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Q: how to add a column in hbase table without adding column family is that possible to create a hbase table without adding column family, for instance create 'emp','personal data','professional data' personal data & professional data are the column family, i want to add fields to table without adding column family for example HTable hTable = new HTable(config, "TableName"); Put p = new Put(Bytes.toBytes("ROW")); p.add(Bytes.toBytes("VALUES"); //only the values need to be added to the column without column family. A: Every HBase table must have at least one column family. Every piece of data in HBase is in a Cell (KeyValue) which has a row, column family, column qualifier, timestamp, and a value. The column families are defined statically when creating the table and cannot be altered without disabling the table. However, you can dynamically create any columns you want inside a column family - in fact each row could have it's own columns. You can read more at https://hbase.apache.org/book.html#datamodel | Low | [
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Pages Monday, 24 March 2014 Prepare - Run - Bike - Run - Enjoy Run – Bike – RunSounds straight forward enough, right? But when you add up just the kit list for this multi-sport event, you realise there's a little more to it.For a start, no one mentions the third discipline before you sign up – the transition. This is the scramble made from run to bike, where your wobbly post-run head forgets where your bike is racked then, when you finally find it, your nervous fingers stumble around your helmet clip, before you Bambi along with your steed not knowing how you're going to complete the cycle. Then on you're return, you have to do it all over again, in reverse!Run – Panic – Transition – Wobble – Bike – Jelly Legs – Transition – Exhaustion – RunOnce you see the real run down of a duathlon, it starts to feel a little more complicated than just running and cycling. But fear not, Hercules Events have plenty of tips to make race day a little easier. PREPARATION 1. Don't just train for running and cycling, practice your transitions too, this is part of the race and needs just as much preparation. Make sure you fit in some brick sessions (where you practice getting on the bike after running, or running off the bike) so you feel comfortable with the change over. 2. Find out the sponsors of the race refreshments and practice with their products. If you react well to them, you know you can use them during the race. If they don't agree with you, take your own. 3. Just as you learn to deal with running injuries, learn how to fix minor problems with your bike. Hopefully, you'll avoid punctures and slipped chains but it's worth knowing how to put them right if they do happen. 4. Make sure you've studied the basic rules. Things like not keeping a 7 metre distance from the bike in front or taking more than 15 seconds to overtake another bike, could mean a disqualification. 5. Pump up your tyres and carry out a final check on all things bike before you rack it up. TRANSITION 1 1. When you set up your kit, lay it out on a bright, easily distinguishable towel. That way, when you come in to transition, you can find your area quickly. 2. You MUST put your helmet on before touching you bike, it is the duathlon (and triathlon) law. Lay it out with the front facing you, straps out, so you can fit it straight onto your head without any fuss. 3. Put your bike into a low gear before you rack it up. Your legs will be tired coming in from the run, so a nice easy gear will help them get spinning. 4. Get on your bike from the left. This means you're protected from any traffic that may be coming your way and you avoid being scratched by the gears. TRANSITION 2 1. As you approach T2, change to a lower gear to get your legs moving quicker and prepared for the second run. 2. Look out for that bright towel again, this time you might be even more disorientated. 3. Start your second run with small strides to ease your legs into running again. Once you feel more comfortable, you can change into your normal stride length. ENJOY! Unless you're planning to become an elite athlete, you're racing for fun. So enjoy the experience, be proud of your achievement and finish safely. As with anything, the more you practice and prepare, the better you'll perform on the day. Have a look at Hercules Events for more training days and their events for when you're ready to put that knowledge to the test. | Mid | [
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Evidence for a localization of [(3)H]nociceptin binding sites on medullar primary afferent fibers. The ORL1 receptor (opioid receptor-like 1) and its endogenous ligand, nociceptin, are involved in nociperception. We have studied, in a deafferented animal model, the modification of medullar [(3)H]nociceptin binding site density. A rhizotomy was carried out in rats at the cervicothoracic level, and the dorsal afferent fibers from C5 to T1 were lesioned. Seven days after surgery, animals were sacrificed, and the binding of [(3)H]nociceptin (2 nM) was then performed on spinal cord sections. An autoradiographic analysis revealed a significant reduction (-18%) of [(3)H]nociceptin binding site density in the dorsal horn ipsilateral to the deafferentation compared with the contralateral side of the lesion. In the ventral horn, no significant difference (-5%) of binding was observed in the ipsilateral side of the deafferentation compared with the contralateral side. Thus, [(3)H]nociceptin binding sites appear to be located mainly on either interneurons or deutoneurons of the spinal cord, because the bulk of the labeling is spared by the lesion. However, the significant reduction of labeling that occurs on the dorsal part of the ipsilateral side to the lesion indicates that [(3)H]nociceptin binding sites are also present on these dorsal afferent fibers. | Mid | [
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I've just published a comprehensive explainer on Medium about the EU's new Copyright Directive, which was sabotaged at the last minute, when MEP Axel Voss snuck in the long-discredited ideas of automatically censoring anything a bot thinks infringes copyright and banning unpaid links to news articles. After a million Europeans signed a petition calling for a debate on the new proposals, a divided opposition failed to kill them. But hope is not lost: the new Italian government has changed position on the proposals and now the opposition constitutes a potential "blocking minority" that could kill the whole thing — provided they could work together. The new Directive is now in the "trilogues" — closed-door negotiations between the E.U.'s Parliament and individual national governments. Normally, these are a formality that takes place out of public view. However, the current trilogue is both more contested and more public than any in the E.U.'s history. The European Court of Justice has ruled that Europeans are entitled to know what happens in these trilogue negotiations, and German Pirate Party MEP Julia Reda has pledged to publish the negotiating documents (and she's kept her word). What's more, the trilogues coincide with political changes in Italy, and the Italian government has withdrawn its support for Articles 11 and 13. This brings the proportion of Europeans who oppose these articles past the critical threshold of 35%, a theoretical "blocking minority" that could scuttle the entire proposal (assuming they can avoid the trap the opposition fell into last time: agreeing that these rules aren't appropriate but disagreeing on what to do about it). It's not clear what will happen next. If these rules are meant to cut Big Tech down to size, they're sure to disappoint. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and the other tech giants are the only companies big enough to be able to afford the hundreds of millions it will cost to follow the new rules. Small competitors in the E.U. just don't have that kind of cash. Freed from any threat of competition from E.U. companies, dominant tech platforms will be left to grow unchecked. They will present even more of a threat to democratic discourse, privacy, and competition than they already do. | High | [
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Quantum junction solar cells. Colloidal quantum dot solids combine convenient solution-processing with quantum size effect tuning, offering avenues to high-efficiency multijunction cells based on a single materials synthesis and processing platform. The highest-performing colloidal quantum dot rectifying devices reported to date have relied on a junction between a quantum-tuned absorber and a bulk material (e.g., TiO(2)); however, quantum tuning of the absorber then requires complete redesign of the bulk acceptor, compromising the benefits of facile quantum tuning. Here we report rectifying junctions constructed entirely using inherently band-aligned quantum-tuned materials. Realizing these quantum junction diodes relied upon the creation of an n-type quantum dot solid having a clean bandgap. We combine stable, chemically compatible, high-performance n-type and p-type materials to create the first quantum junction solar cells. We present a family of photovoltaic devices having widely tuned bandgaps of 0.6-1.6 eV that excel where conventional quantum-to-bulk devices fail to perform. Devices having optimal single-junction bandgaps exhibit certified AM1.5 solar power conversion efficiencies of 5.4%. Control over doping in quantum solids, and the successful integration of these materials to form stable quantum junctions, offers a powerful new degree of freedom to colloidal quantum dot optoelectronics. | High | [
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Business Directories Turkey inflation seen higher over weak lira Istanbul, October 31, 2013 Turkey's central bank raised its inflation forecasts for this year and next on Thursday, citing weakness in the lira currency and higher global oil prices while hinting it may tighten monetary policy further. At a news conference announcing its quarterly inflation report, the bank raised its mid-point forecast for the end of 2013 to 6.8 percent from 6.2 percent, and for the end of 2014 to 5.3 percent from 5 percent. It said the forecasts were based on an expected oil price of $109 a barrel for 2013, up from a prediction of $107 in its last report in July. It held its forecast for annual food price inflation at 7 percent. While Governor Erdem Basci said the bank would tighten policy further if need be, he emphasised several times that easing was not an option for the foreseeable future. "Inflation-focused monetary policy continues, so don't expect easing until we are near the inflation target," Basci said. Turkey had been among the most high-profile victims of the shift in global capital prompted by signals the U.S. Federal Reserve would rein in its ultra-easy monetary policy, causing the lira to hit its weakest ever level on Sept. 5. A retreat from the Fed has given it some room to breathe and Basci said inflation was likely to be volatile in the short term but is on a downward trend and would fall into line with its target of 5.3 percent by the fourth quarter of next year. But he said the bank would tighten further if needed and said the lira currency could strengthen if the bank maintains it cautious stance. The bank may announce measures in December which would boost the predictability of its policies, he said. "The most important detail in Basci's comments is that policy will be tightened," said Gizem Oztok Altinsac, chief economist at Garanti Securities. "There will be no easing in policy, but he left the door open for more tightening. Therefore its likely that there will be new tightening measures to come to support the currency." Basci said he saw no current need to adjust the bank's interest rate corridor and that the weakness of the lira would add 0.4 percentage points to inflation at the end of 2013. SLOWDOWN Turkey's economy, one of the developing world's most robust performers over the past five years, has slowed sharply this year and the bank is under pressure to do more to support growth. But it has a huge current account deficit to contend with which makes moves in the lira - and foreign capital out of Turkey - disproportionately important for its financial stability. One positive indicator was Basci's comment that loan growth was running at around 25 percent in the third quarter, above the bank's reference rate, though he said that would fall gradually to more moderate levels. The central bank kept its main policy rate, the one-week repo rate, at 4.50 percent, its borrowing rate at 3.50 percent and its overnight lending rate at 7.75 percent last week. It said it will maintain its cautious monetary policy stance and continue implementing additional monetary tightening at the appropriate frequency until the inflation outlook is in line with medium-term targets. The lira stood at 1.9885 against the dollar by 1016 GMT, having eased to near the 2 lira level before the bank's news conference, and compared with 1.9875 late on Wednesday. – Reuters | Mid | [
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# LANGUAGE translation of CakePHP Application # Copyright YEAR NAME <EMAIL@ADDRESS> # No version information was available in the source files. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "Project-Id-Version: PROJECT VERSION\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2014-01-23 08:29+0200\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YYYY-mm-DD HH:MM+ZZZZ\n" "Last-Translator: Lincoln Brito <[email protected]>\n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE <EMAIL@ADDRESS>\n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" "Plural-Forms: nplurals=2; plural=n>1;\n" #: controllers/components/toolbar.php:91 msgid "Component initialization and startup" msgstr "Inicialização de componente" #: controllers/components/toolbar.php:140 msgid "Controller Action" msgstr "Action do Controller" #: controllers/components/toolbar.php:167 msgid "Render Controller Action" msgstr "Renderizar Action do Controller" #: controllers/components/toolbar.php:231 msgid "Could not load DebugToolbar panel %s" msgstr "Não foi possível carregar o painel %s do DebugToolbar" #: views/elements/debug_toolbar.ctp:25 msgid "There are no active panels. You must enable a panel to see its output." msgstr "Não existem painéis ativos. Você deve habilitar um painel para visualizar sua saída." #: views/elements/history_panel.ctp:21 msgid "Request History" msgstr "Histórico de requisições" #: views/elements/history_panel.ctp:23 msgid "No previous requests logged." msgstr "Sem requisições anteriores logadas." #: views/elements/history_panel.ctp:25 msgid "previous requests available" msgstr "requisições anteriores disponíveis" #: views/elements/history_panel.ctp:27 msgid "Restore to current request" msgstr "Restaurar para requisição atual" #: views/elements/log_panel.ctp:21 msgid "Logs" msgstr "Logs" #: views/elements/log_panel.ctp:28 msgid "Time" msgstr "Tempo" #: views/elements/log_panel.ctp:28 views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:54 msgid "Message" msgstr "Mensagem" #: views/elements/log_panel.ctp:37 msgid "There were no log entries made this request" msgstr "Não houveram entradas no log para essa requisição " #: views/elements/request_panel.ctp:21 msgid "Request" msgstr "Requisição" #: views/elements/request_panel.ctp:35 msgid "Current Route" msgstr "Rota Atual" #: views/elements/session_panel.ctp:21 msgid "Session" msgstr "Sessão" #: views/elements/sql_log_panel.ctp:21 msgid "Sql Logs" msgstr "Logs Sql" #: views/elements/sql_log_panel.ctp:31 msgid "toggle (%s) query explains for %s" msgstr "alternar (%s) query explains por %s" #: views/elements/sql_log_panel.ctp:39 msgid "No slow queries!, or your database does not support EXPLAIN" msgstr "Sem consultas lentas!, ou o seu banco de dados não suporta EXPLAIN" #: views/elements/sql_log_panel.ctp:44 msgid "No active database connections" msgstr "Sem conexões ativas de banco de dados" #: views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:33 msgid "Memory" msgstr "Memória" #: views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:35 msgid "Current Memory Use" msgstr "Uso atual de memória" #: views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:39 msgid "Peak Memory Use" msgstr "Pico de uso de memória" #: views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:43 msgid "Timers" msgstr "Tempos" #: views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:45 msgid "%s (ms)" msgstr "%s (ms)" #: views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:46 msgid "Total Request Time:" msgstr "Tempo Total de Requisição" #: views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:54 msgid "Time in ms" msgstr "Tempo em ms" #: views/elements/timer_panel.ctp:54 msgid "Graph" msgstr "Gráfico" #: views/elements/variables_panel.ctp:21 msgid "View Variables" msgstr "Visualizar Variáveis" #: views/helpers/simple_graph.php:79 msgid "Starting %sms into the request, taking %sms" msgstr "Começando %sms na requisição, levando %sms" | Mid | [
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Lymphocyte traffic within the bone marrow and selective retention of alloreactive cells. Earlier studies showed that large numbers of isotopically labelled thoracic duct lymphocytes (TDLs) enter the bone marrow (BM) within hours of injection but depart equally as rapidly by 12 to 24 hr. The significance of this rapid flux was investigated further. Early (1/2 to 2 hr) after the i.v. injection of TDLs, BM was shown to contain T cells capable of initiating a graft-versus-host (GVH) reaction in F1 hybrids and in other experiments memory cells against human serum albumin (HSA). Both GVH and memory cell activity had markedly declined in the BM by 12 hr. In contrast to the rapid departure of TDLs from syngeneic BM, F1 hybrid BM retained parental lymphocytes with GVH activity for alloantigens of the opposite parent. F1 hybrid BM under these circumstances supported the transformation and proliferation of lymphocytes activated in situ by alloantigens. These selectively retained T cells also reacted to third-party alloantigens. In addition, TDLs with memory for HSA were retained in the BM of F1 hybrids. The BM is a site in which alloreactive immune responses may be initiated or sustained. | High | [
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Raspberry pi gpio projects You want the switch to be able to unplug from the Pi so that you can mount it in a case and remove it if necessary which always seems the case with my projects. We will select teams and notify them of their acceptance to Phase 2 of Mission Space Lab by mid-November Pin 5 is also Raspberry pi gpio projects as GPIO Since Pin 6 is already at ground, you can do this by shorting Pins You can verify this either by pressing the button and seeing if your pi shuts down, or doing the following from the command line: In Mission Zero, students aged up to 14 write a simple Python program that will display a message on the International Space Station for 30 seconds. A keyboard and mouse Step 1: Before starting, be sure that your Micro SD card is clean with no existing partitions. Have a look at our Astro Pi Mission Space Lab guidelines for everything you need to know to take part the challenge. I recommend creating a directory to hold your scripts. You can choose between two themes for your experiment: Go to the Raspberry Pi Download site and download the latest Raspbian release. For a previous project, I used a former speaker cable: The green wire connects back to the Pi. Mission Zero and Mission Space Lab. Please be advised, this projects rating is: This action may appear to hang, be patient and wait until you see the command prompt. Ever wanted to run your own experiment in space? More Difficult — Involves soldering, use of ssh, command prompt, and coding. Do not copy and paste. Command m for help: The input gate detects whether the input voltage level is low or high by comparing it to a threshold voltage. This is a hardware switch, nothing needs to be done in software to wake the Pi from the sleeping state, it will automatically wake when Pin 5 is tied to ground. If you choose a Normal Close N. You will want to delete any existing partitions prior to copying the Raspbian image on your SD card. This gives a little support to the connection and also prevents unintentional shorts. A the time of this writing, the most recent version is "Wheezy". Input and output pin electrical specifications In lieu of actual measurements, the following specifications are provide as good faith estimates that you may use as guidelines in your designs. Please note that you will need to purchase a separate WiFi adapter such as the Once you restart your pi, you should be able to see shutdown. The important thing is that you are looking for a Normal Open N. We need to move the yellow wire to one of the programmable GPIO pins. In this example, the leads are shown. The RPi itself runs Linux, and the basic skills and commands you learn will become very valuable later once you are up and running. If you have trouble with these steps, or are using an OS other than Linux, you may find detailed installation instructions in this quick start guide. To use the GPIO pin numbering then you need to pass the -g flag to the gpio program: If it is able to run, try pushing the button and see if the Pi shuts down. Your deadline to register and submit your idea via the Astro Pi website is 29 October ESA Associate States in So now we have a lit LED. By default, SSH is enabled on Raspbian. It can be created by doing: This page tries to address that inadequacy by piecing together information from the Raspberry Pi foundationother sites including the eLinux Wikiand datasheets of other processors. Run the command df in the terminal to determine the name and location of your SD card.This is the official Raspberry Pi blog for news and updates from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, education initiatives, community projects and more! From the beginning of playing with the Pi I wanted a way to power on and off the Pi without having to unplug the micro usb cable. For the most part, this is just out of fear of wearing out the USB connection, but it is also nice to have a physical button to perform relatively common and simple tasks. Setting Up Your Raspberry Pi For Python GPIO Projects. The Raspberry Pi is a great tool to get started with electronic tinkering projects. It's inexpensive, runs a full-fledged Linux operating system, and has I/O pins that can be used to control other electronic devices. The Raspberry Pi is a tiny and affordable computer that you can use to learn programming through fun, practical projects. Join the global Raspberry Pi community. The Raspberry Pi provides general purpose digital input/output pins (called GPIO pins) that you can use for reading digital logic signals or for outputting digital logic levels. The outputs do not have much current capability, but you can drive LEDs or. Many of the previous Raspberry Pi projects I had been working on were based on fairly simple GPIO logic to turn things on and off. Today I wanted a little more of a challenge so I started working to control a stepper motor from my Raspberry Pi using Java. | Mid | [
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<html> <head> <title>ZVMODELVZ Web Manager</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css" media="screen"> <script type="text/javascript" src="overlib.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="general.js"></script> </head> <body onLoad="load_body()" onunLoad="return unload_body();"> <div id="overDiv" style="position:absolute; visibility:hidden; z-index:1000;"></div> <!-- Table for the conntent page --> <table width="666" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <form method="GET" name="form" action="apply.cgi"> <input type="hidden" name="current_page" value="Main_LogStatus_Content.asp"> <input type="hidden" name="next_page" value="Main_LogStatus_Content.asp"> <input type="hidden" name="next_host" value=""> <input type="hidden" name="sid_list" value="FirewallConfig;"> <input type="hidden" name="group_id" value=""> <input type="hidden" name="modified" value="0"> <input type="hidden" name="action_mode" value=""> <input type="hidden" name="first_time" value=""> <input type="hidden" name="action_script" value=""> <tr> <td> <table width="666" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#E0E0E0"> <tr class="content_header_tr"> <td class="content_header_td_title" colspan="2">Status & Log - System Log</td> </tr> <tr class="content_header_tr"> <td colspan="2"><textarea class="content_log_td" cols="63" rows="25" wrap="off" readonly> <% nvram_dump("syslog.log","syslog.sh"); %> </textarea></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </form> <tr> <td> <table width="666" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#B0B0B0"> <tr bgcolor="#CCCCCC"><td colspan="3"><font face="arial" size="2"> </font></td></tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td height="25" width="34%"> <form method="get" name="form1" action="apply.cgi"> <input type="hidden" name="current_page" value="Main_LogStatus_Content.asp"><input type="hidden" name="action_mode" value=" Clear "> <input type="hidden" name="next_host" value=""> <div align="center"><font face="Arial"> <input class=inputSubmit onMouseOut="buttonOut(this)" onMouseOver="buttonOver(this)" onClick="document.form1.next_host.value = location.host; onSubmitCtrl(this, ' Clear ')" type="submit" value="Clear" name="action"></font></div> </form></td> <td height="25" width="33%"> <form method="get" name="form2" action="syslog.cgi"> <input type="hidden" name="next_host" value=""> <div align="center"><font face="Arial"> <input class=inputSubmit onMouseOut="buttonOut(this)" onMouseOver="buttonOver(this)" onClick="document.form2.next_host.value = location.host; onSubmitCtrl(this, ' Save ')" type="submit" value="Save" name="action"></font></div> </form></td> <td height="25" width="33%"> <form method="get" name="form3" action="apply.cgi"> <input type="hidden" name="current_page" value="Main_LogStatus_Content.asp"><input type="hidden" name="action_mode" value=" Refresh "> <input type="hidden" name="next_host" value=""> <div align="center"><font face="Arial"> <input class=inputSubmit onMouseOut="buttonOut(this)" onMouseOver="buttonOver(this)" onClick="document.form3.next_host.value = location.host; onSubmitCtrl(this, ' Refresh ')" type="submit" value="Refresh" name="action"></font></div> </form></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html> | Low | [
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Sub menu Neil Armstrong Dies at 82 Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died today at the age of 82. Armstrong died from complications due to heart surgery he underwent a few days after his August 5th birthday. On July 20 1969 at 20:17:39 UTC Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Moduel (LEM) on the surface of the moon in an area known as the Sea of Tranquility. The first words Armstrong intentionally spoke to Mission Control and the world from the lunar surface were, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” About six and a half hours later Armstrong set his left boot on the lunar surface at 2:56 UTC July 21, 1969, then spoke the famous words “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” I was a kid when the landing and moon walk occurred, but my parents made sure that my sister and I watched the fuzzy images on our TV. Our condolences go out top Armstrong’s family and friends in this time of loss. | Mid | [
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MARTIN LEWIS appeared on his ITV show ‘The Martin Lewis Money Show’ to talk about property and mortgages, and their relationship to Brexit. So, how will the UK leaving the EU affect house prices and the housing market? The Money Saving Expert reveals his thoughts. Earlier this year, it was revealed that the average house price in London has soared to over £600,000 for the first time. Here are the towns you can afford that are less than 1hr away from London. That said, there are some indications that the housing market is beginning to respond to the March 29 deadline. “We’ve already seen indications that prices in London and the South East are beginning to dip, which is likely to continue as buyers finally let their pre-Brexit jitters play out,” Stephens told Express.co.uk. Whether the UK leaves with a ‘soft’ Brexit, or a ‘hard’ Brexit, there will likely be a slowing down of the housing market, he added. “However, I don’t anticipate any kind of immediate large-scale fall in prices – more a softening of the market as buyers hold their collective breath,” he said. | Mid | [
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--- abstract: 'If dark matter (DM) simply consists in a scalar particle interacting dominantly with the Higgs boson, the ratio of its annihilation cross section —which is relevant both for the relic abundance and indirect detection— and its spin-independent scattering cross section on nuclei depends only on the DM mass. It is an intriguing result that, fixing the mass and direct detection rate to fit the annual modulation observed by the DAMA experiment, one obtains a relic density in perfect agreement with its observed value. In this short letter we update this result and confront the model to the recent CoGeNT data, tentatively interpreting the excess of events in the recoil energy spectrum as being due to DM. CoGeNT, as DAMA, points toward a light DM candidate, with somewhat different (but not necessarily incompatible) masses and cross sections. For the CoGeNT region too, we find an intriguing agreement between the scalar DM relic density and direct detection constraints. We give the one $\sigma$ region favoured by the CDMS-II events, and our exclusion limits for the Xenon10 (2009) and Xenon100 data, which, depending on the scintillation efficiency, may exclude CoGeNT and DAMA. Assuming CoGeNT and/or DAMA to be due to scalar singlet DM leads to definite predictions regarding indirect detection and at colliders. We specifically emphasize the limit on the model that might be set by the current [*Fermi*]{}-LAT data on dwarf galaxies, and the implications for the search for the Higgs at the LHC.' author: - Sarah Andreas - Chiara Arina - Thomas Hambye - 'Fu-Sin Ling' - 'Michel H.G. Tytgat' bibliography: - 'biblio.bib' title: A light scalar WIMP through the Higgs portal and CoGeNT --- Introduction ============ Recently, there has been some effervescence regarding what may be first hints of direct detection of dark matter (DM) from the galactic halo. The most recent is related to the CoGeNT experiment, a low background germanium crystal based detector, with a rather modest exposure time and detector mass, but very low threshold energy, which has announced an anomaly in the form of an excess of events at low recoil energies [@Aalseth:2010vx]. Although the collaboration clearly leans toward natural radioactivity as the cause for the observed excess, they do put forward the possibility that the events may be explained by the elastic collisions of DM from the galactic halo, with a mass in the $\sim 7-10$ GeV range, and a rather large spin independent (SI) cross section on nuclei, $\sigma_{SI} \sim 7 \times 10^{-41}$ cm$^{2}$. Surprizingly, these values for the mass and scattering cross section are not too different from those required to fit the DAMA/Libra and DAMA/NaI (DAMA in the sequel) events. DAMA has observed 11 successive cycles of annual modulation in the rate of nuclear recoils, with a statistical significance of $8.2 \sigma$ [@Bernabei:2008yi]. These measurements are consistent with the signal that would arise from elastic scattering of a WIMP from the galactic halo with the nuclei in the detectors, the flux of DM particles being modulated by the periodic motion of the Earth around the Sun [@Drukier:1986tm; @Freese:1987wu]. There has been much work on the DM interpretation of the recent DAMA data (see [*e.g.*]{} [@Bottino:2008mf; @Foot:2008nw; @Chang:2008xa; @Khlopov:2008ki; @Bernabei:2008mv; @Feng:2008dz; @Masso:2009mu; @Petriello:2008jj; @Savage:2008er; @Chang:2008gd; @Dudas:2008eq; @Cui:2009xq; @MarchRussell:2008dy; @Fairbairn:2008gz; @Bandyopadhyay:2010cc; @Ling:2009cn]). In [@Andreas:2008xy] (see also [@Arina:2009um]), it has been shown that the DAMA results may be explained as being caused by the elastic scattering of a singlet scalar DM candidate interacting through the Higgs portal. This particle may be a true singlet scalar [@McDonald:1993ex; @Burgess:2000yq; @Barger:2007im], or the low energy limit of another model[^1]. Confrontation to CoGeNT ======================= In the present short letter, we provide an update on the status of the singlet scalar in the light of the recent data from the CoGeNT collaboration, tentatively interpreted as being due to DM. We also include the recent data of the CMDS-II collaboration [@Ahmed:2009zw]. With 2 events for an expected background of $0.8 \pm 0.2$ events, the significance of this result is low, but it also hints at a rather light DM candidate. We adopt the convention of [@Andreas:2008xy], and consider just one real singlet scalar $S$, together with a $Z_2$ symmetry, $S \rightarrow -S$, to ensure its stability, so that the following renormalizable terms may be added to the SM Lagrangian: $$\label{lag} {\cal L} \owns \frac{1}{2}\partial^\mu S \partial_\mu S-\frac{1}{2}\mu^2_S \,S^2 -\frac{\lambda_S}{4} S^4 -\lambda_L\, H^\dagger H\, S^2$$ where $H$ is the Standard Model Higgs doublet, and the mass of $S$ is given by $$\label{massS} m_S^2=\mu^2_S+\lambda_L \mbox{\rm v}^2$$ with $\hbox{v}=246$ GeV. Both annihilation into SM particles and scattering with nuclei are through the coupling $\lambda_L$ to the Higgs particle $h$, respectively in the s and t-channel. Annihilation through the Higgs is S-wave, and the cross section for scattering on nuclei is purely of the SI type. For a DM candidate lighter than the Higgs, $m_S \ll m_h$, the ratio of the annihilation and scattering cross section depends only on $m_S$, $$\sum_{\mbox{\rm \small f}} \frac{\sigma(S S \rightarrow \bar{\mbox{\rm f}} \mbox{\rm f}) v_{rel}}{\sigma(S N \rightarrow S N)} =\sum_{\mbox{\rm \small f}} \frac{n_c m^2_{\mbox{\rm f}}}{f^2 m^2_N \mu^2_r} \frac{(m_S^2-m_{\mbox{\rm f}}^2)^{3/2}}{m_S} \label{ratioS}$$ where ${n_c}=3(1)$ for quarks (leptons), and $\mu_r=m_S m_{N}/(m_S+m_{N})$ is the nucleon-DM reduced mass. The factor $f$ parametrizes the Higgs to nucleons coupling, $f m_{N}\equiv \langle {N}| \sum_q m_q \bar{q}q|{N}\rangle=g_{h{NN}} \mbox{\rm v}$, and we consider $0.2 \leq f\leq 0.4$ (see [*e.g.*]{} [@Gasser:1990ap]). Equation (\[ratioS\]) shows that the mass of the DM candidate is fixed for a given relic abundance and SI scattering cross section [@McDonald:1993ex; @Burgess:2000yq; @Barger:2007im; @Andreas:2008xy]. In turn, direct detection experiments may determine both the SI cross section and the mass of the DM, modulo the astrophysical uncertainties regarding the local density and velocity distribution of the DM. [*A priori*]{} there is little chance that these constraints may be met by singlet scalar DM, but as Figure \[fig:elastic\_update\] reveals, the model may be in agreement with CoGeNT —which is the main result of this letter— or, as shown in [@Andreas:2008xy; @Arina:2009um], with DAMA. Since there is a gap between the CoGeNT and DAMA (with channelling) regions, that scalar DM agrees with CoGeNT does not trivially derive from the fact that it may agree with DAMA. We emphasize that this result, as for DAMA, is specific to a scalar particle with scalar couplings to SM fermions. For instance, annihilation through the Higgs portal would be P-wave suppressed for a fermionic singlet DM candidate, and other interactions, as is the case for a light neutralino [@Bottino:2007qg], are necessary to agree with the direct detection data (see also [*e.g.*]{} [@Kim:2009ke; @Fitzpatrick:2010em; @Kuflik:2010ah; @Feldman:2010ke]). ![SI cross section ($\sigma^0_{n}$) [*vs*]{} scalar singlet mass ($m_S$), for $\rho_{DM} = 0.3$ GeV/cm$^3$ and a standard Maxwellian velocity distribution (with mean velocity $220$ km/s and escape velocity $v_{esc}=650$ km/s, see our conventions in [@Arina:2009um]). The green region corresponds to CoGeNT (minimum $\chi^2$, with contours at 90 and 99.9% C.L.), for which we have assumed that the excess at low recoil energies is entirely due to DM (assuming a constant background contamination). The DAMA regions (goodness-of-fit, also at 90 and 99.9% C.L.) are given both with (purple/orange) and without (purple, no fill) channelling. The blue region corresponds to the CDMS-II two events, at $1 \sigma$, which we obtained following the procedure of [@Kopp:2009qt]. The blue (short-dashed) line is the 90% C.L. exclusion limit from CDMS-Si [@Akerib:2005kh]. The black dotted line is the $90 \%$ C.L. exclusion limit from the Xenon10 2009 data set, using their scintillation efficiency [@Angle:2009xb], as also considered in [@Kopp:2009qt]. The long-dashed line is based on the same data but using instead the smaller scintillation efficiency advocated in [@Manzur:2009hp] (central value, at $1\sigma$ the corresponding exclusion can be found in [@Fitzpatrick:2010em]). Finally, the brown lines (continuous) encompass the region predicted by the singlet scalar DM model corresponding to the WMAP range $0.094 \leq \Omega_{DM} h^2 \leq 0.129$, for $0.2 \leq f \leq 0.4$.[]{data-label="fig:elastic_update"}](plot_lowregion_el1){width="0.5\columnwidth"} The gap between CoGeNT and DAMA may be reduced, either assuming that channelling is less effective than what is advocated by the DAMA collaboration (which has the effect of raising the DAMA region — but not reducing the tension with exclusion limits), or assuming that the CoGeNT excess is partially contaminated by some natural radioactivity (lowering the CoGeNT region) or a mixture of both. One may also adjust the properties of the halo or the DAMA spectral data [@Fitzpatrick:2010em], but we have refrained from doing so. Also, both regions are excluded by the most stringent limit set by Xenon10 (the dotted line in Figure \[fig:elastic\_update\]). However, if the scintillation efficiency —the measure of the fraction of energy from the recoiling nuclei that goes into scintillation light— is actually lower than that used by the collaboration (the long-dashed line in Figure \[fig:elastic\_update\]), as advocated in [@Manzur:2009hp], there is a region of CoGeNT which may be consistent with all experimental constraints (and the singlet scalar DM candidate). ![$E dN/dE$ spectra produced by Pythia8.1 for a scalar singlet of mass $6$ GeV (blue, long dashed), $8$ GeV (dark blue, short dashed) and $10$ GeV (black, continuous line).[]{data-label="fig:spectra"}](dNdESingletScalar){width="0.450\columnwidth"} In the scenario we consider, the coupling $\lambda_L$ to the Higgs must be fairly large to explain both the relic abundance[^2] and the direct detection data. For $m_h = 120$ GeV ($m_h = 180$ GeV), one typically requires $\lambda_L \simeq -0.2$ (resp. $\simeq -0.45$) for a DM candidate of mass $m_S \sim 8$ GeV. For the same choice of parameters, $\mu_S \sim 100$ GeV, which implies fine tuning of the parameters at the level of the percent, which is not unbearable in our opinion. Also there is no mechanism to naturally stabilize the mass of the scalar at a scale of few GeV. Note however that, if neither CoGeNT nor DAMA could be fitted with $\mu_S^2 \sim 0$ at tree level, in the Inert Doublet Model at one loop, the DM mass and coupling ranges required by CoGeNT and/or DAMA may be compatible with dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking induced by the inert doublet [@Hambye:2007vf]. A light scalar dark matter candidate coupled to the Higgs has potentially many other signatures or implications, a large flux of gamma rays from dark matter annihilations [@Feng:2008dz; @Andreas:2008xy], a large flux of neutrinos from capture by the Sun, which may be constrained by Super-Kamiokande [@Savage:2008er; @Savage:2009mk; @Andreas:2009hj; @Feng:2008qn], or anti-protons and anti-deuterons in cosmic rays [@Bottino:2008mf; @Nezri:2009jd]. ------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- $m_S$ and BR $\Phi_{\rm pred} (\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1})$ $\Phi_{\rm lim}^{95\% \rm CL} (\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1})$ $\Phi_{\rm pred} (\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1})$ $\Phi_{\rm lim}^{95\% \rm CL} (\rm cm^{-2} s^{-1})$ 10 GeV BR($SS \rightarrow \tau^+\tau^-$) $\simeq 10\%$ $8.5 \times 10^{-10}$ $7.8 \times 10^{-10}$ $1.6 \times 10^{-9}$ $1.6 \times 10^{-9}$ BR($SS \rightarrow b\bar{b}+ c\bar{c}$) $\simeq 90\%$ 6 GeV BR($SS \rightarrow \tau^+\tau^-$) $\simeq 20\%$ $1.5 \times 10^{-9}$ $1.0\times 10^{-9}$ $2.8 \times 10^{-9}$ $1.7\times 10^{-9}$ BR($SS \rightarrow b\bar{b}+ c\bar{c}$) $\simeq 80\%$ ------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- : Comparison between the expected gamma-ray flux from a light scalar and the $95\%$C.L. limits given by the [*Fermi*]{}-Lat collaboration, Figure 2 in [@Abdo:2010ex]. For the 10 GeV candidate the limits are extracted assuming annihilation into $b\bar{b}$ with a BR of 100$\%$. The limits for the 6 GeV candidate are our extrapolations, assuming BR=80% BR in $b\bar b$ and BR=20% in $\tau^+\tau^-$. \[tab:dwarfs\] Following a suggestion made in [@Fitzpatrick:2010em], we may confront the model to data on the gamma flux from dwarf galaxies recently released by the [*Fermi*]{}-LAT collaboration [@Abdo:2010ex]. The analysis in [@Abdo:2010ex] gives, for various dwarf galaxies, the 95 $\%$ C.L. limit on the total flux $\Phi$ of gamma rays (with energy between 100 MeV and 50 GeV) that may be produced through annihilation of dark matter. The published analysis, which is quite sophisticated, is limited to candidates with a mass larger than 10 GeV. However the spectrum of photons is quite similar for slightly lighter candidates (see Figure \[fig:spectra\]), so we expect the constraints to extrapolate smoothly for, say, a 6 GeV candidate. For the sake of illustration, we consider the limits from two representative dwarf galaxies, Draco and Ursa Minor [@Abdo:2010ex]. In Table I, we give the predictions for the singlet scalar model for candidates with mass 6 and 10 GeV, assuming the NFW profiles as used by the collaboration (see Table 4 of [@Abdo:2010ex]), and for $\sigma v = 2.5\cdot 10^{-26}$ cm$^3\cdot$s$^{-1}$. The 10 GeV (6 GeV) scalar interacting through the Higgs has a BR into $\tau^+\tau^-$ of order $10 \%$ ($20 \%$). For the limits on the flux, we refer to Figure 2 in [@Abdo:2010ex], which display the limits obtained for a BR=100% into $b\bar b$, and for BR=80% into $b\bar b$ and BR=20% into $\tau^+\tau^-$. For the 10 GeV candidate, it is a good approximation to take the limits assuming a BR of 100% in $b\bar b$ (Table I). As shown in Figure 2 in [@Abdo:2010ex], the BR$\simeq 10\%$ in $\tau^+\tau^-$ should give a limit on the flux that is ${\cal O}(10\%)$ stronger, at most. For a 6 GeV candidate, we use the figure with BR$\simeq 20\%$ in $\tau^+\tau^-$ and BR$\simeq 80\%$ in $b \bar b$ and naively extrapolate the curve down to 6 GeV. In all cases the predicted fluxes are larger than the limits. From the numbers given in Table I, we thus tentatively conclude that the scalar singlet model with a NFW profile may be excluded at 95 % C.L. by data from dwarf galaxies, and that it would be interesting to extend the analysis of [@Abdo:2010ex] to lighter WIMP candidates. To close the discussion on indirect constraints, we mention the fact that the annihilation and mass of the scalar singlet candidate makes it also a very natural candidate to solve the primordial $^6 Li$ problem (see Figure 3 in [@Jedamzik:2009uy]). Last but not least, a light WIMP in the form of a scalar coupled to the Higgs would imply that the Higgs mostly decays into a pair of dark matter particles [@Burgess:2000yq; @Barger:2007im; @Andreas:2008xy; @He:2009yd]. We would like to point out that the DAMA and CoGeNT regions could be distinguished from a measurement of the invisible Higgs decay branching ratio. For $m_h=180$ GeV the effect is striking: as Figure \[fig:higgsBR\] shows, taking into account the CDMS-Si limit and the WMAP region, the DAMA region gives $60\% \lsim BR \lsim 70\%$, while for the CoGeNT region, one has $75\%\lsim BR \lsim 90\%$. This difference is larger than the expected $\sim 10\%$ LHC sensitivity on the invisible branching ratio [@Eboli:2000ze]. For $m_h=120$ GeV, the difference is much reduced, because the invisible channel largely dominates the decay width: we get $98\% \lsim BR \lsim 99\%$ and $BR \gsim 99\%$ for DAMA and CoGeNT respectively. ![Higgs invisible decay branching ratio for $m_h=120$ GeV (left panel) and $m_h=180$ GeV (right panel).[]{data-label="fig:higgsBR"}](plot_dd_higgsbr120){width="0.80\columnwidth"} ![Higgs invisible decay branching ratio for $m_h=120$ GeV (left panel) and $m_h=180$ GeV (right panel).[]{data-label="fig:higgsBR"}](plot_dd_higgsbr180){width="0.80\columnwidth"} Xenon100 exclusion limits ========================= Shortly after CoGeNT, the Xenon100 collaboration has released an analysis of their first data, collected over only 11.2 days [@Aprile:2010um]. The collaboration has found no event consistent with dark matter, and it has the world best SI exclusion limits for dark matter mass $ \lsim 80$ GeV (Figure 5 in [@Aprile:2010um]). More surprizing, at first sight, is the limit set on lighter WIMPs, with mass $ \lsim 10$ GeV. In particular the CoGeNT and DAMA (with and without channelling) are excluded with 90% confidence level[^3]. In this section, we present our own analysis of the low mass region, following the guidelines provided in Refs.[@Aprile:2010um; @Collar:2010gg; @Collaboration:2010er; @Collar:2010gd], to which we refer for more details. For light dark matter candidates, the relevant features of the analysis of Xenon100 are as follows. To discriminate dark matter (and neutron) collisions with Xe from electron and gamma events (a large source of background) the experiment relies on photoelectrons (PE) produced by scintillation (S1 signal). The relation between the mean number of PE, $n_{PE}(E_{nr})$, and the recoil energy $E_{nr}$ (in keV) is given by the so-called scintillation efficiency (Leff). Which Leff to use, and how to extrapolate Leff at low $E_{nr}$ (where no measurements of Leff exist) is an important issue [@Collar:2010gg]. The experimental situation on Leff is summarized in Figure 1 of Ref.[@Collaboration:2010er]. The exclusion limit set by Xenon100 in [@Aprile:2010um] is based on the best fit to current experimental data (LeffMed here), which gives Leff $\approx 0.12$ at small nuclei recoil energies $E_{nr}$. Furthermore Leff is set to zero for $E_{nr}\lsim 1$ keV. A more conservative choice (LeffMin here, corresponding to a lower 90% C.L. fit to the data) gives a Leff which decreases monotonically with $E_{nr}$ and vanishes at $E_{nr}\leq 1$ keV. The Zeplin experiment (also a Xe experiment) uses a different Leff, which is essentially zero below 6-7 keV (LeffZep here) [@Lebedenko:2008gb]. In Figure \[fig:moreXenon100\], following [@Collaboration:2010er], we show the theoretical event rate (per kg and per day) for a mass $= 10$ GeV and $\sigma_{SI} = 10^{-41}$ cm$^2$ candidate, typical of the DAMA region. We use $v_{esc} = 544$ km$\cdot$s$^{-1}$ as the Xenon100 collaboration. In the same Figure, the size of the bins correspond to 0PE, 1PE, etc., given here for LeffMin. The threshold depends on the acceptance of the detector. For 3PE the acceptance is about $50$%, and about $70$% for 4PE (Figure 3 of Ref.[@Aprile:2010um]). A standard analysis would give no event with 3PE or more. However, because of fluctuations (assumed to be poissonian) in the number of PE produced, and because the event rate is exponentially rising at low $E_{nr}$ (for elastic scattering), the rate is much larger at 3PE and 4PE, as shown by the histograms in Figure \[fig:moreXenon100\], obtained by convolution of the theoretical rate with a Poisson distribution of mean $n_{PE}(E_{nr})$. For the sake of comparison we give the result of our calculation (black histogram), and that of Xenon100 (green histogram), see Figure in [@Collaboration:2010er]. We have slightly more events at 3PE (hence we will have slightly stronger limits), but otherwise the agreement is good. Our exclusion limits are shown in Figure \[fig:Xenon100limits\], where, in the left panel, we give the limits for a threshold at 3PE (consistent with Xenon100[@Collaboration:2010er]) and in the right panel the one for the more conservative choice of 4PE (consistent with Ref.[@Collar:2010gg]). From left to right, the exclusion limits correspond to LeffMed (short dashed), LeffMin (continuous) and LeffZep (long dashed). For the latter, the cutoff in Leff is such that the effect of Poisson fluctuations from events at low $E_{nr}$ is negligible, and one recovers the limit from a standard analysis. ![Left panel: Effect of Poisson fluctuations on the expected signal (continuous curve) from a candidate with mass $= 10$ GeV and $\sigma_{SI} = 10^{-41}$ cm$^2$, assuming LeffMin (in green the Xenon100 bins, in black our bins – see text). The two vertical dashed lines correspond to the 3PE and 4PE thresholds.\ Right panel: Effects of changing the cutoff in the recoil energy (see text) on the number of events above 3PE (in black) and 4PE (in red) for LeffMed (short dashed), LeffMin (continuous), for a candidate of $6.5$ GeV for LeffMed and of $7.5$ GeV for LeffMin, both for $\sigma_{SI} = 10^{-40}$ cm$^2$. The horizontal dashed line corresponds to the 90% C.L. exclusion limit, which corresponds to 2.3 events according to Poisson statistics.[]{data-label="fig:moreXenon100"}](Xenon100_histogram.pdf){width="0.80\columnwidth"} ![Left panel: Effect of Poisson fluctuations on the expected signal (continuous curve) from a candidate with mass $= 10$ GeV and $\sigma_{SI} = 10^{-41}$ cm$^2$, assuming LeffMin (in green the Xenon100 bins, in black our bins – see text). The two vertical dashed lines correspond to the 3PE and 4PE thresholds.\ Right panel: Effects of changing the cutoff in the recoil energy (see text) on the number of events above 3PE (in black) and 4PE (in red) for LeffMed (short dashed), LeffMin (continuous), for a candidate of $6.5$ GeV for LeffMed and of $7.5$ GeV for LeffMin, both for $\sigma_{SI} = 10^{-40}$ cm$^2$. The horizontal dashed line corresponds to the 90% C.L. exclusion limit, which corresponds to 2.3 events according to Poisson statistics.[]{data-label="fig:moreXenon100"}](Xenon100_cutoffdep.pdf){width="0.80\columnwidth"} An important feature we observe is that a large fraction of the events at 3PE/4PE are associated to Poisson fluctuations from the small $E_{nr}$ region, where the rate is very large, but less than 1PE is expected on average. As a result, if one increases the $E_{nr}$ at which Leff vanishes, the number of low energy events that are lost (and which consequently do not contribute to higher energy bins) quickly increases [^4]. This effect is illustrated in the right panel of Figure \[fig:moreXenon100\], where we show the number of events above 3PE (resp. 4PE) for candidates with $\sigma_{SI} = 10^{-40}$ cm$^2$, both for LeffMed and LeffMin, but changing the cutoff $E_{nr}$ at which they are assumed to vanish. The effect is most sensitive for LeffMed, where for a cutoff at $E_{nr}=1$ keV the candidate is excluded at 90% C.L., while it is allowed if the cutoff is at $E_{nr}= 1.5$ keV. In our exclusion limits we use the function LeffMed and LeffMin with a cutoff at $E_{nr}= 1$ keV. ![Xenon100 exclusion limits with 90% C.L., with threshold at 3 PE (in black, left panel) or 4 PE (in red, right panel). The curves correspond respectively to the LeffMed (short dashed), LeffMin (continuous) and LeffZep (long dashed) scintillation efficiency — see text. For the sake of comparison, we have taken $v_{esc} = 544$ km$\cdot$s$^{-1}$ like the Xenon100 collaboration. The blue (dot-dashed) lines correspond to our predicted exclusion limit for Xenon100, using LeffMin and for an exposure of about 1 ton-days, assuming zero event. []{data-label="fig:Xenon100limits"}](Xenon100_3PEpred.pdf){width="0.80\columnwidth"} ![Xenon100 exclusion limits with 90% C.L., with threshold at 3 PE (in black, left panel) or 4 PE (in red, right panel). The curves correspond respectively to the LeffMed (short dashed), LeffMin (continuous) and LeffZep (long dashed) scintillation efficiency — see text. For the sake of comparison, we have taken $v_{esc} = 544$ km$\cdot$s$^{-1}$ like the Xenon100 collaboration. The blue (dot-dashed) lines correspond to our predicted exclusion limit for Xenon100, using LeffMin and for an exposure of about 1 ton-days, assuming zero event. []{data-label="fig:Xenon100limits"}](Xenon100_4PEpred.pdf){width="0.80\columnwidth"} In our opinion, the method followed by the Xenon100 collaboration is sound, but is very sensitive (as discussed in [@Collar:2010gg; @Collaboration:2010er; @Collar:2010gd]) to the choice of Leff at low $E_{nr}$. Here we would like to emphasize that not only the shape of Leff, but also the $E_{nr}$ at which Leff is cutoff, is a critical issue in setting exclusion limits. This being said, one must admit that there is a tension between the CoGeNT (and [*a fortiori*]{} DAMA) regions and the limits set by the Xenon100 experiment, and this with only limited exposure. Assuming that [no]{} events are seen in the data, we give in Figure \[fig:Xenon100limits\] our predicted exclusion limit of Xenon100, using LeffMin, for an exposure corresponding to 1 ton-days, as reported in [@LNGS_aprile] . Acknowledgments {#acknowledgments .unnumbered} =============== We thank Thomas Schwetz, Karsten Jedamzik, Juan Collar and Martin Casier for useful discussions. Our work is supported by the FNRS-FRS, the IISN and the Belgian Science Policy (IAP VI-11). [^1]: A possible implementation is the Inert Doublet Model (IDM), which is another very simple extension of the Standard Model with scalar DM [@Deshpande:1977rw; @Barbieri:2006dq; @Ma:2006km; @LopezHonorez:2006gr]. [^2]: In the calculation of the relic abundance, we neglect the possible effect of the QCD phase transition, which is supposed to have taken place around $\sim 150$ MeV (see, for instance, [@McLerran:2008ux]). Since typically $x_f =m_S/T_{fo} \simeq 20$, for $m_S \simeq 6$ GeV, for instance, the freeze-out temperature is $T_{fo} \simeq 300$ MeV $\gg 150$ MeV and thus the QCD phase transition is irrelevant for the range of mass we consider. Otherwise, the QCD phase transition might increase the relic abundance by at most a factor of [O]{}(2) (see for instance [@Bottino:2003iu]). Such an increase could be compensated by an increase of $\lambda_L$ by a factor of $\sim 1.4$ and this, in turn, would require a decrease of the parameter $f$ by the same factor. [^3]: That something non-standard is being done in this region may be appreciated by comparing Figure 5 of [@Aprile:2010um] to the preliminary results presented at recent conferences (see for instance [@LNGS_aprile]) and is subject to discussion [@Collar:2010gg; @Collaboration:2010er; @Collar:2010gd]. [^4]: This loss is the reason why the number of events in the first bin is about a factor 2 smaller than the theoretical number of events. | Mid | [
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Several attractions, which are left from the Roman era, can be found in Ray Square. The Palace of the Roman governor and the local Circus are certainly very popular, but Roman Museum is still the most visited one. The museum’s basement leads to the system of underground passages, which have been discovered by archaeologists. This is a true underground maze with many intricate passages and...Read more | High | [
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In a photoelectric conversion module of a conventional photoelectric component such as a Transmitter Optical Sub-Assembly (TOSA), a substrate and a package are connected through a bonding wire, thereby implementing signal transmission. During the implementation of the present disclosure, the inventor finds that the prior art at least has the following defects. As the bonding wire present certain inductance characteristics, the impedance of a transmission channel is discontinuous, and the transmission bandwidth is greatly restricted. | Mid | [
0.5897435897435891,
28.75,
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870 F.2d 926 52 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 627,49 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 38,861, 13 Fed.R.Serv.3d 262 Alice Lisa GREENBERG, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant,Phyllis Gelman, Susan R. Meredith, Respondents-Appellees,v.HILTON INTERNATIONAL CO., Defendant-Appellant, Cross-Appellee. Nos. 117, 264, Dockets 88-7400, 88-7438. United States Court of Appeals,Second Circuit. Argued Sept. 22, 1988.Decided March 17, 1989.Rehearing Granted June 1, 1989.* Phyllis Gelman, New York City (Susan R. Meredith, New Haven, Conn., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee, cross-appellant. Jeffrey L. Liddle, New York City (Paul J. Shoemaker, Liddle, O'Connor, Finkelstein, & Robinson, New York City, of counsel), for defendant-appellant, cross-appellee. Before MESKILL, PIERCE and WINTER, Circuit Judges. WINTER, Circuit Judge: 1 This appeal and cross-appeal raise several issues concerning when and under what authority it is proper for a district court to award attorney's fees or to sanction attorneys for their pursuit of frivolous claims or abuse of discovery in Title VII actions. Defendant Hilton International ("Hilton") appeals from the denial of its motion for sanctions, fees and costs. Plaintiff, whose complaint alleging employment discrimination was dismissed with prejudice on her own motion, cross-appeals the denial of her motion for sanctions against defendant. We conclude that no sanctions are warranted with regard to the filing of the claims but reverse and award sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 for plaintiff's counsel's conduct during a second round of discovery. That round involved the production of data, at great expense to Hilton, that would be relevant only after it had been subjected to analysis by professional statisticians. Although the motions to compel production indicated that an expert would be needed and would be hired to analyze the data, plaintiff's counsel knew or should have known that no expert would be hired. Otherwise we affirm. BACKGROUND 2 This litigation began in early 1984, when plaintiff Alice Lisa Greenberg filed suit against Hilton, her former employer, alleging gender-discrimination. The case was ultimately dismissed with prejudice on the plaintiff's own motion, but only after Hilton had expended some $100,000 in legal fees and other costs in its defense. Given the nature of the issues before us, it is necessary to describe this litigation in considerable detail. 1. Initiation of the Lawsuit 3 In 1965, plaintiff was hired by Hilton to work in its marketing division. Prior to the events giving rise to this action, she had a satisfactory record and had received a promotion to the position of Manager of Marketing Research. In late 1980, Hilton reorganized its marketing department and changed plaintiff's title to Manager of Rate Administration and Product Support (Europe, West Asia, Africa, Asia and Pacific). Plaintiff alleged that the restructuring demoted her by forcing her to report to a superior below her previous reporting level and by otherwise altering her duties. On May 1, 1981, plaintiff resigned because of what she regarded as discourteous and degrading treatment. 4 After leaving Hilton, plaintiff sought unemployment insurance benefits and was denied them because she had voluntarily resigned. She also filed employment discrimination complaints against Hilton with the New York City Commission on Human Rights, which took no action, and with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), which issued plaintiff a right to sue notice on November 15, 1983. 5 In February 1984, plaintiff began this action, asserting claims under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII. Her complaint alleged that she was paid less than similarly situated males, was denied a promotion and subsquently demoted because of her sex, and was thereafter subjected to such intolerable working conditions as to render her resignation a constructive discharge. 6 On April 9, 1984, Hilton moved for summary judgment. In support of that motion, it argued that plaintiff's Equal Pay Act claim was barred by the statute of limitations, and that plaintiff had failed to allege sufficient facts to constitute a prima facie case of either a Title VII violation or constructive discharge. By stipulation, plaintiff conceded that her Equal Pay Act action was time-barred as to the period prior to February 15, 1981. This reduced the maximum of potential damages on the equal pay claim to somewhere between $600 and $1200. 7 She also submitted two affidavits in response to the motion for summary judgment. Her first affidavit stated that she "failed to receive a promotion" that she "should have received" and that the "management of Hilton International treated [her] badly in order to force [her] to leave the company." Plaintiff also stated, "[t]he treatment I received was so painful that I could not continue to work at Hilton International." Plaintiff recounted that a male, no more qualified than she, was given a promotion for which she had applied, that her duties were curtailed so as to humiliate her, and that her new superior harassed her "openly," gave her "constant, petty orders," spoke to her "discourteously" and "often screamed" at her. The "final straw" was an order that she not leave work until 5:00 p.m., thereby causing her to miss her usual bus. 8 In reply, Hilton submitted an affidavit from its director of personnel, John Negroni, stating that the male who received the promotion was more qualified than Greenberg and that the changes in plaintiff's duties resulted solely from business judgments made during Hilton's reorganization. Plaintiff next submitted a Supplemental Affidavit containing information alleging that she was paid less than comparable males. On July 25, 1984, Judge Owen denied Hilton's motion for summary judgment. 2. The First Round of Discovery 9 Discovery by the plaintiff followed. In the early phase, plaintiff's counsel deposed three Hilton representatives and made numerous document requests. Their First Request for Production of Documents included, inter alia, the personnel files of thirty-one employees holding positions comparable to that of plaintiff, information concerning other allegations of discrimination against Hilton, and many other documents, letters, and memoranda covering an almost twenty-year period. Defendant objected to several requests but produced 1,000 pages of documents in response. Plaintiff's counsel moved to compel discovery of the material objected to on March 13, 1985. In her supporting memorandum, plaintiff announced that she sought information relevant to proof of a pattern and practice of gender-discrimination. Defendant objected, and after discussions between counsel and applications to the magistrate, plaintiff's requests were "trimmed down" and discovery proceeded. 10 Defendant thereafter produced complete personnel files of the thirty-one former or current employees whom plaintiff had identified as comparable to her. These included women managers, male managers alleged to have received promotions denied to similarly situated female employees, females supervised by one Peter Schulze (plaintiff's final superior and the cause of her alleged constructive discharge), persons supervised by plaintiff, and persons who supervised plaintiff. 3. The Second Round of Discovery 11 In late July 1985, after receiving the data concerning the thirty-one employees comparable to her, plaintiff's counsel initiated a second round of discovery. In this round they sought, inter alia, forms reporting employment patterns and changes by race, sex and other protected categories, salary records, "key personnel" lists, and documents reflecting the policy and practice of Hilton from 1965 to date with regard to severance pay, profit sharing, bonuses, and incentive compensation. Plaintiff's counsel also served on defendant a first set of interrogatories. These asked: (i) what computer-readable personnel information defendant kept; (ii) what files containing what sort of information were kept on "key personnel"; (iii) for each non-clerical employee in the central office of Hilton since January 1965, their name, sex, salary and other compensation for each year from 1965 to the present, title, education and employment history; (iv) for promotion, transfer and termination information from 1965 on for all non-clerical employees; (v) for organizational charts; and (vi) for information on other, more narrowly-focused matters. 12 By late October 1985, the defendant had formulated "Answers and Objections" to plaintiff's first set of interrogatories. Defendant's response stated that: (i) its personnel information was not computerized; (ii) files on "key personnel" were irrelevant and defendant had already produced the files of thirty-one comparable employees; and (iii) plaintiff's request for basic and expanded data on non-clerical employees covering a twenty-year period was overbroad, irrelevant, and unduly burdensome. In addition, defendant agreed to produce certain documents but objected on the grounds that others had already been produced, were irrelevant and burdensome to compile, or did not exist. 13 Plaintiff's counsel filed a motion to compel discovery before the magistrate on February 3, 1986. Defendant made a cross-motion for sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11, 26(g) and 37. This was accompanied by an affidavit stating that plaintiff's requests for fifty-six categories of documents for persons employed over a twenty-one-year period concerned information about employees in positions not comparable to plaintiff and not relevant to her claims of gender-discrimination. The supporting affidavit claimed that collection of the requested information on terminated employees would entail a manual review of approximately 3,000 personnel files. 14 On February 28, 1986, plaintiff's counsel filed a third request for production of documents and a third set of interrogatories, requesting yet more detailed information. The claimed purpose of the second round of discovery was to allow plaintiff to make statistical comparisons between males and females in Hilton's central office on the ground that the thirty-one files previously obtained were too small a sample to support a statistical analysis. 15 Plaintiff's counsel filed a Reply Memorandum in Support of Her Second Motion to Compel Discovery, dated March 12, 1986, apparently signed by Phyllis Gelman in the name of co-counsel Susan Meredith, in which she, Gelman, admitted that she had not hired a "statistical expert" to design discovery but claimed to have "experience in presenting statistical evidence in discrimination cases" and to be "able to propound interrogatories which will lead to analyzable data." Plaintiff's counsel did indicate, however, that a professional statistical analysis of the data would be made if the discovery were granted. She thus explained in the memorandum that she had hired a "team of experts in statistical evidence" and attached a letter as Exhibit A stating their conclusions. The experts, Michael Useem and Paul Osterman, opined in the attached letter that the personnel data already obtained by plaintiff's counsel (the thirty-one employees comparable to plaintiff) "may be insufficient to perform a fully comprehensive analysis" and that to establish a pattern of employment discrimination "by commonly accepted professional standards for the analysis of employment data it is useful to have detailed personnel records on all employees in the relevant company unit of plaintiff." Useem and Osterman recommended that "all available employment information be secured on all individuals employed at any point in the 'Main Office' of Hilton...." 16 On March 19, 1986, Magistrate Dollinger granted plaintiff's second motion to compel discovery, covering, inter alia, pay, promotion and other data on all its key personnel from 1973 to the present. His decision specifically relied upon the March 12 Memorandum's claim of relevance and the experts' letter attached as an exhibit. Nine days later, plaintiff's counsel wrote to the magistrate requesting that a settlement conference be scheduled. She stated, "although plaintiff believes that the data would show a pattern and practice of discrimination[,] because of her straitened financial circumstances, plaintiff would like to avoid paying for an expert to evaluate the data that the defendant will produce. Therefore, this seems to be a good time to make an attempt to settle the case." 17 In late March 1986, defendant responded to plaintiff's third request for production of documents and third set of interrogatories. It also appealed the magistrate's order to the district court. In a memorandum in support of its objections to the magistrate's order, dated March 31, 1986, Hilton elaborated upon its contentions concerning plaintiff's attempt to prove her case by increasing the sample size to include "key personnel." It argued that employees on the "key personnel" list were mostly high level executives, located around the globe, who are not at all comparable to plaintiff and for whom data would be irrelevant to plaintiff's action. 18 A settlement conference was held in April 1986. After both sides presented their positions separately to the magistrate, the magistrate suggested a settlement figure of $10,000. Defendant offered this amount, but plaintiff rejected it. In May 1986, plaintiff's counsel asserted to the district court that "additional information was needed to prepare the pattern and practice evidence" and again attached the experts' letter described above. 19 In the fall of 1986, the district court affirmed the magistrate's discovery order and a conference was held to discuss the mechanics of discovery. Defendant approximated that the documents in question numbered 7,000-10,000 and stated that it would be "more appropriate and efficient to produce information in a form of a chart." In November 1986, the magistrate extended the time for discovery and renewed a previously entered protective order. Defendant's counsel alleges that during this time plaintiff's counsel orally stated that the purpose for pursuing this discovery was to "obtain a higher settlement offer" from defendant. 20 During the early months of 1987, defendant undertook to comply with the magistrate's order regarding the second document request by compiling the data required, including that on key employees, covering the thirteen-year period from 1973 to date. In the end, the summary of data ultimately produced by defendant was several hundred pages long and was based on an examination of 8,000 pages of original data. The cost of compliance with the order exceeded $11,000. Plaintiff's counsel, however, never designated a statistician or other expert witness to examine this data. As a result, in March 1987, defendant moved for an order precluding the use of expert testimony. The magistrate granted the motion, stating that "[u]nder these circumstances there is no justification ... for permitting plaintiff at this stage to seek to put together an expert case. In any event, plaintiff has given no indication that she wishes to do so." 21 At a pretrial conference in June 1987, an early September trial date was set. Shortly thereafter, plaintiff's counsel asked by letter whether defendant would renew its $10,000 settlement offer, stating that: 22 Ms. Greenberg would be willing to settle the case for $10,000, which would cover the defendant's liability to her for damages, attorneys' fees and costs. Given that Hilton has just spent $11,000 in attorneys' fees on its most recent motion for a protective order, it would appear that it would be to the company's benefit to bring this litigation to a close. 23 Defendant refused to reinstate the offer, noting that its reasons for having made the offer in the first place--in order to save the cost, time and effort of the December 1986 document production--no longer applied. 4. Dismissal of the Underlying Lawsuit 24 On July 30, 1987, plaintiff moved to dismiss the complaint with prejudice, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2). The reason given was an apparently chronic illness of plaintiff. Defendant made a cross-motion for sanctions, including costs and attorney's fees, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 and 41, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1927, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(k) (although at first defendant incorrectly cited 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988), supported by a lengthy affidavit by defendant's counsel, detailing time charges and disbursements incurred by defendant in the course of the litigation, totalling over $100,000. In particular, defendant sought an award of sanctions for the production of data concerning key personnel during the second round of discovery. 25 Plaintiff responded by filing her own cross-motion for sanctions under Rule 11. Plaintiff's counsel's affirmation stated that they had considerable experience in litigating employment discrimination cases, and listed the documents on which plaintiff's employment discrimination claim was initially based. Regarding the second round of discovery, plaintiff's counsel recounted that plaintiff's experts "estimated that a computer analysis of defendant's data and a report setting out their findings would cost plaintiff approximately $5,000" and that: 26 This sum of money was very large for the plaintiff, who is living on social security. To help the plaintiff avoid incurring an unnecessary expense, plaintiff's counsel, with the help of a paralegal, analyzed the data by hand to try to determine whether a computer analysis of the data produced by defendant was likely to demonstrate discrimination. This admittedly rough analysis showed that a computer analysis would probably not find discrimination based on sex. As a result of this analysis, plaintiff decided not to go forward with a computer analysis by the experts. 27 On April 14, 1988, Judge Owen dismissed the action with prejudice "on the basis of plaintiff's affidavit detailing her disability and depression." The district court denied defendant's Rule 11 motion because it found that "no papers signed by counsel were submitted to [the] court in bad faith" as required for sanctions to be imposed under Eastway Construction Corp. v. City of New York, 762 F.2d 243, 254 (2d Cir.1985), ("Eastway I "), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 269, 98 L.Ed.2d 226 (1987), and stated: "Plaintiff clearly believed she had a valid case and pursued all angles of that case recognized under federal employment discrimination law. The fact that significant discovery was required, and that the sums at stake were small to defendant does not taint plaintiff's good faith belief in her claim." 28 Similarly, the district court denied defendant's motions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2), and under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(k) (reaching the merits although incorrectly citing 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988), because the defendant was not the prevailing party and therefore not entitled to an award under Title VII. In addition, finding that plaintiff's claims were not wholly without merit, the court denied defendant any award under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1927. Hilton appeals the denial of its cross-motion for sanctions, fees and costs, and plaintiff cross-appeals the district court's denial of attorney's fees to her under Rule 11. DISCUSSION 29 We discuss first whether sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 are appropriate with regard to the claims put forth by plaintiff and the actions of plaintiff's counsel during discovery. After finding that Rule 11 sanctions are not warranted with regard to pursuit of the claim, we conclude that sanctions must be awarded for certain conduct during discovery. We next discuss whether an award of attorney's fees may be made under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(k). Although the district court applied an incorrect legal standard, we leave its ruling in place. The motion for fees under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1927 raises an issue identical to that leading to our award of sanctions under Rule 11 and is disposed of by that ruling. 1. Sanctions Under Rule 11 30 Rule 11 requires that, if a party is represented by an attorney, the attorney must sign all papers submitted to the court. It further states that: 31 The signature of an attorney or party constitutes a certificate by the signer that the signer has read the pleading, motion, or other paper; that to the best of the signer's knowledge, information, and belief formed after reasonable inquiry it is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, and that it is not interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation. 32 If the rule is violated, the court "shall impose upon the person who signed [the violative paper] ... an appropriate sanction...." Fed.R.Civ.P. 11. As we noted in Calloway v. Marvel Entertainment Group, 854 F.2d 1452 (2d Cir.1988), cert. granted, --- U.S. ---- - ----, 109 S.Ct. 1116, 103 L.Ed.2d 179 "[t]he 1983 amendment to Rule 11 was intended to 'discourage dilatory or abusive tactics and help to streamline the litigation process by lessening frivolous claims or defenses.' " 854 F.2d at 1469 (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. advisory committee's note to 1983 amendment). A showing of "bad faith" is not required where the conduct of counsel is at issue. Eastway I, 762 F.2d at 243. Rather, an objective standard, focusing on what a reasonably competent attorney would believe, is the proper test. Id. at 253; see Calloway, 854 F.2d at 1469-70. Where a party represented by an attorney is the target of a Rule 11 motion, however, the subjective good faith test applies. Id. at 1474. 33 Because Judge Owen denied sanctions on the basis of the subjective good faith of both plaintiff and her counsel, he applied an incorrect standard so far as Greenberg's attorneys is concerned. However, we review Judge Owen's decision not to impose sanctions de novo. Eastway I, 762 F.2d at 254 n. 7 (where question on appeal is "whether ... a pleading was groundless, we are in as good a position to determine the answer and ... need not defer to the lower court's opinion"); see Calloway, 854 F.2d at 1470. 34 We turn first to whether Rule 11 sanctions are appropriate with regard to any of the claims put forth by plaintiff in papers signed by her counsel. In ruling on a motion for sanctions, "the initial focus ... should be on whether an objectively reasonable evidentiary basis for the claim was demonstrated in pretrial proceedings...." Calloway, 854 F.2d at 1470. We conclude that with regard to her gender-based discrimination, equal pay, and constructive discharge claims, plaintiff's counsel has met this standard. 35 With regard to the basic employment discrimination claim, we note that the plaintiff's "initial burden of establishing a prima facie case [under Title VII] is not onerous," Sweeney v. Research Foundation of State Univ. of N.Y., 711 F.2d 1179, 1184 (2d Cir.1983) (citing United States Postal Serv. Bd. of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983)), and need merely be sufficient to shift the burden of production to the defendant. See Zahorik v. Cornell University, 729 F.2d 85 (2d Cir.1984). Under McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973), to make a prima facie case, plaintiff need only offer evidence that: (i) she is a member of a protected class--here, females; (ii) she applied for, and was qualified for, a position for which her employer was seeking applicants--namely the manager of marketing support services position; (iii) despite her qualifications, she was rejected; and (iv) after her rejection, the position was thereafter filled by a male. McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. at 1824. Although the burden of production shifts to the defendant upon plaintiff's having established a prima facie case, the ultimate burden of persuasion remains on the plaintiff. Id. at 802-03, 93 S.Ct. at 1824-25. 36 Sanctions cannot be imposed for filing a Title VII claim so long as there is "an objectively reasonable evidentiary basis," Calloway, 854 F.2d at 1470, for each of the McDonnell Douglas elements. Because the threshold for a prima facie case is low, sanctions may be applied only when a reasonably competent attorney would conclude that there is not an evidentiary basis sufficient to cross even that threshold. Otherwise, Rule 11 would chill not only the assertion of facially meritless claims, but also claims that are weak but potentially viable. 37 At the start of this action, plaintiff's counsel could reasonably believe that there was evidence sufficient to make out a prima facie case under McDonnell Douglas with regard to Greenberg's Title VII claim of discriminatory failure to promote. There was thus reason to believe that: (i) she was a female; (ii) she applied for the position of manager of marketing support services, which was open, and had some qualifications for the job; (iii) she was rejected; and (iv) the position was thereafter filled by a male. In defending against the motion for summary judgment, the two affidavits of plaintiff supported these allegations. 38 As noted in Calloway, "[a]n attorney is entitled to rely on his or her client's statements as to factual claims when those statements are objectively reasonable." 854 F.2d at 1470. In this case, plaintiff's counsel initially had no reason to believe that the failure-to-promote, demotion claim was without a factual basis and was entitled to rely upon plaintiff's statements, particularly since much of the relevant information was within the control of the defendant. See Kamen v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 791 F.2d 1006, 1012 (2d Cir.1986) (attorney's reliance on client's statements reasonable under circumstances where "relevant information was largely in the control of defendants"). 39 The submission of plaintiff's counsel in response to the Rule 11 motion does not illumine whether they were aware of the denial of unemployment benefits and the inaction of the Commission on Human Rights, facts viewed by defendants as undermining plaintiff's claim. Even if counsel were aware of those facts, however, they did no more than suggest that Greenberg's claim might be weak and were not enough to offset the other available facts suggesting that a prima facie case might be established under McDonnell Douglas. Similarly, the failure of the EEOC to act does not justify Rule 11 sanctions, particularly since Title VII contemplates individual actions after the agency issues a right to sue letter. See 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(f)(1) and (3) (1982). 40 Second, we also find the Equal Pay Act claim to be not sanctionable. Plaintiff's affidavit clearly stated the relevant facts that she performed substantially the same work, exhibited the same level of skill, effort and responsibility as males working for her employer but was paid less than the males. Again, we may assume that Greenberg conveyed this information to counsel before the action began. We recognize that shortly after the complaint was filed, plaintiff conceded that the Equal Pay claim was time-barred except for a two-month period. Although a reasonably competent attorney would have perceived this flaw before filing, it appears unlikely that defendant expended additional resources to defend against the time-barred period of this claim, particularly since the issues mirrored those in the Title VII claims. Sanctions are thus not appropriate with regard to it. Oliveri v. Thompson, 803 F.2d 1265, 1280 (2d Cir.1986) (sanctions not warranted where doubtful "anyone gave these claims serious consideration or devoted any significant work toward disposing of them"), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 918, 107 S.Ct. 1373, 94 L.Ed.2d 689 (1987). 41 Third, we scrutinize plaintiff's claim of constructive discharge under Title VII. We examine this claim to determine whether "a competent attorney could not form a reasonable belief that the pleading is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification or reversal of existing law." Eastway I, 762 F.2d at 254. Although plaintiff's constructive discharge claim was weak from the start, we conclude that the district court's decision not to impose sanctions must be left undisturbed. The gravamen of plaintiff's constructive discharge claim was that after the reorganization: (i) she was "effectively demoted" when her duties were altered and her responsibilities were decreased; (ii) her new superior unfairly criticized her, treated her "discourteously" and "screamed" at her; and (iii) she was made to stay until 5:00 p.m. causing her to miss her usual bus. Her affidavit concluded that "the treatment [she] received was so painful that [she] could not continue to work at Hilton." 42 Under Rule 11, the conduct of a signer is judged as of the time the paper is signed, and we therefore examine the law concerning constructive discharge as it existed in early 1984, when the complaint was filed. Oliveri, 803 F.2d at 1274. At that time, the controlling Second Circuit precedent was Pena v. Brattleboro Retreat, 702 F.2d 322 (2d Cir.1983). The test set forth in Pena to determine whether an employee has been constructively discharged is whether the trier of fact is satisfied that " 'working conditions would have been so difficult or unpleasant that a reasonable person in the employee's shoes would have felt compelled to resign.' " 702 F.2d at 325 (citations omitted). In Pena, we held as a matter of law that a constructive discharge was not proven where the employee experienced a change in job responsibilities (at the same salary) occasioned by a reasonable business decision and reported that she was treated in a humiliating way by her superiors. 702 F.2d at 325. Pena is somewhat similar to the present case, where the plaintiff's duties were altered but not her salary. The Pena decision thus suggests that plaintiff would, in 1984, likely have lost on the merits of her constructive discharge claim. 43 Nevertheless, we do not find it "patently clear that [her] claim ha[d] absolutely no chance of success under the existing precedents" or that "no reasonable argument [could have been] advanced to extend, modify or reverse the law as it [stood.]" Eastway I, 762 F.2d at 254. We reach this conclusion because, although Greenberg's largely conclusory description of her treatment by Hilton does not appear to demonstrate such unreasonable conduct as to compel one to resign, Pena's treatment by her employer was even less onerous. Indeed, Pena had been the architect of much of what she claimed to be unreasonable treatment. 702 F.2d at 326. Because abstract judicial language regarding legal principles must always be qualified by the facts actually before the court, we believe that counsel must be allowed to pursue claims with factual patterns that are distinguishable in relevant matters from those of governing precedents even though the general language of those precedents seems to preclude success. Counsel in the instant matter were thus entitled to test the "so unreasonable" language of Pena in the context of Greenberg's somewhat more serious allegations. 44 We note, however, that in 1985 the law in the Second Circuit hardened in a fashion even more clearly unfavorable to the plaintiff. In Martin v. Citibank, N.A., 762 F.2d 212 (2d Cir.1985), we held that an employer bank's conduct, including the employee's supervisor loudly mentioning in the presence of others the employee's having been polygraphed in the course of an investigation into wrongdoing, giving the employee the wrong combination to the night deposit box, interfering with the employee's deposits, and requiring the employee to process deposits while serving customers was not legally sufficient to sustain an inference that a reasonable person would have been compelled to resign. As a matter of law, therefore, no constructive discharge had taken place. The conduct in Martin is arguably more egregious than that set out in the largely conclusory allegations of the Greenberg affidavit. Indeed, the only specifically detailed instance of mistreatment described by her involves a not unreasonable request that she not leave before 5:00 p.m. After Martin, therefore, plaintiff's claim in the instant matter may have lacked merit as a matter of law. 45 Because Rule 11 does not place an ongoing obligation on attorneys to withdraw papers previously filed, however, Oliveri, 803 F.2d at 1274-75, sanctions should not be imposed on the basis of the constructive discharge claim. In the present case, plaintiff had defeated a motion for summary judgment before Martin was decided, and Hilton made no attempt thereafter to renew its motion in light of Martin or otherwise to seek withdrawal of the constructive discharge claim based on Martin. We believe that counsel may not be sanctioned under Rule 11 for failing to withdraw a claim based on papers that have previously survived a motion for dismissal or for summary judgment so long as: (i) the defeat of that motion was not obtained by misleading the court; (ii) the adversary has not attempted through some means on the record to obtain withdrawal of that claim based on a change or clarification of existing law; and (iii) the claim has not been repeated in papers filed after the change or clarification of law.1 Because Hilton did not attempt on the record to seek withdrawal of the constructive discharge claim based on Martin, we deny Rule 11 sanctions for asserting it. 46 We turn now to the conduct of plaintiff's counsel during discovery. In deciding whether Rule 11 sanctions are appropriate for such conduct, we focus primarily on the second round of discovery. We bear in mind that "[t]he key to Rule 11 lies in the certification flowing from the signature to a ... paper in a lawsuit" and that "[R]ule 11 ... deals with the signing of particular papers in violation of the implicit certification invoked by the signature." Oliveri, 803 F.2d at 1274. Rule 11 clearly applies to both the motions and the supporting memoranda filed during discovery, as the "amended rule 11 applies to every paper signed during the course of the proceedings and not only to the pleadings." Id.; see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 11 advisory committee's note ("Discovery motions ... fall within the ambit of Rule 11."). Rule 11 has been violated where a signed paper has been "interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation." Fed.R.Civ.P. 11. 47 We focus specifically on counsel's seeking the second round of discovery causing Hilton to examine 8,000 pages of documents concerning Hilton employees not holding positions comparable to plaintiff. At the time this second round of discovery began, plaintiff had already obtained detailed employment data on all thirty-one Hilton employees comparable to plaintiff. Apparently because this data failed to support her gender-discrimination claim, plaintiff's counsel argued that the thirty-one employees were too small a sample and sought more information as a basis for statistical comparisons between males and females in Hilton's central office. 48 Although increasing sample size does not necessarily produce more reliable statistics, see Hazelwood School District v. United States, 433 U.S. 299, 310-14, 97 S.Ct. 2736, 2743-45, 53 L.Ed.2d 768 (1977) (statistical analysis probative only where sample to which plaintiff is compared bears relationship to individual allegedly discriminated against); Coser v. Moore, 739 F.2d 746, 750 (2d Cir.1984) (overall statistics less significant where employment decisions are made on uncoordinated and independent basis), regression analysis can often be applied to gross employment data to calculate probabilities as to whether employment decisions are based on neutral or discriminatory criteria. Id. at 753. Plaintiff's counsel do not contest the fact that experts must be retained to employ such analysis. 49 Plaintiff's counsel's March 12 and May 20 Memoranda attaching the experts' statements, as well as their letter seeking a settlement conference, however, were misleading as to their intentions regarding the hiring of an expert. In the March 12 Memorandum to the magistrate, for example, plaintiff's counsel clearly indicated that a complete statistical analysis, and not merely some "rough analysis" by counsel and a paralegal, would be made of the data. The Memorandum thus stated: 50 Plaintiff did consult a team of experts in statistical evidence about the data at issue in this motion. Their conclusions are attached.... Plaintiff's expert has assured us that the numbers [data requested] represented by that time period [from 1973 on] will be adequate to support statistical analysis. 51 March 12 Reply Memorandum of Plaintiff at 3. Attached as Exhibit A to this Memorandum was the letter from Useem and Osterman, opining that the data already produced was insufficient for "a fully comprehensive analysis" and that the data requested was necessary to determine whether a pattern of discrimination exists "by commonly accepted professional standards" (emphasis added). These representations were the basis upon which the magistrate ordered the second round of discovery. He thus stated that the discovery should proceed "in view of ... the showing of relevance proffered by plaintiff, see Plaintiff's [March 12] Memorandum at Exh. 1 [the March 7 letter from the experts]." Thereafter, counsel sent a letter to the magistrate requesting a settlement conference in the hope that plaintiff might avoid the cost of hiring the expert necessary to analyze the data. Finally, in a Memorandum filed May 20, 1986 in the district court opposing defendant's objections to the magistrate's order, plaintiff's counsel reinforced the misleading impression they had created. They stated, "experts concluded ... that additional information was needed to prepare the pattern and practice evidence for this case" and again attached the letter from the experts. 52 The district court rendered only the conclusory decision that "no papers signed by counsel were submitted to this court in bad faith." On the present record, we are unable to reconcile that conclusion with the fact that a favorable discovery ruling was obtained by counsel attaching an expert's attestation to the data's relevance for professional statistical analysis and by counsel indicating to the magistrate that an expert would be hired to analyze the data sought when no such decision had been made. At the late stage in the litigation in which this discovery was sought, counsel should have had some idea as to whether they were willing to advance such costs or whether their client, whose sole income appears to have been Social Security payments, would be able or willing to bear the cost of the expert analysis.2 If they did not know that an expert would be hired, they were obligated either to forgo the discovery or to inform the magistrate concerning the uncertainties as to the use of the data sought. 53 Where data is useful only for purposes of analysis by an expert, the district court or magistrate must have assurances that such an expert will be hired before granting burdensome discovery. Unless such an expert is hired, the only effect of granting discovery is to impose a financial burden on defendants. In the instant matter, the magistrate specifically relied upon representations regarding the value of such data for expert analysis and where such representations contain false statements or material omissions, Rule 11 sanctions must be awarded. 54 We are unpersuaded by counsel's argument that, after the data had been produced, she and a paralegal were able to use a concededly rough "hand analysis of the data" to determine that "a computer analysis probably would not find a pattern of discrimination based on sex." We have examined the several hundred pages ultimately produced by defendant. It appears that little can be discerned from this information, which relates to employees not comparable to plaintiff and often not comparable to each other, without the professional assistance of an expert statistician, the use of which is common in pattern-and-practice cases. Cf., e.g., Coser, 739 F.2d at 750-54 (studies, including multiple regression analysis, by several statistical experts presented in Title VII pattern-and-practice case). In any event, if plaintiff's counsel intended to use only "hand analysis" by herself and a paralegal, that intention should have been made clear to the magistrate and district court when the discovery was sought. Sanctions are accordingly appropriate. 55 We remand for a determination of the amount of sanctions. The award should cover the reasonable costs of assembling the data produced and attorney's fees expended in defending the pertinent discovery motions and complying with the discovery order. Cf. Eastway Constr. Corp. v. City of New York, 821 F.2d 121, 122-23 (2d Cir.) ("Eastway II "), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 269, 98 L.Ed.2d 226 (1987); see also Calloway, 854 F.2d at 1476. In calculating the total award, "the financial resources of the attorneys may be relevant," Calloway, 854 F.2d at 1478; see also Doering v. Union Cty. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders, 857 F.2d 191 (3d Cir.1988); Oliveri, 803 F.2d at 1281. 56 With regard to whom to sanction, the March 12 Memorandum was signed by Phyllis Gelman in the name of co-counsel Susan Meredith. If these two attorneys are practicing together, they are both potentially liable. See Calloway, 854 F.2d at 1479. Otherwise, the court should determine responsibility for the papers in question. As a final note on Rule 11, we affirm the district court's refusal to award fees against plaintiff Greenberg herself. Appellant has failed to demonstrate that Greenberg had actual knowledge of the wrongful conduct by her counsel. She thus should not share her counsel's liability for sanctions. Id. at 1474. 57 2. Attorney's Fees Under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(k) 58 Section 2000e-5(k), the attorney's fee award provision applicable to Title VII actions, reads: "[i]n any action or proceeding under this subchapter the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party ... a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs...." 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e-5(k) (1982). Such fees, if awarded, would be paid by the party, here Greenberg. 59 In view of our disposition of this issue, it is unnecessary to address whether a defendant in an action that is dismissed with prejudice at the plaintiff's request may be considered a prevailing party for the purpose of a statutory fee award. Even if such a defendant is a "prevailing party" for purposes of Section 2000e-5(k), it is not, of course, automatically entitled to fees. The Supreme Court has condoned a "double standard" with regard to fee awards in civil rights cases. It is thus easier for plaintiffs than for defendants to recover fees to enable plaintiffs with meager resources to hire a lawyer to vindicate their rights. Christiansburg Garment Co. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 434 U.S. 412, 418-19, 98 S.Ct. 694, 698-99, 54 L.Ed.2d 648 (1978). Nevertheless, Congress also wanted to "protect defendants from burdensome litigation having no legal or factual basis." Christiansburg, 434 U.S. at 420, 98 S.Ct. at 700. 60 Unlike Rule 11, which imposes sanctions for discrete filings, Section 2000e-5(k) comes into play only after the Title VII claim has been disposed of and requires the court to assess the strength or weakness of that claim viewing the case as a whole. If plaintiff's case, viewed as a whole, was objectively "frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation," the court should award fees even though plaintiff survived motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim or for summary judgment. Christiansburg, 434 U.S. at 421, 98 S.Ct. at 700. At the disposition stage, the strength or weakness of a case may be viewed as a whole. That is not true when only a motion is before the court. Cases that are ultimately viewed as frivolous may well survive motions to dismiss under a system of notice pleading that does not require factual detail and even motions for summary judgment in which the evidence may be presented in sketchy fashion and credibility may not be taken into account. Indeed, in analogous circumstances, we have affirmed an award of fees to defendants in cases that were sufficient to go to the jury. Zissu v. Bear, Stearns & Co., 805 F.2d 75 (2d Cir.1986). 61 An award of fees need not cover the entire period of a case but may be limited to the period after events demonstrated that the case was frivolous, unreasonable or groundless. Christiansburg, 434 U.S. at 422, 98 S.Ct. at 700; Hermes v. Hein, 742 F.2d 350, 358 (7th Cir.1984) (plaintiff's suit not frivolous at outset but district court on remand should determine whether it became so at some point during the litigation). Finally, the test of frivolousness is objective rather than subjective. As stated in Christiansburg: 62 a district court may in its discretion award attorney's fees to a prevailing defendant in a Title VII case upon a finding that the plaintiff's action was frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation, even though not brought in subjective bad faith. 63 434 U.S. at 421, 98 S.Ct. at 700. 64 In the present case, the district court mistakenly applied a subjective test of "good faith," and ordinarily we would remand. Given the circumstances before us, however, we believe we should affirm. A finding of frivolousness would not have been made as to plaintiff's case before our decision in Martin, 762 F.2d at 212, which undermined her constructive discharge claim. Without a viable constructive discharge claim, of course, plaintiff was left with only her equal pay claim that is conceded to have been worth at best $1200. Whether the case became frivolous at that time we do not address. 65 The second round of discovery occurred shortly after the Martin decision, and defendant's Section 2000e-5(k) motion is thus largely duplicative of its Rule 11 motion regarding that discovery. The sanctions awarded under Rule 11 against the attorney(s) would therefore have to be subtracted from any award under Section 2000e-5(k). See Brown v. Fairleigh Dickinson University, 560 F.Supp. 391, 407 & n. 7 (D.N.J.1983); cf. Calloway, 854 F.2d at 1474 (plaintiff should not share counsel's liability for Rule 11 sanctions unless plaintiff had actual knowledge of wrongful conduct by counsel). We believe that an award of Rule 11 sanctions for the discovery abuses in question satisfies the statutory purposes of Section 2000e-5(k) in the present circumstances and that no purpose would be served by ordering the plaintiff herself to pay fees. 3. Sanctions Under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1927 66 The district court declined to impose sanctions under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1927 (1982) on the grounds that plaintiff's claims were not "wholly without merit." We take a somewhat different view. Section 1927 permits an award of sanctions against one who unreasonably and vexatiously "multiplies ... proceedings." We believe the only conduct of plaintiff's counsel that fits that description is that which occurred during the second round of discovery. For purposes of this case, therefore, our Rule 11 ruling disposes of the Section 1927 issue. 4. The Cross-Appeal 67 Plaintiff's cross-appeal contending that she should be awarded sanctions against Hilton under Rule 11 on the basis of Hilton's motion for sanctions against plaintiff is without merit. For the reasons set forth, Hilton's motion for sanctions obviously is not a basis for Rule 11 sanctions. We therefore affirm the district court's denial of plaintiff's cross-motion. CONCLUSION 68 On the basis of the foregoing reasons, we remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion. Specifically, we affirm the district court's refusal to impose Rule 11 sanctions with regard to the filing of plaintiff's employment discrimination claims, but award Rule 11 sanctions for plaintiff's counsel's actions during discovery, the amount to be determined on remand. * Opinion on rehearing published at 875 F.2d 39 1 Plaintiff did file papers after the decision in Martin that referred to her constructive discharge claim. See, e.g., Plaintiff's Memorandum in Support of her Second Motion to Compel Discovery dated February 3, 1986 ("Plaintiff alleges that she ... was constructively discharged."). Those references, however, merely characterized the nature of the action rather than reasserted the claim. Accordingly, we do not view them as sanctionable filings 2 Plaintiff's counsel in the instant case have previously been warned that "[d]iscovery is not to be used as a weapon," National Organization for Women v. Sperry Rand Corp., 88 F.R.D. 272, 277 (D.Conn.1980), after they had filed interrogatories "generally call[ing] for herculean labors and intolerable expense in order to effect compliance." Id. at 276 n. 6 (citations omitted) | Low | [
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Thursday, September 3, 2009 A simpler question of confidence The problem with marking some motion of parliament as a confidence matter is that it complicates the issue. Are you voting for the motion or the government? These two are not the same. If a motion of non-confidence in the government is introduced by itself with no other provisions, this simplifies the question. Do you have (enough) confidence, or not? Only if a majority of MPs agree will the government be defeated. In this case, it would require all Liberal, NDP and BQ MPs to agree to defeat the Conservative government. No one of them alone, or even 2 together, could trigger an election. A simpler question changes the perception when favours and considerations are exchanged as justification for support. Side deals are still possible of course, but more difficult to spin since you have nothing to show for your support - just promises. You really must have confidence in the government if you're going on promises alone, quite literally. | Mid | [
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This is coal country. In Cheshire, Ohio, that went one step further when American Electric Power did a 20 million-dollar deal to buy the town after their coal plant begins emitting a blue-plume. But not all their residents were ready to move. A gun toting 83-year old for one. Now only a few residents remain and they continue their fight for their health, the environment and their home. | Low | [
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Most folks know that ag subsidies artificially prop up prices for farm products here in the US and Western Europe. For some reason, we have a romantic notion of farmers as something more than just another profession and thus we prop up farms that would otherwise succumb, even though doing so hurts farmers in less-developed nations and makes us poorer. Think of it like, robbing Peter to pay Paul, while at the same time sticking it to Jose. And, since the time of FDR, that’s been all well and good. Now, though, it has gone too far. As Jacob reports, biofuel subsidies are beginning to impact barley prices, as farmers switch from barley to corn, which means that beer prices may go up. In other words, fewer barley crops equals more expensive beer because barley is used to make malt, which, if you didn’t already know, is a critical ingredient of beer. | Low | [
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Gunman in the Streets Gunman in the Streets (Canadian title Gangster at Bay) is a French/US-produced 1950 black-and-white film noir directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Dane Clark and Simone Signoret. Unreleased for theatrical screening in the US, the film was titled Time Running Out for its US television syndication from 1963. The low-budget B-movie was shot on location in Paris, France. A French-language version of the film (directed by Borys Lewin) was released in France under the title Le Traque ("The Hunt"). Plot American army deserter turned criminal on the run Eddy Roback is being chased through the streets of Paris. The fugitive finds his old girlfriend, Denise Vernon (Signoret) and tries to get money from her in an attempt to get across the border to Belgium. The girlfriend's friend, an American crime reporter (Duke), as well as a country-wide manhunt become obstacles Roback must get past in order to escape. While trying to raise him money, Denise finds him a hiding place in the studio of a lecherous photographer Max Salva, who may have turned Roback in. Cast Dane Clark as Eddy Roback Simone Signoret as Denise Vernon Fernand Gravey as Commissioner Dufresne (as Fernand Gravet) Robert Duke as Frank Clinton Michel André as Max Salva External links Category:1950 films Category:1950s crime films Category:French films Category:French crime films Category:French black-and-white films Category:English-language films Category:French multilingual films Category:Film noir Category:Films set in Paris Category:Films directed by Frank Tuttle Category:English-language French films Category:1950s multilingual films | Low | [
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Hampton says she wants to run with Bevin for re-election BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s lieutenant governor says she needs one other term in office, but Republican Gov. Matt Bevin has no longer said if he’ll lend a hand her. Jenean Hampton suggested the Bowling Green On day by day basis Facts in an odd interview she believes she has executed a “amazing job” and might per chance presumably well be “a shoo-in.” Nonetheless whereas Bevin has said he’ll explore a 2nd term in November, he has but to file for the bustle and has no longer said whether Hampton will likely be his working mate. “At this point, I would bewitch to assist … but that’s the governor’s name. I purchased into this depart with a prayer (and) I will lumber wherever the spirit leads,” she said. “I’m simply waiting on” Bevin. Bevin has said over and over he’ll flee for re-election in November, no subject no longer elevating money for an election that is no longer as a lot as eleven months away. Democrats are lining as a lot as space him, with Attorney Popular Andy Beshear elevating bigger than $1.Sixteen million up to now and command House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins elevating bigger than $620,000. Previous Auditor Adam Edelen launched his campaign final week and has one in all his first fundraisers this week. Bevin has been noncommittal when asked who his working mate will likely be. Requested if Bevin might per chance presumably lend a hand Hampton, the governor suggested the newspaper: “We’ll look.” “It’s no longer a given that I will, and it’s no longer a given that I obtained’t,” Bevin said. “She is a in actuality dear buddy for whom I grasp gargantuan respect. She’s been an even searching lieutenant governor.” The newspaper reported Hampton used to be disappointed in her tenuous space, but said her time as lieutenant governor has been “one in all basically the most joyous assignments of my 40-365 days profession.” | Low | [
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Heterogeneous crystal nucleation: the effect of lattice mismatch. A simple dynamical density functional theory is used to investigate freezing of an undercooled liquid in the presence of a crystalline substrate. We find that the adsorption of the crystalline phase on the substrate, the contact angle, and the height of the nucleation barrier are nonmonotonic functions of the lattice constant of the substrate. We show that the free-growth-limited model of particle-induced freezing by Greer et al. [Acta Mater. 48, 2823 (2000)] is valid for larger nanoparticles and a small anisotropy of the interface free energy. Faceting due to the small size of the foreign particle or a high anisotropy decouples free growth from the critical size of homogeneous nuclei. | Mid | [
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Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. The increasing popularity of modern powerful mobile devices combined with the expanding transmission bandwidths have enabled a wide variety of mobile AR applications, which provides modern users a variety of enriched experiences. Some stand-alone mobile applications may have been developed to help users semi-automatically insert virtual two-dimensional (2D) images or videos into the captured 2D photos or videos. The insertion points for the images typically are predefined markers. | High | [
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Q: Facebook on Android Emulator Crashing (NullPointer) when calling show on FbDialog When trying to authenticate with facebook, my app crashes. It reaches the line new FbDialog(context, url, listener).show(); Specifically in the show() (which I can't see sadly). It only happens when I run the application on an emulator (tried on version 2.2). It works fine on my actual phone (which admittedly is running 2.2.1 - is this likely to make a difference? I am struggling to download a later version at the moment but will keep trying if it is likely to be the cause) Don't really know where to start with this so any pointers would be helpful. A: I am so dumb it is unreal - had commented out some code because it couldn't find the right Drawable in R. This code would only have been used if Facebook was not installed hence not happening on our phones. | Mid | [
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Q: How to pass native method to thread in android? I have one MainActivity, one Thread(RunJNIThread) and one jniClass.c. Because JNI will block UI thread, so I use Thread to run jniClass.cpp. I used Activity to call MainActivity.StartJNI() in Thread, after I find this that said "Passing an Activity into another object is usually a bad idea ". So how to pass a native method which defined in MainActivity to Thread? Not using Activity. MainActivity.java public RunJNIThread thread; thread = new RunJNIThread(this); .... static { System.loadLibrary("jniClass"); } public native void StartJNI(); ... RunJNIThread.java private MainActivity mainActivity; getFrameThread(MainActivity mainActivity){ this.mainActivity = mainActivity; //Not Good } public void run(){ while(!Stop){ mainActivity.StartJNI(); //how to replace this with better way try { Thread.sleep(5); } catch (InterruptedException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } } ... A: You can create a new view as interface interface MyView{ void callMethod(); } then you implement this view in your Main Activity MainActivity implements MyView when your create the thread class you can pass context if it is needed , and view as parameters. thread = new RunJNIThread(this,this) and your Thread class' constructor should be ; public class RunJNIThread{ public void RunJNIThread(Context context , MyView view){ this.context = context; this.view = view; } } when you want to call your main activity function. you can call "callMethod()" public void run(){ while(!Stop){ view.callMethod(); try { Thread.sleep(5); } catch (InterruptedException e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } in your main activity, overrided callMethod @Override public void callMethod(){ StartJNI(); } | High | [
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I'm sure the new year will be described as different background. They took out the balls just before the game in order to shorten the time which the ball is at the domestic cold breathable oxygen. Baseball America ranked him nd involving the best players prospects. He weren't supposed to record more strikeouts (2679) than any other left-handed pitcher in American League creation. Clay Harbor- Clay was drafted this holiday season as a high quality TE burning. This is also a good loosen up exercise before you put from your cycling jerseys and ride for an event. However, the night's marquee matchup is the outlet game for this three-game series in Anaheim between the A's and Angels (10:05 ET). The marketing of team-related merchandise as well as the selling of tickets is what makes up many of salary for the team. For that athletic ladies, you can scout around for college cheerleading outfits for your pooch.Otherwise, use a regarding seasonal blueberries. Most guys do like to cook, however never do. Tennessee at New England It's a throwback weekend as six of founded eight AFL franchises face off. Here you will find various information on methods actually do this yourself without putting your faith into someone else.Don't quit on your fantasy if weight are not healthy a sport wedding. Cy's earned run average for those twenty two seasons was 2.63 the actual struck out 2,803 hitters. Right now let's keep it simplistic with 5 basic research routes may get go a minimum of wholesale nhl jerseys China the best nfl picks free. Kansas State also had statistically probably the most defense within country visiting the wholesale mlb jerseys rush. This finally brings us to the nowaday's location in Arizona.Cute cheerleader outfits and matching shoes can have your dog showing her true team spirit on game cheap mlb jerseys China day or on any day of a few days. If a kicker's range is 44 yards instead of, say, 55, that can dramatically attack the way a team plays games. Make your sporting event more action-packed and vibrant with these stylish mlb jersey. There are some natural cures for eczema you can try to alleviate the skin large.And, while the netherlands did the fatigue Dominican's instances this week, their lineup is weak - which is is putting it nicely. The NFL doesn't give quarterbacks millions to surprise them with go cheap nfl jerseys out and get slammed playing running back again again again. Is there anyone we adore more than pro athletes and their opulent franchise companies? Judging by New Orleans draft, they obviously does not think their defense was in need a youth movement.Recently sports fans witnessed the end of an era cheap jersey when Ken Griffey Jr .. announced his retirement from Major League Baseball at the age of 40. Gartrell has been getting a lot of props lately, including in this 49ers investigate. The casual baggy jeans, cheap mlb jerseys the t-shirts, accessories, the shades along with the baseball cap complete the photo very great.Why Youll Need Collect Hockey Jerseys nfl team kits 3 pick. Browns president Mike Wholesale Football Jerseys Holmgren is aware of that report, but doesn't buy it. "Contrary to what was written and said yesterday, we had to compete,'' Holmgren told Discount Football Jerseys The Plain Dealer. "We weren TMt the Lone Ranger in that deal. . . . You don TMt want to be up there, really, but we were up there so it was very, very important who we chose there. That TMs why we targeted Trent. We didn TMt want to lose him." Ultimately, the Browns didn't give up that much to Cheap Jerseys From China,Just Check It Out move up one spot. Whether Cleveland was duped or not depends on how much you believe Vikings general manager Rick Spielman. Browns GM Tom Heckert and Spielman are friends and Spielman told the Browns another team, presumably Tampa, was trying to move to No. 3. The Browns trusted Minnesota. Holmgren says the team wasn't duped. And none of it really matters if Trent Richardson is the player that Holmgren thinks he is. | Low | [
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Q: Best practice to store the json data into database I am working on storing a json data into data base and me and my colleagues where having discussion which will be the best way to store. As I know that PostgresSql provide you Jsonb datatype to store the json in the column so to handle that I have written some custom dialect which store json data in jsonb column But my colleagues were not satisfied with that approach his approach was to convert the object into json by using the object mapper and store that json in from of string where column type will be a character varying. So can anyone tell me which will be best way to do it? Or is there any best way to do it? A: Your way with jsonb and dialect is better: 1) You can search by separate json field or complex internal json structure. 2) You are able to partially update the json, no need to rewrite whole json 3) You have ability to use postgress json functions on views 4) You can create an index on specific json field Drawbacks: 1) You have to create dialect and support this code. 2) Jsonb may take more disk space | High | [
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Q: ASP NET Core 3.1 how to post FormData I am not able to post form data with fetch and asp.net core 3.1 I'm using fetch on the front end: handleSave(event) { event.preventDefault(); const data = new FormData(event.target); fetch('Project/Edit', { method: 'POST', body: data, headers: !token ? {} : { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded', } }).then((response) => response.json()) } I have tried setting the Content-Type to multipart/form-data and i have also tried not having a content type. The server side method looks like this: [HttpPost] public IActionResult Edit([FromForm]Project project) { I have also tried [HttpPost] public IActionResult Edit(Project project) { and [HttpPost] public IActionResult Edit([FromBody]Project project) { and [HttpPut] public IActionResult Edit([FromForm]Project project) { The project parameter is never populated. Actually this method is never hit. I'm receiving a 405 error. What is the correct way to post FormData to the server with ASP.NET Core 3.1? I ended up getting this to work with the following: Controller - changed Edit to EditProject and added Route decorator: [HttpPost] [Route("EditProject")] public IActionResult EditProject([FromForm]Project project) { I removed the content-type from the fetch: fetch('Project/EditProject', { method: 'POST', body: data, headers: !this.state.token ? {} : { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${this.state.token}`, } }).then((response) => response.json()) A: not able to post form data with fetch and asp.net core 3.1 Here is a working sample of posting form data from React front end to API action, you can refer to it. constructor(props) { super(props); this.state = { pname: "", description: "" }; this.handlePname = this.handlePname.bind(this); this.handleDescription = this.handleDescription.bind(this); this.handleSave = this.handleSave.bind(this); } handlePname(event) { this.setState({ pname: event.target.value }); } handleDescription(event) { this.setState({ description: event.target.value }); } handleSave(event) { event.preventDefault(); const data = new FormData(); data.append("pname", this.state.pname); data.append("description", this.state.description); console.log(data); fetch("Project/Edit", { method: "POST", body: data // headers: !token // ? {} // : { // Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`, // "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" // } }).then(response => response.json()); } render() { return ( <form onSubmit={this.handleSave}> Project Name: <input type="text" value={this.state.pname} onChange={this.handlePname} /> Description: <input type="text" value={this.state.description} onChange={this.handleDescription} /> <input type="submit" value="Submit" /> </form> ); } Controller action [HttpPost] public IActionResult Edit([FromForm]Project project) { //code logic here Project class public class Project { public string pname { get; set; } public string description { get; set; } } Test result | Mid | [
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733 N.W.2d 815 (2007) In re the Marriage of Carol Bernice BAKER, petitioner, Appellant, v. Daniel Remember BAKER, Respondent. No. A06-1252. Court of Appeals of Minnesota. July 3, 2007. *818 Kay Nord Hunt, Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, Minneapolis, MN, for appellant. Richard D. Goff, Richard D. Goff & Associates, Minneapolis, MN, for respondent. Considered and decided by MINGE, Presiding Judge; WRIGHT, Judge; and HARTEN, Judge.[*] OPINION WRIGHT, Judge. In this appeal from the district court's judgment dissolving the parties' marriage, appellant-wife challenges the district court's division of the parties' marital property, arguing that the district court (1) understated the portion of respondent-husband's retirement accounts that is marital property; (2) understated the overall value of husband's surgical practice by not including the value of the institutional goodwill of the practice; and (3) abused its discretion by holding that husband did not improperly dispose of marital assets. By notice of review, husband challenges the district court's spousal-maintenance award to wife, arguing that it is based on erroneous and insufficient findings. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand. FACTS In May 2003, appellant-wife Carol Baker filed a petition for dissolution of her 13-year marriage to respondent-husband Daniel Baker. After a trial before a referee, the district court entered a judgment dissolving the parties' marriage, dividing their property, and awarding wife spousal maintenance.[1] Thereafter, wife moved the district court to amend its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The district court denied the motion, and this appeal followed. ISSUES I. Did the district court err as a matter of law when it held that the value of the appreciation of husband's premarital retirement funds is nonmarital property? II. Did the district court erroneously conclude that the law precludes the inclusion of the value of the institutional goodwill accumulated in husband's surgical practice during the parties' marriage in the overall valuation of the practice? III. Did the district court abuse its discretion when it held that husband did not improperly encumber or dispose of marital assets when he used them to pay his attorney fees, fund education accounts for his and wife's grandchildren, pay for his daughter's wedding, and purchase a one-half interest in a Porsche? *819 IV. Did the district court abuse its discretion when it set husband's spousal-maintenance obligation? ANALYSIS As an initial matter, we consider the scope of review in this case. Wife filed a motion for a new trial or amended findings of fact and conclusions of law. Because the motion did not identify specific grounds for a new trial, the district court concluded that, "No motion for a new trial is before th[is] Court." The district court also denied the motion for amended findings of fact and conclusions of law. In the absence of a motion for a new trial, our scope of review includes substantive legal issues properly raised to and considered by the district court, whether the evidence supports the findings of fact, and whether those findings support the conclusions of law and the judgment. Alpha Real Estate Co. of Rochester v. Delta Dental Plan of Minn., 664 N.W.2d 303, 310 (Minn. 2003) (stating that new-trial motion is not prerequisite to appellate review of substantive legal issues properly raised and considered in district court); Gruenhagen v. Larson, 310 Minn. 454, 458, 246 N.W.2d 565, 569 (1976) (stating that absent motion for new trial, appellate courts may review whether evidence supports findings of fact and whether findings support conclusions of law and judgment). I. Wife first argues that the district court erred as a matter of law when it held that the appreciation of husband's premarital retirement funds is nonmarital property. Whether property is marital or nonmarital is a question of law over which we exercise de novo review. Gottsacker v. Gottsacker, 664 N.W.2d 848, 852 (Minn. 2003). But in doing so, we defer to the district court's findings of fact. Id. Marital property is "property, real or personal, including vested public or private pension plan benefits or rights, acquired by the parties, or either of them, to a dissolution . . . proceeding at any time during the existence of the marriage." Minn.Stat. § 518.003, subd. 3b (2006) (codified at Minn.Stat. § 518.54, subd. 5 (2004)). All property acquired by either spouse during the marriage is presumed to be marital property. Id. To overcome this presumption, a spouse must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is nonmarital. Crosby v. Crosby, 587 N.W.2d 292, 296 (Minn.App. 1998), review denied (Minn. Feb. 18, 1999). Nonmarital property includes property acquired by either spouse before marriage and any increase in the value thereof, Minn.Stat. § 518.003, subd. 3b, provided such an increase is the result of passive appreciation, Gottsacker, 664 N.W.2d at 853 (citing Nardini v. Nardini, 414 N.W.2d 184, 193 (Minn. 1987)); Swick v. Swick, 467 N.W.2d 328, 331 (Minn.App. 1991), review denied (Minn. May 16, 1991). Appreciation is passive when it is "`attributable to inflation or to market forces or conditions.'" Gottsacker, 664 N.W.2d at 853 (quoting Nardini, 414 N.W.2d at 192). In other words, appreciation occurring when "no investment decisions are made, and neither [spouse] may withdraw the funds or otherwise control the investments," is passive. Prahl v. Prahl, 627 N.W.2d 698, 706 (Minn.App. 2001). Conversely, appreciation that is attributable to the exertion of efforts by one or both spouses during the marriage generally is deemed active and, thus, marital property. Gottsacker, 664 N.W.2d at 853 (quoting Nardini, 414 N.W.2d at 192); White v. White, 521 N.W.2d 874, 878 (Minn.App. 1994). Such efforts may include the application or investment of marital funds, marital labor, or entrepreneurial decision-making *820 that is marital in nature. White, 521 N.W.2d at 878. When the parties married, husband had $957,473 in a retirement plan entitled Specialists in General Surgery Pension and Profit Sharing Plan ("SIGS accounts"). During the marriage, additional contributions and investment returns caused the value of the SIGS accounts to reach $3,088,072 on the date of valuation for the dissolution proceedings. During trial, husband's expert, Thomas Harjes, testified as to the proper allocation of that amount between marital and nonmarital property. To derive this allocation, Harjes classified the premarital amount of $957,473 as nonmarital property and all contributions made during the marriage as marital property. For each year of marriage, Harjes determined the percentage of funds in the SIGS accounts that was marital property and the percentage that was nonmarital property. He then used those percentages to divide the investment returns between marital and nonmarital property. Based on these calculations, Harjes concluded that $639,577 of $3,088,072 was marital property subject to equitable division. The district court adopted Harjes's conclusions and allocated the final value of the SIGS accounts between marital and nonmarital property accordingly. Wife challenges this allocation, arguing that the district court should have allocated the entire amount by which the SIGS accounts have increased above the premarital amount of $957,473 to marital property because that increase is attributable to the exertion of marital efforts. Specifically, wife argues that this increase is the result of husband's active management of the SIGS accounts himself and through his financial advisor. The district court rejected this argument, holding that the appreciation of a spouse's nonmarital retirement funds is not active appreciation "simply because the spouse . . . hires a financial advisor to manage the funds." We agree that a financial advisor's management of a retirement account containing nonmarital funds does not necessitate a finding that the appreciation of those funds is active. That nonmarital funds are managed by a financial advisor, however, does not preclude a finding that the appreciation thereof is active. Rather, to make this determination, a district court must examine the nature of the spouses' efforts regarding these retirement accounts. Gottsacker, 664 N.W.2d at 853. Here, the district court's findings of fact and the record evidence of husband's involvement with the SIGS accounts establish that the appreciation of the SIGS accounts is active and, therefore, marital property. At trial, wife testified that she and husband hired financial advisor Randy Trask to manage the SIGS accounts. Specifically, wife testified that "after we were married we invited Merrill Lynch representatives to come out to our home and discuss retirement plans for our future. . . . [T]ogether we sat down and chose some Merrill Lynch plans and then invested money in those plans." Trask testified that husband paid him an annual fee to manage these accounts.[2] Trask confirmed that he "could not have discretionary management over any of these accounts if [husband] would not allow it" and that husband "has the ultimate control over [the] accounts." Harjes also confirmed that husband has full discretion regarding how the accounts are controlled. *821 The evidence conclusively establishes that husband and Trask created an agency relationship when they mutually agreed that Trask would act on husband's behalf but subject to husband's control. See A. Gay Jenson Farms Co. v. Cargill, Inc., 309 N.W.2d 285, 290 (Minn. 1981) ("Agency is the fiduciary relationship that results from the manifestation of consent by one person to another that the other shall act on his behalf and subject to his control, and consent by the other so to act."); see also Dalager v. Montgomery Ward & Co., 350 N.W.2d 391, 394 (Minn.App. 1984) (holding that whether agency relationship exists is fact question unless evidence is conclusive). As such, husband is bound by Trask's active management of the accounts as if it were his own. See Fingerhut Mfg. Co. v. Mack Trucks, Inc., 267 Minn. 201, 204, 125 N.W.2d 734, 737 (1964) (holding that when agent acts within scope of express or implied authority, principal is bound thereby); Kellogg v. Woods, 720 N.W.2d 845, 852 (Minn.App. 2006) (holding that principal is liable for agent's acts that are within scope of agency relationship). Not only did husband actively manage the SIGS accounts through Trask, husband also actively managed them himself. During the trial, there was extensive evidence and testimony presented about husband's ability to control and withdraw funds from the SIGS accounts. Harjes testified that husband had full authority to make changes to the SIGS accounts, which he often exercised by rolling funds from one account to another. Trask testified that, during his tenure as manager of the SIGS accounts, husband made at least one stock purchase in which husband bought stock of a company with which husband's son was associated. Wife testified, and Trask confirmed, that, at one point, husband transferred the SIGS accounts to another financial advisor, but husband later transferred them back to Trask. Trask and Harjes also testified that, during the marriage, the funds in the SIGS accounts were available as liquid assets that husband could withdraw at any time.[3] We have held that the ability to control investments or withdraw funds can defeat a claim that the increases in value of premarital funds were the result of passive appreciation.[4]See Prahl, 627 N.W.2d at 706 (stating that appreciation is passive when "no investment decisions are made, and neither [spouse] may withdraw the funds or otherwise control the investments"). Taken together, and with the statutory presumption that all property acquired during the marriage is marital property, these characteristics establish that the appreciation of husband's premarital *822 funds in husband's SIGS accounts was not the result of mere market forces or conditions but rather the result of marital efforts in the form of entrepreneurial decision-making. Accordingly, this increase constitutes active appreciation that is marital property subject to just and equitable division under Minn.Stat. § 518.58, subd. 1 (2006).[5] Because the district court erroneously concluded that the value of the appreciation of husband's premarital funds in his SIGS accounts is nonmarital property, we reverse and remand to the district court with instructions to divide the parties' marital property in a just and equitable manner. II. Wife also argues that the district court erred as a matter of law when it failed to include the value of the institutional goodwill accumulated in husband's surgical practice during the parties' marriage in its overall valuation of the practice for purposes of property division. As discussed above, whether an asset is marital or nonmarital property is a question of law, which we review de novo. Gottsacker, 664 N.W.2d at 852. The district court may include intangible assets, such as goodwill, in its valuation of marital property. Sweere v. Gilbert-Sweere, 534 N.W.2d 294, 297 (Minn.App. 1995). A district court's valuation of an asset is a finding of fact that we will not set aside unless the record establishes that it is clearly erroneous. Maurer v. Maurer, 623 N.W.2d 604, 606 (Minn. 2001). Because "valuation is necessarily an approximation in many cases," it need only fall "within a reasonable range of figures." Id. (quotation omitted). Here, neutral expert Patrick Schmidt testified that the value of husband's surgical practice, Daniel R. Baker, M.D., P.A., without any goodwill is $112,000.[6] Schmidt testified that the value of the practice's goodwill is $365,000, which includes $73,000 in institutional goodwill. The district court credited Schmidt's testimony and adopted his valuation of $112,000 excluding any goodwill as the overall value of the practice. In doing so, the district court determined that "goodwill cannot be included, given the evidence presented" because the goodwill Schmidt calculated is tied "directly to the execution of a noncompet[ition] agreement."[7] The district court's determination is based on the general rule that, when a marital dissolution requires the district court to value a business acquired during *823 the marriage, any value that is attached to a requirement that a spouse restrict his or her postmarital employment options is the nonmarital property of the spouse whose employment options are restricted. Grigsby v. Grigsby, 648 N.W.2d 716, 722 (Minn. App. 2002), review denied (Minn. Oct. 15, 2002); Sweere, 534 N.W.2d at 300-01. Although employment opportunities are often restricted through the execution of noncompetition agreements, that a spouse was required to sign a noncompetition agreement does not, by itself, establish that the spouse will be restricted in his or her future employment. Sweere, 534 N.W.2d at 297. Rather than restricting future employment, a noncompetition agreement may be a protective device intended to assure the value of the business' goodwill. Id. at 297-98 (observing that rather than restricting employment, noncompetition agreement may be intended to prevent solicitation of customers or employees or divulging of trade secrets). A noncompetition agreement also may be some combination thereof, in which case the district court must allocate the value of the noncompetition agreement between its restriction on the spouse's future employment, which is nonmarital property, and its restrictions that are intended to protect the value of the business' goodwill, which is marital property. Id. at 298, 301. Schmidt distinguished between the value of the practice's goodwill that is personal to husband and the value of the "institutional goodwill" that is attributable to the practice itself. Schmidt testified that the institutional goodwill derives from attributes such as "having a workforce in place, . . . having a relationship with a hospital where you can do work, . . . [and] having a lease in place." None of these restricts husband's future employment. Thus, even if a buyer required a noncompetition agreement to be attached to the value of the practice's institutional goodwill in addition to the value of husband's personal goodwill, that portion of the noncompetition agreement pertaining to the institutional goodwill would not be intended to restrict husband's future employment. The value of that institutional goodwill, therefore, is marital property subject to just and equitable division under Minn. Stat. § 518.58, subd. 1. Because the district court erroneously excluded the value of the practice's institutional goodwill from the valuation of the practice, we reverse and remand to the district court with instructions to include the value of the institutional goodwill in its valuation of the surgical practice and to divide the parties' marital property in a just and equitable manner. III. Wife next argues that the district court abused its discretion when it held that husband did not "dissipate" marital assets[8] when he used them to pay his attorney fees, to fund education accounts for his grandchildren and wife's granddaughter, to pay for his daughter's wedding, and to purchase a one-half interest in a Porsche. Wife argues that this holding resulted in an unjust and inequitable division of the parties' marital property. A district court has broad discretion to divide *824 marital property, and we will not reverse such a division absent a clear abuse of that discretion or an erroneous application of the law, Ebnet v. Ebnet, 347 N.W.2d 840, 842 (Minn.App. 1984), even if we would have reached a different result, Antone v. Antone, 645 N.W.2d 96, 100 (Minn. 2002). Minnesota law prohibits a spouse from transferring, encumbering, concealing, or disposing of marital assets in contemplation of commencing, or during the pendency of, a marital-dissolution proceeding unless the spouse does so with the other spouse's consent or "in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life." Minn.Stat. § 518.58, subd. 1a (2006). A violation of this statute requires the district court to compensate the other spouse "by placing both parties in the same position that they would have been in had the transfer, encumbrance, concealment, or disposal not occurred." Id. The party alleging an improper transfer, encumbrance, concealment, or disposal of marital assets bears the burden of proof. Id. Wife argues that the district court erroneously concluded that husband's payment of his attorney fees out of the parties' marital assets did not violate section 518.58, subdivision 1a. We agree. The district court's conclusion not only is inconsistent with our case law, see Thomas v. Thomas, 407 N.W.2d 124, 127-28 (Minn. App. 1987) ("Any amount taken from marital property to pay one party's attorney's fees should be accounted for . . . in the distribution [of marital property]."), it also is inconsistent with the district court's own order that "[e]ach party shall be responsible for [his or her] own attorney's fees and costs." We, therefore, reverse the district court's determination that husband did not improperly dispose of marital assets in violation of section 518.58, subdivision 1a, when he used them to pay his attorney fees. Accordingly, we remand to the district court with instructions to compensate wife by placing her in the position she would have occupied had this improper disposal of marital assets not occurred. Wife also argues that husband improperly transferred and disposed of marital assets when he used them to fund education accounts for his grandchildren and wife's granddaughter and to pay for his daughter's wedding. Specifically, wife argues that the district court clearly erred when it found that such expenditures were in the "usual course of business" or "for the necessities of life." The evidence establishes that, throughout their marriage, husband and wife provided support to all of their adult children, often in the form of financial assistance for education costs. The evidence also demonstrates that they were very generous to their grandchildren. Thus, on these facts, the district court's finding that these expenditures were in the parties' usual course of business was not a clear abuse of discretion. Finally, wife argues that the district court abused its discretion when it held that husband's purchase of a one-half interest in a Porsche was not an improper disposal of marital assets. In 2001, husband paid $30,000 for that interest, which, at dissolution, was worth only $19,475. Wife argues that this depreciation constitutes an improper disposal of marital property. Because husband purchased this interest prior to the commencement of the marital-dissolution proceedings, the district court was required to determine whether husband made that purchase in contemplation of the marital dissolution. Minn.Stat. § 518.58, subd. 1a. We agree with the district court's determination that the record is devoid of any evidence that husband purchased this interest "in contemplation" of commencing marital-dissolution proceedings. Therefore, we affirm this aspect of the district court's decision. *825 IV. Husband challenges the district court's spousal-maintenance award to wife, arguing that the district court abused its discretion when it set husband's spousal maintenance obligation. A district court has broad discretion in determining spousal maintenance, and we will not reverse such a determination absent an abuse of discretion. Erlandson v. Erlandson, 318 N.W.2d 36, 38 (Minn. 1982). A district court abuses its discretion when it resolves the matter in a manner that is "against logic and the facts on record." Rutten v. Rutten, 347 N.W.2d 47, 50 (Minn. 1984). We will uphold findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. Prahl, 627 N.W.2d at 702. A finding is clearly erroneous if it leaves us "with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made." Id. (quotation omitted). We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the district court's findings and defer to the district court's credibility determinations. Id. First, husband argues that the district court's spousal-maintenance determination is erroneous because the district court failed to make a specific finding regarding husband's income. Ordinarily, detailed factual findings are necessary to demonstrate that the district court considered the relevant statutory factors. Tuthill v. Tuthill, 399 N.W.2d 230, 232 (Minn. App. 1987). Insufficient findings render meaningful appellate review impossible. Stich v. Stich, 435 N.W.2d 52, 53 (Minn. 1989). The district court's findings are sufficient if they show that the district court considered the statutory factors relevant to its conclusion. Tuthill, 399 N.W.2d at 232. When setting a spousal-maintenance obligation, the statutory factors relevant to the district court's conclusion include (1) the financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including the marital property apportioned to that spouse, and that spouse's ability to meet his or her needs; (2) the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the spouse seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment and the probability that the spouse seeking maintenance will become fully or partially self-supporting; (3) the marital standard of living; (4) the duration of the marriage and, in the case of a homemaker, the length of absence from the job market and the effect thereof; (5) the loss of earnings and retirement benefits foregone by the spouse seeking maintenance; (6) the age and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance; (7) the ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his or her own needs; and (8) the contribution of each party to the acquisition and appreciation of marital property. Minn.Stat. § 518.552, subd. 2 (2006). Although the district court did not make a specific finding as to husband's income, the district court's findings demonstrate that the district court thoroughly considered the relevant statutory factors. Regarding the statutory factor that requires the district court to consider husband's income and his ability to meet his own needs, the district court examined husband's recent income levels, the impact a downturn in husband's surgical field would have on husband's income, the incomes of husband's business associates, and husband's intent to retire in the near future. Based on this thorough consideration of the relevant facts, we conclude that the district court's findings regarding this statutory factor are sufficient in spite of the failure to make a specific finding regarding husband's income. Next, husband argues that the district court made inconsistent findings regarding wife's mortgage debt, which resulted in an erroneous spousal-maintenance determination. *826 But the district court's findings regarding wife's mortgage obligation are consistent. Together, these findings establish that the resources available to wife are insufficient to allow her to meet her needs regardless of whether she continues to pay her monthly maintenance obligation or she chooses to use her property settlement to pay off her mortgage balance. Finally, husband challenges the district court's determinations that "it is not possible to conclude that [wife] could return to the field of professional nursing at this time" and that wife "is not capable of working full-time." Husband maintains that the district court should have imputed income to wife because wife can work but chooses not to. Before a district court may impute income to a party for the purpose of making a spousal-maintenance determination, it must find that the party is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed in bad faith. Carrick v. Carrick, 560 N.W.2d 407, 410 (Minn.App. 1997). Here, the district court did not make such a finding. Rather, it credited wife's testimony that she is unable to work in her field of nursing because of her physical limitations. And we defer to the district court's credibility determination. See Prahl, 627 N.W.2d at 702 (stating that appellate courts leave credibility determinations to fact-finder when reviewing evidence regarding spousal maintenance). Husband refers us to the testimony of his expert, Jan Lowe, in support of his argument that wife is voluntarily underemployed in bad faith. Lowe, an employability consultant, testified that there were a number of nursing positions available with job requirements that wife could perform. The district court did not find this testimony credible because "Lowe never interviewed [wife] so as to make a determination as to whether or not [wife] could perform the tasks of a nurse at the present time," "made no inquiry about whether [wife] had physical conditions which would prevent her from returning to the field of nursing," and "was unable to make any correlation between [wife] as an appropriate candidate for [nursing] jobs [available in the Twin Cities area]." This credibility determination also is accorded deference. Id. Therefore, because the record lacks any credible evidence that wife was voluntarily underemployed in bad faith, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it refused to impute income to her. Although we reject husband's challenges to the district court's spousal-maintenance determination, we recognize that, when the district court revisits the other aspects of the division of marital property addressed in this opinion, the district court may need to reconsider the appropriate amount of spousal maintenance in light of our conclusions that the value of the appreciation of husband's premarital retirement funds in his SIGS accounts is marital property, that the value of the institutional goodwill in husband's surgical practice shall be included in the overall valuation of the practice, and that wife must be compensated for husband's improper disposal of marital property to pay his attorney fees. Indeed, these holdings may affect the district court's findings as to the statutory factors to be considered when setting spousal maintenance. Minn.Stat. § 518.552, subd. 2. DECISION Because the district court erred as a matter of law when it held that the appreciation of husband's premarital retirement funds was nonmarital property and the institutional goodwill accumulated in husband's surgical practice could not be included in the overall valuation of the practice, and because the district court erred when it held that husband did not improperly *827 dispose of or transfer marital assets when he used them to pay his attorney fees, we reverse and remand to the district court to divide the parties' marital property in a just and equitable manner. Because the district court did not abuse its discretion when it held that husband did not improperly encumber or dispose of marital property when he used it to fund education accounts for his grandchildren and wife's grandchild, to pay for his daughter's wedding, or to purchase a one-half interest in a Porsche, we affirm these aspects of the district court's decision. Although we reject husband's challenge to the district court's spousal-maintenance determination, the district court may reconsider on remand the appropriate amount of spousal maintenance for wife in light of the statutory factors set forth in Minn.Stat. § 518.552, subd. 2 (2006), and the division of property. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. MINGE, Judge (concurring in part, dissenting in part). I concur in sections II, III, and IV of the decision and respectfully dissent from the result in section I. In reviewing the record and the findings of the district court, I conclude that it used the improper standard for determining what constituted active management of nonmarital investment assets and properly applied that standard. With three relatively isolated and minor exceptions, respondent did not play an active or practical role in the management of his nonmarital retirement funds. Respondent's "active" involvement consists of three decisions: (1) Investing a modest amount in a business in which his son was involved. This was ultimately a loss; it contributed nothing to the growth of the nonmarital asset and even worse it now contributes to all appreciation as being classified as marital property. (2) Changing his investment advisor. This was done once upon the recommendation of respondent's accountants. This was not active management. It was simply an attempt to save advisory service fees and obtain better services. Respondent subsequently reversed that decision. (3) Rolling funds from certain widely-held mutual funds to others largely within the same family of funds. This was done as any wage earner with a 401(k) account or other flexible retirement fund might adjust a retirement portfolio mix to maintain balance. It was not often or dramatic. Respondent was working full-time. The record is clear that respondent did not engage in research, take time from his medical practice, take time from his family for this activity, or engage an active, hands-on manager. If this constitutes active management, the bar is very high. In these circumstances, I would not overrule the district court, but rather defer to its decision that respondent's management did not cause the appreciation of a nonmarital retirement fund becomes marital property. NOTES [*] Retired judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, serving by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10. [1] At the time of dissolution, wife was age 57 and husband was age 69. [2] We cannot determine from the record whether Trask is paid with the parties' marital property or with nonmarital property. [3] Harjes testified that, before age 59 ½, husband could have withdrawn funds by paying a penalty and that, after age 59 ½, he has had the ability to freely withdraw funds. Husband testified that, beginning at age 70 ½, he would be required to withdraw $125,000 from the SIGS accounts every year. [4] In support of his argument that the mere ability to control a financial advisor does not make the appreciation of nonmarital funds managed by that advisor active appreciation, husband relies on Chamberlain v. Chamberlain, 615 N.W.2d 405 (Minn.App. 2000), review denied (Minn. Oct. 25, 2000). There, we were presented with the issue of whether the appreciation of the husband's premarital retirement funds was marital property because, during the marriage, the husband actively managed those funds through his financial advisor. Chamberlain, 615 N.W.2d at 413. We determined that those funds were marital property on other grounds, and, therefore, declined to reach the merits of this issue. Id. But we commented that "the treatment of this nonmarital asset as marital by the district court based on the alleged active management of the account by [husband's] agent is troubling for several reasons." Id. at 413 n. 2. Because Chamberlain does not identify the reasons such treatment was "troubling," it does not inform our analysis here. [5] In addition to this extensive testimony regarding husband's ability to control and withdraw funds in the SIGS accounts, the district court's findings and the record evidence show that the marital contributions to the SIGS accounts were commingled with the premarital funds therein. But because we conclude that the appreciation of the premarital funds in husband's SIGS accounts is marital property on the ground that it is active appreciation, we need not reach wife's argument that this appreciation is marital property because it cannot be traced to nonmarital property. [6] Wife's expert also testified about the practice's value. That expert did not appraise the practice, but he reviewed Schmidt's appraisal. The district court rejected the testimony of wife's expert, determining that it was "far less credible and reliable than the carefully-considered analysis of [Schmidt,] the neutral expert." As wife concedes, we defer to this credibility determination by the district court. See Vangsness v. Vangsness, 607 N.W.2d 468, 472 (Minn.App. 2000) (stating that appellate courts defer to district court's credibility determinations). [7] That the goodwill is tied to the execution of a noncompetition agreement is consistent with Schmidt's testimony that a willing buyer would pay the entire $365,000 for goodwill only if husband agreed to sign a noncompetition agreement. [8] In support of her argument, wife cites cases decided before, or derived from cases decided before, the 1991 enactment of Minn.Stat. § 518.58, subd. 1a. 1991 Minn. Laws ch. 266, § 5 at 1197. Those cases refer to a party's "dissipation" of marital assets. Under the version of the statute in effect at the time of the dissolution, however, the question is whether a party "transferred, encumbered, concealed, or disposed of marital assets except in the usual course of business or for the necessities of life." Minn.Stat. § 518.58, subd. 1a (2004). | Mid | [
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Deltic Deltic may refer to: Napier Deltic, a diesel engine British Rail DP1 ("Deltic") a prototype locomotive built by English Electric fitted with the Deltic Engine British Rail Class 55, production locomotives powered by Deltic engines British Rail Class 23, "Baby Deltic" production locomotives powered by Deltic engines Deltic Preservation Society Deltic acid, a chemical whose molecular backbone resembles the Greek letter delta (Δ) See also Deltics, a music album by Chris Rea Deltoid (disambiguation) Deltate (disambiguation) River delta Delta (letter) | Low | [
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The user, who goes by samstrayed, explained that they first decided to try the overnight technique after reading about its success in another person's comment. "I tried it last night with my innisfree volcanic clay mask and it worked!!," they wrote, going on to explain that their bigger pimples had come to a head and the redness was gone, while the smaller pimples had simply vanished. In terms of application, all they did was use a cotton bud to swab some of the mask and place it on the areas where they had acne, making sure to cover the entire perimeter. "When I woke up the clay was still in tact but the acne was not 😂," they wrote. The user compared the effect to that of drying spot treatments — such as the famed Mario Badescu Drying Lotion — and added that the mask didn't leave behind any marks, either. What's more, they said it's helped them to stop popping, as now they just put the clay on any blemishes, rather than picking at them. Other Redditors chimed in with their own experiences, most of them boasting similar results. "I dabbed some clay on two particularly large acne spots that hadn't quite come to head yet. Lo and behold, the next day they pretty much flattened out entirely. The red mark is still there but it's nowhere as huge of a bump as it was before," wrote a user who goes by Faiithless. "I've done this for a while. The clay masks draw impurities out of the follicle and dry up the sebum," wrote another believer. Naturally, with all the hype surrounding this seemingly "amazing" method, I had to consult a couple of trusted dermatologists for their expert insight. Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, says that many products may be labeled as a mask, but can also be used as more of a leave-on skin treatment, which is what the Redditor did. "It may take time for active ingredients to penetrate and give their effect," he says, "so a full face treatment left in place for several hours may be of benefit for many products." What's more, Zeichner says the volcanic ash and high levels of sulfur that the mask contains can be beneficial for acne-prone skin. "[Sulfur] is commonly used to treat a variety of inflammatory skin conditions, and may help acne by calming skin inflammation and killing acne-causing bacteria," he says. Sejal Shah, another dermatologist in New York City, says the ingredients in this mask — clay, both kaolin and bentonite, and volcanic ash — are all drying agents, so she sees how this would act similar to a drying lotion treatment. Shah also notes that the mask contains both alpha and beta hydroxy acids, which exfoliate the skin and help to clear up acne. Her only concern? "This product has walnut shells and volcanic 'clusters,' which could be potentially damaging or overly abrasive to the skin due to irregular, possibly sharp, edges.” So there you have it. If you're currently battling acne and looking for a new trick to tame breakouts, go ahead and add this K-Beauty mask to your list. Innisfree has a whole range of products that are worth a couple of test-drives. However, it can never hurt to get a second opinion. So if you're considering giving it a go, we recommend giving your dermatologist a ring beforehand to cover all your bases. In the meantime, you know what we'll be test-driving next time a pesky pimple (or, you know, three) pops up. | Mid | [
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INTRODUCTION ============ Cataract is the opacification of the natural crystalline lens and breakdown of the lens protein microarchitecture, which adversely affects the transmission of light onto the retina and degrades optical quality.^[@B1][@B2]^ Cataract still remains a leading cause of visual impairment and blindness worldwide.^[@B3]-[@B7]^ The importance of risk factor identification for cataract development is evident and identifying strategies to prevent or delay cataractogenesis will be an essential part of clinical ophthalmic practice in the near future. Moreover, cataract may be concomitant with other ophthalmic morbidities, also affecting the aging human population, such as glaucoma. Currently, intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction is the main goal of glaucoma treatment. Initial therapy is typically pharmaceutical, with topical ophthalmic agents^[@B8]-[@B10]^ such as PG analogues (e.g., tafluprost), p-adrenergic receptor antagonists (β-blockers e.g., timolol), a-adrenergic receptor agonists (a-agonists; e.g., brimonidine), carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (e.g., brinzolamide), and cholinergic receptor agonists (e.g., pilocarpine).^[@B11]^ The pharmacological mechanism of action of these agents varies. Beta-receptors are expressed throughout the eye, and their antagonists reduce aqueous humor production in the ciliary body by inhibiting synthesis of intracel-lular cyclic adenosine monophosphate.^[@B11]^ Topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitors reduce aqueous humor production by intervening in the carbonic anhydrase-dependent aqueous formation process.^[@B11]^ Prostaglandins accomplish ocular hypotensive effect by enhancing the uveoscleral outflow when binding to prostaglandin F (FP) receptors. The PGs have a minimal effect on aqueous humor production and episcleral venous pressure. They also modulate outflow facility through the trabecular outflow pathway. There are many supporting studies investigating PG mechanisms in the eye.^[@B12]-[@B15]^ Finally, a-agonists have a complex action in the aqueous turnover by intervening in both production and outflow mechanisms.^[@B16][@B17]^ Therefore, IOP-lowering medications alter the physiological aqueous humor secretion and outflow. Since the lens lacks blood vasculature, it receives all its nourishment from the aqueous humor. Nutrients diffuse in and out through the constant aqueous humor flow. Therefore, it should be reasonable to hypothesize that a disruption in lens homeostasis can eventually lead to cataract development. This study examines the potential association between long term antiglaucomatous drug therapy and cataract formation, with a view to estimate the added risk for cataract development in topical glaucoma medication users. MATERIALS AND METHODS ===================== Design ------ This study was designed as a retrospective assessment of patient data from hospital archives. All charts of patients who underwent first cataract surgery between January 1998 and December 2016 at the Department of Ophthalmology of the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, were reviewed and data from the first operated eye for cataract were obtained. Patients gave informed written consent for cataract surgery. All investigations analyzed in this study have been carried out in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration and were approved by our local ethics committee. Subjects -------- Patients who had been receiving topical IOP-lowering medication in the operated eye at the time of surgery were included for analysis. Patients were separated into three subgroups according to their medication treatment mechanism: *Group I:* Under monotherapy with a β-blocker (timolol 0.5%), *Group II:* Under monotherapy with a PG (latanoprost 0.005% or bimatoprost 0.03%) *Group III:* Patients receiving combination of these medications (β-blocker + PG). Inclusion criteria also were as follows: Patient age ≥60 years, primary open-angle glaucoma, and receiving the same medication (β-blocker, PG, or a combination treatment of these two) for at least 5 years before surgery. They were eligible for analysis if they presented with IOP values of \<20 mm Hg in all their monitoring examinations before cataract extraction. Patients' data were excluded from analysis if they had received other IOP-lowering medications like a-agonists or cholinergic receptor agonists at any time, reported with angle-closure glaucoma, congenital and traumatic cataracts, prior history of intraocular surgery,^[@B18]^ any history of inflammatory ocular disease,^[@B19]^ ocular infection or severe dry eye, and diabetes mellitus diagnosed for over a year before cataract surgery. These conditions can hasten the development of cataract as reported in multiple studies.^[@B20]-[@B25]^ Also, patients receiving topical or systemic corticosteroids for more than 30 days for any medical condition were also excluded.^[@B26]-[@B28]^ Finally, eyes with AL more than 28 mm were not included since AL greater than 30.0 mm has been associated with reduction in cataract age at surgery.^[@B29]^ Data from all non-glaucomatous patients who had cataract surgery and were age 60+ years at the time of their earliest cataract surgical procedure at the same department and during the same time interval were collected. The same exclusion criteria were followed for that control group. The age at surgery, AL, as well as preoperative and postoperative (at the 6-month interval) BCVAs were recorded. Morphological information of the type and density of cataract (i.e., nuclear, cortical, subcapsular) was also included. In all, 320 patients were included providing a high observed statistical power throughout analysis; observed *post hoc* power was calculated by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 and it was equal to 1. Statistical Analysis -------------------- The SPSS version 22.0 statistical package was used to generate graphs and to perform comparison tests between groups. All tests were two-tailed, and a p-value of 0.05 was determined to represent statistical significance. Normality for each of the four groups was verified by using Shapiro-Wilk test (group I: p = 0.53, group II: p = 0.183, and group III: p = 0.155, and general population group IV: p = 0.749, each one greater than a = 0.05). Applying Levene's test for homogeneity of variances between groups showed that the variances are unequal (p = 0.0001). As the variances and the sample sizes differ, comparisons among the four groups were done using Welch's robust test and Games-Howell *post hoc* test. RESULTS ======= The profile of this study is presented in [Graph 1](#G1){ref-type="fig"} and [Table 1](#Table1){ref-type="table"}. In total, 320 patients were enrolled; 66 were receiving β-blocker topical medication, 98 were receiving PGs, and 78 were receiving a combined treatment of a β-blocker and a PG, either as two different drugs or as a fixed combination. Furthermore, 78 were nonglaucomatous patients who underwent cataract surgery and were assessed as a control group. Comparisons between different groups, standard deviations, and p-values are mentioned in [Table 1](#Table1){ref-type="table"}. The mean age when patients underwent first cataract surgery was 74.42 (SD = 5.055), and for each subgroup, the mean age is shown in [Table 1](#Table1){ref-type="table"}. {#G1} There were statistical significant differences, concerning the age of cataract surgery between groups (β-blockers, PGs, combination, and nonglaucomatous groups; Welch's robust test, p ≈ 0). For additional analysis between groups, Games-Howell *post hoc* test was applied. As seen in [Table 2](#Table2){ref-type="table"}, there are significant differences for several comparisons and the p-value for each comparison is reported in [Table 2](#Table2){ref-type="table"}. Comparing the three groups treated for glaucoma with the control group IV shows that mean differences are statistically significant with a younger mean age in the glaucomatous groups. The mean difference between the control and the β-blocker group is 5.88 (95% CI 3.90-7.86), while the control group and the PG group had a mean difference of 2.82 (95% CI 0.85-4.80). Mean difference between control group and combination group was 2.85 (95% CI 0.59-5.12). Moreover, the mean age difference between β-blockers and PG groups was 3.05 (95% CI 1.54-4.57), and between β-blocker and combination group was 3.02 (95% CI 1.14-4.91), which implies that cataract progression is more rapid in patients treated with β-blockers. Comparing the mean age of groups treated with PGs and combination treatment revealed no significant difference between the two group means (mean difference 0.03 with 95% CI -1.91-1.84). DISCUSSION ========== To the best of our knowledge, the association between treatment with antiglaucomatous β-blockers or PGs and the timing of cataract surgery has not been previously examined. Findings from this study imply that long-term antiglaucomatous treatment with specific β-blockers (timolol 0.5%) and PGs (latanoprost 0.005% or bimatoprost 0.03%) may lead to earlier cataract formation, compared with controls. A point of interest is that patients with glaucoma are in constant follow-up examinations. Cataract progression is monitored as a part of their ophthalmic examination allowing earlier detection and probably decision for extraction of a vision impairing cataract. ###### **Table 1:** Age variation of cataract surgery for subgroups, based on treatment medication ----------------- ------ ----- ------ ------------ ------ ---------------------- ------ ------------------- ------ --------------- ------ ----------- ------ ----------- ------ *95% CI for mean* *Variable* *n* *Mean age* *Standard Deviation* *Lower bound* *Upper bound* *Minimum* *Maximum* Beta-blocker 66 71.3182 3.35655 70.4930 72.1433 63 79 PG 98 74.3776 4.08799 73.5580 75.1971 66 84 Combination 78 74.3462 5.24423 73.1638 75.5285 63 85 Nonglaucomatous 78 77.2051 5.63007 75.9357 78.4745 63 90 Total 320 74.4281 5.05529 73.8721 74.9841 63 90 ----------------- ------ ----- ------ ------------ ------ ---------------------- ------ ------------------- ------ --------------- ------ ----------- ------ ----------- ------ ###### **Table 2:** Comparison between mean age of each subgroup using Games-Howell *post hoc* test ------------------ ------ ------------------ ------ -------------------- ------ ----------- ------ --------------- ------ --------------- ------ *95% CI* *(I) Medication* *(J) Medication* *Mean diff. (I-J)* *p-value* *Lower bound* *Upper bound* Beta-blocker PG --3.05937\* 0.000003 --4.5764 --1.5423 Combination --3.02797\* 0.000297 --4.9101 --1.1458 Nonglaucomatous --5.88695\* 0.000001 --7.8643 --3.9096 PG Beta-blocker 3.05937\* 0.000003 1.5423 4.5764 Combination 0.03140 0.999970 --1.8487 1.9115 Nonglaucomatous --2.82758\* 0.001621 --4.8032 --0.8520 Combination Beta-blocker 3.02797\* 0.000297 1.1458 4.9101 PG --0.03140 0.999970 --1.9115 1.8487 Nonglaucomatous --2.85897\* 0.006933 --5.1218 --05961 Nonglaucomatous Beta-blocker 5.88695\* 0.000001 3.9096 7.8643 PG 2.82758 0.001621 0.8520 4.8032 Combination 2.85897\* 0.006933 0.5961 5.1218 ------------------ ------ ------------------ ------ -------------------- ------ ----------- ------ --------------- ------ --------------- ------ \*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level Glaucoma eye drop therapy would ideally maximize IOP-lowering efficacy and minimize adverse reactions. Several long-term topical and systemic side effects have been reported associated with IOP-lowering topical medications. For example, there are concerns regarding systemic side effects after beta-adrenoreceptor blocking activity in the pulmonary and circulatory system. Topical β-blocker may lower heart rate and blood pressure and may induce asthma and worsen chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.^[@B30]-[@B32]^ Timolol drops have also been shown to decrease high-density lipoprotein and increase cholesterol. Diabetics may experience reduced glucose tolerance and hypoglycemic signs and symptoms can be masked.^[@B33]^ In addition, timolol induces a local anesthetic effect on the ocular surface, leading to poor tear secre-tion.^[@B34]^ Over time, chronic corneal toxicity from topical ocular medications may cause nerve damage, potentially resulting in neurotrophic keratopathy. On the contrary, patients treated with topical PG analogues have a higher incidence of dry eye syndrome and Meibomian gland dysfunction.^[@B35][@B36]^ The PGs, and mostly latanoprost, have been associated with developing cystoid macular edema after been administered for ocular hypertension.^[@B37]^ Other benign side effects associated with PGs include eye pruritus, conjunctival hyperemia, periorbital lipodystrophy, and darkening of the iris, eyelashes, and periocular skin.^[@B38]^ In previous studies, PGs used as topical IOP-lowering agents have been questioned for their possible effects in crystalline lens homeostasis.^[@B39]^ Because lens epithelial cells express a high density of *FP* receptors, the mitogenic activities of PGs may alter lens physiology in long-term treatment.^[@B39]^ In short-term clinical use, the precise role of these PG receptors in lens epithelial cell pathophysiology has not been determined. Strengths of our study include its long-term follow-up of patient medical records with reasonable rates of surveillance, consistency of the statistical methods used, and masked judging of the age at cataract surgery. Furthermore, patients and controls were recruited from the same population, which increases the consistency of the results. Glaucomatous patients were in close follow-up and their frequent slit-lamp examination enabled early detection of the cataract progression. However, there are also limitations to be mentioned. This study as a retrospective analysis cannot demonstrate causation. The analysis was conducted as a single-center study with potential subjective bias in surgical decisions. Moreover, since the patients were already in senile age group, the fact that they already had lens changes cannot be denied. Ideally, young patients receiving IOP-lowering treatment should be recruited. Thus, cataract formation can be estimated irrespective of normal lens aging. The effects of drug instillation frequency and preservatives are not examined in this study. The cataract morphological characteristics were not further correlated with the timing of cataract extraction. Moreover, this study did not specifically look at other concomitant conditions which may predispose to glaucoma development and also affect the lens by histochemi-cal changes or hemodynamic alterations at the anterior segment, such as pseudoexfoliation syndrome.^[@B40]^ The pathomechanism underlying any potential association between antiglaucomatous therapy and cataract formation remains unclear. However, some possible explanations might be speculated; a reduction in aqueous humor production can result in reduced oxygen supplies for lens metabolic needs. Since cataract etiology is not fully understood, shifts in aqueous humor hydrodynamics and its association with cataract development may lead to more insights into the underlying mechanisms of cataract disease. CONCLUSION ========== In summary, findings from our analysis add indirect evidence to the hypothesis that chronic topical β-blocker use may increase the risk of cataract formation. In future research, prospective, randomized trials are needed to examine the effect of IOP-lowering medication and cataract formation and progression. Since the pharmacological toxicity of antiglaucomatous medications may be cumulative, it is important to examine the time interval during which the patients are exposed and its potential correlation with cataract development. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE ===================== Our study findings suggest that the risk of developing a cataract should be taken under consideration when accessing a patient on topical antiglaucoma drug. Patients should be carefully evaluated regarding their age and overall health when first administered with an antiglau-comatous agent. **Source of support**: Nil **Conflict of interest**: None | Mid | [
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/* * Copyright (c) 2014, Parse, LLC. All rights reserved. * * You are hereby granted a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, * copy, modify, and distribute this software in source code or binary form for use * in connection with the web services and APIs provided by Parse. * * As with any software that integrates with the Parse platform, your use of * this software is subject to the Parse Terms of Service * [https://www.parse.com/about/terms]. This copyright notice shall be * included in all copies or substantial portions of the software. * * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS * FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR * COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER * IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN * CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. * */ #import "PFCollectionViewCell.h" #import "PFImageView.h" #import "PFRect.h" @implementation PFCollectionViewCell @synthesize imageView = _imageView; @synthesize textLabel = _textLabel; #pragma mark - #pragma mark UIView - (void)layoutSubviews { [super layoutSubviews]; const CGRect bounds = self.contentView.bounds; CGRect imageViewFrame = CGRectZero; if (_imageView && _imageView.image){ imageViewFrame = PFRectMakeWithSizeCenteredInRect(PFSizeMin(_imageView.image.size, bounds.size), bounds); } CGRect textLabelFrame = CGRectZero; if (_textLabel) { CGSize maxImageViewSize = CGSizeMake(CGRectGetWidth(bounds), CGRectGetHeight(bounds) / 3.0f * 2.0f); CGSize imageViewSize = PFSizeMin(imageViewFrame.size, maxImageViewSize); imageViewFrame = PFRectMakeWithSizeCenteredInRect(imageViewSize, PFRectMakeWithSize(maxImageViewSize)); CGFloat textLabelTopInset = (CGRectIsEmpty(imageViewFrame) ? 0.0f : CGRectGetMaxY(imageViewFrame)); textLabelFrame = PFRectMakeWithOriginSize(CGPointMake(0.0f, textLabelTopInset), CGSizeMake(CGRectGetWidth(bounds), CGRectGetHeight(bounds) - textLabelTopInset)); } // Adapt content mode of _imageView to fit the image in bounds if the layout frame is smaller or center if it's bigger. if (!CGRectIsEmpty(imageViewFrame)) { if (CGRectContainsRect(PFRectMakeWithSize(_imageView.image.size), PFRectMakeWithSize(imageViewFrame.size))) { _imageView.contentMode = UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFit; } else { _imageView.contentMode = UIViewContentModeCenter; } } _imageView.frame = CGRectIntegral(imageViewFrame); _textLabel.frame = CGRectIntegral(textLabelFrame); } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Update - (void)updateFromObject:(PFObject *)object { // Do nothing } #pragma mark - #pragma mark Accessors - (PFImageView *)imageView { if (!_imageView) { _imageView = [[PFImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero]; [self.contentView addSubview:_imageView]; } return _imageView; } - (UILabel *)textLabel { if (!_textLabel) { _textLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero]; _textLabel.numberOfLines = 0; [self.contentView addSubview:_textLabel]; } return _textLabel; } @end | Low | [
0.479057591623036,
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The Internal Revenue Service has filed a federal tax lien against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for nearly $80,000, public records show. The lien was filed May 11 at the Los Angeles County recorder's office for $79,064, according to a record in an electronic database that includes lien filings. The record does not indicate what property the lien was placed on, but it lists the debtor as Arnold Schwarzenegger with the governor's home address in Brentwood. [Updated at 11:42 a.m.: A federal tax lien would be attached to all of the governor’s properties, according to the IRS.] The lien was reported this morning by TMZ.com, which posted a copy of a lien document that says it is from the county recorder's office. That document shows that Schwarzenegger owes $39,047.20 from 2004 and $40,016.80 from 2005. The document also lists a section of the IRS code that suggests the debt may be penalties for a failure to report certain business transactions. Schwarzenegger's spokesman, Aaron McLear, said in a statement that the "governor has paid his taxes in full and on time." "No one, including the IRS, has notified the governor of any issues whatsoever with his taxes," McLear said. "We are contacting the IRS to determine if the document in question, which appears to be a penalty for missing info and not for unpaid taxes, is legitimate and if there is any discrepancy to resolve." -- Michael Rothfeld in Sacramento | Mid | [
0.560747663551401,
37.5,
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Introduction {#sec1} ============ As per today, F-URS is one of the armamentariums for Renal stone treatment.[@bib1] As all endoscopic procedures, there are expected usual complications. One of the complications is breakage of the instruments.[@bib1] Accidental breakage can occur due to number of factors like multiple use of disposable instruments, quality of accessory items or technical error. The aim of our work is to report first case of retained broken tip of flexible ureterscope. Case report {#sec1.1} ----------- A 36-year-old male patient underwent laser flexible ureterorenoscopy (L-FURS) for renal stones in another institute on March 2018. 4 months later, patient presented to our center complaining of right flank pain. Renal Us showed mild hydronephrosis associated with renal stone of 13 mm. Flexible ureteroscopy was performed, endoscopic exploration revealed retained unusual object in the right upper ureter. Infact, that object was broken tip of disposable ureteroscope. Basket was used to remove the broken tip smoothly. This retained broken tip is clearly seen over the table \[[Fig. 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}\].Fig. 1**(A)** Endoscopic vision of Ureteroscope retained broken tip in the right upper ureter **(B)** Use of basket to remove it **(C)** Retained broken tip of the ureteroscope over the table.Fig. 1 Discussion {#sec2} ========== Foreign bodies in the urinary upper tract are unusual presentation. They are known source of infection, obstruction or stone formation. A wide range of foreign bodies has been reported in the urinary bladder.[@bib2] In opposite, in the literature we found only one paper reported ureteral foreign body which was guide wire introducer.[@bib3] In opposite this is the first report to have broken tip of disposable ureteroscope in the literature. F-URS now has been used more by urologists worldwide, therefore, it is essential to perform proper examination of your endoscopic devices preoperatively as well as postoperatively. Conclusion {#sec3} ========== It is recommended and highly advised to check your endoscopic device pre-& postoperative in order to avoid missing objects in the urinary tract. This will reduce the possible late complication such as re-operative procedures. | High | [
0.7178729689807971,
30.375,
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The FDA requires the use of human hepatocytes for preclinical drug testing by pharmaceutical researchers, but unfortunately the supply of these cells is severely limited. Currently, cadaveric donors and surgical liver resection specimens are currently the only available source of human hepatocytes. These samples are very scarce and often yield cells of poor quality unsuitable for research. We have developed technology to massively expand fully functional primary human hepatocytes by serial transplantation in immune deficient FRGN mice in vivo. Hepatocytes isolated from these animals are highly viable and functional. Cell farming in FRGN mice allows the production of an unlimited supply of human hepatocytes for research in toxicology, drug metabolism, infectious disease, and cancer biology. The aims of this application are to optimize the isolation and storage of farmed hepatocytes and to fully validate their utility in comparison to the currently available cells. Once fully validated, these cells are going to be valuable in the commercial market. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The successful implementation of human hepatocyte farming technology will significantly impact human health by providing this vital resource for drug development at a higher quality and lower cost than is currently available. | High | [
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Anatomy of the left main coronary artery of particular relevance to ablation of left atrial and outflow tract arrhythmias. Left main coronary artery (LMCA) damage is a rare but catastrophic complication of cardiac ablation procedures. The purpose of this study was to describe the anatomic relationships of the LMCA to its adjacent structures using analysis of computed tomographic coronary angiograms (CTCA). We studied 100 patients (55 males, age 51 ± 10 years) who were investigated for chest pain with CTCA. The relationships between the LMCA and adjacent structures were described by analysis of 2-dimensional images and 3-dimensional reconstructions. The LMCA coursed within 5 mm of the anterior left atrial endocardium and/or base of left atrial appendage in 49% (within 2 mm in 17%) and from the pulmonary artery in 90% (within 2 mm in 43%). The LMCA was within 5 mm of the right ventricular outflow tract in 1%. In 4% the LMCA coursed inferiorly, remaining within 5 mm of the left aortic sinus of Valsalva at a vertical distance >5 mm from the inferior margin of the LMCA ostium. The LMCA is often intimately related to the anterior left atrium, left atrial appendage base, and pulmonary artery and occasionally to the inferior part of the left aortic sinus of Valsalva and thus is exposed to the risk of injury during ablation in these areas. The LMCA is rarely close to the right ventricular outflow tract. | High | [
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36,
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About the bill Full Title An Act to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1995 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense programs of hte Department of Energy, to prescribe personnel strenths for such fiscal year for the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. The “H.R.” in “H.R. 4301” means this is a House of Representatives bill in the United States Congress. A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law. | Low | [
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id: dsq-747528730 date: 2010-07-26T03:32:01.0000000-07:00 name: Leon avatar: https://disqus.com/api/users/avatars/Leon.jpg message: <p>This solution isn't work on VS2010 .Net 4.0. I don't know why. When I use debug tool I can see that data is sending into grid. But It isn't displaying on the View. Now I want to find new example or create myself solution....</p> | Low | [
0.49240780911062904,
28.375,
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Did You Know – Daylight Saving Time Could Kill You? If you're reading this, it means you're preparing for the Daylight Saving Time shift this weekend. But, the risks associated with the Daylight Saving Time shift involves much more that just your smoke detector's batteries and the embarrassment of showing up to work late on Monday. So, don't let your guard down just yet. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that Daylight Saving Time is directly associated with an increase in heart attacks across the USA. In fact, the number of heart attacks will jump 10 percent on Monday and Tuesday following the annual leap forward. The opposite is true in November when we "fall back" an hour. - Science Daily The researchers discovered that the increase in heart attacks is primarily due to the sleep deprivation and the stress caused by your body's internal clock being forced to skip forward an hour. The good news is that there is something you can do to help yourself prepare. The researchers say we can give our hearts the best chance to survive this upcoming trauma by waking up earlier than normal this weekend, eating a good breakfast each day, exercising as well as trying to relax in the morning hours before beginning the stresses of the work day. | Mid | [
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Refinements of tissue expansion for pediatric forehead reconstruction: a 13-year experience. Reconstruction of the forehead in children when 25 percent or more of the forehead is involved presents a complex reconstructive challenge because of the confluence of highly visible aesthetic units. The present study was performed to develop an algorithm for lesions involving 25 percent or more of the forehead. A 13-year retrospective review was performed of all pediatric patients who completed reconstruction for lesions involving at least 25 percent of the forehead by a single surgeon (A.K.G.). All lesions were classified on the basis of percentage of forehead involved and involvement of adjacent subunits. Twenty patients completed reconstruction. The median number of surgical procedures required was six (range, two to 11), with a median of three (range, one to four) expansion procedures. Simultaneous expanders were placed in the scalp (16 patients) and cheek (eight patients). Five patients underwent correction of eyebrow ptosis at a final procedure. Reconstruction involved 25 to 70 percent of the forehead in 19 patients, 17 of whom were reconstructed with serial forehead expansion and advancement flaps. One patient with a pigmented nevus occupying more than 75 percent of the forehead received an expanded full-thickness skin graft from the lower abdomen. For all groups, the entire extent of the visible lesion was excised and complete skin coverage achieved. Reconstruction of 25 to 70 percent or more of the forehead in children is best accomplished using tissue expansion and direct advancement of adjacent tissues. Simultaneous expansion should be performed in the cheek and scalp if indicated. Brow ptosis should be addressed with each advancement. Lesions greater than 70 percent of the forehead are best accomplished with distant tissues. | High | [
0.700139470013947,
31.375,
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Q: FATAL: password authentication when bucardo add tables System specification: Ubuntu 14.04 bucardo version 4.99.10 psql (PostgreSQL) 9.3.14 What I have tried so far? I have created master database with openerp postgres user. - Setup Source Database export SOURCE_HOST=localhost export SOURCE_PORT=5432 export SOURCE_DATABASE=master export SOURCE_USERNAME=openerp export SOURCE_PASSWORD=openerp - Setup Destination Database export DEST_HOST=localhost export DEST_PORT=5432 export DEST_DATABASE=slave export DEST_USERNAME=openerp export DEST_PASSWORD=openerp - Finally, the tables to be migrated export TABLES="-t res_partner" export TABLES_WITH_SPACES="res_partner" - Set up the Destination Database cat >> $HOME/.pgpass <<EOL $DEST_HOST:$DEST_PORT:$DEST_DATABASE:$DEST_USERNAME:$DEST_PASSWORD $SOURCE_HOST:$SOURCE_PORT:$SOURCE_DATABASE:$SOURCE_USERNAME:$SOURCE_PASSWORD EOL - Create schema.sql - Create Slave database - Load schema into Slave - Setting up Bucardo Sync (Source Database and Destination Database) - Now I am trying to add the tables we want to migrate and add them to a "copying herd" ./bucardo add tables res_partner db=master I got following error: openerp@odedra-Lenovo-Z50-70:/usr/local/src/bucardo$ ./bucardo add tables res_partner db=master DBI connect('dbname=master;host=localhost;port=5432','openerp',...) failed: FATAL: password authentication failed for user "openerp" FATAL: password authentication failed for user "openerp" at ./bucardo line 8632. I have analytic script bucardo. I have confusion with dbuser and dbpass variable declared at line number 84, 85. (I have tried with dbuser = 'openerp' and dbpass='openerp' but result same) My pg_hba.conf # Database administrative login by Unix domain socket local all postgres ident # TYPE DATABASE USER ADDRESS METHOD # "local" is for Unix domain socket connections only local all all md5 # IPv4 local connections: host all all 127.0.0.1/32 md5 # IPv6 local connections: host all all ::1/128 md5 # Allow replication connections from localhost, by a user with the # replication privilege. #local replication postgres peer #host replication postgres 127.0.0.1/32 md5 #host replication postgres ::1/128 md5 List of database: List of databases Name | Owner | Encoding | Collate | Ctype | Access privileges -------------+----------+----------+-------------+-------------+----------------------- bucardo | postgres | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | master | openerp | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | postgres | postgres | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | slave | openerp | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | slave_copy | openerp | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | slave_copy1 | openerp | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | slave_copy2 | openerp | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | template0 | postgres | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | =c/postgres + | | | | | postgres=CTc/postgres template1 | postgres | UTF8 | en_US.UTF-8 | en_US.UTF-8 | =c/postgres + | | | | | postgres=CTc/postgres May you guide me what should I change to fix above error or helpful related links? How can I achieve master-slave functionality using Bucardo ? A: I have found that have problem with pg_hba.conf file. To resolve error, I have added below line to that file. local all openerp ident | Low | [
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21.625,
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Maria Jose Alvarado was headed to London to appear in this year’s Miss World pageant on Sunday. In April, the 19-year-old brunette in an emerald gown was crowned Miss Honduras. Bright-eyed and hopeful, she had become a national celebrity in her home country, even appearing on a TV variety show. “Success is that moment when you reach the finish line and you know you’ve gotten there,” Alvarado answered during the question-and-answer portion of the contest. In a country besieged by violence, she saw her shot at the crown as a relief from the Central American nation’s constant crime-ridden headlines. Now, she’ll never get the chance. Authorities say her body, alongside her sister, Sofia, 23, was found near the Aguagua River in a mountainous region 240 miles west of the nation’s capital. “My mother is not ready to say anything until she has been notified by the authorities,” said Cory Alvarado, 26, elder sister to Maria Jose and Sofia. “We need confirmation that it is them,” she told The Daily Beast in a phone interview. “This situation has made my mother ill and she can’t take any more calls,” she added before abruptly hanging up the phone. Both sisters disappeared last Thursday after attending a birthday party at a resort spa to celebrate the birthday of Plutarco Ruiz, Sofia’s boyfriend. Friends never saw them alive again. Ruiz and Aris Maldonado, an alleged accomplice, were arrested Tuesday. Ruiz initially told investigators that the Alvarado sisters had left the party with other people, providing vague answers to interrogators’ questions. The family said he and Sofia had been dating for three months. Hours later, he confessed to having shot his girlfriend out of jealousy. He shot her first in the forehead. Then he pointed his gun at Miss Honduras as she tried to flee. He fired the pistol for a second time. The bullet hit her in the back. She fell to the ground. He loaded both bodies into the back of his white Toyota pickup truck. Col. Ponce Fonseca of the Interagency National Security Force said Ruiz led investigators to the riverbank very close to the spa where the celebration took place. “He believed if he buried them close to the river, the bodies would decompose quickly. But we still have to make sure it’s them,” Fonseca said. A police officer on site said a forensics team and investigators began exhuming the bodies early Wednesday afternoon in the Santa Barbara department, a coffee-growing mountainous region where drug gangs are active. Afterward, the bodies were taken to the morgue to positively identify them. The autopsy report is expected to be completed in the next 24 hours. The city of San Pedro Sula is an hour away. With a homicide rate of 169 per 100,000 inhabitants, it’s known as the murder capital of the world. That averages to three murders a day. A year ago, Ruiz’s brother was killed in San Pedro. Investigators say his killing might have been tied to local drug violence. But in a country overrun by rampant killings, public outcry was most visible online as Hondurans took to social media to denounce the women’s murder and making #alvarado #missuniversnews #plutarco trending topics. The chairwoman of the Miss World pageant, Julia Morley, said in a statement that all of the Miss World contestants would be holding a special service to honor the memories of the two women. Maria Jose was born on July 19, 1995, in Santa Barbara. At age 15, a local fashion designer discovered her and encouraged her to compete in the Miss Teen Honduras pageant, where she won second place. She began modeling. Soon, presenter and former presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla recruited her to be a part of his popular game show, making her the people’s favorite to win the crown this spring. Honduras continues to have significant human-rights problems and pervasive societal violence. Among the most serious are corruption, witness intimidation and a weak justice system, leading to widespread impunity, and unlawful and arbitrary killings by security forces, organized criminal elements, and others, according to a recent State Department report. The country is also sixth deadliest when it comes to the gender-motivated killing of women. The U.S. Embassy in Honduras did not issue a statement, but posted a comment on their Facebook page regretting the loss of the Alvarado sisters and urging all “to come together to fight against gender-based violence in the country.” | Low | [
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Time-of-flight mass spectrometry assessment of fluconazole and climbazole UV and UV/H2O2 degradability: Kinetics study and transformation products elucidation. The efficiency of UV irradiation for the removal of the antimycotic drugs fluconazole (FCZ) and climbazole (CBZ) from water samples is evaluated. Degradation experiments, at laboratory scale, were carried out with spiked aliquots of ultrapure water solutions and treated wastewater samples using low-pressure mercury lamps emitting at 254 nm. Time course of precursor pollutants and identification of arising transformation products (TPs) was performed by injection of different reaction time aliquots in a liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS) system. Chemical structures of identified TPs were proposed from their full-product ion spectra, acquired using different collision energies. During UV irradiation experiments, the half-lives (t1/2) of FCZ and CBZ were similar in ultrapure water solutions and wastewater samples; however, the first species was more recalcitrant than the second one. Four TPs were identified in case of FCZ resulting from substitution of fluorine atoms by hydroxyl moieties and intramolecular cyclization with fluorine removal. CBZ interacted with UV radiation through reductive dechlorination, hydroxylation and cleavage of the ether bond; moreover, five additional primary TPs, with the same empirical formula as CBZ, were also noticed. Given the relatively long t1/2 of FCZ under direct photolysis (ca. 42 min), UV irradiation was combined with H2O2 addition to promote formation of reactive hydroxyl radicals. Under such conditions, the degradation rate of FCZ was enhanced significantly and no TPs were detected. These latter conditions allowed also the effective removal of CBZ TPs. | Mid | [
0.641791044776119,
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<?php /* * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS * "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT * LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR * A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT * OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, * SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT * LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, * DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY * THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE * OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. * * This software consists of voluntary contributions made by many individuals * and is licensed under the LGPL. For more information, see * <http://www.doctrine-project.org>. */ namespace Doctrine\DBAL\Driver\IBMDB2; use Doctrine\DBAL\Driver, Doctrine\DBAL\Connection; /** * IBM DB2 Driver * * @since 2.0 * @author Benjamin Eberlei <[email protected]> */ class DB2Driver implements Driver { /** * Attempts to create a connection with the database. * * @param array $params All connection parameters passed by the user. * @param string $username The username to use when connecting. * @param string $password The password to use when connecting. * @param array $driverOptions The driver options to use when connecting. * @return Doctrine\DBAL\Driver\Connection The database connection. */ public function connect(array $params, $username = null, $password = null, array $driverOptions = array()) { if ( ! isset($params['protocol'])) { $params['protocol'] = 'TCPIP'; } if ($params['host'] !== 'localhost' && $params['host'] != '127.0.0.1') { // if the host isn't localhost, use extended connection params $params['dbname'] = 'DRIVER={IBM DB2 ODBC DRIVER}' . ';DATABASE=' . $params['dbname'] . ';HOSTNAME=' . $params['host'] . ';PROTOCOL=' . $params['protocol'] . ';UID=' . $username . ';PWD=' . $password .';'; if (isset($params['port'])) { $params['dbname'] .= 'PORT=' . $params['port']; } $username = null; $password = null; } return new DB2Connection($params, $username, $password, $driverOptions); } /** * Gets the DatabasePlatform instance that provides all the metadata about * the platform this driver connects to. * * @return Doctrine\DBAL\Platforms\AbstractPlatform The database platform. */ public function getDatabasePlatform() { return new \Doctrine\DBAL\Platforms\DB2Platform; } /** * Gets the SchemaManager that can be used to inspect and change the underlying * database schema of the platform this driver connects to. * * @param Doctrine\DBAL\Connection $conn * @return Doctrine\DBAL\SchemaManager */ public function getSchemaManager(Connection $conn) { return new \Doctrine\DBAL\Schema\DB2SchemaManager($conn); } /** * Gets the name of the driver. * * @return string The name of the driver. */ public function getName() { return 'ibm_db2'; } /** * Get the name of the database connected to for this driver. * * @param Doctrine\DBAL\Connection $conn * @return string $database */ public function getDatabase(\Doctrine\DBAL\Connection $conn) { $params = $conn->getParams(); return $params['dbname']; } } | Low | [
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Points system Points system may refer to: Point system (driving), where penalty or demerit points are accrued for traffic offences List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems List of FIM World Championship points scoring systems List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems List of NASCAR points scoring systems Group tournament ranking system with points for matches won, goals scored, etc. Central Applications Office, points system for Leaving Certificate students applying to enter third-level education in Ireland Points system (cricket) See also Point (disambiguation) | Mid | [
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According to the constitution of the World Jewish Congress, the association's purpose is to "foster the unity, and represent the interests, of the Jewish people"; a weighty mantle to assume, especially given the sheer diversity of the various strands of world Jewry. Despite all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the WJC's 13th Plenary Assembly in Jerusalem, it was clear that the body had no chance of living up to such lofty expectations, precisely because of the make-up of the delegates and their failure to adhere to their own code of practice. Instead of staying "politically non-partisan and represent[ing] the plurality of the Jewish people", the gathering was simply an opportunity for out-and-out posturing, from the top down. Ron Lauder, scion of the cosmetics family and WJC president, made it his mission from the off to express unambiguous support for the Israeli government, an example repeatedly followed by the rest of the delegates. While the WJC is a fairly toothless and unrepresentative organisation, the high profile of its leadership means it has the pulling power to attract guests from the uppermost echelons of Israeli politics. Thus, in the space of eight hours, delegates were treated to live performances by the cream of Israeli politics: Shimon Peres, Bibi Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat, all appearing before an adoring crowd of disciples. The overriding message from the stage was that Israel had conducted an incredibly moral and well-behaved war in Gaza; the overwhelming response from the audience was that they agreed entirely. It was painful to witness the way in which the various government ministers were resoundingly applauded for Cast Lead. The more I've learned about the devastation wreaked by the IDF on Gaza, the more contrite I've become about my initial support for such an attack on Hamas. However, I was in a tiny minority at the WJC, and forced to listen to delegate after delegate standing up to congratulate Peres, Barak and Isaac Herzog for their roles in the operation. "The spokesman's English was flawless, which really helped get Israel's point of view across," kvelled one eager attendee. "We all thought your PR campaign was brilliant this time round." Perhaps, but what about the savage bombing campaign in the first place? English-speaking apologists for the mass-killing of civilians are all well and good for an Israel-right-or-wrong audience in Anglophone countries, yet not so effective with Pakistani and Indonesian viewers who don't understand English, but who comprehend entirely pictures and video of dead women and children. Barak asserted that "he found the support on the [Israeli] street heartwarming, with people proud of the IDF … and their attempts to minimise civilian casualties," a statement cueing yet more sycophantic applause from the audience, and a delegate responding: "We are very impressed by the way you handled this terrible war." Peres maintained that objecting voices in Britain should be ignored, asking: "Did they protest the bombing of Israelis in the 90s?" He then chose to belittle the British activists and the BBC in one fell swoop: "With respect, the world is a bit wider than [just them] – they don't criticise us in India, and the majority of the US population understands what we're doing too." Minister Herzog also mentioned the BBC in passing, noting that their decision not to air the DEC appeal "shows that people understand that there are two sides to every story", the implication being that any money donated to destitute and suffering Gazans will, by definition, be turned into weapons by Hamas (despite DEC assurances to the contrary). Instead of adhering to the millennia-old Jewish tradition of healthy discourse and heated debate, as witnessed in every stage of the oral law's dissemination, the new way of thinking appears to be to show a constantly united front, particularly when it comes to Israel. As one prominent delegate told me chidingly, "It's better to stay silent than to criticise Israel, especially at the moment." The "Keep it in the family" rhetoric was nothing new, but made all the more chilling precisely because if that's the way the leadership of the WJC try to "foster the unity of the Jewish people", they're getting into a dangerous game. Not least because they are playing right into the hands of those who would paint all Jews as ardent Zionists, and all Zionists as apologists for Israel's misdemeanours. Just as numerous Jews routinely distance themselves from Israel's actions by declaring "not in my name", they should do likewise with regard to the WJC. Because, for all the self-important cheerleading going on inside the halls of the Inbal Hotel, the WJC represents only itself and its cosy group of acolytes. Shimon Peres is not the president of the Jewish people; nor is Ron Lauder. And the more Jews speak out against the manipulative stances of both men, the better for the real interests of world Jewry – such as security, integrity and communal continuity. | Low | [
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Thromboembolism in mitral porcine valve recipients. A low incidence rate of thromboembolism has been reported in mitral porcine valve recipients. In contrast, 5 of 22 single mitral porcine valve recipients (23 percent) followed up in our clinic for a mean of 16 months had thromboembolic events. All patients but one were receiving long-term anticoagulant therapy. One thromboembolic event resulted in death, three in permanent neurologic deficits and one in a peripheral arterial occlusion. All five patients with emboli had atrial fibrillation and left atrial enlargement. Three had thromboembolic events before porcine heart valve implantation. In addition, five mitral porcine valve recipients who were not receiving anticoagulant therapy were examined at autopsy. Thrombus was identified in the left atrium in three patients, at the tissue-valve interface (sewing ring) in two, on the porcine valve cusps in one and in the right atrium in one. Factors influencing thrombus formation such as left atrial enlargement, atrial fibrillation and a prosthetic device are present after mitral porcine valve implantation and are indications for long-term anticoagulation therapy. | High | [
0.6597402597402591,
31.75,
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Anglia Ruskin University Webmail Anglia Ruskin University Webmail Webmail – Outlook Web Access (OWA Outlook Web Access (OWA) allows you to access your e-mail calendar and tasks from any computer or device with an internet connection and a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari. This enables you to keep up to date when you are at home or on the move. It offers much of the same functionality as the desktop version of Outlook, and most importantly it allows you to see the same messages, calendar and contacts as you would within the Outlook client. Log into OWA by going to www.anglia.ac.uk/mail and inputting your University network username and password. Located in Cambridge, Chelmsford and Peterborough, we provide IT services and classroom support to over 30,000 students and staff across our main campuses and partnerships. We provide and maintain many of the IT services that you will use while studying or working at Anglia Ruskin University. Our responsibilities include the design, delivery, support and maintenance of IT systems used across the University, including e:Vision, My.Anglia, the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and Timetabling. Provisioning the IT and audio-visual equipment used in classrooms and lecture theatres. We are also responsible for providing the computers used in the student open access areas and second line student IT support. Our remit covers: Staff IT and classroom audiovisual support IT and media projects IT infrastructure, policies and standards IT equipment and media loans IT access for partners Escalated student IT issues (second line support) Ensuring availability of our live systems including e:Vision, My.Anglia and SITS First line student IT support is delivered by the University Library Student IT Helpdesk. Specialist labs and equipment are supported by Faculty Technicians. Our IT and media strategies support our University’s commitment to providing the best possible experience for all our students. Whether we are providing frontline support or helping our Faculties and Service deliver excellent support to our students, ‘the student experience’ is at the core of our activities. Administration The IT Services Administration Office caters for all the administrative needs of IT Services and is the main contact point for software licensing and computer maintenance enquiries University-wide. | High | [
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Introduction ============ Research capacity strengthening (RCS) has been defined as the "process of individual and institutional development which leads to higher levels of skills and greater ability to perform useful research" ^[@ref-1]^. National capacity to generate robust, innovative and locally appropriate research is considered essential to population health ^[@ref-2],\ [@ref-3]^ and socioeconomic development ^[@ref-4],\ [@ref-5]^. However, wide global disparities in research capacity and productivity currently exist: South Asian countries account for 23% of the World's population yet produced less than 5% of the global output of scientific publications in 2013 ^[@ref-6]^; and sub-Saharan Africa (accounting for 13% of the global population), contributes 1% of global investment in research and development and holds 0.1% of global patents ^[@ref-6]^. Accordingly, international development partners and research funding bodies are increasingly investing in RCS initiatives in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The UK Collaborative on Development Research predicts the United Kingdom's total aid spend on research will rise to £1.2 billion by 2021 ^[@ref-7]^, a large proportion of which would be direct or indirect investment in RCS in LMICs. The total global spend on RCS in LMICs, while not yet calculated, would likely be many times this figure. Despite this substantial investment, few robust evaluations of RCS initiatives in LMIC contexts have been presented in the published or grey literatures with the available evidence base characterised by reflective, largely qualitative individual case studies or commentaries ^[@ref-8]^. RCS evaluation frameworks have been described ^[@ref-9]--\ [@ref-11]^, but a comprehensive set of standard outcome or impact indicators have not been agreed and common indicators are used inconsistently. For example, publication count has been used as both an output ^[@ref-12]^ and outcome indicator ^[@ref-13]^ sometimes with ^[@ref-14]^ or without ^[@ref-10]^ accounting for publication quality. The dearth of robust RCS programme evaluation and, more fundamentally, robust evaluation metrics available for consistent application across RCS programmes, has contributed to a paradoxical situation in which investments designed to strengthen the quantity, quality and impact of locally produced research in LMIC settings are themselves hindered by a lack of supporting evidence. As a substantial proportion of RCS investment is derived from publicly funded development assistance ^[@ref-15]--\ [@ref-17]^, then ensuring the means to reliably evaluate impact and value for money of research and health system investments assumes even further importance. This paper aims to advance progress towards the establishment of a standardised set of outcome and impact indicators for use across RCS initiatives in LMIC contexts. As a first step towards this goal, a systematic review of RCS outcome and impact indicators previously described in the published and grey literatures is presented. The review findings highlight the range, type and quality of RCS indicators currently available and allows inconsistencies, duplications, overlaps and gaps to be identified. These results may then be used to inform planning and decision making regarding the selection and/or development of standard RCS evaluation metrics. In the interim, the resulting list of indicators may also serve as a useful resource for RCS programme funders, managers and evaluators as they design their respective monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Methods ======= Search strategy and study selection ----------------------------------- Peer reviewed publications were sought via the following databases: PubMed, Global Health, CINAHL Complete and International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS). The search was limited to English language publications and was conducted using the keywords: (research capacity) AND (develop\* OR build\* OR strengthen\*) AND (indicator) AND (monitoring OR evaluation). The search was conducted without date limitations up until March 2018. Following removal of duplicates, all retrieved publications were subject to an initial review of the title, abstract and listed keywords. Publications that met, or were suggestive of meeting, the inclusion criteria were then subjected to full text review. Publications subjected to full text review met the inclusion criteria if they: were peer-reviewed; pertained to 'research capacity' (as either a primary or secondary focus); and included at least one output, outcome or impact indicator that has been used to measure research capacity or was proposed as a possible measure of research capacity. The search was supplemented by a manual review of the references listed in each paper that met the final inclusion criteria and by a citation search using first author names for all papers which met the final inclusion criteria from both the initial electronic and supplementary manual searches. A further 19 papers which met the inclusion criteria were identified in this way and included in the review. Relevant grey literature was then sought via the following databases: Google Advanced, BASE, Grey Literature and OpenGrey. The same search terms and inclusion criteria as described above were used. This search was supplemented by a request circulated across the authors' personal networks for relevant research reports pertaining to RCS evaluation which may fit the inclusion criteria. There were seven reports identified this way, resulting in a final sample of 25 publications and seven reports. [Figure 1](#f1){ref-type="fig"} depicts the overall process and outcomes from this search strategy. {#f1} Data extraction --------------- Research capacity strengthening indicator descriptions and definitions were extracted from each publication/report and recorded verbatim in an Excel spreadsheet (see *Underlying data*) ^[@ref-18]^. Other information recorded alongside each indicator included: the type of indicator (output, outcome or impact) ( [Box 1](#B1){ref-type="other"}); the level of measurement (individual research capacity; institutional research capacity; or systemic research capacity); source information (author, year and title of publication/report); and a brief summary of the context in which the indicator was applied. Designation of indicator type (output, outcome or impact) and level of measurement (individual, institutional or systemic) were based on those ascribed by the author/s when reported. Where indicator type and measurement level were not reported, we used our own judgement drawing on the reported context from the respective publication/report. Some publications/reports used the same indicators across different levels (i.e. as both an individual and an institutional measure) and in these cases we reported the indicator at a single level only based on apparent best fit. However, if the same publication reported the same indicator as both an output and an outcome measure, then it was reported twice. Where there was variation between the way that one publication or another classified an indicator (e.g. the same indicator being described as an 'output' indicator in one publication and an 'outcome' indicator in another), we remained true to the texts and recorded each separately. Indicators that pertained to the evaluation of course materials or content (e.g. how useful were the PowerPoint slides provided?) were excluded from analysis, although indicators that focused on the outcome of course attendance were retained. ###### Defining output, outcome, and impact indicators **Output indicators** - defined as measures of programme or project activities that are directly controllable by the RCS initiative (e.g. number of infectious disease experts from country X training in academic writing). **Outcome indicators** - defined as measures of change in behaviour or performance, in the short- to mid-term, that could reasonably be attributed to the RCS initiative in full or large part (e.g. number of manuscripts published by infectious disease experts from country X following an academic writing course). **Impact indicators** - defined as measures of longer-term change that may not be directly attributable to the RCS initiative but directly relate to the overarching aims of the RCS initiative (e.g. reduction in infectious disease mortality in country X). Data analysis ------------- Once all listed indicators from across the 32 publications and reports had been entered into the Excel spreadsheet, the research team coded all outcome and impact indicators according to their respective focus (i.e. the focus of the indicated measure, such as publication count or grant submissions) and quality. Output indicators were excluded from further analysis. Indicators were coded independently by two researchers, checking consistency and resolving discrepancies through discussion and, if necessary, by bringing in a third reviewer. 'Focus' codes were emergent and were based on stated or implied focal area of each indicator. 'Quality' was coded against four pre-determined criteria: 1) a measure for the stated indicator was at least implied in the indicator description; 2) the measure was clearly defined; 3) the defined measure was sensitive to change; and 4) the defined measure was time-bound (thus, criteria 2 is only applied if criteria 1 is met and criteria 3 and 4 are only applied if criteria 2 is met). Results ======= Type and level of identified indicators --------------------------------------- We identified a total of 668 reported or described indicators of research capacity from across the 32 publications or reports included in the review. Of these, 40% (265/668) were output indicators, 59.5% (400/668) were outcome indicators and 0.5% (3/668) were impact indicators. A total of 34% (225/668) of these indicators were measures of individual research capacity, 38% (265/668) were measures of institutional research capacity and 21% (178/668) were systemic measures of research capacity. [Figure 2](#f2){ref-type="fig"} illustrates the spread of indicator type across these three categories by level. The full list of 668 indicators, inclusive of source information, is available as *Underlying data* ^[@ref-18]^. {#f2} Outcome indicators ------------------ The 400 outcome indicators were subsequently coded to nine thematic categories and 36 sub-categories, as described in [Box 2](#B2){ref-type="other"}. The categories and the total number of indicators in each (across all three levels) were as follows: research management and support (n=97), skills/knowledge (n=62), collaboration activities (n=53), knowledge translation (n=39), bibliometrics (n=31), research funding (n=25), recognition (n=11), infrastructure (n=5) and other (n=77). [Figure 3](#f3){ref-type="fig"} depicts the number of outcome indicators by category and level. ###### Outcome indicator categories and sub-categories **1. Bibliometrics**: Indicators relating to the development, publication and use of written outputs such as peer reviewed journal articles. Sub-categories: peer reviewed publication; publication (any form of publication other than peer review); reference (e.g. records of citations); quality (e.g. rating by impact factor). **2. Collaboration Activities**: Indicators relating to networking, collaborating, mentoring type activities. Sub-categories: engagement (evidence of working collaboratively); establishment (creating new networks, collaborations); experience (e.g. perception of equity in a specific partnership). **3. Infrastructure**: Indicators relating to research infrastructure including buildings, labs, equipment, libraries and other physical resources. Sub-categories: suitability (the provision of adequate facilities for research); procurement (e.g. purchase of laboratory equipment). **4. Knowledge translation**: Indicators relating to the dissemination of research and knowledge, including conferences, media and public education/outreach. Sub-categories: dissemination (examples of research being communicated to different audiences); influence (using research knowledge to influence policy, the commissioning of new research, etc). **5. Recognition**:Indicators relating to professional or institutional esteem. Sub-categories: Appointment (e.g. appointed to leadership positions); Awards (i.e. receiving an award); reputation (e.g. invited keynote address). **6. Research funding**: Indicators relating to funding for research. Sub-categories: funds received (e.g. competitive grants); allocation (e.g. allocate budget to support local research); expenditure (use of research funds); access (access to research funding/competitive awards). **7. Research Management & Support (RMS)**: Indicators relating to the administration of university or research institution systems that make research possible (e.g. finance, ITC and project management). Sub-categories: career support (e.g. working conditions, salary and career development); organisation capacity (to manage/support research); research investment; resource access (e.g. to IT, libraries etc); sustainability (of RMS); governance (e.g. formation of ethics review committees); national capacity (to support research); national planning (e.g. developing national research priorities). **8. Skills/training activities**: Indicators relating to training and educational activities relating to research or research subject area knowledge. Sub-categories: attainment (of new skills); application (of new skills); transfer (of new skills). **9. Other**: Indicators relating to any area other than the eight described above. Sub-categories: research quality (e.g. quality of work undertaken); research production (e.g. increase in research activity); research process (e.g. inclusion of new methods or techniques); research workforce (e.g. growth in number of researchers); career advancement (e.g. promotion); equity (e.g. gender equity); miscellaneous. {#f3} [Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}-- [Table 3](#T3){ref-type="table"} present the number of outcome indicators in each sub-category as well as an example indicator for each, by the three respective research capacity levels (individual, institutional and systemic). The category and sub-category designation assigned to all 400 outcome indicators are available as *Underlying data* ^[@ref-18]^. ###### Number of individual level outcome indicators by category and sub-variant. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Category Variant Number Example indicator -------------------------- ---------------------- -------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliometrics Peer-reviewed\ 5\ Number of articles published in peer-reviewed journals ^[@ref-13]^\ publication\ 13\ Number of conference papers ^[@ref-10]^\ Publication\ 3\ Citations ^[@ref-14]^\ Reference\ 6 Publications with impact factor indexed in WoS ^[@ref-21]^ Quality Collaboration Activities Engagement\ 10\ Evidence of contribution/membership to networks ^[@ref-22]^\ Establishment\ 4\ Development of sustainable research collaborations ^[@ref-23]^\ Experience 1 Attitudes/behavior are conducive to working effectively in\ partnership towards development goals ^[@ref-24]^ Knowledge Translation Dissemination\ 4\ Applied dissemination of findings ^[@ref-22]^\ Influence 5 Evidence of influence on local strategy & planning ^[@ref-22]^ Recognition Appointment\ 2\ Editor of international/national conference proceedings ^[@ref-14]^\ Awards\ 3\ Number of awards/type of awards ^[@ref-10]^\ Reputation 3 Invitations to speak at meetings ^[@ref-23]^ Research Funding Funds received 11 New research funding obtained ^[@ref-23]^ RMS Career support 3 Percent of time spent on research activities ^[@ref-23]^ Skills/knowledge Application\ 13\ Applying/using new evaluation methodology ^[@ref-25]^\ Attainment\ 27\ Evidence of progressive skill development ^[@ref-22]^\ Transfer 2 Shared lessons learned from the distance education program\ with other personnel at the site ^[@ref-26]^ Other Research quality\ 2\ Scientific merit of research proposal ^[@ref-13]^\ Research production\ 3\ Number of grants completed ^[@ref-27]^\ Research process\ 8\ Incorporation of end-users' concerns into research planning &\ Research workforce\ 2\ design ^[@ref-19]^\ Career advancement 4 Evidence that awardees returned to active & independent\ research in LMICs ^[@ref-23]^\ Returned fellows take up leadership roles in scientific networks\ & communities of practice ^[@ref-21]^ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ###### Number of institutional level outcome indicators by category and sub-variant. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Categories Variants Number Example indicator -------------------------- ---------------------- -------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliometrics Peer-review\ 1\ Number of joint scientific publications ^[@ref-10]^\ publication\ 1\ Number of research reports published ^[@ref-10]^\ Publication\ 1 Production of high quality/scientifically sound literature\ Quality reviews ^[@ref-25]^ Collaboration Activities Engagement\ 15\ Number of joint activities with other research organizations ^[@ref-10]^\ Establishment\ 6\ Develop research networks within and between institutions ^[@ref-28]^\ Experience 3 Collaborations characterized by trust & commitment and\ continue after award concludes ^[@ref-23]^ Infrastructure Suitability\ 4\ Facilities and infrastructure are appropriate to research needs\ Procurement 1 and researchers' capacities ^[@ref-24]^\ Research equipment obtained at home institution ^[@ref-27]^ Knowledge Translation Dissemination\ 9\ Number of knowledge exchange events ^[@ref-10]^\ Influence 5 Examples of applying locally developed knowledge in strategy\ policy and practice ^[@ref-22]^ Recognition Reputation 2 Enhanced reputation & increased appeal of institutions ^[@ref-19]^ Research Funding Funds Received\ 3\ Obtaining more funding for research & research skill building\ Allocation\ 1\ training at host organisation ^[@ref-29]^\ Expenditure 1 Budget allocation for specific priority health research areas ^[@ref-19]^\ Proportion of funds spent according to workplans ^[@ref-30]^ RMS Organisational\ 14\ Applying data systems for reporting at organizational level ^[@ref-25]^\ capacity\ 3\ Funding to support practitioners & teams to disseminate\ Research investment\ 10\ findings ^[@ref-22]^\ Career support\ 4\ Evidence of matching novice & experienced researchers ^[@ref-22]^\ Resource access\ 3\ Access to information technology ^[@ref-19]^\ Sustainability\ 12 Level of financial sustainability ^[@ref-10]^\ Governance Growth & development of institution in line with vision &\ mission ^[@ref-31]^ Skills/knowledge Application\ 6\ Applying new skills in financial management to research\ Attainment\ 11\ projects ^[@ref-25]^\ Transfer 2 Strengthening capacities to carry out methodologically sound\ evaluations in the South ^[@ref-25]^\ Counselling master\'s and PhD students about appropriate\ research design and protocols ^[@ref-32]^ Other Research quality\ 5\ Quality of research outputs ^[@ref-19]^\ Career advancement\ 1\ Evidence of secondment opportunities offered & taken up ^[@ref-22]^\ Research production\ 12\ Range & scale of research projects ^[@ref-19]^\ Research workforce\ 6\ Levels of skills within workforce & skill mix of the skills across\ Research process 4 groups ^[@ref-22]^\ Evidence of supporting service user links in research ^[@ref-22]^ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ###### Number of systemic level outcome indicators by category and sub-variant. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Categories Variants Number Example indicator -------------------------- ---------------------- -------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bibliometrics Publication 1 Proportion of TDR grantees\' publications with first author \[country\]\ institutions ^[@ref-30]^ Collaboration Activities Engagement\ 4\ Changing how organizations work together to share/exchange\ Establishment\ 9\ information, research results ^[@ref-25]^\ Experience 1 Partnerships for research dialogue at local, regional & international\ levels ^[@ref-23]^\ TDR partnerships are perceived as useful & productive ^[@ref-30]^ Knowledge Translation Dissemination\ 2\ Media interest in health research ^[@ref-19]^\ Influence 14 Policy decision are influenced by research outputs ^[@ref-24]^ Recognition Reputation 1 Greater Sth-Sth respect between organisations leading to Sth-Sth\ learning activities ^[@ref-24]^ Research Funding Allocation\ 6\ Level of funding of research by the Government ^[@ref-10]^\ Access 3 Local responsive funding access & use ^[@ref-22]^ RMS National capacity\ 18\ Local ownership of research & health research system evaluation ^[@ref-19]^\ National planning\ 11\ Harmonised regional research activities ^[@ref-23]^\ Governance\ 18\ Governance of health research ethics ^[@ref-35]^\ Career support 1 Researcher salary on par or above other countries in region (by\ gender) ^[@ref-10]^ Skills/knowledge Transfer 1 Secondary benefits to students through training, travel & education\ made them 'diffusers' of new techniques between institutions ^[@ref-23]^ Other Research production\ 11\ Generating new knowledge on a research problem at a regional\ Research workforce\ 5\ level ^[@ref-25]^\ Research process\ 7\ Evidence of brain drain or not ^[@ref-19]^\ \ 4\ Several institutions using/applying common methodology to\ Equity\ 1\ conduct research towards common goal ^[@ref-25]^\ Research quality\ 2 Equitable access to knowledge & experience across partnerships ^[@ref-24]^\ Miscellaneous Proportion of positive satisfaction response from TDR staff ^[@ref-30]^\ Importance of multidisciplinary research over the past 5 years ^[@ref-36]^ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Table 4](#T4){ref-type="table"} presents the percentage of outcome indicators that met each of the four quality measures as well as the percentage that met all four quality indicators by indicator category. As shown, all outcome indicators implied a measurement focus (e.g. received a national grant or time spent on research activities), 21% presented a defined measure (e.g. had at least one publication), 13% presented a defined measure sensitive to change (e.g. number of publications presented in peer reviewed journals) and 5% presented a defined measure, sensitive to change and time bound (e.g. number of competitive grants won per year). Only 1% (6/400) of outcome indicators met all four quality criteria including: 1) Completed research projects written up and submitted to peer reviewed journals within 4 weeks of the course end; 2) Number of competitive grants won per year (independently or as a part of a team); 3) Number and evidence of projects transitioned to and sustained by institutions, organizations or agencies for at least two years; 4) Proportion of females among grantees/contract recipients (over total number and total funding); 5) Proportion of \[Tropical Disease Research\] grants/contracts awarded to \[Disease Endemic Country\] (over total number and total funding); and 6) Proportion of \[Tropical Disease Research\] grants/contracts awarded to low-income countries (over total number and total funding). Indicators pertaining to research funding and bibliometrics scored highest on the quality measures whereas indicators pertaining to research management and support and collaboration activities scored the lowest. ###### Outcome indicator quality by category. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Level No Quality measure All 4 quality\ measures evident -------------------------- --------- ----------------- ------------------ -------- ------- ------- Bibliometrics 31 100 42 29 6 3 Collaboration Activities 53 100 13 9 0 0 Infrastructure 5 100 20 0 0 0 Knowledge Translation 39 100 18 18 0 0 Recognition 11 100 27 18 0 0 Research Funding 25 100 56 40 12 12 RMS 97 100 7 7 1 1 Skills/Knowledge 62 100 27 0 21 0 Other 77 100 19 19 1 1 **Total** **400** **100** **21** **13** **5** **1** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Impact indicators ----------------- The three impact indicators were all systemic-level indicators and were all coded to a 'health and wellbeing' theme; two to a sub-category of 'people', one to a sub-category of 'disease'. The three impact indicators were: 1) Contribution to health of populations served; 2) Impact of project on patients\' quality of life, including social capital and health gain; and 3) Estimated impact on disease control and prevention. All three met the 'implied measure' quality criteria. No indicators met any of the remaining three quality criteria. Discussion ========== This paper sought to inform the development of standardised RCS evaluation metrics through a systematic review of RCS indicators previously described in the published and grey literatures. The review found a spread between individual- (34%), institutional- (38%) and systemic-level (21%) indicators, implying both a need and interest in RCS metrics across all levels of the research system. This is consistent with contemporary RCS frameworks ^[@ref-10],\ [@ref-19]^, although the high proportion of institutional-level indicators is somewhat surprising given the continued predominance of individual-level RCS initiatives and activities such as scholarship provision, individual skills training and research-centred RCS consortia ^[@ref-20]^. Outcome indicators were the most common indicator type identified by the review, accounting for 59.5% (400/669) of the total. However, the large number of outcome indicators were subsequently assigned to a relatively small number of post-coded thematic categories (n=9), suggestive of considerable overlap and duplication among the existing indicator stock. Just under two-thirds of the outcome indicators pertained to four thematic domains (research management and support, skills/knowledge attainment or application, collaboration activities and knowledge translation) suggesting an even narrower focus in practice. It is not possible to determine on the basis of this review whether the relatively narrow focus of the reported indicators is reflective of greater interest in these areas or practical issues pertaining to outcome measurement (e.g. these domains may be inherently easier to measure); however, if standardised indicators in these key focal areas are identified and agreed, then they are likely to hold wide appeal. The near absence of impact indicators is a finding of significant note, highlighting a lack of long-term evaluation of RCS interventions ^[@ref-8]^ as well as the inherent complexity in attempting to evaluate a multifaceted, long-term, continuous process subject to a diverse range of influences and assumptions. Theoretical models for evaluating complex interventions have been developed ^[@ref-33]^, as have broad guidelines for applied evaluation of complex interventions ^[@ref-34]^; thus, the notion of evaluating 'impact' of RCS investment is not beyond the reach of contemporary evaluation science and evaluation frameworks tailored for RCS interventions have been proposed ^[@ref-11]^. Attempting to measure RCS impact by classic, linear evaluation methodologies via precise, quantifiable metrics may not be the best path forward. However, the general dearth of any form of RCS impact indicator (as revealed in this review) or robust evaluative investigation ^[@ref-8],\ [@ref-20]^ suggests an urgent need for investment in RCS evaluation frameworks and methodologies irrespective of typology. The quality of retrieved indicators, as assessed by four specified criteria (measure for the stated indicator was implied by indicator description; measure clearly defined; defined measure was sensitive to change; and defined measure was time-bound) was uniformly poor. Only 1% (6/400) of outcome indicators and none of the impact indicators met all four criteria. Quality ratings were highest amongst indicators focused on measuring research funding or bibliometrics and lowest amongst research management and support and collaboration activities. This most likely reflects differences in the relative complexity of attempting to measure capacity gain across these different domain types; however, as 'research management and support' and 'collaboration activity' indicators were two of the most common outcome indicator types, this finding suggests that the quality of measurement is poorest in the RCS domains of most apparent interest. The quality data further suggest that RCS indicators retrieved by the review were most commonly (by design or otherwise) 'expressions' of the types of RCS outcomes that would be worthwhile measuring as opposed to well defined RCS metrics. For example, 'links between research activities and national priorities' ^[@ref-19]^ or 'ease of access to research undertaken locally' ^[@ref-22]^ are areas in which RCS outcome could be assessed, yet precise metrics to do so remain undescribed. Despite the quality issues, it is possible to draw potential 'candidate' outcome indicators for each focal area, and at each research capacity level, from the amalgamated list (see *Underlying data*) ^[@ref-18]^. These candidate indicators could then be further developed or refined through remote decision-making processes, such as those applied to develop other indicator sets ^[@ref-37]^, or through a dedicated conference or workshop as often used to determine health research priorities ^[@ref-38]^. The same processes could also be used to identify potential impact indicators and/or additional focal areas and associated indicators for either outcome or impact assessment. Dedicated, inclusive and broad consultation of this type would appear to be an essential next step towards the development of a comprehensive set of standardised, widely applicable RCS outcome and impact indicators given the review findings. Limitations ----------- RCS is a broad, multi-disciplinary endeavour without a standardised definition, lexicon or discipline-specific journals ^[@ref-8]^. As such, relevant literature may have gone undetected by the search methodology. Similarly, it is quite likely that numerous RCS outcome or impact indicators exist solely in project specific log frames or other forms of project-specific documentation not accessible in the public domain or not readily accessible by conventional literature search methodologies. Furthermore, RCS outcome or impact indicators presented in a language other than English were excluded from review. The review findings, therefore, are unlikely to represent the complete collection of RCS indicators used by programme implementers and/or potentially accessible in the public domain. The quality measurement criteria were limited in scope, not accounting for factors such as relevance or feasibility, and were biased towards quantitative indicators. Qualitative indicators would have scored poorly by default. Nevertheless, the review findings represent the most comprehensive listing of currently available RCS indicators compiled to date (to the best of the authors' knowledge) and the indicators retrieved are highly likely to be reflective of the range, type and quality of indicators in current use, even if not identified by the search methodology. Conclusion ========== Numerous RCS outcome indicators are present in the public and grey literature, although across a relatively limited range. This suggests significant overlap and duplication in currently reported outcome indicators as well as common interest in key focal areas. Very few impact indicators were identified by this review and the quality of all indicators, both outcome and impact, was uniformly poor. Thus, on the basis of this review, it is possible to identify priority focal areas in which outcome and impact indicators could be developed, namely: research management and support, the attainment and application of new skills and knowledge, research collaboration and knowledge transfer. However, good examples of indicators in each of these areas now need to be developed. Priority next steps would be to identify and refine standardised outcome indicators in the focal areas of common interest, drawing on the best candidate indicators among those currently in use, and proposing potential impact indicators for subsequent testing and application. Data availability ================= Underlying data --------------- Harvard Dataverse: Measuring the outcome and impact of research capacity strengthening initiatives: A review of indicators used or described in the published and grey literature - Full listing of retrieved RCS indicators. <https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/K6GIGX> ^[@ref-18]^. This project contains the following underlying data: - List of RCS Impact Indicators - List of RCS Outcome Indicators - List of RCS Output Indicators - List of Source Documents Data are available under the terms of the [Creative Commons Zero \"No rights reserved\" data waiver](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) (CC0 1.0 Public domain dedication). 10.5256/f1000research.26632.r64405 Reviewer response for version 1 Flint-O\'Kane Meriel 1 Referee https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6347-6212 Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK **Competing interests:**Professor Imelda Bates is a co-author on this paper and is on the Advisory Board for my DrPH studies. I confirm that this has not affected my ability to write an objective and unbiased review of the article. 29 6 2020 Copyright: © 2020 Flint-O\'Kane M 2020 This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Version 1 Summary: This paper provides a review and analysis of the quality and suitability of M&E metrics for funding that is allocated to strengthen research capacity in LMIC\'s. Published and grey literature has been reviewed to identify indicators used to measure the outputs, outcomes and impacts of relevant programmes and the findings have been assessed in terms of content and quality. The authors conclude that the outcome indicators identified were of low quality and impact indicators are almost always missing from RCS MEL frameworks and recommend further work to develop appropriate indicators to measure the outcomes and impacts of research capacity strengthening programmes/activities. Through the review of existing outcome indicators the authors have identified four focal areas against which indicators could be developed. [Methods:]{.ul} The search strategy and study selection is clearly described and links to source data are available. Data extraction and analysis methods are also clearly described. [Major:]{.ul} No major points to address. This work is by a leading team in the field of RCS research and makes a useful contribution to the literature in providing a thorough review of indicators used to monitor and evaluate work funded to strengthen research capacity. [Minor:]{.ul} Though the article is not focused on health research, health is specifically referred to in a few places throughout the article e.g. line 4 (and corresponding references) of the introduction, Research Funding example indicators in Table 2, RMS example indicators in Table 3, numbers 5 and 6 of the 6 outcome indicators meeting all four quality criteria refer to TDR, and the impact indicators are all acknowledged as being specific to health and wellbeing. It would be interesting to understand which other research disciplines featured in the literature reviewed, and the spread of results across disciplines in order that analysis and findings could indicate if there is variety between and/or within disciplines in approaches to MEL for RCS and what can be learnt from this.No background, references or justification is given for the pre-determined \'quality\' criteria.The authors note in \'Limitations\' that project documents were not available in the public domain and documents not in English were excluded. Further reflection on to what extent Log Frames, ToC\'s and other MEL docs for programmes that have RCS as a primary or secondary outcome would be in the public domain could be helpful e.g. is it common for delivery partners of RCS programmes to make their MEL docs publicly available? If not, are these indicators representative of those currently/recently being used by actors in the RCS programme delivery space or do they represent a subset that is more likely to have publicly available data? Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature? Yes If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate? Not applicable Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility? Yes Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound? Yes Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results? Yes Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others? Yes Reviewer Expertise: Global health, research capacity strengthening, higher education capacity I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. 10.5256/f1000research.26632.r64402 Reviewer response for version 1 Obino Francesco 1 Referee Fussy Daniel 1 Co-referee Global Development Network, New Delhi, Delhi, India **Competing interests:**No competing interests were disclosed. 24 6 2020 Copyright: © 2020 Obino F and Fussy D 2020 This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Version 1 The article is an timely contribution to an urgent question: how do we know if research capacity strengthening is working? The analysis of the problem (a. the lack of a shared reference framework for evaluating research capacity strengthening, which in turn implies that b. the scope for systematic and cumulative learning remains limited) is convincing and valid. The methodology is clearly explained and up to existing standards and expectations for this kind of exercise. The conclusions are straightforward, and the limitations well articulated (the focus on English, and the bias towards quantitative measures being the most important ones.) A few overall comments for the authors, keeping in mind the \'agenda\' the article is trying to support (i.e. developing good examples of RCS indicators), and its potential uptake: RCS lack definition too, not just indicators. The article does not differentiate between research capacity strengthening done at the national level and at the international level, or in different fields (health sciences vs social sciences, etc.). While this is key to the aim of the paper to \'survey\' existing indicators, the lack of solid evaluation of RCS can be also understood as the result not so much of \'underdevelopment\' of the field, but of its overdevelopment in the absence of a shared definition of what RCS is. In this sense, putting all RCS (indicators) in the \'same box\' might in fact reinforce the confusion around what is there to be measured, and how. International donor-funded, project-based RCS efforts differ (in scope, objectives and means) from the RCS effort of a science council or a local research training institution - despite overlaps. Often, the difference in objectives might make indicators hard to include in the same box. In this sense, the paper should acknowledge the lack of a shared definition of RCS, and the limitation it poses to an analysis of indicators. For this specific article, it might be useful to define RCS as international, donor-funded, project-based set of activities. Arguably, the very need of a discussion on RCS evaluation is largely driven by the fact that RCS is part of the evaluation-heavy international donor sector. This might help further defining the relevant timeframe for the search, and situating RCS historically.RCS is more than the sum of quality outputs. I wonder about the lack of discussion on \'process indicators\' given the nature of RCS as a set of activities. These are notoriously difficult (but not impossible) to use in the donor-funded, project-based, time-bound RCS efforts, but might be very relevant to describe change and ultimately impact.RCS impacts research systems, policy, or development? When it comes to discussion of impacts and impact indicators, the lack of definition of RCS becomes an insurmountable limitation. The study could acknowledge the need for unpacking the link between output, outcome and impact measurement/definition (particularly in light of lack of shared definition of RCS) in internationally funded programs, as a complementary exercise to the surveying of indicators. The fact that the very few impact indicators identified reveal an expectation for RCS to deliver impact on population health outcomes is a good example of the limitations imposed by lack of clear definitions.How important is the UK? Given the global audience of the piece, it might be useful to explain why the figures relating to projected RCS funding from the UK are significant to describe larger trends - particularly if figures include both \'direct\' and \'indirect\' RCS. Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature? Yes If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate? Yes Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility? Yes Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound? Yes Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results? Yes Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others? Yes Reviewer Expertise: Research capacity building methodologies, political theory, international relations We confirm that we have read this submission and believe that we have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. 10.5256/f1000research.26632.r64403 Reviewer response for version 1 Taylor Peter 1 Referee https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3332-3426 Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK **Competing interests:**No competing interests were disclosed. 23 6 2020 Copyright: © 2020 Taylor P 2020 This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Version 1 The article addresses an issue that is receiving renewed interest in recent years - research capacity strengthening (RCS), and the particular challenge of evaluating outputs, outcomes and impacts of RCS initiatives. The study undertook a structured review of RCS indicators in the published and grey literature. Key findings included the identification of rather few examples of quality RCS, with emphasis on four focal areas (research management and support, skill and knowledge development, research collaboration and knowledge transfer. The study concludes that there is significant room for development of indicators, and consequently the potential adoption of these to allow a more systematic approach to RCS approaches and to their subsequent evaluation. The study is clearly presented and has a solid methodology. The validity of the findings rest on the extent to which the systematic review did identify published material that engages in this issue. As the authors note, it is likely that there is a wider body of grey literature in the form of project and program reports that were not located through the search. This suggests that there is need for more published work on this topic (making the paper therefore relevant and useful), and perhaps reinforces a wider view that many RCS efforts are inadequately evaluated (or not evaluated at all). An earlier World Bank Institute report on evaluation of training (Taschereau, 2010 ^[@rep-ref-64403-1]^), for example, had highlighted challenges in evaluation of the impact of training and institutional development programs. The study refers briefly to RCS interventions, taking training as an example, but this only related to training which makes up a small percentage of the overall efforts towards RCS. It would be very interesting to situate this welcome study in the context of broader discussions and debates on RCS, particularly as a contribution to theory and practice at strengthening research capacity at individual, organizational and system levels. The latter of these is the most complex to conceptualise, to implement, and to measure, and is receiving valuable attention from RCS stakeholders such as the Global Development Network (GDN, 2017 ^[@rep-ref-64403-2]^) through their Doing Research Program - a growing source of literature for subsequent review. As the authors of the study note, there is a danger in identifying RCS indicators that are seen as having universal application and attractiveness because they are relatively easy to measure. There is an equal, related danger that, due to relative measurability, a majority of RCS interventions become so streamlined in terms of their approach that they begin to follow recipe or blueprint approaches. The study is agnostic on different approaches to RCS. Work undertaken by the Think Tank Initiative (TTI) for example (Weyrauch, 2014 ^[@rep-ref-64403-3]^) has demonstrated a range of useful RCS approaches, including flexible financial support, accompanied learning supported by trusted advisors/program officers, action learning, training and others. In a final evaluation of the Think Tank Initiative (Christoplos *et al.*, 2019 ^[@rep-ref-64403-4]^), training was viewed as having had the least value amongst several intervention types in terms of RCS outcomes, whilst flexible financial support and accompanied learning processes were viewed as being significantly more effective. It would be interesting to identify indicators of outcomes or even impacts that might relate to different types of RCS interventions which were not included in the publications reviewed by this study. A key indicator of RCS identified by the TTI evaluation, which interestingly does not appear explicitly in the indicator list of this study, was leadership. As the authors indicate, there are likely to be other valuable indicators not surfaced through this review and this requires more work. This study offers a very important contribution to a field currently being reinvigorated and is highly welcome. Rather than being valued because it may potentially offer a future blueprint list of indicators, (not least since, as the authors observe, the indicator list generated in this study is partial in comparison to a much wider potential range), its value lies particularly in its potential for contribution to further debate and dialogue on the theory and practice of RCS interventions and their evaluation; this dialogue can in turn be further informed by access to a more diverse set of grey literature and by engagement with stakeholders who have experience and interest in strengthening this work. Hopefully the authors of this study, and other researchers, will continue this important line of work and promote ongoing discussion and debate. Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature? Yes If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate? Yes Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility? Yes Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound? Yes Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results? Yes Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others? Yes Reviewer Expertise: International development, organizational learning and development, research capacity strengthening I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. 10.5256/f1000research.26632.r64400 Reviewer response for version 1 Di Ruggiero Erica 1 Referee Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada **Competing interests:**No competing interests were disclosed. 23 6 2020 Copyright: © 2020 Di Ruggiero E 2020 This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Version 1 The article outlines clear research questions and methods and provides a very useful summary of findings from a structured review of research capacity strengthening indicators for use in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Terminology is overall quite clearly defined. Some greater precision relate to the use of the terminology: context for indicator\'s application; knowledge transfer vs. knowledge translation are used.The definition of knowledge translation provided seems limiting and perhaps the authors meant only transfer. It would have been helpful to have some descriptive data on the sources of the publications/reports from which the indicators were derived (i.e. were they all published by academics vs. any from research funders). For example, it\'s unclear if any indicators developed by funders such as the International Development Research Centre and others that support LMIC research are included.The limitations section is clear.It would have been helpful to have the authors elaborate a bit more on the dearth of qualitative indicators, appreciating the fact that they would have \'scored poorly by default\' because of the methodology used. Could the authors comment in the conclusion on areas for indicator development (like qualitative indicators; equity-related indicators - for e.g. I note that perception of equity in a specific partnership was part of the definition for collaboration and in the \'other\' category, but to my knowledge, equity didn\'t really appear elsewhere)? Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature? Yes If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate? Yes Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility? Yes Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound? Yes Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results? Yes Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others? Partly Reviewer Expertise: Public health research; evaluation I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard. [^1]: No competing interests were disclosed. | Mid | [
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Q: How to import FLA and include Flex into it using Flash Builder to get it to compile with getEnhancedMicrophone()? I am trying to do the following, can you please guide/help me do it: I have a video chat application that is done on Adobe Flash CS5.5. I had the problem of "echo" so I wanted to use "getEnhancedMicrophone()". When I replaced "getMicrophone()" with "getEnhancedMicrophone()", Adobe Flash CS5.5 Professional didn't recognize it. I knew I need Flex, so I installed Flash Builder. And then got lost. What I simply want is just import my "FLA" file (or if I need to convert it to something else using a specific tool, let me know.. I have Adobe Flash CS5.5 Professional and can install other required applications if needed) done on Adobe CS5.5, into Flash Builder, and then "support Flex" so that I compile with the flash-version argument required. I am totally new to MXML and Flash Builder, and even Flex. I don't know how to import a FLA and add "Flex" libraries into it simply to make "getEnhancedMicrophone()" work without the need to recreate the whole thing on Flash Builder. Can you guide me please? The output is for a web SWF file, not a desktop application. Thanks! A: I'm using Flash Pro CS5 on a Mac and I did the following to use Flex features like the Embed tag. Not sure if it will solve your problem too, but its worth a try. Go to the Plash Pro Preferences Window Click on "ActionScript" tab Click on "ActionScript 3.0 Settings..." Button Click the "Browse to SWC file" icon in the "Library Path" section Browse to flex.swc and click open If you are on a Mac flex.swc should be located here: /Applications/Adobe Flash CS5/Common/Configuration/ActionScript 3.0/flex_sdk/4.0.0/frameworks/libs/flex.swc Not sure about Windows. It will look a little different of course, because you are using CS5.5 To get an idea on how to create a Flash Professional Projects inside Flash Builder you might want to check out this help site from Adobe: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/flashbuilder/using/WSc5cd04c102ae3e97-6e5d439512e1414e588-7fff.html | High | [
0.6588785046728971,
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Fireboy and Watergirl Forest Home Play online this addictive Fireboy and Watergirl Forest Home. Helps Fireboy and Watergirl in this adventure to escape from the labyrinth game for free. Enjoy now only the best friv Fireboy and Watergirl games. | Low | [
0.42129629629629606,
22.75,
31.25
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/* * Copyright (C) 2009 The Android Open Source Project * * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. * You may obtain a copy of the License at * * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 * * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and * limitations under the License. */ package android.content.pm; import android.content.BroadcastReceiver; import android.content.ComponentName; import android.content.Context; import android.content.Intent; import android.content.IntentFilter; import android.content.pm.PackageManager.NameNotFoundException; import android.content.res.Resources; import android.content.res.XmlResourceParser; import android.os.Environment; import android.os.Handler; import android.os.UserHandle; import android.util.AtomicFile; import android.util.AttributeSet; import android.util.Log; import android.util.Slog; import android.util.SparseArray; import android.util.Xml; import com.android.internal.annotations.GuardedBy; import com.android.internal.util.FastXmlSerializer; import com.google.android.collect.Lists; import com.google.android.collect.Maps; import org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParser; import org.xmlpull.v1.XmlPullParserException; import org.xmlpull.v1.XmlSerializer; import java.io.File; import java.io.FileDescriptor; import java.io.FileInputStream; import java.io.FileOutputStream; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.PrintWriter; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.Collection; import java.util.Collections; import java.util.List; import java.util.Map; /** * Cache of registered services. This cache is lazily built by interrogating * {@link PackageManager} on a per-user basis. It's updated as packages are * added, removed and changed. Users are responsible for calling * {@link #invalidateCache(int)} when a user is started, since * {@link PackageManager} broadcasts aren't sent for stopped users. * <p> * The services are referred to by type V and are made available via the * {@link #getServiceInfo} method. * * @hide */ public abstract class RegisteredServicesCache<V> { private static final String TAG = "PackageManager"; private static final boolean DEBUG = false; public final Context mContext; private final String mInterfaceName; private final String mMetaDataName; private final String mAttributesName; private final XmlSerializerAndParser<V> mSerializerAndParser; private final Object mServicesLock = new Object(); @GuardedBy("mServicesLock") private boolean mPersistentServicesFileDidNotExist; @GuardedBy("mServicesLock") private final SparseArray<UserServices<V>> mUserServices = new SparseArray<UserServices<V>>(); private static class UserServices<V> { @GuardedBy("mServicesLock") public final Map<V, Integer> persistentServices = Maps.newHashMap(); @GuardedBy("mServicesLock") public Map<V, ServiceInfo<V>> services = null; } private UserServices<V> findOrCreateUserLocked(int userId) { UserServices<V> services = mUserServices.get(userId); if (services == null) { services = new UserServices<V>(); mUserServices.put(userId, services); } return services; } /** * This file contains the list of known services. We would like to maintain this forever * so we store it as an XML file. */ private final AtomicFile mPersistentServicesFile; // the listener and handler are synchronized on "this" and must be updated together private RegisteredServicesCacheListener<V> mListener; private Handler mHandler; public RegisteredServicesCache(Context context, String interfaceName, String metaDataName, String attributeName, XmlSerializerAndParser<V> serializerAndParser) { mContext = context; mInterfaceName = interfaceName; mMetaDataName = metaDataName; mAttributesName = attributeName; mSerializerAndParser = serializerAndParser; File dataDir = Environment.getDataDirectory(); File systemDir = new File(dataDir, "system"); File syncDir = new File(systemDir, "registered_services"); mPersistentServicesFile = new AtomicFile(new File(syncDir, interfaceName + ".xml")); // Load persisted services from disk readPersistentServicesLocked(); IntentFilter intentFilter = new IntentFilter(); intentFilter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_PACKAGE_ADDED); intentFilter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_PACKAGE_CHANGED); intentFilter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_PACKAGE_REMOVED); intentFilter.addDataScheme("package"); mContext.registerReceiverAsUser(mPackageReceiver, UserHandle.ALL, intentFilter, null, null); // Register for events related to sdcard installation. IntentFilter sdFilter = new IntentFilter(); sdFilter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_EXTERNAL_APPLICATIONS_AVAILABLE); sdFilter.addAction(Intent.ACTION_EXTERNAL_APPLICATIONS_UNAVAILABLE); mContext.registerReceiver(mExternalReceiver, sdFilter); } private final BroadcastReceiver mPackageReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() { @Override public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) { final int uid = intent.getIntExtra(Intent.EXTRA_UID, -1); if (uid != -1) { generateServicesMap(UserHandle.getUserId(uid)); } } }; private final BroadcastReceiver mExternalReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() { @Override public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) { // External apps can't coexist with multi-user, so scan owner generateServicesMap(UserHandle.USER_OWNER); } }; public void invalidateCache(int userId) { synchronized (mServicesLock) { final UserServices<V> user = findOrCreateUserLocked(userId); user.services = null; } } public void dump(FileDescriptor fd, PrintWriter fout, String[] args, int userId) { synchronized (mServicesLock) { final UserServices<V> user = findOrCreateUserLocked(userId); if (user.services != null) { fout.println("RegisteredServicesCache: " + user.services.size() + " services"); for (ServiceInfo<?> info : user.services.values()) { fout.println(" " + info); } } else { fout.println("RegisteredServicesCache: services not loaded"); } } } public RegisteredServicesCacheListener<V> getListener() { synchronized (this) { return mListener; } } public void setListener(RegisteredServicesCacheListener<V> listener, Handler handler) { if (handler == null) { handler = new Handler(mContext.getMainLooper()); } synchronized (this) { mHandler = handler; mListener = listener; } } private void notifyListener(final V type, final int userId, final boolean removed) { if (DEBUG) { Log.d(TAG, "notifyListener: " + type + " is " + (removed ? "removed" : "added")); } RegisteredServicesCacheListener<V> listener; Handler handler; synchronized (this) { listener = mListener; handler = mHandler; } if (listener == null) { return; } final RegisteredServicesCacheListener<V> listener2 = listener; handler.post(new Runnable() { public void run() { listener2.onServiceChanged(type, userId, removed); } }); } /** * Value type that describes a Service. The information within can be used * to bind to the service. */ public static class ServiceInfo<V> { public final V type; public final ComponentName componentName; public final int uid; /** @hide */ public ServiceInfo(V type, ComponentName componentName, int uid) { this.type = type; this.componentName = componentName; this.uid = uid; } @Override public String toString() { return "ServiceInfo: " + type + ", " + componentName + ", uid " + uid; } } /** * Accessor for the registered authenticators. * @param type the account type of the authenticator * @return the AuthenticatorInfo that matches the account type or null if none is present */ public ServiceInfo<V> getServiceInfo(V type, int userId) { synchronized (mServicesLock) { // Find user and lazily populate cache final UserServices<V> user = findOrCreateUserLocked(userId); if (user.services == null) { generateServicesMap(userId); } return user.services.get(type); } } /** * @return a collection of {@link RegisteredServicesCache.ServiceInfo} objects for all * registered authenticators. */ public Collection<ServiceInfo<V>> getAllServices(int userId) { synchronized (mServicesLock) { // Find user and lazily populate cache final UserServices<V> user = findOrCreateUserLocked(userId); if (user.services == null) { generateServicesMap(userId); } return Collections.unmodifiableCollection( new ArrayList<ServiceInfo<V>>(user.services.values())); } } private boolean inSystemImage(int callerUid) { String[] packages = mContext.getPackageManager().getPackagesForUid(callerUid); for (String name : packages) { try { PackageInfo packageInfo = mContext.getPackageManager().getPackageInfo(name, 0 /* flags */); if ((packageInfo.applicationInfo.flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_SYSTEM) != 0) { return true; } } catch (PackageManager.NameNotFoundException e) { return false; } } return false; } /** * Populate {@link UserServices#services} by scanning installed packages for * given {@link UserHandle}. */ private void generateServicesMap(int userId) { if (DEBUG) { Slog.d(TAG, "generateServicesMap() for " + userId); } final PackageManager pm = mContext.getPackageManager(); final ArrayList<ServiceInfo<V>> serviceInfos = new ArrayList<ServiceInfo<V>>(); final List<ResolveInfo> resolveInfos = pm.queryIntentServicesAsUser( new Intent(mInterfaceName), PackageManager.GET_META_DATA, userId); for (ResolveInfo resolveInfo : resolveInfos) { try { ServiceInfo<V> info = parseServiceInfo(resolveInfo); if (info == null) { Log.w(TAG, "Unable to load service info " + resolveInfo.toString()); continue; } serviceInfos.add(info); } catch (XmlPullParserException e) { Log.w(TAG, "Unable to load service info " + resolveInfo.toString(), e); } catch (IOException e) { Log.w(TAG, "Unable to load service info " + resolveInfo.toString(), e); } } synchronized (mServicesLock) { final UserServices<V> user = findOrCreateUserLocked(userId); final boolean firstScan = user.services == null; if (firstScan) { user.services = Maps.newHashMap(); } else { user.services.clear(); } StringBuilder changes = new StringBuilder(); boolean changed = false; for (ServiceInfo<V> info : serviceInfos) { // four cases: // - doesn't exist yet // - add, notify user that it was added // - exists and the UID is the same // - replace, don't notify user // - exists, the UID is different, and the new one is not a system package // - ignore // - exists, the UID is different, and the new one is a system package // - add, notify user that it was added Integer previousUid = user.persistentServices.get(info.type); if (previousUid == null) { if (DEBUG) { changes.append(" New service added: ").append(info).append("\n"); } changed = true; user.services.put(info.type, info); user.persistentServices.put(info.type, info.uid); if (!(mPersistentServicesFileDidNotExist && firstScan)) { notifyListener(info.type, userId, false /* removed */); } } else if (previousUid == info.uid) { if (DEBUG) { changes.append(" Existing service (nop): ").append(info).append("\n"); } user.services.put(info.type, info); } else if (inSystemImage(info.uid) || !containsTypeAndUid(serviceInfos, info.type, previousUid)) { if (DEBUG) { if (inSystemImage(info.uid)) { changes.append(" System service replacing existing: ").append(info) .append("\n"); } else { changes.append(" Existing service replacing a removed service: ") .append(info).append("\n"); } } changed = true; user.services.put(info.type, info); user.persistentServices.put(info.type, info.uid); notifyListener(info.type, userId, false /* removed */); } else { // ignore if (DEBUG) { changes.append(" Existing service with new uid ignored: ").append(info) .append("\n"); } } } ArrayList<V> toBeRemoved = Lists.newArrayList(); for (V v1 : user.persistentServices.keySet()) { if (!containsType(serviceInfos, v1)) { toBeRemoved.add(v1); } } for (V v1 : toBeRemoved) { if (DEBUG) { changes.append(" Service removed: ").append(v1).append("\n"); } changed = true; user.persistentServices.remove(v1); notifyListener(v1, userId, true /* removed */); } if (DEBUG) { if (changes.length() > 0) { Log.d(TAG, "generateServicesMap(" + mInterfaceName + "): " + serviceInfos.size() + " services:\n" + changes); } else { Log.d(TAG, "generateServicesMap(" + mInterfaceName + "): " + serviceInfos.size() + " services unchanged"); } } if (changed) { writePersistentServicesLocked(); } } } private boolean containsType(ArrayList<ServiceInfo<V>> serviceInfos, V type) { for (int i = 0, N = serviceInfos.size(); i < N; i++) { if (serviceInfos.get(i).type.equals(type)) { return true; } } return false; } private boolean containsTypeAndUid(ArrayList<ServiceInfo<V>> serviceInfos, V type, int uid) { for (int i = 0, N = serviceInfos.size(); i < N; i++) { final ServiceInfo<V> serviceInfo = serviceInfos.get(i); if (serviceInfo.type.equals(type) && serviceInfo.uid == uid) { return true; } } return false; } private ServiceInfo<V> parseServiceInfo(ResolveInfo service) throws XmlPullParserException, IOException { android.content.pm.ServiceInfo si = service.serviceInfo; ComponentName componentName = new ComponentName(si.packageName, si.name); PackageManager pm = mContext.getPackageManager(); XmlResourceParser parser = null; try { parser = si.loadXmlMetaData(pm, mMetaDataName); if (parser == null) { throw new XmlPullParserException("No " + mMetaDataName + " meta-data"); } AttributeSet attrs = Xml.asAttributeSet(parser); int type; while ((type=parser.next()) != XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT && type != XmlPullParser.START_TAG) { } String nodeName = parser.getName(); if (!mAttributesName.equals(nodeName)) { throw new XmlPullParserException( "Meta-data does not start with " + mAttributesName + " tag"); } V v = parseServiceAttributes(pm.getResourcesForApplication(si.applicationInfo), si.packageName, attrs); if (v == null) { return null; } final android.content.pm.ServiceInfo serviceInfo = service.serviceInfo; final ApplicationInfo applicationInfo = serviceInfo.applicationInfo; final int uid = applicationInfo.uid; return new ServiceInfo<V>(v, componentName, uid); } catch (NameNotFoundException e) { throw new XmlPullParserException( "Unable to load resources for pacakge " + si.packageName); } finally { if (parser != null) parser.close(); } } /** * Read all sync status back in to the initial engine state. */ private void readPersistentServicesLocked() { mUserServices.clear(); if (mSerializerAndParser == null) { return; } FileInputStream fis = null; try { mPersistentServicesFileDidNotExist = !mPersistentServicesFile.getBaseFile().exists(); if (mPersistentServicesFileDidNotExist) { return; } fis = mPersistentServicesFile.openRead(); XmlPullParser parser = Xml.newPullParser(); parser.setInput(fis, null); int eventType = parser.getEventType(); while (eventType != XmlPullParser.START_TAG && eventType != XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT) { eventType = parser.next(); } String tagName = parser.getName(); if ("services".equals(tagName)) { eventType = parser.next(); do { if (eventType == XmlPullParser.START_TAG && parser.getDepth() == 2) { tagName = parser.getName(); if ("service".equals(tagName)) { V service = mSerializerAndParser.createFromXml(parser); if (service == null) { break; } String uidString = parser.getAttributeValue(null, "uid"); final int uid = Integer.parseInt(uidString); final int userId = UserHandle.getUserId(uid); final UserServices<V> user = findOrCreateUserLocked(userId); user.persistentServices.put(service, uid); } } eventType = parser.next(); } while (eventType != XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT); } } catch (Exception e) { Log.w(TAG, "Error reading persistent services, starting from scratch", e); } finally { if (fis != null) { try { fis.close(); } catch (java.io.IOException e1) { } } } } /** * Write all sync status to the sync status file. */ private void writePersistentServicesLocked() { if (mSerializerAndParser == null) { return; } FileOutputStream fos = null; try { fos = mPersistentServicesFile.startWrite(); XmlSerializer out = new FastXmlSerializer(); out.setOutput(fos, "utf-8"); out.startDocument(null, true); out.setFeature("http://xmlpull.org/v1/doc/features.html#indent-output", true); out.startTag(null, "services"); for (int i = 0; i < mUserServices.size(); i++) { final UserServices<V> user = mUserServices.valueAt(i); for (Map.Entry<V, Integer> service : user.persistentServices.entrySet()) { out.startTag(null, "service"); out.attribute(null, "uid", Integer.toString(service.getValue())); mSerializerAndParser.writeAsXml(service.getKey(), out); out.endTag(null, "service"); } } out.endTag(null, "services"); out.endDocument(); mPersistentServicesFile.finishWrite(fos); } catch (java.io.IOException e1) { Log.w(TAG, "Error writing accounts", e1); if (fos != null) { mPersistentServicesFile.failWrite(fos); } } } public abstract V parseServiceAttributes(Resources res, String packageName, AttributeSet attrs); } | Mid | [
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Slide plate A slide plate is linear bearing such as may be part of the expansion joints of bridges, high temperature horizontal ducts of water-tube boilers and other mechanical or structural engineering applications. In each case one plate is fixed and the other slides on top as expansion or contraction occurs. The plates provide a surface with a low coefficient of friction which can be attached to a supporting structure. This combination provides support while simultaneously allowing an object to move (slide) freely along the supporting surface. The plate may be of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE),TEF-MET, Lubrite or steel according to the application. Multiple design variations are possible but the most common example of a slide plate (in structural applications) has glass-filled PTFE bonded to a steel backing plate. In these applications a two-part system is used which has an upper element with stainless steel surface face-down and bearing on a lower element with its PTFE steel backing surface face-up. In most applications, the upper element is larger than the lower element by the amount of movement expected. This has a two-fold advantage of maintaining a constant bearing area and preventing the lower surface from being exposed to dirt, grit or other contaminants throughout the range of motion. Slides plates are arranged in a 'sandwich' formation, which is made of an upper slide plate and a lower slide plate component. Commonly used in Oil/gas/chemical industries Complex steel structures Post-tensioned concrete structures See also Plain bearing References Category:Bearings (mechanical) Category:Bridge components | High | [
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The Washington Post‘s deputy “Fact Checker” has retreated from his strange claim that President Donald Trump’s comments on illegal-immigrant crime are misleading because crime by the combined population of illegal and legal immigrants is apparently low. “Fact Checker” Salvador Rizzo wrote March 15 that: President Trump has a habit of linking undocumented immigrants to grisly crimes when, in fact, most of the available data and research say immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the U.S.-born population. Based on that lede, Rizzo ended his column by saying: This is another example of Trump cherry-picking a few cases to sell a grand — and misleading — narrative about immigrants and crime. Every demographic group has its share of criminals, but the research shows that immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than the U.S.-born population. For feeding this misleading narrative, Trump earns Four Pinocchios. Reader objections forced him to beat a quick retreat. Via Twitter, Rizzo quickly admitted the distinction between legal and illegal immigrants: Seeing a lot of, “Oh, you’re conflating legal and illegal immigrant crime data!” No nationwide data to support Trump’s claims as to illegal immigration, and most of the research says all immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native-born. Seeing a lot of, "Oh, you're conflating legal and illegal immigrant crime data!" No nationwide data to support Trump's claims as to illegal immigration, and most of the research says all immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native-born.https://t.co/MLUJRQowwN — Sal Rizzo (@rizzoTK) March 15, 2018 In a January Fact Checker article, the Washington Post author did the same trick of conflating crimes by illegal migrants and crime by legal immigrants to slam Trump’s criticism of crime by illegals — even as he also praised Trump for not conflating the two categories: When we fact-checked him as a candidate in 2015, Trump spoke of immigrants generally and without distinguishing between legal and unauthorized residents. But in his most recent statements on Dec. 6, the president narrowed it down to “illegal immigrants … bringing with them crime, tremendous amounts of crime.” … The majority of the research available on this question continues to show that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native-born and that overall crime rates decline in areas where immigrants settle. After his March column appeared, March, Rizzo responded to questions from Breitbart News by simply denying that he had commingled the two categories of immigrants: We did not. We accurately restated our finding from the previous fact-check that most research shows crime is lower among legal/illegal immigrants. But his March “Fact Checker” lede does conflate the population of legal immigrants and of illegal migrants: President Trump has a habit of linking undocumented immigrants to grisly crimes when, in fact, most of the available data and research say immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the U.S.-born population. Rizzo has a second line of defense. He argues that his March “Fact Checker” article is OK because it “focused on violent crimes because that was the subject of the president’s remarks.” Trump’s remarks did focus on violent crime, but he also began his remarks by talking about all crime by illegals: Protecting the safety and well-being of American Citizens is my highest duty as President. Yet, lawless sanctuary jurisdictions are nullifying federal law, obstructing immigration enforcement, and releasing thousands of criminal aliens into U.S. communities to prey on innocent victims. It’s absolutely terrible. Rizzo’s “violent crime” sidestep is hidden in the article, which does not say that the WashPo is excluding analysis of the non-violent legal violations and crime committed by illegals. Those violations and crimes include being in the country illegally, using other people’s Social Security Numbers, or working illegally — often for wages below what Americans need for a decent life. Rizzo does this violent-crime sidestep multiple times in the March article to help him criticize Trump’s comments about all crime by illegals. Here’s one example: “California’s leaders are in open defiance of federal law,” Trump said in his weekly address. “They don’t care about crime. They don’t care about death and killings. They don’t care about robberies.” The president paints a menacing picture, but the bottom line is that there is no evidence any of the seven individuals he mentions committed a violent crime while ICE was searching for them. The White House said their release by local authorities meant “more crimes being committed,” but the information they provided does not bear that out for violent crimes. Rizzo’s third line of defense is that Trump supposedly is misleading the public because he does not have good data from federal and state authorities to support his statements about crime by illegal immigrants. But there is plenty of evidence in the poor federal data, from common sense and from good data in Arizona that crime by illegals is much higher than crime by native-born Americans. In Arizona, the state tracked the native or illegal status of criminals as they were jailed. Researcher John Lott used the data to show that illegals committed more than twice as much crime per person as similar-aged native-born Americans, and that legal immigrants have a low crime rate. In January, Rizzo tried to dismiss Lott’s Arizona report by saying it is unique and yet also an “outlier” among other reports. Rizzo downplayed the Arizona report, he told Breitbart News, because the pro-migration Cato Institute “has called [the report’s] methodology into question.” The Cato Institute declared: According to Lott, the data allowed [Lott] to identify “whether they [the prisoners] are illegal or legal residents.” This is where Lott made his small error: The dataset does not allow him or anybody else to identify illegal immigrants … Lott erroneously assumed that the third category, called “non-US citizen and deportable,” only counted illegal immigrants. That is not true, non-US citizen and deportable immigrants are not all illegal immigrants. Lott’s Crime Prevention Research Center responded to Cato in February: This is wrong. The category “non-US citizen, deportable” only includes illegal immigrants. We followed the guidance given to us on how to separate these groups out as given to us by the Arizona County Attorneys’ Association, particularly Bill Montgomery, who represented the association and is the DA for Maricopa County, which has about 60% of Arizona’s population. He told us that a pre-sentencing report is used to determine citizenship. Fourthly, Rizzo’s “Four Pinocchios” claim implies that the president — and the public — should wait for perfect data before making any conclusions about crime by illegals. But this is a political demand for progressive rule by experts or judges because it denies Americans the right to make a reasonable and conditional judgment — outside the courtroom, amid imperfect information — that young male migrants from some of the most violent countries on Earth should be viewed as more violent than Americans. A 2013 report by the United Nations showed the murder rates in the largest cities of the migrants’ home countries; So Rizzo is throwing “Four Pinocchios” at Trump’s comments about crime by illegals — even though Rizzo is improperly conflating crimes by illegals and legals, hiding many non-violent crimes committed by illegals, dodging Lott’s data, and issuing a fatwa on common sense. Why is Rizzo trying to do all of this under the supposed authority of a mere Washington Post “Fact Checker”? When asked by Breitbart News “Do you wish to minimize barriers against the movement of foreign people into the United States?” Rizzo replied, “The Fact Checker takes no position on the matter.” Americans’ common sense says otherwise. | Low | [
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Image copyright SPL Image caption The jaw bone is frequently fractured in fist fights and was strengthened in some of our evolutionary ancestors A new theory suggests that our male ancestors evolved beefy facial features as a defence against fist fights. The bones most commonly broken in human punch-ups also gained the most strength in early "hominin" evolution. They are also the bones that show most divergence between males and females. The paper, in the journal Biological Reviews, argues that the reinforcements evolved amid fighting over females and resources, suggesting that violence drove key evolutionary changes. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Professor David Carrier tells 5 live: "Aggression was very important" Fossil records show that the australopiths, immediate predecessors of the human genus Homo, had strikingly robust facial structures. For many years, this extra strength was seen as an adaptation to a tough diet including nuts, seeds and grasses. But more recent findings, examining the wear pattern and carbon isotopes in australopith teeth, have cast some doubt on this "feeding hypothesis". "In fact, [the australopith] boisei, the 'nutcracker man', was probably eating fruit," said Prof David Carrier, the new theory's lead author and an evolutionary biologist at the University of Utah. Masculine armour Instead of diet, Prof Carrier and his co-author, physician Dr Michael Morgan, propose that violent competition demanded the development of these facial fortifications: what they call the "protective buttressing hypothesis". In support of their proposal, Carrier and Morgan offer data from modern humans fighting. Several studies from hospital emergency wards, including one from the Bristol Royal Infirmary, show that faces are particularly vulnerable to violent injuries. Image copyright Cicero Moraes Image caption The strong brow ridges, cheek bones and jaw of early hominins like "nutcracker man" (Paranthropus boisei) may have evolved as a defence against the fists of other males, instead of for other reasons such as diet "Jaws are one of the most frequent bones to break - and it's not the end of the world now, because we have surgeons, we have modern medicine," Prof Carrier explained. "But four million years ago, if you broke your jaw, it was probably a fatal injury. You wouldn't be able to chew food... You'd just starve to death." The jaw, cheek, eye and nose structures that most commonly come to grief in modern fist fights were also the most protected by evolutionary changes seen in the australopiths. Furthermore, these are the bones that show the most differences between men and women, as well as between our male and female forebears. That is how you would expect defensive armour to evolve, Prof Carrier points out. "In humans and in great apes in general... it's males that are most likely to get into fights, and it's also males that are most likely to get injured," he told BBC News. Long-running debate Interestingly, the evolutionary descendents of the australopiths - including humans - have displayed less and less facial buttressing. This is consistent, according to Prof Carrier, with a decreasing need for protection: "Our arms and upper body are not nearly as strong as they were in the australopiths," he explained. "There's a temporal correlation." The facial buttressing idea builds on a previous observation by Prof Carrier and Dr Morgan that the early hominins were the first primates to evolve a hand shape compatible with making a fist - and thus, throwing a punch. Image copyright University of Utah Image caption Stronger facial bones appear in the australopiths (second and third rows) at about the same time as shifting hand proportions enabled our ancestors to clench their fists, then decline in parallel with upper body strength That earlier paper attracted criticism from some other researchers, and Prof Carrier expects this new contribution may also prove controversial. He says that debate about the role of violence in human evolution is not new. "[Our paper] does address this debate of whether our past was violent or peaceful," he told the BBC. "That's an argument that's been going on for a very long time." "The historical record goes back a short time, the archaeological record goes back a few tens of thousand years more... But the anatomy holds clues to what selection was important, what behaviours were important, and so it gives us information about the very distant past." | Mid | [
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Q: Maple. Dsolve and functions I have a differential equation that my program solves: p := dsolve({ic, sys}, numeric, method = rosenbrock); After solving we have the following: print(p(10)); [t = 10., alpha(t) = HFloat(0.031724302221312055), beta(t) = HFloat(0.00223975915581258)] I need use this alpha(t) and beta(t) as follows: a := t->exp( int(alpha(t)),x=0..t) ); b := t->exp( int(beta(t)),x=0..t) ) And draw a plot: odeplot(p, [[t, a(t)], [t, b(t)]], 0 .. 20, thickness = 2, numpoints = 500, color = [red, blue]) The first thing that occurred to do so: p := dsolve({sys, ic}, numeric, method=rosenbrock); alpha := t->rhs(p(t)[2] ); beta := t->rhs(p(t)[3; a := t->exp( int(alphat)),x=0..t) ); b := t->exp( int(betat)),x=0..t) ); odeplot(p, [[t, a(t)], [t, b(t)]], 0 .. 20, thickness = 2, numpoints = 500, color = [red, blue]) But the code does not work, and Yes, obviously, should act differently. A: First, let's try to get your approach to work, with a few syntax and usage changes. You didn't supply the example's details, so I make up a system of differential equations sys and initial conditions ic so that your computational commands can be performed. restart: sys := diff(alpha(t),t) = -1/200*beta(t), diff(beta(t),t) = -1/200*alpha(t) - 1/Pi^2: ic := alpha(0)=0, beta(0)=-1: p := dsolve({ic, sys}, numeric, method = rosenbrock, output=listprocedure): alphat := eval(alpha(t),p): betat := eval(beta(t),p): a := unapply( exp( Int(alphat , 0..t) ), t, numeric): b := unapply( exp( Int(betat , 0..t) ), t, numeric): evalf(a(20.0)), evalf(b(20.0)); -18 5.347592595, 3.102016550 10 st := time(): P := plots:-odeplot(p, [[t, a(t)], [t, b(t)]], 0 .. 20, thickness = 2, numpoints = 50, color = [red, blue]): ( time() - st )*`seconds`; 16.770 seconds P; I used output=listprocedure so that I could assign the right procedures from solution p to alphat and betat. Those are more efficient to call many times, as opposed to your original which formed a sequence of values for each numeric t value and then had to pick off a certain operand. It's also more robust since its not sensitive to positions (which could change due to a new lexicographic ordering if you altered the names of your variables). The above took about 16 seconds on an Intel i7. That's not fast. One reason is that the numeric integrals are being computed to higher accuracy than is necessary for the plotting. So let's restart (to ensure fair timing) and recompute with relaxed tolerances on the numeric integrations done for a and b. restart: sys := diff(alpha(t),t) = -1/200*beta(t), diff(beta(t),t) = -1/200*alpha(t) - 1/Pi^2: ic := alpha(0)=0, beta(0)=-1: p := dsolve({ic, sys}, numeric, method = rosenbrock, output=listprocedure): alphat := eval(alpha(t),p): betat := eval(beta(t),p): a := unapply( exp( Int(alphat , 0..t, epsilon=1e-5) ), t, numeric): b := unapply( exp( Int(betat , 0..t, epsilon=1e-5) ), t, numeric): evalf(a(20.0)), evalf(b(20.0)); -18 5.347592681, 3.102018090 10 st := time(): P := plots:-odeplot(p, [[t, a(t)], [t, b(t)]], 0 .. 20, thickness = 2, numpoints = 50, color = [red, blue]): ( time() - st )*`seconds`; 0.921 seconds You can check that this gives a plot that appears the same. Now lets augment the example so that the numeric integrals are computed by dsolve,numeric itself. We can do that by using Calculus. In this way we are leaving it to the numeric ode solver to do its own error estimation, stepsize control, stiffness or singularity detection, etc. Note that the integrands alphat and betat are not functions for which we have explicit functions -- their accuracy is intimately tied to the numerical ode solving. This is not quite the same as simplistically using a numerical ode routine to replace a numeric quadrature routine for a problem with an integrand which we expect to be computed directly to any desired accuracy (including on either side of any singularity). restart: sys := diff(alpha(t),t) = -1/200*beta(t), diff(beta(t),t) = -1/200*alpha(t) - 1/Pi^2, diff(g(t),t) = alpha(t), diff(h(t),t) = beta(t): ic := alpha(0)=0, beta(0)=-1, g(0)=0, h(0)=0: p := dsolve({ic, sys}, numeric, method = rosenbrock, output=listprocedure): alphat := eval(alpha(t),p): betat := eval(beta(t),p): gt := eval(g(t),p): ht := eval(h(t),p): exp(gt(20.0)), exp(ht(20.0)); -18 5.34759070530497, 3.10201330730572 10 st := time(): P := plots:-odeplot(p, [[t, exp(g(t))], [t, exp(h(t))]], 0 .. 20, thickness = 2, numpoints = 50, color = [red, blue]): ( time() - st )*`seconds`; 0.031 seconds P; | Low | [
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{ "name": "Eleminer", "description": "An arcade game.", "url": "https://ericsoco.itch.io/eleminer" } | Low | [
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Q: What does "restricted admission" mean in German universities? While browsing the web-sites of various German universities I have come across the term "restricted admission". What does it mean? Do German universities discriminate students on the basis of their age? Is there anything called "unrestricted admission"? If so, what does that mean? A: In Germany, access to universities is regulated by the Numerus Clausus system, which basically says that the number of students admitted to any given programme at a university can be either unrestricted or restricted to a fixed number of students. For an unrestricted programme, students just need to fulfill the basic formal criteria (they need a german Abitur, or an equivalent). For most restricted programmes on bachelor level, prospective students need to apply and are then ranked based solely on their Abitur grades (plus a few exceptions for corner cases, foreign students with no german Abitur, etc.). For restricted master level programmes, many universities (including, apparently, TU Kaiserslautern, as linked by the original poster above) have adopted a more US-style admission system, which is based not only on previous grades but also on letters of recommendation, statements of interest, interviews, etc. TU Kaiserslautern also has its selection procedure online. This will vary per university, though. Edit: to answer your subquestion (which I happened to have missed the first time around): Do German universities discriminate students on the basis of their age? No, not in general, and certainly not officially. A: On your subquestion: Do German universities discriminate students on the basis of their age? I don't know any public state universitiy that does it, but in some cases privately founded institutions of higher education admit only persons up to a maximum age. One example I found is the Hasso-Plattner-Institut (HPI), a institute that offers bachelor-, master-, and doctoral degrees in cooperation with the University of Potsdam. At the applicants information page one can read: Offen für alle Studierende unter 35 Jahren, die entweder in einem Bachelor‑, Master‑, Diplom- oder Promotionsstudium immatrikuliert sind oder ihr Studium vor weniger als einem Jahr abgeschlossen haben. [Open to all students under age 35, who either are enrolled in a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral program or have completed their studies less than one year ago.] May the community add more examples in the comments. They can be added to the answer. | High | [
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Here's a patch for a \cd (change dir) command in psql program. It's very small and only adds a few lines. Personally, I am surprised psql does not have this command. It is EXTREMELY useful when \include'ing SQL scripts to set up a database schema. Hope you like, Mark Hamby P.S. I am not on the 'psql-patches' list, so responses should be sent directly to me for more info or questions. | Mid | [
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Marilita Lambropoulou Marilita Lambropoulou (, Marilíta Lampropoúlou), born July 15, 1974 in Athens, Greece is a Greek actress. She is very popular with home audiences for her work in films like Athens Blues (Μια Μέρα τη Νύχτα, Mia Mera ti Nychta), directed by Giorgos Panousopoulos (2002) and The King (Ο Βασιλιάς, O Vasilias), directed by Nikos Grammatikos (2002), for which she won the "Quality Award". Marilita trained at the Theatre Studies Department of the University of Patras, as well as at a series of seminars organised by the National Theatre. Her stage work includes roles in both classical and contemporary theatre, most recently in Bat’s The House of the Sleeping Girls at the Amore Theater. Marilita has also directed theatre, including The Caretaker by Harold Pinter and Psychology of the Syrian Husband by Emmanuil Roidis. She has acted in television in such leads roles as Maria in the television film, Three Wishes (Tρεις Eυχές, Treis Evches). For the last 5 years she has been acting in leading roles in both comedy and drama series for TV. In 2003 she represented Greece in Berlin and was voted as one of Europeas film Shooting Stars by the European Film Promotion. External links Official Site Fan Club Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:People from Athens Category:Greek film actresses Category:Greek television actresses Category:University of Patras alumni | High | [
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Harnessing neuroplasticity: modern approaches and clinical future. Background and purpose: Neurological diseases and injuries to the nervous system may cause inadvertent damage to neuronal and synaptic structures. Such phenomenon would lead to the development of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders which might affect memory, cognition and motoric functions. The body has various negative feedback systems which can induce beneficial neuroplastic changes in mediating some neuronal damage; however, such efforts are often not enough to ameliorate the derogatory changes. Materials and methods: Articles discussing studies to induce beneficial neuroplastic changes were retrieved from the databases, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and MEDLINE, and reviewed. Results: This review highlights the significance of neuroplasticity in restoring neuronal functions and current advances in research to employ this positive cellular event by inducing synaptogenesis, neurogenesis, clearance of toxic amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau protein aggregates, or by providing neuroprotection. Compounds ranging from natural products (e.g. bilobalides, curcumin) to novel vaccines (e.g. AADvac1, RG7345) have been reported to induce long-lasting neuroplasticity in vitro and in vitro. Activity-dependent neuroplasticity is also inducible by regimens of exercises and therapies with instances in human studies proving major successes. Lastly, mechanical stimulation of brain regions through therapeutic hypothermia or deep brain stimulation has given insight on the larger scale of neuroplasticity within the nervous system. Conclusion: Harnessing neuroplasticity may not only offer an arm in the vast arsenal of approaches being taken to tackle neurological disorders, such as neurodegenerative diseases, but from ample evidence, it also has major implications in neuropsychological disorders. | High | [
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Q: add filter by attribute on product listing page in magento? I have Added a drop down attribute ring type and add all option from Manage attribute and assigned attribute set. I want to use this attribute as a filter on product listing page like sort by. like this site :http://www.reeds.com/Rings-cat6.html thanks A: I can't give you a full solution because what you want is is in magento. It's called layered navigation. When you set an attribute you can specify if it's used in layered. So when you go to a category where you have multiple product sets in place layered navi takes care and ofer you navigation options. It is in fact a filter box where you can decide what you want to see. To have a better understanding of what I'm saying check those links: magento demo store magento layered navigation magento wiki product attributes | High | [
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832 F.2d 1138 Norma Jean ALMODOVAR and R.N. Bullard, Plaintiffs-Appellants,v.Ira REINER, Burton J. Schneirow, Darryl Gates, Joseph Conti,and James G. Como, Defendants-Appellees. No. 87-5521. United States Court of Appeals,Ninth Circuit. Submitted Oct. 8, 1987.Decided Nov. 17, 1987. Stanley Fleishman, Los Angeles, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants. Ladell H. Muhlestein, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees Reiner and Schneirow. Jack L. Brown, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees Gates, Como and Conti. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Before KENNEDY, SKOPIL and NELSON, Circuit Judges. NELSON, Circuit Judge: 1 Appellants contend that using California's pandering and prostitution statutes to prevent them from making sexually explicit films violates their federal and state constitutional rights. Because the California Supreme Court had not construed the two statutes as applying to filmmakers, and because a similar challenge is currently before the California Supreme Court, the district court abstained following the doctrine of Railroad Commissioner v. Pullman, 312 U.S. 496, 61 S.Ct. 643, 85 L.Ed. 971 (1941). The district court then dismissed the case "because the plaintiffs raise state constitutional claims which mirror their federal constitutional claims." We conclude that the district court properly abstained under the Pullman doctrine, but that it should not have dismissed the action. 2 Abstention decisions are reviewed under a modified abuse of discretion standard. C-Y Development Co. v. Redlands, 703 F.2d 375, 377 (9th Cir.1983). The decision not to abstain is within the trial court's discretion. Id. But unless certain exceptional circumstances are present, a district court has little or no discretion to abstain. Id. Whether these requirements were met is a mixed question of fact and law, that is more law than fact, and is therefore reviewed de novo. See United States v. McConney, 728 F.2d 1195, 1199-1204 (9th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 824, 105 S.Ct. 101, 83 L.Ed.2d 46 (1984). I. Abstention 3 Abstention based on the doctrine of Railroad Commissioner v. Pullman, 312 U.S. 496, 61 S.Ct. 643, 85 L.Ed. 971 (1941), is strictly limited. Courts may not abstain from deciding claims unless 4 (1) The complaint "touches a sensitive area of social policy upon which the federal courts ought not to enter unless no alternative to its adjudication is open." 5 (2) "Such Constitutional adjudication plainly can be avoided if a definitive ruling on the state issue would terminate the controversy." 6 (3) The possibly determinative issue of state law is doubtful. 7 Canton v. Spokane School Dist. No. 81, 498 F.2d 840, 845 (9th Cir.1974) (quoting Pullman, 312 U.S. at 498-99, 61 S.Ct. at 644-45). Because each of these elements is present, we affirm the district court's decision to abstain. 8 This Circuit stated in Pearl Investment Co. v. San Francisco, 774 F.2d 1460, 1463 (9th Cir.1985), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 2891, 90 L.Ed.2d 978 (1986), that for Pullman abstention purposes, a challenge to an anti-obscenity statute concerned "arguably more sensitive social issues" than land use planning, which is regularly recognized as a sensitive issue of social policy. Similarly, we conclude that the regulation of prostitution and of sexually explicit films are controversial issues of great local interest. This interpretation of the "sensitive social policy" prong of Canton recognizes that abstention protects state sovereignty over matters of local concern, out of considerations of federalism, and out of "scrupulous regard for the rightful independence of state governments." Pullman, 312 U.S. at 501, 61 S.Ct. at 645. 9 Although courts have avoided abstention in first amendment challenges, see Procunier v. Martinez, 416 U.S. 396, 404, 94 S.Ct. 1800, 1807, 40 L.Ed.2d 224 (1974), there is no absolute rule against abstention in first amendment cases. The fears of chill that justify our preference against abstention in first amendment cases are not present in this instance. See Procunier, 416 U.S. at 405, 94 S.Ct. at 1807; Baggett v. Bullitt, 377 U.S. 360, 378-79, 84 S.Ct. 1316, 1326-27, 12 L.Ed.2d 377 (1964); J-R Distributors, Inc. v. Eikenberry, 725 F.2d 482, 488 (9th Cir.1984) rev'd on other grounds sub nom Brocket v. Spokane Arcades, 472 U.S. 491, 105 S.Ct. 2794, 86 L.Ed.2d 394 (1985). This case poses few dangers of first amendment chill. The issue can be adjudicated in a single state court proceeding, and the litigants need not undergo the expense or delay of a full state court litigation because other parties are already presenting the issue to the California Supreme Court. That a pending state court litigation between other parties might resolve the issues presented weighs in favor of abstention. See University of Oklahoma Gay People's Union v. Board of Regents, 661 F.2d 858 (10th Cir.1981); Classen v. Weller, 516 F.Supp. 1243 (N.D.Cal.1981). 10 All of plaintiff's constitutional claims would be moot if the state supreme court decides that the statutes do not apply to making films of sexual activity. Pullman abstention was designed especially for this sort of narrowing construction. See Baggett, 377 U.S. at 376-77, 84 S.Ct. at 1325-26. If the California Supreme Court decides that the legislature did not intend the prostitution statute to apply to films, Almodovar will have obtained all the relief she seeks without a federal decision on her constitutional claims. 11 The statutes in this case are susceptible to limiting construction. Certainly the requirement that sex be exchanged for money to constitute prostitution might be limited so as not to include performance before a camera. Although the pandering statute has been construed to include filmmakers, see People v. Fixler, 56 Cal.App.3d 321, 128 Cal.Rptr. 363 (1976), this construction was not by the California Supreme Court. Furthermore, because the issue is now before the California Supreme Court in People v. Freeman, 236 Cal.Rptr. 1, 734 P.2d 562, granting review to, 188 Cal.App.3d 618, 233 Cal.Rptr 510 (1987), the statute has not been construed authoritatively. II. Dismissal 12 Pullman abstention requires the district court to retain jurisdiction so that the plaintiff may return to vindicate her federal constitutional rights if the state decision does not settle the issues. See, e.g., Isthmus Landowners Ass'n v. California, 601 F.2d 1087, 1091 (9th Cir.1979); see also Doud v. Hodge, 350 U.S. 485, 487, 76 S.Ct. 491, 492, 100 L.Ed. 577 (1956). Failure to retain jurisdiction is reversible error. See Isthmus, 601 F.2d at 1091; Santa Fe Land Imp. Co. v. Chula Vista, 596 F.2d 838, 841 (9th Cir.1979). Dismissal has been reversed even if federal claims mirrored state constitutional claims. See, e.g., Santa Fe Land Imp. Co. 596 F.2d 838. Although cases may be dismissed if there are sufficient grounds to abstain under either Burford or Younger abstention, we find no justification for abstaining under either of these doctrines. 13 Burford abstention is inappropriate in this case for three reasons. First, because federal questions might remain after the decision of state law issues, Burford abstention would require that federal intervention disrupt efforts to establish a coherent public policy. Colorado River Water Conservation Dist. v. United States, 424 U.S. 800, 814, 96 S.Ct. 1236, 1244, 47 L.Ed.2d 483 (1976). Federal disruption has been held to occur when states enact complex regulatory schemes. See International Bhd. of Elec. Workers, Local No. 1245 v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 614 F.2d 206, 211 (9th Cir.1980). Federal disruption does not occur merely because a federal decision conflicts with a state statute. Colorado River, 424 U.S. at 814-16, 96 S.Ct. at 1244-46. The state issues in this case relate only to two simple statutes, not to any complex web of administration. Thus no disruption is threatened. Second, California has not established a specialized court system to review prostitution and pandering charges that would justify Burford abstention. See Eikenberry, 725 F.2d at 488 n. 6. Third, the state issues here, with which a state court might have special competence, are not intertwined with the federal issues. See, e.g., International Bhd. of Elec. Workers No. 1245, 614 F.2d at 211. If the state adjudication does not end the case, then appellant's federal claims will present federal constitutional challenges to clearly construed state statutes. Burford abstention is, therefore, inappropriate. 14 Younger abstention precludes federal courts from enjoining currently pending state criminal actions, see Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971), or from issuing declaratory judgments in cases in which an injunction would disrupt those actions. See Samuels v. Mackell, 401 U.S. 66, 73, 91 S.Ct. 764, 768, 27 L.Ed.2d 688 (1971). Appellees argue that because Almodovar is currently on probation for violating the prostitution statute, the terms of which preclude her from violating the statute again, any injunction of future prosecutions would interfere with a current criminal proceeding. We reject this position. 15 Probation is not a pending criminal action for Younger purposes. Younger abstention permits exclusion of constitutional claims from federal court because the constitutional defenses can be raised during the state proceedings. See Steffel v. Thompson, 415 U.S. 452, 462, 94 S.Ct. 1209, 1217, 39 L.Ed.2d 505 (1974). Post trial proceedings, such as probation, do not offer this opportunity. 16 The Supreme Court has made clear that federal post-trial intervention is not precluded by Younger, unless the intervention is designed to annul the results of a state trial by expunging an individual's record or by removing other collateral effects of his conviction. See Wooley v. Maynard, 430 U.S. 705, 97 S.Ct. 1428, 51 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977); Huffman v. Pursue, Ltd., 420 U.S. 592, 609, 95 S.Ct. 1200, 1210, 43 L.Ed.2d 482 (1975). In Wooley, the Supreme Court said that Younger did not apply to individuals seeking "only to be free from prosecutions for future violations of the same statutes." This case is governed by Wooley. Appellant does not seek to have her record expunged, or to have a standing court order overturned. Rather, she seeks, as did Mr. Maynard, "to be free from prosecutions for future violations of the same statute." Id. Her current probation status cannot be treated as grounds for Younger abstention. III. Attorneys' Fees 17 Appellants and the County Appellees seek attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988 (1982). We may not award fees under the circumstances of this case. Appellants are not entitled to fees under this provision because they are not prevailing parties. Although Appellees are prevailing parties, section 1988 does not authorize fees for prevailing defendants unless the appeal can be characterized as frivolous or vexatious. See Ellis v. Cassidy, 625 F.2d 227, 230 (9th Cir.1980); see also Middleton v. Remington Arms Co., 594 F.2d 1210, 1212 (8th Cir.1979). We cannot so characterize Almodovar's appeal. CONCLUSION 18 We affirm the district courts decision to abstain. We reverse the district court's decision to dismiss the case, and remand for the district court to retain jurisdiction pending the state court proceedings. Each side will bear its own costs. 19 AFFIRMED IN PART--REVERSED IN PART. | Mid | [
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Q: error returned in function to find lognormal for calculation Finding Lnorm of a function I imported the lognorm import.(lognorm). When i tried to run the code below. I got the error L <- lrnorm(10, 1) Error in lrnorm(10, 1) : could not find function "lnorm" A: You probably meant rlnorm(10, 1): rlnorm(10, 1) [1] 2.9912069 1.9946569 1.7922328 7.9434553 5.7672878 1.0603424 3.2814964 [8] 0.4145954 0.7273603 3.7008232 But, rlnorm is just a base R function, and not part of the lognorm package. | Low | [
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Reports of English-only comments at Stewpot day camp scrutinized by some in Hispanic community A group of Latinos is scrutinizing reports that a staffer at the Stewpot of First Presbyterian Church asked that only English be spoken among children attending a day camp. The Stewpot offers free meals, community programs for children and other social services for the homeless and “at-risk” individuals. For decades, it has run a summer program for low-income children. The Rev. Bruce Buchanan, the Stewpot’s director and associate pastor at First Presbyterian, said no English-only policy has been put into place at the Stewpot. “We try to strengthen language skills,” he said. “English is encouraged but is not required. And no one is penalized for speaking another language.” Buchanan acknowledged some statement was made to the children as they were gathering to leave or move into other program areas. He termed it a “misunderstanding” and said there was no mandate for only English to be spoken among the children. He defended the program, saying it enhances high school graduation rates and helps students get into college. Vigorous commentary spread Wednesday morning after a detailed posting on an email list received by about 1,500 people and run by DFW International Community Alliance. The list is called LaRedLatinaDFW. Red is Spanish for network. In Dallas and many parts of Texas, it’s easy to find Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants who remember being paddled or punished in schools for speaking Spanish decades back. On Wednesday, some asked for “sensitivity training” at the Stewpot or that the staff member involved be fired — after an apology to the children for allegedly getting on a microphone to address the children. “We are in 2013, and this is embarrassing,” said Hilda Duarte, who works at a charter school in Dallas. “It’s like asking Rosa Parks to sit in the back of the bus — again. The children deserve to be treated in a nurturing manner.” To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor. | Mid | [
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Winter recreation fans and workers need to think safety Kevin Vincent, a veteran skier and snowboarder, started wearing a helmet while snowboarding in 1996. A couple of tough spills convinced him it was necessary. “You don’t want to see stars again, so you wear a helmet,” said the Corner Brook resident, also a former president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Snowboard Association. According to data compiled on injuries sustained from winter activities, it is for good reason snowboarders and skiers should take safety precautions. In 2010-11, there were 2,329 hospital admissions in Canada related to a skiing or snowboarding fall or crash. That figure is double the number of admissions compiled for hockey as well as for snowmobiling. Those numbers are consistent with data reported over the last five years by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), which released its findings Tuesday. Vincent, who has worked for ski patrols on Vancouver Island and at Marble Mountain, said it is important for people hitting a ski hill or half-pipe to find ones appropriate to their individual skill level. “Don’t go beyond your abilities,” he said. Vincent has witnessed people injure their knees attempting difficult landings on jumps. Concussions are a more common snowboarding or skiing-related injury, he said. “When you’re doing 40 or 50 kilometres an hour and you hook an edge, that impact accelerates to a sudden stop. It all goes back to knowing your abilities and riding within your abilities and not pushing too hard, too far or too fast.” Of 415 hospitalizations for serious head injuries related to winter sport or recreational activity, 135 were the result of skiing or snowboarding accidents, according to CIHI. Obeying signage is also a necessity for safety’s sake, said Vincent. Ice hazards CIHI data found there were more than 7,100 hospital admissions for serious injuries caused by falls on ice. Almost half were for people age 60 and over, with approximately 70 per cent accounting for people 50 and over. “That’s a pattern that we really have to pay attention to in Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Leslie Galway, CEO for the Workplace, Health, Safety and Compensation Commission. The problem here, she said, is that the average worker in this province is older than in most other Canadian provinces. “Therefore, we have to take a very serious look at what’s happening to workers during the winter months, and the fact the injuries they sustain often result in hospitalization, and no doubt that leads to workers who have longer recovery periods and challenges with returning to work.” Galway said additional winter injury concerns exist when it comes to cold weather, particularly in northern Labrador, where hypothermia is a danger. As for the island, Galway said the unpredictable nature of winter weather can lead to problematic driving conditions. She said construction projects now operate at times of the year when they traditionally may have shut down, thus employees and employers must stay aware of the hazards winter may bring. “I think it’s incredibly important for the employers and the workers to work together as they look at the hazard assessments they face,” said Galway. Postal workers delivering mail and staff retrieving shopping carts outdoors would be among those more at risk of taking a tumble during the winter, according to Trish Dodd, founder of the Newfoundland and Labrador Injured Workers Association. Dodd echoed Galway’s concerns about the need for employees and employers to work together to prevent injuries, but added the nature of the season can make them hard to avoid in some instances. “You can be as careful as you like, both parties, but there’s going to be slips and falls on ice and snow, particularly for postal workers and truck drivers,” she said. “We always have to be aware that a slip and fall can be a disabler in life.” | Mid | [
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After raising a whopping $155 million in funding from DST, General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital at the end of last year, Swedish online payments company Klarna has brought two heavyweights from the haute finance industry on board – literally. The company this morning announced that Nigel Morris, co-founder of Capital One, and Anton Levy, MD of General Atlantic, have joined its board of directors. Morris co-founded Capital One and which grew the firm to one of the largest issuers of Visa and MasterCard in the world. During his 10-year tenure, Capital One’s sales grew revenue to $11 billion annually and a market cap of $18 billion. Levy is a managing director at General Atlantic, and sits on the boards of companies like AKQA, Gilt Groupe, Red Ventures and Web.com. Klarna’s board already had seats for two other big names from the investment world: Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital and Klaus Hommels. The company says 6 million shoppers already using its service for after-delivery online payments, and that it currently handles over $2.5 billion worth of transactions annually for 15,000 merchants across Europe. | Mid | [
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2014 Final Team Efficiency Rankings Written by Sterling Xie Written by Sterling Xie Details Published: 01 January 2015 Page 1 of 2 The Black Sheep The Poles For the final team efficiency rankings of 2014, I thought it might be instructive to break down some of the process that goes into making the sausage. AFA uses a different secret sauce than other analytics rankings sites, and if you're interested in the math behind the process, Brian has posted a detailed example of how this model spews it outs rankings here and here While I won't be doing the same computational legwork, there are elements within the model that reveal some general trends about the types of teams that AFA sees favorably (or unfavorably). You don't have to agree with the final outputs, but I suspect that the small sample size of a 16 game season coupled with football's naturally high attrition rate prevents us from ever generating an ideally predictive model year after year.We'll kick off the final look with a breakdown of a particularly unusual season-long ranking, as well as a look at the biggest changes from the beginning of the season.Looking at a pair of controversial AFC East teams.- Despite what other metrics and the eye test would suggest, AFA has put theahead of theall season, including in the final rankings. Miami barely eeked things out in the end, with a 0.61 Gross Winning Percentage (GWP) compared to the Patriots' 0.60 mark. If the Pats had not treated their regular-season finale, it seems plausible that they may have passed the Fins at the finish line, especially when seeing their ugly offensive numbers Nevertheless, there was not one week since the rankings came out after Week 3 that the longtime AFC East bullies finished ahead of Joe Philbin's Toon Squad. It's especially odd when seeing that AFA's own Expected Points Added (EPA) metric portrayed New England as possessing a significantly better offense, while also holding the edge on defense due to Miami's late-season collapse on that side of the ball:The answer may lie in the fact that Miami appears to stand out particularly in rushing offense. The Dolphins finished the season with the NFL's highest success rate at 51.6 percent. New England's best stat was actually also rushing success rate—they checked in at third overall at 45.6 percent—but otherwise, the Patriots were surprisingly average in just about everything else.It's an interesting trend over the past two years, as the top-ranked rushing offense has exceeded ostensible expectations all season long. In 2013, Chip Kelly's Eagles were a top-five fixture in the rankings, despite sitting 3-5 at one point and not truly heating up until the end of the season. Philly finished fifth at the end of last season's rankings, the same place where Miami ended up this season, spurred by a 49 percent rushing success rate that was four percent higher than the second-place team.Considering that running the ball is definitely less mathematically favorable than passing it, the first thought should be one of alarm—is this site being hypocritical to its own research? Correlating each team's ranking in run success rate with their overall ranking in GWP, DVOA and SRS—three metrics of team strength—here's what we get:To be clear, this is far from perfect methodology. It's only looking at one season, after all, so it would be more helpful to look at all of the available data going back to 1999 before drawing any actual conclusions. Moreover, it's not as though all three team ranking measurements incorporate that run success rate into their formulations, which would be necessary to really draw definitive conclusions.Still, it's telling that the AFA trendline differs noticeably from either DVOA or SRS, which are virtually indistinguishable from each other. The correlation coefficient for the blue AFA line is 0.34, while both DVOA and SRS check in right around 0.17.Even the stronger AFA correlation doesn't go so far as to say that run success rate should be a primary determinant in the team's ranking, so that alone can't explain why the Dolphins were ranked so high the whole season. But it does represent a part of the formula, and based on these findings, it appears that AFA places more weight on the running game than at least those two other measures. Again, this doesn't mean that one methodology is particularly better or worse than the others, but looks like the most prominent way in which this site diverges from its advanced metric cousins.No, not the people. This is a look at the teams that constituted the top and bottom of the rankings.- Thehave been the site's top-ranked team since Week 6, and despite some concerns surrounding an ostensibly dead-armed Peyton Manning, the Broncos are the runaway top team in the final rankings. Denver's 0.77 GWP, which would translate to an average of 12.3 wins per season, puts them almost exactly one full win better than the next best team in the league.However, in finishing with a GWP of 0.71, thebecame the first non-Denver team to crack the 70 percent barrier all season. Indeed, stats like weighted DVOA suggest that the Seahawks have been the league's "hottest" team recently; Seattle's +95 point differential since Week 12, when Bobby Wagner and Kam Chancellor simultaneously returned to the defense, is nearly 30 points better than any other team over that span.Right now, it appears exceedingly likely that the Super Bowl will consist of some combination of Seattle or Green Bay from the NFC and Denver or New England from the AFC. AFA does not give any of the other eight playoff teams more than a five percent chance of reaching the Super Bowl; Football Outsiders and FiveThirtyEight give similarly heavy odds to the four-team hegemony.If those four teams comprise the likeliest contenders, perhaps a more accurate division would be Seattle and then everyone else. EPA doesn't always agree with these rankings, as we've seen throughout the season, but dividing the season into eight game halves, we see that the Seahawks' have been far and away the league's best team based on cumulative EPA in the second half:EPA would suggest that the Seahawks and Packers are the two best teams in the league, though New England's second-half offensive EPA would probably have exceeded Seattle's if the Patriots had not rested starters in Week 17. But while Green Bay's gaudy second-half offensive EPA looks impressive, the complexion of today's NFL suggests that having a premier defense may be more valuable. Whereas nine teams finished with a cumulative offensive EPA over 100 this year (including all Big 4 teams), just four teams had a negative defensive EPA (with Seattle being the only Big 4 team to reach that criteria).Combined with holding home-field advantage in the inferior conference, the Seahawks are probably the statistical favorite to repeat as champs. The model may see Denver as the best team based on season-long aggregation, but based on conference competition and second-half form, the numbers all point to Seattle. | Low | [
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Ingrid Wacker Ingrid Wacker (died 4 August 2009) was a German film editor. Selected filmography On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight (1954) My Leopold (1955) How Do I Become a Film Star? (1955) Yes, Yes, Love in Tyrol (1955) Black Forest Melody (1956) The Legs of Dolores (1957) Doctor Bertram (1957) The Copper (1958) The Muzzle (1958) Peter Shoots Down the Bird (1959) Of Course, the Motorists (1959) We Will Never Part (1960) The Red Hand (1960) References Bibliography Cowie, Peter. World Filmography. Tantivy Press, 1968. External links Category:Year of birth unknown Category:2009 deaths Category:German film editors | Mid | [
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Q: How to open multiples files in one Code instance from command line? If I open a file in Visual Studio Code from the command line or from within File Explorer, each file will open in a separate Code instance. Is there a way to make them all open in the same instance? I.e. add them all to the 'Working Files' list? A: Upcoming version will have a new option files.openInNewWindow which you can set to off to always open files into the last active instance. This is then identical to starting VS Code with the -r option but is much nicer to use (e.g. when you open a file from the desktop). Update for our VS Code 1.0 release: The setting is available as window.openFilesInNewWindow A: You can use the command line option of -r or --reuse-window to assure it opens in the last active VS Code window You can review the other options here | High | [
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module ActiveRecord module Associations class Association undef :build_record def build_record(attributes, options) reflection.build_association(attributes, options) do |record| attributes = create_scope.except(*(record.changed - [reflection.foreign_key])) record.assign_attributes(attributes, without_protection: true) end end private :build_record end class CollectionAssociation undef :build undef :create undef :create! def build(attributes = {}, options = {}, &block) if attributes.is_a?(Array) attributes.collect { |attr| build(attr, options, &block) } else add_to_target(build_record(attributes, options)) do |record| yield(record) if block_given? end end end def create(attributes = {}, options = {}, &block) create_record(attributes, options, &block) end def create!(attributes = {}, options = {}, &block) create_record(attributes, options, true, &block) end def create_record(attributes, options, raise = false, &block) unless owner.persisted? raise ActiveRecord::RecordNotSaved, "You cannot call create unless the parent is saved" end if attributes.is_a?(Array) attributes.collect { |attr| create_record(attr, options, raise, &block) } else transaction do add_to_target(build_record(attributes, options)) do |record| yield(record) if block_given? insert_record(record, true, raise) end end end end private :create_record end class CollectionProxy undef :create undef :create! def build(attributes = {}, options = {}, &block) @association.build(attributes, options, &block) end alias_method :new, :build def create(attributes = {}, options = {}, &block) @association.create(attributes, options, &block) end def create!(attributes = {}, options = {}, &block) @association.create!(attributes, options, &block) end end module ThroughAssociation undef :build_record if respond_to?(:build_record, false) private def build_record(attributes, options={}) inverse = source_reflection.inverse_of target = through_association.target if inverse && target && !target.is_a?(Array) attributes[inverse.foreign_key] = target.id end super(attributes, options) end end class HasManyThroughAssociation undef :build_record undef :options_for_through_record if respond_to?(:options_for_through_record, false) def build_record(attributes, options = {}) ensure_not_nested record = super(attributes, options) inverse = source_reflection.inverse_of if inverse if inverse.macro == :has_many record.send(inverse.name) << build_through_record(record) elsif inverse.macro == :has_one record.send("#{inverse.name}=", build_through_record(record)) end end record end private :build_record def options_for_through_record [through_scope_attributes, without_protection: true] end private :options_for_through_record end class SingularAssociation undef :create undef :create! undef :build def create(attributes = {}, options = {}, &block) create_record(attributes, options, &block) end def create!(attributes = {}, options = {}, &block) create_record(attributes, options, true, &block) end def build(attributes = {}, options = {}) record = build_record(attributes, options) yield(record) if block_given? set_new_record(record) record end def create_record(attributes, options = {}, raise_error = false) record = build_record(attributes, options) yield(record) if block_given? saved = record.save set_new_record(record) raise RecordInvalid.new(record) if !saved && raise_error record end private :create_record end end end | Mid | [
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Machine Learning in the Cloud, with TensorFlow - ner0x652 http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2016/03/machine-learning-in-cloud-with.html ====== transcranial They say that they make use of GPUs. Anybody know if this means GPU VMs are coming to google compute engine? That would be amazing. AWS GPU instances are popular but somewhat limited as they use older hardware. ------ chimtim Interesting to see the speech, vision API among others. I wonder what this means for metamind, clarifai and many other startups offering an API for doing something close? ------ mikecb Pretty nice model and makes sense why they OSed Tensorflow: write, train using the API, and feel safe that you can run it on your own hardware as well. ------ aub3bhat Seems it hasn't been fully release yet, getting a 404 on [https://cloud.google.com/ml/docs/](https://cloud.google.com/ml/docs/) nor can I find it in GCP console. This provides slightly more information. [https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/2016/03/Google-takes- Cl...](https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/2016/03/Google-takes-Cloud- Machine-Learning-service-mainstream.html) ~~~ pseudobry Access to this API (and docs) is currently invite-only. Sign up for the limited preview: [https://services.google.com/fb/forms/machinelearningpreview/](https://services.google.com/fb/forms/machinelearningpreview/) ------ mikecb Also announced speech recognition API also powered by TF. ------ braindead_in Tried to sign up for the Speech API, but could not find the Google Cloud Platform user id. Would love to integrate this with our transcription editor. ~~~ boulos You should see the (pile of numbers) project id when you visit [https://console.cloud.google.com](https://console.cloud.google.com) in the upper left inset. Alternatively, at any place in the console you can hit the Settings gear and select Project Info (which should have both your numeric project number as well as your alphanumeric project identifier). Disclosure: I work on Compute Engine. ------ wodenokoto Does Google have any academic discounts? I'm using tensorflow for my thesis and wouldn't mind some free cycles :) ~~~ dgacmu Yes. Have your advisor email me (dga at cs . cmu . edu) and I'll send him / her pointers to some of the programs Google has for faculty. Note: cloudml alpha is a limited invite-only thing, so is unlikely to work for you on a short timescale, but nothing stops you from using GCE as a source of cycles on which to run your own install of TF in the meantime. ------ thebouv I have a lot on my list of stuff I want to learn about but machine learning is at the top. Damn you time! I need more of you! ------ sandra_saltlake Would love to integrate and work on this ------ benevol So if I understand the situation correctly, using this offer, we all feed the AI Google is building, thereby creating another Google monopoly situation (the AI system that gets the most training will be the strongest, thereby attracting even more users/training and becoming even stronger). ~~~ dgacmu At the risk of giving a serious answer when your phrasing makes it seem like you're trolling: No. The Cloud ML service is _your_ data and _your_ model and _your_ training results (except as required for google computers to touch it to train it and store it - but the results of that training are _yours_.) The same question was asked earlier of the Vision API, with the same answer: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11128444](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11128444) At a high level, you can think of it as having mostly the same properties as if you rented a bunch of GCE machines (or AWS machines) and ran TensorFlow on them, with your data stored in GCS (or S3 or whatever). The difference is that Cloud ML handles the scaling pain for you -- managing the machines, starting and keeping tasks running, load balancing, etc. (disclaimer: I'm working on TensorFlow, not Cloud ML.) | Mid | [
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Sendai virus trailer RNA simultaneously blocks two apoptosis-inducing mechanisms in a cell type-dependent manner. Induction of apoptosis during Sendai virus (SeV) infection has previously been documented to be triggered by initiator caspases (for strain F) or by a contribution of the cellular protein TIAR (T-cell-activated intracellular antigen-related) (for strain Z). Here, evidence was provided that both TIAR and caspases are simultaneously involved in apoptosis induction as a result of infection with SeV strain F. SeV F infection induced death in all tested cell lines, which could only be partially prevented through the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk. However, infection of seven different cell lines with the SeV mutant Fctr48z overexpressing a TIAR-sequestering RNA from the modified leader resulted in a cell type-dependent reduced cytopathic effect (CPE); in an earlier study a similar mutant derived from SeV Z was shown to prevent the induction of any CPE. Finally, blocking of caspases through z-VAD-fmk combined with Fctr48z infection led to complete abrogation of CPE, clearly demonstrating the existence of two separate mechanisms inducing cell death during SeV F infections. Interestingly, a cell type-specific interference between these two mechanisms could be detected during infection with the mutant virus Fctr48z: RNA transcribed from the mutated leader was able to trans-dominantly inhibit caspase-mediated apoptosis. Thus, virus-expressed factors enabling a well-balanced ratio of suppression and triggering of apoptosis seem to be essential for optimal virus replication. | Mid | [
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This is a path generated using A*, with the optimal distance algorithm and no path optimization. This is the same as in the previous screenshot, but in the middle of a path finding visualization. The + are tiles already visited. 0 is the next tile to be considered (for A* this means the tile with the lowest ("cost from source" + "estimated distance to destination")), the other numbers are the next 9 tiles to be considered. | Low | [
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Pacific Linguistics A REDIRECTPacific Linguistics | Mid | [
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Q: Blackberry Notification Bar: How to replace Message Preview Window Hi I'm trying to make my first blackberry app using eclipse, the main idea of the app is only to show current location based on internal GPS LatLong << skip this part. now the question is I've been looking for almost two weeks about how to replace "Message Preview" window that appear if custom message is clicked Here's my code Class DemoMessage public final class DemoMessage implements ApplicationMessage { static final int DEMO_MESSAGE_TYPE = 0x01; private String _sender; private String _subject; private String _message; private long _receivedTime; private boolean _isNew; private boolean _deleted; private String _replyMessage; private long _replyTime; private EncodedImage _previewPicture; public DemoMessage() { _isNew = true; } DemoMessage(String sender, String subject, String message, long receivedTime) { _sender = sender; _subject = subject; _message = message; _receivedTime = receivedTime; _isNew = true; } void reply(String message) { markRead(); _replyMessage = message; _replyTime = System.currentTimeMillis(); } void messageDeleted() { _isNew = false; _deleted = true; } void markAsNew() { _isNew = true; _replyMessage = null; } void markRead() { _isNew = false; } boolean isNew() { return _isNew; } boolean hasReplied() { return _replyMessage != null; } void setSender(String sender) { _sender = sender; } void setSubject(String subject) { _subject = subject; } void setReceivedTime(long receivedTime) { _receivedTime = receivedTime; } void setMessage(String message) { _message = message; } String getMessage() { return _message; } void setPreviewPicture(EncodedImage image) { _previewPicture = image; } public String getContact() { return _sender; } public int getStatus() { if(_isNew) { return MyApp.STATUS_NEW; } if(_deleted) { return MyApp.STATUS_DELETED; } if(_replyMessage != null) { return MyApp.STATUS_REPLIED; } return MyApp.STATUS_OPENED; } public String getSubject() { if(_replyMessage != null) { return "Re: " + _subject; } else { return _subject; } } public long getTimestamp() { return _receivedTime; } public int getType() { return DEMO_MESSAGE_TYPE; } public String getPreviewText() { if(_message == null) { return null; } StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer(_message); if(_replyMessage != null) { buffer.append(". You replied on ").append(new Date(_replyTime)).append(": ").append(_replyMessage); } return buffer.length() > 100 ? buffer.toString().substring(0, 100) + " ..." : buffer.toString(); } public Object getCookie(int cookieId) { return null; } public Object getPreviewPicture() { return _previewPicture; } } Class DemoMessageScreen public final class DemoMessageScreen extends MainScreen { public DemoMessageScreen() { setTitle("Title"); ReadableListImpl mylist= new ReadableListImpl(); ApplicationMessageFolder folder = null; ApplicationFolderIntegrationConfig config = new ApplicationFolderIntegrationConfig(true, true, ApplicationDescriptor.currentApplicationDescriptor()); if(ApplicationMessageFolderRegistry.getInstance().getApplicationFolder(0x33c7ce29883abe5fL)==null) { folder = ApplicationMessageFolderRegistry.getInstance().registerFolder(0x33c7ce29883abe5fL, "Test Folder", new ReadableListImpl(),config ); } else { folder = ApplicationMessageFolderRegistry.getInstance().getApplicationFolder(0x33c7ce29883abe5fL); } DemoMessage msg = new DemoMessage("[email protected]", "Pizza Toppings","What would you like on your pizza?", System.currentTimeMillis()); mylist.addMessage(msg); folder.fireElementAdded(msg,true); System.out.println("nr of messages"+folder.hasNewMessages()); ApplicationIndicatorRegistry reg = ApplicationIndicatorRegistry.getInstance(); EncodedImage image = EncodedImage.getEncodedImageResource("indicatorOn.png" ); ApplicationIcon icon = new ApplicationIcon( image ); ApplicationIndicator indicator = reg.register( icon, false, true); indicator.setNotificationState(true); ApplicationIndicator appIndicator = reg.getApplicationIndicator(); appIndicator.setIcon(icon); appIndicator.setValue(appIndicator.getValue() + 1); //appIndicator.setNotificationState(true); appIndicator.setVisible(true); } public boolean onClose() { close(); return true; } static class ReadableListImpl implements ReadableList { private Vector messages; ReadableListImpl() { messages = new Vector(); } public Object getAt(int index) { return messages.elementAt(index); } public int getAt(int index, int count, Object[] elements, int destIndex) { return 0; } public int getIndex(Object element) { return messages.indexOf(element); } public int size() { return messages.size(); } void addMessage(DemoMessage message) { messages.addElement(message); } void removeMessage(DemoMessage message) { messages.removeElement(message); } } } and Class MyApp public class MyApp extends UiApplication { static final int FLAG_REPLIED = 1 << 16; static final int FLAG_DELETED = 1 << 17; static final int BASE_STATUS = ApplicationMessage.Status.INCOMING; static final int STATUS_NEW = BASE_STATUS | ApplicationMessage.Status.UNOPENED; static final int STATUS_OPENED = BASE_STATUS | ApplicationMessage.Status.OPENED; static final int STATUS_REPLIED = BASE_STATUS | ApplicationMessage.Status.OPENED | FLAG_REPLIED; static final int STATUS_DELETED = BASE_STATUS | FLAG_DELETED; public static void main(String[] args) { MyApp theApp = new MyApp(); theApp.enterEventDispatcher(); } public MyApp() { pushScreen(new DemoMessageScreen()); } } the codes are fine, i can see the notification at homescreen and message folder, but it calls "Message Preview" window if clicked, i don't know how to register a click handler to launch my application from notification message bar and message folder, how to do that? thanks in advance A: Problem solved, i have to declare ApplicationDescriptor in the body of the class. | Low | [
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Successful implementation of a pediatric sedation protocol for mechanically ventilated patients. To evaluate the effect of a nursing-driven sedation protocol for mechanically ventilated pediatric patients on duration of use of analgesic and sedative medications. We hypothesized that a protocol would decrease length of sedation use and decrease days of mechanical ventilation and length of stay. Retrospective cohort study with historical controls. Thirty-one-bed tertiary care, medical-surgical-cardiac pediatric intensive care unit in a metropolitan university-affiliated children's hospital. Children requiring mechanical ventilation longer than 48 hrs not meeting exclusion criteria. Before protocol implementation, sedation was managed per individual physician orders. During the intervention period, analgesia and sedation were managed by nurses following an algorithm-based sedation protocol based on a comfort score. The observation group included consecutive patients admitted during the 12-month period before protocol education and implementation (n = 153). The intervention group included patients admitted during the 12 months following protocol implementation (n = 166). The median duration of total sedation days (intravenous plus enteral) was 7 days for the observation period and 5 days for the intervention period (p = .026). Specifically, the median duration of morphine infusion was 6 days for the observation period and 5 days for the intervention period (p = .015), whereas the median duration of lorazepam infusion was 2 days for the observation period and 0 days for the intervention period. After adjusting for severity of illness with the pediatric risk of mortality III (PRISM III) score, the Cox proportional hazards regression analysis demonstrated that at any point in time, patients in the intervention group were 23% more likely to be off all sedation (heart rate 0.77, p = .020). Additionally, the intervention group tended to be associated with fewer days of mechanical ventilation (heart rate 0.81, p = .060) and decreased pediatric intensive care unit length of stay (heart rate 0.81, p = .058), although these associations did not quite reach statistical significance. A pediatric sedation protocol can significantly decrease days of benzodiazepine and opiate administration, which may improve pediatric intensive care unit resource utilization. | High | [
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Popular Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh who is getting ready to deliver her first child has gone spiritual with her Instagram fans. Hear the sweet words of encouragement the expectant mother shared with her fans few hours ago: “In the spirit of Christmas and love in the Air, I pray specifically for the broken hearted, for those who have lost a loved one, going through a painful divorce, or going through a Heart break from the loss of a child, husband, friend, business, family, sickness or even Lack etc’. ‘May this beautiful season not bring u sorrow but strength, May the thoughts of suicide be far away from you, May the thought of Loneliness be filled with the Love of God. It’s easy to fall into depression this season because of the constant reminder that Christmas season is best spent with our loved ones and the sight of others happiness can be a painful reminder of what you might have lost. My sister, My brother you are not alone, You are the reason for the season’. ‘You are the reason God has sent his only begotten son to come to earth and fill that void in your heart.. Be strong! let God come in and mend those wounds, and be your plus one and provider.. I wish you a beautiful holiday my darlings.. It’s well and will always will be In Jesus Name.” Isn’t this the lady that is fond of causing wahala with her colleagues?….Whaoooo love changes people ooo. Please allow this woman to enjoy her marriage. We all have past and that can’t stop us from moving forward in life. Please let her be,the pritiest queen in Ogun state. This woman now belong to Yoruba Man and we don’t take our wifes play games. We will ask for God thunder to strike all enemies of Tonto. I rest my case! | Mid | [
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Worldwide, 46.8 million people have dementia, and every year there are over 9.9 million new diagnosed cases \[[@B1]\], with an increase of the economic impact and cost of the 35.4% from 2010 \[[@B1]\]. Alzheimer\'s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia \[[@B2]\] and represents one of the major causes of disability, dependency, burden, and stress of caregivers increasing institutionalization among older people worldwide \[[@B3]\]. A precursor of neurodegenerative processes may be represented by Cognitive Frailty (CF) that includes reversible and potentially reversible subtypes \[[@B4]\]. Risk factors for CF and AD appear to change with age. Most very elderly individuals have beta-amyloid (A*β*) plaques within their brains, indicating that AD pathology may be present in asymptomatic elders and that these individuals will ultimately develop clinical symptoms of AD if they live long enough. According to the preclinical AD criteria, therefore, it is difficult to see how brain amyloidosis and brain aging could be considered separate entities arising through independent mechanisms. In this special issue, investigators reported studies into the subject from all over the world (i.e., Switzerland, Germany, Egypt, China, Spain, Australia, Italy, Brazil, and USA). They contributed to increasing the knowledge on to individualize genetic and clinic mechanisms of AD and CF considering age-related and multidimensional approaches to the purpose of appropriate and personalized treatment. In a preclinical model, S. AbdAlla et al. subjected aged rats to chronic unpredictable mild stress, which is known to enhance the development of AD-related neuropathological features, and showed that four weeks of chronic mild stress induced a strong upregulation of the hippocampal angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), both at gene expression and at protein levels. The authors reported that ACE inhibition targets neurodegeneration triggered by environmental stress. C. Ma et al. started from the assumption that advancing age, chronic inflammation, oxidative damage, and disorders of lipid metabolism are positively linked to the late-life cognitive impairment. This study demonstrated that age, levels of fundus atherosclerosis, serum biomarkers peroxidase, interleukin-6, serum levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, ApoA2, and ApoC2 were significantly related to cognitive status. Moreover, ApoA1 and ApoA2 were found to be possible risk factors of cognitive impairment and late-life dementia. J. A. Monge-Argilés et al. analyzed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers and tau/A*β* ratios in MCI patients and control subjects, using ELISA methodology. This study contributed to evaluation of the association between apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype and CSF levels of AD biomarkers and the influence of ApoE genotype on the development of AD in a Spanish population. G. Lyons et al. described the "Deep Assessment," which is a novel multifaceted framework for delivering a more comprehensive and authentic assessment of the internal states of people with severe cognitive impairments who are unable to self-report. This paper suggested how Deep Assessment can be applied to people with advanced AD to develop others\' understanding of their inner states and to help improve their quality of life. Moreover G. Lyons et al. discussed the potential utility and efficacy of this technique for this population and also proposed other human conditions that may benefit from research using a Deep Assessment approach. F. Panza et al. reviewed tau-centric targets and drugs in clinical development for the treatment of AD and reported that methylene blue seems to be an inhibitor of the tau protein aggregation. Finally, A. M. de Oliveira et al. reviewed studies of nonpharmacological interventions published in the last 10 years and reported that such approaches may help reduce behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) such as agitation, psychotic symptoms, and apathy. This study highlighted the role of nonpharmacological interventions programs in the clinical management of BPSD, as an alternative to (or in combination with) conventional pharmacological treatments (e.g., antipsychotics and benzodiazepines) that may elicit undesired side effects. The pharmacologic treatments, even if they are supported by several studies, deliver limited symptomatic benefits, so the provision of nonpharmacological treatments in addition to standard outpatient care is an asset of good clinical practice. Therefore prognostic evaluation of AD patients plays a key role in the decision analyses of care processes including the organization of social health care system, the support to families, caregivers, and patients as well as the choice of appropriate treatment. *Grazia D\'Onofrio* *Zhuowei Yu* *Orestes V. Forlenza* | Mid | [
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Mental Snapshots During HolidaysThe holiday season is a great time for taking mental snapshots of your intimate moments.BY DR. TRINA READ BigStockPhoto It's the little sweet nothings whispered into your ear during a holiday get together that sticks with you through the years. As a young child, I was bothered that so many people had birthdays around the same time as my own (September 20). At age 11, I found out that a baby takes nine months inside a tummy and counted back the months to my own conception. I was shocked to find out my parents probably had sex on Christmas day. In fact, I realized at that young age a lot of parents were having sex around the holiday season. The holidays were never the same for me. Now that I have matured, I realize that good sex is built upon the shoulders of shared intimacy. Realistically, it is impossible to create intimacy day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute. Rather, intimate moments are caring and romantic snapshots of situations we find ourselves in. The great thing about the holiday season is it allows us to have many memorable snapshots of intimacy with our partner. The trick is to be present when it occurs and smart enough to lock it into our memory vault when life becomes mundane. There are no shortage of intimate holiday moments. For example, a friend of mine waited until her 30’s to get married. She and her husband were delighted to be putting up their first Christmas tree together. As they decorated their tree, they drank eggnog and listened to Christmas tunes. Halfway through the trimming in the spirit of merriment and joy, they ended up having sex under their Christmas tree (in my opinion, that is the best kind of present to find under the tree). More recently, I was at a Christmas function that had a dinner and a dance. After a fine meal the DJ started up. I watched a couple in their mid-50’s (probably celebrating at least 25 years together) get up on the dance floor and boogie to the Proclaimer’s "I Would Walk 500 Miles." It had a fast beat and yet this couple was dancing close, never losing eye contact—they were completely enamored with each other. Another friend shared an experience that many of us can relate to. She and her fiancé felt they were being pulled every which way with the hectic pace of the holidays. In three weeks, they found themselves with only one day that did not warrant any holiday-type activity. They agreed to take-out, a movie and some relaxation. She expressed, as they cuddled and lay sloth-like on the couch, there was a wonderful feeling of camaraderie. There was a moment (only a few precious seconds) where there was an overwhelming sense of contentment between the two of them. There was nothing sexual about their encounter and, yet, I would define it as a very intimate moment in their relationship. This is an important snapshot to remember when the holiday season is over and watching movies, eating take-out and laying on the couch has become excruciatingly dull. Keep watch for your intimate moments during this holiday season. Sometimes intimate moments are planned, like when standing under the mistletoe and giving your partner a come-hither look. Or, when your partner gives you a beautiful present and you are overjoyed turning the gratitude with hugs and kisses. Sometimes intimate moments are spontaneous, like a snowball fight (at least in snow climates). Or, locking eyes in a room full of people and giving each other a little smile. Or, after an evening of gaiety, being in a space where sex is just the right aperitif. What makes an intimate moment great is the understanding that you are in one—pushing all the outside noise out of the way. Your outside noise might look like worrying about the presents you still need to buy, the functions you have to go to, or all the stress you are under. Instead focus on the experience, it will help to make it that much more memorable. However you celebrate the holidays, I wish you many wonderful intimate snapshots to cherish for years to come. Dr. Trina Read has a doctorate in human sexuality. Dr. Read is also an international speaker and offers free sex tips on her website www.bestsextipsever.com. You can also hear more from Dr. Trina Read on the Hitched Podcast. 1 Million Couples Can't Be Wrong Over 1 million couples turn to Hitched for expert marital advice every year. Sign up now for our newsletter & get exclusive weekly content that will entertain, educate and inspire your marriage. 1 Million Couples Can't Be Wrong Over 1 million couples turn to Hitched for expert marital advice every year. Sign up now for our newsletter & get exclusive weekly content that will entertain, educate and inspire your marriage. | Mid | [
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Richard Donner directed Mel Gibson in all four Lethal Weapon movies, as well as Conspiracy Theory and Maverick. Of the oft-rumored Lethal Weapon 5, Donner tells the LA Times it’s not going to happen because Mel doesn’t want it to. “Mel turned it down,” Donner said. “I would like to think that Mel turned it down because I wasn’t involved. Knowing Mel, I would like to think that. Would that be the kind of thing he does? It sure would be.” Problem was, Donner had his own plans for a sequel based on a story by him and the writer of Lethal Weapon 4, but Warners was more interested in a spec idea from Shane Black, who’d taken his script to Joel Silver. The news of the Silver and Black project stirred press coverage and considerable blogosphere interest this summer, especially after actor Columbus Short said he was up for a supporting role and that the project was being fast-tracked. It was all frustrating for odd-man-out Donner… who had a falling out with Silver a few years ago, and didn’t enjoy being excluded from a franchise that he considers his signature work. “Joel Silver tried to ace me out of it. He tried to put it together but made sure he didn’t do it until my contract was up. You know, it’s typical of the man. A guy who wasn’t even around at the beginning when we started on the first one. He came in late.” If Richard Donner is to be believed, a fifth Lethal Weapon requires the approval of Mel Gibson, and Mel Gibson is loyal to Donner. Further complicating sequel plans, Gibson believes pigeons are the Jews of the sky. I was invited to a party at Richard Donner’s house once, but i politely declined because i wasn’t ready to be the victim of cannibalization. but now, i am currently browsing German chat rooms in hopes that someone will once again want to eat me. 10.14.08 at 10:36 am Mark It Zero Donner, shut the fuck up. You’re like a child who wanders into the middle of negotiations and wants to know - 10.14.08 at 10:36 am Jessica_is_sick_of_login_problems Why do you have a pic of Jeff Fahey up for this? Oh wait.. 10.14.08 at 10:38 am Dr. Steve Brule Mel’s also worried that running after cars and pumping his arms may cause him to shit his pants. 10.14.08 at 10:38 am GenePoolParty Mel is not as fit as he used to be. I think it’s time to switch to SplendaTits. 10.14.08 at 10:40 am Michelle07 Donner, party of 2 10.14.08 at 10:40 am Michelle07 Damnit Kurg, sorry. 10.14.08 at 10:41 am Michelle07 Hey, who’s that hunk on Donner’s wall? MeYowza. 10.14.08 at 10:41 am Burnsy The “Silver and Black project” is also the name of Al Davis’ plan to have 16 different coaches next season. 10.14.08 at 10:42 am Mark It Zero Oh, I beg to differ. Lethal Weapon 5 most certainly will happen. However, now it takes place in my backyard and involves me, my buddy Michael Tanner, an asian prostitute, and several gallons of Jesus Juice. Soundtrack by 70’s supergroup Foreigner. In the Silver and Black project, Riggs has to kick a 75 yard field goal to put the criminal behind bars. 10.14.08 at 10:43 am Burnsy “Mel turned it down,” Donner said. “I would like to think that Mel turned it down because I wasn’t involved. Knowing Mel, I would like to think that. Would that be the kind of thing he does? It sure would be.” Added Donner, “Mel.” 10.14.08 at 10:44 am Stinky Peet That $140 Richard Donner spent to legally change his name from Maury Donneshevitz was money well spent. 10.14.08 at 10:45 am Burnsy A Jew had a falling out with Silver? Man, this economy is really fucked. 10.14.08 at 10:47 am The Mighty Feklahr nePoo-consider yourself nominated! New up! 10.14.08 at 10:47 am Burnsy When asked if he’d sign on for Lethal Weapon 5, Danny Glover said, “I did a Saw movie.” 10.14.08 at 10:49 am GenePoolParty Thank you my brother from a Klingon mother. 10.14.08 at 10:50 am Mark It Zero Problems arose when Gibson confirmed the only weapon he now considers truly lethal is the Cross. Well, that and a 2,800 pound automobile fueled by anti-semitism, premium unleaded, and Schnapps. 10.14.08 at 10:50 am BraveSrRob Feklahr, what would I have to do to get you to send me a copy of the Dirty Harry MP3 you mentioned a couple of posts back? I always thought Blitzen was the most talented of the reindeer anyway. 10.14.08 at 10:59 am jokerswild Donner party of 2? Michelle, have I mentioned lately that I Heart U? 10.14.08 at 11:04 am Burnsy Um, so, what else is new? 10.14.08 at 11:05 am **MISSSOULTAKER** Awwww how sweet ;) 10.14.08 at 11:07 am nezzer Directors that have superman up on the wall in their rooms do it for the kids. I meant do it TO the kids. 10.14.08 at 11:08 am jokerswild You guys can shut the hell up. You didn’t even recognize the Bill Hicks reference. URDEAD2ME! 10.14.08 at 11:17 am The Luchador Is that a VCR behind Donner!? 10.14.08 at 11:17 am The Mighty Feklahr So, you little fuckers, how many of you tried to sign me up for NAMBLA’s newsletter, only to find out that the email I listed is already registered with them? Joke’s on you! … Dor sho gha! 10.14.08 at 11:19 am Donkey Hodey Joel Silver tried to ace me out of it. Is Quentin Tarantino writing dialogue for Richard Donner now? 10.14.08 at 11:23 am Burnsy You guys can shut the hell up. You didn’t even recognize the Bill Hicks reference. URDEAD2ME! Bill who now? 10.14.08 at 11:23 am madman Mel’s preparing for the Saddam Hussein story 10.14.08 at 11:27 am Donkey Hodey The real reason Gibson doesn’t want to do a Lethal Weapon 5 is that he finally has gotten too old for this shit. 10.14.08 at 11:31 am Donkey Hodey Gibson heard about Columbus Short and decided that he didn’t want to be accused of playing both sides of the fence after making Apocalypto. 10.14.08 at 11:33 am Donkey Hodey Can’t they just follow Gibson around with cameras for a while? I mean, aside from a few things that can be fixed in editing, I’m pretty sure that Gibson and Riggs are fairly close to being the same character at this point. 10.14.08 at 11:37 am Donkey Hodey Hey, New Up guy, you’re up… 10.14.08 at 12:11 pm nezzer Gibson was angry they couldn’t write in his idea of the villain – Jew Cunt. | Low | [
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Russia is poised to become the latest country to introduce a cash rebate scheme in an attempt to attract international feature film and TV productions to shoot in its locations, make use of the country’s film infrastructure and work with local producers. The Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade has launched a consultation process and invited the opinion of the local industry. The draft resolution on the ministry’s web portal is officially titled: ‘On Approval of the Rules for Granting Subsidies from the Federal Budget to Russian Organisations for Reimbursement of Part of the Costs Due to the Production of Foreign Audiovisual Producers in the Russian Federation’. According to this document, international producers who shoot in Russia and meet the criteria, would receive a cash rebate of 25% of their qualifying production costs. This could increase to 30% of the production costs if the project promotes a positive image of Russia. This is described in the draft resolution as when “the plot presents locations, architectural objects, objects of cultural heritage or elements of national culture connected with Russia (or, in case of animation production and virtual reality, their digital analogues), national attributes directly contributing to the promotion of a positive image of Russia“. The scheme would set minimum budget thresholds of RUB 20m ($300,000) for a feature film, RUB 10m ($150,000) for an animated film, RUB 5m ($75,000) for a documentary film or entire TV series, and RUB 3m ($47,000) for a VR/AR project, according to the draft resolution. The Russian Export Centre would administer the scheme on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. The ministry said the introduction of such a programme could help, among other things to facilitate “the creation of conditions for inflow of foreign capital investments into the Russian audiovisual industry; the development of the inbound tourism sector in the Russian Federation; the creation of conditions for the development of cooperation between Russian and foreign companies producing audiovisual content; and promote a positive image and cultural values of the Russian Federation“. Recent international productions to shoot in Russia include Ralph Fiennes’ The White Crow and the BBC’s TV series War And Peace, which both shot in St Petersburg. However Russia is renowned as a difficult place to shoot due to the amount of red tape productions have to navigate, the visas required for cast and crew and authorities that are not renowned for a particularly film-friendly attitude. Although none of this is addressed by the ministry in the draft resolution, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed an order this week to ensure the introduction of an electronic single-entry visa for foreigners visiting Russia from 2021. According to the Kommersant newspaper, citizens from countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, EU member states and non-EU Schengen states would be able to apply for his e-visa. However, there are no plans to include the US, Canada and a possibly post-Brexit UK on the list. | Mid | [
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Vaseline Intensive Care Lip Therapy Vaseline Intensive Care Lip Therapy Overview Vaseline /væslin/[1][2][note 1] is an American brand of petroleum jelly-based products owned by British-Dutch company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soaps, lotions, cleansers, and deodorants. In many languages, the word "Vaseline" is used as generic for petroleum jelly; in Portuguese and some Spanish-speaking countries, the Unilever products are called Vasenol. Contents 1 History 2 Uses ... This information has been independently compiled and is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional; nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. For more details please see the Medical Disclaimer. This page was last updated on 22 February 2019. | Low | [
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This hopelessly obsessed and sadly naive fangirl has a quick question for all her fellow hopelessly obsessed fanpersons. I and at least one other person I know of want to send fanmail to Arakawa Hiromu, but we have no idea how. Does anyone know anything about how to do this? Would Shonen Gangan have an address to send fanmail to for its featured manga authors or anything like that, and if so, is there any place I'd be able to find it online? Any information whatsoever on this topic would be much appreciated. ^^ ...A new Hagaren Novel, the 4th such one, entitled 「遠い空の下で」(Tooi sora no shita de) "Under the Distant Sky/Heavens" which has been released just recently (Oct 29th) by I think a Makoto Inoue if not, then Shin Inoue*. Cover illustration by Arakawa Hiromu. Was browsing Shonen Gangan Monthly's site out of boredem and I spotted that the 9th Volume of Fullmetal Alchemist (which I guess will include ch. 34-37, and maybe/hopefully a new Gaiden?) will be released during Gangan's next Comic Release date which is the 22nd of each month hence, November 22nd. The December issue of Shonen GANGAN Monthly will be released November 12th. Hagaren Chapter 41 will have yet another full-color center spread. (Well, Gangan being the rough size of a phone directory...it has enough room for alot of color-pages or spreads xD) *Note:*sets of pun alarm* j/k...it has nothing to do with the Shin in my pseudo and I'm no writer. XD; Calling all Winnpeg FMA cosplayers! I'm working on a skit for Ai-kon 2005 and I was wondering if anyone going to the convention would be dressing up as Envy, if so please reply to this ASAP if your intrested in doing a 3 minute skit with me and a few other people. Thankies! And so this post isn't so utterly pointless I give you all some bad art! EDIT: I'm also looking for any Winnipegers who might cosplay Scar/Tucker or has a friend who might be insterested in cosplaying one of them. Once again reply ASAP if you or your friend are interesting in partaking in an fma skit. This link you're going to click actually doesn't only represent Riza Hawkeye in a pretty white dress. Nor does it only represent an originally B2 poster from October's issue of Animedia. It also represents two hours and a half of scanning and editting. To get more precise, two hours and a half of masochism from the Niwa =3. As you see, it represents a lot of things. That was my random rambling, I now need to go and hit my head against a random wall put there for the sake of my masochism =3. | Mid | [
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The archipelago is a place of great potential to serve as objects of tourism, especially diving tourism. Raja Ampat Islands waters according to various sources, is one of the 10 best waters for diving sites around the world. In fact, it may also be recognized as number one for the completeness of flora and fauna under the water at this time. Dr John Veron, coral expert from the Australian experience, for ... | Mid | [
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$ zzzz -h zzzz Mostra informações sobre as funções, como versão e localidade. Opções: --atualiza baixa a versão mais nova das funções --teste testa se a codificação e os pré-requisitos estão OK --bashrc instala as funções no ~/.bashrc --tcshrc instala as funções no ~/.tcshrc --zshrc instala as funções no ~/.zshrc Uso: zzzz [--atualiza|--teste|--bashrc|--tcshrc|--zshrc] Ex.: zzzz zzzz --teste $ zzzz --teste | sed 's/\.\.\. .*/.../;/Atenção/,/^Talvez/d;/^ *$/d' Procurando o comando awk... Procurando o comando bc... Procurando o comando cat... Procurando o comando chmod... Procurando o comando clear... Procurando o comando cp... Procurando o comando cpp... Procurando o comando curl... Procurando o comando cut... Procurando o comando diff... Procurando o comando du... Procurando o comando find... Procurando o comando fmt... Procurando o comando grep... Procurando o comando iconv... Procurando o comando links... Procurando o comando lynx... Procurando o comando mktemp... Procurando o comando mv... Procurando o comando od... Procurando o comando ps... Procurando o comando rm... Procurando o comando sed... Procurando o comando sleep... Procurando o comando sort... Procurando o comando tail... Procurando o comando tr... Procurando o comando uniq... Procurando o comando unzip... Verificando a codificação do sistema... Verificando a codificação das Funções ZZ... $ zzzz | grep '(' | tr -d 0-9 | sed 's/) .*/) .../' ( script) ... ( pasta) ... ( versão) ... ( cores) ... ( tmp) ... (browser) ... ( bashrc) ... ( zshrc) ... ( base) ... ( site) ... (( funções disponíveis )) $ # As variáveis de ambiente devem ser respeitadas $ ZZCOR=0 zzzz | grep '( *cores)' ( cores) não $ ZZCOR=1 zzzz | grep '( *cores)' | tr -d '\033' | sed 's/\[[0-9;]*m//g' ( cores) sim $ ZZDIR=/xxx zzzz | grep '( *pasta)' ( pasta) /xxx $ ZZPATH=/xxx zzzz | grep '( *script)' ( script) /xxx $ ZZBROWSER=lynx zzzz | grep '( *browser)' (browser) lynx $ ZZBROWSER=links zzzz | grep '( *browser)' (browser) links $ ZZBROWSER=w3m zzzz | grep '( *browser)' (browser) w3m $ ZZBROWSER=xxx zzzz | grep '( *browser)' (browser) xxx $ | Low | [
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When Jeanne started out her exercise class business, she decided after taking advice that she didn’t sign up for VALUE-ADDED TAX. It makes sense. In the event that you want to contend with everyone else then weight loss charge even just the teens higher prices to include VAT. But now she actually is stuck. She can’t expand the business beyond the VAT threshold because the girl would have to increase her prices or take a significant lowering of border. Now she’s contemplating placing up separate businesses to improve her earnings. It’s quickly going to get complicated – she can do without all the frenzymadness, desperation, hysteria, mania, insanity, delirium, derangement of doubling the webmaster work. Five years in to running his frizzy hair salon, Scott needs a day off a week and shuts early some days and nights only to limit his takings to keep them below the VAT threshold. Although he’s living hand-to-mouth. Which in turn came first during these two cases: tax strategy or business strategy? The payoff of course is the fact both businesses reduce their tax expenses, but at what cost? I’m sure this isn’t very the thing that was intended when a VAT registration threshold was included in the VALUE-ADDED TAX legislation created in 1973. Income Tax John operates a sole-tradership and takes in money from the business as he needs it and, more importantly, if it’s available during the year. His accountant then finds the most taxes efficient way at the year-end to distribute his drawings between salary, expenditures and dividends. Cashflow is not managed proactively, so while John knows precisely in the bank this individual doesn’t keep track of every due payment or receipt so he sometimes draws too much and leaves the business enterprise short of cash. This regularly triggers him to have night times without sleep. Norman operates a limited company and runs it not much different from the way. This individual takes no salary as such and reinvests almost all of the profits into the business to finance progress. He restricts his paintings to pay very little tax as possible. She has planning to exit the business in 3-5 years. However, because he’s not taking any sort of salary, let by itself a market rate salary, he has no idea how profitable the business truly is and is complicating things for him or her self when he eventually come to sell. Ken is looking to buy a new vehicle for his business, that he can use personally too, to be able to reduce his tax invoice. Nevertheless , his tax financial savings are much less than savings he’ll make obtaining a vehicle this way compared to some of the alternatives. Which emerged first in these occasions – business strategy or tax strategy? Again, the payoff is a lower goverment tax bill, but at what cost in conditions of business expansion and equity? These cases are not rare. A large number of micro-businesses and SMEs are operated in a way that minimises tax financial obligations. Their business strategy is defined by their duty strategy. In the real world, it appears, tax strategy more often takes concern over business strategy. And in every case defined it is stunting the expansion potential of the business. That will be OK in some cases, where the owner doesn’t want to grow. However, where they do it is having them back. In any case, all businesses should be looking to increase at least a little just to overcome the effects of inflation! | Mid | [
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Introduction {#Sec1} ============ The recent discovery of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with exceptional potency and breadth against human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and influenza has renewed the interest in designing vaccines to elicit similar antibodies *in vivo*^[@CR1],[@CR2],[@CR3],[@CR4]^. However, the vaccine development has been impeded by the fact that these broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) are highly divergent from their putative germline predecessors, and that the designed germline antibodies showed little or no measurable binding to viral antigens^[@CR5],[@CR6],[@CR7]^. Interestingly, neutralizing antibodies against some emerging viruses including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Nipah and Hendra viruses, which cause acute infections, could be elicited within relatively short period of time after infection, and some of these antibodies were very close to their putative germline predecessors^[@CR8],[@CR9],[@CR10]^. Therefore, the structural characterization of the interactions between these germline-like antibodies and the viruses may represent a unique opportunity to understand the initial elicitation mechanism of the bnAbs and may eventually help the design of effective vaccine immunogens^[@CR4],[@CR7],[@CR11],[@CR12],[@CR13],[@CR14]^. The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a novel, highly pathogenic human coronavirus first recognized in September 2012 in Saudi Arabia in a patient who exhibited SARS-like respiratory syndrome and died from severe pneumonia and renal failure^[@CR15],[@CR16]^. Since September 2012, MERS cases have been reported in more than 20 countries^[@CR15],[@CR16]^, and 1,356 laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported to the World Health Organization as of 26 June 2015, including at least 484 related deaths ( <http://www.who.int/csr/don/26-june-2015-mers-korea/en/>). Of note, MERS-CoV is phylogenetically distinct from any human coronavirus including SARS-CoV, but more related to the bat coronaviruses HKU4 and HKU5 (refs [@CR17], [@CR18]). We and others have found that MERS-CoV most likely originated in bats and has adapted to use human receptor dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) to gain entry into host cells^[@CR19],[@CR20]^. Dromedary camels in the Middle East and Africa are considered to be one of the intermediate transmitters of MERS-CoV from bats to humans^[@CR21],[@CR22],[@CR23],[@CR24]^. Indeed, it has been found that coronaviruses are able to rapidly and stably adapt to new host species^[@CR25]^. These findings, along with the fact that MERS-CoV emerged only a decade after the appearance of the first highly pathogenic human coronavirus SARS-CoV and has a higher mortality rate (∼36 versus ∼10%), suggest that coronaviruses could be a continuous and long-term threat to human health. Therefore, we and others have developed human neutralizing mAbs^[@CR26],[@CR27],[@CR28],[@CR29]^ against the virus for use as candidate therapeutics and templates for vaccine immunogens as well as tools to understand immune responses against this newly emerged virus. The most potent mAb, m336, bound to MERS-CoV receptor-binding domain (RBD) with subnanomolar avidity, and inhibited infection of pseudotyped and live MERS-CoV with an inhibitory concentration required for 50% neutralization (IC~50~) of 0.005 and 0.07 μg ml^−1^, respectively^[@CR26]^. In this study, we analysed the immunogenetic origin of m336 and solved its crystal structure in complex with the MERS-CoV RBD. The antibody precisely targets the receptor-binding site (RBS) on MERS-CoV, and a relatively significant number (three) of junctional residues in the heavy-chain complementarity-determining region 3 (HCDR3) and two allele-specific IGHV1-69\*06 germline-encoded residues are critical for the RBD binding. Germline mAbs typically exhibit excellent drugability properties, especially lower immunogenicity^[@CR11]^, and therefore m336-like mAbs may not only be effective templates for development of vaccine immunogens but also could have great potential for prophylaxis and therapy of MERS-CoV infection in humans. Results {#Sec2} ======= Crystal structure of MERS-CoV RBD in complex with Fab m336 {#Sec3} ---------------------------------------------------------- To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of MERS-CoV neutralization by m336 and identify possible templates for development of vaccine immunogens, we determined the crystal structure of its complex with the virus RBD. We robotically screened crystallization conditions for an endoglycosidase H-treated MERS-CoV RBD complexed with the Fab m336. Crystals of diffraction quality were obtained from a condition containing 20% mono-Methyl polyethylene glycol 2000 (PEG2000 MME). A 2.65-Å resolution data set in space group P2~1~2~1~2~1~ was collected at 22-ID beamline at the Advanced Photon Source with 20% glycerol as cryoprotectant, and structure solution by molecular replacement with the DDP4-bound MERS-CoV RBD and Fab revealed two Fab m336-MERS-CoV RBD complexes occupying an asymmetric unit. Iterative refinement and model building resulted in a structure with R~work~/R~free~ of 19.7%/25.1% ([Table 1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}; [Supplementary Fig. 1a](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}).Table 1Data collection and structure refinement statistics.m336-MERS-CoV RBD*Data collection* Wavelength (Å)1.0000 Space groupP 2~1~ 2~1~ 2~1~ Unit cella, b, c (Å)47.8, 146.9, 200.5 Resolution (Å)\*50--2.65 (2.74--2.65) R~merge~ (%)11.0 (41.0) R~pim~ (%)5.8 (23.4) I/σI14.0 (2.0) Completeness (%)97.3 (90.3) Redundancy3.9 (3.2)*Refinement* Resolution (Å)45.45--2.65 (2.74--2.65) Unique reflections41,125 (3,734) R~work~/R~free~ (%)19.7 (27.3)/25.1 (35.8) Number of atomsProtein9,745Ligands68Water236 Wilson B-factor (Å^2^)49.1 B-factors (Å^2^)Protein63.0Ligands68.3Solvent46.3 r.m.s.d.Bond lengths (Å)0.002Bond angles (^o^)0.95 RamachandranFavored (%)95.0Outliers (%)0.2Clashscore4.0^\*^Statistics for the highest-resolution shell are shown in parentheses. Fab m336 targets the MERS-CoV RBS {#Sec4} --------------------------------- Fab m336 interacts with the RBS on the MERS-CoV RBD ([Fig. 1a](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). The interaction surface buries a total area of about 1,700 Å^2^, with 860 Å^2^ contributed by m336 and 820 Å^2^ by MERS-CoV RBD. Even though both the heavy-chain variable domain (V~H~) and the light-chain variable domain (V~L~) of m336 are involved in the interaction, the V~H~ provides \>85% binding surface. Within the V~H~, HCDR1, HCDR2 and framework region 3 (FR3) provide ∼58% of the total MERS-CoV RBD-binding surface while HCDR3 (of the V(D)J recombination product) provides ∼29% ([Fig. 1b](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}; [Supplementary Table 1](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). With HCDR3 and LCDR3 on one side and HCDR1 and HCDR2 on the other side, the antigen-binding region of m336 forms a claw-shaped surface. The claw grips the RBS with HCDR1 and HCDR2 penetrating into the concave surface formed by β5--β8 and HCDR3 and LCDR3 interacting with the outer edge of β7 and its entrance loop ([Fig. 1c](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). It is of note that a non-canonical disulphide bond forms between Cys98 and Cys100c (the Kabat numbering definition) to stabilize the HCDR3 into a 'twisted' loop conformation ([Fig. 1d](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Similar to the receptor DPP4, m336 interacts with both patches 1 and 2 of the RBS ([Fig. 1d](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}).Figure 1Crystal structures of Fab m336 in complex with MERS-CoV RBD.(**a**) Complex structure in cartoon representation. Heavy and light chains of m336 are coloured light green and light blue, respectively. The receptor-binding subdomain on MERS-CoV RBD is coloured orange with Trp535 shown in shticks representation. (**b**) Sequences of m336 heavy chain and light chain with residues that interact with the MERS-CoV RBD highlighted with orange dots. Antibody residues are numbered according to the Kabat nomenclature. (**c**) Interaction between CDRs of m336 and the MERS-CoV RBD. m336 CDRs are shown in cartoon representation and the MERS-CoV RBD is depicted in semitransparent surface and cartoon. (**d**) Detailed interactions between m336 and patches 1 and 2 of the MERS-CoV RBD. Key residues are highlighted in stick representation. Hydrogen bonds and salt bridges are displayed with dotted lines connecting interacting atoms. The non-canonical disulphide bond between HCDR3 residues Cys98 and Cys100c is in yellow sticks. Both panels (**c**,**d**) are shown as different 90° views from panel (**a**). Similarity in the RBD recognition by m336 and DPP4 {#Sec5} -------------------------------------------------- The m336 epitope is composed of residues from the MERS-CoV RBD RBS, including strands β5--β8 and the loop leading to β7 ([Fig. 2a](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}), which overlaps extensively with the DPP4-binding site. Pairwise comparison of ligand-binding surface areas of RBS residues either in the m336 epitope or in the DDP4-binding site^[@CR30],[@CR31]^ showed significant correlation (*P*=0.025), indicating shared usage of residues for binding m336 and receptor DPP4. For RBS residues that interact with both m336 and DPP4, their pairwise surface areas buried by m336 and DPP4 showed even stronger correlation (*P*=0.016; [Fig. 2b](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}). Indeed, ∼90% of the m336 epitope surface overlaps with the DPP4-binding site on RBS ([Fig. 2c](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}; [Supplementary Fig. 1](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). Interestingly, Trp535~RBD~, which interacts with glycans in DPP4, was engaged by m336 HCDR3 residue Thr100a and LCDR3 residues Asn92 and Ser93. Importantly, in addition to precise targeting of the RBS, critical chemical interactions such as the salt bridges between Asp539~RBD~ and Lys267~DPP4~ were mimicked by HCDR3 Arg100e of m336 ([Fig. 1d](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}; [Supplementary Table 2](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). The RBD-binding surfaces on both m336 and DPP4 showed basic electrostatic potentials ([Fig. 2d](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}).Figure 2m336 precisely targets the DPP4-binding site on MERS-CoV RBD.(**a**) Mapping of the m336 epitope and DPP4-binding site on MERS-CoV RBD sequence. Residues interacting with DPP4 and m336 are marked with purple and green dots, respectively. MERS-CoV residue numbers are labelled above the sequence. (**b**) Plot of buried surface areas of MERS-CoV RBD residues that interact with both m336 and DPP4. Residue numbers of MERS-CoV RBD residues are labelled for each data point. (**c**) Epitope of m336 (green) overlaps with DPP4-binding site (purple) on the MERS-CoV RBD (orange). (**d**) Comparison of the electrostatic potential surfaces of the MERS-CoV RBD-contacting regions on m336 and DPP4. Molecular surfaces are coloured red for acidic areas and blue for basic areas with the RBD footprints highlighted in orange and olive boundary lines. (**e**) When superposed on MERS-CoV RBD, the volume of m336 overlaps with that of RBD-bound DPP4 indicating antibody m336 exploits similar angle of approach as receptor DPP4 to engage the MERS-CoV and achieves neutralization by blocking DPP4 binding to MERS-CoV. Superposition of the RBD in its m336-bound form with that in the DPP4-bound form^[@CR30]^ resulted in Cα root mean squared deviation (r.m.s.d.) of 0.82 Å, indicating that binding of m336 did not induce significant conformational changes in MERS-CoV RBD. It is interesting to note that the similarity in conformation at the antibody epitope was even higher than the rest of the MERS-CoV RBD (Cα r.m.s.d.=0.50 Å). Such superposition of the MERS-CoV RBD also brought m336 and DPP4 into overlapping positions, with \>50% of the Fab m336 encompassed by the volume of DPP4 ([Fig. 2e](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}; [Supplementary Fig. 2](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}), indicating that m336 and DPP4 use similar angles of approach to target the MERS-CoV RBD. Immunogenetic analysis of m336 {#Sec6} ------------------------------ We performed immunogenetic analysis of m336 using the IMGT tool^[@CR32]^ to determine the closest V~H~ and V~L~ germline genes and junctional amino acids of V~H~ ([Fig. 3a](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). We found that the m336 V~H~ gene is derived from the IGHV1-69\*06 and that the V~L~ gene is from IGKV1-17. Remarkably, the V~H~ gene was almost germline except for a point mutation (one non-silent nucleotide mutation) leading to a change from asparagine (Asn) to serine (Ser) at position 58. m336 was found to be derived from \*06 allele that has Phe54 in HCDR2 and Lys73 in FR3. These phenylalanine (Phe) and lysine (Lys) residues are naturally encoded in most IGHV1-69 alleles, which were either found together or alone in alleles \*01, \*02, \*03, \*04, \*05, \*06, \*07, \*08, \*09, \*10, \*12, \*13 and \*14. Interestingly, the IGHV1-69 gene was dominantly used in a number of anti-viral antibodies including those targeting HIV-1 gp120 CD4i epitope^[@CR33]^, influenza HA^[@CR4],[@CR13],[@CR34]^, SARS-CoV RBD and henipaviruses^[@CR35]^. For m336, both allele-specific residues, Phe54 and Lys73, of the IGHV1-69\*06, HCDR3 comprising IGHD2-2\*03 and IGHJ3\*02, and germline HCDR2 contributed to the paratope of V~H~ ([Fig. 1b,d](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Importantly, genetic and structural analyses further showed that the m336 V~H~ has specific junctional residues at positions 95, 100d, 100e and 100f, which were encoded as amino acids valine (Val), Asn, arginine (Arg) and glycine (Gly), respectively ([Fig. 3a](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}) and play a dominant role in HCDR3 as elucidated in the crystal structure ([Fig. 3b](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). Notably, m336 has no somatic mutations in the IGHD and IGHJ genes, which can be unambiguously identified by IMGT/V-Quest ([Supplementary Table 3](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). In contrast, m336 V~L~, composed of IGKV1-17\*01 and IGKJ4\*01, was found to have five amino acid residue changes (five non-silent and three silent nucleotide mutations) resulting from mutations in the IGKV gene ([Fig. 3a](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}; [Supplementary Table 4](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). However, none of the V~L~ somatic mutations was found to be directly involved in binding to RBD, but it is possible that they could influence V~H~--V~L~ interactions or result in other allosteric effects. Further, the detailed structural analysis of m336 complex structure revealed that the CDRH3 residues, particularly, the junctional residues Asn100d and Arg100e, are involved in hydrogen bonding with Gly538 and Asp539 of RBD, respectively, which mimicked the conserved DPP4 interactions Gln286 and Lys267 ([Fig. 2a,b](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}; [Supplementary Table 2](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). Also, the junctional residue Arg100e formed a salt bridge with Asp539, which resembled the conserved slat bridge involving Lys267 of DPP4 ([Fig. 1d,b](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}; [Supplementary Table 2](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). In summary, we show that the germline-encoded residues, Phe54 in HCDR2 and Lys73 in FR3, which are conserved in many IGHV1-69 alleles, and, importantly, junctional residues of HCDR3 that make conserved interactions that of DPP4, could play critical roles in the m336 paratope interactions.Figure 3Immunogenetic analysis showed a germline heavy chain with a unique junctional motif.(**a**) m336 V~H~, V~L~ sequence alignments with germline gene segments are shown. Identical residues are denoted by dots and junction residues at HCDR3 are boxed. Antibody residues are numbered according to the Kabat nomenclature. (**b**) Close-up view of interactions between the junctional amino acids in the HCDR3 of m336 with MERS-CoV RBD. (**c**) Amino acid sequences of HCDR3s that were found similar to that of m336 from 454 sequencing analysis of IgM libraries derived from 69 healthy human subjects (denoted by five-letter codes), and from the report by Tang *et al.*^[@CR28]^ (3B11 and 3B12). Red boxes show the junction amino acid residues in HCDR3s. (**d**) Germline-rooted circular phylogenetic tree of m336 V~L~-like antibody sequences (denoted by five-letter codes, m336 in red and KV1-17\*01 in green) found in IgM libraries derived from 69 healthy human subjects and two newborn babies along with the anti-rabies antibody light chain (SC4098, in purple) from the report by Kramer *et al.*^[@CR38]^. These findings suggest that the selection of specific junctional amino acids with certain V(D)J recombination and allele-specific amino acids in the heavy chain, and subsequent somatic mutations in the light chain could lead to the high affinity of m336 for its target RBD. However, the adaptability of somatic mutations might depend on the nature of junctional residues that occur far ahead of any somatic mutations and determine the pathway of affinity maturation^[@CR36]^. To further investigate potential immunogenetic mechanisms such as IGHV1-69 recombination frequency with specific IGHD and IGHJ genes among other germlines and conserved amino acid residues at allelic and junctional positions, we analysed in detail the deep sequencing data of our antibodyome studies from 69 healthy human donors^[@CR35]^. Our analysis revealed that a significant (12.7%) proportion of expressed V~H~ genes were productively recombined from the IGHV1-69 gene ([Supplementary Fig. 3](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). Among a total of 9,454 sequences of IGHV1-69 germline origin, 6,512 sequences had the germline-encoded Phe54 and 3,057 sequences had the germline-encoded Lys73 natural allelic residues in the population of 69 individuals, while 1,452 sequences (15.4%) had both residues, Phe54 and Lys73, such as found in m336. This suggests a potential mechanism contributing to individually variable but effective elicitation of m336-like neutralizing antibodies in response to MERS-CoV infection. We further explored the V~H~ sequences from our 454 antibody sequencing database to find V~H~-related m336-like antibodies. We found nine m336-related V~H~ sequences from 69 volunteers that shared the same IGHV1-69 germline family with a characteristic disulphide bond at the middle of HCDR3 ([Fig. 3c](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). The commonalities among the HCDR3s included the similar HCDR3 length of 18 amino acids and the usage of D2-2 segment. Notably, m336 had a unique junctional motif as compared with those nine V~H~ sequences as well as to those two anti-MERS-CoV antibodies (3B11 and 3B12) recently reported^[@CR28]^ ([Fig. 3c](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). A disulphide bond characterized by the IGHD2-2\*03 gene was conserved in all the HCDR3s, implying the same IGHD reading frame usage in all those nine V~H~ sequences. The disulphide-bonded cysteine residues in the HCDR3 of m336 involved in the direct binding to MERS-CoV RBD ([Fig. 1b,d](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}) suggested a possible functional role of this HCDR3 disulphide motif. Compared with the other anti-MERS-CoV antibodies, 3B11 and 3B12, m336 used a different V~L~ derived from IGK1-17, whereas 3B11 and 3B12 used IGKV3-20 and IGKV4-1, respectively for their V~L~ sequences. Although antibody phage display technique has proved to be an effective method for generating mAbs, the mAbs so obtained from random combinations of V~H~ and V~L~ may not reflect the natural V~H~/V~L~ pairing as found in immune repertoire. To assess the potential compatibility of V~H~/V~L~ pairing in m336, we searched through the IMGT/3Dstructure-DB. We found that the same m336-specific V~H~/V~L~ pairing, IGHV1-69/IGK1-17, exists in the dengue cross-reactive hybridoma-derived mAb 2H12 and anti-Homo sapiens epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody, imgatuzumab, indicating the immunologically relevant cognate V~H~/V~L~ pairing type for m336. To examine the role of IGKV1-17 usage in m336 V~L~, we further analysed the IGKV1-17 lineage sequences retrieved from naive IgM repertoires of 69 healthy human subjects as well as in neonatal IgM repertoires of two newborn babies^[@CR37]^. We found 40 unique m336 V~L~-like sequences with the IGKV1-17 lineage that shared some pre-existing amino acid mutations with m336 V~L~ ([Supplementary Fig. 4](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). Phylogenetic tree analysis of the m336 V~L~-like sequences revealed a highly germline-related nature of the m336 V~L~ ([Fig. 3d](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}). We previously found that ∼70% of the heavy and light chains had one to five amino acid changes as naturally occurring somatic hypermutation in the cord blood IgM repertoire^[@CR37]^. An interesting aspect of our study is that most of the m336 V~L~ mutations are also found as pre-existing mutations associated with certain IGKV1-17 lineage sequences in those IgM repertoires ([Supplementary Fig. 4](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). Further, we identified an anti-rabies virus antibody SC4098 by BLAST search against the GenBank database, whose V~L~ chain has all the four mutations identical to those in m336 V~L~ as compared with the IGKV1-17 germline^[@CR38]^. This implies a possible functional role of these V~L~ mutations. Accordingly, these V~L~ mutations, although in a lesser extent, along with the unique junctional residues and allele encoding residues of V~H~, might have played a role in the high-affinity binding to MERS-CoV. Taken together, these results suggest that m336 V~H~ uses the key immunogenetic elements including naturally occurring Phe54 and Lys73-encoded allelic-specific amino acids and specific junctional amino acid residues while m336 V~L~ relies on somatic mutations for deriving its high affinity in an unprecedented manner. Binding and neutralization activity of germline precursors {#Sec7} ---------------------------------------------------------- It was surprising that m336 as an exceptionally potent MERS-CoV neutralizer had only six amino acid changes from its inferred germline precursor. To determine whether these mutations are essential for the potency of m336, we reverted the residue(s) in the heavy chain (m336-gH), light chain (m336-gL) or light-chain framework region (m336-gL-FR) to their germline counterparts, respectively ([Fig. 4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). The binding of m336 and the germline predecessors to the recombinant MERS-CoV S1 protein was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; [Fig. 4b,d](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}) and Biacore ([Supplementary Fig. 5](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}), and their neutralization activity against MERS-CoV S1-pseudotyped viruses in Huh-7 cells was determined using methods previously described^[@CR26]^ ([Fig. 4c,d](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). The reversion of the only mutation in the heavy chain (S59N) did not have any effect on the MERS-CoV-binding affinity and neutralizing activity of m336. The m336-gH exhibited potent neutralizing activity with an IC~50~ of 0.002 μg ml^−1^, which is very similar to that of m336 measured here (0.003 μg ml^−1^) or described previously (0.005 μg ml^−1^).Figure 4The binding and neutralization activities.(**a**) Representation of the amino acids in m336 that are divergent from those in the predicted germline precursor. None of the five residues in the light chain has any direct contact with the MERS-CoV RBD. (**b**) Binding of IgG1s m336, m336-gH, m336-gL-FR, m336-gL and a negative control IgG1 m102.4 to MERS-CoV S1 protein measured by ELISA. (**c**) Neutralization of viruses pseudotyped with the MERS-CoV S glycoprotein. (**d**) A summary of the binding and neutralization results of m336 and the germline revertants. (**e**) Binding of Fab m336 allele-specific mutants (F54L and K73E) to MERS-CoV S1 protein measured by ELISA. (**f**) Binding of Fab m336 junctional mutants (V95A, N100dA, R100eA and G100fA) to MERS-CoV S1 protein measured by ELISA. The m336 light chain contains three somatic mutations in the framework region (Leu4, Leu46 and Asp70) and two in the LCDR3 region (Gln89 and Leu91). None of these residues makes direct contact with the MERS-CoV RBD. Interestingly, reversion of the three framework somatic mutations of m336 to their germline counterparts (m336-gL-FR) not only decreased the binding to MERS-CoV RBD ([Fig. 4b](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}) but also markedly reduced the neutralization potency ([Fig. 4c](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). The neutralization activity of m336-gL-FR (IC~50~=0.47 μg ml^−1^) was two orders of magnitude lower than that of m336 (IC~50~=0.003 μg ml^−1^). Complete reversion of somatic mutations in the m336 V~L~ further decreased RBD-binding activity and MERS-CoV-neutralizing activity. Interestingly, the dissociation rate constants of the four antibodies are similar but the association rate constants of m336 and m336-gH are much higher than that of m336-gL and m336-gL-FR ([Supplementary Fig. 5](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). The IC~50~ value of m336-gL was 1.33 μg ml^−1^, threefold higher than that of m336-gL-FR. Consistent with the immunogenetic analysis, these results support the importance of naturally occurring V~L~ mutations, and demonstrate that non-contact residues in the m336 light chain are essential for its binding and potency. Binding activity of junctional and allele-specific mutants {#Sec8} ---------------------------------------------------------- To further demonstrate the importance of junctional and allele-specific residues in the binding of m336 to RBD, we generated a series of m336 mutations and measured their binding to MERS-CoV S1 protein by ELISA ([Fig. 4e,f](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). m336 was derived from IGHV1-69\*06 allele that has Phe54 in HCDR2 and Lys73 in FR3. In the 14 IGHV1-69 alleles, eight of them have a phenylalanine at position 54 while the other six alleles (\*02, \*04, \*08, \*09, \*10 and \*11) have a leucine. Interestingly, the m336 F54L mutant was found to have greatly reduced binding affinity to MERS-CoV S1 protein with at least 1,000-fold reduced EC50 as compared with the wild-type m336 ([Fig. 4e](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). Similarly, half of the 14 alleles have a lysine at position 73 while the other 7 alleles (\*01, \*03, \*05, \*07, \*11, \*12 and \*13) have a glutamic acid, and the m336 K73E mutant was found to have at least 10-fold reduced MERS-CoV S1 binding affinity as compared with m336. The alanine mutations of the four junctional amino acids (V95A, N100dA, R100eA and G100fA) also showed severely reduced binding to MERS-CoV S1 as compared with the wild-type m336 ([Fig. 4f](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}). These results, along with the structural analysis, confirmed that the junctional and allele-specific amino acids in m336 are critical for its MERS-CoV RBD binding and virus neutralization. Discussion {#Sec9} ========== Elicitation of highly somatically mutated bnAbs against viruses with high antigenic diversity, such as HIV, has been challenging when traditional vaccine approaches are applied. Thus, an alternative vaccination strategy has been proposed to first activate naive mature B cells expressing unmutated germline B cell receptors with germline antibody-binding immunogens, followed by immunogen binding to intermediate antibodies to guide the immune system through the complex maturation pathways, resulting in, finally, the elicitation of those antibodies with specific sequences^[@CR11]^. However, it appears that potent antibodies with broad neutralizing activity against some viruses, in this case the MERS-CoV, can naturally exist with very low level of somatic hypermutation. The MERS-CoV RBD is highly conserved with very few mutations. By analysing the known RBD sequences, we found that the epitope of m336 does not overlap with any of the point mutations ([Supplementary Fig. 6](#MOESM1267){ref-type="media"}). By using genetic and structural analyses, we discovered that a germline-encoded antibody, m336, could achieve high-affinity recognition and neutralization of the newly emerged MERS-CoV, mostly by using allele-specific residues, as well as junctional amino acids. It is noteworthy that even though germline sequences of specific antibodies (for example, HIV-1 bnAbs) can be predicted by reconstructing B cell clonal lineages^[@CR39]^, it may not be possible to infer the exact naturally occurring junctional amino acids, which were introduced by V(D)J rearrangement, a critical process preceding somatic hypermutation. Therefore, the junctional amino acids of the mature antibodies are usually retained or bioinformatically derived in the design of germline-encoded precursor antibodies^[@CR5],[@CR6],[@CR7],[@CR40]^. Notably, it has been demonstrated that adaptability of somatic mutations might depend on the nature of junctional amino acids that occur far ahead of any somatic mutations and could determine the maturation pathway of antibodies^[@CR36]^. This finding, coupled with the fact that the matured antibodies for some viruses, for example, HIV-1, are highly somatically mutated, suggests that the junctional residues in matured antibodies may be quite different from their initial germline counterparts, a phenomenon that could have important consequences for the elicitation of bnAbs. Therefore, we propose here that alternative strategies to identify naturally occurring germline predecessors of bnAbs should be explored through human antibodyome rather than theoretically reconstructing them, thereby confounding the rational design of otherwise effective vaccine immunogens. Interestingly, we also found that m336 has unique junctional amino acids in the HCDR3, as compared with the related V~Hs~ identified by deep sequencing of antibodyomes from 69 healthy humans, as well as other recently identified anti-MERS-CoV antibodies of IGHV1-69 origin^[@CR28],[@CR35]^. These junctional amino acids play an important role as they are directly involved in the interaction between m336 and MERS-CoV RBD. Particularly, all the junctional amino acids in m336 participate in antigen recognition, and some, for example, Arg100e that forms salt bridges with Asp539 of MERS-CoV RBD, are critical for the high-affinity interaction. Other key immunogenetic elements including naturally occurring Phe54 and Lys73-encoded allelic-specific amino acids have also been identified to play a role in the high-affinity binding of m336 to MERS-CoV RBD. Our results suggest that the direct antigen recognition effects of the junctional residues in the HCDR3, which could affect subsequent somatic hypermutation and the maturation pathway of an antibody^[@CR36]^, should be considered in the design of germline-encoded precursor antibodies and related vaccine strategies. These results also demonstrate that junctional diversity and specific alleles can potentially contribute to individual differences in humoral immune responses, and, as such, they can be key cofactors in selecting potent neutralizing antibodies. The identification of germline-like potent MERS-CoV-neutralizing antibodies implies that elicitation of m336-like neutralizing antibody response by immunization could be relatively quick and effective. The crystal structure of the MERS-CoV RBD in complex with the m336 Fab also shows that m336 bound to an area on the RBS of the MERS-CoV RBD that encompasses both patch 1 and patch 2 residues. With its epitope almost completely overlapping the binding site of the natural receptor DPP4, m336 not only mimicked critical interactions between DDP4 and MERS-CoV RBD^[@CR30],[@CR31]^ but also exploited an angle of approach for recognition similar to that of DPP4 to achieve potent neutralization. It is reasonable to speculate that the development of viral escape mutants to m336 should be unfavourable, since the reduced binding to m336 of the mutant viruses could also result in the reduced binding to the cellular receptor DPP4. Thus, the m336 epitope on the RBD identified here may aid in the development of highly effective MERS-CoV vaccines and the antibody itself, due to its germline nature, could have great potential for prophylaxis and therapy of MERS-CoV infection in humans. Methods {#Sec10} ======= Protein expression and purification {#Sec11} ----------------------------------- MERS-CoV *Eng1* RBD with a C-terminal HRV-3c cleavage site and His6x purification tag was expressed in GnTi^−/−^ cells^[@CR41]^. The MERS-CoV RBD protein was purified by nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) affinity chromatography followed by size exclusion chromatography using 1 × PBS as buffer. The m336-gH mutant was generated using QuikChange II XL site-directed mutagenesis kit (Stratagene) with the m336 IgG1-expressing plasmid as a template; the m336 F54L, K73E, V95A, N100dA, R100eA and G100fA mutants were generated with the m336 Fab-expressing plasmid as a template. The light chains of m336-gL-FR and m336-gL were synthesized by GenScript (Piscataway, NJ) and inserted into the m336 IgG1-expressing plasmid, respectively, to replace the original light chain of m336. The antibodies were expressed and analysed, and protein purity was estimated as \>95% by SDS--polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and protein concentration was measured spectrophotometrically (NanoVue, GE Healthcare). Crystallization and data collection {#Sec12} ----------------------------------- The antigen-binding fragment of antibody m336 was prepared using Lys-C (Roche) digestion with an IgG/Lys-C ratio of 4,000:1 (w/w)^[@CR2]^. The RBD protein was then mixed with the m336 Fab in a 1:1.5 molar ratio and incubated for 30 min at room temperature. The complexes were purified by size exclusion chromatography (Superdex S200; GE Healthcare) and concentrated to ∼8 mg ml^−1^ for crystallization screening. Initial crystallizations were carried out at 20 °C using a Mosquito crystallization robot (TTP Labtech, UK) and commercially available Hampton (Hampton Research), Precipitant Synergy (Emerald Biosystems) and Wizard (Emerald Biosystems) crystallization screens. Droplets were allowed to equilibrate at 20 °C and imaged at scheduled times with Rock Imager (Formulatrix, MA). Robotic crystal hits were optimized manually using the hanging drop vapor-diffusion method and crystals of diffraction quality were obtained by mixing 0.5 μl of protein complex and 0.5 μl of reservoir solutions containing 20% mono-Methyl polyethylene glycol 2000 and 100 mM HEPES, pH 7.5. Diffraction data of the m336/RBD crystals were collected under cryogenic conditions with a buffer containing 20% mono-Methyl polyethylene glycol 2000 and 100 mM HEPES, pH 7.5 and 20% glycerol as cryoprotectant, at beamline ID-22 (SER-CAT) at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, with 1.0000 Å radiation. The 2.65 Å resolution data set was processed and scaled with HKL2000 (ref. [@CR42]) in P2~1~2~1~2~1~ space group. Structure determination and refinement {#Sec13} -------------------------------------- The structure of the m336:MERS-CoV RBD complex was solved by molecular replacement using Phaser^[@CR43]^ in the CCP4 Program Suite^[@CR44]^. To place the two copies of m336/MERS-CoV RBD complex in the asymmetric unit, MERS-CoV RBD from PDB ID 4KQZ was used as the initial model to locate the MERS-CoV protein. CDR-loop-trimmed variable domain of Fab VRC-PG04 (PDB ID 3SE9) and its constant domain were used separately to locate corresponding domains of Fab m336 in the structure. Refinements were carried out with PHENIX^[@CR45]^ with a cross validation (R~free~) test set containing 5% of the data. Starting with torsion-angle simulated annealing with slow cooling, iterative manual model building was carried out in COOT^[@CR46]^ with maps generated from combinations of positional, individual *B*-factor and TLS refinement algorithms. Ordered solvents were added during each macro cycle. Structure validations were performed periodically during the model building/refinement process with MolProbity^[@CR47]^. Final refinement statistics are summarized in [Table 1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}. ELISA {#Sec14} ----- Binding of antibodies to the MERS-CoV S1 protein (Sino Biological Inc.) was measured by ELISA. Serial fivefold dilutions of antibodies starting from 1 μM were diluted in PBS and assayed for binding to MERS-CoV S1 protein. After washing, bound antibodies were detected by horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated goat anti-human IgG Ab (Sigma-Aldrich, cat. no. A0170) or horseradish peroxidase-conjugated anti-FLAG Ab (Sigma-Aldrich, cat. no. A8592). Surface plasmon resonance binding {#Sec15} --------------------------------- Surface plasmon resonance measurements were performed using a BIAcore X100 instrument (GE Healthcare). MERS-CoV S1 protein (Sino Biological Inc.) diluted in 10 mM sodium acetate buffer (pH 5.5) was immobilized on a CM5 biosensor chip using a primary amine coupling method. The running buffer was allowed to flow through the cells at a rate of 30 μl min^−1^. The analytes consisted of serial dilution of proteins between 500 to 0.05 nM (500, 50, 5, 0.5 and 0.05 nM). Neutralization assays {#Sec16} --------------------- For measuring the neutralization activities of m336, m336-gH, m336-gL-FR and m336-gL, Huh-7 cells were infected with MERS-CoV-S pseudoviruses in the presence of serial dilutions of antibodies at indicated concentrations. The culture was re-fed with fresh medium 12 h post infection and incubated for an additional 72 h. Cells were washed with PBS and lysed using lysis reagent included in a luciferase kit (Promega). Aliquots of cell lysates were transferred to 96-well flat-bottom luminometer plates (Costar), followed by addition of luciferase substrate (Promega). Relative light units were determined immediately using the Ultra 384 luminometer (Tecan USA). Immunogenetic analysis {#Sec17} ---------------------- Antibody cDNA libraries constructed from peripheral blood B cells of 10 and 59 healthy donors^[@CR48],[@CR49]^ were sequenced using the 454 sequencing technology^[@CR35]^. Informed consent was obtained from all human participants. Details of quality control and 454 high-throughput sequence analysis of IgM antibody variable domains consisting of all three CDRs along with FRs were elaborated elsewhere^[@CR37]^. Briefly, IMGT/HighV-QUEST^[@CR50]^ was used for immunogenetics and SAS JMP10 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) was used for statistical analyses. The output results from the IMGT/HighV-QUEST analysis were stored at a local PostgreSQL database. Structured Query Language (SQL) was used to retrieve the IGHV1-69 and IGKV1-17 lineage sequences for immunogenetic analysis. Sequence alignments were made with ClustalW2. Phylogenetic tree analysis was performed using Archaeopteryx. Additional information {#Sec18} ====================== **Accession codes:** Atomic coordinates and structure factor amplitudes for the m336-MERS-CoV RBD complex have been deposited in the PBD under accession code [4XAK](http://www.pdb.org/pdb/search/structidSearch.do?structureId=4XAK). **How to cite this article:** Ying, T. *et al.* Junctional and allele-specific residues are critical for MERS-CoV neutralization by an exceptionally potent germline-like antibody. *Nat. Commun.* **6**:8223 doi: 10.1038/ncomms9223 (2015). Supplementary information ========================= {#Sec19} Supplementary InformationSupplementary Figures 1-6, Supplementary Tables 1-4 (PDF 887 kb) We thank members of the Structural Biology Section, Structural Bioinformatics Core Section, Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes for Health, for comments and suggestions on the manuscript. We thank Peter Kwong and Barney Graham for advices on the structural study. Support for this work was provided by the Intramural Research Programs of the Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, as well as by the National Science and Technology Major Project of China (2012ZX10002002). Use of sector 22 (Southeast Region Collaborative Access Team) at the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, under contract number W-31-109-Eng-38. T.Y., T.Z. and D.S.D. conceived, designed and supervised the project. T.Y., L.D., W.S., Y.F., Y.W., L.W., W.L. and T.Z. did the experiments. T.Z. collected the data and solved the structure. P.P. analysed the next-generation sequencing data. T.Y., P.P., S.J., D.S.D. and T.Z. analysed the data and wrote the paper. Accessions {#d29e1575} ========== Protein Data Bank[4XAK](http://www.pdb.org/pdb/search/structidSearch.do?structureId=4XAK) The authors declare no competing financial interests. | Mid | [
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ProDrivers. Class A shuttle drivers. Shuttle Drivers run from Dallas Fort Worth, TX DC to cross docks for re-supply, $22.00 an hour, Overtime after 40 hours 90% no touch, Must be willing to touch if needed. Home ... Local Shuttle account needs two drivers asap! Must live within 25 mis of Carrollton TX Must have at least 12 mnths verifiable background Must have a clean record Driver will work Mon-Fri with Occasional Saturdays Drop and Hook-No touch 80% of lanes are within 100mis of Carrollton TX Driver will make $850-$900+ a week working 50-60 hours a week About TMI Consultants LLCLocal, Dedicated, and Regi... Pay: $1,050 per week Home Time: Home daily with weeks off Operating Area: Local radius Endorsements: Hazmat required 90 days after being hired *will reimburse* Background Required: 6-months without a trainer 1 Saturday per month required 5am or 12pm start time 10-12 hour shifts Start earning paid time off immediately No automatics available Drivers will shuttle trailers Benefits and 401K Consis... It's our mission to provide transportation services in a safe and efficient manner to customers on a national level by utilizing our superior personnel and resources. At Raider Transportation LLC, our company is built upon our appreciation for our valid drivers license-A truck drivers, and propelled by our commitment to keeping our customers happy. Job Information: Local Dedicated Account Drive... Interviewing now for a local Class A truck driver to work Monday Friday and be home daily. Monday Friday Home Daily If you live in Dallas, start time is noon If you live in Houston, start time is 5am 12 Hours Daily $1050 weekly average Pay guarantee Average 2680 mis week $10 per stop (average ten stops weekly) Earn Immediate PAID-TIME-OFF: 1.5 hrs weekly Driver will shuttle trailers of paint an... | Mid | [
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Many of today’s new computers are not just screens that we stare at, but objects in our world with which we interact. A refrigerator is now a computer that keeps things cold; a car is now a computer with four wheels and an engine. These computers sense us and our environment, and they affect us and our environment. They talk to each other over networks, they are autonomous, and they have physical agency. They drive our cars, pilot our planes, and run our power plants. They control traffic, administer drugs into our bodies, and dispatch emergency services. These connected computers and the network that connects them — collectively known as “the internet of things” — affect the world in a direct physical manner. We've already seen hacks against robot vacuum cleaners, ransomware that shut down hospitals and denied care to patients, and malware that shut down cars and power plants. These attacks will become more common, and more catastrophic. Computers fail differently than most other machines: It's not just that they can be attacked remotely — they can be attacked all at once. It’s impossible to take an old refrigerator and infect it with a virus or recruit it into a denial-of-service botnet, and a car without an internet connection simply can’t be hacked remotely. But that computer with four wheels and an engine? It — along with all other cars of the same make and model — can be made to run off the road, all at the same time. As the threats increase, our longstanding assumptions about security no longer work. The practice of patching a security vulnerability is a good example of this. Traditionally, we respond to the never-ending stream of computer vulnerabilities by regularly patching our systems, applying updates that fix the insecurities. This fails in low-cost devices, whose manufacturers don’t have security teams to write the patches: if you want to update your DVR or webcam for security reasons, you have to throw your old one away and buy a new one. Patching also fails in more expensive devices, and can be quite dangerous. Do we want to allow vulnerable automobiles on the streets and highways during the weeks before a new security patch is written, tested, and distributed? Another failing assumption is the security of our supply chains. We've started to see political battles about government-placed vulnerabilities in computers and software from Russia and China. But supply chain security is about more than where the suspect company is located: we need to be concerned about where the chips are made, where the software is written, who the programmers are, and everything else. Last week, Bloomberg reported that China inserted eavesdropping chips into hardware made for American companies like Amazon and Apple. The tech companies all denied the accuracy of this report, which precisely illustrates the problem. Everyone involved in the production of a computer must be trusted, because any one of them can subvert the security. As everything becomes a computer and those computers become embedded in national-security applications, supply-chain corruption will be impossible to ignore. | Mid | [
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--- author: - 'Gerald Höhn[^1]' title: Conformal Designs based on Vertex Operator Algebras --- \#1 Introduction ============ In the past, it has been a fruitful approach to generalize concepts known for codes and lattices to vertex operator algebras and then to show that analogous results hold in this context. Important examples are the construction of the Moonshine module [@Bo-ur; @FLM] or the modular invariance of the genus-$1$ correlation functions [@Zhu-dr]. Other examples involving are given in [@Ho-dr; @Ho-shadow]. A comprehensive analysis of these analogies can be found in [@Ho-kleinian], where also a fourth step in this analogy, codes over the Kleinian four-group ${\bf Z}_2\times {\bf Z}_2$, was introduced. Two well-studied combinatorial structures are block designs and spherical designs and many examples of such designs are related to codes and lattices. A notion analogous to block designs and spherical designs in the context of however has been missing so far. In this paper, we introduce the notation of a [*conformal design based on a vertex operator algebra*]{} and prove several results analogous to known results for block and spherical designs. The paper is organized as follows. In the rest of the introduction we discuss the concepts of block and spherical $t$-designs to motivate our definition of conformal $t$-designs. Details of the definition will be discussed in the next section. Section 2 also contains several basic results. In particular, we prove that a vertex operator algebra $V$ with a compact automorphism group $G$ leads to conformal designs if the fixed point $V^G$ has large minimal weight (Theorem \[groupdesigns\]). The minimal weight of a $V$ is the smallest $m>0$ with $V_m\not=0$. We also describe the construction of derived designs (Theorem \[derivedparts\]). In Section 3, we prove that the homogeneous parts of an extremal are conformal $11$-, $7$-, or $3$-designs depending on the residue class $\bmod \ 24$ of the central charge of $V$. Extremal have been introduced in [@Ho-dr] and are $V$ with only one irreducible module up to isomorphism such that the first coefficients of the graded trace of $V$ are as small as possible. The Moonshine module is an example of an extremal supporting $11$-designs. This theorem is the analog of theorems of Assmus-Mattson [@AsMa] (see also [@Ba-harm]) and Venkov [@VE-design] for extremal doubly-even codes and extremal even lattices, respectively. In the final section, we study the classification of conformal $6$- and $8$-designs $V_m$ supported by $V$ of minimal weight $m\leq 2$. Our result for conformal $6$-designs (Theorem \[classfic7\]) is analogous to (but a little weaker than) similar results for codes [@LaLa-codesign] and lattices [@Ma-ladesign]: For $m=1/2$ and $m=1$, the only examples are the single Fermion $V_{\rm Fermi}$ and the two lattice $V_{A_1}$ and $V_{E_8}$, respectively. For $m=3/2$, the allowed central charges are $c=16$ and $c=23\frac{1}{2}$. In the later case the shorter Moonshine module $V\!B^{\natural}$ [@Ho-dr] is a known example. For $m=2$, the allowed central charges are $c=8$, $16$, $23\frac{3}{35}$, $23\frac{1}{2}$, $24$, $32$, $32\frac{4}{5}$, $33\frac{5}{7}$, $34\frac{4}{7}$, $40$, $1496$ and examples are known for $c=8$, $16$, $23\frac{1}{2}$, $24$ and $32$. For conformal $8$-designs, one obtains (Theorem \[classfic8\]) $m=2$ and $c=24$ with the Moonshine module $V^{\natural}$ the only known example. I like to thank J.-C. Puchta and C. Schweigert for answering questions and H. Yamauchi for his suggestions and his carefully reading of an early version of this paper. A [*block design*]{} $X$ of type $t$-$(n,k,\lambda)$ (or $t$-design, for short) is a set of size-$k$-subsets of a set $M$ of size $n$ such that each size-$t$-subset of $M$ is contained in the same number $\lambda$ of sets from $X$. A subset $K$ of $M$ can be identified with the vector $(x_{q})_{q\in M}\in {\bf F}_2^M$, where $x_q=1$ if $q\in K$ and $x_q=0$ otherwise. Let ${\rm Hom}(m)$ be the complex vector space of homogeneous [*polynomial functions*]{} of degree $m$ on ${\bf F}_2^M$ in the variables $t_p$, $p\in M$, where $t_p((x_q)_{q\in M})=x_p$ for $(x_q)_{q\in M} \in {\bf F}_2^M$. A basis of ${\rm Hom}(m)$ is formed by the $n \choose m$ monomials $\prod_{p\in N} t_p$ where $N$ is a size-$m$-subset of $M$. There is a natural action of ${\Aut M}\cong {\rm S}_n$, the symmetric group of degree $n$, on $M$, ${\bf F}_2^M$, and ${\rm Hom}(m)$. The condition for a set $X$ of size-$k$-subsets of $M$ to be a $t$-design is now equivalent to (one may choose for $f$ the monomial $\prod_{p\in N} t_p$ where $N \subset M$ with $|N|=s$) that for all $0\leq s\leq t$ and $f\in {\rm Hom}(s)$ and for all $g\in {\rm S}_n$ the following equation holds $$\label{b-designinv} \sum_{B\in X}f(B)=\sum_{B\in X}f(g(B)).$$ The vector spaces ${\rm Hom}(m)$ can be decomposed into a direct sum of irreducible components under the action of ${\rm S}_n$. Let $\pi$ be the projection of ${\rm Hom}(m)$ onto the trivial component. By averaging equation (\[b-designinv\]) over all $g\in {\rm S}_n$ one finds that the above condition on $X$ is equivalent to that for all $0\leq s\leq t$ and $f\in {\rm Hom}(s)$ one has $$\label{b-designpro} \sum_{B\in X}f(B)=\sum_{B\in X}\pi(f)(B).$$ The decomposition of ${\rm Hom}(m)$ into irreducible components can be done explicitly: The kernel of $\Delta:{\rm Hom}(m)\longrightarrow {\rm Hom}(m-1)$, $f\mapsto \sum_{p\in M} \frac{ \partial f}{\partial t_p}$, forms the irreducible constituent ${\rm Harm}(m)$ of “discrete” harmonic polynomials of degree $m$. One has the decomposition ${\rm Hom}(m)=\bigoplus_{i=0}^{m} {\rm Harm}'(i)$, where ${\rm Harm}'(i)$ is the image of ${\rm Harm}(i)$ in ${\rm Hom}(m)$ under the multiplication with $(\sum_{p\in M}t_p)^{m-i}$. This gives the following characterization of $t$-designs: A set $X$ of size-$k$-subsets of $M$ is a $t$-design if and only if for all $1\leq s\leq t$ and $f\in {\rm Harm}(s)$ one has $$\label{b-designharm} \sum_{B\in X}f(B)=0.$$ A [*spherical $t$-design*]{} (cf. [@DGS; @GoSe]) is a finite subset $X$ of a sphere $S(r)$ of radius $r$ around $0$ in ${\bf R}^n$ (usually the unit sphere) such that $X$ can be used to integrate all polynomials $f$ of degree $s\leq t$ on $S(r)$ exactly by averaging their values on $X$, i.e., the following equation holds: $$\label{s-designdef} \frac{1}{|X|}\sum_{B\in X}f(B)=\frac{1}{{\rm Vol}(S(r))}\int_{S(r)}f\ \omega,$$ where $\omega$ is the canonical volume form on the Riemannian manifold $S(r)$. Let ${\rm Hom}(m)$ be the complex vector space of homogeneous polynomials of degree $m$ in the variables $x_i$, where the $x_i$, $i=1$, $\ldots$, $n$, are identified with the standard coordinate functions on ${\bf R}^n$. One has $\dim {\rm Hom}(m)={n+m-1\choose n-1}$. There is a natural action of the orthogonal group ${\rm O}(n)$ on ${\bf R}^n$ and ${\rm Hom}(m)$. The condition for a set $X\subset S(r)$ to be a spherical $t$-design is now equivalent to (the right hand side of equation (\[s-designdef\]) is obviously ${\rm O}(n)$-invariant) that for all $0\leq s\leq t$ and $f\in {\rm Hom}(s)$ and for all $g\in {\rm O}(n)$ the following equation holds $$\label{s-designinv} \sum_{B\in X}f(B)=\sum_{B\in X}f(g(B)).$$ The vector spaces ${\rm Hom}(m)$ can again be decomposed into a direct sum of irreducible components under the action of ${\rm O}(n)$. Let $\pi$ be the projection of ${\rm Hom}(m)$ onto the trivial component. By averaging equation (\[s-designinv\]) over all $g\in {\rm O}(n)$ using an invariant measure, one finds that the above condition on $X$ is equivalent to that for all $0\leq s\leq t$ and $f\in {\rm Hom}(s)$ one has $$\label{s-designpro} \sum_{B\in X}f(B)=\sum_{B\in X}\pi(f)(B).$$ The decomposition of ${\rm Hom}(m)$ into irreducible components can also be done explicitly: The kernel of $\Delta:{\rm Hom}(m)\longrightarrow {\rm Hom}(m-2)$, $f\mapsto \sum_{l=1}^n \frac{ \partial^2f}{\partial x^2_l}$, forms the irreducible constituent ${\rm Harm}(m)$ of harmonic polynomials of degree $m$. One has the decomposition ${\rm Hom}(m)=\bigoplus_{i=0}^{[m/2]} {\rm Harm}'(m-2i)$, where ${\rm Harm}'(m-2i)$ is the image of ${\rm Harm}(m-2i)$ in ${\rm Hom}(m)$ under the multiplication with $(\sum_{l=1}^n x^2_l)^{i}$. This gives the following characterization of spherical $t$-designs: A finite subset $X\subset S(r)$ is a spherical $t$-design if and only if for all $1\leq s\leq t$ and $f\in {\rm Harm}(s)$ one has $$\label{s-designharm} \sum_{B\in X}f(B)=0.$$ In the definition of a [*conformal $t$-design based on a $V$*]{} we will replace the groups ${\rm S}_n$ and ${\rm O}(n)$ by the Virasoro algebra of central charge $c$. The rôle of ${\rm Hom}(m)$ will be the degree-$m$-part $V_m$ of a $V$. For $X$, we will take a homogeneous part of a module of $V$ and the evaluation $f[X]=\sum_{B\in X}f(X)$ will be replaced by $$f[X]=\tr|_{X}\o(f),$$ where $f\in V_m$ and $\o(f)$ is the coefficient $v_{(k)}$ of the vertex operator $Y(v,z)=\sum_{n\in {\bf Z}} v_{(n)}z^{-n-1}$ which maps $X$ into itself. The definition of a conformal $t$-design is then the same as in (\[b-designpro\]) and (\[s-designpro\]) or, equivalently, as in (\[b-designharm\]) and (\[s-designharm\]). Definition and basic properties {#basicdef} =============================== The Virasoro algebra is the complex Lie algebra spanned by $L_n$, $n\in {\bf Z}$, and the central element $C$ with Lie bracket $$\label{virasoro} [L_m,L_n]=(m-n)L_{m+n}+\frac{m^3-m}{12}\delta_{m+n,0}\,C$$ where $\delta_{k,0}=1$ if $k=0$ and $\delta_{k,0}=0$ otherwise. For a pair $(c,h)$ of real numbers the Verma module $M(c,h)$ is a representation of the Virasoro algebra generated by a highest weight vector $v\in M(c,h)$ with $Cv=c$, $L_0v=hv$ and $L_nv=0$ for $n\geq 1$. The number $c$ is called the central charge and $h$ is called the conformal weight of the module. The set $$\{L_{-m_1}\cdots L_{-m_k}v\mid k\,,m_1,\,\ldots,\,m_k\in \Z_{\geq 0},\, m_1\geq\cdots\geq m_k\geq 1\}$$ forms a basis of $M(c,h)$. The vector space $M(c,h)$ is graded by the eigenvalues of $L_0$ and the vector $L_{-m_1}\cdots L_{-m_k}v$ is homogeneous of degree $m_1+\cdots+m_k+h$. For $h=0$, the module $M(c,0)$ has a quotient isomorphic to $M(c,0)/M(c,1)$ with a basis which can be identified with $$\{L_{-m_1}\cdots L_{-m_k}v\mid k,\,m_1,\,\ldots,\,m_k\in \Z_{\geq 0},\, m_1\geq\cdots\geq m_k\geq 2\}.$$ A vector $w$ of $M(c,h)$ or $M(c,0)/M(c,1)$ is said to be a singular vector if $L_mw=0$ for all $m\geq 1$. The Kac-determinant formula shows that a module $M(c,h)$ for $h\not=0$ contains a singular vector of degree up to $n$ if $h_{p,q}(c)=h$ for $pq\leq n$ where $$h_{p,q}(c)=\frac{((m+1)p-mq)^2-1}{4m(m+1)}\ \ \hbox{with}\ \ m=-\frac{1}{2}\pm\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\frac{25-c}{1-c}}.$$ The modules $M(c,0)/M(c,1)$ contain a singular vector of degree up to $n$ if and only if the central charge $c$ is a zero of the following normalized polynomial $D_n(c)$: $$\begin{aligned} \label{kacdet} \nonumber D_2(c)& = & c \\ \nonumber D_4(c)& = & c(5c+22) \\ \nonumber D_6(c) & = & c(2c-1)(5c+22)(7c+68) \\ D_8(c) & = & c(2c-1)(3c+46)(5c+3)(5c+22)(7c+68).\end{aligned}$$ A vertex operator algebra $V$ over the field of complex numbers is a complex vector space equipped with a linear map $Y:V\longrightarrow {\rm End}(V)[[z,z^{-1}]]$ and two nonzero vectors ${\bf 1}$ and $\omega$ in $V$ satisfying certain axioms; cf. [@Bo-ur; @FLM]. For $v\in V$ one writes $$Y(v,z)=\sum_{n\in\Z}a_{(n)}z^{-n-1}.$$ The [*vacuum vector*]{} vector ${\bf 1}$ satisfies ${\bf 1}_{(-1)}={\rm id}_V$ and ${\bf 1}_{(n)}=0$ for $n\not=-1$. The coefficients $L_n=\omega_{(n+1)}$ for the [*Virasoro vector*]{} $\omega$ are satisfying the Virasoro relation (\[virasoro\]) with $C=c\cdot{\rm id}_V$ for a complex number $c$ called the [*central charge*]{} of $V$. The operator $L_0$ give rise to a grading $V=\bigoplus_{n\in \Z} V_n$, where $V_n$ denotes the eigenspace of $L_0$ with eigenvalue $n$, called the degree. $V_n$ is supposed to be finite-dimensional and we assume $V_n=0$ for $n<0$ and $V_0=\C\cdot{\bf 1}$. For $v\in V_n$ the operator $v_{(n-1)}$ is homogeneous of degree $0$. We define $\o(v)=v_{(n-1)}$. We will make use several times of the [*associativity relation*]{} $$(u_{(m)}v)_{(n)}=\sum_{i\geq 0} (-1)^i{m \choose i }\bigl( u_{(m-i)}v_{(n+i)}-(-1)^m v_{(m+n-i)}u_{(i)}\bigr)$$ for elements $u$, $v\in V$. For the notion of admissible and (ordinary) module we refer to [@DLM-twistedrep]. A is called [*rational*]{} if every admissible module is completely reducible. In this case there are only finitely many irreducible admissible modules up to isomorphism and every irreducible admissible module is an ordinary module. A is called [*simple*]{} if it is irreducible as a module over itself. For an irreducible module $W$ there exists an $h$ such that $W=\bigoplus_{n\in \Z_{\geq 0}} W_{n+h}$, where the degree $n$ subspace $W_n$ is again the eigenspace of $L_0$ of eigenvalue $n$, with $W_h\not= 0$. We call $h$ the [*conformal weight*]{} of the module $W$. The graded trace of an element $v\in V_n$ on a module $W$ of conformal weight $h$ is defined by $$\chi_W(v,q)=q^{-c/24}\sum_{k\in \Z_{\geq 0}}\tr|_{W_{k+h}}\o(v)q^{k+h}.$$ For $v={\bf 1}$, we call $\chi_W(q)=\chi_W({\bf 1},q)$ the [*character*]{} of $W$. If $V$ is assumed to be rational and satisfying the [*$C_2$-cofiniteness condition*]{} $V/\hbox{Span}\{x_{(-2)}y\mid x,y\in V\}<\infty$ it is a result of Zhu that $\chi_W(v,q)$ is a holomorphic function on the complex upper half plane in the variable $\tau$ for $q=e^{2\pi i \tau}$. We assume in this paper that the $C_2$-cofiniteness condition is satisfied. Furthermore, for $v \in V_n$ a highest weight vector for the Virasoro algebra, the family $\{\chi_W(v,q)\}_W$, where $W$ runs through the isomorphism classes of irreducible $V$-modules $W$, transforms as a vector-valued modular form of weight $n$ for the modular group ${\rm PSL}_2(\Z)$ acting on the upper half plane in the usual way. Given a $V$, Zhu defined a new on the same underlying vector space with vertex operator $Y[v,z]=Y(v,e^z-1)e^{z{\rm wt}(v)}$ for homogeneous elements $v\in V$. The vacuum element is the same as the original one and the new Virasoro element is $\tilde\omega=\omega-\frac{c}{24}$. We let $Y[\tilde \omega,z]=\sum_{n\in \Z}L_{[n]}z^{-n-2}$. The new Virasoro algebra generator $L_{[0]}$ introduces a new grading $V=\bigoplus_{n=0}^{\infty} V_{[n]}$ on $V$ and similar for modules $W$. One has $\bigoplus_{n\leq N}W_n=\bigoplus_{n\leq N} W_{[n]}$ for all $N\in \R$. In particular, the Virasoro highest weight vectors for both Virasoro algebras are the same. It was shown by H. Li that a $V$ as above has a unique normalized invariant bilinear form $(\,.\,,\,.\,)$ given by $$(u,v){\bf 1}={\rm Res}_{z=0}(z^{-1}Y(e^{zL_1}(-z^{-2})^{L(0)}u,z^{-1})v$$ for elements $u$, $v$ in $V$ with normalization $({\bf 1},{\bf 1})=1$ provided that $L_1V_1=0$. We [*assume*]{} that the $V$ in this paper are isomorphic to a direct sum of highest weight modules for the Virasoro algebra, i.e., one has $$V=\bigoplus_{i\in I } M_i,$$ where each $M_i$ is a quotient of a Verma modules $M(c,h)$ with $h\in \Z_{\geq 0}$. One has therefore a natural decomposition $$\label{natdecomp} V= \bigoplus_{h=0}^{\infty}\overline{M}(h)$$ where $\overline{M}(h)$ is a direct sum of finitely many quotients of the Verma module $M(c,h)$. The module $\overline{M}(0)$ is the of $V$ generated by $\omega$ which we denote also by $V_{\omega}$ and is therefore a quotient of $M(c,0)/M(c,1)$. The smallest $h>0$ for which $\overline{M}(h)\not= 0$ is called the [*minimal weight*]{} of $V$ and denoted by $\mu(V)$. (If no such $h>0$ exists, we let $\mu(V)=\infty$.) We note that our assumption implies that $L_1V_1=0$. In particular, the decomposition (\[natdecomp\]) gives us the natural projection map $$\pi: V \longrightarrow V_{\omega}$$ with kernel $\bigoplus_{h>0}^{\infty}\overline{M}(h)$. The decomposition $V= \bigoplus_{h=0}^{\infty}\overline{M}(h)$ is the same for the modified Virasoro algebra with generators $L_{[n]}$. In Section \[classresult\], we study . For the full definition we refer to [@Ho-dr; @Kac-VOA]. We note that a is a super vector space $V=V_{(0)}\oplus V_{(1)}$ where the even part $V_{(0)}=\bigoplus_{n=0}^{\infty} V_n$ is a and the odd part $V_{(1)}=\bigoplus_{n=0}^{\infty} V_{n+1/2}$ is a $V_{(0)}$-module with a conformal weight $h\in \Z_{\geq 0}+\frac{1}{2}$. The minimal weight $\mu(V)$ of $V$ is defined to be the minimum of $\mu(V_{(0)})$ and the conformal weight $h$ of $V_{(1)}$. A $V$ is called rational in this paper if the even $V_{(0)}$ is rational. As explained in the introduction, the following definition is motivated by analogous definitions of block designs and spherical designs. Let $V$ be of central charge $c$ and let $X$ be a degree $h$ subspace of a module of $V$. For a positive integer $t$ one calls $X$ a [*conformal design of type $t$-$(c,h)$*]{} or [*conformal $t$-design,*]{} for short, if for all $v\in V_n$ where $0\leq n\leq t$ one has $$\tr|_{X}\o(v)= \tr|_{X}\o(\pi(v)).$$ The following two observations are clear: If $X$ is a conformal $t$-design based on $V$, it is also a conformal $t$-design based on an arbitrary of $V$. A conformal $t$-design is also a conformal $s$-design for all integers \[equivalence\] Let $X$ be the homogeneous subspace of a module of a $V$. The following conditions are equivalent: - $X$ is a conformal $t$-design. - For all homogeneous $v\in \ker \pi =\bigoplus_{h>0} \overline{ M}(h)$ of degree $n\leq t$, one has $\tr|_{X}\o(v)=0$. For $v\in V$ one has $v-\pi(v) \in \bigoplus_{h>0} \overline{ M}(h)$. If $V$ has minimal weight $\mu$, then the homogeneous subspaces of any module of $V$ are conformal $t$-designs for all $t=1$, $2$, $\ldots$, $\mu-1$. We call such a conformal $t$-design [*trivial*]{}. In particular, if $V$ is isomorphic to $V_{\omega}$, i.e., has minimal weight infinity, all conformal designs based on $V$ are trivial. \[highestweight\] Let $V$ be a and let $N$ be a $V$-module graded by $\Z +h$. The following conditions are equivalent: - The homogeneous subspaces $N_n$ of $N$ are conformal $t$-designs based on $V$ for $n\leq h$. - For all Virasoro highest weight vectors $v\in V_s$ with $0<s\leq t$ and all $n\leq h$ one has $$\tr|_{N_n}\o(v)=0.$$ It is clear that (i) implies (ii). Assume now that (ii) holds. Let $v\in V$ be a Virasoro highest weight vector and let $w=L_{[-i_1]}\cdots L_{[-i_k]}v$ with positive integers $i_1$, $\ldots$, $i_k$ be in the Virasoro highest weight module generated by $v$. In [@Zhu-dr], Lemma 4.4.4, it is proven that $$\chi_N(w,q)=\sum_{i=0}^k g_i(q)\bigl(q\,{d \over dq}\bigr)^i \chi_N(v,q)$$ with $g_i(q)\in \C[[q]]$ for $i$, $\ldots$, $k$. This implies that if $\chi_N(v,q)\in q^{h+1-c/24}\C[[q]]$ also $\chi_N(w,q)\in q^{h+1-c/24}\C[[q]]$. Since every element of $V$ is a sum of elements as $w$, the theorem follows. We also use that $\bigoplus_{k\leq t} V_{[k]}=\bigoplus_{k\leq t} V_{k}$ and $\bigoplus_{n\leq h} N_{[n]}=\bigoplus_{n\leq h} N_{n}$. Let $G$ be a group of automorphisms acting on a $V$. We say that a module $N$ of $V$ is $G$-invariant, if there exists a central extension $ \widehat G$ of $G$ acting on $N$ such that $g^{-1}Y_N(\bar g v,z)g=Y_N(v,z)$ for all $g\in \widehat G$ and $v\in V$. Here, $ \bar g$ denotes the image of $g$ in $G$. The following result is a generalization of [@Ma-design], Lemma 2.8. \[groupdesigns\] Let $V$ be a and $G$ be a compact Lie group of automorphisms of $V$. Let $X$ be a homogeneous subspace of a $G$-invariant module of $V$. If the minimal conformal weight of $V^G$ is larger or equal to $t+1$, then $X$ is a conformal $t$-design. The analogous result that $t$-homogeneous permutation groups $G$ lead to block $t$-designs is trivial. An analogous result relating the invariants of a real representation of a finite group $G$ with spherical designs is due to Sobolev [@So-quadratur]. For all $g\in \widehat G$ and $v\in V$ we have $\tr|_X\,\o(\bar g v) =\tr|_X\,\o( v)$ as $\o(\bar g v)=g\o(v)g^{-1}$. Let $\tilde v$ be the average of the $\bar g v$, i.e., $\tilde v=\frac{1}{|G|}\sum_{\bar g\in G}\bar gv$ for $G$ finite and $\tilde v=\int_G \bar g v\, \mu/\int_G 1\,\mu$ with $\mu$ the Haar measure on $ G$ in general. Then $\tr|_X\,\o( \tilde v)=\tr|_X\,\o( v)$. Since $\tilde v\in V^G$ and the minimal weight of $V^G$ is larger or equal to $t+1$ and the action of $G$ on $V_\omega$ is trivial, one gets $\tilde v=\pi(v)$ and hence $\tr|_X\,\o(\pi(v))=\tr|_X\,\o( v)$ for $v\in V_s$, $0\leq s\leq t$. A $t$-design $X$ based on $V$ as in the previous theorem is trivial as a conformal $t$-design based on $V^G$. In [@Ma-design], a $V$ is said to be [*of class ${\cal S}^n$*]{} if the minimal weight of $V^G$ is larger or equal to $n$, where $G={\Aut}\,V$ is the automorphism group of $V$. (Matsuo assumes in addition $V_1=0$, but the definition clearly works without this assumption.) \[a1\]The lattice vertex operator algebra $V_{A_1}$ associated to the root lattice $A_1$ has the complex Lie group ${\rm PSU}_2(\C)$ as automorphism group and $V_{A_1}$ is a highest weight representation of level $1$ for the affine Kac-Moody algebra of type $A_1$. The graded character of $V_{A_1}$ as a ${\rm PSU}_2(\C)$-module is $$\chi_{V}=\Bigl(1+\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}(\lambda^n+\lambda^{-n})\,q^{n^2}\Bigr)\Bigm/ \Bigl(q^{1/24}\prod_{n=1}^{\infty}(1-q^n)\Bigr).$$ The characters of the irreducible ${\rm PSU}_2(\C)$-modules are $\sum_{k=-i}^i\lambda^k$ with non-negative integers $i$ and it follows immediately that the graded multiplicity of the trivial ${\rm PSU}_2(\C)$-representation in $V_{A_1}$ is $q^{-1/24}\left(\prod_{n=2}^{\infty}(1-q^n)\right)^{-1}$ which equals the graded character of the Virasoro of central charge $1$. By restricting ${\rm PSU}_2(\C)$ to the compact group ${\rm PSU}_2(\R)$, Theorem \[groupdesigns\] shows that $V_{A_1}$ is of class ${\cal S}^t$ for all $t$ and the homogeneous subspaces $(V_{A_1})_n$ are conformal $t$-designs for all $t$. By using the two-fold cover ${\rm SU}_2(\R)$ of ${\rm PSU}_2(\R)$ it follows that the homogeneous subspaces of the irreducible $V_{A_1}$-module $V_{A_1+\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}}$ of conformal weight $1/4$ are also conformal $t$-designs for all $t$. \[e8\]The lattice vertex operator algebra $V_{E_8}$ associated to the root lattice $E_8$ has the complex Lie group $E_8(\C)$ as automorphism group and $V_{E_8}$ is the unique highest weight representation of level $1$ for the affine Kac-Moody algebra of type $E_8$. It can be deduced from the Weyl-Kac character formula that the minimal weight of the fixed point $V_{E_8}^{E_8(\C)}$ is $8$. Hence, $V_{E_8}$ is of class ${\cal S}^7$ and the homogeneous subspaces $(V_{E_8})_n$ are conformal $7$-designs since $E_8(\C)$ can be restricted to the compact group $E_8(\R)$ without changing the fixpoint . \[moonshine\]It was noted in [@Ho-dr], Sect. 5.1, that Borcherds’ proof of the Moonshine conjectures implies that the minimal weight of $(V^{\natural})^{M}$, where ${V^{\natural}}$ is the Moonshine module with the Monster $M$ as automorphism group, is equal to $12$. Hence, $V^{\natural}$ is of class ${\cal S}^{11}$ and the homogeneous subspaces $V^{\natural}_n$ are conformal $11$-designs. \[shortmoonshine\] Using the proof of the generalized Moonshine conjecture in [@Ho-babymoon], it was shown loc. cit. that the even part $V\!B^{\natural}_{(0)}$ of the odd Moonshine module $V\!B^{\natural}$ with the Baby Monster $B$ as automorphism group [@Ho-shortaut] is of class ${\cal S}^7$. Hence, the homogeneous subspaces of $V\!B^{\natural}_{(0)}$ and of its two further $B$-invariant irreducible modules $V\!B^{\natural}_{(1)}$ and $V\!B^{\natural}_{(2)}$ are conformal $7$-designs. We will give a more direct proof for Examples \[moonshine\] and \[e8\] in the next section and for Example \[shortmoonshine\] after the next theorem. Let $V$ be a of central charge $c$ and $N$ be a $V$-module graded by $\Z+h$. Let $U=V_{\omega'}$ be a Virasoro of $V$ of central charge $c'$ with Virasoro element $\omega'$, let $W$ be the commutant of $U$ in $V$ and assume that $\omega^*=\omega-\omega'$ is a Virasoro element of $W$ of central charge $c^*=c-c'$. Assume also that as $U\otimes W$-module one has a finite decomposition $N=\bigoplus_{h'+h^*=h}\widetilde{M}(h')\otimes K(h^*)$, where $\widetilde{M}(h')$ is a module of $V_{\omega'}$ generated by highest weight vectors of degree $h'$ and the $K(h^*)$ are $W$-modules graded by $\Z+h^*$. For the homogeneous degree-$h$-part $X$ of $N$ one gets the finite decomposition $$X=\bigoplus_{h'+h^*=h} \bigoplus_{\,k\in \Z_{\geq 0} } X'_{h',h'+k}\otimes X^*_{h^*,h^*-k}$$ with homogeneous parts $ X'_{h',h'+k}=\widetilde{M}(h')_{h'+k}$ and $X^*_{h^*,h^*-k}=K(h^*)_{h^*-k}$. The homogeneous subspaces $X^*_{h^*,h^*-k}$ of the $W$-modules $K(h^*)$ are called the [*derived parts of $X$ with respect to $\omega'$.*]{} We also define $S=\{h'\mid \widetilde{M}(h')\not =0\}$ and $s^*=|S|$. \[derivedparts\] Let $V$ be a of central charge $c$ and let $N$ be a $V$-module graded by $\Z+h$. Assume that $\omega'$, $\omega-\omega'\in V_2$ generate two commuting Virasoro of central charge $c$ and $c^*=c-c'$, respectively. Assume further that the homogeneous parts $N_n$ for $n\leq h$ are conformal designs of type $t$-$(c,n)$ based on $V$. Then the derived parts $X^*_{h^*,h^*-k}$ of $X=N_h$ with respect to $\omega'$ are conformal designs of type $t^*$-$(c^*,h^*-k)$ based on the commutant $W$ of $V_{\omega'}$ in $V$ with $t^*=t+2-2s^*$. Let $\omega^*=\omega-\omega'$ be the Virasoro element of $W$. From the commutative diagram $$\begin{array}{lclcl} V_{\omega'} & \!\otimes \! & W & \hookrightarrow & V \\ \, \downarrow \hbox{\small id} & & \, \downarrow \hbox{\small $\pi^*$} & &\, \downarrow \hbox{\small $\pi$} \\ V_{\omega'} & \!\otimes \! & V_{\omega^*} & \rightarrow & V_{\omega} \end{array}$$ where the upper horizontal arrow is the natural injection and the other arrows are the projections onto the relevant Virasoro it follows that if $w \in \ker \pi^*$, then $u\otimes w \in \ker \pi$ for all $u\in V_{\omega'}$. Let now $w\in \ker \pi^*\cap W_s$ where $s\leq t^*$. Denote with $L'_{n}$ and $L^*_n$ the generators of the Virasoro algebra associated to $\omega'$ and $\omega^*$, respectively. For $0\leq i \leq s^*-1$ we define $v^i\in V_{s+2i}$ by $v^i=(L'_{-2})^i{\bf 1}\otimes w$. For the graded traces one gets $$\tr|_N\, \o(v^i) q^{L_0}=\sum_{h'\in S}(\tr|_{\widetilde{M}(h')}\o((L'_{-2})^i{\bf 1})\, q^{L_0'})\cdot (\tr|_{K(h-h')}\o(w)\, q^{L_0^*}).$$ The matrix valued power series $$(\tr|_{\widetilde{M}(h')}\o((L'_{-2})^i{\bf 1})\,q^{L_0'-h'}), \qquad h'\in S,\quad i=0,\, 1,\, \ldots,\,s^*-1,$$ has as constant term the matrix $(n_{h'}\,P_i(h'))$, where $n_{h'}$ is the dimension of the lowest degree subspace $\widetilde{M}(h')_{h'}$ and $P_i(h')$ is a monic polynomial of degree $i$ in $h'$. This matrix is invertible since its determinant is of Vandermonde type and therefore the matrix valued power series is invertible, too. Since the $N_n$ are conformal $t$-designs for $n\leq h$, the coefficients of $\tr|_N \o(v^i)\,q^{L_0}=\sum_{\Z+h}a_n^i\,q^n$ vanish for $n\leq h$ and for all $i$ as $s+2i\leq t^*+2(s^*-1)= t$. Hence the coefficients of $\tr|_{K(h-h')}\o(w)\, q^{L_0^*+h'}=\sum_{k\in\Z+h-h'} b^h_k\,q^{h'+k}$ also vanish for $k\leq h-h'=h^*$ and all $h'\in S$. This implies that the $X^*_{h^*,h^*-k}$ are conformal $t^*$-designs based on $W$. We give two examples, both based on the Moonshine module $V^{\natural}$. As already mentioned before, all its homogeneous subspaces $V^{\natural}_n$ are conformal $11$-designs. \[shortmoonshine2\]By taking for $\omega'$ a Virasoro element of central charge $\frac{1}{2}$ one has the decomposition (cf. [@Ho-dr], Sect. 4.1) $$V^{\natural}=L_{1/2}(0)\otimes V\!B^{\natural}_{(0)}\, \oplus\,L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})\otimes V\!B^{\natural}_{(1)}\, \oplus\,L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{16})\otimes V\!B^{\natural}_{(2)},$$ where the $L_{1/2}(h')$ are the three irreducible Virasoro highest weight modules for the Virasoro algebra of central charge $\frac{1}{2}$ and the $V\!B^{\natural}_{(i)}$ are the irreducible modules of $V\!B^{\natural}_{(0)}$, the even part of the shorter Moonshine module $V\!B^{\natural}$. It follows from Theorem \[derivedparts\] that the homogeneous parts of the $V\!B^{\natural}_{(i)}$ are conformal $7$-designs, i.e., the same result as already obtained from Theorem \[groupdesigns\]. \[laminated\]The Leech lattice $\Lambda$ has a sublattice isomorphic to $\Lambda_8 \oplus \Lambda_{16}$, where $\Lambda_8$ is the $E_8$-root lattice rescaled by the factor $\sqrt{2}$ and $\Lambda_{16}$ is the Barnes-Wall lattice of rank 16. This sublattice defines a $V_{\Lambda_8}^+\otimes V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$ of $V^{\natural}$. The $V_{\Lambda_8}^+$ was studied by Griess in [@Gr-baby] and has $O(10,2)^+$ as automorphism group. It can be easily seen from [@DGH-virs] that $V_{\Lambda_8}^+$ and $V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$ are both framed . In fact, $V_{\Lambda_8}^+$ is isomorphic to the framed $V_{\cal C}$ where the binary code ${\cal C}$ is equal to the Hammingcode ${\cal H}_{16}$ of length $16$ and the code ${\cal D}$ is the zero code. The irreducible modules of a framed with ${\cal D}=0$ are described in [@Mi-rep]. One finds that $V_{{\cal H}_{16}}$ has $2^{10}$ modules $L_{\mu}$, $\mu \in \Xi$, having the conformal weights $0$, $\frac{1}{2}$ or $1$. Therefore one has a decomposition $$\label{e8decomp} V^{\natural} = \bigoplus_{\mu \in \Xi} L_{\mu}\otimes K_{\mu}$$ of the Moonshine module into $V_{\Lambda_8}^+\otimes V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$-modules. The graded traces $\chi_{L_{\mu}}(q)$ of the modules $L_{\mu}$ are easily computed. It turns out that they depend only on the conformal weight of $L_{\mu}$, i.e., they give isomorphic $V_{\omega'}$-modules where $\omega' $ is the Virasoro element of $V_{\Lambda_8}^+$. From decomposition (\[e8decomp\]), we obtain now the following decomposition into $V_{\omega'}\otimes V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$-modules: $$\label{omegadecomp} V^{\natural} = \bigoplus_{m=0}^{\infty}L'(m) \otimes K(0)\, \oplus\, \bigoplus_{m=0}^{\infty}L''(m+\frac{1}{2}) \otimes K(\frac{3}{2})\, \oplus\, \bigoplus_{m=0}^{\infty}L'''(m+1) \otimes K(1),$$ where the $L'(h)$, $L''(h)$, and $L'''(h)$ are direct sums of highest weight representations of highest weight $h$ for the Virasoro algebra of central charge $8$ associated to $\omega'$ and $K(0)= V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$, $K(\frac{3}{2})$ and $K(1)$ are $V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$-modules of conformal weight $0$, $\frac{3}{2}$ and $1$, respectively. Although Theorem \[derivedparts\] is not directly applicable, the argument given in its proof shows that the homogeneous subspaces of $K(0)= V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$, $K(\frac{3}{2})$, and $K(1)$ are conformal $7$-designs based on $V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$. Moreover, one can switch the rôle of $V_{\Lambda_8}^+$ and $ V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$ in the preceding discussion and one obtains that the homogeneous subspaces of $V_{\Lambda_8}^+$ and the direct sum of the $V_{\Lambda_8}^+$-modules $L_{\mu}$ of conformal weight $\frac{1}{2}$ and $1$, respectively, are also conformal $7$-designs. The application range of Theorem \[derivedparts\] is somewhat restricted since the minimal weight of the underlying cannot be larger than $2$ and this leaves only a limited set of examples of $t$-designs with $t\geq 6$ as the classification Theorem \[classfic7\] of Section \[classresult\] shows. One may ask if the $V_L$ associated to even integral lattices $L$ besides the root lattices $A_1$ and ${E_8}$ lead to interesting conformal $t$-designs for larger values of $t$. The next theorem shows that a necessary condition is that one starts with a spherical $t$-design. We recall that the irreducible modules of a lattice associated to a lattice $L$ are parametrized by the elements of the discriminant group $L^*/L$. \[latticevoadesign\] Let $V_{L}$ be the lattice associated to an even integral lattice $L\subset {\bf R}^k$ of rank $k$ and let $N=\sum_{i} V_{L+\lambda_i}$, $\lambda_i\in L^*/L$, be a module of $V_L$. If the degree-$n$-subspace $X=N_n$ of $N$ is a conformal $t$-design based on $V_L$ then the set of vectors of norm $2n$ in $\bigcup_i L+\lambda_i$ must form a spherical $t$-design. The proof uses the following result ([@DMN-latticetrace], Th. 3): \[DMN-harmonic\] Let $P$ be a homogeneous spherical harmonic polynomial on ${\bf R}^k$ and let $V_L$ be the lattice associated to an even integral lattice $L$ of rank $k$. Then there exists a Virasoro highest weight vector $v_P$ with the property that $$\chi_{V_L}(v_P,q)= \Bigl(\sum_{x \in L}P(x)\,q^{(x,x)/2}\Bigr)\Bigm/ \Bigl( q^{1/24}\prod_{i=1}^{\infty}(1-q^i)\Bigr)^k.$$ The vector $v_P$ is given by $v_P=P(h^1_{(-1)},\, \ldots,\, h^k_{(-1)}){\bf 1}$, where $\{h^1,\, \ldots,\,h^k\}$ is an orthonormal basis of ${\bf R}\otimes_{\bf Z} L\subset {(V_L)}_1$. It can immediately be seen from its proof that the proposition remains valid if one replaces $L$ by a coset $L+\lambda$ and $V_L$ by the $V_L$-module $V_{L+\lambda}$. As explained in the introduction, the set $\widetilde{L}_{2n}=\{x\in \bigcup_i L+\lambda_i \mid (x,x)=2n\}$ on a sphere in ${\bf R}^k$ around $0$ is a spherical $k$-design if and only if $\sum_{x\in \widetilde{L}_{2n}}P(x)=0$ for all harmonic polynomials $P$ homogeneous of degree $s$ with $1\leq s\leq t$. The result follows now directly from the mentioned generalization of Proposition \[DMN-harmonic\]. It will follow from Theorem \[classfic7\] part (b) of Section 4 that for a conformal $t$-design based on a lattice $V_L$ the largest $t$ one can hope for is $t=5$ if $L\not= A_1$, $E_8$. One of the main results of [@Ma-design] are certain formulae for traces of the form $$\tr|_{V_n}\o(v_1)\o(v_2)\cdots\o(v_k)$$ with $v_1$, $\ldots$, $v_k\in V_2$ and $V$ a of class ${\cal S}^{2k}$, $k\leq 5$, with $V_1=0$ and ${\rm Aut}\, V$ finite (Theorem 2.1 for $n=2$ and Theorem 5.1 for $k\leq 2$ and general $n$). For the Moonshine module $V^{\natural}$ and $n=2$ they were first obtained by S. Norton [@No-newformulae]. The proof given in [@Ma-design] remains valid, if one replaces the assumption that $V$ is a of class ${\cal S}^{2k}$ and ${\rm Aut}\, V$ is finite with the assumption that $V_l$ for $l\leq n$ is a conformal $2k$-design based on $V$. One can study similar trace identities for conformal $t$-designs supported by a module of $V$, without the assumption $V_1=0$, and with $v_1$, $\ldots$, $v_k$ homogeneous elements of $V$ not necessarily in $V_2$. We end this section with an open problem: It is known that there exist non-trivial block $t$-designs [@Te-alltbd] and spherical $t$-designs [@SeZa-alltsd] for arbitrary large $t$ and arbitrary large length respectively dimension. The same result for block designs supported by self-orthogonal codes and for spherical designs supported by integral lattices seems to be open (and less likely). The example of the lattice $V_{A_1}$ (Example \[a1\]) shows that there exist non-trivial $t$-designs for arbitrary large values of $t$. However, this case may be considered exceptional because the central charge $c=1$ of $V_{A_1}$ is small. We ask therefore if there exist non-trivial conformal $t$-designs for arbitrary large values of $t$ and arbitrary large central charge. Conformal designs associated to extremal {#extremal} ========================================= A rational vertex operator algebra $V$ is called self-dual (other authors use also the names holomorphic or meromorphic) if the only irreducible module of $V$ up to isomorphism is $V$ itself. The central charge $c$ of a self-dual is of the form $c=8l$ where $l$ is a positive integer. Its character $\chi_V$ is a weighted homogeneous polynomial of weight $c$ in the polynomial ring over the rationals generated by the character of the self-dual lattice $V_{E_8}$ associated to the $E_8$ lattice (given the weight $8$) and the character of the self-dual Moonshine module $V^{\natural}$ (given the weight $24$); see [@Ho-dr], Thm. 2.1.2. Since $$\chi_{V_{E_8}}= \sqrt[3]{j} = q^{-1/3}(1+248\,q + 4124\, q^2+ 34752\, q^3+\cdots )$$ and $$\chi_{V^{\natural}}= j-744=q^{-1}(1+196884\, q^2+ 21493760\,q^3+\cdots )$$ one can use alternatively $\sqrt[3]{j}$ (weight $8$) and the constant function $1$ (weight $24$) as generators; see [@Ho-dr], Sect. 2.1. In [@Ho-dr], extremal were defined. A self-dual $V$ of central charge $c$ is called [*extremal*]{} if its minimal weight $\mu(V)$ satisfies $\mu(V)> \left[\frac{c}{24}\right]$, i.e., a Virasoro primary highest weight vector of $V$ different from a multiple of the vacuum has at least the conformal weight $\left[\frac{c}{24}\right]+1$. It follows from the above description of the character of a self-dual , that the character of an extremal $V$ has the form $$\chi_V=\chi_{V_{\omega}}\cdot ( 1+ A_{k+1}\,q^{k+1}+ A_{k+2}\,q^{k+2}+\cdots),$$ with $k= \left[\frac{c}{24}\right]$ and constants $A_l$ independent of $V$. It can be shown that $A_{k+1}>0$ (see [@Ho-dr], Thm. 5.2.2), i.e., the minimal weight of an extremal is in fact equal to $\left[\frac{c}{24}\right]+1$. \[extremaldesign\] Let $V$ be an extremal of central charge $c$. Then the degree $n$ subspace $V_n$ of $V$ is a conformal $t$-design with $t=11$ for $c\equiv 0\!\!\pmod{24}$, $t=7$ for $c\equiv 8\!\!\pmod{24}$, and $t=3$ for $c\equiv 16\!\!\pmod{24}$. Let $v\in V_s$ be a Virasoro highest weight vector of conformal weight $s$, where $0<s\leq t$. It follows from Zhu, [@Zhu-dr] Thm. 5.3.3, that $$\chi_{V}(v,q)=q^{-c/24} \sum_{n=0}^{\infty} \tr|_{V_n} \o(v)\,q^n$$ is a meromorphic modular form of weight $s$ for ${\rm PSL}_2(\Z)= \langle S, T \rangle$ with character $\rho$ given by $\rho(S)=1$ and $\rho(T)=e^{-2\pi i c/24}$. Here, $S=\pm\bigl({\phantom{{-}}0\ 1 \atop {-}1 \ 0} \bigr)$ and $T=\pm\left({1 \ 1 \atop 0\ 1} \right)$. Since $V$ is assumed to be an extremal , one has $$\label{tracezero} \tr|_{V_n} \o(v)=\tr|_{(V_{\omega})_n} \o(v)=0$$ for $n=0$, $\ldots$, $k$, where $k= \left[\frac{c}{24}\right]$. For the last equal sign in (\[tracezero\]), one uses the skew-symmetry identity $Y(v,z)u=e^{zL_{-1}}Y(u,-z)v$. This shows that for $u\in (V_{\omega})_n$ the product $\o(v)u\in V_n$ is contained in the Virasoro highest-weight module generated by $v\in V_s$. Since $V$ is extremal, one has $s>k\geq n$ and therefore $\o(v)u=0$. Let $\Delta=q\prod_{n=1}^{\infty}(1-q^n)^{24}$ be the unique normalized cusp form of weight $12$ for ${\rm PSL}_2({\Z})$. One has $\sqrt[24]{\Delta}=\eta$, the Dedekind eta-function. Since $\eta(-1/\tau)=\eta(\tau)$ and $\eta(\tau+1)=e^{2\pi i/24}\eta(\tau)$ it follows that $\chi_V(v,q) \cdot \eta^{c}$ is a holomorphic modular form for ${\rm PSL}_2(\Z)$ of weight $c/2+s$ and trivial character for which the first $k+1$ coefficients of its $q$-expansion vanish. Such a modular form is of the form $\Delta^{k+1}f$ for some holomorphic modular form $f$ of weight $$c/2+s-12(k+1)= \cases{s-12, & for $c=24k$, \cr s-8, & for $c=24k+8$, \cr s-4, & for $c=24k+16$. \cr}$$ Using the fact that there is no non-zero holomorphic modular form of negative weight, one concludes that $f=0$ if $s\leq t$ and $t$ as in the theorem. This gives $\chi_V(v,q)=0$ and so $\tr|_{V_n} \o(v)=0$ for any $n$. The result follows now from Theorem \[highestweight\] Under the same assumption as in the theorem, our proof shows that also $\tr|_{V_n} \o(v)=0$ for any Virasoro highest weight vector $v$ of conformal weight $s$ where $s=13$, $14$, or $15$ for $c\equiv 0 \!\! \pmod{24}$, $s=9$, $10$ or $11$ for $c\equiv 8\!\! \pmod{24}$ and $s=5$, $6$, $7$ for $c\equiv 16\!\! \pmod{24}$ if we use the fact that there is no non-zero holomorphic modular form of weight $1$, $2$, or $3$. \[extexa\]Extremal are known to exist for $c=8$, $16$, $24$, $32$ and $40$; see [@Ho-dr], Sect. 5.2. For the $c=8$, the only example is $V_{E_8}$ and we know already from Example \[e8\] that its homogeneous subspaces are conformal $7$-designs. For $c=16$, the two self-dual $V_{E_8^2}$ and $V_{D_{16}^+}$ are both extremal and their homogeneous subspaces are therefore conformal $3$-designs. The known examples for $c=24$, $32$, $40$ are $\Z_2$-orbifolds of lattice VOAs, where the lattice is an even unimodular lattice of rank $c$ without vectors of squared length $2$, i.e., an extremal lattice. For $c=24$, this gives only the Moonshine module $V^{\natural}$. Using Theorem \[groupdesigns\], we have already seen that its subspaces of fixed degree are conformal $11$-designs. For $c=32$, there exist at least $10^7$ [@king-uni32] extremal even lattices. Our theorem shows in particular that the degree subspace $V_2$ of the of the associated lattice is a conformal $7$-design. In the case of the Barness-Wall lattice of rank $32$, it was observed by R. Griess and the author that the automorphism group of the is likely $2^{27}{:}E_6(2)$ and one may use in this case also Theorem \[groupdesigns\] to derive the conformal $7$-design property. There are at least $12579$ extremal doubly-even codes [@King-sd40] of length $40$. Using orbifold constructions (cf. [@DGH-virs], Sect. 4) one sees that there are at least so many extremal even lattices of rank $40$ and at least so many extremal of central charge $40$. The homogeneous subspaces of those , in particular $V_2$, are conformal $3$-designs. Characters of extremal for small $c$ are given in [@Ho-dr], Table 5.1. For $c=32$, one has $\dim\,V_2=139504$; for $c=40$, one has $\dim\,V_2=20620$. Since it is unknown if any extremal of central charge $48$, $72$, $\ldots$ exists, we do not get currently any other conformal $11$-designs from our theorem besides the ones from the Moonshine module. The minimal weight of an extremal grows linearly with $c$ and therefore the conformal designs as in Theorem \[extremaldesign\] become trivial for $c\geq 264$, $176$, or $88$, if $c\equiv 0$, $8$, or $16\!\!\!\pmod{24}$, respectively. One can ask for a similar theorem for . In [@Ho-dr], Sect. 5.3, it has been shown that the minimal weight of a self-dual (under certain natural conditions called “very nice”) satisfies $\mu(V)\leq \frac{1}{2}\bigl[\frac{c}{8}\bigr]+\frac{1}{2}$. Self-dual meeting that bound are called extremal. Since that time, the analogous bounds for the minimal weight respectively length of even self-dual codes respectively unimodular lattices have been improved to the same bounds as one knows for doubly-even self-dual codes and even unimodular lattices (with the exception of codes of length $n\equiv 22 \!\!\pmod{24}$ and the shorter Leech Lattice of rank $23$). So one may expect that for self-dual the analogous bound $\mu(V)\leq \bigl[\frac{c}{24}\bigr]+1+r$ holds with $r=\cases{\frac{1}{2}, & for $c \equiv 23\frac{1}{2} \!\pmod{24}$, \cr 0, & else.}$ For the case of the exceptional lengths $n\equiv 22 \!\!\pmod{24}$, it was proven in [@LaLa-codesign], that codes meeting the improved bound lead to block $3$-designs. The analogous result for would be that for a self-dual $V$ of central charge $c=24k+23\frac{1}{2}$ and minimal weight $\geq k+3/2$ the homogeneous subspaces of $V_{(0)}$-modules are conformal $7$-designs. For the proof, one has to analyze the singular part of the vector valued modular functions associated to $V$. However, in the case of lattices the analogous theorem only applies to the shorter Leech lattice leading to spherical $7$-designs. The only known — and likely the only — example for would be the shorter Moonshine module $V\!B^{\natural}$ for which we have already shown in the previous section that the homogeneous subspaces of $V\!B^{\natural}_{(0)}$-modules are conformal $7$-designs. Classification results {#classresult} ====================== In this section, we investigate vertex operator algebras and super algebras of minimal weight $m\leq 2$ whose degree-$m$-part form a conformal $6$- or $8$-design. Statement of results -------------------- For conformal $6$-designs, we have the following classification result: \[classfic7\] Let $V$ be a simple of central charge $c$ and minimal weight $m$ and assume that $V$ has a real form such that the invariant bilinear form is positive-definite. Denote with $V_{(0)}$ the even of $V$. If the degree-$m$-subspace $V_m$ is a conformal $6$-design, one has: 1. If $m=\frac{1}{2}$, then $V$ is isomorphic to the self-dual “single fermion” $\VF\cong L_{1/2}(0)\oplus L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})$ of central charge $1/2$. 2. If $m=1$, then $V$ is isomorphic to the lattice $V_{A_1}$ of central charge $1$ associated to the root lattice $A_1$ or the lattice $V_{E_8}$ of central charge $8$ associated to the root lattice $E_8$. 3. If $m=\frac{3}{2}$ and the additional assumption $\dim V_2>1$ holds, the central charge of $V$ is either $c=16$ or $c=23\frac{1}{2}$. 4. For $m=2$ and the additional assumptions that $V$ is rational and that for any $V_{(0)}$-module of conformal weight $h$ there exists a $V_{(0)}$-module of the same conformal weight whose lowest degree subspace is a conformal $6$-design, it follows that $V$ is a and there are at most $11$ possible cases for the central charge. The allowed values of $c$, $\dim V_2$ and conformal weights $h$ of a possible additional irreducible $V_{(0)}$-modules are given in Table \[listem2\]. In particular, if $c\in\{24,\,32,\,40,\, 1496\}$, $V$ has to be self-dual. $\begin{array}{|l|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|} \hline \hbox{cent.~charge $c$}\phantom{\frac{|^3}{|^3}}\!\!\!\! & 8 & 16 & \frac{808}{35} & \frac{47}{2} & 24 & 32 & \frac{164}{5} & \frac{236}{7} & \frac{242}{7} & 40 & 1496 \\ \hline \dim V_2 & 156 & 2296 & 63428 & 96256 & 196884 & 139504 & 90118 & 63366 & 49291 & 20620 & 54836 \\ \hline \hbox{conf.~weight $h$}\phantom{\frac{|^3}{|^3}}\!\!\!\! & \frac{1}{2},1 & 1,\frac{3}{2} & \frac{103}{70},\frac{67}{35} & \frac{3}{2},\frac{31}{16} & - & - & \frac{11}{5},\frac{12}{5} & \frac{16}{7},\frac{17}{7} & \frac{67}{28},\frac{17}{7} & - & - \\ \hline \end{array}$ For all the cases in which examples are known, one gets in fact conformal $7$-designs. This theorem is analogous to similar results of Martinet [@Ma-ladesign] on integral lattices whose vectors of minimal norm $m\leq 4$ form a spherical $7$-design and of Lalaude-Labayle [@LaLa-codesign] on binary self-orthogonal codes for which the set of words of minimal weight $m\leq 8$ form a block $3$-design. The additional assumption in Theorem \[classfic7\] (d) that the lowest degree subspaces of certain $V$-modules are also conformal $6$-designs seems quite strong. It was introduced since it is necessary to apply Proposition \[MODcond\]. The analogue of Proposition \[MODcond\] for codes and lattices holds without an analogous assumption, so that this may be also the case for . If one assumes only that for at least one irreducible $V$-module with $h\not=0$ the lowest degree subspace is a conformal $6$-design, then one gets the same values for $c$ and $\dim V_2$ as in Table \[listem2\], but no further conditions on the allowed values for $h$. If one drops the assumption on $V_{(0)}$-modules completely, all values of $c$ occurring in Lemma \[diophant\] are allowed. By requiring that $V$ has a real form such that the restriction $(\,.\,,\,.\,)$ of the natural bilinear form to $V_2$ is positive-definite, it follows that the central charge $c$ of $V$ and the central charge $e$ of any of $V$ with Virasoro element $\omega'\in V_2$ with $L_1\omega'=0$ is positive since $0<(\omega',\omega')=\omega'_{(3)}\omega'+(L_1\omega')_{(2)}\omega'= \omega'_{(3)}\omega'=e/2\cdot{\bf 1}$. In addition, we obtain for conformal $8$-designs: \[classfic8\] 1. Let $V$ be a simple of central charge $c\not=\frac{1}{2}$, $1$ and minimal weight $m\leq 2$ with $\dim V_2>1$ having a real form such that the natural invariant bilinear form is positive-definite. If the weight-$m$-part $V_m$ is a conformal $8$-design, then $V$ is a of central charge $24$ and minimal weight $2$ with $\dim V_2=196884$. 2. If in addition, we assume that for any $V_{(0)}$-module of conformal weight $h$ there exists a $V_{(0)}$-module of the same conformal weight whose lowest degree subspace is a conformal $8$-design, then $V$ is a self-dual with the same conformal character as the Moonshine module $V^{\natural}$. Analogous results for spherical $11$-designs and block $5$-designs characterizing the Leech lattice and the Golay code can again be found in [@Ma-ladesign] and [@LaLa-codesign], respectively. Part (i) of Theorem \[classfic8\] for $m=2$ was proven by Matsuo [@Ma-design]. He also considered the case (d) of Theorem \[classfic7\] with weaker assumptions resulting in more candidates. In the next subsection, we will prove two Propositions which give relations between $c$, $h$ and $\dim V_2$ for conformal $6$-designs. In the subsequent four subsections, we will prove the four cases of Theorem \[classfic7\]. In subsection \[8designs\], we will prove Theorem \[classfic8\]. In the final subsection \[candidates\], we will discuss the examples respectively candidates of occurring in Theorem \[classfic7\] and \[classfic8\] and compare our results with the situation for codes and lattices. Conditions for $6$-designs {#cond6} -------------------------- In this subsection, we assume that $V$ is a of central charge $c$ and $\omega'$ and $\omega-\omega'$ are two elements in $V_2$ generating two commuting Virasoro $U_{\omega'}$ and $U_{\omega-\omega'}$ of central charge $e$ and $c-e$, respectively. These two Virasoro are isomorphic to a quotient of the Verma module quotient $M(x,0)/M(x,1)$ where $x=e$ or $c-e$. We decompose now the subalgebra $U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$ of $V$ as a module for the Virasoro $V_{\omega}$ of $V$. \[hwnumbers\] Let $\bigoplus_h\overline{M}(h)$ be the decomposition of $U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega'-\omega'}$ into isotypical components as a module for the Virasoro $V_{\omega}$ of central charge $c$. Assume that $e$, $c-e\not=0$, $-\frac{22}{5}$, $-\frac{68}{7}$, $\frac{1}{2}$. Then the multiplicity $\mu_h$ of $M(h)$ in $\overline{ M}(h)$ is $0$ for $h=1$, $3$, $5$, $7$ and is $1$, $1$, $1$, $2$ for $h=0$, $2$, $4$, $6$, respectively. If also $e$, $c-e\not=-\frac{46}{3}$, $-\frac{3}{5}$, then, in addition, the multiplicity of $M(8)$ in $\overline{ M}(8)$ is $3$. If $e=\frac{1}{2}$ and $U_{\omega'}$ is assumed to be simple and the other assumptions hold, then the multiplicity of $M(6)$ in $\overline{ M}(6)$ is $1$, the multiplicity of $M(8)$ in $\overline{ M}(8)$ is $2$ and the other multiplicities are the same. Let $U(x)$ be a Virasoro of central charge $x$. For $x\not=0$, $-\frac{22}{5}$, $-\frac{68}{7}$, $\frac{1}{2}$ (and $-\frac{46}{3}$, $-\frac{3}{5}$) one has $\dim U(x)_n= \dim (M(x,0)/M(x,1))_n$ for $n\leq 7$ (respectively, $n\leq 8$) because the formula (\[kacdet\]) shows that under these conditions there are no singular vectors of degree $n$ in $M(x,0)/M(x,1)$. If we know that the Virasoro module $U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$ does not contain any additional singular vectors of degree $n\leq 6$ (respectively, $n\leq 8$) besides the one in $M(c,0)$, the result follows from $$q^c\chi_{U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}}= \bigl(\prod_{n=2}^{\infty}(1-q^n)^{-1}\bigr)^2 +{\rm O}(q^9)\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad$$ $$=\prod_{n=2}^{\infty}(1-q^n)^{-1} + (q^2+q^4+2\,q^6+3\,q^8) \prod_{n=1}^{\infty}(1-q^n)^{-1} + {\rm O}(q^9) =\sum_{h} \mu_h q^c \chi_{M(h)}.$$ In the case $e=\frac{1}{2}$ with simple $U_{\omega'}$ one has to form a quotient module of $M(1/2,0)/$ $M(1/2,1)$ by dividing out additional singular vectors and one gets $U_{\omega'}\cong L(1/2,0)$ with character $$\chi_{U_{\omega'}}=q^{-1/48}(1+q^2+q^3+2 q^4+2 q^5+3 q^6+3 q^7+5 q^8+5 q^9+\cdots).$$ Under the same assumption as before it follows that the multiplicity of $M(h)$ in $\overline{M}(h)$ does not change for $h<6$ or $h=7$, but the multiplicity of $M(6)$ in $\overline{M}(6)$ is only $1$ and the multiplicity of $M(8)$ in $\overline{M}(8)$ is $2$. The space of Virasoro highest weight vectors of degree $h$ in $U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$ can also be computed explicitly for $n\leq 8$ by using the characterization $L_1v=L_2v=0$ for highest weight vectors $v\in \overline{ M}(h)$. Its dimension equals indeed the given values for $\mu_h$. We choose highest weight vectors $v^{(2)}\in \overline{ M}(2)$, $v^{(4)}\in \overline{ M}(4)$ and two linear independent highest weight vectors $v_a^{(6)}$, $v_b^{(6)}\in \overline{ M}(6)$. We list here only $v^{(2)}$ and $v^{(4)}$ as the expressions for $v_a^{(6)}$ and $v_b^{(6)}$ are quite long: $$\begin{aligned} \label{v2} v^{(2)} & = & b_{-2}{\bf 1} - \frac{\left( c - e \right) }{e} \,a_{-2}{\bf 1}, \\ v^{(4)} & = & \frac{-3}{5} \,b_{-4}{\bf 1} + b_{-2}^2{\bf 1} - \frac{3\,\left( 22 + 5\,c - 5\,e \right) \,\left( c - e \right)}{5\,e\,\left( 22 + 5\,e \right)}\, a_{-4}{\bf 1} - \nonumber \\ \label{v4} & & \frac{2\,\left( 22 + 5\,c - 5\,e \right) }{5\,e} \,a_{-2}b_{-2}{\bf 1} + \frac{\left( 22 + 5\,c - 5\,e \right) \,\left( c - e \right) \, }{e\,\left( 22 + 5\,e \right) } a_{-2}^2{\bf 1}.\end{aligned}$$ Here, $a_{n}$ and $b_{n}$ denote the usual generators of the Virasoro algebras of $U_{\omega'}$ and $U_{\omega-\omega'}$, respectively. The expressions for $v_a^{(6)}$ and $v_b^{(6)}$ are not well-defined for $e=\frac{1}{2}$ or $c-e=\frac{1}{2}$. If $e=\frac{1}{2}$ and $c-e\not=\frac{1}{2}$, the Virasoro module $M(1/2,0)/M(1/2,1)$ contains the singular vector $s_6=(-108\, a_{-6} - 264\, a_{-4}a_{-2} + 93\, a_{-3}^2 + 64 \,a_{-2}^3){\bf 1}$ of degree $6$ and $(U_{\omega'})_6\cong (L_{1/2}(0))_6=(M(1/2,0)/M(1/2,1))_6/ \C\,s_6$. A representative $v^{(6)}$ for a non-zero highest weight vector in $\overline{M}(6)$ is given by $$\begin{aligned} v^{(6)} \! &\!=\!& \bigl((-2/3)( 2373 + 1657\,c + 20\,c^2 ) \,b_{-6} - (1/3) ( 12387 + 7301\,c + 112\,c^2 ) \,b_{-4}b_{-2} \nonumber \\ && + (1/3) ( 6051 + 854\,c + 70\,c^2 ) \,b_{-3}^2 + ( 501 + 1099\,c ) \,b_{-2}^3 \nonumber \\ && - (5/48)( -1 + 2\,c ) ( -5031 + 3195\,c + 1696\,c^2 + 140\,c^3 ) \,a_{-6} \nonumber \\ && - (11/3)( -5031 + 3195\,c + 1696\,c^2 + 140\,c^3 ) \, a_{-4}b_{-2} \nonumber \\ && - (2/3) ( -5031 + 3195\,c + 1696\,c^2 + 140\,c^3 ) \,a_{-3}b_{-3}\nonumber \\ && + (1/3)( -102555 + 89361\,c + 12970\,c^2 + 224\,c^3 ) \, a_{-2}b_{-4} \nonumber \\ && - 407( -129 + 115\,c + 14\,c^2 ) \, a_{-2}b_{-2}^2 \nonumber \\ && - (7/24)( -1 + 2\,c )( -5031 + 3195\,c + 1696\,c^2 + 140\,c^3 ) \,a_{-4}a_{-2} \nonumber \\ && + (35/192)( -1 + 2\,c ) ( -5031 + 3195\,c + 1696\,c^2 + 140\,c^3 ) \,a_{-3}^2 \nonumber \\ && + 7( -5031 + 3195\,c + 1696\,c^2 + 140\,c^3 ) \, a_{-2}^2b_{-2}\bigr){\bf 1}.\end{aligned}$$ Assume that $W$ is a module of $V$ of conformal weight $h$. Using the associativity relation for a vertex operator algebra and its modules one can evaluate the trace of $\o(v)$ for an element $v=a_{p_1}\cdots a_{p_k} b_{q_1}\cdots b_{q_l}{\bf 1} \in U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$ on the lowest degree part $W_h$. One obtains $\tr|_{W_h}\o(v)=\sum_{i=0}^n \alpha_i m_i^*$ for some $n$, where $m_i^*=\tr|_{W_h} a_{0}^i$, and the $\alpha_i$ are explicit constants depending on $c$, $e$ and $h$. We also define $d^*=m_0^*=\dim W_h$. The traces of $v^{(2)}$, $v^{(4)}$, $v_a^{(6)}$, $v_b^{(6)}$ and $v^{(6)}$ can now be computed. Again, we list only the traces for $v^{(2)}$ and $v^{(4)}$ explicitly: $$\begin{aligned} \tr|_{W_h}\o(v^{(2)})&\! =\! & h\,d^* - \frac{c}{e}\, m_1^*, \\ \tr|_{W_h}\o(v^{(4)})&\! =\! & (\frac{h}{5}+h^2)\,d+ \frac{\left( 22 + 5\,c \right) \, \left( c - 2\,\left( e + 22\,h + 5\,e\,h \right) \right) }{5\,e\, \left( 22 + 5\,e \right) }\, m_1^* \nonumber \\ && + \frac{968 + 330\,c + 25\,c^2}{5\,e\, \left( 22 + 5\,e \right)}\, m_2^* . \end{aligned}$$ \[MODcond\] Let $V$ be a of central charge $c\not= -24$, $-15$, $-\frac{44}{5}$, $\frac{34}{35}$, $1$ which contains elements $\omega'$, $\omega-\omega' \in V_2$ generating two commuting Virasoro of central charge $e$ and $c-e$, respectively, with $e$, $c-e \not = -\frac{68}{7}$, $-\frac{22}{5}$, $0$. If $e=\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$, assume that the Virasoro generated by $\omega'$ or $\omega-\omega'$, respectively, is simple and the other assumptions hold. If there exists a module $W$ of $V$ of conformal weight $h\not= 0$ such that the lowest degree part $W_h$ is a conformal $6$-design, then $$4 + 7\,c + c^2 - 124\,h - 31\,c\,h + 248\,h^2=0 .$$ Assume first that $e\not =\frac{1}{2}$, $c-\frac{1}{2}$. In this case the conditions on the central charges guarantee that the Virasoro generated by $\omega'$ and $\omega-\omega'$ are isomorphic to $M(x,0)/M(x,1)$ up to degree $6$, where $x=e$ or $c-e$, respectively. By assumption, the degree $h$ subspace $W_h$ is a conformal $6$-design. Therefore, the highest weight vectors $v^{(2)}$, $v^{(4)}$, $v_a^{(6)}$ and $v_b^{(6)}$ give the trace identities $$\label{modtraces} \tr|_{W_h}\o(v^{(2)})=\tr|_{W_h}\o(v^{(4)})=\tr|_{W_h}\o(v_a^{(6)})=\tr|_{W_h}\o(v_b^{(6)})=0.$$ By evaluating the traces, the equations (\[modtraces\]) lead to a homogeneous system of linear equations for $d^*=m_0^*$, $m_1^*$, $m_2^*$ and $m_3^*$. Since $d^*>0$, the system has to be singular and its determinant $$\Delta=\frac{15\,(c+24)(c+15)(c+\frac{44}{5})(c-\frac{34}{35})( 4 + 7\,c + c^2 - 124\,h - 31\,c\,h + 248\,h^2 )(c-e)h} {8\,(e+\frac{68}{7})(e+\frac{22}{5})^2\,e^2\,(e-\frac{1}{2})}$$ has to vanish. The proposition follows in this first case. If $e =\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$, we can, without loss of generality, assume that $e=\frac{1}{2}$ and $c-e\not=\frac{1}{2}$ because otherwise one can switch the role of $\omega'$ and $\omega-\omega'$ since $c\not = 1$. Let $d_l^*$ be the dimension of the $a_0=\omega'_{(1)}$ eigenspace for the eigenvalue $l$. One has $m_0^*=d^*=\dim W_h = d_0^* +d_{1/2}^*+d_{1/16}^*$ and $m_i^*=d_{1/2}^*\cdot (1/2)^i+d_{1/16}^* \cdot (1/16)^i$, for $i=1$, $2$, $3$. The homogeneous system $$\label{modtraces2} \tr|_{W_h} \o(v^{(2)})=\tr|_{W_h} \o(v^{(4)})=\tr|_{W_h} \o(v^{(6)})=0$$ of linear equations for $d_0^*$, $d_{1/2}^*$, $d_{1/16}^*$ has to be singular since $d^*>0$. Hence the determinant $$\Delta= \frac{15( c + 24 ) ( c+ 15 ) ( c+\frac{44}{5} ) ( c-\frac{34}{35} ) \, ( 4 + 7\,c + c^2 - 124\,h - 31\,c\,h + 248\,h^2 )\, h } {512 }$$ of the system must vanish. The proposition follows also in this case. Using the associativity relation of a vertex operator algebra one can also evaluate the trace of $\o(v)$ for $v=a_{p_1}\cdots a_{p_k} b_{q_1}\cdots b_{q_l}{\bf 1}$ on $V_2$. One obtains now $\tr|_{V_2}\o(v)=\beta+\sum_{i=0}^n \alpha_i m_i$ for some $n$, with $m_i=\tr|_{V_2} a_{0}^i$, and the $\alpha_i$ and $\beta$ are explicit constants depending on $c$ and $e$. We also define $d=m_0=\dim V_2$. The traces of $v^{(2)}$, $v^{(4)}$, $v_a^{(6)}$, $v_b^{(6)}$ and $v^{(6)}$ can now be computed. Again, we list only the traces for $v^{(2)}$ and $v^{(4)}$ explicitly: $$\begin{aligned} \tr|_{V_2}\o(v^{(2)})&\! =\! & 2\,d - \frac{c}{e}\,m_1 , \\ \tr|_{V_2}\o(v^{(4)})&\! =\! & \frac{\left( 44 + 5\,c \right) \,\left( c - e \right) }{22 + 5\,e}+ \frac{22}{5}\,d + \frac{\left( 22 + 5\,c \right) \, \left( c - 22\,\left( 4 + e \right) \right) }{5\,e\, \left( 22 + 5\,e \right) }\, m_1 \nonumber \\ \label{traceid} &\!\! & \qquad\qquad \qquad \qquad\qquad \qquad + \frac{968 + 330\,c + 25\,c^2}{5\,e\, \left( 22 + 5\,e \right) }\, m_2 . \end{aligned}$$ \[m2VOAcond\] Let $V$ be a of central charge $c\not= -24$, $-15$, $-\frac{44}{5}$, $\frac{34}{35}$, $\frac{55\pm \sqrt{33}}{2}$, $1$ with $V_1=0$ which contains elements $\omega'$, $\omega-\omega' \in V_2$ generating two commuting Virasoro of central charge $e$ and $c-e$, respectively, with $e$, $c-e \not = -\frac{68}{7}$, $-\frac{22}{5}$, $0$. If $e=\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$, assume that the Virasoro generated by $\omega'$ or $\omega-\omega'$, respectively, is simple and the other assumptions hold. If $V_2$ forms a conformal $6$-design then $$d=\frac{c\,(2388+955\,c+70\,c^2)}{2(748-55\,c+c^2)}.$$ Assume first $e\not =\frac{1}{2}$, $c-\frac{1}{2}$. As in the previous proposition, the conditions on the central charges guarantee that $v^{(2)}$, $v^{(4)}$, $v_a^{(6)}$ and $v_b^{(6)}$ are defined. By assumption, $V_2$ is a conformal $6$-design. Therefore one has for the highest weight vectors $v^{(2)}$, $v^{(4)}$, $v_a^{(6)}$ and $v_b^{(6)}$ the trace identities $$\label{min2traces} \tr|_{V_2}\o(v^{(2)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v^{(4)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v_a^{(6)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v_b^{(6)})=0.$$ The equations (\[min2traces\]) form a system of linear equations for $d$, $m_1$, $m_2$ and $m_3$. This system is non-singular since its determinant $$\Delta=\frac{15(c+24)(c+15)(c+\frac{44}{5})(c-\frac{34}{35})(c-\frac{55-\sqrt{33}}{2})(c-\frac{55+\sqrt{33}}{2})(c-e)} {4\,(e+\frac{68}{7})(e+\frac{22}{5})^2\,e^2\,(e-\frac{1}{2})}$$ is not $0$. In this case there is a unique solution for $d$, $m_1$, $m_2$ and $m_3$. The solution for $d$ is given in the proposition and does not depend on $e$. If $e =\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$, we can, without loss of generality, assume that $e=\frac{1}{2}$ and $c-e\not=\frac{1}{2}$ because otherwise one can switch the role of $\omega'$ and $\omega-\omega'$ since $c\not= 1$. Similar as in the proof of Proposition \[MODcond\], let $d_l$ be the dimension of the $a_0=\omega'_{(1)}$ eigenspace for the eigenvalue $l$. One has $m_0=d=\dim V_2 =1+d_0 +d_{1/2}+d_{1/16}$ and $m_i=2^i+d_{1/2}\cdot (1/2)^i+d_{1/16} \cdot (1/16)^i$, for $i=1$, $2$, $3$. The system $$\tr|_{V_2} \o(v^{(2)})=\tr|_{V_2} \o(v^{(4)})= \tr|_{V_2} \o(v^{(6)})=0$$ of linear equations for $d_0$, $d_{1/2}$, $d_{1/16}$ is non-singular since its determinant $$\Delta= \frac{15(c+ 24 ) (c+ 15 ) (c+ \frac{44}{5}) (c- \frac{34}{35}) (c-\frac{55-\sqrt{33}}{2})(c-\frac{55+\sqrt{33}}{2}) } {256}$$ is not $0$. The solution for $d$ is again the one given in the proposition. The last proposition was first obtained by Matsuo [@Ma-design] using a different argument. To apply Proposition \[MODcond\] and \[m2VOAcond\] to a as in Theorem \[classfic7\] and \[classfic8\], one has to find suitable elements $\omega'\in V_2$ such that $\omega'$ and $\omega-\omega'$ generate commuting Virasoro . By Theorem 5.1 of [@FreZhu], this is the case if $\omega'$ generates a Virasoro and $L_1\omega'=0$. The last condition will be automatically satisfied if either $V_1=0$ or $\omega'$ is the Virasoro element of an affine Kac-Moody $U<V$ or a Clifford $U<V$: In the case of a Kac-Moody , $\omega'$ is given by the Sugawara expression $\omega'=\sum_{i}\alpha_i\,a^i_{(-1)}a^i$, where the $a^i$ form an orthonormal basis of a non-degenerated invariant bilinear form on $U_1$. For a Virasoro highest weight vector $v$ of conformal weight $h$ one has $[L_m,v_{n}]=((h-1)m-n)v_{m+n}$ with $v_k=v_{(k-h+1)}$ (cf. [@Kac-VOA], Cor. 4.10). For $u\in U_1$ one gets therefore $$L_1u_{(-1)}u=[L_1,u_{-1}]u+u_{-1}L_1u=u_0u=0$$ and the claim follows. Similarly, for $b\in U_{1/2}$ and $\omega'=\frac{1}{2}b_{-3/2}b_{-1/2}{\bf 1}= \frac{1}{2}b_{-3/2}b$ one gets $$L_1b_{-3/2}b=[L_1,b_{-3/2}]b+b_{-3/2}L_1b= b_{-1/2}b=0$$ and the claim follows also in the case of Clifford . Minimal weight $\frac{1}{2}$ {#min0.5} ---------------------------- Let $V$ be a as in part (a) of Theorem \[classfic7\] and let $V_{(0)}$ be the even . The of $V$ generated by the degree-$1/2$-part $V_{1/2}$ is known to be isomorphic to the $V_{\rm Fermi}^{\otimes d^*}$, where $d^*=\dim V_{1/2}$ and $V_{\rm Fermi}\cong L_{1/2}(0)\oplus L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})$ is the so-called single fermion of central charge $1/2$. By assumption one has $\mu(V)=\frac{1}{2}$ and hence $d^*=\dim V_{1/2}\geq 1$. Recall that the central charge $c$ of $V$ is positive and assume first $c\not=\frac{1}{2}$, $\frac{34}{35}$, $1$. The Virasoro element $\omega'$ of a subalgebra $V_{\rm Fermi}\subset V_{\rm Fermi}^{\otimes d^*} $ generates a Virasoro algebra of central charge $e=\frac{1}{2}$. Since $V_{1/2}$ is assumed to be a conformal , one can apply now Proposition \[MODcond\] to the $V_{(0)}$-module $V_{(1)}$ of conformal weight $h=\frac{1}{2}$. For $h=\frac{1}{2}$, the proposition gives for the central charge either $c=\frac{1}{2}$ or $c=8$. If $c=8$, one gets as in the proof of Proposition \[MODcond\] by using the equations (\[modtraces\]) that $$\label{mstars} d_0= {\frac{255\, d^*}{496}},\ \ \ \ \ \ d_{1/2}= {\frac{d^*}{496}},\ \ \ \ \ \ d_{1/16}= {\frac{15\,d^*}{31}}.$$ This implies that $496|d^*$ and so $d^*\geq 496$, contradicting $d^*/2\leq c$ which follows from $V_{\rm Fermi}^{\otimes d^*}\subset V$ and the fact that the Virasoro element $\omega^*$ of $V_{\rm Fermi}^{\otimes d^*}$ satisfies $L_1\omega^*=0$. If $c=1$, one finds again a Virasoro element $\omega'$ of central charge $\frac{1}{2}$ for a subalgebra $V_{\rm Fermi}\subset V$ and $\omega-\omega'$ is the Virasoro element for another central charge $\frac{1}{2}$ Virasoro algebra. Thus $V$ contains a subalgebra isomorphic to $L_{1/2}(0)^{\otimes 2}$. The only irreducible modules of $L_{1/2}(0)^{\otimes 2}$ of conformal weight $1/2$ are $L_{1/2}(0)\otimes L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})$ and $L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})\otimes L_{1/2}(0)$. Thus $d_{1/16}=0$. The two vectors $v^{(2)}$ and $v^{(4)}$ are also well-defined if $e=c-e=\frac{1}{2}$. Together with the equations $$\tr|_{W_h}\o(v^{(2)})=\tr|_{W_h}\o(v^{(4)})=0$$ one gets $d_0=d_{1/2}=0$ and so $d^*=0$, contradicting $d^*>0$. The central charge $c=\frac{34}{35}$ belongs to the unitary minimal series , $n=3$, $4$, $\ldots$, for $n=14$ and hence $L_{34/35}(0)\subset V$. The only irreducible $L_{34/35}(0)$ modules of half-integral highest weight are $L_{34/35}(0)$, $L_{34/35}(2)$, $L_{34/35}(23)$ and $L_{34/35}(39)$ of conformal weight $0$, $2$, $23$ and $39$, respectively. The simple current module $L_{34/35}(39)$ is the only module which can be used to extend $L_{34/35}(0)$ to a simple $V$. Hence the minimal weight of $V$ would be at least $39$, a contradiction. For $c=\frac{1}{2}$ one has $L_{1/2}(0)\subset V$. The two further irreducible modules of $L_{1/2}(0)$ have the conformal weights $\frac{1}{2}$ and $\frac{1}{16}$. It follows $V\cong L_{1/2}(0)\oplus L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})\cong V_{\rm Fermi}$ since $L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})$ is a simple current for $L_{1/2}(0)$ and thus any non-trivial simple extension of $L_{1/2}(0)$ contains the module $L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})$ with multiplicity $1$ and is unique up to isomorphism. This finishes the proof of Theorem \[classfic7\] part (a). Minimal weight $1$ {#min1} ------------------ We begin with the following identity: \[v1traceid\] Let $V$ be a and $a^1$, $a^2$, $\ldots$, $a^l$ be elements of $V_1$. Then $$\tr|_{V_1}\o(a^1_{(-1)}a^2_{(-1)}\cdots a^l_{(-1)}{\bf 1}) = \tr|_{V_1}a^l_{(0)}a^{l-1}_{(0)}\cdots a^1_{(0)} \qquad \qquad \qquad \qquad \qquad$$ $$\qquad +\ \tr|_{V_1}a^1_{(-1)}a^l_{(1)}a^{l-1}_{(0)}\cdots a^3_{(0)} a^2_{(0)}+ \\ \tr|_{V_1}a^2_{(-1)}a^l_{(1)}a^{l-1}_{(0)}\cdots a^3_{(0)}a^1_{(0)} + \cdots$$ $$\qquad \ \ +\ \tr|_{V_1}a^{l-1}_{(-1)}a^l_{(1)}a^{l-2}_{(0)}\cdots a^2_{(0)}a^1_{(0)} \ + \ \tr|_{V_1}a^{l}_{(-1)}a^{l-1}_{(1)}a^{l-2}_{(0)}\cdots a^2_{(0)}a^1_{(0)}.\qquad$$ The result follows from application of the associativity relation by induction. For $l=4$ the identity can be found in [@Hurley-dr] in the proof of Lemma 5.2. Let $V$ now be a as in Theorem \[classfic7\], part (b). We will use that under our assumptions $V_1$ is a reductive Lie algebra under the product $x_{(0)}y$ for $x$, $y \in V_1$ and that the $\langle V_1 \rangle$ generated by $V_1$ is an integrable highest weight representation of the associated affine Kac-Moody Lie algebra (cf. [@Ho-dr] for with positive-definite bilinear form on a real form; see [@DoMa-reductive; @DoMa-integrable] for a result which applies to rational vertex operator algebras). \[samecharge\] The central charge of the $\langle V_1 \rangle$ spanned by $V_1$ equals the central charge of $V$. Let $\omega'$ be the Virasoro element of $\langle V_1 \rangle$ and denote the central charge of $\langle V_1 \rangle$ by $e$. One has $e>0$ as $V_1\not=0$. Assume that $e<c$. Then the vector $v_2$ given in (\[v2\]) is a Virasoro highest weight vector of $V$ and equation (\[modtraces\]) together with the $6$-design property of $V_1$ gives $\tr|_{V_1}\o(v_2)=\dim V_1 -\frac{c}{e} \dim V_1=0$ and so $e=c$, a contradiction. As reductive Lie algebra, $V_1$ can be decomposed into a Lie algebra direct sum $$V_1={\bf t} \oplus {\bf g}_1 \oplus \cdots \oplus {\bf g}_m$$ with abelian Lie algebra ${\bf t}$ and simple Lie algebras ${\bf g}_1$, $\ldots$, ${\bf g}_m$. Let $\h$ be a Cartan subalgebra of $V_1$ and let $\{h^1,\,\ldots,\,h^k\}$ be an orthonormal basis of $\h$ with respect to the invariant form $\langle\,,\,\rangle $ on $V_1$ induced by the canonical invariant bilinear form on $V$, i.e., $\langle x,y \rangle {\bf 1}=x_{(-1)}y$ for $x$, $y\in V_1$. The form $\langle \,.\,,\,.\, \rangle$ is an orthogonal sum of a non-degenerated form on ${\bf t}$ and some nonzero multiples of the Killing forms on each of the simple factors of $V_1$. \[root\] Let $P(x_1,\,\ldots,\,x_k)$ be a complex harmonic polynomial in variables $x_1$, $\ldots$, $x_k$. Then $$\tr|_{V_1}\o(P(h^1_{(-1)},\,\ldots,\,h^k_{(-1)}){\bf 1})= \sum_{\alpha\in \Phi} P(\alpha(h^1),\,\ldots,\,\alpha(h^k)),$$ where $\Phi \subset \h^*$ is the root system of $V_1$ corresponding to $\h$. Let $\h \oplus \bigoplus_{\alpha\in\Phi} L_{\alpha}$ be the root space decomposition of $V_1$ with respect to $\h$. Each $L_{\alpha}$ is one-dimensional and $[h,a]=\alpha(h)a$ for $a\in L_{\alpha}$ and $h\in \h$. Hence $$\tr|_{V_1} P(h^1_{(0)},\,\ldots,\,h^k_{(0)})= \sum_{\alpha\in \Phi} P(\alpha(h^1),\,\ldots,\,\alpha(h^k)).$$ We claim that the trace of a monomial $T=h^{i_1}_{(-1)}h^{i_2}_{(1)}h^{i_3}_{(0)}\cdots h^{i_l}_{(0)}$ on $V_1$ where $i_1$, $\ldots$, $i_l \in\{1,\,\ldots\,k\}$ is $0$ for $l\geq 3$: Indeed, for an element $v\in L_{\alpha}$ one has $Tv=\lambda \langle h^{i_2},v \rangle h^{i_1} \in {\bf h}$ with a constant $\lambda$; for $v\in {\bf h}$ one has $Tv=0$ if $l\geq 3$. For a harmonic polynomial $P=\sum_{i,\,j=1}^k a_{ij} x_ix_j$ of degree $2$ we have $$\tr|_{V_1} \sum_{i,\,j=1}^k a_{ij} \cdot (h^{i}_{(-1)}h^{j}_{(1)}) = \tr|_{\h} \sum_{i,\,j=1}^k a_{ij} \cdot(h^{i}_{(-1)}h^{j}_{(1)})\qquad\qquad\qquad \qquad\qquad$$ $$\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad =\sum_{i,\,j,\, m=1}^k a_{ij} \langle h^m,h^i\rangle\langle h^j,h^m\rangle = \sum_{i=1}^k a_{ii} = 0,$$ where the last equality holds because $P$ is assumed to be harmonic. Similarly, $$\tr|_{V_1} \sum_{i,\,j=1}^k a_{ij} \cdot (h^{j}_{(-1)}h^{i}_{(1)})=0.$$ The result follows now from Lemma \[v1traceid\] since the cases $l=0$ and $l=1$ are clear. For $P=x_1^4-6x_1^2x_2^2+x_2^4$, the previous Lemma can be found in [@Hurley-dr], Sect. 6 and 7. \[cartan-hw\] If $P(x_1,\,\ldots,\,x_k)$ is a complex harmonic polynomial, then the vector $v_P=P(h^1_{(-1)},\,\ldots,\,h^k_{(-1)}){\bf 1}$ is a highest weight vector for the Virasoro algebra of $V$. Let $V({\bf h})$ be the Heisenberg of central charge $k$ generated by ${\bf h}$ and let $\omega'$ be its Virasoro element. For the Virasoro algebra associated to $\omega'$ it was proven in [@DMN-latticetrace], Lemma 5.1.12, that $v_P$ is a highest weight vector. Since $\omega''=\omega-\omega'$ lies in the commutant of $V({\bf h})$, one has $\omega_{(2)}''v_p=0$ and $\omega_{(3)}''v_p=0$ and therefore also $L_1 v_P=\omega_{(2)}v_p=0$ and $L_2 v_P=\omega_{(3)}v_p=0$, i.e., $v_P$ is also a highest weight vector for the Virasoro algebra of $V$. For the root system $\Phi$ of a nonsimple and nonabelian reductive Lie algebra ${\bf g}$ of rank $n$ there exists a complex harmonic polynomial $Q$ of degree $4$ in $n$ variables such that $$\sum_{\alpha\in \Phi} Q(\alpha(h^1),\,\ldots,\,\alpha(h^n))\not =0$$ for an orthogonal basis $\{h^1,\,\ldots,\,h^n\}$ of a Cartan algebra $\h$. The rank $n$ of ${\bf g}$ is at least $2$. Let $Q$ be the above mentioned harmonic polynomial $x_1^4-6x_1^2x_2^2+x_2^4$. The root system $\Phi$ is the union $\Phi_1\cup\ldots\cup\Phi_m$ of the root systems of the either simple or abelian components $\k_i$ ($i=1$, $\ldots$, $m$) of ${\bf g}$. (For the maybe existing abelian component, the root system is empty.) We choose an orthogonal basis $\{h^1,\,\ldots,\,h^n\}$ of the real subspace of $\h$ such that $h^1$ and $h^2$ lie in the Cartan subalgebras of the components $\k_1$ and $\k_2$, respectively. Then $\alpha(h^1) =0$ for any $\alpha \not \in \Phi_1$ and $\alpha(h^2) =0$ for any $\alpha \not \in \Phi_2$. We obtain therefore $$\label{rootsum} \sum_{\alpha\in \Phi} Q(\alpha(h^1),\,\ldots,\,\alpha(h^n))=\sum_{\alpha\in \Phi_1}\alpha(h^1)^4+ \sum_{\alpha\in \Phi_2}\alpha(h^2)^4.$$ Both sums on the right hand side of equation (\[rootsum\]) are real and nonnegative since we have assumed that the $h^i$ are in the real subspace of $\h$. Furthermore, at least one of the two root systems $\Phi_1$ and $\Phi_2$ is nonempty and spans the dual Cartan algebra of the corresponding component. Thus we can find a root $\alpha \in \Phi_1 \cup \Phi_2$ such that either $\alpha(h_1)\not=0$ or $\alpha(h_2)\not=0$ and so $\sum_{\alpha\in \Phi} Q(\alpha(h^1),\,\ldots,\,\alpha(h^n))\not =0$. For the root system $\Phi$ of a simple Lie algebra of rank $n$ not of type $A_1$ or $E_8$ there exists a complex harmonic polynomial $Q$ of degree less than or equal to $6$ in $n$ variables such that $$\sum_{\alpha\in \Phi} Q(\alpha(h^1),\,\ldots,\,\alpha(h^n))\not =0.$$ One easily checks that for $y\in {\bf R}^n$ the following two polynomials of degree $4$ and $6$ are harmonic: $$\begin{aligned} R_4 &= & (x,y)^4-\frac{6}{4+n} (x,y)^2||x||^2||y||^2+\frac{3}{8+6n+n^2}||x||^4||y||^4,\\ R_6 &= & (x,y)^6-\frac{15}{8+n} (x,y)^4||x||^2||y||^2+\frac{45}{48+14n+n^2}(x,y)^2||x||^4||y||^4\\ & & \qquad\qquad {}-\frac{15}{192+104n+18n^2+n^3}||x||^6||y||^6. \\ \end{aligned}$$ Here, $x=(x_1,\,\ldots,\, x_n)$, the standard scalar product on ${\bf R}^n$ is denoted by $(\,.\,,\,.\,)$, and we let $||x||^2=(x,x)$. (These polynomials can be obtained from Gegenbauer polynomials.) In the simply laced cases, i.e., $\Phi$ of type $A_n$, $D_n$, $E_6$, $E_7$ or $E_8$, we scale $\Phi$ in such a way that for a root $\alpha$ one has $(\alpha,\alpha)=2$ and we let $y$ be a root. Then $(y,\alpha)\in\{0,\,\pm 1,\,\pm 2\}$ for $\alpha \in \Phi$. For $i\in \{0,\,\pm 1,\,\pm 2\}$ let $n_i=|\{\alpha \in \Phi\mid (y,\alpha)=i\}|$. One has the obvious relations $n_{-i}=n_i$, $n_2=1$, and $n_0+2n_1+2n_2=|\Phi|$. Furthermore (see [@Bourbaki-Lie456], Chap. VI, §1.11, Prop. 32), one has $|\Phi|=nh$ and $n_1=2h-4$, where $h$ is the Coxeter number of $\Phi$. Writing the polynomials $R_4$ and $R_6$ in the form $R_l=\sum_{k=0}^{l/2}c_{l,k}(x,y)^{2k}(||x||/\sqrt{2})^{l-2k}$ one obtains $$\sum_{\alpha\in \Phi}R_l(\alpha(h^1),\,\ldots,\,\alpha(h^n)) =\sum_{i=-2}^2\sum_{k=0}^{l/2}n_ic_{l,k}i^{2k}=\cases{ \frac{4 (h (n-10)+6 (n+2))}{n+2}, & for $l=4$, \cr \frac{4 \left(30 \left(n^2-16\right)+h \left(n^2-48 n+272\right)\right)}{n^2+12 n+32}, & for $l=6$.}$$ For $\Phi$ of type $A_n$, one has $h=n+1$ and therefore $R_4= \frac{4 \left(n^2-3 n+2\right)}{n+2}\not= 0$ for $n\not=1$, $2$ and $R_6=12\not=0$ for $n=2$. For the type $D_n$ one has $h=2n-2$ and thus $R_4= \frac{8 (n-4)^2}{n+2}\not=0$ for $n\not=4$ and $R_6=24\not=0$ for $n=4$. For the types $E_6$ and $E_7$ one has $h=12$ and $h=18$, which gives $R_4=0$, but $R_6=24\not=0$ and $R_6=\frac{192}{11}\not=0$, respectively. Letting $\{e_1,\,\ldots,\,e_n\}$ be an orthonormal base, the remaining types of root systems $\Phi$ can be realized as follows: $B_n$ by $\{\pm e_i,\,\pm e_i \pm e_j\mid 1 \leq i< j \leq n \}$ for $n\geq 2$, $C_n$ by $\{\pm 2e_i,\,\pm e_i\pm e_j\mid 1 \leq i< j \leq n \}$ for $n\geq 3$, $F_4$ by $\{\pm e_i,\,\frac{1}{2}(\pm e_1\pm e_2\pm e_3\pm e_4),\, \pm e_i\pm e_j\mid 1 \leq i< j \leq 4 \}$ and $G_2$ by $\{\pm(e_1- e_2),\,\pm(e_2-e_3),\pm(e_3-e_1),\,\pm(2e_1-e_2-e_3),\,\pm(2e_2-e_1-e_3),\,\pm(2e_3-e_1-e_2)\}$. For $\Phi$ of type $B_n$, we take $y=e_1+e_2$. By using the fact that the long roots of $\Phi$ form a root system of type $D_n$ one obtains finally $R_4= \frac{8 n^2-60 n+112}{n+2}\not=0$ for $n\not=4$ and $R_6=23\not=0$ for $n=4$. For the type $C_n$, we take again $y=e_1+e_2$. Now the short roots of $\Phi$ form a root system of type $D_n$ and one obtains finally $R_4= \frac{8 \left(n^2-16\right)}{n+2}\not=0$ for $n\not=4$ and $R_6=-60\not=0$ for $n=4$. For the type $F_4$, we take also $y=e_1+e_2$. Taking the additional $24$ short roots into account compared to $D_4$ one obtains $R_4=0$, but $R_6=21\not= 0$. Finally, for the type $G_2$, we take $y=e_1-e_2$ and obtain $R_4=0$, but $R_6= -312 \not= 0$. The last four Lemmas together and Theorem \[highestweight\] show that $V_1$ is either abelian or simple of type $A_1$ or $E_8$. The Lie algebra $V_1$ is not abelian. Assume that $V_1$ is an abelian Lie algebra. Let $V(\s)$ be the Heisenberg of central charge $1$ generated by a one-dimensional subalgebra $\s=\C\cdot h$ of $V_1$, where $\langle h,\,h \rangle=2$. One checks directly that for $$v=(8h_{(-3)}h_{(-1)}-6 h_{(-2)}^2-2 h_{(-1)}^4){\bf 1} \in V(\s)_4\subset V_4$$ one has $L_1'v=L_2'v=0$, where $L_n'=\frac{1}{2}{:}\sum_{k\in \Z} h_{(n-k)} h_{(k)}{:}$, $n\in {\bf Z}$, are the generators for the Virasoro algebra of $V(\s)$. It follows as at the end of the proof of Lemma \[cartan-hw\] that $v$ is also a Virasoro highest weight vector for the Virasoro algebra of $V$. Using the associativity relation, one finds for the trace of $\o(v)$ on $V_1$: $$\begin{aligned} \tr|_{V_1}\o(v) & = & 8\,\tr|_{V_1}\o(h_{(-3)}h_{(-1)}{\bf 1})-6\, \tr|_{V_1}\o(h_{(-2)}^2{\bf 1}) -2\, \tr|_{V_1}\o( h_{(-1)}^4{\bf 1}) \\ &=&8\,\tr|_{V_1}(3h_{(-1)}h_{(1)}+ h_{(0)}^2)-6\, \tr|_{V_1} h_{(0)}^2 -2\, \tr|_{V_1}( h_{(0)}^4+ 4 h_{(-1)}h_{(1)}h_{(0)}^2 )\\ & = & 24 \langle h,\,h \rangle \not=0.\end{aligned}$$ It follows from Theorem \[highestweight\] that $V_1$ cannot be a $6$-design. We have proven the following result: \[weylinv\] The Lie algebra $V_1$ is either isomorphic to a Lie algebra of type $A_1$ or $E_8$. \[m1charge\] The central charge of $V$ is either $1$, $8$ or $16$. Let $\omega'$ be the Virasoro element of a central charge $e=1$ Heisenberg generated by a one-dimensional subspace of the Cartan subalgebra ${\bf h}$ of $V_1$. Since $V_{1}$ is assumed to be a conformal , one can apply Proposition \[MODcond\] to the $U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$-module of conformal weight $h=1$ generated by $V_1$. If $c\not=\frac{1}{2}$, $\frac{34}{35}$, $1$, the proposition gives $c=8$ or $c=16$ for the central charge. The cases $c=\frac{1}{2}$ or $\frac{34}{35}$ can easily be excluded: For $c=\frac{1}{2}$ one has $L_{1/2}(0)\subset V$. The only possible extension of $L_{1/2}(0)$ is by the simple current $L_{1/2}(\frac{1}{2})$ of conformal weight $\frac{1}{2}$. In both cases one has $V_1=0$, a contradiction. The central charge $c=\frac{34}{35}$ is excluded as in subsection \[min0.5\]. The proof of Theorem \[classfic7\], part (b) can now be finished. As mentioned before, the of $V$ generated by $V_1$ is an integrable highest weight representation of the affine Kac-Moody algebra associated to $V_1$. Such a representation is for simple $V_1$ determined by a level $k$, where $k$ is a positive integer and the central charge of $\langle V_1\rangle $ and hence, by Lemma \[samecharge\], of $V$ is given by $c=\frac{k\cdot \dim V_1}{k+\check g}$ where $\check g$ is the dual Coxeter number of $V_1$ [@FreZhu]. For $V_1$ of type $A_1$ one has $c=\frac{3\,k}{k+2}$ and for $V_1$ of type $E_8$ one has $c=\frac{248\,k}{30+k}$. By using Proposition \[m1charge\], one finds that $k=1$ and $c=1$ for $V_1$ of type $A_1$ and $k=1$ and $c=8$ for $V_1$ of type $E_8$ are the only possibilities. For $k=1$, the associated to the level $1$ representation of an affine Kac-Moody algebra of type $A_1$ or $E_8$ is isomorphic to the lattice $V_{A_1}$ or $V_{E_8}$ associated to the root lattice $A_1$ or $E_8$, respectively. It follows that $V$ equals $V_{A_1}$ or $V_{E_8}$ since $V_{A_1}$ has besides $V_{A_1}$ only one irreducible module of conformal weight $1/4$ and $V_{E_8}$ is self-dual, i.e., both cannot be extended. This finishes the proof of Theorem \[classfic7\], part (b). Minimal weight $\frac{3}{2}$ {#min1.5} ---------------------------- Let $V$ be a as in part (c) of Theorem \[classfic7\] and let $V_{(0)}$ be the even . By assumption, $\dim V_2 \geq 2$, i.e., the minimal weight of the even $V_{(0)}$ of $V$ is $2$. Since we assumed that $V$ has a real form such that the invariant bilinear form on $V_2$ is positive definite, it follows from [@MeNe], and [@mia], that the Virasoro element $\omega\in V_2$ can be decomposed into the sum of two nonzero elements $\omega'$, $\omega-\omega'\in V_2$ such that, after dividing by a factor $2$, one has two commuting idempotents of the algebra $V_2$. The two elements generate commuting Virasoro vertex operator subalgebras $U_{\omega'}$ and $U_{\omega-\omega'}$ of $V$ of central charge $e=2( \omega',\omega') $ and $c-e$, respectively, with $0<e<c$ (cf. [@Ho-dr], Thm. 1.2.2). For $c\not=\frac{1}{2}$, $\frac{34}{35}$, $1$, one can apply Proposition \[MODcond\] to the module $V_{(1)}$ of $V_{(0)}$ since $V_{3/2}$ is assumed to be a conformal $6$-design. For $h=\frac{3}{2}$ one obtains $c=16$ or $c=23\frac{1}{2}$ for the central charge. The cases not covered by Proposition \[MODcond\] are again easily excluded: For $c=\frac{1}{2}$ one has $L_{1/2}(0)\subset V $. There are no irreducible modules of $L_{1/2}(0)$ of conformal weight $\frac{3}{2}$. Hence $V\cong L_{1/2}(0)$ and the minimal weight of $V$ cannot be $\frac{3}{2}$. The central charge $c=\frac{34}{35}$ is excluded as in subsection \[min0.5\]. If $c=1$, the central charges of the Virasoro algebras generated by $\omega'$ and $\omega-\omega'$ both must be $\frac{1}{2}$, since $\frac{1}{2}$ is the smallest possible central charge in the unitary minimal series. Thus $V$ contains a subalgebra isomorphic to $L_{1/2}(0)^{\otimes 2}$. There are no irreducible modules of $L_{1/2}(0)^{\otimes 2}$ of conformal weight $\frac{3}{2}$. Hence $V\cong L_{1/2}(0)^{\otimes 2}$ and the minimal weight of $V$ would be $2>\frac{3}{2}$, a contradiction. This finishes the proof of Theorem \[classfic7\] part (c). Minimal weight $2$ {#min2} ------------------ Let $V$ be a as in part (d) of Theorem \[classfic7\]. All the assumptions for $V$ also hold for $V_{(0)}$, in particular, the minimal weights of $V$ and $V_{(0)}$ are the same. If $V$ is not a , we can replace therefore $V$ by $V_{(0)}$. As the minimal weight of $V$ is $2$, the dimension $d=\dim V_2$ of the degree-$2$-part of $V$ is at least $2$. Since we assumed that $V$ has a real form such that the invariant bilinear form on $V_2$ is positive-definite, we can find as in subsection \[min1.5\] an element $\omega'$ in $ V_2$ generating a Virasoro algebra of central charge $e$ such that $0<e<c$. Assume first that $c\not=\frac{1}{2}$, $\frac{34}{35}$, $(55\pm \sqrt{33})/2$, $1$. In this case we can apply Proposition \[m2VOAcond\] and we have $d=\frac{c(2388+955\,c+70\,c^2)}{2(748-55\,c+c^2)}$. Since $V$ is assumed to be rational, the central charge $c$ has to be a rational number (see [@DLM-twist], Thm. 11.3). \[diophant\] The only positive rational numbers $c$ for which $$d=\frac{c(2388+955\,c+70\,c^2)}{2(748-55\,c+c^2)}$$ is a positive integer are $c= \frac{1}{2}$, $8$, $\frac{52}{5}$, $16$, $\frac{132}{7}$, $20$, $\frac{102}{5}$, $\frac{748}{35}$, $\frac{43}{2}$, $22$, $\frac{808}{35}$, $\frac{47}{2}$, $24$, $\frac{170}{7}$, $\frac{49}{2}$, $\frac{172}{7}$, $\frac{152}{5}$, $\frac{61}{2}$, $\frac{154}{5}$, $\frac{220}{7}$, $\frac{63}{2}$, $32$, $\frac{164}{5}$, $\frac{236}{7}$, $34$, $\frac{242}{7}$, $36$, $40$, $\frac{204}{5}$, $44$, $\frac{109}{2}$, $\frac{428}{7}$, $68$, $ \frac{484}{7}$, $\frac{187}{2}$, $132$, $1496$. Let $c=\frac{p}{q}$ with coprime integers $p$ and $q$. The equation for $d$ can be rewritten as $$2\,q(748\,q^2-55\,pq+p^2)d=p(2388\,q^2+955\,pq+70\,p^2).$$ It follows successively $q|p(2388\,q^2+955\,pq+70\,p^2)$, $q|2388\,q^2+955\,pq+70\,p^2$, $q|70\,p^2$, $q|70$, i.e., $c=k/70$ with a positive integer $k$. This gives $$d=\frac{4805}{2} + \frac{k}{2}+ \frac{ -17611286000 + 15001210\, k}{2\,( 3665200 - 3850\,k + k^2 )}.$$ As $|( -17611286000 + 15001210\, k)/(2\,( 3665200 - 3850\,k + k^2 ))|< \frac{1}{2}$ for $k>70\, (107179 + \sqrt{11483743153}) \simeq 15\,003\,885.97\ldots$, the result follows by computing $d$ for all $k<15\,003\,886$. If the $V$ is a self-dual , then $c$ has to be an integer divisible by $8$ (see [@Ho-dr], Cor. 2.1.3 and Section \[extremal\] above). From Lemma \[diophant\] it follows that in this case $c=8$, $16$, $24$, $32$, $40$ or $1496$. For self-dual of central charge $8$ and $16$ [@Ho-dr], Thm. 2.1.2 gives $\dim V_1=248$ and $\dim V_1=496$, respectively, i.e., these two cases are impossible as the minimal weight of $V$ would be $1$. If the $V$ is not self-dual, then there exists an irreducible $V$-module $W$ different from $V$. Proposition \[MODcond\] gives $h= \frac{124 + 31\,c \pm{\sqrt{31}}\,{\sqrt{368 + 24\,c - c^2}}}{496}$. Since $V$ is assumed to be rational, the conformal weight $h$ of an irreducible module has to be a rational number ([@DLM-twist], Thm. 11.3). A direct verification gives: \[rational\] The only values of $c$ listed in Lemma \[diophant\] for which $$h= \frac{124 + 31\,c \pm{\sqrt{31}}\,{\sqrt{368 + 24\,c - c^2}}}{496}$$ is rational are $c= \frac{1}{2}$, $8$, $16$, $\frac{808}{35}$, $\frac{47}{2}$, $\frac{164}{5}$, $\frac{236}{7}$, $\frac{242}{7}$. By applying Propositions \[m2VOAcond\] and \[MODcond\] and Lemmata \[diophant\] and \[rational\], it follows therefore that, if $V$ is not self-dual, the only possible values for the central charge are $c=8$, $16$, $\frac{808}{35}$, $\frac{47}{2}$, $\frac{164}{5}$, $\frac{236}{7}$ or $\frac{242}{7}$. One also obtains the values for $\dim V_2$ and $h$ as listed in Table \[listem2\]. The remaining cases for $c$ can again easily be excluded: For $c=\frac{1}{2}$, one has $L_{1/2}(0)\subset V $. There are no irreducible modules of $L_{1/2}(0)$ of conformal weight $2$. Hence $V\cong L_{1/2}(0)$ and the minimal weight of $V$ is larger than $2$, a contradiction. For $c=\frac{34}{35}$, the same argument as in subsection \[min0.5\] holds. If $c=1$, $V$ must contain a subalgebra isomorphic to $L_{1/2}(0)^{\otimes 2}$ by the argument given in subsection \[min1.5\]. There are no irreducible modules of $L_{1/2}(0)^{\otimes 2}$ of conformal weight $2$. Hence $V\cong L_{1/2}(0)^{\otimes 2}$. Let $\omega'$ be the Virasoro element of one subalgebra $L_{1/2}(0)$. Let $d_h$ be the multiplicity of the eigenvalue $h$ of $L_0'=\omega_{(1)}'$ acting on $V_2$. We have $d_0=1$ and $d_{1/2}=d_{1/16}=0$. The vectors $v^{(2)}$ and $v^{(4)}$ given in (\[v2\]) and (\[v4\]) are still well-defined Virasoro highest weight vectors. For the traces of $\o(v^{(4)})$ on $V_2$ one gets $$\tr|_{V_2} \o(v^{(4)})= \frac{27}{5} + \frac{22}{5}\,{d_0} - \frac{59}{5}\,{d_{1/2}} + \frac{571}{320}\,{d_{1/16}}$$ and so $\tr|_{V_2} \o(v^{(4)})=\frac{49}{5}$, a contradiction to the conformal $6$-design property of $V_2$. The cases $c=(55\pm \sqrt{33})/2$ are excluded because $c$ is not rational. This finishes the proof of Theorem \[classfic7\] part (d). Conformal $8$-designs {#8designs} --------------------- For a with a module whose lowest degree part is a conformal $8$-design one has in addition to Proposition \[MODcond\]: \[MOD8cond\] Let $V$ be a of central charge $c\not =-31$, $-\frac{44}{5}$, $-\frac{184}{105}$, $\frac{6}{55}$, $(-47 \pm 5\sqrt{57})/4$, $1$ and assume there exists a module $W$ of $V$ of conformal weight $h\not= 0$ such that the lowest degree part $W_h$ is a conformal $8$-design. If there exist elements $\omega'$, $\omega-\omega' \in V_2$ generating two commuting Virasoro of central charge $e$ and $c-e$, respectively, with $e$, $c-e \not = -\frac{46}{3}$, $-\frac{68}{7}$, $-\frac{22}{5}$, $-\frac{3}{5}$, $0$, $\frac{1}{2}$ then $$(c-24 h+12) \bigl(10\,c^3 + (141-615 h)\,c^2 + 2(5740 h^2-3321 h+171)\,c \qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad$$ $$\label{MOD8equation} \qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad {}-24 (2870 h^3-2870 h^2+451 h+15 )\bigr)=0.$$ If $e=\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$ and one assumes that the Virasoro generated by $\omega'$ or $\omega-\omega'$, respectively, is simple and the other assumptions hold, then $$152700 c^6+(3535420-2546820 h) c^5+2 (5519040 h^2-33944388 h+10007663) c^4$$ $$+(-66228480 h^3+505357184 h^2-303807330 h+24963561) c^3 \qquad\qquad$$ $$+(-2634772224 h^3+409756928 h^2+611923251 h-162937170) c^2$$ $$\qquad +3 (4450030592 h^3-4570094080 h^2+1282098891 h-49633193) c$$ $$\label{MOD8equation2} \qquad\qquad\qquad +18 (120063488 h^3-120063488 h^2+34154597 h-1236817)=0.$$ The proof is similar to the proof of Proposition \[MODcond\]. Assume first that $e$, $c-e\not=\frac{1}{2}$. The conditions on the central charges guarantee that the Virasoro generated by $\omega'$ and $\omega-\omega'$ are isomorphic to $M(x,0)/M(x,1)$ up to degree $8$, where $x=e$ or $c-e$, respectively. Lemma \[hwnumbers\] shows that one can find three linear independent highest weight vectors $v_a^{(8)}$, $v_b^{(8)}$ and $v_c^{(8)}\in U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$. By assumption, the degree $h$ subspace $W_h$ is a conformal $8$-design. Thus one has the trace identities $$\label{modtraces8} \tr|_{W_h}\o(v^{(2)})=\tr|_{W_h}\o(v^{(4)})=\tr|_{W_h}\o(v_a^{(8)})=\tr|_{W_h}\o(v_b^{(8)})=\tr|_{W_h}\o(v_c^{(8)})=0$$ which form a homogeneous system of linear equations for $d^*=m_0^*$, $m_1^*$, $m_2^*$ $m_3^*$, and $m_4^*$, where $d^*=\dim W_h$ and $m_i^*=\tr|_{W_h} a_0^i$ for $i=1$, $2$, $3$, $4$. Since $d^*>0$, the system has to be singular and the determinant has to vanish. This condition gives the proposition in this first case. The case $e =\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$ is handled similar as in the proof of Proposition \[MODcond\] by choosing an appropriate highest weight vector $v^{(8)}\in U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$ besides $v^{(2)}$ and $v^{(4)}$. Let now $V$ be a of minimal weight $m=1$ or $m=\frac{3}{2}$ satisfying the conditions of Theorem \[classfic8\] (i). The proof of Theorem \[classfic7\] shows that Proposition \[MOD8cond\] is applicable in these cases with $h=1$ or $h=\frac{3}{2}$, respectively. First, we assume $e$, $c-e\not =\frac{1}{2}$. For $h=1$, equation (\[MOD8equation\]) gives $c=12$ or $c=(177\pm \sqrt{22009})/10$; for $h=\frac{3}{2}$, one gets $c=24$, $10.04101...$, $19.13162...$, $48.97735...$ . These central charges are impossible by Theorem \[classfic7\], part (b) and (c). Now we assume $e =\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$. For $h=1$, equation (\[MOD8equation2\]) has the positive real solutions $c=12$ and $c=2.268296...$; for $h=\frac{3}{2}$, one gets the positive real solutions $c=3.342825...$ and $c=18.81561...$ . Again, these central charges are excluded by Theorem \[classfic7\], part (b) and (c). Thus we have proven Theorem \[classfic8\] (i) for $m=1$ or $m=\frac{3}{2}$. The case $m=\frac{1}{2}$ follows from Theorem \[classfic7\] (a). In addition to Proposition \[m2VOAcond\], one has: \[m2VOA8cond\] Let $V$ be a of central charge $c\not= -31$, $-\frac{44}{5}$, $-\frac{184}{105}$, $\frac{6}{55}$, $36$, $\frac{47\pm 5\sqrt{57}}{4}$, $17.58127...$, $25.84832...$, $65.47039...$, $1$ with $V_1=0$ such that $V_2$ forms a conformal $8$-design. If there exist elements $\omega'$, $\omega-\omega' \in V_2$ generating two commuting Virasoro of central charge $e$ and $c-e$, respectively, with $e$, $c-e \not = -\frac{46}{3}$, $-\frac{68}{7}$, $-\frac{22}{5}$, $-\frac{3}{5}$, $0$, $\frac{1}{2}$, then $$d= \frac{15 c \left(155 c^3+4133 c^2+32074 c+88392\right)}{20 c^3-2178 c^2+65956 c-595056}.$$ If $e=\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$ and one assumes that the Virasoro generated by $\omega'$ or $\omega-\omega'$, respectively, is simple and also $c\not=-26.45283...$, $0.23416...$, $25.60637...$, $15.35332... \pm 13.56755... i$, and the other assumptions hold then $d= -\frac{15 c \left(5734920 c^5+59136716 c^4+283246086 c^3+2858841411 c^2+7908127017 c-2179288566\right)}{260520 c^5-7840184 c^4-72048858 c^3+5528559692 c^2-75371626638 c+17347413996}.$ The proof is similar to the proof of Proposition \[m2VOAcond\]. Assume first that $e$, $c-e\not=\frac{1}{2}$. The conditions on the central charges guarantee again that there exist three linear independent highest weight vectors $v_a^{(8)}$, $v_b^{(8)}$ and $v_c^{(8)}\in U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$. By assumption, $V_2$ is a conformal $8$-design. Thus one has the trace identities $$\tr|_{V_2}\o(v^{(2)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v^{(4)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v_a^{(8)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v_b^{(8)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v_c^{(8)})=0$$ which form an inhomogeneous system of linear equations for $d=m_0$, $m_1$, $m_2$ $m_3$, and $m_4$, where $d=\dim V_2$ and $m_i=\tr|_{V_2} a_0^i$ for $i=1$, $2$, $3$, $4$. The assumptions on the central charge guarantee that the system is non-singular since its determinant is non-zero. The solution for $d$ is the one given in the proposition and does not depend on $e$. If $e =\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$, we choose again an appropriate highest weight vector $v^{(8)}\in U_{\omega'}\otimes U_{\omega-\omega'}$ besides $v^{(2)}$ and $v^{(4)}$ and the result follows as in the proof of Proposition \[m2VOAcond\]. Let now $V$ be a of minimal weight $m=2$ satisfying the conditions of Theorem \[classfic8\] (i). As explained in subsection \[min2\], Proposition \[m2VOAcond\] and Proposition \[m2VOA8cond\] are applicable provided the conditions on the central charge of $V$ are satisfied. Assume first $e$, $c-e\not=\frac{1}{2}$. The two expressions given in these two propositions for $d$ together form an equation for $c$ with the solutions $c=-\frac{516}{13}$, $-\frac{44}{5}$ $-\frac{22}{5}$, $0$, $24$, $\frac{142}{5}$. The case $c=\frac{142}{5}$ is impossible because $d=-164081<0$. Also, $c$ has to be positive. The cases $c=\frac{1}{2}$, $\frac{34}{35}$ and $1$ are excluded as in subsection \[min2\]. For $c=\frac{6}{55}$, $\frac{47\pm 5\sqrt{57}}{4}$, $17.58127...$, $25.84832...$, $65.47039...$, Proposition \[m2VOAcond\] gives a non-integer value for $d$. This leaves the case $c=36$, which can be excluded by using the non-singular linear system $$\tr|_{V_2}\o(v^{(2)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v^{(4)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v_a^{(6)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v_a^{(8)})=\tr|_{V_2}\o(v_b^{(8)})=0$$ leading to $d=-67770<0$. If $e=\frac{1}{2}$ or $e=c-\frac{1}{2}$, one has again two equations for $d$ and one finds for $c$ the real solutions $c=-\frac{22}{5}$, $0$, $\frac{1}{2}$, $24$, $\frac{142}{5}$, $-8.45952...$ . For the cases $c=0.23416...$, $25.60637...$ with $c>0$ which are not yet excluded, Proposition \[m2VOAcond\] gives non-integer values for $d$. This finishes the proof Theorem \[classfic8\] (i) for $m=2$ since for $c=24$ Proposition \[m2VOAcond\] gives $d=196884$. For part (ii) of Theorem \[classfic8\], note that under the extra assumptions there Theorem \[classfic7\] (d) shows that $V$ has to be a self-dual of central charge 24. As discussed in section \[extremal\], the character of $V$ has therefore to be equal to the character of the Moonshine module $V^{\natural}$. Known examples of conformal $6$-designs {#candidates} --------------------------------------- We will discuss which satisfying the conditions of Theorem \[classfic7\] are known to support conformal $6$-designs. We compare our results for with the analogous results for binary linear codes and integral lattices due to Lalaude-Labayle [@LaLa-codesign] and Martinet [@Ma-ladesign]. In the case of minimal weight $m=\frac{1}{2}$, the only example is the self-dual $V_{\rm Fermi}$. The homogeneous subspaces of $V_{\rm Fermi}$ are trivial conformal $t$-designs for all $t\geq 1$ because $V_{(0)}$ is equal to the Virasoro highest weight module $L_{1/2}(0)$. The only self-orthogonal binary code of minimal weight $2$, whose set of minimal-weight words supports a $3$-design is the trivial example of the self-dual code $C_2\cong \{(0,0),\,(1,1)\}$. The only integral lattice of minimal norm $1$, whose set of minimal vectors forms a spherical $7$-design is the one-dimensional lattice ${\bf Z}$ of integers. In fact, the two vectors of any fixed positive integer length form a spherical $t$-design for all $t$. For $m=1$, the only examples are the $V_{A_1}$ and $V_{E_8}$. As shown in Example \[a1\], all the homogeneous subspaces of $V_{A_1}$ are conformal $t$-designs for arbitrary $t$. As shown in Example \[e8\] and also in Example \[extexa\], all the homogeneous subspaces of $V_{E_8}$ are conformal $7$-designs. However, Theorem \[classfic8\] (i) shows that $(V_{E_8})_1$ is not a conformal $8$-design. The only self-orthogonal binary code of minimal weight $4$, whose set of minimal-weight words supports a $3$-design is the doubly-even self-dual Hamming code ${\cal H}_8$ of length $8$. (One may also consider the trivial code $C_2'= \{(0,0)\}$.) The only integral lattices of minimal norm $2$, whose set of minimal vectors are spherical $7$-designs are the root lattices $A_1$ of rank $1$ and $E_8$ of rank $8$. In the case of minimal weight $m=\frac{3}{2}$, the shorter Moonshine module $V\!B^{\natural}\cong V\!B^{\natural}_{(0)}\oplus V\!B^{\natural}_{(1)}$ is a of central charge $23\frac{1}{2}$ whose homogeneous subspaces are conformal $7$-designs by Example \[shortmoonshine\] and \[shortmoonshine2\]. It follows from [@Ho-babymoon] that $V\!B^{\natural}_8$ contains a Baby Monster invariant non-zero Virasoro highest weight vector and Theorem \[classfic8\] (i) shows that $V\!B^{\natural}_{3/2}$ is not a conformal $8$-design. As seen in Example \[laminated\], the homogeneous subspaces of the central charge $16$ $V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$ as well as of the module $K(\frac{3}{2})$ of conformal weight $\frac{3}{2}$ are conformal $7$-designs. The module $K(\frac{3}{2})$ is the direct sum of (all) irreducible $V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$-modules $K_{\mu}$ of conformal weight $\frac{3}{2}$ which are simple currents of order $2$. (This can be proven by using that $V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$ has the structure of a framed [@DGH-virs; @LaYa-framedrep].) It is not clear (and seems unlikely) that the individual modules $K_{\mu}$ give rise to conformal $6$-designs. If this is not the case, they cannot be used to extend $V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$ to a of the required type. One may therefore conjecture that the shorter Moonshine module $V\!B^{\natural}$ is the only possible example for a as in Theorem \[classfic7\] part (c). The only self-orthogonal binary code of minimal weight $6$, whose set of minimal-weight words supports a $3$-design is the self-dual shorter Golay code of length $22$. The only integral lattice of minimal norm $3$ whose set of minimal vectors forms a spherical $7$-design is the $23$-dimensional unimodular shorter Leech lattice $O_{23}$. For $m=2$, the known examples are the $V_{\Lambda_8}^+$ and $V_{\Lambda_{16}}^+$ of central charge $8$ and $16$ of Example \[laminated\]; the even part $V\!B^{\natural}_{(0)}$ of the shorter Moonshine module of central charge $23\frac{1}{2}$ from Example \[shortmoonshine\] and \[shortmoonshine2\]; the self-dual Moonshine module $V^{\natural}$ of central charge $24$ from Example \[moonshine\] and \[extexa\]; and the known extremal self-dual of central charge $32$ from Example \[extexa\]. In these examples, all homogeneous subspaces are conformal $7$-designs; in the case of the Moonshine module, they are even conformal $11$-designs. In all examples besides $V^{\natural}$, Theorem \[classfic8\] gives that the subspace $V_2$ is not a conformal $8$-design; the Griess algebra $V_2^{\natural}$ is not a conformal $12$-design (see [@DoMa-highermoon], Thm. 3 and the following discussion). For the other values of $c$, no examples are known. The homogeneous subspaces of extremal $V$ of central charge $40$ are by Theorem \[extremaldesign\] conformal $3$-designs and one has $\dim V_2=20620$. All known examples of such are ${\bf Z}_2$-orbifolds of lattice , where the lattice is an extremal rank $40$ lattice with minimal squared length $4$. Such contain a Virasoro element $\omega'$ generating a Virasoro algebra of central charge $1/2$. If $V_2$ is a conformal $7$-design, one obtains however $d_0=\frac{441768}{37}$ which is impossible (cf. [@Ma-design], Table 3.3). Similarly, one can show that with the assumption $L_{1/2}(0)\subset V$ the only central charges $c$ given in Lemma \[diophant\] for which $d_0$, $d_{1/2}$ and $d_{1/16}$ are nonnegative integers are $c=\frac{1}{2}$, $8$, $16$, $20$, $23\frac{1}{2}$, $24$, $24\frac{1}{2}$, $24\frac{4}{7}$, $30\frac{2}{5}$, $30\frac{1}{2}$, $31\frac{1}{2}$, $32$, $32\frac{4}{5}$, $33\frac{5}{7}$, and $36$. The only self-orthogonal binary codes of minimal weight $8$, whose set of minimal-weight words support a $3$-design are the doubly-even code $C_8\cong \{(0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0)$, $(1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1)\}$ of length $8$; the doubly-even Reed-Muller code ${\cal R}(1,4)$ of length $16$; the doubly-even subcode of the shorter Golay code of length $22$; the doubly-even self-dual Golay code of length $24$ and the five extremal doubly-even self-dual codes of length $32$. 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[C]{}hapitre [IV]{}: [G]{}roupes de [C]{}oxeter et systèmes de [T]{}its. [C]{}hapitre [V]{}: [G]{}roupes engendrés par des réflexions. [C]{}hapitre [VI]{}: systèmes de racines*, Actualités Scientifiques et Industrielles, No. 1337, Hermann, Paris, 1968. Chonying Dong, Robert Griess, and Gerald H[ö]{}hn, *[Framed Vertex Operator Algebras, Codes and the Moonshine Module]{}*, Comm. Math. Phys. **193** (1998), 407–448, q-alg/9707008. P. Delsarte, J.-M. Goethals, and J. J. Seidel, *[Spherical codes and designs]{}*, Geometriae Dedicata **6** (1977), 363–388. Chongying Dong, Haisheng Li, and Geoffrey Mason, *Twisted representations of vertex operator algebras*, Math. Ann. **310** (1998), 571–600. [to3em]{}, *Modular-invariance of trace functions in orbifold theory and generalized [M]{}oonshine*, Comm. Math. Phys. **214** (2000), 1–56. Chongying Dong and Geoffrey Mason, *Monstrous [M]{}oonshine of higher weight*, Acta Math. **185** (2000), 101–121. [to3em]{}, *Rational vertex operator algebras and the effective central charge*, Int. Math. Res. Not. (2004), no. 56, 2989–3008. [to3em]{}, *Integrability of [$C\sb 2$]{}-cofinite vertex operator algebras*, Int. Math. Res. Not. (2006), Art. ID 80468, 15. Chongying Dong, Geoffrey Mason, and Kiyokazu Nagatomo, *Quasi-modular forms and trace functions associated to free boson and lattice vertex operator algebras*, Internat. Math. Res. Notices (2001), no. 8, 409–427. Igor Frenkel, James Lepowsky, and Arne Meuerman, *[Vertex Operator Algebras and the Monster]{}*, Academic Press, San Diego, 1988. Igor B. Frenkel and Yongchang Zhu, *[Vertex Operator Algebras associated to Representations of Affine and Virasoro Algebras]{}*, Duke Mathematical Journal **66** (1992), 123–168. Robert L. Griess, Jr., *A vertex operator algebra related to ${E}\sb 8$ with automorphism group [O]{}$^+(10,2)$*, The Monster and Lie algebras (Columbus, OH, 1996), de Gruyter, Berlin, 1998, pp. 43–58. J.-M. Goethals and J. J. Seidel, *[Spherical Designs]{}*, Relations between combinatorics and other parts of mathematics (Proc. Sympos. Pure Math., Ohio State Univ., Columbus, Ohio, 1978), Proc. Sympos. Pure Math., XXXIV, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, R.I., 1979, pp. 255–272. Gerald H[ö]{}hn, *[Selbstduale Vertexoperatorsuperalgebren und das Babymonster]{}*, Ph.D. thesis, [U]{}niversit[ä]{}t [B]{}onn, 1995, see: [B]{}onner [M]{}athematische [S]{}chriften [**286**]{}. [to3em]{}, *[Self-dual Vertex Operator Superalgebras with Shadows of large minimal weight]{}*, Internat. Math. Res. Notices **13** (1997), 613–621, q-alg/9608023. [to3em]{}, *[The automorphism group of the shorter Moonshine module]{}*, preprint, math.QA/0210076 (2002). [to3em]{}, *[Generalized Moonshine for the Baby-Monster]{}*, preprint (2003). [to3em]{}, *Self-dual codes over the [K]{}leinian four group*, Math. Ann. **327** (2003), 227–255, math.CO/0005266. Katherine L. Hurley, *[Strongly Holomorpic $c=24$ Vertex Operator Algebras and Modular Forms]{}*, Ph.D. thesis, University of California at Santa Cruz, 2002. [to3em]{}, *The space of graded traces for holomorphic voas of small central charge*, preprint, math.QA/0606282. Victor Kac, *Vertex algebras for beginners*, University Lecture Series, vol. 10, American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 1997. Oliver D. King, *The mass of extremal doubly-even self-dual codes of length 40*, IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory **47** (2001), 2558–2560. [to3em]{}, *A mass formula for unimodular lattices with no roots*, Math. Comp. **72** (2003), 839–863. Marc Lalaude-Labayle, *On binary linear codes supporting [$t$]{}-designs*, IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory **47** (2001), 2249–2255. Ching Hung Lam and Hiroshi Yamauchi, *On the structure of framed vertex operator algebras and their pointwise frame stabilizers*, preprint, math.QA/0605176. Jacques Martinet, *Sur certains designs sphériques liés à des réseaux entiers*, Réseaux euclidiens, designs sphériques et formes modulaires, Monogr. Enseign. Math., vol. 37, Enseignement Math., Geneva, 2001, pp. 135–146. Atsushi Matsuo, *Norton’s trace formulae for the [G]{}riess algebra of a vertex operator algebra with larger symmetry*, Comm. Math. Phys. **224** (2001), 565–591. Masahiko Miyamoto, *[Griess Algebras and Conformal Vectors in Vertex Operator Algebras]{}*, Journal of Algebra **179** (1996), 523–548. Masahiko Miyamoto, *Representation theory of code vertex operator algebra*, J. Algebra **201** (1998), 115–150. Werner Meyer and Wolfram Neutsch, *[Associative Subalgebras of the Griess Algebra]{}*, Journal of Algebra **158** (1993), 1–17. S. P. Norton, *The [M]{}onster algebra: some new formulae*, Moonshine, the Monster, and related topics (South Hadley, MA, 1994), Contemp. Math., vol. 193, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 1996, pp. 297–306. S. L. Sobolev, *Cubature formulas on the sphere which are invariant under transformations of finite rotation groups*, Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR **146** (1962), 310–313. P. D. Seymour and Thomas Zaslavsky, *Averaging sets: a generalization of mean values and spherical designs*, Adv. in Math. **52** (1984), 213–240. Luc Teirlinck, *Nontrivial [$t$]{}-designs without repeated blocks exist for all [$t$]{}*, Discrete Math. **65** (1987), 301–311. Boris B. Venkov, *[Even unimodular extremal lattices]{}*, Trudy Mat. Inst. Steklov **165** (1984), 43–48. Yongchang Zhu, *[Vertex Operator Algebras, Elliptic Functions, and Modular Forms]{}*, Ph.D. thesis, Yale University, 1990, [appeared as: [*Modular invariance of characters of vertex operator algebras,*]{} J. Amer. Math. Soc [**9**]{} (1996)]{}. [^1]: Department of Mathematics, Kansas State University, 138 Cardwell Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506-2602, USA. E-mail: [[email protected]]{} Supported by Kansas NSF EPSCoR grant NSF32239KAN32240. | High | [
0.6703448275862071,
30.375,
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] |
Now, a test to know for sure if you are in love! London: Want to be sure if you are actually in love or not? Now there's a test for that! Researchers from universities in China and New York have obtained the first empirical evidence of love-related alterations in the brain using MRI scans. So now you just need to get an MRI scan to know if that funny feeling is love or not! The researchers found that several areas of the brain showed increased activity in those who were in love, including in the parts of the brain linked to reward and motivation. Researchers have said that their results shed light on the "underlying mechanisms of romantic love" and would pave the way for a brain scan that could act as a 'love test', 'The Telegraph' reported. Scientists from Southwest University, the University of Science and Technology of China and from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York recruited 100 students from Southwest University in Chongqing, China. The students were divided into three groups according to their relationship status: an 'in-love' group, comprised of those who were in love at the time; an 'ended-love' group, who had recently ended loving relationships; and a 'single' group, who had never been in love. Participants were told not to think of anything while their brains were scanned. Those from the 'in love' category showed increased activity in several areas of the brain, including in parts that deal with reward, motivation, and emotion regulation, as well as in the social cognition network. The amount of activity in some parts positively correlated with the duration of love for the 'in love' group. For the 'ended love' group, the longer they had been out of love, the lower the amount of activity detected in these areas of the brain. The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. | Low | [
0.5215759849906191,
34.75,
31.875
] |
United Nations Security Council Resolution 867 United Nations Security Council resolution 867, adopted unanimously on 23 September 1993, after recalling resolutions 841 (1993), 861 (1993) and 862 (1993) on the situation in Haiti, the Council reiterated its position of protecting international peace and stability and established the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). The Council received a proposal from the Government of Haiti concerning the creation of a new police force and in modernising the Haitian armed forces. On 3 July 1993, the President of Haiti and the commander of the army of the country signed an agreement to return the country to peace and stability, and which addressed the issues of the police and military. In this respect, the Council supported the efforts to implement that agreement. Acting on a recommendation by the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Council authorised the establishment of UNMIH for an initial period of six months, subject to the proviso that it would be extended beyond the seventy-five days upon a review by the Council on whether progress had been made. The mission itself would consist of up to 567 police and 700 military observers, including 60 military instructors. The observers will accompany the Haitian police and train and observe their operations, while the soldiers were responsible for the modernisation of the army and following roles: (a) providing non-combat training; (b) the military construction unit would work with the Haitian military to implement projects from the Secretary-General's report such as military barracks and infrastructure. The intention of the Secretary-General to place the mission under the oversight of his Special Representative and the Organization of American States (OAS), which also oversaw the International Civilian Mission, was welcomed. Haiti was asked to provide security and freedom of movement to United Nations personnel, urging the conclusion of a Status of Mission agreement. At the same time, the groups in the country were called upon to renounce violence. The Secretary-General was requested to seek financing of the mission by way of a trust fund and contributions from Member States for the police and military components of UNMIH. Resolution 867 concluded by further asking him to report back by 10 December 1993 and 25 January 1994 on developments in Haiti. See also History of Haiti List of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 801 to 900 (1993–1994) References External links Text of the Resolution at undocs.org 0867 Category:1993 in Haiti 0867 Category:September 1993 events | High | [
0.685271317829457,
27.625,
12.6875
] |
Combined mechanical process recycling technology for recovering copper and aluminium components of spent lithium-iron phosphate batteries. The recycling processes of spent lithium iron phosphate batteries comprise thermal, wet, and biological and mechanical treatments. Limited research has been conducted on the combined mechanical process recycling technology and such works are limited to the separation of metal and non-metal materials, which belongs to mechanical recovery. In this article the combined mechanical process recycling technology of spent lithium iron phosphate batteries and the separation of metals has been investigated. The spent lithium iron phosphate batteries monomer with the completely discharged electrolyte was subjected to perforation discharge. The shell was directly recycled and the inner core was directly separated into a positive electrode piece, dissepiment, and negative electrode piece. The dissociation rate of the positive and negative materials reached 100.0% after crushing when the temperature and time reached 300 °C and 120 min. The crushed products were collected and sequentially sieved after the low-temperature thermal treatment. Then, nonferrous metals (copper and aluminium) were separated from the crushed spent lithium iron phosphate batteries by eddy current separation with particle size -4 + 0.4. The optimised operation parameters of eddy current separation were fed at speeds of 40 r min-1, and the rotation speed of the magnetic field was 800 r min-1. The nonferrous metals of copper and aluminium were separated by the method of pneumatic separation. The optimal air speed was 0.34 m s-1 for the particle-size -1.6 + 0.4 mm and 12.85-14.23 m s-1 for the particle-size -4 + 1.6 mm. The present recycling process is eco-friendly and highly efficient and produces little waste. | High | [
0.669856459330143,
35,
17.25
] |
Sunday, November 26, 2006 Two and a half weeks ago I published a post about problems with random VM crashes using Java 5 on Linux with a 2.4 kernel. Most of the feedback I got suggested upgrading to a more recent kernel version. Because this represents a major undertaking for our application (several thousand clients deployed with Java 1.4.2 on RH9) we needed to be sure this would work. Because all the crash reports - see the original post - seemed to hint into the GC's direction I wrote a little test application to stress the garbage collector. What it does is to create a configurable number of threads, each of which just allocates a byte[] of variable size. In case an OutOfMemoryError occurs, the thread gets replaced with a new one. You can find the code at the bottom of this post. I started 4 instances of this tool under Ubuntu 6.06, each configured with 20 threads (first parameter) and up to 40MB of memory per thread (second parameter, in bytes). After 4 days of continuous running - we had just started to feel a little more safe - one of the processes crashed, leavig a hs_err file behind, again telling us the current activity was a full garbage collection. We have now filed a bug report with Sun which is yet to be reviewed by them. They say that it currently takes around 3 weeks before you get an official bug id, however I do not think any fix will be in time for us to use Java 5 for our next application release. Does anyone know, if there is a way of getting the crash files with debug symbols? Maybe this would allow us to do some more testing on our own. Is there some sort of debug-VM version available for download? Tuesday, November 21, 2006 On Todd Huss' blog I just came about a very simple way of initializing a collection with a set of predefined values. It is so simple that it is amazing people do not use it way more often. For my part, I have seen this use of instance initializers for the first time, although they are nothing sooo special... Saturday, November 18, 2006 Reading about Peter Zaitsev's feature idea about Finding columns which a query needs to access - which I would really like to see implemented - reminded me of a bug report I filed in 2004 and which bit me again only a few days ago. You can find it under Bug #7074 in the MySQL bug tracking tool. Although it is filed as a feature request, I think one should be aware of this, as it may cause problems in your applications (it did in ours). Basically it is about explicitly specifying which columns you need in a result set, instead of just using SELECT *. This is generally a good idea, however if the table contains BLOB columns, it becomes even more important, as it may affect performance heavily in an unexpected manner. From the bug report: MySQL first reads all the selected columns, and only after that checks the WHERE. This may lead to long running queries, even if you do not use the BLOB column in the WHERE clause and even if there is no data to retrieve based on the query conditions. Monday, November 13, 2006 Recently I received a notification about F-Secure Anti-Virus 2007 being available. As an F-Secure customer you are entitled to upgrade from the 2006 version if your subscription is valid. So I downloaded the installation package and performed the upgrade. After the obligatory reboot things started to fall apart. My computer would not respond for more than about 30 seconds after I had logged in. Opening the Start menu would work, maybe even opening e. g. the Control Panel sub menu. However nothing else would work after this point. Using Ctrl-Alt-Del to get the Task Manager just allowed me to "wipe" the start menu from the screen, no more action would be possible. What made me suspicious was a little dialog I had to dismiss right after logging in that informed me about my Kerio Personal Firewall not being found by the system-tray GUI. Because conflicting firewalls are known to cause lockup problems like this, I originally bought F-Secure Anti-Virus instead of the whole Internet Security package. Anti-Virus 2006 had been working fine in conjunction with the separate personal firewall. I rebooted to see if this was some sort of transient problem with the first reboot after the install. This time I did not even get an Explorer to launch and show me my desktop. Apart from the wallpaper and a mouse pointer I could not see anything. Hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del again let me launch the Task Manager. I tried to start explorer.exe from there, to no avail. I decided to uninstall the personal firewall. I tried to boot into Safe Mode, just to see that it would not come up and instead die with a blue screen. To be fair, I have to say that I had not tried Safe Mode for a loong time, so I do not know if it would have worked before my problems started. My only way to resolve this was to boot into the Vista RC installation I luckily had not deleted yet and to disable the startup of the firewall service in the XP install. To do so I loaded the windows\system32\config\system registry hive into the Vista regedit and set the startup type (ControlSet00x\Services\servicename\Start to 0 - which means disabled - in the firewall service node of the active ControlSet001. You can see which control set is the one for "normal" Windows startup by looking at the SYSTEM\Select\Default value. Upon restart the situation did not change, the same problem as before. Because I was not sure whether just disabling the Kerio service had been enough, I decided to uninstall it. To do so I had to disable F-Secure Anti-Virus, too. So I loaded Vista again and opened the XP registry. Luckily the F-Secure services all have human readable key names, all starting with "F-Secure", so it was very easy to disable them as well. Back in XP I was for the first time able to do more than wait for the lock-up. I uninstalled Kerio using the Control Panel's "Add/Remove Programs" applet and rebooted, after I had set the F-Secure services back to their original startup settings. Guess what... It still did not work... I came to the conclusion that there must be some sort of a bug in F-Secure Anti-Virus's 2007 version. In the meantime my father had called, complaining about the same problem, which at the time seemed to support my theory. At that point however I did not know yet, that he used the Sunbelt Personal Firewall, too. After going through the whole boot Vista - load XP registry - disable services - reboot to XP hassle I finally uninstalled Anti-Virus 2007, rebooted and re-installed 2006. At this point I had restored the situation where I had originally left off - minus the Kerio Personal Firewall. For some reason I did not want to believe that F-Secure would ship such a lousy product. I fired up regedit again and opened the services subtree. There I reviewed every one of them, not knowing what exactly to look for. Finally I found these two entries: The ImagePath in the second node reads "%systemroot%\system32\drivers\khips.sys" when viewed with regedit. Searching the net for that name reveals that it is the "Kerio Host Intrusion Prevention Service". Obviously this is a remainder of the Kerio Personal Firewall that I thought I had removed. In the Device Manager one can also see this service when the "View/Show Hidden Devices" option is enabled. It will show up under "Non-PnP-Drivers" (sorry if the option names are a little off, I am trying to guess their names, because I use a German Windows). As soon as I had removed both of the registry keys above (kerio.uk.com contains a reference to fwdrv) and rebooted, I could use F-Secure Anti-Virus 2007 without any problems. I will file this with F-Secure now... They guys of the JavaPosse have just released a special issue of their podcast in which they interview Mark Reinhold (chief engineer for Java SE), Rich Sands (community marketing manager for Java SE) and Eric Chu (senior director of the Client Systems Group and head of its Java ME initiatives). Saturday, November 11, 2006 Very cool behaviour of QuickTime on Vista (ok, RC1, but I do not think this will become better): This is shown when you start the QuickTime control panel applet. Notice that the publisher information is displayed as "Microsoft Windows Publisher", so you have no idea that this was really the QuickTime applet. It could have been any other process in the background, too. Tuesday, November 07, 2006 We are currently evaluating the consequences of migrating our application from Java 1.4 to Java 5. While initial tests revealed only simple issues (like variables called enum etc.) we are now seeing a much more severe problem: Random VM crashes. Currently we only see this on Linux (Kernel 2.4) only, however even there we cannot reliably reproduce the problem. On a single machine we have seen two crashes in a week. Notably the application was not being used, it was just started and waiting for user input. Some background threads are running in this situation, however they do not do any work, either. They just poll some database tables for external changes, but there were none. All of a sudden a VM would crash, leaving a hs_err_pid1234.txt behind. This is what they look like (shortened): Looking through the Sun bug database I found several reports about similar crashes, however they were all closed as not reproducible. This is our problem, too. Right now the application has been running for 5 days without a problem. Nevertheless this is not too comforting, as we would have several thousand VMs in production use. Should we decide to migrate even a chance of 0.1% for this crash would leave us with several problem reports a day which we cannot accept. Thursday, November 02, 2006 As announced previously I spent some time to get Beryl to work on my newly upgraded Edgy Eft installation. Although it did not went as smoothly as I would have hoped, it was not too troublesome either. Dual head still seems to be a major problem in many areas in Linux. This definitely something the Windows people do not have to worry about just as much, but ok, this may partly be related to the hardware vendors not providing some sort of unified and/or open drivers. Nevertheless it is now working, after some changes to my xorg.conf. Before those I always got an error message from Beryl, complaining about a missing RandR extension. The effects are really nice, some of them are however too slow for my taste in the default settings. After speeding them up a little (I do not like to wait for a context-menu to wobble into view, if it wobbles for more than a fraction of a second) I really liked it. There are some issues left, but I assume this is because of the ongoing development. E. g. window resizing is a little strange if you grab a window's top edge and move the mouse up and down. One would expect the window to remain in place and gain or loose height from the top, i. e. where you drag. However sometimes windows seem to be resized on the bottom. Video playback is also choppy, but that seems to depend on the file I play back. Probably due to different codecs, however I have not really looked deeper into it. From what I have seen so far, I believe there is very much potential in this :) About me I am a software developer focused mainly on mobile development on iOS and Android, with CenterDevice GmbH and codecentric AG. Apart from this I spend my time with podcasts, books and technology in general. This is my personal site. Anything posted here is my personal and private view of things. codecentric's blog (with the occasional crosspost) can be found at blog.codecentric.de. | Low | [
0.503787878787878,
33.25,
32.75
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/** * Js 派生实现 * * @param {Function} parent 父类 * @param {Function} [constructor] 子类构造函数 * @param {Object} [proto] 子类原型 * @access public * @return {Function} 新的类 * * @example * * var ClassA = derive(Object, function(__super){ * console.log("I'm an instance of ClassA:", this instanceof ClassA); * }); * * var ClassB = derive(ClassA, function(__super){ * console.log("I'm an instance of ClassB:", this instanceof ClassB); * __super(); * }, { * test:function(){ * console.log("test method!"); * } * }); * * var b = new ClassB(); * //I'm an instance of ClassA: true * //I'm an instance of ClassA: true * b.test(); * //test method! */ function derive(parent, constructor, proto) { //如果没有传 constructor 参数 if (typeof constructor === 'object') { proto = constructor; constructor = proto.constructor || function () { }; delete proto.constructor; } var tmp = function () { }, //子类构造函数 subClass = function () { //有可能子类和父类初始化参数定义不同，所以将初始化延迟到子类构造函数中执行 //构造一个 __super 函数,用于子类中调用父类构造函数 var __super = bind(parent, this), args = slice(arguments); //将 __super 函数作为 constructor 的第一个参数 args.unshift(__super); constructor.apply(this, args); //parent.apply(this, arguments); //constructor.apply(this, arguments); }, subClassPrototype; //原型链桥接 tmp.prototype = parent.prototype; subClassPrototype = new tmp(); //复制属性到子类的原型链上 copyProperties( subClassPrototype, constructor.prototype, proto || {}); subClassPrototype.constructor = constructor.prototype.constructor; subClass.prototype = subClassPrototype; return subClass; } | High | [
0.702341137123745,
26.25,
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Unusual transoral penetrating injury of the foramen magnum: case report. Penetrating injuries of the cranium and spine are frequent to the civilian neurosurgical practice. Although a variety of unusual objects have been reported, to our knowledge, there has never been a craniocerebral or spinal injury caused by a fish. An unusual case of transoral penetration of the foramen magnum by a billed fish is described. The history, radiographic studies, and treatment are presented. A fisherman struck by a jumping fish initially presented with severe neck pain and stiffness, bleeding from the mouth, and a laceration in the right posterior pharynx. A computed tomographic scan of the cervical spine revealed a wedge-shaped, hyperdense object extending from the posterior pharynx into the spinal canal between the atlas and the occiput. Because of the time factor involved, the fisherman was brought directly to surgery for transoral removal of the object. The patient was placed under general anesthesia, and with a tonsillar retractor, a kipner, and hand-held retractors, the object was visualized and identified as a fish bill. Further dissection above the anterior aspect of the atlas permitted removal of the object by means of a grabber from an arthroscopic set. No expression of cerebrospinal fluid was noted, and a Penrose drain was placed. The patient was treated under the assumption that penetrating foreign objects in continuity with the cerebrospinal fluid space and the outside environment should be removed as soon as possible. The patient was provided appropriate antibiotics to treat potential infection of normal pharyngeal flora and organisms unique to the marine environment. The patient recovered and did not experience any residual neurological deficit. | High | [
0.663414634146341,
34,
17.25
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News Observer, May 30, 2015 “We believe that all people in all communities deserve to have their human dignity respected and valued,” wrote UNC-Chapel Hill professor Hong-An-Truong and Duke professor Nayoung Aimee Kwon in the May 24 letter “A dangerous myth.” One wonders whether “all people” includes white people given the professors’ impassioned moral indictment (“structural racism,” “white supremacy”) of this majority-white nation–which is a magnet for nonwhites the world over. The letter signed by 26 Asian-American faculty and students illustrated the skewed multiculturalism of majority-white nations. This asymmetrical multiculturalism favors the group interests of minorities over the group interests of the white majority, the founding group. It encourages minorities to organize to pursue racial/ethnocentric agendas. Typical examples: Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, among myriad ethnocentric minority organizations. Meanwhile, the establishment–political, academic, media, religious–suppresses any expression of the group interests of the majority. This is a glaring double standard. It has a profound negative effect on the majority. A solution is true, democratic multi-culturalism that recognizes that every racial/ethnic group, including the white majority, has legitimate group interests. | Mid | [
0.592326139088729,
30.875,
21.25
] |
According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll just released today, 56 percent disapprove of the FBI’s decision not to charge Hillary Clinton. Yet in every poll you read, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump. Think about this. A clear majority think Hillary Clinton is a criminal; yet that same majority will vote for her to become the next president. Clinton’s major argument against Trump is that he’s unstable, irrational, and cannot be trusted with his finger on the nuclear button. But how does this justify voting for Hillary? Criminals and liars are unstable and irrational. When you habitually and chronically lie, you create all kinds of confusing and contradictory compartments in your mind. There’s “Reality A” and “Reality B”; there’s what you told one person (the truth) and then what you told another person (a lie to suit the situation). With all the confusion and contradictions trying to coexist within Hillary Clinton’s mind, it’s little wonder she used poor judgment (by her own admission) in failing to abide by federal law when she used her own private server for correspondence related to national security. Or maybe she wanted that private server to hide her lies and secrets. Either way, if it’s psychological stability you seek, Hillary Clinton is not your man. Leftist PsychologyToday.com is filled with articles attempting to analyze people who plan to vote for Trump. One psychotherapist wrote an article entitled, “A Case of the Trumps.” In the article, he takes it for granted that Trump promotes racism and fear, and that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, promotes civility and reason. What about people who support Hillary Clinton? Why do their motives warrant no scrutiny, particularly in light of this poll? You won’t find anyone in the psychology field analyzing that question. The PsychologyToday article on Trump takes it for granted that he’s a bully, that he didn’t accomplish anything honestly, and that everybody knows someone like this in their family. Isn’t Hillary Clinton at least as much of a bully as Donald Trump? She has earned everything through the coercive process of politics. Everything she supports is about coercion: high taxation, monopolization of health care and education by government, proposals to restrict or ban weapons for self-protection, on and on. The only liberty she really supports is the “freedom” to obtain higher welfare checks, higher food stamps, even more expensive “free” health care and — on the horizon — free college tuition and who knows what else. That’s what all Democrats do. It’s liberty for some paid for by others. That’s not liberty, and that’s certainly not equality. Two facts remain. One, a clear majority think Hillary’s a criminal. That’s why they believe she should be prosecuted. Yet a clear majority likewise supports her decisively for president, at least right now. So how can they justify voting for her? I can think of only one explanation. The perception that Hillary Clinton, like any Democrat, will give away more free stuff than the Republican. They want her policies of giving out free stuff. Either they want the free stuff for themselves, or they think it’s “social justice.” They overlook the fact that she’s a criminal, by their own judgment, to feel reassured that things will stay the way they are. Does it ever occur to them that the only person available to keep this policy of supposed “social justice” is a lying, corrupt criminal, conceded by their own belief that the FBI should have prosecuted her? Doesn’t that tell you something about the whole ideology of collectivism and social “justice,” upon which our $20 trillion bankrupt welfare state rests? Apparently, it takes a criminal to sustain the welfare state. That’s why we have Hillary Clinton next in line to keep the greatest lie in human history going: The lie that you can get something for nothing. Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Rehoboth Beach DE). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on Twitter at @MichaelJHurd1 Check out Dr. Hurd’s latest Newsmax Insider column here! | Mid | [
0.574610244988864,
32.25,
23.875
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