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University in sexism row paid female staff less
Only weeks earlier, University College London, pictured, had asked for Sir Tim's resignation over alleged sexist remarksTimes Newspapers Ltd
The university at the centre of the Sir Tim Hunt sexism affair has admitted discriminating against its female staff.
University College London has been castigated by its academics and accused of hypocrisy after underpaying women at its Qatari campus.
The news comes weeks after the university asked for the resignation of Sir Tim, the Nobel prizewinning scientist who was accused of making sexist remarks in a speech.
The director of UCL’s outpost in the Gulf state condemned his institute’s policy of paying far lower housing allowances to married women than to married men as “morally and legally not acceptable” in an internal email released to The Times.
Senior staff were warned of a “major reputational risk for UCL” that could undermine the existence of its…
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Q:
How should be defined the options dictionary for PDFView usePageViewController withViewOptions:
How should be defined a dictionary of options for a pageViewController for a PDFView from PDFKit?
I am interested particulari with this flag
UIPageViewController.NavigationOrientation.horizontal
let pdfv = PDFView.init(frame: self.view.frame)
let opt = ?????
pdfv.usePageViewController(true, withViewOptions: opt)
A:
The ViewOptions contains only 2 options: interPageSpacing and spineLocation: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uipageviewcontroller/optionskey
Exemple: pdfv.usePageViewController(true, withViewOptions: ["interPageSpacing": 50])
If you want to change the pageViewController direction to horizontal, use this code:
pdfv.displayDirection = .horizontal
Hope this helps.
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ray ban rb3025 arista polarized
About Us Services Resources Case Studies Get Involved News Contact Us Call on 01904 663 000 Email us Jorvik Group Construction Online UVDB Verify Archaelogical Awards Accredited Museums IFA SMAS York Archaeological Trust for Excavation and Research Limited.ray ban 2140 tortoise sunglasses australia Tell us what's in your fridge and we'll create a recipe eg: chicken, mince, lamb eg: pasta, carrots, cheese Find Recipe Today's poll On the 5:2 diet. Equal opportunity and upward mobility have been very central to her political ideals from the start, said Robert Reich, who was President Bill Clinton's labor secretary and has known Hillary Clinton since college.
Stockwatch: Why shares remain preferred asset Our ServicesOur AccountsShare and Fund Account ISAsWhy us.ray ban cats 1000 gebraucht automatik The interiors are cosy and comfortable with local wood panelling and a large lounge at the heart of the chalet with inviting sofas around an open fireplace. As the strength of the SDF increases, the value of this military force in lesser emergencies will be even more apparent.ray ban large aviators sale usa
We shared the same doubts, heartache, terror, and were part of a community that can never be fully explained or understood unless experienced first had. Her tits are just the perfect size for a mouthful and her nipples are so enticing that a man will never hesitate to lick and nibble them until they are hard as candies. You probably won't be able to use it in shops and restaurants although this should change as the currency becomes more popular.ray ban aviator womens small wallet
Again, whether you fully believe Donaghy or not, he does provide a fascinating perspective into the world of refereeing that simply no one else can provide.
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Q:
Is there a word for 'a person who can't differentiate between right and wrong'?
What would we call a person who cannot differentiate between right and wrong?
I want to use this in my prose in a context as:
IMO, people who think Kim Jong Un is a great leader are [don't want to say stupid or unintelligent].
What can be used here?
A:
The word amoral may be what you want, but people who act amorally may be able to differentiate between what others call right and wrong, but they do not recognize any worth in the distinction and act accordingly. For a term that means someone who who does not recognize the difference between right and wrong, we can go back to the somewhat-archaic term moral imbecile. Such persons need not be intellectually impaired, but they are incapable of intellectually understanding other's distinction between good and evil and unable to have any emotional connection to the concepts. A clinical description may be found in Mental Deficiency (amentia) by A F Tredgold (1922).
A:
From your example, it sounds like you are talking not about someone who is incapable of morality, but rather someone who lacks judgment about someone else's morality. Such a person could be described as naive ( those who are picky about diacritics would render it naïve, note the two dots above the 'i' ).
A:
People who can't differentiate between right and wrong (have no moral compass) are amoral
Google Definition:
adjective
lacking a moral sense; unconcerned with the rightness or wrongness of something.
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1) Field of the Invention
The invention herein relates to a window curtain tieback device comprised of a draw bar inserted into the bottom end of a body and, furthermore, after the draw bar has been inserted therein, a joint section is formed between it and the bottom wall surface of the body; a torsion spring is positioned in the hinge section at the top end of the said draw bar and, furthermore, the top end of the draw bar is hinged via an insertion pin to a top support member such that one end of the top support member is secured to the side of the body and the other end is positionally inserted into the joint section formed between the bottom end of the body and the draw bar; threaded fastening holes in the horizontal surface of the top support member consist of a protruding form such that when installed to walls, the protruding area not only substitutes as a washer, but also eliminates projecting fasteners when attached to wall surfaces; as such, the invention herein provides a window curtain tieback device that is simple to assemble and, furthermore, attractive in appearance.
2) Description of the Prior Art
At present, window curtains are installed in homes and mass transportation vehicles (such as trains and buses). When sunlight blockage is not required and they are pulled open, the curtains are draped onto hooks at the sides of the windows and tacked in position by small bands. However, this tieback method is actually quite troublesome and, furthermore, the small bands for binding around the hooks are easily lost, leaving no means of tacking the draped window curtains. Resulting situations commonly observed include users securing the window curtains in various random ways or finding an odd length of cord for typing them in place. Regardless of the particular approach, the ends of the window curtains usually end up in unsightly knots.
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Recent days have seen the simmering tension between Apple and Facebook reach an unprecedented level, after months of back-and-forth sniping, veiled potshots and a cold war between the two tech titans that suddenly became quasi-hot.
The CEOs of both companies have taken shots at the other via public remarks before, but this week saw something remarkable — Apple blocked Facebook’s ability to work on beta versions of Facebook iOS apps internally as punishment for the creepy app you may have heard about that Facebook installed on some people’s phones to monitor everything they do. Apple has since restored Facebook’s enterprise developer certificates, which returns things to the status quo, but it does raise a question.
If this was a warning shot of sorts from the iPhone maker, what would happen if its pro-privacy CEO ever decides … that’s it. A line has been crossed, and Facebook definitely needs to be banned from the App Store now. What then?
It’s not that far-fetched of a reality, and we actually have a good idea of what might happen next if Apple ever decides to go down that road. First and foremost, “Apple couldn’t simply ban all of Facebook with a button click,” The Verge notes in a new piece on the brouhaha. “It would have to ban every developer account that spans Facebook’s app portfolio, which means banning the accounts for Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook itself, among those for other, smaller apps. That would be an unusual move, too, since Apple typically blocks developers on a per-app basis, rather than as a full account, iOS developer Phill Farrugia tells The Verge.”
Another thing important to remember right off the bat — yes, it would sting, but Facebook would keep trucking along. Android phones, of course, wouldn’t be affected by Apple’s action. Yes, the OS is more popular internationally, but it’s worth bringing up because it’s also easy to forget that of Facebook’s 2.3 billion users, the US is less than one-tenth of that total.
Among specific steps Facebook could take in the wake of an App Store ban, iOS developer Kiran Panesar tells The Verge the social network could encourage iOS users to switch to the mobile web version of the app. However, it wouldn’t be as fast or as smooth a user experience. The push notifications would also work different. And Facebook would have to rethink some things entirely, given the fact that with Instagram’s mobile web experience, for example, you can’t upload new posts through it.
Facebook itself discloses to its investors that there’s always a small chance of something like this happening. Public companies are required to spell out risk factors in various documentation for investors, and in a recent SEC filing, Facebook noted that any changes “in our relationships with mobile operating system partners … could adversely affect the usage of Facebook.” All of which is to say — Facebook has most definitely thought about this happening.
We should reiterate that this is nowhere near a likely scenario, but it’s still interesting to think about what could happen if things ever get to that point. Per The Verge: “Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other Facebook properties have been among the top free App Store apps for years. Analysts estimate that they’re also among the most used apps on peoples’ phones, too. Apple would have to be okay with not only angering Facebook, but also disrupting its users’ lives. Without popular apps, the iPhone doesn’t do nearly as much … Apple may not like Facebook, but it’s reliant on the rival tech giant, too.”
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Q:
using push_back on objects ,c++
I don't understand something about push_back.
When I use push_back on an object , does it copy all its elements using the object's
copy constructor? (what if the object doesn't have copy constructor?)
another question:
vector<Course*> cs;
Course* c = new CScourse(); //CScourse inherits Course
cs.push_back(c);
if I use
delete c;
would it delete what I just pushed into the vector?
A:
Yes every objects are copied in a vector. If the vector has to grow, each element will be copied to the new location. In your case, you are storing pointers to Course so only the pointers get copied, the actual objects remain the same.
If you delete c;, it will indeed delete the object pointed to by c that you pushed in your vector. The vector will still contain a pointer to the object that was c though, this is considered a dangling pointer. You would usually remove it from your vector before deleting it.
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1. Introduction {#sec1-ijerph-15-01836}
===============
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most commonly prescribed medications for inflammatory and musculoskeletal conditions \[[@B1-ijerph-15-01836],[@B2-ijerph-15-01836]\]. Their mechanism of action consists of the inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes. This in turn impairs the synthesis and downstream effects of prostaglandins, prostacyclins, and thromboxanes. NSAIDs include traditional NSAIDs (e.g., ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen) and selective COX-2 inhibitors (coxibs). While NSAID treatment is associated with an increased risk of serious upper gastrointestinal (GI) events, this risk can be mitigated by prescribing a coxib rather than a non-selective NSAID \[[@B3-ijerph-15-01836],[@B4-ijerph-15-01836]\].
The EPISER study \[[@B5-ijerph-15-01836]\] reported a rate of NSAID-related GI complications of 23.7%. Several epidemiological studies have attempted to estimate the risk of cardiovascular and GI events associated with NSAID use in general and with the use of individual NSAIDs \[[@B6-ijerph-15-01836],[@B7-ijerph-15-01836]\]. The increased risk of gastrointestinal damage is common to all NSAIDs studied, is dose dependent, and is associated with long-term use \[[@B8-ijerph-15-01836]\]. Specifically, digestive adverse events should be monitored.
Gastropathy is one of the most important health problems caused by NSAIDs. Its clinical expression varies considerably, ranging from dyspepsia to serious complications that require hospitalisation (e.g., upper GI bleeding) \[[@B8-ijerph-15-01836],[@B9-ijerph-15-01836]\]. The risk of NSAID-associated gastropathy can be increased by a variety of patient-related (e.g., age, history of peptic ulcer, smoking, alcohol consumption) and treatment-related (dose, duration, and type of NSAID used) factors, and by the concomitant use of other drugs including systemic corticosteroids, oral anticoagulants, platelet aggregation inhibitors, and other NSAIDs \[[@B10-ijerph-15-01836],[@B11-ijerph-15-01836]\]. Where possible, physicians may prescribe lower doses of NSAIDs for short durations to reduce the risk of serious upper GI events, particularly in the subgroup of patients with the greatest background risk \[[@B8-ijerph-15-01836],[@B10-ijerph-15-01836]\].
NSAID use is high \[[@B1-ijerph-15-01836]\], and is associated with the concomitant consumption of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which are frequently used to prevent NSAID-induced GI damage \[[@B12-ijerph-15-01836]\]. In this analysis of NSAID consumption in a cohort of workers, we analysed patterns of NSAID prescription and characterized the profile of heavy NSAID users and the consumption of PPIs by individuals prescribed NSAIDs.
2. Materials and Methods {#sec2-ijerph-15-01836}
========================
The Aragon Workers' Health Study (AWHS) is a prospective longitudinal study, with the aim of characterizing cardiometabolic factors in a population of middle-aged Mediterranean workers. We analysed data from routine annual health examinations of workers at a Spanish automobile assembly plant in Figueruelas, Zaragoza (Spain), who voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. The participants (*n* = 5650) were recruited between February 2009 and May 2010. Most of the workers in the cohort (86.5% of men and 60.5% of women) performed manual tasks. Active follow-up of participants is expected to continue through 2020. Further information on the AWHS can be found in Casasnovas et al. \[[@B13-ijerph-15-01836]\].
This observational descriptive study was designed to assess the prevalence of NSAID use in the AWHS cohort, and to characterise heavy NSAID users and the prescribing patterns of NSAIDs and associated gastroprotective agents in 2014. NSAID prescription data for AWHS participants was gathered from FarmaSalud, the prescription database of the government of Aragon, the Spanish autonomous community in which the assembly plant is located. This database collects data on all prescriptions dispensed at pharmacies in Aragon via the public health care system (i.e., prescribed by either a company physician or by general practitioners working in the public health system). FarmaSalud does not record prescriptions issued by private physicians or hospitals. Each record in the database corresponds to a prescription and contains the following information: an anonymous patient code, patient sex and birth date, dispensing date, Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) code of the prescribed drug, number of defined daily doses (DDD), and number of packages dispensed. Drugs are classified according to the 2016 version of the World Health Organization ATC/DDD system \[[@B14-ijerph-15-01836]\]. Using an encrypted code provided by AWHS researchers, we identified prescriptions corresponding to NSAIDs (ATC code M01A).
Rates of dispensation per 100 workers and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. Rates were calculated as the number of individuals per 100 workers who filled at least one prescription for an NSAID in 2014. Data were further analysed after stratification for age and sex.
To assess the use of gastroprotective agents in conjunction with NSAIDs, we assessed the concomitant use of NSAIDs and proton pump inhibitors (PPI), which is the class of drug most commonly used to prevent NSAID-induced gastropathy in Spain \[[@B12-ijerph-15-01836]\]. Patients were categorised as users of gastroprotective agents if they filled a prescription for a PPI (ATC code A02BC) within two months of filling the first NSAID prescription (set as index date). Among workers treated with NSAIDs, the concomitant use of other drugs that increase the risk of GI damage was also analysed. The drugs included in this analysis were platelet aggregation inhibitors (B01AC), anticoagulants (B01AA, B01AB, B01AE, B01AF), corticosteroids (H02, with the exception of topically or locally applied corticosteroids), and selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs, ATC code N06AB). Concomitantly prescribed drugs were defined as those prescribed within two months of the NSAID prescription. A χ^2^ test was used to compare the use of gastroprotective agents. Statistical significance was set at *p* \< 0.05.
The annual amount of DDDs was used to categorise the NSAID consumption. We set the limit for low use to 30 DDDs and chronic use to more than 90 DDDs. Lorenz curves were used to identify heavy consumers of NSAIDs within the cohort. This analytical tool was applied to NSAID use to highlight the unequal distribution of drug consumption within the study population \[[@B15-ijerph-15-01836],[@B16-ijerph-15-01836]\]. In the Lorenz curve, the *x*-axis represents the accumulated percentage of drug users and the *y*-axis the accumulated percentage of total consumption (DDD) per year. Thus, it shows the proportion of drug use accounted for by percentiles of drugs users, ranked according to their volume of consumption, measured in DDD. We defined heavy users of NSAIDs as those above the 95th percentile of consumption (i.e., the 5% of patients with the highest DDD values). Within this group, distribution by age and prescribing patterns per pharmacological subgroup were compared with those observed for the remainder of NSAID consumers (non-heavy users). The two groups were compared using a χ^2^ test, with statistical significance set at *p* \< 0.05.
3. Ethics {#sec3-ijerph-15-01836}
=========
Participants in the AWHS provided written informed consent on enrolment. The present study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Aragon (RAB-EST-2014-01. FIS13/1668. Approved February 2014).
4. Results {#sec4-ijerph-15-01836}
==========
Of the 5650 participants in the AWHS, 2294 (40.7%) filled at least one prescription for an NSAID in 2014. Analysis of the rate of prescription of NSAIDs by age group and sex ([Table 1](#ijerph-15-01836-t001){ref-type="table"}) revealed a higher rate in older age groups. In men, the rate for those under 50 years of age was the lowest rate: 32.9% (95% CI 30.3--35.5), while the highest rate was observed for those over 59 years of age (46.7%, 95% CI 43.7--49.7). For women, the total rate of dispensation of NSAIDs was 38.4%. NSAID consumption in this group also increased with age, with higher rates observed in the oldest age group (over 55 years).
The most commonly prescribed NSAID subgroup was non-selective NSAIDs: prescriptions for drugs corresponding to the ATC codes M01AE (propionic acid derivatives) and M01AB (acetic acid derivatives) were filled by 69.9% and 28.9% of workers, respectively. The next most prescribed subgroups were M01AX that includes symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOAs) and M01AH (selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors or coxibs). Ibuprofen was the most frequently prescribed NSAID (48.2% of workers treated with NSAIDs were prescribed this drug). The next most commonly prescribed traditional NSAIDs were diclofenac and dexketoprofen. Etoricoxib was prescribed more frequently than celecoxib, while chondroitin sulfate was the most prescribed drug of the M01AX subgroup.
Of the participants who were prescribed NSAIDs and PPIs, 71.7% were over 55 years of age. In the group of workers that used NSAIDs without gastroprotection, 311 (22.5%) were over 59 years of age. The prescription of gastroprotective agents was significantly higher in patients who were being treated with NSAIDs and platelet aggregation inhibitors, anticoagulants, or corticosteroids, although not all workers using these drugs associated with a high risk of GI events had been prescribed a PPI ([Table 2](#ijerph-15-01836-t002){ref-type="table"}).
NSAID: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. PPI: Proton Pump Inhibitors. SSRI: Selective Serotonin-Reuptake Inhibitor. Anticoagulants (Vitamin K antagonists 13 patients; Heparins: 24 patients; Direct factor Xa inhibitors: three patients). People treated with an NSAID and PPI filled a prescription for a PPI within two months of filling the first NSAID prescription (Attached to [Table 2](#ijerph-15-01836-t002){ref-type="table"}).
The total consumption of NSAIDs in the cohort was 76 DDD/1000 inhabitants per day (DID) in 2014. In total, 1130 workers were prescribed \<31 DDD of NSAIDs, while 484 (21.1%) were prescribed \>90 DDD. The Lorenz curve ([Figure 1](#ijerph-15-01836-f001){ref-type="fig"}) deviated to the extreme upper left, indicating that a small number of workers (heavy users) accounted for a substantial portion of the total number of DDDs. Heavy NSAID users in our study, defined as those above the 95th percentile of consumption, were responsible for 26.6% of the total number of DDDs in the cohort. The mean consumption of NSAIDs within this group was 362 DDD/year.
Rates of prescription of coxibs (14.2% vs. 6.8%, *p* \< 0.001) and SYSADOAs (37.8% vs. 16.3%, *p* \< 0.001) among heavy NSAID users were significantly higher than those observed for non-heavy users ([Table 3](#ijerph-15-01836-t003){ref-type="table"}).
5. Discussion {#sec5-ijerph-15-01836}
=============
NSAIDs were widely used in our cohort: 40.7% of workers received an NSAID prescription in 2014. This rate is considerably higher than the rates reported in other studies of the general population; a Finnish study conducted in 2000 reported a prevalence of 17.1% \[[@B17-ijerph-15-01836]\], while a 2005 study in Denmark reported a rate of 16.9% \[[@B18-ijerph-15-01836]\]. In Spain, a study carried out in Navarra found that 14% of the general population had been treated with an NSAID during the first three months of 2016 \[[@B19-ijerph-15-01836]\]. It should be borne in mind that our cohort mainly consisted of younger individuals, most of whom were men. A high rate of NSAID use would not be expected in this group; the subgroups with the highest rates of NSAID use are the elderly, women, and patients with rheumatic diseases \[[@B17-ijerph-15-01836],[@B18-ijerph-15-01836]\]. However, studies have shown a strong correlation between the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and NSAID use \[[@B17-ijerph-15-01836],[@B19-ijerph-15-01836]\]. As such, the fact that all participants in the present study were automotive industry workers, in whom the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders that require NSAID treatment may be increased \[[@B20-ijerph-15-01836]\], may explain the higher than expected rate of NSAID prescription observed.
Using the DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID) as the unit of measure, NSAID consumption in the cohort was 76 DID, which is significantly higher than that reported in Spain in 2012 (49 DID) \[[@B2-ijerph-15-01836]\] or in Navarra in 2016 (\<40 DID) \[[@B19-ijerph-15-01836]\]. However, the results of the analyses of the most commonly prescribed NSAIDs (ibuprofen and related compounds \[M01AE\]) were in agreement with those reported in previous studies \[[@B1-ijerph-15-01836],[@B17-ijerph-15-01836],[@B18-ijerph-15-01836],[@B19-ijerph-15-01836]\].
Several studies have shown that the use of NSAIDs is associated with many adverse effects and hospitalizations due to GI complications \[[@B6-ijerph-15-01836],[@B21-ijerph-15-01836]\]. According to a study by Laporte and coworkers \[[@B22-ijerph-15-01836]\], 38% of all cases of GI haemorrhage were attributable to the use of NSAIDs (152 cases per million inhabitants/year). Factors that increase NSAID-associated toxicity include age, a previous history of peptic ulcers, and the concomitant use of other drugs, including other NSAIDs, oral anticoagulants, platelet aggregation inhibitors (including low-dose aspirin), and corticosteroids \[[@B10-ijerph-15-01836]\].
In our cohort, 311 patients over 59 years of age were prescribed an NSAID without a gastroprotective agent. A recent study that analysed hospital admissions for NSAID-induced gastropathy found that the most common risk factors for these admissions were age and concomitant treatments with other drugs that enhance the GI toxicity of NSAIDs. The same study found that a large proportion of patients who met the criteria for gastroprotection were not prescribed gastroprotective drugs \[[@B21-ijerph-15-01836]\].
In agreement with previous findings \[[@B2-ijerph-15-01836],[@B19-ijerph-15-01836],[@B23-ijerph-15-01836]\], the most commonly used NSAIDs in the cohort were ibuprofen and diclofenac, which are associated with a low-to-intermediate risk of GI complications, depending on the doses used \[[@B24-ijerph-15-01836],[@B25-ijerph-15-01836],[@B26-ijerph-15-01836]\]. COX-2 inhibitors and SYSADOAs also have a lower GI risk profile. Our analyses revealed the possible underutilization of gastroprotective agents in individuals of over 60 years of age and in patients treated concomitantly with drugs that increase the risk of bleeding (e.g., platelet aggregation inhibitors and anticoagulants). Although other studies have reported inadequate gastroprotective treatment in patients treated with NSAIDs, either due to over- or underutilization \[[@B21-ijerph-15-01836],[@B23-ijerph-15-01836],[@B27-ijerph-15-01836],[@B28-ijerph-15-01836]\], patients treated with NSAIDs and concomitant platelet aggregation inhibitors usually receive gastroprotection \[[@B23-ijerph-15-01836]\]. However, the rate of use of gastroprotective agents is lower in patients treated with low-dose acetylsalicylic acid \[[@B2-ijerph-15-01836]\], for which there appears to be a lower perception of risk on the part of medical professionals. There is considerable variability in the literature regarding the use of gastroprotective agents in patients receiving concomitant NSAIDs and an SSRI agent: some studies have reported no increased risk of bleeding \[[@B6-ijerph-15-01836],[@B29-ijerph-15-01836]\], which may explain no differences in the use of gastroprotective agents in these patients in the cohort.
Methods used to detect high levels of drug consumption usually focus on patients who consume the highest number of DDDs per year \[[@B16-ijerph-15-01836],[@B17-ijerph-15-01836],[@B27-ijerph-15-01836]\]. In our cohort, NSAID use increased with age. Moreover, almost 75% of heavy users were 55 or older. Other studies have reported a high prevalence of heavy NSAID use among elderly patients \[[@B17-ijerph-15-01836],[@B27-ijerph-15-01836]\]. We found that among patients treated with NSAIDs, the prescription profile of heavy users differed to that of other users: a larger proportion of the former group were prescribed SYSADOAs and coxibs, while traditional NSAIDs were more commonly prescribed in the latter group.
In our cohort, chondroitin sulfate was the most commonly prescribed SYSADOA, particularly among heavy users of NSAIDs, despite a lack of solid evidence supporting its efficacy \[[@B30-ijerph-15-01836]\]. The latest revision of the NICE guide does not recommend the use of chondroitin sulfate in osteoarthritis patients \[[@B31-ijerph-15-01836]\], despite its good safety profile.
High doses and/or long treatment durations may account for the high levels of NSAID consumption observed in the heavy user subgroup. Both these scenarios are associated with an increased risk of GI toxicity \[[@B6-ijerph-15-01836],[@B8-ijerph-15-01836],[@B24-ijerph-15-01836],[@B27-ijerph-15-01836]\]. We found that heavy users were prescribed an average of 362 DDDs of an NSAID per year, implying a consumption of one standard dose per day for the entire year by participants in this group. Almost 75% of heavy users were older than 55 years. Both age and heavy use of NSAIDs are risk factors of gastrointestinal damage. In these situations, GPs are prone to select coxib or SYSADOA because these drugs have a low risk of gastrointestinal toxicity \[[@B6-ijerph-15-01836]\].
The main limitation of this study relates to the source of data used. In analysing the number of NSAID prescriptions dispensed at pharmacies in Aragon, we may have underestimated NSAID consumption in this population, since these drugs can be obtained without prescription. As such, the true rate of NSAID use may be higher than that reported here. Furthermore, because the prescription data available in the FarmaSalud database does not include clinical variables, it was not possible to determine the appropriateness of the treatments prescribed. This is an important factor to consider when assessing the relevance of gastroprotection in this group. Another limitation relates to the study population: since this cohort worked exclusively in the automotive sector, and the study population is largely composed of men, reflecting the sex distribution in the factory, the results obtained could present some differences with the general population.
Baseline data from the AWHS cohort show a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors \[[@B13-ijerph-15-01836]\]. Follow-up of this cohort will allow the assessment of cardiovascular events and study the relation with the drugs consumed, as NSAIDs.
6. Conclusions {#sec6-ijerph-15-01836}
==============
Based on our findings, we can conclude that the use of NSAIDs in this cohort of workers is much higher than that found in the general population, probably due to the greater prevalence of musculoskeletal pathologies associated with the specific work activities of the cohort. The cohort included a group of patients who were prescribed NSAIDs for very long periods of time, which may increase the risk of adverse effects associated with these drugs. Exposure of patients to long term use of NSAIDs should be reduced by regular analysis of a patient's pain and a consideration of other treatment options.
Physicians should carefully weigh the risks and benefits of prescribing NSAIDs in patients at a high risk of gastrointestinal damage: gastroprotection with PPI is necessary when dealing with older people or people treated with drugs that increases serious gastrointestinal events.
Conceptualization: M.J.L. and M.J.R. conceived the study; Data curation: C.F.; Formal analysis and statistical analysis: C.F.; Methodology: M.J.L., I.A.-P., and S.M.; Validation and data preparation for statistical analysis, C.F.; Writing---original draft: M.J.L.; Writing---review & editing manuscript: C.F., I.A.-P., S.M., and M.J.R. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
This study was funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, grant number (PI17/01704).
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvements with any organization or entity with a financial interest or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript.
{#ijerph-15-01836-f001}
ijerph-15-01836-t001_Table 1
######
Rate of dispensation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories stratificated for age and sex in the cohort of workers in 2014.
Age Groups (Years)
-------- -------------------- ------------------- ------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Male 32.9 (30.3--35.5) 41.9 (39.0--44.8) 43.0 (40.7--45.3) 46.7 (43.7--49.7) 40.8 (39.5--42.2)
Female 32.1 (25.7--38.4) 40.8 (29.4--52.3) 48.5 (36.6--60.4) 53.3 (35.5--71.2) 38.4 (33.5--43.3)
TOTAL 32.8 (30.4--35.2) 41.8 (39.0--44.7) 43.2 (40.9--45.4) 46.9 (43.9--49.8) 40.7 (39.4--42.0)
Number of workers in the cohort: 5650 (Male: 5268; Female: 382). 95% CI: 95% confidence intervals. Rate per 100 workers.
ijerph-15-01836-t002_Table 2
######
Characteristics of individuals treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAID) or NSAID and proton pump inhibitors and concomitant drugs at a high risk of gastrointestinal events.
People Treated with NSAID without PPI People Treated with NSAID and PPI *p*-Value
------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- -----------
**Number of individuals** 1381 690
**Gender, *n* (%)**
Male 1278 (92.5) 665 (96.4)
Female 103 (7.5) 25 (3.6)
**Age groups, *n* (%)**
\<50 years 320 (23.2) 82 (11.9) \<0.001
50--54 years 268 (19.4) 113 (16.4)
55--59 years 482 (34.9) 273 (39.5)
\>59 years 311 (22.5) 222 (32.2)
**Concomitant medical therapy, *n* (%)**
Anticoagulant drugs 15 (1.1) 25 (3.6) \<0.001
Platelet aggregation inhibitors 47 (3.4) 78 (11.3) \<0.001
Corticosteroids 17 (1.2) 23 (3.3) 0.001
SSRI 33 (2.4) 24 (3.5) 0.150
ijerph-15-01836-t003_Table 3
######
Characterization of heavy users and non-heavy users of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Heavy Users of NSAID Non-Heavy Users of NSAID *p*-Value
-------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- -------------------------- -----------
**Number of individuals** 115 2175
**Gender, *n* (%)**
Male 111 2034
Female 4 141
**Age group, *n* (%)**
\<50 years 6 (5.2) 478 (22.0) \<0.001
50--54 years 23 (20.0) 468 (21.5)
55--59 years 40 (34.8) 767 (35.3)
\>59 years 46 (40.0) 462 (21.2)
**NSAID subgroup, *n* (% of total prescriptions)**
M01AB Acetic acid derivatives and related substances 249 (15.1) 1102 (18.7) \<0.001
M01AE Propionic acid derivatives 511 (30.9) 3342 (56.7) \<0.001
M01AH Selective COX-2 inhibitors (coxibs) 234 (14.2) 396 (6.7) \<0.001
M01AX Other anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic agents 624 (37.8) 968 (16.4) \<0.001
Others (oxicams and fenamates) 33 (2.0) 82 (1.4) \<0.001
Total prescriptions 1651 5890
|
Determination of 4-octylphenol and 4-nonylphenol congeners in composite foods.
A method for the determination of alkylphenols in food using cold solvent extraction with methanol, followed by a two-stage chromatographic purification and GC-MS analysis, was developed. The method was validated and used to measure concentrations of 4-octylphenol and 4-nonylphenol congener totals in UK duplicate diet samples. Individual 4-n-octylphenol and 4-n-nonylphenol congeners were also measured, although these were not detected in any sample. Only one sample showed 4-tert-octylphenol at 8.7 microg kg(-1), but levels of 4-nonylphenol ranged from not detectable (<3.8 microg kg(-1)) to 25 microg kg(-1). This concentration range is lower than that reported by others. Tests carried out on the stability of the octyl- and nonylphenol congeners in a duplicate diet matrix over 6 months suggest that some analyte depletion might have occurred during extended frozen storage, which in part may account for the relatively lower concentrations detected, although the extent of usage of these compounds also needs to be taken into consideration.
|
#====================================================================
#
# wNim - Nim's Windows GUI Framework
# (c) Copyright 2017-2020 Ward
#
#====================================================================
## This control allows the user to select a date.
#
## :Appearance:
## .. image:: images/wDatePickerCtrl.png
#
## :Superclass:
## `wControl <wControl.html>`_
#
## :Styles:
## ============================== =============================================================
## Styles Description
## ============================== =============================================================
## wDpDropDown Show drop-down part from which the user can select a date (Default).
## wDpSpin Show spin-control-like arrows to change individual date components.
## wDpAllowNone The control allows the user to not enter any valid date at all.
## wDpShowCentury Forces display of the century in the default date format.
## ============================== =============================================================
#
## :Events:
## `wCommandEvent <wCommandEvent.html>`_
## ============================== =============================================================
## wCommandEvent Description
## ============================== =============================================================
## wEvent_DateChanged The selected date changed.
## =============================== =============================================================
{.experimental, deadCodeElim: on.}
when defined(gcDestructors): {.push sinkInference: off.}
import times # this line only for nim 0.19.0
import ../wBase, wControl
export wControl
const
wDpDropDown*: wStyle = 0
wDpSpin*: wStyle = DTS_UPDOWN
wDpAllowNone*: wStyle = DTS_SHOWNONE
wDpShowCentury*: wStyle = DTS_SHORTDATECENTURYFORMAT
method getBestSize*(self: wDatePickerCtrl): wSize {.property, uknlock.} =
## Returns the best acceptable minimal size for the window.
var size: SIZE
SendMessage(self.mHwnd, DTM_GETIDEALSIZE, 0, addr size)
result.width = size.cx + 2
result.height = size.cy + 2
method getDefaultSize*(self: wDatePickerCtrl): wSize {.property, uknlock.} =
## Returns the default size for the window.
result = self.getBestSize()
result.height = getLineControlDefaultHeight(self.mFont.mHandle)
proc getValue*(self: wDatePickerCtrl): wTime {.validate, property.} =
## Returns the currently entered date.
var st: SYSTEMTIME
if GDT_VALID == SendMessage(self.mHwnd, DTM_GETSYSTEMTIME, 0, addr st):
result = st.toTime()
proc setValue*(self: wDatePickerCtrl, time: wTime) {.validate, property.} =
## Changes the current value of the control.
var st = time.toSystemTime()
SendMessage(self.mHwnd, DTM_SETSYSTEMTIME, GDT_VALID, addr st)
proc getRange*(self: wDatePickerCtrl): (wTime, wTime) {.validate, property.} =
## If the control had been previously limited to a range of dates,
## returns the lower and upper bounds of this range.
var st: array[2, SYSTEMTIME]
let flag = SendMessage(self.mHwnd, DTM_GETRANGE , 0, addr st)
result[0] = if (flag and GDTR_MIN) != 0: st[0].toTime() else: wDefaultTime
result[1] = if (flag and GDTR_MAX) != 0: st[1].toTime() else: wDefaultTime
proc setRange*(self: wDatePickerCtrl, time1 = wDefaultTime, time2 = wDefaultTime) {.validate, property.} =
## Sets the valid range for the date selection.
var st: array[2, SYSTEMTIME]
var flag: DWORD
if time1 != wDefaultTime:
st[0] = time1.toSystemTime()
flag = flag or GDTR_MIN
if time2 != wDefaultTime:
st[1] = time2.toSystemTime()
flag = flag or GDTR_MAX
SendMessage(self.mHwnd, DTM_SETRANGE, flag, addr st)
proc setRange*(self: wDatePickerCtrl, time: (wTime, wTime)) {.validate, property.} =
## Sets the valid range for the date selection.
self.setRange(time[0], time[1])
method processNotify(self: wDatePickerCtrl, code: INT, id: UINT_PTR, lParam: LPARAM,
ret: var LRESULT): bool {.uknlock.} =
if code == DTN_DATETIMECHANGE:
return self.processMessage(wEvent_DateChanged, id, lparam, ret)
return procCall wControl(self).processNotify(code, id, lParam, ret)
wClass(wDatePickerCtrl of wControl):
method release*(self: wDatePickerCtrl) {.uknlock.} =
## Release all the resources during destroying. Used internally.
free(self[])
proc init*(self: wDatePickerCtrl, parent: wWindow, id = wDefaultID,
date = wDefaultTime, pos = wDefaultPoint, size = wDefaultSize,
style: wStyle = wDpDropDown) {.validate.} =
## Initializes a date picker control.
## ========== =================================================================================
## Parameters Description
## ========== =================================================================================
## parent Parent window.
## id The identifier for the control.
## date The initial value of the control, if an invalid date (such as the default value) is used, the control is set to today.
## pos Initial position.
## size Initial size. If left at default value, the control chooses its own best size.
## style The window style.
wValidate(parent)
self.wControl.init(className=DATETIMEPICK_CLASS, parent=parent, id=id, label="",
pos=pos, size=size, style=style or WS_CHILD or WS_VISIBLE or WS_TABSTOP)
if date != wDefaultTime:
self.setValue(date)
self.hardConnect(wEvent_Navigation) do (event: wEvent):
if event.getKeyCode() in {wKey_Up, wKey_Down, wKey_Left, wKey_Right}:
event.veto
|
/*
* Jailhouse, a Linux-based partitioning hypervisor
*
* Configuration for linux-demo inmate on Jetson TK1:
* 2 CPUs, 239M RAM, serial port D
*
* Copyright (c) Siemens AG, 2014-2016
*
* Authors:
* Jan Kiszka <[email protected]>
*
* This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2. See
* the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
*/
#include <jailhouse/types.h>
#include <jailhouse/cell-config.h>
struct {
struct jailhouse_cell_desc cell;
__u64 cpus[1];
struct jailhouse_memory mem_regions[8];
struct jailhouse_irqchip irqchips[2];
struct jailhouse_pci_device pci_devices[1];
} __attribute__((packed)) config = {
.cell = {
.signature = JAILHOUSE_CELL_DESC_SIGNATURE,
.revision = JAILHOUSE_CONFIG_REVISION,
.name = "jetson-tk1-linux-demo",
.flags = JAILHOUSE_CELL_PASSIVE_COMMREG |
JAILHOUSE_CELL_VIRTUAL_CONSOLE_PERMITTED,
.cpu_set_size = sizeof(config.cpus),
.num_memory_regions = ARRAY_SIZE(config.mem_regions),
.num_irqchips = ARRAY_SIZE(config.irqchips),
.num_pci_devices = ARRAY_SIZE(config.pci_devices),
.vpci_irq_base = 152,
.console = {
.address = 0x70006300,
/* .clock_reg = 0x60006000 + 0x330, */
/* .gate_nr = (65 % 32), */
/* .divider = 0xdd, */
.type = JAILHOUSE_CON_TYPE_8250,
.flags = JAILHOUSE_CON_ACCESS_MMIO |
JAILHOUSE_CON_REGDIST_4,
},
},
.cpus = {
0xc,
},
.mem_regions = {
/* IVSHMEM shared memory region */
JAILHOUSE_SHMEM_NET_REGIONS(0xfbf00000, 1),
/* UART */ {
.phys_start = 0x70006000,
.virt_start = 0x70006000,
.size = 0x1000,
.flags = JAILHOUSE_MEM_READ | JAILHOUSE_MEM_WRITE |
JAILHOUSE_MEM_IO | JAILHOUSE_MEM_ROOTSHARED,
},
/* RAM */ {
.phys_start = 0xfbef0000,
.virt_start = 0,
.size = 0x10000,
.flags = JAILHOUSE_MEM_READ | JAILHOUSE_MEM_WRITE |
JAILHOUSE_MEM_EXECUTE | JAILHOUSE_MEM_DMA |
JAILHOUSE_MEM_LOADABLE,
},
/* RAM */ {
.phys_start = 0xe8000000,
/* cannot go higher than this, must be 128M-aligned */
.virt_start = 0xe8000000,
.size = 0xeef0000,
.flags = JAILHOUSE_MEM_READ | JAILHOUSE_MEM_WRITE |
JAILHOUSE_MEM_EXECUTE | JAILHOUSE_MEM_DMA |
JAILHOUSE_MEM_LOADABLE,
},
/* communication region */ {
.virt_start = 0x80000000,
.size = 0x00001000,
.flags = JAILHOUSE_MEM_READ | JAILHOUSE_MEM_WRITE |
JAILHOUSE_MEM_COMM_REGION,
},
},
.irqchips = {
/* GIC */ {
.address = 0x50041000,
.pin_base = 32,
.pin_bitmap = {
0, 0, 1 << (90+32 - 96)
},
},
/* GIC */ {
.address = 0x50041000,
.pin_base = 160,
.pin_bitmap = {
1 << (153+32 - 160),
},
},
},
.pci_devices = {
/* 00:01.0 */ {
.type = JAILHOUSE_PCI_TYPE_IVSHMEM,
.bdf = 1 << 3,
.bar_mask = JAILHOUSE_IVSHMEM_BAR_MASK_INTX,
.shmem_regions_start = 0,
.shmem_dev_id = 1,
.shmem_peers = 2,
.shmem_protocol = JAILHOUSE_SHMEM_PROTO_VETH,
},
},
};
|
Introduction
============
The extracellular accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) peptides is one of the pathological causes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) [@R1]. According to the amyloid cascade hypothesis, Aβ aggregation with amyloid plaques is the central event, ultimately leading to the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, cortical atrophy, and dementia [@R2]. Advanced research has led to therapeutic approaches for AD aimed at decreasing amyloid plaques using inhibitors of Aβ aggregation [@R4]. Despite immense efforts to develop therapeutics to treat AD, among the few candidates that have been suggested in phase I trials [@R6], none have been successful in being approved for the treatment of AD as of yet. Most recent studies have tested the efficacy of antibiotic drug treatments to stop or slow progression to AD in patients with mid-stage cognitive impairment, but there have been no proven treatments for mild cognitive impairment [@R7].
To assess treatment response for AD, histological analysis is carried out routinely to examine patterns of amyloid plaques and compare drug-treated and nontreated groups in clinical and preclinical studies [@R5]. These assessment approaches can take extensively long times to advance drug development in AD because of the inherent nature of postmortem analysis especially in clinical trials. Thus, imaging technology for detection of amyloid plaques *in vivo* is urgently needed for effective and rapid drug development in AD.
Recent advanced imaging technology using MRI has turned amyloid plaque imaging in AD into a rapidly evolving field in neuroimaging for clinical and preclinical research [@R9]. Previous researchers have developed MRI techniques to detect amyloid plaques *in vivo* without using contrast agents based on intrinsic T2 or T2\* contrast because of iron deposits from amyloid plaques [@R9]. Several groups have combined MRI techniques with molecular imaging techniques to identify amyloid plaques *in vivo* using contrast agents conjugated to amyloid targeting ligands [@R12].
In our previous work, we showed that hollow manganese oxide nanoparticles conjugated to antibodies of the Aβ40 peptide (HMON-abAβ40) accumulated and bound successfully to amyloid plaques, appearing as a hyperenhanced signal on T1-weighted MR images [@R14]. In the continuing work of this report, we propose a voxel-based analysis of HMON-abAβ40-enhanced MR images not only for detecting amyloid plaques but also for monitoring therapeutic response in AD transgenic mice. We hypothesize that a higher MR signal intensity is observed in amyloid plaque deposits and response to therapeutics can be monitored by a reduction in MR signal intensity enhancement. We tested our proposed voxel-based method using wild-type (WT), AD, and drug-treated AD mice.
Methods
=======
Animals
-------
APP/PS1 transgenic mice (female, *n*=14) and nontransgenic littermates (female, *n*=7) were used for this study, APP/PS1 transgenic mice being divided into two groups: a drug-treated group (female, *n*=7) and an untreated control group (female, *n*=7). Eight-week-old APP/PS1 transgenic mice were purchased from Jackson Laboratory (stock \#004462; Bar Harbor, Maine, USA). These mice were maintained as double hemizygotes by crossing them with WT individuals from a C57BL/6J F1 background strain (Jackson Laboratory). Offspring were genotyped for the presence of the transgene by PCR amplification of genomic DNA extracted from tail biopsies. Because mice were needed for in-vivo amyloid plaque imaging using MRI around 1 year of age, they were housed in a specific pathogen-free animal facility with free access to food and water for about 13 months. All animal work was carried out according to a protocol approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of an Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International accredited facility and abided by the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources guide.
DAPT (*N*-\[*N*-(3,5-difluorophenacetyl)-[l]{.smallcaps}-alanyl\]-*S*-phenyl glycine t-butyl ester) (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Missouri, USA), used widely in the study using AD mice as a therapeutic drug compound, is a γ-secretase inhibitor used to decrease the production of Aβ [@R5]. For the treatment of AD mice, DAPT was prepared as a suspension in a vehicle \[10% absolute ethyl alcohol (v/v), and 90% corn oil\] for intramuscular injection to rats. In the drug-treated group (*n*=7), rats were treated daily with DAPT with a dose of 50 mg/kg (1.5 mg/0.2 ml) of body weight. MRI experiments were conducted 3 h after an intramuscular injection of DAPT.
Magnetic resonance imaging acquisition
--------------------------------------
For MRI experiments, mice were placed under anesthesia with 1--2% isoflurane in a mixture of O~2~ and N~2~ gases (3 : 7) delivered to a nosecone for spontaneous respiration. The body temperature was maintained at 36°C±1 using a heating pad while monitoring mouse physiology. MRI data were obtained using a 7.0 T MRI scanner equipped with 400-mT/m actively shielded gradients with 100-μs rise times (Bruker Biospin GmbH, Ettlingen, Germany). A birdcage coil (72 mm i.d.) (Bruker Biospin, Fallanden, Switzerland) was used for excitation and an actively decoupled phased array coil was used for receiving the signal. MR images were obtained using a three-dimensional rapid acquisition with a relaxation enhancement sequence with the following imaging parameters: TR=200 ms; TE=7.5 ms; matrix=145×256×115; and resolution=100×100×100 μm^3^. The total acquisition time for each image was 111 min. For each mouse, baseline images (D−1) were obtained before the injection of contrast agent. The contrast-enhanced MR images were obtained at 24-h (D+1) and 72-h (D+3) after injection. The day of injection with the contrast agent was denoted as D+0.
Magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent
-----------------------------------------
HMON-abAβ40 was used to target amyloid plaques in the APP/PS1 transgenic mouse brain [@R14]. For the administration of MRI contrast agent, the mouse was anesthetized and the head of the mouse was fixed carefully using a bite/ear bar on a stereotaxic frame. To maintain a steady temperature, a heating pad was used during the procedure. The HMON**-**abAβ40 was injected percutaneously into the cisterna magna using a 31-G needle at a rate of 1 μl/min (8 μl).
Magnetic resonance image analysis
---------------------------------
The brain skull was removed by manually drawing the brain region for all images. A spatial normalization was performed to ensure voxels' correspondence between different mice for voxel-based analysis. We used a time-specific mouse template at D−1, D+1, and D+3, which was computed from the 14 mouse MR images in our previous study [@R14]. The skull-stripped mouse brain images were spatially normalized to the time-specific mouse templates to avoid registration error induced by the time-specific enhancement of the contrast agent.
To correct the voxels' intensity differences across scans obtained in different mice for the same time point, the voxel intensity of each scan image was normalized [@R15]. This intensity normalization procedure was performed on the spatially normalized images for all mice. First, all spatially normalized images from 21 mice for each time point were averaged to create time-specific average images for each time point. Second, individual images from the same time point were scaled to the global mean intensity of the time-specific average image and renormalized to time-specific average images using a stochastic algorithm [@R16]. Stochastic normalization aims to normalize the mean of Gaussian noise in the intensity by maximizing the crossings of the noise fluctuations on the one image with the time-specific average image [@R17].
Histology
---------
For staining amyloid plaques, mice were killed after MRI. Each mouse was perfused and its brain was removed for fixation for 24 h. For thioflavin-S staining, the brain sections were mounted on slides and stained with fresh filtered aqueous 1% thioflavin-S solution. The thioflavin-S-positive amyloid plaques were visualized under a fluorescence microscope.
Statistical analysis
--------------------
We carried out the Mann--Whitney *U*-test in a voxel-by-voxel manner to assess the difference of voxels' normalized intensity between the two groups. Statistical significance for an individual voxel was assumed at *P* value less than 0.01 (uncorrected for multiple comparisons) with a minimum cluster size of 50 voxels.
Results
=======
[Figure 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"} shows an intensity distribution across the voxels of the whole brain mouse before and after intensity normalization processing on D−1, D+1, and D+3. We found the between-subject variability in MR signal intensity from 21 mice ([Fig. 1a](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). This between-subject variability was reduced after intensity normalization processing ([Fig. 1b](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). [Figure 2](#F2){ref-type="fig"} shows the statistical group difference maps between AD and WT mice on D−1, D+1, and D+3 (*P*\<0.01, uncorrected for multiple comparisons). We did not find any significant changes between the normalized MR signal intensities between AD and WT mice on D−1 ([Fig. 2a](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). After the injection of HMON**-**abAβ40, we found a higher normalized MR signal intensity in the left and right frontal cortex and the left and right hippocampus of AD mice than WT mice on D+1 ([Fig. 2b](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). We also found higher normalized MR signal intensity in the right frontal cortex and the right hippocampus of AD mice than WT mice on D+3 ([Fig. 2c](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). There were no significantly higher voxels in WT mice than AD mice on D−1, D+1, and D+3. [Figure 3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} shows statistical group difference maps between nontreated and drug-treated AD mice on D−1, D+1, and D+3 (*P*\<0.01, uncorrected for multiple comparisons). There were no significant changes between nontreated and treated AD mice on D−1 ([Fig. 3a](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). We found higher normalized MR signal intensity in the left and right frontal cortex and the right hippocampus in nontreated AD mice in comparison with drug-treated AD mice on D+1 ([Fig. 3b](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). We also found higher normalized MR signal intensity in the left and right frontal cortex as well as the left and right hippocampus in nontreated AD mice when compared with drug-treated AD mice on D+3 ([Fig. 3c](#F3){ref-type="fig"}). There were no voxels significantly higher in drug-treated AD mice than in nontreated AD mice on D−1, D+1, and D+3. We constructed overlapped maps from two statistical difference maps (AD vs. WT and AD vs. drug-treated AD) to test whether the hyperenhanced voxels in AD mice correspond to the hypoenhanced voxels after the treatment of AD mice on D+1 and D+3 ([Fig. 4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}). We found that the intensity of the hyperenhanced voxels, detected by comparing between AD and WT mice, was significantly reduced to a level comparable with WT mice in specific brain regions of the frontal cortex after the treatment of AD mice. These changes were confirmed by thioflavin staining. In a representative WT mouse, there were no amyloid plaques in any brain regions ([Fig. 5a](#F5){ref-type="fig"}), whereas in a representative AD mouse we found small clustered amyloid plaques as bright spots in the frontal cortex and the hippocampus ([Fig. 5b](#F5){ref-type="fig"}). After the treatment of AD mice, the number of these amyloid plaques was reduced ([Fig. 5c](#F5){ref-type="fig"}).
{#F1}
{#F2}
{#F3}
{ref-type="fig"} on D+1 (a) and D+3 (b). Red voxels represent statistically different brain areas in [Fig. 2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}. Yellow voxels represent statistically different brain areas in [Fig. 3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}. Green voxels represent overlapped brain areas from [Figs 2 and 3](#F2 F3){ref-type="fig"}. In the right panels, the plots shows the mean and SD of voxels' normalized signal intensity, which belong to a red circle in the left panels. AD, Alzheimer's disease; WT, wild-type.](wnr-25-211-g004){#F4}
{#F5}
Discussion
==========
In our previous study, we showed the feasibility of using HMON-abAβ40 for detecting amyloid plaques in AD transgenic mice using a region of interest-based approach [@R14]. In the current study, we propose a voxel-based approach for both detecting amyloid plaques and monitoring therapeutic response, and the potential usefulness of this method was tested using WT, AD, and drug-treated AD mice. These results were confirmed by thioflavin-S staining.
Previous studies showed voxel-based analysis of amyloid plaques using PET [@R18] and MRI [@R13] in AD mouse models, which mostly focused on detecting amyloid plaques in the comparison of WT and AD mice. We showed the feasibility of our voxel-based method as a noninvasive imaging tool for detecting amyloid plaques to show the regional differences between WT and AD mice in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus on D+1 and D+3 and to evaluate the effects of therapeutic drugs by comparing AD and drug-treated AD mice. The overlapped maps showed that specific cerebral cortex regions, detected by comparing WT and AD mice, correspond to those that show differences in comparing nontreated AD and drug-treated AD mice.
In our experiment, we found that the spatial enhancement patterns of contrast agent in the mouse brain were similar among mice, but the enhancement amplitudes of the contrast agent were variable among mice after the direct injection of our contrast agent into the cisterna magna. In [Fig. 1a](#F1){ref-type="fig"}, for example, some mice (i.e. W_03, and D_04) had higher intensity values over the whole brain than other mice. After intensity normalization processing, these mice had intensity values similar to those of other mice. Their spatial enhancement patterns were also similar to other mice as shown in [Fig. 1b](#F1){ref-type="fig"}. Thus, to reduce the variability of enhancement amplitudes between mice, we performed global intensity normalization processing before statistical group analysis.
For statistical group analysis, the determination of optimal threshold value has been a major problem in reducing the rate of false positives and false negatives [@R20]. If a low threshold value is chosen, a large extent of brain regions shows significance accompanied by an increase in false-positive voxels. In this paper, we chose an optimal threshold value of 0.01, eliminating any significant difference between WT, AD, and drug-treated AD on D−1 (before the injection of contrast agent).
HMON was developed as a theranostic MRI agent with the abilities of diagnostic imaging and capabilities of delivering therapeutic agents [@R21]. We showed previously the potential usefulness of HMON conjugated with an antibody for diagnostic imaging for targeting specific tumor cells *in vivo* [@R22] and for targeting amyloid plaques *in vivo* [@R14]. In this work, we showed the feasibility of our voxel-based method in using the HMON-abAβ40 contrast agent as a noninvasive monitoring tool for evaluation of the therapeutic response of a potential drug for AD.
Conclusion
==========
We showed the potential of a voxel-based analysis for imaging amyloid plaques and for monitoring therapeutic response in AD mice using HMON-abAβ40 as a molecular imaging probe. This method allows us to evaluate regional differences in amyloid plaques accumulation in the AD mouse brain, which can be very useful for drug development in AD. The current study also suggests that, combined with drug loading in HMON or HMON-abAβ40, our proposed voxel-based method can lead to new applications for the theranostic research field in AD.
This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (2011-0031520).
Conflicts of interest
=====================
There are no conflicts of interest.
Correspondence to Jung Hee Lee, PhD, Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 135-710, Korea Tel: +82 2 3410 6459; fax: +82 2 3410 0084; e-mail: <[email protected]>
|
Evidence for augmented brainstem activated forebrain seizures in Wistar Audiogenic Rats subjected to transauricular electroshock.
Previous work from our laboratory has shown that naïve Wistar Audiogenic Rats (WARs), a genetic model of reflex epilepsy in which seizures are induced by high-intensity sound stimulation (120 dB SPL), are seizure-prone to a variety of pro-convulsive stimuli (e.g., transauricular electroshock, pentylenetetrazole and pilocarpine). On the other hand, repetitive acoustic stimulation of WARs causes a slow recruitment of limbic structures, known as audiogenic kindling, changing seizure expression to include behavior characteristic of temporal-lobe epilepsy. Thus, our hypothesis is that WARs have facilitated acoustic-limbic projections when compared to Wistar controls. Wistar controls (n = 9) and WARs (n = 9) underwent EEG electrode implants in the cortex-Cx, amygdaloid complex-AMY and inferior colliculus-IC and received one low current transauricular electrical stimulus (ES) daily, for three consecutive days, with intensities of 10, 20 and 30 mA, respectively. The video-electroencephalographic activity was recorded 1 min before and 4 min after ES. Our results confirm previously described data indicating a greater susceptibility of WARs to seizure. However, low current ES (e.g., 20 mA) triggered epileptiform activity in the AMY only after epileptiform EEG was visible in the Cx and IC electrode leads. The AMY after-discharge continued even though no evident epileptiform activity was present in the Cx. In conclusion, our results add electrophysiological data to previously published behavioral evidence of WAR enhanced susceptibility to ES seizures and, also, support the hypothesis that the acoustic-limbic circuitry is facilitated even in unkindled WARs.
|
/*
[auto_generated]
boost/numeric/odeint/external/vexcl/vexcl_abs.hpp
[begin_description]
abs() specialization for vexcl
[end_description]
Copyright 2009-2013 Karsten Ahnert
Copyright 2009-2013 Mario Mulansky
Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
(See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or
copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)
*/
#ifndef BOOST_NUMERIC_ODEINT_EXTERNAL_VEXCL_VEXCL_ABS_HPP_DEFINED
#define BOOST_NUMERIC_ODEINT_EXTERNAL_VEXCL_VEXCL_ABS_HPP_DEFINED
#include <vexcl/vector.hpp>
#include <vexcl/multivector.hpp>
#include <vexcl/operations.hpp>
namespace vex {
template <typename T, size_t N>
typename std::enable_if<
std::is_integral<T>::value,
typename boost::proto::result_of::make_expr<
boost::proto::tag::function,
abs_func,
const vex::multivector<T, N>&
>::type const
>::type
abs(const multivector<T, N> &arg) {
return boost::proto::make_expr<boost::proto::tag::function>(
abs_func(),
boost::ref(arg)
);
}
template <typename T, size_t N>
typename std::enable_if<
!std::is_integral<T>::value,
typename boost::proto::result_of::make_expr<
boost::proto::tag::function,
fabs_func,
const vex::multivector<T, N>&
>::type const
>::type
abs(const multivector<T, N> &arg) {
return boost::proto::make_expr<boost::proto::tag::function>(
fabs_func(),
boost::ref(arg)
);
}
} // namespace vex
#endif // BOOST_NUMERIC_ODEINT_EXTERNAL_VEXCL_VEXCL_ABS_HPP_DEFINED
|
Free Pascal 2.6.2 is released - mariuz
http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,20046.html
======
Udo
Pascal (and then Delphi) was the first non-interpreted programming language I
learned and I used it for a few years for pretty much everything - party
because it provided a sane wrapper to the Win32 API, but mainly because it was
a lot of fun to program with.
Compared to pretty much any GUI/code-behind editor the Delphi concept is an
absolute joy to use. Sadly it's been a long time since the components have
been updated (it's still pretty much a Win32 clone from what I can tell and
today the Lazarus component palette feels extremely outdated). I just wish the
Xcode folks would have taken a few more pages from Delphi's playbook.
It's nice to see this environment lives on in Free Pascal/Lazarus.
I sometimes think the Pascal idea could be rediscovered some day, maybe with a
syntax addition or two.
~~~
lobster_johnson
> I just wish the Xcode folks would have taken a few more pages from Delphi's
> playbook.
Indeed. Delphi was clearly influenced by NeXT/Interface Builder, but even back
in 1995 it was miles ahead of today's Xcode.
For those not familiar with it, Delphi's UI editor was always live. You could
create a data source object, enter the database connection info, then create a
table view and point it at the data source, and the table would be filled with
real data -- all within the editor. Like Interface Builder, the editor was
running the real visual components (the equivalent of Cocoa's NSView), but
unlike Interface Builder, Delphi focused on providing a true WYSIWYG
experience, making it very easy to build new visual components that would be
rendered live in the editor. Apple has moved away from this, in fact, with the
latest Xcode no longer supporting plugins, and so custom views can no longer
be rendered inside Interface Builder.
It's incredibly weird and sad that 18 (!) years later, current GUI tools are
worse than Delphi was in 1995.
~~~
eli
Delphi was the first "real" platform I used (version 1.0 on Windows 3.11) and
it wasn't until much later that I realized how good I'd had it. In addition to
the rather obvious idea that the GUI should be designed graphically, it also
had a fast compiler and a good integrated debugger. If I remember correctly
the entire Delphi IDE was itself developed in Delphi.
~~~
haddr
At some point of time there was an open source delphi IDE, and it was
developed in Delphi, but I think the official one wasn't (at least at the
beginning).
~~~
eli
I'm pretty sure at least most versions of the official IDE were written in
Delphi (the IDE--not the compiler, of course). I remember trying to hack
plugins into it and it was clearly Delphi code.
Random person on SO seems to agree
[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7766753/what-ide-is-
the-d...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7766753/what-ide-is-the-delphi-
ide-developed-in)
~~~
daven11
indeed. The strangest thing is you can debug the delphi ide in the delphi ide.
I do this from time to time to debug components that have start up problems
------
binarymax
Its great to see this. Pascal was the language they taught us in highschool.
Everyone in the class was given a license to Borland Turbo Pascal v5. While I
haven't really used it since, Pascal will always hold a special place in my
heart. I wrote my first game in it, and spent many long nights trying to
figure out how to accept mouse interrupts, how to use pointers to efficiently
redraw graphics, and lots of other fundamental things I now take for granted.
~~~
acheron
Pascal (and specifically Borland's Turbo Pascal) is what started my transition
from spaghetti code BASIC to something at least vaguely structured. All
(mostly) self-taught -- my high school didn't have any kind of programming
classes -- but Pascal encouraged a structure much more than BASIC did, and
helped me to realize the importance.
------
bloblaw
I write code in a number of languages, and I have to say Object-Pascal (which
is the language the IDE known as Delphi uses) is a joy.
Check out Lazarus too, the Delphi like IDE for Free Pascal:
<http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/>
<snarky comment> Too bad most programs weren't written in Delphi instead of
C/C++, or we could've avoided all those pesky string based buffer overflow
exploits since Object-Pascal doesn't allocate strings on the stack! </snarky
comment>
But more seriously, that means no "smashing the stack for fun and profit" in
Object-Pascal, and that's a good thing.
I picked up learning Delphi about 8 years ago when it was supposed to be
"dead" then, and since then it has been my secret weapon. I still use C once
in a while, but I am so much more productive in Delphi and the Free Pascal.
------
smcl
I wonder how compatible the Photoshop 1.0 code is with this and how much
effort it would take to get it vaguely working. I recall there being a
shedload of assembly which would obviously need ported/rewritten and
presumably there'd be old MacOS API calls which would need to be handled so
I'd suspect a fair amount of work there. However does anyone know if the rest
of the code would be fine?
~~~
mariuz
The FreePascal complier supports MacPas dialect , here is howto start
compiling with it
<http://wiki.freepascal.org/Mode_MacPas>
<http://wiki.freepascal.org/Porting_from_Mac_Pascal>
------
rdtsc
One language I regret the demise of.
------
noonespecial
Turbo pascal 6 circa 1992 was my first introduction to object orientation. I'd
only coded basic and assembly before that. I walked around with my mind blown
for a week.
Long live pascal.
------
pointer2unknown
Delphi 7 was the _last_ good release of the product. The IDE was written in
Delphi. The compiler for the language was BCC, the borland C/C++ compiler.
Then Borland started to chase .NET and MS led them on into thinking they could
catch up to C#.
Any good modern Pascal product should fork from where D7 left off.
IMHO.
~~~
bloblaw
Wrong.
Delphi has offloaded .NET support to a partner (RemObjects' Delphi
Prism/Oxygene). Since Delphi 2007, they have doubled down on native
development. Even releasing native console and GUI compilation support for
OSX, and iOS in late beta.
Since Delphi 7 (released in 2002), Delphi (and FPC) have added:
* Generics * Anonymous methods * Enhanced RTTI * Attributes * Records with methods * for in loop * final methods * Inlining * Operator overloading * sealed methods * strict private * strict protected * Nested classes * Class helpers * Class constructors and destructors * Static class methods
------
raphinou
Any example of real and recent use of it?
I wondered not that long ago if FreePascal could be a cross platform solution
to develop GUI apps with Lazarus. Anyone having experience with that?
~~~
mich41
My university uses C or Pascal to teach Maths students basic programming
(hello world, sorting, trees, stacks, graphs, etc).
Friends who landed at the Pascal version of this course appear to ask much
less questions about parsing the syntax.
~~~
nolok
Here's a challenge: try to find a piece of pascal code that looks
"impressive".
Even the most complex object pascal code using pointers and closures and
generics all together looks boring and easy to parse for anyone who has done
some code.
This might sound awesome (and it is), but this is also a huge turn off for new
comers, lots of people think delphi/object pascal is like visual basic ...
~~~
markwong
isn't "easy to parse for anyone who has done some code" an advantage?
~~~
fusiongyro
One would think, but many times I've tried to love Ada and Eiffel and I always
find myself falling asleep at the terminal. "Boring" can also mean "too much
repetition" or "spread too thin."
------
snarfy
How is the COM support (if any) in Free Pascal? That is one area Delphi really
shined.
~~~
bloblaw
It's very good. In fact, the open-source WMI Delphi Code Creator can generate
the native WMI calls (and programs) for you in FreePascal, Delphi, C#, and
Microsoft C++:
<https://code.google.com/p/wmi-delphi-code-creator/>
------
enlyke
It's still alive..
~~~
mariuz
Yes and growing slowly
[http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index....](http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html)
~~~
fuzzix
TIOBE's methodology is pretty controversial[0], I wouldn't read anything into
changes as small as this.
[0] [http://blog.timbunce.org/2009/05/17/tiobe-index-is-being-
gam...](http://blog.timbunce.org/2009/05/17/tiobe-index-is-being-gamed/)
~~~
mariuz
I agree that is controversial the method of tiobe measuring
Another option is to consult the download page for free pascal compiler (this
is one of the mirrors)
[https://sourceforge.net/projects/freepascal/files/stats/time...](https://sourceforge.net/projects/freepascal/files/stats/timeline?dates=2002-02-21+to+2013-02-27)
Also lazarus ide download stats
[https://sourceforge.net/projects/lazarus/files/stats/timelin...](https://sourceforge.net/projects/lazarus/files/stats/timeline?dates=2002-02-21+to+2013-02-27)
------
pjmlp
Great! Congratulations!
|
---
abstract: 'The Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) equations in coordinate representation are solved exactly, i.e., with correct asymptotic boundary conditions for the continuous spectrum. The calculations are performed with effective Skyrme interactions. The exact HFB solutions are compared with HFB calculations based on box boundary conditions and with resonant continuum Hartree-Fock-BCS (HF-BCS) results. The comparison is done for the neutron-rich Ni isotopes. It is shown that close to the drip line the amount of pairing correlations depends on how the continuum coupling is treated. On the other hand, the resonant continuum HF-BCS results are generally close to those of HFB even in neutron-rich nuclei.'
address: |
$^1$ Institut de Physique Nucléaire, IN2P3-CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, 91406 Orsay Cedex, France\
$^2$ Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, P.O.Box MG-6, 76900 Bucharest, Romania\
$^3$ Royal Institute of Technology, Frescativ.24, S-10405 Stockholm, Sweden
author:
- 'M. Grasso $^1$, N. Sandulescu $^2$, Nguyen Van Giai $^1$, R. J. Liotta $^3$'
title: '**Pairing and continuum effects in nuclei close to the drip line**'
---
Introduction
============
The physics of exotic nuclei close to the drip lines has triggered a new interest for the study of pairing correlations in finite systems. A peculiarity of pairing correlations in weakly bound nuclei is their sensitivity to the effects of unbound single-particle states.
The pairing correlations in the presence of continuum coupling have been treated both in HFB [@belyaev; @bulgac; @doflo; @dona; @tehe; @fay; @stona; @stori] and HF-BCS [@saliwy; @sagili; @kruppa; @sacili] approximations. In the HFB approximation the continuum is generally included in spherical systems by solving the HFB equations in coordinate representation. The calculations are done either in the complex energy plane by using Green function techniques [@belyaev; @fay], or on the real energy axis [@doflo; @dona]. In the latter case the HFB equations are usually solved by imposing box boundary conditions, i.e., the HFB wave functions are assumed to vanish beyond some distance which is chosen to be typically a few times the nuclear radius.
The effect of the resonant continuum upon pairing correlations was also studied in the framework of the BCS approximation, both for zero [@saliwy; @sagili; @kruppa] and finite temperature [@sacili].
For deformed systems working in coordinate representation is much more difficult [@tehe]. In most of the deformed HFB calculations the continuum is discretized by expanding the HFB wave functions on a single-particle basis. Usually a harmonic oscillator basis is taken and one can improve the description of physical quantities at large distances like density tails by performing a local scaling transformation [@stona; @stori].
The aim of this article is to show how the coordinate space HFB equations can be actually solved in the case of spherical symmetry and Skyrme type forces by treating the continuum exactly, i.e., with correct boundary conditions, and to analyse to which extent different approximations, namely box HFB and resonant continuum HF-BCS calculations, compare with the exact solutions. In this paper we will treat the continuum exactly only for the neutrons of neutron-rich systems for which one expects that the continuum plays an important role close to the drip line. For the protons we will treat the continuum by a box discretization. It will be shown that nuclear properties related to pairing correlations are correctly predicted by discretized continuum methods away from drip line but they deviate appreciably from exact continuum results when one approaches the drip line.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section II we give a brief reminder of the HFB equations in coordinate representation. In Section III we present the procedure we have used for calculating the continuum HFB solutions and we discuss, in a schematic model, how the quasiparticle resonant states are identified. In Section IV we present the continuum HFB calculations for Ni isotopes in comparison with box HFB and resonant HF-BCS calculations. Conclusions are drawn in Section V.
HFB equations in coordinate representation
==========================================
The HFB approximation in coordinate representation has been discussed quite extensively in the literature [@bulgac; @doflo; @dona] and therefore we recall here only the basic equations.
The HFB equations in coordinate representation read [@doflo]:
[c]{} d\^[3]{} \_[’]{} (
[cc]{} h( , ’ ) & ( , ’ )\
( , ’ ) & -h( , ’ )
) (
[c]{} \_1 (E, ’)\
\_2 (E, ’)
) =\
(
[cc]{} E+& 0\
0 & E-
) (
[c]{} \_1 (E, )\
\_2 (E, )
) ,
\[1\] where $\lambda$ is the chemical potential, $h$ and $\tilde{h}$ are the mean field and the pairing field, and $(\Phi_i)$ represents the two-component HFB quasi-particle wave function of energy $E$. The mean field operator $h$ is a sum of the kinetic energy $T$ and the mean field potential $\Gamma$, h( , ’ )= T( , ) \_[’]{} + ( , ’) . \[2\]
The mean field potential $\Gamma$ is expressed in terms of the particle-hole two-body interaction $V$ and the particle density $\rho$ in the following way: ( , ’) = d\^3 d\^3 \_[\_1 \_2]{} V( , \_1 ; ’ , \_2 ) ( \_2 , \_1 ) . \[3\]
Similarly the pairing field $\tilde{h}$ is expressed in terms of the pairing interaction $V_{pair}$ and the pairing density $\tilde{\rho}$: ( , ’) = d\^3 d\^3 \_[\_1 \_2]{} 2 ’ ’ \_2 V\_[pair]{}( , - ’ ; \_1 , -\_2 ) ( \_1 , \_2 ) . \[4\]
The particle and pairing densities $\rho$ and $\tilde{\rho}$ are defined by the following expressions:
( , ’) \_[0 < E\_n < -]{} \_2 (E\_n , ) \^\* \_2 (E\_n , ’) + \_[-]{}\^[E\_[cut-off]{}]{} dE \_2 (E , ) \^\* \_2 (E , ’) , \[5\]
( , ’) \_[0 < E\_n < -]{} \_2 (E\_n , ) \^\* \_1 (E\_n , ’) + \_[-]{}\^[E\_[cut-off]{}]{} dE \_2 (E , ) \^\* \_1 (E , ’) , \[6\] where the sums are over the discrete quasiparticle states with energies $|E| < -\lambda$, and the integrals are over the continuous quasiparticle states with energies $|E| > -\lambda$. The HFB solutions have the following symmetry with respect to E:
[c]{} \_1 (-E, ) = \_2 (E, )\
\_2 (-E, ) = -\_1 (E, )
\[7\] As it appears clearly from Eqs.(\[5\]) and (\[6\]) we choose to work with the positive energies.
The particle-hole and pairing interactions in Eqs.(\[3\]) and (\[4\]) are chosen as density-dependent contact interactions, so that the integro-differential HFB equations reduce to coupled differential equations. The zero-range character of the pairing interaction is the reason why one has to adopt an energy cut-off as seen in Eqs.(\[5\]) and (\[6\]).
In this paper we consider systems with spherical symmetry. In this case the wave functions are readily decomposed into their radial and spin-angular parts[@doflo]: \_i (E, ) = u\_i (Elj,r) [ 1 r]{} y\^[m\_j]{}\_[lj]{} (, ) , i=1,2 , \[9\] where: y\^[m]{}\_[lj]{} (, ) Y\_[lm\_l]{}(, ) \_[1/2]{} (m\_) (lm\_l [ 1 2]{} m\_ | j m ) . \[10\] In the following we use for the upper and lower components of the radial wave functions the standard notation $u_{lj}(E,r)$ and $v_{lj}(E,r)$.
As we have already mentioned, the HFB equations are usually solved by imposing to the radial wave functions the condition that they vanish beyond a given distance R (box radius). In this case the continuous spectrum is replaced by a set of discrete energies, whose density depends on the box radius. In what follows we discuss how the HFB equations can be solved by keeping the correct asymptotic conditions for the neutron wave functions.
The treatment of quasi-particle continuum
==========================================
Asymptotic behaviours
---------------------
The asymptotic behaviour of the HFB wave function is determined by the physical condition that, at large distances the nuclear mean field $\Gamma(r)$ and the pairing field $\Delta(r)$ vanish. This condition requires an effective interaction of finite range and finite-range nonlocality. Outside the range of mean fields the equations for $\Phi _i (E, {\mathbf{r}} \sigma )$ are decoupled and one can readily find the asymptotic behaviour of the physical solutions at infinity [@bulgac]. Thus, for a negative chemical potential $\lambda$, i.e., for a bound system, there are two well separated regions in the quasiparticle spectrum.
Between 0 and $-\lambda$ the quasiparticle spectrum is discrete and both upper and lower components of the radial HFB wave function decay exponentially at infinity. For neutrons this implies that those components have the form, $$\begin{aligned}
u_{lj}(E,r) & = & A h_l^{(+)}(i\alpha_1r)~, \nonumber \\
v_{lj}(E,r) & = & B h_l^{(+)}(i\beta_1r)~,
\label{eq2}\end{aligned}$$ where $h_l^{(+)}$ are spherical Haenkel functions, $\alpha_1^2=-\frac{2m}{\hbar^2}(\lambda+E)$ and $\beta_1^2=-\frac{2m}{\hbar^2}(\lambda-E)$. These solutions correspond to the bound quasiparticle spectrum. In this case, the solutions are normalised to unity.
For $E > - \lambda$ the spectrum is continuous and the solutions are: $$\begin{aligned}
u_{lj}(E,r) & = & C [cos(\delta_{lj}) j_l(\alpha_1r)-sin(\delta_{lj})
n_l(\alpha_1r)]~, \nonumber \\
v_{lj}(E,r) & = & D_1 h_l^{(+)}(i\beta_1r)~,
\label{eq3}\end{aligned}$$ where $j_l$ and $n_l$ are spherical Bessel and Neumann functions repectively and $\delta_{lj}$ is the phase shift corresponding to the angular momentum $(lj)$. One can see that the upper component of the HFB wave function has the standard form of a scattering state while the lower component is always exponentially decaying at infinity.
The asymptotic form of the wave function should be matched with the inner radial wave function, which for $r \rightarrow 0$ can be written as follows:
(
[c]{} u\_[lj]{}(E, r)\
v\_[lj]{}(E, r)
) = D\_2 (
[c]{} r\^[l+1]{}\
0
) + D\_3 (
[c]{} 0\
r\^[l+1]{}
) , \[14\]
The HFB wave function is normalized to the Dirac $\delta$-function of energy. This condition fixes the constant $C$ to the value: C = . \[13\]
The radial wave functions are calculated by integrating the HFB equations outwards starting from the initial conditions (12), and inwards starting from (10) or (11) depending on the value of E. The solutions are propagated by a modified Numerov method towards the matching point, where the continuity conditions for the wave functions and their derivatives are imposed. These conditions determine the coefficients $D_1$, $D_2$, $D_3$ and the phase shift $\delta$ for a quasiparticle state in the continuum; in the case of a discrete quasiparticle state the continuity conditions and the normalisation condition determine the coefficients $A$, $B$, $D_2$, $D_3$ and the energy E.
The difficulty of an exact continuum calculation, i.e., with asymptotic solutions given by Eq.(11), is to identify the energy regions where the localisation of the wave functions changes quickly with the quasiparticle energy. These are the regions of quasiparticle resonant states.
In HFB the quasi-particle resonant states are of two types. A first type corresponds to the single-particle resonances of the mean field. The low-lying resonances of the mean field located close to the particle threshold are very important in the treatment of pairing correlations of weakly bound nuclei because they become strongly populated by pairing correlations.
A second kind of resonant states is specific to the HFB method and corresponds to the bound single-particle states which in the absence of pairing correlations have an energy $\epsilon < 2\lambda$ . In the presence of the pairing field these bound states are coupled with the continuum single-particle states and therefore they acquire a width. The positions and the widths of these HFB resonances are related to the total phase shift, calculated from the matching conditions, as [@bulgac]: (E) \_0(E) + arctg [ ]{} , \[62\] where $E_R$ and $\Gamma$ are the energy and the width of the resonant quasiparticle state. The function $\delta_0(E)$ is the phase shift of the upper component of the HFB wave function in the HF limit, i.e., $\tilde{h}=0$. In this limit one has: h \_1 \^0 =(E+ ) \_1 \^0 . \[60\] If there is no single-particle resonance close to the the energy $E+ \lambda$ in the HF limit, then the HF phase shift $\delta_0$ has a slow variation in the quasiparticle energy region. In this case the derivative of the total phase shift has a Breit-Wigner form, which can be used for estimating the position and the width of the quasiparticle resonance.
Thus, in the first step of the calculations we study for each $(l,j)$ channel the behaviour of the phase shift and we estimate the energies (widths) of the resonant states from the energies where the derivative of the phase shift is maximum (half of its maximum). Then, we choose for the integration in the energy region of a resonant state an energy grid with a small step. In the calculations presented below the energy step in the region of a resonance is $\Gamma/10$ and the energy cut-off is chosen to be minus the depth of the mean field.
Quasiparticle resonances in a schematic model
----------------------------------------------
In order to illustrate how one can identify the quasiparticle resonances in HFB calculations, we take here a simple model [@belyaev; @bulgac]. Let us assume that the mean field is given by a square well potential of depth $V_0$ and radius $a$. The pairing field is taken also as a constant inside the same radius $a$ and zero outside. In addition, we suppose that the chemical potential $\lambda$ is given. For such a system the radial HFB equations inside the potential well, i.e., for $r\le a$, are: $$\begin{aligned}
(\frac{1}{r}\frac{d^2}{dr^2}r - \frac{l(l+1)}{r^2}+\alpha^2) u_{lj}
-\gamma^2 v_{lj}& = & 0~,
\nonumber \\
% [\frac{1}{r}\frac{d^2}{r^2}r - \frac{l(l+1)}{r^2}+\beta^2] v_{lj}
% [
( \frac {1}{r}
\frac {d^2}{dr^2} r
- \frac{l(l+1)}{r^2}+\beta^2) v_{lj}
-\gamma^2 u_{lj} & = & 0~.
\label{eq10}\end{aligned}$$ where $\alpha^2=\frac{2m}{\hbar^2}(\lambda+E+U_0)$, $\beta^2=\frac{2m}{\hbar^2}(\lambda-E+U_0)$, $\gamma^2=\frac{2m}{\hbar^2}\Delta$ and $U_0=-(V_0+V_{so}\vec l. \vec s)$.
The solutions of Eqs.(\[eq10\]) for any value of the quasiparticle energy are: $$\begin{aligned}
u_{lj} & = & A_{+}j_l(k_+r) + A_{-}j_l(k_{-}r)~, \nonumber \\
v_{lj} & = & A_{+}g_{+}j_l(k_+r) + A_{-}g_{-}j_l(k_{-}r)~,
\label{eq11}\end{aligned}$$ where $j_l$ are spherical Bessel functions, $k_{\pm}=\frac{2m}{\hbar^2}(U_0+\lambda \pm
(E^2-\Delta^2)^{1/2})$ and $g_{\pm}=(E \pm (E^2-\Delta^2)^{1/2})/\Delta$.
Outside the potential well the HFB equations are decoupled. In this case the type of solutions depends on the quasiparticle energy. They have the forms given by Eqs.(10), (11).
In order to simulate the potential corresponding to a heavy nucleus close to the drip line, we take for the model parameters the following values: $V_0=45.35$ MeV, $V_{so}=0.5$ MeV, $a=5.2$ fm, $\Delta=1$ MeV and $\lambda=-2.0$ MeV.
Here, we discuss only the quasiparticle resonant solutions induced by the bound single-particle states which are specific to the HFB approximation. As a typical example we take the case of $p_{1/2}$ states. In the HF limit, i.e., $\Delta$=0, there are two bound states at energies $\epsilon_1 =-32.873$ MeV and $\epsilon_2 =-10.698$ MeV. When the pairing field is switched on these states become quasiparticle resonant states at energies $E_1=30.889$ MeV and $E_2=8.735$ MeV with corresponding widths $\Gamma_1=
0.40 $ keV and $\Gamma_2=24.38$ keV. These values are obtained by solving the HFB equations in the complex energy plane with outgoing wave boundary conditions. On the real energy axis one should find these two resonances from the phase shift behaviour. In Fig. 1 we show the phase shift (top) and its derivative (bottom) in the energy region of the second resonant state. One can see that the derivative of the phase shift is maximum at the resonance energy, and it drops to half of its maximum value when the energy increases by about 25 keV. This shows that the behaviour of the phase shift as a function of the real energy E gives accurate information on the positions and widths of the quasiparticle resonances. From Fig. 1 one can also see that the total phase shift does not cross $\pi /2$ at the resonance energy. As discussed above, the value of the phase shift associated with the resonance energy is actually $\delta_r=\pi/2 +\delta_0$. In this case $\delta_0=1.59$, so that the resonance appears when the total phase shift crosses a value close to $\pi$ and not to $\pi/2$. Thus, in order to identify the resonances one can calculate the derivative of the total phase shift and search for the local maxima, or calculate the HF phase shift $\delta_0$ and search for the energies associated to $\delta_r=\pi/2 +\delta_0$. For the $2p_{1/2}$ state analysed here, the two procedures give exactly the same position of the resonance, but this is not generally the case even for a square well potential [@bianchini]. In the present calculations we localise the resonances by using the derivative procedure.
Results for Ni isotopes
=======================
In this Section we apply the continuum HFB method to the case of Ni isotopes, which have been investigated extensively both in non-relativistic [@tehe] and relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approximation [@meng; @vinas].
For the Hartree-Fock field we use the Skyrme interaction SIII whereas in the pairing channel we choose a density-dependent zero-range interaction: V=V\_0 (-) , \[36\] with the following parameters [@tehe]: $V_0=-1128.75$MeV, $\rho_0=0.134 fm^{-3}$ and $\gamma=1$.
Let us first examine the quasiparticle resonant states for the isotope $^{84}$Ni. After convergence of the self-consistent procedure the chemical potential is $\lambda=-1.104$ MeV. In Table 1 we show the resonant quasiparticle energies and the widths calculated from the derivatives of the phase shift. The quasiparticle states $2d_{3/2}$, $1g_{7/2}$ and $1h_{11/2}$ originate from single-particle resonances while all the others are related to bound states.
As already discussed in the case of the schematic model, the positions of some resonances may appear for values of the total phase shifts which are quite far from $\pi/2$. We take here as an example the quasiparticle resonance state corresponding to the bound state $2p_{1/2}$, which was also analysed in the schematic model. The resonance energy and the width estimated from the derivative of the phase shift are $E=7.965$ MeV and $\Gamma=338$ keV. The value of the HF phase shift is in this case $\delta_0 = $ 0.656 so that the total phase shift associated with the resonance should be $\delta_r \simeq \pi /2 +0.656$. The energy corresponding to this phase shift is $E=$ 7.707 MeV, which is smaller than the corresponding value extracted from the maximum of the derivative of the phase shift. This shows that in this case the HF phase shift has a non-negligible variation in the energy region of the resonance. However, in practical HFB calculations a small shift in the actual position of a resonance induced by the variation of $\delta_0$ is not essential because this information is used only to fix an appropriate energy grid for the energy integration.
A special behaviour can be noticed for the resonant continuum in the $s_{1/2}$ channel. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the occupancy in this channel increases starting from $-\lambda$ up to an energy equal to 1.276 MeV. Therefore, in this channel one needs to use a very small energy step close to $-\lambda$ in order to get a correct description of the pairing correlations. Finally one should stress the fact that the contribution to the pairing correlations of this pronounced resonant structure close to the quasiparticle continuum threshold is just the manifestation of the loosely bound single-particle state $3s_{1/2}$, which in the HFB approach is embedded in the continuum. This structure has nothing to do with the contribution of the $s_{1/2}$ single-particle background continuum close to zero energy, which remains very small.
Comparison between continuum and box HFB calculations
------------------------------------------------------
In this subsection we analyse the sensitivity of the HFB results to the continuum treatment in the vicinity of a drip line, by comparing the results provided by continuum and box HFB calculations for the chain of neutron-rich Ni isotopes. The energy cut-off is the same in both calculations. For all box calculations presented below the box radius is taken equal to 22.5 fermi. Recently, some box calculations have been reported for carbon isotopes with box radii up to 400 fermi [@ben2]. If these large box HFB codes could also be used for heavier nuclei like the Ni isotopes the differences that we show here between box and exact results near the drip line might be somewhat reduced.
Lets us first discuss the properties directly related to the pairing correlations, i.e., pairing correlation energies and pairing densities.
The pairing correlation energies are estimated by the difference between the total energies calculated in HFB and HF approach, E\_p = E(HF)-E(HFB) . \[38\] The results for continuum and box HFB calculations are shown in Fig. 3 for all Ni isotopes starting from A=74 up to A=88, which is the last nucleus with positive two-neutron separation energy, as predicted by the continuum HFB calculations (see below). Up to $^{86}$Ni the quantity E(HF) does not depend on the continuous single-particle spectrum. The isotope $^{88}$Ni is not bound in HF and therefore the E(HF) used for estimating the pairing correlation energy is calculated by using a box, as in box HFB calculations. From Fig. 3 one can see that the box HFB calculations start to overestimate the amount of pairing correlations in the proximity of the drip line. Thus, in box calculations the pairing energy for $^{84}$Ni is about twice that of continuum HFB and it is still increasing for $^{86}$Ni, where the continuum HFB calculations predict zero pairing correlation energy.
These differences are reflected in the pairing densities, as shown in Fig. 4 for the isotopes $^{84}$Ni and $^{86}$Ni. One can notice that the box calculations overestimate the pairing correlations in the surface region, where the localisation of the resonance wave functions with high $(lj)$ increases. Thus, in the box calculations the resonant states with high $(lj)$ located above the Fermi level are more strongly populated than the corresponding states calculated by using continuum HFB calculations. As an illustration we consider the occupancy of the single-particle resonance $g_{7/2}$. In $^{84}$Ni this resonance is located at 3.6 MeV and has a width of about 25 keV. If we take an energy interval 3.2 MeV$ \le E \le $4 MeV around the resonance, we find that the total occupancy of the states in the box which are within this interval is about $ 2\% $ higher than the corresponding occupancy in the continuum calculations. In box calculations the role of a resonant state is usually taken by one state with an energy close to the energy of the resonance, and this state has maximum localisation inside the nucleus. Thus, while in box calculations the pairs can virtually scatter mainly to that state with maximum localisation, in continuum HFB calculation the pairs can also scatter to the neighbouring states whose wave functions are less concentrated inside the nucleus. As a result the occupancy of a resonance in continuum HFB is smaller. This effect, induced by the width of resonant states, is missing in box HFB calculations.
Let us consider now the two-neutron separation energies $S_{2n}$: S\_[2n]{} = E(Z,N)-E(Z,N-2) , \[37\] which are plotted in Fig. 5. One can see that in both calculations the change of the sign of the two-neutron separation energies, i.e., the position of the two-neutron drip line, is between $^{88}$Ni and $^{90}$Ni, with a faster drop in the case of continuum HFB. The values of $S_{2n}$, evaluated within the two HFB calculations are in better agreement one with the other than the corresponding values of the pairing correlation energies. This is because the differences observed in the pairing correlation energies are much reduced when one calculates the differences appearing in $S_{2n}$. For the same reason one can see that even a HF calculation gives quite resonable values for the two-neutron separation energies close to the drip line. The largest differences between HFB and HF calculations appear across the doubly magic isotope $^{78}$Ni. In this case the pairing energy changes quickly when two neutrons are removed from $1g_{9/2}$ or added to $2d_{5/2}$. Because the hole state has larger degeneracy than the particle state, the pairing correlations are stronger in $^{76}$Ni than in $^{80}$Ni. This explains the asymmetry seen in the behaviour of $S_{2n}$ across the doubly magic nucleus $^{78}$Ni. The fact that the value of $S_{2n}$ predicted by HFB for $^{76-78}$Ni is close to the data extrapolated from lighter isotopes indicates that the pairing interaction used in the calculations is quite reasonable, at least for the valence shell N=28-50.
Next, we compare the results given by the two HFB calculations for observables related to mean field properties. In Fig. 6 the particle density for the isotope $^{86}$Ni is shown. One notices that the particle densities are practically the same except in the region near the box radius. The fact that the two particle densities are very close up to very large distances implies that the neutron root mean square radii (rms) calculated within the two approaches should be similar. This can be seen in Fig. 7 for the isotopes $^{80-90}$Ni.
In Fig. 7 the HF radii are also shown. In $^{84}$Ni we can see that the HFB radius is slightly larger than the HF value, which is the trend usually expected when the pairing interaction is switched on. In this case the HFB radius is increased because the pairing interaction scatters some neutrons from $2d_{5/2}$ to the loosely bound state $3s_{1/2}$ which is a state less localised inside the nucleus. On the other hand, as seen in Fig. 7, the effect of pairing correlations on the radius of $^{86}$Ni is opposite. Here, the pairing interaction scatters particles out of $3s_{1/2}$ state which is completely occupied in HF. The particles are scattered in the continuum single-particle states, mainly to single-particle resonances which have a larger localisation inside the nucleus than the $3s_{1/2}$ state. Thus, in this case the radius is decreased when the pairing correlations are swiched on. This effect of the pairing interaction on nuclear radii is sometimes called “anti-halo” [@fay; @ben].
Comparison between HFB and HF-BCS approximation
-----------------------------------------------
The HF-BCS approximation is obtained by neglecting in the HFB equations the non-diagonal matrix elements of the pairing field. This means that in the HF-BCS limit one neglects the pairing correlations induced by the pairs formed in states which are not time-reversed partners.
The extension of BCS equations for taking into account the continuum coupling was proposed in Refs.[@saliwy; @sagili; @sacili]. For the case of a general pairing interaction the BCS equations read [@sagili]:
$$\label{eq:gapr1}
\Delta_i = \sum_{j}V_{i\overline{i}j\overline{j}} u_j v_j +
\sum_\nu
V_{i\overline{i},\nu\epsilon_\nu\overline{\nu\epsilon_\nu}}
\int_{I_\nu} g_{\nu}(\epsilon)
u_\nu(\epsilon) v_\nu(\epsilon) d\epsilon~,$$
$$\label{eq:gapr}
\Delta_\nu \equiv
\sum_{j}
V_{\nu\epsilon_\nu\overline{\nu\epsilon_\nu},j\overline{j}} u_j v_j +
\sum_{\nu^\prime}
V_{\nu\epsilon_\nu\overline{\nu\epsilon_\nu},
\nu^\prime\epsilon_{\nu^\prime}
\overline{\nu^\prime\epsilon_{\nu^\prime}}}
\int_{I_{\nu^\prime}} g_{\nu^\prime}(\epsilon^\prime)
u_{\nu^\prime}(\epsilon^\prime) v_{\nu^\prime}(\epsilon^\prime)
d\epsilon^\prime~,$$
$$\begin{aligned}
N = \sum_i v_i^2 + \sum_\nu \int_{I_\nu} g_{\nu}(\epsilon) v^2_\nu
(\epsilon) d\epsilon~.
\label{eq15}\end{aligned}$$
Here $\Delta_i$ is the gap for the bound state $i$ and $\Delta_\nu$ is the averaged gap for the resonant state $\nu$. The quantity $g_\nu(\epsilon) = \frac {2j_\nu +1}{\pi}
\frac{d\delta_\nu}{d\epsilon}$ is the continuum level density and $\delta_\nu$ is the phase shift of angular momentum $(l_{\nu} j_{\nu})$. The factor $g_\nu(\epsilon)$ takes into account the variation of the localisation of scattering states in the energy region of a resonance ( i.e., the width effect) and becomes a delta function in the limit of a very narrow width. In these equations the interaction matrix elements are calculated with the scattering wave functions at resonance energies and normalised inside the volume where the pairing interaction is active. The BCS equations (21-23) are solved iteratively together with the HF equations. The corresponding equations are called below the resonant continuum HF-BCS equations. For more details see Ref.[@sagili].
In the case of Ni isotopes the effect of the continuum is introduced through the first three low-lying single-particle resonances, i.e., $d_{3/2}$, $g_{7/2}$ and $h_{11/2}$. These resonances form together with the bound states $2d_{5/2}$ and $3s_{1/2}$ the equivalent of the major shell $N=50-82$. The energy integrals in BCS equations (21-23) are performed for each resonance in an energy interval defined such that $\vert \epsilon - \epsilon_\nu \vert \leq 2\Gamma_\nu $, where $\epsilon_\nu$ is the energy of the resonance and $\Gamma_\nu$ is its width. In the resonant continuum HF-BCS calculations we use the same interaction as in HFB approach.
In Fig. 8 we show the pairing correlation energies predicted by the resonant continuum HF-BCS approximation in comparison with the continuum HFB results. One can see that the HF-BCS results follow closely the exact HFB values up to the drip line. This shows that in order to estimate the pairing correlations one needs to include from the whole continuum only a few resonant states with their widths properly considered.
In order to see the effect of the widths of resonant states upon pairing, we replace in the resonant continuum HF-BCS equations the continuum level density by delta functions. This means that the resonant state is replaced by a scattering state at the resonance energy, normalized in a volume of radius R. For this radius we take the same value as in box HFB calculations, i.e. R=22.5 fm. As it can be seen from Fig. 9, the pairing correlations increase when one neglects the widths of the resonances and the results follow closely those of box HFB calculations. Thus, the overestimation of pairing correlations due to the continuum discretisation is similar in HF-BCS and HFB calculations.
In Fig. 7 we show also the radii calculated in the resonant continuum HF-BCS approximation. One notices that the HF-BCS radii are closer to the HF values than to the HFB ones. The same behaviour is found for the particle densities. This can be seen in Fig. 6 for the case of $^{86}$Ni, which is the last bound nucleus in the HF approximation. From Fig. 6 one can see also that the tail of the density in resonant continuum HF-BCS calculations is mainly given by the particles distributed in the bound states $2d_{5/2}$ and $3s_{1/2}$ and not due to the particles scattered to positive energy states. In HFB calculations a part of the particles from the bound states $2d_{5/2}$ and $3s_{1/2}$ are scattered to other states, mainly to resonant states, with wave functions concentrated inside the nucleus. Therefore the HFB density has a smaller tail at large distances.
As we have already mentioned, in the present resonant continuum HF-BCS calculations we neglect all the continuum contribution except for the three low-lying resonances $d_{3/2}$, $g_{7/2}$ and $h_{11/2}$. This model space seems sufficient for a proper evaluation of pairing correlation energies up to the drip line. The rest of the continuum changes mainly the particle distribution. In order to get a particle density closer to the HFB results one needs to introduce in the resonant continuum HF-BCS calculations aditional relevant pieces from the continuum. This work is in progress.
Conclusions
===========
In this article we have discussed how one can actually solve the HFB equations with proper boundary conditions for the continuous spectrum and we have shown, for the case of neutron-rich Ni isotopes, how different treatments of the continuum can affect the pairing correlations. It was found that in the vicinity of the drip line pairing correlations are overestimated by the continuum discretisation done in box HFB calculations. On the other hand, we have shown that the particle densities and the radii are rather insensitive to the way in which the continuum is treated in HFB calculations. This means that the quantities that are mainly related to the mean field properties do not practically depend on the different treatments of continuum. We have also shown that the position of the two-neutron drip line is not affected by the way in which continuum is treated. This is due to the fact that the differences observed for the pairing correlations energies in the two HFB calculations are diminished when the two-neutron separation energies are calculated. Moreover, the two-neutron separation energies predicted by HF are not very different from the HFB results. This shows that these quantities are not indicated for testing the pairing correlations close to the drip line.
We have also analysed how the exact HFB solutions compare to the resonant continuum HF-BCS approximation [@saliwy; @sagili]. It was shown that the resonant HF-BCS calculations which include only the first three low-lying resonances provide a very good description of pairing correlation energies up to the drip line. On the other hand, in the vicinity of the drip line the radii predicted by the resonant continuum HF-BCS calculations are larger than the HFB radii and closer to the HF results. This shows that one should add to the first three low-lying resonances additional contributions of the continuum in order to evaluate better the particle densities for nuclei close to the drip line.
We thank J. Dobaczewski for providing us the code which solves the HFB equations with box boundary conditions. One of us (N.S.) would like to thank the Insitute de Physique Nucléaire - Orsay for its hospitality. This work was done in the framework of IN2P3-IPNE Collaboration.
[99]{} S.T. Belyaev, A.V. Smirnov, S.V. Tolokonnikov, and S.A. Fayans, Sov. J. Nucl. Pjys. [**45**]{} 783 (1987). A. Bulgac, preprint No. FT-194-1980, Institute of Atomic Physics, Bucharest, 1980, nucl-th/9907088. J. Dobaczewski, H. Flocard, and J. Treiner, Nucl. Phys. [**A 422**]{} 103 (1984). J. Dobaczewzki, W. Nazarewicz, T.R. Werner, J.-F. Berger, C.R. Chinn, and J. Dechargé, Phys. Rev. [**C 53**]{} 2809 (1996). J. Terasaki, P.-H. Heenen, H. Flocard, and P. Bonche, Nucl. Phys. [**A 600**]{} 371 (1996). S.A. Fayans, S.V. Tolokonnikov, and D. Zawischa, Phys. Lett. [**B 491**]{} 245 (2000). M.V. Stoitsov, W. Nazarewicz, and S. Pittel, Phys. Rev. [**C 58**]{} 2092 (1998). M.V. Stoitsov, J. Dobaczewski, P. Ring, and S. Pittel, Phys. Rev. [**C 61**]{} 034311 (2000). N. Sandulescu, R.J. Liotta, and R. Wyss, Phys. Lett. [**B 394**]{} 6 (1997). N. Sandulescu, N. Van Giai, and R.J. Liotta, Phys. Rev. [**C 61**]{} 061301(R) (2000). A.T. Kruppa, P.H. Heenen, and R.J. Liotta, Phys. Rev. [**C 63**]{} 044324 (2001). N. Sandulescu, O. Civitarese, and R.J. Liotta, Phys. Rev. [**C 61**]{} 044317 (2000). A. Bianchini, R. J. Liotta, N. Sandulescu, Phys. Rev. [**C 63**]{} 024610 (2001). J. Meng, Phys. Rev. [**C 57**]{} 1229 (1998). M. Del Estal, M. Centelles, X. Vinãs and S.K. Patra, Phys. Rev. [**C 63**]{} 044321 (2001). K. Bennaceur, private communication. K. Bennaceur, J. Dobaczewski, and M. Ploszajczak, Phys. Lett. [**B 496**]{} 154 (2000). P. Möller et al., At. Data Nucl. Data Tables [**66**]{}, 131 (1997).
\[table1\]
l j $\epsilon$ (MeV) E (MeV) $\Gamma (keV)$
--- ------ ------------------ --------- ----------------
0 1/2 -0.731 1.276
-22.530 20.878 98
-45.010 43.3917 0.3
1 1/2 -9.540 7.965 338
-34.709 33.444 102
1 3/2 -11.194 9.712 576
-36.364 34.976 76
2 3/2 0.475 2.317 816
-23.055 22.028 58
2 5/2 -1.467 1.845 44
-26.961 25.628 3
3 5/2 -10.586 8.863 944
3 7/2 -17.023 15.857 882
4 7/2 1.604 3.598 24
4 9/2 -6.837 5.674 3
5 11/2 3.295 5.380 52
: Hartree-Fock single-particle energies $\epsilon$, HFB quasiparticle resonance energies (E) and widths ($\Gamma$) in the nucleus $^{84}$Ni, for the various $(lj)$ states involved.
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The Introducing Broker (IB) Platform Is a Smart Investment
Have you already been making money in the
foreign exchange market by trading constantly fluctuating currencies?
Innovative brokerage service companies like Go Markets offer their clients and
individuals an incentive to spread the word about investing in the foreign
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individuals and corporate clients to refer more prospective traders their way.
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this relatively new and exciting investment opportunity.
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Conference committee approves $17B VA health bill
WASHINGTON (AP) House and Senate negotiators have approved a compromise bill to spend about $17 billion to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Agreement by the 28-member conference committee was needed to move the bill to the full House and Senate. The bill is intended to help veterans avoid long waits for health care, hire more doctors and nurses to treat them, and make it easier to fire executives at the VA.
The measure includes $10 billion in emergency spending to help veterans who can't get prompt appointments with VA doctors to obtain outside care. It includes $5 billion to hire doctors, nurses and other medical staff and about $1.5 billion to lease 27 new clinics across the country.
Online Public Information File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or [email protected].
|
/*
* Copyright (c) 2011 Jiri Svoboda
* All rights reserved.
*
* Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
* modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
* are met:
*
* - Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
* notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
* - Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
* notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
* documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
* - The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products
* derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
*
* THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR
* IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES
* OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.
* IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
* INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT
* NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
* DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
* THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
* (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
* THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
*/
/** @file Interactive mode.
*
* In interactive mode the user types in statements. As soon as the outermost
* statement is complete (terminated with ';' or 'end'), the interpreter
* executes it. Otherwise it prompts the user until the entire statement
* is read in.
*
* The user interface depends on the OS. In HelenOS we use the CLUI library
* which gives us rich line editing capabilities.
*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include "os/os.h"
#include "ancr.h"
#include "assert.h"
#include "builtin.h"
#include "intmap.h"
#include "list.h"
#include "mytypes.h"
#include "program.h"
#include "rdata.h"
#include "stree.h"
#include "strtab.h"
#include "stype.h"
#include "input.h"
#include "lex.h"
#include "parse.h"
#include "run.h"
#include "imode.h"
/** Run in interactive mode.
*
* Repeatedly read in statements from the user and execute them.
*/
void imode_run(void)
{
input_t *input;
lex_t lex;
parse_t parse;
stree_program_t *program;
stree_stat_t *stat;
stree_proc_t *proc;
stree_fun_t *fun;
stree_symbol_t *fun_sym;
stype_t stype;
stype_block_vr_t *block_vr;
list_node_t *bvr_n;
rdata_item_t *rexpr;
rdata_item_t *rexpr_vi;
run_t run;
run_proc_ar_t *proc_ar;
bool_t quit_im;
/* Create an empty program. */
program = stree_program_new();
program->module = stree_module_new();
/* Declare builtin symbols. */
builtin_declare(program);
/* Process the library. */
if (program_lib_process(program) != EOK)
exit(1);
/* Resolve ancestry. */
ancr_module_process(program, program->module);
/* Bind internal interpreter references to symbols. */
builtin_bind(program->builtin);
/* Resolve ancestry. */
ancr_module_process(program, program->module);
/* Construct typing context. */
stype.program = program;
stype.proc_vr = stype_proc_vr_new();
list_init(&stype.proc_vr->block_vr);
stype.current_csi = NULL;
proc = stree_proc_new();
fun = stree_fun_new();
fun_sym = stree_symbol_new(sc_fun);
fun_sym->u.fun = fun;
fun->name = stree_ident_new();
fun->name->sid = strtab_get_sid("$imode");
fun->sig = stree_fun_sig_new();
stype.proc_vr->proc = proc;
fun->symbol = fun_sym;
proc->outer_symbol = fun_sym;
/* Create block visit record. */
block_vr = stype_block_vr_new();
intmap_init(&block_vr->vdecls);
/* Add block visit record to the stack. */
list_append(&stype.proc_vr->block_vr, block_vr);
/* Construct run context. */
run_gdata_init(&run);
run.thread_ar = run_thread_ar_new();
list_init(&run.thread_ar->proc_ar);
run_proc_ar_create(&run, run.gdata, proc, &proc_ar);
list_append(&run.thread_ar->proc_ar, proc_ar);
printf("SBI interactive mode. ");
os_input_disp_help();
quit_im = b_false;
while (quit_im != b_true) {
parse.error = b_false;
stype.error = b_false;
run.thread_ar->exc_payload = NULL;
run.thread_ar->bo_mode = bm_none;
input_new_interactive(&input);
/* Parse input. */
lex_init(&lex, input);
parse_init(&parse, program, &lex);
if (lcur_lc(&parse) == lc_eof)
break;
stat = parse_stat(&parse);
if (parse.error != b_false)
continue;
/* Type statement. */
stype_stat(&stype, stat, b_true);
if (stype.error != b_false)
continue;
/* Run statement. */
run_init(&run);
run.program = program;
run_stat(&run, stat, &rexpr);
/* Check for unhandled exceptions. */
run_exc_check_unhandled(&run);
if (rexpr != NULL) {
/* Convert expression result to value item. */
run_cvt_value_item(&run, rexpr, &rexpr_vi);
rdata_item_destroy(rexpr);
/* Check for unhandled exceptions. */
run_exc_check_unhandled(&run);
} else {
rexpr_vi = NULL;
}
/*
* rexpr_vi can be NULL if either repxr was null or
* if the conversion to value item raised an exception.
*/
if (rexpr_vi != NULL) {
assert(rexpr_vi->ic == ic_value);
/* Print result. */
printf("Result: ");
rdata_value_print(rexpr_vi->u.value);
printf("\n");
rdata_item_destroy(rexpr_vi);
}
}
run_proc_ar_destroy(&run, proc_ar);
/* Remove block visit record from the stack, */
bvr_n = list_last(&stype.proc_vr->block_vr);
assert(list_node_data(bvr_n, stype_block_vr_t *) == block_vr);
list_remove(&stype.proc_vr->block_vr, bvr_n);
printf("\nBye!\n");
}
|
Bracing for crowds, LAX expects jet's arrival to be huge
As it lumbers in for a landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday morning, the world's largest passenger jet will make its West Coast debut in what could be the biggest spectacle at the facility in more than three decades.
Officials expect thousands of onlookers to line airport fences to see the Airbus A380, an eight-story-high behemoth with a double-decked cabin and a wingspan nearly the length of a football field.
"We're planning for the largest turnout since the Concorde came in 1974," said Paul Haney, deputy executive director of airports and security for Los Angeles World Airports. "This could be huge, and we're doing everything possible to be ready."
Southern California already is experiencing an uplift from the massive jet: More than 100 area suppliers contributed to the aircraft's construction, pumping $1.5 billion into the region's economy since 2003.
For The Record Los Angeles Times Saturday March 24, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 72 words Type of Material: Correction A380 illustration: A graphic that ran Sunday with an article in the California section about the impending arrival of Airbus' newest passenger airliner inaccurately depicted the shape of the A380, based on outdated prototypes. The A380 was drawn correctly in a graphic that ran Tuesday in Section A in conjunction with articles about the plane's U.S. arrival. That version can be viewed by searching for the article by keyword "A380" on latimes.com. For The Record Los Angeles Times Sunday March 25, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 57 words Type of Material: Correction A380 illustration: A graphic that ran March 18 with a Section A article about the impending arrival of Airbus' newest passenger airliner inaccurately depicted the shape of the A380, based on outdated prototypes. The A380 was drawn correctly in a graphic that ran March 20 in Section A in conjunction with stories about the plane's U.S. arrival.
Los Angeles fought to host this pivotal moment in U.S. aviation history. Despite having promised to bring the A380 to LAX first if improvements were made at the airport, Airbus announced earlier this year plans to land the jumbo jet in New York instead. LAX officials sent a strongly worded letter to company executives in Toulouse, France, and Airbus relented just three weeks ago.
So at 9:30 a.m., one of two inaugural U.S. test flights is scheduled to touch down at LAX from Toulouse, about the same time a second aircraft will land at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport from Frankfurt, Germany.
About 550 of Lufthansa's frequent fliers, along with reporters and news crews, will be aboard the New York flight. Several dozen technicians will arrive on the LAX test jet, which will carry primarily instrumentation and water-filled tanks designed to adjust the aircraft's center of gravity.
But beyond the short-term buzz generated by the A380's arrival is the question of what mark the jet ultimately will make on aviation history.
Airlines say that when they start to fly the 555-seat jet commercially in the next few years, it will allow them to carry more passengers per trip, lowering costs. The super jumbo jet also could help space-constrained airports, including LAX, by allowing carriers to combine several flights into one.
Even so, the A380 is not expected to transform the industry the way its predecessor, Boeing Co.'s venerable 747, did when it arrived in 1970 and finally helped make flying affordable for the masses. Not enough A380s have been sold so far to fuel this kind of change, analysts say.
"It's not going to be a revolution; it's going to be an evolution," said Bob van der Linden, chairman of the aeronautics division at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. "You and I, and everybody else who flies, will determine whether this airplane is a hit or a flop."
To be sure, the A380, which is about 30% larger than Boeing's 747, is considered by many to be an engineering marvel. But it doesn't represent change on the scale its older cousin did. When the 747 came into service in the early 1970s, it was 2 1/2 times larger than the airplane it replaced.
There are some similarities between the flying giants. Skeptics contended that there wasn't a market for the 747 either, and the plane didn't sell well in the beginning. Airports said they wouldn't be able to wedge its signature hump into their facilities. To date, Boeing has sold 1,500 747s. Airbus has orders for 156 A380s.
But the 21st century air travel market is different from that of the early 1970s. More people are flying than ever, and they want frequent, nonstop routes between many cities. Boeing -- Airbus' main rival -- is betting that because of this, airlines will favor smaller, more efficient jets that can bypass larger hubs. Airbus, on the other hand, believes there is a strong market for new super jumbo jets that will patronize these hub airports.
The A380 flights to the U.S. are a way for Airbus to burnish its image after wiring problems caused a two-year delay in deliveries and led to the resignation of top executives and layoffs of 10,000 workers. In the U.S., Airbus' woes helped Boeing sell more planes, including an updated version of the 747 that Airbus had hoped would fade away when it introduced the A380. Boeing sold a record number of airplanes last year and surpassed Airbus in orders for the first time since 2000.
The ongoing dogfight between the U.S. and European plane makers aside, Airbus officials say the A380 will benefit Los Angeles economically because seven carriers at LAX have ordered the massive jet. The airport is expected to serve more A380s than any other U.S. facility because of its status as the country's largest gateway to the Pacific Rim.
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Mobility
The aim of the project is to promote mobility opportunities using the strength of ESN, namely our capacity to share real-life experiences. We aim not only to promote Erasmus mobility programmes but also a wide variety of opportunities targeted at young people, students and young graduates (volunteering, internships, traineeships, student exchange, travelling, etc).
ESNsurvey is the biggest European research project planned and carried out entirely by students for students. It is conducted annually since 2005 and researches different aspects of student mobility. It is disseminated in collaboration with 40 countries and more than 500 Higher Education Institutions. The findings obtained through the Questionnaire are published in the Report and used as recommendations to all stakeholders involved in student mobility.
The project aims to identify the challenges and best practices around accommodation for international students and trainees. Based on these information, we will make concrete recommendations and advocate for an improved situation for all mobile students and trainees in Europe.
This study aims to investigate the impact of Erasmus mobility and intensive programmes on skills development, employability, institutional development and the internationalisation of Higher Education Institutions in Europe.
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Q:
Processing results from multiple tables - is there a faster way?
I'm just trying to improve my Database structure in order to avoid getting cloned results
My tables sits it one Database and looks like this:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `Players`(
`ID` INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT UNIQUE,
`UserID` INTEGER NOT NULL UNIQUE,
`SteamID` TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
`Nick` TEXT NOT NULL,
`KlanID` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Money` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Kills` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Deaths` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Score` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`PayOrNot` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`IsNewOne` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`HUDMode` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`HUDColors` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`HUDPoz1` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`HUDPoz2` INTEGER NOT NULL
);
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `Classes` (
`ClassID` INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY UNIQUE,
`UserID` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Level` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Health` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Intelligence` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Stamina` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Durability` INTEGER NOT NULL
);
CREATE TABLE `Equipment` (
`ID` INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT UNIQUE,
`UserID` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Name` TEXT NOT NULL,
`Type` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`Time` INTEGER NOT NULL,
`NumberOfUses` INTEGER NOT NULL
);
It is a plugin designed for a Counter Strike server. It introduces some extra functionalities such as choosing own class, receiving equipment which gives extra powers, leveling system etc etc. I need to get almost all of the data stored there. The problem is, the amount of Equipment of each player is not known. Therefore, i have to figure out how to get these informations as optimal as i can.
For now, my query looks like this:
SELECT DISTINCT Players.SteamID,Players.Nick,Players.KlanID,Players.Money,Players.Kills,Players.Deaths,Players.Score,Players.PayOrNot,Players.IsNew,Players.HUDMode,Players.HUDColors,Players.HUDPoz1,Players.HUDPoz2,
Classes.Name,Classes.Level,Classes.Health,Classes.Intelligence,Classes.Stamina,Classes.Durability,
Equipment.Name,Equipment.Type,Equipment.Time,Equipment.NumberOfUses
FROM Players
INNER JOIN Equipment ON Players.UserID = Equipment.UserID
INNER JOIN Classes ON Equipment.UserID = Classes.UserID
WHERE Players.UserID=%d
Here are some sample results
(don't be scared by some of the words out there - I come originally from Poland. The things needed has beed translated and highlighted)
Every time map changes, each player has to receive this data + there might be some new ones throughout the map.
As you can see, there are some field copies due to the INNER JOIN nature. Luckily, I am able to process the results, because i know the number of classes, so i get the Equipment from [row % number_of_classes] rows and Classes from [row < number_of_classes] rows. However, i feel it could be done better. I was thinking about getting results from each query separately, but it would triple the number of queries. Maybe I have to rebuild the whole SQL structure? Or maybe this is the best way to do so?
A:
The output of a single query has the form of a table, i.e., it has a fixed number of columns, and a certain number of rows.
If you want to get your data with a single query, you have no choice but to arrange it so that is has tabular form. When joining, this often results in duplicates.
But there is no reason to use a single query. SQLite has no client/server communication overhead, so many small queries are just as efficient.
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Plan your getaway to our stylish hotel in St. Pete, Florida
The St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater welcomes you to Florida with an unbeatable location and a stylish, boutique feel. Whether you're here in the Pinellas Park area for work or for play, you'll love our contemporary accommodations; in-room amenities include free high-speed Internet access and ultra-plush bedding. Stop by our restaurant, The Crafted Plate, for farm-fresh American dining, or enjoy a workout in our 1,600 square-foot fitness center. Those hosting events in St. Pete will be thrilled with our 25,000 square feet of venue space and helpful planning services. Exploring during your visit is easy, as our hotel is an ideal 'gateway' to the very best in the St. Petersburg area, as well as to beautiful Clearwater Beach. Throughout your stay, you'll be treated to the friendly hospitality that earned our hotel a Service Excellence Award at Marriott International's 2012 National Owners' Association Business Conference. All of us here at the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater look forward to your visit!
Key Amenities
Highlights
Our hotel is proud to be a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence winner, as well as a GreenLeaders environmental program Silver Member.
Complimentary Local Shuttle service within a 5 mile radius
With modern amenities and superb on-site catering, our expansive event space sets the stage for unforgettable occasions here in St. Pete, Florida.
De-stress in our State of the Art Fitness Center
Re-energize your day and maintain a healthy lifestyle in our state-of-the-art fitness center! Machines come equipped with TV monitors so you can stay connected and keep up with your favorite shows or news programs.
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Q:
run bash command in new shell and stay in new shell after this command executes
I've got a problem. I'm searching for long time for this answer - how can I run command in new bash shell and stay in this NEW shell after this commands executes. So for example:
bash -c "export PS1='> ' && ls"
will make new shell, export PS1, list directories and ... will exit to my current shell. I want to stay in the new one.
A:
You can achieve something similar by abusing the --rcfile option:
bash --rcfile <(echo "export PS1='> ' && ls")
From bash manpage:
--rcfile file
Execute commands from file instead of the system wide initialization file /etc/bash.bashrc and the standard personal initialization file ~/.bashrc if the shell is interactive
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Instead of buying a car and breaking your head over paying monthly instalments and parking space, does it make sense to travel by the on-demand cabs, sit back and relax as you are driven to your destination?
A survey of how shared mobility has changed commute patterns in Bengaluru, conducted by World Resources Institute India, Ross Centre for Sustainable Cities, has found that on-demand cab services have the potential to delay over two lakh people from buying their first car.
Over 30,000 cabs in the city making over four trips a day on an average have replaced over 51,000 cars on the road, thereby reducing traffic congestion to that extent, the report claims.
The survey that was conducted in a cross-section of workplaces has found that more than half of the users of on-demand cab services in the city are aged between 25 and 35. This segment makes up around 30 per cent of the city’s population. The study has also found that travelling by cabs and shared mobility can save 28 per cent of spending on transport compared to owning a personal car.
Pawan Mulukutla, manager (transport), WRI India, who spearheaded the survey, said it was the same age group with high disposable income (more than Rs. 10 lakh a year) that had the potential to buy their first car. “The on-demand cab services and other alternative transport facilities emerging have the potential to delay the purchase of the first car,” he said.
Survey and study of on-demand cabs
People using cabs regularly
Less than 25 years: 19 per cent
Between 25 and 35 years: 58 per cent
Segment of population in the age group 25 and 35: 30 per cent
Segment of this group with income more than Rs. 10 lakh: 20 per cent
People without their first car: 44 per cent
Potential number of people for delay in buying firs car: 2,25,291
******
Over 30,000 cabs in the city
* Have replaced 51,324 cars on road
* Parking space/car: 135 sq. ft
* Parking space saved: 159 acres
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News & Events
Bitcoin hard fork: Trezor shows why it is the best wallet solution for Bitcoin users No action required for Trezor users Both coins (if split occurs) will be supported No security is compromised Dealing with the Bitcoin hard fork using a Trezor wallet is a no-brainer. {More reading on the possible split here} The safest place for […]
Enterprise Ethereum Alliance announces status as world’s biggest open source blockchain initiative 150+ organisations have joined since Feb 2017, including Cisco Systems, Scotiabank, The Government of Andhra Pradesh Enterprise Ethereum Alliance seeking to evolve Ethereum into an enterprise-grade technology The Ehereum open source blockchain initiative ” The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance” have their priorities mapped out and […]
Bitcoin Beginner’s Guide to Surviving the BIP 148 UASF Addressing issues connected with the approaching of BIP 148 UASF. Bitcoin might undergo a chain-split on August 1st as few of Bitcoin users plan to activate a user activated soft fork (UASF) as described in Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 148 (BIP 148). Particularly, their nodes will reject […]
ICE3X API V1 ICE3X provides access to the API via two ways: Public API: Does not require the use of authentication methods and is available via GET requests. This API does not require authorization, and is accessible through the GET request. In general, the URL for accessing the API is as follows https://www.ICE3X.com/api/v1/api_method/api_action?api_params where api_method […]
Have you heard of the vSlice ICO, the world’s first profit sharing token that just raised over $1,000,000 in just 90 minutes?! What is vSlice and why are people so eager to buy tokens? The main reason is of course PROFIT. People are excited about an opportunity to make a potentially large profit from trading […]
Bitcoin News Roundup Week 33 – Mainstream Finance In this week’s Bitcoin News Roundup Week 33, we focus on mainstream finance, government and the blockchain. The interest in blockchain technology grows and intensifies. This is especially true for the largest financial institutions and central banks. Japanese Banks, the Bank of England (BoE), the Australian Stock Exchange […]
Bitcoin Price Market Analysis Week 31 Bitcoin Price Market Analysis Week 31 we look at a market in recovery. The Bitcoin price was already in significant decline prior to news of the Bitfinex hack breaking. The news of the hack only acted to exacerbate the decline. The price ultimately went as low as ZAR 6,360. Although […]
Bitcoin News Roundup Week 31 In this Bitcoin News Roundup Week 31 it’s all about the Bitfinex hack, network hard forks, and the price action. Indeed, all the key stories are inter-linked. One utltimately and greatly affects the other. In a small economy like Blockchain this is inevitably the case. So, let’s look at the key […]
Blockchain Charity – Experimentation in China Bitcoin and blockchain technology hold great promise for charity work. Blockchain charity is an idea we could see a lot in the future. In particular blockchains could be revolutionary for the operational aspects of charity. Blockchain technology involves are transparent ledger. Everyone is able to track the usage of funds. […]
Bitcoin Market Price Trading Analysis In this week’s bitcoin market price trading analysis, the focus is on the last 72-hrs. There has seen a large sell-off in Bitcoin. The price hit a low of ZAR 8,575 after essentially trading sideways for most of the last week of July. Most of the Bitcoin press is attributing the […]
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Q:
How can I clear the notification center from Terminal?
I really like terminal-notifier and how it allows you to send things to the notification center.
It even has a handy feature to remove the notifications that it sent, for example if I spoofed a notification from another app like CodeKit, syntax being:
terminal-notifier -sender com.incident57.CodeKit -remove ALL
But I guess this application is not able to clear the notifications that it did not send, as the other messages are still hanging around:
It's a great tool but it still leaves me wondering:
How can I clear the notification center from Terminal?
A:
You might run an AppleScript like this:
osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to tell process "Notification Center"
click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
delay 0.1
repeat while exists button 1 of UI element 1 of row 2 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of window 1
click button 1 of UI element 1 of row 2 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of window 1
end repeat
click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
end tell'
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Sleep and everyday functioning in older adulthood.
As individuals age they report increasing numbers of sleep problems (e.g., increased nighttime wakings) and this poorer sleep quality has been associated with increased risk for various medical conditions; however limited research has focused on the implications of sleep quality on everyday functioning in older adulthood. We compared three methods of sleep data collection (wrist actigraphy, self-report questionnaires, and sleep diary) and evaluated their relationships with three approaches to assessing everyday functioning (direct observation, self-report, and paper-and-pencil-based problem-solving tasks) in cognitively healthy older adults. Consistent with previous research, subjective sleep measures correlated significantly with each other but did not correlate with objective sleep measures. Multiple regression analyses revealed neither objective nor subjective sleep measures predicted everyday functioning. Individual variability in sleep may affect prediction of everyday functioning using a cross-sectional sample. Future research should investigate the combined influence of sleep and cognitive factors on everyday functioning in older adults.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the optimization of development of underground reservoirs such as hydrocarbon reservoirs notably comprising a fracture network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The petroleum industry, and more precisely reservoir exploration and development notably of petroleum reservoirs requires knowledge of the underground geology as perfectly as possible to efficiently provide evaluation of reserves, production modelling or development management. In fact, determining the location of a production well or of an injection well, the drilling mud composition, the completion characteristics, selection of a hydrocarbon recovery method (such as waterflooding for example) and of the parameters required for implementing the method (such as injection pressure, production flow rate, etc.) requires good knowledge of the reservoir. Reservoir knowledge notably is knowledge of the petrophysical properties of the subsoil at any point in space.
The petroleum industry has for a long time used field (in-situ) measurements with experimental modelling (performed in the laboratory) and/or numerical modelling (using softwares). Petroleum reservoir modelling thus is a technical stage that is essential for any reservoir exploration or development procedure. The goal of modelling is to provide a description of the reservoir.
Fractured reservoirs are an extreme type of heterogeneous reservoirs comprising two very different media, a matrix medium containing the major part of the oil in place and having a low permeability, and a fractured medium representing less than 1% of the oil in place and highly conductive. The fractured medium itself can be complex, with different sets of fractures characterized by their respective density, length, orientation, inclination and opening.
Engineers in charge of the development of fractured reservoirs need to perfectly know the role of fractures. What is referred to as fracture is a plane discontinuity of very small thickness in relation to the extent thereof, representing a rupture plane of a rock of the reservoir. On the one hand, knowledge of the distribution and of the behavior of these fractures allows optimizing the location and the spacing between wells to be drilled through the oil-bearing reservoir. On the other hand, the geometry of the fracture network conditions the fluid displacement, at the reservoir scale as well as the local scale where it determines elementary matrix blocks in which the oil is trapped. Knowing the distribution of the fractures is therefore also very helpful, at this stage, to the reservoir engineer who wants to calibrate the models he or she constructs to simulate the reservoirs in order to reproduce or to predict the past or future production curves. Geoscientists therefore have three-dimensional images of reservoirs allowing locating a large number of fractures.
Thus, in order to reproduce or to predict (i.e. “simulate”) the production of hydrocarbons when starting production of a reservoir according to a given production scenario (characterized by the position of the wells, the recovery method, etc.), reservoir engineers use a computing software referred to as reservoir simulator (or flow simulator) that calculates the flows and the evolution of the pressures within the reservoir, and the results of these computations enable them to predict and to optimize the reservoir in terms of flow rate and/or of amount of hydrocarbons recovered. Calculation of the reservoir behavior according to a given production scenario constitutes a “reservoir simulation”.
There is a well-known method for optimizing the development of a fluid reservoir traversed by a fracture network, wherein fluid flows through the reservoir are simulated through simplified but realistic modelling of the reservoir. This simplified representation, which is referred to as “double-medium approach”, is provided by Warren J. E. et al. in “The Behavior of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs”, SPE Journal (September 1963), 245-255. This technique considers the fractured medium as two continua exchanging fluids with one another: matrix blocks and fractures. One then refers to a “double medium” or “double porosity” model. Thus, “double-medium” modelling of a fractured reservoir discretizes this reservoir into two sets of superposed grid cells making up the “fracture” grid and the “matrix” grid. Each elementary volume of the fractured reservoir is thus conceptually represented by two grid cells, a “fracture” cell and a “matrix” cell, coupled to one another (i.e. exchanging fluids). In the reality of the fractured field, these two cells represent all of the matrix blocks delimited by fractures present at this point of the reservoir. In fact, in most cases, the cells have hectometric lateral dimensions (commonly 100 or 200 m) considering the size of the fields and the limited possibilities of simulation softwares in terms of computing capacity and time. The result thereof is that, for most fractured fields, the fractured reservoir elementary volume (cell) comprises innumerable fractures forming a complex network that delimits multiple matrix blocks of variable dimensions and shapes according to the geological context. Each constituent real block exchanges fluids with the surrounding fractures at a rate (flow rate) that is specific thereto because it depends on the dimensions and the shapes of this particular block.
In the face of such a geometrical complexity of the real medium, the approach is, for each reservoir elementary volume (grid cell), in representing the real fractured medium as a set of matrix blocks that are all identical, parallelepipedic, defined by an orthogonal and regular network of fractures oriented along the main directions of flow. A matrix block referred to as “representative” (of the real (geologic) distribution of the blocks), single and of parallelepipedic shape is thus defined for each cell. It is then possible to formulate and to calculate the matrix-fracture exchange flows for this “representative” block and to multiply the result by the number of such blocks in the elementary volume (cell) to obtain the flow at the scale of this cell.
In the “single permeability” version of the double-medium model, the flow of the fluids at the reservoir scale is assumed to occur only via the fractures (i.e. via the single fracture grid), fluid exchanges occurring locally between the fractures and the matrix blocks (that is between the two cells of a given pair of fracture and matrix cells representing the fractured porous reservoir at a given point of the field). In the “double permeability” version of this model, the fluid flow occurs within the two “fracture” and “matrix” media at the reservoir scale, still with local fracture-matrix fluid exchanges taking place locally between the fractures and the matrix blocks.
Such a representation (modelling) of the real (geological) fractured reservoir is used to reproduce, that is to “simulate”, the response (behavior) of the field as it is produced. Flow or transfer equations are therefore formulated, explicited and solved for each constituent cell of the model according to the method summed up hereafter. The set of mathematical equations applied to the double medium representing the fractured reservoir constitutes the double-medium reservoir simulator which is well known.
A reservoir simulator allows, from input data concerning on the one hand both media (matrix and fracture) and, on the other hand, the fluids that this double medium contains, to determine, at various times (time steps) and at each cell, the values of various parameters quantifying the state of these two media, such as saturations (oil, gas, water), pressures, concentrations, temperatures, etc. This simulator solves two sets of equations, one relative to the matrix medium, and the other relative to the fractured medium. As a matter of interest, it is noted that these equations express the mass (per constituent) and energy balances for each one of the “fracture” and “matrix” cells representing each elementary volumes of the real reservoir. These mass balances involve exchange flows between cells of the same medium (fracture or matrix) next to each other in space, the matrix-fracture exchange term that is the object of the present invention, a possible injection or production term if a well runs through the elementary volume considered, all of the aforementioned flow terms being equal to the matter or energy accumulation term of the cell being considered. Thus, the equations relative to the “matrix” medium and to the “fracture” medium at each point of the reservoir are coupled, via an exchange term describing the (matter or energy) exchange flows between the porous (matrix) rock and the fractures running therethrough. This matrix-fracture exchange modelling is essential because the matrix contains in most cases the main part of the reserves to be produced.
The method adopted to date for formulating these matrix-fracture exchanges is, for each pair of fracture and matrix cells discretizing the double-medium model: (on the one hand) determining the dimensions of identical matrix blocks (in dimension and shape) assumed to be representative of the complex real distribution of the blocks present in this elementary reservoir volume, and then formulating and calculating the matrix-fracture exchange flow according to the dimensions of the representative block thus calculated with this flow then being equal to the flow expressed for such a representative block multiplied by the number of such blocks in the cell considered.
Thus, the exchange formulations adopted to date in fractured reservoir simulators, based on a very simplified representation of this type of reservoir, prove to be very approximate and incapable of giving an accurate account of all of the exchange mechanisms likely to be involved, which include the pressure diffusivity, the capillarity, the gravity, the molecular diffusion, the conduction and viscous forces.
In fact, on the one hand, the exchange between matrix blocks and fractures is expressed at the (hectometric) scale of the cell of the simulation model, considering that a matrix block of fixed dimensions and shape is representative of (“equivalent to”) all of the real (geologic) blocks of the cell.
On the other hand, the exchange is assumed to be pseudo-permanent, that is the exchange flow at the boundaries of this equivalent block is proportional to the potential difference (for example: pressure difference, temperature difference, etc.) between the two matrix and fracture media. For each medium, this potential (temperature for example) is assumed to be uniform within a given medium, thus, in the present case, uniform (constant) within each block representative of the cell considered at the simulation time. Now, exchanges between fractures and blocks, notably if they involve several fluid phases, are not instantaneous. Furthermore, apart from the gravity and viscous entrainment effects (through fracture flow), these exchanges first concern the periphery of the blocks before they propagate to the center thereof. This spatial non-uniformity of the change of state of the matrix blocks also induces a non-stationary time evolution since the fluid of the fracture reaches much more rapidly the edges of the block than the center thereof. An accurate reproduction of the change of state of the blocks would thus require discretizing the block in order to simulate the displacements at a local scale (intra-block). The resultant of these flows at the block-fracture boundary then constitutes a much more accurate estimation of the matrix-fracture exchange over time.
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This flavorful Asian-style steak can be served as a main course and then repurposed to make Beef, Noodle and Mango salad the next night. While it should be marinated for an hour actual preparation and cooking time is under 30 mi
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Q:
What is your critique for this logo?
So I have a personal logo that I have recently design, a monogram based on the initials J and S using the Caslon typeface. I am a graphic designer and web developer, and I am going for a professional, timeless look that doesn't follow trends and values usefulness and the bigger picture over unnecessary details. Could anyone give me their critique of this logo? Thank you!
A:
I agree with @user287001's answer that after a quick image search, I found very similar results to yours. You mentioned "timeless" as part of your image and I think using a serif font like Caslon was effective. And you kept it simple, which is always good design. It's great you're asking for critique!
Here are just some suggestions:
My name also begins with a 'J' so I also understand playing around with the letter can be quite interesting. At least with an 'S', you have possibilities to tinker with the descender of the 'J' and the spur/spine of the 'S' (if that sounded confusing, here is a visual guide of the anatomy of a character). Essentially, with J's and S's, I've seen very creative monograms being manipulated with those parts of the letters.
Also, if you haven't yet, I would:
Look at resources like Dribbble and Behance, especially the feedback there.
Play around with different typefaces, sizes,
negative space, color, rotation.
Add a third shape or letter, maybe incorporate a symbol? (if necessary and that's not too literal, as @user287001 suggested)
These two articles help me a lot during my own process. Hopefully they'll be of some use for you as well:
31 Techniques for Creative Two-Letter Logos and 4 Essential Rules of Effective Logo Design
A:
If this is your final logo, Gestalt is always useful. It looks that you center both characters on the S vertical axis, this provide many unequal or disproportionate optical blank spaces. A good practice to fix it is to see the logo upside-down. This is just for formal aspects.
Remember Caslon font was one of the first typography constructed over a grid, maybe you should put both character on a grid to fix proportions.
A:
Image search for JS and SJ give so many resembling versions that you should seriously consider to add a third shape, which is unique. Exact match is not yet found, but S and J at the same place, only vertically shifted =yes.
ADD due a comment:
A massive third element can make it unique. An example:
I believe this isn't of your style. This shows only the size what I mean.
Another possiblity: Give to the letters some non-obvious apparent geometric space placements, maybe actually impossible or false. Then you do not need extras. Here's a geometrically possible example and one impossible, too:
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What I learned after 100,000 miles on the road talking to Trump supporters - af16090
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/nov/03/trump-supporters-us-elections
======
jtrtoo
It's all too easy to feel righteous indignation for the "others" when we're so
easily immersed in our own little bubbles and personal challenges. To be sure,
there are fringes on the edges of every faction of the political spectrum that
are more difficult to reconcile, but if one can tune out that noise for a
moment there is a possibility of reaching a deeper understanding of one
another here. Whether or not you like the path chosen to office by our new
President-elect--or even like him at all--there is something to be learned
from listening to the large numbers of people who voted him into office and
the factions that supported him. Most of them are honest, decent, and
hardworking people that have similar struggles, hopes, emotions, concerns, and
dreams as most anyone else in this country. The President-elect's message
resonated with many people. That may seem crazy to many folks, but most folks
who voted for him aren't crazy. Pay attention, engage in conversation, and try
to understand why it resonated. And if you supported him, do the same. If
everyone can work hard to remove the rhetoric and BS perpetuated by any of the
political parties all the better.
------
blkhp19
A small sampling, but their reasons for supporting Trump just show how little
they know about why they're in their current situation / what electing Trump
could possibly change for them. It's simultaneously sad and infuriating.
This just goes to show that education is key. Education is about so much more
than the classes you take. It teaches critical thinking, which can help
improve emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a powerful skill to
have. It allows one to look inward, reflect on their own circumstance, and
reason about how the society they live in actually affects them.
~~~
MrZongle2
_" This just goes to show that education is key."_
_IF_ it is accompanied with _understanding and empathy on the part of the
teacher._ Condescension is part of what got Trump elected; going "oh, we have
to teach these poor stupid people" or treating an education project in
Appalachia as a volunteer tourism lark will do little than breed more
resentment.
------
dvt
The article tries very hard to portray Trump's followers as racist, but really
I just think they are desperate and forgotten. A quote really resonated with
me, from Lori Ayers in Ohio:
> “I voted for Obama the first time, not the second. Now I am voting for
> Trump. We just got to change things.”
It's obvious that what resonates with blue-collar workers is change. The sad
thing is they are probably a dying breed in a world where computers are
replacing everything from air traffic controllers to bus drivers.
I'm not sure if there IS a solution, apart from massive education reform (to
help their kids break out of that social strata) or massive government
incentives to bring jobs back -- which will most likely not happen.
Conservatives definitely have their own problems, but liberals live in such
bubbles, it doesn't even surprise me Hilary lost (even though I was leaning
that she wouldn't).
------
rokosbasilisk
The narrative pushing is too much. I still cant believe how much of asian
indian and asian community voted for him in philadelphia very unexpected.
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Using HealthMap to Analyse Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Data.
In this paper, a web-based disease surveillance platform known as HealthMap is used to retrieve and analyze data pertaining to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) within the geographical confinements of the Arab World and North African countries. An account was opened with HealthMap to gain access to data related to MERS for the time-period 9 September 2015 to 7 March 2015. HealthMap accumulates and assesses outbreak data from a range of sources, this includes news media (Google News (Arabic)), validated official alerts (WHO) and expert-curated accounts (ProMED). Search terms "MERS" and "Coronavirus" were used to search HealthMap for relevant alerts pertaining to MERS. The search terms were geographically limited to the Arab World and North African countries. Our results show that the prevalence of MERS still remains to be the highest in Saudi Arabia, however, between 9 September 2015 and 7 March 2015 there has been a slight overall trend in decreasing number of MERS related alerts within Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. All countries other than Saudi Arabia such as, UAE, Tunisia, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan and Egypt together amounted for only 25.6% (n=214) of total MERS alerts (n=837). Our findings show that the rise in the aggregated contribution of internet based participatory surveillance systems for tracking non-communicable diseases such as MERS has aided in improving the accuracy, sensitivity and timeliness for monitoring disease outbreaks. Use of resources such as HealthMap can aid in the timely assessment of risk factors, vaccination development initiatives, prevention strategies and measured allocation of healthcare resources while running at a low cost with greater flexibility and increased scalability compared to isolated diseases surveillance systems.
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Q:
Is distance always 0 relative to an object moving at speed of light $c$?
As I understand it, when an object is traveling at the speed of light, relative to itself all travel is instantaneous and the distance is zero. If a photon traveling from the sun was aligned with the Earth and Mars is the trip to Mars literally the same as the trip to Earth. I'm trying to picture how that works - are Earth and Mars and the rest of the universe for that matter condensed to a single point relative to the photon?
A:
You are asking us for the distance of the trip in the rest frame of the photon. The problem with asking that is that there is no rest frame of a photon. A photon can never be at rest, so it has no rest frame. This is like asking what a bowl of petunias thinks about its existence as it falls to the surface. A bowl of petunias doesn't think, therefore we can't tell you what its existential thoughts are. Similarly, a photon has no rest frame, therefore we can't tell you what distances become relative to it
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Dose-response and histopathological study, with special attention to the hypophysis, of the differential effects of domoic acid on rats and mice.
The effects of the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA) in the central nervous system of rodents (essentially rats and mice) after intraperitoneal administration have been profusely studied in the past. These observations have shown that the toxin induces similar symptoms and pathology in both species, but the lethality varies greatly. This article addresses the common and specific histopathological effects in rats and mice and the difference in sensitivity of these species to DA. Various sublethal and lethal doses were employed in mice (from 3 mg/kg to 8 mg/kg) to observe their neurotoxicity by using different histological techniques, and these results were compared with the pathological effects after the administration of LD50 in rats (2.5 mg/kg). Additionally we also detected the presence of this toxin in various tissues by means of immunohistochemistry. Our results showed that rats are more vulnerable than mice to the neurotoxic effects of DA after intraperitoneal inoculation: lethality was extremely high in rats and the toxin produced hippocampal damage in rats surviving the intoxication, while lesions were not observed in DA-inoculated mice. As for similarities between rats and mice, both displayed similar clinical signs and in both the toxin was detected in the hypophysis by immunohistochemistry, a brain region not reported to date as target of the toxin.
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Thank you for visiting out page. This campaign has now ended and we would like to say a huge heartfelt thanks for all of the kind donations and messages of support we have received. We cannot thank everyone enough, the support we have received is incredible and we are extremely grateful.With much love and deepest gratitude,Jen, Lauran, Ellanor & Katie x-------------------The Shah family have released the following statement and have also set up a memorial site for those wishing to leave their thoughts or memories of Asad."On Thursday evening (24th March), a beloved husband, son, brother and everyone’s friend, Asad Shah, was taken away from us by an incomprehensible act. We are devastated by this loss.A person’s religion, ethnicity, race, gender or socioeconomic background never mattered to Asad. He met everyone with the utmost kindness and respect because those are just some of the many common threads that exist across every faith in our world. He was a brilliant man, recognising that the differences between people are vastly outweighed by our similarities. And he didn’t just talk about this, he lived it each and every day, in his beloved community of Shawlands and his country of Scotland.If there was to be any consolation from this needless tragedy, it came in the form of the spontaneous and deeply moving response by the good people of Shawlands, Glasgow and beyond. As a family, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all who have organised and participated in the street vigils, online petitions and messages. You have moved us beyond words and helped us start healing sooner than we thought possible. You were Asad’s family as much as we are and we will always remain with you.One of our brightest lights has been extinguished but our love for all mankind and hope for a better world in which we can all live in peace and harmony, as so emphatically embodied by Asad, will endure and prevail. Asad left us a tremendous gift and we must continue to honour that gift by loving and taking care of one another.We will not be making any further comments on this tragedy and ask everyone, especially the media, to allow us the privacy we need to grieve and heal away from the public eye.With deepest appreciation,The Shah Family"----------------This page has been set up in in support of Asad Shah who was tragically killed outside his shop on Minard Road on Thursday 24 March. This fundraiser has been launched by myself (Jen) and friends (Lauran, Ellanor & Katie) who are all local residents in Shawlands and regular customers of Asad's. As a resident of Waverley Garden's for over 2 years, I personally got to know him whilst visiting his shop on almost a daily basis.Mr Shah was a popular, well respected and much loved member of our commuity and his death has devastated many. He was a warm and friendy man and he always went out of his way to make time to talk to you - he was more than just our local shopkeeper. He was a friend to many.It quickly became clear to us in the aftermath of this tragedy that the people of Shawlands (and wider) were looking for a way to show their support to Asad's family and we thought this would be a fitting way to do so.We are raising funds for his family to use in whatever way they see most fitting - whether that be to contribute towards funeral expenses, provide financial security for his family in the coming months, or simply to do something in his memory. We know money will never make up for his loss but this is our way of showing our support for him, and showing his family how much he was cared for in our commnity.Any donations, and kind words and memories of Asad will be gratefully received. Thanks, Jen, Lauran, Ellanor & Katie x
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Ask HN: Software engineers, do you fill timesheet with 1 hr granularity? - ankurdhama
======
davelnewton
I usually go in 30min chunks.
Ot depends on the client, e.g., if they generate relatively small tasks I'll
go in 15 min increments.
I rarely have things that take that short of a burst, but I'd be uncomfortable
billing someone for an hour of work if I only worked 15 minutes. That seems
dishonest to me.
That said, I bill for the time it takes me to get set up to do that work,
e.g., if I have to spin up a specific environment, or gather reference
materials, etc. that is included in billable time, because it's time I'd
normally be doing something else.
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Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (Express Photo By Amit Mehra) Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)
AMID REPORTS that some RSS members were prohibited from joining government services in Goa, the Sangh has said that “banning RSS members” from joining government service is “unjust, unlawful and undemocratic”.
“This ban is unjust and unlawful. This ban hardly affects the RSS and its Swayamsevaks. It has already been proved unconstitutional by several courts. It’s good if the government considers lifting this ban,” RSS All India Prachar Pramukh Manmohan Vaidya told The Indian Express.
The Centre, by its 1966 order, had banned government employees from participating in activities of RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Watch Video: What’s making news
MoS Personnel and PMO Jitendra Singh had recently said that “the central government has not issued any such order recently. If any old order exists, we will review it in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs”.
In response to an RTI application in 2014, the Ministry of Home Affairs had clarified to The Indian Express that the 1966 order is “still applicable”.
Vaidya said several government employees, who faced action after they participated in RSS programmes, approached courts. The court then termed the ban unconstitutional. “RSS does not work through state power or with the support of it. RSS works among the people, with the people and for the people,” he said.
Some BJP-ruled states have already lifted the ban. In 2015, the Chhattisgarh government had issued a notification that allowed government servants to join RSS and participate in its activities. In Himachal Pradesh, the previous BJP government withdrew the restriction in 2008. Madhya Pradesh too the measure in 2006.
The Centre has so far held that the RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami are political organisations and “participation in them by government servants would attract provisions of sub-rule (1) of Rule 5 of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964.” In its 1966 order, the Centre had said that “any government servant who is a member of or is otherwise associated with the aforesaid organisations or with their activities is liable to disciplinary action.”
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For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.
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This page consist of inbreeding calculations for the Cane Corso you selected or the "Virtual Mating" you have entered.The calculations on this page are accurate to the point that they can only be made based upon the information in the database.For more detailed calculations please make sure that as many as possible of the ancestors are known in the database.We hope this tool will be valuable to breeders and enthousiasts.Each information block has an explanation button which can be clicked to find information on that specific subject.
Shown here are the parents of the Cane Corso you selected for the COI% calculation or the Cane Corso you selected for "Virtual Mating".The gender of these Cane Corso is shown here as well as the number of children they have in the pedigree database.
Shown here are the number of ascendents found in this specific pedigree tree.A complete tree will contain up to 510 ascendants. (8 generations are used for the calculations on this page).Also shown is the number of unique ascendents. These figures will give you an indication as to how varied the gene pool is for this animal.
A total count of 500 animals with only 100 unique ascendents means that out of the 500 animals found in 8 generations there are only 100 unique animals present. These 100 animals make up the tree. Obviousily 510 unique ascendents would be better for a more varied (less inbred) gene pool.
If you clicked on the COI% calculation for a single Cane Corso in the database the inbred percentage is shown here.If you clicked on the "Virutal Mating" button the value shown here is for any children that these two Cane Corso might produce.
Here you'll find a list of the ascendents (parents, gandparents etc.) who contribute the most to the genetic makeup of the selected Cane Corso.If you clicked on "Virutal Mating" these are the Cane Corso who will contribute the most to any potential children that the chosen father and mother might produce.
The fact that a Cane Corso is the most contributing ascendent does not have to mean that that Cane Corso also has the highest inbred precentage.A Cane Corso with a low inbred percentage can have a large contributing factor by being a closer relative (grandparent and great-grandparent for example) than other Cane Corso with a higher inbred percentage.
The Cane Corso you selected will have most in common with the Cane Corso in this list.If you clicked on the "Virtual Mating" the potential children will have most in common with the Cane Corso in this list.
Shown here are the ascendents in the pedigree tree with the highest inbred percentages.This list gives an indication of the inbred percentages in earlier generations which (could) affect the selected Cane Corso or selected mating.
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Activation of anterior cingulate cortex produces inhibitory effects on noxious mechanical and electrical stimuli-evoked responses in rat spinal WDR neurons.
In present study, in vivo electrophysiological techniques were applied to examine the effects of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation on mechanical and electrical stimuli-evoked responses in rat spinal cord wide-dynamic-range (WDR) neurons. We found that bilateral ACC electrical stimulation (100Hz, 20V, 20s) had different effects on neuronal responses to brush, pressure and pinch stimuli (10s). The brush-evoked neuronal responses at baseline, post 1min and post 5min were 60.8±15.0, 59.2±15.4 and 60.0±19.3 spikes/10s, respectively (n=10, P>0.05 vs. baseline). The pressure-evoked neuronal responses at baseline, post 1min and post 5min were 77.8±11.9, 38.0±7.8 and 45.8±7.6 spikes/10s, respectively (n=10, P<0.05 vs. baseline). The pinch-evoked neuronal responses at baseline, post 1min and post 5min were 137.6±16.7, 62.6±17.5 and 68.8±15.0 spikes/10s, respectively (n=10, P<0.05 vs. baseline). Furthermore, ACC stimulation generated distinct effects on the different components of wind-up response. The total numbers of late response (LR) and after-discharge (AD), but not early response (ER), significantly decreased. Collectively, the present study demonstrated that short-term ACC activation could generate long-term inhibitory effects on the responses of WDR neurons to noxious mechanical (pressure and pinch) and electrical stimuli. The results indicated that ACC activation could negatively regulate noxious information ascending from spinal cord with long-term effect, providing potential neuronal substrate for the modulation of ACC activation on nociception.
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Septic safe interactions with smart glasses in health care.
In this paper, septic safe methods of interaction with smart glasses, due to the health care environment applications consideration, are presented. The main focus is on capabilities of an optical, proximity-based gesture sensor and eye-tracker input systems. The design of both interfaces is being adapted to the open smart glasses platform that is being developed under the eGlasses project. Preliminary results obtained from the proximity sensor show that the recognition of different static and dynamic hand gestures is promising. The experiments performed for the eye-tracker module shown the possibility of interaction with simple Graphical User Interface provided by the near-to-eye display. Research leads to the conclusion of attractiveness of collaborative interfaces for interaction with smart glasses.
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Bradykinin sensitivity in primary open-angle glaucoma and normal-tension glaucoma patients.
To report the reaction after intradermal injection of bradykinin in nonglaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma, and normal-tension glaucoma subjects. Prospective comparative study. The study participants were 14 healthy control subjects, 16 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma, and 15 patients with normal-tension glaucoma. In each participant, the wheal response to intradermal injection of 10 microg bradykinin in the volar forearm was measured by a masked observer. There was no significant difference in the wheal response to bradykinin between control subjects and primary open-angle glaucoma patients (P =.73) and between primary open-angle glaucoma patients and normal-tension glaucoma patients (P =.09). However, there was a significant difference in the wheal response to bradykinin between control subjects and normal-tension glaucoma patients (P =.04). These in vivo structure-activity studies may suggest abnormalities of the tissue kallikrein-kinin system in normal-tension glaucoma.
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Elicitin-responsive lectin-like receptor kinase genes in BY-2 cells.
The inhibition of elicitor-induced plant defense responses by the protein kinase inhibitors K252a and staurosporine indicates that defense responses require protein phosphorylation. We isolated a cDNA clone encoding Nicotiana tabacum lectin-like receptor protein kinase 1 (NtlecRK1), an elicitor-responsive gene; in tobacco bright yellow (BY-2) cells by a differential display method. NtlecRK forms a gene family with at least three members in tobacco. All three NtlecRK genes potentially encode the N-terminal legume lectin domain, transmembrane domain and C-terminal Ser/Thr-type protein kinase domain. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion showed that the NtlecRK1 protein was located on the plasma membrane. In addition, NtlecRK1 and 3 were responsive to INF1 elicitin and the bacterial elicitor harpin. These results indicate that NtlecRKs are membrane-located protein kinases that are induced during defense responses in BY-2 cells.
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Integrated modeling and design for realizing a two-wheeled wheelchair for disabled.
Two-wheeled wheelchairs are considered highly nonlinear and complex systems. The systems mimic a double-inverted pendulum scenario and will provide better maneuverability in confined spaces and also to reach higher level of height for pick and place tasks. The challenge resides in modeling and control of the two-wheeled wheelchair to perform comparably to a normal four-wheeled wheelchair. Most common modeling techniques have been accomplished by researchers utilizing the basic Newton's Laws of motion and some have used 3D tools to model the system where the models are much more theoretical and quite far from the practical implementation. This article is aimed at closing the gap between the conventional mathematical modeling approaches where the integrated 3D modeling approach with validation on the actual hardware implementation was conducted. To achieve this, both nonlinear and a linearized model in terms of state space model were obtained from the mathematical model of the system for analysis and, thereafter, a 3D virtual prototype of the wheelchair was developed, simulated, and analyzed. This has increased the confidence level for the proposed platform and facilitated the actual hardware implementation of the two-wheeled wheelchair. Results show that the prototype developed and tested has successfully worked within the specific requirements established.
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Auburn Ski Club set to host biathlon
championship
CourtesyPhil Violett , seen training last week, has been a member of the Auburn Ski Club since he was 7 years old.
There may not be any snow yet.
But the Auburn Ski Club is getting ready to host the USBA National Summer Biathlon Championships next week in Lake Tahoe. The event, which taking place at the ski club’s Training Center on Donner Summit, goes from Thursday, Aug. 23 to Sunday, Aug. 26.
Organizers say entries are coming in from all over the nation to take part in this annual test of running — not skiing — and shooting skills.
This will be the 25th annual summer biathlon championships, which were first contested in 1988.
The summer biathlon has grown out of one of the original winter Olympic sports of biathlon, in which athletes challenge their cross-country ski and shooting skills.
In the winter, biathletes cross-country ski a course carrying a specialized .22-caliber rifle on their backs, stopping to shoot at targets 50 meters away. Each shooting round involves five shots with a 150-meter penalty loop being required to be skied for each miss.
During the summer, biathletes leave their rifles on the range and replace skiing with running. The shooting is the same — as runners have to calm their breathing and pulse as they enter the range to have the best chance of hitting their targets.
The Auburn Ski Club has the only biathlon shooting range in the Tahoe area and attracts athletes year-round who wish to try biathlon and train for local and regional competitions.
Spectators will be welcome at the event.
There will also be a 3km Novice Race and 1km Youth Race offered on Saturday, Aug. 25. No experience is required but a mandatory safety clinic will be given before the race.
Rifles and ammunition will be provided. Parents must register their children prior to the clinic and sign a liability waiver on the day of the event, which is open to those ages 8-18.
More information is available at the Auburn Ski Club website at www.auburnskiclub.org/nordic/biathlon , or by emailing [email protected].
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Q:
How to implement a generic click event for anchors
I have a PHP script that throws out a bunch of buttons (Format in case it is needed):
<a class="ClassInfo" id="id">Name</a>
The file is retrieved dynamically and there can be as many buttons as possible, maybe none, and maybe a million (unlikely though).
I need to use JavaScript for this and can't just redirect the user to another website (mostly because the operation is repeated heavily and gets EXTREMELY tedious.).
Is it possible for me to use some combination of JavaScript + jQuery to detect which button was pressed and do an operation appropriately?
Example of what I am hoping for is this:
User clicks one of the buttons (which has its unique id number).
JavaScript detects which button was clicked (I can't just use fixed code as the number of buttons and the ids can change whenever they feel like it)
JavaScript send out an Ajax request and does some fancy operations (I have this part covered)
Now is it possible for me to detect which button was clicked?
A:
The target property of the event object will tell you which element was clicked on.
document.addEventListener('click', function (e) {
var target = e.target;
if (target.tagName && target.tagName.toLowerCase() == "a") {
alert(target.id);
}
});
See a live demo
A:
For a jQuery solution you can add a click event listener to your element a.ClassInfo:
$('a.ClassInfo').click(function(event) {
alert(this.id);
});
// ES6
$('a.ClassInfo').click(event => alert(this.id));
Or better yet, use event bubbling to your advantage with .on
$(document).on('click', 'a.ClassInfo', function(event) {
alert(this.id);
});
// ES6
$(document).on('click', 'a.ClassInfo', event => alert(this.id));
Event bubbling is very useful if you dynamically generate HTML. It avoids having to bind/rebind event listeners to elements when they're added to or removed from the DOM if you bind to a lower level element (in this case document).
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macro_rules! generic_numeric_expr_inner {
($tpe: ident, ($($param: ident),*), $op: ident, $fn_name: ident) => {
impl<Rhs, $($param),*> ::std::ops::$op<Rhs> for $tpe<$($param),*> where
$tpe<$($param),*>: $crate::expression::Expression,
<$tpe<$($param),*> as $crate::Expression>::SqlType: $crate::sql_types::SqlType + $crate::sql_types::ops::$op,
<<$tpe<$($param),*> as $crate::Expression>::SqlType as $crate::sql_types::ops::$op>::Rhs: $crate::expression::TypedExpressionType,
Rhs: $crate::expression::AsExpression<
<<$tpe<$($param),*> as $crate::Expression>::SqlType as $crate::sql_types::ops::$op>::Rhs,
>,
{
type Output = $crate::expression::ops::$op<Self, Rhs::Expression>;
fn $fn_name(self, rhs: Rhs) -> Self::Output {
$crate::expression::ops::$op::new(self, rhs.as_expression())
}
}
}
}
macro_rules! generic_numeric_expr {
($tpe: ident, $($param: ident),*) => {
generic_numeric_expr_inner!($tpe, ($($param),*), Add, add);
generic_numeric_expr_inner!($tpe, ($($param),*), Sub, sub);
generic_numeric_expr_inner!($tpe, ($($param),*), Div, div);
generic_numeric_expr_inner!($tpe, ($($param),*), Mul, mul);
}
}
mod numeric;
pub use self::numeric::{Add, Div, Mul, Sub};
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Copyright (c) Kongsberg Oil & Gas Technologies AS
All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
met:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its
contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY
THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
|
Inconstancy Quotes
"To Be Constant, In Nature Were Inconstancy"
Context: "Inconstancy" is a defense of fickle love, and it is a poem which, in both its abruptness and extended figure of speech, is reminiscent of the earlier "metaphysical" poems of John Donne. To the woman who accuses the man of inconstancy because he loved her five years before, the "I" of the poem replies that he must not be labeled inconstant. He points out that he simply is not the same man he was, that the body, as well as the mind, has changed. He further construes that, since the old members of his body were father to the present members, to be constant were to commit incest, forbidden by nature. He also states that all nature is a state of flux; change is the rule of existence: no one, nor anything, can be blamed for following its nature. The days, the seasons, all in nature must move on blamelessly. He ends by saying that it is as senseless to expect deathless love as to expect beauty and color found in the living person to remain with the corpse.
You might as well this day inconstant name,Because the weather is not still the sameThat it was yesterday; or blame the year,'Cause the spring, flowers, and autumn, fruit does bear.The world's a scene of changes, and to beConstant, in nature were inconstancy;For 'twere to break the laws herself has made:Our substances themselves do fleet and fade;The most fixed being still does move and fly,Swift as the wings of time 'tis measured by.
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Cellular senescence, a permanent cell cycle exit triggered by different stresses, has recently emerged as a safeguard mechanism against both uncontrolled proliferation and the accumulation of deleterious genetic alterations that occur during oncogenic transformation. Markers of cellular senescence have been identified in early stage human cancers, including preneoplastic prostate lesions, but are lost as the tumors progress. Consistent with a role of senescence in the prevention of tumor progression, genetic inactivation of essential components of the senescence pathway in mouse models leads to the acceleration of cancer progression. Despite accumulating evidence for its biological relevance in tumor suppression, the molecular bases underlying the establishment of cellular senescence remain largely elusive. Recently, the transcriptional silencing of pro-proliferative genes via heterochromatinization has been shown to correlate with the permanent senescence-associated cell cycle exit. Our preliminary results using genetically engineered mice and cells, demonstrate that the histone deacetylase (HDAC) associated Sin3B protein is required for both replicative and oncogene-induced cellular senescence. In addition, Sin3B is specifically induced upon oncogenic stress, and its overexpression is sufficient to induce cellular senescence in primary fibroblasts. The specific aims of this proposal include the determination of the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms by which Sin3B regulates senescence and prevent cancer progression in mammals. Specifically, we propose to identify the molecular events leading to Sin3B upregulation upon oncogenic stress, and determine how Sin3B upregulation induces cellular senescence (Aim 1);to investigate the contribution of Sin3B-induced senescence in the suppression of cellular transformation in fibroblasts (Aim 2);to test the hypothesis that Sin3B expression prevents prostate tumor progression in vivo (Aim 3). To do so, we will use a combination of molecular, cellular and biochemical approaches, as well as genetically engineered mouse models of cancer. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Cellular senescence represents a driving force for aging as well as a barrier against cancer. We have identified Sin3B as a new and essential regulator of cellular senescence. Understanding the molecular basis for its role in the prevention of tumor progression has important implications for human health.
|
Q:
RNDIS Connection Lag On Windows, Not Linux
I have two Android smartphones that can provide their internet connection to a computer over USB via the RNDIS (Remote Network Device Interface Specification) protocol. I also have two computers dual-booting Windows 7 Ultimate and some flavor of Linux (one of them has Fedora 17, the other has Ubuntu 12.04).
When I connect either smartphone to either computer and the computer is running Windows, I have to wait about 90 seconds before I can use my internet connection after enabling tethering from the phone.
When I connect either smartphone to either computer and the computer is running Linux, I have to wait about 2.5 seconds before I can use my Internet connection.
My question is, why is there such a ridiculously long delay on Windows?
On Windows, it says "Identifying..." on the adapter for about 60 seconds, then says "Limited Or No Access", then if I keep refreshing my browser, EVENTUALLY it will let me browse. After that it's OK.
On Linux, it connects instantly, just like plugging in an ethernet cable. Boom, done.
I don't think it's hardware related because I have two phones from different manufacturers (Motorola and HTC) running two different versions of Android (2.3.6 and 4.0.4). On the computer side, I have a Lenovo ThinkPad T530 and a hand-made desktop. I've actually tried it on two separate hand-built desktops; one a Nehalem system and one Ivy Bridge. As far as I can tell, they have absolutely nothing to do with one another.
Things I've tried to improve the performance on Windows:
CLEAN install of Windows. Absolutely nothing except base drivers, SP1 and critical updates. No VPN software, no security software, no virtualization software, no custom netfilt drivers whatsoever except those drivers absolutely required to tether to the phone.
Unchecking all but TCP/IPv4 in the network connection properties (so unchecking QoS, Client for Microsoft Networks, Link-Layer Topology, etc.
Setting static IP and static DNS servers.
None of this helps at all. I simply cannot navigate anywhere on the computer until about 90 seconds after enabling tethering on the phone, and the problem ONLY occurs on Windows. On Linux it's fine.
Pretty stumped about this. For what it's worth my RNDIS driver is version 6.1.7600.16385 and the name is "Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device" followed usually by a number like #2, #9, etc. I'm using a genuine copy of Windows in all cases and I've tried both an OEM buildout of Windows from Lenovo (on the ThinkPad) as well as a clean Microsoft install from the retail CD on my desktops.
A:
I was experiencing an issue where a certain game (XCOM 2) would experience 3-5 seconds of freezing followed by about 0.5 seconds of running normally, repeatedly, in a loop, starting at the part where the main menu is doing 3d rendering of the opening scene. The intro videos render fine. Obviously, playing the game at a rate of 0.5 seconds of gameplay every 5 seconds is unplayable.
I eventually narrowed this down to only occur when my USB Verizon Hotspot (Jetpack) was plugged in. So I thought that I could either play XCOM 2 with no Internet, or plug in my Internet and not play XCOM 2. Since this is my primary Internet connection, I had no alternative. Funny that this problem re-emerged years after I asked this question on SU.
Except that the problem was actually due to a driver misconfiguration! USB hotspots (including Android smartphones tethered over USB) expose themselves to the OS through a protocol called Remote NDIS. NDIS has gone through various version releases from Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and Windows 10. The biggest NDIS change was from version 5.x to version 6.x.
Somehow, when I plugged in my Jetpack, Windows 10 (64-bit) installed the NDIS version 5.x drivers for my Jetpack, even though the version 6.x drivers are also available to the system. This actually causes a whole host of severe problems with applications such as the built-in Control Panel applet "Network Connections", which takes a very long time to load, but some people never use that app so they'd have no idea that it's a problem. I have never seen this pose a problem to games, though.
The NDIS version 6 drivers have been around since Windows Vista, so it's a real head-scratcher as to why the OS initializes it with NDIS version 5.x instead of 6. However, when following this manual procedure to force it to load the NDIS 6.x driver, my problem with XCOM 2 went away completely. Everything runs great now!
The detailed steps to fix this problem are located here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/fix-usb-tethering-lags-freezes-windows-t3039183
In short, what you need to do is Update Driver on your Remote NDIS device, then manually pick a driver on your computer, then select the vendor as Microsoft and the driver as "USB RNDIS6". This will update your driver and bump your Internet connection. After that, XCOM 2 will run smoothly.
If the procedure I just described doesn't work, head over to the XDA forums I linked to above and there are some other alternative ways to obtain and install an NDIS 6 version of the Remote NDIS driver.
Kudos to @DenisNikolaenko who posted the solution in January 2015 but I didn't see his comment until just now.
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Tim MacMahon reports that the Rockets are in talks with the Knicks to acquire Carmelo Anthony while also working to sign free agent Andre Iguodala. (1:49)
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Many agents in touch with the New York Knicks continue to get the impression that they are looking for younger players on the free-agent market and don't want to overspend.
Depending on how the market plays out, that could remove the Knicks from consideration for 31-year-old free-agent George Hill.
The Knicks hope to sign a veteran to pair with rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina. They have had contact with free agents Rajon Rondo and Darren Collison, per sources, but the contact did not include substantive conversations with either player's representatives.
ESPN's Jeff Goodman reports that the Knicks have expressed interest in free-agent point guard Shelvin Mack, 27. Sources say the club also remains open to re-signing Derrick Rose.
The Knicks would have about $15 million in cap space if they renounce their rights to Rose. That would allow them to sign free agents but would probably limit them to spending no more than $10-11 million on one player.
New York could create more cap space if it traded one of its players. Courtney Lee and Kyle O'Quinn are candidates. The Knicks could also open up cap space by trading Carmelo Anthony. Members of the organization have told people around the league that at this point, they remain hopeful that they can trade Anthony.
NEW YORK KNICKS Check out the team site for more game coverage
The Knicks and Houston Rockets touched base last month on an Anthony deal, but New York was not interested in Ryan Anderson, per league sources. It seems that Houston would need to bring in a third team to complete an Anthony deal.
The Knicks have also contacted restricted free agent Alan Williams, a Phoenix Suns big man. The Suns are expected to match any offer to Williams, according to league sources.
Meanwhile, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said Saturday that big man Kristaps Porzingis is ready to be the focal point of the offense, a statement Hornacek hadn't made in the past and one that Phil Jackson shied away from in his last news conference as team president.
"That's his next steps in his growth as a player, to be able to handle some of that," Hornacek said after a Knicks summer league game. "He's going to have to take that next step of taking over. I think he's probably ready for that."
This didn't seem to be Hornacek's way of trying to smooth things over between the organization and its 21-year-old star. Hornacek seemed to simply be stating that the next progression for Porzingis is to be an offensive focal point.
Ron Baker, who signed a two-year deal to remain with the Knicks, shared his thoughts on Jackson's firing: "Obviously, I really enjoyed Phil Jackson. He's taught me a lot this past year. He wasn't only a mentor of mine. He was a really good friend. A couple of weeks ago we were playing catch in the training room before my first pitch [at a Kansas City Royals game]. I wish Phil the best. I'm going to miss him, and that's just kind of how the business goes sometimes."
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First let me introduce myself as this is my very first post. I am a die hard HOKIES fan that truly believes there are only two seasons in a year. (1) Football Season and (2) The time period leading up until the next Football Season. I eat, sleep and work with Football on my mind. I usually just read the content on this wonderful website you call The Key Play and very seldom comment. Today is the day that I become an active member of this great Community!
Completely OT, but I love seeing our school in the news for some pretty awesome things...the fact that UVA got third is a little disappointing, but consolation is to see them both on the same list with VT on top.
With the articles about UNC and other things passing around, I thought this article from the APA might be interesting. Athletes operating under abusive coaches are more apt to cheat in order to win. Not a stretch in any way to believe as I'm sure there's a lot of perceived pressure to win, and when not handled correctly...
It would be like the kid whose parents want them to succeed in school, but pressure them through violence or threat of violence for doing poorly.
We're in the VT Sports summer doldrums right now, and I know we all love our Spaghetti Western GIFs when they pop up for various reasons, so I thought I'd mention this topic. Eli as Tuco in "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" was just a great movie character. Eli did a great job selling that role in that movie. I don't remember him as much in "The Magnificant Seven" which is also a great movie, but he wasn't as much a central character there.
98, wow, any of us can only hope to live that long. He had been married to his wife for 66 years! That is something. Obviously Eli Wallach believed in his family and lived that until his death. An example for us all. Celebrate a great entertainer. I'll leave you with these:
Yahoo had a link to a new article out today talking about Michigan's ticket sales and the trend that's been hitting the nation. I know TKP had discussed it at one point last year, but the article brings up some good points. It's a little long winded, but covers a few different things.
Mike Vick has once again stated on national media that he revolutionized the game as a QB in the NFL. He claimed to be the one that started it all. I totally agree with Mike Vick. He is a once-in-a-lifetime QB.
Mike Vick also said winning a super bowl would cement his legacy even as a back up to Geno Smith:
so news for today is that Joker Phillips has resigned as WR coach at UF and Chris Leak will take over. Crazy to think that an ex QB will now coach WR's, wonder what effect that will have on any of the incoming WR's and '15 WR's.
I made one, on ESPN y'all are more than welcome to join I accidentally made it public I'll try to switch it to private but the group is called thekeyplay and if I set it to private the password will be the same!
With the 2014 NFL Draft officially over, it's now time for everybody's second favorite game (behind "How did my team do?") "What Does Next Year Look Like?"
Virginia Tech has 16 Seniors on the roster and another 14 r-Juniors, and from what I can see, 3 Juniors who might be feeling the heat from those behind them and might want to take the jump at their highest point.
The Seniors:
Who should see their name called next...April? May? June? From Bud Lightning(t) Kysheon Jarrett, Detrick Bonner, and Big Lu. From Lefty 2.0...nada
I will preface this by saying this is not really Virginia Tech related in any fashion, though I put in a couple of tenuous analogies. However, I am super pumped for tomorrow and could not resist writing this, mostly because my favorite team is now relevant (at least for one game). This is for those of you who are not overly familiar with English soccer, but tomorrow and Sunday will be presented with a very good opportunity to see it at its most glorious. If you love sports for the spectacle of sport, the competition, the drama, the chance to watch world class athletes at the highest level do battle on the playing field, and the potential for chaos to ensue across an entire country, you should read this and watch tomorrow and Sunday.
Some of these are in the past but, I thought I'd include them as a means to confuse UVA grads looking for Zima outlets.
There are more beer fests per year, in Virginia, than fans at the UVA Spring Game.
Arranged by date for easy reference I'll see if I can keep this up to date.
Ah, it's Spring and the smell of new malt is in the air. there is a lot happening all over the place this weekend, Kentucky Derby, Beer fests, Strawberry Festival in Roanoke. I hear the Chili cookoff has been postponed though. Check before you go, please.
The banter about the RB position got started over in another thread, so I wrote an abridged novel to go a bit deeper into the subject.
Frank has come forward and said he wants the running back competition down to three backs by August. The good news is that all of the likely candidates have been practicing with the team all spring, as the new guys coming in the summer (Shai, D.J. Reid, Taybus Taylor) will probably all redshirt. The bad news for everyone who doesn't make the 3-man-rotation cut is that Frank wants to move the others to different positions (insert obligatory tight end joke). Let's break down the competitors:
I'm working out how to cover cities where we'll be having away games. We'll have 7 this year so I need to get it worked out.
Asheville, NC is a big beer town in a small package. Named Beer City USA several times in succession they lost the title last year to a city in Michigan.
An industry buddy tells me there are 13 breweries or brewpubs in Asheville plus 4 in progress. Asheville claims the highest number of breweries per capita than anywhere else in The U.S., about 8000 persons per brewery.
I will hit on a few here but no in-depth reviews, this will be more like a tour book.
I mentioned on another thread that I was going to try to map out some geographic hot spots for recruiting in Virginia and break it down via GIS into several maps, whether it be the sheer number of players, the amount of players that eventually became starters from each region, the amount of starters per recruit from a region and so on (I plan on exporting about 11 maps by the time this is all said and done)
that being said I just finished collecting data from the 2002 recruiting class (rival's first year on the map) and I thought id share some interesting info with you guys at least some stats I find kind of interesting.
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//! This module provides functionality to aid managing routing requests between Tower [`Service`]s.
//!
//! # Example
//! ```rust
//! # use std::task::{Context, Poll};
//! # use tower_service::Service;
//! # use futures_util::future::{ready, Ready, poll_fn};
//! # use tower::steer::Steer;
//! type StdError = Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync + 'static>;
//! struct MyService(u8);
//!
//! impl Service<String> for MyService {
//! type Response = ();
//! type Error = StdError;
//! type Future = Ready<Result<(), Self::Error>>;
//!
//! fn poll_ready(&mut self, _cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Result<(), Self::Error>> {
//! Poll::Ready(Ok(()))
//! }
//!
//! fn call(&mut self, req: String) -> Self::Future {
//! println!("{}: {}", self.0, req);
//! ready(Ok(()))
//! }
//! }
//!
//! #[tokio::main]
//! async fn main() {
//! let mut s = Steer::new(
//! vec![MyService(0), MyService(1)],
//! // one service handles strings with uppercase first letters. the other handles the rest.
//! |r: &String, _: &[_]| if r.chars().next().unwrap().is_uppercase() { 0 } else { 1 },
//! );
//!
//! let reqs = vec!["A", "b", "C", "d"];
//! let reqs: Vec<String> = reqs.into_iter().map(String::from).collect();
//! for r in reqs {
//! poll_fn(|cx| s.poll_ready(cx)).await.unwrap();
//! s.call(r).await;
//! }
//! }
//! ```
use std::collections::VecDeque;
use std::task::{Context, Poll};
use tower_service::Service;
/// This is how callers of [`Steer`] tell it which `Service` a `Req` corresponds to.
pub trait Picker<S, Req> {
/// Return an index into the iterator of `Service` passed to [`Steer::new`].
fn pick(&mut self, r: &Req, services: &[S]) -> usize;
}
impl<S, F, Req> Picker<S, Req> for F
where
F: Fn(&Req, &[S]) -> usize,
{
fn pick(&mut self, r: &Req, services: &[S]) -> usize {
self(r, services)
}
}
/// `Steer` manages a list of `Service`s which all handle the same type of request.
///
/// An example use case is a sharded service.
/// It accepts new requests, then:
/// 1. Determines, via the provided [`Picker`], which `Service` the request coresponds to.
/// 2. Waits (in `poll_ready`) for *all* services to be ready.
/// 3. Calls the correct `Service` with the request, and returns a future corresponding to the
/// call.
///
/// Note that `Steer` must wait for all services to be ready since it can't know ahead of time
/// which `Service` the next message will arrive for, and is unwilling to buffer items
/// indefinitely. This will cause head-of-line blocking unless paired with a `Service` that does
/// buffer items indefinitely, and thus always returns `Poll::Ready`. For example, wrapping each
/// component service with a `tower-buffer` with a high enough limit (the maximum number of
/// concurrent requests) will prevent head-of-line blocking in `Steer`.
#[derive(Debug)]
pub struct Steer<S, F, Req> {
router: F,
services: Vec<S>,
not_ready: VecDeque<usize>,
_phantom: std::marker::PhantomData<Req>,
}
impl<S, F, Req> Steer<S, F, Req> {
/// Make a new [`Steer`] with a list of `Service`s and a `Picker`.
///
/// Note: the order of the `Service`s is significant for [`Picker::pick`]'s return value.
pub fn new(services: impl IntoIterator<Item = S>, router: F) -> Self {
let services: Vec<_> = services.into_iter().collect();
let not_ready: VecDeque<_> = services.iter().enumerate().map(|(i, _)| i).collect();
Self {
router,
services,
not_ready,
_phantom: Default::default(),
}
}
}
impl<S, Req, F> Service<Req> for Steer<S, F, Req>
where
S: Service<Req>,
F: Picker<S, Req>,
{
type Response = S::Response;
type Error = S::Error;
type Future = S::Future;
fn poll_ready(&mut self, cx: &mut Context<'_>) -> Poll<Result<(), Self::Error>> {
loop {
// must wait for *all* services to be ready.
// this will cause head-of-line blocking unless the underlying services are always ready.
if self.not_ready.is_empty() {
return Poll::Ready(Ok(()));
} else {
if let Poll::Pending = self.services[self.not_ready[0]].poll_ready(cx)? {
return Poll::Pending;
}
self.not_ready.pop_front();
}
}
}
fn call(&mut self, req: Req) -> Self::Future {
assert!(
self.not_ready.is_empty(),
"Steer must wait for all services to be ready. Did you forget to call poll_ready()?"
);
let idx = self.router.pick(&req, &self.services[..]);
let cl = &mut self.services[idx];
self.not_ready.push_back(idx);
cl.call(req)
}
}
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Jeffrey Lash was a spy, a post-9/11 covert operative who seduced women in L.A.'s tony Pacific Palisades with tales of, yes, supernatural powers. But when police found him dead in his car with a $5 million gun stash near the homes of showbiz elite, a stranger-than-fiction tale emerged of abuse, lies, a mystery illness and a grifter with "more charisma than 10 Trumps."
Like well-tended balconies, the hills of the Pacific Palisades rise abruptly from the sea in sloping terraces, giving the place a dreamy quality. Houses with floor-to-ceiling windows and gently swaying chimes preen westward. Tesla SUVs park in clean and quiet driveways. J.J. Abrams, Reese Witherspoon and honorary mayor Kevin Nealon — the list of Hollywood folks who live here is dizzying. Much of it is leafy and green, nestled in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. Police reports reflect the area's relative security: a laptop stolen from an unlocked car, a phone swiped through an open kitchen door.
"We'd always joke that this was Mayberry," says Frances Sharpe, who, for two years starting in 2013, served as the editor of the Palisadian-Post, the town's oldest newspaper. The Post's stories were charming. An ice cream shop was having a sale. Someone was turning 100. They offered a bonhomie that brought this exclusive Los Angeles community, where the average home value is $2.7 million, a bit closer together.
And then one day in July 2015, the Post ran a different kind of story online, the first of many just like it, even though the paper had never run stories online. It was accompanied by a photo showing police gathered behind a Palisades condominium, where they had discovered hundreds of high-powered assault rifles and pistols, $230,000 in crisp bills and more than 6 tons of ammunition. The owner of this arsenal was a local named Jeffrey Lash, whose decomposing corpse had been found in the front passenger seat of an SUV on Palisades Drive, dead for two weeks. In the coming months, a bizarre tale that involved secret government agencies, covert Black Ops missions and even aliens (those from outer space) began to filter out. News outlets from around the world dove in, briefly, and then departed, leaving behind a feeling that the "palus," the stake that sheltered this community from the gaze of the outside world, had been torn loose.
Two years have passed since Lash was found. Two women who knew him, and loved him, are now fighting in court against a coterie of cousins to recoup what they say is their share of millions. One of them is represented by Harland Braun, the Hollywood attorney known for his longtime defense of director Roman Polanski. Another woman from the dead man's past has vanished, with no apparent explanation. Romantic entanglements with other women have emerged. UFO enthusiasts have concluded that Lash's death is evidence of dark truths long kept hidden from them.
Recently, sitting at a Starbucks on the corner of Palisades Drive and Sunset Boulevard, not far from where Lash's arsenal was found, Sharpe, 55, shakes her head. "It just wasn't Mayberry anymore," she says.
***
Those first news dispatches in the summer of 2015 ricocheted across Southern California. In Santa Monica, Michelle Lyons, now 66, watched, and listened, and felt sick. The arms cache discovery had made global headlines, but no one knew about her yet, even though she and Lash had been lovers since the mid-1980s. Every day for three decades, Lyons had attended to Lash, and she thought she knew him. But in those first days, with news reports coming fast and furious, Lyons began to realize she knew very little. Her boyfriend, who had said his name was Jeff Henderson, obviously wasn't who he had claimed to be. She wasn't even his only girlfriend — not by a mile. She felt adrift, mourning a dead stranger.
Lyons met Lash in 1984. She was recruiting customers for a marketing research project and called his company, which advertised in the Yellow Pages. They spoke a few times on the phone and then met in person. Lyons was in a flailing relationship at the time, and Lash's arrival hastened an end she had been anticipating. Here was a brilliant man with real charisma, she thought. His demeanor was intense and authentic; his stories were rich with detail. They began dating, and in 1986 Lash moved in with her. Thin and wiry, with a runner's build and gray-blue eyes, Lash seemed alive to her needs. She found him to be a tantalizingly good listener, and he was more present than any man she'd ever been with. They went for long bike rides, browsed bookstores, dined at fancy restaurants and hiked in the mountains. In those early years, Lyons recalls, he was often angry, unable to control his emotions. He and Lyons made a pact. She would teach him love and communication; he would show her commitment and excellence.
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Lash revealed little about his past and showed no inclination to include her in it. He grew tense if she inquired about his family. He said it would be safer to keep her separate from all that, in the event of some calamity. On the few occasions when she persisted, he got angry, yelling and banging his fists. There were times, Lyons said, when Lash could be "a scary person." Faced with this opposition, she relented. People had a right to their privacy, and Lash, it turned out, had better reason than most: He told her he was a former government agent with a top-secret security clearance. He said he performed counter-terrorism operations, hostage rescues, anti-harassment missions and, on occasion, he rescued people from cults. He was on a mission to save the world, he said. His company employed a team of highly skilled, dangerous operatives who were intensely loyal to him. Whatever skepticism Lyons harbored about this, she found ways to justify it. Lash owned lots of guns and seemed to know his way around them. He brought dozens of high-powered rifles and the gear that went with them into the condo they shared. He told Lyons that his company owned an entire building in Beverly Hills. His staff worked 24 hours a day. He didn't divulge much else about his work, but there was plenty of training and the occasional mission. Still, Lash went to work every morning, like everybody else, and came home at night.
***
Sharpe was at work on July 18, 2015. It was a Saturday. She was nervous because the Palisadian-Post was about to publish the biggest investigative scoop in its 86-year history. For more than a year, Sharpe and her colleagues had been looking into allegations that a beloved local jeweler had been thieving from customers. There had been 27 lawsuits, and a stream of complaints appeared to implicate him in a criminal racket. For a small community, it was shaping up to be a major scandal. Sharpe saw it as her duty to publish the dirty laundry. As her team was putting the final touches on the story, Sharpe checked Facebook. Someone had posted news about police commotion down the street. She panicked briefly, but guessed it was just an errant pool guy or a faulty car alarm and went back to the jeweler piece.
A little later she checked again and this time saw that police had cordoned off Palisades Drive, the tree-lined road that winds uphill from Sunset Boulevard. The breaking news reporter was away for the weekend, so Sharpe called her staff photographer, who agreed to come in. Rain poured down as they drove to the police cordon. Instead of the local cops whom she knew, she ran into unfamiliar LAPD officers who barred her from entry. A bomb squad was stationed nearby. She and the photographer snaked up and around the cordon on back streets, going house by house, until they found one with an open garage door. They knocked, identified themselves and were invited to the backyard, where they put up a ladder, peering over the foliage onto a broad alley below.
A white tent had been erected, a bit like the ad hoc government headquarters in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. A K-9 unit and a hazmat team had assembled. Police had cleared the closest neighbors. Men in civilian clothes milled around. The photographer snapped pictures, and the pair returned to the office, where Sharpe began emailing news alerts to the Post's subscribers: A neighbor had been found dead in his SUV on the side of the road; inside his condo, police had found enough high-powered weapons to stage a rebellion. The police, who had been alerted to the body by a call from Braun, at first thought they'd stumbled upon a gun trafficking ring. A neighbor sent Sharpe a picture showing a cop placing a rifle atop a huge pile of stacked guns, just some of the hundreds that Lash had stockpiled. For what purpose, nobody knew.
***
Lash had more than a few eccentricities, that much was clear to Lyons. He didn't want her to touch his stuff, ever — and he was a neat freak. He forbade people from taking his photograph. He had credit cards but always paid in cash. But in other ways, he seemed sane and rational, and she looked past her boyfriend's oddities to his better qualities. They went to dinner often, and Lash struck up conversations easily with waiters and strangers. He was skilled at getting people to open up, with a knack for zeroing in on what Lyons calls "the core issues." He seemed present and engaged, focused on her and ready to offer guidance. If she had problems, he counseled her. Lyons was convinced Lash was "the one."
But his work as a counter-terrorism operative was central to his identity. Almost immediately, he drew borders within their personal life that reflected this. In 1987, Lyons bought a three-bedroom condominium in Santa Monica, and Lash commandeered one of the bedrooms, ordering her to never enter and locking it with a key. On weekends, the couple would head off to the Mojave Desert, east of Lancaster and Palmdale, to target shoot. Lyons hated it, but Lash insisted that it was important she be trained to defend herself in the event an enemy came after them. So, loaded up with AR-15s and high-end hunting rifles, they set up rectangular bull's-eye targets in the wastelands and blasted away.
Lash told Lyons about members of the anti-terror team he worked with, whom he referred to as his "upper staff." They were brave, lethal and, most of all, loyal to Lash. If anyone harmed Lash, or stood in his way, he told her, his team would come after them. He said that his team had killed people before, and would do so again. Lyons never met any of the team members, nor spoke to them on the phone, but to hear Lash speak it was as if they lurked in the wings of their domestic life at all times. Lash told her about a psychic and healer who had been at one point one of his most valuable colleagues. "Tara" was her code name, and for national security reasons, he said he wouldn't reveal her real name. Lash had taught Tara to go dark and live off the grid.
Years would pass before Lyons recognized the psychological dominion he slowly was establishing. "He had this way of making you feel like the only person in the room, to respond right to your heart — you can't fake that," she says, "But that doesn't mean he wasn't evil." His threats grew more menacing, and he exerted other pressures on her, too. Lyons paid for virtually everything in their life, including the mortgage on the condominium, food, most entertainment and supplies. She also paid for the military-grade material Lash needed for his ongoing missions. He had shown his fury enough times that she had learned what lines not to cross. His behavior was so unsettling that Lyons took smaller and smaller opportunities to assert her independence, disarming him with humor. After one of Lash's demands, Lyons recalls just shaking her head. "You're so weird; you must be an alien," she joked. He gave her a strange look before retorting, "You don't know how right you are."
***
Sharpe needed to be convinced to become editor at the Palisadian-Post. She had worked as a journalist for years and lived in Paris when she was younger. She ghost-wrote books for a living and had a couple of New York Times best-sellers under her belt. But in 2013, the Post was sold, and the new owner fired the longtime editor and most of the staff, putting Sharpe in place. Many locals were livid at the changes, directing their ire at Sharpe and her fledgling team. One of her reporters, who had called around to get quotes for an innocuous story, was told to "fuck off." Sharpe received hate mail. When the Post was given a shout-out during a public meeting for developer Rick Caruso's local project, several attendees booed the paper. "People I'd been friends with for 20 years stopped talking to me," says Sharpe. "You're ruining our paper," they told her.
When the Lash story broke, tips began pouring in. Strangers stopped Sharpe on the street to discuss the case. People called her day and night to share their theories about who Lash really was. He was a hitman or was running drugs. Or perhaps he really was an alien, as some of the women who knew him were saying. A few were convinced Lash was exactly who he had claimed to be: a government operative with top-secret clearance who had hidden in their midst for decades.
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Neighbors were understandably upset and angry. What would have happened to all that ammunition had the house caught fire? Weren't there municipal limits on how many guns one person could own? For their part, the police were astonished that 6 tons of ammunition hadn't collapsed the house. "How is it that he brought all that ammo to this place through the years and nobody ever noticed?" asks Detective Benjamin Meda, who responded to the first call. "That to me was suspicious."
For Palisades residents, small details became fodder for elaborate backstories. Why did none of his five cars have proper license plates? And why, when the police came to collect the guns, were they in overalls and dungarees? Maybe they really were from a government Black Ops agency. "They were completely obsessed," says Sharpe. "I mean, completely." Sharpe enlisted the help of locals she had known for years to help cover the story. She asked neighbors who had lived near Lash to snap pictures on their iPhones, and they did. A judge she knew tipped her off that Lash had lived part-time down the street from his own residence at a condominium complex in Malibu. People she had reported on became eager sources. She interpreted the volume of help she received from friends, neighbors and strangers as validation of her work.
***
Lash grew up in the L.A. neighborhood of Westchester. His father, Jerry, was a microbiologist. His mother, a pianist who studied at Juilliard, often took the young Lash to the California Science Center in downtown Los Angeles. He attended Westchester High and then went to UCLA for a while before dropping out. After his mother died in the mid-1980s, Jerry lived for about 25 years with Shirley Anderson, who had known Lash as a boy and remembers him as "very cute and very smart." Lash came and went in the intervening years. He maintained a relationship with his father, whom Anderson recalls as being "real funny."
Lash had begun collecting guns, and when a number of them were stolen, he turned to his father for help. The elder Lash brought in Robert Rentzer, an attorney who had used Jerry as an expert witness in a few drunk driving cases. "Jeff was fanatical about collecting guns," says Rentzer, "but he was very private. He didn't want anyone to know where he lived." Whenever the police recovered some of Lash's stolen guns, the two would meet. Sometimes Lash went to Rentzer's home. "He was a nice guy and very bright," says Rentzer, who says he never bothered to ask what Lash did for a living. "I consider it off-putting, asking someone what they do," he says. "I shave in the morning, I shower, that's what I do." When Lash did return home, Anderson enjoyed his company as well. "I saw him rarely," she says. "But he'd tell me about himself. He was very pleasant and a nice person, and then we wouldn't see him for a while." The last time was in 2010, just before the death of his father, whose remains were scattered at sea.
One day in 1998, after nearly 13 years together, Lash informed Lyons that he would be moving out of her apartment for a while. A national security emergency had arisen that required immediate attention. More of the weapons that Rentzer had helped recover were being returned, but Lash was furious that they'd been handled by other people, and he wanted to clean them. He'd be gone for two weeks, living at the Pacific Palisades home of Lyons' close friend Catherine Nebron and her husband, Phil Gorin, a dentist with a practice in Brentwood. It was a swanky condo complex. Former Miami Heat center Chris Bosh lived nearby. So did The Hills star Lauren Conrad. Chevy Chase once owned a home nearby. For years, Lash, Lyons, Nebron and Gorin had been a friendly quartet. They had even double-dated. This new living arrangement was temporary, Lash insisted. It was the safest option for everybody. Two weeks turned into four. Four into eight. Eight into 16 and then 32. Weeks turned into months, which turned into years. Lash never returned to live with Lyons.
Their relationship, however, advanced, even as Lash's gun emergency remained unresolved. They dined out at nice Westside restaurants regularly, including at Tivoli in the Palisades. Their weekend shooting excursions to the desert continued. Lash told Lyons that she was his true love, and she reciprocated the sentiment. Their relationship also developed more intricate tentacles. Lyons and Nebron spoke on the phone constantly, often about Lash and his needs as a government operative. (Whenever Nebron and Lyons discussed Lash, Nebron referred to him as "your boyfriend.") From 1998 to 2008, Lyons showed up at Nebron's apartment every night and picked Lash up for dinner at a local restaurant. Afterwards, she dropped him back at Nebron's and returned home.
The women agreed that they were helping him in his fight to save the world. One concrete way to help was to provide Lash with cash and goods. But by 2008, Lyons was reaching a limit. Lash had developed a bad gum infection. She went days without seeing him. She counseled him to see a doctor, but he said he'd tried everything. She harbored doubts about his work. His threats about loyalty frayed her nerves. "It didn't make sense to me, but I couldn't do anything about it," she says. She thought about running away but says she feared for her life. Lyons claims Lash gave threatening examples of other people who had been killed because of their disloyalty. "He would tell this to me and Catherine," says Lyons. "When you hear these stories, and you see all these weapons, and you know there's a trained team out there, you don't just hop in your car and drive away." Lyons and Nebron didn't confide their deepest fears to each other, and Nebron didn't tell Lyons about her own burgeoning relationship with Lash. But in moments of unguarded intimacy that sometimes arise between victims, they shared hints. Lyons recalls telling Nebron, "This is crazy."
Still, she persisted. From 2008 until Lash's death, Lyons made a nightly trip to the Palisades to deliver whatever Lash and Nebron needed, including cash, food, ice and merchandise purchased from Amazon. Concerned about damage that moisture and heat could do to his guns, Lash had turned off the water in Nebron's condo and demanded that the windows remain shut. He required a special chef, which cost $1,785 a week. It was supposed to last for a few weeks, but Lyons ponied up the money for seven years. She bought two "healing frequency machines" for $12,000 each, plus another $9,800 a year in storage fees for a decade. In all, Lyons, who runs a successful computer consulting firm, estimates she shelled out $1.8 million. In exchange for the deliveries, Lash and Nebron gave Lyons trash bags, which they had sorted and labeled in one of three ways: "normal," "elsewhere" or "elsewhere separate" that had to be distributed widely. Over the years, Lyons developed a familiarity with dumpster locations across the Westside. "My repertoire," she calls it.
***
Lash told Nebron and Gorin a version of the story he had told Lyons — that a national security emergency had arisen and he needed a temporary location from which to stage an important operation. Much as he had done with Lyons, Lash isolated Nebron and Gorin inside their own home. In legal documents filed in 2016, Nebron and Gorin, now divorced, filed separate complaints against Lash's estate, alleging he waged a campaign against them that combined charm, intimidation and outright threats. Soon after moving in, Lash constructed a virtual labyrinth inside their condominium, restricting their movements to a tiny subset of that space. Nebron claims she slept on a yoga mat in the bathroom and used a bath mat as a pillow. She alleges that Lash hit her between eight and 10 times, threatened her with "fines" if she misbehaved and required that she always stay in the house to guard his belongings. Since Lash had turned the water off, they showered at a neighbor's place. Nebron says she took out personal loans for hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for Lash's fines, as well as for his material demands.
At times, Nebron appeared to be a ready participant in Lash's confabulations. They told neighbors that Lash's name was Bob, and neighbors began calling him Skinny Bob. When Lash did speak to neighbors, he told them the same basic story he told everyone. He had once told Nebron that he had 200,000 people on his payroll and that his company was responsible for thwarting upward of two-thirds of the post-9/11 bomb and terror threats. A neighbor had once questioned Lash and Nebron about why they were sitting in their car for such a long time. "National security!" the pair had howled back in unison.
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There were snickers and raised eyebrows, but also shrugs that anything was possible in after 9/11. Gorin, for one, seemed convinced. According to a creditor's complaint filed in 2016, he alleges that Lash once placed a gun against his head and demanded that he continue to provide the cash Lash needed to carry out his missions. Gorin claims he forked over much of his life's earnings, some $2.5 million. After Gorin and Nebron divorced, Nebron took up with Lash, eventually becoming his fiancee. In legal documents, Gorin says he moved into his Brentwood dentist's office for nine years, financially destitute and psychologically wrecked from Lash's abuse.
Meanwhile, Lyons still believed that she and Lash were simply going through a transition and that once his emergency was over, they would resume their life as a couple. "The goal was for him to return home," says Lyons. Nebron and Lyons had been friends for years, but Nebron never mentioned that she and Lash were engaged. Instead, Lash had instructed Nebron to call Lyons on a regular basis and counsel her on how to be "less angry."
***
Lash, meanwhile, was getting increasingly ill. He had trouble walking, eating and even talking. One day in 2015, Nebron hired an assistant, a young woman from Oxnard named Dawn VadBunker. Nebron owned several properties around L.A. and told VadBunker she needed help managing the paperwork. For a long time, Nebron declined to meet VadBunker in person, so her new hire worked remotely. Then one day, Nebron brought VadBunker in on a little secret. She wanted her to meet the man she loved, Jeffrey Lash. After a few meetings, VadBunker returned to Oxnard and told her adoptive mother, Laura VadBunker, that she had given up smoking and started eating raw meat. "Raw bison. Water. Weird juices that taste like hell," recalls Laura. (VadBunker had, for a time, been married to Laura's biological son, and Laura had legally adopted her.)
Lash was helping her turn into an alien, Dawn explained. "Dawn mentioned he was turning her into a hybrid," says Laura. "She could tell her head was getting larger. She said, 'You know that [my ex-husband] wouldn't be able to see me if he drove by because I would be invisible.' " Laura pressed Dawn for answers but got none. "What was the threat?" asks Laura. "I think it had to do with government to government on another planet. They didn't exactly explain it to me, but he was helping the government on top-secret operations on the computer all night and traveling to different solar systems and planets through the computer and chips. Bizarre."
Laura, a practitioner in the Japanese healing technique called Reiki, was enlisted to come take a look at Lash herself. In 2015, she, Dawn, Nebron and Lash parked one of Lash's trucks in a Santa Monica grocery store lot. During the three-hour healing session, Laura sat next to Lash and sent healing energy into his stomach and chest. Lash was emaciated and could barely speak. Laura, convinced that he was dying, told him this, and he just nodded. He pointed to a building across the street and told her she was in a "test." He asked her what she would do if she was facing a building full of snipers firing at her. Confused, Laura replied, "Run toward the building?" Lash nodded sagely. "You passed the test," he said.
Lash had given Nebron specific instructions in the event of his death. She was not to contact the police, he told her. Instead, he wanted her to wrap his body in blankets and leave it in his car to be found. Which is exactly what she did when, on July 4, 2015, Lash died. Nebron called Gorin, now her ex-husband, who rushed to help. Gorin reportedly tried to administer CPR, but Lash was dead. They chose not to call 911. Per Lash's instructions, Nebron and VadBunker wrapped Lash in blankets, closed the tinted windows, drove the car to the Palisades, locked the doors and took off. "I just wanted to get the fuck outta Dodge," Gorin later told Sharpe.
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Nebron and Dawn VadBunker fled L.A. for the Pacific Northwest. When Laura VadBunker wasn't able to reach her daughter by phone, she called the police and filed a missing persons report. A few days later, police located Nebron and Dawn in Oregon. Through the police, Dawn relayed a message to Laura that she was with "like-minded people." Then she went dark.
Laura VadBunker doesn't believe Lash's alien-spy hype. But one thing has always bothered her. "To tell you the truth, no matter where we traveled, there was always a blacked-out helicopter hovering overhead; that's one thing I can't explain," she says. "All the way to Santa Monica, all the way home. I said, 'Guys, what's with the helicopter?' They said nothing. I said, 'No, really.' That bothered me. I mean, what are the odds? No matter where I traveled with Dawn would be that damn black helicopter. I cannot explain that away."
***
As she did every night, Lyons called her old friend Catherine on the night of July 4, 2015. No one answered. It was highly unusual, but she thought there must be a good reason. But when the same thing happened the next several days, she began to worry.
Maybe, she thought, the answer lay in Lash's secret room. For decades, he had told her that the room contained sensitive government files, classified data and the contact information for the members of his team. Lyons wanted to get in touch with those people now. They would know what to do. "I was looking for high-security stuff," she says.
When she finally broke in, using a credit card to slip the lock, it wasn't the national security headquarters she had expected. It wasn't neat and tidy, the way Lash had been in the early years of their relationship. It was a mess, a hoarder's hodgepodge. As she dug into the room, Lyons found traces of people connected to her boyfriend, whose real name she finally learned. But the people she found weren't government operatives. They were other women. At least six of them. And in that room, they existed in the form of love letters, pictures and at least one audio cassette tape that one of Lash's paramours had made for him. "I realized then that he was unfaithful," she says. "Right there and then, I knew he was a liar."
But she still didn't know where he was or what to do with herself. Nebron and Lash had never been so quiet for so long. She drove over to the Palisades condo. No one answered. She spotted one of Lash's SUVs parked on Palisades Drive and tried peering in, but the windows were tinted and she couldn't see anything. She called Gorin, who told her he didn't know anything. So Lyons went home and waited. Eventually, Gorin called back: Lash was dead, he told her. He had been dead for two weeks. (Soon after that, Nebron returned to L.A. and, seeing that Lash was still in his car, instructed Braun to call the LAPD.) Then the news reports started and the scope of the lie Lyons had been living began to crystallize. "I couldn't believe what I was reading. When they were calling Catherine his fiancee, I thought it was a mistake," she says. "It wasn't. But nobody broke up with me."
It would take weeks before Lyons gathered the courage to investigate the other women in Lash's life. She did so with Sharpe's help. The two have been collaborating on a book about Lyons' experience, titled One-Man Cult. Five of the six women whose names Lyons found in Lash's secret room were still alive, and she tried contacting all of them, eventually reaching four. Their stories mirrored her own. Lash had swooped in and disrupted their relationships. He had bilked them of money and leeched off their goodwill for years. Some had been intimidated and were scared, believing that Lash was capable of killing them.
There was one name that stood out to Lyons: Tara. Among Lash's papers, Lyons found Tara's real name and set about trying to locate her. Lyons paid a private investigator, who provided a background report, then she searched on her own. According to Lyons, Tara seems to have vanished around 2005. Lyons claims there is no death certificate, no missing persons report, just a paper trail that goes cold. Lyons did find a friend of Tara's, who confirmed that Tara had, in fact, been in a long relationship with Lash. Lyons and Sharpe interviewed this friend, who told them Lash had grown increasingly angry with Tara in the months before she disappeared because Tara had been unable to "cure" Lash of his physical ailments. "We know that Tara feared for her life," says Lyons. She is exploring the possibility that Tara is dead and Lash was somehow involved.
It is hard to imagine how so many smart, successful women fell for Lash's con. "That's the question everyone has," says Sharpe. "How could one person entice these people to do what they did?" All relationships require certain amounts of flexibility. We often see only what we want to see; we find excuses for the things that don't fit. We justify the bad and focus on the good. When Lyons reflects on her experience with Lash, her language mirrors the disjointed quality of his life. "He pursued his own spiritual growth, and he'd say the most brilliant things," she says. "But it was all mixed up with people being killed. It scared me." When Lyons thinks of Lash now, she recalls the parable of the frog who, when placed in a pot of cold water that is slowly heated to a boil, only realizes its predicament when it's too late. "I was the frog and didn't know it," she says. "I was coerced, little by little, to give up my life."
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Sharpe nabbed an exclusive tour for the Post of Nebron and Gorin's apartment about a month after Lash's body was found. The inventory of stuff that police discovered there ranged from the lethal (high-powered sniper rifles with military-grade scopes) to the bizarre (a book called What Women Want). Police found as many as 50,000 music CDs and roughly 1,000 Palm Pilots. There were medieval broad swords, machetes, crossbows, Harry Potter books, laptops, DVD players, athletic gear, Gore-Tex jackets, Nikon cameras and shoes. Much of it was still in its original packaging. The kitchen was filled almost entirely with rifles and shotguns.
Sharpe believes the Lash case changed something fundamental in her homey community. "Maybe the notion that we're not immune to crime, to frightening things, to the things we usually see in other parts of the world," she says. It could have been worse, of course. Lash could have gone on a rampage. The guns could have fallen into the wrong hands. The house could have exploded. "There's this realization that you don't know who your neighbors are," she says. "That's frightening."
***
Move west from the Palisades and you hit Malibu. Turn right off the Pacific Coast Highway and the hills are scraped bare, which gives the neighborhoods a raw texture. Tilting perilously above the Pacific can leave you feeling adrift, unmoored by the sea's tug. This was the setting of Lash's last stand. As his illness progressed and his relationships with Nebron, Gorin and Lyons grew more complex, Lash sought out yet more conquests.
Sometime around 2012, he established a relationship with Jocelyn Eberstein, an acupuncturist who lived in a Coastline Drive condominium and took him in. For a couple of years until his death, Lash spent roughly half his time at Eberstein's place.
There, he again passed himself off as a covert agent. Her landlord, Paul Rodriguez, recalls a morning when Lash emerged looking frantic. "Did you hear the shootout last night?" Lash asked excitedly. Rodriguez wasn't aware of a shootout. No one else had mentioned anything and no police had come. "Right here," Lash insisted, indicating that the gunmen had been lined up and down the street, duking it out. Rodriguez wasn't buying it. Lash eventually backed off the story.
One day, Lash was speeding to Eberstein's when he smashed his truck into a neighbor's Lexus SUV, pushing it into a curb and snapping both wheels off an axle. The crash also totaled another neighbor's BMW. When confronted, Lash said, "You can't go through insurance. I'll lose my top-secret clearance."
"Not my problem," the neighbor said. (Lash eventually settled the claim through an insurance company.)
Even as his illness progressed, Lash was still juggling the demands of four simultaneous relationships. "I think he's one hell of a con person," says Laura VadBunker. "I think he has more charisma than 10 Trumps." And, it would seem, an ability to keep those who knew him longest forever confused. "Maybe he did do national security missions," says Anderson. "The government doesn't always tell you everything they know, either."
The likeliest scenario is also the simplest, however: There was no government work. Anderson confirmed that there had been no vast inheritance, as some had speculated. The coroner found that Lash had died at age 60 of natural causes, but his corpse was so decomposed that a conclusive determination of what ailed him in his final years was problematic.
In certain cases, diseases like cancer and ALS can cause psychotic episodes and hallucinations, but Lash's manipulative behavior went on for so long, and was seemingly so calculated, that the brief episodic explanations seem to fall short. Kevin J. Fleming, a former neuropsychologist turned entrepreneur who runs Grey Matters International, a global neuroscience-based advisory firm, speculates that Lash could have had any number of personality disorders, ranging from narcissism or sociopathy to full-blown psychosis. But he had no criminal record and no sexual offenses. Lyons doesn't know what to believe any longer about the man with whom she shared a life. "I think he was either evil, or delusional or somehow mentally unstable," she says. "He was definitely a narcissist, but I didn't recognize it fully at the time."
On one of the days I visited the condos on Coastline Drive, I met Dawn Usher. Her father was Gary Usher, who penned a slew of Beach Boys songs and became a record label executive before dying at the age of 51. Usher lives now with her second husband in an open-plan condo with an ocean view just down the hill from Eberstein's place. "Yeah, I knew that guy," she says. Usher is blond, attractive and chatty. "I probably talked to him more than anyone else around here."
A familiar story unfolds. Lash talked her up often, especially if her husband wasn't around. He was charming, intelligent, charismatic and demonstrated a keen interest in her. Usher was drawn in. They shared a love of cars and spiritual questions. Lash listened to her troubles with men. They spoke about the difficulties of having a relationship. Yes, he was a top-secret government agent, he said. No, he couldn't tell her more. He'd had an out-of-body experience some years ago, traveled to outer space and seen the light of God — and it had shaped who he was. Did she know what he meant? He probed, listened, probed some more. The pitter-patter of Lash's uniquely twisted weave was becoming clear. He told her that he sometimes wondered whether he — he said his name was Bob Smith — was an alien. He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure who he was. Could anyone be? Really? What did she think …?
And then, before he could make further progress, Lash died. In the end, Usher avoided his trap. But for Michelle Lyons and many others, Lash's lies are really lost lives.
A version of this story first appeared in the Sept. 13 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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A Serializer/Deserializer (SerDes) is a pair of functional blocks commonly used in high speed communications. These blocks convert data between serial data and parallel interfaces in each direction. The generic SerDes has two functions, the Parallel-to-Serial converter, sometimes called the Parallel-In Serial-Out (PISO) block, and the Serial-to-Parallel converter, sometimes called the Serial-In Parallel-Out (SIPO) block. The SIPO block has a serial clock and data inputs. The serial clock may have been recovered from the data stream using a clock recovery technique. The SIPO block then divides the incoming serial clock down to the parallel rate.
Typically, one or more SerDes blocks of an integrated circuit device may send occasional bursts of control signals (or keep-alive signals) at a fixed frequency to another integrated circuit device to ensure that the communications link between both integrated circuit devices is established and ready at all times. However, there is a concern that the SerDes blocks run continuously (i.e., at all times) regardless of whether there is a data signal to be sent between the two integrated circuit devices. This may result in increased power consumption and may inadvertently degrade performance and reliability of the integrated circuit device.
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Ambra Battilana, the Italian model who accused film executive Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, was instrumental in convicting three people for “inducing” young women to become “prostitutes” for former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Italian court documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News detail her harrowing experience at Berlusconi’s villa.
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COURT OF APPEALS
EIGHTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS
EL PASO, TEXAS
RUTH ANN MARTIN, ) No. 08-02-00144-CR
)
Appellant, ) Appeal from
)
v. ) Criminal District Court No. 5
)
THE STATE OF TEXAS, ) of Dallas County, Texas
)
Appellee. ) (TC# F-0175501-PL)
O P I N I O N
Ruth Ann Martin appeals her conviction for injury to a child. This case involves the tragic
death of Appellant’s daughter, Heather. Appellant waived her right to a jury trial and entered an
open plea of guilty to a two paragraph indictment which charged Appellant with recklessly causing
serious bodily injury to her daughter. The trial court found Appellant guilty and assessed her
punishment at a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for a term of twenty years. In her appeal to this
court, Appellant raised three issues: (1) the trial court erred by failing to reject her guilty plea
because the evidence adduced at the hearing negates the culpable mental state; (2) the indictment was
fundamentally defective; and (3) ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding that the trial court abused
its discretion in accepting the guilty plea when evidence inconsistent with guilt had been introduced,
a divided panel of the court sustained the first issue. Upon the State’s petition for discretionary
review, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed and remanded the case to us for consideration of
Appellant’s other two points of error.
FACTUAL SUMMARY
Appellant, who characterized herself as a recovering drug addict, had been on felony
community supervision since 1993 for three delivery of a controlled substance offenses and
possession of a controlled substance. Despite it being a violation of the terms and conditions of her
community supervision, Appellant knowingly possessed a bottle of morphine which she stored in
“a regular aspirin bottle” in the medicine cabinet of her home. She did not recall whether the bottle
had a childproof cap; she believed it was a “push and turn” type. Appellant’s mother-in-law had
taken morphine prior to her death from cancer. A relative gave the morphine to Appellant’s
husband, Raymond Martin, and asked him to sell it to raise money to pay for the funeral expenses.
Mr. Martin had been unable to sell any of the morphine pills but they had not disposed of the drug
nor returned it to the relative. Appellant knew the drug was dangerous because she and a friend had
become ill after ingesting one of the morphine tablets from the same bottle.
On May 3, 2001, Appellant and her husband went to a sports bar to watch a Dallas
Mavericks basketball game. Although their five-year-old child was taken to a babysitter, Appellant
left her pre-teen daughter, Heather, and twelve-year-old son, Michael, alone at home. Appellant
knew that Heather had a headache and apparently, migraine headaches were common in her family.
When the parents returned home four hours later, they found Heather asleep in their bed. Heather
whimpered when Appellant told her that she needed to move to her own bed. The child walked into
a door jamb and told Appellant that she could not “walk right.” Appellant held on to her daughter
and walked her to her room. When Heather got into her bed, she shielded her eyes from the light and
covered her head. In a written statement, Appellant said that Heather had cried and vomited all
night.
The following morning, Appellant went into Heather’s room. Heather did not “look right”
and she was cold to the touch. Appellant picked her up and vomit ran from the child’s mouth.
Appellant screamed for someone to call 911. A neighbor came over and performed CPR while they
awaited an ambulance. Appellant later learned that Heather had died sometime during the night.
After five undigested morphine tablets were found in Heather’s stomach, a Child Protective Services
case worker and a detective were dispatched to Appellant’s house. When Appellant learned that the
caseworker and detective were en route, she instructed her husband to dispose of the morphine and
marihuana in the house.
A grand jury indicted Appellant for injury to a child. The first paragraph of the indictment
alleged that Appellant recklessly caused serious bodily injury to her daughter by:
[L]eaving said complainant unsupervised by adult supervision, in the defendant’s
home, and leaving Morphine, a dangerous and lethal drug, within access of the
complainant, which the complainant ingested.
The second paragraph of the indictment alleged that Appellant recklessly caused serious
bodily injury to Heather by:
[F]ail[ing] to provide adequate medical care for the complainant, knowing the
complainant was vomiting and crying, and at the time of the offense the defendant
had a legal duty to act, to-wit: the defendant was the parent of the complainant, and
the defendant had assumed care, custody and control of the complainant.
Appellant waived her right to a jury trial and entered a non-negotiated or open plea of guilty.
She executed a written judicial confession by which she specifically admitted that the allegations
contained in both paragraphs of the indictment were true and that she was guilty of the injury to a
child offense alleged in the indictment. After introducing Appellant’s judicial confession, the State
rested. Appellant testified and offered other evidence in support of her request that she be placed
on community supervision. After Appellant rested and both sides closed, the trial court accepted
Appellant’s guilty plea and assessed her punishment at imprisonment for a term of twenty years.
ISSUES ON REMAND
In the remaining two issues before the court, Appellant contends that the trial court erred in
finding her guilty because the indictment was fundamentally defective and because her counsel
provided ineffective assistance.
Is The Indictment Defective?
When examining an indictment for fundamental error, we must determine whether the
State’s pleading alleges an offense against the law. Ex parte Andrews, 814 S.W.2d 839, 841
(Tex.App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 1991, pet. ref’d), citing Whetstone v. State, 786 S.W.2d 361, 364
(Tex.Crim.App. 1990). Appellant’s complaint addresses only the second count involving a crime
of omission-- knowing that Heather was vomiting and crying, Appellant had a legal duty to act but
failed to provide adequate medical care. Appellant takes issue with whether an offense is even
alleged. In her brief she asserts, “Vomiting and crying without more does not describe a serious
malady.”
We first note that Appellant signed an open plea agreement which contained a specific waiver
of “any and all defects, errors, or irregularities, whether of form or substance, in the charging
instrument.” Moreover, she did not object to the defect nor did she file a motion to quash the
indictment. For all of these reasons, Appellant has waived error. Sparkman v. State, 968 S.W.2d
373, 376 (Tex.App.--Tyler 1997, pet. ref’d).
Even if error were preserved, we would be constrained to overrule it. The State is not
required to plead its evidence in the indictment. Solis v. State, 787 S.W.2d 388, 390 (Tex.Crim.App.
1990). When there are multiple ways of committing an offense that are subject to the same
punishment, the State may plead multiple means but must prove only one to sustain a conviction.
Eastep v. State, 941 S.W.2d 130, 133-34 (Tex.Crim.App. 1997). Because Count I will support the
conviction, we overrule Appellant’s second issue for review.
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel?
In her final issue, Appellant claims that her trial counsel should have withdrawn her guilty
plea. Simply stated, she complains that his representation was deficient because he permitted her
to sign the judicial confession when it tracked a defective indictment. We disagree.
To prevail, Appellant must demonstrate both deficient performance and prejudice. Strickland
v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); Kober v. State, 988
S.W.2d 230, 232 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999). Deficient performance means that the assistance of counsel
was not reasonably effective, but it does not mean an errorless performance. Moore v. State, 700
S.W.2d 193, 205 (Tex.Crim.App. 1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1113, 106 S.Ct. 1167, 89 L.Ed.2d
289 (1986). The fact that counsel could have performed better does not render his representation
ineffective. Standerford v. State, 928 S.W.2d 688, 698 (Tex.App.--Fort Worth 1996, no pet.). In
determining whether both Strickland prongs have been met, we must consider the totality of the
representation. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 670. A claim of ineffective assistance cannot prevail based
upon the isolation of one portion of counsel’s representation. McFarland v. State, 845 S.W.2d 824,
843 (Tex.Crim.App. 1992). We presume that counsel’s performance falls within the wide range of
reasonable, professional assistance, and it is the burden of an appellant to overcome this
presumption. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688-89; see Jackson v. State, 877 S.W.2d 768, 771
(Tex.Crim.App. 1994). Allegations of ineffective assistance must be firmly supported by the record.
Thompson v. State, 9 S.W.3d 808, 813 (Tex.Crim.App. 1999). This generally requires that a
sufficient record be developed by filing a motion for new trial and pursuing an evidentiary hearing.
Parmer v. State, 38 S.W.3d 661, 666 (Tex.App.--Austin 2000, pet. ref’d).
Where, as here, no motion for new trial was filed and no evidence offered, the record
provides no explanation as to counsel’s strategies and tactics. The record is also silent as to whether
Appellant would have pled guilty but for the purported errors of counsel. Because Appellant has not
established by a preponderance of the evidence that counsel’s representation was deficient, she has
failed to meet the first prong. Nor has she established a reasonable probability that the outcome
would have been different but for counsel’s errors. We overrule the third issue and affirm the
judgment below.
August 18, 2005
ANN CRAWFORD McCLURE, Justice
Before Barajas, C.J., McClure, and Chew, JJ.
(Do Not Publish)
|
H RACHEL and Tony are at loggerheads over whether to move to Boston – she wants to take up the job offer but he won’t budge. Then she realises he can’t bear to leave the place where Jack lives, and nobly opts to stay. At which point, Tony is so grateful that he agrees to go to Boston! Talk about a U-turn.
Which is exactly what also happens when Bianca is kissing Liam one minute, then slapping him the next. Make up your minds, folks!
|
Q:
Cannot modify char array
Consider the following code.
char message[]="foo";
void main(void){
message[] = "bar";
}
Why is there a syntax error in MPLAB IDE v8.63? I am just trying to change the value of character array.
A:
Assignments like
message[] = "bar";
or
message = "bar";
are not supported by C.
The reason the initial assignment works is that it's actually array initialization masquerading as assignment. The compiler interprets
char message[]="foo";
as
char message[4] = {'f', 'o', 'o', '\0'};
There is actually no string literal "foo" involved here.
But when you try to
message = "bar";
The "bar" is interpreted as an actual string literal, and not only that, but message is not a modifiable lvalue, ie. you can't assign stuff to it. If you want to modify your array you must do it character by character:
message[0] = 'b';
message[1] = 'a';
etc, or (better) use a library function that does it for you, like strcpy().
A:
You cannot use character array like that after declaration. If you want to assign new value to your character array, you can do it like this: -
strcpy(message, "bar");
|
MEMORANDUM DECISION
FILED
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this
Memorandum Decision shall not be regarded as May 24 2017, 9:30 am
precedent or cited before any court except for the CLERK
purpose of establishing the defense of res judicata, Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
collateral estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANTS ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEES
David J. Cutshaw Edward W. Hearn
Gabriel A. Hawkins Alan M. Kus
Cohen & Malad, LLP Johnson & Bell P.C.
Indianapolis, Indiana Crown Point, Indiana
Barry D. Rooth
Holly S.C. Wojcik
William A. Theodoros
Theodoros & Rooth, P.C.
Merrillville, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Josephina Aguila on behalf of May 24, 2017
Pedro Aguila, Frederick Ard, Court of Appeals Case No.
Darren Bala, Robert Besler, Cella 45A03-1609-CT-2069
King, and Larry Salinas as Appeal from the Lake Superior
Personal Representative of the Court.
The Honorable Calvin D. Hawkins,
Estate of Amelia Porras, Judge.
Appellants-Petitioners, Trial Court Cause No.
45D02-1604-CT-65
v.
Anonymous Physicians 1 & 2,
Anonymous Medical P.C.,
Anonymous Hospital, G.
Anthony Bertig, and Stephen
Robertson, as Commissioner of
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 1 of 10
the Indiana Department of
Insurance,
Appellees-Respondents.
Shepard, Senior Judge
[1] The trial court determined Anonymous Hospital presented sufficient grounds to
set aside the entry of default judgment. The appellants, who are patients or
representatives of patients who were treated by the Hospital, challenge the
court’s decision. We conclude the court did not abuse its discretion in setting
aside the default.
[2] The appellants, whom we will refer to as the Patients, were treated by
Anonymous Physicians 1 and 2, Anonymous Medical P.C., and the Hospital.
The Patients claim the physicians performed unnecessary surgeries and, further,
that the Hospital negligently credentialed the physicians and were aware of the
unnecessary surgeries but allowed them to continue.
[3] Between July 31, 2014 and October 27, 2014, the Patients filed proposed
1
medical malpractice complaints with the Indiana Department of Insurance.
The Department of Insurance assembled medical malpractice review panels for
1
Approximately 300 other patients filed similar complaints against Anonymous Physicians 1 and 2,
Anonymous Medical P.C., and the Hospital.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 2 of 10
the Patients’ cases, and G. Anthony Bertig was selected as the chairperson of
each of the six panels.
[4] Bertig set deadlines for the parties to submit evidence to the panels, and the
Hospital failed to comply in all six cases. For example, in Salinas’ case, on
April 16, 2015, Bertig instructed the Hospital to submit its submission no later
than July 31, 2015. In Aguila’s case, on September 8, 2015, Bertig instructed
the Hospital to file by January 15, 2016. The Hospital did not meet any of the
deadlines. The physicians and the Medical P.C. failed to file submissions in
four of the six cases.
[5] On April 26, 2016, the Patients filed a Petition for Preliminary Determination
and Default Judgment, asking the court to enter default judgment against all
defendants for failure to timely submit documents to the panels. On May 2,
2016, the court granted the default and entered judgment.
[6] The court later set aside the May 2 order to allow the physicians, the Center,
and the Hospital to respond to the Patients’ petition. The Hospital moved to
dismiss, arguing the court lacked authority to rule on the Patients’ request. The
Hospital also filed its submissions with the review panels in all six cases on July
11, 2016, the day before a scheduled trial court hearing. Meanwhile, Physicians
1 and 2 also filed their submissions in all six cases. Patients and the physicians
later stipulated that Physicians 1 & 2 and the Center would be dismissed from
the preliminary determination. The Patients and the Hospital did not reach a
similar agreement.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 3 of 10
[7] On July 13, 2016, the court entered default against the Hospital for a second
time. The Hospital filed a motion to set aside the default pursuant to Indiana
Trial Rule 60(B)(1), and the Patients asked to schedule a hearing on damages.
After further briefing and oral argument, the court granted the Hospital’s
motion, concluding it presented “a viable basis for relief under Trial Rule
60(B).” Appellants’ App. Vol. II, p. 19.
[8] Indiana Trial Rule 60(B)(1) states:
(B) Mistake-Excusable neglect-Newly discovered evidence-
Fraud, etc. On motion and upon such terms as are just the court
may relieve a party or his legal representative from a judgment,
including a judgment by default, for the following reasons:
(1) mistake, surprise, or excusable neglect; . . . .
A party who files a motion under Rule 60(B)(1) must demonstrate “a
meritorious claim or defense.” Id.
[9] A Rule 60(B) motion is addressed to the equitable discretion of the court, and
we reverse only upon an abuse. Brimhall v. Brewster, 864 N.E.2d 1148 (Ind. Ct.
App. 2007), trans. denied. An abuse of discretion occurs if the court’s decision is
clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances or if the court
has misinterpreted the law. Baxter v. State, 734 N.E.2d 642 (Ind. Ct. App.
2000).
[10] The trial court’s discretion is necessarily broad in this area because any
determination of excusable neglect, surprise, or mistake must turn upon the
unique factual background of each case. Kmart Corp. v. Englebright, 719 N.E.2d
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 4 of 10
1249 (Ind. Ct. App. 1999), trans. denied. Any doubt of the propriety of a default
judgment should be resolved in favor of the defaulted party. Coslett v. Weddle
Bros. Constr. Co., Inc., 798 N.E.2d 859 (Ind. 2003). Reinstatement of a case is
ultimately a matter of equity. Baker & Daniels, LLP v. Coachmen Indus., Inc., 924
N.E.2d 130 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010), trans. denied.
[11] The Patients raise several claims in support of their argument that the court
should not have set aside the default. They claim the Hospital is erroneously
attempting to litigate the merits of the case rather than present equitable
considerations. They also claim the Hospital erroneously submitted new
evidence in support of its motion for relief, and the evidence was inadmissible
because it could have been presented prior to default.
[12] The Patients also argue the Hospital’s failure to timely file its submissions was
sufficiently egregious that the entry of a default was appropriate and well within
the court’s discretion. They claim the Hospital’s noncompliance is “more
egregious than that found in every case disclosed by petitioners’ research.”
Appellants’ Br. p. 32. The Patients conclude vacating the default was an
inappropriate response to such misfeasance.
[13] They further contend the Hospital has failed to show good cause for setting
aside the default judgment, stating the Hospital erroneously chose to focus on
its late discovery responses rather than its late evidentiary submissions, and
must be held accountable for that choice. They say they warned the Hospital
about the late submissions several weeks before moving for preliminary
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 5 of 10
determination. They also argue that the January 24, 2016 death of the spouse
of the Hospital’s primary attorney does not amount to good cause because they
had agreed to extend case deadlines because of the death, but the Hospital was
unreasonably late months after the fact. Finally, the Patients say that the one-
year delay in each of their cases was severely prejudicial.
[14] In response, the Hospital states this case would be the first to hold that a court
abused its discretion by vacating a grant of default judgment. This is not quite
accurate. A panel of this Court reversed a court’s vacatur of a dismissal for
failure to prosecute, determining the court abused its discretion. Munster Cmty.
Hosp. v. Bernacke, 874 N.E.2d 611 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007).
[15] The Hospital states the evidence shows excusable neglect because Bertig’s
deadlines were flexible and the death of the spouse of the Hospital’s primary
attorney on these cases prevented the Hospital from completing the
submissions. The Hospital also claims Patients’ counsel gave it the impression
that Patients wanted the Hospital to prioritize responding to discovery requests
in all the malpractice cases instead of filing evidentiary submissions with the
review panels. The Hospital reasons that, at best, the choice to prioritize
discovery responses over panel submissions based on discussions with the
Patients was a mistake that does not warrant the sanction of default. The
Hospital further claims its submissions were delayed in part because the
Patients were slow to respond to the Hospital’s discovery requests.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 6 of 10
[16] In addition, the Hospital argues the Patients never took steps in the context of
the review panel process to resolve the issue of the Hospital’s overdue
submissions, such as asking the review panels to decide the cases without the
Hospital’s submissions. To the contrary, the Hospital notes that after the
spouse of Hospital’s attorney died, Patients agreed to work with the Hospital on
pending issues such as discovery and the submissions. Instead, the Hospital
argues, they surprised the Hospital by moving for preliminary determination. 2
[17] The Hospital disputes the Patients’ claim that it is inappropriate to cite evidence
in support of a motion for relief from judgment if the evidence could have been
submitted prior to the entry of default judgment. In any event, the Hospital
also argues that most of the evidence it submitted with its motion for relief from
judgment had already been submitted to the court in other parties’ documents.
Finally, the Hospital disagrees with the Patients that it was barred from
discussing the merits of the litigation in its motion for relief from judgment.
[18] In reply, the Patients argue the Hospital failed to demonstrate it was worthy of
the equitable remedy provided by Rule 60(B)(1) because it inappropriately
argued substantive law instead of equitable considerations. They say the
Hospital could not have reasonably understood there was indefinite flexibility
in the panels’ deadlines because the Hospital requested extensions of the
2
The Hospital also argues it had meritorious defenses to the Patients’ claims, a requisite showing to support
relief from judgment. Whelchel v. Cmty. Hosps. of Ind., Inc., 629 N.E.2d 900 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994), trans. denied.
At the hearing on the Hospital’s motion for relief from judgment, the Patients declined to contest that issue,
stating, “It’s correct we’re not challenging that they had a meritorious defense.” Tr. Vol. 2, p. 65.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 7 of 10
deadlines in June 2016, which was after the Patients filed their petition for
preliminary determination. In addition, the Patients reiterate they told the
Hospital its submissions were late several weeks before they filed the petition.
[19] Regarding discovery, the Patients note that the Hospital filed the submissions
the day before a court hearing even though discovery was not complete. They
conclude from these circumstances that the Patients’ delayed discovery
responses could not have been a significant impediment to the Hospital’s filing
of evidentiary submissions with the review panels.
[20] On the question of prejudice, Patients claim that the Hospital’s filing of its
submissions with the review panels one day before a court hearing was
inadequate to cure the delay. They say the Hospital should not be allowed to
attack the underlying sanctions determination and is barred from presenting
evidence in support of its motion for relief from judgment if the evidence could
have been raised prior to default.
[21] We must consider the parties’ arguments in accordance with our standard of
review by determining whether the court’s decision to set aside the default was
clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the
court. Our answer is no. We cannot agree with the Patients that the Hospital
was barred from presenting evidence that could have been presented prior to
default. Per the plain language of Trial Rule 60(B), only motions filed under
60(B)(2) are subject to such a limitation.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 8 of 10
[22] In addition, we cannot agree that the Hospital should not have discussed the
merits of the parties’ claims while seeking relief from default. It is true that a
Trial Rule 60(B)(1) motion does not attack the substantive, legal merits of the
judgment but rather addresses the procedural, equitable grounds justifying the
relief from the finality of a judgment. Kmart Corp., 719 N.E.2d 1249. Some
discussion of the merits is unavoidable because a movant must demonstrate a
meritorious claim or defense in relation to the parties’ allegations. Ind. Tr. Rule
60(B). In this case, the Hospital also presented to the court equitable arguments
in favor of setting aside the default.
[23] Ultimately, the trial court’s decision was well within its discretion. The court
balanced the prejudice to the Patients against the Hospital’s right to present a
defense. See Tr. Vol. 2, pp. 79-80. The Hospital, which was defending against
300 malpractice cases, demonstrated that the death of its attorney’s spouse
delayed its responses. The Patients expressed a willingness to work with the
Hospital due to this tragedy. When the Hospital’s new attorney contacted the
Patients’ attorney in April 2016, he asked the Patients to state their priorities for
the various cases. The Patients’ attorney mentioned that the evidentiary
submissions were overdue but stated that receiving discovery responses from
the Hospital was the highest priority.
[24] Although the Patients were not required to seek lesser sanctions before
requesting default, it is relevant to the facts and circumstances that the Patients
did not first seek lesser sanctions, such as asking the panel chairperson to
consider the cases without the late submissions. Cf. Ross v. Bachkurinskiy, 770
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 9 of 10
N.E.2d 389 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002) (no abuse in denying motion for relief from
default; court warned plaintiff that failure to comply with discovery deadlines
could result in default).
[25] Finally, it is curious that both the Anonymous Physicians and the Hospital
were tardy in filing submissions, but when the physicians and the Hospital filed
their submissions after the court proceedings began, the Patients were willing to
dismiss only the Anonymous Physicians from the trial court proceedings.
Considering these facts and circumstances, we find no abuse of discretion.
[26] Affirmed.
Vaidik, C.J., and Mathias, J., concur.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 45A03-1609-CT-2069 | May 24, 2017 Page 10 of 10
|
IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT KNOXVILLE
Assigned on Briefs September 16, 2014
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BRENT ALLEN BLYE
Direct Appeal from the Circuit Court for Sullivan County
No. S50833 R. Jerry Beck, Judge
No. E2014-00220-CCA-R3-CD - Filed July 30, 2015
A Sullivan County Circuit Court Jury convicted the appellant, Brent Allen Blye, of
possession of 26 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell, a Class B felony; simple
possession of dihydrocodeinone, a Class A misdemeanor; and simple possession of less than
one-half ounce of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor. The trial court sentenced him as a
Range II, multiple offender to an effective sentence of twelve years in the Tennessee
Department of Correction. In this delayed appeal, the appellant contends that the trial court
erred by refusing to allow him to question a co-defendant about her criminal history; that the
trial court erred by giving, or failing to give, certain jury instructions; and that the trial court
erred by allowing a police detective to testify about the value of the cocaine. The State
concedes that the trial court erred by instructing the jury that the simple possession offenses
could be committed with a mens rea of recklessness but contends that the error was harmless.
The State maintains that the trial court committed no other error. Upon review, we conclude
that the trial court erred in its jury instruction regarding the necessary mens rea for the lesser-
included offense of simple possession of cocaine but that the error was harmless. For the
charged offenses of simple possession of dihydrocodeinone and marijuana, we conclude that
the trial court also erred in its instructions on the necessary mens rea and that the error was
not harmless. Therefore, we must reverse those convictions and remand for a new trial.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgments of the Circuit Court are Affirmed
in Part, Reversed in Part; Case Remanded.
N ORMA M CG EE O GLE, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which R OGER A. P AGE and
R OBERT H. M ONTGOMERY, J R., JJ., joined.
Kenneth E. Hill (on appeal), Kingsport, Tennessee, and Perry L. Stout (at trial), Johnson
City, Tennessee, for the appellant, Brent Allen Blye.
Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Benjamin A. Ball, Senior Counsel;
Barry Staubus, District Attorney General; and William Harper, Assistant District Attorney
General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINION
I. Factual Background
On June 22, 2005, the appellant was charged by presentment with count one,
possession of 26 grams or more of cocaine, a Class B felony; count two, possession of
dihydrocodeinone, a Class A misdemeanor; and count three, possession of less than one-half
ounce of marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor. At trial, the following evidence was adduced:
On November 12, 2004, Detective Jason Grant Bellamy of the
Kingsport Police Department, accompanied by Detective Mark
Mason and Officer Jeff Kendrick, went to the Comfort Inn in
Kingsport, Tennessee to look for the [appellant]. When they
arrived at the hotel, Detective Bellamy asked the staff if the
[appellant] had rented a room. When the staff told him that the
[appellant] did not have a room at the hotel, he asked if Savonna
Collier, who had been seen with the [appellant] and identified as
his girlfriend, had rented a room. They learned that Ms. Collier
had rented room 264.
Detective Bellamy and the other officers went to room
264. Ms. Collier answered the door, and after they identified
themselves, Ms. Collier allowed them to come inside. They
found the [appellant] asleep on the bed closest to the door,
wearing only a thin shirt, jeans, and socks. They arrested the
[appellant]. After the [appellant] was taken from the room, Ms.
Collier asked Detective Bellamy if he would let the [appellant]
have his jacket, which had been underneath the [appellant] on
the bed. Detective Bellamy retrieved the jacket from the bed
and searched it. Inside the jacket, he found three blue pills
labeled “Watson 5-4-0” and a prescription bottle filled with
what appeared to be crack cocaine. Detective Bellamy collected
the evidence and asked Ms. Collier to accompany him to the
police station. Ms. Collier complied, and by that time, the
[appellant] had already left in a patrol car. Once they arrived at
the police station, Detective Bellamy gave the items retrieved
from the jacket to Detective Sean Chambers, who identified the
-2-
contents of the pill bottle as cocaine. Detective Chambers spoke
with Ms. Collier, who gave him the key to the hotel room.
Detective Chambers went to the hotel with Detective
Sergeant Dale Phipps and Detective Steve Hammonds. They
searched Ms. Collier’s room and found several items in the
drawer of the table that was located between the two beds in the
room. Inside the drawer, Detective Chambers found a plastic
bag that contained approximately six other plastic bags. In two
bags, he found plant material. In three bags, he found a white
substance. In another bag, he found tan-colored rocks. He also
found “cash in the amount of $612” and two receipts. Both
receipts referenced the [appellant]. In the storage area
underneath the drawer of the table, Detective Bellamy found
several tan-colored rocks on top of a Comfort Inn notepad. On
the bed closest to the door, he found a cigarette box that
contained a blue pill, labeled “Watson 5-4-0” and a small
amount of plant material. He found a blue shirt on the same
bed, and in the left pocket of the shirt, he found a hand-rolled
cigarette. He continued to search the rest of the room but did
not find anything else. The room did not contain any baggage
or clothing other than the blue shirt found on the bed. The room
also did not contain any crack pipes, straws, or syringes that may
have been used to ingest the drugs found in the room. Detective
Chambers later learned that a razorblade had been found on the
[appellant]. Detective Chambers then went to the hotel office
and retrieved a copy of the registration form, which showed that
the room was registered to Ms. Collier and that two individuals
were staying in the room.
According to Detective Chambers, the approximate value
of the cocaine found in the hotel room was $3,000. His estimate
was based on the weight of the cocaine and the “going price in
the city of Kingsport.” He stated that the crack rocks that were
found in the room would normally be sold as “individual rocks”
after they were “broken down into smaller quantities.” He also
stated that the crack rocks could be sold as they were found.
The rocks found in the pill bottle contained cocaine base
and weighed 16.84 grams. The white powder found in the three
-3-
bags contained cocaine and weighed 6.93 grams. The rocks
found in the other plastic bag contained cocaine base and
weighed 1.79 grams, .44 grams, and 4.36 grams. The rocks
found in the storage area of the bedside table contained cocaine
base and weighed .39 grams. Thus, there was a total of 23.8
grams of crack rocks, and 6.93 grams of powder cocaine. The
plant material was tested and found to contain marijuana, and
the total weight of the plant material was 5.9 grams. The blue
pills were tested and found to contain Dihydrocodeinone, a
Schedule III drug.
Brent A. Blye v. State, No. E2012-02626-CCA-R3-PC, 2013 WL 3973468, at *1-2 (Tenn.
Crim. App. at Knoxville, Aug. 5, 2013); see also State v. Brent Allen Blye, No. E2008-
00976-CCA-R3-CD, 2011 WL 529515, at *5-7 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Knoxville, Feb. 14,
2011).
At trial, the defense argued that the appellant was in the motel room for reasons other
than dealing drugs and that the drugs belonged to Ms. Collier. The jury rejected the
appellant’s argument and convicted the appellant of the charged offenses. The appellant
pursued a direct appeal; however, he failed to file a timely motion for new trial, and this
court’s review was limited to addressing the sufficiency of the convicting evidence. Blye,
No. E2008-00976-CCA-R3-CD, 2011 WL 529515, at *3-4. Upon concluding that the
evidence was sufficient, this court affirmed the appellant’s convictions.1 Id. at *7.
Thereafter, the appellant filed a petition for post-conviction relief, which was denied
by the court. On appeal, this court remanded the case to the trial court “to determine
whether, but for counsel’s deficient performance, a motion for new trial would have been
filed raising issues in addition to sufficiency of the evidence.” Blye, No. E2012-02626-
CCA-R3-PC, 2013 WL 3973468, at *12. On remand, the trial court found that the appellant
was entitled to a delayed appeal.
Subsequently, the appellant filed a motion for new trial, raising numerous issues,
including (1) that the trial court erred by refusing to allow the appellant to question Ms.
Collier about her prior convictions and charges; (2) that the trial court erroneously instructed
the jury that they could not consider comments about Ms. Collier as evidence; (3) that the
trial court failed to instruct the jury on various lesser-included offenses; (4) that the trial court
erred by instructing the jury that “possession/casual exchange” required the mens rea of
1
Following the direct appeal, the appellant and the State entered into an agreement regarding
sentencing.
-4-
recklessness; and (5) that the trial court erred by allowing Detective Chambers to testify
about the value of the drugs. The trial court denied the motion, and the appellant timely filed
a notice of appeal.
II. Analysis
A. Co-Defendant’s Criminal History
The appellant first challenges the trial court’s decision to limit his direct examination
of his co-defendant, Ms. Collier. The record reflects that prior to the close of the State’s
proof, defense counsel announced his intention to call Ms. Collier as a defense witness. The
trial court stated that Ms. Collier, who was represented by counsel, might invoke her Fifth
Amendment protection against self-incrimination. Defense counsel argued that he should
be allowed to question Ms. Collier about her prior record for which she had no Fifth
Amendment privilege. Defense counsel explained:
[T]he prior record concerns prostitution. And the theory being
that there’s two people in the room. The cocaine has to belong
to somebody. She rented the room herself in cash. And there
was no luggage or clothing in the room, so there could be more
going on in the room than selling dope.
....
[A]s long as I don’t ask her anything that would incriminate her
to be charged with a crime presently, she’s just another witness
and answering questions.
The trial court noted that defense counsel was “correct to a point” but that “there’s got
to be a theory, a legal theory that I can let that type of testimony in. I know where you’re
going. You want to show she’s a prostitute.” Defense counsel clarified, “No. That she has
been in the past.” The trial court stated that the questioning would violate Ms. Collier’s Fifth
Amendment right against self-incrimination, noting that Ms. Collier could be indicted if she
admitted to prostitution in the motel room.
The trial court again asked defense counsel to provide a legal basis for questioning
Ms. Collier about her prior criminal history. The court noted that defense counsel could not
question Ms. Collier pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(b) because “if this was a
defendant under 404(b) . . . , you can’t use it to show a propensity to commit a crime.”
Defense counsel answered, “I’m really just at a loss[.]” The trial court referred to Tennessee
-5-
Rule of Evidence 404(a) but noted that “this is not the criminal accused we’re dealing with,
and we’re not dealing with a victim” and that “you’re not offering this for impeachment,
you’re offering it as substantive evidence.”
The trial court held a jury-out hearing so that counsel could question Ms. Collier. The
court noted that her attorney was present. As soon as defense counsel began questioning Ms.
Collier, her counsel immediately objected, advising the court that Ms. Collier would be
invoking her Fifth Amendment right and that “I don’t want her to say anything that touches
the facts of the charges.” The trial court asked Ms. Collier if she intended to invoke her Fifth
Amendment right against self-incrimination regarding what occurred in the motel room, and
Ms. Collier responded in the affirmative. Defense counsel then asked Ms. Collier how she
met the appellant, and she again invoked her Fifth Amendment right. The trial court stated
that Ms. Collier could invoke the Fifth Amendment because “that shows her association”
with the appellant. Upon further questioning by defense counsel, Ms. Collier acknowledged
that she was arrested in Nevada on March 31, 2004, for “solicitation or engaging in
prostitution” but said that she had never gone to court on that charge. She acknowledged
being arrested in Florida for prostitution on January 28, 2005, and on March 10, 2005, but
denied being convicted of either charge. She also acknowledged that she was arrested in
Florida on a charge of “solicitation . . . of another for lewdness” on March 15, 2005, but said
that she could not recall the disposition of that case. However, her counsel ultimately
conceded that Ms. Collier entered a plea of nolo contendere on April 20, 2005.
The trial court held that the arrests and conviction that occurred after the instant
offense were inadmissible “because they wouldn’t go to any motive, intent at the time of the
alleged crime.” Furthermore, the trial court said that it failed to discern how the charges
amassed after the instant offenses were relevant. The court observed that the Nevada
prostitution charge occurred before the instant offenses but that Ms. Collier denied being
convicted of the offense. The trial court stated, and defense counsel agreed, that to be
admissible, “[i]t’d have to be the level of a conviction, not just an accusation.”
Defense counsel maintained that Ms. Collier’s history of prostitution was relevant to
establish “an alternative reason [the appellant] was in the room.” The court responded that
defense counsel’s theory was “pure speculation,” noting that no proof had been introduced
to suggest Ms. Collier was acting as a prostitute on the day of the offense. The court held
that under Tennessee Rule of Evidence 403, admitting proof of Ms. Collier’s arrests and
conviction would confuse the jury; accordingly, the court found that her criminal history was
inadmissible.
The appellant argues that the trial court erroneously excluded Ms. Collier’s prior
conviction on Fifth Amendment grounds. However, the record belies that contention. The
-6-
court ruled that Ms. Collier could invoke her privilege against self-incrimination regarding
her role in what transpired in the motel room. The trial court then ruled that Ms. Collier’s
prior criminal history was inadmissible because it was irrelevant and, if somehow relevant,
was speculative and confusing to the instant charges.
Next, the appellant claims that evidence of Ms. Collier’s prostitution was relevant to
his claim that he was in her motel room only to procure her services. He contends that
evidence of her prostitution was the “cornerstone” of his defense and that the trial court’s
excluding the evidence deprived him of his right to present that defense.
The State argues that “the nature of the [appellant’s] relationship with Ms. Collier has
no bearing on which party owned the drugs recovered.” We disagree with the State.
“‘Relevant evidence’ means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact
that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than
it would be without the evidence.” Tenn. R. Evid. 401; see also State v. Kennedy, 7 S.W.3d
58, 68 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1999). At trial, Ms. Collier was identified as the appellant’s
girlfriend, which supported the State’s theory that she and the appellant jointly owned the
drugs. However, if the appellant could show that they did not have a personal relationship
and that he was in her room only as a client, then such evidence would support his defense
that the drugs were hers alone. We note that the trial court also recognized the significance
of Ms. Collier’s relationship with the appellant, ruling that she could invoke her Fifth
Amendment right with regard to how she met the appellant. Therefore, we agree with the
appellant that whether Ms. Collier was acting as a prostitute in the motel room was relevant
to his defense.
Even relevant evidence, though, “may be excluded if its probative value is
substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or
misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless
presentation of cumulative evidence.” Tenn. R. Evid. 403. It is within the trial court’s
discretion to determine whether the proffered evidence is relevant; thus, we will not overturn
the trial court’s decision absent an abuse of discretion. State v. Forbes, 918 S.W.2d 431, 449
(Tenn. Crim. App. 1995).
After careful consideration, the trial court found that even if Ms. Collier’s prior arrests
and conviction for prostitution were relevant, their probative value was substantially
outweighed by the potential for confusion of the issues pursuant to Tennessee Rule of
Evidence 403 because “there’s not one scintilla of proof that on the day of this crime [Ms.
Collier] was acting as a prostitute.” We agree with the trial court. Moreover, the appellant
was attempting to use Ms. Collier’s prior criminal history of prostitution as substantive
evidence that she was acting as a prostitute on November 12, 2004, which is specifically
-7-
prohibited by Tennessee Rule of Evidence 404(a). See Tenn. R. Evid. 404(a) (providing that
generally “[e]vidence of a person’s character or trait of character is not admissible for the
purpose of proving action in conformity therewith on a particular occasion”). Therefore, we
conclude that the appellant is not entitled to relief.
B. Jury Instructions
The appellant raises several issues regarding the trial court’s instructions to the jury.
“It is well-settled that a defendant has a constitutional right to a complete and correct charge
of the law, so that each issue of fact raised by the evidence will be submitted to the jury on
proper instructions.” State v. Dorantes, 331 S.W.3d 370, 390 (Tenn. 2011). This court “must
review the entire [jury] charge and only invalidate it if, when read as a whole, it fails to fairly
submit the legal issues or misleads the jury as to the applicable law.” Forbes, 918 S.W.2d
at 447. A charge resulting in prejudicial error is one that fails to fairly submit the legal issues
to the jury or misleads the jury about the applicable law. State v. Hodges, 944 S.W.2d 346,
352 (Tenn. 1997). “Whether jury instructions are sufficient is a question of law appellate
courts review de novo with no presumption of correctness.” State v. Clark, 452 S.W.3d 268,
295 (Tenn. 2014).
1. Limiting Instruction
The appellant challenges the trial court’s instruction to the jury regarding how to
consider evidence regarding Ms. Collier at trial. To put the appellant’s complaint in
perspective, we will summarize the lengthy road that led to the contested instruction.
The record reveals that at the beginning of voir dire, the trial court told the jury that
[t]here is a blacked-out portion of the indictment alleging
there is a co-defendant. You should not worry about that. That
defendant is not on trial. You should not – as far as whether that
person may be guilty or not guilty, you won’t be deciding that.
So unless it[] becomes material . . . in some way under the
evidence, you should disregard it. It could be that it might be
mentioned and might be material as to at least who the other
person [is who was] charged. But you should not worry about
that at this time. And you won’t be making any decision in
regards to any alleged co-defendant. . . .
Thereafter, the jurors were questioned about whether they knew any of the parties
involved in the case or had any potential bias that could impact the case. During the course
-8-
of the questioning, the following colloquy occurred:
[Defense counsel:] Also, you know, there – there is a co-
defendant in this case. And like the judge said, you don’t
consider her guilt – or his or her guilt in any way whatsoever.
But there might be . . .
[Trial court:] Well, they’re – they’re not trying the co-
defendant in the . . .
The co-defendant is . . . [Ms.] Collier.
[Defense counsel:] Yes. Your Honor.
[Trial court:] You can ask . . .
All right. Now, they’re not trying the co-defendant.
[Defense counsel:] Right.
[Trial court:] And they’re not to think they are.
[Defense counsel:] Right.
[Trial court:] So they’re only trying the case of State v.
Blye.
[Defense counsel:] Right. . . .
After the jury was chosen and sworn, opening statements were given. In particular,
defense counsel stated that the appellant was in the room “for a purpose, but the purpose had
nothing to do with drugs. . . . I think you’ll find that . . . [the appellant] was not . . . in the
best place he could be or doing the greatest thing he could do. But he wasn’t there for the
drugs . . . and didn’t even know about them.”
During the State’s case-in-chief, the trial court held a bench conference regarding the
admissibility of a laboratory report containing the results of testing conducted on various
substances found in the motel room. During the bench conference, the State informed the
trial court that the original laboratory report mentioned Ms. Collier’s name and requested
permission to introduce a copy with her name redacted. Defense counsel objected, stating,
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“I wouldn’t want it altered, Your Honor.” The court sustained the objection, noting that in
the course of opening statements, defense counsel had taken “the position the – these things
could have belonged to anybody, may have belonged to [Ms.] Collier. It’s pretty well
established at this point that Ms. Collier rented the room.” The court stated that it hoped it
had not misinformed the jury earlier and that the jury could “consider evidence about [Ms.]
Collier if it’s material or relevant. . . . What I was telling the [j]ury, don’t worry about trying
Ms. Collier ‘cause she’s not on trial.” Nevertheless, the court acknowledged that “obviously
Ms. Collier’s going to have some – already has some presence in the lawsuit.” The court
asked whether the parties thought the court had “misinstructed anything,” and defense
counsel stated, “I don’t think so.”
At that point, the trial court gave the jury the following limiting instruction:
If you remember, yesterday we talked about Ms. Collier,
Savonna Collier, the co-defendant. Now, you’re not trying her.
She’s not on trial in this case. But there has been – I’ve allowed
some testimony about her where her name was mentioned. And
I’ll not try to do any summary of it, but her name has been
mentioned. You can consider any witness’s testimony for what
it’s worth – you have to decide what weight to give it – where
she may be mentioned. You all follow me?
Yesterday I just wanted to make sure that you all knew
you weren’t trying Ms. Collier, because you’re not. But where
Ms. Collier has been mentioned in the testimony, you can
consider that evidence for what it’s worth to you. And, of
course, you all are – the reason I say that to you, you all are the
trier of facts and the exclusive judges of the evidence. So you
can’t consider these comments you’ve heard about [Ms.] Collier
as evidence in the case involving where [the appellant] is
charged. Does everybody understand that? All right.
On appeal, the appellant challenges the foregoing limiting instruction, arguing that
“[g]iven the volume of testimony relating to the co-defendant’s involvement and [its] direct
relevance to the question of whether [the appellant] or she was in possession of the drugs,
it was error to inform the jury that they ‘can’t consider these comments [they’ve] heard about
[Ms.] Collier as evidence.’” The State acknowledges that the trial court made “a slip of the
tongue” when it informed the jury, “[Y]ou can’t consider these comments you’ve heard about
[Ms.] Collier as evidence in the case involving where [the appellant] is charged.” However,
the State contends that the instruction, when read in its entirety, properly instructed the jury
-10-
that they “should consider evidence regarding [Ms.] Collier how [they] saw fit but that [they
were] not tasked with determining her guilt.”
Initially, we note that the appellant did not object to the trial court’s instruction at trial.
Indeed, defense counsel agreed that the trial court had not “misinstructed anything,” arguably
waiving the issue. See Tenn. R. App. P. 36(a) (providing that “[n]othing in this rule shall be
construed as requiring relief be granted to a party responsible for an error or who failed to
take whatever action was reasonably available to prevent or nullify the harmful effect of an
error”). Therefore, we may only grant relief in the event of plain error. Tenn. R. App. P.
36(b) (providing that “[w]hen necessary to do substantial justice, [this] court may consider
an error that has affected the substantial rights of a party at any time, even though the error
was not raised in the motion for a new trial or assigned as error on appeal”).
We should not consider an issue as plain error unless all five of the following factors
are met:
a) the record must clearly establish what occurred in the trial
court; b) a clear and unequivocal rule of law must have been
breached; c) a substantial right of the accused must have been
adversely affected; d) the accused did not waive the issue for
tactical reasons; and e) consideration of the error is “necessary
to do substantial justice.”
State v. Adkisson, 899 S.W.2d 626, 641-42 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1994) (footnotes omitted); see
also State v. Smith, 24 S.W.3d 274, 283 (Tenn. 2000) (adopting the Adkisson test for
determining plain error). Furthermore, the “plain error must be of such a great magnitude
that it probably changed the outcome of the trial.” Adkisson, 899 S.W.2d at 642 (internal
quotations and citation omitted).
As we noted earlier, “[j]ury instructions must be reviewed in their entirety. Phrases
may not be examined in isolation.” State v. Rimmer, 250 S.W.3d 12, 31 (Tenn. 2008)
(citation omitted). The limiting instruction, when read as a whole, did not prohibit the jury
from considering the evidence against Ms. Collier; it merely cautioned the jury that Ms.
Collier was not the party on trial. We conclude that the appellant is not entitled to plain error
relief.
2. Lesser-Included Offenses
The appellant complains that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on
various lesser-included offenses. Specifically, he contends that the trial court failed to
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instruct the jury on attempted simple possession or casual exchange of cocaine; attempted
simple possession or casual exchange of dihydrocodeinone; and attempted simple possession
or casual exchange of marijuana. The State responds that the trial court did not err.
Initially, we note that the appellant failed to request that the trial court instruct the jury
on any lesser-included offenses. Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-18-110(a) provides
that “[w]hen requested by a party in writing prior to the trial judge’s instructions to the jury
in a criminal case, the trial judge shall instruct the jury as to the law of each offense
specifically identified in the request that is a lesser included offense of the offense charged
in the indictment or presentment.” However, “w hen no written request is made by a party
for an instruction on a lesser-included offense, as in this case, the trial court may charge the
lesser-included offense, but a party is not entitled to such an instruction.” Bryant v. State,
460 S.W.3d 513, 523 (Tenn. 2015) (citing State v. Fayne, 451 S.W.3d 362, 370-71 (Tenn.
2014)); see Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-18-110(b). Moreover, in the absence of a written request,
the trial court’s failure to instruct the jury on a lesser-included offense “‘may not be
presented as a ground for relief either in a motion for a new trial or on appeal.’” Fayne, 451
S.W.3d at 371 (quoting Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-18-110(c)); see also State v. Vasques, 221
S.W.3d 514, 523-24 (Tenn. 2007).
Our supreme court has cautioned that “[a]s a non-structural constitutional error, the
omission of a lesser-included offense instruction is subject to waiver for purposes of plenary
appellate review when the issue is not timely raised and properly preserved.” State v. Page,
184 S.W.3d 223, 230 (Tenn. 2006). “The waiver of a lesser included offense instruction does
not, however, preclude our consideration of the issue under the doctrine of plain error.”
Fayne, 451 S.W.3d at 230 (citing Page, 184 S.W.3d at 371).
In the instant case, the appellant not only failed to request lesser-included offense
instructions in writing but also, when given the opportunity by the trial court, failed to object
or request any other instructions. Id. Accordingly, we conclude that the appellant failed to
properly preserve the issue and is entitled to relief only in the event of plain error. Id.;
see Tenn. R. App. P. 36(b). To be entitled to plain error relief, the appellant has the burden
of demonstrating that the error “more probably than not affected the judgment or would
result in prejudice to the judicial process.” Tenn. R. App. P. 36(b); State v. Rodriguez, 254
S.W.3d 361, 372 (Tenn. 2008).
Our supreme court has determined that an offense is a lesser-included offense if “all
of its statutory elements are included within the statutory elements of the offense charged”
or if the offense is “ an attempt to commit the offense charged or an offense that otherwise
meets the definition of lesser-included offense.” State v. Burns, 6 S.W.3d 453, 466-67
-12-
(Tenn. 1999).2 Generally, a lesser-included offense instruction is proper if “1) the record
contains any evidence that reasonable minds could accept as to the existence of the
lesser-included offense; and 2) the conviction for the lesser-included offense is supported by
legally sufficient evidence.” Bryant, 460 S.W.3d at 523.
With regard to the indicted offense of possession of cocaine with the intent to sell or
deliver, the trial court instructed the jury on the charged offense and numerous lesser-
included offenses, including simple possession and casual exchange. The trial court did not
give any lesser-included offense instructions for the charged offenses of simple possession
of dihydrocodeinone or marijuana.
This court has previously said that “casual exchange is not a lesser included offense
of possession of cocaine with the intent to sell.” State v. Nelson, 275 S.W.3d 851, 865
(Tenn. Crim. App. 2008); see also State v. Marvin Harold Dorton, II, No. E2013-01580-
CCA-R3-CD, 2014 WL 3893363, at *10-11 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Knoxville, Aug. 11, 2014).
Therefore, the trial court did not commit plain error by failing to charge attempted casual
exchange. However, simple possession is a lesser-included offense of possession with the
intent to sell or deliver. See State v. Timothy Wayne Grimes, No. M2001-01460-CCA-R3-
CD, 2002 WL 31373472, at *6 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Nashville, Oct. 16, 2002).
When the court determines that an offense is a lesser-included offense, the court must
then determine whether “the record contains any evidence which reasonable minds could
accept as to the lesser included offense . . . view[ing] the evidence liberally in the light most
favorable to the existence of the lesser included offense.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-18-110(a).
Then, the trial court “shall . . . determine whether the evidence, viewed in this light, is legally
sufficient to support a conviction for the lesser included offense.” Id.; see also Burns, 6
S.W.3d at 469. “Inversely, when this test is not satisfied, no lesser-included offense
instruction is required.” Bryant, 460 S.W.3d at 523-24.
The State’s theory at trial was that the appellant possessed the drugs. As defense
counsel testified at the post-conviction hearing, the defense’s theory was that the drugs
belonged to Ms. Collier. Blye, No. E2012-02626-CCA-R3-PC, 2013 WL 3973468, at *5.
Based on this “all or nothing” approach, we cannot say that a clear and unequivocal rule was
breached by the failure to instruct the jury on attempted simple possession of cocaine,
2
Tennessee Code Annotated section 40-18-110 was amended in 2009 to provide a statutory definition
of the term lesser-included offense; however, that statute is inapplicable here because the offenses occurred
before the effective date of the amendment. See Christopher M. Mimms v. State, No. M2014-01616-CCA-
R3-PC, 2015 WL 3952161, at *6 n.2 (Tenn. Crim. App. at Nashville, June 29, 2015).
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attempted simple possession of dihydrocodeinone, or attempted simple possession of
marijuana. See Bryant, 460 S.W.3d at 525-26. Moreover, the record reflects that defense
counsel made a strategic choice not to pursue the lesser-included offense of simple
possession because it would conflict with the theory that Ms. Collier possessed the drugs and
because it would not be believable when the amount of drugs present was considered. Id. at
526. Therefore, the instructions were waived for tactical reasons. Further, given the strength
of the State’s proof against the appellant, we cannot say that the failure to give the
instructions probably changed the outcome of the trial. See State v. Hatcher, 310 S.W.3d
788, 814 (Tenn. 2010). After considering all the Adkisson factors, we conclude that the
court did not commit plain error by failing to instruct on attempted simple possession.
3. Mens Rea
The appellant contends that the trial court erred by instructing the jury that the lesser-
included offenses of simple possession and casual exchange of cocaine could be committed
if he acted recklessly. Similarly, he contends that the trial court erred by instructing the jury
that it could find him guilty of simple possession of dihydrocodeinone and simple possession
of marijuana by finding that he acted recklessly. The State argues that any error was
harmless.
As stated earlier, the appellant did not object to the jury instructions at trial; however,
he raised the mens rea issue in his motion for new trial. O ur supreme court has held that
“[a]n erroneous or inaccurate jury charge, as opposed to an incomplete jury charge, may be
raised for the first time in a motion for a new trial and is not waived by the failure to make
a contemporaneous objection.” State v. Faulkner, 154 S.W.3d 48, 58 (Tenn. 2005); see also
Tenn. R. Crim. P. 30(b) (providing that “[c]ounsel’s failure to object does not prejudice the
right of a party to assign the basis of the objection as error in a motion for new trial”).
It is an offense for a person knowingly to possess a controlled substance with the
intent to sell or deliver. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-417(a)(4). Likewise, it is generally
an offense for a person knowingly to possess or casually exchange a controlled substance.
See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-418(a). When instructing the jury on simple possession as a
lesser-included offense of possession of 26 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell
or deliver, the trial court stated:
For you to find the [appellant] guilty of simple possession of
cocaine the State must have proven beyond a reasonable doubt
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the existence of the following essential elements:
1) That the [appellant] either intentionally,
knowingly, or recklessly possessed a controlled
substance, and;
2) That the substance was cocaine, a controlled
substance. Cocaine is a Schedule II controlled
substance.
(Emphasis added). When charging the jury on simple possession of dihydrocodinone and
simple possession of marijuana, the court again stated that the offense was accomplished if
the appellant “intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly possessed [the] controlled substance.”
(Emphasis added).
Our supreme court has recently stated that the “mental state, or ‘mens rea,’ is a
material element of” a charged offense. Clark, 452 S.W.3d at 295. This court has previously
explained that “[w]hen acting recklessly establishes an element, that element is also
established if the defendant acted knowingly. Conversely, when acting knowingly
establishes an element, that element is not established if the defendant acted only recklessly.”
State v. Gilliam, 901 S.W.2d 385, 390 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1995) (citations omitted); see Tenn.
Code Ann. § 39-11-301(a)(2).
We conclude that the trial court erred by including the lesser-culpable mental state of
recklessly for offenses that specifically required a mental state of knowingly. Our supreme
court has held that “the failure to properly instruct the jury on a material element of an
offense is a non-structural constitutional error. When such an error occurs, the conviction
must be reversed unless the State can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error was
harmless.” Clark, 452 S.W.3d at 295; see also Tenn. R. App. P. 36(b).
The appellant acknowledges that the trial court correctly instructed the jury on the
mental state required for possession of 26 grams or more of cocaine with the intent to sell.
Nevertheless, he argues that he is entitled to a new trial because the trial court’s erroneous
instruction that simple possession of cocaine could be accomplished if the person acted
recklessly caused the jury to infer that possession of 26 grams or more of cocaine with the
intent to sell could also be accomplished if the person acted recklessly. We disagree. Our
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supreme court has explained that “[j]urors are presumed to follow the instructions of the
court.” State v. Robinson, 146 S.W.3d 469, 494 (Tenn. 2004) (citing State v. Reid, 91
S.W.3d 247, 279 (Tenn. 2002)). Because the trial court did not err by instructing the jury
regarding the conviction offense, we cannot say that the error in the lesser-included offense
instruction probably changed the outcome of the trial. Accordingly, the appellant is not
entitled to relief.
Next, the appellant contends that he is entitled to a new trial because the trial court
incorrectly instructed the jury that the offenses of possession of dihydrocodeinone and
possession of marijuana could be committed recklessly when the statutory mens rea for the
crimes was that he acted knowingly. The State argues that the error was harmless because
the “evidence overwhelmingly established that the [appellant’s] possession of these
substances was at a minimum knowing and not reckless.” We disagree. We conclude that
because the incorrect jury instruction regarding the appropriate mental state for the crimes
of simple possession of dihydrocodeinone and simple possession of marijuana lessened the
State’s burden of proof, the error was not harmless. Accordingly, we conclude that a new
trial on those charges is warranted.
C. Value of Drugs
Finally, the appellant contends that the trial court erred by allowing Detective
Chambers to testify about the street value of the cocaine, maintaining that it was expert
testimony and was not supported by the proper foundation. The State responds that the
appellant waived the error by failing to object to the testimony. In the alternative, the State
contends that the proper foundation was established and that the trial court did not err by
allowing Detective Chambers to testify regarding the value of the cocaine.
As the State noted, the appellant failed to object to the testimony at trial. Moreover,
defense counsel told the trial court, “I don’t really have an objection as to [Detective
Chambers] saying how much the drugs are worth. I mean, that’d be like saying a car
salesman doesn’t know how much cars are worth.” Accordingly, the appellant has waived
the issue. See Tenn. R. App. P. 36(a). Moreover, we discern no plain error. See Tenn. R.
App. P. 36(b).
-16-
III. Conclusion
In sum, we conclude that the trial court did not err by curtailing defense counsel’s
questioning of Ms. Collier, by giving a limiting instructing about how to consider the
evidence regarding Ms. Collier, and by not instructing the jury on various lesser-included
offenses. We also conclude that the appellant waived any issue concerning Detective
Chambers’s testimony regarding the value of drugs. We conclude, however, that the trial
court erred by instructing the jury that the lesser-included offense of simple possession of
cocaine and the charged offenses of dihydrocodeinone and marijuana could be committed
with a mens rea of recklessly. Because the jury was correctly instructed on count one
regarding the convicted offense of possession of 26 grams or more of cocaine with the intent
to sell or deliver, the failure to instruct properly on the lesser-included offense was harmless.
The error was not harmless, though, as to count two, possession of dihydrocodeinone, and
count three, possession of marijuana. Accordingly, those convictions are reversed, and the
case is remanded for a new trial.
_________________________________
NORMA McGEE OGLE, JUDGE
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|
Xanthan gum
Xanthan gum () is a polysaccharide with many industrial uses, including as a common food additive. It is an effective thickening agent and stabilizer to prevent ingredients from separating. It can be produced from simple sugars using a fermentation process, and derives its name from the species of bacteria used, Xanthomonas campestris.
History
Xanthan gum was discovered by Allene Rosalind Jeanes and her research team at the United States Department of Agriculture, and brought into commercial production by CP Kelco under the trade name Kelzan® in the early 1960s. It was approved for use in foods in 1968 and is accepted as a safe food additive in the USA, Canada, European countries, and many other countries, with E number E415, and CAS number 11138-66-2.
Xanthan gum derives its name from the species of bacteria used during the fermentation process, Xanthomonas campestris. This is the same bacterium responsible for causing black rot to form on broccoli, cauliflower, and other leafy vegetables.
Uses
Xanthan gum, 1%, can produce a significant increase in the viscosity of a liquid.
In foods, xanthan gum is common in salad dressings and sauces. It helps to prevent oil separation by stabilizing the emulsion, although it is not an emulsifier. Xanthan gum also helps suspend solid particles, such as spices. Xanthan gum helps create the desired texture in many ice creams. Toothpaste often contains xanthan gum as a binder to keep the product uniform. Xanthan gum also helps thicken commercial egg substitutes made from egg whites, to replace the fat and emulsifiers found in yolks. It is also a preferred method of thickening liquids for those with swallowing disorders, since it does not change the color or flavor of foods or beverages at typical use levels. In gluten-free baking, xanthan gum is used to give the dough or batter the stickiness that would otherwise be achieved with gluten. In most foods it is used at concentrations of 0.5% or less. Xanthan gum is used in wide range food products, such as sauces, dressings, meat and poultry products, bakery products, confectionery products, beverages, dairy products, others.
In the oil industry, xanthan gum is used in large quantities to thicken drilling mud. These fluids carry the solids cut by the drilling bit to the surface. Xanthan gum provides great "low end" rheology. When circulation stops, the solids remain suspended in the drilling fluid. The widespread use of horizontal drilling and the demand for good control of drilled solids has led to its expanded use. It has been added to concrete poured underwater, to increase its viscosity and prevent washout.
In cosmetics, xanthan gum is used to prepare water gels. It is also used in oil-in-water emulsions to enhance droplet coalescence. Xanthan gum is under preliminary research for its potential uses in tissue engineering to construct hydrogels and scaffolds supporting three-dimensional tissue formation.
Shear thinning
The viscosity of xanthan gum solutions decreases with higher shear rates. This is called shear thinning or pseudoplasticity. This means that a product subjected to shear, whether from mixing, shaking or chewing will thin. When the shear forces are removed, the food will thicken again. In salad dressing, the addition of xanthan gum makes it thick enough at rest in the bottle to keep the mixture fairly homogeneous, but the shear forces generated by shaking and pouring thins it, so it can be easily poured. When it exits the bottle, the shear forces are removed and it thickens again, so it clings to the salad.
Amounts used
The greater the ratio of xanthan gum added to a liquid, the thicker the liquid will become. An emulsion can be formed with as little as 0.1% (by weight). Increasing the amount of gum gives a thicker, more stable emulsion up to 1% xanthan gum. A teaspoon of xanthan gum weighs about 2.5 grams and brings one cup (250 ml) of water to a 1% concentration.
To make a foam, 0.2–0.8% xanthan gum is typically used. Larger amounts result in larger bubbles and denser foam. Egg white powder (0.2–2.0%) with 0.1–0.4% xanthan gum yields bubbles similar to soap bubbles.
Health
Evaluation of workers exposed to xanthan gum dust found evidence of a link to respiratory symptoms.
On May 20, 2011, the FDA issued a press release about SimplyThick, a food-thickening additive containing xanthan gum as the active ingredient, warning parents, caregivers and health care providers not to feed SimplyThick, a thickening product, to premature infants The concern is that the product may cause premature infants to suffer necrotizing enterocolitis.
Safety
According to a 2017 safety review by a scientific panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), xanthan gum (European food additive number E 415) is extensively digested during intestinal fermentation, and causes no adverse effects, even at high intake amounts. The EFSA panel found no concern about genotoxicity from long-term consumption. EFSA concluded that there is no safety concern for the general population when xanthan gum is consumed as a food additive.
Preparation
Xanthan gum is produced by the fermentation of glucose and sucrose. The polysaccharide is prepared by the bacteria being inoculated into a sterile aqueous solution of carbohydrate(s), a source of nitrogen, dipotassium phosphate, and some trace elements. The medium is well-aerated and stirred, and the xanthan polymer is produced extracellularly into the medium. After one to four days, the polymer is precipitated from the medium by the addition of isopropyl alcohol, and the precipitate is dried and milled to give a powder that is readily soluble in water or brine.
It is composed of pentasaccharide repeat units, comprising glucose, mannose, and glucuronic acid in the molar ratio 2:2:1.
A strain of X. campestris has been developed that will grow on lactose - which allows it to be used to process whey, a waste product of cheese production. This can produce 30 g/L of xanthan gum for every 40 g/L of whey powder. Whey-derived xanthan gum is commonly used in many commercial products, such as shampoos and salad dressings.
Detail of the biosynthesis
Synthesis originates from glucose as substrate for synthesis of the sugar nucleotides precursors UDP-glucose, UDP-glucuronate, and GDP-mannose that are required for building the pentasaccharide repeat unit. This links the synthesis of xanthan to carbohydrate metabolism. The repeat units are built up at undecaprenylphosphate lipid carriers that are anchored in the cytoplasmic membrane.
Specific glycosyltransferases sequentially transfer the sugar moieties of the nucleotide sugar xanthan precursors to the lipid carriers. Acetyl and pyruvyl residues are added as non-carbohydrate decorations. Mature repeat units are polymerized and exported in a way resembling the Wzy-dependent polysaccharide synthesis mechanism of Enterobacteriaceae. Products of the gum gene cluster drive synthesis, polymerization, and export of the repeat unit.
References
Category:Edible thickening agents
Category:Food additives
Category:Natural gums
Category:Polysaccharides
Category:E-number additives
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Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Movie Review: X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the first spin-off film
set in the Fox X-Men Universe that focuses on the signature Wolverine
character. Hugh Jackman returns for the titular role in this film that goes
back in time to tell the origin story for the Wolverine we all know and love.
The film was directed by Gavin Hood and stars Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston,
Lynn Collins, Taylor Kitsch, and Ryan Reynolds alongside Jackman.
Put
quite simply, this movie isn’t good. In fact, it’s very bad. I’ll start out
briefly with what I thought was good about the film. It is conceptually
effective and a good idea for a story. Jackman does the most with the weak
dialogue and story he is thrust into in the film. Ryan Reynolds is interesting
as Deadpool for just a moment (sufficient for him to get another crack at it
several years down the road). Finally, Taylor Kitsch was fairly engaging as Gambit,
all things considered. I am already reaching somewhat and would be going much
too far were I to dig in further and make up more positives in this film than
those already addressed.
The worst
thing about this film is how much wasted potential there was. It had a stellar
cast, an interesting area to discuss, and even some things in the film that
would have been cool if properly executed. Though Gambit was mostly well done,
Deadpool was entirely botched, Sabretooth was underwhelming (and a blatantly
inconsistent with the original X-Men films), and the new William Stryker
totally paled in comparison to the brilliant performance we got from Brian Cox
in X2: X-Men United.
On
top of those comparative issues, this film is incredibly poorly written and made.
Written by Skip Woods and David Benioff (the latter of which has greatly
redeemed himself through his award winning work on Game of Thrones), this film has awful dialogue and is just very
poorly stitched together internally and into the X-verse as a whole. Basically
nothing worked and I frequently found myself looking quizzically at the screen
asking “how did they think this was a good idea?”
Story
problems aside, as mentioned I think this film is poorly made as well. Hood
clearly didn’t know what he was going for or did not have adequate creative
control to do something interesting with this movie because it is the most stylistically
drab and unsuccessful X-Men film ever made. Additionally, none of these
incredibly talented actors really give a whole lot to it (outside of Jackman,
Reynolds, and Kitsch in their own ways). Further, the visual effects looked
terrible and the film went way over the top with them. After making three X-Men
films prior and having this simple and interesting concept to go for in this
film it is baffling how much they dropped the ball in this film. They went way
overboard with the effects and some (like Wolverine’s claws) looked worse than
they did when the first X-Men film came out 9 years earlier.
Finally,
I think the most tragic thing about this film is the gross misunderstanding it
had of the characters. It seemed like at every turn it took well known X-Men
characters that fans know and love and tragically failed to bring them to
screen. Whether it was the egregious changes with Deadpool or any number of
other side characters in the film I left it back in the day and on this most
recent re-watch feeling immensely disappointed that this film exists.
Overall,
this is a pretty terrible film. It fails on so many levels and is only
quasi-redeemable because of a couple individual performance efforts and an
interesting base concept. This is a film that really ought to be forgotten and
the X-Men timeline has seemingly tried to do that at every possible turn. I can’t
blame them for that choice honestly.
Ryan’s
Score: 2/10
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I saw that looking up the cast list for the film! I was surprised but also happy in a way that I have mostly liked every Deadpool moment Ryan Reynolds has had. I do feel bad for Adkins though for having such a bad sequence because he is talented in his own right.
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The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is allowing more frac sand mines to open even though it let its environmental regulations on the industry expire nine months ago because the rules didn’t adequately protect streams from pollution, a state water regulator has confirmed.
Over the last four years the DNR has approved more than 200 sand mining operations under a 2009 non-metallic mining permit that was designed to prevent pollution from gravel pits, not the sprawling sand extraction operations that each day ship hundreds of rail cars of silica sand to natural gas and oil drilling sites.
“The initial non-metallic mining permit did not contemplate these kinds of operations,” DNR water division administrator director Russ Rasmussen said.
The result has been spills of sand, silt, clay and chemicals into waterways, including some of the state’s pristine trout streams, as sand operators have failed to prevent rains from washing away sand piles or overwhelming storm water basins that collect contaminants.
Spills can smother valuable aquatic breeding grounds, damage fish gills, increase the likelihood of flooding by filling in stream channels, contribute to stream bank erosion, and degrade the recreational value of the water body.
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Quotes
On his religious background and conversion:
"I was not raised in a particularly religious household. I went to church, but it was mostly to learn music, which was a good place to learn music. But I didn't learn a whole lot about theology. And for quite a while, in my early 20s, I was a pretty obnoxious atheist. Then at the age of 27, after a good deal of intellectual debating with myself about the plausibility of faith, and particularly with strong influence from C.S. Lewis, I became convinced that this was a decision I wanted to make. And I became, by choice, a Christian, a serious Christian, who believes that faith is not something that you just do on Sunday, but that if it makes any sense at all, it's part of your whole life. It's the most important organizing principle in my life."
— PBS Interview
Responding to Richard Dawkins' argument that if God created the universe, then how come he seems to have disappeared from the universe?
"I'm sorry that God has disappeared for Richard Dawkins. He's not disappeared for me. I think you can make an argument that if God made himself so obvious, so known, so easily interpretable in daily events, then the whole concept of faith and of making a personal decision about where you stand would be pretty meaningless. You can look at many examples down through the history of faith where this lack of certainty is a critical part of how the whole enterprise operates."
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Q:
MySQL: how to use COALESCE
Say I have the following table:
TABLE: product
===============================================================================
| product_id | language_id | name | description |
===============================================================================
| 1 | 1 | Widget 1 | Really nice widget. Buy it now! |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1 | 2 | Lorem 1 | |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How do I query this such that it tries to give me the name and description where language_id = 2, but fall back to language_id = 1 if the column contains a NULL?
In the above example, I should get Lorem 1 for name and Really nice widget. Buy it now! for description.
A:
How about this?
SET @pid := 1, @lid := 2;
SELECT
COALESCE(name,(
SELECT name
FROM product
WHERE product_id = @pid AND description IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 1
)) name,
COALESCE(description,(
SELECT description
FROM product
WHERE product_id = @pid AND description IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 1
)) description
FROM product
WHERE product_id = @pid
AND (language_id = @lid
OR language_id = 1)
ORDER BY language_id DESC
LIMIT 1;
where:
@pid: current product id
@lid: current language id
Values for name and/or description could be null
language_id = 2 item could not exist
|
Introduction
============
Over the last few decades, there has been a significant rise in the worldwide prevalence of childhood obesity, with a notable rise in several low and middle income countries \[[@b1-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b2-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. In 2010, 43 million children worldwide (35 million children in developing countries) were obese. The concomitant rise in the incidence of childhood forearm fractures \[[@b3-apem-2018-23-2-62]\] has led to a focus on the relationship between childhood obesity, bone mass, and fracture incidence. Causative explanations for this higher fracture risk include a greater propensity for falls, greater force upon fall impact, unhealthy lifestyle including poor diet and a reduction in physical activity, and excessive adipose tissue exerting direct or indirect detrimental effects on skeletal development. Importantly, bone mass acquired through childhood and adolescence tracks into adulthood, and may ultimately determine future osteoporotic risk \[[@b4-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b5-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Studies to date have focused on a number of key questions in an attempt to understand the impact of excess fat on bone development in children -- (1) What is the impact of excess fat mass on bone mass and skeletal microstructure? (2) Does childhood obesity increase the risk of fracture? (3) What are the biological mechanisms underpinning the relationship between fat mass and bone mass in children and young people? (4) Does the relationship between childhood obesity and bone formation change during growth and development?
Despite a considerable body of bone densitometry data to date, the relationship between childhood obesity and bone remains controversial. Initial studies in this field suggested that rising fat mass improves bone mass, although this did not explain why obese children are over-represented in fracture groups \[[@b6-apem-2018-23-2-62]-[@b9-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. This observation led to an emerging body of evidence that fat mass may have a detrimental impact on bone mass when bone mass and body size were considered. Conflicting results between studies pointed towards the possibility of a changing relationship between fat and bone mass during growth and development. Specifically, the detrimental impact of childhood obesity on bone mass in children only occurred as fat mass accumulation reached excessive levels. Moreover, site-specific fat depots may account for the negative impact of excessive fat mass on bone development, similar to the increase in metabolic complications associated with visceral adiposity. The introduction of imaging modalities that generate information about bone microarchitecture and indices of bone strength has pointed towards a differential effect of excess fat mass on weight bearing and nonweight bearing sites, insights into the relationship between muscle mass and fat mass, and detailed alterations in the trabecular and cortical compartments observed in obese children \[[@b10-apem-2018-23-2-62]\].
The assessment of bone structure and strength in children
=========================================================
Bone mineral accretion in children is most commonly assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), because of low radiation exposure, rapid scan time, availability of normative data, and widespread availability \[[@b11-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. It generates a 2-dimensional planar image, providing measures of bone mineral content (BMC, g), areal bone mineral density (BMD, g/cm^2^), and bone area (cm^2^), and generates an age-specific z-score (standard deviation score). While it is readily available, DXA has technical limitations that lead to challenges in the assessment of bone mass in children. DXA is a 2-dimensional technique, which utilizes a planar image to estimate 3-dimensional structure. Thus, DXA provides a 2-dimensional areal rather than volumetric calculation of bone size and mass. Areal bone density (g/cm^2^) overestimates true bone density (g/cm^3^) in taller children with larger bones and underestimates true bone density in shorter children with smaller bones \[[@b12-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Given that nutritional obesity in children results in tall stature during growth, DXA will inherently overestimate age-specific bone density in this group. Conversely, when bone measurements are corrected for age in children whose body size is age-inappropriate, the interpretation of *z*-scores can lead to overdiagnosis of osteoporosis in smaller children \[[@b13-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Thus, studies utilizing DXA have attempted to overcome this issue by correcting for body size, although no agreement has been reached regarding the most reliable method to limit size-dependence for areal BMD \[[@b14-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b15-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. DXA scanning of obese children and adults may result in additional inaccuracies due to tissue thickness resulting in an underestimation of bone mass, failure of the child to fit in the scanning field leads to position errors, and changes in body composition during growth that may impact on the longitudinal measurement of bone mass \[[@b15-apem-2018-23-2-62]\].
The introduction of peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) scanning and subsequently high-resolution pQCT (HRpQCT) has led to the ability to measure volumetric parameters of the cortical and trabecular compartments *in vivo*, and can evaluate indices of bone strength. The calculation of bone strength index at metaphyseal sites and strength-strain index at diaphyseal sites by pQCT have previously been shown to predict up to 85% of the variance in bone failure properties in human cadaveric tissues \[[@b16-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. In particular, HRpQCT, with a spatial resolution of 64 μm, provides a means of virtual *in vivo* \'noninvasive bone biopsy\' of the distal radius and tibia, permitting the evaluation of cortical and trabecular volumetric components, trabecular connectivity, thickness and spacing, and cortical porosity. Finite element analysis (FEA) is an applied computerized model for predicting how an object reacts to \'real-world\' forces and other physical effects, assessing the force required to overload or break the object. FEA works by breaking down a real object into a large number (thousands to hundreds of thousands) of finite elements. Mathematical equations then help to predict the behavior of each element. Computerized algorithms are then applied to all the individual behaviors to predict the overall behavior of the object. The application of μFEA used to determine the biomechanical properties of the distal radius and tibia supports greater insight into bone strength and fracture risk in children \[[@b17-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b18-apem-2018-23-2-62]\] and has been used to assess the impact of fat and obesity on bone microrchitectural development and strength during growth \[[@b19-apem-2018-23-2-62]\].
Obesity and fractures in children and young people
==================================================
Concerns that excess fat mass may have a detrimental effect on bone development in children originated from observations that obese children were overrepresented in fracture groups \[[@b6-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b7-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b20-apem-2018-23-2-62]-[@b23-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], are at a greater risk of fracture \[[@b24-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], and that the risk of repeated fracture is increased \[[@b6-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b25-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. At a pragmatic level, this was thought to be due to the observed abnormalities in gait, increasing the incidence of falls, thus resulting in greater force through the forearm and resultant fracture in obese children \[[@b26-apem-2018-23-2-62]-[@b29-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Earlier cross-sectional studies utilizing DXA suggested a negative relationship between obesity and bone mass in children \[[@b6-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b20-apem-2018-23-2-62]-[@b23-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b30-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], although these findings have not been consistent with other studies demonstrating fat mass is either positively \[[@b31-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b32-apem-2018-23-2-62]\] or unrelated to bone mass or density \[[@b33-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b34-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Increased fracture risk and low bone mass in obese children may be exacerbated by poor dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D, and a more sedentary lifestyle \[[@b35-apem-2018-23-2-62]-[@b37-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Given that the incidence of childhood fracture irrespective of body composition is greatest during adolescence and in males, then the impact of fat mass on skeletal development should be considered in the context of sex and age. Forearm fractures peak at mid to late puberty, possibly due to a transient increase in cortical porosity with a reduction in the ratio of cortical to trabecular bone in the forearm and an increase in cortical loading during the pubertal growth spurt \[[@b17-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b38-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b39-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]; peak fracture incidence coincides with these cortical changes. Recent work using HRpQCT has demonstrated that children who sustain forearm fractures due to mild trauma have significant deficits in bone strength at the distal radius and significantly thinner metaphyseal cortices \[[@b18-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Further work is required at different stages of growth and development to determine whether skeletal microstructural changes predispose to skeletal fragility in obese children leading to an increased risk of fracture upon low impact.
The relationship between fat and bone in children
=================================================
When studying the effect that increasing body mass has on children\'s bones, 2 outcomes need to be considered: (1) the relative influence that increasing fat mass or lean mass have on the size, geometry, mineral content, and architecture of bones, and (2) whether these changes confer a structural disadvantage, leading to increased fracture risk. Peak bone mass is achieved by early adulthood, may determine fracture risk in adults \[[@b40-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], and is predicted to delay the onset of osteoporosis in later life by up to 13 years \[[@b41-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Thus, factors that negatively impact on peak bone mass accrual during adolescence may result in an increased risk of fracture and osteoporosis. Due to the significant influence of heredity and genes on skeletal development, bone mass \'tracks\' during growth and development \[[@b42-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Alteration in body composition during childhood has been shown to lead to a deviation from predicted bone mass tracking. Higher lean mass increases the odds that spinal bone and hip density in boys and girls deviates positively from the normal \'tracking\' trajectory. Conversely, an increase in the percentage of fat mass either limits the positive influence of lean mass, or results in a negative deviation from normal bone mass tracking in both sexes \[[@b43-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies demonstrate that the relationship between fat mass and bone may vary according to age and skeletal development suggesting that the deviation from normal bone mass trajectory in relation to excess adiposity may be confined to specific periods during growth and development. During the first year of life, both fat and lean mass are associated with gain in total body BMC in both sexes \[[@b44-apem-2018-23-2-62]\] with this relation-ship persisting in prepubertal children \[[@b32-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. As children approach puberty the positive relationship between excessive fat mass and bone mass appears to attenuate, and then reverses, albeit this change may be confined to females \[[@b45-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b46-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Moreover, the negative impact of obesity on bone mass during childhood may occur earlier in certain ethnic groups \[[@b47-apem-2018-23-2-62]\] or as a result of a consistently unhealthy lifestyle \[[@b48-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], which may persist into early adulthood \[[@b25-apem-2018-23-2-62]\].
The comparison of bone mass between obese and normal-weight children leads to challenges as obese children reach their peak height velocity and thus peak bone mass accrual at an earlier age than lean children of the same age. Thus, obese children are taller than normal-weight children during growth and as a result will present with an apparently greater bone density. A further consideration in studies comparing the bone mass of lean and obese children relates to the earlier onset of peak height velocity in females corresponding to an earlier onset of puberty \[[@b49-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. To overcome the impact that body size has on the estimation of bone mass assessment using DXA in children, several adjustment procedures have been used in previous studies. These include the Mølgaard/Cole model, which uses a 3-stage approach to calculate height for age, bone area for height, and BMC for bone area \[[@b50-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], the use of multiple regression models incorporating measures of body size and age \[[@b30-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b51-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], correcting BMC for lean mass \[[@b52-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], creating *z*-scores for weight and height \[[@b30-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b53-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], and using algorithms that covert areal to volumetric measures \[[@b30-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Despite attempts to overcome the inherent challenges in using DXA to compare difference in bone mass between lean and obese children, the conflicting results between studies has led to a more detailed assessment of skeletal structure and strength, and thus, bone quality to gain further insight into the higher incidence of fracture in obese children. Studies using either conventional CT or pQCT suggest a possible site-specific variation in bone size and strength between obese and lean children. Conventional CT imaging of 300 adolescent males and females did not demonstrate a relationship between total body fat mass and vertebral size \[[@b54-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. In contrast, pQCT imaging confined to late adolescent females reported that a higher body fat mass percentage was associated with a significantly smaller bone size and lower cortical bone strength at the radius and tibia \[[@b55-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. As with DXA studies, outcomes from pQCT studies are conflicting. Others have demonstrated that overweight children (body mass index \[BMI\]\>85th percentile) at an earlier stage in puberty have greater indices of bone strength measured by pQCT and that bone strength is adapted to lean rather than fat mass.
The difference between studies suggests the need to consider the stage of development at which bone strength is assessed and the degree of adiposity, which may also relate to pathogenic changes in metabolic profile. Greater longitudinal gain in fat mass during puberty appears to have a negative effect on the cortex of the appendicular skeleton with reductions observed in cortical BMD, thickness, and area with increasing fat mass \[[@b46-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Thus, while an increase in lean mass observed in obese children may augment bone strength in early years, the pathological accumulation of fat over time may lead to a diminished effect of muscle mass on bone, and eventually a detrimental impact on bone structure and strength as children progress to later puberty. Furthermore, a curvilinear relationship appears to exist between the quantity of fat mass and bone quantity and strength. At much lower fat mass, bone quantity and strength are reduced as demonstrated in studies of children and adults with anorexia nervosa \[[@b56-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Indices of bone quantity and strength improve as fat and lean mass rises, before reaching a \'fat threshold\' at which additional fat imparts a deleterious effect on the growing skeleton \[[@b47-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b57-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Fat distribution may also be fundamental in determining bone quality and strength, reflecting a similar relationship observed between visceral adiposity, and cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities \[[@b58-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b59-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Visceral fat appears to result in a lower total body and lumbar bone mineral density in children \[[@b60-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], and bone density at weight bearing sites \[[@b57-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b61-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], which may be related to the presence of evolving metabolic complications \[[@b62-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Thus, the development of central adiposity over time may account for the deleterious effect that fat mass has on bone quality and strength observed in studies that recruit children during adolescence who have a higher BMI. The accumulation of fat in skeletal muscle may also serve as another pathogenic fat depot that could impact bone strength in the developing skeleton. Studies in adults demonstrate that a greater fat content within skeletal muscle predicts hip fracture \[[@b63-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b64-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Moreover, like visceral adiposity, increased fat within skeletal muscle, specifically intramyocellular fat stores, is associated with impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes \[[@b65-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b66-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Further work is needed to determine the impact of skeletal muscle fat on bone in children. However, emerging evidence suggests that skeletal muscle fat may serve as another pathogenic fat depot on trabecular bone development in children \[[@b67-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], and that this may be a risk factor for skeletal fragility and fracture \[[@b68-apem-2018-23-2-62]\].
Results from HRpQCT studies provide further insight into the impact of childhood obesity on the microarchitectural changes observed in the developing skeleton. In comparison between lean and obese children, Dimitri et al. \[[@b19-apem-2018-23-2-62]\] demonstrated microarchitectural reorganization of bone was primarily confined to the trabecular compartment in obese children. In comparison with normal-weight children, obese children had thinner trabeculae, but the trabeculae were greater in number and more closely spaced, although this finding was confined to the distal tibia. Further evidence suggested that these tibial trabecular changes may result in a reduction in skeletal strength. Consistent with work published by Farr et al. \[[@b69-apem-2018-23-2-62]\] there was no difference in cortical or trabecular microstructural parameters between lean and obese children. Furthermore, indices of strength assessed by microfinite element analysis at the radius were not different between the 2 groups, suggesting that the strength of the distal radius does not commensurately increase with excessive gains in fat mass during growth. This potentially leads to a mismatch between the strength of the radius and the load experienced by the distal forearm during a fall, a load which is greater in obese individuals in part explaining why obese children are more prone to fracture. Thus, in the future, carefully designed longitudinal studies are required to determine the impact of excessive fat mass on bone that take into account the age and sex of the children studied, their stage of puberty, the quantity and distribution of fat mass, and adverse metabolic parameters that may influence skeletal changes.
Childhood obesity, adipokines, and skeletal development
=======================================================
Adipokines are cytokines secreted by adipose tissue. Of those that have been discovered, leptin and adiponectin appear to have both a direct and centrally mediated influence on skeletal metabolism. Earlier *in vitro* and *in vivo* studies demonstrated that leptin acts directly via osteoblast receptors on human marrow stromal cells to promote osteoblast proliferation and differentiation \[[@b70-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], while inhibiting adipocyte differentiation and osteoclastogenesis through generation of osteoprotegerin \[[@b71-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b72-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. In contrast, *in vivo* studies in tail-suspended rats demonstrated that the amount of fat and thus leptin, may have a dose-mediated effect on skeletal metabolism; lower concentrations of leptin appear to be osteoprotective, but at higher concentrations, bone loss is increased by bone resorption and reduced bone formation \[[@b73-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Thus, the curvilinear relationship between escalating fat mass and skeletal architecture described earlier appears to be mimicked by escalating concentrations of leptin, thereby pointing to a possible direct role of leptin in skeletal metabolism in children and adolescents. Furthermore, this relationship may explain why in studies of obese children, high levels of circulating leptin are associated with a reduction in bone mass, trabecular thickness, and an increase in cortical porosity \[[@b19-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b30-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b74-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], but in studies of children of normal body weight, the same relationship is not observed \[[@b70-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b75-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b76-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Studies in animal models demonstrate centrally mediated control of skeletal metabolism by leptin. Earlier studies pointed towards leptin exerting an antiosteogenic effect through a sympathetic hypothalamic relay \[[@b77-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Such a relationship was supported by evidence that patients with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a disease characterized by high sympathetic tone, are prone to low bone mass, yet some cases can be mitigated by beta-blockers \[[@b78-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. However, subsequent evidence emerged that sympathetic efferent pathways emerging from the hypothalamus had regulatory control of skeletal metabolism by also inhibiting osteoblast proliferation via circadian clock genes \[[@b79-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], and that the sympathetic nervous system also favors bone resorption by increasing the expression of RANKL \[[@b80-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. In humans, evidence that leptin may mediate central control of bone mass comes from studies of children with congenital leptin deficiency. Children with congenital leptin deficiency are markedly obese, yet they present with normal age- and sex-related whole-body BMD, despite also presenting with hypogonadism and hyperparathyroidism \[[@b81-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b82-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. This finding supports the possibility that leptin deficiency may act centrally to confer a protective effect on the developing skeleton in a hormonal environment that should result in low bone mass, and is further supported by the finding that 2 children with congenital leptin deficiency were found to have a high bone mass phenotype \[[@b83-apem-2018-23-2-62]\].
Adiponectin is a hormone involved in regulating glucose levels, as well as fatty acid breakdown. In humans it is encoded by the *ADIPOQ* gene and is produced in adipose tissue. However, in contrast to leptin, circulating adiponectin levels decrease with increasing fat mass \[[@b84-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Adiponectin appears to have a protective effect in various processes such as energy metabolism, inflammation, and cell proliferation \[[@b84-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Adiponectin deficiency in mice negatively impacts cortical and trabecular compartments \[[@b85-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], but in children and adults, an inverse relation-ship exists between adiponectin and bone \[[@b86-apem-2018-23-2-62]-[@b88-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Thus, in obesity, a lower serum adiponectin level may protect the skeleton, a finding which appears to contradict the metabolically protective effect that high levels of leptin have in leaner individuals. However, animal studies suggest that the impact of adiponectin on bone mass may be age-related, due to a switch in the action of adiponectin from peripheral to central over time \[[@b89-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Adiponectin knockout mice have a high bone mass resulting from increased bone formation. However, over time, they develop severe low bone mass. This was explained by the fact that early on, adiponectin acts directly on osteoblasts to prevent their proliferation and increase osteoblast apoptosis, but over time, this action is obscured by adiponectin signaling centrally in the neurons of the locus coeruleus to decrease sympathetic tone. As a result, increasing bone mass and decreasing energy expenditure occurs, thus partially opposing leptin's central influence on the sympathetic nervous system \[[@b90-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Other adipokines have been implicated in the regulation of bone mass and are described elsewhere \[[@b91-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b92-apem-2018-23-2-62]\], although the relationship of these adipocytokines with bone parameters in obese children is unknown.
Future directions
=================
Previous studies examining the relationship between excessive adiposity and skeletal development in children demonstrate a number of challenges that should be addressed in future studies. The developing skeleton is exposed to alterations in hormones, particularly during puberty, that are affected by increasing adiposity. As obese children enter puberty and reach final adult height and peak bone mass accrual at an earlier stage, comparing skeletal parameters in normal weight and obese children is challenging. Moreover, the difference in hormonal patterns between developing males and females together with differences in the timing of peak height velocity demonstrate the need to adopt a sex-specific approach in assessing the impact of fat mass on bone in children and adolescents. Future prospective extended longitudinal studies of both weight-bearing and non--weight-bearing skeletal sites are necessary to examine the site-specific differences in the effects of fat on bone in males and females. Careful consideration is required to determine whether the negative impact of obesity on skeletal development is confined to pathogenic fat depots, and whether excessive fat mass results in alterations in skeletal microarchitecture and strength that results in skeletal fragility and fracture. Identifying factors that may lead to skeletal fragility and the period of development during which these factors have their greatest impact will help to refine approaches to improve skeletal health, and thus reduce the higher incidence of fractures in obese children.
The advent of HRpQCT has provided a noninvasive approach to understand changes in cortical and trabecular microarchitecture and strength during skeletal development, and a means to assess endogenous and exogenous factors that may alter skeletal integrity and strength. However, HRpQCT measurements are confined to the distal 9 mm of the radius and the tibia, and may not necessarily reflect changes occurring at proximal appendicular sites and central skeletal sites, such as the vertebrae. Additionally, HRpQCT poses additional challenges in children as the site measured changes as children grow, making comparative studies between different age groups challenging. pQCT provides a means of overcoming these challenges in the proximal appendicular skeleton, but is limited by resolution when assessing trabecular compartments. The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess peripheral and central skeletal sites may help to overcome these issues with the added value of posing no radiation risk. The use of magnetic resonance ultrashort time echo sequences has enabled the quantification of cortical bone parameters based upon cortical bone water concentration and cortical bone porosity \[[@b93-apem-2018-23-2-62],[@b94-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. More recently, engineering models have been applied to the textural features of the trabecular envelope using multiple MRI sequences, demonstrating a close correlation between trabecular micro-structural parameters assessed by HRpQCT \[[@b95-apem-2018-23-2-62]\]. Thus, the future development of MRI sequences in combination with novel approaches to image analysis may provide an additional method of assessing factors that impact bone microstructure and strength at other skeletal sites.
Conclusions
===========
Studies to date clearly suggest that obesity during childhood has the potential to drive deviation away from genetically predicted skeletal development. However, limitations with imaging modalities, challenges with longitudinal studies, and differences in age, sex, and degree of adiposity between cohorts has resulted in conflicting results. Collectively, evidence points towards a fat mass threshold, which if exceeded during critical points in skeletal development, particularly adolescence, may result in skeletal fragility and ultimately increased fracture risk. This threshold is not known and could vary by age and pubertal development, but may be determined by deposition of fat in sites associated with other metabolic consequences such as visceral and muscle fat depots. In turn, changes in adipokines and other hormones may precipitate an alteration in skeletal architecture that limits the positive impact that lean mass imparts on bone, or may directly impact bone development and metabolism. While this field of research has led to greater insight into the relationship between childhood obesity and bone, in a society where childhood obesity has become more prevalent, further work is required to understand how the developing skeleton changes in response to escalating fat mass, when and why these changes occur, and the resulting risks.
**Conflict of interest:** No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.
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Mammary gland carcinoma-related increase of type I iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase activity in Sprague-Dawley rats.
Type I, iodothyronine 5'-deiodinase (5'-DI) catalyses deiodination of the prohormone thyroxine (T4) to the metabolically active 3,5,3'-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3). The present study was undertaken to investigate the activity of 5'-DI in rat mammary gland tumours representing various combinations of histologically defined papillary, cribriform or comedo patterns of ductal carcinomas. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were given two doses 50 mg x kg(-1) 1-methyl-1-nitrosourea (MNU) in abdominal parts on the 52nd day and 113th day of age. We have found that in comparison with non-lactating mammary gland, the activity of 5'-DI in all mammary gland tumours studied was significantly (p < 0.0001) increased and that the 5'-DI activity, expressed as pmol of 125I- released per min and per mg of protein, in malignant mammary gland tumours was found to be at least two order higher than that of intact mammary non-lactating gland. From our data, we suggest that thyroid hormone in mammary gland tumours might play a significant role to support high energetic expenditure of neoplastic tissues.
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/*=========================================================================
Program: GDCM (Grassroots DICOM). A DICOM library
Copyright (c) 2006-2011 Mathieu Malaterre
All rights reserved.
See Copyright.txt or http://gdcm.sourceforge.net/Copyright.html for details.
This software is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. See the above copyright notice for more information.
=========================================================================*/
/*
* Simple example to show how to use Scanner API.
* It exposes the three different cases:
* - DICOM Attribute is present and has a value
* - DICOM Attribute is present and has no value
* - DICOM Attribute is not present at all
* It also shows the purpose of the function 'IsKey' to detect whether or
* not the file has been read by the gdcm::Scanner. Technically most of the time
* if a file is not a 'Key' this is because it is not a DICOM file. You need to use
* gdcm::System::FileExists to decide whether or not the file actually exist on the disk.
*
* It was tested on this particular image:
* ./SimpleScanner gdcmData/012345.002.050.dcm
*/
#include "gdcmStrictScanner.h"
#include "gdcmSimpleSubjectWatcher.h"
#include "gdcmFileNameEvent.h"
class MyFileWatcher : public gdcm::SimpleSubjectWatcher
{
public:
MyFileWatcher(gdcm::Subject * s, const char *comment = ""):
gdcm::SimpleSubjectWatcher(s,comment){}
void ShowFileName(gdcm::Subject *, const gdcm::Event &evt) override
{
const gdcm::FileNameEvent &pe = dynamic_cast<const gdcm::FileNameEvent&>(evt);
const char *fn = pe.GetFileName();
std::cout << "FileName: " << fn << " FileSize: " << gdcm::System::FileSize( fn ) << std::endl;
}
};
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
if( argc < 2 )
{
return 1;
}
const char *filename = argv[1];
const char filename_invalid[] = "this is a file that may not exist on this disk.dcm";
gdcm::SmartPointer<gdcm::StrictScanner> sp = new gdcm::StrictScanner;
gdcm::StrictScanner &s = *sp;
//gdcm::SimpleSubjectWatcher w(&s, "TestFileName" );
MyFileWatcher w(&s, "TestFileName" );
const gdcm::Tag tag_array[] = {
gdcm::Tag(0x8,0x50),
gdcm::Tag(0x8,0x51),
gdcm::Tag(0x8,0x60),
gdcm::Tag(0x8,0x80),
};
s.AddTag( tag_array[0] );
s.AddTag( tag_array[1] );
s.AddTag( tag_array[2] );
s.AddTag( tag_array[3] );
gdcm::Directory::FilenamesType filenames;
filenames.push_back( filename );
filenames.push_back( filename_invalid );
if( !s.Scan( filenames ) )
{
return 1;
}
//s.Print( std::cout );
for(gdcm::Directory::FilenamesType::const_iterator it = filenames.begin();
it != filenames.end(); ++it )
{
if( s.IsKey( it->c_str() ) )
{
std::cout << "INFO:" << it->c_str() << " is a proper Key for the Scanner (this is a DICOM file)" << std::endl;
}
else
{
std::cout << "INFO:" << it->c_str() << " is not a proper Key for the Scanner (this is either not a DICOM file or file does not exist)" << std::endl;
}
}
gdcm::StrictScanner::TagToValue const &ttv = s.GetMapping(filename);
const gdcm::Tag *ptag = tag_array;
for( ; ptag != tag_array + 3; ++ptag )
{
gdcm::StrictScanner::TagToValue::const_iterator it = ttv.find( *ptag );
if( it != ttv.end() )
{
std::cout << *ptag << " was properly found in this file" << std::endl;
// it contains a pair of value. the first one is the actual tag, so the following is always true:
// *ptag == it->first
// The second part is the actual value (stored as RAW strings). You will have to reinterpret this string
// if VR for *ptag is not VR::VRASCII !
const char *value = it->second;
if( *value )
{
std::cout << " It has the value: " << value << std::endl;
}
else
{
std::cout << " It has no value (empty)" << std::endl;
}
}
else
{
std::cout << "Sorry " << *ptag << " could not be found in this file" << std::endl;
}
}
return 0;
}
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Q:
Filling cross over under a Cumulative Frequency plot using ggplot in R
I am trying to plot two Cumulative Frequency curves in ggplot, and shade the cross over at a certain cut off. I haven't been using ggplot for long, so I was hoping someone might be able to help me with this one.
The plot without filled regions, looks like this...
Which I have created using the following code...
library(ggplot2) # required
north <- rnorm(3060, mean=277,sd=3.01) # to create synthetic data
south <- rnorm(3060, mean=278, sd=3.26) # in place of my real data.
#placing in dataframe
df_temp <- data.frame(temp=c(north,south),
region=c(rep("north",length=3060),rep("south",length=3060)))
#manipulating into cdf, as I've seen in other examples
temp.regions <- ddply(df_temp, .(region), summarize,
temp = unique(temp),
ecdf = ecdf(temp)(unique(temp)))
# feeding into ggplot.
ggplot(temp.regions,aes(x=temp, y=ecdf, color = region)) +
geom_line(aes(x=temp,color=region))+
scale_colour_manual(values = c("blue","red"))
What I would then like, would be to shade both curves for temperatures below 0.2 on the y axis. Ideally I'd like to see the blue one shaded in blue, and the red one shaded in red. Then, where they cross over in purple.
However, the closest I have managed is as follows... ]
Which I have achieved using the following additions to my code.
# creating a dataframe with just the temperatures for below 0.2
# to try and aid control when plotting
temp.below <- temp.regions[which(temp.regions$ecdf<0.2),]
# plotting routine again.
ggplot(temp.regions, aes(x=temp, y=ecdf, color = region)) +
geom_line(aes(x=temp,color=region))+
scale_colour_manual(values = c("blue","red"))+
# with additional line for shading.
geom_ribbon(data=temp.below,
aes(x=temp,ymin=0,ymax=0.2), alpha=0.5)
I've seen a few examples of people shading for a normal distribution density plot, which is where I have adapted my code from. But for some reason my boxes don't seem to want anything to do with the temperature curve.
Please help! I'm sure it's quite simple, I'm just really lost and have tried a few, producing less convincing results than these.
Thank you so much for taking a look.
PROBLEM SOLVED THANKS TO HELP BELOW...
running suggested code from below
geom_ribbon(aes(ymin=0,ymax=ecdf, fill=region), alpha=0.5)
gives...
which is so very almost the solution I'm after, but with one final addition... like so
#geom_ribbon(aes(ymin=0,ymax=ecdf, fill=region), alpha=0.5)
geom_ribbon(data=temp.below, aes(ymin=0,ymax=ecdf, fill=region), alpha=0.5)
I get what I'm after...
The reason I set the data again is so that it only fills the lowest 20% of the two regions.
Thank you so much for the help :-)
A:
Looks like you're thinking about it in the right way.
With geom_ribbon i dont think you need to set data to anything else. Just set aes(ymin = 0, ymax = ecdf, fill = region). I think that should do it.
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Are Endosymbionts better Taxonomists than Scientists?
Two morphologies of Millepora, currently classified as separate species, exist in the Bahamas. Millepora complanata, is found primarily in shallow waters, possessing wide, smooth branches whereas Millepora alcicornis, is found primarily in deeper waters, possessing thinner, knobby branches. Upon discovery of a range of intermediate morphologies, questions arose concerning whether these different morphologies represent different species or whether the differences result from phenotypic plasticity of the two recognized species. Results from reef abundance surveys and ultrastructure morphometric analyses support the two species hypothesis. However, a genetic analysis of rDNA revealed the presence of two distinct cryptic clades that are independent of morphology. This suggests that the current taxonomy of the Millepores may not be accurate.
In order to resolve this taxonomic dilemma, we are taking advantage of the mutualistic association that Millepores form with the dinoflagellate, Symbiodinium. These obligate photosynthetic symbionts allow corals to thrive in shallow, nutrient-poor tropical seas and provide energy required to deposit calcium carbonate skeletons. Recent evidence has suggested that these symbionts are extremely diverse and fall into two categories: generalists and specialists. Specialists have been shown to form species-specific associations with their host corals. We are attempting to determine whether Symbiodinium-host specificity can be used as a diagnostic tool to better understand the phylogenetic relationship between the Millepores.
We have isolated Symbiodinium DNA from coral tissue and have begun a genetic analysis of the symbiont. Our hope is to uncover host-specific specialists that will lead us to a comprehensive understanding of speciation in the Millepore complex.
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If the Abbott government decides to change penalty rates, hundreds of thousands of Victorian workers could face wage cuts of up to 33%. A significant number of these employees work weekends, overtime and night shifts on a usual basis. While the nature of the proposed changes remains unclear, if the government decides to cut penalty rates it will be an enormous burden to shoulder for hard working Australians already struggling to make ends meet.
By reducing the rights of workers, we allow businesses and employers to create an environment of coercion and unfairness in the workplace. If an employee is just barely making enough money each week to cover their rent, food and bills, it is unlikely that individual will risk their job by asking or demanding for better working conditions or overtime pay. I have personally spoken to people who have been asked to stay past business hours without remuneration, and these individuals expressed concerns that were they to challenge the decisions of their employer, they would have their employment terminated.
In a job market where the ratio of jobseekers to jobs available is around ten to one, employers are in a position where replacing a difficult member of staff is easier than ever, and if we remove protections for workers we’re likely to see the quality, safety and honesty of workplaces deteriorate across the country.
In my recent article on the welfare system in Australia and the potential for Basic Income as a replacement, I outlined the way in which a guaranteed income for every citizen gives workers the freedom to negotiate better workplace conditions with their employers. Without the threat of financial ruin, employees are secure in the knowledge that even if their contract is terminated should they make a complaint about the conditions of their employment, they do not face bankruptcy or financial ruin. This allows, and encourages, honest and open dialogue between employer and employee, and would almost certainly improve workplace standards across the board for both business owners and workers alike.
Whatever direction we choose to take, it seems clear that protecting the rights of workers is instrumental to a dynamic, progressive and safe economy.
In the wake of the mudslinging directed at Gillian Triggs over her, in my opinion, necessary report on the state of care in our detention camps, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists has released a new position statement, claiming that children in immigration detention should be held for no longer than three days, and that the practice should only be used as a last resort.
As of last October, the average length of detention of a child in Australia was 14 months.
The statement goes on to describe the policy of mandatory detention as “detrimental to development and mental health and has the potential to cause long-term damage to social and emotional functioning”.
Dr Murray Patton spoke to the potential long term damages of the policy, saying that “the level of mental health disorders recorded indicates there will potentially be an ongoing need to support and treat these children even once they leave detention whether in Australia or elsewhere. Traumatic events, such as being detained for a prolonged period, can lead to mental illness in adults.” It seems likely then that current policy is likely to cost Australia more over time than the government is willing to admit or consider.
The detention of children is in contravention of Australia’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by parliament in 1990, with article 37(b) stating:
“Detention must be a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time; children must not be deprived of liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.”
It seems clear that the deprivation of liberty the current government is responsible for is at the least arbitrary. What threat do children possibly pose to the social and economic status of the nation? How is a policy that has been demonstrated to cause long term damage to social and emotional functioning forging a secure social and economic future for Australia.
If we, as a matter of policy, are engaged in the psychological abuse of children, there must be immediate review into those responsible for the creation of said policy and the departments they oversee and represent. The treatment of asylum seekers and political refugees under Australia’s immigration policies has drawn condemnation and criticism from human rights advocacy groups across the globe, it has well passed the time that we started listening.
Agencies responsible for the care of homeless Australians have reported a proposed cutting of $115 million in federal funding, putting the lives of women feeling domestic violence and rough sleepers at risk.
This comes less than a fortnight after Tony Abbot’s proposal to earmark around $400 million for mandatory data retention, despite the EU Court of Justice ruling that almost identical programs overseas are a serious threat to human rights and privacy concerns, and are woefully ineffective in preventing terrorism and related acts of violence.
To put the situation into perspective, in 2013 there were 44 family violence-related deaths in Victoria, over 65,000 related calls to Victoria Police and an estimated cost as of 2009 of $3.4 billion dollars. Violence against women remains the biggest contributor to illness and premature death in women between the ages of 15 and 44, according to the Royal Commission into Family Violence.
Terrorism related deaths of Australian citizens, not per annum, but across the entire history of the nation, including those not on Australian soil number at 108 as of 2014.
How much has the government set aside for an issue affecting tens of thousands of Victorians, and likely hundreds of thousands if not millions nationwide? Thirty six million dollars. Less than a tenth of what Abbott’s administration proposes to spend on spying wholesale on its own people.
Last week’s Q&A was a poignant and necessary broaching of the subject of domestic violence and the effect it has on Australian women, yet the lack of senior government officials was telling. For a problem as severe as this, which affects more than one in three women, the government’s lack of a targeted response is not only insulting to the citizenry, it is downright dangerous.
The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, an agreement between the states, territories and the federal government, will expire on the 30th of June, with Canberra notably silent on the continuation of the agreement. If the funding is not renewed, more than 3,000 staff who provide support for over 80,000 homeless Australians will be affected. These staff help to provide food, shelter and counselling for the homeless, an invaluable service that not only aids people in dragging themselves out of abject poverty, but helps to prevent theft and violence as a result.
The urgency of the situation has been communicated to the government at Senate estimates, with Glenda Stevens, chief executive of Homelessness Australia stating that they “spoke clearly about the number of people who are in need, about the women and children escaping domestic violence. It’s disappointing that the government is not giving priority to the most vulnerable people in Australia.”
More than fifty homeless organisations have made an unprecedented move on the issue, sending an open letter to Social Services Minister Scott Morrison, pleading with him not to end funding to the sector.
In a representative democracy, when a unanimous call to action from the people supposedly being represented by the government is ignored, faith in government is eroded. The state has a responsibility not just to those most desperately in need of assistance, but also to those who provide that assistance. Again, it seems that the cries of generous and selfless Australians in the support of human rights are falling on deaf ears.
|
Q:
UPS Automated tracking clicking a button
I want to visit webpage. Then enter a number in test box. I was able to do that.
after that I want to click on the Track Button. Any idea how can I click through vba?
I already tried below commands. Any idea how can i find id of the Track button?
ie.document.getElementByName("track.x").Click
ie.document.getElementByClass("button btnGroup6 arrowIconRight").Click
Lets say we enter the tracking number "1ZW2E2360449018801" and once I click that button, a new webpage opens. I want to click on "shipment Progress" bar and copy the table that appears. any suggestions?
A:
This will get it done..
Sub test()
' open IE, navigate to the website of interest and loop until fully loaded
Set ie = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
my_url = "http://wwwapps.ups.com/WebTracking/track?loc=en_US"
With ie
.Visible = True
.navigate my_url
.Top = 50
.Left = 530
.Height = 400
.Width = 400
Do Until Not ie.Busy And ie.readyState = 4
DoEvents
Loop
End With
' Enter a value in the "Number" text box
ie.Document.getElementById("trackNums").Value = "1ZW2E2360449018801"
' Click the "Submit" button
Set Results = ie.Document.getElementsByTagName("input")
For Each itm In Results
If InStr(1, itm.outerhtml, "Track", vbTextCompare) > 0 Then
itm.Click
exit for
End If
Next
' Click the "Shipment Progress" button
Set Results = ie.Document.getElementsByTagName("h4")
For Each itm In Results
If InStr(1, itm.outerhtml, "Shipment Progress", vbTextCompare) > 0 Then
itm.Click
exit for
End If
Next
' Get the text from the "Shipment Progress Table" and assign to a variable
tbltxt = ie.Document.getElementsByTagName("table")(4).innertext
' process the text as desired
End Sub
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No Bake Cheesecake for Two
For some reason, I have really had a desire for some cheesecake lately. Personally, I’ve always preferred the lighter, more whipped, no-bake versions to the really thick and rich ones… so I thought I would try my hand at a recipe I could make just a couple servings of for times like this.
I wanted to see if I could get that sweet, cheesecake flavor in something that.. well.. I’m not going to call this “healthy”, but is maybe a bit healthier than what you might find on the typical dessert menu.
So I started out with the cream cheese – I purposely chose a whipped one because even though I figured I was going to portion by weight, it would make it easier to further whip it with the rest of my ingredients. I used a regular, since it’s a small portion of the overall filling I did want as much of the cream cheese flavor as I could get. I measured my cream cheese based on weight. If you don’t have a kitchen scale – get one. If that’s not an option, most of these containers are 8oz total weight, so use about 1/4 of the container.
Next, I have seen a number of recipes like this that call for sour cream. I didn’t wish to buy a container just for this so I opted for Greek yogurt. While I don’t always shy away from the 2% fat yogurt, and have often used a 4% one that really is hard to distinguish from sour cream in dishes, I had a 0% fat on hand so I used that. Again, I used weights – if you need to go by volume, try about 1/4 cup
One ingredient I went back and forth on is the “whipped topping” that so often is used in such recipes to add volume to a dish like this.
For sweetener, I went with honey, I figured it would incorporate better into the filling than a granular sugar, though you could try it you don’t have honey. You could also try a low-calorie sweetener like stevia extract. I am also curious about maybe trying a batch with maple syrup at some point. With the right topping, it might work really well.
For the crust, graham cracker crust is one of my favorites… but since I used it in a pumpkin pie years back, I’ve also liked using nut-crumb crusts. For this one, I used chopped walnuts. Again, I went by weight… volume would maybe be about 1/4 cup once they’re chopped up. If you would rather try a graham cracker or cookie crumb crust… give it a shot.
For this one batch, I used a clear glass bowl I have, because I figured it would make for a good photo. But the original plan was to use two ramekins, making two single-serve portions. If you have a mini spring-form pan you could try that, or whatever other dish you wish to use. Keep in mind it needs to have about 1-1/2 cups total volume.
The topping is where you can really make this yours. Use a prepared, or make your own pie filling. Fresh fruit maybe? A drizzle of melted chocolate? Some of both? How about some no-sugar added fruit spread? And by the way, I bet you would never guess that my apple pie filling there also contains some veggietables… I’ll share more on that later.
And with St. Patrick’s Day having just passed, I decided to try a little variation… I wanted to do mint, but the store I stopped at was out of mint extract. then as I walked past the dairy case, I caught sight of the Chobani yogurts, key lime in particular. So I had a bit of inspiration – lime is green, right? The recipe uses Greek yogurt. So why not?
Ok, it’s not all that green, but I’m only a little bit Irish anyways. And for the topping, I took about 1-1/2 tablespoons of chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of butter, melted them together, stirred well, and drizzled over the cheese cake – it made a sort of magic shell sort of topping. I was going to use coconut oil, but I had some butter out for something else and used what was left.
Now for some, using a non-dairy whipped topping is… not a good thing. And I do understand that, the whole hydrogenated oil thing. It’s just that in a a recipe such as this, it doesn’t break down like whip cream does. But… that said… there are lots of recipes out there for making stabilized whip cream that you could do as part of this recipe if you want to go that route. If I get a chance to try some that way down the road, I’ll post an update… but I didn’t relish the idea of trying to whip up some cream when I don’t have an electric mixer right now. Maybe another time.
2 Responses
so you know that non-dairy whipped topping is made almost exclusively of hydrogenated vegetable oil, right?? sooo, hydrogenated= not healthy. vegetable oil=usually soybean==GMO. using it on a healthy cooking website is kind of ludicrous…
Thanks for your opinion.
Not sure if you actually read the entire post, but I did try to address that a bit…
And while I feature recipes, this isn’t really a “healthy cooking” website, it’s about healthy living..and yea.. I believe that sometimes even a little whipped topping can be part of a healthy life. If you’d rather avoid it… I did post a link to options.
Of course some may argue the cream cheese and graham crackers themselves are also “not healthy”.
|
//
// Created by Tom Baranes on 08/05/16.
// Copyright © 2016 IBAnimatable. All rights reserved.
//
import UIKit
open class PresentSlideSegue: UIStoryboardSegue {
open override func perform() {
destination.transitioningDelegate = TransitionPresenterManager.shared.retrievePresenter(transitionAnimationType: .slide(to: .left, isFade: false))
source.present(destination, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
}
|
Endoscopic management of posttraumatic supraglottic stenosis in the pediatric population.
Pediatric blunt laryngeal trauma is a rare and potentially life-threatening entity. External injuries can be misleading, and a high index of suspicion, as well as early intervention, is essential to achieve the best possible outcome. The authors of this report review the management of blunt laryngeal trauma in the pediatric population and describe the endoscopic management of posttraumatic supraglottic stenosis. Methods used were case report from a tertiary referral institution and review of the literature. We describe the case of a 13-year-old girl whom developed supraglottic stenosis following blunt laryngeal trauma. Innovative endoscopic techniques were used in the successful management of this exceedingly rare entity. Early recognition and intervention are of paramount importance if successful endoscopic management of blunt laryngeal trauma is to be considered.
|
The vessel, which is stored on the team’s gated compound, had been seen heading west on Highway 1 in Chilliwack Friday night, shortly after it was stolen.
“Funny thing is, they stole it with the mast erected,” Brewer said. “When they were driving down the freeway they hit a bridge and broke the mast off. It was picked it up by a [SAR] member not realizing it was from the rescue boat.”
RCMP are investigating the theft, with no word on if the boat was damaged.
The Spirit of Harrison was taken out of service about a year ago, replaced by a larger boat, the Harrison Osprey. But Brewer said the boat, with an estimated value of $50,000 to $60,000, was still deployable and that the volunteer-based rescue team has plans to sell it.
“It’s been deployed literally hundreds of times, saved countless lives, and certainly has a huge emotional connection to many, many SAR volunteers who have trained on it,” Brewer said.
Third theft in three years for Agassiz-based rescue team
While the Spirit of Harrison has been recovered and is in RCMP custody, this isn’t the first time thieves have gotten away with the volunteer team’s equipment.
“This is the third time in two or three years,” Brewer said.
The first time, theives broke into the logistics trailer – assumably looking for ATVS, he said, but still took off with other equipment.
In another instance, a smaller 12-foot boat sitting on a trailer was taken off the compound. The boat and trailer were later found, but the engine had been removed.
Brewer said the vibrant Spirit of Harrison was the biggest piece of equipment to ever be stolen, being stored on an easily visible lot.
“So to steal a boat that size and that visible requires a lot of nerve.”
|
From β-hCG values to counseling in tubal pregnancy: what do women want?
Tubal pregnancy represents an entity that every gynecologist will encounter during professional life. Because of the high prevalence among the pregnant population, standardized protocols are needed in order to choose the optimal strategy for each case. Accurate ultrasound pictures are supporting a more precise diagnosis of ectopic tubal pregnancy, the evolution of which should be closely monitored in follow-up with serial β-hCG values. Laparoscopy, intramuscular methotrexate, and active expectant management are all involved, however, tailoring the best treatment to the patient's needs is the challenge to focus on. This manuscript describes how in routinary practice an evidence-based diagnostic process should be the key factor to go for the best possible management. When possible, a longsighted less invasive approach should be preferred, aiming to preserve the patient's fertility for years to come. An optimal choice of the management should involve the patient or the couple in the decision-making process to reach the ultimate goal of compliance.
|
Andrew,
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TRADE ALERT #14
GUIDANT CORPORATION (NYSE - GDT)
June 5, 2001
11:45AMET - emailed to TFR Trade Alert Subscribers
NOTE - DELAYED DELIVERY: This information was previously distributed
to Fagan Report Trade Alert Subscribers at the above noted time and
date. Due to ever-changing market considerations - it may or may not
be applicable at this time.
TRADE ALERT #14 - Speculative Buy / Guidant Corporation (NYSE - GDT),
currently trading at $38.00 with a target above $45.00 and a stop-
loss at $34.20.
Guidant Corporation (GDT) is a global leader in the medical
technology industry providing innovative, minimally invasive, and
cost-effective products and services for the treatment of
cardiovascular and vascular disease. In short, GDT is involved with
just about everything and anything used to prevent and treat heart
attacks. With over 8,000 employees worldwide, it posted revenues in
excess of $2.5 billion for FY00. Net earnings after tax were $374.3
million. Earnings per share came in at $1.24 on a fully diluted
capitalization of 307,722,000 issued shares. Q1/01 numbers, for the
three month period ended March 31/01, are on track to produce similar
or slightly better results for FY01. Working capital at March 31/01
was $454.6 million. Total current and long term liabilities were $1.2
billion of which $350 million is expected to be paid off from cash
flow during FY01. At its current price of $38.00, it has a P/E of 32.
The only way to understand GDT is to spend an hour or two on its
website (www.guidant.com)
My thinking on this trade is that GDT will more than likely produce
better numbers this year than it did last year. Yet, at its current
price of $38.00 it is trading about 15% less than its 1999/2000 low
of $45.00. If it gets back to $45, there will be a 20% gain on the
trade. GDT's 52-week high/low stock price is $71.81/$33.00. As money
continues to rotate out of the tech sector and other economy
sensitive stocks, established medical companies like GDT should trade
higher.
Some subscribers get extra nervous trading higher priced stocks like
GDT. Remember that price is not an important consideration. The only
considerations that matter are the dollar amount of the trade and the
resulting percentage gain or loss. If you normally limit your trades
to $5,000 per transaction that's fine. Buy 130 shares of GDT. We have
a 10% stop loss limit on this trade so you are risking about $500.
The next reporting period for GDT is for the three-month period
ending June 30, 2001. If the numbers come in better than expected, we
could make 15% to 20% in 60 to 90 days. I'd be very happy with that
on this trade.
SUBSEQUENT NOTE: Wednesday morning, June 6, a day after this Trade
Alert was issued, CNBC reported that Bank of America had just
released a Buy recommendation on Johnson & Johnson. One of the
reasons given for the recommendation was that J&J has increased its
market share of the "heart surgical stent" market at the expense of
GDT. I think that is the reason for the weakness in today's GDT
market. The above recommendation on GDT remains unchanged, but one
should try to get the best entry price possible.
NOTE / DISCLAIMER All information published by The Fagan Report is
for informational purposes only. As Editor, I, Brian Fagan, tell you
what I am or would be doing if I had sufficient capital to do so. You
read and/or subscribe to receive this information for whatever
personal reasons you may have to do so. Nothing more is implied or
intended. Nothing in this communication is, nor should it be
construed to be an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of
securities. Please see our complete disclaimer statement at:
http://www.faganreport.com
COPYRIGHT: Fagan Report Trade Alerts are copyright material. It is
unlawful to duplicate, forward, or disseminate this information in
any form whatsoever, without the written permission of the publisher.
For copyright waiver, email your request to: [email protected] .
Wishing you all the best,
The Fagan Report,
Brian Fagan
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The University of Bombay is one of the oldest public state universities in India, located in the city of Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra.
Founded in 1857 on 18th of July by Dr John Wilson (after whom Wilson College in Mumbai is named), the University of Bombay is one of the first three oldest public state universities in India. Mumbai University has the highest number of autonomous colleges when compared with other state universities. Maharashtra also has the most UGC-approved community colleges.
It was known as the “University of Bombay” until 1996, when the city of Bombay was renamed Mumbai. The university was renamed as per a gazette of the Government of Maharashtra dated September 4, 1996. Also abbreviated as either UoM, standing for University of Mumbai or MU for Mumbai University.
The University of Mumbai primarily imparts education through its numerous affiliated colleges, which are located in: Mumbai city, Mumbai suburbs, and Six coastal districts in Maharashtra, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Konkan, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. A majority of private colleges located in these places, which offer professional courses such as engineering, are also affiliated to MU.
The University of Mumbai has several hundred affiliated colleges offering undergraduate and post-graduate education, and conducts research in areas of science, commerce, arts, engineering, management, law, etc. Colleges of engineering and medicine, which are privately owned, are also affiliated to the University.
The University of Mumbai primarily imparts education through its numerous affiliated colleges, which are located in Mumbai city, Mumbai suburbs, and six coastal districts in Maharashtra: Navi Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Konkan, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
MU offers Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees apart from diplomas and certificates in many disciplines. The language of instruction for most courses is English.
One of its two campuses in Mumbai is located in Kalina, Santacruz. The campus houses academic and administrative departments.
Another campus located in Fort carries out administrative work only.
Several world-renowned institutes in Mumbai were affiliated to the university. Most of them are now autonomous institutes or deemed universities.
Mumbai University to Use Virtual Classrooms to Make Learning More Accessible
There’s another feather in Mumbai University’s cap. The new Multipurpose Virtual Classroom (MVC) launched at Mumbai University will make it easy for students in remote parts of the state to access the University’s learning.
The infrastructure, set up at Kalina, will be used to conduct workshops, conferences, lectures and is also supposed to solve the acute problems of shortage of qualified teachers. The virtual classroom will also be used for teachers’ training and skill development, and to provide education to working people in the evening.
The MVC has been designed on the lines of a similar one in Harvard University, USA, and will be used for multiple academic activities including online courses, in future. It is fully automated and controlled using touch panels, entirely designed by the university’s in-house computer team.
Mumbai University Students to Get Marksheets & Convocation Certificates Online
Soon, Mumbai University Students will get e-marksheets. The students will get marksheets & convocation certificates Online…
This is something that will bring cheers to all students in Mumbai. Long queues will soon be a thing of the past for Mumbai University students as going forward, marksheets and convocation certificates will now be available online. This will not only be convenient to students but also to Universities, embassies and employers, who want to verify the credentials of the student.
The varsity will introduce an online database of marksheets and convocation certificates through the National Academic Depository (NAD), an initiative of the Union ministry of human resource development. Marksheets of alumni will also be uploaded on to the database.
The varsity is the first to participate in the Centre’s NAD system. Currently, only the Andhra Pradesh Teachers’ eligibility test and the CBSE are using it on pilot basis. Security and authenticity of marksheets are of prime importance here, and the system will integrate high-end security processes adopted by businesses.
The varsity will key in all student data and their certificates will be linked to the database. Every student will register with the NAD and will be able to obtain records after verification of identity. The depository will also facilitate a hassle-free verification process. Universities, embassies and employers, who want to verify marksheets and transcript certificates submitted by the candidate, will be able do so through the website and email by paying a fee and with the candidate’s consent.
SIGN-UP NOW!
Services
While most parents struggle to pay annual school fees between Rs 12,000 and 18,000, one Mumbai family outsourced a single Std X project for Rs 26,000. The cost of outsourcing projects has skyrocketed over the years[...]
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Rika Zaraï
Rika Zaraï (; born 19 February 1938) is an Israeli singer and writer.
Rika Gozman (later Zarai) was born in Jerusalem. In the 1950s, the Israeli writer, Aharon Megged, wrote a musical for the IDF Central Command entertainment troupe about five soldiers falling in love with five country girls. In 1956, it was produced commercially by the Ohel theater starring Rika Zarai. The music was written by her husband Yochanan Zarai, with lyrics and melodies by Naomi Shemer.
In 1969, Zarai rose to fame with her songs Casatschok and Alors je chante, the French version of Vivo Cantando. She went on to have a successful career in Europe, where she popularized Israeli classic songs such as Hava Nagila, Yerushalayim shel zahav and Hallelujah.
Zarai sings in Hebrew, English, French, Italian, Spanish and German. She lives in Paris but visits Israel periodically. According to a report in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronoth in 2008, she suffered a stroke which paralyzed the left side of her body.
Published works
Ma médecine naturelle, Michel Lafon, 1985
47 recettes de plantes, Mangina, 1986
Soins et beauté par l'argile et les plantes, Mangina, 1987
Mes secrets naturels pour guérir et réussir, J-C Lattès, 1988
Ces émotions qui guérissent, Michel Lafon, 1995
Le Code secret de votre personnalité, Michel Lafon, 1996
L'espérance a toujours raison (mémoires), Michel Lafon, 2006
See also
Music of Israel
Culture of Israel
References
External links
Category:1938 births
Category:Living people
Category:English-language singers from Israel
Category:French-language singers
Category:German-language singers
Category:Israeli female singers
Category:Philips Records artists
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What Does psychiatrist near me with fees Mean?
What Does psychiatrist near me with fees Mean?
Single consultations for any 2nd impression are two-3 hrs extended and scheduled only following documents are received through the treating clinician(s). Phone/Skype appointments are billed at exactly the same session charges indicated above. Remember that many insurance plans don't reimburse for phone appointments. At a bare minimum, on-going clients are to generally be witnessed at least every three months.
You will be monitored intently so that you tend not to needlessly practical experience Negative effects and that ideal therapy gains are attained. Thorough consideration is going to be centered on any Actual physical health problems. Typically this brings about a more appropriate diagnosis and approach of cure."
If you want to strategy your GP also to question him or her to aid an software to obtain funding, we'd be content to debate this with your GP and assist in making this kind of an application.
Counseling ought to be furnished to assist individuals understand to handle or lower their signs. Clients frequently require to find out new skills, for instance anger administration or trouble solving, to help them interact with Other folks additional successfully."
Just before this visit, make sure you remember to total The brand new Client Evaluation Sort to make sure that we can make the ideal use of our time. During this session, your motive(s) for trying to get treatment method will likely be talked about in depth and a complete treatment method strategy (like remedies and/or click here for info psychotherapy if wanted) will be prescribed. Payment: $550
If requested, Dr. Ambardar might be delighted to supply you with a reimbursement kind or “superbill” which you can existing towards your insurance policy provider as a way to seek partial reimbursement for psychiatric or psychotherapeutic solutions rendered.
aware that e mail will not be a safe implies of conversation and spam filters may well stop your e-mail from achieving the
My emphasis is on developing a secure, empathetic relationship where you can Specific your ideas, emotions and Reminiscences in the nonjudgmental environment. My intention is helping you create a richer psychological existence by Discovering present-day associations along with past ordeals which could prevent you from reaching your comprehensive opportunity."
I pay attention to exactly what the individual is expressing to me and try to be familiar with the that means on distinctive concentrations. The approaches of empathy and knowledge guide the person toward generating choices about the ultimate course of their lives. Also, cognitive behavioral tactics could be used to awaken an much more active course of action."
All basic psychiatric ailments is usually treated to incorporate; despair, bipolar, panic, obsessive compulsive and persona Diseases. Compound abuse find more difficulties can also be taken care of in an Workplace-based mostly placing with a big achievements level at protecting sobriety by means of our treatment approach."
You won't truly feel rushed in her existence. For the duration of your session you'll be provided sufficient time to precise your problems and you may leave feeling listened to, recognized, and revered."
New Jersey Psychiatrists vary from other mental well being pros in that they may possibly prescribe medication or psychotropics. Psychiatrists may possibly conduct Bodily examinations, get and interpret lab tests and brain graphic scans, which include CT scans, CAT Scans and MRIs.
My target helps you produce a richer emotional existence by exploring current interactions and also past ordeals that may reduce you view website from reaching your full opportunity."
We deal with all ages and stages of development. We have emergency and exact same-day appointments. Confidentiality and privateness are preserved for the strictest of specifications. We've got contemporary Digital clinical data and electronic prescribing."
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2017 was a big year for security research in technology, just as it is every year. With the much publicised 'Meltdown' and 'Spectre' CPU vulnerabilities and countless other lesser-known security bugs, researchers had their work cut out uncovering these flaws before anyone with more nefarious intentions could.
Google does its bit to compensate the research community for their hard work in keeping its users protected. In a recent blog post, the company released some numbers for the 2017 Vulnerability Rewards Program while also paying tribute to the dedicated researchers. Google paid out a total of $2.9 million as part of the program, to individuals and teams in 60 different countries.
Around $1.1 million dollars each was paid for bug reports specific to Google and Android products, with Chrome awards accounting for the rest of it. More than $160,000 of all that cash made its way straight to charities. Google has paid out nearly $12 million since the program's inception in 2010, proving an ever-present commitment to security. The Vulnerability Research Grants Program alone awarded $125,000 payments to more than 50 researchers, while $50,000 each was given to open-source developers signed up to the Patch Rewards Program.
The largest single payment to an independent researcher went to Guang Gong, who received $112,500 for his discovery of a Pixel phone exploit as part of the Android Security Rewards Program. A researcher with the moniker "gzobqq" was the next best rewarded, getting $100,000 with the pwnium award for a chain of bugs in Chrome OS.
There's no doubting these researchers are worthy recipients of such rewards, and here's hoping they all continue their fine work in 2018 and beyond.
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Gold key to lower GST rate
The Centre is set to propose that the rate of tax on gold consumption be doubled under the Goods & Services Tax (GST) regime so as to allow the GST council the elbow room to set a lower standard GST rate.
Necessary cushion
The government’s main argument in the GST Council, which will start meeting from Thursday, will be that the increase in revenue from gold consumption will provide the necessary cushion for the standard GST rate to be fixed at a level lower than 20 per cent.
The proposal is based on last year’s recommendation from a government committee headed by Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian. The panel had suggested taxing gold and other precious metals at rates ranging between 2 per cent and 6 per cent. This, the panel had argued, would protect the revenues of the States even if the standard rate of GST was pegged below 20 per cent.
At present, the Centre and States tax precious metals at rates between 1 per cent and 1.6 per cent. Currently, about 70 per cent of goods and services get taxed at an average rate of 27 per cent. To protect their revenues, States have sought that the standard GST rate, which will fall on the bulk of goods and services, be fixed at 20 per cent or higher.
In consultations earlier, some States had expressed concerns that a high rate of GST on gold was not “politically feasible”. However, a system in which the rate on gold was kept low and the standard GST rate was high, would result in poor people ending up subsidising the gold consumption of the rich, a Finance Ministry official said.
“Apart from the desirability of a higher tax on jewellery, which is an item of consumption for the rich, it is also an item which is prone to tax evasion, being a very high-value item,” Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had said in an interview last month. “The incentive to not report the transactions will be higher if the tax rate on jewellery is very high,” Mr. Adhia had said, underscoring the need for striking the right balance.
Separately, in a review meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued directions to his office and the Finance Ministry to complete all steps ahead of the April 1, 2017 target deadline for the roll-out of GST, to avoid slippages.
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Expanding Patients' Property Rights In Their Medical Records
NBER Working Paper No. 20565
Issued in October 2014
NBER Program(s):Health Care, Health Economics, Law and Economics
Although doctors and hospitals own their patients' medical records, state and federal laws require that they provide patients with a copy at "reasonable cost." We examine the effects of state laws that cap the fees that doctors and hospitals are allowed to charge patients for a copy of their records. We test whether these laws affected patients' propensity to switch doctors and the prices of new- and existing-patient visits. We also examine the effect of laws on hospitals' adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems. We find that patients from states adopting caps on copy fees were significantly more likely to switch doctors, and that hospitals in states adopting caps were significantly more likely to install an EMR. We also find that laws did not have a systematic, significant effect on prices.
Acknowledgments and Disclosures
Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX
Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w20565
Published: Laurence C. Baker & M. Kate Bundorf & Daniel P. Kessler, 2015. "Expanding Patients' Property Rights in Their Medical Records," American Journal of Health Economics, vol 1(1), pages 82-100.
Users who downloaded this paper also downloaded* these:
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Debbie Reynolds: More than just a film star
US film star Debbie Reynolds, one of Hollywood’s biggest drawcards at the box office in the 1950s and 60s, was more than just an actress. Born Mary Frances Reynolds in 1932, the ambitious blonde first attracted attention when she won a beauty contest in California as a teenager.
In 1950 she was spotted by a Warner Brothers talent scout and given a small role in the film “The Daughter of Rosie O’Grady.” But Reynolds’ breakthrough came in 1952 when she was cast alongside high-profile dancer and actor Gene Kelly in the musical “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Although it only achieved limited success at the time, the film was selected as the greatest movie musical ever by the American Film Institute, and established Reynolds as a star.
She went on to act in over 50 films, receiving her only Oscar nomination for playing the title character in the 1964 film “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” After initially being dubbed over in her first singing role, Reynolds turned to singing herself for her ensuing film musical roles.
The title track to the 1957 film “Tammy” saw Reynolds earn a golden record, as the song stormed up the US music charts.
In 1959, Reynolds was caught up in one of the biggest Hollywood scandals of the day, when her husband, Eddie Fisher, left her for her best friend Elizabeth Taylor, later becoming one of her many husbands.
Reynolds had two children with Fisher, the actor Todd Fisher and late “Star Wars” actress Carrie Fisher, who died just a day before her mother following a heart attack.
US media reported that Taylor and Reynolds eventually patched up their differences, over a private dinner on a cruise boat ship. In all, Reynolds ended up marrying three times.
She married a wealthy shoe manufacturer Harry Karl, in 1960 and divorced him in 1973, after he gambled away all their money. She later married a real estate developer Richard Hamlett. They split in 1996 after 12 years of marriage.
By 1969, the Texan-born star was famous enough for her own TV show, “The Debbie Reynolds Show,” for which she received a Golden Globe nomination.
She also acted in musicals on Broadway through the 1970s, including “Irene” and “Annie Get Your Gun.”
Reynolds launched a film comeback of sorts in 1992, playing herself in the Kevin Costner film “The Bodyguard,” before taking on a lead role in the 1996 film “Mother.” Her regular appearances in US sitcom “Will and Grace,” between 1999 and 2006, also increased her popularity again.
She also appeared with her old rival Taylor together with Shirley MacLaine and Joan Collins in the 2001 TV movie, “These Old Broads,” which was written by Carrie Fisher and centred on four ageing Hollywood divas trying to make a comeback. Reynolds tried her hand in business throughout her film career, with varying success.
In 1992, she purchased a hotel and casino in LasVegas, which eventually went bust and five years later Reynolds was forced to declare bankruptcy.
She also enjoyed collecting Hollywood memorabilia, opening a LasVegas museum full of film costumes.
But, the museum failed to thrive and was eventually closed down before the star decided to sell the items in 2011.
In an interview with NPR radio last month, Carrie Fisher praised her mother as an “extraordinary” woman.
“There’s very few women from her generation who worked like that, who just kept a career going all her life, and raised children, and had horrible relationships, and lost all her money, and got it back again,” she said.
“I mean, she’s had an amazing life, and she’s someone to admire.” — dpa
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Ellistown F.C.
Ellistown Football Club is a football club based in the village of Ellistown, near Coalville in Leicestershire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Terrace Road.
History
The club was established as United Collieries Football Club in 1993 by a merger of Bagworth Colliery and Ellistown Colliery. The new club joined Division One of the Leicestershire Senior League. In 1996–97 they finished seventh in Division One and were promoted to the Premier Division. The club finished bottom of the Premier Division in their first season, but avoided relegation. After being renamed Ellistown in 1998, they finished in the bottom two of the Premier Division for the next two seasons. Although they were relegated to Division One at the end of the 1999–2000 season, they were Division One runners-up the following season and promoted back to the Premier Division.
In 2007 Ellistown were founder members of the East Midlands Counties League. They finished bottom of the league in 2011–12, and at the end of the following season the club merged with fellow East Midlands Counties League club Ibstock United to form Ellistown & Ibstock United, which played at Ellistown's ground. However, in 2015 a new Ibstock United was formed. The merged club finished bottom of the East Midlands Counties League in 2016–17, failing to win a league game all season, and were relegated to the Premier Division of the Leicestershire Senior League, where they would play alongside Ibstock United. In July 2017 the club was renamed Ellistown.
Records
Best FA Cup performance: Second qualifying round, 2014–15
Best FA Vase performance: Second round, 2014–15
See also
Ellistown F.C. players
References
External links
Category:Football clubs in England
Category:Football clubs in Leicestershire
Category:Association football clubs established in 1993
Category:1993 establishments in England
Category:Leicestershire Senior League
Category:East Midlands Counties Football League
Category:Mining association football teams
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Q:
How to fix the image in center vertically in all resolution
Here is my jfiddle - fiddle, everything is perfect here but only the probelm is when you minimise the window the image goes down , need to fit that image in vertically center which is not happening now
HTML:
<div class="left_panel">
<div class="slide-frame">
<img src="http://www.w3schools.com/bootstrap/paris.jpg">
</div>
</div>
CSS:
.left_panel {
border: 1px solid #ddd;
border-collapse: collapse;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
position: absolute;
right: 300px;
top: 0;
background:#ddd;
}
.left_panel .slide-frame::before {
content: "";
display: inline-block;
height: 100%;
vertical-align: middle;
}
.left_panel .slide-frame{
height: 100%;
text-align: center;
width: 100%;
}
.left_panel .slide-frame img {
display: inline-block;
height: auto;
max-height: 100%;
max-width: 100%;
vertical-align: middle;
width: auto;
}
A:
The reason for this behaviour is, that the :after element is an inline element. That causes a little gap between the image and that element. With setting the fon-size to zero, you remove that gap:
.left_panel {
font-size: 0;
}
Good article about that topic on CSS-Tricks. This solution is preferable, because you aren't using text. With text, there are other approaches to remove the space between inline elements.
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<html>
<head>
<style>
ol { padding: 0;}
li { list-style: none; }
.num {
color: white;
background: #2980B9;
display: inline-block;
text-align: center;
margin: 5px 10px;
line-height: 30px;
width: 30px;
height: 30px;
font-size: 16px;
font-weight: bold;
border-radius: 15px;
box-shadow: 0px 1px 4px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0.3);
}
.item {
margin-bottom: 30px;
}
.row {
margin-left: 10px;
margin-right: 10px;
width: 380px;
margin-top: 20px;
}
.row::after {
clear: both;
content: "";
display: block;
}
.center {
text-align: center;
}
.container {
margin-top: 50px;
width: 400px;
height: 2000px;
}
.qa-left {
font-size: 16px;
width: 30px;
float: left;
}
.qa-right {
float: left;
width: 350px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container">
<div class="item">
<p class="center"><span class="num">233</span></p>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>Q: 你有哪些「异性暗示跟你交往,你却木讷地错过了」的经验?</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>A: 所谓的错过和想多了傻傻的分不清楚</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</div>
<div class="item">
<p class="center"><span class="num">234</span></p>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>Q: 在哪里可更高几率遇见高质量男生?</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>A: 两会的时候可以去逛逛,每个地方牛逼的大叔都在那</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</div>
<div class="item">
<p class="center"><span class="num">235</span></p>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>Q: 你女朋友是如何把你骗到手的?</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>A: 我这么聪明,那些蠢女人根本骗不到我。</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</div>
<div class="item">
<p class="center"><span class="num">236</span></p>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>Q: 为什么那么多人说自己寂寞、孤单、想找个男/女朋友,却还是单身?</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>A: <b>因为不仅自己丑,</b><br><b>还嫌别人长得丑。</b></span>
</div>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</div>
<div class="item">
<p class="center"><span class="num">237</span></p>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>Q: 做备胎是什么感觉?</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>A: 每一句话都是密码</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</div>
<div class="item">
<p class="center"><span class="num">238</span></p>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>Q: 你认为爱情是什么?</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>A: 庭有枇杷树,吾妻死之年所手植也,今已亭亭如盖矣。</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<p></p>
</div>
<div class="item">
<p class="center"><span class="num">239</span></p>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>Q: 自己的女友被别的男人追求,作为男朋友应该怎样处理比较好?</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>A: 我一向对女朋友信任有加,相信她能处理好别人的追求,直到她成了我的前女友</span>
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<p class="center"><span class="num">240</span></p>
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<span>Q: 滚床单来不及卸妆怎么办?</span>
</div>
<p></p>
<div class="row">
<span>A: 别啊,我要的就是阿凡达</span>
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<p></p>
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The inhibitory effects of PKCθ on adiponectin expression is mediated by ERK in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
The research suggests that adiponectin plays an important role in sensitizing insulin action. It is interesting to find that the lower levels of adiponectin exist in the plasma of obese and Type 2 diabetes subjects and in the adipose tissue of obese, db/db mice, and insulin-resistant individuals. However, the underlying mechanism by which adiponectin expression is inhibited remains largely unknown. In this study, we reported that adipogenesis was inhibited by the stable over-expression of protein kinase C θ (PKCθ) in 3T3-L1 pre - adipocytes. The prolonged treatment of mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes with palmitate, a kind of saturated free fatty acid, reduced adiponectin expression at both mRNA level and protein level, accompanied with the enhanced phosphorylation of PKCθ and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), and the impaired expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ2 (PPARγ2) mRNA. Either PD98059, an ERK inhibitor or PKCθ pseudosubstrate, a specific PKCθ inhibitor, restored palmiate-inhibited PPARγ2 mRNA expression and subsequent adiponectin expression. In addition, the over-expression or activation of PKCθ resulted in the enhanced phosphorylation of ERK in the mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes. PKCθ pseudosubstrate significantly reduced the phorbol 3-myristate 12-acetate (PMA)-induced phosphorylation of ERK. The data suggested that PKCθ-dependent activity of ERK resulted in the impaired expression of PPARγ2 mRNA leading to the reduction of adiponectin expression in the mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes.
|
Q:
How to get coordinates from a numpy slice object
I have a function which receives an image and a slice object specifying a sub region of that image to operate on. I would like to draw a box around the specified region for debugging purposes. The easiest way to draw a box is to get the coordinates of two of its corners. I cannot find a good way of getting those coordinates out of the slice object however.
There is of course a really inefficient way of doing it where I define a large matrix and use my slice on it to figure out what elements are affected
#given some slice like this
my_slice = np.s_[ymin:ymax+1, xmin:xmax+1]
#recover its dimensions
large_matrix = np.ones((max_height, max_width))
large_matrix[my_slice] = 1
minx = np.min(np.where(large_matrix == 1)[0])
maxx = np.max(np.where(large_matrix == 1)[0])
...
If this is the best method I will probably have to switch from passing slice objects around to some kind of rectangle object.
A:
I often use dir to look inside an object. In your case:
>>> xmin,xmax = 3,5
>>> ymin,ymax = 2, 6
>>> my_slice = np.s_[ymin:ymax+1, xmin:xmax+1]
>>> my_slice
(slice(2, 7, None), slice(3, 6, None))
>>> my_slice[0]
slice(2, 7, None)
>>> dir(my_slice[0])
['__class__', '__cmp__', '__delattr__', '__doc__', '__format__',
'__getattribute__', '__hash__', '__init__', '__new__', '__reduce__',
'__reduce_ex__', '__repr__', '__setattr__', '__sizeof__', '__str__',
'__subclasshook__', 'indices', 'start', 'step', 'stop']
And those start, step, and stop attributes look useful:
>>> my_slice[0].start
2
>>> my_slice[0].stop
7
(To be perfectly honest, I use IPython, and so instead of using dir I would typically just make an object and then hit TAB to look inside.)
And so to turn your my_slice object into the corners, it's simply:
>>> [(sl.start, sl.stop) for sl in my_slice]
[(2, 7), (3, 6)]
|
USAF may retire B-1s to free funds for B-21 Raider
The US Air Force (USAF) may retire a portion of its Boeing B-1B Lancer fleet in order to repurpose overhaul dollars for the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, re-engining of the Boeing B-52 and “long-range strategic weapons.”
“The story of the B-1 is that we designed an aircraft to fly low altitude, high-speed, supersonic to penetrate enemy defences and take out targets,” says David Goldfein, chief of the staff of the USAF.
The B-1B was designed to fly fast and low, not slow at medium altitudes.
USAF
“For the last 18 years, we’ve flown it at medium altitude, very slow, wings forward. We flew the B-1 in the least optimal configuration for all these years. And, the result of that is we put stresses on the aircraft that we did not anticipate. When it goes into depot we’re seeing significant structural issues with the B-1.”
Boeing is analyzing the structure of the B-1B for the USAF, but no conclusions have been reached yet, says USAF Materials Command’s General Arnold Bunch. However, preliminary results appear to have the service thinking that the Cold War-era supersonic bomber would be too expensive to maintain.
Cirium fleets data indicate that USAF has 61 in-service B-1Bs with an average age of 32 years.
“The discussion we’re having is there are some number of B-1s that would be so cost prohibitive to be able to get back to a code one status and that we should retire those,” says Goldfein. “Then, flow that money into doing some key things within the bomber portfolio.”
Key considerations are pushing money towards moving up the delivery date of the B-21 as well as buying more examples of the next-generation stealth bomber.
“I will tell you that the 100 B-21 requirement, as a minimum, there are a number of analyses that have been done that indicate that we need more than that [quantity],” says Goldfein. “And, I’m 100% in lockstep with those analyses.”
Thus far, the B-21 is on schedule and the service is pleased with Northrop Grumman’s work, says Goldfein. The aircraft is scheduled to first fly in December 2021.
Goldfein lauded Northrop Grumman’s performance in the programme, but expressed uncertainty about accelerating production when deliveries commence: “I don’t know that we’re going to be able to accelerate in time [of delivery]. I’m hoping we can accelerate in numbers.”
To counter growing threats from adversarial regimes in China and Russia, the US military needs to rearrange it priorities, says Goldfein.
“We’re always looking at trades between capability, capacity and readiness,” he says. “It’s the iron triangle.”
FlightGlobal is the global aviation community’s primary source of news, data, insight, knowledge and expertise. We provide news, data, analytics and advisory services to connect the aviation community globally and help organisations shape their business strategies, identify new opportunities and make better decisions faster.
|
package com.googlecode.aviator.exception;
/**
* Compiled expression not found exception.
*
* @author dennis
*
*/
public class ExpressionNotFoundException extends ExpressionRuntimeException {
/**
*
*/
private static final long serialVersionUID = -8151661221248281327L;
public ExpressionNotFoundException() {
super();
}
public ExpressionNotFoundException(String message, Throwable cause) {
super(message, cause);
}
public ExpressionNotFoundException(String message) {
super(message);
}
public ExpressionNotFoundException(Throwable cause) {
super(cause);
}
}
|
Rajya Sabha Elections in Andhra Peadesh & Telangana to be Held on June 11
[ads2] The election schedule for fifty seven Rajya Sabha seats unfold throughout 15 states together with 4 in Andhra Pradesh and 2 in Telangana has been released on Thursday.
The biennial elections to the Council of States to fill the seats that can fall vacant with the retirement of members in June-August this year will probably be held on June 11. The notification will likely be issued on May 24 and the last date for submitting nominations will likely be Might 31.
BJP’s Nirmala Sitharaman and YS Chowdary of TDP are actually serving as ministers within the BJP-led NDA authorities. Nevertheless, whereas BJP is prone to nominate Nirmala for the next time period as she was elected in 2014 in a by-election, Chowdary may not get one other time period as he has been embroiled in a number of controversies including a loan default to a Maritius bank.
Sudharani from Telangana was sent to RS by TDP, however she is now joined Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
Senior BJP chief and Union Minister for City Growth M. Venkayya Naidu can also be amongst these retiring in June this year. He was elected for Rajya Sabha from Karnataka and that is his third term.
Because the occasion made a coverage to discipline a candidate for under three phrases and with a rising demand from the state for an area candidate, Naidu could both be dropped or moved to another state. As per its power in state legislature, BJP can win just one seat in Karnataka and the occasion can not afford to drop its one other sitting member Aayanur Manjunath.
|
Top E Buzz
I Am A Canadian Citizen, Akshay Kumar Issues A Statement
Mumbai: After his “non-political” interview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Akshay Kumar issues another non-political letter, confirming he is a Canadian citizen.
Akshay Kumar has been the subject of a lot of trolling for his absence from the polling booths. The social media claimed that the reason behind this is his alleged Canadian citizenship. When Akshay was asked why he was missing from the polling booths, the actor dodged the reporter’s query and refused to take any further questions.
Now National Award Winner Akshay Kumar issues a statement stating, “I really don’t understand the unwarranted interest and negativity about my citizenship. I have never hidden or denied that I hold a Canadian passport. It is also equally true that I have not visited Canada in the last seven years. I work in India, and pay all my taxes in India”
“While all these years, I have never needed to prove my love for India to anyone, I find it disappointing that my citizenship issue is constantly dragged into needless controversy, a matter that is personal, legal, non-political, and of no consequences to others. Lastly, I would like continue contributing in my small way to the causes that I believe in and make India stronger and stronger”
‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ actor Akshay Kumar has been bestowed with honorary citizenship by the Canadian Government, and hence, he carries the Canadian citizenship.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Akshay Kumar is currently busy with Mission Mangal, Housefull 4, Good News, Sooryavanshi and Laaxmi Bomb.
|
- Hello, everyone.
My name is Chris Corley.
I'm interim dean of
Library and Learning
at Minnesota State Mankato.
Thank you for joining us today.
Today's session is a
community listening session.
It's the first of
four sessions that
are dedicated to
responding to community
concerns and our
ongoing commitment
to professional program
review, where our university is
inviting you to a town
hall listening session
on our review of current
criminal justice programs,
including the educational
programs of peace officers
and correction officers.
By way of introduction, Dr. Pat
Nelson, the department chair
of our Department of Government,
will talk about today's session
before we have our conversation.
- Thank you for joining us.
We're very excited
to have you here.
So the purpose of our listening
session has many facets to it.
First of all,
President Davenport
really wanted us
to take some time
this summer and dive
into what our curriculum
is in our criminal
justice programs
at Minnesota State
University, Mankato.
And also, we wanted to
demonstrate our commitment
to the community.
All of our programs
undergo program review
every five years.
And this is the first time
we've invited the community
to have a voice in
our program review
and to give us feedback
on our curriculum.
Again, we do have three
criminal justice programs.
We have the corrections program,
the criminal justice program,
and law enforcement program.
And we'll tell you a little
bit about each of those
before we get to questions.
And I do just want to caution.
We are focusing on
education, curriculum,
and higher education.
We're not going to be
doing any discussion
of any specific events or
cases that have occurred
in the nation or the world.
So by way of
introduction, I'm going
to have each one of the
panelists introduce themselves.
- Hi.
Good afternoon,
everyone-- or, excuse me.
Still, good morning.
My name is Matt Loayza.
I'm the dean of the College of
Social and Behavioral Sciences,
here at Minnesota
State, Mankato.
My career at MSU
began back in 2003,
when I was hired as a professor
in the history department.
There I taught a bunch
of courses on US history,
mainly related to US
foreign relations,
served as interim dean in
2018, 2019, and last year,
dropped the interim
from the title.
So now, it's just dean.
I'm serving on this work
group, because law enforcement,
corrections, and
criminal justice
are all programs in the College
of Social and Behavioral
Sciences.
Part of my role as dean
is talking and working
with the faculty on
curricular revisions,
and development, and
all of those programs.
So welcome, everyone, and
thank you for joining us today.
- Hi.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Henry Morris,
the vice president
of Diversity and Inclusion.
I'm also a member of
the president's cabinet,
senior leadership advisory
group to the president.
And as Pat said, we've
been having conversations
at cabinet and council of
deans for a while on what
was happening in the
nation and what role
that we felt that we could
do to be part of changes.
And that was decided was needed.
I also-- as you
can probably tell,
I'm a African-American
male, so I
have some personal
interest in the discussion
that we're having.
So I look forward to
these listening sessions
to hear what we need to hear
about how Minnesota State
University can be
part of the solution
and not received as part
of anybody's problem.
- And I'm Pat Nelson.
You've probably heard
of me or seen me
talking about law enforcement.
I joined Minnesota State
University Mankato in 2012
as a faculty member of the
law enforcement program
and came from a
professional position
here in Minnesota as a
law enforcement officer.
I have a deep passion
for law enforcement.
I'm actually a fifth-generation
law enforcement officer
in my family.
I'm also the chair of the
Department of Government
that houses several programs,
including political science,
urban and regional
studies, law enforcement,
and criminal justice.
I serve as the program
director, specifically
for law enforcement
and criminal justice.
And I love to instill
in my students
the passion for being a part
of the community, and with law
enforcement, and
criminal justice.
And I'm really
excited to hear what
you have to give us for
information about our programs.
- Hi, Dr. Sherrise
Truesdale-Moore.
I'm associate professor of
corrections in the Department
of Sociology and Corrections.
I'm the past director of
the corrections program.
My former experience--
I ran a correction program
for the state of Maryland
in the late 1900s.
And I formerly was employed
at the US Attorney's Office
in Division of Narcotics.
I look forward to hearing
some of the things
that you have to say.
I came here in 2004.
And some of the courses
that I've taught
have been Juvenile Delinquency,
Intro to Criminal Justice,
Correctional Counseling, Social
Deviance, Cultural Competency
in Corrections.
I've done study abroad and
to study in South Africa--
the criminal justice
system there.
And I've also taught
race in juvenile justice.
So I look forward to
hearing some of the things
that you have to offer--
our curriculum.
- The next step in
our introduction--
we just want to really
give you a brief overview
of the programs to show you
what we are currently teaching
in there.
Because it might help
answer some questions
and generate some ideas.
So I'm going to turn this back
over to Dr. Truesdale-Moore
to talk about corrections.
- OK.
So first, I would like to
share with you the intent
or purpose of our program.
So the corrections
program was designed
to prepare students for
entry-level professional work
in corrections.
The major is built
upon a foundation
of general education, sociology,
and criminological concepts,
and a commitment to
understanding and transforming
the correctional practice.
So what we hear today
is very important.
The major achieves
its objectives
through the melding
of academic learning
with experiential education.
This program is further expected
to promote within corrections
and to the community at large,
a commitment to the principles
of social justice, respect,
tolerance, dignity,
and worth of all persons.
So our students-- when they
first come into our program,
they usually are taking
very intro classes.
That will be juvenile
delinquency, foundations,
and orientation.
Foundation is to introduce
you to some of the things
that we can offer
into our program,
whether it be non-profit
or in agency of some kind.
They'll give you some
experience in touching
on the discipline in some sort.
Juvenile delinquency--
of course,
it speaks for itself and
also the justice system
and the theoretical practices
behind understanding
the behavioral issues.
And our JOLT Program is a
really fascinating program
where it actually has
our students connected
with probation officers
who are working with youth,
who are on probation.
And one of our students
is assigned to one
of the kids on probation.
And we help them through
the probation process.
They have different
activities that they
may do with the youth.
They may talk to teachers.
They may talk to
someone in a community
that they have interaction with.
But they also work closely
with the probation officer
in the daily tasks
of what they do.
So other types of
courses are usually
what we call the 400
level, is usually
at the junior and senior level.
And that's where we are
actually digging into our major
to understand the applied
approaches to working.
Evidence-- what is
the best evidence
out there that tells us how to
best work with the population
into the community?
Other types of classes
that we have to take--
correctional law that
introduces to legal issues
within the correctional system.
But the interesting thing
about one of my courses
is that I teach cultural
competency in corrections,
where there I'm
teaching students
how to look at the
humanity of the offender
or the at-risk person that
they are working with.
That examines their
own awareness.
We look at skills.
And we look at--
and we start to build knowledge
and building intervention
practices that intersect with
evidence-based practices.
So I don't know where
I should go from here.
Because I could go on and on
and talk about each course.
But I try to give you an
interesting aspect or a lens
into what we do in our program.
- I'm going to move us on to
the criminal justice program.
Because Sherrise and I
worked very hard on this
to get this program at Minnesota
State University, Mankato.
There had been people
working on it before us,
but we were the ones that
finally got it approved.
And this is just the second
year of our criminal justice
program.
The criminal justice
degree is a little bit
different than the law
enforcement and the corrections
degree, but we blend in
classes from both of them.
There is a wide range
of occupations, careers,
associated networks
with criminal justice.
So it's much more than
police and corrections.
As you can see, we do a blend of
corrections and law enforcement
courses.
It is a little difficult
to decipher this layout
on the screen.
I admit that is
one of the things
that we are still working on to
make it a little bit smoother.
But we do have some
common core courses
that include ethics and
leadership, criminal law
and procedure, research, and
understanding drugs in society.
We also include a
cultural competency piece
where they can choose
between the Law Enforcement
Policing in a Diverse
Society course
or the Cultural Competency
in Corrections course.
We make them spend time on
theories such as criminology
and victimology.
And then we try to
tailor electives
into their interest in the
criminal justice system.
Sherrise, am I missing anything?
- No.
- And then our law
enforcement program.
So our law
enforcement program is
accredited by the Minnesota
Peace Officer Standards
and Trainings Board.
We are an official Professional
Peace Officer Education
Program.
Minnesota-- you have to have
at least a two-year degree
to become licensed
as a peace officer.
We're the largest four-year
program in the state.
And we always
encourage our students
to get a four-year degree
not just because they
get to spend more time
with us in the classroom,
but they get a lot more
maturity, more critical
thinking, more decision-making
in those final two years
at the university.
And that's what we promote.
So as you can see, there's a
lot of law enforcement classes.
We have a lot of post-learning
objectives we have to meet.
And we really have it
divided into two sections.
Our lower division
100 and 200 classes--
we consider the
core basic classes.
And these are also
ones that they would
get in a two-year program.
And then our 300 and
400-level classes
are those where we spend
a lot more time, more
in depth on theory,
practical application,
and real-world scenarios.
One of our highlights
is that we've
been teaching a Policing
in a Diverse Society
class for the last 20 years.
We moved it from the 200
level, up into our junior level
about three years
ago, because we wanted
to spend more time there.
And I know it might sound weird
that we have a class called
Law Enforcement Mindset.
But that was the best
title we could come up
with for psychologically
preparing them to communicate
and work in law enforcement.
So we can talk about individual
classes if you have questions.
We have course descriptions
as well on the website.
But I really want to be able
to have more time for questions
for the community.
So if you have any specific
questions, just let us know.
One more thing before
we get into questions
is we are asking for
additional members
to be a part of our criminal
justice program review work
group.
We're looking for some community
partners and subject matter
experts.
And we'll be meeting over
Zoom starting in August.
Right now, we don't have
quite the email address
you can send your
letter of interest to.
But we are looking
for people that are
interested in participating.
And we'll get that
information out,
probably in a press release
and on our website here soon.
So the structure of today--
you could submit your questions
via email to [email protected].
But since you're here in
our listening session,
we would prefer if you
submitted your questions
via the Q&A button, which is
on the bottom on your screen,
probably, or by
raising your hand.
If you raise your hand, we
will get you in the order
that people raise their hands.
We will limit your
question to a minute.
You will be muted until
your question is asked.
And then we'll mute
you again, just so
that we can respond without
getting a lot of feedback.
If you have
additional questions,
you can just raise your hand.
We will remind you that we are
just focused on education here,
so we will stay within
those boundaries.
So at that, I think I will
turn it back over to Chris.
Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
We did have some
questions that were
submitted to us ahead of time.
So I think what we'll do is
start with a few of those,
while our audience is
preparing their own questions.
And feel free, again, to use
the Q&A or to raise your hand.
And we'll get to you
when we're able to do so.
So why don't we start
with Dr. Nelson?
Why don't we start with you
with the first question, which
is, are students taught to
consider their career in law
enforcement as a way to protect
and serve through community
connections and outreach?
- So I will start by saying yes.
And you'll probably
see that I'll
share the program layouts as
we're talking and answering
questions here.
We do not do what is
called fear-based training.
We are focused, really.
We start them off
in a class called
Law Enforcement and
Community Relations,
right in their freshman year.
And we keep carrying
that through.
We talk about human behavior.
We talk about diverse societies.
We talk about psychologically
preparing yourself.
We have a stress course.
So, yes, that is a
common theme that you
hear from all of
our faculty members
is that we are
community members.
There is no "us" versus them.
We are all part
of the community.
And you should be
thinking those people
as your neighbors
and not the enemies.
So that is a very strong
thing that we try to teach.
- OK, we'll go with
another question here.
Potentially, Dean
Loayza, if you would
like to answer this question,
it's a more broad question.
But what can we do as educators
to change the direction
that policing has taken?
- I think what we're
continually trying
to do here at Minnesota
State, Mankato
is to always review our
programs on a regular basis.
Whether or not that's
criminal justice,
law enforcement, corrections,
are considering the question.
All of our other programs
such as history, sociology,
right on down the
line to really think
about how we analyze
society in a broad sense,
look at how policing
fits into just
the broader society that we
live in and participate in.
So looking at policing not just
under a really tunnel vision,
myopic focus, but
just look at how
it plays into many
of the challenges
that we're facing
as a broader society
and looking to address these
inequities on a systemic level
and contributing to
our broader society.
So I think if we can do
that and look at this,
I think, from a holistic
point of view and look
at how all of our university
programs, gen-ed curriculum
to majors can look at
these broader questions
and then, in turn, help prepare
the best professionally trained
individuals that we can, whether
or not they're peace officers,
whether or not they're social
studies or other educators,
engineers, social workers.
Then I think we'll
be much better
prepared to deal with these
variety of issues that
certainly include law
enforcement when we're
talking about, say,
systemic racism,
but go well beyond that.
- OK, thank you.
- Actually, I'd like to
jump in on this one, too.
I think this is
part of why we're
having this listening session.
Because when we
talk about education
and the direction policing is
going, I think it's important
we find out what
those in the community
think about our education.
What do they think we're doing?
What do they think
we should be doing?
So I would open up to anybody
that's on the attendees list.
You don't actually necessarily
have to have a question for us.
You could have a suggestion.
You could have an area you think
that we should be covering.
And maybe we are,
maybe we aren't.
But really, the sky
is the limit here.
I'll flat out tell you
if we can't do something,
because it's outside the law.
But otherwise, really,
the sky is the limit.
And that's what we're
really looking for,
is I want some feedback.
How can we help change the
direction of policing here?
- And I'll just
remind you that feel
free to put
questions in the Q&A.
And we'll address those
or raise your hand.
And we can get to your
question orally as well.
- Chris, can I just piggyback
on that a little bit?
- Yes.
- Again, I think what Matt and
Pat shared, I think, is core.
Minnesota State, Mankato
is a state university--
I think has a special
relationship between what
we do here and the
citizens of Minnesota
as a state institution.
Quite a bit of our budget comes
from the state legislature
through taxes, again
through the people.
And so as Chris said in
our opening statement,
we are responding to what
we heard from the community.
And as a university, we
put out to ourselves,
had conversations.
How can we be part
of this conversation?
What role do we have?
And, well, we teach a
lot of the people that
become officers in corrections.
So are we teaching
all the things
that make them better
employees in those environments
in the foundational level when
we come out of our program?
Are we doing the
best that we can
do to make them the
best people that they
can be in the communities
that they get hired to?
And so we have some
questions about that.
We see what's happening.
We read the newspapers.
We see all those
interesting things.
And so we know.
We have a special role.
We're not just innocent
bystanders looking at it.
We have an active role in
trying to make a difference.
Not the only role and maybe not
even the most important role,
but we know we have a role.
And so that's why we're
here to listen and to see
what we're missing.
And sometime when you're
part of the forest,
you can't see all the trees.
And so that's why we really
call in these listening sessions
for you to share
with us what you
may be seeing from
your perspectives,
that we might be able
to have the ability
to impact and make a difference
in, as we go forward.
- Thank you very much,
Vice President Morris.
The next question-- perhaps I'll
direct to Dr. Truesdale-Moore.
And that's a question about
the kinds of education
that our students
have about working
with people who have physical
or mental disabilities.
The person writing
asked specifically
about schizophrenia
or bipolar disorder.
Could you describe
how our students are--
what kind of experience they
have with that education?
You're muted.
- OK.
All right.
So there are a couple of courses
that we have in our program--
Correctional Counseling
that, actually, we
don't teach from the
perspective of maybe someone
in a mental health program
or a psychology program.
We look at it in terms of
how that particular disorder
affects how it impacts
their interaction with law
enforcement or
particularly probation.
We see it in terms of, what
does this disorder consist
of that create different
types of behaviors
that may impact how someone
sees you, reacts to you?
And then at the same time,
what are the best interventions
or programs that we can
put in place to make
sure that we have the
best types of outcomes?
So some of the exercises--
well, one of the
exercises that we do
is I have them to
research a disorder
and come back to class.
And this is not a
lecture pointing
to the board type of lecture.
This is a lecture
where they come
and they present the
issues about, for example,
schizophrenia.
And then after that
short presentation,
we use it in group
settings sitting down.
And no one is standing
up, pointing to the board.
Like I said, they
present that information.
Then the students
will take notes
as they hear what is happening
with that particular disorder.
And then my conversation, as I
facilitate the conversation is,
what will be the interaction?
Or what are some of
the issues that you
think that are important that
a probation officer should
know about?
So does it mean that
in some disorders,
you may be depressed a lot?
In some disorders, you
may be hyperactive.
In some disorders, you might
have to have medication
to manage you.
I can go on and on.
But at the same time,
once we understand
what those attributes
are, those characteristics
of the disorder, then it's not
necessarily about resistance.
Why should I just immediately
go to my docket and my file
and say, this person resisted?
No.
This person has problems
remembering his appointments.
How can we put
something in place
that challenge that
kind of response
or build better programming
so that he makes it
to his probation officer,
meets with him regularly?
Or we make sure he gets up on
time and gets to his program.
Or if he's acting
out in his program,
what are some of those
issues that we need to--
is group setting the
best place for him?
Or should we do an
individual setting?
So it's those kinds
of conversations
that we have in a
classroom that gives them
some insight on how
to work with someone
with those various
types of disorders.
- And I'll jump in on here.
So on the law
enforcement side, we
do spend quite a bit of time
going over the different types
and categories.
Not only in mental
illnesses, but also,
maybe injuries,
substance abuse, anything
that might impact
normal communication.
What we, I'll put quotes around
that, normal communications
with somebody.
So we actually start that in Law
Enforcement and Human Behavior.
We continue it in Law
Enforcement Mindset.
In fact, the first eight
weeks of that course
is spent on communications,
de-escalation,
active listening,
and mental illness.
And they do even
role-playing, where
they're role-playing
some interactions
in a safe environment,
so they can get feedback.
Now, our interaction on
the law enforcement side
with people that
have mental illness
usually come in two categories.
They're either in crisis, or
they need some assistance.
So we also spend quite a bit of
time on suicide intervention.
As somebody who has some
extensive experience
with crisis intervention,
I always start off
with my students,
telling them, how
do we start a conversation with
somebody who's mentally ill?
And they usually look at me.
It's like the same way you start
a conversation with anybody
else, because it's true.
Most law enforcement
officers do not
know they're dealing with
somebody who is mentally ill.
And the mental illness may
have no impact whatsoever
on the call.
So could we spend
more time on that?
Absolutely.
I could probably spend
every day, every semester
for five semesters trying
to teach this to somebody,
but it's a skill you have to
continually use and build.
But it's something we need to
definitely lay the foundation
for in education.
- Thank you.
We are receiving some questions
coming in from our audience.
So I'll start from the top.
Some of the questions
relate to one another.
But the first question
is, in what course
do students learn about the
history of law enforcement
as a profession?
Specifically, the
ways police have
been used to enforce oppressive
laws like Jim Crow laws.
The historical context
of the profession
seems key to help future
officers understand
some of the lack of trust people
have toward the institution
of policing.
- So you actually have two
classes that answer this.
The very history
of law enforcement,
going back to Sir Robert
Peel back in England
and our Magna Carta--
we start that an introduction
to criminal justice.
So everybody in all
three programs get this.
But the specific ways police
have used enforced law
to be oppressive--
that's our policing
under a diverse society.
And I'll admit, I actually
have a law enforcement degree,
but I don't remember
having any of that.
So I think it's really
good that we have it.
Do we need more?
I think one of my
suggestions-- and I
hope is something I also
hear from the community--
is maybe we need more of
it from a different voice
outside of law enforcement.
That might be one of our
suggestions for a curriculum
change.
And what do you guys think?
Do we need it?
- Vice President Morris, did
you want to speak to that issue?
- Yeah, I think history is an
important thing, because it
helps people to understand why
some communities may see police
to protect and serve.
And some may see them
as an occupying power.
And both truths could be true.
And until you can
understand the perspectives
of both and some time to--
that's where the whole issue
around certain terminology
about--
is your perspective
more right than mine?
They're just different
in that right.
How I perceive the
police, based on how
I was raised and
interact with them,
may be different
than somebody else.
And they're both
true for people.
And so that's why I do
think it's important
that people in the
criminal justice system
understand the different
perceptions that people have
based on their reality
and their history
with those people, who
they are interacting,
whether it's a judge, whether
it's police corrections.
And my wife happens to
be a probation officer--
well, used to be.
She now supervises them,
so we have conversations
from that perspective.
And how she does her role
as an African-American woman
is different sometime than
what her peers may do it.
Yet, so that
history, I think, is
paramount to understanding
why people respond differently
to police and to
correction officers.
- And I'm going to jump on here.
Because Jessica also had
a very similar question
that had just one part that
I would like to answer.
In our general
education component
here at the university,
history is an option
that students can study,
but is their selection.
When you start getting
into our programs,
we have some mandatory history
we build into our classes.
But does everybody
in our program
study the same
amount of history?
No, they don't.
Should they?
Maybe they should.
But then deciding
what part of that
they should be
required to study is
a conversation we need to have.
So I wanted to answer
Jessica, since we were already
on most of her question
there, the one section
that we didn't have.
- Chris, I could just
jump in briefly, too.
Yeah.
I mean, maybe I'm biased,
because I'm an historian.
But I think that everyone
should study history, obviously.
But I think, really, there
are a variety of programs
across the university,
many of them
in SBS that address related
questions on law enforcement.
And I think one
thing to consider
is the individual raising
the question clearly
understands what Jim Crow is.
Our entering freshmen
cohorts don't necessarily
know what that's a reference to.
So that's a very important
part of the equation.
When we think about
urban violence--
I've covered that in
my classes in the '60s.
As we currently do, do
we call those riots?
Do we label them as
rebellions instead?
I think those
questions lead themself
to a very different degree of
understanding of our history.
So I guess what I invite
the participants to think
about is, yeah, give us some
feedback as to, what kind
of perspectives
do you think would
be either necessary or helpful
to our future curriculum,
whether or not that comes
from history, sociology,
ethnic studies?
But, really, what do you think?
What do you want us to include
not just as core disciplines,
but topics such as Jim Crow, a
whole variety of other things?
- Dr. Truesdale, would
you like to speak
to that issue of
elements of history
that are in your program?
- Right.
Teaching the history around
law enforcement good.
However, that is only
one small aspect.
And the course that I think in
our discipline in corrections
is social deviance.
There's a book I use called
All God's Children by Fox
Butterfield that talks about the
history of violence in America
that takes you from the
American Revolution,
on up to present contemporary
life of a family.
And it includes not only
just issues around Jim Crow,
but all of the
nuances that happened
and the legal
issues that happened
around the existence of race
and family in this time.
And I use theory to help explain
some of the issues around it.
I talk about laws.
I talk about the elections
that happened in the late 1800
that created separation of
state and federal government
and what it did for African
Americans during Jim Crow
and why.
So there is so much information
that has to be discussed.
When you start
talking about history,
there's so much information.
But what I think is
important is to zoom
in on the conditions that affect
what our discipline is all
about.
Whether it be corrections,
law enforcement,
what are those conditions
that create something that
give you good or bad outcomes?
There's also a documentary
on Netflix called 13th.
And that gives you
a history lesson
about why these
conditions happen.
So I don't want to
just zero in on what
law enforcement has to do.
I think you're
missing most of what
has to take place
in a history lesson
to understand what
the conditions are
or the curriculum that needs to
take place if that makes sense.
- Thank you, Dr. Truesdale.
We have two related
questions, I think,
that potentially the
program directors
can help us respond to.
One asks if whether
students need to apply
to be in any of these programs.
If yes, are there personality
or psychological screening
of the applicants in order to
be considered to admission?
And a related
question, I believe,
is, how or when
does your program
talk with students
that may not be
appropriate for the
field of law enforcement?
And should they be steered
in a different direction?
So I guess both questions ask
about the application screening
process.
- I'll jump on here for the
law enforcement program.
So they can be admitted
to the law enforcement
program versus a freshman.
But then we get to a block
around their junior year,
where they have to
apply for admission
to finish the program.
And we are bound by some
Minnesota statutes that
have requirements about
a psychological exam
and physical exam
and some standards
there that we have to meet.
Those standards do not identify
specific personality types,
though.
The standards are
that the person
is not a danger to
themselves or others
and will not likely engage
in racial profiling.
I had to look at
the exact language
here, because I
never remember that.
And that is at the opinion
of the psychologist that
meets with the person
after they complete the--
I believe it's the MMPI-2.
And then from the
physical standard
is that they don't have
any pre-existing injuries
or medical restrictions.
So we do have
those requirements.
And we do have to
have that documented
by medical and
psychological professionals.
When somebody is hired
for a police department,
they usually go through
a different type
of psychological exam.
And I think the
second part of that
was, when do we talk to them?
If we are finding somebody may
struggle in law enforcement,
we try to talk to them
as soon as possible.
What do I mean by that?
If they are afraid to
communicate with people,
if they are telling
us they're not
comfortable with certain things,
if they're displaying anything
that we could interpret
as simply being
racist, homophobic,
discriminative behavior,
we'll sit down and talk to them.
Believe it or not,
many of them do not
realize they're
displaying that behavior.
I get that a lot
with role-playing
where they get into a little
bit of a stressful situation.
And suddenly, they are
using terms that are not
accepted in a classroom.
And they don't even
realize they're doing it.
And then we have to have a much
deeper discussion about that.
One of the limitations we do
have is that we cannot really
just tell somebody, you can't
get a law enforcement degree,
if they can meet that
minimum criteria.
Even if, as faculty, we've
sat down and talked to them
and said, this is probably
not the right fit for you
and why, if they can meet
the legal requirements,
we can't tell them, no,
you can't get this degree.
Now, most of those
students are weeded out
in the hiring process.
And it may seem silly
that we can't do that.
But again, we're bound
by legal rules on what
our minimum standards are.
And then we're bound on other
philosophical type of ideas
on whether we
could tell somebody
they can't get a degree or not.
- Chris, if I could?
Well, there's two things.
And one is I want to ask
the audience something.
But the first part of this is
that in my discipline as you
study issues around race
and counseling issues,
there's Dr. Harold Neighbors
at the University of Michigan.
I don't know if
he's retired now,
but he does a lot on
Blacks and psychology.
And in his research--
and you can google much.
He's well-established
in the discipline.
But in his research, he talks
about African Americans being
more likely to be misdiagnosed.
So when we look at law
enforcement and issues
around, saying,
OK, this person--
and a psychologist is
saying, this person
has some mental
health challenges.
Oftentimes, we need to
question, go a little further.
Is that person using
the right instrument?
Is it a culturally
appropriate instrument
that they're examining?
What is their awareness,
knowledge, and skill
set in making those diagnosis?
Because when you make any of
those types of assessments
about someone, there is
a level of subjectivity
around their perspective.
So if you take the consideration
that African Americans are
often misdiagnosed, we can look
at that in terms of offender
and those who are actually
going into the field.
And how many of
these people who are
psychologists, who are actually
making this determination--
what is their skill set as well?
Because we can't assume that
when that person is actually
making that evaluation that
they have the best skill
sets themselves.
Historically, if we go
back and look at history,
mental health has also been
used to control as far back
as slavery to try to escape.
To try to escape would mean
that you had a mental health
disorder.
And there is a level of issue,
concerns about the diagnosis.
So not only are we
concerned about what
African-American community.
Not only are we concerned
about, are there
enough people of color
getting jobs in policing?
Or do they want them at all?
But also, looking at
the offender side.
How does that person--
who is diagnosing that person?
And we're more concerned
in my discipline
in corrections about how we
put those kinds of labels
on people.
And then at the same
time, once they've
been labeled that way, with
it being then misdiagnosed,
then that means you are not
given a correct intervention
for that person as well or
programming for that person.
OK.
All right.
- I think your
comments, Dr. Truesdale,
lead to another question that
was provided here about--
and I assume all
the panelists could
speak to this to some
extent is the kinds
of efforts that are being
made by the university
to enroll students of
color, to enter corrections,
criminal justice, and
law enforcement programs.
And I'll leave it open.
I think many of you might
have perspectives on this.
- I'll jump in.
I know that we, specifically,
for criminal justice, law
enforcement, and,
well, corrections,
because we do corrections
at the same time,
we go recruit in a couple
very specific areas.
The Minnesota Police
Explorers Conference
is one that we go to.
This was our first year
missing it in eight years,
because of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Our academic advisor,
Trudy Kunkel,
actually goes up to Anoka,
Hennepin Technical College
for an event every fall.
Because they actually
have a high school program
that goes right into
law enforcement.
We have tried to get to
the LEO Conference, which
is the Law Enforcement
Opportunities Conference.
We try to get out there to where
we know that there might be
a larger gathering of students.
We do have connections with
our community colleges.
Because that's a natural
transition from the ones
that are getting their two-year
degree to come and finish
their four-year degree.
But that's about the extent
that I have right now that we've
been doing, specific
criminal justice
program recruiting
out in the community.
- Maybe what we can do is have
the program representatives
talk about how their
programs recruit.
And then we'll hear what
the administrators have
to say about more broadly
recruiting students of color
to the university as well.
So Dr. Truesdale?
- Well, I can tell you.
Our discipline is
mostly one where
they realize what they
want to do once they get
into the university and
take courses like Juvenile
Delinquency, an Intro
to Criminal Justice,
or any one of those intro class.
So we're one of those
kinds of majors, OK?
The second thing that I
wish we would do more of
is to go to different community
colleges and start recruiting.
We are at the stage where we are
making connections with them,
which I think is a good thing.
I do believe to recruit students
of color, particularly Black
and brown students.
The university has
to do a better job
at bringing in faculty
that looks like them.
And the honesty-- that
has been a challenge.
It's just been a challenge
trying to hire someone
at the university.
So I'll just leave it at that.
- I'll answer some of that
as the VP of Diversity
and Inclusion.
One of my primary
responsibilities
is to help the
university recruit
and retain diverse
employees and students.
We are, I think, fairly
good at recruiting students.
We need to get better.
And we are getting better
at retaining those students.
Because to get here,
they have to be
able to get that four-year
degree and leave us.
We do have some programs
that are specifically
to try to get diverse
students into higher ed,
into specific programs.
It may be one of
those we are to do.
Right now, we have some
for diverse students
in the sciences.
Maybe we ought to do some of
these with special recruiting
for diverse students going
into criminal justice,
going into policing,
going into corrections.
So we can and probably should
do a better job of doing that.
Because our
communities, again, are
saying they would just like--
Dr. Truesdale was talking about
the importance of students
seeing role models as
their faculty members.
Many people in the
communities out there
say they would love to see
police that look like them
and think like them
in their community.
So that is something
we, as a university,
can make a commitment to
doing different and better
and following up on some
of these suggestions
that we are talking about.
- I also want to jump in here.
Like in law enforcement,
most of our students
come to the university
knowing they
want to be law enforcement.
And that's part of the
recruiting connection
we need to have with local
law enforcement agencies.
Most students that want
to study law enforcement
have had one of those
experiences with a law
enforcement officer
that they idolized.
They've got a mentor
connection, or they
want to make things better.
I mean, we have a pretty good
relationship with the Mankato
Department of Public Safety.
But we need to be pushing our
relationships more outside
of Mankato and even with Mankato
to help recruit those students.
Because you influence our
law enforcement students
in our high schools.
We can't do that all
as our university.
But if we work with our
partners in the profession,
maybe we could have a better
chance of recruiting students
in high school,
get their interest,
get them into some
programs where
we're working together to
build our student population.
And I know the next question.
I'm just going to
answer it here.
We at the university
reflect the same percentages
of women and officers of
color that the law enforcement
agencies do in
the Upper Midwest.
We're right about 15% for
female and about 10 or 11%
officers of color.
We've run almost
exactly the same
as our law enforcement agencies.
So any recruiting
efforts they do, help us.
And any recruiting
efforts we do,
help our law
enforcement agencies.
And I think that's a partnership
we need to explore more.
I don't know what
that looks like.
And I don't know that
our law enforcement
officers and elected officials
know what that look like.
But it's probably a
conversation we need to have.
We need to be
helping each other.
We really do.
- Can I ask a question of
my colleagues on the panel
as I was listening to you?
And let me say, I'm also
learning about our programs
here.
So I'm also-- when
we are talking
about the psychological
kind of issues and stuff,
do we ask our police to do
too much in our correction?
That seems like a big issue.
I have lots of degrees.
And I couldn't answer
some of these questions
in terms of evaluating.
So do we ask our police
and child programs
to try to figure that
out in our relationship
with police, what
we ask police to do?
- You want to jump on
that first, Sherrise,
or you want me to?
- I think they do.
I think that--
I was raised on the East Coast.
And many people who majored--
yeah, some who majored
in criminal justice, some
did psychology and social
work just like here.
But also, some of
those individuals
came from the
Marines or the Army
and decided that they wanted
to do law enforcement--
trained to kill.
They're trained to use weapons.
We're not just
talking about a gun
that we wear on our holster.
We're talking about people
who also are used to--
use the M-16s and M-60s.
And some also have come
through Desert Storm.
They had gotten law
enforcement jobs.
And some people who want
to work in law enforcement
may have some of
their own issues
that they have to unravel.
Some people may not-- who
work in law enforcement
really, really don't
know how to work
with someone who's dealing
with mental health challenges.
We can say it all day long.
We can just say it all
day long in a class.
But until you go and
have that interaction,
you're really not
sure what to do.
So a trained person should
be the one to go in there
and probably de-escalate.
Because they understand
those people's challenges
more than someone like myself
who's a law enforcement person.
And I'm trained to do
other things, right?
So I think we need
to really think
about who we're sending
in to do certain things.
And then I will say
from a personal note,
I have a cousin who just retired
last year from law enforcement
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
And I asked her when some of
our own incidents have happened.
I asked her.
I said, what kind of
questions did they ask you?
And she said before, when
got hired in the early '90s.
And she said they asked me
about a gender question.
And the question was,
when he goes in--
your partner is a male.
He goes in to deal with
a situation or a crisis.
Are you going to sit in the car?
Or are you going to go with him?
She says, I'm going
to go with him.
Because right now, we're equal.
We're looking out
for each other.
Right.
That's the right answer, right?
But she said to me there was
not one diversity question
that they asked her
in the interview.
Not one.
And my concern is at
the hiring process.
Not just, what is that
person trained to do?
But what kind of
questions you're
asking them to get them prepared
to think about [AUDIO OUT]
that they may have
to deal with, right?
I think that's important.
So to go back to more
specific to the question,
I think we ask law enforcement
to do too much, right?
I do think we ask
them to do too much.
And every single thing
that we come into contact--
call the police, call the
police, call the police.
They could be having coffee.
And they're not where
they're supposed to.
Call the police.
I think that we ask
them to do too much.
- So as somebody who is a
Midwest girl, grew up Midwest,
I was working law
enforcement in the Midwest.
Yes, we have
trained our society.
Over the last 15 to 20 years,
if you need anything, call 911.
And also, we've had our
government structure create
a system where, OK, so
who can answer these 911
calls, no matter what?
Law enforcement, fire, and
emergency medical technicians,
right?
So you have expanded what's
required of law enforcement.
And we also have some laws.
The only profession that
can put a hold on somebody
who is in a mental health
crisis and refusing to get help
is the law enforcement officer.
Even a social worker would have
to call the law enforcement
officer to take that
person against their will
to get medical treatment.
Could we balance out things?
Maybe.
Right?
We also have to do
assessments of where
we think the issues are.
What do we think are the calls
that law enforcement should
be going on or maybe
shouldn't be going on?
And who would be
able to do that?
There's a lot of thought
we need to put into it.
I mean, are we going to tell
people you can't call 911
for everything?
And now, this is the
only list of things
you can call them for?
How would we train
people to not do that,
now that we've trained them to
call 911 if they need anything?
Right?
And our law enforcement
officers are not all the same,
nor do we ever want
them to all be the same.
The point is we no longer
have, what does the perfect law
enforcement officer look like?
Right?
Because we want them to reflect
everybody in the community.
We want them to think
differently and so
think all alike.
We want them to be able to
communicate differently.
A challenge is, how do
we get more of that?
I mean, we have a
lot of people that
are interested in being in law
enforcement that might be--
I'm just going to use a
stereotype for a second.
White males that grew
up in the suburb,
so they don't really have
exposure to diversity.
Well, should we discourage
them from following
the pursuit of law
enforcement because of that?
Or can we help give
them some education
that maybe can help their
cultural competency, that
may turn them in to be a great
community officer somewhere?
I guess that's probably
my burning question,
is, how do we take the
ones that are interested
and want to be a part
of it and make them
better, going into the law
enforcement profession,
or more equipped, or have
more tools, along with making
our programs more
attractive for those
in diverse and
underrepresented communities?
It's a balance
that we need to do.
Because then we go back
to Henry's question.
Are we expecting law
enforcement to do too much?
Well, if we had the right
people in there, we're not.
I don't know.
Because we have some great
people with military experience
that are awesome officers.
You would never have known that
they were over in Desert Storm,
right?
But we also need those that
haven't been in that mentality.
- There was a submitted
question earlier
related to whether there is
a focus in the curriculum
on understanding implicit bias
and processing experiences
with people of color.
It seems like that might
be a related question.
- Well, I would
like to answer that.
My big thing is I think
that if you have not been
raised in a diverse community--
and Midwest is not a
diverse place at all.
This is not.
When I first came
here, I had students
that say they never had an
African-American professor
before.
So I was news to them.
And then moving across the
country from the East Coast
here--
that was news to them.
Some had never been
on the East Coast.
So my encouragement is
to have our students--
whether they're in the
corrections, law enforcement,
criminal justice,
all three programs,
they need to spend time in a
diverse community and not one
that they claim to
be someone that's
going to appease
them in some way
or what they call a
safe space or whatever.
No.
You need to go to
urban America where
you might be patrolling
at some point
or working as a probation
officer at some point
and be a part of that
community, whether it
be working in a
shelter, whether it
be beating a street
with someone,
whether it be doing
some outreach work.
They need to go spend
time in those communities.
I have trouble taking
a student from a very--
a community where
there is no diversity.
And then all a sudden, they
have to work in a community
with lots of diversity and
cultural activities or values
and beliefs that are just
the exact opposite of what
they have.
So it's important that
they understand or have
a comfort level in interacting.
Most-- you have a lot.
Well, I won't say most.
But there are lots of
African-American students
on our campus that
come to this space.
And they're the only
person in their class.
And they can't
relate to anybody.
No one is African
American in their class.
I've seen that many a time.
And sometimes I'm the
only one in the class.
But how does that
student who is white--
how does that person--
they were put in a situation
where they were the only
white person in the class.
How then do you function?
What are the experiences
that you have?
And so they have to become--
get a grip on if they're
going to work in a field that
has a high level of diversity.
Because when you go
into corrections,
you have majority Black
and brown offenders there.
Unfortunately,
that's our reality
that I wish I could change.
But how do you go into a
discipline or a profession that
looks the exact opposite of you?
You say you want to police, but
you don't have any experience.
So how do we give
them that experience
in working with this
population before they
become professional?
I think it's crucial.
- Dr. Morris, would you
like to say something?
- Yeah.
No.
Well, I already
said what I-- there
was something I was looking
at in the questions.
And I was going to ask from
an outsider's point of view.
As an outsider,
my degrees are not
in the majors we're
talking about, more
as a consumer of those majors.
And that was, what do we see
as weaknesses in our programs?
And I can tell you,
when I first started
to ask the question
with my colleagues
here at the university, was,
do we have gaps in our program?
That was the word I used I
think missing there, that
would give our graduates a
better foundation for them
to be police.
Because again, a lot of
things happen to them
after they leave us.
So we can have the
best program here.
And things still
can happen to them
after they leave us,
to move them in a path
that we would not
like and take on.
Oh, that's a graduate of ours.
We wouldn't want to do that.
So that is the question.
Do we have gaps?
And I think that's one of
the things we're looking at.
And that's why we're asking
the community-- from community
members, from people who may
be interested in joining us.
Are there gaps when
you have interacted
with police or to corrections?
There was something
that you thought
was just a miss that would
help us figure out how we'd do
a better wrap-around program.
How do we look at those gaps?
What are they missing?
Now, I think there
may be some gaps.
But you don't know
what you don't
know until you look at it.
There may actually not be gaps.
Again, we don't
control everything
about people in
criminal justice.
So that's one of the things
that is-- we're asking
the question-- are there?
Which I think is the
first thing of learning.
- Another thing-- and
I was going to jump
on Sherrise's there, is part of
our job in education should be
to give our students a chance
to interact positively with
a community that's
different than theirs.
We don't want to just
give somebody a degree
and send them out into
a diverse committee,
whether it's an
immigrant community,
a domestic community.
If their very first interaction
with them is during a crisis
and that's how they
build all of their base
knowledge of that community
is off of a crisis situation,
then we're really doing
them a disservice.
So maybe part of it is
doing the public service
or maybe hearing
voices different than--
we joke in a way,
in our program.
Because we've tried to
hire more diverse faculty,
but we're all white, right?
So our professor that teaches
Policing in a Diverse Society--
he's really into sociology.
He loves the history.
He really focuses on implicit
bias and systemic racism.
But as he says at
the end of the day,
I'm a white law enforcement
officer who's now a professor
telling that to my law
enforcement students.
They need to be hearing
that from a voice
from a different community as
well in building those images,
right?
I think-- I know we
have that as a gap.
I have no idea how to correct
it or fix it at this point.
But they need to be building
positive interactions
with all sorts of
different communities,
not just where we come from.
And that's true of everybody,
not just white people.
It's true of everybody.
And that should be part of
our job in higher education
is to help build
those interactions
and relationships before we send
somebody out into the world.
To be a part of a global
citizenship in a community,
we should be able to relate.
And I wish I knew the magic
answer to fix that right now,
but that's what we're doing.
We're trying to get
some ideas to do that.
- Chris, can I jump in briefly?
I think, again, I don't have
the magic pathway either.
But there's things that
are coming down the road.
We've talked within social
and behavioral sciences
about building some new
structures for collaborations
within the college
that are really
centered around the
idea of public service.
And the general idea
is to whatever program
it has to be, just invite more
opportunities for collaboration
with other departments,
whether or not
it's gender and women's studies,
ethnic studies, sociology.
And then through
those collaborations,
we're making those
collaborations easier.
I mean, some of them
are going on already.
And I really tip my hat
to both Sherrise and Pat
for their work on
criminal justice.
Because I think that's the best
example, most pertinent example
right now of that collaboration.
But if we can make
it easier, then I
think that we
would say provide--
have an opportunity to provide
students and law enforcement
or corrections with
more opportunities,
perhaps through another
instructor and program
to have those
opportunities to engage
with outside communities.
So we're excited about that.
And I think, secondly, the
other thing that we really
have to do as a college
and a university
is really into both
potential students
and to the community, what
it is that we actually do.
And last year in social
and behavioral sciences,
we were able to hire a person
that specifically can assist
faculty in those
programs to reach out
to potential students
with marketing materials.
So it's one thing to
get back to recruiting.
It's one thing to recruit, but
you've got to have a message.
And all of us are very busy
in our own professions.
And we're not born
marketers, most of us.
So I think now that
we have a person that
can assist in that regard,
we'll be better positioned
to reach out to
potential students
and also community
members to explain
what it is that programs
such as corrections,
criminal justice, and law
enforcement actually do.
- Dr. Truesdale, did
you want to speak
to the issue of weaknesses
overall, we were talking about?
- I think we have
to-- as a university,
when it comes to our program,
we have to do a better job
at hiring Black and brown
faculty who are from domestic.
And the reason I say domestic
is because this issue
is very, very concerning to
the African-American community
and Hispanic community.
They've been born here,
raised here, and been dealing
with this all their lives.
And I think we have to do
a better job at building
that kind of community.
If you look at the
[INAUDIBLE] model,
his research talks about when
you have faculty, that teachers
look like their students.
They're more likely to
do better at school.
The conversations that I
have had with my students who
are of color in my office have
been quite different from those
who are white.
Some would be, this is what I'm
experiencing on my internship.
How can I deal with this?
Just last year, someone
was crying about the racism
that she was experiencing
on her internship.
And I had to have that
same conversation with her
that my mother had
with me, you see?
And we have to do a
better job at hiring.
We have to do a
better job at, who
are we connecting
our students to when
they're doing an internship?
I've heard disastrous
experiences
that I wish I could go
down there to those offices
and those agencies and correct.
But I can't always do that.
I can't always do that at all.
One of the reasons
why I created--
started teaching cultural
competency in corrections
is because of something
that I had witnessed myself
in Minnesota.
And I vowed I did not
want any of my students--
Black, brown, white immigrant
to have to go into a workspace
and see that.
So how do I make a
difference as a professor?
How do I make a
difference in terms
of improving not just their
experiences that they have
when they get there.
But you don't become that
professional that I heard.
How do I make a
difference in that way?
So I think about what I
can change in my space.
- We have two very related
questions, I think,
to that, Dr. Truesdale.
I just want to remind
everybody who's
with us that to continue to
submit questions or raise
your hand if you'd like
to express them orally.
We are scheduled to go
till 1 o'clock today.
But there are two questions.
And they both relate
to internships.
One question asks about
corrections, specifically
placing students in
internships amid a pandemic.
And the other question
asks about, is it possible?
Or would it be appropriate to
require a one-year internship
in diverse communities
for all students?
So perhaps we could
address these questions.
- I'll let Pat go first.
- I thought maybe
you wanted to talk
about how you're doing
internships in pandemics,
but I'll go first here.
- We can do both of us.
I was just-- didn't
want-- have all the time.
- Actually, I'll go first here.
I'm at Bess here, if you don't
mind, I'm going to unmute you.
Could you explain what
you would think about--
what do you think a
year-long internship
in a diverse community
might look like?
Because I'd be really
interested to hear about that.
So I'm going to unmute
you if you wouldn't
mind talking about that.
- You're talking to me?
- No, I'm sorry.
The person I allowed to--
- Who is that?
- Here we go.
I think I've got
her unmuted here.
Unmute.
Taylor, I might
need your help here.
- Is that Bess?
- Yes.
- Yeah, I'm trying
to unmute her, too.
- Hello?
- Oh, there you are.
Hi.
- Oh, hi.
- That's all right.
So what do you
think an internship
in a diverse community
might look like?
- Well, just off
the top of my head,
it's, how about spending a
year in north Minneapolis?
See how you can survive,
see how you can interrelate,
see how you can get along.
Or how about in the Somali
community near the U
of M, or the Latino
communities, or maybe take
the Hmong community in
St. Paul, or take turns.
Be in one for two months.
Another one-- maybe
learning another language.
That teaches you a lot about
the culture of the community,
the sensibilities, the way
the community looks at life,
which may be really different.
And I'm not from the
Midwest either, originally.
And I look at things quite
differently than Midwesterners.
So I think you can't learn that.
I know, Chris, you've
been in France.
So it's like going
to France for a year.
And you come out a
different person.
Because you see that your
way is not the only way.
And I think we have
people who don't travel
or who have not
spent time somewhere
else in another community.
They think their way is the way.
There is no other way.
And then they can freak
out if they go abroad.
And it's like, oh, we
have to use the toilet
with a hole in the floor.
How do I do this?
That kind of thing, just
different experiences.
So I think it'd be really
valuable for students
to be immersed.
I don't know if any of
you've seen The Wire on TV.
How would you survive as a
white person who never had
that experience in The Wire--
Baltimore?
So I just think it will give
people a different perspective,
a day-to-day thing.
Not necessarily being
a police officer,
but just living, relating,
buying your groceries,
et cetera, in another community.
- Thank you.
- Thank you, Bess.
I'm sorry to put
you on the spot,
but I wanted to hear
what your point is.
- Yeah, I'm glad
she stated that.
Because I lived in
Baltimore for 13 years.
And that's where
I ran my program.
And it's very true.
I've had to back away
from doors before,
dealing with some
of the population
that I was working with.
But I am interested in seeing,
Bess, how some of our students
would actually function there.
I had a student here
that's from Minnesota
that decided to do his
internship in Chicago.
And he came back
after his internship.
And he said, "Doc!
You weren't lying, honey!
You weren't lying!"
And he talked about his
experience and all the things.
And I said, how did it work out?
And it was eye opening for him.
It really was.
It was something that I
can't teach you in a book.
I can't teach you it all.
You have to go stand in those
spaces and figure it out.
- And then on the flip
side, because I actually
bought and rehabbed a house in
Jordan neighborhood in north
Minneapolis before,
while I was in college.
And I lived there
the first seven years
I was in law enforcement.
The flip side of
that is you realize
your neighbors are people.
You realize the people
in the neighborhood,
which could be multiple blocks,
are not all criminals, right?
You're only dealing with
maybe 3 to 4% of them.
And it's easy to lose
that perspective if you're
working overnight and all you do
is go 911, called to 911 call.
So I actually think
it's a great idea.
And I know there's a lot of
organizations and agencies
that could give both
sides of that perspective
where you could go.
And maybe things are
different than you thought.
Or maybe they are
also people that
are working, and struggling
to live, and making ends meet.
And not everybody is
a bad person, too.
That's our "us"
versus them philosophy
that we hear a lot
about in the media
that we need to try to address.
- And I'm glad you
said that, Pat.
Because the thing about it is
when we talk about The Wire,
there was a time
when I had students
that just automatically
thought that I came from--
I say, quote unquote,
"urban America."
I was raised in rural America,
outside of Charlottesville,
Virginia.
So they are just two
different experiences,
I can tell you that.
I was used to leaving
my door unlocked and all
this other kind of stuff.
But the point that
I want to make
is what Pat said, that
people are people.
And there are, for instance,
African-American churches
in these communities
where I went
to church in Baltimore that
are thriving, very political.
These people were-- if
they weren't the mayor,
they were the assistant to the
mayor, or they were teachers,
or they were janitors, or
they were all walks of life,
people who didn't have a
job, or the homeless man
on the street that decided
to come in and worship.
So I think that it's important
that Pat had said that,
that you will see
that they are human.
And your interaction
in those spaces--
you'll find that they're
still upstanding people who
care about their communities.
They want to have a
drug-free community.
They want to have
a safe community.
They go to church.
They go to school.
Where I got my
master's is not far
from the riots that was
in Baltimore, literally
a block away.
So I think that it was
important for Pat to say that.
- That's actually
something we battle
a lot in all three programs
is the media influence on what
they think is happening.
I mean, you look at all
the entertainment shows.
I mean, if you went off
their entertainment shows,
every police officer
you know would
have been in four shootings
and a chase every other week.
And every person they
arrest is a criminal.
And if you would
go to California--
Watson Compton you couldn't
do anything or even listening
to media in north Minneapolis.
There's such a large
geographic area.
And there's such a small
percentage of actual crime
that occurs there.
Yes, I know Sherrise
does this, too.
We battle the
media all the time.
- I heard Sherrise talk about
internship all over when
she was talking about--
Pat, is that currently
part of your program,
that students have to do
some sort of internship?
- No, we don't require an
internship at this point.
It's not so much that we
don't think it's valuable.
It is.
It would be just finding
the right internships.
Most of them want to do
internships in law enforcement
agencies, which is good.
But that also taxes our law
enforcement agency's ability
to host interns.
I mean, we have
one to two interns
at Mankato Department of
Public Safety every year,
every semester.
And we put them in
Blue Earth County.
The one thing that we
do get concerned about
is if people want--
require internships
up in the metro area.
Well, if they live
full time in Mankato,
how can they get
up to internships?
Or if they live full time up
in the metro area and commute
to Mankato, balancing that out.
It is probably something we
need to look at again, though.
- Would you think--
again, I'm part of the audience
here, is asking the questions.
What about internships?
Is what I think the woman
asked in social services
organization.
There are quite a
bit of non-profits
in southern Minnesota community
organization, so not just
prudence.
And you don't have
to answer it now,
but something I
think as a committee,
we may want to look at as we
evaluate what the program is.
Is there a wider range of
internships if that's decided,
make sense?
- Well, I'll put it on the list.
I think that's a good one.
- If I could respond to him.
And, Henry, I think that
working outside our discipline
as an intern.
If we were to require a
certain amount of time
before an internship.
Because you have
to understand how
to do the applied stuff
that you would get--
being trained to do.
Just have to do that.
But I think the best thing
to understand and learn
the community is what
Bess was saying, is
that go into these communities
and learn the culture.
Because that's
where you understand
how to interact best.
So it could be working
at a food shelter.
It could be working--
a lot of African-American
churches have programming.
It could be
something that you're
doing with the programming.
It could be something
that you're working in.
Not necessarily social work, but
some type of service driven--
where you're interacting
with everyday people.
It could be inside of
a school, something
where you're interacting
with everyday people.
If you're working
in your discipline,
you don't necessarily get that.
- We just have a
few minutes left.
And I know there is general
interest around the country.
And maybe Dean Loayza,
has some perspective
on this in terms
of how internships
in the College of Social and
Behavioral Sciences generally,
for example, are working
in an age of pandemic.
How is that working
for students?
You're muted.
- You're muted, Matt.
- Yeah.
I guess in short, I'd say
that is a work in progress.
And there are certainly
renewed challenges
that we need to figure out.
Without going into
express detail,
I guess I'd say in
the age of COVID, what
we want to do is provide the
best experiences for student
learning that are possible.
So in limited cases--
so again, if there is a way to
have those internships continue
in an online basis, we're
pursuing those opportunities,
just out of concern for safety
on both ends of the spectrum,
whether or not it's the
student or for the participants
in the partner agency.
If there really is no way
to replicate an internship
experience online,
then we've worked
to develop a clear set
of safety protocols
that both the partner agency
and the program and the student
will agree to.
They all expect that
all parties will
attend to CDC guidelines
for social distancing,
so forth, and so on.
So the programs in-- or
the internships in SBS
have followed a wide
variety, based on basically
what might be possible in
a face-to-face environment,
what might be possible
in an online environment
and just take it on
a case by case basis.
So without really
getting into the nuts
and bolts of all
of our programs,
I guess I'd start there.
And if there is
follow-up questions,
can certainly field those.
- Thank you.
We just have a few minutes left.
I don't know if, Dr. Nelson,
you'd like to close us out.
I know we have three
more of these sessions--
July 16, July 20, and July
22 if people are interested.
- And if you have
some ideas, I'm
always happy to take
those ideas, too,
if you think of them later.
Again, we are still
looking for people
to be part of work groups.
And it doesn't have to just be
members of urban communities.
We're looking for members of
all communities in Minnesota.
We have graduates that work
in every type of community
in Minnesota.
That's who we're educating
our students for as well.
So, please, if you're a smaller
community, a rural community,
we're still interested in
what you're thinking as well.
Again, we'll be
putting out information
on submitting a
letter of interest
to be a part of the work group.
And if you want to join us
for the rest of the sessions,
you can.
It's going to be
very similar, though.
We're just really opening
it up for some feedback
and talking about what we do.
And if you'd like to join us or
if you want to pass the word,
we appreciate that.
- OK.
Well, thank you very much.
All of our panelists
are readily available.
You can find them online
at the university.
You could contact them
via email or phone.
If you have any follow-up
questions or thoughts,
I'm sure they'd appreciate
your input as they're
evaluating their programs
and talking about how they
can enhance the educational
experiences of our students
as well.
So thank you very much
for joining us today.
And maybe we'll see
you at a future one.
But if not, please do let other
people know in the community
that they can
participate as well.
Thank you.
|
Q:
Collecting attributes from dask dataframe providers
TL;DR: How can I collect metadata (errors during parsing) from distributed reads into a dask dataframe collection.
I currently have a proprietary file format i'm using to feed into dask.DataFrame.
I have a function that accepts a file path and returns a pandas.DataFrame, used internally by dask.DataFrame successfully to load multiple files to the same dask.DataFrame.
Up until recently, I was using my own code to merge several pandas.DataFrames into one, and now i'm working on using dask instead. When parsing the file format i may encounter errors and certain conditions i want to log and associate with the dask.DataFrame object as metadata (logs, origin of data, etc).
Its important to note that when reasonable, I'm using MultiImdices quite heavily (13 index levels, 3 column levels). For metadata that describes the entire dataframe and not specific rows, I'm using attributes.
Using a custom function, I could pass the metadata in a tuple with the actual DataFrame. Using pandas, I could add it to the _metadata field and as attributes to the DataFrame obejcts.
How can I collect metadata from separate pandas.DataFrame objects when using the dask framework?
Thanks!
A:
There are a few potential questions here:
Q: How do I load data from many files in a custom format into a single dask dataframe
A: You might check out the dask.delayed to load data and dask.dataframe.from_delayed to convert several dask Delayed objects into a single dask dataframe. Or, as you're probably doing now, you can use dask.dataframe.from_pandas and dask.dataframe.concat. See this example notebook on using dask.delayed from custom objects/functions.
Q: How do I store arbitrary metadata onto a dask.dataframe?
A: This is not supported. Generally I recommend using a different data structure to store your metadata if possible. If there are a number of use cases for this then we should consider adding it to dask dataframe. If this is the case then please raise an issue. Generally thought it'd be good to see better support for this in Pandas before dask.dataframe considers supporting it.
Q: I use multi-indexes heavily in Pandas, how can I integrate this workflow into dask.dataframe?
A: Unfortunately dask.dataframe does not currently support multi-indexes. These would clearly be helpful.
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In vitro transformation of MCF-10A cells by sera harvested from heifers two months post-Zeranol implantation.
Among many risk factors of breast cancer, estrogens and non-estrogenic endocrine disruptors are considered to play critical roles in human breast carcinogenesis. Zeranol (Z) is a non-steroidal agent with potent estrogenic activity and has been widely used as an FDA approved beef growth promoter in the US. Recently, concerns have been raised about the potential adverse health risk by consumption of products containing biologically active Z and its metabolites. By utilizing cell proliferation assay, soft agar assay, quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting analysis, we examined the potentially tumorigenic activity of bio-active Z containing sera harvested from heifers two months post Z-implantation and the underlying mechanisms. Our results showed that the growth of MCF-10A exposed to 0.2, 1 and 5% Z-containing serum (ZS) treatment for 3 weeks was 1.3, 1.75 and 1.8-fold faster compared to that of the control sera. After further investigation, we found that ZS increased cyclin D1 and decreased p53 expression at the mRNA and protein levels in MCF-10A compared to the controls. More importantly, treatment of 1% Z-containing sera for 21 days stimulated MCF-10A cells anchorage-independent colony formation in soft agar which illustrates its capability of inducing human normal breast epithelial cell neoplastic transformation. Our experimental results suggest that long-term exposure of low levels of Z and its metabolites contained in beef products might be a potential risk factor in human breast cancer initiation and development.
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North Scituate
North Scituate is the name of several places in the United States:
North Scituate, Massachusetts
North Scituate (MBTA station)
Smithville-North Scituate historic district in Scituate, Rhode Island
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