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Thursday, November 10, 2011 Ephesus, Rhodes, Gythion and 1 day in Rome As I write this we are already in London and soon on our way to Africa. The second half of our cruise went far too quickly as we enjoyed my parents and all the luxuries the ship had to offer (my parents even brought us suits and dresses from home so we weren't quite the slobs we’ve been as of late.) The highlight of this time educationally though was our stop in Kusadasi, Turkey from which we visited Ephesus, the best preserved (or rather reconstructed) ancient Roman city. They have only uncovered 10% of the city as of this time (they are still digging) but it is remarkably clear walking through what it must have been like in the early centuries BC. Many homes had running water and heated floors. My favorite part was the public toilets – no privacy! Look how crowded it is - they are all tourists The Greek ports were less educational but very nice days out. I was a sucker for all the cats. This little girl was making a killing - she stopped every couple of minutes to stuff the money from the cup into her pocket. OK, I might have been feeding them. Always happy when we find these. All in all the cruise was a really nice break from our trip. We surely gained back a bit of the weight we'd lost, and we all agreed the time went by really fast. Still though we were ready to get off the boat by the time we landed in Rome. There we had just one day to cram in all the sites before catching a plane to London. Our guide was great though (hired by Dad - thanks Dad!) and so we got to see an awful lot. It was Sunday though so we missed the Sistine Chapel. Wilder and Peyton thought one day in Italy was a complete rip off, but I told them they'd be back one day. The Colosseum The Forum Trevi Fountain The Spanish Steps The last time I was in Rome it was summer and hot. It was beautiful in November with much fewer tourists. Now though - we hear London calling!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Sounds good.	{ "pile_set_name": "Enron Emails" }
Let’s Play - 3D Ultra MiniGolf Adventures 2 Part 2 This video (x) contains misogyny, ableism, references to suicide and animal death, and content that could trigger emetophobia, coprophobia, and misophonia. Gendered and ableist slurs are scattered throughout, and ableist and sexist language is used. Lip smacking and overlapping conversations occur frequently. Keep reading	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Considering most the rinks are circular, ice skating doesn't seem like an especially good way to actually get somewhere other than where you started. But if a young Canadian gets his way, that could change. He's suggested building something he calls the Freezeway, a 6.8-mile skating lane through Edmonton, Alberta, for residents and tourists who want to commute on ice. You may laugh, but Matt Gibbs has given this a lot of thought—he first proposed the idea two years ago in his masters thesis in landscape architecture at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. For his thesis, Gibbs focused on ways “to make winter cities more livable, in particular how can we diversify transportation options, focus on active transportation, as well as social activity.” The idea for the Freezeway was prompted in part when he found a comment by Tooker Gomberg, who as a city councilor in the 1990s suggested the city crack open the fire hydrants, let the water freeze, and watch residents skate around town. Gibbs’ riff on the idea (which he found “delightful”) is more refined, and presented in a way that seems like something that could actually happen. The route would use two existing transportation corridors, one of them an abandoned railway line. Linking them would create a loop connecting several neighborhoods to downtown Edmonton and, of course, the arena being built for Oilers hockey. Dare you to think of something more Canadian than ice skating to a hockey game. It would be available for recreation and commuting. Matt Gibbs The Freezeway would look like a big bike lane (and be used by cyclists during the warmer months) covered in ice. To contain the water long enough to have it freeze, you'd have low curbs or strategically placed banks of snow. There are many ways the idea could play out, Gibbs says. You could keep it simple by just turning on the water, letting it freeze, and calling it done. Or you could add lighting, or even a cooling system or artificial ice to allow skating in warmer months. (Hey, if Florida can have a hockey team, Canadians can skate outside in May.) You wouldn't have to build it all at once. “This design can be developed incrementally, it could ultimately become a transportation network in a city, or just a recreational resource.” Though one city councilor called the idea the stupidest thing he’s heard in 30 years, Gibbs says, the response has been largely positive. The big concerns are over cost and liability when someone gets hurt. “It would be great to have,” city planner Susan Holdsworth told the Global News. “We are trying to make the most of being a winter city and our northernness and it’s a great way to do it.” That’s exactly what Gibbs is going for. “I wanted to look at the hidden opportunities that exist living in a climate that’s below freezing for more than five months a year,” he says. The proposal isn’t unprecedented. During the winter freeze, Rideau Canal becomes a 5-mile skating corridor through the heart of Ottawa. The Dutch have been hosting a 120-mile skating race on the country’s canals since 1909. And the wild success of New York City's Highline, an abandoned elevated railway converted into a park, makes any project in its category more plausible. Many of your questions will be answered when the proposal is finalized, including where the Freezeway will go and what it will cost. But there’s no doubt it’s a fun idea, a way to make getting outside in the cold appealing, Gibbs says. I’m “trying to find ways to make people fall in love with winter as opposed to as if was some unbearable curse.”	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Democratic presidential contender Beto O’Rourke said Wednesday that the 1776 Betsy Ross flag has become a symbol of white nationalism. The former House member from El Paso, Texas, made the remark while stumping at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown, where he also praised Nike for pulling the flag design from a planned sneaker design set to be released for July Fourth, reportedly at the behest of former-quarterback-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick. In his remarks, according to reporters present, Mr. O’Rourke said the 13-star flag sewn by Ross in 1776 “has, by some extremist white-nationalist groups, been appropriated.” Beto had noted that “the version of the flag that was used on Nike shoes in question has by some extremist/white nationalist groups been appropriated” — Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 3, 2019 White nationalists and racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan also frequently fly the current 50-star U.S. flag. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Nike had already begun shipping out the sneakers when Mr. Kaepernick told the company he and others see the Betsy Ross flag as a symbol of slavery, which was then practiced legally in all the colonies that became the United States. “I think its really important to take into account the impression that kind of symbol would have for many of our fellow Americans, respect the decision Nike made and more importantly grateful for the conversation that this is producing,” Mr. O’Rourke also said. The claim that the Betsy Ross flag is a symbol of slavery or white nationalism prompted wide derision on social media and one viral photo suggested nobody thought it was in 2013. In that photo, which was reposted or retweeted by social-media conservatives, including Donald Trump Jr., the 1776 flag is prominently featured at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. Weird that no one had a problem with The Betsy Ross Flag when it flew over Obama’s inauguration. Now it’s not patriotic… ok got it. 🙄 #morons https://t.co/wkxDRZs6bM — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 3, 2019 Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Same Day Delivery Available If you need items straight-away, we can arrange a same-day courier delivery within the M25 and other South-East locations. Payment Options Reasons to Buy From Us With over twenty years of in-house technical experience supporting (and selling into) the broadcast, post-production, IT integration, and home enthusiast market, RCB Logic is a leading provider of audio, video and IT integration products and services. Overview The MKE 600 is the ideal video camera/camcorder microphone able to handle even demanding filmic challenges. Due to its high directivity, the MKE 600 picks up sounds coming from the direction in which the camera is pointing and effectively attenuates noise coming from the sides and rear. The switchable “Low Cut” filter additionally minimizes wind noise. Because some video cameras/camcorders do not provide phantom power, the MKE 600 can also be battery powered. A battery on/off switch prevents the battery from discharging prematurely; “Low Batt” is displayed.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Luc Ferry, prof de philo à Paris-Diderot qui sèche les cours et c'est Matignon qui paye la note... Les services du Premier ministre a confirmé prendre en charge le remboursement à l'université Paris-Diderot (Paris-VII) des salaires versés à Luc Ferry, en raison des cours qu'il n'a pas assurés en 2010-11. L'ancien ministre de l'Education est actuellement détaché en tant que président délégué du Conseil d'analyse de la société, organisme sous l'autorité du Premier ministre. D'où la décision de Matignon de régler la facture lui-même. Mercredi, le philosophe avait été reçu par le directeur de cabinet de François Fillon. Les salaires perçus dans l'année par l'ex-ministre s'élèvent à plusieurs dizaines de milliers d'euros : Ferry touchait en moyenne «4 499 euros net par mois». Le président de l'université Paris-Diderot, Vincent Berger, a fait également savoir que le prof de philo «ne fera plus cours», d'ici à la fin de l'année universitaire. Le Canard Enchaîné avait révélé l'affaire mercredi dans ses colonnes, en citant les trois courriers adressés par Vincent Berger à Luc Ferry, dans lesquelles il lui rappelle ses obligations à venir enseigner au moins 192 heures dans l'année scolaire. Mais Ferry n'en assurera aucune.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA) - around Farnham The Thames Basin Heaths SPA covers an area of 8,275 ha across Hampshire, (the former county of) Berkshire and Surrey. It is part of a complex of heathlands in Southern England that support important populations of breeding birds, including the Dartford Warbler, Nightjar and Woodlark. More general information on SPAs is available from Natural England. Only a small part of the SPA (about 80 ha) lies within Waverley, north of Farnham. There is, however, a “Zone of Influence” around the SPA within which measures are required to avoid adverse impacts on its conservation interests. This ‘buffer zone’ extends from 400 metres to 5 km from the perimeter of the SPA and covers most of the built-up area of Farnham. The SPA Avoidance Strategy The Thames Basin Heaths Avoidance Strategy was adopted in December 2009 and updated in May 2013. Consultation on a further review took place in March / April 2016 and the revised strategy was adopted by the Council on 19 July 2016. It sets out the Council’s approach in seeking to avoid the effect of a net increase in population from new housing developments within 5km of the SPA, and how it proposes to discharge its legal obligations under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010. The Strategy provides guidance to developers on the level of avoidance measures that the Council expects to see incorporated within planning applications. In this instance, “avoidance measures” means providing or contributing towards Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG), and contributing towards a programme of strategic access management and monitoring (SAMM) of the SPA. In accordance with the Avoidance Strategy, where applicants cannot provide their own SANG (on- or off-site), they will be required to pay a tariff to contribute towards the enhancement of existing SANGs, where such sites have been identified by the local authority. Waverley's only current SANG resource is at Farnham Park. The SANG capacity at Farnham Park is a finite resource in terms of the numbers of new dwellings it can support. The remaining (unallocated) capacity is monitored continually and the latest position can be viewed below. In the event of there being insufficient capacity to support proposals for residential development, and unless applicants can provide or secure alternative SANG in accordance with the Avoidance Strategy, permission will be refused. Financial contributions to the enhancement of the Farnham Park SANG will be secured through an appropriate Section 106 Unilateral Undertaking. This must be completed before the Council can grant planning permission. Note: Within 400m of the perimeter of the SPA, the impact of additional residential development is deemed to be such that it is not possible to conclude no adverse effect on the SPA. There is, therefore, a presumption against development within this zone. How much is the SANG tariff? Use our calculator for assessing the required contribution for avoidance of the impact of development on the SPA.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
How do you burn leaves? (A serious question!) Riding through Wray castle yesterday I saw several piles of fallen leaves, slowly burning themselves to ashes. I've got hundreds and thousands of leaves here and I thought that burning them would be a good idea. Only problem is how to do it. Any one know? They only smoulder, probably because they are dampish, but how do you start the fire off, and then keep it going? Perfectly true, but leaves take a minimum of 12 months to rot down, quite often longer, and in the meantime they have got to be stored somewhere. Can't leave them on the garden because that way environmentally unfriendly pests and diseases can be harboured. The ash contains lots of phosphates which helps to promote growth if mixed in with the compost heap. We put ours in any old bin or fertiliser bags we have lying around. Pop a couple of holes in the side of the bags and tuck them away in a corner of the garden to be used as mulch or compost next year. The tomatoes came up a treat in it this summer. We put ours in any old bin or fertiliser bags we have lying around. Pop a couple of holes in the side of the bags and tuck them away in a corner of the garden to be used as mulch or compost next year. The tomatoes came up a treat in it this summer. you need a proper fire first, no leaves. when its burnt down and there are some good embers, pile on the leaves, really pile them on the heavier and damper the better. the embers will then smoulder for days from the inside producing minimal smoke. Thanks SOO...I'm trying to clear leaves from 10 full grown horse chestnuts, two sycamores and three oak trees. So you can see that piling them up is not reasonable. I'm going to need a large trailer to take them to the tip, or 325,761 black bags to store them in. Burning seems the most practical solution. If you have that many tress that size I'd just get them all in a corner somewhere and leave them to rot down - you clearly have more than enough space to do this and it woudl be entirely reasonable, imo. If you have that many tress that size I'd just get them all in a corner somewhere and leave them to rot down - you clearly have more than enough space to do this and it woudl be entirely reasonable, imo. Ski, Unfortunately the set up works against that. Most of the area under the trees is planted with evergreen shrubs/low growing conifers. Instructions are to keep them clear of fallen leaves. Not much room to stow leaves underneath. Some I do mow, and lawn cuttings mixed with chopped leaves do rot down quite quickly, and make a good mulch. Even if I mow the leaves there is still the storage issue, and as leaves on their own take more than a year to become serviceable compost, I need a lot of spare space which isn't available. So, burning seems a good option. I know the townies and beardies don't understand, but that's life. If your horse chestnuts are suffering from leaf miner (brown yellow tinge towards the end of the leaves from the middle of summer) the best thing for the trees health is to burn the leaves as it will reduce the infestation next year. Otherwise I would advocate composting, you could save yourself a fortune on bark mulch. My big horse chesnut has leaf miner - seems to cause it no problems whatsoever, masses of conkers this year! Each autumn I take about 10 bags of leaves to the tip, If I leave the on the lawn they kill the grass. My next door neighbour leaves the lot where they fall hence leaf miner back again by July...	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Comment: A brand-new, unused, unopened video game in perfect condition in its original packaging and with all original packaging materials included. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. Comment: Brand new and sealed. Game in English (cover and manual in German). Delivered within 5 working days. This game is multilanguage and can be played in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian Free delivery worldwide! The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition presents one of the best RPGs of all time like never before. Step inside the most richly detailed and vibrant game-world ever created. With a powerful combination of freeform gameplay and unprecedented graphics, you can unravel the main quest at your own pace or explore the vast world and find your own challenges. Also included in the Game of the Year Edition are Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles expansion, adding new and unique quests and content to the already massive world of Oblivion. See why critics called Oblivion the Best Game of 2006. Live another life in another world: Create and play any character you can imagine, from the noble warrior to the sinister assassin to the wizened sorcerer First person melee and magic: An all-new combat and magic system brings first person role-playing to a new level of intensity where you feel every blow Radiant AI: This groundbreaking AI system gives Oblivion's characters full 24/7 schedules and the ability to make their own choices based on the world around them. Non-player characters eat, sleep, and complete goals all on their own New lands to explore: In the Shivering Isles expansion, see a world created in Sheogorath's own image, one divided between Mania and Dementia and unlike anything you've experienced in Oblivion. Challenging new foes: Battle the denizens of Shivering Isles, a land filled with hideous insects, Flesh Atronachs, skeletal Shambles, amphibeous Grummites, and many more Begin a new faction: The Knights of the Nine have long been disbanded. Reclaim their former glory as you traverse the far reaches of Cyrodill across an epic quest line customer Reviews 5the best game that man has created Still playing this game 325 hours in and still not bored and only done about three quest of the storyline. Wont bore you with the amount i could say cause this game is just so big and looks better than kiera knightley undressed get it now 5One of the greatest games of all time A friend suggested I pick this up as he had spent the past year playing it on and off & it was now under £15. Being a tactics/Japanese RPG fan I really wasn't sure, but £15 isn't much of a risk these days. One hour in & all that was making me stay with it was Patrick Stewart's voice acting & the hope of some kind of adventure around the corner. Another 8 hours later, in the middle of the night, I realised I was hooked! This game is immense - not just in the huge amount of quests and physical size of the game world, but in every sense this game is big. But don't let that put you off. You decide what to do. You decide when to do it, if you do it at all. The character progression is so far beyond what I am used to playing JRPGs. The class you choose is only the start of it - you take this game & your character in the direction that suits you. I watched my friend play his game. He wears heavy armour, wields a huge claymore & wades in. The game has rewarded him by improving his attributes with upgrades & stat boosts that let him do all that more effectively. He's a good guy & goes around helping people out. His game world & game experience is totally different to mine. I'm a thief. I go out at night, take things from people's locked chests & do robberies to order for shady collectors & my guild's leader. I use stealth to make my way through dungeons under the noses of the bad guys. I don't need heavy armour, I have equipment that makes me harder to detect. I also have a side-line in killing people for money. We're playing the same game but in very different ways & getting different things from it. He likes more action & adventure whereas I prefer stealth & tactics. This game lets you play how you want to play to a satisfying degree. On no level does this game disappoint. Stick in there through the character creation & once you are let loose in Cyrodiil it's up to you what happens next. 5Seriously immersive gameplay This is by far the best RPG available on the PS3 and the best i've ever played on any format. It's so completely immersive and open that you can play for weeks, perhaps months on end without even playing the main storyline as the world is so huge and there is so much else to do. Could lead to relationship problems as the game is so good!One thing, another reviewer mentioned a glitch regarding getting a cure after becoming a vampire, as the lady that makes your cure won't accept one of the ingredients (Bloodgrass). To solve this glitch, save your game then go to the PS3 System settings, change the language to German (Deutsch), load the disc again, load your game and for some reason the lady will accept the ingredient (Blutgrass) this time. Save your game, go back to change the PS3 system language settings to English - your game is not ruined and you'll have a cure for vampirism.Other than this glitch, the game is absolutely perfect. Enjoy! 5glitch I love this game its one of my favorites ive had it for about 12 months but theres a major glitch with the game of the year version its somthing to do witrh the language translation (in to english) its to do with the vimpirism cure quest once all the ingredients have been gathered and u go to give them to the person who makes the potion she wont take the last ingredient therefore u cannot complete the quest so ur only option is to start all over again avoid getting bitten in the first place i didnt want to do this as id been playing 6 months however there is a way around it but it involves getting the basic copy of the game the one without the expansion and completeing the quest Rakuten’s Play.com is an online trading platform which enables third party sellers and buyers to negotiate and complete transactions via its Website. Rakuten’s Play.com is neither the buyer nor the seller of any items sold via its Website. Accordingly, Rakuten’s Play.com is not a party to the contract for sale between a buyer and seller and is not responsible for fulfilling and delivering orders, handling returns or processing refunds for purchases made. The relevant seller’s terms and conditions apply to delivery, refunds and returns of any items sold via Rakuten’s Play.com. If you have specific questions, about a sellers delivery policy, returns policy or the return or refund of an item you should contact the relevant seller directly. You must comply with the seller's return policy in order to be eligible for any possible refund from the seller. Whilst we have no obligation to mediate or to enforce or execute fulfilment of any contract, we want you to have a safe shopping experience and may intervene in certain circumstances to resolve an issue, in line with our FairPlay Guarantee. Please see our User Agreement for details. Important Warning: It is your responsibility to check a seller’s delivery and returns policy prior to confirming an order. Rating 15+ (BBFC) Recommendations from from Play.com Cookie Policy We use cookies on our site so that you can place orders and we can provide the best possible experience. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Find out more, including how to manage your cookies, here.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Barbara Seal Barbara Seal is a former judge from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Seal has been involved in a number of community organisations and foundations, serving in both leadership and advisory roles. Seal was appointed as judge of Canada's citizenship court in 1997, retiring in 2016. Seal is a recipient of the Order of Canada Award (OAM). Career Barbara Seal is a former city councillor for the city of Hampstead, Quebec. Charity work Seal's charity and community leadership work has included membership on the boards of the Children's Wish Foundation, the Canadian Cancer Society. In the arts, Judge Seal has served on the boards of Place des Arts, the Montreal Arts Council, and serves on the board of directors for the National Arts Centre Foundation. She is the National President of the Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University. Barbara Seal Scholarship In 2012, Seal established the Barbara Seal Scholarship for Newcomers to Canada at McGill University, dedicated to permanent residents and new citizens. References Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Jewish Canadian philanthropists Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Canadian judges Category:Canadian citizenship judges Category:20th-century Canadian judges Category:21st-century Canadian judges	{ "pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)" }
Las Vegas is truly a city that never sleeps! Think of the 24-hour casinos, numerous entertainment shows, amazing strip clubs, and you have a place that promises to offer everything that the urban mind craves for. Of course, you can never have enough of Vegas on your first trip – You must come back again, but below are just some of the crazy things you can plan here. Get hitched. Yep! Did you know you can get married in Vegas whenever you want? Yes, getting a marriage license here is literally a matter of minutes. Of course, if you want to plan one of the custom Las Vegas weddings, you need to plan things in advance. You will find amazing packages, which can be tailored to match your requirements. Head to the Flamingo Garden. Most of us have never seen a Flamingo, and this is where you get a chance. Spread over 15 acres, Flamingo Garden is easy to access and has some amazing exotic birds. Indoor Skydiving. Not up for real skydiving as yet? In Vegas, you can enjoy Indoor Skydiving. Located at Convention Center, you can have fun at the Vegas Indoor Skydiving, which is open between 10 am and 8 pm every day. Helicopter Tours. Ever wondered how the city of lights looks from the sky above? There are organized helicopter tours that are worth every penny spent. Fly over the Grand Canyon or check the fun resorts and the neon lights of the Las Vegas Strip – the choice is yours. Also, you can consider including rafting in Colorado River with the package. Enjoy the shows. From the Hollywood-inspired shows to live entertainment, comedies and more, there’s a show for everyone in Vegas. However, don’t plan on catching up more than two shows on your first trip – there’s plenty of other things to do. Wedding planning tips If you are planning a destination or elaborate wedding in Las Vegas, consider planning in advance. There are many service providers that will take bookings and can customize their services as required. Also, consider the budget, because in Vegas, you don’t need a lot of money to get married. Booking early just helps in selecting between more venues, and you can also do the rehearsals before the wedding for an extra charge. Check online now and book your tickets – A fun week of entertainment awaits in Vegas.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
In two years, Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) has built a sewer of corruption, filled with wealthy men who acquired their riches as DDT did by cheating people. Early strong supporters justified his putrid behavior with “Give him a chance” or “I’m still waiting.” Some still cling to the belief that DDT is the Second Coming while others try to get off DDT’s ship. Columnist Michelle Goldberg summarized DDT ‘s first two years in the Oval Office: “Trump has turned out to be the Norma Desmond of authoritarians, a senescent has-been whose delusions are propped up by obsequious retainers. From his fantasy world in the White House, he barks dictatorial and often illegal orders, floats conspiracy theories, tweets insults and lies unceasingly. But much of the time he’s not fully in charge. He has the instincts of a fascist but lacks both the discipline and the loyal lieutenants he’d need to create true autocracy. “The shutdown throws our crisis into high relief. For the first two years, Trump destroyed American norms, standards and conventions. Now he’s cavalierly destroying American lives.” Fodder for DDT’s downfall: Last night, Buzzfield raised eyebrows when it reported that DDT told his fixer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about negotiations for the Trump Tower Moscow. During his campaign, DDT said he had no business deals with Russia but arranged to meet in Russia with Vladimir Putin to jump-start the project. Cohen was also ordered to give DDT and his children Ivanka and Don Jr. detailed updates. Don Jr. also lied to Congress about his participation in the possible Trump hotel in Moscow. Witnesses revealed that the three participants in the negotiation lied when they said they had little knowledge about it. Mueller’s office stated that “specific statements … are not accurate.” DDT claims vindication, and the media questions which parts Mueller declares not accurate. Buzzfield reporting has not been wrong yet. This past week, DDT’s sort-of lawyer Rudy Giuliani defended his boss but claimed the possibility of collusion between Russia and DDT’s campaign. DDT may be meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un in February, but the Pentagon worries that DDT’s national security adviser John Bolton might start a war with Iran after he asked them “to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran” because a Shia militia fired rockets on a vacant lot near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Former Defense Secretary James Mattis quashed the idea, but a long-time Boeing executive is now in charge of the Pentagon. Bolton’s request last year follows his long-term desire to “bomb Iran” while he wants to eradicate the United Nations. After DDT raged about the news that the FBI investigated the possibility that he was a national security risk, officials reported that DDT concealed the records of his five largely secret meetings with Vladimir Putin, including confiscating interpreters’ notes and keeping them from discussing the meetings with other administration officials. DDT’s temper tantrum included at least six tweets early last Saturday morning from the White House with vicious baseless accusations against the New York Times, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, the FBI, and Robert Mueller. DDT did not deny the FBI report. Lack of records from the meetings violates federal laws. Frequent threats from DDT to pull the U.S. out of NATO have expressed concerns about other countries not pulling their financial weight, but this action would be DDT’s gift to Putin. Michèle A. Flournoy, an under secretary of defense under President Obama, said that leaving NATO “would be one of the most damaging things that any president could do to U.S. interests” and “the wildest success that Vladimir Putin could dream of.” Retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, said an American withdrawal from the alliance would be “a geopolitical mistake of epic proportion.” After annexing Crimea in 2014, Putin focused on separating the United States from Europe to give him control over the NATO countries. DDT first stopped former Defense Secretary James Mattis from attending the next NATO meeting and then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from directly talking with NATO officials. Mueller has turned his investigation to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), former head of the Intelligence Committee and fierce DDT defender long been suspected of leaking information to DDT. Nunes met with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and dozens of foreign officials at DDT’s Washington hotel on January 18, 2017, just two days before DDT’s inauguration before Nunes’ committee investigation opposed anyone investigating DDT and blocked subpoenas. During a fundraiser last summer, Nunes said that Republicans had to keep their House majority to protect DDT from Mueller. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) released a January 2017 DHS plan from a whistleblower connecting separation of migrant children from their parents as a deterrent to crossing the U.S.-Mexico border when the number was at an all-time low. Thousands more migrant children were separated from their parents than reported, and DHS had no plans for reunification. DHS recommended denying migrant children their legal right to asylum hearings, target parents for increased prosecutions, and require extensive background checks for sponsoring an unaccompanied migrant child to create a backlog of children forced into abusive facilities. Merkley requested an FBI perjury investigation into DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s congressional testimony that the department had no policy of separating children. In the House, 136 GOP members voted against DDT in opposition to his removing sanctions from Putin’s friend Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch who paid millions of dollars to get DDT elected. Because 42 Republicans in the Senate had already voted to permit the lifting of sanctions, the House vote was symbolic, but 11 GOP Senators also voted against giving Putin this gift and allowing him to put more money into U.S. election interference. Senate Majority Leader supported DDT in giving the money back to Russia although he had called Deripaska a “thug.” DDT’s trade war with China has problems: China’s 2018 trade surplus with the U.S. grew 17 percent in 2018, at $351.76 billion the largest U.S. deficit since 2006. The difference is actually larger because China doesn’t count goods that come to the U.S. from other countries. Two years ago, DDT made his first speech after his inauguration. These are some of his failed promises since then: Fixing poverty: No statistical drop in the U.S. official poverty rate from 2016 to 2017. “New roads and high roads”: The failed plan in the GOP Congress was to stick states and cities with 80 percent of infrastructure costs—much higher than past years. “Bring back our jobs … borders … wealth”: More coal mines closed in DDT’s first two years than President Obama’s first term; drop in soybean exports by 98 percent in 2018. “No room for prejudice”: Growth of far-right extremism and far-right violence greatly increased in past two years after DDT’s expressions of bigotry. “Education system flushed with cash”: Drastic cuts to Educational Department’s funding in DDT’s budget and public education deprioritized in favor of for-profit schools. “All Americans never be ignored again”: Shutdown latest proof of DDT’s failure to keep this promise. Before his inauguration, DDT made 663 promises, including 36 of them on the first day in office. He kept two of those—a hiring freeze on federal employees and a moratorium on new agency regulations—while breaking or ignoring the other 34, some of which might actually have helped people. In his first 100 days, he broke 80 promises he made before he was sworn in. “He is a demagogue, a xenophobe, a sexist, a know-nothing, and a liar…. [He] expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself…. [He] is easily goaded, a poor quality for someone seeking control of America’s nuclear arsenal. He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.” In two years, DDT has alienated all the countries in Europe, Africa, North America, and Central America and many countries in Asia and the Middle East. His threats have put the United States close to nuclear war with North Korea and Iran. His multitude of executive orders are destroying the planet, causing bad health, and eliminating democracy in the United States. The Atlantic believes that its editorial two years ago was “guilty of understatement.” Those still waiting for DDT’s “better angels” to appear should read DDT’s 50 destructive events since his inauguration. Since the shutdown, DDT’s approval rating has dropped and his disapproval rating surged with a seven-percent increase between the two. Much of the difference comes from the loss of his base—suburban men and white evangelicals. The poll’s director said that he sees a crack in DDT’s support for the first time. Former Trump Organization executive vice president Barbara Res said about DDT, “I see him going into a corner, I see him scratching back like a cornered animal. I think he’s afraid.” As the Republicans work to support Russia, they are joining Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) in his attack on FBI agent Bruce Ohr. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) traveled to London to dig up dirt on both Ohr and Christopher Steel, the British former agent who wrote a dossier on DDT, but officials at MI6, MI5, and GCHQ wouldn’t talk with him. Nunes finally managed a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May’s deputy national security advisor, Madeline Alessandri. Ohr has been instrumental in fighting Russian organized crime for almost three decades, perhaps the reason that DDT wants to get rid of him because Ohr raised concerns about oligarch Oleg Deripaska named in contacts between DDT’s associates and Russia. DDT might have been better off leaving Ohr alone. When Congress required Ohr to testify, he said that he learned from Christopher Steele that “Russian intelligence believed it had Donald Trump ‘over a barrel.’” DDT continues to claim that the Steele dossier was responsible for the FBI investigation into his Russian problem, but memos from both the GOP and Dems prove that the FBI had started the investigation earlier about Russian contacts of former DDT campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos before they had the Steele dossier. Ohr was not the original source of information. Ohr testified that DDT campaign aide Carter Page had met with more senior Russians official that Page admitted. DOJ officials Jeff Sessions and Rod Rosenstein had moved him from director of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force, according to Ohr, because it concerned White House meetings and interactions. The Republicans who wanted to surveil everyone in the United States are now criticizing Ohr because of his surveillance tactics. Democratic members of the House are asking committee chairs to review how GOP representatives got correspondence between Ohr and Steele and why they failed to go through appropriate channels to introduce the emails, notes, and text messages into the official record before reading them out loud in the hearing. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) said that this information appears to have been cherrypicked by Devin Nunes (R-CA), excluding the complete correspondence. Nadler and Cummings also want “an immediate bipartisan meeting” with the DOJ to review “whether any ongoing investigations or human sources may have been compromised.” Nunes is only one of many prominent Republicans to use the conspiracy-laden Big League Politics website using Q-Anon false theories for fundraising, some of the candidates violating campaign finance law. The website is being used to harass innocent small business by accusing them of operating child-sex trafficking rings, like the “Pizzagate” conspiracy against Hillary Clinton and a Washington, D.C. restaurant. Recent vicious targets include the Portland (OR) beloved Voodoo Doughnut. Respondents have posted maps of the chain’s locations with Portland’s plumbing locations, local schools, public transit, and airports to suggest ways that children are smuggled in and out of the stores. One member wrote, “Small submarines arent (sic) out of the realm of possibility.” The police say that they cannot do anything about the persecution, some of it generated by a former Breitbart News reporter. Natasha Bertrand has tied together the threads of DDT’s targeted FBI and DOJ officials in his relentless attacks on people he depicts as dishonest “Democrats.” He depicts Ohr, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, Andrew McCabe, and others who have had extensive experience in investigating money laundering and organized crime, especially connected to Russia. DDT’s big fear is that Robert Mueller’s team is expert in finding fraud, racketeering, money laundering, and other financial crimes. The article is well-worth a read, especially to see DDT’s connections to the crimes. As Russia dogs DDT’s heels, he faces the week-long honoring of his nemesis, former Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). After his death at the age of 81, McCain got his final wishes—DDT did not attend his funeral and two former presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, gave eulogies. DDT tried to minimize McCain’s death with the petty act of lowering the flag for only a day, but public backlash forced him to raise it again. He noticeably ignored his aides who wanted him to send out a statement about McCain being a hero while he continued his vendetta against the man who spent over five years in a Vietnam prison camp while he dodged the draft with four deferments and a bout of bone spurs. On the campaign trail, DDT called McCain a loser because he was imprisoned during the Vietnam War. “I like people that weren’t captured,” DDT said. He started his criticism of McCain in 1999 as this video shows. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders may be collateral damage from McCain’s death. DDT supposedly joked that she was “having a nervous breakdown” because of the way she looked at him when he refused to answer whether McCain would have been a better president than President Obama. “I don’t want to comment on it,” DDT said. “I have a very strong opinion.” He left town for a campaign rally in Indiana before McCain’s body arrived in Washington, D.C. for a memorial service and then went to his Virginia resort to play golf during McCain’s funeral in Washington, D.C. today. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) may be breaking up with DDT, McCain’s replacement after McCain’s illness became terminal, because Graham criticized DDT’s handling of his former friend’s death. Graham said: “It bothers me greatly when the president says things about John McCain. It pisses me off to no end, and I let the president know it, And the way he handled the passing of John is just — it was disturbing.” Graham did invite DDT’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka and Jared, to the funeral. McCain’s death hasn’t slowed down Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia and DDT. Paul Manafort’s next trial, postponed for a week until September 24, follows rumors of a possible plea deal for the second set of charges before he was convicted last week, but the two sides couldn’t work out a deal. Mueller has also received more time to decide whether to retry Manafort on the ten charges from the last trial after one person created a hung jury on these charges. W. Samuel Patten, a Washington consultant who advised a Ukrainian political party and worked with a co-defendant of Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty to failing to register as a foreign lobbyist while working on behalf of a Ukrainian political party. Patten’s partner, Konstantin Kilimnik, Patten’s partner and former Manafort employee, has been indicted for witness tampering in Manafort’s case and links to Russian intelligence. Patten also worked at the Oregon office of Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL Group, to target voters in the 2014 general election. As part of his plea, Patten admitted that he steered an illegal foreign donation to DDT’s inauguration from a Ukrainian businessman. DDT’s latest comment about Sessions, who he has tried to separate from his Senate allies with incessant complaints, is that he won’t fire him until after the general election, perhaps to avoid the appearance of obstruction of justice. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said, “My sense is the fix is in,” but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) still isn’t convinced, maybe worrying about his ability to get another AG confirmed. Donors are also complaining about Sessions and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein, saying, “They haven’t represented … us well.” DDT’s shiniest new distraction from his problems comes from his promise of a new trade deal with Mexico to replace NAFTA. The kickoff was a bit awkward when technology failed him in his conference call with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto by and at his signoff when he told the president that “a hug from you would be very nice.” DDT is rushing the deal because progressive president-elect of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, takes over December 1. The clock is ticking, but the two-nation agreement may not be able to replace a three-nation trade pact, and Congress must agree. Canada has been more reluctant, especially after DDT disparaged Canada and threatened the country with 25 percent tariffs on cars and auto parts exported from the U.S. The U.S. may be the loser because Canada is the #1 destination for U.S. products shipped abroad and the trade with Canada supports over 8 million U.S. jobs, many of them in the new “red” states. Canada also is unique because the U.S. doesn’t have a trade deficit with Canada. If the initial deal doesn’t include Canada, the U.S. will have trouble including the country later. Most of the suggested pieces of DDT’s deal come from either NAFTA or the Trans Pacific Pipeline, but the name is new so that DDT can claim it as his own. He’ll just have to hope that people don’t see the drastic increases in prices from the deal and his tariffs if he wants to use it for getting people to vote for Republicans. August 11, 2018 Congress is scattered across the nation on vacation, and Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) is watching TV, playing golf, and having dinner with other wealthy people at his resort at Bedminster (NJ). Robert Mueller continues his investigation, and witnesses testify to damning information about Paul Manafort. For example, he offered the position of Army secretary to Federal Savings Bank CEO, Stephen Calk, in trying to get a personal loan from the bank. Long-time friend and colleague Rick Gates reported Manafort shifting money through his offshore accounts. DDT has bragged about how much more money black people make in wages since he was inaugurated, but he didn’t celebrate Black Women’s Equal Pay Day on August 7, the day representing how long into 2018 a black woman must work to be paid the same wages white males were paid just last year. Black women workers get 66 cents for the dollar that white men make after controlling for education, years of experience, and geographic location. If DDT had talked about wages for black women, he probably would have lied, just as he did when he bragged that the U.S. is overflowing with “prosperity” despite “exaggerated” claims of widespread poverty. After a U.N. report that 18 million people live in “extreme poverty” in the United States, made worse by DDT’s tax cuts for the wealthy, DDT ignored his own economic analysts in exchange for a report from the far-right Heritage Foundation. One DDT economic adviser recommended that DDT say nothing about poverty because the steady economic growth, “inherited” from President Obama, “will end prob[ably] in 1-2 years.” People in Missouri understood the importance of fair wages when they struck down a “right-to-work” law earlier passed by the legislature. The 2-1 margin of success for workers came from both urban and rural counties. Agreeing with Supreme Court justice nominee that the president is above the law and the constitution, AG Jeff Sessions plans to ignore a court ruling to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and completely repeal and rescind DACA on his own prerogative. Sessions called the repeal one of the “lawful directives of Congress”—although that legislative body has passed no law regarding DACA. The judge had said that the government has no justification to stop DACA. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) irritated both congressional GOP members and DDT during his visit to Russia. Once against Vladimir Putin’s takeover of Ukraine and Crimea, Paul is now a full-blown Russia supporter. During his recent trip, he took a letter to Putin, but opinions differ on its contents. Paul explained that the letter highlighted how the U.S. wants to work with Russia on “countering terrorism, enhancing legislative dialogue and resuming cultural exchanges.” White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said that DDT provided only “a letter of introduction” because Paul had requested it. Before Paul came home, he invited Russian lawmakers to visit the U.S. Capitol, but GOP congressional leaders squashed the idea. Spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said: “Neither Congress nor the leader have invited any delegation from Russia to the Capitol. Senator Paul is the only one that I know who is discussing it.” House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) followed that up with “That’s not something we’ve discussed.” Both McConnell and Ryan earlier said that Putin would not be welcome at the Capitol if DDT invited him to Washington. Russia and DDT are also upset about the State Department’s new sanctions on Russia after the Kremlin’s poisoning of a former Russian intelligence officer and his daughter living in England. U.S. company are prevented from exporting items such as gas turbine engines, electronics, and integrated circuits without legitimate purposes, similar to President Obama’s ban on any exports to Russia that might have military purposes. DDT objected, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited a 1991 law that mandated the sanctions. Russia has 90 days to agree to stop all use of chemical weapons and permit inspections before Pompeo exerts further measures such as withdrawal of U.S. bank loans and support for international loans, landing rights for Russian airlines, and diplomatic relations. DDT already stalled for over a month regarding congressional deadlines for other sanctions. Sanctions against Russia will decrease U.S. exports, adding to the stress caused by DDT’s tariffs. Grifter and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed that “all this hysteria is a lot to do about nothing,” yet BMW told Ross that the tariffs could endanger 45,000 jobs in South Carolina. A ship with $20 million worth of soybeans has circled the waters off the coast of China since July 6 after it failed to beat the new tariff deadline by mere hours, placed in response to DDT’s tariffs. The ship’s $12,500 daily cost comes to over $450,000 by now, and the contents make up a small part of the $12.7 billion in soybeans sent from the U.S. to China last year. In Washington, 6,000 tons of copper are stuck at the port of Vancouver as the ship scheduled to pick it up left after China announced a 25-percent duty on the product. Estimates indicate almost one million jobs in the state could be at risk because of suppliers, port income, and wages. The North Korea deal becomes more like fish that smells after three days. DDT never had any agreement with denuclearization, and Kim Jung-Un now insists that he will take no action until the U.S. ends the Korean War. Pompeo promises progress but won’t say what, and National Security Adviser John Bolton indicated no steps had been taken. The estimate of North Korean nuclear weapons is growing. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) was secretly taped at a fundraiser for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) giving his plan for impeaching DOJ Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein immediately after the 2018 general election. Most Republicans said that they weren’t going to impeach Rosenstein, but Nunes tells this story to woo donors and voters. DDT may not like some of Nunes’ comments on the tapes such as “sometimes we cringe on the president’s tweets.” Nunes also called releasing stolen emails, like WikiLeaks did with DNC emails, “criminal.” Rodgers won the Washington election to pick the top two candidates by only one percent, warning a serious challenge in the general election. DDT’s lawyers are running a TV campaign in opposition to Mueller’s investigation by smearing it, claiming that DDT will be forced to lie if he goes into court, and declaring questions that are off limits—such as why he fired James Comey (check with DDT’s interview with Lester Holt) and whether he obstructed justice (check DDT’s tweets). Rudy Giuliani’s craziness continues with his invented DOJ “60-day rule” preventing Mueller from DDT’s investigation in the two months preceding the election and announcing that Mueller must finish by September. DDT is not a candidate in November 2018, and the “60-day-rule” failed to apply to Hillary Clinton when Comey announced an investigation ten days before her election. “Fair and unbalanced” Sean Hannity, as he calls himself on “fair and unbalanced Fox,” turned his three-hour radio show over to DDT’s lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow on Friday. Tomorrow represents the first anniversary of Unite the Right in Charlottesville (VA) with a march near the White House. This image represents what white supremacists are celebrating in front of the White House and what DDT refused to condemn. Inflation rose 2.9 percent in the last year while wages gained only 2.7 percent. U.S. “real wage” fell to $10.76 an hour last month, 2 cents down from a year ago. To many of us, 2 cents is very little, but over a year, it amounts to $41.60—important to people who make under $23,000 a year. Gas prices increased 23 percent this year, and housing, health care and automobile insurance have all gone up. Now we wait for price increases from DDT’s tariffs. Donald Trump Jr. manufactured this visual lie when he Photoshopped “50” over DDT’s actual 40 percent approval rating. In his desperation, he failed to cover up the 40 percent. By now, Jr. removed his “fake news” from Instagram, but the internet never forgets! Catching up on the last two weeks of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) roller-coaster events: Will the United States go to war to support Israel? That question may be front and center now that DDT has withdrawn from the Iran agreement for that nation’s denuclearization. Israel fired on targets in Syria that were believed to be Iranian soon after DDT’s withdrawal. Claims that Iran fired 20 rockets at the Golan Heights the most extensive Israeli bombing on Syria since the countries signed a disengagement agreement after the October war of 1973. Israel has illegally occupied Golan Heights since the Six-Day War in 1967. DDT’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, are scheduled to arrive in Israel soon for the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem on May 14. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has assured Israel that the U.S. will stand at its side in a fight. DDT’s officials are circulating a report from Securities Studies Group, an organization with ties to DDT’s national security adviser John Bolton, that provides strategy for a regime change in Iran is being circulated among DDT’s officials. The plan is to stir unrest and help the Iran public to drive a wedge between the people and the nation’s rulers. The plan sounds identical to Russia’s approach to control the 2018 presidential election. Israel’s military escalation came after DDT decided to please some of his constituents—including Vladimir Putin and Israel—by withdrawing from the Iranian deal. Russia’s economy desperately needs the rubles from the increase in oil prices if Iranian resources aren’t available. At the same time, Russia is concerned about Israel’s attacks on Iran, but DDT may side with Israel, again separating him from Putin. Perhaps DDT figures that a world war would allow him to declare military law, like in Turkey, so that he can remain dictator forever. Bernard Avishai discusses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s motivations and the dangers of his country in pushing a war in the Middle East. DDT announced his withdrawal several days before the deadline at the same time the media jumped on the millions of dollars in “pay to play” paid to his personal lawyer Michael Cohen for access to DDT. Since payments made to DDT’s personal lawyer were first announced, the amount has vastly grown, for example AT&T’s $600,000 to Cohen for access to DDT instead of $200,000. CEO Randall Stephenson called Cohen’s hiring “a big mistake,” and top lobbyist for the company, Bob Quinn, has retired. Quinn was a leader in opposing net neutrality. AT&T also paid Cohen to get approval for its $85 billion merger with Time Warner. Drugmaker Novartis agreed that its $1.2 million contract with Cohen was “a mistake.” Reports as of now show that Cohen was paid $2.95 million through Essential Consultants, the shell company Cohen set up to funnel hush money to Stormy Daniels and perhaps others. The involved companies learned about Essential Consultants because Cohen reached out to them. In his work to guarantee never-ending war for the U.S., former VP Dick Cheney, who mythologized weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, went on Fox Business directing DDT to believe the falsehood that Iran has these weapons. He also encouraged the continuation of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (aka torture). DDT is also hoping that people will ignore all the Russia and Cohen scandals because three U.S. prisoners have been released from North Korea. He also hopes that his talks with North Korea will result in his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, even encouraging his rally crows to chant, “No-bel, No-bel. When the prisoners arrived at 3:00 am, he said, “I think you probably broke the all time in history television rating for three o’clock in the morning.” DDT also thanked North Korean president Kim Jong-Un “ who really was excellent to these three incredible people.” They had been imprisoned for at least a year, and one of them had been sentenced to ten years’ hard labor in one of the world’s most brutal prisons. DDT plans to meet with Kim Jong-Un in Singapore on June 12. While people become excited about the release of prisoners in North Korea, they forget the four U.S. citizens still held in Iran for longer than the newly released NK ones. DDT’s withdrawal spells disaster for these people, one of them 81 years old. Another two U.S. men are still illegally imprisoned in Turkey. Although DDT’s new lawyer Rudy Giuliani appeared on Sean Hannity only nine days ago, so much has happened that it could have been last year. Giuliani, DDT’s lawyer for one day, said that DDT had paid Cohen $35,000 a week to clean up hush money to Stormy Daniels about her affair with DDT as well as “things that might come up.” DDT first agreed that he paid off Daniels and then tried to deny that he did, going so far as to say that Giuliani “will get his fact straight.” Giuliani lacks the skill to stay quiet, a serious problem in court. (Transcript for the program.) Giuliani went on another talk show to say that he knew the payment didn’t look good immediately before the election but changed his story to say that the settlement was made solely “to protect the President’s family.” He also might be waiving attorney-client privilege by saying that he had conferred with DDT before he talked about DDT paying Cohen. About the payoff, Giuliani said: “I don’t think the president realized he paid him back for that specific thing until we made him aware of the paperwork.” Despite being released from his law firm and claiming “sole concentration” as DDT’s lawyer, Giuliani appeared in a Florida court today to represent a woman accused of purchasing car insurance ten minutes after her car crash. He isn’t licensed to practice law in Florida but said the woman was her personal assistant. DDT’s staff tried to prep him in advance of any interview with Robert Mueller, but he could answer only two questions in four hours. The argument might be that an interview could cut into time for his important work in the Oval Office, but evidence indicates that he “works” less than two hours a day. DDT is still falsely accusing that the investigators are Democrats as he continues his rant against the investigation. DDT is back to saying that he wants an interview with Mueller, but most people no longer believe him. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) issued DOJ with a subpoena after he was refused extensive information about a longtime intelligence source for the CIA and FBI with the concern that the source could be jeopardized if Nunes discovers the person’s identity. Common knowledge indicates that Nunes wants the information to take to the White House. DOJ officials offered a classified briefing about his demand, but Nunes threatened a contempt charge against AG Jeff Sessions. He also has not bothered to read earlier classified information that he demanded. Nunes is under investigation for three potential campaign law violations. Giuliani’s bombshell about DDT’s paying off Stormy Daniels intersected with DDT’s appearance for the day of prayer, causing CNBC to tweet, “Trump leads National Prayer Day event after saying he repaid lawyer for hush money to porn star.” DDT signed the “White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative” that permits religious organizations to use taxpayer money to discriminate on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, allow religious organizations to be “experts” for public policy, remove requirements that religious groups refer anyone objecting to their teachings to other programs, and use his new “faith-based office” to guarantee no blocking of “liberty of conscience” of believers. (Sounds like Sharia law for evangelicals.) The major groups wanting to deny services to LGBTQ people are Mormons and white evangelicals, 20 percent of the population. Among that 20 percent, 47 percent think that it’s wrong to refuse business based on religious convictions. States such as Kansas and Oklahoma are already passing laws permitting adoption agencies to prevent same-gender couples from adopting children. A lesbian couple in Mississippi was denied an adoption by the state the day before they were scheduled to take their daughter home despite a court ruling that the Mississippi’s ban on same-gender adoptions was struck down by a federal judge in 2016. In another case, the state Supreme Court ruled that a lesbian couple could divorce; a dissenting justice, Jess Dickinson, is now head of the agency denying the couple their legally adopted child. Bryan Fischer, former spokesman for the American Family Association (AFA), announced on his show that only Christians have First Amendment rights and protections. Anti-LGBTQ preacher Kevin Swanson will hold the Bible Family Conference in Washington, D.C. on August 10-11. He wants to execute all LGBTQ people and all Girls Scout leaders because they support LGBTQ and women’s rights. He also wants Boy Scouts, now called Scouts BSA because it recruits girls as well as boys, to have a “sodomy merit badge” because openly gay scouts can join the organization. The name of Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) has disappeared as keynote speaker. The six worst states for LGBTQ support are Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisiana, and North Carolina. No matter how bad the Russia collusion and hacking have gotten, the Republicans have seemed rather blasé about this involvement, even supporting Russia over the people in the United States. Will these Republicans change their position if they lose their electric power? Russian hackers have been attacking the U.S. infrastructure, including electricity, water, and transportation as well as nuclear and manufacturing sectors, and the federal government is getting worried. Last summer, the news that Russia had gotten into over a dozen power plants in seven states didn’t get much attention in the first year of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) in the Oval Office. Now Russians have moved into dozens of states with their attacks on the infrastructure. Eric Chien, a security technology director at the digital security firm Symantec, said: “We now have evidence they’re sitting on the machines, connected to industrial control infrastructure, that allow them to effectively turn the power off or affect sabotage…. They have the ability to shut the power off.” Today’s public alert from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI warned that these hackers have been targeting U.S. infrastructure for the past two years. They started by staging malware and spear phishing at small commercial networks before obtaining remote access in energy sector networks which allowed them to collect information connected with Industrial Control Systems. At least three simultaneous Russian cyber hacking attacks are going into infrastructure controls, stealing documents and using a “troll farm” called the Internet Research Agency to spread misinformation on social media for chaos and discord, and focusing on disrupting the infrastructure of U.S. and European countries. Last summer, Congress passed a law mandating that DDT place sanctions on Russia, but he ignored the law. A letter from 140 House Democrats asked DDT to impose these sanctions on Russia, an action that the Treasury Department took after the chemical attack on a Russian double agent in Britain followed by the death of a Russian exile. Even these sanctions are weak, because they are only on the entities and people indicted by Robert Mueller. The State Department also released a condemnation of Russia’s “campaign of coercion and violence” in the Russian annexation of Crimea four years ago this week, but no sanctions. A serious problem for Republicans this week comes from the House Intelligence Committee GOP announcement that it closed down its investigation into the Russian scandal before finishing its job. The committee issued a brief summary with a 150-page report supposedly to follow, explaining the GOP position that intelligence agencies were wrong in its evidence of how Russia supported DDT in the presidential election. DDT saw the GOP whitewash as a vindication. Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA), forced from leadership of the committee after he briefed White House officials on committee information, has always protected DDT, even leaking information, and announced last June that they wouldn’t find any collusion. GOP members limited topics under discussion and witnesses’ questions while following White House restrictions and refusing to investigate phone and bank records corroborating witness claims. Nunes consistently undermined Robert Mueller’s investigation with false information. The person ostensibly in charge of the House Intelligence Committee investigation claimed ignorance of George Nadar, a key witness about secret meetings in the Seychelles. The report was so biased that hard-right GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who led the Benghazi/private email server email against Hillary Clinton said that the GOP evidence was “motivated in whole or in part by a desire to harm [Clinton’s] candidacy or undermine her Presidency had she prevailed.” Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said on Monday that “there is evidence” showing the Russians attempted to help President Trump during the 2016 presidential election, contradicting a draft report from the panel. Rooney also warned that the government needs to act to prevent foreign interference in the upcoming midterm elections. The GOP spin from other committee members, however, is that the intelligence community is wrong about Russian interference just as they were about Iraq weapons—ignoring the fact that the intelligence community denied “specific information” about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction before George W. Bush invaded Iraq. Then, as now with the GOP members of the “no Russian interference” group, the politicians were wrong in their perspective about the documents given them. Deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah made an awkward statement by saying that DDT would have been aware of any such collusion if it did occur. In Shah’s words, proof of collusion would also be proof of DDT’s knowledge about it. Luckily for him, it appears to be an opinion. Democrats on the committee had not seen the report when it was released and were not told about the conclusion before it was made public. Following the release of the GOP summary, the minority members of the House intelligence Committee released a 21-page “Status of the Russia Investigation.” The majority of the document is composed of four appendices, beginning in Appendix A with the outstanding lines of inquiry which have been partially or not at all addressed: Hacking and dissemination of campaign emails by Russia to determine the specific of this cyber operation. DDT’s campaign knowledge of the email hacks. Elections security—or lack thereof. Russian social media campaign. Financial leverage in DDT’s business deals, perhaps for Russian money laundering and DDT’s actively negotiating a business deal in Moscow with a sanctioned Russian bank during the election, despite his assertion that he had no business dealings with Russia. Money-laundering and foreign payments, already somewhat revealed by Robert Mueller’s special investigation which includes charges against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. Post-election effects and obstruction of justice, including intervention from and lies by Michael Flynn in U.S. affairs with Russia, DDT attempts to block James Comey to investigate Flynn, and DDT’s writing a memo to cover the June 2016 meeting in which his son Donald Trump Jr. and two other senior campaign advisers intended to get damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Appendix B lists over 30 key witnesses which had not been interviewed with brief descriptions of their potential involvement which needs further inquiry. Appendix C gives over 20 entities, including Deutsche Bank, which should be sent “indispensable” documents that directly connect to Russian election interference. Fifteen other people and entities that should appear and/or present documents are in Appendix D. This list includes DDT, Jared Kushner, Hope Hicks, Erik Prince, and the White House. A key line in the most recent report from this committee: The Minority has a good faith reason to believe that the White House does in fact possess such documentation memorializing President Trump’s conversations with Director Comey. Subsequent press reporting revealed the existence of a memorandum reportedly composed by President Trump and Stephen Miller that referenced President Trump’s communications with Director Comey.” British Prime Minister Theresa May says that it is “highly likely” former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury, England by Russia. DDT refuses to mention the word “Russia” in connection with the poisoning although Secretary of State Secretary Rex Tillerson said that the attack “clearly came from Russia.” Today, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster used strong language to decry Russia’s actions and blamed the Kremlin for “the abhorrent nerve agent attack” in England. It may be his last speech because rumors from the White House indicate he is to be fired by the end of the month, despite the press secretary’s denial. DDT has told Chief of Staff John Kelly that McMaster is too rigid and his briefings are too long. Earlier, Nunes tried to protect DDT with a GOP committee memo about the Russian investigation that DDT erroneously used to proclaim exoneration for himself. It was followed by a heavily redacted response from the Democrats showing the GOP’s “distortions and misrepresentations.” Complaints that Christopher Steele’s dossier on DDT were responsible for a warrant to surveil DDT’s associate and suspected foreign agent Carter Page where shown to be totally bogus. Meanwhile Robert Mueller is continuing his investigation, this week with subpoenas to the Trump Organization for documents, some related to Russia, in its first approach to DDT’s business affairs. Despite DDT’s denial that it has no holdings in Russia, witnesses have been asked about DDT’s business plans to build in Moscow. DDT has talked to Emmet Flood, the lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment, about hiring him. Lawyers have advised DDT not to talk with Mueller, but he may be considering an interview if Mueller restricts the scope of questioning and concludes the DDT-involved part of the investigation within 60 days of the interview. Good luck! Meanwhile Conor Lamb defeated Vladimir Putin in a U.S. House race last Tuesday in the far southwest Pennsylvania district with an almost 96 percent white population and so badly gerrymandered that no Democrat ran against the Republican in the past two elections. DDT won that district by 20 points in the presidential election. The former representative resigned after the publicity that the anti-abortion Republican encouraged his lover to have an abortion. This news was followed by multiple stories of his inappropriate action from his staff. Murphy is a developmental psychologist with a wife and adult daughter. The media went crazy over the ballistic behavior of former campaign adviser Sam Nunberg after Robert Mueller subpoenaed his testimony and documents about major players in the Russia scandal. Nunberg first declared that he would refuse to comply with the subpoena, especially because Roger Stone is so special to him, before he made the round of news shows and backed down after continually asking if he could be put in jail with his refusal. Tuesday ended with a delicious segment on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show. Nunberg showed up before the grand jury on Friday and testified. Grim-faced, he refused to comment afterward. While complaining on TV, he said that DDT knew about the June 2016 meeting between the Russian lawyer and his son and son-in-law a week before it occurred. George Nadar, adviser to the United States Arab Emirates (UAE), also testified before a grand jury and is cooperating with Mueller. Nadar represented UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan at a meeting in Seychelles meeting in January 2017 with a Russian investor, a friend of Vladimir Putin. ant Erik Prince, DDT’s adviser who founded Blackwater and Betsy DeVos’ brother. Prince had wanted to set up a private military army for DDT in Afghanistan. Mueller is collecting evidence that the Seychelles meeting was to create a back-channel communication system between DDT and Vladimir Putin and foreign money for DDT’s campaign as well as Nadar’s meetings with Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon. Nadar’s testimony contradicted Erik Prince’s testimony before the House Intelligence Committee about his encounter with the Russian oligarch in the Seychelles. After the story about George Nadar broke, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) said, “I don’t have any clue who George Nader is.” Conaway is helping lead the House Intelligence Committee in the DDT-Russia scandal. In addition to his involvement with Russia, Nadar, DDT’s friend, was arrested for child pornography in 1985, including his having received a package with a film of young boys engaged in sexual acts and photos of nude boys. Reasons for the dismissal of the case are not clear. Paul Manafort pled not guilty to all the charges against him in Virginia, but he is now wearing a second ankle tracking device, the other for Washington, because the two jurisdictions have different systems. The Virginia trial begins in July 10, followed by a September date in Washington. DDT may have obstructed justice or tampered with witnesses by asking at least two of them—White House counsel Don McGahn and former chief of staff Reince Priebus—about their interviews with Mueller. After head of the National Security Agency, Mike Rogers, testified that the president had not directed him to prevent Russia’s targeting U.S. elections, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to cover for DDT’s inaction, but thus far the State Department has spent $0 of the $120 million allocated to fight foreign cyberattacks on elections. Not one of the 23 analysts working in the Global Engagement Center speaks Russian, and the department has a hiring freeze. DDT is still delaying any sanctions ordered by law and denied that Russian meddling had anything to do with “our votes” in 2016. He promises a “very, very deep study” and “strong suggestions” before the 2018 midterms. DDT keeps pushing the media to investigate the Russia collusion in the time of President Obama, and they have—with all roads ending at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refusing to release any information about Russian election meddling before DDT was elected. McConnell says that he’s “perfectly comfortable” with that decision to conceal the Russian election manipulation from the public. Nastya Rybka (real name Anastasiz Vashukevich), an escort in Thailand, claims to have 16 hours of audio proof connecting the Russian campaign to DDT that she will release if the U.S. gets her out of prison. Title X, the only federal grant program dedicated to comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services, will now favor programs with a focus on abstinence-only sex education and “natural” family planning methods. The over 4 million people who use this program for health department and other nonprofit community health centers, in place for almost a half century, may have more difficulty obtaining birth control or getting access to cancer and STD screenings with the new guidelines. Title X funded clinics helped people prevent 822,300 unintended pregnancies, averting 387,200 unplanned births and 277,800 abortions in just 2015. Jeff Sessions is suing California to overturn state immigrations laws, including the program that inspects federal immigration detention centers for its rampant mistreatment and abuse by private companies. DOJ is also threatening any other states that pursue similar laws. State and local officials have complained about DDT’s ICE activities because they undermine local economies and make communities more dangerous. DDT has decided to remove new tee markers with the presidential seal from his golf courses. [Markers at Eagle Sign, New Albany (IN) and Louisville (KY)] Manufacture or use of the seal, its likeness, “or any facsimile thereof” for other than government business is punishable by up to six months in prison. Earlier, DDT used the “family crest” that he took without permission from the family owning Mar-a-Lago. After DDT said he talked to North Korea on the phone when he actually spoke to South Korean Moon Jae-in, he announced a meeting with North Korea in late May without any State Department or other diplomatic input, probably to draw attention from Russia or Stormy Daniels. Hours before DDT announced the talks, State Department Secretary Rex Tillerson said that talks would not be “realistic” or prudent yet. DDT put Kim Jong-un in control by elevating a rogue state to an equal to the United States—without any rewards for the U.S. The day after DDT’s announcement, the press secretary said that conditions need to be met before the meeting. Look for far more media about the meeting that may never happen. Jared Kushner also ignored diplomats, including the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, when he met with the Mexican president. At the Gridiron Dinner, a gathering of 65 journalists with a self-deprecating roast-like speech by the current president, DDT made all his jokes at the expense of his family, colleagues, and enemies. Before the speech, he said, “My staff was concerned that I couldn’t do self-deprecating humor.” He can’t. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA accused Stephen Colbert of being a “danger” to the nation after a segment in which Colbert showed a memo stating “Devin Nunes is a [redacted]” with the question about what the redacted word is. After trying to shut down the probe into the DDT-Russian collusion, Nunes added that Colbert, like others on the left, “attack people who are trying to get to the truth.” Colbert answered Nunes complaint by showing another segment in which he was unable to meet with the representative. Virginia Heffernan described Ivanka Trump’s growing problems with her connections with former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who lied to the FBI; developer Felix Sater, guilty of a $40-million stock fraud scheme with the Russian mobsters; and Tamir Sapir, tied to racketeering with the Gambino crime family before he died. Ivanka brought Flynn to DDT, toured Russia with Sater, and collaborated with Sapir. Heffernan also described Ivanka’s involvement in shady real-estate projects. When DDT hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Netanyahu said, “This will be remembered.” As the Mueller investigation gets closer to possible Russian collusion with DDT, Israeli police has recommended that Netanyahu be indicted on bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three corruption cases, the most recent one this week. Mueller is getting closer to DDT’s corruption. “This will be remembered.” Fond of dictators in other countries, DDT wants to emulate China after President XI Jinping wants to do away with any term limits in the Constitution. DDT praised Xi’s efforts to become “president for life” and said, “Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.” Afraid of firing people, DDT lets others discharge them or belittles them in the hopes that they will quit. Now that DDT is ready to dispense with John Kelly as Chief of Staff, he has sent Anthony Scaramucci on the talk show circuit to smear Kelly. At least that’s what the media from left to right is reporting, although Scaramucci says the story from White House insiders isn’t true. This last week, DDT tweeted that he was asking China for ways that they could reduce their trade deficit with the United States by $1 billion. DDT’s administration figure is actually $100 billion; he was off by $99 billion. And why would China want to do this? [Note: Survivors of the Parkland (FL) school shooting cannot get a permit for their March for Our Lives on March 24 because a student group “at a local educational institution” wants to film a talent show on the Mall on that date. That permit states, “Games will be the main activity for filming,” and equipment listed “two tables, two bikes, and jump ropes.” March for Our Lives organizers planned their rally away from federal land and in D.C., on Pennsylvania Avenue between Third and 12th streets NW.] The increasing fury from the tweets of Dictator Donald Trump (DDT), such as his primal scream “WITCH HUNT,” has been worsened by revelations about White House policy possibly being directed by Jared Kushner’s need for money. The debt on his Fifth Avenue property, $1.4 billion, comes due next year. Investigations show possible connections between financing for Kushner’s family business and Kushner’s discussions with Qatar, Turkey, Russia, China, and the United Arab Emirates: The punishing blockade against Qatar occurred after a Qatar billionaire decided not to invest in Kushner’s business. Apollo Global Management loaned Kushner $184 million, triple the average size of a typical loan, after an Apollo founder Joshua Harris, advising DDT about infrastructure, met with Kushner about a White House job for Harris. Israel’s Menora Mivtachim loaned $30 million to Kushner for additional equity in 10 Maryland apartment complexes just before DDT’s trip with Jared and Ivanka last May. Since then, DDT declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel and the move of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Kushner has now lost his high-level security clearance to a status below the White House chief calligrapher, which includes his losing access to DDT’s daily brief. Robert Mueller’s investigation: DDT’s attacks on AG Jeff Sessions for his handling of Sessions’ assignment of his inspector general to examine GOP accusations of FISA surveillance procedures as well as whether DDT tried to get rid of AG Jeff Sessions last summer to get control of the Russia investigation. Whether DDT knew about Russia stealing DNC emails before the public was aware of the action and whether DDT knew when WikiLeaks was going to release the hacked emails. In July 2016, DDT asked Russia to find emails deleted by Hillary Clinton. Whether DDT’s associate Roger Stone knew about the email information before it was public. Stone lied about not having direct communication with WikiLeaks during DDT’s campaign. Democrats asked the House Intelligence Committee to subpoena WikiLeaks messages with Stone, but Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) and the other GOP members have refused. Nunes did release the Democratic refutation of the GOP House Intelligence Committee memo and explanation of the warrant to surveil Carter Page. A government watchdog group filed a second ethics complaint against Nunes’ leaking private information from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) to the Fox network about the Russian interference to the media. After some of Hope Hicks’ testimony was leaked, the two top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, including GOP Richard Burr (NC), told House Speaker Paul Ryan about “concerns” regarding the operations of the House committee and accusations of the GOP illegal leaking. The scariest Russian information this week came from Mike Rogers, head of the National Security Agency. He reported to the Senate Armed Services Committee that he cannot try to stop the Kremlin meddling—and perhaps control—of U.S. elections without presidential authorization—which DDT won’t give. Members of the NSC understand that DDT would perceive any discussion of the Russian problem as a personal affront. Rogers, due to retire in April, said, “President Putin has clearly come to the conclusion that there’s little price to pay and that therefore ‘I can continue this activity.’” Vladimir Putin continues to make fools of conservatives, who he calls “useful fools.” In his latest address, Putin announced Russia has an “invincible” missile moving at hypersonic speed with an “unlimited” range that renders defense “completely useless.” He said that “any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies to be a nuclear attack on our country.” DDT had no response to Putin and saved his energy for tweeting against Alex [sic] Baldwin after his performance on Saturday Night Live. DDT has a serious problem with his animosity toward Iran. He has incessantly threatened to sever the U.S. deal with Iran to keep it from developing nuclear weapons in order to please his base. At the same time, Russia, who DDT doesn’t dare offend, is building a closeness with Iran, becoming that country’s most important ally. DDT is scapegoating former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe by accusing him of leaking information in October 2016 about conflict within the FBI and DOJ regarding Hillary Clinton’s family foundation and then intentionally misleading investigators about what he had done. The DOJ is also investigating former FBI director James Comey, his statement about closing the cases against Clinton’s email server without charges, and his decision to announce resumption of his work in this area only ten days before the presidential election. Last May, DDT asked McCabe in a meeting who McCabe voted for in that election and attacked him in tweets about his wife taking donations from a Democrat’s PAC for her political campaign. McCabe’s retirement is scheduled for March 18. In trouble for paying legal fees defending DDT and Donald Trump Jr. in the Russian collusion, the RNC switched the monthly $37,541.67 to rent part of Manhattan’s Trump Tower. DDT’s election campaign also paid over $470,000 in rent for space at Trump Tower during 2017. Other RNC expenditures include $427,000+ expenditures at DDT’s properties such as Trump International Hotel (Washington, D.C.), Mar-a-Lago (Palm Beach), and Trump National Doral (Miami). DDT’s former bodyguard Keith Schiller collected $75,000 for “security services” immediately after Chief of Staff John Kelly fired Schiller in September, and the RNC said that he is being paid to consult on its 2020 convention site selection. VP Mike Pence’s son, John Pence, also gets over $7,000 a month for “consulting,” and DDT political ally Brad Parscale, DDT’s former campaign digital director and newly-named 2020 campaign director, got over $882,000 from the RNC in January. Parscale sold his digital company last year for $10 million to CloudCommerce that it has not made a profit for almost ten years and spent over $19 million in investor money since it was started almost 20 years ago. At this time, CloudCommerce has $107,000. In 2006, a top executive was caught in an FBI bribery sting and pled guilty to securities fraud. Andrew Van Noy, Cloudcommerce’s chief executive, has earned less than $9,000 in each of the past three years and has faced six-figure debts from unpaid credit cards and repossessed cars while facing two real-estate fraud lawsuits. Parscale, a member of the board, hired Eric Trump’s wife, Lara, for an undisclosed amount. DDT hasn’t said anything about the stock market since its volatility in early February, but his announcement of tariffs—25 percent on steels and 10 percent on aluminum—caused the markets to plummet again this week. A president can legally impose tariffs with proof that imports threaten U.S. national security. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross doesn’t believe in the significant “trickle-down” possibility of price hikes with taxes on imports. All DDT’s advisers and the GOP legislators opposed the move except the Commerce Department. Just days before the announcement, DDT’s former adviser Carl Icahn sold $31.3 million of stock in Manitowoc, a manufacturer relying on steel. It is the first time that Icahn trade these stocks in two years. DDT’s answer to global concerns both foreign and domestic is that “trade wars are good and easy to win.” Traumatized by the tariffs, the GOP is also suffering from DDT’s statement: “I like taking the guns. Take the guns first, go through due process second.” The only gun position DDT has consistently kept this week is to arm the teachers, despite objections from diverse groups. Evidence supporting the insanity of arming teachers come from increasing news such as the “Teacher of the Year” in Georgia who fired a gun in his classroom this week, the six-year-old who found his teacher’s gun that had been left on the back of a toilet and the third-grader who reached into an armed guard holster and fired his gun. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto won’t be coming to visit DDT— Peña Nieto’s second cancellation since DDT’s inauguration because DDT won’t admit that Mexico won’t be building the wall. Mexican officials said that DDT “lost his temper” during the 50-minute telephone call; U.S. officials called him frustrated and exasperated. DHS Director Kirstjen Nielsen has canceled her visit to Mexico. Jared Kushner was in charge of U.S.-Mexico relationships. More to come about appointments, resignations, lawsuits, etc. during Week 58. Remember when Congress passed the last stall to the spending bill on January 22, 2018? That was the one they passed because they couldn’t meet the December 21, 2017 deadline when they couldn’t meet the October 1, 2017 deadline. No problem! They claimed they could get a spending bill in three weeks. Everyone knew they couldn’t. The House passed an unconstitutional anti-abortion bill that lost in the Senate, and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) deliver the dud memo that DDT thought would save him from an investigation. It did garner Nunes’ opponent, Democrat Andrew Janz, $300,000 for his campaign in 72 hours. And Congressional members also wandered off to West Virginia for most of a working week while hitting a garbage truck on the way. The next deadline is this Thursday, and nothing has been done to move forward on it. Republicans promised to deal with the immigration issue but only holds the DACA Dreamers hostage. The next spending bill delay piles the bill on top of a DACA immigration deadline on March 5 and the debt ceiling, a month closer to early March because the Treasury is giving handouts to the wealthy and big corporations. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is already taking extraordinary actions to pay the nation’s bills by suspending payments into federal employee retiree, health and disability funds. This time of the year is harder on the treasury because of income tax returns. Last year’s budget deficit was $666 billion, the largest since the recession recovery in 2013. DDT claimed that he fired former FBI director James Comey because the agency was in “turmoil, but it was the firing that created chaos within the FBI. Both Comey’s and Andrew McCabe’s firings from DDT’s politicization have been responsible for the demoralized environment that has grown only worse from the smear memo from Nunes’ memo. about the surveillance warrant request for Carter Page. Even some Republicans are withdrawing from Nunes and his memo, rejecting the idea that the memo exonerates DDT. If not outright “misrepresenting” facts, the memo omits information about the research and documents including the background going back at least three years before Page’s involvement with DDT. In August 2013, Page bragged about being an “informal advisor” to the Kremlin. In the memo, Nunes claimed that the FBI didn’t know anything about Page’s Russian connections until Christopher Steele’s dossier of summer 2016 that was paid for by Democrats after conservatives stopped paying for the investigation into DDT. Discovering that people were not buying his take on the FISA warrant for Page, Nunes switched his focus to George Papadopoulos, asking why there was no warrant for him. Then Nunes left out information about Papadopoulos when he said he didn’t deserve a warrant, claiming that he only got drunk in London and criticized Hillary Clinton instead of the report that he told a diplomat about getting hacked emails with “dirt” on Clinton. He even claimed that DDT had never met Papadopoulos (center left), but a small meeting with the two of them in 2016 is documented in a photo from a campaign meeting. In an effort to take attention away from his nothing-burger memo, Nunes told Sean Hannity that the real Russian collaborator is the Hillary Clinton that weaponized the FBI against DDT. Nunes claimed that the memo shows a “clear link” between Russia and the Clinton campaign, although the memo only mentions that the Clinton campaign paid for part of Steele’s dossier. Missing from the memo—and Nunes’ talking points—is that a conservative group initially commissioned the investigation on DDT because he was obviously the GOP presidential campaign. Ellen Nakashima explained in the WaPo that another Nunes point in the memo was also wrong: the application for surveilling Page came from a political source, according to the request. Asked about this discrepancy on Fox & Friends, Nunes said the information was not good enough because it was in small print in a footnote: “A footnote saying something may be political is a far cry from letting the American people know that the Democrats and the Hillary campaign paid for dirt that the FBI then used to get a warrant on an American citizen to spy on another campaign.” Failing to successfully communicate his lie about the memo vindicating him, DDT grew more desperate last Monday morning with a smear tweet about the Democratic senator from California with fake stories about his leaking information, “Little Adam Schiff …. Must be stopped!” During his tweets last weekend, DDT clearly indicated he approved the memo in order to block the investigation into Russian meddling with the presidential election. The popularity of #release the memo came from “bots,” computational propaganda capable of sending massive numbers of social media messages which led to bots claiming they weren’t bots. The “fake” news from bots is changing behavior as shown in this detailed explanation of how a bot “personalizes” with “fake” photos and disseminates fake information about progressive causes. The House Intelligence Committee has unanimously voted to release the Democratic memo that refutes much of what Nunes wrote. Once again, the ball is in DDT’s court. He has five days to decide whether to release or block it—probably while spweeting (sputter-tweeting?) more about Schiff “leaking” information. The committee can vote to override DDT if he blocks the release, and it can be read into the House record. DDT has called Nunes a “Great American Hero.” The committee chair said he is keeping secret his “Phase Two” of the GOP investigation to focus on the State Department’s role in the early states of Russian investigation. Almost a year ago, Nunes recused himself from any investigations related to Russia because of an ethics charge that he was giving information to the White House. Charges were dropped last December, but his behavior may call on more ethics charges. Republicans report that as many as five more memos may appear, sure to provide more cover for DDT and avoid the nasty problems of the spending bill and the debt ceiling. While the media buzz was primarily about Nunes’ memo, DDT set another record: today’s Dow Jones fall of 1,179 was the biggest ever, not even close to the 777 points lost on September 29, 2008. On the same day, the S&P lost its entire January gain, and the Nasdaq was down for the seventh of the last nine days. The Dow loss is on top of over a 1,000+ drop last week; the value equals a loss of over $1 trillion in the first five days of February. Although some people blame the upcoming increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, others say the reason is the rising bond market as the U.S. Treasury is borrowing more money. It has to pay for all those tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations. Last year, investors ignored the possibilities of a trade war with China, a nuclear war with North Korea, and other fear that might have been discouraging to the stock market. The removal of regulations, especially for Wall Street, encouraged them to buy, buy, buy—driving the Dow Jones index up 10,000 points in the ninth year of its boom. Now the cheap money from global central banks may disappear with rising interest rates. GOP said that the tax cut would cause big corporations to invest in businesses and hire more workers. Instead, corporations are sheltering more and more of their money or buying back ownership in their companies, an action that briefly drove up stocks. Rising wages and interest rates are a sign of inflation which the Fed will try to ward off by raising the interest rates again. Janet Yellen, who kept rates low, is no longer the Federal Reserve chair, and investors don’t know what the new chair, Jerome H. Powell, will do. Energy corporations lack high earnings, resulting in the biggest drops in stock value, and health stocks were badly hurt by three large companies creating their own health care company for their employees. Tech stocks went down, and the new Apple I 8 and X phone suffered a downturn in sales. Oil prices went down. There’s not a crash, but the market may be “correcting,” a euphemism for going down. Kellyanne Conway celebrated her one-year anniversary after inventing the term “alternative facts” by doubling down on the appropriateness of the GOP fictional perspective. In a radio interview, she decried the practice of fact-checking by saying that “Americans are their own fact-checkers” and they “have their own facts.” She added that “the stock market is something [Americans] know about because they’re part of the investor class,” forgetting that fewer than half of those “Americans” have any involvement in the stock market and pretending that the stock market equals the economy. (Maybe her next statement could be “ignorance is knowledge”?) All these people who Conway referenced will now know that the stock market dropped eight percent in as many days. February 2, 2018 The Memo is out! For weeks, Fox’s Sean Hannity has been calling on Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) to release a document that would destroy the Robert Mueller investigation into the Russia’s collusion to win the presidential election for DDT. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), who got his spin for the memo from the White House, pushed the release of misleading, inaccurate information to protect DDT with the vote of his GOP members of the Intelligence Committee, who also unanimously denied the Democrats to release any information. After the memo was approved, Nunes changed the memo because he gave it to DDT, and the White House could then make more changes, also not approved by the committee, before permitting its release. Both DDT’s FBI director, Christopher Wray, and National Intelligence director, Dan Coats, warned DDT that the memo’s information was inaccurate and compromised classified information. DDT didn’t even read the document before he agreed to its release. The memo accuses the FBI and DOJ of abusing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act when he it obtained a warrant to surveil an adviser for DDT’s campaign because the reason was misleading. The FBI and DOJ first applied for a warrant on October 21, 2016 to surveil Carter Page. A renewal was required every 90 days. Three signers of a warrant—James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Sally Yates—have been fired; two, Dana Boente and Rod Rosenstein, remain in the government. Rod Rosenstein may be fired because he might not be willing to fire Robert Mueller. Nunes claimed that Christopher Steele, paid to prepare a dossier on DDT, told a senior DOJ official that he wanted to be sure that DDT didn’t get elected with no evidence of any bias against Page, the subject of the warrant. The memo also claims that no warrant would have been obtained without the Steele dossier, but there is no evidence about this except private testimony that others claim has been “mischaracterized.” The FBI had considered Page might be a target of Russian intelligence long before he became involved with DDT after Page met a Russian spy in 2013. The document’s conclusion concentrates on the text messages between two FBI employees that, according to the memo, illustrated “a clear bias against Trump and in favor of [Hillary] Clinton, whom Strzok had also investigated.” Yet other Peter Strzok text messages are equally critical of Clinton, and he co-drafted the letter about publicizing the text messages related to Clinton 11 days before the election, an action that may have elected DDT. With no evidence, Nunes’ memo blames the employees for leaking information to the media. The released document had only one surprise, that George Papadopoulos was responsible for initiating the FBI investigation after he bragged to an Australian diplomat over drinks in London that the Russians have dirt on Hillary Clinton before the hack on the DNC emails became public. Concerned about the Russian involvement, the diplomat warned the FBI. Papadopoulos is testifying to Robert Mueller. In the past, Nunes demonstrated strong support for greater surveillance, voting for the expansion of the National Security Agency’s warrantless program and helping block others who wanted to restrict the agency from spying on U.S. citizens. He also rejected a suggestion to release the FBI/DOJ request for the warrant, redacted for classified information and privacy, to show what information was used in the court affidavit. From his ranch in Arizona, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) issued a statement about Nunes’ release of the memo: “In 2016, the Russian government engaged in an elaborate plot to interfere in an American election and undermine our democracy. Russia employed the same tactics it has used to influence elections around the world, from France and Germany to Ukraine, Montenegro and beyond. The latest attacks against the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests ― no party’s, no President’s, only Putin’s. The American people deserve to know all the facts surrounding Russia’s ongoing efforts to subvert our democracy, which is why Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation must proceed unimpeded. Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the lens of politics and manufacturing political sideshows. If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him.” Nunes apparently jobbed out the writing of his memo. His aides wrote the document, and he didn’t even see the warrant. Only one Democrat and one Republican, plus staff, are permitted to see these warrants. Nunes assigned the task to Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC). Therefore, Nunes cannot know whether his own document is accurate. The day after Nunes announced the release of the memo, Gowdy abruptly announced that he would not be running for re-election. Swept in with the 2010 Tea Party epidemic, Gowdy became famous with his incessant grilling of Hillary Clinton over four deaths at a diplomatic outpost in Benghazi (Libya) in 2012. One of the almost dozen “interviews” lasted about eleven hours and revealed no new information. By 2016, Gowdy admitted that Clinton was not responsible. Gowdy’s other persecution of Clinton was her private email server although he himself used private email instead of a government server. He said he wants to return to the justice system, and the 4th Circuit Court has a vacancy. may have his eye on an appointment for the 4th Circuit Court. Over 40 House GOP members of the 115th Congress are already not running in this year’s election. Nunes has used his power to cover for DDT by refusing to investigate Russian interference. He is controlling the Republicans in the House: even House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) won’t disagree with his unethical actions and claims “malfeasance” in the FBI. Nunes also announced his release of the memo when DDT said that he would not follow a law by Congress requiring new sanctions on Russia when DDT’s CIA director, Mike Pompeo, has “every expectation that they will continue” trying to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections. The GOP promised that Nunes’ memo would be “worse than Watergate.” Watchers of Sean Hannity and Fox will have an entirely different perspective of the memo than the rest of the world. And DDT will be delighted because he gets all his advice from Fox. He told friends that the release of the memo would allow him to argue FBI prejudice against him. Most people, however, as saying, “That’s it?” The memo. Russia This Week: DDT backed off on his guarantee because lawyers are afraid that he’ll lie to them. Seventy-one percent of people in the U.S. agree that he should agree to an interview with Mueller, and 82 percent of them want it under oath—93 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans. Mark Corallo, DDT’s legal team spokesman who resigned last summer from concern that he might be exposed to obstruction, agreed to meet with Robert Mueller. His testimony involves Hope Hicks, communications director, who loves DDT “like a father,” who said in front of DDT with no lawyer present that the emails written by Donald Trump Jr. leading up to the Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer “will never get out.” Corallo notified the legal team about the conversation and took notes as well as sharing his concerns with Steve Bannon. DDT had insisted that the statement maintain that Jr.’s meeting was about Russian adoptions. Jr. insisted on the addition of the word “primarily” about the meeting subject. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asked DDT for help before his testimony at the House Judiciary Committee to keep Rep. Devin Nunes from getting “sensitive documents.” In this December visit, DDT asked about the direction of the investigation and whether Rosenstein was “on my team,” similar to questions he posed to James Comey before he fired him and then Andrew McCabe who is also gone. DDT also proposed questions to the committee for Rod Rosenstein, including whether Rosenstein picked Mueller as investigator because Mueller wasn’t chosen for FBI director. July 2017: Congress imposed new sanctions on Russia for election meddling with a deadline. Senate passed the bill by 98-2. DDT signed the bill with a note of protest and an angry tweet. He then missed all the deadlines. January 29, 2018: Deadline for sanctions. Otherwise, DDT will flout Congress and violate the law. DDT announced he won’t be following the law. At the same time, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats met with two top Russian spy chiefs. Reuters found out by reading Russian media. March 24, 2017 When Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) signed S. 442 with $19.5 billion, the NASA Transition Authorization Act, I thought, “Finally! He did something positive!” Ha! Nope. With a $200 million increase (one percent), the bill is the first time the mission does not include earth science, including climate research, diverging from six GOP administrations and five Democratic ones. DDT’s budget from last week cuts out several NASA initiatives, including the Office of Education, and terminates the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE), Orbital Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3), Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), and CLARREO Pathfinder missions. Through monitoring and predicting weather, climates, and ecosystems, these four satellites help save lives and prepare the nation for long-term changes. The biggest failure for both DDT and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) was Trumpcare’s failure, after Ryan postponed the bill on Thursday and completely pulled the bill today because it was short on votes. Ryan thought he could push it through in three weeks, passing it almost exactly one year after the Affordable Care Act passed Congress. DDT thought he could get the votes by threatening House Republicans with losing the 2018 election if they didn’t vote for it. He had already lied about convincing people to vote for the bill, and his threat picked up ten more “no” votes from representatives who wanted to completely destroy the Affordable Care Act. Ryan decided that he could win over the scorched-earth naysayers by taking away ten Essential Health Benefits mandated for insurance coverage: outpatient care, ER visits, hospitalization, maternity and newborn care, mental health and addiction treatment, prescription drugs, rehabilitative services, lab services, preventive care, and pediatric services. Far beyond “health care light,” the bill ended up being “health care no.” That change lost less far-right voters, and it failed even after DDT sent white supremacist Steve Bannon and congenital liar Kellyanne Conway to Capitol Hill on a mission of gathering votes and passing along DDT’s threat that he would drop support for health reform if they didn’t vote on Friday. Another huge failure for DDT came Monday when FBI Director James Comey announced that President Obama didn’t wiretap DDT’s phones in Trump Tower, as DDT claimed, but that intelligence is continuing its investigation into the possible collusion between his campaign and Russia. DDT’s source for his false contention that Britain helped the former president in wiretapping, frequent Fox guest Andrew Napolitano, has disappeared, at least temporarily, from the network, and DDT looked like a fool during his press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel when he talked about it. Fox eventually said that the network “cannot confirm Judge Napolitano’s commentary.” In an attempt to spare DDT more embarrassment, the Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), past member of DDT’s transition team and chair of the committee investigating DDT and Russia, has called off hearings to block testimonies from former DNI director James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Nunes also backed down from his assertion that U.S. intelligence was “monitoring” DDT and his aides. On Wednesday, the third day of hearings for DDT’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, the normally split Supreme Court overturned one of Gorsuch’s decisions in which he ruled that schools were not required to provide education for disabled students. And DDT had other failures. DDT, who said he would pick the “very best people,” selected Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State. During his recent Asian trip, Tillerson told the only reporter on board that he didn’t want the job but took it because “my wife told me I’m supposed to do this.” Not everyone agrees. Tillerson has dodged the press, refused to answer question, failed to defend his department from a one-third budget cut, threatened to attack North Korea without further diplomacy, bailed on some responsibilities in Asia because of “fatigue,” and then planned to visit Russia instead of attending a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. About rejecting the press, Tillerson said, “I’m not a big media press access person. I personally don’t need it.” He also failed to hold a press conference for the release of the annual human rights report. It was the first time in the report’s 40-year history that this has happened. His inaction has also led to several vacant leadership positions in the State Department. And that was just the last week. To Tillerson, diplomacy doesn’t work so the nation is vastly increasing its military budget. According to Tillerson’s version of diplomacy while ExxonMobil CEO, he kept quiet and let governments manage their own domestic politics. This narrow definition of “diplomacy” strikes bargains on the basis of private interests. Missing are interviews, press conferences, social media, and speeches to simultaneously address and shape public and legislative opinion simultaneously in multiple countries. Without credibility from Tillerson and DDT, past allies won’t be supporting the U.S. in its hawkish moves. DDT’s honeymoon with Wall Street may be over, gone from starry eyes to bloodshot realism. Tuesday was the biggest Dow Jones drop of seven consecutive days of decreases. On the same day, the nine biggest Wall Street firms lost $81.6 billion in value, and the wider banking industry fell about 4 percent—again the worst single day for banks since the Brexit vote in June. Last week, the Dow dropped 1.5 percent, the largest since last September. An uncertain future for Ryan’s health care plan has made Wall Street wonder if tax reform will follow the same pattern. Without the giant tax cuts for the wealthy, vast sums of money won’t be funneled back to the rich (aka investors). Tax cuts are bad for the economy but good for the bloated financial markets. With today’s 60-point drop in the Dow, Goldman Sachs stock was the worst of the 21 losing blue chips, down 1.5 percent. DDT’s interview with the conservative Time came out with this striking cover (right). Some of his unbalanced (insane?) comments: Evidence for President Obama’s wiretapping conspiracy: “I have articles saying it happened.” Credibility in him: “The country believes me. Hey. I went to Kentucky two nights ago, we had 25,000 people in a massive basketball arena. There wasn’t a seat, they had to send away people.” Belief in conspiracy theory that linked Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) father Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald: “That was in a newspaper [that] had a picture of Ted Cruz, his father, and Lee Harvey Oswald, having breakfast.” Insistence on forming a committee to find the three million “illegal” voters costing him the popular vote victory against Hillary Clinton: “If you take a look at the votes, when I say that, I mean mostly they register wrong, in other words, for the votes, they register incorrectly, and/or illegally.” A Gallup poll released Monday morning showed that DDT continues to break records across all age groups with his historic unpopularity. The Huffington Post reports that his job approval has fallen to an abysmal 37 percent, “lower than any other president at this point in his first term since Gallup started tracking the numbers 72 years ago in 1945.” Among millennials, DDT’s approval rating is 22 percent. How empty is the man inaugurated last January 20? The White House posted this “official” photo of the Oval Office in the White House 1600 Daily.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;; Copyright (C) Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies. All rights reserved. ;;; Written by mortene@sim.no, 2000-09-26. ;;; Eval following region ;; Make scene-graph and first viewer (define text (new-sotext3)) (define interpolatefloat (new-sointerpolatefloat)) (-> (-> text 'string) 'connectFrom (-> interpolatefloat 'output)) (define viewer (new-soxtexaminerviewer)) (-> viewer 'setscenegraph text) (-> viewer 'show) ;;; End initial eval-region ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;; Test input fields of SoInterpolateFloat engine, play around ;;;;;;;;;;;; (set-mfield-values! (-> interpolatefloat 'input0) 0 '(0 1 2 3)) (set-mfield-values! (-> interpolatefloat 'input1) 0 '(1 2 0 3)) (-> (-> interpolatefloat 'alpha) 'setvalue 0.1) ;; Copy the scenegraph. (define viewer-copy (new-soxtexaminerviewer)) (-> viewer-copy 'setscenegraph (-> (-> viewer 'getscenegraph) 'copy 1)) (-> viewer-copy 'show) ;; Export scenegraph with engine. (define writeaction (new-sowriteaction)) (-> writeaction 'apply (-> viewer 'getscenegraph)) ;; Read scenegraph with engine in it. (let ((buffer "#Inventor V2.1 ascii\n\n Text3 { string \"\" = InterpolateFloat { alpha 0.7 input0 [ 0, 1 ] input1 [ 2, 3] } . output }") (input (new-soinput))) (-> input 'setbuffer (void-cast buffer) (string-length buffer)) (let ((sceneroot (sodb::readall input))) (-> viewer 'setscenegraph sceneroot) (-> viewer 'viewall))) ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;; Confirmed and potential bugs. ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;; Fixed bugs and false alarms (ex-possible bugs) ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;;;; scratch area ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (-> (-> text 'justification) 'setValue SoText3::CENTER) (-> (-> text 'parts) 'setValue SoText3::ALL) (-> (-> text 'string) 'disconnect) (-> viewer 'viewAll)	{ "pile_set_name": "Github" }
WASHINGTON — Salvatore Giunta, caught in a nighttime ambush in eastern Afghanistan, stepped into a “wall of bullets” and chased down two Taliban fighters who were carrying a mortally wounded friend away. Three years later, the Army staff sergeant on Tuesday became the first living service member since the Vietnam War to receive the nation’s top military award, the Medal of Honor. Far from the perilous ridge where his unit was attacked, Giunta, now 25, stood in the glittering White House East Room, in the company of military brass, past Medal of Honor winners, his surviving comrades and families as President Obama hung the blue ribbon cradling the medal around Giunta’s neck. Most Read Stories “I really like this guy,” Obama said earlier in an off-script remark that drew applause. “When you meet Sal and you meet his family, you are just absolutely convinced that this is what America is all about.” The Hiawatha, Iowa, man was an Army specialist on the night of Oct. 25, 2007. He and other soldiers of Company B, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment were part of a campaign to provide food, winter clothing and medical care to Afghans in remote villages. They were ambushed from three sides in the Korengal Valley, a since-abandoned region of Kunar province after months of patrols that cost the U.S. military 42 American lives. “The moon was full; the light it cast was enough to travel by without using their night-vision goggles,” Obama said, with Giunta standing at his side, looking straight ahead. “They hadn’t traveled a quarter-mile before the silence was shattered. It was an ambush so close that the cracks of the guns and the whizzes of the bullets were simultaneous.” The two lead squad men went down. So did a third who was struck in the helmet. Giunta charged into the wall of bullets to pull him to safety, Obama said. Giunta was hit twice but was protected by his body armor. The sergeant could see the other two wounded Americans, Obama recounted. By now, the East Room was so silent you could hear a rustle from across the room. One Army officer took out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes. Giunta looked down as the president described how he and his squad mates threw grenades, using them as cover to run toward the wounded soldiers. All this, they did under constant fire, Obama said. Finally, they reached one of the men. As other soldiers tended to him, Giunta sprinted ahead. “He crested a hill alone with no cover but the dust kicked up by the storm of bullets still biting into the ground,” Obama said. There, Giunta saw “a chilling sight”: the silhouettes of two insurgents carrying away the other wounded American — one of his best friends, Sgt. Joshua C. Brennan. Giunta leapt forward and fatally shot one insurgent while wounding the other. The soldier rushed to his friend, dragged him to cover, then tried to stop the bleeding, for 30 minutes, until help arrived. Brennan died of his wounds. So did Spc. Hugo V. Mendoza, the platoon medic. Five others were wounded. “It had been as intense and violent a firefight as any soldier will experience,” Obama said. “By the time it was finished, every member of First Platoon had shrapnel or a bullet hole in their gear.” The ceremony, which followed the formal announcement of the honor in September, was attended by members of Giunta’s family and his unit, as well as top military officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Other Medal of Honor recipients also were present. “You may believe that you don’t deserve this honor,” Obama told Giunta, “but it was your fellow soldiers who recommended you for it. In fact, your commander specifically said in his recommendation that you lived up to the standards of the most decorated American soldier of World War II, Audie Murphy, who famously repelled an overwhelming enemy attack by himself for one simple reason: ‘They were killing my friends.’ “ Speaking to reporters later, Giunta said the honor was “bittersweet.” “I lost two dear friends of mine,” he said. “I would give this back in a second to have my friends with me right now.” Obama called Giunta, who also has a Bronze Star to his credit, “a soldier as humble as he is heroic.” “He’ll tell you that he didn’t do anything special, that he was just doing his job, that any of his brothers in the unit would do the same thing,” the president said during the ceremony. “In fact, he just lived up to what his team leader instructed him to do years before: ‘You do everything you can.’ “ Compiled from The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Tribune Washington bureau.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Large cerebral arteriovenous malformation presenting with venous ischemia in the contralateral hemisphere. Case report. The authors report a rare case in which a large cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) located in the left parietooccipital region presented with venous ischemia in the contralateral hemisphere. A 74-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because he was experiencing a loss of appetite, disorientation, and left hemiparesis. Computerized tomography scans revealed a low-density area in the right temporal lobe. Angiography demonstrated a large AVM in the left parietooccipital lobe and dilation, stagnation, and meanders of cortical veins in the contralateral hemisphere. The authors speculated that the elevated sinus pressure caused by a huge venous return of blood from the AVM produced venous ischemia in the contralateral hemisphere.	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts" }
Tight Tight may refer to: General High and tight, a hairstyle typical in the U.S. military Tight end, a position in American football on the offensive team Tight playing style, in poker, a style of play which means to rarely call/play a hand Clothing Skin-tight garment, a garment that is held to the skin by elastic tension Tights, a type of leg coverings fabric extending from the waist to feet Tightlacing, the practice of wearing a tightly-laced corset Tighty-whiteys, a derogatory term for men's or boys' classic briefs Mathematics Tight frame, a mathematical term defining the bounding conditions of a vector space Tightness of measures, a concept in measure (and probability) theory Science and technology Tight gas, natural gas which is difficult to access Tight oil, shale oil which is difficult to access American car racing term for when the car is understeering Music Tight (Mindless Self Indulgence album), 1999 Tight (Hank Crawford album), 1996 "Tight" (song), a song by INXS "Tight", a song by The Coup from their 2001 album Party Music Slang Miser Drunkenness Cool (aesthetic)	{ "pile_set_name": "Wikipedia (en)" }
Sometimes words aren’t enough. They get in the way, or don’t express what it is you’re feeling, what it is you want to get across. Eddie Garcia deals with those things. Armed with a guitar and a wide assortment of stomp boxes and electronics he releases thoughtful, internal, mood heavy music under the name 1970s Film Stock. Birds, his second album is out August 11 and we have the premiere for you right now. There is a feeling of wanting to take flight across these seven songs, but it is flight that doesn’t ever really come. One is reminded of dreaming of bigger and better, locked in their room, wanting to leave it all but things like responsibility, physical means, or just good old-fashioned fear clip our wings and keeps us grounded to the confines of the same old life. The title song opens the album with this yearning, a wanting to be free. But it’s a song that never quite opens up and takes flight, much like our caged in protagonist. “In View” and “Slack” continue that feeling of looking ahead and dreaming but dreaming is all it is. The reality never lets it take root and develop fully. “Sling for Skeletons” lashes out at this reality. With its Carpenter like pulse underneath, it roils and simmers into an anger that wants to unleash and is dangerously close to doing so. “We’re Not Going Anywhere,” maybe resigned to the life it’s living, looks to express the beauty in the life it does have. “Walk Away” is the new day dawning. It’s now or never the guitar pleads with itself, but it can’t find it within to break free. “Victory Repeating” feels like a play on words. It does have the feeling of finally soaring but it repeats the same line over and over, like it’s trying to convince itself. Of course, this is all highly subjective. This is the beauty of instrumental music. It is open for you to assign the meaning, to lay it over the framework of whatever structure your life has. To place it within your own context, to let it guide and soundtrack your late nights, early mornings, and in betweens. What do you hear through the notes? What feeling does it invoke deep down? There’s only one way to find out.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Show HN: Test and edit tilejson in the browser - andrewljohnson http://static.gaiagps.com/tilejson-tester/ ====== andrewljohnson This is a pretty quick hack we did, because tilejson is useful in our apps, and we started to get lots of support requests for help making/importing files. ------ detaro Error 404?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
La direction régionale de la santé a déclaré à un correspondant de Nessma, que 9 employés de l’hôpital régional de Sidi...	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
IMG_2905.JPG Police detour vehicles on Manor Road on Tuesday, after another evacuation at Susan Wagner High School. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Susan Wagner High School in Sea View has apparently been evacuated for the second day in a row on Tuesday. The evacuation also marks the third time in a week students were led outside the building, apparently for safety concerns. Tuesday's evacuation occurred around 10 a.m. Brielle Avenue was closed to traffic by police vehicles, and students were gathered outside the school. Councilman Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) arrived at the school. Students began posting about it on Twitter. @SINYCliving @silivedotcom And once again it's 10:00 AM and Susan Wagner HS has been evacuated. This is becoming a very disturbing pattern — Ralph (@goodazkinbee) May 19, 2015 Wagner just needs to change its name to Susan E Isis already 💯😂😂😒 — Sin of pride ⚜️ (@SimplyJustKing) May 19, 2015 After an unfounded bomb threat sparked the school's evacuation on Monday, police took a suspect into custody. The suspect responsible for Monday morning's bomb scare at Susan Wagner High School taunted the school's principal in an e-mail, according to police. "Hey, congrats, man. You missed all four bombs. In (sic) blowing them up in 20 minutes," the suspect wrote, according to an NYPD spokeswoman. An unfounded bomb threat issued last week also forced the school's evacuation.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 #include <sys/types.h> #include <errno.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> #include <regex.h> #include "../../../util/debug.h" #include "../../../util/header.h" static inline void cpuid(unsigned int op, unsigned int a, unsigned int b, unsigned int c, unsigned int d) { __asm__ __volatile__ (".byte 0x53\n\tcpuid\n\t" "movl %%ebx, %%esi\n\t.byte 0x5b" : "=a" (a), "=S" (b), "=c" (c), "=d" (d) : "a" (op)); } static int __get_cpuid(char buffer, size_t sz, const char fmt) { unsigned int a, b, c, d, lvl; int family = -1, model = -1, step = -1; int nb; char vendor[16]; cpuid(0, &lvl, &b, &c, &d); strncpy(&vendor[0], (char )(&b), 4); strncpy(&vendor[4], (char )(&d), 4); strncpy(&vendor[8], (char )(&c), 4); vendor[12] = '\0'; if (lvl >= 1) { cpuid(1, &a, &b, &c, &d); family = (a >> 8) & 0xf; / bits 11 - 8 / model = (a >> 4) & 0xf; / Bits 7 - 4 / step = a & 0xf; / extended family / if (family == 0xf) family += (a >> 20) & 0xff; / extended model / if (family >= 0x6) model += ((a >> 16) & 0xf) << 4; } nb = scnprintf(buffer, sz, fmt, vendor, family, model, step); / look for end marker to ensure the entire data fit / if (strchr(buffer, '$')) { buffer[nb-1] = '\0'; return 0; } return ENOBUFS; } int get_cpuid(char buffer, size_t sz) { return __get_cpuid(buffer, sz, "%s,%u,%u,%u$"); } char * get_cpuid_str(struct perf_pmu pmu __maybe_unused) { char buf = malloc(128); if (buf && __get_cpuid(buf, 128, "%s-%u-%X-%X$") < 0) { free(buf); return NULL; } return buf; } /* Full CPUID format for x86 is vendor-family-model-stepping / static bool is_full_cpuid(const char id) { const char tmp = id; int count = 0; while ((tmp = strchr(tmp, '-')) != NULL) { count++; tmp++; } if (count == 3) return true; return false; } int strcmp_cpuid_str(const char mapcpuid, const char id) { regex_t re; regmatch_t pmatch[1]; int match; bool full_mapcpuid = is_full_cpuid(mapcpuid); bool full_cpuid = is_full_cpuid(id); / * Full CPUID format is required to identify a platform. * Error out if the cpuid string is incomplete. / if (full_mapcpuid && !full_cpuid) { pr_info("Invalid CPUID %s. Full CPUID is required, " "vendor-family-model-stepping\n", id); return 1; } if (regcomp(&re, mapcpuid, REG_EXTENDED) != 0) { / Warn unable to generate match particular string. / pr_info("Invalid regular expression %s\n", mapcpuid); return 1; } match = !regexec(&re, id, 1, pmatch, 0); regfree(&re); if (match) { size_t match_len = (pmatch[0].rm_eo - pmatch[0].rm_so); size_t cpuid_len; / If the full CPUID format isn't required, * ignoring the stepping. / if (!full_mapcpuid && full_cpuid) cpuid_len = strrchr(id, '-') - id; else cpuid_len = strlen(id); / Verify the entire string matched. */ if (match_len == cpuid_len) return 0; } return 1; }	{ "pile_set_name": "Github" }
Q: Scroll div top on page load then set scroll to work normally I have a chat system on my site and defaulted the message div position to always display the last message on page load. I accomplished this by using the following line of code: msgDiv = document.getElementById('message_row_large'); msgDiv.scrollTop = msgDiv.scrollHeight; However, this code sets the scroll position to be equal to the div height at all times, which doesn't allow users to scroll up and see other messages. I need to re-enable scroll to its default functionality after the page loads. ANy help is welcome. Thank you! P.S. I am using ajax to load chat messages. When user clicks on a name on the left hand panel, the chat between him/her and the other person loads on the right hand panel. A: Try $display = $('#message_row_large'); $display.animate({scrollTop: $display[0].scrollHeight }, 'fast'); Working Fiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/cshanno/3bo48dxj/1/	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
927 F.Supp. 171 (1996) Ernest HALFHILL, d/b/a Halfhill Trucking, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES of America INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, Defendant. Civil Action No. 95-484. United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania. March 7, 1996. 172 173 Stephen I. Richman, Ceisler, Richman & Smith, Washington, PA, Gerald P. Duff, Lodge L. Hanlon, John G. Paleudis, Todd M. Kildow, Hanlon, Duff, Paleudis & Estadt, St. Clairsville, OH, for plaintiff. Michelle O. Gutzmer, United States Attorney's Office, Pittsburgh, PA, Charles M. Flesch, Robert S. Attardo, United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, Washington, DC, for United States of America Internal Revenue Service. MEMORANDUM OPINION BLOCH, District Judge. Presently before the Court is defendant's motion for partial summary judgment. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, the Court will grant the defendant's motion. I. Background The facts of record are as follows. In 1978, plaintiff purchased a tractor trailer and started a trucking company called Halfhill Trucking (HT), a sole proprietorship. Plaintiff operated HT as a leasing venture; that is, plaintiff leased HT's truck to various interstate commerce carriers and also provided a truck driver who hauled loads for the carriers. During 1978 and the first half of 1979, plaintiff's son, Ken Halfhill (Halfhill), was HT's sole truck driver. Although Halfhill's primary duty was to drive the truck, Halfhill also had the authority to negotiate with the carriers regarding future leasing of HT's truck. HT, via plaintiff, paid Halfhill based on a percentage of what the carriers paid to lease the truck. During the 1978-1979 period, plaintiff treated Halfhill as his employee and issued him federal Form W-2's. Plaintiff also paid the required federal employment taxes, including social security and unemployment taxes, on Halfhill's earnings. In the middle of 1979, however, Halfhill left HT and became an employee of Sentle Trucking (Sentle). Plaintiff thus decided to modify HT's business, leasing HT's truck to only one carrier Sentle. Subsequently, in late 1981, Sentle's business was deteriorating and Sentle's exclusive lease with plaintiff expired. Plaintiff did not renew this lease; rather, plaintiff purchased another truck and in 1982 began operating HT in a manner more similar to when plaintiff had started the company. Specifically, HT's trucks were leased to different carriers and Halfhill, who had left Sentle, as well as other individuals, drove HT's trucks for the carriers. All of the drivers of HT's trucks had the authority to negotiate leases with the carriers, and plaintiff paid the drivers based on a percentage of what the carriers paid to lease the trucks, as Halfhill was paid in the past. From 1982 until mid-1990, however, plaintiff did not treat the individuals who drove HT's trucks as employees. Rather, plaintiff considered the drivers, including Halfhill, to be independent contractors for federal tax purposes and, therefore, plaintiff did not pay employment taxes on the drivers' compensation. Eventually, in light of tax assessments levied by the Internal Revenue Service, plaintiff paid employment taxes for his drivers for the second half of 1990 in the amount of $49.24. After paying this amount, plaintiff filed an administrative claim seeking a refund of the same. The IRS denied the plaintiff's administrative claim, and plaintiff instituted the instant action seeking a refund of the employment taxes that he had paid. Plaintiff claims that he is entitled to this refund on the ground that HT's drivers are independent contractors, not his employees. Moreover, plaintiff contends that even if the drivers are his employees, plaintiff is entitled to protection under § 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 which exempts certain employers from tax liability when they have in good faith misclassified their employees as independent contractors. Defendant contests plaintiff's entitlement to a refund, asserting that HT's drivers are, in fact, employees of plaintiff and that plaintiff is not entitled to protection under § 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978. Moreover, defendant filed a counterclaim against plaintiff seeking to recover $222,720.45 of unpaid employment taxes assessed against plaintiff for 174 the 1988 through 1990 tax years. Plaintiff denies liability with regard to the defendant's counterclaim for the same reason that he asserts that he is entitled to a refund. At this time, defendant has moved for summary judgment with regard to the single issue of whether plaintiff is entitled to relief under § 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978.[1] II. Discussion Summary judgment may be granted if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against the party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In considering a motion for summary judgment, this Court must examine the facts in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. Big Apple BMW, Inc. v. BMW of North America, Inc., 974 F.2d 1358, 1363 (3d Cir.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 912, 113 S.Ct. 1262, 122 L.Ed.2d 659 (1993); International Raw Materials, Ltd. v. Stauffer Chemical Co., 898 F.2d 946, 949 (3d Cir.1990). Thus, where the non-moving party's evidence contradicts the movant's, the Court must accept the non-movant's evidence as true. Country Floors, Inc. v. Partnership Composed of Gepner and Ford, 930 F.2d 1056, 1061 (3d Cir.1991). The burden is on the moving party to demonstrate that the evidence creates no genuine issue of material fact. Chipollini v. Spencer Gifts, Inc., 814 F.2d 893, 896 (3d Cir.) (en banc), cert. dismissed, 483 U.S. 1052, 108 S.Ct. 26, 97 L.Ed.2d 815 (1987). Where the non-moving party will bear the burden of proof at trial, the party moving for summary judgment may meet its burden by showing that "the evidentiary materials of record, if reduced to admissible evidence, would be insufficient to carry the non-movant's burden of proof at trial." Id.; Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. at 2552. The non-moving party "must set forth specific facts showing a genuine issue for trial and may not rest upon mere allegations, general denials, or ... vague statements." Quiroga v. Hasbro, Inc., 934 F.2d 497, 500 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 940, 112 S.Ct. 376, 116 L.Ed.2d 327 (1991). If the non-moving party does produce contradictory evidence, however, then the "believability and weight of the evidence remains the province of the factfinder." Big Apple, 974 F.2d at 1363. In this case, defendant asserts that it is entitled to summary judgment with regard to plaintiff's claim that he qualifies for relief from tax liability under § 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978. More specifically, defendant asserts that plaintiff is not entitled to protection under § 530 because he cannot meet § 530's "consistency requirement." Plaintiff, on the other hand, contends that there are material issues of fact in dispute with regard to this claim that preclude a grant of summary judgment. A. Federal employment taxes and § 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 Under the Internal Revenue Code, "employers must pay social security and unemployment taxes on behalf of their employees." Hospital Resource Personnel, Inc. v. United States, 68 F.3d 421, 424 (11th Cir.1995).[2] "These taxes are known collectively as `employment taxes.'" Id. "Employers are only required to ... pay these 175 employment taxes, however, in regard to payments to `employees,' not to `independent contractors.'" Id. "In connection with payments to `independent contractors,' employers only have to send annual information returns, on Form 1099 to the worker and on Forms 1096 and 1099 to the IRS, indicating the income paid [to the independent contractor] during the year." Id.; see also Boles Trucking, Inc. v. United States, No. 95-1826, 77 F.3d 236, 238-39 (8th Cir.1996). In light of these tax consequences, their proper characterization of the employment relationship is vital. Under certain circumstances, however, an employer who has mistakenly treated its employees as independent contractors and has thus failed to pay the required employment taxes may be relieved of its tax liability pursuant to § 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978. Congress created the "safe harbor" provisions of § 530 in order to alleviate "what was perceived as overly zealous pursuit and assessment of taxes and penalties against employers who had, in good faith, misclassified their employees as independent contractors." Boles Trucking, Inc., supra, at 239; see also In re Rasbury, 141 B.R. 752, 761 (N.D.Ala.1992). Section 530 provides in relevant part that: (a) Termination of certain tax liability. (1) In general. If (A) for purposes of employment taxes, the taxpayer did not treat an individual as an employee for any period, and (B) in the case of periods after December 31, 1978, all Federal tax returns (including information returns) required to be filed by the taxpayer with respect to such individual for such period are filed on the basis consistent with the individual not being an employee, then ... the individual shall be deemed not to be an employee unless the taxpayer had no reasonable basis for not treating such individual as an employee. * * * * * * (3) Consistency required in the case of prior tax treatment. Paragraph (1) shall not apply with respect to the treatment of any individual for employment tax purposes ... if the taxpayer (or predecessor) has treated any individual holding a substantially similar position as an employee for purposes of employment taxes for any period beginning after December 31, 1977. Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978, P.L. 95-600, § 530, 92 Stat. 2763 (1978), reprinted in 1978 USCCAN 2.[3] Thus, § 530 is essentially a defense to an otherwise valid claim against a taxpayer who has failed to pay employment taxes because he has treated employees as independent contractors. See Murphy v. United States, No. 93-C-156-S, 1993 WL 559362, at 2 (W.D.Wis. October 22, 1993). "Accordingly, the party claiming § 530 protection has the burden to show entitlement to [such] protection." Id. As made clear by the plain language of § 530, a taxpayer qualifies for relief under § 530 only if the taxpayer can show that: (1) the taxpayer has not treated any individual as an employee who holds a substantially similar position as those classified as independent contractors (the substantial consistency requirement); (2) the taxpayer has filed all required federal tax returns on a basis consistent with the taxpayer's treatment of an individual as an independent contractor (the reporting consistency requirement); and (3) the taxpayer had a reasonable basis for treating the individual as an independent contractor. See, e.g., Henry v. United States, 793 F.2d 289, 291 (Fed.Cir.1986); Henderson v. United States, No. 90-1064, 1992 WL 104326, at 3 (W.D.Mich. February 18, 1992); Murphy, supra, at 2. As one Court has stated, the "keys to gaining access to the [protection of § 530] are found, first, in the consistent treatment of all similarly situated individuals, and second ..., [on] accurate, complete filing of all required tax forms." Erickson v. Commissioner, 172 B.R. 900, 912-13 (D.Minn.1994). 176 B. Application of § 530 to the instant case In this case, however, the Court finds that the evidence of record demonstrates that plaintiff cannot meet the requirements of § 530 set forth above. More specifically, the record demonstrates that plaintiff did not treat all individuals who held similar positions as independent contractors, failing § 530's "substantial consistency requirement." Indeed, plaintiff treated his only driver, Halfhill, as an employee in 1978 and 1979, but from 1982 through 1990, plaintiff treated all the individuals who drove HT's trucks, including Halfhill, as independent contractors. The type of work performed by Halfhill in the 1970's, however, was substantially similar to the work performed by all of the drivers in the 1980's; these individuals drove HT's trucks, negotiated with carriers regarding the leasing of HT's vehicles, and were paid a percentage of what HT's trucks actually earned. Thus, because plaintiff has inconsistently labeled individuals who performed similar job functions, he is not entitled to § 530's shelter. See also Lowen Corp. v. United States, 785 F.Supp. 913, 915-16 (D.Kansas 1992); Erickson, 172 B.R. at 913; Nash v. United States, No. 93-5877, 1995 WL 655588, at *1 (E.D.Pa. November 7, 1995) (all holding that inconsistent treatment of workers precludes relief under § 530).[4] Contrary to the Court's findings, plaintiff has argued that there are material issues of fact in dispute with regard to whether plaintiff has satisfied § 530's consistency requirements. More specifically, plaintiff contends that the evidence indicates that plaintiff actually started a new business in 1982, borrowing the name of his first business. Therefore, plaintiff argues that the fact that he treated Halfhill as an employee in 1978 and 1979 is irrelevant and because he treated all of his drivers consistently for the period that his new business was in operation 1982 through 1990 he is entitled to protection under § 530. The Court, however, finds plaintiff's arguments to be unpersuasive for the following reasons. First, the provisions of § 530 look to whether a "taxpayer" or a "taxpayer's predecessor" has treated workers consistently, not to the actions of a particular business. In this case, plaintiff cannot dispute that he was the same taxpayer from 1978 through 1990.[5] In fact, plaintiff used the same employer identification number on his IRS filings throughout this period. Moreover, a reasonable factfinder could not conclude, based on the record before the Court, that plaintiff ever started a "new" business. Although plaintiff indicated in his deposition that he did so, when questioned more thoroughly, plaintiff stated that he believed he started a new business simply because of the way he treated his drivers for tax purposes. (See defendant's Exhibit A-1, pp. 167-68). This testimony, coupled with the alleged "new" business' same name, function, and ownership as the alleged "old" business, demonstrate that plaintiff did not, in fact, start a different company. Finally, even if plaintiff had started another business, the evidence indicates that the first business was a predecessor of the second business, and the consistency requirements would, therefore, apply to the period that both businesses were in operation, i.e., 1978 through the present. In sum, the Court finds that defendant is entitled to summary judgment with regard to plaintiff's claim to relief under § 530 because the plaintiff cannot satisfy § 530's substantial consistency requirement. Therefore, the Court will grant the defendant's motion for partial summary judgment. NOTES [1] The Court notes, and the defendant does not dispute, that even if the Court grants this motion, plaintiff will still be entitled to a refund if the plaintiff can demonstrate that the drivers of HT's trucks are independent contractors, not employees. [2] Congress has imposed social security taxes on the employer under the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA). 26 U.S.C. § 3101, et seq. Congress has imposed unemployment insurance taxes on the employer under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). 26 U.S.C. § 3301, et seq.; see also Hospital Resource Personnel, Inc., 68 F.3d at 424 n. 5. [3] Although § 530 was never codified, it is reproduced in the notes following § 3401 of the Internal Revenue Code. (See defendant's brief at p. 12, n. 7). [4] The Court also notes that the record demonstrates that plaintiff fails § 530's "reporting consistency requirement" because plaintiff did not file the required federal returns on a basis consistent with his treatment of Halfhill as an independent contractor. The Court need not, however, rely on this ground. [5] HT is a sole proprietorship operated by plaintiff and, therefore, plaintiff is the party responsible for paying taxes for this business.	{ "pile_set_name": "FreeLaw" }
1.. INTRODUCTION ================ The pattern of stresses transferred to the bone have great influence on the success or failure of an orthopedic implant. The evaluation of bone stresses is so complex that it cannot be accomplished analytically, necessitating the application of FEA (Finite Element Analysis) techniques; three types of FE model, axisymmetric, bi-dimensional and three-dimensional, are considered in the literature \[[@R1]-[@R5]\]. Two-dimensional models are flawed in that stresses outside the plane of analysis are disregarded, while 3D models require a large number of elements and, consequently, long calculation times. The axisymmetric model, where the only simplification is that the screw thread is modeled as a disk, can be considered a good compromise between 2D and 3D models. With regard to the constraints, the condition of osseointegration is usually simulated, and the post-operative condition it is rarely considered in the literature \[[@R3],[@R4],[@R6]\]. However, these two conditions produce significantly different results and can be considered the limit conditions under which orthopedic screws operate, so that the analysis of both cases can provide useful information. Two boundary conditions (pull out test; alternative condition) are simulated in the literature \[[@R4],[@R7]\], but the relation between their respective results has not been analyzed. This relation is relevant because the pull out test is the standard test for orthopedic screws, while the screws, once implanted, are subjected to different loading conditions. Regarding bone material, most models in the literature consider bone an isotropic, elastic and homogenous material \[[@R1]-[@R4],[@R7]-[@R9]\], while in reality bone is anisotropic because of its trabecular structure. In this study, bone isotropy was assumed in order to obtain more general results, while bone structure was defined by a single parameter, its volumetric density. In the literature, the geometric and mechanical parameters of the screw generally considered are: pitch \[[@R10],[@R11]\], length, flank angle, and material \[[@R2]-[@R5]\]. Few authors have considered the fillet radius \[[@R4],[@R7]\], while many models have sharp edges \[[@R1],[@R3],[@R12]\]. Little emphasis has been given to screw performance in relation to bone density \[[@R5],[@R13]\] even though it is well known that the density of the bone determines its mechanical properties \[[@R14]-[@R18]\]. The present study evidences that it is not possible to select the appropriate screw without considering bone density. Different models were developed, considering the geometry and mechanical properties of commercial screws, and a parametric analysis was undertaken to assess how the strength of the bone-screw system varies for different values of thread pitch and bone density. Actually, this paper introduces a methodology where a multi-parametric structural numerical analysis is integrated with a multi-factorial analysis in order to be able to summarize a great amount of results and to build predictive analytic models. Overall, it was possible to determine some criteria for system optimization. 2.. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY ============================= Stress analysis required the construction of apposite FE models, which were then validated by means of experimental tests. 2.1.. Finite Element Model -------------------------- The model shown in Fig. ([1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}) was developed using MSC MARC^®^ 2003 software. The bone consists of cortical bone (E =11 GPa, ν=0.33, 5 mm in thickness) and trabecular bone. Two different trabecular bone densities were simulated (Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"}), and their respective mechanical properties were obtained from the relations \[[@R14], [@R16]\]: $$E = 2015 \cdot \mathit{\rho}^{25}$$ $$\mathit{\sigma}_{U} = 0.0042 \cdot E - 0.039$$ where: ρ is bone density (g/cm^3^); E is Young's modulus (MPa); σ~U~ is the ultimate tensile stress (MPa). The bone density values were chosen to simulate recurrent clinical situations (adult patient with mild bone resorbing) and significantly different Young's modulus (1:2 ratio). With regard to the screws, four different constitutive materials were simulated in order to study both currently used materials such as stainless steel (screw models n. 9-10) and titanium Ti6Al4V (screw models n. 3-8), and more innovative solutions such as low stiffness titanium (Ti12Mo5Ta, screw model n.2) and PMMA reinforced by an inner Ti12Mo5T cylinder (screw model n.1); the last two materials have been chosen in order to better approach trabecular bone's Young modulus. The general geometry of the simulated screws and the mesh details are shown in Fig. ([2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}) (symbols as in Table [2](#T2){ref-type="table"}); they were generated from an effectively produced geometry (screw model n. 9), varying all parameters, one by one. All the screw threads were simulated with symmetrical flanks, fillet radii were all equal, and the pitch was constant along the screw axis. The axisymmetric model entails shorter calculation times. The constraints and boundary conditions are shown in Fig. ([1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}): they correspond to the pull out test (Fig. [1a](#F1){ref-type="fig"}) or to an alternative condition, with a different position of the constraint (Fig. [1b](#F1){ref-type="fig"}); this alternative condition should represent a more realistic working condition. According to Saint Venant's, the second condition is equivalent to the first one, however the small displacement hypothesis cannot be assumed a priori in this case, due to the low stiffness of trabecular bone. For both configurations, the immediate post-operative condition and that of complete osseointegration were simulated: the first condition was created through a 'touch' contact between the screw and trabecular bone (whatever displacement is allowed with the exception of penetration), while the second was obtained through a 'glue' contact (the two components are completely bounded to each other). The mean number of elements per model was 7500. 2.2.. Maximum Allowed Force Evaluation -------------------------------------- The maximum allowed force was calculated by iteration (non-linear case), specifying that the maximum stress on the bone must not exceed its ultimate tensile stress. This hypothesis is quite restrictive: actually bone is not a fragile material, tension peaks produce localized plastic deformations and stresses are redistributed over a wider area. However bone is likely to be stressed by dynamic loads and fatigue damage may occur when stress peaks produce a crack which progressively propagates during loading, until structural failure occurs. 2.3.. Experimental Tests ------------------------ The finite element model with 'touch' boundary condition was validated by means of experimental tests. All tests were performed on an hydraulic INSTRON 8872 test machine, equipped with a ±5 kN load cell. Pull out tests \[[@R19]\] were conducted replacing bone by polyurethane foam, as reported in the literature \[[@R20]\]. The mechanical properties of polyurethane foam were determined by ten compression and ten tensile static tests, where a linearly increasing displacement was applied. The nominal stress was calculated from the force, divided by the initial specimen section; the nominal strain was calculated from the current displacement, divided by the initial specimen height. Young's modulus was determined through five dynamic tests, applying a pulsating sinusoidal load (Fig. [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}, left). Young's modulus was calculated as 6 MPa (s.d. = ± 1.21 MPa), while ultimate tensile stress was 0.42 MPa (s.d. = ± 0.084 MPa); these data were input into the numeric model to be validated. Compression tests produced a progressive packing of the foam (reaching up to 60% height reduction) which does not break but shows buckling. The pull out tests required specific equipment: two holes drilled in the opposite sides of a rectangular metal profile (obtained from an extruded bar) and a polyurethane block was placed within the box profile (Fig. [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). A bolt screwed into the lower hole was then held by the lower jaw of the machine (the bolt was left free to move in the cross-sectional plane, in order to avoid bending moments acting on the screw). A screw was inserted through the upper hole and inserted into the polyurethane foam. The metal profile simulated the cortical layer of the FE model, and prevented the polyurethane foam deforming when the screw was pulled. A preparatory hole (6.5 mm in diameter) was drilled in the foam before inserting the screw, which was always set at the same height. The tests were conducted on a standard metrical screw (M10, UNI 4536) whose geometry was known in detail, allowing an accurate FE model to be constructed. The lower end of the shaft was threaded with 17 threads. The screw was pulled at a speed of 2 mm/min. The pull out test was repeated 23 times and the mean force determined was 120 N (s.d. = ±14 N). A typical force versus displacement curve is shown in Fig. ([4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). 2.4.. Analysis of FE Model Results ---------------------------------- Ten different screw models were realized (Table [2](#T2){ref-type="table"}). Each model was implemented with four different pitches (1.4 mm, 2.4 mm, 3.4 mm, 4.4 mm) and two different values of bone density (0.35 g/cm^3^; 0.47 g/cm^3^). Overall, each screw model was analyzed in eight FE models. The numerical results were summarized through a multifactor model \[[@R22]\], examining both the effects of each single factor and the interaction between the pitch and bone density. $$Y = \mathit{\mu} + \mathit{\beta} \cdot d + \mathit{\gamma}_{L} \cdot p + \mathit{\gamma}_{Q} \cdot p^{2} + \mathit{\gamma}_{C} \cdot p^{3} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{L} \cdot d \cdot p + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{Q} \cdot d \cdot p^{2} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{C} \cdot d \cdot p^{3}$$ where: Y = pull-out limit load; d = bone density; p = pitch μ = mean β = linear effect of bone density γ~L~ = linear effect of the pitch; γ~Q~ = square effect of the pitch γ~C~ = cube effect of the pitch βγ~L~= effect of interaction between the pitch and bone density βγ~Q~= effect of interaction between the bone density and the square effect of the pitch βγ~C~=effect of interaction between the bone density and the cube effect of the pitch Up to the third power of p could be considered because four different pitches were simulated; the only linear effect of bone density could be considered because only two density values have been simulated. Eq. (3) can be reformulated in order to isolate the contribution of the screw diameter: $$Y = \mathit{\mu} + d \cdot \left\lbrack {\mathit{\beta} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{L} \cdot p + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{Q} \cdot p^{2} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{C} \cdot p^{3}} \right\rbrack + \mathit{\gamma}_{L} \cdot p + \mathit{\gamma}_{Q} \cdot p^{2} + \mathit{\gamma}_{C} \cdot p^{3} = \mathit{\mu} + d \cdot D + \left( {\mathit{\gamma}_{L} \cdot p + \mathit{\gamma}_{Q} \cdot p^{2} + \mathit{\gamma}_{C} \cdot p^{3}} \right)$$ or in order to isolate the contribution of the screw pitch: $$Y = \mathit{\mu} + \mathit{\beta} \cdot d + p \cdot \left\lbrack {\mathit{\gamma}_{L} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{L} \cdot d} \right\rbrack + p^{2} \cdot \left\lbrack {\mathit{\gamma}_{Q} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{Q} \cdot d \cdot p^{2}} \right\rbrack + p^{3} \cdot \left\lbrack {\mathit{\gamma}_{C} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{C} \cdot d \cdot p^{3}} \right\rbrack = \mathit{\mu} + \left( {\mathit{\beta} \cdot d} \right) + f\left( p \right)$$ The coefficients of this numerical model were calculated for every screw, solving a mathematical system with eight parameters (the effects) and eight equations (pull out forces, calculated from the FE models). 3.. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ========================== 3.1.. Validation of FE Model ---------------------------- In order to validate FE models, it is necessary to select a failure criterion. The experimental tests showed that the polyurethane foam exhibited fragile behavior in the tensile tests, while compressive tests were much less critical. The maximum (positive) main stress failure criterion was chosen with an ultimate tensile stress of 0.42 MPa. As shown in Fig. ([5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}), the experimentally evaluated pull out force (120 N) generates ultimate tensile stresses at the last thread, close to the fillet. The FE model is therefore validated because it correctly predicts a localized failure when the pull out force is applied. Actually this validation is quite specific: it has been demostrated that FE model correctly predicts the failure load which is the object of this paper; a more detailed validation would be required if other information were sought from the finite element model (stiffness behavior, stress distribution, etc.). The location of ultimate tensile stress at the last thread may be unexpected, given that in the literature, the first thread is considered the most critical \[[@R21]\]. However, the pull out test is a static test, while the above considerations refer to fatigue life. Further, the mechanical behavior of threaded joints using polyurethane foam (or bone) differs from the behavior of metal joints: both foam and bone are porous, leading to completely different modalities of failure for tension and compression. The first "female" thread is subjected to compression stresses (contact between the screw and the bone), while the last is subjected to tensile stresses (as evidenced in Fig. [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}). 3.2.. Multifactor Analysis -------------------------- The results of the multifactor analysis are illustrated in Fig. ([6](#F6){ref-type="fig"}), where the trends of the 'f(p)' function (eq. 5) vs pitch are plotted for different screw models, bone densities and boundary conditions (post-operative or complete osseointegration). Table [3](#T3){ref-type="table"} shows the values of the D coefficient (eq. 4) reported for different screw models. Some considerations can be made: In general, the differences in the stress distribution between pull out and the alternative constraint condition (with all other conditions constant) are minimal: the position of the full constraint does not influence the stress pattern on the "female" thread. In this sense, the pull out test is representative of a wide range of operating conditions.The post-operative and full osseointegration conditions are very different: the latter is more sensitive to bone density (in Table [3](#T3){ref-type="table"} the D coefficient values calculated for the post-operative condition are lower than that calculated for complete osseointegration) and to thread pitch (in Fig. ([6](#F6){ref-type="fig"}), curves B, D, F are steeper than curves A, C, E). This can be explained considering that, in full osseointegration, the screw and the bone are forced to undergo the same deformation. The post-operative condition is more critical because a lower pull out force is required. It is therefore advisable to construct non-linear numerical models where this situation is analyzed, implementing a 'touch' contact between the screw and bone.The coefficients of eq. 5 vary from model to model.The influence of pitch varies more for high values of bone density (Fig. [6](#F6){ref-type="fig"}). Effectively, greater bone stiffness implies a greater sensitivity to thread geometry because stresses are more localized.For a given screw, the optimal pitch (that providing maximum pull out force) is not always the maximum simulated pitch. For example, in the pull out test regarding the post-operative condition, given the screw model N. 8, the optimal pitch is between 3.4 and 4.4 mm for a bone density of 0.35 g/cm^3^, while the optimal pitch is between 2.4 mm and 3.4 mm for a bone density of 0.47 g/cm^3^.With regard to the interaction between the pitch and bone density, coefficients βγ~L~, βγ~Q~ and βγ~C~ can assume either positive and negative values (for example, βγ~L~\>0 in the screw model 1, while βγ~L~has a negative value in model 2). This means that in some models, the effect of bone density on pull out force is smaller for greater pitches. This result further confirms the conclusion that the optimal screw geometry will be different for different bone densities.Many screw models show a similar pattern of function p vs pitch (Fig. [6](#F6){ref-type="fig"}).There is a difference between load distribution in mechanical threaded joint and biomechanical threaded joint, as demonstrated by further numerical models, which implemented different values of "r", the parameter which defines the ratio between the Young's modulus of bone and that of the screw (Fig. [7](#F7){ref-type="fig"}). In the biomechanical case, r is very low because the Young's modulus of bone is approx. 300 MPa, while the Young's modulus of the screw is about one thousand times greater. Conversely, they have similar values in the mechanical and consequently a much more homogeneous load distribution is obtained on the second, third and fourth threads the biomechanical case.According to our results, screw model n. 10 is generally to be preferred; the performance of this model is moderately influenced by the thread pitch; considering the post-operative condition which is the most critical, a pitch larger than 1.4 mm should be recommended for the higher bone density. 4.. CONCLUSIONS =============== An FE model of the bone-screw system was constructed and experimentally validated. The model evidenced that the pull out test, the standard test for orthopedic screws, is representative of the operating conditions. It was demonstrated that the hypothesized level of osseointegration has a significant effect on the results obtained. In the light of this study, it is clear that the optimal screw geometry depends on the bone density: the pitch producing a higher load changes as a function of different bone densities (for example, in screw model 1 the optimal pitch is 3.75 mm for a bone density of 0.35 g/cm^3^, against 3.13 mm for 0.47 g/cm^3^, while for model 2 the optimal pitch is 3.87 mm for a bone density of 0.35 g/cm^3^ against 4.93 mm for a density of 0.47 g/cm^3^). It was found that threaded joints cut for biomechanical applications have some particularities compared to classic mechanical threaded joints: bone is much more compliant compared with the material of the screw and consequently a more homogenous load distribution over the threads can be obtained. Further, bone is porous and shows very different compression/tensile behaviors. ![Set-up for FE pull out test (a) and alternative loading condition (b).](TOMINFOJ-3-19_F1){#F1} ![Screw parameters and detail of mesh.](TOMINFOJ-3-19_F2){#F2} ![Curves of compression (upper) and tensile (lower) tests on polyurethane foam: nominal stress (σ~nom~) versus nominal strain (ε~nom~).](TOMINFOJ-3-19_F3){#F3} ![Set-up of pull out test and load vs displacement curve.](TOMINFOJ-3-19_F4){#F4} ![Maximum principal stresses (left and center) and equivalent Von Mises stresses (right).](TOMINFOJ-3-19_F5){#F5} ![$f\left( p \right) = p \cdot \left\lbrack {\mathit{\gamma}_{L} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{L} \cdot d} \right\rbrack + p^{2} \cdot \left\lbrack {\mathit{\gamma}_{Q} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{Q} \cdot d} \right\rbrack + p^{3} \cdot \left\lbrack {\mathit{\gamma}_{C} + \mathit{\beta}\mathit{\gamma}_{C} \cdot d} \right\rbrack\left\lbrack \text{N} \right\rbrack$](TOMINFOJ-3-19_F6){#F6} ![Load distribution between screw and "female" thread for different materials.](TOMINFOJ-3-19_F7){#F7} ###### Mechanical Properties of Trabecular Bone as a Function of Bone Density Density \[g/cm^3^\] Young's Modulus \[MPa\] Ultimate Stress \[MPa\] --------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------- 0.35 147 0.57 0.47 300 1.24 ###### Geometric Parameters of Screws Screw Model N d~e~ (mm) d~n~ (mm) R~T~ (mm) R~F~ (mm) α β E~screw~ (GPa) E~ext~ (GPa) L (mm) ------------- --- ----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ---- --- ---------------- -------------- -------- 1 5 6 2 0.5 0.10 10 0 74 3.2 27 2 5 6 2 0.5 0.10 10 0 74 \- 27 3 5 4 2 0.5 0.10 10 0 105 \- 27 4 5 6 2 0.5 0.10 10 1 105 \- 27 5 5 6 2 0.5 0.10 10 2 105 \- 27 6 5 6 2 0.6 0.10 10 0 105 \- 27 7 5 6 2 0.5 0.10 10 0 105 \- 27 8 5 6 2 0.5 0.15 10 0 105 \- 27 9 5 6 2 0.5 0.10 10 0 186 \- 27 10 5 6 2 0.5 0.10 10 0 186 \- 33 ###### D\[10^-3^Nm^3^/kg\] from Eq. (5) Pull Out Test (Touch) ----------------------------------- --- ------- ------- ------- -------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- ------- 1.4 D 162.5 125.0 75.0 100.0 104.2 91.7 91.7 133.3 100.0 87.5 2.4 D 191.7 116.7 83.3 112.5 125.0 108.3 108.3 158.3 104.2 120.8 3.4 D 179.2 129.2 100.0 137.5 175.0 125.0 145.8 191.7 145.8 116.7 4.4 D 104.2 175.0 83.3 150.0 191.7 137.5 145.8 191.7 145.8 141.7 PullOut Test (Glue) 1.4 D 341.7 483.3 508.3 454.2 391.7 416.7 441.7 441.7 525.0 412.5 2.4 D 300.0 475.0 483.3 420.,8 458.3 470.8 508.3 537.5 533.3 504.2 3.4 D 300.0 454.2 500.0 495.8 458.3 470.8 512.5 529.2 554.2 462.5 4.4 D 408.3 583.3 566.7 625.0 575.0 633.3 616.7 575.0 716.7 579.2 Alternative Condition (Touch) 1.4 D 133.3 125.0 62.5 91.7 87.5 83.3 87.5 125.0 91.7 87.5 2.4 D 170.8 116.7 75.0 116.7 125.0 108.3 100.0 158.3 112.5 116.7 3.4 D 170.8 137.5 83.3 133.3 141.7 108.3 150.0 187.5 137.5 125.0 4.4 D 108.3 145.8 87.5 154.2 187.5 141.7 145.8 191.7 141.7 133.3 Alternative Condition (Glue) 1.4 D 362.5 537.5 525.0 470.8 354.2 450.0 470.8 395.8 520.8 416.7 2.4 D 312.5 408.3 508.3 533.3 479.2 404.2 537.5 558.3 541.7 445.8 3.4 D 312.5 466.7 483.3 529.2 466.7 466.7 566.7 500.0 562.5 487.5 4.4 D 420.8 620.8 570.8 720.8 575.0 641.7 683.3 512.5 691.7 591.7	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Central" }
Singapore About Asiatravel.com Travel TV Asiatravel.com Travel TV is an official video channel of Asiatravel.com Holdings Ltd. On this channel, you can find vast video clips showcasing destinations, hotels, different cultures, events, people and everyday living. Have you ever searched for a place on the internet and all you can find are just still images? Try searching within this channel and who knows you might find some things interesting! And if you feel that you want to experience any of these places, get jet-setting today at www.asiatravel.com! Indulge in your comfort. Choose from rooms of four ethnic themes. Experience a dose of nostalgia with a touch of modernity. At Link Hotel Singapore, you get all these and more! Located at Tiong Bahru estate, you will wake up to the sights and sounds of the heartlands at the biggest boutique style hotel in Singapore. The melodious chirping of the birds at the bird arena beckons as mouth-watering local cuisines awaits you at the nearby market. Whatever the purpose of your stay, we aim to make you feel at home at Link Hotel Singapore. Take some time to browse our web pages for more details on the fabulous services and facilities we offer.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
What’s at stake in Fisher v. University of Texas? You are here What’s at stake in Fisher v. University of Texas? The U.S. Supreme Court and affirmative action at Stanford byAnnelise Heinzon Thursday, January 24, 2013 - 10:59am “My own view is that color-blind admissions policies come several centuries too late and at least a generation too early,” law professor Deborah Rhode told a Stanford audience, making an ethics-based argument for affirmative action. In the current case Fisher v. University of Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court will soon make a decision that could end or dramatically remake race-based affirmative action admissions at universities, including Stanford. According to legal counsel Tom Fenner, the swing vote “is likely to be Stanford alum Anthony Kennedy.” On Wednesday, a panel of Stanford scholars and legal experts gathered at the Black Community Center to discuss Fisher v. University of Texas and its profound ramifications. Depending on the court's ruling, universities like Stanford might be significantly restricted in their ability to take applicants' race into account in admissions decisions. Such a result, the panelists argued, would have serious consequences for social equity and diversity at Stanford. The panel consisted of legal scholar Deborah Rhode, historian Allyson Hobbs, and legal counsel Tom Fenner. “My own view is that color-blind admissions policies come several centuries too late and at least a generation too early.” Fisher v. University of Texas puts on trial a 2003 precedent that confirmed a limited role for racial considerations in admissions decisions. Although prohibiting universities from using racial quotas, the 2003 decision allows consideration of race as part of a holistic process that includes other factors such as student leadership and family background. Supporters of the University of Texas' current policies argue that removing race from the consideration of applications will not create a better meritocracy but will almost certainly result in a rise in white and Asian representation and a drop in the representation of other student groups, especially black and Latino students. Opponents of affirmative action counter that universities should be challenged to come up with race-blind ways to sustain a diverse student population. The case and its key players Plaintiff Abigail Fisher sued the University of Texas at Austin, or UT Austin, after she was denied admission in 2008. UT Austin follows a Texas legislature-mandated admissions policy of granting automatic acceptance to the top 10 percent of students who graduate from Texas high schools. Over three-quarters of current UT Austin students were admitted through this practice. In the top 12 percent of her class, Fisher was ineligible for automatic acceptance, and she was also denied admission in a supplementary process that took race into consideration, along with other factors such as student leadership and family background. Fisher’s legal team has argued that UT Austin’s “Top Ten Percent Plan” has created a sufficiently diverse student body, negating any further need for considerations of race. UT Austin and other universities, including Stanford, disagree. If prohibited from considering race, Fenner explained, Stanford might adopt best practices implemented by other schools already barred from considering race by laws such as California's Proposition 209. However, he added, those schools have not been very successful at sustaining “the educational benefits from having a racially diverse student body.” Excluded ethics The panelists addressed issues of social justice and discrimination largely absent from the court case itself. In 1978, the Court rejected the idea that correcting historical injustices justified affirmative action, accepting only the argument that diversity provides educational benefits for all students. As a result of this decision, UT Austin has been left to justify its admissions policies by arguing that consideration of race is necessary to achieve a “critical mass” of students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds—and to achieve the educational benefits that flow from having a diverse student body. The inability of UT Austin to pin down a definition for critical mass, opponents say, is a weak link in the university's case. In addition to educational benefits, Rhode and Hobbs emphasized the ethics behind racial considerations. “While preferential admissions criteria in universities are only a small part of the solution,” Rhode said, “they are an extremely necessary one if we are to overcome the history of racial segregation and subordination in this nation.” Rhode also cited research compiled in the amicus briefs filed on behalf of racial preferences, arguing that minority applicants admitted through affirmative action do at least as well as others, according to various measures of academic and career success. Hobbs agreed, saying that test scores alone are not an objective or fair measurement of a candidate’s merit. According to Hobbs, ending affirmative action could effectively “screen out” individuals with diverse skills who would contribute to workplaces or schools. It would also reinforce a history of partial citizenship by limiting access to high-level work for which a college degree is required. “History matters,” Hobbs said, “and history casts a particularly long shadow over the University of Texas.” Affirmative action is necessary, Hobbs argued, in order for society to take responsibility for the effects of long-term exclusion. Hobbs emphasized the long history of discriminatory government policies and exclusion from or limited access to certain federal programs, at times achieved by Southern congressmen to ensure local control over federal dollars to reinforce Jim Crow. The GI Bill, for example, helped widen the racial gap as white veterans used federal money to pay for college, while discrimination in college admissions kept tens of thousands of black veterans out of school. After Brown v. Board of Education, the University of Texas banned black students from residences and sports. Hobbs also cited recent incidents that demonstrate ongoing racial bias and inequality at UT Austin. Affirmative action at Stanford The Court may issue a narrow decision applying only to UT Austin’s admissions policies. Or, it may pass a more sweeping judgment. Fenner, who appeared on the panel as an individual lawyer and was careful to emphasize that he was not speaking as a university representative, walked the audience through several possible outcomes for Stanford. Depending on whether the court upholds UT’s admissions process, invalidates all consideration of race, or falls somewhere in between, Stanford admissions staff could have “a busy summer” scrambling to change policy before the admissions cycle begins again in the fall of 2013. A consistent supporter of affirmative action, Stanford filed an amicus brief in the case pointing out that “race neutral alternatives” such as admitting all applicants in the top ten percent at their high schools would not work for highly selective institutions, and have not yielded racial and ethnic diversity at other institutions. Stanford integrates race as one factor among many, attempting to generate the educational benefits of a student body that is diverse in multiple ways. Rhode ended the panel discussion by supporting the ethical importance of affirmative action in the face of resistance. “People won’t like this,” just as they did not like desegregation, she argued, but the Civil Rights Movement showed “you can change patterns through legal requirements.” -------------- “The Future of Affirmative Action: Fisher v. University of Texas” panel discussion featured law professor Deborah Rhode, assistant professor of history Allyson Hobbs, and Stanford Deputy General Counsel Tom Fenner. The event was hosted by the Faculty Women's Forum and was introduced by Patricia P. Jones, the Dr. Nancy Chang Professor in the department of biology. The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity and the Clayman Institute sponsored the event. Co-sponsors included African & African American Studies, El Centro Chicano, Stanford Engineering Diversity Programs, Stanford Center on the Legal Profession, the School of Education, Black Community Services Center, Women's Community Center, Program in Feminist Studies, Stanford Diversity & Access Office, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Vice Provost for Graduate Education, and the American Studies Program. Allyson Hobbs is assistant professor of American history at Stanford. Hobbs, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, researches American social and cultural history, racial mixture, identity formation, migration and urbanization, and the intersections of race, class and gender. She was a 2011-2012 Clayman Institute Faculty Research Fellow. Tom Fenner joined Stanford’s Office of the General Counsel in 1985, and became Deputy General Counsel in 2001. In his practice, Fenner focuses on the academic areas of the university, including faculty, student, research, and policy matters. He earned his B.A. and J.D from Stanford University. Fenner appeared on the panel as an individual, not as a university representative.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Vehicle Overview The Prius V joined the expanding Prius lineup in 2011 as a 2012 model. For the North American market the “V” is basically a wagon version of the regular Prius. In other markets the Prius V is sold as a three-row multi-person vehicle, which means all versions worldwide include second row seating set… Continue Reading... Naturally racecars are about maximum performance, neck-snapping acceleration, organ-bruising lateral grip and of course enough stopping power to rip the skin off your forehead. The Porsche 919 Hybrid is one such machine, but that’s not all. Continue Reading... Until the mid-1980s, those with large families usually bought station wagons with a who-cares-about-safety rearward facing third row of seats. But then the minivan was introduced and everything changed. For the next fifteen years, troops of kids were transported here and there in these pragmatic boxes on wheels. As is often the case though, consumer… Continue Reading... Not even Porsche is immune to pressure from governments and customers to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The legendary German sports-car builder will offer a four-cylinder engine in future versions of both its Boxster and Cayman models. Continue Reading... Along with media from around the world auto shows host all kinds of product reveals, things like the breathtaking McLaren 650S, the intriguing Jeep Renegade and the obscenely luxurious Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe. But they all can’t be heart-stopping; sometimes you have to report on vehicles people actually drive. Continue Reading... Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed an advanced simulation that projects future emissions in the United States and the results of this study are surprising. Continue Reading... Introduced in 2013, the redesigned Ford Fusion has wowed customers and industry pundits alike with its sexy styling. The Camry, Accord and Malibu aren’t even in the same league as this supermodel sedan. Continue Reading... As it tends to do around this time, the year is steadily drawing to a close; 2013 is dwindling like a tiki torch running out of citronella-scented oil. The last flickers are smoldering, but she burned brightly for 12 months so the end is not in vain. Lots of important car news broke through the… Continue Reading... We use cookies to improve your experience on this website and so that ads you see online can be tailored to your online browsing interests. We use data about you for a number of purposes explained in the links below. By continuing to browse our site you agree to our use of data and cookies. Tell me more \| Cookie Preferences	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Social unrest will “dwarf the Rodney King and the Martin Luther King riots” Paul Joseph Watson Infowars.com June 28, 2013 Following a number of tweets making threats to kill white people if George Zimmerman is acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin, a former Chicago police officer warns that the outcome of the case could spark race riots in cities across America. As Infowars reported yesterday, following the woeful performance of Rachel Jeantel, the state’s so-called “star witness,” a number of Twitter users took to the social network to express their intention to kill white people in retaliation for Zimmerman going free. Tweets included remarks such as “If Zimmerman get off ima shoot the first #hispanic/white I see,” and “If they don’t kill Zimmerman Ima kill me a cracka.” In an article entitled, America Will See Its Worst Race Riot Yet This Summer, Crime File News’ Paul Huebl remarks that the case against Zimmerman should never have been filed in the first place and that when the trial inevitably collapses with Zimmerman’s acquittal, “I fully expect organized race rioting to begin in every major city to dwarf the Rodney King and the Martin Luther King riots of past decades.” Huebl is a licensed private detective and a former Chicago police officer. “If you live in a large city be prepared to evacuate or put up a fight to win. You will need firearms, fire suppression equipment along with lots of food and water. Police resources will be slow and outgunned everywhere,” writes Huebl, adding, “America may see some combat related population control like we’ve not seen since the Civil War. Martial Law can’t be far behind complete with major efforts at gun grabbing.” Huebl is not the only prominent voice to express fears that the outcome of the trial could lead to widespread social disorder. Columnist and former senior presidential advisor Pat Buchanan warned last month that, “The public mind has been so poisoned that an acquittal of George Zimmerman could ignite a reaction similar to that, 20 years ago, when the Simi Valley jury acquitted the LAPD cops in the Rodney King beating case.” Political Strategist Charles D. Ellison also warns that, “There is the risk of a flashpoint as intense as the aftermath of that fateful Los Angeles police brutality verdict in 1992,” if Zimmerman walks free. “At that time, many underestimated the potential for social unrest. And a bit over 20 years to the date, many could be making the same miscalculation at this very moment. The ingredients are there in Sanford and they loom large nationally, from an economy barely managing its own recovery to an unemployment rate that’s much higher than it should be, particularly for African-Americans,” adds Ellison. Some are even asking whether the law should be ignored and Zimmerman convicted simply to avoid race riots. “Regardless of whether or not Zimmerman acted in self defense, a large segment of the population, particularly the black population, are demanding Zimmerman be punished. And if they don’t have their demands satisfied, it is possible they might riot,” writes a poster at the Aesops Retreat forum. “So would it be appropriate to consider potential riots when deciding on whether or not to prosecute Zimmerman? Or should justice be blind and follow the rule of law?” Critics of the attempt to convict Zimmerman have cited numerous points of evidence which clearly suggest Zimmerman acted in self-defense and that the case against him was built largely on the back of contrived racial politics. – Photos taken after the incident show Zimmerman with a bloody nose and lacerations to the head, suggesting he had been physically attacked by Martin; – NBC News edited a 911 tape of Zimmerman’s call to the police to falsely depict him as a racist; – Prominent black figures like Spike Lee and Jesse Jackson immediately portrayed the incident as an assault on the black community, stirring racial tension; – President Barack Obama got involved in the case on the side of Trayvon Martin by stating, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” – A police report suggested Zimmerman had been flat on his back during the altercation and an eyewitness said that Martin was sat on top of Zimmerman beating and pushing him down; – A responder at the scene said Martin’s knuckles were bloodied, suggesting he had injured Zimmerman with a punch; – The lead investigator on the scene, Officer Christopher Serino, wrote that Zimmerman could be heard “yelling for help as he was being battered by Trayvon Martin.” If some form of social disorder, be it limited or widespread, does ensue should Zimmerman walk free, authorities will be well prepared. The Department of Homeland Security recently put out another order for hundreds of items of riot gear in order to prepare for “riot control situations.” The federal agency has also committed to buying around 2 billion rounds of ammunition over the course of the last year. ********************* Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News. The Save Infowars Super Sale is now live! Get up to 60% off our most popular products today!	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
#ifdef __OBJC__ #import <UIKit/UIKit.h> #else #ifndef FOUNDATION_EXPORT #if defined(__cplusplus) #define FOUNDATION_EXPORT extern "C" #else #define FOUNDATION_EXPORT extern #endif #endif #endif FOUNDATION_EXPORT double QuickLayoutVersionNumber; FOUNDATION_EXPORT const unsigned char QuickLayoutVersionString[];	{ "pile_set_name": "Github" }
Q: Can someone explain how Salesforce works with CTI? (Avaya) I have a client who has Salesforce and uses an Avaya switch to run their call center. They enter in random call information into this old legacy program called Omni and once a week they manually update Salesforce with the info that they gathered from calls that week. I need to track these things: Length of call in seconds Audio recording to call (or at least a link to one) Caller ID (like the auto-generated ID of a user, not necessarily their phone number) Speed to answer (How long a person is on hold before they get an answer) What I am confused about is this. I am pretty sure Avaya tracks these things. What I need is to have a way to have all of these things in Salesforce. I'd like to have fields in certain entities that store the things listed above. So my question is, what is the role of a CTI connector in this process? How does Avaya save it's information for the CTI connector/Salesforce to access it? Maybe these are the wrong questions to ask so if anyone has any insight as to how this works I'd love to know. A: Salesforce doesn't provide any way to track these things. As a developer you have to do this. We have setup for Genesys and Avaya in our organization and we have built CTI adapter for salesforce with genesys. Let me tell you few things, SF doesn't know your dialer. Its your responsibility how you implement it with Open CTI API. Sf will just pop up records which you invoke through Open CTI API. rest you have to decide how you want to handle call flow. In our Genesys CTI Adapter we track talk, ring, warp, etc in out adapter and later we update same in sfdc via API. Sfdc API will help you to search, load customer record based on phone number or other parameters. But its your responsibility how you are going to track it.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Who owns the poem and knows what it means — Who writes the questions on the test — Who chooses what is good and what is best — And understands the truth inside the lean? Oh star crossed letters, I do not know Why ever would I stop to explain When what I know is written plain And never made much sense to me, so Work it out upon a word, these little steps Into the hills, walking round the mountains Where the bird songs should be kept And rainstorms come — Oh, star crossed mountains Every step is lost and lost, inept Others say what footprints planted claim	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
A teenage girl was stabbed to death and stuffed in a freezer in a suspected honour killing after she and her cousin were kidnapped and taken to a £1.5million home by a man they knew, it is alleged. The 19-year-old's body was found 'stuffed in an American-style fridge freezer' at a detached property in Kingston-on-Thames, west London, on Wednesday evening. A second woman, 21 - understood to be the dead victim's cousin - managed to escape the property after being slashed across the throat. She banged on doors in the neighbourhood for help, before she arrived at a hospital with stab wounds and cuts, where staff alerted police. She remains in a serious condition. A 33-year-old man, who was believed to have been fleeing the country, was later arrested in Dover, Kent, on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. Another man, 28, has been arrested in New Malden on the same allegations. Neighbours indicated the crime is an honour killing and the police said they were 'keeping an open mind' on the motive, but the relationship between the women and the suspects has not been confirmed. Officers said the two women knew the man who took them to the property and that they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. Forensics have been at the scene in Kingston today, after discovering the body of a woman who had been reported missing hours earlier The 19-year-old was found dead but 'in tact' inside the house, allegedly inside a freezer A Renault Clio with a smashed drivers side window outside of the home where teenage girl's body was found stuffed in a fridge A second woman managed to escape and made it to hospital arrived with a stab wound to her throat and is in a serious but stable condition The case has now been referred to the IPCC after officers took three hours to find the teenager despite the pair being reported missing. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police also added that the dead woman was discovered 'intact' amid reports her body had been cut up. Today, forensic officers were today seen combing the Kingston home for evidence. A large silver fridge freezer, believed to be where the woman was found, could be seen in the hallway while a Renault Clio with smashed windows was parked in the driveway. It is not clear who lives at the home - which is owned by a landlord who lives next door - but the six-bedroom property is currently undergoing renovation and the owners are believed to have given the keys to a building firm. A 29-year-old woman has also been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. She has been released pending further investigation. Detective Chief Inspector Samantha Price, who is leading the investigation, said officers were keeping an 'open mind' but that kidnapping was one line of inquiry. She added: 'Our investigation is at an early stage, and we are doing everything we can to fully understand the circumstances of this terrible attack on two young women. 'At this stage one line of enquiry is that the two women were taken against their will to the address in Kingston, by a man who they both knew. They were last seen safe and well at an address in Merton, prior to being police being contacted about concerns for their safety and welfare.' She said both women had been subject to a 'violent attack'. 'Fortunately one of the women managed to get away from the address and seek help, how this happened will form part of this investigation,' she said. 'I am keeping an open mind as to the motive, but we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with this case.' The house is owned by a landlord who lives next door and it is believed to be being renovated, with the landlord having plans to convert it into two homes Police have said it is believed the two victims were taken to the address before being attacked and the man who took them was known to them A car parked in the driveway of the home, in Kingston, has smashed front windows this morning Forensics team members are looking through the property to establish what happened over the course of Wednesday afternoon Police were first alerted over concerns for the welfare of the two women at around 5pm on Wednesday. The Met said officers searched two addresses - one in Sutton and another in Merton, both in south London - but that neither woman was at either address. They understood the women had been seen 'safe and well' earlier at the Merton address. Inquiries continued until they were alerted by hospital staff at 7.18pm, who treated the 21-year-old. Officers then carried out a detailed search of the detached property where they made the grim discovery. A neighbour, who refused to be named, said: 'Relatives told me that the man was Asian and was caught at Dover trying to leave the country. 'I heard he kidnapped them both and chopped one of them up and put her in the freezer. 'I heard he slit the other one's throat. Three people have been arrested, two men and one woman. One of the men was arrested in Kent, allegedly trying to flee Police forensics at the Kingston home. Police admitted they have had to refer the case to the IPCC as the women were reported missing hours before one was found dead An officer holds her post outside the house as forensics inspectors go in and out of the Kingston home. Searches are also taking place in Sutton and Merton Police said they know who the victim was and have informed the woman's next of kin. Police are keeping the 'honour killing' inquiry open 'When the relative told me earlier I thought "oh my God that is awful". 'There was at least six or seven cars maybe more and at least ten relatives here. 'I spoke to the neighbours earlier and they said that the person who rented the house out had only done so at the weekend.' The home is owned by a landlord who lives next door, and applied to Kingston Council earlier this year for permission to create two homes. On May 19, planning permission was denied, but a new application was submitted just 11 days later. It is currently at the consultation stage of the process. A family friend of the owners told The Sun: 'The girls had got mixed up with a gang of guys. One wanted to marry one of the boys and her family couldn't take that.' An officer receives an update from the forensics investigators in Kingston. The leafy borough has homes that sell for millions of pounds Bernett Thrones, 39, a neighbour, said: 'I could hear running on the gravel drive and then a loud knock. 'It was very sudden and very loud. I had a facemask on, but I jumped up and went downstairs. 'By the time I opened the door the person was gone. I could hear them running away on the stones. 'It was strange but I didn't realise how serious it was until the police came later. 'It's a horrible shock. 'You can't believe something like this could happen across the road.' A neighbour said she believed a family had been living there for a couple of years, with two small children The home where the murder took place is owned by the same landlord as the home next door Another neighbour said: 'The police came round and told me they were looking at a window of 1:30pm and 3pm when they went into the house. 'I wasn't at home then, but all the relatives looked south Asian I think.'	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Q: align two words in a select option I have the select below: <select name="mySelect"> <option value="1">hello [test]</option> <option value="2">hello2 [test2]</option> <option value="3">hello33 [test33]</option> <option value="4">hel [hel]</option> </select> How can I align the text inside the options to appear like this: hello____[test] hello2___[test2] hello33__[test33] hel_____ [hel] I tried adding spaces with JavaScript but they are not visible. ( _ is space char above) A: The only way to do this would be to firstly set your select element to use a monospace font (that is a font whose characters all have the same width), then to pad out your element with the   character entity: select { font-family: monospace; } <select name="mySelect"> <option value="1">hello   [test]</option> <option value="2">hello2  [test2]</option> <option value="3">hello33 [test33]</option> <option value="4">hel     [hel]</option> </select> As you can see this does make your markup quite ugly. It also forces you to use a font which probably isn't used site-wide and may be undesirable. I believe this is the only way you can accurately achieve this though, without replacing your select element completely with some JavaScript-controlled element strucutre. Depending on what your hello or [test] texts are supposed to represent, the optgroup element may be what you're looking for: <select name="mySelect"> <optgroup label="[test]"> <option value="1">hello</option> </optgroup> <optgroup label="[test2]"> <option value="2">hello2</option> </optgroup> <optgroup label="[test33]"> <option value="3">hello33</option> </optgroup> <optgroup label="[hel]"> <option value="4">hel</option> </optgroup> </select>	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Q: Translating BYTE Reserved1[24] to jsctypes This is the MSDN defintion: typedef struct _SYSTEM_BASIC_INFORMATION { BYTE Reserved1[24]; PVOID Reserved2[4]; CCHAR NumberOfProcessors; } SYSTEM_BASIC_INFORMATION; This guy converted it to this in js-ctypes: var SYSTEM_BASIC_INFORMATION = new ctypes.StructType("SYSTEM_BASIC_INFORMATION", [ {'Reserved': ctypes.unsigned_long}, {'TimerResolution': ctypes.unsigned_long}, {'PageSize': ctypes.unsigned_long}, {'NumberOfPhysicalPages': ctypes.unsigned_long}, {'LowestPhysicalPageNumber': ctypes.unsigned_long}, {'HighestPhysicalPageNumber': ctypes.unsigned_long}, {'AllocationGranularity': ctypes.unsigned_long}, {'MinimumUserModeAddress': ctypes.unsigned_long.ptr}, {'MaximumUserModeAddress': ctypes.unsigned_long.ptr}, {'ActiveProcessorsAffinityMask': ctypes.unsigned_long.ptr}, {'NumberOfProcessors': ctypes.char} ]); //CCHAR I dont understand how he doesnt have 24 entries for BYTE Reserved1[24]; shouldnt he have like: {'Reserved1_1': BYTE}, {'Reserved1_2': BYTE}, {'Reserved1_3': BYTE}, {'Reserved1_4': BYTE}, .... {'Reserved1_24': BYTE}, A: For various reasons Microsoft decides that some info should be kept away from developers. But people through reverse engineering find out what these reserved fields are about and produce their own documentation. Some times people guess correct. Some times Microsoft makes breaking changes, and people scream "How dare you!". And life goes on.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
The present invention relates in general to semiconductor devices and their manufacture. More specifically, the present invention relates to the fabrication of vertically stacked nanosheet transistors having inner spacers and improved source to drain sheet resistance. In contemporary semiconductor device fabrication, a large number of semiconductor devices, such as field effect transistors (FETs), are fabricated on a single wafer. Non-planar transistor device architectures, such as vertical field effect transistors (VFETs) and nanosheet (a.k.a., nanowire) transistors, can provide increased device density and increased performance over planar transistors. In nanosheet transistors, in contrast to conventional planar FETs, the gate stack wraps around the full perimeter of multiple nanosheet channel regions, which enables fuller depletion in the channel regions and reduces short-channel effects.	{ "pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds" }
Why I won’t give a sample of my DNA to Decode Genetics Last week I posted a picture on our Facebook page of the contents of an envelope I received from the company Decode Genetics, in which they kindly request that I give them a sample of my DNA. I made some glib remark about swabbing the dog, but didn’t really explain the full story. Basically it is like this: Decode wants 100,000 Icelanders to give them DNA samples to put into their database. Apparently because the Icelandic population is so homogenous, our DNA contains clues as to what causes specific diseases. Decode wants to study this [indeed, Decode’s entire existence is built around studying this] and make tons of money selling their findings to pharmaceutical and other medical sector companies. BUT for Decode to be able to do so they also have to have access to our medical records. In return for our contribution, Decode is offering to give us a t-shirt. Let us just take a moment to contemplate this stellar offer. / a moment. Now, maybe giving up my DNA and a large chunk of my privacy is all very altruistic and everything. Maybe it will help find cures for diseases and save lives. Maybe. But unfortunately there are things in this whole DNA collection shenanigans that I simply cannot accept. Here is why I have decided NOT to give Decode Genetics a sample of my DNA and access to my medical records [as if the last part wasn’t reason enough]. Decode’s little collection of samples began a day or two before their envelope arrived in my mailbox. It was kind of sprung on everyone, by which I mean hardly introduced at all before the packages were sent out. Along with the package and the forms we have to sign [and all the propaganda about how important this all is for medical research], we are told that someone will come by our house “soon” to pick up the sample. That “someone” is in fact someone from ICE-SAR, the Icelandic Search and Rescue organization. That’s correct. Decode is using ICE-SAR, one of the most respected and best-loved institutions in Iceland, as couriers. This because Decode promises that if 100,000 Icelanders give samples, it will donate ISK 200 million to ICE-SAR. The search and rescue team can really use the funds. We know this. We also love ICE-SAR for the amazing work they do and want them to continue doing it without having to beg for donations. Which is why Decode’s manipulation is all the more effective. So people who might be having doubts about giving away their DNA and access to medical records are effectively being told that, if they don’t take part, they are doing ICE-SAR – and by extension everyone else who might ever need rescuing – a really bad turn. Which makes them kinda bad people. Picture it: an ICE-SAR member arrives at Jón or Gunna’s home to pick up Decode’s sample, and Jón or Gunna promptly reach for the swab and guiltily provide the sample because the ICE-SAR guy is standing there waiting and who wants to deprive ICE-SAR of their ISK 2,000? One comment I saw on Facebook was from a woman who had received her package one day, and the following day at 7 pm the ICE-SAR member was on her doorstep to collect the sample. Which brings me to another thing: the urgency with which this whole thing is being conducted. Bam bam – you get the package, then the next day someone is there asking for the sample. No time for contemplation or making an informed decision. It all has to happen NOW. And maybe that’s the whole point. Maybe it’s being done with this urgency precisely because Decode doesn’t want people to have to think about it too much. Now let us digress for a moment, and take a wee look at Decode. It burst onto the scene in the 1990s, all through the efforts of one man, Kári Stefánsson, a MD who had the brilliant idea of turning the Icelandic nation into one big genome database. Everyone thought this was a fabulous idea, and Kári quickly got the backing of the Icelandic government. Before you could say sellmygenestothehighestbidder Decode had access to all Icelanders’ medical records. Yes they did. It was by default. Anyone who objected had to opt out. The onus was on them to do so. I opted out. At this time there was a massive amount of hype around Decode, and the public was urged to buy shares in the company because they were going to be huge. HUGE. Banks were practically throwing loans at people so they could buy shares in Decode. And lots of people did. Lots of people also invested all their savings in Decode shares. Then came the dot-com bust and those shares fell like a lead balloon. Kári’s salary remained one of the highest in Iceland, while those who had bought stock in his company were left practically destitute. In the years since then, there have been bits of news every now and again about some imminent Big Breakthrough at Decode. Wery wery impressive and all that. Then, a few months ago, current affairs programme Kastljós did an interview with Kári where they asked him what all those imminent breakthroughs had actually produced. Kári stuttered, and couldn’t answer the question. Because, as it turns out, there has been hardly anything. A few years ago Decode declared bankruptcy. Enter the US genome company Amgen, which swept in and scooped up Decode, putting still more money into Kári Stefánsson’s pocket. Only, the sale of Decode to Amgen was a tad controversial. One of the things that characterized it, according to this report, was “… the aggressive sale timeline that appeared designed to ‘inhibit potential bidders from gathering enough information to become comfortable with submitting a competing bid.’” Hm. Sounds an awful lot like the DNA collection happening right now, which inhibits potential participants from gathering enough information about the collection to make an informed decision about whether or not to take part. Which brings us to a question: is this DNA collection, which is conducted in such a big hurry, really about medical research? Or might it have something to do with shareholders and stock prices? Because I am guessing that the DNA of 100,000 Icelanders is a fairly valuable commodity, and quite a coup if Decode Amgen manages to get its hands on it. I have no doubt that it will produce a sharp increase in share prices, if nothing else. One last thing. When Decode swept onto the Icelandic market in the 1990s, one of its chief executives was one Hannes Smárason. He later left the company, only to become infamous in Iceland [and beyond] as one of the chief villains in the Icelandic economic collapse. No one around here trusts him. No one except Kári Stefánsson, that is. Hannes Smárason has recently been appointed CEO of a Decode subsidiary called NextGen, the role of which is to “market diagnoses based on Decode research to doctors and hospitals in the USA”. [Source here] Yup. That’s the dude who is going to be trading in our DNA and medical records. Except I heard that he couldn’t start work just yet because he has been formally indicted by the Special Prosecutor for a economic crimes leading up to the meltdown. Predictably there has been a major furore over all this here in Iceland. A group of academics and experts, including the head of the Centre for Ethics at the University of Iceland, have harshly criticized the collection and the way it is being executed. For me personally, the ICE-SAR involvement is the most distasteful element of the whole thing. I resent being manipulated like that, and resent that a wonderful organization like ICE-SAR is being abused in such a manner. Like many others I plan to bin the package from Kári and personally donate ISK 2,000 to ICE-SAR, in lieu of the funds that Kári, Hannes and co. would have donated on my behalf. UPDATE: I’ve made two small amendments to the original post. I initially wrote that Decode would donate ISK 20 million to ICE-SAR, but the correct figure is 200 million. I had also written that Kári Stefánsson had taken millions out of the company and shuffled into his own personal bank account[s], but this is hearsay and not backed up by any concrete evidence. I have therefore removed it.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Q: How to get json data from javascript file help, im using tumblr and connect my twitter account, Tumblr gave me this file example:http://titan-theme.tumblr.com/tweets.js my question is can i get follower_count and screen_name data? if yes how to get it? please help me thanks A: If you have only this file you should define recent_tweets function. Of cours you need to import tweets.js. For example: <script> var recent_tweets = function(tweets) { for(var i=0; i<tweets.length; i++) { var tweet = tweets[i]; var followerCounts = tweet.user.followers_count; var screenName = tweet.user.screen_name; } } </script> <script src="tweets.js"></script> However, there is no follower_count available.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
The 83-year-old emperor expressed his apparent wish to abdicate last August, citing old age and health. Japan’s Parliament on Friday has passed a law allowing Emperor Akihito to become first monarch to abdicate in 200 years. The 83-year-old emperor expressed his apparent wish to abdicate last August, citing old age and health. Under the law enacted on Friday, an abdication, which will be Japan’s first in 200 years, must take place within three years. It also highlights a pressing issue of the shrinking royal population and male successors. Female members who marry commoners lose their royal status. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ultra-conservative government supports the current male-only succession, which will make the 57-year-old Crown Prince Naruhito next in line to ascend the throne.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
// // Deprecated.swift // RxDataSources // // Created by Krunoslav Zaher on 10/8/17. // Copyright © 2017 kzaher. All rights reserved. // #if os(iOS) \|\| os(tvOS) extension CollectionViewSectionedDataSource { @available(*, deprecated, renamed: "configureSupplementaryView") public var supplementaryViewFactory: ConfigureSupplementaryView? { get { return self.configureSupplementaryView } set { self.configureSupplementaryView = newValue } } } #endif	{ "pile_set_name": "Github" }
F I L E D United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS JUL 18 2003 TENTH CIRCUIT PATRICK FISHER Clerk UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, No. 02-1522 v. (D. Colorado) SERGIO ORTEGA-GUZMAN, (D.C. No. 02-CR-134-N) Defendant-Appellant. ORDER AND JUDGMENT * Before EBEL, HENRY, and HARTZ, Circuit Judges. After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2)(c); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. Sergio Ortega-Guzman pleaded guilty to unlawfully reentering the United States after deportation for an aggravated felony in violation of 8 U.S.C. §§ * This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3. 1326(a) and (b)(2). He appeals the district court's denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment and raises an issue regarding his sentence. Counsel appointed to represent defendant on appeal filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). We affirm the district court’s denial of Mr. Ortega-Guzman’s motion to dismiss the indictment and we affirm the conviction. I. BACKGROUND Mr. Ortega-Guzman, a Mexican citizen, was deported by the United States in August 2001. He had previously been convicted of an aggravated felony in Colorado state court. He subsequently returned to the United States without lawful permission, and, in March of 2002, he was arrested in Weld County, Colorado, where state authorities charged him with driving without a license and without valid insurance. Convicted of both charges, he spent ten days in jail, after which the Immigration and Naturalization Service took him into custody. The federal government indicted him for violating 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b)(2), charging that he illegally re-entered the United States after deportation and that he did so after being convicted of an aggravated felony. Mr. Ortega-Guzman moved to dismiss the indictment before trial, claiming that his original deportation proceeding was tainted by a due process violation. The district court denied the motion. -2- After the district court rejected this motion to dismiss the indictment, Mr. Ortega-Guzman pleaded guilty to the charged offense. His “Rule 11 Plea Statement,” which the parties submitted in lieu of a formal plea agreement, was unconditional, that is, it preserved no issues for appeal. The district court accepted Mr. Ortega-Guzman’s guilty plea, finding that it met all the requirements set forth in Fed. R. Crim. P. 11. After the district court rejected Mr. Ortega-Guzman’s motion for a downward departure, Mr. Ortega-Guzman was sentenced to 57 months’ imprisonment. II. DISCUSSION Mr. Ortega-Guzman has asked his counsel to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment and to challenge the denial of the motion for downward departure. Anders holds that if counsel finds a case to be wholly frivolous after conscientious examination, he should so advise the court and request permission to withdraw. Counsel must in addition submit to both the court and his client a brief referring to anything in the record arguably supportive of the appeal. The client may then raise any points he chooses, and the appellate court thereafter undertakes a complete examination of all proceedings and decides whether the appeal is in fact frivolous. If it so finds, it may grant counsel’s request to withdraw and dismiss the appeal. See Anders, 386 U.S. at 744. -3- Mr. Ortega-Guzman Defendant was notified of his right to file a pro se brief, and he has chosen not to do so. Accordingly, we turn to an examination of the proceedings below to determine if the appeal is wholly frivolous. In his Anders brief, counsel first dismisses the possibility that the district court erred in denying the motion to dismiss the indictment. As noted above, however, Mr. Ortega-Guzman’s plea agreement preserved no issues for appeal. See United States v. Ryan, 894 F.2d 355, 360-61 (10th Cir. 1990) (Rule 11 requires a defendant to reserve the specific issue to be appealed). In the absence of a conditional plea, a defendant who pleads guilty admits to all of the factual allegations contained in the indictment and the legal consequences of those acts. See United States v. Broce, 488 U.S. 563, 569-70 (1989); see also Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258, 267 (1973) (“When a criminal defendant has solemnly admitted in open court that he is in fact guilty of the offense with which he is charged, he may not thereafter raise independent claims relating to the deprivation of constitutional rights that occurred prior to the entry of the guilty plea. He may only attack the voluntary and intelligent character of the guilty plea.”). Mr. Ortega-Guzman does not challenge the “voluntary and intelligent character” of his guilty plea. See id., 411 U.S. at 267. Consequently, Mr. Ortega-Guzman has no basis for collaterally attacking his deportation proceeding. -4- Next, Mr. Ortega-Guzman challenges the district court’s failure to grant him a downward departure. In so doing, the court clearly recognized that it had the discretion to depart downward but declined to do so. Because the court acknowledged its authority to grant such a departure, we have no jurisdiction to review its decision refusing to exercise that authority. See United States v. Castillo, 140 F.3d 874, 889 (10th Cir. 1998). We have carefully examined the record to ascertain whether any other ground exists to support a challenge to defendant's sentence. We find nothing in the record to indicate that the sentence imposed was in violation of the law or the result of a misapplication of the sentencing guidelines. Accordingly, we are without jurisdiction to consider such a challenge. See United States v. Sanchez, 146 F.3d 796, 796-97 (10th Cir. 1998); 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a). III. CONCLUSION Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court denying Mr. Ortega-Guzman’s motion to dismiss the indictment, we AFFIRM the conviction, and we GRANT counsel’s motion to withdraw. Entered for the Court, Robert H. Henry Circuit Judge -5-	{ "pile_set_name": "FreeLaw" }
sqrt(153)/(sqrt(45)/sqrt(5)))*2). 3 Simplify -2-5(4 + (sqrt(300) + 5)2). 1000sqrt(3) + 3290 Simplify 2((4sqrt(3))*2 + -4 + sqrt(108)-3). -36sqrt(3) + 88 Simplify 4 + (-2 + 6(sqrt(1872) - (sqrt(1872) + -2 + sqrt(1872))))*2. -1440sqrt(13) + 67496 Simplify (((sqrt(352)2 + sqrt(352))/sqrt(8))/sqrt(144) + 0)2. 11/4 Simplify ((-1sqrt(544) + sqrt(544) + sqrt(544))-1)/(-4(sqrt(162) + 2sqrt(162) - sqrt(162))). sqrt(17)/18 Simplify (-4-3-15(sqrt(704)-1 + 1))*2. -57600sqrt(11) + 2538000 Simplify (34(-1 + 4sqrt(1300) + sqrt(1300) + 2))2. 14400sqrt(13) + 4680144 Simplify (sqrt(540)/(sqrt(192) + sqrt(12) + sqrt(12)))/sqrt(9) - (sqrt(50)/(sqrt(810) + -3sqrt(810)))2. -5/324 + sqrt(5)/6 Simplify (-3sqrt(16)/sqrt(8)6)2 - 21sqrt(8)/sqrt(4). -2sqrt(2) + 648 Simplify 6-2((sqrt(144)-1)/sqrt(12))2-5. 720 Simplify -2(-3sqrt(150)/sqrt(6))/(sqrt(10)/sqrt(2)-4)-5. 15sqrt(5)/2 Simplify ((sqrt(675) - (sqrt(675) + (-5 + sqrt(675) + -2 - sqrt(675) - sqrt(675))) - -3(-1 + sqrt(675)))-5)2. 12000sqrt(3) + 270400 Simplify (-1sqrt(1008)-4 + sqrt(1008)-1 + -2 - -6(sqrt(1008) + 1(sqrt(1008) + (sqrt(1008) - (sqrt(1008) + 1)))))2. -2880sqrt(7) + 226864 Simplify (((sqrt(330)2)/sqrt(11) + (sqrt(30) - (1sqrt(30) + sqrt(30))5 - sqrt(30) - sqrt(30)))/(sqrt(24)-1 + sqrt(24) + sqrt(72)/sqrt(3)))*2. 405/4 Simplify 2(sqrt(104)/(sqrt(2)24) + 3). sqrt(13)/2 + 6 Simplify ((sqrt(72)/sqrt(3)-5)/(sqrt(120)/sqrt(90) + sqrt(12)) + -2)2 + 2. 15sqrt(2) + 273/8 Simplify 3(63sqrt(209) - sqrt(209))/(sqrt(11) - (sqrt(22)/sqrt(2)3 - sqrt(11))) + 0. -51sqrt(19) Simplify 2 + (-65sqrt(77)2)/(sqrt(396) + sqrt(396) + (sqrt(396) + (sqrt(396) - (sqrt(396) + (sqrt(396) - (sqrt(396) - -1sqrt(396))))))-2 - sqrt(396)). 2 + 10sqrt(7)/3 Simplify ((sqrt(88) + sqrt(88)-3)/sqrt(4))/sqrt(2) - ((4sqrt(792))/sqrt(2))2. -6336 - 2sqrt(11) Simplify (sqrt(3645)2 + sqrt(720)-2)/(sqrt(1089) - 5sqrt(1089)2). -10sqrt(5)/99 Simplify (5 + (2sqrt(200) - sqrt(200)) + -2(3 + sqrt(200)) + sqrt(200) + 3)2. 4 Simplify ((sqrt(125) + (sqrt(125) - (-4 + -1 + sqrt(125))) + (-3(sqrt(125) + 1) - sqrt(125)) + 4)4)2. -2880sqrt(5) + 18576 Simplify (sqrt(325) + -1sqrt(325))2 - (-3sqrt(325)-5)*2. -73125 Simplify ((sqrt(1600) + sqrt(1600)-3 + sqrt(1600))4 - sqrt(1600))/(sqrt(30)/(1sqrt(6)-3)). 120sqrt(5) Simplify -2(sqrt(22)/(sqrt(1100) + (sqrt(1100) - (2sqrt(1100) + sqrt(1100)) - sqrt(1100))))*2 + (sqrt(288) - (0 + (sqrt(288)2 + sqrt(288))*2)) + 2. -259001/100 + 12sqrt(2) Simplify 3 + (-6(sqrt(612) - (sqrt(612) + -1)))2 - ((sqrt(612)1)*2 + 1 - (sqrt(612) - (-4(sqrt(612) - (2sqrt(612) + sqrt(612))))2)). -39742 + 6sqrt(17) Simplify (2sqrt(187))/sqrt(11) + 2 + 1 + (sqrt(17) - (-2 + sqrt(425) + sqrt(425) + sqrt(17)))2 + 5. -38sqrt(17) + 1712 Simplify -1(1(sqrt(1584) + 2 + sqrt(1584)) + 1)*2. -6345 - 144sqrt(11) Simplify ((sqrt(180) + sqrt(180)5)/sqrt(6))/(-5sqrt(160) + sqrt(10)). -6sqrt(3)/19 Simplify -1 + (sqrt(42) + (sqrt(42) - (sqrt(5082) + 4sqrt(5082) - sqrt(5082))))/(sqrt(96)-3)4. -1 + 14sqrt(7) Simplify -2((sqrt(11) + sqrt(539) + 3)*2 + -6(-2 + sqrt(11))). -1450 - 84sqrt(11) Simplify ((((-2sqrt(420))/sqrt(10))/sqrt(2))/((-4sqrt(192) + sqrt(192))3))*2. 7/1296 Simplify (-5 + (sqrt(108) + -1 + sqrt(108))41 + -1)2. -960sqrt(3) + 7012 Simplify (sqrt(1500) - -1sqrt(1500))/sqrt(12) - (2sqrt(560) - sqrt(560))/sqrt(7). 6sqrt(5) Simplify -1(-2 + (sqrt(52)-3)2 + 1). -467 Simplify -2 + (((sqrt(567) - 2sqrt(567)) + sqrt(567))1 - (1 + sqrt(7) + 1)-6)*2. 144sqrt(7) + 394 Simplify (((1 + sqrt(153))6 + sqrt(153) + sqrt(153) + ((-3 + sqrt(153))-3 - sqrt(153)))-1)2. 360sqrt(17) + 2673 Simplify (-5sqrt(153)1 - -2((-2sqrt(153) - sqrt(153)) + sqrt(153)))/(((sqrt(576)1 - sqrt(576)) + sqrt(576))-6). 3sqrt(17)/16 Simplify ((1(sqrt(567)2)2 - sqrt(56)/((sqrt(8) - (sqrt(8) - sqrt(24)/sqrt(3)))-2 - sqrt(8) - sqrt(8))) + -1)4. sqrt(7) + 9068 Simplify 3 + (0 + (sqrt(300) - (sqrt(300) + -2 + -1 + sqrt(300) - sqrt(300)))2)2. 21 Simplify -4(-4 + (sqrt(1300))24 + -2). -20776 Simplify ((2 + sqrt(468))3-5)2 - ((sqrt(468) + 0 + sqrt(468) + -4)2 + (0 + sqrt(468))*2 + 1). 5496sqrt(13) + 103843 Simplify (sqrt(192) + 1 + -4)2 + 3 + (sqrt(27))25. -48sqrt(3) + 339 Simplify 2 + (61sqrt(14))/(sqrt(4)/(sqrt(4)/sqrt(2))) + 4. 6 + 6sqrt(7) Simplify (-3 + (sqrt(288) + 0 - sqrt(2) - (-4 + sqrt(128)))2)3. 93 + 72sqrt(2) Simplify (sqrt(33)/sqrt(3) + 0)2 - (-5 + sqrt(11)-4)24. -804 - 158sqrt(11) Simplify (-6(sqrt(108) + sqrt(108) + -1 + 0 + (sqrt(108) - (sqrt(108) + -1 + -1) - sqrt(108))))*2. 432sqrt(3) + 3924 Simplify ((sqrt(280)/(sqrt(15)/sqrt(3)-1))/(sqrt(40)/sqrt(5)6 - sqrt(24)/(sqrt(3)-1 - sqrt(3))))2. 28/169 Simplify 0 + ((1 + sqrt(700) + sqrt(28)/(sqrt(4)1))-5)2 + -5. 550sqrt(7) + 21195 Simplify -3(51sqrt(110)2)/((sqrt(480) - (sqrt(480) + sqrt(480) + 1sqrt(480) + sqrt(480)) - sqrt(480))/sqrt(3)). 15sqrt(11)/8 Simplify -1 + (sqrt(132)/(3sqrt(3)) - sqrt(44))/(1(sqrt(4) + sqrt(28)/sqrt(7))). -sqrt(11)/3 - 1 Simplify ((-1 + (2 + sqrt(170)/sqrt(10) - sqrt(153)/sqrt(9)-1))-6)*2. 144sqrt(17) + 2484 Simplify (5(1sqrt(12) - sqrt(3) - sqrt(3) - (sqrt(432) + 2)))*2 + 2. 1200sqrt(3) + 10902 Simplify ((sqrt(20)2-3)/sqrt(4) + (sqrt(450)/(sqrt(9)-1 - sqrt(9)))/sqrt(10))2. 845/4 Simplify (-4 + (sqrt(308)/(sqrt(11) - (sqrt(11) - sqrt(176))) - ((sqrt(147) - 1sqrt(147))/sqrt(7))/sqrt(3)))-3. -3sqrt(7)/2 + 12 Simplify -52(-2 + 0 + sqrt(125))-3-3. -450sqrt(5) + 180 Simplify ((-1sqrt(80) + -2 - sqrt(80))2 - (3 + sqrt(80) + 1)2) + ((sqrt(80) + 2 + sqrt(80) + 0)5)2. 800sqrt(5) + 8328 Simplify -1 + (sqrt(475) + 0 + -3 + sqrt(475) + sqrt(475) + sqrt(475) + 0 + -2)*2 + -3. -200sqrt(19) + 7621 Simplify -1(sqrt(252) + sqrt(252) + 2 + sqrt(252) - sqrt(252)) - (-5 + sqrt(252) + 1 + sqrt(252))2. -1026 + 84sqrt(7) Simplify (sqrt(1872)-2-2 - -5sqrt(1872)5)*2. 1574352 Simplify (((sqrt(150)/sqrt(3) - sqrt(50)) + 0 + (sqrt(72) + 0 - sqrt(2)) + (sqrt(2) - (sqrt(2)-1 + -4)))5)2. 1400sqrt(2) + 2850 Simplify 2 + sqrt(7) + 3 + -4 - 5sqrt(14)/(sqrt(2) - (sqrt(2) + sqrt(8)/sqrt(4))). 1 + 6sqrt(7) Simplify (5(sqrt(76) - 1sqrt(76))6)/((sqrt(324) + (sqrt(324) - -2sqrt(324)))-4). 0 Simplify 3((0 + 3sqrt(112) + sqrt(112) - sqrt(112) - sqrt(112)) + 4) + -1. 11 + 24sqrt(7) Simplify -61((sqrt(2268) + -1)5)2-2. -10800sqrt(7) + 680700 Simplify (sqrt(187)-14)/(sqrt(22)/sqrt(2)-6) - (1sqrt(272)1)*2-4. 2sqrt(17)/3 + 1088 Simplify 0 + sqrt(405) + (sqrt(405)3 + 3)*2 + 1 + 5 + 2sqrt(405). 189sqrt(5) + 3660 Simplify 1(sqrt(112) + -2 + 1 - -4(3 + sqrt(112) + sqrt(112)))2 + -3. 792sqrt(7) + 9190 Simplify -1sqrt(55)/(-6(sqrt(20) - sqrt(5)))-1. -sqrt(11)/6 Simplify (sqrt(540)/(2sqrt(12)) - ((sqrt(5445) - (-2sqrt(5445) + sqrt(5445) + sqrt(5445))) + sqrt(45)))/((sqrt(144) + sqrt(144)1)5 + sqrt(144)) + -4. -4 - 23sqrt(5)/88 Simplify (-2 + sqrt(272)-5 + sqrt(2448)1 + 1 + sqrt(425) + sqrt(425))*2. -4sqrt(17) + 69 Simplify (0 + (sqrt(1584) + 1)-6 - -1(3 + (sqrt(1584) - 1sqrt(1584))))2. 432sqrt(11) + 57033 Simplify (sqrt(3) + sqrt(3) + (2sqrt(27)/sqrt(9) - sqrt(3)) + 2)-5 + -5. -15sqrt(3) - 15 Simplify -1(-6sqrt(114)-2 + 1sqrt(114)3)/(sqrt(54) + sqrt(108)/sqrt(2)1). -5sqrt(19)/2 Simplify -2 + ((sqrt(132) + (sqrt(132)-1 - sqrt(132)))6 - sqrt(132))/(sqrt(12) + (sqrt(72)-1)/sqrt(6) - sqrt(12)). -2 + 7sqrt(11) Simplify (1((-2sqrt(825) - sqrt(825) - sqrt(825)) + sqrt(825)) + sqrt(825) + sqrt(825))/((sqrt(33) - sqrt(4752)-2)/sqrt(3)). -sqrt(3)/5 Simplify (sqrt(272) - (sqrt(272) - (3sqrt(272) + sqrt(272))-1 - sqrt(272))2) + 0 + -5. -4357 + 4sqrt(17) Simplify (sqrt(119) - sqrt(119)43)/(sqrt(63)/(sqrt(63)/sqrt(7))). -11sqrt(17) Simplify ((sqrt(640) + 1(sqrt(640) - (sqrt(640)-1 - sqrt(640))) + sqrt(640))/((sqrt(6655)-2)/sqrt(11)))*2. 800/121 Simplify sqrt(143)/(-2sqrt(99) + sqrt(11))-4 - (0 + sqrt(117) + sqrt(91)/(sqrt(28)/sqrt(4)) + -3). -16sqrt(13)/5 + 3 Simplify (-2 + (-4 + -4(sqrt(1300) + 1)1)*2)6. 3840sqrt(13) + 125172 Simplify -5 + 2(sqrt(1539) - (sqrt(1539) - (5*(sqrt(1539) - (0 + sqrt	{ "pile_set_name": "DM Mathematics" }
2 September 2011 I have been a little obsessed with watching Korean dramas lately and therefore have been craving Korean food every time I see it on screen! 'You know you are a glutton when..' lol :P One Korean snack I found particularly interesting was the Ddukkbokkie which is rice cake in a hot and spicy sauce. It is typically eaten as a snack but if you add more fillers such as vegetables, fish puffs, tofu skin, etc, it can also become a meal... which is what I have done. Trixie and I followed the recipe from Maangchi but modified it a bit to fit what I had in my fridge. I wanted to use traditional Korean rice cakes which are shaped in long tubes, but since I had the sliced ones in my freezer already, I reluctantly substituted them for the tubes. So yeah... that's why it doesn't look very authentic :P I first took out some frozen fish puff and oyster mushrooms. Then, I soaked the fish puff along with the frozen rice cake and fish cake in water to thaw it out a bit. My version of Ddukbokkie did not have the vibrant red colour you normally see in authentic Ddukbokkie because I didn't use the Korean red pepper paste. Instead, I used the Chinese hot chili paste (as shown in the picture). I also used Hon-Dashi to make the broth because I didn't have any dried anchovies, which is what you are suppose to use. If you are wondering what is inside the Ziploc container, it's just ketchup. But uh..don't ask me why it was in there :P Yum... almost done! I garnished it with a little bit of green onion and Ta-Da! Ddukbokkie makes great comfort food and it always warms you up inside. :) Because this version wasn't as authentic as I'd like it to be, I won't post up the instructions for how I did mine. You can follow Maangchi's recipe! When I get better at making Ddukbokkie, I will post up a better recipe for ya'll!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Q: PWM flow control and thrust If I have a water pump and a fast solenoid valve (can be open or closed) and turn on my pump at a constant voltage and apply pulse width modulation to my valve. Would the resulting thrust created at the water output be constant and can it be controlled nicely by the pulse width modulation process? What would be the equations that could model the reaction of such a setup? A: It's not clear, but I think you are asking whether you can control your solenoid valve with pulses instead of steady DC. Yes, above some frequency, the mechanical system actuated by the solenoid won't "see" individual pulses, just the average. Usually at a higher frequency, the solenoid itself will smooth out the pulses and maintain are more average steady current. Electrically, this is basically creating a switching power supply that controls the current thru the solenoid, with the solenoid being the inductor of the switching power supply. This is assuming your "solenoid nozzle" (do you really mean "valve"?) is intended for other than binary on/off operation, often called a proportional valve. Trying to drive a binary mechanism to in-between states may not end well. Constantly banging it between on and off may be even worse.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Association of decreased expression of the macrophage scavenger receptor MARCO with tumor progression and poor prognosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma. The macrophage receptor with collagenous structure (MARCO) belongs to the scavenger receptor family; however, few studies have assessed their potentials in modulating inflammatory signaling other than the typical function of pattern recognition and phagocytic clearance. Interestingly, RNA-Seq analyses of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have identified MARCO as one of the top 30 differentially expressed genes between cancerous and adjacent noncancerous tissues. However, no research has been performed to study MARCO in liver cancer. MARCO protein expression was evaluated by immunostaining liver tissue specimens collected from 88 HCC patients, 10 liver cirrhosis patients, 6 metastatic patients, and 5 healthy controls. All sections were reviewed by blinded observers followed by the interpretation of integral optical density per area as a measure of protein intensity. We observed significantly decreased expression of MARCO in intratumoral tissues of HCC compared with expression in peritumoral tissues. The expression of MARCO declined progressively as the disease condition was aggravated, with the highest expression found in healthy controls and the lowest found in patients with HCC metastasis. Furthermore, MARCO expression decreased along with tumor progression. MARCO+ cells co-localized with CD68+ cells, indicating predominant expression on macrophages. The overall survival rate was significantly increased in patients with high intratumoral MARCO expression compared with that of patients with low intratumoral MARCO expression. Our study is the first to demonstrate an association between MARCO expression and the progression and prognosis of HCC.	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts" }
Sermons from February 2017 In 2017, our church’s theme is “Magnify Him.” We can’t make God any bigger than he already is, but we can discover how great he really is. When we Magnify Him, we aren’t using a magnifying glass method (making something tiny look huge); we are using the telescope method (uncovering the gigantic nature of something…	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Where To Eat Brick Pit, The Restaurant The Brick Pit is known for its moist, tender barbecue and wet ribs and has been featured on the Travel Channel's "Man vs Food," and in Maxim magazine. Located inside an unassuming, converted house, The Brick Pit boasts a custom smoker built to serve 500 pounds of meat each day.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Self-Healing and Multistimuli-Responsive Hydrogels Formed via a Cooperation Strategy and Their Application in Detecting Biogenic Amines. We reported here a new platform of supramolecular hydrogels cross-linked by the cooperation of metal-ligand coordination and hydrophobic interaction. A salicylaldehyde benzoyl hydrazone-terminal poly(ethylene glycol) (2SBH-PEG) was synthesized and formed small micelles in an aqueous environment. Addition of Ni2+ connected the low-molecular-weight 2SBH-PEG into a metallopolymer via metal-ligand coordination and led to micelle aggregation, resulting in gelation due to the enhancement of hydrophobic interaction. The forming hydrogel, Ni-PEGel, exhibited rapid self-healing ability and reversible pH-responsive property. Because of the containing metal coordination bond, it was also sensitive to the strong competing ligands, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and pyridine. In addition, Ni-PEGel showed colorimetric changes when exposed to biogenic amine (BA) vapor. The color development of Ni-PEGel toward BAs makes it a good candidate in monitoring food spoilage.	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts" }
The Story Behind Sarah's Goal Publish Date Monday, 20 June 2016, 5:07PM Sarah was pretty chuffed with herself when she arrived at work this week. She recounted with pride the tale of how she won Player of the Day at Football on Sunday and scored a goal. But it turned out there was more to the story...	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Chiropractor active in educating against drug useSponsors foundation for drug-free world The Sussex County Foundation for a Drug-Free World helped distribute over 2,000 Truth About Drugs booklets to seventh and eighth graders at Stewart Airport’s annual Y2Kids Career Day event. photo provided Lafayette — The Sussex County Foundation for a Drug-Free World helped distribute over 2,000 Truth About Drugs booklets to seventh and eighth graders at Stewart Airport’s annual Y2Kids Career Day event. According to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, 2018 is on pace to far surpass drug deaths of 2016 and 2017, with an estimated 3,000 drug deaths. Having seen the negative effects of drugs on Sussex County residents, chiropractor and humanitarian Dr. M. Helena Takacs of Takacs Wellness Center located in Lafayette, sponsors the Sussex County Foundation for a Drug-Free World. The foundation is the world’s largest non-profit drug education organization in the world. According to the foundation, an estimated 208 million people internationally consume illegal drugs. “As a mother of three, it is unacceptable to see the negative impact that prescription and illegal drugs, such as heroin and pyschotropics, have had on our youth," Takacs said. "It is my passion to eradicate these societal impacts by educating our local community about these issues and this is why I sponsor the Drug-Free World Program and deliver seminars such as 'How to Know if Your Children Are on Drugs and How You Can Help Them.'”Takacs educates parents and children on the harmful effects of illegal drugs so that they can prevent a family from experiencing these horrors. These free sponsored programs are available for schools, parent groups and community organizations at no charge locally via Takacs as well as nationally via the Foundation for a Drug Free World-- which is a foundation fully supported monetarily from concerned local business owners.The foundation distributes the Truth About Drugs booklet, an informational pamphlet that details short- and long-term effects of drugs, common street names and myths that a dealer might use to make a sale. The foundation offers educational materials free of charge to educators and anyone who wants to learn more about the harmful effects of drugs (www.DrugFreeWorld.org) For more information visit www.DrTakacs.com or contact Dr. Takacs at 973-383-5052 to schedule a free educational program.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
UPDATE, SUNDAY 10 A.M.: You would think a massive hurricane was about to sweep over America. But no, it’s just Disney Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, which will be kicking off this Thursday. While the final frame of April has proven its mettle to launch summer early (e.g., Fast Five‘s 2011 bow of $86.2M), most of the majors felt it was a waste of time to launch a tentpole as Age of Ultron is really expected to take the wind out of everyone else’s box office sails (and sales) next weekend. So most distribs spent this weekend preparing for the storm: Getting out in front of Ultron; ensuring good word of mouth on their boutique titles; making sure audiences know there are other pics (particularly smart arthouse alternatives) on the marquee. Lionsgate found this weekend a prime place to get a leg up, generate word of mouth with females and counterprogram as it rolled out period romance The Age of Adaline. A24’s Ex Machina, which hit a sweet spot with the 25-34 demo, expanded this weekend to excite those fanboys waiting around in the lobby ahead of Ultron’s debut. “Films that are already in the marketplace have a better shot of hanging in there when a big film arrives in the marketplace, versus going up right against it,” says Sony domestic distrib chief Rory Bruer. Sony’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 posted a strong hold in second place thanks to teens, down 35% in its sophomore sesh with $15.5M at 3,633. Pic’s 10-day domestic cume of $43.9M has surpassed its $30M production budget by 47%. Funny thing — when there’s a big film like Ultron in the marketplace, distribs can adopt one of two opinions: a) a film the size of Ultron is good for business and drives more traffic or, conversely, b) it hurts business for everybody else. During the slow frame of January, most distribs whined that American Sniper’s runaway success took a significant cut of their business. Typically during summer, a tentpole spurs business for the competition as well. Says one studio distribution chief, “There are varying degrees of big when it comes to whether a tentpole will assist the competition or not. When it’s enormous, it sucks the air out.” But with Ultron expected to break the record domestic debut set by its predecessor – $207.4M – most major distribs this morning are bracing for big drops in a week. Per Rentrak, this weekend rang up $98M for all films, down 18% from last weekend and off 16% from a year ago. 2015 is still ahead of 2014 for the period of Jan. 1-April 26 by 3.7% with $3.22B. Universal is calling the fourth weekend for Furious 7 at $18.26M with a total running domestic cume of $320.5M. F7 maintains its position as the studio’s fourth-highest grossing title Stateside behind their top three hitters Despicable Me 2 ($368M), E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial ($359.2M), and Jurassic Park ($357.1M). Large format accounted for 18% of the weekend haul, including Imax at 8%, and premium large format another 10%. With Ultron expected to ding F7, the anticipation by many remains that the seven-quel is headed toward $375M, which would obviously make it Uni’s highest grossing film at the domestic B.O. Globally, F7 hit $1.322 billion, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide behind Avatar ($2.8B), Titanic ($2.2B) Marvel’s The Avengers ($1.5B) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($1.341B) Lionsgate’s The Age of Adaline from Lakeshore/SKE arrived in third with $13.375M at 2,991. Adaline rose 8% on Saturday from Friday, moving from $4.95M to $5.35M. The pic, which stars Blake Lively and Harrison Ford, played largely to older females with femmes making up 75% and over 25ers at 58%. With Age of Adaline split 50/50 between Lionsgate and Lakeshore, the film is shaping up to be profitable for both partners. Lionsgate moved Adaline out of its January spot to grab a bigger share of the audience than the May box office provides; it’s an obvious option for adult women at the multiplex next weekend amid the Age of Ultron‘s anticipated multiple showtimes. Adaline’s A- CinemaScore translates into a likely 3.5 multiple, so the distrib is quite hopeful about the pic’s counter-programming possibilities. Following Fox’s The Longest Ride by two weeks provided enough breathing room for Adaline while also providing an opportunity for the Blake Lively film to trailer on the Nicholas Sparks film, hitting its key femme demo head on. Lively’s Gossip Girl fandom and her profile in the fashion world became key drivers to creating awareness for the film. Meanwhile, A24’s wide expansion of artificial intelligence sci-fi film Ex Machina turned out to be A24’s biggest grossing weekend in the label’s history with $5.44M at 1,255. Current cume for the pic through its third weekend stands at $6.9M, after it had 2015’s best specialty debut (on a per-theater average) two weeks ago, and dominated specialty box office again last week. The wide expansion pulls it up above specialty ranks at this point, putting it at 11th overall. Open Road’s Little Boy, executive produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, fell outside the top 10 with $2.83M at 1,045 theaters. Given the Burnett/Downey involvement (The Bible, A.D. The Bible Continues), no surprise there was a play here for faith-based audiences. Sources say that Open Road acquired the film for around $1M, thus their exposure on the film wasn’t large. Warner Bros. is content with the results of Russell Crowe‘s directorial debut The Water Diviner. Pic grossed $1.25M at 320 locales, repping a $3,906 per theater. Overall it earned an A- CinemaScore, with women making up the majority of tickets sales at 51%. Imax in 70 hubs generated $222K, 18% of the pic’s B.O. Rather than launch Water Diviner during a crowded awards season, Warner Bros. is taking advantage of platforming this film in the summer arthouse marketplace, a sphere that can be quite lucrative for smart, non-tentpoles. The top 10 films for April 24-26: 1). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,808 theaters (-156%) / $4.8M Fri. /$8.3M Sat. (+73%)/ $5M Sun. (-40%)/ 3-day cume: $18.3M (-37%) / Total cume: $320.5M/ Wk 4 2). Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (SONY), 3,633 theaters (0)/ $3.75M Fri./ $7.3M Sat. (+95%)/ $4.4M Sun. (-40%)/ 3-day cume: $15.5M (-35%)/ Total Cume: $43.9M / Wk 2 3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 2,991 theaters / $4.95M Fri. / $5.35M Sat. (+8%)/ $3M Sun. (-43%)/3-day cume: $13.37M / Wk 1 4). Home (FOX/DW), 3,311 theaters (-177) / $1.8M Fri. /$3.9M Sat. (+116%)/ $2.5M Sun. (-35%)/ 3-day cume: $8.3M (-22%)/ Total cume: $153.7M / Wk 5 5). Unfriended (UNI), 2,775 theaters (+36) / $2M Fri. / $2.7M Sat. (+36%)/ $1.45M Sun. (-47%)/ 3-day cume: $6.2M (-61%)/ Total Cume: $25.1M/Wk 2 6). Ex Machina (A24), 1,255 theaters (+1,216) / $1.7M Fri. / $2.2M Sat. (+32%)/ $1.4M Sun. (-35%)/3-day cume: $5.4M (+581%)/ Total cume: $5.6M / Wk 3 7). The Longest Ride (FOX), 3,140 theaters (-231) / $1.36M Fri. /$1.95M Sat. (+43%)/ $1M Sun. (-46%)/ 3-day cume: $4.3M (-38%) / Total cume: $30.3M / Wk 3 8). Get Hard (WB), 2,276theaters (-379) / $1M Fri. /$1.7M Sat. (+69%)/ $1M Sun. (-40%)/ 3-day cume: $3.9M (-21%) / Total cume: $84M / Wk 5 9). Monkey Kingdom (DIS), 2,012 theaters (0)/ $1M Fri. /$1.4M Sat. (+38%)/ $1M Sun. (-31%)/ 3-day cume: $3.55M (-22%) /Total Cume: $10.25M / Wk 2 10). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,981 theaters (-30) / $920K Fri. / $1.56M Sat. (+70%)/ $1M Sun. (-35%)/ 3-day cume: $3.5M (-24%) / Total cume: $21.6M / Wk 4 NOTEABLES: Little Boy (OPRD), 1,045 theaters / $1.35M Fri. /$800K Sat. (-41%)/ $680K Sun. (-15%)/ 3-day cume: $2.8M/ Wk 1 The Water Diviner (WB), 320 theaters / $375K Fri. /$530K Sat. (+41%)/ $345K Sun. (-35%)/ 3-day cume: $1.25M/ Wk 1 True Story (FSL), 856 theaters (+25) / $315K Fri. /$537K Sat. (+70%)/ $323K Sun. (-40%)/ 3-day cume: $1.1M (-40%) / Total cume: $3.8M / Wk 2 Brotherly Love (FREE), 200 theaters / 81K Fri. / $101K Sat. (+25%)/ $61K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $243K/ Wk 1 Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (IND), 3 theaters / $54K Fri. / $53K Sat. (-1%)/$40K Sun. (-25%) / 3-day PSA: 49K / 3-day cume: $147K / Wk 1 Kung Fu Killer (WLCO), 23 theaters / $14K Fri. / $18K Sat. (+29%)/ $11K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $43K/ Wk 1 Blackbird (IMAGE), 12 theaters / $14K Fri. / $16K Sat. (+13%)/ $10.5K Sun. (-35%)/3-day cume: $41K/ Wk 1 Don’t Think I’ve Forgot (ARGT), 2 theaters / $5K Fri. / $5.7K Sat. (+15%)/ $3.4K Sun. (-40%)/3-day cume: $14K/ Wk 1 Just Before I Go (ANCHR/FREE), 2 theaters / $2.8K Fri. / $3.6K Sat. (+26%)/ $2.3K Sun. (-35%)/3-day cume: $9K/ Wk 1 MORE Previous, Saturday 7:26AM, after 6:56AM post: Lionsgate is reporting $4.96M for Lakeshore/SKE’s The Age of Adaline for Friday with Universal settling for second with Furious 7 at $4.83M. As is the tendency with Friday figures, everything just becomes more accurate as theaters close out their drawers, which occurs into Saturday morning. Furious 7 is still expected to win this weekend with a FSS of $16M- $17M and stateside cume of $318M-$319M. Box office beancounters are estimating that Age of Adaline will follow a trajectory similar to femme-driven The Longest Ride whereby Friday is its highest daily gross, dipping thereafter with an estimated opening of $12.4M, which would make it third behind Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. The Kevin James sequel from Sony grossed $3.75M on Friday and will land at No. 2 with $13.7M, off 42% in its second frame, with a 10-day cume of $42.16M. Sony is tubthumping that the sequel, with a current cume of $32.2M, has surpassed its reported production budget of $30M. Uni/Blumhouse’s Unfriended came away with a studio-reported $2M yesterday at 2,775 locales, down 71% in its second Friday. Industry estimates see the film making $5.9M in its second sesh, down 63% (typical for a horror film), and a 10-day cume tomorrow of $24.8M. Warner Bros. is reporting $1M for Get Hard in its fifth Friday at 2,276, down 27%, for a current cume of $81.2M. The studio’s new limited release, The Water Diviner collected $374K at 320 for a per theater of $1,168. TWC is reporting $916K at 1,981 for The Woman in Gold. The fourth frame for the Helen Mirren film is expected to file $3.1M with a cume by tomorrow of $21.2M. Open Road’s Little Boy took in $1.35M Friday. Industry estimate for FSS is $3M at 1,045 playdates. Updated top 10 chart for April 24-26: 1). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,808 theaters (-156%) / $4.8M Fri. (-42%) / 3-day cume: $16-M17M (-42 to 45%) / Total cume: $318M-319M/ Wk 4 2). Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (SONY), 3,633 theaters (0)/ $3.75M Fri. (-49%)/ 3-day cume: $13.7M (-42%)/ Total Cume: $42.16M / Wk 2 3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 2,991 theaters / $4.96M Fri. / 3-day cume: $12.4M / Wk 1 4). Home (FOX/DW), 3,311 theaters (-177) / $1.825M Fri. (-26%) / 3-day cume: $7.9M (-25%)/ Total cume: $153.4M / Wk 5 5). Unfriended (UNI), 2,775 theaters (+36) / $2M Fri. (-70%)/ 3-day cume: $5.9M (-63%)/ Total Cume: $24.8M/Wk 2 6). Ex Machina (A24), 1,255 theaters (+1,216) / $1.7M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.88M (+5,115%)/ Total cume: $6.19M / Wk 3 7). The Longest Ride (FOX), 3,140 theaters (-231) / $1.365M Fri. (-43%)/ 3-day cume: $4M (-43%) / Total cume: $30M / Wk 3 8). Get Hard (WB), 2,276theaters (-379) / $1.05M Fri. (-27%) / 3-day cume: $3.56M (-28%) / Total cume: $83.7M / Wk 5 9). Monkey Kingdom (DIS), 2,012 theaters (0)/ $1.065M Fri. (-32%)/ 3-day cume: $3.33M (-27%) /Total Cume: $10M / Wk 2 10). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,981 theaters (-30) / $903K Fri. (-33%) / 3-day cume: $3.1M (-33%) / Total cume: $21.2M / Wk 4 11). Little Boy (OPRD), 1,045 theaters / $1.35M Fri. / 3-day cume: $3M/ Wk 1 Previous, Saturday 1:05AM: It’s a close Friday night and when one takes into account all the industry estimates, Universal’s Furious 7 with $4.9M is passing Lionsgate’s period romance The Age of Adaline on the box office freeway by approximately $77K. The Blake Lively film about a turn-of-the-century woman who remains 29 for several decades deposited $4.83M into Lionsgate’s purse. The final frame of April flip flops annually as a date when studios can jumpstart summer (heck, in 2011 Universal proved that with Fast Five‘s awesome $86.2M bow) or take it easy. Knowing that Furious fans were going to stampede theaters to watch Paul Walker’s swan song, distribs opted to counter-program the seven-quel rather than throw another tentpole in the marketplace. They’re leaving that responsibility to Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron next weekend. F7 is on course to make $17M in its fourth weekend with its total domestic B.O. pushing $319.3M by Sunday. That FSS number is about where Universal expected the film to land; more aggressive estimates predicted $20M. The anticipation is that F7‘s Saturday could put the pedal to the metal for a 55% uptick, thanks to the gas from 615 large format screens, repping 16% of the pic’s 3,808 theater count. Social media buzz hasn’t waned. Universal brought out the film’s leading man and social media star Vin Diesel at CinemaCon to rightfully announce Fast & Furious 8‘s April 14, 2017 release date. Vin Diesel has collected close to 7M more followers combined across his Facebook and Instagram in the wake of F7‘s bow. Not only is his posting daily, but he’s already helping Uni push F7 for an Oscar (see right). Blake Lively headliner The Age of Adaline may have seduced some ticket buyers tonight who gave it a big smooch with an A- CinemaScore, but the industry is comping its opening to 20th Century Fox’s Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Longest Ride two weeks ago, which drew 73% females. Similar to the way that film was a tad front loaded with a $5.5M Friday and an 11% slide on Saturday for a FSS of $13M, industry estimates are seeing a similar trajectory for the Lakeshore/SKE financed pic which is projected to decline 5% for a $12.1M weekend at 2,991 — but in third place. Sony’s goofball sequel Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is expected to do donuts in second place with a $13.7M second weekend, off 42% for a 10-day cume of $42.3M. Originally, Age of Adaline was scheduled to bow on Jan. 23, but Lionsgate moved Mortdecai to that spot and gave the Lively film its own island in April without much competition. Critics are split on the film at 53% rotten. The opening week promotion for Age of Adaline surrounded women with a blitz engineered to drive ticket sales and attendance in groups. In addition, Lionsgate played its campaign off of Lively’s fashionista image with a campaign that included an Allure Magazine-hosted tastemaker luncheon with the actress and NYC VIP media elite such as Georgina Chapman, Lorraine Schwartz and other key fashion influencers. Lionsgate also worked with nine top fashion & beauty YouTube stars to created a custom ‘Fashion Journey Through the Decades’ initiative where each influencer created a unique makeup, clothing, or hairstyling tutorial video inspired by one of Adaline’s decade-themed portraits. All influencers shared their videos across their social media accounts attracting 1M-plus YouTube views. They executed a similar campaign with 30 Instagram platform influencers garnering 1M total engagements. The distrib also engaged Mom Influencer bloggers with over 725K followers to spread the word after screening the film. On social, some of Adaline facets included Lana Del Rey dropping her “Life is Beautiful” music video across her accounts including Facebook (11.5M followers), Twitter (5.36M followers), Instagram (3.6M), YouTube (1.3M subs). While Lively hasn’t tweeted much to her 275K followers and her 1.2 Facebook fans, she is pretty active posting on Instagram to her 2.3M followers. https://instagram.com/p/14dD9lx4O8/?taken-by=blakelively A24’s expansion of sci-fi pic Ex Machina from 39 theaters to 1,255 is expected to shoot over the moon with an estimated $1.59M Friday and a third FSS of $4.5M. Similar to RADiUS’ It Follows, Ex Machina busted past the 1,000 theater threshold in its third frame, and the Alex Garland film is gonna a file a weekend that’s 18% bigger than what the David Robert Mitchell horror film posted during the same point in its run (It Follows is expected to count a stateside B.O. of $14M through seven weekends by Sunday). A24 held sneaks shows for the film last night, and is spreading the word to the masses, i.e. a TV spot ran during the Bruce Jenner 20/20 interview tonight. Critics are smitten with Ex Machina at 90% fresh. A24 acquired Ex Machina back in October. Universal has international on the title. Open Road Film’s Little Boy bowed in 1,045 on course for a $1.35M Friday and $3.2M weekend. Distrib catered to the faith-based demo with a number of grass roots orgs doing Thursday night theater buyouts. Pic follows an eight-year old boy who’ll do whatever it takes to end World War II so his dad can return to home. Pic is exec produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett. Open Road bought U.S. rights last June. One source tells Deadline that the pre-sales were in the $1M range. Russell Crowe’s feature directorial debut The Water Diviner from Warner Bros. pumped out $408K for Friday and is expected to make $1.1M for the weekend at 320 engagements (70 of which are Imax). Critics are split at 59% rotten, but the film earned high marks from such prestige tweeds at Rolling Stone, Variety, THR, Boston Globe and the New York Post. The top 10 films per industry estimates for the weekend of April 24-26: 1). Furious 7 (UNI), 3,808 theaters (-156) / $4.9M Fri. (-41%) / 3-day cume: $17M (-41%) / Total cume: $319.3M/ Wk 4 2). Paul Blart Mall Cop 2 (SONY), 3,633 theaters (0)/ $3.6M Fri. (-50%)/ 3-day cume: $13.7M (-42%)/ Total Cume: $42.3M / Wk 2 3). The Age of Adaline (LGF), 2,991 theaters / $4.83M Fri. / 3-day cume: $12.1M / Wk 1 4). Home (FOX/DW), 3,311 theaters (-177) / $1.8M Fri. (-26%) / 3-day cume: $7.7M (-27%)/ Total cume: $153.1M / Wk 5 5). Unfriended (UNI), 2,775 theaters (+36) / $2M Fri. (-70%)/ 3-day cume: $5.8M (-63%)/ Total Cume: $24.7M/Wk 2 6). Ex Machina (A24), 1,255 theaters (+1,216) / $1.59M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.5M (+468%)/ Total cume: $5.8M / Wk 3 7). The Longest Ride (FOX), 3,140 theaters (-231) / $1.3M Fri. (-45%)/ 3-day cume: $3.9M (-44%) / Total cume: $29.9M / Wk 3 8). Monkey Kingdom (DIS), 2,012 theaters (0)/ $1M Fri. (-32%)/ 3-day cume: $3.29M (-28%) /Total Cume: $10M / Wk 2 9/10). Get Hard (WB), 2,276theaters (-379) / $944K Fri. (-35%) / 3-day cume: $3.2M (-35%) / Total cume: $83.3M / Wk 5 Little Boy (OPRD), 1,045 theaters / $1.35M Fri. / 3-day cume: $3.2M/ Wk 1 11). Woman in Gold (TWC), 1,981 theaters (-30) / $903K Fri. (-33%) / 3-day cume: $3M (-33%) / Total cume: $21.19M / Wk 4 Notables: The Water Diviner (WB), 320 theaters / $408K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.1M/ Wk 1 True Story (FSL), 856 theaters (+25) / $332K Fri. / 3-day cume: $1.1M (-35%) / Total cume: $3.7M / Wk 2 Brotherly Love (FREE), 200 theaters / $70K Fri. / 3-day cume: $210K/ Wk 1 Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (IND), 2 theaters / $35K Fri. / 3-day PSA: 42K / 3-day cume: $84K / Wk 1 Blackbird (IMAGE), 12 theaters / $18K Fri. / 3-day cume: $54K/ Wk 1 Kung Fu Killer (WLCO), 30 theaters / $12K Fri. / 3-day cume: $37K/ Wk 1	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
1. You think you're going to get me, don't you? Well, you've got another think coming, 'cause I'm ready for you. That's why there's a forged a card in my wallet saying my blood group is AB negative, and a MedicAlert tag warning that I'm allergic to penicillin, aspirin, and phenylalanine. Another one states that I'm a practicing, devout Christian Scientist. All these tricks ought to slow you down when the time comes, as it's sure to, sometime soon. Even if it makes the difference between living and dying, there's just no way I'll let anyone stick a transfusion needle into my arm. Never. Not with the blood supply in the state it's in. And anyway, I've got antibodies. So you just stay the hell away from me, ALAS. I won't be your patsy. I won't be your vector. I know your weaknesses, you see. You're a fragile, if subtle devil. Unlike TARP, you can't bear exposure to air or heat or cold or acid or alkali. Blood to blood, that's your only route. And what need had you of any other? You thought you'd evolved the perfect technique, didn't you? What was it Leslie Adgeson called you? The perfect master? The paragon of viruses? I remember long ago when HIV, the AIDS virus, had everyone so awed with its subtlety of lethal design. But compared with you, HIV is just a crude butcher. A maniac with a chainsaw, a blunderer that kills its hosts and relies for transmission on habits humans can, with effort, get under control. Oh, old HIV had its tricks, but compared with you? An amateur! Rhinoviruses and flu are clever, too. They're profligate, and they mutate rapidly. Long ago they learned how to make their hosts drip and wheeze and sneeze, so the victims spread the misery in all directions. Flu viruses are also a lot smarter than AIDS 'cause they don't generally kill their hosts, just make 'em miserable while they hack and spray and inflict fresh infections on their neighbors. Oh, Les Adgeson was always accusing me of anthropomorphizing our subjects. Whenever he came into my part of the lab, and found me cursing some damned intransigent leucophage in rich, Tex-Mex invective, he'd react predictably. I can just picture him now, raising one eyebrow, commenting dryly in his Winchester accent. "The virus cannot hear you, Forry. It isn't sentient, nor even alive, strictly speaking. It's only a packet of genes in a protein case, after all." "Yeah, Les," I'd answer. "But selfish genes! Given half a chance, they'll take over a human cell, force it to make armies of new viruses, then burst it apart as they escape to attack others. They may not think. All that behavior may have evolved by blind chance. But doesn't it all feel as if it's planned? As if the nasty little things were guided, somehow, by somebody out to make us miserable...? Out to make us die?" "Oh, come now Forry." He would smile at my New World ingenuousness. "You wouldn't be in this field if you didn't find phages beautiful, in their own way." Good old smug, sanctimonious Les. He never did figure out that viruses fascinated me for quite another reason. In their rapacious insatiability I saw a simple, distilled purity of ambition that exceeded even my own. The fact that it was mindless did little to ease my qualms. I've always imagined we humans over-rated brains, anyway. We'd first met when Les visited Austin on sabbatical, some years before. He'd had the Boy Genius rep even then, and naturally I played up to him. He invited me to join him back in Oxford, so there I was, having regular amiable arguments over the meaning of disease while the English rain dripped desultorily on the rhododendrons outside. Les Adgeson. Him with his artsy friends and his pretensions at philosophy — Les was all the time talking about the elegance and beauty of our nasty little subjects. But he didn't fool me. I knew he was just as crazy Nobel-mad as the rest of us. Just as obsessed with the chase, searching for that piece of the Life Puzzle, that bit leading to more grants, more lab space, more techs, more prestige... to money, status and, maybe eventually, Stockholm. He claimed not to be interested in such things. But he was a smoothie, all right. How else, in the midst of the Thatcher massacre of British science, did his lab keep expanding? And yet, he kept up the pretense. Viruses have their good side," Les kept saying. "Sure, they often kill, in the beginning. All new pathogens start that way. But eventually, one of two things happens. Either humanity evolves defenses to eliminate the threat or ..." Oh, he loved those dramatic pauses. "Or?" I'd prompt him, as required. "Or else we come to an accommodation, a compromise... even an alliance." That's what Les always talked about. Symbiosis. He loved to quote Margulis and Thomas, and even Lovelock, for pity's sake! His respect even for vicious, sneaky brutes like HIV was downright scary. "See how it actually incorporates itself right into the DNA of its victims?" he would muse. "Then it waits, until the victim is later attacked by some other disease pathogen. The host T cells prepare to replicate, to drive off the invader, only now some chemical machinery is taken over by the new DNA, and instead of two new T cells, a plethora of new AIDS viruses results." "So?" I answered. "Except that it's a retrovirus, that's the way nearly all viruses work." "Yes, but think ahead, Forry. Imagine what's going to happen when, inevitably, the AIDS virus infects someone whose genetic makeup makes him invulnerable!" "What, you mean his antibody reactions are fast enough to stop it? Or his T cells repel invasion?" Oh, Les used to sound so damn patronizing when he got excited. "No, no, think!" he urged. "I mean invulnerable after infection. After the viral genes have incorporated into his chromosomes. Only in this individual certain other genes prevent the new DNA from triggering viral synthesis. No new viruses are made. No cellular disruption. The person is invulnerable. But now he has all this new DNA...." "In just a few cells —" "Yes. But suppose one of these is a sex cell. Then suppose he fathers a child with that gamete. Now every one of that child's cells may contain both the trait of invulnerability and the new viral genes! Think about it, Forry. You now have a new type of human being! One who cannot be killed by AIDS. And yet he has all the AIDS genes, can make all those strange, marvelous proteins.... Oh, most of them will be unexpressed or useless, of course. But now this child's genome, and his descendants', contains more variety...." I often wondered, when he got carried away this way. Did he actually believe he was explaining this to me for the first time? Much as the Brits respect American science, they do tend to assume we're slackers when it comes to the philosophical side. But I'd seen his interest heading in this direction weeks back and had carefully done some extra reading. "You mean like the genes responsible for some types of inheritable cancers?" I asked sarcastically. "There's evidence some oncogenes were originally inserted into the human genome by viruses, just as you suggest. Those who inherit the trait for rheumatoid arthritis may also have gotten their gene that way." "Exactly. Those viruses themselves may be extinct, but their DNA lives on, in ours!" "Right. And boy have human beings benefited!" Oh, how I hated that smug expression he'd get. (It got wiped off his face eventually, didn't it?) Les picked up a piece of chalk and drew a figure on the blackboard. HARMLESS--> KILLER!--> SURVIVABLE ILLNESS--> INCONVENIENCE--> HARMLESS "Here's the classic way of looking at how a host species interacts with a new pathogen, especially a virus. Each arrow, of course, represents a stage of mutation and adaptation selection. "First, a new form of some previously harmless microorganism leaps from its prior host, say a monkey species, over to a new one, say us. Of course, at the beginning we have no adequate defenses. It cuts through us like Syphilis did in Europe in the sixteenth century, killing in days rather than years... in an orgy of cell feeding that's really not a very efficient modus for a pathogen. After all, only a gluttonous parasite kills off its host so quickly. "What follows, then, is a rough period for both host and parasite as each struggles to adapt to the other. It can be likened to warfare. Or, on the other hand, it might be thought of as a sort of drawn out process of negotiation." I snorted in disgust. "Mystical crap, Les. I'll concede your chart; but the War analogy is the right one. That's why they fund labs like ours. To come up with better weapons for our side." "Hmm. Possibly. But sometimes the process does look different, Forry." He turned and drew another chart. HARMLESS--> KILLER!--> SURVIVABLE ILLNESS--> INCONVENIENCE--> BENIGN PARASITISM--> SYMBIOSIS "You can see that this chart is the same as the other, right up to the point where the original disease disappears." "Or goes into hiding." "Surely. As E. coli took refuge in our innards. Doubtless long ago the ancestors of E. coli killed a great many of our ancestors before eventually becoming the beneficial symbionts they are now, helping us digest our food. "The same applies to viruses, I'd wager. Heritable cancers and rheumatoid arthritis are just temporary awkwardnesses. Eventually, those genes will be comfortably incorporated. They'll be part of the genetic diversity that prepares us to meet challenges ahead. Why, I'd wager a large portion of our present genes came about in such a way, entering our cells first as invaders...." Crazy sonovabitch. Fortunately he didn't try to lead the lab's research effort too far to the right on his magic diagram. Our Boy Genius was plenty savvy about the funding agencies. He knew they weren't interested in paying us to prove we're all partly descended from viruses. They wanted, and wanted badly, progress on ways to fight viral infections themselves. So Les concentrated his team on vectors. Yeah, you viruses need vectors, don't you. I mean, if you kill a guy, you've got to have a life raft, so you can desert the ship you've sunk, so you can cross over to some new hapless victim. Same applies if the host proves tough, and fights you off — gotta move on. Always movin' on. Hell, even if you've made peace with a human body, like Les suggested, you still want to spread, don't you? Big-time colonizers, you tiny beasties. Oh, I know. It's just natural selection. Those bugs that accidentally find a good vector spread. Those that don't, don't. But it's so eerie. Sometimes it sure feels purposeful.... So the flu makes us sneeze. Salmonella gives us diarrhea. Smallpox causes pustules which dry, flake off and blow away to be inhaled by the patient's loved ones. All good ways to jump ship. To colonize. Who knows? Did some past virus cause a swelling of the lips that made us want to kiss? Heh. Maybe that's a case of Les's "benign incorporation"... we retain the trait, long after the causative pathogen went extinct! What a concept. So our lab got this big grant to study vectors. Which is how Les found you, ALAS. He drew this big chart covering all the possible ways an infection might leap from person to person, and set us about checking all of them, one by one. For himself he reserved straight blood-to-blood infection. There were reasons for that. First off, Les was an altruist, see. He was concerned about all the panic and unfounded rumors spreading about Britain's blood supply. Some people were putting off necessary surgery. There was talk of starting over here what some rich folk in the States had begun doing — stockpiling their own blood in silly, expensive efforts to avoid having to use the Blood Banks if they ever needed hospitalization. All that bothered Les. But even worse was the fact that lots of potential donors were shying away from giving blood because of some stupid rumors that you could get infected that way. Hell, nobody ever caught anything from giving blood... nothing except maybe a little dizziness and perhaps a zit or spot from all the biscuits and sweet tea they feed you afterwards. And as for contracting HIV from receiving blood, well, the new antibodies tests soon had that problem under control. Still, the stupid rumors spread. A nation has to have confidence in its blood supply. Les wanted to eliminate all those silly fears once and for all, with one definitive study. But that wasn't the only reason he wanted the blood-to blood vector for himself. "Sure, there are some nasty things like AIDS that use that vector. But that's also where I might find the older ones," he said, excitedly. "The viruses that have almost finished the process of becoming benign. The ones that have been so well selected that they keep a low profile, and hardly inconvenience their hosts at all. Maybe I can even find one that's commensal! One that actually helps the human body." "An undiscovered human commensal," I sniffed doubtfully. "And why not? If there's no visible disease, why would anyone have ever looked for it! This could open up a whole new field, Forry!" In spite of myself, I was impressed. It was how he got to be known as a Boy Genius, after all, this flash of half-crazy insight. How he managed not to have it snuffed out of him at OxBridge, I'll never know, but it was one reason why I'd attached myself to him and his lab, and wrangled mighty hard to get my name attached to his papers. So I kept watch over his work. It sounded so dubious, so damn stupid. And I knew it just might bear fruit, in the end. That's why I was ready when Les invited me along to a conference down in Bloomsbury one day. The colloquium itself was routine, but I could tell he was near to bursting with news. Afterwards we walked down Charing Cross Road to a pizza place, one far enough from the university area to be sure there'd be no colleagues anywhere within earshot — just the pretheater crowd, waiting till opening time down at Leicester Square. Les breathlessly swore me to secrecy. He needed a confidant, you see, and I was only too happy to comply. "I've been interviewing a lot of blood donors lately," he told me after we'd ordered. "It seems that while some people have been scared off from donating, that has been largely made up by increased contributions by a central core of regulars." "Sounds good," I said. And I meant it. I had no objection to there being an adequate blood supply. Back in Austin I was pleased to see others go to the Red Cross van, just so long as nobody asked me to contribute. I had neither the time nor the interest, so I got out of it by telling everybody I'd had malaria. "I found one interesting fellow, Forry. Seems he started donating back when he was twenty-five, during the Blitz. Must have contributed thirty-five, forty gallons, by now." I did a quick mental calculation. "Wait a minute. He's got to be past the age limit by now." "Exactly right! He admitted the truth, when he was assured of confidentiality. Seems he didn't want to stop donating when he reached sixty-five. He's a hardy old fellow ... had a spot of surgery a few years back, but he's in quite decent shape, overall. So, right after his local Gallon Club threw a big retirement fest for him, he actually moved across the county and registered at a new blood bank, giving a false name and a younger age!" "Kinky. But it sounds harmless enough. I'd guess he just likes to feel needed. Bet he flirts with the nurses and enjoys the free food... sort of a bimonthly party he can always count on, with friendly, appreciative people." Hey, just because I'm a selfish bastard doesn't mean I can't extrapolate the behavior of altruists. Like most other user-types, I've got a good instinct for the sort of motivations that drive suckers. People like me need to know such things. "That's what I thought too, at first," Les said, nodding. "I found a few more like him, and decided to call them 'addicts.' At first I never connected them with the other group, the one I named 'converts.'" "Converts?" "Yes, converts. People who suddenly become blood donors — get this — very soon after they've recovered from surgery themselves!" "Maybe they're paying off part of their hospital bills that way?" "Mmm, not really. We have nationalized health, remember? And even for private patients, that might account for the first few donations only." "Gratitude, then?" An alien emotion to me, but I understood it, in principle. "Perhaps. Some few people might have their consciousnesses raised after a close brush with death, and decide to become better citizens. After all, half an hour at a blood bank, a few times a year, is a small inconvenience in exchange for..." Sanctimonious twit. Of course he was a donor. Les went on and on about civic duty and such until the waitress arrived with our pizza and two fresh bitters. That shut him up for a moment. But when she left, he leaned forward, eyes shining. "But no, Forry. It wasn't bill-paying, or even gratitude. Not for some of them, at least. More had happened to these people than having their consciousnesses raised. They were converts, Forry. They began joining Gallon Clubs, and more! It seems almost as if, in each case, a personality change had taken place." "What do you mean?" "I mean that a significant fraction of those who have had major surgery during the last five years seem to have changed their entire set of social attitudes! Beyond becoming blood donors, they've increased their contributions to charity, joined parent-teacher organizations and Boy Scout troops, become active in Greenpeace and Save The Children..." "The point, Les. What's your point?" "My point?" He shook his head. "Frankly, some of these people were behaving like addicts... like converted addicts to altruism. That's when it occurred to me, Forry, that what we might have here was a new vector." He said it as simply as that. Naturally I looked at him, blankly. "A vector!" he whispered, urgently. "Forget about typhus, or smallpox, or flu. They're rank amateurs! Wallies who give the show away with all their sneezing and flaking and shitting. To be sure, AIDS uses blood and sex, but it's so damned savage, it forced us to become aware of it, to develop tests, to begin the long, slow process of isolating it. But ALAS —" "Alas?" "A-L-A-S." He grinned. "It's what I've named the new virus I've isolated, Forry. It stands for 'Acquired Lavish Altruism Syndrome.' How do you like it?" "Hate it. Are you trying to tell me that there's a virus that affects the human mind? And in such a complicated way?" I was incredulous and, at the same time, scared spitless. I've always had this superstitious feeling about viruses and vectors. Les really had me spooked now. "No, of course not," he laughed. "But consider a simpler possibility. What if some virus one day stumbled on a way to make people enjoy giving blood?" I guess I only blinked then, unable to give him any other reaction. "Think, Forry! Think about that old man I spoke of earlier. He told me that every two months or so, just before he'd be allowed to donate again, he tends to feel 'all thick inside.' The discomfort only goes away after the next donation!" I blinked again. "And you're saying that each time he gives blood, he's actually serving his parasite, providing it a vector into new hosts...." "The new hosts being those who survive surgery because the hospital gave them fresh blood, all because our old man was so generous, yes! They're infected! Only this is a subtle virus, not a greedy bastard, like AIDS, or even the flu. It keeps a low profile. Who knows, maybe it's even reached a level of commensalism with its hosts — attacking invading organisms for them, or..." He saw the look on my face and waved his hands. "All right, far-fetched, I know. But think about it! Because there are no disease symptoms, nobody has ever looked for this virus, until now." He's isolated it, I realized, suddenly. And, knowing instantly what this thing could mean, career-wise, I was already scheming, wondering how to get my name onto his paper, when he published this. So absorbed was I that, for a few moments, I lost track of his words. "... And so now we get to the interesting part. You see, what's a normal, selfish Tory-voter going to think when he finds himself suddenly wanting to go down to the blood bank as often as they'll let him?" "Um," I shook my head. "That he's been bewitched? Hypnotized?" "Nonsense!" Les snorted. "That's not how human psychology works. No, we tend to do lots of things without knowing why. We need excuses, though, so we rationalize! If an obvious reason for our behavior isn't readily available, we invent one, preferably one that helps us think better of ourselves. Ego is powerful stuff, my friend." Hey, I thought. Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs. "Altruism," I said aloud. "They find themselves rushing regularly to the blood bank. So they rationalize that it's because they're good people.... They become proud of it. Brag about it...." "You've got it," Les said. "And because they're proud, even sanctimonious, about their newfound generosity, they tend to extend it, to bring it into other parts of their lives!" I whispered in hushed awe. "An altruism virus! Jesus, Les, when we announce this..." I stopped when I saw his sudden frown and instantly thought it was because I'd used that word "we." I should have known better, of course. For Les was always more than willing to share the credit. No, his reservation was far more serious than that. "Not yet, Forry. We can't publish this yet." I shook my head. "Why not! This is big, Les! It proves much of what you've been saying all along, about symbiosis and all that. There could even be a Nobel in it!" I'd been gauche, and spoken aloud of The Ultimate. But he did not even seem to notice. Damn. If only Les had been like most biologists, driven more than anything else by the lure of Stockholm. But no. You see, Les was a natural. A natural altruist. It was his fault, you see. Him and his damn virtue, they drove me to first contemplate what I next decided to do. "Don't you see, Forry? If we publish, they'll develop an antibody test for the ALAS virus. Donors carrying it will be barred from the blood banks, just like those carrying AIDS and syphilis and hepatitis. And that would be incredibly cruel torture to those poor addicts and carriers." "Screw the carriers!" I almost shouted. Several pizza patrons glanced my way. With a desperate effort I brought my voice down. "Look, Les, the carriers will be classified as diseased, won't they? So they'll go under doctor's care. And if all it takes to make them feel better is to bleed them regularly, well, then we'll give them pet leeches!" Les smiled. "Clever. But that's not the only, or even my main reason, Forry. No, I'm not going to publish, yet, and that is final. I just can't allow anybody to stop this disease. It's got to spread, to become an epidemic. A pandemic." I stared, and upon seeing that look in his eyes, I knew that Les was more than an altruist. He had caught that specially insidious of all human ailments, the Messiah Complex. Les wanted to save the world. "Don't you see?" he said urgently, with the fervor of a proselyte. "Selfishness and greed are destroying the planet, Forry! But nature always finds a way, and this time symbiosis may be giving us our last chance, a final opportunity to become better people, to learn to cooperate before it's too late! "The things we're most proud of, our prefrontal lobes, those bits of gray matter above the eyes which make us so much smarter than beasts — what good have they done us, Forry? Not a hell of a lot. We aren't going to think our way out of the crises of the twentieth century. Or, at least, thought alone won't do it. We need something else, as well. "And Forry, I'm convinced that 'something else' is ALAS. We've got to keep this secret, at least until it's so well established in the population that there's no turning back!" I swallowed. "How long? How long do you want to wait? Until it starts affecting voting patterns? Until after the next election?" He shrugged. "Oh, at least that long. Five years. Possibly seven. You see, the virus tends to only get into people who've recently had surgery, and they're generally older. Fortunately, they also are often influential. Just the sort who now vote Tory..." He went on. And on. I listened with half an ear, but already I had come to that fateful realization. A seven-year wait for a goddamn coauthorship would make this discovery next to useless to my career, to my ambitions. < Of course I could blow the secret on Les, now that I knew of it. But that would only embitter him, and he'd easily take all the credit for the discovery anyway. People tend to remember innovators, not whistle-blowers. We paid our bill and walked toward Charing Cross Station, where we could catch the tube to Paddington, and from there to Oxford. Along the way we ducked out of a sudden downpour at a streetside ice cream vendor. While we waited, I bought us both cones. I remember quite clearly that he had strawberry. I had a raspberry ice. While Les absentmindedly talked on about his research plans, a small pink smudge colored the corner of his mouth. I pretended to listen, but already my mind had turned to other things, nascent plans and earnest scenarios for committing murder. 2. It would be the perfect crime, of course. Those movie detectives are always going on about "motive, means, and opportunity." Well, motive I had in plenty, but it was one so far-fetched, so obscure, that it would surely never occur to anybody. Means? Hell, I worked in a business rife with means. There were poisons and pathogens galore. We're a very careful profession, but, well, accidents do happen.... The same holds for opportunity. There was a rub, of course. Such was Boy Genius's reputation that, even if I did succeed in knobbling him, I didn't dare come out immediately with my own announcement. Damn him, everyone would just assume it was his work anyway, or his "leadership" here at the lab, at least, that led to the discovery of ALAS. And besides, too much fame for me right after his demise might lead someone to suspect a motive. So, I realized. Les was going to get his delay, after all. Maybe not seven years, but three or four perhaps, during which I'd move back to the States, start a separate line of work, then subtly guide my own research to cover methodically all the bases Les had so recently flown over in flashes of inspiration. I wasn't happy about the delay, but at the end of that time, it would look entirely like my own work. No coauthorship for Forry on this one, nossir! The beauty of it was that nobody would ever think of connecting me with the tragic death of my colleague and friend, years before. After all, did not his demise set me back in my career, temporarily? "Ah, if only poor Les had lived to see your success!" my competitors would say, suppressing jealous bile as they watched me pack for Stockholm. Of course none of this appeared on my face or in my words. We both had our normal work to do. But almost every day I also put in long extra hours helping Les in "our" secret project. In its own way it was an exhilarating time, and Les was lavish in his praise of the slow, dull, but methodical way I fleshed out some of his ideas. I made my arrangements slowly, knowing Les was in no hurry. Together we gathered data. We isolated, and even crystallized the virus, got X-Ray diffractions, did epidemiological studies, all in strictest secrecy. "Amazing!" Les would cry out, as he uncovered the way the ALAS virus forced its hosts to feel their need to "give." He'd wax eloquent, effusive over elegant mechanisms which he ascribed to random selection but which I could not help superstitiously attributing to some incredibly insidious form of intelligence. The more subtle and effective we found its techniques to be, the more admiring Les became, and the more I found myself loathing those little packets of RNA and protein. The fact that the virus seemed so harmless — Les thought even commensal — only made me hate it more. It made me glad of what I had planned. Glad that I was going to stymie Les in his scheme to give ALAS free reign. I was going to save humanity from this would-be puppet master. True, I'd delay my warning to suit my own purposes, but the warning would come, nonetheless, and sooner than my unsuspecting compatriot planned. Little did Les know that he was doing background for work I'd take credit for. Every flash of insight, his every "Eureka!" was stored away in my private notebook, beside my own columns of boring data. Meanwhile, I sorted through all the means at my disposal. Finally, I selected for my agent a particularly virulent strain of Dengue Fever. 3. There's an old saying we have in Texas. "A chicken is just an egg's way of makin' more eggs." To a biologist, familiar with all those latinized-graecificated words, this saying has a much more "posh" version. Humans are "zygotes," made up of diploid cells containing forty-six paired chromosomes ... except for our haploid sex cells, or "gametes." Males' gametes are sperm and females' are eggs, each containing only twenty-three chromosomes. So biologists say that "a zygote is only a gamete's way of making more gametes." Clever, eh? But it does point out just how hard it is, in nature, to pin down a Primal Cause... some center to the puzzle, against which everything else can be calibrated. I mean, which does come first, the chicken or the egg? "Man is the measure of all things," goes another wise old saying. Oh yeah? Tell that to a modern feminist. A guy I once knew who used to read science fiction told me about this story he'd seen, in which it turned out that the whole and entire purpose of humanity, brains and all, was to be the organism that built starships so that houseflies could migrate out and colonize the galaxy. But that idea's nothing compared with what Les Adgeson believed. He spoke of the human animal as if he were describing a veritable United Nations. From the E. coli in our guts, to tiny commensal mites that clean our eyelashes for us, to the mitochondria that energize our cells, all the way to the contents of our very DNA... Les saw it all as a great big hive of compromise, negotiation, symbiosis. Most of the contents of our chromosomes came from past invaders, he contended. Symbiosis? The picture he created in my mind was one of minuscule puppeteers, all yanking and jerking at us with their protein strings, making us marionettes dance to their own tunes, to their own nasty, selfish little agendas. And you, you were the worst! Like most cynics, I had always maintained a secret faith in human nature. Yes, most people are pigs. I've always known that. And while I may be a user, at least I'm honest enough to admit it. But deep down, we users count on the sappy generosity, the mysterious, puzzling altruism of those others, the kind, inexplicably decent folk... those we superficially sneer at in contempt, but secretly hold in awe. Then you came along, damn you. You make people behave that way. There is no mystery left, after you get finished. No corner remaining impenetrable to cynicism. Damn, how I came to hate you! As I came to hate Leslie Adgeson. I made my plans, schemed my brilliant campaign against both of you. In those last days of innocence I felt oh, so savagely determined. So deliciously decisive and in control of my own destiny. In the end it was anticlimactic. I didn't have time to finish my preparations, to arrange that little trap, that sharp bit of glass dipped in just the right mixture of deadly microorganisms. For CAPUC arrived then, just before I could exercise my option as a murderer. CAPUC changed everything. Catastrophic Autoimmune PUlmonary Collapse... acronym for the horror that made AIDS look like a minor irritant. And in the beginning it appeared unstoppable. Its vectors were completely unknown, and the causative agent defied isolation for so long. This time it was no easily identifiable group that came down with the new plague, though it concentrated upon the industrialized world. Schoolchildren in some areas seemed particularly vulnerable. In other places it was secretaries and postal workers. Naturally, all the major epidemiology labs got involved. Les predicted the pathogen would turn out to be something akin to the prions which cause shingles in sheep, and certain plant diseases... a pseudo-lifeform even simpler than a virus and even harder to track down. It was a heretical, minority view, until the CDC in Atlanta decided out of desperation to try his theories out, and found the very dormant viroids Les predicted — mixed in with the glue used to seal paper milk cartons, envelopes, postage stamps. Les was a hero, of course. Most of us in the labs were. After all, we'd been the first line of defense. Our own casualty rate had been ghastly. For a while there, funerals and other public gatherings were discouraged. But an exception was made for Les. The procession behind his cortege was a mile long. I was asked to deliver the eulogy. And when they pleaded with me to take over at the lab, I agreed. So naturally I tended to forget all about ALAS. The war against CAPUC took everything society had. And while I may be selfish, even a rat can tell when it makes more sense to join in the fight to save a sinking ship... especially when there's no other port in sight. We learned how to combat CAPUC, eventually. It involved drugs, and a serum based on reversed antibodies force-grown in the patient's own marrow after he's given a dangerous overdose of a vanadium compound I found by trial and error. It worked, most of the time, but the victims suffered great stress and often required a special regime of whole blood transfusions to get across the most dangerous phase. Blood banks were stretched even thinner than before. Only now the public responded generously, as in time of war. I should not have been surprised when survivors, after their recovery, volunteered by the thousands. But, of course, I'd forgotten about ALAS by then, hadn't I? We beat back CAPUC. Its vector proved too unreliable, too easily interrupted once we'd figured it out. The poor little viroid never had a chance to get to Les's "negotiation" stage. Oh well, those are the breaks. I got all sorts of citations I didn't deserve. The King gave me a KBE for personally saving the Prince of Wales. I had dinner at the White House. Big deal. The world had a respite, after that. CAPUC had scared people it seemed, into a new spirit of cooperation. I should have been suspicious, of course. But soon I'd moved over to WHO, and had all sorts of administrative responsibilities in the Final Campaign on Malnutrition. By that time I had almost entirely forgotten about ALAS. I forgot about you, didn't I? Oh, the years passed, my star rose, I became famous, respected, revered. I didn't get my Nobel in Stockholm. Ironically, I picked it up in Oslo. Fancy that. Just shows you can fool anybody. And yet, I don't think I ever really forgot about you, ALAS, not at the back of my mind. Peace treaties were signed. Citizens of the industrial nations voted temporary cuts in their standards of living in order to fight poverty and save the environment. Suddenly, it seemed, we'd all grown up. Other cynics, guys I'd gotten drunk with in the past — and shared dark premonitions about the inevitable fate of filthy, miserable humanity — all gradually deserted the faith, as pessimists seem wont do when the world turns bright — too bright for even the cynical to dismiss as a mere passing phase on the road to Hell. And yet, my own brooding remained unblemished. For subconsciously I knew it wasn't real. Then the third Mars Expedition returned to worldwide adulation, and brought home with them TARP. And that was when we all found out just how friendly all our home-grown pathogens really had been, all along. 4. Late at night, stumbling in exhaustion from overwork, I would stop at Les's portrait where I'd ordered it hung in the hall opposite my office door, and stand there cursing him and his damned theories of symbiosis. Imagine mankind ever reaching a symbiotic association with TARP! That really would be something. Imagine, Les, all those alien genes, added to our heritage, to our rich human diversity! Only TARP did not seem to be much interested in "negotiation." Its wooing was rough, deadly. And its vector was the wind. The world looked to me, and to my peers, for salvation. In spite of all of my successes and high renown, though, I knew myself for a second-best fraud. I would always know — no matter how much they thanked and praised me — who had been better than me by light years. Again and again, deep into the night, I would pore through the notes Leslie Adgeson had left behind, seeking inspiration, seeking hope. That's when I stumbled across ALAS once more. I found you again. Oh, you made us behave better, all right. At least a quarter of the human race must contain your DNA, by now, ALAS. And in their newfound, inexplicable, rationalized altruism, they set the tone followed by all the others. Everybody behaves so damned well in the present calamity. They help each other, they succor the sick, they all give so. Funny thing, though. If you hadn't made us all so bloody cooperative, we'd probably never have made it to bloody Mars, would we? Or if we had, there'd have still been enough paranoia around so we'd have maintained a decent quarantine. But then, I remind myself, you don't plan, do you. You're just a bundle of RNA, packed inside a protein coat, with an incidentally, accidentally acquired trait of making humans want to donate blood. That's all you are, right? So you had no way of knowing that by making us "better" you were also setting us up for TARP, did you? Did you? 5. We've got some palliatives, now. A few new techniques seem to be doing some good. The latest news is great, in fact. Apparently, we'll be able to save 15 percent or so of the children. Up to half of those may even be fertile. That's for nations who've had a lot of racial mixing. Heterozygosity and genetic diversity seems to breed better resistance. Those peoples with "pure," narrow bloodlines will be harder to save, but then, racism has its inevitable price. Too bad about the great apes and horses. At least all this will give the rain forests a chance to grow back. Meanwhile, everybody perseveres. There is no panic, as one reads about happening in past plagues. We've grown up at last, it seems. We help each other. But I carry a card in my wallet saying I'm a Christian Scientist, and that my blood group is AB negative, and that I'm allergic to nearly everything. Transfusions are one of the treatments commonly used now, and I'm an important man. But I won't take blood. I won't. I donate, but I'll never take it. Not even when I drop. You won't have me, ALAS. You won't. I am a bad man. I suppose, all told, I've done more good than evil in my life, but that's incidental, a product of happenstance and the bizarre caprices of the world. I have no control over the world, but I can make my own decisions, at least. As I make this one now. Down, out of my high research tower, I've come. Into the streets, where the teeming clinics fester and broil. That is where I work now. And it doesn't matter to me that I'm behaving no differently from anyone else today. They are all marionettes. They think they're acting altruistically, but I know they are your puppets, ALAS. But I am a man, do you hear me? I make my own decisions. Fever wracks my body now, as I drag myself from bed to bed, holding their hands when they stretch them out to me for comfort, doing what I can to ease their suffering, to save a few. You'll not have me, ALAS. This is what I choose to do. THE END	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Q: Does a concurrect exception happen to both user if a user edits a data record and the same time another user edits the same record too and both save. 1.) Will the concurrency exception ALWAYS happen only for one user? Actually its logical that the first wins but who is the first in a technical aspect... Is it possible both user get this kind of exception? 2.)The one who was too late and getting now the concurrent exception I guess he can access the new updated data record from the other user yes? A: 1) I think so yes. One will always be earlier than the other; there is no other way around it. So one update will work as normal, the other will throw the concurrency exception. This might depend on the data access method you are using, there might be systems that can handle such situations more elegantly. But I doubt there are systems that will give both users the same exception without you building that behaviour on purpose. As Adam Houldsworth says: this could also depend on the way you code it yourself. You could check for multiple users beginning to edit the same record, and then throw the exception to both. But I do not believe that is what you are actually asking. If so; I misunderstood. 2) Of course this is possible, but this is up to you to build in your application. Just catch the concurrency exception and refresh whatever edit form user B was trying to update. He/she can then try again. Generally speaking obviously; I do not know the specifics of your situation.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Q: How to properly chain promises inside of a forEach loop in Javascript I'm using mongo and need to do an async call for each item inside of a loop. I'd like to execute another command once all of the promises inside of the loop have completed, but so far the promises in the loop seem to be completing after the code that's in the then that's after the loop. Essentially i'd like the order to be Loop promises then other code instead of what it is now which is other code Loop promises MongoClient.connect(connecturl) .then((client) => { databases.forEach((val) => { val.collection.forEach((valcol) => { client.db(val.databasename).stats() //(This is the async call) .then((stats) => { //Do stuff here with the stats of each collection }) }) }) }) .then(() => { //Do this stuff after everything is finished above this line }) .catch((error) => { } Any assistance would be appreciated on this one. A: Assuming the things you are using .forEach() on are iterables (arrays or something like that), you can use async/await to serialize a for/of loop: MongoClient.connect(connecturl).then(async (client) => { for (let db of databases) { for (let valcol of db.collection) { let stats = await client.db(db.databasename).stats(); // Do stuff here with the stats of each collection } } }).then(() => { // Do this stuff after everything is finished above this line }).catch((error) => { // process error }) If you wanted to stick with your .forEach() loops, you could make it all work if you did things in parallel and used Promise.all() to know when it's all done: MongoClient.connect(connecturl).then((client) => { let promises = []; databases.forEach((val) => { val.collection.forEach((valcol) => { let p = client.db(val.databasename).stats().then((stats) => { // Do stuff here with the stats of each collection }); promises.push(p); }); }); return Promise.all(promises); }).then(() => { // Do this stuff after everything is finished above this line }).catch((error) => { // process error here });	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Introduction {#s1} ============ Iron (Fe) deficiency is among the most prevalent micronutrient deficiencies in humans. Since plants constitute the primary source of nutrients for a large part of the world's population, the improvement of plants in terms of nutrient bioavailability is considered a priority [@pone.0099234-deBenoist1]. Micronutrients like Fe are often present in an un-soluble form in the soil. Plants are able to mobilize such nutrients for uptake into the roots. Plants can also mobilize Fe from internal stores. Understanding the regulation of Fe acquisition and internal Fe utilization is of high importance for precision breeding of crops that are improved to either tolerate growth on alkaline and calcareous soils with poor Fe bio-availability or to accumulate a higher content of this micronutrient in bio-available form in the edible plant parts. Genetic traits have been associated with micronutrient content and usage in plants, for example [@pone.0099234-Uauy1], [@pone.0099234-Baxter1]. Another trait was found in soybean as being linked to transcription factor genes encoding the soybean homologs of BHLH38 and BHLH39 [@pone.0099234-Peiffer1]. The potential importance of these two transcription factor genes for Fe mobilization had previously been uncovered in studies on the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana. BHLH38 and BHLH39 belong to the so-called subgroup Ib(2) BHLH genes [@pone.0099234-Pires1] and they are functionally redundant [@pone.0099234-Wang1]--[@pone.0099234-Wang2]. In fact, BHLH38 and BHLH39 are tandem duplicates on the chromosome, and they share similarity with two other BHLH genes, namely BHLH100 and BHLH101 [@pone.0099234-Wang1], [@pone.0099234-Heim1]--[@pone.0099234-ToledoOrtiz1]. All these four subgroup Ib(2) BHLH genes are highly induced by low Fe supply in roots and leaves while they are not usually found expressed under sufficient Fe supply [@pone.0099234-Wang1]. Expression of BHLH39 and BHLH101 in response to iron can be followed using the public microarray data in Arabidopsis [@pone.0099234-Bauer1]--[@pone.0099234-Yang1] and it was found that they occur in a co-expression network along with several Fe homeostasis genes like FERRIC REDUCTASE OXIDASE3 (FRO3), NATURAL RESISTANCE-ASSOCIATED MACROPHAGE PROTEIN4 (NRAMP4) and NICOTIANAMINE SYNTHASE4 (NAS4) [@pone.0099234-Ivanov1]. From the co-expression with Fe homeostasis genes it can be concluded that the subgroup Ib(2) BHLH transcription factor genes likely perform regulatory functions in the context of Fe homeostasis and internal Fe mobilization. The bHLH protein POPEYE (PYE, belonging to another bHLH subgroup) is also induced by Fe deficiency within this co-expression network and it acts as a negative regulator of FRO3, NRAMP4 and NAS4, presumably to avoid over-activation of Fe mobilization [@pone.0099234-Long1]. PYE is regulated by BRUTUS (BTS) that is also found in this co-expression network [@pone.0099234-Ivanov1], [@pone.0099234-Long1]. bHLH subgroup Ib(2) can physically interact with the bHLH FER-LIKE IRON DEFICIENCY-INDUCED TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR (FIT) [@pone.0099234-Wang2], [@pone.0099234-Yuan1]. FIT is expressed specifically in roots and has been shown to be essential for Fe uptake [@pone.0099234-Bauer2]--[@pone.0099234-Yuan2] by regulating the expression of the genes encoding ARABIDOPSIS H^+^-ATPASE2 (AHA2) [@pone.0099234-Ivanov1], Fe reductase FERRIC OXIDASE2 (FRO2) [@pone.0099234-Jakoby1], [@pone.0099234-Robinson1] and the IRON-REGULATED TRANSPORTER1 (IRT1) [@pone.0099234-Jakoby1], [@pone.0099234-Eide1]. From ectopic FIT expression experiments along with yeast promoter activation assays and inducible FIT activation in plants, it can be concluded that FIT targets FRO2 and IRT1 gene promoters [@pone.0099234-Jakoby1], [@pone.0099234-Yuan2], [@pone.0099234-Meiser1], [@pone.0099234-Sivitz2]. However, FIT induces IRT1 and FRO2 only upon Fe deficiency even when overexpressed [@pone.0099234-Jakoby1], [@pone.0099234-Meiser1]. The activation of FIT at low Fe can be explained with the presence of bHLH subgroup Ib(2) factors. Indeed, the double overexpression of FIT together with either bHLH subgroup Ib(2) protein leads to an increase of Fe acquisition responses under sufficient Fe supply conditions, and it was therefore proposed that the function of bHLH subgroup Ib(2) might be to induce Fe deficiency responses in conjunction with FIT [@pone.0099234-Wang2], [@pone.0099234-Yuan1]. However, the occurrence of BHLH subgroup Ib(2) genes in the PYE coexpression network, their non-expression upon sufficient Fe (where FIT and IRT1 are active although at low level) and their high induction upon Fe deficiency not only in roots but also in leaves (in contrast to Fe acquisition genes) renders this hypothesis questionable. Moreover, contradictory results have been published with regard to the function of bHLH subgroup Ib(2) proteins. In one report, double bhlh100 bhlh101 knockout mutants were demonstrated to develop a more severe leaf chlorosis than the wild type upon Fe deficiency, while no phenotype was apparent upon Fe sufficiency. Although some Fe homeostasis genes appeared mis-expressed, the gene knockouts did not affect the plants' abilities for Fe uptake and the regulation of FRO2 and IRT1 upon sufficient or deficient Fe supply [@pone.0099234-Sivitz1]. In contrast to that, in another report, bHLH subgroup Ib(2) knockouts including bhlh100 bhlh101 and a triple knockout bhlh39 bhlh100 bhlh101 were demonstrated to affect Fe acquisition responses and to have low FRO2 and IRT1 expression upon sufficient or deficient Fe supply [@pone.0099234-Wang3]. This latter finding was rather puzzling, and it was not further explained how this finding fits to the observation that the BHLH genes are not normally expressed upon sufficient Fe supply, when Fe also needs to be acquired via FRO2 and IRT1 [@pone.0099234-Jakoby1], [@pone.0099234-Vert1]. Thus, the function of the bHLH subgroup Ib(2) transcription factors in Fe uptake is still open for debate. Very interestingly, it has been shown that BHLH38 and BHLH39 were induced after application of salicylic acid ( = SA) by the SA-inducible Dof ( = DNA binding with one finger) transcription factor OBF BINDING PROTEIN3 (OBP3) [@pone.0099234-Kang1]. Binding of OBP3 to promoter elements in BHLH38 and BHLH39 genes and their subsequent activation was demonstrated (in these studies BHLH38 and BHLH39 were named OBP3 RESPONSIVE GENE2, ORG2, and OBP3 RESPONSIVE GENE3, ORG3) [@pone.0099234-Kang1]. Jasmonic acid negatively affects the onset of Fe mobilization and the induction of FRO2 and IRT1 [@pone.0099234-Maurer1], while ethylene enhances the responses [@pone.0099234-Garca1]--[@pone.0099234-Lingam1]. Since SA, jasmonic acid and ethylene act in stress response networks, the possibility exists that perhaps, there is a link between SA and the up-regulation of Fe deficiency responses. Here, we made use of the triple knockout mutant bhlh39 bhlh100 bhlh101 (3xbhlh) that we constructed to investigate the functions of these BHLH genes in the Fe deficiency response and to further shed light on the question whether SA is involved in mediating the onset of Fe uptake via the induction of BHLH subgroup Ib(2) genes. We discuss that BHLH39, BHLH100 and BHLH101 are essential for a subset of Fe deficiency responses but not including up-regulation of IRT1 and FRO2. We suggest that these transcription factors are involved in adapting stress responses and internal metabolic responses to Fe deficiency. Materials and Methods {#s2} ===================== Plant Materials {#s2a} --------------- Wild type was Col-0. The 3xbhlh mutant line was generated from the single T-DNA insertion mutants bhlh39-1 (SALK_025676), bhlh100-1 (SALK_074568) and bhlh101-1 (SALK_011245) [@pone.0099234-Wang1]. A homozygous bhlh39-1 plant was crossed with a bhlh100-1 bhlh10-1 double mutant plant. In the F2 progeny a triple homozygous bhlh39-1 bhlh100-1 bhlh101-1 plant was identified by genotyping and multiplied to obtain a triple homozygous line, hereafter named 3xbhlh. The SA mutant line npr1-1 (hereafter named npr1) with a defect in a central regulator component of SA signaling resulting in the failure of the expression of the PR1 gene was obtained from the NASC stock center (N3726) [@pone.0099234-Cao1]. The lines NaHG and sid2-2 were provided by Fred Ausubel, Massachusetts General Hospital [@pone.0099234-Ferrari1]. Plant Growth {#s2b} ------------ Arabidopsis seeds were surface-sterilized with 6% NaOCl, 0.1% Triton-X for 10 minutes, and washed 5 times with distilled water. Seeds were stratified for 2 days in 0.1% plant agar in the dark at 4°C. For the 6-day growth assay seeds were placed on Hoagland agar medium containing 50 µM FeNaEDTA (sufficient Fe supply, hereafter termed +Fe) or 0 µM FeNaEDTA (deficient Fe supply, hereafter termed −Fe), germinated and grown for 6 d under long-day conditions with 8 h dark and 16 h light [@pone.0099234-Lingam1]. On day 6, seedlings were harvested for analysis. For the 2-week growth assay, seeds were germinated and seedlings grown for 14 d on Hoagland agar medium as described above containing 50 µM FeNaEDTA, then transferred for 3 days to fresh medium containing either 0 µM FeNaEDTA (−Fe) or 50 µM FeNaEDTA (+Fe). Then, leaves and roots were harvested separately for RNA or protein analysis. If indicated in the text 100 µM methyl-salicylic acid (hereafter named SA, Sigma-Aldrich, USA) was added to the growth medium and plants exposed for the indicated time. Physiological Analysis {#s2c} ---------------------- The degree of leaf chlorosis was assessed according to a previously published procedure [@pone.0099234-Schuler2]. The leaf chlorosis scale is mentionned in the figure legend of [Fig. 1](#pone-0099234-g001){ref-type="fig"}. ![Leaf chlorosis phenotypes of the 3xbhlh mutant.\ A, 10-old WT and 3xbhlh plants grown at +Fe and −Fe; bar = 5 mm; B, Strength of leaf chlorosis; the leaf chlorosis scale used was 1 = green, 2 = green, partially yellow, 3 = yellow-green, 4 = yellow; 5 = white-yellow; n = 12; C, Fe content per leaf dry mass; n = 4; indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of −Fe versus +Fe; + indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of 3xbhlh versus WT.](pone.0099234.g001){#pone-0099234-g001} For metal determination, plant parts exposed to plant medium were washed with 100 mM Ca(NO~3~)~2~ prior to harvest to eliminate metal residues from the growth medium. Plant material was dried overnight at room temperature, then for 1 d at 120°C and powdered with an achat mortar. Quantification of metal contents of the plant samples was performed using atomic absorption spectroscopy coupled with a graphite tube atomizer as described [@pone.0099234-Lingam1]. Four technical replicate measurements were carried out with weighted samples of 50--120 µg for every atomisation (2300°C) and mean mass per dry weight values were calculated for each biological sample. Four biological replicates were produced and mean values calculated. Iron reductase activity assays were performed using a liquid ferrozine assay [@pone.0099234-Klatte1] and biological replicates were performed as described in the figure legends. Statistical analysis was performed using the t-test. Gene Expression using Reverse Transcription-qPCR {#s2d} ------------------------------------------------ Reverse transcription-quantitative real-time PCR was performed as previously described [@pone.0099234-Klatte2]. Briefly, DNase-treated RNA was used for cDNA synthesis. SYBR green I-based real-time PCR analysis was performed by using the TaKaRa Premix (TaKaRa, Japan) in the real-time ICycler (Bio-Rad, USA). For each gene, the absolute quantity of initial transcript was determined by standard curve analysis using mass standards. Absolute expression data was normalized against the averaged expression values of the internal control gene EF1BALPHA2 [@pone.0099234-Klatte2]. Each biological cDNA sample was tested in two technical replicates and the values averaged. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA using the values of biological replicates. Information on oligonucleotide primer sequences is available in [Table S1](#pone.0099234.s005){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. Gene Expression using Microarray Analysis {#s2e} ----------------------------------------- Wild type and 3xbhlh seedlings were grown in the 6-day growth system at --Fe, treated for six hours with 100 µM SA or were mock-treated and harvested for RNA preparation. Three biological replicates were generated. RNA was purified using the Qiagen kit and checked for integrity. Microarray hybridization was performed using the Agilent one-color gene expression V4 chip (4×44 k) for Arabidopsis thaliana. Microarray chip hybridization and processing were done by ATLAS Biolabs GmbH, Berlin, Germany. The obtained data were further processed, checked for quality and filtered using the GeneSpring Software, Agilent Technologies, USA, according to the GeneSpring protocol. Full microarray data are available from the NCBI site of Gene Expression Omnibus under the series GSE41774. Interesting probes were identified based on fold change analysis with a fold change cut-off of 1.5 in four pairs of conditions which were 3xbhlh versus wild type, 3xbhlh + SA versus wild type + SA, wild type + SA versus wild type and 3xbhlh + SA versus 3xbhlh. Probes were retained if they passed the moderated t-test with p\<0.05. The differentially regulated probes of the four pairs of conditions were then used to construct Venn diagrams to identify groups with unique and commonly regulated probes. Probe names of these groups were converted into Arabidopsis gene ID numbers. The groups of differentially expressed genes were then further analyzed using Venn diagrams, the ATTED co-expression tool [@pone.0099234-Obayashi1], the GOrilla GO annotation tool [@pone.0099234-Eden1] and the Genevestigator tool [@pone.0099234-Zimmermann1]. Results {#s3} ======= The 3xbhlh Mutant was Sensitive to Fe Deficiency but not Affected in Fe Acquisition and Fe Transport to Shoots {#s3a} ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To analyze the functions of BHLH subgroup Ib(2) genes, we generated a multiple loss of function mutant. The triple homozygous bhlh39-1 bhlh100-1 bhlh101-1 knockout mutant, hereafter named 3xbhlh, was fully fertile and did not express any full-length BHLH39, BHLH100 and BHLH101 transcripts while it expressed BHLH38 at a higher level at Fe deficiency (hereafter termed −Fe) in roots and leaves. BHLH38 was also found induced in the 3xbhlh mutant roots at sufficient Fe (hereafter termed +Fe) compared to wild-type roots ([Fig. S1A, B](#pone.0099234.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). In the same experiment, all four BHLH genes were highly expressed at --Fe in wild type plants, while they were not expressed or expressed at low level at +Fe ([Fig. S1A, B](#pone.0099234.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}), as expected [@pone.0099234-Wang1]. The increased BHLH38 expression in the 3xbhlh mutant especially at --Fe might be due to a feedback control conferred by the triple loss of function phenotype. To determine whether the triple 3xbhlh mutant had any Fe deficiency phenotype at + or --Fe, we grew 3xbhlh and wild type plants at +Fe and --Fe. Morphological alterations in root and shoot growth were not apparent at +Fe. However, at --Fe, the 3xbhlh mutant plants had a stronger leaf chlorosis than wild type, while root growth was normal ([Fig. 1A, B](#pone-0099234-g001){ref-type="fig"}). This observation suggested that 3xbhlh mutants might be perhaps Fe deficient. This assumption was tested and could be rejected after the determination of shoot Fe contents. Neither under + nor --Fe, we could detect any differences in Fe content in the mutant versus the wild type ([Fig. 1C](#pone-0099234-g001){ref-type="fig"}), suggesting that the mutant was not Fe deficient. After retransfer of 3xbhlh mutants from --Fe to +Fe the leaf chlorosis phenotype disappeared within 1--2 days (data not shown). This observation confirmed that indeed the triple 3xbhlh mutant was able to acquire Fe. We verified this point by analyzing gene expression of Fe acquisition genes. We observed that IRT1, FRO2 and FIT were significantly up-regulated at --Fe in wild type and 3xbhlh plants, and that no significant difference in the expression levels between wild type and mutant was detected ([Fig. 2A](#pone-0099234-g002){ref-type="fig"}). A reduced expression of these Fe acquisition genes is typical for mutants affected in the regulation of Fe deficiency responses, such as the chlorotic fit mutant [@pone.0099234-Jakoby1]. Fe reductase activity was also detected at comparable levels in mutant and wild type ([Fig. 2B](#pone-0099234-g002){ref-type="fig"}). An increase of Fe reductase activity was noted at --Fe but due to high standard deviations it was not found significant, but clearly was not lower than in the wild type ([Fig. 2B](#pone-0099234-g002){ref-type="fig"}; [@pone.0099234-Jakoby1]). ![Molecular and physiological Fe acquisition responses of the 3xbhlh mutant.\ A, Gene expression of FIT, FRO2, IRT1 in roots; B, Fe reductase activity; C, NRAMP4, FRO3, OPT3, NAS4, gene expression in roots; D, NRAMP4, FRO3, OPT3, NAS4, gene expression in leaves; 14 d-old plants were transferred for three days to + and −Fe. Roots were harvested for analysis. n = 4; \* indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of −Fe versus +Fe; + indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of 3xbhlh versus WT. Gene expression was studied using reverse transcription-qPCR.](pone.0099234.g002){#pone-0099234-g002} In addition, we tested whether two of the PYE-regulated Fe homeostasis genes of the PYE/BHLH39/BHLH101 co-expression network that function in internal Fe mobilization were affected in the mutant. No differences in gene expression were noted for NRAMP4 and FRO3 in roots and leaves ([Fig. 2C, D](#pone-0099234-g002){ref-type="fig"}). Taken together, 3xbhlh mutant plants were fully capable of regulating internal and external Fe mobilization, Fe acquisition and Fe transport genes despite of the lack of the three transcription factors. The 3xbhlh mutant was also able to mobilize Fe from roots into the shoots. Thus, the strong leaf chlorosis of the triple mutant at --Fe cannot be the consequence of a defect in Fe acquisition and mobilization responses. SA and SA Signaling do not Affect Fe Deficiency Responses {#s3b} --------------------------------------------------------- Since the BHLH39, BHLH100 and BHLH101 genes were dispensable for Fe uptake, but yet the plants showed a chlorosis phenotype at --Fe, we reasoned that the chlorosis phenotype could be the result of an altered adaptation to Fe deficiency stress. Since previous reports established a connection between the BHLH subgroup Ib(2) genes and SA signaling [@pone.0099234-Kang1] we hypothesized that perhaps SA responses interfered with Fe deficiency regulation via the bHLH subgroup Ib(2) proteins in the process of adaptation to --Fe. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed available gene expression data of OBP3 (At3g55370), the regulator of BHLH38 and BHLH39 [@pone.0099234-Kang1]. OBP3 is not in a co-expression network with any known Fe-regulated metal homeostasis genes. However, its expression was reported to occur in the root stele where the subgroup Ib(2) gene promoters are also active [@pone.0099234-Wang1], [@pone.0099234-Brady1]. SA plays a role throughout plant development and hence this could require an adaptation to Fe homeostasis [@pone.0099234-RivasSanVicente1]. To test a possible interference of SA and Fe signaling, we first tested using the seedling growth assay whether the SA response gene PATHOGENESIS RELATED1 (PR1) as a marker for SA responses [@pone.0099234-Cao1], OBP3 and BHLH38 were regulated by SA and Fe deficiency treatments in wild type and 3xbhlh mutant plants. As expected, PR1 was induced by 100 µM SA in the wild type, while BHLH38 was induced by --Fe ([Fig. 3A](#pone-0099234-g003){ref-type="fig"}). These two marker genes were not per se induced by the respective other treatment, and in two out of three experiments, the expression levels were not affected in the 3xbhlh mutant ([Fig. 3A](#pone-0099234-g003){ref-type="fig"}). OBP3 was hardly induced by SA treatment and did not show any regulation by Fe or in response to the 3xbhlh mutant. We did also not detect any differences in gene expression levels of IRT1, FRO2 and FIT at + versus --SA treatment ([Fig. 3B](#pone-0099234-g003){ref-type="fig"}). Therefore, we conclude that a clear SA response did not take place upon --Fe and that the 3xbhlh mutant did not show an altered SA response upon SA application. ![Gene expression of Fe deficiency and SA response genes in 3xbhlh and wild type plants in response to SA and Fe.\ A, BHLH38, OBP3, PR1; B, FIT, FRO2, IRT1; 3xbhlh and wild type seedlings were grown for 6 d at + and −Fe and exposed for 6 h to 100 µM SA (+SA) or were mock-treated (−SA). Whole seedlings were harvested for analysis. n = 2; \* indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of −Fe versus +Fe; + indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of 3xbhlh versus WT; § indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of +SA versus --SA. Gene expression was studied using reverse transcription-qPCR.](pone.0099234.g003){#pone-0099234-g003} Since it is possible, that SA might have a more subtle effect in the regulation of Fe deficiency responses, we also tested Fe deficiency gene regulation in various SA mutants grown under + and −Fe supply. The non-repressor of pr1 (npr1) mutant is defective in SA signaling [@pone.0099234-Cao1]. sid2 mutant plants are defective in SA production due to lack of isochorismate synthesis, and NahG plants overexpress a bacterial SA hydroxylase so that SA is rapidly transformed into catechol and consequently does not accumulate [@pone.0099234-Ferrari1]. We found that in these mutants Fe acquisition genes IRT1, FRO2 and FIT were up-regulated by --Fe as in the wild type ([Fig. 4A](#pone-0099234-g004){ref-type="fig"}). IRT1 was slightly up-regulated at +Fe in npr1 compared to the wild type in one experiment. BHLH38 and BHLH39 expression was not affected in the mutants ([Fig. 4B](#pone-0099234-g004){ref-type="fig"}). ![Gene expression of Fe deficiency response genes in various SA mutants and wild type plants.\ A, FIT, FRO2, IRT1; B, BHLH38, BHLH39; SA mutants and wild type seedlings were grown for 11 d at + and −Fe. Roots were harvested for analysis. n = 2; \* indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of −Fe versus +Fe; + indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of SA mutant versus WT. Gene expression was studied using reverse transcription-qPCR.](pone.0099234.g004){#pone-0099234-g004} Hence, we exclude an apparent effect of SA treatment or SA signaling on Fe deficiency regulation. The up-regulation of BHLH subgroup Ib(2) genes under --Fe was not likely the consequence of a SA signal. Wild Type and 3xbhlh Mutants Differ in Gene Expression Patterns at --Fe and in the Presence of SA {#s3c} --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To get further hints on the Fe deficiency phenotype we performed a transcriptome comparison between 3xbhlh and wild type seedlings ([Fig. S2](#pone.0099234.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). This analysis was conducted under --Fe conditions since we expected most of the differential gene expression to occur at --Fe as deduced from the 3xbhlh leaf chlorosis phenotype at --Fe. SA was included as a treatment to search for changes in gene expression in response to SA. 6-day old seedlings were grown on --Fe, transferred for 6 h to + or −100 µM SA containing --Fe medium and harvested. Microarray analysis was performed using the Agilent V4 gene chip (26.283 Arabidopsis genes). In parallel, we used the same RNA samples to perform real time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR to assess the technical quality of the method and the biological quality of the samples in this experiment ([Fig. S2](#pone.0099234.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). At first, we identified from the microarray data those genes that showed differential regulation at least 1.5-fold between wild type and the 3xbhlh mutant in the absence and presence of SA in a statistically significant manner. The differentially regulated genes were grouped according to expression patterns using Venn diagrams ([Fig. 5](#pone-0099234-g005){ref-type="fig"}). 198 genes were identified as being regulated between mutant and wild type ([Table S2](#pone.0099234.s006){ref-type="supplementary-material"}; [Fig. 5](#pone-0099234-g005){ref-type="fig"}). 25 of these genes were only found deregulated in the mutant in the absence of SA (group I) and 61 genes only in the presence of SA (group II). 112 genes were regulated between mutant and wild type in the presence and absence of SA (group III). An important control for the quality of our microarray hybridization experiment was represented by the BHLH39, BHLH100 and BHLH101 genes which we found down-regulated in the 3xbhlh mutant compared to the wild type in the group III, as was expected ([Table S2](#pone.0099234.s006){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). On the other hand, 9892 genes were differentially regulated between + and − SA in the wild type or in the 3xbhlh mutant ([Fig. 5](#pone-0099234-g005){ref-type="fig"}). Among these latter genes 1718 were only differentially expressed in response to SA in the wild type (group IV), while 1472 other genes were specifically affected by SA in the mutant (group V) ([Table S3](#pone.0099234.s007){ref-type="supplementary-material"}; [Fig. 5](#pone-0099234-g005){ref-type="fig"}). 6702 genes were regulated by SA in wild type and in the 3xbhlh mutant (group VI) and were not further investigated as they reflected purely SA-dependent genes. ([Fig. 5](#pone-0099234-g005){ref-type="fig"}). The high numbers of SA-regulated genes might indicate that the SA treatment affected the transcriptomes in a strong manner than did the 3xbhlh mutations. However, we found that genes of groups IV and V were only mis-regulated by a maximum level of 5-fold ([Table S3](#pone.0099234.s007){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). On the other hand, among the small number of genes mis-regulated between mutant and wild type (groups I--III) some genes reached differential expression up to 60-fold ([Table S2](#pone.0099234.s006){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). ![Venn diagram showing overlap of differentially regulated genes identified in microarray analysis.\ Four lists of genes that were differentially expressed at least 1.5-fold between the indicated conditions were used to construct the Venn diagram. The genes of groups I--V are listed in [Tables S3](#pone.0099234.s007){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, [S4](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. Groups I to III contain genes differentially expressed between 3xbhlh and wild type. Groups IV and V contain genes that show differential regulation between + and --SA treatment but not between wild type and mutant.](pone.0099234.g005){#pone-0099234-g005} Analysis of Functional Categories Differentially Regulated between 3xbhlh and Wild Type Plants (Groups I to III) {#s3d} ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Next, we assessed whether any specific functional pathways were affected in the 3xbhlh mutant. At first, we analyzed the functions of the genes of groups I, II and III by analyzing whether specific gene ontology categories were hit among them using the GOrilla tool [@pone.0099234-Eden1]. Among the DOWN-regulated genes of group I we found weak enrichment of categories related to lactate metabolism and cell wall, and among the UP-regulated genes of group I of categories RNA metabolism and transcription ([Table S4](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}-1, S4-2). In group II we found an enrichment for the categories flavonoid biosynthesis, UV responses, inositol metabolism and transpiration among the UP-regulated genes ([Table S4-1](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, [S4-2](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). In group III the categories metal response and copper binding were among the DOWN-regulated genes and again inositol metabolism among the UP-regulated genes ([Table S4-1, 4-2](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). This analysis indicates that loss of the BHLH subgroup Ib(2) functions in the 3xbhlh mutant at --Fe resulted in altered stress regulation and adaptation to stress. Then, we checked whether the three groups I--III contained known Fe-regulated genes. In a previous work, we have grown six day-old Arabidopsis seedlings in + and −Fe conditions in the same system as utilized here. From these previous experiments we have obtained a list of iron-regulated genes in the seedlings [@pone.0099234-Bauer1], [@pone.0099234-Schuler1], [@pone.0099234-Ivanov1]. The list of Fe-regulated genes in wild type seedlings published in [@pone.0099234-Bauer1] was used to compare with the list of genes in groups I--III. To our surprise we could only find 29 Fe-regulated genes among the 197 genes of the groups I--III, which corresponded to only 15% of these genes ([Fig. 6A](#pone-0099234-g006){ref-type="fig"}). Interestingly, these 15% of the 3xbhlh-regulated genes could be further subdivided into 9 genes that were up-regulated by --Fe in the wild type and up-regulated in the mutant versus the wild type at --Fe as well as 15 genes that were down-regulated by --Fe in the wild type and down-regulated in the mutant versus the wild type at --Fe. Hence, the expression patterns of these 24 genes reflected the situation that the 3xbhlh mutant was more sensitive to Fe deficiency than the wild type and that the Fe deficiency leaf chlorosis response was enhanced. Very interestingly, five genes showed an opposite expression pattern of being highly expressed at --Fe in the wild type, but expressed at low level in the 3xbhlh mutant versus the wild type. These five genes were At1g53310 encoding PPC1, At3g07720, encoding a putative Kelch-repeat protein, At3g12900, an oxidoreductase gene, At4g31940 encoding CYP82C4 and At3g58810 encoding the metal transporter MTPA2. Therefore, it can be assumed that these five genes could represent specific target genes of the transcription factors bHLH39, bHLH100 and bHLH101. We also noted that the genes encoding the Fe acquisition machinery in Arabidopsis like IRT1 and FRO2 were not found among the differentially expressed genes which confirms above expression studies. We used the 29 genes to build co-expression networks using the ATTED tool [@pone.0099234-Obayashi1], and in total we could identify four co-expression networks ([Fig. 6B](#pone-0099234-g006){ref-type="fig"}, [Fig. S3](#pone.0099234.s003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). One network contained four out of the five putative bHLH targets. As mentioned above, this co-expression network was previously identified as the FIT target network [@pone.0099234-Ivanov1]. Another network contained six genes up-regulated at --Fe and in the chlorotic triple mutant and one gene down-regulated in these respective conditions. This network was enriched with gene functions in flavonoid synthesis, secondary metabolism and circadian rhythm. A third network contained seven genes being down-regulated by --Fe and in the triple mutant, and this network was enriched for circadian rhythm functions. The fourth co-expression network comprised another five genes that were down-regulated at --Fe and in the 3xbhlh mutant, and enrichment was found for photosynthetic functions and secondary metabolism. Similar functional categories were also evident for the 29 genes when using GOrilla as a GO annotation tool, namely metal response, inositol metabolism, protein folding, photosystem II and other chloroplast functions and circadian clock ([Table S4-3, S4-4](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). In summary, co-expression analysis, functional annotation and enrichment analysis indicated that the expression of the 24 Fe-regulated genes was different in 3xbhlh as a consequence of the increased leaf chlorosis of the triple mutant at --Fe, while the expression of five co-expressed genes indicates that they might be targets of the transcription factors in roots. ![Regulation of the subset of 29 Fe-regulated genes out of groups I, II and III identified in microarray analysis.\ The list of Fe-regulated genes in wild type seedlings that we had published earlier [@pone.0099234-Bauer1] was used to compare with the list obtained in this work for the groups I--III. 29 genes of the groups I--III were found Fe-regulated in [@pone.0099234-Bauer1]. A, Regulation patterns, annotation and co-expression of the subset of 29 genes; the regulation at +Fe versus --Fe in the wild type is represented in the left-most column (in dark green up = up-regulated, in red down = down-regulated); the regulation in the 3xbhlh mutant versus WT is shown in the middle column (in light green up = up-regulated and in yellow or violet down = down-regulated; note that the yellow color indicates that these genes do not follow in the 3xbhlh mutant the regulation expected from --Fe versus +Fe in the left column and hence could be direct targets of bHLH39, bHLH100 and bHLH101). The Arabidopsis gene identification (AGI) numbers and annotations are shown on the right side, whereby the color code indicates the belonging to different co-expression networks as determined using the ATTED tool (ref), represented in B; B, Co-expression network analysis of the 29 genes; the ATTED tool was utilized for construction; the different networks are highlighted in color and the AGI numbers belonging to those networks are highlighted by the same color in A. The grey color indicates genes that are part of isolated co-expression networks. A high-resolution image of the co-expression networks is shown in [Fig. S3](#pone.0099234.s003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}.](pone.0099234.g006){#pone-0099234-g006} On the other hand, 85% of the genes of group I--III were not regulated by Fe deficiency. It was then interesting to determine whether these genes represented specific pathways. The functional categories were again related to inositol metabolism, circadian rhythm and UV response ([Table S4-3, S4-4](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Hence, the Fe-regulated and non-Fe-regulated genes of groups I to III play functions in regulating adaptive stress processes suggesting that these functions are central for the bHLH proteins. Validation of Differential Gene Expression in Groups I to III by Reverse Transcription-qPCR {#s3e} ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To verify the regulatory expression patterns identified in the microarray experiments, we verified some of the gene expression results by reverse transcription-qPCR studies, especially by studying the Fe-regulated genes. Reverse transcription-qPCR was performed on the same biological samples as used for the microarray ([Fig. S2](#pone.0099234.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). We also used the samples derived from plants grown at +Fe that we had raised in parallel. Three biological replicates have been analyzed. Due to the low number of three samples the differences were not found to be significant with p\<0.05 in all expected cases, which we designated then as "tendency". We found a tendency for up-regulation of IRT1, FRO2 and BHLH038 at --Fe versus +Fe irrespective of genotype and SA treatment which was significant for IRT1 at −Fe versus +Fe in the 3xbhlh mutant ([Fig. S4A](#pone.0099234.s004){ref-type="supplementary-material"}, B, C). PR1 expression was significantly increased in all +SA versus --SA samples, as expected ([Fig. S4D](#pone.0099234.s004){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Hence, these control gene expression results confirm that the plants had reacted as expected to Fe and salicylic acid supply in the experiment. Then, we studied gene expression of the Fe-regulated targets of the bHLH factors from groups I--III, namely of the four coexpressed genes At3g07720, CYP82C4, At3g12900 and MTPA2 as well as of PPC1. All five genes showed a tendency to be up-regulated by --Fe in the wild type and in the 3xbhlh mutant compared to +Fe, which was significant with p\<0.05 for CYP82C4 in 3xbhlh and for At3g12900 ([Fig. 7A--E](#pone-0099234-g007){ref-type="fig"}; compare to [Fig. 6](#pone-0099234-g006){ref-type="fig"}, yellow co-expression network and PPC1). The expression of these five genes had a tendency to be lower in the mutant than in the wild type at --Fe. In the presence of SA the five genes were similarly regulated than in the absence of SA, whereby the basal expression levels at +Fe in the wild type were found higher in tendency at +SA than at −SA for At3g07720 and MTPA2. ![Gene expression of Fe and 3xbhlh-regulated genes (groups I--III), identified from microarray analysis.\ A, At3g07720; B, CYP82C4; C, At3g12900; D, MTPA2; E, PPC1; F, LHY1; G, At1g07050; H, PSAF; The genes in A--E were identified as potential downstream targets of bHLH subgroup Ib(2) factors, while the genes in F--H indicated a more intense response to --Fe in the mutant (compare to [Fig. 6](#pone-0099234-g006){ref-type="fig"}). 3xbhlh and wild type seedlings were grown for 6 d at + and −Fe and exposed for 6 h to 100 µM SA (+SA) or were mock-treated (−SA). Whole seedlings were harvested for analysis. n = 3; the --Fe cDNA samples were derived from the RNAs used in the microarray ([Fig. S2](#pone.0099234.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}); \* indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of −Fe versus +Fe; + indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of 3xbhlh versus WT; § indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of +SA versus --SA. Gene expression was studied using reverse transcription-qPCR.](pone.0099234.g007){#pone-0099234-g007} Next, we verified gene expression of the Fe-regulated group III genes, namely LHY1, PSAF and At1g07050 ([Fig. 7F--H](#pone-0099234-g007){ref-type="fig"}; compare to [Fig. 6](#pone-0099234-g006){ref-type="fig"}, green, violet and pink coexpression networks, respectively). We found that LHY1 followed a tendency to be more expressed at --Fe versus +Fe in the mutant and in the presence of SA. At1g07050 and PSAF followed a tendency to be expressed at lower level at --Fe versus +Fe, especially in the 3xbhlh mutant. Taken together, the reverse transcription-qPCR data confirmed in their tendency the gene regulation changes detected in the comparative transcriptome analysis. This result underlined the technical and biological reproducibility, however the number of only three biological replicates did not allow obtention of p\<0.05 statistical values in each comparison. Analysis of Functional Categories Differentially Regulated between + and −SA (Groups IV and V) {#s3f} ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Different genes were regulated by SA in the wild type (group IV) and 3xbhlh plants (group V). We used again the GOrilla tool [@pone.0099234-Eden1] to analyze whether specific categories were hit in the two cases. In group IV we identified the categories RNA and post-transcriptional genes silencing, organelle organization, GTP activity and chloroplast functions among the DOWN-regulated genes in the wild type, while the categories lipid metabolism, cellular starvation response and transition metal transport were hit among the UP-regulated genes ([Table S4-1, 4-2](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). In group V the categories DNA replication, transmembrane receptor signaling, cell division, histone modification, protein binding and chloroplast thylakoid were hit among the DOWN-regulated genes and defense and heat response, signaling, kinase activity and ADP binding were identified as pathways among the UP-regulated genes ([Table S4-1, 4-2](#pone.0099234.s008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Hence from the high number of regulated genes and the categories we deduce that SA affects stress responses and cell division in a different manner in the wild type and the 3xbhlh mutant upon SA treatment. Thus, the 3xbhlh mutant is in a different manner sensitive to SA than the wild type. Discussion {#s4} ========== In this report we show that BHLH subgroup Ib(2) genes BHLH39, BHLH100 and BHLH101 acted in the adaptation to the stress caused by the Fe deficiency but not for Fe acquisition itself. Although BHLH38 and BHLH39 may act in the SA pathway we did not find any evidence that SA responses interfered with Fe deficiency regulation via the BHLH genes. Contradictory reports in the literature rendered it difficult to establish a clear function for BHLH subgroup Ib(2) genes in the regulation of Fe deficiency responses in Arabidopsis. On one side, it was shown that a triple mutant bhlh39 bhlh100 bhlh101 was affected in the ability to up-regulate Fe reductase activity upon --Fe [@pone.0099234-Wang3], while a double mutant bhlh100 bhlh101 was not [@pone.0099234-Sivitz1]. However, in both these studies the mutants were described to display a leaf chlorosis at --Fe but not at +Fe. Here we demonstrate that the 3xbhlh triple mutant bhlh39 bhlh100 bhlh101 developed a leaf chlorosis only at --Fe but not at +Fe. We found and confirmed that this phenotype was clearly not associated with a reduced uptake of Fe. When we analyzed the triple 3xbhlh mutant we observed that this mutant was able to mobilize and acquire Fe, in contrast to the report mentioned above [@pone.0099234-Wang3]. The first evidence came from the fact that the leaf chlorosis was restrained to --Fe, while no such phenotype was observed at +Fe. The 3xbhlh mutants had similar Fe levels as the wild type, and hence, these plants were able to utilize Fe at +Fe like the wild type. In addition, the 3xbhlh mutants were able to induce FIT, IRT1 and FRO2 at --Fe versus +Fe. The three Fe uptake genes did also not occur among the groups I--III that comprised the genes differentially expressed between mutant and wild type. Fe reductase activity was clearly inducible in the triple mutant at least to the same extent as in the wild type. An alternative possibility to explain the increased leaf chlorosis of 3xbhlh mutant compared to wild type plants at --Fe could be linked with a reduced ability of the mutant to utilise internal iron. However, we did not find evidence that typical genes for internal Fe utilization were changed in their expression, like NRAMP4 [@pone.0099234-Lanquar1], FRO3 [@pone.0099234-Mukherjee1], OPT3 [@pone.0099234-Stacey1] and NAS4 [@pone.0099234-Koen1], [@pone.0099234-Palmer1]. Taken together, we can say that the leaf chlorosis of 3xbhlh plants was not the consequence of impaired Fe uptake and utilisation. Since BHLH38 was still expressed in the 3xbhlh mutant, even to a higher level than in the wild type, we cannot conclude that none of the subgroup Ib(2) BHLH genes are required for Fe uptake or Fe mislocalization. Since BHLH38 is hardly expressed at +Fe (when Fe is available for uptake), it is not likely required for Fe uptake, either. Due to the tandem location of BHLH38 and BHLH39 in the genome, a quadruple insertion mutant with a full knockout of all BHLH functions cannot be readily generated to confirm this. We predict that a quadruple mutant would have more severe leaf chlorosis symptoms than the wild type at --Fe. The question remains what is the cause of the increased leaf chlorosis of 3xbhlh mutants at --Fe. One clue to that question could come from the functions of the genes that we found differentially expressed in the mutant versus the wild type. Five genes were regulated in an opposite manner in the 3xbhlh mutant than in the wild type in response to iron. These genes might be targets for bHLH39, bHLH100 and bHLH101, namely PPC1, At3g07720, the oxidoreductase At3g12900, CYP82C4 and MTPA2. The latter four are coexpressed with target genes of the transcription factor FIT, such as IRT1. However, some of the FIT targets of the co-expression network were found here not be mis-regulated in the 3xbhlh mutant. This result can be explained. We suggest that the four bHLH transcription factors of the subgroup Ib(2) show functional divergence. bHLH38 in conjunction with FIT namely acts on the induction of the targets IRT1 and FRO2, while bHLH39, bHLH100 and bHLH101 presumably together with FIT more specifically target the other genes in this co-expression network that we have found here. Another set of Fe-regulated genes of groups I--III, which are differentially expressed in the mutant versus the wild type, indicated that the Fe deficiency responses were augmented in the mutant. For example, genes which are up-regulated at --Fe versus +Fe in the wild type showed an exaggerated up-regulation response in the comparison of mutant versus wild type at --Fe. Or, genes which are down-regulated at --Fe versus +Fe in the wild type showed a stronger down-regulation response in the mutant versus wild type at --Fe. From these expression patterns it is unlikely that these genes are regulated directly by the bHLH subgroup Ib proteins since otherwise we would have expected opposite trends of regulation between +/−Fe and mutant/wild type. The differential regulation of these genes is rather a pleiotropic effect due to the 3xbHLH mutations. Since the most obvious phenotype was the increased leaf chlorosis, the differential regulation of these genes was likely an effect of the severe leaf chlorosis. Indeed, several of these genes have functions in the leaves related to the clock and in chloroplasts. Previous reports have established an effect of iron deficiency on the biological clock [@pone.0099234-Chen1]--[@pone.0099234-Salome1]. On the other hand, 170 genes were differentially expressed between mutant and wild type without that any differential expression of these genes had been noted in response to Fe supply in previous experiments [@pone.0099234-Bauer1]. Therefore, we deduce that the three BHLH genes regulate an adaptation response to the stress caused by the Fe deficiency. This would also explain why these BHLH genes are only activated at --Fe, but not at +Fe, and why they are induced in leaves and in roots. And in addition, it explains that in the absence of the genes in the 3xbhlh mutant such a high number of genes are differentially expressed whereby in the wild type the expression appears unchanged. A further question is what could be the function of the 170 genes not regulated by Fe supply. One possibility could have been that these 170 genes are regulated by salicylic acid, a stress hormone. BHLH38 and BHLH39 have been brought into the context of SA regulation [@pone.0099234-Kang1], and as a stress hormone SA signaling could be effective upon Fe deficiency stress. However, we exclude that the 170 genes are SA-regulated since none of them was in the intersections with the 50 times higher number of SA-regulated genes in the Venn diagrams, as revealed in our microarray experiments. The main functional categories that these 170 genes belong to are inositol metabolism, circadian rhythm again and UV responses. Hence, it can be concluded that the bhlh functions are important for adapting leaf responses to Fe deficiency stress. The absence of proper regulation would thus result in a more increased leaf chlorosis due to improper adaptation. Since the bHLH genes of the subgroup Ib(2) are expressed in leaves and there induced by Fe deficiency, it is plausible to predict that the leaf regulation is the main function of the bHLH genes which takes place independent of FIT. In conclusion, it will be very interesting in the future to study the connection between leaf responses as an adaptation to Fe deficiency conferred by bHLH subgroup Ib(2) proteins. Supporting Information {#s5} ====================== ###### Gene expression of BHLH subgroup Ib genes in 3xbhlh and wild type plants in response to Fe. A, in roots; B, in leaves; 3xbhlh and wild type seedlings were grown for 14 d at +Fe and exposed for 3 d to + or −Fe. Roots and leaves were harvested for analysis. n = 4; \* indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of −Fe versus +Fe; + indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of 3xbhlh versus WT. Gene expression was studied by reverse transcription-qPCR. (TIFF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### Overview of one biological replicate set of microarray and reverse transcription-qPCR experiments; 3xbhlh and wild type seedlings were grown for 6 d at + and −Fe and exposed for 6 h to 100 µM SA (+SA) or were mock-treated (−SA). RNA and cDNA was prepared from all samples for use in reverse transcription-qPCR analysis (see [Fig. 7](#pone-0099234-g007){ref-type="fig"}). Microarray analysis was only conducted with --Fe samples (see [Fig. 5](#pone-0099234-g005){ref-type="fig"}, [6](#pone-0099234-g006){ref-type="fig"}). For reverse transcription-PCR and microarray analysis a total of three biological replicates was performed. (TIFF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### High-resolution image of the co-expression network analysis of the 29 Fe-regulated genes out of groups I, II and III. The ATTED tool was utilized for construction. Further analysis and additional information are provided in [Fig. 6](#pone-0099234-g006){ref-type="fig"}. (TIF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### Gene expression of Fe deficiency and SA marker genes in the samples used for microarray analysis. A, FIT; B, IRT1; C, FRO2; D, PR1; 3xbhlh and wild type seedlings were grown for 6 d at + and −Fe and exposed for 6 h to 100 µM SA (+SA) or were mock-treated (−SA). Whole seedlings were harvested for analysis. n = 3; the --Fe cDNA samples were derived from the RNAs used in the microarray ([Fig. S2](#pone.0099234.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}); \* indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of −Fe versus +Fe; + indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of 3xbhlh versus WT; § indicates a significant change (p\<0.05) of +SA versus --SA. Gene expression was studied using reverse transcription-qPCR. (TIF) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### Primer sequences. (DOT) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### List of genes of the groups I, II and III with differential expression between 3xbhlh and wild type at --Fe in the presence and absence of 100 µM SA. (XLS) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### List of genes of the groups IV and V with differential expression of either 3xbhlh or wild type at --Fe in the presence and absence of 100 µM SA. (XLS) ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### GO annotation of the differentially regulated genes of groups I to V. (XLS) ###### Click here for additional data file. This work has been funded by the Saarland University and the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. Funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant No. DFG-Ba1610/5-1 to PB is kindly acknowledged. The authors thank Dr. Claudia Fink-Straube, Saarbrücken, for iron content determination. We thank Angelika Anna for excellent technical assistance regarding plant growth. [^1]: Competing Interests:The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. [^2]: Conceived and designed the experiments: PB. Performed the experiments: FM MN. Analyzed the data: FM MN PB. Wrote the paper: PB. [^3]: Current address: Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Therapy, Saarland University Medical Center and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine, Homburg, Germany	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Central" }
Q: Stripe: How to set up recurring payments without plan? First time working with Stripe API. Implementing it on WordPress using PHP and JS. Working on a donation form. Donor should be able to choose a suggested amount (radio buttons-25,50,75,100) or pay as he/she wishes (text field after selecting 'other'). I was able to get this working. There is a check box to set the amount up as a recurring payment. I created recurring payment plans for the fixed options like 25, 50, 100 etc. How do I set up a recurring payment if the donor chooses a custom amount? Can't find the relevant API. Please help. A: Another approach that Stripe suggests is to setup a plan with a recurring amount of $1 (or $0.01 for more flexibility) and then vary the quantity as needed. e.g. Using the $0.01 plan approach, if I wanted to charge 12.50/month I could adjust the quantity like so: $customer->subscriptions->create(array("plan" => "basic", "quantity" => "1250")); Stripe Support How can I create plans that don't have a fixed price? Subscription Quantities A: First, you'll need to create a new customer. On submit, you could use the custom amount to create a new plan: $current_time = time(); $plan_name = strval( $current_time ); Stripe_Plan::create(array( "amount" => $_POST['custom-amount'], "interval" => "month", "name" => "Some Plan Name " . $_POST['customer-name'], "currency" => "usd", "id" => $plan_name ) ); Keep in mind that the 'id' needs to be unique. You could use the customer's name, a time stamp, or some other random method to ensure that this is always the case. You'd then just create the subscription on the newly-added customer: $customer = Stripe_Customer::retrieve($customer_just_created); $customer->subscriptions->create(array("plan" => $plan_name)); You probably will be able to omit the first line above, as you should already have a customer variable assigned from when the customer was actually created.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Diglyceride kinase in human platelets. Human platelets contain diglyceride kinase, an enzyme that catalyzes the phosphorylation of diacylglycerol by adenosine 5'-triphosphate to yield phosphatidic acid. The majority of the platelet enzyme is particulate-bound, and membrane fractions of platelet homogenates have a higher specific activity than granule fractions. Both deoxycholate and magnesium are necessary for optimal enzyme activity. The K(m) of the enzyme for adenosine 5'-triphosphate is 1.3 mm, and the apparent K(m) for diacylglycerol is 0.4 mm. The pH optimum is 6.6-6.8 in imidazole-HCl or maleate-NaOH buffer. The enzyme activity of platelets from normal subjects was similar to the activity from patients with renal and hepatic failure.	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts" }
There is a wide range of HD porn with Blonde on this site. New porn movies are published daily which you can watch for free and without registration. You find everything about Blonde in HD resolution here.Most releveant HD Porn by Pornblade.com	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
addi Click by Woolly Hugs Interchangeable Knitting System $15000$150.00 Save $50 The new, very extensive addiClick case addiClick by Woolly Hugs, will make any craft lover's heart beat faster. Developed in cooperation with the craft expert Veronika Hug from “Woolly Hugs”, it also contains original addi accessories, as well as a large range of needles. All addiClick products are compatible.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Sen. Marco Rubio Marco Antonio RubioFlorida senators pushing to keep Daylight Savings Time during pandemic Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations \| GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal \| QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings MORE (R-Fla.) explained Sunday why he decided not to hold town hall meetings during the President's Day recess, saying such events were designed for activists to "heckle and scream" at him in front of cameras. During an interview Sunday with CBS4-Miami's Jim DeFede, Rubio said they are "not town halls anymore." "And I wish they were because I enjoy that process very much," the former GOP presidential candidate said. ADVERTISEMENT “The problem now is, and it's all in writing, I'm not making this up. What these groups really want is for me to schedule a public forum, they then organize three, four, five, six hundred liberal activists in the two counties or wherever I am in the state.” Rubio said these people then get to town hall events early and take up all the front seats. "They spread themselves out. They ask questions. They all cheer when the questions are asked," he said. "They are instructed to boo no matter what answer I give. They are instructed to interrupt me if I go too long and start chanting things. Then, at the end, they are also told not to give up their microphone when they ask questions. It’s all in writing in this indivisible document," he said, referencing the online group Indivisible that labels itself as a "practical guide for resisting the Trump agenda." Rubio said he believes these people are "real liberal activists," adding that he respects their right protest. "But it's not a productive exercise," Rubio said. "It's all designed to be able to have news coverage at night that says look at all these angry people screaming at your senator." Rubio said he was elected as a candidate who wanted to repeal and replace ObamaCare, adding that his opinions on a number of other issues have been well-documented. "I was elected on that platform. I was reelected by a lot of votes on that platform, and that's what I intend to do," he said. "It would be unfair to the people that voted for me, my of whom voted for me because of my opposition to ObamaCare, to now suddenly vote like the person whom I beat and so that's what I intend to do." Rubio said he thinks a large percentage of those people who attend town halls across the country are organized activists. “If it was a productive engagement or conversation, that would be fine. I'd have no problem justifying my views on these issues. The problem is they are not designed to have a productive engagement,” Rubio told said. “They are designed to basically heckle and scream at me in front of cameras so that Channel 4 and other networks and other stations at night will report.” Republican lawmakers have faced backlash during town halls held across the country. Some House and Senate Republicans who held town halls over the past week have been booed, heckled and screamed at. Rubio last week was confronted by a demonstrator who questioned why he wouldn't hold a town hall. “Senator, I thought you were in Europe,” an unidentified man tells Rubio in footage of their exchange posted on Twitter by Tomas Kennedy, whose Twitter lists him as a community organizer for SEIU Florida. "I saw all these missing child posters all over town. I’m glad you’re OK, but are you going to host a town hall? There’s a constituent town hall today. Senator, we need to hear from you — your constituents.” Rubio mostly brushed off the comments, continuing on his way and responding, “Good to see you, man." The Florida Republican defended his lack of recent town halls later that day, noting that people on both sides of the aisle can get "rude." Last week, President Trump tweeted that "so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists."	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Protesters set a bank office on fire as they clashed with riot police in downtown Madrid following the death of an African street vendor. Reports claimed the deceased collapsed after a police pursuit, which law enforcement denies. A group of some 50 people, mostly immigrants and anti-racism activists, flooded the Lavapies neighborhood, where the street vendor had been living. Mmame Mbage, 35, had been in Spain for 12 years before the alleged encounter with police that resulted in his death. Protesters threw stones and bottles at police, and burned garbage containers. Several activists hurled insults at police, shouting “murderers” and “cowards” as law enforcers attempted to disperse the crowd with rubber bullets. Several police cars and motorcycles were damaged in the violence. ¿¿Qué narices está pasando en Lavapies?? pic.twitter.com/6aurtlLf5l — La chica Fénix (@LydiaLily) 15 марта 2018 г. Some 15 police officers were treated by emergency services, including three who were taken to hospital. Four passers-by who were caught in the clashes were also hospitalized, El Mundo reported. Rioting erupts in Madrid's #Lavapies district as migrants clash with police after death of Senegalese street vendor pic.twitter.com/NuyQ2oKM5r — Ruptly (@Ruptly) March 16, 2018 Fire crews were called to the scene, and the area was sealed off by police. In one of the tensest moments of the unrest, the facade of a nearby bank office caught fire, leading to an evacuation of the whole building. Some protesters threw chairs and road signs that they pulled out in the street. It was reported that looters used the opportunity to steal around 10 TV sets from CaixaBank after firefighters extinguished the flames. A street vendor identified only as Modou, who witnessed the incident that led to the unrest, claimed that police were to blame for Mbage’s death. He suffered a cardiac arrest in the street. "Municipal police arrived and chased him from Sol to Lavapies with a motorbike,” Modou told AFP. Several other unnamed witnesses have corroborated his account, the agency reported. Barricadas en las calles de #Lavapies por la muerte de Mmame Mbage pic.twitter.com/UXGappNOam — PAVPS Madrid (@Pavps_Madrid) March 15, 2018 However, police insist that the man died of natural causes and officers were first to come to his assistance as they found him collapsed on the street. Disputing the witnesses’ accounts, police said that, while a raid against illegal street trade was indeed conducted in the area, it did not involve Mbage. "They have confused two issues that have nothing to do with each other. In Sol, there was an intervention with manteros [street vendors] who ran over some tourists when fleeing, but the deceased was not involved in what happened there,” a municipal police source said, as cited by El Mundo. They said that officers returning from the operation spotted the man lying unconscious on the ground. "We were the first to assist him while SAMUR (Madrid’s Emergency Medical Service) arrived but he has died," the source said. The man did not have ID on him and shortly afterwards, his companion began calling other street vendors to the area. Mayor of Madrid Manuela Carmena expressed condolences to Mbage’s family and promised a thorough investigation of the events.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating which is fixed to the surface of material from which a deposit is easily removed with water, such that the coated material can be repeatedly cleaned easily. 2. Description of Related Art Hitherto it was difficult to remove a water-insoluble deposit from a material surface. For example, liquid oil should be cleaned by water containing a surfactant with considerable labor, or by an organic solvent which is harmful to both the human body and the environment. Since a waxy or solid deposit is difficult to remove using the surfactant, it should be removed by the organic solvent or mechanically scraped off, which requires heavy work. But such deposit may not be completely removed, or the material to which the deposit is adhered may be damaged. In many cases, the waxy or solid deposit may not be removed. It is possible to remove the deposit by forming a releasable or soluble coating on the material and removing the deposit together with the coating. However, whenever the coating is removed, a fresh coating must be reformed, or the removed coating generates an additional waste. Therefore, this technique does not provide a viable solution. As a coating from which the deposit can be repeatedly removed, a coating of polyterafluoroethylene (hereinafter referred to as "PTFE", (for example, TEFLON.TM. of DuPont is known. However, it is not widely used since it is expensive, the kind of surface on which the PTFE coating can be formed is limited, and it has poor transparency. It is greatly desired to develop a coating such that a deposit can be repeatedly removed from the material surface and which solves the above problems. As explained above, to remove the deposit from the material's surface, a large amount of work is required, or some other methods applied which use an organic solvent which is harmful to the human body and the environment. In the case of Over Head Project or (OHP) films or office automation papers such as copying papers, they are used and wasted in a large scale to cause a environmental problem, since ink cannot be removed from their surfaces. This is because there is no coating from which the deposit, such as the ink, is repeatedly removed with ease and which is cheap and has good flexibility in use.	{ "pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds" }
'use strict'; angular.module("ngLocale", [], ["$provide", function($provide) { var PLURAL_CATEGORY = {ZERO: "zero", ONE: "one", TWO: "two", FEW: "few", MANY: "many", OTHER: "other"}; $provide.value("$locale", { "DATETIME_FORMATS": { "AMPMS": [ "AM", "PM" ], "DAY": [ "dimanche", "lundi", "mardi", "mercredi", "jeudi", "vendredi", "samedi" ], "ERANAMES": [ "avant J\u00e9sus-Christ", "apr\u00e8s J\u00e9sus-Christ" ], "ERAS": [ "av. J.-C.", "ap. J.-C." ], "FIRSTDAYOFWEEK": 0, "MONTH": [ "janvier", "f\u00e9vrier", "mars", "avril", "mai", "juin", "juillet", "ao\u00fbt", "septembre", "octobre", "novembre", "d\u00e9cembre" ], "SHORTDAY": [ "dim.", "lun.", "mar.", "mer.", "jeu.", "ven.", "sam." ], "SHORTMONTH": [ "janv.", "f\u00e9vr.", "mars", "avr.", "mai", "juin", "juil.", "ao\u00fbt", "sept.", "oct.", "nov.", "d\u00e9c." ], "STANDALONEMONTH": [ "janvier", "f\u00e9vrier", "mars", "avril", "mai", "juin", "juillet", "ao\u00fbt", "septembre", "octobre", "novembre", "d\u00e9cembre" ], "WEEKENDRANGE": [ 5, 6 ], "fullDate": "EEEE d MMMM y", "longDate": "d MMMM y", "medium": "d MMM y HH:mm:ss", "mediumDate": "d MMM y", "mediumTime": "HH:mm:ss", "short": "dd/MM/y HH:mm", "shortDate": "dd/MM/y", "shortTime": "HH:mm" }, "NUMBER_FORMATS": { "CURRENCY_SYM": "\u20ac", "DECIMAL_SEP": ",", "GROUP_SEP": "\u00a0", "PATTERNS": [ { "gSize": 3, "lgSize": 3, "maxFrac": 3, "minFrac": 0, "minInt": 1, "negPre": "-", "negSuf": "", "posPre": "", "posSuf": "" }, { "gSize": 3, "lgSize": 3, "maxFrac": 2, "minFrac": 2, "minInt": 1, "negPre": "-", "negSuf": "\u00a0\u00a4", "posPre": "", "posSuf": "\u00a0\u00a4" } ] }, "id": "fr-gp", "localeID": "fr_GP", "pluralCat": function(n, opt_precision) { var i = n \| 0; if (i == 0 \|\| i == 1) { return PLURAL_CATEGORY.ONE; } return PLURAL_CATEGORY.OTHER;} }); }]);	{ "pile_set_name": "Github" }
Q: grails 3.0.0 I can not create an application I just downloaded Grails 3.0.0 (hoping to see my problems with CAS magically disappearing ;) ) I installed it under windows and then: D:\GrailsProjects> grails -version \| Grails Version: 3.0.0 \| Groovy Version: 2.4.3 \| JVM Version: 1.7.0_51 and then: D:\IntelliJProjects>grails create-app helloworld \| Error Command not found create-app Did you mean: create-script or create-taglib or create-unit-test? also clean and compile don't work What am I missing? A: ok that was trivial (and rather stupid). In the "project directory" among other projects there was a directory called grails-app, probably leftover of some porting. This caused the create-app to fail. Removed the directory everything works fine.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Tavaly szeptember 1-jén négy új YouTube-csatornát indított az A38 Hajó azzal a céllal, hogy a koncertfilm-archívumuk a lehető legtöbb emberhez jusson el. A csatornák műfajok szerint válnak szét (pop-rock, metál-punk, világzene és jazz). Azóta a négy csatornára több száz koncertfelvétel került fel, közel ezer számmal és többek között a Laibach, a Kvelertak, az Amorf Ördögök, Péterfy Bori, az Ivan & The Parazol, Frank Turner, a Kraak & Smaak, a Punnany Massif, a Wovenhand, a Madball, Sóley vagy az Animals As Leaders A38-as bulijai. A filmeket playlistekbe rendezték, így a koncertek egyben is lejátszhatók, illetve a számok külön-külön is. Hirdetés Hirdetés Az A38 Hajó majdnem másfél évtizedes fennállása alatt több mint ezerötszáz koncert-riportfilmet készített, és most is évente kétszázötven koncertet rögzít. Nem túlzás azt mondani, hogy a magyar és nemzetközi könnyűzene egyik legnagyobb gyűjteménye jött létre ezzel. Bár a filmeket műsorra tűzte és tűzi a Magyar Televízió, a felvételek zöme egy-két sugárzás után az archívumba kerül. [/embed] A csatornák természetesen rendszeresen frissülnek majd, folyamatosan kerülnek fel az elkészült koncert-riportfilmek. Emellett az A38 exkluzív, csak a YouTube-csatornákra szánt önálló műsorokat is tervez.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Q: Show that $\lim_{x\to \infty} \frac{f(x)}{g(x)}=1$ Consider $f(x)=\ln(\ln(\zeta(\exp(\exp(-x)))))$ and $g(x)=\ln(x),$ where $\zeta(x)=\sum n^{-x}$ for $\Re(x)>1.$ Show that $$\lim_{x\to \infty} \frac{f(x)}{g(x)}=1$$ I obtained $f(x)$ from $\zeta(x)$ after performing two consecutive log-log coordinate transforms on $\zeta(x).$ $f(x)$ appears to converge, quite quickly, to $\ln(x)$ as $x$ increases. I've numerically verified several values such as: $$f(2) \approx 0.69978 $$ $$g(2)\approx 0.69315 $$ $$ f(8)\approx 2.07944 $$ $$ g(8)\approx 2.07944$$ A: Let $x=-\log(\log(t))$ so that $$\log\left(\log\left(\zeta\left(e^{e^{-x}}\right)\right)\right)=\log\left(\log\left(\zeta\left(t\right)\right)\right)$$ and as $x\to \infty$, $t\to 1^+$. Then, we wish to evaluate the limit $$\lim_{t\to 1^+}\frac{\log\left(\log\left(\zeta\left(t\right)\right)\right)}{\log(-\log(\log(t)))}$$ Recalling that near $t=1^+$, we have $\zeta(t)=\frac1{t-1}+O(1)$ and $\frac1{\log(t)}=\frac1{t-1}+O(1)$, it is straightforward to see that the value of the limit of interest is $1$.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
374 So.2d 929 (1979) Richard GRAHAM v. STATE. 4 Div. 685. Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama. March 27, 1979. Rehearing Denied April 17, 1979. 930 David C. Emery, Ozark, for appellant. William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and Edwin L. Yates, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State, appellee. LEIGH M. CLARK, Retired Circuit Judge. Appellant was indicted for murder in the first degree of "Donna M. Wilcynski, by stabbing her with a knife or other sharp instrument." A jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree as charged and fixed his punishment at life imprisonment. He was sentenced accordingly. Appellant submits as the only issue on appeal: "Whether or not sufficient evidence was presented to sustain the verdict of first degree murder." We have no doubt that there was bountiful evidence that the alleged victim was brutally slain, in the manner charged in the indictment, by some fiend, and that the homicide was murder in the first degree. The only controverted issue on the trial was whether defendant-appellant committed the homicide. The record indicates, and almost conclusively shows, that there was no eyewitness to the homicide other than the victim and her murderer(s); that they were the only persons in the apartment of the victim at Byrd Apartments, Ozark, when she was killed, between 11:00 P.M. and midnight on April 11, 1978. Her death resulted from multiple stab wounds in various parts of her body, from front to back and from head to feet. They were so extensive and numerous that the physician who examined her body was unable to number them. He grouped them in a description of them in his testimony as shown by six complete pages of the record. That she was dead before or immediately after the completion of the stabbing of her, there can hardly be any doubt. Her body was not discovered until late in the afternoon on April 12, 1978, after neighboring apartment dwellers had become concerned about her, one of them noting that her automobile was at its accustomed place at the apartment, that she was nowhere to be seen, that her apartment was locked and that efforts to get her to the door were futile. One of them called an officer and soon thereafter a number of them arrived. Upon arrival of the officers, a master key was obtained, and thereby her apartment was entered by one of the officers, who found her body in the bathtub. He promptly secured the scene and sent for an investigator of the Police Department of Ozark, 931 who soon arrived; he looked at the body in the bathtub, and then observed a three-year-old child in the bedroom of the apartment. He then called the coroner and personnel from the crime laboratory and secured the building for a thorough and accurate on-the-premises criminal investigation by experienced personnel, which was assiduously performed, continuing for about two hours at the scene. Blood samples were obtained, latent fingerprints were lifted, numerous photographs were taken, samples of hair were gathered from the apartment and other physical items of evidence were taken into custody. The victim's body in the bathtub was lying on its back. All but the face was covered with sheets and other coverings from her bed. Upon removal of the bed coverings, her body was completely nude. There was no water in the bathtub; the drain thereof was closed. The floor of the bathroom was dry, but the carpet or rug in the hall was soaked with water, and the carpet or rugs in the victim's bedroom and in the child's bedroom were wet. A test made by an officer showed that water from the overflowing bathtub would run into portions of the floor of the apartment that were wet. Bloodstains were found at several places in the apartment, including the mattress and the box springs of victim's bed, the floor, walls, curtains, and on the outside handle of the door to the apartment. The furniture in the bedroom appeared to be ransacked. The living room appeared to be normal. There were pry marks on the outside of a window to the apartment. The evidence, consisting of the testimony of twenty-seven witnesses and numerous exhibits, is almost, if not entirely, free of substantial conflict. Witnesses for the State may be grouped: (1) Those testifying as to conduct of defendant while at Byrd Apartments on Sunday, April 9, 1978, (2) Those testifying as to his conduct at Byrd Apartments the night of the murder, April 11, 1978, (3) A few who heard noises in the victim's apartment between 11:00 P.M. and midnight, April 11, (4) Expert and lay witnesses as to the condition and contents of the victim's apartment at the time her body was discovered therein in the late afternoon of April 12, (5) Witnesses, chiefly expert witnesses, as to (a) the condition of the corpse, (b) fingerprints, (c) samples of blood found in the victim's apartment, (d) samples of hair from victim's apartment, (e) what was revealed by a search of defendant and his home, (f) statements made by defendant after the murder and (g) what was found in defendant's automobile that he was driving the night of the murder. Evidence on behalf of defendant consisted of defendant's own testimony as to his conduct on Sunday, April 9, and on the night of the murder and the testimony of his wife, which pertained chiefly to his conduct prior to his going to the Byrd Apartments on April 11 and his return to their home after midnight of the night of the murder. Some of the witnesses for the State who testified as to the presence and conduct of defendant at the Byrd Apartments on Sunday, April 9, 1978, said they saw him at the courtyard with his young son Sunday morning; that there was a "cookout" party that afternoon and that defendant and his son and the victim and her daughter, the child who was in the victim's apartment the night of the murder, were at the party; that defendant played with Mrs. Wilcynski's child, and inquired of some at the party as to Mrs. Wilcynski. There was some evidence that he attempted to converse with Mrs. Wilcynski but that she did not talk with him. Captain William Dortch, of the United States Army, a friend of appellant (a warrant officer of the Army) had an apartment at the Byrd Apartments. Defendant was visiting Captain Dortch on Sunday, April 9. According to defendant's testimony, he was invited by Captain Dortch to stay for the cookout late that afternoon. 932 Appellant returned to the apartment complex on the evening of April 11. As much of the testimony is merely cumulative as to undisputed facts, no attempt will be made to particularize the testimony of all of the individual witnesses or to name all of them. Mrs. June Napier, who had seen appellant in the courtyard on Sunday afternoon, testified also that as she was unloading groceries from her automobile on the night of the murder, appellant approached her, picked up a bag of groceries and stated that he would help her take them up the stairs. She said, "I told him that was all right, that I could get them and he said, `Well, I understand how it is. It's awful hard to raise children alone, isn't it?' and I told him that I wasn't alone. ". . . "I took the groceries in the house and he just came in with a sack of groceries and put them down and ". . . "He was talking to me and I can't remember what he was saying, because I was in a hurry and trying to get dinner ready before Vincent [her husband] came home. I was a few minutes late, and my little girl cut her finger. She just came out of the bathroom, and I hadn't put up Vincent's things, and she got a razor blade and cut her finger with it, and he picked her up and took her in the bathroom and fixed it up. Then he was just talking to her and I was putting away my groceries and stuff, and a while later Vincent came in." Mrs. Napier further testified that while defendant was in the apartment and before her husband returned, she was going "back and forth getting things out of the car and trying to get dinner ready" and that she noticed defendant drinking a bottle of beer. She said that when her husband arrived, a friend, Jeff Parker, was with him and that defendant remained at the apartment and sat down and talked with Mr. Napier and Jeff Parker. She did not stay with the three men but went into the bedroom. While the door of the bedroom was closed, she heard her husband say, "Don't go in there, because my wife is nursing the baby," and when she heard him say that she "just pulled my blouse down and laid the baby down, and he came in there and put his arm around me, and he said, `Which way is the bathroom.'" She then left the bedroom and went into the room where her husband was, and she assumed defendant went into the bathroom, which other evidence shows that he did. According to additional testimony of Mrs. Napier, she was not certain as to the time defendant left the apartment of the Napiers'. She remembered that he was still there at 10:00 o'clock, and that she had gone downstairs to get some clothes out of the drier and when she returned he had gone. She said he must have gone "around 10:45, or something like that" or that it "must have been about 10:30." She said that "about a quarter to eleven," while she was returning from her automobile with some clothes of her husband to be washed, and was going up the stairs to the floor of her apartment, she saw defendant near the stairwell across from Mrs. Wilcynski's apartment. While at or near the stairwell he said to Mrs. Napier: "What hours does your husband work? When can I see you again? What is your phone number?" Instead of replying to defendant, Mrs. Napier said that she just "went on up the stairs," that "I didn't say anything to him, it scared me." She saw him no more that night. Mr. Vincent Napier testified that as he returned to the apartment that night, accompanied by Jeff Parker, he saw defendant sitting at the table in the dining room with a beer; he walked past defendant, went to the kitchen and talked with his wife and returned and introduced himself to the defendant. They sat and talked, and Napier and Parker and defendant played dominoes. Mrs. Napier had gone into the back bedroom where the baby was; the defendant went toward the bathroom, and he told defendant to knock on the door, that 933 his wife might be nursing the baby; after two or three minutes defendant came back to the table where they were playing dominoes. He said that about nine o'clock, defendant went for a can opener and returned in about five minutes, that defendant left "around eleven ... maybe a little before or after." His wife returned to the apartment from her trip downstairs to the automobile, shortly after the defendant left. Captain Bill Dortch testified that he lived on the same floor of the apartment as Mrs. Wilcynski and about three or four apartments from her. He had known defendant in connection with their military work. He had not lived at the Byrd Apartments long. He lived alone. Defendant had visited him the Sunday before the murder and had helped him move to the apartment. On the day of the murder, defendant came to the apartment at about 5:30 P.M. Dortch owned a motorcycle that he "used to store... right under the stairwell." Defendant left Dortch's apartment "around 7:30 or 8:00." He was going to get something to eat, some hamburgers for both of them; he returned "between 8:30 and 9:00" but only stayed a few minutes. Further testimony was as follows: "Q He came back to your apartment at what time? "A He came backyou mean after the second time? "Q Right. "A That was 10:30, because I was laying on the couch waiting for him to bring the food, and when the door opened I got up. "Q Is there any special reason that you know it was 10:30? "A Yeah, because I was lying on the couch and I was expecting hamburgers, and I checked my watch, and I said, `Well, it is kind of late to worry about the hamburgers.' "Q When he came back at 10:30 what did you and he do? "A Well, just discussed what he was doing and why he didn't have the hamburgers. "Q Okay, did youhow many drinks had you had that night? "A MaybeI would say about two drinks that night, because I wasn't feeling good. That's why I was lying on the couch. "Q Okay, and you say that Mr. Graham left your apartment some time between 12:00 and 12:30, is this correct? "A That is correct. "Q But you are not sure of the time between 12:00 and 12:30? "A That is correct. "Q Is there any special way that you could point down that he left your apartment between 12:00 and 12:30? "A Well, the reason why I say between 12:00 and 12:30 is because after he left, I went in the ice box and got something to eat, and thensee my door was still unlocked, because I didn't walk with him to the door. He just closed the door himself, and after I finished eating, then I went and locked the door and checked the time and it was 12:35. I know it didn't take that long for me to go right to the refrigerator." At one time during the testimony of Captain Dortch, he said: "Q Did you go to sleep during the time that he was there and the time he "A Yeah, I was sleeping part of the time." Clyde Hamilton, Jr., seven years old, testified that on the night of the murder, while he was looking for his frisbee in the apartment house hallway, he saw defendant come out of an apartment at the same time that Mrs. Wilcynski came out of her apartment and defendant "went up to her and started talking to her, but then when he went up, I left." He didn't know the time that this occurred, but stated it was after dark. Clyde's father testified that Clyde, Jr., was out of the apartment looking for his frisbee from "almost exactly 8:30 by my watch" and came back in about fifteen or twenty minutes with his frisbee. He had previously seen defendant at Byrd Apartments, once at the cookout on April 9 and again in between "7:10 and 7:30" when 934 defendant was "withI don't know the man's name but he was a captain and he lived in apartment 15; a black man, and they were outside, on the sidewalk and I spoke to them as I went by." John McGraw, who lived in apartment No. 9 next door to Mrs. Wilcynski's apartment, testified that as he returned to his apartment from work "about 10:30" he saw defendant standing in front of the victim's door next to the stairwell talking to some lady. He said the lady was going up the stairs; that defendant asked the lady if she would like to go to "a party or park" but that the lady said "something like, `I will have to ask my husband'"; that the lady went up the stairs. There were three witnesses as to noises in the victim's apartment on the night of the murder: (a) Mrs. Rose Teich testified that between 11:00 and 11:30 she heard Mrs. Wilcynski scream, a short, sharp scream. She said she screamed about four or five times; that her husband went downstairs to investigate and returned saying "I can't see anything." (b) John Hamby, who also lived in an apartment next to the victim's, testified that about "11:40 or 11:41" he heard noise, a banging, in her apartment, and he thought "somebody was taking a shower in the apartment." (c) A stipulation between the parties was agreed upon and admitted in evidence as the sworn testimony of William Tharp, that "about 11:35 or 11:37" when he returned to his apartment the night of the murder he heard "a long lingering scream next door, then it got quiet." The victim's mother testified that no jewelry was missing from the apartment after the murder. A large number of hairs were obtained from the scene of the murder, some from the victim, some from the bed and some from other places in the apartment. Many hairs were obtained from defendant, after he was taken into custody, from various portions of his body. There were also some hairs taken from defendant's dog. State Toxicologist John Kilborn examined the hairs taken from the apartment and the hairs obtained from the head and other areas of defendant and compared the two groups of hairs. He testified in part as follows: "Q Will you tell the jury the similarities that you found from the known hairs from Richard Graham's head and from the scene; step by step, the things that were identical. "A Well, out of all the 286 hairs I found, there were 3 that can be identified as Negroid hairs. Two of these are very small and really considered too small to make any type of comparison; only identified the race. The third hair which was submitted, contained in a plastic bag, labeled `from the top sheet,' this hair was compared with the hair of Mr. Graham, found that all of these characteristics were identical. We found that there was a medium type cuticle with ragged scale pattern, and the diameter was identical and the variation in diameter was very little, it was identical between the known and the unknown, the pigmentation of the hairthere extreme clumping of the pigment granules and these granules were located on the edge of the hair. The medulla was absent. There was no evidence of artificial treatment, like dying or bleaching. On the cross section, both hairs were extremely flat, and the pigmentation was identical. In the hair received from the scene, or submitted to me as identified from the scene, hair was not a complete hair, it was a broken hair. There was no root to examine, and the tipthe tip was indeed present, it was very frayed, and I couldn't ascertain whether or not the tip was present. "Q Then your conclusion of comparison is what? "A That microscopically the hair identified to me from the top sheet is identical to that of Mr. Graham's head hair." On cross-examination of Mr. Kilborn he testified that hair can be transferred from person to person and as to the possibility thereof without any physical contact. The latter part of his testimony on cross-examination was as follows: 935 "Q Johnny, if on 9 April, 1978, Rick Graham had been playing with the child of Donna Wilkinski, is it possible that a hair from his head was transferred to the child, who in turn, transferred it to that apartment? "A Well, without actual knowledge of the circumstances it would be difficult for me to say. I would once again say that hairs can be transferred. "Q Johnny, is it possible that this hair came from another individual other than Rick Graham? "A Yes, sir, this is possible." M. R. Nowicki testified that he was with defendant on the day before defendant was arrested, which other evidence shows was approximately one week after the murder, at the office of the Ft. Rucker preschool, that they discussed some matters at the preschool with reference to the work there and in the course of the conversation, the witness asked defendant to call him thereafter and defendant then asked for the phone number of the witness. His testimony continued as follows: "I gave it to him, and he said, `Where is that?', and I said, `It's at the Headquarters Building,' and he said, `Oh, you are up there now?', and I said, `Yes.' He went on to say, `I suppose you have heard my name mentioned up there lately?', I said in a kidding manner, `No more than usual, what did you do this time?' I had not heard anything prior to that time. He said to me, `Well, I am the number one suspect in a murder case in Ozark.' . . . "A He further said to me, `I was there.' He paused and he said, `I was at her apartment that night.'" State Toxicologist Chap McCracken, Jr., who performed an autopsy on the body of Mrs. Wilcynski and testified extensively as to his examination of her body and the scene of the murder, testified also that in the process of the investigation of the murder he examined the automobile that defendant had purportedly driven the night of the murder. As to this, his testimony was in part as follows: "Q Did you find any bloodstains in Richard Graham's automobile? "A Yes, I did. "Q And where did you find them? "A I found two small red-brown stains on the steering wheel of the automobile. They gave a positive presumptive test for the presence of blood, and small sizes of stains precluded more specific examination. "Q Could you tell the age of that? "A They were relatively fresh. "Q What? "A Relatively fresh, not ancient. "Q Did you find any more blood in there? "A No, sir." By the testimony of State's witnesses, it was shown that the initial investigators of the crime found a "partial shoe print" on the carpet of the apartment of the victim. The section of the carpet with the partial shoe print was removed and admitted in evidence. As to it, Mr. Dale Carter, a criminalist and director of the Enterprise Laboratory of the Alabama Department of Toxicology and Criminal Investigation, testified: "A It's a piece of carpet with a partial footprintreddish stained footprint on it. "Q And do the reddish stains show positive presumptive tests for blood? "A Yes, sir. "Q And where did you extract that piece of carpet? "A It was identified as being from the living room by the wall of the outside window. "Q Now, on this piece of carpet, did you measure the size of the partial shoe print? "A Yes, sir, I did as best I could. "Q Okay. "A Three and a half inches at the widest and eight and a half at the longest. ". . . . "Q Now, in your opinion, was this print made by a tennis shoe? "A In my opinion, this print was made by a shoe having a smooth sole and heel with no pattern. 936 "Q So then you would further state in your opinion that this print was not made by a tennis shoe? "A I can't state that because I have seen smooth bottom tennis shoes, even though they are not common. I myself own a pair." When State Toxicologist McCracken was asked on cross-examination whether the shoe print in the carpet was made by a tennis shoe, he replied, "If it were a flat soled tennis shoe, it could have. They are not common, but they are not uncommon." When asked whether it matched any of the shoes in the apartment occupied by the victim, he said, "I did not see anything it matched." Mrs. Graham, wife of defendant, testified that her husband came home "around one o'clock" the night of the murder. He ate something and went to bed. She said he had on "a white sweat shirt, a blue jeans, and sneakers" or tennis shoes. She did not wash any of the clothes prior to the time the search warrant was executed; "his blue jeans were still on the bar where he left it at, I did not wash it."; his shirt and his socks were sitting on the table when the search was commenced. She said that one of the officers looked at the same pants he had on the night of the murder. She said that the officers executing the search warrant went "through all of his shoes and all of his clothes and everything." According to her testimony, defendant had not worn the pants introduced in evidence, upon which there was testimony as to blood, in a "long time," that the pants were in a small box sitting in the corner in the kitchen on the floor, when the officers found them, that they were with a bunch of old clothes that she had taken to a garage sale to try to sell and had brought back home. Her husband was not wearing the pants the night of the murder. On the day before the search was made, her husband was in the kitchen cutting a cake and cut his finger. She told him to put a bandage on his finger, but he said, "It will heal faster if you don't put something on it." On cross-examination, she said she did not know whether her husband washed the shirt he wore the night of the murder between that time and the day of the search. According to the testimony of defendant, he and his son spent most of Sunday morning and afternoon at the Byrd Apartments, where he went to visit Captain Dortch, who asked him to stay over for the cookout. Except in the respect that he claimed that he was not as immodest and extrovertive in his behaviour as some of the testimony for the State indicated, there was no substantial conflict between his testimony and that of witnesses for the State. He said that his son, Christopher, played with "Therese," the victim's daughter. After some time he went outside and played with them and other children. He gave them "pony rides on my knee." He said, "I had my son sitting on one lap and had "Teresa" over here to get her up on the other leg and give them a ride. She didn't want to get up at one time, so I didn't force her." Mrs. Wilcynsky came out and brought some cold drinks for all the children. He had a conversation with Mrs. Wilcynski and asked one of the men he knew about her. He said he left the apartments about 5:00 P.M., which was earlier than some of the witnesses for the State said he left. According to the testimony of defendant, he arrived at Captain Dortch's apartment about 5:20 or 5:25 P.M. April 11. They sat around and talked until between 7:30 and 8:00. He had had a drink with Captain Dortch. Captain Dortch suggested at that time that defendant get them something to eat. As he went out of the apartment, he saw Mrs. Napier's daughter, Emily, and was having a conversation with her, when he saw Mrs. Napier arrive. He went into detail as to his conversation with Mrs. Napier. He started up the stairs with the bag of groceries and went with her and Emily into the apartment. There was little difference between his testimony and the testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Napier as to what happened at the apartment of the Napiers. He left about 9:00 P.M. to go to Captain Dortch's apartment to get a can opener, and as he left Captain Dortch's apartment with the 937 can opener, he saw Mrs. Wilcynski at the stairwell next to her apartment. He mentioned to her about the good time that his son had had playing with Mrs. Wilcynski's daughter the preceding Sunday. He said he did not go into Mrs. Wilcynski's apartment but went directly back to the apartment of the Napiers. He left that apartment again "shortly after 10:00." While going to Captain Dortch's apartment, he saw Mrs. Napier coming into the apartment building near the stairwell next to Mrs. Wilcynski's apartment and had conversation with her for a few moments and went to Captain Dortch's apartment and stayed there until "about 12:30." There was little difference between the testimony of defendant and that of Mr. Nowicki as to the conversation between the two. The defendant knew at that time that he was a suspect; his house had been searched and he had heard his name called in connection with the murder. The chief difference in his testimony and that of Mr. Nowicki was that defendant said that he had been at the "apartments where she lived on that night," instead of "at her apartment." According to further testimony of defendant, he wears a "size 10 or 10 ½" shoe. The shoes he had on at trial were eleven and five-eights inches long and four inches wide on the outside. On the night of the murder he had on a white sweat shirt, with the emblem "U. S. Army Aviation School" on it, a pair of athletic shorts with a similar emblem on the corner in white print and a pair of black and white sneakers, or "tennis shoes, or gym shoes, or whatever you call them." He exhibited to the jury his finger that he said he cut with a knife on Thursday morning after the murder. He did not put a bandaid on it right away but did after he saw that it wasn't going to stay closed. When the officers came out and searched his house they looked at about everything there, about all his clothes, "at least one of every pair of my shoes," took them out to the driveway and examined them and then started "bringing it back in one by one after they were satisfied with it, until they finally got to that light pair of pants that they found in the kitchen." They had obtained the pants from a box in the kitchen with a bunch of old clothes. His testimony as to them was substantially the same as that of his wife. He had not worn the particular pants, according to his recollection, since about six months or a year prior to the murder. Defendant moved for an exclusion of the evidence at the end of State's evidence, requested in writing and was refused the general affirmative charge in the defendant's favor at the conclusion of all the evidence, and filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial court overruled. There seems to be little difference of view between the parties as to the applicable principles to be applied as to the sufficiency of the evidence to justify denial of a motion to exclude the evidence, the refusal of the general affirmative charge requested in writing, or the denial of a motion for a new trial presenting an issue as to the sufficiency or weight of the evidence. The difference between them is as to the application of those principles to the evidence in this case, each arguing for his [its] side of the issue, without reference to any precedent in which the evidence was similar or the circumstances comparable. In most cases in which there is a serious dispute as to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a guilty verdict, there is a sharp conflict in the evidence as to material facts, some of the witnesses swearing one way and others another. In such cases, the task of an appellate court is generally easier than otherwise, for it can then lean more comfortably upon the responsibility of the trial court, as well as the trial jury, both of whom are in a better position to determine which witnesses have testified truthfully and which falsely. We do not have such a situation in the instant case, in which there is little, if any, material conflict in the evidence. On the question of the guilt or innocence of defendant of the crime charged, the evidence against him is entirely circumstantial; the evidence in his favor is both direct and circumstantial. It is a mistake, a common one, to denigrate the nature of circumstantial 938 evidence by considering it as inferior to direct evidence. That fallacy has been denounced, with the clarity of a clarion, by some of the greatest judicial minds of Alabama, state and federal, speaking from a wealth of wisdom and experience. Included, in the sequence of their statements, are Judge Seybourn H. Lynne, in United States v. Bostwick, N.D.Ala. (on appeal at 5 Cir., 218 F.2d 790); the late Judge Aubrey M. Cates, Jr., in Sumeral v. State, 39 Ala.App. 638, 106 So.2d 270; Judge J. Russell McElroy, as now found in the third edition of his treatise on Alabama evidence, Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence, § 212.01, and Judge John O. Harris, now our Presiding Judge, in Creel v. State, 53 Ala.App. 504, 301 So.2d 267, and subsequent cases. In comparing the relative strength of circumstantial and direct evidence and in declining to give preference to either, the reference is to the two kinds of evidence in general. It is axiomatic that in some cases the direct evidence may be stronger than the circumstantial evidence therein and in other cases the circumstantial evidence may be stronger than the direct evidence therein. At times, where there are both kinds of evidence that are irreconcilable and lead to opposite determinations as to the truth that is proved by the evidence taken as a whole, either direct evidence or circumstantial evidence may prevail over the other. To say that each "is entitled to the same weight" as the other is not to say that in every case each has the same weight as the other. It can be readily seen that circumstantial evidence can be more credible than direct evidence, for circumstances, when shown to be true, are disinterested and unbiased, while direct evidence must come from witnesses who are often either interested or biased, or both, or for other innate human weakness are unreliable in purportedly stating what they have seen or heard. Circumstantial evidence is often strong enough to so discredit direct evidence as to show that the direct evidence is not true, whether intentionally or mistakenly untrue. But if there is true direct evidence, such as truthful testimony of a witness that he, in fact, saw a person commit a crime, such testimony is not vitiated by circumstantial evidence, however unquestionably true it is and however strong it may be to the contrary. To conclude otherwise is to defy the principle that truth is never inconsistent with truth. The foregoing considerations lead us to special consideration of direct evidence in the case that is in conflict with strong circumstantial evidence of defendant's guilt. We should, and we do, in our general consideration of the evidence, include the direct evidence of defendant that is diametrically opposed to a conclusion of guilt, but for the special consideration of this time we refer particularly to the testimony of one of the witnesses for the State, Captain Bill Dortch. In its argument in its brief on appeal as to the testimony of Captain Dortch, appellee states: "Bill Dortch stated that Appellant returned to his apartment at approximately 10:30 p. m. and stayed until 12:00 or 12:30 a. m. Dortch also testified that he was sleeping during part of this time. Appellant, in his brief, maintains that this testimony established his alibi. This testimony, however, was contradicted by Mrs. Napier, who stated that she encountered the Appellant at 11:00 p. m. while she was returning from her car...." Although Dortch's answer to one question asked him on direct examination could understandably lead to the conclusion reached in the second sentence of the above quoted statement in appellee's brief, such conclusion is shown to be incorrect by a consideration of his testimony as a whole. By this it is not meant that there was any conflict in his testimony, merely that an answer of the witness, when considered in connection with the question asked him, was ambiguous, which ambiguity was clarified by other testimony of the witness. We have hereinabove set forth the particular question and answer and now repeat it: "Q Did you go to sleep during the time that he was there and the time he "A Yeah, I was sleeping part of the time." 939 It is to be observed that the witness by his answer interrupted counsel before he had completed the question. The witness obviously jumped at his conclusion as to what was meant by the question, which conceivably could be reasonably interpreted as appellee has done, but for other testimony that leads to a different conclusion: "Q Okay, did Mr. Graham, between 10:30 and whatever time he left, did he leave at any time when he was in your apartment? "A No. "Q Were you and him carrying on a conversation the whole time? "A Yes, sir. "Q Were you looking at him this whole time? "A He was physically there. "Q And you were not asleep any of this time between 10:30 and 12:00? "A When he came in the door, he woke me up. "Q Between 10:30 and the time he left your apartment; you testified to between 12:00 and 12:30, not leave your apartment between 12:00 and 12:30. "A That's correct." The weakness of alibi testimony generally has been perennially considered. In many, if not most, cases there was such uncertainty or vagueness about the time of the crime or the time of the presence of defendant at another place that it could reasonably be said that he could have been at the place of the crime at the time of its commission. In many of the cases witnesses testifying as to an alibi were closely related to defendant and their interest in the outcome tended to discredit them. In almost all of such cases, the witnesses were not witnesses called by the State. The fact that Captain Dortch was called by the State as a witness does not in and of itself make his testimony any more credible than if he had been called by defendant, but it is a factor to be considered, along with all the other evidence and the respective contentions of the parties. It is to be seen that appellant's argument to the discredit of his alibi testimony is not correctly premised. Different from most cases in which an alibi is claimed and supported by considerable evidence, it seems to us that we are here faced with the positive testimony of a witness which, if true, establishes the presence of defendant at an apartment different from the one in which the murder was committed at the same time the murder was committed, and that fact would establish his innocence. It seems to us that the most reasonable conclusion to reach from the testimony of Captain Dortch is that defendant was not in the apartment of the victim of the murder at the time she was killed and, therefore, he did not kill her, or that Captain Dortch knowingly testified falsely. Whatever our individual thoughts may be on the subject, the record in and of itself, to which alone we can look, does not support the latter alternative. We view his evidence as strongly in favor of defendant on the merits of the case. There is nothing in the evidence or in the briefs of parties to lead us otherwise. We would not be justified in looking elsewhere for an answer. One of the grounds of the motion for a new trial referred to the evidence as to part of a hair from the bed of the victim that expert testimony showed had the same physical qualities and characteristics as hair from defendant's head. The Court in its order overruling defendant's motion for a new trial said: "The Court will take judicial notice of the scientific fact that a positive identification cannot be made by comparing a hair sample of an unknown origin with a hair sample of known origin. However, hair does possess a unique series of characteristics and a disputed hair can be compared for similarities with other human hair whose origin is known. Therefore, the Court finds that it was competent for the State Toxicologist, who was familiar with and an expert on the properties of human hair, to testify as to his analysis of the hair found at the scene of the crime and the hair taken from the body and head of the defendant." Though there was some value to the State in the testimony as to the resemblance of a 940 piece of hair taken from the bed of the victim and hair from defendant's head, it seems that it is not questioned that "positive identification" of defendant was not made by that comparison. It seems to us that neither side gained much by such testimony, even though each side gained some. The gain for the State is emphasized by the State's insistence as to the amount of its value as evidence. On the other hand, there is something to be said for the fact that out of the large number of hairs that were taken from the scene of the crime, there was only one piece of a hair tested that resembled defendant's hair and that only three hairs were Negroid. Moreover, the presence of a piece of defendant's hair in the bed of the victim is not irreconcilable with his claimed innocence, when due consideration is given to the undisputed evidence that defendant had played with the victim's three-year-old child two days before the murder. The evidence as to small stains on the steering wheel of defendant's automobile a few days after the murder that "gave a positive presumptive test for the presence of blood" is heavily relied upon by appellee, as it doubtless was on the trial. The toxicologist said that the "small sizes of stains precluded more specific examination," that the stains were relatively fresh. Whether fresher than the blood of the victim murdered two days before, there is no evidence. Appellee also refers to the blood upon a leg of appellant's pants as evidence in its favor. It is a circumstance calculated to be in favor of appellee when considered in connection with all the other evidence, but we find no answer to the position taken by appellant that the particular trousers were not the trousers that were worn by him the night of the murder. Whether true or not and whether strong or not, the evidence is undisputed that he was wearing shorts.[1] Not only did he say so, but Clyde Hamilton, Jr., when questioned about seeing defendant talking with Mrs. Wilcynski at the door of her apartment, testified: "Q Clyde, you say you saw him talking with her there at the door, and you didn't see him go in, did you? "A (Shaking head negatively). "Q Did you see Donna when she came walking around the apartment? "A No, she came out and she had short cut pantsLevis, she cut them and I didn't know where she was going. "Q And what did this man sitting here have on, do you remember? "A He had short blue pants, and I don't remember what kind. "Q Do you remember his shirt? Was it a white shirt, a sweat shirt, do you know what I mean? "A Yeah, but it wasn'tI don'tit was a short sleeve shirt, you know, what you said, but I don't know what color it was." On the subject of the clothing worn by defendant the night of the murder, the following testimony was given by Mr. Vincent Napier, with whom defendant spent considerable time: "Q Okay, what kind of clothes was Mr. Graham wearing that night? "A He had a sweat shirt, and maybe jeans or something casual [which we interpret casual]. I'm not sure. He was dressed like he might have been working out or something. "Q Okay, do you recall if he had on jeans? "A No, I couldn't say jeans orI'm not for sure. "Q What about his shoes? "A No, sir. "Q But you say you do remember he looked like he had been working out or jogging? "A Something like that, or exercising. "Q Those are the type of clothes he had on that night? "A Yes, sir." The jury was entitled to the evidence presented to it as to that which stood the presumptive test as to blood on the steering wheel and on the trousers, but in our effort 941 to determine whether the evidence is sufficient to meet the test to which it must be subjected on this appeal, it is our view that it is not strong. This in light of all the evidence but without giving much weight to the evidence as to defendant's having cut his finger as constituting the source of any blood upon his trousers. Although the prosecution obtained an order of court requiring fingerprints of defendant that were made, there is no evidence tending to connect defendant with the crime by any of the numerous fingerprints lifted from the scene of the crime. No effort is attempted to be made to explain the presence of the partial footprint on the carpet of the victim's apartment. To say that it was defendant's would be purely a guess. The evidence indicates, although it does not conclusively show, that it was not. We conclude that there is much circumstantial evidence to support the verdict. A determination of its exact weight as compared with direct evidence, and some circumstantial evidence, to the contrary, may be extremely difficult, but it cannot prevail unless it is so strong that it cannot reasonably be reconciled with the theory that defendant is innocent. It is not sufficient to support a conviction if it does not exclude to a moral certainty every other reasonable hypothesis but that of the guilt of the accused. Failure to meet that test resulted in a reversal in Sumeral v. State, supra, and such test has heretofore been uniformly applied. Ellison v. State, 254 Ala. 428, 48 So.2d 176 (1950); Burgett v. State, 37 Ala.App. 469, 70 So.2d 429 (1954); Byrd v. State, 37 Ala.App. 121, 73 So.2d 376, cert. denied 261 Ala. 697, 73 So.2d 378 (1954); Whatley v. State, 37 Ala.App. 706, 75 So.2d 182 (1954); Bluth v. State, 38 Ala.App. 692, 92 So.2d 685 (1957); Smith v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 342 So.2d 422 (1977). We would be required to say, as difficult as it may be to do so with satisfaction, whether there was sufficient evidence to warrant a refusal of the general affirmative charge in favor of defendant, if there had been no motion for a new trial raising the question of the sufficiency of the evidence. As there was such a motion for a new trial and it was overruled, we need only apply the test whether, after giving the learned trial judge the favorable presumption that is due him, the verdict is so contrary to the weight of the evidence that it is clear that it is palpably wrong or unjust. Skinner v. State, 22 Ala.App. 457, 116 So. 806 (1928); Davis v. State, 33 Ala. App. 299, 34 So.2d 15, cert. denied, 250 Ala. 240, 34 So.2d 17 (1948); Barker v. State, 55 Ala.App. 322, 315 So.2d 129, cert. denied, 294 Ala. 752, 315 So.2d 130 (1975); Smith v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 342 So.2d 422 (1977). The test we are to apply is not whether we think that appellant is guilty. A verdict finding a defendant guilty in a criminal case is wrong and unjust, even though defendant is guilty, if the evidence of his guilt is not strong enough to meet the legal test required as stated above. Such a verdict, when properly challenged, cannot stand, even though there is strong reason to believe that if all of the true facts were known and shown in evidence guilt would be conclusively established. After giving the trial court the favorable presumption to which it is entitled, we conclude that, irrespective of whether appellant is guilty, the verdict is so contrary to the weight of the evidence that it is clear that the verdict is palpably wrong and unjust. By so holding we do not say that there is disagreement between us and the jury as to the guilt of defendant, but that the verdict is palpably wrong and unjust by reason of the extent of its contrariety to the weight of the evidence now before us. The defendant's motion for a new trial should have been granted. The foregoing opinion was prepared by Retired Circuit Judge LEIGH M. CLARK, serving as a judge of this Court under the provisions of § 6.10 of the New Judicial Article (Constitutional Amendment No. 328). His opinion is hereby adopted as that of the Court. The judgment of the trial court is hereby reversed and rendered. REVERSED AND RENDERED. *942 HARRIS, P. J., and BOOKOUT and BOWEN, JJ., concur. TYSON and DeCARLO, JJ., dissent. TYSON and DeCARLO, Judges, dissenting. While we agree that the evidence in this cause against the appellant is largely circumstantial, nevertheless we are of the opinion that the evidence is sufficient to support the verdict. NOTES [1] The writer has examined the exhibit that constitutes the pants upon which the stain of blood was found. They are ankle-length and are labeled, "100% polyester."	{ "pile_set_name": "FreeLaw" }
Tag Archives: salinity Salt Mouth Unlike Third Spacing of Fluids, salt mouth is one of the most common and least visible or appreciated effects of marathon swimming and can cause the swimmer great distress and discomfort, and yet it’s invisible to everyone else. Salt Mouth is the effect of salt build up on the tongue and in the… EDIT: Yes, this post has been published twice. There was a backend problem on WordPress. Sorry. NASA just released a cool new map of the world’s ocean’s salinity. I wish we could see the North Atlantic in better detail. It’s still early days for this though so there’ll be more to come. I look forward…	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Jesus & Judas - The College Years A anachronistic comedic screenplay where Jesus and Judas meet in college and we touch on the backstory of many biblical characters.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
Travel Reading the New York Times Travel section this weekend, I stumbled across a site I hadn’t visited. Now that I have, it is sure to become a giant time-sucker in my life. It’s called DesignTripper.com, and it’s full of carefully curated, unique vacation roosts (houses, inns, B&Bs, even yurts) and restaurants that aren’t likely to earn you any Starwood rewards points. This led me to their post about Fair Folks and a Goat, an amazing shotgun house in New Orleans that has a boutique, a coffee parlor, a gallery and one bedroom for guests with a rotating art installation inside (the one above is by local artist t Hannah Chalew), among other things. This spot can’t be summed up in a category or two; what’s so great is the way they support local artists and craftspeople. I also loved seeing local artwork (Time Out chair – so genius – is by Sarah Ashley Longshore), combined with two of my favorite items we carry, the Blu Dot Real Good Chair and Patrick Townsend’s Orbit Light, combined with classic New Orleans shotgun architecture: UPDATE: Since posting this, I found that Fair Folks is moving their creative action north to Greenwich Village and will be opening a new a retail boutique and design emporium featuring the works of established New York designers and talented young artists in September! Learn more here. What are some of your favorite ways to find chic vacation spots? Do you browse through Wallpaper*, drool, rip out the pages and then start saving money? Enjoy cruising through sites like airnb and vrbo, sure you’ll find that perfect needle in a haystack while looking out for scammers and the kind of homeowners who take bathroom pictures with the toilet seat up and all of their products all over the sink (I’m not talking in a Todd Selby kind of way)? Hit your local AAA? Let discount sites like Jetsetter do the searching and the discounting for you? Post what you’re looking for on Facebook and see who has good ideas? Are you laid back enough to do the CouchSurfing thing? Have you been doing the travel agent thing since long before the interwebs were invented and swear it’s still the best and only way to go? There are so many options out there it’s really hard to keep up; while DesignTripper does NOT handle bookings and reservations, they certainly cut down on search time for the cool spots. Please share your favorite travel search methods with us as well as favorite places you’ve stayed in the comments section – I’d love to know about your experiences, good or bad! Did any of you feel a wave of nostalgia for a Howard Johnson’s road trip stop while watching Mad Men last night? I kept thinking of my family driving from Ohio to Cape Cod in the family truckster (a tan Ford station wagon with wood paneling and flip up seats in the way-back) and stopping for a hot dog and an ice cream cone. The bright colors, light fixtures and even the waitress uniforms actually looked retro-fresh in last night’s episode. Somehow, the combination of pot pies and orange sherbet leads to a devastating fight between Don and Megan, and he abandons her in a HoJo’s parking lot. How could he not, with that fabulous honeysuckle dress with matching chevron coat? It was made for a HoJo’s. Girlfriend even had on matching pink sunglasses. Tory Burch has got nothing on Megan’s costume designer. Only that devilish cad Don Draper could make the iconic Howard Johnson’s roof look sexy. Anyway, the wave of nostalgia made me want to look into the history of Howard Johnson’s. Because I’m lazy, most of this information was compiled via Wikipedia, so take it for what it’s worth. Howard Deering Johnson opened drugstore in 1925, but soon realized that the soda fountain was the most profitable part. He started tinkering with ice cream and the business changed direction toward becoming a restaurant that became known for fried clams. In 1932 a second restaurant was opened, one of the first franchise deals in the U.S. The first motor lodge was opened in Savannah Georgia in 1954, and it was designed by architects Rufus Nims and Karl Koch. From there, in a nutshell, the business boomed and the motor lodges became known for their ubiquitous roadside advertisements: In the 1960s and ’70s, there were over 1,000 HoJos across the United States and Canada. There is a site completely dedicated to posting pictures of former HoJos, called HoJoLand.com Then, new owners and more new owners and big changes, bland architecture and a new logo that’s no fun. The End. Oh, P.S. Also, when you Google “Howard Johnson,” this guy is interspersed between all of the motel pictures. He’s a singer: There are so many great places to stay when traveling, whether they be easy on the wallet, easy on the eyes or easy on our backs as we enjoy a relaxing massage. I’m going to make more of an effort to share lodging that’s full of great design with you as it crosses my path. In honor of Liz Lemon, we’re going to christen this column “I Want to Go to There.” Sadly, this amazing hotel did not cross my literal path, but rather entered my life via an email from Jetsetter.com, which is always full of tempting trips I wish I could take. Forget the bat cave, this hotel was formerly a house of bedrooms, carved out of a cave in Cappadocia, Turkey. Common areas even have wi-fi, though unless you are booking a local hot air balloon ride online, being on your laptop at a place as beautiful as this should be a crime. Turkish interior designer superstar Halide Didem designed the beautiful and exotic rooms. She layered bright colors, luxe fabrics, metallic finishes and exotic shapes atop neutral and natural base of textures, a design lesson we can all take a note from. Beautiful terraces give guests a chance to soak in the views from a luxurious perch. Cave bedrooms are a combination of rough-hewn walls that form a cozy room with sumptuous linens; the perfect combination for a great night’s sleep. Are there any areas or hotels on your dream trip list? Please let us know about them in the comments section! Let’s face it, we’ve all seen so many cleverly decorated boutique hotels that it takes a lot to catch attention lately, doesn’t it? I mean, we’ve seen everything from Beetlejuice looking B&Bs to crack den chic (a certain Manhattan too-cool-for-school joint, I’m talking to you). However, as I caught up on my magazines with an old issue of W the other day, a tiny picture from “August’s Most Wanted” caught my eye (yes, I am that far behind on my glossies). It was a shot of a bedroom from the c/o Maidstone East Hampton. Let’s enjoy some fresh eye candy from their Swedish icon designed rooms (inspirations range from Eero Saarinen to Birgit Nillson the soprano, not to be confused with Brigitte Nielsen, known for Red Sonya and Flavor Flav reality shows): This week a group of images in our Fresh New Spaces Group on Flickr caught my attention. They were the minimalist spaces from a boutique hotel in Berlin called Hotel OTTO. Here, the neutral color palette and restrained furnishings let you enjoy the view, the photography and the warm hardwood floors: This simple bedroom contains lots of space saving tips, including using thin but colorful upholstered canvases in lieu of a clunky headboard, and utilizing swing arm sconces to save nightstand space (and of course, when you don’t have room to cram in a nightstand, these are a great solution as well). The palette is kept very simple, letting this iconic Eames fabric get the attention it deserves: However, if a subtle blue, gray and black palette is not for you, they’ve got some electric preppy pink and green options for you. Note the extra shelf on the nightstand, which is great for tucking away books, magazines, and even that annoying glow from a digital clock that can exacerbate an insomniac. They’ve also scooped up some of the floor space with this piece so that you can take some of that stuff out of your suitcase and really get comfortable:	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Q: How to use two conditions in "where" clause in XQuery I'm trying to extract only those <book> data that has a certain type of <xref> type and matching a list of specific xrefs using a Xquery (I'm new to this). Here is the input data: <book id="6636551"> <master_information> <book_xref> <xref type="Fiction" type_id="1">72771KAM3</xref> <xref type="Non_Fiction" type_id="2">US72771KAM36</xref> </book_xref> </master_information> </book> <book id="119818569"> <master_information> <book_xref> <xref type="Fiction" type_id="1">070185UL5</xref> <xref type="Non_Fiction" type_id="2">US070185UL50</xref> </book_xref> </master_information> </book> <book id="119818568"> <master_information> <book_xref> <xref type="Fiction" type_id="1">070185UK7</xref> <xref type="Non_Fiction" type_id="2">US070185UK77</xref> </book_xref> </master_information> </book> <book id="119818567"> <master_information> <book_xref> <xref type="Fiction" type_id="1">070185UJ0</xref> <xref type="Non_Fiction" type_id="2">US070185UJ05</xref> </book_xref> </master_information> </book> <book id="38085123"> <master_information> <book_xref> <xref type="Fiction" type_id="1">389646AV2</xref> <xref type="Non_Fiction" type_id="2">US389646AV26</xref> </book_xref> </master_information> </book> XQuery that I'm using: for $x in //book where $x//xref/@type='Fiction' and $x//xref=('070185UL5','070185UJ0') return $x The above Xquery only fetches the first book information matching the "070185UL5". I would expect it to fetch both. What is wrong? I appreciate your response. A: In the query for $x in //book where $x//xref/@type='Fiction' and $x//xref=('070185UL5','070185UJ0') return $x do you intend to say (1) "there must be at least one xref whose @type is 'Fiction' and at least one xref whose value is '070185UL5' or'070185UJ0'" or do you intend to say (2) "there must be at least one xref whose @type is 'Fiction' and whose value is '070185UL5' or'070185UJ0'" Currently you are saying (1). If you want to say (2) then the query should be for $x in //book where $x//xref[@type='Fiction' and .=('070185UL5','070185UJ0')] return $x which you can simplify to the XPath expression //book[.//xref[@type='Fiction' and .=('070185UL5','070185UJ0')]] With the data you have supplied the two queries give the same result, but with different data they could give different results.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Q: Как сделать ЧПУ с помощью htaccess? Есть страницы вида site.com/?page=2. Как с помощью htaccess сделать site.com/page/2? A: RewriteCond нужен, чтобы не было бесконечного цикла. Нужный код редиректа можно подставить в конце RewriteRule после пробела, например [R=301]. Если планируете сохранить другие элементы query, то подставьте туда же [R=301, QSA] RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !page= RewriteRule page/(.*)$ /?page=$1	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Tag This Sunday died Mexican poet Jose Emilio Pacheco in Mexico City. The writer, 74, was hospitalized on Saturday afternoon. His daughter Laura Emilia Pacheco said that “he died quietly and peacefully.” She was commissioned to confirm the news. Poet, novelist, essayist...	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Effects of cisapride on oesophageal transit of solids in patients with progressive systemic sclerosis. In most patients with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) the oesophagus is affected. Reflux symptoms are most frequent, whilst dysphagia also occurs. Cisapride, a prokinetic agent, may enhance motility along the gastrointestinal tract. The effects of cisapride on oesophageal transit were evaluated in 12 PSS patient using a solid-phase radionuclide oesophageal transit study. Each PSS patient was given cisapride 10 mg or placebo orally three times a day in a random, double-blind, crossover fashion. The results show that cisapride does not seem to have any impact on oesophageal transit in patients with PSS.	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts" }
Coleophora amellivora Coleophora amellivora Baldizzone, 1979 from Toll (1952a); upper case of a male, lower one of a female Aster alpinus, from Baran & Rynarzewski (2008a) case Greyish brown, trivalved tubular leaf case with a mouth angle of 20-45°. The larva mines in the lower leaves. After the case has been tightened to the leaf, the larva, otherwise than in most other Coleophora‘s, leaves it case, and makes from this starting point a long corridor mines.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
299 F.Supp.2d 166 (2004) Timothy MULDROW, Petitioner, v. Victor HERBERT, Superintendent, Attica Correctional Facility, Respondent. No. 02-CV-6080L. United States District Court, W.D. New York. February 3, 2004. 167 168 Timothy Muldrow, Attica, NY, pro se. Loretta S. Courtney, Monroe County District Attorney's Office, Rochester, NY, for Respondent. DECISION AND ORDER LARIMER, District Judge. INTRODUCTION Petitioner Timothy Muldrow ("Muldrow"), filed this petition pro se for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 challenging his conviction in Monroe County Court of two counts of second degree murder. For the reasons set forth below, Muldrow's § 2254 petition is denied. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On December 28, 1993, Muldrow participated in the execution-style murder of two people in their home. There was a third victim who survived after being shot in the face. The motivation for the killings was to silence witnesses to previous murders committed by a drug-dealing associate of Muldrow named Jerold Usher ("Usher"). Two days after the shootings, the police seized five guns and other contraband from Muldrow's apartment. Testing revealed that two of these guns fired the bullets that killed one of the victims, and bullets test-fired from a third gun were consistent with those used to shoot the other two victims. Muldrow was indicted jointly with two of the three co-defendants, Raymond Stubbs ("Stubbs") and Anthony McGee ("McGee"), on two counts of murder in the second degree (New York Penal Law ("P.L.") §§ 125.25(1) and 20.00); two counts of felony murder (P.L. §§ 125.25(3) and 20.00); one count of attempted murder in the second degree (P.L. §§ 125.25, 110.00, and 20.00); and one count of assault (P.L. §§ 120.10 and 20.00). Muldrow, Stubbs and Anthony were tried jointly. The fourth perpetrator, Thearthur Grimes ("Grimes"), was tried separately because he confessed to the police that he was present when the murders were committed and implicated Muldrow and McGee as the gunmen. After a jury trial in Monroe County Court, Muldrow was found guilty of two counts of felony murder and sentenced to indeterminate consecutive terms of imprisonment of 25 years to life on each count. Muldrow appealed to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, which unanimously affirmed his conviction on June 16, 2000. The Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal on September 20, 2000. This federal habeas corpus petition followed. DISCUSSION Muldrow asserts two grounds for entitlement to habeas relief, both of which stem from his appellate counsel's alleged incompetence.[1] First, Muldrow faults counsel for failing to challenge on direct appeal the purported inconsistencies in the verdicts at his trial: McGee was acquitted of all counts of the indictment, Stubbs was convicted on all counts of the indictment, and Muldrow was convicted on the felony murder counts only. Muldrow claims that each co-defendant was required to be acquitted or convicted of the same counts of the indictment in order for the verdicts to be consistent. 169 A claim for ineffective assistance of appellate counsel is evaluated by the same standard as is a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Mayo v. Henderson, 13 F.3d 528, 533 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 820, 115 S.Ct. 81, 130 L.Ed.2d 35 (1994) (citing Claudio v. Scully, 982 F.2d 798, 803 (2d Cir.1992), cert. denied, 508 U.S. 912, 113 S.Ct. 2347, 124 L.Ed.2d 256 (1993)). A petitioner alleging ineffective assistance of appellate counsel must prove both that appellate counsel was objectively unreasonable in failing to raise a particular issue on appeal, and that absent counsel's deficient performance, there was a reasonable probability that defendant's appeal would have been successful. Mayo, 13 F.3d at 533-34; see also Smith v. Robbins, 528 U.S. 259, 285, 120 S.Ct. 746, 145 L.Ed.2d 756 (2000); Aparicio v. Artuz, 269 F.3d 78, 95 (2d Cir.2001). Appellate counsel "need not (and should not) raise every nonfrivolous claim, but rather may select from among them in order to maximize the likelihood of success on appeal." Smith v. Robbins, 528 U.S. at 288, 120 S.Ct. 746 (citing Jones v. Barnes, 463 U.S. 745, 750-54, 103 S.Ct. 3308, 77 L.Ed.2d 987 (1983)); accord, e.g., Sellan v. Kuhlman, 261 F.3d at 317 ("This process of `winnowing out weaker arguments on appeal and focusing on' those more likely to prevail, far from being evidence of incompetence, is the hallmark of effective appellate advocacy.") (citations omitted). The habeas court should not second-guess the reasonable professional judgments of appellate counsel as to the most promising appeal issues. Jones, 463 U.S. at 754, 103 S.Ct. 3308; see also Jackson v. Leonardo, 162 F.3d 81, 85 (2d Cir.1998). Thus, a petitioner may establish constitutionally inadequate performance only by showing that appellate counsel "omitted significant and obvious issues while pursuing issues that were clearly and significantly weaker." Mayo, 13 F.3d at 533. Muldrow's appellate counsel raised three important issues in a thorough appellate brief to the Fourth Department, crafting persuasive arguments as to why the consent to search Muldrow's apartment given by his brother was invalid and why the trial court abused its discretion in allowing David Crutcher ("Crutcher"), who suffered from schizophrenia, to testify at trial. These two issues in particular were of the utmost importance to Muldrow's case, since the ballistics evidence from the guns seized from his apartment, together with Crutcher's testimony, strongly linked him to the murder. In contrast, the repugnant verdict issue urged by Muldrow in this habeas petition was neither significant nor promising on appeal, and it was entirely reasonable for Muldrow's appellate counsel to omit it. Because Muldrow has failed to demonstrate that his appellate counsel's performance was unreasonable, he cannot meet the first prong of the standard by which ineffective assistance claims are judged. However, even if he could establish that his appellate counsel's lawyering was deficient, Muldrow has not demonstrated that he was prejudiced by the deficiency. Because Muldrow and his codefendants were indicted and charged individually for the crimes of murder, as well as in accordance with accomplice liability pursuant to P.L. § 20.00,[2] it is clear that there were, in fact, no inconsistencies in the verdicts. Respondent correctly notes that the jury had to assess the evidence against each of three defendants 170 and make a separate determination of guilt as to each. The fact that the jury convicted two defendants and acquitted a third is of no legal significance. The jury may simply have believed that the evidence was stronger against the two defendants it found guilty, and not convincing as to the defendant (McGee) who was acquitted. Thus, the issue now raised by Muldrow is not persuasive, and he cannot establish prejudice from his appellate counsel's neglect in pursuing the issue because there was no "reasonable probability" that the omitted issue would have succeeded even had it been argued on appeal. See Torres v. Irvin, 33 F.Supp.2d 257, 267 (S.D.N.Y.1998) (even if petitioner could establish that appellate counsel's advocacy was deficient, he suffered no prejudice because no "reasonable probability" that the omitted claims would have succeeded) (citing Mayo, 13 F.3d at 534); Angel v. Garvin, 2001 WL 327150 at 10 (S.D.N.Y. Apr.3, 2001) (finding that petitioner could not establish prejudice as a result of appellate counsel's failure to raise non-meritorious claim based on insufficiency of the evidence). Moreover, an allegedly inconsistent verdict does not present a constitutional violation. Therefore, such a claim is not even cognizable on habeas review. The Supreme Court explained in United States v. Powell that where truly inconsistent verdicts have been reached, the most that can be said ... is that the verdict shows that either in the acquittal or the conviction the jury did not speak their real conclusions, but that does not show that they were not convinced of the defendant's guilt.... It is equally possible that the jury, convinced of guilt, properly reached its conclusion ... then through mistake, compromise, or lenity, arrived at an inconsistent conclusion on the [other] offense. 469 U.S. 57, 58, 64-65, 105 S.Ct. 471, 83 L.Ed.2d 461 (1984) (internal quotations and citation omitted); see also Harris v. Rivera, 454 U.S. 339, 345, 102 S.Ct. 460, 70 L.Ed.2d 530 (1981) ("Inconsistency in a verdict is not a sufficient reason for setting it aside."); United States v. Acosta, 17 F.3d 538, 544-45 (2d Cir.1994) ("Even assuming that the verdict against Acosta was inconsistent with the verdicts as to his codefendants, we find no basis for relief, for it has long been established that inconsistency in jury verdicts of guilty on some counts and not guilty on others is not a ground for reversal of the verdicts of guilty."); Savage v. Berbary, 1991 WL 147371 at 2 (W.D.N.Y. July 22, 1991) ("Alleged inconsistencies in state court verdicts are not a proper ground for federal habeas corpus intervention...."); Billups v. Costello, 1992 WL 170650 at 4 (S.D.N.Y. July 6, 1992) ("As long as a conviction is the result of a fair trial at which legally sufficient evidence has been adduced, its inconsistency with another verdict does not create a constitutional defect."). As his second ground for habeas relief, Muldrow claims that his appellate counsel was ineffective in failing to argue that he was improperly convicted of felony murder in light of the prosecution's alleged failure to prove a necessary element of burglary, the underlying felony charged in this case. Petitioner's Habeas Brief, Dkt. # 2 at 11. I find that this argument lacks merit and that counsel was justified in not raising it. Under New York law, all degrees of burglary require proof that the defendant "knowingly enter[ed] or remain[ed] unlawfully in a building with intent to commit a crime therein." See, e.g., P.L. § 140.25. Muldrow complains that "the trial proof was absent as to that intended 171 crime," leaving "the jury to speculate as to the intended crime." Dkt. # 2 at 12. As respondent points out, the prosecution need not establish what particular crime the intruder intended to commit in order to satisfy the elements of burglary under New York law. Respondent's Habeas Brief, Dkt. # 5 at 8 (citing People v. Mackey, 49 N.Y.2d 274, 279, 425 N.Y.S.2d 288, 401 N.E.2d 398 (1980) (the New York Penal Law "definition of burglary is satisfied if the intruder's intent, existing at the time of the unlawful entry or remaining, is to commit any crime")); accord People v. Gaines, 74 N.Y.2d 358, 362 n. 1, 547 N.Y.S.2d 620, 546 N.E.2d 913 (1989). Moreover, it is not necessary for the intended crime to be committed. Rather, "the intent necessary can be inferred from the circumstances of the entry itself." Mackey, 49 N.Y.2d at 279, 425 N.Y.S.2d 288, 401 N.E.2d 398. Muldrow contends that the prosecution never proved that he entered the house. Dkt. # 2 at 12. Although the gunmen were wearing black hats and their faces were partially concealed by their clothing, there was more than adequate circumstantial evidence at trial placing Muldrow at the scene of the crime. Crutcher, who lived in an apartment commandeered by Stubbs, McGee and Muldrow to sell cocaine, see Tr. at 1265-73, 1301, overheard Muldrow and his associates planning to kidnap the witnesses to the murder committed by Usher, see id. at 1280-87. Crutcher paid a friend to steal a car for him which he in turn provided to the defendants.[3]Id. at 1293-1300. On the night of the murder, Stubbs showed Crutcher four guns in a bedroom at the apartment and said, "`[T]his is what we're going to use tonight.'" Id. at 1302-03. Later that evening, when the defendants left in search of the witnesses, Crutcher observed Muldrow armed with one of the guns Stubbs had shown him earlier. About 45 minutes later, Crutcher testified that Stubbs returned to the apartment acting in an extremely emotional manner and demanded to know whether Muldrow, McGee or Grimes had called. Id. at 1316-19. The ballistics evidence provided further corroboration linking Muldrow to the shootings. Testing of the bullets recovered at the scene established that two of the guns found in Muldrow's apartment fired the bullets that killed one of the victims. The bullets fired at the second murder victim and the wounded victim shot were consistent with having come from a third gun found in Muldrow's apartment. In addition, Muldrow fled when the police stopped the car in which he was riding, but was caught after a foot chase. His unprovoked flight from the authorities reasonably could be viewed by the jury as an indicator of guilt. See United States v. Amuso, 21 F.3d 1251, 1259 (2d Cir.) (jury could rationally infer that flight was indicative of guilty conscience), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 932, 115 S.Ct. 326, 130 L.Ed.2d 286 (1994); Stone v. Stinson, 121 F.Supp.2d 226, 243 (W.D.N.Y. 2000) (petitioner's flight from Buffalo to Virginia following shootings could properly be considered by the jury as indicative of guilt); see also United States v. Malizia, 503 F.2d 578, 582-83 (2d Cir.1974) ("Evidence of flight, like any other circumstantial evidence, has consistently been admissible as evidence of guilt if considered with other facts of the case."), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 912, 95 S.Ct. 834, 42 L.Ed.2d 843 (1975). There was ample testimony from which the jury could have inferred that Muldrow *172 unlawfully entered the victims' home and intended to commit a crime while there. Consequently, the argument that the prosecution failed to prove all the elements of the burglary underlying the felony murder charge likely would not have succeeded on direct appeal. Appellate counsel thus acted reasonably in failing to raise it, and Muldrow was not prejudiced by the omission of this meritless argument from his appeal. I find that Muldrow was represented ably by the public defender on his direct appeal, and that his claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel are without merit. CONCLUSION For the reasons stated above, Timothy Muldrow's petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 is denied, and the petition is dismissed. Because Muldrow has failed to make a substantial showing of a denial of a constitutional right, no certificate of appealability shall issue. 28 U.S.C. § 2253. Further, I certify that any appeal from this order would not be taken in good faith. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a); Coppedge v. United States, 369 U.S. 438, 444, 82 S.Ct. 917, 8 L.Ed.2d 21 (1962). IT IS SO ORDERED. NOTES [1] Muldrow raised both of these claims in an application for a writ of error coram nobis which was summarily denied by the Fourth Department on April 27, 2001. See Petition, Docket ("Dkt.") # 1 at 8. Thus, the claims are exhausted and properly before this Court on habeas review. [2] The third and fourth counts of the indictment, each charging murder in the second degree in violation of P.L. §§ 125.25 and 20.00, state that the defendant "while acting alone or with one or more persons, committed or attempted to commit...." [3] Crutcher was deemed to be an accomplice as a matter of law based on his role in procuring the vehicle allegedly used by the defendants in their commission of the murders.	{ "pile_set_name": "FreeLaw" }
Q: postgresql "createdb" and "CREATE DATABASE" yield a non-empty database. what the fork? First of all, I apologize if this question turns out to be painfully obvious, I'm not that postgres-savvy beyond the basics. I use postgresql as a database backend for quite a few django projects that I'm working on, and that's always worked just fine for me. Recently, I set up postgresql on a new machine, and at one point a co worker tried setting up a new project on that machine. Unfortunately, it's too late to go back into the bash history to figure out what he did, and he won't be available for a while to ask him about it. The issue i'm having now is... I regularly reset postgres databases by simply using a dropdb/createdb command. I've noticed that whenever I run the dropdb command, the database does disappear, but when I run the createdb command next, the resulting database is not empty. It contains tables, and those tables do contain data (which appears to be dummy data from the other project). I realise that i'm a bit of a postgres noob, but is this in some way related to template features in postgres? I don't specify anything like that on the command line, and I'm seeing the exact same results if I drop/create from the psql console. By the way, I can still wipe the db by dropping and recreating the "public" schema in the database. I'll be glad to add any info necessary to help figure this out, but to be honest I haven't a clue what to look for at this point. Any help would be much appreciated. A: Summarizing from the docs template0 is essentially a clean, virgin system database, whereas template1 serves as a blue print for any new database created with the createdb command or create database from a psql prompt (there is no effective difference). It is probable that you have some tables lurking in template1, which is why they keep reappearing on createdb. You can solve this by dropping template1 and recreating it from template0. createdb -T template0 template1 The template1 database can be extremely useful. I use Postgis a lot, so I have all of the functions and tables related to that installed in template1, so any new database I create is immediately spatially enabled. EDIT. As noted in docs, but worth emphasizing, to delete tempate1 you need to have pg_database.datistemplate = false set.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Konichiwa records Translation On Other Language: Konichiwa Records is a record label founded by Swedish pop singer Robyn. The label has only one other artist signed, Zhala. The word "Konichiwa" is derived from the Japanese greeting こんにちは (Konnichi wa), meaning "Hello" or "Good Day" (Literally "This Day Is").	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
About the Project About the Project (Grace Ioppolo) The Henslowe-Alleyn Papers, Past, Present and Future For over two hundred and fifty years, most of the Henslowe-Alleyn papers remained unbound and stored in the chest in which they had lain since the founding of the College by Edward Alleyn in 1619. Many individual documents, both large and small, were left in their original condition: folded up into small packets (a form of storage which preceded the use of envelopes). The volume comprising Henslowe’s Diary began to be borrowed from the library during the 18th and 19th centuries by the scholars Edmond Malone, John Payne Collier, and J. O. Halliwell-Phillips, among others. In fact, during this time, some of its pages were removed or otherwise destroyed (fragments have since been sold or auctioned and are now at the British Library, Bodleian Library, Belvoir Castle, and the Folger Shakespeare Library). In the early 19th century, staff at Dulwich were successful in reclaiming the play The Telltale and the plot of the Second Part of the Seven Deadly Sins from an auction, but over the years many other items were dispersed (and have not yet been definitively identified), including about one hundred play manuscripts and a number of printed books bequeathed to the College in 1687 by the actor and bibliophile William Cartwright the younger. In the 1870s, the Governors of Dulwich College asked George Warner, an expert at the British Museum, to catalogue the manuscripts. Warner spent many years assessing the contents of the archive as he found it, expertly opening, repairing and ordering the documents in the archive, finally having them bound into a set of 36 volumes which he named the ‘Alleyn Papers’. He left the muniments, some of which are extremely large in size, unbound. In 1881, he published The Catalogue of the Manuscripts and Muniments of Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift at Dulwich (London: Longmans, Green, and Co.). Further discoveries at the archive were listed by Francis Bickley in the Second Series of The Catalogue of the Manuscripts and Muniments of Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift at Dulwich (London: privately printed, 1903). Half of these manuscript volumes and most of the muniments concern the private affairs and non-theatrical businesses of the Henslowe and Alleyn families, as well as the history of Dulwich College since its inception. It is the other half of these volumes, representing the theatrical affairs of Henslowe and Alleyn, that are the subject of this website and electronic archive. Less than half of the theatrical items in the Henslowe-Alleyn Papers have ever been transcribed, and these transcriptions are largely available only in out-of-print editions. R. A. Foakes’s 1977 photographic facsimile edition of two volumes of manuscripts (The Henslowe Papers) had a limited printing and only covers 20% of the relevant archive. The 2002 reprinting of Foakes’s standard 1961 edition of Henslowe's Diary (Cambridge University Press) has widely encouraged scholars to pursue other material in the Dulwich archive. The archive is of value also to Museum of London archaeologists, who are now using new technology, such as radar scanning, to examine the original sites in Southwark and Shoreditch of various early modern playhouses, including the Theatre, the Globe, and the Rose, and who are radically re-evaluating their data about the building of these playhouses. Although transcriptions of the over 2200 pages of manuscripts are not yet available in this electronic archive and website, the members of the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project hope that making the manuscripts themselves available as photographic images will encourage further study and use of this very rich resource not just by literary, theatrical and manuscripts scholars, economic, social and regional historians and archaeologists but students, actors, directors and other theatre personnel, as well as all members of the general population of readers who are interested in the greatest age of English professional drama and theatrical production. This Project is designed for research purposes only. For reasons of copyright, images and content are not downloadable from the website or the electronic archive, nor can any material be used, copied, circulated or reproduced in any format without permission and acknowledgement. The copyright of all the manuscripts in the Alleyn Papers belongs to the Governors of Dulwich College. For digital photographs or reproductions of any of the manuscripts, for permissions to reproduce them in any format, or for more information about the manuscript photography, the website and electronic archive, please use see Copyrights, Reproductions and Permissions. The Project has been graciously supported by grants from The Leverhulme Trust, The British Academy, The Thriplow Charitable Trust, The Pilgrim Trust, the Henry E. Huntington Library, the Folger Shakepeare Library, the British and American Bibliographical Societies, and The University of Reading, for which the members of the Project remain very grateful.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
[Diagnostic use of laser Doppler flowmetry in patients with circulatory insufficiency]. Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) is a method for continuous quantification of microvascular perfusion. The article briefly presents the principle of the method, and reviews the literature dealing with diagnostic use of LDF in patients with insufficient extremity circulation. The location and degree of vascular lesions can be evaluated, and non-invasive evaluation of peripheral vascular resistance performed in the vascular laboratory. Prospective human studies are needed before the clinical value of the method can be assessed.	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts" }
Introduction ============ RNA interference (RNAi) is a highly efficient gene-silencing mechanism in which a small interfering RNA (siRNA) binds a target mRNA, guiding mRNA cleavage via an RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC).^[@bib1],[@bib2]^ This biological phenomenon is widely used as a genetic tool in biomedical research. Advances in RNA chemistry have expanded siRNA applications toward therapeutic development, with robust efficacy seen in phase 2 clinical trials for liver diseases (e.g., transthyretin amyloidosis).^[@bib3],[@bib4],[@bib5]^ Despite its prevalence in biomedical research, the use of RNAi in neurodegenerative research has been limited.^[@bib6]^ There is a significant unmet need for simple, effective, and nontoxic siRNA delivery methods to modulate gene expression in primary neurons and brain. A range of approaches has been evaluated,^[@bib7]^ including AAV viruses,^[@bib8],[@bib9]^ peptide conjugates,^[@bib10]^ oligonucleotide formulations,^[@bib11]^ infusion of naked or slightly modified siRNAs,^[@bib12],[@bib13]^ ultrasound,^[@bib14]^ and convection-enhanced based delivery.^[@bib15]^ None of these approaches has received wide acceptance due to toxicity, a requirement for extensive repetitive dosing, and/or limited spatial distribution. Lipofection and electroporation of siRNAs are challenging in primary neurons due to low transfection efficiencies and their extreme sensitivity to external manipulation.^[@bib16]^ Delivery of siRNA precursors (Lentiviruses and AAV) has been used successfully, but viral transduction cannot readily be turned off and requires extensive formulation and experimental optimization to achieve reproducible, nontoxic silencing in neuronal cells.^[@bib17],[@bib18],[@bib19],[@bib20],[@bib21],[@bib22]^ In this study, we describe the delivery, distribution, and silencing capacity of hydrophobically modified siRNAs (hsiRNAs) in primary neurons and in mouse brain. hsiRNAs are siRNA-antisense hybrids containing numerous chemical modifications (see [Figure 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"} and Supplementary Table S1 for exact chemical composition of compounds used) designed to promote biodistribution and stability while minimizing immunogenicity. As a model for our studies, we silenced the huntingtin (Htt) gene, the causative gene in Huntington\'s disease (HD). HD is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by a toxic expansion in the CAG repeat region of the huntingtin gene leading to a variety of molecular and cellular consequences. Tetrabenazine, the only FDA-approved therapy for HD, seeks to alleviate disease symptoms but does not treat the actual problem: the gain of toxic function caused by mutant Htt. Recent studies suggest that transient neuronal knockdown of Htt mRNA can reverse disease progression without compromising normal cellular function in vivo.^[@bib23]^ At present, RNA interference via siRNA or antisense oligonucleotide is one of the most promising therapeutic approaches for transient Htt mRNA silencing. We performed a screen of hsiRNAs targeting Htt mRNA and identified multiple functional compounds. We showed that primary neurons internalize hsiRNA added directly to the culture medium, with membrane saturation occurring by 1 hour. Direct uptake in neurons induces potent and long-lasting silencing of Htt mRNA for up to 3 weeks in vitro without major detectable effects on neuronal viability. Additionally, a single injection of unformulated (without cationic lipid or AAV formulation) Htt hsiRNA into mouse brain silences Htt mRNA with minimal neuronal toxicity. Efficient gene silencing in primary neurons and in vivo upon direct administration of unformulated hsiRNA represents a significant technical advance in the application of RNAi to neuroscience research, enabling technically achievable genetic manipulation in a native, biological context. Results ======= hsiRNAs are efficiently internalized by primary neurons ------------------------------------------------------- hsiRNA is an asymmetric compound composed of a 15-nucleotide modified RNA duplex with a single-stranded 3′ extension on the guide strand ([Figure 1a](#fig1){ref-type="fig"} and Supplementary Table S1).^[@bib24],[@bib25]^ Pyrimidines in the hsiRNA are modified with 2′-O-methyl (passenger strand) or 2′-fluoro (guide strand) to promote stability, and the 3′ end of the passenger strand is conjugated to a hydrophobic teg-Chol (tetraethylene glycol cholesterol) to promote membrane binding and association.^[@bib26]^ The single-stranded tail contains hydrophobic phosphorothioate linkages and promotes cellular uptake by a mechanism similar to that of antisense oligonucleotides.^[@bib27]^ The presence of phosphorothioates, ribose modifications, and a cholesterol conjugate contribute to overall hydrophobicity and are essential for compound stabilization and efficient cellular internalization. Previous studies have shown that hydrophobically modified siRNAs bind to a wide range of cells and is readily internalized without the requirement for a transfection reagent.^[@bib26],[@bib28],[@bib29]^ Here, we evaluated whether asymmetric hydrophobically modified siRNAs are efficiently internalized by primary neurons. We found that, when added to the culture medium, Cy3-labeled hsiRNAs rapidly associated with primary cortical neurons ([Figure 1b](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}). These Cy3-labeled hsiRNAs were observed in every cell in the culture, demonstrating efficient and uniform uptake. Initially, hsiRNAs mainly associate with neurites and, over time, accumulate in the cell bodies. Treatment of primary neurons with a previously identified hsiRNA targeting Ppib^[@bib26],[@bib28]^ (encodes cyclophilin B) reduced target mRNA levels by 90%, further supporting that the observed compound internalization results in potent gene silencing ([Figure 1c](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Identification of hsiRNAs that silence huntingtin mRNA ------------------------------------------------------ Robust uptake and efficacy observed with hsiRNAs in primary cortical neurons encouraged us to identify functional compounds that target Htt mRNA, the single gene responsible for the development of Huntington\'s disease. The hsiRNA\'s extensive chemical scaffold^[@bib26],[@bib28]^ is essential for stability, minimization of innate immune response,^[@bib30],[@bib31]^ and cellular internalization but imposes significant restrictions on sequence space by potentially interfering with the compound\'s RISC-entering ability. To maximize the likelihood of identifying functional Htt hsiRNAs and to evaluate the hit rate for this type of chemistry, we designed (using conventional criteria described in Materials and Methods) and synthesized hsiRNAs targeting 94 sites across the human Htt mRNA (Supplementary Table S1). The panel of hsiRNAs was initially screened for efficacy in HeLa cells by adding hsiRNA directly to the culture medium (without lipofection or electroporation) to a final concentration of 1.5 µmol/l and evaluating impact on levels of Htt and housekeeping (Ppib) gene mRNA expression using the QuantiGene (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA) assay. At this concentration, 24 hsiRNAs reduced Htt mRNA levels to less than 50% of control levels, including 7 hsiRNAs that reduced Htt mRNA levels below 30% of control ([Figure 2a](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}). Unlike unmodified siRNA libraries, creating a library with extensive 2\'-O-methyl and 2\'-fluoro modifications introduces additional constraints on sequence selection. As a result, hit rates for modified siRNA screens are lower than that seen for conventional unmodified siRNA.^[@bib32],[@bib33],[@bib34],[@bib35]^ Functional hsiRNAs targeted sites distributed throughout the mRNA, except the distal end of the 3′ UTR, which later was shown to be part of the alternative Htt gene isoform^[@bib36]^ not expressed in HeLa cells (data not shown). Discounting the \~32 hsiRNAs targeting long 3′ UTR sites absent from the Htt isoform in HeLa cells, almost 40% of hsiRNAs showed some level of activity at 1.5 µmol/l, demonstrating that the evaluated chemical scaffold is well tolerated by the RNAi machinery and a functional compound can be easily identified against a wide range of targets. Half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC~50~) for passive uptake of hsiRNAs ranged from 82 to 766 nmol/l (Supplementary Table S1 and Figure S1). In lipid-mediated delivery, eight of the most active hsiRNAs had IC~50~ values ranging from 4 to 91 pmol/l (Supplementary Table S1). The best clinically active siRNAs are usually characterized by IC~50~ values in the low pmol/l range.^[@bib37]^ An ability to identify highly potent compounds with low picomolar IC~50~ values suggests that the hsiRNA chemical scaffold does not interfere with siRNA biological activity in selected compounds. The most potent hsiRNA targeting position, 10150 (HTT10150), and an unmodified conventional siRNA version of HTT10150 showed similar IC~50~ values in lipid-mediated delivery (4 and 13 pmol/l respectively, [Figure 2c](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}), further confirming that the hsiRNA chemical scaffold does not interfere with RISC loading or function. Only the fully modified hsiRNA, and not the unmodified version, silenced Htt mRNA by passive uptake ([Figure 2b](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}). Thus, the chemical scaffold described here does not interfere with RISC assembly and is sufficient to support unformulated compound uptake and efficacy. HTT10150 was used for subsequent studies. Potent and specific silencing with unformulated hsiRNAs in primary neurons -------------------------------------------------------------------------- HTT10150 induced a concentration-dependent silencing at 72 hours and 1 week after unformulated addition to either primary cortical or primary striatal neurons isolated from FVB/NJ mice ([Figure 3a](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}). At 1.25 µmol/l, HTT10150 induced maximal silencing, reducing both Htt mRNA levels and HTT protein levels by as much as 70 and 85%, respectively ([Figure 3a](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}--[c](#fig3){ref-type="fig"} for original westerns). HTT10150 hsiRNA did not affect the expression levels of housekeeping controls (Ppib and Tubb1) or the overall viability of primary neuronal cells, as measured by the alamarBlue assay, up to a 2 µmol/l concentration (Supplementary Figure S2). Similar results were obtained with another hsiRNA targeting Htt mRNA ([Figure 3c](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}), supporting that the observed phenomena is not unique to HTT10150. These experiments, in conjugation with the results seen from targeting Ppib ([Figure 1b](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}), indicate that a diversity of genes and target sequences can be silenced by hsiRNAs in primary neurons simply upon direct addition of compounds into cellular media. Since loaded RISC has a typical half-life of weeks,^[@bib38]^ silencing is expected to be long lasting in nondividing cells. To evaluate duration of silencing after a single HTT10150 treatment of primary cortical neurons, Htt mRNA levels were measured at 1-, 2-, and 3-week intervals ([Figure 3d](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}). A single treatment with hsiRNA induced Htt silencing that persisted for at least 3 weeks, the longest time that primary cortical neurons can be maintained in culture. Together, these data demonstrate that hsiRNAs are a simple and straightforward approach for potent, specific, nontoxic, and long-term modulation of gene expression in primary neurons in vitro. hsiRNA distribution in vivo in mouse brain after intrastriatal injection -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having shown that hsiRNAs effectively silence their targets in primary neurons in vitro, we sought to evaluate the ability of HTT10150 to silence Htt mRNA in the mouse brain in vivo. The distribution of HTT10150 was evaluated in perfused brain sections prepared 24 hours after intrastriatal injection with 12.5 µg Cy3-labeled hsiRNA in artificial cerebral spinal fluid (ACSF). We observed a steep gradient of fluorescence emanating from the injection site and covering most of the ipsilateral striatum ([Figure 4a](#fig4){ref-type="fig"},[b](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}), while no fluorescence was visually detectable in the contralateral side of the brain. In high magnification images of the ipsilateral side, hsiRNAs appeared preferentially associated with the tissue matrix and fiber tracts. In addition, efficient internalization was observed in a majority of cell bodies ([Figure 4c](#fig4){ref-type="fig"},[d](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Consistent with in vitro studies, we observed Cy3-labeled hsiRNA in neuronal processes and as punctae in the perinuclear space of multiple cell types, including NeuN-positive neurons^[@bib39],[@bib40]^ ([Figure 4d](#fig4){ref-type="fig"},[e](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}). In summary, a single intrastriatal injection delivers hsiRNA to neurons in the striatum of the injected side. hsiRNA effectively silences Htt in vivo with minimal cytotoxicity or immune activation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To measure HTT10150 efficacy in vivo, we performed dose-response studies in wild type FVB/NJ mice injected intrastriatally with 3.1, 6.3, 12.5, or 25 µg of HTT10150. As controls, we injected mice with a non-targeting control hsiRNA (NTC), ACSF, or PBS. In punch biopsies taken from the ipsilateral and contralateral striatum, HTT10150 reduced Htt mRNA levels in a dose-dependent manner ([Figure 5a](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}). This experiment was repeated several times with similar results. The Htt mRNA is significantly reduced in the ipsilateral side of striatum in all experiments. We observed robust dose-dependent silencing with up to 77% (one-way analysis of variance, P \< 0.0001) reduction in Htt mRNA expression levels at the highest dose. Interestingly we observe statistically significant, but less pronounced silencing in the contralateral striatum and the cortex. The silencing reaches statistical significance with both one-way and two-way analysis of variance (values for two-way analysis of variance are presented in [Figure 5](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}). While some level of fluorescence is detectable in these brain regions with high laser intensity, it is very close to the tissue auto-fluorescence and thus is not reported here. We will be investigating this phenomenon further, but it is clear that the level of silencing is at least correlative to the sharp gradient of diffusion from the injection site. Finally, Htt mRNA silencing is observed with HTT10150 but not with NTC or ACSF ([Figure 5](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}). In addition, the HTT10150 does not affect expression of several housekeeping genes (PPIB, HPRT). In combination, this is indicative of Htt mRNA silencing being caused by HTT10150 hsiRNA and not by off-target effects. Nucleic acids, including siRNAs, are potent stimulators of the innate immune response,^[@bib41]^ but extensive chemical modifications, like 2′-O-methyl, are expected to suppress the immunostimulatory effects of siRNAs in vitro and in vivo.^[@bib42]^ To assess innate immune response activation by hsiRNAs in vivo, we quantified IBA-1-positive microglial cells in brain sections from mice injected with 12.5 µg HT10150 or artificial CSF. IBA-1 is specific to microglial cells and is upregulated following injury to the brain, allowing us to distinguish between resting and activated microglia.^[@bib43],[@bib44],[@bib45]^ In the case of a major innate immune response, an increase of 200--300% in total microglia is customary.^[@bib46]^ Total microglia counts showed only a 25% increase in the ipsilateral striatum at 5 days post-injection indicating a lack of any major inflammatory response (Supplementary Figure S3). Thus, the observed activation is relatively minor but reaches statistical significance, indicating some level of response. Levels of innate immune response might be more pronounced immediately following compound administration. To assess the level of stimulation in more detail, we separately evaluated the number of activated and resting microglia at both 6 hours and 5 days post-injection. At 6 hours post-injection, we observed a significant increase in the number of activated microglia in the injected side of the brain with both ACSF and HTT10150. The injection event itself causes trauma and induces a major increase in activated microglia (ninefold) compared to the contralateral side of the brain ([Figure 6b](#fig6){ref-type="fig"}).^[@bib12],[@bib47]^ In the presence of HTT10150, the number of activated microglia was additionally increased twofold compared to ACSF, indicating enhancement of trauma-related microglia activation in the presence of oligonucleotide, although the relative contribution of the oligonucleotide to the trauma-related induction is minor. HTT10150-treated mice also showed some elevation of activated microglia in the contralateral striatum 6 hours post-injection ([Figure 6b](#fig6){ref-type="fig"}); however, after 5 days, all changes in number of microglia in the contralateral side of the brain disappeared ([Figure 6a](#fig6){ref-type="fig"},[c](#fig6){ref-type="fig"} for representative images), suggesting that HTT10150-dependent activation of microglia in the contralateral striatum is transient. Despite the mild immune stimulation in the brains of animals injected with HTT10150, we did not observe any overall significant reduction of DARPP-32, an established marker for striatal neuron viability^[@bib48]^ ([Figure 7](#fig7){ref-type="fig"}). The only observed effect was at a small area directly around the injection site in animals treated with 25 µg HTT10150 (Supplementary Figure S4). Taken together, our data show that a single intrastriatal injection of hsiRNA induces potent gene silencing with a mild immune response and minimal neuronal toxicity in vivo. Discussion ========== Simple, effective, and nontoxic delivery of synthetic oligonucleotides to primary neurons and brain tissue represents a challenge to the use of RNAi as a research tool and therapeutic for neurodegenerative diseases like HD.^[@bib7]^ We have shown that hsiRNAs elicit potent silencing in primary neurons in culture, without effect on housekeeping gene expression, and with minimal toxicity at effective doses Additionally, a non-targeting control hsiRNA did not silence any of the mRNAs tested (Htt, Ppib, Hprt), suggesting that these compounds are both sequence specific and on-target. Interestingly, the level of silencing is more pronounced on the protein level (\>90%) compared to the mRNA level (\>70%). The mRNA plateau effect is reproducible and is specific to Htt mRNA, as housekeeping genes like Ppib can be silenced by 90%. One potential explanation is that some fraction of huntingtin mRNA is translationally inactive and poorly accessible by RNAi machinery. We are continuing to investigate this phenomenon. Silencing in primary neurons persists for multiple weeks after a single administration, consistent with the expected half-life of active RISC.^[@bib49]^ Moreover, efficient intracellular delivery does not require the use of lipids or viral packaging. Currently, the most impressive in vivo modulation of Htt mRNA expression is demonstrated with 2′-O-methoxyethyl GapmeR antisense oligonucleotides. A single injection of 50 µg of antisense oligonucleotides or infusion of around 500 µg results in potent and specific Htt mRNA silencing and marked improvement in multiple phenotypic endpoints.^[@bib23],[@bib50],[@bib51],[@bib52]^ However, 2′-O-methoxyethyl GapmeR antisense oligonucleotides are not readily commercially available making them inaccessible for the majority of academic labs. Here, we show Htt mRNA silencing in the ipsilateral striatum and cortex, two brain areas significantly affected in HD disease progression, with a single intrastriatal injection. As a considerably reduced level of silencing was observed on the contralateral side of the brain, bilateral injections might be necessary to promote equal gene silencing in both hemispheres. The limited distribution profile observed in vivo restricts immediate adoption of this technology for use in larger brains and eventually as a therapeutic for neurodegenerative disease. Tissue distribution can be improved by tailoring the chemical scaffold (e.g., number and type of sugar modifications, position of phosphorothioate linkages) or by changing the conjugation moiety to promote receptor-mediated cellular internalization. Formulation of hsiRNA in exosomes, exosome-like liposomes, or shielding the compounds with polyethylene glycol may also provide an alternative strategy to improve tissue distribution.^[@bib53],[@bib54]^ Here, we describe a class of self-delivering therapeutic oligonucleotides capable of targeted, nontoxic, and efficient Htt gene silencing in primary neurons and in vivo. This chemical scaffold can be specifically adapted to many different targets to facilitate the study of neuronal gene function in vitro and in vivo. The development of an accessible strategy for genetic manipulation in the context of a native, biological environment represents a technical advance for the study of neuronal biology and neurodegenerative disease. Materials and methods ===================== hsiRNA design. We designed and synthesized a panel of 94 hsiRNA compounds (Supplementary Table S1) targeting the human huntingtin gene. These sequences span the gene and were selected to comply with standard siRNA design parameters^[@bib24]^ including assessment of GC content, specificity and low seed compliment frequency,^[@bib55]^ elimination of sequences containing miRNA seeds, and examination of thermodynamic bias.^[@bib56],[@bib57]^ Oligonucleotide synthesis, deprotection, and purification. Oligonucleotides were synthesized using standard phosphoramidite, solid-phase synthesis conditions on a 0.2--1 µmole scale using a MerMade 12 (BioAutomation, Irving, TX) and Expedite DNA/RNA synthesizer. Oligonucleotides with unmodified 3′ ends were synthesized on controlled pore glass (CPG) functionalized with long-chain alkyl amine and a Unylinker terminus (Chemgenes, Wilmington, MA). Oligonucleotides with 3′-cholesterol modifications were synthesized on modified solid support (Chemgenes). Phosphoramidite solutions were prepared at 0.15 mol/l in acetonitrile for 2′-TBDMS, 2′-O-methyl (Chemgenes), and Cy3 modifications or 0.13 mol/l for 2′-fluoro (BioAutomation) modifications. Phosphoramidites were activated in 0.25 mol/l 4,5-dicyanoimidazole in acetonitrile. Detritylation was performed in 3% dichloroacetic acid in dichloromethane for 80 seconds. Capping was performed in 16% N-methylimidazole in tetrahydrofuran and acetic anhydride:pyridine:tetrahydrofuran, (1:2:2, v/v/v) for 15 seconds. Oxidation was performed using 0.1 mol/l iodine in pyridine:water:tetrahydrofuran (1:2:10, v/v/v). The CPG was removed from the solid-phase column and placed in a polypropylene screw cap vial. Dimethylsulfoxide (100 µl) and 40% methylamine (250 µl) are added directly to the CPG and shaken gently at 65 °C for exactly 16 minutes. The vial was cooled on dry ice before the cap was removed. The supernatant was transferred to another polypropylene screw cap vial, and the CPG was rinsed with two 150 µl portions of dimethylsulfoxide, which were combined with original supernatant. Oligonucleotides without 2′-TBDMS-protecting groups were lyophilized. Oligonucleotides with 2′-TBDMS-protecting groups were desilylated by adding 375 µl triethylamine trihydrofluoride (\~1.5 volumes relative to 40% methylamine) and incubated for exactly 16 minutes at 65 °C with gentle shaking. Samples were quenched by transferring to a 15 ml conical tube containing 2 ml of 2 mol/l triethylammonium acetate buffer (pH 7.0). The sample was stored at −80 °C until high-performance liquid chromatography purification. Oligonucleotides were purified by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on a Hamilton PRP-C18 column (21 × 150 mm) using an Agilent Prostar 325 high-performance liquid chromatography (Agilent, Santa Clara, CA). Buffer A 0.05 mol/l tetraethylammonium acetate with 5% acetonitrile, Buffer B 100% acetonitrile, with a gradient of 0% B to 35% B over 15 minutes at 30 ml/minutes. Purified oligonucleotides were lyophilized to dryness, reconstituted in water, and passed over a Hi-Trap cation exchange column to exchange the tetraethylammonium counter-ion with sodium. Cell culture. HeLa cells (ATCC, Manassas, VA; \#CCL-2) were maintained in Dulbecco\'s Modified Eagle\'s Medium (Cellgro, Corning, NY; \#10-013CV) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS; Gibco, Carlsbad, CA; \#26140) and 100 U/ml penicillin/streptomycin (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA; \#15140) and grown at 37 °C and 5% CO~2~. Cells were split every 2 to 5 days and discarded after 15 passages. Preparation of primary neurons. Primary cortical neurons were obtained from FVB/NJ mouse embryos at embryonic day 15.5. Pregnant FVB/NJ females were anesthetized by intraperitoneal injection of 250 mg Avertin (Sigma, St Louis, MO; \#T48402) per kg weight, followed by cervical dislocation. Embryos were removed and transferred into a Petri dish with ice-cold Dulbecco\'s Modified Eagle\'s Medium/F12 medium (Invitrogen; \#11320). Brains were removed, and meninges carefully detached. Cortices were isolated and transferred into a 1.5-ml tube with prewarmed papain solution for 25 minutes at 37 °C, 5% CO~2~, to dissolve tissue. Papain solution was prepared by suspending DNase I (Worthington, Lakewood, NJ; \#54M15168) in 0.5 ml Hibernate E medium (Brainbits, Springfield, IL; \#HE), and transferring 0.25 ml DNase I solution to papain (Worthington, Lakewood, NJ; \#54N15251) dissolved in 2 ml Hibernate E medium and 1 ml Earle\'s balanced salt solution (Worthington; \#LK003188). After the 25-minute incubation, papain solution was replaced with 1 ml NbActiv4 medium (Brainbits; \#Nb4-500) supplemented with 2.5% FBS. Cortices were dissociated by repeated pipetting with a fire-polished, glass, Pasteur pipette. Cortical neurons were counted and plated at 1 × 10^6^ cells per ml. For live-cell imaging, culture plates were precoated with poly-[l]{.smallcaps}-lysine (Sigma; \#P4707), and 2 × 10^5^ cells were added to the glass center of each dish. For silencing assays, neurons were plated on 96-well plates precoated with poly-[l]{.smallcaps}-lysine (BD BIOCOAT, Corning, NY; \#356515) at 1 × 10^5^ cells per well. After overnight incubation at 37 °C, 5% CO~2~, an equal volume of NbActiv4 supplemented with anti-mitotics, 0.484 µl/ml of UTP Na~3~ (Sigma; \#U6625), and 0.2402 µl/ml of FdUMP (Sigma; \#F3503), was added to neuronal cultures to prevent growth of nonneuronal cells. Half of the media volume was replaced every 48 hours until the neurons were treated with siRNA. Once the cells were treated, media was not removed, only added. All subsequent media additions contained antimitotics. Direct delivery (passive uptake) of oligonucleotides. Cells were plated in Dulbecco\'s Modified Eagle\'s Medium containing 6% FBS at 10,000 cells per well in 96-well tissue culture plates. hsiRNA was diluted to twice the final concentration in OptiMEM (Gibco; \#31985-088), and 50 μl diluted hsiRNA was added to 50 μl of cells, resulting in 3% FBS final. Cells were incubated for 72 hours at 37 °C and 5% CO~2~. Based on previous experience, we know that 1.5 µmol/l active hsiRNA supports efficient silencing without toxicity. The primary screen for active Htt siRNAs, therefore, was performed at 1.5 µmol/l compound, which also served as the maximal dose for in vitro dose--response assays. hsiRNA lipid-mediated delivery. Cells were plated in Dulbecco\'s Modified Eagle\'s Medium with 6% FBS at 10,000 cells per well in 96-well tissue culture--treated plates. hsiRNA was diluted to four times the final concentration in OptiMEM, and Lipofectamine RNAiMAX Transfection Reagent (Invitrogen; \#13778150) was diluted to four times the final concentration (final = 0.3 µl/25 µl/well). RNAiMAX and hsiRNA solutions were mixed 1:1, and 50 µl of the transfection mixture was added to 50 µl of cells resulting in 3% FBS final. Cells were incubated for 72 hours at 37 °C and 5% CO~2~. mRNA quantification in cells and tissue punches. mRNA was quantified using the QuantiGene 2.0 Assay (Affymetrix; \#QS0011). Cells were lysed in 250 μl diluted lysis mixture composed of 1 part lysis mixture (Affymetrix; \#13228), 2 parts H~2~O, and 0.167 μg/μl proteinase K (Affymetrix; \#QS0103) for 30 minutes at 55 °C. Cell lysates were mixed thoroughly, and 40 μl (\~8,000 cells) of each lysate was added per well to a capture plate with 40 μl diluted lysis mixture without proteinase K. Probe sets were diluted as specified in the Affymetrix protocol. For HeLa cells, 20 μl human HTT or PPIB probe set (Affymetrix; \#SA-50339, \#SA-10003) was added to appropriate wells for a final volume of 100 μl. For primary neurons, 20 μl of mouse Htt or Ppib probe set (Affymetrix; \#SB-14150, \#SB-10002) was used. Tissue punches (5 mg) were homogenized in 300 μl of Homogenizing Buffer (Affymetrix; \#10642) containing 2 μg/μl proteinase K in 96-well plate format on a QIAGEN TissueLyser II (Qiagen, Valencia, CA; \#85300), and 40 μl of each lysate was added to the capture plate. Probe sets were diluted as specified in the Affymetrix protocol, and 60 μl of Htt or Ppib probe set was added to each well of the capture plate for a final volume of 100 μl. Signal was amplified according to the Affymetrix protocol. Luminescence was detected on either a Veritas Luminometer (Promega, Madison, WI; \#998--9100) or a Tecan M1000 (Tecan, Morrisville, NC). Western blot. Cell lysates (25 µg) were separated by SDS--PAGE using 3--8% Tris-acetate gels (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY; \#EA03785BOX) and transferred to nitrocellulose using a TransBlot Turbo apparatus (BioRad, Hercules, CA; \#1704155). Blots were blocked in 5% nonfat dry milk (BioRad; \#1706404) diluted in Tris-buffered saline with 0.1% Tween-20 (TBST) for 1 hour at room temperature then incubated in N-terminal antihuntingtin antibody Ab1^[@bib58]^ diluted 1:2,000 in blocking solution overnight at 4 °C with agitation. After washing in TBST, blots were incubated in peroxidase-labeled antirabbit IgG (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA; \#711035152) diluted in blocking buffer for 1 hour at room temperature, washed in TBST, and proteins were detected using SuperSignal West Pico Chemiluminescent Substrate (Thermo Scientific, Rockford, IL; \#34080) and Hyperfilm ECL (GE Healthcare, Buckinghamshire, UK; \#28906839). Blots were reprobed with anti-β tubulin antibody (Sigma; \#T8328) as a loading control. Films were scanned with a flatbed scanner (Epson Perfection V750 Pro; Epson, Long Beach, CA), and densitometry was performed using NIH ImageJ software to determine total intensity of each band. The huntingtin signal was divided by the tubulin signal to normalize to protein content, and percent of untreated control was determined for each set of samples (N = 5). Live cell imaging. To monitor live cell hsiRNA uptake, cells were plated at a density of 2 × 10^5^ cells per 35-mm glass-bottom dish. Cell nuclei were stained with NucBlue (Life Technologies; \#R37605) as indicated by the manufacturer. Imaging was performed in phenol red-free NbActiv4 (Brainbits; \#Nb4-500). Cells were treated with 0.5 μmol/l Cy3-labeled hsiRNA, and live cell imaging was performed over time. All live cell confocal images were acquired with a Leica DM IRE2 confocal microscope using 63x oil immersion objective (Buffalo Grove, IL), and images were processed using ImageJ (1.47v) software. Stereotaxic injections. FVB/NJ mice (50% male and 50% female for each dose group, 6--8 weeks old) were deeply anesthetized with 1.2% Avertin (Sigma; \#T48402) and microinjected by stereotactic placement into the right striatum (coordinates relative to bregma: 1.0 mm anterior, 2.0 mm lateral, and 3.0 mm ventral). For both toxicity (DARPP-32 staining) and efficacy studies, mice were injected with either PBS or artificial CSF (2 μl per striata), 12.5 μg of nontargeting hsiRNA (2 μl of 500 µmol/l stock per striata), 25 μg of HTT10150 hsiRNA (2 μl of 1 mmol/l stock per striata), 12.5 μg of HTT10150 hsiRNA (2 μl of 500 μmol/l stock per striata), 6.3 μg of HTT10150 hsiRNA (2 μl of 250 μmol/l stock per striata), or 3.1 μg of HTT10150 hsiRNA (2 μl of 125 μmol/l stock per striata). For toxicity studies, n = 3 mice were injected per group, and for efficacy studies, n = 8 mice were injected per group. Mice were euthanized 5 days post-injection, brains were harvested, and three 300-μm coronal sections were prepared. From each section, a 2-mm punch was taken from each side (injected and noninjected) and placed in RNAlater (Ambion, Carlsbad, CA; \#AM7020) for 24 hours at 4 °C. Each punch was processed as an individual sample for Quantigene 2.0 assay analysis (Affymetrix) and averaged for a single animal point. All animal procedures were approved by the University of Massachusetts Medical School Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (protocol number A-2411). Immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence. Mice were injected intrastriatally with 12.5 µg of Cy3-labeled hsiRNA. After 24 hours, mice were sacrificed and brains were removed, embedded in paraffin, and sliced into 4-μm sections that were mounted on glass slides. Sections were deparaffinized by incubating in Xylene twice for 8 minutes. Sections were rehydrated in serial ethanol dilutions (100%, 95%, and 80%) for 4 minutes each, and then washed twice for 2 minutes with PBS. For NeuN staining,^[@bib39],[@bib40]^ slides were boiled for 5 minutes in antigen retrieval buffer (10 mmol/l Tris/ 1mmol/l EDTA (pH 9.0)), incubated at room temperature for 20 minutes, and then washed for 5 minutes in PBS. Slides were blocked in 5% normal goat serum in PBS containing 0.05% Tween 20 (PBST) for 1 hour and washed once with PBST for 5 minutes. Slides were incubated with primary antibody (Millipore, Taunton, MA; MAB377, 1:1,000 dilution in PBST) for 1 hour and washed three times with PBST for 5 minutes. Slides were then incubated with secondary antibody (Life Technologies; \#A11011, 1:1000 dilution in PBST) for 30 minutes in the dark and washed three times with PBST for 5 minutes each. Slides were then counterstained with 250 ng/ml 4\',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (Molecular Probes, Life Technologies; \#D3571) in PBS for 1 minute and washed three times with PBS for 1 minute. Slides were mounted with mounting medium and coverslips and dried overnight before imaging on a Leica DM5500 microscope fitted with a DFC365 FX fluorescence camera. For toxicity studies, injected brains were harvested after 5 days. For microglial activation studies, brains were harvested after 6 hours or 5 days. Extracted, perfused brains were sliced into 40-µm sections on the Leica 2000T Vibratome (Leica Biosystems, Wetzlar, Germany) in ice-cold PBS. Every sixth section was incubated with DARPP-32 (Abcam, Cambridge, UK; \#40801; 1:10,000 in PBS) or IBA-1 (Wako; \#019-19741; 1:1,000 in PBS) antibody, for a total of nine sections per brain and eight images per section (four per hemisphere). IBA-1 sections were incubated in blocking solution (5% normal goat serum, 1% bovine serum albumin, 0.2% Triton-X-100, and 0.03% hydrogen peroxide in PBS) for 1 hour, and then washed with PBS. Sections were incubated overnight at 4 °C in primary antibody, anti-Iba1 (polyclonal rabbit anti-mouse/human/rat; dilution: 1:1,000 in blocking solution) (Wako; \#019-19741). Sections were then stained with goat antirabbit secondary antibody (1:200 dilution) (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA), followed by a PBS wash, the Vectastain ABC Kit (Vector Laboratories), and another PBS wash. IBA-1 was detected with the Metal Enhanced DAB Substrate Kit (Pierce, Rockford, IL). For DARPP32 staining, sections were washed for 3 minutes in 3% hydrogen peroxide, followed by 20 minutes in 0.2% TritonX-100 and 4 hours in 1.5% normal goat serum in PBS. Sections were incubated overnight at 4 °C in DARPP32 primary antibody (1:10,000 dilution) (Abcam; \#40801) made up in 1.5% normal goat serum. Secondary antibody and detection steps were conducted as described for IBA-1 staining. DARPP-32 sections were mounted and visualized by light microscopy with 20× objective on a Nikon Eclipse E600 with a Nikon Digital Sight DSRi1 camera (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan). The number of DARPP-32-positive neurons was quantified manually using the cell counter plug-in on ImageJ for tracking. Activated microglia were quantified by morphology of IBA-1-positive cells^[@bib42],[@bib43],[@bib44],[@bib45]^ from the same number of sections captured with 40× objective. Counting of both IBA-1- and DARPP-32-positive cells was blinded. Coronal section images were taken with a Coolscan V-ED LS50 35-mm Film Scanner (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan). Statistical analysis. Data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 6 software (GraphPad Software, Inc., San Diego, CA). Concentration-dependent IC~50~ curves were fitted using a log(inhibitor) versus response--variable slope (four parameters). The lower limit of the curve was set at zero, and the upper limit of the curve was set at 100. For each independent mouse experiment, the level of knockdown at each dose was normalized to the mean of the control group (the noninjected side of the PBS or artificial CSF groups). In vivo data were analyzed using a two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance with Tukey\'s multiple comparisons test for dose and side of brain. Differences in all comparisons were considered significant at P values less than 0.05 compared with the NTC- injected group. P values reported represent significance of the entire dose group relative to NTC and are not specific to the ipsilateral or contralateral side. For microglial activation, significance was calculated using a parametric, unpaired, two-tailed t-test for comparison between dose groups, and paired t-test for comparison between ipsilateral and contralateral hemispheres within the same dose group. [SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL](#sup1){ref-type="supplementary-material"} Figure S1. Active hsiRNAs silence huntingtin mRNA in a concentration dependent manner in HeLa cells. Figure S2. HTT10150 does not affect primary cortical neuron viability. Figure S3. HTT10150 causes a slight increase in total resting microglia 5 days post injection. Figure S4. HTT10150 shows limited toxicity at the site of injection at the 25 µg dose. Table S1. Detailed sequence, chemical modification patterns, and efficacy of hsiRNAs. This project was funded by the CHDI Foundation (Research Agreement A-6119 and JSC A6367), NIH Strategic Fund (TR000888-02), and NIGMS (GM108803-01A1). We especially thank Darryl Conte for help with manuscript writing and editing, and all the members of the Khvorova, Aronin, and DiFiglia Labs and CHDI Foundation Inc. for stimulating discussions and thoughtful guidance. We also thank M. Sena Esteves and C. Mello Lab for guidance on microscopy. A.K. (University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS)), N.A. (UMMS), and M.D. (Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease) conceived of the study. M.R.H. (UMMS) synthesized and purified siRNAs. J.F.A. (UMMS), L.M.H. (UMMS), A.H.C. (UMMS), M.-C.D. (UMMS), K.C. (UMMS), J.A. (UMMS), E.S. (UMMS), E.J. (UMMS), and E.S. (Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease) contributed experimentally. M.F.O. (UMMS) performed PyMol modeling. J.F.A., A.K., N.A., and M.D. wrote and edited the manuscript. A.K. owns stock at RXi Pharmaceuticals and Advirna LLC, which holds a patent and license on asymmetric, hydrophobically modified siRNAs. Other authors do not have any competing financial interest to disclose. Supplementary Material {#sup1} ====================== ###### Active hsiRNAs silence huntingtin mRNA in a concentration dependent manner in HeLa cells. ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### HTT10150 does not affect primary cortical neuron viability. ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### HTT10150 causes a slight increase in total resting microglia 5 days post injection. ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### HTT10150 shows limited toxicity at the site of injection at the 25 µg dose. ###### Click here for additional data file. ###### Detailed sequence, chemical modification patterns, and efficacy of hsiRNAs. ###### Click here for additional data file. ![hsiRNAs are efficiently internalized by primary cortical neurons. (a) Schematic structure of hsiRNAs. A double-stranded oligonucleotide with single-stranded, phosphorothioated tale. 2′-O-methyl and 2′-fluoro modifications, conjugated to teg-chol. (b) Fluorescent images of primary cortical neurons incubated with 0.5 µmol/l Cy3-PPIB hsiRNA (red). Nuclei counterstained with Hoechst dye (blue), imaged on Zeiss confocal microscope, ×63. Bar = 10 µm. Images are representative, results confirmed in five separate experiments. (c) Primary cortical neurons incubated for 72 hours with hsiRNA targeting Ppib at concentrations shown. Level of Ppib mRNA was measured using QuantiGene (Affymetrix) normalized to housekeeping gene, Htt, presented as percent of untreated control (n = 3 wells, mean ± SD). NTC, nontargeting control (0.75 µmol/l). Graph is representative, results confirmed in three separate experiments.](mtna201538f1){#fig1} ![Systematic screen identifies functional hsiRNAs targeting huntingtin mRNA. (a) Huntingtin mRNA levels in HeLa cells treated for 72 hours with 94 hsiRNAs (1.5 µmol/l) were quantified using QuantiGene and normalized to the housekeeping gene Ppib. Data are presented as percent of untreated control (n = 3 wells, mean ± SD). Gray area represents range of huntingtin mRNA levels encompassing untreated and nontargeting hsiRNA controls. Red bars indicate compounds selected for further analysis. Compound sequence, chemical composition, and level of silencing are shown in Supplementary Table S1. Graph is representative, results confirmed in two separate experiments. (b,c) Dose--response analysis of huntingtin mRNA levels in HeLa cells treated with HTT10150 hsiRNA (circles) or unmodified siRNA (squares) added to culture medium in the (b) absence (modified HTT10150 IC50 = 82.2 nmol/l) or (c) presence (modified HTT10150 IC50 = 0.004 nmol/l, unmodified HTT10150 IC50 = 0.013 nmol/l), of cationic lipids for 72 hours. Huntingtin mRNA was measured as described in a (n = 3 wells, mean ± SD). IC~50~ values were calculated as described in Materials and Methods and are presented in Supplementary Table S1. Graph is representative, results for modified siRNA confirmed in three separate experiments (in both absence and presence of cationic lipids), results for unmodified siRNA confirmed in two separate experiments (in both absence and presence of cationic lipids).](mtna201538f2){#fig2} ![HTT10150 shows dose-dependent silencing of huntingtin by passive uptake in primary neurons. (a) Huntingtin mRNA levels in primary striatal (black) or cortical (gray) neurons 1 week after treatment with the indicated concentrations of HTT10150. Huntingtin mRNA levels were normalized to Ppib mRNA. Data are expressed as percent of untreated control (n = 3 wells, mean ± SD). NTC, nontargeting control (1.25 µmol/l). (b) Huntingtin protein levels in primary neurons 1 week after treatment with the indicated concentrations of HTT10150. Huntingtin and β-tubulin proteins were quantified by densitometry of western blots, and huntingtin protein levels were normalized to β-tubulin. Data are expressed relative to the level of huntingtin protein in untreated control cells. (n = 5 neuronal preparations from separate pups, mean ± SD). NTC, nontargeting control (1.25 µmol/l). Graph of silencing in primary cortical neurons after 1 week is representative, results confirmed in five separate experiments. (c) Original western blots from graph in b. Primary cortical neurons were cultured from five individual pups (\#1--5) and incubated with HTT10150 at concentrations shown for 1 week. Huntingtin protein levels were detected by western blot using antibody AB1 (Huntingtin 1--17). NTC, nontargeting control. (d) Primary neurons were incubated with HTT10150 at concentrations shown, for 1, 2, and 3 weeks. Level of huntingtin mRNA was measured using QuantiGene (Affymetrix) normalized to housekeeping gene, Ppib (cyclophillin B), and presented as percent of untreated control (n = 3 wells, mean ± SD). NTC, nontargeting control (1.5 µmol/l). Graph of silencing in primary cortical neurons after 1 week is representative, results confirmed in five separate experiments. (e) Primary cortical neurons were incubated with two different Htt hsiRNA sequences HTT10150 and HTT10146 at concentrations shown for 72 hours. Level of huntingtin mRNA was measured using QuantiGene (Affymetrix) normalized to housekeeping gene, Ppib (cyclophillin B), and presented as percent of untreated control (n = 3 wells, mean ± SD). NTC, nontargeting control (1.5 µmol/l). Graph of HTT10150 silencing in primary cortical neurons after 72 hours is representative, results confirmed in seven separate experiments.](mtna201538f3){#fig3} ![A single intrastriatal injection of HTT10150 is localized to neurons and fiber tracts ipsilateral to the injection site after 24 hours. Twenty-five micrograms of Cy3-HTT10150 (red) was unilaterally injected into the striatum of WT (FVB/NJ) mice. Brains were collected after 24 hours, paraffin embedded, and sectioned. (a) Tiled image of coronal brain section (×16). Majority of HTT10150 is localized at site of injection with sharp gradient of diffusion. (b) Tiled image of sagittal brain section (×16), injected side. (c) Image of coronal brain section (×40), injected side. (d) Image of coronal brain section (×60), injected side, with NeuN-stained neurons. (e) NeuN-stained neurons from injected side (×60) zoomed in. Solid arrow, NeuN staining. Open arrow, Cy3-HTT10150 punctae in perinuclear space. Images are representative, results confirmed in two separate experiments.](mtna201538f4){#fig4} ![HTT10150 effectively silences huntingtin mRNA ipsilateral to the site of injection. HTT10150 was unilaterally injected into the striatum of WT (FVB/NJ) mice (2 µl). Mice were sacrificed at 5 days. Brains were sliced into 300-μm sections and six 2-mm punch biopsies of the (a) striatum and (b) cortex were collected from both ipsilateral and contralateral sides. Level of huntingtin mRNA was measured using QuantiGene (Affymetrix) normalized to housekeeping gene, Ppib (cyclophillin B), and presented as percent of untreated control (n = 8 mice, mean ± SD, three biopsies per region). P values are all calculated for each dose group relative to NTC by Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance: 25 µg striatum, P \< 0.0001; 12.5 µg striatum, P \< 0.0001, P = 0.0002; 6.3 µg cortex, P = 0.0009. NTC, nontargeting control.](mtna201538f5){#fig5} ![HTT10150 shows a twofold increase in microglial activation at the site of injection. HTT10150 was unilaterally injected into the striatum of WT (FVB/NJ) mice. Brains were collected after (b) 6 hours and (a, c) 5 days fixed, sectioned, and stained with antibodies against IBA-1. (a) Representative images of activated (black arrow) and resting (open arrow) after injection of 12.5 µg HTT10150 and ACSF 5 days post-injection, ×40 magnification. (b) Quantification of activated and resting microglia 6 hours post-injection of ACSF (n = 6 mice, mean ± SD) and 12.5 µg HTT10150 (n = 3 mice, mean ± SD). P values calculated by unpaired t-test, t = 9.996, df = 7: ACSF versus HTT10150 activated microglia ipsilateral striatum, P = 0.0239. ACSF versus HTT10150 activated microglia contralateral striatum, P \< 0.0001. (c) Quantification of activated and resting microglia 5 days postinjection of ACSF (n = 4 mice, mean ± SD) and 12.5 µg HTT10150 (n = 3 mice, mean ± SD). Images are representative, results confirmed in separate images of all injected brains. P values calculated by unpaired t-test, t = 2.700, df = 5: ACSF versus HTT10150 activated microglia ipsilateral striatum P = 0.0428.](mtna201538f6){#fig6} ![HTT10150 shows no toxicity in DARPP-32-positive neurons around the site of injection. HTT10150 was unilaterally injected into the striatum of WT (FVB/NJ) mice. Brains were collected after 5 days, fixed, sectioned, and stained with antibodies against DARPP-32 (a--d). Representative image of striatum after injection of (a,b) ACSF, full brain scan and ×60 magnification or (c,d) 12.5 µg HTT10150, full brain scan and ×60 magnification. (a) Quantification of DARPP-32--positive neurons (n = 3 mice, mean ± SD). Images are representative results confirmed in separate images of all injected brains.](mtna201538f7){#fig7}	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Central" }
#![allow(unused_imports)] use super::; use wasm_bindgen::prelude::; #[wasm_bindgen] extern "C" { # [wasm_bindgen (extends = :: js_sys :: Object , js_name = CustomElementRegistry , typescript_type = "CustomElementRegistry")] #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)] #[doc = "The `CustomElementRegistry` class."] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "[MDN Documentation](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/CustomElementRegistry)"] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "This API requires the following crate features to be activated: `CustomElementRegistry`"] pub type CustomElementRegistry; # [wasm_bindgen (catch , method , structural , js_class = "CustomElementRegistry" , js_name = define)] #[doc = "The `define()` method."] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "[MDN Documentation](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/CustomElementRegistry/define)"] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "This API requires the following crate features to be activated: `CustomElementRegistry`"] pub fn define( this: &CustomElementRegistry, name: &str, function_constructor: &::js_sys::Function, ) -> Result<(), JsValue>; #[cfg(feature = "ElementDefinitionOptions")] # [wasm_bindgen (catch , method , structural , js_class = "CustomElementRegistry" , js_name = define)] #[doc = "The `define()` method."] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "[MDN Documentation](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/CustomElementRegistry/define)"] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "This API requires the following crate features to be activated: `CustomElementRegistry`, `ElementDefinitionOptions`"] pub fn define_with_options( this: &CustomElementRegistry, name: &str, function_constructor: &::js_sys::Function, options: &ElementDefinitionOptions, ) -> Result<(), JsValue>; # [wasm_bindgen (method , structural , js_class = "CustomElementRegistry" , js_name = get)] #[doc = "The `get()` method."] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "[MDN Documentation](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/CustomElementRegistry/get)"] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "This API requires the following crate features to be activated: `CustomElementRegistry`"] pub fn get(this: &CustomElementRegistry, name: &str) -> ::wasm_bindgen::JsValue; #[cfg(feature = "Node")] # [wasm_bindgen (method , structural , js_class = "CustomElementRegistry" , js_name = upgrade)] #[doc = "The `upgrade()` method."] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "[MDN Documentation](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/CustomElementRegistry/upgrade)"] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "This API requires the following crate features to be activated: `CustomElementRegistry`, `Node`"] pub fn upgrade(this: &CustomElementRegistry, root: &Node); # [wasm_bindgen (catch , method , structural , js_class = "CustomElementRegistry" , js_name = whenDefined)] #[doc = "The `whenDefined()` method."] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "[MDN Documentation](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/CustomElementRegistry/whenDefined)"] #[doc = ""] #[doc = "This API requires the following crate features to be activated: `CustomElementRegistry`"] pub fn when_defined( this: &CustomElementRegistry, name: &str, ) -> Result<::js_sys::Promise, JsValue>; }	{ "pile_set_name": "Github" }
Q: Left click only on Dijit MenuItem using the basic tutorial here as example: https://dojotoolkit.org/documentation/tutorials/1.10/menus/demo/simpleProgMenu.html I've noticed that there's no (obvious) way to differentiate between left and right clicks. I'd like right click to do nothing, but left click to call the onClick() on the menuitem. Inspecting the contents of the event parameter passed to the onClick function, there doesn't appear to be anything telling me which mouse button was clicked. Is there a way to achieve this? A: If you want right click to do nothing, you don't have to do anything special. If you want to handle right clicks you can use the dojo/mouse module and its mouseButtons object. An example from the documentation: require(["dojo/mouse", "dojo/on", "dojo/dom"], function(mouse, on, dom){ on(dom.byId("someid"), "click", function(evt){ if (mouse.isLeft(event)){ // handle mouse left click }else if (mouse.isRight(event)){ // handle mouse right click } }); });	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________ No. 02-2039 ___________ Randy P. Rumsey, * * Appellant, * * Appeal from the United States v. * District Court for the * Western District of Arkansas. Jo Anne B. Barnhart, * Commissioner of Social Security, * [UNPUBLISHED] * Appellee. * ___________ Submitted: November 6, 2002 Filed: November 12, 2002 ___________ Before MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, BEAM, and RILEY, Circuit Judges. ___________ PER CURIAM. Randy P. Rumsey appeals from the district court's1 dismissal, for lack of jurisdiction, of his petition for review of an agency determination that his claim for disability insurance benefits was barred by administrative res judicata. We affirm. 1 The Honorable Robert T. Dawson, United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas, adopting the Report and Recommendation of the Honorable Beverly Stites Jones, United States Magistrate Judge. A federal district court's jurisdiction to review decisions regarding disability benefits is governed by 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). That section provides for review only of a "final decision of the Commissioner . . . made after a hearing." An agency's application of res judicata2 or refusal to reopen a prior determination is not a "final decision" within the meaning of section 405(g). King v. Chater, 90 F.3d 323, 325 (8th Cir. 1996). But there is a narrow exception where the Commissioner reconsiders the merits of an application previously denied. Id. (citing Jelinek v. Heckler, 764 F.2d 507, 508 (8th Cir. 1985)). Such a claim is treated as having been reopened as a matter of administrative discretion and is, therefore, subject to judicial review to the extent it has been reopened. Id. The Commissioner dismissed Rumsey's current application for disability insurance benefits as duplicative of an earlier, unsuccessful claim that alleged the same disability. After a hearing, an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") dismissed Rumsey's present claim as barred by the final decision in his earlier claim. The ALJ did not consider the merits of the earlier claim, but, as the district court noted, merely "made a threshold inquiry into the facts and evidence of the previous application to determine if the regulatory requirements for reopening the previous claim had been met." Because the ALJ did not reopen Rumsey's earlier claim, and because its dismissal for res judicata was not a "final decision" within the purview of 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), we have no jurisdiction to review it. We affirm the judgment of the district court. 2 Under the Commissioner's regulations, a request for a hearing may be dismissed as precluded by the doctrine of res judicata. 20 C.F.R. § 404.957(c)(1). And this court has endorsed the application of res judicata in an administrative context. Rush v. Sec'y of Health and Human Servs., 738 F.2d 909, 914 (8th Cir. 1984). -2- A true copy. Attest: CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT. -3-	{ "pile_set_name": "FreeLaw" }
// +build !appengine package mail import ( "bytes" "encoding/base64" "errors" "fmt" "io" "mime/multipart" "net/smtp" "net/textproto" "strings" "sort" "gnd.la/util/stringutil" ) var ( errNoAdminEmail = errors.New("mail.Admin specified as a mail destinary, but no mail.AdminEmail() has been set") crlf = []byte("\r\n") ) func joinAddrs(addrs []string) (string, error) { var values []string for _, v := range addrs { if v == Admin { addr := AdminEmail() if addr == "" { return "", errNoAdminEmail } addrs, err := ParseAddressList(addr) if err != nil { return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid admin address %q: %s", addr, err) } values = append(values, addrs...) continue } values = append(values, v) } return strings.Join(values, ", "), nil } func makeBoundary() string { return "Gondola-Boundary-" + stringutil.Random(32) } func sendMail(to []string, cc []string, bcc []string, msg Message) error { from := Config.DefaultFrom server := Config.MailServer if msg.Server != "" { server = msg.Server } if msg.From != "" { from = msg.From } if from == "" { return errNoFrom } var auth smtp.Auth cram, username, password, server := parseServer(server) if username != "" \|\| password != "" { if cram { auth = smtp.CRAMMD5Auth(username, password) } else { auth = smtp.PlainAuth("", username, password, server) } } var buf bytes.Buffer headers := msg.Headers if headers == nil { headers = make(Headers) } if msg.Subject != "" { headers["Subject"] = msg.Subject } headers["From"] = from if msg.ReplyTo != "" { headers["Reply-To"] = msg.ReplyTo } var err error if len(to) > 0 { headers["To"], err = joinAddrs(to) if err != nil { return err } for ii, v := range to { if v == Admin { if Config.AdminEmail == "" { return errNoAdminEmail } to[ii] = Config.AdminEmail } } } if len(cc) > 0 { headers["Cc"], err = joinAddrs(cc) if err != nil { return err } } if len(bcc) > 0 { headers["Bcc"], err = joinAddrs(bcc) if err != nil { return err } } hk := make([]string, 0, len(headers)) for k := range headers { hk = append(hk, k) } sort.Strings(hk) for _, k := range hk { buf.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("%s: %s\r\n", k, headers[k])) } buf.WriteString("MIME-Version: 1.0\r\n") mw := multipart.NewWriter(&buf) mw.SetBoundary(makeBoundary()) // Create a multipart mixed first fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "Content-Type: multipart/mixed;\r\n\tboundary=%q\r\n\r\n", mw.Boundary()) var bodyWriter multipart.Writer if msg.TextBody != "" && msg.HTMLBody != "" { boundary := makeBoundary() outerHeader := make(textproto.MIMEHeader) // First part is a multipart/alternative, which contains the text and html bodies outerHeader.Set("Content-Type", fmt.Sprintf("multipart/alternative; boundary=%q", boundary)) iw, err := mw.CreatePart(outerHeader) if err != nil { return err } bodyWriter = multipart.NewWriter(iw) bodyWriter.SetBoundary(boundary) } else { bodyWriter = mw } if msg.TextBody != "" { textHeader := make(textproto.MIMEHeader) textHeader.Set("Content-Type", "text/plain; charset=UTF-8") tpw, err := bodyWriter.CreatePart(textHeader) if err != nil { return err } if _, err := io.WriteString(tpw, msg.TextBody); err != nil { return err } tpw.Write(crlf) tpw.Write(crlf) } attached := make(map[Attachment]bool) if msg.HTMLBody != "" { var htmlAttachments []Attachment for _, v := range msg.Attachments { if v.ContentID != "" && strings.Contains(msg.HTMLBody, fmt.Sprintf("cid:%s", v.ContentID)) { htmlAttachments = append(htmlAttachments, v) attached[v] = true } } var htmlWriter *multipart.Writer if len(htmlAttachments) > 0 { relatedHeader := make(textproto.MIMEHeader) relatedBoundary := makeBoundary() relatedHeader.Set("Content-Type", fmt.Sprintf("multipart/related; boundary=%q; type=\"text/html\"", relatedBoundary)) rw, err := bodyWriter.CreatePart(relatedHeader) if err != nil { return err } htmlWriter = multipart.NewWriter(rw) htmlWriter.SetBoundary(relatedBoundary) } else { htmlWriter = bodyWriter } htmlHeader := make(textproto.MIMEHeader) htmlHeader.Set("Content-Type", "text/html; charset=UTF-8") thw, err := htmlWriter.CreatePart(htmlHeader) if err != nil { return err } if _, err := io.WriteString(thw, msg.HTMLBody); err != nil { return err } thw.Write(crlf) thw.Write(crlf) for _, v := range htmlAttachments { attachmentHeader := make(textproto.MIMEHeader) attachmentHeader.Set("Content-Disposition", "inline") attachmentHeader.Set("Content-Id", fmt.Sprintf("<%s>", v.ContentID)) attachmentHeader.Set("Content-Transfer-Encoding", "base64") attachmentHeader.Set("Content-Type", v.ContentType) aw, err := htmlWriter.CreatePart(attachmentHeader) if err != nil { return err } b := make([]byte, base64.StdEncoding.EncodedLen(len(v.Data))) base64.StdEncoding.Encode(b, v.Data) aw.Write(b) } if htmlWriter != bodyWriter { if err := htmlWriter.Close(); err != nil { return err } } } if bodyWriter != mw { if err := bodyWriter.Close(); err != nil { return err } } for _, v := range msg.Attachments { if attached[v] { continue } attachmentHeader := make(textproto.MIMEHeader) attachmentHeader.Set("Content-Disposition", fmt.Sprintf("attachment; filename=%q", v.Name)) attachmentHeader.Set("Content-Transfer-Encoding", "base64") attachmentHeader.Set("Content-Type", v.ContentType) aw, err := mw.CreatePart(attachmentHeader) if err != nil { return err } b := make([]byte, base64.StdEncoding.EncodedLen(len(v.Data))) base64.StdEncoding.Encode(b, v.Data) aw.Write(b) } if err := mw.Close(); err != nil { return err } if server == "echo" { printer(buf.String()) return nil } return smtp.SendMail(server, auth, from, to, buf.Bytes()) } func parseServer(server string) (bool, string, string, string) { // Check if the server includes authentication info cram := false var username string var password string if idx := strings.LastIndex(server, "@"); idx >= 0 { var credentials string credentials, server = server[:idx], server[idx+1:] if strings.HasPrefix(credentials, "cram?") { credentials = credentials[5:] cram = true } colon := strings.Index(credentials, ":") if colon >= 0 { username = credentials[:colon] if colon < len(credentials)-1 { password = credentials[colon+1:] } } else { username = credentials } } return cram, username, password, server }	{ "pile_set_name": "Github" }
Four keys to success (theory, implementation, evaluation, and resource/system support): high hopes and challenges in participation. In this article, I attempt to merge two themes. First, there is often a large gap between high hopes about impacts of policies or programs and the demonstrated results. I describe four keys/threats to success in any social problem area: theory, implementation, evaluation, and resource/system support. Second, I present theory and research from over 30 years of work on participation, conducted by my colleagues and myself that can illuminate and be illuminated by theory, implementation, evaluation, and resource/system support. I offer ideas for solutions that increase the probability of success. I conclude with the need to have high hopes tempered by theory and research to develop realistically ambitious solutions to social problems.	{ "pile_set_name": "PubMed Abstracts" }
Herpesviruses are important pathogens of both humans and animals, and information on the molecular aspects of herpesvirus replication is useful in the diagnosis and treatment of these infections. Overall goals are to employ our models of equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV) cytocidal and persistent infection to understand herpesvirus gene regulation in terms of structure/function relationships of the viral regulatory proteins and to ascertain whether EHV regulatory polypeptides interact with cellular proteins to mediate the varied outcomes of infection. Aims for years #39 to #43 focus on the functions of EHV regulatory proteins with emphasis on the immediate-early protein (IEP): To characterize the transactivation domain (TAD) with aa#3-89 of the EHV IEP by assessing mutant forms of the TAD both as GAL4- fusion constructs and in the contest of the virus for transactivation ability. To use our panels of GST-EHV fusion proteins to identify the domains of EHV IEP, ICP22, ICP27 and ICP0 regulatory proteins that mediate their protein-protein interactions (by protein crosslinking assays) and enhance IEP binding to specific sequences within EHV regulatory proteins by the approaches of the two hybrid system, coimmunoprecipitation assays, and affinity chromatography. Mutant constructs and EHV-1 mutants that express specific domains of the auxiliary regulatory proteins, especially ICP22, will be used in transient transfection assays and experiments to monitor EHV gene programming, respectively, to define the roles of these proteins in EHV replication. Lastly, focused efforts will address the functions of the ICP22-ICP27 hybrid protein (HYB.) encoded by EHV DI particles (DIP) that mediate persistent infection. Since the HYB. retards expression of specific EHV promoters in initial transfection assays, our constructs, cell lines, and recombinant virus that express the HYB. will be employed to define viral promoters affected by the HYB. and ascertain whether HAB.. expression by a recombinant EHV alters viral gene programming, possibly mediates persistent infection, and is essential for DIP to establish persistent infection. If warranted by these data, the interaction of the HAB.. with EHV regulatory proteins and cellular factors will investigated by the approaches described above.	{ "pile_set_name": "NIH ExPorter" }
MARKET DEPTH AND PRICE DYNAMICS: A NOTE FRANK H. WESTERHOFF University of Osnabrueck, Department of Economics Rolandstrasse 8, D-49069 Osnabrueck, Germany e-mail: fwesterho@oec.uni-osnabrueck.de Abstract: This note explores the consequences of nonlinear price impact functions on price dynamics within the chartist-fundamentalist framework. Price impact functions may be nonlinear with respect to trading volume. As indicated by recent empirical studies, a given transaction may cause a large (small) price change if market depth is low (high). Simulations reveal that such a relationship may create endogenous complex price fluctuations even if the trading behavior of chartists and fundamentalists is linear. Keywords: Econophysics; Market Depth; Price Dynamics; Nonlinearities; Technical and Fundamental Analysis. Introduction ============ Interactions between heterogeneous agents, so-called chartists and fundamentalists, may generate endogenous price dynamics either due to nonlinear trading rules or due to a switching between simple linear trading rules.$^{1,2}$ Overall, multi-agent models appear to be quite successful in replicating financial market dynamics.$^{3,4}$ In addition, this research direction has important applications. On the one hand, understanding the working of financial markets may help to design better investment strategies.$^{5}$ On the other hand, it may facilitate the regulation of disorderly markets. For instance, Ehrenstein shows that the imposition of a low transaction tax may stabilize asset price fluctuations.$^{6}$ Within these models, the orders of the traders typically drive the price via a log linear price impact function: Buying orders shift the price proportionally up and selling orders shift the price proportionally down. Recent empirical evidence suggests, however, that the relationship between orders and price adjustment may be nonlinear. Moreover, as reported by Farmer et al., large price fluctuations occur when market depth is low.$^{3,7}$ Following this observation, our goal is to illustrate a novel mechanism for endogenous price dynamics. We investigate – within an otherwise linear chartist-fundamentalist setup – a price impact function which depends nonlinearly on market depth. To be precise, a given transaction yields a larger price change when market depth is low than when it is high. Simulations indicate that such a relationship may lead to complex price movements. The dynamics may be sketched as follows. The market switches back and forth between two regimes. When liquidity is high, the market is relatively stable. But low price fluctuations indicate only weak trading signals and thus the transactions of speculators decline. As liquidity decreases, the price responsiveness of a trade increases. The market becomes unstable and price fluctuations increase again. The remainder of this note is organized as follows. Section 2 sketches the empirical evidence on price impact functions. In section 3, we present our model, and in section 4, we discuss the main results. The final section concludes. Empirical Evidence ================== Financial prices are obviously driven by the orders of heterogeneous agents. However, it is not clear what the true functional form of price impact is. For instance, Farmer proposes a log linear price impact function for theoretical analysis while Zhang develops a model with nonlinear price impact.$^{8,9}$ His approach is backed up by empirical research that documents a concave price impact function. According to Hasbrouck, the larger is the order size, the smaller is the price impact per trade unit.$^{10}$ Also Kempf and Korn, using data on DAX futures, and Plerou et al., using data on the 116 most frequently traded US stocks, find that the price impact function displays a concave curvature with increasing order size, and flattening out at larger values.$^{11,12}$ Weber and Rosenow fitted a concave function in the form of a power law and obtained an impressive correlation coefficient of 0.977.$^{13}$ For a further theoretical and empirical debate on the possible shape of the price impact function with respect to the order size see Gabaix et al., Farmer and Lillo and Plerou et al.$^{14-16}$ But these results are currently challenged by an empirical study which is crucial for this note. Farmer et al. present evidence that price fluctuations caused by individual market orders are essentially independent of the volume of the orders.$^{7}$ Instead, large price fluctuations are driven by fluctuations in liquidity, i.e. variations in the market’s ability to absorb new orders. The reason is that even for the most liquid stocks there can be substantial gaps in the order book. When such a gap exists next to the best price – due to low liquidity – even a small new order can remove the best quote and trigger a large price change. These results are supported by Chordia, Roll and Subrahmanyam who also document that there is considerable time variation in market wide liquidity and Lillo, Farmer and Mantenga who detect that higher capitalization stocks tend to have smaller price responses for the same normalized transaction size.$^{17,18}$ Note that the relation between liquidity and price impact is of direct importance to investors developing trading strategies and to regulators attempting to stabilize financial markets. Farmer et al. argue, for instance, that agents who are trying to transact large amounts should split their orders and execute them a little at a time, watching the order book, and taking whatever liquidity is available as it enters.$^{7}$ Hence, when there is a lot of volume in the market, they should submit large orders. Assuming a concave price impact function would obviously lead to quite different investment decisions. Ehrenstein, Westerhoff and Stauffer demonstrate, for instance, that the success of a Tobin tax depends on its impact on market depth.$^{19}$ Depending on the degree of the nonlinearity of the price impact function, a transaction tax may stabilize or destabilize the markets. The Model ========= Following Simon, agents are boundedly rational and display a rule-governed behavior.$^{20}$ Moreover, survey studies reveal that financial market participants rely strongly on technical and fundamental analysis to predict prices.$^{21,22}$ Chartists typically extrapolate past price movements into the future. Let $P$ be the log of the price. Then, their orders may be expressed as $$D^C_t = a(P_t -P_{t-1}),$$ where $a$ is a positive reaction coefficient denoting the strength of the trading. Accordingly, technical traders submit buying orders if prices go up and vice versa. In contrast, fundamentalists expect the price to track its fundamental value. Orders from this type of agent may be written as $$D^F_t = b(F-P_t).$$ Again, $b$ is a positive reaction coefficient, and $F$ stands for the log of the fundamental value. For instance, if the asset is overvalued, fundamentalists submit selling orders. As usual, excess buying drives the price up and excess selling drives it down so that the price adjustment process may be formalized as $$P_{t+1} = P_t + A_t(wD^C_t + (1-w)D^F_t),$$ where $w$ indicates the fraction of chartists and $(1-w)$ the fraction of fundamentalists. The novel idea is to base the degree of price adjustmen $A$ on a nonlinear function of the market depth.$^{23}$ Exploiting that given excess demand has a larger (smaller) impact on the price if the trading volume is low (high), one may write $$A_t = \frac{c}{(\|wD^C_t\|+\|(1-w) D^F_t\|)^d}.$$ The curvature of $A$ is captured by $d\geq 0$, while $c>0$ is a shift parameter. For $d=0$, the price adjustment function is log-linear.$^{1,3}$ In that case, the law of motion of the price, derived from combining (1) to (4), is a second-order linear difference equation which has a unique steady state at $$P_{t+1} = P_t = P_{t-1} = F.$$ Rewriting Schur’s stability conditions, the fixed point is stable for $$0<c<\left\{\begin{array}{ll} \displaystyle\frac{1}{aw} & \mbox{for~~} w> \displaystyle \frac{b}{4a +b}\\ \displaystyle \frac{2}{b(1-w)-2aw}\qquad & \mbox{else} \end{array}.\right.$$ However, we are interested in the case where $d>0$. Combining (1)-(4) and solving for $P$ yields $$P_{t+1} = P_t + c \frac{wa(P_t - P_{t-1}) + (1-w) b(F-P_t)}{(\|wa(P_t-P_{t-1})\|+\|(1-w)b(F-P_t)\|)^d},$$ which is a two-dimensional nonlinear difference equation. Since (7) precludes closed analysis, we simulate the dynamics to demostrate that the underlying structure gives rise to endogenous deterministic motion. Some Results ============ Figure 1 contains three bifurcation diagrams for $0<d<1$ and $w=0.7$ (top), $w=0.5$ (central) and $w=0.3$ (bottom). The other parameters are fixed at $a=b=c=1$ and the log of the fundamental value is $F=0$. We increase $d$ in 500 steps. In each step, $P$ is plotted from $t=$1001-1100. Note that bifurcation diagrams are frequently used to illustrate the dynamic properties of nonlinear systems. Figure 1 suggests that if $d$ is small, there may exist a stable equilibrium. For instance, for $w=0.5$, prices converge towards the fundamental value as long as $d$ is smaller than around 0.1. If $d$ is increased further, the fixed point becomes unstable. In addition, the range in which the fluctuations take place increases too. Note also that many different types of bifurcation occur. Our model generates the full range of possible dynamic outcomes: fixed points, limit cycles, quasi periodic motion and chaotic fluctuations. For some parameter combinations coexisting attractors emerge. Comparing the three panels indicates that the higher the fraction of chartists, the less stable the market seems to be. To check the robustness of endogenous motion, figure 2 presents bifurcation diagrams for $0 < a <2$ (top), $0< b < 2$ (central) and $0< c < 2$ (bottom), with the remaining parameters fixed at $a=b=c=1$ and $d=w=0.5$. Again, complicated movements arise. While chartism seems to destabilize the market, fundamentalism is apparently stabilizing. Naturally, a higher price adjustment destabilizes the market as well. Overall, many parameter combinations exist which trigger complicated motion.[^1] t Let us finally explore what drives the dynamics. Figure 3 shows the dynamics in the time domain for $a=0.85$, $b=c=1$, and $d=w=0.5$. The first, second and third panel present the log of the price $P$, the price adjustment $A$ and the trading volume $V$ for 150 observations, respectively. Visual inspection reveals that the price circles around its fundamental value without any tendency to converge. Nonlinear price adjustment may thus be an endogenous engine for volatility and trading volume. Note that when trading volume drops the price adjustment increases and price movements are amplified. However, the dynamics does not explode since a higher trading volume leads again to a decrease in the price adjustment. Finally, figure 4 displays the price (top panel) and the trading volume (bottom panel) for 5000 observations $(a = 0.25,~b = 1,~c = 50,~d = 2$ and $w=0.5)$. As can be seen, the dynamics may become quite complex. Remember that trading volume increases with increasing price changes (orders of chartists) and/or increasing deviations from fundamentals (orders of fundametalists). In a stylized way, the dynamics may thus be sketched as follows: Suppose that trading volume is relatively low. Since the price adjustment $A$ is strong, the system is unstable. As the trading becomes increasingly hectic, prices start to diverge from the fundamental value. At some point, however, the trading activity has become so strong that, due to the reduction of the price adjustment $A$, the system becomes stable. Afterwards, a period of convergence begins until the system jumps back to the unstable regime. This process continually repeats itself but in an intricate way. Conclusions =========== When switching between simple linear trading rules and/or relying on nonlinear strategies, interactions between heterogeneous agents may cause irregular dynamics. This note shows that changes in market depth also stimulate price changes. The reason is that if market liquidity goes down, a given order obtains a larger price impact. For a broad range of parameter combinations, erratic yet deterministic trajectories emerge since the system switches back and forth between stable and unstable regimes. [References]{} 1. D. Farmer and S. Joshi, [Journal of Economic Behavior and Organizations]{} [49]{}, 149 (2002). 2. T. Lux and M. Marchesi, [International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance]{} [3]{}, 675 (2000). 3. R. Cont and J.-P. Bouchaud, [Macroeconomic Dynamics]{} [4]{}, 170 (2000). 4. D. Stauffer, [Advances in Complex Systems]{} [4]{}, 19 (2001). 5. D. Sornette and W. Zhou, [Quantitative Finance]{} [2]{}, 468 (2002). 6. G. Ehrenstein, [International Journal of Modern Physics C]{} [13]{}, 1323 (2002). 7. D. Farmer, L. Gillemot, F. Lillo, S. Mike and A. Sen, What Really Causes Large Price Changes?, SFI Working Paper, 04-02-006, 2004. 8. D. Farmer, [Industrial and Corporate Change]{} [11]{}, 895 (2002). 9. Y.-C. Zhang, [Physica A]{} [269]{}, 30 (1999). 10. J. Hasbrouck, [Journal of Finance]{} [46]{}, 179 (1991). 11. A. Kempf and O. Korn, [Journal of Financial Markets]{} [2]{}, 29 (1999). 12. V. Plerou, P. Gopikrishnan, X. Gabaix and E. Stanley, [Physical Review E]{} [66]{}, 027104, 1 (2002). 13. P. Weber and B. Rosenow, Order Book Approach to Price Impact, Preprint cond-mat/0311457, 2003. 14. X. Gabaix, P. Gopikrishnan, V. Plerou and E. Stanley, [Nature]{} [423,]{} 267 (2003). 15. D. Farmer and F. Lillo, [Quantitative Finance]{} [4]{}, C7 (2004). 16. V. Plerou, P. Gopikrishnan, X. Gabaix and E. Stanley, [Quantitative Finance]{} [4]{}, C11 (2004). 17. T. Chordia, R. Roll and A. Subrahmanyam, [Journal of Finance]{} [56]{}, 501 (2001). 18. F. Lillo, D. Farmer and R. Mantegna, [Nature]{} [421]{}, 129 (2003). 19. G. Ehrenstein, F. Westerhoff and D. Stauffer D., Tobin Tax and Market Depth, Preprint cond-mat/0311581, 2001. 20. H. Simon, [Quarterly Journal of Economics]{} [9]{}, 99 (1955). 21. M. Taylor and H. Allen, [Journal of International Money and Finance]{} [11]{}, 304 (1992). 22. Y.-H. Lui and D. Mole, [Journal of International Money and Finance]{} [17]{}, 535 (1998). 23. D. Sornette and K. Ide, [International Journal of Modern Physiscs C]{} [14]{}, 267 (2003). [^1]: To observe permanent fluctuations only small variations in $A$ are needed. Suppose that $A$ takes two values centered around the upper bound of the stability condition $X$, say $X-Y$ and $X+Y$, depending on whether trading volume is above or below a certain level $Z$. Such a system obviously produces nonconvergent but also nonexplosive fluctuations for arbitrary values of $Y$ and $Z$.	{ "pile_set_name": "ArXiv" }
Sevil, Stop by any time. Vince -----Original Message----- From: Yaman, Sevil Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 3:25 PM To: Kaminski, Vince J Subject: all research meeting Vince, Regarding everything we talked today in all research meeting I was wondering how all these things are going to affect my situation. As we talked couple months ago I was trying to get ready to be employed full time in the new year. So in this case what do you recommend me to do? Shall we stick to what we talked before or shall we wait and see what time is going to bring? It'd be really nice if you could give some kind of direction. Thanks, Sevil Yaman Enron Research Group 713-345-8083	{ "pile_set_name": "Enron Emails" }
Q: RenderWindow not working across multiple functions I'm new to SFML, and have been watching a tutorial that puts everything in a single main function. When making my own program, I tried to split it into multiple functions, but it isn't working properly, can anyone explain why this works: #include <SFML/Graphics.hpp> #include <iostream> int main() { sf::RenderWindow window(sf::VideoMode(512, 512), "window", sf::Style::Resize \| sf::Style::Close); while (window.isOpen()) { sf::Event evnt; while (window.pollEvent(evnt)) { if (evnt.type == evnt.Closed) { window.close(); } } window.clear(); window.display(); } return 0; } and this doesn't: #include <SFML/Graphics.hpp> #include <iostream> sf::RenderWindow window; void setup() { sf::RenderWindow window(sf::VideoMode(512, 512), "window", sf::Style::Resize \| sf::Style::Close); } int main() { setup(); while (window.isOpen()) { sf::Event evnt; while (window.pollEvent(evnt)) { if (evnt.type == evnt.Closed) { window.close(); } } window.clear(); window.display(); } return 0; } They will both compile and run, but in the former, the window will stay open, and in the latter, it won't. A: The window variable that you've declared inside setup() is shadowing the global window. object. Try the following: void setup() { window.create(sf::VideoMode(512, 512), "window", sf::Style::Resize \| sf::Style::Close); }	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
Q: Verifying Error after ADT Update I have a project that worked for months, but I updated the ADT Plugin a few days ago and today all of a sudden the project stopped working. If I try to run it on the device, it throws a VerifyError as soon as it is started. (the xxx is a replacement for the actual of the project name because I'm not allowed to publish it) These kind of error repeat themself, so I just post one. The main VerifyError itself is useless since it just points at the main starting Activity. 05-03 18:06:59.898: I/dalvikvm(26640): Could not find method org.osmdroid.views.MapView.enableScroll, referenced from method com.xxx.activities.MainAc.disableSwipe 05-03 18:06:59.898: D/dalvikvm(26640): VFY: replacing opcode 0x6e at 0x0005 05-03 18:06:59.898: D/dalvikvm(26640): VFY: dead code 0x0008-0010 in Lcom/xxx/activities/MainAc;.disableSwipe ()V 05-03 18:06:59.898: W/dalvikvm(26640): VFY: unable to find class referenced in signature (Lorg/osmdroid/util/GeoPoint;) 05-03 18:06:59.898: E/dalvikvm(26640): Could not find class 'org.osmdroid.util.GeoPoint', referenced from method com.xxx.activities.MainAc.displayPointNavigation 05-03 18:06:59.908: W/dalvikvm(26640): VFY: unable to resolve new-instance 575 (Lorg/osmdroid/util/GeoPoint;) in Lcom/xxx/activities/MainAc; 05-03 18:06:59.908: D/dalvikvm(26640): VFY: replacing opcode 0x22 at 0x0018 05-03 18:06:59.908: D/dalvikvm(26640): VFY: dead code 0x001a-0093 in Lcom/xxx/activities/MainAc;.displayPointNavigation (Lorg/osmdroid/util/GeoPoint;)V 05-03 18:06:59.908: W/dalvikvm(26640): Unable to resolve superclass of Lcom/xxx/overlay/MyUpmoveLocationOverlay; (584) I think the problem is the way I included the osmdroid lib. Since I have to change a lot of osmdroid code, I didn't want to build a jar all the time, so I created a Java Project from the osmdroid source and added the osmdroid Project to my Project's Classpath. Until now this setup worked like a charm. I thought that I may have changed something myself that caused the VerifyError, so I reverted the project to a revision where it definitly was working but I get the same error. Are there some settings I have to change to make this work again or do I have to redo the whole setup and include the osmdroid as a jar? A: Make OSMDroid be an Android library project and add it as a library to your main application project.	{ "pile_set_name": "StackExchange" }
525 S.E.2d 278 (2000) Laura Lee COMBS v. VIRGINIA ELECTRIC & POWER COMPANY, et al. Record No. 990534. Supreme Court of Virginia. March 3, 2000. 279 David D. Walker (George R. Walton, Mechanicsville, on brief), for appellant. Cassandra C. Collins (Michael R. Shebelskie; Andrew R. Park; George W. Marget, 280 III; Hunton & Williams, on brief), Richmond, for appellee. Present: CARRICO, C.J., COMPTON,[1] LACY, HASSELL, KEENAN, KOONTZ, and KINSER, JJ. KINSER, Justice. In this personal injury action, the sole question is whether the circuit court correctly ruled that an employee's exclusive remedy against an employer is under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act (the Act), Code §§ 65.2-100 through -1310. Because we conclude that the employee suffered an "injury by accident arising out of and in the course of . . . employment," Code § 65.2-101, we will affirm the circuit court's judgment sustaining the employer's special plea in bar. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS Virginia Electric and Power Company (Virginia Power) arranged for an independent instructor to teach an aerobics class at its Richmond office for the benefit of its employees. Participation in the class by Virginia Power's employees was voluntary. Virginia Power advertised the class on its bulletin boards and in its newsletter. It did not charge for the use of its facility, but participating employees were required to pay a fee to the instructor for the class. The plaintiff, Laura Lee Combs, was an employee of Virginia Power. During her lunch hour on May 24, 1994, Combs participated in the aerobics class and, while doing so, developed a severe headache. The aerobics instructor assisted Combs in lying down and then called Virginia Power's Employee Health Services (EHS), as she had been instructed to do by the EHS coordinator of health programs. The EHS receptionist answered the call and informed Sharon Robinson, EHS coordinator of administrative support, that someone in the aerobics class had a headache and needed some medication. Shortly thereafter, Robinson went to the aerobics room to determine what was happening with regard to Combs. When Combs' head pain did not subside, she was taken to the EHS "quiet room" to rest. The "quiet room" is used by employees who become ill at work, or by recuperating employees who have returned to work after an accident or illness and need to rest during the workday. When an employee is using the room, an EHS staff member is required to be in the office, and the employee is to be checked at regular intervals. After she went to the "quiet room," Combs was not examined by any medical or emergency personnel, nor was her condition regularly monitored by anyone. Approximately two hours after Combs entered the "quiet room," Robinson checked on Combs and discovered that Combs had vomited on herself and was in a coma-like state. Robinson then called security. Combs was eventually transported by ambulance to the Medical College of Virginia where she was diagnosed with intracranial bleeding, a right giant middle cerebral aneurysm, and an intraparenchymal hemorrhage. She subsequently underwent two neurological operations. After release from the hospital, she entered a rehabilitation center where she received therapy for her partial paralysis and cognitive brain damage. On April 30, 1996, Combs filed a motion for judgment against Virginia Power and four of its employees, alleging that the defendants owed her a duty to "have in place proper procedures, and to properly train ... personnel, so that employees using EHS could do so without harm to themselves and detriment to their well-being." Combs further asserted that the defendants breached these duties and were negligent by, inter alia, failing to properly train non-medical personnel working in EHS; failing to implement procedures to provide appropriate medical care to Virginia Power employees who seek treatment at EHS, especially when licensed healthcare professionals are unavailable; and failing to provide proper medical care and treatment when Combs suffered a medical emergency, thereby leaving her unattended for approximately two hours before calling security and 281 a rescue squad. Finally, Combs alleged that the defendants' negligence proximately caused her injury and damages.[2] In response, the defendants filed grounds of defense and a "Special Plea of Workers' Compensation Bar." In the special plea, they asserted that the exclusivity provision of the Act, Code § 65.2-307, barred Combs' claim and therefore deprived the circuit court of subject matter jurisdiction over her claim.[3] Accordingly, the defendants asked the court to dismiss Combs' action. After reviewing the parties' memoranda, the circuit court sustained the special plea and dismissed Combs' action with prejudice. In a letter opinion, the court concluded that the aggravation and acceleration of Combs' pre-existing aneurysm was "an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of her employment with" Virginia Power, and that her action was therefore barred by the exclusivity provision of the Act. We awarded Combs this appeal. ANALYSIS "An injury is subject to the exclusivity provision of the Act if it is the result of an accident and arises out of and in the course of the employment." Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Hazelwood, 249 Va. 369, 372, 457 S.E.2d 56, 58 (1995). Thus, the critical inquiry in this appeal is whether Combs' injury was (1) an injury by accident, (2) arising out of, (3) and in the course of, her employment. See Code § 65.2-101; Briley v. Farm Fresh, Inc., 240 Va. 194, 197, 396 S.E.2d 835, 836 (1990). If any one of these elements is missing, then Combs' claim is not covered by the Act, Snead v. Harbaugh, 241 Va. 524, 526, 404 S.E.2d 53, 54 (1991), and she can proceed with her personal injury claim in the circuit court. Thus, we will address each of these criteria seriatim. I. INJURY BY ACCIDENT This Court recently addressed the requirements of an "injury by accident" in Southern Express v. Green, 257 Va. 181, 509 S.E.2d 836 (1999). There, we held that an "injury by accident" occurs when the injury appears "suddenly at a particular time and place[,] and upon a particular occasion[;]" when it is "caused by an identifiable incident[,] or sudden precipitating event[;]" and when the injury results "in an obvious mechanical or structural change in the human body." Id. at 187, 509 S.E.2d at 839. The circuit court found all these factors present with regard to Combs' injury, and we agree. At the outset, it must be emphasized that Combs' injury is not the aneurysm itself. Instead, her injury is the aggravation, exacerbation, and/or acceleration of the aneurysm. That injury resulted from the alleged negligent emergency medical care, or lack thereof, that she received from Virginia Power and its EHS employees after she suffered a severe headache during the aerobics class. Thus, Combs' argument that there is no evidence with regard to when the aneurysm initially started leaking or when she experienced the first onset of symptoms is irrelevant to the question whether she sustained an "injury by accident." The record in this case, in particular Combs' motion for judgment, demonstrates that she suffered an "injury by accident" under Code § 65.2-101. The particular time, place, and occasion of her injury was at the EHS "quiet room" in Virginia Power's Richmond office, during the two to three hours that elapsed from when she first developed the headache and was taken to the "quiet room" until she was transported to the hospital. The identifiable or precipitating event was the alleged negligent emergency medical treatment that she received during this span of time. Finally, Combs' paralysis and cognitive brain damage represent the mechanical or structural changes in her body that resulted 282 from her injury. Thus, all the requirements of an "injury by accident" are present in this case. See Winn v. Geo. A. Hormel & Co., 252 Neb. 29, 560 N.W.2d 143, 149 (1997)(holding that negligent medical treatment at employer's first-aid medical facility may constitute "accident"). II. ARISING OUT OF EMPLOYMENT The phrase "arising out of" pertains to the origin or cause of an injury. County of Chesterfield v. Johnson, 237 Va. 180, 183, 376 S.E.2d 73, 74 (1989); Bradshaw v. Aronovitch, 170 Va. 329, 335, 196 S.E. 684, 686 (1938). In determining whether an injury arises out of employment, we have repeatedly quoted with approval the test enunciated in In re Employers' Liab. Assur. Corp., Ltd., 215 Mass. 497, 102 N.E. 697 (1913). An injury arises "out of" the employment, when there is apparent to the rational mind upon consideration of all the circumstances, a causal connection between the conditions under which the work is required to be performed and the resulting injury. Under this test, if the injury can be seen to have followed as a natural incident of the work and to have been contemplated by a reasonable person familiar with the whole situation as a result of the exposure occasioned by the nature of the employment, then it arises "out of" the employment. But it excludes an injury which cannot fairly be traced to the employment as a contributing proximate cause and which comes from a hazard to which the workmen would have been equally exposed apart from the employment. The causative danger must be peculiar to the work and not common to the neighborhood. It must be incidental to the character of the business and not independent of the relation of master and servant. It need not have been foreseen or expected, but after the event it must appear to have had its origin in a risk connected with the employment, and to have flowed from that source as a rational consequence. Id. at 697; accord Lucas v. Lucas, 212 Va. 561, 563, 186 S.E.2d 63, 64 (1972); Conner v. Bragg, 203 Va. 204, 208-09, 123 S.E.2d 393, 396-97 (1962); Bradshaw, 170 Va. at 335, 196 S.E. at 686. In Virginia, we apply an "actual risk test," meaning that the employment must expose the employee to the particular danger causing the injury, notwithstanding the public's exposure generally to similar risks. Lucas, 212 Va. at 563, 186 S.E.2d at 64. Thus, if there is a causal connection between Combs' injury and the conditions of her employment, then her injury arose out of her employment. See United Parcel Serv. of Am. v. Fetterman, 230 Va. 257, 258, 336 S.E.2d 892, 893 (1985) ("An accident arises out of the employment when there is a causal connection between the claimant's injury and the conditions under which the employer requires the work to be performed."). Combs argues that EHS was not actually a clinic for the treatment of employee health problems and that, therefore, it was not a condition of her employment. Thus, she contends that her injury did not "arise out of" her employment. Assuming that Combs is correct about the purpose of EHS, the fact remains that on the day in question, the risk of employment was the alleged negligent emergency medical treatment by EHS personnel, which aggravated her pre-existing aneurysm. Combs was exposed to this risk or condition of employment solely because she was a Virginia Power employee. The public generally would not have been exposed to the same risk because only Virginia Power employees could utilize EHS. In fact, Combs alleged in her motion for judgment that Virginia Power and its employees owed certain duties to her "so that employees using EHS could do so without harm to themselves and detriment to their well-being," and that the defendants violated those duties, thereby causing injury to her. She further asserted that the employee defendants were acting within the scope of their employment when they allegedly injured her. Combs, nevertheless, argues that her situation is like that of the employee in Taylor v. Mobil Corp., 248 Va. 101, 444 S.E.2d 705 (1994), because she did not involuntarily, or out of "default[]" as the circuit court found, seek medical treatment at EHS. In Taylor, an employee visited a doctor at his employer's *283 clinic for treatment of a heart condition. The employee ultimately suffered a fatal heart attack at home although the doctor had advised him that he was not suffering from heart disease. Id. at 103-04, 444 S.E.2d at 706-07. This Court concluded that the employee's risk of exposure to negligent treatment by the doctor was not an actual risk of employment because the employee voluntarily opted to use the doctor at the employer's clinic. He was not required to do so by his employer, nor was he treated by that doctor because he became ill at work. Id. at 107, 444 S.E.2d at 708. In contrast, Combs suffered her severe headache while participating in the aerobics class at Virginia Power's office. While taking part in that class was not required by Virginia Power, EHS personnel treated Combs because of her status as a Virginia Power employee. In fact, the aerobics instructor called EHS when Combs became ill because Virginia Power's EHS coordinator had directed the instructor to do so. Thus, the risk that led to Combs' injury was part of her work environment. See Briley, 240 Va. at 198, 396 S.E.2d at 837. Additionally, the fact that her injury was the aggravation of a pre-existing condition does not alter the result that her injury arose out of her employment. See Ohio Valley Const. Co. v. Jackson, 230 Va. 56, 58, 334 S.E.2d 554, 555 (1985) ("When an injury sustained in an industrial accident accelerates or aggravates a pre-existing condition, death or disability resulting therefrom is compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act."). Combs' pre-existing aneurysm united with an actual risk of her employment to produce her injury. III. IN THE COURSE OF EMPLOYMENT "The phrase arising `in the course of' [employment] refers to the time, place, and circumstances under which the accident occurred." Johnson, 237 Va. at 183, 376 S.E.2d at 74. "An accident occurs `in the course of the employment' when it takes place within the period of the employment, at a place where the employee may reasonably be, and while he is reasonably fulfilling duties of his employment or engaged in doing something incidental thereto." Bradshaw, 170 Va. at 335, 196 S.E. at 686; accord Lucas, 212 Va. at 563, 186 S.E.2d at 64; Conner, 203 Va. at 208, 123 S.E.2d at 396. Combs argues she was not performing any duty of her employment at the moment when she initially needed emergency medical treatment. As she correctly notes, the pre-existing aneurysm was not caused by her employment, and she was participating in an aerobics class during her lunch hour when she first experienced the headache. Thus, she contends that "the reason she ended up at EHS was not in any way connected with her employment[,]" and, therefore, that her injury did not occur during the course of her employment. We do not agree. Combs' position on this issue overlooks several salient facts. First, Combs is not seeking redress for the onset of the symptoms associated with the aneurysm but for the aggravation of that pre-existing condition. The aggravation of the aneurysm occurred after EHS personnel responded to the call for assistance from the aerobics instructor, during Combs' period of employment, and at a place where she could reasonably be if she became ill at work, i.e., the "quiet room." The only reason that EHS responded to that call was because Combs was a Virginia Power employee. Thus, Combs "was injured at a place where she was reasonably expected to be while engaged in an activity reasonably incidental to her employment" by Virginia Power. Briley, 240 Va. at 198, 396 S.E.2d at 837. Her injury therefore occurred "in the course of" her employment. CONCLUSION For these reasons, we conclude that Combs' injury was an "injury by accident arising out of and in the course of [her] employment" with Virginia Power, Code § 65.2-101, and is therefore compensable under the Act. Her action in the circuit court is thus barred by Code § 65.2-307. Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment of the circuit court. Affirmed. NOTES [1] Justice Compton participated in the hearing and decision of this case prior to the effective date of his retirement on February 2, 2000. [2] Combs also filed a claim with the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission on May 23, 1996. Virginia Power subsequently filed a report regarding the accident with the Commission. [3] Code § 65.2-307 provides that "[t]he rights and remedies herein granted to an employee when his employer and he have accepted the provisions of this title respectively to pay and accept compensation on account of injury or death by accident shall exclude all other rights and remedies of such employee ... on account of such injury...."	{ "pile_set_name": "FreeLaw" }
A Set of 6 Arts & Crafts Solid Silver & Enamel Pastry Forks by Liberty & Co. Each Fork has a gorgeous green and blue enameled design on the handle that is typical of the Liberty Style. The Forks come in their original fitted case.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
# -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. # Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information. # -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- from azure.cli.core.commands import CliCommandType from ._format import ( registry_output_format, usage_output_format, policy_output_format, credential_output_format, webhook_output_format, webhook_get_config_output_format, webhook_list_events_output_format, webhook_ping_output_format, replication_output_format, endpoints_output_format, build_output_format, task_output_format, task_identity_format, taskrun_output_format, run_output_format, helm_list_output_format, helm_show_output_format, scope_map_output_format, token_output_format, token_credential_output_format, agentpool_output_format ) from ._client_factory import ( cf_acr_registries, cf_acr_replications, cf_acr_webhooks, cf_acr_tasks, cf_acr_taskruns, cf_acr_runs, cf_acr_scope_maps, cf_acr_tokens, cf_acr_token_credentials, cf_acr_private_endpoint_connections, cf_acr_agentpool ) def load_command_table(self, _): # pylint: disable=too-many-statements acr_custom_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.custom#{}', table_transformer=registry_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_registries ) acr_login_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.custom#{}' ) acr_import_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.import#{}', client_factory=cf_acr_registries ) acr_policy_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.policy#{}', table_transformer=policy_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_registries ) acr_cred_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.credential#{}', table_transformer=credential_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_registries ) acr_repo_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.repository#{}' ) acr_webhook_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.webhook#{}', table_transformer=webhook_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_webhooks ) acr_replication_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.replication#{}', table_transformer=replication_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_replications ) acr_build_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.build#{}', table_transformer=build_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_runs ) acr_run_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.run#{}', table_transformer=run_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_runs ) acr_pack_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.pack#{}', table_transformer=run_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_runs ) acr_task_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.task#{}', table_transformer=task_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_tasks ) acr_taskrun_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.taskrun#{}', table_transformer=taskrun_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_taskruns ) acr_helm_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.helm#{}' ) acr_network_rule_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.network_rule#{}', client_factory=cf_acr_registries ) acr_check_health_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.check_health#{}' ) acr_scope_map_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.scope_map#{}', table_transformer=scope_map_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_scope_maps ) acr_token_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.token#{}', table_transformer=token_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_tokens ) acr_token_credential_generate_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.token#{}', table_transformer=token_credential_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_token_credentials ) acr_agentpool_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.agentpool#{}', table_transformer=agentpool_output_format, client_factory=cf_acr_agentpool ) acr_private_endpoint_connection_util = CliCommandType( operations_tmpl='azure.cli.command_modules.acr.private_endpoint_connection#{}', client_factory=cf_acr_private_endpoint_connections ) with self.command_group('acr', acr_custom_util) as g: g.command('check-name', 'acr_check_name', table_transformer=None) g.command('list', 'acr_list') g.command('create', 'acr_create') g.command('delete', 'acr_delete') g.show_command('show', 'acr_show') g.command('show-usage', 'acr_show_usage', table_transformer=usage_output_format) g.command('show-endpoints', 'acr_show_endpoints', table_transformer=endpoints_output_format) g.generic_update_command('update', getter_name='acr_update_get', setter_name='acr_update_set', custom_func_name='acr_update_custom', custom_func_type=acr_custom_util, client_factory=cf_acr_registries) with self.command_group('acr', acr_login_util) as g: g.command('login', 'acr_login') with self.command_group('acr', acr_import_util) as g: g.command('import', 'acr_import') with self.command_group('acr credential', acr_cred_util) as g: g.show_command('show', 'acr_credential_show') g.command('renew', 'acr_credential_renew') with self.command_group('acr repository', acr_repo_util) as g: g.command('list', 'acr_repository_list') g.command('show-tags', 'acr_repository_show_tags') g.command('show-manifests', 'acr_repository_show_manifests') g.show_command('show', 'acr_repository_show') g.command('update', 'acr_repository_update') g.command('delete', 'acr_repository_delete') g.command('untag', 'acr_repository_untag') with self.command_group('acr webhook', acr_webhook_util) as g: g.command('list', 'acr_webhook_list') g.command('create', 'acr_webhook_create') g.command('delete', 'acr_webhook_delete') g.show_command('show', 'acr_webhook_show') g.command('get-config', 'acr_webhook_get_config', table_transformer=webhook_get_config_output_format) g.command('list-events', 'acr_webhook_list_events', table_transformer=webhook_list_events_output_format) g.command('ping', 'acr_webhook_ping', table_transformer=webhook_ping_output_format) g.generic_update_command('update', getter_name='acr_webhook_update_get', setter_name='acr_webhook_update_set', custom_func_name='acr_webhook_update_custom', custom_func_type=acr_webhook_util, client_factory=cf_acr_webhooks) with self.command_group('acr replication', acr_replication_util) as g: g.command('list', 'acr_replication_list') g.command('create', 'acr_replication_create') g.command('delete', 'acr_replication_delete') g.show_command('show', 'acr_replication_show') g.generic_update_command('update', getter_name='acr_replication_update_get', setter_name='acr_replication_update_set', custom_func_name='acr_replication_update_custom', custom_func_type=acr_replication_util, client_factory=cf_acr_replications) with self.command_group('acr', acr_build_util) as g: g.command('build', 'acr_build', supports_no_wait=True) with self.command_group('acr', acr_run_util) as g: g.command('run', 'acr_run', supports_no_wait=True) with self.command_group('acr pack', acr_pack_util, is_preview=True) as g: g.command('build', 'acr_pack_build', supports_no_wait=True) with self.command_group('acr task', acr_task_util) as g: g.command('create', 'acr_task_create') g.show_command('show', 'acr_task_show') g.command('list', 'acr_task_list') g.command('delete', 'acr_task_delete') g.command('update', 'acr_task_update') g.command('identity assign', 'acr_task_identity_assign') g.command('identity remove', 'acr_task_identity_remove') g.command('identity show', 'acr_task_identity_show', table_transformer=task_identity_format) g.command('credential add', 'acr_task_credential_add') g.command('credential update', 'acr_task_credential_update') g.command('credential remove', 'acr_task_credential_remove') g.command('credential list', 'acr_task_credential_list') g.command('timer add', 'acr_task_timer_add') g.command('timer update', 'acr_task_timer_update') g.command('timer remove', 'acr_task_timer_remove') g.command('timer list', 'acr_task_timer_list') g.command('run', 'acr_task_run', client_factory=cf_acr_runs, table_transformer=run_output_format, supports_no_wait=True) g.command('list-runs', 'acr_task_list_runs', client_factory=cf_acr_runs, table_transformer=run_output_format) g.command('show-run', 'acr_task_show_run', client_factory=cf_acr_runs, table_transformer=run_output_format) g.command('cancel-run', 'acr_task_cancel_run', client_factory=cf_acr_runs, table_transformer=None) g.command('update-run', 'acr_task_update_run', client_factory=cf_acr_runs, table_transformer=run_output_format) g.command('logs', 'acr_task_logs', client_factory=cf_acr_runs, table_transformer=None) with self.command_group('acr taskrun', acr_taskrun_util, is_preview=True) as g: g.command('list', 'acr_taskrun_list') g.command('delete', 'acr_taskrun_delete') g.show_command('show', 'acr_taskrun_show') g.command('logs', 'acr_taskrun_logs', client_factory=cf_acr_runs, table_transformer=None) with self.command_group('acr config content-trust', acr_policy_util) as g: g.show_command('show', 'acr_config_content_trust_show') g.command('update', 'acr_config_content_trust_update') with self.command_group('acr config retention', acr_policy_util, is_preview=True) as g: g.show_command('show', 'acr_config_retention_show') g.command('update', 'acr_config_retention_update') def _helm_deprecate_message(self): msg = "This {} has been deprecated and will be removed in future release.".format(self.object_type) msg += " Use '{}' instead.".format(self.redirect) msg += " For more information go to" msg += " https://aka.ms/acr/helm" return msg with self.command_group('acr helm', acr_helm_util, deprecate_info=self.deprecate(redirect="helm v3", message_func=_helm_deprecate_message)) as g: g.command('list', 'acr_helm_list', table_transformer=helm_list_output_format) g.show_command('show', 'acr_helm_show', table_transformer=helm_show_output_format) g.command('delete', 'acr_helm_delete') g.command('push', 'acr_helm_push') g.command('repo add', 'acr_helm_repo_add') g.command('install-cli', 'acr_helm_install_cli', is_preview=True) with self.command_group('acr network-rule', acr_network_rule_util) as g: g.command('list', 'acr_network_rule_list') g.command('add', 'acr_network_rule_add') g.command('remove', 'acr_network_rule_remove') with self.command_group('acr', acr_check_health_util) as g: g.command('check-health', 'acr_check_health') with self.command_group('acr scope-map', acr_scope_map_util, is_preview=True) as g: g.command('create', 'acr_scope_map_create') g.command('delete', 'acr_scope_map_delete') g.command('update', 'acr_scope_map_update') g.show_command('show', 'acr_scope_map_show') g.command('list', 'acr_scope_map_list') with self.command_group('acr token', acr_token_util, is_preview=True) as g: g.command('create', 'acr_token_create') g.command('delete', 'acr_token_delete') g.command('update', 'acr_token_update') g.show_command('show', 'acr_token_show') g.command('list', 'acr_token_list') g.command('credential delete', 'acr_token_credential_delete') with self.command_group('acr token credential', acr_token_credential_generate_util) as g: g.command('generate', 'acr_token_credential_generate') with self.command_group('acr agentpool', acr_agentpool_util, is_preview=True) as g: g.command('create', 'acr_agentpool_create', supports_no_wait=True) g.command('update', 'acr_agentpool_update', supports_no_wait=True) g.command('delete', 'acr_agentpool_delete', supports_no_wait=True) g.command('list', 'acr_agentpool_list') g.show_command('show', 'acr_agentpool_show') with self.command_group('acr private-endpoint-connection', acr_private_endpoint_connection_util) as g: g.command('delete', 'delete') g.show_command('show', 'show') g.command('list', 'list_connections') g.command('approve', 'approve') g.command('reject', 'reject') with self.command_group('acr private-link-resource', acr_custom_util) as g: g.command('list', 'list_private_link_resources') with self.command_group('acr identity', acr_custom_util) as g: g.show_command('show', 'show_identity') g.command('assign', 'assign_identity') g.command('remove', 'remove_identity') with self.command_group('acr encryption', acr_custom_util) as g: g.show_command('show', 'show_encryption') g.command('rotate-key', "rotate_key")	{ "pile_set_name": "Github" }
766 F.Supp.2d 797 (2011) In the Matter of the COMPLAINT OF PRIDE OFFSHORE, INC., as Owner of the J/U Pride Wyoming for Exoneration from, or Alternatively, Limitation of Liability. Civil Action No. H-08-3109. United States District Court, S.D. Texas, Houston Division. February 2, 2011. 798 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER LEE H. ROSENTHAL, District Judge. This maritime dispute arises out of damage allegedly caused when a jack-up rig, the PRIDE WYOMING, detached from its moorings during Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Pride Offshore, Inc.,[1] the rig owner, filed a complaint in exoneration or alternatively for limitation of liability, (Docket Entry No. 1), and Century Exploration New Orleans, Inc. filed a claim, (Docket Entry No. 47). Pride Offshore moved for summary judgment, arguing that the economic-loss rule precludes Century Exploration's claim. (Docket Entry No. 75). Century Exploration responded with a different theory and asked for leave to amend. (Docket Entry No. 77). Pride Offshore replied, arguing that this court should grant its motion for summary judgment and deny Century Exploration's motion to amend as futile. (Docket Entry No. 78). For the reasons explained below, this court grants Pride Offshore's motion for summary judgment, but to the extent the motion was based on a challenge to the sufficiency of the claim allegations, Century Exploration is granted leave to amend. An amended complaint must be filed by February 25, 2011. I. Background The PRIDE WYOMING was a 250-foot mat slot jack-up rig operating in the Gulf 799 of Mexico. (Docket Entry No. 1 ¶ 4). When Hurricane Ike struck in September 2008, the rig was located in Ship Shoal Block 283, about 90 miles south of Houma, Louisiana. (Id. ¶ 5). The hurricane blew the rig off its location, causing it to sink. (Id. ¶ 6). Parts of the PRIDE WYOMING's wreckage settled on top of pipelines belonging to The Williams Companies, Inc. and Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGPS). (Id. ¶ 7). Pride Offshore filed this complaint on October 20, 2008. (Docket Entry No. 1). On August 18, 2009, Century Exploration filed its claim, alleging that part of the wreckage from the PRIDE WYOMING "struck and damaged pipelines that interfered with Century's operations and necessitated repairs. Century had property interests in one such pipeline and contributed to its repairs." (Docket Entry No. 47, ¶ 3). Century Exploration claimed approximately $21 million in damages "caused solely by, and ... wholly due to, the unseaworthiness of the J/U Pride Wyoming, the negligence of her master and crew, and the negligence of her owners and operators." (Id. ¶¶ 5-6). On January 11, 2010, Century Exploration amended to add allegations of recklessness and intentional misconduct. (Docket Entry No. 63 ¶ 5). Neither version of the claim alleged that Century Exploration was aware of Pride Offshore's contract to use the TGPC pipeline. Pride Offshore argues that summary judgment is appropriate for two reasons. The first is that Century Exploration's amended claim is insufficient because it fails to allege that Pride Offshore knew of Century Exploration's contract with TGPC. The second is that Century Exploration lacks evidence of a proprietary interest in the pipeline that would support economic-loss damages for negligence. II. Analysis A. The Legal Standards Pride Offshore's motion concerns the application of the Robins Dry Dock rule. In Robins Dry Dock & Repair Co. v. Flint, 275 U.S. 303, 48 S.Ct. 134, 72 L.Ed. 290 (1927), the Supreme Court overturned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs for breach of contract based on damage to a third party's property. "Their loss arose only through their contract with the owners and while intentionally to bring about a breach of contract may give rise to a cause of action, no authority need be cited to show that, as a general rule, at least, a tort to the person or property of one man does not make the tort-feasor liable to another merely because the injured person was under a contract with that other unknown to the doer of the wrong." Id. at 308-09, 48 S.Ct. 134 (citations omitted). "Although criticized from time to time, Robins Dry Dock remains good law." Allders Int'l Ltd. v. United States, No. 94 CIV. 5689(JSM), 1995 WL 251571, 2 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 28, 1995). "The Fifth Circuit continues to apply the Robins Dry Dock principle to most maritime cases, carving out an exception only for cases involving a collision between two vessels not in privity of contract." Norwegian Bulk Transport A/S v. Int'l Marine Terminals Partnership, 520 F.3d 409, 412 (5th Cir.2008) (citing Amoco Transport Co. v. S/S MASON LYKES, 768 F.2d 659 (5th Cir.1985)). "Since the Amoco Transport decision, the Fifth Circuit ... has not recognized exceptions to the rule in Robins Dry Dock outside of the context of collision cases." Id. at 413 (citations omitted). The first ground Pride Offshore asserts in moving for summary judgment rests on the sufficiency of Century Exploration's amended complaint. "[A] summary-judgment motion may be made on the basis of the pleadings alone, and if this is done it 800 functionally is the same as a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim ...." 10A CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT, ARTHUR R. MILLER & MARY KAY KANE, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 2713, at 222-23 (3d ed. 1998) (citations omitted). A complaint may be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." FED. R. CIV. P. 12(b)(6). In Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), the Supreme Court confirmed that Rule 12(b)(6) must be read in conjunction with Rule 8(a), which requires "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Twombly abrogated the Supreme Court's prior statement in Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957), that "a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 562-63, 127 S.Ct. 1955 ("Conley's `no set of facts' language... is best forgotten as an incomplete, negative gloss on an accepted pleading standard...."). To withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a complaint must contain "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955; see also Elsensohn v. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, 530 F.3d 368, 372 (5th Cir.2008) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). The Court explained that "the pleading standard Rule 8 announces does not require `detailed factual allegations,' but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation." Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949 (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955). When a plaintiff's complaint fails to state a claim, the court should generally give the plaintiff at least one chance to amend the complaint under Rule 15(a) before dismissing the action with prejudice. See Great Plains Trust Co. v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., 313 F.3d 305, 329 (5th Cir.2002) ("[D]istrict courts often afford plaintiffs at least one opportunity to cure pleading deficiencies before dismissing a case, unless it is clear that the defects are incurable or the plaintiffs advise the court that they are unwilling or unable to amend in a manner that will avoid dismissal."); see also United States ex rel. Adrian v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal., 363 F.3d 398, 403 (5th Cir.2004) ("Leave to amend should be freely given, and outright refusal to grant leave to amend without a justification ... is considered an abuse of discretion." (internal citation omitted)). However, a plaintiff should be denied leave to amend a complaint if the court determines that "a proposed amendment ... clearly is frivolous, advancing a claim or defense that is legally insufficient on its face ...." 6 WRIGHT, MILLER & KANE § 1487, at 732-33; see also Ayers v. Johnson, 247 Fed.Appx. 534, 535 (5th Cir.2007) (unpublished) (per curiam) ("`[A] district court acts within its discretion when dismissing a motion to amend that is frivolous or futile.'" (quoting Martin's Herend Imports, Inc. v. Diamond & Gem Trading U.S. of Am. Co., 195 F.3d 765, 771 (5th Cir.1999))). The second basis for Pride Offshore's motion is the sufficiency of the evidence in the record to raise a disputed fact issue material to Century Exploration's claim. Summary judgment is appropriate if no genuine issue of material fact exists and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. FED. R. CIV. P. 56(a). "The movant bears the burden of identifying those portions of the record it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Triple Tee Golf, Inc. v. Nike, Inc., 485 F.3d 253, 261 (5th Cir. 2007) (citing Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 801 U.S. 317, 322-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986)). If the burden of proof at trial lies with the nonmoving party, the movant may satisfy its initial burden by "`showing'that is, pointing out to the district courtthat there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case." See Celotex, 477 U.S. at 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548. While the party moving for summary judgment must demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact, it does not need to negate the elements of the nonmovant's case. Boudreaux v. Swift Transp. Co., 402 F.3d 536, 540 (5th Cir.2005) (citation omitted). "A fact is `material' if its resolution in favor of one party might affect the outcome of the lawsuit under governing law." Sossamon v. Lone Star State of Tex., 560 F.3d 316, 326 (5th Cir.2009) (quotation omitted). "If the moving party fails to meet [its] initial burden, the motion [for summary judgment] must be denied, regardless of the nonmovant's response." United States v. $92,203.00 in U.S. Currency, 537 F.3d 504, 507 (5th Cir.2008) (quoting Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069, 1075 (5th Cir. 1994) (en banc)). When the moving party has met its Rule 56(a) burden, the nonmoving party cannot survive a summary judgment motion by resting on the mere allegations of its pleadings. The nonmovant must identify specific evidence in the record and articulate how that evidence supports that party's claim. Baranowski v. Hart, 486 F.3d 112, 119 (5th Cir.2007). "This burden will not be satisfied by `some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts, by conclusory allegations, by unsubstantiated assertions, or by only a scintilla of evidence.'" Boudreaux, 402 F.3d at 540 (quoting Little, 37 F.3d at 1075). In deciding a summary judgment motion, the court draws all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Connors v. Graves, 538 F.3d 373, 376 (5th Cir.2008). B. Whether Century Exploration's Amended Claim Sufficiently Alleges Intentional Interference with Its Contractual Relations Century Exploration's amended claim alleges that Pride Offshore acted recklessly and intentionally. Citing Nautilus Marine, Inc. v. Niemela, 170 F.3d 1195, 1196-97 (9th Cir. 1999), Pride Offshore argues that "there is no exception to the Robins Dry Dock rule for intentional or reckless conduct." (Docket Entry No. 75 at 6). Century Exploration responds that Pride Offshore overstates the holding of Nautilus Marine. According to Century Exploration, the Ninth Circuit in Nautilus Marine did not rule that a defendant intentionally interfering with a contract would be covered by the economic-loss rule. Instead, the court ruled only that a defendant acting without knowledge of the contract in question would be covered by that rule. (Docket Entry No. 77 at 3 (citing Nautilus Marine, 170 F.3d at 1196-97)). Century Exploration argues that Pride Offshore "intentionally placed a patently inadequate rig on the [sea floor], knowing that it would not withstand hurricane force conditions and would not remain on site. Pride, a long-time driller on the [Outer Continental Shelf] knew that if the rig came loose, it would certainly damage subsea pipelines which permeate the seabed. Pride also knew that the producers on the [Outer Continental Shelf] would have contracts with pipeline owners to transport the oil and gas to shore, and knew that the damage to the pipelines would cause the production facilities to shut down." (Docket Entry No. 77 at 6). The arguments that Century Exploration makes in its response are not alleged in its claim, even as amended. Century Exploration's amended claim does not refer to Pride Offshore's knowledge of its contract with TGPC. Acknowledging this 802 gap, Century Exploration asks leave to file an amended complaint reciting these factual allegations. (Id. at 6 n. 4). Pride Offshore argues that the proposed amended claim would be futile. Pride Offshore faults Century Exploration for: fall[ing] short of alleging that [Pride Offshore] ever had actual knowledge of Century's contracts with TGPC. Century is simply trying to ignore the requirement that [Pride Offshore] have actual knowledge of the contracts because it could never prove such an allegation, and it is attempting to get by with merely alleging reckless allision. However, as the Ninth Circuit made clear, `an intent to allide does not equate to an intent to interfere with the defendant's contract.' [Pride Offshore] must have had actual knowledge of Century's contract with TGPC and let its drilling rig loose in a hurricane in order to interfere with a particular contract. Century knows it is unable to even plausibly allege that [Pride Offshore] had actual knowledge of Century's contracts with TGPC, or intentional interference with these contracts, and therefore Century's proposed pleadings amendment would be futile. (Docket Entry No. 78 at 4-5) (footnote, citation, and alterations omitted). In responding to Century Exploration's arguments, Pride Offshore appears to have scaled back its characterization of the Nautilus Marine court's holding. In the response, Pride Offshore characterizes the case as holding that "an intent to allide does not equate to an attempt to interfere with the defendant's contract." (Docket Entry No. 78 at 5 (quoting Nautilus Marine, 170 F.3d at 1197) (alterations omitted)). This accurately reflects the holding. The Ninth Circuit distinguished the facts before it from those in "cases holding that Robins Dry Dock does not preclude recovery for intentional interference with contract relations." Nautilus Marine, 170 F.3d at 1197. "The key to these cases," the court explained, "is not merely that the tort is intentional, but that the tortfeasor knew of the plaintiff's contractual relation and intended to interfere with it. Nautilus has not stated a claim of intentional interference with contractual relations, however, precisely because it did not allege, and could not show, such knowledge and intent." Id. (citations omitted). Century Exploration's characterization of the holding is consistent. Because Century Exploration has effectively sought leave to amend without filing a proposed amended complaint, it is difficult to determine whether it proposes to allege that Pride Offshore knew of specific contracts between Century Exploration and TGPC or that Pride Offshore knew that Century Exploration had to have contracts with some pipeline owner. To provide a sufficient basis to rule on the futility claim, Century Exploration will be granted leave to file an amended complaint. The allegations in an amended claim will enable Pride Offshore to clarify the basis for its motion to dismiss and enable this court to rule whether the allegations are sufficient. The motion for summary judgment based on the adequacy of the pleadings is granted, with leave to amend. C. Whether Century Exploration Has a Proprietary Interest in the Pipeline Pride Offshore also argues that summary judgment is appropriate under Robins Dry Dock for any claim based on Pride Offshore's negligence on the basis that the undisputed facts show that Century Exploration did not have a proprietary interest in the damaged pipeline. Courts consider three factors to determine whether a plaintiff's interest is proprietary: "actual possession or control, responsibility *803 for repair and responsibility for maintenance." IMTT-Gretna v. Robert E. Lee SS, 993 F.2d 1193, 1194 (5th Cir.1993) (summary calendar) (citing Tex. Eastern Trans. v. McMoRan Offshore Explor., 877 F.2d 1214, 1225 (5th Cir.1989)). If a plaintiff cannot meet any of the factors, the case must be dismissed. Id. In its response, Century Exploration explains that it "does not rely upon" a proprietary interest in the pipeline to justify recovery. (Docket Entry No. 77 at 1-2). This statement, as Pride Offshore points out, abandons the negligence claim. Century Exploration does not concede that Pride Offshore is correct. In a footnote, citing no authority, Century Offshore argues: With respect to the proprietary interest issue, the evidence is, and [Pride Offshore] does not dispute, that subsequent to the pipeline damage, Century contributed to the cost of repairs. One of the critical indicia of proprietary interest is liability for repairs. The fact that Century incurred this liability post-accident is immaterial. Century's contribution to repairs is sufficient evidence of its proprietary interest. At a minimum, Century is entitled to recover its contribution to the repair costs. (Id. at 2 n. 1). Pride Offshore responds in a footnote of its own, also without citing authority: "Although `responsibility for repairs' is one factor considered in determining whether a proprietary interest existed at the time of the damage, Century has already admitted that it was not responsible for repairs to the [pipeline] at the time of the alleged damage." (Docket Entry No. 78 at 2 n. 3). Century Offshore has acknowledged that it has no proprietary interest in the pipeline. Its contribution to the repair costs does not raise a fact issue as to whether it has a negligence claim against Pride Offshore seeking to recover such payments. The motion for summary judgment based on the absence of a proprietary interest in the damaged pipeline is granted. III. Conclusion Pride Offshore's motion for summary judgment is granted for the reasons set out above. Century Exploration may amend its complaint no later than February 25, 2011. NOTES [1] The parties have noted that for the purpose of this proceeding, Seahawk Drilling, Inc. is the successor-in-interest to the plaintiff, Pride Offshore, Inc. (Docket Entry No. 50 at 1 n. 1). For simplicity, the plaintiff is referred to as Pride Offshore.	{ "pile_set_name": "FreeLaw" }
1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a digital-to-analog converter which converts a quantized digital signal into an analog signal, and more specifically, to an improvement in a current addition type digital-to-analog converter which uses weighted resistors. 2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional current addition type 16-bit digital-to-analog converter which uses weighted resistors. A 16-bit digital signal consisting of a train of pulses, each being quantized data "1" or "0", is applied to an input terminal IN. The pulses of the digital signal are successively stored in a shift register 1 in accordance with a shift clock input to a clock terminal CLK1. The digital signal stored in the shift register 1 is input to a latch 2 in accordance with a latch pulse which is input to a clock terminal CLK2 after all the 16 bits are stored in the shift register 1. 16 output terminals D0-D15 of the latch 2 are connected, through respective resistors R0-R15, to an inverting input terminal of an operational amplifier 3, which functions as an adder. The inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier 3 is coupled to an output terminal OUT thereof via a resistor R16, and a non-inverting input terminal thereof is grounded. The resistors R0-R16 each has a weighted resistance equal to a multiple of 2. More specifically, the following relationships are established: R16=2R15, R15=2R14, Rn=2Rn-1, ..., R1=2R0. Assuming that voltages output via the output terminals D0-D15 of the latch 2 are V0-V15 in the above-mentioned structure, an output voltage Vout of the operational amplifier 3 is: EQU Vout=(V15/R15+V14/R14+...+Vn/Rn+...+V0/R0)R16 Thus, when output data via the output terminals D0-D15a are "0", zero volt is generated, and when the output data are "1", 1 volt is generated. Thus, the 16-bit digital signal which consists of 16 data pieces, each having "1" or "0", and which is input to the input terminal IN are completely converted into an analog signal. For example, in a case where a 12-bit D/A converter is used so that it converts a 16-bit digital signal into an analog signal, it is necessary to omit any four bits of the 16 bits. (1) Normally, in many cases, four low-order bits are omitted. In a case where the digital signal ranges equally from the strongest sound to the weakest sound, the low-order bits are omitted. In this case, if the original digital signal has no distortion, an analog signal converted from the 12-bit digital signal does not deteriorate greatly. However, weak sound components expressed by the omitted four low-order bits are lost. (2) If there is no strong sound, four high-order bits are omitted. When weak sound components are meaningful, and strong sound components are not significant (or does not appear frequently), the four high-order bits are omitted. (3) Some high-order bits and some low-order bits are omitted. This method is intermediate between the above-mentioned methods (1) and (2) and suitable for cases where strong and weak sound components must be handled. It should be noted that none of the above-mentioned methods (1), (2) and (3) provide a dynamic range equal to or higher than 72 dB. Further, in each of the methods (1), (2) and (3), the input has information equal to 16 bits (92 dB), while each conventional method utilizes only 12 bits (72 dB). In the aforementioned circuit configuration, the precision of the resistance values of the resistors R0-R15 which serve as an input resistor of the operational amplifier 3 directly determines the converting precision of the digital-to-analog converter. In the 16-bit digital-to-analog converter, the resistance ratio of the resistor R16 to the resistor R0 is equal to 2.sup.16 (=65536). Assuming that the resistor R0 is selected to have a resistance equal to 10 k.OMEGA., the resistor R16 must have a resistance of 655.36 M.OMEGA.. It is difficult to realize such a high resistance by a highly precise resistor. When the aforementioned digital-to-analog converter is formed on a single LSI chip, it is necessary to form large resistor cells in order to secure the required resistance precision. This leads to an increase in the chip size. In order to overcome the problems as described above, a circuit is known which does not utilize a plurality of high-order and low-order bits. However, since predetermined high-order and low-order bits are always omitted, an output waveform may deteriorate greatly when input data mainly includes strong sound components or weak sound components.	{ "pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds" }
--- abstract: 'Directed graphical models provide a useful framework for modeling causal or directional relationships for multivariate data. Prior work has largely focused on identifiability and search algorithms for directed acyclic graphical (DAG) models. In many applications, feedback naturally arises and directed graphical models that permit cycles occur. In this paper we address the issue of identifiability for general directed cyclic graphical (DCG) models satisfying the Markov assumption. In particular, in addition to the faithfulness assumption which has already been introduced for cyclic models, we introduce two new identifiability assumptions, one based on selecting the model with the fewest edges and the other based on selecting the DCG model that entails the maximum number of d-separation rules. We provide theoretical results comparing these assumptions which show that: (1) selecting models with the largest number of d-separation rules is strictly weaker than the faithfulness assumption; (2) unlike for DAG models, selecting models with the fewest edges does not necessarily result in a milder assumption than the faithfulness assumption. We also provide connections between our two new principles and minimality assumptions. We use our identifiability assumptions to develop search algorithms for small-scale DCG models. Our simulation study supports our theoretical results, showing that the algorithms based on our two new principles generally out-perform algorithms based on the faithfulness assumption in terms of selecting the true skeleton for DCG models.' bibliography: - 'reference\_DCG.bib' --- [**]{} --------------------------------------------- -- Gunwoong Park$^1$Garvesh Raskutti$^{1,2,3}$ --------------------------------------------- -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- $^1$ Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison $^2$ Department of Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison $^3$ Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, Optimization Group ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Keywords:** Directed graphical Models, Identifiability, Faithfulness, Feedback loops. Introduction {#SecInt} ============ A fundamental goal in many scientific problems is to determine causal or directional relationships between variables in a system. A well-known framework for representing causal or directional relationships are directed graphical models. Most prior work on directed graphical models has focused on directed acyclic graphical (DAG) models, also referred to as Bayesian networks which are directed graphical models with no directed cycles. One of the core problems is determining the underlying DAG $G$ given the data-generating distribution $\mathbb{P}$. A fundamental assumption in the DAG framework is the causal Markov condition (CMC) (see e.g., [@lauritzen1996graphical; @Spirtes2000]). While the CMC is broadly assumed, in order for a directed graph $G$ to be identifiable based on the distribution $\mathbb{P}$, additional assumptions are required. For DAG models, a number of identifiability and minimality assumptions have been introduced [@Glymour1987; @Spirtes2000] and the connections between them have been discussed [@Zhang2013]. In particular, one of the most widely used assumptions for DAG models is the causal faithfulness condition (CFC) which is sufficient for many search algorithms. However the CFC has been shown to be extremely restrictive, especially in the limited data setting [@Uhler2013]. In addition two minimality assumptions, the P-minimality and SGS-minimality assumptions have been introduced. These conditions are weaker than the CFC but do not guarantee model identifiability [@Zhang2013]. On the other hand, the recently introduced sparsest Markov representation (SMR) and frugality assumptions [@forster2015frugal; @Raskutti2013; @van2013ell] provide an alternative that is milder than the CFC and is sufficient to ensure identifiability. The main downside of the [SMR]{} and frugality assumptions relative to the CFC is that the [SMR]{} and frugality assumptions are sufficient conditions for model identifiability only when exhaustive searches over the DAG space are possible [@Raskutti2013], while the CFC is sufficient for polynomial-time algorithms [@Glymour1987; @Spirtes1991; @Spirtes2000] for learning equivalence class of sparse graphs. While the DAG framework is useful in many applications, it is limited since feedback loops are known to often exist (see e.g., [@Richardson1996; @Richardson1995]). Hence, directed graphs with directed cycles [@Spirtes2000] are more appropriate to model such feedback. However learning directed cyclic graphical (DCG) models from data is considerably more challenging than learning DAG models [@Richardson1996; @Richardson1995] since the presence of cycles poses a number of additional challenges and introduces additional non-identifiability. Consequently there has been considerably less work focusing on directed graphs with feedback both in terms of identifiability assumptions and search algorithms. [@Spirtes1995] discussed the CMC, and [@Richardson1996; @Richardson1995] discussed the CFC for DCG models and introduced the polynomial-time cyclic causal discovery (CCD) algorithm [@Richardson1996] for recovering the Markov equivalence class for DCGs. Recently, [@claassen2013learning] introduced the FCI$+$ algorithm for recovering the Markov equivalence class for sparse DCGs, which also assumes the CFC. As with DAG models, the CFC for cyclic models is extremely restrictive since it is more restrictive than the CFC for DAG models. In terms of learning algorithms that do not require the CFC, additional assumptions are typically required. For example [@mooij2011causal] proved identifiability for bivariate Gaussian cyclic graphical models with additive noise which does not require the CFC while many approaches have been studied for learning graphs from the results of interventions on the graph (e.g., [@hyttinen2010causal; @hyttinen2012causal; @hyttinen2012learning; @hyttinen2013experiment; @hyttinen2013discovering]). However, these additional assumptions are often impractical and it is often impossible or very expensive to intervene many variables in the graph. This raises the question of whether milder identifiability assumptions can be imposed for learning DCG models. In this paper, we address this question in a number of steps. Firstly, we adapt the [SMR]{} and frugality assumptions developed for DAG models to DCG models. Next we show that unlike for DAG models, the adapted [SMR]{} and frugality assumptions are not strictly weaker than the CFC. Hence we consider a new identifiability assumption based on finding the Markovian DCG entailing the maximum number of d-separation rules (MDR) which we prove is strictly weaker than the CFC and recovers the Markov equivalence class for DCGs for a strict superset of examples compared to the CFC. We also provide a comparison between the [MDR]{}, [SMR]{} and frugality assumptions as well as the minimality assumptions for both DAG and DCG models. Finally we use the [MDR]{} and [SMR]{} assumptions to develop search algorithms for small-scale DCG models. Our simulation study supports our theoretical results by showing that the algorithms induced by both the [SMR]{} and [MDR]{} assumptions recover the Markov equivalence class more reliably than state-of-the art algorithms that require the CFC for DCG models. We point out that the search algorithms that result from our identifiability assumptions require exhaustive searches and are not computationally feasible for large-scale DCG models. However, the focus of this paper is to develop the weakest possible identifiability assumption which is of fundamental importance for directed graphical models. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: Section \[SecPriorWork\] provides the background and prior work for identifiability assumptions for both DAG and DCG models. In Section \[SecSMRFrugality\] we adapt the [SMR]{} and frugality assumptions to DCG models and provide a comparison between the [SMR]{} assumption, the CFC, and the minimality assumptions. In Section \[SecMaxDSep\] we introduce our new [MDR]{} principle, finding the Markovian DCG that entails the maximum number of d-separation rules and provide a comparison of the new principle to the CFC, [SMR]{}, frugality, and minimality assumptions. Finally in Section \[SecSimulation\], we use our identifiability assumptions to develop a search algorithm for learning small-scale DCG models, and provide a simulation study that is consistent with our theoretical results. Prior work on directed graphical models {#SecPriorWork} ======================================= In this section, we introduce the basic concepts of directed graphical models pertaining to model identifiability. A directed graph $G = (V,E)$ consists of a set of vertices $V$ and a set of directed edges $E$. Suppose that $V=\{1,2,\dots ,p\}$ and there exists a random vector $(X_1, X_2,\cdots,X_p)$ with probability distribution $\mathbb{P}$ over the vertices in $G$. A directed edge from a vertex $j$ to $k$ is denoted by $(j,k)$ or $j\to k$. The set $\mbox{pa}(k)$ of parents of a vertex $k$ consists of all nodes $j$ such that $(j,k)\in E$. If there is a directed path $j\to \cdots \to k$, then $k$ is called a descendant of $j$ and $j$ is an ancestor of $k$. The set $\mbox{de}(k)$ denotes the set of all descendants of a node $k$. The non-descendants of a node $k$ are $\mbox{nd}(k) = V\setminus (\{k\}\cup \mbox{de}(k))$. For a subset $S\subset V$, we define $\mbox{an}(S)$ to be the set of nodes $k$ that are in $S$ or are ancestors of a subset of nodes in $S$. Two nodes that are connected by an edge are called adjacent. A triple of nodes $(j,k,\ell)$ is an unshielded triple if $j$ and $k$ are adjacent to $\ell$ but $j$ and $k$ are not adjacent. An unshielded triple $(j,k,\ell)$ forms a v-structure if $j\to \ell$ and $k \to \ell$. In this case $\ell$ is called a collider. Furthermore, let $\pi$ be an undirected path $\pi$ between $j$ and $k$. If every collider on $\pi$ is in $\mbox{an}(S)$ and every non-collider on an undirected path $\pi$ is not in $S$, an undirected path $\pi$ from $j$ to $k$ d-connects $j$ and $k$ given $S \subset V\setminus\{j,k\}$ and $j$ is d-connected to $k$ given $S$. If a directed graph $G$ has no undirected path $\pi$ that d-connects $j$ and $k$ given a subset $S$, then $j$ is d-separated from $k$ given $S$: For disjoint sets of vertices $j, k \in V$ and $S \subset V \setminus\{j,k\}$, $j$ is d-connected to $k$ given $S$ if and only if there is an undirected path $\pi$ between $j$ and $k$, such that - If there is an edge between $a$ and $b$ on $\pi$ and an edge between $b$ and $c$ on $\pi$, and $b \in S$, then $b$ is a collider between $a$ and $c$ relative to $\pi$. - If $b$ is a collider between $a$ and $c$ relative to $\pi$, then there is a descendant $d$ of $b$ and $d \in S$. Finally, let $X_j {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_k \mid X_S$ with $S \subset V\setminus\{j, k\}$ denote the conditional independence (CI) statement that $X_j$ is conditionally independent (as determined by $\mathbb{P}$) of $X_k$ given the set of variables $X_S = \{ X_{\ell} \mid \ell \in S\}$, and let $X_j {\!\perp\!\!\!\!\not\perp\!}X_k \mid X_S$ denote conditional dependence. The Causal Markov condition associates CI statements of $\mathbb{P}$ with a directed graph $G$. \[Def:CMC\] A probability distribution $\mathbb{P}$ over a set of vertices $V$ satisfies the Causal Markov condition with respect to a (acyclic or cyclic) graph $G = (V, E)$ if for all $(j, k, S)$, $j$ is d-separated from $k$ given $S \subset V \setminus \{j,k\}$ in $G$, then $$\begin{aligned} X_j {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_k \mid X_S ~~\textrm{ according to $\mathbb{P}$}. \end{aligned}$$ The CMC applies to both acyclic and cyclic graphs (see e.g., [@Spirtes2000]). However not all directed graphical models satisfy the CMC. In order for a directed graphical model to satisfy the CMC, the joint distribution of a model should be defined by the generalized factorization [@Lauritzen1990]. \[Def:GenFac\] The joint distribution of $X_S$, $f(X_S)$ factors according to directed graph $G$ with vertices $V$ if and only if for every subset $S$ of $V$, $$f(X_{\mbox{an}(S)}) = \prod_{j \in \mbox{an}(S)} g_j (X_{j},X_{\mbox{pa}(j)})$$ where $g_j$ is a non-negative function. [@Spirtes1995] showed that the generalized factorization is a necessary and sufficient condition for directed graphical models to satisfy the CMC. For DAG models, $g_j(\cdot)$’s must correspond to a conditional probability distribution function whereas for graphical models with cycles, $g_j(\cdot)$’s need only be non-negative functions. As shown by [@Spirtes1995], a concrete example of a class of cyclic graphs that satisfy the factorization above is structural linear DCG equation models with additive independent errors. We will later use linear DCG models in our simulation study. In general, there are many directed graphs entailing the same d-separation rules. These graphs are Markov equivalent and the set of Markov equivalent graphs is called a Markov equivalence class (MEC) [@Richardson1995; @udea1991equivalence; @Spirtes2000; @verma1992algorithm]. For example, consider two 2-node graphs, $G_1: X_1 \rightarrow X_2$ and $G_2: X_1 \leftarrow X_2$. Then both graphs are Markov equivalent because they both entail no d-separation rules. Hence, $G_1$ and $G_2$ belong to the same [MEC]{} and hence it is impossible to distinguish two graphs by d-separation rules. The precise definition of the [MEC]{} is provided here. Two directed graphs $G_1$ and $G_2$ are Markov equivalent if any distribution which satisfies the CMC with respect to one graph satisfies the CMC with respect to the other, and vice versa. The set of graphs which are Markov equivalent to $G$ is denoted by $\mathcal{M}(G)$. The characterization of Markov equivalence classes is different for DAGs and DCGs. For DAGs, [@udea1991equivalence] developed an elegant characterization of Markov equivalence classes defined by the skeleton and v-structures. The skeleton of a DAG model consists of the edges without directions. However for DCGs, the presence of feedback means the characterization of the [MEC]{} for DCGs is considerably more involved. [@Richardson1996] provides a characterization. The presence of directed cycles changes the notion of adjacency between two nodes. In particular there are real adjacencies that are a result of directed edges in the DCG and virtual adjacencies which are edges that do not exist in the data-generating DCG but can not be recognized as a non-edge from the data. The precise definition of real and virtual adjacencies are as follows. \[Def:Adj\] Consider a directed graph $G = (V,E)$. - For any $j, k \in V$, $j$ and $k$ are really adjacent in $G$ if $j \rightarrow k$ or $j \leftarrow k$. - For any $j, k \in V$, $j$ and $k$ are virtually adjacent if $j$ and $k$ have a common child $\ell$ such that $\ell$ is an ancestor of $j$ or $k$. Note that a virtual adjacency can only occur if there is a cycle in the graph. Hence, DAGs have only real edges while DCGs can have both real edges and virtual edges. Figure \[Fig:Sec2a\] shows an example of a DCG with a virtual edge. In Figure \[Fig:Sec2a\], a pair of nodes $(1,4)$ has a virtual edge (dotted line) because the triple $(1,4,2)$ forms a v-structure and the common child $2$ is an ancestor of $1$. This virtual edge is created by the cycle, $1 \rightarrow 2 \rightarrow 3 \rightarrow 1$. \(A) at (1.5,1.1)[$1$]{}; (B) at (0.35,0.55) [$3$]{}; (C) at (1.5,0) [$2$]{}; (D) at (3,0.0) [$4$]{}; (B) edge \[bend right = -25, shorten >=1pt, shorten <=1pt \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (A); (C) edge \[bend right = -25, shorten >=1pt, shorten <=1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B); (D) edge \[bend right = 0, shorten >=1pt, shorten <=1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (A) edge \[bend right = -25, shorten >=1pt, shorten <=1pt\] node\[above\] (C); (A) to node\[above right\] [virtual]{} (D); Virtual edges generate different types of relationships involving unshielded triples: (1) an unshielded triple $(j,k,\ell)$ (that is $j-\ell-k$) is called a conductor if $\ell$ is an ancestor of $j$ or $k$; (2) an unshielded triple $(j,k,\ell)$ is called a perfect non-conductor if $\ell$ is a descendant of the common child of $j$ and $k$; and (3) an unshielded triple $(j,k,\ell)$ is called an imperfect non-conductor if the triple is not a conductor or a perfect non-conductor. Intuitively, the concept of (1) a conductor is analogous to the notion of a non v-structure in DAGs because for example suppose that an unshielded triple $(j,k,\ell)$ is a conductor, then $j$ is d-connected to $k$ given any set $S$ which does not contain $\ell$. Moreover, (2) a perfect non-conductor is analogous to a v-structure because suppose that $(j,k,\ell)$ is a perfect non-conductor, then $j$ is d-connected to $k$ given any set $S$ which contains $\ell$. However, there is no analogous notion of an imperfect non-conductor for DAG models. We see throughout this paper that this difference creates a major challenge in inferring DCG models from the underlying distribution $\mathbb{P}$. As shown by [@Richardson1994] (Cyclic Equivalence Theorem), a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for two DCGs to belong to the same [MEC]{} is that they share the same real plus virtual edges and the same (1) conductors, (2) perfect non-conductors and (3) imperfect non-conductors. However unlike for DAGs, this condition is not sufficient for Markov equivalence. A complete characterization of Markov equivalence is provided in [@Richardson1994; @Richardson1995] and since it is quite involved, we do not include here. Even if we weaken the goal to inferring the [MEC]{} for a DAG or DCG, the CMC is insufficient for discovering the true [MEC]{} $\mathcal{M}(G^)$ because there are many graphs satisfying the CMC, which do not belong to $\mathcal{M}(G^)$. For example, any fully-connected graph always satisfies the CMC because it does not entail any d-separation rules. Hence, in order to identify the true [MEC]{} given the distribution $\mathbb{P}$, stronger identifiability assumptions that force the removal of edges are required. Faithfulness and minimality assumptions --------------------------------------- In this section, we discuss prior work on identifiability assumptions for both DAG and DCG models. To make the notion of identifiability and our assumptions precise, we need to introduce the notion of a true data-generating graphical model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$. All we observe is the distribution (or samples from) $\mathbb{P}$, and we know the graphical model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC. Let $CI(\mathbb{P})$ denote the set of conditional independence statements corresponding to $\mathbb{P}$. The graphical model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ is identifiable* if the Markov equivalence class of the graph $\mathcal{M}(G^)$ can be uniquely determined based on $CI(\mathbb{P})$. For a directed graph $G$, let $E(G)$ denote the set of directed edges, $S(G)$ denote the set of edges without directions, also referred to as the skeleton, and $D_{sep}(G)$ denote the set of d-separation rules entailed by $G$. One of the most widely imposed identifiability assumptions for both DAG and DCG models is the causal faithfulness condition* (CFC) [@Spirtes2000] also referred to as the stability condition in [@Pearl2014]. A directed graph is faithful to a probability distribution if there is no probabilistic independence in the distribution that is not entailed by the CMC. The CFC states that the graph is faithful to the true probability distribution. \[Def:CFC\] Consider a directed graphical model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$. A graph $G^$ is faithful to $\mathbb{P}$ if and only if for any $j,k \in V$ and any subset $S \subset V \setminus \{j,k\}$, $$j \textrm{ d-separated from } k \mid S \iff X_j {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_k \mid X_S \textrm{ according to $\mathbb{P}$}.$$ While the CFC is sufficient to guarantee identifiability for many polynomial-time search algorithms [@claassen2013learning; @Glymour1987; @hyttinen2012causal; @Richardson1996; @Richardson1995; @Spirtes2000] for both DAGs and DCGs, the CFC is known to be a very strong assumption (see e.g., [@forster2015frugal; @Raskutti2013; @Uhler2013]) that is often not satisfied in practice. Hence, milder identifiability assumptions have been considered. Minimality assumptions, notably the P-minimality [@pearl2000] and SGS-minimality [@Glymour1987] assumptions are two such assumptions. The P-minimality assumption asserts that for directed graphical models satisfying the CMC, graphs that entail more d-separation rules are preferred. For example, suppose that there are two graphs $G_1$ and $G_2$ which are not Markov equivalent. $G_1$ is strictly preferred to $G_2$ if $D_{sep}(G_2) \subset D_{sep}(G_1)$. The P-minimality assumption asserts that no graph is strictly preferred to the true graph $G^$. The SGS-minimality assumption asserts that there exists no proper sub-graph of $G^$ that satisfies the CMC with respect to the probability distribution $\mathbb{P}$. To define the term sub-graph precisely, $G_1$ is a sub-graph of $G_2$ if $E(G_1) \subset E(G_2)$ and $E(G_1) \neq E(G_2)$. [@Zhang2013] proved that the SGS-minimality assumption is weaker than the P-minimality assumption which is weaker than the CFC for both DAG and DCG models. While [@Zhang2013] states the results for DAG models, the result easily extends to DCG models. \[Thm:Sec2a\] If a directed graphical model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies - the CFC, it satisfies the P-minimality assumption. - the P-minimality assumption, it satisfies the SGS-minimality assumption. Sparsest Markov Representation (SMR) for DAG models --------------------------------------------------- While the minimality assumptions are milder than the CFC, neither the P-minimality nor SGS-minimality assumptions imply identifiability of the MEC for $G^$. Recent work by [@Raskutti2013] developed the sparsest Markov representation (SMR) assumption and a slightly weaker version later referred to as frugality assumption [@forster2015frugal] which applies to DAG models. The [SMR]{} assumption which we refer to here as the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption states that the true DAG model is the graph satisfying the CMC with the fewest edges. Here we say that a DAG $G_1$ is strictly sparser than a DAG $G_2$ if $G_1$ has fewer edges than $G_2$. \[Def:SMR\] A DAG model $(G^,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption if $(G^ ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $\|S(G^)\| < \|S(G)\|$ for every DAG $G$ such that $(G ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G \notin \mathcal{M}(G^)$. The identifiable SMR assumption is strictly weaker than the CFC while also ensuring a method known as the Sparsest Permutation (SP) algorithm [@Raskutti2013] recovers the true MEC. Hence the identifiable SMR assumption guarantees identifiability of the MEC for DAGs. A slightly weaker notion which we refer to as the weak SMR assumption does not guarantee model identifiability. \[Def:Fru\] A DAG model $(G^* ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the weak [SMR]{} assumption if $(G^* ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $\|S(G^)\| \leq \|S(G)\|$ for every DAG $G$ such that $(G ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G \notin \mathcal{M}(G^)$. A comparison of [SMR]{}/frugality to the CFC and the minimality assumptions for DAG models is provided in [@Raskutti2013] and [@forster2015frugal]. \[Thm:Sec2b\] If a DAG model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies - the CFC, it satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption and consequently weak [SMR]{} assumption. - the weak [SMR]{} assumption, it satisfies the P-minimality assumption and consequently the SGS-minimality assumption. - the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption, $G^$ is identifiable up to the true MEC $\mathcal{M}(G^)$. It is unclear whether the [SMR]{}/frugality assumptions apply naturally to DCG models since the success of the [SMR]{} assumption relies on the local Markov property which is known to hold for DAGs but not DCGs [@Richardson1994]. In this paper, we investigate the extent to which these identifiability assumptions apply to DCG models and provide a new principle for learning DCG models. Based on this prior work, a natural question to consider is whether the identifiable and weak [SMR]{} assumptions developed for DAG models apply to DCG models and whether there are similar relationships between the CFC, identifiable and weak [SMR]{}, and minimality assumptions. In this paper we address this question by adapting both identifiable and weak [SMR]{} assumptions to DCG models. One of the challenges we address is dealing with the distinction between real and virtual edges in DCGs. We show that unlike for DAG models, the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is not necessarily a weaker assumption than the CFC. Consequently, we introduce a new principle which is the maximum d-separation rule (MDR) principle which chooses the directed Markov graph with the greatest number of d-separation rules. We show that our [MDR]{} principle is strictly weaker than the CFC and stronger than the P-minimality assumption, while also guaranteeing model identifiability for DCG models. Our simulation results complement our theoretical results, showing that the [MDR]{} principle is more successful than the CFC in terms of recovering the true [MEC]{} for DCG models. Sparsity and [SMR]{} for DCG models {#SecSMRFrugality} =================================== In this section, we extend notions of sparsity and the [SMR]{} assumptions to DCG models. As mentioned earlier, in contrast to DAGs, DCGs can have two different types of edges which are real and virtual edges. In this paper, we define the sparsest* DCG as the graph with the fewest total edges which are virtual edges plus real edges. The main reason we choose total edges rather than just real edges is that all DCGs in the same Markov equivalence class (MEC) have the same number of total edges [@Richardson1994]. However, the number of real edges may not be the same among the graphs even in the same [MEC]{}. For example in Figure \[Fig:Sec3a\], there are two different [MECs]{} and each [MEC]{} has two graphs: $G_1, G_2 \in \mathcal{M}(G_1)$ and $G_3, G_4 \in \mathcal{M}(G_3)$. $G_1$ and $G_2$ have $9$ total edges but $G_3$ and $G_4$ has $7$ total edges. On the other hand, $G_1$ has $6$ real edges, $G_2$ has $9$ real edges, $G_3$ has $5$ real edges, and $G_4$ has $7$ real edges (a bi-directed edge is counted as 1 total edge). For a DCG $G$, let $S(G)$ denote the skeleton of $G$ where $(j,k) \in S(G)$ is a real or virtual edge. (M1) at (3.1,0.6) [$\mathcal{M}(G_1)$]{}; (M2) at (11.15,0.6) [$\mathcal{M}(G_3)$]{}; \(A) at (0,0) [$1$]{}; (B) at (1.3,0) [$2$]{}; (C) at (2.6,0) [$3$]{}; (D) at (1.3,1) [$4$]{}; (E) at (1.3,2) [$5$]{}; (G1) at (1.3,-1.0) [$G_1$]{}; (A2) at (3.6,0) [$1$]{}; (B2) at (4.9,0) [$2$]{}; (C2) at (6.2,0) [$3$]{}; (D2) at (4.9,1) [$4$]{}; (E2) at (4.9,2) [$5$]{}; (G2) at (4.9,-1.0) [$G_2$]{}; (A3) at (8.0, 0) [$1$]{}; (B3) at (9.3,0) [$2$]{}; (C3) at (10.7,0) [$3$]{}; (D3) at (9.3,1) [$4$]{}; (E3) at (9.3,2) [$5$]{}; (G3) at (9.3,-1.0) [$G_3$]{}; (A4) at (11.7,0) [$1$]{}; (B4) at (13.0,0) [$2$]{}; (C4) at (14.3,0) [$3$]{}; (D4) at (13.0,1) [$4$]{}; (E4) at (13.0,2) [$5$]{}; (G4) at (13.0,-1.0) [$G_4$]{}; \(A) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D); (B) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D); (C) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D); (D) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E); (E) edge \[bend right =35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (A); (E) edge \[bend left =35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (A) edge \[-, dotted,thick \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B); (B) edge \[-, dotted,thick \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (A) edge \[-, dotted,thick, bend right =30 \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (A2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D2); (B2) edge \[left =15\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D2); (C2) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D2); (D2) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E2); (E2) edge \[bend right =35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (A2); (E2) edge \[bend left =35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (A2) edge \[ \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B2); (B2) edge \[ \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (A2) edge \[bend right =30 \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (A3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D3); (B3) edge \[bend left =15\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D3); (D3) edge \[bend left =15\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B3); (C3) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D3); (A3) edge \[-,dotted,thick\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B3); (C3) edge \[-,dotted,thick\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B3); (A3) edge \[bend right =45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C3); (D3) edge \[left =45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E3); (A4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D4); (B4) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D4); (C4) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D4); (A4) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B4); (A4) edge \[bend right =45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C4); (C4) edge \[left =45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B4); (D4) edge \[left =45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E4); Using this definition of the skeleton $S(G)$ for a DCG $G$, the definitions of the identifiable and weak [SMR]{} assumptions carry over from DAG to DCG models. For completeness, we re-state the definitions here. \[DefSMRDCG\] A DCG model $(G^* ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption if $(G^* ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $\|S(G^)\| < \|S(G)\|$ for every DCG $G$ such that $(G ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G \notin \mathcal{M}(G^)$. \[DefFruDCG\] A DCG model $(G^* ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the weak [SMR]{} assumption if $(G^* ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $\|S(G^)\| \leq \|S(G)\|$ for every DCG $G$ such that $(G ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G \notin \mathcal{M}(G^)$. Both the [SMR]{} and SGS minimality assumptions prefer graphs with the fewest total edges. The main difference between the SGS-minimality assumption and the [SMR]{} assumptions is that the SGS-minimality assumption requires that there is no DCGs with a strict subset of edges whereas the [SMR]{} assumptions simply require that there are no DCGs with fewer edges. Unfortunately as we observe later unlike for DAG models, the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is not weaker than the CFC for DCG models. Therefore, the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption does not guarantee identifiability of [MECs]{} for DCG models. On the other hand, while the weak [SMR]{} assumption may not guarantee uniqueness, we prove it is a strictly weaker assumption than the CFC. We explore the relationships between the CFC, identifiable and weak [SMR]{}, and minimality assumptions in the next section. Comparison of SMR, CFC and minimality assumptions for DCG models {#SubSecSMR} ---------------------------------------------------------------- Before presenting our main result in this section, we provide a lemma which highlights the important difference between the [SMR]{} assumptions for graphical models with cycles compared to DAG models. Recall that the [SMR]{} assumptions involve counting the number of edges, whereas the CFC and P-minimality assumption involve d-separation rules. First, we provide a fundamental link between the presence of an edge in $S(G)$ and d-separation/connection rules. \[Lem:Sec3a\] For a DCG $G$, $(j,k) \in S(G)$ if and only if $j$ is d-connected to $k$ given $S$ for all $S \subset V \setminus \{j,k\}$. First, we show that if $(j,k) \in S(G)$ then $j$ is d-connected to $k$ given $S$ for all $S \subset V \setminus \{j,k\}$. By the definition of d-connection/separation, there is no subset $S \subset V \setminus \{j,k\}$ such that $j$ is d-separated from $k$ given $S$. Second, we prove that if $(j,k) \notin S(G)$ then there exists $S \subset V \setminus \{j,k\}$ such that $j$ is d-separated from $k$ given $S$. Let $S = \mbox{an}(j) \cup \mbox{an}(k)$. Then $S$ has no common children or descendants, otherwise $(j,k)$ are virtually adjacent. Then there is no undirected path between $j$ and $k$ conditioned on the union of ancestors of $j$ and $k$, and therefore $j$ is d-separated from $k$ given $S$. This completes the proof. Note that the above statement is true for real or virtual edges and not real edges alone. We now state an important lemma which shows the key difference in comparing the [SMR]{} assumptions to other identifiability assumptions (CFC, P-minimality, SGS-minimality) for graphical models with cycles, which does not arise for DAG models. \[Lem:Sec3b\] - For any two DCGs $G_1$ and $G_2$, $D_{sep}(G_1) \subseteq D_{sep}(G_2)$ implies $S(G_2) \subseteq S(G_1)$. - There exist two DCGs $G_1$ and $G_2$ such that $S(G_1) = S(G_2)$, but $D_{sep}(G_1)$ $\neq$ $D_{sep}(G_2)$ and $D_{sep}(G_1) \subset D_{sep}(G_2)$. For DAGs, no two such graphs exist. We begin with the proof of (a). Suppose that $S(G_1)$ is not a sub-skeleton of $S(G_2)$, meaning that there exists a pair $(j,k) \in S(G_1)$ and $(j,k) \notin S(G_2)$. By Lemma \[Lem:Sec3a\], $j$ is d-connected to $k$ given $S$ for all $S \subset V \setminus \{j,k\}$ in $G_1$ while there exists $S \subset V \setminus \{j,k\}$ such that $j$ is d-separated from $k$ given $S$ entailed by $G_2$. Hence it is contradictory that $D_{sep}(G_1) \subset D_{sep}(G_2)$. For (b), we refer to the example in Figure \[Fig:Sec3b\]. In Figure \[Fig:Sec3b\], the unshielded triple $(1, 4, 2)$ is a conductor in $G_1$ and an imperfect non-conductor in $G_2$ because of a reversed directed edge between $4$ and $5$. By the property of a conductor, $1$ is not d-separated from $4$ given the empty set for $G_1$. In contrast for $G_2$, $1$ is d-separated from $4$ given the empty set. Other d-separation rules are the same for both $G_1$ and $G_2$. \(A) at(0,0) [$1$]{}; (B) at(1.5,0) [$2$]{}; (C) at(3,0) [$3$]{}; (D) at(4.5,0) [$4$]{}; (E) at(3,1.5) [$5$]{}; (G1) at(3, -1.2) [$G_1$]{}; (A2) at(7,0) [$1$]{}; (B2) at(8.5,0) [$2$]{}; (C2) at(10,0) [$3$]{}; (D2) at(11.5,0) [$4$]{}; (E2) at(10,1.5) [$5$]{}; (G1) at(10, -1.2) [$G_2$]{}; \(A) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B); (B) edge \[bend left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (C) edge \[bend left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B); (D) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (B) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E); (C) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E); (E) edge \[left =25, color= red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D); (A) edge \[-, dotted, bend right= 35, thick \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (B) edge \[-, dotted, bend right= 35, thick \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D); (A2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B2); (B2) edge \[bend left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (C2) edge \[bend left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B2); (D2) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (B2) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E2); (C2) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E2); (D2) edge \[left =25, color= red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (E2); (A2) edge \[-, dotted, bend right= 35, thick \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (B2) edge \[-, dotted, bend right= 35, thick \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D2); Lemma \[Lem:Sec3b\] (a) holds for both DAGs and DCGs, and allows us to conclude a subset-superset relation between edges in the skeleton and d-separation rules in a graph $G$. Part (b) is where there is a key difference DAGs and directed graphs with cycles. Part (b) asserts that there are examples in which the edge set in the skeleton may be totally equivalent, yet one graph entails a strict superset of d-separation rules. Now we present the main result of this section which compares the identifiable and weak [SMR]{} assumptions with the CFC and P-minimality assumption. \[Thm:Sec3a\] For DCG models, - the weak [SMR]{} assumption is weaker than the CFC. - there exists a DCG model $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfying the CFC that does not satisfy the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption. - the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is stronger than the P-minimality assumption. - there exists a DCG model $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfying the weak [SMR]{} assumption that does not satisfy the P-minimality assumption. <!-- --> - The proof for (a) follows from Lemma \[Lem:Sec3b\] (a). If a DCG model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CFC, then for any graph $G$ such that $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC, $D_{sep}(G) \subseteq D_{sep}(G^)$. Hence based on Lemma \[Lem:Sec3b\] (a), $S(G^) \subseteq S(G)$ and $(G^,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the weak [SMR]{} assumption. - We refer to the example in Figure \[Fig:Sec3b\] where $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CFC and fails to satisfy the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption because $S(G_1) = S(G_2)$ and $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC. - The proof for (c) again follows from Lemma \[Lem:Sec3b\] (a). Suppose that a DCG model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ fails to satisfy the P-minimality assumption. This implies that there exists a DCG $G$ such that $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC, $G \notin \mathcal{M}(G^)$ and $D_{sep}(G^) \subset D_{sep}(G)$. Lemma \[Lem:Sec3b\] (a) implies $S(G) \subseteq S(G^)$. Hence $G^$ cannot have the fewest edges uniquely, therefore $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ fails to satisfy the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption. - We refer to the example in Figure \[Fig:Sec3b\] where $(G_1,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the weak [SMR]{} assumption and fails to satisfy the P-minimality assumption. Further explanation is given in Figure \[Fig:App2\] in the appendix. Theorem \[Thm:Sec3a\] shows that if a DCG model $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CFC, the weak [SMR]{} assumption is satisfied whereas the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is not necessarily satisfied. For DAG models, the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is strictly weaker than the CFC and the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption guarantees identifiability of the true [MEC]{}. However, Theorem \[Thm:Sec3a\] (b) implies that the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is not strictly weaker than the CFC for DCG models. On the other hand, unlike for DAG models, the weak [SMR]{} assumption does not imply the P-minimality assumption for DCG models, according to (d). In Section \[SecSimulation\], we implement an algorithm that uses the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption and the results seem to suggest that on average for DCG models, the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is weaker than the CFC. New principle: Maximum d-separation rules (MDR) {#SecMaxDSep} =============================================== In light of the fact that the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption does not lead to a strictly weaker assumption than the CFC, we introduce the maximum d-separation rules (MDR) assumption. The [MDR]{} assumption asserts that $G^$ entails more d-separation rules than any other graph satisfying the CMC according to the given distribution $\mathbb{P}$. We use $CI(\mathbb{P})$ to denote the conditional independence (CI) statements corresponding to the distribution $\mathbb{P}$. A DCG model $(G^ ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the maximum d-separation rules (MDR) assumption if $(G^* ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $\|D_{sep}(G)\| < \|D_{sep}(G^)\|$ for every DCG $G$ such that $(G ,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G \notin \mathcal{M}(G^)$. There is a natural and intuitive connection between the MDR assumption and the P-minimality assumption. Both assumptions encourage DCGs to entail more d-separation rules. The key difference between the P-minimality assumption and the MDR assumption is that the P-minimality assumption requires that there is no DCGs that entail a strict superset of d-separation rules whereas the MDR assumption simply requires that there are no DCGs that entail a greater number of d-separation rules. Comparison of [MDR]{} to CFC and minimality assumptions for DCGs {#SubSecMDROcc} ---------------------------------------------------------------- In this section, we provide a comparison of the MDR assumption to the CFC and P-minimality assumption. For ease of notation, let $\mathcal{G}_{M}(\mathbb{P})$ and $\mathcal{G}_{F}(\mathbb{P})$ denote the set of Markovian DCG models satisfying the MDR assumption and CFC, respectively. In addition, let $\mathcal{G}_{P}(\mathbb{P})$ denote the set of DCG models satisfying the P-minimality assumption. \[Thm:Sec4a\] Consider a DCG model $(G^, \mathbb{P})$. - If $\mathcal{G}_F(\mathbb{P}) \neq \emptyset$, then $\mathcal{G}_F (\mathbb{P}) = \mathcal{G}_{M}(\mathbb{P})$. Consequently if $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CFC, then $\mathcal{G}_F(\mathbb{P}) = \mathcal{G}_{M}(\mathbb{P}) = \mathcal{M}(G^)$. - There exists a distribution $\mathbb{P}$ for which $\mathcal{G}_F(\mathbb{P}) = \emptyset$ while $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [MDR]{} assumption and $\mathcal{G}_{M}(\mathbb{P}) = \mathcal{M}(G^)$. - $\mathcal{G}_{M}(\mathbb{P}) \subseteq \mathcal{G}_{P}(\mathbb{P})$. - There exists a distribution $\mathbb{P}$ for which $\mathcal{G}_{M}(\mathbb{P}) = \emptyset$ while $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the P-minimality assumption and $\mathcal{G}_{P}(\mathbb{P}) \supseteq \mathcal{M}(G^)$. <!-- --> - Suppose that $(G^, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CFC. Then $CI(\mathbb{P})$ corresponds to the set of d-separation rules entailed by $G^$. Note that if $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G \notin \mathcal{M}(G^)$, then $CI(\mathbb{P})$ is a superset of the set of d-separation rules entailed by $G$ and therefore $D_{sep}(G) \subset D_{sep}(G^)$. This allows us to conclude that graphs belonging to $\mathcal{M}(G^)$ should entail the maximum number of d-separation rules among graphs satisfying the CMC. Furthermore, based on the CFC $\mathcal{G}_F(\mathbb{P}) = \mathcal{M}(G^)$ which completes the proof. - Suppose that $(G^,\mathbb{P})$ fails to satisfy the P-minimality assumption. By the definition of the P-minimality assumption, there exists $(G,\mathbb{P})$ satisfying the CMC such that $G \notin \mathcal{M}(G^)$ and $D_{sep}(G^) \subset D_{sep}(G)$. Hence, $G^$ entails strictly less d-separation rules than $G$, and therefore $(G^,\mathbb{P})$ violates the [MDR]{} assumption. - For (b) and (d), we refer to the example in Figure $\ref{fig:Sec4a}$. Suppose that $X_1$, $X_2$, $X_3$, $X_4$ are random variables with distribution $\mathbb{P}$ with the following CI statements: $$\label{CIrelations} CI(\mathbb{P}) = \{X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_3 \mid X_2;~X_2 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_4 \mid X_1, X_3;~X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_2 \mid X_4\}.$$ We show that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the MDR assumption but not the CFC, whereas $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the P-minimality assumption but not the MDR assumption. Any graph satisfying the CMC with respect to $\mathbb{P}$ must only entail a subset of the three d-separation rules: $\{X_1~\mbox{d-sep}~X_3 \mid X_2; X_2~\mbox{d-sep} $ $X_4 \mid X_1,X_3;~X_1~\mbox{d-sep}~X_2 \mid X_4 \}$. Clearly $D_{sep}(G_1) = \{X_1 ~\mbox{d-sep} ~X_3 \mid X_2; ~X_2 ~\mbox{d-sep} ~X_4 \mid X_1, X_3\}$, therefore $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC. It can be shown that no graph entails any subset containing two or three of these d-separation rules other than $G_1$. Hence no graph follows the CFC with respect to $\mathbb{P}$ since there is no graph that entails all three d-separation rules and $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the MDR assumption because no graph entails more or as many d-separation rules as $G_1$ entails, and satisfies the CMC with respect to $\mathbb{P}$. - Note that $G_2$ entails the sole d-separation rule, $D_{sep}(G_2) = \{X_1~\mbox{d-sep}~X_2 \mid X_4\}$ and it is clear that $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC. If $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ does not satisfy the P-minimality assumption, there exists a graph $G$ such that $(G,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $D_{sep}(G_2) \subsetneq D_{sep}(G)$. It can be shown that no such graph exists. Therefore, $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the P-minimality assumption. Clearly, $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ fails to satisfy the [MDR]{} assumption because $G_1$ entails more d-separation rules. \(A) at (0,0) [$X_1$]{}; (B) at (2,0) [$X_2$]{}; (C) at (2,-1.5) [$X_3$]{}; (D) at (0,-1.5) [$X_4$]{}; (G1) at(1, -2.5) [$G_1$]{}; \(A) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B); (B) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (C) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (D); (A) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (D); (A2) at (5,0) [$X_1$]{}; (B2) at (7,0) [$X_2$]{}; (C2) at (7,-1.5) [$X_3$]{}; (D2) at (5,-1.5) [$X_4$]{}; (G1) at(6, -2.5) [$G_2$]{}; (A2) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (B2) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D2); (B2) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (D2) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (C2); (D2) edge \[shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (A2); Theorem \[Thm:Sec4a\] (a) asserts that whenever the set of DCG models satisfying the CFC is not empty, it is equivalent to the set of DCG models satisfying the [MDR]{} assumption. Part (b) claims that there exists a distribution in which no DCG model satisfies the CFC, while the set of DCG models satisfying the [MDR]{} assumption consists of its [MEC]{}. Hence, (a) and (b) show that the [MDR]{} assumption is strictly superior to the CFC in terms of recovering the true [MEC]{}. Theorem \[Thm:Sec4a\] (c) claims that any DCG models satisfying the [MDR]{} assumption should lie in the set of DCG models satisfying the P-minimality assumption. (d) asserts that there exist DCG models satisfying the P-minimality assumption but violating the [MDR]{} assumption. Therefore, (c) and (d) prove that the [MDR]{} assumption is strictly stronger than the P-minimality assumption. Comparison between the [MDR]{} and [SMR]{} assumptions {#SubSecMDRSMR} ------------------------------------------------------ Now we show that the [MDR]{} assumption is neither weaker nor stronger than the [SMR]{} assumptions for both DAG and DCG models. \[Lem:Sec4a\] - There exists a DAG model satisfying the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption that does not satisfy the [MDR]{} assumption. Further, there exists a DAG model satisfying the [MDR]{} assumption that does not satisfy the weak [SMR]{} assumption. - There exists a DCG model that is not a DAG that satisfies the same conclusion as (a). Our proof for Lemma \[Lem:Sec4a\] involves us constructing two sets of examples, one for DAGs corresponding to (a) and one for cyclic graphs corresponding to (b). For (a), Figure $\ref{fig:Sec4c}$ displays two DAGs, $G_1$ and $G_2$ which are clearly not in the same [MEC]{}. For clarity, we use red arrows to represent the edges/directions that are different between the graphs. We associate the same distribution $\mathbb{P}$ to each DAG where $CI(\mathbb{P})$ is provided in Appendix \[Proof:lemma(a)\]. With this $CI(\mathbb{P})$, both $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ and $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfy the CMC (explained in Appendix \[Proof:lemma(a)\]). The main point of this example is that $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable and weak [SMR]{} assumptions whereas $(G_1,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [MDR]{} assumption, and therefore two different graphs are determined depending on the given identifiability assumption with respect to the same $\mathbb{P}$. A more detailed proof that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [MDR]{} assumption whereas $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [SMR]{} assumption is provided in Appendix \[Proof:lemma(a)\]. (Y1) at (0,0) [$X_1$]{}; (Y2) at (2,1.7) [$X_2$]{}; (Y3) at (2,0) [$X_3$]{}; (Y4) at (2,-1.7) [$X_4$]{}; (Y5) at (4,0) [$X_5$]{}; (Y12) at (2,-2.7) [$G_1$]{}; (Y1) edge \[right =-35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y3); (Y2) edge \[bend right = 30, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y1); (Y2) edge \[bend right =-35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y4); (Y2) edge \[bend right = -30\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y4) edge \[bend right = 30 \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y5) edge \[bend right =35, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y1); (Y5) edge \[right =35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y3); (X1) at (7,0) [$X_1$]{}; (X2) at (9,1.7) [$X_2$]{}; (X3) at (9,0) [$X_3$]{}; (X4) at (9,-1.7) [$X_4$]{}; (X5) at (11,0) [$X_5$]{}; (X12) at (9,-2.7) [$G_2$]{}; (X1) edge \[bend right =-30, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X2); (X1) edge \[right =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X3); (X4) edge \[bend right =-30, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X1); (X2) edge \[bend right =-30\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X5); (X5) edge \[right =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X3); (X4) edge \[bend right =30\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X5); (Z1) at (0, 0) [$X_1$]{}; (Z2) at (3, 3) [$X_2$]{}; (Z3) at (3, 0) [$X_3$]{}; (Z4) at (3, -3) [$X_4$]{}; (Z5) at (6, 0) [$X_5$]{}; (Z6) at (1.5, 1.5) [$X_6$]{}; (Z7) at (3, 1.5) [$X_7$]{}; (Z8) at (4.5, 1.5) [$X_8$]{}; (Z9) at (1.5,-1.5) [$X_9$]{}; (Z10) at (3, -1.5) [$X_{10}$]{}; (Z11) at (4.5,-1.5) [$X_{11}$]{}; (K1) at (1.7, 4.2) [$~Y~$]{} ; (Z12) at (3,-4) [$G_1$]{}; (Z1) edge \[bend right=-35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z2); (Z3) edge \[right=25, color =red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z1); (Z1) edge \[ bend right= 35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z4); (Z2) edge \[bend right= -35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z5); (Z5) edge \[right=25, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z3); (Z4) edge \[bend right=35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z5); (Z2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z6); (Z2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z7); (Z2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z8); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z6); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z7); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z8); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z9); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z10); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z11); (Z4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z9); (Z4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z10); (Z4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z11); (Z2) edge \[-, dotted, color =red, thick, bend right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z4); (Z2) edge \[-, dotted, color =red, thick, bend right=10\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (K1); (K1) edge \[-, dotted, color =red, thick, bend right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z4); (Z1) edge \[bend right=-25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (K1); (K1) edge \[bend right=-45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z5); (K2) at (10.7, 4.2) [$~Y~$]{} ; (Y1) at (9,0) [$X_1$]{}; (Y2) at (12,3) [$X_2$]{}; (Y3) at (12,0) [$X_3$]{}; (Y4) at (12,-3) [$X_4$]{}; (Y5) at (15,0) [$X_5$]{}; (Y6) at (10.5,1.5) [$X_6$]{}; (Y7) at (12,1.5) [$X_7$]{}; (Y8) at (13.5,1.5) [$X_8$]{}; (Y9) at (10.5,-1.5) [$X_9$]{}; (Y10) at (12,-1.5) [$X_{10}$]{}; (Y11) at (13.5,-1.5) [$X_{11}$]{}; (Y12) at (12,-4) [$G_2$]{}; (Y1) edge \[bend right=-35\] node\[above left\] [ ]{} (Y2); (Y1) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y3); (Y1) edge \[bend right=35\] node\[below left\] [ ]{} (Y4); (Y2) edge \[bend right=-35\] node\[above right\] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y5) edge \[right=25, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y3); (Y4) edge \[bend right=35\] node\[below right\] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y6); (Y2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y7); (Y2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y8); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y6); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y7); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y8); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y9); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y10); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y11); (Y4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y9); (Y4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y10); (Y4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y11); (Y1) edge \[bend right= 25, color = red\] node\[ above left \] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y1) edge \[bend right=-25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (K2); (K2) edge \[bend right=-45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y5); For (b), Figure \[fig:Sec4d\] displays two DCGs $G_1$ and $G_2$ which do not belong to the same [MEC]{}. Once again red arrows are used to denote the edges (both real and virtual) that are different between the graphs. We associate the same distribution $\mathbb{P}$ with conditional independent statements $CI(\mathbb{P})$ (provided in Appendix \[Proof:lemma(b)\]) to each graph such that both $(G_1,\mathbb{P})$ and $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ satisfy the CMC (explained in Appendix \[Proof:lemma(b)\]). Again, the main idea of this example is that $(G_1,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [MDR]{} assumption whereas $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption. A detailed proof that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [MDR]{} assumption whereas $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption can be found in Appendix \[Proof:lemma(b)\]. Intuitively, the reason why fewer edges does not necessarily translate to entailing more d-separation rules is that the placement of edges relative to the rest of the graph and what additional paths they allow affects the total number of d-separation rules entailed by the graph. In summary, the flow chart in Figure \[Flowchart\] shows how the CFC, SMR, MDR and minimality assumptions are related for both DAG and DCG models: \[-latex ,node distance = 2 cm and 3cm ,on grid , state/.style =[ rectangle, rounded corners, top color =white , bottom color=blue!20 , thick, text centered,text width= 1.7cm, minimum height=10mm, draw, black , text=black , minimum width =1 cm]{}, state2/.style =[ rectangle, rounded corners, top color =white , bottom color=white , dotted, thick, text centered,text width= 2.0cm, minimum height=10mm, draw, white , text=black , minimum width =1 cm]{}, state3/.style =[ rectangle, rounded corners, top color =white , bottom color=blue!20 , thick, text centered,text width= 1.7cm, minimum height=15mm, draw, black , text=black , minimum width =1 cm]{}, state4/.style =[ minimum height= 2mm, minimum width = 2mm]{}, state5/.style =[ rectangle, rounded corners, top color =white , bottom color=white , thick, text centered,text width= 2.6cm, minimum height=15mm, draw, black , text=black , minimum width =2.6cm]{}, state6/.style =[ rectangle, rounded corners, top color =white , bottom color=blue!20 , thick, text centered,text width= 1.6cm, minimum height=15mm, draw, black , text=black , minimum width =1.6cm]{}, state7/.style =[ rectangle, rounded corners, top color =white , bottom color=blue!20 , thick, text centered,text width= 1.0cm, minimum height=15mm, draw, black , text=black , minimum width =1.0cm]{}, label/.style=[thick, minimum size= 2mm]{} \] (A) at (0,10) [CFC]{}; (B) at (-2.2,7.7) [MDR]{}; (Z) at (2.2,7.7) [SMR]{}; (D) at (-2.2,5.4) [P-min]{}; (E) at ( 2.2,5.4) [SGS-min]{}; (G) at (0,4.2) [Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)]{}; (An1) at (-1.2,10) ; (An2) at ( 1.2,10) ; (An3) at (-2.2,8.5) ; (An4) at ( 2.2,8.5) ; (An1) edge \[bend right =30\] node\[above left\] [Thm \[Thm:Sec4a\] (a) ]{} (An3); (An2) edge \[bend left =30\] node\[above right\] [Thm \[Thm:Sec2b\] ]{} (An4); \(B) edge \[shorten <= 2pt, shorten >= 2pt\] node\[left\] [Thm \[Thm:Sec4a\] (c) ]{} (D); (B) to node\[below\] [Lem \[Lem:Sec4a\] (a) ]{} (Z); (Z) edge \[shorten <= 2pt, shorten >= 2pt\] node\[below right\] [Thm \[Thm:Sec2a\] ]{} (D); (D) edge \[shorten <= 2pt, shorten >= 2pt\] node\[below\] [Thm \[Thm:Sec2a\] ]{} (E); (Z) edge \[shorten <= 2pt, shorten >= 2pt\] node\[below\] [ ]{} (E); (A2) at (7.9, 10) [CFC]{}; (B2) at (5.4, 7.7) [MDR]{}; (Z2) at (10.1,7.7) ; (C2) at (9.45,7.7) [Identifiable SMR ]{}; (K2) at (11.00,7.7) [Weak SMR]{}; (D2) at (5.4, 5.4) [P-min]{}; (E2) at (10.1, 5.4) [SGS-min]{}; (G) at (7.9, 4.2) [Directed Cyclic Graph (DCG)]{}; (Bn1) at ( 6.9,9.9) ; (Bn2) at ( 9.0,10) ; (Bn3) at ( 5.5,8.5) ; (Bn4) at ( 9.7 ,8.5) ; (Bn9) at ( 11.30,8.5) ; (Bn10)at ( 9.70,6.9) ; (Bn1) edge \[bend right =35\] node\[above left\] [ Thm \[Thm:Sec4a\] (a) ]{} (Bn3); (Bn2) edge \[bend left =10, shorten >= 3pt\] node\[below left\] [ Thm \[Thm:Sec3a\] (d) ]{} (C2); (Bn2) edge \[bend right =-35\] node\[auto\] [ Thm \[Thm:Sec3a\] (a) ]{} (K2); (B2) edge \[shorten <= 2pt, shorten >= 2pt\] node\[left\] [Thm \[Thm:Sec4a\] (c) ]{} (D2); (B2) to node\[below \] [ Lem \[Lem:Sec4a\] (b) ]{} (C2); (D2) edge \[shorten <= 2pt, shorten >= 2pt\] node\[below\] [Thm \[Thm:Sec2a\] ]{} (E2); (C2) edge \[shorten <= 2pt, shorten >= 2pt\] node\[below right\] [Thm \[Thm:Sec3a\] (c) ]{} (D2); (Z2) edge \[shorten <= 2pt, shorten >= 2pt\] node\[below right\] [ ]{} (E2); ; Simulation results {#SecSimulation} ================== In Sections \[SecSMRFrugality\] and \[SecMaxDSep\], we proved that the [MDR]{} assumption is strictly weaker than the CFC and stronger than the P-minimality assumption for both DAG and DCG models, and the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is stronger than the P-minimality assumption for DCG models. In this section, we support our theoretical results with numerical experiments on small-scale Gaussian linear DCG models (see e.g., [@Spirtes1995]) using the generic Algorithm \[algorithm\]. We also provide a comparison of Algorithm \[algorithm\] to state-of-the-art algorithms for small-scale DCG models in terms of recovering the skeleton of a DCG model. Step 1: Find all conditional independence statements $\widehat{CI}(\mathbb{P})$ using a conditional independence test Step 2: Find the set of graphs $\widehat{\mathcal{G}}$ satisfying the given identifiability assumption $\widehat{\mathcal{M}}(G) \gets \emptyset$ $\widehat{S}(G) \gets \emptyset$ DCG model and simulation setup ------------------------------ Our simulation study involves simulating DCG models from $p$-node random Gaussian linear DCG models where the distribution $\mathbb{P}$ is defined by the following linear structural equations: $$\label{eq:GGM} (X_1,X_2,\cdots,X_p)^T = B^T (X_1,X_2,\cdots,X_p)^T + \epsilon$$ where $B \in \mathbb{R}^{p \times p}$ is an edge weight matrix with $B_{jk} = \beta_{jk}$ and $\beta_{jk}$ is a weight of an edge from $X_j$ to $X_k$. Furthermore, $\epsilon \sim \mathcal{N}(\mathbf{0}_{p}, I_p)$ where $\mathbf{0}_{p} = (0,0,\cdots,0)^T \in \mathbb{R}^{p}$ and $I_p \in \mathbb{R}^{p \times p}$ is the identity matrix. The matrix $B$ encodes the DCG structure since if $\beta_{jk}$ is non-zero, $X_j \to X_k$ and the pair $(X_j, X_k)$ is really adjacent, otherwise there is no directed edge from $X_j$ to $X_k$. In addition if there is a set of nodes $S = (s_1, s_2,\cdots,s_t)$ such that the product of $\beta_{j s_1}, \beta_{k s_1}, \beta_{s_1 s_2}, \cdots, \beta_{s_t j}$ is non-zero, the pair $(X_j, X_k)$ is virtually adjacent. Note that if the graph is a DAG, we would need to impose the constraint that $B$ is upper triangular; however for DCGs we impose no such constraints. We present simulation results for two sets of models, DCG models where edges and directions are determined randomly, and DCG models whose edges have a specific graph structure. For the set of random DCG models, the simulation was conducted using $100$ realizations of 5-node random Gaussian linear DCG models where we impose sparsity by assigning a probability that each entry of the matrix $B$ is non-zero and we set the expected neighborhood size range from $1$ (sparse graph) to $4$ (fully connected graph) depending on the non-zero edge weight probability. Furthermore the non-zero edge weight parameters were chosen uniformly at random from the range $\beta_{jk} \in [-1, -0.25] \cup [0.25, 1]$ which ensures the edge weights are bounded away from $0$. We also ran simulations using $100$ realizations of a 5-node Gaussian linear DCG models with specific graph structures, namely trees, bipartite graphs, and cycles. Figure \[fig:Sec5g\] shows examples of skeletons of these special graphs. We generate these graphs as follows: First, we set the skeleton for our desired graph based on Figure. \[fig:Sec5g\] and then determine the non-zero edge weights which are chosen uniformly at random from the range $\beta_{jk} \in [-1, -0.25] \cup [0.25, 1]$. Second, we repeatedly assign a randomly chosen direction to each edge until every graph has at least one possible directed cycle. Therefore, the bipartite graphs always have at least one directed cycle. However, tree graphs have no cycles because they have no cycles in the skeleton. For cycle graphs, we fix the directions of edges to have a directed cycle $X_1 \to X_2 \to \cdots \to X_5 \to X_1$. \(A) at (0,0) [$X_1$]{}; (B) at (1.5, 1) [$X_2$]{}; (C) at (1.5,-1) [$X_3$]{}; (D) at (3, 2) [$X_4$]{}; (E) at (3, 0) [$X_5$]{}; (G1) at(1.5,-2) [Tree (1)]{}; \(A) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B); (A) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (B) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (D); (B) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (E); \(A) at (5.7, 0.5) [$X_1$]{}; (B) at (4.2, 0.5) [$X_2$]{}; (C) at (7.2, 0.5) [$X_3$]{}; (D) at (5.7, 2.0) [$X_4$]{}; (E) at (5.7, -1.0) [$X_5$]{}; (G1) at(5.7, -2.0) [Tree (2)]{}; \(A) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B); (A) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (A) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (D); (A) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (E); (A2) at (8.7,0.5) [$X_1$]{}; (B2) at (10.2, 2) [$X_2$]{}; (C2) at (10.2, 0.5) [$X_3$]{}; (D2) at (10.2,-1) [$X_4$]{}; (E2) at (11.7, 0.5) [$X_5$]{}; (G1) at (10.2, -2) [Bipartite]{}; (A2) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B2); (A2) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (A2) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (D2); (B2) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (E2); (C2) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (E2); (D2) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (E2); \(A) at (13.0, 1.0) [$X_1$]{}; (B) at (14.4, 2.0) [$X_2$]{}; (C) at (15.5, 0.5) [$X_3$]{}; (D) at (14.7,-1.0) [$X_4$]{}; (E) at (13.0,-0.5) [$X_5$]{}; (G1) at(14.2, -2.0) [Cycle]{}; \(A) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B); (B) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C); (C) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (D); (D) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (E); (E) edge \[-, shorten <= 1pt, shorten >= 1pt\] node\[above \][ ]{} (A); Comparison of assumptions ------------------------- In this section we provide a simulation comparison between the SMR, MDR, CFC and minimality assumptions. The CI statements were estimated based on $n$ independent samples drawn from $\mathbb{P}$ using Fisher’s conditional correlation test with significance level $\alpha = 0.001$. We detected all directed graphs satisfying the CMC and we measured what proportion of graphs in the simulation satisfy each assumption (CFC, [MDR]{}, identifiable [SMR]{}, P-minimality). In Figures \[fig:Sec5a\], \[fig:Sec5b\] and \[fig:Sec5e\], we simulated how restrictive each identifiability assumption (CFC, [MDR]{}, identifiable [SMR]{}, P-minimality) is for random DCG models and specific graph structures with sample sizes $n \in \{100, 200, 500, 1000\}$ and expected neighborhood sizes from $1$ (sparse graph) to $4$ (fully connected graph). As shown in Figures \[fig:Sec5b\] and \[fig:Sec5e\], the proportion of graphs satisfying each assumption increases as sample size increases because of fewer errors in CI tests. Furthermore, there are more DCG models satisfying the [MDR]{} assumption than the CFC and less DCG models satisfying the [MDR]{} assumption than the P-minimality assumption for all sample sizes and different expected neighborhood sizes. We can also see similar relationships between the CFC, identifiable [SMR]{} and P-minimality assumptions. The simulation study supports our theoretical result that the [MDR]{} assumption is weaker than the CFC but stronger than the P-minimality assumption, and the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is stronger than the P-minimality assumption. Although there are no theoretical guarantees that the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is stronger than the [MDR]{} assumption and weaker than the CFC, Figures \[fig:Sec5a\] and \[fig:Sec5b\] represent that the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption is substantially stronger than the [MDR]{} assumption and weaker than the CFC on average. [.30]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.10]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.10]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.10]{} Comparison to state-of-the-art algorithms ----------------------------------------- In this section, we compare Algorithm \[algorithm\] to state-of-the-art algorithms for small-scale DCG models in terms of recovering the skeleton $S(G)$ for the graph. This addresses the issue of how likely Algorithm \[algorithm\] based on each assumption is to recover the skeleton of a graph compared to state-of-the-art algorithms. Once again we used Fisher’s conditional correlation test with significance level $\alpha = 0.001$ for Step 1) of Algorithm \[algorithm\], and we used the MDR and identifiable [SMR]{} assumptions for Step 2). For comparison algorithms, we used the state-of-the-art GES algorithm [@chickering2002finding] and the FCI$+$ algorithms [@claassen2013learning] for small-scale DCG models. We used the R package ’pcalg’ [@Kalisch2012] for the FCI$+$ algorithm, and ’bnlearn’ [@scutari2009learning] for the GES algorithm. [.30]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.10]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.10]{} Figures \[fig:Sec5c\] and \[fig:Sec5d\] show recovery rates of skeletons for random DCG models with sample sizes $n \in \{100, 200, 500, 1000\}$ and expected neighborhood sizes from $1$ (sparse graph) to $4$ (fully connected graph). Our simulation results show that the accuracy increases as sample size increases because of fewer errors in CI tests. Algorithms \[algorithm\] based on the [MDR]{} and identifiable [SMR]{} assumptions outperforms the FCI$+$ algorithm on average. For dense graphs, we see that the GES algorithm out-performs other algorithms because the GES algorithm often prefers dense graphs. However, the GES algorithm is not theoretically consistent and cannot recover directed graphs with cycles while other algorithms are designed for recovering DCG models (see e.g., Figure \[fig:Sec5f\]). [.30]{} [.30]{} [.30]{} [.10]{} Figure \[fig:Sec5f\] shows the accuracy for each type of graph (Tree, Cycle, Bipartite) using Algorithms \[algorithm\] based on the [MDR]{} and identifiable [SMR]{} assumptions and the GES and the FCI$+$ algorithms. Simulation results show that Algorithms \[algorithm\] based on the [MDR]{} and identifiable [SMR]{} assumptions are favorable in comparison to the FCI+ and GES algorithms for small-scale DCG models. Acknowledgement {#acknowledgement .unnumbered} =============== GP and GR were both supported by NSF DMS-1407028 over the duration of this project. Appendix ======== Examples for Theorem \[Thm:Sec3a\] (d) {#examples-for-theoremthmsec3a-d .unnumbered} -------------------------------------- \(A) at(0,0) [$X_1$]{}; (B) at(2.0,0) [$X_2$]{}; (C) at(4, 0) [$X_3$]{}; (D) at(6,0) [$X_4$]{}; (E) at(4,2) [$X_5$]{}; (G1) at(4, -1.2) [$G_1$]{}; (A2) at(8,0) [$X_1$]{}; (B2) at(10,0) [$X_2$]{}; (C2) at(12,0) [$X_3$]{}; (D2) at(14,0) [$X_4$]{}; (E2) at(12,2) [$X_5$]{}; (G1) at(12, -1.2) [$G_2$]{}; \(A) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ $\alpha_1$ ]{} (B); (B) edge \[bend left =25\] node\[below\] [ $\alpha_3$ ]{} (C); (C) edge \[bend left =25\] node\[below\] [ $\alpha_5$ ]{} (B); (D) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ $\alpha_4$ ]{} (C); (B) edge \[left =25\] node\[above left\] [ $-\alpha_3 \alpha_7$ ]{} (E); (C) edge \[left =25\] node\[left\] [ $\alpha_7$ ]{} (E); (E) edge \[left =25, color= red\] node\[above right\] [ $\alpha_2$]{} (D); (A2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (B2); (B2) edge \[bend left =25\] node\[below\] [ ]{} (C2); (C2) edge \[bend left =25\] node\[below\] [ ]{} (B2); (D2) edge \[left =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (C2); (B2) edge \[left =25\] node\[above left\] [ ]{} (E2); (C2) edge \[left =25\] node\[left\] [ ]{} (E2); (D2) edge \[left =25, color= red\] node\[above right\] [ ]{} (E2); Suppose that $(G_1,\mathbb{P})$ is a Gaussian linear DCG model with specified edge weights in Figure \[Fig:App2\]. With this choice of distribution $\mathbb{P}$ based on $G_1$ in Figure \[Fig:App2\], we have a set of CI statements which are the same as the set of d-separation rules entailed by $G_1$ and an additional set of CI statements, $CI(\mathbb{P}) \supset \{ X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_4 \|~ \emptyset \textrm{, or } X_5,~ X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_5 \|~ \emptyset \textrm{, or } X_4\}$. It is clear that $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC, $D_{sep}(G_1) \subset D_{sep}(G_2)$ and $D_{sep}(G_1) \neq D_{sep}(G_2)$ (explained in Section \[SecSMRFrugality\]). This implies that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ fails to satisfy the P-minimality assumption. Now we prove that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the weak [SMR]{} assumption. Suppose that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ does not satisfy the weak [SMR]{} assumption. Then there exists a $G$ such that $(G,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and has fewer edges than $G_1$. By Lemma \[Lem:Sec3b\], if $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CFC, $G$ satisfies the weak [SMR]{} assumption. Note that $G_1$ does not have edges between $(X_1, X_4)$ and $(X_1, X_5)$. Since the only additional conditional independence statements that are not entailed by $G_1$ are $\{ X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_4 \|~ \emptyset \textrm{, or } X_5,~ X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_5 \|~ \emptyset \textrm{, or } X_4\}$, no graph that satisfies the CMC with respect to $\mathbb{P}$ can have fewer edges than $G_1$. This leads to a contradiction and hence $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the weak [SMR]{} assumption. Proof of Lemma \[Lem:Sec4a\] (a) {#Proof:lemma(a)} --------------------------------- (Y1) at (0,0) [$X_1$]{}; (Y2) at (2,1.7) [$X_2$]{}; (Y3) at (2,0) [$X_3$]{}; (Y4) at (2,-1.7) [$X_4$]{}; (Y5) at (4,0) [$X_5$]{}; (Y12) at (2,-2.7) [$G_1$]{}; (Y1) edge \[right =-35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y3); (Y2) edge \[bend right = 30, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y1); (Y2) edge \[bend right =-35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y4); (Y2) edge \[bend right = -30\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y4) edge \[bend right = 30 \] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y5) edge \[bend right =35, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y1); (Y5) edge \[right =35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y3); (X1) at (7,0) [$X_1$]{}; (X2) at (9,1.7) [$X_2$]{}; (X3) at (9,0) [$X_3$]{}; (X4) at (9,-1.7) [$X_4$]{}; (X5) at (11,0) [$X_5$]{}; (X12) at (9,-2.7) [$G_2$]{}; (X1) edge \[bend right =-30, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X2); (X1) edge \[right =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X3); (X4) edge \[bend right =-30, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X1); (X2) edge \[bend right =-30\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X5); (X5) edge \[right =25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X3); (X4) edge \[bend right =30\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (X5); Here we show that $(G_1,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable SMR assumption and and $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the MDR assumption, where $\mathbb{P}$ has the following CI statements: $$\begin{aligned} CI(\mathbb{P}) = \{ & X_2 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_3 \mid (X_1, X_5) \textrm{ or } (X_1, X_4, X_5); X_2 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_4 \mid X_1; \\ & X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_4 \mid (X_2, X_5) \textrm{ or } (X_2, X_3, X_5); X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_5 \mid (X_2, X_4); \\ & X_3 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_4 \mid (X_1, X_5), (X_2, X_5),\textrm{ or } (X_1, X_2, X_5) \}.\end{aligned}$$ Clearly both DAGs $G_1$ and $G_2$ do not belong to the same [MEC]{} since they have different skeletons. To be explicit, we state all d-separation rules entailed by $G_1$ and $G_2$. Both graphs entail the following sets of d-separation rules: - $X_2$ is d-separated from $X_3$ given $(X_1, X_5)$ or $(X_1, X_4, X_5)$. - $X_3$ is d-separated from $X_4$ given $(X_1, X_5)$ or $(X_1, X_2, X_5)$. The set of d-separation rules entailed by $G_1$ which are not entailed by $G_2$ is as follows: - $X_1$ is d-separated from $X_4$ given $(X_2, X_5)$ or $(X_2, X_4, X_5)$. - $X_3$ is d-separated from $X_4$ given $(X_2, X_5)$. Furthermore, the set of d-separation rules entailed by $G_2$ which are not entailed by $G_1$ is as follows: - $X_1$ is d-separated from $X_5$ given $(X_2, X_4)$. - $X_2$ is d-separated from $X_4$ given $X_1$. With our choice of distribution, both DAG models $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ and $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfy the CMC and it is straightforward to see that $G_2$ has fewer edges than $G_1$ while $G_1$ entails more d-separation rules than $G_2$. It can be shown from an exhaustive search that there is no graph $G$ such that $G$ is sparser or as sparse as $G_2$ and $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC. Moreover, it can be shown that $G_1$ entails the maximum d-separation rules amongst graphs satisfying the CMC with respect to the distribution again through an exhaustive search. Therefore $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [MDR]{} assumption and $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption. Proof of Lemma \[Lem:Sec4a\] (b) {#Proof:lemma(b)} --------------------------------- (Z1) at (0, 0) [$X_1$]{}; (Z2) at (3, 3) [$X_2$]{}; (Z3) at (3, 0) [$X_3$]{}; (Z4) at (3, -3) [$X_4$]{}; (Z5) at (6, 0) [$X_5$]{}; (Z6) at (1.5, 1.5) [$X_6$]{}; (Z7) at (3, 1.5) [$X_7$]{}; (Z8) at (4.5, 1.5) [$X_8$]{}; (Z9) at (1.5,-1.5) [$X_9$]{}; (Z10) at (3, -1.5) [$X_{10}$]{}; (Z11) at (4.5,-1.5) [$X_{11}$]{}; (K1) at (1.7, 4.2) [$~Y~$]{} ; (Z12) at (3,-4) [$G_1$]{}; (Z1) edge \[bend right=-35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z2); (Z3) edge \[right=25, color =red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z1); (Z1) edge \[ bend right= 35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z4); (Z2) edge \[bend right= -35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z5); (Z5) edge \[right=25, color = red\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z3); (Z4) edge \[bend right=35\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z5); (Z2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z6); (Z2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z7); (Z2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z8); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z6); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z7); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z8); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z9); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z10); (Z3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z11); (Z4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z9); (Z4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z10); (Z4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z11); (Z2) edge \[-, dotted, color =red, thick, bend right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z4); (Z2) edge \[-, dotted, color =red, thick, bend right=10\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (K1); (K1) edge \[-, dotted, color =red, thick, bend right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z4); (Z1) edge \[bend right=-25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (K1); (K1) edge \[bend right=-45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Z5); (K2) at (10.7, 4.2) [$~Y~$]{} ; (Y1) at (9,0) [$X_1$]{}; (Y2) at (12,3) [$X_2$]{}; (Y3) at (12,0) [$X_3$]{}; (Y4) at (12,-3) [$X_4$]{}; (Y5) at (15,0) [$X_5$]{}; (Y6) at (10.5,1.5) [$X_6$]{}; (Y7) at (12,1.5) [$X_7$]{}; (Y8) at (13.5,1.5) [$X_8$]{}; (Y9) at (10.5,-1.5) [$X_9$]{}; (Y10) at (12,-1.5) [$X_{10}$]{}; (Y11) at (13.5,-1.5) [$X_{11}$]{}; (Y12) at (12,-4) [$G_2$]{}; (Y1) edge \[bend right=-35\] node\[above left\] [ ]{} (Y2); (Y1) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ $\beta_1$ ]{} (Y3); (Y1) edge \[bend right=35\] node\[below left\] [ ]{} (Y4); (Y2) edge \[bend right=-35\] node\[above right\] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y5) edge \[right=25, color = red\] node\[above\] [ $\beta_2$ ]{} (Y3); (Y4) edge \[bend right=35\] node\[below right\] [ ]{} (Y5); (Y2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y6); (Y2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y7); (Y2) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y8); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y6); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y7); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y8); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y9); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y10); (Y3) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y11); (Y4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y9); (Y4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y10); (Y4) edge \[right=25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y11); (Y1) edge \[bend right= 25, color = red\] node\[ above left \] [$\beta_1 \beta_2~~~~~~$ ]{} (Y5); (Y1) edge \[bend right=-25\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (K2); (K2) edge \[bend right=-45\] node\[above\] [ ]{} (Y5); Suppose that the pair $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ is a Gaussian linear DCG model with specified edge weights in Figure \[fig:Sec4dA\], where the non-specified edge weights can be chosen arbitrarily. Once again to be explicit, we state all d-separation rules entailed by $G_1$ and $G_2$. Both graphs entail the following sets of d-separation rules: - For any node $A \in \{X_6,X_7,X_8\}$ and $B \in \{X_1,X_5\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_2, X_3\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{ X_1,X_4,X_5,X_6,X_7,X_8, X_9, X_{10}, X_{11},Y \} \setminus \{A,B\}$. - For any node $A \in \{X_9,X_{10},X_{11}\}$ and $B \in \{X_1,X_5\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_3, X_4\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1, X_2, X_3, X_5,X_6,X_7,X_8, X_9, X_{10}$ $, X_{11},Y \} \setminus \{A,B\}$. - For any nodes $A,B \in \{X_6,X_7, X_8\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_2,$ $X_3\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_4,X_5,X_6,X_7,X_8,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$. - For any nodes $A,B \in \{X_9,X_{10}, X_{11}\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_3,X_4\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_2,X_5,X_6,X_7,X_8,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$. - For any nodes $A \in \{X_6,X_7, X_8\}$ and $B \in \{X_4\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_2,X_3\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_4,X_5,X_6,X_7,X_8,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$, or given $\{X_1,X_2,X_5\} \cup D$ for any $D \subset \{X_4,X_6,X_7,X_8,Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$. - For any nodes $A \in \{X_6, X_7, X_8\}$ and $B \in \{Y\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_2,X_3\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_4,X_5,X_6,X_7,X_8,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$, or given $\{X_1,X_2,X_5\} \cup D$ for any $D \subset \{X_4,X_6,X_7,X_8,,X_9,X_{10}$ $,X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$. - For any nodes $A \in \{X_9,X_{10}, X_{11}\}$ and $B \in \{X_2\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_3,X_4\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_2,X_5,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$, or given $\{X_1,X_4,X_5\} \cup D$ for any $D \subset \{X_2,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$. - For any nodes $A \in \{X_9,X_{10}, X_{11}\}$ and $B \in \{Y\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_3,X_4\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_2,X_5,X_6,X_7,X_8,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$, or given $\{X_1,X_4,X_5\} \cup D$ for any $D \subset \{X_2,X_6,X_7,X_8,X_9,X_{10}$ $,X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B\}$. - For any nodes $A\in \{X_6,X_7, X_8\}$, $B \in \{X_9,X_{10}, X_{11}\}$, $A$ is d-separated from $B$ given $\{X_3\} \cup C \cup D$ for $C \subset \{X_1,X_2,X_4\}$, $C \neq \emptyset$ and $D \subset \{X_1,X_2,X_4,X_5,X_6,X_7,X_8,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y \}\setminus\{A,B,C\}$. - $X_2$ is d-separated from $X_3$ given $\{X_1, X_5\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_4,X_5,$ $X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y\}$. - $X_3$ is d-separated from $X_4$ given $\{X_1, X_5\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_4,X_5,X_6$ $,X_7,X_8,Y\}$. - $X_3$ is d-separated from $Y$ given $\{X_1, X_5\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_4,X_5,X_6$ $,X_7,X_8,X_9,X_{10},X_{11}\}$. - $X_2$ is d-separated from $X_3$ given $\{X_1, X_5\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_4,X_9$ $,X_{10},X_{11}, Y\}$. - $X_4$ is d-separated from $X_3$ given $\{X_1, X_5\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_2,X_6,X_7$ $,X_8, Y\}$. - $Y$ is d-separated from $X_3$ given $\{X_1, X_5\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_2,X_6,X_7,X_8$ $,X_4,X_9,X_{10},X_{11}\}$. The set of d-separation rules entailed by $G_1$ that is not entailed by $G_2$ is as follows: - $X_1$ is d-separated from $X_5$ given $\{X_2,X_3,X_4,Y\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_6,X_7$ $,X_8, X_9,X_{10},X_{11}\}$. Furthermore, the set of d-separation rules entailed by $G_2$ that is not entailed by $G_1$ is as follows: - $X_2$ is d-separated from $X_4$ given $X_1$ or $\{ X_1, Y\}$. - $X_2$ is d-separated from $Y $ given $X_1$ or $\{ X_1, X_4\}$. - $X_4$ is d-separated from $Y $ given $X_1$ or $\{ X_1, X_2\}$. It can then be shown that by using the co-efficients specified for $G_2$ in Figure \[fig:Sec4dA\], $CI(\mathbb{P})$ is the union of the CI statements implied by the sets of d-separation rules entailed by both $G_1$ and $G_2$. Therefore $(G_1,\mathbb{P})$ and $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ satisfy the CMC. It is straightforward to see that $G_2$ is sparser than $G_1$ while $G_1$ entails more d-separation rules than $G_2$. Now we prove that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [MDR]{} assumption and $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption. First we prove that $(G_2, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption. Suppose that $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ does not satisfy the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption. Then there exists a $G$ such that $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G$ has the same number of edges as $G_2$ or fewer edges than $G_2$. Since the only additional CI statements that are not implied by the d-separation rules of $G_2$ are $X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_5 \mid \{X_2,X_3,X_4,Y\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_6,X_7,X_8, X_9,X_{10},X_{11}\}$ and $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC, we can consider two graphs, one with an edge between $(X_1, X_5)$ and another without an edge between $(X_1, X_5)$. We firstly consider a graph without an edge between $(X_1, X_5)$. Since $G$ does not have an edge between $(X_1, X_5)$ and by Lemma \[Lem:Sec3a\], $G$ should entail at least one d-separation rule from (a) $X_1$ is d-separated from $X_5$ given $\{X_2,X_3,X_4,Y\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_6,X_7,X_8, X_9,X_{10},X_{11}\}$. If $G$ does not have an edge between $(X_2, X_3)$, by Lemma \[Lem:Sec3a\] $G$ should entail at least one d-separation rule from (10) $X_2$ is d-separated from $X_3$ given $\{X_1, X_5\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_1,X_4,X_5,X_9,X_{10},X_{11},Y\}$. These two sets of d-separation rules can exist only if a cycle $X_1 \to X_2 \to X_5 \to X_3 \to X_1$ or $X_1 \leftarrow X_2 \leftarrow X_5 \leftarrow X_3 \leftarrow X_1$ exists. In the same way, if $G$ does not have edges between $(X_3, X_4)$ and $(X_3, Y)$, there should be cycles which are $X_1 \to A \to X_5 \to X_3 \to X_1$ or $X_1 \leftarrow A \leftarrow X_5 \leftarrow X_3 \leftarrow X_1$ for any $A \in \{X_4, Y\}$ as occurs in $G_1$. However these cycles create virtual edges between $(X_2, X_4), (X_2, Y)$ or $(X_4, Y)$ as occurs in $G_1$. Therefore $G$ should have at least 3 edges either real or virtual edges. This leads to a contradiction that $G$ has the same number of edges of $G_2$ or fewer edges than $G_2$. Secondly, we consider a graph $G$ with an edge between $(X_1, X_5)$ such that $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G$ has fewer edges than $G_2$. Note that $G_1$ entails the maximum number of d-separation rules amongst graphs with an edge between $(X_1, X_5)$ satisfying the CMC because $CI(\mathbb{P}) \setminus \{X_1 {\protect\mathpalette{\protect\independenT}{\perp}}X_5 \mid \{X_2,X_3,X_4,Y\} \cup C$ for any $C \subset \{X_6,X_7,X_8, X_9, X_{10},X_{11}\}$ is exactly matched to the d-separation rules entailed by $G_1$. This leads to $D_{sep}(G) \subset D_{sep}(G_1)$ and $D_{sep}(G) \neq D_{sep}(G_1)$. By Lemma \[Lem:Sec3b\], $G$ cannot contain fewer edges than $G_1$. However since $G_2$ has fewer edges than $G_1$, it is contradictory that $G$ has the same number of edges of $G_2$ or fewer edges than $G_2$. Therefore, $(G_2,\mathbb{P})$ satisfies the identifiable [SMR]{} assumption. Now we prove that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the [MDR]{} assumption. Suppose that $(G_1, \mathbb{P})$ fails to satisfy the [MDR]{} assumption. Then, there is a graph $G$ such that $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC and $G$ entails more d-separation rules than $G_1$ or as many d-separation rules as $G_1$. Since $(G, \mathbb{P})$ satisfies the CMC, in order for $G$ to entail at least the same number of d-separation rules entailed by $G_1$, $G$ should entail at least one d-separation rule from (b) $X_2$ is d-separated from $X_4$ given $X_1$ or $\{ X_1, Y\}$, (c) $X_2$ is d-separated from $Y$ given $X_1$ or $\{ X_1, X_4\}$ and (d) $X_4$ is d-separated from $Y $ given $X_1$ or $\{ X_1, X_2\}$. This implies that $G$ does not have an edge between $(X_2, X_4)$, $(X_2, Y)$ or $(X_4, Y)$ by Lemma \[Lem:Sec3a\]. As we discussed, there is no graph satisfying the CMC without edges $(X_2, X_4)$, $(X_2, Y)$, $(X_4, Y)$, and $(X_1, X_5)$ unless $G$ has additional edges as occurs in $G_1$. Note that the graph $G$ entails at most six d-separation rules than $G_1$ (the total number of d-separation rules of (b), (c), and (d)). However, adding any edge in the graph $G$ generates more than six more d-separation rules because by Lemma \[Lem:Sec3a\], $G$ loses an entire set of d-separation rules from the sets (1) to (15) which each contain more than six d-separation rules. This leads to a contradiction that $G$ entails more d-separation rules than $G_1$ or as many d-separation rules as $G_1$.	{ "pile_set_name": "ArXiv" }
Tea Makes Everything Better Does a hot cup of tea REALLY make everything better? There are many cute signs which promise there’s a tea for everything. Being an avid tea drinker, I understand the meaning behind the memes. The simple process of preparing tea is contemplative. You can’t rush tea. It has its own time schedule. Waiting for the boil of the water and steeping of the leaves, allows me to slow down and prepare my heart. Drinking a hot cup of tea calms my nerves, soothes my spirit, and relaxes my mind. When I’m stressed it untangles me. During times of hurt, it coats my inner pain. When my mind is so crowded I’ve left no spiritual whitespace, it erases the margins and opens up the mental page I’m thinking on. I’ve given thought to why tea makes everything better for me. I believe It positions me to slow down so I can hear God better and be stirred by His Holy Spirit. Why not take time today to indulge in a hot cuppa and spend time with The One who can make everything better? Share this: Like this: LikeLoading... Published by junesteacuptreasures It’s true! I am a Certifed Teacup Indulgent. I have multiple China cabinets stuffed strategically with all shapes and sizes. There’s always room for one more. I love visiting estate sales, well, any type of sales where teacups might lurk. It’s a treasure hunt. I’m an avid reader, author, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. I am active in my church, a member of American Christian Writers Association, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, and Christian Writers of Southeast San Antonio. I am a Texas transplant from Michigan, and reside in San Antonio with my husband, Nick. View all posts by junesteacuptreasures PublishedApril 16, 2019 Post navigation 4 thoughts on “Tea Makes Everything Better” Just now, the realization hit me. June Chapko’s multiple talents have been influential in my life for over 30 years. My latest cuppa of inspiration comes from her book the Estate Sale. Once I begin reading it, I was unable to put it down until I finished it. And now, I am anxiously awaiting Book 2 of this Legacy Series. I am doing some work for June, and I stumbled across her reference to an age-old British adage, “tea solves everything”. Cheryl and I know an Anglican-Catholic priest from England who told us a cup of tea is a great source of comfort.no matter the situation. “Oh, your home burned down? Have a cup of tea.” “oh, no! You were in an accident? Have a cup of tea.” He went on in this vein for many more minutes to further illustrate his point. And Cheryl has known for years the health advantages of drinking tea. So I was joyfully surprised to, * serendipity *, find both aspects of tea to be borne out to be absolutely true after researching June’s phrase, “tea solves everything”. It turns out reading June’s books are beneficial not only to your spiritual health but to your physical health as well. So live longer, healthier, leaner, and more stress-free while reducing your risk of heart problems and of certain types of cancer by drinking tea and by reading June’s books! https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/a-cup-of-tea-solves-everything-505302 Thank you, Hal for such a great recommendation for my book. I do have to say…reading my book will not reduce your risk of any health problems, but it will increase your risk of wanting to read book two, Legacy’s Path, coming very soon.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
After an 18-month investigation into the high cost of Gilead’s hepatitis C drug Sovaldi—initially listed at $84,000 for a course of treatment or $1,000 per pill—the Senate Finance Committee said the prices did not reflect the cost of research and development and that Gilead cared about “revenue” not “affordability and accessibility.” That sounds like an understatement. Sovaldi and the related pill Harvoni cost Medicare and Medicaid more than $5 billion in 2014, charged senators. ADVERTISEMENT But Gilead is far from the only drug company camping out on our tax dollars. In the 2000s, atypical antipsychotics were widely prescribed to children with behavior problems enrolled in Medicaid programs provoking lawsuits from states as their budgets were sacked. In 2008, the Texas attorney general’s office charged Risperdal maker Janssen (Johnson & Johnson’s psychiatric drug unit) with defrauding the state of millions “with [its] sophisticated and fraudulent marketing scheme,” to “secure a spot for the drug, Risperdal, on the state’s Medicaid preferred drug list and on controversial medical protocols that determine which drugs are given to adults and children in state custody.” The same year Alaska won a $15 million settlement from Eli Lilly in a suit to recoup medical costs generated by Medicaid patients who developed diabetes while taking Zyprexa. Taxpayer dollars are also churned by drug companies in military health programs. The Department of Veterans Affairs spent $717 million on 5 million prescriptions of Risperdal to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in troops deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq only to discover after nine years that the drug worked no better than a placebo, reported the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 2011. Drug companies have devised elaborate schemes for drug sales to states. The Texas attorney general’s office charged Janssen with bribing Texas’ mental health officials with trips, perks and kickbacks. Janssen also paid drug company-funded front groups, disguised to look like patients, to “give state mental health officials and lawmakers the perception that the drug had widespread support,” reported Bloomberg. Many alleged patient groups agitating for approval of expensive new drugs or fighting so-called “barriers” to treatment and mental illness “stigma” are actually slick drug company marketing creations. Many are entrenched in schools and on college campuses to capture “psychiatric patients” at an early age, often ensuring decades of sales. In Texas, a Medicaid “decision tree” called the Texas Medical Algorithm Project was instituted that mandates doctors prescribe the newest and most expensive psychiatric drugs first. The program was funded, not surprisingly, by the Johnson & Johnson-linked Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Another tactic drug companies use is “helping” states buy their own brand-name drugs. No conflict of interest there! An Eli Lilly-backed company named Comprehensive Neuroscience “helped” 24 states use Zyprexa “properly,” reported the New York Times. ADVERTISEMENT “Doctors who veer from guidelines on dosage strengths and combinations of medications for Medicaid patients are sent ‘Dear Doctor’ letters pointing out that their prescribing patterns fall outside the norm,” it reports. Doctors are also notified if patients “are renewing prescriptions,” lest they have “setbacks in their condition.” One such program sends registered nurses to the homes of patients who are on expensive brand drugs to ensure “compliance”–that they have not stopped taking the drugs. Just trying to help. According to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, the drug industry spent $272,000 in campaign donations per member of Congress last year. He reports that there are more drug company lobbyists than members of Congress. Even before Gilead’s $1000-a-pill hepatitis drug, the result of this unsavory lobbying is a $50 billion annual taxpayer gift to the drug industry–a fact that should outrage every taxpayer.	{ "pile_set_name": "OpenWebText2" }
202 F.2d 530 WOODWORKERS TOOL WORKSv.BYRNE. No. 13236. United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. March 10, 1953. Tripp & Calloway, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellant. John W. Olson, Los Angeles, Cal., for appellee. Before STEPHENS, HEALY, and POPE, Circuit Judges. HEALY, Circuit Judge. 1 This action is for damages for personal injury sustained by appellee in consequence of the disintegration of an allegedly defective panel raiser head manufactured by appellant, an Illinois corporation, and shipped by it to appellee's employer in California, of which state appellee is a resident. A verdict awarding damages was returned and a judgment entered thereon. 2 On appeal from that judgment, Woodworkers Tool Works v. Byrne, 9 Cir., 191 F.2d 667, this court held with appellee on the merits. But a motion of appellant to quash the service of summons had been denied by the trial court, and we thought, 191 F.2d at pages 670-673, that the showing before the court at the time the motion was ruled on, going to the issue whether appellant had constituted one Preuer by law an agent in California to receive service of process on its behalf, was insufficient to warrant the denial. We noted, however, that during the course of the trial substantial oral evidence had been received tending to show the existence of the necessary agency relationship between appellant and Preuer, and we summarize this evidence, 191 F.2d at page 673; but it was further noted that the trial judge regarded the jurisdictional problem as having already been determined, hence had not taken the oral evidence into account except for such bearing as it might have on the merits. 3 We were of opinion that the issue of the validity of the service, inasmuch as it was one of due process, was open to further examination and that the evidence adduced on the trial might properly be considered as supplementing the original showing on that issue. We said, 191 F.2d at page 673, that "if there be added to the evidence which was before the court at the time of the denial of the motion to quash the service of the summons the evidence adduced at the trial, particularly that of Preuer hereinbefore referred to there might be a basis to sustain a conclusion that Woodworkers Tool Works had made Preuer its agent. This issue cannot be resolved without a finding thereon by the trier of fact and therefore upon remand it will be necessary for the court below to make an appropriate finding upon the present record." 4 After consideration and disposition of the remaining issues the court made the following order: "To the end that the court below may determine the question of whether the evidence now in the record is sufficient to sustain Byrne's contention that Woodworkers Tool Works made Woodworkers Supply Company, viz., Preuer, its agent for the service of process in California, we vacate the judgment and remand the cause with the direction to the court below to proceed to determine that issue. If the court determines the evidence of agency to be sufficient it will possess the authority to reinstate the judgment."1 5 Neither party petitioned for a rehearing. 6 Upon remand the trial court on the existing record made appropriate findings of fact as shown in the footnote,2 and concluded that at and prior to time of service appellant was doing business in California through Preuer as its agent, and had by law constituted him its agent in California to receive service of process in its behalf. The judgment was ordered reinstated. 7 From the reinstated judgment appellant has taken the present appeal, claiming that the evidence is insufficient to support the court's finding of agency. Is the point now open to inquiry? We think not. This court's original decision constitutes the law of the case. It clearly implied that on the evidence in the record the issue was one of fact for the trial court's determination, not one of law for ourselves. Had we deemed the evidence insufficient as a matter of law to support a finding of jurisdiction it would have been worse than an impertinence to remand the case for a finding. We would have been obliged to reverse the judgment outright. Nor, if we were in doubt whether on that evidence a finding of jurisdiction could be sustained by us, would we have thought it proper to undertake at that juncture the very considerable and perhaps wholly futile task of passing on the merits. Taking the opinion by its four corners we construe it as holding that the trial court's finding of fact was to be accepted as conclusive of the question of the validity of the service. 8 True, the rule we apply here is not a compulsive principle akin to res judicata. The phrase law of the case expresses rather the general practice of the courts to decline to reopen what they have already in effect decided. Messenger v. Anderson, 225 U.S. 436, 444, 32 S.Ct. 739, 56 L.Ed. 1152. Cf. People of State of Illinois ex rel. Hunt v. Illinois Central R. Co., 184 U.S. 77, 91, 22 S.Ct. 300, 46 L.Ed. 440. The rule is grounded in large part on the policy of ending litigation, and in some instances on the want of power in an appellate court to modify its own judgments otherwise than on a rehearing. And it has been pointedly observed that if the practice were not followed, changes in the personnel of the court would produce confusion. Clary v. Hoagland, 6 Cal. 685; Oakley v. Aspinwall, 13 N.Y. 500, 501. For a comprehensive statement of the doctrine and for citations of the almost numberless cases bearing on it, see 5 C.J.S., Appeal and Error, § 1821 et seq.; 21 C.J.S., Courts, § 195 et seq. 9 Application of the doctrine in this instance would result in no injustice or hardship since a trial on the merits has already been had. 10 Affirmed. Notes: 1 The formal judgment entered by our clerk followed explicitly this language, and directed also an equal division of the costs of the appeal 2 "That Elmer Preuer is the sole proprietor of Woodworkers Supply Company; that defendant, Woodworkers Tool Works, a corporation, was engaged in selling its products in California through the agency of said Woodworkers Supply Company; that the panel raiser head involved in this action was sold to plaintiff's employer, Selby Company, in California by defendant through said Woodworkers Supply Company; that defendant had a running course of business every year and sold some of its items at all times in California through said Woodworkers Supply Company on a commission basis; that defendant's business of selling its products in California through the agency of said Woodworkers Supply Company was continuous and systematic; that said panel raiser head as well as other products of defendant sold in California were shipped by defendant company directly to the purchasers through orders received from Woodworkers Supply Company and paid for by purchasers through said Woodworkers Supply Company; that said Woodworkers Supply Company was the agent of defendant, Woodworkers Tool Works, as their identity of names implies."	{ "pile_set_name": "FreeLaw" }

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