Travelling to USA with passport that combines surname and given name on a single line

Question: My old passport has a valid US visa.  The surname and given name were interchanged in the visa, but I travelled with these documents to the USA 4 years ago. Since the old passport is expired now, I got a new one, but the new passport entry for the name combines the surname and given name together in a single line as given name.
Can I travel to USA under this condition carrying both the passports?
Comment: Are you saying your passport has both surname and given name list on the same line in the information section.  Or are you referring to the bottom machine readable section where they share a line with > separating each item?  I thought international standards required separating the two.
Answer: I am not 100% sure if I understand you correctly, so let me recapture:

You have a valid U.S. visa, but the surname and given name appear are transposed
Your visa is in your old passport
In your new passport, the surname and given name are combined into your given name, and the surname remains blank

If this is the case, you should (please thoroughly read below) be able to travel to the U.S. with these documents, as can indicated by these sources:

Can I go to US with Blank Surname in Passport ? What is the problem with FNU as first name ? How does it impact my life in USA?
The fact is that, you will be able to go to US with blank First name or blank Surname in your passport, but your life gets tough afterwards

http://redbus2us.com/surname-blank-in-passport-first-name-as-fnu-in-us-visa-issues-solution/

My old passport has already expired. My visa to travel to the United States is still valid but in my expired passport. Do I need to apply for a new visa with my new passport?
No. If your visa is still valid you can travel to the United States with your two passports, as long as the visa is valid, not damaged, and is the appropriate type of visa required for your principal purpose of travel. (Example: tourist visa, when your principal purpose of travel is tourism). Both passports (the valid and the expired one with the visa) should be from the same country and type (Example: both Uruguayan regular passports, both official passports, etc.).

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/frequently-asked-questions/about-visas-the-basics.html
This being said, ultimately, the decision to be admitted into the U.S. lies with the CBP (=Customs and Border Protection) officer at your point of entry, and you may want to temper with your chances as little as possible.
As you can see from the first link, having a blank surname in your passport can set you up for all kinds of delays and hiccups when doing official business (government agencies, banks, ...).
Therefore, I would suggest to get your passport fixed while still in your home country, and then have your visa information corrected at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) while you are in the U.S. if your stay requires you to get a Social Security Number or driver's license etc.
P.S.: One thing to keep in mind – the expiry date on your visa is not a sufficient measure for validity of your visa or your length of stay, as stated on the state department's website:

The admitted-until date or D/S notation, shown on your admission stamp or paper Form I-94 is the official record of your authorized length of stay in the United States. You cannot use the visa expiration date in determining or referring to your permitted length of stay in the United States.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/general/visa-expiration-date.html
My J1 visa allows me to work as an intern in the U.S. and my visa expiration date is the end of the year. The period for which I am allowed to stay, however, is determined by the DS2019. If, for whatever reason, my internship is terminated tomorrow, this will also revoke my authorization to stay in the U.S. and I will have to leave the country within a certain grace period.
Comment: "P.S.: One thing to keep in mind – the expiry date on your visa does not necessarily mean that the visa is still valid, as stated on the state department's website:" That quote is completely different from what you're saying. That quote is about the difference between a visa (which is only for entry to the U.S.) and status (which is only for staying in the U.S. You can stay if you have a valid status, even if you don't have a valid visa; and conversely, you cannot stay if you don't have valid status, even if you have a valid visa.
Comment: ... But that is completely different from "the expiry date on your visa does not necessarily mean that the visa is still valid", which is about the difference between when the visa expires and whether the visa is valid or not (i.e. whether it is useful for getting entry or not). It is always true that an unexpired visa does not guarantee admission to the U.S., and certain things will make a visa effectively unusable for getting entry. But that quote is not about that.
Comment: "my J1 visa allows me to work as an intern in the U.S. and my visa expiration date is the end of the year." Your visa expiration date has NOTHING to do with how long you can stay in the U.S. That is determined by your status. The visa expiration date is the last day that you can use the visa to enter. How long you can stay is determined by the officer when you enter, and is completely unrelated to the visa.
Comment: You are correct, I will rephrase. We mean the same thing – just because the visa expiry date is still in the future, this does not warrant admission (well, to be exact, nothing warrants admission). Take student visas – if a student drops out of school, he will not be re-admitted into the U.S., and he will have to leave rather immediately, no matter what the CBP put down initially, as he has violated the terms of his status.


Where could one find financial big data

Question: As part of my thesis on Visual Analytics I need to find a financial dataset to work on. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze a big-data-grade dataset and then visualize it in different ways. However so far I haven't a reliable source of financial big data. Where could one find such data?
Comment: I work in the field and would be happy to give you and answer, but your question is extremely broad. Could  you please be more specific about what you are looking for. Examples; Stock price data, earnings data, financial metrics data, exchange level trading data, derivatives data... the possibilities go on and on.

One strong suggestions I will make is that you be extremely careful chosing the data you use. The EDGAR XBRL data set from the SEC  contains over 15GB of historic data filings, but it is an intensly messy data set. You will spend a HUGE amount of time cleaning it.
Answer: I'm an accounting major and I know that for a number of my classes I've had to use various financial databases that have just tons of information available, but they're pay-services. However, I'd check out what your school has and see what can be downloaded.
All publicly traded companies also have to submit annual reports (10-K) and quarterly reports (10-Q) which you can find here: http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
The Yahoo finance API for Python is also extremely convenient:
https://pypi.python.org/pypi/yahoo-finance/1.2.1
It includes being able to get historical stock information with some very simple function calls.
Of course, there's no dearth of sources available since the government kind of makes a big deal about financial data having to be public. This was the number two result on my google search for "financial datasets": http://www.kdnuggets.com/datasets/index.html
Comment: How many records have each of these datasets?
Answer: Take a look at Yahoo! Finance for daily, weekly, monthly data on S&P500 and other tickers. However, if you want microaggregated data (e.g. seconds, minutes, hours ---> real big data) you have to pay (a lot!).

Where could one find financial big data


Working with large images and transform in the VSE

Question: I'm trying to work with an image in the VSE that is larger than the rendered screen and the VSE always cuts them off. So either they are stretched to fit the screen or (when using "image offset") they are cut and cropped. in the specific example I want to use a map over which I want to pan and zoom in, but not use the default camera-setup because I don't do anything in it anyway, just use VSE and strip modifiers.
So how do I get blender to use the WHOLE image instead of just a cropped 1920x1080 selection of blank ocean?
Comment: maybe this can help you: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/42094/rescaling-in-the-vse-yields-low-resloution-blurry-images/42462#42462
Comment: Thanks, not what I was looking for at all, since this is about quality and zooming in, not panning.
As I said: blender just pretends as if the rest of the image doesn't exist and makes the image STOP at the viewed/zoomed section. The only way I can introduce an image larger than the rendered plane is to downscale it in another programm first, and then, of course, Quality is lost.
Answer: Currently not possible to do that without some image quality loss.
If this is allowed then do the following:
Option 1

Add your image as a strip.
With the strip selected add Effect Strip -> Transform.
In Transform strip properties choose Bilinear for interpolation (or try with the other options to your liking).
Now scale the image. Assuming you are using 1920x1080 for render dimensions - type the expression (with numbers) in Scale - for X - [your_image_width]/1920; for Y - [your_image_height]/1080. This will set upscale factors for the image which will restore its original dimensions and also here the image quality loss occurs.
Now you can pan or zoom in the Transform strip using Position and Scale respectively. For Scale from now on always multiply X and Y with the same scale factor. For example if you want to scale the image down in half multiply the values by 0.5. If you want to scale up twice - multiply both values by 2.

Option 2
You can always import the image in the 3D view as plane. For that you can use the plug-in
Import -> Images as Planes (if not there, enable it in User Preferences)

Make the camera orthographic and orient it so it looks directly towards the image plane.
Set the 3D view to Textured. Scale and move the plane from Camera view to your liking.
In VSEditor add the Scene where the image is as a strip. In Sequencer Image View properties choose Scene Preview/Render to be Textured.
You can open 3D View window and animate the scale and position of the plane. To see the updated plane, Refresh the sequencer or change frames in the timeline.

Option 2 has better image quality than Option 1 but requires you to work in the 3D space.
Answer: Add an image in the MCE (Movie Clip Editor or Tracker tool). Apply at least one tracker ctrl-click on image. then turn on the 2D stabiliser and begin applying changes to scale, rotation or offset/transform.
In the VSE add a Movie "Clip" to the timeline, choose the same clip that you just modified. In its properties N-Key, turn on Stabilisation. To see the changes you make in the MCE you must click the "Refresh Sequencer" button.
Answer: I made this in the VSE using the updated VSE_Transform_Tools addon and this large NASA Image.

Use the keyboard shortcut Alt+S to set the image to it's original scale. See the addon's readme page for more info.
Comment: Nice add-on. Alt+S does exactly what I described in Option 1 of my answer. Unfortunately the image quality is not very good with this method because the image is once resized automatically and once again using the Transform effect.
Comment: Indeed. I can't see a way to get around this loss of quality without going out to the 3D window or using the compositor.


Why, in a passive circuit with a sinusoidal input, do all voltages and currents have the same sinusoidal behavior as the input?

Question: I am familiar that in any circuit composed of linear passive elements and a sinusoidal input, all voltages and currents through and across any element will exhibit the same sinusoidal behavior and frequency as the input; that's how passive filters work in fact. But I can't figure out or find a concrete/straightforward proof for why this happens, if not plain observation.
Comment: I know We Don't Like Fun™ but your lecture about how mather nature loves the sine wave just made my day.
Comment: What kinds of passive elements are you talking about? Diodes are passive but I'll be damned if you can get sinusoids out of them...
Comment: Thr mather nature loves the sinewave. In the capacitor, for example, the current in the capacitor is directly proportional to the rate of change of voltage across its plates. I = C * dV/dt. So if the voltage is a sinewave surprise, surprise the derivative of a sine wave is a cosine wave (phase shift sine wave ). So, the mother nature must love the sine wave. The same is true for an inductor  V = L* dI/dt. And if the voltage is a sine wave the current is a cosine wave.
Comment: You can prove for each *component* in question. Each component has a well defined behavior.
Comment: Using temperature coefficients of resistors, and the total thermal resistance (resistor, PCB trace, bolts to take heat off the PCB), you'll find the IP3 (3rd order distortion intercept point) of a Surface Mount resistor of value 100,000 ohms is about 1,000 volts. Of course that is a 10 watt dissipation in a SMT resistor.
Comment: It was my mistake that I did not specify that they were linear. Someone has already pointed this out but nonetheless, this question has acceptable answers for what I really meant.
Answer: I've been pouring my brains out and eventually I've found a nice mathematical approach to prove this and decided to answer my own question. In such a circuit, solving for any voltage/current across/through any component (I'll call that \$f\$) would always lead you to construct a differential equation that is always linear, with constant coefficients (due to linear properties of passive components) and non-homogeneous (due to the sinusoidal input). Such a differential equation will always take this form: $$a\frac{d^nf}{dt^n}+b\frac{d^{n-1}f}{dt^{n-1}}+...+j\frac{df}{dt}+kf=C\sin{(\omega t+\theta)}$$ where \$a...k\$ are constants (combinations of inductance, resistance, etc.), \$n\$ is the order of the differential equation (which reflects the number of energy storage elements in the circuit), and \$C\sin{(\omega t+\theta)}\$ is a generalized sinusoidal function that describes the input. A general solution to this differential equation will always take this form: $$f=\text{(general homogeneous solution)}+\text{(particular solution)}$$ where the particular solution \$=A\sin{(\omega t+\theta)}+B\cos{(\omega t+\theta)}\$ which is a sinusoidal function of the same frequency! Now, in AC circuit analysis, we are always looking at the circuit in steady state, when the homogeneous solution approaches zero (which inevitably happens because of resistances in the circuit).
Comment: It's worth pointing out for future readers that the requirement for the circuit to be **linear** is not stated in the original question, but is required for this solution to apply (and for the result to be correct). Another way to say this is that sinusoids (and exponentials) are eigenfunctions of the derivative operator.
Comment: We don't deserve people like you. A person who asks a good and well written question and then makes a good answer.
Comment: A resonant LC circuit's output is just two sinusoids that exactly cancel out. Luckily, there is no such thing as an ideal LC circuit for the sinusoids to exactly cancel out, so the output is just a sinusoid with a very small amplitude.
Comment: Simply said: If the derivative of a sine has the same frequency, then ANY order derivative has the same freq.
Comment: How does your postulation address the condition of an ideal, resonant LC circuit where the transformation = 0?
Comment: good one ... :D
Answer: This is only true for uniquely solvable LTI (Linear Time-Invariant) circuits that are exponentially stable. If you have a non-ideal component (and they all are to one degree or another) you will see harmonics of the input frequency in the output. Inductors tend to be the worst of the lot, but all passive parts have such behavior. For example, capacitors can exhibit strong voltage coefficient and are not time invariant because of dielectric absorption.
For a straightforward (assuming roughly 2nd year University math knowledge)  mathematical proof you can read these Berkeley course (EECS20N: Signals and Systems) notes. You can download the entire text here.
Comment: Are inductors really the worst of the lot? Some core materials are certainly very nonlinear, but at least HF air toroidal inductors should be very linear indeed.
Comment: @leftaroundabout I suppose ceramic capacitors give them a run for their money. Inductors tend to be less ideal in a linear fashion because of the resistance of the wire.
Comment: If it is true in the case of LTI circuits, how do you address the condition of an ideal, resonant LC circuit where the transformation = 0?
Comment: @GlennW9IQ this isn't true for any LTI circuit, I submitted an edit to the answer
Answer: It happens because a sinewave is just one line in the frequency spectrum and no matter what you do with it using a linear filter or amplifier, all that happens is that the phase or amplitude shifts.
If it were a square wave (infinite harmonics) then applying a filter would attenuate or accenuate some frequencies more than others and the square wave would lose its recognizable square shape.
Square wave harmonics: -

Gif source
Answer: The basic reason is that the constituent equations of ideal R, L and C components are linear, time invariant equations involving only derivatives and integrals (both linear operations) and that sine and cosine change into other sines and cosines when acted upon such linear operators.
The derivative and the integral of a sinusoidal function is another sinusoidal function of the same frequency (it can  only change in amplitude and phase). KCL and KVL can only lead to algebraic sums of such sinusoidal functions, and that operation can only produce another sinusoidal function. So, in the end, when you connect R, L and C in a network, a sinusoidal input  will always lead to a sinusoidal output.
See my other answer here.
All of this is a direct consequence of the self-similarity of the exponential function (related to sines and cosines by Euler's equation). You might want to read the first chapter in Giorgi, The Physics of Waves to get a complete explanation for that.
(Note that this property of transforming into a scaled and time-shifted copy of itself on an interval spanning from \$t=-\infty \$ to \$t=+\infty\$ its unique to generalized sinusoidal functions - all other functions will end up being 'deformed' by the linear time-invariant circuit. Solutions of a linear system that are scaled copies of themselves like in \$A \  x = \lambda \  x\$
(where \$\lambda\$ is a complex scalar carrying information on attenuation and phase shift) are called characteristic, or proper, or eigen- solutions of the systems. They can be used to build an orthogonal basis with the property that any other (well-behaved) function can be decomposed as a generalized sum of such elementary bricks - and this will lead you straight into Fourier series territory, but that's another story).
A concise explanation is given in the first answer to this question on Math SE: Why do we use trig functions in Fourier transforms, and not other periodic functions?

The Fourier basis functions \$e^{iωx}\$ are eigenfunctions of the shift
  operator \$S_h\$ that maps a function \$f(x)\$ to the function \$f(x−h)\$:
  \$e^{iω(x−h)}=e^{−iωh} e^{iωx}\$ for all \$x∈R\$.
Comment: "So, in the end, when you connect R, L and C in a network, a sinusoidal input will always lead to a sinusoidal output." with a notable exception of a resonant LC circuit with an output of 0 - not a sine wave.
Comment: You mean A sin(w t + fi) for A=0 ? Still a sinusoid, just a bit too small to be appreciated. Same goes for placing two identical sinusoidal generators one against the other.
Answer: This is true only when restricting passive elements to R,L,C, and maybe crystals that are properly driven - and even then, there are two exceptions, see below. Intentional and unintentional diodes, varistors, thermistors with a thermal mass, and other non-linear elements can quickly introduce distortions to a pure sinusoidal inputs. Overdriven crystals or ceramic filters might also behave rather nonlinear. If including two-terminal elements with negative resistance (gas discharge tubes, tunnel diodes) in the passive category, even more possibilities exist.
The exceptions:
Real-world parts tend to have imperfections that make them behave a bit like some nonlinear elements. Resistors can have "thermistor with a thermal mass" and even "varistor" behaviour. Capacitors can have voltage dependency in their value due to piezoelectric effects, electric fields yielding mechanical force, chemical effects (in electrolytics). Also, some electret-like effects seem to be documented for capacitors. Metal to metal joints can develop diode-like behaviour. Inductors can become nonlinear through core saturation, interaction of the magnetic field with nearby metal objects, etc...
All resistive components carrying a current exhibit some noise generating behaviours, the lower limits of which are defined by hard physics.
Mind that all real-life seemingly non-sinusoidal, repetitive signals can be perfectly described as a sum of sine waves of varying frequencies and phases.
Looking for the connection to nature will have you going in circles: Sine waves are the principal ingredient in making circles and ovals and round things, according to maths geeks (if you want to draw a circle on a computer, you will usually either use sine/cosine functions or use pythagoras' theorem directly in some way...) . Nature makes a lot of round things (hair, plant stalks, cherries, cherry stains, tornadoes, etc) and keeps an ample supply of sine waves around for that purpose.
Comment: Actually a perfect sine is *impossible* to find in the real world. You need it to run from time \$-\infty\$ to  \$+\infty\$ and while the plus direction can be debatable, for the minus part we are limited to the age of the universe.
Comment: Your answer was from before adding 'linear' to the question. Yes, in practice, most things do not behave perfectly linear. But also, perfect sinus signals are hard to find in the real world. The tomatoe is not a perfect circle, neither is planet Earth or its orbit. Practical signals are indeed nice to model using `multiple` sines.
Comment: I am aware that a time limited sine, in effect, has harmonics :)
Answer: Either your premise is false or you have not properly articulated the boundary conditions.
Consider a simple passive device such as a diode. It will exhibit a non-linear transfer characteristic resulting in a non-sinusoidal output for a given
Also consider an ideal resonant (LC) circuit with a transfer function resulting in zero output - thus non-sinusoidal.
Comment: Yeah, now he's added _linear_ to the question.
Comment: Actually, non-linear devices are more fun. With that simple diode you can e.g. demodulate radio signals (crystal receiver)
Answer: A 'circuit' is usually considered a network of components, with an 'input' and an 'output' port. With network theory, such as Ohms Law, you can derive an equation, the 'transfer function', that describes the output in terms of the input. With 'linear' components, you will always find a 'linear' transfer function.
Let's describe some linear components with functions like output = F(input), output2 = G(input2), etc. Then the combination of such components leads to a combined function like output2 = G(F(input1)). Because both functions are linear, thus of the form y = a * x + b, then those combinations are also linear.
When applying a sinusoidal input signal to the linear network, the output can be amplified by the factor a, and shifted by voltage b. With complex math, or differential equations you can even get 'phase shift', but not a different frequency, because the derivative of a sine has the same frequency.
Do you want this even more formal?
Answer: The eigenfunctions of linear time invariant systems (and passive networks generally are of that kind) are complex exponentials, and their real superpositions are sinoids of arbitrary phase.
An eigenfunction is a function which will only change by a constant (in this case, complex) factor when put through a system.  Linear systems are those where the output corresponding to the sum of several inputs corresponds to the sum of the output of the individual inputs, so you can always analyze them by expressing their input as a convenient sum.  If this sum can be a sum expressed in an orthogonal eigenfunction basis, things become so much easier.
Hello Fourier analysis.


What is the meaning of the word "Principle" in Physics?

Question: What is the meaning of the word principle in Physics?
For example in the "action principle". Is it an action law, an action equation, or an unproved assumption? (I have an idea what an action is).
What confuses me is when I find the expression as in: "...an action principle is defined..." when a Lagrangian is constructed for a system.
Comment: I found this in [this Wikipedia link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics#cite_note-3): H.D. Young, R.A. Freedman (2004). University Physics with Modern Physics (11th ed.). Addison Wesley. p. 2. "Physics is an experimental science. Physicists observe the phenomena of nature and try to find patterns and principles that relate these phenomena. These patterns are called physical theories or, when they are very well established and of broad use, physical laws or principles."
Comment: Related: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/35660/7924
Comment: Thank you. What confuses me is when I find the expression as in: "...an action principle is defined..." when a Lagrangian is constructed for a system.
Comment: why does it it confuse you? When the Lagrangian is constructed or known, you can use the principle of extremal action in a precise manner to understand the behaviour of the system.
Answer: Unfortunately, there is not a standard meaning in physics. Often physicists take the term "principle" with a meaning close to that of "axiom" i.e. as a basic element which applies to any object within the range of applicability of the model/theory. The important difference between mathematicians concept of axiom and physicists concept of principle is that the principles are related to experiments whereas the axioms in math are selected only in basis to formal criteria.
An traditional example of the this meaning of the term "principle" is found in thermodynamics: E.g. first and second principles, although often they are called "laws" of "postulates". Another example is in the common phrase "first-principle computation", which means that you perform a computation in term of basic fundamental properties.
Comment: Thank you for your answer. From the discussion, if I may say, "an action principle is constructed" when a more explicit expression is found that conforms with a group theoretic equivalence. Hence the indefinite article.
Answer: That a physical theory/model with an action functional $S[q]= \int \!dt~L $

has an action principle,
has a variational principle,
fulfills Hamilton's principle,
or fulfills the principle of stationary action,

means by definition that the classical$^1$ equations of motion for the theory are precisely the Euler-Lagrange equations.
--
$^1$Here the word classical is used in the sense that Planck's constant $\hbar=0$ is set to zero.
Comment: Thank you. It sounds like achieving a landmark step. And if the Lagarngian becomes covariant then we specify a gauge principle.
Answer: My understanding of physics is that It must order human experience into a logically coherent picture.
The "principle of extremal action" is the logical foundation to understand the behaviour of classical objects. It allows us to single out the correct or experimentally observed description of the object under investigation out of a multitude of possibilities.


List of services for privatizing whois information

Question: I am registered with a domain name registrar which does not offer an anonymous whois service. However, I am interested in using some third-party service to keep my whois information private. Are there any such services available that do not also require me to register my domain name with them? All I am interested in doing is changing the whois information with my current registrar to point to some company which is able to forward any correspondence to me, while keeping my personal address anonymous.
Comment: @danlefree: I'm aware of sites like domaintools.com that do this. However, I'm interested in keeping my future mailing addresses private as I don't plan on living at my current place forever.
Comment: Not directly related, but you should know that there are companies which maintain archives of prior WHOIS records - if you have already registered the domain with the information you wish to remain private, it's too late.
Answer: You could try http://www.whoisguard.com/ -- they say they offer whois privacy protection for 'existing domains' (i.e. without having to transfer them to a different registrar), which sounds like what you're after.
If it were me, though, I'd just transfer the domain to someone who offers whois protection for free as part of the service (like namecheap), or someone who offers it very cheap (like dynadot), but I appreciate that switching registrars isn't always ideal.


Methods of attaching data to an ethereum address?

Question: I'm trying to setup a system where you can attach a name and website url to an ethereum address. Then have it get called back in an ethereum block explorer I'm building. What are some ways where a user can attach this data to their own account? And how would one call it back? I know you can attach data when you send out via the HEX values, but how would one do it in this scenario?
Comment: Users self-register or back-office registers the users?
Answer: Here's a simple example with the users maintaining their own information.
For simplicity, I've got the users first registering with a function made for that purpose, and then updating (if needed) with functions made for that purpose.
pragma solidity ^0.4.6;

contract UserRegistry {

    struct UserStruct {
        string name;
        string url;
        uint userListPointer;
    }

    address[] public userList;
    mapping(address => UserStruct) public userStructs;

    function isUser(address user)
        public
        constant
        returns(bool isIndeed)
    {
        if(userList.length==0) return false;
        return userList[userStructs[user].userListPointer]==user;
    }

    // Assuming user is trusted to maintain information about themselves ...

    function registerAsUser(string name, string url)
        public
        returns(bool success)
    {
        if(isUser(msg.sender)) throw; // duplicate prohibited
        userStructs[msg.sender].name = name;
        userStructs[msg.sender].url = url;
        userStructs[msg.sender].userListPointer = userList.push(msg.sender) - 1;
        return true;
    }

    function updateUserName(string name)
        public
        returns(bool success)
    {
        if(!isUser(msg.sender)) throw;
        userStructs[msg.sender].name = name;
        return true;
    }

    function updateUserUrl(string url)
        public
        returns(bool success)
    {
        if(!isUser(msg.sender)) throw;
        userStructs[msg.sender].url = url;
        return true;
    }

}

Client side depends on the language. Assuming Web3 JavaScript and Truffle framework, client would do something like this (not tested):
var address = "0x123";
var userRegistry;
UserRegistry.deployed().then(function(instance) { userRegistry = instance; });

// is this address registered?
userRegistry.isUser(address).then(function(isIndeed) { console.log("Is registered", isIndeed); });

// what information do we have about this user?
userRegistry.userStructs(address).then(function(userInfo) { console.log("User Info:", userInfo); });

Also possible to iterate over the list of registered addresses:
// get address from row 0 on the list
userRegistry.userList(0).then(function(addr) { console.log("address:", addr); });

Can add a simple a simple contract function to get a count to help with iteration over the keys
function getUserCount() public constant returns(uint userCount) {
  return userList.length;
}

Function results in Remix to show it working:

Possible to extend this with delete function; omitted for brevity.
Hope it helps.


Why can ATP not be stored in excess?

Question: I just learned that ATP can not be stored in excess and is only made by the body when it is needed. What makes ATP, like glucose and fat is what is stored under the skin or wherever. Now why cant the body just produce ATP and store it for heavy, heavy exercise when it would advantageous for it to be ready rather than it going through the production phase and then used. When I say ATP storage I mean in large amounts.
Comment: In a cell, ATP and ADP+P always stay in an equilibrium. If  concentration of ATP is more than appropriate, the equilibrium will be disrupted. To again come in an equilibrium (Le Chatelier's principle), the ATP would break in high speed, will be rapidly converted into ADP+P, and abruptly huge energy will come out that will destroy the cell.
Answer: Let's compare ATP, glucose and fatty acids in terms of energy storage.

ATP has a molecular weight of 507 Da
Glucose has a molecular weight of 180 Da, and contains the same amount of energy as 31 ATP molecules
Fatty acids vary in size, but a gram of fat contains about twice as much energy as a gram of glucose (or glycogen)

The difference in energy density is huge, you would need enormous amounts of ATP to replace glucose/glycogen as energy storage mechanism, not to speak of fat. You can't put an arbitrary amount of ATP molecules into a cell, you 'll get into problems due to the osmotic pressure lots of molecules inside the cell would cause. Glucose is stored as glycogen in cells due to this effect, which makes one large glycogen molecule out of lots of glucose molecules.
The energy density difference is even larger if you take into account that ATP and glucose bind water, while fat is stored without surrounding water. The actual difference in energy density of glycogen and fat is around 6 times.
ATP is also not as stable as fat, it can get hydrolized in water. This would be a problem for long-term storage of energy.
You'll find some more details in Albert's "Molecular Biology of the Cell"
Answer: I think @AlanBoyd and @MadScientist have touched on the answer, fat is better suited by density for storing energy than ATP; ATP is optimal for quick conversion to bioenergy.  Look at the question in another way: ATP in bioenergy cycle is dynamic - its an energy flux from food and breath to bioenergy.
Biological energy is used at essentially the same rate at which we take it in.   The vast majority is used as soon as its available. If we were to try to store enough ATP for say an hour the costs would be large.
This back of the envelope calculation (see section 3.8) shows that 1 day of ATP is 64.5kg for a 2800 kcal a day energy intake.  Approximately equal to body weight.
Of course ATP is stored in excess - just a few seconds worth though, 8 if you believe competitive cyclists.  ATP is a pretty small quantum of energy... Even an hour storage would add 12 pounds to an adult body weight.  That's a lot. And what advantage would this give us?  We might be able to engage in high energy activities (which use ATP faster than we can make it) for longer.  But up to now it looks as if improvements in efficiency in generating ATP have been adequate for animals to stay competitive.
Look at how evolution has dealt with the other component of bioenergy: oxygen. We can't hold our breath for more than a few minutes. 22 minutes is the current human record; impressive but still not that long.  Oxygen is in plentiful supply brought in from outside and the adaptive costs to storing oxygen internally would simply not justify building up such a capacity for most of us. It seems even that aquatic mammals only hold their breath for a similar amount of time as we can if we practice.  20 minutes for Orcas. Penguins too.  This isn't meant to be a survey of all animals ability to store oxygen, the point being that storage of oxygen has an adaptive cost that is not trivial.
Comment: [The Weddell seal can manage 80 min.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weddell_seal#Diving)
Comment: ATP is also signficantly less stable than other forms of biological storage molecules, such as fat and glycogen. ATP will also slowly hydrolyze by itself when placed in water. The other methods of storage are likely simply more efficient.
Comment: Efficiency depends on the purpose.  ATP is for fast transactions, fat is slow.  carbohydrates are in between.  you wouldn't want to have to metabolize sugar to do the 100 meter dash...
Answer: Not a complete answer, but a few random thoughts to start off the conversation:
1) There is another molecule that is used as a fast access store, and that is phosphocreatine which can be used to very rapidly rephosphorylate ADP in muscle. In resting muscle it is present at about 5x the level of ATP.
2) Levels of ATP are also used by cells as a regulatory input - in other words the fall in ATP levels with the onset of exercise triggers a response to replenish ATP through e.g. the breakdown of glycogen. In this view it is useful to have a final stage "energy currency" which can act directly as an enzyme substrate and whose level is a sensitive indicator of current energy demand.
3) ATP is also a substrate for RNA polymerase. If ATP was present at vastly higher levels than UTP, CTP and GTP it would probably cause errors in transcription, and might also interfere with the regulatory role of GTP binding proteins, since it would act as a competitor for binding at the GTP binding site.
4) In any case, if ATP was to be maintained at a much higher concentration for rapid use, presumably as soon as it began to be used the ATP generating systems would have to start up to try to replenish the pool. In other words things would really be no different from the way they are, but would simply operate at a higher resting level of ATP.
Answer:
There is a high rate of ATP dependent processes in the cell such that ATP is immediately used up just after it has been synthesized.
ATP is very unstable in a water environment. It is easily hydrolyzed thus it is not ideal for storage in the very aqueous cellular environment. This makes it ideal instead to have storage sourced of carbon for ATP production.
Comment: Welcome to Biology.SE! This post is much more likely to receive a favorable response if you [edit] it to include supporting references (primary literature is best). Without that support, your answer is indistinguishable from opinion. In addition, it is not clear to me that your answer contributes anything new — your time could be better spent on questions that are unanswered or poorly answered. ——— Please take the [tour] and then consult the [help] pages for additional advice on [Answer] effectively on this site and then edit or delete your answer accordingly. Thanks!

Why can ATP not be stored in excess?


Instruments to compose a song or theme for setting in the desert

Question: Im composing a song or theme for a setting in the desert. I'm trying to get instruments to use to capture the feeling being in the desert.
Comment: Apologies for thinking too hard. Use a guitar.
Comment: This question is... rather broad. [Duke Ellington did just fine with a jazz ensemble instrumentation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka3m7DW-yA4); and I would argue that to say thematic feelings are dependent on instrumentation is to diminish both the thematic feeling **and** the instrument in question. Rather than attempting to match instruments to mood, I would instead suggest asking for recommendations of instruments common in desert-based musical cultures if that's really what you want.
Comment: Sorry, I have to vote to close, not only for the reasons NReilingh gives, but also because "desert" is so broad. The dunes of the Sahara feel completely different to the scrubland of the Navajo.
Comment: You guys are thinking to much. I'm simply asking for advice for instruments to use. The feeling is up to me and how to use those instruments.
Answer: Here are some different approaches I thought of:
Cultural accuracy
Firstly, what is the geographic location of the desert you have in mind? There are many different types of deserts, and different regional cultures within the same desert (such as the African Sahara --just think of the vast number of African people groups it spans) will have different music styles --different instruments, different rhythmic patterns played on common instruments...the list goes on and on. I would advise doing some research and picking a specific location and cultural group if you are aiming for accuracy.
Also, as with any composition work you will ever do, the "feel"/situation/idea/viewpoint you are trying to portray/depict/suggest (I couldn't pick just one word, hence the forward slashes). A peaceful moment at a stereotypical oasis will (or should!) sound much different from a sandstorm, long and laborious camel caravan trek, unexpected rain, or bitterly cold and dark night. A work that attempts to follow a lost, dehydrated wanderer's encounters with various mirages will have a completely different feel than that illustrating the hectic flight of a desert hare -- and both of those will be written differently than a majestic celebration of the desert's vast landscape itself... and then incorporating indigenous instruments into the mix, as well as typical regional rhythmic patterns, time sigs, scales, etc. will also give the piece a unique flavor.

Going with the stereotype
Disney definitely made broad use of the Middle-Eastern desert stereotype (and probably helped develop and fuel it) in the movie Aladdin. Luckily for us, many parts of the movie's soundtrack reflects their aims. Some other references I can think of right now/found on the web are Arabian Dances and a marching band show I saw this year (unfortunately I can't think of the name of the show or the band).
My concert band idea
If you're writing this for concert band or something, though, and just trying to achieve the stereotypical, instantly-recognizable desert image, here are my ideas on the "desert landscape" thing (I like the concept so much I'll probably try my own hand at this someday):

Opening movement/section (depending on how long the piece is):
 Aerial flyover-type thing....soaring over the endless sand.
 Brass play a rousing, broad melody, with woodwinds floating atop with various runs,etc. supporting the brassline, liberal use of cymbal crashes, tasteful tom-tom (and maybe timpani) parts, indigenous instruments support, playing a theme that continues throughout the piece [some kind of cool ostinato-type stuff]

Oasis
 Swooping in to get a closer look at things....
Brass drop out, lightly-scored woodwinds give a more intimate feel than the previous "sweep-over" by the brass. Infrequent but well-placed trills accent the cultural-region-contributed syncopation, if any. Marimbas play some kind of slightly syncopated, cultural-region-based pattern, shakers or whatever indigenous instruments are highlighted occasionally and are used as the main percussion/rhythmic-drive force now (bass drum, timpani, snare, and cymbals are a no-go here).

Desert animals thing
 Following a desert animal...which one, I have no idea
 Probably a marimba ensemble feature plus the addition of any indigenous instruments you can think of. What goes on here is dependent on the animal selected. Cabasa is likely a must, unless taking a "savage dismembering" approach.

Lost in the Desert
 Great. We're lost. Stereotypical walking-around-in-circles, etc.
 Trancelike feel with much shifting of time sigs, accidentals thrown in (shift between scales perhaps, to give that idea of uncertainty and confusion)...Depending on the feel you're going for, perhaps some synthy stuff for mirages. Or maybe play off the fact that they're "illusions" and give the illusion that the phrase is about to resolve and abruptly cut it off with the start of a new phrase, that perhaps repeats but increases tempo each time?  This could go in many different directions.

NIGHT
 Plunge into darkness.
 Eerie vibraphone and French horn stuff, maybe have horns "stop" the bells with hands for hits or something, to give contrast. Native instruments should shine in this passage (in my opinion). Claves or something similar would be neat on a syncopated pattern. Low reeds could sustain. Eventually maybe a bassoon solo.

Daylight, caravan trekking
 Leaning heavily on downbeats to suggest the footfalls/gait of the camels.
 Here is where the "one TWO-AND three FOUR" (not sure if I got the accents right) would be played by drums (djembe, etc.) and shakers. Maybe sparse use of background winds and pitched percussion to accentuate the "lean" more. Oboe solo, muted trumpet support possibly. The main idea for this section will be the obvious placing of weight on downbeats. Dramatic entrance of French horns leading the brass if going into either the (grossly stereotype-driven) desert raiders scene or the "back-to-the-intro-overview-theme" thing (not listed, because it's like a "swooping back out thing").

[obnoxious stereotype alert] Either desert raiders or marketplace
 Depending on which option.....
 Desert raiders: Intensity is key here....a lot of tribal-sounding tom-toms....just go with the drama.
Marketplace: Think hectic, think of the market in Aladdin (again, hate to say it, but...). Driving low brass, low reeds stay low except on hits. Saxes and/or clarinets could have melody here, but it really depends. Maybe add in some wild trombone after the melody is well-established. Lots of shakers and hand-drums. Little to no timpani.

Again, this is just a bunch of random stuff I thought of off the top of my head. Now that I read it, it sounds like more of a movie score than a cohesive work, but I might be wrong. And I applaud anyone who read though yet another of my ridiculously long answers. (I honestly try not to make them long...)
Comment: You also might be able to work some cajon in there, but only to support more ethnically correct instruments. But it seems that you're wanting to play the song yourself, and cajons are much easier to come by than indigenous instruments. :)
Answer: Well, I've never been to the desert, but I watch a lot of documentaries. The only sound in the desert itself is the wind and the sand.
So maybe some soft woodwinds?
And scraping noises. Drums with brushes. Shakers. A soft-shoe tap-dancer?
Comment: What does tap-dancing notation look like? (It had honestly never crossed my mind to use that as an actual percussion instrument.)
Comment: I wish I knew! It was just a wild idea.
Answer: What kind of mood?  Anything like this or this?  At any rate, a sitar and some bongos would be a good start.
Comment: I always think of double reed instruments, like oboe, when I think of desert (or Egyptian) music.
Comment: I do have those instruments. Sitar was my first on the list. I tried bongos but I wasn't impressed with the sound I was looking for so I switched to a timpani.
Comment: Maracas! That kind of percussive instrument.


Audio monitoring w/ headphones through HDMI port

Question: I'm looking at a new camera that has a mic in and audio control, but no headphones out. Is there a way to get live audio out of a camera using the HDMI port and plugging into headphones? I want to be portable, so plugging into a monitor and then from the monitor to the headphones is not practical.
Answer: What you want is generally called an "HDMI audio extractor". There are several hardware products on the market that will extract the audio in the HDMI stream to an audio out connection and pass-through the video part.
A search on ebay gives you several results: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=HDMI+audio+extractor
Though if you need very high quality audio you probably need a more professional product with a good built-in DAC (digital to analog converter). HDMI audio is digital so it needs to be converted to an analog signal and the hardware used in these products isn't meant for high fidelity audio production. Or buy a cheap one with an digital output and use an external DAC.
Answer: What you can always do is intercept the signal before it goes into the camera. Buy a small mixer, plug the mic into it and use the headphone out of the mixer to monitor the mic. Then take the master stereo out of the mixer and run it into your camera. You should get on the camera what you hear on the phones. You may want one of the HDMI audio extractors to confirm it but once its been confirmed you can use the mixer as you wish.
Comment: This would work, though it has the minor issue that if something happened to the audio path between the mixer and the camera, you wouldn't know about it until it was too late, after shooting is done.  You could work around that by using a VU meter in camera (using ML if necessary to get one) in order to make sure there is an appropriate looking signal.


Adobe Reader: remember password for a PDF file

Question: I've bought some ebooks - password protected PDF files. Since the passwords are very long, I wish Adobe Reader could save them for future usage.
Does anybody know a solution or workaround for this problem?
Answer: If you lose the passwords, Elcomsoft sells a PDF Password Recovery program. I used it on a PDF-centric job to see if it could crack our security and (unfortunately for us at the time) it did so easily.
Comment: Thank you for your answer. Hmm, 49 EUR for removing the password I already know. I guess I'm not annoyed enough (yet). ;-)
Comment: Admittedly, I invented a hypothetical situation here. I figured that since you were storing the passwords outside of Adobe that they might get lost someday.
Answer: Two workarounds:

put the passwords into a text file, displayed out of the way on the screen and cut and paste as required. As well as a simple text tool, any software that can provide this functionality could be used, e.g. a clipboard manager (like Glipper under Gnome) or a keyboard macro. Alternatively use a keyboard shortcut to deliver the password when required.
where possible, get PDFs from sources that do not require a password to open them for reading. Lobby other suppliers to change their policy. For example, just two from the many suppliers that do not password protect PDFs for reading:
a. Safari Books Online provide PDFs that have every page marked with the Safari username but not password locked for reading;
b. Packt Publishing changed their policy and now provide PDFs that do not need a password to read. Indeed, if you bought password protected PDFs from them in the past you can download a copy of the unlocked version for free. Again, the files have pages marked with customer details.

Commercial providers can support business cases that do not require a password for reading files. PDFs that do not require a password to open for reading simplify access, allow file contents to be searched and allow file browsers to display the front-cover icon.
Answer: I had some password protected PDFs that were not required to be of limited use by me in any way. It would not matter if they were opened by anyone who managed to get into my machine (it would be too late by then to try protecting the PDFs).
I got tired of locating the text file and keeping it together with the PDF copy.
Finally, I ended up renaming the PDF file with the password attached at the end.
Now, whenever I had the PDF handy, so was the password.
End of unwanted-password-recollection story.
Of course, this may not work for you.

Its like keeping your car keys hanging by the garage door.
But, in this case, my 'garage door' is within the secured premises :-)
Comment: What annoys me is that I have to insert the password each time I open the book. And the password is very long, since it's my email address.
Comment: I think, I used to click-once for rename on explorer, copy the string and, paste it in.
Comment: And, yes. I never expected Adobe related support for remembering any passwords. Had given it up assuming they don't care -- which i think is the case.
Comment: If you are really desperate on this, there might be an AutoIt way to automate the password entry, now that I think of it.
Answer: I found a solution (at least for my Mac). I've dropped the Adobe Reader and switched to Skim, a very good free, open source PDF reader, which allows saving passwords.

For an alternative solution, see this answer here on Superuser: Removing the password from a PDF file.
Answer: I developed the following AutoHotkey script to automate the entry of passwords into a variety of PDF readers.  You pass it the full path to the PDF and the password, and it opens the PDF with your default reader and attempts to enter the password for you.
I compile this script and set up shortcuts to it and the document / password.  For example, if I have a PDF called C:\bleh\my.pdf with a password of abcd, I create the shortcut "C:\someapps\pdf_passwd.exe" "C:\bleh\my.pdf" abcd.
It has undergone many incarnations over the years for Sumatra PDF and Adobe Reader 9/10 on Windows XP and 7.  Sumatra PDF now has a built-in "remember password" option, but when I initially developed this it did not.  If you are not tied to Adobe Reader, I would highly recommend Sumatra PDF over Adobe Reader for basic PDFs.
This latest version has only been tested with SumatraPDF 2.1.1 and Adobe Reader 10.1.4 on Windows 7 Enterprise:
if ( %0% < 2 ) {

   MsgBox Usage: pdf_passwd.exe document password
   ExitApp

} else {

   ; Find default PDF handler

   ; First check User Choice (Windows 7)
   RegRead, DefaultMessage, HKCU, Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.pdf\UserChoice, Progid

   if ( ErrorLevel ) {
      ; No User Choice, try default open command
      RegRead, DefaultMessage, HKCR, .pdf,
   }

   ; Look up the open command for the app
   RegRead, OpenCommand, HKCR, %DefaultMessage%\shell\open\command,

   ; Reduce to executable only
   StringGetPos, SpacePos, OpenCommand, " ", R
   StringLeft, Command, OpenCommand, % SpacePos + 1

   Run %Command% "%1%", , , CmdPID

   SetTitleMatchMode RegEx

   ; This method is more reliable, but doesn't work in Adobe 10.
   ; It seems to fork prior to the password dialog:

   ; WinWait i)password ahk_pid %CmdPID%
   ; WinActivate i)password ahk_pid %CmdPID%

   ; Tested with SumatraPDF 2.1.1 and Adobe Reader 10.1.4.
   ;  Tweaking / additional logic may be necessary to accommodate differences
   ;  in password dialogs.
   WinWaitActive, i)password

   ; Send password with capslock off, restore
   caps_lock_on := GetKeyState( "Capslock", "T" )

   if ( caps_lock_on ) {
      SetCapsLockState Off
   }

   SendInput %2%{Enter}

   if ( caps_lock_on ) {
      SetCapsLockState On
   }
}

Answer: not a solution to store passwords in Adobe Reader, but a work around to remove the restrictions altogether:
PDF Unlocker is a simple and useful application that can remove all kinds of restrictions on PDF files. It works by removing passwords that restrict access in two areas. One is for passwords that restrict some functions such as printing copying and pasting. The second is any password that might prevent you from accessing or opening a PDF file.
PDF Unlocker is freeware (Windows).


How does Brook stay together?

Question: Bones are kept together in the body by muscles and tendons. Since Brook has none of those, how does he stay together and move? Especially with him being able to open his skull, how does he not fall apart?
Comment: Thats anime logic! XD Still i'd like to know if there really is an answer for this question. +1!
Answer: According to me his bones are together because of Devil fruit only.
According to this link:

As long as his bones are not hurt any attacks will not go to his core
  like when Zeo beheaded Brook, his soul managed to repair it and
  connect his bones together again.

Also note

Also, due to the Devil Fruit powers allowing it, Brook also has the
  ability to store objects in his skull by opening it along its crack.
  While Brook is able to do these things because of his Devil Fruit supported form

He has also mastered the energy his soul emits to the extent that he can reattach his bones by using this energy such as when he is beheaded he then attaches his head back with the help of it.
So because of his Devil Fruit power he managed to master and realized the true nature of Yomi Yomi no Mi and because of this only he is able to keep his bones together.
Answer: Could it be because of his devil fruit?
Probably not, as it was simply allowing his soul to enter his body again in order to live a second life. If he managed to find his body sooner he wouldn't be a skeleton (his soul got lost because of the heavy fog and too much time passed before he found his corpse). Funnily, we can wonder what would have happened if he died in an explosion or if his body was dispersed into the sea somehow.
It could be argued that the DF remained in his soul and fused with his body again in order to make it hold together.
Can we consider it is his soul which keeps his body together?
Edit: found a source in chapter 643 page 8 : http://z.mfcdn.net/store/manga/106/65-643.0/compressed/j008.jpg
==> it is indeed his soul and not his DF which maintains his bones together! So even though his soul can wander outside of his body through out-of-body experiences, it's his soul who maintains everything.

How does Brook stay together?


Why can't I set the aperture on my Nikon D7200?

Question: I have just recently bought the Nikon D7200 and am having trouble using aperture priority mode. I have been doing exactly what the manual says - I switch the mode to A but when I turn the dial on the right the F stop does not change. Even when I have the info screen up the shutter speed number flashes but the F stop still doesn't budge.
Comment: What lighting conditions? Is is extremely dark or bright? Is it at the widest aperture?  What is the ISO set to?  And what shutter speed is displaying.  I assume the flashing indicates the shutter speed/aperture combination is not capable of handling the current lighting conditions.
Comment: Which dial are you turning? The D7200 has two control wheels. **What is the shutter speed that is flashing on the info screen when you try to change the aperture?** Have you set the camera to that shutter speed for minimum shutter speed? What aperture is the camera currently set to and what aperture are you attempting to set? Narrower or wider? Do you have a flash attached to the camera or the built in flash raised? Are you trying to open the aperture to a value that would require a shorter shutter duration than sync speed?
Comment: Vaguely, I remember this happened to me. Try a different lens to check if its not a mechanical failure. Otherwise, can you check if this happens in Live-View too? Through the viewfinder or both? I seem to recall this can happen with some movie settings enabled but that should affect Live-View only.
Answer: The D7200 has two control dials. Which one are you using to try and change the aperture setting? The one on the back of the camera controls shutter speed. The one just in front of the shutter button controls aperture. This is different from lower tier Nikon cameras that have only one control wheel.
If the aperture value will not move in only one direction, but will move in the other, then you are probably bumping up against a limit you have imposed using another setting, such as minimum shutter speed. By flashing the shutter speed in the info screen it is telling you any further change in aperture in that direction will result in the need for a slower shutter speed than has been set by you for minimum shutter speed. In that case you need to disable the option that limits the minimum shutter speed (or also enable an option that allows for raising the ISO automatically to compensate for the narrower aperture).
Do you have a flash enabled and are you are trying to open up the aperture to a setting that would require the shutter speed to be shorter in duration than the camera's flash sync speed? If the shutter speed flashing on the info screen is the camera's sync speed then you need to either enable Auto FP if you have a flash capable of AFP (Nikon's name for high speed sync flash) or reduce the ISO setting to allow for a wider aperture with the sync speed. If you are already at minimum ISO, then a neutral density filter would be the next option.
Comment: WOW I was using the wrong dial the entire time, haha! Thanks a bunch guys.


What was the first supranational organization?

Question: The European Union is the only organization at the moment that exhibits a high level of integration amongst its member nation states, but is it the world's first supranational type organization? Are there examples of nation states in the past banding together in an EU like fashion?
Comment: This question is poorly specified in terms of theory, in particular it fails to react adequately to "nationalism" and the "Westphalian state."  This has resulted in the quality of answers below as a "discussion" over the very points the original question fails to specify.
Comment: "Nations" are considered, by mainstream scholarship, to have been constructed largely over the 18th and 19th century as a reaction to the Westphalian state system and the development of language specific elites in urban areas.  There were no "English" as such prior to the Napoleonic wars, there were no "French" as such prior to the Napoleonic wars.  Correspondingly, the concept of a "state" is tied up with the post-Westphalian geographic identity with absolute sovereignty.  Prior to the 17th century, "states" didn't exist.  These are both modern terms, and pre-modern uses are anachronistic.
Comment: @SamuelRussell I appreciate your comment. Can you give me an example of what the term "nation state" means prior to the Peace of Westphalia, and the rise of nationalism? Maybe then I can better phrase the question to address your concerns. It doesn't seem like jfrankcarr and yourself had difficulty identifying that I was going for nation states with the meaning that you both assumed.
Answer: Yes.

The Latin League was founded in 7th century B.C. by a set of Italian states. The capital city was Alba Longa.
Delian League was founded in 5th century BC
Peloponnesian League was formed between 6 and 4th centuries BC
League of Corinth was formed during the winter of 338 BC/337 BC
Achaean League existed between 280 BC and 146 BC
In central, barbarian, Europe it was common to conduct inter-tribal congresses. Over several such congresses Julius Caesar himself presided.
Late Roman Senate can be considered a supranational organization because the kings and chives of allied countries were allowed to participate.
Catholic Church was founded in 1st cantury AD and soon became a supranational organization with college of cardinals composed of representatives of different countres. The encyclicals of the Pope were mandatory to all Catholic states.
Holy Roman Empire was a supranational organization that can be seen as a prototype of the European Union.
Hanseatic league was created in 13th century.
Comment: The Catholic Church (although in many ways not qualifying for this question) is an interesting case. It didn't set out to become trans-national. It intially just mirrored the organization of the Roman Empire. It *accidentally* became trans-national when the empire collapsed out from under it.
Comment: "Catholic" means "universal" I think.  The aim of Christianity was from the very beginning to become a universal religion.
Comment: It does in fact mean that (which is why the word is still in the creeds we recite at my protestant church). However, the "Catholic" church never did have any authority in Christian areas outside of the boundries of the original Roman Empire during the Roman Empire (eg: Armenia and Ethiopia).
Comment: I do not know for the areas you mentioned but say the Rus was baptized by Byzantine church. At that time the church was seen as a means of control over neighbouring barbarian states. In similar way previously were baptized Ostrogoths and Vandals. The vandals by the time they saked Rome were already Christian (but fell to heresy).
Comment: None of these examples relate to the modern nation, or to the modern state.  Attempts to analyse the Latin League in terms of nationality is anachronistic in the extreme.
Comment: And of course, Germany and in some sense, the United States of America. etc, etc etc.
Answer: The earliest political body designed to harness the power of multiple independent sovereign states for trade and military purposes we have a historical record for appears to be the Awussa League.
The Assuwa League was an alliance of city-states and kingdoms formed to oppose Hittite influence in Anatolia, dating to just before the 14th century BCE.
Comment: ...and it should be also noted that the Hittites also organized a military union of their own.
Answer: http://www.itu.int/en/about/Pages/history.aspx
International Telegraph Union 1865 as a result of the International Telegraph Convention predates the Universal Postal Union.
Attempts to claim the German Empire or the Catholic Church as supranational organisations flounder on the concept of "nationality" post dating the Westphalian state.
Answer: The US Articles of Confederation may be an example. Each colony/state were considered sovereign under it while they ceded some powers, such as common defense, to the federal Congress. Since the colonies were never recognized by other powers as separate nations but as part of the US, it may not fit your question though.
There have been a number of international organizations meant to coordinate certain activities between nations, such as the previously mentioned International Telegraph Union and the International Union of Railways, but these only affected a narrow area.
As Samuel Russell mentioned, the Catholic Church might or might not be considered such an organization. While not precisely like the EU, it did wield considerable political influence over nations for centuries before the modern nation-state era.
Comment: If you feel that an answer is WRONG or does not address the question, then vote it down and leave a comment. You guys need to STOP using these comments for personal attacks or discussions. If you feel the need to do this, then take it to the CHAT ROOM!
Comment: Is it leftist to presume that there were confederations centuries before the United States? You downvoted my answer - do you believe that Latin League was not as ancient as the United States?
Comment: Lol the United States were founded centuries after the Catholic Church and thousands of years after say League of Corinth or say, Latin League. -1000
Comment: @Anixx - your negative, anti-American, leftist antics are driving me away from supporting this site.
Comment: Jfrankcarr is right that the OP's question is poorly specified.  Considering the articles of confederation as a supranational entity is difficult, as the confederating states weren't Westphalian in nature as demonstrated by both the continuous interventions of the United Kingdom into their sovereignty, and by their willingness to develop a common "national" identity in the modern sense only in confederation.
Comment: ...and the United States thereafter.


What is the difference between differentially expressed genes and deregulated genes?

Question: Can anyone explain clearly what is the difference between differentially expressed genes and deregulated genes?
Comment: have you done some research on your own and if so, why it wasn't satisfactory?
Answer: Any gene whose gene expression differs significantly from some reference is considered to be differentially expressed. I think the most common representation of differential expression is the volcano plot, where you're plotting the fold change or log2 fold change against the -log10 p value assigned that gene.
This means a couple of things: One, you need a sufficently large sample size that you can actually get statistics, and two, you need a sufficient reference sample which will act as your baseline.
If a gene is degregulated, however, the expression is aberrant. In order to characterize aberrant expression you need a normal sample or accepted reference sample, and the sample of interest. This might be as simple as tumor vs normal tissue from the same patient.


Weird result of working biceps and triceps? strength depeleting?

Question: Earlier I used to do regular pushups about 30-40 and was able to perform about 5 chinups everyday. I left training for a while and then for the past few weeks started training with 10kg dumbbells. About 40 hammer curls and another 40 unilateral curls once or twice a week. Now I definetly have more defined upper arms than before but I can't perform even a single chinup even  4-5 days after workout. I don't take supplements but do believe I have my fill of protein from eggs etc. I don't feel any damage in my muscles or any other hamper so can't understand the reason. My weight have been constant throughout ie 65kgs.
Comment: How long ago were you able to do 5 chin-ups?
Comment: About  4-5 months ago. But my arm was not as well defined them. Been doing curls for about a month now. Curls did help I guess but thinking of mixing it with more pull ups according to Eric's advice
Answer: I'd like to break down a few things first which I think might help to explain what I think is going on with your situation.
First off, great work on starting with chinups / pullups. They are a terrific compound exercise that works basically everything from your mid back to your fingers.
Bicep curls on the other hand are maybe not the most absurd exercise, but when you combine their popularity, the various types of them, and the countless gym-goers that spend inordinate amounts of time curling, bicep curls really do take the prize for silliness.
Exercise and adaptation is specific: you spent a few weeks (the time since your last chinup) not exercising your back in any great degree (based on what you wrote), so it makes sense that your body would have realized it doesn't need that strength anymore.
The "normal" amount of chinups/pullups that are recommended for a young-ish healthy male is about 3 sets of 12 reps. Do 12, wait a minute or two, 12 more, rinse/repeat until you get to 3 sets.
I would highly recommend ditching your curls and spending more time back on the simple pullup bar. I haven't (happily) done a curl in over five years and my arms are plenty big enough. The secret is weighted pullups. Once you can do your 3 sets of 12, try to do 3 sets of 5 weighted. As much weight as you can handle for five reps. Every week, crank up the weight a tiny bit. Favor chinups (with your hands facing you), as they tend to target your biceps a bit more.
The pullup/chinup is, quite frankly, a superior all around exercise that does more for your body, has less chance of causing elbow tendinitis, and no one will confuse you with being one of the know-nothings just curling away watching ESPN in the gym.
If you work your way up to doing chinups with 90lb's of plates dangling from a chain, your arms will look like bazookas and you'll have never needed to spend a minute doing curls.
Comment: Thanks dude! Thinking of mixing up my routine. Dunno but I kinda noticed a more defined change doing curls, though working on increasing pull ups/chin ups.
Comment: @RandomCodemonkey just give some thought to long term issues. Definition or not, tendinitis and out-of-balance muscle issues are going to make a bigger difference to your fitness and looks than some temporary bumps from bicep curls.
Answer: If you could do 5 chin-ups 4 months ago, then didn't work out for three months, then you started doing curls, I think you just got weaker from not working out.
Curls won't necessarily improve your pull-up performance dramatically. 10kg dumbbells are way, way lighter than you are, for example.
If you want to be able to do pull-ups, do pull-ups. The definition in your arms has very little to do with your ability to do them.
Answer: Would definitely agree with Eric, and I would have added on to his comment but I'm new on here :)
If you're isolating and smashing your biceps several times a week you should ask yourself if you're giving yourself ample time to fully recover - I had a similar problem in years gone by but I was also making it worse because my body was building up a kind of tolerance to exercises that I was repeating over and over again. Essentially I was becoming better at performing that exercise, but it wasn't giving me an overall benefit. That's why I advocate compound exercises, or mixing up routines - I won't just focus on my biceps for 30 minutes.
A couple more things...
While chinups do use chest you're mainly targeting your arms (triceps and forearms as well as biceps), your shoulders and your back. It could be you've gained mass in your chest and arms and you need to compensate for that - you're heavier than you used to be. I find chinups as well as dip reps can fluctuate a lot depending on how heavy you are, whether that's muscle mass or fat.
Try doing some seated and / or upright rows to strengthen your shoulders and back or, if you want to burn fat and increase your cardio resistance, jump on the rowing machine and alternate the intensity.
Also don't obsess over protein too much - obviously it's important but good quality carbs are so often neglected these days. You're going nowhere without decent carbs - that's the fuel powering your workouts.
Supplements do help, but nothing will beat a good quality diet.
Good luck


According to the Greek Orthodox Church can one marry a Maronite Catholic?

Question: Is a wedding between a Greek Orthodox to a Maronite Rite Catholic permitted and can the ceremony be performed in the Greek Orthodox Church?
Answer: According to the Greek Orthodox Church can one marry a Maronite Catholic?
The short answer is yes.

When getting married in the Greek Orthodox Church, especially interfaith marriages, there are a lot of questions about what may be allowed in the Church, and what may be prohibited. Luckily, as with many practices of the Church, the Church has explicitly stated guidelines for marriage in the Greek Orthodox Church.
These guidelines outline the official position of the Orthodox Church and simply dictate what is allowed and what is not allowed to take place. They concern the basic rules that must be met, acting as the official canons of the Orthodox Church. They represent the fundamental core of the sacrament of marriage where there is little to no room for negotiation or exception.
According to the Greek Orthodox Church, first and foremost, the marriage must be conducted in an Orthodox Church. This unfortunately pretty much rules out the romantic beach weddings in the Caribbean that are all over TV. This is not because the Church does not like the beach; rather since Marriage is one of the seven sacraments, it is seen as a sacred ceremony, one that should be conducted in a sacred space—an Orthodox Church.
This in turn means that an Orthodox priest must celebrate the sacrament with a traditional Orthodox ceremony in an Orthodox Church. The respective Diocese must also grant authorization of the service.
The engaged couple must meet with the parish priest of the church in which they are to be married. The priest must belong to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese; however marriages that are performed in another Orthodox jurisdiction (Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian etc.) in communion with the Greek Orthodox Church are recognized as valid. Before asking for authorization from the Bishop, it is the priest's job to verify that several fundamental conditions are either avoided or met adequately. - Getting Married in the Greek Orthodox Church

For the Catholic party, the future spouse must obtain a dispensation from their local ordinary (bishop), in order to make it a valid canonical marriage.

Can.  1127 §2 If grave difficulties hinder the observance of canonical form, the local ordinary of the Catholic party has the right of dispensing from the form in individual cases, after having consulted the ordinary of the place in which the marriage is celebrated and with some public form of celebration for validity. It is for the conference of bishops to establish norms by which the aforementioned dispensation is to be granted in a uniform manner.
The Code of canons of Oriental Churches (CCEO) has this to say on Marriage:
Canon 813 Marriage between two baptized persons, one of whom is Catholic and the other of whom is non-Catholic, is prohibited without the prior permission of the competent authority.
Canon 814 For a just reason the local hierarch can grant permission; however he is not to grant it unless the following conditions are fulfilled: the Catholic party declares that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of falling away from the faith and makes a sincere promise to do all in his or her power to have all the offspring baptized and educated in the Catholic Church; the other party is to be informed at an appropriate time of these promises which the Catholic party has to make, so that it is clear that the other party is truly aware of the promise and obligation of the Catholic party; both parties are to be instructed on the essential ends and properties of marriage, which are not to be excluded by either spouse.
Canon 816 Local hierarchs and other pastors of souls are to see to it that the Catholic spouse and the children born of a mixed marriage do not lack spiritual assistance in fulfilling their spiritual obligations, and are to assist the spouses in fostering the unity of conjugal and family life.
Canon 835 Dispensation from the form for the celebration of marriage required by law is reserved to the Apostolic See or the patriarch, who will not grant it except for a most grave reason.

Marriages contracted between Catholics and non-Catholics, but non- baptized persons, are called mixed marriages. Marriages contracted between Catholics and non-christians (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus) are also called mixed marriages, but in this case, according to the law of the Latin and the Eastern Churches the Catholic contracting the marriage has to ask for a dispensation from the impediment of disparity of religion. With the introduction of the 1983 Canon Law Code the term of disparity of religion disappeared from the canon dictionary, leaving in force the impediment I was talking about earlier.

CCEO, can. 813: «Marriage between two baptized persons, of which one is Catholic and the other is not, without permission of competent authorities is strictly forbidden». - Mixed Marriages in the Canonical Legislation: a Brief Survey


air release Foley Moves

Question: I need to do some 'piston' style, air release foley moves next week. They have to be clean (ie no erroneous rattles from the props!) so was just wandering if any of you guys had any good ideas! The best I've come up with so far is a can of compressed air and a metal pipe (I'd quite like to get some metal to it you see!), which is kind of ok but not quite right. I'd really like some options to work with so could do with some brain on this one! Thanks in advance....
Answer: I would try a variety of bicycle pumps. I used to have an old metal one that would make an awesome suction sound every time I used it. A balloon pump, such as the one below, can work well too. They usually have larger nozzles so offer a different type of air flow sound to a bicycle pump.
Try to record at 192KHz 24 Bit, allowing better results when playing with pitch.
Comment: Thanks Colin, I have a balloon pump in the studio - was thinking of cracking that out! also liking @noisejockey suggestion - really good idea with the spray pumps. I'm worried that bike pumps may add to much rattle, so thats a good alternative. Syringes are interesting as well - thanks iain.
Answer: Plastic syringes are great, especially veterinary ones as they come in a wide range of sizes.  You can place different objects and fluids inside them to change the tone.
Answer: Pressure cooker !
Comment: Definitely a great suggestion! Some rice cookers also have purge valves, as do espresso machines, all of which may produce similar hisses.
Comment: A cappuchino machine steam arm could work lovely! great idea.
Answer: To build on Iain's suggestion, also look into manual pump sprayers, available at most hardware/home improvement stores, the kind used to spray chemicals on plants. Their plungers are thick and sound pretty neat. Likewise, manual bilge pumps (of the kind sold to kayakers) are small, inexpensive, and also have a cool sound; Bilgemaster brand is probably the most interesting sounding.
Comment: @noisejockey, I just love that you actually know the sound difference between brands.
Comment: To add to this you can also use small household and bathroom sprayers. You can usually find them at dollar stores or salon supply stores for pretty cheap.
Answer: Ballons i imagine would be pretty good for this, as you could vary the size of them, how fast you let air out etc, and process them as much as you like after!

air release Foley Moves


产业 vs 企业 vs 商业. What's the difference?

Question: 产业 vs 企业 vs 商业. I think the 3 of them means enterprise. What's the difference between them?
Comment: Which dictionaries did you check and what do they say?
Answer: 企业: enterprise/corporation; business(only the organization, not the activity it engages in)
产业: industry; business(the activity but not the company/organization).

eg. 软件产业=software industry/business, 房地产(业)=real estate (business)

商业: commerce/commercial

eg. 商业(的)银行=commercial bank, 商业(的)软件=commercial software
Answer: 产业 chan3 ye4 = industry
企业 qi3 ye4 = enterprise
商业 shang1 ye4 = business
Notice each of the words contain "业". That one character means business.
All three of the words mean business but different types of businesses based on size.
Kind of like bread, then branching off into wheat bread, white bread.
Comment: 商业 is 'commerce/trade', not (the more general) 'business'. 企业 is a 'business' or an 'enterprise' (the organization, not the activity).
Answer: I agree with the translation of @jooshee.
However, "业" doesn't directly mean "business" as in the way the western world uses it. It only gains this meaning, when combined in ways like the ones in the question.
Classically, "业" means "to work" (verb) or "work" (noun) as becomes obvious form this 成语 : "安居乐业" , which can be translated to "to live in peace and work happily".

产业 vs 企业 vs 商业. What's the difference?


Pro Tools M-Powered and syncing to video

Question: I'm starting to get professional jobs for my sound design services and I only have Pro Tools 8 M-Powered. What would be the best way to work with the video editor since I cannot import OMF files. Should I just import the .mov file and start syncing up the dialog from there? Or is there a more efficient way? Thanks!
Answer: You could grab a demo of a software that allows OMF import, make sure its sync with video, then bounce a full length mono or stereo file out and import that into pro tools.
Otherwise, you may be manually syncing omf.... ugh. Hope there aren't a lot of takes/cuts!
Answer: You can probably find a cheap Digitranslator licence on eBay. I bought a few used licences on eBay when I started out a couple of years ago, saved me a lot of money.
Answer: If you are getting a lot of jobs, then invest in upgrading to Pro Tools 9, OMF importing is so important.
Comment: @Mitchell I think pro tools 9 upgrade is cheaper or similar price to buying Digitranslator? You will need Timecode and OMF importing to get serious. Do you have any connections with anyone who is a student? ask them to help you buy the academic version of ptools if you're stuck for cash.
Comment: @edmatthews82 - crossgrade to Pro Tools 9 from M is $350. i'd suggest looking into that. you'll be getting a lot of other features that will be useful in the future besides omf and timecode support.
Comment: I'm thinking about getting digitranslator if I can find it for cheap. Will that get the job done?
Comment: @shaunfarley I just don't know if my macbook could handle Pro Tools 9 at the moment. I only have one measly gb of ram and think I can only have 2gb maximum of ram. Also, wouldn't I need to switch over from Leopard to Snow Leopard to run PT 9? Btw I have the Santa Rosa model.
Answer: Take a look at the discussion here. Looks very similar to your question.
OMF Options, Workaround?


Are there open source alternatives to ArcCatalog?

Question: I'm looking for open source alternatives to ArcCatalog. The software should run on both Win and Linux and support the usual file formats (shp, kml, gml, ...) and databases (especially PostGIS, additional SpatiaLite support would be great). I'd like to browse and search for datasets and probably rename (renaming all parts of a shapefile at once) and delete files.
Answer: For a basic viewer, I've been playing with WxGIS Catalog, which does the basics nicely but could use some fleshing out for more complex use cases. There's also RasterCatalog for QGIS, but as the name states, its only for rasters. On OS X, try GISlook, but none of these look to handle the spatial database engines directly.
Comment: gdal/ogr supports ESRI SDE connections, with some work, and ESRI *personal* geodatabases. See http://www.gdal.org/frmt_sde.html, http://www.gdal.org/ogr/drv_pgeo.html. So yes it is possible to add some ESRI formats to an open source spatial catalog browsing utility.
Comment: That WxGIS looks interesting - thanks.
Id assume that it would not be possible for any sort of OpenSource utility to hook into things like ArcGIS Server or Geodatabases
Comment: Thanks for the reference to WxGIS Catalog.  Nice looking project that I haven't run into yet.
Comment: WxGIS looks good. No need to first import the data, that's a big plus. But I couldn't find how to display the associated metadata.
Answer: GeoApt Data Browser looks quite promising, but I haven't yet managed to make it run on Windows. The big advantage over wxGIS Catalog for me would be that you can access the dataset's metadata.
Update:
As @dassouki mentioned above, there is also a new QGIS Browser which supports raster, vector and WMSS data. You can drag and drop layers to QGIS from there.
Answer: QGIS browser works well: http://www.qgis.org/en/docs/user_manual/qgis_browser/qgis_browser.html
Not sure if you've check that out since this post was made...
Answer: Udig may have what you are looking for.  Runs on Windows, Linux, and mac.  Supports all the standard data formats, and able to browse/rename datasets.
Comment: When you run the software there is a pane that acts as a catalog browser.  You do not have to load the geodata into a map project, you can just use the pane to browse data.
Comment: Seems to me that uDig is a full sized GIS and not really a catalog. How would I browse my geodatasets? I don't want to load them all into a project. I could do that with any GIS.
Comment: I found the catalog. Is there some preview functionality? Also, is there a way to avoid having to import all files into the catalog first?
Answer: http://thuban.intevation.org/
supports .shp and postgis
Has and API and supports Add-ons for extra tools (for .kml, spatiaLite etc)
It's NOT a GIS but a Interactive Geographic Data Viewer.
"Thuban is extensible and multi-platform (GNU/Linux, Windows, ...). It is Free Software under the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL)"
Comment: Nice viewer but not a catalog.
Comment: Did you get an ArcCatlog substitute yet ?
Answer: For Electricity,Water,Gas,Telecom and Renewal Energy Bsmart GIS is Enterprise Solution built on Open Source Solution Stack.
https://www.bcits.co.in/products/bsmart-gis/
Solution is build specialty to cater the needs of Utility Asset management, Utility Network Tracing and all complex GIS operations.
Comment: commercial solution?
Comment: It is for enterprise , built on Open standards and open for any customization as per the requirements.
Comment: i think when the OP is asking for an 'Open Source' solution, they are really meaning 'Free to download'. i think the term 'Open Source' is sometimes used incorrectly with this regard.


In Unbroken, how were the actors made to look malnourished?

Question: After the two plane crash survivors are rescued from the ocean, they are brought to a small concentration camp in the jungle.  At one point, both men are brought out into the light and appear severely malnourished, with visible ribs and sunken abdomens.  Were anorexic people cast as body "doubles"? Was this CGI (like Gollum)? Or was this accomplished another way?
Comment: They weren't _made_ to look malnourished, they _were_ malnourished.
Comment: In almost the whole movie, yes, they were malnourished. However I'm asking about that specific scene in the jungle concentration camp. They are much skinnier in that scene than anywhere else in the movie.
Answer: According to this article,

In order to get the authentic look of POWs, Angelina put stars Jack
O'Connell, Garrett Hedlund and Finn Wittrock on strict 700-calorie
diets. While the dietary challenge presented obstacles, Angelina
expressed her gratitude in a way that made it all worth it.
"The funny thing is we'd all be on set and everybody's kind of
complaining and starving," Garrett said. "[We were] on these emaciated
diets, and Angelina would show up on set and be like, 'You guys look
great!'"

And this article, in the words of one of the actors, John Magaro,

His prison-camp experiences alone, like those of Zamperini and other
inmates, were harrowing, laden with starvation and abuse. Just to
convey that, Magaro said the actors spent days covered in grime,
including head-to-toe makeup resembling coal dust, and were thinned
down considerably.
"There was a strict, strict diet that we were on, all the POWs as well
as the raft guys. We had a nutritionist who kind of gave us a protocol
and we followed it," Magaro said of his three-month shoot in Australia
in late 2013.
"It was a lot of cutting calories with a lot of cardio and exercise. I
lost close to 35 pounds. I'm usually around 140 and I got down to 105.
… It was difficult, but you have to remind yourself what story you're
trying to tell, and you want to do justice to the story. Everyone was
very committed to it."

So the actor did physically lose the weight with an extreme diet.
There's no shortage of articles talking about how Angelina Jolie took on the same (or similar) diet out of sympathy for the actors and that's why she's so skinny lately.
There have been many movies where the actors have gone on crash/extreme diet to achieve the emaciated look. Like for instance Matthew McConaughey's Dallas Buyer's Club look.
Comment: Well, it's not like they just randomly put the actors on starvation rations....they would have doctors and nutritionists on staff/call, and they would have a plan and diet all thought out (the article does mentions a nutritionist). I'm sure the actors went in knowing they were going to have to go through that weight loss process. And like I said, extreme weight loss/gain for a role is not a new phenomenon. You know Christian Bale and his Batman bod? Back in 2004, he went from that to a walking skeleton (lost 63 lbs!) for The Machinist. The pictures are scary.
Comment: So the guy was already a slim 140 and rode a 700-calorie diet down to 105? How does the employer get away with such abuse of employees? According to WebMD, "Severely slashing calories may lead to weight loss, but the lost weight includes precious muscle and lowers metabolism. Drastic calorie restriction also causes a shift toward a higher percentage of body fat, which increases the risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes."
Comment: Thanks for the research and the answer, Trish! I'm curious in particular about one or two shots in the jungle (after the ordeal on the raft), but it could be that the camera angle really emphasized their emaciation.
Answer: This link seems to say that it's CGI

Today, Christian Bale wouldn't need to drop a deadly 63 pounds for The Machinist. Digital retouching can take the physical element out of preparing for a role. For example, Jack O'Connell was saved from having to lose all the weight necessary to play a Nazi concentration camp prisoner in the Angelina Jolie-directed film Unbroken.


How will changing the concentration of a Tris buffer affect amylase enzyme activity?

Question: For instance if you increase the amount of Tris but pH still does not change then will the enzyme activity still proceed normally?  If it does change the pH will it change enzyme structure and why?
Comment: I am a novice at biology, but googling "amylase ph" resulted in a recommended pH of 7.0 for "Human pancreatic alpha-amylase" . So wouldn't it depend on the pH of the Tris, which I forgot, since there are alot of different kinds of tris buffer preps? Googling "Tris" resulted in a wikipedia page with the pH being 8.0. So given that information, wouldn't it have less functionality?
Comment: Would increasing the amount Tris but no change in pH do anything significant?
Comment: To be honest, I wouldn't know. But increasing the amount of the Tris would cause a change in pH would it not? Unless you mean to balance it with something basic or acidic? And then in that case i still would not know. I always thought TRIS was just used to obtain the optimal pH for enzymes and the like and the pH was its reason for being used.
Comment: Assuming the Tris is chemically inert to the reaction, a higher amount of Tris will increase the buffering capacity (i.e. the pH changes less).
Answer: I realize I'm 4 years late, but wanted to give an answer to this. It appears that tris often has inhibitory effects on amylase activity. Adding more Tris will lead to competitive inhibition with the substrate and will skew the results.
Binding of Tris to Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase can affect its starch hydrolysis activity
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18289113
Answer: After 4 years of working in enzymology I've got say tris is really tricky first of all when you use more tris to keep pH at the same as before you will need to re adjust the pH as tris is about 9 but most enzymes work around 6to7.5 (for alpha amylase it's 5.8) if you don't then your enzyme wont work properly ,it needs very low or high pH grade to destroy 3D structure of enzyme ,so we can simply say it will lost it's functionality , if you adjust the pH high concentration can cause some problem such as surrounding substract here amylase and not letting it to connect to enzyme in some cases acid you use to adjust pH has toxic effects on enzyme chlorine in this case but pretty sure the best way is optimization to understand the reaction.
Best regards .


Salesforce security review

Question: I am new to salesforce development and have a question regarding the application security review process. After the installation of my application in salesforce I want to invoke a service in my java spring based app(which is hosted in cloud). I will pass salesforce organization id to the java app and it will return a string response stating success or error. Apart from the org id I will not pass any salesforce data. I want to know in this case do I need to use the "Burp" scanner or any other review of my external java app before submitting my salesforce to security review process.
Answer: Only your code in salesforce Instance will be evaluated as a part of security review .But its advisable to follow best practice in your Java app too.
Some of them include

Make sure your Java app does bulk retrieve and bulk update to avoid platform governor limit
Make sure you have proper error handling mechanism
Answer: Security review team expects burp report for the api you are sending the salesforce org-ID. Burp testing is must. The api should be accessible only on https and not on http.
 If you need more information regarding this issue do comment.
Answer: Salesforce Security review process only includes review of your apex code.
But make sure you won't hit Salesforce Governor limits using java app.
Answer: If there is also a website that the customer logs into in order to get access tokens, provide payment, configure the webservice or obtain support, then you would need to use the Burp scanner on the website.
For the webservice, if it is a rest service than you can use Burp. For SOAP, there are other tools such as SOAP UI that you can use to test the webservice.
The security review is of the complete solution, not just the part of the solution hosted on Salesforce.

Salesforce security review


Extremely Long Boot Time

Question: I installed 11.10 via Wubi on my Toshiba NB-205 netbook (Intel Atom N280 / 1.66 GHz, 1GB RAM, Mobile Intel 945GSE Express). After the initial boot and login, which went fine, I was checking out the desktop when the cursor froze. I could navigate with the keyboard but it appeared that the touchpad was not working. I restarted the netbook and after grub was chain-loaded and Ubuntu was selected, booting appeared to hang on a blank purple screen. After about five minutes lightDM appeared and I could login normally; also the touchpad was working normally. I checked to see if there was a driver that needed to be installed in case the touchpad was causing boot issues but no proprietary drivers are found via Additional Drivers. After reading similar problems, with no working solutions, it seemed it was a good idea to see if dmesg held any clues. Admittedly, I am not sure what to look for. I did notice the following lines:
[     0.263568]  pci0000:00: ACPI _OSC failed (AE_NOT_FOUND), returned control mask: 0x1d
[ 0.263575]  ACPI _OSC control for PCIe not granted, disabling ASPM
I do not know if that is normal. Additionally, this popped up a few times:
EXT4-fs (loop0): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount.ro
Basically, I just searched for "fail" and "error" in a text editor and those are what were found. Does anyone have any clue what may be causing the long boot time?
Thank you for your time.
Comment: Install `bootchart`. Then after your next boot look in `/var/log/bootchart` for a nice picture of your boot. You can probably find out what's taking so long from that.
Answer: Checking this it indicates you should use the kernel boot option nohz=off. It's also described in this bug. Since the bug indicates the problem is in the bios, you could try updating the bios and see whether Toshiba have fixed it.
Comment: Yes that seemed to do the trick. I was unaware of that page and whether or not it still applied. Thank you.

Extremely Long Boot Time