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Department of Medicine Lung Health Initiative
Welcome to the Lung Health Initiative of the University of Louisville Department of Medicine. The U of L Department of Medicine Lung Health Initiative aims to create a unique multidisciplinary program dedicated to promoting respiratory health with seamless integration of clinical care, education and research.
Our Vision
By 2020, the Lung Health Initiative will be recognized internationally as a program of excellence dedicated to promoting lung health.
Our Goals
Build a comprehensive patient-centered program for the care of respiratory disorders with strong community advocacy and educational initiatives.
Be recognized globally as a top “center of excellence” for having materially contributed to the development of improved preventive strategies, diagnostics, treatments, and cures for diseases related to respiratory health.
Create a top clinical and research multidisciplinary respiratory health program with a focus on respiratory epithelial cell biology, genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, and in translational research and epidemiology.
ULP
Providers in the University of Louisville Department of Medicine Lung Health Initiative are part of University of Louisville Physicians, the largest, multi-specialty physician practice in Louisville. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 502-588-4600. | 2023-12-23T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2471 |
65 Cal.App.2d 200 (1944)
MERRILL T. MILLER et al., Respondents,
v.
C. WESLEY HALL et al., Appellants.
Civ. No. 3311.
California Court of Appeals. Fourth Dist.
July 12, 1944.
Hillyer & Hillyer and Gray, Cary, Ames & Driscoll for Appellants.
Monroe & McInnis for Respondents.
BARNARD, P. J.
This is an action for declaratory relief and for an accounting. In September, 1931, Mr. Miller and Mr. Hall entered into a partnership known as Miller, Hall & Co. for the purpose of conducting a brokerage business dealing in stocks, bonds and securities.
On April 11, 1934, they signed a written agreement which recited that the death of either partner would result in financial loss to the survivor, and that each partner had taken out two policies in the New England Life Insurance Company for $20,000 and $10,000, respectively. It was then agreed that all premiums on these four policies should be paid from partnership funds, and that upon the death of either the amount of insurance on his life should be immediately collected by the survivor and paid over to the widow of the deceased partner in full payment for her share of the partnership property and assets, including prospect lists, good will, etc., with one exception which is not material here.
Four such policies of insurance were taken out, two on the life of each partner. One policy on the life of each was made *202 payable to his wife, respectively, while the other policy was made payable to the other partner. This conformed to another provision in the contract which provided that the policies might be made payable "to the widow of the deceased direct," but with the same effect as described. The premiums on all four policies were paid out of the assets of the partnership until its dissolution.
Each of the partners had previously been in the same business. The partnership occupied quarters in San Diego which had theretofore been occupied by a well-known brokerage firm of which Miller had been the manager. The business of the partnership prospered and it enjoyed an excellent reputation and built up a valuable good will. In addition to the list of investors brought into the firm by both partners and thereafter increased, the firm possessed several sets of records showing a complete history of certain bond issues, including one of municipal bonds originally brought into the firm by Miller and one of Canadian bonds built up by the firm, all being cross-indexed and of considerable value to anyone engaged in that business.
On August 8, 1941, Mr. Miller sustained a paralytic stroke, which has permanently incapacitated him from engaging in business. In a few months it became apparent that he could never return to the business and Hall sought a dissolution of the partnership to which Miller agreed. Before the affairs of the partnership were wound up Hall took possession of the quarters occupied by the firm, together with all records and fixtures, and had the lock on the door changed. He sent out a circular to the customers of the firm announcing a change in the name of "our firm" from Miller, Hall & Co. to Wesley Hall & Co., with the same address. This circular referred to one distributed seven years before by Miller, Hall & Co., announced that "our principles and policies haven't changed a bit," and clearly represented that the business of Miller, Hall & Co. was being continued under the new name.
Negotiations over the division of the assets of the firm continued over some months. Cash and securities and certain other things were divided equally between the former partners, but they were unable to reach an agreement with respect to the furniture and fixtures, the good will, including the lists and records, and the life insurance policies.
In this action which followed the court found the value of the furniture and fixtures and ordered the defendant Hall to *203 account to the plaintiffs for one-half thereof. This item is not questioned on this appeal. The court also found that Hall had appropriated to himself the business, records and good will of the partnership and had held himself out as having succeeded to the same, and that he should account therefor as a part of the assets of the partnership. It was found that in view of all the facts and circumstances surrounding the dissolution this good will was of the reasonable value of $15,000, and Hall was ordered to account to the plaintiffs for one-half of that value. It was further found that the contract between the partners made no express provision for the disposition of the four policies of life insurance in case of a dissolution; that it was the intent and purpose of the parties that said policies should be carried for the mutual protection of the partners and their families; that it was not intended that either partner should retain insurance upon the life of the other, but that ultimately the proceeds of said policies should go to the family of each insured, respectively; that said policies are and in equity should be the property in each instance of the partner upon whose life they are written, respectively, and of his wife; and that by reason of the prior payment of the premiums by the partnership there should in equity be an adjustment of the difference in the surrender values of the policies, those upon the life of Miller being at a higher premium rate and having a higher surrender value. Miller was, therefore, ordered to account to Hall for this difference. A judgment was entered in accordance with the findings awarding the plaintiffs $7,584.74, after making the other adjustments referred to, decreeing that Hall is the owner of the business formerly conducted by the firm including the furniture, fixtures, records, prospect lists and good will; and that the insurance policies are the property of the parties on whose lives they were issued and their wives, respectively. From this judgment the defendants Hall have appealed.
[1] It is first urged that the court erred in holding that the good will of this business had any value, and in requiring Hall to account to Miller for anything in that regard. It is conceded that under some circumstances the good will of a business may be of a considerable value. But it is argued that upon the dissolution of a partnership each of the partners has a right to continue in the same line of business. It is then argued that in view of that right to compete it must *204 be held, as a matter of law, that upon such a dissolution the good will of the business is valueless and neither partner may be required to account to the other with respect thereto, and that this is true whether or not one of the partners does or can reengage in the same line of business since both have an equal right to do so. Cases from this state are cited in support of the rule that in case of a dissolution each partner has a right to reengage in the same line of business in the absence of an agreement to the contrary. This rule may be conceded but it is not controlling here. The appellants also cite In re Brown, 242 N.Y. 1 [150 N.E. 581, 44 A.L.R. 510]; Von Bremen v. MacMonnies, 200 N.Y. 41 [93 N.E. 186, 21 Ann.Cas. 423, 32 L.R.A.N.S. 293]; Hutchinson v. Nay, 187 Mass. 262 [72 N.E. 974, 105 Am.St.Rep. 390, 68 L.R.A. 186]; Hutchins v. Page, 204 Mass. 284 [90 N.E. 565, 134 Am.St.Rep. 656]; Williams v. Farrand, 88 Mich. 473 [50 N.W. 446, 14 L.R.A. 161]; and Dyer v. Shove, 20 R.I. 259 [38 A. 498]. All of these recognize the fact that the good will of a business may have a value and that this value may be considerably less if one or all of the former owners are to continue in the same line of business. None of them, however, support the proposition, as a matter of law, that in the case of a dissolution of a partnership the theoretical right of each partner to continue in business will necessarily destroy all value of the good will as an asset of the partnership.
In Moore v. Rawson, 185 Mass. 264 [70 N.E. 64], the question was presented as to whether a retiring partner was entitled to an accounting with respect to his interest in the good will of the business. The court there said:
"While no rule can be laid down by which the good will of a trading partnership in all cases can be ascertained and its value fixed with mathematical precision and accuracy, yet, if it be assumed that a firm has been in existence for a time long enough to establish a business sufficiently permanent in character to include not only its customers, but the incidents of locality, and a distinctive name, these advantages constitute a going business enterprise; and it may then be said that the name and what is done under it go together, and a good will exists which forms an asset of commercial value in a winding up between partners. The fact that such an asset may be difficult of appraisement is no legal reason for denying to the retiring partner an appraisal, if it be proved that he is entitled to it." *205
In Griffith v. Kirley, 189 Mass. 522 [76 N.E. 201], where a similar question was involved, the court said:
"In the case before us, the defendant, as before stated, has taken exclusive possession of the firm property to which the good will is attached, and is carrying on the business exactly as though he were the purchaser of it. Under these circumstances the court may regard the defendant, so far as respects the good will, as though he had purchased under an order of the court for the sale of the property and good will, and therefore that he should be charged with the value of the good will."
In Hutchins v. Page, 204 Mass. 284 [90 N.E. 565, 134 Am.St.Rep. 656], involving similar circumstances, the court said: "Neither party had any right to avail himself of the good will of the business, after the termination of the partnership, without paying for it." In Ruppe v. Utter, 76 Cal.App. 19 [243 P. 715], the court said:
"Good will is property recognized and protected by the law as such and capable of sale and transfer from one owner to another. It is an asset which may be sold in connection with a business. How far its value might be affected by the competition of the retiring partner is an element of course to be taken into consideration in fixing of such value ..."
From all of these cases, and many others, it appears to be well recognized that the good will of a business may have a considerable value, that while this value may be seriously affected by the competition of a retiring partner the question of such value is one to be determined in the light of all the facts of a particular case, and that where such a value exists and is appropriated by one of the former partners for his own use and benefit he may be required to account to the other partner for his interest in any such value as may appear under the circumstances.
In the instant case, beyond question, the good will of this business would have had a considerable value had the business been sold to a third party. Regardless of his theoretical right to continue in the same line of business it fully appears that the physical disqualification of Miller effectively eliminated the possibility of any such competition. At the time of the trial Miller had been unable to engage in business for a period of a year and eight months. His physician testified that his condition would never get any better. Under these *206 circumstances, which were properly considered by the court, this good will had an actual value which was appropriated by Hall. In this situation, we are unable to hold, as a matter of law, that Hall was under no duty to account to Miller for the value of this good will.
[2] It is next contended that the evidence does not sustain the value of $15,000 placed thereon by the court. It is argued that most or all of the witnesses testified to the general effect that they would not care to buy this business or allow much of anything for the good will on the basis and understanding that Miller would immediately enter into competition in the same line of business. Not only was this not the situation here but this was merely a matter to be taken into consideration in fixing the value. There was ample evidence that the value of this good will was from $15,000 to $25,000. The court fixed it at $15,000 and ordered Hall to account for one-half of that, or $7,500. This was considerably less than the profits drawn by each partner during each of several years preceding the dissolution. There was much evidence of the value of the records and files as a part of the good will and the value fixed by the court is not only supported by the evidence but seems reasonable.
[3] Appellants' final contention is that the court erred in awarding to each partner the insurance policies on his own life with an adjustment of the surrender values. It is argued that as partnership assets all four policies should have been divided equally, that is, that one-half of each of the policies should have been set aside to each of the partners. It is suggested that because of the state of Miller's health the policies on his life may be expected to mature at an earlier date than those on Hall's life, and that Hall should be entitled to any benefit resulting from this.
The contract between the parties regarding this insurance makes no provision for what shall be done in case of a dissolution. It does indicate an intention that neither party should ever collect and retain any proceeds of the insurance on the life of the other. It was designed to apply in the event of an interruption of the partnership business due to the death of one of the partners. Its provisions are inapplicable now since the partnership has been dissolved. Moreover, no one can now collect the insurance money, and the parties have distributed most of the assets of the firm, which the proceeds of the policies were to cover. *207
The premiums having been paid by the partnership the interests of the parties in these policies at the time of the dissolution constituted a partnership asset. In an accounting between the partners, which is a matter of equity, that asset should be divided in a manner that is fair and equitable to both parties. Neither party then had an insurable interest in the life of the other and it would hardly seem equitable to force the parties, in practical effect, to continue the partnership with respect to this matter after all other elements had been fully settled and adjusted. The policies would lose any value beyond their surrender value if the premiums were not kept up, and the rights of one might be defeated by the failure of the other to pay his share of the premiums. One might desire to drop certain policies while the other wished to drop different policies. Any additional value from now on will be largely the result of subsequent payment of premiums rather than of payments made by the partnership. While the policies have potential values those values are not only dependent upon future conditions but they may be best preserved by continuing conditions which are favorable to keeping them in force.
Under these circumstances, the most equitable way to divide this asset is on the basis of its present value, the surrender value of the policies, with an adjustment of the difference therein based upon the respective costs, and by allocating to each party the policies on his own life, thus sharing the future obligations and values. This is not only a fair division of both the present and future value, but it enables each to preserve and develop the potential value of his own policies free from any possibility of its being destroyed by any act of the other. In this way each receives a like share of the entire existing asset, and in a very real sense there is being returned to each partner that which he contributed to the partnership business. We find no error in the court's award with respect to this insurance.
The judgment is affirmed.
Marks, J., and Griffin, J., concurred.
| 2023-11-02T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5408 |
import Vue from 'vue'
import VueRouter from 'vue-router'
Vue.use(VueRouter)
const Foo = { template: `<div class="foo"><h1>foo</h1></div>` }
const Bar = { template: `<div class="bar"><h1>bar</h1></div>` }
const childRouter = new VueRouter({
mode: 'abstract',
routes: [
{ path: '/foo', component: Foo },
{ path: '/bar', component: Bar }
]
})
const Nested = {
router: childRouter,
template: `<div class="child">
<p>Child router path: {{ $route.fullPath }}</p>
<ul>
<li><router-link to="/foo">/foo</router-link></li>
<li><router-link to="/bar">/bar</router-link></li>
</ul>
<router-view/>
</div>`
}
const router = new VueRouter({
mode: 'history',
base: __dirname,
routes: [
{ path: '/nested-router', component: Nested },
{ path: '/foo', component: Foo },
{ path: '/bar', component: Bar }
]
})
new Vue({
router,
template: `
<div id="app">
<p>Root router path: {{ $route.fullPath }}</p>
<ul>
<li><router-link to="/nested-router">/nested-router</router-link></li>
<li><router-link to="/foo">/foo</router-link></li>
<li><router-link to="/bar">/bar</router-link></li>
</ul>
<router-view></router-view>
</div>
`
}).$mount('#app')
| 2024-05-12T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4645 |
SpongeBob SquarePants fans alert! A real life version of the Krusty Krab, the iconic fastfood restaurant that SpongeBob works at in the Nickalodeon cartoon is set to open up in Ramallah, on the West Bank in Palestine.
The family restaurant has been designed to be an exact replica of Mr Krabs' establishment in Bikini Bottom, from the fixtures outside the building to the Krabby Patty burgers on the menu.
The building is still under construction, but we're wondering - how far will the owners, Sulta Burgers, go? Will they include the lit-up shell sign board and the tin chimney and antenna too?
We're very pleased to see how seriously they take the decor, from the flags on the roof, to the net over the windows on either side of the building.
We have been wondering though, how Mr Krabs, the Krusty Krab's erstwhile proprietor, has been able to afford to start a restaurant above sea level – assumably he must be doing much better than he used to, and maybe his obsession with money has helped.
Oh here's Mr Krabs, he's come over to inspect the construction on his new restaurant. Mr Krabs says on the Krusty Krab Facebook page that he is looking for cooks, cashiers, cleaners and security guards – we really hope he pays them better than he does SpongeBob, Patrick and Squidward.
The Krusty Krab Facebook page has over 2,000 likes, with many keen fans posting to ask when the restaurant will open, but the date has not yet been announced. | 2023-11-08T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1957 |
In 1237, Ingeborg, Dowager Queen of France, died. At the time of her death, she was approximately sixty years old, and had lived more than forty years in France, having arrived as a young and pretty bride-to be in 1193. Her intended was Philip II, King of France, a.k.a. Philip Augustus. At the time, he was pushing thirty, ten years or so older than his Danish wife. The fact that Ingeborg is described as being “sweet, wise and pretty” was not enough to endear her to him – but we have no idea why the groom exited the bridal chamber so distraught he never touched his wife again.
If we start at the beginning, Ingeborg was the youngest of the eight surviving children born to Valdemar the Great of Denmark and his wife, Sofia of Minsk. Seeing as Valdemar’s mother was a princess from Kiev, I suspect he was now and then called Vladimir both by her and by his wife. Valdemar had not had the easiest of lives, born the posthumous son of Knut Lavard, who was one of Sven Estridsen’s grandsons. Valdemar is famous as the Danish king who crushed the Wends, a ferocious race who plagued the Danes with continuous raids, but before he got to that point, Valdemar had to fight for his throne. By 1157 he was safe on the Danish throne which was when he married Sofia.
Sofia of Minsk was reputedly very beautiful, but as per the legends, she was also cruel and vindictive. Supposedly, she rid herself of the competition for her future husband by burning the poor woman alive. At a distance of 900 years, we’ll never know the truth in the matter, so maybe we should give the woman the benefit of the doubt. After all, she was a foreigner in Denmark, and maybe a jilted Danish lady with her eye on Valdemar chose to get her own back by spreading these lurid rumours.
Ingeborg was born around 1176, and six years or so later, her father died. Instead, her eldest brother, Knut, became king, and it was Knut who was involved in arranging her marriage – with the French king! Paris beckoned, but I imagine Ingeborg was somewhat torn: at the time, it was a long ride from Denmark to Paris, and chances were she’d never see her homeland again. Plus, she didn’t speak French.
Philip had political reasons for pursuing an alliance with Denmark. First of all, the Danish fleet was feared throughout Europe, and Philip wanted to make sure the fleet would not attack his lands or his budding navy. Secondly, since the time of Knut the Great (a.k.a. Canute), the Danish kings insisted they had a claim on the English throne. A tenuous claim, but still: Philip must have chortled at the thought of presenting the English with an alternative to those Angevin bastards who presently wore the English crown – and controlled a sizeable chunk of Philip’s France.
Thirdly, both Denmark and France were eager to thumb their nose at the Holy Roman Empire. By entering into an alliance, they sent a not-so-subtle message to the Holy Roman Emperor that they didn’t like him much – and would like it even less if he tried to expand his empire at their expense.
Philip also had personal reasons for finding a new wife: his first wife, Isabella of Hainault, had died in childbed in 1190. As her twin boys died with her, this left Philip with only one child, little Louis. Not enough, as per Philip, and Ingeborg came with the benefit of having a fertile mother. By alla ccounts, Philip was not particularly nice to his first wife, even going as far as threatening to divorce her because she hadn’t given him a son. The poor bride was fifteen or so…
On August 14, 1193, Ingeborg was wed to Philip. After the usual celebrations, the couple retired to their chamber. And there, dear peeps, something happened. Whatever it was, we don’t know, but already the next day, Philip was insisting Ingeborg be sent home – far, far away from him. He wanted the marriage annulled, no matter if it cost him the Dano-French alliance.
All of seventeen, this must have been terribly humiliating for the recently married and crowned Ingeborg – who, to add further injury, had been stripped of her own name and re-named Isambour. I imagine her lonely and frightened – unless, of course, she did have a streak of black magic in her, inherited from her mama. Philip would later claim that she’d put a spell on him, making it impossible for him to consummate the marriage. Ingeborg vigorously denied both the spell and the non-consummation.
One can’t help but wonder what transpired between the two on that long-gone August night. Did she giggle at the size of his member? Was she somehow malformed? (although there is nothing on record to indicate that was the case) Did she smell? Or was she so shocked by her new husband’s attempt at making l’amour she kneed him where it really, really hurts? After all, she didn’t even speak the language, so maybe she misunderstood what he was trying to say.
Philip immediately demanded an annulation. He seems to have assumed Ingeborg – oops, Isambour – would go along with this, but she refused. As per Ingeborg, she was now a happily (hmm) married woman, and, even better, the queen of France. No way was she letting that go without a fight. Given just how stubbornly she refused to give into Philip’s demands that they part ways, I get the feeling that whatever transpired between them had left her hurting badly. So maybe it was him who laughed…
Anyway: Philip decided to force Ingeborg’s hand by placing her under house arrest. In distant Denmark, Ingeborg’s brother raised his voice in loud protest, and when Philip tried to argue the marriage was invalid due to consanguinity, this was repudiated by the Danish diplomats, who produced a genealogy chart that showed the Capet king had very little blood in common with his fair wife.
The pope became involved. Philip refused to reconcile. Ingeborg refused to accept an annulment. The pope ruled in favour of Ingeborg, and in retaliation, Philip ensured Ingeborg’s captivity was made even more uncomfortable. She found solace in her faith – there’s a beautiful psalter still in existence she commissioned in 1200 – and in the firm belief she was in the right. Even more so, when Philip did a one-sided annulment and married Agnes of Merain.
“Bigamy!” yelled Ingeborg and her supporters.
“Get a life,” Philip growled. “Just sign the documents and get over it.”
“No way.” Ingeborg set her jaw. “You may sleep with your whore, but you’re married to me.”
The pope totally agreed with Ingeborg. He urged Philip to set Agnes aside and return to his loyal wife. Philip wasn’t having it. In fact, it seems that he was genuinely in love with Agnes – like for the first and last time in his life – and he stubbornly insisted his marriage to Ingeborg was invalid – or annulled, depending on how he had to argue the case.
The pope had had it. Either Philip set aside Agnes, or he’d place France under interdict. Still Philip refused to give up on Agnes, whom he treated as if she were his crowned queen. Where Ingeborg had never shown her face at court, never sat side by side with her husband, Agnes was a fixture in Philip’s court, and delighted him further by presenting him with two children. Illegitimate children as per the Church.
While Agnes was enjoying the good life, Ingeborg languished in captivity, deprived of sufficient food, of companionship. She toyed with the idea of suicide, and wrote as much to the pope, who was horrified and made good on his threat of placing France under interdict. This time, he also excommunicated Philip.
Late in 1200, Philip relented, officially sending Agnes away from court. Not that anything changed for Ingeborg, still locked up in her tower. Agnes, however, was heartbroken at being sent off, stripped of her status as wife. In 1201, she died. I can’t imagine this evoked any pity from Ingeborg.
One would have thought that with Agnes dead, Philip might have given things a go with Ingeborg. Nope. Instead he appealed yet again to the pope for annulment, stating he’d been subjected to witchcraft on his wedding night with Ingeborg. Pope Innocent snorted – loudly, I imagine.
For the coming decade or so, Philip went on with his life, while poor Ingeborg remained locked up. Her life was slipping through her fingers, any dreams she may have had of babies and a position in court denied her. Maybe she should have agreed to an annulment and attempted to find contentment elsewhere, but by now she’d gone down the road of obstinate refusal for too long to change her mind.
In 1213, Philip had a change of heart. With his eyes very firmly set on England and the potentials offered by the turmoil there, he needed peace with Denmark – an assurance the Danish fleet would not sneak up and demolish the French ships should France attempt an invasion. So, out of nowhere, more or less, he decided to reconcile with Ingeborg – Isambour.
After twenty years of captivity, Ingeborg was at last accorded the respect she deserved, recognised as Philip’s queen at court. Suddenly, her food was rich and plentiful, she was swathed in precious fabrics and adorned with glittering jewels. But her husband never touched her – he didn’t have to, seeing as his eldest son had recently fathered a son, thereby ensuring the Capet dynasty would thrive.
In 1223, Philip died. Supposedly, he asked his son, the future Louis VIII to treat Ingeborg well – a volte-face versus how he himself had treated this once so young Danish princess. Louis VIII would, in fact, always show Ingeborg the respect she deserved as his father’s widow. This was probably politically motivated, as by recognising that Ingeborg had been queen since 1193, Louis was also indirectly reminding everyone that his young half-brother, Philip, was nothing but a royal bastard, no matter that the pope had legitimised him after Agnes’ death.
Ingeborg paid for various masses to be said for Philip’s soul. She took to the role as a pious widow as a fish takes to water, and maybe all those masses were her way of letting the world know she’d forgiven Philip. Maybe she had. Maybe she was just playing to the audience.
After Philip’s death, Ingeborg retired to live out the remainder of her life mostly at the priory of Saint Jean de l’Ile, which she had founded. Fourteen years after Philip, Ingeborg departed this world and was buried in a church in Corbeil. A sad life, in many ways, twenty years spent in solitude as the prisoner of the man who’d married you. And as to what really happened on their wedding night, well only two people know – and they’re both very, very dead. I guess we can safely conclude that whatever it was, it sure didn’t make the earth move for them – at least not in a good way.
Like this: Like Loading... | 2024-03-16T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5029 |
Serotonin and early cognitive development: variation in the tryptophan hydroxylase 2 gene is associated with visual attention in 7-month-old infants.
Allelic variation in the promoter region of a gene that encodes tryptophan hydroxylase isoform 2 (TPH2), a rate-limiting enzyme of serotonin synthesis in the central nervous system, has been associated with variations in cognitive function and vulnerability to affective spectrum disorders. Little is known about the effects of this gene variant on cognition during development and about possible intermediate developmental steps that lead to the adult phenotype. Here, we examined the hypothesis that the TPH2 -703 may act during early stages of development and bias the acquisition of elementary cognitive processes involved in attention and emotion regulation. Seven-month-old infants (n = 66) were genotyped for the TPH2 -703 G/T polymorphism (rs4570625) and tested for the efficiency of attention shifts from a stimulus at fixation to a new stimulus in the visual periphery. Compared to TPH2 G/G homozygotes, infants with the T-carrier genotype exhibited a significantly higher number of missing attention shifts. This genotype effect tended to be particularly pronounced when infants had to disengage from an affectively salient stimulus before shifting attention to the peripheral stimulus. The results also showed that TPH2 genotype was indirectly associated, via its effect on attention disengagement, with temperamental emotion regulation (soothability). Together, these results implicate serotonin system genes in early cognitive development and suggest variations in the early-emerging cognitive capacities as a potential developmental precursor of individual differences in emotion regulation and vulnerability to affective disorders. | 2024-04-06T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4638 |
FILED
United States Court of Appeals
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT February 13, 2020
_________________________________
Christopher M. Wolpert
Clerk of Court
RODNEY DOUGLAS EAVES,
Petitioner - Appellant,
v. No. 19-1452
(D.C. No. 1:18-CV-02619-CMA)
COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF (D. Colo.)
CORRECTIONS; THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL STATE OF COLORADO,
Respondents - Appellees.
_________________________________
ORDER DENYING CERTIFICATE OF APPEALABILITY*
_________________________________
Before MATHESON, KELLY, and EID, Circuit Judges.
_________________________________
Rodney Douglas Eaves, a Colorado state prisoner proceeding pro se, seeks a
certificate of appealability (“COA”) to challenge the district court’s denial of his 28
U.S.C. § 2254 application for a writ of habeas corpus. See 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(1)(A)
(requiring a COA to appeal “the final order in a habeas corpus proceeding in which
the detention complained of arises out of process issued by a State court”). He also
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines
of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for
its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
seeks leave to proceed in forma pauperis (“ifp”). Exercising jurisdiction under
28 U.S.C. § 1291, we deny both requests and dismiss this matter.1
I. BACKGROUND
Mr. Eaves is serving a 30-year sentence based on his convictions for
aggravated robbery and other crimes. After his unsuccessful appeal to the Colorado
Court of Appeals (“CCA”), he applied for federal habeas relief under 28 U.S.C.
§ 2254, asserting 13 claims. The district court directed the Respondents to file a
pre-answer response addressing timeliness, exhaustion, and procedural default; and it
ordered that Mr. Eaves could file a reply. After receiving these filings, the court
dismissed as procedurally defaulted (1) the Fourteenth Amendment components of
claims one and two and (2) claims six through thirteen in their entirety. Mr. Eaves
moved to amend his reply to show that prejudice and miscarriage of justice should
preclude procedural default of these claims. The court construed the motion as a
request for review of its dismissal order, and denied it because Mr. Eaves was already
afforded an opportunity to make this showing in his reply. In a separate order, the
court denied relief on the remaining five claims and denied a COA.
1
Because Mr. Eaves is pro se, we construe his filings liberally, but we do not
act as his advocate. Yang v. Archuleta, 525 F.3d 925, 927 n.1 (10th Cir. 2008). He is
subject to the same procedural rules governing other litigants. See United States v.
Green, 886 F.3d 1300, 1307-08 (10th Cir. 2018).
2
II. DISCUSSION
A. COA Requirement and AEDPA
To review a § 2254 application, we must grant a COA. 28 U.S.C.
§ 2253(c)(1); Miller-El v. Cockrell, 537 U.S. 322, 335-36 (2003). To receive a COA,
an applicant must make a “substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right,”
28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2), and “that jurists of reason would find it debatable whether
the petition states a valid claim of the denial of a constitutional right,” Slack v.
McDaniel, 529 U.S. 473, 484. When the district court denied a habeas claim on
procedural grounds, the applicant must also show “that jurists of reason would find it
debatable whether the district court was correct in its procedural ruling.” Slack, 529
U.S. at 484; accord Dulworth v. Jones, 496 F.3d 1133, 1137 (10th Cir. 2007). Thus,
if an applicant cannot make a showing on the procedural issue, we need not address
the constitutional question. See Slack, 529 U.S. at 485.
Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (“AEDPA”),
when a state court has adjudicated the merits of a claim, a federal district court
cannot grant habeas relief on that claim unless the state court’s decision “was
contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal
law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States,” 28 U.S.C.
§ 2254(d)(1), or “was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of
the evidence presented in the State court proceeding,” id. § 2254(d)(2). When the
district court has denied habeas relief because the petitioner failed to overcome
AEDPA, our COA decision requires us to determine whether reasonable jurists could
3
debate the court’s application of AEDPA to the state court’s decisions. Miller-El,
537 U.S. at 336.
B. Analysis
In his brief to this court, Mr. Eaves challenges the district court’s denial of his
motion to amend his reply to the Respondents’ pre-answer response. But as the
district court noted, Mr. Eaves could have made his arguments in his reply brief. No
reasonable jurist would debate that the district court acted within its discretion. See
Pittman v. Fox, 766 F. App’x 705, 721 (10th Cir. 2019) (unpublished) (reviewing for
abuse of discretion the denial of a habeas petitioner’s motion for reconsideration of
district court order).2 We deny a COA on this issue.
Mr. Eaves also challenges the court’s rulings on each of the claims that were
not procedurally defaulted. Before turning to those claims, we note that Mr. Eaves
repeatedly argues that the CCA did not address his claims in whole or in part. Aplt.
Br. at 6, 8, 10, 11, 12. If that were so, he would not need to meet the demanding
2
See 10th Cir. R. 32.1 (“Unpublished decisions are not precedential, but may
be cited for their persuasive value.”); see also Fed. R. App. P. 32.1.
Mr. Eaves’s arguments in his brief to this court are unavailing. He argues that
when the CCA struck his original 88-page brief and ordered him to file a 45-page
brief, the CCA did not tell him he needed to “concisely present his claims,” including
those the district court deemed procedurally barred. Aplt. Br. at 3. But federal
habeas applicants must exhaust their arguments in the state courts, 28 U.S.C.
§ 2254(b)(1), and Mr. Eaves does not contend here that he did so in the brief
reviewed by the CCA. Mr. Eaves asserts that the district court “misconstrued” his
motion and cites Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2) and Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178 (1962).
Aplt. Br. at 4. But Rule 15(a)(2) and Foman concern amendment of pleadings, not
whether a litigant may file an amended brief to contest an order.
4
AEDPA requirements on federal habeas review. See Stouffer v. Duckworth, 825 F.3d
1167, 1179 (10th Cir. 2016) (“[I]f the state court did not decide the claim on the
merits, the stringent principles of deference under . . . § 2254 are inapplicable.”
(quotations omitted)). But Mr. Eaves is mistaken. The district court showed that the
CCA addressed each claim, in most instances quoting from the CCA’s decision.
But even if the CCA did not fully address one or more of Mr. Eaves’s claims,
they are still subject to AEDPA review. Where, as here, “a federal claim has been
presented to a state court and the state court has denied relief, it may be presumed
that the state court adjudicated the claim on the merits in the absence of any
indication or state-law procedural principles to the contrary.” Johnson v. Williams,
568 U.S. 289, 298 (2013) (quoting Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 99 (2011)).
Mr. Eaves has not overcome this presumption because he has not identified any
“state-law procedural principles” or other “indication” showing the state court did not
resolve his claim. Id. (quoting Harrington, 562 U.S. at 99).
We therefore review the claims under §§ 2254(d)(1) & (2) and conclude Mr.
Eaves fails to show that reasonable jurists could debate the district court’s denial of
relief. We therefore deny a COA on all of his claims.
Fourth Amendment Search and Seizure Claim
The district court denied Mr. Eaves’s Fourth Amendment claim alleging illegal
searches and seizures because, under Stone v. Powell, 428 U.S. 465, 494 (1976),
federal habeas relief may not be granted when the state has provided a full and fair
opportunity to litigate the claim, and Mr. Eaves has failed to show he was denied that
5
opportunity. The record shows he filed motions to suppress, the state trial court held
evidentiary hearings, and he raised his Fourth Amendment claim on appeal. A COA
is not warranted because reasonable jurists would not debate the district court’s
determination under Stone.
Fifth Amendment Claim – No Probable Cause Affidavit with Complaint
The district court rejected Mr. Eaves’s argument that his Fifth Amendment
rights were violated because the state trial court accepted the criminal complaint and
information without a supporting affidavit. The CCA, however, found that a
supporting affidavit was filed in the trial court that supported the complaint and
information, and the district court, applying AEDPA under § 2254(d)(2), held that
Mr. Eaves failed to show this finding was based on an unreasonable determination of
facts. See also United States v. Mechanik, 475 U.S. 66, 73 (holding conviction by the
petit jury shows there was probable cause and renders harmless lack of probable
cause for the indictment); United States v. Hillman, 642 F.3d 929, 936 (10th Cir.
2011). Mr. Eaves has not shown how reasonable jurists would debate this holding.
We deny a COA.
Sixth Amendment Claim – Speedy Trial Violation
The district court denied habeas relief on Mr. Eaves’s speedy trial claim,
concluding that he did not show that the CCA’s affirmance of the trial court’s denial
of the claim was contrary to or an unreasonable application of the Supreme Court’s
decision in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972). The district court determined that
Barker’s four-factor test supported the CCA’s decision. For substantially the same
6
reasons as stated by the district court, we agree. Reasonable jurists would not debate
otherwise. We deny a COA.
Fourteenth Amendment Claim – Right to Discovery
The CCA rejected Mr. Eaves’s claim that he was entitled to discovery of a
detective’s handwritten and voice-recorded notes when the detective testified they
were identical to the typewritten notes that were provided. The district court said this
ruling was consistent with California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479 (1984), and Arizona
v. Youngblood, 488 U.S. 51 (1988), and therefore Mr. Eaves could not overcome
AEDPA review.
The CCA also rejected Mr. Eaves’s contention that he was not afforded
adequate opportunity to review AT&T records of GPS data. Although the
prosecution did not provide these records in print form, it gave electronic copies to
Mr. Eaves’s investigator and advisory counsel at least three times. The district court
said that Mr. Eaves had failed to show the CCA’s determination of no discovery
violation was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established
Supreme Court law or was based on an unreasonable determination of facts.
Because the district court’s determinations would not be debatable among
reasonable jurists, we deny a COA on this issue.
Sixth Amendment Claim – Exclusion of Evidence on an Alternate Suspect
Defense
The CCA affirmed the trial court’s decision to quash Mr. Eaves’s subpoena for
records related to an alleged alternative suspect because it was a “fishing expedition”
7
that contravened state evidence rules and because Mr. Eaves failed to state why he
needed the information or how the evidence would connect the suspect to the crime.
It also affirmed the trial court’s decision to quash Mr. Eaves’s subpoenas to eight
police officers who did not investigate his robbery case but investigated a case
concerning a shooter, where both crimes involved a Nissan. The CCA relied on
multiple grounds, including Mr. Eaves’s failure to show a non-speculative connection
to the alternate suspect and the trial court’s determination that the evidence would
unduly confuse the jury under Colorado Rule of Evidence 403.
The district court said the state courts concluded that Mr. Eaves’s subpoenas
requested materials and testimony that were inadmissible under the state rules of
evidence. It said Mr. Eaves had failed to show how the exclusion of the evidence
was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law or
was based on an unreasonable determination of facts. 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d).
In his brief to this court, Mr. Eaves has not made a “substantial showing of”
how these state court rulings were a “denial of a constitutional right,” 28 U.S.C.
§ 2253(c)(2), nor has he shown how reasonable jurists would debate the district
court’s rejection of this claim. We deny a COA.
8
III. CONCLUSION
We deny a COA, deny the request to proceed ifp, and dismiss this matter.
Entered for the Court
Scott M. Matheson, Jr.
Circuit Judge
9
| 2024-06-17T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5382 |
Background {#Sec1}
==========
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the larynx and hypopharynx is the most common tumor in the head and neck region, mainly observed in males over 50 years. Especially glottic larynx carcinomas are mostly diagnosed in early stages due to the disorder of essential laryngeal and hypopharyngeal functions presenting with initial symptoms, i.e. hoarseness, swallowing difficulties or dyspnea, resulting in significant reduced patient′s satisfaction and quality of life \[[@CR1]--[@CR3]\]. Therefore, besides achieving optimum local control, preservation of phonatory and swallowing function gain in importance. The role of chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in the organ-preserving treatment of hypopharyngeal and laryngeal malignancies was established by two important landmark trials, showing equal survival rates compared with surgery and a high rate of larynx-preservation in two-thirds of the patients \[[@CR4], [@CR5]\]. Over the last two decades, CRT is increasingly considered as a valuable alternative to total laryngectomy for advanced tumors. Nowadays, total laryngectomy is mostly used in highly selected patients with advanced diseases or reserved as salvage surgery in case of treatment failure after primary CRT. In the current literature, poor prognosis is reported for patients who were treated with salvage surgery after radiotherapy failure in several studies \[[@CR6], [@CR7]\]. However, data concerning outcome of salvage CRT after failed first-line surgical treatment are still missing. The aim of this retrospective analysis is to assess clinical outcome in patients with recurrent hypopharyngeal and laryngeal SCC after first-line treatment with surgery alone, who received second-line RT in potentially curative intention and to determine prognostic factors for survival outcome to optimize patient selection for salvage radiotherapy.
Materials and methods {#Sec2}
=====================
Evaluation {#Sec3}
----------
Seventy-five patients with laryngeal or hypopharyngeal SCC treated for recurrence after prior surgery at the Department of Radiation Oncology of the University Hospital Heidelberg between 2007 and 2017 were identified retrospectively and patient′s records were analysed regarding local progression-free survival (LPFS), overall survival (OS) and distant progression-free survival (DPFS). Additionally, potential prognostic factors were assessed and calculated for local control (LC), OS and DPFS.
Follow-up was performed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) 6 weeks after completion of therapy, at three-month intervals during the first 2 years after treatment, every 6 months during the third year after treatment and then, once a year. Yearly CT scans of the chest and abdominal ultrasound were performed to identify distant relapse.
Acute and late toxicity were assessed according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.03 (CTCAE v4.03) and tumor response to the current Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) \[[@CR8], [@CR9]\]. TNM (tumor, nodal, metastasis) stage was assessed and adjusted to the eight edition of the TNM classification system \[[@CR10]\].
Survival data were calculated from first diagnosis to the date of last follow-up, death or progression by using Kaplan-Meier estimates (IBM SPSS Statistics version 24). OS was calculated from the first diagnosis up to the last follow-up or death. LPFS and DPFS were considered as the time period between first diagnosis and occurrence of local progression, distant progression or death. LC was calculated from first day of treatment to last follow-up or local progression. Univariate analysis to identify potential prognostic factors for survival outcome were performed using the log-rank test. For multivariate analysis, the cox regression model was used. All tests were 2-tailed and the significance level was defined as *∝ \< 0.05*.
Patient characteristics {#Sec4}
-----------------------
All patients received RT in a secondary setting for recurrence after first-line treatment with surgery alone (median number of operations 1, range 1--4). Patients who received a prior radiation treatment were excluded from the study. Initially, postoperative RT (*n* = 13, 17%) for UICC stage III/IV or CRT (*n* = 22, 29%) for incomplete resection margin (*n* = 11, 15%), lymph node metastases with extracapsular spread (ECS; *n* = 9, 12%) or both (n = 2, 3%) was obligatory in overall 47% of the patients but was declined from the patient. Therefore, two treatment groups were differed within the study population; early stage patients without an initial indication for postoperative RT (*n* = 40, 53%) and patients with advanced tumors who declined postoperative RT after first-line surgery (*n* = 35, 47%). Prior total laryngectomy was performed in 24% of the patients (*n* = 18), prior unilateral neck dissection (ND) in 9% of the patients (*n* = 7) and bilateral ND in 35% of the patients (*n* = 26). In 79%, lymph node metastases could be identified (n = 26), in 11/26 patients with ECS (for detailed treatment characteristics please see Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}).
The majority of the patients were male (*n* = 64, 85%) and older than 60 years (*n* = 45, 60%) at RT initiation (median age of 64 years, range 46--83 years). The most common initial tumor sites were the glottic larynx with 61% (*n* = 46), the hypopharynx with 19% (*n* = 14) and the supraglottic larynx with 16% (*n* = 12). Regarding the recurrent tumor sites after prior surgery, the glottic larynx (*n* = 31, 41%), the neopharynx (n = 12, 16%) and the hypopharynx (n = 14, 19%) dominated. At first diagnosis, 56% of the tumors were at UICC stage I-II (*n* = 44). At recurrence, higher UICC stages could be identified with 28% for UICC stage III (*n* = 21), 25% for UICC stage IVA (*n* = 19), 13% for UICC stage IVB (*n* = 10) and 1% for UICC stage IVC (n = 1). Patient characteristics are shown in Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}.Table 1Patient and tumor characteristics at first-line and second-line treatment, *n* = 75characteristicNo. (%)first-line treatment (surgery)second-line treatment (RT/CRT)median age (years)59 (42--83)62 (46--83)gender male64 (85)64 (85) female11 (15)11 (15)Karnofsky performance score in % 10025 (33)12 (16) 9018 (24)23 (31) 8024 (32)17 (23) 708 (11)17 (23) 60none6 (8)tumor site glottic larynx46 (61)31 (41) subglottic larynx3 (4)10 (13) supraglottic larynx12 (16)8 (11) hypopharynx14 (19)14 (19) neopharynxnone12 (16)UICC stage I20 (27)16 (21) II22 (29)8 (11) III9 (12)21 (28) IVA22 (29)19 (25) IVB1 (1)10 (13) IVC1 (1)1 (1)TNM stage T122 (29)22 (29) T225 (33)12 (16) T314 (19)15 (20) T414 (19)26 (35) N051 (68)48 (64) N13 (4)11 (15) N220 (27)14 (19) N31 (1)1 (1) M074 (99)73 (97) M11 (1)2 (3)G stage G12 (3)2 (3) G251 (68)49 (65) G319 (25)21 (28) Gx3 (4)3 (4)*abbreviations*: *RT* radiotherapy, *CRT* chemoradiotherapy, *T* tumor stage, *N* nodal stage, *M* metastasis stage, *G* grading, *UICC* Union Internationale Contre le Cancer
Treatment characteristics {#Sec5}
-------------------------
For treatment planning, CT and MRI were performed and patients were immobilized with custom-made thermoplastic masks with shoulder fixation. Clinical target volume 1 (CTV1) including the macroscopic tumor and the potential microscopic spread and CTV2 including the CTV1 and the lymphatic drainage were outlined. Planning target volumes (PTVs) were generated with a margin of 5 mm around the CTVs and received at least 90% of the prescription dose. All patients received intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) via tomotherapy with (*n* = 70, 93%) or without simultaneous integrated boost (SIB, *n* = 5, 7%) at a median time of 7 months after the first operation (range 1--333 months). Single doses and prescription doses differed, thus we calculated the equivalent dose in 2 Gy per fraction with the following formula for better dose comparibility: EQD2 = D x ((d + α/β)/(2 + α/β)) (D = total dose in Gy, d = single dose in Gy, α/β = 2).
The median prescribed total dose was 54 Gy (range 52.2--66 Gy) with a median single dose fraction of 1.8 Gy (range: 1.8--2.0 Gy) to the bilateral cervical lymph drainage and 66 Gy (range 58--72 Gy) with a median single dose fraction of 2.2 Gy (range 1.8--2.2 Gy) to the macroscopic tumor. The median equivalent dose to a 2 Gy single dose fraction (EQD2) prescribed on the macroscopic tumor was 67 Gy (range 60--73 Gy). In 5 cases, treatment could not be finished (7%). Thus, these patients received smaller cumulative doses. The median PTV1 was 101 cc (range 21--222 cc) and the median PTV2 was 740 cc (range 51--1301 cc). Overall, 77% of the patients were treated with concomitant systemic therapy (*n* = 58) of whom 64% received concomitant chemotherapy (*n* = 48) with carboplatin/5-fluoruracil in week 1 and 5 (n = 4) or cisplatin weekly (*n* = 44) and 13% concomitant immunotherapy with cetuximab weekly (*n* = 10). Treatment characteristics are depicted in Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}.Table 2Treatment characteristics at first-line and second-line treatment, n = 75first-line treatment (surgery)number of previous surgeries 146 (61) 217 (23) 310 (13) 42 (3)total laryngetomy18 (24)larynx-preserving surgery57 (76) vocal cord tripping2 (3) endoscopic laser resection21 (28) partial laryngectomy34 (45)unilateral ND10 (13)bilateral ND27 (36) ECS11 (30)second-line treatment (RT/CRT)median EQD2 in Gy67 Gy (60--72 Gy)median PTV1101 cc (21--1949 cc)median PTV2740 cc (51--72 cc)concomitant chemotherapy48 (64)concomitant cetuximab10 (13)*abbreviations*: *RT* radiotherapy, *CRT* chemoradiotherapy, *ECS* extracapsular spread, *EQD2* equivalent dose in 2 Gy single dose fractions, *ND* neck dissection, *PTV* planning target volume
Results {#Sec6}
=======
Survival analysis {#Sec7}
-----------------
Five patients could not finish therapy for deterioration of their general condition (KPS \< 60%) and were lost to follow-up after treatment. Therefore, we excluded these patients from the analysis (7%). Median follow-up for all remaining patients was 41 months (range 8--120 months) and for surviving patients 50 months (range 8--120 months). At last follow-up, 56% of the patients were still alive (*n* = 39) of whom 87% were free of local failure (*n* = 34). Median OS from first diagnosis up to last follow-up or death was 59 months (range 11--373 months) and from RT up to last follow-up or death 43 months (range 14--121 months). Overall, complete remission was seen in 48 patients (64%) and partial remission in six patients (8%). 20% of the patients developed an in-field recurrence (*n* = 14) and one patient a locoregional recurrence in cervical lymph nodes (1%) after a median time of 12 months (range 3--19 months) after RT. All local and locoregional recurrences occurred within the first 2 years after RT. Distant metastases (*n* = 13) were diagnosed in 19% of the patients after a median time of 28 months (range 2--88 months) after the first diagnosis with pulmonary failure in 11 cases (16%) and bone metastases in 2 cases (3%). Corresponding 3-year and estimated 5-year LPFS, OS and DPFS were 75, 76, 85 and 75%, 64, 82% for all patients without significant differences for initially early stage (without an initial indication for adjuvant RT) vs. advanced stage (with an initial indication for adjuvant RT) larynx/hypopharynx tumors in the LPFS (*p = 0.431*; HR = 1.12; 95%-CI = 0.38--21.30), OS (*p = 0.518*; HR = 0.89; 95%-CI = 1.24--12.46) and DPFS (*p = 0.081*; HR = 3.04; 95%-CI = 1.98--8.34), respectively. Patients with local or locoregional recurrence received either palliative systemic therapy (*n* = 5, 7%), best supportive care (*n* = 1, 1%), salvage larynx-preserving surgery (*n* = 2, 3%), salvage ND (n = 1, 1%), salvage total laryngectomy (n = 5, 7%) or re-RT (n = 1, 1%). Thus, preservation of the larynx could be achieved in 90% (*n* = 47/52) of the patients apart from patients who were initially treated by total laryngectomy.
Prognostic factors for survival {#Sec8}
-------------------------------
We analysed the impact of potential prognostic factors at time of first-line treatment with surgery alone (initial T, N, G stage, ECS, tumor site, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), prior laryngectomy vs. larynx-preserving surgery, prior ND yes vs. no, time period between first operation and first recurrence) and at time of second-line treatment with salvage RT (recurrent T, N, G stage, KPS, number of prior operations, EQD2 \> 70 Gy vs. ≤70 Gy, PTV1 ≥ 101 cc vs. \< 101 cc, cisplatin weekly chemotherapy vs. others, local recurrences yes vs. no after RT and metastases yes vs. no) on OS, LPFS and DPFS. Several potential prognostic factors were identified using the log-rank test for univariate analyses. Independent prognostic factors were assessed by the cox regression model for multivariate analysis. The results of univariate and multivariate analysis are shown in Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}.Table 3Results (*n* = 70)characteristics5-year survivalunivariate analysismultivariate analysisHR (95%-KI)*p* valueHR (95%-KI)*p* valueoverall survivalat first-line treatment (surgery)iT stage (T3/4 vs. T1/2)45% vs. 72%1.46 (1.01--2.11)0.041iN stage (N+ vs. N0)25% vs. 78%5.78 (2.66--12.59)0.0002.50 (0.96--6.49)0.060at second-line treatment (RT/CRT)recurrent tumor site (others vs.glottis)42% vs. 89%4.70 (1.79--12.33)0.0014.77 (1.00--22.70)0.050rKPS (≥90% vs. \< 90%)68% vs. 36%0.55 (0.35--0.84)0.050chemotherapy (others vs. cisplatin weekly)35% vs. 64%2.37 (1.04--5.45)0.035local recurrence after RT(yes vs. no)25% vs. 74%3.10 (1.44--6.67)0.002*2.63 (1.04--6.69)0.041*metastases after RT (yes vs. no)3% vs. 70%3.44 (1.54--7.71)0.001local progression-free survivalat first-line treatment (surgery)iN stage (N+ vs. N0)50% vs. 86%4.52 (1.60--12.72)0.0023.62 (0.92--14.19)0.065iG stage (G3 vs. G1/2)59% vs. 82%2.77 (1.00--7.66)0.038at second-line treatment (RT/CRT)rG stage (G3 vs. G1/2)59% vs. 82%2.66 (1.04--7.80)0.036EQD2 (\> 70 Gy vs. =70 Gy)90% vs. 68%0.25 (0.06--1.10)0.045*0.10 (0.01--0.82)0.032*chemotherapy (others vs. cisplatin weekly)46% vs. 86%5.78 (1.75--19.13)0.001*3.62 (0.92--14.19)0.006*distant progression-free survivalat first-line treatment (surgery)iN stage (N+ vs. N0)40% vs. 89%6.19 (1.85--20.76)0.001*2.56 (1.03--6.34)0.042*iG stage (G3 vs. G1/2)65% vs. 85%3.06 (1.03--9.13)0.0353.45 (0.98--12.23)0.055at second-line treatment (RT/CRT)rT stage (T3/4 vs. T1/2)70% vs. 90%3.30 (0.91--11.99)0.055*6.02 (1.29--30.00)0.028*rG stage (G3 vs. G1/2)65% vs. 85%3.12 (1.00--9.25)0.0373.45 (0.98--12.23)0.054recurrent tumor site (others vs.glottis)68% vs. 100%6.02 (0.68--10.24)0.014PTV1 volume (=median vs.\<median of 101 cc)65% vs. 87%3.85 (1.04--14.22)0.030*5.39 (1.65--12.53)0.038*chemotherapy (others vs. cisplatin weekly)57% vs. 82%3.27 (1.03--10.41)0.034*abbreviations*: *EQD2* equivalent dose to 2 Gy single fraction, *HR* hazard ratio, *iT stage* initial tumor stage, *iN stage* initial nodal stage, *KPS* Karnofsky performance score, *RT* radiotherapy, *CRT* chemoradiotherapy, *G stage* grading stage, *rT stage* recurrent tumor stage, *PTV* planning target volume
Regarding LPFS, we could identify the use of concomitant chemotherapy with cisplatin weekly (*p = 0.006*) and an EQD2 \> 70Gy prescribed on the macroscopic tumor as positive prognostic factors (*p = 0.032*). Patients who received concomitant systemic therapy were included into analysis only. The use of concomitant chemotherapy with cisplatin weekly resulted in a 5-year LPFS of 86% vs. 44% compared with patients who received concomitant chemotherapy with carboplatin/5-FU in week 1 and 5 or cetuximab weekly (Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). With regard to the applied EQD2 on the macroscopic recurrent tumor, patients who received an EQD2 \> 70 Gy had a 5-year LPFS of 90% vs. 68% compared with patients who received an EQD2 ≤ 70 Gy (Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}).Fig. 1LPFS depends significantly on the use of concomitant systemic therapy with survival benefit for patients receiving cisplatin weekly chemotherapy vs. others (carboplatin/5-fluoruracil and cetuximab) (*p* = 0.006). 5-year LPFS amounts 86% vs. 43% for patients who received concomitant cisplatin weekly vs. patients who did notFig. 2LPFS depends significantly on the applied RT dose with survival benefit for patients receiving an EQD2 \> 70 Gy (*p* = 0.032). Patients who received an EQD2 \> 70 Gy show a 5-year LPFS of 90% vs. 68% compared with patients who received an EQD2 ≤ 70 Gy
Patients with local or locoregional recurrence after salvage RT had a significant worse OS with a 5-year OS of 25% vs. 74% estimated from Kaplan-Meier analysis compared with patients who were free from recurrence at last follow-up (*p = 0.041*), respectively. Furthermore, recurrent tumor site showed an estimated impact on patients′ OS. Thus, patients with glottic recurrence had a survival benefit with a 5-year OS rate of 89% compared with patients who had recurrences in the area of the supraglottic or subglottic larynx, hypopharynx or neopharynx with a 5-year OS rate of 25% *(p = 0.05)*. Additionally, initial N stage seemed to have a further impact on OS with a survival benefit for patients without initial lymph node metastases, but in the multivariate analysis, the significance level could not be achieved (*p = 0.06*).
In terms of DPFS, recurrent T stage showed the most significant impact on DPFS with a 5-year DPFS of 90% for rT1/2 tumors and 70% for rT3/4 tumors (*p = 0.028*). Further, PTV1 (≥ median of 101 cc vs. \< median of 101 cc) had a worse impact on DPFS with increasing volume (*p = 0.038*). At least, initial N stage could be diagnosed as further prognostic factor for DPFS with a significant lower occurrence of metastases for iN0 stage compared with iN+ stage (*p = 0.042*). Increasing N+ stage (N1 vs. N2 vs. N3) had no impact on DPFS (*p = 0.140*).
Toxicity {#Sec9}
--------
Overall, 20% of the patients reported acute grade 3 (*n* = 14) and 19% of the patients chronic grade 3 and grade 4 toxicity (*n* = 13). During and six weeks after therapy, no acute grade 4 toxicity could be identified. An overview of acute and late side effects is shown in Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}. Acute grade 3 toxicity consisted of mucositis (*n* = 2, 3%), dysphagia (6%, *n* = 4), odynophagia (*n* = 5, 7%), dermatitis (n = 4, 6%), xerostomia (n = 1, 1%), hoarseness (*n* = 3, 4%) and lymphedema (n = 1, 1%). Three months after therapy, the majority of the acute grade 3 side effects disappeared. Nevertheless, 3 patients received tracheostomy for acute dyspnea due to grade 4 lymphedema of the larynx (4%) and in one patient a laryngoesophageal fistula could be diagnosed 6 months after therapy (1%). 3 patients claimed about chronic severe dysphagia with high-grade stenosis of the laryngoesophageal junction with the need of regular bougienage up to the last follow-up (4%). Further, one patient developed a laryngocutaneous fistula 12 months after RT (1%) and one patient developed a wound healing disorder in radiation field 24 months after therapy (1%).Table 4Overview of acute and chronic toxicity (n = 70)characteristicacute toxicity (n = 70)chronic toxicity (*n* = 63)No. (%)No. (%)under RT and 6 weeks post RT3--6 months post RT12 months post RT24 months post RTat last follow-uptoxicity grade 110 (14)19 (27)22 (31)23 (33)17 (24) grade 239 (56)21 (30)10 (14)6 (9)5 (7) grade 314 (20)4 (6)3 (4)3 (4)3 (4) grade 404 (6)1 (1)1 (1)dysphagia grade 16 (9)7 (10)6 (9)6 (9)5 (7) grade 228 (40)4 (6)5 (7)1 (1)0 grade 34 (6)3 (4)3 (4)3 (4)3 (4)odynophagia grade 18 (11)1 (1)000 grade 214 (20)0000 grade 35 (7)0000mucositits grade 112 (17)1 (1)000 grade 236 (51)0000 grade 32 (3)0000dermatitis grade 119 (27)2 (3)000 grade 218 (26)1 (1)000 grade 34 (6)0000xerostomia grade 132 (46)30 (43)17 (24)13 (19)10 (14) grade 212 17 ()4 (6)2 (3)2 (3)2 (3) grade 31 (1)0000hoarseness grade 116 (23)15 (21)13 (19)12 (17)10 (14) grade 213 (19)7 (10)3 (4)1 (1)2 (3) grade 33 (4)1 (1)1 (1)1 (1)0fatigue grade 16 (9)3 (4)2 (3)1 (1)1 (1) grade 26 (9)2 (3)1 (1)00dysgeusia grade 111 (16)14 (20)11 (16)8 (11)7 (10) grade 220 (29)4 (6)000dry cough grade 17 (10)5 (7)2 (3)2 (3)0 grade 21 (1)0000lymphedema grade 16 (9)12 (17)2 (3)1 (1)1 (1) grade 28 (11)2 (3)1 (1)1 (1)4 (6) grade 31 (1)1 (1)1 (1)1 (1)1 (1) grade 4^a^03 (4)000fistula laryngoesophageal01 (1)000 laryngocutaneous001 (1)00wound healing disorder0001 (1)0gastric tube dependence24 (34)9 (13)5 (7)1 (1)1 (1)*abbreviations*: *RT* radiotherapy^a^with tracheotomy for acute dyspnea
Under RT, 43% of the patients needed supportive nutrition for nutritional difficulties due to acute side effects (*n* = 30). Acute gastric tube dependence counted 34% (*n* = 24). 3 to 6 months after therapy, only 13% of the patients needed farther a gastric tube for nutrition (*n* = 9). Only one patient was dependent on a gastric tube for more than 2 years (1%).
Discussion {#Sec10}
==========
Findings {#Sec11}
--------
The majority of the patients in the current analysis were treated with dose-escalated RT (93%) and concomitant cisplatin weekly chemotherapy (60%) for recurrent laryngeal or hypopharyngeal SCC after first-line treatment with surgery alone. Two thirds of the patients had tumors in advanced stages (UICC III and IV) before treatment. Nevertheless, we identified an excellent 3-year LPFS, OS and DPFS of 75, 76 and 85% and an estimated 5-year LPFS, OS and DPFS of 75, 64 and 82%, respectively. The 5-year local control rate was 79% for this unfavourable patient population. All recurrences occurred in-field and within the first two years after treatment. Larynx-preservation could be observed in 90% of the patients who received organ-preserving surgery as initial treatment. Local control was best achieved in patients receiving an EQD2 \> 70 Gy on the macroscopic tumor and concomitant chemotherapy with cisplatin weekly. RT dose and the use of cisplatin chemotherapy did not correlate with patients' KPS (*p = 0.139*). OS depended negatively on the occurrence of local recurrences after salvage RT and on the recurrent tumor site before RT with survival benefit for recurrent tumors involving the glottis. DPFS differed significantly regarding recurrent tumor size and the initial nodal stage. Overall, compliance was well (93%) and RT was tolerated with moderate toxicity.
Survival results {#Sec12}
----------------
Nowadays, CRT is seen as an equivalent therapy option to surgery regarding tumor control in laryngeal and hypoharyngeal tumors \[[@CR11], [@CR12]\]. Thus, Mendenhall et al. reported 2001 RT alone for T1/2 N0 larynx tumors as an alternative curative therapy option to surgery with a comparable 5-year LPFS of 72 to 94% depending on T stage, a 5-year OS of 79% and a 5-year DPFS of 98% \[[@CR13]\]. Nevertheless, surgery in form of organ-preserving endoscopic resection, laser surgery or open-neck partial laryngectomy is still considered as the gold standard in the treatment of early stage tumors with local control rates of 60 to 95%, declining with increasing T stage \[[@CR12]\]. While local relapses are relatively rare after primary treatment of early stage tumors, local control in advanced hypopharyngeal and laryngeal tumors remains a challenge. As organ-preserving treatment strategies are increasingly used as first-line treatment, the use of organ-preserving RT in combination with chemotherapy for advanced stages gained in importance within the last decades \[[@CR5], [@CR13], [@CR14]\]. However, 40 to 60% of patients with advanced tumors relapse after primary CRT \[[@CR5], [@CR15]\]. Salvage treatment options for these patients are limited, as re-irradiation is mostly limited by the tumor site and the necessary prescription dose to the recurrent tumor. In these cases, salvage surgery is mostly required. The effectiveness of salvage surgery after failure of primary CRT (2-year OS between 27 and 71%) is reported by several studies \[[@CR16]--[@CR18]\]. Taguchi et al. reported a 5-year OS and disease-specific survival of 61 and 66% for salvage surgery after primary CRT vs. 10 and 10% for patients who failed primary CRT but did not undergo salvage surgery \[[@CR18]\]. While poor prognosis with a 5-year OS of 16% is described for recurrent hypopharyngeal tumors after salvage surgery, the same treatment method offers 5-year OS rates ranging from 57 to 70% for recurrent laryngeal tumors \[[@CR19]--[@CR21]\]. Recurrent hypopharyngeal tumors are mostly considered inoperable and should, therefore, be treated with alternative salvage methods \[[@CR22]\]. Salvage CRT is generally reserved for recurrent tumors after primary total laryngectomy, for patients with inoperable recurrent tumors or in cases, where the patient rejects total laryngectomy as the only remaining treatment option in order to further preserve the organ function. Patients who receive salvage CRT mostly appear with initially early stage tumors and represent a non-comparable patient collective to patients who receive salvage surgery after failure of primary CRT. Nevertheless, studies describing a homogeneous patient population after salvage CRT including recurrent hypopharyngeal and laryngeal tumors only are lacking. Lee et al. reported a 2-year OS and progression-free survival of 74 and 68% for patients with recurrent hypopharyngeal and laryngeal tumors who underwent different salvage treatment methods, i.e. salvage surgery with or without RT, RT alone, chemotherapy alone, after different initial treatments, i.e. CRT for advanced tumors or primary surgery for early stage tumors \[[@CR23]\]. Li et al. analysed patients who were initially treated with surgery, RT or CRT for recurrent laryngeal tumors. The patients received salvage treatment with surgery for operable recurrent tumors in 54% and radiation in 16% of the cases \[[@CR24]\]. Salvage surgery resulted in a 5-year OS rate of 73% vs. 32% for other salvage treatment methods like RT, while the high OS rate for salvage surgery and the decreased OS of salvage RT were discussed via patient selection bias (operable tumors, initial tumor stage). This could be a valuable reason for the excellent survival results in the current analysis as well, as the majority of our patients had initially early stage tumors (56% UICC I/II). Nevertheless, survival analysis showed no significant difference in the LPFS, OS and DPFS for initially early stage and initially advanced tumors.
Prognostic factors {#Sec13}
------------------
Several meta-analyses and randomized studies have proven the beneficial role of concomitant chemotherapy in combination with RT, especially regarding cisplatin chemotherapy, showing superior local control and OS rates in laryngeal/hypopharyngeal tumors as well as in other HNC either in the primary or postoperative setting \[[@CR5], [@CR15], [@CR25]--[@CR27]\]. Besides an EQD2 \> 70 Gy achieved by using fractionation doses \>2Gy, we could identify a significant impact of cisplatin chemotherapy on LPFS only \[[@CR28], [@CR29]\]. Nevertheless, Pignon et al. could show in the MACH-NC meta-analysis that chemotherapy with carboplatin and 5-fluoruracil is considered to be equivalent to cisplatin chemotherapy. The results of the current study could possibly be explained by patient selection bias between both groups \[[@CR30]\]. In the current literature, further factors influencing LPFS, i.e. T stage, N stage, G stage, sex, age, vocal cord invasion, overall treatment time and RT field size are discussed in the first-line treatment \[[@CR13], [@CR31]--[@CR34]\]. Glottic tumors seem to have a survival benefit compared with other tumor sites, thus in several studies superior OS rates are described \[[@CR17]--[@CR20]\]. The occurrence of local recurrence after treatment, tumor size and N stage are accepted as further prognostic factors \[[@CR31]--[@CR35]\]. For second-line treatment, initial tumor in the hypopharynx vs. the larynx, recurrent tumor in the hypopharynx vs. the larynx, advanced primary tumor, advanced recurrent tumor, advanced primary N stage and advanced initial and recurrent G stage were most frequently associated with decreased progression-free survival resulting in a poor prognosis \[[@CR23], [@CR24], [@CR36]\]. In multivariate analysis, we could not identify an impact of tumor size and N stage on OS, possibly due to the low patient number but on DPFS. Thus, tumors with initial N+ stage and increased recurrent tumor size (PTV1, rT stage) influenced distant control negatively \[[@CR34]\]. Additionally, tumor differentiation (G stage) can be considered as further prognostic factor regarding DPFS \[[@CR31]\].
Toxicity {#Sec14}
--------
Superior dose conformity and decreased toxicity due to improved preservation of organs at risk compared with 3D-RT is described for IMRT \[[@CR37]--[@CR40]\]. Nevertheless, toxicity after IMRT remains high \[[@CR41]--[@CR45]\]. Especially in the hypopharynx and larynx region, significant higher rates of late side effects occur due to the proximity of several organs at risk compared with other regions of the head and neck \[[@CR45]\]. For patients treated with concurrent CRT, Forastiere et al. could show in the RTOG trial 91--11 a high rate of severe late grade 3 and 4 toxicity, especially regarding mucositis (43%) \[[@CR44]\]. In a RTOG analysis of three RTOG trials (RTOG 91--11, RTOG 97--03, RTOG 99--14), Machtay et al. identified 43% late side effects after CRT for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, and described grade 3 and 4 pharyngeal and laryngeal dysfunction in 39%, gastric tube dependence longer than 2 years in 13% and treatment-related death within 3 years in 10% of the patients. Swallowing limitations, aspiration, laryngoesophageal stricture and dysphagia dominated regarding laryngoesophageal dysfunction \[[@CR45]\]. Caudell et al. reported a 3-year laryngoesophageal dysfunction-free survival (LEDFS) of 32% for patients who were treated with CRT for advanced SCC of the larynx and hypopharynx \[[@CR42]\]. For salvage treatment methods as well, high toxicity rates are reported. Several authors described complication rates between 44 and 59% for salvage surgery after first-line CRT \[[@CR16], [@CR17], [@CR46]\]. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the complications of salvage total laryngectomy including 3293 patients by Hasan et al. showed a complication rate of 68% with 29% pharyngocutaneous fistula \[[@CR47]\].In the current analysis, in contrast, only 19% of the patients claimed about severe chronic toxicity. Especially laryngoesophageal dysfunction consisting of severe dysphagia (4%), fistula (3%), dyspnea (4%) or wound healing disorder (1%) were observed. Only one patient showed feeding tube dependence over 2 years after RT (1%). We could not identify any treatment-related deaths within the follow-up time. Despite first-line surgery and second-line dose-escalated RT, we identified moderate toxicity rates making salvage CRT after failed surgery a safe therapy alternative.
Conclusion {#Sec15}
==========
Salvage radiotherapy is an effective curative therapy option for recurrent hypopharyngeal and laryngeal SCC after prior surgery with excellent local control rates and moderate toxicity comparable to prior results concerning primary radiotherapy. We recommend dose-escalated IMRT with an EQD2 \> 70 Gy as well as the use of concomitant cisplatin weekly chemotherapy for superior LPFS. Nevertheless, patient selection for curative salvage treatment remains challenging.
We thank our Head and Neck Cancer Research Group members for their great effort.
Funding {#FPar1}
=======
The study is financed by the Department of Radiation Oncology of the University Hospital Heidelberg. There is no external funding source.
Availability of data and materials {#FPar2}
==================================
The data used in this analysis is from publications available in the public domain.
SaA and SeA developed and planned the retrospective analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Ethics approval and consent to participate {#FPar3}
==========================================
The current study was performed according the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The final protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany (S-421/2015).
Consent for publication {#FPar4}
=======================
Not applicable.
Competing interests {#FPar5}
===================
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Publisher's Note {#FPar6}
================
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
| 2023-11-17T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2365 |
Yevgeniy Kostyukevich
Yevgeniy Kostyukevich (; ; born 19 December 1989) is a Belarusian professional footballer. As of 2019, he plays for Krumkachy Minsk.
Career
Kostyukevich spent his youth years at Torpedo Zhodino and went on trial to CSKA Moscow in summer 2008. However, due to health issues discovered during the trial the contract was not signed. The same issues eventually forced him to end his career in late 2009. In summer 2015 Kostyukevich restarted his playing career at Krumkachy Minsk despite originally joining the team as goalkeeper coach and videographer.
References
External links
Category:1989 births
Category:Living people
Category:Belarusian footballers
Category:Association football goalkeepers
Category:FC Torpedo-BelAZ Zhodino players
Category:FC NFK Minsk players
Category:Association football goalkeepers who have scored | 2024-03-05T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4506 |
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| 2023-09-30T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/9511 |
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| 2023-09-24T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2878 |
Caledonia-3 Vermont Representative District, 2002–12
The Caledonia-3 Representative District is a two-member state Representative district in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is one of the 108 one or two member districts into which the state was divided by the redistricting and reapportionment plan developed by the Vermont General Assembly following the 2000 U.S. Census. The plan applies to legislatures elected in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. A new plan will be developed in 2012 following the 2010 U.S. Census.
The Caledonia-3 District includes all of the Caledonia County town of St. Johnsbury.
As of the 2000 census, the state as a whole had a population of 608,827. As there are a total of 150 representatives, there were 4,059 residents per representative (or 8,118 residents per two representatives). The two member Caledonia-3 District had a population of 7,571 in that same census, 6.74% below the state average. This means that there are 3785.5 residents per representative.
District Representatives
Donald E. Bostic, Republican
David T. Clark, Republican
See also
Members of the Vermont House of Representatives, 2005-2006 session
Vermont Representative Districts, 2002-2012
External links
Vermont Statute defining legislative districts
Vermont House districts -- Statistics
Category:Vermont House of Representatives districts, 2002–2012
Category:St. Johnsbury, Vermont | 2024-03-30T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2462 |
"Listen, don´t you have that song of that singer..." "How is it?" "I don´t have it." "No. .." "That so ..." "If you want to have another, but this song ..." "I have not." "I'm sure." "It has not, is it?" "No." "Are you sure?" "Absolutely." "Okay." "Thanks, eh, Arlete?" "Come here!" "Hey, shush!" "Come here!" "Psst!" "How do you know I call Arlete?" "Knowing." "Before I forget ... one thing I'm want to ask you since yesterday." "Why staff calls you bibelot?" "I think a nickname as "well."" "Yeah, call me bibelot because..." "They have some guys out there who think ..." "I am lucky with women." "I like your cynicism." "Wait." "What is it?" "I doped another idea." "Look at the time." "It's early." "Say." "First, answer:" ""Are you courageous?" "What kind of courage?" "Courage to go to a place ..." "So, so ...." "Hands off!" "Do you go?" "Where?" "Copacabana." "What idea do you do for me?" "Idea, how?" "The better possible now." "Bullshit!" "You saw me yesterday by First time in a bus queue." "I do not even know you." "You know, talking?" "Don´t you know me, Isadora?" "I don't know even where you work." "No problem:" "I gonna tell you now my whole life!" "I worked in P.E" "I was thrown out from there." "Why?" "I shot a guy there." "Did he die?" "If fail with me, you know." "The guy I do not know I don´t want to know." "And I hate who knows." "And now?" "I'm standing up see what happens..." "Are you married?" "I am." "Soon I saw." "Why?" "When I like a guy, so he is married." "Well, it's the boss had a surgery there ..." "Took the ovaries, uterus." "And do not feel pleasure anymore?" "She is no longer a woman." "Boring as hell." "As it is, shall we?" "I do not at all." "We spent a half hour." "You came from sole, my son." "I?" "Already want to push me to the apartment." "Without a little romance." "Aurora, listen ..." "If by chance I were to this apartment with you ..." "Hmm?" "Let's imagine." "And my father?" "Ah, you misunderstand me." "I do not understand." "I realized, yes." "But, replies, and my father?" "What is your father?" "Like my father, I've never seen." "And there in the chamber does free to anyone." "What camera?" "Members." "What is he there?" "An employee." "Come here!" "If your dad works there in the House, he ... should have influence." "Who knows, he does get monkey business one there?" "I return to for P.E." "It there is an official major?" "Well ..." "Is it?" "Office-boy." "I know." "It means that the apartment you will not, right?" "No." "Patience!" "Where you going?" "See you soon, eh!" "Come on." "My daughter ... not force the nature of anyone." "It is not in my nature." "If you want, fine." "If we do not want, whatever." "Bye, bye." "Listen, and if I say I changed my mind?" "Really?" "And if I say liked you?" "I doubt it." "You know you is very and the white suit?" "Yesterday I saw you in white." "Today, too." "It's the same suit?" "Another." "Just as white." "I have 10 Suits like this at home." "I put one a day." "Rain or shine." "I decided to go flat you, go!" "It will be hard to find a taxi this time." "But the 500 cruises you have not got?" "500 Cruise?" "My son ..." "I usually charge in 1500 ..." "Until 2000 and 3000 cruises." "Pay only the fourth 500." "But as you arranges an apartment ... gives only 500, right?" "So, come on ..." "Look at me." "Ready." "Says: "Want to take money?" "From me!" "500 and can call the taxi." "Do you drunk?" "!" "Least I can not." "But not a penny!" "Listen ..." "I liked you." "And I say more ..." "White suit, fresh dry cleaning ... call me crazy, crazy!" "But I need the money." "I need, you hear?" "I have fixed expenses." "And I promised this money for my mother." "Word of honor, money not for me." "I never gave money to no woman." "And do not give." "I know." "They do so, is it?" "Whatever." "You have all pint of pimp." "So what?" "The devil is that I like you've got anyway." "So, come." "Sir Saul?" "Hi!" "Good afternoon, Sir Saul." "Good afternoon." "I'll use your phone." "At will, miss." "At ease." "It 's friendship, D. Isaura." ""Oh, shit friendship!" "It is pure friendship." "You fucking have to give a phone call, huh?" "Mom?" "Come see the straw Sir Saul has given me." "What?" "What 's that girl?" "Wait." ""You will not even imagine." "What is it?" "Wait, where is it?" "Look at your father." ""Oh, bless, Dad." "God bless." "He had no night session?" "No, he died a deputy there." "Gorda, where's my newspaper?" "Where's my newspaper?" "!" "Is there, man!" "I do not know what it was that I ate." "But tell the rest ..." "It tells the story that straw." "Straw-O, Mama?" "Is." "It was a check, Mom." "For me." "For you?" "For me." "How much?" ""Oh, give a guess." "So, do not know." "2000 cruises, Mom." "What he's wanting?" "I do not know." "I still echoed in the output." "Friendship is worth more than sex." "Let me see." "Bearer." "Great." "2000 cruises." "Tomorrow, I'll put in savings account ... the account of the trousseau of Silene." "Huh?" "What is this?" "Holy shit!" "And I want to know ... who was it that drew ... flying little cocks... on the bathroom wall?" "!" "Huh?" "Who was?" "What is it, Noronha?" "Look, I go there." "I want to see it." "No, no, no, no!" "Do not go there, lady!" ""I just want to know who did it." "And I do know?" ""Oh, do not you?" ""You with your kicks!" "Recoil?" "It's hand in the face!" "Daddy!" "You're overdoing it." "Neither my father beat me!" "This is home?" "Catching a husband, my God, why?" "!" "Shut up, Fatty!" "Daddy." "You're doing a rocket science." "Where are the girls?" "I'm here, Dad." "I want to talk with each other." "Flame, all!" "Go, go, go, Deborah, will call her sisters." "I never got." "Arlete?" "Hilda?" "Gross!" "What?" "What is it?" "My daughter ... is "this"!" "Already begun, Daddy?" "What costume are these?" "I, eh!" "I'm in my house." "Damn, you have the courage talking to me naked?" "!" "I'm not naked." "Is naked yes, ma'am!" "Go get dressed!" "I, eh!" "I go to the beach in a bikini." "Does not cause my dad." "Ah, yes-man!" "Aurora is missing." "Not yet arrived." "Not here, baby!" "The driver ..." "But not for free, my son!" "Barata Ribeiro street, man." "Oh, I always need to have a woman in the brothel." "But I'm not in the brothel." "What is it?" "Bad luck yours..." "I do not know why." "I even like that just like of women and deranged." "Want an example?" "Ate a spectacular shoot!" "A body ..." "What a body!" "And behold, there was a 17 years at most." "Virgin?" "Was." "But you know ..." "She gone to the apartment with me, I started with that business ... and ended up doing full service." "Swear to God not like the bud!" "Look, by God!" "Swear by God?" "No, I do not believe in anything." "I mean ... only believe that here, right?" "So swears by saint's neck." "Swear, I swear no, sir." "I give my word." "I. .." "rather well, as you ... which has a "what" of brothel's woman!" "Brothel's woman, comma!" "Stop at the right, man" "Pay the taxi." "I?" "Come on!" "I 'm hard." "Will be 93." "How much?" "93 "Rogues" girl." "93?" "That's it." "Outside my "tip"." "What a shameless woman!" "This bug is what is right have to cram it." "Fuck of giving money, there is more to take!" "Before I begin, I want to explain ... one thing to all of you." "I think ... that those who "give-to-face" another person ... offends God." "So ... in front of all of you ..." "I wanted to ask apologies to fatty." "Fat ... do you excuse me?" "You hit and then apologies!" "You see?" "One can not treat well to a woman." "Fatty doesn't excuse me." "I wash my hands." "Let's go to what matters." "First ..." "You, Arlete!" "Perfectly!" "I wonder." "And you tell me ... who's been doing obscene drawings ... on the wall of the toilet?" "Did you?" "Oh, Dad, frankly ..." "Answer right!" "Already answered." "It was not you!" "So who was it?" "Nobody." "No, it was one of you." "It was one of my daughters." "Or, then was the fat." "Noronha!" "Give yourself the respect!" "It was you!" ""Oh, Daddy, get me out of it!" "You. .." "has to be ..." "Another innocent." "I have nothing with it." "I was washing my hair in the tank." "I wonder who stayed in the bathroom." "You!" "Are you crazy?" "Creature, that was not you came out, right now?" "Did not come from there?" "!" "Do not play funny!" "I want to know who was in the bathroom before me!" "Look." "I." "You. .." "You who are here who have a foul mouth." "You, do not respect my authority." "What were you doing there in the bathroom?" "Pee." "Bitch!" "Father!" "Beat!" "No. .." "I should not beat." ""I can not hit!" "Father!" "Office-boy!" "Repeat!" "Office-boy!" "Yeah!" "It's continous, yes!" "I said office-boy!" "Office-boy ..." "It is clear that no one 'll confess anything." "Dad ..." "You walk a lot nervous, Dad." "Nerve?" "I?" "Nervous?" "So I?" "!" "Quite the contrary!" "Apathetic." "I've been very lethargic." "If I were nervous, I would put ... the home upside down!" ""I would burn down the house!" "Speech-down." "Father!" "Nervous is the swit-dressed!" "My daughters leave the bathroom wrapped in towels." "Change clothes with the door open." "I see this house 2 to 3 per ... my daughters nude!" "Look ..." "I'm lying..." "Excuse me." "Look, I already called My father office-boy." "And now, I'm going to the movies." "Arlete, wait!" "Look, Dad, after the little sister get married ..." "I have a few to tell you, ok?" "One-truths." "Arlete!" "Did I wrong?" "But it turns out, in fact, I've been nervous." "Exhausted." "And sometimes, it's funny, I runaway." "Arlete." "I ask." "Sit." "This." "Sit." "I need ... all my daughters ..." "And also ..." "Fatty ... listen to me." "What I have to say refers to the family." "I had ... five daughters." "Follow my reasoning." "Four ... not married." "Great news!" "Every bitch gets married!" "The daughter of his then Tolentino, neighbour, she never married?" "She lived in the rubbing in everyone." "And do not get married?" "She entered the church, whole veil and garlands." "Today she has a lover, she has the devil!" "But she is married!" "Here it is!" "She is very married!" "Why just my daughters do not marry?" "Why?" "Why?" "I'm very fatalistic, Dad." "I think we have no luck." "Is not luck..." "Luck nothing!" "Is there anyone ... among us ... losing my children." "Someone who does not leave my daughters marry." "Say the name!" "It doesn't matter the name." "It doesn't matter the face." "I do not believe in names, I do not believe in faces." "That someone can be up to ... his Saul." "But why just Saul your daddy?" "Poor guy, it's up buddy." "The name he uses this land ..." "The face who uses this land ... worthless!" "I'll end up losing this this movie sucks!" "The shoot also come here?" "This bed." "What is this?" "I was told that a brothel´s woman would shot me." "I'm no match for your shoot?" "And yesterday ... finally ..." "I knew ... why you are all lost." "I mean, I knew ... a clean source." "Potato!" "Because who assured me ... do not lie!" "Who is he?" "The doctor ..." "Barbosa Coutinho." "The doctor ..." "Barbosa Coutinho ... was a doctor ... who died in 1872." "And it is a spirit of light." "Was a medical ..." "Dom Pedro II." "And the best ..." "You do not know." "Verses ..." "Dom Pedro II ... verses are not ..." "Dom Pedro II." "Who wrote most ... was the doctor ..." "Barbosa Coutinho." "Dom Pedro II ... just signed." "Got that?" "Go listening." "I. .." "I always felt ... there was someone behind my family." "Day night." "Someone ... losing ... our virgins." "And as I was saying ... yesterday, Dr. Barbosa Coutinho ..." "I confirmed there is, yes ... that someone." "Someone who changes face and name." "It may be a cute guy." "Or, an old as Sir Saul." "So ..." "Dr. Barbosa Coutinho told me to look ... the antique mirror." "Well!" "I looked at the Great Mirror and saw two eyes ..." "You see, two eyes." "A blinking normally." "And another major and stopped." "The worst is that only the eye greater cry!" "The other, do not!" "Creed flips the fuck out!" "And you ... treat to attract ... to bring indoors ... the man who cries for one eye." "The name ... it doesn't matters." "What matters ... is that he will lose ... by the tear." "What matters ... is the tear!" "Hiii, I got all goosebumps!" "I already told you to ... you contain the Aurora." "I've seen." "In the antique mirror." "And Dr. Barbosa Coutinho ... does not lie." "My silver dagger." "But it takes stab ... look who cries." "The look of the tear!" "Oh, how are you?" "Come inside, Sir Saul." "Excuse me." "Is your Saul Noronha." "Ah, you know Sir Saul that you do not die soon..." "Good night." "Let's sit down." "No, thanks." "I can not be long." "I just came to bring a message the college of her daughter." "The Silene?" "Yes, they sent tell your daughter ... tomorrow will come home." "Why?" "Dad?" "The Silene arrived." "The Silene arrived." "Silene ..." "Stand back, Deborah, my!" "Let me talk to her." "What happened, Silene?" "What sets-up?" "Have the goodness, Dr. Portela." "Excuse me." "A chair for Dr. Portela." "No need to bother!" "Please." "Thank you." "Dad." "My sweetheart." "How will the appetite?" "Same thing." "Improved the worms?" "I do not like taking injections." "Ah ..." "Noronha!" "Dr. Portela-Look!" ""Ah!" "I'm sorry, Dr. Portela." "Sweetheart." ""But what a pleasure to have you with us!" "And you, how are you?" "A little bit of heat, is not it?" "What about you?" "I do not know where to turn." "But it was a surprise so, so ..." "Hey, Mom, make a juice?" "Imagine that you still have this problem of Silene." "She has a health so delicate." "Imagine you have it hardly eat." "Tweaks." "Do you accept a coffee, Dr. Portela?" "A cup of tea was fine." "Is." "Come on tell her soon?" "Speech, Deborah." ""Oh, I do not." "Mind you." "Speech, alert, go!" "No, no ..." "Tell." "Tell!" "Speak, then ." "A little sister got a boyfriend." "Hiii, who is?" "Celeste, my daughter!" "The one-skinny?" "Yeah, that pullet." "The worst is that man is the face ..." "Francisco Cuoco." "The man is beautiful or not?" "I think not." "Well, its Noronha, can we talk?" "Of course, Doctor." "Do not believe me, Daddy!" ""But what is it, sis?" "Do not talk like that." "Leave, I understand." "Manners, my daughter manners." "She never did, Dr. Portela." "But it is natural." "You are nervous." "I did nothing, Dad." "Silene, I do question you ... apologize to Dr. Portela." "But what is it!" "No need." "Oh, I'm so sad to you, Silene." "So sad." "I apologize." "You sorry, Dr. Portela." "But is it?" "None the minor." "Take the Silene." "And leave you too, I want to talk ... in particular Dr. Portela." "Look, then I'll talk with you, heard, Silene?" "Your Noronha, is the following ..." "I'm here because, in my condition ... the assessor direction of the college ..." "And, as I am very well-cyst there ..." "This copies without me." "Naturally." "in ways that I came." "but I must tell you that this is a duty... deeply nasty, you know?" "You got me scaring, Dr. Portela." "Is that ... comes your lady there." "Have milk there?" "None." "I do not know if it's good sugar" "Should be great!" "Dr. Portela?" "Continue ..." "Well, his Noronha." "I brought your daughter home ... because it happened in there a college lamentable." "Profoundly uncivil, know, your Noronha?" "But with my daughter?" "For you see, sir Noronha." "There was a cat in college." "Moreover, the cat was not ours." "The cat was ..." "But it was a cat ... beautiful." "Very pretty." "Yeah, yeah." "HAIR ... soft." "Silky." "It seemed to Angora." "I say more ... maybe it was mohair." "No, no, no." "Angora was not, not." "Why, if angora ... would, as far as I know, in maximum of two children, is not it?" "You see, the cat ... jumped in, the neighbor." "And came, quietly." "Because the cat was so gentle." "And jumped to our site." "Now who ... among 400 students, liked the animal?" "His daughter!" "Silene." "Perfectly." "Silene put the cat in her lap." "Gave milk in the saucer... and made by 2 or 3 times something ... absolutely is not allowed." "They said it slept with the cat." "Get your hand wide." "Let it here." "Get out!" "In the morning, was a commotion in the room ... when other students perceived." "Until yesterday in during recess ... in the presence of all students ... she killed the cat by sticks." "Stick, his Noronha." "But what is that girl what are you doing?" "Stop it, girl, stop!" "Stop it girl, stop!" "Take her inside, already!" "Inside!" "Sir Noronha?" "Have you ever seen a cat give birth?" "Indeed, the question is not good." "Have you seen a dead give birth?" "Yeah I saw it!" "I saw it!" "Now imagine ... the dead mother ... and that mouthful of children." "Seven kittens in all." "Alive?" "All alive." "But, after all, who killed him?" "Who killed him?" "Your daughter." "Repeat." "His daughter, Silene." "But..., but...?" "You say that my daughter ...?" "Exactly." "Have ideas, ways and feelings of a girl." "But, that all childishness... is only an appearance, its Noronha." "Just look!" "You don't know what you are saying." "Why not?" "I understand a little psychology." "Take her to the psychiatrist!" "Psychiatrist?" "!" "The sooner!" "Take my daughter to a crazy doctor?" "No." "But we have a doctor very good here in the neighborhood." "It is a general practitioner, but is very good, is great." "Dr. Bordalo." "Makes even childbirth for free." "Psychiatrist, sir Noronha!" "But what about the classes?" "She did not may miss classes." "Sir Noronha ..." "I guess you don't understand the problem." "How so?" "His daughter will not return." "Not again ..." "Then, the college expelled my daughter?" "Interpret ... as you wish." "Because of a pregnant cat?" "Hein, Dr. Portela?" "Because of a pregnant cat?" "You are wrong, sir Noronha." "I do a scandal, go to the press!" "Disagree Sir" "You said a "Cat pregnant, is not it?" "And so what!" "Hey, its Noronha ..." "Imagine a woman ..." "I understand abortion." "I understand the law and the duty of abortion in women." "I admit to a mother single fade out ... son." "There are moral conveniences... for it to go the doctor and ask ..." "How is it, doctor?" "However, a cat, a beast ..." "But everything has a solution." "Let us not lose time." "Take it to the psychiatrist!" "But ..." "Then the school will accept her back?" "Understand Sir Noronha ..." "A primary school has specific responsibilities." "What would the other parents?" "The aggressiveness of their daughter is ... is a disease." "She ... can not live with other girls." "I am sorry, but ... she can not return." "This is your last word?" "Yes." "There was a meeting and the decision was unanimous." "In ways that ..." "I'm going now." "One moment." "I. .." "I have an appointment." "Ah, but you gonna stay!" "Yes!" "My daughter arrived saying here ... that you are a liar." "And we'll find out this right." "Sir ... do you doubt?" "If my daughter to confirm, I believe." "Fatty!" "Fatty!" "What is it?" "What happened?" "What, God?" "Speak, man!" "Shut the doors, shut it!" "What is this?" "Calm down, Dad, calm down!" "Shut!" "What, what happened?" "Are you crazy?" "!" "Look at the partner." "They killed a pregnant cat ... in college and they charge with Silene!" "Moreover, Silene drove out!" "Damn!" "Madam, I saw." "The other children ..." "You also saw, but happens to us here ... only believe what he says the Silene, is not Fatty?" "Come here, my daughter, come here." "Go." "Come here, my daughter." "Look at his face ... and says ..." "Was you?" "It's a lie, it's a lie!" "There are witnesses, Silene, witnesses there!" "It was you!" "You swear it was not you?" "!" "I swear!" "That bastard!" "" "Enough!" "You lied, Dr. Portela." "You're a liar!" "I did not lie, I swear!" "Lied, yes sir, he lied!" "I did not lie, I swear that did not lie." "I swear I did not lie!" ""Then, we" cover "it!" "Quiet, everyone!" "Let's go!" "Are you seeing this?" "It's my silver knife!" "If you say or do anything ... it bore the belly, you bastard!" "For God's sake, do not do it, do not!" "If you speak any other ... any other!" "I would not say anything!" "Right now ... or if you sir ... swear ... call a bitch any of these here ... or even Fatty ..." "I wash my hands." "But you insulted who could not insult!" "No, you can not understand the purity of Silene." "Or do you think my daughter ... how is your wife?" "Not move not, I bore you, huh?" "His wife uses slinky dress." "It is seen ... the panties ... the dress of his wife." "My daughter does not." "My daughter almost has no hips." "or breasts." "The tits are only now appearing." "Silene is purely for us." "Don't you realize Silene is purely for us?" "Speak!" "Forgiveness." "Look, look, look, my father." "Look, how awful!" "But he is a coward." "Ends soon with that rat!" "Or you humbled my daughter because I am office-boy?" "Ah!" "When I went to enroll Silene in college I said ... who worked at the Chamber." "But I am office-boy!" "Come on, call me office-boy!" "Call me office-boy!" "Why?" "Because I want." "Call me office-boy!" "Office-boy." "Office-boy." "I am a office-boy and you're a motherfucker!" "Now cry." "Cry!" "Cry!" ""But why?" "Because I want." "Cry!" "Cry, cry!" "I can not." "I can not." "I can not." "Do not weep tears I'm looking for." "My daughter, come here." "Put your hand in his face!" "Why?" "This beast humbled you." "Offended you." "Put your hand in his face!" "Shut up while you gonna take a licking." "Beat this way, look, open hand!" "Yeah!" "Go, go." "I can not." "Go, my daughter." "I am who ask you." "Do you want know the truth?" "Well ... so I done it!" ""You, my child?" "Silene?" "I, I killed this way!" "I've seen." "Crumbled to, the head of the cat." "But why, my daughter?" "I do not know." "Speech, Why!" "Disgust." "But why disgust?" "Hate!" "Sis, hatred of an animal would not harm you?" "An animal, sis?" "!" "That cat was disgusting!" "You see?" "It is a mental process." "Crystal clear." "I'll put my hand on this man ..." "I'm already getting bored." "After all, is office-boy, no, Noronha?" "And now, I will apologize?" "Sorry my ass!" "Nobody gonna apologize!" "Listen, asshole ..." "Office-boy, understood, office-boy is the bitch, your mother!" "And about your wife?" "That only puts tight dress to show that ass?" "Huh?" "Outside, my son goes to fight!" "I do not want to offend, is not it?" "Good afternoon, excuse me." "What excuse!" "Get out!" ""Excuse me" my ass, your chickenshit!" "Get out of here, you vultures!" "No college is worthy of you." "And all envy your purity." "Damned humanity!" "The girls are not girls ..." "Are little females!" "Only you girl." "Only you." "Crying why?" "Shame." "Me?" "Shame on me?" "Oh, look!" "My heart ..." "I saw you born." "I did all deliveries your mother, everyone." "And you for me is like ... like a little baby." "I know, Doctor, but is that ..." "Look at me." "The shame is gone?" "Now!" "See?" "Finally, what I have, doc?" "You?" "Ah, something for nothing!" "Now go and call your father here." "Go." "My daughter, put your panties!" "Oh, that my head!" "So, Doctor?" ""I wanted to know ..." "It's not still your turn." "I want to have a conversation with sir Noronha.-But ..." "I call you later." "Get out, Fatty!" ""Everything okay, sir?" "Close the door." "Sit down." "Doctor?" "Is the following ..." "I. .." "I squeezed her daughter ... but she denies." "Denies?" "What?" "She denies this and I understand." "It's natural ... the woman keeps denying." "But finally ..." "Silene have or doesn't have a boyfriend?" "No, absolutely not." "Neither had?" "No, absolutely!" "A girl who lives inside in college, not leave." "Or, for another, leaves once a month." "Come home and back the next day." "Comes and goes, accompanied." "Under these conditions, can she have a boyfriend?" "So who is the father?" "What?" "Excuse me, Noronha ... let's clarify this right, go." "When I examined Silene..." "I think that had named because, well ..." "After all ..." "But, you know, does not suspect anything?" "Continue." "Your daughter will already for the third month." "You mean Silene is ...?" "Is, is pregnant!" "Lie." "Lie." "Has neither hips yet." "The basin is narrow." "Lie." "Lie!" "Please ... says to me that is a lie." "First, you see Silene ... with eyes of worship." "She has normal measurements." "Now, about the pregnancy, there is no doubt." "It is true" "I examined, it is true." "Treat, treat to discover the responsible." "Arrange marriage." "Then she lost virginity?" "You're exaggerating, Noronha!" "Nowadays..." "Virginity has such a importance anymore." "And then, the honor a woman ... can not depend of a pellicle." "Because virginity ... is just a little pellicle." "You also have a daughter, age of mine." "It's single." "For you, the virginity of your daughter ... is also a little pelicle?" "Well, let's be practical." "Discover the man." ""Ah, scoundrel!" "Noronha, come here." "Come here." "You will not do no violence!" "Remember that the duty of the parent is to protect and forgive." "Thank you for the sermon!" "No, is not sermon." "We must find the father." "Starting a name." "Look, even I can talk to the boy." "Yeah, I talk to him." "Ok." "You want me call the Silene here?" "Ok." "Don't you think best we talk here?" ""I think, do you want?" "Ok." "It is not, call, do not listen, do not." "No." "No." "I want this happens in the room." "In front of the whole family." "Come on!" "Come here, Fatty!" "Easy, don't be elated!" "Did something serious happen ?" "You too." "Do you know why she killed the pregnant cat?" "Do you want to know?" "Don't humble, Noronha, don't humble!" "Because she also is pregnant!" "Little sister!" "Tell us who did it!" "Who was, Silene, tell!" ""My God!" "Disgraced the little sister!" "It's all a lie!" "Easy, Noronha!" "Calm down, what is it, Noronha?" "What is it, folks?" "Let's use our heads." "Here goes Noronha talk to Silene." "And Silene will say right ... who was and who was not." "Yeah!" "I even offered myself to talk to the boy." "I talk to the boy, done!" "Shut up everybody!" "Don't do that, no, stop!" "Easy!" "Who is your boyfriend?" "!" "I have no boyfriend." "Neither lover?" "!" "No." "So who is the father your son?" "!" "Nobody!" "But then you still a virgin!" "I am, Daddy." "See, Doctor, that cynicism?" "!" "Well, if you're a virgin ... then I can give a kick in your belly!" "No, Daddy, no!" "Stop, stop!" "Nobody here touches my child!" "So you have a child?" "!" "But where did you get this child?" "!" "In high school, in class, in the school bus, where?" "!" "Easy!" "Talk to me, Silene." "We want to know who it is, because we talk to the guy and..." "And he marries you." "He is married!" "Married, like the woman and lives with her." "And leave me in peace, for God's sake!" "Nobody worths, nobody worths anything!" "Then you know..." "For your sake, I lived arranging ..." "Women for the old men." "And I gave all the money to mom, for your wardrobe!" "Then we end up with this conversation there." "Let's finish this conversation!" "I want to know about the mine!" "Hey, Mom?" "You gonna give the money back." "Will return the money, understand?" "This business of trousseau!" "And each one will get its share." "And we'll crack it there." "I want my share and I'm leaving here!" "Where?" "To Santos." "Santos, why?" "Don't mess about it, Dad." "But why Santos?" "Want to know, right?" "!" "I'm going to Santos ... because in Santos, a friend mine bill in one month ..." "Only one month is 30 miles!" "Now that I know sis is like us ..." "Or worse!" "Worse!" "Worse, then." "Let's go!" "Let's go solve this question..." "I don't stay here anymore!" ""I'll leave." "No, wait ..." "I have an idea." "Nobody needs to leave." "Expect all." "You too, Dr. Bordalo." "But there is no reason, no reason." "No, wait ..." "Listen to my first idea." "I will not go back to the Chamber of Deputies." "Why?" "Not me!" "I'm going to stay home." "because what you win out there you can perfectly well win here!" "Here!" "But this man is crazy!" "Why?" "Explain." "Why?" "Because you, Sir are proposing is a ..." "A brothel-daughters!" "Yes!" "And why not?" "A brothel of daughters!" "No, I won't go back to the Chamber of Deputies." "To serve coffee and cold water ... for Deputy anymore!" "And you too, can leave their jobs." "The employment of my daughters .." "was a drollery!" "And I had another idea!" "Want to start?" "Wants to be first, do you?" "What do you want to insinuate?" "I know you feel yourself a kind of saint." "Does free delivery in black." "No charge consult but I insist." "Go, choose." "Any." "There´s this one." "And that another there." "But, you want the Silene, don't you?" "Are you insane?" "!" "Do you want?" "!" "You go with him!" "Noronha-no!" "I don't want!" "Silene, get up." "You go with him or I finish... your pregnancy with the kicks." "If was of one, can be of all." ""I'm going instead of sis." "I want Silene!" "And you?" "Don't you say anything?" "Don't you react?" "But neither you, that is the mother?" "Run away..." "Leave this house." "This man here ..." "This man is ... it's crazy." "Also, I can host you in my house." "I host you until ..." "See, Doc?" "Only this idiot here ... tried to protest." "The other ... gaze and silent." "The door is open." "And yet, they stay." "My God, but ... you have a soul!" "Or don't have?" "But ... if you stay... it is because you are slaves ..." "Each other." "They can no longer get rid of me." "Nor I of them." "How?" "Will or will not here with our doctor?" "Sis not, Dad." "Leaves, Aurora." "I will." "Go to room and wait." "Doctor ... my daughter is there in bedroom waiting for you." "I don't know why not shot you, bastard!" "Bastard, I?" "Not just me." "Why just me?" "Everybody." "Do you want to see something?" "Pay attention." "Pay attention." "Who made those obscene drawings ... on the bathroom wall?" "Who was it?" "Come on!" "You can now confess." "We are already even rotting." "Come on." "Who was it?" "I." "The Fatty?" "I!" "Have varicose veins ... sweat and sour." "Let's see, Fatty ..." "Why do you do obscene drawings ... on the bathroom wall?" "I don't know, I don't know." "Maybe because ..." "I never go to movies ..." "I don't go to the theater." "I feel so alone, my God." "Alone in this house." "And also ... because I have no husband!" "Yeah!" "I have no husband!" "How long don't you fuck me?" "Huh!" "How long?" "!" "I, I've even lost the count, my God ..." "So ..." "I. .." "went into the bathroom and scribbling." "Scribbled and then erased." "But yesterday ... yesterday, I forgot to delete." "That's all." "I have no husband." "You don't fuck me!" "I have no husband!" "Know why?" "because I don't fuck, you understand?" "!" "I don't fuck!" "I have no husband, my God!" "How long I don't know what is a male!" "But where do I got myself, my God!" "So, I offer a girl ... almost virgin you refuse?" "Silene." "Silene, I ..." "I have a daughter ... of their age." "If I ..." "If I touch it ..." "She is a ..." "I. .. never ..." "I could kiss my daughter, never again." "But you're so beautiful!" "Go!" "Silene, Silene!" "Her name is ...her name is ... her name is ... a dahlia." "Do you want, or don't you?" "Huh?" "No, I don't want!" "I want!" "I want her." ""Oh, come on, Sir Saul." "So, do you want?" "I heard through open window." "I know everything!" "And I want!" "The bedroom is that, Sir Saul." "You can go." "Excuse me, excuse me." "No, not you, is the doctor!" "Don't be scared." "I will not, not I will abuse you." "Shut up, Shut up." "I just ask not to hurt my son." "And I had battle wound." "In the Second World War." "Did you?" "A grenade exploded close by." "And shattering ... killed my desire!" "Schumer is a good person cause don't care to sex." "I want just get ... your hand, this way." "Thank you." "Ouch!" "No, no!" ""I need, I need." "No!" "Saul needs." "Saul needs." "No, no, no!" ""Don't be bad... little bad." "And then, later we get out ... and cheat your daddy." "Nobody knows about war's wound ..." "Fortunately." "Saul needs." "Saul needs very much!" "My God, this is madness!" "Then, my turn!" "Changed your mind?" "Will I have to go there ... pull that filthy gringo!" "Silene ..." "Silene, my God!" "She has age My daughter!" "Till soon, Silene, till soon." "See you later." "I am very pleased." "Yes?" "Now is my turn." "Now is my turn!" "Now is my turn!" "But first I wanted I wanted ..." "You, Aurora ... for God's sake ... before ..." "I wanted you to me ..." "I spit in the face!" "Thanks." "Grace" "Silene." "Silene!" "Silene!" "Silene!" "Silene!" "I almost forgot to hate ... the man who disgraced my daughter." "This guy deserves a shot in the mouth!" "Now, if you don't want or are afraid ..." "I finish this guy!" "You?" ""Or someone for me." "Who?" "A guy I knew." "Come on, is he reliable?" "Of course, my boyfriend." "Look, what's his name?" "The name?" "Bibelot." "Bibelot..." "Can I see this guy?" "Come here." "When?" "Come get me to the cinema." ""Okay?" "All right." ""I am the daughter of his Noronha." "Great!" "Let's sit here, let's go." "Let's stay more comfortable, take a Whisky" ""Come on." "Heat the soul." "It took me to find here." "Is good here, is not?" "Thank you." "Drink." "Want ice?" "Is good." "And the slipper, huh?" "Be calm." "No, I'm calm." "Is I ..." "I wanted to talk to you." "My father said did you know ... what it was." "Is the business of employment." "He told me to come here that ... there in the shop is not hard cool to me, you know?" "What is it?" ""No problem." "I will solve your case." "His father said that you does everything, every little thing!" "Yes, my father said?" "Is." "It is, strip the clothes, go!" "Wait, I ..." "Take off your panties, come." "Wait, my father say what?" "!" "Get it all, come!" "He said that!" "But that's absurd!" "Princess ..." "What, what is it?" "!" "Calm down, calm down!" "Easy, princess." "Come on, I I am a man of peace-Stop!" "Idiot, disgusting!" "What is it?" "Stop it, stop it!" "Go-taking soon ..." "This outfit." "Stop it, huh?" "!" "Stop with it, nothing!" "Help!" "What a relief-what!" "Are you thinking what?" "!" ""I am a good man!" "What a good man!" ""You're a jerk!" "Take-trend!" "Respect me, girl!" "Well I'll show you how many clubs will make a canoe!" "Come here, asshole!" ""I'm going to go!" "Oh my God!" "Stop!" "Oh, boy." "Ouch!" "I'm the deputy!" "MP-What!" "And hey!" "Then I have immunity." "And then Mr?" "!" "And I'm Arlete!" "Shit that you are Member, ok?" "You will not fuck me!" "What will fuck me..." "Come here!" "Well I'll show you, I'll fuck you!" "Let's see." "'ll fuck you!" "Now!" "Come here!" "Asshole!" "Prick-is you!" "You will not fuck, no, you are asshole!" "I'm pining, but I'm good in bed!" "So I'll fuck you well!" "Nozzle!" "Nozzle is you!" "Deputy!" "I am deputy, yes." "So what?" "You disgusting, with me, no!" "I have immunity!" "Fuck you for your immunity!" "It will not fuck me!" "Come here." "Come, you elephant." "Come, come." "Poor guy." "Oh dear ..." "Look, I don't want see you so ..." "Please raise." "It is not very four, which then ... hard to raise, see?" "Stop it, damn it!" "Psst!" "Come, come, come here, come." "Come here." "Look, you do not swallow my panties, huh?" "Give me back my panties." "Spit my panties I'm sending!" "What's more, I'll fuck underwater." "But you will not, OK!" "Groovy!" "Jewelry!" "Cute." "Funny thing is, you, you clown." "Hey, you office-boy's daughter!" "I'll take a dip before fuck you." "You will not fuck me." "Know why?" "Because I'm sick of men." "I think the man thing more disgusting already invented." "You want to know the thing I find it disgusting?" "A thing I think more disgusting ... in the world, is used underwear, okay?" "I'm disgusted with used underwear." "I have horror!" "." "You want to see me mad?" "It is give me a used underwear." "I have a horror of used underwear!" "I have a horror of man!" "I'm disgusted with man, I have horror!" "Attention broadcasters components of the Globo web ... to count eight seconds." "Missing 10 minutes to 20:00." "Today's news in Brazil." "The rain threat the wheat from Paraná." "2,000 tons Onion stranded ... in Belo Horizonte." "The Project for Defense Consumer ... is already on the plateau ... announced the Minister of Finance." "The world today, what happens?" "Look who is there." " "The images ...show in Italy ... "" "Chosen the new President of Angola." "Have you heard the news?" "What news?" "Don't know who hanged himself ... with the electric iron wire?" "!" "Speak, man, who did?" "Doctor Bordalo!" "Killed himself." "Doctor's Bordalo Hung high on the door." "The black tongue." "The cheeks so, like carnival mask." "My God!" "He killed himself for no reason?" "Bordalo doctor had reason." "Great reason!" "So you tell me what is that reason." "I know." "And you know why." "Are you playing fool, gringo?" "Doctor Bordalo left little note saying so ..." """ "I do not want my daughter ... kiss me in the coffin. "" "He don't want the daughter's kiss, but he kissed mine, the cynic." "Don't talk like that, Dad." "Why don't you kill yourself too?" "I am wounded in war." "Hitler's war." "World War II." "Go, put yourself out of here!" "Thy daughters will Destroy you!" "But I'm on my land." "I'm in my home within ..." "From my family." "Thy daughters ..." "Will destroy you!" ""I'm not office-boy!" ""I'm not office-boy!" "Thy daughters will ... why are you crying?" "He was a saint." "Saint!" "?" "Holy because he made delivery in black for free." "The birth for free was a pretext." "Saint and possessed my daughter almost in front of me!" "It was you who ordered!" "I have had." "And he fucked her!" "And called her Dahlia!" "And she even cried!" "Ah, if only she had screamed." "But she neither screamed." "Now the miserable refuses the daughter's kiss!" "And the other comes here, to tell me ... that my daughters will destroy me." "But I, when I die, I want the kiss ... of each of my daughters!" "And yours also, ok Fat?" "Amen!" "Go get this Bibelot." "First, sis has to say who it was." "And yet he said." "Ah, but I give you such a beating ... she confesses immediately!" "Calm down, Dad, calm down." "Look at me." "I'm looking." "Who is this guy?" "What man?" "O such." "It is not here in Rio" "Is where?" "Traveled." "Listen ..." "Do you trust me?" "Why?" "Trust or not trust?" "Trust." "So I want to know everything." "Depends." "Depends not you!" "Why it depends?" "You answer right all I ask for?" "Answer." "His name." "The name, but why do you want to know the name?" "He's an asshole!" "No, he is not." "But what is it, sis?" "Don't cry so." "Arise, come." "Aurora?" "Who speaks here is not that girl anymore." "I stopped being a girl." "I am a woman, equal to you." "Perhaps even more ... because I'm pregnant thank God!" "Now, I wonder of you a thing." "You have this boyfriend." "Do you like him?" "Why?" "Like?" ""I'm happy." "Oh, I am!" "To much!" "Me too, so you can not stand against me." "Now, let me tell you." "He is so different of others." "so good, you can imagine ..." "His wife is ill." "and he giveth bath in it every day." "With patience." "Imagine you that his wife ... is weighing 32 pounds!" "I mean, it's just skin and bone." "Open this door, Aurora." "But that stubbornness, that opens door!" "hassle-Que!" "Please open this port, Aurora!" "Silene is sick." "Oh, my God, wait a minute!" "Open that door, Aurora!" "Stop it, what a scandal!" "Stop it, damn it!" "Stay quiet, keep calm!" "Ouch." "Calmed now?" "A little." "Call my daughter, for God's sake!" "Wait, let me call." "Ouch." "Open this shit that door, Aurora!" "Whether open, please?" "!" "Not opened, call again." "Open this shit door!" "Want to open this shit there, Aurora, Silene!" "Coming." "See?" "Where did you know the boy?" "Or already knew?" "No, did not know." "It is on college?" "You swear you don't tell anyone?" "I swear." "Lives nearby." "Continue." "Look, Aurora, I'll tell ... because I'm trusting you." "But, God forbid, if Dad finds out!" "He kills me!" "The college provides funds to his house." "He always spent the sidewalk." "And once, he looked at me." "I also looked and spy only ... a look, you know, I shudder!" "And a mouth that looked a desire to kiss!" "Beautiful?" "Beautiful, looks like an artist." "The better you don't know." "He is who was the owner of this cat." "What cat?" "The one I killed." "One day, I was skip the gate ..." "And then we went to his house." "We went to a bedroom there, a little weird." "A room full of stuff." "His wife does not leave the bed, is upstairs." "With a deaf aunt." "Now, I'll tell you something ... you will not believe ...." "Tell me everything." "I asked him a son, me." "He did not want, said:" ""No, it doesn't worth."" "But I'm stubborn." "And finally ..." "Now you are my girl." "I said he is different from others ... because he has a tear most beautiful I've ever seen." "Already cried in front of you?" "Ah, cried the way to tell." "He did not cry properly." "Cause in the room kissing me, kissing me ..." "Then, suddenly, he began to sob." "Then it was stopping." "And he turned to the side." "So I wanted to look ... and I saw a tear here in the cilium." "A tear?" "A single tear." "Standing in the cilia." "He is everything for you?" "Everything!" "So I'll save this guy." "Have to save" "Cries for an eye only?" "Knows that when it passes there on the sidewalk of the school ... girls say this:" """ "Here comes the man dress virgin! "" "Repeat." "Dress virgin." "Answers, which is important!" "Why dress virgin?" "Because it just goes blank." "He only wears a white suit." "Goes in white." "Only white." "Cries for an eye." "You know, the last time we go out ... we went there in the apartment him in Copacabana ..." "Oh, he's a saint which is something lin ..." "Enough!" "Why?" "I know everything." "No need to know anything else." "The case is me." "Nobody puts in hours I speak, you can leave." "Aurora!" "There´s a buddy there in door looking for you ..." "It is old or young?" "But it is very handsome!" "All-white." "Bibelot!" "Daddy, will depend on My conversation with Bibelot." "There's some to tell you..." "Orders come in!" "Look ... too, but too much!" "Besides, a blast!" "I present and know ... you fall off, heard, Daddy?" "Certainly, the illustrous?" "Good ..." "Kindly, let's go." "Okay?" "All-blue." "Daddy, here is a friend." "Nice, very pleased." ""Very pleased to meet you." "Be good." "A chair to the illustrous, let's sit down." "My sisters." "Sit down, please." "Do you know my mother?" "How are you?" "Satisfaction!" "You'll excuse me." ""Very pleased." "My pleasure." "You get to will, eh?" "Take your time." "Excuse me." "Mixed our cinema." "Good." "Why?" "I'd rather stay here with you." "We two alone." "I can not." "Neither do I claim?" "She's dying." "Who?" "Last night began to pass evil." "I called for assistance." "Went to the emergency room and was operated." "Your wife?" "Operated ulcer." "The doctor opened the belly and closed all at once." "Why?" "All rotten inside!" "And it operated?" "It was not ulcer." "What was it?" "Cancer." "Where is the ashtray, huh?" "Drank cups of milk." "These doctors are some beasts." "Treated cancer to milk and baby food." "Is that bad?" "Hopeless." "You mean ...?" "Do not pass this evening." "The face is a caveirinha." "Lives of morphine." "It has a wound on each buttock injection of so much." "You will stay single." "Widowed." "Or widowed." "But not for long." "How?" "Not that I told you Always have ... a woman at home and another on the brothel?" "Said." "Sooner or later, I´ll have to marry, of course." "Say you love me." "What joke is that?" "Cost you say you love me?" "No, not today." "My love, listens ..." "I have a reason." "And look, a big reason serious to ask you this." "I ask so little!" "It's a word." "A word no cost." "Say you love me and ready." "That's enough." "Maybe certain things cease to happen." "To this day no man came to me and said:" """ I love you! "" "I have a fucking sleep!" "So you aren't gonna say it?" "Aurora, don't you bore me!" "Okay." "So, I'll ask you another question." "That answer?" "Answer!" "What question?" "Give your views." "You think I would ..." "Finally, I would be a good wife, perhaps?" "Wife?" "Yes." "A home's woman." "Don't you say anything!" "Shut up!" "It does not say anything more!" "If there is a time when you could not offend me ... is this, now this." "Ah, Aurora, look at your life..." "Go there in the mirror, please." "Stop offending me!" "Ah, but is true!" "This gonna give me lots of money!" "Listen, your ass!" "Get your hands off me but ..." "I give you a punch, you I break all the teeth!" "Only one more question." "Since I'm not good to wife." "But that wife but wait there ..." "Wait, have fun time!" "You keep humiliating me?" "!" "Okay, ask the question." "You've already chosen the other?" "The skull has not dead ..." "Answer." "Is there in bed." "Answer." "I picked out and ready." "Who is it?" "Are you interested?" "Sure, right?" "Put the ashtray here." "What have you wondered?" "Debauched!" "I asked who will be your new wife." "Sprout." "Interestingly, when the doctor said "cancer" ..." "I thought right from the bud!" "Very good!" "Great!" "She at home and me on the brothel!" "And you're not afraid that my love turns to hate?" "I'm going, I'm squints's sleep." "Takes a nap here." "Here?" "In my room." "And your father?" "The business has changed here again." "My father doesn't care for nothing, anymore." "I explain you later." "Come." "The skull is dying." "Pour half hour, 40 minutes." "Scared?" "Your love turned into hate." "Can you play a dirty trick" "To kill me?" "Kill." "Come on!" "Shoot it!" "Here, in the heart." "More!" "Shoot, shoot, go, kill, go!" "Kill me, want to see the forest!" "Here, kill, kill!" "You asshole!" "Call me an hour later." "Kiss me." "Do you want the man that disgraced Silene?" "The man who cries for one eye?" "Want?" "I want!" "He is in my bedroom." "But he ... he is crying the two eyes." "Look." "Are two tears." "Father!" "Is not the man who cries for an eye only!" "Huh?" "Killer!" "Killer!" "Killer!" "But he had to die ..." "It was he who prostituted Silene !" "It's a lie, lie!" "Who prostituted Silene was you!" "Me?" "I swear!" "Well, first sent the gringo After the doctor ordered!" "I'm not crazy, no." "Now I'll talk!" "I'll tell you what nobody ever knew!" "What you never I have heard." "Because I hid myself." "Hey, old ..." "Hey, old man, you ordered the Deputy look for me." "What?" "No!" "No!" "No, do not believe ..." "He said to me." "He said to me." "No!" "He said:" "It was your father. "" "Fat!" "Fat, our daughters want to destroy me!" "Don't call me Fat!" "I don't like that you call me Fat!" "Dog!" "Answer: it was you who sent the other too old?" "No, no, no!" "I explain, I explain!" "Want to talk shit?" "!" "Please speak!" "No, no ..." "Say it, Dad!" "You prostituted yourselves..." "Really!" "You prostituted yourselves to give Silene... a marriage of angel!" "Besides, you know?" "Look!" "She kisses a woman in the mouth!" "I kiss a woman in the mouth ... to feel less whore." "Forgive me, forgive me." "What is it, old man?" "What is this?" "No!" "You prostitute your daughters and don't cry?" "!" "No!" "Do not cry?" "Not for you or for us?" "!" "Cry, old man!" "Cry, old, now you'll cry!" "Chora." "Cry!" "But, I'm crying." "So, let me see this tear." "Look!" "It's a tear, is just one!" "Look, you have one!" "A tear, a tear alone." "Ah!" "It's him!" "It's him!" "The man who cries for one eye!" "It is in the face!" "He is the demon that weeps over one eye." "Give me!" "Give me that knife!" "Give me ... the dagger." "In look." "Disgusting, filthy!" "Ladies and gentlemen ..." "I am pleased to open my home." "This house is a love nest." "Peace." "Affection." "It presents ... my little girls." "Arlete!" "Aurora!" "Hilda!" "Silene!" "And Deborah!" | 2024-04-16T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/7941 |
A systematic decretal collection which derives from a source common with the ‘Wigorniensis Group.’ It has narrowly focused titles and dissects decretals, placing different sections in different titles. Its first recension was written at Lincoln, 1184–85 (in earlier literature named as a separate collection, the Collectio Lincolniensis). This large work exerted great influence on many later collections including members of the ‘Bamberg Group’. The first recension contains 570 items, only 15 of which are pre-Gratian.
C. Duggan, ‘Decretal Collections from Gratian’s Decretum to the Compilationes antiquae: The Making of the New Case Law’, in The History of Medieval Canon Law in the Classical Period, 1140–1234: From Gratian to the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX, W. Hartmann and K. Pennington, ed. (History of Medieval Canon Law 6; Washington DC 2008) 248–49, 251, 262, 270, 277–80, 290. | 2024-05-12T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5367 |
- linked = @forums_view.linked || (@resource && @resource.linked)
.menu-toggler.ipad-expanded
.toggler
header.head
h1
- if @back_url
a.back[
href=page_breadcrumbs[page_breadcrumbs.keys.last]
title=t('back_to_page')
data-text=t('back')
]
- if user_signed_in? && request.get? && %w[show index].include?(params[:action])
a.reload[
href=request.url
title=t('.refresh')
] = og.headline
- else
= og.headline
= render 'application/breadcrumbs'
.menu-slide-outer.ipad-expanded class="#{linked ? :x199 : :x240}"
.menu-slide-inner
.l-content
= yield
- unless Rails.env.development? && params[:no_menu]
aside.l-menu.ajax-opacity
= render 'menu_actions',
forum: @forums_view.forum,
menu: @forums_view.menu
- if linked
- if linked.kind_of?(Anime) || linked.kind_of?(Manga)
= render 'animes/menu', resource: linked.decorate
- elsif linked.kind_of? Review
= render 'animes/menu', resource: linked.target.decorate
- elsif linked.kind_of? Character
= render 'characters/menu', resource: linked.decorate
- elsif linked.kind_of? Person
= render 'people/menu', resource: linked.decorate
- elsif linked.kind_of? Club
= render 'clubs/menu', club: linked.decorate
- elsif linked.kind_of? Contest
= render 'contests/menu', resource: linked.decorate
- elsif linked.kind_of?(CosplayGallery) || linked.kind_of?(Collection) || linked.kind_of?(Article)
= render 'spnsrs/ad', ad: Ad.new(:menu_300x600)
= render 'menu', menu: @forums_view.menu
- else raise "unknown linked: #{linked.class}"
- else
= render 'spnsrs/ad', ad: Ad.new(:menu_300x600)
= render 'menu', menu: @forums_view.menu
| 2023-09-06T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3842 |
Especially plug connections with a low number of pins, but also coupler plugs in the form of a lambda probe must be coupled via a coupler plug. To ensure that, first of all, the plug connection is implemented correctly, a variety of securing elements are already known. Secondly, securing elements that ensure that an entire plug connection, once it has been established, cannot be released easily, are also known from the related art. The latter may be subdivided into safety mechanisms that must first be destroyed to reverse the plug connection and those in which the securing element must actively be removed so as to likewise release a plug connection. | 2023-12-27T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5547 |
The gritty 1970s photographs that capture New York when it was a city in decline as crime soared and hundreds of thousands of its inhabitants fled to the suburbs
The 1970s are considered a low point for New York City.
More than 820,00 people fled the crime and an unreliable transit system over the course of the decade, moving from the city to the suburbs.
The city went nearly bankrupt as Wall Street sputtered under the economic stagnation of the era.
Down time: The economy in New York City sputtered to a halt in the 1970s, leaving tens of thousands without work. These men were seen napping on a stoop on 30th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood
Down time: This man waits for nothing in particular as he drinks a beer in the Bowery in Manhattan
Leland Bobbe
Photographer Leland Bobbe captured the gritty, sometimes desperate nature of the men and women who populated New York in the 1970s.
Pimps and prostitutes haunted Times Square. Drug dealers worked openly.
Buildings went vacant and became home to squatters as they fell into disrepair.
The subway became unreliable and dangerous. Muggings and rapes were reported on trains and in the dark tunnels underground.
Bums: The Bowery became a haunt for the homeless, drunkards and other men of ill-repute. It has since been transformed and includes several luxury condo developments
Homeless men became so common in the Bowery that the city became known for its 'Bowery Bums,' who camped out on the street
Ladies of the night: Prostitutes also populated the Bowery, plying their trade with johns who wandered in. Here, a man negotiates the price for a prostitute while two others walk past
The population dropped to less than 7.1million - erasing four decades of growth. By 1980, the population was only slightly higher than it was in 1930.
The city nearly went bankrupt, but the teachers union agreed to invest $150million in city bonds.
President Gerald Ford in 1975 vowed to veto any bill giving New York money to bail out the city's troubled finances.
That decision resulted in the infamous New York Daily News headline: 'Ford to City: Drop Dead.'
Later, he reversed course and shelled out $2.3billion in federal funds.
Run down: The men of the Bower were largely neglected until the 1990s when the city began to clean up its homeless problems and workers made an effort to get them into shelters
The neglected denizens of the Bowery lived together in groups and scrounged what little food, drink and shelter they could
Two men are seen sleeping together on the street in the Bowery
Now hip young people live in the Bowery in newly-refurbished and re-modeled tenement houses. The Bowery no longer carries the stigma that it did in the 20th century
Protesters at the 1976 Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden mocked President Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon in 1974
This anti-abortion protester at the convention supported Alabama Governor George Wallace, a segregationist
In Hell's Kitchen, a man peers out of his apartment building from an old, battered window
In the Lower East Side, an old Jewish man leans on his cane at a park bench
Nap time: A man sleeps on the subway. The subway system became rife with crime as riders became the victims of rapes and robberies
A blind woman plays the accordion for tips on the subway. Train troubadours still ply their trade on the city's subway system
| 2024-02-20T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3929 |
Q:
Read a file into a byte array with hex (base16) encoding
I'm trying to read a plain text file (.txt) on Windows using C# into a byte array with base16 encoding.
This is what I've got:
FileStream fs = null;
try
{
fs = File.OpenRead(filePath);
byte[] fileInBytes = new byte[fs.Length];
fs.Read(fileInBytes, 0, Convert.ToInt32(fs.Length));
return fileInBytes;
}
finally
{
if (fs != null)
{
fs.Close();
fs.Dispose();
}
}
When I read a txt file with this content: 0123456789ABCDEF
I get a 128 bits (or 16 bytes) array but what I wanted is a 64 bits (or 8 bytes) array.
How can I do this?
A:
You can read two bytes as a string and parse it using a hex number specification. Example:
var str = "0123456789ABCDEF";
var ms = new MemoryStream(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(str));
var br = new BinaryReader(ms);
var by = new List<byte>();
while (ms.Position < ms.Length) {
by.Add(byte.Parse(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(br.ReadBytes(2)), NumberStyles.HexNumber));
}
return by;
Or in your case something along these lines:
FileStream fs = null;
try {
fs = File.OpenRead(filePath);
using (var br = new BinaryReader(fs)) {
var by = new List<byte>();
while (fs.Position < fs.Length) {
by.Add(byte.Parse(Encoding.ASCII.GetString(br.ReadBytes(2)), NumberStyles.HexNumber));
}
var x = by.ToArray();
}
} finally {
if (fs != null) {
fs.Close();
fs.Dispose();
}
}
| 2024-06-07T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8597 |
Pharmacological characterization of the involvement of protein kinase C in oscillatory and non-oscillatory calcium increases in astrocytes.
Evidence increasingly shows that astrocytes play a pivotal role in brain physiology and pathology via calcium dependent processes, thus the characterization of the calcium dynamics in astrocytes is of growing importance. We have previously reported that the epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor up-regulate the oscillation of the calcium releases that are induced by stimuli, including glutamate in cultured astrocytes. This calcium oscillation is assumed to involve protein kinase C (PKC), which is activated together with the calcium releases as a consequence of inositol phospholipid hydrolysis. In the present study, this issue has been investigated pharmacologically by using astrocytes cultured with and without the growth factors. The pharmacological activation of PKC largely reduced the glutamate-induced oscillatory and non-oscillatory calcium increases. Meanwhile, PKC inhibitors increased the total amounts of both calcium increases without affecting the peak amplitudes and converted the calcium oscillations to non-oscillatory sustained calcium increases by abolishing the falling phases of the repetitive calcium increases. Furthermore, the pharmacological effects were consistent between both glutamate- and histamine-induced calcium oscillations. These results suggest that PKC up-regulates the removal of cytosolic calcium in astrocytes, and this up-regulation is essential for calcium oscillation in astrocytes cultured with growth factors. | 2024-04-19T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/7872 |
% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
% Please edit documentation in R/transform-code.R
\name{identify_raw_chunks}
\alias{identify_raw_chunks}
\title{Identifies raw Rmd or Rnw code chunks}
\usage{
identify_raw_chunks(lines, filetype, engine_pattern = get_engine_pattern())
}
\arguments{
\item{lines}{A character vector of lines from an Rmd or Rnw file.}
\item{filetype}{A string indicating the filetype - either 'Rmd' or 'Rnw'.}
\item{engine_pattern}{A regular expression that must match the engine name.}
}
\description{
Raw in the sense that these chunks don't contain pure R code, but they
contain a header and footer of markdown. Only code chunks that have an engine
whose name matches \code{engine-pattern} are considered as R code.
}
\keyword{internal}
| 2024-04-14T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/7552 |
Sanchez, Lambo, Harrison to AFL
The Pirates also have three pitcher slots to fill for the AFL. Those will be announced later.
Sanchez, Harrison and Lambo all are listed as playing for Double-A Altoona. Sanchez, the team’s top draft pick last year, has spent this season with High-A Bradenton, but has been out since June 23 with a broken jaw. Sanchez hit .314 with 35 RBI in 59 games.
Lambo was acquired July 31 from the Dodgers as part of the Octavio Dotel trade. In 20 games with Altoona, he’s batting .310 with two homers and 10 RBI.
Harrison was acquired last year from the Cubs in the John Grabow trade. Harrison is hitting .302 with 73 RBI and 19 stolen bases.
The Pirates’ prospects will play for the Mesa Solar Sox. The Angels, Cubs, Phillies and Mets also contributed players to the roster.
»»» Throughout this road trip, Lastings Milledge has struggled in the outfield, taking long routes to balls and failing to make catches. Manager John Russell said Milledge has been slow to adjust after being switched from left to right field.
“He doesn’t see the ball as well (in right),” Russell said. “The angle, the view off the bat is different. It’s a matter of getting his first step a little bit better.
Milledge’s woes are bit unusual, Russell said, because it usually tougher for a player to go from right to left. “But I have seen it when a guy just gets comfortable on one side and it’s hard to switch.”
»»» Reliever Evan Meek (bruised right hand) will try to play catch before Wednesday’s game. The Pirates are hopeful he might be able to return to action sometime this weekend.
»»» Bradenton outfielder Quincy Latimore and reliever Noah Krol were named to the High-A Florida State League postseason all-star team.
Latimore, a fourth-round draft pick in 2007, leads the league in RBI (98) and total bases (219) and is second in extra-base hits (50). The last Pirates minor leaguer to finish with 100 RBI in a minor league season was Steve Pearce, who got a combined 113 in 2007 for High-A Lynchburg, Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis.
Krol leads the FSL in saves (33), appearances (61) and games finished (60). He ranks fourth in the minors in saves.
»»» No Indy players were named to the International League postseason all-star team. Last night, Indy was eliminated from playoff contention.
»»» Colleen Hronich will discuss her book, “The Whistling Irishman: Danny Murtaugh Remembered,” on Friday at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Hronich is the granddaughter of Murtaugh, the former Pirates manager. | 2023-08-15T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2303 |
Consultation Qui est actuellement le meilleur numéro 9 entre les Aubameyang, Benzema, Cavani, Kane, Lewandowski, Lukaku, Morata, Suarez, ... ?
Ils portent les espoirs de tout un club et de leurs supporters. Redoutables finisseurs, adroits dans les airs, intraitables sur penalty et capables de gestes grandioses, les numéros 9 sont toujours plus mis en avant dans le foot moderne. À l'heure actuelle, qui est le meilleur ?
Agüero, Aubameyang, Benzema, Cavani, Dzeko, Falcao, Gabriel Jesus, Higuain, Icardi, Kane, Lewandowski, Lukaku, Mertens, Morata, Suarez : pas un week-end ne se passe sans que l'on ne parle d'au moins la moitié de notre liste. Aux quatre coins de l'Europe, dans les plus grands clubs, les attaquants de pointe collectionnent les buts. Avec, pour quelques uns, parfois, une certaine obstination du but, qui ferait presque passer ça pour une religion. Aujourd'hui, les numéros 9 sont l'objet de toutes les intentions. Des frissons parcourent dirigeants, entraîneurs et supporters quand l'un d'eux est à terre après un choc. Pour un diamant qui, c'est vrai, vaut très cher et rapporte beaucoup. Ainsi, à l'heure actuelle, qui, selon vous, rempli le plus de critères du numéro 9 parfait ? À vous de voter. Les cinq premiers de ce classement feront l'objet d'un sujet sur Francefootball.fr la semaine prochaine.
Qui est actuellement le meilleur n°9 ? Sergio Agüero Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang Karim Benzema Edinson Cavani Edin Dzeko Radamel Falcao Gabriel Jesus Gonzalo Higuain Mauro Icardi Harry Kane Robert Lewandowski Romelu Lukaku Dries Mertens Alvaro Morata Luis Suarez | 2024-03-19T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/9017 |
The proposed studies are designed to investigate the physiological importance and consequences of a newly described feedback regulatory system that controls acid-base homeostasis by regulating endogenous acid production. Studies will be performed in man and rats in situations where endogenous acid production is increased. The effect of acidosis (NH4Cl and methionine) and alkalosis (NaNCO3) on lactic acid production in the forearm under anerobic conditions will be tested in normal volunteers, subjects on hypocaloric ketogenic diets and patients with renal failure, to investigate whether exogenous or endogenous acid loads or retained acid can influence further endogenous acid production. The effect of acid and base loads on ketoacid production in subjects on hypocaloric ketogenic diets will be examined to evaluate the consequences of altered fat (ketone) metabolism on protein conservation and fuel utilization. This will be accomplished by measuring nitrogen balance and thermogenesis during acid-base inhibition and stimulation on ketogenesis. In chronically catheterized rats made ketotic with a Crisco diet, we will investigate the time course and reversibility of acute metabolic acidosis (HCl infusion), alkalosis (NaHCO3 infusion), chronic metabolic acidosis (CaCl2 in diet), alkalosis (chloride depleted high base diet) and acute respiratory acidosis and alkalosis on ketoacid production. As endogenous acid generation usually occurs in settings of specific energy need, eg. lactic acid during exercise and ketoacids during starvation, a regulatory mechanism independent of those needs may have widespread implications for energy utilization in physiological or pathological situations. | 2024-06-22T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5072 |
The AP published this week (10/5/15) a thrilling account of how the FBI, in concert with Moldovan authorities, “disrupted” a smuggling ring that was supposedly trying to sell “nuclear material” to ISIS and other terror organizations over a five-year span. The primary developments in the story are almost a year old, but the resurfaced tale made news across the English-speaking world:
‘Annihilate America’: Inside a Secret, Frightening Scheme to Sell Nuclear Material to ISIS
—Salon (10/7/15)
AP: Smugglers Busted Trying to Sell Nuclear Material to ISIS
—CBS News (10/7/15)
FBI Foils Smugglers’ Plot to Sell Nuclear Material to ISIS
—The Independent (10/7/15)
There was only one problem: At no point do the multiple iterations of the AP‘s reporting show that anyone involved in the FBI sting were members of or have any connection to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (aka ISIL or Daesh). While one of several smuggling attempts discussed in AP‘s reporting involved an actual potential buyer–an otherwise unknown Sudanese doctor who four years ago “suggested that he was interested” in obtaining uranium–the “terrorists” otherwise involved in the cases were FBI and other law enforcement agents posing as such. According to the AP and NBC’s Pete Williams:
However, the official emphasized that there was no known ISIS connection. An undercover informant, working with Moldovan police, claimed that he was an ISIS representative. “But that was totally made up,” the official said.
This would not perturb the American press, who once again eager to hype an ISIS threat, either A) heavily implied this “plot” was evidence of ISIS seeking a nuclear weapon or B) actually went a step further and said as much despite it being wholly untrue.
First the outlets who heavily implied ISIS was involved but used the qualifiers “attempted,” “tried” or the abstract “plots” so as to not expressly lie:
Smugglers Tried to Sell Nuclear Material to ISIS
—NBC News (10/7/15)
Smugglers Try to Sell Nukes to ISIS
—Fox News (10/7/15)
FBI Has Foiled 4 Attempts by Gangs to Sell Nuclear Material to ISIS Through Russian Connections
—Daily Mail (10/7/15)
(Note that the Daily Mail managed to also work the threat du jour into the headline by means of the reference to “Russian connections”–a phrase so vague as to be virtually meaningless.)
Then there were the publications who said ISIS was involved (a falsehood):
AP Investigation Finds That Nuclear Smugglers Shopped Radioactive Material to ISIS and Other Terrorists
—Business Insider (10/6/15)
Nuclear Smugglers Shopped Radioactive Material to Islamic State, Other Terrorists: AP report
—Chicago Tribune (10/6/15)
Again, there was nothing “shopped” to ISIS, because ISIS was never involved. While it’s accurate–if misleading–to say they “attempted” or had a “plot” to sell radioactive material to ISIS, it is factually incorrect to say anyone “shopped” something to people who weren’t in any way involved in the transaction. While it can be said that smugglers “seeking” ISIS is disturbing in and of itself, it’s untrue that this solicitation is evidence of an actual ISIS threat.
Fox News and CBS would take it one step further, by expressly saying the plot was evidence that “ISIS was trying to buy a nuke.”
Fox’s Gretchen Carlson started off an interview with Rep. Mike Turner by asking, “Congressman, what are we supposed to make of this news that ISIS and other terrorist groups are trying to get their hands on dirty bombs?” CBS, meanwhile, led their broadcast by breathlessly revealing “new fears tonight that ISIS is ready to go nuclear.”
But neither of these statements are true. This sting does not support the claim that ISIS is “trying to buy a nuke,” because “there was no known ISIS connection.”
International Business Times’ Christopher Harress would take misinformation to whole new heights, inventing a Jason Bourne narrative out of whole cloth and, evidently, not bothering to read the AP story:
Members of the Islamic State group with links to Russian gangs were trying to get hold of nuclear material to build a radioactive dirty bomb before Moldovan police and FBI operatives stopped them, according to an investigation reported Wednesday by the Associated Press. The terror group, which is also known as ISIS, had been approached by gangs in Moldova that were specifically seeking a buyer from ISIS.
This is 100 percent false. There is no evidence the Islamic State group (with links to “Russian gangs” or otherwise) were trying to get a hold of radioactive material to build a dirty bomb. What there is evidence of is that FBI and local authorities posed as “ISIS” and conned some Moldovan gangsters into selling them some materials that may or may not have actually been “nuclear,” much less capable of creating a “dirty bomb”–a weapon, it should be noted, that is thus far entirely hypothetical.
So here we are: Fake FBI ISIS setting up ostensibly real post-Soviet mobsters to purchase material for a potentially deadly device that exists only in the minds of counterterrorism threat risk managers. The media, either agnostic to or incapable of understanding what really happened, paints the picture of the FBI swooping in to stop a Russian/ISIS nuclear conspiracy at the 11th hour.
What takes place, before our very eyes, is a kind of War on Terror transubstantiation. Representational terror plots become real ones, fake enemies become Russo-Jihadi crime syndicates, and an American public, once again, is presented with a cartoonish, wildly inflated threat profile that’s increasingly divorced from reality.
Adam Johnson is an associate editor at AlterNet and writes frequently for FAIR.org. You can follow him on Twitter at @adamjohnsonnyc. | 2023-11-17T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5175 |
Using Rescorla's truly random control condition to measure truly exogenous covert orienting.
Studies of exogenous covert orienting use peripheral cues (stimuli) that are spatially uninformative about the locations of subsequent targets. When the time course of the cue's influence on performance is explored (by varying the cue target onset asynchrony; CTOA), a biphasic pattern is usually seen with better performance at the cued location when the CTOA is short (typically attributed to attentional capture) and worse performance at the cued location when the CTOA is long (attributed to inhibition of return). However, while spatially uninformative, these cues (even when a nonaging foreperiod is used) entail a temporal contingency with the subsequent target. Consequently, this so-called capture may reflect an unintended consequence of endogenous allocation of temporal attention. Following Lawrence and Klein (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(2), 560-572, 2013) we used Rescorla's (Psychological Review, 74, 71-80, 1967) truly random control condition to ensure that the spatially uninformative peripheral stimuli were temporally completely uninformative. Even such completely uninformative peripheral stimuli generated the prototypical biphasic pattern. | 2023-09-23T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3646 |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a printing device, more particularly, to a device with an ink ribbon enclosed within a case, which is so constructed that the ribbon is pulled out through an opening thereof to be fed outside and then, drawn into the inside chamber thereof through another opening. Moreover, this invention relates to a printing device for printing onto a printing sheet placed on a platen via a printhead mounted on a carriage especially when the carriage laterally moves on a guide member.
2. Prior Art
In the conventional printing device of the aforementioned type, ribbon guiding members such as rollers are attached along the threading path of a ribbon so that the ribbon is properly advanced.
Generally, upon printing by means of a conventional printing device, an outer running part of an ink ribbon is pressed against the platen by a printhead so as to type on a printing sheet placed on the platen. Therefore, with such device of the above type, the running part of the ink ribbon is kept tense during printing. However, after printing, when the printhead returns to its original position, the tension in the running part of the ink ribbon is released, resulting in a twist of the ink ribbon due to a shift thereof occurring on the ribbon guiding member such as a roller.
In another known type of the prior art, a support arm, with a printhead fixed to the nose end thereof, is attached to rotate a base end of a carriage. When not printing, the end of the support arm is positioned apart from a platen. When printing, on the other hand, the nose end of the support arm is rotated to a position adjacent to the platen, resulting in printing action via the printhead. However, using the printing device of the above type, when the nose end of the support arm is rotated to a position in the vicinity of the platen, the printhead fails to be accurately positioned to the predetermined printing line on the platen; this is due to such factors as play in the support arm attached to the carriage, or to the deformation of the carriage per se. Another problem has occurred that the printing device, including the correction mechanism, fails in the correction operation because the printhead is not accurately positioned for correcting on the printing sheet. The aforementioned troubles during printing or correcting by means of the conventional printing device have frequently occurred when the carriage employed in the device is formed from synthetic resins. | 2023-09-13T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/7310 |
NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS SEP 20 2018
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
VINCENT C. WHITE, No. 18-55071
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 2:15-cv-03377-SVW-
AJW
v.
JAMES BRIDENSTINE*, Administrator of MEMORANDUM**
the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
Stephen V. Wilson, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted September 12, 2018***
Before: LEAVY, HAWKINS, and TALLMAN, Circuit Judges.
Vincent C. White appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment
*
James Bridenstine has been substituted for his predecessor, Robert
Lightfoot, as Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
under Fed. R. App. P. 43(c)(2).
**
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
***
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
and dismissal order in his employment action alleging disparate treatment and
disparate impact claims under Title VII and the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (“ADEA”). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We
review de novo. Doe v. Abbott Labs., 571 F.3d 930, 933 (9th Cir. 2009). We
affirm.
The district court properly granted summary judgment on White’s age
discrimination claims because White failed to raise a genuine dispute of material
fact as to whether defendant’s legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for not hiring
him were pretextual. See Shelley v. Geren, 666 F.3d 599, 608 (9th Cir. 2012)
(setting forth the elements of ADEA claim and the burden-shifting framework).
The district court properly dismissed White’s race and sex discrimination
claims because White failed to allege facts sufficient to show that defendant
discriminated against White on the basis of his race or sex. See Villiarimo v. Aloha
Island Air, Inc., 281 F.3d 1054, 1062 (9th Cir. 2002) (setting forth the elements of
a Title VII discrimination claim and the burden-shifting framework); see also
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (to avoid dismissal, “a complaint must
contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is
plausible on its face” (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)).
The district court properly dismissed White’s disparate impact claim because
White failed to allege facts identifying a specific, facially neutral employment
2 18-55071
practice, and a causal relationship between such a practice and its adverse impact
on applicants who are either male, African-American, or over forty years of age.
See Stout v. Potter, 276 F.3d 1118, 1121-22 (9th Cir. 2002) (setting forth elements
of prima facie case of disparate impact).
The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying White’s motion to
compel because White failed to demonstrate he suffered actual and substantial
prejudice from the denial. See Laub v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, 342 F.3d 1080, 1093
(9th Cir. 2003) (“[A] decision to deny discovery will not be disturbed except upon
the clearest showing that the denial of discovery results in actual and substantial
prejudice to the complaining litigant.” (citation and internal quotation marks
omitted)).
The motion of Vergie White for leave to file an amicus curiae brief (Docket
Entry No. 18) is denied.
AFFIRMED.
3 18-55071
| 2024-03-24T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3543 |
Cellular aging or cellular senescence is a universal attribute of normal non-transformed cells that is manifested by morphological changes accompanied by an age-dependent loss of proliferative potential, including the failure of the cells to respond to exogenous growth factors. A variety of theories have been proposed to explain the phenomenon of cellular senescence. Experimental evidence suggests that the age-dependent loss of proliferative potential may be the function of a genetic program (see, e.g., Smith et al. (1980) Mech. Age. Dev. 13:387; and Kirkwood et al. (1975) Theor. Biol. 53:481). This evidence includes cell fusion studies with human fibroblasts in vitro that demonstrate that the quiescent cellular senescent phenotype is dominant over the proliferative phenotype (see, e.g., Pereira-Smith et al. (1982) Somatic Cell Genet. 8:731; and Norwood et al. (1974) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 71:223) and that protein synthesis in senescent cells, prior to fusion with young cells, is required for the inhibition of DNA synthesis within the young nucleus of the heterodikaryon (see, e.g., Burmer et al. (1983) Exp. Cell Res. 145:708; and Drescher-Lincoln et al. (1984) Exp. Cell Res. 153:208). Also, microinjection of senescent fibroblast mRNA into young fibroblasts inhibits the ability of the young cell to synthesize DNA (see, e.g., Lumpkin et al. (1986) Science 232:393) and entry of the young cell into the S phase of the cell cycle (Lumpkin et al. (1985) Exp. Cell Res. 160:544). Further, unique mRNA species are amplified in senescent fibroblasts in vitro (see, e.g., Wellinger et al. (1986) J. Cell Biol. 34:203; Flemming et al. (1988) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85:4099; West et al. (1989) Exp. Cell Res. 184:138; and Giordano (1989) Exp. Cell Res. 185:399). It has also been suggested that an altered genetic program exists in senescent human fibroblasts, which involves the repression of c-fos expression at the transcriptional level (see, e.g., Seshadri et al. (1990) Science 247:205). Thus, there appear to be genotypic, as well as phenotypic differences between young and old cells. | 2024-03-22T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3310 |
Michelle Obama: Barack’s led us out of the darkness and into the light
posted at 7:46 pm on April 17, 2012 by Allahpundit
Is Team Hopenchange seriously going to push a “messiah” message this time around? Even a little bit? Note to Axelrod and Plouffe: When your Senate candidates are suppressing clips of them praising The One and your own base is churning out videos like this, it might be time to update the 2008 “Obama as savior of mankind” chapter in the ol’ playbook.
First lady Michelle Obama spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of donors in Nashville today, framing her husband’s re-election campaign as a fight for “our sons and daughters, our grandsons and granddaughters.”…
Donors paid at least $500 each for their tickets…
Obama closed by asking the audience three times, “Are you in?”
“Because I am so in,” she said over the applause. “We have an amazing story to tell. This president has brought us out of the dark and into the light.”
If you want to know what “darkness into light” looks like in graph form, click right here.
That ridiculous quote is what’s getting headlines but this part of her speech is more noteworthy:
“We cannot forget the impact the Court’s decisions will have on our lives for decades to come — on our privacy and security, on whether we can speak freely, worship openly, and love whomever we choose,” she said in a ringing defense of the president’s record. Asked about similar statements in the past, the White House has denied that they reflect any newfound White House support for gay marriage. Kristina Schake, the First Lady’s communications director, said Tuesday that it “refers to the importance of the Supreme Court for deciding many issues.”
“The President and First Lady firmly believe that gay and lesbian Americans and their families deserve legal protections and the ability to thrive just like any other family,” she said.
Smart of her to push the Court as a key issue to liberals with ObamaCare in constitutional limbo, but I’m interested in that part about loving whomever we choose. Is that an early signal that gay marriage might play a bigger role on the trail — or in O’s second term — than people think? Is she suggesting she (and O) would approve if the Court declared a right to same-sex marriage under the Equal Protection Clause, as David Boies and Ted Olson are hoping to get it to do? More details, please.
Speaking of a second term, go read Jeffrey Toobin’s short piece in the New Yorker wondering what, exactly, Hopenchange v2.0 would mean for America. For a guy who likes to talk about finishing the work he’s begun, The One is awfully vague on what that work might look like going forward. Raising taxes on the rich is a given, but Democrats actually don’t need him to get reelected to do that. All they need is to hold onto their Senate majority and block any GOP attempts to extend the Bush tax cuts. He could maybe possibly conceivably get serious about entitlement reform — David Brooks thinks he’s “a pragmatic liberal who cares about fiscal sustainability,” don’tcha know — but I’m not sure that a lame-duck Democrat could get the support he needs from his caucus in the Senate to beat a liberal filibuster, especially if Republicans are dictating most of the terms of the reforms. His best bet to do something significant, I think, is immigration, especially if the Latino vote ends up being decisive in reelecting him in November. The GOP will be so demoralized by that that it’ll shake loose enough electorally-minded Republican moderates in the Senate to get something through. The big question mark is the House. If Republicans hold onto it, will they block a reform bill or acquiesce in the interest of becoming more competitive with Latinos?
Via Mediaite, here’s Lawrence O’Donnell with one more idea for an Obama second term. Hmmmmm. | 2023-11-10T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1441 |
[The members of the exiled Hungarian school, mourning and renewal].
A historical survey of the Hungarian psycho-analytical movement, followed by a description of the two successive waves of emigration. After some biographical details about three analysts who emigrated--Alice Balint, Michael Balint and Géza Roheim--exile is considered from the viewpoint of regretting the past and subsequent "renewal". Its effect is traced in the work of Balint and Roheim. Finally exile is seen as an ordeal creative of Freudian thought and as an experience common to all human beings. | 2024-02-02T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3601 |
Long-term hypotensive technique with nicardipine and nitroprusside during isoflurane anesthesia for spinal surgery.
Short-term infusion of nicardipine can be used to induce deliberate hypotension but may result in plasma drug accumulation. To assess long-term nicardipine administration for deliberate hypotension in 10 patients in a moderately hemodiluted state who were undergoing spinal surgery, hemodynamics and plasma nicardipine concentrations were concomitantly measured before and 20, 80, and 140 min after starting nicardipine, at drug discontinuation, and 20 and 80 min later. A dose of 6.2 +/- 0.9 mg (mean +/- SEM) of nicardipine was initially required to obtain mean arterial blood pressures at 55-60 mm Hg. Maintenance doses of nicardipine were 3-5 mg/h. The duration of nicardipine administration was 270 +/- 20 min (mean +/- SEM). Hypotension was associated with decreased systemic and pulmonary vascular resistances, increased cardiac index, and decreased arteriovenous difference in O2 contents. Only two patients required homologous blood transfusion. Plasma nicardipine concentrations peaked at 110 +/- 21 ng/mL (mean +/- SEM) and then decreased to 38 +/- 11 ng/mL (mean +/- SEM) without changes in arterial blood pressure. After vasodilator discontinuation, hypotension was observed during a mean time of 43 min (range 27-88 min) despite plasma concentrations less than 20 ng/mL. No relationship was found between plasma nicardipine concentrations and hemodynamics. These findings suggest that an increasing effect of nicardipine over time may occur during prolonged administration. Because the reasons for this hysteresis remain unclear, use of nicardipine infusion during major surgery and anesthesia requires particular caution. | 2023-10-24T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3381 |
Units
Mission Statement
The University Centers provides a learning environment where students develop and connect their education to experiences.
VISION STATEMENT
We build a campus community by providing a welcoming, comfortable and enriching environment for students and the broader Eau Claire community. We continually attract, inspire, educate and retain through our fiscal stewardship and careful management of our students' resources. The University Centers accomplishes this by providing opportunities for student engagement and intentional learning experiences focused on a global perspective. | 2023-08-31T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2115 |
Bovine acidosis: implications on laminitis.
Bovine lactic acidosis syndrome is associated with large increases of lactic acid in the rumen, which result from diets that are high in ruminally available carbohydrates, or forage that is low in effective fiber, or both. The syndrome involves two separate anatomical areas, the gastrointestinal tract and body fluids, and is related to the rate and extent of lactic acid production, utilization, and absorption. Clinical manifestations range from loss of appetite to death. Lactic acid accumulates in the rumen when the bacteria that synthesize lactic acid outnumber those that utilize lactic acid. The systemic impact of acidosis may have several physiological implications, including laminitis, a diffuse aseptic inflammation of the laminae (corium). Although a nutritional basis for the disease exists, etiology includes a multitude of interactive factors, such as metabolic and digestive disorders, postpartum stress, and localized trauma, which lead to the release of vasoactive substances that trigger mechanisms that cause degenerative changes in the foot. The severity of laminitis is related to the frequency, intensity, and duration of systemic acidotic insults on the mechanisms responsible for the release of vasoactive substance. The critical link between acidosis and laminitis appears to be associated with a persistent hypoperfusion, which results in ischemia in the digit. Management of acidosis is critical in preventing laminitis. High producing dairy herds attempting to maximize energy intake are continually confronted with subclinical acidosis and laminitis. Management of feeding and husbandry practices can be implemented to reduce incidence of disease. | 2024-04-01T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1356 |
Q:
How can the proxy pattern be used to replace a singleton?
This is in response to some comments in what is so bad about singletons
There it was suggested that the proxy pattern can be used instead of a singleton to cache DB data. But I cannot see the advantage, and in fact the singleton seems more "controllable".
Let me elaborate on the problem. Assume you have a database, with a large set of data, that never changes so it can be regarded read only, why would the proxy pattern be a better way of modelling this data cache than the singleton?
(PS: if you are going to say "because its more 'testable' !" - please elaborate, I am still getting used to those concepts)
Thanks for your help!
A:
disclaimer: I'm speaking in java terms here
singleton are now considered an antipattern mostly because have been abused a lot lately as they are a quick and convenient way to share data across the application - which is somewhat an overextension of the design pattern which is more suited to provide acces control to a shared resource.
consider a program standard output: the access of that resource needs to be guarded by a single point of access to allow for synchronization of the writes, that is why you have for example System.out as a static instance in java.
the problem is, when you start having singleton you'll need to know every nitty gritty details of what you're doing, because you are making lot of strict assumption on your singleton class, the most important one that it will be the only one class in the system. then you start using it, assuming that it will always be a single entry point to your resource, and then nasty bug arises because your class has now been deployed on an ejb server and each ejb context has it's own singleton, plus one more singleton for every jsp that has been reloaded from the server, plus one singleton for every time that your singleton has been serialized and deserialized (as you probably have forgot to override readResolve() method).
so this is why singleton have to be used with lot of care, and are now considered an antipattern in spite of them being totally useful for their intended usage.
in the case of a database cache, it would be a better approach to have each class in need of the cache using a proxy for this "cache" resource, so you may add the logic to "find the resource" within the proxy itself instead of having the logic be tied to the retrieval of the cache singleton, which may or may not work depending on the environment.
so in few words using singleton as means to have a shared access to a resource is bad, because you are hardcoding the method of finding the resource (and ignoring the singleton pitfalls) while having singleton to control a resource for synchronization purpose is totally acceptable.
think of semaphores, those works only if you can get the same semaphore always. in this latter case what may be a problem is accessing the singleton from everywhere you need to access that semaphore: here you'll need some class to wrap the singleton up and provide a finer control of the lifecycle of the semaphore itself.
proxy are intended to cover the role of "providing a resource across the system", be it a single application, a client server system, different components of the same system and so on, with the added benefit that with èrpxy the method of retrieval of the resource is opaque. you may have them providing you a singleton containing an hashmap of the cached values, you may have them accessing a memcached somwhere on the network, you may have them reading a csv during tests, all without changing how you call them from the application.
| 2023-09-23T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/9784 |
<html>
<head>
<link href="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.12.1/themes/base/jquery-ui.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<link href="./jquery.multiselect.css" rel="stylesheet" />
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.12.4.js"></script>
<script src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.12.1/jquery-ui.js"></script>
<script src="./jquery.multiselect.js"></script>
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<body>
<select name="basic[]" multiple="multiple" class="3col active">
<option value="AL">Alabama</option>
<option value="AK">Alaska</option>
<option value="AZ">Arizona</option>
<option value="AR">Arkansas</option>
<option value="CA">California</option>
<option value="CO">Colorado</option>
<option value="CT">Connecticut</option>
<option value="DE">Delaware</option>
<option value="FL">Florida</option>
<option value="GA">Georgia</option>
<option value="HI">Hawaii</option>
<option value="ID">Idaho</option>
<option value="IL">Illinois</option>
<option value="IN">Indiana</option>
<option value="IA">Iowa</option>
<option value="KS">Kansas</option>
<option value="KY">Kentucky</option>
<option value="LA">Louisiana</option>
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<option value="MD">Maryland</option>
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<option value="MI">Michigan</option>
<option value="MN">Minnesota</option>
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| 2024-02-29T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6212 |
The specific distribution of dendritic interstitial cells at the tumor border of major salivary gland pleomorphic adenomas.
To investigate the role of stromal cells at the tumor border of major salivary gland pleomorphic adenomas, we performed immunohistochemical analysis for detecting CD34-positive stromal cells (dendritic interstitial cells) and alpha smooth muscle actin (ASMA) -positive stromal cells (myofibroblasts) at the periphery of the tumor. We examined 21 pleomorphic adenomas of major salivary glands. All of the 21 pleomorphic adenomas examined had both dendritic interstitial cells and myofibroblasts at the tumor border. The ratio between the two cell types varied, and they exhibited a bilayered capsular structure; myofibroblasts were located in the inner layer of the tumor capsule, whereas dendritic interstitial cells derived from nearby vascular structures and nerves were located in the outer layer of the capsule. On the basis of the specific distribution of the dendritic interstitial cells in the present study, there is a possibility that dendritic interstitial cells are associated with the tumor growth regulation of major salivary gland pleomorphic adenomas. | 2023-09-11T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/9550 |
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After a series of ups and downs, bitcoin’s price went to its top. However, it plunged to less than half of that value later. The unexpected changes are now compared to the dot-com bubble and are highlighting the speculative nature of investing in cryptocurrency. Investors are worried due to bitcoin investment
The price of bitcoin fell below $10,000 for the first, on December 1. At one point, it fell below $9,300 on one exchange. The price later rose back to almost $12,000, however, the investors and economists are still not sure how long the price will stay there. It is also said that the recent skim was due to the fear of crackdowns in the cryptocurrency markets.
South Korea has suggested a ban on the trading of cryptocurrency, although no plans are settled yet. Also, same news has been reported about China.
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, as it is the largest and well-popular digital currency, that is globally bought and sold in exchanges.
According to Timothy Lee (senior reporter at Ars Technica), it is not based on dollars. The value of bitcoin floats against other cryptocurrencies, in the same way the euro and dollar glide against each other. Users say that bitcoin has got a very effective system for authenticating transactions, as it is based on a revolutionary technology.
Bitcoin users also point out that the currency is not tied to government’s whims an d according to them, it’s a good thing. Recently the price dropped, and that may not be a good thing for those investors who are trying to figure out what crash actually means for the cryptocurrency’s future.
Recently many cryptocurrencies have shown the same swipes. According to David Kotok (Cumberland Advisors chairman and chief investment officer), almost 20 years ago, the technology and the new internet stocks accomplished valuation of $7 trillion, just because of speculation. The prices of shares used to be very high and after they collapsed, investors got badly miffed. And apparently, the same thing is going to happen with these cryptocurrencies.
Same rise and fall in the price of bitcoin was seen by the investors in December. After China announced that it was banning all the banks that were trading cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell by 40 percent just within days after hitting a record price of almost $1,150.
There’ve been dramatic ups and downs in cryptocurrency’s price last year. Bitcoin had the value around $900 at the beginning of 2017, however, its value got tripled within few months. According to Kotok, cryptocurrencies are highly speculative and investing money in cryptocurrencies is a speculative thing to do. There’s a chance that you may make a profit, but Kotok has seen many people who invested their money into bitcoin and now they’re having loads of trouble in getting their cash back when they try to sell it.
According to some analysts, the cryptocurrency is trying to find an impermanent price floor, but according to a CNBC report, Citigroup analysts think that the price of bitcoin would plunge again to half of its current value. According to Ars Technica’s Lee, it’s still going to be unpredictable. She thinks it’ll go more up and then it’ll crash again. So, no one knows how far down it’ll decline. | 2023-11-15T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8025 |
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}
| 2024-05-08T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4361 |
---
abstract: 'In a previous article we developed an approach to the optimal (minimum variance, unbiased) statistical estimation technique for the equilibrium displacement of a damped, harmonic oscillator in the presence of thermal noise. Here, we expand that work to include the optimal estimation of several linear parameters from a continuous time series. We show that working in the basis of the thermal driving force both simplifies the calculations and provides additional insight to why various approximate (not optimal) estimation techniques perform as they do. To illustrate this point, we compare the variance in the optimal estimator that we derive for thermal noise with those of two approximate methods which, like the optimal estimator, suppress the contribution to the variance that would come from the irrelevant, resonant motion of the oscillator. We discuss how these methods fare when the dominant noise process is either white displacement noise or noise with power spectral density that is inversely proportional to the frequency ($1/f$ noise). We also construct, in the basis of the driving force, an estimator that performs well for a mixture of white noise and thermal noise. To find the optimal multi-parameter estimators for thermal noise, we derive and illustrate a generalization of traditional matrix methods for parameter estimation that can accommodate continuous data. We discuss how this approach may help refine the design of experiments as they allow an exact, quantitative comparison of the precision of estimated parameters under various data acquisition and data analysis strategies.'
author:
- 'Jason H. Steffen$^1$, Michael W. Moore$^2$ and Paul E. Boynton$^2$'
title: Optimal estimation of several linear parameters in the presence of Lorentzian thermal noise
---
Introduction
============
In spite of the passage of more than two centuries, the principle of the torsion pendulum still underlies the design of instruments to measure ultra-small electrical or gravitational torques. Ever-improving techniques for suppressing sources of systematic error in these experiments have motivated corresponding reductions in statistical measurement error. Parallel improvements in optical design and low-noise electronics have previously met this challenge, but statistical uncertainty is inevitably approaching the fundamental thermal-noise limit posed by the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Further improvement in signal-to-noise ratio for ambient temperature experiments may be possible only by making optimal or nearly optimal statistical inference considerations a basis for the design of measurement protocol, data analysis, and even instrumentation hardware.
In a previous article we laid the groundwork for an approach to the optimal (minimum variance, unbiased) statistical estimation technique for the parameters of a damped, harmonic oscillator in the presence of thermal noise (@moore05, hereafter Paper I), having found no readily accessible treatment of this problem in the literature. While that work introduces the foundation of a useful methodology, its scope is quite limited because it addresses only the case of a single linear parameter, the displacement of pendulum orientation. For a torsion pendulum under the influence of an external torque, a simple displacement parameter does not distinguish between the equilibrium displacement of a pendulum mass in the presence versus absence of an external torque, the signature of a torque “signal”. Moreover, a real torsion fibre under load slowly unwinds, also requiring parameterization. Consequently, even without including pendulum oscillations, a multi-parameter model must be employed.
The purpose of this article is to extend the methodology presented in Paper I to include the optimal estimation of several linear parameters. As in the case of a single linear parameter, we note that traditional methodologies for estimating multiple parameters fail for a high-$Q$, long-period oscillator subject to thermodynamic fluctuations. The problem faced stems from the oscillator’s response to the thermal bath; the environment drives the oscillator with equal power at all frequencies and the oscillator response is a Lorentzian which peaks sharply at the resonant frequency. Just as in the single parameter case, in order to minimize the variance in the multi-parameter estimators, one must suppress the variance contribution from this resonance peak.
Superficially, the issues presented by the resonance peak, the recovery of a signal, and the unwinding behaviour of the torsion fibre, appear straightforward. One might consider treating the noise as white, then address each issue serially to produce a composite measurement approach. First, to remove the effects of the resonance one could use data from an integer number of oscillation periods as illustrated in Paper I. Second, to break the degeneracy between the free orientation of the pendulum mass and its orientation in the presence of a source mass, one could modulate the signal. Then by choosing the modulation frequency to be distinct from, but commensurate with the oscillation frequency, and also choosing the duration of the data sample to be an integer number of both oscillation and signal periods, the orthogonality of the fitted parameters over the measurement interval could be maintained.
Finally, in order to account for the secular unwinding behaviour of the torsion fibre one could include in the model to which the data are fit a few low-order polynomials. However, these polynomials are generally not orthogonal to the free oscillation of the pendulum. Consequently, the estimating function for the signal is no longer orthogonal to the resonance peak. At this point it becomes clear that such a casual approach must give way to a proper multiple-parameter fitting scheme that filters the contribution from the resonance peak. As already mentioned, the absence from the literature of explicit techniques for optimal parameter estimation in the analysis of high-$Q$ oscillators in experiments whose precision may approach the limitation posed by thermal noise has motivated our search for a practical solution to this problem.
To set a context for presenting the optimal solution, we discuss two, straightforward, approximate methods that suppress the contribution of the resonance peak to the variances of important model parameters. The first, which we call the trigonometric method, is to fit the data optimally for white noise while including the sine and cosine oscillation amplitude parameters of the pendulum. Doing so ensures that the estimators for the remaining parameters—particularly those that correspond to relevant observables—are immune to the variance contribution from the resonance.
The second method, which we call the [autosum]{} method, is to pre-filter the data by adding a given realization of pendulum motion to itself displaced by half an oscillation period, thereby eliminating the effects of resonant oscillations to a large extent. These pre-filtered data are then fit optimally for white noise. The [autosum]{} method was employed by the Eöt-Wash group at the University of Washington in their early torsion pendulum experiments (e.g. @su94). While that group has refined this method extensively [@kapner07], we selected the [autosum]{} estimation technique since it provides a simple, contrasting approach to the trigonometric estimator. We analyze these two methods as examples of how we can understand and compare their behaviours relative to the optimal estimate derived using the parameter estimation formalism introduced in Paper I and extended here. Our purpose in this work is to illustrate the application of this formalism and to point out its advantages, not to critique the methods employed by others.
While these two estimators generally have unequal parameter variances due to their different weighting of the data, both methods remove much of the contribution of the resonance peak to the variances because the associated filter functions, when expressed in the Fourier representation, have a notch with a quadratic minimum at the resonant frequency. They also share the advantage that variances remain finite when white displacement noise is superposed on the thermal noise as is the case in any real experiment. By comparison, the variance of the optimal thermal-noise estimators diverge when white noise is present because their displacement estimating functions include Dirac delta functions (see Paper I). The ubiquity of white noise motivates us to include these approximate methods in our discussion because they represent the schemes that experimentalists actually employ, and likely will continue to employ in the future.
Since the optimal estimation method is pathological in the presence of white noise, comparing it with approximate methods may appear little more than an interesting exercise because an experiment can never be conducted in this idealized context. However, such results establish a firm lower bound to the variance of a parameter estimator enabling one to weigh the benefit of improving the experimental methods to lower the uncertainty in a measurement against the labor necessary to implement such modifications.
Moreover, asking which approximate method is superior in a real experiment brings up matters of judgment. An experimentalist must choose an analysis method and justify the choice in light of many aspects of the experiment at hand. Design questions regarding the advantages of a particular length of a data sample, the most appropriate phase of the modulated signal, or the effect of adding additional parameters to the model can be answered with confidence for the case of white noise. For thermal noise, however, the answers to such questions appear unresolved in the literature. In this paper we set forth a basis for such choices.
The major premise of Paper I is that transforming to the driving-force basis—where the force noise is clearly white—allows one to readily determine the optimal thermal noise filter for the purpose of estimating a single parameter from a sample of continuous data. Here we extend this idea to multi-parameter models. In addition, we demonstrate a second point that was not emphasized in Paper I: this white-noise driving-force basis is more natural than the displacement basis for developing, analyzing, and comparing different parameter estimation methods—one’s intuition is better served in this basis. Given the insight gained by working in the driving-force basis and the tools we develop to fit multi-parameter models to continuous data, questions about the choices mentioned above can be readily answered with confidence and precision.
We begin our discussion with a brief review of the notation used in Paper I. Then we present a comparison of the single-period, optimal thermal-noise estimator of the equilibrium displacement (derived in Paper I) with a single-period boxcar estimator because the latter, a uniform average, is the foundation of the two approximate estimation methods we consider. We show in Section \[transformsection\] how to transform an estimating function from its displacement-basis representation into the basis of the driving force—the inverse of the transformation presented in Paper I. We continue with a comparison of optimal, trigonometric, and [autosum]{} single-parameter estimators of the equilibrium displacement for various durations of the data sample, and then present a method to construct (in the driving-force basis) an estimator that performs well in the case of a mixture of white and thermal noise. The derivation of this new estimator further demonstrates the advantage of working in the basis of the driving force.
Following this derivation is a digression to develop the methods required to extend the optimal single-parameter, thermal-noise estimators to the multi-parameter case. The basic result is that optimal multi-parameter estimating functions are orthonormal linear combinations of the optimal single-parameter estimating functions derived in Paper I. We are then ready to compare the full, multi-parameter versions of the optimal, trigonometric, and [autosum]{} methods for a modulated signal while also fitting constant and linear polynomial terms to accomodate fibre unwinding. Finally, we consider a different thermal noise model that is of particular interest for torsion pendulum experiments. In moderately high vacuum torsion pendulum experiments, thermal noise results primarily from torsion fibre internal loss mechanisms. Empirically, the driving-force power spectral density in this case is better approximated by a $1/f$ spectrum rather than the white spectrum of classical dashpot resistance [@saulson90]. Although the optimal methods we develop no longer strictly apply, we investigate how the thermal-noise optimal, trigonometric, and [autosum]{} variances compare in the presence of $1/f$ noise; this in addition to similar comparisons for dashpot thermal noise, white noise, and mixed white and thermal noise.
We make two preliminary comments on the presentation of and approximations used in this work. First, in order to inform the reader’s experimental intuition, we choose to present concrete examples based on relevant choices for sample duration, signal frequency, etc. These examples and the estimation methods that we analyze were selected solely to provide illustrations of the formalism that we develop here and in Paper I. Second, because the quality factor, $Q$, is typically several thousand in today’s torsion pendulum experiments, we simplify our calculations by truncating results to leading order in $1/Q$. As mentioned above, traditional methods of parameter inference fail for a high-$Q$, long period oscillator—precisely the regime where this truncation is justified. Making this approximation here, however, differs from Paper I in which some results were presented as exact, closed-form expressions. Note that this work does not present the analysis of any particular experiment. Rather, it presents a method by which the performance of different parameter estimators can be compared under various noise environments and it demonstrates the conceptual advantages of developing parameter estimators in the basis of the thermal driving force.
Optimal Estimator vs. Boxcar Estimator for a Single Period\[oneperiod\]
=======================================================================
As a point of departure, we first compare two estimators for the equilibrium displacement of the oscillator in the presence of thermal noise, the optimal estimator and the boxcar estimator. The latter, a simple, uniform average of the time-domain data, is optimal for the case of white displacement noise.
Linear Single-Parameter Estimates
---------------------------------
We recall from Paper I (Eq. 10) that a general parameter estimate for a continuous time series is given by $$\hat{p} = {\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}e_{\hat{p}}(t) x(t) dt$$ where $x(t)$ is the data (for a torsion pendulum $x(t)$ is the measured angular displacement), and the estimating function $e_{\hat{p}}(t)$ is obtained by properly normalizing a filter function. We again use the convention that a capital letter (e.g. $X(t)$) represents an ensemble of realizations which are represented by lower case letters (e.g. $x(t)$). The variance of the corresponding parameter estimator, expressed in the Fourier representation (Paper I, Eq. 14), is $$\text{var}(\hat{P}) = \frac{1}{2}{\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}F^2\left[ e_{\hat{p}}(t);\nu \right]S\left[\delta X(t);\nu\right]d\nu
\label{varequation}$$ where the Fourier energy density (FED) $F^2 [ e_{\hat{p}}(t);\nu ]$ is the square of the Fourier transform of the estimating function and $S[\delta X(t);\nu]$ is the power spectral density (PSD) of the noise ensemble $\delta X(t)$. Our goal is to calculate the parameter estimator variances to leading order in $1/Q$. For thermal noise, the PSD already contains a factor of $1/Q$, and so we need express the estimating functions only to zeroth order in $1/Q$ (that is, we may use the estimating functions that would be suitable for an undamped oscillator).
Single-Period Optimal Thermal-Noise Estimator\[singleperiodop\]
---------------------------------------------------------------
In Paper I we find the optimal estimate of the equilibrium displacement of the oscillator in the presence of thermal noise. To zero-order in $1/Q$, the single-period, optimal estimate is (c.f. Paper I, Eqs. 7 & 44) $$\hat{c}^{{\text{op}}} = x_m + \frac{v_f-v_i}{2 \pi \omega_0}
\label{opthermest}$$ where $x_m$ is the time-average position of the oscillator, $\omega_0$ is the (undamped) oscillation frequency, and $v_i$ and $v_f$ are the initial and final velocities of the oscillator. The corresponding estimating function is (c.f. Paper I, Eqs. 42 & 43) $$e_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{op}}}(t) = \frac{\Theta(t;t_i,t_f)}{\tau_0} + \frac{-\delta'(t-t_f) + \delta'(t-t_i)}{2 \pi \omega_0},
\label{opthermep}$$ where $\tau_0$ is the period of the pendulum, $\Theta(t;t_i,t_f)\equiv \theta(t-t_i)-\theta(t-t_f)$ is the boxcar function, and $\delta'(t)$ is the time derivative of the Dirac delta function. We call this estimate a “force-only” estimate because its estimating function is orthogonal to a free-oscillation transient of arbitrary amplitude and phase. That is, $$\label{req1}
{\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}e_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{op}}}(t) \cos(\omega_0 t) dt = 0$$ and $$\label{req2}
{\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}e_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{op}}}(t) \sin(\omega_0 t) dt = 0.$$
All such force-only estimators have an estimating function that can be expressed in the driving-force basis. As shown in Paper I, the optimal displacement estimating function for thermal noise is a boxcar in the force basis (c.f. Paper I, Eq. 46) $$y_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{op}}} = \frac{\Theta(t;t_i,t_f)}{2\pi m \omega_0}$$ where $m$ is the mass of the oscillator. Since thermal noise looks white in the force basis, the variance of the estimator is readily calculated in the time domain, $$\begin{split}
\text{var}(\hat{C}^{{\text{op}}}) &= 2k_{{\text{B}}}T\xi {\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}y^2 dt \\
&= \frac{\sigma^2}{\pi Q_0}
\end{split}
\label{varcoptherm}$$ where $\sigma^2=k_{{\text{B}}} T/\kappa$ and $k_{{\text{B}}}$ is the Boltzmann constant, $T$ is the absolute temperature of the thermal bath, $\kappa$ is the torsional spring constant, $\xi$ is the damping coefficient, and $Q_0 = m \omega_0/\xi$.
Transforming Between Driving-Force Basis and Displacement Basis\[transformsection\]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In our previous work we showed that an estimating function in the force basis, $y_{\hat{p}}(t)$, can be transformed into the corresponding displacement basis estimating function by using the transpose equation-of-motion operator $\Omega^T$ (c.f. Paper I, Eqs. 40 & 41) $$\begin{split}
e_{\hat{p}}(t) &= \Omega^T\left[y_{\hat{p}}(t)\right]\\
&= \left(m \frac{d^2}{dt^2} -\xi \frac{d}{dt} + \kappa \right) y_{\hat{p}}(t).
\label{eqofmotiontrans}
\end{split}$$ For example, in Paper I $e_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{op}}}(t)$ was derived from $y_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{op}}}(t)$ by this method. As we compare the results of various estimation techniques we wish to exploit the simplifications that follow from working in the force basis where the noise power spectrum is white. Doing so requires that we obtain the force basis estimating function from the displacement basis estimating function—the inverse of what we have done before.
A straightforward approach to find $y_{\hat{p}}$ from $e_{\hat{p}}$ is to consider the equation of motion relating the driving force to the time series $$\begin{split}
{\mathcal{F}} &= \Omega[x(t)]\\
&= \left( m\frac{d^2}{dt^2}+\xi \frac{d}{dt} + \kappa \right) x(t)
\label{eqofmotion}
\end{split}$$ where $\Omega$ is the equation of motion operator. We know from the solution to this differential equation that, to leading order in $1/Q$, $$\begin{split}
x(t) =& x_i\cos(\omega_0 (t-t_i))+\frac{v_i}{\omega_0}\sin(\omega_0 (t-t_i))\\
&+\frac{1}{m\omega_0}\int_t^{\infty}{\mathcal{F}}(t')\sin(\omega_0 (t' - t))dt'.
\label{odesolution}
\end{split}$$ For a high-$Q$ oscillator the quantity $\xi \simeq 0$ is very small and the equation of motion operator is well approximated by its transpose, $\Omega \simeq \Omega^T$. Substituting $\Omega$ for $\Omega^T$ in equation (\[eqofmotiontrans\]) one obtains the solution for $y_{\hat{p}}$ that is similar to that in equation (\[odesolution\]) $$y_{\hat{p}}(t) = \frac{1}{m\omega_0}\int_t^{\infty}e_{\hat{p}}(t')\sin(\omega_0 (t' - t))dt'
\label{yfrome}$$ except that the boundary value terms vanish because the estimating function must be identically zero outside of the time series. It is important to note that the $y_{\hat{p}}(t)$ that results from this equation is valid only when $e_{\hat{p}}(t)$ satisfies both (\[req1\]) and (\[req2\])—it is force-only, sensitive to the driving force but not the free oscillation of the pendulum.
Single Period Boxcar
--------------------
Let us now apply this method to a boxcar estimator (unless otherwise noted the term “boxcar estimator” will hereafter refer to one constructed in the displacement basis). We first calculate the force basis estimating function that corresponds to the boxcar estimator to zeroth order in $1/Q$ $$\begin{split}
y_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{box}}}(t) &= \frac{1}{m\omega_0}\int_t^{\infty} \frac{\Theta(t';-\tau_0/2,\tau_0/2)}{\tau_0} \sin(\omega_0(t'-t)) dt' \\
&= \frac{\Theta(t;-\tau_0/2,\tau_0/2)}{2\pi m\omega_0}\left( 1+\cos(\omega_0 t)\right).
\end{split}
\label{yboxone}$$ The variance in the corresponding parameter estimator is now $$\begin{split}
\text{var}(\hat{C}^{{\text{box}}}) &= 2k_{{\text{B}}}T\xi {\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}y^2 dt \\
&= \left( \frac{3}{2} \right) \frac{\sigma^2}{\pi Q}\\
&= \frac{3}{2}\text{var}(\hat{C}^{{\text{op}}}).
\end{split}
\label{varcboxone}$$ Thus, the penalty for using the boxcar estimator instead of the optimal estimator is a factor of 3/2 increase in the parameter variance.
To understand the source of this 50% penalty we consider (\[yfrome\]) where it follows that a force-only $e_{\hat{p}}(t)$ which is bounded (that is, never infinite) results in a $y_{\hat{p}}(t)$ that smoothly transitions to zero at both $t_i$ and $t_f$—it is zero and has zero slope at the endpoints. The cosine term in (\[yboxone\]) serves to match these boundary conditions. Since the cosine function is orthogonal to a constant function over one period, the amplitude of the boxcar in (\[yboxone\]) must be the same as in the optimal in order for the estimate to be unbiased. Finally, because the average value of cosine squared is 1/2, the variance increases by 50%. Conversely, if one begins with a force-only $e_{\hat{p}}(t)$ that is unbounded (e.g. has $\delta(t)$’s or $\delta'(t)$’s at the endpoints), then the resulting $y_{\hat{p}}(t)$ has discontinuous jumps that correspond to measurements of the boundary conditions of the oscillator. The fact that the boxcar estimator does not utilize this boundary information results in its increased uncertainty in the values of the estimated parameters.
Comparison of Optimal, Trigonometric, and Autosum Estimators\[comparisonsec\]
=============================================================================
The factor of 3/2 in (\[varcboxone\]) leads one to ask if additional data improves this result and if the variance in the boxcar estimator ultimately converges to the optimal value. It turns out that neither occurs under the approximations under consideration. Yet, this optimal filter for white displacement noise can be used to construct an estimator that performs much better when thermal noise dominates. Here we develop and study two estimators, the [autosum]{} and the trigonometric estimators, both of which are based upon the boxcar estimator. Following that, we compare the performance of these estimators for the cases of white noise and “mixed noise”, which has both thermal and white noise components. Finally, we present the construction of a new estimator that performs well for cases of mixed noise. The development of this new estimator takes advantage of the intuitive relation between the performance of an estimator and its functional form in the driving-force basis. This development is facilitated by knowledge of the form of the optimal estimator.
Thermal Noise and Multiple Period Estimators\[secthreea\]
---------------------------------------------------------
Following the calculations in Section \[singleperiodop\] one can show that the variance of the optimal estimator times the duration of the data, $\tau$, is $${\text{var}}(\hat{C}^{{\text{op}}}) \times \tau = \frac{2\sigma^2}{\omega_0 Q_0} = \text{constant}.$$ Thus, for three periods of data, the optimal variance has decreased by a factor of 1/3. Similarly, for three periods of data the variance in the boxcar estimator has decreased by a factor of 1/3. This pattern continues for data that span an integer multiple of oscillation periods. To leading order in $1/Q$ the variance in the boxcar estimator remains a factor of 3/2 larger than the optimal.
The [autosum]{} estimator improves upon this by averaging the time series with itself displaced by 1/2 period. However, doing so requires an additional 1/2 period of raw data. The 3.5-period [autosum]{} estimating function is
$$\begin{split}
e_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{as}}} =& \frac{\Theta(t;-1.75\tau_0,1.25\tau_0) + \Theta(t;(-1.75+0.5)\tau_0,(1.25+0.5)\tau_0)}{6\tau_0}\\
=& 0.1667\frac{\Theta(t;-1.75\tau_0,-1.25\tau_0)}{\tau_0} + 0.3333\frac{\Theta(t;-1.25\tau_0,1.25\tau_0)}{\tau_0} + 0.1667\frac{\Theta(t;1.25\tau_0,1.75\tau_0)}{\tau_0}
\end{split}$$
where the “as” superscript represents the “autosum” estimating technique. From (\[yfrome\]) this gives the force-basis estimating function $$y_{\hat{c}}^{{\text{as}}} = \frac{0.1667}{2\pi m \omega_0} \bigl( \left(1-\sin(\omega_0 t)\right)\Theta(t;-1.75\tau_0,-1.25\tau_0) + 2 \Theta(t;-1.25\tau_0,1.25\tau_0) + \left(1+\sin(\omega_0 t)\right)\Theta(t;1.25\tau_0,1.75\tau_0)\bigr).
\label{ewthreeptfive}$$
The variance in the corresponding estimator is $112\%$ of optimal (this numerical result and others from the following discussion will be represented in Figure \[variancecomp1\]).
To illustrate why the [autosum]{} estimator is superior to the boxcar estimator ($112\%$ of optimal compared with $150\%$), recall that the optimal estimating function is a boxcar in the force-basis. In this basis, the displacement-basis boxcar is a constant plus a sinusoid whereas the [autosum]{} estimating function is simply a constant with smooth transitions to zero near the endpoints (sinusoidal profile). Figure \[eotwashpic\] shows the 3.5 period force-basis representation of the [autosum]{} estimating function as the sum of its parts. When viewed in the force basis, the [autosum]{} estimating function can be seen to be a better approximation to the optimal estimating function than is the displacement-basis boxcar.
![Graph of the 3.5 period [autosum]{} estimating function. The two dashed curves correspond to the data and the data displaced by half of one oscillation period. Their sum, the [autosum]{} estimating function, is the solid curve. Note that the sinusoidal terms contribute only near the ends of the observation interval, allowing the variance in the equilibrium displacement estimator to approach the optimal value as the duration of the data increases.[]{data-label="eotwashpic"}](figure1){width="45.00000%"}
Comparing the 3-period boxcar estimator with a 3.5-period [autosum]{} estimator is not entirely a fair comparison. The variance of a 3-period [autosum]{} estimator, which results from the sum of two mutually displaced 2.5-period boxcar estimating functions, is $114\%$ of optimal—still significantly better than the boxcar estimator. In addition, while the constituent 2.5-period boxcars are not individually orthogonal to the pendulum oscillation the 3-period [autosum]{} estimator is. Indeed, any [autosum]{} estimator is a force-only estimator because the unique summation scheme removes the effect of the free oscillation to zero order in $1/Q$; thus satisfying the conditions (\[req1\]) and (\[req2\]). On the other hand, any boxcar estimator that is a half-integer number of periods in duration will suffer a significant penalty of order $Q$ in variance inflation because of contamination from the pendulum oscillation (as shown in Paper I).
If we were to use the [autosum]{} estimator for a single period of data, then the resulting variance in the parameter estimator would be 150% of the optimal—identical to the variance for the boxcar. This can be seen the force-basis representation of this estimator shown in Figure \[eotwashpic\] where, if the flat middle portion of the [autosum]{} estimating function were to vanish, the remaining function is equivalent to the force-basis representation of the displacement-basis boxcar, a sinusoid. Thus, within a few periods of data the [autosum]{} estimator improves dramatically over the boxcar estimator.
The variance in the [autosum]{} estimator continues to converge toward the optimal estimator as the observation interval increases because the constant portion of the force-basis estimating function constitutes a larger and larger fraction of the total duration. In the force basis, the primary difference between the [autosum]{} estimator and the optimal estimator is the smooth transition at the edges from the constant value to zero for the former as opposed to the step function transition for the latter. For thermal noise, abrupt edges characterize the optimal estimator; however, the consequence of those edges is shown when white noise, which lacks a high-frequency cutoff, is present. We discuss the effects of these discontinuities in Section \[whitenoise\].
We now turn our attention to the trigonometric approach—a different, but straightforward improvement of the boxcar estimator. The trigonometric estimator results from including the sine and cosine components of the free oscillation of the pendulum in the fit. This can be accomplished, for example, using a general form of the estimating function $$e_{\hat{p}}(t) = \Theta(t;t_i,t_f)\left(k_0 + k_1 \cos(\omega_0 t) + k_2 \sin(\omega_0 t)\right)$$ and choosing the values of $k_0$, $k_1$, and $k_2$ such that the constraints (\[req1\]) and (\[req2\]) are satisfied and that the normalization is correct (as stated in equation (12) of Paper I). The trigonometric approach produces reasonable estimators for any duration of the sample. The 3.5-period estimating functions in the displacement and force bases are then $$e_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{tr}}} = \frac{\Theta(t;-1.75\tau_0,1.75\tau_0)}{\tau_0}(0.2905 + 0.0528\cos(\omega_0t))$$ and $$\begin{split}
y_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{tr}}} = & \frac{\Theta(t;-1.75\tau_0,1.75\tau_0)}{2\pi m\omega_0}\\
\times & (0.2905 + 0.0264\cos(\omega_0t) +0.0264\omega_0t\sin(\omega_0t))
\end{split}$$ respectively. The variance of the 3.5-period trigonometric estimator is 118% of optimal, much better than 150% for the 3-period trigonometric estimator (which is equivalent to the 3-period boxcar). Not only is this estimator acceptable, but in terms of variance (not variance times time) the 3.5-period trigonometric estimator is better than the 4-period trigonometric (or boxcar) estimator.
Although its force-basis estimating function always contains oscillatory terms and does not, therefore, resemble the constant profile of the optimal estimating function, the half-integer period trigonometric estimator is better than its integer period counterpart because there is a triangular envelope on the sine component of the oscillation which suppresses the contribution from that term. Figure \[comparison\] overlays the 3.5-period optimal, [autosum]{}, and trigonometric estimating functions. For longer observation times, the trigonometric estimator remains at 150% of optimal for integer periods and converges to $7/6 = 117\%$ of optimal for half-integer periods, if examined to first order in $1/Q$—this is unlike the [autosum]{} estimator which converges identically to the optimal. The top panel of Figure \[variancecomp1\] compares the variances in these three estimators multiplied by the duration of the sample for 1, 1.5, 3, 3.5, 9, and 9.5 periods of data. The motivation for using 3 and 9 periods stems from our examination (later in the discussion) of modulated force signals. The corresponding half-integer periods are included because the [autosum]{} estimator uses raw data that span a half-integer number of periods.
![A comparison of the 3.5-period optimal (solid), [autosum]{} (dashed), and trigonometric (dotted) force-basis estimating functions.[]{data-label="comparison"}](figure2){width="45.00000%"}
Since the variance in the [autosum]{} estimator approaches that in the optimal estimator as the duration of the data increases, a practical limit to the length of the observations is set primarily by factors that lie beyond mathematical considerations. These could include unavoidable non-Gaussian disturbances that partition the realization or low-frequency noise (drift).
![Comparison of variances in the optimal estimator (black), [autosum]{} estimator (dark gray), and the trigonometric estimator (light gray) in the presence of thermal noise (top panel) and white noise (bottom panel) for observation intervals equal to 1, 1.5, 3, 3.5, 9, and 9.5 oscillation periods. For white noise, the variance in the optimal thermal-noise estimator would be infinite and is therefore not shown. Here, the white noise PSD is normalized to match the zero frequency limit of the thermal noise PSD \[see (\[whitenormalize\])\][]{data-label="variancecomp1"}](figure3){width="45.00000%"}
White Noise and Mixed Noise\[whitenoise\]
-----------------------------------------
So far we have examined the effects of thermal noise alone on the variances in these estimators. A real system will always display some white displacement noise as well. For white noise the variance of a given parameter estimator is most easily obtained in the displacement basis $$\text{var}(\hat{P}_{{\text{wh}}}) = \frac{\eta}{2}{\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}e_{\hat{p}}^2 dt$$ where $\eta$ is the (constant) PSD of the noise. Since the displacement-basis estimating functions involve derivatives of the force-basis estimating functions (see (\[eqofmotiontrans\])), only those force-basis estimating functions that are smooth (i.e. second-order differentiable) will have a well defined variance in the presence of white displacement noise. The step-function transition exhibited by the estimating functions that are optimal for thermal noise will have Dirac delta functions and their derivatives in the displacement basis. Thus, the high-frequency components of white noise are infinitely amplified by those delta functions and the variances of the estimators diverge to infinity.
The lower panel of Figure \[variancecomp1\] displays the variances in each of the two approximate estimators for the case of white noise. For comparison, we normalize the white noise PSD so that it is equal to the zero frequency limit of the thermal noise PSD. That is, $$\begin{split}
S[\delta X_{{\text{wh}}}(t);\nu] &= S[\delta X_{{\text{th}}}(t);\nu=0]\\
&= \frac{4k_{{\text{B}}}T\xi}{\kappa^2}\\
&= \frac{4\sigma^2}{Q_0\omega_0}.
\label{whitenormalize}
\end{split}$$ We see from Figure \[variancecomp1\] that the trigonometric approach is always superior to the [autosum]{} approach for the case of white noise, although the difference may be small.
The optimal estimator for white displacement noise is the boxcar estimator. Both the trigonometric and the [autosum]{} estimators are equivalent to the boxcar estimator for a single period of data, as can be seen in both panels of Figure \[variancecomp1\]. For 1.5 periods, the trigonometric estimator has smaller variance than the [autosum]{} estimator for both noise processes.
From the calculations in this section we can do more than qualitatively compare the two approximate estimators; we can identify the ratio of white to thermal noise where one approach becomes superior to the other. Following the PSD normalization in (\[whitenormalize\]), we state the mixing ratios as the fraction of the total noise power contributed from a given noise process, white or thermal. Table \[noisemixresults\] outlines the results of this test.
Periods 3 3.5 9 9.5
---------------------- ----- ----- ----- -----
White Noise Fraction 82% 55% 94% 84%
: \[noisemixresults\]Noise mixing ratios for various sample durations where the trigonometric estimators become superior to the [autosum]{} estimators. The [autosum]{} estimators are superior when the white noise contribution is less than the stated amount.
These results indicate that a knowledge of the dominant noise components and their relative importance is a necessary ingredient informing the choice of the data acquisition protocol, sample duration, and the parameter estimation technique to be applied. Moreover, an intuitive understanding of how the general shape of an estimating function depends upon sample duration—and consequently affects the estimator variance (see Figures \[eotwashpic\] and \[comparison\])—may prove a valuable guide when confronted with realistic noise backgrounds or further modifications to the noise PSD. As an example, we later explore the case for thermal noise with a $1/f$ PSD where we apply the ideas discussed here.
Improved Estimator for Mixed Noise
----------------------------------
In this section, we present a method to identify an improved estimator for the case of mixed white and thermal noise. The development of this new estimator is accomplished in the basis of the driving force which we claim enables a more intuitive understanding of the effects of noise in the system under study. We will call this estimator the “[mixed]{}” estimator.
Consider Figure \[comparison\], particularly the curves for the [autosum]{} and the optimal thermal estimating functions. The sinusoidal transition near the ends of the [autosum]{} estimating function is the primary difference between that estimator and the optimal thermal estimator. These transitions are responsible for the excess variance in the [autosum]{} estimator in the presence of thermal noise. Yet, when white noise is present, it is these smooth transitions that prevent the variance in the [autosum]{} estimator from diverging to infinity. In the case where white noise makes a very small contribution to the total noise, neither the optimal thermal-noise estimator (which fails completely) nor the [autosum]{} estimator is the best choice. What is required is an estimating function that resembles more closely the optimal estimating function but that has smooth, rather than abrupt, transitions near the endpoints.
One solution is to have a flat estimating function with sinusoidal transitions near the ends—like the [autosum]{} estimator—but where the transition frequency can be much faster than the oscillation frequency. One can define a class of functions, with a single parameter, that are flat in the force basis and that have smooth, sinusoidal transitions at the ends. This parameter, which determines the steepness of the transition, can be interpreted as the ratio of the transition frequency to the oscillation frequency. The [autosum]{} estimator is the special case where the value of the parameter is unity and the transition frequency is equal to the oscillation frequency.
Now, given a specific mixture of white and thermal noise, one can choose the value of this parameter that minimizes the total variance in the estimators of the oscillator parameters; the result gives the “[mixed]{}” estimator. We note that the value of the transition frequency cannot be left completely unconstrained—it must be larger than one over twice the data duration ($\omega_{\text{trans}} \geq 1/2\tau$). Figure \[varvscc\] shows the variance in this class of estimators as a function of the ratio of the transition frequency to the oscillation frequency for a single period of data and where a mixture of 99% thermal noise and 1% white noise is present. In this case, the minimum variance (and hence the [mixed]{} estimator) occurs when the transition frequency is roughly 3.2 times the frequency of the pendulum’s free oscillation.
![This graph shows the estimator variance (solid curve) for the described class of estimators as a function of the transition frequency when the noise is a mixture of 99% thermal noise and 1% white noise. The thin solid line is the minimum variance for this mixture as calculated numerically. The dotted curve and the dashed curve show the variance contributions from the thermal noise component and the white noise component respectively. The minimum occurs near 3.2 times the resonance frequency.[]{data-label="varvscc"}](figure4){width="45.00000%"}
Figures \[newestimatoryp\] and \[newestimatorep\] show the [mixed]{} estimating function in the force basis and the displacement basis respectively for the case in question. These figures also show the respective boxcar estimating functions (equivalent to both the trigonometric and the [autosum]{} estimating functions) as well as the estimating function that results from a discrete least squares analysis using 100 sample points.
![Driving-force basis estimating functions for a single period of data where 99% of the noise is thermal noise and 1% is white. The dotted curve is the optimal estimating function, found numerically from 100 discrete points in time. The dashed line is the boxcar estimating function (equivalent to the single period [autosum]{} and trigonometric estimating functions). The solid curve is the [mixed]{} estimating function that results from the procedure discussed in this section.[]{data-label="newestimatoryp"}](figure5){width="45.00000%"}
![Displacement basis estimating functions for a single period of data where 99% of the noise is thermal noise and 1% is white. The dotted curve is the optimal estimating function, found numerically from 100 discrete points in time. The dashed line is the boxcar estimating function (equivalent to the single period [autosum]{} and trigonometric estimating functions). The solid curve is the [mixed]{} estimating function that results from the procedure discussed in this section.[]{data-label="newestimatorep"}](figure6){width="45.00000%"}
These figures stand as evidence to support our claim regarding the improved intuition that comes from working in the driving-force basis. Consider Figure \[newestimatorep\]. It is not clear that the sinusoidal “teeth” at the ends of the displacement-basis representation of the [mixed]{} estimator are a reasonable approximation to the smoother transitions of the mixed-noise, optimal estimator (and ultimately the derivatives of Dirac delta functions given in Equation (\[opthermep\])). If one were working in the displacement basis alone, one must consider the subtle interplay between the dynamical characteristics of the system (e.g. the pendulum mass and torsional spring constant) and how the effects of force noise are manifest in that system before the [mixed]{} estimator might appear to qualify as an approximation to the optimal version.
On the other hand, from Figure \[newestimatoryp\] (the representation of the [mixed]{} estimator in the force basis) it can be seen that the [mixed]{} estimator is a function that closely resembles the optimal estimator. Thus, from this perspective, the quantitative agreement shown in Figure \[varvscc\] (the minimum of the thick solid curve compared to the thin solid line) is not surprising. Moreover, the [mixed]{} estimator was constructed in a straightforward manner by taking the [autosum]{} estimator and allowing the middle portion to become more flattened as the transitions become more steep—approaching the step function transition of the optimal thermal-noise estimator. Making a similar construction in the displacement basis is less obvious since one must devise an appropriate approximation to a pathological feature (i.e. the derivative of a Dirac delta function) rather than a step function.
The [mixed]{} estimator is useful for several reasons, of which we mention two. First, one now has an analytic formulation of an estimator that is optimized for any specific mixture of white and thermal noise. While the [mixed]{} estimator may not match the true optimal estimator exactly, it will be the optimal estimator subject to the constraint that it has the described functional form. The [mixed]{} estimator will perform at least as well as the [autosum]{} estimator in the presence of white noise, as well as the optimal thermal estimator in the presence of thermal noise, and it will perform better than either the optimal thermal or the [autosum]{} estimators for an admixture of white and thermal noise. As shown in Figure \[varvscc\] the difference in variance between the mixed-noise optimal estimator (found numerically) and the [mixed]{} estimator is quite small.
A second use of the [mixed]{} estimator is that, unlike the [autosum]{} estimator, this estimator is defined for data durations that are less than 1/2 of an oscillation period in length. The [autosum]{} estimator is identical to the boxcar estimator for data that is one period in length. As the duration of the data approaches 1/2 of an oscillation period, the [autosum]{} estimator approaches two dirac delta functions located at $\pm 1/4 \tau_0$ and the variance in the [autosum]{} estimator diverges to infinity. Since the [mixed]{} estimator is not constrained to transition at the oscillation frequency, it can be used if there were a need to estimate the parameters of the system using data from only a fraction of the period.
Fitting for Multiple Parameters\[multiparams\]
==============================================
Before expanding the material that we have developed thus far to include multiple parameters, we first give a brief review of linear, optimal, multi-parameter fits for discrete data. We then generalize the discrete case for use in fitting a continuous time series. For white noise the techniques for discrete data are readily extended to continuous data because the data covariance matrix is a multiple of the identity matrix and thus can be trivially inverted. For thermal noise, the generalization from discrete to continuous requires that we develop an equivalent formulation of the discrete case that relies on knowledge of the optimal single-parameter filters, which we derive in Paper I, rather than an explicit inversion of the data covariance matrix.
Linear Multi-Parameter Fits for Discrete Data
---------------------------------------------
For a multi-parameter fit with discrete data, the data from a particular realization are assembled into a data vector and the parameters into a parameter vector $$\begin{split}
{\textbf{x}} & = \{ x_1,x_2, \dots, x_n \} \\
{\textbf{p}} & = \{ p_1,p_2, \dots, p_m \}.
\end{split}$$ Following the convention of Paper I, the true, physical value of the parameters will be specified by the vector ${\boldsymbol{\rho}}$. The partial derivatives of the data with respect to each of the parameters constitutes the design matrix, ${\overline{\textbf{q}}}$. To avoid confusion between vectors and matrices, matrices will be indicated by an overbar. The data vector can then be decomposed into a signal vector, the product of the design matrix with the physical parameter vector, and a noise vector $\delta {\textbf{x}}$ which is a realization of the random vector $\delta {\textbf{X}}$ $${\textbf{x}} = {\overline{\textbf{q}}} \ {\boldsymbol{\rho}} + \delta {\textbf{x}}.$$ The noise covariance matrix $${\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X = \langle
\delta {\textbf{X}}\otimes \delta{\textbf{X}}
\rangle.$$ characterizes the second moments of the noise ensemble, and a parameter estimate vector is obtained by contracting an estimating matrix ${\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}$ with the data vector, $$\hat{{\textbf{p}}} = {\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}} \ {\textbf{x}}.$$
Many books (see e.g. @hamilton64) develop the general theory of optimal, least-squares, parameter estimation for discrete data. Here we simply quote one of the main results. The optimal estimating matrix that returns the minimum variance estimate of all parameters in the presence of the noise $\delta {\textbf{X}}$ is $$\label{opes}
{\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} = \left( {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} \right)^{-1} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1}$$ We also note that the design matrix and the optimal estimating matrix are pseudo-inverses (a subclass of Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverses) having the property $${\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} = \left( {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} \right) ^{-1} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} = {\textbf{I}}.$$ If this orthonormality condition were not met, a bias would be present in the parameter estimates.
Optimal White Noise Multi-Parameter Fit for Continuous Data
-----------------------------------------------------------
Although the [autosum]{} method pre-filters the data and the trigonometric method adds two additional parameters, both methods ultimately fit the data in the manner that is optimal for white noise. Thus it is instructive to consider optimal, white noise, multi-parameter fitting in the continuous limit. For discrete white noise fits, the data covariance matrix is a multiple of the identity matrix, and the optimal multi-parameter estimating matrix in (\[opes\]) simplifies to $${\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} = \left( {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} \right)^{-1} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ .$$ The transition from discrete to continuous data is then straightforward—the design matrix becomes a vector of functions that is multiplied by the parameter vector to produce the multi-parameter signal. Thus, $$x(t;{\textbf{p}}) = {\textbf{q}}(t) \cdot {\textbf{p}}.$$ The estimating matrix becomes a vector of functions such that $$\label{paramvec}
\hat{{\textbf{p}}} = {\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}{\textbf{e}}_{\hat{p}}(t) \ x(t) dt.$$ The design vector and the optimal estimating vector of functions satisfy the orthonormality condition, $${\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}{\textbf{e}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}}(t) \otimes {\textbf{q}}(t)dt = {\textbf{I}}$$ where $\otimes$ represents an outer product.
In analogy with the discrete white noise case, the optimal estimating functions are obtained from the vector of design functions, $${\textbf{e}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}}(t) = \left( {\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}{\textbf{q}}(t) \otimes {\textbf{q}}(t)
dt \right)^{-1} \ {\textbf{q}}(t)
\label{whiteeop}$$ This equation essentially states that the optimal white noise estimating functions are linear combinations of the single-parameter matched filters such that the estimating functions are orthogonal to the design functions of the remaining parameters[@hamilton64].
Optimal Thermal-Noise Multi-Parameter Fit for Continuous Data
-------------------------------------------------------------
We now consider an alternative formulation of the discrete fit that does not use an explicit inversion of the data covariance matrix. This formulation is desirable when analyzing continuous data, since inverting the covariance matrix would require finding the Green’s function that diagonalizes the covariance operator. Avoiding this step simplifies the calculations.
Consider the case of a single-parameter fit to discrete data. The design matrix and estimating matrix are then vectors. The optimal estimating matrix $${\textbf{e}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} = \left( {\textbf{q}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1} \ {\textbf{q}} \right)^{-1} \ {\textbf{q}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1}$$ is also a vector and the term $\left( {\textbf{q}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1} \ {\textbf{q}} \right)^{-1}$ is a multiplicative constant. From this result, we define the optimal single-parameter filter, $${\textbf{f}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} = {\textbf{q}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1}$$ and allow the constant mentioned before to assume the role of normalization.
To extend this to multi-parameter fits, let us provisionally define an optimal multi-parameter filter matrix as $$\label{multifiltervec}
{\overline{\textbf{f}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} \equiv {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1}$$ where each row of the filter matrix is the optimal single-parameter filter for the corresponding parameter. In addition, let us assume that the optimal estimating matrix can be obtained from this filter matrix through multiplication by some square matrix ${\overline{\textbf{n}}}$. Since the optimal estimating matrix and the design matrix are pseudo-inverses $$\label{estimatingmatrix}
{\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} = {\overline{\textbf{n}}} \ {\overline{\textbf{f}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} = {\textbf{I}}$$ the matrix ${\overline{\textbf{n}}}$ must have the value, $${\overline{\textbf{n}}} = \left( {\overline{\textbf{f}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} \right)^{-1}.$$ Examination of (\[estimatingmatrix\]) shows that the estimating matrix is $${\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} = {\overline{\textbf{n}}} \ {\overline{\textbf{f}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} = \left( {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} \right)^{-1} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}}^T \ {\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1},$$ in agreement with the optimal estimating matrix (\[opes\]). Thus, our assumption that ${\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} = {\overline{\textbf{n}}} \ {\overline{\textbf{f}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}}$ is seen to be justified. Moreover, we now have an equation for the optimal estimating matrix $$\label{opem}
{\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} = \left( {\overline{\textbf{f}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}} \ {\overline{\textbf{q}}} \right)^{-1} \ {\overline{\textbf{f}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}},$$ which does not require explicit knowledge of ${\overline{\textbf{m}}}_X^{\ -1}$.
With equation (\[opem\]) one can construct the optimal estimating matrix given the optimal single-parameter filter functions regardless of the means by which those functions were identified (recall that each row of the optimal filter matrix is merely the optimal filter obtained from a single parameter fit). While the expressions for the optimal filter matrix (\[multifiltervec\]) and the optimal estimating matrix (\[estimatingmatrix\]) are not obviously generalized for continuous data, taking the expression given in (\[opem\]) to the continuous limit is more straightforward since the single-parameter filters readily generalize to functions of time. This generalization was an important part of Paper I; and for thermal noise, the continuous single-parameter filters can be calculated using equation (40) of that paper.
For continuous data, the resulting vector of optimal estimating functions is obtained from the vector of single-parameter filters and the vector of design functions. $${\textbf{e}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}}(t) = \left( {\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}}{\textbf{f}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}}(t) \otimes {\textbf{q}}(t)
dt \right)^{-1} \ {\textbf{f}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}}(t)$$ Similar to the white noise case, this demonstrates the important result that the optimal thermal-noise estimating functions are linear combinations of the optimal, single-parameter filters. We apply this information to a multi-parameter model and study its consequences in the next section.
Fitting to a Four-Parameter Model\[section5\]
=============================================
The results from this article as well as from our previous work are valid for a constant-force signal. As stated in the introduction, such a signal is indistinguishable from the normal equilibrium displacement of the oscillator. To break this degeneracy one must modulate the force signal. We maintained in Paper I that our constant-force results were readily applicable to modulated signals; we now show when that assertion is justified.
For the purposes of discussion, we choose to modulate the force signal at 2/3 the oscillation frequency $\omega_s = 2 \omega_0 / 3$. For this choice of $\omega_s$, the displacement amplitude is a factor of $$\frac{1}{1-(\omega_s/\omega_0)^2} = \frac{9}{5}$$ larger than for a stationary force of the same magnitude. This raises the question of whether we should compare the constant force results to a modulated signal of the same displacement amplitude or the same driving-force amplitude. The answer to this question depends upon the experimental approach that one employs for a given experiment. For a torsion pendulum experiment that modulates the signal by smoothly changing the position of a source mass, it is the magnitude of the applied force that remains constant as the modulation frequency increases. Thus, a comparison of equivalent driving-force amplitude provides a more useful comparison of signal-to-noise ratio.
We parameterize the oscillator’s response as $$x(t) = \frac{9}{5}\frac{a_s}{\kappa}\cos(\omega_s t) + \frac{9}{5}\frac{b_s}{\kappa}\sin(\omega_s t) + c_0 + c_1t
\label{parameterizationeq}$$ so the variance in signal parameters $a_s$ and $b_s$ reflects the same uncertainty in the applied force as an equivalent variance in the $c$ parameter introduced in the earlier, single-parameter sections. We rename $c$ as $c_0$, which corresponds to the equilibrium displacement of the pendulum mass in the absence of the external force, and we add the parameter $c_1$ to account for a linear drift in the equilibrium displacement, which commonly occurs as the torsion fibre relaxes.
Modulated Signal and Thermal Noise
----------------------------------
With the mathematical tools presented in the previous section we calculate the variance of the optimal, multi-parameter estimators for the signal parameters $a_s$ and $b_s$ when accounting for thermal noise exhibited by the oscillator. We compare those variances with the variances of the estimators from the trigonometric and [autosum]{} approaches. The results of these calculations for 3, 3.5, 9 and 9.5 periods are given in Figure \[multifigure1\].
![Comparison of the estimator variances for cosine (top) and sine (bottom) signal amplitudes for the multiparameter fit (see (\[parameterizationeq\])) using the optimal thermal-noise estimator, the [autosum]{} estimator, and the trigonometric estimator in the presence of thermal noise. The grayscale convention is the optimal estimator (black), the [autosum]{} estimator (dark gray), and the trigonometric estimator (light gray).[]{data-label="multifigure1"}](figure7){width="45.00000%"}
We see in Figure \[multifigure1\] that modulating the signal causes the optimal thermal noise variance to be roughly a factor of two larger than the variance for the constant force estimator. This factor of two could be recovered if the force were modulated as a square wave instead of a sinusoid—a technique occasionally implemented [@hoskins85; @cowsik90]. Regardless, sinusoidal modulation offers the advantage of simultaneously measuring both quadrature components of the signal. Thus, if one requires knowledge of both of these parameters, then no measurement time is lost. Moreover, sinusoidal modulation of the signal can help reject gravitational systematics with higher azimuthal symmetries (such as $\cos(3 \omega_s t)$ or $\sin(3 \omega_s t)$).
When fitting these parameters optimally for thermal noise, the variances of the several sine amplitude estimators are larger than those of the cosine amplitudes. This effect is due to the greater functional overlap between the $b_s$ and $c_1$ parameters compared to that between $a_s$ and $c_0$. The same effects arise for the case of the optimal white noise fit to these same four parameters. Indeed, the variances of the optimal thermal-noise estimators are identical to those of the optimal white noise estimators without the factor of 9/5 in the expressions for $a_s$ and $b_s$, and with the “equivalent” white noise power defined as in (\[whitenormalize\]) of Section \[whitenoise\].
To see why this is so, let us first denote the case of an optimal white estimator in the presence of white noise with the subscript “$I$” and the case of an optimal thermal-noise estimator in the presence of thermal noise with the subscript “$II$”. The component functions of the design vector for the optimal white-noise fit are then, ${\textbf{q}}_{I}(t) = \{\cos (\omega_s t)$, $\sin(\omega_s t)$, $1$, $t$}. For the optimal thermal-noise fit (factors of 9/5 included) they are ${\textbf{q}}_{II}(t) = \{9/5 \cos (\omega_s t)$, $9/5 \sin(\omega_s t)$, $1$, $t$}. The stated equivalence arises because the four functions of ${\textbf{q}}_{II}(t)$ in the driving-force basis are directly proportional to the four functions of ${\textbf{q}}_{I}(t)$ in the displacement basis. That is, to zero-order in 1/Q, $$\Omega\left[{\textbf{q}}_{II}(t)\right] = \kappa {\textbf{q}}_{I}(t).$$ Since all four components of ${\textbf{q}}_{II}(t)$ are non-zero, it can be shown that the optimal estimators for thermal noise must be force-only, and that they may be calculated in the driving-force basis. Specifically there would be an analog to (\[whiteeop\]) in Section \[multiparams\] with ${\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}}$ replaced with ${\overline{\textbf{y}}}_{\hat{p}}^{{\text{op}}}$ and with ${\textbf{q}}(t)$ replaced with $\Omega\left[{\textbf{q}}(t)\right]$. From this, one then gets $${\overline{\textbf{y}}}_{\hat{p}II}^{{\text{op}}} = {\overline{\textbf{e}}}_{\hat{p}I}^{{\text{op}}}/ \kappa.$$ From (\[whitenormalize\]), one notes a distinguishing factor of $\kappa^2$ between the driving-force PSD of case $II$, $4k_{{\text{B}}}T\xi$, and the displacement PSD of case $I$. When calculating the variances in the parameter estimates, all of these factors of $\kappa$ cancel, yielding identical values for both the optimal white estimator with white noise and the optimal thermal estimator with thermal noise.
For the [autosum]{} estimators, pre-filtering the data leads one to ask whether the signal amplitude is thereby reduced by a factor of two. In fact, it is; however, the noise is also filtered. For a long data duration the FED is narrowbanded around the signal frequency and the ratio of the attenuation in the signal and the attenuation in the noise is very nearly unity. In this manner, the [autosum]{} estimator approaches the optimal just as it did for the static case presented in Section \[secthreea\]. In essence, this argument is the Fourier representation of that discussion.
Unlike the [autosum]{} estimators, the trigonometric estimators do not converge to the optimal for a modulated signal. The narrowbanding argument from the previous paragraph does not apply for the trigonometric estimators because a significant contribution from the resonance frequency is required in order to match the necessary boundary conditions of a force-only estimator—that it have smooth transitions to zero. Consequently, the effects on the variance of matching these boundary conditions are not localized to the beginning and end of the estimating function, and thus their contributions do not diminish to zero with longer duration measurements.
The DC-signal trigonometric estimators discussed in Section \[comparisonsec\] may provide a good qualitative understanding of the modulated-signal trigonometric estimators in this section. However, a comparison of Figures \[variancecomp1\] and \[multifigure1\] show important quantitative differences in the estimator variances between the modulated and static cases. For example, a common assumption that the DC signal is a special case of the cosine component of the modulated signal proves incorrect as the variance of the cosine amplitude is larger than optimal by a factor of two instead the factor of $3/2$ for the static case of Section \[comparisonsec\]. Thus, a specific calculation of the estimator variances is required to achieve reliable numerical results for a modulated signal.
Modulated Signal and White Noise
--------------------------------
The white-noise counterparts to the thermal-noise results in Figure \[multifigure1\] are shown in Figure \[multifigure2\]. The estimator variances in the presence of white noise are generally a factor of $(5/9)^2$ smaller than the corresponding estimators in the presence of thermal noise. This follows because the displacement basis signal becomes 9/5 larger while the additive noise remains the same. For thermal noise, the response of the oscillator causes both signal and noise to increase by the same factor, leaving the signal-to-noise ratio unchanged.
![Comparison of the estimator variances for cosine (top) and sine (bottom) signal amplitudes for the multiparameter fit (see Eqn. \[parameterizationeq\]) using the [autosum]{} estimator and the trigonometric estimator in the presence of white noise. The grayscale convention is the same as in Figure \[variancecomp1\].[]{data-label="multifigure2"}](figure8){width="45.00000%"}
The trigonometric estimators are nearly optimal in the presence of white noise because they are, in essence, optimal white-noise fits but with two additional terms, $a_0 \cos(\omega_0 t)$ and $b_0 \sin(\omega_0 t)$. The differences from the optimal case are due to the functional overlap of $a_0$ and $b_0$ with the other four parameters. Since these overlaps tend to decrease as the data duration increases, the trigonometric estimators converge to the optimal.
When compared with the optimal estimators for either noise process, the [autosum]{} estimators are much closer to optimal for thermal noise than they are for white noise. The reason for this behaviour is subtle, as the arguments for high performance of [autosum]{} estimators in the presence of thermal noise—that the central portion of the $y_p$’s approximate matched filters well and that only the first and last quarter periods deviate significantly from optimal—would seem to apply just as well to the estimating functions in the displacement basis that are used to calculate the white noise variances. The reason that the [autosum]{} estimators perform less well in the presence of white noise becomes clear in Figure \[compareeandy\]. By comparing the $e_p$ and $y_p$ for the sine amplitude in the 3.5-period trigonometric estimator we see that, by construction, the $e_p$ has jump discontinuities. The $y_p$, on the other hand, is obtained through a convolution of the $e_p$ (see (\[yfrome\]) in Section \[oneperiod\]) and therefore must be a continuous function. The $e_p$, with its jump discontinuities, is thus more free to deviate from an optimal matched filter.
![Comparison of the $e_p$ (top) and $y_p$ (bottom) for the [autosum]{} estimator for the 3.5-period sine amplitude. The jump discontinuities that are present in the $e_p$ give the [autosum]{} estimators larger variance than the trigonometric estimators in the presence of white displacement noise. For thermal noise the same does not occur because, in the basis where the thermal driving force is white and the $y_p$ is used, there are no such discontinuities.[]{data-label="compareeandy"}](figure9){width="45.00000%"}
Mixed Noise
-----------
What about mixed noise and multiparameter fits? For a modulated signal and with the addition of the polynomial parameters $c_0$ and $c_1$, we can identify the ratios of thermal to white noise where the [autosum]{} estimation technique gives equal variances to the trigonometric approach as done in Section \[whitenoise\]. These results are given in table \[noisemixmulti\].
Periods 3 3.5 9 9.5
---------------------- ----- ----- ----- -----
White Noise Fraction 79% 82% 95% 94%
: \[noisemixmulti\]Noise mixing ratios for various sample durations where the trigonometric estimators become superior to the [autosum]{} estimators for the four-parameter model discussed. The [autosum]{} estimators are superior when the white noise contribution is less than the stated amount.
For a measurement scheme in which white noise dominates, the experimenter should likely consider increasing the modulation frequency closer to resonance in an effort to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (the signal-to-noise ratio for thermal noise is independent of the modulation frequency). In such a situation a resonant method would be suitable. With some modification to accommodate non-linear fits, the techniques developed in this article can be applied to resonant and other large-oscillation-amplitude detection schemes [@cowsik90; @boynton07] though a detailed exploration of that topic lies beyond the scope of this work.
1/f Thermal Noise
-----------------
For modern torsion balance experiments that are conducted at high vacuum, the predominant damping/noise mechanism is the fibre dissipating energy rather than residual gas in the vacuum chamber. @saulson90 states that for this scenario a $1/f$ profile is a better approximation to the driving-force PSD than the white driving force that is characteristic of a classical dashpot (although $1/f$ is the common term for this noise process, we use $1/\nu$ in our formulas in order to avoid confusion with filter functions). Mathematically, such a spectrum is less tractable, so there is no simple method for finding the optimal estimating functions as for the oscillator with dashpot damping.
Nevertheless, we can still calculate and compare the variances of our estimating functions. We compute these quantities in the driving-force basis since it is still easier than in the displacement basis, but we must now numerically integrate the product of the PSD and the FED (see (\[varequation\])). We first note that this revised damping of the oscillator is frequency dependent with a functional form similar to that of the driving force: $$\xi(\nu) = \frac{\xi_0 \nu_0}{\nu}.$$ where $\nu_0 = \omega_0/(2\pi)$ is the resonance frequency (in Hz) and $\xi_0$ is the velocity damping coefficient that corresponds to the resonance frequency. This form constrains the observed damping at the resonance frequency to be the same for both $1/f$ thermal noise and for dashpot thermal noise. The variance in the parameter estimators for $1/f$ noise is then $$\begin{split}
\text{var}(\hat{P}_{1/f}) &= \frac{1}{2}{\int_{0}^{\infty}}F^2[y_{\hat{p}}] S[\Omega[\delta X_{1/f}]] d\nu \\
&= \frac{1}{2}{\int_{0}^{\infty}}F^2[y_{\hat{p}}] \left[4k_{{\text{B}}} T \xi (\nu) \right] d\nu \\
&= 2k_{{\text{B}}}T\xi_0{\int_{0}^{\infty}}F^2[y_{\hat{p}}]\frac{\nu_0}{\nu}d\nu.
\end{split}$$ Here the $1/f$ subscript signifies that the driving-force PSD has a $1/f$ profile.
The zero-frequency PSD singularity for $1/f$ noise requires the FED of the parameter estimating function $F^2[y_p]$ to have a corresponding zero in order for the variance to be well defined. That is, $y_p$ must be orthogonal to a constant force signal. The estimating functions for $a_s$ and $b_s$ are orthogonal to the constant signal parameterized by $c_0$, and since they are force-only estimators, it can be shown that their corresponding $y_p$’s are also orthogonal to a constant. Thus, the variance of the estimators for $a_s$ and $b_s$ remain finite. The variances for all three methods—optimal thermal, [autosum]{}, and trigonometric—are shown in Figure \[oneoverffigure\] for different observation intervals. Once again, the signal frequency $\omega_s = 2 \omega_0 / 3$.
![Comparison of the estimator variances for cosine (top) and sine (bottom) signal amplitudes for the multiparameter fit (see (\[parameterizationeq\])) using the optimal thermal-noise estimator, [autosum]{} estimator and the trigonometric estimator in the presence of $1/f$ noise. The grayscale convention is the same as in Figure \[variancecomp1\].[]{data-label="oneoverffigure"}](figure10){width="45.00000%"}
Comparing variance in the optimal thermal-noise estimator for the case of $1/f$ thermal noise (Figure \[oneoverffigure\]) with dashpot thermal noise (Figure \[multifigure1\]) we see that the variance with $1/f$ noise is larger by about 50%. This is largely because that noise is greater by 50% at the chosen signal frequency. We also see from Figure \[oneoverffigure\] that the optimal thermal-noise estimator is slightly inferior to the [autosum]{} estimator for some values of the sample duration—showing that the optimal thermal-noise estimator is not the true optimal estimator for $1/f$ thermal noise, as expected. However, a comparison of the results for $1/f$ thermal noise in Figure \[oneoverffigure\] with the results of both dashpot thermal noise in Figure \[multifigure1\] and white displacment noise in Figure \[multifigure2\], indicates that dashpot thermal noise is the better model to guide the development of an estimator for $1/f$ thermal noise.
Discussion
==========
The topics discussed in this paper illustrate the differences between two selected parameter estimation techniques relative to the optimal technique for thermal noise dominated experiments. A major simplification in the study and application of parameter estimation for this case results from working in the basis of the thermal driving force where the PSD of the noise is white. Equations (\[eqofmotiontrans\]) and (\[yfrome\]) show how to transform between the displacement basis and the driving-force basis.
In the driving-force basis, analysis practices that are commonly applied to data exhibiting white displacement noise can be utilized for estimation in the presence of thermal noise. Working in that basis allows better insight to and understanding of the results from various approximate methods that experimentalists generally employ. We also showed that in the driving-force basis, one can more readily construct estimators, such as the [mixed]{} estimator, that perform well for the case where the noise is a mixture of white and thermal.
Additionally, working in the driving-force basis ensures that a parameter estimator is insensitive to the effects of the resonance peak. This feature also provides immunity to transient oscillations induced by disturbances that occur prior to the data sample, as discussed in Paper I. A further advantage, for modulated signals, is that the signal frequency does not have to be commensurate with the natural oscillation frequency. In fact, there can be two or more signal frequencies that need not be commensurate with each other.
While the approach we outline may be applied generally, the interesting calculations can be truncated to leading order in $1/Q$ without losing value to an experimentalist. Specifically, meaningful results are obtained—and with greater facility—using the undamped approximation for the signal and estimating functions. Besides making analytic calculations simpler, working in the driving-force basis makes leading-order numerical solutions more robust against artificial influence of power from the resonance peak.
For a real torsion pendulum experiment, the superposition of several noise processes is a challenge that requires one to adopt a data analysis scheme that performs well under a variety of circumstances, while necessarily being optimal in none. We have shown that the [autosum]{} estimation technique, formerly used by the Eöt-Wash group, is not only well behaved in the presence of white displacement noise, thermal noise, and $1/f$ noise but approaches the performance of the optimal for both white and thermal noise as the duration of the observations increase. For $1/f$ noise, the [autosum]{} estimator also performs well relative to the other techniques studied in this paper, though the singular nature of the $1/f$ noise spectrum renders identifying its corresponding optimal estimators problematic. By using the dashpot thermal noise results as a guide, one can correctly infer that the [autosum]{} estimator is superior to the trigonometric estimator for $1/f$ thermal noise; whereas if one had used the white noise results as a guide, one might erroneously assume the trigonometric estimator to be superior.
Even with the mathematical tools developed here and in Paper I, there remain several issues that are important to a modern experimental research program that lie beyond the scope of this paper. One obvious example is our *a priori* assumption regarding knowledge of the oscillation frequency and quality factor of the pendulum. One would prefer to identify these quantities from the same data used to estimate the other parameters of the system—especially if the experiment uses a pendulum that undergoes large amplitude oscillations. Moreover, for extension to the case of large amplitude oscillations, the nonlinear nature of both the oscillation frequency and the decay constant require an additional generalization of the techniques discussed here. This is even true of the linear signal parameters of non-resonant, higher harmonic methods, such as the treatment of the second harmonic we employ in our own experiments because signal-to-noise ratio considerations require operation with large-amplitude oscillations [@boynton00]. We leave for further investigation the extension of techniques introduced here to the optimal estimation of multiple, nonlinear parameters and its implications for torsion pendulum experiments.
We gratefully acknowledge NSF Grants PHY- 0244762, -060692, and -071923 for support of this work. JHS recognizes the generous support of the Brinson Foundation and Fermilab under DOE contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359.
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| 2024-06-02T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5231 |
Joel Krautter's campaign for Representative of House District 35 has announced the endorsement of Jerry Falwell Jr., the President of Liberty University, the world's largest Christian university, located in Lynchburg, Virginia. Falwell is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and was an early supporter of President Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Falwell's statement is as follows:
I'm glad to give my personal endorsement and support to Joel Krautter in his campaign for the Montana legislature. I've known Joel for over a decade since he was a student at Liberty University and have been able to see his leadership in action on many occasions, especially as he served as president of the Liberty graduating class of 2011. Joel is an effective leader because he excels at building relationships, which is an essential asset to have in a legislator. Joel will bring conservative problem-solving leadership to Helena that will make a positive impact for Richland County and Montana. Our country needs more leaders like Joel Krautter involved in the political process and I hope you'll support him with your vote in the June 5th Republican primary. | 2023-10-20T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1410 |
Ph.D candidate lost 125 pounds, but he still felt fat
John Janetzko struggles with body image - Janetzko started exercising more during the spring of his junior year, and he watched what he ate more closely. But his senior year was rough; he couldn't find time to go to the gym as he had before, and he gained back some of the weight he had lost previously.
Ph.D candidate lost 125 pounds, but he still felt fat
John Janetzko struggles with body image - Janetzko started exercising more during the spring of his junior year, and he watched what he ate more closely. But his senior year was rough; he couldn't find time to go to the gym as he had before, and he gained back some of the weight he had lost previously.
BOSTON – If you’re overweight, slimming down will make you feel great, right? For John Janetzko, embracing his own body took more than just weight loss.
The 24-year-old chemistry Ph.D. candidate at Harvard is just under 6 feet tall, and struggled with his body image for years. Even after losing 125 pounds, he still felt fat, and pushed himself in unhealthy ways in terms of diet and fitness.
These days, at a lean 165 pounds, Janetzko feels more confident and generally better about himself.
“I feel more generically attractive in terms of what society’s views are,” he said. “But I guess I also feel like that was something I thought would be very quick, and would sort of happen right away.”
Getting motivated
In childhood, Janetzko heard from his pediatrician that his weight wasn’t healthy so many times that he became desensitized to it. But as his father remembers it, he wasn’t ever really fat.
Intense studying and bad eating habits piled on pounds during college. By the fall of junior year, Janetzko weighed about 290 pounds.
“I would always be sort of afraid of how I thought people would think of me,” he said. “I always expected my girlfriend at the time would find someone better.”
The first stage of Janetzko’s weight loss came when he lived at home in Toronto during college. A friend encouraged Janetzko to go to the gym with him, even offering to buy him running shoes. Janetzko started going to the gym often, focusing on jogging and light weights.
Instead of greasy takeout meals from food stands, Janetzko started picking up leaner options such as grilled chicken and broccoli, and cooked more on weekends. His father helped cook when Janetzko was busy.
“I started with the idea that being very strict with my diet was the solution,” he said.
During his senior year, with graduate school applications and his father becoming ill, Janetzko slipped, forgoing the gym because there weren’t enough hours in the day. His weight fluctuated, never quite bouncing back as high as it was, but still reversing some of the progress he had made.
The move from Toronto to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a breakup from a long relationship also distracted him from healthy eating. He was about 240 pounds when he entered Harvard.
Graduate school jump-started his motivation again. He told himself: “I’ve had so many changes, and it’s really time to have an absolute fresh start.”
How he did it
During the summer of 2011, Janetzko went to the gym consistently and cooked at least four nights a week. He had in his head a “running clock” of calorie and protein limits for meal times, aiming for about 2,000 calories a day.
Breakfast was usually a protein shake. Lunch would be salad, sandwich or burrito. Dinner would be around 1,000 calories.
By the end of autumn of his first year at Harvard, he was closer to 200 pounds. On a visit home to Toronto, he ran his first 5K race, which motivated him to keep working on his fitness.
Janetzko also encouraged his roommates to go with him to exercise, and helped friends with their workouts and stretches.
“I guess that was a point where I was sort of feeling happy,” he said.
Focused on fitness, he competed in volleyball leagues, swam, and played squash and soccer.
By mid-2012, he was down to 170 pounds. Losing those last 60 to 70 pounds in Massachusetts brought about the most substantial physical changes in his fitness journey.
“I said, ‘What happened to you? Are they not feeding you?’ ” his father, Rainer Janetzko, remembers telling his son when he first visited after the weight loss.
Generally, though, Janetzko’s new physique looks good, his father said. “Now when he puts a suit on, he looks better.”
Going too far
Slim and athletic as he was, Janetzko still didn’t feel good about how he looked in May 2012. It was an awkward time he calls the “transition” — when he had lost a lot of weight, but his new body didn’t register in his mind as a positive image.
“I would wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and feel like ‘Oh God, I’m fat and ugly and this is terrible,’ ” he said.
At the same time, others told him he had gotten too skinny and didn’t need to get thinner. Objectively, he had reached his goal — but he couldn’t see that in his reflection. He thought his mirror image still needed to lose 10 or 20 more pounds.
Focused on weight loss and fitness, Janetzko didn’t pay close attention to his body’s signals that it was being pushed too hard. As he ate less and started running farther and faster, Janetzko noticed he would start to get dizzy or even fall. Last semester he collapsed outside of a laboratory.
“That was a scary time for a lot of people — my lab mates, my advisor and myself included,” he said. “If you don’t balance your diet properly (you) can’t go and work yourself really hard.”
His aversion to overeating had gone too far — his appetite for some foods had diminished. Friends even wondered if he had an eating disorder.
“There were days when I could barely finish half a sandwich,” he said. “I felt full but I clearly had not taken in all of the calories I need as a functioning person.”
He has since gone to nutritionists for help. He isn’t as rigid about what he eats anymore, and is more flexible about his workouts. He still minimizes fried foods but tries to be more varied with meals.
Embracing a new self
Body image disturbance isn’t unusual when people lose weight, said Emily Sandoz, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Often people have huge expectations about the life changes that will result from a weight loss that don’t actually happen.
“Their experience of themselves as fat extends far beyond their actual body,” she said. “People have to learn how to be in their skin in a new way.”
Sandoz’s approach to helping people with body image problems is to shift the focus to other areas of their lives that they care about, such as work or parenting. Mindfulness — the idea of being present and in the moment — is incorporated in her approach to helping clients be more accepting of their bodies.
Over time, Janetzko has been able to reconcile his weight with his body image — but there was no one moment where it suddenly clicked. Positive reinforcement from others and self-assurance have helped him feel better about himself.
His message to others
Many of Janetzko’s old friends who see his recent photos on Facebook have contacted him to ask: “How did you do it?”
Janetzko’s bottom line is that he was intensely motivated.
“If you count your calories and you’re like, ‘I want to lose weight,’ you’re going to be stuck in that forever,” he said. “But I think if you can make changes in your lifestyle that you actually want to be doing, and then you’ll do those no matter what — you enjoy them — then you never have to feel like you’re trapped in a routine.”
1 Comment
An outstanding share! I have just forwarded this onto a co-worker
who was conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact bought
me dinner because I stumbled upon it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for
spending some time to talk about this issue here on your site. | 2023-12-20T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3258 |
Q:
Android Text To Speech Nullpointer Exception
Trying to do a simple text to speech app in android but i am getting NullPointerEception
, i debugged and checked the text is being passed to the tts
Below is the code snippets i am using
private TextToSpeech tts;
ArrayList<String> text;
btnPlay = (Button) dialog.findViewById(R.id.btnPlayText);
btnPlay.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
speakText();
}
});
public void speakText() {
String toSpeak = text.get(0);
Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), toSpeak, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT)
.show();
tts.speak(toSpeak, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null);
System.out.println();
}
I am passing the text from "text" which is an arraylist containing the data i want to convert and play using tts
Error is shown at this line MainActivity.java:127
tts.speak(toSpeak, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null);
Logcat shows the following
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): Process: com.android.speechtest, PID: 19476
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): java.lang.NullPointerException
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at com.android.speechtest.MainActivity.speakText(MainActivity.java:127)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at com.android.speechtest.MainActivity$3.onClick(MainActivity.java:111)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at android.view.View.performClick(View.java:4456)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at android.view.View$PerformClick.run(View.java:18465)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:733)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:95)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:136)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5086)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:515)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:785)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:601)
07-20 19:42:20.427: E/AndroidRuntime(19476): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): FATAL EXCEPTION: main
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): Process: com.android.speechtest, PID: 20818
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): java.lang.NullPointerException
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at com.android.speechtest.MainActivity.speakText(MainActivity.java:127)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at com.android.speechtest.MainActivity$3.onClick(MainActivity.java:111)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at android.view.View.performClick(View.java:4456)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at android.view.View$PerformClick.run(View.java:18465)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:733)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:95)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:136)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5086)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:515)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:785)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:601)
07-20 19:43:25.763: E/AndroidRuntime(20818): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): Performing pause of activity that is not resumed: {com.android.speechtest/com.android.speechtest.MainActivity}
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): java.lang.RuntimeException: Performing pause of activity that is not resumed: {com.android.speechtest/com.android.speechtest.MainActivity}
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at android.app.ActivityThread.performPauseActivity(ActivityThread.java:3084)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at android.app.ActivityThread.performPauseActivity(ActivityThread.java:3072)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at android.app.ActivityThread.handlePauseActivity(ActivityThread.java:3050)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at android.app.ActivityThread.access$1000(ActivityThread.java:139)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1221)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:136)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5086)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invokeNative(Native Method)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:515)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:785)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:601)
07-20 19:44:29.289: E/ActivityThread(21489): at dalvik.system.NativeStart.main(Native Method)
A:
You need to make sure the tts has been initialized first
tts = new TextToSpeech(context, onInitListener);
You can simply check it in speakText method as follow
public void speakText() {
...
if(tts != null) {
tts.speak(toSpeak, TextToSpeech.QUEUE_FLUSH, null);
} else {
Log.e("YOUR_TAG", "TextToSpeech Null");
}
}
| 2023-08-07T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4252 |
Q:
What's the difference between aqueous NaOH and dilute NaOH?
Dilute $\ce{NaOH}$ can be prepared by adding a suitable amount of concentrated $\ce{NaOH}$.
What's the difference between "dilute $\ce{NaOH}$" and "aqueous $\ce{NaOH}$"?
A:
Dilute simply means that the concentration of the solute of interest, in this case $\ce{NaOH}$, is low relative to some reference. One could imagine a non-aqueous, dilute solution of $\ce{NaOH}$ in, say, methanol.
An aqueous solution is one where the solvent is water, regardless of the concentration of the dissolved solute(s).
So, for example, the following combinations of the terms are possible:
Concentrated aqueous solution - High $\ce{NaOH}$ concentration in a water solvent
Dilute aqueous solution - Low $\ce{NaOH}$ concentration in a water solvent
Concentrated methanolic solution - High $\ce{NaOH}$ concentration in a methanol solvent
Dilute methanolic solution - Low $\ce{NaOH}$ concentration in a methanol solvent
| 2023-08-31T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/7527 |
You are here
On March 31, 2014, the Affordable Care Act’s first open enrollment period ended. The next period begins on November 15. And as of March 27, six million consumers signed up for health insurance through the marketplace—a tremendous first step. To build on that momentum, we need to apply action to the lessons that we learned from the first enrollment period. Families USA’s latest report, “Accelerating the Affordable Care Act’s Enrollment Momentum: 10 Recommendations for Future Enrollment Periods” (PDF) identifies 10 key steps that, if implemented promptly and effectively between now and November, can significantly increase the number of people who enroll in health insurance.
These 10 improvements focus on the enrollment process and on making health insurance more affordable to spur enrollment. Together, these steps would:
significantly improve the success of future enrollment efforts
not require the enactment of new legislation
be able to be implemented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and/or state marketplaces
improve the quality of the consumer experience in the marketplace
further decrease the numbers of uninsured Americans
Highlights: 10 key steps to improving enrollment (summary)
To find out more about how these 10 recommendations should be implemented and how they will improve enrollment, please download our report (PDF).
Steps that will strengthen the enrollment process in the health insurance marketplace | 2024-05-25T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1003 |
904 F.2d 693
Appeal of Edison Township Board of Education
NOS. 89-5728, 89-5761
United States Court of Appeals,Third Circuit.
MAY 22, 1990
Appeal From: D.N.J.,
Ackerman, J.
1
AFFIRMED.
| 2023-10-09T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2147 |
Reproductive rights in Hungarian law: a new right to assisted procreation?
Hungary has a mixed record in terms of fulfilling reproductive rights as a whole, but in the context of artificially assisted procreation, it provides reproductive health services far beyond those offered by its neighbors, beyond what is stipulated by the ICPD Programme of Action, and, arguably, beyond the internationally accepted parameters of reproductive rights. Recent legislation on assisted procreation has established important new regulations and formulated a new "right to continuation of infertility treatment" applicable to women who have been widowed or divorced. The new legislation is examined in the context of the international reproductive rights movement, with comparisons to other European countries and with reference to Hungarian attitudes and laws on abortion and surrogacy. | 2024-02-26T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/7637 |
We discuss the X-ray properties of 49 local (z < 0.035) Seyfert 2 galaxies with HST/WFC2 high-resolution optical coverage. It includes the results of 26 still unpublished Chandra and XMM-Newton observations, which yield 25 (22) new X-ray detections in the 0.5-2 keV (2-10 keV) energy band. Our sample covers a range in the 2-10 keV observed flux, F2-10, from 3 x 10(-11) to 6 x 10(-15) erg cm(-2) s(-1). The percentage of objects that are likely obscured by Compton-thick matter ( column density, N-H >= sigma(t)(-1) similar or equal to 1.6 x 10(24) cm(-2)) is similar or equal to 50%, and reaches similar or equal to 80% for log (F2-10) < 12.3. Hence, K-alpha fluorescent iron lines with large Equivalent Width (EW > 0.6 keV) are common in our sample ( 6 new detections at a confidence level >= 2 sigma). They are explained as due to reflection off the illuminated side of optically thick material. We confirm a correlation between the presence of a similar to 100-pc scale nuclear dust in the WFC2 images and Compton-thin obscuration. We interpret this correlation as due to the large covering fraction of gas associated with the dust lanes. The X-ray spectra of highly obscured AGN invariably present a prominent soft excess emission above the extrapolation of the hard X-ray component. This soft component can account for a very large fraction of the overall X-ray energy budget. As this component is generally unobscured - and therefore likely produced in extended gas structures - it may lead to a severe underestimation of the nuclear obscuration in z similar to 1 absorbed AGN, if standard X-ray colors are used to classify them. As a by-product of our study, we report the discovery of a soft X-ray, luminous (similar or equal to 7 x 10(40) erg s(-1)) halo embedding the interacting galaxy pair Mkn 266.
We discuss the X-ray properties of 49 local (z < 0.035) Seyfert 2 galaxies with HST/WFC2 high-resolution optical coverage. It includes the results of 26 still unpublished Chandra and XMM-Newton observations, which yield 25 (22) new X-ray detections in the 0.5-2 keV (2-10 keV) energy band. Our sample covers a range in the 2-10 keV observed flux, F2-10, from 3 x 10(-11) to 6 x 10(-15) erg cm(-2) s(-1). The percentage of objects that are likely obscured by Compton-thick matter ( column density, N-H >= sigma(t)(-1) similar or equal to 1.6 x 10(24) cm(-2)) is similar or equal to 50%, and reaches similar or equal to 80% for log (F2-10) < 12.3. Hence, K-alpha fluorescent iron lines with large Equivalent Width (EW > 0.6 keV) are common in our sample ( 6 new detections at a confidence level >= 2 sigma). They are explained as due to reflection off the illuminated side of optically thick material. We confirm a correlation between the presence of a similar to 100-pc scale nuclear dust in the WFC2 images and Compton-thin obscuration. We interpret this correlation as due to the large covering fraction of gas associated with the dust lanes. The X-ray spectra of highly obscured AGN invariably present a prominent soft excess emission above the extrapolation of the hard X-ray component. This soft component can account for a very large fraction of the overall X-ray energy budget. As this component is generally unobscured - and therefore likely produced in extended gas structures - it may lead to a severe underestimation of the nuclear obscuration in z similar to 1 absorbed AGN, if standard X-ray colors are used to classify them. As a by-product of our study, we report the discovery of a soft X-ray, luminous (similar or equal to 7 x 10(40) erg s(-1)) halo embedding the interacting galaxy pair Mkn 266. | 2023-09-17T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8521 |
Maxime Musqua
Maxime Musqua (born 27 July 1987) is a French comedian and actor.
References
Category:1987 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from Talence
Category:French actor stubs
Category:French television presenters
Category:French male comedians | 2023-08-14T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8940 |
Missouri Law On Punitive Damages
In Missouri, there are two general types of damages which a person filing a lawsuit can seek. The first is called “compensatory” damages. Compensatory damages, as its name implies, are designed to compensate the person for their actual losses. Examples of compensatory damages include the cost of repairing a vehicle involved in a crash. In a lawsuit involving a personal injury, examples of compensatory damage items include medical bills, lost wages, and compensating the person for their “pain and suffering” caused by the injury.
The second type of damages is called “punitive” damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish the wrongdoer for their conduct. Punitive damages are not designed to compensate the injured person. Instead, their purpose is to make an example of the wrongdoer both (i) to prevent that person from repeating that conduct in the future, and (ii) to make it known to the entire community that this type of conduct will not be tolerated, and deter others from doing the same type of thing.
Punitive damages have a long history, going all the back to the Bible, and earlier. The award of punitive-type damages was common in early legal systems, and was mentioned in religious law. Punitive damages were provided for in Babylonian law nearly 4,000 years ago in the Code of Hammurabi, the Hittite Laws of about 1,400 B.C., the Hebrew Covenant Code of Mosaic Law of about 1,200 B.C., and in the Hindu Code of Manu of about 200 B.C. See Owen, Punitive Damages in Product Liability Litigation, 74 Mich. L. Rev. 1257, 1262 n17 (1976).
For example, the Bible says, at Exodus 22:1:
“If a man steals an ox or sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he is to repay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.”
That’s punitive damages – making the wrongdoer pay back more than what they took.
The vast majority of lawsuits don’t involve claims for punitive damages. Though punitive damages tend to get a lot of attention in the press, they are in fact rarely assessed, which is why it’s newsworthy when it happens.
In Missouri, a person who’s suing can get punitive damages only when they prove that the defendant intentionally committed a wrongful act without just cause or excuse. If the defendant intentionally does a wrongful act and knows at the time the act is wrongful, it is done wantonly and with a bad motive. Evil intent may also be implied from reckless disregard of another’s rights and interests.
Missouri has several laws specifically dealing with punitive damages in lawsuits. For instance, one law (Section 510.265) says the courts must reduce the dollar amount of the jury’s decision on punitive damages to a number which is no more than five times the amount of compensatory damages, or $500,000, whichever is higher. The Missouri Supreme Court has held that because Section 510.265 requires the court to ignore the jury’s decision on the amount of punitive damages, that law is unconstitutional in some situations because it deprives the plaintiff of a jury trial. The rationale is that the Constitution’s right to a jury trial is meaningless if the jury’s decision is going to be ignored or modified.
In Missouri, the plaintiff does not get to keep all of the punitive damages paid by the defendant. Missouri law requires that 50% of punitive damages paid by a defendant be turned over to the State of Missouri. See Section 537.067.3.
A Kansas City used car dealer aggressively advertised that it would sell cars for a fixed payment of $49 per month. A 77-year-old widow went to the car dealership. She specifically told the dealer that she could only afford the $49 per month car payment, and that her income was $920 per month. They assured her that the total payment was going to be $49 per month, for five years. The dealership then created fraudulent bank loan papers in her name saying that her income was $18,000 per month, and tricked her into signing papers that contained very different terms from what they promised her.
After less than a year, her payments went up to $387.45 a month. Because she couldn’t afford to pay that, she fell behind in her payments and the bank repossessed her vehicle. She sued the car dealership for fraud, seeking both compensatory and punitive damages.
At trial, the widow testified about her dealings with this car dealership. She also had two other people testify who were similarly misled by the car dealership. She also presented evidence of 73 complaints against this car dealer in both Kansas and Missouri.
The jury was apparently outraged at the car dealership based on the evidence it heard, because it issued a verdict of $25,000 in compensatory damages for the widow, and an additional $1 million in punitive damages.
It was clear that under the facts of this case, the jury believed that the car dealership had defrauded many, many people. Only one of them sued the dealership and went all the way through trial. There are a lot of reasons why so few cases reach trial. One of the biggest is the fact that people who have been defrauded are embarrassed when they realize they’ve been tricked, and they’re reluctant to bring attention to it by filing a lawsuit. Additionally, very few people are willing or able to take all of the time off work necessary to do everything they need to for a lawsuit. By the time a case gets to trial, the person has missed many days from work, even before the trial starts. Also, many lawyers are afraid or reluctant to take cases like this against a well-financed defendant who will get defense attorneys to try to drag things out, make things more labor-intensive than they should be, and generally throw up roadblocks at every possible turn.
If the car dealer in this case had only been required to pay $25,000 to the widow (the full amount of her compensatory damages), then the dealer would in essence have come out way ahead, and still would have profited by their fraud. They would’ve had a financial incentive to continue cheating people. If you rob 100 banks and only have to pay back one bank, why stop?
In a situation like this, assessing punitive damages is the only way to stop this type of fraud, whether by this car dealer or other car dealers. Punitive damages verdicts like this stand as a significant warning to both this dealership and other car dealerships that they cannot defraud our community. | 2024-06-28T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3449 |
Fate Flies In Fear Of The Moment
a certain sequence of sounds
i closed my eyes
and
let the music
take me to
a place where
everything was
a mystery
and time seemed
to hang in the air
thick, almost………
motionless
like cigarette smoke
lingering in the sunlight
i forgot how to
worry, and
how to love
all I remembered
was that magic
feeling
of my youth
that told me
i was somehow
distant, different | 2024-07-10T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5140 |
Friday sports briefs: Miner basketball teams fall at tournaments
Comment
Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA
Writer
Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 11:46 AM
Updated Jan 4, 2013 at 11:50 AM
Posted Jan. 4, 2013 at 11:46 AM
Updated Jan 4, 2013 at 11:50 AM
Yreka boys basketball team loses to Orland at tourneyCORNING, Calif, - The Yreka Miners boys varsity basketball team lost to Orland 46-40 on the first day of the Corning Shootout Tournament on Thursday.The Miners trailed 9-7 after the first quarter and 21-16 at the half. Sophomore Ty Currie led Miner scorers with 21 points, while junior Tevin Cadola finished with 11 points, including connecting on three three-pointers.Head coach Christian Birch said that while his team played well in spurts "we just didn't play with an consistent effort." The Miners fell to 5-8 overall while Orland improved to 11-3.Today, Yreka plays Willows at 3:30 p.m.. The tournament concludes on Saturday. Lady Miners fall to Enterprise on the roadREDDING, Calif. - The Yreka Miners girls varsity basketball team fell on the first day of the three-day Lady Hornet Tournament at Enterprise High in Redding Thursday night.The Lady Miners lost to host team Enterprise High of Redding, 59-41.Junior Dakota Cash led the Miners with 15 points while junior Ashley Ensminger had nine points. Head coach Ken Dysert added that junior Taylor Brown also played well. Yreka fell to 7-6 for the year while Enterprise improved to 12-1. Today, Yreka faces Durham at 4:30 p.m. at the round robin tournament. On Saturday the Miners are set to face Las Plumas at 12:30 p.m._Daily News staff | 2023-10-08T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5490 |
Minnesota Golden Gophers Head coach: Fleck (first year) 2016 record and S&P+ ranking: 9-4 (42nd) Projected 2017 record and S&P+ ranking: 7-5 (47th) Biggest strength: In tackles Steven Richardson and Andrew Stelter and linebackers Jonathan Celestin and Blake Cashman, the defense’s backbone is experienced and exciting. Biggest question mark: There are depth issues everywhere you look — defensive end, defensive back, wide receiver, quarterback, etc. How badly the injury bug bites (and where) will dictate Minnesota’s expectations. Biggest 2017 game: Whatever Minnesota’s goals are for 2017, it gets a lot harder if the Gophers don’t beat Michigan State at home on Oct. 14. Summary: Fleck’s first Gophers will be sturdy, thin, and capable of anything between 3-9 and 9-3. But be it as a spoiler or contender, Minnesota’s dangerous enough to play a role in the Big Ten West race.
Sometimes the projections are dead on. My early-2016 projections had Minnesota finishing 8-4 with a No. 42 S&P+ ranking, and the Gophers went 9-4 with a No. 42 S&P+ ranking. First-year head coach Tracy Claeys hit the mark set for previous head coach Jerry Kill, and his 2016 signing class was a little better than what Kill tended to sign.
It’s hard to hope for more than that out of the gates, isn’t it? Claeys was seen as an uninspired hire, but as I wrote in last year’s Minnesota preview, a lack of creativity doesn’t automatically correlate to a lack of quality.
If the Gophers have their house in order from the beginning of the season, and if they're decent at closing out games, an 8-1 start is on the table. Per S&P+, they have a below-50 percent chance of winning in only one game in the first nine, and while there are a few tossups (and you can't expect to win all of those), if they handle their business in September, October could have magnitude. And if Claeys is able to stick a nine-win total on the board, then I'm curious where his recruiting goes from there.
Done and done.
But.
Have never been more proud of our kids. I respect their rights & support their effort to make a better world! 〽️ — T Claeys (@t_claeys) December 16, 2016
Claeys was fired in January. An alleged sexual assault took place early in the season, and by the time a Title IX investigation was completed in December, 10 players had been suspended. Frustrated by a lack of communication from the university, players announced a boycott in the run-up to their bowl against Washington State. Claeys announced unequivocal support for his players after warning them that a boycott would come across as “pro-sexual assault, which we’re not,” acknowledging the stance might get him fired.
The boycott ended, and Minnesota knocked off Wazzu, but on January 3, Claeys was indeed fired.
And needing to stick the landing in the wake of a threatened “countless transfers,” the school did. From 2014-16, Minnesota’s recruiting classes averaged a ranking of 55.3, per the 247Sports Composite. Fleck’s Western Michigan averaged 71st, basically only a couple of three-star recruits behind, despite residence in the MAC.
Fleck inherited a team that had gone 4-8 and ranked 109th in S&P+ in Bill Cubit’s last year, and he underwent a full-fledged youth movement. WMU went 1-11 with a No. 117 ranking in 2013, but 8-5 with rankings in the 50s in each of the next two years. As Fleck’s recruits became upperclassmen, the Broncos surged to 13-1 with a No. 35 ranking in 2016.
Fleck has a schtick. He might be the most outwardly energetic coach in football. It’s not for everybody, and depending on whom you talk to, it might have prevented him from a more marquee job. But in recruiting, motivation, tactics, and buy-in, he proved about as much as he possibly could’ve in Kalamazoo. The results were there. And while the Minnesota roster thinned, “countless transfers” did not occur.
The BIg Ten West race has an interesting shape this offseason. There’s a clear leader, two clear bottom teams, and who-the-hell-knows in between. Take Athlon, for instance: its preview ranks Wisconsin 10th, Purdue and Illinois deep into the 80s, and the four other teams between 41st and 54th.
My own projections are similar: Wisconsin 11th, Illinois 85th, Purdue 87th, and the other four between 37th and 48th. Three clear tiers. Northwestern’s experience could make the Wildcats a top-30 team, Nebraska has more upside than its rivals but is replacing two-thirds of last year’s offense, and Fleck’s culture change makes Minnesota a high-variability team within that cluster.
In recent years, Minnesota and WMU were increasingly similar in quality, but their positive traits were reversed. WMU ranked in the Off. S&P+ in each of the last two years but was dragged down by its defense; Minnesota hasn’t cracked the Off. S&P+ top 50 since 2007 but ranked in the Def. S&P+ top 25 in each of the last two years.
Fleck acknowledged the disparity by bringing offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca from Kalamazoo, but attempting a defensive upgrade; former Rutgers and Arkansas coordinator Robb Smith takes over on that side.
Fleck was a dynamic recruiter at WMU, and while that hasn’t immediately translated in Minneapolis — his 2018 class currently ranks 23rd per 247, but that’s mainly because he’s already gotten 19 commits; the per-recruit average is barely ahead of last year’s pace — odds are good there will be an uptick. He won’t have to strip this house to its studs. If this transfusion of energy translates, Minnesota could become the No. 1 contender to Wisconsin’s crown.
Or we might find out that only Fleck’s recruits truly respond to Fleck’s coaching, and the house gets stripped down. That option is still on the table.
2016 in review
2016 Minnesota statistical profile.
My postgame win expectancy measure (found on teams’ statistical profiles) takes the key stats from each game and announces, “With these stats, you could have expected to win this game X percent of the time.”
And per win expectancy, the Gophers’ 2016 had no surprising results. In only one of their four losses did they have a postgame win expectancy higher than 15 percent. In only one of their nine wins did they have an expectancy lower than 80 percent.
Sounds like a bunch of blowouts! But on the field, as opposed to on paper, Minnesota was rarely separated much from its opponent. The Gophers won four games by a touchdown or less and lost three. They were close to dramatic over- and underachievement and instead just ... achieved. Even the best loss (29-26 to Penn State, with 15 percent win expectancy) and worst win (34-32 over Rutgers with 80 percent win expectancy) seemed cut-and-dried on paper.
The results were similar for Fleck’s WMU: only one win with a less than 79 percent win expectancy, and the lone loss (24-16 to Wisconsin) producing a 30 percent win expectancy.
Odds are decent that a second head coaching change in two years could make the team a little bit more vulnerable to volatility.
Offense
Full advanced stats glossary.
Ciarrocca should like what he has inherited at Minnesota. His WMU offense was pretty straight-forward: run the ball on standard downs (67 percent of the time, 24th in the country), play it safe on rare passing downs (35 percent PD run rate, 45th), force teams to gang tackle, and operate with decent tempo. A lot of Fleck’s best recruits at WMU were running backs, and Ciarrocca used them. Granted, he also deployed star Corey Davis effectively in play-action, but the run was the heart of the attack.
It was the same for Minnesota, only with a slower tempo and even more passing-downs rushes. The Gophers wanted to grind away and set a table for their defense, but with two sophomore running backs, one reliable receiver, and a line so banged up and shuffled around that not a single player started all 13 games, that wasn’t always possible.
Inconsistent personnel meant inconsistent production: Minnesota scored 29 or more points eight times but scored 17 or fewer on four occasions. And after an October surge (37 points per game against Maryland, Rutgers, Illinois, and Purdue), the well dried up (20 points per game over the last four games).
The combination of stability and experience could be helpful. Those sophomore backs are now juniors, and both Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks had their moments last year; during that 37 PPG run, Smith averaged 6 yards per carry and 127 yards per game, while Brooks averaged 6.9 against Colorado State and Penn State.
Of the eight linemen who started at least one game last year, only four return, but let’s just say Minnesota won’t lack for girth. Not only are all four of those players now upperclassmen (two juniors, two seniors), but they also average 6’5, 325 pounds. And they’re now led by Ed Warinner, Ohio State’s former line coach and one of the best in the business.
That Ohio State’s line grew a little glitchier when Warinner took on coordinator duties in Columbus probably isn’t a coincidence, but in theory he can focus on his biggest strength. And Minnesota’s run game could get awfully mean, awfully quickly.
Of course, that will only matter so much if the Gophers can’t throw. And the passing game is a total mystery. Longtime starter Mitch Leidner is gone; senior-to-be Conor Rhoda went 7-for-15 while filling in for an injured Leidner against Maryland last year ... and that’s basically the extent of Minnesota’s QB experience.
If Rhoda isn’t the starter this fall, it will probably be mid-three-star sophomore Demry Croft, who maybe eked ahead this spring. The main job will be to stick the ball into Smith’s and Brooks’ bellies and hope that the run works well enough that they can throw over the top to Rashad Still. Still is a 6’5 target who caught 19 of 39 balls last year but averaged 18.3 yards per catch.
The loss of steady Drew Wolitarsky will hurt; he was one of the most-targeted No. 1 receivers in the country — he had 102 targets, 63 more than No. 2 target Still, and he was the only guy with a success rate over 50 percent. There will be a lot of pressure on someone like sophomore Tyler Johnson to provide a possession threat.
The return of tight end Brandon Lingen will help in this regard, at least. He caught 33 balls in 2015 but missed the last 10 games of 2016 with injury.
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Defense
Smith’s track record at Arkansas was a bit confusing. His first Hog defense surged from 78th to seventh in Def. S&P+ in 2014. Arkansas was all sorts of disruptive up front, but once those pieces departed, he couldn’t find the same rhythm. His last two defenses ranked 65th and 64th, nearly equal to WMU’s No. 69 ranking in 2016.
If he requires disruption up front to succeed, though, he should find things to like about Minnesota. Tackle Steven Richardson is one of the most active interior guys in the conference; he recorded 11 tackles for loss and seven sacks last year, and opponents distracted by Richardson and Andrew Stelter allowed linebackers Jonathan Celestin and Blake Cashman (combined: 17.5 TFLs, 10 sacks, four breakups, three forced fumbles) to make plays as well.
Granted, in terms of known quantities, it gets thin up front after these four; the next leading tackler on the line (sophomore end Winston DeLattiboudere) made just 10.5 tackles last year.
Still, having four upperclassman play-makers is a good place to start. And for what it’s worth, both DeLattiboudere and Tai'yon Devers, another sophomore end, flashed major play-making potential in minimal time — they had just 15 tackles in 2016, but 6.5 of them came behind the line. And a third sophomore, former blue-chip linebacker Carter Coughlin, moved to rush end this spring as well. The potential is massive.
Depth on the line will remain a concern until proven otherwise, but there could be even bigger issues in the back. Due to injury and suspensions, Minnesota had to do a lot of shuffling in the secondary — only two regulars played in all 13 games — and the fact that the Gophers finished 24th in Passing S&P+ was an accomplishment.
The return of safeties Antoine Winfield Jr. and Duke McGhee gives the Gophers steadiness despite the loss of Damarius Travis, but if either gets hurt, Minnesota could find itself relying on freshmen. Though corners Antonio Shenault, Adekunle Ayinde, and Coney Durr saw decent playing time, the best play-makers at CB (Jalen Myrick and KiAnte Hardin, who combined for 18 passes defensed) are gone. Redshirt freshman Kiondre Thomas had a nice spring and could be counted on sooner than later. Like, in Week 1.
Depth issues are a funny thing — you never know in advance if they’re going to bite you. If some sophomore ends and a couple of young defensive backs come through, Minnesota’s starting 11 could have all the activity up front and steadiness in the back that Smith requires. But the Gophers could also be a couple of poorly placed injuries away from a build toward 2018.
Special Teams
The Minnesota offense was inefficient, and the defense was thin enough to have its shaky moments. But the Gophers could count on special teams. They ranked sixth in Special Teams S&P+, powered by brilliant place-kicking from Emmit Carpenter (10-for-10 on field goals longer than 40 yards), tremendous returns from Jalen Myrick and KiAnte Hardin, and solid coverage units.
Carpenter’s return alone will likely keep this unit pretty high in the rankings. He’s brilliant, and punter Ryan Santoso isn’t too bad in his own right. But Minnesota will be starting over in the returns department, which could be worth at least a small slide in the rankings.
2017 outlook
Even though Claeys did a good job in his lone season, Minnesota did well in bringing Fleck to town, and I’m doubting he’ll end up in a Year Zero situation the way he did at WMU.
But this could end up a significant change in culture, and it’s hard to know how that will play out. Either it provides a bolt of energy, or it leads to a rebuilding year or two.
Of the Big Ten West’s middle four teams, Minnesota’s ceiling might be higher than anybody’s outside of Nebraska, but its floor for 2017 is probably the lowest, too. And a fascinating schedule features five games with S&P+ win probabilities between 39 and 54 percent each. There are few guaranteed wins and few guaranteed losses. A small number of injuries could make the difference between West contention and a 4-8 record.
Team preview stats
All power conference preview data to date. | 2024-01-22T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4434 |
Toxic Chinese Drywall Problem Issue and Removal
Louisiana Recovery Authority came closer to approving a legislative mandate for Drywall Compensation Program. It’s waiting though on answers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last Spring the Louisiana Legislature passed a bill putting $5 million into a fund that would help compensate homeowners who rebuilt their homes with defective Chinese Drywall after Hurricane Katrina.
“There just isn’t a federal protocol for how to do it,” LRA spokeswoman Christina Stephens said.
Part of the problem is that the LRA hasn’t yet figured out who qualifies for the program and how to verify if the applicant actually used the contaminated drywall. They are looking to the CPSC for standards and forms.
The monies will be coming from the federally funded Community Development Block Grants which was created after Hurricane Katrina for rebuilding Louisiana’s infrastructure. To use the Block Grants HUD would have to give their approval.
The Louisiana drywall program would be launched by the state “once a nationally recognized testing and remediation protocol is approved,” according to the recovery authority’s plan approved Wednesday. So, there’s no formal way to apply and no description on who is eligible
“There is no answer right now. There is no methodology,” LRA Executive Director Paul Rainwater told authority board members.
Part of the problem is that the LRA hasn’t yet figured out who qualifies for the program and how to verify if the applicant actually used the contaminated drywall. They are looking to the CPSC for standards and forms.
The monies will be coming from the federally funded Community Development Block Grants which was created after Hurricane Katrina for rebuilding Louisiana’s infrastructure. To use the Block Grants HUD would have to give their approval.
The Louisiana drywall program would be launched by the state “once a nationally recognized testing and remediation protocol is approved,” according to the recovery authority’s plan approved Wednesday. So, there’s no formal way to apply and no description on who is eligible
“There is no answer right now. There is no methodology,” LRA Executive Director Paul Rainwater told authority board members. | 2023-10-28T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8981 |
132 F.2d 512 (1942)
ACER REALTY CO.
v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.
No. 12350.
Circuit Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.
December 28, 1942.
*513 Gus O. Nations, of St. Louis, Mo. (R. Shad Bennett, of Clayton, Mo., and Nations & Nations, of St. Louis, Mo., on the brief), for petitioner.
S. Dee Hanson, Sp. Asst. to the Atty. Gen. (Samuel O. Clark, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., and Sewall Key, Helen R. Carloss, and Willard H. Pedrick, Sp. Assts. to the Atty. Gen., on the brief), for respondent.
Before GARDNER, WOODROUGH, and THOMAS, Circuit Judges.
THOMAS, Circuit Judge.
This case is presented here on a petition of the taxpayer to review a decision of the United States Board of Tax Appeals redetermining, and modifying and confirming a deficiency in petitioner's income taxes for the taxable years ended January 31, 1936, 1937, and 1938. The modifications made by the Board were favorable to the petitioner, and the Commissioner has not excepted. The opinion of the Board is reported in 45 B.T.A. 333.
The deficiency found by the Commissioner and in controversy here involves two items of the petitioner's income tax returns for the taxable years. First, petitioner claimed deductions for salary paid its president for the years 1936, 1937, and 1938 of $10,075, $9,750, and $11,700 respectively, and for salary paid to its secretary-treasurer for the same years of $1,550, $1,650, and $1,800. The Commissioner allowed deductions for the president's salary in the amount only of $1,200 for each year and for that of the secretary-treasurer in the amount of $600 a year. Second, the Commissioner added to the petitioner's reported income for the year 1938 the sum of $8,700 as rentals constructively received in that year.
In disallowing the deductions claimed for officers' salaries the Commissioner stated in his notice of deficiency that the amounts claimed are held to the extent of the amounts disallowed "to be in excess of reasonable allowances for salaries or other compensation for personal services actually rendered."
In affirming the Commissioner the Board held that the payments to officers and disallowed "were not made as compensation of these two officers, as such. They were made for unusual, nonrecurrent services, the cost of which is represented now in the value of the capital assets thus acquired and now owned by petitioner."
The petitioner complains in substance that the Board erred in deciding the controversy as to deductions for salaries on a factual basis not framed by the pleadings or referred to in the evidence; and that the sole issue of fact raised by the pleadings was whether the services rendered by the officers to the corporation were worth the total amount paid for them. Consequently, it is urged, the Board had no jurisdiction to go outside of that issue and determine the case upon the question of the essential character of the services rendered.
On this question there is no merit in petitioner's contention. The Board went no further than to find the facts and to apply the law to those facts. The Commissioner introduced no evidence at the *514 hearing before the Board, and the testimony introduced by the petitioner abundantly supports its findings.
In brief the facts are that the petitioner is a corporation, the capital stock of which is owned almost wholly by the parties who were its president and secretary-treasurer respectively during the taxable years. The business of the corporation is chiefly the holding of title to approximately 50 acres of land in St. Louis County, Missouri, and leasing it to the Glenwood Sanatorium Company, a corporation owned also by the same parties who were the officers of the petitioner. A large building program consisting of the construction of buildings for the use of the tenant Sanatorium Company was carried through during the years 1933 to 1938 inclusive. Instead of having the work done by contractors the officers whose salaries are involved performed all the services necessary to the management of the construction of the buildings. The savings to the petitioner on the building program thus effected were in excess of $100,000. The petitioner's evidence shows that the president's services alone for this character of work were worth $12,000 a year for the four-year period, and that the secretary-treasurer's services for the same class of work were worth approximately one-sixth as much. No evidence was produced to show the value of the officers' salaries as such.
Except for the period from July, 1930, to July, 1932, the officers never at any time drew salaries until June 1, 1934, on which date the president was voted a salary of $325 a month and the secretary-treasurer a salary of $50 a month. On February 1, 1935, these salaries were increased to $650 and $100 a month respectively. On August 1, 1935, they were again increased to $975 and $150 a month respectively, and they remained at these amounts until February 1, 1938, when the building program was completed.
The substantive rights of the government and of the petitioner are controlled by §§ 22(a) and 23(a) of the Revenue Act of 1936, c. 690, 49 Stat. 1648, 26 U.S.C.A. Int.Rev.Code §§ 22(a) and 23(a). Under the statute deductions for corporate salaries can be allowed only when such payments constitute "ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred * * * in carrying on any trade or business." A capital expenditure is not deductible as an "ordinary" business expense. It is well-settled that money paid out for the acquirement of something of permanent use or value in one's business is a capital investment and not deductible from income as an "ordinary" business expense. Duffy v. Central Railroad Company, 268 U.S. 55, 45 S.Ct. 429, 69 L.Ed. 846; Willcuts v. Minnesota Tribune Co., 8 Cir., 103 F.2d 947, 950, certiorari denied 308 U.S. 577, 60 S.Ct. 93, 84 L.Ed. 483; Houston Natural Gas Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 4 Cir., 90 F.2d 814, 816; Great Northern Ry. Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 8 Cir., 40 F.2d 372. This rule of law is not controverted by the petitioner. It argues that the character of the services rendered by its officers was not in issue, only their value.
On this issue we agree with the Board that petitioner is mistaken. Under the statute, supra, there could be but one question, namely, whether the payments represented reasonable allowances for services performed in carrying on the business of the corporation. If the salaries were in part paid for other services they were not ordinary expenses. When petitioner appealed to the Board and challenged the decision of the Commissioner, it took upon itself the burden of establishing its contention that the payments were not only reasonable in amount but also that they were ordinary and necessary in carrying on its business. Instead of sustaining that burden its proof affirmatively showed that the expenditures were not ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in carrying on its business but, on the other hand, that they were in large part, if not entirely, capital investments.
In an appeal to the Board the burden is upon the taxpayer "to show that it was entitled to the deduction which the Commissioner had disallowed, and that the additional tax was to that extent illegally assessed." Reinecke v. Spalding, 280 U.S. 227, 233, 50 S.Ct. 96, 98, 74 L.Ed. 385. The taxpayer must show that the assessment is wrong upon any proper theory. Helvering v. Gowran, 302 U.S. 238, 245, 58 S. Ct. 154, 82 L.Ed. 224. Upon appeal the Board "may investigate anew the issues between the government and the taxpayer, and upon the determination of the appeal it may affirm, set aside, or modify the findings and decision of the Commissioner." Blair v. Oesterlein Co., 275 U.S. 220, 227, 48 S.Ct. 87, 89, 72 L.Ed. 249. Neither the Board nor this court is bound by the reason *515 assigned by the Commissioner for his decision. If the disallowance is right it must be affirmed by the application of the correct rule of law. Helvering v. Gowran, supra; Hormel v. Helvering, 312 U.S. 552, 61 S.Ct. 719, 85 L.Ed. 1037; J. & O. Altschul Tobacco Co. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 5 Cir., 42 F.2d 609, 610.
The petitioner asserts that the Board erred in finding that the services of the president and secretary-treasurer were of the reasonable value of $1,200 and $600 per year respectively because there was no evidence to support such finding. The answer to this claim is that the Board made no such finding either expressly or impliedly. It found only that the Commissioner did not err in holding that the salaries paid in excess of these amounts were not ordinary expenses paid in carrying on petitioner's regular business. The allowances made by the Commissioner were not in issue in the absence of a cross-appeal, and they were neither considered nor passed upon by the Board.
The petitioner asked the Board to amend its findings and to grant a further hearing or a rehearing to afford it an opportunity to present further evidence upon the type and character of services rendered by its officers. The application was denied, and the petitioner complains. The motion does not set out the evidence by which it is proposed to establish that the services rendered were of a character or type different from that shown at the hearing. Such further evidence, whatever it may be, would be in conflict with the testimony in the record and with the verified statements in the petition filed on appeal to the Board. Under these circumstances, the Board should not be reversed for denying the requests. See Scott v. Commissioner, 8 Cir., 117 F.2d 36, 40.
The second element of the controversy is whether petitioner was in constructive receipt of rent from its tenant, the Sanatorium Company, for the year 1938 in the amount of $8,700. Petitioner carries its accounts on a cash basis and contends that it did not so receive such rentals.
The evidence tends to show that the agreed rental for the year 1938 was $18,000 subject to an increase in some amount on condition that the new buildings under construction at the beginning of the year should be completed and ready for occupancy before the end of the year. While the building program was under way the tenant had advanced to the petitioner on account sums totaling $10,500 and had paid on the 1938 rentals the sum of $9,300, leaving an unpaid balance, likewise carried on account, of $8,700. It was "the purpose", so petitioner's vice-president testified, "not to make an offsetting entry until it was determined whether the buildings would be ready." Sometime prior to the end of the year it was known that the buildings would not be ready for occupancy at any time during the year, and consequently that the rental would not be increased. The secretary-treasurer of the petitioner at the time of the hearing, who was also its attorney during the taxable period, testified: "I claim we could offset it, but we don't have to. * * * There was no reason why Acer could not credit $8,700 on the amount they owed Glenwood and there was no reason why they should."
Referring to the ruling of the Commissioner including the $8,700 in income, the taxpayer, in its petition on appeal to the Board, said: "There would be a tax saving to petitioner by virtue of this ruling and it is not seriously protested, although it is not conceded that the Commissioner had the legal right to enforce such a ruling."
The Board found that "the intention of the parties was that these mutual debts were to be treated as parts of one transaction. The offset of one debt against the other was intended and petitioner had an absolute right to make it during the tax year. Cf. Bailey v. Commissioner, 103 F. 2d 448." We think that the requirements of constructive receipt are satisfied and the petitioner could not, by merely delaying the making of a book entry, postpone this rent receipt to a future period.
The evidence supports the Board's finding that the intention and purpose of the parties were to set off these mutual debts; to make an offsetting entry in their books when but not until it was determined whether the buildings would be ready for occupancy during the year 1938; that before the end of the year the fact that the buildings would not be ready was determinable; and that petitioner had the right to make the set-off entry within the taxable year. The consent of the tenant inhered in the agreement. The question for decision, therefore, is whether the petitioner for tax purposes had the right to delay the entry and postpone the "rent receipt to a future tax period."
*516 It is true, as contended by the petitioner, that "Mutual debts do not per se extinguish each other." Bailey v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 5 Cir., 103 F.2d 448, 449. It is also the law that "Where the taxpayer does not receive payment of income in money or property realization may occur when the last step is taken by which he obtains the fruition of the economic gain which has already accrued to him." Helvering v. Horst, 311 U.S. 112, 115, 61 S.Ct. 144, 146, 85 L.Ed. 75, 131 A.L.R. 655. These rules are not inconsistent with the present decision. The principle here applicable is "that the power to dispose of income is the equivalent of ownership of it." Harrison v. Schaffner, 312 U.S. 579, 580, 61 S.Ct. 759, 760, 85 L. Ed. 1055. The revenue acts are "not so much concerned with the refinements of title as * * * with actual command over the property [which is] taxed the actual benefit for which the tax is paid." Corliss v. Bowers, 281 U.S. 376, 378, 50 S. Ct. 336, 74 L.Ed. 916; Harrison v. Schaffner, supra, 312 U.S. at page 581, 61 S.Ct. 759, 85 L.Ed. 1055. The last act necessary to give petitioner command over the $8,700 of rentals for 1938 was not the book entry but the failure to complete the buildings for occupancy in that year. The right of command existed upon the occurrence of that event and any delay in making the proper book entry could not change it. Upon petitioner's theory, if the set-off entry should never be made the tax would never accrue. Riley Inv. Co. v. Commissioner, 311 U.S. 55, 59, 61 S.Ct. 95, 85 L.Ed. 36. Negligent or willful delay in making a proper book entry cannot be used to defeat the taxing power. "* * * the taxpayer, even on the cash receipts basis, who has fully enjoyed the benefit of the economic gain represented by his right to receive income, can [not] escape taxation because he has not himself received payment of it from his obligor." Helvering v. Horst, supra, 311 U.S. at page 116, 61 S.Ct. at page 147, 85 L.Ed. 75, 131 A.L. R. 655. The taxpayer in the instant case enjoyed the benefit of the economic gain when the right to receive credit for the rent accrued. The gain need not be collected by the taxpayer in order that it be taxable. Helvering v. Stuart, 63 S.Ct. 140, 87 L.Ed. ___. Constructively received income is taxable when the amount is definitely liquidated and available to the taxpayer without restriction. Penn v. Robertson, 4 Cir., 115 F.2d 167, 175. The facts found by the Board meet these conditions.
The decision of the Board of Tax Appeals is affirmed.
| 2024-06-16T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5142 |
23 August 2013
Crib sheet: ND filter effect on shutter speed
This week I had more numbers floating about in my head, this time about ND filters.
About ND filters
'ND' refers to 'neutral density', meaning that the filter reduces all wavelengths (i.e. colours) from passing through in equal amounts. Looking through the viewfinder the photographer sees a darkened image with no particular colour cast. ND filters are available in various strengths. Below I consider the effect of plain ND filters, rather than the graduated ones (which are used when you want to darken a particular part of the image, such as the sky). More info in the Wikipedia entry.
Stops, light reduction, filter numbers
I've always found it difficult to grasp the concept of 'stops' of light. When looking at various ND filter strengths I was getting confused by how much a stop was, when referring to shutter speed. The numbers below explain how to figure out what effect a given ND filter will have on shutter speed.
Daylight conditions
On a recent time-lapse shoot in changeable daylight conditions, I found when shooting in Aperture Priority mode at f/8, the shutter speed would vary from 1/640 in bright sun to 1/320 when cloud passed over. Afterwards I considered what effect on shutter speed and whether it would introduce any motion blur.
ND filter numbers
Hoya and many manufacturers quantify their filter strength by using a set of numbers that double: 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. Tiffen uses a different scale of numbers: .3, .6, .9. I was researching the Hoya style when I put together the numbers below.
If you test your exposure without a filter, you can calculate what effect the ND will have. In my example above, an ND8 filter (in bright conditions, exposure normally 1/640) will slow the shutter to 1/80. ND8 allows 1/8th of the light through, which would extend the shutter time by 8 times: 640 / 8 = 80. In the lower light conditions, normally 1/320, with the ND the shutter speed would be 1/40: 320 / 8 = 40.
If you want to measure the effect of the filters in the units of stops of light, this is also easily figured out: 2 to the power of [stops] equals the ND number (and therefore division of light), for example ND8 is 3 stops: 2^3stops = ND8. ND32 is 5 stops: 2^5 = 32.
In practice
When shooting you need to know what the normal shutter speed for exposure would be. Then you can calculate what effect a given ND filter would have on the shutter speed. You're unlikely to have a vast array of filters so you'd have to make a judgement call on what is to hand.
What if you want to hit a target shutter speed? Say you want a shutter speed of 1/2 and you only have a ND16 filter. From the calculation above you can see that normal exposure should occur at a shutter speed of 1/32, which is quite slow for daylight. Perhaps you could achieve that with a tiny aperture, or if you were exposing for a dark area of the scene and didn't mind over-exposed areas elsewhere in the picture.
Maybe you're shopping for an ND filter to use in daylight conditions. Using the same f/8 aperture as above, you'd need the equivalent of ND320, something you can't buy off the shelf. There are ND128 filters available, but in square sheet form rather than screw-in filters, so you could use two of those stacked together (equivalent of ND256) and close the aperture slightly. However using multiple filters can introduce ugly reflections between the elements if the sun catches in a certain way. And using very strong ND can introduce a colour cast, which is more prevalent in cheaper items.
I hope this guide is useful. If you are looking for professional film making services (including time-lapse shooting of any duration from one day to several years), see the website for my new company: Construct Films. | 2024-03-19T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/9454 |
An Alaska village's existential dilemma
SHISHMAREF, Alaska (Reuters) – The Chukchi Sea’s unrelenting waves were slowly ripping away the land and homes of the 600 or so residents of this Alaska Native village on a sinking barrier island. U.S. government reports determined that the community was “imminently threatened” with inundation and needed “immediate action” to move to safer ground on the mainland. Villagers voted 161-20 to relocate off the island. Shishmaref, the media proclaimed, would be the United States’ first climate refugees.
That was in 2002.
More than a decade later, the U.S. government has yet to come up with a new location. Shishmaref has stayed put, protected temporarily by a $19 million rock revetment that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished in 2009.
“You almost have to be half the way dead to get help,” said Clifford Weyiouanna, former chair of a relocation coalition.
If Alaska is a test, the U.S. is failing it. The nation lacks any designated agency to help communities relocate even if they are literally falling into the water. Shishmaref is one of three Alaska Native communities on an emergency relocation list put out by the Army Corps and the U.S. General Accounting Office, but none have been able to move.
David Williams, Army Corps project manager for Shishmaref, said the community can’t afford the local share of moving costs nor agree on where to relocate.
Alternative sites selected by federal, state and tribal officials rest on thawing permafrost. The land would slump and sink into a muddy mess unless there was sand or gravel added at great expense to stabilize it. Many residents feel safer where they are, behind the row of rocks the agency installed as a stopgap measure.
“I told them once we build the sea wall, everybody’s going to get comfortable and say we don’t need to relocate anymore,” said Tony Weyiouanna, Clifford’s cousin and president of the Shishmaref Native Corp. “But they don’t see the other problems. The sea level’s rising. It’s going to happen eventually.”
Ironically, the Iñupiats were forced to consolidate on the barrier island about 90 years ago because of federal rules requiring a centralized school. Alaska Natives spread along 100 miles of shoreline were gathered together on a barrier island.
Life here has never been easy. The Iñupiat rely on a subsistence economy, eking out a living on hunting, fishing, berry-picking and food stamps. Seal carcasses litter the town. Most homes have no running water.
The island, just a quarter-mile wide, has lost hundreds of feet of unprotected shore since the 1960s, including another 25 feet or so last year. Water creeps ever closer to the airstrip, the town’s only connection to the outside world. “We don’t have a plan if the airport were washed out,” former Mayor Stanley Tocktoo said in January at a congressional hearing on climate change.
Voting to relocate, without actually relocating, has made things only worse. Water, sewer and health systems have deteriorated; no one is willing to invest in a town that is always talking about relocating. | 2024-06-19T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5802 |
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| 2023-11-28T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8480 |
1. Introduction {#sec1-ijms-17-01207}
===============
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to address multistate foodborne outbreaks that have impacted the health of the nation over the last 10 years \[[@B1-ijms-17-01207]\]. One area of concern is the need for reduction of *Salmonella* as a foodborne pathogen. Despite control efforts that cost over a half a billion dollars annually, foodborne illnesses due to *Salmonella* continue to impact the consumer. Poultry are commonly identified as a major source of *Salmonella*. Asymptomatic carrier states are poorly understood. "Normal infections" include infection of chicks through an oral route and is characterized by a translocation through the intestinal epithelial cells followed with a splenic infection \[[@B2-ijms-17-01207]\]. While asymptomatic carriers can be infected by *Salmonella* Enteritidis (SE) and *Salmonella* Typhmurium (ST), these bacteria can survive in the gastrointestinal tract of birds for months without showing clinical signs \[[@B3-ijms-17-01207]\]. These *Salmonella* carriers have an infected gastrointestinal tract without showing clinical signs while excreting high concentrations of *Salmonella* into the environment \[[@B3-ijms-17-01207],[@B4-ijms-17-01207],[@B5-ijms-17-01207],[@B6-ijms-17-01207],[@B7-ijms-17-01207],[@B8-ijms-17-01207],[@B9-ijms-17-01207],[@B10-ijms-17-01207]\]. These healthy carriers can be a risk to affect other birds by horizontal transmission or affect newly hatched chicks.
Despite the importance of *Salmonella* as a human pathogen, relatively little is known about the host immune response or virulence mechanisms of persistent asymptomatic infections in the avian intestine. The most fundamental question to answer is how do these organisms manage to escape clearance for so long in the presence of the host immune response? Upon infection with *Salmonella*, an up-regulation of the innate inflammatory response is generated and is characterized by pro-inflammatory cytokines and granulocyte (heterophils in chickens) influx within hours \[[@B11-ijms-17-01207],[@B12-ijms-17-01207],[@B13-ijms-17-01207],[@B14-ijms-17-01207]\]. Yet, this intestinal inflammatory response is somehow dampened facilitating pathogen survival and persistent infection \[[@B15-ijms-17-01207]\] for up to 10 weeks or more \[[@B3-ijms-17-01207],[@B16-ijms-17-01207]\]. One must keep in mind that this dampened inflammatory response in chickens may be a host-developed mechanism to minimize immune-mediated damage to the intestine at a time when the gut microbiome is being established (disease tolerance). Disease tolerance has recently been described as a "distinct host defense strategy" \[[@B17-ijms-17-01207],[@B18-ijms-17-01207],[@B19-ijms-17-01207],[@B20-ijms-17-01207],[@B21-ijms-17-01207],[@B22-ijms-17-01207]\]. Thus, a diminished immune response provides conceivable advantages to both the host and bacterium during a persistent infection in chickens. The mechanisms involved in this down-regulation of the mucosal immune response are currently unknown. However, one can speculate that mucosal disease tolerance is required to establish a persistent infection. During host tolerance, defined as coping with a pathogenic encounter without a consequent reduction in health \[[@B17-ijms-17-01207],[@B18-ijms-17-01207],[@B19-ijms-17-01207],[@B20-ijms-17-01207],[@B21-ijms-17-01207],[@B22-ijms-17-01207]\], the host's strategy is to avoid a harmful excessive inflammatory response \[[@B23-ijms-17-01207],[@B24-ijms-17-01207]\]. However, this strategy may enable pathogen persistence, such as that observed with *Salmonella* infections of poultry \[[@B15-ijms-17-01207],[@B16-ijms-17-01207]\].
We, and others, have recently demonstrated the development of a Th2, anti-inflammatory response in the cecum of chickens that begins at least four days after an initial infection with *Salmonella* and continues for weeks \[[@B11-ijms-17-01207],[@B25-ijms-17-01207],[@B26-ijms-17-01207],[@B27-ijms-17-01207],[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\]. Moreover, we have noted a significant increase in CD4^+^CD25^+^ (T regulatory) cells in the cecum that corresponds to this shift from a pro-inflammatory to an anti-inflammatory environment \[[@B29-ijms-17-01207]\]. T regulatory cells (Tregs) have been linked to play crucial roles sustaining a balance between the host immune response and immunological tolerance in many infections in mammals \[[@B30-ijms-17-01207],[@B31-ijms-17-01207],[@B32-ijms-17-01207],[@B33-ijms-17-01207],[@B34-ijms-17-01207]\]. Further, a role for Tregs during a persistent *Salmonella* infection was recently described using a mouse model of persistence \[[@B35-ijms-17-01207]\]. More recently, we also found alterations in the tissue phenotype of the cecum of the *Salmonella*-infected animals that is distinguished by metabolic signatures indicative of metabolic reprogramming with a shift from anabolic to catabolic reactions \[[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\]. It is during this phase that we speculate that *Salmonella* takes advantage of a reduction of host response to infection to begin to establish a persistent cecal colonization \[[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\].
In this study, our hypothesis was that *Salmonella enterica* serovar Enteritidis (*S*. Enteritidis) induces a disease tolerance host defense mechanism in chickens that allows the bacteria to colonize persistently the cecum of poultry. To test the hypothesis, we analyzed a time-course of chicken-specific kinomic immune changes and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) mRNA transcription in avian cecal tissue during a persistent infection by *S*. Enteritidis. Using these techniques, we were able to identify specific phosphorylation based immune post-translational signaling changes during a chronic *Salmonella* colonization in chickens that provide confirmation for the transition from an early mucosal pro-inflammatory response to the development of a disease tolerant mucosal response.
2. Results {#sec2-ijms-17-01207}
==========
2.1. S. Enteritidis Infection {#sec2dot1-ijms-17-01207}
-----------------------------
Infection state of the chickens was confirmed by culturing the cecal contents and feces from each bird for *S*. Enteritidis with and without enrichment. Cultures showed that at least 75% of the chickens in the inoculated group were culture positive for *S*. Enteritidis throughout the experiment while *Salmonella* was never isolated from the birds in the control group at any given time point ([Table 1](#ijms-17-01207-t001){ref-type="table"} and [Table 2](#ijms-17-01207-t002){ref-type="table"}). Four birds from each group at each time point were selected, infected birds were selected based on a consistent high level of *S.* Enteritidis colonization.
2.2. Kinome Arrays {#sec2dot2-ijms-17-01207}
------------------
Chicken-specific kinome arrays custom-designed for the study of chicken immune signal transduction pathways were used \[[@B36-ijms-17-01207]\]. Kinome analysis was carried out on the cecal samples from non-infected and infected chickens. The results from four animals from each group (*S.* Enteritidis-infected and non-infected) and time point were combined to provide a representative result. To remove any non-specific or baseline phosphorylation signal from the analysis data from each time point was corrected using the matched uninfected controls. The kinome data were subjected to pathway overrepresentation analysis to determine which cellular pathways/processes are activated under the infected and non-infected conditions. To ensure that the identified pathways represent conserved and consistent biological responses, input data were limited to peptides with a consistent pattern of differential phosphorylation across the four biological replicates in at least one of the treatment sets as well as significant changes (*p* ≤ 0.05) in phosphorylation level relative to the non-infected control treatment. These select data from the four animals were merged to generate a representative data set for each treatment condition. All peptides that showed significant phosphorylation changes relative to control (*p* ≤ 0.05) for each time point were input into the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING) database \[[@B37-ijms-17-01207]\]. Using STRING functionality, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway results were generated for each dataset.
The STRING generated KEGG pathway results showed a number of pathways altered by the *S.* Enteritidis infection at a statistically significant level (*p* ≤ 0.05 false discovery rate (FDR) corrected). Of particular interest were those pathways that contained peptides that were significantly differentially phosphorylated at multiple times over the course of the study. A subset of these pathways are shown in [Table 3](#ijms-17-01207-t003){ref-type="table"}. Of particular note, the T cell signaling and JAK-STAT signaling pathways were dramatically altered by the infection. Both these pathways had multiple peptide phosphorylation events altered at multiple time points post-infection. In total 49 differentially phosphorylated peptides were observed in chickens within these two different pathways on the 4th day post-infection with *S.* Enteritidis ([Table 3](#ijms-17-01207-t003){ref-type="table"}) signifying a dramatic local post-translational modification of the proteins within the infected cecum. Of the 49 peptides that were differentially phosphorylated, 26 belong to the T cell signaling pathway, and 23 to the JAK-STAT pathway. Only 33 total peptides were found to be differentially phosphorylated over days 7--14 post-infection within these two specific pathways ([Table 3](#ijms-17-01207-t003){ref-type="table"}).
2.3. Phosphoryaltion Events within Specific Pathways {#sec2dot3-ijms-17-01207}
----------------------------------------------------
### 2.3.1. T Cell Receptor Signaling Pathway {#sec2dot3dot1-ijms-17-01207}
The transcription factor family Nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT), play a crucial role in regulating the transcription of cytokines and other genes critical for immune response. Members of the NFAT family were found to be significantly phosphorylated in the ceca of *S*. Enteritidis-infected chickens ([Table 4](#ijms-17-01207-t004){ref-type="table"}). This is a significant finding because inactivated NFAT proteins in the cytoplasm of a cell are in their phosphorylated form. Following T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation, cytoplasmic NFAT proteins are dephosphorylated and translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus where they regulate transcription of key cytokine genes. Thus, based on the findings here the increased phosphorylation of NFAT inactivates the proteins preventing its translocation to the nucleus and thus decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokine production. Simultaneously, we found that Iκκ-β, NF-κB1 and NF-κB1A were significantly dephosphorylated after 4--10 days of infection with *S.* Enteritidis ([Table 4](#ijms-17-01207-t004){ref-type="table"}). NF-κB is a transcription factor that is phosphorylated when activated by various intra- and extra-cellular stimuli then translocates into the nucleus and stimulates the expression of genes involved in a variety of immune functions.
Further analysis of the T cell receptor signaling pathway revealed two other significant changes in phosphorylation events: (1) phospholipase C-γ1 (PLCG1) was significantly dephosphorylated in the *S*. Enteritidis-infected cecal tissue at four days post-infection when compared to the non-infected control cecal tissue; and (2) a significant dephosphorylation of MAPKs, including MEK1, ERK1, MAP3K8, and p38.
### 2.3.2. JAK-STAT Signaling Pathway {#sec2dot3dot2-ijms-17-01207}
The JAK-STAT signaling cascade is represented quite comprehensively on the kinome array, it is possible to investigate the effects of a persistent cecal infection by *S*. Enteritidis on the principle signaling mechanism for a wide variety of cytokines and growth factors. At 4 days-post-infection, a differentiated series of phosphorylation events occurred at the receptor level in the infected birds when compared to the non-infected control birds ([Table 5](#ijms-17-01207-t005){ref-type="table"}). First, a significant increase in phosphorylation of the IFN-α receptor (IFNAR1; *p* ≤ 0.003), and IL-2 receptor IL-2RB; (*p* ≤ 0.0003) were found. Simultaneously, there is a significant decrease on the phosphorylation of the IL-4 receptor (IL-4R; *p* ≤ 0.006), IFN-γ receptor (IFNGR1; *p* ≤ 0.006), IL-6 receptor gp130; (*p* ≤ 0.01), and IL-7 receptor (IL-7R; *p* ≤ 0.0008). Lastly, there was a five-fold increase in the phosphorylation of the IL-10 receptor (IL-10R-A; *p* ≤ 0.02) at four days post-infection was also elevated at 10 days post-infection ([Table 5](#ijms-17-01207-t005){ref-type="table"}).
Furthermore, the development of a persistent cecal infection in chickens by *S.* Enteritidis also appears to target the JAK kinases for degradation. However, JAK2 and JAK3 appeared to be targets for dephosphorylation where both had a three-fold decrease in phosphorylation at four days post-infection ([Table 5](#ijms-17-01207-t005){ref-type="table"}). JAK3 appears to be a specific target since the dephosphorylation continued through day 10 post-infection where an 18-fold decrease was observed.
Lastly, the persistent infection by *S*. Enteritidis also appeared to target the specific JAK substrate STAT4 ([Table 5](#ijms-17-01207-t005){ref-type="table"}). We measured a significant two-fold (four days) to seven-fold (10 days) decrease in the phosphorylation of the STAT4 transcription factor in the ceca of the infected birds when compared to the cecal tissues from the non-infected birds. STAT1, 3, 5B and 6 had increased phosphorylation on day four post-infection, but all had a reduced phosphorylation 10--14 days post-infection.
2.4. Validation of Kinome Analysis with Antibody Array {#sec2dot4-ijms-17-01207}
------------------------------------------------------
An often used methodof validating kinome peptide array data is by using phosphospecific antibodies. For example, performing a Western blot using phosphospecific antibodies that correspond to the phosphosites on the peptide array. If the phosphospecific antibody binds and the peptide array shows the same phosphosite has been phosphorylated there is confirmation of the array data. This type of validation is similar to how transcriptome data from a cDNA microarray is validated through the use of quantitative real-time PCR. In a variation of the standard validation procedure we chose to employ an antibody microarray, which contains many phosphospecific antibodies immobilized in an array format \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207]\]. Though there is a scarcity of chicken specific antibodies, many of the central proteins of interest found in the peptide array results were relatively well conserved between humans and chickens, providing confidence that there would be significant observed binding through cross-reactivity of the antibodies. To illustrate the conservation of phosphosites the percent orthology between the chicken and human 15 amino acid phosphorylation target sites determined by NCBI Protein Blast analysis is shown in [Table 6](#ijms-17-01207-t006){ref-type="table"}. Following the data normalization, the results showed similar peptide phosphorylation events to those observed with the peptide arrays ([Table 6](#ijms-17-01207-t006){ref-type="table"}).
2.5. Altered Expression of IFN-γ Transcription {#sec2dot5-ijms-17-01207}
----------------------------------------------
As has been reported previously, during the early acute infection (within 24 h) by paratyphoid strains of *Salmonella* chickens up-regulate pro-inflammatory cytokines mRNA expression in the cecum \[[@B9-ijms-17-01207],[@B38-ijms-17-01207],[@B39-ijms-17-01207],[@B40-ijms-17-01207]\]. In the present studies, we profiled the IFN-γ mRNA expression in the cecum of chickens 2, 4, 7, 10, and 14 days post-infection with *S*. Enteritidis and compared the results to the non-infected control birds. IFN-γ mRNA expression in the *S*. Enteritidis infected ceca from chickens was up-regulated two to seven days post-infection when compared to the non-infected birds expression in the cecum ([Figure 1](#ijms-17-01207-f001){ref-type="fig"}). However, there was a significant and dramatic nine-fold decrease in IFN-γ mRNA expression from day two post-infection to day four post-infection. The fold-change in IFN-γ mRNA expression remained unchanged through day 14 post-infection ([Figure 1](#ijms-17-01207-f001){ref-type="fig"}).
3. Discussion {#sec3-ijms-17-01207}
=============
Relatively little is known about how and why *Salmonella enterica* persist in the avian intestine, specifically the interactions between the virulence mechanisms and host immune response. The persistent colonization of the gut, the carrier state, is established, and the *Salmonella* is able to stay in the ceca for months without triggering clinical signs of infection \[[@B4-ijms-17-01207],[@B5-ijms-17-01207],[@B7-ijms-17-01207],[@B8-ijms-17-01207]\]. A persistent, chronic, subclinical *Salmonella* infection of the intestinal tract is important to continued bacterial propagation and the contamination of poultry as it is nearly impossible to detect and isolate infected birds \[[@B41-ijms-17-01207]\]. We, and others, have speculated that the bacterium is involved in redirecting, or subverting, the host response toward disease tolerance \[[@B11-ijms-17-01207],[@B26-ijms-17-01207],[@B27-ijms-17-01207],[@B28-ijms-17-01207],[@B42-ijms-17-01207]\]. The present study was designed to address the question of immune tolerance induction during a persistent paratyphoid *Salmonella* infection in chickens.
Host responses to infectious agents are often regulated through phosphorylation. However, proteomic mechanisms of *Salmonella* acute infection biology and host responses to the bacteria have been investigated only in murine models \[[@B43-ijms-17-01207],[@B44-ijms-17-01207],[@B45-ijms-17-01207],[@B46-ijms-17-01207],[@B47-ijms-17-01207]\]. Until recently, studies in poultry have been limited to the genomic responses of the host to infection (reviews in \[[@B11-ijms-17-01207],[@B48-ijms-17-01207],[@B49-ijms-17-01207]\]). Our recent development of chicken-specific peptide arrays for kinome analysis of host phosphorylation-based cellular signaling responses provided us with the opportunity to develop a more detailed understanding of the chicken host-pathogen interactions with *Salmonella* \[[@B50-ijms-17-01207],[@B51-ijms-17-01207]\].
Based on the findings here, our kinomic analysis demonstrate a phenotypic change in the avian cecum as it orchestrates the dynamics of immune signaling pathways, cytokine secretion, transcription factor expression, and the launch of a different immune microenvironment during the establishment of a persistent *Salmonella* infection and a return to intestinal homeostasis. Four days post-infection (pi) *Salmonella* induces an immune transition from an acute pro-inflammatory response to an established infection and a dampened or eliminated innate response \[[@B52-ijms-17-01207]\]. By 4 days pi, we have described a substantial down-regulation of the expression pro-inflammatory cytokines that coincides with the up-regulation of the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207],[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\]. Further, by day four pi a dramatic increase in Tregs (CD4^+^CD25^+^) in the cecum and remains elevated through 14 days pi \[[@B29-ijms-17-01207]\]. This coordinated production of pro- versus anti-inflammatory responses is a central mechanism of an effective early inflammatory response and later return to tissue immune homeostasis. Finally, we used a kinomics approach to uncover the mechanisms used by *S*. Enteritidis to impact the avian inflammatory responses and determine host signaling events altered by the bacteria to create the conditions for a persistent infection. Our results identified multiple changes to the host kinome during the establishment of a persistent *Salmonella* infection in the avian cecum. This immune analysis that compared the immune responses between the *S*. Enteritidis-infected avian cecum and non-infected cecum provides novel information on host cellular signaling cascades that are altered during the establishment of *Salmonella* persistence ([Table 5](#ijms-17-01207-t005){ref-type="table"} and [Table 6](#ijms-17-01207-t006){ref-type="table"}) \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207],[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\]. Additionally, the relative lack of differential phosphorylation events found in the signaling pathways between the infected and non-infected ceca 7--14 days pi indicate that a level of immune homeostasis had been achieved and that the *Salmonella* were no longer being recognized as infectious agents and were now part of the commensal population. Further experiments are underway to further characterize and contrast this homeostasis to that of the non-infected controls.
Here we have further described a series of phosphorylation-mediated changes in the ceca of chickens during the development of a persistent *Salmonella* infection. The most significant differences in host immune kinase activities in infected animals occurred within four days pi. These changes were localized to select pathways, specifically the T cell receptor and the JAK-STAT signaling pathways, which were altered by the persistent colonization of the cecum by *S*. Enteritidis.
Stimulation of the T cell receptor results in the activation of the TCR signal transduction pathway. This pathway activates the transcription factors nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT), and activator protein 1 (AP-1), that induce expression of cytokine genes \[[@B53-ijms-17-01207]\]. The results of this study clearly point to changes in the activity of all three of the central transcription factors, specifically at 4 days pi ([Table 4](#ijms-17-01207-t004){ref-type="table"}). First, we found no significant effect on the phosphorylation of the AP-1 transcription factors between the *S*. Enteritidis-infected and non-infected tissues. The AP-1 pathway is dependent on activated of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), such as extracellular signal--regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38, which promote the synthesis, phosphorylation, and activation of the Fos and Jun proteins that together comprise the AP-1 transcription factor \[[@B53-ijms-17-01207]\]. However, we found a significant dephosphorylation of MAPKs, including MEK1, ERK1, MAP3K8, and p38 involved in the T cell receptor signaling cascade; thus, pointing to the lack of involvement of AP-1-induced genes during a persistent *S*. Enteritidis infection in the chicken ([Table 4](#ijms-17-01207-t004){ref-type="table"}). Second, NFAT (phosphorylated) and NF-κB (dephosphorylated) were significantly differentially phosphorylated in the ceca of *S*. Enteritidis-infected chickens ([Table 4](#ijms-17-01207-t004){ref-type="table"}). The central question is whether there is a common thread that could account for this differential response of these transcription factors. This thread appears to be phospholipase C-γ1 (PLCG1) that was significantly dephosphorylated in the *S*. Enteritidis-infected cecal tissue at 4 days pi when compared to the non-infected control cecal tissue. Activation of both NF-κB and NFAT requires the activity of PLC-γ1, which generates the second messengers diacylglycerol (DAG) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP~3~). DAG leads to activation of protein kinase C θ (PKCθ), which, in turn, activates the inhibitor of κB (IκB) kinase (IKK) complex, resulting in the phosphorylation and degradation of IκBα and the translocation of the NF-κB p50:p65 heterodimer to the nucleus \[[@B54-ijms-17-01207]\]. IP~3~ induces an increase in the concentration of cytoplasmic calcium (Ca^2+^) and activation of the Ca^2+^-dependent phosphatase calcineurin, which results in the rapid activation of NFAT, which is followed by its translocation to the nucleus \[[@B55-ijms-17-01207]\]. To our knowledge, our report is the first to implicate *Salmonella* targeting of PLCG1 to manipulate the NF-κB and NFAT pathways to inhibit pro-inflammatory responses. What bacterial factors may be involved in dephosphorylating PLCG1 are unknown at this time and will be the focus of future experiments.
NFAT proteins, a family of transcription factors, are critical to the transcription of cytokine genes and other genes that are critical for the control of inflammation and regulation of the immune response \[[@B55-ijms-17-01207],[@B56-ijms-17-01207]\]. Further, NFAT must ultimately bind to additional transcription factors, such as AP-1 to form transcriptional complexes that regulate gene expression that are inducibly transcribed by immune-system cells \[[@B55-ijms-17-01207],[@B57-ijms-17-01207]\]. NFAT functions to regulate the interaction of the innate immune cells with acquired immunity and to promote anti-inflammatory programs (reviewed by \[[@B58-ijms-17-01207]\]). Thus, the increased phosphorylation of NFAT peptides would suggest the initiation of anti-inflammatory signals. NF-κB is a transcription factor whose activity is triggered in response to infectious agents and pro-inflammatory cytokines via the IκB kinase (IKK) complex and plays a key role in regulating the pro-inflammatory response \[[@B59-ijms-17-01207],[@B60-ijms-17-01207]\]. Therefore, dephosphorylation of both IKK and NF-κB would result in a down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines as we observed in the present experiments. As a result, the T cell receptor signaling pathway analysis data provide evidence that the establishment of a persistent infection by *S*. Enteritidis in the avian cecum appears to be partially due to the targeting of signaling cascades that inhibit the transcription of pro-inflammatory responses and induce the beginning of a transition from T~H~1/T~H~17 cells to the development of Tregs \[[@B61-ijms-17-01207],[@B62-ijms-17-01207],[@B63-ijms-17-01207],[@B64-ijms-17-01207]\].
Further pathway analysis of the kinome data indicated differential phosphorylation of the JAK-STAT pathway, a signaling cascade that provides a direct mechanism to translate an extracellular signal into a transcriptional response, in *S*. Enteritidis-infected cecal tissue. The JAK-STAT system consists of three main components: (1) a receptor; (2) Janus kinase (JAK); and (3) Signal Transducers and Activator of Transcription (STAT) \[[@B65-ijms-17-01207]\]. Based on the results from them present experiments ([Table 6](#ijms-17-01207-t006){ref-type="table"}), the IFN-α, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10 receptors were phosphorylated; whereas, IFN-γ, IL-7, and IL-6 cytokine family (gp130) receptors were dephosphorylated. IFN-γ is characteristic of a Th1 response whereas IL-4 is a signature cytokine of Th2 responses. IL-7 is involved in early T cell development and IL-6 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine involved in stimulating an immune response during infection. IL-2 is normally produced by T cells during an immune response and involved in growth, proliferation, and differentiation of T cells to become "effector" T cells \[[@B66-ijms-17-01207],[@B67-ijms-17-01207]\]. When combined with the cytokine expression observed previously \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207],[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\], the down-regulation of IFN-γ mRNA transcription shown here ([Figure 1](#ijms-17-01207-f001){ref-type="fig"}) provides a clear pattern of down-regulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, IFN-γ) and an up-regulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines, IL-10 and TGF-β4 \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207],[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\]. We speculate there is a profound immune transition from an active inflammatory response where the immune system was working to reduce the number of bacteria to an environment of homeostasis where the immune response is allowing for a persistent state of infection in the *S*. Enteritidis-infected cecal tissue.
Cytokine receptor proteins lack enzymatic activity, thus are dependent upon JAKs to initiate signaling upon binding of their ligands. The JAK family has four members: JAK1, JAK2, JAK3 and tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) \[[@B68-ijms-17-01207]\]. TYK2 is the only JAK family member that was activated (phosphorylated) in the ceca from the *S*. Enteritidis-infected chickens ([Table 6](#ijms-17-01207-t006){ref-type="table"}). Although primarily involved in IL-12 and type I-IFN signaling, TYK2 is activated by IL-10 \[[@B69-ijms-17-01207]\].
Most importantly, based on these experiments, the development of a persistent cecal infection by *S*. Enteritidis triggers a dephosphorylation of both JAK2 and JAK3 proteins ([Table 6](#ijms-17-01207-t006){ref-type="table"}). JAK2 is an essential tyrosine kinase for modulating the immune response and whose activation contributes to the severe inflammatory response in sepsis \[[@B70-ijms-17-01207],[@B71-ijms-17-01207]\]. Inhibition of JAK2 prevents NF-κB activation; thus "rescuing" mice from polymicrobial sepsis \[[@B72-ijms-17-01207]\]. Therefore, we can conclude that the dephosphorylation of both JAK2 and NF-κB found via our kinomic analysis is indicative of a negative regulation of a pro-inflammatory response; in this case brought about by the establishment of a persistent *Salmonella* infection. Further experiments are required to confirm this hypothesis.
JAK3 is predominantly expressed in hematopoietic lineage such as NK cells, T cells and B cells and intestinal epithelial cells \[[@B73-ijms-17-01207],[@B74-ijms-17-01207],[@B75-ijms-17-01207]\]. JAK3 is the only JAK family member involved in all phases of T cell biology: development, proliferation, and differentiation \[[@B76-ijms-17-01207],[@B77-ijms-17-01207],[@B78-ijms-17-01207]\]. For T cell differentiation, JAK3, along with IL-4, steer Th2 cell differentiation \[[@B78-ijms-17-01207]\], but inhibition of JAK3 generates the induction of Tregs \[[@B79-ijms-17-01207],[@B80-ijms-17-01207]\]. Therefore, the dephosphorylation of JAK2 and JAK3 found in the present studies would result in a change in the functional immune phenotype of the cecal environment that benefits the establishment of a tolerant mucosal immune response against the bacterial colonization. Although these studies cannot confirm what provoked this dephosphorylation of JAK2 and JAK3, we speculate that the mechanism is a specific action of the *Salmonella* organism as it begins to establish its long term colonization. These results are the first to infer that *Salmonella* have evolved a time-dependent strategy that blocks responsiveness of the JAK proteins that down-regulates the host response to infection.
STAT4 is a decisive factor in host resistance to a variety of viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens while serving as the central regulator of IFN-γ production during inflammation \[[@B81-ijms-17-01207]\]. Intestinal IFN-γ mRNA expression levels are a prevailing indicator of a reduced immune response associated with persistence of *Salmonella* in the chicken gastrointestinal tract \[[@B42-ijms-17-01207]\]. Furthermore, the ratio between STAT1 and STAT4 are crucial for IFN-γ production during viral and *Salmonella* infections \[[@B82-ijms-17-01207],[@B83-ijms-17-01207]\]. Herein, we found a reduced IFN-γ mRNA expression during the establishment of the persistent *Salmonella* infection ([Figure 1](#ijms-17-01207-f001){ref-type="fig"}) and an increased phosphorylation of STAT1 and dephosphorylation of STAT4 ([Table 6](#ijms-17-01207-t006){ref-type="table"}). Our results are in agreement with two recent studies where *N*-ethyl-*N*-nitrosourea-induced mutations of mice resulted in increased STAT1 phosphorylation, suppressed STAT4 expression, and altered IFN-γ production that led to the increased susceptibility of the animals to *S*. Typhimurium infection \[[@B83-ijms-17-01207],[@B84-ijms-17-01207]\]. IFN-γ has been shown to play a fundamental role in the resolution of intestinal Salmonella infection \[[@B13-ijms-17-01207],[@B42-ijms-17-01207],[@B85-ijms-17-01207]\]. Further, our observation of a dramatic decrease in IFN-γ mRNA expression at day four p.i. is in agreement with previously reported results by other laboratories \[[@B13-ijms-17-01207],[@B26-ijms-17-01207]\].
4. Materials and Methods {#sec4-ijms-17-01207}
========================
4.1. Experimental Animals {#sec4dot1-ijms-17-01207}
-------------------------
Experiments were conducted according to the regulations established by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal Care and Use Committee. Broiler chickens used in this study were obtained from a commercial breeder and were all of the same genetic background and were not vaccinated at any time. Chicks were placed in floor pens containing wood shavings, provided supplemental heat, water, and a balanced, unmedicated corn and soybean meal-based chick starter diet ad libitum that met or exceeded the levels of critical nutrients recommended by the National Research Council \[[@B86-ijms-17-01207]\]. *Salmonella* was not detected in the feed or from the paper tray liners.
4.2. S. Enteritidis Challenge {#sec4dot2-ijms-17-01207}
-----------------------------
A poultry isolate of *Salmonella enterica* serovar Enteritidis (*S*. Enteritidis; (ID 9711771, part 24)) was obtained from the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (Ames, IA, USA), and was selected for resistance to nalidixic acid and novobiocin and maintained in tryptic soy broth (Difco Laboratories, Sparks, MD, USA) containing antibiotics (20 µg/mL nalidixic acid and 25 µg/mL novobiocin; Sigma Chemical Co.; St. Louis, MO, USA). A stock culture was prepared in sterile PBS and adjusted to a concentration of 1 × 10^9^ colony forming units (CFU/mL). The viable cell concentration of the challenge dose for each experiment was determined by colony counts on XLT4 agar base plates with XLT4 supplement (Difco) and nalidixic acid and novobiocin (XLT-NN).
4.3. Experimental Design {#sec4dot3-ijms-17-01207}
------------------------
One-day-old broiler chickens were randomly distributed into two experimental groups: non-infected control and infected. Each group contained 200 birds fed a balanced, unmedicated corn and soybean meal-based diet. Four days post-hatch, all chickens were orally challenged with 1 mL of either 5 × 10^6^ CFU/mL *S*. Enteritidis or mock challenged with 1 mL sterile PBS. Four, 7, 10, and 14 days after challenge, 50 chickens from each group were killed by cervical dislocation, cecal contents were analyzed for *S*. Enteritidis colonization, 10 of these chickens were used for: (a) cecal tonsils for quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR); and (b) cecal tissue was flash frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored for use in the peptide and antibody arrays.
All experiments were conducted three times. Therefore, the ceca from a total of 30 chickens for each of the 2 groups (10 chickens each in 3 experiments) were used to prepare the mRNA for the qRT-PCR IFN-γ assay described below. RNA from each bird (*n* = 10) was isolated and assayed separately and not pooled. Each RNA sample was replicated 3 times for IFN-γ expression per experiment.
4.4. Sample Collection for Peptide and Antibody Arrays {#sec4dot4-ijms-17-01207}
------------------------------------------------------
At 4, 7, 10, and 14 days post infection, both ceca were removed from each of 10 birds from each group (non-infected and infected) and immediately flash frozen in liquid nitrogen to preserve kinase enzymatic activity. Samples were taken from liquid nitrogen and transferred to a −80 °C freezer until further experimental procedures were conducted.
4.5. Kinome Array {#sec4dot5-ijms-17-01207}
-----------------
At each of the time points and under each condition (infected and uninfected), 4 cecal samples from 4 different animals were taken from storage for analysis (32 samples total). Infected birds were selected based on a consistent high level of *S.* Enteritidis colonization. Cecal tissue samples were weighed to obtain a consistent 40 mg sample for the array protocol. Samples were homogenized by a hand-held Qiagen TissueRuptor (Valencia, CA, USA) in 100 μL of lysis buffer (20 mM Tris--HCl pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM Ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA), 1% Triton X-100, 2.5 mM sodium pyrophosphate, 1 mM Na~3~VO~4~, 1 mM NaF, 1 μg/mL leupeptin, 1 g/mL aprotinin and 1 mM Phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride (all products from Sigma Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA), unless indicated). Following homogenization, the peptide array protocol was carried out as per Jalal et al. \[[@B87-ijms-17-01207]\], with alterations described in Arsenault et al. \[[@B51-ijms-17-01207],[@B88-ijms-17-01207]\].
4.6. Antibody Array {#sec4dot6-ijms-17-01207}
-------------------
The antibody array assay kit was procured from Full Moon BioSystems (Sunnyvale, CA, USA). This technique was used as an alternative to procuring phosphospecific antibodies individually and performing several western blot assays. The protocol was carried out as per manufacturer's instructions (Antibody Array User's Guide Rev 11.3) with the following alteration to the homogenization step: instead of using the bead and vortex homogenization indicated in the kit, the hand-held Qiagen Tissue Ruptor was used.
4.7. Data Analysis: Kinome and Antibody Arrays {#sec4dot7-ijms-17-01207}
----------------------------------------------
Data normalization and PCA analysis was performed for both the peptide and antibody microarrays as per Li et al. \[[@B89-ijms-17-01207]\] using the PIIKA2 online platform (<http://saphire.usask.ca/saphire/piika/index.html>). Briefly, the array data were analyzed by subtracting the background intensity from the foreground intensity, variance stabilization normalization was conducted to bring all of the arrays onto the same scale, and then *t*-test, clustering and pathway analysis were performed. This consistent analysis method facilitated a more direct comparison between the two distinct array datasets and allowed for a statistically robust analysis of the phosphorylation events being measured. Geneontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis was performed by uploading the statistically significant peptide lists to the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) \[[@B36-ijms-17-01207]\].
4.8. Sample Collection for Bacterial Contents {#sec4dot8-ijms-17-01207}
---------------------------------------------
The ceca from each chicken was removed aseptically, and the contents (0.25 g) were serially diluted to 1:100, 1:1000, or 1:10,000 and spread onto XLT-NN plates. The plates were incubated at 37 °C for 24 h, and the number of NN-resistant *S*. Enteritidis cells per gram of cecal contents was determined. The data from each experimental group were pooled from three separate trials for statistical analysis.
4.9. Sample Collection for mRNA {#sec4dot9-ijms-17-01207}
-------------------------------
Chickens from each experimental group were euthanized at 4, 7, 10, and 14 days post-infection. A 25-mg piece of tissue was removed from the cecal tonsils. The tissue was washed in PBS and placed in a 2-mL microcentrifuge tube with 1 mL of RNAlater (Qiagen, Inc., Valencia, CA, USA) and stored at −20 °C until processed.
4.10. RNA Isolation {#sec4dot10-ijms-17-01207}
-------------------
Tissues (50 mg) were removed from RNAlater and transferred to pre-filled 2 mL tubes containing Triple-Pure™ 1.5 mm zirconium beads. RLT lysis buffer (600 μL) from the RNeasy mini kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA, USA) was added and the tissue was homogenized for 1--2 min at 4000 rpm in a Bead Bug microtube homogenizer (Benchmark Scientific, Inc., Edison, NJ, USA). Total RNA was extracted from the homogenized lysates according to the manufacturer's instructions, eluted with 50 μL RNase-free water, and stored at −80 °C until qRT-PCR analyses performed. RNA was quantified and the quality was evaluated using a spectrophotometer (NanoDrop Products, Wilmington, DE, USA). The data from these three repeated experiments were pooled for presentation and statistical analysis. Total RNA (300 ng) from each sample was prepared.
4.11. Quantitative Real-Time PCR {#sec4dot11-ijms-17-01207}
--------------------------------
The primer and probe sets for IFN-γ and 28S rRNA were designed using the Primer Express software program (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). IFN-γ mRNA expression was quantitated using a well-described method. Primers and probes for IFN-γ and 28S rRNA-specific amplification have been described \[[@B25-ijms-17-01207],[@B47-ijms-17-01207]\] and are provided in [Table 7](#ijms-17-01207-t007){ref-type="table"}. The qRT-PCR was performed using the TaqMan fast universal PCR master mix and one-step RT-PCR master mix reagents \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207],[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\] (Applied Biosystems). Amplification and detection of specific products were performed using the Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast real-time PCR system with the following cycle profile: one cycle of 48 °C for 30 min and 95 °C for 20 s and 40 cycles of 95 °C for 3 s and 60 °C for 30 s. Quantification was based on the increased fluorescence detected by the 7500 Fast sequence detection system due to hydrolysis of the target-specific probes by the 5 = nuclease activity of the r*Tth* DNA polymerase during PCR amplification. Normalization was carried out against 28S rRNA, which was used as a housekeeping gene. To correct for differences in RNA levels between samples within the experiment, the correction factor for each sample was calculated by dividing the mean threshold cycle (*C*~t~) value for 28S rRNA-specific product for each sample by the overall mean *C*~t~ value for the 28S rRNA-specific product from all samples. The corrected cytokine mean was calculated as follow: (average of each replicate × cytokine slope)/(28S slope × 28S correction factor). Fold changes in mRNA levels were calculated from mean 40 *C*~t~ values by the formula 2^(40\ *C*t\ infected\ group\ −\ 40\ *C*t\ in\ non-infected\ control)^.
4.12. Statistical Analysis: mRNA Expression {#sec4dot12-ijms-17-01207}
-------------------------------------------
The mean and standard error of the mean were calculated and differences between groups were determined by analysis of variance. Significant differences were further separated using Duncan's multiple range test \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207]\]. Fold changes in RNA levels were calculated from mean 40 *C*~t~ values using formula 2^(40\ *C*t\ infected\ group\ −\ 40\ *C*t\ in\ non−infected\ control)^. A *p* value of ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.
5. Conclusions {#sec5-ijms-17-01207}
==============
Collectively, we have outlined a series of altered phosphorylation events in multiple signaling pathways in the cecum of *S*. Enteritidis-infected chickens that induces an immunological tolerogenic response beginning around three to four days post-primary infection. The tolerance is characterized by alterations in T cell signaling pathway and blockage of IFN-γ protection through the disruption of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway. Further, the tolerance response induces a reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokine mRNA expression and an increase in anti-inflammatory cytokine mRNA expression.
This study was supported by USDA-ARS intramural funding.
Michael H. Kogut and Ryan J. Arsenault conceived and designed the experiments; Michael H. Kogut, Ryan J. Arsenault, Christina L. Swaggerty, James Allen Byrd and Ramesh Selvaraj performed the experiments; Michael H. Kogut; Ryan J. Arsenault and Christina L. Swaggerty analyzed the data; Michael H. Kogut wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
{#ijms-17-01207-f001}
ijms-17-01207-t001_Table 1
######
Number of chickens positive for *Salmonella* Enteritidis ceca colonization for 2 weeks following challenge.
Treatment Groups Percent Positive for *Salmonella* Enteritidis Cecal Colonization (Total Positive/Total Challenged)
---------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------- --------- ----
Days post-challenge
4 7 10 14
Non-infected control 0 0 0 0
(0/50) (0/50) (0/50) (0/50)
Infected 100 100 90 83
(50/50) (50/50) (45/50) (41/50)
ijms-17-01207-t002_Table 2
######
Cecal *Salmonella* Enteritidis CFUs for 2 weeks following challenge.
Treatment Groups CFU of *Salmonella* Enteritidis in Cecum (log ~10~)
---------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- --------------- ---------------- ---------------
Days post-challenge
4 7 10 14
Non-infected control 0 0 0 0
Infected 5.398 ± 1.112 5.708 ± 1.341 4.342 ± 00.859 3.476 ± 1.472
ijms-17-01207-t003_Table 3
######
KEGG Pathways generated by Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING).
4 Days 7 Days 10 Days 14 Days
---------- --------------------------------------- -------- ---------------- --------- -------------- ---- --------------- ---- --------------- --------------------------
hsa04660 T cell receptor signaling pathway 26 3.09 × 10^−18^ \- N/S 9 2.9 × 10^−5^ 11 6.93 × 10^−7^ Here
hsa05130 Pathogenic Escherichia coli infection \- N/S 2 N/S 4 N/S 4 N/S \-
hsa04250 TGF-β4 signaling pathway 7 0.016 \- N/S \- N/S \- N/S \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207]\]
hsa04310 Wnt signaling pathway 13 0.0004 3 N/S \- N/S 6 0.024 \[[@B27-ijms-17-01207]\]
hsa05217 Basal cell carcinoma \- N/S \- N/S 2 0.338 \- N/S \-
hsa04150 mTOR signaling pathway 13 4.83 × 10^−10^ 2 N/S 5 1.32 × 10^−3^ \- N/S \[[@B28-ijms-17-01207]\]
hsa04630 JAK-STAT signaling pathway 23 4.13 × 10^−12^ 1 3.8 × 10^−2^ 6 2.14 × 10^−4^ 6 2.9 × 10^−4^ Here
Peptides that displayed a significant change in phosphorylation state were input into the STRING database for each time point. Generated pathways involved in immune activation/suppression that displayed *p*-value of less than 0.05 (FDR corrected) are listed. \# Peptides refers to number of peptides within the given pathway that were present within the peptide array data set. N/S indicates that the pathway is non-significant.
ijms-17-01207-t004_Table 4
######
Peptides from the T cell receptor signaling pathway that displayed a statistically significant change in phosphorylation.
T Cell Receptor Signaling Pathway
----------------------------------- ------- --------------- ------- ------ ------- ------ ------- ------
Akt1 1.52 0.03 \- \- \- \- \- \-
Akt3 1.80 0.04 \- \- \- \- \- \-
Cbl Y728 −1.97 0.03 \- \- \- \- −1.23 0.03
Cbl Y773 1.30 0.02 \- \- \- \- \- \-
CDC42 1.69 0.01 \- \- \- \- \- \-
IKK-β −2.87 5.39 × 10^−5^ \- \- −1.91 0.04 \- \-
FYN \- \- \- \- −2.29 0.03 \- \-
GRB2 \- \- \- \- −1.84 0.04 \- \-
GSK-3β −2.25 0.002 \- \- −2.45 0.02 \- \-
HRAS −1.97 0.009 \- \- \- \- \- \-
ITK −2.87 0.007 \- \- \- \- 1.61 0.04
Jun S59 3.60 0.0008 \- \- \- \- \- \-
Jun S69 −3.39 0.0004 \- \- \- \- \- \-
MEK1 −3.23 0.03 \- \- \- \- \- \-
MEK2 1.25 0.01 \- \- \- \- \- \-
MAP2K2 −1.55 0.01 \- \- \- \- \- \-
MAP3K14 2.87 0.005 \- \- \- \- 1.10 0.03
MAPK3K7 2.71 0.02 \- \- 4.48 0.01 \- \-
MAP3K8 −1.40 0.02 −2.13 0.01 \- \- \- \-
p38 MAPK (MAPK11) −1.97 0.02 \- \- \- \- \-
p38 MAPK (MAPK14) \- \- \- \- \- \- −1.72 0.04
ERK1 −4.27 0.001 \- \- 1.61 0.01 \- \-
NFATC1 \- \- \- \- \- 1.96 0.01
NAFATC2 1.78 0.04 \- \- \- \- \- \-
NFATC3 2.24 0.01 \- \- \- \- \- \-
NFκB1 −3.12 0.02 \- \- \- −1.65 0.02
NFκB1A −2.59 0.001 \- \- −1.54 0.01 −1.57 0.01
PAK1 S198 −1.41 0.04 \- \- \- \- \-
PAK1 T212 5.36 0.001 \- \- \- \- 1.05 0.02
PAK1 T422 −2.64 0.01 \- \- \- \- \- \-
PI3KR1 3.08 0.02 \- \- \- \- \- \-
PLCG1 −2.79 0.001 \- \- \- \- \- \-
PRKCQ −1.47 0.003 \- \- \- \- \- \-
PTPRC \- \- \- \- −2.97 0.02 \- \-
RAF1 −2.29 0.003 \- \- \- \- 1.36 0.01
SOS1 3.15 0.01 \- \- 1.76 0.04 1.94 0.03
Peptides that displayed a *p*-value of less than 0.05 are listed.
ijms-17-01207-t005_Table 5
######
Peptides from the JAK-STAT signaling pathway that displayed a statistically significant change in phosphorylation.
JAK-STAT Signaling Pathway
------------- ---------------------------- ---------- ------- ------ -------- -------- ------- -------
AKT1 1.52 0.03 \- \- \- \- \- \-
AKT3 1.80 0.04 \- \- \- \- \- \-
Cbl 1.29 0.02 \- \- \- \- \- \-
IFNAR1 1.88 0.003 \- \- \- \- \- \-
IFNGR1 −1.53 0.01 \- \- \- \- \- \-
IL-10R-A 5.10 0.03 \- \- 2.72 0.03 \- \-
IL-2RB 7.89 0.0003 \- \- \- \- \- \-
IL4R 1.37 0.01 \- \- 5.19 0.003 \- \-
IL-6R −1.81 0.01 \- \- \- \- \- \-
IL7R −6.10 0.001 \- \- \- \- \- \-
Jak2 −3.11 0.004 \- \- \- \- −1.69 0.05
Jak3 −3.69 0.002 −1.68 0.02 −18.74 0.0006 \- \-
PIK3R1 3.08 0.02 \- \- \- \- \- \-
PIM1 −3.09 0.03 \- \- \- \- 1.26 0.02
SOS1 3.15 0.01 \- \- 1.76 0.04 1.65 0.003
STAT1 2.48 0.03 \- \- \- \- −2.17 0.009
STAT3 S728 2.44 0.03 \- \- \- \- 1.94 0.03
STAT3 Y706 1.99 0.04 \- \- \- \- \- \-
STAT4 −2.73 0.05 \- \- −7.52 0.04 \- \-
STAT5B Y699 3.33 0.028599 \- \- \- \- \- \-
STAT5B Y740 2.01 0.04 \- \- −1.29 0.01
STAT6 4.07 0.003 \- \- −1.58 0.007 \- \-
TYK2 1.49 0.02 \- \- \- \- \- \-
Peptides that displayed a *p*-value of less than 0.05 are listed.
ijms-17-01207-t006_Table 6
######
Antibody array results.
Antibody Array Peptide Array \% Homology
---------------------------------- --------------- ------------- ------------------ ------- ------- -----
AMPK (Phospho-Thr174) 2.05 0.02 AMPK1 S173 4.23 0.03 100
ATF2 (Phospho-Ser112/94) −2.13 0.02 ATF2 T72 −2.88 0.005
Calmodulin (Phospho-Thr79/Ser81) −1.48 0.01 Calmodulin T80 −1.53 0.04 100
Calmodulin Y100 −1.56 0.003
CAMK2-β/γ/Δ (Phospho-Thr287) 1.17 0.01 CAMK2-alpha T305 2.79 0.01 100
CDC25C (Phospho-Thr48) −1.54 0.03 Cdc25A T510 −1.99 0.002 100
Ezrin (Phospho-Thr566) 2.14 0.03 Ezrin Y477 2.53 0.02 100
FAK (Phospho-Ser910) 2.04 0.03 FAK Y397 4.18 0.04 100
FLT3 (Phospho-Tyr842) −1.20 0.02 FLT3 Y452 −1.81 0.03 79
HSP27 (Phospho-Ser15) 1.12 0.02 HSP27 S15 −4.35 0.01 67
c-Jun (Phospho-Tyr170) 4.27 0.04 Jun S59 3.60 0.001 85
MEK1 (Phospho-Thr291) −1.22 0.03 MEK1 S222 −3.23 0.04 100
MEK-2 (Phospho-Thr394) −1.58 0.04 MEK2 S220 −1.55 0.01 100
MSK1 (Phospho-Ser376) −1.28 0.01 MSK1 S366 −3.26 0.008 100
P38 MAPK (Phospho-Thr180) −1.39 0.05 P38-alpha Y181 −1.97 0.02 100
PAK1 (Phospho-Thr122) 1.44 0.04 PAK1 T212 5.36 0.001 80
PKC delta (Phospho-Tyr52) −1.36 0.04 PKCD Y311 −1.15 0.001 100
PLCG1 (Phospho-Tyr783) −1.20 0.03 PLCG1 Y675 −2.79 0.001 83
SMAD 2 (Phospho-Thr220) 1.48 0.04 SMAD2 S245 3.43 0.01 100
Smad2 S255 4.53 0.01
Smad 2/3 (Phospho-Thr8) 1.09 0.03 Smad3 T180 1.44 0.03
Src (Phospho-Tyr418) −1.61 0.005 Src Y416 −1.44 0.03 100
Src Y527 −2.12 0.02
STAT3 (Phospho-Ser717) 1.98 0.03 STAT3 S728 2.44 0.03 100
STAT3 Y706 1.99 0.04
Trk (Phospho-Tyr515) 1.13 0.04 TrKA Y490 −1.52 0.02 84
TrKA Y674 −1.68 0.03
TrKA Y785 −2.04 0.0
XIAP (Phospho-Ser87) 1.17 0.04 XIZP S87 2.12 0.002 60
Statistically significant (*p* ≤ 0.05) phosphospecific antibody array results of *Salmonella* Entertidis cecal samples. Four days post-infection samples were compared to non-infected control samples to find changes in infected cecal tissue over time. Antibodies due to being bound to phosphorylated protein had a statistically significant difference in fluorescent signal are shown. Fold Change Antibody Array is the change in fluorescent signal when comparing the infected samples to control samples. Homology indicates the % similarity between human and chicken at the 15 amino acid region flanking the phosphorylation residue. Fold Change Peptide Array is the change in fluorescent signal as indicated by the peptide array. N/A indicates the exact phosphorylation target residue on the antibody array was not present on the peptide array or not significantly differentially phosphorylated.
ijms-17-01207-t007_Table 7
######
Real-time quantitative RT-PCR probes and primers for 28S and IFN-γ.
RNA Target Probe/Primer Sequence Accession Number ^a^
------------ ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------- ----------------------
28S Probe ^d^ 5′-(FAM)-AGGACCGCTACGGACCTCCACCA-(TAMRA)-3′ X59733
F ^b^ 5′-GGCGAAGCCAGAGGAAACT-3′
R ^c^ 5′-GACGACCGATTGCACGTC-3′
IFN-γ Probe ^d^ 5′-(FAM)-TGGCCAAGCTCCCGATGAACGA-(TAMRA)-3′ YO7922
F 5′-GTGAAGAAGGTGAAAGATATATCATGGA-3′
R 5′-GCTTTGCGTGGATTCTCA-3′
^a^ Genomic DNA sequence; ^b^ Forward; ^c^ Reverse; ^d^ 5-carboxyfluorescein.
| 2024-01-29T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6823 |
Florida’s athletic department spent $106,972,983 in 2013 and were subsidized $4,444,516 from student fees and other means. The subsidy accounted for just 3.4 percent of UF’s athletic department revenue.
Of the $130-plus million in revenues, Florida received a whopping $48 million in contributions and $41.8 million in rights and licensing fees (television, apparel etc). Ticket sales accounted for $24.6 million in revenue.
In expenses, Florida spent $41.9 million for coaches in 2013, $17.7 million in building/grounds and $9.5 million in scholarships. The remaining $38 million is classified as “other” expenses in the USA Today report.
<p>When it comes to making money, Florida's athletic department is among the nation's elite.</p><p>Florida ranked sixth in the nation in athletic department revenues for public colleges and universities in 2013, making $130,011,244, according to a USA Today study.</p><p>On the list, Florida ranked behind Texas ($165.691 million), Wisconsin ($149.141 million), Alabama ($143.776 million), Michigan ($143.514 million) and Ohio State ($139.639 million).</p><p>Florida's athletic department spent $106,972,983 in 2013 and were subsidized $4,444,516 from student fees and other means. The subsidy accounted for just 3.4 percent of UF's athletic department revenue.</p><p>Of the $130-plus million in revenues, Florida received a whopping $48 million in contributions and $41.8 million in rights and licensing fees (television, apparel etc). Ticket sales accounted for $24.6 million in revenue.</p><p>In expenses, Florida spent $41.9 million for coaches in 2013, $17.7 million in building/grounds and $9.5 million in scholarships. The remaining $38 million is classified as “other” expenses in the USA Today report.</p> | 2023-08-14T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1551 |
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<TITLE>Rubrics 1967</TITLE>
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<H1 ALIGN=CENTER>Rubrics for Changes in the Mass by 1967</H1>
<TABLE CELLPADDING=12 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=80%><TR><TD>
The full documents are available at Adoremus.org
<A HREF="http://www.adoremus.org/Interoecumenici.html" TARGET=}_NEW">Inter oecumenici: September 26, 1964</A> and
<A HREF="http://www.adoremus.org/TresAbhinc.html" TARGET="_NEW">Tres abhinc annos: May 4, 1967</A><BR><BR>
<HR>
<H2 ALIGN=CENTER>Inter oecumenici 1964</H2>
<H3>Chapter II. Mystery of the Eucharist</H3>
<b><i>I. ORDO MISSAE</i></b> (SC art. 50)<BR><BR>
48. Until reform of the entire <i>Ordo Missae,</i>the points that follow are to be observed:
<P>a. The celebrant is not to say privately those parts of the Proper sung or recited by the choir or the congregation.
<P>b. The celebrant may sing or recite the parts of the Ordinary together with the congregation or choir.
<P>c. In the prayers at the foot of the altar at the beginning of Mass Psalm 42 is omitted. All the prayers at the foot of the altar are omitted whenever there is another liturgical rite immediately preceding.
<P>d. In solemn Mass the subdeacon does not hold the paten but leaves it on the altar.
<P>e. In sung Masses the secret prayer or prayer over the gifts is sung and in other Masses recited aloud.
<P>f. The doxology at the end of the canon, from <i>Per ipsum</i> through <i>Per omnia saecula saeculorum</i>. R. Amen, is to be sung or recited aloud. Throughout the whole doxology the celebrant slightly elevates the chalice with the host, omitting the signs of the cross, and genuflects at the end after the Amen response by the people.
<P>g. In recited Masses the congregation may recite the Lord's Prayer in the vernacular along with the celebrant; in sung Masses the people may sing it in Latin along with the celebrant and, should the territorial ecclesiastical authority have so decreed, also in the vernacular, using melodies approved by the same authority.
<P>h. The embolism after the Lord's Prayer shall be sung or recited aloud.
<P>i. The formulary for distributing holy communion is to be, Corpus Christi. As he says these words, the celebrant holds the host slightly above the ciborium and shows it to the communicant, who responds: Amen, then receives communion from the celebrant, the sign of the cross with the host being omitted.
<P>j. The last gospel is omitted; the Leonine Prayers are suppressed.
<P>k. It is lawful to celebrate a sung Mass with only a deacon assisting.
<P>l. It is lawful, when necessary, for bishops to celebrate a sung Mass following the form used by priests.
<BR><BR>
<b>II. READINGS AND CHANTS BETWEEN READINGS </b>(SC art. 51)<BR><BR>
49. In Masses celebrated with a congregation, the lessons, epistle, and gospel are to be read or sung facing the people:
<P>a. at the lectern or at the edge of the sanctuary in solemn Masses;
<P>b. at the altar, lectern, or the edge of the sanctuary -- whichever is more convenient -- in sung or recited Masses if sung or read by the celebrant; at the lectern or at the edge of the sanctuary if sung or read by someone else.
<BR><BR>
50. In nonsolemn Masses celebrated with the faithful participating a qualified reader or the server reads the lessons and epistles with the intervening chants; the celebrant sits and listens. A deacon or a second priest may read the gospel and he says the <i>Munda cor meum</i>, asks for the blessing, and, at the end, presents the Book of the Gospels for the celebrant to kiss. <BR><BR>
51. In sung Masses, the lessons, epistle, and gospel, if in the vernacular, may simply be read.<BR><BR>
52. For the reading or singing of the lessons, epistle, intervening chants, and gospel, the following is the procedure.<BR><BR>
<P>a. In solemn Masses the celebrant sits and listens to the lessons, the epistle, and chants. After singing or reading the epistle, the subdeacon goes to the celebrant for the blessing. At this point the celebrant, remaining seated, puts incense into the thurible and blesses it. During the singing of the Alleluia and verse or toward the end of other chants after the epistle, the celebrant rises to bless the deacon. From his place he listens to the gospel, kisses the Book of the Gospels, and, after the homily, intones the Credo, when prescribed. At the end of the Credo he returns to the altar with the ministers, unless he is to lead the prayer of the faithful.
<P>b. The celebrant follows the same procedures in sung or recited Masses in which the lessons, epistle, intervening chants, and the gospel are sung or recited by the minister mentioned in no. 50.
<P>c. In sung or recited Masses in which the celebrant sings or recites the gospel, during the singing or saying of the Alleluia and verse or toward the end of other chants after the epistle, he goes to the foot of the altar and there, bowing profoundly, says the <i>Munda cor meum</i>. He then goes to the lectern or to the edge of the sanctuary to sing or recite the gospel.
<P>d. But in a sung or recited Mass if the celebrant sings or reads all the lessons at the lectern or at the edge of the sanctuary, he also, if necessary, recites the chants after the lessons and the epistle standing in the same place; then he says the <i>Munda cor meum</i>, facing the altar.
<BR><BR>
<b>III. HOMILY </b>(SC art. 52)<BR><BR>
53. There shall be a homily on Sundays and holydays of obligation at all Masses celebrated with a congregation, including conventual, sung, or pontifical Masses.
On days other than Sundays and holydays a homily is recommended, especially on some of the weekdays of Advent and Lent or on other occasions when the faithful come to church in large numbers. <BR><BR>
54. A homily on the sacred text means an explanation, pertinent to the mystery celebrated and the special needs of the listeners, of some point in either the readings from sacred Scripture or in another text from the Ordinary or Proper of the day's Mass.<BR><BR>
55. Because the homily is part of the liturgy for the day, any syllabus proposed for preaching within the Mass during certain periods must keep intact the intimate connection with at least the principal seasons and feasts of the liturgical year (see SC art. 102-104), that is, with the mystery of redemption.<BR><BR>
<b>IV. UNIVERSAL PRAYER OR PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL</b> (SC art. 53)
56. In places where the universal prayer or prayer of the faithful is already the custom, it shall take place before the offertory, after the Oremus, and, for the time being, with formularies in use in individual regions. The celebrant is to lead the prayer at either his chair, the altar, the lectern, or the edge of the sanctuary.
A deacon, cantor, or other suitable minister may sing the intentions or intercessions. The celebrant takes the introductions and concluding prayer, this being ordinarily the Deus, refugium nostrum et virtus (MR, Orationes diversae no. 20) or another prayer more suited to particular needs.
In places where the universal prayer or prayer of the faithful is not the custom, the competent territorial authority may decree its use in the manner indicated above and with formularies approved by that authority for the time being.<BR><BR>
<b>V. PART ALLOWED THE VERNACULAR IN MASS</b> (SC art. 54)<br><BR>
57. For Masses, whether sung or recited, celebrated with a congregation, the competent, territorial ecclesiastical authority on approval, that is, confirmation, of its decisions by the Holy See, may introduce the vernacular into:<BR><BR>
<P>a. the proclaiming of the lessons, epistle, and gospel; the universal prayer or prayer of the faithful;
<P>b. as befits the circumstances of the place, the chants of the Ordinary of the Mass, namely, the <i>Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus-Benedictus, Agnus Dei</i>, as well as the introit, offertory, and communion antiphons and the chants between the readings;
<P>c. acclamations, greeting, and dialogue formularies, the <i>Ecce Agnus Dei, Domine, non sum dignus, Corpus Christi</i> at the communion of the faithful, and the Lord's Prayer with its introduction and embolism.
Missals to be used in the liturgy, however, shall contain besides the vernacular version the Latin text as well.<BR><BR>
58. The Holy See alone can grant permission for use of the vernacular in those parts of the Mass that the celebrant sings or recites alone.<BR><BR>
59. Pastors shall carefully see to it that the Christian faithful, especially members of lay religious institutes, also know how to recite or sing together in Latin, mainly with simple melodies, the parts of the Ordinary of the Mass proper to them.<BR><BR>
<b>VI. FACULTY OF REPEATING COMMUNION ON THE SAME DAY</b> (SC art. 55)
60. The faithful who receive communion at the Mass of the Easter Vigil or the Midnight Mass of Christmas may receive again at the second Mass of Easter and at one of the Day Masses of Christmas.<BR><BR>
<HR>
<H2 ALIGN=CENTER>Tres abhinc annos 1967</H2>
<H3>III. Changes in the Order of the Mass</H3>
<P><B>7. The celebrant genuflects only</B>:</P>
<P>a. on going to or leaving the altar if there is a tabernacle containing the Blessed Sacrament;</P>
<p>b. after elevating the Host and the chalice;</p>
<p>c. after the doxology at the end of the Canon;</p>
<p>d. at communion, before the words <I>Panem caelestem accipiam</I>;</p>
<p>e. after the communion of the faithful, when he has placed the remaining Hosts in the tabernacle.</p>
<p>All other genuflections are omitted.</p>
<P>8. The celebrant
kisses the altar only: at the beginning of Mass, while saying
the <I>Oramus te Domine</I>, or on going to the altar, if the prayers at the foot of the altar are omitted; at the end of Mass before the blessing and dismissal of the people.</P>
<p>The kissing of the altar is otherwise omitted.</p>
<P>9. At the Offertory,
after offering the bread and wine, the celebrant places on the
corporal the paten with host and chalice, omitting the signs
of the cross with paten and with chalice.</P>
<P>He leaves the
paten, with the Host on it, on the corporal both before and after
the Consecration.</P>
<P>10. In Masses
celebrated with a congregation, even when not concelebrated,
the celebrant may say the Canon aloud. In sung Masses he may
sing those parts of the Canon that the rite for concelebration
allows.</P>
<P>11. In the Canon,
the celebrant:</P>
<P>a. begins the
<I>Te igitur</I> standing erect and with hands outstretched;</P>
<P>b. makes one
sign of the cross over the offerings at the words <I>benedicas
+ haec dona, haec munera, haec sancta sacrificia illibata,</I>
in the prayer <I>Te igitur</I>. He makes no other sign of the
cross over the offerings.</P>
<P>12. After the
Consecration, the celebrant need not join thumb and forefinger;
should any particle of the host have remained on his fingers,
he rubs his fingers together over the paten.</P>
<P>13. The communion
rite for priest and people is to have the following arrangement:
after he says <I>Panem caelestem accipiam</I>, the celebrant
takes the Host and, facing the people, raises it, saying the
<I>Ecce Agnus Dei</I>, then adding three times with the people
the <I>Domine, non sum dignus</I>. He then communicates himself
with the Host and chalice and immediately distributes communion
in the usual way to the people.</P>
<P>14. The faithful
receiving communion at the chrism Mass on Holy Thursday may receive
again at the evening Mass on the same day.</P>
<P>15. A Mass celebrated
with a congregation should include, according to circumstances,
either a period of silence or the singing or recitation of a
Psalm or Canticle of praise, e.g., Ps 33 [34], I will bless the
Lord, Ps 150, Praise the Lord in his sanctuary or the Canticle
Bless the Lord [Dn 3:35] or Blessed are you, O Lord [1 Chr 29:10].</P>
<P>16. At the end
of Mass the blessing of the people comes immediately before the
dismissal. It is recommended that the priest recite the <I>Placeat</I>
silently as he is leaving the altar.</P>
<P>Even Masses for
the dead include the blessing and usual dismissal formulary,
<I>Ite, Missa est</I>, unless the absolution follows immediately;
in this case, omitting the blessing, the celebrant says: <I>Benedicamus
Domino</I> and proceeds to the absolution.</P>
</TD></TR></TABLE> </BODY>
</HTML>
| 2024-05-11T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6888 |
Q:
Is it possible to embed a Google Map in a Github pages site?
Does anyone know if it's possible to embed a Google Map using iframe into a Github pages page built using the automatic page generator?
For example, I would like to embed something like this:
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m16!1m12!1m3!1d100921.8397227734!2d-122.50711698562192!3d37.77111185957552!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!2m1!1sGithub!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1464784986282" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
When I try to embed the above, however, the iframe element appears to be stripped from the final HTML so that no map is shown.
I looked around a bit and couldn't find much information on embedding maps, or in general, using iframe elements in Github pages.
People appear to have luck embedding Youtube videos within an iframe, but the same tweak does not help with the maps.
Any suggestions?
A:
You will not be allowed to insert iframe from the page generator.
You have to edit your page from, for example, https://github.com/username/repositoryname/blob/gh-pages/index.html, by clicking on edit button (see picture) and insert your iframe code.
| 2023-12-05T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3123 |
Q:
RESTful webservices in Matlab with authentication
I have been able to get the following Matlab plugin to work with my JSON return string:
http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/23393 (I am just copy and pasting the JSON into a file from my web browser)
However the RESTful webservice that I am hitting requires a login. I have been able to do this in java using org.apache.commons.httpclient.HttpClient; but can't seem to find a clean way of doing this in Matlab ...
A:
Matlab allows the integration of and use of Java Classes and Methods. So if you already have the code working in Java, I'd just use that code in matlab.
Edit: If you're dead set on using matlab then you should probably check out urlread2. Although I have no clue if you can use it to save and use session cookies.
| 2024-05-26T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/7890 |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to small-scale power generation and can be used for producing wind farms.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
A wind power plant is known that comprises wind-receiving work members arranged on an annular pontoon and an energy converter kinematically connected to the pontoon (USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 1719713, IPC5 F03D Mar. 6, 1992).
The disadvantage of this solution consists in complicated transfer of mechanical energy to electric generators, especially when the wheel dimensions are increased, which is caused by the presence of forces moving the pontoon radially during its rotation. Thus, the pontoon efficiently interacts only with those generators toward which the said force acts. Moreover, the necessity of constructing an annular channel (or, at least, installing several supporting members (stops) along the pontoon external periphery) significantly complicates and raises the price of the plant mounting.
A wind power plant is also known that comprises an energy converter made capable of converting rotational energy, an annular pontoon arranged with the possibility of rotating about its vertical axis, rotatable blades arranged on the annular pontoon and made rotatable about their vertical axes, flexible links coupled to the annular pontoon and to the energy converter hub arranged with the possibility of rotating co-axially with the annular pontoon, a kinematic mechanism made capable of transferring the annular pontoon rotational energy to the receiving unit of the energy converter (RF Patent No. 2330989, IPC F 03 D Mar. 6, 2008).
The disadvantage of this solution consists in great hydrodynamic losses of energy and low productivity, since the floating platform is made rotatable.
A wind power plant is also known that comprises blades arranged on an annular pontoon made rotatable about its vertical axis, an energy converter made capable of converting rotational energy and arranged on a platform encircled by the annular pontoon, a kinematic mechanism made capable of transferring the annular pontoon rotational energy to the receiving unit of the energy converter (RF Patent No. 2118705, IPC6 F 03 D Mar. 6, 1998).
The disadvantage of this prototype consists in that the wind power plant cannot be installed at a deep-water shelf area because the platform in this solution is made stationary.
The task which the claimed solution is directed to is to remove limitations concerning a place for installing a wind power plant in a water area. | 2024-03-25T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3710 |
SEC accuses Goldman Sachs of defrauding investors
The new Goldman Sachs world headquarters in the Lower Manhattan area of New York, Friday, April 16, 2010, is shown. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)
— AP
The new Goldman Sachs world headquarters in the Lower Manhattan area of New York, Friday, April 16, 2010, is shown. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)
/ AP
People walk in the lobby of the Goldman Sachs headquarters in the Lower Manhattan area of New York, Friday, April 16, 2010. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)— AP
People walk in the lobby of the Goldman Sachs headquarters in the Lower Manhattan area of New York, Friday, April 16, 2010. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)
/ AP
People walk past Julie Mehretu's "Mural" in the lobby of the Goldman Sachs headquarters in the Lower Manhattan area of New York, Friday, April 16, 2010. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)— AP
People walk past Julie Mehretu's "Mural" in the lobby of the Goldman Sachs headquarters in the Lower Manhattan area of New York, Friday, April 16, 2010. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)
/ AP
FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2009 file photo, Goldman Sachs & Co. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the House Financial Services Committee. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, file)
/ AP
As security looks on, people enter the Goldman Sachs headquarters in the Lower Manhattan area of New York, Friday, April 16, 2010. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)— AP
As security looks on, people enter the Goldman Sachs headquarters in the Lower Manhattan area of New York, Friday, April 16, 2010. The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold as the housing market was faltering. (AP Photo/Diane Bondareff)
/ AP
WASHINGTON
The government on Friday accused Wall Street's most powerful firm of fraud, saying Goldman Sachs & Co. sold mortgage investments without telling the buyers that the securities were crafted with input from a client who was betting on them to fail.
And fail they did. The securities cost investors close to $1 billion while helping Goldman client Paulson & Co., a hedge fund, capitalize on the housing bust. The Goldman executive accused of shepherding the deal allegedly boasted about the "exotic trades" he created "without necessarily understanding all of the implications of those monstrosities!!!"
The civil charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission are the government's most significant legal action related to the mortgage meltdown that ignited the financial crisis and helped plunge the country into recession.
The news sent Goldman Sachs shares and the stock market reeling as the SEC said other financial deals related to the meltdown continue to be investigated. It was a blow to the reputation of a financial giant that had emerged relatively unscathed from the economic crisis.
Goldman Sachs denied the allegations. In a statement, it called the SEC's charges "completely unfounded in law and fact" and said it will contest them.
The SEC is seeking to recoup the money lost by investors and impose unspecified civil fines against Goldman Sachs and the executive, Fabrice Tourre. The SEC could enter into settlement negotiations over the amount if Goldman changed its stance and decided not to fight the charges in a trial.
The SEC said Paulson paid Goldman roughly $15 million in 2007 to devise an investment tied to mortgage-related securities that the hedge fund viewed as likely to decline in value. Separately, Paulson took out a form of insurance that allowed it to make a huge profit when those securities' value plunged.
The fraud allegations focus on how Goldman sold the securities. Goldman told investors that a third party, ACA Management LLC, had selected the pools of subprime mortgages it used to create the securities. The securities are known as synthetic collateralized debt obligations.
The SEC alleges that Goldman misled investors by failing to disclose that Paulson & Co. also played a role in selecting the mortgage pools and stood to profit from their decline in value. Two European banks that bought the securities lost nearly $1 billion, the SEC said.
"Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party," SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said in a statement.
But Goldman said in a statement that it never mischaracterized Paulson's strategy in the transaction. It added that it wasn't obliged to "disclose the identities of a buyer to a seller and vice versa."
The charges name only Goldman Sachs and Tourre, who was a vice president in his late 20s when the alleged fraud was orchestrated in 2007. Tourre, the SEC said, boasted to a friend that he was able to put such deals together as the mortgage market was unraveling in early 2007. | 2024-04-07T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4378 |
'Tomb Raider' Makes The Case For Old-Fashioned Console Gaming
The Tomb Raider video game franchise started in 1996. The latest version of the game starring Lara Croft (a character played by Angelina Jolie in film adaptations) is being released Tuesday.
Courtesy of Square Enix
Originally published on March 2, 2013 1:28 pm
When Sony recently announced details on the upcoming release of the PlayStation 4, it prompted a new round of hand-wringing about the future of console gaming.
Sales of games on the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 have dropped precipitously in recent years as mobile gaming — on smartphones and tablets — has become more popular. Advance word is that the PS4 will integrate certain mobile and social media functions, and some are speculating whether this is the end for standalone, full-featured console systems.
But lo! Next week a familiar champion returns to fight the good fight for old-school console gaming. The lovely and lethal Ms. Lara Croft is back in Tomb Raider, an ambitious update to the venerable franchise and a kind of rearguard action for that traditional, sit-on-the-couch, lose-track-of-time style of gaming.
In stores Tuesday for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, the new Tomb Raider really is a terrific game. It's a genuine reboot, with an origin story designed to reinvent Lara Croft as a modern hero, and a hybrid style of game play that mashes up the best elements of several genres. I suspect it will be making all the Top 10 lists at the end of the year.
In the spirit of gaming circa 1998, I spent a recent weekend tearing through an advance copy of the new Tomb Raider. Bear in mind that 1998 was two kids and a mortgage ago for me — I'm really no longer in shape for this stuff. But I like to think I played the game the way it should be played: obsessively, late at night, overcaffeinated, thumbs aching ....
The story: Lara Croft is a young assistant researcher on her first expedition. Shipwrecked on a mysterious and menacing island, she must fend off hostile natives — wolves, cultists, mercenary soldiers — while piecing together the usual archaeological mysteries.
The designers have clearly put an emphasis on characterization and story this time around. Lara is no longer the cool, competent killer of previous games; she's a scared college kid in way over her head. (In fact, she gets sick after her first violent encounter.) Clever choices with the camera work and cut scenes encourage you to identify closely with young Lara. When she's scared, you're scared. And when she's angry — well, look out.
This is the sort of immersive gaming that casual Web-based and mobile gaming just can't manage. Thanks to high-end graphic and sound design, big-budget console games like Tomb Raider can be quite cinematic. They can work like movies. When attention is paid to classical narrative virtues — story, character, atmosphere — the gaming just gets better.
In terms of game play mechanics, Tomb Raider takes an appealing mix-and-match approach. The franchise's trademark exploration and platforming sequences are juiced up with cover-based combat shooting, survival and foraging, and even limited crafting options. Salvage enough parts from around the island to add a scope to your gun. Or a silencer. Or a grenade launcher.
The game's gorgeous, highly detailed imagery makes for some thrilling sequences. When Lara is dangling with one hand from the railing of a mountaintop temple, you can peer all the way down to that rocky ravine below. When the undead samurai attack, you can see the corrosion in their ancient armor.
Pay particular attention to the game's musical score. Composer Jason Graves actually invented entirely new musical instruments for this project, and the game is scored like a relentless suspense movie.
If you skip the optional challenges on each level, you can race through the main storyline in 15-20 hours. Double back later and you'll get twice that in side quests and secret tombs. The game also adds new online multiplayer options.
On the down side, the game's island milieu isn't particularly compelling. It's also curiously similar to a certain blockbuster television show of recent vintage. And Lara's character arc from frightened teen to one-woman army is rather abrupt.
Still, Tomb Raider is a very fun, very generous title perfectly suited to the strengths of traditional console gaming. Lara Croft has long since transcended the video game world to become a pop culture icon, and it's good to have her back on the side of old-school gaming righteousness. | 2023-11-16T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6633 |
Left antero-axillary thoracotomy as an alternative approach for aortic arch reconstruction.
Antero-axillary thoracotomy--a new approach for the reconstruction of the aortic arch--provides a wide view of the arch and makes accessible the superior vena cava for retrograde cerebral perfusion as well as the coronary sinus for retrograde infusion of cardioplegia. This procedure has been used over 22 months for 26 patients with aortic arch aneurysm or aortic dissection, and the surgical results were evaluated. The distal arch was replaced in 16 patients, the total arch in 9 patients, and the proximal arch in 1 patient, using this technique. The mean duration of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest was 38 min, and the hospital mortality was 15.4%. Antero-axillary thoracotomy may be an excellent approach for the reconstruction of the aortic arch, minimizing the duration of hypothermic circulatory arrest. | 2023-12-22T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2788 |
Q:
Why does this regex pattern fail to match the string
I am trying to match a date string, and have tested out my pattern on regex101. I think I am following the regex rules, but I'm obviously missing something, and the pattern is not matching the string.
My regex pattern is: \s?(Mon|Tue|Wed|Thurs|Fri)day\s\d{0,2}(st|nd|rd|th)\s (January|February|March|April|May|June|July|August|September|October|November|December)\,\s\d{4}
The string I'm trying to match is:
Monday 16th October, 2017
Which can appear in the document with or without lead/trailing whitespace(s).
Why is the pattern not matching?
A:
By copying your regex from your post, I saw there's a redundant space here:
(st|nd|rd|th)\s (January|
↑
I'm not sure if it's a formation problem or not. Anyway, remove it and you should be fine.
Suggestion:
Depending on the language you're using (was tagged Python), use a library that parses the string for you, instead of having this (ugly) regex.
| 2023-11-16T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5047 |
Notes have been broadly used in recording, sharing, and communicating ideas and information. For example, during a collaboration session (e.g., brainstorming session), participants write down ideas on Post-It® notes, whiteboard, or paper, and then share with one another. In addition, people commonly use notes throughout the day to memorialize information or content which the individual does not want to forget. As additional examples, people frequently use notes as reminders of actions or events to take in the future, such as to make a telephone call, revise a document or to fill out a time sheet.
On many situations, people would traditionally write down the appropriate information on paper-based notes, such as Post-It® notes. Paper Post-It® notes are simply removed from a dispenser pad of sticky-back paper Post-It® notes, and are applied to various surfaces such as documents, the tops of desks, telephones, or the like. Information can be written on paper Post-It® notes either before or after the paper Post-It® notes are detached from their dispenser pad or attached to their target surfaces. Paper Post-It® notes can be easily moved from one surface to another, such as between documents or between documents and the tops of desks, they can overlap edges or boundaries of documents, they can be layered, and they can be moved with the objects to which they are attached. | 2023-12-06T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1896 |
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What is
Slim?
Slim is easy to use for both beginners and professionals. Slim favors cleanliness over terseness and common cases over edge cases. Its interface is simple, intuitive, and extensively documented — both online and in the code itself.
What is
Lumen?
Laravel Lumen is a stunningly fast PHP micro-framework for building web applications with expressive, elegant syntax. We believe development must be an enjoyable, creative experience to be truly fulfilling. Lumen attempts to take the pain out of development by easing common tasks used in the majority of web projects, such as routing, database abstraction, queueing, and caching.
What is
Falcon?
Falcon is a minimalist WSGI library for building speedy web APIs and app backends. We like to think of Falcon as the Dieter Rams of web frameworks. | 2024-01-26T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2417 |
What I streamed and what I liked: “Behind The Curve”
Kim's streaming pick for this weekend is new flat Earth documentary, "Behind The Curve." The internet has revived the conspiracy theory that the Earth is flat -- and America's flat-Earth movement appears to be growing -- despite its detractors in the scientific community. This documentary also takes a behind the scenes look at the lives of "flat-Earthers."
How to make realistic animatronics
Not everything you see in movies is computer generated. In fact, animatronics have been a large part of special effects in both film and TV, even in commercials! But although their presence might go unnoticed in their performances, these animatronics get a lot of work put into them. See how they are made, and the dedication and time that comes with bringing them to life!
What are the ‘ghost trees’?
Deep within the Redwood State Park, if you let yourself wander beyond the maps and where few have gone before, you may find yourself in a small cluster of unusually pale, phantom trees. Out of the roughly 400 albino trees in the world, these “ghost trees” are extremely rare, and due to threats to their ecosystem, very few people know about them.
Explore one of the biggest container ships in the world
This container ship is huge. You could get lost inside of it. Explore the result of global powers vying for domination of the oceans. The Mary Maersk and her nine other sisters are the biggest container ships in the world. Want to explore one?
Elton John’s first piano
While there are many advertisements that seem fake and just want to push their products, sometimes there are ones that really tug on your heartstrings. This one definitely falls into the latter category, and it will remind you of all the true meaning behind Christmas and giving things to others. Watch the video and see Elton John’s life backwards, and what the impact of one simple gift can be.
The biggest parrot in the world
The term parrot covers a vast and diverse number of birds, from the small budgie parakeet that can sit on one finger, or the large macaws that you definitely don’t want to put your finger near. But the biggest of them is a beautiful bird that you might not have seen before. With a very large beak and long feathers, this macaw is worth protecting.
When nature goes viral, this happens
We are in the social media age. And that means that people are going to the extremes, even dying, to get that iconic Instagram photo. What happens when these photos happen to be at natural sites that were previously hidden from the world? Well, it isn’t good.
What’s happening with elephantiasis in India?
Elephantiasis is a treatable and preventable disease that is spread by mosquitoes. It affects 120 million people worldwide, and the worst thing about it is that many people don’t know enough about it to prevent the disease. In India, two health-care workers are traveling door to door to spread awareness.
Explore this Antarctic city teeming with king penguins
There’s a booming city of 400,000 in the Antarctic. No, it isn’t full of people, but instead it's filled with king penguins. South Georgia’s St. Andrews Bay has a busy beach that teems with penguins. They have all arrived to create the next generation, and catch up with their relatives. Want to see what life is like in this chilly city?
These Hollywood props are so real that the Secret Service complains
Hollywood props are becoming more and more realistic every year. With more movies having bigger budgets, physical props must keep up with the computer digital effects. In Sunland, California, the Independent Studio Service is one of the largest prop houses in Hollywood, and has more than 1 million props for rent. Their job has become more challenging as camera technology has improved, but making detailed objects isn’t their only problem.
What would life look like on Venus?
Earth is one of the few planets in the solar system, but so far it’s the only one that can support life. But what about the neighboring planets? If you want to learn more about what Venus is like, and why it probably wouldn’t be a great fit for life, watch the video! You’ll even get to see some cool history on Venus!
People walk on all fours in this remote village
They’re regular people just like us, except that they walk around on all fours. Just like humans did 4 million years ago, these quadrupeds were previously hidden away, unseen by the rest of the world. But now they are brought into the limelight, and have a chance at showing their society, even if it does happen a little lower off the ground.
3 ways to keep your Amazon gifts under wraps
As Christmas approaches, we are starting to get those gifts we purchased online for our friends and family. But, sometimes it can be difficult to make sure we keep those presents secret so that on the big day we can see the surprise and joy on their faces. That's why I have three tips for you that will make sure you keep those presents under wraps this year.
Podcast: The best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals!
Shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday means getting the best deals on the latest tech like laptops, televisions, tablets, smartphones, and so much more. In this episode of Komando on Demand, Kim shares insider secrets on scoring the best deals you can get your hands on during the biggest shopping days of the year. Kim talks to retail and shopping expert Sarah Hollenbeck from blackfriday.com about some of the best deals from Best Buy, Amazon, Target, Walmart, Kohl's, Macy's, and other retailers. Don't miss this podcast as you will hear first-hand what to look for and where to find it. Kim and Sarah also share the hottest deals on clothing, jewelry, and toys on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The holiday shopping weekend coming up, better known as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, has some amazing deals, but even with all the sales it's easy to rack up a pretty penny. So, of course you want to save a little extra cash during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Fortunately, there are some simple tricks that help you do just that. I can show you how.
10 great Siri tricks you’ll wish you knew sooner
The virtual assistants are becoming more and more prevalent everyday. We use them to do so much from simple reminders to remembering what to buy at the grocery store. Well one of the first and most popular of these is, of course, Siri for the iPhone. What you might not know is there is a slew of unique features that she can perform that are not only game changing but sometimes entertaining.
Best streaming boxes for getting the shows and movies you want
At this point, it seems that streaming movies and TV shows is just so much simpler and more convenient than cable. You can watch whatever you want, whenever you want right from the comfort of your couch. But, there are just so many streaming devices that it can be difficult to know which one is the best. The good thing is, there are quite a few great ones out there. I can show you the best ones to buy today.
Critical settings so hackers can’t access your bank accounts
Just how secure are your bank accounts? You need to assume that your password isn’t strong enough. You might as well believe that someone, somewhere, is working around the clock to break into your accounts and steal your money, your identity and anything else you have. Because it’s essentially true. But there are ways to block them.
Publishing a book from a hacker’s point of view
Karl from Oklahoma City, a former hacker, called in to The Kim Komando Show to ask about how to publish and promote a book. Karl, a former hacker, has decided to write a book about ID theft from a hackers' point of view. Having a former hacker give tips and advice about what people can do to safeguard their personal data is a huge benefit to everyone. Kim asks Karl about his days as a hacker, about his book and then gives him some advice on how to get it published.
How to use your phone as your home internet provider
In this day and age, we all require the internet for a wide variety of tasks throughout our day-to-day lives. We need to connect with our friends and family, be entertained, find out information, or basically anything else. With that being said, a new wave of so called 'Cord Cutting' seems to be on the rise. First it was getting rid of the landline phone, then it was cable, now it's home internet service.
Clever ways to free up space on your smartphone
Have you ever gotten that alert that says your phone is too full and you need to delete items to open up space? It can seem annoying and hard to choose what to delete. Do you delete photos, apps, contacts? There is a right and a wrong way to go about doing this. I can show you what to delete first and what to save or move somewhere else, and it's actually pretty simple.
Set up your financial accounts like you’re going to be hacked
One of the most important things we need to protect in this digital day and age is our financial accounts. That means bank accounts, credit accounts, retirement accounts, and more. And with more and more hackers getting at our personal information, it really is time you look at these accounts like it's an inevitability that they get hacked at some point. The good thing is I have put together a list of 5 things you can do right now to protect yourself when that day comes.
One Man, Three Hacks. What happened to this guy can happen to any of us.
Kim talks to a caller named Barry in Virginia who had his information hacked not once, not twice, but three times and is now looking for a solution to make sure he can keep is personal data and information protected in the likely case it will happen again. Kim give Barry some good tips on how he can secure his network and personal data.
Don’t get ripped off, check your internet speed
Many internet service providers make claims about how fast their internet speed is, and that can be really important when it comes to how we use it. Many times you will be streaming or trying to connect a new device and it will get extremely slow or sometimes not work at all. But that's why I have a solution for you. There are free online programs you can use to check your internet speed and make sure your ISP is being truthful about their speed claims.
Trace a server’s IP to find out who sent you an email
We all know phishing scams have become a large part of today's internet culture. You receive an email and you are not sure whether or not you should open it. Well, what you might now know is there is a way to see where that email was sent from and even what server it came from. This can help you establish if the email is dangerous or not. Now, it might take a little leg work, but that's why I am here to walk you through the steps.
Great Amazon Prime perks you didn’t know about until now
You may have heard of Amazon Prime, the service that allows you to get 2-day shipping with any order you place. What you might not have heard of is the entire suite of benefits you receive when you sign up for Amazon Prime. There are so many I decided to compile a list of the 10 best. While they are all amazing, #6 might just take the cake.
Kim’s picks of gadgets that are worth your money
When it comes to gadgets, there are so many out there that could really help make our lives better or easier. That sounds great, except for one problem. There are so many. But that should not stop you from upgrading your tech. With that in mind, here are some gadgets I not only think you'll want to have, but are also worth the money.
Finding unclaimed money and upgrade your smartphone
Flo from Charlottesville, VA called in to The Kim Komando Show to thank Kim for helping her find some unclaimed money. Flo is a subscriber to Kim's email newsletters and after reading an article about how to get unclaimed money, Flo found out she has some extra funds coming in. With her new windfall, Flo asks Kim for some tips about upgrading her smartphone.
More people than ever are getting rid of overpriced plans and are turning to leaner and cheaper online streaming TV services. But, of course, if you want to stream online TV content on an actual TV, you will need a streaming device of some sort. Be it a Roku, an Apple TV, a Chromecast or an Amazon Fire, this will simplify your transition from a cable TV service to a streaming one.
10 free things every Amazon Prime member gets
One of the most well-liked things Amazon introduced to us was Prime. While it is free to use Amazon, people who subscribe to Prime receive many benefits, including access to different Amazon content as well as faster deliveries. That's not all you get, though. If you are not a Prime member, you'll be interested to know what you're missing out on. And if you are, there's a good chance you don't know about everything you get with the subscription.
Michael Buble – ‘Feeling Good’
Madonna – ‘4 Minutes’
Katy Perry – ‘Roar’
Official music video for Katy Perry's "Roar" brought to you in Junglescope directed by Grady Hall & Mark Kudsi and produced by Javier Jimenez, Danny Lockwood, Patrick Nugent, Derek Johnson and Oualid Mouaness. | 2024-02-13T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6902 |
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| 2024-04-03T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/7946 |
Sheridan police are investigating a suspicious death of a woman thought to be about 50 years old whose body was found along Bear Creek Trail.
The body was found in the 2600 block of the West Hampden bike path. The identification of the victim is not being released until the next of kin are notified. The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office are assisting in the investigation.
More in News
With his choice of restaurant executive Andrew Puzder to serve as his Labor secretary, President-elect Donald Trump has now tapped six big donors and fundraisers to serve in his administration, lining up an unprecedented concentration of wealthy backers for top posts.
Last month, Denver’s Department of Safety fired a deputy sheriff for using racial slurs and harassing inmates and a police sergeant for drinking while in uniform and abandoning a post to have sex with a woman. | 2024-06-25T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/9819 |
Toronto Star – Ontario failing to protect cyclists, pedestrians
Your father is struck and killed when a car veers across the oncoming lane and into his path. The police charge the motorist (who was trying to unhook her sandal from the gas pedal) with careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act (HTA). Months later you attend court. The prosecutor and driver’s representative have negotiated a $500 fine for a lesser offence of “leave road not in safety.” The motorist isn’t even in court to hear the victim impact statement, which you struggle to read: “We hope that we will wake up, and it will all have been a bad dream.”
This very scenario, involving cyclist Bruce Tushingham, took place in Markham, Ont., not so long ago. Lamentably, the outcome is hardly unusual.
To read the full article in the Toronto Star – Ontario failing to protect cyclists, pedestriansclick here.
Marie Smith is past president of the United Senior Citizens of Ontario. J. Patrick Brown and Albert Koehl served on the expert panel for the Ontario Chief Coroner’s 2012 review of pedestrian and cyclist deaths. Brown is representing the Tushinghams in a civil suit against the driver.
About McLeish Orlando
McLeish Orlando is a Toronto personal injury law firm representing people who have been seriously injured and family members who have lost a loved one through the negligence of others. McLeish Orlando is a recognized leader within wrongful death and personal injury law. We represent people who have suffered brain injuries, spinal cord injuries and serious orthopaedic injuries. We strive for a fair settlement and the best possible results for our clients.
COVID-19 UPDATE: McLeish Orlando remains fully operational during this unprecedented time. We can access all of our client files remotely and are able to provide opposing counsel and judicial officers with documents as needed.More Information Here | 2023-12-04T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4178 |
release_date: June 1
rel_release_date: three days
my_news_url: https://github.com/tidyverts/tsibble/blob/master/NEWS.md
release_version: 0.9.0
release_details: |
This release introduces some underlying changes to the tsibble data object.
If your package provides tsibble data examples, you may need to reconstruct
those tsibble objects.
Sorry for the short notice.
| 2024-06-24T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8691 |
N.Y. soft money ban lifts Lazio's election prospects
Money counts - at no time more so than in the last few weeks of a political campaign.
But in New York, the fight to be perceived as the "good government candidate" actually aced the almighty dollar over the weekend when first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Rick Lazio agreed to swear off so-called soft money in the nation's second-most-prominent political race.
Analysts are split on what impact it will have on the race. Some contend that it puts Mrs. Clinton clearly on the defensive, since Representative Lazio has about a $3 million hard edge money lead over her. She'll have to retool her fundraising campaign, and do it fast.
But others argue the pledge will have no effect at all. Even though most Americans favor such campaign-finance initiatives as a way to get influence peddling out of the nation's political process, it rarely affects the way they vote.
"There is no indication from any public opinion poll ever that the public votes on the basis of campaign finance," says Ester Fuchs, a political scientist at Barnard College in New York. "If they did, we would have had the reforms long ago."
Still, reform advocates call the weekend pledge that goes into effect tomorrow a historic breakthrough that could help usher in an new era of political change. From their perspective, campaign-finance overhaul is getting its first real national road test in one of the toughest and most heated political environments.
But that's if it works. And many naysayers doubt it will. The agreement is voluntary and it depends on voluntary compliance from an assortment of political and issue-oriented groups. Critics contend it won't last beyond the first precipitous dip in the polls for either candidate.
"You already have Bill Powers from the state Republican Party saying he's not going to abide by it. I doubt the Conservative Party will, and on the flip side John Sweeney of the AFL-CIO isn't going to," says pollster John Zogby. "Basically, it will make as much difference as the Briand de Kellogg Peace pact of 1928 that outlawed war - the stakes are too high, and they've got the money, so they're going to find a way to spend it."
Dozens of issue groups will be grappling this week with how to handle the requests from the respective candidates for the voluntary ban. For many, from the National Abortion Right Action League to the United Federation of Teachers to the Right to Life Committee, elections are not only times to stump for candidates, but also time to get out their own message and organize.
"On the one hand, they say they have First Amendment rights of their own and a message they need to get out," says Helen Desfosses, a political scientist at SUNY Albany. "But on the other hand, if some of [Clinton's] supporters are seen as the ones that circumvent this ban, I don't think that's going to play well, either. It's a very messy and complex environment."
Still, some analysts believe it will help in the "perceptions war" in the tight and fluid race.
Lazio was clearly on the defensive after slipping in the polls and facing questions about his "gravitas" and preparedness for the
Senate after the debate in Buffalo. But in the last week, he's been on the offensive and regained some ground.
Not only has he forced Mrs. Clinton to accept a ban, which she originally proposed but ultimately shied away from, he also attacked her use of presidential perks.
After Lazio pressured the White House for weeks, spokesman Joe Lockhart admitted that, of the 404 overnight guests of the Clintons' in the last year, 100 were contributors to her campaign who gave a total of $624,000.
Mr. Lockhart contended they were friends of the family, supporters and public officials to whom the Clintons wanted to "extend the opportunity to stay with them in their home." Still, it was immediately dubbed "sleepovergate" and critics were amazed that the White House had not learned from the 1995 Lincoln Bedroom scandal.
Lazio has been using both issues to pound away at Clinton's credibility and ethics.
But several analysts believe that Lazio's beating the wrong drum in the bully pulpit by trying to attack Clinton's character and taking a "holier than thou" stance.
"I don't see where he scores the good government points for going after her soft money, when he's been using vicious character assassination in his national direct-mail campaign," says Ms. Fuchs. "From a functional equivalence, what's the difference between doing that kind of campaign and a soft-money campaign? They just get around using different loopholes."
While it's still too early to tell if this particular soft-money pledge will hold for the next few weeks, let alone the next few days, many analysts believe it still could have a long-term effect on the whole campaign-finance overhaul debate. "A lot of the independent groups are going to come out of this election with a bigger stake than they've ever had in campaign-finance reform," says Ms. Desfosses. "They're going to realize that they have to be involved in straightening this thicket out, so they won't be inhibited in the future." | 2024-06-08T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6072 |
Joseph Boncore
Joseph A. Boncore is an American lawyer from Winthrop, Massachusetts, who was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 2016 from the First Suffolk and Middlesex District. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Education
Boncore attended high school at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts. He graduated from Providence College and from the Massachusetts School of Law.
Early career
Law career
Since being admitted to the bar Boncore has worked in his family's legal firm, Boncore Law Practice, and for three years as a public defender with Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, serving indigent criminal defendants.
Winthrop Housing Authority
Boncore joined the Winthrop Housing Authority Board of Commissioners in 2009 and later became Chairman of the Board.
Political career
In 2016, Boncore ran in the special election for the open First Suffolk and Middlesex state senate seat. He secured the Democratic nomination after beating seven other candidates and won the election in May. He was re-elected in the general election in November 2016 and again in November 2018.
References
External links
Joseph Boncore State Legislature Biography
Campaign website
Category:1983 births
Category:Living people
Category:Massachusetts Democrats
Category:Massachusetts state senators
Category:People from Winthrop, Massachusetts
Category:Providence College alumni
Category:21st-century American politicians | 2024-04-25T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4750 |
The native noisy miner is causing more damage than the invasive, introduced species of myna bird, new research has shown.
The research paper, to be published next year, assessed the impact of the native species on other native birds.
It found the noisy miner was taking over the declining woodlands from smaller birds, causing steep declines.
The birds have become such a big problem they have been nominated as a threat under the national environment protection act.
One researcher recommended a trial cull of the aggressive animal.
Dr Martine Maron from the University of Queensland said scores of different species were being impacted.
"We're quite worried about the flow-on effects of that for ecosystems, because without those small woodland birds, then there's the risk that tree and woodland health could decline," Dr Maron said.
Dr Maron said while the introduced Indian myna – also known as the common myna – tends to be the focus of control efforts, controlling the noisy minor should be prioritised.
The noisy miner is particularly feisty and infamous for its extreme communal aggression. ( Supplied: La Trobe University )
A trapping program in Canberra for the Indian myna, which forces native birds from their nesting hollows, was heralded as a success by organisers who said it boosted native species.
However noisy miners are most effectively culled by shooting rather than trapping and euthanasing.
"Direct control of the noisy miners should be trialled to see how effective that can be and importantly, how cost-effective," Dr Maron said.
Griffith University urban ecologist Professor Darryl Jones agreed.
Previous research had found culls of noisy miners could dramatically increase the number of birds by up to 40 times and the number of species by 10 times in some areas.
"There is just no question that if we could control the noisy miner we could have a huge biodiversity impact straight away," Professor Jones said.
"If you really wanted bang for your buck, controlling the noisy miner is definitely the way to go."
The paper, done by 14 researchers, will be published in the Diversity and Distributions journal. | 2023-11-27T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3279 |
[Identification on commercial drug jiangxiang from Hongkong].
Accordint to macroscopical characters, histological structurs and analysis of essential oil, the comparison of drug Jiangxian from Hong Kong with Dalbergia sisso and Pterocarpus spp. was studied. The result showed that commercial drug Jiangxiang from Hong Kong is the heartwood of Pterocarpus masupium. | 2024-05-29T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4998 |
UK Parliament Gives Government Power to Begin EU Exit
The prospect of Scotland's exit from the UK appears nearer, too
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Members of Parliament return their result after voting to reject Lord's amendment on EU nationals rights in the House of Commons, London, Monday, March 13, 2017. Britain's House of Commons rejected an attempt to make the government promise — before European Union exit talks start — that it will guarantee the right to remain of EU citizens living in the U.K.
Britain lurched closer to leaving the European Union Monday when Parliament stopped resisting and gave Prime Minister Theresa May the power to file for divorce from the bloc.
But in a blow to May's government, the prospect of Scotland's exit from the United Kingdom suddenly appeared nearer, too. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for a referendum on independence within two years to stop Scotland being dragged out of the EU against its will.
In an announcement that took many London politicians by surprise, Sturgeon vowed that Scotland would not be "taken down a path that we do not want to go down without a choice."
Sturgeon spoke in Edinburgh hours before the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill passed its final hurdle in Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords.
Step Up Your Coffee Game With These Easy Brewing Methods
Making delicious home-brewed coffee will be easier than you think with these quick and easy steps.
(Published 2 hours ago)
The House of Commons approved the bill weeks ago, but the 800-strong Lords fought to amend it, inserting a promise that EU citizens living in the U.K. will be allowed to remain after Britain pulls out of the bloc.
They also added a demand that Parliament get a "meaningful" vote on the final deal between Britain and the remaining 27 EU nations.
Both amendments were rejected Monday by the Commons, where May's Conservatives have a majority. A handful of pro-EU Conservatives expressed their unhappiness, then abstained from the vote.
The bill returned to the Lords, in a process known as parliamentary ping pong. Faced with the decision of the elected Commons, the Lords backed down and approved it without amendments.
Labour peer Dianne Hayter, who proposed the amendment on EU citizens, said the Lords had done their best, but "our view has been rejected in the elected House of Commons, and it is clear the government is not for turning."
Once the bill receives royal assent — a formality that should be accomplished within hours — May will be free to invoke Article 50 of the EU's key treaty, triggering two years of exit negotiations, by her self-imposed deadline of March 31.
May was forced to seek Parliament's approval for the move after a Supreme Court ruling in January torpedoed her attempt to start the process of leaving the bloc without a parliamentary vote.
The House of Commons and House of Lords battled over the bill's contents, with the status of EU nationals in Britain — and Britons in fellow EU member countries — drawing especially emotional debate.
Both British and EU officials have said such residents should be guaranteed the right to stay where they are, but the two sides have so far failed to provide a concrete guarantee, leaving millions of people in limbo.
Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry told the House of Commons that one constituent, a Lithuanian, had told her "the uncertainty caused by this government and this Parliament is making her feel worse about her personal situation in Britain than she did in Lithuania under the Soviets."
Brexit Secretary David Davis told lawmakers the government had a "moral responsibility" to the 3 million EU citizens living in Britain and the 1 million Britons in other member states, and intends to guarantee their rights as soon as possible after exit talks start.
"That is why we must pass this straightforward bill without further delay, so the prime minister can get to work on the negotiations and we can secure a quick deal that secures the status of both European Union citizens in the U.K. and also U.K. nationals living in the EU," he said.
Preschoolers Battle for Baby Jesus Doll
Two preschoolers taking part in a nativity pageant at a Tennessee church engaged in a tug of war over a baby Jesus doll.
(Published 5 hours ago)
Pro-EU lawmakers accused the government and Brexit-backing lawmakers of running roughshod over the concerns of the 48 percent of Britons who voted to stay in the EU.
Conservative legislator Dominic Grieve called the government's opposition of handing Parliament a final vote on Brexit "deranged," and the Green Party's Caroline Lucas said lawmakers should not just hand ministers a blank check.
Euroskeptics accused pro-EU legislators of trying to frustrate the will of voters who passed a June referendum to leave the EU.
"The simple truth is this — deal or no deal, vote or no vote, positive vote or negative vote, this process is irreversible," Conservative legislator Edward Leigh said. "We're leaving the EU, and that's what the people want."
May is now free to trigger Article 50 as early as Tuesday, but the government signaled the move would come much closer to the March 31 deadline.
Adorable Orphaned Sea Otter Pup Settling in at Oregon Zoo
A sea otter pup known as "805" has been taken in by the Oregon Zoo after being orphaned off the California coast.
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May spokesman James Slack repeated the government's position that it would happen by the end of March.
"I've said 'end' many times, but it would seem I didn't put it in capital letters strongly enough," he said.
The government's satisfaction at victory in Parliament was tempered by the prospect of an independence vote that threatens the 300-year old political union between England and Scotland.
Sturgeon said she would seek to hold a referendum between the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019 so Scottish voters could make an "informed choice" about their future.
While Britons overall voted to leave the EU, Scottish voters backed remaining by 62 to 38 percent, and Sturgeon said they should not be forced to follow the rest of the U.K. into a "hard Brexit" outside the EU single market.
In a 2014 referendum, Scottish voters rejected independence by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent. But Sturgeon said the U.K.'s decision to leave the EU had brought about a "material change of circumstances."
Alabama Candidates Cast Their Ballots
Republican Roy Moore, facing numerous allegations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls, and Democrat Doug Jones cast their ballots in the vote that will send one of them to the U.S. Senate. NBC's Chris Pollone reports.
(Published Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017)
May — whose government would have to approve a legally binding referendum — accused Sturgeon's Scottish National Party of political "tunnel vision" and called her announcement "deeply regrettable." | 2024-04-13T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3780 |
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for efficient utilization of a gas re-circulation selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system with heat trace. 2. Background of the Invention
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reactor technology is being used with increasing frequency to treat the exhaust gases from an industrial process, such as energy production, before the gas is released into the atmosphere. The SCR reactor process relies on the use of a catalyst to treat the exhaust gas as the gas passes through the SCR reactor. Because the catalyst is an integral part of the chemical reaction, great effort is used to provide maximum exposure of the catalyst to the exhaust gas and to ensure that all the exhaust gas comes sufficiently into contact with the catalyst for treatment.
The combustion of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and industrial or natural gas produces environmentally hazardous substances, including nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO.sub.2). Nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide are collectively called NO.sub.x. In the normal combustion process of fossil fuels, the major portion of NO.sub.x is NO. The production of NO.sub.x can occur when fossil fuel is combusted in a variety of apparatuses, including refinery heaters, gas turbine systems, and boilers, such as in steam plants. The fuel may include coal, oil, gas, waste products, such as municipal solid waste, and a variety of other carbonaceous materials.
There are a number of known NO.sub.x reducing agents. A commonly used NO.sub.x reducing agent is ammonia. The principal process for the removal of NO.sub.x from the flue gas flow is the injection of a reducing agent, such as ammonia, urea, or any of a number of other known reducing agents, into the flue gas flow. For example, the selective catalytic reduction of NO.sub.x involving the injection of ammonia (NH.sub.3) into a flue gas flow in the presence of a catalyst occurs as the following chemical reactions: EQU 4NO+4NH.sub.3 +O.sub.2.fwdarw.(with catalyst)4N.sub.2 +6H.sub.2 O; and EQU 2NO.sub.2 +4NH.sub.3 +O.sub.2.fwdarw.(with catalyst)3N.sub.2 +6H.sub.2 O.
One method of injecting ammonia into a flue gas flow utilizes an external ammonia vaporization system in which liquid ammonia (either in anhydrous or aqueous state) is vaporized in a heater or vaporizer, mixed with air, and then routed to a distribution/injector grid for injection into the flue gas flow at a location "upstream" of an SCR reactor. Because anhydrous ammonia is toxic and hazardous, the general practice is to use a mixture of ammonia and water (NH.sub.3.H.sub.2 O). Ammonia diluted with water, i.e., aqueous ammonia, is less hazardous than anhydrous ammonia. A typical industrial-grade aqueous ammonia contains approximately 30% ammonia and 70% water. The ammonia-water mixture of the above mentioned percentages is safely transported on highways, and it has negligible vapor pressure at ordinary temperatures.
For the SCR systems that utilize ammonia, there are several ways to vaporize the ammonia. One method utilizes an electric heater to heat ambient air and mix it with aqueous ammonia in a vessel, thus vaporizing the aqueous ammonia. Another method utilizes a kettle-type heat exchanger tank in which a tank is filled with aqueous ammonia. The tank contains coils that are supplied with steam to vaporize the aqueous ammonia. Still another method utilizes an ammonia stripping tower in which aqueous ammonia is sprayed into the top of a fluid-fluid type contact tower, and steam is introduced into the bottom. A fourth method utilizes a flue gas slip-stream that is drawn by a blower into a vaporizer vessel where the flue gas mixes with and vaporizes the aqueous ammonia. FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art gas re-circulation selective catalytic reduction system. Hot flue gas is drawn into the vaporizer 100 by a dilution fan 130, and the reducing agent is vaporized to form a diluted reducing agent mixture, which is sent to the injector 160 for injection into the gas flow within the boiler 190.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,206, Using Flue Gas Energy to Vaporize Aqueous Reducing Agent for Reducing of NO.sub.x in Flue Gas, teaches yet another method where ambient air is drawn by a fan into an inlet. The air then travels through a heating tube, located in a boiler that is exposed to a hot flue gas flow within the boiler. The hot flue gas flow heats the heating tube, which in turn heats the air moving through the inside of the heating tube. The heated air eventually moves into a vaporizer. The heated air is mixed with the ammonia, and the mixture is sent to the injection grid for injection into the hot flue gas flow to perform the reduction reaction.
In order to prevent the formation of NH.sub.4 HSO.sub.4 (ammonium bisulfate), which occurs when sulfur-bearing fuels are burnt, in the pipes of the gas re-circulation selective catalytic reduction system, the heated air entering the vaporizer must be very hot. If the temperature of the air moving through the gas re-circulation selective catalytic reduction system is above 250 degrees Celsius, ammonium bisulfate does not form at meaningful rates. Ammonium bisulfate is a sticky and corrosive substance that damages the equipment upon which it is formed. Therefore, it is preferable that when the diluted ammonia mixture exits the vaporizer that the temperature of the mixture be greater than 250 degrees Celsius in order to prevent the formation of ammonium bilsulfate on the insides of the pipes carrying the mixture.
Electric air heaters may be used to raise the air temperature within the vaporizer and thus raise the temperature of the diluted ammonia mixture exiting the vaporizer in order to prevent the formation of ammonium bisulfate on the pipes "downstream" from the vaporizer. However, the power consumption of these electric heaters is very high, as are the maintenance costs.
A more common system for raising the air temperature of the diluted ammonia mixture is to utilize the hot flue gas, or hot combustion air, from the boiler to mix and vaporize the ammonia to produce the diluted ammonia mixture. The diluted ammonia mixture is then distributed into the hot flue gas flow in the boiler to perform the reduction reaction. The hot flue gas system is known as a hot gas re-circulation system and is the most common system used in conjunction with aqueous NH.sub.3. The hot gas re-circulation system extracts the hot flue gas from a boiler or gas turbine by way of a fan. The fan delivers the hot gas to the vaporizer. Two main factors determine the amount of hot gas required: (1) the vaporizer inlet temperature (extraction temperature); and (2) the vaporizer outlet temperature. Typically, the vaporizer inlet temperature is a fixed value of about 370 to 399 degrees Celsius (700 to 750 degrees Fahrenheit) (the typical temperature of the hot flue gas within the boiler); and the vaporizer outlet temperature is a temperature determined to prevent the formation of ammonium bisulfate when sulfur-bearing fuels are burnt in the boiler or gas turbine, typically at a temperature of at least 250 degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit).
Hot gas re-circulation systems require large fans to propel the hot flue gas into the vaporizer, as well as large pipes in order to carry the hot gases and mixtures. Larger fans have higher power consumption and maintenance costs than smaller fans, and larger pipes have greater costs than smaller pipes. | 2023-12-08T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3128 |
The striker will play no part against Leicester City as Real ramp up their interest (Picture: Getty)
Sergio Aguero is closer than ever to leaving Manchester City as Real Madrid prepare a January offer for the Argentine striker, according to reports in Spain.
The forward has been in superb form for the Citizens yet again this season, scoring 13 times, though is no longer the undisputed first-choice striker at the club since Gabriel Jesus arrived from Palmeiras.
And, according to Spanish television show El Chiringuito, Aguero now wants to leave City having fallen out with Pep Guardiola, and Real are poised to offer him an escape route.
Aguero is pining for a transfer as he is not Guardiola’s No.1 choice up front (Picture: Getty)
Although Aguero was picked ahead of Jesus to take on Tottenham, he was left out of the starting XI for the Manchester derby – something that did not sit well with him.
That decision still grates on him and he fears he will never be appreciated by Guardiola, while Real have been alerted to his unhappiness.
When he was substituted early in the second half against Spurs, he threw his gloves on the ground in frustration and did not speak or even look at Guardiola as he made his way to the bench.
Guardiola on Aguero's reaction to being subbed ‘That’s normal – I understand. He wants to play but at that moment I needed a little more energy with Gabriel in that position. I don’t want to hurt the players. I understand, I was a football player and I know they want to play. It always breaks my heart when the players cannot play because they deserve it. But it is what it is.’
Real are in need of a new striker, having had tentative inquiries for Harry Kane and Mauro Icardi dismissed out of hand, and Florentino Perez is ready to test City’s resolve to keep a player who is not particularly highly rated by Guardiola.
Aguero would welcome a move back to Madrid, where he spent five years with city rivals Atletico, and Perez is preparing an opening offer of £62 million.
Aguero started against Spurs, but tossed aside his gloves in frustration at being subbed (Getty)
Interestingly, Aguero will not be part of the Manchester City squad that faces off against Leicester City on Tuesday night for a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, despite having played 90 minutes in the last round.
He wished his teammates good luck for the match on Instagram, and is believed to have been nursing a heel injury for much of the season.
According to the Daily Mail, it requires daily treatment though is manageable, and it is not yet known if the injury is the reason for his omission from Tuesday’s squad or whether it relates to his current unhappiness at the club. | 2023-11-01T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8376 |
10 Kitchen & Dining Room Chairs For Your Table
Picking the right kitchen & dining room tables chairs may seem like a pretty easy task, but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes you may come across a table that isn’t sold as a set, or you may simply want to replace your chairs without replacing your table. Regardless of the situation, if you’re finding yourself in need of new kitchen & dining room chairs, you aren’t alone. With the right chairs, your dining area can be totally transformed into a new space. You deserve a stylish and comfortable place to sit while you enjoy your favorite foods. Here are 10 kitchen & dining room chairs for your table.
Are you going for a modern look in your formal dining room? If so, these chairs might be the perfect fit. As the item’s description states, “The Clairborne Tufted Dining Chair by Dorel Living will add an aura of sophistication to your dining room with its alluring comfort and bold, luxurious style. The classic hourglass silhouette will liven up your dining room and make a bold stylish statement around your dining table.”
These cool contemporary kitchen & dining room chairs feature a nice comb back that blends perfectly with the cushioned seat. Not only is this wooden chair sturdy and durable, but it’s also easy to clean and maintain.
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Camille has a master's degree from Saint Joseph University's Writing Studies program. Her writing has been published on several websites, and she enjoys writing articles and short stories in her spare time. You can follow Camille on Twitter @CamealAshley. | 2023-08-25T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6893 |
[Doppler sonographic estimation of normal values for flow velocity and resistance indices in renal arteries of healthy infants].
Summary. Colour coded Duplex sonography (CDI) is an important method for the judgement of renal perfusion in infancy. By means of CDI the renal artery (RA), the segmental renal arteries (SA) and the interlobar arteries (ILA) can be differentiated. By means of pulsed Doppler sonography flow parameters in renal vessels can be measured. As flow parameters in different renal arteries are age dependent, normal values of the flow velocities and resistance indices were estimated. We investigated 147 healthy children by CDI. Children were subdivided into 4 groups: 38 infants (< 1 year), 38 toddlers (> or = 1 year and < 6 years), 37 school children (> or = 6 and < 12 years) and 34 adolescents (> or = 12 and < 18 years). All children were investigated by computersonography with a 5 or 7,5 MHz transducer. In all children blood flow was measured in the RA, SA and ILA. From the flow profile peak systolic flow velocity (Vmax), endsystolic (Ves), enddiastolic (Ved) and time average (TAV) flow velocity as well as the resistance index (RI) were measured. Flow velocity and resistance indices were age dependent and related to the location within the renal vascular tree. The highest flow velocity was found in the renal artery, lowest in the ILA. In infants, Vmax in the RA was 51,5 +/- 13,4, in the SA 33 +/- 8 and in the ILA 19,5 +/- 5 cm/s. In toddlers, Vmax in the RA was 71,3 +/- 13,5, in the SA 43,6 +/- 8,5 and in the ILA 28,3 +/- 6,8 cm/s. In school age children, Vmax in the RA measured 80 +/- 18, in the SA 45,5 +/- 9,1 and in the ILA 27,9 +/- 5,3 cm/s. In adolescents, Vmax in the RA was 80,7 +/- 13,7, in the SA 46,8 +/- 11,8 and in the ILA 28 +/- 6,1 cm/s. From RA to SA the other flow velocity Ves, Ved, TAV decreased about 30 % and from SA to ILA about 30 %. Flow velocity in the different renal arteries was age dependent. The lowest flow velocity was found in newborns and infants, highest in elder school children and adolescents. The flow velocity markedly increased from infancy to early childhood whereas in elder children and adolescents a slower increase of the flow velocity could be found. Every flow velocity within the RA and AIL showed a statistically significant increase with increasing age (p < 0,0001). Resistance indices decreased from the renal artery to the interlobar arteries. The RI of infants within the RA was 0,82 +/- 0,11, within the SA 0,81 +/- 0,12 and within the AIL 0,73 +/- 0,17. In toddlers the RI within the RA was 0,71 +/- 0,08, within the SA 0,67 +/- 0,07 and within the ILA 0,65 +/- 0,08. In school age children the RI within the RA was 0,71 +/- 0,09, within the SA 0,66 +/- 0,08 and the ILA 0,58 +/- 0,10. In adolescents the RI within the RA was 0,69 +/- 0,06, within the SA 0,63 +/- 0,07 and within the ILA 0,60 +/- 0,06. Additionally, resistance indices decreased with increasing age. Statistical analysis showed a significant decrease with increasing age (p < 0,0001). Highest resistance indices could be found in early infancy and in the renal arteries, lowest resistance indices were measured in school age and adolescence and in the interlobar arteries. As flow velocity and resistance indices are age dependent and dependent on the location of the sample volume in different renal arteries, both parameters have to be considered if pathological flow parameters are measured. The determination of normal values of flow velocity and resistance indices in different renal arteries facilitate the judgement of pathologic flow parameters. For comparative controls flow measurements within the renal artery and interlobar arteries should be used. | 2024-03-12T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8923 |
This summer, during the height of vicious Ghostbusters backlash, comedian Leslie Jones took a break from Twitter in response to jeering tweets that targeted her race and her appearance. But Jones’s hiatus didn’t last long—partially because Twitter, in a rare move, banned the man using its service to lead the attacks against her. Now that man, Milo Yiannopoulos—a conservative blogger and editor for Breitbart, who tweeted under the name @Nero—is making headlines again for landing a $250,000 memoir deal with Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It’s only one of several ways that Yiannopoulos has parlayed a history of online abuse into a lucrative career.
“They said banning me from Twitter would finish me off. Just as I predicted, the opposite has happened,” Yiannopoulos told The Hollywood Reporter of his book deal. “Did it hurt Madonna being banned from MTV in the 1990s? Did all that negative press hurt Donald Trump’s chances of winning the election?” Though he claims no credit for hacking and leaking information from Jones’s personal Web site in August, Yiannopoulos did seemingly gloat over the invasion of the S.N.L. star’s privacy with a suspiciously timed Snapchat post that read “Karma’s a bitch.”
In an interview with ABC last September, Yiannopoulos expressed no regret in fomenting the attacks on Jones. He identified himself as a “virtuous troll” who was doing “God’s work” in fighting against the “revolting” body-positivity and feminist movements. Since being banned from Twitter, Yiannopoulos’s pro-Trump, alt-right platform has landed him on-air appearances and helped turn a college speaking tour titled “Dangerous Faggot” into a potentially self-parodying documentary deal. And for Yiannopoulos—who rose to prominence out of the controversial flames of Gamergate—Trump’s America is providing even more opportunities.
“I met with top execs at Simon & Schuster earlier in the year and spent half an hour trying to shock them with lewd jokes and outrageous opinions,” Yiannopoulos told The Hollywood Reporter of the meeting that earned him a quarter-million-dollar advance. “I thought they were going to have me escorted from the building—but instead they offered me a wheelbarrow full of money.”
Yiannopoulos is just one—albeit a very prominent—member of the alt-right movement who has been booted from Twitter as part of the company’s resolution to tackle hate speech. “We are continuing to invest heavily in improving our tools and enforcement systems to prevent this kind of abuse,” the company said via statement earlier this summer. “We realize we still have a lot of work in front of us before Twitter is where it should be on how we handle these issues.” In an interview with Slate, the company heavily implied that it would even consider banning President Trump from its service should he violate the no-hate-speech policy.
But as Yiannopoulos’s new book deal proves, a Twitter ban doesn’t necessarily mean the conversation is over. “Every line of attack the forces of political correctness try on me fails pathetically,” Yiannopoulosis crowed to T.H.R. “I’m more powerful, more influential, and more fabulous than ever before, and this book is the moment Milo goes mainstream. Social justice warriors should be scared—very scared.”
Scared? Maybe; maybe not. But perhaps in 2017, we can invest in a little counter-programming to Yiannopoulos’s toxic message. | 2024-02-20T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6563 |
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BMW Travel Accessories
AutoAnything offers the best driving accessories available for BMWs. Choose from a variety of custom headlight protectors, sun deflectors, backup cameras and more! Keep your tunes in line with a wide assortment of electronics holders. Or, get the ultimate in car safety with an auto-start kit and life hammer. When you order your BMW driving accessories now, you'll get them shipped to your door for free - no minimum purchase required!
Latest Customer Reviews
Sheepskin Seat Belt Cover Reviews
While the seatbelt cover does the job it is designed for, it can be improved. On one of the covers, the belt slides freely back into position without any help, unfortunately the other cover fits too tightly on the belt and requires manual assistance to return to position. Surely, this can be improved...its not rocket science.
Lund Universal Cargo Logic Liner Kit Reviews
awthome cargo holder!!!!
Reviewed By John V (Montclair, VA) Reviewed for a
1997BMW 3-Series—4/8/2011 10:20 PM
I do alot of spirited driving with some high speed turns and the bracket held my cargo in place very well. This is the same setup that came with the new VW GTI and I wanted it for my 97 BMW.
Although my product is still new, the mat can be easily cleaned by washing with a hose as the backing is made of bendable plastic.
The bracket is attached through velcro and can be strategically placed to separate items like tools and food or use the liner to carry your groceries and shield them from being crushed from other items in the car.
The only downside is it might not hold anything that is narrow or more than 2ft tall, like a lamp right side up but thats just silly.
AutoExec GripMaster Mobile Desk Reviews
I love the concept and the overall objective for the AutoExec. The grip on the top is awesome, the opening under for storage is adequate but for my 2 cents the option of no file storage on the end to give more length of storage underneath for lap top and printer would be better and file storage by the door is easier to see files,like one of the other units. Im hoping I can buy a printer small enough to fit in it. The color for this unit works great for my car although a black would have been nice or tan. the height could be a couple inches taller it doesn't clear my gear shaft so the pull out tray is useless for me and it is too unstable. Bottom line I love it and I don't think they ask me to help design it.
Get your BMW driving accessories from AutoAnything.com. From snow-busting tire chains to flashy window graphics, you can find everything you need for your BMW. And, our selection of accessories is available from top brands like Thule and Intro-Tech. What's more, your BMW driving accessories are a great deal, backed by our lowest price guarantee and free shipping. | 2023-08-16T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6144 |
New Penn Financial Reviews
About New Penn Financial
New Penn Financial is a great company that offers very competitive rates and has coverage in 43 states. New Penn Financial has a best rate guarantee that will match a lower rate or pay consumers $250. New Penn Financial offers a wide range of products to help you find the loan you need. New Penn Financial is rated A+ by the BBB and the team is dedicated to provide customers with superior customer service.
Bills.com's Review
Bills.com Rating:
4.0 of 5
New Penn Financial is a leading national mortgage lender founded in 2008 and licensed in 43 states. New Penn has a full line of mortgage offerings such as FHA loans, conventional loans, FHA Streamline, VA, Jumbo, and HARP loans. New Penn has retail offices across the nation with a strong presence in Florida, Louisiana, and Maryland.
Pros
Competitive low rates, best rate guarantee, good customer service
Cons
Limited or no retail locations in some states
Customer Reviews (55)
Home Refinance
byDon S. | November 13, 2014
I was solicited by New Penn Financial two years ago and promised the moon,instead I was offered an FHA loan if I paid $3000.00 to pay off some debt so I could get the loan. This occurred after I was handed off to Two different reps. I do not recommend this company unless you are prepared to pay PMI and go FHA
December refinance
bypriya varadarajan. | December 12, 2013
My Review is for the New Penn Financial Mortgage Consultant Joann Scott. she is the best.she closed our refinancing in under 20 days.
Joann Scott got us a very good interest rate and was there from start to finish, answering all of our questions, guiding and helping us through the entire refinancing process.Thank you Joann. You are the best.
August Refi HARP
byCasey Robbins. | December 10, 2013
My experience with New Penn Financial was one of the most impressive professional experiences I’ve had. My mortgage consultant, Liv Aamot, was extremely knowledgeable and trustworthy. I’ve been turned down twice in the last year because of a loan “technicalityâ€. Liv used her proficiency and business tenacity to fix what was wrong with my previous loan and seamlessly get me into a new loan. The new loan is far more beneficial for me and my family, and for that I am extremely grateful to Liv and New Penn.
Larry B.
byLarry Billoups. | December 5, 2013
Joan Scott of New Penn Financial was able to assist me in refinancing. Prior to meeting Joan, my refinancing attempts met with negative results. Joan customer service skills and people skills were exceptional. She was polite, patient, and kept me informed with each process. Joan was able to close my loan with three weeks. I was impressed with Joan's work and I would recommend her to anyone who wants to refinance. I will certainly do business with her again
Refi
byKatrice Maliszewski. | October 2, 2013
Veronica Medina was great to work with she took over my refinance about half way through and was very helpful in explaining questions I had. I felt like I knew what was going on with the process and felt more at ease.
We applied for refi mortgage on newly constructed home in November 2012,rate to be 2.75%. Mishandled and bungled and always late getting last minute paperwork. Closing cancelled 4 times,March 19, April 19, May 23. Many hours with reapplications and repeated credit checks. Last expired closing date resulted in rate going up to 2.99% for what should have been 2.50%. Was advised by Frank Carr,Sales Mgr. that it was "only $30 a month more". For 180 months that's $5400.00. Terrible- Look elsewhere.
Joan Scott is Outstanding
byFelix Igbinosa. | September 6, 2013
Joan Scott of New Penn Financial made my home refinancing possible when other lenders said it was impossible. She has my top rating in every aspect of refinancing but her knowledge and customer service skills are what did it for me. She was polite, patient, consistent, and on time with phone calls and e-mails the whole time. Yes, I recommend her to anyone who wants to refinance. I will certainly do business with her again.
Quick & Easy
byluis rodriguez. | September 6, 2013
It took less than 30 days for New Penn Financial to help me get a new loan. David Vidal was very professional and courteous in his dealings with me. I would highly recommend others to give him a chance to help you out. Just remember to be organized and prepared to move quickly.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!
byRachel Luccia. | August 16, 2013
My husband and I used this company when purchasing our house. It was an AWFUL experience. They did not get all of our paperwork done on time so we closed 4 days after our original settlement date. The customer service was terrible, they never apologized until we spoke to the senior VP. But, he told us he would reimburse us for costs that we had to ensue due to their error but after multiple emails we never got a response back. It was an awful experience and I would not want anyone else to go through it
Hope you're not in a hurry....
byCarl Dann. | July 20, 2013
I started my re-fi process after being contacted by New Penn back in December of 2012 and it took them til July of 2013 to finally 'deny' my re-fi....after, of course, rates had gone BACK UP and i suppose they didnt want to honor my 'lock-in' rate. Things that shouldve taken a few hours or days to complete on their end took WEEKS AND MOTHNS. I would NEVER use a mortgage company again that wasnt in my own town where i could get face-to-face with the lenders...what a costly waste this was !!!
Got stuck with the bills!!!
byJames King. | July 12, 2013
What a scam!!! I had everything lined up for a refi at 2.5% and walked away screwed!!!! I applied and locked in my rate on May 2nd. I scanned and sent all the required documents to them within 2 days and waited on the appraisal. I waited and waited and waited for nearly 6 weeks, and then the appraisal finally happened. So, because it took so long for them to schedule the appraisal, they wanted me to pay for a rate lock extension. I stood my ground and told them they were responsible since they couldn’t get the appraisal in a timely manner. Well, it all went downhill from there. Now it’s 2 ½ months after my rate lock, and I was just informed of the situation right before closing. Now the interest rate has jumped to 4% or better and I’m out of options thanks to Rate30 dragging this out so long. Needless to say, I didn’t get refinanced due to my principal and moral values and their lack of.
Great Experience
byMike C. | June 28, 2013
When it was time to refinance I thought it would be easier to go with my current mortgage holder, Nationstar, which was a mistake and a nightmare. 4-1/2 months later I called Doug Silverman at New Penn based on several reviews I had read online. It was 5 weeks from the initial phonecall to the closing. Absolutely painless process. Doug and his associates were organized, quick to respond to emails and calls, and always kept me in the loop. Can't say enough good things.
Mortgage Refi
byKen O. | June 14, 2013
Worked with Carmen. He was great. A real straight shooter. The key is to have all your docs and stuff in order. Our process went very smoothly. Some people send in slop and then don't understand what takes so long. It was a straight forward process and I was very pleased with New Penn.
Horrible Experience
byChris W. | June 10, 2013
Maybe it was just my loan but it was horrible. 6 1/2 months of hell! 2 credit reports, 2 appraisals, 2 loan expirations, trying to hide fee's that they said would not be paid by me, in house communication was horrible, failed to submit documents...i could go on and on. Went to another company and Im closing on Wednesday... 35 days start to finish and not one issue.
Be careful...
byMike G. | June 5, 2013
Do your homework before you incur any fees with this company. I would highly recommend you work with an established local or national mortgage originator and steer clear of Penn. Buyer beware!
Everything was fine until.....
byJoe P. | April 16, 2013
Everything was fine until they sold our mortgage to one of their affiliates, Selene Finance, which has an F rating by the BBB. Selene Finance (which is owned by the same company as New Penn) is has horrible customer service, inflates our escrow, when they lost our tax bill. It takes a long time to get to speak to someone at customer service, then get disconnected (I think purposely). They have one address on their correspondence, then tell us by phone that was the wrong address to send our tax bill.
needing a loan modification
bydebbie bell. | April 16, 2013
This business is outstanding,the information the officer gave me was so helpful to my family and im really blessed today to have contacted this place and plan to use them in the future. Thank u so much new penn, debbie bell
Best Part of 2013
byDennis Culin. | January 31, 2013
My recent refinancing experience was awesome! From the very beginning my Loan Officer was professional, courteous, and extremely helpful. Every step of the way she kept in contact and made sure things were clearly explained and as easy as possible. Greatest experience of 2013 so far!
Quick Note
byRyan G. | January 30, 2013
Working with New Penn Financial has been a very easy process. After getting the run-around from other companies, I was pleased to have a relatively quick and painless process.
Easy
byStacy D. | January 11, 2013
Our LO was easy to work with and was straight forward when it came to explaining the documents needed for said closing. I would suggest New Penn Financial to any family and friends.
Responsive
byLarry J. | December 20, 2012
I liked that I was able to communicate by email with my loan representative and that she was quickly responsive. I chose New Penn because I received a letter in the mail which convinced me to look into refinancing whereas previous mailers didn't seem to speak to my particular situation. The benefit I received was all information being exchanged electronically rather than snail mail.
Awesome Job!
byWilliam P. | December 18, 2012
New Penn did an awesome job working with us for an extended period of time in order to get our refinance processed and closed. We needed to refinance in order to reduce our monthly mortgage paymentand the experience resulted in a positive outcome for us and New Penn. I would recommend their services to any and all who are interested in pursuing a mortgagge refinance. Other companies promise but don't deliver. New Penn delivered.
New Penn Helped Us
byKelly and Scott Polasko. | December 17, 2012
It was a good experience. You where able to help us when nobody else could. Thanks so much to our Loan Officer for his time and patience with us thru this process.
Awful experience
byLiz Guarino. | November 20, 2012
Don't go through this company. We have been working with them for exactly one year and still have not closed on the house! We extended the contract 5 times and if we don't close by Friday we have lost this house! After ONE year and we are still in limbo! We have been working with the Branch Manager who NEVER returns calls, his voicemail box is always full so you cannot leave a message and he was just promoted to Branch Manager! This has been and still is the most aggravating year ever.
Wonderful Company
byJohn K. | November 9, 2012
Just wanting to give my thanks to a wonderful company, New Penn Financial. My wife and I really enjoyed dealing with our LO. He was very responsive and really delivered what he promised. Our LO really made the process very easy and fast. We will definitely recommend New Penn to our friends.
Very Smooth Refinance
byJarrett Beard. | October 26, 2012
I got quotes from several different mortgage companies. There were a few companies with the lowest rates (New Penn Financial being one of them). Some of the other companies had links on their website to great reviews, but when you googled your own reviews, they weren't great, talking about long processing times. New Penn Financial closed on my refinance in under 4 weeks. The loan officer was very knowledgeable and responded almost immediately to any e-mails I sent. I would definately recommend them.
Dont Expect a Call Back
byJohn Myers. | September 24, 2012
They are quick to call you when you initially reply but after that dont expect them to answer your emails, call you back or answer your call after that.
ongoing review...
byKathy M. | August 30, 2012
I just started the process of refiancing with this company...so far my loan officer (Ashley M) has been knowledgable and helpful, but that's the way it always starts out. So far an overall 5 but there are many parts to the process to take into consideration. Lets see how this goes...Kathy M...I will try and update this process weekly...
Great!
byRoshane B. | August 21, 2012
Just finished refinancing our home! What a wonderful experience it was working with New Penn Financial. They did a phenomenal job with keeping me informed and made sure I understood the process every step of the way. I highly recommend this company.
(no title)
byKeith Obaza. | August 9, 2012
My LO did a great job in working with us. We appreciate all of his hard work and dedication. I have told several of my coaching friends about him and I hope some of them contact him.
Thank You
byMark Marra. | July 25, 2012
My loan officer advised me well. He made everything easy to understand. He followed up through email and phone. I never lost any work time and it didn't impact my work. I want to thank New Penn for the excellent support.
A Smooth and Pleasant Experience
byPaul Booth. | July 21, 2012
New Penn Financial was a pleasure to work with. My loan officer, Lisa Escobedo in the Columbia, MD office, was very friendly and kept me up to date every step of the way. I was first drawn to New Penn because they, unlike so many other offers I get in the mail, puts their name boldly across the top of the letter rather than in fine print at the bottom (or not at all). They did not disappoint me in my refinance process and I highly recommend them.
(no title)
byGreg Duran. | July 20, 2012
This is the 2nd time we refinanced with New Penn Financial due to the low cost compared to other lenders and also due to the excellent interest rates. It was a pleasure doing business with New Penn Financial.
Friendly Loan Officer
byJoshua Brass. | July 17, 2012
My loan officer was very knowledgeable and friendly. He presented my options very clearly. He got the job done very efficiently.
Thank you New Penn
byEugenia Bonnie Ruff. | July 7, 2012
I just want to say, New Penn Financial is the best. I want to thank my Loan Officer Sita Lacap and her Manager Kim Herrington out of the Gulfport, Ms branch. They were very professional and knowledgeable. Sita stayed on top of my loan from start to finish. Ladies, you have made my retirement years in a cute Biloxi cottage a dream come true. Thank you ever so much!!
Jon Vogel is great
byStephen Strauss. | June 28, 2012
If it wasn't for his patience and knowledge, I would not have used New Penn Financial.
(no title)
byBonnie Jenkins. | June 25, 2012
My experience was wondeful; eerything flowed very smoothly and on time. I have no complaints.
(no title)
byCheryl C. | June 22, 2012
Lewis Walton was a pleasure to work with. He was very responsive throughout the process. I felt like one of Charlie's Angels - I never met Lewis, just received phone calls/emails with "assignments" - document gathering. :) Patricia, the notary that handled my closing was AWESOME. The whole procedure was completely "pain free". Thanks to New Penn for my future savings.
A great refinance experience
byCris James. | June 22, 2012
I just closed on a refinance in Connecticut that went really well. My concern going into the process was that New Penn would not be familiar with the rules and governances in my state, but that was never an issue. I didnt find any hidden fees or unexpected costs. I worked with Doug Silverman who I can't say enough positive things about: he was prompt, professional and kept me updated throughout the process, which was complete in 2 weeks.
(no title)
byDeobrah K. | June 20, 2012
Joe Moore was excellent my current mortgage company gave me the run around on trying to refinance for 5 months I was at my wits end but Joe got it done for me in about 2 weeks he was amazing. I can not thank him enough for all of his help. I am overly satisfied with your company.
(no title)
byJacqueline O'Brien. | June 20, 2012
Devin was a pleasure to work with, he did a phenomenal job with keeping up on each status. He worked with me every step of the way.
(no title)
byRalph Lamb. | June 18, 2012
Kenneth Lambourne helped my husband and I so much. I worked in the title industry for 25 years and I wish that all of my customers were like New Penn Financial. I give a really big thank you to Mr. Lambourne!
New Penn Financial
bySteve S. | January 24, 2012
They answered my questions, got my rate lowered, did it quick, I'm paying less each month...what else could I ask for?
Impressed
byJosh Z. | January 18, 2012
New Penn Financial definitely exceeded my expectations. My refi was put in the hands of a true professional who answered all my questions and kept me informed of what was going on with my loan.
I Approve
byMichael D. | January 13, 2012
I'm glad I went with New Penn Financial. I closed my loan with New Penn a few months ago and I'm enjoying the new, lower monthly payments on my mortgage. My loan officer was great and I would recommend him to anyone looking to refinance.
Couldn't be happier
byWilliam R. | January 11, 2012
New Penn Financial was a big help. As a first time home buyer I didn't know much about the process of getting a mortgage. After an initial look I felt lost and confused really. When I turned to New Penn, they helped lay out the whole process from start to finish and answered all my questions! I just moved into my new house and I am loving it, thanks to New Penn.
(no title)
byJohn B. | December 13, 2011
I choose New Penn Financial because of their service. My Loan Officer called me back when he said he would, made sure I understood the process and kept me informed every step of the way. Any questions I had were answered promptly. I have recommended New Penn Financial to my sister.
Great Rates and Even Better Service!
byZack L. | December 13, 2011
I would highly recommend New Penn Financial to my friends and family. They answered all my questions other mortgage companies could not and helped me in every step of the process. They offered low rates and even better service. Thanks New Penn!
Low Rates
byLori W. | December 12, 2011
I recently refinanced by mortgage with New Penn. I spoke with a number of lenders and New Penn offered the lowest interest rate with no points. Process was also smooth thanks to my loan officer, Eric Lank. I would recommend New Penn to other people.
Impressed
byKevin J. | December 9, 2011
I went to New Penn Financial to refinance my house and was quite impressed with the company. The rep that I dealt with was very knowledgable and incredibly friendly. He was always available to talk and answered all of my questions. The whole process was quick and painless! I will most certainly be referring my friends and family to New Penn.
promises never kept, Surprise!
byJack Mazur. | December 6, 2011
Would never use again, Was given promises on phone but when closed found out much worse news. I was also bumped a 1/4% before loan closed, officer did not lock in or may have just needed more commission? This was suppose to be a streamline, no fees, well wait till you see your new escrow amount. Try to work with the mortgage holder first.
joke
bysarah collier. | December 6, 2011
This company is a joke who drags their feet and makes promises they can not keep. Worked with them for almost a year and then finally gave up.
Refi
byTracy Roberts. | December 2, 2011
Brad Blastick was my loan officer and in the beginning very helpful, information wise. After the appraisal the rates he told me i was locked into changed. Then he informed me that i would have to escrow, which i was told i would not have too originally. Now i'm working with another bank and cannot get anyone to call me back to get the necessary paperwork to prevent another appraisal cost to me.
I would NOT recommend this company...atleast in Georgia.
Excellent Service -- Excellent Closing
byNancy Carre. | July 27, 2011
Even though we had a rather young, new employee, I always felt he gave our application his best effort. Whenever he wasn't sure about an issue or question of mine, he immediately checked into it and got back to me within one business day. All of our contacts at New Penn were courteous and helpful, the rates were extremely competitive (I checked), and everything went fairly smoothly. I would recommend them to friends and family.
re finance
bydonna elliott. | July 20, 2011
loan officer took family leave and I never heard from the person that was supposed to take over
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Your review will be posted shortly. Your review is extremely important and helpful to the Bills.com community. Your experience with this lender will provide consumers like yourself valuable information they can use to select a lender that's right for them. | 2023-08-22T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/9319 |
AP sources: US, Pakistan partnership on mend
The U.S. and Pakistan are building a joint intelligence team to go after top terrorist suspects inside Pakistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials said, a fledgling step to restoring trust blown on both sides by the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces during a secret raid last month.
The move comes after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented the Pakistanis with the U.S. list of most-wanted terrorism targets, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Wednesday.
The investigative team will be made up mainly of intelligence officers from both nations, according to two U.S. and one Pakistani official. It would draw in part on any intelligence emerging from the CIA's analysis of computer and written files gathered by the Navy SEALs who raided bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, as well as Pakistani intelligence gleaned from interrogations of those who frequented or lived near the bin Laden compound, the officials said.
The formation of the team marks a return to the counterterrorism cooperation that has led to major takedowns of al-Qaida militants, like the joint arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003. All those interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
The U.S. and Pakistan have engaged in a diplomatic stare-down since the May 2 raid, with the Pakistanis outraged over the unilateral action as an affront to its sovereignty, and the Americans angry to find that bin Laden had been hiding for more than five years in a military town just 35 miles from the capital Islamabad.
The U.S. deliberately hid the operation from Pakistan, recipient of billions in counterterrorism aid, for fear that the operation would leak to militants.
A series of high-level U.S. visits has aimed to take the edge off. Marc Grossman, the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell met with intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha last month. Last week, the secretary of state and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Adm. Mike Mullen, held a day of intensive meetings with top Pakistani military and civilian officials.
Among the confidence-building measures was a visit by the CIA to re-examine the bin Laden compound last Friday. Pakistan also returned the tail section of the U.S. stealth Black Hawk helicopter that broke off when the SEALs blew up the aircraft to destroy its secret noise- and radar-deadening technology.
The CIA has also shared some information gleaned from the raid, and Pakistan has reciprocated, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Wednesday.
The joint intelligence team will go after five top targets, including al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri, and al-Qaida operations chief Atiya Abdel Rahman, as well as Taliban leader like Mullah Omar, all of whom U.S. intelligence officials believe are hiding in Pakistan, one U.S. official said.
Another target is Siraj Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani tribe in Pakistan's lawless tribal areas. Allied with the Taliban and al-Qaida, the Haqqanis are behind some of the deadliest attacks against U.S. troops and Afghan civilians in Afghanistan. U.S. intelligence officials say their top commanders live openly in the Pakistani city of Miram Shah, close to a Pakistani army outpost.
Pakistani officials say the U.S. has never provided them accurate intelligence as to the Haqqani leaderships' location. Pakistani officials also argue that as the Haqqani network has been careful never to attack the Pakistani government, there is no reason to attack them.
One official said a final target on this preliminary list is Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, leader of a group called Harakat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, which the State Department blames for several attacks in India and Pakistan, including a 2006 suicide bombing against the U.S. consulate in Karachi that killed four people.
A second U.S. official confirmed that the Pakistanis and Americans have agreed to go after a handful of militants as a confidence-building measure, but the official would not confirm the specific names on the list.
Pakistani officials say those five have always been top targets, but they too did not confirm that the new agreement specifically names them as joint targets.
Intelligence-sharing operations between the U.S. and Pakistan were already strained before the bin Laden raid, particularly by the arrest and detention in January of CIA security contractor Raymond Davis in the shooting deaths of two Pakistani men. Davis said the two were trying to rob him.
Davis was eventually released in March after the dead men's relatives agreed to accept blood money under Islamic tradition, an agreement Pakistani intelligence officials say they brokered.
But only a day after his release, a covert CIA drone strike killed at least two dozen people in the Pakistani tribal areas _ people the CIA said were militants and the Pakistanis said were civilians.
Both sides disputed media reports that Pakistan had completely shut down joint intelligence centers it operates with the Americans following the bin Laden raid.
Two of the five "intelligence fusion centers" where the U.S. shares satellite, drone and other intelligence with the Pakistanis were mothballed last fall, long before either the Davis or bin Laden controversies, the Pakistani official and another U.S. official say. It was part of the fallout of the public embarrassment of the WikiLeaks cables disclosures, which revealed a closer U.S.-Pakistani military relationship than publicly acknowledged by Pakistan.
The high value target team is expected to use any intelligence found at the bin Laden compound in the hunt, although a month after the raid analysts have found nothing "actionable," a term describing intelligence that leads to a strike or operation against a new al-Qaida target, two U.S. officials say. The CIA-led teams have gotten through more than 60 percent of the computer files and written material taken from the compound, so far.
They spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the ongoing review of the now-classified bin Laden files. | 2023-09-12T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1073 |
Q:
What mean type `a -> m b` in Haskell?
Example - function runKleisli from Haskell base module
newtype Kleisli m a b = Kleisli { runKleisli :: a -> m b }
That means runKleisli have 1 argument with type a and must return function m, which have 1 argument b?
A:
It means m is a type of kind * -> *; that is, m is a type constructor that accepts a single argument, like Maybe or Either String. When you instantiate Kleisli and perform the substitution yourself, you can see how this works out.
For example, consider something like Kleisli Maybe String Integer. The substituted type of runKleisli would be String -> Maybe Integer, and you can see how the m is being used as a type constructor.
For more information about kinds in Haskell, see What exactly is the kind "*" in Haskell?.
| 2024-02-28T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2492 |
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick runs for a 56-yard touchdown against the Green Bay Packers in San Francisco Saturday.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Despite all those gaudy statistics and impressive physical skills, Colin Kaepernick faced plenty of questions coming out of Nevada about whether he was the product of a gimmicky college offense that would have no chance of working in the pros.
On the big stage of the NFL playoffs, Kaepernick is demonstrating just what he and that pistol offense are capable of against the toughest competition.
With scintillating runs in the option game and downfield passes with his powerful right arm, Kaepernick has the San Francisco 49ers back in the NFC championship game for a second straight year and has given more credibility to the offense designed by his college coach less than a decade ago.
“At first they said, that’s just a college offense,” said former Nevada coach Chris Ault, who invented the offense and used it in college with Kaepernick. “Lo and behold, somebody came out and said you can do that in the NFL every so often. The NFL has been such a copycat league. The formation has expanded the landscape of football collegiately and pro-wise. The pros see advantages of what you can do with these mobile quarterbacks in the pistol.”
Never had it been more effective than it was in San Francisco’s 45-31 win last week against Green Bay. Kaepernick set a quarterback record with 181 yards rushing on 16 carries, scoring on a 20-yard scramble and 56-yard sprint off a zone read play. He also threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns, exploiting whatever opening the Packers gave him.
“The one thing it does is it kind of makes you a little bit indecisive in what you want to do,” Green Bay defensive back Charles Woodson said. “You want to shoot in there but he may hold the ball and take it outside. If you go outside he might give it to the running back and take it up the middle. It’s one of those things that makes you play flat-footed a little bit.”
Kaepernick is far from alone in running a style of offense that until only recently was dismissed by many in the NFL as unsuitable for the pro game. Cam Newton has successfully used the zone read in Carolina to post prolific numbers the past two seasons and rookies Robert Griffin III in Washington and Russell Wilson in Seattle used elements of the pistol and the read option game to get their teams to the playoffs.
Their success has helped remove the stigma that running quarterbacks can’t succeed in the NFL.
“I think quarterbacks that have a talent for running the ball can be very effective,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “That’s been long known in football, the National Football League as well. A quarterback that can get out of the pocket, run, pick up first downs, that’s a threat that the defense has to account for. There are some quarterback-driven runs that have been added because our quarterbacks are very good at those, and Colin especially.”
Hall of Famer Steve Young calls the offense a bridge to help athletic quarterbacks with limited pocket experience transition from college to the pros, but said it is still essential to be able to beat defenses from the pocket.
That’s where quarterbacks like Kaepernick, Griffin and Wilson have the advantage over Tim Tebow, who used the zone read to great success last season in Denver but is struggling to get playing time because of his erratic throwing.
Kaepernick prides himself on his ability to do it all, dismissing the question of whether he’s a running or throwing quarterback.
“I don’t want to be categorized,” Kaepernick said.
Ault implemented the offense at Nevada in 2005, hoping to combine elements of the spread passing game from the shotgun with the power running game. The offense got its name — the pistol — because the quarterback lines up about 4 yards behind center as opposed to about 6 in the shotgun.
With the running back behind the quarterback instead of by his side in the shotgun, traditional running plays are easier to execute because the back is moving toward the line of scrimmage when he gets the ball rather than horizontally.
The offense began to evolve when Kaepernick took over in 2007. Late that season, Ault began mixing in some of the zone read plays where the quarterback puts the ball in the belly of the running back and then reads the defense to decide whether to go through with the handoff or keep the ball and run outside if the defensive end reacts to the running back.
Exposing the quarterbacks to hits running the ball is a big reason why NFL teams are hesitant to use the system so much, with Griffin’s latest injury a prime example.
“I know you can’t run the quarterback in the NFL as much as we do in college,” Ault said. “I agree with that. But I’ve seen quarterbacks take as many vicious hits dropping back 40 times a game as running the pistol.”
Soon, coaches from high school, college, Canada and the NFL made trips to Reno to learn more about the offense. San Francisco offensive coordinator Greg Roman was one of those in 2009 while he was still at Stanford. Roman used a few of the plays with Andrew Luck at Stanford but really started utilizing them once Kaepernick took over from Alex Smith halfway through this season.
The Niners have added new wrinkles with tight ends in the backfield, more play-action out of the pistol and different motions to deceive the defense.
“It’s a nightmare, especially when you have a guy who can run 4.4, 4.3, a guy who can outrun defensive backs or linebackers,” Niners safety Donte Whitner said. “You really don’t know where the football is going against this read-option stuff. You really don’t know until you finally see it. Sometimes he can pull it back, drop back and throw it deep. You really have to respect all of the weapons and be disciplined. It’s tough to do it for four quarters against a quarterback like that.” | 2024-07-29T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/3573 |
Q:
Problems with pgfplot and multiple graphs
I've been trying to do this there's a few days and the following code was the best that I got until now.
This is supposed to be one graph;
Because I say axis y line=none the last three "blocks" of the graph don't show the "ymajorgrids";
Another problem are the "spaces" between the "blocks", I tried to solve this using the \hspace{3.7cm}, but if I keep the value small enough to looks like one graph, the bars between 30% and 10% will be too close from each other;
I tried "groupplots" but "no lucky";
If I use the \documentclass{standalone} I'm not able to view the entire graph.
Code:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz,pgfplots,rotating,mathpazo}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.13}
%\usepackage[active,tightpage]{preview}
%\PreviewEnvironment{tikzpicture}
%\setlength\PreviewBorder{5pt}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.60]
\pgfplotsset{scale only axis,}
\pgfplotsset{every axis legend/.append style={draw=none,
at={(0,-0.3)},
anchor=south,legend columns=-1}}
% Begin 30' Figure
\begin{axis}[
xtick={10,20,30},
xticklabels={$10\%$,$20\%$,$30\%$},
axis y line*=left,
ymin=0,ymax=0.035,
xlabel=$30'$,
ylabel=$MSE$,
ybar, x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
ymajorgrids,
]
\addplot[black!100!white,fill=black!100!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00495)(20,0.00418)(30,0.00565)};%\addlegendentry{$BP$}\label{HplotBP}
\addplot[black!15!white,fill=black!15!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00241)(20,0.00233)(30,0.00234)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO$}\label{HplotPSO}
\addplot[black!50!white,fill=black!50!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00240)(20,0.00233)(30,0.00241)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}\label{HplotPSO-AWF}
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
axis y line=none,
axis x line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=3000,
ylabel=$Run$ $Time$ $(s)$,
x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
]
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!100!white] coordinates{(10,9.7409)(20,15.8253)(30,21.9555)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!15!white] coordinates{(10,856.4934)(20,1685.4893)(30,2508.6612)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!50!white] coordinates{(10,466.1263)(20,951.3380)(30,1328.8989)};
\end{axis}
% End 30' Figure
\hspace{3.7cm}% NO SPACE!
% Begin 1h Figure
\begin{axis}[
xtick={10,20,30},
xticklabels={$10\%$,$20\%$,$30\%$},
axis y line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=0.035,
xlabel=$1h$,
ylabel=$MSE$,
ybar, x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
ymajorgrids,
]
\addplot[black!100!white,fill=black!100!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01105)(20,0.00848)(30,0.01018)};%\addlegendentry{$BP$}\label{HplotBP}
\addplot[black!15!white,fill=black!15!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00409)(20,0.00409)(30,0.00409)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO$}\label{HplotPSO}
\addplot[black!50!white,fill=black!50!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00407)(20,0.00409)(30,0.00412)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}\label{HplotPSO-AWF}
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
axis y line=none,
axis x line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=3000,
ylabel=$Run$ $Time$ $(s)$,
x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
]
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!100!white] coordinates{(10,9.9127)(20,15.7465)(30,22.0166)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!15!white] coordinates{(10,846.4655)(20,1674.5623)(30,2488.7022)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!50!white] coordinates{(10,468.0651)(20,939.3421)(30,1312.1089)};
\end{axis}
% End 1h Figure
\hspace{3.7cm}% NO SPACE!
% Begin 3h Figure
\begin{axis}[
xtick={10,20,30},
xticklabels={$10\%$,$20\%$,$30\%$},
axis y line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=0.035,
xlabel=$3h$,
ylabel=$MSE$,
ybar, x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
ymajorgrids,
]
\addplot[black!100!white,fill=black!100!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.02303)(20,0.02103)(30,0.01911)};%\addlegendentry{$BP$}\label{HplotBP}
\addplot[black!15!white,fill=black!15!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01069)(20,0.01078)(30,0.01086)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO$}\label{HplotPSO}
\addplot[black!50!white,fill=black!50!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01066)(20,0.01110)(30,0.01124)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}\label{HplotPSO-AWF}
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
axis y line=none,
axis x line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=3000,
ylabel=$Run$ $Time$ $(s)$,
x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
]
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!100!white] coordinates{(10,7.37)(20,14.57)(30,21.34)}; \addlegendentry{$BP$}
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!15!white] coordinates{(10,908.04)(20,1804.93)(30,2722.43)}; \addlegendentry{$PSO$}
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!50!white] coordinates{(10,428.61)(20,873.12)(30,1315.82)}; \addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}
\end{axis}
% End 3h Figure
\hspace{3.7cm}% NO SPACE!
% Begin 6h Figure
\begin{axis}[
xtick={10,20,30},
xticklabels={$10\%$,$20\%$,$30\%$},
axis y line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=0.035,
xlabel=$6h$,
ylabel=$MSE$,
ybar, x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
ymajorgrids,
]
\addplot[black!100!white,fill=black!100!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.03107)(20,0.02478) (30,0.02055)};%\addlegendentry{$BP$}\label{HplotBP}
\addplot[black!15!white,fill=black!15!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01616)(20,0.01617)(30,0.01729)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO$}\label{HplotPSO}
\addplot[black!50!white,fill=black!50!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01589)(20,0.01640)(30,0.01653)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}\label{HplotPSO-AWF}
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
axis y line*=right,
axis x line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=3000,
ylabel=$Run$ $Time$ $(s)$,
x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
]
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!100!white] coordinates{(10,9.74) (20,15.72)(30,22.11)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!15!white] coordinates{(10,852.99)(20,1676.16)(30,2505.78)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!50!white] coordinates{(10,443.05)(20,841.54)(30,1281.74)};
\end{axis}
% End 6h Figure
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}
A:
How does this look? I positioned all the axes relative to each other, by giving them names and using e.g. at={(otheraxisname.north east)},anchor=north west. Also turned off the yticklabels on most of the axes, and set the tickwidth to zero.
Unrelated note: Don't use math mode for italics, if that's what you wanted with $Run$ $Time$. If italics was what you were after, use \textit{Run Time (s)}.
\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots,rotating,mathpazo}
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.13}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.60]
\pgfplotsset{scale only axis,
every axis legend/.append style={draw=none,
at={(0,-0.3)},
anchor=south,legend columns=-1}}
% Begin 30' Figure
\begin{axis}[
xtick={10,20,30},
xticklabels={$10\%$,$20\%$,$30\%$},
axis y line*=left,tickwidth=0pt,
ymin=0,ymax=0.035,
xlabel=$30'$,
ylabel=MSE,
ybar, x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
ymajorgrids,
name=ax1
]
\addplot[black!100!white,fill=black!100!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00495)(20,0.00418)(30,0.00565)};%\addlegendentry{$BP$}\label{HplotBP}
\addplot[black!15!white,fill=black!15!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00241)(20,0.00233)(30,0.00234)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO$}\label{HplotPSO}
\addplot[black!50!white,fill=black!50!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00240)(20,0.00233)(30,0.00241)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}\label{HplotPSO-AWF}
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
at={(ax1.north east)},anchor=north east,
axis y line=none,
axis x line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=3500,
ylabel=Run Time$ (s),
x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
]
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!100!white] coordinates{(10,9.7409)(20,15.8253)(30,21.9555)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!15!white] coordinates{(10,856.4934)(20,1685.4893)(30,2508.6612)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!50!white] coordinates{(10,466.1263)(20,951.3380)(30,1328.8989)};
\end{axis}
% End 30' Figure
% Begin 1h Figure
\begin{axis}[
at={(ax1.north east)},anchor=north west,name=ax2,
xtick={10,20,30},
xticklabels={$10\%$,$20\%$,$30\%$},
y axis line style={draw=none},
yticklabels={},tickwidth=0pt,scaled ticks=false,
ymin=0,ymax=0.035,
xlabel=1h,
ybar, x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
ymajorgrids,
]
\addplot[black!100!white,fill=black!100!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01105)(20,0.00848)(30,0.01018)};%\addlegendentry{$BP$}\label{HplotBP}
\addplot[black!15!white,fill=black!15!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00409)(20,0.00409)(30,0.00409)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO$}\label{HplotPSO}
\addplot[black!50!white,fill=black!50!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.00407)(20,0.00409)(30,0.00412)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}\label{HplotPSO-AWF}
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
at={(ax2.north west)},anchor=north west,
axis y line=none,
axis x line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=3500,
ylabel=Run Time (s),
x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
]
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!100!white] coordinates{(10,9.9127)(20,15.7465)(30,22.0166)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!15!white] coordinates{(10,846.4655)(20,1674.5623)(30,2488.7022)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!50!white] coordinates{(10,468.0651)(20,939.3421)(30,1312.1089)};
\end{axis}
% End 1h Figure
% Begin 3h Figure
\begin{axis}[
at={(ax2.north east)},anchor=north west,name=ax3,
xtick={10,20,30},
xticklabels={$10\%$,$20\%$,$30\%$},
y axis line style={draw=none},
yticklabels={},tickwidth=0pt,scaled ticks=false,
ymin=0,ymax=0.035,
xlabel=3h,
ybar, x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
ymajorgrids,
]
\addplot[black!100!white,fill=black!100!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.02303)(20,0.02103)(30,0.01911)};%\addlegendentry{$BP$}\label{HplotBP}
\addplot[black!15!white,fill=black!15!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01069)(20,0.01078)(30,0.01086)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO$}\label{HplotPSO}
\addplot[black!50!white,fill=black!50!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01066)(20,0.01110)(30,0.01124)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}\label{HplotPSO-AWF}
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
at={(ax3.north east)},anchor=north east,
axis y line=none,
axis x line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=3500,
ylabel=Run Time (s),
x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
]
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!100!white] coordinates{(10,7.37)(20,14.57)(30,21.34)}; \addlegendentry{$BP$}
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!15!white] coordinates{(10,908.04)(20,1804.93)(30,2722.43)}; \addlegendentry{$PSO$}
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!50!white] coordinates{(10,428.61)(20,873.12)(30,1315.82)}; \addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}
\end{axis}
% End 3h Figure
% Begin 6h Figure
\begin{axis}[
at={(ax3.north east)},anchor=north west,name=ax4,
xtick={10,20,30},
xticklabels={$10\%$,$20\%$,$30\%$},
y axis line style={draw=none},
yticklabels={},tickwidth=0pt,scaled ticks=false,
ymin=0,ymax=0.035,
xlabel=6h,
ybar, x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
ymajorgrids,
]
\addplot[black!100!white,fill=black!100!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.03107)(20,0.02478) (30,0.02055)};%\addlegendentry{$BP$}\label{HplotBP}
\addplot[black!15!white,fill=black!15!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01616)(20,0.01617)(30,0.01729)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO$}\label{HplotPSO}
\addplot[black!50!white,fill=black!50!white,]
coordinates{(10,0.01589)(20,0.01640)(30,0.01653)};%\addlegendentry{$PSO-AWF$}\label{HplotPSO-AWF}
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
at={(ax3.north east)},anchor=north west,
axis y line*=right,
axis x line=none,
ymin=0,ymax=3500,
ylabel=Run Time (s),
x=0.2cm, enlarge x limits={abs=0.75cm},
]
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!100!white] coordinates{(10,9.74) (20,15.72)(30,22.11)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!15!white] coordinates{(10,852.99)(20,1676.16)(30,2505.78)};
\addplot[smooth,mark=*,black!50!white] coordinates{(10,443.05)(20,841.54)(30,1281.74)};
\end{axis}
% End 6h Figure
\draw [very thin] (ax1.north east) -- (ax4.north east);
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}
| 2024-02-19T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1537 |
- 5*p - 0*p - w for m.
-1
Let c(i) = i**2 - 57*i - 54. Let t be c(58). Solve 0 = -2*s - 3*r + 5, 4*s - t*r + 8*r - 4 = 0 for s.
-2
Let u(l) be the first derivative of l**4/4 + 2*l**3/3 - 3*l**2/2 + 4*l - 19. Let q be u(-3). Solve -q*r + 13 = -a - 2*r, 4*r = 20 for a.
-3
Suppose -7 = x - 2*x. Suppose 13*b - 250 - 166 = 0. Suppose b*t = 42*t - 40. Solve 4*o - t = -w, -x*o = -2*o + w - 4 for o.
0
Let o be (-1)/(-1) + 2/2. Let n(f) = 2*f**2 + 922*f - 3718. Let t be n(4). Solve a = 4*y - 2 - 0, -o = -t*y for a.
2
Let u = 326 - 330. Let s(t) = -t**3 - 5*t**2 - 10*t - 8. Let p be s(u). Solve -h + 2*c = -c + p, 0 = h + 5*c - 24 for h.
-1
Let b = -511 + 521. Let r(q) = -q**3 + 10*q**2 - 4*q + 58. Let j be r(b). Solve 4*i - j = i - 3*k, 5 = 5*k for i.
5
Suppose 3*j - 2*v - 25 = 0, 0 = -9*j + 14*j + 5*v. Suppose -10 + 54 = -4*i. Let f be 10/(-4)*(-13 - i). Solve -j = -3*t - 0*t + f*x, -3 = 3*x for t.
0
Suppose -16*l = 36*l - 312. Suppose 45*r - 37*r - 24 = 0. Solve q - r*o + l = -o, 0 = 3*q + o - 17 for q.
4
Suppose 51*t - 46*t - 53 = -4*k, 3*k = -5*t + 46. Solve -5*i = n - 10, 0 = t*n + 32 - 7 for i.
3
Suppose 2*z + 415 = 7*z. Suppose -1669*y + 1762*y = 8184. Let c = y - z. Solve 4*b = -2*l - 9 - 5, -l - 16 = c*b for b.
-3
Let c(v) = v**2 + 11*v + 9. Let u be c(-13). Suppose 9*h - 35 = -u. Solve 5*o = -3*x + 5, 3*o - 2*x - 23 + 1 = h for o.
4
Let g(z) = -610*z + 3052. Let o be g(5). Solve -5*m + 2*h + 11 = h, -o*m + 26 = 5*h for m.
3
Suppose -64 + 56 = -43*p - 51. Let i(c) = 5*c. Let r be i(-2). Let q be -5 + 9 - (p + r). Solve -3*m = -2*x - 5 + 24, -5*x = -m - q for x.
2
Let f = 2411 + -2406. Solve -f = -n + 3*d, 2*d - 20 = -4*n - 2*d for n.
5
Let a be (-5 - (-147)/14)/((-1)/2). Let g(u) = u**3 + 12*u**2 + 15*u + 62. Let z be g(a). Solve r - z = 5*q, -q + 4 - 10 = r for q.
-4
Let x be (-36)/63 - 5564/(-182). Solve x*h = -2*p + 25*h + 19, 2*h - 4 = p for p.
2
Let p be 1215/(-18)*((-30)/9)/5. Suppose -p*w = -39*w - 12. Solve 0 = -w*h + 8, 5*h - 19 = -5*o + 6 for o.
1
Let u(a) = -a**2 - 20*a + 47. Let b be u(-22). Let g be (3 - b) + (-24)/(-4). Solve -y + g = -4*n + 5*n, 3*n - 6 = 3*y for y.
2
Let l = -12 + 17. Suppose -16 = y - l*n, 2*y - 4*n + 8 = -6. Let k = 7 + y. Solve -o + h - k*h = 27, 4*o + h + 13 = 0 for o.
-2
Let o(b) = 13*b - 167. Let d be o(18). Suppose 64*n - d*n = -9. Solve 4*z - 8 + 0 = -n*l, 5*l + 40 = 4*z for l.
-4
Suppose -8*b + 36 = -4*b + 5*r, r = 4. Solve -u = -0*u + 2*y - 1, -3*u + b*y = -3 for u.
1
Let o(f) = -1 - f**3 + 35*f - 347*f**2 + 687*f**2 - 348*f**2. Let c be o(3). Solve 5*s + c*h - 10 = -0*h, -s + 3*h + 2 = 0 for s.
2
Suppose -4*k + 197 = -2*r + r, -5*k - r + 235 = 0. Suppose 23*b - k = 44. Let c be 12/2*(-6)/(-9). Solve -2*o - 5 = -3*s, c*o + 7*s - 35 = b*s for o.
5
Suppose 0 = -215*j + 208*j - 2667. Let s = -378 - j. Solve -p - 17 = -5*t + s*p, 2*t + 13 = -5*p for t.
1
Let g(s) = -3*s - 37. Let y be 1 + (-500)/(-6) - (-8)/(-24). Let h = y - 98. Let w be g(h). Solve -16 = -3*o + 4*b, -20 = 4*o - 0*b + w*b for o.
0
Suppose -164*c = -27*c + 40*c - 708. Suppose -3*d + 16 = -4*v + d, -2*v - d + 4 = 0. Solve p = -3*t - 3, v*t + c*t = 2*p + 6 for p.
-3
Let u(h) = -2*h**2 - 7*h - 16. Let k be u(-4). Let j(b) = 2*b + 14. Let m be j(-5). Let q be m - (-1 - 12/k)*-10. Solve p + p + l - 6 = q, 4*l = -p - 4 for p.
4
Let t(b) = 2*b**2 - 18*b - 1. Suppose -5*u - s + 2*s + 53 = 0, -2*u = -5*s - 35. Let d be t(u). Let v = d + -14. Solve v*f + 10 + 5 = 0, 3 = -2*x - f for x.
0
Let w be (2 - -1)/(2 - 1). Let q = -2 + 11. Let m be 9 + -2*((-2)/26 - 1488/(-416)). Solve 0 = w*x - q, -2*d - m*d - 5*x = -27 for d.
3
Suppose 2*f - 6 = 2. Suppose 2*s - 16 = -2*x, f*s + x - 5 = 12. Let n be (-3 + -5)*11*62/(-1364). Solve -5*y + 11 = -3*d, n*y = -5*d + s*d for d.
-2
Let w(o) = -o**3 - 26*o**2 + 5. Let t be w(-26). Let u = 35 + -27. Suppose 3*i = 16 + u. Solve 4 = -j - h, 4*j - t*h - 19 = i*j for j.
-1
Let a be -5*(6/2 - 4). Suppose -m - 7 = -4*r, 16 = m + a*r - 4. Suppose 3*s - 7*s - 1 = -3*o, -13 = s - m*o. Solve -i + 3*y + 1 = 0, -7 = 2*i - s*y - 1 for i.
-5
Let p = -48 - -45. Let r be (1 - p)/(15/(30/4)). Solve f - 5*c = -1 + 21, 8 = 2*f - r*c for f.
0
Let p = 12 - 8. Suppose 5 = p*g - 11. Solve -5*t + 15 = -0*v - 2*v, -g*t = -4*v - 12 for v.
0
Let q(b) = 9*b - 13. Let k be q(2). Suppose -x = x + k*x. Solve 3*p - 12 = -3*w, 2*w + x*w - 8 = 4*p for w.
4
Suppose -4*a + 12 = 0, -4*y - 197 = 3*a - 226. Solve 2*m - 38 = y*k, 0 = -5*k - m + 6 - 32 for k.
-6
Let p(q) = -24*q - 936. Let a be p(-39). Solve 4*s + 5*o - 6 = a, 3*s - 5 = 15*o - 19*o for s.
-1
Suppose -2*b = -2*u + 10, -14*u + 10*u + 17 = -3*b. Solve 0 = -5*y - x - u, x + 12 = 3*y + 6*x for y.
-1
Suppose -17*z - 681 - 287 = -39*z. Solve -c + 1 = 2*i, 4*i - 11 + z = 5*c for i.
-2
Suppose 0 = -4*x + 4*s + 12, 3*x + 2*s = -462 + 481. Solve x*j - 3*z = -0*j, 4*z = 2*j + 14 for j.
3
Suppose 0 = -3*z + 4*u + 32, 37*z - 4*u - 36 = 33*z. Solve -3*c - r = 8, -4*c - z*r + 5 = 13 for c.
-3
Let j = 297 - 159. Suppose -j = -6*z - 0*z. Solve h = -4*i - 8, -z = 3*h + 2*h + 3*i for h.
-4
Suppose -36*r + 39*r = c - 26, -4*c - 5*r - 32 = 0. Solve -c*x = t - 2, 2*x = 5*x + t - 1 for x.
-1
Let q be ((-16)/12)/(2 - (-44)/(-18)). Suppose -14*f = -9*f - 20. Solve 3*z - f = c - q, -12 = -4*c + 4*z for c.
5
Let h be (-8)/(-36) + 237/27. Suppose -2*p + 0*x + h = -x, 0 = -x - 5. Solve d = -p*c + 5, -c + 4 = -d + 3 for c.
2
Let q(y) = -3*y - 24. Let r be q(-9). Let n be (-1 + 1/2)*2*-9. Solve 0 + r = 2*h - s, 0 = -4*h + 5*s + n for h.
1
Let z(b) = 33*b**2 + 147*b + 65. Let u be z(-4). Solve 9*t = 4*t - 4*l + 21, 2*l = u*t - 27 for t.
5
Let i be 9 - 12*(-14)/(-28). Solve 28 = 4*u + i*a, 0 = -3*u + u + 2*a for u.
4
Let t be 28/3*-3 - (1 - 5). Let s be (-2 - t/3) + -3. Solve -5*w - q + 19 = 0, -2*w = -s*w - 2*q + 11 for w.
3
Suppose y - 8 = -4*d, 5*y = 3*d - 24 - 5. Solve -11 = d*o + 4*p, 0 = -2*o + p + 8 + 3 for o.
3
Let o be (-5)/1 - (0 - (-1 - -8)). Solve o*a = -4*q + 26, a = -2*q + 2*a + 3 for q.
4
Suppose 3*m = 3*h - 0 - 3, 8 = 4*h - 5*m. Let x be (6 - (-351)/(-26))*2/h. Solve 0 = -0*y - 4*y + 5*s - 20, -2*y - 10 = x*s for y.
-5
Let l(v) = 4*v**3 + 852*v**2 - 873*v - 3613. Let h be l(-214). Suppose 0 = -y + 3*y. Let u = -2 - -6. Solve 0 = u*r - 5*m + h, y*m = 2*r - m + 11 for r.
-5
Suppose -x = 2*u - 10, -11 - 23 = -5*u + 2*x. Let b(c) = c**2 - 6*c - 5. Let l be b(u). Let h be (l - 3 - -3)/(-1). Solve 0 = -3*r + r - 3*f, -r = h*f for r.
0
Let s be 6/(-51) + (-1180)/85. Let y be 16/56 + (-66)/s. Solve -3*l + 5*k - 1 = y, -4*l = -5*k + 3 for l.
3
Let o = 17252 - 17249. Solve -2*c = -13*q + 16*q + 20, 12 = -o*c for q.
-4
Let o = 13430 - 13426. Solve -o = 2*j - 4*q, -4*q = 4*j + 19 - 47 for j.
4
Let u be (-8 - 41/(-5)) + 241/(-5). Let j be 0*(4/6)/(u/(-36)). Solve 5*g = 3*h - 9, 5*g = -j*g + 5*h - 5 for g.
-3
Let t = 347 - 350. Let w(a) = a**3 + 2*a**2 - 4*a. Let b be w(t). Solve -3*i = z - 4, 3*i - 4 = 2*z - b for i.
1
Let r(v) = 50*v + 2654. Let k be r(-53). Solve 11*u = -k*h + 12*u - 1, -2*h - 14 = 4*u for h.
-1
Let d = 84 + -81. Let l be (9/(-4))/((-6)/32). Suppose d*t = -l, 3*g + 2*g = 5*t + 30. Solve 5*v - 5*n + 3 = -g, 0 = -5*v - n + 25 for v.
4
Let d(p) = p**3 - 15*p**2 - 14*p - 34. Let c be ((-78)/6 + 1)*4/(-3). Let u be d(c). Let z be 8 - (u + 2 - 1). Solve y + 6 = 2*r, 6*r - y - z = r for r.
1
Suppose -2*f - 11 = -m, 5*m - 31 = 16*f - 14*f. Solve -m*j + 5*y = 34 - 49, -3*y - 3 = -j for j.
3
Let z = -9953 - -9983. Solve -2*w - 31 = 3*f - z, w + f - 1 = 0 for w.
4
Let l(w) = w**2 + 41*w + 291. Let q be l(-9). Suppose 32*d - 145 = q*d. Solve -2*s - 3 = g, -d*g - 10 + 28 = -s for g.
3
Let h = -1086 + 1091. Let m(g) = -g**2 - 3 + 0*g**3 + 2*g**3 - 11*g**2 + 11*g. Let v be m(h). Solve v*j - 4*o = -3*j + 5, -2*o = j + 13 for j.
-3
Let v = 22949 + -22937. Solve -5*h = 10, -v*h = a - 17*h - 7 for a.
-3
Suppose 4*k + k = 105. Suppose -76 = -4*b - 3*s, -5*s - 23 = -4*b + k. Suppose 5*a - 26 = -b. Solve 4*r - u - 2 = -1, 9 = r - a*u for r.
-1
Let n = -165 + -86. Let w = n - -274. Solve -2*u + u - 16 = 4*f, 2*u + w = -5*f for u.
-4
Let m be (1/(-2))/(6/96). Let f be (m/3)/((-4)/6). Let y(d) = 2*d**2 + 11*d + 3. Let t be y(0). Solve t*z = f*i - z - 16, 4*z = -20 for i.
-1
Suppose -22*q = -172 - 268. Solve -6*i = -i - | 2024-02-19T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1376 |
Strategic planning and radiology practice management in the new health care environment.
Current comprehensive health care reform in the United States demands that policy makers, insurers, providers, and patients work in reshaping the health care system to deliver care that is both more affordable and of higher quality. A tectonic shift is under way that runs contrary to the traditional goal of radiology groups to perform and interpret large numbers of imaging examinations. In fact, radiology service requisitions now must be evaluated for their appropriateness, possibly resulting in a reduction in the number of imaging studies performed. To be successful, radiology groups will have to restructure their business practices and strategies to align with the emerging health care paradigm. This article outlines a four-stage strategic framework that has aided corporations in achieving their goals and that can be readily adapted and applied by radiologists. The four stages are (a) definition and articulation of a purpose, (b) clear definition of strategic goals, (c) prioritization of specific strategic enablers, and (d) implementation of processes for tracking progress and enabling continuous adaptation. The authors provide practical guidance for applying specific tools such as analyses of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (so-called SWOT analyses), prioritization matrices, and balanced scorecards to accomplish each stage. By adopting and applying these tools within the strategic framework outlined, radiology groups can position themselves to succeed in the evolving health care environment. | 2024-03-13T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6366 |
Q:
How to find suitable driver for postgresql using Mulesoft 4
I set up a connection from Anypoint Studio 7.4 to Database and I'm using postgresql version 42.2.1.
Here's my DB config:
Error Response:
org.mule.runtime.api.connection.ConnectionException: Could not obtain connection from data source
Caused by: org.mule.extension.db.api.exception.connection.ConnectionCreationException: Could not obtain connection from data source
Caused by: org.mule.runtime.extension.api.exception.ModuleException: java.sql.SQLException: Cannot get connection for URL jdbc:postgresql://myhost:port/mulesoft : No suitable driver found for jdbc:postgresql:myhost:port/mulesoft
Caused by: java.sql.SQLException: Cannot get connection for URL jdbc:postgresql:myhost:port/mulesoft : No suitable driver found for jdbc:postgresql:myhost:port/mulesoft
at org.mule.extension.db.internal.domain.connection.JdbcConnectionFactory.createConnection(JdbcConnectionFactory.java:57)
at org.mule.extension.db.internal.domain.connection.DbConnectionProvider.connect(DbConnectionProvider.java:139)
at org.mule.extension.db.internal.domain.connection.DbConnectionProvider.connect(DbConnectionProvider.java:71)
A:
You need to either use the configure button or manually add a Postgresql JDBC driver dependency to the pom.
Example pom:
<dependency>
<groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
<artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
<version>42.2.9</version>
</dependency>
You also need to add the driver groupId and artifactId to the shared libraries section of the Mule Maven Plugin in the pom, so it can be accessed by the DB connector.
Example:
...
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.mule.tools.maven</groupId>
<artifactId>mule-maven-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.3.5</version>
<configuration>
<sharedLibraries>
<sharedLibrary>
<groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
<artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
</sharedLibrary>
</sharedLibraries>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
If the configurations are correct, check that the database name is present in the URL. For example in the JDBC URL jdbc:postgresql:myhost:port/mulesoft, the /mulesoft at the end is the database name. If it is missing it can cause the same error.
| 2023-11-07T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4348 |
//
// STXAttributedLabel.m
// STXDynamicTableView
//
// Created by Jesse Armand on 19/3/14.
// Copyright (c) 2014 2359 Media. All rights reserved.
//
#import "STXAttributedLabel.h"
#import "NSString+Emoji.h"
static CGFloat STXAttributedLabelHeightPadding = 4.f;
@implementation STXAttributedLabel
- (instancetype)initForParagraphStyleWithText:(NSString *)text
{
self = [super init];
if (self) {
if ([text stringContainsEmoji]) {
UIFont *commentFont = self.font;
UIFont *emojiFont = [UIFont fontWithName:@"AppleColorEmoji" size:commentFont.pointSize];
if (emojiFont.lineHeight > commentFont.lineHeight) {
self.minimumLineHeight = emojiFont.lineHeight;
self.lineHeightMultiple = emojiFont.lineHeight / commentFont.lineHeight;
}
}
}
return self;
}
- (CGSize)intrinsicContentSize
{
CGSize intrinsicContentSize = [super intrinsicContentSize];
return CGSizeMake(intrinsicContentSize.width, intrinsicContentSize.height + STXAttributedLabelHeightPadding);
}
@end
| 2024-02-20T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/1764 |
// A2Z F16
// Daniel Shiffman
// http://shiffman.net/a2z
// Closure basics
// Based on some examples from: https://www.manning.com/books/secrets-of-the-javascript-ninja
/****************** Getting trickier ******************/
var after;
function outerFunction() {
// rainbow's scope is local only to this function!
var rainbow = 'rainbow';
function innerFunction() {
console.log(rainbow);
}
after = innerFunction;
}
// When this function is called
// innerFunction is defined with a closure that stores
// everything currently in scope
outerFunction();
// The variable rainbow is not in scope, this breaks everything!
// console.log(rainbow);
// But this one works b/c after stores a reference to innerFunction
// and so everything contained in the closure is maintained!
after();
| 2023-10-28T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/6750 |
ENERGY
Keeping SA on its toes
“As the level of service delivery in South Africa breaks down to levels seen in other African states, it becomes critically important for civil society to mobilise and interrogate the reasons why service delivery is failing” says Ted Blom, energy analyst and advisor to the energy and mining industries and spokesperson for OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse). The organisation recently lost its urgent bid in the High Court in Pretoria to interdict the electricity tariff hike.
He adds: “for members of a former functioning society with service delivery working, the adoption of a civil rights activist stance can be most uncomfortable and unfamiliar, but ultimately when Government has become deaf to the needs of its citizens, there is little other alternative if one elects to remain in the country.”
Blom says “civil activism is still in its relative infancy in post-Apartheid South Africa. The nature of civil activism is that it is objective driven - people only join an action if it has the likelihood of meeting their need or concern for action”.
“OUTA's campaign in the energy sector has just begun” Ted states, “unfortunately with a lost court case, but such is civil action and it will not be deterred by the technical loss of one court case. OUTA is still gearing up its internal capacity, both on the energy desk as well as on the legal side, as it envisages many more legal bids will become necessary.”
AfriForum: active communities“Water affects us all and every aspect of our lives and active communities can make a big difference when they act as a united group to hold government responsible and apply the 'do it yourself' principle to prevent pollution and preserve water,” says Marcus Pawson, Head: Local Government at the civil-rights organisation AfriForum. The movement currently has 170 000 members and branches in 125 cities and towns in South Africa.
“AfriForum’s Local Government portfolio has a twofold strategy” Marcus explains. “The first is to have government of all spheres held accountable for government services and environmental responsibilities. The second is a ‘do it ourselves’ approach where we reach a point that communication and good relationships with government have not delivered on promises and AfriForum then takes on the responsibility of fixing the immediate problem. In both strategies a legal strategy is applied to ensure that the best outcome is achieved.”
Success stories include the AfriForum Blue and Green Drop Projects started in 2015 and that identified five towns where potable water was unsafe for human consumption. All affected municipalities were notified and placed on terms to fix the crises. All five affected towns where cleaned after a second round of water tests were done a week later.
Marcus adds: ”the AfriForum Green Drop Project also revealed major infrastructure and management problems in Standerton regarding sewerage water polluting the Vaal River which flows into the Vaal Dam. AfriForum’s local branch was unsuccessful in discussions with the local municipality to budget for repairs and do upgrades on infrastructure. Eventually in October 2015, the branch contracted an engineer who installed a concrete pipe for sewerage flow to the Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTWs) and not directly into the Vaal River”.
“AfriForum is ready with a court application that will ensure government management of WWTWs are fully qualified and staffed with the necessary variety of personnel that is needed on sites of every WWTW. If successful the result will greatly improve the management of the WWTWs in South Africa.”
African Utility WeekBoth Marcus Pawson and Ted Blom are speakers and panellists during the upcoming African Utility Week conference in Cape Town in May. The event features 250 more expert speakers from 17-19 May at the CTICC – gathering some 6000 power professionals from local and African municipalities, utilities, other stakeholders and solution providers from around the globe.
The event will feature 250 exhibitors, a six stream strategic conference, a free-to-attend technical conference on the expo floor, three high-profile keynote sessions, technical site visits and the coveted industry awards gala dinner. The Utility CEO Forum will be an opportunity to discuss challenges and share best practice for high-level power utility executives from countries such as Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The African Utility Week Industry Awards also include categories for Power Utility Executive of the Year, Utility of the Year, Energy Efficiency Project of the Year and Power/Water Woman of the Year where pioneering utilities and innovative projects in the sector are recognised and celebrated.
The trade exhibition will be free when registering in advance and showcase power and water saving technologies and services for the industry, and feature hands-on demonstrations and CPD-accredited technical workshops on the exhibition floor.
African Utility Week and Clean Power Africa are organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK. The event forms part of a global energy event series, including European Utility Week, Australian Utility Week, Asian Utility Week and Latin American Utility Week. Other African flagship events in Spintelligent’s power portfolio are East African Power Industry Convention (EAPIC), West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC), iPAD Rwanda Power & Mining Investment Forum and iPAD Cameroon Energy & Infrastructure Forum. | 2023-12-26T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/9903 |
Chapter 36
Once again, Elsa found herself dealing with the aftermath of a major screwup. Same place, different time. As she picked at her chicken sandwich in the lobby café of the Mirage, the one thought running through her mind was the stupid question she had asked less than an hour ago.
Have you ever been in love? Who in their right mind would ever start a negotiation like that? Someone who wasn't in their right mind apparently. A part of her wanted to just get the next flight out of here and call it quits, find a way to smooth things over with the board; but she knew that giving up would be career suicide, and if she returned she'd have to face her most glaring problem…
Those last few words by Rapunzel continued to torture her, exactly how many selfish choices had she made when it came to her and Anna? Did she even deserve to see Anna again? No...no Elsa couldn't think like that, she had to make things right. For once in her life she had to think of someone other than herself, she'd given Anna two weeks of silence and that was two weeks too many. Whatever it took, Elsa would see her again and explain herself. And hope and pray that she wasn't too late.
Even with the weight of her mistake pressing down on her, it still couldn't snuff out the love she had for Anna. This newfound, maybe always there, begging to be confessed. The thought of not seeing Anna ever again pained her. Whatever it takes, she told herself, whatever it takes.
So, she couldn't go back yet. Not in her state, not with a pathetically miniscule amount of self-confidence. She needed a win, so it was time to figure out her gameplan. Okay, so yes she had screwed up big time in her negotiation by going in blind. She should have spent more time studying up on Mrs. Badroul, her mannerisms and behaviors, and she should confidently know the personal reason for wanting this partnership.
Though it wasn't like Mrs. Badroul was giving her much to work with either. Everything she said or did, the older woman just had a knack for making her feel worse. Elsa had never met someone so stubborn, so set in her ways, so subtly aggressive, so-
Holy crap, she was just like Elsa. But like...browner, and with darker hair, and had a tiger.
Elsa took a bite out of her cold sandwich and stifled her laughter, because she knew how she worked- which meant she knew how Mrs. Badroul worked. In order to break through Mrs. Badroul's own icy exterior, she had to ask herself one question:
What would Anna do?
Anna was the only one to successfully break through Elsa's surface, and while she didn't have the luxury of eight years of history between her and Mrs. Badroul, she could still use the methods Anna used.
Anna was persistent, she also refused to take no for an answer but in an endearing way. She was honest but not brutally honest, she would tell it like it is but in a way that didn't offend you. Most importantly she didn't give up, if you didn't give her an inch of space she'd make it. So that's exactly what Elsa would do.
Now with a gameplan intact, Elsa finished her sandwich- as cold and unappetizing as it was, it was also the only thing she'd had to eat today- and called for a taxi.
Sneaking into New World Oil was surprisingly easy. Although it didn't hurt that there was no security upfront, and she could easily slip through the masses going on their lunch break and get into one of the elevators.
The drive, again, was uneventful, but she at least had the decency to answer most of Vignesh's, her taxi driver's, questions, mostly as a way to practice having to be a lot more talkative and open than usual.
She had no idea what floor Mrs. Badroul would be on, and just assumed it would be the top floor, so she pressed the button that said "80" and waited. And waited. And waited. A part of her wondered if the CEO was watching her through security feeds, waiting till she got to the seventieth floor to stop the cart so she'd be forced to walk the other ten.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case. The elevator dinged, the doors slid open, and she stepped inside the longest hallway she'd ever seen. It reminded her of the hallway at the resort, except there wasn't an Exit at the very end, and there weren't doors to other rooms all along the side walls. There was only a double door at the end, olive wood with gold tiger heads as the door handles.
Each step muffled by the velvet carpet brought her closer and closer, yet still Elsa's nerves hadn't gotten to her. No matter what was going on behind those doors, even if Mrs. Badroul was in the most important meeting of her life, she was filled with an unwavering determination to get her attention.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if the narrow hallway hadn't disclosed the full size of the door. It got wider the closer she got, and on either side were the two bodyguards that she had met earlier that morning, standing with their feet apart and hands folded up front.
"No visitors." The man on her right said.
Immediately, Elsa put her hands up as if to surrender. "I'm not here to visit, I just need ten minutes of Mrs. Badroul's time, it's important."
"No. Visitors." The man on her left repeated empathically.
"I'm not…" Elsa groaned and rolled her eyes, "Look I'll be in and out in no time, I mean no harm to your boss, I just want to talk to her."
The two brown behemoths looked at each other, nodded in sync, and advanced slowly towards Elsa. Not good, she had to think fast.
When they were only three feet away, Elsa stepped back a couple steps, "Alright fine! I'll go, but now you have to explain to your boss that-" She didn't finish her thought, she'd already sidestepped the twin towers and sprinted to the door.
The ridiculousness of that move wasn't lost on her, neither was the fact that it actually worked. She didn't have time to congratulate herself though, she had a job to do and it was stupidly hard to run in flats. Not daring to look back, she kept moving forward until her hands had reached one of the tiger heads and she yanked the door open, locking it behind her before they could go in with her.
She breathed a momentary sigh of relief, still in shock that that actually worked, and turned around to face her fate and realized that she wasn't alone.
Well of course she wasn't alone, this was thankfully Mrs. Badroul's office and she was here. But five feet away from her was Hans, currently being backed into a corner by her snarling tiger. As if the similarities weren't glaring enough, she also had a massive window, a fridge, and a bed that looked recently used. Honestly the only things that were starkly different were the furniture choice, color scheme, and lack of mementos.
The two other humans stared at her with wide eyes, and knowing that either of them were too stunned to speak, Elsa was the first to break the tense silence filled with growling and loud knocking. "Hi! It's me again."
Mrs. Badroul blinked, "I...can see that. Why exactly are you here, Ms. Andersen?"
The knocking grew louder and more frequent, "Well, I-I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I'd stop by and…" Yeah, silly jokes only worked for Anna. "Okay screw it, I need to talk to you, Mrs. Badroul. Again."
"Enough! I am okay!" The baroness shouted at the door as the knocking ceased. She sighed, "We have been over this, I told you that you did not make a good impression and I will not entertain another attempt at a negotiation with you."
Hans tried to pipe in, "Yeah and we've kinda got our own negotiation going on so if you'd mind-" But he was silence by a spine-tingling growl.
Hiding her amusement, Elsa put her hands up again, "Look, I know the first impression I gave you was...abysmal, I know that I put my foot in my mouth way too many times, but I-I want another chance. That person in the car...that wasn't me. I mean it was, but it wasn't like an accurate version of me. I want to show you that you've got it all wrong, I want to make a better second impression."
"I hardly see what a second meeting would show me that I haven't already seen."
"Well aren't you willing to find out?"
Mrs. Badroul frowned, "Not particularly, no."
Elsa sighed, "Look, I've got two more days and I don't wanna spend them as a damn tourist, pardon my language. I want to spend it doing what I know and what I love. And you can push me out of here yourself, get your bodyguards to keep me from leaving The Mirage, or even sicc Rajah on me...but I will find a way to get to you until you meet with me."
If Elsa wasn't sure how Anna felt before, she sure did now. The way that Mrs. Badroul was looking at her made her feel incredibly uneasy, and she wanted again to just get out of there and cut her losses, but she didn't. She'd gotten this far, and dirty looks be damned, she'd get this meeting.
Mrs. Badroul shifted her intimidating glare back and forth from the cowering Hans still trying to pretend he had this tiger situation under control, to Elsa, who could all but hear the debate going on in her mind.
Finally, she let out a defeated groan, "1:30 at Abu's. And you are paying. I will not miss my lunch because of you."
Elsa clapped her hands together and suppressed an uncharacteristically giddy noise from escaping her throat. She was venturing too closely into the Anna method of negotiations. "Thank you! I promise you won't regret it, and you can order whatever you want."
Mrs. Badroul closed her eyes, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else right now. "Just leave me be, Ms. Andersen."
"Right! Gotcha…" Elsa unlocked the door, mouthed a "Thank you" to the furious bodyguards before sidestepping them, and paced back to the elevator, still in awe that this ridiculous plan had worked.
Elsa had wanted to get a good night's rest for tomorrow's make-or-break appointment, but the fully awake nightlife of Agrabah had different ideas. There were two separate pool parties going on at The Mirage, the bright lights and music created the perfect concoction for insomnia, leaving Elsa to press the pillow around her head harder till it was practically in her ears.
Deciding to not wait this out in her hotel room, she went to take a walk instead. Maybe it would help prepare her mind for tomorrow, and plus she hadn't had time yet to explore this gorgeous city.
She did know how dangerous it was at night according to the news reports, so she made sure to stay a safe distance from the resort.
The rest of Agrabah, it seemed, reveled in the nightlife as well. Illuminated by the scarce streetlights, merchants continued to sell their wares and the more questionable businesses were crowded with patrons looking to drink or screw their problems away.
Elsa felt like a fish out of water with her pale skin, gray hoodie and blue jeans- the most casual non-gym attire she'd worn since college- but most of the citizens were nice and polite to her. Most of them anyway, a handful of creeps made lewd non-English remarks and gross gestures, but she easily avoided them.
There was certain uniqueness to this side of Agrabah, a mixing of the rich and poor lifestyle, the latter more than the former. Aside from a couple fast food restaurants and designer clothing stores right next to The Mirage, the rest of the area looked like a borderline slum. Beggars were littering the street, an old married couple was bickering outside of their clay house, she literally saw a child steal a handful of apples from a merchant while another child distracted him.
It was eye-opening to say the least, she had gotten so accustomed to just how okay and well-adjusted Arendelle was that sometimes she forgot that other cities, other countries, weren't like that. As fascinating and perspective-altering as Agrabah was, she was already missing Arendelle after one day.
She missed the scenery, the not-so-blistering heat, her office surprisingly, and she missed the people. Especially Anna. God, she missed Anna.
It was kind of insane how much she'd let herself fall for the redhead once she stopped denying her feelings. Every little thing about her produced another butterfly in her stomach: from her smile, to the perfect pattern of freckles on her face, to the loose strands of hair on her head that refused to stay in line, to her laugh, to the way she stood with her hands on her hips when she was deep in thought, to her voice telling her that she wanted her…
Before Elsa could fall into the rabbit hole of her screw-ups again, she found herself in an unfamiliar area. The streetlights flickered, the handful of houses looked abandoned, and the atmosphere was quieter than she'd like it to be. Luckily, she could still hear the booming music from The Mirage and reoriented herself.
Deciding it was finally time to get some sleep- and remembering she'd packed some ear plugs for situations like this- Elsa began her walk back. She didn't make it that far before she heard something that caught her attention. In a bad way.
In a nearby alleyway was what clearly sounded like a fight going on, a very one-sided fight. There were things being thrown around, punches being thrown, and a weak voice begging for mercy in broken English.
Against her better judgment, Elsa crossed the street to get a closer look, partially due to morbid curiosity but also because the one winning the fight sounded very familiar. She stayed out of the way of the dim streetlight and peeked around the corner, seeing that her suspicions were confirmed.
Even in the cover of night, she could see the murderous intent on his face, his unbuttoned and slightly torn vest, and the gleam of his ring coming down to connect with another hit on his poor victim's face.
"No more. Please no more…"
"You did this, you brought this on yourself." Hans hissed as he pulled him up by the collar of his tattered shirt and beat him back down with another hit. "You! Did! This!" Each word was accented with another defenseless punch.
Elsa was frozen in fear, knowing that her and Mr. Arendelle's suspicions were confirmed. He was violent, mercilessly violent. She didn't know what this man did to him, if anything, but she knew that he didn't deserve this kind of punishment. Despite the fear, she wanted to step in, do the dumb thing and be a hero.
But before she took a single step, another thought came to her mind. If she got evidence of this happening…it may not be a scandal here, but it certainly would be back home. And after getting the evidence she needed, she could be a dumb hero and get Hans off of him, killing two birds with one stone.
Still thankfully covered by the darkness of the street, she navigated to her phone's camera, carefully peeked around the corner again, and pressed the button to take a picture.
Not realizing that she had forgotten to turn the flash off.
The momentary brightness illuminated the evil deed. For a split second she could see the balding middle-aged man weakly putting his hands up to find mercy that would never come, she could see Hans sitting on his chest, fist raised in the air for another punch, and she could see that his rage-filled eyes were no longer on him, but on the one holding the phone.
Elsa ran.
She was feeling confident about her chances of getting away, after all that time logged on the field and the treadmill, and from proving to herself that she could do it after slipping past Mrs. Badroul's bodyguards. All she had to do was run back to the resort, get on the elevator, make her way back to her room, and lock the doors. Everything would be okay once she got back.
But Elsa only made it a few feet before being stopped by a wall of velvet that knocked her back and grabbed her roughly, pinning her to a wall with the hand holding her phone twisted behind her. In the heat of the moment, she had forgotten to check up on the whereabouts of Hans' bodyguard.
When he saw that she was clearly incapacitated, Hans sprint turned into a smug walk, his grin grew more fiendish as he came into the light. He laughed, "You almost had me there, Elsa. You aaaalmost had me…"
Elsa struggled in the stoic man's grasp, trying to squirm away from either the hand twisting her arm back or the one pressed into her shoulder, but the more she struggled the more he pressed. She hissed as the pain on her joints increased. "Tell him to let me go, you psychopath."
He looked away as if he was actually considering it, and then shook his head, "Not gonna happen. You've seen too much, and now I have to do some damage control so you don't do something stupid like rat me out."
"Yeah?" She growled. "And what are you gonna do? Kill me?"
Hans chuckled, "That'd be even dumber than letting you go with that evidence you've got. Speaking of which, I'm going to need you to hand over your phone."
"Not a chance, jackass."
His expression darkened from her lack of compliance, he nodded towards the gorilla with sideburns, and the hand gripping her wrist that held her phone clamped down. An unfortunate wail came from her throat and her phone fell to the ground. Without relaxing his grip, he slid the phone over to Hans who caught it under his foot.
"You know that little stunt of yours in Jasmine's office didn't sit well with me, in fact...it made me a little angry." He took a handkerchief out of his pocket, unfolded it, and wiped the blood off his face. "And I don't like being angry, because it makes me do terrible things. Messy things."
He moved on to his hands, "I'm always careful, though, I never want people to see anymore than they need to. It's better for everybody if we leave some secrets behind closed doors; I'm sure you know all about that don't you, Elsa?"
Elsa tried to wriggle free again, earning her a rough shove back on to the wall.
"Watch it. We don't wanna leave any marks." He said, glaring at his bodyguard. "Now where was I? Right, I was getting to the part where you almost screwed everything up. Including you, I can count the number of people who've tried to be a hero against my 'evil deeds' on one hand. No one has successfully stopped me though, and no one will. You wanna know why?"
Elsa didn't respond.
"Because I'm smarter than everyone else. I'm always three steps ahead. Even before you knew I was a threat, I had already infiltrated your precious kingdom. If you thought I'd go anywhere in this shithole of a city without backup, without a plan, then you must be dumber than I expected. Then again, you just proved that a second ago, didn't you?"
He took a second to laugh to himself and then continued his monologue. "You almost had me. You almost beat me at my own game. Almost. But you never will, and you need to accept that and embrace the fact that I am at your backdoor and there is nothing you can do to stop me."
At that moment, either a surge of stupidity or bravery overcame Elsa and she spit right in his face. It was worth it, even if she was now pressed even tighter onto the brick wall. She'd heard enough of this supervillain nonsense.
Hans barely even flinched, he simply patted down his cheek with the handkerchief, folded it back into his pocket, and let out a fiendish chuckle. "Let her go." he demanded.
The bodyguard did as he was told, releasing his grip on Elsa and standing with his arms folded next to Hans. Elsa did her best to look angry despite the pain she felt in her wrist, she swore there was a broken bone somewhere.
"I told you that you were playing a dangerous game, Elsa." Hans said mockingly. "You should get out while you still can."
"Fuck you." She replied through gritted teeth. Probably not the smartest thing to say in front of a violent maniac trying to rationalize his actions, but it still felt really good let that out.
Hans frowned, and picked up her discarded phone off the sidewalk. "You really shouldn't test my patience. Don't make me regret going back on my promise of going easy on you this time. Or else…"
He handed the phone off to his bodyguard, who effortlessly crushed it in one hand. Elsa could only watch in horror as the plastic and metal remains fell to the floor. The dreaded realization that that easily could have been her arm, or worse, was not lost on her.
"By the way, tell your board I've decided to leave a day early." Hans said as he and his bodyguard walked back into the darkness. "Good luck with Jasmine tomorrow, I'll see you when you get back."
A/N: I could really use a chicken sandwich right now. | 2024-01-24T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/4417 |
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Im not flaming, do as you would like to your car. Buuuut, this 3m crap is horrible. To the OP, you can get the pieces that you covered in the sticker fake stuff for like 30-50 dollars in real carbon fiber. Soon people will be covering their hoods and trunks with this stuff.
Definitely doing my roof w this stuff, but i wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing this stuff was on my hood or trunk. All other pieces sone real CF fabric and Epoxy resin/hardner can fix.
Before you do your hood/roof...whatever...
the 3m brand stuff isn't made to be removed, it pretty much destroy's everything it touches when its removed. The stuff that headlight armor uses is made for automotive/marine uses and can be removed. Granted that the 3m looks a little better, the HA stuff is easier to use.
I like this stuff. My question for exterior stuff is how tough is it?? Or will it start peeling or chipping real easily.
I think if it gets rocks smacking it on the freeway you will end up with blemishes. But I saw on a video where they heat it up with a heat gun and stretch it over a sharp corner of a table without it tearing. I think its pretty durable.
the 3m brand stuff isn't made to be removed, it pretty much destroy's everything it touches when its removed. The stuff that headlight armor uses is made for automotive/marine uses and can be removed. Granted that the 3m looks a little better, the HA stuff is easier to use.
False. You can remove the 3M Di-Noc just like you can any vinyl. We recently removed it from the roof of a M3 that had it on for a year.
Well, Ill be billed somewhere around $3000 for the 60"x100' roll of Di-Noc Carbon
Oracal 970RA Wrapping (Air Release) Matte Black is ~$500 for a 60"x75' roll. (Anyone who has half a clue what theyre doing will use this for wrapping)
Oracal 651 Matte Black is $175 for a 48"x150' roll. (Oracal 651 is the industry standard for cut vinyl. It does work for wrapping, but its not fun) | 2024-07-02T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/8036 |
Survivor guilt in the pathogenesis of anorexia nervosa.
The purposes of this paper are (1) to contribute to an understanding of the crucial role of unconscious guilt in the pathogenesis of anorexia nervosa and (2) to contribute to an appreciation of the importance of the concept of survivor guilt by demonstrating its usefulness in describing and explaining aspects of the pathogenesis, psychopathology and psychotherapy of anorexia. | 2024-04-15T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/2272 |
INTRODUCTION {#sec1-1}
============
During the recent decade, a number of researchers have described the growing psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD), which include depression, anxiety, stress,\[[@ref1][@ref2][@ref3]\] and alexithymia\[[@ref4][@ref5][@ref6]\] that decrease the health-related quality of life\[[@ref7][@ref8][@ref9][@ref10][@ref11]\] and protective factors such as social support.\[[@ref12][@ref13][@ref14][@ref15]\]
Substantial evidence shows a strong association between the psychological factors and risk of CHD. The role of depression, anxiety, and stress was confirmed through global research.\[[@ref2][@ref16][@ref17][@ref18]\] Studies carried out internationally highlight that besides negative psychological factors like depression, anxiety, and stress, positive factors such as social support play a protective role in the onset and progress of CHD.\[[@ref19][@ref20]\]
In 1973, Sifnoes proposed the term 'alexithymia' to imply a cognitive--affective disturbance, characteristic of persons who cannot describe their feelings or elaborate their fantasies. The term 'alexithymia' was originally defined as an inability to recognize and verbalize emotions. It has been characterized more generally as an emptiness of feeling,\[[@ref21]\] a poverty of imagination or a life of fantasy,\[[@ref22]\] difficulty in communicating with others,\[[@ref21]\] and a lack of positive emotions with a high prevalence of negative emotions.\[[@ref23]\] Alexithymia may influence somatic disease via physiological, behavioral, cognitive or social pathways.\[[@ref24]\] Alexithymia is associated with states of negative affect.\[[@ref25]\] which increase the possibility of somatic complaints.\[[@ref24][@ref26]\] The assumption is that these characteristics would lead to a deficiency in cognitive processing and regulation and adjustment of emotions, and are associated with starting and/or continuing some of the psychiatric and medical disorders.\[[@ref27]\] Some researchers believe that dysfunction in the limbic system, brain abnormal lateralization, and/or difficulty in the efficiency of hemispheric communication are the causes of its emergence.\[[@ref28]\]
The prevalence of alexithymia in working age populations has been shown to be about 9-17% for men and 5-10% for women.\[[@ref29][@ref30]\] At the population level, alexithymia is associated with older age, lower socioeconomic status, fewer years of education, single marital status, and poorer perceived health.\[[@ref31][@ref32]\] Alexithymia has been shown to be associated with several medical conditions and mental health problems.\[[@ref33][@ref34]\] An association between alexithymia and dissatisfaction with life has been found in some studies of coronary heart disease patients.\[[@ref35]\]
One study investigated factors associated with alexithymia in patients (*n* = 153) with coronary heart disease verified by coronary angiography. In CHD patients, alexithymia was unrelated to cardiovascular diseases, but was related to depression and decreased life satisfaction.\[[@ref36]\]
In the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease Risk-Factor Study, 2682 middle-aged men were studied using the 26-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS). High TAS scores were associated with a previous diagnosis of CHD. Alexithymia was associated with greater self-reporting of symptoms during exercise-tolerance testing and it was found that the extent of carotid atherosclerosis was inversely related to the degree of alexithymia, suggesting a biological connection to atherosclerosis.\[[@ref37]\] In this study, the same group was followed for 5.5 years. Men in the highest alexithymia quintile were at a two-fold greater risk of death from any cause, while no association was found between behavioral or physiological risk factors and mortality.\[[@ref38]\]
Kauhanen *et al*.\[[@ref37]\] and Lumley *et al*.,\[[@ref39]\] observed that the degree of alexithymia (TAS-20) was associated with the presence or absence of chest pain during exercise testing, but not with CHD (*n* = 180). They concluded that alexithymia was associated with an increased risk of illness-related behavior, but not necessarily with the presence or severity of CHD.
One study to testing the validity of existing conceptualizations of the alexithymia concept in the general adult population described that older adults engaged in less introspective thoughts, traditionally thought to denote increased alexithymia. Difficulty in identifying and describing emotions did not differentiate older and younger adults, but they were both associated with heightened depression, anxiety, and poor perceived quality of life.\[[@ref40]\]
Alexithymia in somatoform and depressive disorders (2003) was investigated in one study (two groups of 30 subjects each, bearing diagnoses of somatoform disorder and depressive disorder, respectively, and one group of 30 normal controls) and the results showed that the mean of alexithymia scores in the somatoform (60.4) and depressive disorder groups (62.5) were higher than in normal subjects (54.2). Even as the total alexithymia scores did not differentiate somatoform from depressive disorders, the depressed subjects had greater difficulty in expressing their feelings.\[[@ref41]\]
Bagby *et al*.,\[[@ref42]\] reported a positive correlation between depression and alexithymia scores. Kauhanen *et al*.,\[[@ref43]\] noted more physical symptom-reporting with high alexithymia, and Myers\[[@ref44]\] observed alexithymia-elevated anxiety scores.
Linden *et al*., noted that high alexithymia showed smaller heart rate responses to the stress task and more anger in behavior.\[[@ref45]\]
Mattila.*et al*. (2009) investigated the relationship between alexithymia and the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a nationally representative population sample of 5,418 subjects, of age 30 to 97 years, and concluded that alexithymia could be a predisposing factor to a poorer HRQOL.\[[@ref5]\]
A study investigated the relationship between alexithymia and the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and concluded that the alexithymic group had significantly (*P* \< 0.001) lower mean scores on every dimension of HRQOL, even after controlling for confounding demographic variables, somatic diagnoses, and depressive and anxiety disorders. The differences were the greatest in the psychosocial domains.\[[@ref46]\]
Several studies have also shown an association between alexithymia and sociocultural factors.\[[@ref47]\] Alexithymia is also associated with poor social support or impaired relationships.\[[@ref48]\]
MATERIALS AND METHODS {#sec1-2}
=====================
This research was a cross-sectional study that examined the causal relationship between alexithymia and DASS (depression, anxiety, stress), quality of life, and social support. The sample consisted of 398 CHD patients (166 females and 232 males and age: 40-70 years), who were randomly selected from the Isfahan Chamran Heart Center and Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center (ICRC) (2013) and the Other Heart Clinical Center. The patients filled in five questionnaires assessing depression, anxiety, stress (DASS-21), alexithymia (TAS-20), health-related to quality of life (WHOQOL-26), multiple scale of perceived social support (MSPSS-12), and another questionnaire, which obtained demographic information. Before attending the study, each patient had been examined by a cardiologist, who had confirmed the diagnosis as coronary heart disease.
The questionnaires used were as follows:
1\. Alexithymia-TAS-20 Scale: The TAS is a 20-item instrument\[[@ref49]\] that is one of the most commonly used measures for alexithymia. The TAS-20 has three subscales:
1.1. - Difficulty Describing Feelings subscale (DDF) is used to measure the difficulty in describing emotions., which has five items: 2, 4, 7, 12, 17.
1.2. - Difficulty Identifying Feelings subscale (DIF) is used to measure the difficulty in identifying emotions., which has seven items: 1, 3, 6, 11, 9, 13, 14.
1.3. - Externally-Oriented Thinking subscale (EOT) is used to measure the tendency of individuals to focus their attention externally, which has eight items: 5, 8, 10, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20.
The items are rated using a five-point Likert scale whereby 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.
The total alexithymia score is the sum of responses to all the 20 items, while the score for each subscale factor is the sum of the responses to that subscale. The TAS-20 uses cutoff scoring: Equal to or less than 51 = non-alexithymia, equal to or greater than 61 = alexithymia. It demonstrates good internal consistency in the normal Iranian sample (Cronbach\'s alpha = 0.81) and test--retest reliability (0.77, *P* \<0.01). The internal consistency reported in a clinical sample from Iran, using Cronbach\'s alpha for the total TAS-20 scale and subscales of DIF, DDF, and EOT, were. 79.,75.,71, and. 66, respectively, and the total validity using test--retesting for TAS-20 and its subscales DIF, DDF, and EOT were. 77.,73.,69., and 65, respectively.\[[@ref50]\]
2-DASS scale-21: The DASS scale is a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the negative emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. The DASS should meet the requirements of both researchers and scientist-professional clinicians. Each of the three DASS scales contains seven items, divided into subscales of two to five items with a similar content.\[[@ref51]\]
2.1. The Depression scale assesses dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of interest/involvement, anhedonia, and inertia.
2.2. The Anxiety scale assesses autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situational anxiety, and subjective experience of anxious affect.
2.3. The Stress scale is sensitive to levels of chronic non-specific arousal. It assesses difficulty in relaxing, nervous arousal, and being easily upset/agitated, irritable/over-reactive and impatient.
Subjects are asked to use the four-point severity/frequency scales to rate the extent to which they have experienced each state over the past week. Scores for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress are calculated by summing the scores for the relevant items. The assumption on which the DASS development has been based (and which has been confirmed by the research data) is that the differences between depression, anxiety, and stress experienced by normal subjects and the clinically disturbed, are essentially differences of degrees. The validity and reliability of this scale was reviewed by Samani and joker\[[@ref52]\] (2007), who reported that reliabilities for depression, anxiety, and stress scale were. 80.,76.,77 and the Cronbach\'s alpha was. 81.,74.,78 for each, respectively.
3\. Multiple Scale Perceived social support: The 12-question Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)\[[@ref53]\] was used to measure the degree of social support each participant felt he or she had. High levels of perceived social support are generally associated with low levels of depression and anxiety. This self-report scale has three subscales (1. Family; 2. Friends; 3. Significant others) based on the seven-point Likert measures, which measures the respondents' perceptions of the availability of various types of social support such as family, friends, and significant others. The reliability of this measure was high (a =0.92).
4\. WHOQOL-26 questionnaire: The WHOQOL is a self-reporting questionnaire. The study participants could answer the questions on their own. The instrument consisted of 26 broad and comprehensive questions.
The remaining 24 items comprise four dimensions of health including, physical, psychological, social, and environmental. All scores are transformed to reflect 4-20 for each domain, with the higher scores corresponding to a better QOL. The individual\'s perception of quality of life is measured by summing the total scores for each particular domain. All domain scores are scaled in a positive direction (higher score indicates a higher QOL). This questionnaire was standardized on a sample of 2,956 healthy and 2,936 unhealthy rural and urban inhabitants (age 30 years and above) from Isfahan, Najaf-Abad, and Arak, who participated in the 'Isfahan Healthy Heart Program' (IHHP) from two dissimilar Iranian provinces, during 2006.\[[@ref9]\]
5\. Demographic questionnaire: This questionnaire consists of questions about age, sex, marital status, education, and so on.
RESULTS {#sec1-3}
=======
[Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"} shows the patients' sociodemographic characteristics based on age, sex, marital status, and education.
######
Patients' sociodemographic characteristics (*n* = 398)
[Table 2](#T2){ref-type="table"} shows Patients' Descriptive characteristics such as Mean and Standard deviation.
######
Patients' descriptive characteristics
Cronbach\'s alpha was calculated as 0.74 for the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), 0.89 for the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS), 0.87 for the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and 0.90 for the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL).
Structural model to explain Alexithymia {#sec2-1}
---------------------------------------
Based on the conceptual model \[[Figure 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}\] of the study, the structural model of variables (i.e., TAS, DASS, MSPSS, and WHOQOL scores) was presented using the outputs of AMOS. Although in traditional statistical methods, the researcher uses a single measure to verify the null hypothesis, the complexity of the structural equation modeling eliminates this single measure. Therefore, three main groups of indices (Absolute fit, comparative fit, and parsimonious fit indices) are used to fit a model.\[[@ref54]\]
{#F1}
According to [Table 3](#T3){ref-type="table"} \[relative Chi-square (CMIN/df) =2.580 and df = 58 for default model\], the model fitted well. Even as most experts consider relative Chi-square values of 2-3 to show a good fitting model, Schumacher and Lomax expanded the range to 1-5.\[[@ref54]\]
######
Chi-square (CMIN) values and number of parameters
[Table 4](#T4){ref-type="table"} shows the absolute fit indices. Goodness of fit index (GFI = 0.94) and adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI = 0.91) suggested good fitting of the default model (values between 0 and 1 for these two indices indicate good fitting). However, evaluation of other indices seemed necessary.
######
Absolute fit indices
[Table 5](#T5){ref-type="table"} shows the comparative fit index (CFI), parsimony comparative fit index (PCFI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). As is seen, the calculated values (CFI = 0.96 and PCFI = 0.71) suggest a good fit for the default model (CFI \> 0.90 and PCFI \> 0.50 are favorable). RMSEA can be calculated for confidence intervals, to determine the significance of the difference between the obtained value for the model and zero. As RMSEA \< 0.08 is acceptable, our default model fitted well (RMSEA = 0.06). In addition, the Holter index of 204 was again indicative of a well-fitting model.\[[@ref54]\]
######
Comparative and parsimonious fit indices
According to all the mentioned indicators, the default model presented a good fit for the relationship between alexithymia and depression, anxiety, stress, quality of life, and social support.
DISCUSSION {#sec1-4}
==========
Alexithymia, a condition of inability to use words to understand the emotional states of oneself or others, prevents individuals from adjusting to their emotions. The present study has examined the predictive value of alexithymia in changes in depression, anxiety, stress, social support, and quality of life among patients with coronary heart disease. After fitting all the data, alexithymia shows significant positive relationships with depression, anxiety, and stress, as previous research has described.\[[@ref40][@ref41][@ref42]\]
In other words, increasing levels of alexithymia and its two dimensions would worsen depression and anxiety in patients. The results of this study are consistent with previous studies on depression and anxiety. Sarrijarri\[[@ref55]\] has shown that exacerbation of depressive symptoms will cause difficulty in identifying, describing, and sharing their feelings with others. Similarly, research has shown that alexithymia is more common in people with anxiety disorders and that anxiety is related to the two mentioned aspects of alexithymia.\[[@ref56]\]
Alexithymia is a cognitive-emotional disorder that impairs the adjustment of emotions, concentration, processing, and evaluation of cognitive-emotional information. Therefore, individuals with alexithymia fail to manage their cognitive-emotional system and properly deal with stressful situations, particularly diseases. This strengthens the feelings of inadequacy and insufficiency in this group and intensifies negative emotions such as anxiety and depression.\[[@ref57]\] Moreover, since emotional arousal is associated with physiological arousal, negative emotions (e.g. anxiety and depression) will bring about physical symptoms including pain, fatigue, and dizziness. Physical symptoms will in turn increase the negative emotions. Finally, disruption of psychological defenses in subjects with alexithymia leads them to deny their emotions and makes them incapable of describing them.
We also found difficulty in identifying feelings and difficulty in describing feelings to be related to depression and anxiety. Previous studies have reported comparable results. Matn and Jenakar\[[@ref57]\] suggested difficulty in identifying feelings as the only aspect of alexithymia that predicts depressive symptoms. Furthermore, they reported difficulty in both identifying and describing feelings as predictors of anxiety symptoms.
Our findings confirmed a relationship between alexithymia and stress. Previous studies have indicated consistent results in terms of the relationship between alexithymia and stress and inadequacy of coping styles with stress.\[[@ref58]\] This finding can be justified by considering the poor emotional intelligence of people with alexithymia, which combines with difficulties in identifying and describing feelings and reduces the ability of dealing with stressful situations. As the inability to cope with difficult situations imposes a lot of stress on the individual, a positive relationship exists between alexithymia and stress.\[[@ref58]\]
Another finding of this study was the negative relationship between alexithymia and social support and its aspects, that is, increasing alexithymia decreases social support. In fact, patients with alexithymia cannot receive adequate social support from their family, friends, and/or significant others. Seemingly, impaired emotional intelligence in these individuals results in their poor interpersonal skills and inability to receive social support.\[[@ref59]\]
The relationship between alexithymia and quality of life was also investigated in this study. The results indicated that there is a negative relationship between alexithymia and quality of life. The strongest relationships were identified between difficulty in identifying feelings and psychological aspect of the quality of life (r = - 0.48; *P* \< 0.01), physical aspect of quality of life (r = - 0.43; *P* \< 0.01), social aspect of quality of life (r = - 0.34; *P* \< 0.01), and environmental aspect of quality of life (r = -0.24; *P* \< 0.01). Similar relationships were suggested by a previous research.\[[@ref60][@ref61][@ref62]\] Available evidence about the association between the difficulty in identifying feelings and somatoform disorder can explain the negative effects of alexithymia on the quality of life. It also seems that difficulty in identifying feelings results in a false interpretation of physical feelings and decreases the health-related quality of life. In other words, alexithymia is not only an inner state, but is also associated with health outcomes. Research has shown that people with alexithymia do not use normal coping styles, and may hence, have a higher tendency toward unhealthy behaviors such as suppression of emotions and drinking.\[[@ref63]\]
Alexithymia can also increase the risk of death. Patients might experience problems in different aspects of life, that is, negative emotions may cause psychological problems, wrong interpretation of physical health may lead to physical problems, social relations may be affected by difficulty in establishing good social relations, and environmental quality of life can be decreased due to inappropriate interactions with the environment.
According to the results of the present study it is important to pay attention to alexithymia as an important variable associated with (depression, anxiety, stress), social support, and quality of life of patients with coronary heart disease. It can be concluded that alexithymia is connected with the pathological indicators of cardiac disease (depression, anxiety, and stress) and its protective parameters (social support and quality of life). Most patients with heart disease are elderly and alexithymia is also more common among older people. Therefore, conducting a longitudinal study to determine the precise role of alexithymia in the psychiatric pathology of cardiac diseases is essential.
This research showed the relation between alexithymia and (depression, anxiety, stress), social support, and quality of life, as a psychological structural model in CHD. Most of the relationships were associated with alexithymia, depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS: 49%) and the lowest relationship was between alexithymia and social support (MSPSS: 09%). Of particular interest in the findings, was the inverse relationship alexithymia had with the quality of life. If alexithymia is considered to be a personality trait or state-dependent trait, alexithymic individuals are at risk for medical or psychiatric disorders and negative emotions. Increasing our knowledge regarding the role of a negative affect may have a major implication on how future interventions are targeted, for example, if evidence supports the lack of emotional awareness (e.g. depression, anxiety, and stress) as an underlying factor for a subset of patients seeking interdisciplinary treatment, then intervention can be modified to focus on processes related to increasing emotional awareness and identification, with a hope to improve the quality of life in patients with coronary heart diseases.
The limitations of the study were: Inability to control the behaviors that were associated with alexithymia and could thus affect the relationship between alexithymia and depression, anxiety, stress, social support, and quality of life. As the study population was limited, generalization of the results to other patients had to be made with caution.
CONCLUSIONS {#sec1-5}
===========
The present study showed the structural relations between the psychological factors associated with alexithymia in coronary heart disease. The results highlight the importance of alexithymia as a risk factor associated with neuroticism (anxiety, depression, and stress) and social support which reduces the quality of life among coronary heart disease patients.
In this regard, psychological interventions are recommended to reduce the consequences of this disorder, especially among coronary heart disease patients. Conducting longitudinal studies in this area may lead to more interesting and favorable results, which is recommended to the researchers interested in this field.
The authors' deepest gratitude goes to all the patients who participated in the study and the authorities of the Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Institute, Chamran Heart Hospital, Noor and Ali Asghar Hospitals, and other medical centers that helped in the process of this research.
**Source of Support:** This article was extracted from dissertation of PhD and the research supported by Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Institute
**Conflict of Interest:** None declared
| 2024-07-01T01:26:18.401715 | https://example.com/article/5424 |
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