to.
Erlindur on April 14, 2018 · at 11:30 am EST/EDT
I am curious why so little talk about the actual Russian retaliation on this fiasco. Giving S-300 to Syria. The S-300 are not about safeguarding Syria from any future tomahawk attack. It is about giving Syrians the means to do what Russians don’t want to.
Every time Israel strikes Syria, Russia does not respond cause it would greatly complicate things diplomatically but Syrian air defense always does. Well, as a response to this stupid attack, Israel will now have to worry about S-300 instead of S-200 systems.
So, did this attack worth it?
Anonymous oki on April 14, 2018 · at 11:38 am EST/EDT
Stalin demonizing has worked for the anglosionist empire.
Detaching a historic actor from the realities that he had to deal with, is like ignoring the fact that history is written by those that for good or bad won.
guest on April 14, 2018 · at 4:22 pm EST/EDT
Exactly! Demonization of Stalin is simply stupid and ignorant and is right out of the West’s propaganda book. Of course, Stalin was a tough, ruthless leader (Sorry, I’d call him a leader, not a dictator). Did he have a choice? Was it not his responsibility to preserve the integrity and freedom of the USSR? And did he not succeed against all odds? Would he have succeeded had he been a double-faced, lying, coward like Obama or any of the other recent US Presidents?
When the West needed him they put his picture on the cover of Time/Newsweek and declared him man of the year. When they were done using him they declared him the worst tyrant in history. So where lies the truth? What was he really? I’d call him an exceptional leader for truly exceptional times, the man who had to mete out death to prevent greater number of deaths and the annihilation of Russia.
Was he really more cruel than Churchill? Churchill could write candidly and with no shame, “I absolutely reserve the right to use poison gas against unruly tribes to instill in them a lively sense of terror. We must not be squeamish about using the latest weapons upon backward natives”. Then again, in present times, Madelaine Albright could say with a straight face about the deaths of half-a-million Iraqi children due to US-imposed embargo, “I think the price was worth it”.
Many western (and Asian and African) readers may recall these facts about the great Mr. Churchill, and keep these in mind when evaluating Stalin. It is to the Russian readers that I issue these reminders, so that they can successfully exorcise the ghosts from their past, retrieve the glories of their past, and draw courage and clear sight for the tribulations that await them. Learn from Stalin the great war leader, try to forgive and forget his sins, his sins were forced upon him by the Satanic times and horrors he faced (from Churchill to Hitler, in equal order), but through which he nevertheless shepherded the Russian people to glorious victory.
Stalin was the nice guy as long as he was chummy with the Jews. Once he dared to touch them he became overnight the ‘bloody monster’ who killed ‘his own people’ by the millions.
Misha on April 14, 2018 · at 11:55 am EST/EDT
There is no reason to be upset with Tramp or blame him by his actions. He just continue the long tradition of crimes by his predesessors in WH. That’s nothing new. It would stand to reason if it be to the contrary
Gorby spelled it right saying that every POTUS must have his war, so here we are. More in the sleeve. Don’t panic, everything goes according to the script. They won’t harm each other. They are laughing at our stupidity. Can you hear them. Many do.
Red__Fred on April 14, 2018 · at 12:04 pm EST/EDT
So what do we have – a false flag gas attack followed by false missile revenge attack. No wonder the terrorists are not amused. Pure Hollywood. So the object of the exercize was to damage and undermine the reputation of Russia and Iran, period.
Boz from Oz on April 14, 2018 · at 12:12 pm EST/EDT
So, the question is, how long will we have to wait for a response to come from Russia, and what will the response be.
I think we can pretty much cancel out any military response soon, unless there is another major attack.
My bet it will be harsher sanctions on France and its farming industry. They are already reeling, and are just about ready to kill Macron the little worm he is.
Apart from that I cannot see any other retribution coming from Russia in the near term.
As much as one wants an immediate military response, the fact remains the United States is insolvent.
Russia and China know this full well and are waiting her out, as once the U.S dollar goes so does U.S power.
I believe we are on the cusp of a major dollar crisis maybe only weeks away, the Donald knows this hence the behaviour, something akin to a groggy boxer, one punch away from hitting the canvas.
Interesting times indeed.
m_silenus on April 14, 2018 · at 2:01 pm EST/EDT
The longer we wait, the longer we live.
Al on April 14, 2018 · at 4:22 pm EST/EDT
I doubt that we are just weeks away from a major dollar crisis. The petroyan is still in its infancy and it will take a while before it gets some momentum. It will happen, but not soon.
From the resistance trench with love on April 14, 2018 · at 12:20 pm EST/EDT
(does he also look like an alcoholic to you?)
This one, as an alcoholic, I do not know, but that everybody, starting with Mattis and ending with the last so decorated military man on the stage for the press-conference looked terribly miserable is a fact….
Never a mission accompished sounded so depressing….Thye know that was not true and period….
Then, they for sure had a shot of something strong…
If this is true, the Saker called it on the money. I can’t remember the exact phrase, but basically if the result was embarrassing it would be a solid victory for Russia. Maybe this can be the turning point and everyone can move forward. I see no real need for a retaliatory response from Russia.
Chad on April 15, 2018 · at 1:38 am EST/EDT
Thanks, everyone, for your insights. I was curious about the timing of things, here–let’s see, the New York financial markets close at 4:30?– 5:00?, and some time passes, and then Big Red Button- Missile Man makes his announcement! Ha! And, I agree with at least one financial analyst that “defense stocks will be in focus” after the Syria attack…. How much apiece do those “Tomahawk” missiles cost?–and they fired how many? I hear they have over thirty pounds of silver in each one, which makes me wonder if they can be electronically disabled and brought down in one piece, or two pieces, they’d make a worthwhile salvage job. Might be easier than digging silver ore out of the ground, and having to process it. One more thing: when are they going to tax the military for its “Carbon Footprint”?
Arthur G Brina on April 14, 2018 · at 12:27 pm EST/EDT
I don’t hold out any hope that the OPCW inspection of the Douma site will support the Russian claims than it did in the Skirpal matter. They simply won’t expose the US/UK for the liars that they are. So, Russia will never get the vindication that it wants. And any action taken by Russia will not be regarded as riposte for US aggression; but solely as a blatant act of aggression.
Talk down the efficacy of the US/UK missile attack against Syria last night as much as you want, Russia’s failure to respond is an admission of weakness. Nothing more and nothing less. It seems that every instance, when some bold action might be appropriate, the Russian analysis leads to the conclusion that America’s reaction would be more costly to Russia than the Russians can bear.
Perhaps the Russians should notify the US and Israel (through the “deconfliction protocols”) of imminent air attacks on the terrorist positions in southwestern Syria near the Israeli and Jordanian borders. 100 or so missiles/bombs should soften up a few of those positions enough for SAA ground forces to overrun them afterwards.
mark Hadath on April 14, 2018 · at 12:34 pm EST/EDT
Today is a good day.
1. No one was killed.
2. The Russian air defence capability has been proven superior.
3. The Americans were bluffing to a large extent.
4. Russia can import S-300’s.
5. Syria will continue to be steadily liberated probably for many months if not a year before another US strike.
6. Ground troops from NATO would be the only effective way to remove Assad, not happening.
Russia continues to lead militarily, China economically. They have drained the infection on the world that is the USA. anti-biotics and dressing the wound are what remain.
I think they are doing a strong job of managing the US decline.
Yonatan on April 14, 2018 · at 12:35 pm EST/EDT
The Russians report that the Swiss laboratory used by the OPCW to test the Skripal blood samles revealed significant information – the presence of BZ incapacitating nerve agent.
Hoenig’s “Compendium of Chemical Warfare Agents” describes BZ as:
“BZ is usually disseminated as an aerosol with the primary route of entry into the body through the respiratory system; the secondary route is through the digestive tract. BZ blocks the action of acetylcholine in both the peripheral and central nervous systems. As such, it lessens the degree and extent of the transmission of impulses from one nerve fiber to another through their connecting synaptic junctions. It stimulates the action of noradrenaline (norepinephrine) in the brain, much as do amphetamines and cocaine. Thus, it may induce vivid hallucinations as it sedates the victim. Toxic delirium is very common.”
This describes the symptoms exhibitied by Sergei Skripal. It has a very high lethal dose to effective dose ratio of about 400:1 which means very small amounts are effective and the victim is unlikely to die unless massive amounts are applied.
The comment about aerosol dissemination is also very interesting. The CCTV showing the Skripals passing theough the covered arcade between Zizzi’s restaurant and the park bench where they were found showed a blonde woman leaving a shop after they passed and taking the same route as them. The Salisbury police initially declared this woman to be a person of interest, but she seems to have dropped off the radar once the complication of PC Bailey’s poisoning came up and the whole doorknob scenario was created.
Did she follow the Skripals and use a handheld spray unit to spray BZ into the Skripal’s faces? One commentator claimed she was carrying some kind of face mask as she left the shop. The very high lethal/effective ratio would make it a very safe agent to use in this way, especially as the antidote could be on hand in the case of accidental self-poisoning.
Vuki on April 14, 2018 · at 12:37 pm EST/EDT
A shameful presentation by CBC and Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Dana White which was used to justify this cowardly act of aggression against Syria. Dana White sounded like a brainless twit. The selective presentation is a disservice to the people of Canada and to the truth. You then bring Canada’s bubble head Foreign Minister Freedland , a rabid Russophile and supported of Nazism in Ukraine to provide without evidence more lies about the recent supposed chemical use in Douma. You must think people in Canada are idiots? I have no problem with the examples that you provide, my problem is who you use to verify what you present. You owe your listeners a balanced presentation not one steeped in Cold War rhetoric and nationalism. I think Canadian people deserve the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, otherwise as Voltaire wrote “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”
that is the whole point – trick as many people as possible to believe your lies – and you can easily manipulate them. The fact that they don’t want us to know the truth is the whole point.
As long as you believe in lies and imaginary friends and enemies – totalitarians/psychopaths are winning.
Use marketing (and predatory religion) to add more ‘panoramic fear’, isolate people across as many fault lines as possible – and you will have a bunch of fearful disoriented zombies as we do in the US/UK/Canada
That’s why they invest so much to maintain their loudest megaphone
Otter on April 15, 2018 · at 5:51 am EST/EDT
Freedland is not a RussoPHILE. She is a RussoPHOBE.
Probably hates Russians, too.
The Russian MOD claims the Syrians shot down 71 of the 103 cruise missiles reaching Syria. The media report 110 missiles launched suggesting 7 didn’t make it as far as Syria. This is perfectly feasible for the antiquated Tomahawk series. If they were new missiles as Trump claimed, then that is a problem for the North American Terrorist Organisation.
There have been suggestions that the Syrians didn’t do all the work themselves but may have had a helping hand from an unknown party with excellent EW capabilities. That party is wise to allow the Syrians to take the credit as it doesn’t reveal or confirm capabilities to agressor nations.
Larry Galearis on April 14, 2018 · at 12:43 pm EST/EDT
I am confused about those figures, 32 of 103 taking out 2 empty buildings. Were the buildings hit 32 times by large warheads? It does look like some of the 32 may have been sent somewhere else or malfunctioned. The Russians may have been involved.
And the Americans have more reason to worry. Not exactly shock and awe!
Anti-West on April 14, 2018 · at 12:45 pm EST/EDT
My impression is that this attack was for domestic consumption in the West. Why it is needed, is something else. To soothe the neo-con AngloZionists?
If so, it might well be an indication as to how paralyzed and weak they have become. That this was planned together with the Skripal poison seems highly likely but that went down the rabbit hole fast enough and nobody but these “democratic, freedom-loving” governments has bought into the false flag of the Douma chemical attack – if at all – being carried out by Syria.
I confess they look like total lunatics. Maybe we should point out one possible really positive quality of Trump – he is a scaredy-cat!! Please God. So is Netanyahu by the way. Hillary definitely is not – and THank God she was not elected.
This is nothing more than continuation of the Sykes Picot Agreement on the division of the Middle East between France and United Kingdom..
Sykes Picot Agreement was a lie and enslavement and robbery of the Middle East The lies have now continued for over 100 years and the robbery continues..
The Sykes-Picot-Sazonov Agreement’s aim was to manage the situation that would follow the liquidation of the Ottoman and prepare the conditions for the emergence of the new states of Syria and Irak. If only France and Britain remained on the terrain was due to the withdrawal of Russia following the Revolution. The constant harping on the ‘Sykes-Picot’ is the propaganda for the liquidation of Syria and Irak as sovereign states and their melting into a Caliphate (or a neo-Ottoman Empire, perhaps).
S-400 on April 14, 2018 · at 12:51 pm EST/EDT
Aside from ensuring that S-300s and the like are delivered to Syria ASAP, Russia must now step up and widen its military cooperation with Iran.
Lebanon too must be brought into the fold and given access to Russia’s state-of-the-art air defense systems.
If Lebanon – who’s air space is violated every day by Israel with impunity – with Russia’s help can put some semblance of air defenses in place, it will go a long way in deterring aggression waged from its air space by Israel against Syria.
The Israelis are big cowards and only feel safe slaughtering Palestinian women and children.
The minute it senses any risk coming from its violation of Lebanon’s air-space it will cease and desist.
Remember, the US, acting on behalf of Israel, strives to ensure that Lebanon remains a weak state, possesing only APCs and Cessna planes.
Its time for this to change.
In 2006, Israel destroyed Lebanon’s infrastructure and deliberately targeted its civillian population, killing at least 1200.
Why should Lebanon be left defenseless against war criminals who threaten on a daily basis to inflict massive civillian casualities on the country next time around?
Israel is the main country acting against Russian interests in this arena – remember the US acts on its behalf – therefore, Puntin must punish the Zionist entity by placing a wide range of Russian weapons at the disposal of:
Lebanon, Iraq too at a later date.
Now is not the time for Russia to vacillate.
It must instead, double down and ramp-up its military assistance to these countries, which will send a clear message to the criminals that the halcyon days of Regime Change and Color Revolutions are over.
The Empire of Delusion must be reined in using the multi-polarity embodied by, Russia, China, Iran etc.
From now on the US and its allies must be made to understand that they by themselves, do not constitute the “international community”.
They must no longer be allowed to think that they can act with impunity!
Which force in Lebanon do you mean? Lebanon seems to be essentially a permanent cease fire or truce agreed between several powerful factions. For awhile they fought an awful civil war between them. Then they reached a power-sharing agreement that they kinda sorts stick to when the Saudi’s aren’t kidnapping the PM.
For awhile, the US was giving money and equipment to the Lebanese army seeing them as a force to fight Hezbollah within Lebanon. Seems like I saw something more recent about the Lebanese army and Hezbollah cooperating on some thing. But it may have just been somebody’s propaganda.
The point is that when you just generally say “Lebanon” you probably should be more specific about which factions or forces in Lebanon you are talking about. And one risk is that if anyone disturbs the careful power sharing arrangements and the balances between the factions, then it seems possilble Lebanon could once again face civil war.
“So ask yourself: what awaits them and their regime in the future”
Here’s prescient documentary that foretells America’s future:
Serbian girl on April 14, 2018 · at 1:39 pm EST/EDT
“Mission accomplished” was also used to describe the Iraq war. I guess it’s code for “total disaster”..
If my job was to tell the world that message, I might have to be an alcoholic too!
Jose Garcia on April 14, 2018 · at 2:13 pm EST/EDT
Hope the Honorable Saker will give a final run down of these events, and its results in the coming days. I’m sure he’s got some good sources who will give him a real picture of what happened. I give a round of applause to the Syrian army, who have gone through hell, went back there again, and have gone there several times more and are still a pretty good fighting unit. God bless them and their families and the Syrian people.
I was just watching the UN Security Council meeting, about the air strikes on Syria, and I found it to be encouraging. The sentiments expressed by most nations represented the views of the peace-oriented global populace (i.e. the majority), IMO. (Thought about sending comments of gratitude to several non-permanent reps for this.)
However, as the USA sinks into irrelevance on the world stage, and the world shifts multi-polar, the politics between European countries (Russia included) seems to be the main obstacle. Truly, this seems intractable, as much so as in previous centuries, and I thank the Saker for illuminating the sources and nature of these conflicts. It’s as if those nations need a separate council where they debate amongst themselves before coming to the UN Security Council to pursue resolutions. How the heck does the new world order move past this?
” Called the strikes “Precise, overwhelming and effective” (does he also look like an alcoholic to you?) ”
Yes,drunk alcoholic.
” One Russian general remarked this morning that they were considering delivering S-300s to the Syrian. I guess that is better a case of better late than never. But the one system most needed are Pantsirs. The Russians need to built then on an emergency 24/7 schedule and deliver as many and as fast as possible as they are much better suited for the kind of tasks (cruise missile point defense) than the much larger S-300s. ”
2000 % agree.
Pantsirs for all kind of Coalitions and S-300 for Israel war planes.
And for asymmetric warfare Lebanon needs some of them,the Lebanese army,of course.
The Chickens launched the missiles mostly from the Red Sea and Al Tanf area. Who would have thought ? From the back.
At that time, Donald Swamp was the least evil from 2. Hillary would have started the war in Syria right away,so yes,we’ve got some extra time for repentance.
But Donald ,the ManChild is now cornered.Plus he has a bigger nuclear red button than RocketMan. I hope he won’t put the coffee mug on that button.
Sushi on April 14, 2018 · at 2:36 pm EST/EDT
All for the nominal cost of $154,500,000.00
cdvision on April 14, 2018 · at 2:49 pm EST/EDT
I concur with Saker and most commentators that this was a good win for Syria. And the West must be worried that this is the best they can do. At least they had the sense to not cross the Russians.
Whilst I share the feeling of relief at no loss of Syrian life, having now slept and dwelt on the sheer duplicity of the West (particularly US and UK) in this and the Skripal case, I am now firmly of the belief that the world must be deep cleansed and start again. Reform is impossible.
Serg on April 14, 2018 · at 3:09 pm EST/EDT
We learned the reason for why Trump can’t do anything right back in 2016. With how fast he capitulated to the deep state, he probably can’t keep his hands off himself all day long, since he likes to grab pussy so much.
when Mordor bombed Serbia years ago – I was told by my family that it was the French who were warning Serbs about pending hits.
Is this some kind of Good Cop – Bad cop NATO plays with their victims? Inspired by their masters?
Reminds me a typical jewish married couple – the husband is always pretending to be nice and friendly and shy – while the wife is always loud, threatening, angry basically the opposite. Working together of course to confuse their victims and to profit
On UN missions like former yugoslavia, you get young and mid-ranking officers who see first hand a situation different from what their pre-deployment propaganda had told them to expect. Sometimes, some of them make decisions to act more humanely and justly than their orders tell them to do. And I do seem to remember a large French peacekeeping force in Bosnia.
Quift on April 17, 2018 · at 6:53 am EST/EDT
A french peacekeeping force being made up of the foreign legion no less, with at the tie had a big slavic contigent after the fall of the USSR
Slobodan Cekic on April 14, 2018 · at 3:34 pm EST/EDT
Well, Karl Marx was a radical materialist, and so were the revolutionaries of the Red October. His philosophy is a typically western rationalistic one. So why should it surprise us when the today’s western figures, unleashed from all restraints, remind so strongly of what we have already seen in USSR?
BTW, Marx was very good at the diagnosis, but very hollow as a therapist. He predicted all this, but he wanted to cure materialism with it’s more extreme forms, and the slavery to the violence of the state with more of the same.
Oriental Voice on April 14, 2018 · at 3:46 pm EST/EDT
In the aftermath, Putin promised that ‘there will be consequences’. Saying that, he puts the ball squarely in his own court. Meanwhile, nervous ‘defenders’ of Syria (here on this blog site) are lamenting in unison: why doesn’t China act? China acts; just not in the way ‘defenders’ hoped for.
China acted since the carnage against Syria began, on moral grounds and in the forms of financial/weaponry support. Why else would Syria single out Russia and China to thank as far back as 2013? Sending troops to Syria is logistically awkward for China because of the distance and the lack of logistical support bases en route. You see, China simply hasn’t been the bully establishing bases in other nations. Sending the carrier to Mediterranean is moronic because, not being nuclear propelled it has a range of only 4000 miles and, sitting in the Med is sitting like a floating duck. So why would China send its soldiers to serve as cannon fodders on Russia/Syria behalf? Does China have a say on matters regarding Syria, or anywhere in the ME for that matter? What does China stand to gain that’s worth spilling blood for, besides hoping to slow down the Empire?
Since way before Russia /Syria became targets of the bully west, China was harassed and bullied like you wouldn’t believe, and most of you still laugh at and mock China for it. Remember the Galaxy ship humiliation? Remember it was Chinese embassy being bombed in Belgrade, not Russian? Remember it was empire’s ‘show of force’ in China’s neighborhood to contain its sovereign claim of Diaoyutai and SCS reefs, and China swallowed all that humiliation alone? Did Russia/Syria ever so much as sending military, or mere moral, support? China was clearly on its own. But now, China is expected to spill blood for the sake of solidarity. LOL!
Nevertheless, China will act in much bigger ways if things deteriorate down the slippery slope towards ‘hot war’ III. China will not allow the western monsters to dominate world affairs without a fight. And in such a fight, China will be squarely on Russian/Iranian side regardless of who started the war. In less than a year’s time the Beidu global positioning system will be complete, and if given leeway to operate military bases on friendly enclaves closer to western metropolises than from China’s own territories, China will be able to carry out surgical or punitive strikes against western targets with conventional weaponry. It opens up a lot of strategic manoeuver options. By the, when Trump orders missile attacks on foreign targets, he has NY/London/Paris/Chicago/LA to think about.
Meanwhile, China is strongly against Russian sale of S-300/S-400 missiles to Vietnam and India. I hope Russia understands the sensitivity.
mod-to note: Caps removed. Use italic or bold for emphasis. Moderation Policy Rule #1: Absolutely no use of capital letters (except in abbreviations).
So why would China send its soldiers to serve as cannon fodders on Russia/Syria behalf?
If the rumours of 3’500+ Chinese citizens fighting with al-Qaeda in Idlib are true, that would be one reason. The second reason would be for the PLA to gain combat experience; with the exception of PLA special forces fighting drug gangs in the golden triangle, the PLA has not had much experience since fighting Vietnam in 1979.
Does China have a say on matters regarding Syria, or anywhere in the ME for that matter?
Unless Beijing has been providing massive financial support that we do not know about, China will have to do more in Syria. Unlike Russia or Iran, China has not shed its own blood in Syria. Politically, Beijing has generally been supportive, but its failure to vote against the most recent UN resolution condemning Syria hit its political capital.
What does China stand to gain that’s worth spilling blood for, besides hoping to slow down the Empire?
You are correct in stating that Chinese logistics would likely not be able to support a Chinese expeditionary force in Syria; even Russia, with far superior airlift & other logistics support, is having a hard time supporting its forces in Syria.
It would be far better for the China-Russia alliance to allow Russia to concentrate on the western front, and China focus on the Pacific/eastern front. While it is understandable that Beijing is trying balance good relations with all Middle East actors, its abstention on the latest anti-Syria UN resolution could hurt Beijing in the future with respect to its disputes in the South China Sea, Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, or Taiwan separatist scenario.
That being said, the UN mistake can be easily forgotten, because Beijing did not clearly side with the West.
Oriental Voice on April 15, 2018 · at 2:14 am EST/EDT
The resolution, drafted by Russia, was supported by Russia, China, and Bolivia. Against were: US, UK, France, Sweden, Holland, Poland, Kuwait, and Cote D’IVoir. Abstained: Peru, Khasastan, Ethiopia, and Papua New Guinea.
Fred Johs on April 14, 2018 · at 3:48 pm EST/EDT
Fred Johs:
– And you can put in to your list that in the fact of the Syrian airdefence system, is about 30 years old.
From Soviet time. – Think about that.
The Russians did make it also that time for be albe to meet the technology of today.
So what will happen when the 300 or 400 system will arrive?
The anser will be verry easy: Don’t f*** with Syria.
Mod-to note: Caps removed. Profanity muted.
Traffa on April 14, 2018 · at 4:00 pm EST/EDT
I’m just wondering whether Clown Prince Salman visiting Trump, May and Macron had anything to do with the “planning” of the Syrian gas incident (false flag op)? I wonder if there is a connection?
When comparing Stalin and Hitler we must understand the most important: Hitler couldn’t stop his action while Stalin could start and stop.
American War Party has this similar style of Hitler. They just can’t stop. And that’s why War Party is doomed to lose, just like Hitler’s gang. Man got to now his limits.
Frankie on April 14, 2018 · at 4:24 pm EST/EDT
Relatively (compared to China, Russia, Iran, Brazil, Pakistan, India…) USA and its allies in Europe are 60-70% weaker now than in 1992. Their military dominance is over, their economic power is weak, they diplomacy has collapsed. The western culture and intellectual thinking is in free downfall. In reality it’s not cool at all to be “western”. It’s more and more shame just like some dirty secret insest of family.
There is nothing as shocking thing on earth than cultural decline. Worst thing of it: you just can’t stop that process.
as a Serb who spent 13 years in UK and as many in the US of AIPAC – I completely agree with you.
I was reading that book by Teleb – Skin in the Game recently. It made me think – how brainwashed people in the US (and even wealthy, ‘educated’, well-connected ones from famous families are in my experience) think they do have their skin in the game – but in a game of lies, fear and fraud.
it seems that they feel they must protect the lies (they are very well aware their lives are based on lies) – otherwise their whole lives will collapse.
So the most important thing is to not let reality win. Lies are truth and slavery is freedom for them
Most (or all) Americans I know – don’t want to know how they are being screwed and their gvt is doing terrorizing the world- they can only take very little reality- if any.
this is the biggest problem I think – it probably comes from religious brainwashing from a very young age.
The delusion and tolerance of lies and fear are very strong.
As if they are addicted to lies and fear
Kent on April 14, 2018 · at 4:38 pm EST/EDT
Further to my previous comment re Nails. I just made this:
http://telemarksporten.no/SakerPhotos/TrumpNails_resize.jpg
Edward on April 14, 2018 · at 5:10 pm EST/EDT
Russia, Iran, and Syria were aware of the plans to stage a false chemical attack weeks in advance. If this is true in the future, I hope they can develop a strategy to completely neutralize this propaganda, such as setting up monitoring equipment near rebel areas. Maybe this is the evidence they have about this last incident, which they are promising to reveal.
Another possibility would be to embed neutral observers in Syrian units to report whether chemical weapons are being used.
D.N. on April 14, 2018 · at 5:10 pm EST/EDT
Sorry, the comparison of Hitler and Stalin sounds absolutely unacceptable. I personally could compare those two leaders in my complete ignorance about forty years ago after being brainwashed by the zionist anti-Soviet liberal propaganda. But not any more today. For Hitler was just an anglo-zionist creature to fulfill certain tasks and unleashing the war against the USSR. Whereas under Stalin our country became a world superpower with the most fair social and economic system ever and really human ideology and morals (the antithesis of it we today observe in the so-called Western world with all its lies, exploitation, Torah-style usury and ‘humanitarian bombings’).
Regarding Trump’s role there is nothing to discuss at all as the USA is governed not by him but by the ‘deep state’ and therefore this role may just give rise to sincere feelings of regret and pity. So instead of saying “US Presidents have now sunk even lower than…” I would say they did not sink anywhere but just emerged from the very depths of the Jehovistic genocidal ideology of the ‘chosen people’.
Dejan K. on April 14, 2018 · at 5:18 pm EST/EDT
There is a better one from amn: Large scale missile attack on Saudi capital
From Iran with love…
If name calling, anger, and outrage would get rid of Trump, I would gladly pitch in. But he has had plenty of that thrown at him, and he is still there. I prefer the restrained language of Vladimir Putin. It helps one keep his own cool, and also avoids poisoning chances to negotiate with one who poses as an enemy. If we give in to school yard taunting, then we have lost the high ground.
Whatever we think of Donald Trump, he can pose a lethal threat to mankind, and it would serve us to handle him carefully, and in ways that offer us the maximum ability to counter his worst tendencies. To express one’s hatred of another, who you must find ways to deal with, is just not skillful behavior.
Geraldo Lino on April 14, 2018 · at 5:26 pm EST/EDT
The US, UK and France are the new Axis. And it’s almost despairing to compare the quality of the leadership then existing in most of the Cold War, during the critical days of the Cuban Missiles Crisis, for instance, with their current incumbents, who are in another sub-league. Just think of John Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home, Charles de Gaulle, Konrad Adenauer and many others. Even Nikita Krushchev would be granted a much higher rating than psychpathic and pathetic characters like the current “leaders” in Washington, London, Paris and Berlin.
The Cuban Missile Crisis had a few of its own psychopaths running around in leadershiip positions. Gen. Curtis LeMay was head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was trying to talk Kennedy into an immediate first strike nuclear attack on the Soviets. And Kennedy seemed to feel a lot of pressure in this direction, and in some ways was bucking the military and what would be later known as the deep state by not agreeing to nuke the Soviets.
TheAsker on April 14, 2018 · at 5:43 pm EST/EDT
The haste with which the case was built, the haste with which the attacks were ordered and the crudeness of the attacks suggest that it perhaps had a different purpose. I would speculate that it was to allow some rebels to escape or clean up some incriminating evidence in Douma – under the cover of the fire. It also gave the UK/US an excuse to legitimately bring their own forces into the immediate region. And finally, I suspect that it is to give warning that they can stage another false-flag in the coming days and follow it up more strongly with impunity. Beware the days to come.
R on April 14, 2018 · at 5:44 pm EST/EDT
Just wondering what’s really going on. I sure don’t know. But a few questions….
Would it be possible for May/Johnson et al. company of English stooges be more dishonest, pathetic, ludicrous, demented and otherwise unattractive politically – more vividly shooting themselves in the whatever – than they have been re Skripal etc?
If the agenda there was to gain political stature, diminish Corbyn, or vilify Russia and Putin,how did that turn out? Or was this a prelude to the nerve gas false flag in Syria?
What’s with the British enthusiasm for the largely symbolic missile attack on Syria on the basis of an obvious false flag? Was this as an attempt to spank Syria and Russia for having captured British special forces, or an attempt to play that old reliable card – war is good for political support/poll numbers? Or is witch May serving Dark Forces?
Turning to the United States, we have Trump via Tweet warning the Russians publicly that missiles would be on the way. Get ready! Not exactly the art of war. Warn the enemy! Was this not more like theatre than deadly attack?
After all, the Mueller probe has spent the last year looking under every stone, bush and porn star to find some sin, crime, explanation for how Trump and Putin, that dynamic duo, combined to beat the Deep State in the presidential election. Well, Mr Mueller, clearly President Trump has just earned a large Anti-Putin medal with his resolute, incredibly successful missile attack on a Syrian – outhouse, with Russian onlookers, has he not? So this “I showed the Russians a thing or two! Spanked their allies” perhaps sets the stage for Trump to fire Mueller?
Then we have top US generals looking a bit sheepish, and depressed, trying to keep a straight face while lying and pretending, as they described the ‘precise and incredibly successful attack’ on – an outhouse in Syria? . Made me wonder if maybe this wasn’t a bone thrown to the Bolton-esque rabid dogs, for domestic political purposes, to stay the many prominent hands that want to impeach or get rid of, or otherwise destroy Trump? Who for all his lies, gaffes, stupidities and ravings, has somehow managed to compete with Putin as the most demonized political personage since Hitler.
I mean, if both the Republicans and the Democrats and the CIA hate him that much, doesn’t that almost amount to, well, an indication that he is not quite under control? Which in the age of Presidential puppets, is perhaps a marginal victory, a good sign??
Which is not an endorsement, but still, makes one wonder….
Maybe there are prominent people in the US military who are actually becoming disillusioned with the mass murdering America going down the drain Empire project, and are trying to inch their way, within an insane cultural circumstance, towards same kind of semblance of sanity? And Trump is their guy, they took a chance on an eccentric flim flam artist with a nuclear grenade? Just wondering.
I hope this time the anti-Empire coalition (Russia, Iran, China, et al) will engage the west a bit more actively in a propaganda war subsequent to this war incident. I hope both China and Russia indulge in it. Make use of outlets such as RT and Global Times to publish, over and over, how many missile actually hit target, showing pictures of damages and pictures of non-damages which would puncture the balloon of 105 hits claimed by their sucker spokesmen/women. Don’t make it an one-week effort; make it a 3-month or 6-month affairs, with sarcasm, jeers, and cold hard facts of how one hit by a Tomahawk should look like. Make them blush; make them scramble to answer questions raised. Let them lose credibility. Let them lose face.
They claimed 105 hits. That’s a big number. In flaunting their success they carelessly over-stated. Ground evidence would make Trump to want never to hear about ‘105 hits’ any more.
Franz on April 14, 2018 · at 6:25 pm EST/EDT
“…what awaits them and their regime in the future?”
Ye Gads!
A hefty number of “Americans” wanted to dissolve the “Union” years ago.
There are no “Americans” at all where I live. There are Pennsylvanians, there are displaced Alabamans, there are Ohioans and Michiganders.
And of course, feminists and queer nation and minorities of all sorts, just not available where I am (currently).
“Americans”, no.
Strangely, that’s what the Anti-Federalists predicted nearly 250 years ago.
There was never a justification for people calling themselves “American” in the first place. The “more perfect union” was only meant to enable more freedom for Pennsylvanians, Kentuckians (etc.) Since it plainly did not work that way, the failure is now obvious to the thickest federalist that the game is almost over.
But if the current buffoon is the last president, what an insult to a place that produced some fairly honest genius. History as comedy and tragedy at the same time.
White Russian on April 14, 2018 · at 6:51 pm EST/EDT
The Pentagon said : “A U.S.-led coalition believes it sent a powerful message to Damascus and its backers, surgically slicing through the country’s air defense systems to cripple the backbone of the Syrian government’s chemical weapons apparatus.”
If they knew there were CW factories in Syria, why did they wait so long to destroy them? And also, were they not concerned that when bombing said factories, the chemical weapons would waft into the air and kill civilians in the vicinity of said factories?
It’s almost like the AZ doesn’t give a fig about what lies it tells to the public as they think we are all complete dummies and will believe what we’re told, hook, line and sinker :o
Is the USS Harry Truman carrier strike group still steaming towards the Syrian coast? If so, why? Are the AZ planning another bloody nose attack on Syria?
I am grinding my teeth when I read comments on FB or Twitter by people who are laughing at Russia because she did nothing. It’s bad for my blood pressure :(
WWRD (what will Russia do)?
Putin made a statement saying Russia will convene an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the aggressive actions by the US and its allies. Surely that will just give the UN envoys to UK, France and especially the USA a chance to thumb their noses at Nebenzya?
I despair that the AZ bullies will never be taught a lesson. Mad May is parading around like she is Margaret Thatcher, Macron acts like Napoleon incarnate and as for the Orangutang … no doubt he has been pounding on his chest acting like a gorilla.
Believe me when I say I was scared that WWIII would break out so am relieved it didn’t, but oh dear, I wanted so much for the RF to show them who was boss.
The US almost always keeps a carrier group in the Persian Gulf these days. The last one left and sailed east to port. It was perfectly normal for the US to rotate another carrier group to the Persian Gulf. Of course, the route to the Persian Gulf would take it through the eastern med, the suez canal, the red sea, around the yemen coast and finally to the straights of hormuze and into the Persian gulf. Almost all of that distance is within easy air strike range of Syria, so it could have joined the Syria strikes when it reached the eastern med from virginia.
Both the Pentagon and the Russian MOD made a point of calling it a perfectly normal deployment. And it was. it was a perfectly normal deployment that would perfectly normallly sail right to air strike range from Syria. Now that its late to the party, it will just cruise on around the rest of the way to harass Iran.
I fully understand and share your emotions and your views.
“…AZ doesn’t give a fig about what lies it tells to the public as they think we are all complete dummies and will believe what we’re told…”
Alas, very sad truth is that they don’t even expect us to believe in their lies – this is not any more important. For now we all have entered the era when common people do not decide anything – no matter whether they are ‘complete dummies’ or bright minds, whether they believe or not… The key positions in the world are occupied by anglo-zionists or their proxies everywhere and this is a decisive factor. The more I live the more I am apt to think that the final answer to all the mundane injustice lies within the sphere of Christian eschatology. At the same time I do not exclude that WWIII may be one of the eschatological outcomes.
Looks like some sort of stealth campaign has begun. Israel is suspected. Possible aircraft shot down.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-14/unidentified-warplanes-strike-iranian-military-base-southern-syria-skynews-arabia
http://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/news/world-news/2369-israel-launched-new-attack-upon-syria
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5616645/Explosions-heard-near-Aleppo-amid-claims-Iranian-military-base-bombed-fighter-jets.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sulU5Tt1He8
Neil on April 14, 2018 · at 7:55 pm EST/EDT
I was actually heartened, if that’s the word, by this strike. As you say, Saker, and as Dimitry Orlov predicted years ago, this lot are lower than shit. If the empire runs itself into the ground, then that’s fine with me. My question? What sort of non-collective guilt punishment do we give the leadership when their charade finally collapses around them. I would think Russia could look at asymmetric, quiet economic countermeasures.
Greg Schofield on April 14, 2018 · at 8:08 pm EST/EDT
Dealing with war criminals in the future is about establishing better world and better countries within that world. Those that have conspired, and carried out wars of aggression must be tried openly, but not through some sham UN court, each country must do their own, each country must take responsibility for its history, for the suffering of wars of aggression in this we begin to de-fascise society.
The arms dealers, diplomats, the profiteers of these aggressions they must be tried, where they have contributed to these conspiracies and policies.
The media needs to be cleaned-up, large scale arrests and trials of producers, managers and all those that employed actors rather than journalists, the propagandizes have to see prison, the ‘journalists’ who simply regurgitated the policies need to go.
Let is not forget the intelligence agencies, their people in academia. Their members need to be branded criminal organizations and treated as such, any position where honestly is a requirement they should removed wholesale including within the armed forces.
Next the fraudsters, hucksters and criminal organizations that have thrived under these regimes have to be dealt with by applying criminal laws codes.
Why? It is simple we can talk of world peace, international law, but these things have a purpose other than themselves — they set the conditions under which society can prosper (not some, but all). The precondition of a society fulfilling its purpose improving the life of the its people, something the world desperately needs.
We cannot move forward even in the simplest reform, the simplest improvement, with these people in place. They only know how to obstruct and destroy and fill their own pockets. They are dishonest in every respect, they are the great fraudsters; and most of all they are as a group incompetent, stupid, game players.
War crimes trials are the first act in giving are kids a real future, fair trials, and fair punishments. However category A war criminals, those who could of but did not stop these wars, those that coerced others, those that had the power of our state and abused it and are directly part of the slaughter of millions, those that by simply asking could have found the truth, who would be advised but choose not to be, that held the power but used its against us and other people — that should be paid in blood.
If there was a time in history to be unforgiving it is this period, this should be a watershed in world history, and carried in a manner that no-one anywhere should be in any doubt that war is the last resort when all else fails, not the aim of policy, not a good way to make money and have a career. That is why it is important they we, in each country, deal with our own collaborators and instigators and not wait for someone else to do it for us — because they will not.
Blue Jacket on April 14, 2018 · at 8:47 pm EST/EDT
One of the most disgusting aspects of this criminally insane attack is the obvious coordination with head chopping terrorists just waiting for their encrypted signal from Mad Dog Mattis to make their move.
KamNam on April 14, 2018 · at 8:57 pm EST/EDT
I think that the 32 out of 113 also needs to be broken down into those that were sent to “”undefended”” site and those what actually broke through the defences. Of those that broke through the defended sites, what was the reason, ie were they too good for the defences, did they get through while the defence systems were reloading, other. Love to know the answer to that. Personally I think nett 15% effective strike rate, which if true would be a terrible result for the FUKUSAll Empire
Otverzhenniy on April 14, 2018 · at 8:59 pm EST/EDT
I’ve never commented on this site before, but I was deeply worried about the events leading up to, and surrounding, the Syrian strikes. I would say the West has lost it’s collective conscience, but that happened a very long time ago. For now, perhaps, we won’t see any further escalation of the conflict. However, I suspect a direct confrontation with Russia will happen by 2020 at the latest. Maybe that’s being too optimistic…
I’ve been hearing of covert strikes against Iranian targets in Syria (probably by Israel), though, I don’t know the validity of the reports. I would not be surprised…
john mason on April 14, 2018 · at 9:37 pm EST/EDT
This incident and the recent UNSC meeting called by Russia seriously puts the question on the UN and UNSC, their functions, ability, purpose and whether they are worth membership considering that the UN is incapable of protecting it’s own from aggression, Syria and US are both members.
Possibly the Russians with China and Asian, S. American and African nations can form they own Security Council using International law as a base.
fullback84 on April 14, 2018 · at 10:08 pm EST/EDT
When these “strikes” on Syria were first announced, my initial reaction was to react emotionally, but then you have to think about Trump’s first cruise missile “barrage” what, last year or so? What about all the huff and puff with North Korea? Invasions?
When I was a kid, sometimes you have to throw a mad dog (deep state) a bone to distract it and give it what it wants for a limited time until you can move to safety. Corporate media will praise Trump of course, and bask in the violence. I’m still confident with the American patriots that are acting behind the scenes. Can’t give up hope yet.
Dave’s X22 Report has been amazing lately:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF60VV3G3_Y
One difference I seem to notice is that they are not saying they targetting any airfields. They simply claimed that they had destroyed three chem weapons facility and ‘crippled Assad’.
One fascinating thing I thought I saw hinted in an article was when some reporter asked if by bombing these dangerous chemical weapons while they were stored in facilities, didn’t they run the risk of leaks and spills that could harm a lot of people. The general gave some magic answer that they did it in such a way that they were certain nothing dangerous had leaked.
The only way I can imagine that really being true would be if they were absolutely certain that there were no dangerous chemicals there before they bombed it!
Albrecht on April 14, 2018 · at 10:44 pm EST/EDT
I wonder about the timing of this illegal Syrian missile strike. Why did it take the Empire so long to strike? They had the assets in place for this sort of attack immediately after the false flag event. Strange.
Now that the attack has happened I had hoped for a better diplomatic effort as real dialog is clearly needed. After today I have given up hope for this. The U.S. State department seems to be lead by amateurs. The U.N. Ambassador particularly seems to be way out of her league. I have seen better at college freshman level model U.N. programs. I am very ashamed for my country.
I often turn to the memoirs of Armand Dr Caulaincourt when questions of war with Russia come up. I think Napoleon’s Ambassador to Russia really understood the character of the Russian people. He knew why they would rather burn Moscow to the ground rather than have the French occupy it. I don’t think the Russian character has changed. Something to think about as an aircraft carrier group approaches and more bellicose statements are made.
One of the days a well executed mission accomplished will be celebrated in radioactive ash. Mark my words. Napoleon didn’t listen to Caulaincourt; will there be better success with this Emperor? I am not seeing it.
Neither did the Kaiser and Hitler listen to Bismarck, who also was ambassador to Russia and knew what he was talking about. American Ambassadors to Russia don’t know. They really believed that Navalny could beat Putin! That’s why it took so long for the ‘Empire’ of Evil to strike.
Actually the French have occupied Moscow, which was already evacuated. The mistake of Napoleon was that he believed that his tactic victory would be enough to force Russia to the negotiation table, his aim being to weaken Russia, force her back into the Continental System, and make her accept French domination of Europe. But the Russians did not behave as expected! Even before the invasion the Emperor Alexander said that he would never make peace so long as a single enemy soldier remained on Russian soil, even if that meant standing firm on the line of the river Volga after being defeated in battle and losing Petersburg and Moscow.
And for God’s sake, don’t forget that Russia is under the protection of the ‘Mighty Leader in battle, the One who possesses power invincible, the Mother of God’.
Che Guava on April 15, 2018 · at 10:39 am EST/EDT
I like the comment, except that to me, it automatically calls the children of Fatima to mind.
So, I guess, at least those parts of Fatima were well-designed memes.
I would be Catholic except for their recent (from mid-19th c.) Marian confections and Pope Francis.
I baulk at ‘Immaculate heart’, ‘Immaculate conception of Mary’, and ‘Queen of Heaven’.
Orthodoxy is seeming better, of course, I am not knowing much, attended services (Greek) many times, love Russian Orthodox icons.
The one Orthodox church is far, not too far, I was assuming it was a fake church for weddings, (very common), met a priest whom I asked, he said ‘No. This is a real church.’
However, I still think they conduct wedding ceremonies for non-believers for profit at times.
You seem to be on the right path. Persevere. It is a long and arduous task to ‘know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven’. Many fall along the path, others on rocky places or among thorns, like in the Sower’s Parable.
Alex on April 14, 2018 · at 10:45 pm EST/EDT
I urge you to take a look at the comments made by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs on Syria on youtube. This is something entirely new (and somewhat hopeful) that appears on the MSM. The search string is the same: Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs on Syria.
Albrecht on April 15, 2018 · at 12:06 am EST/EDT
Thanks for the suggestion. This professor was well worth the listen. I wonder what they were thinking letting him into the ministry of truth’s studio.
Is that the same Professor Jeffrey Sachs from Harvard, who, with a cabal of fellow Jewish economists from Harvard, created the ‘shock therapy’ inflicted on the USSR that impoverished millions and caused the premature deaths of millions, all while a gang of a dozen or so ‘oligarchs’, nearly every one of whom was, amazingly, also Jewish, looted the country. That Jeffrey Sachs?
Albertovich on April 15, 2018 · at 12:17 am EST/EDT
This was just Vaudeville. What does it mean? It is a sign of weakness, not of strength. Maybe it also means the real action will take place in a different theater, someplace that will not trigger WWIII. If you think about power structures and alliances, it makes sense for the empire to go through the motions of an attack on Syria, while planning to strike in earnest someplace else, to paraphrase Jonah Goldberg’s famous quote, to find a shitty little country it can throw against a wall and nobody will care.
The empire is a bully, it favors attacking weak countries without powerful friends, but it’s not stupid, it’s not ultimately going to attack and trigger worldwide conflagration, it just pretends to do so. After which the spinmeisters characterize this nothing burger as a perfect success. The message the empire is unknowingly sending thereby is not a good one, because it is signaling its own weakness and lack of resolve. This in turn will only embolden the multipolar powers to unite and take down the hegemon. This has happened many times in the past, especially in European history. See Paul Kennedy’s Rise and Fall of the Great Powers.
Louis Robert on April 15, 2018 · at 1:05 am EST/EDT
“… 71 out of 103 missiles were intercepted…”?
That still forever leaves 32 too many, in a context of imposture, infamy, and impunity.
unvle tungsten on April 15, 2018 · at 1:07 am EST/EDT
So the French president Micron warned the Syrian government. This petit pompidou is behaving more like his Turkish poodle Erdoghan every day. How many twists and turns can this MIcron perform before the audience simply walks out and sets fire to the big top.
Surely there is a base somewhere in the central Sahara that this yankee pentagon General can ‘command’. Then at least no one will be able to contradict his imaginative tales.
According latest info from Russian military sources: Syrian air defence blocked 79 of 103 missiles. 76% of all.
The Karabakh war is over. The crisis is not. What comes next?
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Case Study: Professional Services
This medium-sized business, growing fast in its home market, had aspirations to expand across Asia but needed help on targeting its growth efforts, building a cost-effective organisational structure to facilitate this and enabling other senior leaders to share the burden of client acquisition with a high-profile and highly skilled CEO.
Our Growth Hothouse programme focused the team on working two priority areas: i) defining the core proposition in terms that relied less on the CEO’s expertise and reputation ii) identifying priority markets and agreeing an organisation structure that would support fast regional expansion without over-committing on its costs.
The Hothouse programme enabled the team to define the core elements of their equity which could be delivered with or without the CEO’s involvement and built these into a powerful and strongly branded commercial proposition which any senior leader could deliver successfully.
Importantly, the programme also enabled the team to define the characteristics of their highest-potential clients and then to target their pan-Asian growth efforts to locations where customers with this profile were clustered.
Finally, we guided the team to agree a pan-Asian organisation structure which leveraged the strengths and experience in their ‘home market’ team but facilitated highly effective commercial operations in highest-potential markets across the region.
We left the business with a detailed strategy for pan-Asian growth fully aligned across the client organisation.
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IS YOUR BUSINESS HUNGRY FOR THIS KIND OF GROWTH SUCCESS? Let's talk
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel (HB)
Author(s): Taylor Jenkins Reid
From Taylor Jenkins Reid, "a genius when it comes to stories about life and love" (Redbook), comes an unforgettable and sweeping novel about one classic film actress's relentless rise to the top--the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn's Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn's life unfolds--revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love--Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn's story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique's own in tragic and irreversible ways.
Written with Reid's signature talent for "creating complex, likable characters" (Real Simple), this is a fascinating journey through the splendor of Old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means--and what it takes--to face the truth.
Publisher : Atria Books
Imprint : Atria Books
Author : Taylor Jenkins Reid
Edition : Sep-17
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From cutting all ties with Trump to pulling political donations, here’s how corporate America has responded to the Capitol insurrection
Summary List Placement
Since rioters stormed the US Capitol on January 6 in a desperate bid to overturn the presidential election result, top US firms have been scrambling to distance themselves from President Donald Trump and his supporters.
In the immediate aftermath of the insurrection, business leaders were quick to condemn the rioters. Then, in the days that followed, they backed up those words with actions.
Some have cut off political funding, while others, including banks and social media giants, severed their ties to President Donald Trump.
Here’s how corporate America is responding to the Capitol siege.
‘The antithesis of democracy’
First, the business world responded with words.
Both companies and individual business leaders issued statements condemning what had happened in the US Capitol.
The language they used varied, and some gave more personal responses than others.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the attacks marked “a dark moment in our nation’s history,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said they were “the antithesis of democracy,” and American Express Chairman and CEO Stephen J. Squeri said they were an “egregious assault on our democracy.”
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian was one of the first business leaders to speak out, describing the rioters as “domestic terrorists.”
Some of the responses were more surprising. Blackstone chairman, CEO, and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman, a longtime Trump ally who previously defended the president’s election lawsuits, said he was “shocked and horrified” and that “there must be a peaceful transition of power” to President-elect Joe Biden.
Some CEOs demanded more direct action. Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the influential advocacy group the National Association of Manufacturers, which represents more than 14,000 member companies, called on Vice President Mike Pence and top White House officials to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump.
Coloradans are playing an outsized role in the prosecutions of Trump
“This is not law and order. This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and it should be treated as such,” Timmons said.
Trump’s social media exodus
As the events of Wednesday unfolded, social media giants began banning Trump for their platforms.
They starting by removing a video posted by Trump on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube during the insurrection, where he failed to condemn the rioters, called them “very special,” and continued to baselessly claim that the election was fraudulent.
Facebook and Twitter were the first to take stronger action against Trump, with Facebook initially locking his account for 24 hours and Twitter for 12 hours.
Facebook then blocked Trump “indefinitely,” adding that the ban would last at least until the end of his presidency on 20 January, and Twitter followed suit the next day by permanently suspending Trump’s account.
Snapchat has said it will permanently ban Trump, and both Twitch and YouTube have limited his use of their platforms.
The wider social media purge
It wasn’t just Trump who was banned from social-media platforms. These companies targeted some of his more extreme supporters, too.
Twitter purged 70,000 accounts associated with QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory that baselessly claims Trump is working to dismantle a network of …read more
Source:: Businessinsider – Politics
How Latter-day Saints worldwide responded to the church’s annual #LightTheWorld initiative Brinley Baird delivers Christmas gifts to Aging Matters recipients in December 2020. Aging Matters is the leading agency for senior services in Brevard County in Florida. | ChurchofJesusChrist.org Latter-day Saint Brinley Baird delivered gifts to senior citizens in Coca, Florida. Youths in Lexington, Kentucky, wrote Christmas cards to every resident — a total of 138 — at a local nursing home. A congregation in Ghana, Africa, was featured on the local television news for passing out personal protective equipment and food items to 350 households during the COVID-19 pandemic. These three were among many acts of charity performed worldwide during…
NFL divisional playoffs: Utah ties and key storylines to watch in the postseason’s next round Kansas City Chiefs free safety Daniel Sorensen (49) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020, in Tampa, Fla. | Mark LoMoglio, Associated PressThe 2020 NFL playoffs roll on with four divisional round games this weekend, and one of the top Utah storylines to follow is a matchup of two former BYU defenders. Saturday Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay Packers Kickoff: 2:35 p.m. MST Venue: Lambeau Field TV: Fox, Fox Deportes What to watch for: Los Angeles brings a menacing defense, headlined by defensive tackle Aaron Donald, into this…
Weber State’s Taron Johnson’s pick-6 ties NFL playoff record; Utah’s Tyler Huntley gets first postseason action Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson, left, runs away from Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) after intercepting his pass for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL divisional round football game Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021, in Orchard Park, N.Y. | Adrian Kraus, Associated PressTaron Johnson ran his way into Buffalo Bills lore, and the NFL playoffs record book. The former Weber State cornerback returned an interception 101 yards for a pick-six in Buffalo’s 17-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL divisional round playoffs on Saturday night at Bills Stadium. It was a tougher night for former…
The FBI is vetting the 25,000 National Guardsmen in DC for terrorist ties As I’ve said here and on the podcast, the one silver lining to the January 6th insurrection is that Washington and state capitals around the country got ready in a hurry for additional terrorist attacks. DC is basically in a state of lockdown, with at least 20,000 National Guardsmen on the ground, manning barricades and keeping out the riff-raff. People are being discouraged from even traveling to DC this week for the inauguration. The Capitol building is full of cops and soldiers. As the Times points out, while there’s still domestic terrorist chatter, very few people are actually turning up…
Hollywood Prepares to Delay ‘No Time To Die’, ‘Black Widow’ and Other Blockbusters
GOP politicians lost tens of thousands of followers after Twitter purged QAnon accounts. Here’s who lost the most.
Joe Biden receives second dose of COVID-19 vaccine | USA TODAY
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Summary List Placement The US Capitol was put into a precautionary lockdown Monday morning following an “external security threat,” the US Capitol Police said in …
Summary List Placement Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said that President Donald Trump should not be given intelligence briefings when he leaves office. In an interview …
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The University of Tulsa Archival Catalog
Unidentified Native American Portraits, Undated
File — Box 15: [000023244214], Folder: 2
Identifier: 2008.049.5.187
Scope and Contents Various prints and negatives
Dates: Other: Undated
Found in: The University of Tulsa, McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections & University Archives / 2008-049, Robert M. McCormack photographic studio archive, 1935-2000 / Series 5 - People
William Edwin Rudge lithographs, approximately 1930
Identifier: 1000-175
Scope and Contents Color lithographic portraits, one each of Herman Melville, Stephen Crane, and Edgar Allan Poe; the Poe portrait was executed and signed in pencil by Ferdinand Huszti Horvath. All were printed by William Edwin Rudge. Each print measures 55.5 x 47.7 cm.
It is uncertain as to whether these were printed by Grandfather William Edwin Rudge or by his son, also named William Edwin Rudge.
Found in: The University of Tulsa, McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections & University Archives / William Edwin Rudge lithographs, approximately 1930
More about 'Portraits.'
Horvath, Ferdinand Huszti 1
McCormack, Robert Merwin, 1914-2003 1
Melville, Herman, 1819-1891 1
Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849 1
Rudge, William Edwin 1
Shaw, John Bennett, 1913-1994 1
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Save 40% on UNC Press books during our Annual Holiday SALE! See details.
Books Information
Working in Hollywood
How the Studio System Turned Creativity into Labor
By Ronny Regev
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288 pp., 6.125 x 9.25
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-3650-4
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-3829-4
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A history of the Hollywood film industry as a modern system of labor, this book reveals an important untold story of an influential twentieth-century workplace. Ronny Regev argues that the Hollywood studio system institutionalized creative labor by systemizing and standardizing the work of actors, directors, writers, and cinematographers, meshing artistic sensibilities with the efficiency-minded rationale of industrial capitalism. The employees of the studios emerged as a new class: they were wage laborers with enormous salaries, artists subjected to budgets and supervision, stars bound by contracts. As such, these workers--people like Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn, and Anita Loos--were the outliers in the American workforce, an extraordinary working class.
Through extensive use of oral histories, personal correspondence, studio archives, and the papers of leading Hollywood luminaries as well as their less-known contemporaries, Regev demonstrates that, as part of their contribution to popular culture, Hollywood studios such as Paramount, Warner Bros., and MGM cultivated a new form of labor, one that made work seem like fantasy.
Ronny Regev is assistant professor of history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
For more information about Ronny Regev, visit the Author Page.
“A real feat of primary investigation and rich synthesis, then, that demands a wider audience and contributes steadfastly to our revised understandings of the mechanisms of working in the movie machine. Working in Hollywood is an excellent chronicle of the dream factory laid bare.”--Labour History Review
"The book is an absolute pleasure to read--well organized, remarkably lucid, and with broad significance for labor and cultural history. As labor history and the history of capitalism are remaking each other, this book is a model study of the transformation of work in the twentieth century. It is simultaneously confident, careful, and convincing in its arguments--a rare combination."--Lawrence Glickman, Cornell University
"Written with grace and intelligence, this wonderfully engaging book fills an astonishing gap in the history of labor in the Hollywood film industry."--Saverio Giovacchini, University of Maryland
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Products & Launches
Companies & Portraits
Gastronomy & Catering
Studies & Numbers
HomeInterviewsHooray Foods: “Our Goal is to Give the Same Experience as Meat But With Less Guilt and More Joy”
Hooray Foods: “Our Goal is to Give the Same Experience as Meat But With Less Guilt and More Joy”
November 24, 2020 Interviews
Sri Artham of Hooray Foods
Hooray Foods is a brand on a mission – “Saving animals from the food system, one pig at a time”. This World Vegan Day, Hooray announced the long-awaited debut of its gluten-free, allergy-free, dairy-free, soy-free, meat-free bacon into seven regions of the USA through a distribution partnership with Whole Foods.
Already piquing the interest of various plant-based investors and VC firms including Kale United, Stray Dog Capital, and David Benzaquen’s Mission Plant LLC, this plant meat brand has clear potential and is set to go far.
We were delighted to speak with founder and CEO Sri Artham about his mission, and the journey of his brand so far, through COVID and onwards.
Tell us a little about why you founded your brand.
As much as our plant-based bacon is a fun and joy-creating product, its origins are rooted in increasing climate disasters. In particular, I personally experienced the Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, California. Where I live in San Francisco, you couldn’t go outside for several days because the air was so bad – an experience that was repeated just last month.
Greenhouse gas emissions directly contribute to climate change, and animal agriculture is the second largest contributor to those emissions. So, I set out to make an impact in displacing animals from our food system through the creation of Hooray Foods.
©Hooray Foods
What was your process in figuring out how to create such a realistic plant-based bacon?
Like any new invention, it involved a lot of research, trial and error, and a lot of luck. I think some of my greatest inspiration came from binge-watching The Great British Baking Show over the holidays in December 2018. I then started to study how plant-based meats are made, in particular learning from an excellent Good Food Institute course. After that, it was a LOT of experimentation – if you ever see some of the failed experiments you’ll surely laugh. At least my friends did.
What’s novel about your product in comparison to others?
The most important difference compared to other plant-based bacon is the fat. Bacon is fatty and that’s why we love it! So, I came up with a way to get a high amount of fat (in this case, coconut oil) into a starch substrate.
Along the journey, I was challenged by my sister-in-law to create something that my niece Riya, who has a lot of allergies, could eat. So, in addition to being plant-based, our bacon is also gluten-free, soy-free, allergy-free, and dairy-free. Hooray Foods uses ingredients that consumers can feel great about, because we believe eating should be a joyful, guilt-free experience.
Price Parity is a big issue with persuading meat eaters to switch, how does your bacon compare in price?
Right now, our bacon is priced similarly to a premium bacon at $8.99 for a 10-strip pack. This is similar to the premium you would pay for an Impossible Burger or Beyond Burger. And just like Impossible and Beyond, our goal is to reach meat-eaters or flexitarians, and give them the same experience they crave with meat but do it with less guilt and more joy.
What is next after plant-based bacon?
Oh, I wish I could tell you! We have already prototyped our next product and some early reviews say it’s even better than our bacon. That’s all I can say for now.
We recently published that you have secured a distribution deal with Whole Foods in the USA. Do you have plans to further this distribution? In the US and Internationally?
Right now, we’re fully focused on making sure our launch with Whole Foods goes well – we have to be able to produce our bacon reliably, and make sure that Whole Foods shoppers like it and buy it. From there, we certainly plan to expand – hopefully to the remaining Whole Foods stores and to some other grocers that we are already in talks with. We are also in the process of setting up distribution agreements in other parts of the world, but first things first.
And let’s not forget restaurants – most bacon is consumed in restaurants, so we have plans to launch there next year.
In July you were successful with a seed round of funding led by Stray Dog Capital, how has that helped your company and do you have plans for further capital raise?
Stray Dog Capital has been wonderful, leading our Seed round in the midst of a pandemic fraught with uncertainty. The funds were used to build our production line which includes some pretty cool custom machinery (including a bacon machine!). We’re also using those funds to build our brand, expand our distribution, and work on making our bacon even better. And yes, if all goes well, we’ll be raising more money next year.
2020 has been a challenging year for many, how has it been for your brand?
Oh boy, what an adventure it has been! The first week of March was the week we had our first production run for restaurants and was also the week we kicked off our Seed round. We were planning trade shows, doing bacon photoshoots, and getting psyched up. Then COVID-19 hit, restaurants had to immediately shut down, and all funding temporarily came to a halt.
But we persevered and adjusted. Thankfully, the opportunity with Whole Foods was already in the works, and investors were eventually able to confirm that the market for plant-based meats was stronger than ever. In the meantime, we’re also trying our best to support our one and most faithful restaurant customer – Plant Café in San Francisco – which is struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic.
Do you have any advice for other start-ups in this growing sector?
I would like to share the advice that was shared with me when I started on this journey. There’s an immense amount of opportunity in plant-based eating and we’re just starting to figure it out, so, if you’re curious about the industry, just jump in, and something will almost certainly happen.
What, in your opinion, is the most significant way to make a positive impact on the environment? For the average person, there’s almost no better way to start than by changing what you eat. You can do it immediately and it doesn’t have to cost you anything to do. Also, for most people reading this, the biggest component of your carbon footprint is likely the flights you take – so perhaps this pandemic can teach us that we don’t have to fly nearly as much as we have been.
What are your plans for the future, in the short and long term?
The problem of climate change is both massive and looming, so the most important thing is for us to create products that people love and get them widely distributed. First bacon, and then other products.
Along the way, we want to help those adjacent to our journey, from animal sanctuaries rescuing pigs from abuse, to farmers looking to find new ways of making a living.
I believe companies have a responsibility not only to their shareholders but to the society in which they operate, and Hooray plans to embody that responsibility.
The vegconomist-newsletter: Information for decision-makers
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Eclipse Foods: “Eclipse is the First Ever True Dairy Replacement”
VFC: “We Have a Pretty Simple Mission, and That’s to Take On the Chicken Industry”
DSM: “As Dairy and Meat Alternatives Markets Continue to Expand, Consumer Expectations Are Naturally Becoming More Sophisticated”
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Market reports & trends
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Exercise Area
Casinos Nearby
Close to Medical
Carpeted Hallways
Picnic/Grilling Area
Close to Recreation Center
Medicine and Dairy Delivery
24-Hour Emergency Maintenance
Full Bath with Tub
Cable/Internet Ready
Maintenance Free Flooring
Efficiently Designed Kitchen
Pet Policy: Pets welcome, restrictions and fees apply. Please contact the leasing office for details.
Parking Type: Surface Lot
Parking Comment: Free parking for residents. Visitor parking available.
Village Square Apts
5403 Main Street, Williamsville, NY 14221
Mon - Fri: 9:00AM to 5:00PM
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Copyright © 2021 Village Square Apts
Covid-19 Position Statement
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, our company's mission, to regenerate the fabric of communities, has never been more clearly needed. It is now abundantly clear that safe, green, affordable housing is an essential social determinant of health, especially for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
In response to the pandemic, we must carry out two seemingly contradictory actions: to socially isolate, and to come together for the common good. In fact, these actions are deeply inter-related.
Integrating these two actions lies at the core of our response, and permeates the hundreds of conversations each day that our amazing team of dedicated employees, partners, contractors and suppliers are having, all with the goal of protecting our residents and employees and the larger communities that they are part of.
Our first priority is the health and well-being of our residents and our staff. We take the potential widespread transmission of COVID-19 very seriously and are working to ensure our continued preparedness as the situation escalates.
Several weeks ago, we set up an internal COVID-19 Taskforce which has been actively monitoring the unfolding situation and developing the policies and procedures to guide our actions. We have also set up a Rose Community Management (RCM) Coronavirus subgroup to update operational issues within our properties.
In our corporate offices, we have implemented remote working policies and suspended all business travel. We have cancelled all large gatherings and have encouraged staff to practice social distancing and reduce in-person meetings. Fortunately, we have a robust "work from home" infrastructure in place as part of our business continuity plan. All of our corporate staff are now working from home and many of our field staff also have the capability to carry out some of their duties remotely.
We have issued self-isolation protocols for any staff who may have been exposed and we have created a dedicated intranet site to serve as a repository of all COVID-19-related form documents and guidance. We have adjusted our paid leave policies to reflect the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). We have taken the decision to enact the provisions of the FFCRA in advance of the legal implementation date, for the benefit of our employees. We are actively amending other HR related policies to protect our staff and enable them to focus on their own health and wellbeing as well as delivering services to our residents.
At our properties, we have issued health and safety guidance for our community managers and implemented social distancing policies. All social programming and group events at our properties have been suspended and community rooms, computer rooms, fitness centers and playgrounds have been closed in an attempt to slow the transmission of the disease. We have dispatched CDC literature (translated in multiple languages) to all of our property staff and residents, which contains facts on COVID-19 as well as practical steps to reduce the spread of germs and achieve social distancing. We have implemented more stringent cleaning/disinfection regimes and have purchased additional supplies of protective equipment for our employees, to the extent available.
Additionally, we have revised our processes for how we connect with our residents. To safeguard the health of our staff, residents and the wider community, we are reducing the face to face contact between residents and staff. We are moving to an appointment only system for residents to meet with Community Managers and are encouraging telephone contact as much as possible. To reduce the number of people entering residents’ apartments, at this time we are only responding to urgent maintenance requests and we have suspended all in-unit major refurbishment contracts. Where we do respond to emergency repairs, we have compiled detailed protocols to ensure social distancing for the safety of both staff and residents. We have requested that our residents limit visitors in the building to only those delivering essential care services.
Our communities often rely on food deliveries and our Social Impact teams are working to establish alternative delivery mechanisms that ensure muchneeded food is received by our residents in ways that do not expose them to risk. Our Resident Services team is also looking at creative ways to try to alleviate social isolation and boredom amongst our resident groups.
We are in direct communication with our residents through letters and informational posters to advise of all of the changes that this new era demands of us. As the number of both suspected and confirmed cases increases, we have written again to residents to advise them to assume that the virus could potentially be present in any of our buildings, and to exercise additional safety practices, for the good of their health and the health of the community as a whole. We have also implemented an automated telephone call to all residents whose phone numbers we hold, to provide advice and to ensure that they have received our previous correspondence.
As we begin to receive confirmed cases in our buildings, we are ready and prepared to respond quickly to such an occurrence and to notify all residents in the affected building, to achieve full transparency and so that our residents are in the best possible position to protect themselves.
To help achieve the national objective of “flattening the curve”, we have implemented Alternative Work Arrangements (AWA) for all field staff, which consists of rotational skeleton staffing structures, reducing the number of staff on site at any one time but still ensuring that essential services, including increased cleaning regimes, are delivered to our residents.
To ensure that our staff are protected during these difficult times, we have committed to maintain their compensation levels at their previous rates, regardless of the fact that they will be on site for a reduced number of hours under AWA. We have also implemented a “Gratitude Pay” structure, that increases the hourly rate for all hours worked on site. Is it essential that our residents continue to receive the best possible service and we believe our Gratitude Pay system not only rewards our staff for being on site, but ensures that our residents do not experience a drop in their service provision.
We will continue to respond to changes that may emerge and will update all of these initiatives as we collectively learn more.
We are in close contact with our insurance provider who confirmed that our actions are in line with their expectations and recommendations, and we are staying abreast of HUD, CDC, regional, state and federal guidance and incorporating it into our practices.
Although there are many unknowns with regard to COVID-19 and its impact on the global economy, we have seen affordable housing demonstrate resilience in prior economic downturns. The pandemic has underscored how important affordable housing is as part of the social determinants of health.
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Difference between revisions of "User:Kjg53/HOV"
< User:Kjg53
Kjg53 (talk | contribs)
(→Restrictions are one strike and you're out)
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The following concepts were developed after reviewing the HOV/HOT lane restrictions in the Houston area.</span>
===Restrictions are one strike and you're out===
===Keep each restriction simple===
When given a description of a HOV/HOT lane based on availability, don't try to plan out all of the restrictions at once. Instead, break down the lane's description into individual restrictions one point at a time.
For example, given an HOV lane that is open from 0500 to 1100 on weekdays to HOV-2 and Motorcycles. The restrictions can be described like this:
# An all-day restriction for all vehicle types on Saturday and Sunday.
# An all day restriction for all vehicle types on Saturday and Sunday.
# An all-day, every day, restriction blocking all vehicle types except HOV-2 and Motorcycles.
# An all day, all week, restriction blocking all vehicle types except HOV-2 and Motorcycles.
#A weekday restriction for all vehicle types from 0000 to 0459.
Return to the editing manual
Carpool lanes, High-occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, and Transit lanes are road lanes reserved for vehicles meeting special requirements, either carrying at least a specific number of passengers more than the driver, or being a specific vehicle type. The number of required passengers in the vehicle can vary depending on the specific road.
Although currently Waze does not support the requirements of routing over these types of lanes, there are plans to add support for them in the future.
Supporting these lanes is a priority for Waze, and they are aware of the problems caused by such lanes.
1 Configuration and setting restrictions
1.1 Multi-use lanes
1.2 Reversible lanes
1.3 Example configurations
2 Lessons Learned
2.1 Keep each restriction simple
2.3 Avoid use of restrictions spanning midnight
3 Pointers for a complete solution
Configuration and setting restrictions
These guidelines have been updated As of October 2014[update] to prepare for the upcoming HOV features. The old method was to map these lanes as Parking Lot Roads. This new method below should be used when mapping new lanes. There is no rush to redo existing lanes to make them compliant; do so only if you are working on them anyway, or are doing a general refresh in the area.
As an interim measure, these lanes should be added to the map as separate roads, with the road type set the same as the non-HOV lanes. However only the entrance ramps to these lanes should be set with the appropriate partial segment restrictions. The actual lanes themselves should not have any restrictions set on them, except for reversible lanes, or other restrictions which are in effect at all times on multi-use lanes as discussed below. This means that if you are not currently in one of these lanes the routing will avoid it, but if you choose to get into the lane, the routing will work correctly. Being that only the entrance to the lane is restricted, once you are already in the lane there will be no penalty for staying there, and you will be routed the fastest and most appropriate way to your destination. The caveat will be for multi-use lanes which will have restrictions set to force everyone who does not meet the lanes use criteria (at this time that will be everyone, since the client and routing server can only handle routes for private vehicles) out of the lanes before the enforcement period begins.
As of October 2014[update] the client and routing server are still unable to differentiate different vehicle types. Therefore all vehicles using Waze are treated as Private Vehicles, and any HOV restrictions will be applied to all vehicles. (This is the reason why the restrictions should ONLY be set for the on ramps, and not the entire length of the lanes on the segments themselves.)
This should only be applied to dedicated lanes that have exit and entry points.
Any time you are setting a road to allow HOV - 2, it must also be set to allow HOV - 3.
In the USA motorcycles are allowed to use HOV lanes, therefore when setting partial restrictions to only allow HOV - 2 (HOV -3), Motorcycles should also be allowed (unchecked). Some jurisdictions also Taxis and Buses to use the HOV lanes. These should be set accordingly in those jurisdictions.
There are special configurations needed for reversible, and multi-use lanes which change use criteria or direction at different times of the day.
Multi-use lanes
Lanes which only have the HOV restrictions in place for certain hours, and open to regular vehicles during other hours, need to have the restrictions on the entrance ramps set to only allow the specific vehicles for that road during the enforcement times, AND that same restriction must be set to only be in effect during the enforcement time.
The enforcement time should be expanded to start 15 minutes earlier, to account for drivers who experience traffic along their route prior, and prevent them from accidentally being routed onto the HOV lanes after the enforcement period begins.
These lanes will also require a similar restriction set on ALL the exit ramps, also with the enforcement period expanded to begin 15 minutes early. This will ensure that vehicles which do not meet the roads HOV criteria, but have been routed into these lanes prior to the enforcement period, will be routed out of these lanes before the enforcement begins. It is imperative that every exit ramp has these restrictions in place, otherwise instead of these vehicles being routed out of the lanes when the enforcement begins, they will all be funneled and routed to the one exit ramp which does not have these restrictions.
If when these lanes are open to the public (when the HOV restrictions are not in effect), they are still restricted to certain vehicle types (i.e. No Trucks), then that should be set as a separate restriction on the actual lanes to be in effect at all times.
Reversible lanes
These lanes should be set with separate time based partial restrictions restricting travel in each direction for the appropriate hours.
If the hours are adjacent to each other, meaning that there is no buffer time between the two travel direction of the lanes, then we will have to add a buffer time into to Waze for safety. In that case expand the restriction to start 15 minutes earlier so there is at least a 15 minute window when there travel is restricted in both directions between the open periods.
Example configurations
A multi-use lane which is open to the all vehicles during off-peak hours has to be set as a separate restriction from each of the enforcement periods.
Each of those restrictions must be set to the criteria restricted to only HOV - 2, HOV- 3, Motorcycles or Buses on weekdays during the hours of 6-10 am, and 3-8 pm.
The following concepts were developed after reviewing the HOV/HOT lane restrictions in the Houston area.
Keep each restriction simple
An all day restriction for all vehicle types on Saturday and Sunday.
An all day, all week, restriction blocking all vehicle types except HOV-2 and Motorcycles.
A weekday restriction for all vehicle types from 0000 to 0459.
It appears that many transportation agencies describe their HOV/HOT lanes based on accessibility times rather than restrictive times. This means that editors are faced with inverting this information into waze's restrictions. The immediate temptation is to try to produce a set of restrictions
Avoid use of restrictions spanning midnight
A timed restriction whose stop time is earlier in the day than its start time will begin on one day and continue to the stop time on the next day. One of the common issues with this type of restriction is that it would be applied to the weekdays rather than all days. For example, 1300 to 0500 Monday through Friday. While the restriction obviously appeared correct to many editors, waze interpreted it as Viewed this way, its easy to see that starting the restriction on Monday results in 0000 through 0500 being left unrestricted while that time is closed on the other days.
The recommendation is to avoid using this feature as the next editor may not be as familiar with its use. Instead, simply create both an early (0000 to 0500) and a late (1300 to 2359) restriction.
Pointers for a complete solution
A complete solution needs to consider the following factors:
The driver would need to tell the Waze client app how many passengers are present in the car, or what vehicle type they are in for that trip. Waze would only offer routes over carpool lanes when they meet the criteria to be eligible
In some places, Electric or Plug-in Hybrid vehicles may also use HOV lanes, so this local situation must be known and the driver should be asked if the vehicle is allowed in HOV lanes for reasons other than number of passengers.
As car pool lanes are often adjacent to normal roads, GPS tracking is not always sufficient to differentiate between the two. For accurate road speeds Waze needs to assume you are using the car pool lane when you have passengers (and/or based on your speed). However if the lanes are separated even by a few meters, the server can usually tell the difference and the speed to the correct lanes, even if the client displays you as being on the wrong lane.
HOV lanes are being merged with Toll lanes (HOT lanes) and the user needs to be able to select if they want to allow toll roads. The map needs the ability to track multiple lane restrictions (HOV and/or Toll) for the same road rather than defining the road as either an HOV or a Toll lane.
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Eric posing with the Visitor Center sign
One member of the Southeast Ohio Radio Adventure Team succeeded in activating Hopewell Culture National Historical Park as part of the ARRL's year-long National Parks on the Air (link). Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, activated the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, HP15 (link) at the Mound City Group.
Eric arrived at the park at 1544 UTC to find another school bus and group of students already there. Perhaps Fridays are school-tour days?) Eric stamped his Passport 2016 and spoke with the ranger who again gave Eric permission to set up pretty much anywhere he wanted. The ranger couldn't find the NPOTA banner, saying it hadn't yet been returned from Dayton, so Eric was unable to display it during the operation. (After the operation was over, a second ranger did know where to find the banner; the banner will remain available for use at subsequent activations until it will be sent to another park in July for a special event.)
In an attempt to have a bit of shade, Eric set up his station just outside the canopy of a tree and was ready to go on the air about 1601 UTC.
Eric operated only on 40m and his first QSO was with N2AX at 1601 UTC, followed quickly by a QSO with fellow SEORAT K8RAT at 1602 UTC. Thereafter, QSOs came very steadily until Eric's 18th and final QSO with WC0Y at 1619 UTC. All of Eric's QSOs were made at the 5-watt level.
During Eric's operation, a school boy ran over to see what was going on—this was the first time this has happened in any of Eric's activations of Hopewell Culture. Eric was happy to pause during his operation to explain to the boy what was going on.
After Eric took down his station, he ate a quick lunch and then looked at the artifacts in the nice museum and viewed the twenty-minute film on the Hopewell Indian culture.
WD8RIF HP15 NPOTA Activation 2016-05-27
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Acting Out: Art that Changes the World – panel
September 2018 TalksMelbourne, panel
Panel as part of the “Words & Ideas” program at the Melbourne Fringe Festival
Presented by The Wheeler Centre, Melbourne Fringe and Arts House
From the Melbourne Fringe Event Page:
‘We don’t have to accept our world as it is, the ways we’re told we should navigate it,’ Steve Lambert has argued. ‘The democratic ideal [is] that we’re not subject to culture: we can create it.’ The guerrilla artist and founder of the New York-based Center for Artistic Activism makes work that is funny, meaningful, accessible and often radical — raising questions about image culture, advertising and the basis of capitalism itself. At this panel discussion, Lambert and Melbourne artists Candy Bowers and Jax Jacki Brown will talk about their methods and motivations in making work that seeks to change the world. How can art ignite social change? When does activist art become preachy and boring? Join us for this free conversation at the Wheeler Centre, as we talk the fine balance of art and activism, from creativity and accessibility to strategy.
Steve Lamber’s work Capitalism Works for Me! True/False is happening as part of Melbourne Fringe for more info – click here
SPACES anniversary show: WHY NOT, OHIO?
September 2018 NewsCleveland, ohio, Seattle, SPACES, yestoscs
I was proud to be invited back to SPACES in Cleveland as part of their 40th Anniversary show, SPACES. SPACES helped launch Capitalism Works For Me! True/False in 2011.
For the anniversary show we featured recent signs, videos, websites, and other materials created for the YES to SCS effort in Seattle. It even had drafts of work that we never ended up using (so far) and contextual materials from the campaign.
We decided to do this because Ohio has the highest overdose death rates in the country. 8 people die per day in Ohio of overdose.
We called the exhibit, “WHY NOT, OHIO?”
Photos by Jerry Man
ArtsHouse and Melbourne Fringe Festival
September 2018 Exhibitionsaustralia, Capitalism Works For Me! True/False, festival, Melbourne
I’m returning the Melbourne Australia to present Capitalism Works for Me! True/False at the Melbourne Fringe Festival with ArtsHouse. We’ll be set up at the State Library of Victoria, Queen Victoria Market, Bourke Street Mall, and Federation Square.
It’s been very encouraging to present the work with the level of support I’ve had in Melbourne and I’m looking forward to returning. They’ve put together an exceptional team that has changed the way I think about creating and exhibiting these projects. (Thanks ArtsHouse!)
Details on the Melbourne Fringe site and on ArtsHouse site.
We started exhibiting Capitalism Works For Me! True/False in Australia in May of 2018. You can watch Australian TV coverage here:
And see other Australian media coverage at these links:
ABC Radio Melbourne
ABC National: The Drawing Room
from ArtsHouse site:
Completing an Australian journey that began at this year’s Festival of Live Art, Capitalism Works for Me! True/False returns to Melbourne for the Fringe Festival. At changing locations throughout the Festival, a cheerful retro billboard sign prompts you to cast your vote — does capitalism work for you?
US artist—activist Steve Lambert invites visitors to evaluate and talk about the economy and how it might be better. Wired for instant update, Lambert’s electronic scoreboard registers visitors’ votes via a panel with two buttons: True and False.
We talk about capitalism constantly, using terms like ‘job creation’ or ‘the business climate’, and discussing whatever ‘crisis’ is at hand — housing, financial, employment. We focus on the symptoms — but why not take the leap and discuss the problem itself?
Optimistic or downbeat? Confident or cynical? Ideas for reform? Capitalism Works for Me! True/False is a provocation and a conversation. Now’s your chance to have a say.
“What I have really liked about this project is it’s about conversation and questioning what you think.” Festival of Live Art participant, 2018
visit ArtsHouse site
Speaking at 13th Intl. Conference on Art and Society
Stephen Duncombe and I will be speaking (as the Center for Artistic Activism) at this conference in Vancouver next week.
The Thirteenth International Conference on Art and Society
How Art Makes Things Happen — Situating Social Practice in Research, Practice, and Action
Emily Carr University of Art & Design
The Thirteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society features research addressing the following annual themes:
Theme 1: Arts Education
Theme 2: Arts Theory and History
Theme 3: New Media, Technology and the Arts
Theme 4: Social, Political and Community Agendas in the Arts 2018
Special Focus: How Art Makes Things Happen–Situating Social Practice in Research, Practice, and Action
SolarPunk and going Post-Post-Apocalyptic at Re:Publica
June 2018 Talksberlin, c4aa, republica, talk, utopia, Videos
In May I gave this talk and did a panel (Solar Punk and going Post-Post-Apocalyptic) at the Re:Publica conference in Berlin.
Building Fearless Futures at Re:Publica
My talk followed Mushon Zer-Aviv’s excellent talk, the Political Tragedy of Data Driven Determinism and I recommend you watch it. He makes an appearance in my talk as well.
The talk covers utopia and some of the ideas we
Open Call: Decompression Gathering Summer Camp 2018
May 2018 Newsitaly, Residency
I’ll be hosting this residency at the Corniolo Art Platform this summer.
More info and application
Practicing Decompression
20 — 26 August
Corniolo Art Platform
Borgo San lorenzo (Florence, IT)
Invited by Radical Intention, Visiting artist Steve Lambert will be hosting the 2018 Decompression Gathering Summer and he takes decompression seriously. The field of Artistic Activism is rife with overcommitment and hard work is undervalued. There is a high risk of bitterness and burn out, for those who don’t quit entirely. To fight this tendency, the 2018 summer camp will structure fallow time (the irony of structuring fallow time isn’t lost on us), create boundaries to free participants from continual internet connection, and encourage leisure, wandering, and exploration — metaphorical and otherwise. During the week the group will have the chance to discuss projects and life in a relaxed atmosphere, create new relationships that might evolve, and explore the territory of the Mugello Valley.
Participants are encouraged to gather for daily meals and will have time to share their past research. From there, they will have the opportunity to gather at their leisure, and share what they learn together at the evening meals on the days that follow. The group will investigate folk culture in the area surrounding Corniolo art platform through thematic field trips to enchanted Castles, Giotto’s residence or walking tours through the woods in search of the spring of the Arno River. These educational experiences function as different tool, contribute to the overall conversation around decompression, while disrupting the schedule of fallow time.
The 2018 DCAMP embraces the idea of decompression as form of investigation in to ways of working. In 1993 croatian artist Mladen Stilinovic wrote a manifesto of laziness, stating ‘Laziness is the absence of movement and thought, just dumb time — total amnesia. It is also indifference, staring at nothing, non-activity, impotence. It is sheer stupidity, a time of pain, futile concentration. Those virtues of laziness are important factors in art. Knowing about laziness is not enough, it must be practiced and perfected.’ (1993) With Irony, sarcasm, intelligence, stupidity and seriousness, the group of DCAMP 2018 will ask themselves how practice and perfect decompression.
Cancel the Apocalypse at Re:Publica
April 2018 Talksberlin, Center for Artistic Activism, republica, talk, utopia
I’ll be giving a Keynote at Re:Publica in Berlin.
I believe all the talks at Re:Publica are live-streamed on their site.
May 3 at 17:30 (11:30am EDT, 8:30am PDT)
Building Fearless Futures – a 30 minute “keynote”
SolarPunk and going Post-Post-Apocalyptic – a 1 hour long panel discussion.
Both part of the Cancel the Apocalypse program, which includes fellow Eyebeam alumnus Mushon Zer-Aviv, friend of the C4AA Celine Keller, and others.
Other speakers include another Eyebeam alum Morehshin Allahyari, Katherine Maher the Executive Director of Wikipedia, Chelsea Manning, and others.
Hope you tune in. And of course, if you’re going, let me know.
Marx@200 in Pittsburgh
March 2018 ExhibitionsCapitalism Works For Me! True/False, pittsburgh
Capitalism Works For Me! True/False will be a part of Marx@200 at SPACE in Pittsburgh.
Marx@200
Curated by: Kathy M. Newman and Susanne Slavick
Opening Reception April 6th, 6-9pm.
On Display April 6 — June 10th, 2018.
Gallery Crawl April 27th 5:30-10pm
Program and Reception May 5th 6-8pm
Curated by Kathy M. Newman and Susanne Slavick, Marx@200 will feature more than 25 works by artists from around the world. The artworks represent a diverse range of perspectives on Marx and his critique of inequality and capitalism, as well as his influence on political movements and regimes.
Sponsored by CMU’s Humanities Center
Marx@200 is an exhibit inspired by the 200th birthday of Karl Marx (May 2018). Some of the artworks in this exhibit engage directly with Marx’s image or his writings, while others confront capitalism and still others dream of revolution. Marx is a controversial political figure. His impact on the history of global communism is profound, but that is not this exhibit’s focus. Instead, Marx@200 is a spirited, playful, and international effort to respond to some of the big social and economic issues that peoples in Pittsburgh–and across the globe–are facing at this moment.
“As artists respond to both historical and current conditions, Marx’s legacy has shaped how and what they create,” said Newman, associate professor of English, who has also organized a series of lectures that examine Marx. “He is also becoming a popular culture icon in the digital age, with his image being used in countless memes and on products. We want to give people a chance to examine these phenomena and to reflect on the themes these artists have appropriated for their own work, from the rising tide of globalization to wealth inequality, to job loss and automation.”
Highlights from the exhibition include:
Ukranian-born Nataliya Slinko’s gigantic version of Marx’s beard made of steel wool
An animated Marx wielding a hammer in battle with Charles Darwin by Michael Mallis
Kiluanji Kia Henda’s photographic triptych of a fishing vessel named “Karl Marx, Luanda”
Kathryn Clark’s “Foreclosure Quilt,” a stitched urban map of foreclosed homes, block by block
An embroidered barcode by Rayna Fahey that says, “Don’t just buy it/Make Revolution”
“Artists working within a variety of economic and political systems have contributed to this show, responding to Marx’s complicated legacy with appreciation or apprehension–and sometimes both. They invite us to consider his critique of capitalism and what it feels like to live in today’s globalized economy,” said Slavick, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Art.
Artists With Links to the Exhibition
Lauren Frances Adams, American artist, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains (2018)
Maja Bajevic, Bosnian artist, Arts, Crafts and Facts
Nina Beier, Danish artist, Greens (500 Peso) 2014
Joshua Bienko, Ever So Much More So (2008-2010)
Matt Bollinger, American artist, The Lot (2013)
Mel Chin, Revised Post Soviet Tools to be Used Against the Unslakeable Thirst of 21st Century Capitalism (2010)
Kathryn Clark, American artist, Foreclosure quilt (2008-2013)
Carol Condé and Karl Beveridge, Canadian artists, Multiple Exposures (2011)
Jeannette Ehlers, Danish artist, Black Bullets (2012)
Rayna Fahey, Australian artist, Don’t Just Buy It (Make Revolution) (2010)
Blake Fall-Conroy, American artist Minimum Wage Machine (2012) and Factory Wheelabrator Baltimore (2017)
Cao Fei, Chinese artist, Who’s Utopia (2006)
Claire Fontaine, Italy-based collective, Untitled (2004)
Coco Fusco, Cuban-American artist, Ted Ethology: Primate Visions of the Human Mind (2015)
Lungiswa Gqunta, South African Artist, Together Hand in Hand We Will Liberate This Country (2016)
Kiluanji Kia Henda, Angolan artist, Karl Marx, Luanda (2005)
Ottmar Hörl, German artist, Karl Marx (2013)
Alfredo Jaar, Chilean-born artist, September 15, 2009 (2009)
Andrew Ellis Johnson, American artist, Futures (2009) and Union (2017)
Tavia LaFollette, American artist, Smoking Marx (2018)
Steve Lambert, American artist, Capitalism Works for Me! True/False (2011)
Liane Lang, Marx Engels Support Group (2015)
Michael Mallis, American artist, Natural Selection: The Rise of the Proletariat (2008)
Paolo Pedercini, Italian-born artist, To Build a Better Mousetrap (2014)
William Powhida, American artist, Solidarity Economies (2014)
Raqs Media Collective, The Capital of Accumulation (2010)
Pedro Reyes, Mexican artist, Baby Marx (2008)
Erik Ruin, American artist, Climate Chaos (20120
Alex Schaefer, American artist, Bank of America, Palm Springs (2012)
Dread Scott, American artist, Vendome Column, Toppled, 1871 (2011) and Maison Marx (2011)
Elin Slavick, American artist, Workers Dreaming (1999-present)
Slinko, Ukranian-born artist, Crowd Pleaser (2011)
Shinique Smith, American artist, Surface Value III (2007)
Jina Valentine, American artist, Memoranda (NYSE: GEO)
Kirsty Whitlock, UK artist, Losses (2009)
Imin Yeh, American artist, 18 September 1867, (2018)
Image by: Lázaro Saavedra González
ABC’s The MIX
March 2018 Pressaustralia, festival of live art, Press, tv, Videos
THE MIX on Australian TV did a short segment on my work. You can watch the video on the ABC.net.au site or on vimeo.
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Amazon Now Allows Customer Contact Through Alexa Skills
Bret Kinsella
Amazon today announced in a blog post and through Alexa Skills Kit documentation the availability of the Customer Profile API. This new feature enables Alexa skill publishers to learn a user’s name to personalize the interaction or their email and mobile number to provide interactivity through messaging. Before today, Alexa skills provided no method for linking to Amazon user profile information. User identity and contact details could only be accessed through account linking, which required an online interaction flow through another surface such as a mobile app or webpage. The account linking approach introduced a lot of user experience “friction” and have typically been avoided by developers whenever possible. Alexa skills can now request user permission to use contact information as part of the skill experience. Information that can be made available includes:
Given Name (First Name)
Ami Berger, co-founder and CTO, Voiceter Pro
So far, developers are enthusiastic about the new feature. Ami Berger, CTO and co-founder of Voiceter Pro LLC, emphasized how important this development will be while commenting:
I think it is a huge step forward for skill builders. It will greatly reduce the need to create account linking. Obviously account linking will still be necessary as a fall back, but it will be really nice to be able to streamline getting email addresses.
There are restrictions in terms of what can be accessed and how it can be used. This is not an attempt by Amazon to enable skill developers to spam Alexa users. Amazon policy guidelines lay out several requirements of using the Customer Profile API, including:
A link to the privacy policy that applies to the skill
The skill must request permission from the user, the contact details are only allowed when features require the information and in accordance with both the privacy policy and applicable law
You may not associate an Amazon customer and their profile information with other customer account information the developer maintains outside of Alexa
The skill must request the data from the Alexa Customer Profile API whenever it is needed and may not call it from a stored location
The Customer Profile API may not be used in any skill designed for use by children
The restriction for use with children-oriented Alexa skills is not surprising. However, the restriction from matching an Amazon contact profile with an existing customer profile maintained by the Alexa skill owner is an important limitation as is the requirement to call the information anew each time it is needed. Amazon is permitting Alexa to facilitate user contact through means other than the voice assistant service, but it is not granting access to actually know your users’ identities in real life and add that your your CRM database.
So, this feature provides excellent one-off functionality with minimal friction, but it is not intended to introduce an opportunity to deepen a customer relationship outside of Alexa interactions. This limitation will mean that many Alexa skill developers will still want to implement account linking when possible. The open question is whether the presence of the Customer Profile API will lead Amazon to be more restrictive on account linking in skill certification under the rationale that the developer has a tool other than account linking to achieve the functionality goal.
Use Cases to Drive Re-Engagement and Voice Commerce
SnapTravel, KptnCook and Thalia Buch-Tipps have already implemented the feature using SMS or email messaging to users. KptnCook and Thalia Buch-Tipps are delivering recipes and book recommendations via email. This is an interesting use case and a new method to drive Alexa skill re-engagement rates. The emails could stand on their own and simply allow the skill to provide an extended experience beyond Alexa. However, the feature could also be used to prompt skill usage and raise the incidence and frequency of repeat use. Think of it as potentially similar to how notifications are used to drive repeat engagement with mobile apps.
By contrast, SnapTravel is using the Customer Profile API to execute a transaction that cannot be completed on Alexa alone. Hussein Fazal, Co-Founder & CEO of SnapTravel, said, “Customers can begin their hotel booking journey over voice using Amazon Alexa, and receive a link on their phone over SMS to complete the booking.” This scenario reflects the removal of a voice commerce barrier for goods that cannot be purchased today through Amazon.com. It could mean that many more product sellers can complete sales transactions outside of Amazon.com which would be good for platform adoption. However, it is unclear whether Amazon will permit this type of use case to proceed through certification if it is perceived as competing against the ability of Amazon.com to capture the purchase. Travel is different because Amazon doesn’t sell these types of services.
Mark Tucker, co-founder and principal architect, VoiceXP
Regardless of potential restrictions, there are many reasons to be optimistic about the benefits of the new feature. Mark Tucker, co-founder and chief architect of VoiceXP commented:
“This is a great addition to any skill developer’s toolbox. At VoiceXP, we are already implementing solutions for clients that send an SMS text message to their mobile phone. Currently, we ask the user for the 10-digit phone number. Now we have the ability to use the API and ask ‘Would you like me to text that to you at 555-867-5309?’ without prompting for the phone number. If they answer ‘No’, we can ask if there is an alternate phone number and then prompt them for that. The Customer Profile API is a feature that is immediately useful and makes for a better voice experience.”
Developers Point Out Limitations
A number of developers have pointed out limitations of the feature. It is not fully enabled by voice like a similar feature is for Google Assistant. You must instead push a card to the user in the Alexa app that requests the permission and the user must go into the app and accept. The documentation also says this should be done when a user first enables a skill which seems like a barrier to onboarding and initial skill trial. If the user does not accept at that time, there is another opportunity for them to accept when a transaction arises that requires the contact information.
The problem is that the approach presents a clear barrier inside of the transaction flow which will lead to abandonment rates. A lower friction approach would be to enable this when needed by voice. Once permission is accepted by voice, it could be configured to not require subsequent approval but allow users to revoke the permission. Or, it could simply be a one-time authorization. The lower friction makes this reasonable. A card-based approach that takes someone from a smart speaker surface to a mobile app is not an elegant solution, nor is it an elegant user experience. Customer Profile API is a nice feature to have, but it remains to be seen whether it will be effective given the friction associated with the current implementation. I suspect this is a phase one release and Amazon will enable voice permission in the future, but until then developer adoption may be muted.
Filling Out the Voice Assistant Feature Set
You can read more about the Customer Profile API here. It reflects an important step for Amazon, particularly since Google Assistant has had similar capabilities for email contact for some time. However, the really interesting development here is not that you can present a call-to-action and then have a means for connecting with a user through a different digital channel. What is more important is that the Customer Profile API could be used to drive re-engagement, user retention and voice commerce in addition to facilitating new features with less friction for users.
Follow @bretkinsella
Amazon is About to Make Alexa Skill Discovery Much Better for Everyone
Alexa SkillsAmazon AlexaDeveloperNewssmart speaker
Alexa customer contactAlexa Customer Profile API
Bret is founder, CEO, and research director of Voicebot.ai. He was named commentator of the year by the Alexa Conference in 2019 and is widely cited in media and academic research as an authority on voice assistants and AI. He is also the host of the Voicebot Podcast and editor of the Voice Insider newsletter.
Smart Speaker Sales to Reach $30 Billion by 2024 with Germany at 10% Share
Cavalier Audio Launches Portable Maverick Smart Speaker with Alexa Integration
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Report on Kilauea (United States) — 18 May-24 May 2011
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 18 May-24 May 2011
Global Volcanism Program, 2011. Report on Kilauea (United States). In: Sennert, S K (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 18 May-24 May 2011. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Volcano Profile | Weekly Report (18 May-24 May 2011)
HVO reported that two lava lakes at Kilauea were active during 18-24 May. The level of the summit lava lake remained mostly stable deep in the vent inset within the E wall of Halema'uma'u Crater. Lava from a vent above the south side cascaded down into the lake. A gas plume from the vent drifted SW and likely deposited very small amounts of ash nearby. At Pu'u 'O'o crater, lava mostly from a vent near the W edge of the perched lava lake in the center of the crater floor continued to fill the lake. The lake level fluctuated and occasionally overflowed the edges or flowed through rim breaches, sending lava onto the Pu'u 'O'o crater floor. The rim of the perched lava lake was elevated several meters higher than the surrounding crater floor, which was 52 m below the E crater rim on 11 May. On 20 May a small lobe of lava visible in the web camera appeared on the W edge of the crater floor. The (preliminary) sulfur dioxide emission rate from all east rift zone sources was 800 tonnes/day on 20 May; the emission rates were slowly increasing.
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Exam Borderlines Policy
Revised Exam Scrutiny Process
Delegated Head of School authority
Employment of UG and MSc Students
Implications of Institute membership
Job description for Directors of Institiutes
PGR Visiting student policy
PGT Visiting student policy
Research staff allocation policy
Room allocation policy
Room hire charges – Informatics Forum
Informatics staff expenses guidance
Equipment Purchases Guiding Principles
Student desk allocation policy
Teaching Committee policy on timing of examinations
Teaching support staff policy
Tier 4 student attendance and engagement monitoring policies
UG Visiting student policy
Use of student data on course webpages
Website change policy
Proposal to Remove Elevated Hurdles for Progression to Honours
Increase in Language Requirements for MSc/AMSc in Design Informatics
Exam Rubric Proposal
Exam Rubric Clarification
DMMR - changing from closed book to open book exam for 2017/18
Reducing the number of courseworks for DMMR
Exam Marking Guide and Deadlines
Late Submission of Coursework
Institutes are the intellectual and social home for research in the School of Informatics. The purpose of this document is to explain the implications of institute membership.
Each institute supports a group of researchers with common intellectual goals. Because of the benefits of this support, each research active member of the School is strongly advised to be a member of an institute. The members of an institute will include academics, research fellows and research students. Institute web sites give an indication of the composition and aims of each institute. Where research interests span several institutes it is possible to be a member of more than one. The mechanism for becoming a member of an institute is described below.
Normally, postgraduate students will belong to one or more of the institutes of their first supervisor. Similarly, research fellows will normally belong to one or more of the institutes of the principal investigator of their grant.
It is also possible to be an associate of an institute. This will not bring the full benefits of membership but will enable you to keep in touch with the activities of the institute. Most researchers will belong to only one institute but will be associates of others.
Members of an institute have a duty to advance the research of that institute and to play an active role in its activities. Associates of an institute have a duty to take an active interest in its activities.
Support teams
Institutes receive direct administrative support through staff on each floor of the Informatics Forum. Grant portfolio managers are administrative staff who coordinate the administration involved in acquiring and maintaining research funding for principal investigators in institutes. Normally a single portfolio manager oversees the administration of all research grants for an institute but there are exceptions to this (for example, if specialist expertise of different portfolio managers is needed for different grants run by the same PI).
Members of institutes can request a variety of services from the appropriate members of their support team. These include:
The provision of information on funding opportunities
Assistance with the preparation of research grants, including costings and other non-scientific aspects
Assistance with the administration of research grants, eg advertising for staff, buying equipment, booking travel, keeping accounts, answering enquiries, arranging meetings, publicity, helping visitors
Additional general secretarial and administrative matters
It is expected that institutes will initiate a number of activities to create a research community and promote research. Precisely what they do is up to them but here are some possibilities: seminar series; technical report series; research equipment; social events; annual reports; web sites.
As well as the resources allocated to them by the School, institutes may bring in additional resources via research grants and contracts. It is expected that these resources will fund additional activity in the institute, for example: research fellows; equipment (especially for research fellows); some support staff; research travel; consumables; etc. The School has norms for the kinds of resources that research proposals are expected to request.
Institutes may agree to pool resources from research grants in order to make more effective use of them. This is a matter for negotiation between the grant holders and the director(s) of the institute(s) concerned. For instance, computer equipment bought on grants may be pooled.
Cash budget
Institutes will have a cash budget determined by a formula based on overheads from research grants. This money can be used to support: travel costs, seminars, meetings, small projects and pump priming, supplementary equipment and software, RA recruitment, etc.
School provision
The School will provide the basic resources of a well found laboratory to support research. This will include: computing, technical and secretarial support; computer equipment, consumables and maintenance; books and journals; postgraduate travel money; telephone, fax, postage and photocopying; etc. Institutes are expected to supplement this basic provision from research income and their cash budget.
By belonging to an institute researchers may enjoy a number of benefits. These include:
The assistance of a support team, especially in identifying opportunities for, obtaining of and management of research funding
A community of colleagues with similar research interests
Report and seminar series in which individual research can be presented and in which the individual can learn about the research of colleagues
Access to equipment and other resources necessary for the research of an individual
Membership of institutes
To become a member or an associate of an institute, applications should be made to the director of that institute. Appeals against rejection can be made to the Head of School who has final authority.
A basic provision for research support will be made for any members of staff who do not belong to any institute.
This article was published on 27 Apr, 2016
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The Discarnates
6.9 10 172
Harada is a successful scenario writer, and his best buddy has just announced an intention to propose to Harada's ex-wife. Recovering from the shock, Harada indulges in melancholy, mainly ...
Reviewed by sharptongue 8 / 10 / 10
Ghosts and nostalgia
A lovely film. The performances by the high-quality cast are excellent and convincing. Kazama does a great job as the scenario writer who gets a second chance to spend time with his loving parents, who actually were killed when he was twelve. Yuko Natori is wonderful and sexy as his amorous neighbour who becomes his lover and confidante. Woven into the story is a lovely moral tale about a man who is a total failure as a person (though with a successful career) getting back in touch with his true feelings. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by christopher-underwood 9 / 10 / 10
A difficult book to adapt, but done surprisingly well
Although 'discarnate' was a new word to me, I see it is defined in the dictionary as, 'disembodied', so although seeming a little clumsy as a film title, not totally inaccurate, although they probably should have stuck to the singular. I read 'Strangers' by Taichi Yamada, earlier this year and pondered how difficult it might be to film, not aware that it had indeed already been so filmed twenty years ago. The splendidly spooky book (Ijin-tachi to no Natsu, in the Japanese) was originally published in Japan in 1987 but only translated into English recently. The film itself is very faithful to the book and overcomes the difficulties I foresaw fairly creatively but mainly with the use of shadow. The middle section of the film seems a little flat, whereas in the book we are in the midst of deeply disturbing images both of the main character's deterioration and his friend's 'scars', the film plays this in a more straightforward manner. Nevertheless the film is well paced, has a warmth as well as worry to it and nobody could be disappointed by the rousing ending. A difficult book to adapt, but done surprisingly well.
Reviewed by zzoaozz 9 / 10 / 10
a sweetly nostalgic sort of ghost story
Rather than relying on gore or a typical vengeful ghost like most Asian horror, this is a character driven, dramatic story that comes across as sadly nostalgic instead of overtly horrifying. All the actors and actresses do a wonderful job coming across like real people with their own motivations and drives. The main character is one that is both likable and easily identified with by the watcher. His scenes with the ghosts of his parents leave you longing for simpler times when things made more sense and perhaps wishing you could have time to know your own parents as people. You can't help but be happy as he rediscovers something he thought he had lost forever, his ability to love. The horror comes with the ending plot twist and is done with elegance and restraint that does not detract from the rest of the movie's feel. It is an emotionally satisfying movie even if it is not really scary.
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Ring’s hidden data let us map Amazon's sprawling home surveillance network
Jim Cooke (Gizmodo)
via Gizmodo
#networks
Dan Calacci
Corporate surveillance of the commons + Amazon Ring
By Dell Cameron and Dhruv Mehrotra
As reporters raced this summer to bring new details of Ring’s law enforcement contracts to light, the home security company, acquired last year by Amazon for a whopping $1 billion, strove to underscore the privacy it had pledged to provide users.
Even as its creeping objective of ensuring an ever-expanding network of home security devices eventually becomes indispensable to daily police work, Ring promised its customers would always have a choice in “what information, if any, they share with law enforcement.” While it quietly toiled to minimize what police officials could reveal about Ring’s police partnerships to the public, it vigorously reinforced its obligation to the privacy of its customers—and to the users of its crime-alert app, Neighbors.
However, a Gizmodo investigation, which began last month and ultimately revealed the potential locations of up to tens of thousands of Ring cameras, has cast new doubt on the effectiveness of the company’s privacy safeguards. It further offers one of the most “striking” and “disturbing” glimpses yet, privacy experts said, of Amazon’s privately run, omni-surveillance shroud that’s enveloping U.S. cities.
Dan Calacci, a PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Media Lab, has been performing separate ongoing research to understand what makes a community “more likely to engage in self-surveillance” and has amassed a far bigger database of Ring camera locations. He shared a preview of his research with Gizmodo, including a map representing every Ring video posted to Neighbors since 2017.
Read on Gizmodo
Routes to privacy: traversing U.S. cities under corporate surveillance
After collecting the largest dataset of corporate surveillance in the U.S., consisting of every Amazon Ring camera that has posted to the...
in Human Dynamics
Publication Research
Patterns of interaction predict social role in online learning
Sun, Huaiyi Cici, Dan Calacci, and Alex Sandy Pentland. "Patterns of Interaction Predict Social Role in Online Learning."
Academic Paper, June 2018
Shipt's 'Effort-Based' Model Is Cutting Pay for 40% of Workers, Study Shows
by Dharna Noor...The researchers then partnered with a PhD student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dan Calacci, to build a...
via Gizmodo · Oct. 15, 2020
Bargaining with the algorithm: pooling worker data to estimate gig economy worker pay
As a pilot project to develop new data pooling and analysis tools, we created a texting service that gig economy workers could use to poo...
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Free School in Sierra Leone: Fact or Fiction?
Child Sponsorship, Girl's Ministry, Monkey Bush, Name Changers, Orphaned and Vulnerable Children, Sierra Leone, Tombo
New President March 2018, a new president was elected in Sierra Leone. After 10 years, the opposing party had garnered another opportunity to rule the country. While the previous party was known for a focus on business, the current party put their highest value on education. The new president, Julius Maada Bio, quickly presented a platform that the country was more than happy with. There were many questions on how it would come to pass – Free Education. Sierra Leone…
Dominican Republic, Margaret's Home, Sierra Leone, South Asia, Tombo
Celebrating National Best Friends Day Today is National Best Friends Day! Do you have a “best friend?” While this is an “unofficial” holiday, many people celebrate the day by honoring the friends that are closest to them….their “best friends.” They call a best friend to say hi, or take them to lunch to celebrate. How will you celebrate National Best Friends Day? How Are we Celebrating? We are celebrating by sharing some of our favorite pictures with you! Most of the…
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One challenge remains in 8th District race
Today’s the final chance for 8th District Council candidate Jordan Dillard to face his candidacy challenge. He didn’t show up to hearings yesterday or Friday. But three other candidates have had their challenges tossed.
As NewsWorks’ Patrick Cobbs reports, challenges to Andrew Lofton, William Durham and Robin Tasco were thrown out for being filed too late.
That’s sparked another issue. Challenges against the three were filed before the March 15/16 midnight deadline online. But because the Board of Elections office closed at 5 p.m. March 15, the challenges were not recognized until later on the 16th, making them late.
Welcome to Philadelphia, where technicalities count for everything.
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