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Female systemic lupus erythematosus in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan: a case-control study of dietary and reproductive factors.
To investigate risk factors of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in relation to diet and reproduction, a population-based case-control study was conducted during the period from October 1988 to October 1989 in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan. Included in the study were 52 female patients with the recent SLE onset. Two sex- and birth year-matched (+/- 2 years) controls for each patient were selected from the general population. The analysis on diet showed that the frequent intake of meat was associated with an increased risk (frequent vs. rare, relative risk (RR) 3.36; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10-10.24) and that the patients preferred fatty meat such as beef or pork. The analysis on menstrual history revealed that menstrual irregularity was also associated with an increased risk (RR 3.79; 95% CI 1.43-10.01). These results suggest that dietary and reproductive factors may be responsible for the onset and the progression of SLE. |
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Groupthought for the Day
It seems wherever you look in the skeptiverse, ‘Groupthink’ has gone absolutely ape-viral! All the most skeptical skeptics have caught the Groupthink! meme, and if you’re not talking about GROUPTHINK then, frankly, you should feel intense social shame. You’ve obviously been living in a cave, and I suggest you go back there.
It’s not our job at CliScep to do your homework for you. So if you still don’t know what Groupthink™ is—hint: it’s onlythe hottest meme on the Intertubez right now—I’m not going to walk you through it.
I probably couldn’t if I wanted to. Some people (*cough*) just weren’t meant to grasp certain concepts.
No offense, but wouldn’t you be happier among your own kind?
Everyone: please raise your hand if all these jokes about Groupthink® are going over your head. Be honest. There’s no wrong answer.
Just one? Fair enough. All right, now would the individual with her hand up please be a dear and… [makes buggering-off motion using ambulant fingers]?
OK, we’ll just wait while our… no, that’s the entry, dear—the exit door’s the otherway… wait while our friendcolleagueconspecific contemporary figures out the difference between PUSH and HSUP. [General hooting.]
Othered by her own hopelessly helpless cluelessness! Talk about awkward.
All right, now that we’re rid of the, shall we say [inaudible due to snickering] element , erm… good meeting, Group.
We’re adjourned. Solid work.
Oh! Don’t forget to bring those sharpened pottery shards for next time. We have a very special guest coming in who’s going to try to explain all about the etymological link between ostrakoi and climate ostriches, only to be ostracised mid-lecture in a humorously brutal fashion. It’s always our most popular session, so, as they say: be there or beware. Because no absence goes unnoticed.
All right, simmer down over there—it sounds like someone’s guessed the name of this year’s invitee—yes: it’s Dr Victim Venema [sic], OK, all right? Well done. So we’re going to need to be on our best [inaudible due to widespread hatred] ….give him a warm Group welcome.
It doesn’t work if they suspect.
Come on, disperse already. Save the venom for your homework. Remember: you’re all expected to be putting in Two Minutes Hate ter in die, with meals.
Religiously. That’s Latin for t.i.d.
Go home, people. What are you milling around here for? You do have robust identities and self-images independent of Group, don’t you?
that cartoon is unrealistic, almost to the point of cartoonishness. In a real courtroom situation, civil or criminal, the first thing the D.A. would do is subpoena the 900-lb gorilla as an independent witness to the elephant’s presence. While no gorilla can be compelled to give testimony that might incriminate himself, unless he’s actually married to the elephant he’s required (on pain of contempt of court) to say under oath whether the elephant’s version is correct to the best of his knowledge.
Brad, are you claiming that we have not evolved very much from the apes? That we must rely on testimony from a gorilla? What’s he going to do, point to symbols on cards? At least a chimp would have some fun with it. You see why we don’t take group thoughts from you Brad, since you are so obviously not a joiner! A further comment (h/t Tom Segalstad)
An example of highly harmful groupthink within a profession, and the wider implications in a population of emergent cultural adherence to the emotive narratives which enabled both examples, are depicted in the DVD ‘The Nazis: A warning from history’.
The first is the self-motivation of local doctors regarding the killing of disabled children. Armed with sanction from Hitler regarding only the single case of one father who had sent a written plea asking permission to euthanize his disabled baby, chief of the chancellery Philipp Bouhler instigated a pseudo-legal system requiring 3 doctors to fill in a form agreeing to the euthanizing of disabled babies. According to the DVD, the system extended and evolved (lower thresholds, increase from babies to young children, to less young children) over the years largely through the actions of the doctors themselves. There was no further involvement from Hitler, and the doctors eventually dispensed with Bouhler’s forms too. They simply decided themselves who to kill, and put ‘measles’ or some such on the death certificate, and went ahead, thousands and thousands of times. Within visionary cultural systems that dominate or override the law, schemes with radically different morality can self-establish at frightening speed. These doctors had groupthought themselves into the position that they were cleansing and improving the race, i.e they thought they were doing great net good. The system was never ordered from the top.
The second is revealed by the astonishment of US researchers who worked through all the papers of a captured Gestapo regional HQ, decades later. They’d expected a huge staff and a population heavily suppressed from the top. What they actually found was an incredibly small staff and a population that very effectively ruled themselves through fear. Earnest letters of denouncement poured into the Gestapo HQ every day; with most of the job done for them, agents merely drove round to net up the worst ‘offenders’.
The warning in the DVD is that these and many other terrible things are *not* exceptional in any way, and not constrained to history. They could happen again at any time from a newly emergent culture, because we are no less susceptible to emotive cultural influences than ever we were, and the terrible things happened more as bottom up from ordinary people than top down from an all-powerful leadership. Both the leadership and the grass-roots adherents emerged on the back of highly emotive narrative during a very confused and difficult time in Germany, which allowed the resultant culture to get its boost.
I’m thinking of becoming a Groupthink groupie and going to see them play at Wembley and trying to worm my way backstage to scream my approval of such communally aligned cerebral cortexes (cortices?). I wouldn’t miss Groupthink Floyd hammering out ‘Comfortably Numbskull’ at Wembley for all the world.
Groupthink swallows university departments whole. With a lack of diverse thought, university academic staffing levels reduced to bare minima with heads of departments sometimes the only groupenthinker needed to teach entire undergraduate cohorts. Classes of several hundred not unusual, but topics also restricted to groupthinken exercises. Minor universities being examined for takeover opportunities by providers of kindergarten services (now renamed studengarten centres). Society moving towards a “gentler, more agreeable, reputable, and respectable future”. What’s to argue with?
It takes a lot to get a reference in the INDEX of Dr. Mann’s “THE MADEHOUSE EFFECT, How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet. Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy.”
Dr. Mann’s seminal work, which would have been written in Latin and been dog eared by the leaders of the Enlightenment, make that the Spanish Inquisition, is being updated currently.
I hope to see your name in the Index of the next addition. Contacting a cartoonist to work with to generate a caricature of your mug for inclusion in the graphics of the next edition of the work seems like an activity you might want to schedule this month.
Here’s an example slightly less extreme than Andy West’s – so far. The French government has just outlined a sixty point plan to eliminate Islamic radicalisation. Fine, who could be against that? Except that France has already tightened their anti-terrorist laws four times in the past five years, with the result that grannies have gone to prison for the crime of sending money to their daughters who have been stupid enough to get themselves inseminated by French Daesh / ISIS fighters. No one was ever prosecuted for having a child by a Nazi war criminal, I think.
The plan covers prisons of course, but also schools, with a special programme to counter “complotisme” or conspiracy theorising. No more speculating in history lessons that not everything your government tells you is necessarily so. Any kid complaining that today’s freezing temperatures suggest that global warming is not all it’s cracked up to be will be under suspicion. I’d go into more detail but I intend to apply for French nationality soon, and – well – France is a great country, we’re all agreed about that.
But in these days of Global Dimming and Hemispheric Dhimmitude, anteropaleontologists project said organ will soon be reduced to a vestige of its current calorie-wasting glory, as the great human hobby of argumentation can safely be outsourced to a single subspecies, homo academicus sholkaskiyus.
Beth, I Liked your New Yorker cartoon because I didn’t want to be the only person in the room who didn’t get the joke. In so doing I inadvertently individuated myself because nobody else is pretending to understand it. D’oh! |
"50 pounds down." "It's been ten years since I've been able to slip into these." "I'm so proud of you." "Maybe-maybe hop a little." "Okay, okay." "I'll hop, you pull." "Ready?" "Yeah, yeah." "(grunting)" "Yeah!" "There he is." "Hello, sexy." "Hold on." "We're not out of the woods yet." "I still got to zip." "Ooh, ooh!" "Lay on the bed." "I'll grab some pliers." "Wait." "Yeah!" "(imitating Rocky):" "Ain't gonna be no rematch." "Ain't gonna be no rematch!" "Oh." "I bought these a decade ago after a both-ends stomach flu." "It nearly killed me, but I never looked better." "Until now." "You know, it's not everybody that can wear their flu pants." "And you did it the hard way." "Yep." "Diet and exercise." "I did more of the things I hate and ate less of the things I love." "Well, let's go show you off." "Where to first?" "I don't know." "Maybe try walking down the stairs." "Go from there." "Great." "Ooh!" "Right behind you." "If my ass wasn't numb, I would have really enjoyed that." "♪ La, la-Ba-Dee-da ♪" "♪ La, la-Ba-Dee-da ♪" "♪ For the first time in my life ♪" "♪ I see love ♪" "♪ I see love ♪" "♪ For the first time in my life ♪" "♪ I see love ♪" "I never thought I'd see the day." "Mike Biggs outrunning and apprehending a crook." "It's not my first foot pursuit, Carl." "Yeah, but it's the first time that you didn't quit after half a block and throw your nightstick at the guy." "I'll admit, two blocks in, I was ready to quit." "But when I realized he wasn't gonna drop that 50-inch plasma," "I knew I had him." "Welcome to Abe's, home of the hot beef." "Can I interest you gentlemen in some mozzarella sticks while you decide on your order?" "Why do you sound like a waiter?" "I'm not just a waiter, I am a part-owner of this restaurant, which means providing you with a quality dining experience while turning you upside down and shaking every penny from your pocket." "Metaphorically, in your case." "So, your mozzarella sticks." "Ranch or marinara?" "Not so quick." "How come I can't have both?" "You sly fox." "Two it is." "What are you doing?" "Can't you see you're being manipulated?" "Make sure to save room for our delicious apple pie." "Ooh, now, that sounds tempting." "Seriously?" "I thought you declared your mouth a no-pie zone." "Aw, one cheat in six months isn't gonna kill me." "It's not like I'm having ice cream on it." "For only a dollar more, you can." "Deal." "That can't be right." "Damn it!" "One piece of pie can't weigh five pounds!" "You ruin everything!" "Oh, that smells so good." "Yeah, egg white scramble." "Pretty amazing." "Just with a little, you know, grilled onion, spinach, tomato, mushroom, salt, pepper, garlic, bay seasoning, you know, you can really make it taste like something." "You still got the yolks?" "When we get back from the walk," "I might make a nice breakfast custard." "You'll do no such thing." "You're gonna start eating right, like Mikey's been doing." "Can't argue with the results." "Look at this guy." "I can just about Heimlich you." "Get off." "What?" "I'm impressed." "You went from a cautionary tale to a role model." "He sure did." "He's my biggest loser." "Look, uh, I realize I still have a ways to go, okay?" "What, are you kiddin' me?" "You finally got a handle on things." "When I first met you, I thought, "Holy moly, it's like a weather balloon wearing shoes."" "Mom, go walk him." "Please." "What'd I say?" "Let's go, boy." "Why can't people take compliments in this house?" "Here you go." "Uh, no, thanks, honey." "I-I think I'm gonna skip breakfast this morning." "Oh, come on." "Don't listen to Vince." "If he's not saying something dumb, he's saying something stupid." "No, it's not him." "I just don't feel like eating, okay?" "Fine." "You don't know what you're missing." "(hesitantly):" "Mmm..." "You really don't." "(chuckles)" "WOMAN:" "Number 36." "(sighs) Number 37." "Have you seen those screaming goats on the Internet?" "Yeah." "(mimics screaming goat)" "Sound like a damn human being." "(mimics screaming goat)" "Really unsettling." "I don't mean to get philosophical, but it goes against God." "(mimics screaming goat) I got it." "I got it." "You know what, you are in a mood, man." "You should have just ordered something." "I did." "Green tea with lemon." "Y-You skipped breakfast this morning, y-you're skipping lunch now..." "man, that's not healthy." "You know what's not healthy?" "A body that turns nine ounces of pie into five pounds of fat overnight." "WOMAN:" "Number 42!" "Right here." "You had to have lunch in Chinatown, didn't you?" "It smells so good I could go Godzilla on the whole neighborhood." "No, he's actually Japanese." "But I'm gonna let that go 'cause I like the imagery." "Oh." "(inhales deeply)" "Four dollars for all of this." "I mean, even if the chicken is pigeon, you can't beat that price." "Sure you don't want any?" "What do you think?" "Of course I do." "Well, man, grab some chopsticks." "Carl, I am trying so hard to stay on track." "Can you just support me in this, please?" "What are you worried about?" "You're doing great." "I am so sick of people saying that..." "I am not doing great." "I'm barely holding on." "If I let my guard down, 50 pounds will come back just like that." "Mm-mm." "Mm-mm." "Not while I'm watching your back." "The key is not putting yourself in the position where you can be tempted." "Mm... hold this while I get my soy sauce." "WOMAN:" "Number 44!" "Man, these things are persnickety." "Whew." "Look at this." "I am moo goo gai full." "I don't want to hear it." "You'll burn off half that walking to the toilet to crap out what hasn't already turned to muscle." "If nothing else, I am regular." "I could sew my lips shut and still never have a body like yours." "Yeah, well, I'll never have your beautiful blue eyes and a full head of hair..." "everybody's different, Mike." "Yeah, well, I drew the fat straw." "(chuckles) You sure you drew just one?" "Back off, Seely." "I'm not in the mood." "All right." "Take it easy." "For your information, my man lost 50 pounds." "Hey!" "That's great, Biggs!" "I thought you went down a cup size." "Whoa, take..." "I'm just playing with you." "Just playing." "You look great." "In fact, if this were the fair, I'd give you a blue ribbon." "What is it you need?" "Don't listen to him." "He's not worth it." "Just go home." "I got to get changed first." "Yeah, I'm fine, Carl." "All right." "You just keep your mouth shut." "Well, tell that to your partner." "'Cause I think that's his problem." "Now, now who has a problem?" "You do, man!" "He had it coming." "I'm not talking to you." "What the hell were you thinking?" "You heard the guy." "What was I supposed to do?" "What half the precinct does: ignore that fool and then sleep with his wife." "I'm sorry." "Seely deserved to get his butt kicked." "Yeah, well, congratulations." "Your heroics earned you a date with the police psychologist and a three-day suspension." "I thought I'd get at least two weeks... boy, even the captain hates that jackass." "Is this the new Mike Biggs?" "Hmm?" "Starves himself and then when somebody annoys him, comes out swinging?" "I was just a little cranky." "Because you didn't eat." "Like an idiot." "And I still haven't eaten yet." "Oh, so you're threatening me now?" "You know I would never hit you." "Oh, you wouldn't hit me?" "(mimics screaming goat) How 'bout now?" "(mimics screaming goat) What about now?" "(mimics screaming goat)" "Knock it off!" "Man, just have a hard-boiled egg or something." "I want my Mike back." "There you are." "Hey." "You're late." "I was getting worried." "Yeah..." "Everything okay?" "Uh..." "I have something to tell you." "Okay..." "I have tomorrow off!" "Really?" "What's the occasion?" "Oh, no occasion." "It was actually the captain's idea." "So he's just handing out days off now?" "Guess he was in a good mood." "He said take tomorrow off and the next day and..." "Three days, tops." "Mike, I know what's really going on." "You do?" "Ugh." "Budget cuts." "They used to do that to us when I was still teaching." "Suggested furloughs." "Nothing gets by you." "You know, boy, that really chaps my cheeks." "You know, how about instead of cutting back on the police, you call up some of the mayor's cronies and tell them to take a couple of days off." "What are you gonna do?" "You can't fight city hall." "Well, watch me." "Wait, wait, what are you doing?" "Well, I'm standing up for my husband in a very nasty e-mail to the mayor's office." "No, no, no, no, no, no, please don't do that." "Mike... you're too nice." "You let people walk all over you." "Sometimes you got to fight back." "Yeah." "Morning." "Morning." "Have you seen Mike?" "He already left." "Said he had some errands to run." "Really?" "I thought for sure he was gonna sleep in." "Must want to make the most out of his day off." "Day off?" "I like that." "Puts a positive spin on such a difficult situation." "What's that?" "You know." "You don't know." "Never mind." "Let's do this again." "Morning!" "Nuh-uh." "You're supposed to say "morning."" "No." "What is going on?" "I thought I was saying something Carl told me that you knew, but now I know you don't know, so I shouldn't say." "You know?" "Victoria..." "Hmm..." "I probably already know what you think I don't know, so you should probably just let me know." "You know?" "So you heard about Mike punching that other officer and then getting suspended?" "What?" "!" "You told me that you knew." "All right, tell me everything." "Carl is gonna kill me." "Well, you should've thought of that before you started saying "morning," you know?" "I'm looking for Dr. Jeffries." "I have an 11:00." "You found the right place." "Come on in." "Okay." "Should I sit here?" "It's either there or on my lap." "How does this work?" "Well, we start out by finding your file." "(wry chuckle)" "Heroin problem...?" "!" "Uh, no, no... punched a cop." "Oh, right, right, right, right." "Uh, here we go." "(chuckles)" "Biggs, not Briggs." "Briggs has a heroin problem?" "That's confidential." "And please don't tell anybody I told you." "I see here you..." "you hit a fellow officer." "Yeah, and I know I shouldn't have done it, but in my defense, this guy..." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." "Let me stop you right here." "We're on the same side here." "And in the same union, huh?" "This is how it works." "You're not gonna do this again, are you?" "No, sir." "Great." "That's it?" "No, no, no, no, no." "Technically, you have to sit here for an hour." "Do we have to talk?" "That's up to you." "You want to talk?" "No." "There you go." "I mean, since we're not gonna talk, do you mind if I update your file?" "No, go ahead." "Uh, just remember, it's-it's, uh, Biggs, not-not Briggs." "You really got to keep that under your hat, okay?" "Boy, I was so nervous about coming here. (chuckles)" "Is that your wife?" "Yep." "Very pretty." "I'm married, too." "Great girl." "Be glad she's not here." "Boy, she's a talker." "They all are." "You know what the funny thing is?" "I-I don't know why I didn't tell her about all this." "I guess I was just embarrassed, you know?" "She's..." "She's been so proud of me lately." "And I don't know if it says it in my file, but I've lost over 50 pounds." "That is, until I slipped up and had that one cheat day." "Is that right?" "Why do I always go to food for my reward?" "I hate to say it, but... it's usually the mother, isn't it?" "Not always." "But I know I hate mine." "I remember I was 16 when Dad left us high and dry." "I was devastated." "How did Mom make it better?" "With a pork tenderloin sandwich from Lucky's." "Yeah, the patty's bigger than the bun." "That man was my hero." "Lucky?" "No, my father." "I mean, who leaves their son at 16?" "Right when a boy needs the most help becoming a man." "You know, I was always a big kid, but, boy, when he left, I just..." "I really ballooned." "You know, I have a lunch after this." "But I could cancel it if you want to explore this further." "Explore what?" "I'm just sitting here." "So, how was your day off?" "I didn't have the day off." "Don't lie to me, Mike, I know you didn't have the day off." "That's what I just said." "We need to talk." "Not until we talk..." "wait a minute, what?" "All right, now you're m..." "you're messing me up here." "Sit." "(sighs)" "Molly..." "I am barely holding on here." "Honey, what's going on with you?" "When does it stop?" "What?" "This!" "When do I have to stop worrying about every single thing I put in my mouth?" "I don't know." "It's not fair." "No." "It's not." "I-I feel like the world looks at me like this fat, lazy guy, when actually," "I am working so hard." "Hey, I know how hard you're working." "And you know it, too." "And-And that's all that really matters." "And most days, I'm good with that." "But some days... ah, it just gets to me." "I know." "Still doesn't mean you can go around punching people." "Not people." "Seely." "(chuckles):" "Okay." "Listen... you and I are doing really well." "And I want you to be happy about that." "I'm trying to be." "Well... try harder." "You're in a good place and I-I want you to enjoy the moment." "Last time I enjoyed the moment, I gained five pounds." "As long as there's pie, I'm not safe." "No." "As long as there's me, you are." "I wish I hadn't sent that nasty letter to the mayor." "Well, if he writes you back, say it was a typo, and you're married to an Officer Briggs." "That guy's all messed up." "Okay." "Nice." "Would anyone else like to share?" "Boy, Mike looks great." "Oh, you should tell him." "I bet he'd like to hear that." "Looking good, Mike Biggs!" "I didn't mean now." "Uh..." "Hi, my name is Mike." "I'm an overeater." "ALL:" "Hi, Mike." "It's, uh..." "It's been a while since my last share." "And this is usually the point where I would tell you how much weight I've lost, but, uh, I'm not gonna do that." "Because it's not about how much I weigh, it's about how I feel." "And today..." "I feel pretty damn good." "Feeling good, looking good!" "Okay, Harry." "That doesn't mean" "I'm gonna feel great tomorrow, you know?" "But I'm gonna keep taking it one day at a time, because e-every day... it's a battle." "You know?" "And sometimes the pie wins." "But the thing is... you gotta keep fighting." "Thanks for letting me share." |
Be sure to include your name, daytime phone number, address, name and phone number of legal next-of-kin, method of payment, and the name of the funeral home/crematory to contact for verification of death.
Not just pretty, edible flowers pack nutritional punch
My mom used to put them in salads and cook them in greens — lambs quarter and squares root —as she called them when we were growing up.
Little did I know at the time the nutrition value of the nasturtium? I thought it was only for looks in a salad.
In the cooked greens, I just thought my mom hadn’t picked enough and needed more for all of us kids to eat.
Nasturtium originated from northwestern South America. This annual plant includes more than 100 varieties.
In the 16th Century, the plant was introduced to Europe where it became known as Indian cress. It’s thought this was because of the confusion, at that time, between the Indies and India, and also because the flavor of the nasturtium leaves is similar to cress.
In the 1800s, the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus named the genus Tropaeolaceae, which included nasturtium, after the Latin work tropaeolum, meaning trophy. Linnaeus compared the funnel shape of nasturtium’s flowers to battle helmets and its flat leaves to shields, which were traditionally hung on trees after an army was victorious.
Nasturtium plants were not valued as food until they were taken to the orient where the petals and buds were eaten and used to make tea.
Nasturtium flowers and buds have a slight spicy flavor with a mustard-like aroma. They can be added to salads, but are best added after the vinaigrette so as to preserve their shape. The buds or seeds can be pickled and used as an alternative to capers.
The leaves and petals of nasturtium are extremely nutritious as they contain vitamin C and iron. The leaves also have antibiotic properties which are at their most effective just before the plant flowers.
In traditional medicine, an ointment is made from nasturtium flowers and used to treat skin conditions as well as hair loss. The group of phenols in the pigments of orange and red flowers helps naturalize the damaging effects of free radicals, thereby helping to protect us from chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prepare an ice-water bath and set aside. Add nasturtium leaves to boiling water and cook for 10 seconds. Drain and transfer to ice-water bath until cool. Drain and set aside. Place leaves, pine nuts, garlic and oil in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl and fold in stems and cheese.
Note:
I have thrown everything in a blender including the stems and cheese and processed and it worked fine.
Donna Cook is the owner of Rabbit Creek Gourmet Foods in Louisburg, Kan. She is also a Master Gardener, Master Food Volunteer and on the board of directors of the Home Baking Association.
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The crew of the Yushin Maru #3 using their water cannons against Sea Shepherd's Delta team in the Zodiac boat"What an awesome way to begin the New Year," said captain of the Gojira Locky MacLean of Canada. "Our three vessels dancing dangerously through the ice packs locked in confrontation with the three harpoon ships of the Japanese whaling fleet. It was both deadly and beautiful. Deadly because of the ice and the hostility of the whalers and beautiful because of the ice, and the fact that these three killer ships are not killing whales while clashing with us."
The three Japanese harpoon vessels the Yushin Maru, Yushin Maru #2, and the Yushin Maru#3 attempted to block Sea Shepherd's vessels including the Steve Irwin, Bob Barker, and Gojira from the pursuit of the Nisshin Maru factory ship.
The entire Japanese whaling fleet is on the run, and when they are running they are not killing whales. Sea Shepherd's ships are chasing the slower factory ship the Nisshin Maru, while the faster Japanese harpoon vessels are chasing after Sea Shepherd's fleet. Despite their speed, the harpoon vessels are not faster than the Gojira, and the Gojira, with aerial surveillance assistance from Sea Shepherd's helicopter the Nancy Burnet, is hot on the tracks of that floating abattoir the Nisshin Maru.
"We've got them before they were able to kill a single whale. They are not whaling today and our challenge now is to make sure they don't kill any whales in the coming days," said Sea Shepherd campaign leader Captain Paul Watson.
This year Sea Shepherd has the capability of keeping one of their ships on the whaling fleet for the duration of the Japanese whaling season that usually ends in middle to late March. "Our objective is to save the maximum number of whales and to maximize the financial losses of the whalers at the same time." Captain Watson said in a statement from the Southern Ocean.
The crew of Yushin Maru No 2 readies their water cannons to engage with Sea ShepherdClashes between the whalers and the anti-whalers today involved several high-speed chases and near collisions as the ships dodged huge bobbing boulders of hardened blue ice and scattered thick and jagged ice floes. The whalers turned their high-powered water cannons and hoses on Sea Shepherd's crew, while Sea Shepherd responded with some rather unpleasant foul-smelling substances. There were no injuries.
"We now have a zero kill," said Captain of the Bob Barker Alex Cornelissen of the Netherlands. We intend to do everything we can with the resources available to us to make sure that the kill remains at zero. We need to, and we shall keep them running."
Sea Shepherd's ships found the Japanese whaling fleet in remote waters some 1,700 nautical miles southeast of New Zealand on December 31, 2010. The Japanese fleet had just arrived from Japan and had not begun their killing operations when the Sea Shepherd fleet intercepted them.
Japanese harpoon vessels attempt to block Sea Shepherd from chasing the Nisshin Maruresulting in skirmishes between Sea Shepherd's three ships and the three Japanese harpoon vessels.Video credit: Sea Shepherd (1 minute, no audio)
**If you cannot see the captions on this video, just click on CC on the lower right corner of video settings on the video ** #Breaking #SeaShepherd helps scientists learn more about #rare Beaked whales!
Did you know that Cuvier's Beaked whales hold the record for the deepest mammalian dive? Watch t...
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is returning to Mexico’s Gulf of California for Operation Milagro III to save the near extinct vaquita marina porpoise and the endangered totoaba bass. The M/V Farley Mowat is back on active duty with the M/V Sam Simon joining the Milagro campaign for the first ti...
The Farley Mowat Sea Shepherd crew is called out to investigate a dead Brydes whale in the Gulf of California on November 5th, 2016 while patrolling the vaquita refuge. To help the Sea Shepherd crew to continue its work in the Sea of Cortez, including protecting the near-extinct vaquita marina porpo...
Operation Guardian Angel - In and around Bahia de Los Angeles, in the Gulf of California, countless marine species are entrapped in nets with little or no hope of rescue. Rosalia Tellez works for CONANP, a department of the Mexican government that acts as park rangers to enforce laws and assist in ...
This video follows Sea Shepherd volunteers over the course of two days. The first day Sea Shepherd locates and removes a long line from the sea; fortunately no animals were caught in the net. However, the next day volunteers find a sea lion that has been caught and died in a fisherman's net.
Sea Shepherd campaign Operation Virus Hunter saw the vessel RV Martin Sheen under the leadership of Alexandra Morton, head up the coast of British Columbia Canada to expose open pen Atlantic salmon farms and the impact they are having on wild Pacific salmon and the the surrounding eco-systems.
August 12th 2016: Early Thursday morning the R/V Martin Sheen assisted Melissa Willie, a band councilor of the Musgamagw Dza’wada’enuxw nation, in hand delivering a letter to three farms expressing the nations disapproval of the industry. Sea Shepherd crew alongside independent biologist Alexand...
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's Operation Milagro II has come to an end. Milagro is its campaign to fight the looming extinction of the vaquita porpoise, the most endangered marine mammal in the world. With an estimate of less than 100 surviving vaquita, Sea Shepherd ships the R/V Martin Sheen...
Sea Shepherd's Ethical Research Whale Project is dedicated to collect samples from whales in the Gulf of California to measure levels of toxins in whales in order to determine the levels of toxins in the Gulf of California itself.
Learn more at: www.seashepherd.org
Never before seen footage.
Sea Shepherd catches critically endangered totoaba poacher in the act.
The Sea Shepherd crew filmed these totoaba poachers as they were
checking one of their illegal nets in the protected vaquita habitat.
The vaquita porpoise is the most endangered marine mammal in the wor...
Watch the routine of our crew doing valuable work in the Sea of Cortez.
We have been very effective at removing illegal fishing gear from the vaquita porpoise's habitat. So much so, that now, most of the time we remove nets and lines that are mostly empty, our favorite thing to do....
The Sea Shepherd crew has found 3 dead vaquitas in 3 weeks in the month of march of 2016.
The vaquita porpoise is the most endangered marine mammal in the world.
Learn more at: www.seashepherd.org/milagro2
While patrolling the waters of the upper Gulf of California the Sea Shepherd crew found a dead vaquita porpoise. The vaquita is the most endangered marine mammal in the whole world. The crew also found a Great White Shark caught in an illegal gillnet.
This week, the crew of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ships The M/V Farley Mowat and The RV Martin Sheen find and retrieve an illegal totoaba bass long line from the critically endangered vaquita porpoise habitat. The totoaba fish is also critically endangered.
Watch all episodes at: http...
Sea Shepherd crew rescued a whale entangled in an illegal totoaba gillnet in the Gulf of California.
Sea Shepherd currently has two vessels in Mexico's Gulf of California on OPERATION MILAGRO.
Our goal is to save the vaquita porpoises, the most endangered marine mammal.
The vaquita are caught as a r...
You might know Gregg Lowe from X-Men: Days of Future Past, but now watch him explain Sea Shepherd's Operation Milagro and understand why we must save the #VaquitaMarina - The most endangered cetacean in the world.
Help us save the vaquita at: http://seashepherd.org/milagro2/donate-now/vaquita-appeal...
Actor Gregg Lowe crews with Sea Shepherd to help us protect the vaquita. The M/V Farley Mowat lights up the vaquita refuge and deters poacher from laying deadly nets in the vaquita marina's habitat.
Watch all episodes at: http://seashepherd.org/milagro2/multimedia
The first video of our new series "Sea Shepherd Wildlife".
This episode is about one of the lesser know large dolphins - The False Killer Whales.
Learn more about these beautiful creatures with the Sea Shepherd crew.
Share it with your friends. Video by Carolina A. Castro
Narration by Nicole D'Entr... |
Renal colic.
The most common and overt manifestation of a ureteric calculus is renal colic. This paper discusses its clinical presentation and diagnostic difficulties and follows the management of the patient until the stone is passed or retrieved surgically; it does not address the overall picture of renal calculous disease. The role of subsequent metabolic investigation is outlined. |
Q:
Math, how do we know if a substitution is true?
For instance, in calculus we often do u-substitutions. Quite often, we do trignometric substitutions to solve integrals. For instance, if we have the following relation
$y=\sqrt{1-x^2}$
And we substitute $x = \sin u$, for $x \in [-1, 1]$; how do we know that our substitution is correct? If I graph $\sin u$ and $x$, it is clear these functions are very different.
How is there any relation at all? Why are we allowed to do substitutions like this?
A:
Suppose we need to calculate the Riemann integral
$$I=\int_{a}^{b}f(x)dx$$
where $f\in{\cal{R}}[a,b]$, id est, Riemann integrable on $[a,b].$
and there is a function $\phi(t)$ which is well defined on $[\alpha,\beta]$ such that:
1). $\phi([\alpha,\beta])=[a,b]$
2). $\phi(t)$ is always monotonic for all $t\in[\alpha,\beta]$
3). $\phi'(t)\in\cal{R}[\alpha,\beta]$
Hence we can substitute $x$ with $\phi(t)$ and the integral can be calculated as follows:
$$I=\int_{a}^{b}f(x)dx=\int_{\alpha}^{\beta}(f\circ\phi)(t)\phi'(t)dt$$
Only when three two requisites are met can we substitute $x$ with $\phi(t)$.The first two requisites make sure that $\phi:t\rightarrow x$ is one-on-one mapping, and the third guarantees the Riemann integrability of the new function $(f\circ\phi)(t)\phi'(t)$.
A:
In the case of $u$-substitution you are setting $\sin(u)$ equal to $x$, forcing it to be true. The graph of $\sin(u)$ and $x$ look different because you aren't really graphing $\sin(u)$, you are graphing $\sin(x)$ instead (It is the $x$-axis). $\sin(x)=x$ is clearly a false identity. If you want to graph $\sin(u)$ on an $x$-axis, you can substitute '$u$' with $\arcsin(x)$, and then clearly the graph of $\sin(\arcsin(x))$ is just $x$ (For $[-1,1]$ at least). In this case, by defining $u$ to follow the relationship of $\sin(u)=x$, you can also substitute the $dx$ and make an integral easier to integrate. As for "how do we know that our substitution is correct?", the equal sign in this case does not signify "Are these things equal" as in solving systems of equations, but rather the equal sign signifies "I am defining $u$ such that this equation is true". In programming you can differentiate between the two types of equality with := (definition) and == (asking if they are equal).
|
[Atopic dermatitis. II. The status of complement proteins and the pathogenetic role of anaphylatoxins C4a, C3a and C5a].
Eighty-eight patients with atopic dermatitis have been examined for the complementary proteins C3 (C3c), C3act., C4, C1inact. by radial immunodiffusion; in 36 of these patients anaphylatoxins C3a des Arg, C5a des Arg, and C4a des Arg have been radioimmunoassayed. Increased levels of C4a des Arg have been revealed in 50% of the examinees. C3a des Arg levels did not differ significantly from the reference values, and C5a des Arg level has been within the normal range in all the patients. C4a des Arg has been related to the severity of the skin inflammation and did not depend on the serum IgE content. C3 (C3c), C3act., C1inact. have been elevated and C4 reduced. These findings evidence activation of the complementary system in atopic dermatitis and indicate the role of anaphylatoxin C4a des Arg in the maintenance of the inflammatory reactions. |
Q:
Transfer Data from Oracle database 11G to MongoDB
I want to have an automatic timed transfer from Oracle database to MongoDB. In a typical RDBMBS scenario, i would have established connection between two databases by creating a dblink and transferred the data by using PL/SQL procedures.
But i don't know what to do in MongoDB case; thus, how and what should i be implementing so that i can have an automatic transfer from Oracle database to MongoDB.
A:
I would look at using Oracle Goldengate. It has a MONGODB Handler.
https://docs.oracle.com/goldengate/bd123110/gg-bd/GADBD/using-mongodb-handler.htm#GADBD-GUID-084CCCD6-8D13-43C0-A6C4-4D2AC8B8FA86
https://oracledb101.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/using-goldengate-to-replicate-to-mongodb/
|
Description
100% Supima CottonSlim Fit
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Inspired by the needs of travelers, Crocodile has designed a product series with Urban Traveler concept. This collection is highlighted with functionality and style, plus the modern cutting and premium features by using high quality fabrics. It makes travel a lot easier. |
Introduction {#s1}
============
After completing spermatogenesis and spermiation in the testis, mammalian spermatozoa are still unable to fertilize an oocyte; this ability is acquired during transit through the epididymis. Since sperm chromatin is condensed, transcription and translation are arrested, and sperm maturation depends on the interaction between the male gamete and the epididymal fluid microenvironment produced by secretion and reabsorption of inorganic and organic compounds by the epithelium [@pone.0065364-Turner1], [@pone.0065364-Dacheux1]. The most important maturational changes involve plasma membrane remodeling and the acquisition of forward motility. These changes are mainly the result of proteins and lipids acquired by the sperm plasma membrane [@pone.0065364-Olson1], [@pone.0065364-Jones1]. These macromolecules are synthesized by principal cells: some are secreted by merocrine pathways, whereas others are secreted by apocrine pathways. Apocrine secretion consists of the formation of apical blebs by the principal cells, and the release of membranous vesicles into the intraluminal fluid after breakdown of the apical blebs [@pone.0065364-Hermo1]. These membranous vesicles are referred to as epididymosomes [@pone.0065364-Sullivan1]. They can be defined as membranous vesicles with a roughly spherical aspect and a bilayer membrane, and are heterogeneous in both size and content [@pone.0065364-Rejraji1]. This heterogeneity could be explained by changes in the secretory characteristics of the principal cells along the epididymal duct [@pone.0065364-Rejraji1]. It has been demonstrated that these membranous vesicles are able to transfer selected proteins involved in fertilization to the epididymal sperm under defined *in vitro* conditions [@pone.0065364-Sullivan1]. However, little is known about the mechanisms involved in the interaction between epididymosomes and maturing spermatozoa. Zinc has been shown to potentiate protein transfer efficiency to the maturing spermatozoon [@pone.0065364-Frenette1].
In many biological systems, the intercellular communication mechanisms are mediated by the secretion and uptake of membranous vesicles. Cells are able to produce and secrete a wide variety of membranous vesicles into the extracellular space. These vesicles can be classified according to their size, functions, and cellular origin [@pone.0065364-Thery1]. Exosomes and exosome-like vesicles have received the most attention in recent years. They are able to exchange proteins and lipids with different cell types, trigger downstream signaling events, and deliver specific nucleic acids [@pone.0065364-Parolini1]. They consist of small vesicles (30--120 nm) formed in endosomal compartments containing internal vesicles (multivesicular bodies) that store membrane-bound structures [@pone.0065364-Thery1]. Sets of specific surface or adhesion molecules allow exosomes to target specific recipient cells [@pone.0065364-Mallegol1], [@pone.0065364-Schorey1]. The protein family most commonly associated with exosomes is the tetraspanin family, specifically CD9, CD63, CD81, and CD82 [@pone.0065364-Escola1]--[@pone.0065364-Chaput1]. It has been hypothesized that exosomes can fuse with the plasma membrane of recipient cells. CD9 is abundantly expressed in exosomes [@pone.0065364-Thery2] and, even if non-fusogenic by itself, it could play a role in the formation of multimolecular complexes that will accomplish this function. Moreover, there is evidence that tetraspanins are organized into distinct microdomains called tetraspanin-enriched microdomains [@pone.0065364-Hemler1]. Tetraspanins can cluster other receptors, ligands, and fusogenic molecules through these domains, thereby regulating areas of cell--cell contact [@pone.0065364-Fanaei1].
On the basis of these concepts, we propose that CD9-positive microvesicles are secreted into the intraluminal fluid as part of epididymosomes, a heterogeneous population of secreted membranous vesicles. We also hypothesize that their tetraspanin-enriched microdomains contain molecules that act as receptors for certain sperm ligands, which promotes contact and the transfer of molecules necessary for epididymal sperm maturation.
Results {#s2}
=======
Secretion of Exosomes in Distal Regions of the Epididymis {#s2a}
---------------------------------------------------------
Membranous vesicles were purified from caput and cauda epididymal fluids by following a protocol that is routinely used to purify epididymosomes in our laboratory [@pone.0065364-Frenette1], or a protocol previously described to purify exosomes [@pone.0065364-Raposo1] ([Fig. 1](#pone-0065364-g001){ref-type="fig"}). Whereas the first protocol was designed to recover a heterogeneous population of microvesicles measuring between 20--1,000 nm and 25--300 nm in diameter in the caput ([Fig. 2A](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}) and cauda ([Fig. 2B](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}) respectively, the second protocol generates a more homogeneous population of vesicles with a diameter of 20--150 nm ([Fig. 2A and B](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}). This result was confirmed by electron microscopy (EM) ([Fig. 2C](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}). The small membranous vesicle population represents approximately 30% of the total proteins contained in the entire membranous vesicle population (epididymosomes) ([Fig. 2D](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}). CD9 is one of the most ubiquitous molecular markers for exosomes and its expression was evaluated on small membranous vesicle populations recovered from different epididymal regions by western blot. The protein was undetectable in caput, weakly expressed in the corpus, and highly expressed in the cauda region (25 kDa) ([Fig. 2E](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}). With reference to the fact that small vesicles (20--150 nm) purified from the cauda epididymal fluid express CD9, this small membranous vesicle population recovered from the cauda epididymal fluid will henceforth be referred to as CD9-positive microvesicles. In support of this statement, it was found that the level of expression of CD9 (detected as a triple band at 25, 27, and 33 kDa by western blot) was higher in this population than in unfractionated epididymosomes also recovered from the cauda epididymal fluid ([Fig. 2F](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}). The presence of proteins known to be transferred from membranous vesicles to spermatozoa during epididymal transit was also observed and analyzed. P25b, GliPr1L1, and MIF were highly expressed in CD9-positive microvesicles, AKR1B1 was detected at similar levels in both microvesicle populations, and ELSPBP1 was more abundant in the epididymosomal population ([Fig. 2F](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}). On the basis of these results, we can conclude that CD9-positive microvesicles are predominantly found in the epididymal fluid that is recovered from the cauda region.
{#pone-0065364-g001}
{#pone-0065364-g002}
Since exosomes secreted by different cell types originate from intracellular multivesicular bodies, the expression of CD9 was studied in epididymal epithelial cells. CD9 was weakly expressed in the perinuclear region of primary epithelial cell cultures recovered from both the caput and cauda regions ([Fig. 3A, 3B](#pone-0065364-g003){ref-type="fig"}); however, CD9 was also immunolocalized in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells from the cauda ([Fig. 3B](#pone-0065364-g003){ref-type="fig"}). The presence of CD9 (32 kDa) was also detected in protein extracts from cauda epididymal epithelial cells ([Fig. 3C](#pone-0065364-g003){ref-type="fig"}), but not from cells recovered from the caput. The transcript encoding CD9 was found in epididymal epithelial cells from both the caput and cauda regions, with higher expression in the cauda ([Fig. 3D](#pone-0065364-g003){ref-type="fig"}). In agreement with these results, the expression of CD9 was observed in epithelial cells of caput, corpus and cauda epididymal regions, with a higher level of expression in the apical borders of the cauda region ([Fig. 4](#pone-0065364-g004){ref-type="fig"}).
{#pone-0065364-g003}
{#pone-0065364-g004}
Transfer of Molecules from Membranous Vesicles to Epididymal Spermatozoa {#s2b}
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epididymosomes or CD9-positive microvesicles were labeled with the membrane lipid probe DilC12 and coincubated with epididymal spermatozoa. Labeled membrane molecules were transferred from both epididymosomes and CD9-positive microvesicle preparations to specific regions of the spermatozoa *i.e.*, acrosome and midpiece ([Fig. 5A](#pone-0065364-g005){ref-type="fig"}). The intensity of labeling increased with time of coincubation up to 90 min ([Fig. 5B](#pone-0065364-g005){ref-type="fig"}). Longer incubation times affected viability. When DilC12-labeled epididymosomes or CD9-positive microvesicles were diluted with an unlabeled population of the same vesicles during coincubation experiments, the transfer of DilC12 decreased to 42.2±8.9% or 51.7±1.0%, respectively ([Fig. 5C](#pone-0065364-g005){ref-type="fig"}) indicating a competition effect.
{#pone-0065364-g005}
Human exosomes are well-characterized examples of CD9-positive microvesicles [@pone.0065364-Caby1]. If specific molecules are involved in the recognition, adhesion, and/or fusion processes in bovine epididymal microvesicles expressing CD9, it is expected that only these vesicles will transfer molecules to the sperm, and not those of human origin. When CD9-positive ([Fig. S1A](#pone.0065364.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) human blood serum exosomes were evaluated by EM, we observed that they exhibited similar structural characteristics to bovine epididymal small microvesicles (data not shown). Hence, these vesicles were tested for their ability to transfer molecules to sperm. When coincubated with epididymal spermatozoa, the human exosomes transferred a significantly lower quantity of molecules compared with CD9-positive microvesicles recovered from bovine epididymal fluid ([Fig. S1B](#pone.0065364.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Furthermore, they did not exhibit the same specific interaction with sperm subcellular domains ([Fig. S1C](#pone.0065364.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) as vesicles of epididymal origin ([Fig. 5A](#pone-0065364-g005){ref-type="fig"}).
Since Zn^2+^ enhances protein transfer from cauda epididymosomes to the caput sperm in coincubation experiments [@pone.0065364-Frenette1], the effect of this cation was evaluated in coincubation experiments between caput or distal corpus epididymal spermatozoa with epididymosomes or CD9-positive microvesicles. The presence of Zn^2+^ increased sperm DilC12 labeling when caput spermatozoa were incubated with caput epididymosomes ([Fig. 5D](#pone-0065364-g005){ref-type="fig"}). Similar results were observed when the incubation was performed in the presence of cauda epididymosomes or CD9-positive microvesicles (data not shown). However, when cauda epididymal sperm were incubated with cauda epididymosomes (data not shown) or CD9-positive microvesicles ([Fig. 5D](#pone-0065364-g005){ref-type="fig"}), the addition of Zn^2+^ had no significant effect. These results indicate that the Zn^2+^-dependent transfer mechanism is associated with caput sperm and does not participate in the mechanism of transfer between CD9-positive microvesicles and cauda epididymal sperm.
Despite similarities in the kinetic incorporation and localization of the transferred molecules when sperm were coincubated with epididymosomes or CD9-positive microvesicles, epididymosomes showed a significantly higher ability to transfer molecules to dead sperm when compared to CD9-positive microvesicle preparations ([Fig. 6](#pone-0065364-g006){ref-type="fig"}).
{#pone-0065364-g006}
Tetraspanin-enriched Microdomains are Involved in the Mechanism of Molecular Transfer {#s2c}
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cell adhesion and membrane fusion have been linked to tetraspanin molecules and their membrane domains [@pone.0065364-Seigneuret1]. CD9 and associated molecules in epididymal CD9-positive microvesicles were thus evaluated for their ability to promote the transfer of molecules to spermatozoa. In order to determine the molecules associated with CD9 in the tetraspanin-enriched microdomains, CD9-positive microvesicles were extracted with Brij O10 to conserve protein--protein interactions in the tetraspanin webs, followed by immunoprecipitation with anti-CD9 antibodies. Six proteins that specifically immunoprecipitated with CD9 were identified by LC/MS--MS: gamma-glutamyltransferase 1-like/CD224, dipeptidyl peptidase 4/CD26, prominin 2-like/CD133, clusterin, N-acetylated-alpha-linked acid dipeptidase 2 (predicted protein), and ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase family member 3 ([Table 1](#pone-0065364-t001){ref-type="table"}).
10.1371/journal.pone.0065364.t001
###### LC--MS/MS identification of proteins that coimmunoprecipitated with CD9 after BrijO10 protein extraction of CD9-positive microvesicles.
{#pone-0065364-t001-1}
Proteins specifically associated with CD9
------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ----- ----
1 PREDICTED: gamma-glutamyltransferase 1-like/CD224 UPI0000EBD9A3 61 21
2 DPP4_BOVIN Dipeptidyl peptidase 4/CD26 P81425 88 4
3 PREDICTED: prominin 2-like/CD133 UPI0001D57626 99 4
4 CLUS_BOVIN Clusterin P17697 51 3
5 F1MGS8_BOVIN Uncharacterized protein (Fragment) F1MGS8 83 2
6 ENPP3_BOVIN Ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase family member 3 P15396 100 2
Since CD26 and CD224 were previously found to be associated with tetraspanin webs in cell plasma membranes [@pone.0065364-LeNaour1], [@pone.0065364-Wang1], their involvement in sperm interaction was studied further. Their association with CD9 on CD9-positive microvesicles was corroborated by immunoprecipitation and western blot ([Fig. 7A](#pone-0065364-g007){ref-type="fig"}). Analysis of their expression in epididymal epithelial cells from caput and cauda revealed that CD224 was homogenously expressed at the mRNA level in both proximal and distal regions ([Fig. 7B](#pone-0065364-g007){ref-type="fig"}), whereas CD26 expression was significantly higher in the cauda epididymis ([Fig. 7C](#pone-0065364-g007){ref-type="fig"}) and followed the same pattern as CD9 mRNA ([Fig. 3D](#pone-0065364-g003){ref-type="fig"}).
{#pone-0065364-g007}
When corpus distal spermatozoa were incubated with DilC12-labeled cauda epididymosomes in the presence of anti-CD9 antibodies, high concentrations of Fab fragment were necessary to inhibit transfer by 10--15% when compared to control Fabs (data not shown). This effect was not observed when caput spermatozoa were incubated with caput epididymosomes (data not shown), which is in agreement with the absence of CD9 in membranous vesicles from the caput epididymal fluid ([Fig. 2E](#pone-0065364-g002){ref-type="fig"}). When corpus distal spermatozoa were incubated with CD9-positive microvesicles in the presence of anti-CD224 or anti-CD26 Fab antibody fragments, a significant decrease in sperm DilC12 labeling was found only in the presence of the anti-CD26 antibodies (42.5±12.0%, [Fig. 7D](#pone-0065364-g007){ref-type="fig"}). This inhibitory effect was enhanced when anti-CD9 and anti-CD26 Fabs were used in combination (61.5±15.0%); thus, suggesting a cooperative effect between the two molecules ([Fig. 7D](#pone-0065364-g007){ref-type="fig"}).
Discussion {#s3}
==========
Exosomes are small membranous vesicles that are secreted by a wide range of mammalian cell types, and transfer different molecules to a distant target cell. Principal cells in the epididymal epithelium produce membranous vesicles as a product of their apocrine secretion. However, it has been reported that this mode of secretion varies along the epididymal duct in the mouse [@pone.0065364-Rejraji1]. Indeed, in proximal epididymal segments, the presence of multivesicular bodies containing small membranous vesicles is observed, which resembles exosome secretion [@pone.0065364-Rejraji1]. The presence of multivesicular bodies was previously reported in the bovine epididymis [@pone.0065364-Goyal1]. Despite examination at the EM level, there is no evidence in the literature that supports the concept of fusion of these ultrastructures with the apical membrane of epididymal principal cells. Furthermore, there is no evidence that CD9-positive microvesicles found in the epididymal intraluminal compartment originate from these structures. Although the microvesicle secretion pattern along the bovine duct has not been studied in great detail, we recently reported that epididymosomes recovered from the caput and cauda regions are heterogeneous in size and content [@pone.0065364-Girouard1]. In the present study, we show that bovine caput epididymosomes exhibit more variation in size than cauda epididymosomes, suggesting that a secretion pattern variation exists along the excurrent duct. Size is not the only criterion used to define the origin of a microvesicle found in biological fluids; composition also has to be taken into account. Tetraspanin CD9 and CD63 are the most common exosome markers [@pone.0065364-Mathivanan1]. When applied to fluids collected from the caput and cauda epididymal regions, the protocol used to isolate exosomes generates a homogeneous population of small membranous vesicles [@pone.0065364-Raposo1]. Only small microvesicles secreted from the corpus distal to the cauda regions were CD9-positive. This is in agreement with our previous proteomic analysis of epididymosomes identifying CD9 associated with cauda epididymosomes [@pone.0065364-Girouard1]. This CD9-positive microvesicle secretion in the distal regions of the epididymis is supported by immunodetection of a 33 kDa protein band using an anti-CD9 antibody, as well as significantly higher expression of CD9 transcripts in cauda compared with caput epididymal epithelial cells, and the presence of protein in the cytoplasmic compartment of the cauda epididymal epithelial cells. Differences in molecular weights of CD9 in protein extracts from epididymal epithelial cells are probably a result of posttranslational modifications such as glycosylation and palmitoylation during tetraspanin-enriched microdomain formation prior to CD9-positive microvesicle secretion [@pone.0065364-Engering1], [@pone.0065364-Zoller1].
CD9-positive microvesicles represent about one third of the total proteins contained in the vesiculated fraction of the epididymal fluid. Among the more abundant proteins detected in this vesicle population are P25b, GliPr1L1, and MIF. Of particular interest is that all three proteins are important for sperm physiology [@pone.0065364-Parent1]--[@pone.0065364-Eickhoff1]. On the other hand, we have recently demonstrated that ELSPBP1, which is more abundant in larger sized microvesicles, is added to dead sperm and not to sperm that die during incubation [@pone.0065364-DAmours1]. This result is in agreement with the finding that epididymosomes show more affinity for the transfer of molecules to dead rather than live sperm, whereas CD9-positive microvesicles exhibit the opposite behavior. These results clearly demonstrate the existence of a heterogeneous population of vesicles with different composition, origin, and function in epididymal fluid.
Use of the DilC12 fluorescent probe revealed that molecules from epididymosomes and CD9-positive microvesicles are incorporated into the plasma membrane of spermatozoa after *in vitro* coincubation at 37°C/pH 6.5 under conditions that mimic the intraluminal compartment of the bovine epididymis. The fact that labeled vesicles transfer less molecules to sperm in the presence of a population of non-labeled vesicles indicates the existence of a competition effect. This effect suggests that the incorporation is saturable, and the presence of specific regions and/or receptors for this mechanism to occur. The incorporation of molecules occurs mainly within the first 30 min of incubation, and some sperm subcellular regions incorporate the microvesicular molecules with more affinity than others; for example, the acrosome and midpiece. Epididymosomes and CD9-positive microvesicles transfer molecules to the same regions of spermatozoa; however, CD9-positive microvesicles are enriched with a different subset of proteins when compared with epididymosomes. Accordingly, we propose that CD9-positive microvesicles transfer GliPr1L1 and P25b to the acrosomal region, which is involved in sperm--egg interactions, whereas epididymosomes transfer ELSPBP1 to this region [@pone.0065364-DAmours1]. In this work, we demonstrate that the presence of Zn^2+^ affects the molecular transfer of microvesicles to the caput spermatozoa, but not to the cauda epididymal sperm. This observation, coupled with the specific localization of the transferred molecules, allows us to propose that the transfer is coordinated by ligands present on the sperm surface, which require specific receptors on the microvesicle membranes.
Tetraspanin-enriched microdomains have been proposed to play a role in the adhesion of exosomes to their target cells [@pone.0065364-Rubinstein1]--[@pone.0065364-Takeda1]. In the present work, we demonstrated that the transfer of molecules from CD9-positive microvesicles to corpus distal sperm decreases when CD9 is blocked by specific antibodies. However, this blockage was not biologically relevant (10--15%). This finding may be explained by the fact that this molecule is not fusogenic by itself; rather, it is organizes complexes of other fusogenic molecules. CD9 is a molecular component of tetraspanin webs. In these domains, tetraspanins are primarily and secondarily associated with other transmembrane proteins [@pone.0065364-YanezMo1]. Other molecules such as CD26 [@pone.0065364-LeNaour1] and CD224 [@pone.0065364-Wang1], also known to be associated with different cell types, were found to be associated with CD9 in tetraspanin webs of CD9-positive microvesicles. In order to investigate the role of these molecules in the transfer of CD9-positive microvesicles to spermatozoa during epididymal maturation, the same experimental approach was carried out. The results revealed that CD26, but not CD224, had a synergic effect with CD9. Concomitant with these findings, CD26, but not CD224, was found to be expressed in a similar manner to CD9 along the epididymal epithelium. In support of these results, CD224 has been found to be expressed in the apical plasma membrane of the epithelium along the epididymis as part of the cell antioxidant defense mechanism [@pone.0065364-Chikhi1]; thus suggesting that this microvesicular molecule does not have a functional role in adhesion. In contrast, CD26 has been shown to enhance the molecular transfer from prostasomes to epididymal spermatozoa in the stallion [@pone.0065364-Arienti1], [@pone.0065364-Minelli1], and is associated with CD9 in the tetraspanin web of cancer cell lines when they became invasive [@pone.0065364-LeNaour1]. Other proteins found in the exosome tetraspanin-enriched microdomains were CD133, ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase family member 3, and clusterin. CD133 has been found to be associated with microvilli as well as small membrane particles that are released into different physiological fluids [@pone.0065364-Florek1]. Ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase family member 3 has been described in the proteomic analysis of other exosomes [@pone.0065364-GonzalezBegne1], [@pone.0065364-Gonzales1]. The presence of clusterin has been observed in epididymal fluid: potential roles in tissue remodeling and apoptosis have been proposed, in addition to sperm cholesterol homeostasis, which facilitates plasma membrane remodeling during epididymal maturation [@pone.0065364-Dacheux1].
When membranous vesicles probed with DilC12 were coincubated with epididymal spermatozoa, fluorescence was transferred to sperm subcellular domains, suggesting that lipids were transferred from the membranous vesicles to the sperm during coincubation. Moreover, changes in lipid composition and fluidity occur simultaneously in membranous vesicles and spermatozoa in a given epididymal region, suggesting that there is a transfer of lipids during the epididymal transit of sperm [@pone.0065364-Rejraji1]. On the basis of these findings, we propose that tetraspanin-enriched microdomains in the epididymal CD9-positive microvesicles play a role in lipid transfer in addition to protein transfer during epididymal sperm maturation.
In conclusion, sperm maturation and plasma membrane remodeling during epididymal transit depend on the epididymal fluid microenvironment. Apocrine secretion plays an important role in this function with the delivery of membranous vesicles in the intraluminal fluid. In the present work, we demonstrate that different kinds of microvesicles are produced along the epididymal duct. The secretion of CD9-positive microvesicles occurs in the distal sections of the tubule. These vesicles contain tetraspanin-enriched microdomains in their membranes. These domains contain molecules with important adhesion and/or fusion functions. These molecules form a multimolecular complex that favors the transfer of lipids and proteins from the microvesicle membrane to the sperm membrane. In addition to this function, tetraspanin-enriched microdomains contain other molecules with potential roles in oxidative stress protection of the sperm. In summary, we propose that CD9-positive microvesicle production in the distal region of the epididymis plays an important role in the acquisition of sperm fertilization ability, and tetraspanin-enriched microdomains are one of the molecular complexes that drive the cell--cell communication between epididymal microvesicles and spermatozoa.
Materials and Methods {#s4}
=====================
Recovery of Epididymal Fluids and Human Blood Serum {#s4a}
---------------------------------------------------
Testes and epididymides from mature bulls were obtained from the Colbex abattoir (St-Cyrille de Wendover, QC, Canada) and were transported to the laboratory on ice. Upon arrival, epididymides were dissected and epididymal fluids from caput, corpus and cauda sections were obtained as previously described by Frenette *et al.* [@pone.0065364-Frenette1]. In brief, caput and corpus distal fluids were obtained by cutting the tubules and applying pressure to their proximal portion. Cauda fluid was collected by retrograde flushing by applying air pressure into the vas deferens. After resuspension in PBS (137 mM NaCl, 3 mM KCl, 8 mM Na~2~HPO~4~, and 1.5 mM KH~2~PO~4~, pH 7.3), epididymal fluids were centrifuged at 700×g for 10 min. Pelleted spermatozoa were washed with PBS. Supernatants were centrifuged at 3,000×g for 10 min to remove cell debris, and then processed for epididymosomes or small vesicle purification.
Venous blood from healthy volunteers was collected on isocitrate anticoagulant solution and centrifuged at 250×g for 10 min. The resulting platelet-rich plasma was subjected to a second centrifugation at 3,000×g for 10 min to remove cell debris, and then processed for small vesicle purification.
Membranous Vesicle Purification, Size and Structural Evaluation {#s4b}
---------------------------------------------------------------
The supernatant from epididymal fluid was subjected to epididymosome purification by two ultracentrifugations at 100,000×g for 70 min. Alternatively, small vesicles were purified by performing an additional centrifugation (10,000×g for 30 min) prior to the two ultracentrifugations [@pone.0065364-Raposo1]. This procedure was also used to isolate human blood serum small membranous vesicles ([Fig. S1](#pone.0065364.s001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Protein concentration was determined using the Bio-Rad protein assay kit (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA). Particle size was determined by evaluating the Brownian motion of microvesicles using a Zetasizer Nano Series analyzer (ZEN 3600, Malvern Instruments, Malvern, Worcestershire, UK). Samples were diluted in PBS and measured at 4°C. Data were analyzed using Zetasizer software 6.20. Samples were measured three times, and the average and standard deviation were determined. Structural and purity analysis of different membranous vesicles preparations were evaluated by EM. Pellets containing membranous vesicles were fixed for 1 h at 4°C in 4% paraformaldehyde, 0.25% glutaraldehyde supplemented with 100 mM Na-cacodylate and 2 mM CaCl~2~. The fixative solution was removed by dilution in 150 mM NaCl and ultracentrifugation. The specimens were placed on Ni/Formvar grids and colored with PTA (phosphotungstic acid). Analyses were performed on a JEOL, JEM -1230 transmission electron microscope at 80 kV (JEOL, Montreal, QC, Canada).
Epididymal Sperm-membranous Vesicle Coincubations {#s4c}
-------------------------------------------------
For fluorescence labeling, membranous vesicles were incubated for 15 min at 37°C with the DilC12 (D-383, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) membrane probe (equivalent of 120 µg proteins of membranous vesicles in 50 µl with 25 µl of a 20 µM DilC12 solution in 2% ethanol). Unbound probe was removed by washing the microvesicles with 150 mM NaCl by ultracentrifugation. The resulting pellet was resuspended in sperm medium (10 mM MES buffer, pH 6.5 supplemented with 114 mM NaCl, 3.1 mM KCl, 25 mM NaHCO~3~, 0.3 mM NaH~2~PO~4~, 10 mM sodium lactate, 2 mM CaCl~2~, 0.5 mM MgCl~2~, 0.2 mM sodium pyruvate, 10 mM D-glucose, and 1 mg/mL polyvinyl alcohol).
Thirty million washed spermatozoa from caput or corpus distal epididymal regions were resuspended in 50 µl of sperm medium and incubated with 30 µg of DilC12-labeled membranous vesicles for 60 min at 37°C under different experimental conditions *i.e.*, in the presence or absence of 1 mM ZnCl~2~, or in the presence of 7.5 or 15 µg/ml of different IgG Fab fragments: normal IgG, anti-CD9 (MA1-19301, Thermo Scientific, Rockford, IL, USA), anti-CD26 (YV0244-01, Accurate Chemical and Scientific Corporation, Westbury, NY, USA), or anti-CD224 (ST1551, EMD Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA). Fab fragments were digested and purified using Pierce Fab Micro Preparation kit (44685, Thermo Scientific) After washing, spermatozoa were incubated for a further 10 min with LIVE/DEAD Fixable Near-IR Dead Cell Stain (L10119, Invitrogen) according to D'Amours *et al.* [@pone.0065364-DAmours2]. Spermatozoa were fixed with 3.7% formaldehyde for 15 min and incubated with 5 mg/ml Hoechst 33342 (H-3570, Invitrogen) after washing. Sperm suspensions were analyzed by flow cytometry (BD FACSAria-II; BD Biosciences, Mississauga, ON). Fluorescent probes were detected using 375 nm laser and 450/50 band pass filter (Hoechst 33342), 532 nm laser and 585/12 band pass filter (DilC12), and 633 nm laser and 780/60 band pass filter (LIVE/DEAD Fixable Near-IR Dead Cell Stain).
Isolation of Epididymal Epithelial Cells and Cell Culture {#s4d}
---------------------------------------------------------
Caput and cauda epididymal epithelial cells were prepared as previously described [@pone.0065364-ReyesMoreno1]. In brief, each epididymal section was dissected, freed from connective tissue, and cut into small pieces of 1--2 mm^3^. In order to remove epididymal fluid and spermatozoa, the tissue samples were then rinsed several times with a saline solution (150 mM NaCl containing 10 IU/ml penicillin and 100 mg/ml streptomycin) and digested in serum-free Epididymal Cell Medium (ECM [@pone.0065364-ReyesMoreno2]), containing 2.5 mg/ml collagenase type II in a shaking bath at 37°C for 1 h. Collagenase-dispersed cell clusters were cultured in a 6-well dish with cover slips on the well bottom in ECM supplemented with 10% FBS in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO~2~ at 37°C. Confluence was reached after 5 to 7 days of culture and more than 90% of cultured cells were of epithelial origin (evaluated by probing epithelial cadherin plasma membrane with specific antibodies).
Immunolocalization of CD9 on Spermatozoa, Epididymal Epithelial Cells and Epididymal Tissues {#s4e}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Washed epididymal spermatozoa from caput and cauda epididymal sections were smeared onto slides and fixed with 3.7% formaldehyde in PBS. Coverslips containing confluent epididymal epithelial cells were fixed with methanol at −20°C for 10 min and permeabilized in 0.3% (v/v) Triton X-100 in PBS for 15 min. Nonspecific sites were blocked with 1% BSA in PBS for 1 hour. Slides were then incubated overnight at 4°C with 10 µg/ml of polyclonal anti-CD9 antibodies (H-110, Santa Cruz Biotechnologies Inc., Santa Cruz, CA, USA) or normal rabbit IgG as control in 0.5% of goat serum in PBS. Unbound antibodies were washed with PBS, and the secondary antibodies, anti-rabbit IgG Alexa 488 (green) or 568 (red)-conjugated antibodies, were incubated for 1 h at room temperature in the dark. Samples were mounted with Vectashield supplemented with DAPI (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA, USA) and observed under a Zeiss Axioskop 2 epifluorescence microscope (Carl Zeiss Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada).
Epididymal tissues were fixed in PBS containing 4% paraformaldehyde for 3 days at 4°C and then embedded in paraffin. Thin sections of 6 microns were rehydrated, treated for 20 min in 3% H~2~O~2~ in methanol, washed in PBS, and boiled for 10 min in a 10 mM citrate solution pH 6.0. The sections were blocked with 6.5% goat serum in PBS for 2 h, then incubated with 10 µg/ml of polyclonal anti-CD9 antibodies (H-110, Santa Cruz Biotechnologies Inc., Santa Cruz, CA, USA) or normal rabbit IgG as control for sixteen hours at 4°C, followed by incubation with biotinylated goat anti-rabbit IgG. Detection was performed with ABC Vectastain kit (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, California). Nuclei were counterstained with Hematoxylin.
PCR {#s4f}
---
Total RNA was extracted by homogenizing epididymal epithelial cells with TRIzol reagent after collagenase dispersion (Invitrogen Life Technologies, CA, USA), precipitated with CHCl~3~/isopropanol, and purified with the RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen, Chatsworth, CA) according to manufacturers' instructions. After reverse transcription, tubulin, cytokeratin 8, CD9, CD26, and CD224 were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Primers and product length for each gene are described in [Table S1](#pone.0065364.s002){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. Expression data was normalized to tubulin as a housekeeping gene.
Protein Extraction and Western Immunoblotting {#s4g}
---------------------------------------------
Caput and cauda epididymal sperm or their cavitated membranes, membranous vesicles, epididymal epithelial cells after collagenase dispersion, or spermatozoa after incubation with membranous vesicles were subjected to 1% (v/v) Triton X-100 protein extraction in 10 mM Tris buffer (pH 7.4) containing 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM CaCl~2~, and 1 mM MgCl~2~. After extraction, proteins were precipitated with acetone at −20°C for 2 h and solubilized in Laemmli sample buffer, without ß-mercaptoethanol in case of CD9 detection. Proteins were subjected to 10 or 12% SDS-PAGE and electrotransferred onto nitrocellulose membrane. Membranes were blocked with 5% dried skimmed milk in PBS supplemented with 0.1% (v/v) Tween-20 for 1 h and incubated with anti-CD9 (LS-C45127, LifeSpan Biosciences Inc., Seattle, WA, USA), anti CD26, or anti CD224 antibodies for 2 h. Additional antibodies used included: P25b protein (antisera produced in our laboratory [@pone.0065364-Parent1]), macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF, from Dr M. Nishibori), aldose reductase AKR1B1, a gift from Dr. M.A. Fortier [@pone.0065364-Madore1], anti-recGliPr1L1 [@pone.0065364-Caballero1], or anti ELSPBP1 antisera [@pone.0065364-DAmours1]. After washing, membranes were incubated for 1 h with goat anti-mouse or anti-rabbit IgG coupled to horseradish peroxidase. In the case of biotinylated proteins, the membrane was blocked and then incubated with NA-HRP (neutravidin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase; Pierce) for 90 min in 1% dried skimmed milk in PBS-Tween. Horseradish peroxidase complexes were revealed using a chemiluminescent peroxidase substrate (Amersham, Buckinghamshire, UK).
Coimmunoprecipitation and LC/MS-MS Analysis {#s4h}
-------------------------------------------
CD9-associated molecules were identified by lysing 3--4 mg of cauda epididymal small membranous vesicles in 1 ml of lysis buffer 1% Brij O10 (P6136, Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) in 10 mM Tris pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl, 1 mM CaCl~2~, and 1 mM MgCl~2~ for 30 min at 4°C. Insoluble material was removed by centrifugation at 12,000×g for 15 min at 4°C and the supernatant was precleared for 1 h at 4°C with 20 µl protein G-sepharose beads (17-0618-01, GE Healthcare, Upsala, Sweden) previously blocked overnight at 4°C with 50 mM Tris buffer (pH 8.0) supplemented with 200 mM ethanolamine and 1% (v/v) Tween-20. Total lysate was divided into two equal volume aliquots; 2 µg of anti-CD9 antibodies (LS-C45127, LifeSpan Biosciencies Inc.) were added to one aliquot while normal mouse IgGs were added to the control lysate and incubated overnight at 4°C. Immunocomplexes were precipitated with 10 µl of protein G-sepharose beads for 1 h at 4°C. After washing the beads with lysis buffer, the coprecipitated molecules were eluted with lysis buffer supplemented with 1% (v/v) Triton X-100 and 0.2% (w/v) SDS. Extracted proteins were precipitated with acetone at −20°C, and resuspended in Laemli sample buffer without ß-mercaptoethanol. Immunoprecipitates were separated by 5--15% gradient SDS-PAGE under non-reducing conditions, and stained with Coomassie blue. Specific bands immunoprecipitated with anti-CD9 antibodies were excised, digested with trypsin, and analyzed by the Proteomics Platform of the Eastern Quebec Genomics Center, Quebec, Canada. Peptide samples were separated by online reversed-phase (RP) nanoscale capillary liquid chromatography (nanoLC) and analyzed by ES--MS/MS. All MS/MS samples were analyzed using Mascot (Matrix Science, London, UK; version 2.2.0). Mascot was set up to search the bovine Uniref100 database (release 11.05) assuming digestion with trypsin. Mascot was searched with a fragment ion mass tolerance of 0.50 Da and a parent ion tolerance of 2.0 Da. Scaffold (version Scaffold 3.0.9.1, Proteome Software Inc., Portland, OR, USA) was used to validate MS/MS-based peptide and protein identifications. The criterion to identify a protein was the content of at least two unique peptides identified with 95% probability.
Semi-quantitative and Statistical Analysis {#s4i}
------------------------------------------
For semi-quantitative analysis of protein or mRNA expression, films or agarose gels were scanned and images were analyzed and quantified using Adobe Photoshop CS2 version 9.0.2 software using the previously described method (<http://www.lukemiller.org/journal/2007/08/quantifying-western-blots-without.html>). Semi-quantitative determination of mRNA expression was performed using tubulin as a loading control. For semi-quantitative analysis of relative DilC12 fluorescence intensity, control conditions (normal mouse IgG) were considered to be 100%. At least three replicates were performed for each set of experiments. Results were expressed as average ± s.e.m. Data were analyzed by paired Student's *t*-tests where controls were compared with each treatment condition. A difference with *p*\<0.05 was considered significant.
Supporting Information {#s5}
======================
######
**Human blood serum exosomes fail to transfer molecules to the corpus distal epididymal sperm. A:** Western blot detection of CD9 in Triton X-100 protein extracts of CD9-positive microvesicles isolated from human blood serum. **B:** Relative DilC12 fluorescence intensity on live corpus distal epididymal sperm after coincubation with DilC12-labeled human blood serum or bovine epididymal CD9-positive microvesicles (CD9-MV) in equivalent amount of proteins for 60 min. The maximum fluorescence was considered to be 100%. Results are presented as average ± s.e.m. from three different experiments, \*differs significantly *p*\<0.05. **C:** Localization of DilC12-labeled molecules from human blood serum exosomes on corpus distal epididymal sperm after coincubation for 60 min at 37°C in sperm medium at pH 6.5. Results are representative of three independent experiments. The experiments were performed with a pool of human blood sera collected from different donors.
(TIFF)
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
**Primers, conditions and products length of the amplified genes.**
(DOC)
######
Click here for additional data file.
The authors would like to thank Dr. Olivier D'Amours for provision of control samples, Dr. Marc Pouliot and his team, Dr. Miriam Giambelluca, and Dr. Emmanuelle Rollet-Labelle for providing blood serum samples and technical support, Dr. Caroline Gilbert for helpful assistance in nanoparticle measurement techniques, Ms. Sandra Breuils-Bonnet and Ms. Isabelle Kelly for technical assistance in identification of proteins, Mr. Richard Janvier for his assistance in the use of electron microscopy and Dr. Alexandre Brunet for his work in flow cytometrical evaluation of sperm labeling.
[^1]: **Competing Interests:**The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
[^2]: Conceived and designed the experiments: JC CB GF RS. Performed the experiments: JC. Analyzed the data: JC GF. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RS. Wrote the paper: JC RS.
|
On the second day of public impeachment hearings, Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine, testified about her abrupt termination from the post in May after being told she had lost the confidence of the president. Yovanovitch talked about the importance of the foreign service and Rudy Giuliani’s “smear campaign” that preceded her removal. The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast is reacting to the impeachment hearings as they happen, and in this installment, the crew discusses Yovanovitch’s testimony and the arguments from both Democrats and Republicans, including President Trump’s tweet during the hearing.
FiveThirtyEight Politics Podcast: Yovanovitch Testifies, Trump Attacks
You can listen to the episode by clicking the “play” button in the audio player above or by downloading it in iTunes, the ESPN App or your favorite podcast platform. If you are new to podcasts, learn how to listen.
The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast publishes Monday evenings, with additional episodes throughout the week. Help new listeners discover the show by leaving us a rating and review on iTunes. Have a comment, question or suggestion for “good polling vs. bad polling”? Get in touch by email, on Twitter or in the comments. |
Supplements
Our Dutch CBD Oil range is Grown on farms around the Netherlands that do not use pesticides, artificial fertilisers or harmful chemicals, Dutch CBD Oil is the authentic taste of Dutch cannabis oil. Dutch CBD Oil is extracted without the use of solvents. We use CO2 Extraction, which is considered the safest method of extraction. With CO2 extraction, warm air is passed over the cannabis flowers until the cannabinoid oils are released. Please Note: This oil cannot be vaporized. It is intended for oral use only. Contains trace amounts of THC. Dutch CBD Oil is a food supplement.
Our Dutch CBD Oil range is Grown on farms around the Netherlands that do not use pesticides, artificial fertilisers or harmful chemicals, Dutch CBD Oil is the authentic taste of Dutch cannabis oil. Dutch CBD Oil is extracted without the use of solvents. We use CO2 Extraction, which is considered the safest method of extraction. With CO2 extraction, warm air is passed over the cannabis flowers until the cannabinoid oils are released. Please Note: This oil cannot be vaporized. It is intended for oral use only. Contains trace amounts of THC. Dutch CBD Oil is a food supplement.
Our Dutch CBD Oil range is Grown on farms around the Netherlands that do not use pesticides, artificial fertilisers or harmful chemicals, Dutch CBD Oil is the authentic taste of Dutch cannabis oil. Dutch CBD Oil is extracted without the use of solvents. We use CO2 Extraction, which is considered the safest method of extraction. With CO2 extraction, warm air is passed over the cannabis flowers until the cannabinoid oils are released. Please Note: This oil cannot be vaporized. It is intended for oral use only. Contains trace amounts of THC. Dutch CBD Oil is a food supplement. |
Advancing Skills in Midwifery Practice provides a guide to continuing professional development needs and meeting the latest Post-Registration and Practice (PREP) requirements. Building on Skills for Midwifery Practice by Ruth Johnson and Wendy Taylor, this book follows a similar format already familiar to many midwives. Whilst aimed primarily at registered midwives, the principles and philosophy apply across interprofessional boundaries. Grounded in safe practice and on contemporary evidence, this book also ensures that the health and wellbeing of the mother, baby and family remain at the forefront of care.
Key Features
Lists underpinning practices and guidelines
Rationale, including indications and contraindications of when the skill should be undertaken |
USN-2827-1: OpenJDK 6 vulnerabilities
openjdk-6 vulnerabilities
A security issue affects these releases of Ubuntu and its derivatives:
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Summary
Several security issues were fixed in OpenJDK 6.
Software Description
openjdk-6 - Open Source Java implementation
Details
Multiple vulnerabilities were discovered in the OpenJDK JRE related to
information disclosure, data integrity and availability. An attacker
could exploit these to cause a denial of service or expose sensitive
data over the network. (CVE-2015-4805, CVE-2015-4835, CVE-2015-4843,
CVE-2015-4844, CVE-2015-4860, CVE-2015-4881, CVE-2015-4883)
A vulnerability was discovered in the OpenJDK JRE related to
information disclosure and data integrity. An attacker could exploit
this to expose sensitive data over the network. (CVE-2015-4806)
A vulnerability was discovered in the OpenJDK JRE related to data
integrity. An attacker could exploit this expose sensitive data over
the network. (CVE-2015-4872)
Multiple vulnerabilities were discovered in the OpenJDK JRE related
to information disclosure. An attacker could exploit these to expose
sensitive data over the network. (CVE-2015-4734, CVE-2015-4842,
CVE-2015-4903)
Multiple vulnerabilities were discovered in the OpenJDK JRE related
to availability. An attacker could exploit these to cause a denial of
service. (CVE-2015-4803, CVE-2015-4893, CVE-2015-4911)
Update instructions
The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions: |
{
"name": "CleanJSON",
"version": "1.0.1",
"summary": "Swift JSON decoder for Codable.",
"homepage": "https://github.com/Pircate/CleanJSON",
"license": {
"type": "MIT",
"file": "LICENSE"
},
"authors": {
"Pircate": "[email protected]"
},
"source": {
"git": "https://github.com/Pircate/CleanJSON.git",
"tag": "1.0.1"
},
"source_files": "CleanJSON/Classes/**/*",
"platforms": {
"ios": "9.0",
"osx": "10.10",
"tvos": "9.0",
"watchos": "2.0"
},
"swift_versions": [
"4.2",
"5.0"
],
"swift_version": "5.0"
}
|
// Papercut
//
// Copyright © 2008 - 2012 Ken Robertson
// Copyright © 2013 - 2020 Jaben Cargman
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.
namespace Papercut.Common.Extensions
{
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using Papercut.Common.Helper;
public static class EnumerableExtensions
{
public static IEnumerable<T> IfNullEmpty<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable)
{
if (enumerable == null)
return Enumerable.Empty<T>();
return enumerable;
}
public static IEnumerable<T> WhereNotNull<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable)
{
return enumerable.IfNullEmpty().Where(s => s != null);
}
public static IEnumerable<string> ToFormattedPairs(this IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, Lazy<object>>> keyValuePairs)
{
return keyValuePairs.IfNullEmpty().Select(s => KeyValuePair.Create(s.Key, $"{s.Value.Value}"))
.Where(s => s.Value.IsSet())
.Select(s => $"{s.Key}: {s.Value}");
}
}
} |
Ion-ion correlation and charge reversal at titrating solid interfaces.
Confronting grand canonical titration Monte Carlo simulations (MC) with recently published titration and charge reversal (CR) experiments on silica surfaces by Dove and Craven (Dove, P. M.; Craven, C. M. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 2005, 69, 4963-4970) and van der Heyden et al. (van der Heyden, F. H. J.; Stein, D.; Besteman, K.; Lemay, S. G.; Dekker, C. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2006, 96, 224502), we show that ion-ion correlations quantitatively explain why divalent counterions strongly promote surface charge which, in turn, eventually causes a CR. Titration and CR results from simulations and experiments are in excellent agreement without any fitting parameters. This is the first unambiguous evidence that ion-ion correlations are instrumental in the creation of highly charged surfaces and responsible for their CR. Finally, we show that charge correlations result in "anomalous" charge regulation in strongly coupled conditions in qualitative disagreement with its classical treatment. |
Q:
Solving a dependency issue
Have a look at the following diagram...
The arrows show the dependencies each of the assemblies has.
I'm trying, where possible, to keep the 'contamination' from one layer to another to a minimum and thought I was doing OK.
My Service layer knows about the Business Entities and the DAL later knows about the Data Transfer Objects and I use the translators to convert the types where necessary.
As you might expect, the Service implementation needs to make calls on the DAL via the interface and this is where I've come unstuck. Even though I'm using the translators the Service Implementation still needs to know about the types defined in the DTOs (or, alternatively) the DAL needs to know about the BEs.
Is there a way around this?
If not, am I right in thinking that the minimum level of 'contamination' is achieved by allowing the Service Implementation to have a dependency on the DTOs?
If anyone has any thoughts on this subject, I'd be delighted to hear them.
A:
It seems that some 'contamination' is inevitable and that doing it this way at least reduced that to a minimum.
|
Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) is migrating from a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) based air interface to an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) based air interface in order to increase reverse link capacity. Reverse link capacity can be increased by limiting interference caused by mobile stations within a same cell (also referred to herein as “in-cell interference”) or by mobile stations in other cells (also referred to herein as “other-cell interference”).
In-cell and outer-cell Interference are caused, in part, when mobile stations transmit over a same carrier or sub-carrier frequency simultaneously. In a CDMA system, i.e., wireless communication system utilizing a CDMA air interface, mobile stations produces both in-cell interference and other-cell interference because mobile stations in the same cell and in different cells are simultaneously transmitting on a same carrier frequency. In-cell interference is the main source of interference in a CDMA system. By contrast, the main source of interference in an OFDMA system, i.e., wireless communication system utilizing an OFDMA air interface, is other-cell interference. In an OFDMA system, mobile stations in the same cell transmit on different sub-carrier frequencies and, thus, the in-cell interference produced by the mobile stations should be insignificant. However, other-cell interference is still produced because mobile stations in different cells may be simultaneously transmitting on the same sub-carrier frequencies. Accordingly, OFDMA systems have higher reverse link capacity than CDMA systems because mobile stations in an OFDMA system produce less in-cell interference than mobile stations in a CDMA system.
In order to increase reverse link capacity in an OFDMA system, other-cell interference needs to be reduced. One way to reduce other-cell interference is to limit mobile stations near the edges of adjacent cells to different sets of sub-carrier frequencies. For example, mobile stations near the edge of a first cell would be restricted to using a first set of sub-carrier frequencies, and mobile stations near the edge of an adjacent second cell would be restricted to using a second set of sub-carrier frequencies, wherein the first set includes different sub-carrier frequencies than those in the second set. Edge mobile stations (i.e., mobile stations near the edge of a cell) in the second cell would not be able to use the first set of sub-carrier frequencies even when there are no edge mobile stations in the first cell using sub-carrier frequencies in the first set, or vice-versa. Such manner of reducing other-cell interference will, however, result in an inefficient use of reverse link resources. Accordingly, there exists a need for a method of managing other-cell interference in a wireless communication system more efficiently. |
All relevant data are within the paper.
Introduction {#sec001}
============
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the archetype of a systemic autoimmune disease taking a relapsing and remitting course. Immune dysregulation leads to the production of autoantibodies, immune complexes, complement activation and tissue inflammation, which together cause a clinical syndrome with multiorgan involvement and unpredictable courses \[[@pone.0123572.ref001]\]. Lupus nephritis, that occurs in about 50% of all SLE patients \[[@pone.0123572.ref002]\], is a common and severe complication, and considered to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in SLE patients \[[@pone.0123572.ref003]\]. The large number of different autoantibodies observed in SLE mostly target nuclear as well as cell surface antigens, but also serum molecules such as complement components. Among these complement C1q is the most prominent target \[[@pone.0123572.ref004]\]. Complement C1q is the starter molecule of the classical pathway of complement activation and plays an important role in the clearance of immune complexes and apoptotic cell debris \[[@pone.0123572.ref005],[@pone.0123572.ref006]\]. Interestingly, hereditary homozygous deficiency of C1q has been described to be the strongest risk factor for developing SLE \[[@pone.0123572.ref007]--[@pone.0123572.ref009]\]. Whereas most SLE patients do not suffer from hereditary C1q deficiency they often show very low levels of C1q, in particular during disease flares. Low levels of C1q are typically associated with the occurrence of autoantibodies against C1q \[[@pone.0123572.ref010]--[@pone.0123572.ref012]\] that are found in about 20--50% of unselected SLE patients and in up to 100% of SLE patients with active proliferative lupus nephritis \[[@pone.0123572.ref013], [@pone.0123572.ref014]\]. This strong association has also been described in pediatric-onset SLE patients \[[@pone.0123572.ref015], [@pone.0123572.ref016]\]. As a consequence, anti-C1q antibodies not only have a high negative predictive value for the occurrence of severe lupus nephritis but seem to be necessary (but not sufficient in themselves) for the development of proliferative lupus nephritis. However, although it is likely that they alter the physiological role of C1q, e.g. the uptake of immune complexes and apoptotic debris \[[@pone.0123572.ref017]\], the pathogenic role of anti-C1q still needs to be elucidated. Independently anti-C1q might serve as a biomarker of active lupus nephritis. This view is based on a number of cross-sectional studies on anti-C1q in which the antibody was found to have a significant association with renal involvement and general disease activity \[[@pone.0123572.ref018]--[@pone.0123572.ref022]\]. However, studies investigating the value of anti-C1q during clinical follow-up are scarce. In a large study, Moroni and colleagues followed patients with lupus nephritis during a period of 6 years measuring anti-dsDNA antibodies, C3, C4 and anti-C1q as markers of renal disease activity \[[@pone.0123572.ref023]\]. Anti-C1q levels were found to better correlate with renal flares in patients with proliferative lupus nephritis than the other markers, but not all patients with renal flares had increased levels of anti-C1q. In another study Akhter et al. followed patients with SLE and changes in renal disease activity showing an association between anti-C1q and changes in urine protein concentrations and a renal activity score as well as a modified SLEDAI \[[@pone.0123572.ref024]\]. In addition, it was reported that levels of anti-C1q antibodies decreased after successful treatment of lupus nephritis \[[@pone.0123572.ref025]\]. However, these findings are in contrast to data found by Katsumata et al. describing that anti-C1q antibodies were associated with SLE global disease activity but not specifically with active lupus nephritis \[[@pone.0123572.ref026]\]. Taken together, the value of anti-C1q in SLE patients as follow-up marker is controversial and data on the correlation between anti-C1q levels and changes in disease activity within individual patients are lacking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the value of anti-C1q as a marker of disease activity in the follow-up of SLE patients with a focus on individual courses of the disease.
Patients and Methods {#sec002}
====================
2.1 Patients {#sec003}
------------
In this retrospective study data from SLE patients followed at the University Hospital Basel or at the University Children's Hospital Basel (Switzerland) between 1995 and 2013 were analyzed. As inclusion criteria, only patients fulfilling at least four of the eleven revised criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for the classification as SLE \[[@pone.0123572.ref027]\]. In addition, with the aim to analyse anti-C1q in the follow-up, only patients with a minimum of three anti-C1q follow-up measurements were included. Because these measurements were part of the clinical care and therefore according to the physician's judgment as well as to disease activity, intervals between follow-up time points were variable (between one month and 5,5 years). Patients were excluded from this study if clinical data at the time of anti-C1q measurement were not available or did not allow the classification of SLE. In total, this lead to the exclusion of seven patients from the initial screening cohort of 59 patients from which at least three anti-C1q measurements were available: Five patients did not fulfill at least 4 criteria for the classification of SLE. Another two patients having had three follow-up measurements of anti-C1q were followed in an external hospital and could not appropriately be verified with regard to the correct diagnosis of SLE.
Anti-C1q levels were compared to a number of blood, urine and clinical parameters. When the laboratory results were not available at the precise date of anti-C1q-measurement, values from up to 14 days before or after the measurement were accepted. Disease activity was assessed for each patient at each anti-C1q measurement point using the European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement (ECLAM) score \[[@pone.0123572.ref028]\] as well as the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) \[[@pone.0123572.ref029]\]. The clinical disease activity scores were established retrospectively. Missing laboratory values were counted as 0 points, which occurred in about 2,5% (SLEDAI) and 5% (ECLAM) of all items respectively, and mostly concerned prot/crea ratios and urinary sedimentation. The study was approved by the ethical committee of the University Basel, Switzerland (Ref. Nr. EK 314/12). Patients records were anonymized and de-identified prior to analysis.
2.2. Measurement of anti-C1q and other laboratory parameters {#sec004}
------------------------------------------------------------
All serum levels of anti-C1q were determined with the same commercially available ELISA kit (Bühlmann Lab., Schönenbuch, Switzerland) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Anti-dsDNA antibodies were initially measured by Farr assay (IBL, Hamburg, Germany) until the end of 2009 when this method was replaced by a fluorescence enzyme-immunoassay (FEIA, Thermo Fisher, Freiburg, Germany). Due to this change of method, anti-dsDNA measurements were separated into two groups (i.e. before and after change of method) for further analyses. Levels of C3 and C4 were quantified by standardized nephelometric assay (Siemens, Marburg, Germany). CH50 was measured by using a modification of the method described by Mayer \[[@pone.0123572.ref030]\]. Blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), creatinine levels, C-reactive protein (CRP), urine analysis and urine sediment all were determined by the routine laboratory procedures.
2.3 Statistical analyses {#sec005}
------------------------
Demographic and clinical characteristics are reported as median and range or *n* (%), as appropriate. A nonparametric test (Spearman Test, one-tailed) was used to analyse possible correlations between biomarkers as well as between biomarkers and disease activity. Tests were performed using Graph Pad Prism (GraphPad Prism version 4.00 for Windows, GraphPad Software, San Diego California USA). P values of less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.
Results {#sec006}
=======
3.1 Patients' characteristics {#sec007}
-----------------------------
In total, 52 patients with SLE each having at least three anti-C1q follow-up measurements were analyzed. The patient characteristics are summarized in [Table 1](#pone.0123572.t001){ref-type="table"}.
10.1371/journal.pone.0123572.t001
###### Patient characteristics.
{#pone.0123572.t001g}
All patients with renal involvement without renal involvement
------------------------------------------------ -------------- ------------------------ ---------------------------
Number of patients 52 31 21
Gender, n (%)
female 42 (81) 24 (77) 18 (85)
male 10 (19) 7 (23) 3 (15)
Age in years, median (range) 43 (14--69) 44 (23--69) 44 (14--69)
ACR-criteria fulfilled, median (range) 5 (4--9) 6 (4--9) 5 (4--8)
Measurement points per patient, median (range) 6 (3--30) 8 (3--30) 4 (3--18)
Biopsy-proven renal involvement 26 (50) 26 (84) 0 (0)
Patients with ANA+ (at any time) (%) 48 (92) 29 (94) 19 (90)
Patients with dsDNA+ (at any time) (%) 37 (71) 22 (71) 15 (71)
On average, the patients fulfilled 5 (median, range 4--9) ACR criteria for the classification of SLE. Forty-eight patients (92%) were positive for ANA and thirty-seven (71%) for anti-dsDNA antibodies. In these patients, a total of 460 anti-C1q measurements were identified and used for further analyses corresponding to a median of 6 data points per patients (range 3 to 29). The median age of the patients was 42 (range 14--68 years); ten patients (19%) were male and 42 female (81%). Twenty-six patients (50%) had a history of renal involvement as confirmed by renal biopsy, in another 5 patients renal involvement was descripted in the absence of available biopsy data.
3.2 Anti-C1q and activity indices {#sec008}
---------------------------------
With regard to disease activity, anti-C1q were found to positively correlate with disease activity as determined by ECLAM and SLEDAI scores (R = 0.24 and 0.43, respectively; p\<0.0001 each). These data are demonstrated in [Fig 1](#pone.0123572.g001){ref-type="fig"}. For this correlation a significant albeit weak linear regression was found.
{#pone.0123572.g001}
Since anti-C1q levels varied considerably between patients with some having levels beyond the upper limit of detection whereas other patients remained low-level positive only, we evaluated individual anti-C1q levels. Characteristical follow-up curves are demonstrated in [Fig 2](#pone.0123572.g002){ref-type="fig"}.
{#pone.0123572.g002}
Patients 1 through 8 presented at diagnosis with an initial flare and corresponding high disease activity associated with high anti-C1q levels ([Fig 2a](#pone.0123572.g002){ref-type="fig"}). After initiation of therapy disease activity as well as anti-C1q levels strongly decreased reaching stable values at remission with little disease activity and correspondingly low levels of anti-C1q. Patients 1 and 4 through 8 had biopsy-proven lupus nephritis at diagnosis, whereas patients 2 and 3 did not show apparent renal involvement.
[Fig 2b](#pone.0123572.g002){ref-type="fig"} summarizes patients with flares during follow-up with either persistently elevated levels of anti-C1q and/or a simultaneous increase of anti-C1q titers, as well as patients with stable low disease activity with concurrent low anti-C1q titers. Patients 9 through 16 had disease flares during follow-up or persistently high anti-C1q levels. Of these patients, patients 9 (with biopsy-proven proliferative lupus nephritis) and 10 (without apparent renal involvement) had several disease flares as indicated by increases of the activity indices and accompanying rises of anti-C1q levels followed by remission due to treatment adaptions. Patient 11 (with renal involvement) had persistently high levels of anti-C1q even during low disease activity. At measurement point 24 the patient was diagnosed to have a severe flare with secondary thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, mild renal failure and dilatative lupus-cardiomyopathy. At this time point a slight increase in anti-C1q levels beyond the high baseline levels could be detected. Patient 12--16 (with renal involvement) showed relatively stable disease activity and anti-C1q levels. Patients 17 (without renal involvement) and 18 (with renal involvement) were representative for patients with low disease activity associated with negative/very low anti-C1q levels.
However, not in all patients anti-C1q levels were found to clearly correlate with disease activity. As demonstrated in [Fig 2c](#pone.0123572.g002){ref-type="fig"}, patients 19 and 20 (without renal involvement) as well as patients 21--24 (with renal involvement) had a lack of correlation between disease activity and anti-C1q levels. Such a lack of correlation could be observed in some of our patients and, as demonstrated in the figure, was independent from a history of renal lupus.
Since anti-C1q had been described to particularly well correlate with renal involvement \[[@pone.0123572.ref013]--[@pone.0123572.ref019]\], we subsequently separated the patients into two groups for further analysis: Group 1 comprising 31 patients with renal involvement (337 measurement points) and group 2 comprising 21 patients without apparent renal involvement ever (123 measurement points). For each group the correlation between anti-C1q levels and the activity indices were investigated separately ([Fig 3](#pone.0123572.g003){ref-type="fig"}).
{#pone.0123572.g003}
Overall, in patients of group 2 (without renal involvement) no correlation between anti-C1q levels and disease activity indices was found (SLEDAI r = 0.05, p = 0.6; ECLAM r = 0.16, p = 0.07). In contrast patients of group 1 (with renal involvement in the history) showed a significant correlation between anti-C1q levels and disease activity indices (SLEDAI r = 0.47, p\<0.0001; ECLAM r = 0.28, p\<0.0001).
3.3 Anti-C1q and laboratory markers {#sec009}
-----------------------------------
The overall associations between anti-C1q levels and the laboratory parameters CH50, C3, C4, anti-dsDNA, and urine protein-to-creatinine ratio for all data points of the 52 included SLE patients are demonstrated in [Fig 4](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}.
{#pone.0123572.g004}
Anti-C1q correlated positively with the urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (p\<0.0001; R = 0.41) and anti-dsDNA antibody levels (Fig [4A1](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}--[4C1](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}). With regard to correlations with anti-dsDNA antibody levels, anti-C1q correlated in both groups of anti-dsDNA assays, Farr assay as well as FEIA (R = 0.59 and R = 0.42, respectively; p\<0.0001 each). The associations between anti-C1q and complement components C3 and C4 as well as CH50 are demonstrated in Fig [4D1](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}--[4F1](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}. A negative correlation with all three complement parameters was found (C3: R = -0.36, p\<0.0001; C4: R = -0.24, p\<0.0001; CH50: R = -0.26, p\<0.0001).
Interestingly, the correlations of anti-C1q with other laboratory markers could not only be observed in patients with confirmed (Fig [4A3](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}--[4F3](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}) but also in those without confirmed renal involvement (Fig [4A2](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}--[4F2](#pone.0123572.g004){ref-type="fig"}).
Discussion {#sec010}
==========
This retrospective follow-up study was performed to evaluate the diagnostic value of anti-C1q in the clinical follow-up of SLE patients with regard to disease activity in general and to renal involvement in particular. The focus of our analysis was on the time course of disease activity in relation to individual anti-C1q levels. We observed a good overall correlation between anti-C1q levels and disease activity indices (SLEDAI and ECLAM). In addition, this is the first study to demonstrate individual time courses of anti-C1q levels in relation to disease activity. Most SLE patients were found to have anti-C1q levels that well correlated with disease activity over time. Increasing or decreasing disease activity was accompanied by rising or falling anti-C1q levels in patients with and without renal involvement. In addition, a significant positive correlation between anti-C1q levels and the urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, anti-dsDNA antibodies as well as a negative correlation with complement C3, C4 and CH50 was observed. Interestingly, anti-C1q correlated not only with urine protein-to-creatinine ratio in patients with confirmed but also in those without confirmed renal involvement suggesting subclinical renal involvement. However, separating the patients with regard to renal involvement, only the patient group with renal involvement showed a significant overall correlation between anti-C1q levels and the activity indices suggesting that anti-C1q as a follow-up marker is best in SLE patients with renal involvement. This assumption is in line with the observation that the degree of correlation of anti-C1q levels is more pronounced with the SLEDAI than with the ECLAM score. This difference might be explained by an unequal weighting of renal involvement between both indices with renal involvement being stronger represented in the SLEDAI score than in the ECLAM score. Indeed, if items for renal activity were omitted in the SLEDAI score, the degree of correlation with anti-C1q levels strongly decreased (data not shown).
Previous studies suggested that the development or recurrence of nephritis might be associated with rising titers of anti-C1q during the six months preceding the flare suggesting that anti-C1q might serve as an early marker of renal flares \[[@pone.0123572.ref031],[@pone.0123572.ref032]\]. In our study we could not observe such a rise in anti-C1q levels preceding increases in disease activity or urine protein-to-creatinine ratios. However, it is important to note that the intervals between follow-up time points varied considerably ranging from one month to several years in some patients. As a consequence, the question whether increasing disease activity is accompanied by rising anti-C1q levels preceding the flare by several weeks to a few months and thus predicting disease flares could not appropriately be addressed.
With regard to correlations of anti-C1q with other laboratory markers, it is noticeable that anti-C1q better correlated with anti-dsDNA levels determined by Farr assay than by FEIA. The difference between these two methods of measurement might be explained by the fact that the Farr assay primarily detects antibodies with high affinity for dsDNA whereas the FEIA method also detects low affinity antibodies. It is well established that high affinity anti-dsDNA antibodies are more specific since they better correlate with the occurrence of lupus nephritis \[[@pone.0123572.ref033]\]. This stronger association with renal involvement (which is typical for high anti-C1q levels too) as well as the fact that classical anti-C1q antibody assays are designed to detect high affinity antibodies only (by the use of a high ionic strength buffer) might well explain the strong correlation between anti-C1q and anti-dsDNA measured by Farr assay.
An important strength of our study is the large number of data points allowing the analysis of long follow-up periods of individual patients with SLE. The individual follow-up periods comprised at last three data points per patient in order to allow true follow-up analyses and reducing a bias towards a more cross-sectional character of the study. In addition, the single center character of our study allowed a uniform analysis of patient data due to a uniform documentation system. Furthermore, all anti-C1q levels were measured by the same medical laboratory employing the same assay during the whole study period, thus eliminating a potential interassay and interlaboratory variability. In this context, an important issue of anti-C1q measurements is its inadequate standardization and the lack of fixed cut-off levels discriminating positive from negative test results. In order to avoid this problem we performed correlation analyses independent from a specific cut-off for positivity.
On the other hand, our study bears some important limitations. The retrospective character of our analysis and the relatively small number of patients, in particular when comparing subgroups of patients, do not allow drawing definite conclusions. The study characteristics also did not sufficiently allow the calculation of the sensitivity and specificity of anti-C1q for the determination of a specific nature and severity of flares in comparison to other laboratory markers of disease. Furthermore, anti-C1q were measured according to the physician\`s decision and therefore certainly were more often determined in patient with active disease than in patients without flare. Last, our analysis of the association of anti-C1q with renal disease activity mainly focused on the correlation of anti-C1q with prot/crea ratios. However, persisting stable proteinuria not necessarily is expression of active lupus nephritis but might also reflect chronic renal damage. Further studies will have to be performed using well-defined large cohorts of patients with close as well as long follow-ups in order to determine the diagnostic value of anti-C1q in SLE patients.
In conclusion, anti-C1q levels were found to well correlate with disease activity in SLE patients during follow-up. This correlation was strongest in patients with renal involvement and active lupus nephritis. Our data support the use of anti-C1q as follow-up marker in SLE patients, in particular but not exclusively in SLE patients with renal involvement.
Beyond the authors listed there were no contributors.
[^1]: **Competing Interests:**The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
[^2]: Conceived and designed the experiments: MB IH MT. Performed the experiments: MB MT. Analyzed the data: MB MT. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MB IH MT. Wrote the paper: MB MT.
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Plot hole: When Oliver attempts to lift the drain grille in order to get the drunk's car key, he claims it is too heavy. Yet when Stan gets his umbrella stuck down there, Oliver manages to lift the grille without any effort.
Continuity mistake: When Stan and Oliver are in the bedroom of the judge's house, Stan is lying on the bed and you can see the cigar in his mouth is already lit. But a couple of seconds later, he is lighting the cigar.
Continuity mistake: When Arthur Houseman takes out the water from the jug and replaces it with gin, you can see there are two glasses in front of the jug, but when we see him pouring gin into the jug in the next shot, the glasses have changed position. |
Defects in liver and muscle glycogen metabolism in neonatal and adult New Zealand obese mice.
Impaired glycogen synthesis is present in subjects at risk for developing non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), suggesting that it is a primary defect in NIDDM. To examine whether defects in glycogen metabolism are present at birth in an animal model of NIDDM, glycogen synthase (GS), glycogen phosphorylase (GP), and total glycogen content were measured in liver and quadriceps muscle of 1-day- and 20-week-old insulin-resistant New Zealand Obese (NZO) mice and control (NZC) mice. In livers of both neonatal and adult NZO mice, active GS was reduced by 54% and 36%, respectively, as compared with that in NZC mice (P < .03). Total liver GS activity was the same in neonates, but was 65% higher in adult NZO as compared with NZC mice (P < .02). Liver glycogen was 28% lower at birth in NZO mice (P < .03), but was 49% higher at 20 weeks of age. Active and total GP were the same in NZO and NZC animals, despite hyperinsulinemia in 20-week-old NZO mice. In muscle, active GS was reduced by 41% in both 1-day- and 20-week-old NZO mice (P < .02). Total GS was also lower in NZC mice at 1 day of age (P < .01), but not at 20 weeks. No differences were detected in GP activity or in total glycogen content in muscle. Therefore, reduced GS activity is an early defect present at birth in the insulin-resistant NZO mouse in both liver and muscle. However, it is not the sole determinant of the amount of glycogen deposited in tissues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
Matthew Gillespie
Matthew Gillespie (24 December 1869 – unknown) was a Scottish footballer. His regular position was as a forward. He was born in Strathclyde, Glasgow. He played for Strathclyde, Leith Athletic, Lincoln City and Newton Heath.
External links
MUFCInfo.com profile
Category:1869 births
Category:Scottish footballers
Category:Leith Athletic F.C. players
Category:Lincoln City F.C. players
Category:Manchester United F.C. players
Category:Year of death missing
Category:Association football forwards
Category:Footballers from Glasgow
Category:English Football League players |
How construct a 95% confidence interval estimate for u and write the confidence statement?College students throw an average of 640 pounds of trash each year. To estimate the amount of trash...
How construct a 95% confidence interval estimate for u and write the confidence statement?
College students throw an average of 640 pounds of trash each year. To estimate the amount of trash discarded by the students at the State University, 36 students were randomly selected. The mean of the sample was 559 pounds with a standard deviation of 159 pounds. Construct a 95% confidence interval estimate for u(average amount of trash that college students throw out each year) and write the confidence statement. |
THE LIGHT 'PLANE RACE FOR THE GROSVENOR CHALLENGE CUP: 6, Payn on the Vickers "Vagabond." Ironically it was only after it had been eliminated from the trials that the Vagabond began to perform properly. It is seen here being flown by Vickers test pilot Sqn Ldr Payn. |
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A spokesman for Avon and Somerset police said officers who attended the scene reported that three people suffered "minor injuries", including one woman whose arm was injured.
Both cars involved in the collision are on the side of the road, he said.
An ambulance was dispatched to the scene
The Hollow is partly blocked and traffic is slow, according to traffic reporting website Inrix.
Inrix recorded the scene of the crash as "The Hollow near Kelston View (Bath City Farm)" but later information from the public indicated that the collision occurred near the top of the road next to Haycombe Cemetery. |
Accuracy of coding in Medicare part B claims. Cataract as a case study.
We studied the accuracy of Medicare part B coding for cataract extraction to provide validation for research involving Medicare data. Hospital and physician office records associated with a sample of 802 paid claims for cataract surgery were reviewed. The sample was randomly selected from 118,420 Medicare part B claims for cataract surgery submitted by physicians in an 11-state sample during the first quarter of 1988. Medical records were successfully obtained for 796 cataract surgery episodes (99.2%), of which 794 (99.7%) indicated that cataract extraction had been performed. In the remaining two cases, cataract surgery was attempted but aborted. In 24 (3%) of the 794 cases, the surgical approach (intracapsular or extracapsular) indicated in the operative note differed from the coded on the physician's bill. In all cases in which the operative note indicated a secondary procedure performed at the time of surgery, the billing information was in agreement. We conclude that, at least in the case of cataract surgery, the Medicare part B database is 99% accurate (95% confidence interval, +/- 0.6%) for cataract surgery having occurred and 96% accurate (95% confidence interval, +/- 1.4%) in terms of surgical approach. |
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Local authorities at Lachen and Lachung — two popular destinations in North Sikkim district — have stopped entry of tourists and labourers from outside the state in view of the threat posed by the coronavirus. The decisions were taken … |
Caterpillar beat most profit and revenue expectations in the third quarter, but company shares were punished Tuesday when Wall Street sensed some pessimism in the company's outlook, which remains unchanged. |
CHAPTER VII. Some British Inventors of Air-ships
The first Englishman to invent an air-ship was Mr. Stanley Spencer, head of the well-known firm of Spencer Brothers, whose worksare at Highbury, North London.
This firm has long held an honourable place in aeronautics, both in the construction of air-craft and in aerial navigation. Spencer Brothers claim to be the premier balloon manufacturers in the world, and, at the time of writing, eighteen balloons and two dirigibles lie in the works ready for use. In these works there may also be seen the frame of the famous Santos-Dumont air-ship, referred to later in this book.
In general appearance the first Spencer air-ship was very similar to the airship flown by Santos-Dumont; that is, there was the cigar-shaped balloon, the small engine, and the screw propellor for driving the craft forward.
But there was one very important distinction between the two air-ships. By a most ingenious contrivance the envelope was made so that, in the event of a large and serious escape of gas, the balloon would assume the form of a giant umbrella, and fall to earth after the manner of a parachute.
All inventors profit, or should profit, by the experience of others, whether such experience be gained by success or failure. It was found that Santos-Dumont's air-ship lost a considerable amount of gas when driven through the air, and on several occasions the whole craft was in great danger of collapse. To keep the envelope inflated as tightly as possible Mr. Spencer, by a clever contrivance, made it possible to force air into the balloon to replace the escaped gas.
The first Spencer air-ship was built for experimental purposes. It was able to lift only one person of light weight, and was thus a great contrast to the modern dirigible which carries a crew of thirty or forty people. Mr. Spencer made several exhibition flights in his little craft at the Crystal Palace, and so successful were they that he determined to construct a much larger craft.
The second Spencer air-ship, first launched in 1903, was nearly 100 feet long. There was one very important distinction between this and other air-ships built at that time: the propeller was placed in front of the craft, instead of at the rear, as is the case in most air-ships. Thus the craft was pulled through the air much after the manner of an aeroplane.
In the autumn of 1903 great enthusiasm was aroused in London by the announcement that Mr. Spencer proposed to fly from the Crystal Palace round the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and back to his starting-place. This was a much longer journey than that made by Santos-Dumont when he won the Deutsch prize.
Tens of thousands of London's citizens turned out to witness the novel sight of a giant air-ship hovering over the heart of their city, and it was at once seen what enormous possibilities there were in the employment of such craft in time of war. The writer remembers well moving among the dense crowds and hearing everywhere such remarks as these:
"What would happen if a few bombs were thrown over the side of the air-ship?" "Will there be air-fleets in future, manned by the soldiers or sailors?" Indeed the uppermost thought in people's minds was not so much the possibility of Mr. Spencer being able to complete his journey successfully - nearly everyone recognized that air-ship construction had now advanced so far that it was only a matter of time for an ideal craft to be built - but that the coming of the air-ship was an affair of grave international importance.
The great craft, glistening in the sunlight, sailed majestically from the south, but when it reached the Cathedral it refused to turn round and face the wind. Try how he might, Mr. Spencer could not make any progress. It was a thrilling sight to witness this battle with the elements, right over the heart of the largest city in the world. At times the air-ship seemed to be standing quite still, head to wind. Unfortunately, half a gale had sprung up, and the 24-horse-power engine was quite incapable of conquering so stiff a breeze, and making its way home again. After several gallant attempts to circle round the dome, Mr. Spencer gave up in despair, and let the monster air-ship drift with the wind over the northern suburbs of the city until a favourable landing-place near Barnet was reached, where he descended.
The Spencer air-ships are of the non-rigid type. Spencer air-ship A comprises a gas vessel for hydrogen 88 feet long and 24 feet in diameter, with a capacity of 26,000 cubic feet. The framework is of polished ash wood, made in sections so that it can easily be taken to pieces and transported, and the length over all is 56 feet. Two propellers 7 feet 6 inches diameter, made of satin-wood, are employed to drive the craft, which is equipped with a Green engine of from 35 to 40 horse-power.
Spencer's air-ship B is a much larger vessel, being 150 feet long and 35 feet in diameter, with a capacity for hydrogen of 100,000 cubic feet. The framework is of steel and aluminium, made in sections, with cars for ten persons, including aeronauts, mechanics, and passengers. It is driven with two petrol aerial engines of from 50 to 60 horse-power.
About the time that Mr. Spencer was experimenting with his large air-ship, Dr. Barton, of Beckenham, was forming plans for an even larger craft. This he laid down in the spacious grounds of the Alexandra Park, to the north of London. An enormous shed was erected on the northern slopes of the park, but visitors to the Alexandra Palace, intent on a peep at the monster air-ship under construction, were sorely disappointed, as the utmost secrecy in the building of the craft was maintained. |
Comprehensive security grid to be formulated: Police
Srinagar, Jan 10 (KNS): In view of recent attacks, the Jammu and Kashmir government has directed security agencies to ensure fool proof security for the Republic day celebrations on 26 January.
Sources told KNS that the government’s home department in its communication has stressed security agencies for maintaining alertness in sensitive areas. “Keeping in view the present security scenario in the state and continues threats from militants, tight security arrangements should be made across the state for the Republic day celebrations,” the communication has said.
One of the top police officials told KNS that security has already been stepped up across the state and checkpoints set up at various localities to keep a tab on any anti-national activity.
“A comprehensive security grid and deployment mechanism for conduct of celebrations would be formulated in the coming days,” the officer said wishing not to be named.
Meanwhile sources said that the Security agencies are strengthening the security in Srinagar city in view of change in venue from Bakshi Stadium to SK Cricket Stadium Sonawar, which falls near heart of Srinagar city.
Officials told KNS that it is for the first time when main Republic Day celebrations would be held at Srinagar’s cricket ground instead at Bakshi Stadium.
In view of change in venue, the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir has also directed the police department and other security agencies to ensure “adequate and fool proof security” arrangements in and around the venue.
The official said that venue has been shifted in view of ongoing construction works going at Bakhsi Stadium. “There will fool-proof security arrangements in and around the venue and along the roads leading to the stadium,” he said.
The official said that road from Radio Kashmir to Sonawar road may remain closed for few days before the January 26. “This will be more a challenging job for the security agencies as the venue falls near business hub Lal Chowk. The police department has been directed to make a comprehensive security plan,” the official said.
The DIG Armed has been directed to coordinate the preparation and supervise of the parade. While SSP Security has been directed to ensure “adequate” security on all fronts. Authorities have also decided to stop the entry to ground B after January 15.
“In Srinagar security should be tightened more than before owing to change of venue this time around,” an official privy to the meeting quoting senior officers having said in a recent meeting. The police department has been directed to make a “comprehensive” security plan.
A police official said that security would be strengthened in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk, Rajbagh, Dal Gate, and Sonawar area. “The security agencies will take extra measures this time in view change in venue and recent fidayeen attack on a CRPF camp,” the police official said.
The Director School Education Kashmir has been directed to ensure participation of contingents of educational institutions including private schools in the main function.
Sources said that it has been decided to utilize three Pawan Hans helicopters for flower showing and to keep surveillance on the venue. “Government has also directed for supply of water, power, Medicare, parking, transportation, sanitation, seating, and heating public address system, and fire fighting measures,” sources maintained. (KNS) |
Hemodialysis for methyl alcohol poisoning: a single-center experience.
Methanol is a cheap and potent adulterant of illicit liquors. Hemodialysis (HD) is the best method to rapidly remove both toxic acid metabolites and parent alcohols, and it plays a fundamental role in treating severely poisoned patients. This retrospective study was carried out on 91 patients with detectable serum methanol levels who underwent HD. Because toxic alcohol levels were not immediately available, the initial diagnosis and treatment was based on clinical history with evidence of toxic alcohol intake, presence of high anion metabolic acidosis and/or end organ damage. Patients received bicarbonate, ethanol, according to clinical features and blood gases. Patients underwent HD in the setting of known methanol ingestion with high anion gap metabolic acidosis, or evidence of end-organ damage, regardless of methanol level. HD prescription included large surface area dialyzer (≥ 1.5 m²), blood flow rate of 250-350 mL/min and dialysate flow rate of 500 mL/min for 4-6 h. Between 9 and 11 July 2009, 91 males with mean age 40 ± 8.5 years underwent HD, and 13 patients required a second HD session. Patients consumed 100-500 mL illicit liquors, and symptoms appeared six and 60 h later. Clinical features were gastro-intestinal symptoms (83.5%), visual disturbances (60.4%), central nervous system symptoms (59.3%) and dyspnea (43.9%). Before HD, mean pH was 7.11 ± 0.04 (range 6.70- 7.33) and mean bicarbonate levels were 8.5 ± 4.9 mmol/L (range 2-18). Three patients died due to methanol intoxication. Mortality was associated with severe metabolic acidosis (pH ≤ 6.90), ventilator requirement and coma/seizure on admission (P < 0.001). Timely HD, bicarbonate, ethanol and supportive therapy can be life-saving in methanol intoxication. |
Q:
smtp;550 Access denied - Invalid HELO name (See RFC2821 4.1.1.1)
I'm running Windows server 2008 R2 but am getting smtp mail rejected from a few domains.
To test it I'm dropping a text file into C:\inetpub\mailroot\Pickup directory, with something like this:
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: testing
This is a test
It will send to some domains, but some are returning:
Reporting-MTA: dns;DEDICAT-93I3U5A
Received-From-MTA: dns;DEDICAT-93I3U5A
Arrival-Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2012 12:50:58 +0100
Final-Recipient: rfc822;[email protected]
Action: failed
Status: 5.5.0
Diagnostic-Code: smtp;550 Access denied - Invalid HELO name (See RFC2821 4.1.1.1)
I understand this could be something to do with the smtp setup on the server (IIS 7.5).
Can anybody give me some advice as to where to start please?
Thanks,
Andy.
A:
Some SMTP servers require you to send a valid host name with the HELO command that also is the same as the reverse DNS of the IP address the request originates from.
You can configure the host name the IIS SMTP Server uses through the old IIS6 Management Console. To do so, select the SMTP Server, right click and select Properties, go to the tab Delivery and then click on the button Advanced.
The reverse DNS for your IP address is usually controlled by your ISP.
|
Q:
fn_trace_gettable Error SQL Server 2008
When I Execute
SELECT * FROM FN_TRACE_GETTABLE(N'E:\Trace_Files\trace1.trc', 1)
It says "You do not have permission to run 'FN_TRACE_GETTABLE", What type of permission on server required to execute the above query ??
A:
It Requires ALTER TRACE permission on the server.
Note :- This feature will be removed in a future version of Microsoft SQL Server (2014 above). Avoid using this feature in new development work.
|
WASHINGTON Barack Obama became the first black presidential nominee in U.S. history on Tuesday, declaring victory over Hillary Clinton and lifting the curtain on an epic struggle for the White House against Republican John McCain.
Clinton, credited by Obama as an inspiration to millions, refused to concede defeat and sparked a buzz early in the day about the possibility of a dream team by saying she's open to joining the ticket as his running mate.
"Tonight, we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another," Obama told nearly 20,000 cheering supporters in a soaring speech that capped an amazing political ascendancy.
"America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past," said Obama, who depicted McCain as the antithesis of change.
"We must again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That's what Americans demand. That's what change is."
Obama reached the winning delegate figure of 2,118 from the final two primaries and new support from party officials and legislators.
He won Montana and Clinton took South Dakota on the closing day of a spellbinding, see-saw race that drew record turnouts and divided Democrats into intensely emotional camps.
Obama now has five months to make his case in what promises to be a tumultuous election in a war-weary country with a fragile economy where Americans are deeply unhappy about the status quo.
His first job will be dealing with Clinton, who didn't acknowledge Obama had reached the delegate milestone and said she'd consult party leaders and supporters before deciding what's next.
"I am committed to uniting our party so we move forward stronger and more ready than ever to take back the White House in November," Clinton said in New York.
But she defiantly continued to emphasize her widespread appeal during 54 contests in five months of voting.
And supporters chanted "Denver, Denver, Denver" as she spoke, signalling she should contest the nomination all the way to the party's national convention in August.
"I want the 18 million Americans who voted for me to be respected, to be heard and no longer be invisible," she said.
"The question is where to do we go from here - and given how far we've come and where we need to go as a party, it is a question I do not take lightly."
"This has been a long campaign and I will be making no decisions tonight."
Yet she also praised Obama and his ability to pull in so many young voters.
"Our party and our democracy is stronger and more vibrant as a result. And we are grateful."
The 46-year-old first-term Illinois senator couldn't be more different from his rival for the presidency, a Vietnam War hero who's 71 and ardently supports the Iraq war.
McCain was quick off the mark in laying out his own battle plan, painting Obama as a naive, free-spending newcomer and accusing him of denying funds to U.S. soldiers who've done a "brilliant and brave" job.
"This is, indeed, a change election," McCain said in New Orleans. "No matter who wins this election, the direction of this country is going to change dramatically. But, the choice is between the right change and the wrong change; between going forward and going backward.
Obama swung back hard in his victory speech, delivered at an evening rally in St. Paul, Minn. in the same hall where McCain will accept the Republican nomination at his party's national convention in September
"It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 per cent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year," said Obama, who suggested his rival should spend more time visiting small-town Americans and less time in Iraq.
Obama was just 30-odd delegates short of the nomination as the day began, and aides scrambled to bring superdelegates on board to meet the quota so he could celebrate his remarkable breakthrough.
Clinton's camp, meantime, tried to convince them to hold off.
His campaign was already gearing up to recruit many of Clinton's top fundraisers, a move that could add $75 million to the record totals he's getting from small donors over the Internet.
Important endorsements for Obama flooded in throughout the day, including former president Jimmy Carter and Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, who urged Clinton to bow out.
Even ardent Clinton supporters said there should be an end to the bitter, bruising battle for the good of the party.
"It is, in fact, a moment of truth," said California Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Obama didn't need victories in both final primaries to take the nomination.
But he had hoped to avoid ending on a bad note that might reinforce concerns about the trouble he's had attracting white working-class voters in the second half of the primaries dominated by Clinton.
She told New York legislators on a conference call early Tuesday that she's "open" to becoming Obama's vice-presidential running mate if it would help the party's prospects in the general election.
Some party luminaries have backed the ticket as an unbeatable union blending his popularity among blacks, the young and well-educated, affluent Americans with Clinton's draw among women, Hispanics seniors and average, white, male Joes.
Obama has already asked Clinton for a meeting on her terms "when the dust settles."
Joining the ticket would make sense for Clinton, setting her up for a run in 2012 if Obama loses to McCain, as long as the party doesn't blame her, and making her the heir apparent in 2016 if Obama serves two terms.
But it's an open question whether he would ask her and if the two could possibly make a good match. Clinton also carries a lot of baggage.
Some in the party are ardently opposed, and analysts say the identity of the vice-president holds little sway for voters anyway.
During the nomination race, Obama repeatedly pegged Clinton as part of the old school of divisive politics who will say anything to get elected - the opposite of his message of hope and changing the way politics are conducted.
And her husband Bill, after some inflammatory, hurtful comments on the campaign trail, is a wild card. Just this week he accused Obama of getting "other people to slime her."
Uncertainty about Clinton's next steps and what Obama will do to placate her provided the backdrop to his stunning achievement as the next part of the presidential race began to unfold.
Obama is facing some tough terrain in his fight against McCain, despite the unprecedented unpopularity of President George W. Bush, the tanking economy and widespread antipathy toward the Iraq war.
The 17-month Democratic battle has given McCain a lot of breathing room even as it revealed a host of difficult problems Obama will have to address to marshall a winning coalition, overcome his inexperience and cope with lingering bigotry.
And signs are pointing to a presidential race perhaps as close as the last two.
The latest Gallup poll released Tuesday had Obama only narrowly beating McCain in a November matchup at 47 per cent to 44 per cent. The lead is within the poll's four-point margin of error.
The poll also indicated that 58 per cent of Americans have a positive image of Obama, while 56 view McCain favourably.
McCain's compelling personal story - the longtime Arizona senator spent more than five years in captivity in Vietnam - and his reputation at a maverick who's repudiated some top party policies could help him blunt some of Obama's criticism that he's running for a third Bush term.
Despite his fresh appeal, rhetorical skills that have attracted crowds as large as 75,000 and his historic candidacy, Obama has been losing key constituencies to Clinton by alarming amounts in big battleground states this spring.
It was a strong start for Obama, with a surprise win in Iowa on Jan. 3 that launched his political fortunes into the stratosphere, followed by successive victories in February.
But she's been thumping him among white, blue-collar voters in key states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia where many think the White House race will be won.
Obama also needs to win back women who are angry that Clinton won't fulfil their cherished dream of breaking the glass ceiling in the Oval Office.
A substantial number of those Democrats are threatening to penalize Obama by voting for McCain, who's been trying to sway them to the Republican side by effusively praising Clinton.
Obama has also faced his share of trouble coping with racial issues that have dented his popularity among more conservative Democrats and independents.
He needs to address doubts about his personal beliefs and patriotism, sparked by incendiary comments from his longtime relationship with ex-pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Obama recently announced he had left the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago that Wright once led - a move that could help him change the perceptions of some who view him with suspicion.
A visiting Roman Catholic clergyman who spoke at the church added to the controversy last week after he said he intended to expose "white entitlement and supremacy wherever it raises its head" and mimicked Clinton weeping over "a black man stealing my show."
He won with the manufactured delegates from Michigan. If Clinton cannot fight that one in court, they have really lost their touch. She actually ended up with more elected delegates than he did. There is no way I would quit in her position. Super Delegates have shown how fickle they are.
Reminds me of the freak shows in England...Obama and Clinton could have been circus freaks...maybe their current popularity is because our young people never learned anything about history because their liberal professors were more interested in promoting liberalism instead of substance. Snake oil politics never delivers positive change. I wonder if Obama’s ego is so stroked that he doesn’t have a clue to the fact that he could not deliver a millionth of what he has said.
Lenora Fulani. In 1988, Fulania psychologistran as an independent and was the first black woman to appear on presidential ballots in all 50 states. She also ran in 1992.
First black Democrat presidential nominee. An amazing turn of events for the party that gave us the KKK, has a Klansman third in line of ascendency for the presidency, and opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in greater numbers than the GOP.
6
posted on 06/03/2008 10:25:54 PM PDT
by weegee
(Obama 2008 motto; Get on the bus, or prepare to be thrown under it.)
None of the delegates were even supposed to count. Michagan was not supposed to count and Clinton herself said that. If the DNC had stuck by their guns, then neither candidate would have one any delegates from Michigan.
Hillary’s speech tonight was pathetic. She gave some honor to Obama in general terms about how he had run a good campaign, but did not address the fact that he’s over the number of delegates needed for nomination. Nor did she concede, instead, saying she was making no decisions tonight. What the heck decision is there for her to make? She lost the nomination (barring unforeseen circumstances).
She’s going to meet with party leaders and check her e-mail as she asked people to e-mail her with suggestions going forward. Is she really going to read her e-mail where people suggest she shoot for the VP job, or run as a 3rd party candidate in the general election? I can’t believe some of the nonsense out of her mouth.
I saw a tiny bit of Obama’s speech, talking about a war that never should have been authorized (talk to your pals in the senate, mate!) and saying that the gas prices keep the unemployed from finding work, and to solve this, we need more caps on energy and pollution! Is this the kind of ignorant change that his voters support? Such appalling ignorance couldn’t possibly be serious!
Even if it is just for our sake (LOL) she should take it all the way to the convention. There is no way I would give up now especially with the amount of stuff that’s come out about obama after many of the primaries were already done. I think the race is not necessarily over for her and that also she is still after VP if she can’t get POTUS.
Give the superdelegates a chance to have their say and rip the democrats to apart!
Except that the party rules demanded that all the candidates remove themselves from the ballot. Obama complied, Hillary did not. Party rules also stated candidates couldn’t campaign in Florida. She sent Bill as her proxy, and did end up going there herself before the primary. She shouldn’t be able to win because broke the rules. I know some people on here want Hillary to win or at least be a thorn for Obama, but I just want her to go away.
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. |
About Us
Bulkley Valley Wholesale is a grocery and food service wholesaler that has served northwest British Columbia for over 50 years. We are part of the Overwaitea Food Group, a privately owned company that is a division of the Jim Pattison Group.
With sales of over $7.1 Billion in 2009 and more than 33,000 employees, the Jim Pattison Group is the third largest private company in Canada.
History
In 1959, Bill & Herb Leach partnered with Archie Dunlop and began a wholesale business selling confection and tobacco to business owners in the area surrounding their warehouse on Main St in Smithers, BC.
The approach of buying direct from manufacturers and servicing their customers proved to be a great business approach and it wasn’t long before Bulkley Valley Wholesale became a business that was positioned to prosper for years to come.
In 1973, Tom and John Leach purchased the business from their parents and carried on the tradition for more than thirty years with tremendous growth and success. This also meant moving and expanding to the current location on Hwy 16. In 2000, requests came from the community and Bulkley Valley Wholesale opened its doors to the public while still focusing on the core business of wholesale.
Soon after, Bulkley Valley Wholesale was purchased by the Overwaitea Food Group and today the business of wholesale is still its foundation.
Bulkley Valley Wholesale proudly continues to be a leading provider of grocery and food service products to independent grocers, mining camps, lodges and restaurants in the northwest corner of British Columbia. The same formula of direct buying from manufacturers, personalized service, and the strength and backing of the Overwaitea Food Group has positioned us to continue the business of wholesale started by the Leaches in 1959. |
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Arthur Mosse
Arthur St. Leger "Texas" Mosse (March 29, 1872 – January 8, 1956) was an American football player and coach and the 9th head football coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers and the 13th head football coach
for the University of Kansas Jayhawks. While at Pittsburgh, he coached the university to its first undefeated season (10-0) in 1904. Mosse also played professional football for the Homestead Library & Athletic Club in 1901.
Early life and playing career
Mosse was born to Arthur Wellesley Mosse (1838 – October 8, 1895) and Sophia Mosse (née Palmer) (1835 – 1900) in Queenstown, Ireland, the youngest of five children. He emigrated with his family at the young age of 16 to Kansas City, Kansas via New York City. He and his family soon moved on to Arkansas City, Kansas where he went to high school. He quickly developed a strong interest in and started playing American football not long after arriving in Kansas. He moved to Leavenworth, Kansas around 1890 where he lived and worked for several years in the furniture business. Mosse went on to play guard for the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas from 1895 to 1898, lettering all 4 years and was team captain his senior year in 1898. He met his wife, Ruth Stella Mosse (née Grover) (January 1877 – December 11, 1928), while attending the University of Kansas and they married on December 28, 1898 in St. Joseph, Missouri during his last year at KU. After graduating from KU Mosse initially went back into the furniture business in Kansas City, Kansas, where his daughter Justine was born, before becoming a farmer in 1902 in his wife's native Kickapoo, Kansas on the farm where she was born. The farm had been initially acquired by her father, Charles H. Grover, a prominent politician and lawyer in the early days of the state of Kansas.
Pittsburgh
Mosse was brought to Pittsburgh from Kansas to become head coach at the Western University of Pennsylvania, now known as the University of Pittsburgh, or "Pitt", for the 1903 season. Following a disastrous 0-9-1 season that year, a decision was made by the alumni and university administration to be more supportive of the football program. Efforts were begun to recruit good football players, including six that were persuaded by Mosse to leave his former school of Kansas for Pittsburgh, along with others from Geneva College including Joe Thompson. In addition, money was raised to subsidize the program, including the funding of the team's first athletic dormitory and training table. Mosse also obtained an outright lease to play fall games in Exposition Park from Barney Dreyfuss, the owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, for 20 percent of the gate receipts. What ensued was a dramatic one year turn around that the saw the University post a 10-0 record, its first undefeated season, in which it outscored opponents 406-5. With wins over Penn State and West Virginia, along with other regional schools, the university claimed the championship of the western part of the state and second place in the entire state behind the University of Pennsylvania, who with a 12-0 record, were considered the national champions that season. Media attention and attendance also grew tremendously with multiple newspaper articles and attendance at some games around 13,000.
The increased support and success of the football program under Mosse has been pin pointed as the start of "big football enterprise" at the University of Pittsburgh. However, during the winter following the 1904 season, controversy and scandal erupted when Joe Thompson sought to acquire Mosse's job as coach, combined with apparent complications with the Dean. However, things were settled in time for the 1905 season in which Mosse guided his team to a 10-2 record, outscoring opponents 405-36. However, by the 1906 E.R. Wingard had assumed coaching duties, and in 1908, Joe Thompson finally acquired the head coaching position he desired.
In total, Mosse held the head coaching position at Pittsburgh from 1903-1905 compiling a 20-11-1 record. While at Pitt, Mosse also helped coach the track and field team, was an instructor in gymnasium, and helped supervise early basketball teams at the university.
Kansas
Mosse coached at his alma mater, the University of Kansas, for two seasons, from 1912 to 1913, compiling a record of 9–7.
Later life
Mosse returned to farming his farm in Kickapoo, Kansas in between his coaching jobs at Pitt and KU as well as later in 1914 when he retired from coaching for good. He became well known throughout the state of Kansas and the country for breeding pure bred Chester White hogs as he exhibited them at twelve state fairs across the country. He remained on the farm, where his daughters Marion and Ruth were born, until 1924 when he and his wife moved to Van Nuys, California to be near their daughter, Justine. Justine also attended the University of Kansas and had played on the first "mythical" varsity Kansas Jayhawks women's basketball team in the school's history in 1920 as a freshman. As women were not then allowed to play intercollegiate basketball the team was not technically an official varsity team being picked by the faculty and they only played intramural games against other women's organizations on campus. His wife, Ruth, died on December 11, 1928 in Los Angeles, California whereupon Mosse moved in with his daughter, Justine also living in Van Nuys, California at the time. Despite having lived in the United States for nearly 50 years, Mosse did not officially become a naturalized US citizen until January 8, 1937 in Van Nuys, California. Later in 1944 he and his daughter moved to San Diego, California, where Mosse died on January 8, 1956 at the home of his daughter. He was survived by his daughters Justine St. Leger Mosse (November 9, 1899 – May 11, 1986), Mrs. Marion Wellesley Russell (November 5, 1903 – November 22, 1994) and Ruth Grover Mosse (October 10, 1911 – 2003). Mosse was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas next to his wife.
Head coaching record
References
External links
Category:1872 births
Category:1956 deaths
Category:19th-century players of American football
Category:American football guards
Category:Central Missouri Mules football coaches
Category:Homestead Library & Athletic Club players
Category:Kansas Jayhawks football coaches
Category:Kansas Jayhawks football players
Category:Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches
Category:People from Arkansas City, Kansas
Category:People from Cobh
Category:Players of American football from Kansas
Category:People with acquired American citizenship
Category:Sportspeople from County Cork
Category:Irish players of American football |
Boronia Heights, Queensland
Boronia Heights is a suburb of Logan City, Queensland, Australia.
Geography
Boronia Heights lies to the west of Park Ridge.
History
Boronia Heights was known as the Logan Ridges through to the early 1890s.
Boronia Heights State School opened on 29 January 1990.
Boronia Heights was gazetted as a suburb in October 1991 and was named after the first residential housing estate in the area.
In the , Boronia Heights recorded a population of 7,604 people.
Demographics
In the , Boronia Heights recorded a population of 7,604 people, 51.6% female and 48.4% male.
The median age of the Boronia Heights population was 30 years, 7 years below the national median of 37.
71.4% of people living in Boronia Heights were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were New Zealand 7.4%, England 3.4%, Philippines 1.1%, India 0.9%, Fiji 0.7%.
83.6% of people spoke only English at home; the next most common languages were 1.3% Samoan, 0.8% Urdu, 0.8% Hindi, 0.7% German, 0.5% Mandarin.
Education
The Boronia Heights State School, a government primary (P-6) school, is located at 194 Middle Road ().
Amenities
The Boronia Bushland Reserve offers opportunities for bushwalking, barbecues and picnics. The bushland is home to many species of Australian fauna including eastern grey kangaroos, bandicoots, goannas, possums and koalas. The area has many scribbly gums, characterised by the scribbly lines on the otherwise smooth grey trunks.
References
External links
Boronia Heights - Queensland Places
Category:Suburbs of Logan City |
Therapy dogs help de-stress students during finals week
For college students final exam week can be the most stressful time they have experienced in their lives.
For that reason the University of Pennsylvania has hosted its second “Canine Chillout,” a dog therapy break to help students get through finals.
Many studies have shown that being with dogs helps lower blood pressure, regulate breathing and generally improve states of mind.
The event is hosted by Vetpets, an outreach program developed by the School of Veterinary Medicine. All the dogs belong to their faculty, staff and students who volunteer their dogs for Vetpet events.
The dogs skateboard, play the piano, jump through hoops or just allow the stressed out students to pet them.
All of the dogs are certified as therapy dogs, which mean that they are calm and good with people.
The dogs seem to enjoy their work as much as the people. As one vet student who brought two of her dogs said, "It's important for them to feel like they have a job, too."
More on the program
We have a program like this in Southern California. BARK (Beach Animals Reading with Kids) visits the campuses of UC Irvine and Chapman University during finals week. Two weeks ago, 286 kids from Chapman stopped by to spend time with eight dogs ranging from a french bulldog to a chocolate labrador. |
Deer industry to co-operate with Korean health food giant
The New Zealand deer industry signed an agreement yesterday afternoon with one of Korea’s largest health food manufacturers, the Korea Ginseng Corporation (KGC), to help it develop more products containing New Zealand velvet antler.
The non-binding memorandum of understanding, to be signed by Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) chief executive Dan Coup and KGC chief executive officer Kim Jun-gi, was witnessed by Prime Minister John Key. The signing took place in Seoul following the signing of the Korea New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.
“For seven years our relationship with KGC has strengthened and has increasingly focused on the development of branded consumer products that include extracts from New Zealand velvet. In that time, KGC has developed a children’s tonic that has become a household name in Korea, taking around eight per cent of NZ’s velvet production,” says Dan Coup.
He says the understanding formalises the relationship between DINZ and KGC. Each party will work with the other in good faith, recognising they will achieve more together than by working alone.
KGC will have access to research information held by DINZ and its research partners that is not subject to intellectual property or legal restrictions. KGC will continue to use New Zealand velvet in some of its products and will continue to develop new products that feature New Zealand velvet as a major ingredient.
“This is a true win-win and is a pointer to where we believe the future of the velvet industry lies – with close relationships between New Zealand suppliers and partners in markets like Korea, Taiwan and China who are embedded in the local culture and marketplace,” says Coup.
The origins of KGC date back to 1899 when it was a monopoly managed from the palace of the Korean monarch. KGC in its current form was established in 1999 and it remains the market leader for sales of ginseng and other traditional health food products. It has hundreds of ‘Cheong Kwan Jang’ stores in Korea and a growing sales network across Asia and in the United States.
“We can take pride in the fact that New Zealand’s reputation for the quality of its velvet and velvet science has been recognised by a company that has deep roots in Korean culture and history. Through Provelco, KGC’s supplier, our farmers and processors have access to a highly reputable customer with strong market presence. For its part KGC has access to the world’s best velvet – natural, safe and quality-assured – as well as our velvet science.”
As part of the relationship with DINZ, KGC researchers are in regular contact with AgResearch’s lead velvet scientist, Stephen Haines.
Coup says KGC has a 35 per cent share of the Korean herbal/traditional products market.
“One of the reasons for KGC’s success has been its commitment to research and product development. The firm has around 100 PhD-level researchers and it channels more than two percent of its annual sales into research and development,” he says.
“KGC has played a major role in the development of the market for consumer-ready health tonics in South Korea … a market segment that was virtually non-existent 10 years ago. The rapid growth of this segment has coincided with a decline in the market for traditional tonics made in the home.
“It is a trend that plays to New Zealand’s strengths, because consumer products companies place great important on the integrity of their raw materials. Respected Korean health food companies like KGC see us as the ideal source of velvet.”
Coup says KGC recently launched a new product using New Zealand velvet and Korean red ginseng extract as key ingredients. The event, held at Coex Hyundai department store, included more than 100 of the store’s senior executives, special guests, as well as 50 bloggers and media reporters. The launch strongly emphasised the New Zealand provenance of the velvet content.
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Welcome to MeatExportNZ
We are a business blog pulling together the news, views, events and affairs of the $10.8+ billion New Zealand meat industry and its cold chain. All currency in New Zealand dollars, unless otherwise stated.
DISCLAIMER:
Views expressed in articles are not necessarily those of MeatExportNZ or of the editor. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information included in the blog, MeatExportNZ/the editor takes no responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences of reliance on this information. |
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
#define sd(x) scanf("%d",&x)
#define sd2(x,y) scanf("%d%d",&x,&y)
#define sd3(x,y,z) scanf("%d%d%d",&x,&y,&z)
#define fi first
#define se second
#define pb push_back
#define mp make_pair
#define foreach(it, v) for(__typeof((v).begin()) it=(v).begin(); it != (v).end(); ++it)
#define meta __FUNCTION__,__LINE__
#define _ ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);cin.tie(NULL);cout.tie(NULL);
#define __ freopen("input.txt","r",stdin);freopen("output.txt","w",stdout);
using namespace std;
const long double PI = 3.1415926535897932384626433832795;
template<typename S, typename T>
ostream& operator<<(ostream& out,pair<S,T> const& p){out<<'('<<p.fi<<", "<<p.se<<')';return out;}
template<typename T>
ostream& operator<<(ostream& out,vector<T> const& v){
int l=v.size();for(int i=0;i<l-1;i++)out<<v[i]<<' ';if(l>0)out<<v[l-1];return out;}
void tr(){cout << endl;}
template<typename S, typename ... Strings>
void tr(S x, const Strings&... rest){cout<<x<<' ';tr(rest...);}
typedef long long ll;
typedef pair<int,int> pii;
const int N = 100002;
const int M = 502;
const ll MOD = 1e9 + 7;
char s[N];
int dp[M][N];
int p[N];
int f[N];
int invf[N];
int id[N], cur;
long long fast(long long a, long long b){
long long ret = 1;
while(b){
if((b&1)) ret = (ret*a)%MOD;
a = (a*a)%MOD;
b >>= 1;
}
return ret;
}
void compute(int l){
if(!id[l]) id[l] = ++cur;
else return;
int j = id[l];
int x, t1, t2;
for(int i = l; i < N; i++){
x = (1ll * f[i-1] * invf[l-1] % MOD) * 1ll * invf[i-l] % MOD;
t1 = 1ll * x * p[i-l] % MOD;
t2 = 1ll * dp[j][i-1] * 26 % MOD;
dp[j][i] = (t1 + t2) % MOD;
}
}
int main(){
p[0] = 1;
for(int i = 1; i < N; i++) p[i] = (25ll * p[i-1]) % MOD;
f[0] = 1;
for(int i = 1; i < N; i++) f[i] = 1ll * i * f[i-1] % MOD;
invf[N-1] = fast(f[N-1], MOD-2);
for(int i = N-2; i >= 0; i--){
invf[i] = 1ll * invf[i+1] * (i+1) % MOD;
}
int m;
sd(m);
scanf("%s", s);
int l = strlen(s);
compute(l);
for(int i = 0; i < m; i++){
int t; sd(t);
if(t == 1){
scanf("%s", s);
l = strlen(s);
compute(l);
}
else{
int n;
sd(n);
int j = id[l];
printf("%d\n", dp[j][n]);
}
}
return 0;
}
|
Reasonable priced item good value only one common problem is that the entry wire into the earpieces is not clamped and it is able to move freely this causes it to snap inside the earpieces and eventually with use they become open circuit. If you are considering them on arrival place some glue at the entry point to stop them moving. They work fine after that. |
Hatsune Miku is back in Grand Gaia! Explore a line up full of entirely new and exciting events in this Brave Frontier x Hatsune Miku Winter Chapter collaboration! Brace yourself for stunning new Units, dungeons, and rewards -- including 5 Gems and 1 Summon Ticket!
Feb. 8, 00:00 PST - Feb. 28, 23:59 PST
Login daily to collect rewards from the Brave Frontier x Hatsune Miku Winter Chapter collaboration! Receive various rewards including imps, 5 Gems, and even a Summon Ticket! Check out the list of rewards below!
Day Reward 1 Gem x1 2 Crystal God Set x3 3 Elementum Tome x5 4 Gem x1 5 Miracle Totem x1 6 Almighty Imp Arton x3 7 Gem x1 8 Elementum Tome x5 9 Mecha God Set x1 10 Gem x1 11 Sphere Frog x1 12 Burst Emperor x3 13 Gem x1 14 Omni Frog x1 15 Summon Ticket x1
Tune your ears to the vocaloid sensation taking over Grand Gaia during this Brave Frontier x Hatsune Miku Winter Chapter collaboration! Meet the charming Priestess Snow Miku and the adorable Twinkle Snow Miku as they make their debut together alongside the returning Vocaloids in their respective special summon gates available only during this special collaboration period!
Get a glimpse of Priestess Snow Miku's unit details through this link HERE.
Feb. 8, 00:00 PST - Feb. 28, 23:59 PST
Ready for the performance of a lifetime? Join Miku as she ventures into a Melody of Winter to showcase her talents!
Feb. 8, 00:00 PST - Mar. 7, 23:59 PST
Earn Yukine Tokens from the Melody of Winter dungeon and exchange them for exclusive collaboration Spheres.
Feb. 9, 00:00 PST - Mar. 19, 23:59 PST
Join Hatsune Miku as she returns to Grand Gaia with her all-star performance! Grab the chance to get this limited edition Hatsune Miku now!
Listen to CircusP's winning entry for Miku Expo 2016, "Ten Thousand Stars" in our collaboration dungeon! Don't forget to check the details of the upcoming Miku Expo 2018 HERE!
Feb. 8, 00:00 PST - Mar. 18, 23:59 PST
Ready yourself for a special Milestone Campaign! Work together with other fellow Summoners to unlock milestones that will reward you with Imps, Omni+ Materials, and a Summon Ticket!
Complete details of the Collaboration Dungeons and Milestone Campaign can be found HERE. |
45/6?
-6
Calculate (51/68)/((-6)/4).
-1/2
Calculate (4/(-10))/((-8)/(-40)).
-2
Evaluate ((-8)/(-10))/(31/(-155)).
-4
What is the value of 9*(-1)/(-5 + -2) + -1?
2/7
(5808/27)/(-22) + 2/(-9)
-10
What is the value of 2/9 + 1 + (-16)/(-9)?
3
What is (95/475)/((-8)/(-10))?
1/4
What is the value of ((0 + -1)*2)/(-3 - 13)?
1/8
Calculate (-4 - 66/(-15))*(-10)/2.
-2
Calculate (-19)/(-38)*6*(-3 + 1).
-6
Calculate (4 - (15 - 6)) + 4.
-1
What is (-6)/9*(-6)/(-14)?
-2/7
What is (-25)/375*40/(-6)?
4/9
Calculate -6 - (252/(-49) + -1).
1/7
(-2)/(-13) - 324/78
-4
What is the value of (-5 + 2)/(18 + (-621)/36)?
-4
(1/(-3))/((-11)/(-165))
-5
What is the value of (-10)/4*3/((-90)/3)?
1/4
Evaluate (-3 - (5 - 5))/((-2)/2).
3
What is ((-80)/(-12) + -6)/(14/(-9))?
-3/7
Evaluate 40/(-150) - 6/(-9).
2/5
What is the value of 1/(3/(-20)) + 6?
-2/3
(-1)/(-3) + 39/(-36)
-3/4
Evaluate (-4 - (5 - 5)) + 1.
-3
36/(-21)*(-273)/117
4
What is the value of ((-20)/15)/(8/(-6)) - 0?
1
What is (-8)/(-36) - 24/594?
2/11
Evaluate (16/(-40))/(6/30).
-2
Calculate 4 + (14/(-2) - 3/(-2)).
-3/2
Calculate ((7 - 0) + -9)/(3 + -2).
-2
What is (29 + -3)/(-2) + (10 - 4)?
-7
What is the value of (((-882)/(-56))/(-9))/(2/(-8))?
7
Evaluate (-6)/10 + 1 - 540/100.
-5
Calculate -2 + (-72)/14 + 7.
-1/7
What is the value of 30/(-50) - (-7)/20?
-1/4
What is ((-4)/(-12) + 0)/((-10)/120)?
-4
(2/8)/(5 + 119/(-28))
1/3
What is 1 + (-62)/104 - 1/4?
2/13
What is the value of (-30)/(-20) - 18/20?
3/5
What is the value of -3 - -8 - 20/2?
-5
What is 3 - (0 + (-18)/(-12))?
3/2
Evaluate 1/(38*(-3)/12).
-2/19
Evaluate 1 + 1 + (-350)/100.
-3/2
Evaluate 186/217 + -2 + 2.
6/7
What is the value of 6/(-9) - 4/(-12)?
-1/3
What is the value of 0 - (6/99)/((-6)/27)?
3/11
Evaluate ((2/5)/(-1))/(24 - 22).
-1/5
(-2)/(-13) + (-1204)/728 - -2
1/2
What is the value of (54/(-45))/((-4)/(-10))?
-3
Calculate (-6)/(-8) - ((-3 - -8) + -5).
3/4
1/(-2)*-2 + -3
-2
What is 2/6 - (-28)/(-12)?
-2
Evaluate 8/(-14)*(-6 - 1).
4
Evaluate (1 - (-27)/(-21)) + (-864)/(-2268).
2/21
What is 7 - (-79)/(-6) - -6?
-1/6
Calculate -9*(-4 - -5) + 7.
-2
Evaluate (-12)/30*-5 + 1.
3
What is the value of 1/(0 - (-2 - -3))?
-1
((-6)/14)/(-7 - 323/(-38))
-2/7
What is 7 - (-9 + 0) - 8?
8
What is 1 + -1 - (-4 - 1)?
5
-7 + (-12)/((-216)/102)
-4/3
Evaluate 1 + 395/(-360) - 4/32.
-2/9
What is (-7 - -9)*-5*(-4)/8?
5
What is (59/(-236))/((-5)/(-24))?
-6/5
Calculate ((-7 - -5) + 6)*3/(-12).
-1
What is (-4)/(-8) - (-1)/(-2)?
0
30/18 - (-146)/(-66)
-6/11
What is the value of ((-6)/8)/((-22)/(880/(-24)))?
-5/4
Calculate 3 - -1*12*(-10)/45.
1/3
What is -2 + 12 - (-329)/(-28)?
-7/4
What is (-11)/(-55) - 3/5?
-2/5
What is the value of (-8)/6*18/(-12)?
2
Evaluate 70/21*6/(-4).
-5
What is 1*10/(-25)*20/(-8)?
1
2/(-2 + -2)*(-158)/(-869)
-1/11
What is the value of 2 + -1 - (28 - 30)?
3
What is the value of 1 - 2 - -2*3 - 4?
1
Calculate (-20)/15*9/102.
-2/17
Evaluate (-2)/(-4) - (-115)/690.
2/3
1/((-14)/(-4)) - (-2)/(-56)
1/4
Calculate (-171)/18 + 8 - 30/(-28).
-3/7
Calculate 1/(-3) + 1/(-96)*-20.
-1/8
What is the value of 4 + -2*(8 - 7) + -5?
-3
What is the value of 8/(128/8)*0?
0
Calculate ((-2 + 0)/(-2))/((-169)/26).
-2/13
Calculate (1/(-6))/((-160)/(-192)).
-1/5
What is the value of ((-9)/4)/((-234)/(-312))?
-3
Calculate ((-7)/105)/(3/(-18)).
2/5
Evaluate 5/(-25) - 2*21/140.
-1/2
Evaluate 95/40 - 51/136.
2
What is (-58)/(-232)*(0 - -1)?
1/4
Calculate (-91)/(-13) - (-2 - -5 - -1).
3
What is 6 + 135/(-21) - 155/(-35)?
4
What is the value of -2 + 0 - (2 + (-4)/2)?
-2
What is the value of (-4)/(3 + -1 - (9 - 6))?
4
Evaluate (2/3)/(1/(12/(-8))).
-1
(-28)/(-21) + (33/9 - 0)
5
Evaluate 3/(-21)*-2*112/24.
4/3
What is the value of ((-20)/5)/2 - (-7 - -3)?
2
Evaluate 10/(-30) + 2/(-12).
-1/2
(-5 - -5 - -1)*(-2)/6
-1/3
What is 5/9*(-150)/500?
-1/6
(-1 - 3)*4/104
-2/13
What is the value of (3 + (5/10 - 3))*-1?
-1/2
What is the value of ((-4)/10)/(27/(-45))?
2/3
6/4*(-66)/(-99) - -1
2
1*8*10/20
4
What is the value of (-66)/(-11) - (-3 + 2 + 5)?
2
((-3)/108 + 10/40)*-2
-4/9
Evaluate 0 - (-47)/(-15) - (-2 + -1).
-2/15
What is 16/(-8)*-3 - 7?
-1
Calculate -6*(-9 - (-6 - 4)).
-6
Evaluate 495/132*2/(-5).
-3/2
Evaluate (-3)/(-6) - ((-3)/(-6) - 2).
2
Evaluate (-3)/21 + ((-24)/(-35))/2.
1/5
Evaluate 1/(36/(-80)) + 3 + -1.
-2/9
(((-162)/(-75))/(-9))/((-9)/15)
2/5
What is the value of 15/(-10)*(-28)/(-1029)*7?
-2/7
What is 3/(-4) + 1 + (-35)/28?
-1
Calculate ((-15)/(-36))/(35/(-15) - -4).
1/4
(-114)/42 - 6/(-2)
2/7
Evaluate (10/9*3)/(20/24).
4
What is ((-6)/(-75))/((4/(-10))/(-2))?
2/5
6 + (22/(-3) - 4) - -6
2/3
Evaluate (-45)/(-18)*(-3 - 46/(-10)).
4
Calculate (-52)/182 - (8/(-14))/2.
0
What is the value of (-7 + -2 - -7)/(7/(-1))?
2/7
(2/1 + -1)/(1/(-5))
-5
Evaluate (-8)/(-12) - (-4)/6.
4/3
((-26)/6 + 5)*-6
-4
What is the value of (-10 - 10/(-2)) + (6 - -2)?
3
What is (-8 - -32 - 29)*2/95?
-2/19
0 + 99/(-11) - -3
-6
Calculate 3*3*3/(-135).
-1/5
Evaluate 5/(-1 - (-2)/1).
5
What is (-4)/10 + 812/(-145)?
-6
(-8)/12 + 12 + (-35)/3
-1/3
Evaluate 3/(3/(-3)) - (-4)/(-2).
-5
Evaluate (-30 - -34) + (-2 - -1).
3
63/(-28) - -1 - 2/(-8)
-1
What is the value of (1/((-2)/6))/((-291)/679)?
7
Evaluate ((-35)/(-14))/(-1 + (-3)/(-6)).
-5
Evaluate 0 + 4 - -299*13/(-1014).
1/6
What is the value of (((-9)/(-24))/(-1))/(117/(-78))?
1/4
(1/(-6)*-3)/(3/18)
3
Evaluate 4/30*((-10)/3 - 0).
-4/9
What is the value of 3 - 2 - (0 + 0)?
1
Calculate (-1 - 36/14) + (-9 - -12).
-4/7
((-95)/25)/1 + 4
1/5
(-10)/(-175)*(-9 - -2)
-2/5
What is the value of 10/5 + (-27)/3?
-7
3*4*(-5)/30
-2
Calculate 50/5 + -9 - (-1)/(-1).
0
What is 72/(-306)*(-1)/6*-3?
-2/17
Evaluate 9/(-4) - 4/64*-4.
-2
((-5)/225*-5)/((-3)/(-189))
7
Evaluate (4 + -1 - 2)/3.
1/3
2*25/10 + (-22)/4
-1/2
What is the value of (8/2)/(65 - 63)?
2
What is (-10)/45 + 8/(-18)?
-2/3
1*(-8)/28*-1
2/7
Evaluate (1/3)/(60/540).
3
What is (48/40)/((-3)/(-10))?
4
(-7)/(56/(-12))*192/36
8
What is the value of 21/(-42) - ((-6)/(-20))/3?
-3/5
(-1)/1 + 48/8
5
What is the value of (3/(-3))/(-2) - (-14)/(-12)?
-2/3
What is 4/(-6)*60/(-25)*-5?
-8
What is (7/(-49))/((-32)/(-28))?
-1/8
What is (49/(-49))/((2 + -1)/1)?
-1
What is the value of (-36)/96*(-4)/6?
1/4
What is 4/11 + (-2021)/4257?
-1/9
Calculate 4/6*(-1 - (-8)/10).
-2/15
Calculate 15*7/(3 - -18).
5
What is the value of 4/3 + ((-80)/15 - -5)?
1
2/7 + (-416)/2093
2/23
Evaluate ((1/5)/(-1))/((-34)/(-85)).
-1/2
Calculate (3/(-9)*2)/(2/6).
-2
Evaluate (-2)/20 + 2/(-4).
-3/5
What is the value of 1/(22/(-84)) - (-70)/(-385)?
-4
Calculate 9/6*(-1)/((-54)/8).
2/9
What is the value of (-36)/27 + ((-95)/12)/(-5)?
1/4
What is the value of (0 + 49)/(-7) - -2?
-5
Evaluate (-376)/24 + 7 + (-4)/(-6).
-8
Evaluate 2*2 - 5*91/105.
-1/3
Evaluate ((8 - 6) + -5)/7.
-3/7
What is the value of (182 - 183)/((-2)/(-2 - -6))?
2
((-31)/(-465))/((-6)/20)
-2/9
What is (10/100*-35)/(1/2)?
-7
60/2*-1*10/30
-10
Calculate -6*(((-28)/(-8) - 3) + 0).
-3
What is (1738/(-237))/((12/9)/(-2))?
11
What is (-1)/3*(22/6)/(-11)?
1/9
Evaluate -9 - (-11)/(11/4).
-5
What is 0*((-48)/18 + 20/12)?
0
What is -11 + 288/22 - (0 + 2)?
1/11
What is the value of 0 + 3 + 1 + 84/(-22)?
2/11
What is ((-205)/25 - -7)*5?
-6
Calculate (-1*20/16)/((-3)/(-12)).
-5
Evaluate (7 - 2/2) + (-1056)/(-352).
9
Evaluate (-40)/(-72) + 4/(-3) + 1.
2/9
3/27 + (512/36 - 14)
1/3
Evaluate 3 + 0 + -7 + 10.
6
What is the value of ((-2)/(-8))/(3/(-12))*1?
-1
What is (-210)/(-735) + (-10)/(-14)?
1
What is (-615)/492 - (-1 + 0/1)?
-1/4
Evaluate 4*((-130)/(-100) - (-28)/(-35)).
2
Calculate 0 + 10*(-1)/(-5).
2
((-12)/10)/(-2 + 138/60)
-4
What is (-2)/((6 - 1)*-1)?
2/5
Calculate (-417)/(-105) - 5 - 9/(-15).
-3/7
What is 6/(-12)*(7 - -3)?
-5
((-9)/(-90))/((-6)/12)
-1/5
Evaluate (-5)/(-30)*(-14)/21.
-1/9
What is the value of (3*2)/(12/8)?
4
Evaluate (2/6)/((-910)/180 - -5).
-6
What is (-2)/(-5) + ((-342)/30 - -8)?
-3
What is ((-17)/(-51))/((-2 - 0)/(-18))?
3
5/(2 - 11 - -3)
-5/6
What is (-41)/7 - 504/441?
-7
What is (-6)/(-9)*(-4)/(-8)?
1/3
What is (10/6)/((-100)/(-300))?
5
-1*(80/(-25) - -4)
-4/5
Calculate (58/(-232))/((-5)/(-4)).
-1/5
Evaluate -10 - (-9)/((-12)/(-4)).
-7
Calculate -2 - (-2)/(-3 - -1) - -2.
-1
Evaluate (-3)/(-36) + (-4)/(-24)*1.
1/4
Calculate (-3)/(-2) + (140/(-8))/(-5).
5
What is (54/(-81))/((-6) |
I can replicate this with a 32-bit build of Mesa on Sandybridge. However it also needs to be built with -O3. If I build with -O0 then the test passes. The fragment shader generated in both builds is identical.
Created attachment 104307[details]
Simpler test case
This bug is pretty strange. It seems to be related to uploading unsigned int uniforms. One of the tests tries to upload the value 2139193217 (which is 0x7f817f81). For some inexplicable reason this appears to end up in the shader as 0x7fc17f81, but only if you build with -O3.
I'm attaching a simpler test case which demonstrates it. It has a fragment shader with an unsigned int uniform and renders the four bytes of the uniform to a floating-point texture. It then prints out the values. You can specify an alternative test value as a command line argument.
It seems to be something very specific about having 0x7f in the most-significant 8 bits. 0x80, 0x6f or 0x8f work fine.
I am replicating this on a 32-bit build on SandyBridge. It doesn't happen on a 64-bit build with Haswell, but I'm not sure whether it's the SandyBridge or the 32-bit that's important.
Glenn Kennard on IRC pointed out that setting bit 22 like that resembles a NaN value getting munged when loading and storing through a floating-point register. Indeed if I write a quick test that does fld and fst with 0x7f817f81 it comes out as 0x7fc17f81. I guess this works on 64-bit because that will use SSE which apparently doesn't try to fix up NaNs on store. It also gets fixed on the 32-bit SandyBridge build if I use -mfpmath=sse and -msse2. |
Police showed up at my doorstep in Warwick, New York on April 16 with a dire message: My son, Jamal Morris, had been in a traffic crash. Riding his bike, Jamal had been struck by a hit-and-run driver on Market Street in West Philadelphia, where he had lived since I dropped him off at Drexel University in 2006.
Just two days later, Jamal died. Police have still not found his killer.
It was a tragic end to a story that began so hopeful. Jamal, 27, had attended Drexel University for mechanical engineering, graduated, and decided to stay in his adopted city.
His family was proud of that decision, and we loved how Philadelphia had changed him. For instance, when he came home to visit his family, he’d get off the train with his bicycle – the bicycle he rode everywhere in Philadelphia, insisting the city was so transportation-friendly that he didn’t need a car.
My son was a fighter, and so am I. I intend to do whatever I can to fight for my son, and to fight so that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else. If there are measures that can be taken to prevent such tragedy, then we are going all in to make it happen.
And when I asked him how he was doing in Philadelphia, his answer was always the same: “It’s only getting better.”
A month later, during Philadelphia’s Ride of Silence, commemorating bicyclists who’ve lost their lives, dozens of his friends participating in the ride wore t-shirts with that catchphrase – “It’s only getting better” – through the streets of Philadelphia.
My son was a fighter, and so am I. I intend to do whatever I can to fight for my son, and to fight so that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else. If there are measures that can be taken to prevent such tragedy, then we are going all in to make it happen.
In the wake of my son’s passing, I contacted the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, an effective and result-oriented nonprofit organization that advocates for the safety of all road users – bicyclists, pedestrians and motor vehicle drivers. I wanted to know what we could do, together, to make Philadelphia’s streets safer.
They believe, like I do, that it is important that the city and state put preventative measures in place for all motorists that would save lives.
Traffic calming measures – like red light cameras, speed cameras, and radar – have proven to make streets safer for all road users. Given the effectiveness of these simple tools, it’s possible both Jamal and the dozens of other cyclists and pedestrians who have been killed in Philadelphia over the last five years may have been spared if such measures were in place.
Source/LinkedIn Channabel Latham-Morris lost her son April 16 in a hit-and-run accident in Philadelphia. Jamal Morris, 27, had come to Drexel University from Warwick, Rhode Island, and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree, He decided to stay in his adopted city.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has conducted studies showing a 20-to-25 percent reduction in injurious crashes at sites with speed cameras in place, and 21-to-51 percent for spots with red light cameras. As Texas A&M professor Dominique Lord noted to Politifact about red light cameras earlier this month, “Red light cameras and speed cameras change the behavior of people … By changing the behavior of people, you (decrease) risk.”
I know my son is gone. My goal is to make sure no more mothers have to go through what I have.
In addition to working with the Bicycle Coalition and many other stakeholders, including AAA, on a “Vision Zero” policy for the city of Philadelphia, I have visited Harrisburg on two occasions with the Bicycle Coalition, AAA, Neighborhood Bike Works in Philadelphia, and Jamal’s friends.
I have worked to tell my story to many state senators and representatives who are working to push common-sense legislation that would help prevent senseless accidents and deaths in Philadelphia.
I am very encouraged by the reception I received from each senator and/or their aides, who sat down with our group and listened to our concerns.
Among the statewide legislation for which we are advocating in Harrisburg:
• Senate Bill 1267: Extend Red Light Camera Program to 2027. Pennsylvania’s red light camera program is set to expire next year. The program must be extended for the next 10 years.
• Senate Bill 1034: Photo Enforcement Program on Roosevelt Boulevard. This bill would create a pilot program to reduce speeding on Roosevelt Boulevard. Speeding currently accounts for a third of all traffic deaths in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia.
• Senate Bills 535 and 559: Authorize Municipal Police to Use Radar. This bill would allow local police departments throughout Pennsylvania to use radar to catch drivers for speed. Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that does not give local police this World War II-era technology.
It is hugely important that the city and state work on this legislation that would avoid these kinds of horrific crashes and deaths in the future. I am committed to doing everything I can to prevent the death of another Jamal Morris. The right to live and bike in a safe community continues.
A license to drive is not a right, it is a privilege. And you lose the privilege to drive if you violate the rules of the road. About 100 people are killed on Philadelphia’s streets each year. Most deaths, according to Philadelphia police statistics, are because of speed. In 2015, there were 13 fatal hit-and-run crashes in Philadelphia, killing 15 people.
This needs to end. I know these pieces of legislation will not be a panacea for the City of Brotherly Love, but our efforts will begin calming traffic, and saving lives. |
Taxi drivers continue to boycott the Strip … on some days
In the continued fight to maintain a strong presence along the Strip, Las Vegas taxi drivers have banded together under the name “Vegas Drivers Unite” to boycott different resort locations each month.
“We are trying to accomplish something of monumental importance to the livelihood of many cab and limo drivers and hotel door personnel in the Vegas Resort Corridor,” a Vegas Drivers Unite representative said in an email.
“We rolled out Vegas Drivers Unite in October and have been slowly building driver involvement,” the representative continued. Each month, Vegas Drivers Unite will pick one Strip resort to boycott every Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the week. VDU chose the Bellagio for June and tentatively chose New York-New York for July and Mandalay Bay/Delano for August.
“It’s unrealistic on the part of MGM and Caesars to assume they can actively welcome and promote rideshare over traditional taxi and limo services and there not be a consequence,” he said. “It does not bode well when you try and destroy an industry that you need for support of conventions and tourism in Las Vegas.” For more information on the boycott, go here.
This story originally appeared in the Las Vegas Weekly. |
George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway Kellyanne Elizabeth ConwaySpecial counsel investigating DeVos for potential Hatch Act violation: report George and Kellyanne Conway honor Ginsburg Trump carries on with rally, unaware of Ginsburg's death MORE and a top critic of President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE, shot back at the president for calling him a “total loser.”
“I thought it was a perfect example of the point I was making,” George Conway told The Washington Post in an interview. “He can’t concern himself with affairs of state. He’s more concerned about what people say about him and waging little battles with everyone and everything.”
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The D.C.-based lawyer has frequently called into question the constitutionality of Trump’s actions. However, the invectives have become increasingly personal, particularly hitting the president’s mental health.
“*[A]ll* Americans should be thinking seriously *now* about Trump’s mental condition and psychological state, including and especially the media, Congress—and the Vice President and Cabinet,” Conway tweeted Monday.
Agree with this, but would add that *all* Americans should be thinking seriously *now* about Trump’s mental condition and psychological state, including and especially the media, Congress—and the Vice President and Cabinet. https://t.co/OoxgLJpltE — George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 18, 2019
He also posted tweets detailing criteria for “narcissistic personality disorder” and “antisocial personality disorder.”
He told the Post that he is frustrated with the president’s character and that his tweets attacking Trump are in part a way to avoid conflicts with his wife.
“It’s so maddening to watch,” Conway told the newspaper. “The mendacity, the incompetence, it’s just maddening to watch. The tweeting is just the way to get it out of the way, so I can get it off my chest and move on with my life that day. That’s basically it. Frankly, it’s so I don’t end up screaming at her about it.”
However, sources told the Post that the feud has appeared to make its way into the Conways’ marriage, with Kellyanne Conway telling a group of people last month that her husband is jealous of her position. George Conway denied such feelings, saying instead he was proud of his wife that she was able to get Trump elected “despite his obvious flaws.”
He also responded to a claim from Trump’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, that the feud was instigated after George Conway was not offered a job at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Trump responded to a tweet from Parscale with his own post calling Conway a "total loser."
Conway instead told the Post that he turned down a job leading the department's civil division after he saw the president attack the DOJ's leadership and fire former FBI Director James Comey James Brien ComeyDemocrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate Book: FBI sex crimes investigator helped trigger October 2016 public probe of Clinton emails Trump jabs at FBI director over testimony on Russia, antifa MORE.
“I’m thinking to myself, this guy is going to be at war with the Justice Department for the next two years,” Conway said. “I’m not doing this.”
The lawyer told the Post that his relationship with the president was not always so acrimonious, and that Trump had at times requested his advice before entering the White House in 2017. |
Q:
Grep not working inside of script
I'm trying to write a script that takes a string and then looks for all instances of that string a a file. When I run the command outside of the script it runs perfectly but if I try to run it in the script is says that the file doesn't exist. Here is my code
if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
echo "Please enter an argument"
else
$result=`grep $1 Sales.csv`
echo $result
fi
And yes the file is called Sales.csv. I would have thought it was something to do with the format of the file but the command works outside of the script which is why I'm confused
Edit: Should have mentioned that I'm running the linux from virtualBox
A:
When assigning a variable you just put whatever you want as the variable minus the $. Putting the $ in front of the variable makes it the output of the variable. Since the variable isn't defined in the script yet the line should be:
result=$(grep $1 /some/path/to/Sales.csv)
Then calling the variable next like:
echo $result
Hope this helps!
|
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don juan
But passion most dissembles, yet betrays
Even by its darkness; as the blackest sky
Foretells the heaviest tempest, it displays
Its workings through the vainly guarded eye,
And in whatever aspect it arrays
Itself, ‘t is still the same hypocrisy;
Coldness or anger, even disdain or hate,
Are masks it often wears, and still too late. |
CFT becomes first U.S. union to adopt Climate Justice Agenda
The CFT made history in 2016 when it became the first statewide organization in the United States to adopt a Climate Justice Agenda. Delegates to the CFT Convention passed Resolution 29, committing the union to educating members about climate change, pushing for green legislation, moving toward divestment in fossil fuels, and establishing a Climate Justice Task Force within CFT.
After the Convention, the task force crafted a mission statement making climate justice a permanent part of the CFT’s work. The Executive Council adopted the statement and recommendations to commit our union to ongoing member education, incorporate a climate justice question on our candidate endorsement questionnaire, make climate a part of CFT’s legislative agenda, and promote community partnerships with environmental groups and environmental caucuses in local unions and central labor councils.
At Convention 2017 the task force distributed its first educational materials. Since then, the AFT has adopted a similar resolution, promising greater climate awareness in AFT local unions and statewide organizations across the United States.
In these dark times, with the Trump administration doing everything it can to promote climate denial and roll back federal efforts to address climate change, it is the CFT”s goal to be one of the lights in the darkness, calling for sanity in the face of the grave threats that face us.
Below are educational materials you can use in your classrooms and in your unions. |
2005 data (pdf):
Percentage of employees who were paid minimum wage: 4.3
Percentage of minimum-wage workers who were
- working part-time: 59.2
- between 15 and 19 years old: 44.5
- students living at home: 33.2
- heads of a household with children under 18: 5.4
The Toronto Star, in its recent series on the 'working poor', offers as support for its call to increase the minimum wage the 'Questions by Experts' section of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' report on Canada:
On the minimum wage, it appeared that this did not allow for a decent standard of living, as it was below the amount needed to keep people above the poverty line, and this was contrary to the Covenant, and [the Expert] asked what would stop a country as wealthy as Canada from implementing a minimum wage that provided a decent standard of living.
I don't know what sort of expertise the The Expert is supposed to have, but the answer to his question is this: the minimum wage is a remarkably ineffective instrument for dealing with poverty. Labour demand curves slope downward in rich countries, too.
Update: A longer discussion of the effects of the minimum wage on employment and poverty is here. |
Yet again, politics and race got mixed up together today, and this time with an added bonus -- adoption.
In a segment on her MSNBC show, host Melissa Harris-Perry highlighted Mitt Romney's family photo, in which the former GOP presidential candidate held his newly adopted African-American grandson on his knee. She encouraged her panel to "caption that" picture. What followed was unfortunate, thoughtless commentary from the panel. (One of the panelists, Dean Obeidallah, appears on CNN shows and writes op-eds for CNN.com.)
The exchange was a cold reminder of us of just how easy it is to flippantly do harm, and also of the dearth of understanding and sensitivity surrounding race and adoption
I am a transracial adoptee and advocate for children and families, so the complexities of race and adoption resonate on a personal level. I see myself in that Romney family photo.
I was adopted from foster care when I was about 8 months old. My white parents recall that during the adoption process, there was little conversation about race or what it meant to have a baby of another race enter the family. The "non-identifying" adoption records I received as an adult articulated the agency's noncommittal stance on my race and noted that there was a birthmark present that "could indicate" I was of mixed race.
With the reality that race was not something that was going to be discussed, how could anyone expect me or my family to know how to deal with issues of race and adoption? There was little to no education, so we were left to our own devices. When people did and said insensitive and cruel things, my sturdy New England parents simply loved me and cared for me the very best they could.
April Dinwoodie
According to a 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents, about 40% of adoptions in America are transracial (most are international adoptions) and that number is growing.
Most transracial adoptions are with white adoptive parents. While there is a strong sense of community support surrounding many intercountry adoptions -- such as from South Korea and China -- black and white adoptions tends to be more polarizing.
Thankfully, more resources are available today than during my 1971 adoption. Families can proactively seek out books, online help and support groups to be more in tune with the needs of their adopted children.
But they have to be self-starters because transracial adoption is poorly studied and not tracked appropriately. What's lacking are longitudinal studies that focus on the transracial adoption experience. Without these, it's difficult to create and target additional programs and support systems, indeed to even make the case that they are needed. While to many, research that would yield such information would be useful and important, it seems to fall low on the funding priority list.
Because of this, available data is old, limited and often inconsistent. This might also have something to do with issues of class, race and history that for many attend the idea of white parents adopting black and brown babies.
Today there is no set national standard for training pre-adoptive parents that want to adopt a child of another race. Some agencies make it their mission to do as much as they can to prepare families, while others simply do not include differences in race and what that means to a family as part of their training.
Just Watched
MSNBC pokes fun at Romney family photo
Against this backdrop, the misbegotten MSNBC jokes hurt. They don't help. They are another reminder that adoptive families need to be always at the ready to support their children on matters of race and adoption. White parents will never fully understand what it means to be black or brown, but they can and should do their best to support their children.
And they should have help: Even the best adoptions managed by well-trained practitioners should offer robust post-adoption services and education that includes the language and tools to help adopted children as they grow and develop. When someone says or does something careless, the people that should know how to comfort the adopted person should not be at a loss.
I remember in my white neighborhood that people during the summer would ask me if I was a "fresh air" child. While I did not understand it, I got the distinct impression that I did not belong where I was for some strange reason. And kids in my school would throw out barbs such as "at least I know who my real parents are."
So often, the thoughtlessness and carelessness of others results in deep pain for adoptees, who are already faced with navigating a life-ong search for identity that begins with losing their original family.
I can't help but feel for innocent little Kieran Romney as he is singled out at the very beginning of his adoption journey. When transracial adoption is mocked, it only works to undermine the foundation adoptees and adoptive families are trying to build. One hopes Kieran's parents received guidance before adopting him on the challenges they could face.
Insensitivity, ignorance and intolerance will fuel negative comments. The answer is to better to prepare and educate adoptive parents, practitioners, educators and the media to the sensitivities of adoption and race. Transracially adoption children should be protected and empowered, not singled out and mocked. |
A 20-year-old Indian-origin Cornell University student was found dead here after going missing this week.
Aalaap Narasipura, a senior electrical engineering student at Cornell’s College of Engineering was reported missing since on Wednesday.
Cornell University Police, working with the New York State Police, the Ithaca Police Department and the Ithaca Fire Department, recovered his body yesterday from Fall Creek, a short distance upstream from Ithaca Falls.
Cornell University Police confirmed Narasipura’s identity. Police said the circumstances of Narasipura’s death are still under investigation, but no foul play is suspected.
No other information is available at this time.
Police had searched gorges and adjacent natural areas in Ithaca. Earlier authorities had issued an advisory describing Narasipura as a dark-skinned male, 5-feet-9 inches tall.
He was last seen in the early morning of May 17 on Cornell’s campus, and was wearing shorts and a flannel shirt with bright blue socks and leather sandals. Vice President for Student and Campus Life Ryan Lombardi expressed “profound sadness” at the death of Narasipura.
He described Narasipura as an “ambitious student” who was scheduled to graduate early this December.
“He was active on the Ultimate Frisbee team, enjoyed taking photos, and planned to continue at Cornell to pursue a Master of Engineering degree,” he said in a statement. |
Pallet clamping systems have the advantage that the often lengthy clamping of a workpiece to be worked on a pallet can take place at a secondary place, while the machine tool works a different workpiece. After this working is finished it is possible to quickly remove the worked workpiece from the machine tool in a short time by pulling the pallet off from the machine tool table and it is possible also within a short time to move the workpiece to be worked into position for working by mounting the earlier equipped pallet on the machine tool table. The idle times of the machine tool are thus reduced to a minimum. Turntables which can receive two pallets are advantageously used for changing the pallets.
Known is a pallet clamping system, in which clamping bars are inserted in slots of machine tool tables, in which clamping bars are provided clamping cylinders. For this special slots are needed in the machine tool table, which slots have a substantially larger inside cross section than normal slots. Therefore during re-equipping of a machine tool for pallet clamping many modifications must be carried out on the machine tool table. Systems are also known for smaller pallets, in which conical pins are provided on the machine tool table, which pins engage holes in the pallet and onto which the pallet must be fixedly pressed by means of clamping mechanisms. Considerable modifications must in this system also be carried out on the machine tool table. Furthermore, it is known to laterally grip around the machine tool table with clamping elements. This also requires special tables. Furthermore the pallet can only be clamped at its outermost edge.
The basic purpose of the invention is to produce a pallet clamping system, in which without modification normal machine tool tables can have pallets clamped thereto.
This purpose is attained according to the invention, by the clamping mechanisms having cylinders, which are located completely within the pallet member, with at least one-sidedly hydraulically loadable pistons having secured thereon piston rods which project beyond the bearing surface and carry tongues, which fit in normal (i.e. conventional) table slots, for example T-slots, of a machine tool table.
When putting on a pallet the tongues are positioned so that they can be moved along the slots, when the pallet is moved above, or closely above, the machine tool table. When the pallet has reached its correct position relative to the working (i.e. machining) tools, the pallet is fixed by activating the cylinders, whereby the tongues are pulled fixedly against the upper walls of the slots.
In principle both double-acting hydraulic cylinders and also single-acting hydraulic cylinders can be used. It is particularly advantageous to produce the clamping force by springs and to utilize the hydraulic fluid only for releasing. This has the advantage that also after a long-lasting uncoupling of one pressure source for hydraulic fluid the clamping force is maintained. However, it is also possible to produce the clamping force hydraulically. In the case of the high sealing capability of hydraulic systems which can be achieved today, the clamping force is maintainable for a long time, even after uncoupling of the hydraulic liquid pressure source. A storage means which can balance out small pressure-medium losses is here formed by the hydraulic fluid itself, which with pressures as high for example as 500 bar, as may be used here, is compressed approximately 3 percent in volume. When hydraulic clamping is used, it is possible to produce the clamping release movement selectively also hydraulically or through spring force. When hydraulic clamping is used, of course a constant connection to the pressure source can also be maintained, so that even with a certain amount of leakage a loss of the clamping force is not created.
The cylinders can be arranged in different ways. An advantageous arrangement locates the cylinders at the corners of a rectangle, with the cylinders aligned in groups along the table slots. The arrangement should be such that the tongues of all cylinders are introduced into the table slots during a movement of the pallet parallel to the longitudinal direction of the table slots.
All clamping cylinders are connected advantageously to one single hydraulic coupling part. One avoids in this manner several hydraulic connections, which, however, in principle are also possible. The need for a hydraulic installation on the tool machine is avoided if the hydraulic fluid is supplied through a push rod which moves the pallet during changing of pallets. Guiding of the hydraulic fluid along the push rod can occur for example directly in said rod, which is for example easily possible in the case of a hydraulic cylinder or, however, through a parallel installed line, like a hose.
A mechanism for the mechanical coupling between push rod and pallet is provided. A sure supply and discharge of hydraulic fluid is achieved, if the mechanical coupling engages when the hydraulic coupling is completed. Hydraulic operation of the mechanical coupling has the advantage, that an additional control line or an additional manual operation is avoided. If, as is preferably the case, the hydraulic fluid is to be supplied and discharged through one line, it is advantageous.
Provision of a tunnel for the engagement of the push rod has the advantage that, during moving of a pallet onto the machine tool table, the push rod applies its force to the front part of the pallet, so that the moving force on the pallet is substantially pulling and not pushing. This is advantageous in order to avoid relative canting of the pallet and table and thus to avoid wear.
Additional means can be provided for exact positioning of the pallet on the table. |
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Ideals of purity create misogyny
Ideals of purity create misogyny
The disciplining and control of women and the feminine are intimately related to notions of cultural and racial purity. As a result, racist ideologies are almost always also misogynist and anti-feminist, says British philosopher Jane Clare Jones. She has analysed anti-feminism in the manifesto of Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik.
In the utopian world of Anders Behring Breivik, “politically correct feminism” has been combated and eradicated. Western women have reconciled themselves with their naturally subordinate role, given up the pursuit of higher education, and become sexually “pure” and completely dedicated to their true calling: reproducing Europe and the white race. Or – if gaining sufficient control over women has proven difficult – then breeding clinics based on egg donations and surrogates have been established to ensure Europe’s reproduction. In the long term, Breivik envisions the use of artificial uteruses to further reduce men’s dependence on women.
“Breivik’s anti-feminist views have been under-explored in comparison with his hatred of Muslims. But anti-feminism and misogyny are deeply implicated in everything he stands for,” says Jane Clare Jones, a British philosopher who is writing her doctoral thesis on feminist ethics at Stony Brook University in New York. Since the terrorist attacks on 22 July, she has spent a great deal of time studying Anders Behring Breivik’s manifesto.
Misogyny on two levels
Jones believes that Breivik’s misogynistic beliefs are manifested on two levels.
“The first aspect of his anti-feminism involves his belief that female emancipation is a direct cause of the degeneration of European culture. In the first instance this is because Western women’s focus on career has led to a demographic collapse which, in his eyes, opens Europe to Muslim colonization. Moreover, Breivik also suggests that female ‘emotionalism’ and ‘compassion’ leads women to betray Europe by making them more sympathetic to multiculturalism. When women gain social and political power, these values spread and thus, Europe becomes weak and ‘feminized’ – an easy target for ‘aggressive’ Islamists,” says Jones.
Jones believes, however, that Breivik’s supposedly “factual” reasons for why Western women are implicated in the Islamization of Europe are less interesting than the symbolic content of his ideas.
“The ‘factual’ account is problematic on so many levels that it’s hard to know where to start. However, more significant is what is happening in his thinking at a symbolic level: the series of connections and analogies which link the notion of sexual purity with the notion of cultural – read racial – purity.”
“Fundamentally, Breivik’s thought is structured around an ‘economy of purity’, an economy of ‘us’ versus ‘them’, or identitarianism if you will. This can only be maintained by rigorously policing the boundary between inside and outside, the boundary that Jacques Derrida calls the ‘matrix of all possible opposition’.”
Penetration is shameful
According to Jones, the feminine must be disciplined and controlled because it represents a continuous threat to the economy of purity.
“The feminine is a threat to this economy because it – both literally and figuratively – lets the other inside it, and thereby blurs the boundaries between the inside and the outside. In Breivik’s mind the connection is clear: Cultural degradation - or ‘contamination’ as he also calls it - is intimately linked with sexual immorality, construed principally in terms of female promiscuity (and also, not insignificantly, male homosexuality). Uncontrolled female sexuality is problematic to him, both because it puportedly leads to literal contamination in the form of an epidemic of sexually transmitted disease, but, moreover, because it is a deep source of shame in itself. An economy of purity - or identity - is deeply invested in keeping the outside out, and in such an economy, therefore, to be penetrated is inherently shameful. This relation between racial/cultural and sexual purity is made particularly explicit in the image of the feminized Europe penetrated – ‘raped’ he actually says - by the Muslim.”
Masculine invulnerability
At the heart of what Jones calls the “lie of the pure” is the ideal of the inviolate, independent and invulnerable self.
“It is about the construction of a certain type of patriarchal masculinity which is fixated on the necessity of its own impenetrability, its own invulnerability, its own independence. Women, who many men depend on for sex, reproduction and care, for example, represent a constant threat to this ideal. At base, this fantasy of invulnerability is about the desire to be fully insured against risk – and ultimately, against death. If you don’t need anyone, nobody can hurt you. You can have complete control.”
“Breivik describes himself as a kind of crusader, but killing women and children isn’t particularly heroic, is it?”
Jane Clare Jones. (Photo: Private)
“It’s certainly not uncommon for the most ‘chivalrous’ men, - those most concerned with protecting ‘their’ women – to be also the most misogynistic. This is because they assume that ‘other’ men will regard ‘their’ women in the same way as they regard the women of ‘other’ men: as objects to be used in the scheme of masculine rivalry. It’s important to remember that masculinity, understood as invulnerability, is always under threat, not only from dependence on women, but also from other men’s violence. In this scheme women become a currency that men use in their attempt to dominate each other – take wartime rape, for example. From this perspective there is really no incompatibility between Breivik’s view of himself as a ‘knightly’ warrior and the crime he committed. The women and children he murdered were not ‘his’. They were the enemy’s, and their loss is the price the enemy must pay in war,” explains Jones.
Paradoxes of right-wing extremism
Much of the anti-feminism that Anders Behring Breivik presents in his manifesto is taken from other voices on the extreme far right. According to Jones, the misogyny and masculine ideal Breivik stands for is widespread, including among more moderate right-wingers who dissociate themselves from Breivik and his actions.
“There is a difference in degree but not in kind. As I see it, misogyny is centrally implicated in any economy of purity,” says Jones.
Translated by Connie Stultz.
Norway attacks
On 22 July 2011 Norway was hit by two sequential terrorist attacks.
The first was a car bomb explosion in Oslo within the executive government quarter of Norway. The explosion killed eight people, wounded many others and caused severe damage to buildings in the area.
The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya. The camp was organized by the youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party. A gunman dressed in an authentic looking police uniform and showing false identification gained access to the island and subsequently opened fire at the participants, killing 69 attendees and injuring many more.
The police arrested Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian right-wing extremist, for the mass shootings on Utøya and subsequently charged him with both attacks.
Calendar
A Nordic/international conference on the impact of the #MeToo movement. The conference is part of the Icelandic Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2019 and is organised in collaboration with RIKK, Institute for Gender, Equality and Difference at the University of Iceland. |
See how our solar system works–and how it all ends.
There are two tropes for science fair projects: baking soda volcanoes and styrofoam ball solar system mobiles. Consider the latter, and compare it with even most superficial knowledge we all retained from elementary school. Those planetary alignments don’t begin to do outer space justice.
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The wild and immense scale of the planets, with their inhospitable but awe-inspiring climates, are better understood through this animated tutorial from German design trio Kurzgesagt. The designers began making the quickie science lessons after admiring the work of other YouTube educators.
Their aim is simple: “We just want to make beautiful content that makes science more popular,” says Philipp Dettmer.
Kurzgesagt has previously covered climate change and the global oceanic conveyor belt, as well as how evolution works. But they’ve hit their stride with the solar system video, because one of the galaxy’s incomprehensible qualities is its endless expansiveness and our tiny existence in relation to all that space. With the help of flat, zippy graphics–inspired, Dettmer says, by retro science textbooks from the ’50s thru the ’70s–the scale of our solar system starts to make some sense.
The designers converted each of the planets from an orb shape into a proportionate line of blocks, making it starkly evident, for example, how miniscule Earth is compared with the gas planets Jupiter and Saturn. That contrast is the core of the animation’s story. “We are looking for connections that weren’t obvious,” Dettmer tells Co.Design.
But most captivating of all is the gargantuan sun–something we factor into our lives without much thought. As the graphic shows, the sun occupies 99.86% of our solar system, vastly dwarfing even Jupiter. And as Kurzgesagt goes on to explain (spoiler alert!) in the video, the sun’s power will eventually lead to our collective planetary death: “At some point, it will become hotter and hotter until it melts Earth’s crust. Then the sun will grow and grow and either swallow Earth, or at least turn it into a sea of lava,” says the chipper voice-over.
It’s a gory apocalypse, but at least we have crisp and colorful graphics to understand it. |
FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
ADAM G. FORREST THOMAS E. Q. WILLIAMS
Boston Bever Klinge Cross & Greenfield, Indiana
Chidester
Richmond, Indiana
FILED
Jul 05 2012, 9:16 am
IN THE CLERK
of the supreme court,
court of appeals and
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA tax court
ANDREW JOSEPH WORTKOETTER, )
)
Appellant-Respondent, )
)
vs. ) No. 30A01-1111-DR-548
)
AMY JEAN WORTKOETTER, )
)
Appellee-Petitioner. )
APPEAL FROM THE HANCOCK CIRCUIT COURT
The Honorable Richard D. Culver, Judge
Cause No. 30C01-1104-DR-557
July 5, 2012
OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION
BAILEY, Judge
Case Summary
Andrew J. Wortkoetter (“Husband”) appeals from the denial of his motion to correct
error, which disputed the trial court’s property division following the dissolution of his
marriage to Amy J. Wortkoetter (“Wife”).
We affirm with instruction.
Issues
Husband raises two issues, which we restate as:
1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it declined to award
him his Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”) exclusively and thereby
deviate from the statutory presumption for an equal division of marital
property; and
2. Whether the trial court’s order of payment from Husband to Wife is
clearly erroneous.
Facts and Procedural History
The parties were married on July 11, 1991, and had two children. In 1990, before the
marriage, Husband rolled over approximately $2,000 from the State’s Public Employees’
Retirement Fund into an Individual Retirement Account (“IRA”). On March 31, 2011, the
account was worth $28,007.
On April 5, 2011, Wife filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. Based upon the
parties’ agreements, the trial court entered a provisional order on May 5, 2011. In an order
dated August 29, 2011, the court dissolved the marriage and established child custody and
child support. A final hearing on property distribution was held on September 2, 2011, at
which time Husband and Wife each testified and proffered one exhibit in support of their
2
respective settlement positions. Regarding his IRA, Husband asked the court to “set that off
aside as a non-marital asset.” (Tr. at 33.)
On September 8, 2011, the trial court entered its Order on Property Settlement,
specifically finding that the IRA was part of the marital estate and dividing the marital
property equally. The court prepared an asset and debt ledger to effect a proper equalization
of marital assets and decreed: “Wife shall have a judgment for the equalization sum of
$12,664.” (App. at 14.) The court also ordered Husband to pay the balance of Wife’s
attorney fees in the amount of $1,400.
Proceeding pro se, Husband filed what was deemed a motion to correct error. Wife,
also pro se, responded. A hearing was held on October 21, 2011, after which the trial court
denied Husband’s motion. Husband now appeals.
Discussion and Decision
Standard of Review
Husband first challenges the equal division of marital property. Technically, however,
he appeals from the denial of his motion to correct error. This Court reviews a trial court’s
ruling on a motion to correct error under an abuse of discretion standard. Zaremba v.
Nevarez, 898 N.E.2d 459, 463 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008). An abuse of discretion occurs when the
decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the court,
including any reasonable inferences therefrom. Id.
The motion to correct error addressed the court’s division of marital property, a matter
committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. Wanner v. Hutchcroft, 888 N.E.2d 260,
3
263 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008). A party challenging the trial court’s division of marital property
must overcome a strong presumption that the court considered and complied with the
applicable statute. Id. Even if the facts and reasonable inferences permit a conclusion
different from that reached by the trial court, we will not substitute our judgment for that of
the trial court unless its decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and
circumstances before it. Perkins v. Harding, 836 N.E.2d 295, 299 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005). We
consider only the evidence favorable to the judgment and we do not reweigh the evidence or
reassess witness credibility. Id. In addition, we will not set aside the findings or judgment
unless clearly erroneous. Elkins v. Elkins, 763 N.E.2d 482, 484 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002).
Issue One: Property Division
On appeal, Husband concedes that all property, including his IRA, is part of the
marital estate, but he disputes the court’s decision to equally divide that estate. Indiana Code
§ 31-15-7-5, which governs the division of martial property, provides in relevant part:
The court shall presume that an equal division of the marital property between
the parties is just and reasonable. However, this presumption may be rebutted
by a party who presents relevant evidence, including evidence concerning the
following factors, that an equal division would not be just and reasonable:
(1) The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the property,
regardless of whether the contribution was income producing.
(2) The extent to which the property was acquired by each spouse:
(A) before the marriage; or
(B) through inheritance or gift.
*****
(4) The conduct of the parties during the marriage as related to the disposition
or dissipation of their property. . . .
4
Here, Husband insists that he rebutted the statutory presumption for equal division of
marital property. He points out that the IRA was owned by him individually before the
marriage, was acquired without any assistance from Wife, was never commingled with other
marital property, and was never treated as marital property by the parties. Even the ten dollar
annual maintenance fee was deducted from the account itself rather than being paid with
marital funds. Thus, he argues, his IRA should have been allocated exclusively to him, with
the remaining property equally divided between the parties.
Husband cites to Maxwell v. Maxwell, 850 N.E.2d 969 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006), trans.
denied, where the dissolution court effected an unequal division of marital assets by
awarding the husband stock and an IRA inherited by him after he had moved out of the
marital residence. Thus, the husband was in possession of the inheritance for only a few
months of the parties’ marriage that lasted over thirty years. We held that the court did not
abuse its discretion when it “set aside” the stock and IRA exclusively to the husband. Id. at
974. Husband also relies upon Castaneda v. Castaneda, 615 N.E.2d 467 (Ind. Ct. App.
1993), where this Court concluded that the dissolution court did not abuse its discretion when
it allocated to the wife all of an inheritance that she acquired during the course of her
marriage. In Castaneda, the wife kept the funds in her name alone, husband did nothing to
accumulate the funds, and the account was not treated as marital property or commingled
with other assets. Id. at 470.
In both Maxwell and Castaneda, however, the trial courts exercised broad discretion
when distributing marital property and, applying our standard of review, we affirmed those
5
decisions. As with the parties challenging the trial courts’ decisions in those cases, Husband
in this case must overcome a strong presumption that the trial court complied with the statute,
considered Husband’s evidence, and still concluded that an equal division of property was
just. See Gaskell v. Gaskell, 900 N.E.2d 13, 19 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009). This is one of the
strongest presumptions applicable to our consideration on appeal. Id.
Here, although the IRA was established by Husband before the marriage, most of the
appreciation occurred during the marriage. Cf. Wanner, 888 N.E.2d at 263 (observing that,
even where the trial court properly sets aside the value of premarital assets to one spouse, the
appreciation over the course of the marriage is a divisible marital asset). Additionally, the
trial court was not required to set aside to Husband the value of the IRA, even though Wife
made no contribution to its acquisition. See In re Marriage of Nickels, 834 N.E.2d 1091,
1098 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005). Rather, the trial court was required to follow the statutory
presumption absent evidence that an equal division would not be just and reasonable. Doyle
v. Doyle, 756 N.E.2d 576, 578 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001). We conclude that the court acted within
its discretion when, in accordance with the statutory presumption, it declined to award
Husband his IRA exclusively and, instead, equally divided all property of the parties.
Issue Two: Judgment
Husband also asserts that the trial court’s computation of Wife’s equalization payment
is clearly erroneous. His assertion is based upon the following excerpt from the order on
property settlement:
Husband’s Net Without Equalization $20,771
Wife’s Net Without Equalization $4557
6
Disparity is total of nets ($25328) divided by 2 which is $12,664. The
difference between the equalization netting and Wife’s Net amounts to $8107.
Thus equalization judgment shall enter for wife in the amount of $12,664[.]
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED ADJUDGED AND DECREED that Wife
shall have a judgment for the equalization sum of $12,664[.]
(App. at 13-14.)
Here, each party was to receive $12,664 in assets. Husband had in his possession net
assets valued at $20,771; Wife possessed net assets of $4,557, for a total of $25,328. Thus,
Husband owed Wife $12,664 less $4,557, or $8,107. Although Wife contends that there is
no error in the judgment, she agrees that she is owed $8,107 from Husband.1
Indiana Trial Rule 58(B)(4) requires the judgment to contain “[a] statement in
imperative form which clearly and concisely sets forth the relief granted, any alteration of
status, any right declared, or any act to be done or not done.” Generally, the rights of the
parties are adjudged by the decretal portion of the judgment. Farley v. Farley, 157 Ind. App.
385, 392, 300 N.E.2d 375, 380 (1973). Thus, critical to a money judgment is that it be a
certain and definite statement of the amount due. Henderson v. Sneath Oil Co., 638 N.E.2d
798, 803 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994).
While properly setting forth the “difference” as $8,147, the order at issue does not
state in imperative form that Husband must pay that amount to Wife. Rather, the order
awards Wife a sum of $12,664. As Wife agrees with the amount owed, in the interest of
judicial economy and in accordance with Indiana Appellate Rule 66(C)(7), we order
1
To support her position, Wife cites to two unpublished decisions from this Court. We remind counsel for
Wife that, pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 65(D), “a not-for-publication memorandum decision shall
not be regarded as precedent and shall not be cited to any court except by the parties to the case to establish
res judicata, collateral estoppel, or law of the case.”
7
correction of the judgment to show an award of $8,107 in favor of Wife and instruct the trial
court to amend its records accordingly.
Conclusion
The dissolution court did not abuse its discretion when it included Husband’s IRA in
the marital estate and then equally divided that estate. Likewise, the court did not abuse its
discretion in denying Husband’s motion to correct error on that basis. Because the court’s
order does not clearly state the judgment amount in imperative form, we order correction of
the judgment to show an award of $8,107 in favor of Wife and instruct the trial court to
amend its records accordingly.
Affirmed with instruction.
ROBB, C.J., and MATHIAS, J., concur.
8
|
PythonPound = "Comment"
PythonPercent = "Modulo"
Python1J = "Imaginary i"
PythonLF = "line feed"
PythonTab = "Tabulation"
PythonAmpersand = "Bitwise and"
PythonSymbolExp = "Bitwise exclusive or"
PythonVerticalBar = "Bitwise or"
PythonImag = "Imaginary part of z"
PythonReal = "Real part of z"
PythonSingleQuote = "Single quote"
PythonAbs = "Absolute value/Magnitude"
PythonAcos = "Arc cosine"
PythonAcosh = "Arc hyperbolic cosine"
PythonAppend = "Add x to the end of the list"
PythonArrow = "Arrow from (x,y) to (x+dx,y+dy)"
PythonAsin = "Arc sine"
PythonAsinh = "Arc hyperbolic sine"
PythonAtan = "Arc tangent"
PythonAtan2 = "Return atan(y/x)"
PythonAtanh = "Arc hyperbolic tangent"
PythonAxis = "Set axes to (xmin,xmax,ymin,ymax)"
PythonBar = "Draw a bar plot with x values"
PythonBin = "Convert integer to binary"
PythonCeil = "Ceiling"
PythonChoice = "Random number in the list"
PythonClear = "Empty the list"
PythonCmathFunction = "cmath module function prefix"
PythonColor = "Define a rgb color"
PythonColorBlack = "Black color"
PythonColorBlue = "Blue color"
PythonColorBrown = "Brown color"
PythonColorGreen = "Green color"
PythonColorGrey = "Grey color"
PythonColorOrange = "Orange color"
PythonColorPink = "Pink color"
PythonColorPurple = "Purple color"
PythonColorRed = "Red color"
PythonColorWhite = "White color"
PythonColorYellow = "Yellow color"
PythonComplex = "Return a+ib"
PythonCopySign = "Return x with the sign of y"
PythonCos = "Cosine"
PythonCosh = "Hyperbolic cosine"
PythonCount = "Count the occurrences of x"
PythonDegrees = "Convert x from radians to degrees"
PythonDivMod = "Quotient and remainder"
PythonDrawString = "Display a text from pixel (x,y)"
PythonErf = "Error function"
PythonErfc = "Complementary error function"
PythonEval = "Return the evaluated expression"
PythonExp = "Exponential function"
PythonExpm1 = "Compute exp(x)-1"
PythonFabs = "Absolute value"
PythonFillRect = "Fill a rectangle at pixel (x,y)"
PythonFloat = "Convert x to a float"
PythonFloor = "Floor"
PythonFmod = "a modulo b"
PythonFrExp = "Mantissa and exponent of x: (m,e)"
PythonGamma = "Gamma function"
PythonGetPixel = "Return pixel (x,y) color"
PythonGetrandbits = "Integer with k random bits"
PythonGrid = "Toggle the visibility of the grid"
PythonHex = "Convert integer to hexadecimal"
PythonHist = "Draw the histogram of x"
PythonImportCmath = "Import cmath module"
PythonImportIon = "Import ion module"
PythonImportKandinsky = "Import kandinsky module"
PythonImportRandom = "Import random module"
PythonImportMath = "Import math module"
PythonImportMatplotlibPyplot = "Import matplotlib.pyplot module"
PythonImportTime = "Import time module"
PythonImportTurtle = "Import turtle module"
PythonIndex = "Index of the first x occurrence"
PythonInput = "Prompt a value"
PythonInsert = "Insert x at index i in the list"
PythonInt = "Convert x to an integer"
PythonIonFunction = "ion module function prefix"
PythonIsFinite = "Check if x is finite"
PythonIsInfinite = "Check if x is infinity"
PythonIsKeyDown = "Return True if the k key is down"
PythonIsNaN = "Check if x is a NaN"
PythonKandinskyFunction = "kandinsky module function prefix"
PythonKeyLeft = "LEFT ARROW key"
PythonKeyUp = "UP ARROW key"
PythonKeyDown = "DOWN ARROW key"
PythonKeyRight = "RIGHT ARROW key"
PythonKeyOk = "OK key"
PythonKeyBack = "BACK key"
PythonKeyHome = "HOME key"
PythonKeyOnOff = "ON/OFF key"
PythonKeyShift = "SHIFT key"
PythonKeyAlpha = "ALPHA key"
PythonKeyXnt = "X,N,T key"
PythonKeyVar = "VAR key"
PythonKeyToolbox = "TOOLBOX key"
PythonKeyBackspace = "BACKSPACE key"
PythonKeyExp = "EXPONENTIAL key"
PythonKeyLn = "NATURAL LOGARITHM key"
PythonKeyLog = "DECIMAL LOGARITHM key"
PythonKeyImaginary = "IMAGINARY I key"
PythonKeyComma = "COMMA key"
PythonKeyPower = "POWER key"
PythonKeySine = "SINE key"
PythonKeyCosine = "COSINE key"
PythonKeyTangent = "TANGENT key"
PythonKeyPi = "PI key"
PythonKeySqrt = "SQUARE ROOT key"
PythonKeySquare = "SQUARE key"
PythonKeySeven = "7 key"
PythonKeyEight = "8 key"
PythonKeyNine = "9 key"
PythonKeyLeftParenthesis = "LEFT PARENTHESIS key"
PythonKeyRightParenthesis = "RIGHT PARENTHESIS key"
PythonKeyFour = "4 key"
PythonKeyFive = "5 key"
PythonKeySix = "6 key"
PythonKeyMultiplication = "MULTIPLICATION key"
PythonKeyDivision = "DIVISION key"
PythonKeyOne = "1 key"
PythonKeyTwo = "2 key"
PythonKeyThree = "3 key"
PythonKeyPlus = "PLUS key"
PythonKeyMinus = "MINUS key"
PythonKeyZero = "0 key"
PythonKeyDot = "DOT key"
PythonKeyEe = "10 POWER X key"
PythonKeyAns = "ANS key"
PythonKeyExe = "EXE key"
PythonLdexp = "Return x*(2**i), inverse of frexp"
PythonLength = "Length of an object"
PythonLgamma = "Log-gamma function"
PythonLog = "Logarithm to base a"
PythonLog10 = "Logarithm to base 10"
PythonLog2 = "Logarithm to base 2"
PythonMathFunction = "math module function prefix"
PythonMatplotlibPyplotFunction = "matplotlib.pyplot module prefix"
PythonMax = "Maximum"
PythonMin = "Minimum"
PythonModf = "Fractional and integer parts of x"
PythonMonotonic = "Value of a monotonic clock"
PythonOct = "Convert integer to octal"
PythonPhase = "Phase of z"
PythonPlot = "Plot y versus x as lines"
PythonPolar = "z in polar coordinates"
PythonPop = "Remove and return the last item"
PythonPower = "x raised to the power y"
PythonPrint = "Print object"
PythonRadians = "Convert x from degrees to radians"
PythonRandint = "Random integer in [a,b]"
PythonRandom = "Floating point number in [0,1["
PythonRandomFunction = "random module function prefix"
PythonRandrange = "Random number in range(start,stop)"
PythonRangeStartStop = "List from start to stop-1"
PythonRangeStop = "List from 0 to stop-1"
PythonRect = "Convert to cartesian coordinates"
PythonRemove = "Remove the first occurrence of x"
PythonReverse = "Reverse the elements of the list"
PythonRound = "Round to n digits"
PythonScatter = "Draw a scatter plot of y versus x"
PythonSeed = "Initialize random number generator"
PythonSetPixel = "Color pixel (x,y)"
PythonShow = "Display the figure"
PythonSin = "Sine"
PythonSinh = "Hyperbolic sine"
PythonSleep = "Suspend the execution for t seconds"
PythonSort = "Sort the list"
PythonSqrt = "Square root"
PythonSum = "Sum the items of a list"
PythonTan = "Tangent"
PythonTanh = "Hyperbolic tangent"
PythonText = "Display a text at (x,y) coordinates"
PythonTimeFunction = "time module function prefix"
PythonTrunc = "x truncated to an integer"
PythonTurtleBackward = "Move backward by x pixels"
PythonTurtleCircle = "Circle of radius r pixels"
PythonTurtleColor = "Set the pen color"
PythonTurtleColorMode = "Set the color mode to 1.0 or 255"
PythonTurtleForward = "Move forward by x pixels"
PythonTurtleFunction = "turtle module function prefix"
PythonTurtleGoto = "Move to (x,y) coordinates"
PythonTurtleHeading = "Return the current heading"
PythonTurtleHideturtle = "Hide the turtle"
PythonTurtleIsdown = "Return True if the pen is down"
PythonTurtleLeft = "Turn left by a degrees"
PythonTurtlePendown = "Pull the pen down"
PythonTurtlePensize = "Set the line thickness to x pixels"
PythonTurtlePenup = "Pull the pen up"
PythonTurtlePosition = "Return the current (x,y) location"
PythonTurtleReset = "Reset the drawing"
PythonTurtleRight = "Turn right by a degrees"
PythonTurtleSetheading = "Set the orientation to a degrees"
PythonTurtleSetposition = "Positionne la tortue"
PythonTurtleShowturtle = "Show the turtle"
PythonTurtleSpeed = "Drawing speed between 0 and 10"
PythonTurtleWrite = "Display a text"
PythonUniform = "Floating point number in [a,b]"
|
Q:
Python - Remove list(s) from list of lists (Similar functionality to .pop() )
a=[[1,2,3],[4,5,6],[7,8,9]]
.pop() has the capacity to not only remove an element of a list but also return that element.
I am looking for a similar function that can remove and return a whole list that could exist in the middle of another list.
E.g is there a function that will remove [4,5,6] from the above list a, and return it.
The reason for the question is that I'm sorting a list through itemgetter and there's a collision between the headings row (string) and the rest of the data (datetime). As such, I'm looking to effectively pop the list which represents the headings, do a sort, then insert it back in.
A:
The nested lists are just values in the outer list. Just use .pop() on that outer list:
inner_list = a.pop(1)
Demo:
>>> a = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]
>>> a.pop(1)
[4, 5, 6]
>>> a
[[1, 2, 3], [7, 8, 9]]
You could just use a slice to remove the first row from consideration if a header row is in the way:
result = rows[:1] + sorted(rows[1:], key=itemgetter(1))
|
Last season three F1 rookies impressed after stepping up from Formula 2, but this year’s crop of F2 drivers are unlikely to have chance to make a similar impact.
The current lack of racing makes it likely that most teams will retain their current driver lineups for 2021, which will put the brakes on the careers of junior drivers who’d have been targeting next season as the year to graduate into F1.
Here we look at the drivers likely to be most affected by the knock-on effects of the shortened season:
Jack Aitken – Williams test driver
Out of the current Williams test drivers (Dan Ticktum, Roy Nissany and Jamie Chadwick), Aitken would’ve been in the best position to secure an F1 drive next year, but with the knock-on effect of coronavirus a seat could open up a year too late for the Anglo-Korean driver.
Williams will likely stick with Nicholas Latifi and George Russell for 2021 as long as both are available, given Russell’s impressive debut year and that the shortened season will make a proper evaluation of Latifi difficult.
Aitken finished fifth in Formula 2 last season, but time is against him; aged 24 this is set to be his third season as an F1 test driver and if a drive doesn’t open up next year Aitken could find himself out of time in F1.
However, if a seat does open up next year his seniority will give him an edge over most of the F2 drivers looking to make the step up.
Callum Ilott – Ferrari Driver Academy
Ilott in Baku for round 2 of the 2019 Formula 2 season, where he finished 9th in the sprint race. © James Gasperotti
Two drivers from Ferrari’s Academy, Robert Schwartzman and Marcus Armstrong, make their Formula 2 debuts this year having finished first and second in the 2019 F3 championship. The battle between the trio, plus Mick Schumacher who like Ilott enters his second year in the formula, will be fascinating to follow.
However, if both Ferrari and Alfa Romeo stay with their current lineups for 2021 the chance may have passed for Ilott by the time 2022 comes around given the fierce competition for seats within the pathway, and he’d need to considerably improve on his 11th finish in 2019 Formula 2 to attract the attention of other teams.
Sergio Sette Camara – Red Bull & Alpha Tauri test driver
The Brazilian’s move to Red Bull as their test driver put Sette Camara in pole position to fill an Alpha Tauri seat in 2021. The team has two drivers who excel in the car, but they’re in a unique position where their futures remain in doubt because neither has been able to make it stick in the top team.
If senior Red Bull management don’t view Gasly or Kvyat as having a future in the top team their days are surely numbered, and out of this list Sette Camara probably has the best chance of still securing a drive in 2021.
However there are six Red Bull Junior drivers set to compete in F2 or F3 this season that will soon be breathing down the Brazilian’s neck, and he’s only competing in Super Formula this season, so if he isn’t considered for a drive next season he could be two seasons removed from top-level feeders series racing when a seat becomes available.
Dan Ticktum – Williams test driver
There were rumours that Ticktum would replace Brendan Hartley at Toro Rosso for 2019 but he lacked a super licence to secure the drive, and the Brit was then dumped from the Red Bull Driver Academy last year.
That was after he pulled out of Super Formula following an uninspiring three rounds, the pathway that Pierre Gasly and Stoffel Vandoorne used as springboards proving a tough nut to crack.
He would’ve looked for a strong first Formula Two season and some drivers vacating their seats for 2021 in order to rebound but with racing shut down neither of those are likely his time may have passed with the next generation of junior drivers already challenging.
Guanyu Zhou – Renault test driver
The most difficult to gauge given the lack of certainty that Renault will even continue in F1 past this season, so Zhou could be looking for a new patron at the end of this season.
Even if Renault do decide to continue on the sport, or another team takes over the whole operation including the academy, the path to the top team is still a difficult one.
Zhou’s future at the team was always going to depend on Daniel Ricciardo’s future but some positive signs at testing, plus the postponement of the new regulations to 2022 could persuade the Australian to stick around for at least another season in Enstone, and give the team another year of preparation for 2022 to convince him to stay further.
This turn of events has also given younger Renault juniors such as Caio Collet and Oscar Piastri another year to catch up and Christian Lungaard will have his first season of F2 this year to directly challenge Zhou.
However, after an impressive first season in Formula 2, Zhou is in a better position than most to look for potential suitors especially if he can continue his F2 form when racing restarts.
Mick Schumacher – Ferrari Driver Academy
Schumacher’s first season in Formula 2 dampened calls for him to be fast-tracked into an F1 seat, the German finished twelfth (one place behind fellow Ferrari Junior Illott) last season and needs to finish sixth or higher in the coming season to obtain enough points for a Super Licence (unless regulations are changed given the situation).
This is not an insignificant challenge in itself, but Schumacher also faces the same problem as Ilott; there’s hot competition within the Ferrari junior ranks, so the next season of Formula 2 racing could prove make or break for the German. |
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The God of Providence
"What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence." -Charles Spurgeon
What a piercing and convicting observation! It seems no matter how much confidence I might put in God's power to save me from sin, I always wain in my confidence in His power to save me from starvation, sleeplessness, and want. His eye is on the sparrow. His care is for the lilies. Why am I convinced that His provision does not apply to my families physical needs? This last year, the theme of what God has done in our family is break down our comforts so we have to depend on him. He has either not given us the jobs we wanted and thought we needed or not given them when we wanted them. He has put a curse on both our vehicles (not really, but it sure has seemed like it). He has moved us away from our friends and put us in a position where we either have to run scared or rely on Him and Him alone for our provision, security, strength, and peace. It has in many ways been the hardest year either of us have experienced, but it has also been the best. We worship the God of providence and are wrapped up in his arms, like sheep in his pasture we are under the protection of his mighty staff. What a struggle faith can be and how quickly faithlessness can overcome me, in spite of God's perfect track record in faithfulness! His eye is on the sparrow. His care is for the lilies. His strength is for the weak. His kingdom is for the poor.
Lord Jesus let us never forget that you are the God of providence and our daily provision. Help us to put our trust in you! |
A winning Powerball ticket, sold in west Georgia last summer, expired Monday after no one came forward to claim the jackpot, a Georgia Lottery spokeswoman said Tuesday.
Kimberly Starks said it was "the largest unclaimed ticket in Georgia" since the lottery began in 1993.
The winning ticket, with the numbers 24, 30, 45, 57 and 59 and the “Power Ball” of 26, was sold June 29 at the Pilot Travel Center truck stop along I-20 in Tallapoosa. Players have 180 days to claim their prize.
The unclaimed money will be returned proportionately to each participating state based on that state’s sales for the particular drawing, lottery spokeswoman Tandi Reddick said. Powerball is played in 32 states and the District of Columbia.
Reddick said that in Georgia, unclaimed prize money goes back into the prize pool for future games and for special prize promotions, and is ultimately paid out to players.
The current estimated jackpot for Wednesday's drawing is $20 million after a winning ticket was sold Saturday in Maryland.
The other multi-state lottery, Mega Millions, currently has a $206 million jackpot for Tuesday night's drawing.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Elina Sarkisian was charged with a felony count of drug possession and a misdemeanor drug charge as well as drug paraphernalia charges. (Skokie Police Dept. / December20, 2011)
Rosemary Sobol
Tribune reporter
6:16 p.m. CST,December 20, 2011
A woman who called police claiming she was the victim of a home invasion was arrested herself after police found the heroin she’d been doing when she ‘hallucinated’ the people in her home Friday in north suburban Skokie.
Officers responded to a possible home invasion at 1:30 p.m. in the 9500 block of Leamington Street, when resident Elina Sarkisian told authorities there were two unwanted people inside her home, according to Skokie Police Sgt. David Pawlak.
Sarkisian, 22, came outside while officers surrounded the home and searched it, Pawlak said.
No one was inside, but police did discover an off-white powdery substance suspected to be heroin on her kitchen counter, divided into three lines. A pipe and cocaine was also found, Pawlak said.
When she reentered the home, she told police that there had been ten people inside the home that she didn’t recognize and confessed to using drugs.
“She said she’d smoked crack cocaine earlier in the day and used heroin to bring her back down,’’ said Pawlak. “She said she believed she 'hallucinated' the two subjects and they were not real.’’
She was booked into Cook County Jail on Dec. 17 after a judge ordered her held on $50,000 bond.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Police arrested a man they say robbed a bank with a glue gun on Monday.
Around 1:40 p.m. Monday, an armed robbery was reported at PNC Bank, 3003 Kentucky Ave. Bank employees said the man displayed what they thought was a gun and told them he had a bomb, while showing them something taped to his leg.
The man got away, but officers from Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI Safe Streets Task Force identified him through surveillance video.
Officers tracked down their suspect, Aaron Randolph, in the 3300 block of South Lockburn Street. They found all the money, along with the suspected “firearm” that was used — a glue gun. They also determined Randolph wasn’t armed with a bomb, as bank workers said he threatened.
Randolph was arrested but had not been formally charged as of Tuesday afternoon.
Monday, December 19, 2011
CUMBERLAND — They come in teabag-size packets and small vials about the size of a long thimble and have names like Legal Eagle Patriotic Potpourri and Rip its. They contain a mixture of herbs and chemicals and are labeled “not for human consumption.”
It’s fake pot and the stuff is dangerous, said Allegany County Sheriff Craig Robertson.
To highlight the ease of availability of synthetic marijuana, Robertson last week, in full uniform, walked into a local shop and bought one packet and one small vial of the so-called potpourri using $21 of his own money. The products are completely legal.
“The law is unable to do anything,” he said.
Robertson told the story to Allegany County commissioners and members of the local legislative delegation Friday. Robertson hopes to enlist their help in fighting the growing use of the potpourri as a drug. The sheriff asked legislators to support any laws which would help control or ban the products.
“They sell it as potpourri, but this is what the kids are smoking,” Robertson said. He passed the products around the table for legislators and commissioners to take a look at the packages. It’s not the herbs, but the chemicals sprayed on them, that have the effect of getting the user high when the product is smoked, Robertson said. They are smoked after being rolled up in rolling papers, like a marijuana joint, or smoked in a pipe.
“I’m totally against this being sold,” he said. The products are similar to bath salts but have different chemicals and somewhat different effects, Robertson said.
Synthetic drugs are already on the legislature’s radar, and a briefing book prepared for the 2012 General Assembly session contains information on synthetic cannabinoids, which have been linked to hallucinations, seizures, heart problems and suicides. More than 30 states have banned the substances.
People in the county are becoming increasingly concerned by a growing number of panhandlers asking for money, especially in the LaVale area, Robertson has said.
The main concentration of the panhandlers has been in the LaVale area between Country Club Mall and Braddock Square. The panhandlers also seem to be active on nearby National Highway. The sheriff and his deputies have heard concerns from a large number of citizens, he said.
“It’s a safety issue when it comes to the roadway,” the sheriff said.
Motorists may look over at the panhandlers and their signs, causing traffic safety issues and occasionally, panhandlers may block the road.
A state law that may help out is already on the books, but doesn’t apply to Allegany County, Robertson said. That law bans solicitation in public roadways.
Myers said Washington County has faced a similar problem in the past.
“At Christmas time at the Valley Mall, it was incredible,” Myers said of the number and aggressiveness of the panhandlers.
Essentially the existing law only needs to be made applicable to Allegany County, Robertson said. The sheriff asked legislators to make sure an exemption for charitable organizations and volunteer fire companies was included.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Beaverton police accuse man of faking heart attack to get out of speeding ticket
Thursday, December 08, 2011, 3:55 PM
Updated: Thursday, December 08, 2011, 3:59 PM
Rebecca Woolington
The Oregonian
Beaverton Police DepartmentGeoffrey Burke
Beaverton police have accused a man of faking a heart attack to get out of a speeding ticket Wednesday afternoon.
Shortly after 3 p.m., an officer pulled over a Chevy Tahoe traveling 46 miles per hour in a 30 mile-per-hour zone at Southwest Allen Boulevard and Wilson Avenue, said Officer Pam Yazzolino, a Beaverton police spokeswoman. The driver reportedly told the officer he was on his way to the hospital because he believed he was suffering a heart attack.
The driver complained of chest pain, Yazzolino said. He reportedly said he had numbness in his left arm and couldn't move it.
The officer called for paramedics to respond. They arrived and began treating the man.
While in an ambulance en route to a local hospital, Metro West paramedics repeatedly tried to place an intravenous line in the man's arm, Yazzolino said, but he kept pulling it out.
The medics, Yazzolino said, couldn't find anything wrong with the man's heart. And doctors at Providence St. Vincent's Medical Center reportedly concluded the same thing.
"His heart was fine and he wasn't having a heart attack," Yazzolino said.
So, the man, whom police identified as 55-year-old Geoffrey Burke, was reportedly discharged from the hospital into police custody. Yazzolino said he was lodged in the Washington County Jail on accusations of initiating a false report and disorderly conduct.
Burke – who had a Kentucky driver's license, but gave authorities a Sherwood address – was also cited on accusations of speeding, driving while suspended and driving uninsured, Yazzolino said.
At the time of the traffic stop, Burke's dog, Yazzolino said, was the only other passenger in the vehicle. It was picked up from the scene.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Five-foot, four-wheeled robots will roam the halls at night to monitor prisoners
Larry Mcshane
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, December 6 2011, 1:05 PM
YONHAP/EPA
A prison guard robot prototype is being developed that could help reduce some simple work now done by human prison guards.
The electric chair is just so 20th century.
Think battery-powered prison guards, the 21st century technology for correctional facilities — with a South Korean jail rolling out its robot security force this March.
The wide-eyed guards stand just 5 feet tall, travel on four wheels, and don’t complain about working overtime. Three of the bots are set to join the staff in the city of Pohang for a month-long tryout.
The angular robots cost about $860,000 to construct, and come equipped with cameras and sensors to detect suspicious actions or signs of violence.
The creators — members of the Asian Forum for Corrections — said the robots will likely appear less menacing than the stereotypical prison guard or a cyborg-styled Terminator.
“As we’re almost done with creating its key operating system, we are now working on refining its details to make it look more friendly to inmates,” said Prof. Lee Baik-Chu the chief designer, to the Yonhap News Agency.
The robots will start out working the night shift, rolling through prison halls. Human guards can use the machines to keep an eye and an ear on inmates via the robots’ two-way audio and video feeds.
A man who tried to rob a mixed martial-arts expert at gunpoint found himself no match for his intended victim this weekend, police said.
Anthony Miranda, 24, faces a charge of discharging a weapon during a robbery in the Southwest Side attack, which left him wounded in the ankle and badly bruised from his confrontation with the 33-year-old man he robbed, police said.
The victim was sitting in his car near Kenneth Avenue and 55th Street about 11:30 p.m. Friday when a man came up to the car and asked him for a light, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.
The man in the car replied that he didn't have a light, and the other man pulled out a handgun and demanded the driver's valuables, Mirabelli said. The driver handed over his cash, wallet and valuables, and the gunman then ordered him out of the car.
At some point, the older man was able to grab hold of the handgun, and during a struggle, the robber discharged a round, striking himself in the ankle, Mirabelli said.
The victim was able to hold the robber until police arrived. When he turned the robber over to police, the victim told them that he participates in Ultimate Fighting Championships, a mixed-martial arts competition, Mirabelli said.
After being treated at Holy Cross Hospital, Miranda appeared in Cook County Bond Court Sunday and was ordered held in lieu of $350,000 bail.
Miranda, of the 8900 block of Bronx Avenue in Skokie, is on parole in several 2007 residential burglary cases for which he was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released from prison in March 2010.
A terrified mother was buried alive in a cardboard box by the boyfriend who wanted rid of her, a court heard yesterday.
Michelina Lewandowska, 27, was shot with a 300,000-volt Taser stun gun by Marcin Kasprzak, 25, who was allegedly bored with her and thought she was not pretty enough.
She was bound and gagged with parcel tape and put in a box with two small air holes, a jury was told.
She was put in the boot of a car, driven to a wooded area and buried in a ‘shallow grave’.
Kasprzak and a friend, Patryk Borys, 18, used shovels to pile soil on the box and then put a tree branch weighing more than six stone on top of it, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Fearing the consequences of crying out, Miss Lewandowska kept quiet throughout the ordeal and as far as the men were concerned she could have been unconscious, the jury was told.
They ‘simply left her there’ and drove to a supermarket cashpoint where they used her bank cards to withdraw £500 of her money.
Over the next hour their victim, ‘with great difficulty’, managed to get out of the box and escape from the makeshift grave.
She stumbled to a nearby road and raised the alarm by flagging down a motorist.
The court heard that Miss Lewandowska and Kasprzak – who met six years ago in their native Poland before moving to work in England – have a three-year-old son, Jakub.
However, Kasprzak was ‘bored’ with his partner. He told her she was not as good-looking as the girls he saw at the gym.
He would go out with friends, sometimes staying out all night, rather than spending time with her.He allegedly wanted her removed from the scene so he could look after Jakub without her and pursue a relationship with another girlfriend.
Both Kasprzak and Borys deny attempted murder in May this year.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told the court that Kasprzak had changed his Facebook status to ‘single’ about two weeks before the attack and developed a plan of killing his partner.
He recruited his Polish friend Borys to help and spent the night before the incident with another girlfriend.
The following day Kasprzak arranged for his mother to take his son out and, the jury heard, put his plan into action at the family home in Huddersfield.
Using the stun gun he tried to ‘immobilise’ his girlfriend by twice discharging 300,000 volts into her neck. Mr Sharp said the two men bound her at the wrists and ankles and gagged her.
‘Michelina was not paralysed,’ said Mr Sharp. ‘But nevertheless, as you can well imagine, she was terrified and she agreed to do whatever he wanted.’
The men emptied the house of her clothes, which they dumped outside with the rubbish, and put their victim into a cardboard box just 22in deep which had contained a computer.
She would probably have been curled up inside with her knees tucked up towards her chin, the jury was told.
They carried the box up steps and into the boot of Kasprzak’s Vauxhall Astra.
Mr Sharp said the defendants dug a hole big enough to take the box in woodland on a hill near Huddersfield.
Terror: Michalina Lewandowska, 27, was allegedly shot with a Taser at her home in Huddersfield (pictured)
‘They carried Michelina, sealed in the box, up the hill, placed her in the hole, and then piled earth both around and on top of the box,' he said. 'They found a large branch and placed it across the box.’
By the time they finished, the airholes on the box were obscured by earth, the jury heard. Mr Sharp added: ‘When they put Michelina, who was not making a sound, in a shallow grave and put earth around and on top of her, they intended to kill her.
But by great good fortune, they failed to kill her.
‘To bury somebody alive has very well-known consequences. After a very short time that person will die from lack of oxygen.
‘The Crown says it is plain not just that Kasprzak and Borys well knew that, but they intended her to die from lack of oxygen.’
Tasered: Michelina Lewandowska, 27, was initially shot with a 300,000 volt Taser stun gun (similar to the one pictured) by her boyfriend
Both men returned to the car and drove a short distance to a Morrisons supermarket, where they were captured on CCTV using a cash machine at 11.01pm.
Miss Lewandowska was spotted by a motorist at 11.55pm and police arrested both suspects later that night at Borys’s house in Huddersfield.
Mr Sharp told the court both men would admit being involved, but claim they did not intend to kill their victim. |
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|
i know its early, but i have leave early...
missing deal for matt
sell dynegy
25 mw
124.50
cal 02
sp 15
on peak |
Q:
How to loop through keys in struct for SwiftUI?
I have done XCode a long time ago and now coming back to pick up SwiftUI. I am trying to render the data of a struct in a HStack.
The struct looks like this:
struct Product: Hashable, Codable{
var column0: Int
var column1: String
var column2: String
var column3: String
var column4: String
}
Inside the view body there's something like this:
var pdt: Product
var body: some View {
HStack {
Text(pdt.column1)
Text(pdt.column2)
}
}
The above will work, but I didn't want to hardcode column1 or column2 because the number of columns will differ. How can I use pdt as a Dictionary and loop through the keys so that I can display all columns?
Many thanks in advance!
A:
Here is a demo of possible approach (for this simple case) - you can reflect properties and map them to shown values (for custom/complex types it will require more efforts by idea should be clear).
var body: some View {
let columnValues = Mirror(reflecting: pdt)
.children.map { "\($0.value)" }
return HStack {
ForEach(columnValues, id: \.self) { Text($0) }
}
}
|
Cabinet ministers must demand sectors under their remit produce action plans to reduce their gender pay gaps, reporting back within six months, Theresa May has said.
The gender pay gap has fallen slightly from 19.8% in 2010 to 18.4% in 2017 but on current projections will not close for another 34 years, the cabinet was told.
Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary who had taken on the women and equalities brief just 24 hours earlier following the resignation of Amber Rudd, said ministers should ask key sectors covered by their departments what they were doing to close the gap.
Mordaunt said she would report back to the cabinet by November, with ministers expected to feed in from their departments.
Speaking to the cabinet, May said the UK should be proud to be one of the first countries in the world to introduce gender pay gap reporting in over 10,000 large companies. All public sector bodies have now reported, Downing Street said, with 97% meeting the deadline.
However, the government is understood to have contacted 1,500 companies to demand an explanation as to why they have not complied.
“The PM said this has significantly raised the exposure of the issue across the country and is an important first step in driving the cultural change that we need,” May’s spokesman said, pointing to the culture shift that the reporting had already precipitated in key employers, such as the BBC.
The figures released over the course of the past few months showed eight out of 10 employers pay men more than women. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is responsible for enforcing the law for companies with over 250 employees to report their pay figures.
However, MPs have recently questioned its capacity to enforce the law given the cuts to the EHRC’s funding.
The construction sector, which will fall under the new housing, communities and local government secretary James Brokenshire’s brief, reported the worst average median gender pay gap at 25%. This was followed by finance and insurance at 22%. |
Q:
PHP default website variables
I'm attempting to come up with the best way to use default variables and override them if a $_GET is passed via the URL. Right now, I only have two, but I'll be adding more as I develop the site. Is there a better way?
I'm using define to define the variable and isset to determine if a variable is set and is not NULL.
define("THEME", "atom");
define("VERSION", "1.00");
if(isset($_GET["theme"]))
{
$theme = $_GET["theme"];
} else
{
$theme = THEME;
}
if(isset($_GET["version"]))
{
$version = $_GET["version"];
} else
{
$version = VERSION;
}
UPDATE
I decided on the following. I'm storing my site settings in settings.php:
$settings = array();
$settings['theme'] = 'default';
Then I include that file, use the ternary operator, and then define the variable:
include_once('settings.php');
$theme = (isset($_GET["theme"])) ? $_GET["theme"] : $settings['theme'];
define("THEME", $theme);
A:
You can use ternary operators to lessen your typing.
$theme = (isset($_GET["theme"])) ? $_GET["theme"] : THEME;
$version= (isset($_GET["version"])) ? $_GET["version"] : VERSION;
|
Article content continued
The rock
The giant 3,000-foot granite monolith known as El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park is one of the holy grails of rock climbing. There are many routes up the daunting face — the first of which was scaled in 1958 — but the Dawn Wall is considered the most difficult, and free climbing the route was once thought impossible. In the climbing community, the challenge of the Dawn Wall is seen as stemming from the number of extremely difficult segments stacked one on top of each other. “I’m fairly confident this feat won’t be repeated for a long time,” said Cort McElroy, general manager of the indoor climbing facility Rock Oasis in Toronto.
The grade
Difficulty of a climb is measured by length — the number of pitches — and the grade on the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS). A pitch is a section of a cliff that is climbed between two belay points. Belay points are where climbers attach themselves to the rock to protect themselves in the event of a fall. The YDS is a grading system used to gauge the difficulty of a climb. Class 5 represents technical free climbing involving rope. Of the Dawn Wall’s 32 pitches six are classified as 5.14 — including two 5.14ds that are now considered Yosemite’s most difficult pitches. Mr. McElroy estimates there are only about 200 people in the world that can climb 5.14d and 5.15a pitches.
The technique
Free climbing involves using ropes and harnesses only to protect climbers against injury from falls, which are sometimes expected. Mr. Jorgeson and Mr. Caldwell used a procedure called “redpointing” meaning they would have to start each of their route’s 32 segments, or pitches, over from the beginning after a fall, no matter where it occurred on that particular pitch. The pair took multiple attempts to complete a number of pitches during their ascent: For example, Mr. Jorgeson attempted the difficult 15th pitch 11 times over the course of seven days. By contrast, in free soloing, it is just the climber and the mountain. |
Produced by David Widger
THE MERRIE TALES OF JACQUES TOURNEBROCHE
AND CHILD LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY
By Anatole France
John Lane Company, MCMXIX
Copyright 1909
John Lane Company
CHILD LIFE IN TOWN AND COUNTRY
FANCHON
[Illustration: 164]
I
FANCHON went early one morning, like Little Red Riding-Hood, to see
her grandmother, who lives right at the other end of the village. But
Fanchon did not stop like little Red Riding-Hood, to gather nuts in the
wood. She went straight on her way and she did not meet the wolf. From
a long way off she saw her grandmother sitting on the stone step at her
cottage door, a smile on her toothless mouth and her arms, as dry and
knotty as an old vine-stock, open to welcome her little granddaughter.
It rejoices Fanchon's heart to spend a whole day with her grandmother;
and her grandmother, whose trials and troubles are all over and who
lives as happy as a cricket in the warm chimney-corner, is rejoiced too
to see her son's little girl, the picture of her own childhood.
They have many things to tell each other, for one of them is coming back
from the journey of life which the other is setting out on.
"You grow a bigger girl every day," says the old grandmother to Fanchon,
"and every day I get smaller; I scarcely need now to stoop at all to
touch your forehead. What matters my great age when I can see the roses
of my girlhood blooming again in your cheeks, my pretty Fanchon?"
But Fanchon asked to be told again--for the hundredth time--all about
the glittering paper flowers under the glass shade, the coloured
pictures where our Generals in brilliant uniforms are overthrowing their
enemies, the gilt cups, some of which have lost their handles, while
others have kept theirs, and grandfather's gun that hangs above the
chimney-piece from the nail where he put it up himself for the last
time, thirty years ago.
But time flies, and the hour is come to get ready the midday dinner.
Fanchon's grandmother stirs up the drowsy fire; then she breaks the eggs
on the black earthenware platter. Fanchon is deeply interested in the
bacon omelette as she watches it browning and sputtering over the fire.
There is no one in the world like her grandmother for making omelettes
and telling pretty stories. Fanchon sits on the settle, her chin on
a level with the table, to eat the steaming omelette and drink the
sparkling cider. But her grandmother eats her dinner, from force of
habit, standing at the fireside. She holds her knife in her right hand,
and in the other a crust of bread with her toothsome morsel on it. When
both have done eating:
"Grandmother," says Fanchon, "tell me the 'Blue Bird.'"
And her grandmother tells Fanchon how, by the spite of a bad fairy, a
beautiful Prince was changed into a sky-blue bird, and of the grief the
Princess felt when she heard of the transformation and saw her love fly
all bleeding to the window of the Tower where she was shut up.
Fanchon thinks and thinks.
"Grandmother," she says at last, "is it a great while ago the Blue Bird
flew to the Tower where the Princess was shut up?"
Her grandmother tells her it was many a long day since, in the times
when the animals used to talk.
"You were young then?" asks Fanchon.
"I was not yet born," the old woman tells her.
And Fanchon says:
"So, grandmother, there were things in the world even before you were
born?"
And when their talk is done, her grandmother gives Fanchon an apple with
a hunch of bread and bids her:
"Run away, little one; go and play and eat your apple in the garden."
And Fanchon goes into the garden, where there are trees and grass and
flowers and birds.
II
[Illustration: 168]
HER grandmother's garden was full of grass and flowers and trees, and
Fanchon thought it was the prettiest garden in all the world. By this
time she had pulled out her pocket-knife to cut her bread with, as they
do in the village. First she munched her apple, then she began upon her
bread. Presently a little bird came fluttering past her. Then a second
came, and a third. Soon ten, twenty, thirty were crowding round Fanchon.
There were grey birds, and red, there were yellow birds, and green, and
blue. And all were pretty and they all sang. At first Fanchon could not
think what they wanted. But she soon saw they were asking for bread and
that they were little beggars. Yes, they were beggars, but they were
singers as well. Fanchon was too kind-hearted to refuse bread to any one
who paid for it with songs.
She was a little country girl, and she did not know that once long ago,
in a country where white cliffs of marble are washed by the blue sea,
a blind old man earned his daily bread by singing the shepherds' songs
which the learned still admire to-day. But her heart laughed to hear the
little birds, and she tossed them crumbs that never reached the ground,
for the birds always caught them in the air.
Fanchon saw that the birds were not all the same in character. Some
would stand in a ring round her feet waiting for the crumbs to fall
into their beaks. These were philosophers. Others again she could see
circling nimbly on the wing all about her. She even noticed one little
thief that darted in and pecked shamelessly at her own slice.
She broke the bread and threw crumbs to them all; but all could not get
some to eat. Fanchon found that the boldest and cleverest left nothing
for the others.
"That is not fair," she told them; "each of you ought to take his proper
turn."
But they never heeded; nobody ever does, when you talk of fairness and
justice. She tried every way to favour the weak and hearten the timid;
but she could make nothing of it, and do what she would, she fed the big
fat birds at the expense of the thin ones. This made her sorry; she was
such a simple child she did not know it is the way of the world.
Crumb by crumb, the bread all went down the little singers' throats. And
Fanchon went back very happy to her grandmother's house.
III
[Illustration: 171]
WHEN night fell, her grandmother took the basket in which Fanchon had
brought her a cake, filled it with apples and grapes, hung it on the
child's arm, and said: "Now, Fanchon, go straight back home, without
stopping to play with the village ragamuffins. Be a good girl always.
Goodbye."
Then she kissed her. But Fanchon stood thinking at the door.
"Grandmother?" she said. "What is it, little Fanchon?" "I should like to
know," said Fanchon, "if there are any beautiful Princes among the birds
that ate up my bread."
"Now that there are no more fairies," her grandmother told her, "the
birds are all birds and nothing else."
"Good-bye, grandmother."
"Good-bye, Fanchon."
And Fanchon set off across the meadows for her home, the chimneys
of which she could see smoking a long way off against the red sky of
sunset.
On the road she met Antoine, the gardener's little boy. He asked her:
"Will you come and play with me, Fanchon?"
But she answered:
"I won't stop to play with you, because my grandmother told me not to.
But I will give you an apple, because I love you very much."
Antoine took the apple and kissed the little girl.
They loved each other fondly.
He called her his little wife, and she called him her little husband.
As she went on her way, stepping soberly along like a staid, grown-up
person, she heard behind her a merry twittering of birds, and turning
round to look, she saw they were the same little pensioners she had fed
when they were hungry. They came flying after her.
"Good night, little friends," she called to them, "good night! It's
bedtime now, so good night!"
And the winged songsters answered her with little cries that mean "God
keep you!" in bird language.
So Fanchon came back to her mother's to the sound of sweet music in the
air.
IV
[Illustration: 174]
FANCHON lay down in the dark in her little bed, which a carpenter in
the village had made long ago of walnut-wood and carved a light railing
alongside. The good old man had been resting years and years now under
the shadow of the church, in a grass-grown bed; for Fanchon's cot had
been her grandfather's when he was a little lad, and he had slept where
she sleeps now. A curtain of pink-sprigged cotton protects her slumbers;
she sleeps, and in her dreams she sees the Blue Bird flying to his
sweetheart's Castle. She thinks he is as beautiful as a star, but she
never expects him to come and light on her shoulder. She knows _she_
is not a Princess, and no Prince changed into a blue bird will come to
visit her. She tells herself that all birds are not Princes; that the
birds of her village are villagers, and that there might be one perhaps
found amongst them, a little country lad changed into a sparrow by a
bad fairy and wearing in his heart under his brown feathers the love of
little Fanchon. Yes, if _he_ came and she knew him, she would give him
not bread crumbs only, but cake and kisses. She would so like to see
him, and lo! she sees him; he comes and perches on her shoulder. He is
a jack-sparrow, only a common sparrow. He has nothing rich or rare about
him, but he looks alert and lively. To tell the truth, he is a little
torn and tattered; he lacks a feather in his tail; he has lost it in
battle--unless it was through some bad fairy of the village. Fanchon has
her suspicions he is a naughty bird. But she is a girl, and she does not
mind her jack-sparrow being a trifle headstrong, if only he has a kind
heart. She pets him and calls him pretty names. Suddenly he begins to
grow bigger; his body gets longer; his wings turn into two arms; he is
a boy, and Fanchon knows who he is--Antoine, the gardener's little lad,
who asks her:
"Shall we go and play together, shall we, Fanchon?"
She claps her hands for joy, and away she goes.... But suddenly she
wakes and rubs her eyes. Her sparrow is gone, and so is Antoine! She is
all alone in her little room. The dawn, peeping in between the flowered
curtains, throws a white, innocent light over her cot. She can hear
the birds singing in the garden. She jumps out of bed in her little
nightgown and opens the window; she looks out into the garden, which
is gay with flowers--roses, geraniums, and convolvulus--and spies her
little pensioners, her little musicians, of yesterday. There they all
sit in a row on the garden-fence, singing her a morning hymn to pay her
for their crumbs of bread.
THE FANCY-DRESS BALL
[Illustration: 177]
HERE we have little boys who are conquering heroes and little girls who
are heroines. Here we have shepherdesses in hoops and wreaths of roses
and shepherds in satin coats, who carry crooks tied with knots of
riband. Oh! what white, pretty sheep they must be these shepherds tend!
Here are Alexander the Great and Zaire, and Pyrrhus and Merope, Mahomet,
Harlequin, Pierrot, Scapin, Blaise and Babette. They have come from all
parts, from Greece and Rome and the lands of Faery, to dance together.
What a fine thing a fancy ball is, and how delicious to be a great
King for an hour or a famous Princess! There is nothing to spoil
the pleasure. No need to act up to your costume, nor even to talk in
character.
It would be poor fun, mind you, to wear heroes' clothes if you had to
have a hero's heart as well. Heroes' hearts are torn with all sorts of
sorrows. They are most of them famous for their calamities. If they had
lived happy, we should never have heard of them. Merope had no wish to
dance. Pyrrhus was cruelly slain by Orestes just when he was going to
wed, and the innocent Zaire perished by the hand of her lover the Turk,
philosophical Turk though he was. As for Blaise and Babette, the song
says they suffer fond regrets that go on forever.
Why speak of Pierrot and Scapin? You know as well as I do they were
scamps, and got their ears pulled more than once. No! glory costs too
dear, even Harlequin's. On the contrary, it is very agreeable to be
little boys and girls, and have the look of being great personages.
That is why there is no pleasure to compare with a fancy ball, when the
dresses are splendid enough. Only to wear them makes you feel brave.
Then think how proud and pretty all your little friends are with their
feathers and mantles; how gallant and gay and noble they look, and how
like the fine folks of olden times.
In the gallery, where you cannot see them, the musicians, with sad,
gentle faces, are tuning up their fiddles. A stately quadrille lies open
on their stands. They are going to attack the old-fashioned piece. At
the first notes our heroes and masks will lead off the dance.
THE SCHOOL
[Illustration: 180]
I PROCLAIM Mademoiselle Genseigne's school the best girls' school in the
world. I declare miscreants and slanderers any who shall think or say
the contrary. Mademoiselle Genseigne's pupils are all well-behaved and
industrious, and there is no pleasanter sight to see than all their
small figures sitting so still, and all the heads in a straight row.
They look like so many little bottles into which Mademoiselle Gen-seigne
is busy pouring useful knowledge.
Mademoiselle Genseigne sits very upright at her high desk. She has
a gentle, serious face; her neatly braided hair and her black tippet
inspire respect and sympathy.
Mademoiselle Genseigne, who is very clever, is teaching her little
pupils cyphering.
She says to Rose Benoit:
"Rose Benoit, if I take four from twelve, what have I left?"
"Four?" answers Rose Benoit.
Mademoiselle Genseigne is not satisfied with the answer.
"And you, Emmeline Capel, if I take four from twelve, how much have I
left?"
"Eight," Emmeline Capel answers.
"You hear, Rose Benoit, I have eight left," insists Mademoiselle
Genseigne.
Rose Benoit falls into a brown study. Mademoiselle Genseigne has eight
left, she is told, but she has no notion if it is eight hats or eight
handkerchiefs, or possibly eight apples or eight feathers. The doubt has
long tormented her. She can make nothing of arithmetic.
On the other hand, she is very wise in Scripture History. Mademoiselle
Genseigne has not another pupil who can describe the Garden of Eden or
Noah's Ark as Rose Benoit can. Rose Benoit knows every flower in the
Garden and all the animals in the Ark. She knows as many fairy tales as
Mademoiselle Genseigne herself. She knows all the fables of the Fox and
the Crow, the Donkey and the Little Dog, the Cock and the Hen, and what
they said to each other. She is not at all surprised to hear that the
animals used once to talk. The wonder would be if some one told her they
don't talk now. She is quite sure she understands what her big dog
Tom says and her little canary Chirp. She is quite right; animals have
always talked, and they talk still; but they only talk to their
friends. Rose Benoit loves them and they love her, and that is why she
understands what they say. To understand each other there is nothing
like loving one another.
To-day Rose Benoit has said her lessons without a mistake. She has won
a good mark. Emmeline Capel has a good mark, too, for knowing her
arithmetic lesson so well.
On coming out of school, she told her mother she had a good mark. Then
she asked her:
"A good mark, mother, what's the use of it?"
"A good mark is of no use," Emmeline's mother answered; "that is the
very reason why we should be proud to get one. You will find out one
day, my child, that the rewards most highly esteemed are just those that
bring honour without profit."
MARIE
[Illustration: 184]
LITTLE girls long to pluck flowers and stars--it is their nature to. But
stars will not be plucked, and the lesson they teach little girls
is, that in this world there are longings that are never satisfied.
Mademoiselle Marie has gone into the park, where she came upon a bed of
hydrangeas; she saw how pretty the flowers were and that made her gather
one. It was very difficult; she dragged with both hands, and very nearly
tumbled over backwards when the stalk broke. She is pleased and proud
at what she has done. But nurse has seen her. She runs up, snatches at
Mademoiselle Marie's arm, scolds her, and sets her to stand and repent,
not in the black closet, but at the foot of a great chestnut, under the
shade of a huge Japanese umbrella.
There Mademoiselle Marie sits and thinks, in great surprise and
perplexity. Her flower in one hand and the umbrella making a bright halo
round her, she looks like a little idol from overseas.
Nurse has told her: "Marie, you must not put that flower in your mouth.
If you do it when I tell you not, your little dog Toto will come and eat
up your ears." And with these terrible words she walks away.
The young culprit, sitting quite still under her brilliant canopy, looks
about her and gazes at earth and sky. It is a big world she sees, big
enough and beautiful enough to amuse a little girl for some while.
But her hydrangea blossom is more interesting than all the rest put
together. She thinks to herself: "It is a flower; it must smell good?"
And she puts her nose to the pretty pink and blue ball; she sniffs, but
she cannot smell anything. She is not very good at scenting perfume; it
is only a short while since she always used to blow at a rose instead of
inhaling its odour. You must not laugh at her for that; one cannot learn
everything at once.
Besides, if she had as keen a sense of smell as her mother, she would be
no better off in this case. A hydrangea _has_ no scent; that is why
we get tired of it, for all its loveliness. But now Mademoiselle Marie
begins to think: "Perhaps it's made of sugar, this flower." Then she
opens her mouth very wide and is just going to lift the flower to her
lips.
But suddenly, _yap!_ goes her little dog. It is Toto, who comes bounding
over a geranium bed and comes to a stand right in front of Mademoiselle
Marie, with his ears cocked straight up, and stares hard at her out of
his sharp little round eyes.
THE PANDEAN PIPES
[Illustration: 182]
THREE children of the same village, Pierre, Jacques, and Jean, stand
staring, side by side in a row, where they look for all the world like
a mouth-organ or Pandean Pipes, only with three pipes instead of seven.
Pierre, to the left, is a tall lad; Jean, to the right, is a short
child; Jacques, who is betwixt the two, may call himself tall _or_
short, according as he looks at his left-hand or his right-hand
neighbour. It is a situation I would beg you to ponder, for it is
your own, and mine, and everybody else's. Each one of us is just like
Jacques, and deems himself great or small according as his neighbours'
inches are many or few.
That is the reason why it is true to say that Jacques is neither tall
nor short, and why it is also true to say he is tall _and_ he is short.
He is what God chooses him to be. For us, he is the middle reed of our
living Pandean Pipes.
But what is he doing, and what are his two comrades doing? They are
staring, staring hard, all three. What at? At something that has
disappeared in the distance, something that has vanished out of
sight; yet they can see it still, and their eyes are dazzled with its
splendours. It makes little Jean clean forget his eel-skin whiplash and
the peg-top he has always been so fond of keeping for ever spinning with
it in the dusty roads. Pierre and Jacques stand stolidly, their hands
behind their backs.
What is the wonderful sight that has bewildered all three? A pedlar's
cart, a handcart; they had seen it stop in the village street.
Then the pedlar drew back his oil-cloth covering, and all, men, women,
and children, feasted their eyes on knives, scissors, popguns, jumping
Jacks, wooden soldiers and lead soldiers, bottles of scent, cakes of
soap, coloured pictures, and a thousand other splendid objects. The
servant-wenches from the farm and the mill turned pale with longing;
Pierre and Jacques flushed red with delight. Little Jean put out his
tongue at it all. Everything the barrow held seemed to them rich and
rare. But what they coveted most of all were those mysterious articles
whose meaning and use they could make nothing of. For instance, there
were polished globes like mirrors that reflected their feces with the
features ludicrously distorted. There were Epinal wares with figures in
impossibly vivid colours; there were little cases and boxes with nobody
knows what inside.
The women made purchases of muslins and laces by the yard, and the
pedlar rolled the black oil-cloth cover back again over the treasures
of his barrow. Then, pulling at the collar, he hauled off his load after
him along the highroad. And now barrow and barrow-man have disappeared
below the horizon.
ROGER'S STUD
[Illustration: 190]
IT is a great anxiety keeping a stud. The horse is a delicate animal and
needs a lot of looking after. Just ask Roger if it does n't!
He is busy now grooming his noble chestnut, which would be the pearl of
wooden horses, the flower of the Black Forest stud-farms, if only he had
not lost half his tail in battle. Roger would so like to know whether
wooden horses' tails grow again.
After rubbing them down in fancy, Roger gives his horses an imaginary
feed of oats. That is the proper way to feed these elfin creatures of
wood on whose backs little boys gallop through the land of dreams.
Now Roger is off for his ride, mounted on his mettled charger. The poor
beast has no ears left and his mane is all notched like an old broken
comb; but Roger loves him. Why it would be hard to say! This bay was
the gift of a poor man; and the presents of the poor are somehow sweeter
perhaps than any others.
Roger is off. He has ridden far. The flowers of the carpet are the
blossoms of the tropical forest. Good luck to you, little Roger! May
your hobby-horse carry you happily through the world! May you never have
a more dangerous mount! Small and great, we all ride ours! Which of us
has not his hobby?
Men's hobbies gallop like mad things along the roads of life; one is
chasing glory, another pleasure; many leap over precipices and break
their rider's neck. I wish you luck, little Roger, and I hope, when
you are a man, you will bestride two hobbies that will always carry you
along the right road; one is spirited, the other gentle-tempered; they
are both noble steeds; one is called Courage and the other Kindness.
COURAGE
[Illustration: 192]
LOUISON and Frederic are off to school along the village street. The
sun shines gaily and the two children are singing. They sing like the
nightingale, because their hearts are light like his. They sing an old
song their grandmothers sang when they were little girls, a song their
children's children will sing one day; for songs are tender flowers that
never die, they fly from lip to lip down the ages. The lips fade and
fall silent one after the other, but the song lives on for ever. There
are songs come down to us from the days when the men were shepherds
and all the women shepherdesses. That is the reason why they speak of
nothing but sheep and wolves.
Louison and Frederic sing; their mouths are as round as a flower and the
song rises shrill and thin and clear in the morning air.
But listen! suddenly the notes stick in Frederic's throat.
What unseen power is it has strangled the music on the boy's lips? It is
fear. Every day, as sure as fate, he comes upon the butcher's dog at the
end of the village street, and every day his heart seems to stop and his
legs begin to shake at the sight. Yet the butcher's dog does not fly at
him, or even threaten to. He sits peaceably at his master's shop-door.
But he is black, and he has a staring bloodshot eye and shows a row of
sharp white teeth. He looks frightful. And then he squats there in the
middle of bits of meat and offal and all sorts of horrors--which makes
him more terrifying still. Of course it is n't his fault, but he is
the presiding genius. Yes, a savage brute, the butcher's dog! So, the
instant Frederic catches sight of the beast before the shop, he picks up
a big stone, as he sees grown-up men do to keep off bad-tempered curs,
and he slinks past close, close under the opposite wall.
That is how he behaved this time; and Louison laughed at him.
She did not make any of those daredevil speeches one generally caps with
others more reckless still. No, she never said a word; she never stopped
singing. But she altered her voice and began singing on such a mocking
note that Frederic reddened to his very ears. Then his little head began
to buzz with many thoughts. He learned that we must dread shame even
more than danger. And he was afraid of being afraid.
So, when school was over and he saw the butcher's dog, he marched
undauntedly past the astonished animal.
History adds that he kept a corner of his eye on Louison to see if
she was looking. It is a true saying that, if there were no dames nor
damsels in the world, men would be less courageous.
CATHERINE'S "AT HOME"
[Illustration: 195]
IT is five o'clock. Mademoiselle Catherine is "at home" to her dolls.
It is her "day." The dolls do not talk; the little Genie that gave them
their smile did not vouchsafe the gift of speech. He refused it for the
general good; if dolls could talk, we should hear nobody but them. Still
there is no lack of conversation. Mademoiselle Catherine talks for her
guests as well as for herself; she asks questions and gives the answers.
"How do you do?--Very well, thank you. I broke my arm yesterday
morning going to buy cakes. But it's quite well now.--Ah! so much the
better.--And how is your little girl?--She has the whooping-cough.--Ah!
what a pity! Does she cough much?--Oh! no, it 's a whooping-cough where
there's no cough. You know I had two more children last week.--Really?
that makes four doesn't it?--Four or five, I've forgotten which. When
you have so many, you get confused.--What a pretty frock you
have.--Oh! I 've got far prettier ones still at home.--Do you go to
the theatre?--Yes, every evening. I was at the Opera yesterday; but
Polichinelle wasn't playing, because the wolf had eaten him.--I go to
dances every day, my dear.--It is so amusing.--Yes, I wear a blue gown
and dance with the young men, Generals, Princes, Confectioners, all the
most distinguished people.--You look as pretty as an angel to-day, my
dear.--Oh! it's the spring.--Yes, but what a pity it's snowing.--_I_
love the snow, because it's white.--Oh! there's black snow, you
know.--Yes, but that's the bad snow." There's fine conversation for you;
Mademoiselle Catherine's tongue goes nineteen to the dozen. Still I have
one fault to find with her; she talks all the time to the same visitor,
who is pretty and wears a fine frock.
There she is wrong. A good hostess is equally gracious to all her
guests. She treats them all with affability, and if she shows any
particular preference, it is to the more retiring and the less
prosperous. We should flatter the unhappy; it is the only flattery
allowable. But Catherine has discovered this for herself. She has
guessed the secret of true politeness: a kind heart is everything. She
pours out tea for the company, and forgets nobody. On the contrary, she
presses the dolls that are poor and unhappy and shy to help themselves
to invisible cakes and sandwiches made of dominoes.
Some day Catherine will hold a salon where the old French courtesy will
live again.
LITTLE SEA-DOGS
[Illustration: 198]
THEY are sailor boys, regular little sea-dogs. Look at them; they have
their caps pulled down over their ears so that the gale blowing in from
the sea and bringing the spindrift with it may not deafen them with its
dreadful howling. They wear heavy woollen clothes to keep out the cold
and wet. Their patched pea-jacket and breeches have been their elders'
before them. Most of their garments have been contrived out of old
things of their father's. Their soul is likewise of the same stuff as
their father's; it is simple, brave, and long-suffering. At birth they
inherited a single-hearted, noble temper. Who and what gave it them?
After God and their parents, the Sea. The Sea teaches sailors courage by
teaching them to face danger. It is a rough but kindly instructor.
That is why our little sailor-boys, though their hearts are childlike
still, have the spirit of gallant veterans. Elbows on the parapet of the
sea-wall, they gaze out into the offing. It is more than the blue line
marking the faint division between sea and sky that they see. Their eyes
care little for the soft, changing colours of the ocean or the vast,
contorted masses of the clouds. What they see, as they look seawards,
is something more moving than the hue of the waves or the shape of the
clouds; it is a suggestion of human love. They are spying for the boats
that sailed away for the fishing; presently they will loom again on the
horizon, laden with shrimp to the gunwales, and bringing home uncles
and big brothers and fathers. The little fleet will soon appear yonder
betwixt the ocean and God's sky with its white or brown sails. To-day
the sky is unclouded, the sea calm; the flood tide floats the fishers
gently to the shore. But the Ocean is a capricious old fellow, who takes
all shapes and sings in many voices. To-day he laughs; to-morrow he will
be growling in the night under his beard of foam. He shipwrecks the most
handy boats, though they have been blessed by the Priest to the chanting
of the _Te Deum_; he drowns the most skilful master mariners, and it is
all his fault you see in the village, before the cottage doors where
the nets hang to dry beside the fish-creels, so many women wearing black
widow's weeds.
GETTING WELL
[Illustration: 201]
GERMAINE is ill. Nobody knows how it began. The arm which sows fever is
invisible like the dustman's hand, the old fellow who comes every night
and makes the little ones so sleepy. But Germaine was not ill very
long and she was not very bad, and now she is getting well again. This
getting well is even pleasanter than being quite well, which comes next.
In the same way hoping and wishing are better, very often, than anything
we wish for or hope for. Germaine lies in bed in her pretty, bright
room, and her dreams are as bright-coloured as her room.
She looks, a little languidly still, at her doll, which sleeps beside
her own bed. There are sympathies that go deep between little girls and
their dolls. Germaine's doll fell ill at the same time as her little
mamma, and now she is getting well with her. She will take her first
carriage outing sitting by Germaine's side.
She has seen the doctor too. Alfred came to feel the doll's pulse. He is
Doctor "As-bad-as-can-be." He talks of nothing but cutting off arms and
legs. But Germaine asked him so earnestly that he agreed to cure her
dolly without slashing it to pieces. But he prescribed the nastiest
medicines.
Illness has one advantage at any rate; it makes us know our friends.
Germaine is sure now she can count on Alfred's goodness; she is certain
Lucie is the best of sisters. All the nine days her illness lasted,
Lucie came to learn her lessons and do her sewing in the sick room. She
insists on bringing the little patient her herb-tea herself. And it is
not a bitter potion, such as Alfred ordered; no, it is balmy with the
scent of wild flowers.
When she smells its perfume, Germaine's thoughts fly to the flowery
mountain paths, the haunt of children and bees, where she played so
often last year. Alfred too remembers the beautiful ways, and the woods,
and the springs, and the mules that climbed up and up on the brink of
precipices with a sound of tinkling bells.
ACROSS THE MEADOWS
[Illustration: 204]
AFTER breakfast Catherine! started off to the meadows with her little
brother Jean. When they set out, the day seemed as young and fresh as
they were. The sky was not altogether blue; it was grey rather, but of a
tenderer grey than any blue. Catherine's eyes are just the same grey, as
if made out of a bit of morning sky.
Catherine and Jean wander all by themselves through the fields.
Their mother is a farmer's wife and is at work at home. They have no
nurse-maid to take them, and they don't need one. They know their way,
and all the woods and fields and hills. Catherine can tell the time by
looking at the sun, and she has guessed all sorts of pretty secrets of
Nature that town-bred children have no suspicion of. Little Jean himself
understands a great many things about the woods, the pools, and the
mountains, for his little soul is a country soul.
Catherine and Jean go roaming through the flowery meadows. As they go,
Catherine gathers a nosegay. She picks blue centauries, scarlet poppies,
cuckoo-flowers, and buttercups, which she also knows as _little chicks_.
She picks those pretty purple blossoms that grow in hedgerows and are
called Venus' looking-glasses. She picks the dark ears of the milkwort,
and crane's-bill and lily of the valley, whose tiny white bells shed
a delicious perfume at the least puff of wind. Catherine loves flowers
because they are beautiful; and she loves them too because they make
such pretty ornaments. She is very simply dressed, and her pretty hair
is hid under a brown linen cap. She wears a cotton check pinafore over
her plain frock, and goes in wooden shoes. She has never seen rich
dresses except on the Virgin Mary and the St. Catherine in the parish
church. But there are some things little girls know directly they are
born. Catherine knows that flowers are becoming to wear, and that pretty
ladies who pin nosegays in their bosoms look lovelier than ever. So she
has a notion she must be very fine indeed now, carrying a nosegay
bigger than her own head. Her thoughts are as bright and fragrant as her
flowers. They are thoughts that cannot be put into words; there are no
words pretty enough. It wants song tunes for that, the liveliest and
softest airs, the sweetest songs. So Catherine sings, as she gathers her
nosegay: "Away to the woods alone" and "My heart is for him, my heart is
for him."
Little Jean is of another temper. He follows another line of ideas. He
is a broth of a boy, he is; Jean is not breeched yet, but his spirit is
beyond his years and there's no more rollicking blade than he. While
he grips his sister's pinafore with one hand, for fear of tumbling,
he shakes his whip in the other like a sturdy lad. His father's head
stableman can hardly crack his any better when he meets his sweetheart,
bringing home the horses from watering at the river. Little Jean is
lulled by no soft reveries. He never heeds the field flowers. The
games he dreams of are stiff jobs of work. His thoughts dwell on wagons
stogged in the mire and big carthorses hauling at the collar at his
voice and under his lash.
Catherine and Jean have climbed above the meadows, up the hill, to a
high ground from which you can make out all the chimneys of the village
dotted among the trees and in the far distance the steeples of six
parishes. Then you see what a big place the world is. Then Catherine can
better understand the stories she has been taught,--the dove from the
Ark, the Israelites in the Promised Land, and Jesus going from city to
city.
"Let's sit down there," she says.
Down she sits, and, opening her hands, she sheds her flowery harvest
all over her. She is all fragrant with blossoms, and in a moment the
butterflies come fluttering round her. She picks and chooses and matches
her flowers; she weaves them into garlands and wreaths, and hangs
flower-bells in her ears; she is decked out now like the rustic image of
a Holy Virgin the shepherds venerate. Her little brother Jean, who has
been busy all this while driving a team of imaginary horses, sees her
in all this bravery. Instantly he is filled with admiration. A religious
awe penetrates all his childish soul. He stops, and the whip falls from
his fingers. He feels that she is beautiful and all smothered in lovely
flowers. He tries in vain to say all this in his soft, indistinct
speech. But she has guessed. Little Catherine is his big sister, and a
big sister is a little mother; she foresees, she guesses; she has the
sacred instinct.
"Yes, darling," cries Catherine, "I am going to make you a beautiful
wreath, and you will look like a little king."
And so she twines together the white flowers, the yellow flowers, and
the red flowers, into a chaplet. She puts it on little Jean's head, and
he flushes with pride and pleasure. She kisses her little brother, lifts
him in her arms and plants him, all garlanded with blossoms, on a big
stone. Then she looks at him admiringly, because he is beautiful and
_she_ has made him so.
And standing there on his rustic pedestal, little Jean knows he is
beautiful, and the thought fills him with a deep respect for himself. He
feels he is something holy. Very upright and still, with round eyes and
tight-drawn lips, arms by his side with the palms open and the fingers
parted like the spokes of a wheel, he tastes a pious joy to be an
idol--he is sure he is an idol now. The sky is overhead, the woods
and fields lie at his feet. He is the hub of the universe. He alone is
great, he alone is beautiful.
But suddenly Catherine breaks into a laugh. She shouts:
"Oh! how funny you look, little Jean! how funny you do look!"
She runs up and throws her arms round him, she kisses him and shakes
him; the heavy wreath of flowers slips down over his nose. And she
laughs again:
"Oh! how funny he looks! how very funny!"
But it is no laughing matter for little Jean. He is sad and sorry,
wondering why it is all over and he has left off being beautiful. It
hurts to come down to earth again!
Now the wreath is unwound and tossed on the grass, and little Jean is
like anybody else once more. Yes, he has left off being beautiful. But
he is still a sturdy young scamp. He soon has his whip in hand again and
now he is hauling his team of six, the six big carthorses of his dreams,
out of that rut. Catherine is still playing with her flowers. But some
of them are dying. Others are closing in sleep. For the flowers go to
sleep like the animals, and look! the campanulas, plucked a few hours
ago, are shutting their purple bells and sinking asleep in the little
hands that have parted them from life.
A light breeze blows by, and Catherine shivers. It is night coming.
"I am hungry," says little Jean.
But Catherine has not a bit of bread to give her little brother. She
says:
"Little brother, let 's go back to the house."
And they both think of the cabbage soup steaming in the pot that hangs
from the hook right under the great chimney. Catherine gathers her
flowers in her arm and taking her little brother by the hand, she leads
him homewards.
The sun sank slowly down to the ruddy West. The swallows swooped past
the two children, almost touching them with their wings, that hardly
seemed to move. It was getting dark. Catherine and Jean pressed closer
together.
Catherine dropped her flowers one after the other by the way. They could
hear, in the wide silence, the untiring chirp-chirp of the crickets.
They were afraid, both of them, and they were sad; the melancholy of
nightfall had entered into their little hearts. All round them was
familiar ground, but the things they knew the best looked strange and
uncanny. The earth seemed suddenly to have grown too big and too old for
them. They were tired, and they began to think they would never reach
the house, where mother was making the soup for all the family. Jean's
whip hung limp and still, and Catherine let the last of her flowers
slip from her tired fingers. She was dragging Jean along by the arm, and
neither said a word.
At last they saw a long way off the roof of their house and smoke rising
in the darkening sky. Then they stopped running, and clapping their
hands together, shouted for joy. Catherine kissed her little brother;
then they set off running again as fast as ever their weary legs would
carry them. When they reached the village, there were women coming back
from the fields who gave them good evening. They breathed again. Their
mother was on the door-step, in a white cap, soup-ladle in hand.
"Come along, little ones, come along!" she called to them. And they
threw themselves into her arms. When she reached the parlour where the
cabbage soup was smoking on the table, Catherine shivered again. She
had seen night come down over the earth. Jean, seated on the settle, his
chin on a level with the table, was already eating his soup.
THE MARCH PAST
[Illustration: 213]
RENE, Bernard, Roger, Jacques, and Etienne feel sure there is nothing
finer in the world than to be a soldier. Francine agrees with them
and she would love to be a boy to join the army. They think so because
soldiers wear fine uniforms, epaulettes and gold lace, and glittering
swords. There is yet another reason for putting the soldier in the front
rank of citizens--because he gives his life for his Country. There is no
true greatness in this world but that of sacrifice, and to offer one's
life is the greatest of all sacrifices, because it includes all others.
That is why the hearts of the crowd beat high when a regiment goes by.
Rene is the General. He wears a cocked hat and rides a war-horse. The
hat is made of paper and the horse is a chair. His army consists of a
drummer and four men--of whom one is a girl! "Shoulder arms! Forward,
march!" and the march past begins. Francine and Roger look quite
imposing under arms. True, Jacques does not hold his gun very valiantly.
He is a melancholy lad. But we must not blame him for that; dreamers
can be just as brave as those who never dream at all. His little
brother Etienne, the tiniest mite in the regiment, looks pensive. He is
ambitious; he would like to be a general officer right away, and that
makes him sad.
"Forward! forward!" Rene shouts the order. "We are to fall on the
Chinese, who are in the dining-room." The Chinese are chairs. When you
play at fighting, chairs make first-rate Chinese. They fall--and what
better can the Chinese do? When all the chairs are feet in air, Rene
announces: "Soldiers, now we have beaten the Chinese, we will have our
rations." The idea is well received on all hands. Yes, soldiers
must eat. This time the Commissariat has furnished the best of
victuals--buns, maids of honour, coffee cakes and chocolate cakes,
red-currant syrup. The army falls to with a will. Only Etienne will eat
nothing. He frowns and looks enviously at the sword and cocked hat which
the General has left on a chair. He creeps up, snatches them, and slips
into the next room. There he stands alone before the glass; he puts on
the cocked hat and waves the sword; he is a general, a general
without an army, a general all to himself. He tastes the pleasures of
ambition--pleasures full of vague forecastings and long, long hopes.
DEAD LEAVES
[Illustration: 216]
AUTUMN is here. The wind blowing through the woods whirls about the dead
leaves. The chestnuts are stripped bare already and lift their black
skeleton arms in the air. And now the beeches and hornbeams are shedding
_their_ leaves. The birches and aspens are turned to trees of gold, and
only the great oak keeps his coronal of green.
The morning is fresh; a keen wind is chasing the clouds across a grey
sky and reddening the youngsters' fingers. Pierre, Babet, and Jeannot
are off to collect the dead leaves, the leaves that once, when they were
still alive, were full of dew and songs of birds, and which now strew
the ground in thousands and thousands with their little shrivelled
corpses. They are dead, but they smell good. They will make a fine
litter for Riquette, the goat, and Roussette, the cow. Pierre has taken
his big basket; he is quite a little man. Babet has her sack; she is
quite a little woman. Jeannot comes last trundling the wheelbarrow.
Down the hill they go at a run. At the edge of the wood they find the
other village children, who are come too to lay in a store of dead
leaves for the winter. It is not play, this; it is work.
But never think the children are sad, because they are at work. Work is
serious, yes; it is not sad. Very often the little ones mimic it in fun,
and children's games, most times, are copies of their elders' workaday
doings.
Now they are hard at it. The boys do their part in silence. They are
peasant lads, and will soon be men, and peasants do not talk much. But
it is different with the little peasant girls; _their_ tongues go at a
fine pace, as they fill the baskets and bags.
But now the sun is climbing higher and warming the country pleasantly.
From the cottage roofs rise light puffs of smoke. The children know what
that means. The smoke tells them the pease-soup is cooking in the pot.
One more armful of dead leaves, and the little workers will take the
road home. It is a stiff climb. Bending under sacks or toiling behind
barrows, they soon get hot, and the sweat comes out in beads. Pierre,
Babet and Jeannot stop to take breath.
But the thought of the pease-soup keeps up their courage. Puffing and
blowing, they reach home at last. Their mother is waiting for them on
the door-step and calls out: "Come along, children, the soup is ready."
Our little friends find this capital. There's no soup so good as what
you have worked for.
SUZANNE
[Illustration: 219]
THE Louvre, as you know, is a museum where beautiful things and ancient
things are kept safe--and this is wisely done, for old age and beauty
are both alike venerable. Among the most touching of the antiquities
treasured in the Louvre Museum is a fragment of marble, worn and cracked
in many places, but on which can still be clearly made out two maidens
holding each a flower in her hand. Both are beautiful figures; they were
young when Greece was young. They say it was the age of perfect beauty.
The sculptor who has left us their image represents them in profile,
offering each other one of those lotus flowers that were deemed sacred.
In the blue cups of their blossoms the world quaffed oblivion of the
ills of life. Our men of learning have given much thought to these two
maidens. They have turned over many books to find out about them, big
books, bound some in parchment, others in vellum, and many in pig-skin;
but they have never fathomed the reason why the two beautiful maidens
hold up a flower in their hands.
What they could not discover after so much labour and thought, so
many arduous days and sleepless nights, Mademoiselle Suzanne knew in a
moment.
Her papa had taken her to the Louvre, where he had business.
Mademoiselle Suzanne looked wonderingly at the antiques, and seeing gods
with missing arms and legs and heads, she said to herself: "Ah! yes,
these are the grown-up gentlemen's dolls; I see now gentlemen break
their dollies the same as little girls do." But when she came to the two
maidens who, each of them, hold a flower, she threw them a kiss, because
they looked so charming. Then her father asked her: "Why do they give
each other a flower?" And Suzanne answered at once: "To wish each other
a happy birthday." Then, after thinking a moment, she added:
"They have the same birthday; they are both alike and they are offering
each other the same flower. Girl friends should always have the same
birthday."
Now Suzanne is far away from the Louvre and the old Greek marbles; she
is in the kingdom of the birds and the flowers. She is spending the
bright spring days in the meadows under shelter of the woods. She plays
in the grass, and that is the sweetest sort of play. She remembers
to-day is her little friend Jacqueline's birthday; and so she is going
to pick flowers which she will give Jacqueline, and kiss her.
FISHING
[Illustration: 222]
JEAN set out betimes in the morning with his sister Jeanne, a
fishing-pole over his shoulder and a basket on his arm. It is holiday
time and the school is shut; that is why Jean goes off every day with
his sister Jeanne, a rod over his shoulder and a basket on his arm,
along the river bank. Jean is a Tourainer, and Jeanne a lass of
Touraine. The river is Tourainer too. It runs crystal-clear between
silvery sallows under a moist, mild sky. Morning and evening white mists
trail over the grass of the water-meadows.' But Jean and Jeanne love the
river neither for the greenery of its banks nor its clear waters that
mirror the heavens. They love it for the fish in it. They stop presently
at the most likely place, and Jeanne sits down under a pollard
willow. Laying down his baskets, Jean unwinds his tackle. This is very
primitive--a switch, with a piece of thread and a bent pin at the end
of it. Jean supplied the rod, Jeanne gave the line and the hook; so the
tackle is the common property of brother and sister. Both want it all
to themselves, and this simple contrivance, only meant to do mischief to
the fishes, becomes the cause of domestic broils and a rain of blows by
the peaceful riverside. Brother and sister fight for the free use of
the rod and line. Jean's arm is black and blue with pinches and Jeanne's
cheek scarlet from her brother's slaps. At last, when they were tired of
pinching and hitting, Jean and Jeanne consented to share amicably what
neither could appropriate by force. They agreed that the rod should pass
alternately from the brother's hands to the sister's after each fish
they caught.
Jean begins. But there's no knowing when he will end. He does not break
the treaty openly, but he shirks its consequences by a mean trick.
Rather than have to hand over the tackle to his sister, he refuses to
catch the fish that come, when they nibble the bait and set his float
bobbing.
Jean is artful; Jeanne is patient. She has been waiting six hours. But
at last she seems tired of doing nothing. She yawns, stretches, lies
down in the shade of the willow, and shuts her eyes. Jean spies her out
of one corner of his, and he thinks she is asleep. The float dives.
He whips out the line, at the end of which gleams a flash of silver. A
gudgeon has taken the pin.
"Ah! it's my turn now," cries a voice behind him.
And Jeanne snatches the rod.
THE PENALTIES OF GREATNESS
[Illustration: 225]
IT was to go and see their friend Jean that Roger, Marcel, Bernard,
Jacques, and Etienne set out along the broad highroad that winds like a
handsome yellow riband through the fields and meadows. Now they are off.
They start all abreast; it is the best way. Only there is one defect in
the arrangement this time; Etienne is too little to keep up.
He tries hard and puts his best foot foremost. His short legs stretch
their widest. He swings his arms into the bargain. But he is too little;
he cannot go as fast as his companions. He falls behind because he is
too small; it is no use.
The big boys, who are older, should surely wait for him, you say, and
suit their pace to his. So they should, but they don't. Forward! cry the
strong ones of this world, and they leave the weaklings in the lurch.
But hear the end of the story. All of a sudden our four tall, strong,
sturdy friends see something jumping on the ground. It jumps because
it is a frog, and it wants to reach the meadow along the roadside. The
meadow is froggy's home, and he loves it; he has his residence there
beside a brook. He jumps, and jumps.
He is a green frog, and he looks like a leaf that is alive. Now the lads
are in the meadow; very soon they feel their feet sinking in the soft
ground where the rank grass grows. A few steps more, and they are up to
their knees in mud. The grass hid a swamp underneath.
They just manage to struggle out. Shoes, socks, calves are all as black
as ink. The fairy of the green field has put gaiters of mire on the four
bad boys.
Etienne comes up panting for breath. He hardly knows, when he sees them
in this pickle, if he should be glad or sorry. His simple little heart
is filled with a sense of the catastrophes that befall the great and
strong. As for the four muddy urchins, they turn back piteously the way
they came, for how can they, I should like to know, how can they go and
see their friend Jean with their shoes and stockings in this state? When
they get home again, their mothers will know how naughty they have been
by the evidence of their legs, while little Etienne's innocence will be
legible on his sturdy little stumps.
A CHILD'S DINNER PARTY
[Illustration: 228]
WHAT fun it is playing at dinner parties! You can have a very plain
dinner or a very elaborate one, just as you like. You can manage it with
nothing at all. Only you have to pretend a great deal then.
Therese and her little sister Pauline have asked Pierre and Marthe to
a dinner in the country. Proper invitations have been issued, and they
have been talking about it for days. Mamma has given her two little
girls good advice--and good things to eat, too. There will be nougat
and sweet cakes, and a chocolate cream. The table will be laid in the
arbour.
"If only it will be fine!" cries Therese, who is nine now. At her age
one knows the fondest hopes are often disappointed in this world and you
cannot always do what you propose. But little Pauline has none of these
worries. She cannot think it will be wet. It will be fine, because she
wants it to.
And lo! the great day has broken clear and sunny. Not a cloud in the
sky. The two guests have come. How fortunate! For this was another
subject of anxiety for Therese. Marthe had caught a cold, and perhaps
she would not be better in time. As for little Pierre, everybody knows
he always misses the train. You cannot blame him for it. It is
his misfortune, not his fault. His mother is unpunctual by nature.
Everywhere and always little Pierre arrives after everybody else; he has
never in his life seen the beginning of anything. This has given him a
dull, resigned look.
The dinner is served; ladies and gentlemen, take your places! Therese
presides. She is thoughtful and serious; the housewifely instinct is
awaking in her bosom. Pierre carves valiantly. Nose in the dish and
elbows above his head, he struggles to divide the leg of a chicken. Why,
his feet even take their part in the tremendous effort. Mademoiselle
Marthe eats elegantly, without any ado or any noise, just like a
grown-up lady. Pauline is not so particular; she eats how she can and as
much as she can.
Therese, now serving her guests, now one of them herself, is content;
and contentment is better than joy. The little dog Gyp has come to eat
up the scraps, and Therese thinks, as she watches him crunching the
bones, that dogs know nothing of all the dainty ways that make grown-up
dinners, and children's too, so refined and delightful.
End of Project Gutenberg's Child Life In Town And Country, by Anatole France
*** |
Q:
Apply a function on each column of DataFrame filled with lists
Got a DataFrame, filled with different types: string, int, list
I'm now trying to convert every element of each column, that contains a list which isn't longer than one element, to string. I am very well aware of the method apply in connection with a lambda function, yet I don't seem to fully grasp it... Data has been imported from json file with json.load(XXX) and split into different DataFrames also using json_normalize.
DataFrame "infos":
name town link number
Bob NY ["https://www.bobsite.com"] 00184747328859
Alice MI ["https://www.alicesite.com"] 00198309458093
Python code:
infos = infos.apply(lambda x: x[0])
# or if just accessing one column
infos = infos.link.apply(lambda x: x[0])
In general doesn't seem the right way to handle this.
Would expect this to be the new DataFrame:
DataFrame "infos":
name town link number
Bob NY https://www.bobsite.com 00184747328859
Alice MI https://www.alicesite.com 00198309458093
A:
Looks like you need df.applymap with a custom finction.
Ex:
df = pd.DataFrame({'name':["Bob", "Alice"],
'town': ["NY", "MI"],
'link': [["https://www.bobsite.com"], ["https://www.alicesite.com"]],
'number': ["00184747328859", "00198309458093"]})
def cust_func(row):
if isinstance(row, list): #Check if object is list
if len(row) == 1: #Check if list size == 1
return row[0]
return row
df = df.applymap(cust_func)
print(df)
Output:
link name number town
0 https://www.bobsite.com Bob 00184747328859 NY
1 https://www.alicesite.com Alice 00198309458093 MI
If it is just one columns and it has only one value in list use .str[0]
df = pd.DataFrame({'name':["Bob", "Alice"],
'town': ["NY", "MI"],
'link': [["https://www.bobsite.com"], ["https://www.alicesite.com"]],
'number': ["00184747328859", "00198309458093"]})
df["link"] = df["link"].str[0]
print(df)
|
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Wednesday the civil service appeals process prevents the agency from firing “terrible managers,” and that the Senate must act to reduce the impact of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and excessive government employee union-backed due process requirements.
“Just last week we were forced to take back an employee after they were convicted no more than three times for DWI and had served a 60 day jail sentence … Our accountability processes are clearly broken,” Shulkin said at the White House.
Shulkin was promoted to VA’s top job by President Donald Trump after being appointed by former President Barack Obama as undersecretary. Those positions have given Shulkin direct experience with the extent to which union-backed rules block the firings of poor performing employees.
“We had to wait more than a month to fire a psychiatrist who was caught on camera watching pornography on his iPad while seeing a patient,” he said. “Because of the way judges review these cases they can force us to take terrible managers back who were fired for poor performance, we recently saw that with one of our executives in San Juan.”
Shulkin was referring to DeWayne Hamlin, a corrupt hospital director and whistleblower retaliator, who was fired Jan. 20 but was then quietly returned to work, as the The Daily Caller News Foundation reported exclusively Monday.
“We need new accountability legislation and we need that now,” Shulkin said. “The House has passed this and we’re looking forward to the Senate considering this.”
The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs reported the “VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 earlier this week for a vote by the full chamber. The measure is co-sponsored by senators Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, and Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat.
“We currently have 1,500 disciplinary actions pending, people that either need to be fired, demoted, suspended without paid for violating our core values,” Shulkin said.
“The expedited senior executive removal authority given to us in the Choice Act isn’t working, we weren’t able to use that because of constitutionality issues.”
“The accountability bill we are seeking that we hope the Senate authorizes still maintains due process for employees but shortens to the time and gives more authority to the secretary’s decision on why these accountability actions are being taken so the courts will be more deferential to the secretary’s opinion.”
In addition to the Hamlin controversy, a federal appeals court ruled that the VA may not even be able to fire Sharon Helman, who is a convicted felon for her misconduct as the head of the Phoenix VA, where dozens died waiting for care as managers reported false data on wait-times in order to get bonuses.
Helman is represented by the law firm of Shaw, Bransford & Roth (Roth), which makes its living trying to block employees of all levels from being fired. Employees are encouraged to appeal any discipline, however well-deserved, because a former Roth lawyer created an insurance company that pays for fired employees to hire Roth.
The premiums on that insurance plan are billed to taxpayers, thanks to a law pushed by the firm’s lobbyists.
Concerned Veterans of America Policy Director Dan Caldwell also encouraged the Senate to approve the accountability measure, saying Shulkin “is working to move the VA in a better direction, but the problems will not be solved until Congress takes action. They should also remember that the VA’s problems are not due to a lack of resources.”
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Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected]. |
Nelly Ben Hayoun on colonising Mars at Design Indaba 2017
26th July 2017, Cape Town, South Africa
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Earlier this year, at Design Indaba Conference 2017 in Cape Town, Nelly gave a thrilling presentation about The Life, the Sea and the Space Viking, a project that hopes to engage the public with a fundamental question: can what we learn from Earth teach us how to colonise another planet?.
You can now watch Nelly’s talk here and see how Nelly brought Antarctica to South Africa!
Design Indaba also published a short article which talks about the highlights of Nelly’s presentation.
Mars has for a long time been touted as humankind’s next evolutionary step. But there are a couple of things holding us back. To overcome one of the challenges, humankind’s inability to breathe on the red planet, experience designer Nelly Ben Hayoun took a trip into the bowels of the Earth, a platinum mine in South Africa. There, she demonstrated where scientists had discovered one of the most hardcore organisms in our history: the worm from hell.
Her expedition formed part of her Design Talk at the Design Indaba Conference 2017. In it, she introduced the audience to The Life, the Sea and the Space Viking, a project that hopes to encourage members of the public to engage with a fundamental question: can what we learn from Earth teach us how to colonise another planet?
Tullis Onstott, professor of geosciences at Princeton University, talked about his expedition to Antarctica which uncovered stromatolites, the earliest photosynthesizers on Earth. Onstott also talked about finding life in the mine shafts of South Africa, the last place we’d think to look. These organisms and others like them, called extremophiles, changed the course of evolution on Earth, forming the building blocks of life as we know it today.
In particular, Onstott’s research points to a species nicknamed “the worm from hell”. Found in 2011 living in several mines, the worms shattered scientific assumptions about the conditions needed for multicellular life.
“What we’ve discovered in South Africa is what you’d anticipate discovering if you were able to go beneath the surface of Mars,” explains Onstott.
For NASA’s planetary scientist Chris Mckay, the question is whether we should populate other planets with microorganisms such as the worm from hell before we even go. “The big idea to consider is the possibility of making Mars a planet that has life. Sometimes it’s called terraforming,” he explains.
And as we change the surface of Mars, we could learn how to maintain life on Earth, a planet currently battling climate change.
“The connection to Earth, of course, is that if we study Mars and study what is required to restore it to full biology and to maintain it that way, hopefully, we’ll learn important lessons about how to maintain full biology on Earth,” adds McKay. |
**Responsible Editor** Nawi Ng, Umeå University, Sweden
Background {#S0001}
==========
National health inequality monitoring aims to provide the evidence for policies, programmes and practices that tackle health inequities. It shows how various subgroups within a country are performing with regard to health, and permits comparisons between subgroups; further, it demonstrates how a country is progressing towards its equity goals and targets, and whether pathways towards universal health coverage exacerbate or reduce inequalities. While global monitoring of inequalities between countries based on national averages is an important endeavour (and traditionally, the predominant form of global monitoring), this article focuses on health inequality monitoring systems within countries, acknowledging that global comparisons of within-country inequalities enables benchmarking and more nuanced analyses.
Inputs from health inequality monitoring are a critical component of health situation analyses, required to inform priority setting \[[1](#CIT0001)\]. By fully integrating health inequality monitoring into national health information systems, countries can produce regular data on all disadvantaged populations for all relevant indicators \[[1](#CIT0001),[2](#CIT0002)\]. These data then can be used to design and deliver population health interventions that are responsive to greater needs in certain subgroups, where appropriate. In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, health inequality monitoring is gaining attention as a political priority, alongside advances in the theoretical and technical underpinnings of monitoring (see Box 1. Monitoring health inequalities in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals).Box 1.Monitoring health inequalities in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals.The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides major impetus for establishing and/or strengthening health inequality monitoring systems \[[3](#CIT0003)\]. Leaving no one behind is a central theme of the declaration, which was signed by all United Nations Member States. Reducing inequality within and among countries is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (SDG 10) and is central to other goals such as ending poverty (SDG 1), ending hunger (SDG 2), ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education (SDG 4) and achieving gender equality (SDG 5) \[[4](#CIT0004)\]. The health-related goal (SDG 3) calls upon countries to 'ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages', with universal health coverage as the target that underpins all other health and health-related targets (SDG target 3.8) \[[5](#CIT0005)\]. Health inequality monitoring is vital for tracking progress towards universal health coverage to ensure that disadvantaged populations achieve accelerated gains alongside overall improvement in the broader population, thus narrowing coverage gaps \[[6](#CIT0006),[7](#CIT0007)\]. It is also important for countries to track progress towards national goals or global goals (if considered relevant in the national context). Global monitoring of SDGs with an equity lens is currently underway \[[8](#CIT0008),[9](#CIT0009)\].
What does national health inequality monitoring entail? {#S0002}
=======================================================
Health inequality monitoring tracks the observed differences in health between population subgroups. It consists of data collection, analysis, interpretation and communication. The process of health inequality monitoring, detailed in [Figure 1](#F0001), begins with the selection of relevant health indicators and inequality dimensions, followed by obtaining data, analysing data, reporting results and implementing changes based on these results. The process then repeats itself, as new changes (e.g. to programmes, policies and practices) necessitate ongoing monitoring \[[10](#CIT0010)\]. Technical information and considerations pertaining to the steps of health inequality monitoring have been published previously \[[11](#CIT0011)\]. National health inequality monitoring systems should strive to cover diverse health topics and multiple components of the health sector \[[11](#CIT0011)--[13](#CIT0013)\].Figure 1.Health inequality monitoring flowchart.Source: National health inequality monitoring: a step-by-step manual \[[11](#CIT0011)\].
The requirements of national health inequality monitoring systems include: high-quality, relevant data about a range of health indicators and dimensions of inequality; technical knowledge and resources to perform analyses; and capacity to interpret results, communicate them effectively, and advocate for/implement change, as needed \[[11](#CIT0011)\]. To meet these requirements, national health inequality monitoring systems must be supported politically, financially and by adequate human resources. With sufficient investment and commitment, national health inequality monitoring systems can be established and strengthened progressively, incrementally improving upon the range and quality of data, as well as building technical capacities as an integral part of country health information systems \[[2](#CIT0002),[10](#CIT0010)\].
Key challenges {#S0003}
==============
There is scope for improvement in health inequality monitoring in virtually all countries. High-income countries often have sophisticated health information systems, but their capacity for monitoring health inequality varies. For example, Campos-Matos et al. point to a 'real or perceived lack of evidence on health inequalities' in Portugal as a barrier to taking policy action to address health inequalities \[[14](#CIT0014)\]. The UK has regular and systematic reporting of national health inequality monitoring, whereas the USA does not \[[15](#CIT0015)\]. Low- and middle-income countries often do not have sufficient integration of health inequality monitoring into their health information systems; some middle-income countries, however, have institutionalized regular health inequality monitoring in some health topics. Mexico, for instance, has institutionalized monitoring systems -- which capture health inequality monitoring -- that are linked to public policies that target the poor \[[16](#CIT0016)\]. Brazil collects municipality-level data and conducts household surveys, which enable extensive national health inequality monitoring \[[17](#CIT0017),[18](#CIT0018)\].
A first set of challenges is related to data collection \[[10](#CIT0010),[19](#CIT0019)\]. Countries may lack strong data collection practices (that is, data availability and quality may be poor), and/or data collection may not be equity-oriented (that is, data cannot be disaggregated by dimensions of inequality). For many countries, the situation may be mixed: high-quality data sources that are equity-oriented may exist for a limited number of health topics, but be lacking for other health topics \[[8](#CIT0008),[20](#CIT0020)\].
Population-based health surveys -- generally conducted at the household level -- can be powerful instruments for health inequality monitoring, given that they typically collect data about multiple aspects of health and for diverse dimensions of inequality. In many countries they are the predominant data source for health inequality monitoring, especially on coverage of health interventions and risk factors. Certain challenges arise, however, when relying on population-based surveys for health inequality monitoring. Surveys do not cover certain important health topics such as noncommunicable diseases. Many countries conduct surveys infrequently, resulting in major gaps. Population surveys may not include certain population subgroups, such as small minorities, special populations (e.g. prisoners) or individuals that are hard to identify (e.g. injection-drug users). Special, targeted data collection efforts may be required.
Routine reports from health facility can also be an important source of information, especially if there are reliable estimates of the size of the target population. The most important application is the analysis of inequalities between geographic and administrative areas. Countries with paper-based data collection practices generally have fewer possibilities for health inequality monitoring than those with electronic systems, as the collection and analysis of disaggregated data is limited in paper-based systems.
A second set of challenges relates to the analysis stage of national health inequality monitoring. Navigating the technical complexities of health inequality monitoring requires expertise and dedicated training \[[21](#CIT0021)\]. In some cases, technical knowledge within the country may be lacking within Ministries of Health and in statistical or research institutions. In other instances, those with advanced technical knowledge for measuring health inequalities (e.g. in universities or technical institutions) do not have access to all the data or resources to conduct health inequality monitoring at a national level.
Third, countries may lack capacity to effectively report and communicate the results of national health inequality monitoring. Effective communication to different target audiences requires a specialized set of skills that are distinct from the technical skills needed to do data collection or analysis \[[8](#CIT0008),[20](#CIT0020),[22](#CIT0022)\]. Further, without investment in developing context appropriate reporting channels -- such as printed reports, online portals, databases and others -- the results of monitoring may not reach the target audience.
A final set of challenges relates to implementing the results of national health inequality monitoring. Countries may lack the planning and coordination across levels and sectors of governance to successfully tackle the root causes of health inequalities \[[23](#CIT0023)\]. In some settings, other barriers to implementing change may also be at play, such as: a lack of political will or incentives; absence of a legal framework to mandate action; paucity of an evidence-basis for how to address inequalities; and covert ideologies that are discriminatory towards vulnerable populations.
Opportunities and key initiatives {#S0004}
=================================
Since health inequalities occur everywhere, all countries stand to benefit from strengthening health inequality monitoring systems. Overcoming the challenges requires robust systems and infrastructure that are run by strong national institutions. It also requires dedicated efforts to build and maintain the knowledge, technical skills and capacity to conduct monitoring, and may require systemic changes to institutions and legal frameworks. For some countries, developing these resources may be a long-term and incremental endeavour, while for others, existing resources may be strengthened and fine-tuned.
National health information systems are based on multiple data sources including civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS), censuses, population-based surveys, routine facility information, public health/disease surveillance, administrative data, and non-health sector information \[[1](#CIT0001),[10](#CIT0010)\]. All data sources should include relevant dimensions of inequality, so that disaggregation is possible. Where applicable, the health data should be able to be linked to other types of data through common individual identifiers; linking of health data and dimension of inequality is also possible at the aggregate level, such as for small geographic areas. The use of area-based units confers practical advantages related to understanding the results of health inequality monitoring and implementing equity-oriented changes \[[24](#CIT0024)\].
A number of resources and initiatives support countries in developing and scaling up national data collection infrastructure. For instance, the Global Financing Facility supports strengthening CRVS in low- and middle-income countries \[[25](#CIT0025)\], in line with national priorities and strategic plans developed by the World Bank Group and the WHO \[[26](#CIT0026)\]. In countries where health information systems lack data sources for health inequality monitoring, population-based health surveys are a common source of data. Operating across many countries, initiatives such as the USAID-funded Demographic and Health Surveys and UNICEF-funded Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) are nationally representative surveys that consist of modules focusing on specific health topics \[[27](#CIT0027)--[29](#CIT0029)\].
Several international initiatives and organizations offer support in building capacity for data analysis. For instance, the Countdown to 2030 initiative (previously Countdown to 2015) collaborates with regional and country institutions to promote better measurement and monitoring in topics related to reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health. Countdown focuses on strengthening regional and country capacity for evidence generation and use, including forging collaborations to foster country-based analysis and reporting on progress on aspects of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development \[[30](#CIT0030)\]. The WHO has provided capacity building workshops at national and regional levels, teaching participants to perform and interpret health inequality analyses, and providing opportunities for networking among participants. In addition, a training of trainers component prepares participants to teach these skills in subsequent workshops \[[31](#CIT0031)\]. As part of its MICS programme, UNICEF supports countries in improving their capacity in data analysis, dissemination and use through regional workshops and in-country technical assistance \[[32](#CIT0032)\]. The Health Data Collaborative, a multi-partner platform to strengthen country health information systems, has established a working group to develop core set of tools and methods to enhance the analysis of health data \[[33](#CIT0033)\].
Communication and reporting about health inequalities should be done regularly, and the results of health inequality monitoring should be integrated into key Ministry of Health reports, such as health sector progress and performance reports, and annual health statistical reports. Through the WHO, tools are available to assist with health inequality analysis and reporting. Statistical codes in R, Stata, SAS and SPSS facilitate the calculation of disaggregated estimates from household survey data \[[34](#CIT0034)\]. The Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT) software package facilitates the calculation of summary measures of inequality, drawing from an existing database of disaggregated data; HEAT Plus, the upload-database edition of the software, additionally allows users to import their own database. Additionally, HEAT and HEAT Plus have the capability to present data in an interactive way and generate tables and graphs that can be downloaded for reporting purposes \[[35](#CIT0035)\].
Determining how to effectively implement changes based on the results of health inequality monitoring is a growing area of interest in research and practice. One strategic entry point is through national health plans, which detail how a country allocates its budget for health, and guide programme planning and implementation \[[36](#CIT0036)\]. The WHO has published an eight-step approach (the *Innov8 approach*), which helps countries to systematically and comprehensively orient the delivery and design of national health programmes for the reduction of health inequalities. This approach draws on the strengths of multidisciplinary teams, exploring the underlying causes of inequities and encouraging sustainable change through improved governance and accountability \[[23](#CIT0023)\]. Advocacy efforts, which draw on a diversity of actors from civil society, research and policy environments, also play a role in bringing about action on health inequalities \[[37](#CIT0037)\].
Conclusion {#S0005}
==========
Establishing and strengthening national health inequality monitoring systems is an essential investment as countries move forward to ensure that policies, programmes and practices are equity-oriented and effective. Countries, however, face common types of bottlenecks that restrict the extent to which health inequality monitoring can be done, and impede the ability to implement changes. These barriers emerge from limitations associated with health information systems, but also from political, financial, social and cultural influences. Key opportunities that countries should move forward on include: building robust data collection infrastructure, supported by national institutions; building knowledge and technical capacity for equity analysis and communication; and determining effective ways to use the results of health inequality monitoring for better resource allocation and programme implementation, including identifying and addressing barriers to action.
None.
AH conceptualized the paper, and NB wrote the first draft of the manuscript. AH, AS and TB revised the manuscript critically, and provided edits and comments. All co-authors meet the ICMJE criteria for authorship and have read and approved the final manuscript.
Disclosure statement {#S0006}
====================
The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this publication, and they do not necessarily represent the views, decisions or policies of the World Health Organization.
Ethics and consent {#S0007}
==================
Not applicable.
Paper context {#S0008}
=============
Integrating health inequality monitoring into national health information systems is paramount to ensure that health policies and programmes are equity-oriented (i.e. achieve early and accelerated improvement in disadvantaged populations). This paper characterizes four common types of challenges that countries face related to data collection, analysis, communication/reporting and implementing results, and identifies strategies and resources for advancement. Strategic investments to overcome challenges can help to strengthen and expand health inequality monitoring opportunities.
|
Main menu
News: PS3, the new Saturn
Lest we forget our history, my GDmag coworker Jeff reminded me that almost everything Kaz Hirai is saying about the PS3 was previously said about the Saturn. Take note of the quote I linked below. Now read this statement from the aforelinked Saturn whitepaper: “This growth won’t be possible on competing systems that offer a simpler architecture. It may be easier in some ways for developers to create programs for the competition because there’s less to learn and work with from a technology standpoint — but that means that developers are much more likely to run up against the limits of the system in a short span of time. The simpler structure of competing architectures also increases the chance that games will be “ported” from other systems (other game systems or even personal computers), which results in games that are generic and not optimized for performance and special features.
In contrast, the sophistication of the Sega Saturn pays off for both developers and consumers alike over the long term. Developers will continue to discover new ways to wield their creative talents, and game players will have an ongoing supply of new, inventive, out-there, beyond-cool titles for their Sega Saturn systems. “
That kind of logic is destined for failure. At the same time the Saturn is one of my favorite systems ever. Does this mean the PS3 will eventually be one of my favorite systems? The industry has changed enough that developers no long really “choose” a console, but rather develop somewhat agnostically and port as they can. The current climate does not seem conducive to the kind of quirky hardware differentiation of times past. So with that in mind, Sony had better learn from the past, or the ghost of Sega will come and have its revenge! |
Q:
Does Object.keys(anObject) return anObject's prototype?
I'm reading Eloquent JavaScript's Map section and I'm having trouble understanding its last paragraph:
If you do have a plain object that you need to treat as a map for some reason, it is useful to know that Object.keys returns only an object’s own keys, not those in the prototype. As an alternative to the in operator, you can use the hasOwnProperty method, which ignores the object’s prototype.
I then assume that Object.keys does not return the properties and methods an object gets from the inheritance of its prototype. So I tried the following:
var anObject = {};
console.log(Object.keys(anObject)); //Array []
console.log("toString" in Object.keys(anObject)); //true
console.log(anObject.hasOwnProperty("toString")); //false
Apparently, toString is in the array returned by Object.keys(anObject), but an empty array is returned when I logged its keys? Did I understand the passage wrongly?
A:
You understood the passage correctly, the usage of in here is wrong though.
It returns true, since the Array that Object.keys(anObject) returns has a property called toString in it's prototype. in also checks the prototype, while hasOwnProperty only checks the properties an Object actually has.
But it doesn't have an own property with the name toString
let anObject = {};
let keys = Object.keys(anObject);
console.log("toString" in keys); //true
console.log(keys.hasOwnProperty("toString")); //false
A:
Object.keys(anObject) returns an array, and toString is a valid method on arrays.
Since in checks for a property in the object, and in its prototype chain, the expression "toString" in Object.keys(anObject) returns true.
But this doesn't mean that toString is an owned property of anObject. That's why anObject.hasOwnProperty("toString") returns false.
|
Q:
Invisible FrameLayout
I have a problem with Invisible Frame layout
public void Viditelnost(Integer ktore){
ImageButton Down = (ImageButton)findViewById(R.id.stDown);
ImageButton Up = (ImageButton)findViewById(R.id.stuUP);
TextView SetTo = (TextView)findViewById(R.id.setto);
LinearLayout stlp = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.bocnystlp);
if (ktore==0) {
Down.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
Up.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
SetTo.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
stlp.setVisibility(View.INVISIBLE);
} else {
Down.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
Up.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
}
<LinearLayout
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_gravity="center_vertical|right"
android:baselineAligned="false"
android:id="@+id/bocnystlp"
android:layout_weight="1.1"
android:padding="2dp">
If I start Method Viditelnost My program crashed, but I don't know why.
Thanks
A:
Can you post your logcat? Where exactly does the program crash?
stlp is a LinearLayout, to hide it try
stlp.setVisibility(LinearLayout.GONE);
|
Delivering Clean and Safe Drinking Water
A new community sustainability partnership was announced through Budget 2015 that will provide communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador with increased revenues and capacity supports. One of the priorities of the community sustainability partnership is to continue to ensure clean and safe drinking water for the residents of the province. Today, a contract to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that will assist in reducing Boil Water Advisories (BWAs) in Newfoundland and Labrador was awarded to Big East Engineering Inc. |
Defenders of deferred prosecutions say that they have been too harshly criticized lately and that they play a crucial role in allowing the government to secure the cooperation of a company while avoiding the time, expense and uncertainty of a trial. The agreements, government officials say, also avoid the type of companywide havoc seen most acutely in the case of Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm that was shuttered in 2002 after being indicted in the Enron scandal. The firm’s collapse threw 28,000 employees out of work.
At a Congressional hearing last month, Mr. Ashcroft defended the agreements, saying that they avoided “destroying entire corporations” through criminal indictments. “Prosecutors understand that a corporate indictment can be a corporate death sentence,” he said. “A deferred prosecution can avoid the catastrophic collateral consequences and costs that are associated with corporate conviction.”
Paul J. McNulty, a former deputy attorney general who put new guidelines in place in 2006 for corporate investigations at the Justice Department, said in an interview, “There’s a fundamental misapprehension with D.P.A.’s to think that they’re a break for the company.”
Image John Ashcroft, left, with Timothy Dickinson, a lawyer who has served as a monitor in deferred prosecution agreements for the Justice Department, at a House hearing last month. Credit... Dennis Cook/Associated Press
With the imposition of fines and an outside monitor, “the reality is that for the government, it gets pretty much everything without the difficulty of going forward with an indictment,” said Mr. McNulty, who is now in private practice. “I think companies are beginning to wonder whether they ought to fight more, because they are pretty burdensome.”
But critics of the agreements question that assertion. Charles Intriago, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who specializes in money-laundering issues, said that huge penalties, like the $65 million fine for American Express Bank International in 2007, were “peanuts” compared with the damage posed by a criminal conviction. The company was accused of failing to enact internal controls to guard against laundering of drug money and other reporting problems.
The agreements were once rare, but their use has skyrocketed in the current administration, with 35 deals last year alone by the Justice Department, lawyers who follow the trend said. Banks, financial service companies and auditors have frequently entered into such agreements, including recent ones involving Merrill Lynch, the Bank of New York, AmSouth Bank, KPMG and others. Beyond financial crimes, deferred agreements have been used in lieu of prosecuting companies though not individuals for export control violations, obscenity violations, Medicare and Medicaid fraud, kickbacks and environmental violations. |
from mmdet.core import (bbox2roi, bbox_mapping, merge_aug_proposals,
merge_aug_bboxes, merge_aug_masks, multiclass_nms)
import torch
class RPNTestMixin(object):
def simple_test_rpn(self, x, img_meta, rpn_test_cfg):
rpn_outs = self.rpn_head(x)
proposal_inputs = rpn_outs + (img_meta, rpn_test_cfg)
proposal_list = self.rpn_head.get_bboxes(*proposal_inputs)
return proposal_list
def aug_test_rpn(self, feats, img_metas, rpn_test_cfg):
imgs_per_gpu = len(img_metas[0])
aug_proposals = [[] for _ in range(imgs_per_gpu)]
for x, img_meta in zip(feats, img_metas):
proposal_list = self.simple_test_rpn(x, img_meta, rpn_test_cfg)
for i, proposals in enumerate(proposal_list):
aug_proposals[i].append(proposals)
# reorganize the order of 'img_metas' to match the dimensions
# of 'aug_proposals'
aug_img_metas = []
for i in range(imgs_per_gpu):
aug_img_meta = []
for j in range(len(img_metas)):
aug_img_meta.append(img_metas[j][i])
aug_img_metas.append(aug_img_meta)
# after merging, proposals will be rescaled to the original image size
merged_proposals = [
merge_aug_proposals(proposals, aug_img_meta, rpn_test_cfg)
for proposals, aug_img_meta in zip(aug_proposals, aug_img_metas)
]
return merged_proposals
class BBoxTestMixin(object):
def simple_test_bboxes(self,
x,
img_meta,
proposals,
rcnn_test_cfg,
rescale=False):
"""Test only det bboxes without augmentation."""
rois = bbox2roi(proposals)
roi_feats = self.bbox_roi_extractor(
x[:len(self.bbox_roi_extractor.featmap_strides)], rois)
if self.with_shared_head:
roi_feats = self.shared_head(roi_feats)
cls_score, bbox_pred = self.bbox_head(roi_feats)
img_shape = img_meta[0]['img_shape']
scale_factor = img_meta[0]['scale_factor']
det_bboxes, det_labels = self.bbox_head.get_det_bboxes(
rois,
cls_score,
bbox_pred,
img_shape,
scale_factor,
rescale=rescale,
cfg=rcnn_test_cfg)
return det_bboxes, det_labels
def aug_test_bboxes(self, feats, img_metas, proposal_list, rcnn_test_cfg):
aug_bboxes = []
aug_scores = []
for x, img_meta in zip(feats, img_metas):
# only one image in the batch
img_shape = img_meta[0]['img_shape']
scale_factor = img_meta[0]['scale_factor']
flip = img_meta[0]['flip']
# TODO more flexible
proposals = bbox_mapping(proposal_list[0][:, :4], img_shape,
scale_factor, flip)
rois = bbox2roi([proposals])
# recompute feature maps to save GPU memory
roi_feats = self.bbox_roi_extractor(
x[:len(self.bbox_roi_extractor.featmap_strides)], rois)
if self.with_shared_head:
roi_feats = self.shared_head(roi_feats)
cls_score, bbox_pred = self.bbox_head(roi_feats)
bboxes, scores = self.bbox_head.get_det_bboxes(
rois,
cls_score,
bbox_pred,
img_shape,
scale_factor,
rescale=False,
cfg=None)
aug_bboxes.append(bboxes)
aug_scores.append(scores)
# after merging, bboxes will be rescaled to the original image size
merged_bboxes, merged_scores = merge_aug_bboxes(
aug_bboxes, aug_scores, img_metas, rcnn_test_cfg)
det_bboxes, det_labels = multiclass_nms(
merged_bboxes, merged_scores, rcnn_test_cfg.score_thr,
rcnn_test_cfg.nms, rcnn_test_cfg.max_per_img)
return det_bboxes, det_labels
class MaskTestMixin(object):
def simple_test_mask(self,
x,
img_meta,
det_bboxes,
det_labels,
rescale=False):
# image shape of the first image in the batch (only one)
ori_shape = img_meta[0]['ori_shape']
scale_factor = img_meta[0]['scale_factor']
if det_bboxes.shape[0] == 0:
segm_result = [[] for _ in range(self.mask_head.num_classes - 1)]
else:
# if det_bboxes is rescaled to the original image size, we need to
# rescale it back to the testing scale to obtain RoIs.
_bboxes = (
det_bboxes[:, :4] * scale_factor if rescale else det_bboxes)
mask_rois = bbox2roi([_bboxes])
mask_feats = self.mask_roi_extractor(
x[:len(self.mask_roi_extractor.featmap_strides)], mask_rois)
if self.with_shared_head:
mask_feats = self.shared_head(mask_feats)
mask_pred = self.mask_head(mask_feats)
segm_result = self.mask_head.get_seg_masks(
mask_pred, _bboxes, det_labels, self.test_cfg.rcnn, ori_shape,
scale_factor, rescale)
return segm_result
def aug_test_mask(self, feats, img_metas, det_bboxes, det_labels):
if det_bboxes.shape[0] == 0:
segm_result = [[] for _ in range(self.mask_head.num_classes - 1)]
else:
aug_masks = []
for x, img_meta in zip(feats, img_metas):
img_shape = img_meta[0]['img_shape']
scale_factor = img_meta[0]['scale_factor']
flip = img_meta[0]['flip']
_bboxes = bbox_mapping(det_bboxes[:, :4], img_shape,
scale_factor, flip)
mask_rois = bbox2roi([_bboxes])
mask_feats = self.mask_roi_extractor(
x[:len(self.mask_roi_extractor.featmap_strides)],
mask_rois)
if self.with_shared_head:
mask_feats = self.shared_head(mask_feats)
mask_pred = self.mask_head(mask_feats)
# convert to numpy array to save memory
aug_masks.append(mask_pred.sigmoid().cpu().numpy())
merged_masks = merge_aug_masks(aug_masks, img_metas,
self.test_cfg.rcnn)
ori_shape = img_metas[0][0]['ori_shape']
segm_result = self.mask_head.get_seg_masks(
merged_masks,
det_bboxes,
det_labels,
self.test_cfg.rcnn,
ori_shape,
scale_factor=1.0,
rescale=False)
return segm_result
class SMPLTestMixin(object):
def simple_test_smpl(self,
x,
img_meta,
det_bboxes,
img_shape,
FOCAL_LENGTH=1000,
rescale=False):
# image shape of the first image in the batch (only one)
ori_shape = img_meta[0]['ori_shape']
scale_factor = img_meta[0]['scale_factor']
if det_bboxes.shape[0] == 0:
return None
else:
# if det_bboxes is rescaled to the original image size, we need to
# rescale it back to the testing scale to obtain RoIs.
_bboxes = (
det_bboxes[:, :4] * scale_factor if rescale else det_bboxes)
smpl_rois = bbox2roi([_bboxes])
smpl_feats = self.smpl_roi_extractor(
x[:len(self.smpl_roi_extractor.featmap_strides)], smpl_rois)
if self.with_shared_head:
smpl_feats = self.shared_head(smpl_feats)
smpl_pred = self.smpl_head(smpl_feats)
# TODO: Calculate camera translation
pred_rotmat = smpl_pred['pred_rotmat']
pred_camera = smpl_pred['pred_camera']
pred_joints = smpl_pred['pred_joints']
pred_vertices = smpl_pred['pred_vertices']
pred_betas = smpl_pred['pred_betas']
pred_bboxes = det_bboxes[:, :4].clone()
batch_size = pred_bboxes.shape[0]
img_size = torch.zeros(batch_size, 2).to(pred_joints.device)
img_size += torch.tensor(img_shape[:-3:-1], dtype=img_size.dtype).to(img_size.device)
center_pts = (pred_bboxes[..., :2] + pred_bboxes[..., 2:]) / 2
crop_translation = torch.zeros((batch_size, 3), dtype=pred_camera.dtype).to(
pred_joints.device)
crop_translation[..., :2] = pred_camera[..., 1:]
# We may detach it.
bboxes_size = torch.max(torch.abs(pred_bboxes[..., 0] - pred_bboxes[..., 2]),
torch.abs(pred_bboxes[..., 1] - pred_bboxes[..., 3]))
valid_boxes = (torch.abs(pred_bboxes[..., 0] - pred_bboxes[..., 2]) > 5) & (torch.abs(
pred_bboxes[..., 1] - pred_bboxes[..., 3]) > 5)
crop_translation[..., 2] = 2 * FOCAL_LENGTH / (1e-6 + pred_camera[..., 0] * bboxes_size)
rotation_Is = torch.eye(3).unsqueeze(0).repeat(batch_size, 1, 1).to(pred_joints.device)
depth = 2 * FOCAL_LENGTH / (1e-6 + pred_camera[..., 0] * bboxes_size)
translation = torch.zeros((batch_size, 3), dtype=pred_camera.dtype).to(
pred_joints.device)
translation[:, :-1] = depth[:, None] * (center_pts + pred_camera[:, 1:] * bboxes_size.unsqueeze(
-1) - img_size / 2) / FOCAL_LENGTH
translation[:, -1] = depth
smpl_pred['pred_translation'] = translation
return smpl_pred
def aug_test_smpl(self, feats, img_metas, det_bboxes, det_labels):
raise NotImplementedError("SMPL test with augmentation has not been implemented yet.")
|
Q:
Angular with Coffescript not working
My prefered development environment is straight coffeescript and this has treated me well until I started getting into AngularJS. For some reason my current setup will not run correctly with coffeescript.
Here's the deal, this works:
//Jade:
script(type='text/javascript', src='/js/coffee-script.js')
script(type='text/javascript', src='https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.0.7/angular.min.js')
script(type='text/javascript', src='/js/grndCntrl.js')
but not this:
//Jade:
script(type='text/javascript', src='/js/coffee-script.js')
script(type='text/javascript', src='https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.0.7/angular.min.js')
script(type='text/coffeescript', src='/js/grndCntrl.coffee')
I know that my coffeescript translation is valid and if I convert that coffeescript to js it works just fine in the js file.
What I suspect is that it has something to do with coffee-script.js not converting the file before Angular gets ahold of it, but I really don't have much of a grasp how that works.
Any suggestions on how to get back to write coffeescript for Angular??
A:
I just started using Grunt to pre-compile with grunt-watch and grunt-coffee
|
I recently participated in a 21 day challenge that I want to share with you. It was truly an amazing experience, where I focused on creating everything that just feels good. I took the challenge for the first time during a very difficult break up, and I came out on the other side feeling resilient and full of joy and happiness.
This challenge is designed by Shawn Achor, author of ‘The Happiness Advantage’ and Michelle Gielan. Most people believe that reaching some sort of milestone will lead to happiness – finding your soul mate, getting the perfect job, reaching a certain level of income – the list goes on and on. What Shawn discovered in his research is that happiness is elusive when it’s based on external events. It turns out that reversing the formula leads to greater results and greater happiness – choose to create happiness first, and every aspect of your life begins to blossom.
Here are the 5 habits that I practiced during the 21 day challenge:
Write down 3 things you are grateful for each day. This improves everything in your life – spiritually, emotionally, physically and mentally. Writing these improves your optimism, and also increases the level of success you achieve. You can use an app, or write them down if you prefer to do it that way. (I use Gratitude 365)
Focus on the positive. For two minutes a day, journal your positive experiences. This exercise helps recreate the essence of the event, helping you relive the best moments of your life. (I use My Wonderful Days)
Exercise every day – any form, for any length of time. This will teach your brain different behavior patterns, which will cause a domino effect of positive energy and creativity for the rest of the day.
Meditate for a few minutes each day. Meditation allows your body and mind to relax, and allows you to just be in the present moment.
Random acts of kindness. Choose an area in your life that you would like to work on, and then commit to a random act of kindness in that area each day. For me, my focus was money. Each day I did things like paying someone’s bill at a restaurant; paying for a stranger’s BART ticket; paying the bridge toll for the person behind me, and giving extraordinary tips to service providers. There is an unexplainable benefit to being outward focused!
This challenge created such positive energy in my life that I want to encourage you to participate in the challenge as well – there’s no telling what the universe has in store for you when you practice being happy! You can find information about the upcoming Master Class at www.thehappinessadvantage.com. |
Ray Usher
Ray Usher (16 October 1904 – 15 April 1964) was a former Australian rules footballer who played with Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Usher was a playing coach at Golden Point in 1934 and the following year moved to Tasmania, where he coached Lefroy and Burnie.
See also
1927 Melbourne Carnival
Notes
External links
Category:1904 births
Category:1964 deaths
Category:Australian rules footballers at the 1927 Melbourne Carnival
Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia)
Category:Melbourne Football Club players
Category:Golden Point Football Club players
Category:Golden Point Football Club coaches
Category:Lefroy Football Club players
Category:Burnie Football Club players
Category:East Sydney Australian Football Club players |
Q:
Doctrine 2: Cannot select entity through identification variables without choosing at least one root entity alias
Rather than an actual question, this is a sticky note for myself, that may help others. There are many other similar questions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, but none of them seems to offer this solution.
I have the following entities:
class Order
{
// ...
/**
* @ManyToOne(targetEntity="Customer")
* @var Customer
*/
private $customer;
/**
* @Column(type="integer")
* @var int
*/
private $amount;
}
class Customer
{
// ...
}
Order has a unidirectional, many-to-one relationship with Customer. I want to get every customer, along with the total amount of his orders, so I run the following DQL query:
SELECT c, SUM(o.amount)
FROM Model\Order o
JOIN o.customer c
GROUP BY c
But I get the following error:
[Doctrine\ORM\Query\QueryException]
[Semantical Error] line 0, col -1 near 'SELECT c, SUM(o.amount)': Error: Cannot select entity through identification variables without choosing at least one root entity alias.
How can I fix it?
A:
This is a known Doctrine limitation.
The solution is to explicitly SELECT the entity you want to retrieve (Customer) and manually join the other entity (Order) from there, using a WITH condition:
SELECT c, SUM(o.amount)
FROM Model\Customer c
JOIN Model\Order o WITH o.customer = c
GROUP BY c
|
Kragbron
Taaibos Lifestyle Estate is a new developing estate in the Free State province of South Africa and part of the Metsimaholo Local Municipality.
Taaibos Lifestyle Estate is a former coal-mining village between Sasolburg and Heilbron, and is home to two decommissioned power stations, Taaibos and Highveld, inactive since 1994.
Directly translated from Afrikaans to English, the name literally means "power source".
References
Category:Populated places in the Metsimaholo Local Municipality |
Rumours surrounding Didier Drogba’s potential return to Chelsea have gathered pace, after a series of renovations at Stamford Bridge were leaked to the press.
A member of the groundstaff was overheard explaining a new disabled parking spot, situated amongst the spaces reserved for playing staff, as, “being for one of the older boys – apparently ‘e don’t get around as well as ‘e used to.”
“I think he’s a mate of the boss (Jose Mourinho),” he added.
The 35-year-old striker has always spoken of his love for Chelsea, with whom he won the Champions League, and enjoys a close relationship with boss Mourinho, who this week declared his interest in bringing the player back to West London.
A delivery man for Dolphin stairlift company, based in Fulham, stated that, “we were sticking in a chair-lift, yeah.
“I’d assumed it would be for some disabled fans to get higher up in the stands, but they had us stick this one just outside the home dressing room.”
Alongside the interest displayed by the returning Chelsea manager is the good form shown by the striker during his spell at Galatasaray.
Concern has been raised about elderly Drogba’s advanced years, though a club insider claimed that the club are ready to make concessions.
“On the training schedule they’ve got an hour in the middle marked ‘DNP’,” said the insider, an acronym thought to stand for ‘Didier Nap time’.
Continuing, the anonymous source added, “they’ve got a bed stuck aside for him in a room.”
“No one’s allowed to start their cars during that spell in case we wake anyone up…” |
As information recording media for recording a great amount of information used in computers or other machines, hard disk drive units (hereinafter referred to as HDD devices) have been implemented. The HDD device is provided with a number of magnetic recording disks (referred to as disks) and writes information in or reads it from a disk by positioning a read/write head onto a desired track defined on the disk.
Typically the disk in the HDD device is provided with a plurality of tracks, each of which is divided into data sectors (referred to as sectors) which are 128, 256, or 512 bytes. A divided sector is usually given an identifier of itself, i.e., a so-called sector ID, having a serial number of the sector, sector type, and sector identifying information such as DEFECT information indicating a bad sector originated from manufacturing. In a conventional HDD device, read and write operations are performed while the sector ID is referenced to determine whether the sector is the target or not.
The physical location of the sector can be determined from the face number of the disk (HEAD number), the cylinder number (CYL number), and the sector number (SCT number). The HEAD number and CYL number can be determined as a seek operation ends. The SCT number can be determined by reading information previously recorded on the disk, such as the servo area, or by counting from the beginning sector, since the SCT number changes with the rotation of the disk.
It is necessary for reading or writing information to perform operations for every sector, such as convening a logical sector into a physical sector and identifying a location on the disk where a corresponding sector belongs. This requires many types of information to be stored in the sector ID. Therefore the ID region has been made larger so as to prevent erroneous sector identifying information from being recorded as prerequisite sector identifying information is too large to be recorded. Then, an area for controlling the HDD device for each sector, i.e., an ID area of sector identifying information, has been affixed, thus necessitating reduction of the area where information can be recorded and which is originally provided in the HDD device by using the ID area.
To overcome this problem, there has been suggested an information recording disk whose sectors are so formatted that the ID area is not required for recording information (see JA5-174498). |
[Summary of the annual meeting of the German society for neurogastroenterology and motility, March 28 - 30, 2008 at Castle Hohenkammer].
The annual meeting of the German Society for Neurogastroenterology and Motility was held at Castle Hohenkammer from 28th to 30th of March 2008 with C. Pehl (Vilsbiburg) as chairman. The members of the Society study the function of the enteric nervous system, gastrointestinal motility, and functional disturbances of the GI tract. Basic researchers as well as clinical scientists are members of the Society and discussed together their results at this meeting. Results from thirty-six working groups from different European countries, USA, and Egypt were presented at the annual meeting. In addition, Prof. Mark Fox (Switzerland/United Kingdom) gave a review lecture entitled "New technologies to evaluate esophageal function". |
Related
"I think anybody who plays PC games is more of a hardcore gamer for sure," he tells Glixel in the video. "I'm still looking for an NBA player that is better than me at League of Legends.
"I haven't found that person yet."
But wait, there's more. Hayward wraps up our visit with a challenge to Jeremy Lin, who he says plays Dota 2.
"If he would come over to League I would definitely take on that challenge."
In this first season of How I Play, Glixel brings you a series of intimate stories about the passion for gaming of musicians, actors and sports stars, offering rare insight into what they play, how they got into games and their personal gaming set-ups for on the road and in the home.
Make sure to check back every Thursday for a new episodes of How I Played and hop over here to see last week's episode featuring Steve Aoki. |
Dose-dependent effect of aerobic exercise on inflammatory biomarkers in a randomized controlled trial of women at high risk of breast cancer.
Increased levels of inflammation are associated with many diseases, including cancer. Physical activity can lower breast cancer risk as well as levels of inflammation. The Women In Steady Exercise Research (WISER) Sister trial was a randomized controlled trial that investigated the effects of a dosed, moderate to vigorous, aerobic exercise intervention on levels of inflammation in premenopausal women who were at high risk of developing breast cancer. Participants were randomized to control (<75 minutes per week; 41 patients), low-dose exercise (150 minutes per week; 38 patients), or high-dose exercise (300 minutes per week; 37 patients) groups. The 5-menstrual cycles-long, home-based treadmill exercise intervention gradually increased in minutes per week and intensity up to a maximum of 80% of the age-predicted maximum heart rate. Blood was collected at baseline and at follow-up and assayed for chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), interleukin 10 (IL-10), interleukin 12 (IL-12), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α). A linear dose-response relationship was observed for the proinflammatory biomarkers CCL2 (%Δ of -5.44% in the control group, -0.03% in the low-dose exercise group, and 1.54% in the high-dose exercise group), IL-12 (%Δ of -21.5% in the control group, 38.2% in the low-dose exercise group, and 25.8% in the high-dose exercise group,) and TNF-α (%Δ of -4.69% in the control group, 9.51% in the low-dose exercise group, and 15.7% in the high-dose exercise group) but not for the anti-inflammatory biomarker IL-10 (%Δ of 5.05% in the control group, 6.05% in the low-dose exercise group, and 10.6% in the high-dose exercise group). For IL-12 and TNF-α, the percentage change was significantly higher in the low-dose (IL-12: P < .001; and TNF-α: P = .01) and high-dose (IL-12: P < .001; and TNF-α: P < .001) exercise groups compared with the control group. Moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise appeared to increase levels of proinflammatory biomarkers in a dose-dependent manner in a population of healthy women at high risk of developing breast cancer. The results of the current study suggest that for healthy premenopausal women, the mechanism of reduced breast cancer risk observed in physically active individuals may not be a result of reduced levels of inflammation. |
Superior Inorganic Ion Cofactors of Tetraborate Species Attaining Highly Efficient Heterogeneous Electrocatalysis for Water Oxidation on Cobalt Oxyhydroxide Nanoparticles.
A heterogeneous catalyst incorporating an inorganic ion cofactor for electrochemical water oxidation was exploited using a CoO(OH) nanoparticle layer-deposited electrode. The significant catalytic current for water oxidation was generated in a Na2B4O7 solution at pH 9.4 when applying 0.94 V versus Ag/AgCl in contrast to no catalytic current generation in the K2SO4 solution at the same pH. HB4O7- and B4O72- ions were indicated to act as key cofactors for the induced catalytic activity of the CoO(OH) layer. The Na2B4O7 concentration dependence of the catalytic current was analyzed based on a Michaelis-Menten-type kinetics to provide an affinity constant of cofactors to the active sites, Km = 28 ± 3.6 mM, and the maximum catalytic current density, Imax = 2.3 ± 0.13 mA cm-2. The Imax value of HB4O7- and B4O72- ions was 1.4 times higher than that (1.3 mA cm-2) for the previously reported case of CO32- ions. This could be explained by the shorter-range proton transfer from the active site to the proton-accepting cofactor because of the larger size and more flexible conformation of HB4O7- and B4O72- ions compared with that of CO32- ions. |
Story highlights New Hampshire police chief is cited after his fiream is used by a teenager for suicide
The weapon was left unsecured while the chief was away from home on errands, authorities say
Dead is the 15-year-old son of the chief's girlfriend
Chief is cited with improperly storing a gun
A New Hampshire police chief was cited Friday for improperly storing his service firearm after a teenager used the weapon to commit suicide in the chief's home in March, according to the local prosecutor.
Danville Police Chief Wade Parsons allegedly left his firearm, a .40-caliber Glock 22 pistol, on top of a safe in his bedroom closet on March 11, said Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams.
Parsons left the house to run errands, while the boy -- the 15-year-old son of the chief's girlfriend -- remained in the home.
"The service weapon was used by a juvenile to shoot himself while no one else was home," Reams said in a news release.
When Parsons returned, he discovered the boy's body, Reams said.
"There is no clear explanation (for the suicide)," Reams told CNN Friday. There had been no previous signs that the youth was troubled, Reams added.
Parsons was not charged in the youth's death, Reams said.
The chief was charged with violating a New Hampshire statute that requires any person to securely store a firearm when a child is likely to gain access to it without parental or guardian permission.
A court date has not yet been set. The maximum fine under the statute is $1,000, according to Reams' news release.
This is the first time Reams has cited anyone with the violation in his 15 years as county attorney, he said.
Parsons did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment.
Danville is located in southeastern New Hampshire and is about 10 miles north of the Massachusetts line.
Reams said he hopes the tragedy will remind people of the importance of storing weapons properly.
"Nobody feels worse about this than the police chief," said Reams. "But I hope it's a reminder to people in New Hampshire to make sure that children don't have unsupervised access to firearms. That's the statement our legislature has made. We expect people to live up to it." |
Q:
Custom layout for a custom keypad
I don't know if I'm doing it the wrong way but here's what I want to do :
I've designed a simple keypad with 12 buttons (3 columns, 4 rows) and I'd like to make it standard. I mean in any of my layouts I'd like to just write
<my.own.Keypad>
....
</my.own.Keypad>
And the Keypad take care of setting the 12 buttons and everything.
I think I have to extend an Layout but I'm not sure. I couldn't find any help on the Web.
My main problem is that I don't know if it's the good approach !
Please give me any keywords or hints that could put me on the good way !
Thanks a lot,
Julian
A:
You can do it like this.
Make a saperate layout which having your layout with 12 button.
suppose the name of the layout xml file is keypad.xml
now in any other layout where ever you want your keypad layout do this
< include
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
layout="@layout/keypad" />
this will include your keypad layout to any layout you want.
Let me know if it is helpful for you
|
Q:
methods of detecting a copper pipe in concrete floor
We believe that our copper water line is embedded in the concrete (and rebar) basement floor. We would like to excavate a hole to install a sump pump. We don't want to hit the copper line which we think is in the vicinity.
Is there any way to detect that copper line?
We've tried finding his line already with with 2 different metal detectors.
A:
This a is a very interesting question. I must assume, hopefully not wrongly, you are talking about a main supply line from the street. I can see no reason for an in house line to be embedded in the floor unless it feeds an out building or the like. In any case, an in-house line could be tracked back to some point of source and rerouted if necessary.
As for a street supply line, Mitch is correct in that the utility or a good metal detector can follow the line to the point where is enters the foundation. Usually it would follow a fairly straight path to the meter/main shut off from that point. That would give you a good guess where the line is routed. It will be very difficult to detect this line in concrete with rebar. The rebar will show on the detector and mask the copper. If you can find the point of entry, and follow it to the meter, use a placement for your sump pit far from this assumed line. As a precaution, I would be tempted to have the main water supply shut off while the sump pit is opened up. If you do hit the line, you won't have water gushing in at 70PSI. If you're unlucky enough to find the line and damage it, then you can at least carefully work around it, clean up the line on either side of the damage and repair it in the sump hole.
|
Macks Creek, Missouri
Macks Creek is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in southwest Camden County, Missouri, United States. The population was 244 at the 2010 census.
History
A post office called Macks Creek has been in operation since 1872. The community takes its name from a nearby creek of the same name, which most likely was named after the local Mack or Hack family.
For years, Macks Creek had one of the most infamous speed traps in the nation, with a strictly enforced 45-MPH speed limit along US 54, which currently has a 65-MPH speed limit on either side of town. However, in 1995, this practice ended when the state of Missouri passed a law prohibiting cities and towns from collecting more than 45% of their total revenue from speeding tickets. Macks Creek reportedly had been collecting approximately 85% of its revenue from speeding tickets. The police department later resigned as well along with the mayor.
In 1997, a state audit of Macks Creek's treasury uncovered major financial woes. Shortly afterward, virtually every town official resigned from office and the city itself declared bankruptcy.
In 2012, voters approved dissolving the town with 69% in favor of the motion; above the required amount of 60%.
Geography
Macks Creek is located on Macks Creek and U.S. Route 54, twelve miles west of Camdenton and twelve miles east of Preston.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 244 people, 102 households, and 63 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 132 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.1% White, 0.4% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.5% of the population.
There were 102 households of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.2% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.2% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.03.
The median age in the city was 37.5 years. 24.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.9% were from 25 to 44; 27.8% were from 45 to 64; and 16% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.7% male and 53.3% female.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 267 people, 109 households, and 68 families living in the city. The population density was 285.2 people per square mile (109.7/km²). There were 129 housing units at an average density of 137.8 per square mile (53.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.38% White, and 2.62% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.37% of the population.
There were 109 households out of which 36.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were married couples living together, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the city the population was spread out with 31.8% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 16.9% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $21,875, and the median income for a family was $24,643. Males had a median income of $25,893 versus $13,125 for females. The per capita income for the city was $9,053. About 13.6% of families and 22.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under the age of eighteen and 24.1% of those sixty five or over.
Education
Macks Creek R-V School District operates one elementary school and Macks Creek High School.
Macks Creek has a public library, a branch of the Camden County Library District.
References
Category:Census-designated places in Camden County, Missouri
Category:Populated places disestablished in 2012
Category:Former villages in Missouri |
Having an early warning system is an incredibly useful tool in the OSINT world. Being able to monitor search engines and other sites for keywords, IP addresses, document names, or email addresses is extremely useful. This can tell you if an adversary, competitor or a friendly ally is talking about you online. In this blog post we are going to setup a keyword monitoring pipeline so that we can monitor both popular search engines and Pastebin for keywords, leaked credentials, or anything else we are interested in.
The pipeline will be designed to alert you whenever one of those keywords is discovered or if you are seeing movement for a keyword on a particular search engine.
We will build all of this out into a virtual machine so that you can self-host everything on your local box. If you are comfortable managing your own server, or you just want to have your monitoring run 24×7 without having to keep your virtual machine running feel free to get some free Digital Ocean time by using my referral link here.
Let’s get started!
Setting up Searx
Searx is this really cool project that provides you a self-hosted interface to search multiple search engines at once. This is called a meta-search engine and was all the rave in the late 90s. Yeah, I am that old.
One thing that Searx also provides is the ability to query it and receive the results back in JSON. This gives us the ability to write Python code to talk to it and to process the results without having to use web scraping techniques or paying for an expensive API key.
Setting up Searx
Watch the video below to setup Searx if you have never setup a VirtualBox VM or done any work in Ubuntu before. It will help you walk through everything from start to finish.
Now that you are logged in to your server you can run the following commands. These steps have been adapted from the Searx setup guide here. Feel free to copy and paste these steps.
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install virtualbox-guest-dkms sudo apt-get install git build-essential libxslt-dev python-dev python-virtualenv python-pybabel zlib1g-dev libffi-dev libssl-dev python-pip cd /usr/local git clone https://github.com/asciimoo/searx.git cd searx ./manage.sh update_packages sed -i -e "s/ultrasecretkey/`openssl rand -hex 16`/g" searx/settings.yml 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 sudo apt - get update sudo apt - get install virtualbox - guest - dkms sudo apt - get install git build - essential libxslt - dev python - dev python - virtualenv python - pybabel zlib1g - dev libffi - dev libssl - dev python - pip cd / usr / local git clone https : / / github .com / asciimoo / searx .git cd searx . / manage .sh update_packages sed - i - e "s/ultrasecretkey/`openssl rand -hex 16`/g" searx / settings .yml
Now we just need to edit the settings.yml file so that we can access the Searx search interface across the Internet. Do the following:
nano -w searx/settings.yml 1 nano - w searx / settings .yml
Now find the bind_address entry and change it to 127.0.0.1 which will cause Searx to listen only on the machine it is installed on.
It should now look like this:
bind_address : “127.0.0.1”
Once you have edited that setting hit CTRL+O and then CTRL+X to exit nano.
Now you are ready to test it out! Run the Searx web application like so:
cd ~/searx/searx/searx python webapp.py 1 2 3 cd ~ / searx / searx / searx python webapp . py
Testing Your Searx Installation
If you now use your browser to browse to:
http://127.0.0.1:8888
When you browse to it you should see a web page appear as shown below, and you can test running some searches to make sure it is all working.
Awesome. Now let’s move on to getting setup with a Pastebin Pro account.
Pastebin Pro
Pastebin is the go-to site for data dumps after a breach, ominous messages from Anonymous or for bits of code that people have posted. While you can certainly attempt to scrape data from Pastebin pages, you will find that they will rate limit you by your IP address or potentially ban you.
The best thing to do is to spend the $29 for a lifetime Pastebin Pro account which gives you the ability to whitelist your IP address and then using their API to pull down pastes to your heart’s content. If you can afford to do it, go spend the money now and come back to this blog post.
Sign up here.
Once you have done that you will need to head to here to whitelist your IP address. If you are using Digital Ocean or another provider make sure to put the public IP address of your server. Otherwise you can search Google for: what is my IP and then enter that address into the text field:
You are now setup to start writing code for the Pastebin Scraping API (documentation here). Let’s get started!
Building A Keyword Monitor
Now let’s start writing some code that will continually monitor search results from Searx and Pastebin. Then it will connect to your GMail account and send you an alert email when there are hits. If you don’t have a GMail account I recommend you get one, or modify the code to connect to your own mailserver.
Crack open a new Python script (full source code here), call it keywordmonitor.py and start punching in the following code:
import os import requests import smtplib import time from email.mime.text import MIMEText alert_email_account = "[email protected]" alert_email_password = "YOURPASSWORD" searx_url = "http://localhost:8888/?" max_sleep_time = 120 # read in our list of keywords with open("keywords.txt","r") as fd: file_contents = fd.read() keywords = file_contents.splitlines() if not os.path.exists("keywords"): os.mkdir("keywords") 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 import os import requests import smtplib import time from email.mime . text import MIMEText alert_email_account = "[email protected]" alert_email_password = "YOURPASSWORD" searx_url = "http://localhost:8888/?" max_sleep_time = 120 # read in our list of keywords with open ( "keywords.txt" , "r" ) as fd : file_contents = fd . read ( ) keywords = file_contents . splitlines ( ) if not os.path . exists ( "keywords" ) : os . mkdir ( "keywords" )
This is pretty straightforward. We are importing the necessary libraries, and then setting up some variables for our email account and for the path to Searx. We then pull in the stored keywords we want to track and create a directory where we can store all URLs so that we don’t have duplicate results.
Now let’s build our email alert function. Keep adding code to your script:
# # Send email to you! # def send_alert(alert_email): email_body = "The following are keyword hits that were just found:\r
\r
" # walk through the searx results if alert_email.has_key("searx"): for keyword in alert_email['searx']: email_body += "\r
Keyword: %s\r
\r
" % keyword for keyword_hit in alert_email['searx'][keyword]: email_body += "%s\r
" % keyword_hit # walk through pastebin results if alert_email.has_key("pastebin"): for paste_id in alert_email['pastebin']: email_body += "\r
Pastebin Link: https://pastebin.com/%s\r
" % paste_id email_body += "Keywords:%s\r
" % ",".join(alert_email['pastebin'][paste_id][0]) email_body += "Paste Body:\r
%s\r
\r
" % alert_email['pastebin'][paste_id][1] # build the email message msg = MIMEText(email_body) msg['Subject'] = "AutomatingOSINT.com Keyword Alert" msg['From'] = alert_email_account msg['To'] = alert_email_account server = smtplib.SMTP("smtp.gmail.com",587) server.ehlo() server.starttls() server.login(alert_email_account,alert_email_password) server.sendmail(alert_email_account,alert_email_account,msg.as_string()) server.quit() print "[!] Alert email sent!" return 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 # # Send email to you! # def send_alert ( alert_email ) : email_body = "The following are keyword hits that were just found:\r
\r
" # walk through the searx results if alert_email . has_key ( "searx" ) : for keyword in alert_email [ 'searx' ] : email_body += "\r
Keyword: %s\r
\r
" % keyword for keyword_hit in alert_email [ 'searx' ] [ keyword ] : email_body += "%s\r
" % keyword_hit # walk through pastebin results if alert_email . has_key ( "pastebin" ) : for paste_id in alert_email [ 'pastebin' ] : email_body += "\r
Pastebin Link: https://pastebin.com/%s\r
" % paste_id email_body += "Keywords:%s\r
" % "," . join ( alert_email [ 'pastebin' ] [ paste_id ] [ 0 ] ) email_body += "Paste Body:\r
%s\r
\r
" % alert_email [ 'pastebin' ] [ paste_id ] [ 1 ] # build the email message msg = MIMEText ( email_body ) msg [ 'Subject' ] = "AutomatingOSINT.com Keyword Alert" msg [ 'From' ] = alert_email_account msg [ 'To' ] = alert_email_account server = smtplib . SMTP ( "smtp.gmail.com" , 587 ) server . ehlo ( ) server . starttls ( ) server . login ( alert_email_account , alert_email_password ) server . sendmail ( alert_email_account , alert_email_account , msg . as_string ( ) ) server . quit ( ) print "[!] Alert email sent!" return
Let’s break this code down a bit:
Line 24: we define our send_alert function and it takes a single parameter alert_email . This parameter is a dictionary that we build from our keyword hits.
we define our function and it takes a single parameter . This parameter is a dictionary that we build from our keyword hits. Lines 29-37: here we are testing if there are results from Searx (29) and if so we walk through each of the keywords that had hits (31) and then add each hit for that keyword (35-37).
here we are testing if there are results from Searx (29) and if so we walk through each of the keywords that had hits (31) and then add each hit for that keyword (35-37). Lines 40-46: we test if there are results from Pastebin (40) and if we have some we walk through each result (42) and print out the information from Pastebin including the original text of the paste. We do this because people tend to delete pastes, and this way we’ll always have a record of it.
we test if there are results from Pastebin (40) and if we have some we walk through each result (42) and print out the information from Pastebin including the original text of the paste. We do this because people tend to delete pastes, and this way we’ll always have a record of it. Lines 50-54: we build our email object and set the Subject, From and To fields of the email.
we build our email object and set the Subject, From and To fields of the email. Line 55: here we are initializing our connect to the GMail servers.
here we are initializing our connect to the GMail servers. Lines 57-61: these lines of code deal with connecting to the mail server (57,58), logging in to the server (59) and then sending the email off (60).
Now we are going to build another support function that will check URLs discovered from Searx against our stored list of URLs. This will determine whether a hit for a keyword is a new URL or something that we have encountered already.
Let’s add this code now:
# # Check if the URL is new. # def check_urls(keyword,urls): new_urls = [] if os.path.exists("keywords/%s.txt" % keyword): with open("keywords/%s.txt" % keyword,"r") as fd: stored_urls = fd.read().splitlines() for url in urls: if url not in stored_urls: print "[*] New URL for %s discovered: %s" % (keyword,url) new_urls.append(url) else: new_urls = urls # now store the new urls back in the file with open("keywords/%s.txt" % keyword,"ab") as fd: for url in new_urls: fd.write("%s\r
" % url) return new_urls 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 # # Check if the URL is new. # def check_urls ( keyword , urls ) : new_urls = [ ] if os.path . exists ( "keywords/%s.txt" % keyword ) : with open ( "keywords/%s.txt" % keyword , "r" ) as fd : stored_urls = fd . read ( ) . splitlines ( ) for url in urls : if url not in stored_urls : print "[*] New URL for %s discovered: %s" % ( keyword , url ) new_urls . append ( url ) else : new_urls = urls # now store the new urls back in the file with open ( "keywords/%s.txt" % keyword , "ab" ) as fd : for url in new_urls : fd . write ( "%s\r
" % url ) return new_urls
Line 70: we define our function to take in the keyword that the matches correspond to and the list of urls that we are going to check.
we define our function to take in the that the matches correspond to and the list of that we are going to check. Lines 74-78: we check to see if we have a file with results for the current keyword (74), and if not we open the file (76) and read each line into a list (78).
we check to see if we have a file with results for the current keyword (74), and if not we open the file (76) and read each line into a list (78). Lines 80-86: we walk through our list of results (80) and if we don’t already have the URL stored (82) we add it to our new_urls list (86) so that we can store it later.
we walk through our list of results (80) and if we don’t already have the URL stored (82) we add it to our list (86) so that we can store it later. Line 90: if we don’t have a record of any hits for the current keyword, we take all of the results and put them in our new_urls list.
if we don’t have a record of any hits for the current keyword, we take all of the results and put them in our list. Lines 93-99: we crack open the keywords file that has all of the results stored (93) and then add each of the new URLs that we have discovered (95,96). We then return the list of newly discovered URLs (99) so that we can include them in our email alert.
Alright so we have the plumbing in place to deal with alerting and managing new results from our Searx results. Now let’s start putting the functions in place to actually do the searching piece. First we’ll start with Searx, so start adding the following code:
# # Poll Searx instance for keyword. # def check_searx(keyword): hits = [] # build parameter dictionary params = {} params['q'] = keyword params['categories'] = 'general' params['time_range'] = 'day' #day,week,month or year will work params['format'] = 'json' print "[*] Querying Searx for: %s" % keyword # send the request off to searx try: response = requests.get(searx_url,params=params) results = response.json() except: return hits # if we have results we want to check them against our stored URLs if len(results['results']): urls = [] for result in results['results']: if result['url'] not in urls: urls.append(result['url']) hits = check_urls(keyword,urls) return hits 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 # # Poll Searx instance for keyword. # def check_searx ( keyword ) : hits = [ ] # build parameter dictionary params = { } params [ 'q' ] = keyword params [ 'categories' ] = 'general' params [ 'time_range' ] = 'day' #day,week,month or year will work params [ 'format' ] = 'json' print "[*] Querying Searx for: %s" % keyword # send the request off to searx try : response = requests . get ( searx_url , params = params ) results = response . json ( ) except : return hits # if we have results we want to check them against our stored URLs if len ( results [ 'results' ] ) : urls = [ ] for result in results [ 'results' ] : if result [ 'url' ] not in urls : urls . append ( result [ 'url' ] ) hits = check_urls ( keyword , urls ) return hits
Let’s examine this function a little more closely:
Line 105: we define our check_searx function that accepts a single keyword parameter.
we define our function that accepts a single parameter. Lines 110-114: we setup the parameters for our query to our Searx instance. Note that you can set the time_range value on line 113 to a time period of your choosing.
we setup the parameters for our query to our Searx instance. Note that you can set the value on line 113 to a time period of your choosing. Lines 119-122: we send off our request (120) passing in our parameters dictionary we have created. We then parse the JSON result from Searx (122). If either the request or the JSON parsing fails, we return an empty list (125).
we send off our request (120) passing in our parameters dictionary we have created. We then parse the JSON result from Searx (122). If either the request or the JSON parsing fails, we return an empty list (125). Lines 128-140: if we have a list of good results (128) we walk through each of the results (132) and then add each unique result to our urls variable (136). Once we have walked through all of the results we use our previously developed check_urls function (138) to determine which of the URLs are new hits. Lastly we return the hits (140) so we can send them out in our alert email.
Alright, now that the Searx portion of the script is finished we can move on to working with Pastebin which has a different bit of logic involved.
# # Check Pastebin for keyword list. # def check_pastebin(keywords): new_ids = [] paste_hits = {} # poll the Pastebin API try: response = requests.get("http://pastebin.com/api_scraping.php?limit=500") except: return paste_hits # parse the JSON result = response.json() # load up our list of stored paste ID's and only check the new ones if os.path.exists("pastebin_ids.txt"): with open("pastebin_ids.txt","rb") as fd: pastebin_ids = fd.read().splitlines() else: pastebin_ids = [] for paste in result: if paste['key'] not in pastebin_ids: new_ids.append(paste['key']) # this is a new paste so send a secondary request to retrieve # it and then check it for our keywords paste_response = requests.get(paste['scrape_url']) paste_body_lower = paste_response.content.lower() keyword_hits = [] for keyword in keywords: if keyword.lower() in paste_body_lower: keyword_hits.append(keyword) if len(keyword_hits): paste_hits[paste['key']] = (keyword_hits,paste_response.content) print "[*] Hit on Pastebin for %s: %s" % (str(keyword_hits),paste['full_url']) # store the newly checked IDs with open("pastebin_ids.txt","ab") as fd: for pastebin_id in new_ids: fd.write("%s\r
" % pastebin_id) print "[*] Successfully processed %d Pastebin posts." % len(new_ids) return paste_hits 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 # # Check Pastebin for keyword list. # def check_pastebin ( keywords ) : new_ids = [ ] paste_hits = { } # poll the Pastebin API try : response = requests . get ( "http://pastebin.com/api_scraping.php?limit=500" ) except : return paste_hits # parse the JSON result = response . json ( ) # load up our list of stored paste ID's and only check the new ones if os.path . exists ( "pastebin_ids.txt" ) : with open ( "pastebin_ids.txt" , "rb" ) as fd : pastebin_ids = fd . read ( ) . splitlines ( ) else : pastebin_ids = [ ] for paste in result : if paste [ 'key' ] not in pastebin_ids : new_ids . append ( paste [ 'key' ] ) # this is a new paste so send a secondary request to retrieve # it and then check it for our keywords paste_response = requests . get ( paste [ 'scrape_url' ] ) paste_body_lower = paste_response . content . lower ( ) keyword_hits = [ ] for keyword in keywords : if keyword . lower ( ) in paste_body_lower : keyword_hits . append ( keyword ) if len ( keyword_hits ) : paste_hits [ paste [ 'key' ] ] = ( keyword_hits , paste_response . content ) print "[*] Hit on Pastebin for %s: %s" % ( str ( keyword_hits ) , paste [ 'full_url' ] ) # store the newly checked IDs with open ( "pastebin_ids.txt" , "ab" ) as fd : for pastebin_id in new_ids : fd . write ( "%s\r
" % pastebin_id ) print "[*] Successfully processed %d Pastebin posts." % len ( new_ids ) return paste_hits
Whew that’s a lot of code! Let’s break this down a little:
Line 145: we define our check_pastebin function that accepts a keywords parameter that is a list of keywords that we will check against each Paste we discover.
we define our function that accepts a parameter that is a list of keywords that we will check against each Paste we discover. Line 147: when users post content (Pastes) to Pastebin, each Paste gets its own unique identifier. We setup a list to track any new Paste IDs that we have encountered (147) so that we can track them. We don’t want to continually check old Pastes that we have already looked at.
when users post content (Pastes) to Pastebin, each Paste gets its own unique identifier. We setup a list to track any new Paste IDs that we have encountered (147) so that we can track them. We don’t want to continually check old Pastes that we have already looked at. Lines 151-154: now we send off our request to the Pastebin scraping API. If you have not properly put your IP address into their whitelist, this will fail and the function will return an empty list of hits (154).
now we send off our request to the Pastebin scraping API. If you have not properly put your IP address into their whitelist, this will fail and the function will return an empty list of hits (154). Line 157: we parse the JSON response so that we can walk through the results.
we parse the JSON response so that we can walk through the results. Lines 160-164: as mentioned previously, we want to be able to track all of the Pastebin IDs that we have previously checked. We check to see if this file exists (160) and if it does we open it up (161) and then read all of the Pastebin IDs into a list (162). If we don’t have any previously tracked IDs we create a new empty list to hold all of the IDs we are about to process (164).
as mentioned previously, we want to be able to track all of the Pastebin IDs that we have previously checked. We check to see if this file exists (160) and if it does we open it up (161) and then read all of the Pastebin IDs into a list (162). If we don’t have any previously tracked IDs we create a new empty list to hold all of the IDs we are about to process (164). Lines 166-170: we begin walking through the results (166) and if the Paste ID has not been seen yet (168) we add it to our list of new Paste IDs (170).
we begin walking through the results (166) and if the Paste ID has not been seen yet (168) we add it to our list of new Paste IDs (170). Lines 174-175: we send a secondary request (174) to retrieve the full body of the Paste and then normalize it to all lowercase (175).
we send a secondary request (174) to retrieve the full body of the Paste and then normalize it to all lowercase (175). Lines 177-182: we setup a list to hold our keyword hits (177), and then walk through the list of keywords (172) and check to see if they are found in the Paste body (181). If a keyword matches we add it to our keyword_hits list (182).
we setup a list to hold our keyword hits (177), and then walk through the list of keywords (172) and check to see if they are found in the Paste body (181). If a keyword matches we add it to our list (182). Lines 184-187: if there were any hits (184) for the current paste we add the hits and the full content of the Paste (185) to our paste_hits dictionary, which is keyed by the Paste ID.
if there were any hits (184) for the current paste we add the hits and the full content of the Paste (185) to our dictionary, which is keyed by the Paste ID. Lines 190-198: now that we have finished checking the keywords we open our log file of Paste IDs (190) and then write out each of the Paste IDs (192,194). We then return the hits so that we can use them in our alert emails (198).
If you have survived thus far, don’t worry we are nearly finished! We are going to create a wrapper function that will handle calling our other functions and handing back the results for alerting. Let’s do this now:
def check_keywords(keywords): alert_email = {} time_start = time.time() # use the list of keywords and check each against searx for keyword in keywords: # query searx for the keyword result = check_searx(keyword) if len(result): if not alert_email.has_key("searx"): alert_email['searx'] = {} alert_email['searx'][keyword] = result # now we check Pastebin for new pastes result = check_pastebin(keywords) if len(result.keys()): # we have results so include it in the alert email alert_email['pastebin'] = result time_end = time.time() total_time = time_end - time_start # if we complete the above inside of the max_sleep_time setting # we sleep. This is for Pastebin rate limiting if total_time < max_sleep_time: sleep_time = max_sleep_time - total_time print "[*] Sleeping for %d s" % sleep_time time.sleep(sleep_time) return alert_email 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 def check_keywords ( keywords ) : alert_email = { } time_start = time . time ( ) # use the list of keywords and check each against searx for keyword in keywords : # query searx for the keyword result = check_searx ( keyword ) if len ( result ) : if not alert_email . has_key ( "searx" ) : alert_email [ 'searx' ] = { } alert_email [ 'searx' ] [ keyword ] = result # now we check Pastebin for new pastes result = check_pastebin ( keywords ) if len ( result . keys ( ) ) : # we have results so include it in the alert email alert_email [ 'pastebin' ] = result time_end = time . time ( ) total_time = time_end - time_start # if we complete the above inside of the max_sleep_time setting # we sleep. This is for Pastebin rate limiting if total_time < max_sleep_time : sleep_time = max_sleep_time - total_time print "[*] Sleeping for %d s" % sleep_time time . sleep ( sleep_time ) return alert_email
This is pretty straightforward code, but let’s break the major points down:
Line 203: we setup our alert_email dictionary that our send_alert function will use to send email alerts.
we setup our dictionary that our function will use to send email alerts. Line 205: we note the current time so that we can measure how long it takes for our keyword searches to occur. This is important later in the function.
we note the current time so that we can measure how long it takes for our keyword searches to occur. This is important later in the function. Lines 207-218: this little block is responsible for walking through our list of keywords (207) and then checking our Searx instance (211) for hits. If there are any (213) we add them to our alert_email dictionary (218).
this little block is responsible for walking through our list of keywords (207) and then checking our Searx instance (211) for hits. If there are any (213) we add them to our dictionary (218). Lines 221-226: we check Pastebin for any results (221) and if we have results (223) we add them to our alert_email dictionary (226).
we check Pastebin for any results (221) and if we have results (223) we add them to our dictionary (226). Lines 229-240: we take another timestamp (229) and then subtract the time_start we collected above (230) to determine the total execution time. If we have completed our searches in less than the max_sleep_time (234), we determine how long we need to sleep for (236) and then sleep (240). This is so that we are always staying within the suggested rate limiting times that Pastebin recommends. My recommendation is to leave the 120 seconds setting in place.
Alright! The last thing we need to do is write a little loop that will handle calling our check_keywords and send_alert functions repeatedly. Let’s add this little bit of code now:
# execute your search once first to populate results check_keywords(keywords) # now perform the main loop while True: alert_email = check_keywords(keywords) if len(alert_email.keys()): # if we have alerts send them out send_alert(alert_email) 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 # execute your search once first to populate results check_keywords ( keywords ) # now perform the main loop while True : alert_email = check_keywords ( keywords ) if len ( alert_email . keys ( ) ) : # if we have alerts send them out send_alert ( alert_email )
Pretty straightforward. We just run the check_keywords function once to set a baseline (this won’t send any alerts), and then run an infinite loop to keep checking keywords, and sending alerts if there are results. It will do this over and over again until you stop the script from executing.
Let It Rip
Now it’s time to shine! Open a new file in the same directory as your keywordmonitor.py script and name it keywords.txt. Add the keywords you want to monitor, one per line to the file. In my case it would look like:
jms_dot_py
[email protected]
Save this file and run the keyword monitor from within Wing (Debug Menu -> Set Current as Main Debug File and then click the Play button) or from the command line. Make sure you have your keywords loaded into a keywords.txt file that lives in the same directory as your Python script.
You will start to see results showing up in your terminal like so:
searx@searx:~$ python keywordmonitor.py
[*] Querying Searx for: jms_dot_py
[*] New URL for jms_dot_py discovered: https://twitter.com/jms_dot_py/status/768559761818324992
[*] New URL for jms_dot_py discovered: https://twitter.com/jms_dot_py/status/826116048541859841
[*] New URL for jms_dot_py discovered: https://twitter.com/jms_dot_py/status/791704263999295488
[*] Querying Searx for: automatingosint.com
[*] Querying Searx for: [email protected]
[*] New URL for [email protected] discovered: https://computercrimeinfo.com/wp/?cat=9&paged=2
[*] Querying Searx for: hunchly
[*] New URL for hunchly discovered: https://www.reddit.com/r/craftofintelligence/comments/5otcmz/bulk_extracting_exif_metadata_with_hunchly_and/
[*] Successfully processed 48 Pastebin posts.
[*] Sleeping for 97 s
[!] Alert email sent!
And there you have it, you would have an email in your inbox that has the keywords and associated links. Leaving your virtual machine running or setting up Searx on a Digital Ocean droplet (get 2 free months here) will give you 24/7 monitoring of those keywords.
As a quick test, head to Pastebin.com and enter a paste that has one of your keywords in it. You should receive an email in a few minutes showing you the hit. How cool is that? |
HomeAway.co.uk, the home of Holiday-Rentals®, is part of the HomeAway family. As the world leader in holiday rentals, we offer the largest selection of properties for any travel occasion and every budget. We’re committed to helping families and friends find the perfect holiday rental to create unforgettable travel experiences together.
4 * Magnificent C18th Rectory and Cottage Sleeps 26 with Huge Garden
Retreat from the busy world to this majestic 18th Century old property with huge Garden on the mountain slopes of the wild Pembrokeshire coastline over looking the Sea. We provide perfect facilities for your holiday, retreat or workshop for groups of up to 17 for the Old Rectory and 6 for the Cottage. If you combine both the Rectory and Cottage we can welcome up to 26. Highlights include; 9 bedrooms, three separate living rooms (that also include 3 double couch/beds) with inglenook fireplace, 6 bathrooms, a private 1 acre of romantic wild garden, excellent self-catering facilities, and a 4 star Welsh Tourist Board Rating.
We are surrounded by an open panorama of breathtaking views which are visible throughout the house. Behind us, the enchanted Carn Ingli (Angel Mountain), and in front, Newport Bay. From your doorstep, you can explore a web of beautiful walks through sacred sites, mountains, woods and valleys, and the incredible Pembrokeshire coast path.
We are an independent family business, and we are always on-call to help your stay go smoothly. We make it simple so you can just enjoy your time in this special place.
Please see the link to our website for much more information. Just scroll down until you see a 'More Information' area that has our link...
Overview
Details
house
3,000
sq. ft.
People
18
Bedrooms
6
Bathrooms
3
Minimum Stay
2 - 7 nights
Description
The Old Rectory
Retreat from the busy world to this majestic 18th Century Rectory on the mountain slopes of the wild Pembrokeshire coastline. We provide perfect facilities for your holiday, retreat or workshop for groups of up to 18. Highlights include; 6 bedrooms, a cosy living room with inglenook fireplace, a large workshop space (or second living room) with big bay windows with a double couch bed in each one, a private 2/3 acre of romantic wild garden, and a 4 star Welsh Tourist Board Rating.
We are surrounded by an open panorama of breathtaking views which are visible throughout the house. Behind us, the enchanted Carn Ingli (Angel Mountain), and in front, Newport Bay. From your doorstep, you can explore a web of beautiful walks through sacred sites, mountains, woods and valleys, and the incredible Pembrokeshire coast path.
We are an independent family business, and we are always on-call to help your stay go smoothly. We make it simple so you can just enjoy your time in this special place.
Old Rectory / Retreat Cottage
Retreat from the busy world to this majestic 18th Century old property with huge Garden on the mountain slopes of the wild Pembrokeshire coastline over looking the Sea. We provide perfect facilities for your holiday, retreat or workshop for groups of up to 17 for the Old Rectory and 6 for the Cottage. If you combine both the Rectory and Cottage we can welcome up to 26. Highlights include; 9 bedrooms, three separate living rooms (that also include 3 double couch/beds) with inglenook fireplace, 6 bathrooms, a private 1 acre of romantic wild garden, excellent self-catering facilities, and a 4 star Welsh Tourist Board Rating.
We are surrounded by an open panorama of breathtaking views which are visible throughout the house. Behind us, the enchanted Carn Ingli (Angel Mountain), and in front, Newport Bay. From your doorstep, you can explore a web of beautiful walks through sacred sites, mountains, woods and valleys, and the incredible Pembrokeshire coast path.
We are an independent family business, and we are always on-call to help your stay go smoothly. We make it simple so you can just enjoy your time in this special place.
Please see the link to our website for much more information. Just scroll down until you see a 'More Information' area that has our link...
Rarely does a property have such a splendid private location, such a lovingly done restoration and comfortable improvements. This 300 year Old Rectory and Sunny Retreat Cottage sits on the lower slope of Carn Ingli (mountain of Angels) with a spectacular view of the Newport Bay and cliffs . Just one mile from the small picturesque town Newport in North Pembrokeshire, it considered to be the connoisseur's choice of holiday areas in Wales.
What makes this house unique
If you have a large party, you can use all of the 3 living rooms, and acre of garden how you wish with no neighbours to disturb you. Your workshop, wedding, quite retreat, reunion or holiday will be undisturbed by others. You will be hard pressed to find anything like The Old Rectory and Cottage in such a beautiful pristine location and just a mile from the beautiful little town of Newport.
Available Rentals
- Enter dates for accurate pricing
Notes
We have adjusted rates for less than 14 at 11 and 8 people as well. Important note: nightly pricing is not listed, because it will vary according to length of stay and weekend nights verses weekdays, and the popularity of the season. Please see our website for more information at: www.go-wales.org
The Old Rectory sleeps 13 in 6 bedrooms plus 4 on two sofa beds, each in a separate living room. Bed linens are provided. All bedrooms have drawers and hanging space, a small safe, a radiator with individual temperature control, and sea views. Cots are also available and can be moved to suit needs. Please note that cot linens are not provided, and only one set of bed linens are provided for each bed, so please bring more if you will need them.
Entertainment:
Audio Tape Player
Books
Books for Kids
CD Player
DVD Player
DVR
Games ...
MP3 Dock
Piano
Radio
Satellite / Cable
Stereo
Television
Toys
Video Player
Outside:
Deck Furniture
Golf ...
Garden ...
Outdoor Furniture
Barbecue
Tennis ...
Yard
20 garden chairs
Suitability:
Groups
Long-term Renters Welcome
Low Allergen Environment
Singles
Onsite Services:
Massage
Private Chef
Staff
Attractions:
autumn foliage
bay
botanical garden
caves
churches
laundrette - not serviced
festivals
forests
library
live theatre
marina
playground
restaurants
ruins
waterfalls
Leisure Activities:
beachcombing
bird watching
eco tourism
horse riding
photography
scenic drives
sight seeing
sledding
walking
Local Services & Businesses:
ATM/bank
Babysitter
fitness centre
groceries
hospital
laundrette - serviced
massage therapist
medical services
Sports & Adventure Activities:
cycling
deepsea fishing
equestrian events
fishing
freshwater fishing
golf
hiking
jet skiing
mountain biking
mountain climbing
mountaineering
paragliding
pier fishing
rafting
roller blading
sailing
diving
bay fishing
caving
surf fishing
surfing
swimming
tennis
water skiing
water tubing
whitewater rafting
wind-surfing
Notes:
Self-Catering Facilities: We provide a well equipped kitchen. Please see our site or enquire for details. The dining room seats 22 around one table with the lobby area in the kitchen having seating for up to 5. Outside dining for 18 with barbecue. A high chair is also available on request. Living Areas: -The downstairs living room seats 9 and has a lovely inglenook fireplace (logs provided) that is perfect for relaxing cosy nights in. There is room for extra seating to be moved in if you all want to be seated together. -For holiday rentals, the flexible workshop space on the 1st floor is set-up as a second living room. General Utilities: Central heating, log fire with logs provided, Broadband internet (Wifi), TV with 'Sky' box ('Cable'), VHS and DVD/CD player, telephone (with limited calls). laundry and washing machine, clothes dryeriron + board, cleaning supplies and hoover. Off-street parking for 6 cars outside. All of the utilities and services are included in the rental price
Reviews
Wonderful!4.9/5 -
(11 traveller reviews)
Half term in Pembrokeshire
We had the most fantastic week staying at the Old Rectory and Retreat. The house was brilliantly situated and well equipped. Newport the local village was just great - delicious restaurants, great pubs and shops; especially the butcher!... You could get everything you need there although Fishguard had a Tesco. Loads to do and stunning beaches close by especially Traith (you can see it from the house). Thoroughly recommend staying here - terrific value and nothing seemed to be too much trouble.
Review Submitted: Feb 24, 2009
Date of Stay: Feb 2009
Source: HomeAway
Owner's Response: After 14 years of offering my treasured Old Rectory and Retreat Cottage as a holiday destination it always fills me with joy to read the guest book and witness so many happy people having such a wonderful time in this precious place. All the regulars that have come back over a 10 year period notice the improvements each year and love this place as their home.
As a team we wish to give the best service and we seem to attract such great people such as this family. Sharing this beloved coastline, area, town and house is such a rewarding adventure.
It is only found by a discerning few. Indeed there are more coves, beaches and mountain paths than places to stay. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park will keep it that way.
We invite all new and returning guests to a warm welcome at our Old Rectory and Retreat Cottage that can accommodate a luxury Cottage for 2 or up to 14 in the Rectory, or larger group up to 18 in both properties.
Please email or call anytime for us to help you have a great time. Deanna, Colin and Gillie
Ideal house for a large gathering !!!
The Old Rectory is a lovely house and was perfect for our annual family holiday. It is really well equipped and in a beautiful setting with wonderful views. The owners were very responsive to any enquiries and have actively responded to the feedback that we gave (e.g. chimenea for the garden) We have already booked to return for another holiday and look forward to seeing the planned improvements of the games room and completion of the landscaping of the garden.
Perfect spot for a sunny wedding week
We spent 10 days at the rectory to celebrate our marriage, we had family the first weekend and friends the next with a marquee in the garden. The house was great and provided us with everything we needed to have a perfect week - long walks on your door step, kayaking, cycling, pubs, cafes and a lovely house to relax in. The owner was always happy to answer my long lists of questions and was very easy going which gave it all a very laid back feel which is what we were after.
Full of character and charm
if your after old style nooks and crannies, country kitchen (with adjoining dining room), wood burner and cosy rooms (double bedrooms en suite) with great views, then this place is for you. Great little village of Newport, with two or three good pubs, just down the road and the Preseli's, Carn Ingli and the stunning Pembrokeshire coast just over the brow. Visit Pentre Ifan burial tomb (& Ty Canol Nature Reserve), the coastal path and have a pint in Tafarn Sinc after a walk over Foel Cwmcerwyn (highest point in the Preseli's, not far from where the famous Stonehenge Bluestones come from). Amazing!
Pembrokeshire is a place of magic, mystery & enchantment with wild landscapes, imbued with five-thousand years of deeply layered history and culture. From the Neolithics through to Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table, our area was of great spiritual significance to its early inhabitants, and an abundance of ancient monuments, relics, and sacred sites still surround us today.
A web of public footpaths take you right from our doorstep through incredible and varied landscapes. Explore fairy-tale wooded valleys, heather-clad open moorlands, the charged Bluestone outcrops of Carn-Ingli (Angel Mountain*), Newport's* Mile-long beach, and the wild windswept clifftops of the renowned Pembrokeshire coast path.
The medieval town of Newport remains in another era. The Norman church and castle stand proudly over the tightly winding streets, with family run shops and gnarly old pubs still bustling with true welsh charm. |
Hayden: Syrian site could have produced fuel for 2 weapons
Tuesday
Apr 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 29, 2008 at 8:33 PM
CIA Director Michael Hayden said Monday that the alleged Syrian nuclear reactor destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in September would have produced enough plutonium for one or two bombs within a year of becoming operational.
By PAMELA HESS
CIA Director Michael Hayden said Monday that the alleged Syrian nuclear reactor destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in September would have produced enough plutonium for one or two bombs within a year of becoming operational.
U.S. intelligence and administration officials publicly disclosed last week their assessment that Syria was building a covert nuclear reactor with North Korean assistance. They said it was modeled on the shuttered North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, which produced a small amount of plutonium. The Syrian site, they said, was within weeks or months of being operational.
“In the course of a year after they got full up they would have produced enough plutonium for one or two weapons,” Hayden told reporters after a speech at Georgetown University.
Almost all reactors produce plutonium, even those dedicated to peaceful purposes, according to David Albright, president of the nonprofit Institute for Science and International Security. Albright analyzed commercial satellite imagery of the bombed facility last fall and surmised then it was a nuclear reactor.
Neither the United States nor Israel told the International Atomic Energy Agency about the Syrian site until last week, about a year after they obtained what they considered to be decisive intelligence: dozens of photographs from a handheld camera that showed both the interior and exterior of the mysterious compound in Syria’s eastern desert.
From the CIA’s perspective, that intelligence was not the United States’ to share with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Hayden said.
“We’ve made it clear we did not have complete control over the totality of the information because obviously it was the result of a team effort,” he said. “One has to respect the origin of the information in terms of how it is used.”
The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency chastised the United States on Friday for withholding information on the alleged Syrian reactor. One of the IAEA’s missions is to try to prevent nuclear proliferation, and it depends on member states for information.
A senior administration official told reporters last week that the United States kept the information secret after the Israeli strike because it feared revealing it might provoke Syria to strike back at Israel. |
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