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|123 posts found
Novice Member
Joined: 6/02/14
I couldn't stick with the game for long and my principal reasons were: -
The first was an annoyance but the second was a game killer for me.
Advanced Member
Joined: 5/04/09
sometimes i login the game and still client performance is terrible. they should fix client performance first, it looks like a alpha beta game.
Hard Core Member
Joined: 4/23/08
The combat is so extremely dull and boring and repetitive... And its the main focus of the game, you fight constantly. If the combat was at least a little bit better or I wasn't forced to fight all the time I would of love this game... sigh
Novice Member
Joined: 4/11/14
Originally posted by mazut
Basicaly all MMO focus mainly on combat, i think you might be looking for an adventure game where you can solve riddles etc.
That being said, TSW has some of the best puzzle-like quests around, and some of them even dont include any combat at all (if you discount the need to kill some mobs in order to get into particular location).
If you have trouble with the combat, check at http://www.tswdb.com/builds/solo/
There are some solid builds for solo play. Some even aimed for begginers who generaly dont have access to many abilities.
The combat variety in this game is actualy pretty good, but not right from the start.
Elite Member
Joined: 2/12/12
Originally posted by mazut
When you're fighting stuff, what's your "rotation", or your routine? What type of build are you using, what synergies,etc? What weapons?
I know when I've played, I see a lot of people who are literally spamming the same builder over and over, using a finisher... then repeating that process. Some aren't even using a finisher. They're just spamming the same builder over and over. Basically, they're playing it like they'd play WoW or most other MMOs... "spamming the '1' key". Then they're wondering why the combat seems so dull and repetitive.
I'm not saying this is what you're doing, mazut... because I don't know. I'm just pointing out that, for all the complaining I see about the combat, there's an awful lot of people I see in-game who clearly aren't even attempting to learn the system, or put it to use.
TSW's combat is actually very diverse, very versatile, and provides a number of different possible playstyles. You can go with well-established ones, or do some experimentation of your own and see how it goes. TSW's combat system is the most rewarding when you're choosing weapons, actives and passives that build off and work with each other. A well-tuned and planned setup is actually a ball to play, and you can find yourself mowing down otherwise difficult enemies with relative ease. Seeing a setup you've figured out yourself, or perhaps another that you've tweaked more to your personal style work out really well is very rewarding. But a player will never experience that if they're spamming 1, 1, 1, 1, 2... 1, 1, 1, 1, 2...
It's also a matter of learning, understanding, then exploiting the weaknesses of different enemies. Diff. enemies are weak against different things. Knowing what those things are makes all the difference between taking them down with relative ease, dying to them over and over again, or having an extremely difficult time dealing with them.
The system is as deep, or shallow, as you make it. It's not a typical, super-streamlined, themepark style affair where you have a sword, and a bunch of skills you learn in a specific order... and then that's it. You have much, much, much more control over exactly how you play.
As for the animations being clunky, or whatever.. I dunno.. they never bothered me. I don't play TSW to watch the combat animations.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 7/26/14
Originally posted by Ortwig
I am giving this game a third chance too, right now, and it is still the same mess as it was a year ago. And all the time I get the same answer: what is your build, do you get synergies, blah blah blah.
It does not matter what is my build, it does not matter what is my deck, it does not matter if I make excel-spread sheet about abilities and study them 24/7. The combat does not change. It is still the sam 111111123, 111111123, occasionally 4,5 or even 7. Movement is still horrible, and game is very bad for ergonomy. Having to drag your camera with right-mouse is disaster that leads to problems with your right hand, and let me tell you, I have gone through that already and never again. And then I'm told I have to learn to move! Hello! I come from action-games and I damn well can move while I fight, but in this game it is impossible to move because controls are so freaking bad and retarded. That is why peole complain that this game is clunky.
I just noticed that I never even look at mobs when I fight because what I look is my frieking meter that shows when I have pushed button 1 enough times and can fire my consumer in button 2. If that is innovative and exiting game-play then I must be Gueen of England and 80 years old. It does not matter what is my build and deck because the combat noes not change from that, you still do the same. You spam builder and fire consumer. The whole - freaking - game is this.
I wanted to like this game, I have forgiven horrible character creation, frustrating forced solo-missions where you die all over again and can't repair your frieking broken equipment, so many bad design choises, just because I wanted to like this game. For the story and idea behind it. But actually I don't know what the story even is because this game is a deck-building-simulator and not a game. I am too frustrated and annoyed all the time to even care about the story anymore. I'm out, for good now.
Advanced Member
Joined: 5/02/12
Stop necroing stuff.
Novice Member
Joined: 6/05/08
I hate to say it, because the genre and atmosphere of the game is fantastic, best around, but I have to agree with the OP.
The skills are just not fun for me. I think the thing that kills it for me is that, while they have a ton of different synergies around different skills, they are based strictly around specific weapon types.
You want to have lifestealing? You HAVE to use the assault rifle (I believe that's what it was). You can't use hammers or claws or anything else, you have to use an assault rifle.
It would be very simple for them to just allow you to use any weapon and then base synergies around skills specifically.
I really really don't want to be forced to use a weapon to get the ability I want.
It's really too bad... I really wanted to like this game because of the lore and game environment...
Originally posted by Elikal
You know they did more harm than good with what they did to it after launch. As far as I can see what they did is shoved out the content they had in the pipeline as fast as they could right up to Tyler Freeborn, to establish credibility, user investment and critical mass then they just strung everyone along with all the other updates.
The new work they did overall lowered the enjoyability of the game. They Nerfed entire slices of the skill wheel destroying play styles, and changed difficult nightmare instances to little more than slot machines where you had to hope bugs didn't trigger after you spent 2-3 hours getting through.
Then they put in the Scenario/Augment system which may well be one of the worst endgame systems ever actually allowed to be implemented in an MMO.
Hard Core Member
Joined: 11/10/13
Every few months I reinstall this game and attempt to play it again, and every single time I make it about four hours before deleting it in frustration. It's such a damn cool setting, with interesting and well-written quests and lore, yet the mechanics are just absolutely dreadful. Combat is boring and uninspired with very little 'oomph' to it, most skills are useless, progression is painfully slow, no dungeon finder or LFG mechanics in place, crafting is simply laughable, mob density is insane... it's just a badly designed game.
And yet the story and lore are so well done... sigh.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
Advanced Member
Joined: 3/18/13
the secred world could have been one of the best mmos but they did not think combat animations mattered and it bit them from behind,developers must learn a game must look and play good,and feel good.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 10/28/11
Originally posted by TheQuietGamer
Combat & animations are horribly flawed.
But everyone should tolerate it as long they can, to try to see all the other cool and unique stuff that the game does.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 9/27/14
Originally posted by StanlyStanko
I don't know about this. TSW has so many dealbreakers strewn throughout the game. Once you get past Kingsmouth, their starter zone that's designed to make people feel good about the game you just hit problem after problem. For a game with such small zones, they seem to go to great lengths to make travel difficult, which you will find quickly in the savage coast and blue mountain.
Blue Mountain is in itself a deal breaker for many people. If you haven't been working your build with this zone in mind (A bit of a pain for people that enjoy story) you wind up being chopped to ribbons and repeating content back in the earlier zones just to set yourself up properly.
Same goes for Egypt. Here they pulled out the can't take two steps without drawing a ridiculous amount of aggro trick. Bottom line, this is cheap, poorly done and very annoying to most people. I can see why devs like doing it, it slows down your progress immensely but it's like putting a tarp on a house and calling it a roof. Just no substitute for fun gameplay.
Note you can bypass egypt, but doing so means completely screwing up the story line which is your big draw
Transylvania is reasonably designed, but by the time you get here you are either working on signets or nightmare gear. Signets are horrendously grindy we are talking Korean die at the computer grindy. The other route are scenarios and augments which are Funcom's way of trying to monetize making your progress impossible. Either of these are bang a drawer on your hand because it feels so good to stop forms of entertainment.
I know people like to talk about the fun of theorycrafting and such but the grind needed to make new builds is insanely out of line with the fun/ unless you are willing to drop bundles of cash on Funcom for the ability to redo your gear.
Originally posted by NemeisMerc
I just saw a bit on the official forums saying that they plan to keep Egypt and the No Mounts policy out of "Respect for Ragnar". Egypt was his baby ? I'd love to know what purpose they think this is serving, either way they really really really need better travel. I used to use a mod that let me travel by suicide but it was incompatible with more important mods and really travel by killing yourself ? It just doesn't parse.
Novice Member
Joined: 3/10/06
Spelling and grammar do matter.I find your lack of real-life skills disturbing.
Originally posted by Another_Fan
Oh brother. They bitch that the zones are too small, and then they bitch that there are no mounts to get them across the (too small) zones even faster?
Originally posted by CasualMaker
Don't know about you but I am not a "they". Maybe you are a they
Anywho, moving your past your attempt to make your case by insulting people, it's pretty easy to see how both are needed. Start with the games tedious content, take a small zone put more mobs in than you can avoid, and movement becomes tedious and annoying.
Hope that clears things up for you.
Novice Member
Joined: 1/26/12
The Secret World has such a wonderful setting, but it has the problem all funcom mmos have: the term "entertainment experience". Outside of expanding your character, one has little vested interest in logging in; there is little player interaction, no player housing and very little collection systems to speak of.
If one could couple 75% Secret World with the 25% Sanbox of Archeage, what an mmo you'd have.
Apprentice Member
Joined: 9/09/14
agreed, dont know why you wanna call zones small but plead for travel...I'd love to have travel to be able to traverse what are pretty sizable areas in my opinion.
Many keep bringing up Mob density...I just dont get it...I can go from one side of any of the areas to another and zig zag my way there and avoid mobs the entire time. Im confused with this assessment that mob density is similar to Knight Online's mob density
Apprentice Member
Joined: 9/27/04
C64 Cracked Warez Intros FTW
I haven't had the itch to come back to play TSW, however as I think of it, what a better time to start playing TSW during this Halloween season.
I really liked the game when it came out, but hit a massive burnout wall on it and yeah, it's another one of them games that don't appeal to the masses, but I guess I am one them players that don't agree with the masses.
Spotlight Poster
Joined: 2/14/09
Are YOU talking to ME?!
A shame. I consider it to be one of the better ones. However, if you don't care for i;, you don't care for it.
Concentrate on enjoying yourself, and not on why I shouldn't enjoy myself.


text:
Manny Parra wasn't sure what to say when told that manager Ken Macha referred to him as a "whipped puppy" when he was demoted to Class AAA Nashville a few weeks back.
"Whipped puppy? It kind of makes you feel like a kid," Parra said.
"I don't really like it but the bottom line is, I was struggling."
Indeed, he was. When the 26-year-old left-hander was removed from the Milwaukee Brewers' starting rotation and sent to the minors, he was 3-8 with a 7.52 earned run average over 13 starts, including a 0-4 record and 13.50 ERA over his last five outings.
Parra lost his aggressiveness, lost command of his fastball and lost his confidence. Along the way, it's a wonder he didn't also lose his mind.
The "new and improved" Parra pitched with a better tempo, pounded the strike zone and showed why the Brewers were excited about him in the first place in his first game back Thursday against St. Louis. Unfortunately, his seven innings of shutout baseball were wasted when the bullpen melted down in a 5-1 defeat.
The disappointing finish did nothing to diminish the way Parra performed, however.
"It was a different look for Manny," Macha said. "He worked fast, exuded confidence, located his fastball.
"He had a great outing. Just terrific."
During his time with Nashville, Parra had both his mechanics and brain put up on the rack for repairs with Sounds pitching coach Chris Bosio. Parra sharpened his stuff, especially his split-finger fastball, but perhaps more important, sharpened his focus.
"It really came down to being confident and trusting the fact that I can throw the ball over the plate and put them in counts where they have to swing the bat," Parra said.
"Before, I was trying to make perfect pitches and stuff like that. Today, I just trusted it and went with it. I didn't set any expectations for an outcome. I just wanted to go out there and execute the things we worked on.
"I felt ready to come out. The things we had worked on down there, all my bullpens, were going the way I wanted them to go. I was ready."
Asked if he made a conscious effort to work with a faster tempo, Parra said no. But he admitted that pounding the strike zone with confidence made the proceedings zip by more quickly.
"It probably seemed that way. Quicker at-bats, quicker outs. With confidence, comes speed," said Parra, who went 1-2 with a 2.92 ERA in four starts with Nashville. "I was definitely more aggressive with my fastball.
"That's something that Bosio told me. The game's going to be quicker, your velocity is going to go up. If you're executing your pitches and being aggressive, those things are going to take care of themselves.
"I know and (the Brewers) know I'm a lot better pitcher than the way I was throwing. It's just a matter of going out there next time and doing it again."
Before his demotion to Nashville, Parra complained often about not feeling comfortable. He looked so comfortable against the Cardinals, you wondered if he might take a nap between batters.
"I just feel good," he said. "Before I went down, I said I didn't feel comfortable. It was mechanically I didn't feel comfortable.
"Bosio taught me some things to keep working on and keep me on that straight path to home plate."
If Parra uses his return performance as a springboard to reach his potential, it will go a long way toward easing the pitching crisis the Brewers have experienced in recent weeks. But he wisely stopped short of saying he deserved to be written into the rotation in indelible ink.
"I'm not thinking about any of that," he said. "I definitely have a long way to go as far as coming out and doing it again and again."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Originally written on ajc.com | Last updated 1/3/12
ATLANTA - NOVEMBER 08: Michael Turner #33 of the Atlanta Falcons rushes upfield past London Fletcher #59 of the Washington Redskins at Georgia Dome on November 8, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Falcons running back Michael Turner bulls his way into the end zone following a block by Justin Blalock for a 1-yard touchdown run and a 28-0 lead over Tampa Bay during 1st half action at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. The touchdown gave Turner a franchise best with 49 career touchdowns. Curtis Compton email@example.com FLOWERY BRANCH — The reputation of the Falcons' offensive line for blocking through the whistle has made its way to the Big Apple. The Falcons call it being nasty, but earlier this season the Green Bay Packers called them dirty. The Giants seem to agree. "Most people would call them dirt bags," Giants defensive end Justin Tuck told ESPNnewyork.com on Monday. "But it is what it is. We got to make sure we do our job, and, if we are doing our job well, then they will be upset and they will be trying to do things to get us off our game. We've got to take that a as a compliment." Green Bay nose tackle B.J. Raji previously accused the
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A system, method, and computer program product to improve XML query processing efficiency with virtual cursors. Structural joins are a fundamental operation in XML query processing, and substantial work exists on index-based algorithms for executing them. Two well-known index features—path indices and ancestor information—are combined in a novel way to replace at least some of the physical index cursors in a structural join with virtual cursors. The position of a virtual cursor is derived from the path and ancestor information of a physical cursor. Virtual cursors can be easily incorporated into existing structural join algorithms. By eliminating index I/O and the processing cost of handling physical inverted lists, virtual cursors can improve the performance of holistic path queries by an order of magnitude or more.
1. A method for improving XML query evaluation, comprising:
combining path indices and ancestor information to replace at least one physical index cursor with at least one virtual cursor for processing joins;
given an element position p of a child query node, retrieving information describing ancestor positions of element position p and levels at which relevant ancestors appear; and
finding the first ancestor position pa for which these conditions hold:
(1) ancestor position pa>element position pcur, where pcur is the current element position of the virtual cursor, and
(2) ancestor position pa is relevant to the virtual cursor, because ancestor position pa has an appropriate tag or text value;
wherein the number of postings handled for a join is decreased by modifying the virtual cursors to ignore all postings with non-qualifying path IDs; and
wherein movement of the virtual cursors never triggers index I/O operations as the need to scan postings for all internal, non-leaf posting lists is deliberately avoided.
2. The method of
performing the retrieving once for a given path ID and token; and saving the retrieved information for re-use for future queries.
3. The method of
4. The method of
defining a deliberately invalid cursor position to satisfy conditional constraints and to maintain join algorithm correctness if no ancestor exists for a given element position.
5. A computer program product for improving XML query evaluation, the computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising computer readable program code configured to:
combine path indices and ancestor information to replace at least one physical index cursor with at least one virtual cursor for processing joins;
retrieve information, given an element position p of a child query node, the information describing ancestor positions of element position p and levels at which relevant ancestors appear; and
find the first ancestor position pa for which these conditions hold:
(1) ancestor position pa>element position pcur, where pcur is the current element position of the virtual cursor, and
(2) ancestor position pa is relevant to the virtual cursor, because ancestor position pa has an appropriate tag or text value;
wherein the number of postings handled for a join is decreased by modifying the virtual cursors to ignore all postings with non-qualifying path IDs; and
wherein movement of the virtual cursors never triggers index I/O operations as the need to scan postings for all internal, non-leaf posting lists is deliberately avoided.
6. The computer program product of
7. The computer program product of
8. The computer program product of
9. A system, comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one memory unit which stores instructions operable with the at least one processor for improving XML query evaluation, the instructions being executed for:
combining path indices and ancestor information to replace at least one physical index cursor with at least one virtual cursor for processing joins;
given an element position p of a child query node, retrieving information describing ancestor positions of element position p and levels at which relevant ancestors appear; and
finding the first ancestor position pa for which these conditions hold:
(1) ancestor position pa>element position pcur, where pcur is the current element position of the virtual cursor, and
(2) ancestor position pa is relevant to the virtual cursor, because ancestor position pa has an appropriate tag or text value;
wherein the number of postings handled for a join is decreased by modifying the virtual cursors to ignore all postings with non-qualifying path IDs; and
wherein movement of the virtual cursors never triggers index I/O operations as the need to scan postings for all internal, non-leaf posting lists is deliberately avoided.
10. The system of
performing the retrieving once for a given path ID and token; and
saving the retrieved information for re-use for future queries.
11. The system of
12. The system of
defining a deliberately invalid cursor position to satisfy conditional constraints and to maintain join algorithm correctness if no ancestor exists for a given element position.
This invention is related to the following commonly-owned pending U.S. patent application, which is hereby incorporated by reference:
U.S. Ser. No. 10/655,126, filed Sep. 5, 2003, published Mar. 10, 2005 as US2005/0055336A1, entitled "Providing XML Cursor Support on an XML Repository Built on Top of a Relational Database System".
The invention is also related to the following article by the inventors, which is hereby incorporated by reference:
Virtual Cursors for XML Joins, Proceedings of the 13th ACM Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM 2004), Washington D.C., p. 523-532, 2004.
This invention relates to XML query processing and more specifically to replacing one or more of the physical index cursors in a structural join with virtual cursors by combining two well-known index features: path indices and ancestor information.
The following prior art references are cited numerically in this application:
In recent years, XML has become the standard format for data exchange across business applications. Its widespread use has sparked a large amount of research, focused on providing efficient query processing over large XML repositories. Processing XML queries has proven to be challenging, due to the semi-structured nature of the data and the flexible query capabilities offered by languages such as XQuery [5].
XML queries often include both value and structural constraints. For example, the XQuery expression:
//title contains('Query Processing') AND
//figure//caption contains('XML')]
returns all article sections that are titled "Query Processing" and have a figure containing the caption "XML". We can represent this query with the node-labeled tree shown in
Structural joins are a core operation for any XML query processor and typically account for the bulk of the query processing cost [1]. As a result, a large body work has focused on efficient algorithms to process binary structural joins [1, 4, 23], and more recently, holistic path/twig joins [3, 14]. These algorithms are all index-based, relying on an inverted index for positional information about elements, and cursors are used to access the inverted index.
XML data is commonly modeled by a tree structure, where nodes represent elements, attributes and text data, and parent child edges represent nesting between elements. Elements and text values are associated with a position in the document. Most existing XML query processing algorithms rely on begin/end/level positional encoding (or BEL), which represents each element with a tuple (begin, end, level) based on its position in the tree. Another less-used alternative is Dewey encoding (e.g., [11, 20]), defined as follows: If we assign to each element a value that is the element's order among its siblings, then the Dewey location of element e is the vector of values of all elements on the path from root to e, inclusive. With both BEL and Dewey encoding, structural relationships between two elements can be easily determined given their positions [20].
Structural predicates can also be viewed as a tree, where the label of each "query node" is defined by the element tag or text value represented by the node. Path queries (e.g., "//a//b//c") and binary structural predicates (e.g., "a//b") are degenerate cases of the general twig pattern of structural predicates. An XML database is simply a collection of XML documents. As stated in [3], matching a structural predicate against an XML database is to find all distinct occurrences of the tree pattern in the database. A match for a pattern Q over database D is a mapping from nodes in Q to nodes in D such that both structural and value-based predicates are satisfied. The answer to Q, where Q has n nodes, can be represented as an n-ary relation where each tuple (d1, d2, . . . , dn) consists of the database node IDs that identify a distinct match of Q in D.
Inverted Indices Index-based approaches to evaluating structural queries in XML (e.g., [4, 12, 14]) are based on an index over the positions of all elements in the database. By far the most common implementation of this index is an inverted index [10], which is frequently used in information retrieval and XML systems alike (e.g., [1, 3, 4]).
Briefly, an inverted index consists of one posting list per distinct token in the dataset, where a token may represent a text value or element tag. Each posting list is a sorted list of postings with format (Pos,Data). There is one posting per occurrence of the token in the dataset. Pos represents the position of the element occurrence, and Data holds some user-defined data, which for now we assume is empty. The list is sorted by Pos. Stepping through each posting in a list will provide us with the positions of every element (or text value) with a given tag in the dataset, in order of appearance. As with most IR systems, we assume each posting list is indexed, typically with a B-tree, such that searching for a particular position in the posting list is efficient.
Each node q in a twig pattern is associated with an element tag or text value; hence each node is associated with exactly one posting list in the inverted index. To process a structural predicate, we retrieve and scan one posting list per node. For example, to process the query shown in
Performing a structural join involves moving these cursors in a coordinated way to meet the ancestor-descendent and parent-child constraints imposed by the query. Three basic operations over the cursors are required for the majority of index-based structural join algorithms [14]:
Path Index A path index is a structural summary of the XML dataset (e.g., [9, 15]). In its simplest conceptual form, a path index is a list of (path, pathID) entries, where there exists one entry per unique path in the dataset. Each path is assigned a unique path ID (or PID).
We say a PID qualifies for a given pattern if the associated path matches this pattern. Over the path index, we define the function GetQualifyingIDs:path pattern→{PID}, which maps a path pattern to the set of qualifying PIDs. For example, over the path index in
Given a path index, every position in the inverted index is now associated with a PID. Again, we refer readers to [17] for a discussion on how to integrate PIDs into the inverted index and use them during query processing. In brief, every posting in the index contains the PID of the corresponding element. Integration of PIDs into the index incurs an overhead on index size and build time, addressed below.
Ancestor Information With ancestor information, we can efficiently obtain the ancestors of any given element. There are many possible approaches to augmenting the index with ancestor information. One elegant approach is to use Dewey position encoding, rather than the popular BEL encoding. As illustrated in
The problem of exploiting indices to enhance XML join algorithms has been studied in [4, 12, 14, 17, 21]. Reference [21] presents the ViST index structure and algorithms for twig join processing via subsequence matching.
References [4, 12] use indices over postings lists to speed up processing of binary structural joins. They use B-trees to speed up the location of descendants of a given element, and [12] uses a specialized XR-tree to speed up the location of ancestors. Also, the specialized XR-tree index structure only provides partial ancestor information: given an element tag T and an element e, it returns all ancestors of e with the tag T.
Reference [14] presents an improved holistic twig join algorithm over [3] that exploits indices (such as B-trees).
Reference [17] introduced the problem of integrating inverted indices and path indices to answer XML joins.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method, system, and program product to increase XML query processing efficiency via virtual cursors. Two well-known index features, path indices and ancestor information, are combined in a novel way to replace one or more of the physical index cursors in a structural join with virtual cursors. Unlike a physical cursor, the movement of a virtual cursor never triggers index I/O; its position is derived from the path and ancestor information of a physical cursor.
Virtual cursors can be easily incorporated into existing algorithms for structural joins, and by eliminating index I/O operations, virtual cursors can improve the performance of structural joins by an order of magnitude or more. The overhead of adding path indices and ancestor information is easily subsumed by the advantages of virtual cursors in most scenarios. Experimental results are provided to illustrate these assertions.
Every "useful" element position of cursor Cq, where q is any non-leaf (or internal) query node, is the ancestor of some cursor Cl, where l is a leaf node. A "useful" element is one that is either used in a solution, or that was necessary to inspect in order to correctly process the join. Any algorithm running over the unmodified dataset thus does not need to inspect any Q elements lacking L descendants, in order to return the correct result set. The invention capitalizes on this observation and therefore avoids scanning postings for all "internal" (non-leaf) posting lists, increasing efficiency of join processing.
The foregoing objects are believed to be satisfied by the embodiments of the present invention as described below.
This application provides:
We present virtual cursor algorithms, an implementation of the cursor interface that allows us to avoid scanning postings for all "internal" (non-leaf) posting lists. The key to virtual cursors is exploiting the complementary strengths of both path indices and ancestor information.
4.1 Algorithm
We begin by making the following observation of the existing structural join algorithms in the literature:
OBSERVATION 1. Every "useful" element position of cursor Cq, where q is any non-leaf (or internal) query node, is the ancestor of some cursor Cl, where l is a leaf node.
A "useful" element is one that is either used in a solution, or that was necessary to inspect in order to correctly process the join. The intuition for the above observation can be explained as follows: from a given dataset, say we removed all elements with label Q that had no descendants with label L. Any query in which L appears as a descendant of Q should return the same result set in the modified dataset as in the unmodified dataset. We can thus conclude that any algorithm running over the unmodified dataset does not need to inspect any Q elements lacking L descendants, in order to return the correct result set.
Given the above observation, it follows that if we can determine all ancestor positions of a given element by inspecting only that element, then to process the algorithms, we do not need to scan the posting lists for any internal query node. For example, in the query shown in
Preliminaries The partial functionality of the specialized XR-tree index structure of [12] is insufficient for implementing the invention; therefore, new ways of implementing full ancestor information in the inverted index are designed, without using specialized structures. To provide full functionality for a virtual cursor, we need to implement the three operators described earlier: fwdBeyond( ), fwdToAnc( ), and advance( ). However, virtual cursors are only applicable to internal (non-leaf) query nodes, and structural join algorithms can be easily modified to never call fwdBeyond( ) on an internal query cursor; thus, we need only to consider fwdToAnc( ) and advance( ). We will call our algorithms for these functions VirtualFwdToAnc( ) and VirtualAdvance( ), respectively.
To implement virtual cursors, we need two important helper functions, GetAncestors: element→{element}, and GetLevels: (PID,token)→{level}. Function GetAncestors( ) takes as input an element position from the dataset, and returns all ancestor positions of the element. For example, over the dataset in
Although we now have the positions of all ancestors of a given element, we still need to know which of these positions are relevant to a cursor. For example, to implement a cursor associated with token "A", only A elements are relevant. Function GetLevels( ) addresses this need by returning the levels, or depths, of the ancestors that match a given token. For example, using the sample path index in
Finally, we associate state with a given cursor C. Each cursor C is associated with a token (e.g., the element tag "A"), an element position pcur that represents the current position of the cursor, and an element position pdesc that represents the last position passed in to the call VirtualFwdToAnc( ). The definitions of these variables become more clear when we present our algorithms.
1: return VirtualFwdToAnc(C.pdesc);
Virtual Cursor The algorithm for VirtualFwdToAnc( ) works as follows: First, given an element position p of a child query node, we retrieve the ancestor positions of p (line 2) and the levels at which the relevant ancestors appear (line 3). We then find the first ancestor position pa for which the following conditions hold: (1) pa≧pcur, where pcur is the current element position of this cursor, and (2) pa is "relevant" to the cursor, meaning pa has the appropriate tag or text value.
The first condition (enforced by lines 5-6) is necessary given our requirement that cursors never move backwards; otherwise, we may lose optimality properties of the join algorithms. The second condition (enforced in lines 7-8) holds if the depth of pa, determined by its index into AncArray, appears in the array LevelArray of relevant levels. If such an element position pa is found in AncArray, then we know it is a relevant, useful ancestor of p that the calling join algorithm has not yet seen. Hence, pcur is set to pa. Upon returning from the call, the cursor is defined to be pointing to pcur. Note also that at line 1, we set pdesc=p, which will be used in VirtualAdvance( ) described below.
Consider the dataset in
When the function is called, GetAncestors(B1) will return the set {Root, AY, A99}. Say B1 has path ID x, representing the path pattern "Root-A-A-B". In this case, GetLevels(x, "A") will return the set {2, 3}, since only the ancestors at depths 2 and 3 have label A. When i=1 (AncArray[i]=Root) the first condition holds (Root>pcur) but the second condition does not (i∉LevelArray). When i=2, both conditions hold. Thus, pcur is set to AY, the correct first ancestor of element B1.
Now let us consider the VirtualAdvance( ) algorithm, which is simply an invocation of VirtualFwdToAnc(pdesc). Intuitively, this algorithm results in incorrect behavior. For example, say after the first call to CA→VirtualFwdToAnc(B1), we call CA→VirtualAdvance( ). The definition of advance( ) requires that we return element A1, but VirtualAdvance( ) will return A99. However, this is where Observation 1 becomes important: because element A1 is not useful, any structural or holistic join algorithm does not need to know of its existence. Returning A99, the first useful element following AY, will result in correct join behavior. We therefore modify the definition of advance( ) to return the next useful position following the current cursor position.
What happens in VirtualFwdToAnc( ) if no ancestor exists for an element position p? In order to maintain correctness, the cursor must point to a position p′ such that: (1) p′>p, and (2) p′<x for all real elements x such that x>p. However, since VirtualFwdToAnc( ) only has knowledge of elements that are ancestors of p, and p′ is necessarily not an ancestor of p, we must define an "imaginary" invalid position that is defined to satisfy these properties (line 12).
For example, say we call CA →VirtualAdvance( ) after the previous call to VirtualFwdToAnc(B1) returns A99. This call should return A100, which is a useful element. However, since A100 is not an ancestor of B1, VirtualFwdToAnc( ) does not know of the existence of A100, until the function is called with B2 as input. Instead, using Dewey notation, since the position of B1 is 2.99.1, we set pcur to the invalid position 2.99.1%.�. This position is invalid because � is not a valid Dewey component (by definition, all components in a Dewey expression are integers). However, it satisfies the constraints that it is larger than B1, and yet smaller than all valid elements that follow B1. Thus, it maintains the correctness of the join algorithms calling it.
We note that the above algorithms are shown in the most conceptually clear way, but an actual implementation can be optimized.
4.2 Modification to Holistic Join
To incorporate virtual cursors into the latest holistic join algorithms [13, 14], we must make a simple modification to the LocateExtension subroutine defined in these algorithms. We refer readers to the citations for more details on how this subroutine fits in with the overall join algorithm. However, all necessary details to understand this subroutine are contained in this section.
The subroutine LocateExtension(q) finds the first solution, or "extension," to the subquery rooted at q, in the document following the current cursor positions. For example, consider the query "//a//b//c" over the dataset shown in
The original algorithm for LocateExtension is shown in Algorithm 2. LocateExtension works by repeatedly selecting and fixing "broken" edges, until no edges are broken, which by definition means we have found an extension. An edge {q1, q2} is broken if Cq1 does not contain Cq2—that is, not contains (Cq1, Cq2). Different strategies may be used to select a broken edge; this problem is studied in [14]. To fix a broken edge, LocateExtension performs a "zig-zag join," commonly used to join inverted lists in information retrieval [8]. As we can see, if PickBrokenEdge selects an edge such that c is an internal node, then ZigZagJoin may call fwdBeyond on the cursor for an internal node.
To modify LocateExtension so that it does not call fwdBeyond on an internal cursor, we observe that for an element corresponding to some query node q to appear in a solution, it must be contained by elements corresponding to all ancestors of q, in the proper order. For example, in query //a//b//c, for some C element to appear in a solution, it must have a B ancestor, which must in turn have an A ancestor.
Given this observation, our modifications to LocateExtension can be seen in Algorithm 3. First, instead of PickBrokenEdge, we substitute the function PickBrokenLeaf, which returns a leaf node l that does not have an unbroken path from q to leaf. We then find the maximum ancestor cursor Ca, and call Cl→fwdBeyond(Ca). Note that calling fwdBeyond on any of the ancestor cursors would be correct, but not as efficient. Finally, we "fix" the path from q to leaf by forwarding all ancestor cursors to positions that are ancestors of the current leaf node position. Because cursors only return positions with qualifying path IDs, we are guaranteed that such ancestors exist.
Although we cannot prove that our new LocateExtension is strictly more efficient than the original LocateExtension (or vice versa), in practice we find that the new LocateExtension is more efficient. The intuition behind this observation is that elements with qualifying path IDs are guaranteed to have all the necessary ancestors, but not all the necessary descendants. For example, consider again query "//a//b//c" over the dataset in
Virtual cursors provide two main performance advantages. First, and most importantly, they allow us to avoid reading any postings from disk for all internal query nodes. Second, we can show the following result:
Given the path index and ancestor information features, we now have a space of indexing alternatives to compare. The points in this space are as follows:
We evaluate each indexing alternative primarily through running time, and when appropriate, number of elements scanned, index size and index build time. Running time is obtained for a given query by averaging the running time of several consecutive runs with cold buffers. Cold buffers ensure that we capture the I/O cost of processing the query in the running time. The number of element scans is the number of postings that are scanned in the posting lists. Build time is the time to construct a new inverted index from a tokenized input.
Our queries fall into three categories: Simple binary structural joins (using the algorithm in [4]), holistic path queries, and holistic twig queries (using the algorithm in [14]). Binary structural joins are most widely used in current XML database systems [1], while holistic path and twig joins have provably superior performance and are likely to become popular in the near future.
Testbed Our experimental testbed is built over the Berkeley DB [19] embedded database. Because compression and packing alternatives differ widely for Dewey and BEL encodings, to remain agnostic to these choices, our experiments comparing these two encodings do not compress or pack the data. Later in Section 6.3 we will explain this choice as worst case scenario for our virtual cursor technique. All experiments are run on a Linux Red Hat 8.0 workstation with a 2.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor and 2 GB main memory. Note that while memory is large, all algorithms access posting lists in strictly sequential order. Therefore, our runtimes are representative of any memory buffer large enough to hold at least the internal pages of the B-tree and one leaf page per posting list.
Datasets For index size and build experiments, we use the XMark [22] benchmark dataset. For query evaluation, we choose to generate our own data in order to control the structure and join characteristics of the data. However, experiments were conducted over real-world and benchmark datasets (e.g., XMark) and we observed similar performance behavior, at the same relative orders of magnitude.
To evaluate binary structural joins, we use the same data-set used in [4, 12], generated according to the DTD in
In this section, we demonstrate the effectiveness of virtual cursors over our prototype implementation. We also analyze the overhead of the index features that enable virtual cursors.
6.1 Binary Structural Joins
We begin by analyzing the simplest of all join types: binary structural joins.
Next, observe that the Path and Anc features are only somewhat effective, but that the combination of the two, PathAnc, is much better. To understand this observation,
RESULT 1. Path and Anc may individually perform poorly, especially when the percentage of matching ancestor and descendant elements is low. In contrast, the PathAnc index feature only scans useful elements, greatly outperforming both Path and Anc. This result is important, as it shows the relationship between prior work and the pitfalls of using only path indices or only ancestor information. However, our question remains: can we exploit the complementary strengths of Anc and Path to perform even better than PathAnc?
Looking at the performance of our virtual cursor algorithm in
In the remainder of this section, we will investigate the factors that affect the effectiveness of virtual cursors. We will find that, although virtual cursors provide large performance gains for binary structural joins, they are even more advantageous in more complex joins.
6.2 Holistic Joins
In this section, we continue our analysis of index features over more complex queries, using the latest holistic join algorithms [14]. To this end, we select five query patterns to execute over our third dataset, representing path and twig queries:
(P1) δ//E//D;
(P2) α//A//B//C;
(P3) //A//B//C//α;
(P4) α//A[//B & //C];
(P5) //A//B[//C & //α].
All five patterns contain a variable that allow us to study queries with different properties. In pattern P1, the variable δ can be replaced with a path expression, such as "//a//b//c", or null. Varying δ allows us to study path queries of varying depths. In patterns P2 through P5, the variable a can be replaced with any single tag. Recall that different tags in our third dataset have varying frequencies. By comparing across tags with varying frequencies, we can study path and twig patterns where branches have varying selectivities. In particular, in each of the patterns, we will replace a by the tags D, E, F and G. Notice also that the placement of a within the query expression is important: a query with a selective join at the "top" of the expression has different properties from a query with a selective join at the "bottom."
Path Queries First consider
We observe from
Note that for query "//a//b//c//e//d," the running time of virtual cursors increases slightly relative to PathAnc. The reason is that as the query becomes deeper, the overhead of the join algorithm itself increases; therefore, the savings in I/O and element scans afforded by virtual cursors are less apparent, though still significant.
Now consider path queries of fixed depth, as we vary the selectivity of the joins. In both
Twig Queries Now let us consider holistic twig queries in
We note that speedup factor observed for twig queries in
The reason we only varied one of the branches is to point out a special case in which Anc performs exceptionally well. When at least one branch of a twig query is highly selective, the major benefit of skipping elements comes from ancestor skipping. In contrast, Path is barely more helpful in skipping descendant elements than Basic. As a result, as selectivity increases in
In summary, we have the following result characterizing the performance of virtual cursors:
RESULT 2. The virtual cursor algorithm consistently and significantly improves the runtime performance of structural joins in almost every scenario, and especially when queries are deep and/or lower joins are selective.
6.3 Overhead of Index Features
While the previous two sections have clearly demonstrated the dominant performance of virtual cursors, it is still unclear as to what the overhead is for the index features—path indices and ancestor information—that enable virtual cursors. In this section, we will explore this overhead, and the tradeoffs with virtual cursor performance.
6.3.1 Path Indices
The overhead of path indices are two-fold: the path index itself, and the integration of path IDs into the inverted index. The worst-case overhead for path indices occurs when there exist a large number of distinct paths in the dataset. In such a scenario, the path index itself can grow to the size of dataset (e.g., if all paths are unique), and the process of identifying qualifying path IDs can become expensive.
The size and build cost of path indices have been studied numerous times (e.g., [9, 18]). It is true that in the worst case where every path in the dataset is unique, a path index adds tremendous overhead; however, a more useful question is: is the overhead acceptable in a reasonable class of applications?
For the Trevi intranet search engine, our target application is a text-centric dataset. Text-centric datasets, such as XMark, tend to have simple structure; as a result, the path index is small and efficient to build and use. For example, a 1 GB XMark dataset results in a Basic uncompressed inverted index of size 4.05 GB, while the path index is only 68 KB. Likewise, the time to build the path index is negligible compared to the time to build the inverted index. A larger overhead comes from integrating path IDs into the inverted index—these increase the size and build time of the XMark database by roughly 10%. Nevertheless, these "static" costs are relatively minor given the query runtime performance benefits observed in the previous section.
In addition, even more complex datasets still result in reasonable path indices. For example, our default synthetic dataset has over 3000 distinct paths—much larger than we would expect in any dataset with a complex DTD. Yet the size and build time of the path index is still less than 1% of the size of build time of the inverted index. In our runtime experiments, the time to identify qualifying PIDs never exceeds 5% the total cost of processing a query, and even this small cost can be eliminated by pre-processing the qualifying path IDs as described in Section 4.1.
Because we expect 3000 to be an upper limit for many reasonable applications (though certainly, not all applications), and because the major runtime cost can be eliminated by pre-processing, we do not believe the path index to pose significant overhead issues.
6.3.2 Ancestor Information
There are many advantages of BEL encoding over Dewey encoding. Most importantly, BEL is a more compact encoding, and as a result, fewer I/Os may be necessary to process queries. In particular, as the depth of the dataset increases, the overhead of storing Dewey increases proportionally, whereas the overhead for storing BEL remains constant. (Overhead of BEL may be affected, for example, depending on how elements are compressed. Larger values tend not to compress as well.) Since there is no bound on the depth of an XML document, the overhead of Dewey can become arbitrarily bad. Again, however, our question is whether the overhead is acceptable in a reasonable class of applications.
To study the overhead of Dewey encoding, we will compare the performance of each of the four feature sets—Basic, Anc, Path, and PathAnc—as the depth of the dataset increases. We will use the default synthetic dataset, but artificially pad elements with a number of "junk" ancestors. By controlling the depth of the padding, we can control the overall depth of the dataset. We then compare the performance of index size, index build, and query runtime across feature sets, and across dataset depths. The average and maximum depths of these datasets are shown in Table 2. Dataset A represents the typical depth characteristics of a text-centric dataset. For reference, we include the 1 GB XMark dataset as well.
Compression In the worst case, when Dewey encoding is not compressed (e.g., a fixed number of bytes is used to represent each component in the address), the size of the encoding for a given element will increase linearly with its depth. Luckily, there are many proposed techniques for compressing Dewey, such as [20]. The compression scheme in [20] not only represents Dewey elements in almost an order of magnitude fewer bytes as the uncompressed scheme, but it also allows faster comparisons of Dewey-encoded elements as single numeric values. While individual values in BEL encoding may also be compressed, the potential for compression is much higher with Dewey encoding.
However, it is impossible to fit a comprehensive performance comparison of all possible compression schemes for Dewey encoding within the scope of this paper. Instead, we have chosen to study uncompressed indices as the worst-case scenario for Dewey encoding. The motivation is that if we can show that uncompressed Dewey encoding has an acceptable overhead, then intelligent compression schemes can only further improve performance.
Index Size and Build Time Table 3 shows us the sizes of the inverted index for each feature set, across the different datasets, while Table 4 shows us index build time. From these tables, we see that deeper datasets have a large impact on these "static" properties of the index. For example, the difference in index size cause by Dewey encoding (i.e., between PathAnc and Path, or Anc and Basic), is almost a factor of 4 for Dataset D, where average depth is 60 and maximum depth is 122. However, the difference in index size caused by Dewey encoding in Dataset A or XMark, which has characteristics typical of a text-centric dataset, is only 25-30%. Furthermore, we will see shortly that even for deep datasets, runtime performance is still best using virtual cursors over the PathAnc feature set.
While we do not discuss updates in detail, existing work in this area shows that both updates on path indices [16], and updates over an Anc index using Dewey encoding [20] can be performed efficiently relative to updates over a Basic index. In many cases Dewey encoding can actually improve update efficiency. The integration of PIDs into the inverted index will also not greatly increase update costs—in fact, element insertion/deletion cost is not affected at all.
Query Runtime While the storage overhead of Dewey encoding is significant for deep datasets, the real cost of a large index is the extra I/Os necessary to process queries over the index. Hence, we may be willing to overlook storage cost, if Dewey encoding can still result in better query runtime cost. In addition, in a text-centric application where index rebuilds are infrequent, again; a large build time is acceptable if query runtime is faster.
To study the effect of document depth on running time, we choose three representative queries from the previous two sections, as shown in
From these figures, we find that, as expected, increasing depths degrade the running of time over the feature sets that use Dewey encoding (i.e., Anc, PathAnc, and VC). This effect is most clearly seen in
However, we see that in all cases, virtual cursors still result in significantly, consistently improved running times. For example, consider the path query //B//C//E//D shown in
Again, because there is no bound on document depth, we can construct datasets in which performance of virtual cursors, which depends on ancestor information, is arbitrarily bad. However, for a large range of reasonable depths, on indices that are not compressed, we find that virtual cursors still have far superior performance over all other feature sets. Our conclusion is thus that if an application is known to have very deep datasets (e.g., average depth in the hundreds), then they should avoid using Dewey encoding. Otherwise, for the broad class of applications with document depths less than hundred, virtual cursors can speed up queries by several factors to several orders of magnitude.
A general purpose computer is programmed according to the inventive steps herein. The invention can also be embodied as an article of manufacture—a machine component—that is used by a digital processing apparatus to execute the present logic. This invention is realized in a critical machine component that causes a digital processing apparatus to perform the inventive method steps herein. The invention may be embodied by a computer program that is executed by a processor within a computer as a series of computer-executable instructions. These instructions may reside, for example, in RAM of a computer or on a hard drive or optical drive of the computer, or the instructions may be stored on a DASD array, magnetic tape, electronic read-only memory, or other appropriate data storage device.
While the invention has been described with respect to illustrative embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the apparatus and means herein described without departing from the scope and teaching of the invention. Accordingly, the described embodiment is to be considered merely exemplary and the invention is not to be limited except as specified in the attached claims.
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Higginbotham, Heacox Score Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III National Player, Pitcher of Week Honors
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tori Higginbotham of Virginia Wesleyan and Gustavus Adolphus' Hannah Heacox have been selected as the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III National Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively.
Higginbotham, a senior outfielder and leadoff hitter for the (37-5) Marlins, was a key contributor to her team's 6-0 week and 4-0 run to its record-tying eighth Old Dominion Athletic Conference softball title and third in the last four years.
The Glen Allen, Va., native batted .650 (13-of-20) with 12 runs, a double, homer, eight steals and seven runs batted in, as she earned the ODAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player award and the Marlins scored an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Heacox, a freshman right-hander for the (23-13) Gusties, went 4-0 with three shutouts and a save in her team's 7-1 week, which locked up the No. 2 seed for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
The Stillwater, Minn., native had eight strikeouts in an one-hitter against Augsburg, nine strikeouts in a two-hitter against St. Catherine and fanned eight Hamline batters in a three-hitter. For the week, Heacox allowed seven hits, walked three and collected 37 strikeouts over 27 innings in six appearances. She has not allowed a run in her last 32.2 innings.
Other Selected Top Performances
Moravian senior third baseman Rachel DeLucia hit .692 (9-of-13) with a double, three homers, seven runs and eight RBI, while compiling an 1.462 slugging percentage. She was 3-for-5 with two homers in a 19-11 win at Scranton. … Cabrini junior third baseman Steph Diegel was 11-for-25 (.440) with seven runs, five doubles, a triple, homer and seven RBI. … Wisconsin-Oshkosh senior first baseman Tess Fadness batted .609 (14-of-23) with five runs, four doubles, a homer and eight RBI. She had five multi-hit games, including going 6-for-8 with two doubles, a homer and six RBI in a sweep of Wisconsin-Superior and 5-for-8 in two games against Wisconsin-Whitewater. … Trine junior pitcher Bree Fuller threw a six-inning perfect game (eight strikeouts) against Saint Mary's — her second no-hitter in four days — to become the first MIAA pitcher to collect two no-hitters in a season in the last 18 years. She also had 14 strikeouts in a two-hitter of John Carroll and notched a save with 1.1 innings of one-hit pitching in the nightcap of a triumph over Saint Mary's. … Luther senior pitcher Becca Girvan was 3-0 for the week with a 0.00 ERA, one save, two shutouts, two hits and 25 strikeouts over 13 innings. She tossed a five-inning no-hitter (nine strikeouts) in the opener of a doubleheader with Loras and pitched a two-hitter (nine more strikeouts) in the first game of a twinbill with Buena Vista. … Rochester junior pitcher Brittany Grage was 3-1 with a 0.28 ERA, three shutouts, 14 hits, one run, two walks and 27 strikeouts in 25 innings. She tossed a pair of five-inning two-hitters against Nazareth (six strikeouts) and Rochester Institute of Technology (10 strikeouts) and pitched a three-hitter against Ithaca, while helping herself at the plate with a .346 average. … Eastern Connecticut State sophomore shortstop Alyssa Hancock was 13-of-19 (.684) with 11 runs, four doubles, two homers and seven RBI in a 5-1 week. She had four multi-hit games and three hits in three of those contests, while handling all 33 fielding chances flawlessly. … Virginia Wesleyan junior pitcher Kristina Karagiorgis was 4-0 with a save in five appearances in a 6-0 week for the Marlins. She allowed three earned runs in 24 innings (0.88 ERA) with 28 strikeouts and two walks to earn a spot on the ODAC All-Tournament team. … Rochester senior first baseman Nina Korn hit .519 (14-of-27) with two doubles, three homers and 11 RBI. Half of her eight games were multi-hit contests. … Wisconsin-Whitewater senior first baseman Morgan Krisch was 10-for-21 (.476) with a double, six homers and 11 RBI. She went 4-for-4 with three runs, two homers and four RBI in a win over St. Norbert and was 3-for-3 with two homers and four RBI in a win over Wisconsin-Superior. … East Texas Baptist senior second baseman Lacy Liles batted .545 (6-of-11) with two doubles, four homers, 11 RBI and an 1.818 slugging percentage in a three-game sweep of Sul Ross. All six of her hits were for extra bases and Liles went 3-for-3 with three runs, a double, two homers and six RBI in the opening game of the series. … East Texas Baptist senior pitcher Shelby Parker was 2-0 for the week with no hits or walks allowed while recording 10 strikeouts in eight innings against Sul Ross. She pitched a five-inning no–hitter in the three-game series finale, retiring the side in order over the first four innings. Parker fanned seven of 10 batters over three innings in the middle contest and extended her scoreless innings streak to 33. … Wisconsin-Eau Claire junior shortstop Taylor Pierce was 12-of-23 (.522) with a double, triple, eight RBI and two three-hit games. … Denison junior third baseman Julie Rooney hit .533 (16-of-30) with five runs, three doubles and four RBI. She had four hits in the first game of a twinbill at Wooster and a total of five multi-hit games for the week with 17 putouts, 11 assists, no errors and two double plays on defense. … Thomas More sophomore pitcher Mamee Salzer was 4-0 with a 0.64 ERA, two complete games and one shutout. She allowed two runs and 15 hits, had 13 strikeouts over 22 innings and pitched a three-hit shutout of Muskingum. … Cabrini freshman pitcher Kiley Sharp was 4-0 with a 0.27 ERA, four complete games, one run, 19 hits, three walks and 13 strikeouts in 26 innings. … Thomas More sophomore third baseman Ana Walter was 13-of-23 (.565) with five doubles and seven RBI. Five of her six games were multi-hit contests, including 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI in a win over Muskingum. … Hope junior first baseman Peyton Wells batted .556 (10-of-18) with five runs, three doubles, two homers and 10 RBI in a 6-0 week for the Flying Dutch. She handled all 54 chances on defense without an error. … Western Connecticut State junior third baseman Nina Wojtkiewicz was 10-of-16 (.625) with a double, triple, homer and two RBI. She hit for the cycle in a victory over UMass-Boston.
The Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III National Player and Pitcher of the Week are selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions.
2014 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III National Player of the Week
Feb. 26 — Ashley Garcia, Linfield College, Sr., 3B, Beaverton, Ore.
March 5 — Maggie Ingell, Washington (Mo.) University, Sr., OF, Winnetka, Ill.
March 12 — Hannah Sendel, Emory University, So., DP, Greenwood Village, Colo.
March 19 — Jessie Richardson, Coast Guard Academy, Jr., C, Kent., Wash.
March 26 — Hanna Contreras, Concordia (Texas) University, Fr., IF, Austin, Texas
April 2 — Megan Light, Emory University, Sr., 1B, Atlanta, Ga.
April 9 — Brenna Walek, University of St. Thomas, So., DP, Maple Grove, Minn.
April 16 — Jo Jablonski, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Jr., 3B, Palatine, Ill.
April 23 — Ashtyn Coleman, Wellesley, Fr., C, Scottsdale, Ariz.
April 30 — Tori Higginbotham, Virginia Wesleyan, Sr., OF, Glen Allen, Va.
2014 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III National Pitcher of the Week
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March 5 — Shelby Parker, East Texas Baptist, Sr., P, Brazoria, Texas
March 12 — Rachel Johnson, Salisbury University, Jr., P, Preston, Md.
March 19 — Alex Hill, Montclair State, Sr. P, Parsippany, N.J.
March 26 —Hayley Schultz, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Jr., P, Los Angeles
April 2 — Emily Hardaway, Hardin-Simmons, Fr., P, Midland, Texas
April 9 — Rachel Johnson, Salisbury University, Jr., P, Preston, Md.
April 16 — Amber White, Bridgewater State, Sr., P, Middleboro, Mass.
April 23 — Makayla Jenkins, Christopher Newport, Fr., P, Gloucester, Va.
April 30 — Hannah Heacox, Gustavus Adolphus, Fr., P, Stillwater, Minn.


text:
Maybelline Define A Lash
1028 reviews
52% would repurchase
Package Quality: 3.6
Price: $$
Package Quality: 3.6
Price: $$
INGREDIENTSIngredients from packaging: Isodecane, Cera Alba/Beeswax, Cera Carnauba Wax, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Water (Agua), Allyl Stearate/VA Copolymer, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Paraffin, Alcohol Denat., Polyvinyl Laurate, VP/Eicosene Copolymer, Propylene Carbonate, Talc, Ethylenediamine/Stearyl Dimer Dilinoleate Copolymer, PEG 30 Glyceryl Stearate, Propylparaben, Methylparaben, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, May Contain ( /-):, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides)
on 8/31/2014 5:27:00 PM
Age: 36-43
Skin: Combination, Fair, Cool
Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine
Eyes: Brown
If I had gone by the reviews, I would not have purchased this because I like 4 lippie products and I generally avoid Maybelline mascara just because of not so great lash. That said, I really like this mascara. For me, it lengthens and defines and can go from light and natural to a bit of drama. No one is going to think you're wearing falsies when you wear this so it's not for that kind of look but for non-clumpy definition with a bit of length & a smidge of volume, this works nicely and also seems to hold curl or at least doesn't flatten them. It has not smudged, flaked or run on me and I've sweated and be rained on, I use the non- waterproof version as I'm not a fan of WP.
The flexible brush head is not my favorite, I usually prefer bristles, but isn't overly bendy and the tip is narrow enough to get to the little lashes but you'll probably have a little clean up.
Removal is easy, it melts with a good bit of water and does raccoon but removes completely with any remover or cleanser. I use Philosophy's original Purity.
This is one of my go-to mascaras.
on 8/28/2014 8:43:00 PM
Age: 56 & Over
Skin: Dry, Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Brunette, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
I have been using Maybelline mini brush waterproof mascara for years. Lately it seems I need something more since my lashes seem to be not as thick or long anymore. I tried Maybelline Define-A-Lash Lengthening mascara (advertises zero clumps, sleek definition, sensuous length) It does clump a bit and my lashes were not lengthened.
on 8/26/2014 10:16:00 AM
Age: 36-43
Skin: Other, Other, Not Sure
Hair: Other, Other, Other
Eyes: Other
Excellent layering mascara, lengthens well. Not much in the way of volume. Doesn't clump if you don't zig zag as you separate. Top with a volumizing mascara (Dior) and you'll have a set of peepers TDF.
on 8/24/2014 3:37:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Dry, Olive, Warm
Hair: Brunette, Curly, Medium
Eyes: Brown
This product is awesome! It's never ever clumped on me at all. It does a great job of separating my lashes. It gives a great natural definition of the eyes. Nothing too dramatic. Love this stuff!
on 8/16/2014 12:43:00 AM
Age: 18 & Under
Skin: Combination, Fair, Not Sure
Hair: Red, Other, Other
Eyes: Blue
Works in a pinch, somewhat clumpy but less so after I added a few drops saline to the bottle, doesn't add much for volume or length. I particularly didn't like the way the bond between the wand and the applicator was "loose" and I had to be extra careful when putting it back in the tube or else it would bend and either not go in without leaving a ton of product on the top, or completely "pop" out of the hole and onto my hand. Not fun. Doesn't help their case as they aren't cruelty free. Not a deal breaker, but a degrading factor. Wouldn't repurchase.
on 8/5/2014 5:26:00 PM
Age: 18 & Under
Skin: Combination, Medium, Warm
Hair: Brunette, Straight, Fine
Eyes: Green
This mascara did wonders for my lashes! But sadly, my country do not sell these mascaras anymore.
on 7/1/2014 11:02:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Other, Other
Eyes: Black
I love this so much! Can make my lashed super long buts still keep it a natural looking! I love using this every day, easy applying and nice effect! If I want more volume, I love the volume express one which is yellow tube also by maybelline, these two definitely my drugstore favourites! But, attention! The waterproof version of this one sucks! Bad bad bad! This one is excellent!! Do not try the waterproof one!
on 5/16/2014 3:24:00 AM
Age: 25-29
Skin: Oily, Deep Dark, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
Just as a lot of other reviewers on here - I love to hate this mascara. It's not the best, but definitely not the worst.
I would recommend this ONLY FOR LENGTH purposes. It does nothing in the volume department - but gives incredible length. I've found this product works WITH another mascara. So currently, i use this as a primer to get length, then round off with Colossal Cat Eyes for the most amazing lashes!!
Use this alone if you want a more natural / subtle eye
Use with a voluminous mascara to get a full / GLAM eye
I reckon i'll always have one of these with me - as it's my fav on the days i don't wear make up. Just some mascara for length and it makes all the difference!!!
on 4/21/2014 8:56:00 PM
Age: 18 & Under
Skin: Dry, Medium, Warm
Hair: Black, Straight, Fine
Eyes: Brown
This mascara is okay, for the price.
Lengthens (but only a little)
True to its color (I have very black)
Really nice packaging
Doesn't smell or clump
Always flakes in one/two hours
Smudges under my eye (and NOT because I have oily lids, I DONT.)
So this isn't my favorite product, but I don't hate it either. For now, I just use it as a top coat to my other mascaras.
on 4/5/2014 5:11:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Very Oily, Fair, Warm
Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine
Eyes: Blue
Semi-good mascara.
Popular Mascaras


text:
Weld County Finds Mosquitoes With West Nile Virus
Mosquito's carrying West Nile have been trapped in Weld County.
Adams County Man Dies Of West Nile Virus
Health officials say a 53-year-old man from Adams County is the first confirmed fatal case of West Nile virus in the Denver metro area this year.
West Nile Virus Cases Show No Sign Of Slowing Down
More and more Coloradans are getting West Nile virus. Eighty-three cases have been reported from the Front Range over to the Four Corners.
West Nile Infections Continue To Climb
Larimer County health officials say this year's outbreak of the West Nile virus is the worst in two decades.
Mosquito Spraying In Northern Colorado Brings Backlash
Backlash from mosquito spraying in Northern Colorado was expecting to bring dozens together Tuesday night to protest in Fort Collins.
Progress Made On Attack Against West Nile Virus
Health officials say they're making progress in their attack on the West Nile virus.
Loveland To Conduct Emergency Spraying For Mosquitoes
Two additional human cases of West Nile Virus in Loveland caused by mosquitoes have triggered emergency spraying in that area.
Erie Delivers Another Round Of Mosquito Spraying
The town of Erie will be spraying for mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus Wednesday evening.
Preemptive Strike Against Mosquitoes Continues With Spraying
The state health department is reporting two new human cases of West Nile virus. Both are in Delta County in southwestern Colorado. That makes three confirmed cases now in Delta County and three to the north in Larimer County.
2 Human Cases Of West Nile In Larimer County
Two human cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed in Larimer County, raising concerns about the spread of the potentially deadly disease.


text:
Plundered Nations?: Successes and Failures in Natural Resource ExtractionPaperback
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- Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
- Format: Paperback | 376 pages
- Dimensions: 136mm x 214mm x 24mm | 440g
- Publication date: 15 September 2011
- Publication City/Country: Basingstoke
- Illustrations note: 47 black & white tables, 58 black & white illustrations
- Sales rank: 939,114
Product description
The study of natural resource extraction in resource-rich countries often shows that plunder, rather than prosperity, has become the norm. Management of natural resources differs widely in every state; a close examination of the decision making chains in various states highlights the key principles that need to be followed to avoid distortion and dependence. This book consists of eight case studies investigating the political economy of the decision chain, revealing where various states have met with success, or failed disastrously. This original research provides a unique insight into how different countries have handled their resource extraction. This book is essential reading for students, researchers and policy makers working across development economics and natural resource economics.
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PAUL COLLIER CBE is Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. He is the author of The Plundered Planet (2010) on the management of natural assets, and of the award-winning The Bottom Billion (2007). He was previously Director of the Development Research Department of the World Bank, and has published extensively on African economic development. ANTHONY J. VENABLES CBE is Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford where he also directs the Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Econometric Society and has previously worked as Chief Economist at the UK Department for International Development and Professor at the London School of Economics. He has published extensively in the areas of international trade and spatial economics.
Review quote
'Plundered Nations is a very important book at a crucial time. It lays out the values, principles, and competences needed to transform resource wealth into a sustainable improvement in the lives of present and future generations. A series of insightful case studies on a range of countries make these principles vivid, concrete and accessible. This book will be widely read and highly influential in accelerating the transformation of natural resource wealth management.' - Michael Spence, Nobel Laureate
Table of contents
Key Decisions for Resource Management: Principles and Practice; P. Collier & A.J. Venables Governance and Oil Revenues in Cameroon; B. Gauthier & A. Zeufack Learning How to Manage Natural Resource Revenue: The Experience of Copper in Chile; J. Rodrigo Fuentes Oil in Iran: Dependence, Distortions and Distribution; M. Karshenas & A. Malik Kazakhstan: Public Saving and Private Spending; A. Esanov & K. Kuralbayeva The Developmental State: Malaysia; Z.A.Yusof Management of Resource Revenue: Nigeria; O. Ajakaiye, P. Collier & A. Ekpo The Contest for Control: Oil and Gas Management in Russia; V.Kryukov, A.Tokarev & S.Yenikeyeff Copper Mining in Zambia:From Collapse to Recovery; C. Adam & A. Simpasa


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Commercial and Small Business Loans First Chatham Bank has a wide variety of loan options available for businesses. Our experienced lending staff will work to ensure that you find the best credit solution to meet the needs of your company. We understand the business environment and know the value of time. At First Chatham Bank, our loan officers process all paperwork in the branches which enables them to make timely decisions on all loan requests. First Chatham Bank offers the following loan productsReal EstateCapital equipment/improvementSeasonal operating linesBusiness expansionBusiness start upsBusiness purchasesSBABusiness lines of creditLetters of creditFirst Chatham Bank is a locally owned bank dedicated to meeting the credit needs of the community we serve. Please contact one of our lending officers for additional information.Monty LeeSenior Vice President / Commercial Lending912-629-2912Fax - 912-629-2989Mike MillerSenior Vice President / Commercial Lending912-629-2934Fax - 912-629-2989Caroline KonculAssistant Vice President / Commercial Lending912-629-2935Fax - 912-629-2989Dee PinckneySenior Vice President / Private Banking912-629-2909Fax - 912-629-2989
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The Hudson Reed Chrome Aspire Thermostatic Twin Shower Faucet Valve is a top quality single function shower valve, constructed from brass and featuring ceramic disc technology. The rectangular chrome twin controls of this shower valve supply water at a pre-set temperature to either a fixed shower head, handset or tub filler. Hudson Reed Chrome Aspire Thermostatic Twin Shower Faucet Valve Details
For accessories, please see our extensive range of Hudson Reed Bathroom Accessories. Warranty: 10 years.


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Aortic dissection is a life-threatening condition in which the walls of the aorta separate and tear. The aorta is the main blood vessel that takes blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Aortic dissection can cause poor blood supply to the heart, brain, or other major organs.
Emergent treatment of aortic dissection involves rapid open-chest surgical repair. Doctors will perform this surgery when the dissection involves the portion of the aorta just above the heart, called the ascending aorta
Surgeons enter the chest through the breast bone. Then, they remove the ascending aorta and replace it with a tube, called a graft. The graft is made from medical-grade cloth called Dacron. Dacron is often used often to repair or replace blood vessels.
The surgeon also applies biological glue to strengthen the layers of the vessel wall. Doctors use the heart and lung machine to support the patient's breathing and blood circulation during surgery.
When the dissection involves the descending aorta (in the belly) treatment can include intensive medical management and control of blood pressure. In certain patients, there is danger of rupture or impaired blood flow to organs or to the legs. In these patients, stent-graft repair may be used to seal off the torn portion of the aorta.
Recovery after repair of aortic dissection depends on the type of procedure, the location of the dissection and your other medical conditions. Most patients will require monitoring in the intensive care unit for several days and may require additional procedures before going home.
Patients are transferred urgently to Intermountain Medical Center. A Cardiothoracic surgeon will operate in the cardiovascular operating room (also called the CV OR). Patients with descending aortic dissection are first admitted to the Thoracic ICU.
If you have questions please call us: (801) 507-4223 or 1-800-507-4223
The Center for Aortic Disease focuses on the care of patients with aortic aneurysm and dissection using the most advanced surgeries and less invasive repairs.


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At some point in our lives, most of us will be faced with a friend who has lost a loved one and needs help grieving. It's hard seeing friends in pain and we all want to help. Yet, sometimes it's hard to know how to help a grieving friend. Sometimes it's hard to know what to say or do when we just want to help a friend. But most everyone needs grieving help in times of serious loss, so it's important to know what to do when you're helping a friend cope with grief.
Top Female Celebs On Twitter
If you're wondering who to "follow" next, check out these female celebs that are buzzing...
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Hrncir moves close to home with Kingsville job
San Antonio native takes Brahmas top football position
After spending the majority of his coaching career in the Houston area, Andy Hrncir is finally getting closer to home - kind of.
The San Antonio native is headed to Kingsville after being named head football coach by a unanimous vote at a special board meeting Tuesday night. Hrncir spent the past two years at Class 4A Huffman Hargrave as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
"My family really enjoyed the community," Hrncir said. "I grew up in San Antonio so I like the area. When I saw that Kingsville had come open I made a few calls and heard that it might be a good job to apply for."
Kingsville athletic director Rory Minter said the district received 45 inquiries and 37 applications for the position, which opened when Scot Hafley turned in his resignation on Jan. 23 after filling the vacancy at Haltom. A search committee came up with a list of 10 candidates, which turned up three finalists.
After another round of interviews Monday, the committee presented two to the school board at Tuesday's meeting.
"Once we got down to the top two it became a board decision," Minter said. "They voted 7-0."
Before Hargrave, Hrncir served as offensive coordinator for two years at Houston St. Thomas in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. He also coached the quarterbacks and ran the offense at La Porte from 1999-2002.
Hrncir is anxious to begin his first stint as a head coach.
"I'm very excited about it," he said. "I'm ready to get down there and get started. It's my first job as a head coach so I'm ready to get going."
Hafley guided the Brahmas to a 4-6 record in 2005 and 3-8 mark last season, which the team opened with six straight losses. The Brahmas then won three straight District 31-4A games over Robstown, Tuloso-Midway and Alice to clinch their first trip to the playoffs in five years.
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Found throughout the eastern and coastal regions of Australia, koalas survive on a diet of eucalyptus… leaves. With strong limbs, sharp claws and opposable thumbs, koalas are well adapted to climbing. These marsupials are nocturnal, and spend most of the day sleeping in the crooks of trees. During the night, koalas climb high into the trees to eat several pounds of eucalyptus leaves. Weighing less than an ounce at birth, a koala finds its way into its mother's protective pouch, where it stays for up to seven months. Dependent on their eucalyptus trees, koalas are highly susceptible to habitat loss. Show More
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Back to Browse Journals » Journal of Receptor, Ligand and Channel Research » Volume 4
Specific mechanism of action of amisulpride in the treatment of schizophrenia and correlation with clinical response and tolerability
Authors Juruena MF, de Sena EP, de Oliveira IR
Published Date August 2011 Volume 2011:4 Pages 49—55
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/JRLCR.S6239
Published 26 August 2011
Mario F Juruena1, Eduardo Pondé de Sena2, Irismar Reis de Oliveira3
1Stress and Affective Disorders Programme, Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 2Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil; 3Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, School of Medicine, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil
Abstract: The treatment of schizophrenia has advanced because the therapeutic efficacy, tolerability, and safety profiles of atypical antipsychotics seem to be superior to those of classical neuroleptics. Amisulpride is an atypical antipsychotic drug with a unique receptor pharmacology, which is dose-dependent. As could be predicted from the pharmacologic profile of a pure D2/D3 receptor blocker, amisulpride is an atypical antipsychotic agent, effective for positive and negative symptoms, which can bring about additional improvement in the social functioning and quality of life of patients with schizophrenia. Amisulpride has one of the lowest potentials for weight gain of all the antipsychotic agents, and is clearly associated with lower use of anti-parkinsonian medication and with fewer dropouts due to adverse events than conventional antipsychotics. Amisulpride is well tolerated in terms of anxiety and insomnia. Amisulpride has a pronounced prolactin-elevating effect which appears to be independent of dosage and duration of administration. Hyperprolactinemia rapidly reverses after amisulpride discontinuation. Amisulpride benefits patients with negative symptoms, and is the only antipsychotic to demonstrate efficacy in patients with predominantly negative symptoms. Amisulpride maintains its efficacy when used for medium-/long-term treatment, as demonstrated in studies of up to 12 months. Amisulpride has the best evidence as an effective adjunct to clozapine treatment. In conclusion, amisulpride is an antipsychotic agent with proven efficacy and good tolerability.
Keywords: antipsychotic agents, amisulpride, adverse events, pharmacology
This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. Permissions beyond the scope of the License are administered by Dove Medical Press Limited. Information on how to request permission may be found at: http://www.dovepress.com/permissions.php
Other article by this author:
Safety and tolerability of antipsychotics: focus on amisulpride
Mario F Juruena, Eduardo Pondé de Sena, Irismar Reis de Oliveira
Drug, Healthcare and Patient Safety 2010, 2:205-211
Published Date: 1 October 2010
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