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Is there a big tourism season in St. Pete?
As the snowbirds fly south and the social season begins to curl underway, one can't help but to notice the population of St. Pete entrench in a matter of mere weeks.
Nothing short of a modern miracle, St. Petersburg's winter season offers an influx of blue skies, warm sunshine, and generally low humidity. As a result, a threshold of harrowing out-of-towners flock to the State to rescue themselves from the merits of a harsh winter.
Generally, Tourism season peaks during the months of November to April in the sunshine State. Although the two worlds of Northern and Southern States seemingly merge into one location during this period, you may find resolve in knowing that St. Pete does not usually become too flooded in a multitude of overlap between tourist and residents.
If you are thinking about searching for apartments in St. Pete but are dismissive towards the thought of living there based purely on the heady life of tourism, you may want to rethink that frivolous claim.
First, does St. Pete experience a decent amount of tourism? Yes, of course. However, most folk from out of town stay just minutes from the beach. With the incoming of snowbirds, you may experience a slight change in traffic. By slight, this just means right around the beach areas. However, the majority of tourists tend to inhabit the surrounding areas of Clearwater. With that in mind, know that there is handfuls of St. Pete apartments that steer very clear of these touristy areas.
To avoid any possible vulnerable area, try looking for apartments near St. Pete in the downtown area. Downtown has become the social grain of the city, attracting modern restaurants, bars, art and unique boutiques. Communities here are an eclectic mix of old and new. Downtown tends to foster a collaborative environment of highrise homes and historic bungalows. Whatever your preference may be, downtown St. Petersburg normally has a natural fit for you. Although prices will invariably be affected by the type of unit you prefer, the only waves of population you will experience in this area will be from baseball fans attending game at the city's Tropicana field, concert attendees and city events.
If you do want to un-filter the opinions of tourism flare and take your chances in living near the gulf water, there are plenty of St. Pete apartments that can be distant from the population increase. For family friendly neighborhoods, look at floor plans in Old Northeast. Properties in this area are not too far from the water and are centrally located near major roadways, great schools, and recreational parks.
With Florida being a hot spot for tourism travels, its no wonder why the threat of instant snowbirds sparks a fear of over population in your small town home. All zipping around in the same stretch neighborhood, one could make the inference that the season of November to April could bear the burden of an entrapped nuisance. However, St. Pete really is looked over when it comes to deciding where in Florida to vacation. So, although you will experience new residents to the area during the aforementioned months, its nothing that will heavily affect your day to day lives while living in this town.
These are the opinions of writers and not the opinions of RentTampaBay.com or any of our advertising partners.
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{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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THIS POST SHALL BE UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF HURRICANE HARVEY AND IT’S IMPACTS ON TEXAS.
Saturday evening BST
At 10pm CT Friday Hurricane Harvey came ashore as a Category 4 storm generating wind gusts of 132 mph. Scenes of severe damage continue to stream in around Rockport, Port Aransas and Port Lavaca where the eyewall came ashore
Unlike some 98% percent of all other hurricanes, Harvey is by no means done and his worst is likely yet to come some 12-24 hours post landfall. Harvey’s winds may be easing on this Saturday afternoon/evening but due to the stalled nature of this vast machine, he shall drop the bulk of the water he contains over Texas through the rest of this weekend and through a much of next week.
Step 1: Saturated air with very high dew points enters the storm in the low levels of the atmosphere. https://t.co/WpdrKcRYQY
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{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
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Immunomodulatory drugs act as inhibitors of DNA methyltransferases and induce PU.1 up-regulation in myeloma cells.
Immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs) such as thalidomide, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide are efficacious in the treatment of multiple myeloma and significantly prolong their survival. However, the mechanisms of such effects of IMiDs have not been fully elucidated. Recently, cereblon has been identified as a target binding protein of thalidomide. Lenalidomide-resistant myeloma cell lines often lose the expression of cereblon, suggesting that IMiDs act as an anti-myeloma agent through interacting with cereblon. Cereblon binds to damaged DNA-binding protein and functions as a ubiquitin ligase, inducing degradation of IKZF1 and IKZF3 that are essential transcription factors for B and T cell development. Degradation of both IKZF1 and IKZF3 reportedly suppresses myeloma cell growth. Here, we found that IMiDs act as inhibitors of DNA methyltransferases (DMNTs). We previously reported that PU.1, which is an ETS family transcription factor and essential for myeloid and lymphoid development, functions as a tumor suppressor in myeloma cells. PU.1 induces growth arrest and apoptosis of myeloma cell lines. In this study, we found that low-dose lenalidomide and pomalidomide up-regulate PU.1 expression through inducing demethylation of the PU.1 promoter. In addition, IMiDs inhibited DNMT1, DNMT3a, and DNMT3b activities in vitro. Furthermore, lenalidomide and pomalidomide decreased the methylation status of the whole genome in myeloma cells. Collectively, IMiDs exert demethylation activity through inhibiting DNMT1, 3a, and 3b, and up-regulating PU.1 expression, which may be one of the mechanisms of the anti-myeloma activity of IMiDs.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
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Second Corinth Confederate order of battle
The following Confederate Army units and commanders fought in the Second Battle of Corinth of the American Civil War on October 3 and 4, 1862, in Corinth, Mississippi. Order of battle compiled from the army organization during the battle and reports. The Union order of battle is listed separately.
Abbreviations used
Military rank
MG = Major General
BG = Brigadier General
Col = Colonel
Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel
Maj = Major
Cpt = Captain
Lt = Lieutenant
Other
w = wounded
mw = mortally wounded
k = killed
c = captured
Army of West Tennessee
MG Earl Van Dorn
Price's Corps (Army of the West)
MG Sterling Price
District of the Mississippi
BG Daniel Ruggles (not present)
Notes
References
U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
Cozzens, Peter, The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka and Corinth, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1997, .
Category:American Civil War orders of battle
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{
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
}
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Estimating the opportunity costs of environmental conservation in the Feijão River watershed (São Carlos-SP, Brazil).
The objective of this study was to infer the opportunity cost of land use of the Feijão River watershed (São Carlos-SP, Brazil), in order to estimate the financial resources necessary to compensate landowners willing to convert their production areas into areas of environmental preservation. Net values were estimated by calculating the Annual Value and the Net Present Value of each activity. The area used for agricultural production was estimated using the Land Cover Map of the watershed. The study involved four production areas: forestry, livestock, sugarcane and orange, accounting for 66% of the watershed area of 22,300 hectares. Considering a scenario of total consent from landowners, the 2011 net annual values were estimated at R$ 13.4 million: R$ 2.2 million (eucalyptus), R$ 1.9 million (livestock), R$ 1.1 million (sugarcane) and R$ 8.2 million (orange). This amount would be used as payment for ecosystem services.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
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Himalayan Mountaineering Institute
The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI Darjeeling) was established in Darjeeling, India on 4 November 1954 to encourage mountaineering as an organized sport in India. The first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary sparked a keen interest in establishing mountaineering as a well-respected endeavour for people in the region. With the impetus provided by the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, HMI was established in Darjeeling. Narendra Dhar Jayal, the pioneer of Indian Mountaineering, was the founding principal of the institute. Tenzing Norgay was the first director of field training for HMI.
HMI regularly conducts Adventure, Basic and Advanced Mountaineering courses. These are very comprehensive courses. They are also highly subsidised to encourage mountaineering as a sport.
Gallery
Alumni
Archana Sardana
See also
Chennai Trekking Club
References
External links
Official website
Category:Educational institutions established in 1954
Category:Tourist attractions in Darjeeling
Category:Mountaineering in India
Category:Education in Darjeeling
Category:Educational organisations based in India
Category:Buildings and structures in Darjeeling
Category:1954 establishments in India
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{
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
}
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Mosaic Drosophila wings reveal regional heterogeneity in the guidance of ectopic axons.
In most studies of axon guidance in the peripheral tissues of insects, the ability of experimentally perturbed axons to pathfind was examined only along their normal pathways. This means that regions normally devoid of axons have not been sampled for their ability to influence axonal trajectories. To examine this question, we have induced the formation of single sensory neurons in a variety of abnormal locations in the developing wing of Drosophila and have examined the course taken by their axons. The axons of such ectopic neurons have a regionally varying tendency to grow in the normal, proximal direction. This proximal bias approaches 100% for neurons located in the distal part of vein L2 and 70% in distal vein L4 but falls to chance (50%) along vein L5. Thus, neurons forming in ectopic regions of the wing, especially those found near the normal axon pathways (veins L1 and L3), have a high probability of growing axons in the correct direction. We conclude that information relevant to axon outgrowth is not restricted to the normal pathways. Whether this information is intrinsic or extrinsic to the neurons, and why its strength shows such conspicuous regional variation, awaits further study.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
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Q:
Powershell Get-Process : Couldn't connect to remote machine
Been struggling with this for a couple days now.
I'm getting the following error:
PS C:\> get-process -ComputerName Win2012r2
get-process : Couldn't connect to remote machine.
At line:1 char:1
+ get-process -ComputerName 10.10.1.54
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Get-Process], InvalidOperationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.InvalidOperationException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.GetProcessCommand
I have confirmed that the Remote Registry service is running on the server (I also tried restarting it).
Additionally, I've created a custom firewall rule to allow RCP connections on ports 5985 && 5986 per
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22357063/get-process-to-remote-computer-doesnt-work-but-invoke-command-does
I've also double checked the usernames per Powershell Get-Process cannot connect to remote computer
Note
invoke-command -ComputerName Win2012r2 -ScriptBlock {Get-Process} works fine, but I really need to get the get-process -computername process to work directly since it's failing inside another script that is used by others
A:
I finally gave up and wrote a new script that uses the following rather than calling Get-Process directly:
invoke-command -ComputerName Win2012r2 -ScriptBlock {param($procName) Get-Process -Name $processName} -ArgumentList $ProcName
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{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
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Introduction {#section1-1179554917731072}
============
Patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) are generally classified in 1 of 3 groups: early-stage favorable, early-stage unfavorable, or advanced-stage disease. Unfortunately, there is no universal prognostic system for early-stage disease, as each cooperative group uses unique scoring systems for stratifying patients on clinical trials. Therefore, in early-stage disease, the dose of radiation and number of chemotherapy cycles are dependent on which scoring system is used. For initial treatment planning, early-stage disease is categorized by the presence of a bulky mediastinal mass (defined by modern criteria as measuring \>10 cm on computed tomography \[CT\]). Those with bulky masses generally benefit from more cycles of chemotherapy and the addition of consolidative radiation. However, the role of radiation in early-stage disease has become increasingly contentious due to the long-term associated toxicities. Furthermore, patients with early-stage disease who have multiple risk factors were excluded from early-stage trials and are often treated as advanced stage.
Prognostication in advanced-stage patients is defined by the International Prognostic Score (IPS) ([Table 3](#table3-1179554917731072){ref-type="table"}).^[@bibr1-1179554917731072]^ Patients with low-risk IPS (1-3) are treated with 6 cycles of standard ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine), whereas high-risk patients are considered for initial treatment with the more intensive German-derived regimen, escalated BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone).
Treatment may be further refined through positron emission tomography (PET)-adapted therapy. Achievement of a negative interim PET-CT is highly predictive of long-term progression-free survival (PFS) among patients treated for HL.^[@bibr2-1179554917731072][@bibr3-1179554917731072]--[@bibr4-1179554917731072]^ Multiple clinical trials assessing PET-adapted treatment for early-stage and advanced-stage HL have demonstrated the advantages of this approach in early detection of those who may benefit from either de-escalation, or intensification of treatment in those responding, or failing to achieve an adequate response, respectively.^[@bibr5-1179554917731072][@bibr6-1179554917731072][@bibr7-1179554917731072]--[@bibr8-1179554917731072]^ Highlighting the complexities of PET-directed approaches are seemingly conflicting results regarding the advantage of changing therapy based on PET-CT results.^[@bibr9-1179554917731072]^ Interim PET is not perfectly predictive of response, particularly in advanced disease where the negative predictive value (NPV) following ABVD ranges from 86% to 95%, but the positive predictive value is as low as 44%.^[@bibr10-1179554917731072]^ The NPV is much stronger in those initially treated with escalated BEACOPP, with NPV generally estimated at greater than 95%.^[@bibr11-1179554917731072],[@bibr12-1179554917731072]^ However, relapses occur in those with interim negative PET-CT, and premature de-escalation of therapy could compromise long-term disease-free survival. Additional issues with interim PET scans include the significant inter-individual reliability, which ranges from 70% to 85%.^[@bibr13-1179554917731072],[@bibr14-1179554917731072]^ Also, the definition of PET negative and PET positive differs between clinical trials. The PET-CT scan results are evaluated on a 5-point Deauville scale, with scores of 4 or 5 indicating uptake that is greater than the liver.^[@bibr13-1179554917731072]^ Practically speaking, patients escalating therapy should interpret a Deauville score of 1 to 3 as negative, whereas those de-escalating therapy should consider a Deauville score of 1 to 2 as negative. Significant debate continues about the interpretation and utility of interim PET-CT in directing therapy for HL.^[@bibr10-1179554917731072],[@bibr15-1179554917731072]^ Nevertheless, PET-CT is recommended for interim staging.
In this review, we will describe the optimal frontline evidence-based therapies for patients with classical Hodgkin lymphoma by stage, prognosis, and interim treatment response.
Early-Stage Hodgkin Lymphoma {#section2-1179554917731072}
============================
Early-stage HL is defined as Ann Arbor stage I to II disease. Long-term prognosis is very favorable with greater than 90% to 95% of patients achieving long-term remissions, depending on additional risk factors.^[@bibr16-1179554917731072]^ Among patients with limited-stage disease, further delineation into favorable or unfavorable risk categories is based on the presence of mediastinal bulk, B symptoms, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), age, and the number of nodal sites. The large cooperative groups have largely defined classification as "early-favorable" or "early-unfavorable" disease ([Table 1](#table1-1179554917731072){ref-type="table"}). It is also important to note that the classification of nodal sites also differs among each prognostic group ([Table 2](#table2-1179554917731072){ref-type="table"}). Given the discrepancies between the definition of "early-favorable" among these prognostic systems, the practical treatment of early-stage disease is separated by bulky versus nonbulky disease, and further decisions about the number of cycles of therapy and dose of radiation therapy should be based on the appropriate risk group.
######
Early-stage prognosis in classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
Risk factor GHSG EORTC NCCN NCIC
-------------------- ---------------------- ------------------------------------------- ----------------------- ------------------------
Age ⩾50 ⩾40
Histology Mixed cellularity or lymphocyte depletion
ESR and B symptoms \>50 if A, \>30 if B \>50 if A, \>30 if B ⩾50 or any B symptoms \>50 or any B symptoms
Bulky MMR \> 0.33 MMR \> 0.35 \>10 cm MMR \> 0.33 or \>10 cm
Nodal sites \>2 \>3 \>3 \>3
Extranodal lesion Any
Abbreviations: ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; EORTC, European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer; GHSG, German Hodgkin Study Group; MMR, mediastinal mass ratio; MMT, mediastinal mass/thoracic diameter; NCCN, National Comprehensive Cancer Network, NCIC, National Cancer Institute of Cancer.
######
Number of lymph node regions by prognostic group.
Lymph node regions Ann Arbor EORTC GHSG
------------------------------- ----------- ---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------
R cervical/supraclavicular 1 1 1^[a](#table-fn3-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^
R infraclavicular/subpectoral 2 2^[b](#table-fn4-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^ 1^[a](#table-fn3-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^
R axilla 3 2^[b](#table-fn4-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^ 2
L cervical/supraclavicular 4 3 3^[a](#table-fn3-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^
L infraclavicular/subpectoral 5 4^[b](#table-fn4-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^ 3^[a](#table-fn3-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^
L axilla 6 4^[b](#table-fn4-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^ 4
Mediastinum 7 5^[c](#table-fn5-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^ 5^[c](#table-fn5-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^
R hilum 8 5^[c](#table-fn5-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^ 5^[c](#table-fn5-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^
L hilum 9 5^[c](#table-fn5-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^ 5^[c](#table-fn5-1179554917731072){ref-type="table-fn"}^
**Total nodal regions** **9** **5** **5**
Abbreviations: EORTC, European Oncology Research Group; GHSG, German Hodgkin Study Group; L, left; R, right.
Cervical/supraclavicular and infraclavicular/subpectoral regions are combined into one nodal region in the GHSG, whereas each count as a separate lymph node group in the EORTC.
Infraclavicular/subpectoral and axillary nodal regions are combined in EORTC.
Mediastinal and bilateral hilar nodes are combined into one region in the EORTC and GHSG.
Early-favorable stage HL {#section3-1179554917731072}
------------------------
Early-favorable disease includes patients with a limited number of lymph nodal regions, nonbulky disease, low ESR, and no B symptoms ([Figure 1](#fig1-1179554917731072){ref-type="fig"}). The choice of therapy depends on risk factors beyond bulk, as well as response on interim PET-CT. These options include the following: 2 cycles of ABVD and 20 Gy of involved site radiation therapy (ISRT), 3 to 4 cycles of ABVD and 30 Gy of ISRT, or 3 to 4 cycles of ABVD alone.
{#fig1-1179554917731072}
### Combination modality therapy {#section4-1179554917731072}
Patients with favorable disease based on the German Hodgkin Study Group (GHSG) criteria are candidates for treatment with 2 cycles of ABVD followed by 20 Gy of ISRT. It is important to remember that the GHSG criterion for early-favorable disease differs from other prognostic scoring systems, largely by their limitation to patients with only 1 to 2 sites of disease. The "2 + 20" approach arose from data in the HD10 trial demonstrating noninferiority compared with other more intense treatment regimens. The HD10 study compared 4 treatment strategies in patients with early-favorable HL by GHSG criteria: 2 or 4 cycles of ABVD combined with either 30 or 20 Gy of involved field radiation therapy (IFRT).^[@bibr17-1179554917731072]^ The 4 regimens were found to be equally effective, but with increased rates of infection and hematologic toxicity in patients receiving 4 versus 2 cycles of ABVD. The 5-year freedom from treatment failure rate was 91%, and overall survival (OS) was 97% in patients treated with 2 cycles of ABVD and 20 Gy of radiation. The difference in 5-year failure-free survival (FFS) in the most intensive compared with the least intensive strategy was only 1.6%.^[@bibr18-1179554917731072]^
Patients with stage IA to IIA nonbulky disease who are favorable by European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), or National Cancer Institute of Cancer criteria, but unfavorable by the GHSG may be treated with combination modality therapy (CMT) with ABVD for 3 cycles followed by 30 Gy of ISRT or 3 to 4 cycles of ABVD alone in a PET-directed manner. Combination modality therapy is supported by several clinical trials that demonstrate improved PFS.^[@bibr9-1179554917731072],[@bibr17-1179554917731072],[@bibr19-1179554917731072]^ However, the long-term survival is inferior to treatment with chemotherapy alone owing to an increased rate of death from causes other than HL, including second malignancies and cardiac death.^[@bibr16-1179554917731072],[@bibr18-1179554917731072],[@bibr19-1179554917731072]^
### Chemotherapy alone {#section5-1179554917731072}
Treatment with 4 to 6 cycles of ABVD alone is supported by the HD6 trial, which demonstrated superior long-term survival in patients with stage IA to IIA nonbulky disease treated with chemotherapy alone compared with CMT.^[@bibr16-1179554917731072]^ The experimental arm was randomized to ABVD alone with interim CT scans at 2 and 4 cycles. Those who achieved a complete response (CR) after 2 cycles of therapy received 4 cycles of ABVD total, whereas those with partial response or an unconfirmed CR (CRu) received 6. The radiation arm received an outdated technique, subtotal nodal radiation therapy, with or without ABVD depending on the additional risk factors. The 12-year PFS was 87% in the chemotherapy-alone arm compared with 92% in the RT arm (*P* = .05); however, the 12-year OS was superior in ABVD alone; 94% compared with 87% (*P* = .04). Although the use of radiation initially seemed to decrease the rate of Hodgkin-related deaths, after longer follow-up, there were increased rates of death in the radiation arm (24 versus 12 patients). These included deaths due to second cancers (10 versus 4), causes other than HL (10 versus 2), secondary malignancies (10 versus 2), and cardiac events (26 versus 16). This trial had a median follow-up of 12 years and therefore captured more radiation-induced late toxicities than prior studies. Second malignancies began 5 years after treatment and continued to arise for decades, highlighting the importance of extended follow-up beyond 5 to 10 years. Further support for chemotherapy alone in these patients was provided by individual data comparisons of patients included on the GHSG HD10 and HD11 and Canadian HD6 trials. These trials demonstrated superior 8-year PFS in those treated with CMT compared with ABVD alone (93% versus 87%), but the same OS at 8 years (95% in all groups).^[@bibr20-1179554917731072]^ It is likely that beyond 10 years, OS in the chemotherapy alone arm will supersede that seen in the CMT, as rates of radiation complications accumulate over time.
### PET-directed therapy {#section6-1179554917731072}
Practitioners should first determine whether patients are eligible for 2 cycles of ABVD + 20 Gy of radiation. Otherwise, after discussing the short-term and long-term risks associated with radiation therapy, a chemotherapy alone or CMT approach should be planned. Given the long-term survival benefit discussed above, treatment with ABVD alone is favored over CMT in patients with favorable disease who do not meet criteria for "2 + 20." Interim PET-CT is performed after 2 cycles of therapy. Once a CR is reached, further imaging may be performed with CT only.
#### Chemotherapy-alone planned {#section7-1179554917731072}
Those planning for a chemotherapy-alone approach would be eligible for treatment with 3 to 4 cycles of ABVD with interim PET staging. The minimum amount of therapy (3 cycles) is supported by the RAPID-UK study.^[@bibr21-1179554917731072]^ If planning this approach, patients would be treated with 3 cycles of ABVD, followed by interim PET-CT. Patients with a negative PET (defined as a Deauville score of 1-2) would require no further treatment. Those with a Deauville score of 3 to 5 may proceed to 1 additional cycle of ABVD and 30-Gy ISRT. In this study, those treated with only 3 cycles of ABVD had exceptional PFS at 3 years; 94.6% in patients receiving 4 cycles of ABVD + 30 Gy of IFRT compared with 90.8% for those receiving 3 cycles ABVD alone. Despite impressive results with limited chemotherapy, the RAPID study had several limitations, including short follow-up and the incorporation of mostly very favorable patients (2/3 favorable by GHSG criteria). Therefore, we would recommend only using this treatment approach in patients who are favorable by the stringent GHSG criteria to prevent undertreatment in the less favorable patients who were underrepresented in this trial.
In all other patients, PET-CT scan should be performed after 2 cycles of ABVD (during the last 2 weeks of the second cycle). Patients achieving a CR after 2 cycles may proceed to 2 additional cycles of therapy to complete a total of 4 cycles.^[@bibr16-1179554917731072]^ Patients with a Deauville score of 4 or 5 may be transitioned to 2 cycles of escalated BEACOPP for 2 cycles. Positron emission tomography scan may be repeated after escalated BEACOPP therapy, and radiation omitted if a CR is achieved (Deauville 1-3).
#### Combination modality therapy planned {#section8-1179554917731072}
Patients who are planning CMT should be treated with ABVD for 2 cycles followed by an interim PET-CT. Those who are favorable by the GHSG criteria with a Deauville score of 1 to 3 receive 20 Gy of radiation therapy. Patients with more than 2 sites of disease, but otherwise favorable disease by EORTC or NCCN criteria who achieve a CR after 2 cycles of ABVD (Deauville score of 1-3) may proceed to 1 to 2 additional cycles of ABVD and 30 Gy of ISRT.^[@bibr22-1179554917731072]^ Those with an incomplete response (Deauville score of 4-5) should proceed to biopsy and transitioned to escalated BEACOPP as above. The H10 trial (EORTC/LYSA \[Lymphoma Study Association\]/FIL \[Fondazione Italiana Linfomi\])^[@bibr9-1179554917731072]^ assessed PET intensification in early-stage disease. Although the initial study was terminated early due to a prespecified early stopping rule, updated results have recently been published^[@bibr22-1179554917731072]^ demonstrating that patients with a positive PET2 had improved outcomes (PFS) from intensification to escalated BEACOPP chemotherapy followed and involved nodal radiation therapy (INRT) compared with standard ABVD and INRT, with a 13% overall improvement in 5-year PFS (5-year PFS of 91% versus 77% in the BEACOPP versus ABVD arms, respectively). Although treatment intensification clearly improved PFS, it did not affect OS at 5-year follow-up.
Early-unfavorable stage HL {#section9-1179554917731072}
--------------------------
Patients with bulky mediastinal masses, B symptoms, elevated ESR, or multiple nodal sites are generally classified as early-unfavorable HL ([Figures 2](#fig2-1179554917731072){ref-type="fig"} and [3](#fig3-1179554917731072){ref-type="fig"}). Patients are further classified as unfavorable bulky or nonbulky. About 20% to 25% of patients with early-stage HL have bulky mediastinal masses. Traditionally, mediastinal bulk was defined as a mediastinal mass measuring more than one-third of the thoracic diameter on a posterior-anterior chest radiograph. The modern definition uses a chest CT scan and defines bulk as a mass greater than 10 cm.^[@bibr23-1179554917731072]^ Patients with large mediastinal masses are at higher risk for relapse, and the standard of care in this population is CMT with chemotherapy and radiation. However, the optimal regimen and number of cycles of chemotherapy are debated.
{#fig2-1179554917731072}
{#fig3-1179554917731072}
### Combination modality therapy {#section10-1179554917731072}
The most commonly used initial regimen in early-unfavorable HL is ABVD × 4 to 6 cycles followed by ISRT to 30 Gy.^[@bibr24-1179554917731072],[@bibr25-1179554917731072]^ This treatment results in OS exceeding 90% and FFS ranging from 80% to 85%.^[@bibr26-1179554917731072],[@bibr27-1179554917731072]^ Attempts to improve outcomes through alternative chemotherapy regimens such as Stanford V and escalated BEACOPP have failed to affected OS, largely owing to the increased rate of treatment-related mortality with escalated BEACOPP, and highly effective salvage therapy in those who relapse following standard ABVD.^[@bibr25-1179554917731072],[@bibr28-1179554917731072],[@bibr29-1179554917731072]^ The HD14 study assessed more than 1600 patients with early-unfavorable HL by the GHSG criteria, including 18.7% of patients with bulky mediastinal masses.^[@bibr30-1179554917731072]^ Patients were treated with ABVD for 4 cycles followed by radiation to 30 Gy (Arm A) or a 2 + 2 strategy of 2 cycles of escalated BEACOPP followed by 2 cycles of ABVD and 30 Gy of radiation (Arm B). There was no difference in OS, although there was a significant 6.2% advantage in PFS favoring the escalated BEACOPP arm at 5 years. Improvements in PFS were offset by higher toxicity in the escalated BEACOPP arm, including 4 treatment-related deaths.
### Chemotherapy alone {#section11-1179554917731072}
Although CMT is considered the standard of care in patients with bulky mediastinal masses, 2 retrospective analyses have suggested that it may be safe to omit radiation therapy in patients with unfavorable disease, regardless of bulk, following a negative PET-CT at the end of ABVD treatment.^[@bibr31-1179554917731072],[@bibr32-1179554917731072]^ Outcomes in patients with bulky disease who achieved PET negativity did not differ from those without bulky disease. Unlike early-favorable patients in whom 4 cycles of ABVD alone may be adequate therapy, we recommend that those with an elevated ESR, B symptoms, or bulky mediastinal masses be treated with 6 cycles of ABVD if radiation is omitted.
Of note, patients at the highest risk for relapses are those with multiple adverse factors including bulky mediastinal masses plus B symptoms, \>4 sites of disease, and extranodal disease. These patients were excluded from trials in early-stage disease and may be considered for initial therapy according to the algorithm for advanced-stage disease.^[@bibr30-1179554917731072]^
### PET-directed therapy {#section12-1179554917731072}
Patients should be categorized based on the presence or absence of bulk (mediastinal mass \>10 cm on CT) and determined whether a CMT approach is planned. Those with nonbulky unfavorable disease are considered for omission of radiation therapy, whereas those with bulky disease should generally complete radiation at the end of chemotherapy. All patients should have an interim PET-CT after 4 cycles of therapy to assess response and those with a Deauville score of 5 should have a biopsy documenting disease prior to changing therapy.
#### Nonbulky disease {#section13-1179554917731072}
Patients with nonbulky disease planned for a chemotherapy alone approach should be treated with ABVD for 2 cycles followed by an interim PET-CT ([Figure 2](#fig2-1179554917731072){ref-type="fig"}). Patients with a Deauville score of 1 to 3 may complete 4 additional cycles of therapy for a total of 6 cycles of ABVD.
Guidelines support CMT or ABVD alone^[@bibr33-1179554917731072]^; however, the role of radiation therapy in nonbulky disease continues to be fiercely debated.^[@bibr34-1179554917731072]^ Radiation improves local disease control and PFS by up to 5% to 7%.^[@bibr9-1179554917731072]^ However, it compromises long-term OS beyond 10 years due to increased rates of secondary malignancies that begin at 5 years and continue to occur 20 to 40 years beyond treatment, as well as death from other causes.^[@bibr16-1179554917731072],[@bibr18-1179554917731072],[@bibr35-1179554917731072]^ Combination modality therapy trials included outdated forms of radiation therapy such as IFRT and subtotal nodal irradiation that could have theoretically increased this risk. Current guidelines recommend smaller radiation fields such as ISRT and INRT based on prospective data demonstrating significantly increased doses of radiation to healthy tissue and higher rates of second malignancies in patients treated with the larger fields of IFRT.^[@bibr36-1179554917731072]^ However, available data do not demonstrate the impact of radiation which diminishes the use of smaller radiation fields or lower doses in the current era.^[@bibr17-1179554917731072],[@bibr35-1179554917731072]^
Those planned for CMT with a Deauville score of 1 to 3 on interim PET may proceed to 30 Gy of RT (4 doses of ABVD + 30 Gy RT). Patients who have a Deauville score of 4 to 5 may proceed to ABVD for 2 cycles followed by 30 Gy of RT (total of 6 cycles of ABVD).^[@bibr21-1179554917731072]^ However, this approach is not preferred. We recommend these patients transition to escalated BEACOPP for 2 cycles followed by RT to 30 Gy based on data from EORTC/LYSA/FIL H-10 study.^[@bibr22-1179554917731072],[@bibr37-1179554917731072]^ Patients who are PET negative after escalated BEACOPP may be considered for omission of radiation therapy, acknowledging that there will be an increased risk of relapse in the short term, although likely no impact on long-term survival.
#### Bulky disease {#section14-1179554917731072}
Patients with stage II bulky disease are generally recommended for initial treatment with ABVD followed by PET-CT after 2 cycles of therapy ([Figure 3](#fig3-1179554917731072){ref-type="fig"}). Those with a Deauville score of 1 to 3 may proceed to 2 additional cycles of ABVD and 30 Gy of ISRT or to 4 additional cycles of ABVD chemotherapy. Support for 4 to 6 cycles in this setting comes from a subgroup analysis of the HD11 trial, which compared patients with bulky disease treated with 4 versus 6 cycles of ABVD with 30-Gy IFRT and noted no difference in PFS or OS.^[@bibr26-1179554917731072]^ Overall, this approach results in long-term tumor control in approximately 80% of patients.^[@bibr19-1179554917731072]^
Patients who have a Deauville score of 4 to 5 may proceed to ABVD for 2 to 4 more cycles followed by radiation (total of 6 cycles of ABVD).^[@bibr21-1179554917731072]^ However, we would recommend transitioning to escalated BEACOPP for 2 cycles followed by radiation therapy.^[@bibr7-1179554917731072],[@bibr38-1179554917731072]^
Some practitioners suggest initial treatment with escalated BEACOPP in high-risk stage II patients. Most studies looking at BEACOPP compared with ABVD frontline have failed to show benefit in stage II patients.^[@bibr39-1179554917731072]^ If BEACOPP is chosen in this setting, it should be given for 2 cycles followed by interim PET and de-escalation to ABVD for 4 remaining cycles if interim PET-CT is scored as a Deauville 1 to 3.^[@bibr40-1179554917731072]^ If CMT is planned, another approach would be 2 cycles of escalated BEACOPP followed by interim PET and completion of 2 cycles of ABVD and 30 Gy of ISRT in PET-negative patients based on the HD14 data in early-unfavorable disease.^[@bibr10-1179554917731072]^
An alternative regimen for bulky disease is the Stanford V regimen (with mechlorethamine, doxorubicin, vincristine, bleomycin, vinblastine, etoposide, and prednisone)^[@bibr25-1179554917731072]^ followed by 36 Gy of ISRT. This regimen was noninferior to 6 to 8 cycles ABVD and radiation regarding PFS and OS (5-year FFS: 85% versus 79% in ABVD and Stanford V, respectively, hazard ratio \[HR\]: 0.68, 95% confidence interval \[CI\]: 0.37-1.25, *P* = .22; 5-year OS: 96% versus 92%, HR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.16-1.47, *P* = .19). Although Stanford V is still an option, it is less commonly used outside academic medical centers and additionally has the increased concern for infertility due to the use of mechlorethamine and etoposide.
Advanced-Stage Disease {#section15-1179554917731072}
======================
Advanced-stage disease generally refers to patients with Ann Arbor stage III/IV disease ([Figure 4](#fig4-1179554917731072){ref-type="fig"}); however, patients with high-risk stage II disease are also frequently included. In contrast to early-stage disease where the long-term cure exceeds 90%, only approximately 65% to 75% of patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin will remain disease free at 10 years.^[@bibr28-1179554917731072],[@bibr39-1179554917731072],[@bibr41-1179554917731072]^ The IPS score defines prognosis by incorporating the following risk factors: albumin level, hemoglobin, sex, age \>45 years, stage IV, and the presence of leukocytosis or lymphocytosis ([Table 3](#table3-1179554917731072){ref-type="table"}).^[@bibr1-1179554917731072]^ Patients with an IPS greater than or equal to 3 were found to have inferior treatment outcomes and identified as potentially requiring more intensive therapy.^[@bibr1-1179554917731072]^
{#fig4-1179554917731072}
######
International Prognostic Score.^[@bibr1-1179554917731072]^
Risk factor Points Points: freedom from progression of disease
-------------------------------------------------- -------- ---------------------------------------------
Albumin \<4 g/dL 1
Hemoglobin \<10.5 g/dL 1 0: 84%
Male 1 1: 77%
Age ⩾45 y 1 2: 67%
Stage IV disease 1 3: 60%
Leukocytosis (WBC ⩾15 000/mm^3^) 1 4: 51%
Lymphocytopenia (ALC \<600/mm^3^ or \<8% of WBC) 1 ⩾5: 42%
Abbreviations: ALC, absolute lymphocyte count; WBC, white blood cell.
Guidelines generally recommend treatment with chemotherapy alone, starting with either ABVD or escalated BEACOPP depending on the IPS risk score. Escalated BEACOPP differs from ABVD by incorporating elevated doses of etoposide, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide. Multiple head-to-head, randomized comparisons of these 2 regimens have found overall similar long-term survival at approximately 75% to 85% at 10 years, improved PFS with BEACOPP (65%-70% in ABVD at 10 years compared with 75%-80% with escBEACOPP)^[@bibr39-1179554917731072],[@bibr41-1179554917731072]^ but increased rates of infertility,^[@bibr42-1179554917731072]^ grade 4 infections, hospitalizations for neutropenia, and secondary hematologic malignancies.^[@bibr39-1179554917731072],[@bibr43-1179554917731072]^ The controversy continues, however, as one large meta-analysis failed to identify an OS advantage with the more aggressive regimen,^[@bibr44-1179554917731072]^ whereas the second demonstrated a significant improvement in OS to the tune of 5% to 10% at 5 years in patients who were treated with 6 cycles of escalated BEACOPP initially.^[@bibr45-1179554917731072]^ Patients with stage II disease were included in the former meta-analysis but excluded from the latter, potentially accounting for some of this discrepancy. In addition, there is ongoing debate about the role radiation in advanced-stage disease with bulky mediastinal masses. In general, it may be omitted in those able to achieve PET negativity at the end of treatment.^[@bibr46-1179554917731072]^ Stanford V for 12 weeks followed by ISRT is also an accepted approach in low-risk advanced-stage disease.^[@bibr47-1179554917731072]^ This regimen showed no statistically significant difference compared with 6 to 8 cycles ABVD (overall response rate of 73% for ABVD and 69% for Stanford V and FFS of 74% for ABVD and 71% for Stanford V (*P* = .32). However, this regimen is not commonly used outside of Stanford for the reasons previously listed.
Treatment by IPS risk score {#section16-1179554917731072}
---------------------------
Patients with an IPS score of 1 of 3 are generally treated with 6 cycles of ABVD. Other options for therapy in patients with low-risk (IPS \<3) disease include the Stanford V regimen for 12 weeks.^[@bibr47-1179554917731072]^ This regimen also results in similar efficacy and minimal toxicity compared with ABVD. Those with an IPS score of ⩾3 and age \<60 years may consider initial treatment with either ABVD or escalated BEACOPP. However, a recent large randomized clinical trial comparing high-risk patients with an IPS score ⩾3 and stage III/IV disease treated with ABVD × 8 versus escalated BEACOPP × 4 followed by baseline BEACOPP × 4 demonstrated no difference in event-free survival or OS at 8 years.^[@bibr28-1179554917731072]^
PET-adapted therapy {#section17-1179554917731072}
-------------------
Practitioners should first decide whether patients are to be treated initially with ABVD or escalated BEACOPP. Interim PET-CT is performed after 2 cycles of therapy (regardless of which regimen is initiated). Once a CR is reached, further imaging may be performed with CT only.
### Starting with ABVD {#section18-1179554917731072}
Patients planned for initial therapy with ABVD who achieve a CR on interim PET (Deauville score of 1-3) may continue to complete a total of 6 cycles of therapy. Alternatively, some patients may de-escalate therapy to AVD (omitting bleomycin) for the remaining 4 cycles. A large phase III clinical trial demonstrated near equivalency when de-escalating to AVD after negative interim PET, with 3-year PFS and OS of 85.7% and 97.2%, respectively, for ABVD × 6 compared with 84.4% and 97.6%, respectively in ABVD followed by AVD.^[@bibr7-1179554917731072]^
Patients with a Deauville score of 4 to 5 on interim PET after 2 cycles of therapy can be considered for intensification to escalated BEACOPP. Positron emission tomography should then be repeated after 3 cycles of escalated BEACOPP.^[@bibr7-1179554917731072],[@bibr38-1179554917731072]^ Those with a Deauville score of 1 to 3 may continue with 1 additional cycle of escalated BEACOPP. This technique was supported by large phase II and phase III studies.^[@bibr5-1179554917731072],[@bibr6-1179554917731072]^ The US intergroup study of response-adapted therapy in stage III/IV patients demonstrated a 2-year PFS of 64% for PET2-positive patients, which was favorable compared with the expected 2-year PFS of 15% to 30% in patients who continue ABVD.^[@bibr6-1179554917731072]^ Furthermore, the Europeans performed a large multinational study of high-risk stage II through stage IV patients and found that those with PET positivity after 2 cycles who transitioned to escalated BEACOPP had a 3-year PFS of 68%, OS of 88%, and more than 74% of patients achieved PET negativity.^[@bibr7-1179554917731072]^ In this trial, patients with a negative PET at the completion of therapy could omit radiation therapy.
### Starting with escalated BEACOPP {#section19-1179554917731072}
Patients planned for initial therapy with escalated BEACOPP should have interim restaging with a PET-CT after 2 cycles of therapy. Options for those who are responding well to initial therapy (Deauville score of 1-3) include either de-escalation to ABVD for 4 additional cycles^[@bibr40-1179554917731072]^ or de-escalation to baseline BEACOPP.^[@bibr48-1179554917731072]^ In general, de-escalation to ABVD is favored. High-risk patients may require 6 cycles of escBEACOPP if interim PET-CT remains positive (Deauville 4-5).
### Consolidative radiation therapy {#section20-1179554917731072}
Patients with a residual mass \>2 cm after therapy should have a PET-CT to confirm disease response. Those with a negative PET require no further consolidation, whereas those with a positive PET should receive consolidative radiation therapy.^[@bibr46-1179554917731072]^ A prospective analysis in British Columbia found that patients with bulky versus nonbulky disease at diagnosis and a negative PET scan at the end of treatment had no difference in the 3-year time to progression (TTP) in those with bulky versus nonbulky disease at diagnosis (86% versus 91%, *P* = .71). However, patients with a positive PET scan had a far inferior outcome (3-year TTP: 55% versus 89%, *P* = .00001). This was also demonstrated by German HD15 trial.^[@bibr49-1179554917731072]^
Elderly {#section21-1179554917731072}
=======
Elderly patients are defined as age ⩾60 years and represent between 15% and 30% of all HL cases ([Figure 5](#fig5-1179554917731072){ref-type="fig"}). These patients have a universally poor prognosis, with 5-year OS rates ranging from 40% to 55%.^[@bibr50-1179554917731072]^ The standard of care in this population remains ABVD chemotherapy. However, up to one-third of patients will have bleomycin lung toxicity (BLT) compared with approximately 5% for younger patients; furthermore, the risk of death from BLT is also higher, with up to 25% mortality related to BLT.^[@bibr51-1179554917731072][@bibr52-1179554917731072]--[@bibr53-1179554917731072]^ Trials attempting to improve on standard of care with ABVD have been disappointing overall.^[@bibr54-1179554917731072],[@bibr55-1179554917731072]^ Other attempts to minimize toxicity have included elimination of bleomycin from ABVD. Among elderly patients with early-favorable HL, elimination of bleomycin resulted in decreased local control; however, long-term survival was not compromised, with OS rates exceeding 98%.^[@bibr56-1179554917731072]^ These data suggest that an upfront regimen of AVD may be considered, particularly in patients at high risk for BLT. Alternatively, trials in younger patients have demonstrated that bleomycin may be omitted after 2 cycles in those achieving a response without compromising efficacy.^[@bibr56-1179554917731072]^ To address the balance the toxicity with efficacy, the GHSG compared elderly favorable patients treated with either 2 cycles of ABVD or AVD each followed by IFRT compared with 4 cycles of ABVD.^[@bibr54-1179554917731072]^ Grade III/IV events were much higher in patients receiving 4 cycles of therapy (65% overall) as were BLT. Given the lack of data in this group, the standard of care should be with 2 cycles of AVD or ABVD followed by IFRT in early-favorable HL. Patients with advanced disease should be considered for 2 cycles of ABVD, followed by 2 to 4 cycles of AVD or AVD for a total of 4 to 6 cycles depending on tolerability.^[@bibr51-1179554917731072],[@bibr56-1179554917731072]^
{#fig5-1179554917731072}
Conclusions {#section22-1179554917731072}
===========
Treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma has become increasingly complex with the use of prognostic systems and interim PET-directed therapy. As we begin to gather more information on the long-term consequences of our treatments, it has become clear that the most aggressive therapies do not benefit all patients in the long run. By carefully selecting patients who require more or less aggressive therapy from the beginning and then tailoring treatment to response, we hope to strike the balance between treatment efficacy and toxicity.
**Peer review:**Seven peer reviewers contributed to the peer review report. Reviewers' reports totaled 1137 words, excluding any confidential comments to the academic editor.
**Funding:**The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
**Declaration of conflicting interests:**The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
**Author Contributions:** PBA wrote the first draft of the manuscript. LIG contributed to the writing of the manuscript. PBA and LIG agree with manuscript results and conclusions, jointly developed the structure and arguments for the paper, made critical revisions and approved final version, and reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
**Disclosures and Ethics:** As a requirement of publication, author(s) have provided to the publisher signed confirmation of compliance with legal and ethical obligations including but not limited to the following: authorship and contributorship, conflicts of interest, privacy and confidentiality, and (where applicable) protection of human and animal research subjects. The authors have read and confirmed their agreement with the ICMJE authorship and conflict of interest criteria. The authors have also confirmed that this article is unique and not under consideration or published in any other publication, and that they have permission from rights holders to reproduce any copyrighted material. Any disclosures are made in this section. The external blind peer reviewers report no conflicts of interest.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Central"
}
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Q:
Getting the ID of an object when the object is given
I have link that calls a function when clicked:
<a href="javascript:spawnMenu(this);" id="link1">Test1</a>
To make my function work, I need access to the object so that I can perform jQuery operations like this:
alert($(objCaller).offset().left);
Since objCaller points to the object and not the object ID, this won't work. I need something like this:
alert($("a#link1").offset().left);
How can I get the object ID from objCaller?
A:
You need to do this:
<a href="javascript:;" onclick="spawnMenu(this);" id="link1">Test1</a>
You can't pass this via a javascript: url.
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{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
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Gold Medal Leapin Lime Flossugar Box 5 Gallon
Lime flavored flossugar for cotton candy machines. Leapin Lime by Gold Medal is a Lime Green flavored, ready to use special sugar for cotton candy & floss machines. It is manufactured using only the finest ingredients a
"When I found the old popcorn maker stashed away in a back closet of our FOB (Forward Operating Base), I couldn't imagine it would ever work. After some parts and TLC, I got it running again. The next step was figuring out how to get the troops working for me some popcorn to eat! I called several companies, tried Amazon, etc. Nobody was able to ship a large bag of popcorn, salt, and oil to an APO address. Then I tried Nationwide Candy, and Jason was immediately able to put together my order and get it shipped out to me. Nationwide Candy and Jason have no idea how happy they have made my 200 troops to have a little taste of home out here in Afghanistan. It's the little things from back home that keep us going, and Nationwide Candy had a big part in that. THANK YOU!"
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{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
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CD11b and CD200 on Circulating Monocytes Differentiate Two Angiographic Subtypes of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy.
To investigate surface expression of CD11b and CD200 on circulating monocytes in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). This was a prospective case-control study of patients with PCV (n = 27), age-matched healthy controls (n = 27), and patients with neovascular AMD (n = 49). All participants underwent a comprehensive ocular examination. Fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography were performed in patients suspected of neovascular AMD or PCV. Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy was angiographically categorized into those with a strong presence of a branching vascular network (BVN) (type 1) or with a faint/no clear presence of a BVN (type 2). Fresh venous blood was stained with fluorescent antibodies for flow cytometric analyses. We compared the percentages of CD11b+, CD200+, and CD11b+CD200+ monocytes between groups of diagnosis and between different angiographic subtypes of PCV. Overall, CD11b+ monocytes were both increased in patients with PCV and neovascular AMD. CD200+ and CD11b+CD200+ monocytes were increased in patients with neovascular AMD. An age-related increase in CD11b+CD200+ monocytes was absent in patients with PCV and neovascular AMD. Patients with PCV type 1 had significantly higher CD11b+, CD200+, and CD11b+CD200+ monocytes, whereas patients with PCV type 2 had levels similar to that in healthy controls. We found that PCV is immunologically heterogeneous with significant differences between angiographic subtypes. Increased CD11b+ and CD200+ monocytes in those with a strong presence of BVN indicate that BVN development may be associated with retinal injury and a VEGF-mediated process that is either reflected or propelled by systemic changes in monocytes.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
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Q:
Using prototype with Jquery
Is there any way of using prototype to coexist with Jquery.
What i mean is not Jquery with prototype with the Jquery NoConflict tag but the other way around.
I have to override prototypes utility methods to coexist with other libraries?
I have no control over the Jquery Scripts
A:
When jQuery is included, it takes a copy of whatever is defined as $ and stores a reference to it. When you use jQuery.noConflict it restores that reference, and returns jQuery which allows you to "rename" jQuery.
If you want to rename Prototype, that should be entirely possible.
// 1. include Prototype
// $ == Prototype
// 2. include jQuery
// $ == jQuery
var jq = jQuery.noConflict();
var $p = $;
$ = jq;
// now, $ == jQuery
// and $p == Prototype
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{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
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Neuendettelsau
Neuendettelsau is a local authority in Middle Franconia, Germany. Neuendettelsau is situated 20 miles southwest of Nuremberg and 12 miles east of Ansbach. Since 1947 it has a Lutheran seminary (Augustana Hochschule).
Diakonie Neuendettelsau
Reverend Wilhelm Löhe (1808–1872) founded in 1854 an institute for deaconesses. The Diakonie Neuendettelsau is one of today’s major independent Christian institutions for social welfare work in Germany and the biggest such enterprise in Bavaria. More than 5,800 employees at numerous institutions in Neuendettelsau and other regions all over Southern Germany and in other European countries take care of the people they are responsible for.
Politics
First mayor: Gerhard Korn (CSU)
Second mayor: Gottwald Dötzer (SPD)
Third mayor: Wernher Geistmann (CSU)
Sister city
Treignac (France), since 1996
Notable people
Karl-Friedrich Beringer, choirmaster of the Windsbacher Knabenchor :de:Windsbacher Knabenchor
Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe, Lutheran pastor and theologian.
Walter Burkert, world-famous German scholar of ancient Greek mythology and religion.
Literature
Matthias Honold, Hans Rößler (Hrsg.): 700 Jahre Neuendettelsau, Neuendettelsau 1998.
Hans Rößler (Hrsg.): Unter Stroh- und Ziegeldächern. Aus der Neuendettelsauer Geschichte, Neuendettelsau 1982.
References
External links
Homepage of the local authority Neuendettelsau
Diakonie Neuendettelsau
Löhe-Zeit-Museum Neuendettelsau
Virtual museum of Neuendettelsau
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{
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
}
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Immune responses against Plasmodium falciparum asexual blood-stage antigens and disease susceptibility in Gabonese and Cameroonian children.
The frequency and level of cellular and humoral responses to seven synthetic peptides from asexual blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum were measured in two cohorts of children living in areas highly endemic for malaria in Gabon and Cameroon. A prospective longitudinal study was conducted for one year in these sites to examine the relationship between specific in vitro immune responses and susceptibility to clinical malaria. Clinical protection was related to high proliferative responses (merozoite surface antigen-1 [MSA-1] and MSA-2 peptides) as well as to elevated antibody levels (schizont extract, MSA-2, and rhoptry-associated protein-1 [RAP-1] peptides) in the village of Dienga, Gabon. Higher response rates of interferon-gamma but lower response rates of tumor necrosis factor-alpha to four and six peptides, respectively, were observed in Dienga than in Pouma that were independent of the older age of the Gabonese children. Age accounted only for the higher prevalence rate in Dienga of the antibody responders to the peptide from Pf155/ring-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (RESA). Our results support the inclusion of epitopes from MSA-1, MSA-2, RAP-1, and Pf155/RESA antigens in a subunit vaccine against malaria, but show that a longitudinal clinical, parasitologic, and immunologic study conducted according to identical criteria in two separate areas may lead to contrasting observations, demonstrating the geographic limitation of the interpretation of such results.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
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Risk factors for late-onset seizures related to cerebral contusions in adults with a moderate traumatic brain injury.
This prospective study compares the characteristics of patients with a moderately severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and cerebral contusions who develop late-onset seizures to those who do not. Thirty-nine adult TBI patients with cerebral contusions, who did not need a neurosurgical treatment, could be followed up for more than 3years. Fourteen patients developed seizures during that period and 25 did not. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score on admission and the modified Rankin (mR) score on discharge from the hospital, the computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, the electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns as well as the vascular and habit risk factors were compared between both groups. The mean GCS and mR scores were moderately severe and comparable between both groups. Early-onset seizures represented 21.4%. The overall seizure recurrence was 85.7% after treatment with carbamazepine or valproate sodium. Still 3 patients did not remain seizure-free after addition of another antiepileptic drug. The average number of brain contusions on CT/MRI was approximately the same. Vascular risk factors and alcohol abuse were more observed in the seizure patients. Abnormal EEG findings on discharge from the hospital were significantly more frequent in the patients who developed late-onset seizures afterward (P<0.05). Seizures after non-complicated cerebral contusions are difficult to treat. Vascular risk factors and alcohol abuse may also predispose to their occurrence. The EEG findings after the TBI are highly predictive.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
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[Cyclic nucleotide metabolic disorder in brain tumors].
The content of cAMP and cGMP as well as their ratio in the tissues of different cerebral tumors in humans were studied. The concentration of both cyclic nucleotides in tumors of the brain was found to vary widely. The richest information on disorders of metabolism of these substances may be gained from the ratio of cAMP and cGMP concentrations, which statistically is significantly reduced in the neoplasm as compared to the ratio in the cerebral tissue. Bearing in mind the principal possibility of correcting this ratio, further study of the metabolism of cyclic nucleotides in cerebral tumors holds promise for their treatment.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
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Q:
Testflight app not updating
I have this Cordova/Phonegap iOS app which I have submitted to Testflight for beta-testing.
However when I have pushed updates, the beta users have not had their apps updated, it's still the same app.
Find this really strange since I have verified in Xcode before I submit that it is the new code.
Things I have done:
Save code, commit and push to Github
Start Xcode, launch new project, checkout master-branch from Github.
Verify bundle ID, update build, and version numbering.
Archive, then submit to iTunes Connect
Distribute new version via iTunes Connect and disable old version.
Am pulling my hair right now. Have pushed 3 updates which haven't gone through. Any ideas?
A:
I had a similar issue and this resolved it for me:
In iTunes Connect go to the prerelease page for your app, then toggle the TestFlight Beta Testing switch off and then back on again.
Edit - It may be irrelevant but I have to add a key in my Info.plist ITSAppUsesNonExemptEncryption.
Setting this to "NO" solved my problem. It seems they have removed the option of setting "Missing Compliance" from App Store and added this key.
Please go through this link once for details,
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/information_property_list/itsappusesnonexemptencryption
A:
Make sure you've filled out all the fields in the Build Information and hit save. I've had this same issue.
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{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
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A level one tornado warning has been issued for Ireland today by a European storm forecaster.
The European Storm Forecast Experiment - also known as Estofex - says a level one warning is the lowest warning out of three, and says there's just a 5% probability of a tornado hitting the country.
The news comes after Met Eireann earlier issued a weather warning, with wind speeds expected to reach over 110 kilometres per hour in some parts of the country today.
Met Eireann says western coastal counties will be worst affected, with a risk of spot flooding also forecast.
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{
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
}
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Sir Alex Ferguson believes Chelsea will be the greatest threat to Manchester United for the Premier League title next season, provided Jose Mourinho returns to his former side.
The United manager is on course to win a 20th league title with the Red Devils, currently 15 points clear of holders Manchester City, and he has the opportunity to put further daylight between the Red Devils and their bitter rivals when they clash in the derby on Monday night at Old Trafford.
Although United are coasting to this year's championship, Ferguson has warned his team will not ease up next season. "We've got a lot of youth in the team, there's no doubt about that," he said. "The record over the last 20 years tells you we're not going away. So I'd expect us without doubt to have a real good challenge next year."
While the Scot is confident of United being in the title tussle, the 71-year-old feels Chelsea will be right in contention, dependent on whether Mourinho decides to come back to Stamford Bridge. Ferguson's failure to mention Liverpool is perhaps a sign he believes Brendan Rodgers will not be able to conjure up a challenge from Merseyside.
"You'd expect - if Jose goes back to Chelsea - a big challenge there," Ferguson said. "[Manchester] City won't go away, with the money they've got. And I think Arsenal will improve - there's some indication that Arsenal are building a better squad than people think and Tottenham have been progressing for a couple of years now.
"So it's a hard league to win, there's no doubt about that. But at this moment in time we just need to concentrate on winning the league this year."
Mourinho was in charge of Chelsea for four seasons, with the Portuguese delivering Premier League titles in his first two campaigns and lifting four more trophies during his tenure.
The man who has so often been tipped to replace Ferguson at United guided Real Madrid to the Primera Liga last season as they toppled Barcelona, but a fallout with the club's hierarchy and reported unrest in the dressing room make his departure from the Bernabeu likely come the end of the season.
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{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
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[Cow's milk protein allergy].
Cow's milk protein allergy affects gastrointestinal morphology and function. The clinical symptoms depend on the localisation in the gut and on the type of the allergic reaction. In some patients cutaneous, respiratory and even urinary symptoms may also be present. As the condition is almost limited to the first year of life, transitory elimination of cow's milk from the diet is the treatment of choice. A number of patients with intractable diarrhoea suffers from undiagnosed cow's milk protein allergy.
|
{
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|
Shopify and the Power of Platforms - jonbaer
https://stratechery.com/2019/shopify-and-the-power-of-platforms/
======
Townley
> Shopify is giving merchants an opportunity to differentiate themselves while
> bearing no risk if they fail.
In addition to this being a great position for Shopify, this is an amazing
thing for merchants compared to Amazon's offering; it's the critical
difference between "We'll sell your stuff" and "We'll empower you to easily
sell your stuff" that leaves power and agency in the hands of individual
companies.
Semi-related: For a really insightful conversation about Shopify, personal
interactions, and running a good company, I highly recommended The Knowledge
Project's interview with the company's CEO, Tobi Lütke: [https://fs.blog/tobi-
lutke/](https://fs.blog/tobi-lutke/)
~~~
DenisM
What about traffic though? Amazon gives you traffic, user reviews, used
confidence.
~~~
imjk
Sure, you have to work to target your own audience and build the trust with
them yourself, but it's a tradeoff that benefits you in the long run. Your not
beholden to the whims "the platform" as many media companies learned the hard
way by putting so much of their focus on Facebooks platform in the past
decade.
------
omouse
Shopify is just the next closed-source iteration of WordPress and Magento.
WordPress has one of the largest platforms and they've taken over (and open-
sourced) blogging, content management, learning management systems, and
ecommerce. They and Magento are better examples of a platform than Shopify.
In the long-term, "platforms" like Shopify lose because they don't have nearly
enough developers. They have ~3000 "apps" listed in their app store:
[https://apps.shopify.com/browse/all?pricing=all&requirements...](https://apps.shopify.com/browse/all?pricing=all&requirements=off&sort_by=popular)
WooCommerce has 285 plugins, and WordPress has 54,000+ plugins. Magento has
~5000 plugins.
It would be cool if Stratechery took a look at free/open source on the
platform/aggregator spectrum.
~~~
pxue
Here's my hot take (with 2 years of running a #1 trending shopify app +
multiple attempt in starting a store)
Shopify DOES NOT help you sell. Period.
Amazon will win in the long run because at the end of the day it's all about
if the "platform" can move merchandize or not. Amazon captures top of the
funnel all the way down to personalized targeting.
Shopify will never do that. they are just the tool to help you figure out all
that yourself. Outsiders / beginners looking in would say Shopify is amazing
because the ecosystem and how many "tools" there are to help you sell. but
it's all load of horsesh*t. The merchant ultimately is the one responsible to
run the ad campaigns, find the customers, run promotional pricing on BFCM.
~~~
sushilewis
That's a great take that others miss. Marketing is 100X harder than setting up
a platform.
~~~
MuffinFlavored
Devil's advocate: go make a listing on Amazon for a product that already has
other competitors selling. How are you going to "market" yours to the top?
~~~
rchaud
The answer is to pay even more money to Amazon to place yourself as a
"sponsored" listing that goes right to the top of search results. Partly why
Amazon is rapidly becoming a dumpster fire of an e-shop. It looks more like
the search results page on Google these days.
------
asdfokd8
It seems to me like Aggregators vs Platforms is related to Products as
Commodities vs Products as Brands.
Aggregators win when products are anonymous commodities. Brands win when
products are beloved.
It seems like the trend (for many reasons: over-marketing, dis-satisfaction,
dis-trust, a race toward the barely-legal) is toward products as brands:
brands which are authentic and relational and participants themselves in the
experience (that "get it").
I think this trend will prove to be great for platforms, and bad for
aggregators. [https://medium.com/@thecraigmartin/the-greatest-threat-to-
re...](https://medium.com/@thecraigmartin/the-greatest-threat-to-retailers-
acab2a5f864)
------
rladd
Here are some excerpts from my recent conversation with Shopify support:
Q: noticed that sockfancy.com is using shopify? is there a way to set things
up like they do: user checks off the options they want and then they go
directly to a single-page checkout for their subscription?
A: A subscription is a recurring order. For recurring orders they are using
Recurring Orders & Subscription Box App by Bold, and Recurring Orders
Enterprise, which is only available to Shopify Plus merchants.
Q: how about the single page checkout?
A: The single page checkout is also a feature of Shopify Plus plan, which
starts at $2000 per month. They are also using cashier by Bold.
Q: It looks like those Bold plugins add commission costs of about 3% or more
per sale?
A: I don't know the details of that, but again they are available only for
Shopify Plus.
Yes it's true that you can set up a generic site cheaply, but for a site that
actually works well and has single page checkout, etc. you get into some very
big bucks, and also some very large sales commissions.
~~~
rladd
Another point about hosted platforms: if they run slowly, there's not that
much you can do to fix it. Here's a GTMetrix report for the aforementioned
site:
[https://gtmetrix.com/reports/sockfancy.com/gSNvns6s](https://gtmetrix.com/reports/sockfancy.com/gSNvns6s)
Fully Loaded Time - 7.8s
Not sure anyone would think this is an acceptable amount of time to wait for a
page to load.
~~~
gcbw2
It's not like you could also do anything about slow page loads if selling via
amazon or wallmart.
~~~
rladd
Yes, but Amazon brings traffic and a customer base to the picture. Shopify
doesn't.
Shopify is competing with any other shopping cart software, and for companies
concerned with performance there may be a case for hosting your own.
~~~
rhizome
> _Shopify is competing with any other shopping cart software_
How many of them have better performance? Might just be a "all of you have to
do is be faster than the slowest."
------
bhouston
I predict that Shopify will eventually create an Amazon-like system where
products from its merchants can be listed in a unified e-commerce frontend
site all together.
Not sure if I will be correct about this but I might as well try for a third
correct prediction about Shopify:
* Fulfilled by Shopify ([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18524131](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18524131))
* Shopify POS ([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6289827](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6289827)).
~~~
ky0ung
I don't think this makes sense to do. Shopify is great at developing software
to help merchants sell online. They have successfully built a relationship
with the merchant side of the market...but what is there advantage on the
creating a business on the retail customer side? At the moment, Shopify only
services the merchants. This being said, it is still possible to build a
business on customer side, but the question is...would it make sense?
I'd say it wouldn't make sense to do this. Shopify has no relationship with
the retail customer. To build it, they'd have to build traffic from scratch.
They'd have to not only build a unique customer brand, but also have to figure
out a way to drive traffic, which would likely be through aggressive marketing
(Facebook / Google ads), which wouldn't be economical. Secondly, what would
Shopify build a brand around for customers?
Amazon's brand is built on the promise of not only providing the cheapest
prices, but also the convenience of 2 day shipping (achievable only through
scale), amazing customer service (and lenient refunds, again achievable only
through scale). This being said, what would Shopify's "brand" promise be?
Curation of their favorite products? Who says that Shopify is qualified to
curate?
All of these factors make it hard for me to believe that they'd enter and
create a serious business from a unified e-commerce site that'd compete with
Amazon.
~~~
bhouston
The issue is that Shopify will run out of growth in their current sector. Thus
they need to seek out some way to grow their market by redefining it to be
bigger than it currently.
One large issue that I see is that Amazon wins 40%+ of ecommerce because
shoppers searches start on Amazon. Shopify stores lose by default 40% of the
time because of that.
Shopify with its huge number of merchants and pre-populated product listings
and its centralized cloud-hosted platform is uniquely positioned to compete
here in a way that Magento and WooCommerce can't with their distributed
install base.
Shopify has to have an angle that is unique to them for sure. I am not sure
what that is in terms of marketing. But they have generally done well in
marketing, so I trust they will find an angle.
I think the centralized store will be an adjunct to the main offering, thus it
will be an option, but because it leads to more sales opportunities, because
it helps to solve the search issue, most will opt-in.
I think that they can also somehow tie in the existing stores, of which there
are 700,000 into solving the need to introduce people to the centralized
search. Maybe if these stores act as a funnel to Shopify's central storefront,
they will get click through advertising revenue. Thus the centralization is in
effect another revenue stream for stores that refer traffic to the central
store. E.g. "If you do not get a sale yourself, at least get the referral
revenue on the eventual sale."
I wouldn't be surprised as well (another prediction) that Shopify wants to
further own the customer relationship between their merchants and their
merchant's customers so that Shopify can market on Shopify's behalf to these
customers. I see suggestions of this from the breakdown of the Shopify-
Mailchimp relationship. Shopify is working to maintain control of its
relationships with merchant's customers.
------
benologist
If anyone is interested in a 'Shopify for SaaS' I am in private beta with one,
my platform is an open source app store for web applications with developer
registration and payouts through Stripe Connect. Developers can code single
page apps on the website or import their servers by URL. Users can install the
creations for personal or organization use, imported or freely subscribed or
paid subscriptions.
My email is in my profile if anyone is interested in participating in my beta.
Example of a web app on my platform -
[https://github.com/userappstore/integration-
examples/blob/ma...](https://github.com/userappstore/integration-
examples/blob/master/hastebin/hastebin-app-store-
subscription/src/www/public/14-second-user-creates-shared-post.png?raw=true)
Case study for how that app, hastebin, was ported -
[https://github.com/userappstore/integration-
examples/blob/ma...](https://github.com/userappstore/integration-
examples/blob/master/hastebin/hastebin-app-store-subscription.md)
------
parentheses
It's easy to think platforms are difficult to build. With some of the
"platform infrastructure" mentioned, it's very possible to assemble a large
majority of a new platform out of large chunks rather than building from
scratch. One of the infrastructure components of Shopify missed in the article
is Stripe. Stripe makes it possible for them to scale to serve clients in many
countries and offer an e-commerce capability. Then there is AWS. I think the
article misses some of the depth of platform building capabilities that are
out there and available for use.
------
dkrich
The main differentiator between Amazon and everyone else continues to be
Prime. Having people paying $120/year to come back and shop on their site is
an advantage that nobody can compete with. Shopify could try and compete by
creating a similar membership service, and perhaps they will, but at this
point I'm skeptical it would gain much traction. The main reason people use
Prime is to buy commodity goods with fast free shipping. In this case I'm
defining commodity goods as those where the supplier isn't that important and
the alternative is driving to a local store and buying the same thing.
Shopify is almost at the other extreme: the sites that sell goods on its
platform must differentiate themselves with niche offerings and consequently,
I'd bet that the average Shopify customer makes purchases a lot less
frequently than the average Amazon customer. People shop on those sites
because the local stores don't have what they are looking for.
Another reason I'm a bit skeptical about the "Shopify is a threat to Amazon"
narrative is that at a certain scale it seems that stores would leave Shopify
and just manage their own websites and inventory. So Shopify is sort of a
business incubator that is extremely valuable when a business' scale is
limited. But the few that become huge hits would likely leave to save
transaction costs, so Shopify would lose that business.
Totally agree with the Wal-Mart analysis though. They seem to be all over the
place. I sometimes wonder why Wal-Mart doesn't at least try to start a
subscription service. They would definitely have to undercut Amazon on price
and eat losses for a while, but I don't understand the idea of advertising a
no-subscription required model when that model clearly works so well for so
many other businesses. The most obvious issue is that they are at a huge
disadvantage in distribution center build-out, but why couldn't they start
regionally in a couple of densely-populated areas and expand from there? Price
the service aggressively and maybe give members discounts on groceries or
other in-store products, an area where Wal-Mart has a massive advantage over
Amazon.
------
j4_hnews
As Amazon gobbles up more product categories, there may be less viable
categories that potential e-commerce startups might venture into on their own.
This could mean over time, more Shopify merchants would be selling overlapping
product categories (the ones Amazon has not yet gobbled up yet).
Which would mean that as a Shopify merchant, you would competing with other
Shopify merchants (not Amazon).
How do you differentiate, when the Shopify platform makes the same set of
selling advantages available to everyone?
You leave Shopify ...
~~~
AznHisoka
"when the Shopify platform makes the same set of selling advantages available
to everyone?"
Shopify doesn't make advantages like branding, brand awareness, marketing,
market research, etc available. It simply makes setting up an online store
more convenient for people do. Convenience != competitive advantage. You can
extend this argument to cloud platforms. AWS, and Azure make setting up and
scaling a SaaS easier, but it doesn't give you any secret sauce that you need
to succeed, like the ability to know what your customer want.
~~~
jasonsync
Isn't the point of the article that the Shopify Fulfillment Network will be
available to all merchants (that pay for it)?
Most of the Shopify plugins exist to give a store owner an advantage in sales,
conversion or marketing. Sure execution counts, external branding counts, but
Shopify is a closed platform. You use their plugins and approved apps. And
most store owners rely on these plugins to some degree, to help them build
brand awareness etc.
Eg: [https://apps.shopify.com/browse/sales-and-conversion-
optimiz...](https://apps.shopify.com/browse/sales-and-conversion-optimization)
Shopify levels the playing field which is great. But if everyone selling
Bananas is on the same field, using the same plugins, switching fields could
be a great way to differentiate and possibly optimize beyond what Shopify can
help you with.
~~~
lprubin
I’d just like to point out that Shopify isn’t a closed platform. Shopify has
the concept of a private app that is not in the app store and not approved by
Shopify. So a store can either build/hire an agency to build their own
unapproved app using a wide variety and growing set of shopify apis. I’ve made
a lot of money doing exactly that.
There also are a number of apps who choose not to be in the app store and not
give up 20% of their revenue and instead market on their own.
------
idlewords
I just want to plug the Stratechery newsletter, which whether you agree with
the author's conclusions or not is consistently excellent, and a spur to
thinking about our industry,
~~~
akulkarni7
I just took a look at it thanks to this comment and wow, that is some terrific
content. Thanks for sharing!
------
wenbin
Tobi is like a younger Jeff Bezos :) I binge listened quite a few his podcast
interviews [https://lnns.co/aECRtZ2fNn9](https://lnns.co/aECRtZ2fNn9)
~~~
jonny_eh
He's also much generous, and technically adept (he created a bunch of popular
early Ruby gems).
------
CriticalCathed
It's an interesting article, but the most interesting part to me was the Bill
Gates Line article the author also wrote. [0] The distinction between a
platform and an aggregator was not one that I ever considered. I'm convinced
by this article that it's a useful one.
Does anyone know why it is that Shopify's stock has risen by 100% over the
last year? I looked it over and couldn't figure out why -- is it the 3PL
Fulfillment Network this article mentions?
[0] [https://stratechery.com/2018/the-bill-gates-
line/](https://stratechery.com/2018/the-bill-gates-line/)
~~~
hackermailman
Shopify reported 50% yearly revenue growth which helped the stock price, and
gov of Canada/provinces used shopify exclusively for their online marijuana
ordering starting last year too. That said their lack of net income is a
problem [https://www.fool.ca/2019/05/07/where-will-shopify-tsxshop-
st...](https://www.fool.ca/2019/05/07/where-will-shopify-tsxshop-stock-be-
in-5-years/) and their hiring process is ridiculous even by modern meme hiring
standards meaning it's going to get harder to hire people when they can just
work for FAANG which are all opening offices, or already have offices in
Canada and don't have the same very long process starting with telling a
recruiter 'your life story' for over an hour.
~~~
sushilewis
On the How I Built This podcast, they mentioned AllBirds uses Shopify as their
platform.
I just checked their site, and it looks like it's still the case.
~~~
paultannenbaum
They do, but I think they are considering moving off of Shopify. The reality
is that shopify has a ridiculous amount of down time, and any high traffic
store will actually be losing real revenue as a result. Just scroll their
status page, they consistently have several outages a month.
[https://status.shopify.com/](https://status.shopify.com/)
~~~
paultannenbaum
Sorry was typing on my phone and didn't clarify. I have a friend who works at
Allbirds and told me they are strongly looking at migrating because of the
down time issues.
------
dvduval
The main reason I don't use Shopify is the merchant fees. I can do better
paying a developer to WooCommerce. and we have a pretty good system for doing
all the patches and everything and haven't had any security problems or
anything like that. and if I'm not happy with my hosting or with some feature
I can just change myself. I don't depend on this other company which has
already done a few things that were kind of heavy-handed in my view.
------
melenaos
I am Shopify app developer and I earn my living from 3 published apps in the
Shopify marketplace.
I can answer any question you may have.
~~~
kumarm
Thank You.
1\. Do you see the Market for shopify apps growing? Any indications would be
helpful from your experience.
2\. Best way to get started on Shopify apps for developers?
~~~
melenaos
New stores open every minute but at the same time some others close, if you
have a good placement in the marketplace listings then new people use the app
and if you can keep them, you will grow a decent monthly revenue.
Shopify is missing many things and the apps are there to fill those gaps,
Shopify doesn't replicate the apps functionality to drag them out of the game
so yea, there is much space left for new apps.
Shopify has a great resource of information on how to get started here:
[https://developers.shopify.com/app-
development](https://developers.shopify.com/app-development)
You may find an API library for your preferred language in this list:
[https://help.shopify.com/en/api/tools/supported-
libraries](https://help.shopify.com/en/api/tools/supported-libraries)
------
chiefalchemist
> "To that end, I would argue that for Shopify a high churn rate is just as
> much a positive signal as it is a negative one: the easier it is to start an
> e-commerce business on the platform, the more failures there will be. And,
> at the same time, the greater likelihood there will be of capturing and
> supporting successes."
Yes and no. The excessive lowering of the barrier to entry is self defeating.
That is, more stores === more noise. Throwing still more at the wall isn't
going to increase success. That friction will increase Failure.
~~~
naringas
but Shoppify's model doesn't involve marketing, they leave all that up to the
merchants. so shoppify itself isn't directly affected by this.
~~~
chiefalchemist
The supply of customers is not endless. It's in Shopify's best interest to
optimize the churn to success ratio - not simply have more success stories. We
all know the metric. Happy customer tell three people. Unhappy customer tell
10 or more.
That is, as the number of failed store owners grows so does the fiction and
reputation debt for the Shopify brand.
~~~
scribu
But is the Shopify brand featured prominently during the shopping experience?
I would assume no, given the article's assertion that Shopify is just a
facilitator, which lets the shop's owner shine instead.
------
baybal2
On my first job ever, when I was an exchange student in Singapore in between
2007-2009, I did API integration for a trade company with Alibaba's APIs or
whatever you can call them back then.
You was making a CVS file with product description, putting it on a web
server, and directed Alibaba's product feed downloader on it.
Alibaba also had "hosted frontpage" back then. The same thing you get now with
a store in *.alibaba.com subdomain. It was actually much more feature rich
back then. They were allowing upload of more or less fully featured HTML
pages, but around 2010 they discontinued both.
If Alibaba guys ever knew what a gold mine they were sitting on all that
time...
------
saadalem
I love this tweet from Tobi :
"I'd rather buy @amazon in 2029"
[https://mobile.twitter.com/tobi/status/1068282069397123072](https://mobile.twitter.com/tobi/status/1068282069397123072)
------
tedmcory77
Amazon is a good cash business, but hard to build a brand on.
Shopify is easier to build a brand on, but harder to make actual money on
initially.
If Shopify turned us off tomorrow (they can), we’d be able to continue. If
Amazon did, it’s game over on that platform.
------
stcredzero
_This is ultimately the most important distinction between platforms and
Aggregators: platforms are powerful because they facilitate a relationship
between 3rd-party suppliers and end users; Aggregators, on the other hand,
intermediate and control it._
Would YouTube count as an Aggregator? Are they becoming less about the task to
"facilitate a relationship between 3rd-party suppliers and end users" and more
about seeking to "intermediate and control?"
------
valueprop
Hi,
Considering about working on an open source with turnkey SaaS hosting modern
alternative. Drawback: MVP is quite big. Would you see such a need, or is
everyone happy with Shopify?
Some questions, if you can spare a few minutes:
What are top 3-5 issues with the platform that you're currently using?
What do you like most about the current platform?
What would be the must-haves of another store platform in order for you to
switch to it?
Appreciate your insights!
~~~
hombre_fatal
I don't really understand who an "open source turnkey ecommerce solution"
serves.
The last thing you need when trying to sell product is to now deal with
running software and a server. Kinda reminds me of when I thought I could
build a webshop for my father with Rails and Stripe. Thank god I realized
sooner than later that there's basically zero upside to running this software
and I switched my father to Shopify where he's happily been since.
I think this kind of solution only seems good to HN nerds who don't realize
what Shopify brings to the table, or that technology is somehow the hardest
part of running a webshop. It seems naive.
Since you're asking these questions, it sounds like you don't have much domain
experience. I encourage you to create a simple Shopify shop and try selling
something, if only to see what it gives you out of the box that your turnkey
solution can't. That would be essential experience to have before you even
make your initial commit.
------
omouse
_" We'll empower you to easily sell your stuff" that leaves power and agency
in the hands of individual companies._
WordPress + WooCommerce, PrestaShop and Magento already do that. Drop $10 to
$20/month on hosting on DigitalOcean, install Wordpress, install WooCommerce,
buy a cheap theme, buy whatever extra plugins you need, setup your payment
system (PayPal and Stripe are supported), and you're off to the races.
And it's better than that, there's people with years and years of experience
in modifying and creating plugins and themes so once you have enough $$$ from
the basic setup, re-invest into the business and get better developer support
for all the GPL'd plugins and themes you're using.
~~~
delecti
"Just combine these _6_ things and it's just as easy as a single tool that
does it all for you."
Is this satire?
~~~
simonh
No, it's the standard response from some open source people for any
proprietary end-to-end solution. The most famous example was this response to
the launch of Dropbox:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224)
~~~
omouse
_some open source people_
Hey now, stop with the name-calling :P I work on and use proprietary end to
end solutions for ecommerce (but not Shopify).
Woocommerce wins for me because it lowers development costs and costs are
lower overall. My perspective is definitely someone who has developed
ecommerce sites, not solely as a non-technical user, and for me it's very
advantageous to lower costs by using and modifying GPL'd plugins and themes.
I guess Shopify has 4000 employees and enough cash and enough direction to
come out of box with a good UX and good defaults and that's good enough for
nontechnical users.
~~~
organsnyder
I'm a technical user, and good UX and good defaults are something I often
spend money on.
~~~
larrywright
I’m a technical user, and if I needed to sell goods online I’d use Shopify.
It’s precisely _because_ I’m a technical user: I know all the things you you
have to worry about, and I’d rather not. There surely a scale where it makes
sense to roll your own e-commerce platform, but it’s substantially higher than
people seem to think.
~~~
organsnyder
Yup. I've taken some MBA classes, and one (in retrospect obvious) thing I
latched onto is the idea of opportunity cost: you can never do everything you
are capable of doing, and each thing you do comes at the expense of something
else. So, focus on doing the things that (depending on your goal) are most
fulfilling and/or most profitable.
Amusingly, grasping that concept was a big factor in my decision to put my MBA
degree on hold...
~~~
bluGill
There is one other reason to do things: you cannot trust anyone else to do it.
Fullfilling and/or profitable are hopefully the only ones that apply, but
sometimes you have to do something because the risk is too high...
~~~
larrywright
I’m not sure that applies to the Shopify argument here, but maybe you didn’t
intend it to.
~~~
bluGill
Hopefully - for Shopifys sake - it doesn't apply.
An example of how it could apply is if shopify were to "go down" often thus
driving your customers to your competitors that roll their own solution that
has good uptime.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Ready for Children: Assessing Pediatric Care Coordination and Psychomotor Skills Evaluation in the Prehospital Setting.
Objective: Pediatric patients represent low frequency but potentially high-risk encounters for emergency medical services (EMS) providers. Scant information is available from EMS agencies on the frequency of pediatric skill evaluation and the presence of pediatric emergency care coordination, both which may help EMS systems optimize care for children. The objective of our study was to assess the frequency and type of methods used to assess psychomotor skills competency using pediatric-specific equipment and pediatric care coordination in EMS ground transport agencies. Methods: A web-based assessment was sent to EMS agency directors in 58 states/territories to determine the presence of pediatric care coordination defined as an individual who oversees pediatric issues (Pediatric Care Coordinator or PECC) and the process for evaluating psychomotor skills of EMS providers using of pediatric equipment. Basic demographic information of each agency was collected. Descriptive statistics, odds ratios, and 95% confidence intervals were used for analyses. Results: The response rate was 78% (8,166/10,463 agencies). Almost 80% of agencies respond to fewer than 100 pediatric calls a year; over half of the agencies are located in urban areas and provide Advanced Life Support care. Twenty-three percent (23%) of EMS agency administrators report having a PECC and 28% have plans or interest in adding one. Of those agencies with a PECC, 26% report sharing the position among several agencies. Almost half (47%) of EMS agencies evaluate pediatric psychomotor skills at least twice a year. Agencies with a PECC, those with a medium to medium high pediatric call volume and agencies located in urban areas are more likely to evaluate psychomotor skills at least twice a year. Conclusions: Although few EMS agencies currently have a PECC, there is interest among EMS agency administrators to integrate one into their system. Pediatric-specific psychomotor skills testing is more common in EMS agencies that respond to a higher pediatric call volume and have a PECC. For EMS agencies that infrequently treat children, the presence of a PECC may enhance the frequency of pediatric psychomotor skills evaluation. The presence of a PECC can potentially increase provider confidence and safety for all pediatric prehospital patients regardless of volume and location.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
|
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Nebraska will be looking for another new assistant volleyball coach as Chris Tamas has been named the new head coach at Illinois.Tamas spent the past two season at Nebraska, coordinating the Huskers' block and defense. He also coordinated scouting reports for the Huskers. His wife, Jen, was a volunteer assistant for Nebraska."When Kevin Hambly was selected as Stanford’s new head coach, I had a feeling that Chris would be the next head coach at Illinois,” Nebraska head coach John Cook said. “We are very happy for Chris and Jen. They have earned this opportunity. We are really going to miss them. Our staff the last two years has been very tight and supportive of each other on and off the court. Chris and Jen definitely made a great impact and impression on Nebraska volleyball the past two years. I know they struggled with this decision to leave Nebraska, but the Illinois program is a great opportunity to coach in the Big Ten.”Tamas is the second assistant to leave Nebraska this season. Dani Busboom Kelly was named the head coach at Louisville last last year. Nebraska hired former Husker Kayla Banwarth as her replacement.
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{
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
}
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Q:
How to use model.fit_generator in keras
When and how should I use fit_generator?
What is the difference between fit and fit_generator?
A:
If you have prepared your data and labels in all necessary aspects and simply can assign these to an array x and y, than use model.fit(x, y).
If you need to preprocess and/or augment your data while training, than you can take advantage of the generators that Keras provides.
You could for example augment images by applying random transforms (very helpful if you only have little data to train with), pad sequences, tokenize text, let Keras automagically read your data from a folder and assign appropiate classes (flow_from_directory) and much more.
See here for examples and boilerplate code for image preprocessing: https://keras.io/preprocessing/image/
or here for text preprocessing:
https://keras.io/preprocessing/text/
fit_generator also will help you to train in a more memory efficient way since you load data only when needed. The generator function yields (aka "delivers") data to your model batch by batch on demand, so to say.
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{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
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---
abstract: 'We give a combinatorial classification of cluster tilting subcategories and torsion pairs in Igusa–Todorov cluster categories of Dynkin type $A_{ \infty }$.'
address:
- 'Gratz: School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Glasgow, University Place, Glasgow G12 8SQ, United Kingdom'
- 'Holm: Institut für Algebra, Zahlentheorie und Diskrete Mathematik, Fakultät für Mathematik und Physik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover, Germany'
- 'Jørgensen: School of Mathematics and Statistics, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom'
author:
- Sira Gratz
- Thorsten Holm
- Peter Jørgensen
title: 'Cluster tilting subcategories and torsion pairs in Igusa–Todorov cluster categories of Dynkin type $A_{ \infty }$'
---
Introduction {#sec:introduction}
============
Let $\cC( A_n )$ be the cluster category of Dynkin type $A_n$, see [@BMRRT sec. 1] and [@CCS]. It is well known that $\cC( A_n )$ has a combinatorial model by an $( n+3 )$-gon $P$. The indecomposable objects are in bijection with the diagonals of $P$, and non-vanishing $\Ext^1$ groups correspond to crossing diagonals.
The combinatorial model has two key properties: Cluster tilting subcategories of $\cC( A_n )$ correspond to triangulations of $P$, and torsion pairs in $\cC( A_n )$ correspond to so-called Ptolemy diagrams in $P$. The former result is well known and appears to be folklore; the latter is proved in [@HJR:torsionpairsA thm. A].
The aim of this paper is to prove similar key properties for the cluster categories $\cC( \cZ )$ of Dynkin type $A_{ \infty }$, which were introduced by Igusa and Todorov. Subsection \[subsec:A\] is a primer on $\cC( \cZ )$ and its combinatorial model by an $\infty$-gon, and Subsections \[subsec:B\] and \[subsec:C\] state the key properties we will prove.
Our results generalise the following parts of the literature:
- When $\cZ$ has one, respectively two limit points (see Definition \[D:admissible\](iii)), [@HJinfinity thms. A,B,C], respectively [@LP thms. 3.13, 5.7] classified cluster tilting subcategories in $\cC( \cZ )$, and showed that they form a cluster structure in the sense of [@BIRS sec. II.1].
- When $\cZ$ has one, respectively two limit points, [@Ng thm. 3.18], respectively [@CZZ thm. 4.4] classified torsion pairs in $\cC( \cZ )$.
Furthermore, our Theorem \[thm:B\] is closely related to [@SvR thm. 7.17].
We would also like to mention that there are a number of papers on the classification of cluster tilting subcategories and torsion pairs in more general cluster categories, mainly based on combinatorial models of Riemann surfaces with marked points on the boundary, see [@BZ], [@QZ], [@ZZZ] for surface type and [@HJR:tubes] for cluster tubes.
The Igusa–Todorov cluster categories $\cC( \cZ )$ of Dynkin type $A_{ \infty }$ {#subsec:A}
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To explain the categories $\cC( \cZ )$ and their combinatorial models by $\infty$-gons, we first state two definitions.
\[Admissible subsets of $S^1$\] \[D:admissible\] A subset $\cZ$ of the circle $S^1$ is called [*admissible*]{} if it satisfies the following conditions.
1. $\cZ$ has infinitely many elements.
2. $\cZ \subset S^1$ is a discrete subset, i.e. for each $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ there is an open neighbourhood of $z$ in $S^1$, equipped with its usual topology, containing no other element of ${\mathscr{Z}}$.
3. $\cZ$ satisfies the [*two-sided limit condition*]{}, i.e. each $x \in S^1$ which is the limit of a sequence from ${\mathscr{Z}}$ is a limit of both an increasing and a decreasing sequence from ${\mathscr{Z}}$ with respect to the cyclic order.
Throughout the paper, $\cZ \subset S^1$ is a fixed admissible subset. We think of $\cZ$ as the vertices of an $\infty$-gon, see Figure \[fig:admissible subset\].
(0,0) circle(0.5cm); at (50:0.58)[$z$]{}; at (39:0.60)[$z^-$]{}; at (61:0.59)[$z^+$]{};
(128:0.48) – (128:0.52); (131:0.48) – (131:0.52); (135:0.48) – (135:0.52); (140:0.48) – (140:0.52); (146:0.48) – (146:0.52); (153:0.48) – (153:0.52); (161:0.48) – (161:0.52); (170:0.48) – (170:0.52); (179:0.48) – (179:0.52); (187:0.48) – (187:0.52); (194:0.48) – (194:0.52); (200:0.48) – (200:0.52); (205:0.48) – (205:0.52); (209:0.48) – (209:0.52); (212:0.48) – (212:0.52); (230:0.48) – (230:0.52); (234.5:0.48) – (234.5:0.52); (240:0.48) – (240:0.52); (246:0.48) – (246:0.52); (253:0.48) – (253:0.52); (261:0.48) – (261:0.52); (270:0.48) – (270:0.52); (280:0.48) – (280:0.52); (290:0.48) – (290:0.52); (299:0.48) – (299:0.52); (307:0.48) – (307:0.52); (314:0.48) – (314:0.52); (320:0.48) – (320:0.52); (325.5:0.48) – (325.5:0.52); (330:0.48) – (330:0.52); (-10:0.48) – (-10:0.52); (-6:0.48) – (-6:0.52); (-1:0.48) – (-1:0.52); (5:0.48) – (5:0.52); (12:0.48) – (12:0.52); (20:0.48) – (20:0.52); (29:0.48) – (29:0.52); (39:0.48) – (39:0.52); (50:0.48) – (50:0.52); (61:0.48) – (61:0.52); (71:0.48) – (71:0.52); (80:0.48) – (80:0.52); (88:0.48) – (88:0.52); (95:0.48) – (95:0.52); (101:0.48) – (101:0.52); (106:0.48) – (106:0.52); (110:0.48) – (110:0.52); (120:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm); (220:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm); (340:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm);
(115:0.45) arc (115:125:0.45); (215:0.45) arc (215:225:0.45); (335:0.45) arc (335:345:0.45);
\[Diagonals\] \[def:diagonals\] A [*diagonal of $\cZ$*]{} is a subset $X = \{ x_0,x_1 \} \subset \cZ$ where $x_1 \not\in \{ x_0^-,x_0,x_0^+ \}$. If $Y = \{ y_0,y_1 \}$ is another diagonal, then $X$ and $Y$ [*cross*]{} if $x_0 < y_0 < x_1 < y_1$ or $x_0 < y_1 < x_1 < y_0$. See Definition \[def:cyclic\] for an explanation of inequalities.
If $D^1$ is the disk bounded by $S^1$, then we think of the diagonal $X$ as an isotopy class of non-selfintersecting curves in $D^1$ between the non-neighbouring vertices $x_0$ and $x_1$, see Figure \[fig:cluster tilting subcategory\]. Two diagonals cross if their representing curves intersect in the interior of $D^1$.
Starting from $\cZ$ and an algebraically closed field $k$, Igusa and Todorov in [@IT:cyclicposets sec. 2.4] constructed a cluster category $\cC( \cZ )$ of Dynkin type $A_{ \infty }$, which has a similar combinatorial model to that of $\cC( A_n )$. To wit, $\cC( \cZ )$ is a $k$-linear Hom-finite Krull–Schmidt $2$-Calabi–Yau triangulated category; the indecomposable objects are in bijection with the diagonals of $\cZ$, and non-vanishing $\Ext^1$ groups correspond to crossing diagonals. Further properties of $\cC( \cZ )$ are given in Section \[sec:IT\].
Cluster tilting subcategories of the cluster categories $\cC( \cZ )$ {#subsec:B}
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Our first main result is a classification of the cluster tilting subcategories of $\cC( \cZ )$ (see Definition \[def:cluster\_tilting\]). Cluster tilting subcategories of $\cC( A_n )$ correspond to triangulations of a finite polygon $P$, that is, maximal sets of pairwise non-crossing diagonals of $P$. By analogy, we expect cluster tilting subcategories of $\cC( \cZ )$ to correspond to triangulations of the $\infty$-gon with vertex set $\cZ$.
This is, in a sense, true, but there is more to say: The definition of admissible subset permits $\cZ$ to have a complicated configuration of limit points, and it is crucial how the endpoints of diagonals converge to the limit points. Hence the following two definitions.
\[The proper limit points of $\cZ$\] We denote by $\overline{{\mathscr{Z}}}$ the topological closure of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ in $S^1$, and by $$L({\mathscr{Z}}) = \overline{{\mathscr{Z}}} \setminus {\mathscr{Z}}$$ the set of proper limit points of $\cZ$. It is disjoint from $\cZ$ because $\cZ$ is discrete.
\[Leapfrogs and fountains\] \[def:leapfrog\_and\_fountain\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. The following notions are illustrated by Figure \[fig:cluster tilting subcategory\].
(70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.3) and (120:0.3) .. (120:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.3) and (115:0.3) .. (115:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.3) and (110:0.3) .. (110:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.3) and (105:0.3) .. (105:0.5);
(70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (230:0.2) .. (230:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (235:0.2) .. (235:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (240:0.2) .. (240:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (245:0.2) .. (245:0.5);
(215:0.4) arc (215:225:0.4);
(70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (140:0.2) .. (140:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (145:0.2) .. (145:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (150:0.2) .. (150:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (155:0.2) .. (155:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (210:0.2) .. (210:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (205:0.2) .. (205:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (200:0.2) .. (200:0.5); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.2) and (195:0.2) .. (195:0.5);
(125:0.4) arc (125:135:0.4);
(270:0.5) .. controls (270:0.2) and (45:0.2) .. (45:0.5); (270:0.5) .. controls (270:0.2) and (50:0.2) .. (50:0.5); (270:0.5) .. controls (270:0.2) and (55:0.2) .. (55:0.5); (270:0.5) .. controls (270:0.2) and (60:0.2) .. (60:0.5);
(30:0.4) arc (30:40:0.4);
(270:0.5) .. controls (270:0.2) and (25:0.2) .. (25:0.5); (270:0.5) .. controls (270:0.2) and (20:0.2) .. (20:0.5); (270:0.5) .. controls (270:0.2) and (15:0.2) .. (15:0.5); (270:0.5) .. controls (270:0.2) and (10:0.2) .. (10:0.5);
(10:0.5) .. controls (0:0.25) and (300:0.25) .. (290:0.5); (290:0.5) .. controls (300:0.25) and (-10:0.25) .. (0:0.5); (0:0.5) .. controls (-10:0.26) and (310:0.26) .. (300:0.5); (300:0.5) .. controls (310:0.28) and (-20:0.28) .. (-10:0.5); (-10:0.5) .. controls (-20:0.3) and (320:0.3) .. (310:0.5);
(330:0.45) – (330:0.35);
(0,0) circle(0.5cm);
at (220:0.65) [$a_1$]{}; (220:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm); at (130:0.65) [$a_2$]{}; (130:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm); at (35:0.65) [$a_3$]{}; (35:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm); at (330:0.65) [$a_4$]{}; (330:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm);
- Given $a \in L( \cZ )$, we say that ${\mathscr{X}}$ [*has a leapfrog converging to $a\in L({\mathscr{Z}})$*]{} if there is a sequence $\{x_i,y_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x_i \to a$ from below and $y_i \to a$ from above. (Convergence from below and above is explained in Definition \[def:convergence\_from\_below\_and\_above\].)
- Given $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$. We say that ${\mathscr{X}}$ [*has a right fountain at $z$ converging to $a$*]{} if there is a sequence $\{z, x_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x_i \to a$ from below. We say that ${\mathscr{X}}$ [*has a left fountain at $z$ converging to $a$*]{} if there is a sequence $\{z, y_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $y_i \to a$ from above.
We say that ${\mathscr{X}}$ [*has a fountain at $z$ converging to $a$*]{} if it has a right fountain and a left fountain at $z$ converging to $a$.
Here is our first main result. It is closely related to [@SvR thm. 7.17]. Given a set $\cX$ of diagonals of $\cZ$, we write $E({\mathscr{X}})$ for the corresponding set of indecomposable objects of ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$.
\[=Theorem \[T:cluster tilting\]\] \[thm:B\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. Then $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is a cluster tilting subcategory if and only if ${\mathscr{X}}$ is a maximal set of pairwise non-crossing diagonals, such that for each $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, the set ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a fountain or a leapfrog converging to $a$.
One of the salient features of cluster tilting subcategories are their nice combinatorial properties encoded in the notion of [*cluster structure*]{}. We thank Adam-Christiaan van Roosmalen for pointing out that the following result follows from [@SvR thm. 5.6]. We will give a direct proof.
\[=Theorem \[thm:cluster\_structure\]\] \[thm:C\] The cluster tilting subcategories of $\cC( \cZ )$ form a cluster structure in the sense of [@BIRS sec. II.1].
To get this from [@SvR thm. 5.6] requires the existence of a so-called directed cluster tilting subcategory of $\cC( \cZ )$, which can be obtained from Theorem \[thm:B\] by picking a vertex $z \in \cZ$ and letting $\cX$ be the set of all diagonals from $z$ to non-neighbouring vertices.
Torsion pairs in the cluster categories $\cC( \cZ )$ {#subsec:C}
----------------------------------------------------
Our second main result is a classification of the torsion pairs in $\cC( \cZ )$ (see Definition \[def:torsion\_pairs\]). Recall that torsion pairs in $\cC( A_n )$ correspond to so-called Ptolemy diagrams in a finite polygon $P$, see [@HJR:torsionpairsA thm. A]. Again there is an analogue for $\cC( \cZ )$, and again, convergence plays a crucial role. Hence the following definition.
\[Conditions PC1 and PC2\] \[def:PC\] We can impose the following conditions on a set ${\mathscr{X}}$ of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$, see Figure \[fig:PC\].
(0,0) circle(0.5cm);
at (5:0.60)[$x_0^i$]{}; at (60:0.60)[$p$]{}; at (115:0.60)[$x'^i_0$]{};
at (155:0.60)[$x_1^i$]{}; at (210:0.60)[$q$]{}; at (265:0.60)[$x'^i_1$]{};
(10:0.60) arc (10:55:0.60); (65:0.60) arc (65:110:0.60);
(160:0.60) arc (160:205:0.60); (215:0.60) arc (215:260:0.60);
(210:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm); (60:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm);
(5:0.48) – (5:0.52); (155:0.48) – (155:0.52); (5:0.5) .. controls (5:0.3) and (155:0.3) .. (155:0.5);
(25:0.48) – (25:0.52); (175:0.48) – (175:0.52); (25:0.5) .. controls (25:0.3) and (175:0.3) .. (175:0.5);
(40:0.48) – (40:0.52); (190:0.48) – (190:0.52); (40:0.5) .. controls (40:0.3) and (190:0.3) .. (190:0.5);
(50:0.48) – (50:0.52); (200:0.48) – (200:0.52); (50:0.5) .. controls (50:0.3) and (200:0.3) .. (200:0.5);
(115:0.48) – (115:0.52); (265:0.48) – (265:0.52); (115:0.5) .. controls (115:0.3) and (265:0.3) .. (265:0.5);
(95:0.48) – (95:0.52); (245:0.48) – (245:0.52); (95:0.5) .. controls (95:0.3) and (245:0.3) .. (245:0.5);
(80:0.48) – (80:0.52); (230:0.48) – (230:0.52); (80:0.5) .. controls (80:0.3) and (230:0.3) .. (230:0.5);
(70:0.48) – (70:0.52); (220:0.48) – (220:0.52); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.3) and (220:0.3) .. (220:0.5);
(0,0) circle(0.5cm);
at (5:0.60)[$x_0^i$]{}; at (60:0.60)[$p$]{}; at (115:0.60)[$x'^i_0$]{};
at (238:0.60)[$x_1^i$]{}; at (210:0.60)[$q$]{}; at (265:0.60)[$x'^i_1$]{};
(10:0.60) arc (10:55:0.60); (65:0.60) arc (65:110:0.60);
(260:0.60) arc (260:243:0.60); (233:0.60) arc (233:215:0.60);
(210:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm); (60:0.5) node\[fill=white,circle,inner sep=0.065cm\] circle (0.02cm);
(10:0.48) – (10:0.52); (257:0.48) – (257:0.52); (10:0.5) .. controls (10:0.2) and (257:0.2) .. (257:0.5);
(30:0.48) – (30:0.52); (238:0.48) – (238:0.52); (30:0.5) .. controls (30:0.1) and (238:0.1) .. (238:0.5);
(45:0.48) – (45:0.52); (225:0.48) – (225:0.52); (45:0.5) .. controls (45:0.1) and (225:0.1) .. (225:0.5);
(55:0.48) – (55:0.52); (215:0.48) – (215:0.52); (55:0.5) .. controls (55:0.1) and (215:0.1) .. (215:0.5);
(115:0.48) – (115:0.52); (265:0.48) – (265:0.52); (115:0.5) .. controls (115:0.3) and (265:0.3) .. (265:0.5);
(95:0.48) – (95:0.52); (245:0.48) – (245:0.52); (95:0.5) .. controls (95:0.3) and (245:0.3) .. (245:0.5);
(80:0.48) – (80:0.52); (230:0.48) – (230:0.52); (80:0.5) .. controls (80:0.3) and (230:0.3) .. (230:0.5);
(70:0.48) – (70:0.52); (220:0.48) – (220:0.52); (70:0.5) .. controls (70:0.3) and (220:0.3) .. (220:0.5);
The letters “PC” stands for “precovering”.
[PC2:]{}
If there is a sequence $\{x^i_0, x^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x^i_0 \to p$ from below and $x^i_1 \to q$ from below with $p \neq q$, then there is a sequence $\{x'^i_0, x'^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x'^i_0 \to p$ from above and $x'^i_1 \to q$ from above.
If there is a sequence $\{x^i_0, x^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x^i_0 \to p$ from below and $x^i_1 \to q$ from above with $p \neq q$, then there is a sequence $\{x'^i_0, x'^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x'^i_0 \to p$ from above and $x'^i_1 \to q$ from above.
The following combinatorial notion was introduced in [@Ng def. 0.3].
\[The Ptolemy condition\] \[def:Ptolemy\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. We say that [*${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies the Ptolemy condition*]{} if, whenever $\{x_0,x_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and $\{y_0,y_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ cross, then those of $\{x_0,y_0\}$, $\{x_0,y_1\}$, $\{x_1,y_0\}$ and $\{x_1,y_1\}$ which are diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ (i.e. whose vertices are non-neighbouring) also lie in ${\mathscr{X}}$. See Figure \[fig:Ptolemy\].
(0,0) circle(0.5cm);
(50:0.48) – (50:0.52); at (50:0.6) [$x_0$]{}; (110:0.48) – (110:0.52); at (110:0.6) [$y_0$]{}; (210:0.48) – (210:0.52); at (210:0.6) [$x_1$]{}; (300:0.48) – (300:0.52); at (300:0.6) [$y_1$]{};
(50:0.5) .. controls (50:0.2) and (210:0.2) .. (210:0.5); (110:0.5) .. controls (110:0.2) and (300:0.2) .. (300:0.5);
(50:0.5) .. controls (50:0.25) and (110:0.25) .. (110:0.5); (50:0.5) .. controls (50:0.2) and (300:0.2) .. (300:0.5); (210:0.5) .. controls (210:0.2) and (110:0.2) .. (110:0.5); (210:0.5) .. controls (210:0.2) and (300:0.2) .. (300:0.5);
Here is our second main result.
\[=Theorem \[T:torsion pair\]\] \[thm:A\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of $\cZ$. Then $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is the first half of a torsion pair in ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ if and only if ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1, PC2, and the Ptolemy condition.
Note that the first half of a torsion pair determines the second half, so our result does provide a complete classification.
\[rmk:PC\] The conjunction of PC1 and PC2 is equivalent to the following condition.
[PC:]{}
If there is a sequence $\{x^i_0, x^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x^i_0 \to p$ from below and $x^i_1 \to q$ with $p \neq q$, then there is a sequence $\{x'^i_0, x'^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x'^i_0 \to p$ from above and $x'^i_1 \to q$ from above.
It is clear that PC implies PC1 and PC2. To see the converse, note that the sequence $\{x^i_0, x^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ in PC will either have a subsequence with $x_1^i \rightarrow q$ from below, and then PC1 can be applied, or a subsequence with $x_1^i \rightarrow q$ from above, and then PC2 can be applied.
The paper is organised as follows: Section \[sec:admissible\_sets\] shows some properties of admissible subsets of $S^1$. Section \[sec:IT\] recalls the cluster category $\cC( \cZ )$ from [@IT:cyclicposets sec. 2.4]. Section \[sec:precovering\] provides a main ingredient for the proof of Theorem \[thm:A\] by showing that $\add E( \cX )$ is precovering if and only if $\cX$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2. Section \[sec:torsion\_pairs\] proves Theorem \[thm:A\]. Section \[sec:cluster\_tilting\] proves Theorems \[thm:B\] and \[thm:C\].
Admissible subsets of the circle $S^1$ {#sec:admissible_sets}
======================================
\[Cyclically ordered subsets of $S^1$\] \[def:cyclic\] The circle $S^1$, equipped with its usual topology and orientation, has a natural structure as a cyclically ordered set.
We choose anticlockwise as the positive direction, whence the inequalities $x_0 < x_1 < \ldots < x_n$ mean that, when moving anticlockwise around the circle, after encountering $x_{i-1}$ for $i = 1, \ldots, n$, the next element of $\{x_0, \ldots, x_n\}$ encountered is precisely $x_i$. See Figure \[fig:order\]. Soft inequalities are defined analogously.
The cyclic order permits to define closed or (half) open intervals of $S^1$; for instance, the closed interval $[ a,b ]$ is shown in Figure \[fig:order\]. Each interval has an induced linear order.
The cyclic order on $S^1$ induces a cyclic order on each subset of $S^1$, in particular on $\cZ$.
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\[Predecessors and successors in $\cZ$\] \[rmk:predecessors\] It follows directly from Definition \[D:admissible\] that:
- Each $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ has a unique predecessor $z^- \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, i.e. a unique element $z^- \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ such that $(z^-,z) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}= \varnothing$.
- Each $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ has a unique successor $z^+ \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, i.e. a unique element $z^+ \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ such that $(z,z^+) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}= \varnothing$.
Figure \[fig:admissible subset\] in the introduction shows an example of an admissible subset and of the predecessor and successor of one of its elements.
\[A dichotomy for sequences in $\cZ$\] \[R:dichotomy\] Since ${\mathscr{Z}}$ is discrete, each sequence $\{z_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{Z}}$ which converges to a $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ has to satisfy $z_i = z$ for $i \gg 0$. Thus each convergent sequence from ${\mathscr{Z}}$ that is not constant from some step converges to an element of $L({\mathscr{Z}})$. Furthermore, since $S^1$ is compact, each sequence $\{z_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{Z}}$ has a convergent subsequence $\{z'_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converging to some point in $\overline{{\mathscr{Z}}}$.
There is hence a dichotomy:
- Either the subsequence $\{z'_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converges to $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, and $z'_i$ is constant from some step,
- or the subsequence $\{z'_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converges to a proper limit point $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$ and $z'_i$ is not constant from any step.
In the latter case, by refining the sequence further if necessary, we can suppose that the sequence is increasing (i.e. $z'_0 \leqslant z'_1 \leqslant \ldots \leqslant z'_k < a$ for each $k \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$) or decreasing (i.e. $z'_0 \geqslant z'_1 \geqslant \ldots \geqslant z'_k > a$ for each $k \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$).
\[Convergence from below and above\] \[def:convergence\_from\_below\_and\_above\] Let $\{z_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ be a convergent sequence from ${\mathscr{Z}}$. If $\{z_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converges to $p \in \overline{{\mathscr{Z}}}$, then we write $z_i \to p$.
- We say that $z_i \to p$ [*from below*]{} if there is a $\mu \in S^1 \setminus \{p\}$ such that $z_i \in [\mu, p]$ from some step.
- We say that $z_i \to p$ [*from above*]{} if there is a $\nu \in S^1 \setminus \{p\}$ such that $z_i \in [p, \nu]$ from some step.
If $z_i \to p$ with $p \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, then $z_i = p$ from some step by Remark \[R:dichotomy\], so $z_i \to p$ from below [*and*]{} from above.
\[Infimum and supremum\] Let $a,b\in S^1$. Each non-empty subset $P \subseteq [a,b] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}\subset S^1$ has an infimum and a supremum, and there is a decreasing sequence in $P$ converging to its infimum, denoted by $\inf_{[a,b]} P$, and an increasing sequence in $P$ converging to its supremum, denoted by $\sup_{[a,b]} P$.
Note that the infimum and the supremum are contained in the interval $[a,b]$, but not necessarily in $P$ or in ${\mathscr{Z}}$. If $i = \inf_{[a,b]} P$ and $s=\sup_{[a,b]} P$ then $a \leqslant i \leqslant p \leqslant s \leqslant b$ for each $p \in P$.
Note that any increasing or decreasing sequence in an interval $[a,b]$ is convergent to a point in that interval.
Recall that ${\mathscr{Z}}$ contains infinitely many points by Definition \[D:admissible\](i). For each $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, the sequence $\{ z^{+n} \}_{ n \geqslant 0 }$ defined iteratively by $z^{ +0 } = z$ and $z^{ +(k+1) } = ( z^{ +k } )^+$ for each $k \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ is an increasing sequence. Moreover, there are infinitely many points of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ in $[z,z^-]$ whence $z \leqslant z^{ +n } < z^-$. So $\{z^{+n}\}_{n \geqslant 0}$ is an increasing sequence in $[z,z^-]$ and it must converge to a limit point.
The limit point of $\{z^{+n}\}_{n \geqslant 0}$ will be denoted $z^{ +\infty }$. Symmetrically, we can define $\{ z^{ -n } \}_{n \geqslant 0}$ and its limit point will be denoted $z^{ -\infty }$.
\[L:limit\] We have $[z,z^{+\infty}] \cap L({\mathscr{Z}}) = \{z^{+\infty}\}$ and $[z^{-\infty},z] \cap L({\mathscr{Z}}) = \{z^{-\infty}\}$.
We only prove that $[z,z^{+\infty}] \cap L({\mathscr{Z}}) = \{z^{+\infty}\}$; the equality $[z^{-\infty},z] \cap L({\mathscr{Z}}) = \{z^{-\infty}\}$ is proved symmetrically. The inclusion $\{z^{+\infty}\} \subseteq [z,z^{+\infty}] \cap L({\mathscr{Z}})$ is clear by definition. The inclusion $[z,z^{+\infty}] \cap L({\mathscr{Z}}) \subseteq \{z^{+\infty}\}$ amounts to showing that $[z,z^{+\infty}) \cap L({\mathscr{Z}}) = \varnothing$, which again amounts to showing that $(z,z^{+\infty}) \cap L({\mathscr{Z}}) = \varnothing$, since $z\in {\mathscr{Z}}$, and hence $z \notin L({\mathscr{Z}})$. So suppose for a contradiction that there exists $x\in (z,z^{+\infty}) \cap L({\mathscr{Z}})$. In particular, $x\notin{\mathscr{Z}}$ and there exists a sequence $\{z_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{Z}}$ converging to $x$. By construction we have that $z^{+\infty} = \sup_{[z,z^-]}\{z^{+n} \mid n \geqslant 0\}$, so we can find $m \geqslant 0$ such that $z^{+m} < x < z^{+(m+1)}$ (note that $x$ can not equal any of the $z^{+n}$ since $x\notin {\mathscr{Z}}$). But since the sequence $\{z_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converges to $x$, the open neighbourhood $(z^{+m},z^{+(m+1)})$ of $x$ contains infinitely many entries of the sequence $\{z_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$. Since the $z_i$ are in ${\mathscr{Z}}$, this clearly contradicts the definition of $z^{+(m+1)}$.
The Igusa–Todorov cluster categories ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ of Dynkin type $A_{ \infty }$ {#sec:IT}
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In the rest of the paper, $k$ is an algebraically closed field.
Igusa and Todorov [@IT:cyclicposets] constructed a cluster category $\cC( \cZ )$. They proved in [@IT:cyclicposets sec. 2.4] that it has the following properties.
1. $\cC( \cZ )$ is a $k$-linear Hom-finite Krull–Schmidt triangulated category.
2. $\cC( \cZ )$ is $2$-Calabi–Yau, that is, there are natural isomorphisms $$\Ext_{ \cC( \cZ ) }^1(X,Y) \cong \mathrm{D}\Ext_{ \cC( \cZ ) }^1(Y,X)$$ where $\mathrm{D}(-) = \Hom_k( -,k )$.
3. If $X = \{ x_0,x_1 \}$ is a diagonal of $\cZ$, then there is an indecomposable object $E( X ) = E( x_0,x_1 )$ in $\cC( \cZ )$, and this induces a bijection from diagonals of $\cZ$ to isomorphism classes of indecomposable objects of $\cC( \cZ )$.
4. The suspension functor acts on the indecomposable objects $E(X)$ by $$\Sigma( E( x_0,x_1 ) ) = E( x_0^-,x_1^- ).$$
5. We have $$\label{eqn:Ext-spaces}
\Ext_{ {\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}}) }^1( E(X),E(Y) ) \cong
\begin{cases}
k \text{ if $X$ and $Y$ cross,}\\
0 \text{ otherwise. }
\end{cases}$$
6. Since $\Hom_{{\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})}(E(X),E(Y)) \cong \Ext_{{\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})}^1(E(X),\Sigma^{-1}E(Y))$, it follows from (iv) and (v) that $\Hom_{ {\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}}) }( E(X),E(Y) )$ is isomorphic to $$\begin{cases}
k \text{ if we can write $X = \{ x_0,x_1 \}$ and $Y = \{ y_0,y_1 \}$ with $x_0 \leqslant y_0 \leqslant x_1^{ -- } < x_1 \leqslant y_1 \leqslant x_0^{--}$, }\\
0 \text{ otherwise. }
\end{cases}$$
7. In part (vi), if $X = \{ x_0,x_1 \}$ and $Y = \{ y_0,y_1 \}$ with $x_0 \leqslant y_0 \leqslant x_1^{ -- } < x_1 \leqslant y_1 \leqslant x_0^{--}$, then a morphism $E(X) \to E(Y)$ factors through $E(S)$ if and only if we can write $S = \{ s_0,s_1 \}$ with $x_0 \leqslant s_0 \leqslant y_0$ and $x_1 \leqslant s_1 \leqslant y_1$.
In part (v) observe that non-vanishing of $\Ext^1$ is symmetric in the two arguments, as indeed it must be by the $2$-Calabi–Yau property from (ii). Figure \[fig:morphisms\] provides an illustration of morphisms between indecomposable objects.
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Precovering subcategories of the cluster categories ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ {#sec:precovering}
==================================================================================
This section provides the following main ingredient for the proof of Theorem \[thm:A\].
\[T:precovering\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. Then $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is a precovering subcategory of ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ if and only if ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2 from Definition \[def:PC\].
The proof can be found at the end of the section. First we require some preparation, not least the following definition due to [@E sec. 1].
\[Precovers\] \[D:precovering\] Let ${\mathscr{T}}$ be a category, $X\subseteq {\mathscr{T}}$ a full subcategory.
1. Let $t\in {\mathscr{T}}$ be an object. An object $x\in X$ together with a morphism $f \colon x \to t$ is called an [*$X$-precover of $t$*]{} if each morphism $g \colon x' \to t$ with $x' \in X$ factors through $f$. That is, there exists a morphism $h \colon x' \to x$ such that $g = f\circ h$. $$\xymatrix{& x \ar[d]^f \\
x' \ar[r]_-g \ar@{-->}[ru]^h & t}$$
2. The subcategory $X \subseteq {\mathscr{T}}$ is called [*precovering*]{} if each object $t\in {\mathscr{T}}$ has an $X$-precover.
Let $\cT$ be an additive category. An [*additive subcategory*]{} $X$ of $\cT$ is a full subcategory of $\cT$ closed under isomorphisms, finite direct sums, and direct summands.
Since ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ is Krull-Schmidt, its additive subcategories are determined by the indecomposable objects they contain. Thus, there is a one-to-one correspondence between additive subcategories of ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ and sets of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$.
Given a set of diagonals ${\mathscr{X}}$ we write $E({\mathscr{X}})$ for the corresponding set of indecomposable objects of ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$. The corresponding additive subcategory of ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ is given by $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$.
\[L:precover decomposition\] Let $D \subseteq {\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ be an additive subcategory, $e \in {\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ an indecomposable object, and $$\delta \colon d_1 \oplus \ldots \oplus d_n \to e$$ a morphism in ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ with $d_i \in D$ indecomposable for each $i \in \{1, \ldots, n\}$.
We can write $\delta = (\delta_1, \ldots, \delta_n)$, and $\delta$ is a $D$-precover of $e$ if and only if each morphism $\varphi \colon d \to e$ with $d \in D$ indecomposable factors through at least one of the $\delta_i$.
It is clear that if each morphism $\varphi \colon d \to e$ with $d \in D$ indecomposable factors through at least one of the $\delta_i$, then it also factors through $\delta$ which is hence a $D$-precover.
Conversely, assume that $\delta$ is a $D$-precover. Let $\varphi \colon d \to e$ be a morphism in ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ with $d \in D$ indecomposable. If $\varphi = 0$, then $\varphi$ factors trivially through each $\delta_i$ and we are done. If $\varphi \neq 0$, then choose a morphism $\varphi' \colon d \to d_1 \oplus \ldots \oplus d_n$ with $\varphi = \delta \circ \varphi'$. Writing $\varphi'$ in components $\varphi'_i$, this means $\varphi = \delta_1\varphi'_1 + \ldots + \delta_n\varphi'_n$. Because $\varphi \neq 0$ there exists an $i \in \{1, \ldots, n\}$ such that $\delta_i\circ \varphi'_i \neq 0$. Now $\varphi$ and $\delta_i \circ \varphi'_i$ are non-zero elements of $\Hom_{{\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})}( d,e )$ which must be a one-dimensional $k$-vector space by Section \[sec:IT\](vi). Hence $\varphi = \alpha\, \delta_i\circ \varphi'_i$ for some $\alpha \in k$, so $\varphi$ factors through $\delta_i$.
\[L:precovering condition archaic\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. Then $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is a precovering subcategory of ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ if and only if ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies the following condition:
For each diagonal $Y = \{y_0,y_1\}$ of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ there is a finite set of diagonals $X^1, \ldots, X^l \in {\mathscr{X}}$, such that for each $X=\{x_0,x_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $$x_0 \leqslant y_0 \leqslant x_1^{--} < x_1 \leqslant y_1 \leqslant x_0^{--}$$ there is an $i \in \{1, \ldots, l\}$ with $X^i = \{x^i_0,x^i_1\}$ and $$x_0 \leqslant x^i_0 \leqslant y_0 \text{ and } x_1 \leqslant x^i_1 \leqslant y_1.$$
This is immediate by combining Section \[sec:IT\](vii) with Lemma \[L:precover decomposition\].
\[P:precovering implies PC1 and PC2\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. If $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is a precovering subcategory of $\cC( \cZ )$ then ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2.
Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals such that $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is precovering. We show that ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies condition PC1. The fact that ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies condition PC2 follows by an analogous argument. Hence let $X^i = \{x^i_0, x^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ be a sequence from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x^i_0 \to p$ from below and $x^i_1 \to q$ from below with $p \neq q$.
If $p,q \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, we have $x^i_0 = p$ and $x^i_1 = q$ from some step, whence $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and condition PC1 is clearly satisfied with $x'^j_0 = p$ and $x'^j_1 = q$ for each $j \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$.
We can thus assume that $p \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$ or $q \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$.
Then by passing to a subsequence we may assume $$x^i_0 \leqslant p \leqslant {x^i_1}^{--} < x^i_1 \leqslant q \leqslant {x^i_0}^{--}$$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$. Let $Y = \{y_0,y_1\}$ be a diagonal of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ with $$p \leqslant y_0 \leqslant {x^i_1}^{--} \text{ and } q \leqslant y_1 \leqslant {x^i_0}^{--}$$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$, see Figure \[fig:ys\]. Note that such diagonals exist; in fact since ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfies the two-sided limit condition (see Definition \[D:admissible\]), we can even find an entire sequence of such diagonals with endpoints converging to $p$ and $q$ (at least one of which lies in $L({\mathscr{Z}})$) from above.
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Then for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ we have $$x^i_0 \leqslant y_0 \leqslant {x^i_1}^{--} \text{ and } x^i_1 \leqslant y_1 \leqslant {x_0^i}^{--}.$$ By assumption, $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is a precovering subcategory of $\cC( \cZ )$. So by Lemma \[L:precovering condition archaic\] there must exist finitely many diagonals $U^j = \{u^j_0, u^j_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ for $j \in \{1, \ldots, l\}$, such that for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ there is a $j \in \{1, \ldots, l\}$ with $$x^i_0 \leqslant u^j_0 \leqslant y_0 \text{ and } x^i_1 \leqslant u^j_1 \leqslant y_1.$$ There must be a $j \in \{1, \ldots, l\}$ which works for infinitely many values of $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$, i.e. there is a diagonal $V=\{v_0,v_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ such that for infinitely many values of $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ we have $$x^i_0 \leqslant v_0 \leqslant y_0 \text{ and } x^i_1 \leqslant v_1 \leqslant y_1.$$ Since they hold for infinitely many $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$, the first of these inequalities forces $p \leqslant v_0 \leqslant y_0$, while the second forces $q \leqslant v_1 \leqslant y_1$. As mentioned above, since ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfies the two-sided limit condition, we can pick a sequence of diagonals $Y^j = \{y^j_0,y^j_1\}$ of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ with $y^j_0 \to p$ from above and $y^j_1 \to q$ from above and such that $$p \leqslant y^j_0 \leqslant {x^i_1}^{--} \text{ and } q \leqslant y^j_1 \leqslant {x^i_0}^{--}$$ for all $i,j \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ (note that if $p \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, respectively $q \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, we can pick $y^j_0 = p$ for each $j \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$, respectively $y^j_1 = q$ for each $j \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$). Applying the above argument for each of the diagonals $Y^j$ in this sequence, we find a sequence $\{v^j_0,v^j_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $v^j_0\to p$ from above and $v^j_1\to q$ from above. Thus condition PC1 holds.
\[R:special case half fountain\] Either of conditions PC1 and PC2 implies the following condition: Suppose ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a right fountain at $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ converging to $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, that is, a sequence $\{z,x_i\}_{i\in{\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ with $x_i\to a$ from below. Then ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a fountain at $z$ converging to $a$.
Namely, if condition PC1 holds, then there is a sequence $\{x'^i_0,x'^i_1\} _{i\in{\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x'^i_0\to z$ from above and $x'^i_1\to a$ from above. Since ${\mathscr{Z}}$ is discrete, $x'^i_0=z$ from some step (see Remark \[R:dichotomy\]), so ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a left fountain at $z$ converging to $a$.
If condition PC2 holds, the analogous argument works with $z$ in the role of $q$ and $a$ in the role of $p$ in the definition of condition PC2.
\[N:some sets\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$, let $Y = \{y_0,y_1\}$ be in ${\mathscr{X}}$, and let $t_0 \in [y_1^{++},y_0] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ and $t_1 \in [y_0^{++} ,y_1] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$. We write $$W_0({\mathscr{X}},Y, t_0,t_1)
= \big\{x_0 \in [y_1^{++}, t_0] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}\,\big|\, \exists \ \{x_0,x_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}\text{ with } x_1 \in [t_1,y_1] \big\}.$$ For $u_0 \in [y_1^{++}, y_0] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ we write $$W_1({\mathscr{X}},Y,u_0,t_1) = \big\{ x_1 \in [t_1,y_1] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}\,\big|\, \{u_0,x_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}\big\}.$$
The set $W_0({\mathscr{X}},Y, t_0,t_1)$ consists of the end points in $[y_1^{++}, t_0]$ of diagonals in ${\mathscr{X}}$ between the two intervals shown in Figure \[fig:W0\]. The set $W_1({\mathscr{X}},Y,u_0,t_1)$ consists of end points in $[t_1,y_1]$ of diagonals of ${\mathscr{X}}$ with other end point $u_0$.
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\[L:supremum general\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfying conditions PC1 and PC2, let $Y = \{y_0,y_1\}$ be in ${\mathscr{X}}$, and let $t_0, t_1$ and $u_0$ be as in Definition \[N:some sets\]. Then the following holds.
1. [If the set $W_0:=W_0({\mathscr{X}},Y,t_0,t_1)$ is non-empty, then $s_0 := \sup_{[y_1^{++}, t_0]} W_0 \in {\mathscr{Z}}$.]{}
2. [If the set $W_1:=W_1({\mathscr{X}},Y,u_0,t_1)$ is non-empty, then $s_1 := \sup_{[t_1,y_1]} W_1 \in {\mathscr{Z}}$.]{}
We start by showing (i). Suppose $s_0 \notin {\mathscr{Z}}$, in particular $s_0 \neq y_1^{++}$ and $s_0 \neq t_0$, so $s_0 \in (y_1^{++}, t_0)$. There is a sequence $\{x^i_0,x^i_1\}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x^i_0 \in [y_1^{++},t_0]$, $x^i_1 \in [t_1,y_1]$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ and $x^i_0 \to s_0$ from below. Passing to a subsequence we can assume $x^i_1 \to \tilde{s_1}$ from below or above for some $\tilde{s_1} \in [t_1,y_1]$. Note that since $$y_1^{++} < s_0 < t_0 \leqslant y_0 < y_0^{++} \leqslant t_1 \leqslant \tilde{s_1} \leqslant y_1,$$ we have $s_0 \neq \tilde{s_1}$. So conditions PC1 and PC2 imply that there is a sequence $\{x'^i_0,x'^i_1\}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x'^i_0 \to s_0$ and $x'^i_1 \to \tilde{s_1}$ both from above. So for some $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ we have $$s_0 < x'^i_0 \leqslant t_0 \text{ and } \tilde{s_1} \leqslant x'^i_1 \leqslant y_1.$$ In particular, $x'^i_0 \in [y_1^{++}, t_0]$ and $x'^i_1 \in [t_1,y_1]$ for these $i$, so $x'^i_0 \in W_0$ and the first of the above inequalities violates the definition of $s_0$ as a supremum.
We now show (ii). Suppose $s_1 \notin {\mathscr{Z}}$, in particular $s_1\neq t_1$ and $s_1 \neq y_1$, so $s_1 \in (t_1,y_1)$. There is a sequence $\{u_0,x^i\}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x^i \in [t_1,y_1]$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ and $x^i \to s_1$ from below. By condition PC1 (or PC2) and Remark \[R:special case half fountain\] there is a sequence $\{u_0,x'^i\}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x'^i \to s_1$ from above. However, then we obtain $s_1 < x'^i \leqslant y_1$ from some step, violating the definition of $s_1$ as a supremum.
We can now prove Theorem \[T:precovering\].
If $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is precovering, then ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2 by Proposition \[P:precovering implies PC1 and PC2\].
Conversely, assume that ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2. Let $Y = \{y_0,y_1\}$ be an arbitrary diagonal of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. According to Lemma \[L:precovering condition archaic\] we have to show that $Y$ satisfies the following condition:
- [ There exists a finite set of diagonals $S=\{X^1, \ldots, X^l\} \subseteq {\mathscr{X}}$, such that for each diagonal $X=\{x_0,x_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $x_0 \leqslant y_0 \leqslant x_1^{--}$ and $x_1 \leqslant y_1 \leqslant x_0^{--}$ there is an $i \in \{1, \ldots, l\}$ with $X^i = \{x^i_0,x^i_1\}$ and $x_0 \leqslant x^i_0 \leqslant y_0$ and $x_1 \leqslant x^i_1 \leqslant y_1.$]{}
We are going to construct inductively a sequence $S$ of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$, see Figure \[fig:ss\].
(0,0) circle(0.5cm); at (350:0.6cm)[$y_0$]{}; (350:0.48) – (350:0.52); at (5:0.8cm)[$y_0^+ = s_0^0=s_1^0$]{}; (5:0.48) – (5:0.52); at (20:0.64cm) [$y_0^{++}$]{}; (20:0.48) – (20:0.52); at (35:0.6) [$s_1^1$]{}; (35:0.48) – (35:0.52); at (50:0.6) [$s_1^2$]{}; (50:0.48) – (50:0.52); at (70:0.6) [$s_1^3$]{}; (70:0.48) – (70:0.52); (80:0.58) arc (80:90:0.58); at (140:0.6) [$y_1$]{}; (140:0.48) – (140:0.52); at (160:0.6) [$y_1^+$]{}; (160:0.48) – (160:0.52); at (180:0.6) [$y_1^{++}$]{}; (180:0.48) – (180:0.52); (260:0.58) arc (260:270:0.58); at (280:0.6) [$s_0^3$]{}; (280:0.48) – (280:0.52); at (310:0.6) [$s_0^2$]{}; (310:0.48) – (310:0.52); at (340:0.6) [$s_0^1$]{}; (340:0.48) – (340:0.52);
(140:0.5) .. controls (140:0.2) and (350:0.2) .. (350:0.5); (35:0.5) .. controls (15:0.35) and (355:0.35) .. (340:0.5); (50:0.5) .. controls (50:0.25) and (310:0.25) .. (310:0.5); (70:0.5) to\[bend right\] (280:0.5);
(-0.15,0) – (-0.05,0);
Set $s^0_0 = s^0_1 = y_0^+$. For $l \geqslant 1$, if $$y_1^{++} \leqslant s_0^{l-1} \leqslant y_0^+ \text{ and } y_0^+ \leqslant s^{l-1}_1 \leqslant y_1$$ have already been defined, then we proceed as follows:
- [If $s^{l-1}_0 = y_1^{++}$ or $s^{l-1}_1 = y_1$, then we terminate.]{} (Note that for $l=1$ this can not happen since $\{y_0,y_1\}$ is a diagonal, i.e. $y_0$ and $y_1$ are not neighbouring vertices of ${\mathscr{Z}}$.)
- If $s^{l-1}_0 \neq y_1^{++}$ and $s^{l-1}_1 \neq y_1$, then $$y_1^{++} \leqslant (s^{l-1}_0)^- \leqslant y_0 \text{ and } y_0^{++} \leqslant (s^{l-1}_1)^+ \leqslant y_1$$ and we set $t_0 = (s^{l-1}_0)^-$, $t_1 = (s^{l-1}_1)^+$.
If $W_0({\mathscr{X}},Y,t_0,t_1) = \varnothing$ then we terminate. (Note that if this happens for $l=1$ then there are no relevant diagonals $X$ as in condition ($\ast$), thus ($\ast$) is trivially satisfied.)
If $W_0({\mathscr{X}},Y,t_0,t_1) \neq \varnothing$ then we set $$\begin{aligned}
\label{Eqn:sl0}
s^l_0 = \sup_{[y_1^{++}, t_0]} W_0({\mathscr{X}},Y,t_0,t_1).
\end{aligned}$$ This supremum lies in ${\mathscr{Z}}$ by Lemma \[L:supremum general\]. We then set $u_0 = s^l_0$ and consider the set $W_1({\mathscr{X}},Y,u_0,t_1)$. It is non-empty since $W_0({\mathscr{X}},Y,t_0,t_1) \neq \varnothing$, and we set $$s^l_1 = \sup_{[t_1,y_1]} W_1({\mathscr{X}},Y,u_0,t_1).$$
Note that by construction we have $$\begin{aligned}
\label{Eqn:s^i_0}
y_1^{++} \leqslant \ldots < s^3_0 < s^2_0 < s^1_0 \leqslant y_0,
\end{aligned}$$ $$\begin{aligned}
\label{Eqn:s^i_1}
y_0^{++} \leqslant s^1_1 < s^2_1 < s^3_1 < \ldots \leqslant y_1,
\end{aligned}$$ and $\{s^l_0,s^l_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ by Lemma \[L:supremum general\] for all $l \geqslant 0$ that are defined.
We now show that our construction terminates after finitely many steps for each diagonal $Y$ of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. Suppose by contradiction that for some diagonal $Y = \{y_0,y_1\}$ of ${\mathscr{Z}}$, our construction does not terminate. Then by the inequalities (\[Eqn:s\^i\_0\]) and (\[Eqn:s\^i\_1\]) there must exist $a \in (y_1^{++}, y_0) \cap L({\mathscr{Z}})$ and $b \in (y_0^{++}, y_1) \cap L({\mathscr{Z}})$ such that $s^l_0 \to a$ from above and $s^l_1 \to b$ from below. By condition PC2 for ${\mathscr{X}}$, there is a sequence $\{s'^m_0,s'^m_1\}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ such that $s'^m_0 \to a$ from above and $s'^m_1 \to b$ from above. Moreover, there exist $m,l \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ such that $s^l_0 < s'^m_0 \leqslant s^{l-1}_0$ and $b < s'^m_1 < y_1$. If we have ${s'}^m_0 = s^{l-1}_0$ then $\{s_0^{l-1},{s'}_1^m\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ contradicts the definition of $s_1^{l-1}$ as a supremum. Else, since we now have $(s^{l-1}_1)^+ < b < s'^m_1 < y_1$, the diagonal $\{s'^m_0,s'^m_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ violates the definition of $s^l_0$ as a supremum.
So we have shown that our construction terminates after finitely many steps. By the above remarks on the case $l=1$ (i.e. that if the construction terminates without defining $s_0^1$ and $s_1^1$ then condition ($\ast$) is trivially satisfied) we can assume that the construction provides a non-empty finite set $$S = \big\{\{s^l_0, s^l_1\} \,\big|\, 1 \leqslant l \leqslant N \big\}$$ of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$, for some $N\in\mathbb{N}$.
We now finally show that the set $S$ has the desired property from condition ($\ast$). Let $X=\{x_0,x_1\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $x_0\leqslant y_0\leqslant x_1^{--}$ and $x_1\leqslant y_1\leqslant x_0^{--}$, i.e. $x_0\in [y_1^{++},y_0]$ and $x_1\in [y_0^{++},y_1]$.
We distinguish two cases. Assume first that there is an $l \geqslant 1$ such that $s^l_0 < x_0 \leqslant s^{l-1}_0$. Note that then $l \geqslant 2$ since for $l=1$ this would violate the definition of $s_0^1$ as supremum. Recall from equation (\[Eqn:sl0\]) that $$s^l_0 = \sup_{[y_1^{++},(s^{l-1}_0)^-]} W_{0}({\mathscr{X}},Y,(s^{l-1}_0)^-,(s^{l-1}_1)^+),$$ so $s^l_0 < x_0 \leqslant s^{l-1}_0$ implies that there is no diagonal $\{x_0,v_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $v_1 \in [(s^{l-1}_1)^+,y_1]$. That is, we must have $y_0^{++} \leqslant x_1 \leqslant s^{l-1}_1$. We get that $x_0 \leqslant s^{l-1}_0 \leqslant y_0$ and $x_1 \leqslant s^{l-1}_1 \leqslant y_1$, so we are done in this case.
Assume now that there is no $l \geqslant 1$ such that $s^l_0 < x_0 \leqslant s^{l-1}_0$. This means that $x_0\in [y_1^{++},s_0^N]$. Since $s_0^{N+1}$ has not been defined in our construction and by the choice of $s_1^N$ as supremum we must have $x_1\in [y_0^{++},s_1^N]$. In other words, $x_0\leqslant s_0^N\leqslant y_0$ and $x_1\leqslant s_1^N\leqslant y_1$, and hence condition ($\ast$) is also satisfied in this case.
Torsion pairs in the cluster categories ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ {#sec:torsion_pairs}
======================================================================
This section proves Theorem \[thm:A\] from the introduction (=Theorem \[T:torsion pair\]). To set the scene, recall the definition of torsion pairs in triangulated categories, due to Iyama and Yoshino [@IY:mutation def. 2.2], following the lead of Dickson [@Dickson:torsiontheory p. 224] from the abelian case.
\[Torsion pairs in triangulated categories\] \[def:torsion\_pairs\] Let ${\mathscr{T}}$ be a triangulated category with suspension functor $\Sigma$. A pair $(X,Y)$ of full subcategories of ${\mathscr{T}}$ is called a [*torsion pair*]{} if it satisfies the following two axioms.
[(T2)]{}
[$\Hom_{\mathscr{T}}(x,y) = 0$ for all $x \in X$, $y \in Y$.]{}
[For each $t \in {\mathscr{T}}$ there exist $x \in X$ and $y \in Y$ and a distinguished triangle $$x \to t \to y \to \Sigma x.$$]{}
\[L:set U\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfying condition PC1 or condition PC2 and let $s,t \in {\mathscr{Z}}$. If the set $$U([s,t]) = \{z \in [s,t] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}\mid \{s,z\} \in {\mathscr{X}}\}$$ is non-empty then its supremum $u = \sup_{[s,t]} U([s,t])$ lies in ${\mathscr{Z}}$.
Assume by contradiction that the supremum $u$ does not lie in ${\mathscr{Z}}$. Then there is a sequence $\{s,z^i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $z^i \to u$ from below. Since ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies condition PC1 or condition PC2, by Remark \[R:special case half fountain\] there is a sequence $\{s,z'^i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $z'^i \to u$ from above. Since $u \notin {\mathscr{Z}}$ we have $u \neq t$ and thus $u < z'^i < t$ for some $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$. Then $\{s,z'^i\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ violates the definition of $u$ as a supremum.
\[L:16\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfying conditions PC1 and PC2 and the Ptolemy condition. Let $s\in {\mathscr{Z}}$ and $v \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$ be given, and assume that there exists $t\in (s,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ such that the following condition is satisfied, see Figure \[fig:L:16\]: $$\label{eqn:s<t<v}
\text{For each $w \in (t,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ there exists a diagonal $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with} \; s < p < w < q < v.$$ Then for each $w \in (t,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ there exists a diagonal $\{p',q'\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $$s < p' \leqslant t < w < q' < v.$$
Consider the set $$V = \big\{ w \in (t,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}\,\big|\, \nexists \{p',q'\} \in {\mathscr{X}}\text{ with } s < p' \leqslant t < w < q' < v \big\}$$ and suppose that $V \neq \varnothing$, setting $\tilde{w} = \inf_{[t,v]} V$. We aim for a contradiction.
Assume first that $\tilde{w} \in {\mathscr{Z}}$. In particular, this implies $\tilde{w} \in V$. By condition (\[eqn:s<t<v\]) there exists a diagonal $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $$s < p < \tilde{w} < q < v.$$ Since $\tilde{w} \in V$ we must have $$\label{Inequality 1}
s < t < p < \tilde{w} < q < v.$$ Therefore $\tilde{w}$ lies in $(t^{+},v)$ and thus $\tilde{w}^- \in (t,v)$. Now, because $\tilde{w}$ is the infimum of $V$, we have $\tilde{w}^- \notin V$ and thus we can find $\{p',q'\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $s < p' \leqslant t < \tilde{w}^- < q' < v$.
This implies $$\label{Inequality 2}
s < p' \leqslant t < \tilde{w} \leqslant q' < v$$ and because $\tilde{w} \in V$ we must have $q' = \tilde{w}$. Combining (\[Inequality 1\]) and (\[Inequality 2\]) yields $$s < p' \leqslant t < p < \tilde{w} = q' < q <v,$$ implying that $\{p',q'\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ cross. The Ptolemy condition implies that the diagonal $\{p',q\}$ is in ${\mathscr{X}}$ and we have $$s < p' \leqslant t < \tilde{w} < q < v.$$ This contradicts $\tilde{w} \in V$.
Assume now that $\tilde{w} \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$. We can pick a sequence $\{w^i\}_{i \in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from $V$ converging to $\tilde{w}$ from above. Since ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfies the two-sided limit condition (cf. Definition \[D:admissible\]), we can pick a sequence $\{z^i\}_{i \in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from $(t, \tilde{w})\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ converging to $\tilde{w}$ from below.
Because $\tilde{w}$ is the infimum of $V$, we have $z^i \notin V$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$. Thus for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ there is a diagonal $\{x^i_0, x^i_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $$s < x^i_0 \leqslant t < z^i < x^i_1 < v.$$ The last inequality can even be written $x^i_1 < \tilde{w} < v$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$: If we had $\tilde{w} < x^i_1 < v$ for an $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ there would be a $j \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant0}$ (in fact, infinitely many) with $\tilde{w} < w^j < x_1^i$ which would yield $$s < x_0^i \leqslant t < \tilde{w} < w^j < x_1^i < v$$ contradicting the fact that $w^j \in V$.
Having $z^i < x^i_1 < \tilde{w}$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ and $z^i \to \tilde{w}$ from below forces $x^i_1 \to \tilde{w}$ from below. We have $x^i_0 \in [s^+,t]$ and passing to a subsequence we can assume $x^i_0 \to c$ from below or above for some $c \in [s^+,t] \cap \overline{{\mathscr{Z}}}$. Since $\tilde{w} \in (t,v) \cap L({\mathscr{Z}})$ we have $c \neq \tilde{w}$. By assumption, the set ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2 and thus there is a sequence $\{x'^i_0,x'^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x'^i_0 \to c$ from above and $x'^i_1 \to \tilde{w}$ from above. We can pick $i,j \in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}$ such that $$s < x'^i_0 \leqslant t < \tilde{w} < w^j < x'^i_1<v$$ contradicting the fact that $w^j \in V$.
\[def:nc\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. Then we set $${\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}= \{Y \text{ diagonal of } {\mathscr{Z}}\mid Y \text{ crosses no } X \in {\mathscr{X}}\}.$$ We write ${\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}= {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}({\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}})$. The letters “nc” stand for “non-crossing”.
\[L:nc\^2 = id implies Ptolemy\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. If ${\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}= {\mathscr{X}}$, then ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies the Ptolemy condition.
Assume $\{x_0,x_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and $\{y_0,y_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ cross. According to Definition \[def:diagonals\] this means that we can label the vertices so that $x_0<y_0<x_1<y_1$. Consider those of $\{x_0,y_0\}$, $\{y_0,x_1\}$, $\{x_1,y_1\}$ and $\{y_1,x_0\}$ which are diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. Clearly, any diagonal $U$ of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ crossing one of these diagonals must also cross one of $\{x_0,x_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and $\{y_0,y_1\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$, i.e. $U\not\in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}$. It follows that those of $\{x_0,y_0\}$, $\{y_0,x_1\}$, $\{x_1,y_1\}$ and $\{y_1,x_0\}$ which are diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ lie in ${\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$. But by assumption ${\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}= {\mathscr{X}}$, so ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies the Ptolemy condition.
\[L:Ptolemy implies nc\^2 = id\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfying conditions PC1 and PC2. If ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies the Ptolemy condition, then ${\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}= {\mathscr{X}}$.
The inclusion ${\mathscr{X}}\subseteq {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$ follows immediately from Definition \[def:nc\] (and does not need any of the assumptions on ${\mathscr{X}}$).
For the inclusion ${\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 \cX \subseteq \cX$, let $\{s,t\} \in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$ be given. Our proof will be divided into cases and subcases. For each one we will show either that $\{s,t\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$, or that we can deduce a contradiction.
[*Case A: There does not exist $z \in (s,t] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ such that $\{s,z\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$.*]{} We will show that this assumption leads to a contradiction.
Observe that $\{s,t\} \in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$ implies $\{s^-,s^+\} \notin {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}$, so there exists a $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ such that $\{s,z\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$. By assumption we have $z \notin (s,t]$, so the set $$V = \big\{z \in (t,s) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}\,\big|\, \{s,z\} \in {\mathscr{X}}\big\}$$ is non-empty. Set $v = \inf_{(t,s)}V$. We claim that $v\in L({\mathscr{Z}})$. Assume for a contradiction that $v \in {\mathscr{Z}}$. Then we have $\{s,v\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$. It follows from the assumption in Case A that $\{s,t\} \notin {\mathscr{X}}$, so $v \in [t^+,s^{--}]$. Then $\{s^+,v\}$ crosses $\{s,t\} \in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$, whence $\{s^+,v\} \notin {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}$. Thus there is a diagonal $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ crossing $\{s^+,v\}$. However, this diagonal can not have $s$ as one of its endpoints, due to the assumption in Case A and the definition of $v$ as infimum. So we can deduce that the diagonal $\{p,q\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ crosses the diagonal $\{s,v\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$; in particular, one of the endpoints, say $p$, lies in $(s,v)$. But then the Ptolemy condition yields that $\{s,p\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$, contradicting the assumption in Case A and the definition of $v$ as an infimum.
We thus have shown that $v \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$ with $t < v < s$. From the definition of $v$ as infimum there must exist a sequence of diagonals $\{s,v_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $v_i \in (v,s)$ and $v_i \to v$ converging from above. Since ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfies the two-sided limit condition (see Definition \[D:admissible\]), there is also a sequence of points in ${\mathscr{Z}}$ converging to $v$ from below; in particular, $(t,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ is non-empty.
For each such $w \in (t,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ we have $s^+ < t < w < v < s$, so $\{s,t\} \in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$ crosses $\{s^+,w\}$ whence $\{s^+,w\} \notin {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}$. So there is a diagonal $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ crossing $\{s^+,w\}$. This diagonal cannot have $s$ as one of its endpoints because of the assumption in Case A and the definition of $v$ as infimum. So we can assume $p \in [s^{++},w^-]$ and $q \in [w^+,s)$. If $v < q < s$ then there exists an $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ such that $\{s,v_i\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ and $ \{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ cross; by the Ptolemy condition it follows that $\{s,p\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$, contradicting our assumption in Case A and the definition of $v$ as infimum.
Since this argument worked for each $w\in (t,v)\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$, we can apply Lemma \[L:16\]. Thus for each $w\in (t,v)\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ there exists a diagonal $\{p',q'\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $$\label{Eqn:star}
s^+ < p' \leqslant t < w < q' < v.$$
As already mentioned above, the two-sided limit condition yields a sequence $\{w_i\}_{i\in{\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ with $w_i\to v$ from below. By (\[Eqn:star\]) we can find a sequence $\{p'_i,q'_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $p'_i \in [s^{++},t]$ and $q'_i \in (w_i,v)$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$. It is clear that $q'_i \to v$ from below and by compactness and passing to a subsequence we can assume $p'_i \to r$ from below or above for some $r \in [s^{++},t]$. By conditions PC1 and PC2 there is also a sequence $\{p''_i,q''_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $p''_i \to r$ and $q''_j \to v$ from above. This implies that there must exist $j, l \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$ such that $\{s,v_l\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and $\{p''_j,q''_j\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ cross (more precisely, for each $j$ there are infinitely many $l$ such that $\{s,v_l\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and $\{p''_j,q''_j\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ cross). But then the Ptolemy condition gives $\{s,p''_j\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$, contradicting the assumption in Case A.
Therefore we have now shown that Case A cannot occur.
[*Case B: There exists a $z \in (s,t] \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ such that $\{s,z\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$.*]{} Then the set $U([s,t])$ from Lemma \[L:set U\] is non-empty, and by Lemma \[L:set U\] its supremum $u = \sup_{[s,t]}U([s,t])$ lies in ${\mathscr{Z}}$.
[*Subcase B1: We have $u = t$.* ]{} Then $\{s,t\} = \{s,u\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and we are done.
[*Subcase B2: We have $u \in (s,t)$.* ]{} We will show that this assumption also leads to a contradiction.
Again, consider the set $$V = \big\{ y \in (t,s) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}\,\big|\, \{s,y\} \in {\mathscr{X}}\big\}.$$ If $V=\emptyset$ then a symmetric version of the assumption in Case A is satisfied; so we can deduce a contradiction exactly as in Case A. So we can assume that $V \neq \emptyset$. Set $v = \inf_{(t,s)}V$.
First suppose $v \in {\mathscr{Z}}$. Then $\{s,v\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ and $t<v<s$. Since $s<u<t$ we have that $\{u,v\}$ is a diagonal of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ which crosses $\{s,t\}$. Since $\{s,t\} \in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$, this means that $\{u,v\} \notin {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}$. So there is a diagonal $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ which crosses $\{u,v\}$ and we can assume $p \in [u^+,v^-]$ and $q \in [v^+,u^-]$.
Note that $q=s$ is impossible due to the definition of $u$ as supremum and of $v$ as infimum, respectively. Thus we have $q\neq s$; but then the diagonal $\{p,q\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ crosses $\{s,u\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ or $\{s,v\}\in{\mathscr{X}}$. In either case, the Ptolemy condition implies that $\{s,p\}\in{\mathscr{X}}$, again contradicting the choice of $u$ and $v$ as supremum and infimum, because $p\in[u^+,v^-]$.
Therefore we suppose now that $v \notin {\mathscr{Z}}$, so we have $v \in L({\mathscr{Z}}) \cap (t,s)$ as sketched in Figure \[fig:sutwv\].
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(0:0.5) to\[bend left\] (110:0.5); (0:0.5) to\[bend right\] (-20:0.5); (0:0.5) to\[bend right\] (-60:0.5); (0:0.5) to\[bend right\] (-40:0.5);
\(e) at (-65:0.45) [$\cdot$]{}; (f) at (-71:0.45) [$\cdot$]{}; (g) at (-77:0.45) [$\cdot$]{};
Note that indeed there is a sequence of diagonals $\{s,v_i\}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $v_i\to v$ from above, since $v=\inf_{(t,s)}V$ by definition. For each $w \in (t,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ we have $u < t < w < v < s$, so $\{s,t\} \in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$ crosses $\{u,w\}$ whence $\{u,w\} \notin {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}$. So there is a diagonal $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ crossing $\{u,w\}$ and we can suppose $p \in [u^+,w^-]$ and $q \in [w^+,u^-]$.
We claim that $q\not\in (v,u^-]$. Note that $q=s$ is impossible due to the definition of $u$ as supremum and of $v$ as infimum, respectively. Further, if $q\in (v,u^-]$ then $\{p,q\}\in{\mathscr{X}}$ crosses $\{s,u\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ or one (actually, infinitely many) of $\{s,v_i\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$. In any case, the Ptolemy condition forces $\{s,p\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$, a contradiction to the choice of $u$ as supremum or of $v$ as infimum.
So we have shown that $q \in [w^+,v)$. To sum up, we have $t \in (u,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ with $u \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ and $v \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$ and for each $w \in (t,v) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ there exists $\{p,q\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $$u < p < w < q < v.$$ Lemma \[L:16\] implies that for each $w \in (t,v)\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ there exists a diagonal $\{p',q'\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $$\label{Eqn:doublestar}
u < p' \leqslant t < w < q' < v.$$ Let $\{w_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ be a sequence in $(t,v)$ with $w_i \to v$ from below. By (\[Eqn:doublestar\]) we can find a sequence $\{p'_i,q'_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $$u < p'_i \leqslant t < w_i < q'_i < v,$$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$. It is clear that $q'_i \to v$ from below and by compactness and passing to a suitable subsequence we can assume $p'_i \to r$ from below or above for some $r \in [u^+,t]$.
By conditions PC1 and PC2 there is also a sequence $\{p''_i,q''_i\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $p''_i \to r$ from above and $q''_i \to v$ from above. By passing to a subsequence we can assume that $p''_i \in [r,t) \subseteq [u^+,t]$ for each $i \in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}$.
But then it is clear that there must exist $j,l\in\mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}$ such that $\{p''_j,q''_j\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$ crosses $\{s,v_l\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ (see Figure \[fig:sutwv\]). Then the Ptolemy condition yields that $\{s,p''_j\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$, contradicting the definition of $u$ as a supremum.
Therefore we have finally shown that Subcase B2 cannot occur.
The following notation will be useful: If $X \subseteq \cT$ is an additive subcategory then we write $\Hom_{\mathscr{T}}(X,y) = 0$ when $\Hom_{\mathscr{T}}(x,y) = 0$ for each $x \in X$, and $\Hom_{\mathscr{T}}(y,X) = 0$ when $\Hom_{\mathscr{T}}(y,x) = 0$ for each $x \in X$. We set $$X^\perp = \{y \in {\mathscr{T}}\mid \Hom_{\mathscr{T}}(X,y) = 0\}
\;\;,\;\;
^\perp X = \{y \in {\mathscr{T}}\mid \Hom_{\mathscr{T}}(y,X) = 0\}.$$
The following is Theorem \[thm:A\] from the introduction.
\[T:torsion pair\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of $\cZ$. Then $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is the first half of a torsion pair in ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ if and only if ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1, PC2, and the Ptolemy condition.
If $Y$ is a diagonal of ${\mathscr{Z}}$, then by Section \[sec:IT\](v) we have $Y \in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}$ if and only if $$\Ext_{ \cC( \cZ ) }^1(\add E({\mathscr{X}}), E(Y)) = 0,$$ if and only if $E(Y) \in (\Sigma^{-1} \add E({\mathscr{X}}))^\perp$. Symmetrically (recall that ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ is 2-Calabi-Yau), $Y \in {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}{\mathscr{X}}$ if and only if $$\Ext_{ \cC( \cZ ) }^1(E(Y), \add E({\mathscr{X}})) = 0,$$ if and only if $E(Y) \in {}^\perp(\Sigma \add E({\mathscr{X}}))$. Thus, ${\mathscr{X}}= {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 ({\mathscr{X}})$ if and only if $$\add E({\mathscr{X}}) = {}^\perp((\add E({\mathscr{X}}))^\perp).$$ Now, by [@IY:mutation Proposition 2.3], the subcategory $\add(E({\mathscr{X}}))$ is the first half of a torsion pair if and only if $\add(E({\mathscr{X}}))$ is precovering and $\add E({\mathscr{X}}) = {}^\perp((\add E({\mathscr{X}}))^\perp)$, which by the above is the case if and only if $\add(E({\mathscr{X}}))$ is precovering and ${\mathscr{X}}= {\operatorname{nc}\nolimits}^2 {\mathscr{X}}$. By Theorem \[T:precovering\] and Lemmas \[L:nc\^2 = id implies Ptolemy\] and \[L:Ptolemy implies nc\^2 = id\], this is equivalent to ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfying conditions PC1, PC2, and the Ptolemy condition.
Cluster tilting subcategories of the cluster categories ${\mathscr{C}}({\mathscr{Z}})$ {#sec:cluster_tilting}
======================================================================================
This section proves Theorems \[thm:B\] and \[thm:C\] from the introduction (=Theorems \[T:cluster tilting\] and \[thm:cluster\_structure\]). To set the scene, recall the definition of cluster tilting subcategories of triangulated categories due to Iyama [@I def. 1.1].
\[def:cluster\_tilting\] Let ${\mathscr{T}}$ be a triangulated category. A full subcategory $X \subseteq {\mathscr{T}}$ is called [*weakly cluster tilting*]{} if $X = (\Sigma^{-1}X)^{\perp} = {}^{\perp}(\Sigma X)$.
A subcategory $Y \subseteq {\mathscr{T}}$ is called [*cluster tilting*]{} if it is weakly cluster tilting and functorially finite, i.e. it is precovering (see Definition \[D:precovering\]) and preenveloping (for each $t \in T$ there is a morphism $f \colon t \to y$ with $y \in Y$ such that each morphism $t \to y'$ with $y' \in Y$ factors through $f$).
\[rem:clustertilting\] By [@KZ:clustertilting Lemma 3.2(3)] a full subcategory $Y \subseteq \cT$ is cluster tilting if and only if it is weakly cluster tilting and precovering. So we will not need to consider the preenveloping property.
\[L:upper bounds of arcs ending in an interval\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ satisfying condition PC1 or condition PC2. For $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ and $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, define $$U = \big\{u \in [z, a) \cap {\mathscr{Z}}\,\big|\, \{z,u\} \in {\mathscr{X}}\big\}.$$ Then one of the following happens:
1. [${\mathscr{X}}$ has a fountain at $z$ converging to $a$.]{}
2. [$U = \varnothing$.]{}
3. [$s = \sup_{[z,a]} U \in {\mathscr{Z}}$.]{}
Assume that (ii) and (iii) do not hold. Then there exists a right fountain at $z$ converging to the supremum $s\in L({\mathscr{Z}})$. By Remark \[R:special case half fountain\] there is even a fountain at $z$ converging to $s$. But by definition of $s$ as supremum over the interval $[z,a]$ we must have $s=a$, i.e.(i) holds.
\[prop:PC2\_implies\_fountainleapfrog\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a maximal set of pairwise non-crossing diagonals of $\cZ$, and suppose that ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies condition PC2. For each $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, the set ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a fountain or a leapfrog converging to $a$.
Assume that ${\mathscr{X}}$ does not have a fountain converging to $a$. We will show that it has a leapfrog converging to $a$.
Pick any diagonal $\{x,y\} \in {\mathscr{X}}$. By switching $x$ and $y$ if necessary we can assume $x<y<a$. By assumption, ${\mathscr{X}}$ does not have a fountain at $x$ converging to $a$. Thus, by Lemma \[L:upper bounds of arcs ending in an interval\] there is a maximal $s_1\in [x,a]\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ such that $\{x,s_1\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$.
We consider the successor $s_1^+\in {\mathscr{Z}}$ (this exists since $a$ is a limit point, i.e there are infinitely many elements of ${\mathscr{Z}}$ in the interval $[s_1,a)$). The diagonal $\{x,s_1^+\}$ is not in ${\mathscr{X}}$ (by maximality of $s_1$). On the other hand, ${\mathscr{X}}$ is maximal non-crossing, thus $\{x,s_1^+\}$ must be crossed by a diagonal from ${\mathscr{X}}$. However, this diagonal from ${\mathscr{X}}$ cannot cross $\{x,s_1\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ (since ${\mathscr{X}}$ is non-crossing), so it must have $s_1$ as one of its endpoints, say $\{s_1,x_1\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ crosses $\{x,s_1^+\}$.
There are now two possibilities, namely $x_1\in (a,x)\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ or $x_1\in (s_1^+,a)\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$. We claim that, without loss of generality, we can assume $$\label{equ:claim}
x_1\in (a,x).$$ Assume to the contrary that $x_1\in (s_1^+,a)\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$. Then we apply Lemma \[L:upper bounds of arcs ending in an interval\] to the interval $[s_1,a]$ (by assumption there is no fountain at $s_1$ converging to $a$) and hence we can suppose that $x_1$ is maximal in $(s_1^+,a)\cap {\mathscr{Z}}$ with the property that $\{s_1,x_1\}\in{\mathscr{X}}$. Now consider the diagonal $\{x,x_1\}$; it is not in ${\mathscr{X}}$ (by maximality of $s_1$). Since ${\mathscr{X}}$ is maximal non-crossing, there exists a diagonal in ${\mathscr{X}}$ crossing $\{x,x_1\}$. But this diagonal is not allowed to cross $\{x,s_1\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ or $\{s_1,x_1\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$; so this diagonal must have $s_1$ as one of its endpoints. Now, by definition of $x_1$ as maximum, the other endpoint of this diagonal is in the interval $(a,x)$. This finishes the argument for . Thus there is a diagonal $\{s_1,x_1\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ with $x_1\in (a,x)$.
Now we repeat the above argument starting with the diagonal $\{x_1,s_1\}$ instead of $\{x,y\}$. Then we obtain a diagonal $\{x_2,s_2\}\in {\mathscr{X}}$ where $s_2\in (s_1,a)$ and $x_2\in (a,x_1)$.
Inductively, we obtain two infinite sequences $(s_i)_{i\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$ and $(x_i)_{i\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$ of points in ${\mathscr{Z}}$ such that $x<s_1<s_2<s_3\ldots <a$ and $a<\ldots <x_3<x_2<x_1<x$. Moreover, there exists a corresponding sequence of diagonals $\{x_i,s_i\}_{i\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$ in ${\mathscr{X}}$.
The strictly increasing sequence $(s_i)_{i\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$ must converge from below to some limit point $b\in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, and similarly the strictly decreasing sequence $(x_i)_{i\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$ must converge from above to some limit point $c\in L({\mathscr{Z}})$.
If $b=a=c$ then the diagonals $\{x_i,s_i\}_{i\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$ show that ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a leapfrog converging to $a$, and we are done.
Otherwise, condition PC2 (which requires two different limit points), applied to the diagonals $\{x_i,s_i\}_{i\in \mathbb{Z}_{\geqslant 0}}$, yields a sequence $\{y_i^0,y_1^0\}$ of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$ such that $y_i^0\to b$ from above and $y_i^1\to c$ from above. But then some diagonals of this sequence obviously cross some of the diagonals $\{x_i,s_i\}$, a contradiction to ${\mathscr{X}}$ being non-crossing.
The following observation follows easily from the definitions of leapfrog and fountain, see Definition \[def:leapfrog\_and\_fountain\].
\[L:leapfrogs and fountains block limit points\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of pairwise non-crossing diagonals of $\cZ$ and let $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$.
1. Suppose ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a leapfrog converging to $a$. Then there cannot be a sequence $\{x_i,y_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ of diagonals in ${\mathscr{X}}$ such that $(x_i)_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converges to $a$ and $(y_i)_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converges to $p$ for some $p \in \overline{{\mathscr{Z}}}$ with $p \neq a$.
2. Suppose ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a fountain at $z\in {\mathscr{Z}}$ converging to $a$. Then there cannot be a sequence $\{x_i,y_i\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ of diagonals in ${\mathscr{X}}$ such that $(x_i)_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converges to $a$ and $(y_i)_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ converges to $p$ for some $p \in \overline{{\mathscr{Z}}}$ with $p \neq z$.
\[P:noncrossing with isolated limit points implies precovering\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of pairwise non-crossing diagonals of $\cZ$. Suppose that for each $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$ there is either a fountain or a leapfrog in ${\mathscr{X}}$ converging to $a$. Then ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2.
According to the definition of the conditions PC1 and PC2 (cf. Definition \[D:precovering\]), let $\{x^i_0,x^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ be a sequence of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x^i_0 \to p$ from below and $x^i_1 \to q$ from below or above and $p \neq q$.
If $p,q \in {\mathscr{Z}}$, then $\{x^i_0,x^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ is eventually constant and both conditions PC1 and PC2 are trivially satisfied with $x'^i_0 = x^i_0$ and $x'^i_1 = x^i_1$.
If $p \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$ then by Lemma \[L:leapfrogs and fountains block limit points\](i), ${\mathscr{X}}$ cannot have a leapfrog converging to $p$, so by assumption ${\mathscr{X}}$ must have a fountain at some $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ converging to $p$. By Lemma \[L:leapfrogs and fountains block limit points\](ii) this forces $q = z$. Therefore ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a fountain at $z = q$ converging to $p$, so there certainly is a sequence $\{x'^i_0,x'^i_1\}_{i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}}$ from ${\mathscr{X}}$ with $x'^i_0 \to p$ and $x'^i_1 \to z = q$ from above: we can even chose $x'^i_1 = z = q$ for each $i \in {\mathbb{Z}}_{\geqslant 0}$.
If $q \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$ then an analogous argument works.
The following is Theorem \[thm:B\] from the introduction.
\[T:cluster tilting\] Let ${\mathscr{X}}$ be a set of diagonals of ${\mathscr{Z}}$. Then $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is a cluster tilting subcategory if and only if ${\mathscr{X}}$ is a maximal set of pairwise non-crossing diagonals, such that for each $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, the set ${\mathscr{X}}$ has a fountain or a leapfrog converging to $a$.
By Remark \[rem:clustertilting\], the subcategory $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is cluster tilting if and only if it is weakly cluster tilting and precovering.
It is straightforward from the description of the $\Ext^1$ spaces in Section \[sec:IT\](v) that $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is weakly cluster tilting if and only if ${\mathscr{X}}$ is a maximal set of pairwise non-crossing diagonals.
Recall from Theorem \[T:precovering\] that $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is a precovering subcategory of $\cC( \cZ )$ if and only if ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2.
So it remains to show that if ${\mathscr{X}}$ is a maximal set of pairwise non-crossing diagonals, then ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies conditions PC1 and PC2 if and only if for each $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, there is a leapfrog or a fountain in ${\mathscr{X}}$ converging to $a$. But these two implications have been shown in Propositions \[prop:PC2\_implies\_fountainleapfrog\] and \[P:noncrossing with isolated limit points implies precovering\], respectively.
If ${\mathscr{Z}}$ has precisely one limit point, then the assertion of Theorem \[T:cluster tilting\] was already established in [@HJinfinity Theorem B]. In fact, the condition of being locally finite appearing there is equivalent to the existence of a leapfrog converging to the unique limit point.
Figure \[fig:not\_cluster\_tilting\] shows an example of a maximal set of pairwise non-crossing diagonals ${\mathscr{X}}$ of $\cZ$ for which the corresponding subcategory $\add E({\mathscr{X}})$ is not cluster tilting (only weakly cluster tilting). In fact, neither limit point has a fountain or a leapfrog converging to it.
Note that ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies condition PC1 (because no sequence of diagonals from ${\mathscr{X}}$ satisfies the assumption in PC1), but not condition PC2. This shows that the conclusion of Proposition \[prop:PC2\_implies\_fountainleapfrog\] would not be true if only condition PC1 was assumed.
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The following is Theorem \[thm:C\] from the introduction.
\[thm:cluster\_structure\] The cluster tilting subcategories of $\cC( \cZ )$ form a cluster structure in the sense of [@BIRS sec. II.1].
It is enough to verify the conditions in [@BIRS thm. II.1.6].
The first condition is that $\cC( \cZ )$ has a cluster tilting subcategory. This follows from Theorem \[T:cluster tilting\].
The second condition is that if $\cT \subseteq \cC( \cZ )$ is a cluster tilting subcategory, then the quiver of $\cT$ has no loops or $2$-cycles. Recall that up to isomorphism, each indecomposable object of $\cT$ has the form $E(X)$ by Section \[sec:IT\](iii).
The space $\Hom_{ \cC( \cZ ) }( E(X),E(X) )$ is $1$-dimensional over the ground field $k$ by Section \[sec:IT\](vi), so each non-zero morphism $E(X) \rightarrow E(X)$ is invertible whence the quiver of $\cT$ has no loops.
Let $E( X ) \not\cong E(Y)$ be indecomposable objects in $\cT$ and assume $\Hom_{ \cC( \cZ ) }( E(X),E(Y) ) \neq 0$. By Section \[sec:IT\](vi) we can write $X = \{ x_0,x_1 \}$ and $Y = \{ y_0,y_1 \}$ with $$\label{equ:x_and_y_inequality}
x_0 \leqslant y_0 \leqslant x_1^{--} < x_1 \leqslant y_1 \leqslant x_0^{--}.$$ If $x_0 \neq y_0$ and $x_1 \neq y_1$ then $X$ and $Y$ would cross, contradicting $\Ext_{ \cC( \cZ ) }^1( E(X),E(Y) ) = 0$ which holds since $E(X),E(Y) \in \cT$. Without loss of generality we can suppose $$\label{equ:x_and_y_equality}
x_0 = y_0
\;\;\;\;\mbox{and}\;\;\;\;
x_1 \neq y_1.$$ Suppose we had $\Hom_{ \cC( \cZ ) }( E(Y),E(X) ) \neq 0$. By Section \[sec:IT\](vi) again we would have $$y_0 \leqslant x_0 \leqslant y_1^{--} < y_1 \leqslant x_1 \leqslant y_0^{--}
\;\;\;\; \mbox{or} \;\;\;\;
y_0 \leqslant x_1 \leqslant y_1^{--} < y_1 \leqslant x_0 \leqslant y_0^{--}.$$ But each is incompatible with the combination of and , so $\Hom_{ \cC( \cZ ) }( E(Y),E(X) ) = 0$. Hence there is no $2$-cycle between $E(X)$ and $E(Y)$ in the quiver of $\cT$.
\[R:clusters\] For most admissible sets $\cZ$, the cluster structure in Theorem \[thm:cluster\_structure\] is different from the one in [@IT:cyclicposets Theorem 2.4.1], where the clusters are not necessarily cluster tilting subcategories.
Namely, the convergence condition in [@IT:cyclicposets Theorem 2.4.1] only asks that for each right (respectively left) fountain at a point $z \in {\mathscr{Z}}$ converging to a limit point $a \in L({\mathscr{Z}})$, there be a left (respectively right) fountain at $z$ converging to the same limit point $a$ (cf. [@IT:cyclicposets Definition 2.4.6]).
In fact, the clusters in [@IT:cyclicposets Theorem 2.4.1] coincide with cluster tilting subcategories if and only if ${\mathscr{Z}}$ is finite or has exactly one limit point. Figure \[fig:not\_cluster\_tilting\] yields an example of a cluster in the sense of [@IT:cyclicposets Theorem 2.4.1] (there is no right or left fountain, so the condition in [@IT:cyclicposets Definition 2.4.6] is empty) which does not correspond to a cluster tilting subcategory.
[**Acknowledgements.**]{} We thank Charles Paquette, Adam-Christiaan van Roosmalen, and Bin Zhu for illuminating comments on a preliminary version, and the referee for a careful reading and several useful suggestions which have improved the presentation.
This project was supported by grant HO 1880/5-1 under the research priority programme SPP 1388 “Darstellungstheorie” of the DFG, and by grant EP/P016014/1 “Higher Dimensional Homological Algebra” from the EPSRC.
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Our egg hunt for you
April 2, 2012
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Also on our website, you'll find such treasures as links to publications, videos, and our Facebook and Twitter pages. The more you search the corners of the website, the more good eggs you'll find. Start the egg hunt now! You'll find all the eggs in one basket: www.socialsecurity.gov.
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754 F.Supp. 681 (1990)
Sara Anne DAINES, Plaintiff,
v.
CITY OF MANKATO, Defendant.
Civ. No. 3-87-789.
United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Third Division.
September 7, 1990.
*682 *683 *684 Paul Sprenger, Sprenger & Lang, Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiff.
C. Ann Olson, Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, Minn., for defendant.
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW, ORDER FOR JUDGMENT AND MEMORANDUM
RENNER, District Judge.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Sara Anne Daines, the plaintiff, worked at the City of Mankato from June 9, 1980, to July 16, 1984. She voluntarily resigned on July 1, 1985, after taking a one-year educational leave of absence.
2. The City of Mankato ("City"), the defendant, is an incorporated political subdivision of the State of Minnesota and has its principal address at 202 East Jackson Street, Mankato, Minnesota.
3. This matter came before the Court for trial on January 22, 1990, on Daines' claims of sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. ("Title VII"), and the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minn.Stat. § 363.01, et seq. ("MHRA"). The claims tried to the Court included Daines' allegations of sex discrimination based on the City's failure to appoint her Housing Director in May or September 1984, and her allegations of retaliation subsequent to her filing a sex discrimination charge in June 1984.
4. On June 6, 1984, Daines filed a charge of sex discrimination and on July 3, 1984, a charge of retaliation with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. She also filed both charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC").
5. On August 1, 1986, the Minnesota Department of Human Rights found probable cause that the City had discriminated against Daines in not selecting her as the Housing Director on May 21, 1984 and had retaliated against her for filing her initial charge on June 6, 1984.
6. After being issued right-to-sue letters, Daines commenced this suit on November 18, 1987.
7. The City Council for the City of Mankato is responsible under the City Charter for setting policy for the City and for hiring the City Manager.
8. The City Manager as chief executive officer is responsible for the day-to-day administration of City affairs and City budget preparation. The City Manager has the ultimate authority on behalf of the City to hire, promote, transfer and make other employment decisions concerning City employees.
9. The Assistant City Manager aids the City Manager in the performance of his or her duties, fills in for the City Manager in the absence of the City Manager, and acts as the department head of the Community Development Department.
10. The City is organized into five departments: Public Safety (police and fire), Public Works, Administration and Finance, Community Development, and Legal.
*685 11. The principal divisions of the City's Community Development Department are the Housing Division, Planning Division and Economic Development Division.
12. Employment positions with the City of Mankato are categorized into different grade levels. The positions at issue in this matter are those at grades 17 and above.
13. William Bassett is the City Manager and has held that position since 1968.
14. Thomas Melena was the Assistant City Manager and head of the Community Development Department from 1981 to 1985.
15. During the period from 1981 to 1985, hiring and transfer decisions in the Community Development Department were made by Thomas Melena with the approval of William Bassett.
16. Dale Darrow worked for the City from 1972 through August 1984, and headed the Housing Department from 1976 until May 1984 when he was appointed Economic Development Director.
17. In the early 1980's, the Housing Division consisted of Dale Darrow, Housing Director, two housing assistants (one responsible for Section Eight housing and one responsible for public housing), and interns and clerical staff shared by both the Planning and Housing Divisions.
18. Section Eight housing is a program through which low-income persons receive rent assistance in renting from approved private landlords.
19. Public housing is government-owned housing that is made available to qualified low-income tenants.
20. The Board of Directors of the City Housing and Redevelopment Authority ("HRA") and County HRA set policies for the HUD-financed programs at the local level.
21. The City of Mankato has service contracts with both the Mankato HRA and the County HRA to provide staff and services to the HRA boards in order to operate the housing programs.
22. The City Housing Director and the Housing Division staff are primarily responsible on behalf of the City for providing the services under the City's contract with the HRAs.
23. The HRAs are dependent upon federal funding for their existence.
24. HUD provides supervision of the HRAs for compliance with the HRA funding contracts.
25. During 1983 and through May of 1984, Housing Director Dale Darrow served as the Executive Director for the County HRA, and Thomas Melena was the Executive Director for the Mankato HRA.
26. Sara Daines began an internship with the City on January 6, 1980 through Mankato State University where she was an undergraduate student. Her internship was under the supervision of Dale Darrow.
27. On May 19, 1980, Daines applied for the position of Housing Assistant I. She was appointed a technical specialist in the Housing Department on June 9, 1980, and then promoted to Housing Assistant I, Range 14, after she received her bachelor's degree in August 1980.
28. On December 22, 1980, Daines was appointed Housing Assistant II, Range 17. While holding that position, Daines received periodic salary increases within her salary range.
29. While employed in the Housing Division, Daines worked first with the day-to-day implementation of the Section Eight program and then with the public housing program.
30. On December 16, 1983, Daines applied for the position of Assistant Planner with the Planning Division. On February 6, 1984, she was appointed Assistant Planner at Range 17, Step C.
31. Prior to switching to the Planning Division in 1984 and during the time that Daines worked as a Housing Assistant, Daines began to consider pursuing a master's degree which was encouraged by the City.
32. The City facilitates its employees' educational efforts by providing tuition reimbursement for City employees who take courses at Mankato State University.
*686 33. Daines had applied to graduate degree programs at several universities in 1982 and 1983. In late 1983, Daines applied to the University of Chicago's program in the field of Urban and Regional Geography.
34. During part of the time that Daines worked in the Housing Division, Mary Barrett also was a housing assistant.
35. There are nine EEOC job categories. The category "officials and administrators" is the highest and includes City management jobs such as department and division heads, the latter being at issue in this case.
36. From January 1, 1975 until June 6, 1984, when Daines filed her first charge of sex discrimination, the City had appointed 22 men and no women to the EEOC officials and administrators job category.
37. Although required by its affirmative action program, in place since 1974, the City did not keep applicant flow data for officials and administrators positions during the period from January 1, 1975 through June 6, 1984.
38. The availability of qualified women for Officials and Administrators positions at the City during the period from January 1, 1975 to June 6, 1984, based on standard and accepted statistical sources for employment data, ranges from 28.36% female to 33.62% female.
39. In the City's affirmative Action Plan dated September 1988, the City of Mankato states that the availability of qualified women for officials and administrators jobs is 32.4%. This availability figure was based on official state and federal census records maintained at the State of Minnesota Department of Jobs and Training, Research and Statistics Office, reflecting detailed occupational availabilities as of 1980 within the Blue Earth and Nicollet counties in Minnesota.
40. The percentage of female/male applicants for the 1984 and 1989 Housing Director searches at Mankato are as follows:
Female Availability Total Applicants/Search Year
33% female availability 21 applicants/1984
28% female availability 29 applicants/1989
30% female availability 50 applicants/combined 1984
and 1989
41. The City's applicant flow data from certain positions filled in 1988 and 1989 at grades 17 and above shows availabilities of women from 6% to 20% excluding the 1989 housing director position which had an availability of 28%.
42. Given the availability of qualified women for officials and administrators positions at the City of Mankato from January 1, 1975 to June 6, 1984, it is reasonable to expect appointments of 6 to 8 women to those positions.
43. The City's failure to appoint any women from January 1, 1975 to June 6, 1984, to the 22 officials and administrators positions filled by men is measured by statistical experts in standard deviations. Specifically, the deviation of actual (no women) from that which is expected in a bias free appointment process (6-8 women) is measured, depending on the availability referenced, at from 2.71 standard deviations to 3.11 standard deviations.
44. For various job categories, the breakdown of the female availabilities, comparisons of expected versus actual appointments, and measurement of the differences of actual from expected appointments of women in the 22 officials and administrators positions from January 1, 1975 to June 6, 1984 are as follows:
Expected Versus Actual Number of Female Appointments
to Official and Administrator Vacancies
January 1, 1975 through June 6, 1984
22 total appointments (0 female, 22 male)
*687
Actual is the
Female Following Number of
Female Appointments Standard Deviations
Availability Expected Actual from Expected
United States, All Executives
30.53% female 6.72 0 2.88
United States, Admin. & Officials,
Public Admin. 33.62% female 7.40 0 3.11
United States, Admin. & Officials,
Public Admin. plus Admin., Protec.
Ser. 31.65% female 6.96 0 2.96
Minnesota, All Executives 28.36%
female 6.24 0 2.71
Minnesota, Administrator, Public.
32.45% female 7.14 0 3.02
Minnesota, Admin., Public. plus
Admin., Protec. Serv. 29.92% female 6.58 0 2.83
Blue Earth and Nicollet Counties,
All Executives. 28.94% female 6.37 0 2.76
Blue Earth and Nicollet Counties,
Administrators, Public. 29.82% female 6.56 0 2.82
Blue Earth and Nicollet Counties,
Admin., Public. plus Admin., Prot.
Serv. 31.67% female 6.97 0 2.97
45. Standard deviations of between 2.71 and 3.11 for the appointment process at the City for officials and administrators from January 1, 1975 to June 6, 1984 show a statistically significant adverse impact on available and qualified women candidates as a class.
46. The chances that no women and 22 men would be appointed to fill the 22 Officials and Administrators vacancies at the City of Mankato from January 1, 1975 to June 6, 1984, without a bias against women can be stated in lay terms as from 3 to 7 chances out of 1,000. That is, 3.11 standard deviations equate to about 3 chances out of 1,000 and 2.71 standard deviations equate to about 7 chances out of 1,000.
47. Daines was an available and qualified woman candidate for one or more of the City's vacancies in the Officials and Administrators job category between January 1, 1975 and June 6, 1984.
48. The City Employee Relationship Policy required posting of notice to City employees of all job openings for a minimum of 5 days on internal City bulletin boards. The purpose of this policy was to allow qualified internal applicants an opportunity to apply for job openings.
49. Prior to June 6, 1984, when Daines filed her charge of discrimination, the City of Mankato did not uniformly follow the policy of posting job openings as articulated in the Employee Relationship Policy.
50. The Mankato Affirmative Action Program in effect from 1974 to 1988 required *688 the City, among other things, to analyze recruitment and selection processes to assure that artificial barriers to the hiring and promoting of women do not exist; to establish annual goals to remedy underutilization of women through such mechanisms as recruitment of qualified woman applicants and creation of trainee positions and career ladders to advance qualified internal applicants; and to document all applicants rejected for position openings.
51. The City of Mankato did not consistently follow its Affirmative Action Program requirements.
52. Of the 22 officials and administrators positions filled by the City between January 1, 1975 and June 6, 1984, 10 of the positions were posted, 5 were advertised and 11 (possibly 12) were neither posted nor advertised. (Advertised means that a vacancy notice for the position was placed in a newspaper or other external periodical of local, state-wide, or national circulation.)
53. Bassett, the City Manager, has the authority under City charter to appoint whomever he deems qualified to any position without posting or advertising and without regard to objective qualifications.
54. With regard to officials and administrators positions filled between January 1, 1975 and June 6, 1984, Bassett only exercised this authority to appoint men.
55. City officials admitted that the following men were appointed to officials and administrators positions from January 1, 1980 through 1984, without posting, advertising or any kind of competitive process: Thomas Melena (Industrial Development Director); Thomas Melena (Assistant City Manager and Head of the Community Development Department); Doug Elling (Parks & Forestry Superintendent); Gary Oehlers (Data Processing Manager); George Rosati (Utilities Superintendent); Jim Harberts (Planning Director); Dale Brower (Parking Supervisor); Dale Darrow (Economic Development Director and Acting Economic Development Director); Larry Forsythe (Housing Director and Acting Housing Director.)
56. During her first year as a Housing Assistant, Daines administered the Section 8 Housing program. In that program, she made eligibility determinations and oversaw payment of subsidies to private landlords on behalf of low income tenants.
57. In approximately the summer of 1981, Daines became the administrator of Mankato's Public Housing Program. In that position, she managed public housing owned by the City. While administering these programs, she exercised discretion, trained and supervised other personnel and worked closely with the tenants, contractors, HRA boards and HUD.
58. When Daines had the position of Housing Assistant I, from 1980-1981, she spent 25% of her time on non-technical, administrative tasks. As a Housing Assistant II, from 1982-1984, Daines spent 50% of her time on non-technical, administrative tasks.
59. Contracts between the City and the HRAs require the City to provide a Housing Director who complies with the job description for Housing Director appended to the contract. The job description in the contract contains three specific objective job requirements: (1) three years of responsible experience in housing management, (2) a bachelors degree, (3) and a Public Housing Manager's Certificate. The contracts also require the City to provide other personnel services such as financial and accounting services, which the City does through its Finance Department. The HRAs pay the City for its housing, finance and other personnel services under the contracts.
60. In January 1984, Daines applied and interviewed for a position as Assistant Planner in the Planning Division. She sought the position to advance her career within the City.
61. City Officials admitted that the following men were appointed to Assistant Planner positions without posting or advertising or any kind of competitive process: Larry Forsythe, Mark Liefermann, Ryan Schroeder, Kirk MacDonald. The only two women, one of whom was Daines, who were appointed to the job of Assistant *689 Planner during the same time period had to apply for the position and compete with other applicants.
62. When Daines inquired about the Assistant Planner opening in an initial interview with Planning Director, James Harberts, Harberts asked Daines if she was married. He commented that his previous female planner got married and moved away with her husband and he did not want that to happen again.
63. Daines was interviewed for the Assistant Planner position by Harberts, Ben Mercer, the Personnel Director, and Tom Melena, the Assistant City Manager. The interview lasted 30 to 45 minutes. About 20 minutes into the interview, Melena said that his one concern was whether or not Daines could be "one of the boys". The three men spent the last ten minutes of the interview giving examples of being "one of the boys", including stringing toilet paper in another man's office.
64. In May of 1984, Melena and Bassett decided to appoint Darrow to the position of Economic Development Director and appoint an Associate Planner, Larry Forsythe, to Darrow's Housing Director position. Both positions were Division Head jobs in the officials and administrators job category.
65. Melena wrote a memo dated May 3, 1984, to Bassett concerning the appointments, which were to be made without posting or advertising. In the memo, Melena stated that the appointment of an Economic Development Director was needed by the City and that Darrow was qualified because he was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about development work. In the same memo, Melena justified the appointment of Forsythe as Housing Director because it would give him "hands on experience in supervising," "expand his career opportunities," and make "growth opportunities available to him." There was no mention of the objective job requirements of the Housing Director position.
66. On May 14, 1984, the Mankato City Council voted to approve the budgetary changes necessary to fund the appointments which became effective May 21, 1984. It was stated that Darrow and Forsythe would fill the positions.
67. To comply with the City's employment policies, Forsythe and Darrow should have possessed the objective job requirements for the respective positions to which they were appointed.
68. At the time of Forsythe's appointment as Housing Director, Daines was more qualified. She possessed the three objective qualifications in the position description in effect at the time Forsythe was appointed: a bachelors degree, three years of responsible experience in housing management, and certification as a Public Housing Manager. (Certification is obtained after successful completion of training and testing administered by one of five or more HUD designated certifying agencies. Certification is a requirement for full HUD funding of Housing Director salaries.)
69. No other internal candidate, including Forsythe, met all three of the objective criteria.
70. Prior to the announcement that Forsythe would be appointed to the position of Housing Director, Darrow was not asked for recommendations of persons to fill the position or about the qualifications of Daines or Barrett for the position.
71. Darrow, who had supervised Daines for three years in the Housing Division, considered her the most qualified person for the Housing Director position. He testified that, in addition to meeting the three objective qualifications in the position description, Daines knew about state and federal housing loan and grant and public housing programs; she also had the ability to motivate and direct subordinates and to speak and write clearly and concisely. She established and maintained effective working relationships. Darrow considered Daines to have good judgment and attitude and her reporting to be timely and accurate.
72. Darrow considered Mary Barrett, who had also worked under his supervision, to be less qualified than Daines for the position of Housing Director. Since Barrett *690 had only worked in the Housing Division since September, 1981, she did not meet the objective requirement of three years responsible housing management experience. In addition, her housing experience was limited because she had administered only the Section 8 program. Daines, on the other hand, had administered both the Section 8 and the more demanding Public Housing programs.
73. Darrow considered Forsythe to be less qualified than Daines because he had no experience in housing management.
74. The City attempted to discredit Darrow's testimony regarding Daines' qualifications through testimony from Melena and Bassett that HUD had complained about Darrow's administration of the Housing Division. The testimony of HUD management specialists indicates that Darrow was competent and that many of the problems with HUD were due to circumstances over which Darrow had no control.
75. Forsythe did not meet two of the three objective qualifications for the Housing Director position. He had no experience in the Housing Division or in housing management and was not certified as a Public Housing Manager.
76. The reasons proffered by the City for not appointing Daines as its Housing Director in May and June of 1984 are pretextual in nature.
77. The City contended that Forsythe had more supervisory experience than Daines. However, in his May 3, 1984 memo to Bassett, Melena recommended Forsythe for the Housing Director position because the job would give Forsythe "hands on experience in supervising."
78. The City contended that its problems with HUD required selection of a Housing Director who was not a part of the Darrow administration of the Housing Department. This concern was not cited in any explanations given by the City to the Minnesota Human Rights Department. No evidence was presented supporting a conclusion that Daines was responsible for any problems that may have existed.
79. Melena testified that prior to his recommendation of Forsythe for the Housing Director position, he had considered Daines. He determined that she was not qualified because her skills and experience did not best meet the immediate needs of the job as perceived by him. However, he had very little contact with Daines and thus had little basis for assessing her qualifications.
80. Melena's selection of Forsythe was based on subjective criteria rather than on the objective qualifications stated in the job description in effect at the time and on a closed process that peremptorily eliminated the woman most qualified for the position.
81. The City's contention is pretextual that it would have selected Mary Barrett if it had to choose among the qualified women in the Housing Division to fill the position in May 1984. Darrow evaluated Daines as more qualified. Barrett had less than three years responsible housing management experience and no experience managing public housing.
82. Melena called a meeting in early May 1984 to inform Darrow and Forsythe of their appointments to the Economic Development Director and Housing Director positions respectively. At the meeting, Forsythe said he wanted the Economic Development Director job, not Housing Director. He also said he was concerned about how the women who had worked in the Housing Division, such as Daines, would react to his appointment. Melena told him the Housing Director job would increase his career opportunities and he would get a raise. Melena told him not to worry about the women in the division because he and Bassett could appoint whomever they wanted.
83. At the same meeting and at the May 14, 1984 Council meeting, Bassett, based on Melena's recommendation, stated that the City would eliminate the Assistant Planner position Daines' position in May 1984 in order to fund the Economic Development Director position.
84. The appointment of Forsythe to the position of Housing Director constituted discrimination against Daines.
*691 85. After the Forsythe appointment, but before the City received Daines' charge of discrimination, she had received permission for a one year educational leave of absence to pursue a graduate degree.
86. On June 14, 1984, after receiving notice of Daines' charge of discrimination, Melena called Darrow into his office and handed him the charge. Darrow testified that Melena was visibly angry and shaking. Referring to the charge, Melena stated "this will probably cost her her leave."
87. Melena met with Daines three times on the day he received her charge. Initially he went to her office, told her he had received her charge and that her educational leave was cancelled. Forty-five minutes later he called her to his office. When she got there, he was in a meeting with Harberts and Mercer. Daines stood in the doorway while Melena again told her that her educational leave was cancelled. In the afternoon, Melena called a meeting with Forsythe, Darrow, Harberts and Daines.
88. At the afternoon meeting, Melena said all personnel decisions were on hold including Daines' educational leave. He told Darrow and Forsythe that because of Daines' charge, the City was making both their appointments temporary and reopening the positions. Melena assured Darrow and Forsythe that if they were not permanently appointed to the Economic Development Director and the Housing Director positions, they would get their old jobs back.
89. Daines reminded Melena at the meeting that she had been promised in writing an associate planner position when she returned from her educational leave. Melena responded, "you can't have it both ways."
90. On or about this same date, Heather Weddle, a temporary secretary, overheard Melena say to someone in his office in an elevated voice: "If she makes this charge, she can't expect her job when she comes back."
91. Melena prepared a memorandum to Daines implying that she should not have filed her charge of discrimination and telling her that Forsythe was more qualified than she was. The memorandum also stated that if she persisted in her charge she could not expect to have her job at the end of her educational leave. Melena dictated this memorandum and gave it to Weddle to type. Weddle typed the memorandum and gave it to Melena. She later overheard Bassett telling Melena to destroy all copies of the memorandum. When she later tried to find the memorandum on Melena's computer disk, it had been erased.
92. Melena admitted that but for Daines' charge, the City would have appointed an internal candidate.
93. After June 14, 1984, when the City received notice of Daines' first discrimination charge based on Forsythe's appointment as Housing Director, the City's personnel director, Mercer, drafted a job posting for the Housing Director position which changed the job requirements to state that a masters degree was preferred, and that housing experience was not required. While the earlier job description required "three years of responsible experience in housing management," the June 1984 posting listed "3-5 years supervisory experience in housing or a related field." As to the public housing certificate which had previously been required, the 1984 job posting stated "Certification required or the ability to be certified within 1 year."
94. The City's contract with the HRAs requires that the Housing Director have the minimum job requirements.
95. The changes in the job description requirements made Forsythe, among others, eligible for the job. The changes made Daines a less competitive candidate for the Housing Director job. The change in job requirements significantly expanded the candidate pool for the position.
96. Darrow questioned Mercer about the rationale for changing the qualifications in the job posting. Mercer told Darrow that Melena had instructed him to make the changes. Darrow then confronted Melena who shrugged off Darrow's concern that the changes made it more difficult *692 for female and minority candidates to qualify for the position.
97. The City claims that the job requirement changes were not retaliatory, but rather part of its usual procedure of updating job requirements. This explanation is not credible because the job requirements for the Economic Development Director position, which was posted at the same time and at the same division head salary grade level, were not changed.
98. Melena testified that it was an error that the Economic Development Director job requirements were not changed in the June 15, 1984 posting. He testified that he noticed the omission and changed the job requirements in the national advertisements to conform with the changes made in the Housing Director job requirements. The actual national advertisements showed, however, that the job requirements for the Economic Development Director position had not been changed.
99. Because Daines filed the discrimination charge on June 6, 1984, the City altered the job requirements in its June 25, 1984, posting of the Housing Director vacancy.
100. The City changed the job requirements for the Housing Director in its job posting in retaliation against Daines for filing her discrimination charge on June 6, 1984.
101. Melena testified that, because of Daines' charge of discrimination, the City undertook a national search for Housing Director on or about June 22, 1984.
102. On July 3, 1984, when Daines filed retaliation charges against the City, the charge stated that she was experiencing reprisals including, but not limited to, changing the job description and threats of rescinding educational leave.
103. In retaliation for Daines' charges of discrimination and retaliation, Melena designed and oversaw an extended interview process for Housing Director which resulted in appointment of Stephanie Suttles, an external candidate, as Housing Director in September, 1984.
104. The City's retaliatory actions constitute clear and convincing evidence of its willful indifference to the rights of plaintiff.
105. Melena recommended a retaliatory interview process for the September, 1984 Housing Director appointment in a memo to Bassett in August, 1984. The two day interview process had never before been used by the City nor was there any evidence that it has been used since for any other vacancy. The interview process consisted of the seven candidates going through two days of dinners, tours, simulations, writing exercises and presentations as well as an interview with Melena and the four-person interview panel.
106. As part of the interview process which he designed, Melena chose two City Council members and two others to be on the selection panel which was to conduct formal interviews of the seven final candidates for Housing Director. The City Council members were aware that Daines had filed discrimination charges against the City.
107. Melena did not give a preference to Daines as an internal candidate for Housing Director in September, 1984. He did give a preference to Larry Forsythe as the internal candidate for the Economic Development Director position, which was being filled at the same time.
108. Daines did not receive a preference as an internal candidate in the September 1984 interview process in direct retaliation against her because she filed her charges of discrimination against the City.
109. The interview process utilized for selection of a Housing Director in September 1984, resulted in little weight being placed on Daines' prior work experience in public housing management with the Housing Division of the City.
110. The interview process gave no weight to the three objective job requirements contained in the job description for Housing Director, all of which Daines possessed.
111. Suttles did not have two of the three objective job requirements previously *693 needed for Housing Director, i.e., three years of responsible housing management experience and a Public Housing Managers Certificate.
112. The interview process was a subjective evaluation of the candidates based on information provided by Melena together with social interaction and a lay selection panel's review of verbal and written presentation skills.
113. Darrow wrote a performance evaluation dated August 30, 1984, recommending Daines for the Housing Director position and describing her performance as the Public Housing Program Administrator. Darrow sent the letter to Mercer, the Personnel Director, and asked that the evaluation be placed in Daines' personnel file. Bassett, however, returned the letter to Darrow and refused to place it in Daines' personnel file or pass it on to the interview panel for the September 1984 Housing Director appointment.
114. Bassett's refusal to allow the interview panel consider Darrow's recommendation of Daines for the Housing Director position was in retaliation against Daines for filing her charges of discrimination.
115. Melena did not show the position description for the Housing Director position to the interview panel. The panel was not informed of any objective criteria for judging the candidates.
116. During Daines' interview with the interview panel, one of the city council members asked her if she thought she could carry out the duties of the job while she had discrimination charges pending against the City. She expressed concern as to Daines' ability to do so. Melena was present throughout the interview. The charges named the City, Melena and Bassett as discriminating and retaliating against Daines.
117. The interview panel considered Daines' charges of discrimination as a negative factor in her selection as Housing Director in the September 1984 interview process.
118. The interview panel did not recommend Daines for appointment as Housing Director in September of 1984 and Bassett did not appoint her.
119. Daines did not receive the Housing Director job on September 10, 1984, due to retaliation against her for having filed charges of discrimination and retaliation against the City on June 6 and July 3, 1984.
120. The City also carried out an interview process for the position of Economic Development Director at the same time as the interview process for the Housing Director job was conducted.
121. Melena decided upon the interview processes used for both the Housing Director and Economic Development Director vacancy fillings in September 1984. The simple selection process for the Economic Development Director position contrasted with the Housing Director selection procedures.
122. For the Economic Development Director position, Melena appointed an interview panel consisting of two of the City Department Heads with whom he had conducted discussions about the Daines charge of discrimination filed in June 1984, namely, City Attorney Michael McCauley and Personnel Director Ben Mercer. He also appointed a friend from outside City employment to serve as a third member of the interview panel.
123. The Economic Development Director selection process differed in several significant respects from the process for the filling of the Housing Director position. At least two of the panel members were aware of the objective job requirements for the Economic Development Director job. Mercer knew because he had worked with the job descriptions. McCauley knew because it was part of the decision reached at meetings held by City officials to decide how to deal with the Daines charge of discrimination filed on June 6, 1984. Conversely, the Housing Director interview panelists were not aware of the job requirements.
124. The entire Economic Development Director process involved only three candidates, Forsythe and two outside candidates, whom Melena had selected as finalists *694 to be interviewed by the panel. Conversely, the Housing Director interview panel was asked to narrow the 21 candidates to seven finalists to be interviewed.
125. The entire involvement of the candidates and the interview panel in the Economic Development selection process consisted of an approximately one hour interview with each of the three finalists and the panel's recommendation to Melena to appoint an outside woman candidate. Conversely, the Housing Director process involved all seven finalists in an elaborate two day process which included interviews, mock press conferences and written and oral presentations.
126. When the interview panel for Economic Development Director recommended to Melena that the City appoint a woman candidate for the position, the recommendation was not followed and Forsythe was appointed to the position in September 1984.
127. Plaintiff's claims of discrimination and retaliation occurring subsequent to her June 6, 1984 and July 3, 1984 EEOC filings are like and reasonably related to the substance of the discrimination and retaliation charges in those filings.
128. From July 16, 1984 through July 1, 1985, Daines attended the University of Chicago masters degree program while on educational leave from her position as Mankato Assistant Planner.
129. Daines would not have taken an educational leave requiring her absence from Mankato if she had been appointed Housing Director in May or June 1984.
130. Daines would have returned to the City in July 1985 or anytime subsequent had she been appointed Housing Director.
131. Had she been appointed Housing Director in 1984, Daines would have enrolled in the masters program at Mankato State University, using the same City policy that Melena and Forsythe and others had used to complete their masters degrees while employed by the City.
132. In July 1985, Daines informed the City of Mankato that she would not return to her Assistant Planner position. Daines did not return to the Assistant Planner job because of the pending litigation with the City coupled with the facts that she was not guaranteed advancement to Associate Planner at the City, and her Assistant Planner position had been eliminated from the budget to fund the then newly-recreated position of Economic Development Director. Daines' decision not to return was reasonable.
133. After completing the graduate program at the University of Chicago in July of 1985, Daines looked for positions comparable to the Mankato Housing Director position.
134. Daines worked for the Historic American Building Survey and the United States Department of National Parks as a consultant from June to September 1985. From October 1985 to July 1986, Daines worked as a Research Assistant for the Chicago Rehab Network. From July 1986 to present, Daines has worked as an Associate Planner for the City of Dubuque, Iowa.
135. Daines, in 1989, did not know that the City had opened the Housing Director job to external applicants until after the period to apply had closed. She knew that Barrett had been appointed Acting Housing Director and learned of the advertised position in May 1989 after the application period had closed.
136. It would be inequitable to order instatement of plaintiff to the position of Housing Director.
137. Daines voluntarily withdrew from the full-time employment market when she took an educational leave of absence from July 16, 1984 to July 1, 1985 to pursue a full-time graduate degree program.
138. Plaintiff has suffered loss of income from the job of Housing Director, from May 21, 1984 through December 31, 1989, excluding the period that she was on voluntary educational leave, from July 16, 1984 through July 1, 1985. She is therefore entitled to backpay for the period from May 21, 1984 through July 15, 1984 and from July 2, 1985 through December 31, 1989.
*695 139. Plaintiff has reasonably mitigated her damages to the extent of the income she has earned and the benefits received from May 21, 1984 through July 15, 1984 and from July 2, 1985 through December 31, 1989.
140. Based on the evidence and calculations proffered by the parties, the Court, in its discretion, determines that plaintiff should be awarded backpay and front pay in an amount totalling $94,000 and punitive damages in the amount of $6,000.
141. This award adequately compensates plaintiff and therefore pre-judgment interest is not awarded.
142. Injunctive relief is not appropriate under the facts of this case.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Court has federal question jurisdiction over Daines' Title VII claims.
2. The Court has pendent jurisdiction over Daines' claims under the Minnesota Human Rights Act ("MHRA").
3. Plaintiff's claims of discrimination and retaliation occurring subsequent to her June 6, 1984 and July 3, 1984 EEOC filings are like, and reasonably related to, the substance of the discrimination and retaliation charges in those filings. Plaintiff has therefore exhausted her EEOC administrative remedies.
4. The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiff's complaint of discrimination and retaliation with regard to events subsequent to her June 6, 1984 and July 3, 1984 EEOC filings including defendant's selection process for the September 1984 hiring of a housing director.
5. The City discriminated against Daines in failing to appoint her Housing Director on May 21, 1984, in violation of Title VII and Minn.Stat. § 363.03.
6. Under the analysis set forth in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802-804, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 1824-25, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), Daines has proven a prima facie case of sex discrimination in the City's failure to appoint her as Housing Director in May 1984.
7. The City's proffered reasons for failing to appoint Daines Housing Director in May 1984 are pretextual.
8. Daines would have been Housing Director from May 21, 1984 to the present absent the City's discrimination against her.
9. Because Daines had filed EEOC charges of discrimination and retaliation, the City retaliated against her by making adverse employment decisions, specifically, decisions to change the Housing Director job description and to implement a burden-some selection procedure not used before or since. This retaliation violated Title VII and Minn.Stat. § 363.03.
10. Under the analysis set forth in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 109 S.Ct. 1775, 1787-88, 104 L.Ed.2d 268 (1989), Daines has proven by direct evidence that the City retaliated against her in violation of Title VII.
11. The City failed to prove that, absent a retaliatory motive, it would have made the same adverse employment decisions regarding the job requirements and selection process used to fill the Housing Director position.
12. Under a McDonnell Douglas analysis, for purposes of her claim under the MHRA, Minn.Stat. § 363.03, Daines has proven a prima facie case of retaliation in the adverse employment decisions made by the City as a result of her EEOC charges of discrimination and retaliation.
13. The City's proffered reasons for its adverse employment decisions against Daines are pretextual.
14. The City's retaliatory actions so tainted the selection process that the City cannot use Daines' performance in that process to rebut her claim of retaliation or to prove that the City would have made the same adverse employment decisions absent a retaliatory motive.
15. Daines is not entitled to back pay for the period that she was on a voluntary educational leave, from July 16, 1984 through July 1, 1985.
16. The Court has discretion to award frontpay in lieu of instatement.
*696 17. The Court has discretion to order injunctive relief.
18. An award of prejudgment interest on a claim against a municipality is within the discretion of the Court.
19. Plaintiff's claim for punitive damages is cognizable under Minn.Stat. § 363.071, subd. 2, and is not subject to the procedural requirements of Minn.Stat. § 549.191.
20. Punitive damages are appropriate because plaintiff has shown clear and convincing evidence that the City's retaliatory actions against her demonstrated a willful indifference to her rights.
21. Plaintiff is entitled to reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
ORDER FOR JUDGMENT
Wherefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Daines is hereby awarded backpay and frontpay in an amount totalling $94,000.
2. Daines is hereby awarded $6,000 in punitive damages under the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
3. Daines is hereby awarded reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
MEMORANDUM
Defendant argues that this Court does not have jurisdiction over plaintiff's claims of discrimination and retaliation occurring subsequent to her June 6, 1984 and July 3, 1984 EEOC filings. While a charge of discrimination under Title VII must be filed within 180 days from the date of the alleged unlawful employment practice, Walker v. St. Anthony's Medical Center, 881 F.2d 554, 556 (8th Cir.1989), the Eighth Circuit has determined that once a charge has been filed, continuing incidents of discrimination may be considered in reference to the original charge. Anderson v. Block, 807 F.2d 145, 148 (8th Cir.1986). Recognizing that "needless procedural barriers" would be put up if courts required plaintiffs to file a new administrative charge with each continuing incident of discrimination, the Anderson court held:
A plaintiff will be deemed to have exhausted administrative remedies if the allegations of the judicial complaint are like or reasonably related to the administrative charges that were timely brought.
Id.
Plaintiff alleged in her EEOC filings that defendant discriminated against her by failing to appoint her as Housing Director in May 1984 and then retaliated against her for filing a discrimination charge with the EEOC. Plaintiff claims that defendant continued to discriminate and retaliate against her in the selection process that resulted in the September 1984 appointment of Stephanie Suttles as Housing Director. The Court finds that these claims are like and related because they all involve the 1984 selection of a Housing Director for the City of Mankato and alleged retaliatory actions taken as a result of plaintiff's original EEOC charge of discrimination. This Court can properly exercise jurisdiction over all plaintiff's claims of discrimination and retaliation.
Plaintiff asserts that the Court should use the analysis set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 109 S.Ct. 1775, 1787-88, 104 L.Ed.2d 268 (1989) to decide her claim of disparate treatment discrimination in the May 1984 appointment of Forsythe as Housing Director. However, the Court finds that the evidence offered by plaintiff in support of this claim does not have the directness necessary to trigger a Price Waterhouse analysis. As directed by the Supreme Court in Price Waterhouse, the Court, at some point, has to decide whether plaintiff has proved that mixed motives are at work in a particular adverse employment decision. Id. 109 S.Ct. at 1789 n. 12. The determining factor of this decision is whether plaintiff has directly proved that "it is more likely than not that a forbidden characteristic played a part in the employment decision." Id. The Court is not persuaded that plaintiff has proved mixed motives in the May appointment of Forsythe as housing director.
*697 However, this is not the end of the analysis. Plaintiff can still prevail under the analysis set forth in McDonnell Douglas v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), if she establishes the necessary prima facie case and proves that the City's stated reason for its decision are pretextual. Id. 411 U.S. at 802-804, 93 S.Ct. at 1824-25.
The Court finds that plaintiff has shown that she is a qualified member of a protected class who was denied the Housing Director position under "circumstances which allow the court to infer unlawful discrimination." Walker v. St. Anthony Medical Center, 881 F.2d 554 (8th Cir.1989). Plaintiff has shown that she is a member of a protected class who was "qualified for her position and satisfied its normal requirements." Id. at 557.
Defendant promoted Forsythe, a member of a non-protected class. Plaintiff was the only then-current City employee who met the requirements stated in the job description in effect at the time Forsythe was promoted. In addition, Dale Darrow, the former Housing Director and plaintiff's supervisor for three years in the Housing Division, evaluated her as the most qualified person for the position when compared to other City employees.
To meet the next step of the McDonnell Douglas analysis, the City articulated several reasons for its non-promotion of Daines. Because these reasons can be categorized as subjective, the Court takes particular heed of the Eighth Circuit's admonition in Royal v. Missouri Highway and Transportation Comm'n, 655 F.2d 159 (8th Cir.1981):
When the evaluation is in any degree subjective and when the evaluators themselves are not members of the protected minority, the legitimacy and nondiscriminatory basis should be subjected to particularly close scrutiny by the trial judge.
Id. at 164. The Assistant City Manager, Thomas Melena, testified that he considered Daines for the position but did not believe her skills and experience best met the immediate needs of the job. Bassett, who made the final decision as to Forsythe's appointment, stated that he relied on Melena's assertion that Daines was not qualified. However, numerous factors lead this Court to conclude that this justification is pretextual.
Melena lacked direct contact with Daines' work from which to make such an evaluation. Daines testified that, at most, she had three to five professional interactions with Melena, none of which would have given him sufficient exposure to evaluate her skills and experience. Attempts to shore up Melena's assessment of plaintiff's qualifications with easily-refuted allegations about dress and speaking skills only serve to weaken the credibility of his evaluation of plaintiff.[1]
Defendant contends that Forsythe had superior skills and experience based on his higher grade position with the City, possession of a master's degree, experience in supervision, and performance in his prior position. Yet in a memorandum recommending Forsythe, Melena stated that Forsythe's appointment as Housing Director would give him "hands on experience in supervising," "expand his career opportunities," and make "growth opportunities available to him." (Plaintiff's Exhibit # 47).
The City also asserts that Darrow did not advocate Daines for the position when the May appointments occurred. In May, however, Darrow did not even know that the City was considering other persons for the Housing Director position. Melena announced Forsythe's appointment as a fait accompli at a meeting of Melena, Darrow and Forsythe in early May 1984. Once Darrow knew that the position was open, he recommended Daines as the most qualified internal candidate.
Defendant, in seeking to rebut Darrow's testimony, put considerable weight on problems *698 the Housing Department had been having with HUD. It attributed these problems to Darrow, and Melena testified that he felt it important to have someone in the Housing Director position who was not a part of the old Housing Division. This justification lacks credence. No evidence was presented that Daines was responsible for any of the alleged HUD problems, nor that HUD was unwilling to work with either Darrow or any of his subordinates. Further, no mention of the HUD issues was made to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in its letters of July 13 and 30, 1984, explaining its appointment of Forsythe, thus lending support to plaintiff's argument that this justification was post hoc and pretextual.
Other evidence supports the Court's conclusion that the City discriminated against plaintiff in its May appointment of Forsythe. Plaintiff proffers statistical evidence of discrimination in the testimony and analysis of its expert witness Dr. Rebecca Klemm. Examining the City's appointment of women to the EEOC job category of "Officials and Administrators" during the period from January 1, 1975 through June 6, 1986, the date on which Daines filed her first charge, Klemm found that the City appointed twenty-two men and no women to such positions. Klemm concluded that this disparity is statistically significant, ranging from 2.71 to 3.11 standard deviations. She came to this conclusion by determining that the availability of women for the relevant positions, based on standard and accepted statistical sources for employment data,[2] ranges from 28.36% female to 33.62% female. Dr. Klemm had to rely on such statistical sources because defendant did not keep applicant data for the time period in which Klemm did her analysis.
Assuming the validity of Klemm's data, the deviations she found are sufficient to establish statistical significance and thereby undercut the hypothesis that it was chance rather than discrimination that caused the disparity. See Castaneda v. Partida, 430 U.S. 482, 496-97 n. 17, 97 S.Ct. 1272, 1281 n. 17, 51 L.Ed.2d 498 (1977); Hazelwood School District v. United States, 433 U.S. 299, 311 n. 17, 97 S.Ct. 2736, 2743 n. 17, 53 L.Ed.2d 768 (1977).
Defendant argues that Klemm's statistics are invalid because they use an availability rate that does not reflect actual applicant flow data. The City cites data from positions filled in 1988 and 1989 showing availabilities ranging from 6% to 20% excluding the housing director position which had an availability of 28%. This information tempers the strength of plaintiff's argument, but does not undermine it. Applicant flow data was not available for the time period studied by Klemm, although the City's Affirmative Action Plan, in place since 1974, required department heads to document all applicants rejected for position openings. The data she used was based on the 1980 census which fell in the middle of the relevant period. As stated before, this same data source was used in defendant's 1988 Affirmative Action Plan. The actual applicant pool for the 1984 Housing Director position matched the statistics from that census, lending credibility to her conclusion.
The Court finds that plaintiff's statistical evidence supports an inference of discrimination. Minimally, the fact that no women were appointed into the officials and administrators category "is surely the kind of fact which could cause a reasonable trier of fact to raise an eyebrow." MacDissi v. Valmont Industries, Inc., 856 F.2d 1054, 1058 (8th Cir.1988). The Eighth Circuit has asserted that "quantitative evidence [used as circumstantial evidence] does not need to reach the degree of certainty required of plaintiffs who present no proof of discrimination *699 besides a statistical pattern." Id. See also Estes v. Dick Smith Ford, Inc., 856 F.2d 1097, 1103 (8th Cir.1988).
Other circumstantial evidence supporting the inference of discrimination includes the City's failure to consistently follow its Employee Relationship Policy requiring the City to post and advertise vacancies. The City justified its appointment of Forsythe without posting and advertising by characterizing it as a transfer. However, plaintiff presented evidence that in appointments to Assistant Planner positions, the City appointed four men without posting/advertising, while the two women who were appointed during the same period had to apply for the position and compete with other candidates. Also relevant is Melena's question to Daines during her interview for an Assistant Planner position as to whether she could be "one of the boys."
The Court concludes that the City discriminated against Daines because of her gender in its appointment of Forsythe to the position of Housing Director in May 1984. The City's affirmative action efforts may have resulted in Daines' promotion to assistant planner and receipt of an educational leave of absence, but the evidence leads to a conclusion that a "glass ceiling" of gender discrimination prevented Daines from making the step up with the City to an officials and administrators position.
Given the finding that plaintiff has proven discrimination based on disparate treatment, the Court does not find it necessary to reach plaintiff's claim of disparate impact.
Plaintiff asserts that the City retaliated against her for her June 6, 1984 EEOC charge of sex discrimination based on Forsythe's appointment. Plaintiff alleges that following her filing an activity protected under Title VII and the MHRA the City, although it reopened applications for the Housing Director position, took the adverse employment actions of changing the job requirements and utilizing an intensive, presentation-oriented interview process for the position, never used before or since. Melena admitted in his testimony that but for Daines' charge, the City would have selected the most qualified internal candidate and none of the above actions would have been taken. The Court finds that this claim warrants analysis as a mixed-motive case under Price Waterhouse. Plaintiff has presented direct evidence that an impermissible retaliatory motive played a part in the adverse employment actions taken by the City. Direct evidence includes actions or remarks of an employer that reflect a retaliatory attitude. Gray v. University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, 883 F.2d 1394, 1398 (8th Cir.1989). The City contends that the actions of which Daines complains were not retaliatory, but were attempts to make the Housing Director selection in September as fair as possible. The Court is not persuaded. Adding the preference for a master's degree, which Daines did not have, and changing the experience requirement from "three years of responsible experience in housing management" to "3-5 years supervisory experience in housing or a related field" did not exclude Daines from eligibility for the position, but clearly put her in a less favorable position as a competitor for the job and broadened the pool of candidates. This action also assured that Forsythe would have objective qualifications for the position, which he did not have under the previous job description.
While the extended, presentation-oriented interviewing process may have been designed to test relevant skills, the fact remains that it had never been used before and has never been used since, thus subjecting Daines to a more burdensome and competitive process than had she not filed her charge. In addition, the City used an interview panel that included persons who were aware of Daines' charge. In the course of the interview, Daines was questioned about the impact of her discrimination charge on her performance in the job, evidence that her charge was considered a factor in the selection.
Following Daines' charge, the City also opened up the selection process for the Economic Director position, but neither changed the job requirements nor instituted *700 an interview process such as that used for the Housing Director position.
Other facts support the Court's conclusion that these actions were retaliatory. Plaintiff testified about Melena's angry demeanor towards her when he learned of her charge. A temporary secretary, Heather Weddle, testified that after Melena was notified of the charge, she heard him tell someone in his office that Daines can't expect her job when she comes back from her leave if she makes this charge. Weddle also typed a memorandum from Melena to Daines to the same effect. This memo was never sent and all evidence of it was destroyed at Bassett's insistence. In its selection process, the City refused to consider evaluations of Daines and another current employee, Mary Barrett, done by Darrow, the previous head of the Housing Department. All the facts, particularly the timing, the burdensome quality of the City's actions, and the different treatment of the Economic Director position lead the Court to conclude that the City's actions constitute direct evidence of retaliation.
Because the plaintiff produced direct evidence of retaliation in the actions of the City, the burden of proof shifts to the City to prove that it would have made the same adverse employment decisions absent any retaliatory motive.[3]
Defendant argues that Daines did not perform as well as either Suttles or Barrett and says that Suttles would have been selected as Housing Director under any circumstances because her performance in the selection process far surpassed the other candidates. However, the Court is of the opinion that this defense misses the mark. The adverse employment decisions on which the Court places its focus are the change of job requirements and the one-time use of a more burdensome selection process. Defendant has not proved that it would have made the same adverse employment decisions absent a retaliatory motive. But for Daines' charge, the City would not have subjected her to the changed requirements and the more burdensome selection process. Defendant indicated that but for Daines' charge, it would have selected the most qualified internal candidate. The Court finds that Daines was the most qualified internal candidate.
The City's adverse employment actions so tainted the selection process in September 1984 that Daines' performance in that process should not determine whether the City has shown that it would have taken the same adverse action absent a retaliatory motive. For the same reason, the Court also is not persuaded that the City's selection of a woman as a result of the selection process shows that the City lacked a retaliatory or discriminatory motive.
Having found the City liable for both discrimination and retaliation, the Court has discretion to fashion a remedy to make the plaintiff "whole," that is, to restore her "so far as possible to a position where [she] would have been were it not for the unlawful discrimination." Ford Motor Co. v. EEOC, 458 U.S. 219, 230, 102 S.Ct. 3057, 3065, 73 L.Ed.2d 721 (1982). "A district court is obligated to grant a plaintiff who has been discriminated against ... the most complete relief possible." Briseno v. Central Technical Community College Area, 739 F.2d 344, 347 (8th Cir.1984). Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(g), such affirmative action may include back pay, reinstatement or "any other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate." The defendant has the burden to rebut damages claimed by plaintiff and to prove any failure to mitigate those damages. DiSalvo v. Chamber of Commerce of Greater *701 Kansas City, 568 F.2d 593, 598 (8th Cir. 1978).
The Court finds that damages should be calculated beginning May 21, 1984, the date the City discriminatorily appointed Forsythe Housing Director. Defendant argues that, at most, plaintiff was denied the opportunity to apply and be considered for the Housing Director position, an opportunity which she had in September. At the same time, defendant continues to assert that it had the authority to simply transfer employees to effectuate an internal appointment to the Housing Director position. Because of discrimination, Daines was not transferred to that position. In any case, the retaliatory nature of defendant's response to plaintiff's June 6, 1984 discrimination charge nullifies any mitigating effect that the opening of the position for applications might have achieved, leaving the date of the original transgression as the appropriate starting point for the calculation of damages.
Defendant argues that a backpay award should not include the period from July 16, 1984 to July 1, 1985, when Daines was a full-time student on educational leave. The Eighth Circuit's opinion in Washington v. Kroger Co., 671 F.2d 1072 (1982) provides guidance in resolving this issue. While vacating and remanding the lower court's decision on the issue of liability, the appellate circuit affirmed the district court's ruling on damages in the event that judgment would be reinstated on remand:
[W]e need not hold in this case that back pay either does or does not continue to run in every case of a plaintiff who has chosen to go to school full-time. Here, the District Court evidently felt that plaintiff had effectively removed herself from the employment market. Some full-time students, those who attend classes at night, for example, are also full-time employees, but there is no evidence, at least none sufficient to persuade us to reject the trial court's finding, that [plaintiff] could have held a full-time job without curtailing her schooling. She did continue to seek employment, and actually earned some money while attending school, but the District Court excluded these earnings from the outside earnings offset against her backpay award. In the circumstances of this case, this resolution of the issue was fair.
Id. at 1079.
Pursuant to Washington, the Court has considered whether plaintiff "removed herself" from the full-time employment market. While plaintiff presented evidence that she applied for employment and, in fact, worked part-time, the facts indicate that she voluntarily withdrew from the full-time employment market to pursue a graduate degree at the University of Chicago. Plaintiff asserts that if she had been appointed as Housing Director she would have returned to Mankato, worked full-time, and pursued a master's degree at Mankato State University. The Court notes that plaintiff could have done this even if she were not appointed Housing Director. She chose, however, to study full-time, and obtained the benefit of earning a graduate degree within that time period. In Taylor v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 524 F.2d 263 (10th Cir.1975), the Court observed:
When an employee opts to attend school, curtailing present earning capacity in order to reap greater future earnings, a backpay award for the period while attending school ... would be like receiving a double benefit.
Id. at 1079. In Washington, the Eighth Circuit cited this rationale from Taylor as an approach that "makes sense as a general rule." Washington, 671 F.2d at 1079. The Court finds that the Taylor rationale applies to the facts in this case and, therefore, that plaintiff is not entitled to backpay for the period during which she was a full-time student. Consistent with the method of calculation in Washington, Daines' actual earnings between July 16, 1984 and July 1, 1985 should not be deducted from her backpay award because she will not be receiving an award for that period. See id.
*702 Defendant contends that plaintiff is not entitled to back pay for the period following her educational leave because she failed to mitigate her damages from July 2, 1985 onward. The City asserts that Daines voluntarily resigned from her position as assistant planner with the City as of July 1, 1985 and failed to use reasonable diligence to find substantially equivalent employment. Alternatively, defendant contends that if backpay for this period is allowed, the computation should be based on the difference between the Housing Director's salary and the amount she would have earned if she had continued working at the City, including a projected promotion to associate planner six months after she returned. The parties dispute whether this promotion would have been available given the re-shuffling of positions that occurred in May 1984. Minimally, the promotion was contingent on satisfactory performance.
The Court first observes that reasonable diligence obligates a plaintiff not to refuse a job substantially equivalent to the job denied. Ford Motor Co. v. EEOC, 458 U.S. 219, 231-32 n. 16, 102 S.Ct. 3057, 3065-66 n. 16, 73 L.Ed.2d 721 (1982). However, defendant has presented no evidence that plaintiff has refused any position substantially equivalent to a housing director position. Defendant also argues that rather than voluntarily resigning her position at the City, plaintiff should have returned to that position, or at least, to a position that paid an equivalent salary.[4] The Court thinks that the employment decisions made by plaintiff were part of a reasonable and good faith effort to achieve such a position and, therefore, were based on "mitigative motives." See DiSalvo, 568 F.2d at 598. The Court finds reasonable plaintiff's decision to remain and work in the Chicago area while she sought a position similar to the one she was denied in Mankato. Ultimately, plaintiff accepted a position as associate planner in Dubuque, Iowa. In terms of career steps, this job was at least equivalent to the job she voluntarily resigned in Mankato.[5] Plaintiff was not obligated to not seek or to turn down such a position because it paid less than the position she had in Mankato.
Defendant argues that backpay should stop on May 30, 1989, the day that Mary Barrett became Housing Director, replacing Stephanie Suttles who had resigned as of September 5, 1988. (Barrett had served as acting director from September 5, 1988 until she became director in May 1989.) In the course of depositions, Michael McCauley and William Bassett had informed plaintiff's counsel that Suttles was leaving the Housing Director position and that the City would be interviewing for that position. Bassett had indicated he would consider plaintiff for the position and that the position had not yet been advertised. Defendant argues that plaintiff's claim should be cut off from May 30, 1989 because she had constructive, if not actual, notice of the vacancy, but did not apply. The Court is of the belief that the information given to plaintiffs' counsel was not of the type to constitute any sort of formal notice such that counsel's knowledge should be imputed to plaintiff. Plaintiff testified that she was aware that Suttles had left and knew that Barrett had been appointed acting director, but did not know the position was actually open until the application period had closed. Defendant did not inform her it was taking applications. Barrett was acting director for eight months and plaintiff had no way of knowing that Barrett would not simply be appointed to the position without a search as had occurred in the past. The Court does not find it appropriate to cut off damages as of May 30, 1989.
Plaintiff requests instatement to the Housing Director position and asks the Court to use the date of such instatement *703 as the ending date of the period for which damages should be calculated. Defendant contends that plaintiff is not eligible for instatement. The City asserts that plaintiff's failure to apply for the Housing Director position when it became available in 1989 demonstrates that she does not have a primary interest in the job which is the subject of her lawsuit. The Court finds plaintiff's testimony credible both that she did not know that applications were being taken for the 1989 Housing Director's position until the deadline had passed, and that her request for instatement is serious that is, that she would assume the Housing Director position under whatever equitable conditions the Court would structure.
However, establishing entitlement to instatement does not resolve the issue. In deciding whether to order plaintiff's instatement as Housing Director now, or by December 31, 1992, as requested, the Court must balance the equities of making the plaintiff whole, the possibility of injury to an "innocent incumbent," and the effect of such an order on the workplace involved. See King v. Staley, 849 F.2d 1143, 1144-45 (8th Cir.1988). The decision in this case is particularly difficult. The current Housing Director, Mary Barrett, is an innocent incumbent who would likely be displaced by such an order.[6] Although Thomas Melena is no longer employed by the City, William Bassett is still the City Manager, and the person to whom plaintiff would ultimately be responsible. The Court believes that instatement following this litigation would create a difficult work environment for plaintiff and for the City. On the other hand, plaintiff is willing to take this risk and obviously values the career opportunity the Housing Director position offers over other types of compensation that she could receive. This case shows the serious impact of a lost promotion opportunity,[7] an impact for which monetary compensation provides a less than satisfactory remedy. Nonetheless, the Court has determined that the appropriate relief in this case is monetary compensation in the form of backpay and frontpay.
The Court finds that backpay should be awarded from May 21, 1984 through December 31, 1989 with the exclusion of the period from July 16, 1984 to July 1, 1985. Using the evidence and calculations offered by the parties, the Court arrives at a total of $90,705.20.[8] Because of the extended period over which backpay accrued, the Court does not think a large frontpay award is appropriate. Therefore, the Court awards frontpay sufficient to bring plaintiff's compensatory award to a total of $94,000.
The decision whether to grant prejudgment interest is within the discretion of the Court as part of its efforts to make the plaintiff "whole." While the government cannot be subject to such a remedy without express waiver of sovereign immunity, U.S. v. Alcea Band of Tillamooks, 341 U.S. 48, 49, 71 S.Ct. 552, 552, 95 L.Ed. 738 (1951), municipalities are not protected by sovereign immunity's shield. Nonetheless, the Court finds the amount awarded plaintiff to be equitable without including prejudgment interest.
Effective August 1, 1984, the MHRA allows the Court to award an aggrieved party "compensatory damages in an amount up to three times the actual damages suffered." Minn.Stat. § 363.071 *704 subd. 2. The Court has already ruled that treble damages may be available for damages related to events occurring subsequent to August 1, 1984 on which plaintiff bases her retaliation claim. The Court understands that this statute provides the Court with some flexibility in providing a monetary remedy when the actual damages do not provide equitable relief. Since the Court believes it can fashion equitable monetary relief through other means, it intends to do this rather than try to determine what proportion of the plaintiff's damages were incurred by defendant's actions after August 1, 1984.
As to punitive damages, defendants argue that such a claim is barred because plaintiff failed to follow the motion and affidavit requirements of Minn.Stat. § 549.191.[9] Plaintiff argues that she is not required to comply with § 549.191 because her claim for punitive damages is being brought under the MHRA which incorporates § 549.20, the substantive standard for awarding punitive damages, but does not require compliance with § 549.191. The language in the MHRA allowing punitive damages states:
the administrative law judge may also order the respondent to pay an aggrieved party, ... punitive damages in an amount not more than [$6,000].[10] Punitive damages shall be awarded pursuant to section 549.20.
Minn.Stat. § 363.071, subd. 2. The Court finds persuasive plaintiff's argument that the legislature's reference to § 549.20 in the MHRA does not result in automatic incorporation of the requirements of § 549.191 as well. The protections against excessive punitive damages awards provided by § 549.191 are not necessary in MHRA actions which are heard and decided by a hearing officer or judge. Also persuasive is the fact that the MHRA allows hearing officers or a judge to award various remedies regardless of whether the plaintiff requests some or all of them.
Pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 549.20, the Court may grant punitive damages "upon clear and convincing evidence that the acts of the defendant show a willful indifference to the rights ... of others." The Court finds that plaintiff has presented clear and convincing evidence supporting her claim that the City retaliated against her because she filed an EEOC discrimination charge. Factors relevant to the Court's decision to award punitive damages include the "seriousness of hazard to the public arising from the defendant's misconduct," and "the attitude and conduct of the defendant upon discovery of the misconduct." Minn.Stat. § 549.20, subd. 3. The effectiveness of civil rights statutes is highly dependent on a complainant's ability to file charges without fear of retaliation by employers. The Court is of the opinion that the City's violation of the MHRA's prohibition of reprisals, Minn.Stat. § 363.03, subd. 7, constitutes a serious hazard to the public. Plaintiff filed her retaliation charge in July 1984 giving the City due notice of her allegations. Nonetheless, the City continued to act in a retaliatory manner. The Court concludes that punitive damages in the amount of $6,000 are appropriate.
Finally, the Court turns to plaintiff's request for injunctive relief, specifically, that the Court order the City to follow certain procedures in filling vacancies in the officials and administrators category, to exercise a preference to equally well-qualified women candidates for those vacancies, and to promote internal and external candidates at a ratio of one woman to one man until the utilization reaches the availability of women. Under the facts of this case, the Court finds that injunctive relief is not warranted. The City has advertised, posted and held interviews for all *705 positions in the administrators and officials category since plaintiff's charges were filed. Most important, since 1988 the City has been operating under a revised affirmative action policy as required of municipalities by statute. That policy is thorough and aggressive in its approach to affirmative action. However, the Court is aware that at the time the discrimination and retaliation occurred against Daines, the City was also supposedly operating under a 1974 affirmative action plan. Nonetheless, the damages awarded plaintiff and the punitive damages imposed as a result of the City's retaliation should motivate the City to follow the revised policy now in place to remediate the underutilization of women in its workplace and avoid similar lawsuits in the future.
NOTES
[1] Melena testified that Daines did not dress properly and gave as an example, that she wore combat "fatigues" to work. Daines testified that she never owned combat fatigues. Melena testified that Daines lacked communication skills, but Daines testified that she did not think that Melena had ever heard her make a presentation prior to May 1984.
[2] Klemm used data from state and federal census records maintained at the State of Minnesota Department of Jobs and Training, Research and Statistics Office, reflecting detailed occupational availabilities as of 1980 in all job categories in the United States as a whole and within Minnesota counties, including Blue Earth and Nicollet counties. Klemm noted the City used the same data base in its 1988 Affirmative Action Plan to determine the availability of women for positions within the City. That plan indicated the availability of women for "Manager/Administration" jobs as 32.4%.
[3] In Anderson v. Hunter, Keith, Marshall & Co., 417 N.W.2d 619 (Minn.1988), the Minnesota Supreme Court held that the Price Waterhouse analysis should not be used in mixed-motive cases under the MHRA. The Court finds that plaintiff also prevails under the McDonnell Douglas analysis. Defendant's justification of its adverse employment decision is that it was attempting to make the September Housing Director selection as fair as possible. The retaliatory nature of the City's actions and the other evidence of retaliatory motive offered by plaintiff establish the pretextual nature of defendant's justification for changing the job requirements and using the selection process it did.
[4] In making this argument, defendant relies on Carrero v. New York City Housing Authority, 680 F.Supp. 87, 88 (S.D.N.Y.1987), the holding of which was reversed in Carrero v. New York City Housing Authority, 890 F.2d 569, 580-81 (1989).
[5] At Mankato, the associate planner position was higher than that of an assistant planner. The Court does not know if the same is true in the Dubuque city planning department.
[6] The Court does not think that plaintiff's suggestion of sharing the Housing Director position with Barrett is feasible.
[7] Defendant argues that plaintiff's inability to find a housing director position following her employment at Mankato, proves that she was not qualified. The Court thinks otherwise. Loss of a key career opportunity, such as the Housing Director position, could have a detrimental effect on any person's career regardless of her qualifications. Melena was well aware of the value of experience in a director level position when he wrote to Bassett that the appointment of Forsythe to the Housing Director position would "expand his career opportunities." (Plaintiff's Exh. 47)
[8] The Court used plaintiff's figure, from Exhibit 704, for damages without interest as a starting point and then subtracted benefit losses on leave, the salary plaintiff would have earned for the 11.5 months she was on leave, and a proportionate amount of the remaining items. Then plaintiff's earnings for the 11.5 months were added to the resulting amount.
[9] This Court has followed the lead of other Minnesota district court judges in generally requiring plaintiffs to follow the requirements of § 549.191 when claiming punitive damages under a state law cause of action. See Fournier v. Marigold Foods, Inc., 678 F.Supp. 1420 (D.Minn. 1988).
[10] At the time plaintiff filed her complaint, punitive damages were capped at $6,000, the amount applicable to this case. In 1988, the legislature raised the maximum amount to $8,500.
|
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The outbreak of mumps cases in Washington state has reached nearly 300, officials confirmed Friday. That includes the 90 cases that KREM reported are in Spokane alone.
WDEF.com reported that the Washington State Department of Health is encouraging people to get vaccinated if they are not already and to take certain precautions in social settings during the winter season.
“Avoid kissing, hugging and other close contact with anyone who is suspected of having mumps,” the department states on its website.
The cases, which span five counties, affect mostly school children.
The news station reported 160 cases are likely in Kings County, which includes Seattle. In addition to the 90 reported in Spokane, at least 35 have been confirmed in Pierce County, while three have been reported in Snohomish and one in Yakima County, according to WDEF.
Mumps causes muscle pain, loss of appetite, fever, headache and swollen glands, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus can lead to brain infections, including meningitis, deafness, as well as painful swelling of the ovaries or testicles, and, in rare cases, sterility.
To prevent mumps, for most people, the CDC recommends the first dose of the MMR vaccine— which protects against measles, mumps and rubella—at 12 to 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 to 6 years. In some cases, individuals can get the second dose earlier as long as it’s at least 28 days after the first dose.
Although all states require children to be vaccinated against certain communicable diseases to attend school— usually both private or public— states can establish their own vaccination exemption laws. In Washington, parents may opt their children out of vaccination with “a statement to be signed by a health care practitioner stating that he or she provided the signator with information about the benefits and risks of immunization to the child,” according to the CDC.
Two doses of the MMR vaccine is thought to be 88 percent effective, according to the CDC. Because mumps is viral, the virus doesn't respond to antibiotics. According to Medical News Today, drinking plenty of fluids and getting lost of rest can aid recovery time. Most individuals recover from mumps in two weeks.
The CDC reported a significant rise in mumps cases in 2016, when 5,311 cases in 46 states and the District of Columbia were reported. In 2015, only 1,300 cases were reported, and only 229 in 2012.
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Convicted African American Marcus Reymond Robinson has his sentence changed to life without parole in a blistering ruling that accuses state prosecutors of systematic discrimination
By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times4:44 PM PDT, April 20, 2012
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — In a landmark ruling, a North Carolina judge on Friday vacated the death penalty of a black man convicted of murder, saying prosecutors across the state had engaged in deliberate and systematic racial discrimination when striking black potential jurors in death penalty cases.
The ruling was the first under North Carolina's Racial Justice Act, passed in 2009, which allows judges to reduce death sentences to life in prison without parole when defendants can prove racial bias in jury selection. Prosecutors had fought the act, the nation's only such law, calling it a back-door attempt to overturn the death penalty.
The decision by Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Weeks in Cumberland County, N.C., could have an effect on death penalty cases nationwide; for years, such cases have included arguments by black defendants and civil rights lawyers that prosecutors keep blacks off juries for racial reasons.
In a 167-page order harshly critical of prosecutors, Weeks said they "intentionally used the race of [jury pool] members as a significant factor in decisions to exercise peremptory strikes in capital cases." He ruled that discrimination was a factor not only in the case he heard, involving convicted murderer Marcus Reymond Robinson, but also in other capital cases involving black defendants across North Carolina.
Weeks, who is black, said "race was a materially, practically and statistically significant factor in the decision to exercise peremptory challenges during jury selection by prosecutors" statewide during the time Robinson was on trial. That was enough, he said, "to support an inference of intentional discrimination."
Richard Dieter, director of the nonpartisan Death Penalty Information Center, called the ruling historic. "It could reverberate around the country," he said, noting that studies in at least 25 states with death penalties have found evidence of racial bias in jury selection or sentencing.
Weeks said discrimination by prosecutors had undermined public confidence in the state's court system and infringed on the rights of defendants of all races. He said he hoped the Racial Justice Act would be a first step to "eliminate discrimination in our system of justice."
The act allows inmates to cite statistical patterns in jury selection statewide to argue that racial bias was used in selecting their juries. Robinson's lawyers relied heavily on a Michigan State University statistical analysis of jury selection procedures in cases across the state during the time of Robinson's trial. The study found that prosecutors struck blacks from jury pools at more than twice the rate of whites.
Robinson, sentenced to death in 1994 for killing a white teenager in 1991, was resentenced by Weeks to life in prison without parole. Robinson, 38, is among 150 death row inmates, both white and black, who have filed appeals under the act. Defense attorneys said three of those cases are in the courts and could be heard soon.
The decision was greeted by Robinson's lawyers and civil rights advocates as a groundbreaking affirmation of ingrained racial discrimination by prosecutors in a Southern state.
"It marks a turning point in jury selection as far as race is concerned in North Carolina. We hope this signals a real change," said James E. Ferguson, who represented Robinson.
Cassandra Stubbs, another lawyer who represented Robinson, said the ruling put the state "at a crossroads" in its attempt to remove racism from the courts via the Racial Justice Act. "Do we move forward, or do [prosecutors] continue to fight it?" she said moments after the judge's ruling.
In a statement, the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys said that prosecutors across the state "strongly dispute that race is a significant factor in death penalty cases." Claims of racial bias are best determined by a judge at trial, the group said, not by "generalized statistics" presented two decades after a conviction.
Prosecutors had challenged the statistical study, saying it looked at only 173 trials over a 20-year period, when 696 capital murder trials were held in the state. They also pointed out that jurors can be struck for many reasons other than race.
Weeks said claims by prosecutors that black jurors were struck for "racially neutral" reasons were "pretextual or substantially invalid."
"Being black does predict whether the state will strike" a potential juror, Weeks said.
Prosecutors were expected to appeal Weeks' ruling; they have 60 days to do so.
Republicans who control the state Legislature have attempted to repeal the Racial Justice Act, but the attempts have been vetoed by Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue. Similar racial justice laws are pending in Pennsylvania and Missouri, Stubbs said. Kentucky has a racial justice act, but it is not retroactive.
Stubbs, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, said that Robinson's life sentence would stand even if the act is repealed.
Robinson sat quietly and looked down at the defense table as the ruling was announced. He declined the judge's offer of a chance to speak.
His mother, Shirley Burns, said, "Justice at last." Asked whether the ruling might set a precedent, she replied, "There are a lot of victims out there who were not treated fairly."
Burns said she felt compassion for the parents of 17-year-old Erik Tornblom, the youth Robinson was convicting of killing with a shotgun blast to the face during a robbery that netted $27. "They lost a son. I lost a son," Burns said.
Tornblom's father, Richard Tornblom, and stepmother, Patricia Tornblom, have bitterly opposed the act, and told The Times earlier this year that Robinson should be executed.
On Friday, as the judge read his ruling, the Tornbloms sat in the jury box in dejected silence.
No comments:
Pan-African News Wire
The Pan-African News Wire is an international electronic press service designed to foster intelligent discussion on the affairs of African people throughout the continent and the world. The press agency was founded in January of 1998 and has published thousands of articles and dispatches in newspapers, magazines, journals, research reports, blogs and websites throughout the world.
The PANW represents the only daily international news source on pan-african and global affairs.
PANW editor Abayomi Azikiwe is often solicited by various newspaper, radio and television stations for comment and analysis on local, national and world affairs. He serves as a political analyst for Press TV and RT worldwide satellite television news networks as well as other international media in the areas of African and world affairs. He has appeared on numerous television and radio networks including Al Jazeera, CCTV, BBC, NPR, Radio Netherlands, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, South Africa Radio 786, Belgian Pirate Radio, TVC Nigeria and others.
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{
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|
Q:
Error on assigning a value to a Rectangle in Pygame
I was trying to make a function that drew a rectangular map onto the screen. This function is:
def parseMap(mapIndex):
tileRect = pygame.Rect(0, 0, 32, 32)
for x in maps.mapData[mapIndex]:
tileRect.x = x*16
for y in x:
tileRect.y = y*16
c.blit(maps.grass, tileRect)
if maps.mapData[mapIndex][x][y] == 1: c.blit(maps.tallGrass, tileRect)
Though, I was getting an error,
TypeError: invalid rect assignment
on the line:
tileRect.x = x*16
and I can't see anything wrong with the code. Thanks!
A:
If x is a list, then x * 16 does list repetition, not multiplication.
i.e., you're getting something like
tileRect.x = [1, 1, 1, 1, ...]
|
{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
|
Research Subject Area: Other Physical Sciences
REF impact found 177 Case Studies
Currently displayed text from case study:
Select sections from document for display
Summary of the impact
The performance of absolute distance measuring systems has been improved
in terms of accuracy, traceability, reliability and cost through the
introduction of new methodology arising from research at the University of
Oxford. This has brought commercial benefit to a German company making
measurement systems, through the creation of a new product line. New
capabilities for measurement have been delivered to a first customer in
Germany. The research has also resulted in the establishment of new
activity at the National Physical Laboratory, and influenced UK and
European technology roadmaps for future manufacturing.
Summary of the impact
Reduction of unpleasant ambient noise during MRI has been enabled through
innovative engineering solutions developed at the Medical Research Council
Institute of Hearing Research (MRC IHR). Intellectual property was
licensed to Optoacoustics Ltd and the resulting OptoActive™ active
noise-cancelling headphones for MRI are the only one of their type
commercially available, enabling free conversation between patients and
clinicians. The product was formally launched in September 2012 and has
worldwide sales including in the USA, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Summary of the impact
The University of Southampton's distinguished body of work on the design
of technology for gamma-ray detection and imaging has informed new
counter-terrorism practices. Technological advances arising from the
research have been crucial to delivering significant benefits in the
fields of homeland security and nuclear safety — the latter particularly
in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. A spin-out company, Symetrica,
currently employs 26 people in the UK and the USA, has a forecast turnover
of more than £10 million for 2013-14 and has been recognised as an example
of best practice. It is a technological leader in the field of radioactive
isotope identification.
Summary of the impact
Ultra-precise Bragg grating writing-technology, invented in the
Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), has led to impacts in the areas of
security, safety, detection of bio-hazards and the underpinning
laser technology currently being pursued for clean energy
generation for future energy security. This case study highlights two
aspects of the technology namely: planar-based for optical
microchip sensors in areas such as portable detection of biohazards, which
has resulted in the spin-out Stratophase, and fibre-based,
inside the US National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's largest laser
system, based in California, built for fusion-energy research, which has
ORC fabricated fibre Bragg gratings within its laser amplifier chains.
These ultra-high precision laser-written engineered gratings have enabled
important advances in biosecurity, management of environmental hazards and
clean energy research.
Submitting Institution
University of Southampton
Unit of Assessment
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Metallurgy and Materials
Summary Impact Type
Technological
Research Subject Area(s)
Summary of the impact
In public perception, antimatter used to be associated with science
fiction, but the creation and trapping of antihydrogen at CERN by
the ATHENA and ALPHA Collaborations has sparked world-wide media
interest in the real science of antimatter. Building on this, we
started a campaign of public dissemination and education to promote and
explain our work through media interviews, popular articles, and public
lectures including a Welsh language component. We developed software
simulators that have been used by school pupils in Masterclasses
to re- create virtually CERN's antihydrogen production. YouTube clips and
webcasts with over 100,000 hits have been produced and we have
hosted thousands of visitors per year in CERN. These activities
resulted in improved understanding of antimatter among school students and
the wider population, and a radical change in the public perception of
antimatter, which is now associated with the experiments at CERN rather
than with Star Trek.
Submitting Institution
Swansea University
Unit of Assessment
Physics
Summary Impact Type
Societal
Research Subject Area(s)
Summary of the impact
High Performance Computing (HPC) is a key element in our research. The Particle Physics Group
has accumulated expertise in the development and optimisation of coding paradigms for specific
supercomputer hardware. Our codes are deployed on supercomputers around the world,
producing high-profile research results. We have developed a simulation environment, BSMBench,
that is, on the one hand, flexible enough to run on major supercomputer platforms and, on the
other hand, pushes supercomputers to their limits. These codes are used by IBM and Fujitsu
Siemens for benchmarking their large installations and mainframes. The third party company
BSMBench Ltd has commercialised the usage of our codes for analysing and optimising HPC
systems of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Summary of the impact
Researchers at the University of Bristol's Interface Analysis Centre
played a key role in making it possible to extend the life of two nuclear
power stations. Their insights into how the microstructure of reactor-core
graphite degrades during service and how the material fractures enabled
Magnox Ltd to construct a convincing safety case for Oldbury nuclear power
station to operate for an extra four years and Wylfa power station to run
for an additional four to six years. In terms of the value of the
electricity generated, these extensions are worth some £5 billion. In
addition, the longer lifespan of these low-carbon power sources means that
less energy has to be generated from other, high-carbon sources, with the
environmental benefit of an overall reduction in CO2 emissions.
Submitting Institution
University of Bristol
Unit of Assessment
Physics
Summary Impact Type
Technological
Research Subject Area(s)
Summary of the impact
Research into industrial process tomography has been performed at the
University of Leeds from 1999 to the present day with much of this being
in collaboration with Industrial Tomography Systems plc (ITS). This
research, together with the associated intellectual property, has provided
the foundation of 5 innovative new products developed and produced by ITS
during the eligible period. These new products have generated sales of £5m
and are in large part responsible for increases in turnover and employment
of approximately 60%, and exports of 67% since 2008. These instruments are
used in a significant number of new applications and are generating major
benefits to end users in the oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, chemicals,
consumer products, minerals and food sectors.
Summary of the impact
Nottingham researchers constructed the world's first 3T MRI scanner, thus
demonstrating the viability and benefits of high-field MRI. This provided
a stimulus for magnet and MRI system manufacturers to develop 3T scanners,
which have now become established as the standard platform for high-end
clinical MRI studies. We estimate that since 2008: 2500 3T scanners have
been installed, representing a global investment of $5 billion;and 30-40
million patient examinations have been performed with 3T MRI scanners.
Technical advances which underpinned the Nottingham 3T scanner also
impacted on the development of functional MRI, thus opening up a new field
of medical research and clinical application. In a subsequent phase of
research, the Nottingham group developed ultra-high (7T) magnetic MRI in
partnership with PhiIips; forty 7T MRI scanners (current unit cost
>$10M) have now been installed across the world.
Submitting Institution
University of Nottingham
Unit of Assessment
Physics
Summary Impact Type
Technological
Research Subject Area(s)
Summary of the impact
Basic research combining scanning probe microscopy with thermal,
spectroscopic and chemical
analysis has enabled the development of powerful, entirely new forms of
analytical microscopy.
Commercialisation of instruments for micro-thermal analysis began by TA
Instruments, in 1998,
based on four patents, followed by a Lancaster start-up company Anasys Ltd.
These instruments
have since been extensively used in multidisciplinary applications by
scientific industry and
government laboratories. Anasys has sold over 100 units of these nanoscale
thermal analysis
instruments (total turnover £3M) and many leading polymer industries,
research institutes and
academic programs worldwide are now users of this technology.
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|
Mazraeh-ye Ahmad Manuchehri
Mazraeh-ye Ahmad Manuchehri (, also Romanized as Mazra‘eh-ye Aḩmad Manūchehrī) is a village in Khorram Makan Rural District, Kamfiruz District, Marvdasht County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 25, in 4 families.
References
Category:Populated places in Marvdasht County
|
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/* leo.c: LEO frame buffer driver
*
* Copyright (C) 2003, 2006 David S. Miller (davem@davemloft.net)
* Copyright (C) 1996-1999 Jakub Jelinek (jj@ultra.linux.cz)
* Copyright (C) 1997 Michal Rehacek (Michal.Rehacek@st.mff.cuni.cz)
*
* Driver layout based loosely on tgafb.c, see that file for credits.
*/
#include <linux/module.h>
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <linux/errno.h>
#include <linux/string.h>
#include <linux/delay.h>
#include <linux/init.h>
#include <linux/fb.h>
#include <linux/mm.h>
#include <linux/of_device.h>
#include <linux/io.h>
#include <asm/fbio.h>
#include "sbuslib.h"
/*
* Local functions.
*/
static int leo_setcolreg(unsigned, unsigned, unsigned, unsigned,
unsigned, struct fb_info *);
static int leo_blank(int, struct fb_info *);
static int leo_mmap(struct fb_info *, struct vm_area_struct *);
static int leo_ioctl(struct fb_info *, unsigned int, unsigned long);
static int leo_pan_display(struct fb_var_screeninfo *, struct fb_info *);
/*
* Frame buffer operations
*/
static struct fb_ops leo_ops = {
.owner = THIS_MODULE,
.fb_setcolreg = leo_setcolreg,
.fb_blank = leo_blank,
.fb_pan_display = leo_pan_display,
.fb_fillrect = cfb_fillrect,
.fb_copyarea = cfb_copyarea,
.fb_imageblit = cfb_imageblit,
.fb_mmap = leo_mmap,
.fb_ioctl = leo_ioctl,
#ifdef CONFIG_COMPAT
.fb_compat_ioctl = sbusfb_compat_ioctl,
#endif
};
#define LEO_OFF_LC_SS0_KRN 0x00200000UL
#define LEO_OFF_LC_SS0_USR 0x00201000UL
#define LEO_OFF_LC_SS1_KRN 0x01200000UL
#define LEO_OFF_LC_SS1_USR 0x01201000UL
#define LEO_OFF_LD_SS0 0x00400000UL
#define LEO_OFF_LD_SS1 0x01400000UL
#define LEO_OFF_LD_GBL 0x00401000UL
#define LEO_OFF_LX_KRN 0x00600000UL
#define LEO_OFF_LX_CURSOR 0x00601000UL
#define LEO_OFF_SS0 0x00800000UL
#define LEO_OFF_SS1 0x01800000UL
#define LEO_OFF_UNK 0x00602000UL
#define LEO_OFF_UNK2 0x00000000UL
#define LEO_CUR_ENABLE 0x00000080
#define LEO_CUR_UPDATE 0x00000030
#define LEO_CUR_PROGRESS 0x00000006
#define LEO_CUR_UPDATECMAP 0x00000003
#define LEO_CUR_TYPE_MASK 0x00000000
#define LEO_CUR_TYPE_IMAGE 0x00000020
#define LEO_CUR_TYPE_CMAP 0x00000050
struct leo_cursor {
u8 xxx0[16];
u32 cur_type;
u32 cur_misc;
u32 cur_cursxy;
u32 cur_data;
};
#define LEO_KRN_TYPE_CLUT0 0x00001000
#define LEO_KRN_TYPE_CLUT1 0x00001001
#define LEO_KRN_TYPE_CLUT2 0x00001002
#define LEO_KRN_TYPE_WID 0x00001003
#define LEO_KRN_TYPE_UNK 0x00001006
#define LEO_KRN_TYPE_VIDEO 0x00002003
#define LEO_KRN_TYPE_CLUTDATA 0x00004000
#define LEO_KRN_CSR_ENABLE 0x00000008
#define LEO_KRN_CSR_PROGRESS 0x00000004
#define LEO_KRN_CSR_UNK 0x00000002
#define LEO_KRN_CSR_UNK2 0x00000001
struct leo_lx_krn {
u32 krn_type;
u32 krn_csr;
u32 krn_value;
};
struct leo_lc_ss0_krn {
u32 misc;
u8 xxx0[0x800-4];
u32 rev;
};
struct leo_lc_ss0_usr {
u32 csr;
u32 addrspace;
u32 fontmsk;
u32 fontt;
u32 extent;
u32 src;
u32 dst;
u32 copy;
u32 fill;
};
struct leo_lc_ss1_krn {
u8 unknown;
};
struct leo_lc_ss1_usr {
u8 unknown;
};
struct leo_ld_ss0 {
u8 xxx0[0xe00];
u32 csr;
u32 wid;
u32 wmask;
u32 widclip;
u32 vclipmin;
u32 vclipmax;
u32 pickmin; /* SS1 only */
u32 pickmax; /* SS1 only */
u32 fg;
u32 bg;
u32 src; /* Copy/Scroll (SS0 only) */
u32 dst; /* Copy/Scroll/Fill (SS0 only) */
u32 extent; /* Copy/Scroll/Fill size (SS0 only) */
u32 xxx1[3];
u32 setsem; /* SS1 only */
u32 clrsem; /* SS1 only */
u32 clrpick; /* SS1 only */
u32 clrdat; /* SS1 only */
u32 alpha; /* SS1 only */
u8 xxx2[0x2c];
u32 winbg;
u32 planemask;
u32 rop;
u32 z;
u32 dczf; /* SS1 only */
u32 dczb; /* SS1 only */
u32 dcs; /* SS1 only */
u32 dczs; /* SS1 only */
u32 pickfb; /* SS1 only */
u32 pickbb; /* SS1 only */
u32 dcfc; /* SS1 only */
u32 forcecol; /* SS1 only */
u32 door[8]; /* SS1 only */
u32 pick[5]; /* SS1 only */
};
#define LEO_SS1_MISC_ENABLE 0x00000001
#define LEO_SS1_MISC_STEREO 0x00000002
struct leo_ld_ss1 {
u8 xxx0[0xef4];
u32 ss1_misc;
};
struct leo_ld_gbl {
u8 unknown;
};
struct leo_par {
spinlock_t lock;
struct leo_lx_krn __iomem *lx_krn;
struct leo_lc_ss0_usr __iomem *lc_ss0_usr;
struct leo_ld_ss0 __iomem *ld_ss0;
struct leo_ld_ss1 __iomem *ld_ss1;
struct leo_cursor __iomem *cursor;
u32 extent;
u32 clut_data[256];
u32 flags;
#define LEO_FLAG_BLANKED 0x00000001
unsigned long which_io;
};
static void leo_wait(struct leo_lx_krn __iomem *lx_krn)
{
int i;
for (i = 0;
(sbus_readl(&lx_krn->krn_csr) & LEO_KRN_CSR_PROGRESS) &&
i < 300000;
i++)
udelay(1); /* Busy wait at most 0.3 sec */
return;
}
static void leo_switch_from_graph(struct fb_info *info)
{
struct leo_par *par = (struct leo_par *) info->par;
struct leo_ld_ss0 __iomem *ss = par->ld_ss0;
struct leo_cursor __iomem *cursor = par->cursor;
unsigned long flags;
u32 val;
spin_lock_irqsave(&par->lock, flags);
par->extent = ((info->var.xres - 1) |
((info->var.yres - 1) << 16));
sbus_writel(0xffffffff, &ss->wid);
sbus_writel(0xffff, &ss->wmask);
sbus_writel(0, &ss->vclipmin);
sbus_writel(par->extent, &ss->vclipmax);
sbus_writel(0, &ss->fg);
sbus_writel(0xff000000, &ss->planemask);
sbus_writel(0x310850, &ss->rop);
sbus_writel(0, &ss->widclip);
sbus_writel((info->var.xres-1) | ((info->var.yres-1) << 11),
&par->lc_ss0_usr->extent);
sbus_writel(4, &par->lc_ss0_usr->addrspace);
sbus_writel(0x80000000, &par->lc_ss0_usr->fill);
sbus_writel(0, &par->lc_ss0_usr->fontt);
do {
val = sbus_readl(&par->lc_ss0_usr->csr);
} while (val & 0x20000000);
/* setup screen buffer for cfb_* functions */
sbus_writel(1, &ss->wid);
sbus_writel(0x00ffffff, &ss->planemask);
sbus_writel(0x310b90, &ss->rop);
sbus_writel(0, &par->lc_ss0_usr->addrspace);
/* hide cursor */
sbus_writel(sbus_readl(&cursor->cur_misc) & ~LEO_CUR_ENABLE, &cursor->cur_misc);
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&par->lock, flags);
}
static int leo_pan_display(struct fb_var_screeninfo *var, struct fb_info *info)
{
/* We just use this to catch switches out of
* graphics mode.
*/
leo_switch_from_graph(info);
if (var->xoffset || var->yoffset || var->vmode)
return -EINVAL;
return 0;
}
/**
* leo_setcolreg - Optional function. Sets a color register.
* @regno: boolean, 0 copy local, 1 get_user() function
* @red: frame buffer colormap structure
* @green: The green value which can be up to 16 bits wide
* @blue: The blue value which can be up to 16 bits wide.
* @transp: If supported the alpha value which can be up to 16 bits wide.
* @info: frame buffer info structure
*/
static int leo_setcolreg(unsigned regno,
unsigned red, unsigned green, unsigned blue,
unsigned transp, struct fb_info *info)
{
struct leo_par *par = (struct leo_par *) info->par;
struct leo_lx_krn __iomem *lx_krn = par->lx_krn;
unsigned long flags;
u32 val;
int i;
if (regno >= 256)
return 1;
red >>= 8;
green >>= 8;
blue >>= 8;
par->clut_data[regno] = red | (green << 8) | (blue << 16);
spin_lock_irqsave(&par->lock, flags);
leo_wait(lx_krn);
sbus_writel(LEO_KRN_TYPE_CLUTDATA, &lx_krn->krn_type);
for (i = 0; i < 256; i++)
sbus_writel(par->clut_data[i], &lx_krn->krn_value);
sbus_writel(LEO_KRN_TYPE_CLUT0, &lx_krn->krn_type);
val = sbus_readl(&lx_krn->krn_csr);
val |= (LEO_KRN_CSR_UNK | LEO_KRN_CSR_UNK2);
sbus_writel(val, &lx_krn->krn_csr);
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&par->lock, flags);
return 0;
}
/**
* leo_blank - Optional function. Blanks the display.
* @blank_mode: the blank mode we want.
* @info: frame buffer structure that represents a single frame buffer
*/
static int leo_blank(int blank, struct fb_info *info)
{
struct leo_par *par = (struct leo_par *) info->par;
struct leo_lx_krn __iomem *lx_krn = par->lx_krn;
unsigned long flags;
u32 val;
spin_lock_irqsave(&par->lock, flags);
switch (blank) {
case FB_BLANK_UNBLANK: /* Unblanking */
val = sbus_readl(&lx_krn->krn_csr);
val |= LEO_KRN_CSR_ENABLE;
sbus_writel(val, &lx_krn->krn_csr);
par->flags &= ~LEO_FLAG_BLANKED;
break;
case FB_BLANK_NORMAL: /* Normal blanking */
case FB_BLANK_VSYNC_SUSPEND: /* VESA blank (vsync off) */
case FB_BLANK_HSYNC_SUSPEND: /* VESA blank (hsync off) */
case FB_BLANK_POWERDOWN: /* Poweroff */
val = sbus_readl(&lx_krn->krn_csr);
val &= ~LEO_KRN_CSR_ENABLE;
sbus_writel(val, &lx_krn->krn_csr);
par->flags |= LEO_FLAG_BLANKED;
break;
}
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&par->lock, flags);
return 0;
}
static struct sbus_mmap_map leo_mmap_map[] = {
{
.voff = LEO_SS0_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_SS0,
.size = 0x800000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LC_SS0_USR_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LC_SS0_USR,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LD_SS0_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LD_SS0,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LX_CURSOR_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LX_CURSOR,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_SS1_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_SS1,
.size = 0x800000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LC_SS1_USR_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LC_SS1_USR,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LD_SS1_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LD_SS1,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_UNK_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_UNK,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LX_KRN_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LX_KRN,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LC_SS0_KRN_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LC_SS0_KRN,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LC_SS1_KRN_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LC_SS1_KRN,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_LD_GBL_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_LD_GBL,
.size = 0x1000
},
{
.voff = LEO_UNK2_MAP,
.poff = LEO_OFF_UNK2,
.size = 0x100000
},
{ .size = 0 }
};
static int leo_mmap(struct fb_info *info, struct vm_area_struct *vma)
{
struct leo_par *par = (struct leo_par *)info->par;
return sbusfb_mmap_helper(leo_mmap_map,
info->fix.smem_start, info->fix.smem_len,
par->which_io, vma);
}
static int leo_ioctl(struct fb_info *info, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg)
{
return sbusfb_ioctl_helper(cmd, arg, info,
FBTYPE_SUNLEO, 32, info->fix.smem_len);
}
/*
* Initialisation
*/
static void
leo_init_fix(struct fb_info *info, struct device_node *dp)
{
strlcpy(info->fix.id, dp->name, sizeof(info->fix.id));
info->fix.type = FB_TYPE_PACKED_PIXELS;
info->fix.visual = FB_VISUAL_TRUECOLOR;
info->fix.line_length = 8192;
info->fix.accel = FB_ACCEL_SUN_LEO;
}
static void leo_wid_put(struct fb_info *info, struct fb_wid_list *wl)
{
struct leo_par *par = (struct leo_par *) info->par;
struct leo_lx_krn __iomem *lx_krn = par->lx_krn;
struct fb_wid_item *wi;
unsigned long flags;
u32 val;
int i, j;
spin_lock_irqsave(&par->lock, flags);
leo_wait(lx_krn);
for (i = 0, wi = wl->wl_list; i < wl->wl_count; i++, wi++) {
switch (wi->wi_type) {
case FB_WID_DBL_8:
j = (wi->wi_index & 0xf) + 0x40;
break;
case FB_WID_DBL_24:
j = wi->wi_index & 0x3f;
break;
default:
continue;
};
sbus_writel(0x5800 + j, &lx_krn->krn_type);
sbus_writel(wi->wi_values[0], &lx_krn->krn_value);
}
sbus_writel(LEO_KRN_TYPE_WID, &lx_krn->krn_type);
val = sbus_readl(&lx_krn->krn_csr);
val |= (LEO_KRN_CSR_UNK | LEO_KRN_CSR_UNK2);
sbus_writel(val, &lx_krn->krn_csr);
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&par->lock, flags);
}
static void leo_init_wids(struct fb_info *info)
{
struct fb_wid_item wi;
struct fb_wid_list wl;
wl.wl_count = 1;
wl.wl_list = &wi;
wi.wi_type = FB_WID_DBL_8;
wi.wi_index = 0;
wi.wi_values [0] = 0x2c0;
leo_wid_put(info, &wl);
wi.wi_index = 1;
wi.wi_values [0] = 0x30;
leo_wid_put(info, &wl);
wi.wi_index = 2;
wi.wi_values [0] = 0x20;
leo_wid_put(info, &wl);
wi.wi_type = FB_WID_DBL_24;
wi.wi_index = 1;
wi.wi_values [0] = 0x30;
leo_wid_put(info, &wl);
}
static void leo_init_hw(struct fb_info *info)
{
struct leo_par *par = (struct leo_par *) info->par;
u32 val;
val = sbus_readl(&par->ld_ss1->ss1_misc);
val |= LEO_SS1_MISC_ENABLE;
sbus_writel(val, &par->ld_ss1->ss1_misc);
leo_switch_from_graph(info);
}
static void leo_fixup_var_rgb(struct fb_var_screeninfo *var)
{
var->red.offset = 0;
var->red.length = 8;
var->green.offset = 8;
var->green.length = 8;
var->blue.offset = 16;
var->blue.length = 8;
var->transp.offset = 0;
var->transp.length = 0;
}
static void leo_unmap_regs(struct platform_device *op, struct fb_info *info,
struct leo_par *par)
{
if (par->lc_ss0_usr)
of_iounmap(&op->resource[0], par->lc_ss0_usr, 0x1000);
if (par->ld_ss0)
of_iounmap(&op->resource[0], par->ld_ss0, 0x1000);
if (par->ld_ss1)
of_iounmap(&op->resource[0], par->ld_ss1, 0x1000);
if (par->lx_krn)
of_iounmap(&op->resource[0], par->lx_krn, 0x1000);
if (par->cursor)
of_iounmap(&op->resource[0],
par->cursor, sizeof(struct leo_cursor));
if (info->screen_base)
of_iounmap(&op->resource[0], info->screen_base, 0x800000);
}
static int __devinit leo_probe(struct platform_device *op)
{
struct device_node *dp = op->dev.of_node;
struct fb_info *info;
struct leo_par *par;
int linebytes, err;
info = framebuffer_alloc(sizeof(struct leo_par), &op->dev);
err = -ENOMEM;
if (!info)
goto out_err;
par = info->par;
spin_lock_init(&par->lock);
info->fix.smem_start = op->resource[0].start;
par->which_io = op->resource[0].flags & IORESOURCE_BITS;
sbusfb_fill_var(&info->var, dp, 32);
leo_fixup_var_rgb(&info->var);
linebytes = of_getintprop_default(dp, "linebytes",
info->var.xres);
info->fix.smem_len = PAGE_ALIGN(linebytes * info->var.yres);
par->lc_ss0_usr =
of_ioremap(&op->resource[0], LEO_OFF_LC_SS0_USR,
0x1000, "leolc ss0usr");
par->ld_ss0 =
of_ioremap(&op->resource[0], LEO_OFF_LD_SS0,
0x1000, "leold ss0");
par->ld_ss1 =
of_ioremap(&op->resource[0], LEO_OFF_LD_SS1,
0x1000, "leold ss1");
par->lx_krn =
of_ioremap(&op->resource[0], LEO_OFF_LX_KRN,
0x1000, "leolx krn");
par->cursor =
of_ioremap(&op->resource[0], LEO_OFF_LX_CURSOR,
sizeof(struct leo_cursor), "leolx cursor");
info->screen_base =
of_ioremap(&op->resource[0], LEO_OFF_SS0,
0x800000, "leo ram");
if (!par->lc_ss0_usr ||
!par->ld_ss0 ||
!par->ld_ss1 ||
!par->lx_krn ||
!par->cursor ||
!info->screen_base)
goto out_unmap_regs;
info->flags = FBINFO_DEFAULT;
info->fbops = &leo_ops;
info->pseudo_palette = par->clut_data;
leo_init_wids(info);
leo_init_hw(info);
leo_blank(FB_BLANK_UNBLANK, info);
if (fb_alloc_cmap(&info->cmap, 256, 0))
goto out_unmap_regs;
leo_init_fix(info, dp);
err = register_framebuffer(info);
if (err < 0)
goto out_dealloc_cmap;
dev_set_drvdata(&op->dev, info);
printk(KERN_INFO "%s: leo at %lx:%lx\n",
dp->full_name,
par->which_io, info->fix.smem_start);
return 0;
out_dealloc_cmap:
fb_dealloc_cmap(&info->cmap);
out_unmap_regs:
leo_unmap_regs(op, info, par);
framebuffer_release(info);
out_err:
return err;
}
static int __devexit leo_remove(struct platform_device *op)
{
struct fb_info *info = dev_get_drvdata(&op->dev);
struct leo_par *par = info->par;
unregister_framebuffer(info);
fb_dealloc_cmap(&info->cmap);
leo_unmap_regs(op, info, par);
framebuffer_release(info);
dev_set_drvdata(&op->dev, NULL);
return 0;
}
static const struct of_device_id leo_match[] = {
{
.name = "SUNW,leo",
},
{},
};
MODULE_DEVICE_TABLE(of, leo_match);
static struct platform_driver leo_driver = {
.driver = {
.name = "leo",
.owner = THIS_MODULE,
.of_match_table = leo_match,
},
.probe = leo_probe,
.remove = __devexit_p(leo_remove),
};
static int __init leo_init(void)
{
if (fb_get_options("leofb", NULL))
return -ENODEV;
return platform_driver_register(&leo_driver);
}
static void __exit leo_exit(void)
{
platform_driver_unregister(&leo_driver);
}
module_init(leo_init);
module_exit(leo_exit);
MODULE_DESCRIPTION("framebuffer driver for LEO chipsets");
MODULE_AUTHOR("David S. Miller <davem@davemloft.net>");
MODULE_VERSION("2.0");
MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Github"
}
|
[Clinical aspects and diagnosis of cerebral hemorrhage].
Primary intracerebral hemorrhages are often dramatic and lethal. Therapeutic possibilities are limited. Multivariate studies show that patient age, hematoma volume, ventricular extension of the hemorrhage, and level of consciousness are the decisive prognostic parameters. This overview shows that the etiological spectrum is larger than suggested by the classic paradigm of "either hypertensive or cryptic angioma". The variability of clinical presentation can be put into a systematic order by means of clinical neurological examination and imaging techniques. Experiences with 62 consecutive cases from the Klosterneuburg Stroke Data-Bank are reported.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
|
COURT OF APPEALS
COURT
OF APPEALS
EIGHTH
DISTRICT OF TEXAS
EL
PASO, TEXAS
)
)
)
)
No. 08-03-00449-CV
IN RE: FRANCISCO LIMON, ROSENDA )
LIMON, PEDRO TORRES, and
SIERRA ) AN ORIGINAL
WELDING SUPPLY, INC. d/b/a
AIRMIX )
) PROCEEDING IN MANDAMUS
)
)
)
OPINION ON
PETITION FOR WRIT
OF MANDAMUS
This is an
original proceeding in mandamus.
Francisco Limon, Rosenda Limon, Pedro Torres, and Sierra Welding Supply,
Inc. d/b/a Airmix, Relators, seek a writ of mandamus requiring the Honorable
Javier Alvarez, Judge, County Court at Law No. Three of El Paso County, Texas,
to vacate or rescind his order dated March 11, 2003, which found that certain
documents were privileged but fell within the crime-fraud exception. Relators also ask that the trial court be directed
to grant their motion to seal the documents and prohibit their use by the Real
Party in Interest, to disqualify counsel, and dismiss the underlying
action. For the reasons stated below, we
deny relief.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Mandamus will lie
only to correct a clear abuse of discretion.
Walker v. Packer, 827 S.W.2d 833, 840 (Tex. 1992)(orig.
proceeding). Moreover, there must be no
other adequate remedy at law. Walker,
827 S.W.2d at 840.
Clear
abuse of discretion
An appellate court
rarely interferes with a trial court=s
exercise of discretion. A clear abuse of
discretion warranting correction by mandamus occurs when a court issues a
decision which is without basis or guiding principles of law. See Johnson v. Fourth Court of Appeals,
700 S.W.2d 916, 917 (Tex. 1985)(orig. proceeding). With respect to resolution of factual issues
or matters committed to the trial court=s
discretion, the reviewing court may not substitute its judgment for that of the
trial court. Walker, 827 S.W.2d
at 839-40. The relator must therefore
establish that the trial court could reasonably have reached only one decision. Id. at 840. Even if the reviewing court would have
decided the issue differently, it cannot disturb the trial court=s decision unless it is shown to be
arbitrary and unreasonable. Id. With respect to a trial court=s determination of the legal principles
controlling its ruling, the standard is much less deferential. A trial court has no Adiscretion@ in determining what the law is or
applying the law to the facts. Thus, a
clear failure by the trial court to analyze or apply the law correctly will
constitute an abuse of discretion, and may result in appellate reversal by
extraordinary writ. Walker, 827
S.W.2d at 840.
No
adequate remedy by appeal
An appellate court
will deny mandamus relief if another remedy, usually appeal, is available and
adequate. Street v. Second Court of
Appeals, 715 S.W.2d 638, 639-40 (Tex. 1986) (orig. proceeding). Mandamus will not issue where there is Aa clear and adequate remedy at law,
such as a normal appeal.@ Walker, 827 S.W.2d at 840, quoting
State v. Walker, 679 S.W.2d 484, 485 (Tex. 1984). Mandamus is intended to be an extraordinary
remedy, available only in limited circumstances. The writ will issue Aonly
in situations involving manifest and urgent necessity and not for grievances
that may be addressed by other remedies.@ Holloway v. Fifth Court of Appeals,
767 S.W.2d 680, 684 (Tex. 1989), quoting James Sales, Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and
the Courts of Civil Appeals of Texas, in Appellate Procedure in Texas,
Sec. 1.4(1)(b) at 47 (2d Ed. 1979).
APPLICATION OF THE LAW TO THE FACTS BEFORE THE
COURT
Relators have
failed to establish that Respondent clearly abused his discretion by entering
the March 11, 2003 order. Accordingly,
we deny the relief requested in the petition for mandamus.
It is further
ordered that the sealed original exhibits which were transmitted to this Court
pursuant to an order of the trial court for our review in connection with the
mandamus petition shall be returned to the official court reporter of the
County Court at Law No. 3.
December 4, 2003
DAVID WELLINGTON CHEW, Justice
Before Panel No. 2
Barajas, C.J., McClure, and Chew, JJ.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "FreeLaw"
}
|
Paul Manafort's legal team was reportedly trying to secure a plea deal last week for Manafort in his second trial in Washington, DC.
Manafort's lawyers were discussing a possible plea with the special counsel Robert Mueller's team last week, as a jury in Virginia moved toward convicting Manafort on eight counts of tax and bank fraud.
But talks broke down when Mueller raised several issues with Manafort's lawyers.
A plea deal does not necessarily include a cooperation agreement. Instead, most defendants plead guilty to avoid facing a long and expensive trial in exchange for a reduced sentence, if prosecutors agree to such a deal.
Legal experts say the most likely reason Manafort has not flipped is the possibility of a presidential pardon.
Sign up for the latest Russia investigation updates here»
As a Virginia jury was moving toward convicting him on eight counts of financial fraud last week, Paul Manafort's lawyers were reportedly in talks with prosecutors about securing a plea deal before his second trial in Washington, DC.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Manafort, the former chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign, engaged in discussions of a possible plea deal to prevent the second trial from going forward.
However, the report said those talks broke down when the special counsel Robert Mueller raised a number of issues with Manafort's lawyers. Sources told The Journal it was unclear what those issues were.
Manafort's first trial, in the Eastern District of Virginia, focused primarily on his efforts to commit tax and bank fraud related to his political consulting work in Ukraine. He was convicted last week on five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failure to report foreign bank accounts. His former right-hand man, Rick Gates, struck a plea deal with Mueller's team in February and was the government's star witness against Manafort in the trial.
Manafort was charged with 18 counts total in the Virginia trial, but the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the other ten counts, leading US District Judge T.S. Ellis III to declare a mistrial on those. One of the jurors told Fox News last week that the vote on those 10 counts was 11 to 1 in favor of conviction. Prosecutors have until Wednesday to announce whether they will retry Manafort on those charges.
His second trial will take place in Washington, DC, and is scheduled to kick off on September 17. Prosecutors have charged Manafort in the second indictment with money laundering, conspiracy, making false statements, obstruction of justice, and failure to register as a foreign agent.
According to a court filing earlier this month, Mueller's team plans to introduce three times as much evidence in the Washington, DC, trial as it did in the Virginia trial. In the latter, they showed the jury around 400 documents, emails, and financial records to make their case. They plan to introduce "well over" 1,000 pieces of evidence in the Washington, DC trial, the court filing said. They also said they expect to take ten to 12 days to make their case in the second trial.
Manafort's efforts to secure a plea deal last week do not necessarily indicate that he was willing to flip in Mueller's Russia probe, which is examining Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in his favor.
Instead, in most cases, defendants typically plead guilty to avoid a lengthy trial and secure a reduced sentence if prosecutors agree to such a deal.
President Donald Trump on Monday repeatedly ignored questions about the death of Sen. John McCain. Evan Vucci/AP
That said, the biggest question for legal experts is why Manafort chose to go to trial in the first place.
The answer to why Manafort hasn't flipped, they say, can likely be boiled down to one thing: a presidential pardon.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lead defense lawyer, said the president is not currently considering pardons for anyone caught in Mueller's crosshairs and will wait until the end of the investigation to make his final decisions.
But Trump has made several statements indicating that he may show leniency toward his former campaign chairman.
"Manafort maximizes his chances of getting a pardon by going to trial," said Alex Whiting, a longtime former federal prosecutor in Boston and Washington, DC. "In his situation, given the facts of his case, the rational thing to do is plead guilty without cooperating and get the benefit of a guilty plea, or plead guilty and cooperate and get a bigger benefit. The only way it makes sense for him to go to trial is if he thinks he's going to get a pardon."
Trump ramped up his praise for Manafort on Wednesday, after news broke that his longtime former attorney, Michael Cohen, had struck a plea deal with New York prosecutors and signaled that he would be willing to cooperate with investigators against Trump.
"I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family," Trump tweeted shortly after the Cohen news broke. "'Justice' took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to 'break' - make up stories in order to get a 'deal.' Such respect for a brave man!"
"If Trump pardons Manafort now, then Manafort can be subpoenaed to testify," Whiting said. "And of course, if Manafort pleaded guilty, he may choose to cooperate. The pardon dangle encourages Manafort to hang tough, not cooperate, and reap the benefit later, maybe in a year or two."
|
{
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
}
|
Q:
Validator remote method, matching value to JSON array
Aloha!
Trying to run a basic validation on a postal code input, and additionally check the entered value to see if it exists in a keyless JSON array.
Everything works as expected until I add the remote function. If possible, I'd like to utilize this function, since it is built in, but I am open to other methods of validation.
Working example of this, without remote, here: http://jsfiddle.net/sangria/xLGae/
Likely unrelated, but getting this error in the console on submit:
Uncaught Error: NOT_FOUND_ERR: DOM Exception 8
JSON array format:
[94102,94117,94110,99950,...]
jQuery and Validation:
jQuery.validator.addMethod("postalcode", function(postalcode, element) {
return this.optional(element) || postalcode.match(/^([0-9]{5})$/);
}, "Please specify a valid postal/zip code");
$("#postal").validate({
rules: {
zipcode: {
required: true,
postalcode: true,
digits: true,
minlength: 5,
maxlength: 5,
remote: {
type: 'post',
contentType: 'application/json; charset=utf-8',
url: "data/uszipsonly.json",
dataType: 'json',
async: false
}
}
},
messages: {
zipcode: { remote: "Please specify a US postal code"}
}
});
Pored over the docs and some other good examples. Found similar threads here on SO, but still somewhat tripped up by this.
Much thanks to the community for any enlightenment.
A:
If you are using the jquery.bassistance.de like I think maybe you mis-interpreted the role of the remote feature..
Basically remote can only return true/false after being sent the value and is intended mainly for rules were you don't want the accepted value to be stored on the client, EVER (think of captcha for example) like in here http://jquery.bassistance.de/validate/demo/captcha/
If you want to download the list of possible ZIP code your app accept (or does not accept) from your server I suggest doing the following:
$.getJSON("data/uszipsonly.json", function(response) {
var validZIP = response;
jQuery.validator.addMethod("postalcode", function(postalcode, element) {
return this.optional(element) || (postalcode.match(/^([0-9]{5})$/) && $.inArray(postalcode, validZIP));
}, "Please specify a valid postal/zip code");
})
|
{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
|
Background {#Sec1}
==========
Active matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AM OLED) was focused as the next-generation display since its great advantages, vivid full color ,high brightness, low power consumption, fast response time, and suitable for flexible display \[[@CR1]\]. In terms of OLEDs technology, the encapsulation process is a core technology influencing both the lifetime and reliability of OLEDs. The devices need encapsulation materials to protect it from water and oxygen. Thin film encapsulation (TFE) is considered as one of the most potent methods to ensure for protection from moisture and oxygen penetration in electronic devices \[[@CR2],[@CR3]\]. Metal oxide thin film has been the choices for TFE materials such as aluminum oxide (Al~2~O~3~) and zirconium oxide (ZrO~2~) and titanium oxide (TiO~2~) grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) since their superior protection forms moisture \[[@CR4]-[@CR6]\]. Recently, several researches have focused on the multilayered nanolaminate structure which comprised of alternating layer of different materials that have individual layer of nanometer-scale thickness \[[@CR7],[@CR8]\].
However, inorganic materials have critical weaknesses such as cracking and pinhole defects in the layer surface \[[@CR9],[@CR10]\]. To solve these problems, alternating inorganic and organic layer pairs is suggested as an encapsulation solution for OLED devices. Generally, in the multilayer structure, the role of the organic layer is known to decouple defects in the oxide layers, thereby preventing propagation of defects through the multilayer structure. ALD and molecular layer deposition (MLD) processes can deposit smooth, conformal, and pinhole-free films. Recently, an ALD/MLD combination structure has been proposed because ALD/MLD multilayers have very good film integrity which causes them to have advanced performance for thin film encapsulation \[[@CR11]-[@CR13]\].
In this study, we report on thin encapsulation layers deposited by ALD at 85°C. For the thin encapsulation layers, various nanolaminate structures consisting of Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone (aluminum alkoxides with carbon-containing backbones) were tested to determine the best structure producing the long lifetime devices based on the fact that nanolaminate structures significantly enhanced the lifetime by suppressing the formation of both microscopic voids and nanocrystals that could exist in an Al~2~O~3~ or ZrO~2~ single layer.
Methods {#Sec2}
=======
The encapsulation structure of OLEDs is shown in Figure [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}, and OLED devices were fabricated by conventional vacuum deposition system. Encapsulation layers were deposited by ALD system. An indium tin oxide (ITO, 10 ohm, 150 nm)-coated glass substrates were used and cleaned with a detergent solution, deionized water, and acetone. After treated for 10 min by plasma, the substrate was transferred to vacuum deposition system. The OLEDs were fabricated by sequentially depositing the following organic layer, which were 4,4′,4″-tris-N-naphthyl-N-phenylamino-triphenylamine (40 nm) as a hole injection layer, N,N′-bis-(naphthyl)-N,N′-diphenyl-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine (20 nm) as a hole transport layer, tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq~3~) doped (20 nm) as a light-emitting layer, and Alq~3~(30 nm) as an electron transport layer using a shadow mask. In addition, lithium fluoride (LiF, 0.5 nm) and aluminum (Al, 100 nm) as electron injection layer and cathode, respectively, were evaporated onto the organic layer using a metal shadow mask. The typical deposition rates were 0.5 Å/s, 0.1 Å/s, and 5.0 Å/s for organic materials, LiF, and Al, respectively.Figure 1**Structure of OLED encapsulation. (a)** Single Al~2~O~3~ film devices. **(b)** Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~ devices. **(c)** Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone devices. **(d)** Three pairs Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone devices.
ALD Al~2~O~3~ films were fabricated using H~2~O and trimethylaluminum (TMA) as precursors at 85°C. ALD ZrO~2~ films were fabricated using H~2~O and tetrakis (dimethylamido) zirconium (TDMAZ) as precursors at 85°C. Nitrogen (N~2~, 99.999%) was used as a carrier gas on the TMA/TDMAZ and as the purge gas. Alucone films were grown using TMA and ethylene glycol (EG) at 85°C. The process pressure of ALD and MLD was 500 mTorr. In addition, Al~2~O~3~ films were deposited using 100 ms of TMA pulse, 7 s of N~2~ purge time, 100 ms of H~2~O pulse, and 7 s of purge, while ZrO~2~ films were deposited using 250 ms of TDMAZ pulse, 10 s of N~2~ purge, 200 ms H~2~O pulse, and 10 s of purge time, and alucone films were deposited using 200 ms of TMA pulse, 15 s of N~2~ purge, 300 ms of EG flow with carrier gas, and 20 s of N~2~ purge.
The general reactions between the metal alkyl and the diol of ALD Al~2~O~3~ film and MLD alucone film can be written as follows (Figure [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}). The thicknesses of the ALD film were measured by spectroscopy ellipsometry at wavelengths from 245.57 to 1,664.00 nm.Figure 2**The reaction of encapsulation film. (a)** ALD Al2O3 film reaction. **(b)** ALD ZrO2 film reaction. **(c)** MLD alucone film reaction.
Results and discussion {#Sec3}
======================
Surface morphology {#Sec4}
------------------
We have investigated the surface morphology of the encapsulation film using atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurement with a trapping mode on the silicon wafer substrate. Figure [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}a,b,c shows the surface topography of the single Al~2~O~3~, Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~, and Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone, respectively. The root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness of the single Al~2~O~3~, Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~, and Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone layers was 1.12, 1.31, and 0.83 nm separately. The lower roughness of Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone film indicates that the introduction of alucone can make the surface smoother. Moreover, we have observed that the surface topography of the Al~2~O~3~ film was similar to cloth-like while that of the ZrO~2~ was grain-like, revealing that the Al~2~O~3~ layer is more suitable to deposit directly onto the cathode before the ZrO~2~ layer.Figure 3**AFM picture of thin film. (a)** Single Al~2~O~3~ film. **(b)** Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~ film. **(c)** Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone film.
Optical transmission {#Sec5}
--------------------
The used Al~2~O~3~, ZrO~2~, and alucone films are highly transparent. We have measured the light transmission characteristics of the encapsulation film, as shown in Figure [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}. The light transmission of the Al~2~O~3~ and ZrO~2~ layer is above 95%. In addition, it is worth to note that the light transmission of both Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone (one pair) and Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone (three pairs) are higher than those of the Al~2~O~3~ and ZrO~2~ layers at the range of 400 to 700 nm. The addition of alucone can effectively prevent the light scattering in visible wavelength (450 to 650 nm) due to the its lower surface RMS. Although the transmission below 450 nm is indeed lower than Al~2~O~3~ and Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~ films, the transmission increases due to the decreasing light scattering (Additional file [1](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}: Figure S1). This demonstrates that organic/inorganic film may be suitable for the visible electroluminescent emission of the top-emitting OLEDs.Figure 4**Light transmission characteristics of the encapsulation film.**
WVTR result {#Sec6}
-----------
The Ca test in this study was designed to the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of nanolaminates. The amount of Ca oxidation was used to calculate the amount of water vapor using the resistivity of Ca films. We utilized the 200-nm-thick Ca layer, which is close to the normal thickness of an aluminum cathode in OLED. To prevent the Ca film from contacting with water and oxygen, the ALD system and the equipment for Ca fabrication were connected with a glove box filled with nitrogen gas. WVTR of barriers was calculated as the following equation \[[@CR14]-[@CR17]\]:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$ p=n\frac{M_{\left(\mathrm{reagent}\right)}}{M_{\left(\mathrm{C}\mathrm{a}\right)}}\delta \rho \frac{\rho }{b}\frac{d\left(\raisebox{1ex}{$1$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$R$}\right.\right)}{dt} $$\end{document}$$
where *n* is the molar equivalent of the degradation reaction, *M*~(reagent)~ and *M*~(Ca)~ are the molar masses of the permeating reagent and Ca, *ρ*is the Ca resistivity, and *δ* is the density of Ca. Figure [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"} shows the barrier performance of different thin films. The WVTR values of ALD-grown moisture barrier films with three pairs of Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone are as low as 8.5 × 10^−5^ g/m^2^/day at 25°C, 85% relative humidity (RH).Figure 5**Permeation rate measurement of ALD encapsulation.**
Lifetime of OLED {#Sec7}
----------------
We have measured the lifetime of OLEDs encapsulated by various ALD thin film structure. For devices A and B, the passivation film were Al~2~O~3~ (30 nm) and Al~2~O~3~ (15 nm)/ZrO~2~ (15 nm), while devices C and D used Al~2~O~3~ (15 nm)/ZrO~2~ (15 nm)/alucone (80 nm) and three pairs of Al~2~O~3~ (15 nm)/ZrO~2~ (15 nm)/alucone (80 nm). We compared the evolution of the luminance devices A, B, C, and D as shown in Figure [6](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}. It was shown that the lifetime of device A with single Al~2~O~3~ layer decreased obviously than device B with Al~2~O~3~ (15 nm)/ZrO~2~ (15 nm). The Al~2~O~3~ layer acted as a better moisture barrier than ZrO~2~ at the same thickness. The Al~2~O~3~ layer functioned as a better moisture barrier than ZrO~2~ at the same thickness. The WVTR of Al~2~O~3~ and ZrO~2~ were 2.38 × 10^−3^ g/m^2^/day and 4.5 × 10^−3^ g/m^2^/day when fixing the film thickness by 30 nm. A denser ZrAlxOy-aluminate phase with higher packing density could be formed at the interfaces between Al~2~O~3~ and ZrO~2~, leading to a densification at the Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~ interfaces \[[@CR18],[@CR19]\]. Because the permeation rate for gasses such as water vapor depends on the density of the material, even a small amount of water can enter into the device through the thin film.Figure 6**Lifetime measurement of OLED with thin film encapsulation.**
Device D with three pairs of inorganic/organic hybrid layers can drastically improve the lifetime of OLED because the organic layer (alucone) may increase the water vapor diffusion path in the film and decrease the diffusion speed (or diffusivity) by trapping water vapor chemically. Generally, it is called a 'tortuous path', which is possibly governed by the strong dependence of the WVTR on the organic layer thickness \[[@CR10],[@CR20],[@CR21]\]. The half lifetime of a green OLED with the initial luminance of 1,500 cd/m^2^ reached 380 h using three pairs of the Al~2~O~3~ (15 nm)/ZrO~2~ (15 nm)/alucone (80 nm) as encapsulation layers.
Conclusions {#Sec8}
===========
Hybrid Al~2~O~3~/ZrO~2~/alucone thin film encapsulation structure can obviously improve barrier performance. The WVTR is as low as 8.5 × 10^−5^ g/m^2^/day at 25°C, 85% RH. A half lifetime of 380 h at initial luminance of 1,500 cd/m^2^ for a green organic light-emitting diode with developed TFE technology has been achieved.
Additional file {#Sec9}
===============
Additional file 1: Figure S1.The light scattering in visible wavelength (450-650 nm) for different type of encapsulated film.
ALD
: Atomic layer deposition
OLED
: Organic lighting emitting diodes
WVTR
: Water vapor transmission rate
RMS
: Root-mean-square
**Competing interests**
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
**Authors' contributions**
The work presented here was carried out in collaboration between all authors. All authors have contributed to, seen, and approved the manuscript.
This work was funded by National Key Basic Research Program of China (2015CB655005) and Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality Program (14DZ228090).
|
{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Central"
}
|
It is generally customary to employ metal catalysts for the crosslinking of CEC coating layers in order to reduce the stoving temperature. In this connection, organotin catalysts have generally been used. The use of dialkyltin oxide is desirable, and the use of dibutyltin oxide (DBTO) is particularly desirable due to its ready availability and favourable price. However, in order that it can successfully be used in CEC coatings, DBTO requires conditioning. This conditioning may consist of a separate synthesis step, i.e. in the chemical conversion of the DBTO into a dibutyltin dicarboxylate for example.
Thus CEC coating media which crosslink by means of blocked isocyanates are known from EP-A-0 509 437. These contain dialkyltin dicarboxylates derived from aromatic carboxylic acids as crosslinking catalysts, in addition to bismuth or zirconium compounds as additional catalysts. Bismuth hydroxide, trioxide, nitrate, benzoate, citrate, oxycarbonate and silicate can be used as the bismuth compounds.
DE-A-39 40 781 describes a process for producing catalyst pastes containing dibutyltin oxide by the preliminary dispersion of DBTO with organic solvent and 0.05 to 5 moles, per mole of DBTO, of an organic acid which is customary for the neutralisation of cathodically depositable electro-dip coatings, at a water content of up to 5% by weight with respect to the sum of DBTO, solvent, acid and water, and the subsequent dispersion and comminution of the mixture obtained with grinding binder vehicles and water. Preliminary dispersion is preferably effected within a temperature range from 50 to 80.degree. C. During the production of CEC coating media, the catalyst pastes drag in organic acid. However, low acid contents are wanted in CEC coating media, since they promote good wrap-around behaviour and low current consumption during cathodic lacquer deposition.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Q:
Using Spy Object in PHPUnit?
How can I use Spy Object in PHPUnit?
You can call object in imitation on, and after you can assert how many times it called.
It is Spy.
I know "Mock" in PHPUnit as Stub Object and Mock Object.
A:
You can assert how many times a Mock was called with PHPUnit when doing
$mock = $this->getMock('SomeClass');
$mock->expects($this->exactly(5))
->method('someMethod')
->with(
$this->equalTo('foo'), // arg1
$this->equalTo('bar'), // arg2
$this->equalTo('baz') // arg3
);
When you then call something in the TestSubject that invokes the Mock, PHPUnit will fail the test when SomeClass someMethod was not called five times with arguments foo,bar,baz. There is a number of additional matchers besides exactly.
In addition, PHPUnit as has built-in support for using Prophecy to create test doubles since version 4.5. Please refer to the documentation for Prophecy for further details on how to create, configure, and use stubs, spies, and mocks using this alternative test double framework.
A:
There's a spy returned from $this->any(), you can use it something like:
$foo->expects($spy = $this->any())->method('bar');
$foo->bar('baz');
$invocations = $spy->getInvocations();
$this->assertEquals(1, count($invocations));
$args = $invocations[0]->arguments;
$this->assertEquals(1, count($args));
$this->assertEquals('bar', $args[0]);
I put up a blog entry about this at some stage: http://blog.lyte.id.au/2014/03/01/spying-with-phpunit/
I have no idea where (if?) it's documented, I found it searching through PHPUnit code...
|
{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
|
New non competitive AMPA antagonists.
New halogen atom substituted 2,3-benzodiazepine derivatives condensed with an azole ring on the seven membered part of the ring system of type 3 and 4 as well as 5 and 6 were synthesized. It was found that chloro-, dichloro- and bromo-substitutions in the benzene ring and additionally imidazole ring condensation on the diazepine ring can successfully substitute the methylenedioxy group in the well known molecules GYKI 52466 (1) and GYKI 53773 (2) and the 3-acetyl-4-methyl structural feature in 2, respectively, preserving the highly active AMPA antagonist characteristic of the original molecules. From the most active compounds (3b,i) 3b (GYKI 47261) was chosen for detailed investigations. 3b revealed an excellent, broad spectrum anticonvulsant activity against seizures evoked by electroshock and different chemoconvulsive agents indicating a possible antiepileptic efficacy. 3b was found to be highly active in a transient model of focal ischemia predictive of a therapeutic value in human stroke. 3b also reversed the dopamine depleting effect of MPTP and antagonized the oxotremorine induced tremor in mice indicating a potential antiparkinson activity.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
|
Velasco-class cruiser
The Velasco class of unprotected cruisers was a series of eight cruisers built during the 1880s for service with the Spanish Navy. They were named for famous Spaniards of the past.
Description
The Velasco class consisted of two slightly different subclasses. The first two ships, Velasco and Gravina, built by the Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. at Leamouth, London in the United Kingdom, had fewer but heavier guns and were slightly faster than the next six, which were built at various yards in Spain. The class took a long time to complete, with the two British-build ships being laid down in 1881 and the last Spanish built one not being completed until 1889. The ships had one rather tall funnel, an iron hull, and barque rigging. They were unarmored.
History
The Velasco-class cruisers generally were assigned to colonial service. They were an ill-fated class, with two lost at sea and three more sunk during the Spanish–American War. The three survivors lasted into the early 20th century, with the last one stricken in 1927.
Ships in class
Velasco
Completed in 1881, Velasco was in the Philippines at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April 1898 and was sunk in the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898.
Gravina
Completed in 1881, Gravina was sent to the Philippines, where she sank in a typhoon in 1884.
Infanta Isabel
Completed in 1885, Infanta Isabel was the longest lived of the class, undergoing a reconstruction in 1911 and not being stricken until 1927.
Isabel II
Completed in 1887, Isabel II saw action during the Spanish–American War in the Second and Third Battles of San Juan, and was stricken in 1907.
Cristobal Colon
Completed in 1889, Cristobal Colon was lost off Cuba in October 1895.
Don Juan de Austria
Completed in 1887, Don Juan de Austria was in the Philippines at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April 1898 and was sunk in the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898. Salvaged, repaired and in 1900 commissioned into American Navy.
Don Antonio de Ulloa
Completed in 1886, Don Antonio de Ulloa was in the Philippines at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April 1898 and was sunk in the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898.
Conde del Venadito
Completed in 1888, Conde del Venadito was stricken around 1905
References
Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, Eds. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York, New York: Mayflower Books Inc., 1979. .
Gray, Randal, Ed. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. .
Nofi, Albert A. The Spanish–American War, 1898. Conshohocken, Pennsylvania:Combined Books, Inc., 1996. .
External links
The Spanish–American War Centennial Web Site
Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: Spanish Navy Ships: Conde del Venadito (Cruiser, 1888–1902)
Category:Cruiser classes
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
}
|
Yoga therapy is fast becoming a leading discipline, popular due to its all-round treatment of the mind, body and spirit, combining art and science to give you the key to your own self-healing. We spoke to Larah Davis, a yoga therapy expert and founder of Ibiza Retreats (ibizaretreats.com), to get the low-down.
“The therapy is great for those who get highly stressed or anxious, suffer from panic attacks or depression and are looking for a holistic solution to create more balance, calm and a lasting sense of control in their lives. Likewise, if you have any physical ailments or injuries, are in recovery from a long-term illness or are suffering from auto-immune related conditions, IBS and fertility concerns, then this method is definitely for you. The therapy is also great for anyone who feels regularly exhausted or is looking to replace ‘props’ such as caffeine, painkillers or alcohol with proven bodymind relaxation and energy rejuvenation techniques.
“A practitioner would typically use ancient yogic models combined with an in-depth anatomical and physiological assessment to create a personalised homepractice programme for their clients. The aim is to address the immediate pain or symptoms, then raise awareness of the links between the mental, physical and energetic issues and the root causes that stem from emotional ‘blockages’ and lifestyle patterns.
“The first session begins with assessing postural issues such as stiff necks and frozen shoulders. It then continues with reviewing breathing patterns that reveal energetic and emotional blockages. Throughout the session the therapist will be encouraging you to self-observe so that you can become aware of links between mental, physical and emotional issues.
“As little as one session can offer a powerful springboard into new levels of self-awareness.”
On trial
All you need to know about your first time
For the session, wear loose-fitting clothing that feels comfortable and you can easily move around in. Make sure the clothing you choose is warm, too, as you can get cold when completely relaxed. At your first meeting you will have to talk your therapist through your current health, highlighting any areas of pain or tension both physical and emotional. The therapist will look at your posture and give you breathing exercises and yoga poses to help, and will lead you through guided relaxation or talking therapy. Your therapist will then recommend a customised home practice plan.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
|
Stage of primary infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus determines predisposition or resistance of mice to secondary bacterial infections.
We investigated the effect of a primary non-lethal infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) on the course and outcome of a secondary infection with the Gram-negative Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium or the Gram-positive Listeria monocytogenes in mice. We found that at each stage of the viral infection the susceptibility of mice to bacterial super-infections changes dramatically and depends also on whether the secondary infection is a Gram-positive or Gram-negative one. The study shows that the outcome of the secondary infection is determined by a delicate balance between the overproduction of and the hypersensitivity to inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma), as well as by the changes in blood leukocytes occurring in mice in the course of viral infection.
|
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What to Know A vervet monkey has taken up residence hidden behind branches and leaves around 50 feet above the ground near NE 172nd Street and 16th Ave.
As unusual as this seems to humans, vervet monkeys have actually been a part of South Florida’s landscape since the late 1940s.
Just last week, police tried to track down a monkey spotted near I-95 and Northwest 180th street, but called off the search.
Some local monkey business has neighbors stopping and looking in the trees in a North Miami Beach neighborhood.
A vervet monkey has taken up residence hidden behind branches and leaves around 50 feet above the ground near Northeast 172nd Street and 16th Avenue.
“I walked outside and I saw a dog running down the ally, what I thought was a dog and then it started doing some ninja stuff and jumping on houses and stuff,” said Zac Groffman, who first spotted the animal. “I was like, that’s not a dog.”
As unusual as this seems to humans, vervet monkeys have actually been a part of South Florida’s landscape since the late 1940s, when at least a dozen monkeys escaped from a chimpanzee farm in what is now Dania Beach.
“When they reach sexual mutuality at the age of five, they leave their social group and they go to look for other monkey groups to join,” said Missy Williams, the director of the Dania Beach Vervet Project.
Williams added there is a colony of around 40 wild monkeys living around West Lake Park.
Just last week, police tried to track down a monkey spotted near I-95 and Northwest 180th street, but called off the search.
The monkeys are native to Africa, but experts say they’re highly adapted to urban life and can navigate obstacles like South Florida’s traffic.
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Governor Islands (South Orkney Islands)
The Governor Islands in the South Atlantic () are a group of islands and rocks north of Penguin Point, the northwestern extremity of Coronation Island, in the South Orkney Islands. They were discovered by Captain George Powell and Captain Nathaniel Palmer during their joint cruise in December 1821. The name appears on a chart based upon a running survey of the South Orkney Islands in 1912–13 by Petter Sorlle, a Norwegian whaling captain.
See also
List of antarctic and sub-antarctic islands
References
Category:Islands of the South Orkney Islands
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VENUSBECK1953'S PROFILE
Celia Scott
Occupation: Dental laboratory technician
ABOUT ME
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MY COOKBOOKS
MY PHOTOS
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MEDIA
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Join Us Today!
BakeSpace.com is the grassroots online community where you can share recipes, discover indie cookbooks, publish your own cookbook, meet other home cooks and express your passion for all things food-related.
Publish Your Own Cookbook
BakeSpace.com’s Cookbook Cafe is a do-it-yourself digital publishing platform that enables anyone to create, market and sell their very own cookbook to the world for profit or fundraising. With our easy to use cookbook builder, you can publish your own beautifully interactive cookbook as both Web-based eBook and iPad App.
About BakeSpace, Inc.
Launched in 2006 as the Web’s first food social network, BakeSpace, Inc. has grown to become a diversified online media, app publishing and conference production company for engaging consumers who are passionate about the culinary lifestyle.
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FIPS PUB 5-1
REDIRECT Federal Information Processing Standard state code
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It was just June, wasn’t it? I had all these plans, and all the time in the world to get to them, right? I mean, it’s just past July 4, isn’t it? Plenty of easy living ahead…I’m sure I penciled some in on my cal…Hey! Who flipped the page to AUGUST???Read More
Farmers Market Vendor ListAs always, our market schedule can be found on the website here. For more up-to-date information, check out our Facebook page!
Applications are already pouring in so be sure to get yours here and get them to us by August 14th
Make. Believe. Tour still in Lansdowne!
The Mobile Mercantile is buzzing in Lansdowne, selling all their awesome gifts and crafts, just like in their Easton store. You better check it out if you haven't already; their week in Lansdowne is winding down. They are set up at 32 East Baltimore Avenue in the old Noel Schmidt furniture building.
The building was chosen to give creative types a sneak preview of Delaware County's newest Creative Co-Working Space, set to open in early 2018. Perfect for artists, architects, start-up businesses, guys who love shop class, girls who can handle a miter saw better than those guys, and anyone else who is crazy creative. Email Debbie@LansdownesFuture.org for info.
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New Town, Edinburgh
The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. A masterpiece of city planning, it was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street, facing Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town across the geological depression of the former Nor Loch. Together with the Old Town, the New Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
Proposal and planning
The idea of a New Town was first suggested in the late 17th century when the Duke of Albany and York (later King James VII and II), when resident Royal Commissioner at Holyrood, encouraged the idea of having an extended regality to the north of the city and a North Bridge. He gave the city a grant:That, when they should have occasion to enlarge their city by purchasing ground without the town, or to build bridges or arches for the accomplishing of the same, not only were the proprietors of such lands obliged to part with the same on reasonable terms, but when in possession thereof, they are to be erected into a regality in favour of the citizens.It is possible that, with such patronage, the New Town may have been built many years earlier than it was but, in 1682, the Duke left the city and became King in 1685, only to lose the throne in 1688.
The decision to construct a New Town was taken by the city fathers, after overcrowding inside the Old Town city walls reached breaking point and to prevent an exodus of wealthy citizens from the city to London. The Age of Enlightenment had arrived in Edinburgh, and the outdated city fabric did not suit the professional and merchant classes who lived there. Lord Provost George Drummond succeeded in extending the boundary of the Royal Burgh to encompass the fields to the north of the Nor Loch, the heavily polluted body of water which occupied the valley immediately north of the city. A scheme to drain the Loch was put into action, although the process was not fully completed until 1817. Crossing points were built to access the new land; the North Bridge in 1772, and the Earthen Mound, which began as a tip for material excavated during construction of the New Town. The Mound, as it is known today, reached its present proportions in the 1830s.
As the successive stages of the New Town were developed, the rich moved northwards from cramped tenements in narrow closes into grand Georgian homes on wide roads. However, the poor remained in the Old Town.
The First New Town
A design competition was held in January 1766 to find a suitably modern layout for the new suburb. It was won by 26-year-old James Craig, who, following the natural contours of the land, proposed a simple axial grid, with a principal thoroughfare along the ridge linking two garden squares. Two other main roads were located downhill to the north and south with two minor streets between. Several mews off the minor streets provided stable lanes for the large homes. Completing the grid are three north-south cross streets.
Craig's original plan has not survived but it has been suggested that it is indicated on a map published by John Laurie in 1766. This map shows a diagonal layout with a central square reflecting a new era of civic Hanoverian British patriotism by echoing the design of the Union Flag. Both Princes Street and Queen Street are shown as double sided. A simpler revised design reflected the same spirit in the names of its streets and civic spaces.
Street names
The intended principal street was named George Street, after the king at the time, George III. Queen Street was to be located to the north, named after his wife, and St. Giles Street to the south, after the city's patron saint. St Andrew Square and St. George's Square were the names chosen to represent the union of Scotland and England. The idea was continued with the smaller Thistle Street (for Scotland's national emblem) between George Street and Queen Street, and Rose Street (for England's emblem) between George Street and Princes Street.
King George rejected the name St. Giles Street, St Giles being the patron saint of lepers and also the name of a slum area or 'rookery' on the edge of the City of London. It was therefore renamed Prince's Street after his eldest son, the Prince of Wales. The name of St. George's Square was changed to Charlotte Square, after the Queen, to avoid confusion with the existing George Square on the South Side of the Old Town. The westernmost blocks of Thistle Street were renamed Hill Street and Young Street, making Thistle Street half the length of Rose Street. The three streets completing the grid, Castle, Frederick and Hanover Streets, were named for the view of the castle, King George's second son Prince Frederick, and the House of Hanover respectively.
Development
Craig's proposals hit further problems when development began. Initially the exposed new site was unpopular, leading to a £20 premium being offered to the first builder on site. This was received by John Young who built Thistle Court, the first buildings in the New Town, at the east end of Thistle Street in 1767. Instead of building as a terrace as envisaged, he built a small courtyard. Doubts were overcome soon enough, and further construction started in the east with St. Andrew Square.
Craig had intended that the view along George Street be terminated by two large churches, situated at the outer edge of each square, on axis with George Street. Whilst the western church on Charlotte Square was built, at St Andrew Square the land behind the proposed church site was owned by Sir Lawrence Dundas. He decided to build a town mansion here and commissioned a design from Sir William Chambers. The resulting Palladian mansion, known as Dundas House, was completed in 1774. In 1825 it was acquired by the Royal Bank of Scotland and today is the registered office of the bank.. The forecourt of the building, with the equestrian monument to John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun, occupies the proposed church site. St. Andrew's Church had to be built on a site on George Street. The lack of a visual termination at the end of this street was remedied in 1823 with William Burn's monument to Henry Dundas.
The first New Town was mainly completed by 1820, with the completion of Charlotte Square. This was built to a design by Robert Adam, and was the only architecturally unified section of the New Town. Adam also produced a design for St. George's Church, although his design was superseded by that of Robert Reid. The building, now known as West Register House, now houses part of the National Archives of Scotland. The north side of Charlotte Square features Bute House, formerly the official residence of the Secretary of State for Scotland and, since the introduction of devolution in Scotland, the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland.
A few small sections remained undeveloped at the time. In 1885 an unbuilt section of Queen Street (an open garden until that time), north of St Andrew Square, provided the site for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. To the north-west, north of Charlotte Square, the land was part of the Earl of Moray's estate and a long-running boundary dispute with the Moray Estate. caused delay in development. A section of Glenfinlas Street at the north-west corner of Charlotte Square was not completed until 1990 while the western end of Queen Street, north of Charlotte Square, has never been developed.
The New Town was envisaged as a mainly residential suburb with a number of professional offices of domestic layout. It had few planned retail ground floors, however it did not take long for the commercial potential of the site to be realised. Shops were soon opened on Princes Street, and during the 19th century the majority of the townhouses on that street were replaced with larger commercial buildings. Occasional piecemeal redevelopment continues to this day, though most of Queen Street and Thistle Street, and large sections of George Street, Hanover, Frederick and Castle Streets, are still lined with their original late 18th century buildings.
Northern, or Second, New Town and extensions
After 1800, the success of the first New Town led to grander schemes. The 'Northern New Town' (now usually called the Second New Town) aimed to extend Edinburgh from the north of Queen Street Gardens towards the Water of Leith, with extensions to the east and west. These developments took place mostly between 1800–1830. Initial designs by William Sibbald followed the original grid orientation of Craig’s First New Town, with entire streets being built as one construction. Building continued on an extended Hanover Street, called Dundas Street and, beyond Great King Street, Pitt Street (later renamed to Dundas Street in the 1960s), almost 1 km north towards the Water of Leith at Canonmills. Streets were laid out either side with Great King Street the central avenue terminated by Drummond Place to the east and Royal Circus to the west. Northumberland Street and Cumberland Street were lesser streets to the south and north respectively. Heriot Row and Abercromby Place, both one-sided streets at the southern limit of the development, enjoyed open aspects to Queen Street Gardens. The builder for large sections of the Second New Town was George Winton.
Very large sections of the Second New Town, built from the early 19th century are also still exactly as built. Townhouses generally occupied the east-west streets, with blocks of flats (called tenements in Scotland) along the north-south streets. Shops were originally generally restricted to the lower floors of the wider north-south streets. The larger houses had service mews running behind and parallel to their terraces.
The Picardy Place extension (including Broughton Street, Union Street and East London Street) was mostly finished by 1809. To the west of the original New Town, Shandwick Place, an extension of Princes Street, was started in 1805. Development of Melville Street and the area north of Shandwick Place followed in 1825. The Gayfield Estate (Gayfield Square) extension was designed in 1807 and from around 1813 the New Town gradually replaced and developed the older village of Stockbridge. The painter Henry Raeburn bought the Deanhough estate in the northwest of the New Town and started development in 1813 with Ann Street named after his wife.
In 1822, the Earl of Moray had plans drawn up by James Gillespie Graham to develop his Drumsheugh estate, between Charlotte Square and the Water of Leith. This was popular amongst the Scots nobility and wealthy lawyers. The bulk of the estate was complete by 1835, but many of the corner blocks were not finally added until the 1850s. The estate is now usually called the Moray Estate. It remains one of the city's most affluent areas and of the most exclusive set of addresses
Eastern, or Third, New Town
In order to extend the New Town eastwards, the Lord Provost, Sir John Marjoribanks, succeeded in getting the elegant Regent Bridge built. It was completed in 1819. The bridge spanned a deep ravine with narrow inconvenient streets and made access to Calton Hill much easier and agreeable from Princes Street.
Even before the bridge had been built, Edinburgh Town Council were making preparations for building the Eastern New Town, which would stretch from the slopes of Calton Hill, north to Leith, between Leith Walk and Easter Road. The Lord Provost made an agreement with the main landowners in 1811, some initial surveying was done and there was a competition for architectural plans for the development that on 1 January 1813, the results of which were inconclusive. A number of prominent architects were then asked for their opinions: William Stark, James Gillespie, Robert Burn and his son William Burn, John Paterson and Robert Reid and others.
Stark's observations were particularly valued and he went on to expand them in a "Report to the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of Edinburgh on the Plans for Laying out the Grounds for Buildings between Edinburgh and Leith". Stark died on 9 October 1813, and his report was published posthumously in 1814.
The commissioners decided to turn to Stark's pupil William Henry Playfair. He was appointed in February 1818, and produced a plan in April 1819, that closely followed Starks's recommendations. Playfair’s designs were intended to create a New Town even more magnificent than Craig's.
Regent Terrace, Carlton Terrace and Royal Terrace on Calton Hill were built, also Hillside Crescent and some adjoining streets, but the development further north in the direction of Leith was never completed. On the south side of Calton Hill various monuments were erected as well as the Royal High School, designed in Greek revival style by Thomas Hamilton.
Other additions
A few modest developments in Canonmills were started in the 1820s but none were completed at that time. For several decades the operations of the tannery at Silvermills inhibited development in the immediate vicinity. From the 1830s onward, development slowed but following the completion in 1831 of Thomas Telford’s Dean Bridge, the Dean Estate had some developments built. These included the Dean Orphanage (now the Dean Gallery), Daniel Stewart's College, streets to the Northeast of Queensferry Street (in the 1850s), Buckingham Terrace (in 1860) and Learmonth Terrace (in 1873).
In the 19th century Edinburgh's second railway, the Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway, built a tunnel under the New Town to link Scotland Street with Canal Street (later absorbed into Waverley Station). After its closure, the tunnel was used to grow mushrooms, and during World War 2 as an air raid shelter.
Principal losses
An attempt to build an elevated walkway along the length of Princes Street involved the planned demolition of the entire street in a radical plan published in the 1960s. The plan was unpopular but before it was abandoned in 1982, seven buildings were removed. The old Boots building at 102 Princes Street, with its series of statues of William Wallace, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert the Bruce, was demolished in 1965. The North British & Mercantile Insurance Company building at number 64 followed. The New Club, designed by William Burn and extended by David Bryce), and the adjacent Life Association of Scotland building by David Rhind and Sir Charles Barry also came down.
Lost streets include those in the St James Square area, demolished in the 1960s to make way for the St James Shopping Centre and offices for the Scottish Office. This mainly tenemental area, reported as having a population of 3,763, was demolished largely on the basis of being slums with only 61 of 1,100 dwellings being considered fit for habitation. Also demolished as slums was most of Jamaica Street at the west end of the Second New Town.
Bellevue House by Robert Adam, which became the Excise or Custom House, was built in 1775, before the New Town reached the area, in what is now Drummond Place Gardens. Great King Street and London Street in the Northern or Second New Town were aligned on this building but it was demolished in the 1840s due to the construction of the Scotland Street railway tunnel below.
Culture
The New Town is home to the National Gallery of Scotland and the Royal Scottish Academy Building, both designed by Playfair and located next to each other on The Mound. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is on Queen Street. Other notable buildings include the Assembly Rooms on George Street, the Balmoral Hotel (formerly called the North British Hotel, after a railway company) with its landmark clock tower above Waverley Station, and the Scott Monument.
The Cockburn Association (Edinburgh Civic Trust) is prominent in campaigning to preserve the architectural integrity of the New Town.
Shopping
The New Town contains Edinburgh's main shopping streets. Princes Street is home to many chain shops, as well as Jenners department store, an Edinburgh institution. George Street, once the financial centre, now has numerous modern bars, many occupying former banking halls, while Multrees Walk on St. Andrew Square is home to Harvey Nichols and other designer shops. The St. James Centre, at the east end of the New Town, was an indoor mall completed in 1970. Often considered an unwelcome addition to New Town architecture, it included a large branch of John Lewis. The St. James Centre (excluding John Lewis) closed on Sunday, 16 October 2016 and has been demolished. It is being redeveloped and is due to reopen in 2020 at a cost of £850,000,000. Also, by the Waverley Station lies the Waverley Mall, which contains many high street stores including: Game, Costa, McDonald's, Sainsbury's, KFC, Subway, Superdry and Greggs.
See also
Banknotes of Scotland (featured on design)
History of Edinburgh
List of Category A listed buildings in the New Town, Edinburgh
World Heritage Sites in Scotland
References
Further reading
Davey, Andy et al. The Care and Conservation of Georgian Houses: A maintenance manual for Edinburgh New Town. 4th edition. Oxford: Butterworth-Architecture, 1995.
External links
Kincaid map showing the First New Town in 1784
UNESCO World Heritage Site Inscription
Category:Areas of Edinburgh
Category:1767 establishments in Scotland
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Q:
Unable to activate Windows XP
The latest round of Patch Tuesday updates left my Windows XP computer unbootable. ("Fatal System Error: The Windows Logon Process system process terminated unexpectedly.") After much messing around with the recovery console, an XP CD's repair mode, and manually copying registry files around, I have a system that can boot again. However, I overwrote my OEM XP installation's activation information while trying to run a retail XP CD's setup, so it needs reactivation.
Here's my problem: I cannot activate it at all. I log in, Windows tells me I have to activate to continue, I click Yes, and absolutely nothing happens: no windows, no response to keyboard or mouse, no response to Ctrl-Alt-Del, nothing. Safe mode works, but I can't activate in safe mode (EDIT: not even safe mode with networking). I read a trick online of pressing [Windows Key]+U to bring up the Microsoft Narrator, and that works, but clicking its Microsoft Web Site link does nothing.
My last attempt to resolve this was to reinstall Windows off of the OEM CD. Now I have two parallel Windows installations, both on the same hard drive, one with all of my stuff and no way to activate it, one fully activated with no usable programs.
Any ideas? Any way to activate in safe mode? Any way to copy activation information from my activated installation to my unactivated installation (since they're both on the same hard drive)?
A:
I would try a system restore back to when it was all okay, run an sfc /scannow and then try to install the updates again via Microsoft Update.
You could also try activating from the command line:
oobe/msoobe /a
EDIT-- It may worth giving a repair installation a go, if you have not already tried to do so.
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"Once upon a time in the hidden heart of France." "A handsome young prince lived in a beautiful castle." "Puff!" "Puff!" "Although he had everything his heart desired, the Prince was selfish and unkind." "Master, it's time." "He taxed the village to fill his castle with the most beautiful objects." "And his parties with the most beautiful people." "Oh, how defined" "Glamour music and magic combined" "See the maidens for anxious to shine" "Look for a sign that in the hands, chances," "She'll be his special one" "What a play" "What a breathtaking, thrilling array" "Every prince, every has a day" "As I sing with passion, gusto..." "Then one night, an unexpected intruder arrived at the castle, seeking shelter from the bestest storm." "As a gift, she offered the Prince a single rose." "Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the Prince turned the woman away." "But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances." "For beauty is found within." "When he dismissed her again, the old woman's out with her appearance melted away." "To reveal... a beautiful enchantress." "The Prince begged for forgiveness, but he was too late." "Cause she had seen that there was no love in his heart." "Chip!" "Chip!" "Oh, Lord!" "As punishment... she transformed him into a hideous beast." "And placed a powerfull spell on the castle... and all who lived there." "As days bleed into years..." "The Prince and his servants were forgotten by the world." "For the enchantress had erased all memory of them, from the minds of the people they loved." "But the rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose." "If he could learn to love another... and earned their love in return by the time the last petal fell, the spell would be broken." "If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time." "As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope." "For who could ever learn to love a beast? Transcripted By umbulbil" "Little town, it's a quite village" "Everyday, like the one before" "Little town, full of little people" "Waking up to say.." "Bonjour." "Bonjour." " Bonjour." " Bonjour." "Morning." "There goes the baker with his tray, like always" "The same all bread and rolls to sell" "Every morning just the same" "Since the morning that we came to this poor provincial town." "Good morning, Belle!" "Good morning Monsieur Jean!" "Have you lost something again?" "Well, I believe I have." "The problem is, I can't remember what!" "I'm sure it'll come through me." "Where are you off to?" "To return this book to Pere Robert." "It's about two lovers in fair Verona." "Sounds boring." "Look there she goes that girl is strange, no question" "Dazed and distracted, can't you tell?" "Never part of any crowd" "'Cause her head's up on some cloud" "No denying she's a funny girl that Belle" "Bonjour, good day!" "How is your family?" "Bonjour, good day!" "How is your wife?" "I need six eggs, that's too expensive." "There must be more than this provincial life." "Ah!" "If it isn't the only bookworm in town!" "So, where did you run off to this week?" "Two cities in northern Italy." "I didn't want to come back." "Have you got any new places to go?" "I'm afraid not." "But you may re-read any of the old ones that you'd like." "Thank you." "Your library makes a small corner of the wall seems big." " Bon voyage." " Bye." "Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar" "I wonder if she's feeling well?" "With a dreamy far-off look and her nose stuck in a book." "What a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle." "Ah~ isn't this amazing?" "It's my favorite parts, because you'll see.." "Here's where she meets Prince Charming" "But she won't discover that it's him, 'til chapter three" "Now it's no wonder that her name means "beauty"" "Her looks have got no parallel" "But behind that fair facade I'm afraid she's rather odd" "Very different from the rest of us" "She's nothing like the rest of us" "She's different from the rest of us is Belle" "Look at her, LeFou." "My future wife." "Belle is the most beautiful girl in the village." "That makes her the best." "But she's so well-read." "And you so.." "Athletically inclined." "I know." "Belle can be as argumentative as she's beautiful." "Exactly!" "Who needs her, when you've got us?" "Yes.." "Ever since the war, I felt like, I've been missing someting." "And she is the only girl who gives me that sense of..." "I don't know what that means." "Right from the moment when I met her, saw her." "I said, "she's gorgeous" and I fell" "Here in town there's only she, who is beautiful as me." "So I making plan to woo and marry Belle." "Look there he goes." "Isn't he dreamy?" "Monsieur Gaston, oh!" "He's so cute!" "Be still my heart I'm hardly breathing" "He's such a tall, dark, strong and handsome brute" "That's never gonna happen, ladies." " Bonjour!" " Pardon!" " Good day!" " Mais oui!" " You call this bacon?" " What lovely grapes!" " Some cheese" " Ten yards" " One pound" " Excuse me" " I'll get the knife" " Please, let me through!" " This bread" " Those fish" " It's stale!" " They smell" "Madame's mistaken" "There must be more than this provincial life!" "Just watch, I'm going to make Belle my wife!" "Look there she goes a girl who's strange but special" "A most peculiar mad'moiselle" "It's a pity and a sin She doesn't quite fit in" "'Cause she really is a funny girl A beauty but a funny girl" "She really is a funny girl!" "That Belle~" "Good morrning, Belle!" "Wonderful book you have there!" "Have you read it?" "Well, not that one." "But, you know, books..." "For your dinner table." "Shall I join you this evening?" "Sorry, not this evening." "Busy?" "No..." "So, moving on?" "No, LeFou." "It's the ones who play hard to get that are always the sweetest prey." "That what makes Belle so appealing." "She hasn't made a fool of herself just to gain my favour." "How would you call that?" "Dignity?" "It's outrageously attractive, isn't it?" "Gaston!" "How does a moment last forever?" "How can a story never died?" "It is love we must hold onto." "Never easy, but we try." "Sometimes our happiness is captured." "Somehow a time and place stand still." "Love leads on inside our hearts." "And always will." "Oh, Belle!" "Could you..?" "Hand me a..." "Thank you." "And I also need.." "No." "No." "Actually..." "Yes, that's exactly what I need." "Thank you." "Papa, do you think I'm odd?" "Odd?" "My daughter?" "Odd?" "Where did you get an idea like that?" "I don't know." "People talk." "This is a small village, you know." "Small minded, as well." "But, small also means safe." "Even back in Paris, I knew a girl like you, who would be so... ahead of a time." "Different." "People mocked her." "Until the day they all found themselves imitating her." "Please, just tell me one more thing about her." "Your mother was.." "Fearless." "Fearless." "So, what can I bring you from the market?" "A rose." "Like the one in the painting." "You ask of that every year!" "And every year you bring it." "Then I should bring you another." "You have my word." "Bye, Papa." "Bye, Belle." "Come on, Philippe." "You know the way." "I'll see you tomorrow!" "Right!" "Tomorrow, with the rose!" "Stay safe." "What are you doing?" "The laundry." "Come!" "Come!" ""The Blue Bird.."" "The Blue Bird" ""that flies over..."" ""the dark..."" ""wood"." "That was amazing!" "What on earth are you doing?" "Teaching another girl to read?" "Isn't one enough?" "We have to do something." "You are the wildest, most gorgeous thing I've ever seen." "Nobody deserves you." "But at least I know our children will be beautiful." "Am I catching you at a bad time?" " What is it, LeFou?" " A damsel is in distress." "It's hero time." "I'm not done with you, yet." "Me, neither." "Belle!" "I heard you had trouble with the headmaster." "He never liked me either." "Can I give you a little advise about the villagers, Belle?" "They're never gonna trust the kind of change you're trying to bring them." "All I wanted was to teach a child to read." "The only children you should concern yourself, will be.." "Your own." "I'm... not ready to have children." "Maybe you haven't met the right man." "It's a small village, Gaston." "I've met them all." "Well, maybe you should take another look." "Some of us have changed." "Gaston, we could never make each other happy." "No one can changed that much." "Oh, Belle." "Do you know what happens to spinsters in this village after their fathers died?" "Coins?" "Could you spare me coins?" "They beg for scraps, like poor Agathe." "This is our world, Belle." "For simple folk like us, it doesn't getting better." "I want to be a farm girl." "But I'm not simple." "And.." "I'm never going to marry you, Gaston." "I'm sorry!" "Can you imagine?" "Me?" "The wife of that boorish, brainless..." "Madam Gaston, can't you just see it?" "Madame Gaston, his little wife." "Ugh!" "No, Sir." "Not me, I guarantee it" "I want much more than this provincial life" "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere" "I want it more than I can tell" "And for once it might be grand" "To have someone understand" "I want so much more than they've got planned" "The woods are lovely." "I only wish I'd recognized them." "You know where we are, Philippe?" "Cause I don't." "It's all right." "It's all right." "Philippe." "Yes, we can go this way." "Go on." "To the right." "That's it!" "Come on!" "One door closes, another one opens." "All right, boy." "Just a bit of snow." "In June." "Mind your step." "It's slippery." "Go, go Philippe!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "Go, Philippe!" "Go!" "Philippe!" "Good boy." "Go, boy!" "Go!" "Philippe, you saved my life!" "Well done." "Ehh." "They'll have to get their dinner somewhere else, won't they?" "Look!" "It's hay!" "And water." "You are safe, my old friend." "I'll go pay my respects to our unwitting host." "Whoever that may be." "Thank you." "Thank..." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Sorry to intrude." "I'm a.. just a traveler, seeking shelter from the storm." "Sorry to disturb you." "Anyone home?" "Anyone awake?" "He must"ve lost his way in the woods." "You have to keep quite!" "Excuse me?" "Beautiful." "Extraordinary." "A man of taste." "He was talking about me." "Well, wherever you are.." "I'm just going to warm myself by the fire." "That's better." "Oh, much better." "Thank you." "Mom said I wasn't supposed to move, because it might be scary." "Sorry." "It's alright." "I cannot.." "Thank you enough for your hospitality." "I'll.." "Leave you.." "And good night." "Come on Philippe, go!" "Go!" "No, wait, wait, wait!" "Roses." "I nearly forgot." "Stay here." "I promised Belle a rose." "There!" "Philippe!" "What happened?" "Where is Papa?" "Take me to him!" "Look!" "Cogsworth!" "A beautiful girl!" "Yes!" "I can see it's a girl." "I lost my hands, but my eyes." "But, what if she's the one?" "The one who'll break the spell?" "Who said that?" "Who's there?" "Papa?" "Papa, is that you?" "Belle!" "How did you find me?" "Your hands are iced." "We need to get you home." "Belle, now you must leave!" "This castle is alive!" "Now, go before he finds you!" "Who?" "Who's there?" "Who are you?" "Who are you?" "I've come to my father." "Your father is a thief!" "Liar!" "He stole a rose." "I asked the rose." "Punish me, not him!" "No!" "He means forever!" "Apparently, that's what happens around here when you pick a flower!" "A life sentence for a rose?" "I received eternal damnation for one." "I merely locking him away." "Do you choose to take you father's place?" "Come in to the light." "Choose." "Belle, I won't let you do this." "I lost your mother." "I won't lose you, too!" "Now, go!" "Go!" "All right, Papa." "I'll leave." "I need a minute alone with him." "You are so cruel, did you won't allow a daughter to say her father goodbye?" "Forever can spare a minute." "When this door closes, it will not open again." "I should've been with you." "No." "Belle, listen to me." "It's all right." "Now, go." "Live your life." "And forget me." "Forget you?" "Everything I aim is because of you." "I love you, Belle." "Don't be afraid." "I love you too, Papa." "I'm not afraid." "And I will escape, I promise." "Wh.." "What?" "You took his place." "He is my father." "He's a fool." "And so are you." "Belle.." "Papa!" "Don't hurt him!" " Papa!" " No!" "I'll come back!" "I promise!" "Forgive my intrusion, mademoiselle." "But I have come to escort you to your room." "My room?" " But I thought..." " Oh, what?" "That "Once this door closes, it will not open again"?" "I know." "He gets all dramatic." "Hallo!" "Oh, you are very strong." "This is a great quality." "What are you?" "I am Lumiere!" "And.." "You can talk?" "Of course, he can talk." "It's all he ever does." "Now, Lumiere, as the head of the household," "I demand that you to put her back in her cell at once." "What do you want to be for the rest of your life, Cogsworth?" "A man or a mental clock?" "Ready, miss?" "Trust me." "You must forgive first impressions." "I hope you are not too startled." "Why would I be startled?" "I'm talking to a candle." "Candelabro, please." "You know there's a difference." "But consider me at your service." "The castle is your own now, so feel free to go anywhere you like." "Except the west wing." "Uh, which we do not have." "Why?" "What's in the west wing?" " Nothing." " Nothing." " Storage space." " Storage space." " That's it" " That's it." "Yes, that's it!" "This way, please." "To the east wing." "As I like to call it, it's the only wing." "Ha ha." "Watch your step, s'il vou plait!" "Welcome to your new room!" "It's modest, but comortable." "It's.. beautiful." "But of course," "The Master wanted you to have the finest room in the castle." "Oh, dear." "We were not expecting guest." "Enchanté, mademoiselle." "Don't worry." "I'll have this place spotless in no time." "This plan of yours is dangerous." "I would've risk anything to kiss you again, Plumette." "No, my love." "I've been burnt by you before." "We must be strong." "How can I be strong when you make me so.." "Is everything here alive?" "Hello." "What's your name?" "That is a hairbrush." "Do not be alarmed." "This is just your wardrobe." "Meet Madame De Garderobe." "A great singer." "Which you can stay awake." "Cogsworth!" "A diva needs a beauty rest." "Stay with us, Madame." "We have someone for you to dress!" "Ah, finally!" "A woman!" "Pretty eyes." "Proud face." "A perfect canvas." "Yes!" "I will find you something worthy of a princess." "I'm not a princess." "Non sense!" "Let's see what I got in my drawer." "Oh!" "How embarassing!" "Froufrou, come and help mama." "Perfecto!" "Subtle, understated." "I love it!" "Au revoir!" "Froufrou, send my love to the maestro." "Picture it, LeFou." "A rustic cabin," "My latest kill roasting on the fire." "Adorable children running around us, while my love... rubs my tired feet." "But what did Belle say?" ""I will never marry you, Gaston!"" "You know, there are other girls." "A great man doesn't waste his time." "Gosh, it disturbs me to see you, Gaston" "Looking so down in the dumps." "Every guy here'd love to be you, Gaston." "Even when taking your lumps." "There's no men in town as admired as you." "You're everyone's favorite guy" "Everyone's awed and inspired by you" "And it's not very hard to see why" "No one's slick as Gaston" "No one's quick as Gaston" "No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's" "For there's no man in town half as manly" "Perfect, a pure paragon!" "You can ask any Tom, Dick, or Stanley" "And they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on" "Who plays...?" "Dart like Gaston!" " Who breaks hearts" " Like Gaston!" "Who's much more than some of this..." "like Gaston." "As a specimen, yes, I'm intimidating." "My, what a guy, that Gaston!" "I needed encouragement." "Thank you, LeFou" "Well, there's no one as easy to bolster as you" "Too much?" "Yep." "No one fights like Gaston" "Douses lights like Gaston" "In a wrestling match nobody bites like Gaston" "When I hunt, I sneak up with my quiver" "And beasts of the field say a prayer" "Cause I'm carefully aimed for the liver" "Then I shoot from behind" "Is that fair?" "I don't care." "No one hits like Gaston" "Matches wits like Gaston" "In a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston" "I'm especially good at expectorating!" "Ten points for Gaston!" "Thank you." "Thank you." "When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs" "Every morning to help me get larger" "And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs" "So I'm roughly the size of a barge!" "Who has brains.." "Like Gaston?" " Entertains - like Gaston?" "Who can make up these endless refrains like Gaston?" "I use antlers in all of my decorating" "Say it again" "Who's a man among men?" "Who's the super success?" "Don't you know?" "Can't you guess?" "Ask his fans and his five hhangers-on" "There's just one guy in town Who's got all of it down" "And his name's G-A-S-T.." "I believe there's another T.." "It just occurred to me that I'm illiterate" "And I've never actually had to spell it out loud before.." "GASTON!" "LeFou, you are the best." "How is it no girls snatch you up yet?" "I've been told that I'm clingy." "But I don't really get it." "Please, please." "Someone, someone." "Help, help.." "You must help me." "It's Belle!" "He's got Belle." "She's locked in a dungeon!" "Who's got her?" "A beast!" "A huge, horrid, monstrous beast!" "My daughter's life is in danger." "Why do you laugh?" "It's no joke!" "His castle is hidden in the woods." "It's already winter there." "Winter in June?" "Crazy old Maurice." "Listen to me!" "The beast is real." "Do you understand?" "Well, no one help me?" "I'll help, Maurice." "What?" "You will?" "Everybody, stop making fun at this man at once." "Captain, thank you." "Don't thank me, Maurice." "Lead us to the Beast." "Come." "Mama!" "There's a girl in the castle!" "Yes, Chip!" "We know." "What kind of tea does she likes?" "Herbal, oolong, chamomille?" "I'm too excited!" "Slow down, before you break your handle." "Hands up, Mrs. Potts." "Lumiere!" "I'll be come." "Let me do the talking." "You're making her a dinner?" "We thought you might appreciate a company." "Master, I just want to assure you... that I had no part in this hopeless plan." "Preparing a dinner, designing a gown for her, giving her a suite... in the east wing." "You gave her a bedroom?" "No, no, no." "He gave her a bedroom." "This is true." "But, if this girl is the one who can break the spell, then maybe you could stop by using dinner to charm her." " Good thinking, Cogsworth!" " What?" "That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard!" "Charm the prisoner?" "But you must try, Master." "With every passing day... we become less human." "She's the daughter of a common thief." "What kind of person do you think that makes her?" "Ow, you can't judge people by who their father is, now can you?" "You'll join me for dinner." "That's not a request." "Gently, Master." "The girl lost her father and her freedom in one day." "Yes, the poor thing is probably in there, scare to death." "Exactly." "Just a minute." "You see?" "There she is." "Now remember, be gentle." " Kind!" " Charming!" "Sweet!" "And when she opens the door, give her a dashing smile." "Come, come, show me the smile." " Oh, my God!" " Oh, no." "Will you join me for dinner?" "You've taken me as your prisoner, and now you want to have dinner with me?" "Are you insane?" "O, o, he's losing it." "Oh, dear." "I told you to join me for dinner!" "I told you, no!" "What, what time is it?" "What's happening?" "I'd starved before I ever ate with you." "Well, be my guest!" "Go ahed and starve!" "If she doesn't eat with me, then she doesn't eat at all." "Idiot!" "You can't talk to us like that." "I forbid it." "Am I too late?" "Shame, I was ready enough to tell him off this time." "Oh, Master!" "You've returned!" " Very funny." " I got you there!" "Show me the girl." "Another petal fell." "Lumiere..." "I grew three more feathers." "And I just plugged yesterday." "I know, darling." "I'm getting more metallic everyday." "Oh, no." "It's happening again." "Pardon me." "Oh, everyone, calm yourself." "We still have time." "Mama, am I ever going to be a boy again?" "Oh, yes, Chip." "You'll have your days in the sun again." "You just leave it to me." "I told you to go away." "Don't worry, dear." "It's only Mrs. Potts." "Oh, I own you a vision!" "How lovely... to my miss." "It's a very long journey." "Let me fix you up before you go." "I have found.." "That most of the troubles seem less troubling, after a bracing cup of tea." "Slowly now, Chip." "Pleased to meet you." "Wanna see me do a trick?" "Chip!" "That was a very brave thing you did for your father, deary." "Yes." "We all think so." "I'm worried about him." "He's never been on his own." "Cheer up, my puppet." "Things will turn out in the end." "You'll feel a lot better after dinner." "But he said, "if she doesn't eat with me, she doesn't eat at all"." "People say a lot of things in anger." "It is our choice whether or not to listen." "You coming, puppet?" "Go." "They're coming!" "Final checks, everyone!" "No, you don't!" "If the Master finds that you buy and order them..." "He will blame me!" "Yes, I will make sure of it." "But, did you see us stand up to win?" "I am telling you, this girl is the one." "They must fall in love, if we are to be human again." "And how can they fall in love if she stays in her room?" "Ay, Chapeau, you missed this spot." "You know, she'll never love him." "A broken clock is right two times a day, mon ami." "But this is not one of those times!" "Stand up straight!" "It's time to sparkle!" "I have no taste buds, but I can tell this is exquisite." "Get off me while I work!" "Pepper!" "Salt!" "Not so loud." "Keep it down." "Of course, of course." "But what is dinner without a little music?" "Music?" "Maestro Cadanza, are you ready?" "It has been so long since I've performed." "I can't barely even remember how." "Another cavity." "Maestro, your wife is upstairs." "Finding it harder and harder to stay awake." "She's counting on you to help us break this curse." "Then I shall play through the dental pain." "Maestro, play quartet, please." "Oh, quartet." "Sotto voce!" "Of course!" "Are there any other tasteless demands you wished to make upon my artistry?" "No, that's it." "There you are, dear." "Ma chere mademoiselle!" "It is with the deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight!" "Mhm.. here." "And now, we invite you to relax." "Let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents" "Your dinner!" "Be our.." "Guest." "Be our guest" "Put our service to the test" "Tie your napkin around your neck, cherie." "And we'll provide the rest." "Soup du jour!" "Hot hors d'oeuvres!" "While we only live to serve." "Try the grey stuff, it's delicious." "Don't believe me?" "Ask the dishes." "They can sing, they can dance." "After all, Miss, this is France!" "And a dinner here is never second best" "Go on, unfold your menu" "Take a glance and then you'll be our guest." "Oui, our guest." "Be our guest" "Beef ragout" "Cheese souffle" "Pie and pudding "en flambe"" "We'll prepare and serve with flair a culinary cabaret" "You're alone and you're scared" "But the banquet's all prepared" "No one's gloomy or complaining while the flatware's entertaining" "We tell jokes I do tricks" "With my fellow candlesticks" "And it's all in perfect taste that you can bet" "Come on and lift your glass" "You've won your own free pass to be our guest" "If you're stressed, it's fine dining we suggest" "Be our guest" "Be our guest, be our guest" "Life is so unnerving for a servant who's not serving" "He's not whole without a soul to wait upon" "Ah, those good old days when we were useful" "Hey, Cogsworth?" "Suddenly those good old days are gone" "Too long we've been rusting" "Needing so much more than dusting" "Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills" "Most days we just lay around the castle" "Flabby, fat and lazy!" "You walked in and oops-a-daisy!" "It's a guest!" "It's a guest!" "Sakes alive, well I'll be blessed" "Wine's been poured and thank the Lord I've had the napkins freshly pressed" "With dessert, she'll want tea And my dear that's fine with me" "While the cups do their soft shoeing" "I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewing" "I'll get warm, piping hot" "Heaven's sakes!" "Is that a spot?" "Clean it up!" "We want the company impressed" "We've got a lot to do" "Is it one lump or two" "For you, our guest?" "She's our guest" "She's our guest" "She's our guest" "Be our guest, be our guest Our command is your request" "It's ten years since we had anybody here And we're obsessed" "With your meal" "With your ease" "Yes, indeed, we aim to please" "While the candlelight's still glowing" "Let us help you We'll keep going" "Course by course" "One by one" "'Til you shout, "Enough!" "I'm done!"" "Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest" "Tonight you'll prop your feet up But for now, let's eat up" "And be our guest" "Be our guest" "Be our guest" "Please, be our guest" "Budin?" "I don't understand why you'e all being so kind to me." "Surely, you're as trapped here as I am." "Don't you ever want to escape?" "The Master is not as terrible as he appears." "Somewhere, deep in his soul there's a prince.." "Of a fellow just waiting to be set free." "Lumiere mentioned something about the west wing." "Never you mind about that." "Off to bed with you, puppet." " Good night." " Nighty night." "Straight to bed." "What are you doing here?" "What did you do to it?" "Nothing." "Do you realize what you could've done?" "You could've ruined us all!" "Get out of here!" "Go!" "Check mate." "Again." "Wait, No!" "You're cheating again!" "Mademoiselle, what are you doing?" "Getting out of here!" "Stop!" "Go!" "Go, Froufrou!" "Yes, Froufrou." "Stop her!" "Don't let her leave!" "Stop her!" "No, no, Froufrou!" "No, no!" "Not time to play!" "Not now, silly boy!" "Bad dog!" "Bad dog!" "No!" "No!" "Please, don't go." "It's dangerous!" "Oh, my!" "You have to help me." "You have to stand." "No!" "I'm sure this is the way." "Do you hear those wolves?" "That means we're getting very close to the castle." "Look, enough is enough." "We have to turn back." "Stop!" "That's it!" "There it is!" "That's the tree!" "I'm sure of it." "It.." "It was down by lightning at the time." "But now it's.." "Resume to an upright position, to some sort of.." "Magic, or.." "Or other." "You really want to marry into this family?" "So that means.." "The castle is that.." "No." "No, it's..." "That way!" "Definitely, that way!" "I'm done playing this game, Maurice." "Where is Belle?" "The Beast took her and she.." "There are no such things as beasts." "Or talking teacups." "Or magic!" "But there are wolves, frosbite, and starvation!" "Deep breath, Gaston." "Deep breath." "So why don't we just turn around, go back to Villeneuve?" "I'm sure Belle is at home, cooking up a lovely dinner." "If you think I've made all this up, then why did you offer to help?" "Because I want to marry your daughter!" "Now, let's go home." "Belle is not at home!" "She is with the.." "You say "beast" one more time," "I will feed you to the wolves!" "Gaston!" "Stop it!" "Breath!" "Think of happy thoughts." "Go back to the war." "Bloods." "Explosions." "Countless widows." " Widows." " Yes, yes." "That's it." "That's it." "Maurice!" "Please, forgive me, old bean." "There's no way to talk to my future father-in-law, now, is it?" "Future father-in-law?" "Yes!" "You will never marry my daughter." "I saw that, Captain." "If Maurice won't give me his blessing, then he's in my way." "Once the wolves have finished with him" "Belle will have no one to take of her, but me." "Let's say we're adjusting our all options..." "Do we maybe wanna consider a slightly less gruesome alternatives?" "Are you coming?" "Get!" "That hurts!" "If you held still, it wouldn't hurt as much." "If hadn't runaway, none of this would've happened." "If you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't've runaway!" "Well, you shouldn't've been in the west wing!" "Well, you should learn to control your temper!" "Try to get some rest." "Thank you, miss." "We are eternally grateful." "Why do you care about him so much?" "We've looked after him all his life." "But he's cursed you somehow." "Why?" "You did nothing." "You're quite right there, dear." "You see, when the Master lost his mother and his cruel father took that sweet innocent lad, and" "twisted him up to be just like him." "We did nothing." "Let him sleep." "Days in the sun" "When my life has barely begun" "Not until my whole life is done" "Will I ever leave you?" "Will I tremble again?" "To my dear one's gorgeous refrain" "Will you now forever remain" "Out of reach of my arms" "All those days in the sun" "What I'd give to relive just one" "Good night, Mama." "Undo what's done" "And bring back the light" "Oh, I could sing of the pain these dark days bring" "The spell we're under" "Still it's the wonder of us I sing of tonight" "How in the midst of all this sorrow" "Can so much hope and love endure" "I was innocent and certain" "Now I'm wiser but unsure" " Days in the back" " I can't go back into my childhood" " Oh, all those precious days" " That my father made secure" "I can feel a change in me" "I'm stronger now but still not free" "Days in the sun" "Will return, we must believe" "As lovers do" "That days in the sun" "Will come shining through" "What happens when the last petal falls?" "The Master remains a beast forever." "And we become.." " Antiques." " Knick knacks." "Lightly used housewares." "Rubbish." "We become rubbish." "I want to help you." "There must be someway to break the curse." "Well, there is one." "It's not for you to worry about, lamb." "We've made our bad and we must lie in it." "Drink." "Thank you, Agathe." ""Love can transpose to form and dignity"." ""Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind"" ""And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind"." "You know Shakespeare?" "I had an expensive education." "Actually, "Romeo and Juliet" is my favorite play." "Ugh, why is that not a surprise?" "I'm sorry?" "Well, you know that heartache, pining, and blublb.. ekh." "So many better things to read." "Like what?" "Well, there are a couple things in here, which you could start." "You all right?" "It's wonderful!" "Yes, I suppose it is." "Well, if you like it so much, then it's yours." "Have you really read every one of these books?" "What?" "Well, not all of them." "Some of them are in Greek." "Was that a joke?" "Are you making jokes now?" "Maybe." "The air is blue, keen and cold..." ""and in a frozen sheath enrolled." ""Each branch, each twig..." ""each blade of grass, seems clad miraculously with..." ""glass"." "Why does it feel like if I'm seeing it for the first time?" "Is there anymore?" ""But in that solemn silence is heard the whisper..." ""of every sleeping things." ""Look." "Look at me." ""Come wake me up" ""For still here I'll be"." "There's something sweet and almost kind" "But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined" "And now he's dear and so unsure" "I wonder why I didn't see it there before" "She glanced this way..." "I though I saw" "And when we touched, she didn't shudder at my paw" "No it can't be, I'll just ignore" "But then she's never looked at me that way before" "New and a bit alarming" "Who'd have ever thought that this could be?" "True that he's no Prince Charming" "But there's something in him that I simply didn't see" " Well, who'd have thought?" " Well, bless my soul" " Well, who'd have known?" " Well, who indeed?" "And who'd have guessed they'd come together on their own?" "It's so peculiar, wait and see" "We'll wait and see A few days more" "There may be something there that wasn't there before" "Well, here's a thought.." "Perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before" "What, Mama?" "There may be something there that wasn't there before" "What is it?" "What's there?" "I will tell you when you're older." "Okay, I'm older." "Oh, Chip." "You are..." "What are you reading?" "Nothing." "Guinevere and Lancelot" "Well, actually.." "King Arthur and the Round Table," "Knights, men, swords, and so on." "But still it's a romance." "Alright." "I never thank you for saving my life." "Well, I never thank you for not leaving me to be eaten by wolves." "They know how to have a good time." "Yes, but when I enter the room, the laughter dies." "Me, too." "The villagers say that I'm a funny girl." "But I'm not sure they mean it as a compliment." "I'm sorry." "Your village sounds terrible." "Not as lonely as your castle." "What dou you say we'd runaway?" "Another little gift from the enchantress." "A book that'll allow you to escape." "Amazing!" "It was the cruelest trick of all." "It was just another curse." "The outside world has no place for a creature like me." "But it can for you." "Think of the one place you've always wanted to see." "Now, find it in your mind's eye." "And then feel it in your heart." "Where did you take us?" "Paris." "I used to love Paris." "What would you like to see first?" "Notre Dame?" "Los Champs-Élysées?" "No?" "Too touristy?" "It's so much more that I imagined." "This is the Paris of my childhood" "This what the borders of my life" "In this crumbling dusty attic" "Where an artist loved his wife" "Is it to remember?" "Or it to move on?" "Knowing the Paris of my childhood.." "Is gone." "What happened to your mother?" "It was the one story, Papa can never bring himself to tell." "I think, better not to ask." "A doctor's mask." "Plague." "You must leave." "Now." "Quickly... before it takes her, too." "I'm sorry I ever called your father a thief." "Let's go home." "It's just some storm, huh?" "At least, we're not tied to a tree in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by bloodthirsts and wolves." "You know, it's not too late." "We could always turn back.." "It's just.." "Everytime I close my eyes," "I picture Maurice stranded alone." "And when I open them, he is.." "Maurice?" "Gaston, did you try to kill Maurice?" "Maurice!" "Thank heavens!" "I've spent the last five days trying to find you!" "You tried to kill me." "You left me to the wolves." "Wolves?" "It's one thing to rave about your delusions and another, to accuse me of attempted murder." "Maurice, do you have any proof of what you're saying?" "Ask Agathe." "She rescued me." "Agathe!" "You'd hang your accusations on the testimony of a filthy hag?" "No offense, Agathe." "Monsieur LeFou." "He was there." "He saw it all." "Me?" "You're right!" "Don't take my word for it." "LeFou!" "My dearest companion." "Did I, your loyal friend and most loyal compatriot, try to kill the father of the only woman I've ever loved?" "Well, it's a complicated question on a number of accounts." "But, no." "No, he did not." "You!" "Maurice, it pains me to say this, but you've become a danger to yourself and others." "No wonder, Belle runaway." "You need a help, Sir." "A place to heal your troubled mind." "Everything is gonna be fine." "Just fine." "Well, I'd saw her in the ballroom, and said, "You're making everything looks so beautiful, we should have a dance tonight"." "I never imagined she'd actually say yes." "What was I thinking?" "No, Master." "It's perfect!" "The rose has only four petals left, which means tonight.." "You can tell her how you feel." "I feel like a fool." "She will never love me." "Do not be discourage." "She is the one." "Please, stop saying that!" "There is no "one"." "You care for her, don't you?" "Well then, woo her with beautiful music and romantic candlelight." "Yes, and when the moments just right." "Hmhhm." "Well, how will I know?" "You'll feel slightly nauseous." "Don't worry, Master." "You'll do fine." "Just don't be so nervous and tell Belle how you feel." "Because if you dont," "I promise, you'll be drinking cold tea for the rest of your days!" " In the dark." " Covered in dust." "Dark and very, very dirty." "Start with the hair." "Women love nice hair!" "How tidy the fingers and toes?" "Chapeau, brush those teeth." "They need it." "Deep, deep." "Snip, snip." "Polish the nails." "Shine the horn." "Eyes close." "Puff, puff." "And to top final look." "Voilà!" "Okay, I can fix this." "Oh, beautiful!" "But something has missing." "Oh, yes!" "The finishing touch!" "Tale as old as time" "True as it can be" "Barely even friends" "Then somebody bends unexpectedly" "Just a little change" "Small, to say the least" "Both a little scared" "Neither one prepared" "Beauty and the Beast" "Ever just the same" "Ever a surprise" "Ever as before" "Ever just as sure" "As the sun will rise" "Tale as old as time" "Tune as old as song" "Bittersweet and strange" "Finding you can change" "Learning you were wrong" "Certain as the sun" "Rising in the east" "Tale as old as time" "Song as old as rhyme" "Beauty and the beast." "Tale as old as time" "Song as old as rhyme" "Beauty and the beast." "I hadn't dance in years." "I almost forgot how to feel it." "It's foolish, I suppose, for a creature like me, to hope.." "That one day he might earn your affection." "I don't know." "Really?" "You think you could be happy here?" "Can anybody be happy if they're free?" "My father taught me to dance." "I used to step on his toes a lot." "You must miss him." "Very much." "Would you like to see him?" "I'd like to see my father." "Papa!" "What are they doing to him?" "He.." "He's in trouble!" "Then you must go to him." "What did you say?" "You must go to him." "No time to waste." "No." "You keep it with you." "And you'll always have a way to look back on me." "Thank you." "Well, Master, I have had my doubts, but everything's moving like clockwork." "True love really does win the day!" "I let her go." "What?" "Master, how could you do that?" "I had to." "But, why?" "Because, he loves her." "Then, why are we not human?" "Because, she doesn't love him." "And now, it's too late." "But she might still come back." "No." "I set her free." "I'm sorry I couldn't do the same for all of you." "Now, go." "Our time has so much passed." "Go, my love." "I was the one who had it all" "I was the master of my fate" "I never needed anybody in my life" "I learnt the truth too late" "I'll never shake away the pain" "I close my eyes but she's still there" "I let her steal into my melancholy heart" "It's more than I can bear" "Now I know she'll never leave me" "Even as she runs away" "She will still torment me Calm me, hurt me" "Move me, come what may" "Wasting in my lonely tower" "Waiting by an open door" "I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in" "And be with me forevermore" "I rage against the trials of love" "I curse the fading of the light" "Though she's already flown so far beyond my reach" "She's never out of sight" "Now I know she'll never leave me" "Even as she fades from view" "She will still inspire me" "Be a part of everything I do" "Wasting in my lonely tower" "Waiting by an open door" "I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in" "And as the long, long nights begin" "I'll think of all that might have been" "Waiting here forevermore" "This man is weak, please!" "He needs a hospital." "Not an assylum!" "Have you ever see the inside of a mad house, Maurice?" "You wouldn't last a week." "Just give me your daughter's hands, and I'll set you free." "Never." "Take him away!" "Stop!" "Papa!" "Ah, Belle." "I thought I'd lost you." "Let him out!" "He's hurt!" "We can't do that, Miss." "We will take good care of him." "My father's not crazy!" "Gaston, tell him!" "You know how loyal I am to your family, but your father's been making some unbelievable claims." "It's true, Belle." "He's been raging about a beast in a castle!" "I've just come from the castle and there is a beast!" "You'd say anything to set him free." "Your word is hardly prove!" "You want a proof?" "Show me the Beast!" "That's your proof!" "This is sorcery!" "Look at this beast!" "Look at his face!" "His claws!" "No, no, don't be afraid!" "He's gentle and kind." "The monster has her under a spell!" "If I didn't know better, I'd say she even cared for him!" "He's not a monster, Gaston!" "You are!" "The Beast wouldn't hurt anyone." "I've heard the effect of dark magic, but I've never before see it with my own eyes!" "This is a threat to our very existence!" "We can't have her running out to warn the Beast." "Lock her up, too." " No!" " Lock her away!" " No!" " Shut up!" "You won't get away with this, Gaston!" "Oh, Belle." "Gaston, with all due respect.." "Do you want to be next?" "Fetch my horse." "Stand guard!" "Don't let them escape!" "This creature will curse us all if we don't stop him!" "What I say, we kill the beast!" "Kill the beast!" "We're not safe until he's dead" "He'll come stalking us at night" "Set to sacrifice our children to his monstrous appetite" "He'll wreak havoc on our village if we let him wander free" "So it's time to take some action, boys" "It's time to follow me" "Through the mist, through the woods Through the darkness and the shadows" "It's a nightmare but it's one exciting ride" "Say a prayer, then we're there At the drawbridge of a castle" "And there's something truly terrible inside" "It's a beast, he's got fangs Razor sharp ones" "Massive paws, killer claws for the feast" "Hear him roar, see him roam" "But we're not coming home 'Til he's dead" "Good and dead!" "Kill the beast!" "Light your torch, mount your horse" "Screw your courage to the sticking place" "We're counting on Gaston to lead the way" "Call it war, call it threat You can bet they all will follow" "For in times like this, they'll do just as I say" "There's a beast running wild, there's no question" "But I fear the wrong monster's released" "Sally forth!" "Tally ho!" "Grab your sword!" "Grab your bow!" "Praise the Lord and here we go!" "Show me the castle!" "At least, they've finally learnt to love." "It'd be better for us, if she does love him in return." "No, this is the first time of at any real hope, she would." "Did you hear that, Mama?" "Is it her?" "Is she coming back?" "Could it be?" "I told you!" "Sacré bleu!" "Invaders!" "Rufianes!" "Well, where do you go?" "So much for true love." "Frame the barricades!" "And oppose!" "Move aside!" "Hearts ablaze, banners high We go marching into battle" "Unafraid although the danger's just increased" "Raise the flag, sing the song Here we come, we're fifty strong" "And fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong" "Let's kill the Beast!" "We need help." "I have to warn the Beast." "Warn him?" "How did you get away from him?" "He let me go, Papa." "He sent me back to you." "I don't understand." "Where did you..?" "He took me there." "I know what happened to mama." "Then you know why I had to leave her there." "I had to protect you." "I.." "I've always tried to protect my little girl." "Probably, too much." "I understand." "Will you help me now?" "It's dangerous." "Yes!" "Yes, it is." "I could try to pick the lock." "After all, it's, it's only gears and springs." "But I would need something long and sharp." "Like that." "Perfect." "Oh, excuse me, Master." "I'm sorry to disturb you." "She's not coming back." "No." "They're breaking down the doors." "Doesn't matter now." "Just let them come." "Kill the beast!" "This isn't working." "I know what to do." "Kill the beast!" "Kill the beast!" "Kill the beast!" "Are you not at least be concerned that this castle might be haunted?" "Don't lose your nerve, LeFou." "Where are we?" "This place seems familiar." "Like I've been here before." "Oh, hello there." "You must be the talking teacup." "And you must be his grandmother." "Grandmother?" "Attack!" "Oh, hallo!" "Gaston!" "Gaston!" "Help me." "Sorry, old friend." "It's hero time." "Hello." "Oh, uh, I believe this is yours." "She is very headstrong." "Do you have children?" "No one to protect you now, huh?" "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." "Good shot, Chip, my boy!" "Ha ha!" "Excellent!" "The infantery's arrived!" "Now, go and teach some lessons." "Go!" "Yes, those are called books, you low-grade musketeers!" "Oh!" "I'm off." "Just a clock." "Ha ha." "Come here, little boys." "I spin you this way, I put it on." "Yes, pretty little boys." "Yes!" "Beautiful!" "Go!" "Be free!" "Be free!" "Be free!" "How do you like your tea?" "Hot enough?" "Or boiling?" "Mr. Potts!" "Mama!" "Thank you!" "Take my guts!" "Nicely handled!" "Well, I used to be on Gaston's side, but we are so in a bad place right now." "You're too good for him, anyway." "Yeah." "Should we get back to it then?" "The sweet of music!" "Stand back" "Silence that harpsichord!" "What?" "Maestro!" "Darling!" "I've lost!" "I'm coming, my love!" "This is it!" "The fat lady is singing!" "Watch your toes!" "That's it!" "Go!" "Go!" "Bon voyage!" "Safe trip home." "And stay out!" "Hello, Beast!" "I'm Gaston." "Belle sent me." "Were you in love with her?" "Did you honestly think she'd want you?" "Belle!" "Where is he?" "When we return to the village, you will marry me!" "And that beast's head" " will hang on our wall." " Never!" "I'm telling you, Beast!" "No!" "Belle?" "Belle!" "You came back!" "I tried to stop them!" "Stay there!" "I'm coming!" "Gaston!" "No!" "Don't let me go." "Please." "I'll do anything." "Don't let me, Beast." "I am not the beast." "Go!" "Get out!" "Don't!" "It's too far!" "Please!" "Come on." "You came back." "Of course, I came back." "I'll never leave you again." "I'm afraid it's my turn to leave." "We're together now." "It's gonna be fine." "At least I could see you." "One last time." "No!" "Please, no!" "Come back!" "We did it, Plumette!" "Victory is ours!" "Plumette?" "Plumette?" "Oh, my darling, Plumette." "Oh, no." "Maestro, you were so brave." "Goodbye, my love." "Amore!" "No!" "Don't leave me!" "Chip!" "Chip!" "Have you seen Chip?" "He ran off." "Where is my little boy?" " Mama!" " Oh, no!" "Mam!" "Lumiere," "I, I can't speak." "It's all right, Cogsworth." "I can't.." "Lumiere, my friend." "It was an honor to serve with you." "The honor was mine." "Come back!" "Please, don't leave me!" "I love you." "Maestro!" "Madame!" "Maestro!" "Lumiere!" "Cogsworth, we beat the clock!" "Plumette!" "Plumette!" "Oh, mon amor!" "Chip!" "Look at you!" "You're a little boy again!" "What did I tell you, darling?" "Ohh.." "You smell so good." "Froufrou, lamer!" "Darling?" "Mr. Potts!" "Beatrice!" "I remember!" "I do!" "Henry?" "Henry!" "Oh, dear." "I've been so lonely." "Turn back into a clock." "Turn back into a clock." "Lumiere, look!" "My Prince!" "Hello, old friend." "It's so good to see you." "You saved our lives, mademoiselle." "Belle!" "It's me!" "It's Chip!" "Tale as old as time" "Tune as old as song" "Bitterweet and strange Finding you can change" "Learning you were wrong" "Winter turns to spring" "Famine turns to feast" "Nature points the way" "Nothing left to say" "Beauty and the Beast" "What?" "What is it?" "How would you feel about growing a beard?" "Certain as the sun" "Rising in the east" "Tale as old as time" "Song as old as rhyme" "Beauty and the Beast" "Tale as old as time" "Song as old as rhyme"
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The present invention relates to rotary sprinklers, and is particularly directed to an improvement to the type of rotary sprinkler described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,515.
The above Application describes a rotary sprinkler comprising a nozzle having an inlet connectable to a source of pressurized water and formed with an axial bore through which the water exits in the form of an axial jet, a rotor in the path of the axial jet, and means for floatingly mounting the rotor for axial, lateral and rotary movements with respect to the nozzle bore, the underface of the rotor being formed with at least one groove (preferably two) extending from the rotor center to its outer edge for deflecting the jet laterally of the sprinkler and for imparting a rotory motion to the rotor.
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---
abstract: |
The design of distributed gathering and convergence algorithms for tiny robots has recently received much attention. In particular, it has been shown that convergence problems can even be solved for very weak, *oblivious* robots: robots which cannot maintain state from one round to the next. The oblivious robot model is hence attractive from a self-stabilization perspective, where state is subject to adversarial manipulation. However, to the best of our knowledge, all existing robot convergence protocols rely on the assumption that robots, despite being “weak”, can measure distances.
We in this paper initiate the study of convergence protocols for even simpler robots, called *monoculus robots*: robots which cannot measure distances. In particular, we introduce two natural models which relax the assumptions on the robots’ cognitive capabilities: (1) a Locality Detection ($\mathcal{LD}$) model in which a robot can only detect whether another robot is closer than a given constant distance or not, (2) an Orthogonal Line Agreement ($\mathcal{OLA}$) model in which robots only agree on a pair of orthogonal lines (say North-South and West-East, but without knowing which is which).
The problem turns out to be non-trivial, and simple median and angle bisection strategies can easily increase the distances among robots (e.g., the area of the enclosing convex hull) over time. Our main contribution are deterministic self-stabilizing convergence algorithms for these two models, together with a complexity analysis. We also show that in some sense, the assumptions made in our models are minimal: by relaxing the assumptions on the *monoculus robots* further, we run into impossibility results.\
\
**Key words:** Convergence, Weak Robots, Oblivious Mobile Robots, Asynchronous, Distributed Algorithm.\
author:
- |
Debasish Pattanayak$^1$ Kaushik Mondal$^1$\
Partha Sarathi Mandal$^1$ Stefan Schmid$^{2,3}$[^1]
bibliography:
- 'bib.bib'
title:
- 'Self-Stabilizing Robots without Location Information'
- |
Convergence of Even Simpler Robots\
without Location Information
---
Introduction
============
The Context: Tiny Robots
------------------------
In the recent years, there has been a wide interest in the cooperative behavior of tiny robots. In particular, many distributed coordination protocols have been devised for a wide range of models and for a wide range of problems, like convergence, gathering, pattern formation, flocking, etc. At the same time, researchers have also started characterizing the scenarios in which such problems cannot be solved, deriving impossibility results.
Our Motivation: Even Simpler Robots
-----------------------------------
An interesting question regards the minimal cognitive capabilities that such tiny robots need to have for completing a particular task. In particular, researchers have initiated the study of “weak robots”[@FlocchiniPSW99]. Weak robots are *anonymous* (they do not have any identifier), *autonomous* (they work independently), *homogeneous* (they behave the same in the same situation), and *silent* (they also do not communicate with each other).
Weak robots are usually assumed to have their own local view, represented as a Cartesian coordinate system with origin and unit length and axes. The orientation of axes, or the *chirality* (relative order of the orientation of axes or handedness), is not common among the robots. The robots move in a sequence of three consecutive actions, *Look-Compute-Move*: they observe the positions of other robots in their local coordinate system and the observation step returns a set of points to the observing robot. The robots cannot distinguish if there are multiple robots at the same position, i.e., they do not have the capability of *multiplicity detection*. Importantly, the robots are *oblivious* and cannot maintain state between rounds (essentially moving steps). The computation they perform are always based on the data they have collected in the *current* observation step; in the next round they again collect the data. Such weak robots are therefore interesting from a self-stabilizing perspective: as robots do not rely on memory, an adversary cannot manipulate the memory either. Indeed, researchers have demonstrated that weak robots are sufficient to solve a wide range of problems.
We in this paper aim to relax the assumptions on the tiny robots further. In particular, to the best of our knowledge, all prior literature assumes that robots can observe the positions of other robots in their local view. This enables them to calculate the distance between any pair of robots. This seems to be a very strong assumption, and accordingly, we in this paper initiate the study of even weaker robots which cannot locate other robots positions in their local view, preventing them from measuring distances. We define these kind of robots as *monoculus robots*.
In particular, we initiate to explore two naturally weaker models for monoculus robots with less cognitive capabilities
1. *Locality Detection* ($\mathcal{LD}$): The robots can distinguish whether a neighbor robot is at a distance more than a predefined value $c$ or not.
2. *Orthogonal Line Agreement* ($\mathcal{OLA}$): The robots agree on a pair of orthogonal lines (but not necessarily the orientation of the lines).
The Challenge: Convergence
--------------------------
We focus on the fundamental convergence problem for monoculus robots and show that the problem is already non-trivial in this setting.
In particular, many naive strategies lead to non-monotonic behaviors. For example, strategies where boundary robots (robots located on the convex hull) move toward the “median” robot they see, may actually *increase* the area of the convex hull in the next round, counteracting convergence as shown in Fig. \[fig:anglebisector\]$(a)$. A similar counterexample exists for a strategy where robots move in the direction of the angle bisector as shown in Fig. \[fig:anglebisector\] ($b$).
![ The 4 boundary robots are moving $(a)$ towards the median robot $(b)$ along the angle bisector. The discs are the old positions and circles are the new positions. The old convex hull is drawn in solid line, the new convex hull is dashed. The arrows denote the direction of moving. []{data-label="fig:anglebisector"}](figanglebisector.pdf){width="\linewidth"}
But not only enforcing convex hull invariants is challenging, also the fact that visibility is restricted and we cannot detect multiplicity: We in this paper assume that robots are not transparent, and accordingly, a robot does not see whether and how many robots may be hidden behind a visible robot. As robots are also not able to perform multiplicity detection (i.e., determine how many robots are collocated at a certain point), strategies such as “move toward the center of gravity” (the direction in which most robots are located), are not possible.
Our Contributions
-----------------
This paper studies distributed convergence problems for anonymous, autonomous, oblivious, non-transparent, monoculus, point robots under a most general asynchronous scheduling model and makes the following contributions.
1. We initiate the study of a new kind of robot, the *monoculus robot* which cannot measure distances. The robot comes in two natural flavors, and we introduce the Locality Detection ($\mathcal{LD}$) and the Orthogonal Line Agreement ($\mathcal{OLA}$) model accordingly.
2. We present and formally analyze deterministic and self-stabilizing distributed convergence algorithms for both $\mathcal{LD}$ and $\mathcal{OLA}$.
3. We show our assumptions in $\mathcal{LD}$ and $\mathcal{OLA}$ are minimal in the sense that robot convergence is not possible for monoculus robots without any additional capability.
4. We report on the performance of our algorithms through simulation.
5. We show that our approach can be generalized to higher dimensions and, with a small extension, supports termination.
Paper Organization
------------------
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section \[sec:preli\] introduces the necessary background and preliminaries. Section \[sec:algo\] introduces two algorithms for convergence. Section \[sec:impossibilty\] presents an impossibility result which shows the minimality of our assumptions. We report on simulation results in Section \[sec:simul\] and discuss extensions in Section \[sec:discussion\]. In Section \[sec:relwork\], we review related work, before we conclude in Section \[sec:conclusion\].
Preliminaries {#sec:preli}
=============
Model
-----
We consider anonymous, autonomous, homogeneous, oblivious, non-transparent robots with unlimited visibility, unless the view is obstructed by another robot: Since the robots are non-transparent, any robot can see at most one robot in any direction. As usual, the robots in each round execute a sequence of *Look-Compute-Move* steps: First, the robot observes other robots (*Look* step); second, on the basis of the observed information, it executes an algorithm which computes a direction which the robot must move towards (*Compute* step); the robot then moves in this direction (*Move* step), for a fixed distance $b$ (the step size). The robots are silent, cannot detect multiplicity points, and can pass over each other (no collision occurs).
In this paper, we introduce monoculus robots:
(Monoculus Robot) A robot is called *monoculus* if it is anonymous, autonomous, oblivious, homogeneous, and silent. We assume the robot is a non-transparent point robot, has unlimited visibility, and can neither determine the position of other robots nor detect multiplicty.
We consider the most general CORDA or ASYNC scheduling model known from weak robots [@FlocchiniPSW99] as well as the ATOM or Semi-Synchronous (SSYNC) model [@suzu]. These models define the activation schedule of the robots: the SSYNC model considers instantaneous computation and movement, i.e., the robots cannot observe other robots in motion, while in the ASYNC model any robot can look at any time. In SSYNC the time is divided into global rounds and a subset of the robots are activated in each round which finish their *Look-Compute-Move* within that round. In case of ASYNC, there is no global notion of time. The Fully-synchronous (FSYNC) is a special case of SSYNC, in which all the robots are activated in each round. The algorithms presented in this paper work in both the ASYNC and the SSYNC setting. For the sake of generality, we present our proofs in terms of the ASYNC model.
Notation and Terminology
------------------------
A configuration $C$ is a multiset containing all the robot positions in 2D. At any time $t$ the configuration (the mapping of robots in the plane) is denoted by $C_t$. The convex hull of configuration $C_t$ is denoted as $CH_t$. *Convergence* is achieved when the distance between any pair of robots is less than a predefined value $c$ (and subsequently does not violate this anymore). Our multi-robot system is vulnerable to adversarial manipulation, however the algorithms presented in this paper are self-stabilizing [@dolev2000self] and robust to state manipulations. Since the robots are oblivious, they only depend on the *current state*: if the state is perturbed, the algorithms are still able to converge in a self-stabilizing manner [@Gilbert2009].
Convergence Algorithms {#sec:algo}
======================
We now present distributed robot convergence algorithms for both our models, $\mathcal{LD}$ and $\mathcal{OLA}$.
Convergence for $\mathcal{LD}$
------------------------------
In this section we consider the convergence problem for the monoculus robots in the $\mathcal{LD}$ model. Our claims hold for any $c\geq 2b$. Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\] distinguishes between two cases: (1) If the robot only sees one other robot, it infers that the current configuration must be a line (of 2 or more robots), and that this robot must be on the border of this line; in this case, the boundary robots always move inside (usual step size $b$). (2) Otherwise, a robot moves towards any visible, non-local robot (distance at least $c$), for a $b$ distance (the step size).
Our proof unfolds in a number of lemmas followed by a theorem. First, Lemma \[lem:4bdistance\] shows that it is impossible to have a pair of robots with distance larger than $2c$ in the converged situation. Lemma \[lem:chsubset\] shows that our algorithm ensures a monotonically decreasing convex hull size. Lemma \[lem:finitedecrement\] then proves that the decrement in perimeter for each movement is greater than a constant (the convex hull decrement is strictly monotonic). Combining all the three lemmas, we obtain the correctness proof of the algorithm. In the following, we call two robots *neighboring* if they see each other (line of sight is not obstructed by another robot).
\[lem:4bdistance\] If there exists a pair of robots at distance more than $2c$ in a non-linear configuration, then there exists a pair of neighboring robots at distance more than $c$.
Proof by contradiction. If there is a pair of robots with distance more than $2c$, then for them not to move, there are at least two robots on the line joining them positioned such that each pair has a distance less than $c$. Since the robots are non-transparent, the end robots cannot look beyond their neighbors to know that there is a robot at a distance more than $c$. In Fig. \[fig:4bdistance\], $r_1$ and $r_4$ are $2c$ apart. So $r_2$ and $r_3$ block the view. Since it is a non-linear configuration, say robot $r_5$ is not on the line joining $r_1$ and $r_4$. $l$ is the perpendicular bisector of $\overline{r_1r_4}$. If $r_5$ is on the left side, then it is more than $c$ distance away from $r_4$ and vice versa. If there is another robot on $\overline{r_4r_5}$, then consider that as the new robot in a non-linear position, and we can argue similarly. Hence there would at least be a single robot similar to $r_5$ in a non-linear configuration for which the distance is more than $c$.
![A non-linear configuration with a pair of robots at a distance $2c$[]{data-label="fig:4bdistance"}](fig4bdistance.pdf){height="0.2\linewidth"}
\[lem:chsubset\] For any time $t' > t$ before convergence, $CH_{t'}\subseteq CH_{t}$.
The proof follows from a simple observation. Consider any robot $r_i$. If $r_i$ decides to move towards some robot, say $r_j$, then it is at least $c$ distance away. Even if $r_j$ is on the boundary, $r_i$ cannot cross the boundary. If $r_i$ is already on the boundary, then it always moves on the perimeter or inside the convex hull. Hence the convex hull gradually decreases.
If all the robots are on a straight line, then the boundary robots move monotonically closer in each step. The distance between the end robots is a monotonically decreasing sequence until it reaches $c$.
\[lem:finitedecrement\] In finite time the decrement in the perimeter of the convex hull is at least $ b \left(1- \sqrt{\frac{1}{2}\left(1+\cos\left(\frac{2\pi}{n}\right)\right)}\right)$.
The sum of internal angles of a $k$-sided convex polygon is $(k-2)\pi$. So there exists a robot $r$ at a corner $A$ (ref. Fig. \[fig:decrement\]) of the convex hull such that the internal angle is less than $(1-\frac{2}{n})\pi$, where $n$ is the total number of robots. Let $B$ and $C$ be the points where the circle centered at $A$ with radius $b/2$ intersects the convex hull. Any robot lying outside the circle will not move inside the circle according to Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\]. All the robots inside the circle will eventually move out once they are activated. After all the robots are activated at least once, the decrement in perimeter is at least $AB + AC - BC$. From cosine rule, $$AB + AC - BC = \frac{b}{2}+\frac{b}{2} -\sqrt{\left(\frac{b}{2}\right)^2+\left(\frac{b}{2}\right)^2- 2\frac{b}{2}\frac{b}{2}\cos\left(\pi -\frac{2\pi}{n}\right)}$$ $$= b \left(1- \sqrt{\frac{1}{2}\left(1+\cos\left(\frac{2\pi}{n}\right)\right)}\right)$$
![Once activated the robots $r$ and $r'$ will move outside the solid circle with radius $b/2$. The robot $r''$ moves a distance $b$ towards $r'$ because distance between them is more than $2b$ and stops at $D$.[]{data-label="fig:decrement"}](exampleforfinitedecrement.pdf){height="0.3\linewidth"}
(Correctness) Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\] terminates when all the robots are within a $c$ radius disc.
From Lemmas \[lem:chsubset\] and \[lem:finitedecrement\] we know that the convex hull never increases, and eventually a robot will be activated which strictly decreases the hull. According to Lemma \[lem:4bdistance\], eventually there will not be a pair of robots with more than $2c$ distance. Note that the distance between any two points in a disc of radius $c$ is less than or equal to $2c$. Hence the robots will converge within a disc of radius $c$.
Convergence for $\mathcal{OLA}$
-------------------------------
In this section we consider monoculus robots in the $\mathcal{OLA}$ model. Our algorithm will distinguish between *boundary-*, *corner-* and *inner-robots*, defined in the canonical way. We note that robots can determine their type: From the Fig. \[fig:orthogonalline\], we can observe that for $r_2$, all the robots lie below the horizontal line. That means, one side of the horizontal line is empty and therefore $r_2$ can figure out that it is a boundary robot. Similarly all $r_i$, $i\in \{3,4,5,6,7,8\}$ are boundary robots. Whereas, for $r_1$, both horizontal and vertical lines have one of the sides empty, hence $r_1$ is a corner robot. Other robots are all inner robots. Consequently, we define *boundary robots* to be those, which have exactly one side of one of the orthogonal lines empty.
Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] (<span style="font-variant:small-caps;">ConvergeQuadrant</span>) can be described as follows. A rectangle can be constructed with lines parallel to the orthogonal lines passing through boundary robots such that, all the robots are inside this rectangle. In Fig. \[fig:orthogonalline\], each boundary robot always moves inside the rectangle perpendicular to the boundary and the inside robots do not move. Note that the corner robot $r_1$ has two possible directions to move. So it moves toward any robot in that common quadrant. Gradually the distance between opposite boundaries becomes smaller and smaller and the robots converge. In case all the robots are on a line which is parallel to either of the orthogonal lines, then the robots will find that both sides of the line are empty. In that case they should not move. But the robots on either end of the line would only see one robot. So they would move along the line towards that robot.
![Movement direction of the boundary robots[]{data-label="fig:orthogonalline"}](figdirectionlesscompass.pdf){height="0.4\linewidth"}
(Correctness) Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] moves all the robots inside some $2b$-sided square in finite time.
Consider the distance between the robots on the left and right boundary. The horizontal distance between them decreases each time either of them gets activated. The rightmost robot will move towards the left and the leftmost will move towards the right. The internal robots do not move. So in at most $n$ activation rounds of the boundary robot, the distance between two of the boundary nodes will decrease by at least $b$. Hence the distance is monotonically decreasing until $2b$. Afterwards, the total distance will never exceed $2b$ anymore.
Given there is a corner robot present in the configuration, that robot will move towards any robot in the non-empty quadrant. So, the movement of the corner robot contributes to the decrement in distance in both directions. Consider robots inside the quadrant are presently very close to one of the boundaries and the corner robot moves towards that robot, then the decrement in one of the dimensions can be small (an $\epsilon > 0$). Consider for example the configuration of a strip of width $b$, then the corner robot becomes the adjacent corner in the next round; this can happen only finitely many times. Each dimension converges within a distance $2b$, so in the converged state the shape of the converged area would be $2b$-sided square.
If the robots have some sense of angular knowledge, the corner robots can always move in a $\pi/4$ angle, so the decrement in both dimension is significant, hence convergence time is less on average.
Impossibility and Optimality {#sec:impossibilty}
============================
Given these positive results, we now show that we cannot make the monoculus robots much weaker, otherwise we lose convergeability.
There is no deterministic convergence algorithm for monoculus robots without any additional capability.
We prove the theorem using a symmetry argument. Consider the two configurations $C_1$ and $C_2$ in Fig. \[fig:indistinguishableconfig\]. In $C_1$, all the robots are equidistant from robot $r$, while in $C_2$, the robots are at different distances, however the relative angle of the robots is the same at $r$. Now considering the local view of robot $r$, it cannot distinguish between $C_1$ and $C_2$. Say a deterministic algorithm $\phi$ decides a direction of movement for robot $r$ in configuration $C_1$. Since both $C_1$ and $C_2$ are the same from robot $r$’s perspective, the deterministic algorithm outputs the same direction of movement for both cases.
![Locally indistinguishable configurations with respect to $r$[]{data-label="fig:indistinguishableconfig"}](figindistinguishableconfig.pdf){height="0.3\linewidth"}
Now consider the convex hull $CH_1$ and $CH_2$ of $C_1$ and $C_2$ respectively. The robot $r$ moves a distance $b$ in one round. The distance from any point inside $CH_1$ is more than $b$ but we can skew the convex hull in the direction of movement, so to make it like $CH_2$, where if the robot $r$ moves a distance $b$ it exits $CH_2$. Therefore there always exists a situation for any algorithm $\phi$ such that the area of the convex hull increases. Hence it is impossible for the robots to converge.
Simulation {#sec:simul}
==========
We now complement our formal analysis with simulations, studying the average case. We assume that robots are distributed uniformly at random in a square initially, that $b=1$ and $c=2$, and we consider FSYNC scheduling. As a baseline to evaluate performance, we consider the optimal convergence distance and time if the robots had capability to observe positions, i.e., they are *not* monoculus. Moreover, as a lower bound, we compare to an algorithm which converges all robots to the centroid, defined as follows: $$\{\bar{x}, \bar{y}\} = \left\{\cfrac{\sum_{i=1}^nx_i}{n},\cfrac{\sum_{i=1}^ny_i}{n}\right\}$$ where $\{x_i,y_i\} \forall i \in \{1,2,\cdots,n\}$ are the robots’ coordinates.
We calculate distance $d_i$ from each robot to the centroid in the initial configuration. The optimal distance we have used as convergence distance is the sum of distances from each robot to the unit disc centered at the centroid. So the sum of the optimal convergence distances $d_{opt}$ is given by $$d_{opt} = \sum_{i=1}^n (d_i -1), \quad if \, d_i>1$$ In the simulation of Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\], we define $d_{CL}$ as the cumulative number of steps taken by all the robots to converge (sometimes also known as the *work*). Now we define the performance ratio, $\rho_{CL}$ as $$\rho_{CL} = \cfrac{d_{CL}}{d_{opt}}$$ Similarly for Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] we define $d_{CQ}$ and $\rho_{CQ}$.\
In Fig. \[fig:varrobot\], we plot the distribution of 100 iterations of simulation of Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\], varying the number of robots for a fixed region of deployment. The median increases if we increase the number of robots deployed in the same region.
In Fig. \[fig:varrobotCQ\], we plot the distribution of 100 iterations of simulation of Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] varying the number of robots for a fixed region of deployment. The median increases if we increase the number of robots deployed in the same region. In Fig. \[fig:varregionCQ\], we plot the distribution of 100 iterations of simulation of Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] for a fixed number of robots deployed in different regions. Here we can observe that the distribution does not vary much even if we change the region of deployment.
![Different number of robots in same region in $\mathcal{LD}$[]{data-label="fig:varrobot"}](VarRobotFixRange100.pdf){width="\linewidth"}
![Fixed number of robots deployed in different region in $\mathcal{LD}$[]{data-label="fig:varrange"}](VarRangeFixRobot40.pdf){width="\linewidth"}
![Different number of robots in same region in $\mathcal{OLA}$[]{data-label="fig:varrobotCQ"}](CQVarRobotFixRange100.pdf){width="\linewidth"}
![Fixed number of robots deployed in different region in $\mathcal{OLA}$[]{data-label="fig:varregionCQ"}](CQVarRangeFixRobot40.pdf){width="\linewidth"}
In Fig. \[fig:varrange\], we plot the distribution of 100 iterations of simulation of Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\] for a fixed number of robots deployed in different regions. Here we can observe that the distribution does not vary much even if we change the region of deployment.
![ $\rho_{CL}$ VS $\rho_{CQ}$ for the same number of robots[]{data-label="fig:compareCLCQrobotdistance"}](CLvsCQdistance40robot.pdf){height="0.37\linewidth"}
![ $\rho_{CL}$ VS $\rho_{CQ}$ for the same size of region[]{data-label="fig:compareCLCQregiondistance"}](CLvsCQdistance100region.pdf){height="0.37\linewidth"}
![ $\tau_{CL}$ VS $\tau_{CQ}$ for the same number of robots[]{data-label="fig:compareCLCQrobot"}](CLvsCQtime40robot.pdf){height="0.37\linewidth"}
![$\tau_{CL}$ VS $\tau_{CQ}$ for the same size of region[]{data-label="fig:compareCLCQregion"}](CLvsCQtime100region.pdf){height="0.37\linewidth"}
Fig. \[fig:compareCLCQrobotdistance\], and \[fig:compareCLCQregiondistance\] show the comparison between the performance ratio (PR) for distance. We can observe that Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] performs better. This is due to the fact that, in Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] only boundary robots move.
Let $d_{max}$ be the distance of farthest robot from the centroid and $t_{CL} $ be the number of synchronous rounds taken by Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\] for convergence. We define $\tau_{CL}$ as follows $$\tau_{CL} =\cfrac{t_{CL}}{d_{max}}$$ Similarly for Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\], we define $t_{CQ}$ and $\tau_{CQ}$. $\tau_{CL}$ and $\tau_{CQ}$ show performance ratio for convergence time of Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\] and \[algo:convergequadrant\] respectively. In Fig. \[fig:compareCLCQrobot\] and \[fig:compareCLCQregion\], we can observe that $\tau_{CL}$ is very close to 1, so Algorithm \[algo:convergelocality\] converges in almost the same number of synchronous rounds (proportional to distance covered, since step size $b=1$) as the maximum distance. We can observer that Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] takes more time as the number of robots and the side length of square region increases.
Discussion {#sec:discussion}
==========
This section shows that our approach supports some interesting extensions.
Termination for $\mathcal{OLA}$ Model
-------------------------------------
While we only focused on convergence and not termination so far, we can show that with a small amount of memory, termination is also possible in the $\mathcal{OLA}$ model. To see this, assume that each robot has a 2-bit persistent memory in the $\mathcal{OLA}$ model for each dimension, total 4-bits for two dimensions. Algorithm \[algo:convergequadrant\] has been modified to Algorithm \[algo:convergequadranttermination\] such that it can accommodate termination. All the bits are initially set to 0. Each robot has its local coordinate system, which remains consistent over the execution of the algorithm. The four bits correspond to four boundaries in two dimensions, i.e., left, right, top and bottom. If a robot finds itself on one of the boundaries according to its local coordinate system, then it sets the corresponding bit of that boundary to 1. Once both bits corresponding to a dimension become 1, the robot stops moving in that dimension. Consider a robot $r$. Initially it was on the left boundary in its local coordinate system. Then it sets the first bit of the pair of bits corresponding to $x$-axis. It moves towards right. Once it reaches the right boundary, then it sets the second bit corresponding to $x$-axis to 1. Once both the bits are set to 1, it stops moving along the $x$-axis. Similar movement termination happens on the $y$-axis also. Once all the 4-bits are set to 1, the robot stops moving.
Extension to $d$-Dimensions
---------------------------
Both our algorithms can easily be extended to $d$-dimensions. For the $\mathcal{LD}$ model, the algorithm remains exactly the same. For the proof of convergence, similar arguments as Lemma \[lem:finitedecrement\] can be used in $d$ dimensions. We can consider the convex hull in $d$-dimensions and the boundary robots of the convex hull always move inside. The size of convex hull reduces gradually and the robots converge.
Analogously for the $\mathcal{OLA}$ model, the distance between two robots in the boundary of any dimension gradually decreases and the corner robots always move inside the $d$-dimensional cuboid. Hence it converges. Here the robot would require $2d$ number of bits for termination.
Related Work {#sec:relwork}
============
The problems of gathering [@suzuki1999distributed], where all the robots gather at a single point, convergence [@cohen2006convergence], where robots come very close to each other and Pattern formation [@flochini1; @suzuki1999distributed] have been studied intensively in the literature.
Flocchini et al. [@FlocchiniPSW99] introduced the CORDA or Asynchronous (ASYNC) scheduling model for weak robots. Suzuki et al. [@suzu] have introduced the ATOM or Semi-synchronous (SSYNC) model. In [@suzuki1999distributed], impossibility of gathering for $n=2$ without assumptions on local coordinate system agreement for *SSYNC* and *ASYNC* is proved. Also, for $n>2$ it is impossible to solve gathering without assumptions on either coordinate system agreement or multiplicity detection [@Prencipe2007]. Cohen and Peleg [@CohenP04] have proposed a center of gravity algorithm for convergence of two robots in ASYNC and any number of robots in SSYNC.
To the best of our knowledge in all the previous works, the mathematical models always assume that the robots can find out the location of other robots in their local coordinate system in the Look step. This in turn implies that the robots can measure the distance between any pair of robots albeit in their local coordinates. All the algorithms exploit this location information to create an invariant point or a robot where all the other robots gather. But in this paper we deprive the robots of the capability to determine the location of other robots. This leads to robots incapable of finding any kind of distance or angles. Any kind of pattern formation requires these robots to move to a particular point of the pattern. Since the monoculus robots cannot figure out locations, they cannot stop at a particular point. Hence any kind of pattern formation algorithm described in the previous works which requires location information as input are obsolete. Gathering problem is nothing but the point formation problem [@suzuki1999distributed]. Hence gathering is also not possible for the monoculus robots.
Conclusion {#sec:conclusion}
==========
This paper introduced the notion of *monoculus robots* which cannot measure distance: a practically relevant generalization of existing robot models. We have proved that the two basic models still allow for convergence (and with a small memory, even termination), but with less capabilities, this becomes impossible.
The $\mathcal{LD}$ model converges in an almost optimal number of rounds, while the $\mathcal{OLA}$ model takes more time. But the cumulative number of steps is less for the $\mathcal{OLA}$ model compared to the $\mathcal{LD}$ model since only boundary robots move. Although we found in our simulations that the median and angle bisector strategies successfully converge, finding a proof accordingly remains an open question. We see our work as a first step, and believe that the study of weaker robots opens an interesting field for future research.
[^1]: Trip to IIT Guwahati and Research were funded by Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN), an initiative by Govt. of India for Higher Education.
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--- org.apache.commons.cli.ValueTest::testPropertyOptionFlags
junit.framework.AssertionFailedError
at junit.framework.Assert.fail(Assert.java:55)
at junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue(Assert.java:22)
at junit.framework.Assert.assertTrue(Assert.java:31)
at junit.framework.TestCase.assertTrue(TestCase.java:201)
at org.apache.commons.cli.ValueTest.testPropertyOptionFlags(ValueTest.java:215)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
at junit.framework.TestCase.runTest(TestCase.java:176)
at junit.framework.TestCase.runBare(TestCase.java:141)
at junit.framework.TestResult$1.protect(TestResult.java:122)
at junit.framework.TestResult.runProtected(TestResult.java:142)
at junit.framework.TestResult.run(TestResult.java:125)
at junit.framework.TestCase.run(TestCase.java:129)
at junit.framework.TestSuite.runTest(TestSuite.java:255)
at junit.framework.TestSuite.run(TestSuite.java:250)
at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.junit.JUnitTestRunner.run(JUnitTestRunner.java:520)
at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.junit.JUnitTask.executeInVM(JUnitTask.java:1484)
at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.junit.JUnitTask.execute(JUnitTask.java:872)
at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.junit.JUnitTask.executeOrQueue(JUnitTask.java:1972)
at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.junit.JUnitTask.execute1(JUnitTask.java:824)
at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.optional.junit.JUnitTask.execute(JUnitTask.java:2277)
at org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:291)
at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor4.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
at org.apache.tools.ant.dispatch.DispatchUtils.execute(DispatchUtils.java:106)
at org.apache.tools.ant.Task.perform(Task.java:348)
at org.apache.tools.ant.Target.execute(Target.java:392)
at org.apache.tools.ant.Target.performTasks(Target.java:413)
at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeSortedTargets(Project.java:1399)
at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTarget(Project.java:1368)
at org.apache.tools.ant.helper.DefaultExecutor.executeTargets(DefaultExecutor.java:41)
at org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTargets(Project.java:1251)
at org.apache.tools.ant.Main.runBuild(Main.java:811)
at org.apache.tools.ant.Main.startAnt(Main.java:217)
at org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher.run(Launcher.java:280)
at org.apache.tools.ant.launch.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:109)
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The latest Hurun Report from China on Friday revealed the number of Chinese startups worth $1 billion has overtaken the number of US startups worth the same amount.
China has added 34 “unicorns” in Q3 of 2018, taking China’s total to 181 compared to 138 in the US, according to the South China Morning Post. The country’s 181 thriving new enterprises are worth a combined 4.8 trillion yuan, the equivalent to $696 billion.
Rupert Hoogewer, chief researcher of the Hurun report said of China’s startups:
“These unicorns, mostly in the new economy, are the fastest-growing companies with the most potential to grow big against a slowing economy.”
Despite this, China’s overall growth is slowing, Q3 saw its slowest quarterly growth as a country since the economic crisis which began a decade ago. Its stock markets have also tumbled with the Shenzhen and Shanghai declining over 25% this year alone.
Many of these “unicorn” companies in the US and China are technology startups, with China’s new companies innovating in anything from fintech to e-commerce and artificial intelligence.
China’s determined technology focus has been rewarded with much early investment capital sourced both nationally and internationally. More specifically, 45 of China’s unicorns are internet services related businesses and 21 are in internet finance.
That said, China’s peer-to-peer lending business, much of it internet based, is under severe regulatory pressure and has declined rapidly over the last 12 months.
15 of China’s billion-dollar startups surpassed their $1-billion thresholds within three years of their creation.
The latest Hurun list doesn’t include the 20 Chinese companies that have become publicly listed already and 2018, and three which had merged.
China’s Biggest Unicorns
China’s largest unicorn is, no surprise, Ant Financial an affiliate to Alibaba and the world’s most valuable unicorn with a valuation surpassing $150 billion and 1 trillion yuan. Alibaba and Ant Financial founder Jack Ma, at 54, is China’s richest man with a net worth of $39 billion.
Ma founded Ant Financial, which rebranded from Alipay in 2014. In 2017 Ant Financial handled more payments than Mastercard and its online payments platform completed more than $8 trillion worth of transactions.
It controls the world’s largest money-market fund, has made loans to tens of millions of people and is now the world’s biggest fintech firm.
The second-largest Chinese startup is Jinri Toutiao, a news aggregation application owned by Bytedance Technology and with a value of over $75 billion or around 500 billion Chinese yuan.
US Unicorns
The US figure of 138 billion-dollar startups is taken from CB Insights and Pitchbook data from August 2018. A recent analysis of 91 U.S unicorns found over half had been founded by modern-day American immigrants.
Uber is the most valuable U.S unicorn at $72 billion, followed by Elon Musk’s Tesla at $21 billion. If Uber decides to go public it could achieve an IPO valuation of $120 billion.
Featured image from Alibaba.
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great_JJ
beautiful_JJ
happy_JJ
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potential_JJ
powerful_JJ
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public_JJ
great_JJ
short_JJ
other_JJ
hi-tech_JJ
intrepid_JJ
english_JJ
fugitive-like_JJ
dissimilar_JJ
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main_JJ
able_JJ
very_JJ
believeable_JJ
better_JJR
boring_JJ
real_JJ
fine_JJ
fleeing_JJ
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full_JJ
earned_JJ
flying_JJ
creaky_JJ
pretty_JJ
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Cyrus Arnold
Cyrus Arnold (born January 2, 2003) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Derek Zoolander Jr. in Zoolander 2 and BJ Malloy in Sam & Cat.
Early life
Arnold was born in Burbank, California, the son of Lea Anne Wolfe and Blake Arnold. He has a younger brother.
Career
Arnold began acting at the age of eight, and has since appeared in numerous commercials and television shows. He made his big screen debut as Derek Zoolander Jr. in Zoolander 2. He has stated that he would like to pursue an additional career as a screenwriter.
Filmography
References
External links
Category:Living people
Category:2003 births
Category:Male actors from Burbank, California
Category:American male child actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:21st-century American male actors
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Story highlights Sources say President Donald Trump did not endorse Kelli Ward
Ward is a Republican primary challenger to Sen. Jeff Flake
Trump met with other possible Flake primary challengers on Tuesday
(CNN) President Donald Trump huddled privately with potential Republican primary challengers to Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake before taking the stage in Phoenix on Tuesday night.
The backstage meeting included former state GOP chairman Robert Graham and state treasurer Jeff DeWit -- two candidates Trump has urged to consider opposing Flake -- as well as Rep. Trent Franks and Graham's 13-year-old daughter.
Two sources familiar with the meeting told CNN it was focused on ousting Flake -- who Trump calls "the flake."
The sense among participants, the two sources said, was that Franks won't enter the Senate primary and DeWit, who is under consideration for posts within Trump's administration, is unlikely to do so -- so the focus is on Graham. Trump encouraged DeWit, Graham and Franks to meet again soon and decide on a plan, the sources said.
Read More
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The specificity of cytotoxic agents can be greatly improved by targeted delivery through linkage of the cytotoxic agents to cell-binding agents.
Many reports have appeared on the attempted specific targeting of tumor cells with monoclonal antibody-drug conjugates (Sela et al, in Immunoconjugates 189-216 (C. Vogel, ed. 1987); Ghose et al, in Targeted Drugs 1-22 (E. Goldberg, ed. 1983); Diener et al, in Antibody mediated delivery systems 1-23 (J. Rodwell, ed. 1988); Pietersz et al, in Antibody mediated delivery systems 25-53 (J. Rodwell, ed. 1988); Bumol et al, in Antibody mediated delivery systems 55-79 (J. Rodwell, ed. 1988). All references and patents cited herein are incorporated by reference.
Cytotoxic drugs such as methotrexate, daunorubicin, doxorubicin, vincristine, vinblastine, melphalan, mitomycin C, and chlorambucil have been conjugated to a variety of murine monoclonal antibodies. In some cases, the drug molecules were linked to the antibody molecules through an intermediary carrier molecule such as serum albumin (Garnett et al, Cancer Res. 46: 2412 (1986); Ohkawa et al, Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 23: 86 (1986); Endo et al, Cancer Res. 47: 1076-1080 (1980)), dextran (Hurwitz et al, Appl. Biochem. 2: 25-35 (1980); Manabi et al, Biochem. Pharmacol. 34: 289-291 (1985); Dillman et al, Cancer Res. 46: 4886-4891 (1986); Shoval et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 85: 8276-8280 (1988)), or polyglutamic acid (Tsukada et al, J. Natl. Canc. Inst. 73: 721-729 (1984); Kato et al, J. Med. Chem. 27: 1602-1607 (1984); Tsukada et al, Br. J. Cancer 52: 111-116 (1985)).
A wide array of linker technologies has been employed for the preparation of such immunoconjugates and both cleavable and non-cleavable linkers have been investigated. In most cases, the full cytotoxic potential of the drugs could only be observed, however, if the drug molecules could be released from the conjugates in unmodified form at the target site.
One of the cleavable linkers that has been employed for the preparation of antibody-drug conjugates is an acid-labile linker based on cis-aconitic acid that takes advantage of the acidic environment of different intracellular compartments such as the endosomes encountered during receptor mediated endocytosis and the lysosomes. Shen and Ryser introduced this method for the preparation of conjugates of daunorubicin with macromolecular carriers (Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 102: 1048-1054 (1981)). Yang and Reisfeld used the same technique to conjugate daunorubicin to an anti-melanoma antibody (J. Natl. Canc. Inst. 80: 1154-1159 (1988)). Dillman et al. also used an acid-labile linker in a similar fashion to prepare conjugates of daunorubicin with an anti-T cell antibody (Cancer Res. 48: 6097-6102 (1988)).
An alternative approach, explored by Trouet et al, involved linking daunorubicin to an antibody via a peptide spacer arm (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 79: 626-629 (1982)). This was done under the premise that free drug could be released from such a conjugate by the action of lysosomal peptidases. In vitro cytotoxicity tests, however, have revealed that antibody-drug conjugates rarely achieved the same cytotoxic potency as the free unconjugated drugs. This suggested that mechanisms by which drug molecules are released from the antibodies are very inefficient.
In the area of immunotoxins, conjugates formed via disulfide bridges between monoclonal antibodies and catalytically active protein toxins were shown to be more cytotoxic than conjugates containing other linkers. See, Lambert et al, J. Biol. Chem. 260: 12035-12041 (1985); Lambert et al, in Immunotoxins 175-209 (A. Frankel, ed. 1988); Ghetie et al, Cancer Res. 48: 2610-2617 (1988). This was attributed to the high intracellular concentration of glutathione contributing to the efficient cleavage of the disulfide bond between an antibody molecule and a toxin. Despite this, there are only a few reported examples of the use of disulfide bridges for the preparation of conjugates between drugs and macromolecules. (Shen et al, J. Biol. Chem. 260: 10905-10908 (1985)) described the conversion of methotrexate into a mercaptoethylamide derivative followed by conjugation with poly-D-lysine via a disulfide bond. Another report described the preparation of a conjugate of the trisulfide containing toxic drug calicheamycin with an antibody (Hinman et al, Cancer Res. 53: 3336-3342 (1993)).
One reason for the lack of disulfide linked antibody-drug conjugates is the unavailability of cytotoxic drugs possessing a sulfur atom containing moiety that can be used readily to link the drug to an antibody via a disulfide bridge. Furthermore, chemical modification of existing drugs is difficult without diminishing their cytotoxic potential.
Another major drawback with existing antibody-drug conjugates is their inability to deliver a sufficient concentration of drug to the target site because of the limited number of targeted antigens and the relatively moderate cytotoxicity of cancerostatic drugs like methotrexate, daunorubicin, and vincristine. In order to achieve significant cytotoxicity, linkage of a large number of drug molecules, either directly to the antibody or through a polymeric carrier molecule, becomes necessary. However, such heavily modified antibodies often display impaired binding to the target antigen and fast in vivo clearance from the blood stream.
In spite of the above-described difficulties, useful cytotoxic agents comprising cell-binding moieties and the group of cytotoxic drugs known as maytansinoids have been reported (U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,020, U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,064, and R. V. J. Chari, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 31: 89-104 (1998)). Similarly, useful cytotoxic agents comprising cell-binding moieties and analogues and derivatives of the potent antitumor antibiotic CC-1065 have also been reported (U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,092 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,499).
It has also been shown that the linkage of highly cytotoxic drugs to antibodies using a cleavable link, such as a disulfide bond, ensures the release of fully active drug inside cells, and such conjugates are cytotoxic in an antigen specific manner (R. V. J. Chari et al, Cancer Res. 52: 127-131 (1992); U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,092; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,064).
Taxanes are a family of compounds that includes paclitaxel (Taxol), a cytotoxic natural product, and docetaxel (Taxotere), a semi-synthetic derivative (see FIGS. 1 and 4), two compounds that are widely used in the treatment of cancer, E. Baloglu and D. G. I. Kingston, J. Nat. Prod. 62: 1448-1472 (1999). Taxanes are mitotic spindle poisons that inhibit the depolymerization of tubulin, resulting in cell death. While docetaxel and paclitaxel are useful agents in the treatment of cancer, their antitumor activity is limited because of their non-specific toxicity towards normal cells. Further, compounds like paclitaxel and docetaxel themselves are not sufficiently potent to be used in conjugates of cell-binding agents.
Recently, a few new docetaxel analogs with greater potency than either docetaxel or paclitaxel have been described (I. Ojima et al, J. Med. Chem., 39: 3889-3896 (1996)). However, these compounds lack a suitable functionality that allows linkage via a cleavable bond to cell-binding agents (FIG. 1).
The synthesis of novel taxanes that retain high cytotoxicity and that can be effectively linked to cell-binding agents has been described recently (U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,701, U.S. Pat. No. 6,372,738 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,436,931, and FIGS. 2 and 4). In these disclosures, taxanes were modified with chemical moieties, ones containing thiol or disulfide groups in particular, to which appropriate cell-binding agents could be linked. As a result, these novel taxanes preserved, and in some cases even enhanced, the cytotoxic potency of known taxanes.
In the taxanes described in the aforementioned patents, the linking group was introduced at the C-10, C-7 or the C-2′ position of the taxane.
In the cases where the linking group was at C-7, the C-10 position did not have a free hydroxyl substituent but was rather an ester, ether or carbamate substituent. It has been previously shown (I. Ojima et al, J. Med. Chem., 39: 3889-3896 (1996)) that the presence of an ester or carbamate substituent at C-10 produced taxoids of high potency. However, there have been no studies on the potency of taxanes bearing a free hydroxyl group at C-10 and a linking group at C-7.
As described herein, the potency of taxanes bearing a free hydroxyl group at C-10 and a linking group at C-7 was found to meet or exceed the potency of taxanes bearing an ester, ether or carbamate substituent at C-10 and a linking group at C-7. Thus, in a first aspect, the present invention provides these novel taxanes bearing a free hydroxyl group at C-10 and a linking group at C-7 and having potent cytotoxic activity.
Further, in the taxanes described in the aforementioned patents, the linking group was introduced at the C-10, C-7 or the C-2′ position of the taxane. In all taxanes, the substituents at C-3′N and C-3′, were named —NHCOR4 and R3, respectively. Furthermore, the substituent at C-3′N, —NHCOR4, was either a benzamido group (R4=phenyl), like in paclitaxel, or a tert-butyloxycarbonylamino moiety (—NH-t-BOC, R4=t-butoxy), like in docetaxel. Based on published data, it was assumed that altering these substituents would cause a loss in potency. The substituent at C-3′ (R3) was either aryl or a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms. Since, based on published data, it was thought that the substituents at C-3′N and C-3′ could not be altered without a loss in drug activity, the linking group was always introduced at a different position of the taxane, namely at C-7, C-10 or C-2′. Also, the inability to change the substituents at C-3′ or C-3′N greatly limited the variety of disulfide-containing taxanes that could be synthesized.
In a second aspect, the present invention is also based on the unexpected finding that the substituents at both C-3′ and C-3′N do not have to be limited to that present in the known taxanes. As described herein, the potency of taxanes bearing a variety of different substituents at C-3′N meets or exceeds the potency of taxanes bearing a benzamido or —NH-t-BOC substituent at this position. The new substituent at C-3′ or C-3′N can also contain a linking group that allows for linkage to cell-binding agents. The present invention discloses these novel highly potent taxanes bearing a variety of different substituents at C-3′ and C-3′N. The linking group can now be incorporated at any one of the five positions: C-3′, C-3′N, C-10, C-7 or C-2′.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Deep Fried Cookie Dough with Bourbon Cream Sauce
The fry fest continues! And believe me folks, it’s getting more decadent and ridiculous by the hour. It all started when I was invited to a Chanukah Round-Up party. Everything at the party had a round theme, so there was a latke and cookie contest. Well, since I detest making latkes, I decided I need to make a cookie, but it had to be good. Then it dawned on me. What could be a more festive Chanukah cookie than deep fried cookie dough? I know, I’m a genius, right?
Well, I didn’t win. My friend, the lovely Tiffany took home the gold with her lemon cookies. She deserves it. That said, many of my friends told me that the deep fried cookie dough was their favorite, but I’m not competitive or anything. Besides, I got to take home some new whisks as a white elephant gift, and the hubs stayed home with the baby, so I could go out for the evening, and that’s a win for me. It’s been non-stop work these past few months, and a night out is just so rare these days. I know it’s just the season, but boy am I tired.
Just look at that, will ya?! Sinful and delicious, they are sinfully delicious. Personally, I like it when the deep fried cookie dough cools a bit, and you are actually biting into cookie dough covered in fry batter. I’m the worst, you guys. I love this kind of food, and I don’t care who knows about it. There, I said it. I hope all of you who were thinking about a kale salad for lunch are craving deep fried cookie dough now. Because at the end of your life you may have two years longer to live than I do, but I guarantee you’ll spend those years regretting the fact that you didn’t just eat delicious deep fried cookie dough. I’m not trying to be evil, just a bearer of truth.
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{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
|
Bright Bitcoin Christmas Through Price Boost
Despite the Grinches glomming on to Bitcoin’s recent price fluctuations, history has proven the world had a bright Bitcoin Christmas through price boost. It’s becoming something of a laugh when a media outlet publishes another article of doom and gloom on Bitcoin’s lower price (only at times) then are suddenly silent at times when Bitcoin makes another blast.
Just 24 hours ago Bloomberg reported a Bitcoin selloff yet where is the coverage of the Bitcoin price blossoming past 16,000 today? The Bloomberg article had the unmistakable tone of doubt in Bitcoin. And the next morning we have Bitcoin on the fast track back to its previous high set just a few days ago. Since this same time yesterday Bitcoin grew by 15% and nearly $2,000. The march upward began last night which led to a bright Bitcoin Christmas through price boost.
I’m going to make a New Year’s resolution to stop reporting on Bitcoin pricing on a seemingly daily basis because it strikes me as becoming tedious and at times even redundant. If you look past the skeptics and cynics, the more balanced among the Bitcoin commentators see Bitcoin exploding in 2018. And it seems this new pricing trend is getting an early start at the end of 2017.
The Bitcoin pricing trend dating back to back five or six years is only on an upward trend. The best that could be said about the critics is that they fear a change to the status quo that Bitcoin and altcoins represent. The “powers that be” need to accept this new reality that their hallowed institutions are being shaken to their core as only the tech sector can deliver.
Bright Bitcoin Christmas Through Price Boost is this year’s headline as we ring in 2018. I can scarcely imagine what heady headlines the Crypto Caper contributors will be crafting next year. “Bitcoin Breaks $100,000” anyone?
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
|
News/Events
Jaime U. Kolligian Honored for Community Service by Ohio State Bar Foundation
April 23, 2018
COLUMBUS, OH (April 23, 2018) –Jaime U. Kolligian received the Ohio State Bar Foundation’s District 11 Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 & Under on April 17, 2018.
Kolligian is demonstrating to the world the impact and influence attorneys can have on their communities – she is an outstanding example of what is right about the legal profession. Kolligian graduated from Otterbein College and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and is a shareholder at Kastner Westman & Wilkins in Akron. She is an OSBA-Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment law. In her spare time, she is leading the next generation of volunteers through her service.
Kolligian is a past committee lead and member of Torchbearers, an organization bridging the gap between non-profit leadership and leaders of the future in the greater Akron community. She also chairs the Cattle Baron’s Ball Sponsorship Committee to benefit the American Cancer Society.
In addition, Kolligian serves on the Curriculum Development Committee for the Women’s Network of Northeast Ohio. She’s also an officer and member of the Summit County Volunteer Leadership Council for the American Cancer Society. In 2010, Kolligian and her husband cofounded an annual charity corn hole tournament that benefits special needs children, now raising over $10,000 each year for summer camp scholarships. Kolligian and her husband received the Akron Area YMCA Volunteer of the Year Award, in honor of their fundraising efforts.
“I feel truly humbled to be recognized for serving a community that has given me so much more than I could ever hope to return to it,” Kolligian said. “My firm has always been 100 percent supportive of the causes that are near and dear to my heart. It has been my privilege to serve the Greater Akron Community, and I have no plans to slow down anytime soon.”
About the Award
The Community Service Award for Attorneys 40 and Under is presented to attorneys, 40 years of age or younger, who contribute substantial time and effort in service to a local social service or to a local civic, artistic or cultural organization. The service must be outside the recipients’ practice of law and given without compensation. Emphasis is placed on current service. Recipients represent the ideals of the legal profession and, by example, are a credit to the profession.
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{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
|
Scanning machines are often used to scan objects for the purpose of inspecting the scanned objects. Known scanning machines, such as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,346, include a conveyor to lead an object to be inspected into a scanning chamber where the object is subjected to radiation. A lead curtain is provided at an entrance and at an exit of the scanning chamber to contain the radiation within the chamber while allowing the passage of the object when it is conveyed in or out of the chamber.
Known to the Applicant are United States patent applications having Publication Nos. 2007/0133742, 2008/0025470, 2013/0114788 and 2013/0336447. Also known to the Applicant is U.S. Pat. No. 7,706,507 and Japan Patent No. 3,946,612. Each of the mentioned patents and patent applications disclose systems for containing radiation within the scanning chamber while allowing the passage of an object when it is conveyed in or out of the chamber.
Moreover, a known process for the detection of explosive material involves manually taking a sample of fine particles from an object in order to subject the sample to a detection process. Typically such fine particles are collected with a cloth, which is then analyzed by an analyzing system which may include, for example, a heating chamber where the temperature is raised to gasify the particles containing explosive chemicals, from which the resulting gases are then analyzed with a spectrometer in order to detect the presence of such explosive chemicals.
However, the teachings of the aforementioned suffer from drawbacks. For example, the inspection of an object involves the separate processes of scanning the object and detecting explosives, which can be both complicated and time consuming. Preferably, these processes should be simplified in order to make the inspection of objects more efficient.
Hence, in light of the aforementioned, there is a need for an improved system which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome or at least minimize some of the drawbacks of the prior art.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
|
Ordinary Enchantments
Daniel Siedell praises the painting of Cézanne, arguing that he recovered “the inescapable and indescribable mystery and terrible beauty of nature”:
One of the more important insights of the Reformation was to restore the dignity of the human being as a creature and the world as a gift. If Athanasius claimed that God became man so that man could become god, Luther argued that God became man so that man could once again become a creature, could take delight in his created, contingent, creaturely nature – become a happy human rather than a grumpy god. As Oswald Bayer writes, through Christ “we enter into a new worldliness.”
Perhaps this is Cézanne’s singular achievement. He returned painting to the realm of the creation. These paintings are worldly, creaturely. The critics noticed this. One hostile critic claimed that Cézanne could even paint bad breath. Too often art is regarded as a means to ascend the ladder of divine ascent, to aspire to the heavens and commune with the divine. For Cézanne art is a creaturely practice, one that revels in the givenness of nature.
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{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
|
So does Google Glass have a back door? - ForFreedom
Has anyone pondered about Google Glass having a back door.
======
mikemoka
In theory everything goes through the big G servers and might even be
activated remotely as far as we know at the moment, anybody in the developer
program cares to weigh in?
|
{
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
}
|
Galwadukumbura
Galwadukumbura is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within Central Province.
See also
List of towns in Central Province, Sri Lanka
External links
Department of Census and Statistics -Sri Lanka
Category:Settlements in Matale District
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
}
|
President Obama Calls Orlando Shooting an 'Act of Terror' Obama has been briefed on the latest developments in the nightclub shooting.
-- President Obama today described as "an act of terror" the mass shooting in Orlando overnight, which left at least 50 people dead.
“We stand with the people of Orlando who have endured a terrible attack on their city,” Obama said at the White House. “This could have been any one of our cities.”
The White House said that the president was briefed early Sunday by his Homeland Security and counter-terrorism adviser Lisa Monaco on the attack, and asked for regular updates as the FBI works with the Orlando police.
Obama noted the shooting at the Pulse Orlando gay nightclub is the worst ever mass shooting on American soil, Sandy Hook previously held the highest death toll of any domestic shooting during his presidency.
The president has used past statements to rail against Congress' inaction on his push for gun control legislation, which he has called one of the greatest disappointments of his presidency. He reiterated the message to reporters in the White House.
"This massacre is therefore a further reminder of how easy it is for someone to get their hands on a weapon that lets them shoot people in a school, in a house of worship, or in a movie theater or in a nightclub," Obama said. "And we have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. To actively do nothing is a decision as well."
Just last Thursday at an LGBT pride event at the White House, Obama remarked on the “incredible ... violence” members of the LGBT community face around the world.
"We’ve got work to do when LGBT people around the world still face incredible isolation and poverty and persecution and violence, and even death," Obama said. "We have work to make sure that every single child, no matter who they are or where they come from or what they look like or how they live, feels welcomed and valued and loved.”
Obama said the Pulse nightclub was more than just a nightclub, but was a symbol as "a place of solidarity and empowerment" for the gay community.
"This is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us as a country," Obama said.
Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
}
|
Germ layer specification and axial patterning in the embryonic development of the freshwater planarian Schmidtea polychroa.
Although patterning during regeneration in adult planarians has been studied extensively, very little is known about how the initial planarian body plan arises during embryogenesis. Herein, we analyze the process of embryo patterning in the species Schmidtea polychroa by comparing the expression of genes involved in the establishment of the metazoan body plan. Planarians present a derived ectolecithic spiralian development characterized by dispersed cleavage within a yolk syncytium and an early transient embryo capable of feeding on the maternally supplied yolk cells. During this stage of development, we only found evidence of canonical Wnt pathway, mostly associated with the development of its transient pharynx. At these stages, genes involved in gastrulation (snail) and germ layer determination (foxA and twist) are specifically expressed in migrating blastomeres and those giving rise to the temporary gut and pharyngeal muscle. After yolk ingestion, the embryo expresses core components of the canonical Wnt pathway and the BMP pathway, suggesting that the definitive axial identities are established late. These data support the division of planarian development into two separate morphogenetic stages: a highly divergent gastrulation stage, which segregates the three germ layers and establishes the primary organization of the feeding embryo; and subsequent metamorphosis, based on totipotent blastomeres, which establishes the definitive adult body plan using mechanisms that are similar to those used during regeneration and homeostasis in the adult.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
|
New Year Ecards
New Year Ecards is free HD wallpaper. This wallpaper was upload at November 21, 2018 upload by admin in birthday cards.
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|
{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
|
[tox]
envlist =
lint
py{27,35,36,37}
py37-oldpy3deps
py27-oldpy2deps
coverage-report
manifest
pypi-description
isolated_build = true
[testenv]
deps =
oldpy2deps: redis==2.6.2
oldpy2deps: flask==0.8.0
oldpy2deps: werkzeug==0.8.3
oldpy3deps: redis==2.6.2
oldpy3deps: flask==0.11.1
oldpy3deps: werkzeug==0.11.15
extras = tests
commands = coverage run --parallel-mode -m pytest {posargs}
[testenv:coverage-report]
basepython = python3.7
skip_install = true
deps = coverage
commands =
coverage combine
coverage report
[testenv:lint]
basepython = python3.7
skip_install = true
deps = pre-commit
passenv = HOMEPATH # needed on Windows
commands = pre-commit run --all-files
[testenv:manifest]
basepython = python3.7
skip_install = true
deps = check-manifest
commands = check-manifest
[testenv:pypi-description]
basepython = python3.7
skip_install = true
deps = twine
commands =
pip wheel -w {envtmpdir}/build --no-deps .
twine check {envtmpdir}/build/*
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Github"
}
|
By Kevin Coughlin -
By Kevin Coughlin
You may want to plant your beach chair on the Morristown Green right now, to stake your spot.
With local favorite Robert Randolph as the headliner, this summer’s Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival is a good bet to break attendance records.
“I’m excited, really excited about it,” said Randolph, the only pedal steel player to make Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists.
He won’t have any trouble finding the Green for the Aug. 20, 2016, festival. From 2000 to 2009 he lived a block away, on Morristown’s Macculloch Avenue.
“Those were the wildest years of my life. It’s such a fun town,” said Randolph, who was back last weekend for the Morris County St. Patrick’s Parade.
BUCKY, LOUIS AND GEORGE GEE
Randolph and his Family Band will cap a free day of music that promises something for everyone.
The George Gee Orchestra should get things off to a swinging start at noon. Look for a tribute to the late Rusty Paul. The son of jazz legend Les Paul was a fine musician in his own right and performed at the first Morristown Jazz & Blues Fest.
One of Les Paul’s pals, jazz guitar great Bucky Pizzarelli, 90, is on the mend from health issues and is determined to return to Morristown, where he’s had a standing gig since the festival started six years ago.
Trumpeter Louis Prima Jr. and his high-energy band are booked for an afternoon set. One more slot will be announced shortly.
Mayor Tim Dougherty, who launched the concert series in 2010, said it never gets old.
“Robert Randolph? What a great event!” the Mayor said. He sees Randolph, a personal favorite, as a musical ambassador for Morristown, sure to draw droves of newcomers to discover the downtown.
Dougherty credits the festival’s success, year after year, to a crackerjack staff and generous sponsors who underwrite the $80,000 production.
Co-promoters Linda Smith and Don Jay Smith are back, along with music consultant Phil Fielding, town Attorney Vij Pawar, and the Mayor’s secretary, Kristen Wedderburn.
“You have to start in early January. It’s a team effort. A lot of meetings, a lot of conference calls,” Dougherty said. “It would not be possible if we didn’t have people donating money to make it happen.”
Major donors include real estate mogul Larry Berger, Normandy Real Estate Partners, Morristown Medical Center, JCP&L, PSE&G, town redevelopment lawyer John Inglesino and Riker Danzig.
“We really enjoy this event. It’s great advertising for us. And we’re a stone’s throw from the show,” said Frank Vitolo of Riker Danzig.
‘NICE AND ROWDY’
Linda Smith said Robert Randolph has been atop her concert wish-list for years, and she’s delighted that his schedule had an opening this summer.
“He’s local, he’s a fabulous musician, we love his band, and he’s excited about doing it. He’s going to be a big draw,” she said.
Randolph, who is heading to Australia next week for the Byron Bay Bluesfest, aims to release a new album before his Morristown gig. Working title: Got Soul! (“You know, like ‘Got Milk!'”) He’s sifting through 32 new songs, and lining up guest stars.
While he has enjoyed performing in town at the Mayo Performing Arts Center, he thinks the venue needs to let its hair down.
There’s an “opera-sit-down feel” that’s not really conducive to rock and roll, in his opinion.
“We won’t have any trouble with that on the Green,” Randolph promised. “The people out there will be a nice and rowdy. It’s going to be good fun.”
SCENES FROM THE 2015 MORRISTOWN JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL
|
{
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
}
|
Nurpur Noon
Nurpur Noon is a village situated near Bhalwal in Sargodha District, Punjab, Pakistan.
Nurpur Noon is inhabited by over 8,000 people mostly of the Noon subcaste of Jatts.
Prominent people from Nurpur Noon
Nurpur Noon has produced some prominent political figures in the past, such as Malik Mohammad Hayat Noon and his son, Malik Sir Feroz Khan Noon who served in the Viceroy's Council of India before independence and later, after the creation of Pakistan, served as country's Foreign Minister and then Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1958.
References
Category:Populated places in Sargodha District
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
}
|
A frustrated police officer has claimed that Kyabram and district residents may have to wait 30 minutes or more for police to respond to an emergency call after it was revealed a new trial roster would have only four police available for the entire Campaspe district for up to eight hours a day.
The officer, who wished to remain anonymous, has claimed Echuca police would cover Kyabram, Rushworth and Rochester officers normally off-duty between 11pm and 7am.
For the full story grab a copy of the print edition of the Kyabram Free Press.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
|
import {app, BrowserWindow} from 'electron';
import {ISpectronMainOptions, SpectronMain2} from '../../js/test/SpectronMain2';
import {WebserverConfig} from '../../js/backend/webserver/WebserverConfig';
import {Webserver} from '../../js/backend/webserver/Webserver';
import {FileRegistry} from '../../js/backend/webserver/FileRegistry';
import {SpectronBrowserWindowOptions} from '../../js/test/SpectronBrowserWindowOptions';
async function defaultWindowFactory(): Promise<BrowserWindow> {
const mainWindow = new BrowserWindow(SpectronBrowserWindowOptions.create());
// mainWindow.webContents.toggleDevTools();
mainWindow.loadURL('about:blank');
return mainWindow;
}
const options: ISpectronMainOptions = {
windowFactory: defaultWindowFactory
};
SpectronMain2.create(options).run(async state => {
const appDir = process.cwd();
const webserverConfig = new WebserverConfig(appDir, 8005);
const fileRegistry = new FileRegistry(webserverConfig);
const webserver = new Webserver(webserverConfig, fileRegistry);
try {
await webserver.start();
} catch (e) {
console.warn("Webserver already running.");
}
const url = `http://localhost:8005/web/spectron/firebase-auth/content.html?primary=true`;
await state.window.loadURL(url);
//
// const secondWindow = await defaultWindowFactory();
// secondWindow.loadURL(url);
await state.testResultWriter.write(true);
});
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Github"
}
|
Currently, computing devices, particularly those associated with machine learning for autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles, store three dimensional (3D) models that are used as training data for machine learning. This type of training data is computationally expensive and requires a large amount of storage space. As such, it may be difficult for on-board vehicle processors to effectively utilize the training data.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
}
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iTRAQ-Based Proteomic Analysis of Neonatal Kidney from Offspring of Protein Restricted Rats Reveals Abnormalities in Intraflagellar Transport Proteins.
It is well recognized that adverse events in utero can impair fetal development and lead to the development of kidney injury and hypertension in adulthood. We previously reported a lower kidney index, glomeruli number, and decreased glomerular filtration rate in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) offspring induced by maternal protein malnutrition. To explore the molecular mechanisms linking impaired fetal growth to renal diseases, we investigated differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in the IUGR neonatal kidneys by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) analysis. We induced IUGR through maternal protein malnutrition. Neonatal kidneys were collected; the protein was extracted; pooled before iTRAQ labeling, and subjected to mass spectrometric analysis. Mass spectrometry results were then further confirmed by assessing five representative proteins in individual specimens with quantitative PCR (qPCR), immunohistochemical (IHC) and / or western blot analysis. A total of 367DEPs (263 up-regulated, 104 down-regulated.) with a threshold of a 1.2-fold change and a P value ≤ 0.05 between IUGR kidneys and control kidneys were identified. Further bioinformatics analysis revealed that these proteins play important roles in oxidative phosphorylation, purine metabolism, pyrimidine metabolism, RNA small body, spliceosome assembly and intraflagellar transport (IFT). IFT family proteins (IFT80, 88,144) and PKD2 were shown to be up-regulated in IUGR kidneys, confirmed by western blotting, IHC and Q-PCR. Epigenetic modulating factors SET and MYND domain containing 3 (SMYD3), a histone-lysine N-methyltransferase, and H3K4me3 level were also remarkably enhanced in IUGR neonatal kidneys. This first comprehensive analysis of the neonatal kidney proteome reveals new insights in nephridial development, and may make a valuable contribution towards the identification of the pathological mechanisms involved in the developmental origins of adult disease.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
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INTRODUCTION {#s5}
============
Sedentary behaviour is defined as any waking behaviour requiring ≤1.5 metabolic equivalents (METS), while undertaken in a sitting, lying or reclining posture).^[@R1]^ Prospective, epidemiological studies suggest sedentary behaviour ('too much sitting') associates with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is considered a modifiable risk factor for CVD morbidity and mortality.^[@R2]^
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease, characterised by high-grade systemic inflammation and is associated with increased risk of CVD-related morbidity and mortality.^[@R4]^ Recent studies suggest that high levels of sedentary behaviour may also contribute to heightened CVD risk observed in this population.^[@R6]^ For example, cross-sectional studies have revealed significant positive associations between sedentary behaviour and estimated long-term CVD risk in RA^[@R6]^ as well as individual risk factors for CVD.^[@R7]^ In addition, research suggests it is not only the total volume of sedentary behaviour that may be detrimental for cardiovascular health in RA, but the manner in which it is accumulated.^[@R6]^ Specifically, a cross-sectional study reported that spending more time engaged in prolonged, uninterrupted periods of sedentary behaviour (sedentary bouts) is positively related to estimated long-term CVD risk in RA,^[@R6]^ a finding that has also been reported in epidemiological research.^[@R10]^
Research indicates that people living with RA spend approximately 60--70% of their waking hours sedentary,^[@R6]^ levels comparable to those observed in healthy adults.^[@R12]^ However, as people living with RA demonstrate a twoto threefold increased risk of CVD relative to adults in the general population,^[@R5]^ the impact of high levels of sedentary behaviour may be more severe for this patient group.^[@R14]^ Thus, interventions that target time spent sedentary, and particularly periods with prolonged sedentary bouts, may offer a great potential to improve cardiovascular health among people living with RA.^[@R15]^ However, while in recent years, our understanding of the role of sedentary behaviour for RA has advanced, we currently know very little about levels and patterns of sedentary time accumulation in this population. This information is critical to inform the development of successful interventions.
To date, the majority of studies examining sedentary behaviour in RA have provided a general indication of levels of habitual (daily) sedentary behaviour, reporting sedentary time according to the number of sedentary 'minutes/day'.^[@R15]^ However, using an aggregate of sedentary time in this way (ie, collapsing measurements of sedentary time recorded across several days) masks the temporal patterns of this behaviour. That is, previous investigations do not offer a detailed account of specifically *when* people living with RA accumulate their sedentary time. Certainly, considering that diurnal fluctuations in disease symptoms (such as morning stiffness and fatigue) are reported, it is possible that there are also diurnal fluctuations in sedentary behaviour.
Research that examines time-based patterns of sedentary time accumulation in RA will therefore help to identify critical high sedentary time periods or 'sedentary windows', which may offer optimal opportunities for interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour in this particular population. Previous research has sought to examine diurnal patterns of sedentary time among older adults living without RA, with the intention of gathering information to inform interventions. These studies have reported significant differences between morning (eg, before 12:00--13:00), afternoon (eg, before 17:00--19:00) and evening (eg, after 17:00--19:00) sedentary behaviour, indicating sedentary time to peak in the evening after 17:00.^[@R16]^ These data have provided some insight into the patterns of sedentary time among older individuals, who---like people living with RA---may be at increased risk of the negative health consequences of sedentary behaviour. However, elucidating time-use patterns of sedentary behaviour in RA specifically is of particular importance, as factors related to the chronobiology of RA may impact diurnal patterns of sedentary time in a unique manner, which may hold implications for the design of behavioural interventions for this population (ie, to target 'sedentary windows'). In addition, prior to advocating interventions that target periods of high sedentary, it is also essential to establish their potential for clinical efficacy among people living with RA. Studies that examine associations between diurnal patterns of sedentary time accumulation and pertinent health outcomes in RA (eg, CVD risk) are therefore also required.
It is equally important to study diurnal patterns of sedentary time in concurrence with other more active behaviours that represent the full breadth of the physical activity (PA) continuum (ie, light-intensity PA, moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA). Investigating sedentary time in isolation, without consideration of how it exists in the context of PA behaviours, may misrepresent what a sedentary lifestyle entails. Certainly, an understanding of the inter-relationship between sedentary time, light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA is essential for the selection of appropriate (and effective) behavioural intervention targets. For example, owing to the strong, inverse correlation between sedentary time and light-intensity PA, it has been argued that encouraging light-intensity PA (eg, encompassing, standing, incidental movement, lifestyle-embedded activities of daily living) may help to reduce time spent sedentary among people living with RA, via a displacement effect.^[@R6]^
In order to accurately examine temporal patterns of sedentary time and PA, continuous monitoring of behaviour is required. Wearable accelerometers enable the collection of time-stamped movement data, permitting observation of chronological variability in levels of activity.^[@R15]^ Accelerometers also allow the more complex patterns of sedentary time accumulation to be investigated, such as the extent to which sedentary activity is accrued via engagement in prolonged (uninterrupted) sedentary bouts. Using data from the [P]{.ul}hysical [A]{.ul}ctivity in [R]{.ul}heumatoid [A]{.ul}rthritis (PARA), we have previously reported accelerometer-assessed overall *daily* sedentary time (minutes/day---based on the average of the accelerometer recordings of up to 7 days) and the length of prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary bouts (≥20 min), is linked to increased estimated 10-year risk of CVD in RA.^[@R6]^ In this investigation, we conduct an additional *hourly* analysis of PARA study data collected at baseline, in order to (1) examine the diurnal patterns of sedentary time (including uninterrupted sedentary bouts) and PA among people living with RA and (2) investigate whether these diurnal patterns of sedentary time and PA are associated with long-term CVD risk in these patients.
METHODS {#s6}
=======
Patients with RA (n = 115) were recruited to the PARA study (Trial Number: ISRCTN04121489),^[@R19]^ from Rheumatology outpatient clinics at Russells Hall Hospital (RHH, Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust, England). Interested patients were provided with study information sheets, and willing participants provided informed consent and were recruited. The local National Health Service Research Ethics Committee approved the study.
Protocol {#s6-s1}
--------
Participants attended two appointments 1 week apart to undertake assessments. During the first visit, a fasted blood sample was taken and a subsample of participants who consented to wear an accelerometer (n = 97) were fitted with a GT3X Actigraph accelerometer for the subsequent 7 days. Participants attended their second visit 1 week later to return accelerometers and undergo physical assessments to evaluate factors associated with their cardiovascular health.
Measures {#s6-s2}
--------
### RA characteristics and medication {#s6-s2-s1}
Disease activity was assessed via the disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) determined using the Westergren method (Starrsed Compact, Mechatronics BV, Netherlands).^[@R20]^ *Functional disability* was measured using the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ).^[@R21]^ *Disease duration* was self-reported, and current drug regime was recorded from patient medical notes (ie, use of Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs, anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor therapy, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, corticosteroids, cholesterol-lowering medication, medication for hypertension).
Estimated (10-year) CVD risk {#s6-s3}
----------------------------
An estimate of 10-year CVD risk was determined by computing participants' QRISK2 score,^[@R22]^ using participants' age, gender, height and weight (body mass index (BMI)), blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), cholesterol (total/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio), self-reported smoking status, diabetic status, presence of kidney disease and family history of heart disease.^[@R23]^[^1^](#FN0001){ref-type="fn"}[^1] *Height* was measured to the nearest 0.5 cm using a standard height measure (Seca 214 Road Rod). *Weight* was determined using a Tanita BC 418MA Segmental Body Composition Analyser (Tanita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). BMI was calculated from weight (kg) and height (m), as kg/m^2^. *Blood pressure* was assessed using an electronic sphygmomanometer (Datascope Accutor) as previously described.^[@R23]^ Fasted blood samples (≥ 12-hour fast) were collected for measurement of *total and HDL cholesterol*. Blood tests were carried out in the biochemistry laboratories at RHH, and serum levels of total cholesterol were analysed using the Vitros 5.1 chemistry system ([www.orthoclinical.com](www.orthoclinical.com)). Smoking status, diabetic status, presence of kidney disease and family history were self-reported and corroborated with medical notes as appropriate.
Sedentary time and physical activity {#s6-s4}
------------------------------------
Sedentary time (total and bouts) and PA (light and moderate-to-vigorous) were assessed using GT3X accelerometers (Actigraph). Participants wore the accelerometer for 7 days during all waking hours, on the right hip, removing only for water-based activities (eg, swimming and bathing) and sleep. Accelerometers were initialised to collect data in 60-s epochs, and movement counts within each epoch were converted to activity counts (ie, counts per minute, cpm) to compute frequency, intensity and duration of activity behaviours. A 7 day wear protocol is reported to produce reliable estimates of sedentary time and PA, producing intraclass correlation coefficients ≥.80 across measurement days.^[@R25]^
Accelerometer data reduction {#s6-s5}
----------------------------
Data were downloaded from the GT3X and analysed using the Actilife software (Version 6.2). Non-wear time was determined by identifying strings of consecutive zero counts recorded by the accelerometer for ≥60 min, allowing for 2 min of counts \<100.^[@R27]^ Following exclusion of non-wear periods, accelerometer data were analysed on an hour-by-hour basis for all waking hours (ie, 08:00--22:59).[^2^](#FN0002){ref-type="fn"}[^2] Time filters were used to separate hourly data (eg, 08:00--08:59, 09:00--09:59, etc) and total wear time within each hour time frame was computed. Participant's hourly data were retained for inclusion in the final analysis (ie, constituted a 'valid-wear hour'), where a full 60 min of wear time were recorded within that hour (ie, 60 min/hour), for at least 3 measurement days (including a weekend day).[^3^](#FN0003){ref-type="fn"}[^3] ^[@R26]^ As an example, for the hours 8:00--9:00 to be included for a particular participant, a full 60-min wear time would be needed to be recorded between 8:00 and 9:00 for at least 3 days (eg, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (weekend day), see [figure 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"} for an illustrative example of data cleaning).
For valid hourly accelerometer data, cut-points were used to compute min/hour spent, sedentary (\<100 cpm), and engaged in light-intensity PA (100--2019 cpm) and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA (≥2020 cpm).^[@R27]^ Sedentary time accumulated in bouts ≥20 min was also determined for each hour (ie, ≥20 consecutive minutes at \< 100 cpm), and the average sedentary bout length within each hour was calculated (min/bout).^[@R11]^[^4^](#FN0004){ref-type="fn"}[^4] Hourly accelerometer data were subsequently grouped to represent morning (08:00--11:59), afternoon (12:00--17.59) and evening time periods (18:00--22:59), and data was averaged across the hours within these intervals to quantify sedentary time, light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA during each time period (eg, morning sedentary time = sedentary time (min) accumulated in hours (08:00 to 08:59 + 09:00 to 9:59 + 10:00 to 10:59 + 11:00 to 11:59) **÷ **4). The approach of dividing the day into morning, afternoon and evening segments to examine diurnal patterns of sedentary time and PA is consistent with approaches used in previous research investigating time-use patterns of sedentary time and PA among older adults.^[@R17]^
Participant data were only included to estimate morning, afternoon and evening activity, if *all hours* within the corresponding time frame were deemed as 'valid-wear hours'. For example, to be included in calculations to estimate *morning* sedentary time and PA, participants were required to record valid-wear hours (ie, a full = 60 min of wear time per hour), for *all* of the hours within this time frame (ie, 08:00 to 08:59 + 09:00 to 9:59 + 10:00 to 10:59 + 11:00 to 11:59 = total 240 min). For morning, afternoon and evening, participants were therefore required to have recorded 240, 360 and 300 min of wear time, respectively. To permit relative comparisons between morning, afternoon and evening sedentary time and PA, data are presented as the average min/hour for each activity, for each of the three time periods. In regard to valid *daily* wear time (total min/day of valid accelerometer data), all participants included in the current analysis recorded an average of 13.4 hours/day valid-wear time, which is above the 10 hours/day recommended to provide reliable estimates of sedentary time.^[@R27]^
Preliminary analysis {#s6-s6}
--------------------
Descriptive statistics were computed to characterise sedentary time and PA for each hour of the day as well as combined morning, afternoon and evening time periods, using only those participants providing valid-wear data within each hour or for complete morning (valid wear = 240 min, n = 41), afternoon (valid wear = 360 min, n = 64) and evening (valid wear = 300 min, n = 45) time periods, respectively. Following this, participants with valid data for at least two time periods per day (eg, morning and evening, or morning and afternoon) were retained for inclusion in the main statistical analysis (n = 52). Of these participants, a further n = 11 were excluded due to missing QRISK data. The final sample available for analysis was therefore n = 41.
Prior to primary statistical analysis, χ² tests and one-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to determine significant differences in demographics, RA characteristics and CVD risk factors, between participants included in the main PARA study at baseline (n = 97 of 115, who were provided with an accelerometer) versus those participants included in the current analysis (ie, n = 41, included on the basis of hourly accelerometer and available QRISK data). In addition, to elucidate any sample bias resulting from exclusion on the basis of hourly accelerometer data, one-way ANOVAs were conducted to compare daily accelerometer wear time as well as daily sedentary time, light-intensity and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA (min/day) between participants in this secondary analysis versus those providing valid *daily* accelerometer in the PARA study at baseline (n = 61, see Fenton *et al* (2017) for the original publication of this data).^[@R6]^ These analyses revealed that participants included in the current study were not significantly different to those recruited to the larger PARA study in regard to any of the reported characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, height, weight, RA characteristics, CVD risk factors or accelerometer-assessed activity behaviours). Results of these comparative analyses are provided as [online supplementary data (online supplementary file 1](#SP1){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
10.1136/rmdopen-2020-001216.supp1
Statistical analysis {#s6-s7}
--------------------
Mixed linear modelling (MLM) was used to explore within- and between-participant changes during the day in sedentary time, sedentary bout length, light-intensity PA and moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA separately. This approach was chosen as it does not assume sphericity of the data, can process non-normally distributed data and deal with occasional missing data.^[@R28]^ The within-subject level predictor was time (centred by assigning 0 to morning) and the between-person predictor was mean centred CVD risk (QRISK). Sex (women = 0) and mean centred age were entered as level 2 covariates in all analyses.[^5^](#FN0005){ref-type="fn"}[^5] Potential differences in diurnal patterns with varying levels of CVD risk were explored using mean centred CVD risk by time interactions. All analyses were repeated with mean centred disease duration, functional ability (HAQ) and disease severity (ESR) entered as control variables. It is worth noting that CVD risk by time interaction reflects whether the rate of change from morning to either afternoon or evening is similar for varying levels of CVD risk for a female of average age.
RESULTS {#s7}
=======
Characteristics of participants included in the main statistical analysis are reported in [table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"} (n = 41). Participants were largely women and Caucasian, with moderate disease activity and low to moderate disability. Overall, participants demonstrated a QRISK score indicative of the need for further intervention to lower CVD risk (ie, ≥10%). On average, participants spent approximately 66% of their waking day sedentary, and 32% of their day engaged in light-intensity PA.
######
Participant characteristics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mean ± SD\ Range\
n = 41 (min--max)
-------------------------------------------- -------------- --------------
Age (years) 58 ± 11 32--74
Gender (% women) 69%
Ethnicity (% Caucasian) 85%
Height (cm) 166.1 ± 9.2 151.0--195.0
Weight (kg) 77.1 ± 17.1 51.0--121.7
RA characteristics
Disease activity (DAS28) 3.18 ± 1.75 0.00--6.28
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mmHrs) 16.5 ± 15.8 2.0--69.0
Functional disability (HAQ) 1.67 ± 0.56 1.00--3.00
Disease duration (years) 7.2 ± 8.7 1--37
Morning stiffness (min/day) 35 ± 41 0--180
*Current treatment*
Anti-TNF (% yes) 10%
DMARDS (% yes) 56%
NSAIDS (% yes) 29%
Analgesics (% yes) 24%
*CVD risk factors*
Total cholesterol (mmol/L) 5.0 ± 0.9 3.3--6.9
HDL cholesterol (mmol/L) 1.4 ± 0.4 0.8--2.5
Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) 136 ± 17 99--181
Diastolic blood pressire (mm Hg) 81 ± 8 67--99
BMI (kg/m^2^) 27.8±5.5 19.7--42.0
Smoker (% current smokers) 7%
Diabetes (% yes) 7%
QRISK (%) 15.8 ± 11.9 0.2--48.0
*Activity behaviour*
Sedentary time (min/day) 514.0 ± 65.6 350--672
Light-intensity PA (min/day) 257.9 ± 67.8 121--423
Moderate-to-vigorous PA (min/day) 18.0 ± 17.2 0.0--76
Sedentary bout length (≥20 min) (min/bout) 31.1 ± 2.3 27--38
Valid wear time (min/day) 789.9 ± 41.8 698--1467
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The HAQ typically uses a response scale from 0 (without any difficulty) to 3 (unable to do). In the PARA study, the HAQ was scored on response scale starting at 1 (without any difficulty) to 4 (unable to do).
One participant who did not provide valid *daily* accelerometer data at baseline (excluded as an outlier) was included in the current secondary analysis, as their *hourly* data was considered valid. However, this participant was excluded for the purpose producing descriptive statistics to indicate *daily* estimates of behaviour.
Anti-TNF, anti Tumor Necrosis Factor; BMI, body mass index; CVD, cardiovascular disease risk; DAS28, Disease Activity Score-28; DMARDS, Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; NSAIDS, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; PA, physical activity.
Diurnal patterns of sedentary time and physical activity {#s7-s1}
--------------------------------------------------------
Diurnal patterns of sedentary time for morning, evening and afternoon periods are reported in [table 2](#T2){ref-type="table"}. MLM analyses revealed that participants were significantly more sedentary and less physically active during the evening period, compared to the morning and the afternoon periods. These differences were evident when sedentary time was assessed according to total minutes of sedentary time as well as sedentary bout length. Similarly, lower levels of both light-intensity PA and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA were found in the evening period, relative to the morning and afternoon periods. Age was not significantly associated with the diurnal patterns in sedentary behaviour or PA, and no sex differences were reported with the exception of sedentary time, which was marginally higher in women compared to men (p* *= .05).
######
Estimated means ± SE for sedentary behaviour and physical activity during the morning, afternoon and evening periods
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time of day Sedentary time (min/hour) Light-intensity PA (min/hour) Moderate-to-vigorousintensity PA (min/hour) Sedentary bout length\
(≥20 min)
---------------- --------------------------- ------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- ------------------------
*Morning*\ 38.04 ± 1.08 20.13 ± 0.98 1.86 ± 0.31 24.00 ± 1.23
(08:00--11:59)
*Afternoon*\ 39.74 ± 1.01 19.21 ± 0.91 1.07 ± 0.29\* 26.22 ± 1.24
(12:00--17:59)
*Evening*\ 47.80 ± 1.16\*^,^\*\* 11.97 ± 1.04\*^,^\*\* 0.25 ± 0.32\*^,^\*\* 29.30 ± 1.13\*^,^\*\*
(18:00--22:59)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Significantly different from morning, p \< .05.
Significantly different from afternoon, p \< .05.
Values are min/hour and min/bout (for sedentary bout length). Data represents the estimated mean for a female of average age and average cardiovascular disease risk. PA, physical activity.
Estimated 10-year CVD risk and diurnal pattern of sedentary time {#s7-s2}
----------------------------------------------------------------
Significant time by CVD risk interaction effects revealed that those with a higher CVD risk spent more time sedentary during the afternoon (p* *= .005) and evening (p* *= .02) compared to those with lower CVD risk. No significant interaction was reported between CVD risk and time spent sedentary in the morning. A significant time by CVD risk interaction was also present for sedentary bout durations; those with higher CVD risk had longer duration sedentary bouts in the afternoon compared to those with lower CVD risk. These analyses were repeated controlling for disease duration, functional ability (HAQ) and disease activity (ESR), which did not change the findings.
Estimated 10-year CVD risk and diurnal pattern of physical activity {#s7-s3}
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Significant time by CVD risk interactions was also reported for light-intensity PA and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA. People with increased CVD risk did less light-intensity PA during the afternoon (*p* = .016) and evening (*p* = .031), as well as less moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA during the afternoon (*p* = .026). No significant interactions were reported between CVD risk and time spent in light-intensity PA in the afternoon or between CVD risk and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity PA in the morning or evening. Repeating these analyses and adjusting for variations in disease duration, functional ability (HAQ) or disease severity (ESR) did not alter these findings.
DISCUSSION {#s8}
==========
This study is the first to investigate diurnal patterns of sedentary time among people living with RA and to determine the associations with estimated long-term (10-year) CVD risk. Results indicate that sedentary time is significantly higher, and sedentary bouts are significantly longer during the evening (18:00--23:00), compared to the morning or afternoon in this patient group. Moreover, higher levels of sedentary time during the evening are associated with an increased estimated 10-year risk of CVD, whereas higher levels of light-intensity PA in the evening are linked to lower estimated 10-year CVD risk.
Current findings suggest that interventions targeting evening sedentary time may offer a significant opportunity for intervention among people living with RA and may be particularly valuable in regards to reducing CVD risk. Our results demonstrating levels of sedentary time are highest in the evening are in alignment with existing research in RA that describes a decline in 'average accelerometer activity counts' to occur throughout the day.^[@R12]^ These previous investigations aggregated 'average activity counts per hour' across 3-hour time periods, reporting the predominant activity behaviour undertaken in the late morning (9:00--12:00), midday (12:00--15:00) afternoon (15:00--18:00) and evening (18:00--21:00). Results revealed average activity counts declined from approximately 8000 counts/hour in the late morning (or 133 cpm) to 5000 counts/hour in the evening (or 83 cpm). Interpretation of these data using the cut-points applied in the current study suggests that RA patients were predominantly engaged in light-intensity PA in the morning (ie, 100--2019 cpm) and spent most of their time sedentary during the evening (ie, \< 100 cpm). However, as these studies did not statistically examine within-person changes in activity behaviours, more conclusive comparisons with current data cannot be made. Additional research is therefore required to further substantiate the conclusion that the evening time period may represent an ideal time for interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour in RA, owing to the high sedentary levels observed during this period.
A consideration of the factors underlying engagement in sedentary behaviours (ie, determinants) will also be critical to consider when developing such interventions. Indeed, while high levels of sedentary behaviour during the evening offer a significant opportunity for intervention, there may be other factors (determinants) that influence whether an individual would engage in interventions to reduce their engagement in sedentary behaviours during the evening. To date, few studies have sought to identify determinants of sedentary behaviour in RA, which---due to the pathophysiology of this disease---are likely to be complex and multifactorial. For example, factors related to the chronobiology of RA may represent salient individual determinants of behaviour, which interact with other individual and environmental factors to influence sedentary time. Research indicates that joint stiffness is most pronounced in the morning among people with RA, an association suggested to be mediated by diurnal rhythms of cytokine levels.^[@R30]^ People living with RA also report heightened feelings of fatigue in the afternoon.^[@R31]^ These diurnal rhythms may explain both the higher levels of light-intensity PA undertaken in the morning (ie, to alleviate morning stiffness) and the afternoon and evening 'sedentary windows' observed in this study (ie, in response to fatigue). Indeed, fatigue and morning stiffness have been identified as two key factors influencing levels of sedentary time engagement among people living with RA.^[@R32]^ While we were unable to assess diurnal patterning of biological factors in this study, this represents an important and interesting avenue for future research.
Comparison of diurnal patterns of sedentary time engagement between people living with vs. without RA may provide some insight into the role of RA-specific determinants in this regard. In studies of older adults living without RA (aged ≥ 65 years), similar patterns of sedentary time engagement have been observed, whereby sedentary time is lower during the morning (before 12:00) and peaks in the evening (eg, after 17: 00--19:00). However, in observing absolute levels of sedentary time, morning sedentary time was reported to be higher among RA patients in our study, compared to other studies of older adults (consistently + 8 min/hour in RA).^[@R16]^ Moreover, in one study that examined differences in sedentary time among older adults in the morning (7:00--12:00) vs. the afternoon (12:00--17:00), sedentary time estimates increased from the morning (30 min/hour) to the afternoon (39.8 min/hour),^[@R17]^ where sedentary time among our population of RA patients was largely unchanged (38.0 and 39.7 min/hour in the morning and afternoon, respectively). Such comparisons may indicate that indeed, RA-specific factors are at play (eg, morning stiffness linked to inflammatory mechanisms) and are impacting diurnal patterns of sedentary time in this patient group. As such, additional research directed at understanding, and subsequently harnessing the concept of chronobiology to understand time-use patterns of behaviour among people with RA, may help to develop and deliver more optimally timed interventions and more effective patient care for this population.
We must also be cognisant of non-RA-related factors when considering avenues for intervention. For example, in a recent qualitative study, RA patients reported that while symptoms such as pain and fatigue sometimes influenced their activity, their decision to engage in sedentary behaviour could also have nothing to do with their RA, and instead reflected a way of living independent of their disease.^[@R32]^ Social relations were described as to contributing towards increased sedentary behaviour (eg, coffee mornings, film/movie night), and a lack of motivation to 'move' was also reported to influence levels of sedentary time engagement in this patient group. As such, in developing interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour in RA, we must work not only work to understand patterns of sedentary time accumulation (ie, identify 'sedentary windows' of opportunity) but also to identify salient RA-related and non-RA-related determinants of sedentary behaviour that can be targeted by such interventions, in order to effectively encourage behavioural change.^[@R33]^
Current results suggest that a feasible intervention approach may be to support individuals to reduce their sedentary time, by engaging in regular, short periods of light-intensity PA throughout the day (eg, standing or walking 'sedentary breaks'). Indeed, simultaneous investigation of light-intensity PA behaviour and sedentary time indicated opposite diurnal patterns of engagement. This mirroring of behaviour adds further impetus to the proposition that encouraging people living with RA to engage in light-intensity PA may result in reductions in sedentary time (ie, via displacement).^[@R6]^ This approach may prove particularly effective for interventions targeting the evening 'sedentary window', which---as current data indicates---is the most sedentary period of the day and is characterised by more prolonged, uninterrupted sedentary bouts.
In our previously published analysis, we demonstrate that higher daily sedentary time (including bouts per day ≥20 min) was positively associated with increased 10-year CVD risk estimated using the QRISK2, with the reverse negative association observed for light-intensity PA.^[@R6]^ The current investigation extends these analyses, to reveal that individuals with RA who accumulate the most sedentary time (overall and uninterrupted bouts ≥20 min), and the least light-intensity PA during the afternoon and evening, appear to be at the greatest risk for developing CVD in the subsequent 10 years. Thus, as well as representing the best opportunity for encouraging behavioural change, interventions targeting evening sedentary time in particular, may be particularly valuable in regard to their potential to reduce CVD risk in RA.
Potential mechanisms that may be responsible for the association between sedentary time and increased CVD risk include decreased lipoprotein lipase activity and compromised vascular function.^[@R14]^ ^[@R34]^ However, it is also possible that the increased CVD risk associated with higher sedentary time is influenced by other context-specific behaviours that occur in parallel to sedentary pursuits.^[@R14]^ This may offer one explanation as to why higher sedentary time accumulated specifically in the afternoon/evening may be associated with increased CVD risk. For example, energy intake and consumption of high energy 'snack foods' are reported to be significantly greater among individuals who engage in the most television viewing---a prominent leisure time sedentary behaviour.^[@R37]^ Moreover, epidemiological evidence suggests that TV time energy intake mediates the relationship between TV viewing and abdominal obesity in young adults,^[@R40]^ and individuals who jointly report higher television viewing and increased snack food consumption are at increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome and its individual components (eg, obesity).^[@R41]^ Thus, additional research is necessary to determine whether it is the deleterious physiological consequences of sedentary time per se that contribute towards heightened CVD risk, or whether this adverse association is a result of other 'unhealthy' behaviours engaged in while sedentary, which contribute to the CVD risk factor burden.
A limitation of this study is a lack of control group of healthy adults, with which to compare diurnal patterns of sedentary behaviour observed among this group of RA patients. However, we have drawn comparisons with other studies that have examined diurnal patterns of sedentary behaviour among older adults, to provide some insight into how levels and patterns of sedentary time may be compared between RA and non-RA populations. The study sample was also drawn from a larger RCT examining the efficacy of intervention to promote PA in RA.^[@R19]^ Here, we conducted a secondary analysis using baseline data to answer the current research questions. As participants volunteered to take part in the RCT, their levels of sedentary behaviour and PA may not reflect those typical of the general RA population. Future research should therefore be conducted using an independent sample of RA patients and age-, sex- and BMI -matched healthy controls.
Additional limitations of this study include a reliance on cross-sectional data and reduced sample size available for statistical analysis. The cross-sectional nature of the data means that we cannot determine causal associations between sedentary time and long-term CVD risk and rule out reverse causality (ie, that people with a higher CVD risk may be more sedentary). Experimental studies that aim to reduce sedentary time and measure corresponding changes in CVD risk factors and long-term CVD outcomes are therefore required to confirm the value of sedentary behaviour interventions in RA. The reduced sample size was as a result of employing a strict analytical approach requiring complete 'valid-data' across individual hours (ie, full 60-min wear/hour), and subsequently morning, afternoon and evening time periods, for inclusion in the analysis. This method was adopted to reduce bias at the most granular level of the data, feeding into the primary variable of interest in regard to our research question (ie, morning, afternoon and evening sedentary time and PA).
With this approach, participants included in analysis recorded an average of 13.4 hours/day valid-wear time, which is above 10 hours/day recommended to provide reliable estimates of sedentary time.^[@R19]^ To maximise sample size, we (1) employed a generalised time frame to participants' accelerometer data (08:00--22:59), based on visual inspection of participants graphed data and typical sleeping/waking times, (2) included participants in analysis who recorded complete valid data for ≥2 (out of a possible 3) time periods and (3) employed MLM as our primary analytical approach. MLM is able to deal with occasional missing data (eg, either morning or afternoon or evening data in this study), and thus enabled investigation of within- and between-participant changes in sedentary behaviour and PA during the day in this study, to begin to answer important, novel questions regarding the chronological succession of sedentary time in RA. Still, future research using larger samples with more complete data profiles are required to confirm the findings reported in this study, as missing accelerometer data occurring across some hours may indeed limit the inferences that can be made.
General limitations of using accelerometry to measure PA and sedentary time in this study should also be acknowledged. While accelerometers offer a more objective assessment of PA and sedentary time relative to self-report, accelerometers have not been specifically validated for measurement of PA and sedentary among people living with RA. That is, the algorithms applied to quantify PA intensities and sedentary time in this study were developed in studies of healthy adults, and therefore do not consider the unique physiology of people living with RA (eg, a higher resting metabolic rate). The use of accelerometers in this study also means that the definition of sedentary behaviour employed considers only energy expenditure (ie, ≤1.5 METs) and not the posture in which low-energy behaviours occurred.^[@R15]^ Together, these limitations of accelerometery highlight a requirement for future RA research that employs multiple methods (eg, self-report, accelerometry, posture sensors) that have been validated for use specifically among people living with RA, in order to build a comprehensive picture of what, where, when and how sedentary behaviour occurs in this patient group, prior to intervention.^[@R15]^
In conclusion, results suggest that people living with RA are significantly more sedentary during the evening (after 18:00) period, when compared to the morning (8:00--11:59) and the afternoon (12:00--17:59). In addition, higher sedentary time and more prolonged (uninterrupted) sedentariness during the evening are linked to increased estimated 10-year risk of CVD in this patient group. Thus, we provide preliminary data to suggest that the evening period may represent a 'sedentary window' for behavioural intervention and associated improvements in CVD risk among people living with RA. Due to inverse patterns of engagement, replacing or interrupting sedentary time with light-intensity PA (eg, via encouraging sedentary breaks) may offer an effective intervention approach for this population. Identifying RA-related and non-RA-related factors (eg, symptoms, motivation) that may influence engagement in sedentary behaviour is an important avenue for future research that will be critical in optimising such interventions for this patient group.
 Indicates valid hour (ie, 60 min of movement data recorded).\
 Indicates invalid hour (ie, \<60 min of movement data recorded).](rmdopen-2020-001216f01){#F1}
###### Key messages
- Sedentary behaviour ('too much sitting') demonstrates adverse associations with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, with emerging evidence of deleterious consequences for cardiovascular health in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
- This study is the first to examine diurnal patterns of sedentary time in RA and associations with CVD risk.
- Results revealed sedentary time was highest in the evening among people living with RA and that individuals with a higher CVD risk also spent more time sedentary during the evening, compared to those with lower CVD risk.
- Results suggest that the evening may represent a critical time period or 'sedentary window' of opportunity for behavioural intervention, and associated improvements in CVD risk among people living with RA.
**Contributors:** All authors (SAMF, NN, JLD, GSM, PCR, CY, GDK and JJCSVvZ) were involved in forming the concept and research aims and developing the methodology for this study. PCR, CY and SAMF conducted data collections and managed the data. SAMF, JJCSVvZ, and NN were responsible for analysing the data, and JLD, GSM, GDK and PCR provided input throughout the process. SAMF and JJCSVvZ wrote the first draft of this manuscript, with reviews and revision undertaken by all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
**Funding:** This study was funded by the Medical Research Council (UK), National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI), Phase 3.
**Competing interests:** None declared.
**Patient consent for publication:** Not required.
**Provenance and peer review:** Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
**Data sharing statement:** All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.
[^1]: QRISK2 as the QRISK3 was not available when primary data analysis for the PARA study was undertaken. QRISK2 has been used in all publications stemming from the PARA study to ensure consistency in the manner in which estimated long-term CVD risk is analysed and reported.
[^2]: 8:00--22:59 was a generalised timeframe applied to all data based on all participants graphed data and non-wear periods---that is, 50% of participants (n = 49) were consistently awake and wearing the accelerometer between 8:00 and 23:00, ≥3 days of the week. Before 8:00, only 25% of participants wore the accelerometer for ≥3 days.
[^3]: Studies indicate levels of activity differ across week versus weekend days. It is recommended that ≥1 weekend day should be included in analysis, to ensure reliable estimates of habitual PA and sedentary time.
[^4]: Accelerometer data processing methods (non-wear criteria and accelerometer cut-points) were selected to facilitate comparisons with the majority of previous RA accelerometer studies and epidemiological research in non-RA populations, in which these criteria have been applied.
[^5]: Additional analyses were conducted with employment status as a covariate (employed full time/part time vs unemployed (eg, homemaker, retired, studying)). These analyses revealed no significant effect of employment status in any of the analyses and are therefore not reported.
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{
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}
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Extended DLVO theory: electrostatic and non-electrostatic forces in oxide suspensions.
According to classical DLVO theory all ions of background salt solution with the same ionic charge should result in the same effective force between colloidal particles. However, the relative effectiveness of different ions in influencing forces between ceramic oxide surfaces follows either a reversed Hofmeister sequence or a direct Hofmeister sequence depending on the type of oxide and if the pH is above or below the isoelectric point (iep). This ion specificity is inexplicable in classical double layer theory that deals only with pure electrostatic forces acting between the ions and the colloidal particles. A theoretical explanation is given here. At, and above, biological salt concentrations other, non-electrostatic (NES) ion specific forces act that are ignored in such modeling. In this overview we present the basic theory for the double layer near a single oxide surface and for the extended DLVO forces between oxide colloidal particles that accounts for these NES forces. We will demonstrate that ion specificity can be understood to a large degree once NES forces are included consistently in the non-linear theory.
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{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
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Neosybra excisa
Neosybra excisa is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Breuning in 1939.
References
Category:Neosybra
Category:Beetles described in 1939
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{
"pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)"
}
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The effect of carbonyl group in the asymmetry of 3,4JCH coupling constants in norbornanones.
A rationalization of the known difference between the 3,4JC4H1 and 3,4JC1H4 couplings transmitted mainly through the 7-bridge in norbornanone is presented in terms of the effects of hyperconjugative interactions involving the carbonyl group. Theoretical and experimental studies of 3,4JCH couplings were carried out in 3-endo- and 3-exo-X-2-norbornanone derivatives (X = Cl, Br) and in exo- and endo-2-noborneol compounds. Hyperconjugative interactions were studied with the natural bond orbital (NBO) method. Hyperconjugative interactions involving the carbonyl pi*(C2=O) and sigma*(C2=O) antibonding orbitals produce a decrease of three-bond contribution to both 3,4JC4H1 and 3,4JC1H4 couplings. However, the latter antibonding orbital also undergoes a strong sigmaC3--C4 --> sigma*(C2=O) interaction, which defines an additional coupling pathway for 3,4JC4H1 but not for 3,4JC1H4. This pathway is similar to that known for homoallylic couplings, the only difference being the nature of the intermediate antibonding orbital; i.e. for 3,4JC4H1 it is of sigma*-type, while in homoallylic couplings it is of pi*-type.
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4.1.2. 授权响应
=======================
如果资源所有者许可访问请求，授权服务器颁发授权码，通过按[附录B](../AppendixB/b.md)使用“application/x-www-form-urlencoded”格式向重定向URI的查询部分添加下列参数传递授权码至客户端：
- code
必需的。授权服务器生成的授权码。授权码必须在颁发后很快过期以减小泄露风险。推荐的最长的授权码生命周期是10分钟。客户端不能使用授权码超过一次。如果一个授权码被使用一次以上，授权服务器必须拒绝该请求并应该撤销（如可能）先前发出的基于该授权码的所有令牌。授权码与客户端标识和重定向URI绑定。
- state
必需的，若“state”参数在客户端授权请求中提交。从客户端接收的精确值。
例如，授权服务器通过发送以下HTTP响应重定向用户代理：
HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://client.example.com/cb?code=SplxlOBeZQQYbYS6WxSbIA&state=xyz
客户端必须忽略无法识别的响应参数。本规范未定义授权码字符串大小。客户端应该避免假设代码值的长度。授权服务器应记录其发放的任何值的大小。
- 4.1.2.1. [错误响应](4.1.2.1.md)
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{
"pile_set_name": "Github"
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MAD SCIENTISTS AND ATOMIC MONSTERS ATTACK THE EARTH
MAD SCIENTISTS AND ATOMIC MONSTERS ATTACK THE EARTH
MAD SCIENTISTS AND ATOMIC MONSTERS ATTACK THE EARTH
Created by
$91,876
Last updated
pledgedto help bring this project to life.
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{
"pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2"
}
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Members of the anarcho-syndicalist CNT union and
CGT union have gone on indefinite strike and occupied their workplace
at the IMESAPI lighting plant in Granollers, Catalunya, Spain, demanding
an end to the redundancy plans which would see four of the 21 workers
let go.
The workers – now 23 days into their strike – are responsible for
maintaining the street lights throughout the small Catalan town, and
therefore are of critical importance to the town council. IMESAPI itself
is a part of the huge ACS conglomerate owned by Florentino Pérez, the
multibillionaire engineering tycoon known internationally as the owner
of Real Madrid FC.
Crucially, all of the workers at the Granollers plant belong to
either the CNT or CGT unions, who have vowed to back the strike as long
as it continues, unlike the mainstream Comisiones Obreras union,who
signed off on similar redundancy packages at IMESAPI plants in Barcelona
(which saw a failed strike) and Tenerife.
Despite now finding themselves alone in their struggle, the IMESAPI
strikers have been industrious: holding twice-weekly family
demonstrations marching through the town to the town hall. The
strikers' march through the town centre on 22 December was a cold bucket
of water for shoppers on possibly the most important commercial day of
the year. As their children - at the demonstration's head with a banner
that said: “FLORENTINO PEREZ, WHAT ABOUT OUR TOYS?” - filed past over
the umpteen Nativity scenes and kitsch Christmas decorations, one could
sense an evident contrast between the absurd myth of Christmas plenitude
perpetuated by town councils and retail, and the real sense of festive
lack being endured by many in crisis-hit Spain.
Indeed, workers on the demonstration spoke of a lean Christmas, while
many were worrying about their next mortgage payment. A further blow
has been the cynicism of IMEPASI, who still haven't paid their workers
their annual Christmas bonus, despite repeatedly promising to do so.
They have also refused to open their books to the unions, who suspect
financial irregularities on the part of their employers and claim that
the new redundancy measures would make the remaining workers' jobs
impossible.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
This new Solidarity Federation pamphlet is a thorough, fascinating and inspirational introduction to the anarcho-syndicalist group's perspective - taking in the past, present and projected future of workers' struggles in the UK, Europe and the world. But while it presents a compelling argument for the necessity of SolFed's tactical approach, Fighting For Ourselves does not make a strong case for SolFed itself being the primary locus of that fightback.
Perhaps the single most impressive thing about the work is the seriousness of the approach taken. Clearly a lot of thought, preparation and debate have gone into it. What's more - the writers clearly perceive that: a) the current economic crisis presents both challenge and opportunity, and b) mass rank-and-file organisation is now self-evidently the most 'realistic' way forward.
Chapter one analyses "the mainstream workers' movement", charting from the full-blooded origins of trade unionism to today's hollowed-out bureaucratic structures. In contemporary times, "The energy it would take to reform or dislodge such bureaucracies, not
just the elected officials but the structures themselves, is many times
that required to simply bypass the bureaucracy and take action outside
it." This history of this development is far from exhaustive, but does point out major milestones along the way. Particularly important is the shift from what is termed "associational" to "representative" models, with the latter meaning a paid bureaucracy has to kept in place, and therefore most have distinct material interests to those it is supposedly representing. The case study of early 20th century bureaucrat John Turner is particularly instructive in this regard - he considered himself an anarchist, but "By 1909 Turner was accused from one quarter of playing the 'role of one
of the most blatant reactionaries with which the Trades Union movement
was ever cursed'".
It then moves on to self-styled 'revolutionary' and 'Marxist' parties, and using the phrase 'dictatorship of the proletariat' tars all Marxists with the brush of seeking state power over the working class. This is an error, which is even hinted at in the brief reference to Marx's opinion of the 1871 Paris Commune. I hope it is an honest error, especially because the rest of the critique stands up to scrutiny, and is well aimed in its breakdown of the Bolsheviks, their immediate descendants, and those who falsely claim their mantle in the 21st century (the observation that "Revolutionary rhetoric serves as a mask for reformist practice" in modern fake left organisations is particularly pertinent).
All of which leads us inevitably to the Labour Party, and a superb blow by blow takedown of its reactionary record as defenders of ruling class privilege. Whereas left apologists often cite the achievements of the post-war Atlee government, SolFed correctly describe this is a response largely agreed on by all three bourgeois parties, including the Conservatives. As Tory MP Quintin Hogg surmised in 1943, the prevailing attitude was that "we must give them reform or they will give us revolution." The social democratic settlement was therefore largely taken rather than merely given, because "without the tangible threat of working class unrest, that [elite] consensus would never have been acted on".
With reformist unions, top-down "Marxist" groupings and the Labour Party dispatched, the next two chapters take in all shades of anarchists, syndicalists, and "dissident Marxist" currents which have attempted to organise amongst the working class down the years. There's plenty to learn here, and the logic flows neatly from one idea to another, with each group apparently having learned from the failures of its predecessors.
It's easy to see why this is a convenient device for the writers, because the reader quickly begins to suspect that SolFed will emerge as the perfect outcome and synthesis of all these different ideas! But history doesn't work quite as simply as that. Certainly we should aim to learn from the past, but primarily it is material circumstances which shape ideas, which then drive people into action. This may seem a trivial - almost drily philosophical - point to make, but it does have real world repercussions, as evidenced in the concluding chapter.
Before we get there though, there is an excellent section on post-war class struggle. This draws quite heavily on macroeconomics, although you certainly don't need a degree in it to get your head round the main thrust of the argument. SolFed contend - again rightly - that the post-war settlement meant "the institutionalisation of the working class as a collective entity", which was managed in the interests of the ruling class in line with the Keynesian doctrine fashionable in elite circles at the time. In the late 60s and early 70s, this model was ruptured by economic crisis, and working people reached a major limitation in terms of what they could wring from the capitalist class without pushing on to revolution. SolFed admit that - from a capitalist perspective - there really was "no alternative" - as Thatcher put it - to the neoliberal counter-revolution launched more than three decades ago.
So following the imposition of this agenda by many successive prime ministers - and in the midst of widespread capitalist breakdown - the financial elite's refusal to give an inch leaves no space for the bureaucracy to operate, and this means there really is no alternative to rank and file organisation of working class fightback.
It is at this point that Fighting For Ourselves presents its prescription: for workers to organise themselves in an anarcho-syndicalist union - i.e. SolFed, organise direct action for themselves based on the resources at their disposal, and by the power of example draw ever more people into the organisation. Eventually this will lead to mass insurrectionary general strikes around the world, which could quickly abolish the wage relation, and create a world of free access - full communism.
This is spelled out with luminous liveliness and self-belief, and this is the most emotionally powerful section of the pamphlet. I might quibble about some terms here and there, and I might predict that certain phases might take longer than SolFed envisage, but I agree about the fundamentals. At this stage of the battle - before mass non-hierarchical struggles against austerity have begun over much of the world - this should almost be enough.
Yet it is not quite. Despite a few caveats about SolFed not being the be all and end all, this is a SolFed-centric vision. This is maybe most evident in the passage about the SolFed Local:
"At the heart of the anarcho-syndicalist union is the Local, which aims
to be at the centre of community and workplace struggle in the
surrounding area. But the role of the Local goes beyond that. It
provides the physical space where a diverse range of groups, such as
oppressed, cultural, and education groups can organise. The Local acts
as the social, political, and economic centre for working class struggle
in a given area. It is the physical embodiment of our beliefs and
methods, the means by which workers become anarcho-syndicalist not just
on the basis of ideas but activity."
Such bodies will need to exist. But if there is a particular reason why they should be part of - or mainly facilitated by - SolFed, it is not described within these pages. Thinking of Liverpool radical politics right now, I would love to be in such a group with the SolFed comrades, but I'd want AFed comrades there too, as well as the many unaligned comrades who make up the overwhelming majority of radical class struggle activists.
The hypothetical SolFed organisation of the future as painted so vividly at the end of Fighting For Ourselves is just that - a theoretical abstraction based on lessons learned from all the defeated mass struggles of the past. If - as seems likely - mass struggles break out worldwide in 2013, workers may well make use of SolFed. But why not AFed? Why not the IWW? Why not the platformist groups? But come to that, why won't they forge their own tools with which to beat the boss class, based on their own lived experiences in their own class struggle classrooms? Surely, in this hyper-globalised, hyper-linked world, what works will spread memetically, in a way prefigured by the Occupy movement of 2011.
For all this pamphlet's attacks on 'vanguards', its focus on building a specific organisation - i.e. by SolFed - when "we reject the idea that the conditions created by capitalism will
spontaneously lead to workers’ resistance", still leaves us with a tiny minority trying to lead the immense global proletariat by example. I wish them all the best with that task.
Monday, December 17, 2012
"What queer people you are!" said the mother to the Ukrainian one
day. "All are your comrades--the Armenians and the Jews and the
Austrians. You speak about all as of your friends; you grieve for all,
and you rejoice for all!"
"For all, mother dear, for all! The world is ours! The world is
for the workers! For us there is no nation, no race. For us there are
only comrades and foes..."
When I was searching a cover image to go with this review, I stumbled across another one on the LibCom website, which was published just three weeks ago. Though I'm reluctant to say it proves anything much, it's an extraordinary coincidence that both me and the writer of that piece were both drawn to this novel this autumn. Speaking for myself, I found I drew enormous strength to persevere in what Gorky called "treading the path of truth and reason", in the teeth of what has been an extremely bleak year for 'the left'. But it was no mere comfort blanket; I was everywhere confronted with the brutal reality of the system here and now in the descriptions of the system there and then, and challenged in my own assumptions on every page.
Gorky was born into something quite far removed from the privilege which nurtured Leo Tolstoy. Orphaned at nine, he ran away from home at twelve to find his grandmother, who raised him until she herself died. Gorky attempted suicide, before taking a series of itinerant jobs across Russia, which gave him a sharp insight into the struggles of life on the margins. It was these people he wrote about in his early years as a journalist, essayist and novelist.
The intensification of mass struggles in the earliest years of the twentieth century sharpened his focus even further, and he was drawn to the emerging workers' movement. The abortive 1905 revolution against the Tsar provided the inspiration for The Mother - a staggering work which pulls no punches in describing the abject lives of the dispossessed, yet never employs condescending pity in the way that petit bourgeois-raised Charles Dickens did, for example. For Gorky, the working class were full of fight, and perfectly capable of taking care of themselves given half a chance.
The writer showed great skill in painting a picture of a scene in a few lines, with each holding a huge weight of rich social significance. One awesome illustration of this comes early on, when Gorky describes how the main female protagonist watched over her young adult son Pavel after he'd been out drinking for the first time:
"But when she returned he was already asleep. She stood over him for
a minute, trying to breathe lightly. The cup in her hand trembled,
and the ice knocked against the tin. Then, setting the cup on the
table, she knelt before the sacred image upon the wall, and began
to pray in silence. The sounds of dark, drunken life beat against
the window panes; an accordion screeched in the misty darkness of
the autumn night; someone sang a loud song; someone was swearing
with ugly, vile oaths, and the excited sounds of women's irritated,
weary voices cut the air."
The mother begins the novel as a battered wife, surviving day to day on the urge to protect Pavel from his father's blows, and drawing vague comfort from prayers before Christian icons. Gradually she is drawn into the small revolutionary circle of Pavel's friends, and by the end she faces something like martyrdom at the centre of a rapidly growing network of comrades spanning from town to town and deep into the countryside. Through her, we know her people.
In the wrong hands, this kind of work could seem preachy and didactic. But even though obviously intended to draw people into the cause, Gorky had lived the life he was describing, and it was clearly everything to him. The many female characters are determined and strong-willed - an extreme rarity in its day, and not much more common today. But this is never forced or tokenistic - it is realistic. Some scenes - particularly those around the May Day parade - left me hardly believing that a mortal had written them, such was the brilliance of Gorky's ability to portray conflicting forces and warring emotions in just a few words.
As the LibCom reviewer put it:
"The situation is bleak and promises no immediate change; only through a
long uphill struggle will oppression be overcome. But a faith, one not
unlike that of primitive christianity, is what ushers the characters in
this novel, the mother especially, to go onwards and fight and believe,
and pour nearly every ounce of hope and joy into the struggle as it
persists from day to day. The beauty of the future society, a society
based on the sharing of the world's wealth in common, brightens the
revolutionary mission the characters have taken upon themselves, at a
great amount of risk."
Or in Gorky's glowing language: "Who can extinguish this love? Who? What force can destroy it? What force
can opposite it? The earth has given it birth, and life itself longs for
its victory. Life itself!”
Sunday, December 09, 2012
The scene at the front of Bold Street Starbucks at Saturday lunchtime...
A large group of activists wreaked a little bit of havoc with pre-Christmas capitalist business as usual on Saturday afternoon, as they joined in with a nationwide UK Uncut action, and also targeted workfare exploiters Poundland.
The five hours of fun began at noon, with a static rally organised by Liverpool Against The Cuts, who also played a co-ordinating and publicising role in the run-up to Saturday. It took place next to the Co-operative bank on the corner of Bold Street, and like other recent demos, it seemed quite isolated from the general public milling by. A handful of speakers decried the government's austerity agenda through a megaphone, but it appeared to make little impact on busy shoppers.
After a few minutes, a group led by the Socialist Singers and the Angry Women of Liverpool made their move on the local branch of Starbucks - the multi-billion pound company which has recently been making the headlines for its ability to avoid paying tax. Police were monitoring the front Bold Street entrance, and the back door had been locked, but a small number of us managed to get inside by simply posing as customers and strolling past the cops. Once inside, the AWOL banner was unfurled. This inevitably provoked the anger of the manager and a plainclothes cop/security guard, who claimed he "didn't want to hurt" one demonstrator, but twisted her hand and wrist in opposite directions as she and comrades were bundled out of the building.
But by this time, the Socialist Singers had massed outside the front entrance, effectively blocking it, and scores more had moved from the static demo to hear them/join in, creating a 'wall of sound'. The front door was also locked, and only opened when the customers already inside wanted to leave.
The shop was closed for at least a couple of hours over the busy lunchtime period, and many caffeine seekers were turned away. Most left with no complaint once they were informed we'd closed the branch due to Starbucks' refusal to pay taxes, and the link with the austerity bearing down on us all was constantly reinforced by the many placards and banners. But one American appeared to be in denial, claiming it was "an objective fact I can get coffee in this shop", while another man announced he supported the cuts to "bad nurses and bad teachers", for which he was roundly booed and denounced as "Tory scum".
Eventually, a breakaway group moved away in knots of twos and threes, in order to hit the Liverpool One Starbucks branch half a mile down the road. There we encountered more hostility from the manager and one cop in particular, but this time the element of surprise meant that we'd got more bodies into the shop itself, therefore making it more difficult to evict us all without arrests. After much shouting, a lengthy standoff ensued, while passers-by took photos through the windows, many of which were uploaded on social networking websites.
...and the back!
Finally, the police ran out of patience, and 'good cop' was sent over to couch a threat of arrest under aggressive trespass legislation in "respect for your right to demonstrate" and acknowledgement that "you've had a really successful protest". At this point we decided to walk out together, with large numbers maintaining a picket outside, whilst others of us swapped UK Uncut for Boycott Workfare, and descended on the Williamson Square Poundland.
We have held many pickets there over the past few months, and normally the security guard merely asks us to make sure we are not blocking access as we hand out leaflets and talk to people about the workfare scheme. This time however - perhaps because his patience had run out or perhaps due to Christmas pressure - he threatened to call the police, before actually calling three other 'security' men, one of whom was a massive tracksuited guy. This individual proceeded to push one protester, throw balled-up pieces of paper at me, and make gang signs. Another threatened to meet demonstrators "down a dark alley".
The law did arrive about twenty minutes later, and as is usual they marched straight inside to consult with the store security. When they emerged, they were deaf to our complaints about the criminal acts committed by 'security', but the senior cop clearly didn't want to make any arrests either, so he merely repeated the normal security mantra of "make sure you don't block the door", having warned his junior colleague to back off and calm down. Many potential customers took our literature, and stopped for a chat.
As the clock ticked round to five, we decided to call it a day, satisfied that we had put in hours of excellent work. The afternoon had been a massive success - costing Starbucks significant amounts of money, and generating great publicity for our causes. These victories were only possible due to the coming together of many different groups and unaligned people on the radical left, which gave us the numbers necessary to make a big physical impact, and made for a fantastic atmosphere. However, we need to make more effort to communicate with the workers in the shops. In the case of Poundland and other workfare profiteers, real jobs and wages are being undermined by the scheme. And Starbucks declared war on its staff this week, as it refused to accept any cut in profits if and when it decides to pay some corporation tax.
Saturday's events provided a brief, tantalising hint of working class power, but real change will have to be based on workplace organisation.
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
As George Osborne was waging relentless class war from the House of Commons dispatch box this afternoon, Liverpool students and supporters held a small demo with a massive banner outside the University of Liverpool Guild of Students building.
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"Previously on 90210:" "Oh, my God, I'm a terrible mother." ""Dear Ryan, I'm so sorry." "Jacques is better off without me."" "She's gone." "I'm not gonna tell anybody that we hooked up." " Whoa, whoa, whoa." " What the hell, man?" " Ahem." "Sorry." " Are you okay?" "Fine, whatever." "I smoked a little weed." "I'm your guidance counsellor." "You can tell me anything." "I found out my dad is a child pornographer." "We can totally hang out together at the party." "But I can't take you as my date." "Ha, ha." "Victor wants me to go with Joe Jonas." "You don't deserve to be treated that way." "And next up, my favourite new song." "I can't stop singing it and I'm guessing you can't either." " Aah!" " Oh, my God." "It's your song." " It's literally everywhere." " Eyes on the road." " Sorry, sorry." " Well, turn it up." "Oh, my God." "Hello to good times Goodbye to bad times" "You and I together" "Moving on is so much better" "Nay, yo." "Oh, hey, you just drove by our beach." "Wait." "Are we going to another beach?" "I'm not allowed to get freckles." "Everybody chill." "We're going to the same beach." "I have to make a pit stop and pick up Ivy." ""Ivy" Ivy?" "Since when are you two friends?" "Okay, wardrobe aside, she's not as lame as I thought." "Uh, she cheated on my brother." "Technically, they were broken up." "And there were extenuating circumstances." "Like what?" "Like Oscar manipulating her Jasper-style." "Trust me, she really needs a friend right now." " Eyes on the road!" " Oh." "Okay, sorry, sorry." " Will you turn this part up?" " Yeah." "Hi." "Hurry, we're losing tanning time." "What up?" "I don't think my board's gonna fit." "It's cool." "You know what?" "I'm gonna drive myself because, like..." "No, no, it's okay." "We'll make it work." "Right?" "Yeah, definitely." "Lay it across so the surfboard doesn't scratch my Bentley." "Ah." " Hey, let's see that board." "Whoa." " Ha, ha." "Sorry, I'm a little wet because I've been surfing." "It's okay." "Just so you guys know, I'm not, like, really big on tanning." "Oh." "Me neither." "I'm not supposed to freckle." " Okay." " All right." "To the beach, bitches." "Hey, do you wanna quiz me on calculus?" " Uh, no." " Okay, let me put it to you differently." " Uh, will you quiz me on calculus?" " Uh, no." "Come on, dude." "I helped you, uh, do that thing." " What thing?" " I can't think of anything right now." "I'm positive in our friendship, I helped you with something." " Hey, guys." " Hey." "Yo." "Just got back last night." "Went to visit my dad on set." "He's shooting that talking dog movie." "Little inside scoop, the dog can't actually talk." "Look, you guys, I'm sorry about the other night." "You mean driving high?" "You could have killed us, man." "Yeah, I know." "I screwed up." "It won't happen again." " Cool." " Yeah, whatever." "I guess we all make mistakes, right?" "Uh, gotta go, guys." "You were broke and I took you out to Mozza." "Bam." "That was to repay me for updating your lame-ass music collection." "Bam." "Whatever." "I don't care." "Glad you're back, Teddy." "Getting tired of hanging out with that joker." " See you." " Later." " Oh!" " Oh!" "Sorry." "Oh, ha, ha." " Sorry." " No, I'm..." "I was texting." "Yeah, ha, ha, I'm cramming." " Right." "Ahem." " Yeah." "Well, I should go." "Oh, yeah, right." "Yeah." "Cool." "I'll see you later." "Cool." "And I may be in the minority here, but I think that the Sleepy Planet sleep training programme is better than the Weissbluth model." "I mean, it's usually one rough night." "But after that, the babies sleep 10 to 12 hours." "Sounds great." "Well, this is a very impressive resumé." "Certified in infant CPR, three years at Ocean Hills Nursery School." "You must really love children." "I do." "And when I'm taking care of one, that child is my top priority." "What's the saying that the post office has?" ""Neither rain nor sleet nor gloom of night..."" "I think nannies should have that too." "I mean, after all, parents are entrusting us with their most precious possession." "All right, well, this is good." "Um, we'll discuss it and..." "I don't think we need to discuss it." "You're hired." "Oh, or you're hired." "Really?" "Oh, that's great." " Can you start Monday?" " Absolutely." "I have your number." "I'll call you, work out the details." "Great." "I'm thrilled." "It was really nice to meet you both." "Thank you." "You too." "Bye-bye." "Thank you." "Well, I guess the ninth one's the charm." "Thank God." "I was feeling pretty hopeless after the seventh and just suicidal after the eighth." " Ha, ha." " Seriously, I have been terrified." "Now that my suspension's over, I've been going crazy trying to figure out how to manage this whole single-father thing." "Well, I knew we'd find someone great eventually." "Thanks to you." "I mean, I don't know my Weissbluth from my Planet Sleepyhead or..." " Sleepy Planet." " Sleepy Planet." "What happened to rubbing a little whisky on their gums?" " I'm so glad you're hiring a nanny." " Ha, ha." "Me too." "You know, for the first time since Jen left, I don't feel completely panicked." "Just moderately panicked." "What can we do to bring you down to mildly panicked?" "Rub a little whisky on my gums?" " Ha, ha." " Hmm?" "The prodigal son returns, and he may have aced yet another calculus exam." " Uh, what's going on?" " Dad's been with his lawyers all day." " He looks mad." " Why?" "We don't know, but, uh, he wants to talk to you." " Me?" " Mm-hm." "Okay." " Probably it's..." " Dad?" "Uh, Mom said you...?" "Did you talk to somebody at your school about my business?" " What?" " To your college counsellor." "Did you say anything about my business?" "Uh..." "Yeah, maybe." "What did you say, exactly?" " Uh, I don't remember." " Navid, this is important." "Did you say anything about underage actresses in my films?" "I might have." "Why, Dad?" "What's going on?" "I am being investigated by the authorities for child pornography." "I could go to jail." "No, I had no idea the song was gonna be this popular when I wrote it." "Spin magazine." "What was I thinking?" "Uh, just about staying positive." "You know, like, no matter what, staying open to the good times, moving on from the bad." "Thank you so much." "Yes, of course." "Call any time with questions." "All right, bye." "They're doing a feature on me, a four-page spread." "I do the pictures tomorrow." "My publicist Renee said it's gonna be like this whole profile on me." "I mean, my likes, my dislikes, my ideal date." " Oh." " Ha, ha." "My beauty regimen." "Can you not rain on my parade right now?" " How am I raining on your parade?" " By judging me?" " Ade, I'm not." " Navid, it is written all over your face." "Look, I know Javier wrote the song, but I sang it." "Okay?" "Ade, stop." "It's not about that." "I'm having family problems, okay?" "Oh." "I'm sorry." "Hey, what's going on?" "Just my dad, he's..." "Oh." "I have to take this, okay?" "Uh, fine." "Victor, hi." "Heh." "Wait, are you serious?" "Of course I can be there." "Yeah, I'll see you soon." "Bye." "Ryan Seacrest wants to interview me right now." " Really?" " Ha, ha." "I guess somebody bailed last minute." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I know this is really bad timing..." "No, no, no." "It's okay." "Get ready." " Shoot, where's my lipstick?" " Ha, ha." " Wait, do you wanna have dinner?" " Yeah." "How about 8?" "Yes!" "I found it." "Oh, tonight's totally not gonna work." "I booked studio time, but how about tomorrow?" " Um, yeah." "Sure." " Okay, good." "That way, we can definitely talk." " I'd like that." " Ha, ha." "Me too." "I love you." " I'm gonna be on Ryan Seacrest." " Ha, ha." " Aah!" "Ha, ha." " Go, go, go." "Mwah." "Wow, what a great place." "Thanks." "I lucked out." "Almost got stuck living in the dorms." "Hi." "Is this the famous Annie?" "Hi." "Of course, if I lived in the dorms, I might have had privacy." "Oh, who needs privacy?" "Annie, these are my roommates." " I'm Julia." "And this is Wes and Aliyah." " Nice to meet you." " You too." " Charlie, music." " Oh, yes, ma'am." " Oh, and chips." " Get your own chips." " I'm already sitting." " So you're a senior, yeah?" " Yes." "Oh, I remember being a senior." "You should." "It was last year." "I mean the feeling." "The excitement, the possibilities." "Going to sleep without 600 pages of reading hanging over your head." " You check out Bowser's reading list?" " All Derrida, all the time." " Ooh." "Intense." " Long-winded." " Brilliant." " Totally brilliant." "Is Derrida a professor of yours?" "No, uh, he's a French philosopher." "Charlie, we're boring her." "We're boring me." "So do you know where you wanna go to college yet?" "Oh, uh, no." "But I definitely want to apply here and USC." "And Carnegie Mellon actually has a great theatre programme, so..." " It's in Pittsburgh." " Don't be a snob." " I wasn't." " You said Pittsburgh..." " You're reading into it, you always do." " I wasn't. I..." "Jeez, you guys." "Take it down a notch." "You're not dating anymore." "True." "Fight with her." "I don't fight with her." "That's what's so nice." " Whatever." "Got salsa?" " Uh, I'm sitting." "You know where it is." "Okay." " Oh, hey." " Hi." "Um, I was just..." " I'm gonna come back later, okay?" " No, wait, wait." "Hey, hey." "We need, uh, to talk about what happened." "Oh, uh, what almost happened." "I think that'll be the best way for us to put it behind us." "Otherwise, it'II... fester?" "Yeah." "I mean, you're right." "Um..." " It's just that it was..." "It was so..." " Weird?" "Incredibly weird." "I know." "Look, I was feeling really insecure and that whole thing with Joe Jonas and..." "You were there for me." "And I confused that for something else and I'm really sorry that I made things awkward." "No, it wasn't your fault." "Trust me. I..." "I was in a strange place too." "And I guess every once in a while, you know, people are bound to go through this with their friends and it's..." " Yeah, it's inevitable?" " Yeah." "I mean, hence the term "friends with benefits." Ha, ha." "Uh, not that I got a benefit from you." "It's just..." "It's common, right?" "Ha, ha." "It doesn't mean anything." "Exactly." "Means nothing." " So we can move past it?" " Consider it moved past." " Great, ha, ha." " Awesome." "Because I can only handle so much stress in my life." "My dad, he's kind of maxing me out." "Oh, no." "Are things still bad?" "Yeah." "I'll be fine, as long as I don't go home." "Figure I'll set up a cot here and..." "Oh, use those emergency showers in the science lab." "Ha, ha." "Come on." "You guys are gonna figure things out." "You have a great relationship." "Had." "I screwed up bigtime." "Then apologise." "As a friend once told me, "You don't wanna let things fester."" "Sounds like a pretty cool guy, your friend." "Oh, yeah, he has his moments." "Clearly, Hemingway's commenting on man's relationship with nature." "But what is he saying about man's relationship with man?" "Hi." "Sorry to interrupt, but there's an emergency." "An emergency?" "What...?" "What happened?" "Is he okay?" "Oh, nothing happened." "He's fine." "I have an audition." "An audition?" "Is that an emergency?" "What happened to "neither rain nor sleet nor gloom of night"?" " Miami." " Wait, Erin." "And on page 92, Santiago says:" ""You are killing me, fish, but you have a right to."" "Is he teething?" "You should give him something to suck on." "Thanks, but he's fine." "Let's focus." "Uh, so he goes on:" ""Never have I ever seen a greater or more beautiful or calmer or a more noble thing than you." Yeah." " Have you checked his diaper?" " His diaper's fine." "Oh." "His diaper's..." "I don't know." "I'Il..." "I'll be right back." "Hey, Deb, it's Ryan." "Uh, I'm back up to completely panicked and I don't know who else to call." "Um, hi." "Don't you know frowning that hard will increase your future Botox bill?" " What are you reading?" " I'm about a hundred pages in and I still have no idea." "Charlie and Julia kept going on about how brilliant this Derrida guy is." "And Julia is?" "Charlie's ex-girlfriend." "Really smart." "Really cool." " And really threatening?" " Really, really threatening." "Well, have you marked your territory at least?" "What are you talking about?" "I don't mean have you peed on him." " Ha, ha." " I mean, have you locked him down?" "Have you had the "let's be exclusive" talk yet?" "Oh, no." "And I don't wanna push." " Well, how's the sex?" " Between Charlie and Julia?" "Judging by their chemistry, it was probably pretty good." "No, I mean, between the two of you." "Mm." "We haven't had sex yet." "Oh, my God, that's a problem." "He's a college guy." "If you wanna lock him down, you have to give him the key." " To your..." " I got it." "I got it." "Yo, man, I've been running on empty for ten minutes." "I told you, the service here sucks, kid." "Sorry, we just changed shifts." "Can I get you a refill?" "Uh..." "Yes." "Yes, I would love a refill." "Thank you." "Wow, I take back what I said about the service." "I'll let her service me any time." " Yeah, no kidding." " So hot." "Girl like that will help me get over Ivy for sure." "So do it." "Ask her out." "You never know." "Sometimes hot girls go for ugly guys so they can have the upper hand." " Look who's funny today." " Ha, ha." " Iced tea, right?" " Yeah, thanks." " Ahem." " No problem." " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Let me know if there's anything else you want." "Oh, man, it's on." "She seemed really into you." "Heh." "Yeah, hilarious." "Shut up, all right?" "Whatever, do your thing." "Get her number, man." "I'll tell you what." "I'm gonna let you have this one." "I'm beat." "I'm gonna head home." "See you guys later." " Later." " Peace, man." "How can I be expected to keep every single document?" "I'll call you back, Peter." "What is it?" "I..." "I just want to apologise, Dad." "I was mad at you when I went to the counsellor and I never thought that this would happen." "Well, maybe you should have thought about it." "Do you realise what you have done?" " I'm trying to apologise." " Too late for that." "My records are being subpoenaed." "I'm under investigation." "All because my ahmagh son couldn't keep his big mouth shut." "You're not in trouble because of my big mouth." "You're in trouble because you broke the law." " Get out of here." " You need to stop blaming everyone and take some responsibility for it." "Get out, now!" "Gladly." "You coming in?" "Are you ready?" "Where's the underwear part?" " They're crotchless." " I'm not going crotchless." "Ugh." "Do you or do you not want to lock Charlie down?" "Oh, fine, fine." "I brought backup because I know what a prude you are." "Okay, those are a bit better." "They go with these." " You're crazy." " Just take them." "Girls?" "Yeah, come in, Mom." " Hey." " Hi." "Mrs. W." "Hey, those aren't awful shoes." " Oh, thanks." " No problem." "I would rather shave my eyebrows than wear them, but for you, they're..." "Gotcha." "I just wanted to know if you were staying for dinner, Naomi." "Oh, um, actually we're gonna go out for dinner and then we're gonna go and see a movie after, if that's okay?" " No problem." " Oh, you don't have to be sad." "You can totally make dinner for me another night." "Terrific." " Take these." " I'm not wearing pasties." "Okay." "What about edible underwear?" "I mean, I didn't actually bring some because I wasn't sure if they would spoil." " But I could easily procure some." " You know what?" "I'm good." "I'm good." " Okay." "Yeah." " Okay." " Hey." "Come on in." " Hi." " Jack's sleeping." " Oh, great." " Hey, Mr. Matthews." " Hey." " Bye, Mom." "We're heading out." " Okay." "Hi, Ryan." "Oh, it looks like you have a little spit-up on your shirt." "No, that's just the pattern." "Ha, ha, never mind." " It's nice." " Bye, Naomi." "I'm very sorry I'm late." "I had to stay after school" " for the parent-teacher conferences..." " Oh, no problem." "Jack's been an angel." "This way." " You rubbed whisky on his gums?" " Ha, ha." "Shh." "No, thank you for taking him." "Really." "Oh, of course." "And I lined up some more interviews for tomorrow." "Don't worry, none of them are actresses." " You didn't have to do that." " Honestly, it's my pleasure." "I need to stay busy right now." "The new manager of the Beach Club doesn't start for another week." "No, but at least he's letting you keep your job." "Well, I do have personal-assistant experience." "I'll doubt he'll ask me to alphabetize his nail polish." "Jen didn't make you do that, did she?" "It's okay." "It was better than being out there pounding the pavement." " That was pretty bleak." " Yeah." "I just never anticipated how difficult it would be to re-enter the workforce." "And then again, I never anticipated having to re-enter the workforce." "No, no, I get it." "I mean, you know, I didn't anticipate this, the whole single-parent thing, so..." "No, I still can't get the hang of cooking for one." "So on nights like this, when it's just me and a big vat of bolognese, it gets a little depressing, ha, ha." "Not as depressing as having microwave popcorn for dinner." "Okay, that's it, you're staying." " Oh, no, I wasn't trying..." " Please." "There's only so much bolognese one woman can eat." "Well, okay." "Uh..." "Heh." "But we have a reservation." "I understand, but it will be another 30 minutes." "Would you like to wait at the bar until something opens up?" "Yeah, we can wait at the bar." "Okay, uh, ha, ha..." "Would you ask Andrew Jackson to wait at the bar?" "Is he with CAA?" "No, he's right here, with his buddies." "Maybe this will help something open up." "Oh, it will in 30 minutes." "Oh, uh, yeah, that's cool." "Keep it anyway." "That didn't go too well." "It's fine, okay?" "As long as we're spending time together." "Exactly." " Adrianna?" " Oh, my God." "Hi." "How are you?" "Hey, guys." "Oh, what are you doing here?" "We're having dinner." "Well, they're having dinner." "I'm on a fabulous cleanse, only clear drinks." "Water, vodka." "Honey, you're looking a little flat." "Fix her." "You never know when paparazzi are gonna jump out." "Remember, poof from underneath." "Oh, hi." "Oh, Navid, this is Renee." "Oh, right, publicist." "And lion and Ginny, they did my hair and makeup for the Spin shoot." " Very nice to meet you." " You too, sweetie." "Nice hair." "Extensions?" "Ha, ha." "Uh..." " No." " Yeah, right." " Where you sitting?" " Uh, we're actually waiting for a table." " What?" " I'll handle it." "I tried." "It's not gonna..." "Excuse me." "That is Adrianna Tate-Duncan." "Oh, as a matter of fact, so is that." "It's the number one single in the country." "Perhaps you've heard it." "It's her song." "I am so sorry." "I will have something immediately." "Forget it." "They'll eat with us." "But you are comping our meal." "Of course." "This actually works out really well." "Chayo and Danny Goode are on their way over." "Do you know them?" "Bigtime producers." "We get them to collaborate with you and game over." "Bingo." "Dunzo." "Back up the money truck." "Oh, uh, do you mind?" "No, of course not." "Ha, ha." " It's..." "It's fine." " Perfect." "Wow, big improvement over microwave popcorn." "Oh, well, I'm flattered." "And you should be." "Yeah." "You know what?" "Sometimes when I'm feeling real crazy, I add a little bit of Cheez Whiz." "Oh, I didn't know you were such a gourmand." " Let me grab..." " Sorry." " It's all right." " Oops." "Seriously, though, I haven't had a home-cooked meal in forever." "Ha, ha." "Well, I haven't had adult company in forever." "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but..." "Hey, you don't have to explain, you know, I work with teenagers." " The adult company is very welcome." " Ha, ha." "You haven't said "like" or "totally" once tonight." "Well, the night is still, like, totally young." "Ha, ha." " Oh, sorry, sorry." " Oh." "I'm sorry." " Just, uh..." " Oh, okay." "I'll go that way." "Oh, that is excellent drying technique." "Thank you." "Yeah, you know, people are always crediting the dryer, but, really, I think it starts with the washer." "Wow, is it, um, pathetic that the first compliment I've gotten in what feels like forever is for my dishwashing?" "Well, for the record, you also have a great smile." " Ha, ha." " See?" "It's really great." " Get you another?" " Yeah, please." "Hey." " I'm Jeff." " Teddy." "So you been here before?" "Um, no, I haven't." "And, actually, I was just leaving." " Can I have the cheque, please?" " Yeah." " Here you go." " Just one second." "Okay." "This time, I'm getting her number." "Dude, she doesn't like you." "Take a hint." "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, all right?" "You don't know that." "Maybe I'm just..." "I'm being too subtle." "Trust me." "You haven't." "Um..." "You might have noticed that I've gotten quite a few, uh, refills." "Truth is, I'm not even really that thirsty." " Your phone's ringing." " Is it?" "It is." "Huh." "Wow, assaulting my game and you're not even here." "Impressive." " Hey, did I leave my wallet there?" " Um..." " Huh, yep, you did." " Shoot." "Why, do you need it?" "I mean, we can bring it to you." " Where you at?" " Uh, the gas station." "Oh, I just found money in my pocket." "I'll get my wallet from you tomorrow." "All right, cool." "Peace, man." "I forgot my wallet." "You think I could come back tomorrow and settle up?" " I swear I'm good for it." " It's not gonna happen." "Come up with the cash." "First time I heard her, I was like, "This girl has a fabulous..."" " Do you rap at all?" " Um, no." "Not really." "But she could." "I'm telling you, she's fabulous." "T.I. might be up for a little something." "Oh, how fabulous would that be?" " So fabulous." " Totally fabulous." "Oh." " So how is everything?" " Fabulous." "Yo, my peeps are heading down to Voyeur." " They're playing you." "Can you come?" " Of course." "I mean, if it's okay with you." "Is everything okay?" "I don't know." "It's just my mom." "She wants me to come home so my dad can yell at me again." "Oh, so you can't come to Voyeur?" "No, Ade, I can't, okay?" "I have stuff going on at home, stuff I wanted to talk to you about." "I'm sorry." "Hey, let's go for a walk, okay?" "Uh, guys, can you wait like five minutes?" "Of course." "I'll watch you guys eat dessert." "I hear the key lime pie is fabulous." "Don't worry about it, okay?" "I should go home." "We'll talk later." " Are you sure?" " Yeah." "It was nice meeting you guys." "Bye." "Mwah." "We are all set." "Let..." "I've always wanted to go." "I'm so excited." " So..." " Yeah." " That was..." " Not anticipated." "Ha, ha." "At all." " I guess we're both a little lonely." " And in need of some adult company." "Exactly." " So..." " Yeah." "You know, the kids will be home soon." " You should probably..." " Copy that." " Yeah." " All right." " So I'll just let myself out." " Okay." " Okay." " Okay." "Yeah." "Okay." "Whoa." " I'm sorry." " Oh, did you forget something?" "Just my son." " Right." " Yeah." "Hey." "Thanks for coming." "I'll pay you back." "No, it's all good." "It's all good." "Whoa, are you okay to get home?" "Yeah, I only had a few." "I'll drive you." "Yeah, it's a great song." "And a great song is a great song." "But it's even greater when it's on vinyl." "Yeah." "Well, I have a lot to learn." "Well, I'll teach you." " Can you hear that?" " Hear what?" "The scratches, the imperfections." " It..." "It's not digital." "It's..." " Alive." "Exactly." "Yeah, I see what you mean." "There's so much I gotta teach you." "About T. Rex and the Velvet Underground." "Well, you can consider me your student." "All right, let me figure out what I'm gonna play you next." "Um, I'll be right back." "Okay." "No." "Okay." " Yeah." " Ha, ha." "Oh, my God." " Oops." " Sorry." "See you later." "All right, I'm back." "Ready to get yelled at again." "Hey." "What's wrong?" "Mom, are you?" "The police, they subpoenaed your father's records." "Yeah, yeah, I know." "But he has good lawyers." "What?" "What is it?" "He left." "What do you mean he left?" "He was afraid he'd get sent to jail, so..." "Where'd he go?" "Back to Iran." " What?" " He's gone, Navid." "Thank you." "See you guys later." " Hey." " Hi." "So, uh, you okay?" "I'm completely mortified, but other than that, I'm sorry." " I'm sorry." " No, I shouldn't have..." "No, I shouldn't have let them in." "I just didn't think that..." "You know, I thought there would be something leading up." "No." "Stop, please." "I'm so embarrassed." "No, don't be." "I, uh..." "I just didn't think you wanted to yet." "You know, I thought we were taking it slow." "I know." "I know, but I thought maybe you didn't wanna take it so slow anymore." "Did I make you feel that way?" "Okay, uh..." "Look, the truth is I have only had sex with one person." "And I was feeling really intimidated by Julia." "And Naomi told me that I had to lock you down and have sex with you and..." "And it sounds so stupid now that I'm saying it out loud." "No, no, it doesn't." "I just wish you would have told me." "Yeah." "Well, it's not exactly easy talking about, you know, really personal stuff." "It should be when you're dating." " What?" " Well, nothing." "It's just, you know, there's some stuff that you're not comfortable talking to me about." "Like what?" "Like how you got your scar." "Not that you have to. I..." "I shouldn't..." "No, uh, you're right." "Remember I told you I used to spend summers at my uncle's lake house?" "Yeah, in Minnesota, right?" "Yeah, exactly." "Well, going down to the lake house was the only chance to see my dad." "Sometimes he'd be there for a few weeks." "Other times, he would disappear and leave me with my uncle." "Yeah, Liam told me." "Right." "Did he tell you that our uncle was a mean drunk?" "Well, he was." "And he would take a whack at me now and then." " Did you say anything?" " No." "I thought if I stopped going down to the lake house," "I would never get to see my dad." " It's dumb, I know." " No, it's not dumb." "Anyway, one summer, my dad was away more than usual and my uncle got sick of me being around." "He was drinking all the time." "And he was beating me up all the time." "And, uh, one day, he got a belt." "And that's the last time I went there." "That's how I got my scar." "Well, thank you for telling me." "So you still wanna lock me down?" " Definitely." " Good." " Thanks." " No problem." "Look." "I don't know what's going on with me." "I'm just confused." "Yeah, I know you are." "Are you newly confused or have you been confused for a while?" "I guess it's been a while." "Hmm." "Everyone thinks I got kicked out of boarding school for having girls in my room." "That's not what happened." "I started having these feelings for my roommate." "I thought it was just a one-time thing." "And I thought if I could just get away, it wouldn't happen again." "I mean, I couldn't be" " like that." " Yeah." "I thought it'd go away, but it didn't go away." "And it's not going to." "Thanks for the ride." "Ahem." "Hi." " You okay?" " Um..." "I really need to talk to someone." " Is Adrianna...?" " I mean, you." "I need to talk to you." "Please?" "Can I come in?" "Yeah."
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Summer Rain
April the Poetry Month is going on but due to summer heat, I was not able to write anything. Today, something happened that made my mind calm and happy and a sweet haiku is born again, let's see what is it.I am sure you will love it...
scorching sun
covered by dark clouds
summer rain
So, it's about the rain in the summer. You can imagine the feeling when scorching sun is suddenly covered by dark clouds and all the heat and pain due to summer suddenly vanish in the beautiful rain. Such Summer rain is most beautiful in all seasons.Happy poetry writing.
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Introduction {#Sec1}
============
The coexistence of strong electron correlation and topological order is garnering much attention nowadays because of various peculiar electronic phenomena that are driven by their synergetic effect^[@CR1]--[@CR3]^. The strong topological insulator realised in the bulk (3D) Kondo insulator, namely the topological Kondo insulator (TKI)^[@CR1]^, is being extensively considered as a suitable field to study these effects such as non-trivial reconstruction of the topological surface states (TSS) due to electron correlation^[@CR4],[@CR5]^ and spin collective excitation, which can break the TSS without time-reversal symmetry breakdown^[@CR6]^.
Samarium hexaboride (SmB~6~) is a long-known Kondo insulator, which opens the bulk bandgap at low temperature because of the Kondo effect^[@CR7]^. It is the first material proposed as a candidate for TKI, which hosts metallic TSS coexisting with strong electron correlation^[@CR1],[@CR8]^. To investigate this unconventional TSS, extensive studies that focused on its surface electronic structure were performed^[@CR9]--[@CR14]^ mainly by using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) and spin-resolved ARPES (SARPES) on the cleaved (001) surface of SmB~6~. Although the metallic surface states dispersed across the bulk Kondo gap were discovered in TKI, as predicted^[@CR9]--[@CR13]^, a subsequent high-resolution ARPES study made a counter-claim regarding such TKI assignment by stating that some of the metallic surface states do not disperse continuously across the bulk Kondo gap but accidentally lie at the Fermi level (*E*~F~)^[@CR14]^. Although numerous other studies such as surface-transport^[@CR15]^ and scanning tunnelling microscopy^[@CR16],[@CR17]^ strongly suggest the topologically non-trivial nature of SmB~6~, the detailed surface electronic and spin texture of SmB~6~ have remained unclear because of this disagreement. Moreover, a peculiar Fermi surface behaviour of SmB~6~ has been reported recently through the de Haas--van Alphen (dHvA) measurements^[@CR18]--[@CR21]^. All groups reported carriers lying at *E*~F~ without electrical conduction, but its interpretation, 2D^[@CR18],[@CR21]^ or 3D^[@CR19],[@CR20]^, is still under debate. Because of these background, it is desirable to elucidate the surface electronic structure of SmB~6~ and its topological order.
In this work, we report the TSS of a typical candidate for TKI, SmB~6~, which is observed on the three-fold (111) surface by ARPES. We can determine the topological order on the SmB~6~(111) surface from the surface Fermi contours (FC) because of the smaller number of inequivalent surface time-reversal invariant momenta (TRIM) and the absence of commensurate and long-range surface reconstructions, as reported for the (001) surfaces^[@CR9],[@CR14],[@CR16]^. The metallic two-dimensional state is clearly observed as dispersed across the bulk Kondo gap opening around the Fermi level at low temperature. Its helical in-plane spin polarisation around the $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$ point of the surface Brillouin zone (SBZ), which is one of the surface TRIMs, indicates a non-trivial topological order of SmB~6~. Based on these results, we propose a simple picture of topological-insulating SmB~6~.
Results {#Sec2}
=======
A (111) surface of SmB~6~ {#Sec3}
-------------------------
One of the difficulties in determining the detailed surface electronic structure of SmB~6~ from the ARPES results is its rather complex surface TRIM conformation on the (001) surface. As shown in Fig. [1a](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}, there are three inequivalent surface TRIMs on SmB~6~(001). While the TSS should appear as an odd number of closed FC enclosing the TRIMs an odd number of times, three such inequivalent TRIMs allow various possibilities regarding the appearance of the TSS^[@CR22]^. Considering the multiple surface terminations on the cleaved (001) surface^[@CR16]^, it is quite a difficult problem to determine the topological order of SmB~6~ solely from the electronic structure of the (001) surface. To overcome this problem, the surface electronic structure with a different surface orientation is desired. However, the SmB~6~ single crystal can be cleaved only along (001). Hence, almost no studies have been performed so far on the surface electronic structures with different orientations. Only one set of ARPES data taken from the (110) surface prepared by a similar method to ours has been provided as a preprint^[@CR23]^, but the (110) plane has the same problem as (001); it also contains multiple inequivalent surface TRIMs. The (111) surface of SmB~6~ is a promising orientation for determining its topological order because there are only two inequivalent TRIMs (right panel of Fig. [1a](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}): one $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$ is not a TRIM. With this simple surface-TRIM conformation, the TSS must appear around one surface TRIM, and thus the determination of the topological order becomes very easy when compared with the previous case. However, no work on the surface electronic structure of SmB~6~(111) has been reported so far.Fig. 1Atomic structure of SmB~6~ and characteristics of the (111) surface. **a** Schematic drawings of the Brillouin zones (BZ). Thin (black) cubes are the 3D bulk BZ with time-reversal invariant momenta (TRIMs), and the thick (red and blue) lines are the first zone boundaries of the 2D surface Brillouin zones (SBZ) with the surface TRIMs. **b** A low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) pattern of SmB~6~(111) at room temperature. *E*~P~ = 22 eV. **c** Crystal structure of the SmB~6~. The dashed triangle indicates the (111) plane
In order to obtain the SmB~6~(111) clean surface, we heated the single crystal up to 1700 ± 30 K for 15 min in ultra-high vacuum chambers by using the same method as applied for YbB~12~(001)^[@CR24],[@CR25]^. After heating the sample, one can see sharp and low-background low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) pattern, as shown in Fig. [1b](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}. The three-fold triangular lattice shown by the LEED pattern is consistent with the (111) surface truncated from the simple-cubic lattice (see Fig. [1c](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Faint streaks between the integer-order diffraction spots are also seen in the LEED pattern. They would be due to the small area of the facets or long-range surface superstructures without wide commensurate surface areas. It should be noted that the topological order of the material is not influenced by such disordered surface structures and we observed no electronic states related to such surface superstructures in the 1st SBZ, as discussed in the following sections. The (111) surface obtained by this method would be terminated by the Boron clusters, according to the angle-integrated photoelectron spectroscopy^[@CR26]^.
Surface electronic structure of SmB~6~(111) {#Sec4}
-------------------------------------------
Figure [2a](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"} shows the FC around *E*~F~ measured with circularly polarised photons at 35 eV. The spectra obtained by using both right- and left-handed polarisations are summed up to avoid circular dichroism. It clearly shows the deformed hexagonal FC enclosing the centre of the SBZ, which is the $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}}$$\end{document}$ point (*k*~x~ = *k*~y~ = 0 Å^−1^). From the symmetrised wide-range overview shown in Fig. [2b](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}, one can find that the deformed hexagon is a part of the ovals enclosing the $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$ points, as indicated by the dashed guide. Around *E*~F~, no other states are observed by ARPES, indicating that the long-range surface structures observed as faint facets in the LEED pattern (Fig. [1b](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}) play no major role for the surface states around *E*~F~. The size of the FCs observed here might be related to the peculiar Fermi surfaces obtained by dHvA measurements^[@CR18]--[@CR21]^. For the sake of comparison, we evaluated the sizes of the FCs in Supplementary Note [5](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}.Fig. 2Fermi contour obtained by ARPES. The ARPES data were taken with circularly polarised photons (*hν* = 35 eV) at 15 K. The ARPES intensities from left- and right-handed polarisations are summed up to show all the states without any influence of circular dichroism. The photon incident plane is slightly shifted from (11$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\bar 2$$\end{document}$) because of small misalignment and angle sweep performed for the ARPES scan. This shift is smaller than 15°. **a** Fermi contour with an energy window of 10 meV. **b** Symmetrised Fermi contour based on the three-fold rotation symmetry and time-reversal symmetry. A thick (blue) hexagon is the SBZ boundary of the (1 × 1) surface unit cell
Figure [3a](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"} shows the band dispersions along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\bar 2$$\end{document}$\]). In order to trace the band dispersion, we took the momentum distribution curves (MDCs) and energy distribution curves (EDCs) as shown in Fig. [3b, c](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}, respectively. The peak positions are plotted with the guides in Fig. [3d](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"} so that they could be compared with the 2D data in Fig. [3a](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}. From the MDCs, the highly dispersive bands, *S*1 and *S*2 in Fig. [3d](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}, are clearly observed as the peaks. From the EDCs, less dispersive bands, *F* at \~0.03 eV and the other, underlying band at \~0.17 eV are observed as the peaks. In addition, the highly dispersive bands *S*1 and *S*2 appear in EDCs as broad humps, as indicated by the open triangles in Fig. [3c](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}. Although it is difficult to determine the strict peak positions in the EDCs, the energy region indicated by the bars in Fig. [3c, d](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"} have higher intensities than the other EDC spectra (the overlap of them are shown in Supplementary Note [4](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}).Fig. 3Band dispersions of SmB~6~(111) around the Fermi level. ARPES data were taken with the same condition as Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}. **a** ARPES intensity plots along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}}$$\end{document}$ (*k* = 0 Å^−1^). ARPES intensities are divided by the Fermi distribution function convolved with the instrumental resolution. **b**, **c** ARPES **b** momentum distribution curves (MDCs) and **c** energy distribution curves (EDCs) taken from the 2D data shown in (**a**). Triangle markers indicate the peak positions. The open triangles with error bars in (**c**) are the energy positions of broad features. The width of the bars is explained in the text. **d** 2D plot of the peak positions in (**b**, **c**). The bars with open triangles are the same as those in (**b**). The shaded area in the left side is the projected bulk bands from ref. ^[@CR27]^. Fat curves are the traces of the peak positions. These curves are copied on (**a**)
The band lying at the Fermi level, *S*1, is independent of the incident photon energy range of 15--39 eV, indicating the two-dimensionality from the surface origin. On the left side of Fig. [3d](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}, the projected bulk bands based on the theoretical calculation in ref. ^[@CR27]^ is shown as the shaded area. Comparing this with the ARPES data, *S*1 is out of the projected bulk bands and hence it should be the surface-state band.
For the other band, *S*2, which is mostly in the projected bulk bands, it is difficult to conclude whether it comes from surface or bulk in the photon-energy range, in which *S*2 is observable. In this article, we do not conclude the origin of *S*2, from the surface resonance^[@CR28]^ or bulk Sm-5*d* bands. The detailed dataset and its analysis is shown in Supplementary Note [2](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}. From the EDCs, it is shown that the *F* band appears separately from *S*1. However, it is also difficult to conclude the origin of the *F* band from the ARPES data. While it appears irrespective to the incident photon energies, the bulk counterpart, the Sm-4*f* band, is nearly localised and thus it should also show almost no dispersion along the surface normal. The upper edge of the bulk projection in Fig. [3d](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"} is slightly lower than *F*, but the exact values from theoretical calculations, such as the size of the bandgap and the position of the Fermi level, does not always agree with those from experiments. Therefore, the origin of *F* is not clear from the spin-integrated ARPES. The same analysis was also performed along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$ and the similar states to *S*1, *S*2 and *F* were found (see Supplementary Note [3](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}).
The *S*1 and *S*2 change their slopes drastically around the crossing point (\~±0.2 Å^−1^) with *F*. These hybridisations are probably driven by the Kondo effect between localised Sm-4*f* and itinerant Sm-5*d* states. The upper band *S*1 clearly disperses across *E*~F~ and this band forms the oval FC observed in Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}. The dispersions of the surface state observed here agree well with the expected behaviour of TSS, namely, continuous dispersion across the bulk bandgap and closed FCs around the surface TRIMs. Then, we performed SARPES measurements to examine the spin texture of the FCs, which is regarded as one of the clearest evidence of the topological order of the material.
Spin texture of the SmB~6~(111) surface states {#Sec5}
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Figure [4a](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"} shows the spin-resolved EDCs around the Fermi level measured along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$ at 20 K. The spin polarisation along \[$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$k_{{\mathrm{y}}//[11\bar 2]}$$\end{document}$ were resolved. From the EDC Cuts 1 to 4, one can easily find that the spin-polarised feature towards \[1$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\bar 1$$\end{document}$0\], indicated by the negative spin polarisation values, disperses from +0.03 to −0.03 eV across *E*~F~, which is consistent with the metallic dispersion of the surface band *S*1. At the opposite side of the SBZ (Cut 5 in Fig. [4a](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}), the opposite spin polarisation towards \[$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\bar 1$$\end{document}$10\] (positive spin polarisation) is also observed. Such spin inversion according to the sign inversion of *k*~y~ indicates that these spin polarisations conserve the time-reversal inversion symmetry. The spin polarisation value at positive *k*~y~ is nearly twice that at negative *k*~y~. This would be due to the lack of mirror plane normal to $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{M}}},$$\end{document}$ as shown in the atomic structure and the LEED pattern in Fig. [1b, c](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}, respectively.Fig. 4SARPES spectra. **a**, **b** SARPES spectra taken with linearly polarised photons (*hν* = 26 eV) at 20 K. Detailed experimental geometries are shown in Supplementary Note [1](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}. **a** Spin-resolved energy distribution curves (EDCs) around *k*~F~ together with spin polarisations. Errors of spin polarisation values are standard statistical errors from photoelectron counting. **b** Spin-resolved momentum distribution curves (MDCs) along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$ at *E*~F~. Inset is the schematic drawing of the Fermi contour together with the *k* range where the spin-resolved MDCs were observed. **c** The same as Fig. [2c](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"} to indicate the positions where the spin-resolved EDCs in (**a**) were observed. **d** A schematic drawing of the spin texture of the Fermi contours formed by topological surface states on SmB~6~(111). The arrows and circles with crosses and dots inside depict the in-plane and out-of-plane spin polarisations, respectively
One may doubt that if the energy resolution of the current SARPES setup, \~30 meV, is enough to trace the spin polarisation of the surface states or not, since this resolution is close to the total size of the energy window where *S*1 is visible. However, the SARPES data showed the clear spin polarisations well above the noise level evaluated by the standard statistical errors and evident spin-polarised peaks consistent with the dispersion of *S*1 obtained from the spin-integrated data (Figs. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"} and [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). They proved that the current SARPES data is enough to trace the spin polarisation of the surface states, without any ambiguity.
The spin-resolved EDCs indicate that the spin polarisations of the deeper features, from 0.15 eV at Cut 1 (*k*~y~ = +0.29 Å^−1^) to 0.04 eV at Cut 4 (*k*~y~ = +0.17 Å^−1^), are opposite to *S*1. These deeper features correspond to *F* and *S*2 observed by the spin-integrated ARPES. The similar feature was also observed in the opposite side of the SBZ (Cut 5: *k*~y~ = −0.25 Å^−1^). These polarisation values are also above the estimated errors as shown by the error bars in Fig. [4a](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}. If one assumes the *S*2 and *F* to be the surface bands, such spin polarisations could be understood as a result of space inversion asymmetry in the surface layers. On the other hand, even if *S*2 and *F* come from bulk bands, such spin polarisation can appear because of the spin-dependent reflectivity of the Bloch waves at the surface^[@CR29]^. Therefore, we can neither determine the origin of *S*2 and *F*, from surface or bulk, by the spin resolution. From the dispersions of *S*1 and *F*, they apparently degenerate with each other close to $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$. This behaviour might be the Kramers degeneracy between *S*1 and *F* as the surface bands, or the surface band *S*1 merging into bulk bands *F*. Anyway, to verify these assumptions, dispersions of them in the vicinity of $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$ with spin resolution should be measured. Such measurement was not possible in this work because of the limited energy resolution of SARPES; even far away from $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$ (around 0.4 Å^−1^), it is impossible to resolve *S*1 and *F*. To examine this assumption, the higher energy resolution in SARPES is desirable.
The spin polarisations of the surface states along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$ were measured by the spin-resolved MDCs as shown in Fig. [4b](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}. The MDC peak heights along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$, one can find its peaks at *k*~x~ \~ ±0.3 Å^−1^, which is consistent with those of metallic oval FCs shown in Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}. The origin of asymmetric peak shape and its influence to spin polarisation is shown in Supplementary Note [8](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}. The in-plane spin polarisations along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$ are consistent with those shown in Fig. [4a](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}. In addition, clear out-of-plane spin polarisations are also observed along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$, as shown in the lower part of Fig. [4b](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}, whereas such spin polarisations are almost negligible along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$ (see Supplementary Note [6](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}). Along $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$, the in-plane and out-of-plane spin polarisations of the photoelectrons are nearly equal to each other. Such out-of-plane spin polarisations would be due to the coupling between spin--orbit interaction and the valley degree of freedom around $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{K}}}$$\end{document}$, where three-fold rotation symmetry appears without time-reversal symmetry, as observed in Tl/Si(111)^[@CR30]^ and transition-metal dichalcogenides^[@CR31]^.
Based on the SARPES spectra, we depicted a schematic drawing of the spin texture of the metallic surface states on SmB~6~(111) in Fig. [4d](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}. As shown in the figure, the oval FC enclosing $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{\Gamma }}} - {\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$. Such non-zero component along the out-of-plane orientations is natural for topological states on the surfaces with three-fold rotational symmetry, e.g. those on Bi~2~Te~3~^[@CR32]^. The detailed discussion about the role of surface symmetry operations to the spin polarisations is shown in Supplementary Note [7](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}.
The whole spin texture, both in-plane and out-of-plane ones, qualitatively agrees well with a recent theoretical calculation^[@CR27]^, supposing the negative winding number *w* = −1. One should be careful for such comparison between theory and SARPES data, because sometimes spin polarisation of photoelectrons occurs artificially due to photoexcitation process and/or spin--orbital entanglement^[@CR33],[@CR34]^. However, it should be noted that the spin polarisation whose sign inverts with respect to time inversion, as shown in Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}, cannot appear from spin-degenerate states even if such artificial spin polarisations occurred. Although it is sometimes shortcoming to connect the observed spin polarisation of the photoelectrons to those of the initial states directly, it is evident that the initial states, *S*1, *S*2 and *F*, are somehow spin-polarised and its sign inverts according to the surface symmetry. This information is enough to discuss the topological order of the sample from its surface states, as shown in the following.
Discussion {#Sec6}
==========
Based on the spin-polarisation and shape of the FCs, the topological order of SmB~6~ is calculated. In order to obtain the topological order of a material from its surface states, one has to obey the following procedure^[@CR22]^:(i)Count up the FCs enclosing surface TRIMs.(ii)Observe them by SARPES to check if they are spin polarised or not. The number counted in (i) is doubled for the spin degenerate states.(iii)Examine the summed number. If it is odd, then the sample is a (strong) topological insulator. If even, the sample is normal, trivial insulator.
On SmB~6~(111), the FCs enclosing $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$ points because of the translational symmetry by the surface reciprocal lattice vectors. Since all the FCs here are spin polarised (ii), the total count in this case is three, the odd number. According to this calculation, SmB~6~ is determined to be a topological insulator, without any ambiguity. Note that the same procedure is difficult to be applied to the (001) surface of SmB~6~, since the number of FCs are still under discussion^[@CR10]--[@CR14]^. At first glance, this conclusion appears to conflict against a recent high-resolution ARPES data on (001)^[@CR14]^. However, they could be reconciled by an interpretation of the FCs observed on (001). Detailed discussion on this point is shown in Supplementary Note [9](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}. The other important point is that the detailed origin of the surface states play no major role for the classification discussed above. It is because the topological classification is merely from the number of the spin-polarised FCs^[@CR22],[@CR35]^. In other words, if the odd-number of FCs were made by surface states derived from many-body resonance for example, the insulating substrate would be nothing but a topological insulator. We discuss the possible origins of the surface states observed in this work in Supplementary Note [10](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}.
The dispersion of TSS (*S*1) in this work does not show any Dirac point. Instead, it shows quite a light velocity of \~0.8 eV Å (see Supplementary Note [4](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"} for its estimation) only around the Fermi wavevector (*k*~F~). Away from *k*~F~, *S*1 becomes quite heavy with almost no dispersion at the binding energy of \~30 meV. Such behaviour agrees well with the theoretically expected TSS dispersion modified by the Kondo breakdown^[@CR4]^. The expected Fermi velocity in ref. ^[@CR4]^ is \~0.3 eV Å, showing an agreement of the order of magnitude with the experimental value above. Further theoretical work taking the large size of FC overlapping with each other and/or out-of-plane spin components into account might be applicable to solve this factor 2--3 discrepancy.
At last, we would like to state the limitation of the current work. The topological classification procedure^[@CR22]^ assumes weakly correlated insulator. Therefore, we cannot exclude a possible violation of such simple topological classification by strong electron correlation. To the best of our knowledge, such work has never been published so far. However, once such discovery has been achieved, the topological classification performed in this work should be revisited. The other limitation is the bulk electronic structure of SmB~6~ at 15--20 K, where we made the measurements. It is commonly regarded that the rather wide activation gap (\~20 meV) opens and the bulk electronic structure transforms to an insulator in this temperature range^[@CR36]^. However, a recent ARPES study^[@CR14]^ has claimed that the bulk gap is still closed there, attributing the other small gap (3--5 meV, which opens below 10 K) is the real gap. Although no experimental data supporting the claim above, the bulk band surviving at *E*~F~ around 20 K, has been reported so far, we have to admit that the topological classification in this work becomes nonsense in this temperature range, if this claim is correct. Note that the claim in ref. ^[@CR14]^ is not the remnant bulk carriers thermally excited across the gap (\~20 meV) but the firm band without any gap across the Fermi level. It should also be noted that the peculiar Fermi surface observed by quantum oscillation experiments^[@CR18]--[@CR21]^ are not relevant to this possibility, because they were performed in much lower temperature range.
In summary, the TSS of a TKI candidate, SmB~6~, was clarified with regard to the different surface orientation from the earlier works, the three-fold (111) surface, by ARPES, in this work. The metallic two-dimensional state was clearly observed as dispersed across the bulk Kondo gap opening at the Fermi level at low temperature. Its helical in-plane spin polarisation around the $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$${\bar{\mathrm{M}}}$$\end{document}$ point of the SBZ, which is one of the surface TRIM, provided the evidence of the non-trivial topological order of SmB~6~. Based on these results, we propose a simple picture of topological-insulating SmB~6~ to be a fascinating groundwork to study peculiar electronic phenomena such as the synergetic effects with strong electron correlation.
Methods {#Sec7}
=======
Sample preparation {#Sec8}
------------------
Single crystalline SmB~6~ were grown by the floating-zone method by using an image furnace with four xenon lamps^[@CR37],[@CR38]^. The sample cut along the (111) plane was mechanically polished in air until a mirror-like shiny surface was obtained with only a few scratches when observed under an optical microscope (multiple 10× magnification).
ARPES and SARPES experimental setup {#Sec9}
-----------------------------------
The ARPES measurements were performed with synchrotron radiation at BL7U SAMRAI^[@CR39]^ of UVSOR-III and BL-2A MUSASHI of the Photon Factory. The photon energies used in these measurements ranged from 18 to 80 eV. SARPES measurements were performed at HiSOR BL9B ESPRESSO^[@CR40]^ with linearly polarised photons at 26 eV so that the photoelectron spin polarisation due to the circularly polarised photons are excluded^[@CR41]^. A pair of the very low energy electron diffraction (VLEED) detectors enable the three-dimensional detection of the spin polarisations^[@CR42]^. The effective Sherman function of the spin detector was set to 0.3 and the acceptance angle for the detector was ±1.5°. The energy resolutions of the spin-integrated and SARPES in this work were \~15 and \~30 meV, respectively. The energy resolutions and photoelectron kinetic energies at the Fermi level *E*~F~ were calibrated using the Fermi edge of the photoelectron spectra from Ta foils attached to the samples. The detailed experimental geometries are shown in Supplementary Note [1](#MOESM1){ref-type="media"}.
The SARPES spectra were measured four times as $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$I_n^i$$\end{document}$ (*i* = 1, 2) are the raw spectra obtained from the VLEED detector with positive and negative target magnetisation, respectively. Then, we got $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$I_n = I_n^1 + I_n^2$$\end{document}$. By this procedure, we compensate the time-dependent degradation of the surface states as well as the decay of incident photon flux (proportional to the beam current of the storage ring of HiSOR). The spin polarisation of the SARPES spectra is calculated by $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$S_{\mathrm{eff}}(I_p + I_n)$$\end{document}$, where *P* is the spin polarisation shown in Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"} and *S*~eff~ the effective Sherman function. *S*~eff~ is calibrated by the spin polarisation of the well-known surface state^[@CR40]^. The errors of *P* is calculated as the standard statistical error. Then, the spin-resolved spectrum *I*~±~, which are shown in Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}, is calculated by $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$(1 \pm P)$$\end{document}$/2. For the SAPRES spectra in Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}, no normalisation nor smoothing procedures have been applied.
Supplementary information
=========================
{#Sec10}
Supplementary Information Peer Review File
**Journal peer review information:** *Nature Communications* thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.
**Publisher's note:** Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
=========================
**Supplementary information** accompanies this paper at 10.1038/s41467-019-10353-3.
The authors thank T. Nakamura, Y. Takeno and C. Wang for their support during general experiments. The authors acknowledge S. Wu for his support during the experiments on BL9B at HiSOR. Part of the ARPES measurements were performed under UVSOR Proposals 29-553 and 30-577, Photon Factory Proposals Nos. 2015G540 and 2017G537, and HiSOR Proposal No. 17AG017. This work was also supported by the JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Nos. JP15H03676, JP17K18757 and JP23244066).
Y.O., Y.Y. and K.H. conducted the ARPES experiments with assistance from S.-i.I., K.T., R.Y., K.H. and H.K. as well as the spin-resolved APRES assisted by K.M. and T.O. W.H. and F.I. grew the single-crystal samples. Y.O. and S.-i.K. wrote the text and were responsible for the overall direction of the research project. All authors contributed to scientific planning and discussions.
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
The authors declare no competing interests.
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Positron emission tomography using [18F]Galacto-RGD identifies the level of integrin alpha(v)beta3 expression in man.
The integrin alpha(v)beta3 plays a key role in angiogenesis and tumor cell metastasis and is therefore an important target for new therapeutic and diagnostic strategies. We have developed [18F]Galacto-RGD, a highly alpha(v)beta3-selective tracer for positron emission tomography (PET). Here, we show, in man, that the intensity of [18F]Galacto-RGD uptake correlates with alpha(v)beta3 expression. Nineteen patients with solid tumors (musculoskeletal system, n = 10; melanoma, n = 4; head and neck cancer, n = 2; glioblastoma, n = 2; and breast cancer, n = 1) were examined with PET using [18F]Galacto-RGD before surgical removal of the tumor lesions. Snap-frozen specimens (n = 26) were collected from representative areas with low and intense standardized uptake values (SUV) of [18F]Galacto-RGD. Immunohistochemistry was done using the alpha(v)beta3-specific antibody LM609. Intensity of staining (graded on a four-point scale) and the microvessel density of alpha(v)beta3-positive vessels were determined and correlated with SUV and tumor/blood ratios (T/B). Two tumors showed no tracer uptake (mean SUV, 0.5 +/- 0.1). All other tumors showed tracer accumulation with SUVs ranging from 1.2 to 10.0 (mean, 3.8 +/- 2.3; T/B, 3.4 +/- 2.2; tumor/muscle ratio, 7.7 +/- 5.4). The correlation of SUV and T/B with the intensity of immunohistochemical staining (Spearman's r = 0.92; P < 0.0001) as well as with the microvessel density (Spearman's r = 0.84; P < 0.0001) were significant. Immunohistochemistry confirmed lack of alpha(v)beta3 expression in normal tissue (benign lymph nodes, muscle) and in the two tumors without tracer uptake. Molecular imaging of alpha(v)beta3 expression with [18F]Galacto-RGD in humans correlates with alpha(v)beta3 expression as determined by immunohistochemistry. PET with [18F]Galacto-RGD might therefore be used as a new marker of angiogenesis and for individualized planning of therapeutic strategies with alpha(v)beta3-targeted drugs.
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Tropical storm strands ships in Hainan
A man moors a ship to its berth at Xingang Pier in Haikou, Hainan province, on July 1, 2013. Strong tropical storm Rumbia landed in South China on July 2, forcing 26,899 fishing boats to return or stop at nearby harbors for shelter from gales and downpours. The storm, the sixth to hit China this year, is expected to move northeast. [Photo by Qi Ta/Asianewsphoto]
Copyright 1995 - 2010 . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
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Uma medida provisória (MP) publicada em 24 de dezembro pela Presidência da República estabelece que, para a nomeação de reitores em universidades federais, o presidente Jair Bolsonaro (sem partido) poderá não acatar o nome vencedor da lista tríplice de candidatos apresentada pela instituição. A MP foi publicada em edição extra do Diário Oficial da União (DOU).
Tradicionalmente, o reitor é escolhido pelo corpo de professores das universidades, por meio de uma votação de uma lista tríplice. O mais votado dessa lista costuma ter seu nome sancionado pelo presidente, para um mandato de quatro anos.
A MP 914, no entanto, fixa a regra de que o presidente poderá, a seu critério, escolher qualquer um dos três nomes que compuserem a lista tríplice indicada pela universidade. A regra também será aplicada a institutos federais de ensino.
Bolsonaro já tem ignorado os nomes vitoriosos de listas tríplices apresentadas por universidades, o que tem sido criticado pela comunidade acadêmica. Em agosto, por exemplo, o presidente nomeou o terceiro colocado na lista tríplice para reitor da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC).
No processo de consulta à comunidade acadêmica, o professor de Direito e advogado criminalista Cândido Albuquerque, de 62 anos, obteve apenas 610 votos (4,61% do total de votantes), enquanto o primeiro colocado obteve 7.772 votos.
No mesmo mês, Bolsonaro também nomeou o terceiro nome da lista tríplice da Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM), o professor Janir Alves Soares. Antes, o presidente já havia nomeado o segundo e terceiro colocados, respectivamente, para as federais do Triângulo Mineiro (UFTM) e do Recôncavo da Bahia (UFRB).
Apesar de a escolha do reitor ser prerrogativa do presidente, a nomeação de candidato menos votado rompe uma tradição que se mantinha desde 2003, na gestão do ex-presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
A medida provisória estabelece que a consulta para a formação da lista tríplice para reitor será feita, preferencialmente, de forma eletrônica.
O voto, que é facultativo, será dado pelos servidores efetivos do corpo docente de cada instituição, que terão peso de 70% na escolha dos nomes. Servidores efetivos técnico-administrativos terão peso de 15%. Os alunos também terão peso de 15%. Pelo critério, o porcentual de votação final do candidato vai se basear na média ponderada de cada segmento.
O cargo de reitor só poderá ser disputado pelos professores que ocupam cargo efetivo em cada instituição federal. O reitor poderá escolher o vice-reitor entre os demais docentes. Os campi serão dirigidos por diretores-gerais, que serão escolhidos e nomeados pelo reitor.
O Ministério da Educação deverá divulgar quais serão os critérios exigidos para "assegurar a integridade, a confidencialidade e a autenticidade dos processos de votação eletrônica" em cada votação.
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Sleepwalker (comics)
Sleepwalker is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Bob Budiansky and Bret Blevins, he first appeared in Sleepwalker #1 (June 1991). He is named after his race, and is the star of a self-titled comic book which ran for 33 issues from June 1991 to February 1994, with one Holiday Special. All but two of the issues were written by Budiansky, with Tom Brevoort and Mike Kanterovich writing the Holiday Special and one fill-in issue. Dan Slott also contributed a humorous side story in issue #25.
Publication history
Budiansky's concept dates to the late 1970s; however, he originally called the character Alien until the Ridley Scott film of the same name was released, at which point he abandoned the idea of using the character.
The character finally saw release in reaction to the DC Comics character Sandman, written by Neil Gaiman.
A second Sleepwalker character was planned to receive a self-titled series by Robert Kirkman in 2004 but instead debuted in the 2004 Epic Anthology, which was canceled after one issue. The original Sleepwalker's next appearance was in Marvel Team-Up #15 nearly a decade after his original cancellation.
At the end of 2018, as a tie-in to the Marvel Infinity Wars event, a four issue Sleepwalker series was released. The series is written by Chad Bowers & Chris Sims, with artwork by Todd Nauck.
Fictional character biography
The Mindscape is a dimension that borders on the minds of all intelligent beings and living things, inhabited by many strange creatures. Some of them are very dangerous, seeking to invade the sleeping minds of humans. The Sleepwalkers act as guardians to defend these minds and the Mindscape, almost as a sort of "dream police", apprehending such evil creatures. One such Sleepwalker was tricked by his archenemy Cobweb (who like Sleepwalker had a real name that is unpronounceable by humans) into entering the mind of a New York college student named Rick Sheridan and became trapped.
Rick himself is an ordinary human being, majoring in Film Studies as a college student. He lived in a Brooklyn apartment with his dog Rambo, where he worked as a building superintendent, doing maintenance work in exchange for living rent-free. He also earns a living as a part-time job teaching English to immigrants. Rick had an on-again off-again romance with a girl named Alyssa Conover.
Sleepwalker first emerged from Rick's mind to battle a gang of thieves. He battled dream-images of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, X-Factor, and the X-Men. After a few confrontations in Rick's dreams, Rick reacts by tearing off Sleepwalker's Imaginator (a badge like device worn by Sleepwalkers used to teleport around the Mindscape, and to banish and imprison monsters they captured). This causes the two to become bonded. When Rick sleeps, Sleepwalker could materialize in reality or he could stay in Rick's mind and converse with him via his dreams. It was through a conversation in dreams that Sleepwalker is able to dispel Rick's initial fears that he was a malicious entity and work out agreeable terms to cohabitation.
Rick and Sleepwalker eventually worked out an understanding, allowing the alien to fight crime and various injustices. This was not easy, as Sleepwalker's appearance caused fear among regular people.
With Spider-Man, Sleepwalker battled Kingpin and Crimewave. With Darkhawk, Deathlok, Moon Knight, and the Squadron Supreme, he attempted to stop Eon's body from invading Earth's Universe; he also battled the Chain Gang. With Deathlok's help, he also rescued Alyssa Conover and a number of other innocent people from being experimented on by the mysterious Mr. FX. He fought Nightmare, and then battled Spectra. Alongside Mister Fantastic and the Thing, he battled the Thought Police. Alongside Darkhawk and Spider-Man, Sleepwalker saved Portal from the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. He also battled various supernatural menaces, including a demonic genie known as Mr. Jyn and the spirit of a traumatized young man that had gained superhuman powers and became obsessed with recreating the scene of his mother's murder
Sleepwalker is one of the few entities who remember the events of "The Infinity Gauntlet" storyline. Sleepwalker spent most of it fighting the villains called the Chain Gang and rescuing people from numerous natural disasters. However, the villain called Nebula turned back time, neutralizing what he had gone through. He considers his vague memories to be just a dream.
Sleepwalker played an important role in the Infinity War, helping to defeat the forces of the Magus, by channeling mental powers from Professor X, Jean Grey, Psylocke, and Moondragon through Rick Sheridan's mind. He also contributed to the battle against the evil clones of the superheroes, fighting the clones of Beast, Firestar, and Daredevil, saving the lives of a number of innocent New York civilians. Part of the fight against the evil doubles involved Sleepwalker impersonating his own evil clone.
In the "Infinity Crusade" storyline, Sleepwalker is brainwashed by the Goddess and taken to a planet on the other side of the sun. He keeps Rick asleep by drugging the orange juice in his refrigerator. During the battle between the Goddess's forces and the rest of Earth's heroes, Sleepwalker subdues Darkhawk and the Human Torch by dragging them into the water with his shape-changing powers.
Sleepwalker exchanged bodies with Rick Sheridan, and battled Cobweb, the Chain Gang, 8-Ball, and the Hobgoblin. Later in the series, Sleepwalker is revealed to supposedly be the lead scout for the dimension conquering Mindspawn race, an invasion force from the Mindscape intent on conquering Earth. However, in actuality, Cobweb had put in motion a complicated plot to invade the Earth and disrupt Rick's relationship with Sleepwalker. This involves disguising his minions as members of Sleepwalker's race and framing his archenemy as their leader. The plot is only partially successful; Sleepwalker and the Avengers thwart the initial attack, although Sleepwalker's reputation was ruined in the process. Many people still mistakenly believe that Sleepwalker's race planned to invade and conquer the Earth and that Sleepwalker himself was an advanced scout for the invasion force, betraying his own people to protect humanity.
During the confrontation, Sleepwalker pretended to destroy Rick's mind as a means of protecting him from Cobweb's minions. Unfortunately, the authorities retrieved the "mindrake" weapon Sleepwalker had used to store Rick's mind, preventing the alien from recovering it, also gathering up one of Cobweb's demons that was left behind after the Avengers drove them away. The demon and the mindrake were both taken to a federal prison and research facility where serial killer Jeremy Roscoe was also being held as part of a psychiatric experiment. Roscoe staged an escape from the prison hospital and became fused with the demon in the process, transforming into a nightmarish creature calling himself Psyko. The monster began spreading mass insanity across New York, until Sleepwalker managed to defeat him and retrieve the mindrake Psyko had taken with him.
Later, Sleepwalker thwarts Cobweb's second attack and banishes his archenemy once and for all, before seemingly dying to save Rick Sheridan's life. However, Sleepwalker would later turn up alive and still trapped in Rick's mind.
Sleepwalker eventually gains the ability to interact with the real world again. He is seen investigating the after-effects of an explosion caused by the villainous Ringmaster. He had attempted to become more involved in the situation but was foiled by Rick's sleeping schedule.
Sleepwalker is seen as having become a registered superhuman under the Initiative after Alyssa Conover's death in an auto accident. He then appears alongside Machine Man and Agent Sum as a member of Ms. Marvel's Operation: Lightning Storm (by default, his human host Rick Sheridan becomes an unofficial member as well).
During the Fantastic Four's confrontation with the Quiet Man, they recruited Sleepwalker's assistance to neutralize the threat posed by the heroes from Counter-Earth, reasoning that Sleepwalker was particularly suited to advise them on it since Counter-Earth was basically Franklin Richards' dream. During his time on Counter-Earth, Sleepwalker noted that none of the human inhabitants there were real as they didn't have actual souls, allowing the FF to freely take them out as they weren't actually killing anyone.
Powers and abilities
Sleepwalker possesses superhuman strength, exceptional durability and resistance to injury, and flotation-like flight. He is also capable of the projection of crude images of what he's seen from his eyes. His only offensive power was his "warp gaze". With this vision-based power, Sleepwalker could alter the shape of physical objects and twist them to his purposes. He could also modify the physical characteristics of the objects he affected-making them harder or softer, for example. Sleepwalker initially demonstrated this power by using it to distort a sidewalk to capture a criminal. He also used this ability once on air molecules to create a wind tunnel for faster aerial travel. Owing to an oath sworn by all members of his race due to the great physical and mental pain it could cause, Sleepwalker tried not to use his warp beams on living entities.
The effects of the warp vision on living entities was demonstrated when Rick, trapped in Sleepwalker's body after an encounter with the Chain Gang, inadvertently used the beam on his former girlfriend Alyssa Conover, who was about to kill Sleepwalker in Rick's body. Sleepwalker's vision causes living bodies to twist and contort, causing intense physical agony in the process, although this effect is only temporary. The beam also has the side effect of breaking the mental control of any outside entity possessing the victim's mind, expelling the controller in the process. As a result, Rick unintentionally freed Alyssa from the domination of the Chain Gang, a tactic Sleepwalker himself would later adopt when freeing other people from the mental enslavement of Cobweb's minions, using his ability to detect mental enslavement to identify the humans who needed his help. In these cases, when he used his warp beams on their human victims, the humans suffered little to no mental trauma, only experiencing a mild shock that they quickly recovered from. Alyssa Conover, on the other hand, suffered both the physical pain of her contortion and a serious mental shock from the effects of Sleepwalker's warp beams, which according to Sleepwalker forced her to repeatedly experience her worst nightmares. It seems that the mindspawn demons, who had completely suppressed the wills of their human victims and had completely taken over their bodies, took the brunt of the blast. In Alyssa's case, on the other hand, the Chain Gang did not completely take over her body, but rather attempted to force her conscious mind to do their bidding, leaving her vulnerable to the full effects of the beam.
Sleepwalker's warp vision had different effects on demons and other extraplanar creatures not from Earth, often incapacitating and banishing them back to their native planes, as he did to dispatch Cobweb's minions back to the Mindscape and also to defeat Mr. Jyn. His ability to use his warp-beam diminishes as he uses it; the greater the intensity of its usage, the faster it is used up. His warp-beam power is replenished by rest.
As an alien resident of the Mindscape, Sleepwalker had exceptional visual abilities, being able to see over a much farther distance than an average human, as well as being able to see and follow energy trails, and see wavelength colors invisible to human eyes. Sleepwalker shares a mental link with the human Rick Sheridan that facilitates Sleepwalker's entry into Rick's mind. Instead of food, Sleepwalker fed on mental energy, needing to periodically return to Rick's mind to be able to regain his strength. When Rick appeared to be dead, Sleepwalker formed a temporary bond with a homeless man named Pike to borrow some of his mental energy, although he did this only with Pike's express permission. His training as a warrior of the Mindscape makes him skilled tracker and an expert in the combat use of his powers, and also gives him a certain amount of knowledge about various supernatural entities and the workings of the mind. Sleepwalker's presence could also strengthen the powers of psychic powers and mind-related magic, enhancing the mental abilities of Professor X, Moondragon, Jean Grey and Psylocke, enabling them to connect with the mind of every human on Earth to free the human race from mental enslavement by the Magus. Similarly, Sleepwalker's mere presence increased the power of Doctor Strange's mental spells and enabled him to imprison a mental demon released from a woman's mind by Nightmare. Continuing his supernatural 'expertise', Sleepwalker's nature also allows him to be aware of souls, allowing him to confirm that the natives of Counter-Earth did not have souls as they were nothing more than psychic manifestations created by Franklin Richards; he was also able to confirm that Jim Hammond had a soul despite his artificial origin.
Being a resident of the mental plane also gives Sleepwalker a resistance, but not an immunity, to various mental attacks. When battling the monster Psyko, a creature that had the power to instill madness in his opponents, Sleepwalker briefly suffered from insanity, although he managed to resist and overcome Psyko's madness to finally defeat him. At the same time, Sleepwalker was shown as able to absorb the energy of the attack and use it to increase his own strength and power, although he still suffered its effects.
Sleepwalker had several notable weaknesses. The first was his bond to Rick—whenever Rick awoke or regained consciousness, Sleepwalker would automatically disappear from the human world and return to Rick's mind. At the same time, Sleepwalker's strength was related to his connection with the ground and the Earth—the higher he levitated, the greater his loss of strength, although he gained his full strength when actually standing on the ground itself. Similarly, Sleepwalker would weaken if he did not return to the mental plane or Rick's mind to rest and renew his supply of mental energy, which happened both when Rick was killed during the Infinity Gauntlet and when Rick seemed to be dead (actually a ruse by Sleepwalker to protect him from Cobweb's minions). Prolonged stay on Earth can lead to death. Finally, upon being exposed to a certain frequency of light, Sleepwalker initially experienced hallucinations and other pleasurable effects that distracted him from his frustration and anger at being hated and rejected by humans, despite his attempts to help them. He became addicted to the light, using it to escape his problems in a way similar to drug abuse or alcoholism. Sleepwalker's obsession with the light had tragic consequences, including the creation of Spectra and putting Rick into a coma. Horrified at what he had done, Sleepwalker managed to overcome his addiction and saved Rick's mind from the invasion of the Thought Police.
Sleepwalker also used the Imaginator device, which was in the shape of an amulet. The Imaginator was capable of teleporting Sleepwalker and other targets into, out of, and to different locations within the Mindscape. Sleepwalker's Imaginator was at one point lost within the mind of Rick Sheridan.
Enemies
Sleepwalker possessed a colorful gallery of mostly original villains, with a new one introduced each issue during the title's beginnings. They include:
8-Ball: A criminal who based his costume and equipment on the game of pool.
Bookworm: An angry, bitter social misfit who gained the ability to channel energy from the Mindscape into creations of whatever he read after an encounter with Sleepwalker, and used his abilities to get revenge on his tormentors.
The Chain Gang: Four convicted felons linked together in a chain gang who escaped during the upheavals caused by the Infinity Gauntlet, gaining superhuman powers in an accident, that lasted only as long as they stayed chained together. It consists of Master Link, Missing Link III, Uplink, and Weak Link.
Mr. FX: A mysterious special effects designer who was known for his stunningly lifelike displays, which he actually achieved by kidnapping people and imprisoning them within specially designed costumes.
Spectra: The assistant of a scientist who was studying the properties of a strange form of diamond, and planned to steal it and split the proceeds with her junkie boyfriend, until Sleepwalker's obsession with the light produced by the diamond led her to be imbued with its energies, allowing her to emit a rainbow of colored lights with many different powers.
Mr. Jyn: A demonic genie that tricked humans into letting him manifest on Earth by pretending to serve them, even as he manipulated them into letting him cause more and more mayhem until he would be released.
Eddie Cicala: A young boy traumatized by his father murdering his mother, who became catatonic before his mind made contact with a malign energy force from the Mindscape, which allowed him to possess innocent people and make them kill each other in a re-creation of his mother's death.
Cobweb: Sleepwalker's nemesis, a demon of the Mindscape that could cause madness in his human victims, responsible for trapping Sleepwalker in Rick Sheridan's mind as part of a plot to invade Earth without being thwarted by his enemy.
Lullaby: A teenage mutant who discovered she had the ability to sing people to sleep and put them into zombie-like trances, where they would obey her every command.
Crimewave: A crime boss who plotted to embarrass the Kingpin and replace him as the top crime lord on the East Coast by capturing Spider-Man.
The Thought Police: A special team of government agents assembled to capture Sleepwalker, led by the obsessed Agent Tolliver Smith.
Psyko: A human serial killer who became fused with a monster from the Mindscape and transformed into a hideous creature with warping powers similar to Sleepwalker's and the additional power to cause insanity in his opponents and victims.
Sleepwalker's original villains faded into obscurity faster than Sleepwalker himself and haven't been seen since the end of the series, save for 8-Ball who appeared briefly in the 2005 She-Hulk series and the Daughters of the Dragon miniseries.
Sleepwalker also battled the Hobgoblin and teamed up with Darkhawk and Spider-Man to battle the Brotherhood of Mutants to rescue the mutant Portal.
Other versions
Marvel Team-Up: League of Losers
Sleepwalker features in an arc of Robert Kirkman's Marvel Team-Up (vol. 3), featuring a group of C-list heroes dubbed "The League of Losers". A group of heroes including Sleepwalker, Darkhawk, Dagger, Araña, X-23, Gravity, and Terror go to the future to prevent the villain Chronok from stealing Reed Richards' time machine, (Chronok comes to the present after killing all of Marvel's major heroes). Although Araña dies along the way, the rest of the team succeeds.
It is revealed Chronok is from the same time period as Kirkman's Mutant 2099; the group stays with him and his mentor Reed Richards to wait for Chronok. During this time, Sleepwalker experiences difficulties with being away from his host Rick Sheridan, but ultimately comes to terms with it. The team defeats Chronok, but at the end of the story, Richards reveals they can't go back to their present, due to time travel and alternate timelines. The group decides to stay in the future, satisfied with the impact they made, however unnoticed. Mutant 2099 suggests reforming the Avengers or the "Fantastic Nine".
Note that due to the Marvel Universe's method for resolving time travel paradoxes, this story occurred in an alternate universe.
Marvel Zombies: Dead Days
Sleepwalker is shown among the surviving heroes in the Dead Days prequel to Marvel Zombies, during the meeting on the Helicarrier. This is the last time he is seen however, and Rick's sleeping body is killed.
Ultimate Sleepwalker
Ultimate Sleepwalker was seen in Ultimate X-Men #89 (February 2008); there, he is shown to be not one man, but a group of creatures that police the "mindscape" on which Amahl Farouk grew to become the Shadow King.
The Wozuans
"The Anatomy of a Nightmare" in Tales of Suspense #22 (October 1961) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko features an alien race bearing a strong resemblance to the Sleepwalkers. The story was reprinted in Monsters on the Prowl #18 (August 1972). The main character was hidden in shadows and takes pills to give him nightmares; his appearance is revealed to be the same as the aliens he visits, the Wozuans. He is finally revealed to be a green-skinned alien complaining that the pills failed to show him anything other than his own world.
Other appearances
Sleepwalker made a cameo as a part of Deathlok's team in the 2006 Beyond! miniseries.
He was seen briefly in a six issue Spider-Man miniseries, Revenge of the Sinister Six.
Sleepwalker made a brief cameo in the 2005 Great Lakes Avengers (GLA) Misassembled.
Sleepwalker also appears in the preview image for Avengers: The Initiative #1.
Sleepwalker appeared in Secret Defenders #4, #5, fighting Roadkill, and made a cameo in the final issue, #25
As part of the Infinity Wars, Sleepwalker had a cameo in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #46
As well as appearing in the main Infinity Crusade series, Sleepwalker had a cameo in Thor (Volume 1) #464
Two creatures slightly resembling Sleepwalker appear in Ultimate X-Men #89. It is revealed they are "policing" the mindscape reality Amahl Farouk (the Shadow King) finds himself trapped in with an iron hand, causing more trouble than actually protecting it.
Sleepwalker had a cameo in Ms. Marvel #18.
Sleepwalker can also be seen on the cover of the Irredeemable Ant-Man #12. This final issue of the canceled series, shows other characters doomed to obscurity.
Sleepwalker teams up with the Superior Spider-Man in Avenging Spider-Man #19.
In other media
An issue of Sleepwalker is shown in the comic book scene of the movie, True Romance. Christian Slater's character is shown skimming through the pages, though the description he gives of the story is not what is actually happening in the comic book.
References
External links
Sleepwalker at the Marvel Universe
Characters from the Sleepwalker series at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
Category:1991 comics debuts
Category:Characters created by Bob Budiansky
Category:Comics characters introduced in 1991
Category:Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
Category:Marvel Comics superheroes
Category:Marvel Comics titles
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Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin
Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin (1742 – 6 August 1761) was an Irish duellist and Member of Parliament.
Nugent was the eldest son and heir of Thomas Nugent, 6th Earl of Westmeath and adopted the courtesy title of Lord Delvin in 1754 when his father acceded to the earldom.
In 1759, he was elected Member of Parliament for Fore, although he was underage. He was also commissioned a cornet in the 1st Regiment of Dragoons.
In July 1761, the drunken Lord Delvin accosted a female acquaintance of Capt. George Reilly, and was challenged to a duel. The two crossed swords in the music room at Marlborough Bowling Green, and Delvin was mortally wounded. The incident led to the abandonment of Marlborough Green as a fashionable resort.
Further reading
Irish Varieties A more detailed account of the circumstances preceding the duel which ended Delvin's life.
References
Category:1742 births
Category:1761 deaths
Category:Irish soldiers in the British Army
Category:Duellists
Category:1st The Royal Dragoons officers
Category:British courtesy barons and lords of Parliament
Category:Duelling fatalities
Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded
Category:Irish MPs 1727–1760
Category:Politicians from County Westmeath
Category:Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Westmeath constituencies
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UPDATED: The rapper was nabbed in the same Texas town as Fiona Apple, Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson and Armie Hammer, but later released.
Beware, all rock stars proceeding through the West Texas border town of Sierra Blanca: The sheriff's on your tail.
Rapper Nelly was the latest celebrity to feel the long arm of the law there, after a drug-sniffing dog mounted his tour bus and found .64 ounces of heroin, 10.4 pounds of marijuana and a loaded .45 caliber pistol.
STORY: Fiona Apple Arrested in Texas for Hash Possession
The "Hot in Herre" singer was detained along with the other six passengers, according to the Associated Press, but all were released after one passenger admitted to ownership of the gun and controlled substances. He was arrested and awaits bond.
Last month, singer Fiona Apple was arrested at the same checkpoint for hashish possession. She later spoke to a Houston crowd about the incident, apologizing to "the guy who runs the jail ... a real decent guy." But she complained about four other officers whose behavior she suggested was "probably illegal."
The Sierra Blanca checkpoint has also landed Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg and even The Lone Ranger star Armie Hammer in hot water; all of them were busted there for pot (and in Hammer's case, pot cookie) possession.
UPDATE: Nelly has issued a statement about the incident:
“It is my understanding a member of my staff made an unfortunate decision to bring unlawful materials onto our tour bus that resulted in his arrest this morning, October 11th. Neither I nor anyone else on the tour bus was aware of his decision to bring these on board. Law enforcement officials in Sierra Blanca, Texas did not press charges against anyone other than that individual.”
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63 F.Supp. 542 (1945)
In re BALTIMORE & O. R. CO.
No. 9905.
District Court, D. Maryland.
November 20, 1945.
*543 *544 John J. Cornwell, of Baltimore, Md., Arthur H. Dean and DeLano Andrews (of Sullivan & Cromwell), both of New York City, Harry N. Baetjer and Hunter H. Moss (of Venable, Baetjer & Howard), both of Baltimore, Md., Russell Snodgrass, of Washington, D. C., and F. E. Bankhages, of Baltimore, Md., for petitioner.
Randolph Phillips, pro se.
H. C. Ackert and J. W. Giesecke (of Ackert, Giesecke & Waugh), both of St. Louis, Mo., for objectors Crozier et al.
Edwin S. S. Sunderland and James L. Homire, both of New York City, W. Meade Fletcher, Jr., of Washington, D. C., and Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Sunderland & Kiendl, of New York City, for Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
Walter Pond, of New York City, for Bank of Manhattan Co., trustee.
F. W. Doolittle, Jr. (of Rathbone, Perry, Kelley & Drye), of New York City, for Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., trustee.
Eben E. Rand (of Mitchell, Capron, Marsh, Angulo & Cooney), of New York City, for City Bank Farmers Trust Co., trustee.
E. Sheldon Stewart, of New York City, for U. S. Trust Co. of New York, trustee.
George Ross Veazey, of Baltimore, Md., for Bankers Trust Co., trustee.
Samuel G. Kling, of Baltimore, Md., for George H. Phillips.
Before SOPER and DOBIE, Circuit Judges, and CHESNUT, District Judge.
CHESNUT, District Judge.
This petition for a railroad adjustment under Chapter XV of the Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C.A. § 1200 et seq., is a sequel to In re Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co., D. *545 C., 29 F.Supp. 608, certiorari denied Getz v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., 309 U.S. 654, 60 S.Ct. 470, 84 L.Ed. 1003; Id., 309 U.S. 697, 60 S.Ct. 709, 84 L.Ed. 1036. In that earlier case this court (a three-judge court) approved the B and O's 1938 plan for an adjustment of its securities under Chapter XV of the Bankruptcy Act then in force. That Act expired by limitation on July 31, 1940, but was re-enacted by the Act of October 16, 1942, c. 610, 56 Stat. 787, 11 U.S.C.A. (ss. 201 to end) §§ 1200-1255; but by its terms is limited in duration to November 1, 1945, except in respect of any proceeding thereunder theretofore filed.
The chief characteristic of the 1938 plan was an eight year moratorium for the payment of interest charges on certain of the Railroad's bond issues. The dominant feature of this second plan is the extension of maturity dates for certain bond issues aggregating in principal amount $495,799,164. The 1938 plan, after approval by the court, has proven successful in that it avoided a receivership and drastic reorganization of the Railroad under section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act, 11 U.S.C.A. § 205, and since 1941, all current and accumulated interest has been paid by the Railroad on all its securities; and in accordance with that plan, the Company has retired over $100,000,000 par value of its capital obligations with consequent reduction of over $5,500,000 of annual interest charges. One feature of the financial embarrassment of the Railroad in 1938 was its then existing obligation in the amount of $72,771,578.44 due to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for loans previously made and maturing in 1939-1942, secured by a large amount of collateral, and a $50,000,000 note issue (of which the R.F.C. held $13,490,000), likewise maturing in 1939. One of the adjustments made by the 1938 plan was a five year extension of maturity of these obligations with the consent of the R.F.C., until November 8 and August 1, 1944 respectively. Although the 1938 plan was to be generally effective for eight years the R.F.C. was unwilling to postpone the maturity of the debts due to it for a longer period than five years. As the law then stood they could not extend beyond January 31, 1945. 49 Stat. 2, now amended, see 15 U.S.C.A. § 605m.
Particular consideration was given in the hearings on the 1938 plan to the possible or probable effect that these large 1944 maturities would have on the successful working out of the plan. It was realized that the obligations would have to be met either from excess earnings (which seemed improbable) or from successful refunding or otherwise; and the court concluded from the evidence submitted that there was a reasonable prospect for the successful refunding of the 1944 maturities through an anticipated increase in earnings with a consequent increase in market values of the securities (including $102,000,000 of B and O Refunding Bonds) constituting the collateral pledged for the loans. Prior to this second plan the B and O paid off all the $50,000,000 secured note issue, except the $13,490,000 held by the R.F.C. The latter was then consolidated with the other debts due the R.F.C., all secured by collateral.
The anticipated enhancement in value of the collateral did in fact occur to a very substantial extent. On June 15, 1938, the market value of the collateral was $52,000,000; on November 15, 1939, shortly after the approval of the 1938 plan, it increased to $85,000,000; on September 17, 1944 (just before the date of announcement of this second plan) it had increased to $128,000,000, and on September 6, 1945, it had increased to $172,000,000. But despite this substantial increase in market value the evidence in this case shows that it was not financially possible in 1944 for the Railroad to refund the indebtedness to the R.F.C., nor would it be possible even now, in the absence of the approval of the present plan, to refund the amount by sale to the public of notes secured by this collateral.
The reason lies in the nature of the collateral. The principal items of value were $102,000,000 of B and O Refunding Bonds and large amounts of the stocks of the Reading and Western Maryland Railroads, through which the B and O had vitally important operating arrangements. The sale of these stocks would have been disastrous to the B and O and very prejudicial to the holders of its securities affected by the present plan. The market value of these Refunding Bonds in 1939 was in the 30's. It was anticipated that with the approval of the plan and the return of normal traffic conditions, the market value of these bonds would be greatly increased. But while there was some substantial appreciation the market value did not increase *546 anything like so much as had been reasonably anticipated despite substantial increased net earnings. This was apparently due to two factors: (1) the uncertainty as to whether the Railroad would be able to successfully refund its heavy maturities of about $300,000,000 to occur in 1944, 1948, 1950 and 1951, and (2) probably because the investing public had become more critical with respect to railroad securities by reason of the large number of railroads then in receivership or in process of reorganization in bankruptcy. This public attitude seems to have been induced largely by the policy of the Interstate Commerce Commission with respect to new capitalizations of railroads, in insisting that the ratio of fixed charges to net income should be much lower than had been customary in railroad financing in earlier years.[1]
In this situation, after unsuccessful efforts to refund the 1944 maturities through public marketing, the management of the Railroad early in 1944 conferred with Mr. Jesse Jones, then Secretary of Commerce and Federal Loan Administrator and the former Chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, who had given special personal attention to railroad loans, and who still had supervisory authority in the R.F.C., to ascertain whether the R. F.C. would further extend the maturity of the 1944 obligations and if so, on what conditions. The Railroad was advised that no extension would be made unless it could successfully secure a substantial extension of maturities of its large bond issues, maturing in 1948, 1950 and 1951. Despite this previously expressed attitude of the R.F.C. it appears that some of the officers of the Railroad were uncertain whether the refusal to extend the 1944 maturities except on the conditions indicated, was final and unalterable. Thereupon arrangements were made for a formal conference with Mr. Jones upon the subject at his office in Washington on May 12, 1944. At that conference attended by Mr. Jones and other members or representatives of the R.F.C., Mr. White, president, Mr. Snodgrass, financial vice president, and Mr. Clay, General Solicitor, and several Directors of the B and O, Mr. Jones definitely and finally refused to further extend the loans except on the stated conditions. In consequence thereof the Railroad then proceeded to formulate the present adjustment plan, after conference with members of the legal staff of the R.F.C., and financial officers of some of the large institutional holders of B and O bonds.
A railroad adjustment under Chapter XV is much preferable to more drastic reorganization under section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act, if the petitioner can meet the requirements of Chapter XV. One important advantage of the procedure under Chapter XV is that it is generally terminated one way or the other within a relatively short time of about a year after the formulation of the plan, as compared with the much longer periods of possibly five or even ten years not infrequently required under section 77. To comply with the conditions of Chapter XV the railroad must, after formulating the plan, first obtain the voluntary assents thereto of 25% in amount of the claims of affected creditors; and thereafter it must obtain the approval of the plan and the necessary authority for the issuance of new or modified securities by the Interstate Commerce Commission, all before the plan is submitted for approval by the three-judge court.[2]
*547 After these conditions have been met the railroad must secure assents to the plan, or any modification thereof made by the Commission as a condition of its approval, from creditors holding more than two-thirds of the aggregate amount of the claims affected, which two-thirds shall include at least a majority of the aggregate amount of the claims of each affected class; and thereafter it may file its petition for the approval of the plan by the court in the district where it has its principal office, averring in the petition that it is unable to meet its debts matured, or about to mature, and desires to carry out the plan of adjustment, and annexing thereto a copy of the order obtained from the Commission. Section 1213 provides for the convening of a three-judge court to act on the petition.
The petitioner in this case has complied with these conditions precedent.[3] The three-judge court was duly convened and after two days' hearing (July 10 and 11, 1945) held after notice thereof, at which much evidence was submitted, entered an order approving the petition as properly filed in good faith and setting the case for final hearing, after due notice to all parties in interest, on September 17, 1945; but giving leave for further consideration of the issue of good faith on the final hearing.[4] The final hearing on the plan was held pursuant to notice (September 17-21) and the extended evidence submitted has been considered by the court.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is the oldest railroad in the United States, having been chartered by the State of Maryland in 1827. It has been in continuous and generally successful operation for more than 100 years and by gradual growth and extension of operations from time to time is now one of the great railroad systems of the country. Its financial structure and the territorial extent of its operations were fully described in the prior case in this court. 29 F.Supp. 608. The system extends from New York through Philadelphia and Baltimore to Washington and thence westwardly through Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to St. Louis and to Chicago, with lateral branches to Cleveland and Buffalo. It operates more than 6,000 miles of road. The aggregate par value of its capitalization in bonds and stock, including subsidiaries, exceeds $1,000,000,000. Its continued successful operation is a matter of vital concern not only to the holders of hundreds of millions of its bonds, but also for the public interest and convenience.
The principal features of the adjustment plan now submitted, in addition to the refunding of the notes held by the R.F.C. in the amount of $82,393,114, consist in the extensions of the maturity of five of its large bond issues and in providing that *548 a certain portion of fixed interest on some of the issues be made payable only contingently upon earnings sufficient therefor, but to be fully cumulative until finally fully paid. The plan contemplates that the security for existing obligations of the Company remain unchanged. The following schedule shows the aggregate amount of each class of all the claims affected by the plan and the proposed adjustment thereof:
Principal amt. Adjustment proposed
Class Description outstanding in plan
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Secured notes, matured Aug. 1,
1944, & November 8, 1944 $ 82,393,114 Extended to 1965 by
refunding
2 First Mortgage, 4% Bonds, due
July 1, 1948 76,922,350 Extended to July 1,
1975
3 First Mortgage, 5% Bonds, due
July 1, 1948 67,826,500 Extended to July 1,
1975, 1% unsecured
interest to be contingent
but cumulative
4 Southwestern Division Bonds,
due July 1, 1950 37,285,500 Extended to July 1,
1980, 1-1/2% unsecured
interest to be
contingent but cumulative
5 Pittsburgh, Lake Erie & West
Virginia Bonds, due Nov. 1,
1951 36,798,000 Extended to Nov. 1,
1980
6 Toledo-Cincinnati Division 4%
Bonds, Series A due July 1,
1959 10,028,700 Extended to July 1,
1985
7 Refunding and General Mortgage
Bonds (see note) 122,639,000
8 Thirty year 4-1/2% Convertible Extended to Feb. 1,
Bonds, due February 1, 2010, 4-1/2% unsecured
1960 61,906,000 interest to be
____________ contingent but cumulative
$495,799,164
NOTE: The Refunding and General Mortgage Bonds are outstanding in
four series as follows:
Series A, 5%, due December 1, 1995 48,989,000 | After 1946 Interest on
Series C, 6%, due December 1, 1995 29,218,500 | A.D.& F. to be 2%
Series D, 5%, due March 1, 2000 22,390,000 | fixed and 3% secured
Series F, 5%, due March 1, 1996 22,041,500 > contingent; and C
____________ | to be 2-2/5% fixed
$122,639,000 | and 3-3/5% secured
| contingent
The plan also contains carefully worded provisions for (1) the determination and allocation of available income for the payment of fixed charges and for contingent interest; (2) for creation of a capital fund for capital investments and betterments; and (3) for sinking funds for the partial retirement of indebtedness; and (4) for certain restrictions on payments of dividends on the stock of the Company *549 and (5) other miscellaneous provisions.[5] If the plan is consummated the B and O will cancel $6,350,650 of several bond issues now in the treasury.
Section 1225 of Chapter XV of the Bankruptcy Act (which is set out in the margin)[6] prescribes in detail the findings to be made by the special court as a condition *550 to the approval of the plan. The more important of these findings in the instant case are (1) that the plan has been approved by creditors affected thereby who hold more than three-fourths of the aggregate amount of the claims affected by the plan, including at least three-fifths of the aggregate amount of the claims of each affected class; (2) that the plan is fair and equitable as an adjustment and as such will afford due recognition to the rights of each class of creditors and stockholders and is fair to each class adversely affected; and (3) that the plan is feasible. This section also makes it the duty of the court in the findings to be made to scrutinize the facts independently (1) of the extent of acceptances of the plan and any lack of opposition thereto, and (2) of the fact that the Commission has authorized the issuance or modification of securities as proposed by the plan and (3) of the fact that the Commission has made such similar findings. It is further provided in the section that the court shall file an opinion setting forth its conclusions and the reasons therefor and shall enter a decree confirming the plan which shall be binding upon the petitioner and all creditors and security holders of the petitioner.
In the decree to be entered in this case there will be included the detailed findings of fact which we have made thus independently after consideration of the plan and the evidence in the case. In view of these separate findings, we find it unnecessary to here discuss in meticulous detail each and all of the findings and will, therefore, limit this opinion to our conclusions and the reasons therefor with regard to the fairness and feasibility of the plan generally, and to a discussion of certain matters which relate to the question of whether the plan is fair and equitable to the different classes of creditors affected and particularly to the holders of Convertible Bonds mentioned in the plan; and to certain modifications of the plan suggested by one or more of the intervenors in the case. We find the plan has been accepted by the holders of 81% of all the securities affected and by more than three-fifths of each class, the percentages thereof ranging from 86% to 67%.
Consideration of Fairness of the Plan. In appraising the nature and effect of the plan with respect to whether it is fair and equitable, it is important to give due weight to certain financial and economic facts affecting railroad securities which have been emphasized in the experience of preceding years. The recent war has clearly demonstrated the vital importance of the continued efficient operation of the railroads in our national life; and they will continue to be necessary in times of peace. *551 It is essential that they be continued in efficient management and operation as going concerns. It is highly important both to the holders of their securities and in the public interest that court receiverships or drastic reorganizations should be avoided if possible. If a railroad is unable to meet its debts as they mature, then, to keep them going concerns, receivership or reorganization is unavoidable unless there can be a successful adjustment under Chapter XV.
One lesson that has been learned in the recent past is that in the capitalization of a railroad its fixed charges for interest should be substantially less in amount than its average net earnings; and this has been the policy approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission in many of the railroad reorganizations under section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has had a continuous growth for more than a century. Numerous extensions of its System have added greatly to its capital indebtedness and at the present time the aggregate amount of the latter is unfortunately large (about 60% of its total capitalization including its subsidiaries). However, its present financial embarrassment is not due to lack of earning capacity to meet all its interest charges but to principal maturities which cannot be successfully refunded under present conditions in the absence of some further adjustment of its capital obligations.
For more than fifty years all our interstate railroads have been subject to very firm governmental control administered principally by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Railroad rates for transportation of goods and passengers have for many years been fixed or controlled by the Commission at rates deemed reasonable but seldom affording more than a very moderate return on property devoted to the public service. It is practically impossible for railroads to carry to surplus from year to year sums sufficient in the accumulated aggregate to pay off in cash large sums of the maturing principal of capital indebtedness. Successful refunding thereof is ordinarily the only alternative to receivership or reorganization.
Another fact which must be realized by the holders of railroad securities is that the payment of interest to them is practically contingent upon the net earnings of the railroad. Legal redress for satisfaction of the debts due them through mortgage foreclosures almost inevitably results in very substantial loss, either in a long moratorium in the payment of interest, or in the total loss of income for many years, or in the impairment or reduction of their capital investments in case of receivership or drastic reorganization. On the other hand, especially under present financial and economic conditions, the time of maturity of the principal of their investments is much less important than the successful maintenance of payment of accruing interest from earnings. It is a well known financial fact that where the net earnings of the railroad are amply sufficient to meet all fixed charges, the market price of railroad securities is generally sufficiently high to enable security holders to realize upon their investment even when originally made at high prices, by sale in the market. It is therefore obviously of advantage to them if the railroad can avoid receivership and continue to operate with sufficient net earnings.
Still another fact to be realized by investors is that net earnings depend very largely on good management. Unless the courts intervene through receivership or reorganization, management is elected and controlled by the stock interests in the railroad. They should have some incentive to maintain good management. The market prices for the stock and the prospect of dividends furnish this common incentive. While reasonable restrictions on the payment of dividends is thoroughly desirable, restrictions so drastic that they remove the incentive to good management impair the value of all the railroad securities. Conversely, it is a well known financial fact that where the common stocks of a railroad have substantial market value, this manifested public confidence in the railroad's prosperity sympathetically tends to enhance the market value of its bonded indebtedness.
Against this background of economic and financial experience, a study of the main features of the present plan, and its particular impact on the several classes of affected securities, leads us to the conclusion that the plan as a whole is fair and equitable. There is much affirmative evidence in this case to this effect.
The plan does not reduce the principal amount of the capital debt or the obligation *552 of the Railroad for the full interest contracted for thereon, nor does it impair any of the present security for the several affected issues respectively. It merely postpones the maturities of the obligations for the principal, and possibly some of the interest thereon. With respect to the latter, it does not release the railroad from its absolute obligation eventually to pay all that has been contracted for, although some portion of the original contract rates is made contingent as to time of payment, dependent upon the sufficiency of current net income. Upon maturity of the principal as deferred or as accelerated unpaid contingent interest becomes a fixed obligation, and all currently deferred interest is fully cumulative.
The plan also provides a substantial sinking fund[7] for the partial retirement of capital obligations. And to keep the railroad a going, and if desirable an expanding, concern, it provides for the setting apart from annual earnings a substantial "capital fund" for betterments, and if necessary and advisable (under restrictions) for the issuance of additional bonds for capital improvements, and also, under some rigid restrictions, for the issuance of temporary Emergency Bonds for similar purposes. Provision is also made in the modified indentures for refunding of many of the new bond issues to the extent not previously retired, through the sinking and other funds. These conditions make for flexibility and are reasonable assurance for the continued prosperity of the railroad as a going concern in meeting possible new conditions as they arise in the future.
A number of financial experts have submitted oral testimony in support of the fairness of the plan from the standpoint of the security holders. Among those who testified to this effect were Mr. Charles S. Garland, a member of the long established and well known banking firm of Alex. Brown & Sons of Baltimore; Mr. John Stedman, vice president of the Prudential Insurance Company, whose Company holds over $7,000,000 par value of several of the affected bond issues and holds $540,000,000 of all railroad securities; Mr. Harry C. Hagerty, vice president of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company which holds $28,000,000 of B and O Bonds, including substantial amounts of all the affected issues with the exception of the Convertibles, and also 6900 shares of B and O preferred stock; and Mr. Arthur Knies, a financial expert on railroad securities. It is also relevant to note that Moody's well known rating manual has classified each of the affected classes of securities higher, if the plan is approved, than the rating which it previously has had. It is also, we think, quite significant to note the very substantial rise in market prices of each of the affected classes of securities since the announcement of the present plan. No doubt general conditions affecting all railroads are a considerable factor in this market rise; but it has been specially pronounced with respect to the B and O securities since the announcement of the present plan, and proportionately much greater than the average of similar increases for other railroads as shown by the well-known DowJones statistics for second-grade securities.[8] Thus on September 19, 1944 (the day before the public announcement of the plan) the market price for B and O 4's was 88; on December 4, 1944, it was 95 7/8 and on July 12, 1945, it was 106. And there have been even greater proportionate market advances in other issues affected by the plan. The most pronounced and proportionate increase in market price has occurred in the case of the B and O Convertible Bonds which on September 19, 1944, was 37, but rose to 72½ on July 12, 1945. Since then and doubtless consequent upon the termination of the war with Japan, there has been some slight market recession in all the affected issues. This very substantial rise in market prices of B and O securities is at least very weighty evidence that public confidence has been greatly increased in the continued prosperity of the B and O Railroad as a result of the announcement of the plan and of its progress toward being put into effect. It is, of course, not determinative of the fairness of the plan for this court and it has not been so regarded by us.
Although the court is enjoined to consider the fairness of the plan independently *553 of the percentages of acceptances by security holders, or lack of opposition therefrom, it is relevant to note how largely and widely the plan has been approved by the security holders of all affected classes. The holders of over 81% of the aggregate principal of all affected securities have affirmatively voted assent to the plan. Less than 1% have affirmatively dissented. Of the whole number of individual holders (less than 80,000), 39,738 have voted for the plan and only 103 against it, a percentage of over 99% for the plan and less than one-third of 1% against the plan, of those voting on it. The percentages of assents to the plan by holders of the several affected classes range from 86% to over 67%, excluding the R.F.C. as holder of the securities pledged as collateral for its loan. It has fully assented to the plan.[9] The only intervenors in this case as objectors to the plan are listed in the margin.[10]
The Feasibility of the Plan. Section 1225 of the Act requires (among other things) as a condition of our approval, that we find that the plan meets the requirements of clause (2), sub. (c) of section 1210. As previously noted, section 1210 outlines the findings that must be made by the Interstate Commerce Commission and we are enjoined to make our findings independently of the Commission's report. As previously indicated, we will make these findings in the decree in this case. We think it necessary in this connection to particularly discuss only those parts of the clause which relate to the findings of feasibility of the plan. To approve the plan it is necessary that it be found feasible, financially advisable, and not likely to be followed by the insolvency of the Railroad, or by need of further financial reorganization or adjustment; that it does not provide for fixed charges in an amount in excess of what will be adequately covered by the probable earnings available for the payment thereof; leaves adequate means for such future demands as may be requisite and is consistent with adequate maintenance of the property and consistent with proper performance by said railroad corporation of service to the public as a common carrier and will not impair its ability to perform such services. We have given careful consideration to the particular matter of the feasibility of the plan; that is, its probable success in the continuation of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as a going concern. We have thought it particularly important to do so in this case by reason of the fact that contrary to reasonable expectation there has been necessity for this present plan as an aftermath of the 1938 plan. It has been said in opposition to the present plan that the 1938 plan failed, and therefore the Railroad should not be entitled now to further aid by the court's approval of this present plan. But this criticism of the effect of the 1938 plan is superficial and literal rather than substantial. The 1938 plan has been highly successful in the interest both of the public and of the security holders in that the Railroad thereby escaped what otherwise would have been inevitable receivership or drastic reorganization. As a result of the plan the Railroad has been maintained as a going concern under private management, has proved its great worth to the public during the recent war, and since 1941 has fully met and paid all its fixed and contingent *554 interest charges. It is true that the Railroad is again in need of financial adjustment under Chapter XV; but it seems clear on the evidence that its present embarrassment is due not at all to lack of earning capacity but to present inability to refund maturing principal obligations. The 1938 plan has been criticized because it did not foresee and successfully provide for this present situation. Of course as the event has proved, it would have been wiser if it had done so. But it should be remembered that the B and O 1938 plan was the first case under Chapter XV.[11] At the time it was a novel and bold venture for the railroad to obtain voluntary assents to the plan by the requisite percentage of its security holders affected thereby. It may be doubted whether the more comprehensive plan now proposed could have been successfully consummated. The plan has proven insufficient only in the one respect, that it did not include the extension of the maturities now provided for in this supplemental plan. We think the present plan should be considered on its intrinsic merits without prejudice resulting from the adverse comment that the 1938 plan was not sufficiently comprehensive.
So considered, we reach the conclusion that the plan is financially advisable and feasible. So far as it is humanly possible to foresee the economic and financial conditions of the future, the adjustment now proposed is not likely to be followed by the insolvency of the Railroad or by the need of further reorganization or adjustment. As already pointed out, the present embarrassment is not from lack of sufficient earning capacity to meet the current interest charges, but only inability to refund capital maturities. The current aggregate amount of all fixed charges and contingent interest payments including guaranteed dividends on leased lines stocks (as of August 31, 1944) is less than $27,000,000. By the present plan the annual fixed charges and guaranteed dividends on leased lines will be about $19,000,000, and the contingent current interest about $8,000,000. The Baltimore and Ohio income available for fixed charges, from 1921 to the present time, has been annually substantially more than sufficient to meet all the present aggregate interest charges both fixed and contingent under the plan, with the exception of the one year of 1938. In no year in this period, except 1932 and 1938, has the income for charges been less than $28,000,000, and the average income for the whole period has been about $40,000,000. From 1921 to 1927 the average was over $46,000,000; from 1928 to 1934, over $42,000,000; from 1935 to 1941, nearly $34,000,000, and from 1942 to 1944 inclusive, over $64,000,000. In estimating future earnings we should of course disregard the high earnings during the war period; but even in the years of economic depression, from 1935 to 1941, the average net income was nearly $34,000,000. We are also not unmindful that railway operating expenses have been largely increased in the last two or three years by reason of increase in wages and taxes, but it does not seem probable for the foreseeable future that the net income will be less than $27,000,000; and even more improbable that it will be less than the total fixed charges under the plan of about $19,000,000.[12]
In our opinion the plan contains provisions sufficiently flexible to meet such future financing as may be requisite. In addition to the sinking fund for the partial retirement of bonds, it provides that upon maturity the outstanding bonds may be refunded, and also provides a minimum capital fund of $5,000,000 annually (after payment *555 of fixed interest) for capital betterments, and provides for the issuance of additional bonds to finance 75% of additions to property covered by several of the respective new mortgages, and, in addition, a limited amount of Emergency Bonds to finance up to 100% of the cost of similar betterments.
Objections to the Plan. The objections to the plan as a whole do not attack its feasibility but only the alleged lack of necessity for any plan at all at this time. The attack is focused on the basic requirement of the remedial Act that the petitioner is unable to meet its maturing debts. It is contended that the proceeding has not been filed in good faith because the Railroad is in fact able to meet its maturing debts or at least could have done so by proper financial management. More specifically, it is stated that the refusal of the R. F. C. to extend its secured loans, by refunding or otherwise, except on the condition of the approval of the plan, is not due to the independent judgment of the R. F. C. but was inspired by the officers of the B and O and is therefore really collusive.[13]
In purported support of this main contention it is said (1) that in soliciting assents to the plan the petitioner made misrepresentations of fact; (2) that it has wasted funds otherwise available to meet the 1944 maturities in the amount of $30,000,000 in the over maintenance of the Railroad; (3) that it unnecessarily carries in its working capital many millions of dollars that could be made available to meet indebtedness and (4) that it has improvidently used about $31,500,000 in the retirement of capital obligations maturing after 1944 which should properly have been applied on account of 1944 maturities. These particular contentions are advanced as circumstances tending to show bad faith in connection with the more specific and direct charge of collusion above mentioned. We will discuss these particular charges separately. Some of them need only brief comment.
We find no material misrepresentations of fact in the letters of the president of the Railroad inviting assents to the plan. The criticism of the wording objected to seems to be to be based only on the objector's personal interpretation of the language and is more argumentative than factual. The B and O was actively soliciting assents to the plan and the intervenor, Mr. Randolph Phillips, was likewise actively urging the Convertible Bondholders to express dissent. In the course of the correspondence some unnecessary personal criticism was made by the B and O regarding Mr. Phillips. One statement was that "Randolph Phillips attempted to defeat the 1938 plan. If he had been successful, your bonds might have been wiped out and your road might be in bankruptcy today". Mr. Phillips' principal activity is that of a railroad economist of long experience. He particularly complains that this statement was a misinterpretation of his participation in the hearings on the 1938 plan, and asks that the statement as to his position then should be corrected. The court's understanding of Mr. Phillips' attitude toward the 1938 plan is stated in 29 F.Supp. at page 627. As will there appear, he considered the 1938 plan defective because it did not make sufficient provision for what might happen in the event of the inability of the B and O to meet the 1944 maturities. He states that he was not attacking the 1938 plan as a whole but endeavoring to improve it to avoid the contingency which the B and O now says confronts it. His present position, however, it clearly stated in his testimony and brief. It is that he opposes the whole of the present plan on the ground that the contingency which he anticipated in 1939 did not in fact occur in 1944 in that, as he contends, the Railroad was able to meet its maturing indebtedness in that year.
The contention that the Railroad has been intentionally over maintained ("gold plated") is based only on a statistical comparison (prepared by the objector) of the average maintenance expense ratio of the B and O and other railroads for 1929, compared with the ratios for 1943 and 1944, which show that the B and O ratio is higher for these latter years than for 1929, and apparently higher now than for other railroads. But the respective periods *556 are not fairly comparable by reason of differing prevailing conditions. What is overlooked is the higher taxes and cost of labor and materials in the later period. But apart from this there is a very simple explanation of the increased maintenance ratio in the latter period as explained by Mr. A. C. Clarke, Chief Engineer of the Railroad, and Mr. Roy White, its president. The higher expense in the latter years is due to much deferred maintenance which had been accumulated over the depression years, the effect of which was very pronounced in the case of the B and O.[14] The objector submitted no factual evidence based on inspection by experts that there was over maintenance of the B and O System.[15]
Mr. Phillips contends that the B and O is presently carrying in its balance sheet an unnecessarily large working capital, and that about $40,000,000 could be withdrawn from it to pay on account of the 1944 maturities. We are not impressed with the soundness of this contention. Without here analyzing in detail the several items of current assets and current liabilities, we are satisfied from the testimony of the B and O's financial vice president and from other evidence in the record, that no substantial cash sum could fairly be presently withdrawn from current assets to apply on the 1944 maturities. The question is not whether the available current assets could be used to pay debts in liquidation, but whether the working capital as a whole, necessarily excluding the large item of materials and supplies, is more than reasonably adequate for the B and O System as a going concern, doing presently a volume of $380,000,000 of business annually, operating in 13 States and having 128 bank accounts. The testimony of Mr. Snodgrass, the B and O's financial vice president, analyzing the April 1945 balance sheet, was to the effect that the available cash for current payments was only about $16,000,000, while he thought $20,000,000 was reasonably required. The later balance sheet of July 1945 is not very greatly different in its figures. We do not find that the working capital is unreasonably large. The contention to the contrary is largely based on comparison of the much smaller amount of working capital maintained by the B and O in prior years. It was one of the features of the 1938 plan that the then inadequate working capital might be increased by about $10,000,000.
The 1938 plan, Art. VI, provided for a substantial sinking fund to be applied to the retirement of $100,000,000 of aggregate principal amount of obligations without designating the particular bonds to be so retired, but expressly providing that the Company "may purchase bonds or obligations of any issue or issues eligible for acquisition under the preceding provisions of this Article VI in the open market or by call for tenders or otherwise at not exceeding the redemption price". In accordance therewith the Railroad has now retired over $100,000,000 of its capital indebtedness at a cost of about $67,000,000. Of this latter amount approximately $31,500,000 was applied to the retirement of capital obligations aggregating approximately $66,000,000 maturing subsequent to November *557 8, 1944. A large part of the debt so retired consisted of B and O Refunding Bonds which were purchased and retired by the Railroad at a very heavy discount. The application of funds to the retirement of debts maturing after 1944 resulted in decreasing fixed charges by $2,500,000 more than if all the available funds had been applied to the retirement of earlier maturities. And the evidence shows that this application of that available cash has received the express approval of some of the Railroad's most important creditors as sound and advisable financing. Even if all the cash available for debt retirement had been applied solely to the retirement of obligations maturing prior to 1945 there would have remained owing on the 1944 maturities approximately $51,000,000.
We come now to the principal attack on the plan. It is the charge that it is not proposed in good faith,[16] because the R. F. C. would have extended the loans maturing in 1944 if the officers of the B and O had really wanted that done. Some color was given to this contention by the resignation of Mr. Cassius M. Clay, General Solicitor (assistant to the General Counsel) of the B and O, made public on the eve of the final hearing of this case on September 17, 1945. In his letter of resignation he criticized the plan to which he said he had long been opposed. The position taken by Mr. Clay requires fuller comment, which will be later made. It is bound up with the whole question whether the present position of the R. F. C. is an independently taken one based only on the financial conditions applicable to the case, or whether it is the result of inspiration and collusion with officers and directors of the Railroad to create an only simulated or "synthetic" financial embarrassment for the purposes of this case. This is a question of fact to be determined on the evidence.
Bearing on this issue, we have heard and considered the testimony orally given in open court and subject to cross-examination of all the principal persons now living having any knowledge of the subject, including Mr. Roy White, president of the B and O Railroad; Mr. R. L. Snodgrass, its financial vice president largely in charge of the present plan; Mr. Stewart McDonald, Chairman of the Road's Executive Committee; Messrs. Traphagen and Cheston, other members of the Board, and of Mr. Jones, former Chairman, and Senator Charles Henderson, present Chairman, of the R.F.C. All of these witnesses emphatically refute the suggestion that the past or present attitude of the R.F.C. was inspired or stimulated by the officers of the B and O. With equal clarity they assert that the position taken and maintained represents the independent judgment of the members of the R.F.C. acting in the interests of the United States as a large creditor of the B and O, and having due regard to the interests of the public and of the security holders of the B and O. There is no sufficient evidence in the case to warrant a rejection of the testimony of these reputable witnesses whose general credibility is in no way attacked and their evidence not impaired by cross-examination. And we find nothing in the nature of the case inconsistent with this definitely asserted position taken by the R.F.C.
Apart from the uncontradicted testimony the financial situation then existing is indisputable. The Railroad had no financial means to meet the 1944 maturities other than the collateral pledged therefor. Unsuccessful efforts had been made to refund the debt by public financing. The sale of the collateral would have had very disastrous effects on the B and O System and its earning power. Even if, by greater pressure or persuasiveness, the R.F.C. could have been induced to extend the loan for a few years more, the financial problem would have recurred with greater intensity in 1948 when the even much larger maturities come on. It seems improbable that they *558 could have been successfully refunded with the outstanding menace of the unrefunded R.F.C. maturities of $80,000,000 or more. The evidence given by Mr. Jones is very clear, definite and explicit that it was this condition that actuated him and through him the R.F.C. in insisting, as a condition to substantial extension of the 1944 maturities, that the later maturities should first be substantially extended. The dominant fact in the case is that the R.F.C. did take this position.
As we have stated, it was a feature of the 1938 plan that the $50,000,000 secured notes of which the R.F.C. held $13,490,000, and the indebtedness of $72,771,578 to the R.F.C. should be extended to mature in 1944. In 1939, when the 1938 plan was considered by the court, Mr. Daniel Willard was the president and Mr. George M. Shriver the senior vice president of the B and O. It is not now disputed that these two highly respected and long experienced railroad officials testified to their belief in entire good faith and on grounds which seemed reasonable, that in the working out of the 1938 plan the B and O would be able to meet these 1944 maturities aggregating about $122,000,000. It was thought that the reasonably expected increase in the market values of the collateral pledged for these loans and the general improvement of the Railroad's finances would enable the Road to successfully refund them or otherwise meet the problem. As we have seen, this enhancement of the market values of the collateral has been realized to a considerable extent but not sufficiently to make it possible for the Road to refund the present obligation to the R.F.C. by the sale of new securities to the public secured by the same collateral, without the postponement of maturities of other and soon maturing bond issues. And the evidence is clear that the R.F.C. early in 1944, took the position that it would not extend the loans unless there was a comprehensive plan for the postponement of these maturities.[17] A substantial reason for the position taken by the R.F.C. was that an extension of the loan was inadvisable in the interests of the creditor by reason of the uncertainty whether the B and O could successfully refund the heavy maturities of its senior mortgage bonds due July 1, 1948, and in 1950 and 1951, aggregating over $200,000,000 of principal. If they could not be successfully refunded, receivership or reorganization was highly probable. On the other hand, with them substantially extended, it was the judgment of the R.F.C. that a new bond issue, in the amount of the principal then due to it, secured by the collateral and bearing 4% interest, could be readily sold to the public. In this situation the present plan emerged which provides for such refunding, and the R.F.C. has agreed to accept the new 4% bonds at par and accrued interest in the principal amount of the obligation as payment in full.
Now we return to the letter of resignation by and the testimony of Mr. Clay. In 1941 he joined the legal staff of the B and O on the invitation of Mr. George M. Shriver, then its senior vice president. For some years theretofore he had been a member of the legal staff of the R.F.C. and had been actively engaged for it as a creditor in various railroad reorganizations. His chief work for the B and O was in matters before the Interstate Commerce Commission. Mr. Snodgrass, who is now the financial vice president of the B and O, had also been a member of the legal staff of the R.F.C. for some years before he was invited by Mr. White (president of the B and O and successor to Mr. Willard) to take the position rendered vacant by the regrettable death of Mr. Shriver. Mr. Snodgrass had also been engaged in railroad reorganization cases when with the R.F.C. When Mr. Snodgrass first assumed this position in 1942, he was told by Mr. White that his principal activity at once must be to consider plans to meet the approaching large maturities of 1944 and later years. As a result of this assignment it is Mr. Snodgrass and not Mr. Clay who has been in principal charge of the present plan after the failure of active efforts by the former to meet the maturities by refunding. It appears that when Mr. Clay was first advised of the reported refusal of Mr. Jones to extend the 1944 maturities, and the probable necessity for a second plan under Chapter XV, he expressed skepticism about the genuineness of Mr. Jones' refusal and doubts about the necessity for the plan. Apparently in consequence of this the Railroad sought the opinion of outside legal advice which was subsequently received from Mr. Dulles of the New York firm of Sullivan & Cromwell. The opinion was to the effect that the proposed Chapter XV proceeding would of course vitally depend upon the real position taken by the R.F.C. It was *559 in consequence of this that the conference already referred to of May 12, 1944, was held with Mr. Jones and his associates in Washington, and Mr. Clay, in view of his previously expressed opinion, was invited to participate in the conference. He says that he was "shocked" when Mr. Jones firmly refused to modify the previously announced conditions for the requested extension.
Mr. Clay as a witness in the case was examined and cross-examined at great length. His testimony shows a considerable qualification of the briefer statements made in his letter of resignation. While he stated in his letter that he had regarded the plan as an unsound one, as a witness he said he did not question "the intrinsic financial soundness of the plan" and that he was "not questioning the good faith of any of the officers and directors of the B and O who became such after the time of the 1938 plan". We have carefully considered the whole of his testimony. In short summary we find that while Mr. Clay's own good faith as to his position need not be questioned, his expressed opinion that the plan was unnecessary and therefore not in good faith, was based on his own personal view and was not supported by the evidence or exhibits in the case. His personal opinion seems to have been based in his experience while associated with the R.F.C. that Mr. Jones was very reluctant to force any railroad into receivership or court reorganization, and on especially what he referred to as his understanding that there was a "gentlemen's agreement" at the time of the 1938 plan that the R.F.C. loans, then extended to mature in 1944, would again be renewed at maturity. There is no evidence in this case to show that there was such an "agreement". Mr. Clay appeared at the court hearings on the 1938 plan as counsel for the R.F.C. It is not contended that he or any one else made any commitment, express or implied, to that effect at that time. Mr. Willard and Mr. Shriver who, it is suggested, would have been the officers of the B and O to have had such an agreement with Mr. Jones, are now deceased. Mr. Jones as a witness in this case emphatically denied that there was any such agreement or understanding, and categorically stated that there was no discussion between himself and Mr. Shriver or Mr. Willard about the extension of the loans beyond 1944.[18]
The evidence is fully convincing that the Railroad was unable to meet its maturing obligations of about $82,000,000 due to the R.F.C. on August 1 and November 8, 1944, either from available cash or by refunding the loan; nor could it obtain a voluntary extension of the loan by the R.F.C. except on the condition of postponement of its principal obligations maturing in 1948, 1950 and 1951 in the amount of $218,832,350. But the question may still be asked whether the loan could not have been met by the sale of the pledged collateral either in 1944 or at the present time, especially in view of the fact that the market value of this collateral had increased *560 on September 17, 1944 (just before the date of announcement of this second plan) to $128,000,000; and on September 6, 1945, it had increased to $172,000,000. The evidence in the case persuades us that despite the apparent ample excess value of the collateral, this method of relief was not practically available to the Railroad. In the first place, the present large increase in market value of the collateral is due to the prospect of the success of this plan; and the failure of the plan would inevitably substantially impair public confidence in the future prosperity of the Railroad with the consequent substantial decrease in the market value of the collateral. A more important answer to the suggested possibility lies in the nature of the collateral itself. A list of this collateral appears in the Appendix to the report of the Interstate Commerce Commission filed with the petition in this case. The principal items of value in the long list of this collateral are about $102,000,000 par value of the B and O Refunding Bonds which are affected by the plan. These pledged Refunding Bonds have never been issued or sold to the public but their issuance was approved by the Interstate Commerce Commission for the purpose of this pledge. They are now selling in the 70's but if the plan is not approved the market price would doubtless be very considerably less and their sale at a very heavy discount would result in a large increase in the Railroad's outstanding capital obligations and interest charges. Other important items in the list of collateral are very substantial holdings by the B and O of stocks of the Reading Company and the Western Maryland Railway, and the South-western Construction Company. It is of the utmost importance to the integrity of the B and O System that these stocks be held by the B and O. Their holding is highly important as the basis for important railroad operating arrangements between the B and O and the Western Maryland and Reading Railroads, and the Southern Railway. Freight originating or received on the B and O lines in the west is routed into New England through interchange by the B and O with the Western Maryland and Reading; and the B and O's access from Philadelphia to New York is through operating arrangements with the Reading.[19] It would be utterly disastrous to the unity of the B and O System and would entail a very great impairment of its earning capacity if, in consequence of the sale of these stocks, the operating arrangements now in force should be terminated. A serious threat of the sale of these items of collateral would almost inevitably necessitate a drastic reorganization proceeding under section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act to preserve if possible the integrity of the B and O System. See Continental Illinois Nat. Bank & Trust Co. v. Chicago, Rock Island & P. R. Co., 294 U.S. 648, 55 S.Ct. 595, 79 L.Ed. 1110. It is the very purpose of this present proceeding to avoid this disaster which would certainly cause great loss to the holders of securities affected by the present plan.
Looking at the broad and beneficial purpose of Chapter XV, we think the condition therein that the Railroad must show its inability to pay its debts as they mature should not be so narrowly and strictly construed as to deny approval of the petition in this case on the possibility that the R.C.F. could realize on its loan by sale of collateral which might so seriously affect the integrity of the B and O System as a going concern. (It was stated in the Report of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives of May 27, 1942 (Report No. 2177, 77th Congress, 2nd Session) in respect to the proposed legislation which became the Act of October 16, 1942, that the purpose of the Bill was to enable railroads which are not insolvent and which are fundamentally sound as transportation systems but are handicapped financially by maturing obligations to enter into agreements with their creditors and security holders for the postponement or modification of obligations so as to avoid the drastic overhauling of their capital structures provided for in section 77. This purpose would be defeated if such a railroad could not take advantage of the Act without disposing of collateral that would greatly impair its usefulness and efficiency as a going concern. Such a sale of collateral by creditors might be enjoined in a proceeding under section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act. Continental, etc., Bank & Trust Co. v. Chicago R. I. & P. R. Co., 294 U.S. 648, 55 S.Ct. 595, 79 L.Ed. 1110; but see also 15 U.S.C.A., s. 605, last sentence). And it may be added that despite the present apparent margin of value in the collateral for the secured loans, it is by no means certain that collateral of this type would be readily *561 marketable in bulk at its present quoted prices. Present market prices have been largely influenced by the progress of the plan. If it fails a substantial recession in the present prices is clearly indicated.
Is the plan fair to all affected classes? We have determined that the plan as a whole, as a substantial recapitalization of the petitioner, is intrinsically sound and financially feasible. Section 1225 of the Act requires as a further condition of approval, that the plan must be fair and equitable and as such will "(a) afford due recognition to the rights of each class of creditors and stockholders and fair consideration to each class adversely affected, and (b) will conform to the law of the land regarding the participation of the various classes of creditors and stockholders."
In our opinion the plan does conform to legal standards and requirements. There is no reduction of the amount of the contractual obligations of the B and O for either principal or interest, and no impairment of the security therefor. The only change is postponement of maturity of principal, and the time of payment of interest made contingent upon earnings, but fully cumulative until finally paid. Such changes are not uncommon features in railroad reorganizations or adjustments. In quality they are similar to those made in the B and O 1938 plan.
We will now see whether it is fair to the several classes inter sese. In the first place, it is to be noted that the plan affects nearly all of the petitioner's present funded debt.[20] The main features of the plan are the extension of the maturities of the several classes and changing a certain amount of now fixed interest to contingent interest, reducing about one-third of the present fixed interest to contingent interest. With the exception of the interest on the Refunding Bonds, all the interest made contingent is presently unsecured interest. Some of the interest now both fixed and secured on Refunding Bonds is made contingent but payable from available income prior to the contingent interest which is unsecured.
The eight classes affected by the plan may, for convenient comparison as to their respective treatments, be grouped into four classes: (1) R.F.C. as holder of secured notes; (2) holders of prior lien bonds, that is, First Mortgage 4's, First Mortgage 5's, Southwestern Division 5's, Pittsburgh, Lake Erie & West Va. Bonds, Toledo-Cincinnati 4's; (3) holders of junior lien bonds, that is, Refunding and General Mortgage 5's and 6's, and (4) holders of unsecured obligations, that is, Convertible 4½'s.
By the plan each of these classes is required to make certain concessions or, if you please, sacrifices in the recapitalization It is clear, we think, that the aggregate of the respective sacrifices to the plan as a whole greatly improves the position of the Railroad and adds to the prospect of its long continued prosperity as a going concern. In this bettered position of the entity each of the affected classes participates and is itself bettered at least in public estimation as reflected in Moody's Rate Manual. On this branch of the case the particular inquiry is whether the sacrifices which each class has made to the whole is reasonably in proportion to its present position. In our opinion the answer is Yes.
Each of the four classes (except the Refunding Bonds) agrees to an extension of maturity 20 years for class 1; 25 to 30 years for class 2; 50 years for class 4. The extended maturities are fairly evenly spaced. Class 1 also yielded a reduction in interest rate under the 1938 plan which is continued under the present plan. Presently unsecured fixed interest of some of the class (2) bonds yields from fixed interest position to that of contingent interest; class (3) yields a portion of its fixed and secured interest to contingent interest, the latter payable, however, prior to the unsecured contingent interest. Class (4) yields its position of unsecured fixed interest to that of contingent. The preferred and common stocks of the Railroad are also, of course, affected by the plan. The modification of the maturities and change from fixed to contingent interest of some of the bond issues is an advantage to the stock; but the features of the plan which provide for the application of available income to a capital fund and to the substantial sinking fund and other limitations upon dividends are, of course, restrictions upon the stocks.
With respect to the impact of the plan as a whole upon the several classes, it is obviously unnecessary to consider class 1, the R.F.C., because it had fully assented to *562 the plan. Nor is it necessary to especially discuss the fairness of the plan to the senior bond issues in class 2. It appears to us, on the face of the plan, that it is equitable to them inter sese, and there has been nothing of importance called to our attention to the contrary.[21] As to the class 3, Refunding Bonds, there is no active opposition to the plan as a whole or contention that it is unfair to them.[22] The report of the Interstate Commerce Commission deals in much detail with the several adjustments made in the several bond issues. We think it unnecessary to repeat here what has there been carefully outlined. This leaves for particular discussion the effect of the plan on the Convertible 4½'s.
In considering whether the plan affords fair treatment to the Convertible Bonds, we must compare their original position in the Railroad's capitalization with their changed position under the plan, and keep the latter in mind in the perspective of the whole plan. The Convertibles were originally issued under an indenture dated February 1, 1930, with Bank of Manhattan Trust Company as Trustee (now Bank of Manhattan Company). The unsecured interest rate of 4½% per annum was a fixed charge but pursuant to the 1938 plan was temporarily made contingent. They were redeemable, as a whole, on any semi-annual interest payment date at 105 prior to 1955, the premium decreasing thereafter. The principal was payable in 30 years. They are called Convertibles because they may now be converted at par into common stock, subject to certain adjustments, at any time up to 15 days prior to redemption or maturity. Under the original indenture the conversion rate was at over par for the common stock but under the 1938 plan the rate was changed to par for par, that is, ten shares of common stock for a $1,000 bond. The present plan makes only two changes in their status: (1) the postponement of their maturity date for 50 years to 2010, and (2) the continuation of their fixed interest as contingent upon earnings, but fully cumulative as in the case of other contingent interest. The present conversion feature is retained without change. They will be redeemable for the sinking fund at par and accrued interest, but otherwise will be redeemable as in the indenture up to the original date of maturity, 1960, and thereafter at a premium to be determined in the manner applicable to the First Mortgage Bonds. They are eligible for retirement through a part of the sinking fund.
It will be noted that the Convertibles are the lowest grade of securities (other than stocks) affected by the plan. It is natural to expect therefore that this relative position must be retained by them under the plan. It is true that their maturity date is extended somewhat longer than in the cases of other classes affected by the plan, and a few years later than the maturity date for the Refunding Bonds; but we do not consider this fact unfairly discriminates against the Convertibles because although the Refunding Bonds have a junior lien, a considerable portion of their secured interest is made contingent. The plan as a whole seems to us to give adequate compensatory advantages to the Convertibles in comparison with the other affected classes. All are benefited by the avoidance of receivership and drastic reorganization. If the latter should eventuate the Convertibles would doubtless suffer the greatest proportionate loss because their position is entirely unsecured and they would rank only as common creditors ahead of the stock. The reduction of their fixed interest to contingent is only in accordance with present realistic conceptions of railroad financing. If the interest is in fact not earned it simply cannot be paid. Legal redress by receivership and sale is largely futile with respect to railroads.[23]
*563 The principal objector to the treatment of the Convertibles in the plan is the Mr. Randolph Phillips above mentioned.[24] He is the holder of a one-third interest in $100,000 par value of the Convertibles bought from time to time during 1939 to 1942. The only evidence produced by him on this phase of the case consisted of his own lengthy testimony in which he introduced numerous exhibits principally of statistical computations which he considered supported his personal opinion as a railroad economist. One of his main contentions is that the Convertibles surrendered 17 "rights", while the stockholders surrender practically none. The 17 so-called "rights" are only specific instances of the operation of the capital fund and sinking fund and refunding provisions in the plan, in relation to the postponement of maturity and reduction in interest status of the Convertibles. We think it unnecessary to discuss the argument in detail. The provisions in the plan for the capital and sinking funds and refunding of some of the prior lien bonds are important and we think highly desirable features of the plan as a whole. The capital fund is wisely provided for physical extensions and betterments to the Railroad. It has become a rather common feature of Railroad reorganizations in more recent years. A somewhat similar fund was provided for in the 1938 plan. The sinking funds, which may reach very considerable amounts under the present plan, are highly desirable for capital debt reduction. The provisions for refunding are also beneficial to the plan as a whole because that is frequently the one practical method of meeting principal maturities; and also affords opportunity when available to take advantage of lower interest rates.
Mr. Phillips also makes the objection that reducing the fixed interest to contingent may possibly result in giving the Railroad uncompensated for credit in the use of money which would otherwise be required to be paid as fixed charges. This, however, is merely an incident of the plan which is equally applicable to the contingent interest of other affected classes, and was applicable also to the 1938 plan after the approval of which he purchased his Convertible Bonds.
Mr. Phillips further submits an argument based on statistical compilations made by him to show that the "margin of safety" for payment of interest on the Convertibles is decreased by the operation of the plan. His exhibits purport to show that without the plan the number of times interest would be earned on the Convertibles is 1.506, but under the plan the ratio would be 1.329, a decrease of .177. This is said to be the result of the application of available income (before interest on the Convertibles) to the sums allocated to the capital fund and the sinking funds. The assumption is made that for the first 21 years' operation under the plan the average income available for fixed charges would be just the same as that which prevailed in the years 1921 to 1941. It is however, properly pointed out by counsel for the Railroad that the fallacy in the computation lies in the failure of the statistical exhibits to adequately take into account the reduction in capital debt with consequent reduction in interest charges resulting from the application of the sinking funds. It is obvious that the reasonably anticipated effect of the sinking fund provisions in the plan should be a substantial reduction of debt with decrease of total fixed charges and with consequent increase in the margin of safety *564 for interest payments on the Convertibles as well as on other classes affected by the plan. The revision of the exhibits to give effect to this anticipated reduction in interest charges, as prepared by counsel for the B and O, indicates that the decrease, if any, in the so-called "margin of safety" for the Convertibles would be negligible in amount, and if additional sinking fund payments were made to "match" dividends declared as required by the plan, the margin of safety would be really increased and not decreased. Of course the assumption that the income available for fixed charges for the next 21 years will be the same as the amounts in the prior period 1921 to 1941, is mere assumption. They may, of course, be much less by reason of generally changed economic conditions which cannot be foreseen, or they may be more than is now anticipated, possibly by reason of increased earnings from extensions or betterments by the use of the capital fund for essential improvements or by use of income available for other proper corporate purposes above and beyond the capital fund, and possibly there may be additional savings in interest charges by the refunding provided for in the plan of prior lien bond issues at lower interest rates than those now applicable.[25]
On behalf of the Convertibles Mr. Phillips also urges that if the plan as a whole is found to have been put forward "in good faith", there should be several important modifications in the plan to compensate the Convertibles for the sacrifices made by them to the plan. Specifically he contends that (1) no dividends should be permitted to be paid until a reserve fund equal to three years interest on all bonds bearing contingent interest under the plan has been accumulated; (2) in every year in which a dividend is declared on any stock of the Company all Convertible bondholders must first be paid an additional 1½% interest; (3) each Convertible Bond should be convertible into 40 shares of common stock rather than the present amount of 10 shares, and (4) when the suggested reserve fund is less in amount than three years interest, the majority of the Board of Directors should be elected by the contingent interest bondholders, and the majority of the first formed Board of Directors after confirmation of the plan should be selected by the court, with a delegation of their powers for at least two years to a finance committee of three; likewise selected by the court. Some of these suggested modifications will be later discussed but with respect to the suggestion for an additional 1½% interest rate for the Convertibles *565 and the four times increase in their conversion privilege, it is sufficient to now say that these seem to us to be an unjustifiable preference for the benefit of the Convertibles which would be inequitable to the other affected classes.[26]
The principal amount of Convertible Bonds outstanding in the hands of the public is $61,906,000. Of this amount 6290 holders representing 67.36% of the outstanding bonds have affirmatively assented to the plan. Persons holding only $167,000 par value of the bonds have dissented. The market price for the Convertibles had risen from a low of 12 in 1940, to 37 on September 19, 1944 (the day before the announcement of the plan), and to a high of 72 in 1945 after the approval of the plan by the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the filing of the petition in this court.[27]
While our conclusion that the plan is fair to the Convertibles has been independently reached, it is at least worthy of note that despite the objections interposed by only two intervenors in the case holding Convertible Bonds, the plan has been approved by such a large percentage of the holders in number and principal amount of these bonds. They doubtless realize that while their position as investors is less favorable than that of the holders of both senior and junior lien bonds, the plan as a whole has advantages to them in avoiding receivership or reorganization and holds out to them a reasonable prospect of continued interest payments which, after all, is the best assurance for unsecured bondholders.
Proposed Modifications of the Plan. Most of the few intervenors in the case propose modifications of the plan with respect to the payment of dividends. In general they urge that more drastic restrictions should be imposed than those contained in the plan. In this respect the plan (Art. VII) provides that
"During the period of the plan, dividends may not be paid on the stock of the Company of any class except out of accumulations of Available Income allocated pursuant to paragraph numbered (7) of Article III hereof, nor unless prior to the declaration of any such dividend (a) all contingent interest accrued as provided in Article IV hereof, for prior calendar years, shall have been declared payable and paid, or provision made for its payment, and (b) the Board of Directors shall have determined that the Available Income for the current year will be sufficient for the purposes specified in paragraphs numbered (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of Article III hereof and provision shall have been made for the payment of the amounts necessary to satisfy fully such purposes. In any year in which, as of the date of declaration of such dividend, System charges for interest and guaranteed dividends, on an annual basis, exceed $20,000,000, the Company shall pay into Sinking Fund out of accumulations of Available Income allocated pursuant to paragraph numbered (7) of Article III hereof, an amount equal to such dividend prior to payment thereof."
Article III of the plan provides for the determination and allocation of available income. As we have seen, it requires, after the payment of fixed interest, that the income shall be applied (1) to the creation of a capital fund; (2 and 3) to a first sinking fund; (4) to the payment of secured contingent interest; (5) to the payment of unsecured contingent interest; (6) to a second sinking fund payment of 50% of the then remaining balance, except that when all fixed and contingent interest and guaranteed dividends are less than $22,000,000, this payment to the sinking fund need not exceed $750,000; and (7) the balance to be available for other corporate purposes. And it will be noted that out of this final remaining balance, from which dividends can only be paid, an amount equal to any dividend must be paid into the sinking fund ("matching" sinking fund and dividend payments) until charges for System *566 interest and guaranteed dividends are reduced to $20,000,000, thus leaving available for dividends only one-half of the sum that might otherwise be available after the prior payments so allocated. These restrictions on the payment of dividends are indeed very substantial. For example, if we apply them concretely to a liberal estimate for any one year of $45,000,000 for income available for charges, it is found that the effect of the restrictions will be to leave only $3,000,000 as the maximum sum possibly available for dividends on preferred and capital stocks having an aggregate par value of over $300,000,000.[28] On the same estimated net income, without the plan, the sum that would have been available for dividends would be $18,000,000.
Various suggestions have been made for further restrictions on the payment of dividends.[29] We have considered all of them and have concluded that the restrictions in *567 the plan are amply sufficient for fairness of treatment of the Railroad's creditors. As we have previously pointed out, if the Railroad is to remain under private management, the stockholders must have some incentive for good management and as they are one of the classes necessarily affected by the plan, it should be fair to them as well as to the creditors.
The plan proposes no change in the management of the Railroad or in the voting rights in or control of the Company, or in the manner of the selection of its Directors. With regard to this, section 1225 of the Act provides that no plan shall be approved unless the court finds with respect to the continuation of the management and control of the petitioner and the power and manner of selection of its directors and officers, that the plan "is adequate, equitable and in the best interests of creditors and stockholders of each class, and consistent with public policy". Several of the intervenors proposed modifications of the plan in this respect. Mr. Randolph Phillips proposes that a whole new Board of Directors and its executive committee should be selected and appointed by the court. In this connection he has made a sharp and pointed attack not only on the efficiency of the present management, but also on their good faith and honesty of purpose. His contention is that the present management of officers and directors has mismanaged the Railroad and that the present plan has been conceived for the express purpose of increasing the value of the common stock at the expense of the bond creditors. As previously indicated we find no evidence in the case sufficient to substantiate this charge. It is true that the market price of the stock has advanced materially since the approval of the plan from less than 10 in 1944 to over 20 in 1945, and proportionately even a little more than the increase in the market price of the Convertibles; but it is not uncommon that the lower grades of securities in a corporation respond more actively to the improved financial condition of the corporation than its senior securities. The officers and directors of the B and O do not have any unusual amount of holdings of its stocks. On the evidence in the case we find no basis for the charge of mismanagement either as to its efficiency or its good faith. The present management has inherited a financial set-up that was created in former years of more liberal railroad financing. The plan which the officers and directors have evolved is, in our opinion, one designed to meet and correct this condition for the future and has been conceived in the interests of all the securityholders of the Railroad.
Without joining in this attack upon the present management, some of the other intervenors propose that, in view of the reduction of some of the presently fixed interest to contingent, holders of the latter securities should be given the power to nominate and elect one or more of the Board of Directors. Here it is to be noted that after the 1938 plan was put into effect the stockholders voluntarily elected three of the present directors who were representative of creditors' interests (Messrs. McDonald, Cheston and Traphagen), but counsel for the B and O urge that to require an involuntary selection of a representative of the holders of contingent interest bonds would necessitate an amendment of the charter of the Railroad which might endanger its partial exemption from Maryland State taxation to the detriment of all its security holders. The 1827 charter of the Railroad contained this tax exemption which, under the well-known Dartmouth College decision (Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward, 4 Wheat. 518, 4 L.Ed. 629) constituted an irrepealable contract, and it is feared that the voluntary acceptance of an amendment of the charter would impair the exemption.[30]
We have given careful consideration to this proposal for modification. In view of the long extension of maturity of the Convertibles, and the importance to them of first hand knowledge of the management of the Railroad, we have concluded that they should be entitled to have at all times representation on the Board of Directors by the selection of one member of the Board, to be nominated by the Trustee under the Convertible Bond Indenture. Our approval of the plan will, therefore, be *568 upon the condition that at the next annual election of Directors and succeeding elections, one of the Directors of the Railroad shall be selected by the stockholders to represent the Convertible Bonds if a reasonably suitable nomination is made therefor by the Trustee. And we are of the opinion that this condition can be imposed without necessity of amendment of the charter, by the retention of jurisdiction of the case by this court to insure compliance with the condition. We are, however, of the opinion that this modification is one that will not require re-submission of the plan either to the Interstate Commerce Commission or to the securityholders, and if accepted by the management of the Railroad will not require submission to the stockholders. A similar ruling was made in a recent Chapter XV case. Ewen v. Peoria & Eastern R. Co., D.C., 34 F.Supp. 332, 338. In view of the better position of the other classes of bondholders affected by the plan, we do not think it necessary to provide for their required representation on the Board of Directors.
Another modification proposed is that the Railroad be required to accumulate a reserve fund to pay three years' contingent interest which, on the Refunding Bonds alone, would amount to many millions of dollars. While this proposal is a plausible one in the interest of the contingent bondholders, we do not think it is either necessary or financially advisable. It would result in tying up a large sum which would otherwise be available for possibly needed betterments or extensions or reductions of capital debt. It might also seriously impair the ability of the Company to accomplish a desirable reduction in the interest charges by refunding the prior liens at a more favorable rate, by withdrawing from use funds which might otherwise be available for payment of premiums on the prior lien bonds to be refunded.
The indentures securing the Refunding and Convertible Bonds contain prohibitions against the Railroad making any new mortgages to take precedence over them. Some of the intervenors object to the features of the present plan which provide for refunding the prior lien issues which, of course, is necessarily inconsistent with these covenants in the original Refunding and Convertible Indentures. But as we have previously pointed out, we consider the refunding provisions of the present plan to be of real importance to the plan as a whole, and really in the interest of all classes including the Refundings and Convertibles, because it is quite possible that this privilege of refunding may take advantage of even existing lower interest rates with consequent reduction of interest charges.
Counsel for Crozier and others as intervenors, urge the necessity for modification or at least clarification of the 1944 plan with respect to its effect on the 1938 plan. In this connection it is to be remembered that the 1938 plan was implemented by supplemental indentures defining the rights of the affected bondholders, and the 1944 plan will likewise be so implemented. In some respects the supplemental indentures under the 1938 plan changed and increased the rights of some classes of affected bondholders. The point now made is that the provisions of the 1944 plan are not entirely clear as to whether the new supplemental indentures will retain the increased rights given by the supplemental indentures under the 1938 plan, or whether these rights will be entirely superseded by the new supplemental indentures. The importance of the point is particularly called to our attention with respect to the conversion privileges attaching to the Refunding and Convertible Bonds. With respect to the Refundings, there was no privilege of conversion in the original indenture of 1915; and as to the Convertibles, the supplemental indenture under the 1938 plan provided a more attractive conversion rate (par for par) than had previously existed. Art. IX, s. 12 of the 1944 plan provides "neither the Plan nor the supplemental indentures to be entered into pursuant thereto shall in any way be deemed to modify the rights of the Company or of any of its creditors except as specifically provided in the Plan and said supplemental indentures." With respect to the Convertibles privilege, the plan expressly states "the conversion feature presently attaching to the Convertible Bonds will be made effective with respect to the new Convertible Bonds". There is, therefore, no uncertainty with respect to them but there is apparent uncertainty or ambiguity with respect to the continuation of the conversion privilege now applicable to the Refundings as there is no similar express provision of the plan for the continuation of their conversion privilege. However, we think it is sufficiently clear from the plan as a whole, and as conceded by counsel for the B and O, that it *569 was intended that the Refunding Bonds should retain their present privilege of conversion given by the 1938 plan. And indeed this is recognized in the report of the Interstate Commerce Commission (p. 34) where, in referring to the new proposed supplemental indenture, it is said: "The Refunding Bonds are convertible into common stock of the applicant up to 15 days prior to maturity, or 15 days prior to any date fixed for redemption of the bonds at the conversion price of $100 a share." While we think there is no doubt as to what was intended, the plan should be modified or clarified to expressly retain the conversion privilege for the Refundings. This does not require any re-submission of the plan.
It was also suggested by counsel for two small bondholders that this court should under the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix § 520, appoint counsel to represent holders of securities affected by the plan who may be at present in the Armed Services of the country, the fee to be paid by the petitioner. It is possible, of course, that there may be such security holders but there is no definite evidence in the record with regard thereto. However that may be, we do not think the Act referred to applies to a case of this nature. The wording of the Act comprehends cases where soldiers and sailors are sued as defendants; while this proceeding is in the nature of an "in rem" and not against named defendants. The suggestion for the appointment was not timely, having been made only at the beginning of the final hearing. Such appointment made at that late date, without adequate time for preparation, would have been substantially futile. Moreover, we think there was no necessity for such an appointment. The very nature of the case requires careful independent consideration by the court with respect to the rights and interests of all securityholders affected by the plan all security holders affected by the plan by counsel. See Irving Trust Co. v. Fifteen Park Row Corp., 182 Misc. 1044, 51 N.Y.S.2d 724.
There are a few additional proposed modifications submitted by some of the interveners which we have considered but which are so relatively minor in the perspective of the plan as a whole that they do not warrant individual discussion.[31] Even if some of them could be considered as reasonable and not prejudicial to the plan as a whole, we do not think they are necessary or really advisable. The plan constitutes in effect a very comprehensive recapitalization of the major portion of the Railroad's capital indebtedness which has resulted from a gradual growth and extension during many years past and involves a presently complex legal structure resulting from many separate mortgages and other indentures, each containing many detailed provisions. In such a situation it is inevitable that any comprehensive plan of recapitalization will entail some collision between details of existing indentures and their revision for the future. All these matters have been specially considered by the Interstate Commerce Commission which, by its experience, is well equipped to pass on such questions. Our independent examination of the plan as a whole leads us to the conclusion that no inequity has been done to the several affected classes and we find no compelling reason for its modification other than has been stated. Even if it were conceded that the plan is not ideal in every minor respect, that would not be a sufficient ground for withholding approval.[32] Some of the more important modifications proposed and above discussed would seemingly require resubmission to the Interstate Commerce Commission and to the many thousands of security holders who have approved the present plan, with consequent undesirable further delay, expense and uncertainty as to final approval. We do not think that this would be in the best interests of the classes affected by the plan, or any of them.
*570 We have accordingly reached the conclusion that the plan should be approved by this court with the modifications stated; and counsel are requested to submit a decree in accordance therewith.
NOTES
[1] In 1939, when the hearing was held on the 1938 plan, Mr. Daniel Willard was president and Mr. George M. Shriver senior vice president of the B and O. Both are now deceased. It is not even suggested by any one in this case that the testimony of these two respected former officers of the B and O at the hearing on the 1938 plan was other than in entire good faith and sincere belief as to future market conditions. Mr. Shriver was particularly acquainted with railroad financing based on his long experience in that field. His optimism as to the future was doubtless influenced by his experience in the past, when railroad financing was on a more favorable basis than at present. Even so late as 1930 he had been able to market for the B and O a more than $60,000,000 issue of thirty-year Convertible Bonds at 95, though not secured by liens.
[2] By section 1210 the approval of the Commission must include the following specific findings:
"(a) that such corporation is not in need of financial reorganization of the character provided for under section 205 of this title;
"(b) that such corporation's inability to meet its debts matured or about to mature is reasonably expected to be temporary only; and
"(c) that such plan of adjustment, after due consideration of the probable prospective earnings of the property in the light of its earnings experience and of such changes as may reasonably be expected
"(i) is in the public interest and in the best interests of each class of creditors and stockholders;
"(ii) is feasible, financially advisable, and not likely to be followed by the insolvency of said corporation, or by need of financial reorganization or adjustment;
"(iii) does not provide for fixed charges (of whatsoever nature including fixed charges on debt, amortization of discount on debt, and rent for leased roads), in an amount in excess of what will be adequately covered by the probable earnings available for the payment thereof;
"(iv) leaves adequate means for such future financing as may be requisite;
"(v) is consistent with adequate maintenance of the property; and
"(vi) is consistent with the proper performance by such railroad corporation of service to the public as a common carrier, will not impair its ability to perform such service."
[3] In the course of the pendency of the plan before the I.C.C. some amendments in detail of the new proposed securities were made and have been assented to by the requisite percentages of claims affected by the plan.
[4] The three-judge court as originally convened consisted of Judges John J. Parker, Senior Circuit Judge for the 4th Circuit; and Armistead M. Dobie, Circuit Judge for the 4th Circuit, and W. Calvin Chesnut, District Judge for Maryland. Subsequently Judge Parker withdrew from further participation in the case by reason of his appointment as an alternate member of the International Military Tribunal by the President of the United States, and Circuit Judge Morris A. Soper of the 4th Circuit was substituted in Judge Parker's place without objection from any party in interest. All the evidence submitted at the July hearing (and reintroduced at the final hearing) had been read by Judge Soper before the September hearing.
[5] Article III of the plan provides that "available income" shall be determined in each year by deducting from the "income available for fixed charges" all fixed interest and similar charges including interest on bonds bearing contingent interest which have become a fixed obligation by reason of maturity of the bonds to which it pertains. The available income so ascertained is allocated for application in the following order:
1. A capital fund of $5,000,000 or 2-½% of total railway operating revenues, whichever is greater, less depreciation (other than of equipment) charged against income, plus any deficiency in available income for the preceding calendar year;
2. A sinking fund payment of one-half of 1% of the aggregate of outstanding bonds affected by the plan (except the Refunding and Convertible Bonds) plus the amount of deficit, if any, in such payments for prior years. This amount will be increased if so-called Emergency Bonds are issued and outstanding under certain conditions;
3. The remaining available income to be applied to the payment pro rata of secured contingent interest still unpaid;
4. Then to the payment pro rata of unsecured contingent interest still unpaid;
5. Next, to a further sinking fund payment of 50% of the then remaining balance provided that when System charges for fixed and contingent interest are less than $22,000,000 this sinking fund payment need not exceed $750,000;
Article VII of the plan provides for additional payments into the sinking fund equal to the amount of any dividend paid on the stock of the Railroad in any year until the System charges for interest and guaranteed dividends (on stock of leased lines) do not exceed $20,000,000.
[6] Section 1225 (11 U.S.C.A.)
"§ 1225. Approval and confirmation of plan; requisites.
"If the special court shall find
"(1) that, at the time of the filing of said petition as provided in subchapter III hereof, the proposed plan of adjustment had been assented to by not less than two-thirds of the aggregate amount of all claims of the petitioner affected by such plan, including at least a majority of the aggregate amount of claims of each such class;
"(2) that the plan of adjustment as submitted or as modified by the court has been accepted as submitted or, if modified, then as modified by or on behalf of creditors affected by such plan holding more than three-fourths of the aggregate amount of the claims affected by said plan, including at least three-fifths of the aggregate amount of the claims of each affected class;
"(3) that the plan meets the requirements of clause (c), and the petitioner meets the requirements of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph (2) of the first sentence of section 1210 of this title, and that the plan is fair and equitable as an adjustment and as such will: (a) afford due recognition to the rights of each class of creditors and stockholders and fair consideration to each class adversely affected and (b) will conform to the law of the land regarding the participation of the various classes of creditors and stockholders: Provided, That in making the findings required by this clause (3), the court shall scrutinize the facts independently of the extent of acceptances of such plan, and of any lack of opposition thereto, and of the fact that the Commission, under section 20a of title 49, has authorized the issuance or modification of securities as proposed by such plan, and of the fact that the Commission has made such or similar findings;
"(4) that all corporate action required to authorize the issuance or modification of securities pursuant to such plan shall have been duly taken either before or since October 16, 1942;
"(5) that the petitioner has not, in connection with said plan or the effectuation thereof, done any act or failed to perform any duty which act or failure would be a bar to the discharge of a bankrupt, and that the plan and the acceptance thereof are in good faith and have not been made or procured by any means, promises, or acts forbidden by this title;
"(6) that, after hearings for the purpose, all amounts or considerations directly or indirectly paid or to be paid by or for the petitioner for expenses, fees, reimbursement, or compensation of any character whatsoever incurred in connection with the proceeding and plan, or preliminary thereto or in aid thereof, together with all the facts and circumstances relating to the incurring thereof, have been fully disclosed to the court so far as such amounts or considerations can be ascertained at the time of such hearings, that all such amounts or considerations are fair and reasonable, and to the extent that any such amounts or considerations are not then ascertainable, the same are to be so disclosed to the court when ascertained, and are to be subject to approval by the special court as fair and reasonable, and except with such approval no amounts or considerations covered by this clause (6) shall be paid; and
"(7) that the provisions of section 1222, 1236, and 1237 of this chapter have been complied with.
"Said court shall file an opinion setting forth its conclusions and the reasons therefor and shall enter a decree approving and confirming such plan and the adjustment provided thereby, which decree shall be binding upon the petitioner and upon all creditors and security holders of the petitioner; and thereafter the petitioner shall have full power and authority to and shall put into effect and carry out the plan and the orders of the special court relative thereto and issue the securities provided by the plan without further reference to or authority from the Commission or any other authority, State or Federal, except where required by any law relating to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and the rights of all creditors and security holders with respect to claims and securities affected by the plan shall be those provided by the plan as so approved and confirmed: Provided, however, That the title of any owner, whether as trustee or otherwise, to rolling-stock equipment leased or conditionally sold to the petitioner, and any right of such owner to take possession of such property in compliance with the provisions of any such lease or conditional sale contract, shall not be affected by the provision of this chapter.
"No plan shall be approved under this chapter unless the special court finds that with respect to the continuation of, or any change in, the voting rights in the petitioner, control of the petitioner, and the identity of, and the power and manner of selection of the persons who are to be directors, officers, or voting trustees, if any, upon the consummation of the plan and their respective successors, the plan makes full disclosure, is adequate, equitable, in the best interests of creditors and stockholders of each class, and consistent with public policy."
[7] Schedule 3 annexed to the plan shows the estimated amounts payable into the sinking fund, based on the average annual net earnings of previous periods. The amounts are, for 1921-1927, $9,386,323; for 1928-1934, $8,204,932; for 1935-1941, $3,841,472; and for 1942-June 1944, $17,408,830.
[8] See Petitioner's Exs. Nos. 99, 99a and 99b.
[9] See Petitioner's Ex. No. 102. The exact number of individual bondholders does not appear. From Petitioner's Ex. 72 it appears that the B and O had a mailing list of 80,000; but this number was larger than the total actual number at any one time as it included the names of prior holders who had transferred their bonds.
[10] There are only a few intervenors in this case who oppose the plan either in toto, or in the alternative suggest modification. They are (1) George H. Phillips, the holder of an unspecified number of Convertible Bonds; (2) Jane Crozier, Roberta Giesecke and Harriet M. Ackert, holders of $5,000 Refunding 5's due 1996, and $1500 1st. Mtge. 5's due 1948; (3) Alfred M. Darlow, a former employe of the B and O whose petition for intervention states (without other proof) that he is the holder of $37,000 par value of various issues of the 1st. Mtge. Bonds, and Refunding 5's; (4) Charles M. Merwin, the holder of an unspecified number of Refundings and (5) Randolph Phillips, the holder of a one-third interest in $100,000 par value of Convertibles. None was represented or participated in the hearing except Randolph Phillips (pro se) and Crozier, Giesecke and Ackert, who were represented by counsel. The latter did not oppose the plan as a whole but do suggest certain modifications which will be later noticed.
[11] Subsequently other railroads in temporary financial distress have successfully petitioned for securities adjustments under the Act. In re Lehigh Valley R. Co., D.C., 34 F.Supp. 753; Ewen v. Peoria & Eastern R. Co., D.C., 34 F.Supp. 332, certiorari denied 311 U.S. 700, 61 S.Ct. 138, 85 L.Ed. 454; In re Peoria & E. R. Co., D.C., 37 F.Supp. 917, certiorari denied Ewen v. Peoria & E. R. Co., 314 U. S. 635, 62 S.Ct. 69, 86 L.Ed. 510; Id., D.C., 49 F.Supp. 83; In re Wichita Falls & Southern R. Co., D.C., 30 F.Supp. 750, certiorari denied Steelman v. Wichita Falls & S. R. Co., 309 U.S. 687, 60 S.Ct. 889, 84 L.Ed. 1030; In re Midland Valley R. Co., D.C., 51 F.Supp. 180; In re Montana W. & S. Co., D.C., 32 F.Supp. 200; Delaware & Hudson R. Corp. et al. v. Dancey, D.C., 51 F.Supp. 763. In most of these cases the approved adjustments included substantial extensions of maturities of principal obligations; and in one reduction of fixed charges by making payment of them contingent upon sufficient earnings.
[12] See schedules 1, 2, 3 and 4 annexed to the plan, Petitioner's Ex. No. 1.
[13] The only active proponent of this frontal attack on the plan as a whole is a Mr. Randolph Phillips who has an interest in the Convertible Bonds. Mr. Phillips is not a lawyer but a railroad economist who as an intervenor in the case, appeared pro se and actively participated in the cross-examination of witnesses and introduced evidence of two witnesses, Mr. Cassius M. Clay and himself.
[14] Counsel for the petitioner submits a statistical comparison of the maintenance expense ratio or average per mile of road, of the Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsylvania, the New York Central and the Chesapeake & Ohio for each of the years 1922 to 1944, taken from Interstate Commerce Commission Reports. In this we find that the average maintenance expense per mile of road for the B and O for 1922 to 1929 was $5,227; for the Pennsylvania, $7,983; for the New York Central, $6,284, and for the Chesapeake & Ohio, $6,203. The respective figures were for 1944, B and O $8,788; Pennsylvania, $9,737; New York Central, $8,916, and Chesapeake & Ohio, $7,649. The compilation also shows that the average for the years 1930 to 1942 for the several roads was, B and O, $2,548; Pennsylvania, $4,123; New York Central, $3,603, and C & O, $4,119. It will be noted that in the railroad depression years 1930 to 1942 the average maintenance was considerably less than in the period 1922-1929. These figures clearly support the statements of Messrs. Clarke and White of the B and O that the heavier maintenance expense in the latter years was due to accumulated deferred maintenance. That railroad maintenance expense ratio has been much higher in 1944 than in previous years is also recognized in the 58th Annual Report of the Interstate Commerce Commission, pp. 18 and 19.
[15] See the comment by Circuit Judge Learned Hand on the value of merely statistical evidence of this character (without factual evidence of the condition of the particular railroad) in Delaware & Hudson R. Corp. v. Dancey, D.C., 51 F. Supp. 763, 766.
[16] The requirement that the proceeding must be in good faith appears not only in Chapter XV, but in other chapters of the Bankruptcy Act of related subject matter. We have not found any express judicial construction of the phrase in Chapter XV proceedings; but under chapters dealing with adjustments of corporate or individual financial embarrassment, the phrase has received a judicial construction which is broader than intentional fraud. For instance, if the plan proposed is manifestly impracticable, the petition may be dismissed because not filed in "good faith". See for illustration Fidelity Assurance Ass'n v. Sims, 318 U.S. 608, 63 S.Ct. 807, 87 L.Ed. 1032; Tennessee Pub. Co. v. American Nat. Bank, 299 U.S. 18, 57 S. Ct. 85, 81 L.Ed. 13; Snyder v. Fenner, 3 Cir., 101 F.2d 736. But in this case the phrase, lack of "good faith" is used in its primary sense of intentional fraud.
[17] See Petitioner's Exs. Nos. 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 and 70.
[18] Although Mr. Clay had been opposed to the plan since early in 1944, and the plan was made public on September 20, 1944, he did not resign until the eve of the September hearing in 1945. It appears that one factor inducing Mr. Clay's resignation arose from a theretofore recently published criticism regarding the policy of the R.F.C. relative to loans to railroads and especially the B and O, by United States Senator Wheeler. Attention was called to the fact that both Messrs. Snodgrass and Clay, former members of the legal staff of the R.F.C., had become associated with the B and O. Mr. Clay particularly felt unjustly criticized because he said, the inference was that he was in some way responsible for the plan to which in fact he had been personally opposed. It was urged by Mr. Randolph Phillips, an intervenor objector in this case, that there was something sinister in the engagement of Messrs. Clay and Snodgrass as officers of the B and O; and the same suggestion was made with regard to Mr. Stewart McDonald, the present Chairman of the Railroad's Executive Committee who theretofore had been the representative of the R.F. C. with regard to some of its loans to embarrassed corporations. But we find no basis in the evidence in this case for these suggestions. Both Messrs. Snodgrass and Clay seem to have been employed as members of the staff of the B and O on their respective merits. It is not uncommon for government employes to better their individual interests by becoming associated with private industries. It also appears that there was friction or at least lack of good personal relations between Mr. Clay and Mr. Snodgrass over the plan largely formulated by Mr. Snodgrass and opposed by Mr. Clay who seems to have thought it would not be successful for various reasons, but principally, because he did not believe Mr. Jones was really sincere in his refusal to extend the R.F.C. 1944 maturities except upon the stated condition.
[19] See Petitioner's Ex. No. 90, Chart of the B and O System.
[20] As of August 31, 1944, the funded debt amounted to approximately $534,000,000. The par value of the securities affected by the plan aggregate $495,799,164.
[21] The only intervenor who has expressed objection to the plan (but without participation in the hearing) who is the holder of any of these prior lien bonds, is a Mr. Darlow who, in his petition for intervention without other proof, states that he holds $37,000 par value of B and O First Mortgage and Refunding Bonds. One other intervenor represented by counsel at the hearing holds $1,500 par value of the First Mortgage 5's. He does not oppose the plan as a whole but has suggested certain modifications which will be later noticed.
[22] The holder of $5,000 par value of Refunding Bonds represented by counsel at the hearing has suggested certain modifications.
[23] In Commissioner Mahaffie's partially dissenting opinion in the Interstate Commerce Commission Report, it was aptly said: "By this time, however, security holders must realize that interest can be paid and maturities can be met only as earnings warrant; that fixed maturities, in the absence of adequate earnings are a delusion; and that insistence on them, in such circumstances, is more likely to be productive of `headaches' than of actual receipts."
[24] Another holder of some Convertible Bonds (amount not stated) who is an intervenor opposed to their treatment in the plan is a Mr. George H. Phillips (not related to Randolph Phillips). His particular objections are included in more detail in those advanced by Randolph Phillips. Both these intervenors also opposed approval of the plan by the Interstate Commerce Commission and their objections as here submitted seem to be substantially the same as those summarized by the Interstate Commerce Commission in its Report, printed pages 60-62, annexed as an exhibit to the petition.
It does not appear that Randolph Phillips as the holder of Convertible Bonds has, or is likely to sustain any loss therein as a result of the plan. As requested during the hearing, he has submitted a schedule of his interest in Convertible Bonds purchased and sold from March 21, 1939 to April 30, 1942. It appears therefrom that the majority of his bonds were bought at then very low market prices ranging from 12 to 40 as compared with present market prices of about 70 for the Convertible Bonds. He states that his opposition to the plan is based not on pecuniary considerations but on his conception of public policy and principle.
[25] The decrease in the ratio from 1.506 to 1.329 does not seem very serious, especially when it is remembered that the decreases are merely estimates based on the assumption that for a future period of 21 years the net income applicable to fixed charges will be the same as the average of the preceding years 1921 to 1941. The estimated decrease in the margin is, however, seemingly made more impressive by Mr. Phillips' calculation that it amounts to 35%, that is .177 divided by .506 (See Phillips' Exs. Nos. 24, 25 and 26). The revised computations made by counsel for the B and O to give effect to the sinking fund, purport to show very different results. Their calculation shows that if the present plan had been in effect for the years 1921 through 1941, the reduction in capital debt would have been $125,637,115, with a consequent reduction in charges of $5,689,719. These figures are based on the assumption that during that period no dividends would have been paid, but that if under the plan maximum dividends had been paid (with increased payments into the sinking fund in accordance with Art. VII of the plan), the reduction in debt would have been $173,033,517, with consequent reduction in charges of $7,863,524. By extending the prior period to include the years 1942-1944, they obtain a 24-year average of 1.620, for the number of times fixed charges, including contingent interest, would have been earned without the plan, and 1.601 under the plan. As so calculated the "margin of safety" without the plan would be .620 and under the plan .601. The resultant figures for the average decline in the margin of safety is thus said to be only 2% as compared with the figure of 35% derived by Mr. Phillips. And on the same basis of computation they figure that if dividends were paid with consequent additional sinking fund payments, the resultant figure would be an increase of 15% instead of a decrease of 35%.
These latter computations by counsel for the B and O are in turn criticized by Mr. Phillips for various reasons. In view of the assumptions and uncertainties involved we do not consider either set of computations as definitive or satisfactory evidence, but only as the respective contentions of the parties as to the possibilities.
[26] As to the suggested change in the conversion basis, it is to be noted that at the present market rates of about 70 for the Convertibles and about 22 for the common stock, the proceeds of sale of a Convertible Bond could now be reinvested to acquire about 30 shares of the common stock, if the change is intrinsically desirable. Of course we appreciate that the conversion privilege is usually exercised only when there is a market profit in making the exchange.
[27] Petitioner's Exhibits Nos. 101, 102. Counsel for the Petitioner has filed with its brief a list of about 150 banks, insurance companies and other institutions holding over $10,000 par value of the Convertibles which have affirmatively assented to the plan. This was compiled from petitioner's Ex. 100, which includes all the written assents to the plan. It is said that many of the Convertibles are held by individuals in the European war zone and could not be reached for assents to the plan.
[28] For the details of this calculation see brief of counsel for Petitioner, pp. 31-32. The example set out in the brief is
"Projected income available for charges
Deduct: $45,000,000
(1) Fixed interest and other fixed charges
Article III (a) 19,000,000
__________
Balance 26,000,000
(2) Capital Fund ($4,250,000)* and First Sinking Fund ($1,750,000).
Article III(1) & (2) 6,000,000
__________
Balance 20,000,000
(3) Contingent interest (Article III(4) & (5) 8,000,000
__________
Balance 12,000,000
(4) Second Sinking Fund (Article III(6) 6,000,000
___________
Balance available for other proper corporate purposes, (Article III(7) 6,000,000
Deduct:
(1) Maximum dividend payable (Article VII) 3,000,000
_________
Balance 3,000,000
(2) Additional Article VII Sinking Fund if maximum dividend is paid 3,000,000
_________
$ 000
=========
Maximum amount required to be expended for benefit of bondholders
under the Plan in addition to all interest $15,000,000
===========
Amount available for any proper corporate purpose if there were no
Plan upon expiration of the 1938 Plan:
Projected income available for charges $45,000,000
Deduct: Fixed interest and other fixed charges 27,000,000
___________
Balance freely available in discretion of President and Directors 18,000,000
Maximum amount required to be expended for bondholders if there is
no Plan (other than payment of interest) None
Excess of amount which could be declared as dividends to stockholders
if no Plan, compared to what could be declared under Plan. See
above, ($18,000,000. minus $3,000,000.) $15,000,000
* Note: 2-½% of estimated gross of $320,000,000 less estimated depreciation of fixed property of $3,750,000."
[29] Some of the suggestions for further restrictions on dividends are (1) no dividend should be paid until interest and guaranteed dividends are reduced to $20,000,000 a year, or (2) the capital debt does not exceed $450,000,000, or (3) a reserve fund equal to the interest requirements for two years has been created, or (4) the plan has been in operation for ten years. Still another suggestion is that no dividends be permitted until the annual interest charges are reduced by $8,000,000, plus $200,000 for each year by which the maturity of the Convertible Bonds is extended beyond 1960. Still another suggestion advanced by Mr. Randolph Phillips is (a) no dividends be paid until a reserve fund equal to three years interest on all bonds bearing contingent interest under the plan has been accumulated or (b) in every year in which a dividend is declared on any stock of the Company the Convertible Bondholders must be paid an additional 1½% interest.
[30] The legislative and judicial history of this partial state tax exemption is long and interesting. See Md.Acts of 1826, c. 123, s. 18 (Petitioner's Ex. 5); Md.Acts of 1878, c. 155; Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., 6 Gill, Md., 288, 48 Am.Dec. 531; State v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., 48 Md. 49; State v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., 127 Md. 434, 96 A. 636; State Tax. Commission v. Baltimore & O. R. Co., 179 Md. 125, 17 A.2d 101.
[31] Among other proposed modifications are (1) that additional bonds should not be issued to finance betterments at 75% of cost, or 100% for Emergency Bonds; or, as to the latter unless limited in amount to 75% of cost, of improvements, and then only if authorized by two-thirds of the directors; (2) that the directors should not have the discretion to apply any portion of the sinking funds to maintenance of working capital; (3) that the capital fund should be limited to 2½% of gross operating revenues; (4) that any gains or losses on the sale of property be excluded in determining available income; (5) that all bonds purchased with sinking fund moneys should be purchased only at less than par; (6) suggested clarification of wording of some provisions of the plan, which we think not necessary.
[32] See In re Chicago & N. W. R. Co., D.C., 35 F.Supp. 230, 256.
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{
"pile_set_name": "FreeLaw"
}
|
CuddlyAngel
My Personal Philosophy.
I'm not liked by many on this forum and thats fine. I've made it clear that in general I don't like people. I would never wish anyone harm and I do obey all laws however I made it clear I'm not here to make friends and I speak my mind with no care on who I offend. I've been called fake because I didn't introduce myself just jumped in told people what I thought and boom I was judged and thats fine by me. I told people I am not an ABDL and was only a supporter of the lifestyle that wears diapers because I believe they are a cleaner alternative to reusing washed underwear. Some of the responses to that made me laugh. I'm OCD people said with a phobia and thats not the case at all. Like everyone else I wear for my own reason. I'm also asexual with no interest in romance, marriage, or having children.
I don't watch news, I'm not interested in politics, and want to move to England one day because I'm not happy where I was born but I'm doing it right with a passport, visa, then citizenship one day hopefully. Do I care that any of that offends anyone? No and generally I laugh when it does offend someone thats to everyone not just to those here. I'm more comfortable reading books, socialize only with my family and have even alienated some in my family for my opinions and again don't care. I've told off my elders before as well as landlords not caring if I don't have a roof. My point to all this is although people don't like things about me at least I'm honest and don't say I'm one way but act the other. I suggest you do the same and be honest with these people also. I've even been asked do you want to die alone at a ripe old age? I said yes. I will never conform to another persons expectations of me. My opinion is all that matters and I am happy how I live and people know that and that is what makes me highly disliked but honest.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
|
Q:
Accessing method parameters from asynchronously running lambda
What I know: only final or effectively final local variables are accessible from inside a lambda. static variables are also accessible and can be modified as well.
What I do not know: why this code does not throw an exception?
public static String sampleFunction(String param1, int param2) {
new Thread(() -> {
try { Thread.sleep(100000); } catch (InterruptedException e) { }
// accessing method parameter here...
String _param1 = param1;
System.out.println(_param1);
}).start();
return "";
}
public static void Main(String[] arguments) {
sampleFunction("to print", 9);
System.out.println("function returned");
}
So having that in mind the parameters are released on return
which happens before trying to access them from inside the asynchronously running lambda expression, why does not it throw Exception? I tested the code, compiled and interestingly the "returned" message was printed earlier than "to print".
Which means that I could access the method parameters after the method returned.
A:
The code would not throw an Exception as param1 is effectively final. Java Lambdas are similar to closures.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "StackExchange"
}
|
A neutralizing anti-G-CSFR antibody blocks G-CSF-induced neutrophilia without inducing neutropenia in nonhuman primates.
Neutrophils are the most abundant WBCs and have an essential role in the clearance of pathogens. Tight regulation of neutrophil numbers and their recruitment to sites of inflammation is critical in maintaining a balanced immune response. In various inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, cystic fibrosis, and inflammatory bowel disease, increased serum G-CSF correlates with neutrophilia and enhanced neutrophil infiltration into inflamed tissues. We describe a fully human therapeutic anti-G-CSFR antibody (CSL324) that is safe and well tolerated when administered via i.v. infusion to cynomolgus macaques. CSL324 was effective in controlling G-CSF-mediated neutrophilia when administered either before or after G-CSF. A single ascending-dose study showed CSL324 did not alter steady-state neutrophil numbers, even at doses sufficient to completely prevent G-CSF-mediated neutrophilia. Weekly infusions of CSL324 (≤10 mg/kg) for 3 wk completely neutralized G-CSF-mediated pSTAT3 phosphorylation without neutropenia. Moreover, repeat dosing up to 100 mg/kg for 12 wk did not result in neutropenia at any point, including the 12-wk follow-up after the last infusion. In addition, CSL324 had no observable effect on basic neutrophil functions, such as phagocytosis and oxidative burst. These data suggest that targeting G-CSFR may provide a safe and effective means of controlling G-CSF-mediated neutrophilia as observed in various inflammatory diseases.
|
{
"pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts"
}
|
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We’ve talked about different materials engineers use to build things in the world, but there’s a special category of materials they turn to when building things to go inside our bodies. In this episode we’ll explore the world biomaterials like titanium and their coatings, the special chemistry of polyurethane, and the cross-linked structure of hydrogels. We’ll also look at the importance of safety & research, as well as the enormous future potential of biomaterials.
Take a stroll down the street and you’ll spot one feat of engineering after another. But what you can’t see are all the feats of engineering people are carrying around inside their bodies.
Because engineering isn’t just about what’s around us; it’s also about what’s inside us. From medical implants to artificial limbs and the bandages that cover your cuts, so many things have been designed from a special set of materials that work well with the human body. These biomaterials are vital to medicine, healthcare, and the world as we know it. [Theme Music] It takes special effort to design things that work directly with the human body.
Technically, you could try and use any material as a bio-material, but to be successful, it needs to be compatible with the biological system it’s interacting with. All the materials we’ve talked about in this course – metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites – and even living cells and tissues can be candidates for biomaterials, as long as they have the right skills for the job. That’s where bio-compatibility comes in.
That’s a general term for how compatible a material is with living tissue. It’s not only an important feature of biomaterials, it’s what makes something a bio-material. There are four main ways a material can interact with your body: it can hurt you; it can dissolve and be replaced by cells; your body can surround it with a protective layer; or it can bond with your living tissue.
Biocompatible materials are the ones that result in healthy bodily responses. They don’t tend to cause blood clots or infections, and lead to normal, uncomplicated healing. Which can be really important, because for most applications, your biomaterials will at least partly come in contact with bodily tissues or cells, and often for long periods of time.
Months. Years. Maybe decades.
Over the years, the materials we consider biocompatible have changed a lot – from the animal tissue used by ancient Egyptians to stitch wounds, to the wood used in olden-day peg legs, to the carefully-engineered materials we use today. Some of the more prominent ones today are titanium and stainless steel, used everywhere from joint replacements to dental implants. There’s also polyurethane, a type of polymer used in catheters, artificial heart valves, and other flexible devices, and hydrogels, for things like contact lenses.
Each type has different properties that make it useful as a bio-material. We’ve already talked about one use for alloys, like titanium and stainless steel, for example: braces. Titanium and some other alloys can be classified as biologically inert materials, which means they cause little or no reaction with nearby tissues.
Your body may recognize them as foreign materials and try to surround them in fibrous tissue, but it doesn’t outright reject them. In the US alone, over four million people wear braces, many of whom have the metal kind. And that’s not counting all the people who have already spent a couple of years of their lives with alloys digging into their gums.
You’ll also find these alloys in plenty of other things that we put in people’s bodies for an extended period of time. Titanium is often used in place of stainless steel because it lacks things like nickel that can sometimes cause allergic reactions. It also has a lower density compared to other metallic biomaterials, so a titanium implant will be lighter than a similar one made from stainless steel.
And when it comes to artificial body parts, “lighter” usually translates to “much more comfortable.” But both titanium and stainless steel have excellent mechanical properties like strength, resistance to bending, and durability. That’s why they’re used for things that tend to get a lot of wear and tear, like teeth and joints. Titanium is also often used to surround things that wouldn’t be biocompatible otherwise – a pacemaker, for example.
On their own, having a battery and electrical circuits inside you wouldn’t be great. Surround them with a biocompatible material like titanium, though, and it becomes much safer. Sometimes, you can change the surface of a material to do even better than just not causing harm.
For example, sometimes implanted devices that come into direct contact with blood, like pacemakers, cause dangerous blood clots or narrowing of blood vessels as the person’s body tries to heal around them. But scientists have found that coating the titanium in a mixture of collagen proteins and a blood thinner called heparin could someday help prevent those complications. The research is still in the early stages, but the fibrous tissues that form around implants are often collagen-based, so coating the titanium in the same proteins might speed up healing.
Meanwhile, the blood thinner might prevent clots. Other types of titanium coatings are already used for surgeries where you need to get an implant to bond with the surrounding bone. Some knee replacements, for example, are coated with things like proteins and silver, which give the alloy the ability to bond with living tissue and discourage bacterial growth.
With things like knee replacements, that can be really important, because for the surgery to be successful, you typically need to get the implant to bond with the surrounding bone. So when it comes to bio-compatibility, alloys like titanium are super useful. And with some clever engineering, you can make them even better.
Sometimes, though, you need a material that’s a little more flexible, like for a heart valve. And for that, engineers often turn to polyurethane. Like other polymers, polyurethane is made up of long, repeating chains arranged into larger molecules.
But the smaller segments of the polymer alternate between hard and soft, which gives it a super useful set of properties. Polyurethane has a high level of elasticity, so it’s pretty flexible, but it’s also durable and resistant to tearing. Combine these properties and you end up with a bio-material that performs well under both static and dynamic loads.
More importantly, though, those hard and soft segments make polyurethane biocompatible. In the 1980s, researchers discovered that the molecules in the softer segments helped make the polymer more blood-friendly because the platelet cells that cause clots didn’t stick to them as much. Since then, engineers have worked to make polyurethanes with even better bio-compatibility by changing the chemical structure of the hard segments so they don’t accumulate platelets as much, either.
But polyurethane isn’t the only polymer that’s widely-used as a bio-material. There are also hydrogels, materials made up of things called hydrophilic structures, cross-linked polymers capable of holding large amounts of water. Think of the polymers we’ve talked about before, with those long chemical chains, but now they’re linked repeatedly between the chains, forming a network-like structure.
That network can then swell with water to fill in the gaps between the chains, leading to some interesting properties. For example, one of the most widely used hydrogels is something called PHEMA, a material that’s pretty unreactive and supportive of biological processes. It’s tough and doesn't degrade easily, isn’t absorbed by the body, and it can take on many different shapes and forms, making it the sort of Swiss army knife of biomaterials.
These characteristics are what make PHEMA hydrogels so well-suited for contact lenses. There’s even research on using them to deliver medicine to the eye! In fact, the unique chemical structure of hydrogels in general could make them ideal for delivering drugs across the body.
Say you swallow a hydrogel capsule filled with medication that you might normally take in a shot. When the pill enters your body, the water inside you will try to fill it up. The hydrogel will take in the fluid and swell up to maintain its equilibrium, effectively pushing out the drug into your body and releasing it where it needs to go.
And if you use a hydrogel that your body can gradually absorb, it will just dissolve after it’s done its job. The potential for future hydrogel applications is vast, including wound-healing bio-adhesives, artificial skin and cartilage, sexual organ reconstruction, and even vocal cord replacements. So far, we’ve mostly talked about building devices to put in the body.
But biomaterials can be used to help boost the body’s existing behaviors, too. For example, some researchers are working on a gel that can that can stick to your bodily tissues and help heal them faster. This gel can help prevent internal blisters and infections by filling the dead space that’s created by surgeries like tumor removals.
After your body has the time to heal, the gel degrades and is absorbed. On a much smaller scale – like, the size of individual cells – researchers are also looking into biomaterials that could deliver things like DNA directly into cells they otherwise couldn’t get into. By creating biomaterials that mimic viruses, you can trick cells into taking in these molecules, like some kind of cellular Trojan horse.
We might even be able to use them for cancer vaccines! But like anything else in science, and especially medicine, there are certain protocols bio-material engineers are expected to follow to make sure what they’re designing is more than just effective – it has to be safe. For example, early research might include testing the material on cells outside of the body, to get an idea of how biocompatible it is without risking anyone’s life.
Other times, it might involve animal testing, to see how a material affects the physiology of other animals before trying it on humans. But the proper precautions aren’t always taken, and there have been some cases where devices that were said to be safe caused reactions as mild as a rash or as serious as death. Like the Dalkon Shield, an early IUD contraceptive.
When it was introduced in the late 1960s, the Dalkon Corporation marketed the Shield as superior to other IUDs on the market. They said it had a lower failure rate, at about 1%, and that it was easier and less painful to insert and remove. And then people started getting infections.
Which was weird, because the uterus is normally sterile. By 1974, it had caused problems in tens of thousands of people, including at least 18 deaths. Later investigations revealed that the culprit was the tail string attached to the IUD to help remove it.
The string was made of a bundle of thin nylon fibers with a shell of nylon around them, and it acted like a wick, drawing bacteria up into the uterus. Turns out, the parent company that bought Dalkon had known about this problem the whole time. When one of their quality control employees insisted they address it, the company fired him instead – something that would be illegal in the US today.
On top of that, there were so many flaws in the human safety trial for the IUDs that it would take me another ten minutes just to list them all. We’ll discuss the ethics of engineering in more detail in a later episode, but what happened with the Dalkon Shield was a clear violation of even the most basic safety protocols. They released a product they knew could be dangerous, didn’t tell anyone about the risk, and hoped for the best.
That plan didn’t work out well for anyone. Biomaterials can be an incredibly powerful tool for improving people’s lives. But as engineers, it’s up to us to wield that power responsibly.
So today we learned all about biomaterials. We talked about alloys like titanium and their coatings, the special chemistry of polyurethane, and the cross-linked structure of hydrogels. We also looked at ways to use biomaterials to boost the body’s existing behaviors, as well as their enormous future potential.
Finally, we talked about the importance of safety research. I’ll see you next time, when we’ll shift directions a bit and learn about process control. Crash Course Engineering is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
If you want to keep learning new things, check out It’s Okay to be Smart, which is all about our curious universe and the science that makes it possible, hosted by Joe Hanson. Check out It's Okay to be Smart and subscribe at the link below. Crash Course is a Complexly production and this episode was filmed in the Doctor Cheryl C. Kinney Studio with the help of these wonderful people. And our amazing graphics team is Thought Cafe.
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"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
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My Nakamichi works!!!
Laser pickup was broken. The main problem was how to get it, but I bougth broken MB-70 made for BMW which was easier.
The conclusion is, if you nak dispalys e-disc error it means the laser is death.
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{
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
}
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