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Tuesday, September 23, 2014 Last weekend, I switched it up from my usual JackRabbit long run on Saturday mornings and decided to try out the Nike+Live run leaving from their Upper East Side store (3rd Avenue between 66th & 67th Streets). (Hello, random bike) While I love my JackRabbit runs, I highly recommend checking out a Nike+ long run if you are cracking down and getting serious about your marathon training (‘tis the season!) I’ll tell you the main reasons why I say that. 1) The Nike+ runs start at 8 a.m. Usually, I’m all for a 9 a.m. start time on a Saturday morning- a little extra time to sleep in after Friday night never hurts, after all. But when your mileage starts increasing, and you’re spending upwards of 3 hours on a long run, finishing after noon can put a monkey wrench in plans for the day. This particular Saturday, my parents were coming to visit, so I knew I needed to be done running by 11ish. 2) The Nike+ runs get up there in mileage- this past weekend there was an option to run a 4 mile route, 12 mile route or 18 mile route! I had been wanting to do 16, but ending up settling for the 12 mile group and adding my own 2 miles on the way home to make sure I was back in time for my parents. The different options definitely helped- and there aren’t many free, organized running groups that I’ve come across that go 18 miles! 3) The group was definitely geared towards people training for upcoming marathons. One of the Nike+ staff members gave a little speech on the megaphone before we set out, reminding us that with the weather changing, we should start getting using to running in capris and other warmer clothes since that’s what we’ll be wearing for our races. 4) For each mileage group, there were pacers. So for the 12 mile group, there was a <8:00/mile pacer, an 8:30-9:30/mile pacer and a 10:00+ “sexy pace” pacer. They were dressed in neon green and it was my first experience running with a pacer and super helpful! Although I do find that whenever a runner sets out to run a specific pace- they end up going faster. 5) The group was very organized. You checked in when you got there, could check your bag inside, use the restroom (although the line for the one stall was insane), and then head outside to your specific group. They took a group photo of each group and we left pretty much on time, which was impressive for the number of people there (my guess is around 150 for the 3 different mileage groups). 6) At the half way point, and along the run for the 18 mile group, there was a stop where you could pick up water, Gatorade, Kind bars, Cliff bars and Gus! 7) Because the group is broken up into different paces, there is no stopping and waiting if people fall behind. 8) They have pre-printed, legit, running route cards- so again, if you fall behind, you know where the group is headed and we don’t have to stop and wait for you or be worried that you’re lost forever. 9) There are photographers that follow you out on the course and then they email you the pictures the next day, which is pretty cool! Saturday I set out with the 8:30-9:30 pace group but ended up running with the front group. The 8:00 pacer was a great guy named Fish, who I had some great conversations with and soon we realized we were cruising along with 7:45-7:50 miles. It was a pretty great run. At the end of it, there was more coconut water, water, Gatorade and chocolate milk to grab and then I ran another 2 miles to home to make a nice solid 14 mile total for the day. The only real con I can come up with for the Nike+ run is that you need to register for it online, and they do fill up. But I mean, technically, there is nothing stopping you from walking by the store and hopping into the crowd (shh, I didn’t tell you that!) 0 comments: Post a Comment Pages Runspiration Who of us hasn't considered how our peers will react to our performance in a given race, whether good or bad? And in those moments, whom are we ultimately running for? The sport is difficult enough as it is; doing it for anyone but ourselves makes it unsustainable. | Mid | [
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On Friday, Google implemented a new tool to fight the spread of misinformation on the web worldwide. The new "Fact Check" program automatically labels dubious stories in users' search results, and provides links to fact-checking sites like Snopes and Politifact to establish the veracity of their claims. The new tool comes as major websites such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter continue to face pressure to check the spread of "fake news" across the internet, an issue which was catapulted into the spotlight during the US presidential campaign. Over the past few years, sites such as Google have had to walk a fine line between policing false claims and supporting basic principles of free speech online. Google, after all, is the most popular search engine in the world, sporting more than 77 percent of the global search engine market share. And for many, that level of influence entails some responsibility to make sure its many users are not misled. "Building systems that help people get better at judging information is an important goal and helping people notice when information might not be credible is an excellent thing to do – in my work, I call this 'designing for information assess ability,'" says Andrea Forte, an assistant professor at Drexel University's College of Computing & Informatics in Philadelphia, Penn. "But depending on corporations to be responsible for educating people about credible information is not a reasonable solution." Dr. Forte tells The Christian Science Monitor in an email that relying on ad-revenue driven companies like Google is, at best, an "incomplete solution." She adds that major websites depend on one-sided, positive messaging in order to make money, so even programs like Fact Check will never be an entirely reliable method of eliminating fake news and providing the user with fair, balanced information. But it's a start, she adds. "Google was built to help people find useful information by surfacing the great content that publishers and sites create," reads a blog post from Google explaining the new feature. "This access to high quality information is what drives people to use the web and for contributors to continue to engage and invest in it. However, with thousands of new articles published online every minute of every day, the amount of content confronting people online can be overwhelming." The new program was first tested in October, when Google gave publishers in certain countries the ability to show a Fact Check tag in Google's News section. The feature highlighted reputable articles that assessed the accuracy of statements by public figures. Now, that feature has been expanded worldwide, with fact-checking tags appearing in Google's main search results as well in as the News section. "For the first time, when you conduct a search on Google that returns an authoritative result containing fact checks for one or more public claims, you will see that information clearly on the search results page," reads the Google blog. "The snippet will display information on the claim, who made the claim, and the fact check of that particular claim." A network of 115 fact-checking organizations will provide the accuracy assessment for dubious articles, rather than Google providing the fact-checking service itself. As a result, Google searches based on the same claim could return different takes on the story's accuracy or inaccuracy from different fact-checkers. But even with differing takes on a given story's accuracy, Google hopes that the range of opinions from different sources will give users an idea of the "degree of consensus" on any dubious claims. Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Of course, some fake news readers will likely continue to reject the truth in favor of a fake news article that seems to support their pre-existing biases. But while Fact Check won't eliminate the problem of fake news completely, Forte thinks that Google's new tool is an important step in fighting the proliferation of misinformation on the web. "Asking companies like Google and Facebook to think about these problems and do what they can to address them is a start, because designing to help people make good judgments should be a basic consideration in the design of all information systems," says Forte. "But it doesn't go far enough. We need both technological and social solutions. Both good design and education." | Mid | [
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Background ========== In the midst of accelerating advances in medicine and health technologies and a growing number of effective and affordable interventions, several low-income countries have experienced a decline in their health outcomes. Rates for child mortality are increasing and life expectancy is decreasing. There is a consensus emerging that one of the key ingredients to achieving improved health outcomes is stronger health systems, including an adequate health workforce \[[@B1]\]. Recent studies also show evidence of a direct and positive causal link between numbers of health workers and health outcomes \[[@B2],[@B3]\]. The recently launched *World health report 2006*suggests a minimum worker density threshold of 2.3 workers (doctors, nurses and midwives) per 1000 population necessary to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for health. WHO estimates a shortage of 2.4 million doctors, nurses and midwives worldwide, reaching a total of 4.3 million if all the workers required to manage and support their activities are included. The cost of training enough people to meet the shortfall by 2015 is on the order of USD 92 billion, and thereafter a minimum of USD 39 billion per year is required to pay their salaries \[[@B4]\]. The health workforce gap is one of the major bottlenecks to the success of global health initiatives. For example, two studies found that health workforce constraints were the key issue in successful implementation of the Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunization (GAVI) programme \[[@B5]\]. Findings of these studies have implications for the Global Fund, as the Global Fund\'s approach has many similarities with GAVI. In light of the GAVI experience, one author suggests that: \"staff shortages, poorly motivated staff, and the lack of resources for carrying out routine supervisory visits will inevitably be an obstacle to strengthening \... services for the three diseases\" \[[@B6]\]. This review explores how the Global Fund addresses these challenges. It is outlined along the following key questions: • Do the Global Fund policy and its guidelines offer any opportunity for investments in human resources for health? • To what extent do countries make use of these opportunities? This review first explores possibilities for investment in human resources in the Global Fund\'s policy documents and guidelines. Next, five African countries were selected to study how the Global Fund proposals addressed human resources constraints. Thirty-five proposals from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania that were submitted and approved for funding in the first five Rounds were reviewed in detail. Finally, the comments on human resources interventions in the Global Fund\'s Technical Review Panel and the budget allocation for human resources for health were examined. The Global Fund =============== Purpose and processes of the Global Fund ---------------------------------------- Since 2001, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has played an important part in the world\'s commitment to improve health. The Global Fund was created fundamentally as a financing agency. Its purpose is: \"to attract, manage and disburse additional resources through a new public-private partnership that will make a sustainable and significant contribution to the reduction of infections, illness and death, thereby mitigating the impact caused by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in countries in need, and contributing to poverty reduction as part of the Millennium Development Goals\" \[[@B7]\]. The scope of the Global Fund comprises a substantial increase in coverage of proven and effective interventions for both the prevention and treatment of the three diseases. Activities supported by the Fund may also include efforts to strengthen health systems and human resources capacity. One principle of the Global Fund is to support the integration of proposals into existing national and international disease programmes and implementation strategies. National ownership based on the equal partnership of local private and public stakeholders is another principle. The Fund seeks the active participation of local representatives from civil society and of those directly affected by the three diseases. Grants are disbursed to and implemented by a local principal recipient chosen in a country-led process. The flow of funds is closely linked to performance and progress, measured according to clearly defined monitoring and evaluation procedures. Countries interested in receiving support from the Fund establish a local public-private partnership, the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM). The CCM prepares the proposals based on local needs and gaps in national programmes. To ensure an independent transparent process for the approval of proposals, the Global Fund relies on a Technical Review Panel (TRP) appointed by the board. International health and development experts assess the grant proposals and refer their recommendations to the board. Research on the Global Fund\'s impact on health systems ------------------------------------------------------- Even though the Global Fund attracts the interest of external researchers, few studies take a health systems perspective into account. An effort to study the Global Fund\'s long-term effects on health care systems is undertaken by the \"Systemwide Effects of the Fund (SWEF) Research Network\". SWEF seeks to understand how monies disbursed by the Global Fund and other significant funding agencies, such as the Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Programme (MAP) and the United States President\'s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), affect the broader health care system in the recipient countries. SWEF has begun in-depth case studies in eight countries to study effects upon the policy environment, the public/private mix, human resources and pharmaceuticals \[[@B8]\]. The first SWEF observations allude to the fact that skills, motivation and distribution of health workers are likely to be affected by Global Fund projects \[[@B9]\]. Interim findings from Benin, Ethiopia and Malawi published in 2005 found that so far, human resources constraints have mainly been observed at the programme management level, which is probably due to the fact that implementation is still at a very early stage. At the programme management level it has also been noted that the employment of staff for the Global Fund on short-term contracts with salaries substantially higher than regular government employees has in some cases led to the exodus of technical staff from the ministry of health (MoH). At the health service delivery level, similar incidences have been observed with regard to health workers moving into higher-paid disease-specific positions. This could potentially weaken community-based services that are not related to one of the three target diseases \[[@B10]\]. One of the preliminary conclusions of the SWEF ongoing research is that health workforce planning must be strengthened in the context of scaling up activities \[[@B11]\] (O. Smith, personal communication, 2004). Another observation from a Global Fund study highlights the strong linkages between macroeconomic policies and human resources for health (V.M. Nantulya, personal communication, 2005). The limitations introduced on public expenditure/GDP ratio as part of countries\' fiscal policies in complying with International Monetary Fund requirements may result in ceilings on the recruitment of public servants and therefore on the recruitment of health workers. These restrictions may affect the feasibility, success and sustainability of projects of the Global Fund to scale up interventions in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. The Global Fund\'s guidelines on human resources ================================================ Health systems requirements --------------------------- Since Round 1, proposals have been required to take into account the \"institutional and absorptive capacity\" of the country. Since then, the Global Fund has entered a kind of tightrope walk by focusing on its clearly defined goal to fight the three targeted diseases, but at the same time recognizing that adequate capacity of the health system is a prerequisite for any successful intervention. As the guidelines have developed over the six Rounds, the necessity of functioning health systems and sufficient provision of human resources have been increasingly emphasized in the context of the required absorptive capacity of the recipient country. Over the past Rounds, possibilities to support the health system through Global Fund resources are extended, but always require a link to the targeted diseases. According to guidelines for Round 1, a proposal \"*may*include interventions to improve national capacity associated with the delivery and monitoring of programmes but should not have capacity building as its main focus.\" Since Round 4 the linkage of the proposed interventions to health systems strengthening has partly lost its optional character: \"proposals *should*include the broader cross-cutting aspects of systems development that benefit the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and/or malaria, and *should*describe how the proposal will have positive system-wide effects.\" Examples include human capacity development and infrastructure development. Round 4 explicitly permitted an \"integrated\" proposal addressing a comprehensive response to the three diseases that focuses on system-wide effects. The guidelines for Round 5 also provide the opportunity for a \"health system strengthening\" proposal. In Round 6, however, the guidelines no longer allow separate health system proposals; activities for the strengthening of health systems now must be integrated within the disease-specific proposals. Integration with national plans and the potential for sustainability -------------------------------------------------------------------- Since Round 1, the guidelines have strongly encouraged links to existing national efforts to develop sustainable health systems and broader poverty reduction strategies. In order to demonstrate the potential for sustainability, countries are asked to describe links between the component and broader development policies and programmes such as Poverty Reduction Strategies or Sector-Wide Approaches. Round 4 adds requirements concerning the integration of the proposal with broader efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other international initiatives. Concerning the integration of proposals into public expenditure frameworks, guidelines gradually require more specific information. Round 5 guidelines ask to demonstrate \"the ability to service recurrent expenditures\" and in Round 6 countries need to describe \"any relevant constraints e.g. budget or public sector spending ceilings\". With regard to linking the proposals to national health planning, the guidelines for proposals do ask for disease-specific national plans, whereas integration into an overall health development plan is not obligatory. However, the recent guidelines ask that proposals report if the current systems will be able to achieve and sustain any planned scale-up of intervention and what constraints exist. If health system constraints exist and adequate means to fully address these constraints are presently not available, applicants are \"*encouraged*to include funding in respect of such activities\" to strengthen the health system. Integration with national plans is an important aspect of the potential for sustainability that characterizes a successful proposal, according to criteria laid down for the Technical Review Panel of the Global Fund. High-level political involvement and commitment with respect to the allocation of national resources is another aspect of sustainability. In general, resources sought from the Global Fund should build on or scale up existing efforts and fill existing gaps in national budgets and funding from international donors. Complementarity and supplementation of the planned interventions must be demonstrated. It is a Global Fund policy that its disbursements should not replace existing national and international resources. Restrictions and special requirements for human resources for health -------------------------------------------------------------------- Since Round 2, the budget section of the proposal form has included a section on human resources that states: \"In cases where human resources (HR) is an important share of the budget, explain to what extent HR spending will strengthen health systems capacity at the patient/target population level, and how these salaries will be sustained after the proposal period is over.\" This very specific request for sustainability of salaries (which cannot be found for any other activities financed by the Global Fund) is closely linked to macroeconomic policies. It requires an intersectoral approach ensuring government commitment. In addition, proposals are asked to demonstrate a direct link between spending on the health workforce and effects on the patient/target population. Studies have shown this link at the macro level \[[@B2],[@B3]\] demonstrating a correlation between health outcome indicators (i.e. child mortality) and the density of the health workforce. However, it is quite a different challenge to prove such a direct connection for specific interventions to invest in human resources for health that are described in Global Fund proposals. One of the main obstacles is certainly the long time lag, which is typical for many investments for the health workforce, such as training of health professionals. In the past, the Global Fund guidelines did not clearly define how the link between the health systems-strengthening activities and the disease-oriented goals should be made. It is only in Round 6 that the guidelines aim to provide a common framework for the required linkages between disease-specific and health systems interventions. In summary, though, it is noteworthy that the Global Fund guidelines and proposal forms are in principle flexible and open to funding health workforce interventions. No explicit restrictions are evident for both short-term and long-term investments in human resources for health. Monitoring and evaluation ------------------------- Since Round 4 the Global Fund has also provided a Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit that was designed to support countries in measuring and reporting programme progress. The initial health workforce indicators suggested were the number of people trained and the number of health personnel with adequate supervision and motivation. The revised second edition, from January 2006, offers a wider range of indicators, such as annual output of trained health workers, number of health facilities fully staffed according to national standards or even patient satisfaction. Still, there is a heavy focus on indicators related to training. Suggested indicators are far from comprehensive, and other indicators to follow up the impact of health workforce interventions may be used. This allows for country-specific indicators. Human resources in Global Fund proposals ======================================== Involvement of health workforce stakeholders -------------------------------------------- In more than half of the reviewed proposals, some members of the CCM can be identified as stakeholders for human resources issues. This includes mainly representatives of academic institutions, professional associations or the ministry of education. For the majority of the members, however, and particularly with regard to the ministry of health, it is not possible to determine whether a person is an expert in one of the diseases or in health systems or in another category altogether: the composition of CCMs cannot be traced. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the composition of the CCMs and the choice of experts to write the proposals influences the content and perspective of the proposed projects. To look further into this aspect, the list of documents attached to the proposals was examined. Here a noteworthy number of documents related to national disease strategies was included in most cases, but rarely any strategic paper on health systems development or human resource development. The report of the Technical Review Panel on Round 5 proposals states: \"The TRP is concerned that CCM composition has been built up based on the three diseases, so that many CCMs may lack the expertise to develop strong (health systems) proposals.\" Guidelines on the CCMs have been changed several times, but the participation of cross-cutting experts has not yet entered the list of requirements for the CCM. Interestingly, for the Technical Review Panel of the Global Fund, a balanced composition of experts with either a disease-specific or health systems background is carefully monitored and reported \[[@B12],[@B13]\]. General health workforce concerns and the national context ---------------------------------------------------------- The majority of proposals do take human resources issues into consideration. Out of the 35 reviewed proposals, 25 proposals across all five reviewed countries explicitly recognize human resources constraints. Nine out of 10 that did not tackle the issue are Round 1 and 2 proposals. This suggests a strong and increasing awareness of human resources as essential for the successful implementation of the programmes. Country examples may illustrate the sense of urgency: • Tanzania: \"The human resource shortage in the health sector is a major concern in Tanzania.\" (Round 4 Proposal HIV/AIDS) • Malawi: \"Presently, human resources constraints limit the capacity to implement available malaria control measures\"\....\"Past experience indicates that development efforts failed because of lack of attention to human and institutional capabilities\" (Round 2 Proposal Malaria); and even stronger formulations in Round 5: \"The health system\'s civil service suffers from one of the worse staffing shortages in Africa creating a near breakdown in capacity to deliver basic level of health care especially in rural areas. Unless the crisis is resolved, Malawi will not have a sustainable public health system or capacity to expand treatment programs such as ART.\" (Round 5 Proposal HIV/AIDS and HSS (health system strengthening)) • Ethiopia: \"The health system is affected by serious shortage of qualified human resources coupled with high turnover of trained staff.\" (Round 4 Proposal HIV/AIDS) • Ghana: \"Retention of service providers, their motivation and moral boosting will be crucial for the reduction in the disease burden of the three diseases.\" (Round 1 Proposal HIV/AIDS) • Kenya: \"Human resource capacity strengthening is key to all the efforts and will subsequently improve not only the delivery of TB services but also the overall functioning of the general health system in supported areas.\" (Round 4 Proposal Tuberculosis) In accordance with the Global Fund\'s guidelines, nearly all proposals describe their links with national disease programmes and how the proposed interventions will fill identified gaps. However, broader development plans for the strengthening of health care systems are rarely included. Only seven out of 35 proposals mention a human resources development plan or a similar strategy. Looking at the development over all five Rounds, the importance of a human resources development plan is emphasized more clearly in the later Rounds. In Ghana for example, the Round 5 proposal for tuberculosis requests the recruitment of three experts to work in the health-workforce development department of the MoH to develop a TB-specific human resources plan. In some cases, over the short timespan of the 5 rounds, progress within a country can be observed. Kenya\'s Round 2 tuberculosis proposal states that the National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Programme is participating in the TBCTA (Tuberculosis Coalition for Technical Assistance) training initiative that is exploring ways to develop multi-year health workforce development plans. The Round 4 HIV/AIDS proposal expresses a specific intention to develop a human resources plan. In Malawi the development becomes even more visible. Whereas the Round 1 HIV/AIDS proposal mentions that health delivery systems must be developed through incorporating human resources development, the Round 5 proposal on HIV/AIDS and health system strengthening (HSS) can draw on a fully developed and costed Emergency Human Resource Plan that is already partly funded by other donors; consequently the country asks the Global Fund to fill funding gaps. Specific human resources interventions in the proposals ------------------------------------------------------- ### Training Training is one of the main topics in proposals. More than 90 % of the 35 proposals reviewed propose activities in this respect. The main focus of the training is in-service training for all types of health care workers. There is training of shopkeepers in good drug dispensary practices; training for prison services health staff; epidemiology courses for staff in public health institutions; data management and reporting skills for the monitoring and evaluation of the programme; and international training in public health for senior programme staff. The Round 2 HIV/TB proposal for mainland Tanzania, for example, states: \"Twenty types of interrelated training activities for more than 10 000 participants from community groups/sites to national facility levels will be conducted.\" Noticeable are the numerous training programmes for community health workers, lay counsellors, persons living with HIV/AIDS and other volunteers or peer educators who may support health care professionals on the front line. Ethiopia\'s Round 2 malaria proposal, for example, is to train more than 4000 community health workers and nearly 35 000 mother coordinators at the community level. A large proportion of non-health workers are also included in training for peer education among teachers and teenagers, people in the workplace, mobile population, sex workers and men having sex with men. Most proposals provide an elaborate training strategy, often with a snowballing system in which the first generation is trained with the assistance of local academic institutions or developing partners. However, none of the reviewed proposals link their plans for capacity development to a coordinated country training plan. In fact, such plans seem to be lacking. Furthermore, only about 20 % of the suggested training programmes include the assessment of staff training needs, an evaluation of on-the-job-impact of new skills or any other kind of follow-up of training activities. A good practice example is provided in the Round 5 HIV/AIDS proposal from Ghana. The provision of follow-up after training includes \"using creative approaches such as skills application plans, transfer of learning from classroom to real work life, and the provision of job aids (fact sheets, checklists) and other learning/work guides\". ### Support of pre-service training institutions Few interventions that support pre-service training institutions can be found in the proposals. Updating curricula is a frequent activity but seems to be mainly an isolated exercise for the special Global Fund training programmes that are often limited to in-service training. Chances to revise curricula for all national training institutions are rarely taken; clearly this is also a matter of competence and involvement of stakeholders. One good practice example can be found in Kenya, where the Round 2 proposal on tuberculosis states that the need to incorporate TB control in the teaching curriculum of doctors and nurses is recognized and the National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Programme \"has made this recommendation to the institutions.\" In Round 4 the inclusion of TB/HIV in curricula for middle- and high-level health institutions is a specific activity of the proposal with \"number of schools using revised curricula\" as an indicator for success. Only one of the reviewed countries suggests a strategy that addresses the very root of the lack of human resources in supporting training institutions. Already in the Round 1 proposal on HIV/AIDS Malawi planned an expanded increase of medical students at its college of medicine and the establishment of a faculty of pharmacy. In the Round 5 HSS component, a strong rationale for the inclusion of pre-service training in the proposal is provided. It is argued that the general lack of labour supply and the critical need of HR managers plus insufficient career opportunities are the main reasons for low staff morale and migration among health workers and that this can be effectively addressed only through strengthening of training institutions. The four main training institutions play a pivotal role in this approach and have already provided \"detailed plans for expansion and made output commitments to the MoH\". ### Recruitment The analysis of recruitments planned in the proposals shows a common pattern. In 80 % of the proposals some recruitment is planned for the programme management level. New posts are created for administrators, accountants, procurement and logistics experts or similar positions. Staff are often hired only for the project time and may include external consultants, or secondments from the ministry of health. Few of these positions have a long-term perspective, although they might be supported by other donors after the proposal period is over, as suggested in one of the proposals. On the other hand, greatly increased recruitment is planned for volunteer community health workers and volunteer staff for peer education, counselling and home-based care. In some cases, a small salary for the duration of the project is planned for these volunteers; in other cases non-monetary incentives or no remuneration is proposed. One proposal, for example, defines community health workers (CHW) as being recruited among community volunteers, retired school teachers, traditional birth attendants, etc. These CHW will not be given salaries but \"funds will be made available to enable them to carry out their assigned activities\" i.e. \"enablers\" such as free drugs, food packages, travel and transport allowances will be given. Many proposals do not provide detailed information in this matter and further research at the country level is necessary to analyse the use of volunteers and peer educators through Global Fund activities. Apart from an increased pool of volunteers, a common strategy for the programme implementation level is also to obtain the necessary human resources from other partners, such as extended NGOs and faith-based organizations, that are expected to support their own staffing costs with the help of additional donor funding. This review clearly shows that the number of core health workforce categories is rarely increased through Global Fund resources; countries were forced to look for more creative solutions to address human resources constraints. Ghana\'s Round 5 HIV/AIDS proposal puts it like this: \"Scaling up national program entails increasing the number of workers but also extending the type of participants contributing to outcomes.\" Only in the fourth round can the first example be found in which additional human resources are hired, such as for district TB clinics. The reluctance to recruit human resources for health is caused mainly by restrictions due to public sector freezes, which are mentioned several times in the proposals. An exceptional case of major resources (50% of the requested funds) planned to be used for recruitment and salaries of core health workers such as nurses and physicians is the Round 5 HSS proposal of Malawi. The country justifies its proposal, stating that for Malawi, the \"nature of the health workforce crisis is such that the situation warrants measures that might not otherwise be considered as sustainable\". ### Motivation and retention strategies About 60 % of the reviewed proposals consider motivation and retention strategies an important issue. In spite of some proposals that recognize the issue but do not provide any strategies to address it, an overview of the proposals gives a wide range of activities and some creative approaches. Monetary incentives in addition to salaries are a controversial topic and are supported by some proposals and not mentioned by others. Some remuneration strategies for volunteers who will not be paid a salary include travel and transport allowances, provision of motorbikes, and skills-building and training opportunities. Performance based incentives and improved feedback and supervision systems are also suggested activities. The introduction of worker support meetings to help deal with burnout and stress is proposed in support of health care workers dealing with HIV/AIDS patients. One proposal plans to develop a national code of practice to combat stigma. Many health facilities ensure post-exposure prophylaxis and treatment for their staff. In nearly all cases, only one or two single activities are suggested to address motivation issues, but no embedding strategy on motivation and performance is provided and the effectiveness of these activities is neither monitored nor evaluated. As a good practice example the Kenyan Round 4 tuberculosis proposal plans the implementation of a package of incentives to retain staff in hard-to-reach areas. This package includes a limited-stay policy and improved communication and training opportunities. Another comprehensive approach can be found in the Ghana Round 5 HIV/AIDS proposal, where motivation for lab personnel is addressed through a combination of training and capacity development of collaborative research. Again though, no measurement strategy is suggested to evaluate the effects on motivation and performance of health workers or retention rates. ### Skill mix and regulation A third of the reviewed proposals refer to skill mix as a regulation issue. Most of them tackle the creation of new cadres of volunteer and front-line workers such as lay youth counsellors and care supporters for home-based care. In one case, the formal government approval of a new category of dedicated counsellors as part of the civil service is sought as a Global Fund activity. Some proposals include the adaptation of national standard guidelines and protocols to WHO guidelines, such as the development of guidelines for referral systems in their activities. One outstanding example plans the accreditation of all health services able to provide antiretroviral therapy, according to national guidelines with the support of Global Fund resources. It is obvious, though, that skill mix and regulation of human resources for health is strongly affected by Global Fund activities, especially through the creation of numerous new types of front-line health workers. Long-term effects on health service delivery as well the role of the professional associations in the country coordinating mechanism in this process pose interesting questions for future research. ### Sustainability According to the Global Fund guidelines, proposals must tackle the issue of health workforce sustainability in cases where the health workforce accounts for an important share of the budget. Several proposals make a statement with regard to sustainability of salaries, but -- not surprisingly -- cannot provide settled agreements for the time after the proposal period is over. Vague statements may be found, such as \"staffing costs will need to be absorbed into the MOHP or other service delivery organization budgets\" (Malawi Round 1 HIV/AIDS) or \"government should be able to absorb the additional staff\" (Kenya Round 4 tuberculosis). The Round 5 HSS proposal by Malawi takes an innovative approach, stating that these human resources investments will \"yield significant return with increment upgrading health systems productivity, accessibility and equity\". Human resources in the Global Fund\'s review process of the proposals ===================================================================== The Global Fund\'s Technical Review Panel conducts its review based on the terms of reference laid down by the Global Fund \[[@B14]\]. General characteristics of successful proposals, such as soundness of approach and feasibility, are supplemented by the respective guidelines in force for that specific Round. No specific criteria can be found on health systems or human resources issues, apart from the advice that the potential for the sustainability of the approach should be outlined. Sustainability in this context refers to \"the capacity to absorb increased resources such as through innovative approaches to overcoming human resource capacity constraints\". This passage was introduced into the guidelines in Round 4 and can also be found in Round 5 and 6 guidelines. Nonetheless, the inability of proposal writers to provide more detailed information on how to ensure sustainability of salaries for human resources did not receive any negative feedback from the TRP. In general the consideration of human resources issues and the integration of human resources components in the proposals is welcomed by the Technical Review Panel of the Global Fund. The TRP counts it as a strength, for example, that \"major risks, especially weaknesses in the health system, including human resources\" are named in a proposal and specific measures are taken to address them. An inadequate consideration of human resources constraints has repeatedly led to critical comments of the TRP and doubts about the successful achievement of the project goals. A lack of discussion on how ambitious scaling-up targets can be achieved, given the countries\' present human resources constraints, is one of the reasons that has led to a rejection of proposals. In proposals that do address human resources issues, key weaknesses are a lack of a comprehensive situation analysis for the health workforce and a lack of overall health workforce development plans \[[@B15],[@B16]\]. Interventions for the strengthening of the health workforce mainly address single issues without providing an embedding strategy for long-term success. Some activities, for example, aim at a better working environment and improved health worker performance, but no comprehensive motivation and retention strategies are provided along these lines. Numerous training activities are suggested, but they are not part of a coordinated country training plan. In addition, it often remains unclear how the proposed interventions for the health workforce will have positive effects on the patient/target population. Countries struggled to propose clear approaches for the monitoring and evaluation of the success of their health workforce interventions. This is also due to the poor standard of current human resources information systems (HRIS), although this issue has not been specifically addressed by the TRP. Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"} illustrates an overview of Round 4 and 5 TRP comments on human resources interventions: ###### Round 4 and 5 comments of the Global Fund\'s Technical Review Panel on human resources for health ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Positive TRP comments** **Negative TRP comments** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proposal could make a significant contribution to the underlying structural difficulties preventing adequate response to AIDS, Tb and malaria\ Insufficient assessment and planning of HR issues\ Link to specific disease well articulated\ Limited human resources available -- capacity insufficient to achieve goals\ Standardization of training curricula\ Insufficient situational analysis in terms of human resources\ Involvement of training institution\ Training strategies lack an accurate description of partners/providers\ Involvement of private sector\ Unclear number of trainees and costs\ National code of practice for health workers being developed to reduce stigma\ Inadequately addressing motivation issues Key role of non-health personnel acknowledged ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: \[15, 16\] Human resources in integrated and health system proposals --------------------------------------------------------- In Round 4, the guidelines introduce a specific option to address cross-cutting health systems issues, including human resources constraints, in an integrated proposal. This option, however, was not widely used by countries. There were only six integrated proposals out of 171 proposals in Round 4 and they were also less successful than the average in the Technical Review Panel. None of them was recommended for funding, although four may be resubmitted in subsequent rounds. One of the integrated proposals from Uganda aims specifically at strengthening human resource development. Expanding the capacity of training institutions, in-service training, an incentive system for hardship areas and strengthened human resources management at all levels were the main features of this outstanding proposal. The TRP classified this proposal as not recommended for funding, reasoning: \"it appeared questionable to us that the GFATM is asked to fund a relatively mid-long-term multi-sectoral programme, rather than focusing on gaps that urgently need to be addressed to implement the HIV, malaria and TB programmes that are ongoing\... with immediate impact on the delivery of services.\" Here, the Global Fund\'s goal for a direct impact in fighting the three targeted diseases clearly outweighed the necessity for long-term investments. For Round 5, the Global Fund decided to invite specific health system strengthening (HSS) components and countries responded more readily: 30 out of the 202 components reviewed in Round 5 were HSS proposals. Again, their success rate was well below the average: only three proposals (10%) are recommended for funding, compared to a 31 % overall success rate. With regard to budgets, this translates into the approval of USD 43 million for HSS proposals out of a total budget of USD 726 million in Round 5. A review of the content of the 30 HSS components shows that human resources is by far the most commonly tackled issue (20 HSS proposals), followed by interventions for the development of health information systems. Specific improvement of the human resources information system cannot be found as a stand-alone intervention in any of the HSS proposals, but is usually part of the overall strengthening of the health information system. An overview of proposed interventions for strengthening health systems can be found in Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"} and Table [2](#T2){ref-type="table"}. ![**The distribution of health systems\' interventions in 30 proposals on health systems strengthening in Round 5**. Source: \[17\].](1478-4491-4-23-1){#F1} ###### Activities for HRH development in Round 5 proposals (in 20 proposals that include HRH development) **Activity for HRH development in Round 5 proposals** **Number of proposals** ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- Training formal sector HRH 16 Incentives 12 Recruitment (all cadres) 6 Recruitment of expats 1 Workforce planning, data collection 2 Training \"local people\"/CHWs 2 Other HRH development activities 2 Source: \[17\] Comments of the Technical Review Panel in Round 5 show quite positive reactions to human resource interventions planned in the HSS proposal. Two of the three successful proposals have a major human resources component. The HSS component from Rwanda assigns 80% of requested funds to human resources and training, the HSS component from Malawi even more than 90% of the budget. Commenting on the HSS proposal from Malawi the TRP reflects that although the human resources constraints were recognized as crucial in Round 1, \"at that time the Global Fund was not keen to fund health system components\", indicating that the approach of the Panel has undergone some change since the early Rounds. In their report on Round 5 proposals, the TRP found that the invitation of separate HSS proposals was given \"insufficient consideration\". Applicants were unsure about the precise scope of HSS proposals and \"were not given any specific guidance on what an effective linkage between HSS and a disease component should or could look like\". This resulted in a high failure rate of Round 5 HSS proposals due to objectives that were too vague and ambitious and a contrived and superficial linkage between HSS activities and the specific diseases. The Technical Review Panel summarizes that the poor quality of these proposals \"reflects a confusion in the GFTM as to the precise mandate of the Fund in relation to HSS proposals.\" The Panel stated a need to refine the Fund\'s mandate in relation to HSS proposals and raised the question whether to retain HSS proposals as a separate category, especially as the proposal forms had been found \"largely unsuitable for the submission of HSS proposals\" \[[@B16]\]. Consequently, the option of separate HSS proposals was abolished for Round 6; health system interventions must now be completely integrated into the specific disease component section. Budget allocations for human resources ====================================== The Global Fund\'s reports on the distribution of grants show that 55% of the resources committed so far have been assigned to sub-Saharan Africa; 58% of the total funding is allocated to HIV/AIDS. Looking at the budget proportions per expenditure targets reveals a decrease in investment in human resources for health and training in Round 4. A recent study of all malaria components over all four Rounds also reveals a decline in allocation to human resources and training towards Round 4 \[[@B18]\]. Then again, in Round 5 there is a slight increase in the budget allocation towards human resources for health and training (Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). ![**Distribution of grants per Round by expenditure targets in % (provides summary of amounts for all Rounds to date)**. Source: \[19, 20\].](1478-4491-4-23-2){#F2} Here it must be taken into consideration that the total amount approved for grants in Round 3 was lower than in the other rounds (Table [3](#T3){ref-type="table"}). ###### Overview of approved proposals **Round** **Countries** **Approved amount, USD** ---------------- --------------- -------------------------- Round 1 35 1 301 787 563 Round 2 73 1 506 465 345 Round 3 63 644 322 679 Round 4 65 1 013 856 978 Round 5 50 779 013 319 **All rounds** **131** **5 245 445 884** Source: \[20\] This evolution of the budget allocation for human resources, however, is not readily accessible for interpretation, especially as the definitions of the budget categories \"human resources\" and \"training\" have been changed over time. On the one hand, human resources costs are sometimes hidden within other components: training on the application of a new drug might be included in the category \"Drugs\", for example. On the other hand, the health workforce budget might include resources for workshops and meetings, for example, without having a specified proportion for human resources within these lump sums. An initial study of the malaria proposals in 14 African countries up to and including Round 3 that was conducted by the Roll Back Malaria Department at WHO Geneva found that of the 25% that were declared as the human resources and training proportion of total funds, only around 10% could still be defined as human resources and training costs after a more detailed analysis. In addition it is noteworthy that in the 35 African proposals reviewed, the proportion of funds assigned to the budget categories \"human resources\" and \"training\" summed up to only 16% of funds over five Rounds (human resources 6.6%, training 9.2%). This is considerably lower than the average of 22% for the distribution of the total sum of global funds as shown in Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}. This finding is surprising, because all five of the reviewed African countries are frequently identified with issues related to human resources constraints. Conclusion ========== The Global Fund clearly provides the opportunity to invest in health systems strengthening and human resources. Policy documents acknowledge that health system capacities and human resources in particular are a necessary prerequisite for the success of interventions that aim to fight the three targeted disease. Changes over time in the Global Fund\'s guidelines and proposal forms reflect ever more attention to the strengthening of health systems. However, there has been a struggle to accommodate health systems strengthening with the objectives of the Global Fund and its administrative guidelines. The change made in Round 6 guidelines to abandon the possibility for separate health systems proposals can be interpreted as a consequence of this dilemma. In general, most countries do not sufficiently use the possibilities that the Global Fund provides for health system strengthening and human resources interventions, even though a great majority of proposals recognize human resources constraints as a key to success of future interventions. Most proposals include some activities to address human resources constraints. The most frequent activity is training, focused mainly on short-term, in-service training. Support for pre-service training and training institutions is rare and hardly any long-term strategies are proposed to address the lack of adequately trained personnel. Recruitment plans are also frequently included in the Global Fund proposals. In most cases, however, this is limited to a small number of staff at the programme management level rather than addressing the shortages at the service delivery level. This absence may also be due to the Global Fund\'s specific requirement to demonstrate the sustainability of salaries financed by the Global Fund after the proposal period is over. In the long run this will make it inevitable to address macroeconomic issues, particularly the restrictions imposed on the public sector by the hiring freeze. The comments of the Technical Review Panel on proposed health system-strengthening interventions reveal a struggle between the Global Fund\'s goal to fight the three targeted diseases, on the one hand, and the need to strengthen health systems as a prerequisite for success, on the other. Unfortunately, in the past the TRP has tended to favour the Global Fund\'s disease-related objectives over cross-cutting issues. In realizing the opportunities the Global Fund provides for human resources interventions, countries should go beyond short-term objectives and link their activities to a long-term development of their human resources for health. The existence of a human resources development plan, a clear identification of currents gaps and a linkage between human resources and coverage for the targeted disease have been favourite ingredients in proposals requesting funds for human resources. If human resource development plans are not presently available, the framework of the Global Fund permits support to technical assistance to lay those foundations. One step that can be taken at the country level to take advantage of the opportunities the Global Fund provides for strengthening the health workforce is to ensure the involvement of human resources stakeholders and experts in both the CCM and the proposal writing groups. As a preliminary observation on the development of proposals from Round 1 to 5 it can be said that the activities of the Global Fund have revealed and partly exacerbated some long-standing health system weaknesses, especially with regard to human resources. In order to successfully tap into the Global Fund\'s resources, countries are forced to provide needs-assessment and clear development plans for their human resources for health. Proposals of the five countries reviewed here clearly show some positive developments towards more comprehensive approaches to address human resources constraints. However countries need more encouragement and support to back up their human resources for health through the framework of the Global Fund. Competing interests =================== The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests. Authors\' contributions ======================= All authors contributed to the design and writing of this paper, and read and approved the final manuscript. | Mid | [
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Q: Find all paths of exact length and cost in graph I'm currently in the middle of an optimization problem. I'm using dynamic programming and after I'm done with computations, I'm left with N x N matrix that says: if you take mat[i][j] then the value is cost of traveling from i to j == an adjacency matrix. I also have access to two variables, K and C, which could be interpreted as length of path and cost of path, respectively. So is there an algorithm, that can find all paths that have length K and cost C? EDIT: Here is an sample of adjacency matrix. The path is from 0 -> 8, cost is 48 and length is 3. So for example, one valid path would be: 0->3 (15), 3->6 (15 + 13), 6->8 (15 + 13 + 20 = 48). Another might be : 0->4 (20), 4->6 (20 + 8), 6 -> 8 (20 + 8 + 20 = 48). Non-valid path might include: 0->1(8), 1->2(8 + 4), 2->3(8 + 4 + 3), 3->4 (8 + 4 + 3 +5), ..., but length greater than 3, so that is invalid, same thing 0->8 has cost 48, but length 1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 --------------------------------- 0: 8 12 15 20 26 28 37 48 1:---- 4 7 12 18 20 29 40 2:-------- 3 8 14 16 25 36 3:------------ 5 11 13 22 33 4:---------------- 6 8 17 28 5:-------------------- 2 11 22 6:------------------------ 9 20 7:---------------------------- 11 Actually, looking at it now, I see I have to rephrase my question. The number of vertices is determined during input from user, so is the length and cost. You always travel from first to last vertex. No matter what path you take (ignoring length now), getting from first to last vertex always has cost C, only thing that varies is length. So the new (and better) question is, how to find all paths from first vertex to last, with length K? A: OP says: You always travel from first to last vertex. So: for any i->j, the index j must be greater than i. And as the example (and according to the OP's explaination), the cost of edges is linear additive. It mean that: mat[i][k] + mat[k][j] = mat[i][j] So: C(i->j) == C if and only if mat[i][j] == C. Assuming there exists mat[i][j] == C and j-i<=K, the problem could be simplified to select K-1 nodes from i+1 to j-1, and list all the combinations. You could simply do this by Algorithm to return all combinations of k elements from n. Here I wrote a code to solve your example in python for test: N = 9 mat = [None] * (N-1) mat [0] =[None, 8, 12, 15, 20, 26, 28, 37, 48] mat [1] =[None, None, 4, 7, 12, 18, 20, 29, 40] mat [2] =[None, None, None, 3, 8, 14, 16, 25, 36] mat [3] =[None, None, None, None, 5, 11, 13, 22, 33] mat [4] =[None, None, None, None, None, 6, 8, 17, 28] mat [5] =[None, None, None, None, None, None, 2, 11, 22] mat [6] =[None, None, None, None, None, None, None, 9, 20] mat [7] =[None, None, None, None, None, None, None, None, 11] def xcombination(seq,length): if not length: yield [] else for i in xrange(len(seq)): for result in xcombination(seq[i+1:],length-1): yield [seq[i]]+result def find_path(C, K): i_j = [] paths = [] for i in range(N): for j in range(i+1, N): if mat[i][j] == C: i_j.append([i, j]) for p in i_j: if p[1]-p[0] >= K: paths += [[p[0]]+i+[p[1]] for i in xcombination(range(p[0]+1, p[1]), K-1)] return paths paths = find_path(48, 3) for path in paths: for step in range(len(path)-1): print str(path[step])+"->"+str(path[step+1])+"("+str(mat[path[step]][path[step+1]])+") ", print The output answer to your example: 0->1(8) 1->2(4) 2->8(36) 0->1(8) 1->3(7) 3->8(33) 0->1(8) 1->4(12) 4->8(28) 0->1(8) 1->5(18) 5->8(22) 0->1(8) 1->6(20) 6->8(20) 0->1(8) 1->7(29) 7->8(11) 0->2(12) 2->3(3) 3->8(33) 0->2(12) 2->4(8) 4->8(28) 0->2(12) 2->5(14) 5->8(22) 0->2(12) 2->6(16) 6->8(20) 0->2(12) 2->7(25) 7->8(11) 0->3(15) 3->4(5) 4->8(28) 0->3(15) 3->5(11) 5->8(22) 0->3(15) 3->6(13) 6->8(20) 0->3(15) 3->7(22) 7->8(11) 0->4(20) 4->5(6) 5->8(22) 0->4(20) 4->6(8) 6->8(20) 0->4(20) 4->7(17) 7->8(11) 0->5(26) 5->6(2) 6->8(20) 0->5(26) 5->7(11) 7->8(11) 0->6(28) 6->7(9) 7->8(11) | Low | [
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Organotitania-Based Nanostructures as a Suitable Platform for the Implementation of Binary, Ternary, and Fuzzy Logic Systems. Titanium dioxide nanocomposites were synthesized in hierarchical architectures through the use of a 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone photosensitizer. In the first step, the dye was either incorporated into the TiO2 core or adsorbed on its surface. In the subsequent phase, both structures were covered with an outer layer of titanium dioxide. The structure, morphology, aggregation, spectroscopic, and electrochemical properties of the synthesized TiO2 -based materials are presented with emphasis on the photosensitization and the photocurrent switching phenomena, which are also discussed within the context of the optical logic gates implementation and fuzzy logic systems operation. We present three different interpretations of the photocurrent action spectra yielding binary, ternary, or fuzzy logic circuits. | High | [
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// Copyright (C) 2020 Rick Waldron, André Bargull. All rights reserved. // This code is governed by the BSD license found in the LICENSE file. /*--- path: language/eval-code/direct/func-decl-a-preceding-parameter-is-named-arguments- name: Declare |arguments| when a preceding parameter is named |arguments|. esid: sec-evaldeclarationinstantiation flags: [noStrict] ---*/ assert.sameValue("arguments" in this, false, "No global 'arguments' binding"); function f(arguments, p = /*{ parameter-code }*/) { /*{ body }*/ } assert.throws(SyntaxError, f); assert.sameValue("arguments" in this, false, "No global 'arguments' binding"); | Low | [
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Q: how to extract attributes of an element from an XML using xslt and display in different style I am new to XSLT. I am working transforming an XML file from one format to another format. I also want to extract values from an element and display the them in bold format. Sample source XML: <Content xmlns="uuid:4522eb85"> <first xmlns="uuid:4522eb85">Hello World. This is first field</first> <second author="XYZ">Hi iam second field</second> </Content> Output format required: <root> <aaa>Hello World. This is first field</aaa> <bbb><author>**XYZ**</author>Hi iam second field</bbb> <root> I am unable to extract attributes from a tag and display with style(say bold). Please help. Thank you in advance. A: This XSLT outputs exactly what you ask for. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:c="uuid:4522eb85" exclude-result-prefixes="c"> <xsl:output method="xml" version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" indent="yes" omit-xml-declaration="yes"/> <xsl:template match="/c:Content"> <root> <aaa><xsl:value-of select="c:first"/></aaa> <bbb><author>**<xsl:value-of select="c:second/@author" />**</author><xsl:value-of select="c:second" /></bbb> </root> </xsl:template> </xsl:stylesheet> But as Jeremy suggests, you may want to consider first taking an (online) XSLT training if you want to get much further. | High | [
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Welcome back to another edition of DFS Army's Daily Fantasy NBA Breakdowns for Fanduel and Draftkings - Bold Calls Podcast! Be sure to join us in the Team Forums today. Lookout for coaches notes in the #nba-coaches-notes channel later today and be sure to monitor #nba-breaking-news for any updates/breaking news! Join Mr. Bear and BoomersDaddy as they break down each position for tonights games! Welcome back to another edition of DFS Army's Daily Fantasy NBA Breakdowns for Fanduel and Draftkings - Bold Calls Podcast! Be sure to join us in the Team Forums today. Lookout for coaches notes in the #nba-coaches-notes channel later today and be sure to monitor #nba-breaking-news for any updates/breaking news! Join Mr. Bear and BoomersDaddy as they break down each position for tonight's 9 game NBA Slate! Welcome back to another edition of DFS Army's Daily Fantasy NBA Breakdowns for Fanduel and Draftkings - Bold Calls Podcast! Be sure to join us in the Team Forums today. Lookout for coaches notes in the #nba-coaches-notes channel later today and be sure to monitor #nba-breaking-news for any updates/breaking news! Join BoomersDaddy as he breaks down each position for you tonight in the NBA! Welcome back to another edition of DFS Army's Daily Fantasy NBA Breakdowns for Fanduel and Draftkings - Bold Calls Podcast! Be sure to join us in the Team Forums today. Lookout for coaches notes in the #nba-coaches-notes channel later today and be sure to monitor #nba-breaking-news for any updates/breaking news! Join Mr. Bear and BoomersDaddy as they break down this fantastic 10 game slate in the NBA! Welcome back to another edition of DFS Army's Daily Fantasy NBA Breakdowns for Fanduel and Draftkings - Bold Calls Podcast! Be sure to join us in the Team Forums today. Lookout for coaches notes in the #nba-coaches-notes channel later today and be sure to monitor #nba-breaking-news for any updates/breaking news! Join Mr. Bear and BoomersDaddy as they break down every position for tonight's 10 games on this Wednesday NBA DFS Slate! Welcome back to another edition of DFS Army's Daily Fantasy NBA Breakdowns for Fanduel and Draftkings - Bold Calls Podcast! Be sure to join us in the Team Forums today. Lookout for coaches notes in the #nba-coaches-notes channel later today and be sure to monitor #nba-breaking-news for any updates/breaking news! Join Mr. Bear and BoomersDaddy as they break down each position for you for tonight's 5 games in the NBA. Welcome back to another edition of DFS Army's Daily Fantasy NBA Breakdowns for Fanduel and Draftkings - Bold Calls Podcast! Be sure to join us in the Team Forums today. Lookout for coaches notes in the #nba-coaches-notes channel later today and be sure to monitor #nba-breaking-news for any updates/breaking news! Join Mr. Bear and BoomersDaddy as they break down each position for tonight's 7 games in the NBA! | Mid | [
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Samantha Womack spends 'thousands' on stray kittens Former 'EastEnders' actress Samantha Womack paid out "thousands of pounds" on five stray kittens she found in Spain Samantha Womack has spent "thousands of pounds" on five stray kittens. The former 'EastEnders' actress - who was known for playing businesswoman Ronnie Mitchell until her character was killed off earlier this year - was devastated when she walked past a bundle of baby cats and their mother in Spain in pain. The mother cat sadly had to be put down but the 44-year-old star forked out a large sum of money for the kittens to be put up in cattery before flying them to the UK. Speaking to The Sun newspaper, she said: "I can't bear people walking past something that is suffering." The blonde beauty managed to raise £1,000 with the help of a GoFundMe appeal online but had to fork out the rest herself in order to get the bundles of fluff to the UK. Meanwhile, Samantha recently admitted she was devastated when she found out she was being written out of the long-running soap late last year. She said at the time: "I didn't want her to die in the first place. You don't expect that after nine years. It was a shock. I'd love her to come back but when you've seen a corpse in a coffin, I'm not sure how likely that is. I was so sad when they killed her." But it wasn't just Samantha who was written out of the programme as Rita Simons - who played Ronnie's sister Roxy Mitchell - was also given the boot without much warning beforehand. Samantha said: "I liked the character and the relationship between her and her sister. "I liked the early days, when Larry Lamb was playing our father - that was when I enjoyed it the most. "When it go a bit fantastical, it was harder to believe the character as much. She was threatening to kill people but she was a mother which I found harder to play." | Low | [
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Alumni News The mechanics of success May 22, 2015 Every May, nearly 2000 of Ontario’s top skilled trades students compete in the Ontario Technological Skills Competition held in Waterloo. Ben Rahim knows all about the pressure and the rewards of Canada’s largest skilled trades competition. The certified machinist and Sheridan graduate won Gold for precision machining at the 2014 competition, going on to place third in Canada. “I was a bit nervous at first, but I got over it, because it felt like just another day out on the shop floor,” recalled Ben, who has worked for Murray Manufacturing in Brampton since completing his the first year of his pre apprenticeship program. “I was very proud to be chosen to represent Sheridan in the competition,” adds Ben, who earned a Mechanical Techniques–Tool and Die Maker certificate in 2010. In 2014, he completed a 3-year Apprenticeship – General Machinist certificate. Ben went on to write his Certificate of Qualification, becoming a Red Seal certified machinist. For his success, Ben credits his employer Ian Murray Lawrence, and shop foreman Martin Saunders - both Sheridan trades alumni – as well as Instructor Michael Reid for teaching the 24-year-old grad new skills and encouraging him throughout his journey. Today, Ben enjoys giving the occasional guided tour of the machine shop at the Skills Training Centre campus and helping out at robotic competitions held by Sheridan. “I encourage students to consider a future in manufacturing through the many programs offered by the college.” Outside of his job, Ben has also been devoting time to building a go-kart from scratch - making blueprints of the frame, fabricating linkages and designing and manufacture one-off parts for his go-kart. “I am learning a lot about the engineering and design aspect of this project. It’s coming along nicely, and I’m hoping to have it up and running for the summer.” Learn more about Sheridan’s Apprenticeship programs. | High | [
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The application of allogenic bone grafts for replantation of a hip prosthesis; an attempt at radiological evaluation of graft rebuilding. An attempt at radiological estimation of remodelling of allogenic bone grafts used in reconstruction of bone stock in revision of hip arthroplasty. x-ray pictures of the treated hips were taken immediately and at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Changes of bone structure around the prosthesis were estimated. symptoms of remodelling (presence of newly formed bone trabecules between host bone and the grafts and in the surrounding area) were encountered at 3 to 6 months after reconstruction surgery. radiological estimation of bone remodelling remains subjective. Nevertheless it can help to determine bone graft rebuilding in revision surgery of the hip. | High | [
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Andy Gosney Andrew Robert Gosney (born 8 November 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made 70 appearances in the Football League playing for Portsmouth, York City, Birmingham City and Exeter City. He represented England at youth level. Playing career Gosney was born in Southampton, Hampshire, and began his football career as an apprentice with Portsmouth in 1979. He turned professional in November 1981, but never established himself as first choice for the club because of the consistency of Alan Knight. Over a 13-year career with the club Gosney made only 60 first-team appearances in all competitions. He spent a month on loan at York City in 1991 before eventually leaving Portsmouth to join Birmingham City at the start of the 1992–93 season. After one unsuccessful season with Birmingham, at the end of which the club brought in Kevin Miller from Exeter City to replace him, Gosney moved in the opposite direction. He was stretchered off during his only appearance for Exeter, a 6–4 home defeat to Reading, with an injury that ended his career. Gosney was credited by Anderton himself as the man who gave Darren Anderton the "Sicknote" nickname. References Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Sportspeople from Southampton Category:English footballers Category:England youth international footballers Category:Association football goalkeepers Category:Portsmouth F.C. players Category:York City F.C. players Category:Birmingham City F.C. players Category:Exeter City F.C. players Category:English Football League players | High | [
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Former Democratic House Majority Leader Val Hoyle has positioned herself as all but certain to win one of Oregon's top political offices half a year before the election is held. Hoyle, 53, so far has only nominal opposition in the run-up to the 2018 race for commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries, elected to enforce Oregon labor and civil rights laws. And she has lined up substantial money and endorsements. With the candidate filing deadline less than four months away, she's the only politically connected candidate for the highly technical job, which comes with tremendous power and a salary of $77,000. Her only opponent is Jack Howard, a Democratic Union County commissioner and a relative unknown in statewide political circles. That no conservative or Republican has stepped into the race may signal the Oregon Republican Party's continuing atrophy in a Democrat-dominated state. A party spokesman declined to comment about candidate recruitment. The deadline for candidates to declare for the race is in March. If no one else joins in, Hoyle would likely avoid a costly campaign. Despite being the immediate frontrunner, Hoyle said she's readying for a strong challenger to emerge. "I'm not taking anything for granted," she said. "It's an open seat and I don't have the expectation that it's my seat." Until recently, Hoyle was a political bigwig: Majority Leader of the Oregon House and after that, a heavy hitter in the Democratic caucus, representing Eugene. But she gave up her House seat in 2016 for an ill-fated bid for secretary of state. Then, Lane County commissioners passed over her for what seemed like a shoe-in appointment to the Oregon Senate. Out of office, Hoyle found work as a policy fellow at the University of Oregon's Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. She declared her labor commissioner bid in July, when the current officeholder, Brad Avakian, announced he would not run again. Since then, Hoyle has netted $133,000 in campaign donations and scooped up valuable endorsements from public and private employee unions and business groups. Howard, her opponent, hasn't raised any campaign money. An attorney and freelance writer, Howard acknowledged that Hoyle is connected, well-funded and will be tough to beat. He puts his odds of winning at 20 percent at best. When it comes to raising money, he said there's no way he can compete. "I just can't swing that and I'm not even going to try," he said. For her part, Hoyle said that if another big name jumps into the race it could get expensive quick. "Could be $2 million, $3 million," she said. Hoyle's run isn't the first time that a Democrat has sought statewide office as the presumptive winner. On multiple occasions Republicans have not put forward candidates for state treasurer and attorney general, said Jim Moore, a Pacific University professor who studies Oregon politics. "It does mean that the two-party system is kind of limping here in Oregon," Moore said of Hoyle' early domination of the race. "The Republicans complain about it but don't come up with the candidates to do anything about it." Moore said a lack of big name liberals jumping in to challenge Hoyle doesn't signal a shallow bench for Democrats. Instead, it speaks to the limited upward mobility that may come with being labor commissioner. "It's the least political position," Moore said. "People don't go from being labor commissioner to being governor. It just doesn't work that way in the past at all." The office of labor commissioner was last seriously contended by two major party candidates in 2012, when Avakian, a Democrat and the incumbent, earned 52 percent of the vote against former Republican state Sen. Bruce Starr. Hoyle and Howard say they want voters to focus on the issues -- and that they're the better-suited person for the job. Hoyle said her background as third-generation union member and experience in the private sector makes her "uniquely qualified." Howard said he's the best choice because he would review state labor laws top to bottom with a focus on helping the poor. Voters will have an opportunity to weigh in during the May 2018 primary election. Because the labor commissioner position is nonpartisan, any candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the primary vote wins the job by default. -- Gordon R. Friedman 503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman | Mid | [
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DULUTH, Minn. – The Ohio State women’s ice hockey team (8-16-2, 5-9-2 WCHA) lost to the No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (22-2-2, 16-1-1 WCHA), 11-2, Saturday at Pioneer Hall in Duluth, Minn. The game marked the final meeting between the teams during the regular-season. Early in the game, Minnesota-Duluth’s Manne Sikio scored the first goal at 2:50. UMD’s Krista McArthur recorded the Bulldogs second goal at 16:05. Ohio State’s Crystal Sayther (Fr., Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) had a scoring opportunity but UMD’s goalkeeper, Patricia Sautter, saved the shot. The Bulldogs tallied their third and four goals of the game at 16:34 and 19:50 respectively. Ohio State and Minnesota-Duluth each obtained two penalties during the period. The Bulldogs led the Buckeyes 15-3 in shots. The second period started off with a Minnesota-Duluth goal at 2:27. Jana Harrigan (Fr., Burlington, Ontario/Mississauga Jr. Chiefs) had a chance to score early in the period but her shot hit the pipe. UMD’s scored an additional two goals during the period at 6:34 and 6:43. After the first and second stanzas, Minnesota-Duluth led 7-0 on the scoreboard and 23 to 5 in shots. Ohio State came out strong in the third period. OSU’s Jennifer Desson (So., Niagara Falls, Ontario/St. Paul’s/Stoney Creek Jr. Sabres) scored a goal assisted by Meaghan Mulvaney (So., Sylvania, Ohio/Honeybaked) and Sayther at 1:36. Minnesota-Duluth’s Tricia Guest recorded a goal at 2:56 and Caroline Ouellette recorded a goal at 4:14. OSU’s Mulvaney scored the Buckeyes’ second goal of the game unassisted at 10:08. UMD followed with its 10th and 11th goals of the game. Ohio State tallied 13 shots compared to Minnesota-Duluth’s 18 during the third stanza. The Bulldogs outshot the Buckeyes 51-18. Ohio State held Minnesota-Duluth on four of its eight power-play opportunities. The Buckeyes were 0-for-5 on the power play. | Mid | [
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"So many people with opinions - whether it's talk radio, the internet, whatever, blogs - those different outlets, they seem to influence owners. I don't know; you just have to be careful. "I know Coach [Tony] Dungy and I talk about this all the time, the patience that a franchise like the Pittsburgh Steelers and a few others have shown over the years and the results that they've gotten from that ... where they haven't knee-jerk [reacted] after a tough season with their coaches. "It's a good model, but it's not one that everybody adheres to. "Things have changed. You're on a short leash now it seems in the National Football League. That's part of it when you sign that contract to become a head coach." This followed his press conferences earlier in the week when he lauded the coaching staff for a great job done in the 48-30 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday in the Metrodome. The interview on national radio and the postgame comments have been definite attempts by Frazier to get the Wilfs to step back and take a harder look at firing him - a harder look than the haste demonstrated by the New Jersey brothers in firing Mike Tice and Brad Childress. The Wilfs took over as owners of the Vikings on May 25, 2005. They inherited Red McCombs' football operation for the 2005 season, including Tice for his fourth year as coach. The Vikings had a horrendous start to the season, lost struggling quarterback Daunte Culpepper to injury, turned to Brad Johnson and rallied to finish 9-7. Tice was fired 20 minutes after the season-closing victory over Chicago. The narrative has been that Tice's fate was sealed by the twin embarrassments of previous scalping of Super Bowl tickets and the Love Boat brouhaha. It has been my contention that the Wilfs, Zygi and his kid brother Mark, were giddy over the opportunity to play owners and could not wait to fire a coach ... even one who had been adequate for the task. The Wilfs lack of patience burst forth again in 2010, when Brad Childress was fired 10 games into the season - and 10 months after coaching his team to the NFC title game in New Orleans. More than anything, Childress took the fall for the failed experiment of bringing back Randy Moss. The truths were that the Wilfs were greatly enthused for the return of Moss, and Childress did the franchise a favor in quickly firing him when Moss proved to be an unproductive pain in the ass. Frazier was named as the interim coach, went 3-3 and was given a four-year contract as head coach on Jan. 3, 2011. He coached a team with one over-the-hill quarterback (Donovan McNabb) and one overmatched quarterback (rookie Christian Ponder), and holes everywhere on the roster, and went 3-13 in 2011. There was a quick patchwork of the roster and a favorable schedule in 2012, and even with often-unproductive play from Ponder, Frazier took the Vikings to the playoffs at 10-6. This season, Ponder's play regressed from the stretch drive of 2012, the Vikings' defense had huge gaps in the secondary, and last-minute losses became the norm. This is more on Rick Spielman, the general manager who reached to draft Ponder at No. 12, than on the coaches. It's not the fault of Frazier or offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave that they were given and instructed to play a quarterback who doesn't have the goods. The Vikings are 4-9-1 with two games left - and Frazier's comments this week let us know that he anticipates being fired by Zyfgi and Mark Wilf. We don't know if Les Frazier could have long-term success as an NFL coach. At this moment, there is as much evidence in his favor as against him. Throw out the first season when he had a team with no chance, and he's had one season with enough surprising success to be among four coaches getting votes for NFL Coach of the Year, and this season, when they went backwards due to quarterback chaos and poor decisions by Spielman in providing options on defense. The fact the Vikings are competing strongly in the late stages of a season where the playoffs were out of the picture early-on ... that should be considered a positive for Frazier and most of his coaching staff. If Frazier goes and a replacement arrives in January, that would be four head coaches in 8 years, 8 months as owners ... giving the Wilfs a place among the NFL's leaders in knee-jerk reaction. --PATRICK JAMES REUSSE. Patrick Reusse has been covering sports in the Twin Cities since 1968. He co-hosts SportsTalk from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and hosts The Ride with Reusse from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. He also co-hosts "Saturday Morning SportsTalk" from 10 a.m. to noon on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.Email Patrick | @1500ESPN_reusse | The Ride with Reusse | Low | [
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Q: Should I consider LINQ to Entities? I'm just starting with the Microsoft stack doing a web site in ASP.Net MVC and so far using LINQ to SQL. Should I consider LINQ to Entities? Does it have anything special to offer? If so, what? A: I have been investigating this exact thing myself. Here are my findings in a nutshell LINQ to SQL Advantages Incredibly easy to use Disadvantages Cannot update the diagram from the database, you have to delete your class and then drag it back onto the diagram from the DB. This is a real pain if you modified the diagram at all. Not actively being developed any more (they will develop Entity Framework instead). Entity Framework Advantages Has much more functionality (Table inheritance, etc...) Can be updated from the database Has multiple providers (not just SQL) The model can be queried without using LINQ, you can use Entity SQL Microsoft seems to be investing heavily on it and proposing it as the main way to access a database: Update on LINQ to SQL and LINQ to Entities Roadmap, Clarifying the message on L2S Futures. Disadvantages Complicated and a lot less intuitive Conclusion I personally decided to go down the route of using the Entity Framework. I bought a book and have read the online material and I am very impressed with it. It took a little extra effort to learn, but the benefits really are great. | High | [
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Bands Sofia Kaman Diamond Infinity Ring additional images: Represent forever with this classic, geometric and fluid Sofia Kaman diamond ring. The 14K matte yellow gold band is a continuous crossover which forms the infinity symbol over and over. One band is plain while the other is set with continuous shimmering diamonds. The matte surface will self polish over time adding to the stunning, modern and minimal look of the design. Alone or layered with Sofia's other rings, it has a distinctive presence. It also makes a modern alternative to the traditional wedding band. CALIFORNIA - Sofia Kaman is the designer and creator of the Kamofie Collection. Fascinated by the allure of ancient jewels, she embarked on a road to self-discovery and ended up unlocking her encrusted dreams via carving in wax, metalsmithing and setting stones. Her collection has a delicate, feminine style and is inspired by the grace and beauty of the natural world. The effortless sophistication it embodies has a distinctive bohemian elegance and timeless, soulful style. | Low | [
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Pages2 April 1, 2016 Adorkable by Cookie O'Gorman | When a nerd falls in love AdorkableBy Cookie O'GormanReleased on March 31, 2016283 pagesDebut, Young Adult, RomanceThis book was provided to me from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. I swear on my bookshelf that this has not affected my opinion of the book. Summary from Goodreads: Adorkable (ah-dor-kuh-bul): Descriptive term meaning to be equal parts dorky and adorable. For reference, see Sally Spitz.Seventeen-year-old Sally Spitz is done with dating. Or at least, she's done with the horrible blind dates/hookups/sneak attacks her matchmaking bestie, Hooker, sets her up on. There's only so much one geek girl and Gryffindor supporter can take.Her solution: she needs a fake boyfriend. And fast.Enter Becks, soccer phenom, all-around-hottie, and Sally's best friend practically since birth. When Sally asks Becks to be her F.B.F. (fake boyfriend), Becks is only too happy to be used. He'd do anything for Sal--even if that means giving her PDA lessons in his bedroom, saying she's "more than pretty," and expertly kissing her at parties.The problem: Sally's been in love with Becks all her life--and he's completely clueless.This book features two best friends, one special edition Yoda snuggie, countless beneath-the-ear kisses and begs the question:Who wants a real boyfriend when faking it is so much more fun? Review Imagine puppies dressed up as Princess Lea and Yoda and then you have the essence of this book. It is equal parts cute and aw-worthy, but definitely still nerdy. I liked O'Gorman's take on the whole fake boyfriend trend. The trope can easily be overdone and cliche, but nothing like that was prevalent in Adorkable. Sally was an unique main character with a upbeat voice that I loved from the beginning of the novel. Her journey from a self-conscious nerd with a forbidden crush to a confident nerd with a boyfriend was remarkable and relatable. Sally and Becks' relationship was fresh and just so gosh darn cute. There was the perfect mix of attraction, angst, and admiration that created an amazing backdrop for the romance of the book. O'Gorman kept me hanging until the last page of the book, until I could finally let out a sigh for the blossoming young couple that I was rooting throughout the entire novel. The romance in Adorkable was slow-burning, but definitely worth the wait. True to the novel's title, there were a ton of literature, movie, and TV show references that will make your inner fangirl squeal with delight. Practically every popular fandom was mentioned, including Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Men, and more! All of the nerdy action that your fandom heart desires. Surprisingly, there was also quite a bit of interesting sport action, specifically soccer, that impressed me. The sport element to the plot perfectly reflected the atmosphere of high school athletics and how a community really rallies around sports. The sporty aspects of Adorkable made it more dynamic than I was expecting.While I completely adored the main romance in the novel, the secondary romances, if I can even call them that, were sub-par. I do not know why Sally had to go on so many dates throughout the novel and have so many different guys fawning over her. It is just not realistic to have a different mystery date every night. The guys she went on dates with were also stereotypical and two-dimensional as well. I would have liked more substance to her dates.I am also disappointed that Sally never got closure with her father. Their relationship started off toxic in the novel, but it never really progressed. I understand that she was upset about him cheating on her mother and everything. I would be angry at my father if I was in Sally situation. But, Sally and her father fell into the familiar YA trap of uninvolved parents. Sally's father could have been used to show a lesson about the strength of family and the power of forgiveness, but all that it provided was unnecessary angst and bitterness. I just would have loved to see some progress between Sally and her father.Adorkable was exactly the fluffy, cute, and slightly dorky contemporary that I expected. The romance did not follow the trope of fake boyfriend novels, instead it forged a new path for nerd girls everywhere. While the family situation was not handled as well as I would have hoped, the book was still enjoyable. About the Author Cookie O'Gorman writes YA romance to give readers a taste of happily-ever-after. Small towns, quirky characters, and the awkward yet beautiful moments in life make up her books. Cookie also has a soft spot for nerds and ninjas. Her debut novel ADORKABLE will be released in 2016. | Low | [
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package _testFiles //go:generate immutableGen type _Imm_Dummy struct { Name string } type _Imm_Dummy2 struct { name []byte // ERROR other *Dummy3 mine MyIntf // ERROR another MyType // ERROR } type _Imm_Dummy3 struct { other *Dummy2 } type another Dummy // ERROR type _Imm_intS []int var _ _Imm_Dummy // ERROR var _ Dummy // ERROR var _ map[Dummy]string // ERROR var _ map[string]Dummy // ERROR var _ []Dummy // ERROR var _ = func(d Dummy) Dummy { // ERROR x 2 return Dummy{} // ERROR } func Eg(d Dummy) Dummy { // ERROR x 2 return Dummy{} // ERROR } var _ = &Dummy{} // ERROR var _ = new(Dummy) var good *Dummy func main() { print(good._Name) // ERROR var x *intS _ = x.Range() // ERROR for _ = range x.Range() { } y := *x print(y) _ = append([]int{}, x.Range()...) x.Append(x.Range()...) } type MyIntf interface { IsMyIntf() } type MyType []string func (m MyType) IsMyIntf() {} var _ MyIntf = MyType([]string{}) var _ = Dummy{} // ERROR type Blah = Dummy // ok; use of alias | Low | [
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Francis Fontaine Francis Fontaine (1845-1901) was an American Confederate soldier, plantation owner, newspaper editor, poet and novelist from the state of Georgia. Early life Francis Fontaine was born on May 7, 1845 in Columbus, Georgia. His father, John Fontaine (1792-1866), had served as the Mayor of Columbus from 1836 to 1837, and he was a planter. His mother was Mary Ann Stewart. He was educated at the Georgia Military Institute in Marietta, Georgia. During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, he joined the Confederate States Army and served as a private and aide-de-camp. He fought at the Battle of Peachtree Creek. Career After the war, Fontaine inherited his father's plantations and managed them, becoming a planter in his own right. In 1874, Fontaine co-founded The Columbus Times, a newspaper in his hometown of Columbus, Georgia. He then served as a state diplomat, encouraging European immigration to the state of Georgia. In 1877, he was elected to a convention to write the new state constitution. In 1878, his poem entitled The Exile: A Tale of St. Augustine was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. The theme of the poem was the massacre of Huguenots by Spanish forces in Florida in 1565. The poem received negative reviews from The New York Times and the Evening Post. He went on to publish three novels, including Etowah: A Romance of the Confederacy, which received good reviews from critics. Personal life and death Fontaine married Mary Flournoy in 1870, and they had a son and a daughter. In 1885, he remarried to Nathalie Hamilton. They resided in Atlanta, Georgia. Fontaine died on May 3, 1901 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was buried at Lindwood Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia. Bibliography Poetry The Exile: A Tale of St. Augustine (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1878). Non-fiction The State of Georgia: What It Offers to Immigrants, Capitalists, Producers and Manufacturers, and Those Desiring to Better their Condition (1881). Novels Etowah: A Romance of the Confederacy (1887). Amanda, the Octoroon (J. P. Harrison, 1891). The Modern Pariah: A Story of the South (1892). References Category:1845 births Category:1901 deaths Category:People from Columbus, Georgia Category:People from Atlanta Category:Confederate States Army soldiers Category:American planters Category:19th-century American poets Category:American male novelists Category:19th-century American novelists Category:American male poets Category:19th-century American male writers | High | [
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Capecitabine Extends Survival for Biliary Tract Cancer Abstract Based on results of the phase III BILCAP study, adjuvant capecitabine should become standard treatment for patients with biliary tract cancer. Among 430 patients who were treated according to the study protocol, capecitabine was associated with a 25% lower risk of death than observation. | High | [
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Drops of urine remain in the penis after urinating Question After I urinate (pass water), some drops or urine remain in the penis and I sit in the bathroom for a quarter of an hour to clean myself properly. Of course, this is very tiring and exhausting for me. After that, I do wudoo’ for prayer. I have been to a number of doctors, had tests and taken different kinds of medicine in an effort to solve this problem, all to no avail. After I clean these drops of urine, I do wudoo’ and go and pray, but during the prayer I feel as though there are still drops of urine in the penis that need to come out. Of course, this is giving me trouble and causing me embarrassment, especially when I pray in jamaa’ah (congregation) and then discover drops of urine which did not come out when I was sitting in the bathroom, so I have to repeat my prayer, or I doubt that my prayer was valid. Please help me with a clear fatwa. | Low | [
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David Cobb, the campaign manager for Jill Stein, offered an 18-minute online video on Friday about the status of the efforts for the recount pertaining to the November 2016 American presidential election. Near the start of his video statement Cobb stated that he had some "cutting-edge announcements." After the first few minutes of the video, he gets away from the "announcements" and talks about the importance of several political issues and movements. Activists converge on Wisconsin "In Wisconsin," David Cobb stated, "we have beaten back multiple efforts to actually stop the recount." Cobb states that judges can't force a hand/manual recount to be done however he said that "In Wisconsin the federal judge...did 'strongly implore' county officials across the state to use hand recounts." Cobb, shortly after providing that update, then makes an interesting statement on the matter of the Wisconsin hand recounts. He says that three counties in Wisconsin are refusing to do hand recounts. Interestingly enough these three counties are ones that are under suspicion it seems: "Here's something interesting," Cobb stated. "Three specific counties are refusing to do (hand recounts). In counties where...'statistical anomalies showed a different result than expected.'" The counties where the results were anomalous are arguably the ones the matter of the recount is most pertinent to. As a response, Cobb states that the activists involved in protecting election integrity are "mobilizing" with these counties as a target. Certainly it is interesting that anyone would oppose a recount or not want to verify the results of something as important as a national election. David Cobb update not all about news Cobb plugs for the Green Party after talking about Wisconsin activist efforts. He then shifts over to Michigan updates where he claims that the Donald Trump campaign has tried to stop the recount, a matter that Cobb says will "now go to the Michigan supreme court." Cobb also claims that Trump is "trying to stop the recount" in Pennsylvania while wondering what Trump is trying to hide. The video as a news update perhaps contains a lot of fluff. The first few minutes contain information about the recount and its progress. After that Cobb talks about activism, his opinions, and other matters. If you watch the video then the first five minutes is where news regarding the recount is most discussed. | Mid | [
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Q: Hypervisor call hvc argument uasage How is the hvc(0) call argument, I have seen usually 0, used ? If r0 is not used to pass this argument then how it is passed to hvc handler. I have seen two implementations of hypervisor vector table, both are like .align 5 __hyp_stub_vectors: __hyp_stub_reset: W(b) . __hyp_stub_und: W(b) . __hyp_stub_svc: W(b) . __hyp_stub_pabort: W(b) . __hyp_stub_dabort: W(b) . __hyp_stub_trap: W(b) __hyp_stub_do_trap __hyp_stub_irq: W(b) . __hyp_stub_fiq: W(b) . e.g. in below link https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/arch/arm/kernel/hyp-stub.S?id=refs/tags/v3.9-rc3#n206 I don't understand that why a hypervisor trap is always located at 6th position in vector table. Now call to hvc(0) switches to HYP mode,saves CPSR to Hyp_SPSR and branches to hyp vector table. From vector table __hyp_stub_do_trap routine will be called, which is at 6th position. Why this trap routine will be called why not routine e.g. at 4th location (if defined ) will be called ? Thanks, Pankaj A: Exceptions in ARM Aarch32 have a specific vector address depending on the type of exception. Like listed above, exception can be Reset, Undefined instruction, System call (SVC), Prefetch or Data abort, Hypervisor trap, interrupts. This is the job of the exception handler to define why the exception happened. In case of an hypervisor trap, either due by HVC instruction or by an instruction or register trap, the same handler is called. The handler can then look at the Exception Syndrome (HSR), that will give information about the reason of the exception. Concerning the parameter for HVC, this is not passed on r0, but directly encoded in the opcode of the instruction. The handler can use the Link Register (LR or R14) to find the instruction and decode it, or use the Syndrome register to find this information. | High | [
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Miami Heat: Is LeBron James to Michael Jordan a Fair Comparison? Maybe this article is coming a little bit late, but it's something that has been on my mind since last week, when the Miami Heat closed out the Oklahoma City Thunder, in Game 5, for the 2012 NBA Championship. It's a topic that has been mentioned many times since LeBron James first arrived in Cleveland and possibly even before that: is LeBron the next Michael Jordan? We, as fans and as people, crave the thought of having the "next big thing" which, in the case of basketball, is to have someone who measures up with the all-time greats in the sport. With the changes occurring according to the way the sport is played, it's less and less likely that we will see another Wilt Chamberlain or another Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. People know that. But another Jordan? Why not? Kobe Bryant, for all his rings, all his points and all his swagger, still doesn't seem to measure up to Michael in almost anybody's mind. While we would definitely still consider him a top-10 all time, we don't say that he was the next Jordan, nor do we start looking at the new players and ask who the next Kobe will be. No, we want someone who will truly be, in our minds, just as unstoppable as Jordan was. This is where LeBron comes in. During these past playoffs, he showed us something we had seen in flashes before but never quite so sustained or quite so overpowering. He wanted to win so badly, and he did. Nothing that anyone else could do was capable of slowing him down. People saw that, and now, there has been a resurgence of questions about whether LeBron can keep that up for a few more years, with the hope that in so doing, he will be "the next Jordan." Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images I'm not buying it though. Now, before everyone comes and starts hating on me for bashing LeBron here on the Heat page, just hold on. I have nothing against LeBron. In fact, he's one of my favorite players. I rooted for him to win a title throughout the playoffs, especially since my team wasn't in it to begin with. I love his unselfishness and the way he can control a game in all aspects. I just don't think it's fair to make that LeBron-Jordan comparison anymore, because LeBron is so different from Jordan. His game is different. His personality is different. His goals are different. He might be just as talented, and possibly more so, than Jordan was. But people need to stop asking if LeBron will be the next Jordan, because the answer is no. He's not. He's something different. Could LeBron ever be considered the best player in history? At this point, it could go either way. But I don't think championships should be the deciding characteristic. If they are, then Bill Russell and his 11 rings should never be touched. I'm happy LeBron won a championship. Next step will hopefully be to show everyone that he doesn't need the Jordan comparisons—just being LeBron James is good enough. | Mid | [
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Friday, February 17, 2012 Brazilian police investigates if black Spanish boy was the victim of racism in Sao Paulo Jan 3, 2012 - The Brazilian police will investigate whether a Spanish six-year-old boy of Ethiopian origin was a victim of racism at a restaurant in the city of Sao Paulo that was apparently expelled for being black, official sources have reported on Tuesday. It opened an investigation to verify if happened, at least, unlawful coercion, but we will also try to establish whether the case can be framed in the Brazilian law that criminalizes the offences of discrimination by race or color”, said the Commissioner Marcio of Castro Nilsson, responsible for the inquiry. The fact occurred last Friday at a pizzeria in Sao Paulo, the largest Brazilian city, and he was denounced on the same day by the mother of the child, a 42-year tourist identified only as Christina, who was on vacation in Brazil since mid-December with her husband, Jordi, and his son. According to the Spanish, who on Monday returned to Barcelona, where they reside, his son, 6, adopted in Ethiopia, was expelled from the Nonno Paolo restaurant (see photo), in the District of Vila Marina, by an employee of the establishment which was initially identified as Manager. According to the complaint, the minor, apparently by their race, was mistaken for a child of the street and taken by the arm to the door of the establishment. The mother said the child, who does not speak Portuguese, was alone at the table while his parents served in the buffet and that, after not able to respond to what an employee of the restaurant asked, was expelled from the premises. The parents said that, after repairing the child was not in the table, they went out to look for him and they found him almost a street from the restaurant crying and very scared. Restaurant managers claimed that the boy was confused with one of the street children who regularly enter the pizzeria begging, according to the complaint. Restaurant, however, alleges in a statement that nobody touched the boy and he rose from the table and left the establishment when questioned by their parents that apparently had been lost. “Until now I not heard anyone in the restaurant, but I want to know what happened, how treated the child and who were in the premises at the time,” said De Castro Nilsson, of the thirty-sixth police station of Civil Police of São Paulo. “My thesis is that, by the described situation, at least happened illegal coercion and perhaps the crime of racism as a black Ethiopian boy was expelled from an establishment apparently by their physical characteristics,” he added. Brazilian law provides for penalties of up to four years in prison for perpetrators of crimes of racism. (Source: The Delta World) In a response to the incident Sueli Carneiro, the director of the Black Woman's instute "Geledes" of the University of São Paulo, writes: "I was not there, but by the reaction of indignation from the child's mother and his friends it's reasonable to assume that the child in question is loved and well cared for, therefore, was not as dirty and ragged as most street children in the city of Sao Paulo." Carneiro sees it as racism. She writes that the black boy was possible the only "dark spot" between the customers of the restaurant, and for this "dark spot" socially predetermined locations are excluded. These locations include restaurants in areas which are considered "noble" in the city of São Paulo. She ends with a call for action: “The myth of racial democracy is revealing, shamelessly, its true face. So it's time to design and carry out new strategies to fight! Read the full interview on geledes.org.br | High | [
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Motor proteins and kinesin-based nanoactuatoric devices. Eukaryotic organisms synthesize diverse motor proteins converting chemical into mechanical energy. Among them, both rotary (e.g., ATP synthase) and linear motors are found. Linear motors comprise highly specialized proteins moving along nucleic acid filaments (in the case of e.g., RNA polymerase) or cytoskeletal filaments. The present paper provides a brief overview on cytoskeleton-associated motors (myosins, dyneins, and kinesins) and summarizes results contributing to elaborate a basic configuration for constructing a kinesin-driven motor device, suitable for e.g. a controlled displacement of objects or specific substances over millimetre distances with nanometre precision. | Mid | [
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Black of White 'Rose' Embroidered Halter Bodysuit Sale $ 14.97 USD Regular price$ 27.72 USD Color Size Quantity The halter design could be the outstanding feature of this swimwear you are fond of! You will feel sexier than ever in this piece. It is featured with halter design and incredible pattern . Good swimming fabric makes you feel cozy cool. | Mid | [
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From Our Customers: “They came out and fixed our plumbing emergency in a few hours, Thank you!!” ABOUT OUR PLUMBING REPAIR SERVICES We are a Las Vegas plumber providing a wide variety of services such as installation, repipes and repairs in Las Vegas, NV. We are committed to the work that needs to be done, whether it’s clogged drains, leak detection or an emergency plumbing service throughout the house. Do not worry about when you need service because we are open 24/7. Our licensed plumbers will meet your schedule. Regardless of whether it is an emergency, a service on the same day, convenient appointments or on weekends. Furthermore, we provide highly competitive prices on repairs and new equipment installations. Our plumbers know the local Las Vegas conditions and are always informed about new plumbing techniques, demonstrating high experience in any work they do. Because our prices are very competitive and upfront. 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If you are hearing water trickling in your walls when the taps are off, receiving high water bills, or seeing water spots on your walls, ceilings, or floors you may have a water leak. Some water leaks are visible and their source is obvious—others are not! The water travels through walls, ceilings and floors resulting in visible damage occurring far away from the source. Tracing and detecting the source of water leaks is a job for Las Vegas's best plumbing company, the plumbing repair Experts. Our experienced plumbing team can interpret the signs and reveal the cause of the water leak quickly before more damage can be done to your home. We offer same day service and we never charge extra for night or weekend calls. 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We know that renovating a kitchen involves time and effort, so we will be at your disposal throughout this process, from the beginning helping you with the design of your remodeling, to the installation of taps and connections for new appliances, dishwashers, bathtubs, showers, sinks or toilets. Sit down and enjoy how your new kitchen or bathroom is flowing! Relax and get ready to enjoy your new kitchen or bath! Call us now and ask for one of our Plumbing Remodeling Experts - (702) 410-6737 | Low | [
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Public events, such as sports games, concerts, etc., are routinely televised. However, the viewers' experience is less than satisfying as attendance at these events involve an experience beyond simply a visual one. Other factors that contribute to the user experience at these events include interaction with other attendees and an ability to control one's view of the events. Also, it is noted that attending a game is more than a visual experience, but is a social event in which people spend time with friends and family members. A TV program cannot simulate, for example, a stadium atmosphere, whereby attendees can enjoy interacting with peers and hearing the roars of the crowd. Additionally, traditional television technology only allows a viewer to watch an event from one perspective chosen by the program editors. Hence, the viewer can only passively follow what is provided from the broadcast source, and thereby is prevented from following a favorite player or entertainer. In short, traditional television viewing provides a one dimensional experience. Moreover, unless the event is truly spectacular, certain potential participants may be disinclined to attend them because of various considerations. For example, traveling to the venue can be extremely burdensome, as traffic is usually problematic, and thus, requires leaving to the event well in advance of the start time. Also, if the venue is of a significant distance, travel time and transportation costs (e.g., gas, maintenance, etc.) can present a serious barrier to attendance. Television remains the prevalent global medium for entertainment and information. With the convergence of telecommunications and media services, there is increased competition among service providers to offer more services and features to consumers, and concomitantly develop new revenue sources. Traditional telecommunication companies are entering the arena of media services that have been within the exclusive domain of cable (or satellite) television service providers. Little focus has been paid to enhancing user control of their viewing experience. Therefore, there is a need for providing features that enhance user experience during broadcast of an event. | Mid | [
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Q: Power and bulbs I have noticed the use of two different formulas i.e P=V²/R (in the 3rd line) and P=I²R (5th line from below). Since the bulbs are in series, how can the resistance be inversely proportional to power as shown? Is anything wrong with my book or am I missing some fundamental information? A: Both the bulbs have different Power rating, but they are assumed to have the same voltage rating in this question. So it's obvious that the bulb with less power have more resistance, from the equation P = V^2/R. Now in series connection, the current is same in both the bulbs. So you can apply P= I^2*R formula now. Thus the 60 W bulb which has more resistance, will develop more power and hence glow brighter. A: You only need to remember two formulas. The rest can be worked out. $$ V = IR \tag 1 $$ $$P = VI \tag 2 $$ From (1) we can say that \$ I = \frac {V}{R} \$ so popping that into (2) we get $$ P = V \frac {V}{R} = \frac {V^2}{R} \tag 3$$ Alternately we pop (1) straight into (2) and say $$ P = VI = IR \cdot I = I^2R \tag 4 $$ That's the background sorted. Now, for a given current \$ P = I^2R \$ tells us that \$ P \propto R \$. Finally - and this may be the confusing part - note that the lamps are designed to be run in parallel in normal operation so that they run at the same voltage. In that configuration the lamp with the lower resistance will pass more current and dissipate more power (have a higher wattage). In this application, because you are running in series they run at the same current and the lamp with the higher resistance will dissipate the higher power. A: Simple answer: We know from Ohm's Law and Thevenin voltage drop in a loop, that the most voltage is dropped on the highest resistance and the lower P rated bulb has a higher R value so it gets brighter at first. It is assumed you know all the variant's of Ohm's Law and any or all may be used. What you were not told, but is not essential for the basic understanding, is that the bulb current is not constant and due to positive R vs T or PTC characteristic so the smaller bulb wattage which has higher R value warms up faster and raises it's R so it gets near full brightness in steady state < 1 second. The simple answer is the bulb with the highest R or lowest W value is the brightest. Real Life situation: simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab Tungsten wire in bulbs are also PTC resistors. R_cold (25'C=298'K) = 10% of R_hot (3500'K) This means a 100W bulb uses up to 1kW during the 1st cycle turning on ! (depends on start phase , contact bounce etc.) Thus R1~14Ω , R2~24Ω when off. ( room temp 298'K) Pedantic note: ... 25'C may be warm for you , if you prefer 21'C with A/C but it is the "de facto" std temp for electronic specs. in datasheets So when turned on V(R2)=24/(24+14.4)*Vac = 62.5% Vac or V(R2)=75Vac, V(R1)=(120-75)=45Vac I init. = 120V/(14.4+24)=3.1A approx avg for 1st cycle period which is shorter than filament thermal time constant. Since current is shared, P=VI , during inital power on cycle, we estimate as follows; (roughly 30% accurate and not with 4 sig figs as shown in calculator result below) P1=139.5W ( rated 100W) P2=232.5W ( rated 60W) Perhaps counter-intuitive at first, but the bulb rated for the lower power starts with a higher power which means it gets hotter faster and since the resistance increases with temperature rapidly x10, R2 will almost reach full brightness >200 Ω while R1 which started at 14 Ω gets less and less voltage drop as R2 heats up faster and since the current drops thru both, R1 just pops then shuts down while R2 heats up slower than nomal since R1 cold is only 5% of R2 when hot and the higher R drops the most voltage and hence power the normal current for 60W=120V*0.5A is almost achieved since at steady state P1 would then only be lets say 10%Vac or 12V* *0.5A=6W so hot but not 3500'K and unlikely visible heat. Concepts to understand: PTC, Ohm's Law Intuitive Rule. Highest series impedance gets the most voltage drop. Concepts for the advanced student: We call this series PTC or "positive temperature characteristic" characteristic in parts named as this in catalogs, as "over-current protection devices". ( They are not meant to operate at high T forever (years), just for thermal protection of devices from short circuits.) PTC's come in radial ceramic or SMD format, generally operate with polysilicon material and operate around 80'C with highly non-linear R near this T unlike tungsten which is more linear with T ('K) from 300 to 3000'K thus 10x the R value. ( roughly) | Mid | [
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Germline mutations predisposing to non-small cell lung cancer. Lung cancer in multiple first degree relatives had previously been attributed to smoking and to inherited enzymes associated with increased activation of carcinogens in smoke. There was not clear agreement on the significance of the testing methods for lung cancer susceptibility. More recent studies have identified germline mutations associated with lung cancer even in the absence of smoking and other mutations with plausible explanations for their association with lung cancer caused by smoking. At this time, the clinical significance of the various germline mutations for screening and the implications for therapy are not certain. This review summarizes the currently identified germline mutations associated with lung cancer, but this growing area of research will very likely identify further significant mutations as well. | High | [
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Today Yet another major news figure has been removed from their post over reports of sexual harassment. Ahead of word that Today anchor Matt Lauer would be outed as a serial sexual harasser, NBC News and Today have confirmed the long-time host will step down. A man holding a knife and reportedly ranting that his life was ruined by the IRS, cut himself outside of the Today show studios in New York City this morning. NBC news anchors has planned on an outdoor segment but were forced to remain inside the building at Rockefeller Plaza while police atte… | Low | [
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Q: How AWS Region-wide RIs are applied since it now affects all the instance of the same family? I've just read that AWS updated their Region-Wide RIs (only for Linux instances), to apply them to the whole instance family (before it was only matching the exact instance type). This allows for instance a "t2.large" RI to match two "t2.medium". So I was wondering how AWS was matching each RIs with the instances, for example two possibilities that comes to my mind: Match the RIs with the bigger "factor" first. If there is more Reserved Capacity than instances, the "little" RIs remain unused Try to match "full" RIs as much as possible, and so limit the number of "partial" RIs Moreover, if an instance matches the exact type of one of these RI, is it prioritary compared to the other instance of the family? Source: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-instance-size-flexibility-for-ec2-reserved-instances/ Thanks A: It doesn't matter. If you have a smaller number of instances actually running than what you reserved (e.g. reserve a t2.medium, but have only 1 × t2.micro and 1 × t2.small running -- 3/4 of the reservation) then you still pay for the entire reservation and the unused capacity is lost (it doesn't roll over, or anything). If you have a larger number of instances actually running than you reserved, (e.g. reserve a t2.medium, but have 2 × t2.small or 1 × t2.micro running -- 5/4 of the reservation) then you're either going to be billed additionally for 1 × t2.micro or 0.5 × t2.small (the doc you cited mentions that if an instance overflows the boundary, you pay a pro-rated charge for the additional capacity), which is already very close to the same amount -- $0.012/hr vs. $0.0125/hr in us-east-1 -- but according to the EC2 FAQ: Q: Can I control which instances are billed at the discounted rate? No. AWS automatically optimizes which instances are charged at the discounted rate to ensure you always pay the lowest amount. https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/faqs/ So, whichever algorithm arrives at that price should be the one that is applied. Note also that you used the phrase "reserved capacity," which is not what regional reserved instances do. There is no actual, physical capacity reserved for you. That only applies to reserved instances purchased with availability-zone+instance-type granularity, and these aren't subject to the flexible equivalency mapping described here. With reserved intances, it has always been the case there is no concept of which specific instances are reserved at any moment in time. The purchased quanity of machine hours is used to zero-out the charges from an equivalent amount of machine hours that you actually used. This change simply expands the purchased hours so that they cover hours on other types of instances within the same class, not just the same type, as was the case before, and now allows the purchased hours to also reduce billing for an instance that fits only partially within the purchased instance hours. Terminology: For the purposes above, I'm considering t as an instance family (a label not relevant to reserved instances), t2 as an instance class, and t2.large as an instance type, which I believe to be the correct designations, although "class" and "type" are sometimes interchangeably used to refer to the specific type of instance. EC2 has a separate concept of a reservation that is unrelated to reserved instances, and in fact unrelated to actually reserving anything. A reservation, in this other sense, is a logical grouping of instances launched via a single API request and using the same specs and AMI. Every instance is launched inside a reservation, but when multiple instances are launched together, they share a reservation and each instance has a launch index number, giving it a logical position within the group. This is not often actually used for anything, but it's a value the code running on an instance can inspect, so that -- for example -- in a cluster of instances launched together from the same AMI, the software running on the instances might modify its behavior based on a role it infers from its launch index. | Mid | [
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--- abstract: 'We employed the techniques developed for second order problem to obtain the new estimates of Virtual Element Method for fourth order operator. The projection and interpolation error estimates are included. Also, the biharmonic problem is solved by Virtual Element Method. The optimal error estimates between exact solutions and the computable numerical solutions are obtained.' author: - | Qingguang Guan\ \ Center for Computation and Technology\ Louisiana State University,\ Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA title: Some Estimates of Virtual Element Methods for Fourth Order Problems --- Introduction ============ Virtual Element methods are designed to use polygonal/polyhedral meshes. It gives us the flexibility to generate general meshes which is a great advantage especially in computational mechanics. Virtual Element Methods for second order problems are well studied in [@Beirao13]–[@Beir16-3], also the stability analysis and error analysis for these methods are studied and extended, new techniques based on the shape regularity and discrete norm for virtual element functions are developed in [@Brenner17]. Virtual Element Methods for fourth order problems are analyzed in [@Brezzi13],[@Chinosi16], however, the stability analysis and error analysis are not completed. The motivations of this paper are: firstly, applying the techniques in [@Brenner17] to higher order problems, getting the basic estimates similar as in [@Brenner17]; secondly, the error analysis for biharmonic equation can be improved, if we modify the virtual element method slightly then with less regularity of right hand side function $f$, the same convergence rates are achieved; thirdly, the drawback of numerical solutions $u_h$ of virtual element methods are they can’t be computed directly, so that we present two ways to get the approximations of $u_h$ preserving the same convergence rate, and the computation of the approximations is much more efficient. The paper is organized as follows: In Section 2, 2.1–2.3, the definition of two dimensional virtual element with the shape regularity is given. The projection in 2.2 is the same as in [@Chinosi16]. Compared with the definition of local virtual element space in [@Brezzi13], [@Chinosi16], the right hand side polynomial $q_v(= \Delta^2v) \in \mathbb{P}_k(D)$ not $\mathbb{P}_{k-4}(D)$ or $\mathbb{P}_{k-2}(D)$. This definition provides more degrees of freedom which is necessary to denote the $L_2$ projection from virtual element function space to $\mathbb{P}_k(D)$. In Section 2.4, a semi-norm $|||\cdot|||_{k,D}$ similar as in [@Brenner17] is presented. The local estimates for the projections $\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta$ and $\Pi_{k,D}^0$ are obtained. In Section 2.5–2.6, a piecewise $C^1$ polynomial $w$ depending only on the values on $\partial D$ is constructed and the local interpolation error is proved. In section 3, we get the error estimates between $u_h$, its approximations and the exact solution for biharmonic equation. In Section 4, we draw the conclusions of the paper and future works. Local Virtual Element Spaces in Two Dimensions ============================================== Let $D$ be a polygon in $\mathbb{R}^2$ with diameter $h_D$. For a nonnegative integer $k$, $\mathbb{P}_k$ is the space of polynomials of degree $\leq k$ and $\mathbb{P}_{-k} = \{0\},\ k \geq 1.$ The space $\mathbb{P}_k(D)$ is the restriction of $\mathbb{P}_k$ to $D.$ The index $(r,s)$ related to the degree of $k\geq 2$ is defined by $$r \geq \max\{3,k\},\ s = k-1,\ m=k-4.$$ The set of edges of $D$ is denoted by $\mathcal{E}_D$ and $\mathbb{P}_k(e)$ is the restriction of $\mathbb{P}_k$ to $e\in \mathcal{E}_D.$ Then we define $\mathbb{P}_{r,s}(\partial D)$ as $$\begin{aligned} \mathbb{P}_{r,s}(\partial D) &:=& {\bigg \{ } v|_e\in \mathbb{P}_r(e),\ \left.\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right|_e \in \mathbb{P}_s(e), \forall e\in \mathcal{E}_D,\ \text{and } \\ &&\quad v,\nabla v \in C(\partial D),\text{ values of $v$,$\nabla v$ at each vertex of $D$ are given degrees of freedom} {\bigg\} }.\end{aligned}$$ Shape Regularity {#Shape-Regularity} ---------------- Here the shape regularity assumptions are the same as in [@Brenner17]. Let $ {D}$ be the polygon with diameter $h_D$. Assume that $$\label{assume1} | {e}|\geq \rho h_D\quad {\rm for\ any\ edge}\ {e} \ {\rm of}\ {D},\ \rho\in(0,1),$$ and $$\label{assume2} {D}\ {\rm is\ star\ shaped\ with\ respect\ to\ a\ disc\ \mathfrak{B}\ with\ radius\ =\ \rho}h_D.$$ The center of $\mathfrak{B}$ is the star center of $ {D}.$ \(A) at (0,0); (B) at (3,0); (C) at (3.5,1.5); (D) at (2,3); (E) at (0,1); (O) at ($1/5*(A)+1/5*(B)+1/5*(C)+1/5*(D)+1/5*(E)$); (A) –(B) –(C) –(D) –(E) –(A); (O) circle (0.8); (O) circle (1pt); (O)–(A); (O)–(B); (O)–(C); (O)–(D); (O)–(E); The polygon in Figure \[fg1\] is an example of ${D}$, we denote by $\mathcal{T}_D$ the corresponding triangulation of D. We will use the notation $A \apprle B$ to represent the inequality $A \leq (constant)B$, where the positive constant depends only on $k$ and the parameter $\rho$, and it increases with $k$ and $1/\rho$. The notation $A \approx B$ is equivalent to $A \apprle B$ and $A \apprge B$. \[bramble\][@Bramble70] Bramble-Hilbert Estimates. Conditions - imply that we have the following estimates: $$\inf\limits_{q\in\mathbb{P}_l} |\xi - q|_{H^m(D)} \apprle h^{l+1-m} |\xi|_{ H^{l+1}(D)}, \ \forall \xi\in H^{l+1}(D),\ l = 0,\cdots, k,\ and\ 0\leq m \leq l.$$ Details can be found in [@Brenner07], Lemma 4.3.8. \[imbedding\][@Adams03] Sobolev Imbedding Theorem 4.12. From -, we have: $$\|\xi\|_{C^j(D)} \apprle \sum\limits_{l=0}^{2+j}h_D^{l-1} |\xi|_{ H^{l}(D)} , \ \forall \xi\in H^{2+j}(D),\ j=1,2.$$ \[general-poincare\][@Necas11] The Generalized Poincar$\acute{\rm e}$ Inequality. From -, suppose $h_D = 1$, we have: $$\|\xi\|_{H^2(D)}^2 \apprle |\xi|_{H^2(D)}^2+\sum\limits_{i=1}^{2} \left( \int_{\partial D}\frac{\partial \xi}{\partial x_i}\ dx \right)^2 + \left( \int_{\partial D}{\xi}\ dx \right)^2 , \quad \forall \xi\in H^{2}(D).$$ The proof is similar as the one in [@Necas11], Section 1.1.6. The Projection $\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta $ ---------------------------------- By the generalized poincar$\acute{\rm e}$ inequality from Lemma \[general-poincare\], the Sobolev space $H^2(D)$ is a Hilbert space with the inner product $(((\cdot)))$ denoted as: $$\label{inner-p} (((u,v))) = ((u,v))_D +\sum\limits_{i=1}^{2} \left( \int_{\partial D}\frac{\partial u}{\partial x_i}\ dx \right)\left( \int_{\partial D}\frac{\partial v}{\partial x_i}\ dx \right) + \left( \int_{\partial D}{u}\ dx \right)\left( \int_{\partial D}{v}\ dx \right) ,$$ where $$((u,v))_D = \int_D \sum_{i,j}\frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x_i\partial x_j} \frac{\partial^2 v}{\partial x_i\partial x_j}\ dx,\ i= 1,2; j=1,2,$$ for any $u, v \in H^{2}(D).$ The operator $\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta: H^2(D)\rightarrow \mathbb{P}_k(D)$ is denoted with respect to $(((\cdot)))$ as: $$(((\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi, q)))_D = ((( \xi, q)))_D,\ \forall q\in \mathbb{P}_k(D),$$ let $q=1,$ we have , let $q=x$ then $q=y$, we have , it is the same as in [@Chinosi16] which is listed as: $$\begin{aligned} ((\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi, q))_D &=& (( \xi, q))_D, \ \forall \xi\in H^2(D), \ \forall q\in \mathbb{P}_k(D), \label{pikd1}\\ \int_{\partial D} \nabla \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi\ dx &=& \int_{\partial D} \nabla \xi\ ds, \label{pikd2}\\ \int_{\partial D} \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi\ ds &=& \int_{\partial D} \xi\ ds. \label{pikd3}\end{aligned}$$ On the domain $D$ , with boundary $\partial D$, we denote by ${\bf n} = (n_1,n_2)$ the outward unit normal vector to $\partial D$, and by ${\bf t} = (t_1,t_2)$ the unit tangent vector in the counterclockwise ordering of the boundary. For $u\in H^2(D)$, we define $${\bf D}^2 u = (u_{11},u_{22},u_{12},u_{21})=\left(\frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x_1^2},\frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x_2^2},\frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x_1\partial x_2},\frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x_2\partial x_1}\right).$$ We then denote by $U_{nn}({\bf D}^2 u) := \sum\limits_{i,j}u_{ij} n_i n_j$ the normal bending moment, by $U_{nt}({\bf D}^2 u) := \sum\limits_{i,j}u_{ij} n_i t_j$ the twisting moment, and by $Q_{n}({\bf D}^2 u) := \sum\limits_{i,j}\frac{\partial u_{ij}}{\partial x_i} n_j$ the normal shear force, and $U_{\Delta}({\bf D}^2 u) = \Delta^2 u$. After integrating by parts twice we have $$\label{eq_bp1} ((u,v))_D=\int_D U_{\Delta}({\bf D}^2 u) v \ dx +\int_{\partial D} U_{nn}({\bf D}^2 u)\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\ ds -\int_{\partial D} \left(Q_{n}({\bf D}^2 u)+\frac{\partial U_{nt}({\bf D}^2 u)}{\partial t}\right)v\ ds.$$ Local VEM Space $\mathcal{Q}_k(D)$ ---------------------------------- Then, for $k\geq 2,$ the local VEM space $\mathcal{Q}^k(D)\in H^2(D)$ is defined as: $v\in H^2(D)$ belongs to $\mathcal{Q}^k(D)$ if and only if (i) $v|_{\partial D}$ and trace of $\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}$ on $\partial D$ belongs to $\mathbb{P}_{r,s}(\partial D),$ then (ii) there exists a polynomial $q_v(= \Delta^2v) \in \mathbb{P}_k(D)$ such that $$\label{var-form} ((v,w))_D= (q_v, w),\quad \forall w\in H^2_0(D),$$ and (iii) $$\label{equal-parts} \Pi_{k,D}^0v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v \in \mathbb{P}_{k-4}(D),$$ where $\Pi_{k,D}^0$ is the projection from $L_2(D)$ onto $\mathbb{P}_k(D)$. It’s obvious that $\mathbb{P}_k(D)$ is a subspace of $\mathcal{Q}^k(D).$ From , we have $\Pi_{k,D}^0v=\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v,$ $k=2,3$. The choice (ii) can be replaced by $q_v(= \Delta^2v) \in \mathbb{P}_{k-2}(D)$ in [@Chinosi16], also Lemma \[equivalence\_b\]–Lemma \[interpolation\_error\], and Corollary \[corollary\_1\]–Corollary \[corollary\_2\] are valid. The reason we chose $q_v\in \mathbb{P}_{k}(D)$ is that it helps to get the same error estimate with less smooth right hand side $f$. For $k=2,3$, we only require $f\in L_2(\Omega)$, while in [@Chinosi16], $f\in H^1(\Omega)$ for $k=2$, and $f\in H^2(\Omega)$ for $k=3$. However, Theorem \[theorem1\] – \[theorem3\], Corollary \[coh1\]– \[copik0l2\] in this paper are valid for [@Chinosi16] with $f\in H^1(\Omega), H^2(\Omega)$.\ For completeness, we recall the definition for degrees of freedom in [@Brezzi13], employ the following notation: for $i$ a nonnegative integer, $e$ an edge with midpoint $x_e$, length $h_e$, the set of $i+1$ normalized monomials is denoted by $\mathcal{M}_i^e$ $$\mathcal{M}_i^e :=\left\{1,\frac{x-x_e}{h_e},\left(\frac{x-x_e}{h_e}\right)^2,\cdots, \left(\frac{x-x_e}{h_e}\right)^i\right\}.$$ And for domain $D$ with diameter $h_D$ and barycenter ${\bf x}_D$, the set of $(i+1)(i+2)/2$ normalized monomials is defined by $\mathcal{M}_i^D$ $$\mathcal{M}_i^D :=\left\{ \left(\frac{x-{\bf x}_D}{h_D}\right)^\alpha,\quad |\alpha|\leq i\right\},$$ where $\alpha$ is a nonnegative multiindex $\alpha = (\alpha_1,\alpha_2)$, $|\alpha|=\alpha_1+\alpha_2$ and ${\bf x}^\alpha=x_1^{\alpha_1} x_2^{\alpha_2}$. In $D$ the degrees of freedom are denoted as: [$\bullet$ The values $v$ at each vertex of $D$.]{} \[bul1\] [$\bullet$ The values $\nabla v$ at each vertex of $D$.]{} [$\bullet$ For $r>3$, the moments $\frac{1}{h_e}\int_e q(s)v\ ds,\ \forall q\in \mathcal{M}_{r-4}^e,\ \forall e\in \partial D$.]{} [$\bullet$ For $s>1$, the moments $\frac{1}{h_e}\int_e q(s)\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\ ds,\ \forall q\in \mathcal{M}_{s-2}^e,\ \forall e\in \partial D$.]{} [$\bullet$ For $m\geq 0$, the moments $\frac{1}{|D|}\int_D q(x)v(x)\ dx,\ \forall q\in \mathcal{M}_{m}^D$.]{} \[bul5\] \[lemma1\] Given any $g\in \mathbb{P}_{r,s}{\partial{D}}$ and $f\in \mathbb{P}_k(D)$, there exists a unique function $v\in H^2(D)$ such that (i) $v=g,$ $\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}=\frac{\partial g}{\partial n}$ on $\partial D$ and (ii) $$\int_D{\bf D}^2 v \cdot {\bf D}^2 w\ dx = \int_{D} fw\ dx,\quad \forall w\in H^2_0(D).$$ Similar as in [@Brenner17], let $\tilde{g} \in H^2(D)$ be a $C^1$, $\mathbb{P}_k$ piece-wise polynomial constructed in Section \[case1\], such that $v=g,$ $\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}=\frac{\partial g}{\partial n}$ on $\partial D$. Then the unique $v\in H^2(D)$ is given by $\phi+\tilde{g}$, where $\phi\in H^2_0(D)$ is defined by $$\int_D{\bf D}^2 \phi \cdot {\bf D}^2 w\ dx = \int_{D} fw\ dx -\int_D{\bf D}^2 \tilde{g} \cdot {\bf D}^2 w\ dx , \quad \forall w\in H^2_0(D).$$ We have (i) [dim]{} $\mathcal{Q}^k(D)$ = [dim]{} $\mathbb{P}_{r,s}(\partial D)$ [+ dim]{} $\mathbb{P}_{m}(D)$, and (ii) $v\in \mathcal{Q}^k(D)$ is uniquely determined by $v|_{\partial D}, \left.\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right|_{\partial D}$ and $\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v$. Following [@Brenner17] and [@Brezzi13], let $\tilde{\mathcal{Q}}^k_D:=\left\{v\in H^2(D), v|_{\partial D}, \left.\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right|_{\partial D} \in \mathbb{P}_{r,s}(\partial D)\text{ and } \Delta^2 v\in \mathbb{P}_k(D) \right\}$. The linear map $v\mapsto (v|_{\partial D}, \left.\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right|_{\partial D}, \Delta^2 v)$ from $\tilde{\mathcal{Q}}^k_D$ to $\mathbb{P}_{r,s}(\partial D)\times \mathbb{P}_k(D)$ is an isomorphism by Lemma \[lemma1\]. The linear map $v\mapsto (v|_{\partial D}, \left.\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right|_{\partial D}, \Pi_{k-4,D}^0 v +(\Pi_{k,D}^0 -\Pi_{k-4,D}^0)(v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v) )$ from $\tilde{\mathcal Q^k}(D)$ to $\mathbb{P}_{r,s}(\partial D)\times \mathbb{P}_k(D)$ is also an isomorphism. Suppose $v\in$ null space, then $\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v = 0$, $$v|_{\partial D} = 0\ {\rm and}\ \left.\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right|_{\partial D} =0.$$ With - and , we have $\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v = 0$, so that by , $$0=\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v=\Pi_{k,D}^0v \in \mathbb{P}_{k-4}(D).$$ In , let $w = v\in \mathcal{Q}^k(D)$, then we have $$|v|^2_{H^2(D)} = 0 \Rightarrow v=0.$$ \[discrete\_estimates\] Discrete Estimates. From Conditions -, and the equivalence of norms on finite dimensional vector spaces, for any $u\in \mathbb{P}_k$, we have the following estimates: $$\|{\bf D}^2 u\|_{L_2(D)} \apprle \|u\|_{L_2(D)}\quad \text{and}\quad \left\|\frac{\partial u}{\partial t}\right\|_{L_2(e)}\apprle h_e^{-1/2}\|u\|_{L_2(e)},$$ $$h_D^2\|U_{\Delta}({\bf D}^2 u)\|_{L_2(D)} +\|U_{nn}({\bf D}^2 u)\|_{L_2(D)} +h_D^{3/2}\left\|Q_{n}({\bf D}^2 u)+\frac{\partial U_{nt}({\bf D}^2 u)}{\partial t}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)} \apprle \|{\bf D}^2 u\|_{L_2(D)}.$$ Estimates of $|||\cdot|||_{k,D}$ {#sec1.4} -------------------------------- The semi-norm $|||\cdot|||_{k,D}$ for $\xi\in H^2(D)$ is defined by $$\label{eq_v-norm} |||\xi|||_{k,D}^2 = \|\Pi^0_{k-4,D}\xi\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +h_D\sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D}\|\Pi^0_{r,e}\xi\|_{L_2(e)}^2 +h_D^3\sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D, i=1,2}\left\|\Pi^0_{r-1,e}\frac{\partial \xi}{\partial x_i}\right\|_{L_2(e)}^2 .$$ There is an obvious stability estimate from $$\label{obvious_ineq} |\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^2(D)}\leq |\xi|_{H^2(D)}, \ \forall \xi\in H^2(D).$$ We define the kernel of operator $\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta$ as: $${\rm Ker} \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta := \{v\in\mathcal{Q}^k(D): \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v = 0\}.$$ And for any $ v \in\mathcal{Q}^k(D)$, we have $$\begin{aligned} \sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D}\|\Pi^0_{r,e}v\|_{L_2(e)}^2 &=& \|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2,\\ \sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D}\left\|\Pi^0_{r-1,e}\frac{\partial v}{\partial x_i}\right\|_{L_2(e)}^2 &=& \left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial x_i}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2.\end{aligned}$$ \[new-equi\] For any $v \in \mathcal{Q}^k(D)$, we have the equivalence of norms: $$\begin{aligned} |||v|||_{k,D} &=& \|\Pi^0_{k-4,D}\xi\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +h_D\|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 +h_D^3\sum_{i=1,2}\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial x_i}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 \\ &\approx& \|\Pi^0_{k-4,D}\xi\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +h_D\|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 +h_D^3\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 .\end{aligned}$$ Suppose $h_D =1$, by the discrete estimates from Lemma \[discrete\_estimates\], we have $$\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial t}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)} \apprle \|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)},$$ and $$\begin{aligned} \left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial t}\right\|^2_{L_2(\partial D)}+\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|^2_{L_2(\partial D)} \approx \sum_{i=1,2}\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial x_i}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2,\end{aligned}$$ so that the equivalence is obtained. \[pq\_ineq\] For any $p\in \mathbb{P}_{k-4}$, $k\geq 2$, there exists $q \in \mathbb{P}_{k}$, such that $\Delta^2 q = p$ and $$\|q\|_{L_2(D)}\apprle \|p\|_{L_2(D)}.$$ From [@Brenner17], we know that $\Delta$ maps $\mathbb{P}_k$ to $\mathbb{P}_{k-2}$, so that $\Delta^2=\Delta\Delta$ maps $\mathbb{P}_k$ to $\mathbb{P}_{k-4}$. Then there exists an operator $(\Delta^2)^{\dagger}: \mathbb{P}_{k-4}\rightarrow \mathbb{P}_{k}$ such that $\Delta^2 (\Delta^2)^{\dagger}$ is the identity operator on $\mathbb{P}_{k-4}$. We define the norm of $p$ as $$\|p\|_{(\Delta^2)^{\dagger}} := \inf_{(\Delta^2)^{\dagger}p\in \mathbb{P}_{k}} \|(\Delta^2)^{\dagger}p\|_{L_2(D)}.$$ Since we have $$q = \sum\limits_{i,j=0;i+j\leq k} c_{ij}x_1^i x_2^j\ \text{ and }\ \Delta^2 q = p,$$ the minimization problem $$\|p\|_{(\Delta^2)^{\dagger}} = \inf_{c_{i,j}} \|q\|_{L_2(D)},$$ is solvable. So, there exists $q=(\Delta^2)^{\dagger}p$ such that $$\|q\|_{L_2(D)} = \|p\|_{(\Delta^2)^{\dagger}}.$$ By the equivalence of norms on finite dimensional vector space, we have $$\|p\|_{(\Delta^2)^{\dagger}}\apprle \|p\|_{L_2(D)},$$ then the result is obtained. \[equivalence\_b\] For any $v\in {\rm Ker} \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta$, we have $$|||v|||^2_{k,D}\approx h_D\left\|v\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 + h_D^3\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2.$$ Suppose $h_D = 1$. For $k<4$, $\Pi_{k-4,D}^0 v =0,$ the equivalence is trivial. For $k\geq 4,$ let $v\in {\rm Ker} \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta$, by , , and using the same $p$, $q$ in Lemma \[pq\_ineq\], we have $$\label{pqker} \int_D v ({\Delta}^2q)\ dx = \int_{\partial D} \left(Q_{n}({{\bf D}^2 q})+\frac{\partial U_{nt}({{\bf D}^2 q})}{\partial t}\right)v\ ds -\int_{\partial D} U_{nn}({{\bf D}^2 q})\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\ ds.$$ By lemma \[discrete\_estimates\], we have $$\left\|Q_{n}({{\bf D}^2 q})+\frac{\partial U_{nt}({{\bf D}^2 q})}{\partial t}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)} \apprle \|{{\bf D}^2 q}\|_{L_2(D)} \apprle \|{q}\|_{L_2(D)}$$ and $\left\|U_{nn}({{\bf D}^2 q})\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}\apprle \|{q}\|_{L_2(D)}$. Then, by Lemma \[pq\_ineq\], $$\left|\int_D v p\ dx\right| \apprle \left( \left\|v\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)} + \left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)} \right)\|{q}\|_{L_2(D)},$$ so that $$\|\Pi_{k-4,D}^0 v\|_{L_2(D)} = \max\limits_{p\in \mathbb{P}_{k-4}}\left|\int_D (\Pi_{k-4,D}^0 v) (p/\|{p}\|_{L_2(D)})\ dx\right| \apprle \left\|v\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)} + \left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)},$$ which means $$\|\Pi_{k-4,D}^0 v\|_{L_2(D)}^2 \apprle \left\|v\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 + \left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2,$$ with Lemma \[new-equi\], we get the result. \[remark\_t\] Same as in [@Brenner17], we have $$|||v|||^2_{k,D}\approx h_D^3\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial t}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 + h_D^3\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2,\quad \forall v \in {\rm Ker} \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta,$$ where $\partial/\partial t$ denotes a tangential derivative along $\partial D$. There is also a stability estimate for $\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi$ in $H^1(D)$ norm in terms of the semi-norm $|||\cdot|||_{k,D}$. Estimates of $\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta$ and $\Pi_{k,D}^0$ ------------------------------------------------- \[leq-semi-norm\] We have $$\|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi\|_{L_2(D)}+h_D|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^1(D)}+h_D^2|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^2(D)} \apprle |||\xi|||_{k,D},\ \forall \xi\in H^2(D).$$ Suppose $u=\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi$ and $h_D = 1$, by , , we have $$\begin{aligned} \label{eq_in} &&|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^2(D)}^2 = ((\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi,\xi))_D\\ &=& \int_D U_{\Delta}({\bf D}^2 (\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi)) v \ dx +\int_{\partial D} U_{nn}({\bf D}^2 (\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi))\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\ ds -\int_{\partial D} \left(Q_{n}({\bf D}^2 u(\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi))+\frac{\partial U_{nt}({\bf D}^2 (\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi))}{\partial t}\right)v\ ds, \nonumber \end{aligned}$$ then, by Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, Lemma \[discrete\_estimates\] and , we have $$\begin{aligned} \label{eq_in2} |\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^2(D)}^2 \apprle |\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^2(D)} |||\xi|||_{k,D} \apprle |||\xi|||_{k,D}^2.\end{aligned}$$ By -, and Lemma \[general-poincare\], we have $$\label{norm_P} \|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi\|^2_{H^2(D)} \apprle |\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^2(D)}^2+\sum_{i=1}^{2}\left(\int_{\partial D}\frac{\partial \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi }{\partial x_i}\ ds\right)^2+\left(\int_{\partial D} \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi\ ds\right)^2$$ also we have $$\int_{\partial D}\frac{\partial \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi }{\partial x_i}\ ds =\int_{\partial D}\frac{\partial \xi }{\partial x_i}\ ds $$ $$\label{bound_xi} \left|\int_{\partial D}\frac{\partial \xi }{\partial x_i}\ ds\right| \leq \sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D}\left|\int_{e}{\Pi_{0,e}^0\frac{\partial \xi }{\partial x_i} }\ ds\right| \apprle \left(\sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D} \left\|\Pi^0_{r-1,e}\frac{\partial \xi }{\partial x_i} \right\|_{L_2(e)}^2\right)^{1/2}$$ Similarly, $$\label{bound_xi1} \left(\int_{\partial D} \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi\ ds\right)^2 \apprle \sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D}\|\Pi^0_{r,e}\xi\|_{L_2(e)}^2.$$ From -, the following inequality is valid $$\|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi\|_{H^2(D)} \apprle|||\xi|||.$$ \[friedrichs\] For any $\xi\in H^2(D)$, we have $$\label{upper_bound1} |||\xi |||_{k,D} \apprle \|\xi\|_{L_2(D)} + h_D|\xi|_{H^1(D)} + h_D^2|\xi|_{H^2(D)},$$ and there exists $\bar{\xi}\in \mathbb{P}_1$, such that $$\label{upper_bound2} |||\xi - \bar{\xi} |||_{k,D} \apprle h_D^2|\xi|_{H^2(D)},$$ where $$\int_{\partial D}\nabla\bar{\xi} \ dx = \int_{\partial D}\nabla\xi \ dx,$$ $$\int_{\partial D}\bar{\xi} \ dx = \int_{\partial D}\xi \ dx \quad {\rm or} \quad \int_{\partial D} \bar{\xi} \ dx = \int_{D}\xi \ dx.$$ Assume $h_D$ = 1, then by trace theorem $$|||\xi |||_{k,D} \apprle \|\xi\|_{L_2(D)} +\|\xi\|_{L_2(\partial D)} +\sum_{i=1,2}\left\|\frac{\partial \xi}{\partial x_i}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)} \apprle \|\xi\|_{L_2(D)} + |\xi|_{H^1(D)} + |\xi|_{H^2(D)}.$$ So that we have , and by Lemma \[general-poincare\] $$|||\xi -\bar{\xi} |||_{k,D}^2 \apprle \|\xi-\bar{\xi}\|_{H^2(D)}^2 \apprle |\xi|_{H^2(D)}^2+\sum\limits_{i=1}^{2} \left( \int_{\partial D}\frac{\partial (\xi -\bar{\xi})}{\partial x_i}\ dx \right)^2 + \left( \int_{\partial D}{\xi -\bar{\xi}}\ dx \right)^2$$ with the definition of $\bar{\xi}$, we arrived at $$|||\xi -\bar\xi |||_{k,D} \apprle |\xi|_{H^2(D)}.$$ \[corollary\_1\] We have $$\begin{aligned} \|\xi - \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi\|_{L_2(D)} &\apprle& h_D^{l+1}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)},\quad \forall \xi\in H^{l+1}(D),\ 1\leq l\leq k,\label{l2_error} \\ |\xi - \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^{1}(D)} &\apprle& h_D^{l}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)},\quad \forall \xi\in H^{l+1}(D),\ 1\leq l\leq k,\label{h1_error} \\ |\xi - \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^{2}(D)} &\apprle& h_D^{l-1}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)},\quad \forall \xi\in H^{l+1}(D),\ 2\leq l\leq k.\label{h2_error}\end{aligned}$$ From Lemma \[bramble\], Lemma \[leq-semi-norm\], and Lemma \[friedrichs\], for any $q\in \mathbb{P}_l, \ \xi\in H^{l+1}(D)$ we have $$\|\xi - \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi\|_{L_2(D)}\apprle\|\xi - q\|_{L_2(D)}+\|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta (q - \xi)\|_{L_2(D)}\apprle h_D^{l+1}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)},$$ so as the $H^1$ and $H^2$ error estimates. For the $L_2$ operator $\Pi_{k,D}^0$, from [@Brenner17], we have $$\label{pikd0l2} \|\Pi_{k,D}^0\xi\|_{L_2(D)}\leq \|\xi\|_{L_2(D)}, \quad |\Pi_{k,D}^0\xi|_{H^1(D)}\apprle |\xi|_{H^1(D)},\quad \forall \xi\in H^1(D),$$ and $$\label{pikd0h1} |\xi - \Pi_{k,D}^0\xi|_{H^1(D)}\apprle h_D^{l}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)},\quad \forall \xi\in H^{l+1}(D),\ 1\leq l\leq k.$$ \[pikd0-bound\] The estimates of $\Pi_{k,D}^0$ satisfy $$\begin{aligned} |\Pi_{k,D}^0\xi|_{H^{2}(D)} &\apprle& |\xi|_{H^{2}(D)},\quad \forall \xi\in H^{2}(D),\label{pikd0h2} \\ |\xi - \Pi_{k,D}^0\xi|_{H^{2}(D)} &\apprle& h_D^{l-1}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)},\quad \forall \xi\in H^{l+1}(D),\ 2\leq l\leq k.\label{pikd0h2_error}\end{aligned}$$ Here, suppose $\xi\in H^2(D)$, then by , , and the inverse inequality, we have $$\begin{aligned} |\Pi_{k,D}^0\xi|_{H^2(D)} &\apprle & |\Pi_{k,D}^0\xi-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^2(D)} +|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi|_{H^2(D)} \\ &\apprle & h_D^{-1}|\Pi_{k,D}^0\xi-\xi+\xi-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta\xi|_{H^1(D)} +|\xi|_{H^2(D)} \\ &\apprle & |\xi|_{H^2(D)}\end{aligned}$$ An Inverse Inequality --------------------- \[minimum-energy\] The following inequality is valid $$|v|_{H^2(D)} \leq |\xi|_{H^2(D)},$$ for any $v\in \mathcal{Q}^k(D)$ and $\xi\in H^2(D)$ such that $\xi=v$ on $\partial D$, $\frac{\partial \xi}{\partial n}=\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}$ on $\partial D$, and $\Pi_{k,D}^0(\xi -v) = 0.$ Then by and , we have $$((v,\xi-v))_D = ((v,\xi))_D-|v|^2_{H^2(D)}=0$$ And hence, $$|\xi|^2_{H^2(D)} = |\xi-v|^2_{H^2(D)} +|v|^2_{H^2(D)},$$ which means $$|v|_{H^2(D)} \leq |\xi|_{H^2(D)}.$$ Next, we will consider the relation between $|v|_{H^2(D)}$ and $|||v|||_{k,D}$, $\forall v \in \mathcal{Q}^k(D)$. ### Construction of $w$ {#case1} The degree of freedom of $v\in \mathcal{Q}^k(D)$ is defined in [@Brezzi13], from (4.7)–(4.11). For $k\geq 2,$ we will employ the triangulation $\mathcal{T}_D$ to define a piecewise polynomial $w$ which has the same boundary conditions as $v$. On each internal triangle, we employ a $\mathbb{P}_{r}$ macroelement, which is defined in [@Douglas79], Section 1. Suppose $k=2,3$, in Figure \[fg-k2k3\], on each internal triangle, the function is defined by $\mathbb{P}_3$ macroelement as in Figure \[fg-p3\]. All degrees of freedom within $D$ are 0. \(A) at (0,0); (B) at (3,0); (C) at (3.5,1.5); (D) at (2,3); (E) at (0,1); (O) at ($1/5*(A)+1/5*(B)+1/5*(C)+1/5*(D)+1/5*(E)$); (A) –(B) –(C) –(D) –(E) –(A); (O)–(A); (O)–(B); (O)–(C); (O)–(D); (O)–(E); \(A) circle (1pt); (A) circle (2.5pt); (B) circle (1pt); (B) circle (2.5pt); (C) circle (1pt); (C) circle (2.5pt); (D) circle (1pt); (D) circle (2.5pt); (E) circle (1pt); (E) circle (2.5pt); (A) at (0+5,0); (B) at (3+5,0); (C) at (3.5+5,1.5); (D) at (2+5,3); (E) at (0+5,1); (O) at ($1/5*(A)+1/5*(B)+1/5*(C)+1/5*(D)+1/5*(E)$); (AB) at ($(A)!1/2!(B)$); (BC) at ($(B)!1/2!(C)$); (CD) at ($(C)!1/2!(D)$); (DE) at ($(D)!1/2!(E)$); (EA) at ($(E)!1/2!(A)$); (A) –(B) –(C) –(D) –(E) –(A); (O)–(A); (O)–(B); (O)–(C); (O)–(D); (O)–(E); (A) circle (1pt); (A) circle (2.5pt); \(B) circle (1pt); (B) circle (2.5pt); \(C) circle (1pt); (C) circle (2.5pt); \(D) circle (1pt); (D) circle (2.5pt); \(E) circle (1pt); (E) circle (2.5pt); ($(AB)$) – ($(AB)!0.2cm!90:(A)$); ($(AB)$) – ($(AB)!0.2cm!-90:(A)$); ($(BC)$) – ($(BC)!0.2cm!90:(B)$); ($(BC)$) – ($(BC)!0.2cm!-90:(B)$); ($(CD)$) – ($(CD)!0.2cm!90:(C)$); ($(CD)$) – ($(CD)!0.2cm!-90:(C)$); ($(DE)$) – ($(DE)!0.2cm!90:(D)$); ($(DE)$) – ($(DE)!0.2cm!-90:(D)$); ($(EA)$) – ($(EA)!0.2cm!90:(E)$); ($(EA)$)–($(EA)!0.2cm!-90:(E)$); \(D) at (0,0); (E) at (3,0); (O) at (1.5,2.5); (DE) at ($(D)!1/2!(E)$); (OD) at ($1/2*(D)+1/2*(O)$); (OE) at ($(O)!1/2!(E)$); (center) at ($1/3*(D)+1/3*(O)+1/3*(E)$); (D)–(E); (E)–(O); (O)–(D); (center)–(D); (center)–(E); (center)–(O); (D) circle (1pt); (D) circle (2.5pt); \(E) circle (1pt); (E) circle (2.5pt); \(O) circle (1pt); (O) circle (2.5pt); ($(OD)$) – ($(OD)!0.2cm!90:(O)$); ($(OD)$) – ($(OD)!0.2cm!-90:(O)$); ($(DE)$) – ($(DE)!0.2cm!90:(D)$); ($(DE)$) – ($(DE)!0.2cm!-90:(D)$); ($(OE)$) – ($(OE)!0.2cm!90:(O)$); ($(OE)$) – ($(OE)!0.2cm!-90:(O)$); From the definition of $w$, we have $$\label{w-norm} \|w\|_{L_2(D)}^2 \approx h_D^2|w|_{H^2(D)}^2 \approx h_D\|w\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 +h_D^3\left\|\frac{\partial w}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 = h_D\|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 +h_D^3\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2.$$ \[inverse-inequality\] $$|v|_{H^2(D)} \apprle h_D^{-2}|||v|||_{k,D},\ \forall v \in \mathcal{Q}^k(D).$$ Following [@Brenner17], it suffices to prove when $h_D = 1$. Let $\phi$ be a smooth function supported on the disc $\mathfrak{B}$ with radius $\rho$, such that $$\int_D\phi \ dx = 1.$$ By the equivalence of norms on finite dimensional spaces, we have $$\|p\|_{L_2(D)}\apprle \int_{D} \phi p^2 \ dx, \ \forall p\in \mathbb{P}_{k}.$$ Let $w \in H^2 (D)$ be the piecewise polynomial constructed in Section \[case1\], and let $\xi = w + p\phi$ for $p\in \mathbb{P}_{k}$ such that $$\int_{D}(\xi-v)q\ dx = 0, \ \forall q\in \mathbb{P}_{k},$$ or equivalently $$\label{pqphi} \int_{D}pq\phi \ dx = \int_{D}(v-w)q\ dx = \int_{D}(\Pi_{k,D}^0v -w)q \ dx, \ \forall q\in \mathbb{P}_{k}.$$ Let $q=p$ in , then $$\|p\|_{L_2(D)}\apprle \|\Pi_{k,D}^0v -w\|_{L_2(D)}\apprle \|\Pi_{k,D}^0v\|_{L_2(D)}+\|w\|_{L_2(D)},$$ and by Lemma \[leq-semi-norm\], $$\begin{aligned} \|\Pi_{k,D}^0v\|_{L_2(D)}^2 &=&\|\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +\|(\Pi_{k,D}^0 -\Pi_{k-4,D}^0)v\|_{L_2(D)}^2\\ &\apprle&\|\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +\|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v\|_{L_2(D)}^2\\ &\apprle&\|\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +\|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 +\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2.\end{aligned}$$ From , we have $$\label{p2} \|p\|_{L_2(D)}^2 \apprle \|\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +\|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 +\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2.$$ Also, by Lemma \[minimum-energy\], $$|v|_{H^2(D)}\apprle |\xi|_{H^2(D)}.$$ By and , $$|\xi|_{H^2(D)}^2 \apprle |w|_{H^2(D)}^2+|p\phi|_{H^2(D)}^2 \apprle \|\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +\|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 +\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2.$$ Then, $\forall v \in \mathcal{Q}^k(D) $, we have $$|v|_{H^2(D)}^2 \apprle \|\Pi_{k-4,D}^0v\|_{L_2(D)}^2 +\|v\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2 +\left\|\frac{\partial v}{\partial n}\right\|_{L_2(\partial D)}^2.$$ By Lemma \[new-equi\], we arrived at the estimate. \[corollary\_2\] For any $v\in \mathcal{Q}^k(D)$, $$\|v\|_{L_2(D)}+h_D|v|_{H^1(D)}+h^2_D|v|_{H^2(D)} \apprle |||v|||_{k,D}.$$ From Lemma \[leq-semi-norm\], Corollary \[corollary\_1\] and Lemma \[inverse-inequality\], we have $$\begin{aligned} \|v\|_{L_2(D)} &\apprle& \|v - \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v\|_{L_2(D)}+\|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v\|_{L_2(D)} \apprle h_D^{2}|v|_{H^{2}(D)}+|||v|||_{k,D}, \\ h_D|v|_{H^{1}(D)} &\apprle& h_D|v - \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v|_{H^{1}(D)}+h_D|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v|_{H^{1}(D)} \apprle h_D^{2}|v|_{H^{2}(D)}+|||v|||_{k,D}. \end{aligned}$$ Estimate of Interpolation Operator ---------------------------------- The interpolation operator $I_{k,D} : H^3 (D) \rightarrow \mathcal{Q}^k(D)$ is defined by the conditions that $\xi$ and $I_{k,D}\xi$ have the same value for each degree of freedom of $I_{k,D}\xi$. It is clear that $$I_{k,D}\xi=\xi,\quad \forall \xi\in \mathcal{Q}^k(D)\ {\rm or}\ \forall \xi\in \mathbb{P}_k(D).$$ \[interpolation\_error\] The interpolation errors are listed below, $\forall \xi\in H^{l+1}(D),\ 2\leq l\leq k,$ we have $$\begin{aligned} \|\xi-I_{k,D}\xi\|_{L_2(D)} +\|\xi-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta I_{k,D}\xi\|_{L_2(D)} &\apprle& h_D^{l+1}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)},\label{interpolation_error_l2} \\ |\xi-I_{k,D}\xi|_{H^1(D)} +|\xi-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta I_{k,D}\xi|_{H^1(D)} &\apprle& h_D^{l}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)},\label{interpolation_error_h1} \\ |\xi-I_{k,D}\xi|_{H^2(D)} +|\xi-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta I_{k,D}\xi|_{H^2(D)} &\apprle& h_D^{l-1}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(D)}.\label{interpolation_error_h2} $$ Suppose $h_D =1$, by Trace theorem, Lemma \[imbedding\], Lemma \[leq-semi-norm\] and Corollary \[corollary\_2\], we have $$\begin{aligned} \|I_{k,D}\xi\|_{L_2(D)} +\|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta I_{k,D}\xi\|_{L_2(D)} &\apprle& |||I_{k,D}\xi|||_{k,D} \apprle \|\xi\|_{H^{l+1}(D)}, \\ |I_{k,D}\xi|_{H^1(D)} +|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta I_{k,D}\xi|_{H^1(D)} &\apprle& |||I_{k,D}\xi|||_{k,D} \apprle \|\xi\|_{H^{l+1}(D)}, \\ |I_{k,D}\xi|_{H^2(D)} +|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta I_{k,D}\xi|_{H^2(D)} &\apprle& |||I_{k,D}\xi|||_{k,D} \apprle \|\xi\|_{H^{l+1}(D)}. $$ The results follow from Lemma \[bramble\], and $I_{k,D}q = q, \forall q\in \mathbb{P}_l$. The Biharmonic Problem in Two Dimensions ======================================== Let $\Omega$ be a bounded polygonal domain in $\mathbb{R}^2$, $f\in L_2(\Omega)$, the biharmonic equation is $$\label{biharmonic-equation} \begin{cases} \ \Delta^2u &= f, \\ \ u|_{\partial \Omega} &= 0, \\ \ \left.\frac{\partial u}{\partial n}\right|_{\partial \Omega} &= 0. \end{cases}$$ The variational formulation of is finding $u\in H^2_0(\Omega)$, such that $$a(u,v) = (f,v),\ \forall v\in H^2_0(\Omega),$$ where $$a(u,v) = ((u,v))_{\Omega}=\int_{\Omega}{\bf D}^2u\cdot{\bf D}^2v\ dx.$$ For $u,v\in H^2_0(\Omega)$, we also have $a(u,v) = \int_\Omega\Delta u\Delta v \ dx$. However, $((u,v))_{D},$ where $D$ is a sub-domain of $\Omega$ and $\int_D\Delta u\Delta v \ dx$ are not equivalent. In following sections, we will use virtual element method to solve . Virtual Element Spaces ---------------------- Let $\mathcal{T}_h$ be a conforming partition of $\Omega$ by polygonal subdomains, i.e., the intersection of two distinct subdomains is either empty, common vertices or common edges. We assume that all the polygons $D\in \mathcal{T}_h$ satisfy the shape regularity assumptions in Section \[Shape-Regularity\]. We take the virtual element space $\mathcal{Q}_h^k$ to be $\{v \in H_0^2(\Omega): v|_D \in \mathcal{Q}^k(D),\ \forall D \in \mathcal{T}_h \}$ and denote by $\mathcal{P}_{h}^k$ the space of (discontinuous) piecewise polynomials of degree $\leq k$ with respect to $\mathcal{T}_h$. The operators are defined in terms of their local counterparts: $$\begin{aligned} (\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta v)|_D &=& \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta (v|_D),\quad \forall v\in H^2(\Omega),\\ (\Pi_{k,h}^{0}v)|_D &=& \Pi_{k,D}^{0}(v|_D),\quad \forall v\in L_2(\Omega),\\ (I_{k,h}v)|_D &=& I_{k,D}(v|_D),\quad \forall v\in H^3(\Omega).\end{aligned}$$ Also, the semi-norm on $H^2(\Omega)+\mathcal{P}_h^k$ is defined as $$\begin{aligned} |v|_{1,h}^2 = \sum_{D\in \mathcal{T}}|v|_{H^1(D)}^2,\quad |v|_{2,h}^2 = \sum_{D\in \mathcal{T}}|v|_{H^2(D)}^2,\end{aligned}$$ so that $|v|_{2,h}=|v|_{H^2(D)}$ for $v\in H^2(D),$ and $$|v-\Pi_{k,h}^{2}v|_{2,h} = \inf_{w\in \mathcal{P}_h^k}|v-w|,\ \forall v\in H^2(\Omega)+\mathcal{P}_h^k.$$ [ The local estimates: Corollary \[corollary\_1\], -, Lemma \[pikd0-bound\] and Lemma \[interpolation\_error\] immediately imply the following global results, where $h = \max\limits_{D\in\mathcal{T}_h} h_D$.]{} \[corollary\_3\] The global error estimates are listed below, $\forall \xi\in H^{l+1}(D),\ 2\leq l\leq k,$ we have $$\begin{aligned} \|\xi-I_{k,h}\xi\| +\|\xi-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta I_{k,h}\xi\|+ \|\xi - \Pi_{k,h}^0\xi\|+\|\xi - \Pi_{k,h}^\Delta\xi\| &\apprle& h^{l+1}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(\Omega)}, \\ \|\xi-I_{k,h}\xi\|_{1,h} +\|\xi-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta I_{k,h}\xi\|_{1,h}+ |\xi - \Pi_{k,h}^0\xi|_{1,h}+|\xi - \Pi_{k,h}^\Delta\xi|_{1,h} &\apprle& h^{l}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(\Omega)}, \\ \|\xi-I_{k,h}\xi\|_{2,h} +\|\xi-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta I_{k,h}\xi\|_{2,h}+ |\xi - \Pi_{k,0}^0\xi|_{2,h}+|\xi - \Pi_{k,h}^\Delta\xi|_{2,h} &\apprle& h^{l-1}|\xi|_{H^{l+1}(\Omega)},\end{aligned}$$ where the norm $\|\cdot\|:= \|\cdot\|_{L^2(\Omega)}$. The Discrete Problem -------------------- Our goal is to find $u_h\in \mathcal{Q}_h^k$, which satisfies $$\label{discrete-problem} a_h(u_h,v_h) = (f,\Xi_h v_h), \quad \forall v_h\in \mathcal{Q}_h^k,$$ where $\Xi_h$ is an operator from $\mathcal{Q}_h^k$ to $\mathcal{P}_h^k$, and $$\begin{aligned} a_h(w,v) &=& \sum_{D\in\mathcal{T}_h} \left( a^D(\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta w,\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v) +S^D(w-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta w,v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v) \right),\label{discrete1} \\ a^D(w,v)&=&\int_D{\bf D}^2w\cdot{\bf D}^2v\ dx,\label{discrete2} \\ S^D(w,v)&=& h_D^{-4}(\Pi^0_{k-4,D}w,\Pi^0_{k-4,D}v)_D + h_D^{-3}\sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D} (\Pi^0_{r,e}w,\Pi^0_{r,e}v)_e \nonumber \\ &&\quad + h_D^{-1}\sum_{e\in\mathcal{E}_D,i=1,2} \left( \Pi^0_{r-1,e}\frac{\partial w}{\partial x_i}, \Pi^0_{r-1,e}\frac{\partial v}{\partial x_i} \right)_e,\label{discrete3} \end{aligned}$$ for $w,v\in H^2(\Omega)$. If $w,v\in \mathcal{Q}^k(D),$ we have $$\Pi^0_{r,e}w = w|_e,\quad \Pi^0_{r-1,e}\frac{\partial w}{\partial x_i} = \left.\frac{\partial w}{\partial x_i}\right|_e,$$ so that $S^D(w,v)$ can be computed explicitly with the degrees of freedom of $\mathcal{Q}^k(D)$. ### Other Choices of $S^D(\cdot,\cdot)$ The systems of virtual element method are equivalent if the bilinear form satisfies $$S^D(v,v) \approx h^{-4}_D|||v|||_{k,D}^2,\quad \forall v\in {\rm Ker}\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta .$$ From Lemma \[equivalence\_b\] and Remark \[remark\_t\], we can take $$\begin{aligned} S^D(w,v)&=& h_D^{-3} (w,v)_{\partial D} + h_D^{-1} \left( \frac{\partial w}{\partial n}, \frac{\partial v}{\partial n} \right)_{\partial D},\\ S^D(w,v)&=& h_D^{-1} \left( \frac{\partial w}{\partial t}, \frac{\partial v}{\partial t} \right)_{\partial D} + h_D^{-1} \left( \frac{\partial w}{\partial n}, \frac{\partial v}{\partial n} \right)_{\partial D},\end{aligned}$$ for $w, v\in {\rm Ker}\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta $. Well-posedness of the Discrete Problem -------------------------------------- We can show the well-posedness by the following Lemmas. \[S\^Dbound2\] For any $v\in H^2(D)$, we have $$S^D(v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v,v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v)^{1/2}\apprle |v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v|_{H^2(D)}.$$ By - and Lemma \[friedrichs\], let $w = v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v$, we have $\bar{w} = 0$, and $$S^D(w,w)^{1/2} = h_D^{-2}|||w-\bar{w}|||_{k,D}\apprle |w|_{H^2(D)}.$$ \[S\^D-equivalent\] For any $v\in {\rm Ker}\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta $, we have $S^D(v,v)\approx |v|^2_{H^2(D)}.$ For any $v\in {\rm Ker}\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta,$ we have $v\in H^2(D)$ and $$v = v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v,$$ with Lemma \[inverse-inequality\] and Lemma \[S\^Dbound2\], we have the equivalence. \[S\^Dbound\] By Lemma \[S\^Dbound2\], for any $v,w\in \mathcal{Q}_h^k$, we have $$S^D(v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v,w-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta w)\apprle |v-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta v|_{H^2(D)} |w-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta w|_{H^2(D)}.$$ Then by Lemma \[S\^D-equivalent\], as in [@Brenner17], we have $$\label{a(vv)} a_h(v,v) \approx a(v,v),\quad \forall v\in \mathcal{Q}_h^k,$$ which means problem is uniquely solvable. Choice of $\Xi_h$ ----------------- Here, we chose $\Xi_h$ as $$\Xi_h = \begin{cases} \Pi_{k,h}^0 & \quad \text{if } 2\leq k \leq 3,\\ \Pi_{k-1,h}^0 & \quad \text{if } k\geq 4. \end{cases}$$ The following result can be used for error analysis in $H^2(\Omega)$ norm. Define $H^0(\Omega) := L_2(\Omega)$, and the indices $(k, l, m)$ as $$\label{index_klm} (k, l, m):=\begin{cases} {\rm for}\ 2\leq k\leq 3,\ l=0,\ m=2,\\ {\rm for}\ 4\leq k,\ l = k-3,\ m=2+l. \end{cases}$$ \[klm-h2\] With , we have $$(f,w-\Xi_h w) \apprle h^{2+l}|f|_{H^l(\Omega)} |w|_{H^2(\Omega)}, \quad \forall f\in H^{l}(\Omega),\ w\in \mathcal{Q}_h^k.$$ For $k\leq 3, f\in L_2(\Omega)$, we define $\Pi_{k-4} f = 0,$ so that with Corollary \[corollary\_3\], we have $$\begin{aligned} (f,w-\Xi_h w) &=& (f-\Pi_{k-4,h}^0 f,w-\Xi_h w)\\ &=& (f,w-\Pi_{k,h}^0 w)\\ &\leq& \|f\|_{L_2(\Omega)} \|w-\Pi_{1,h}^0 w\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\\ &\apprle& h^2\|f\|_{L_2(\Omega)} |w|_{H^2(\Omega)}\end{aligned}$$ For $k\geq 4, f\in H^l(\Omega), l = k-3$, with Corollary \[corollary\_3\],we have $$\begin{aligned} (f,w-\Xi_h w) &=& (f-\Pi_{k-4,h}^0 f,w-\Xi_h w)\\ &\leq& \|f-\Pi_{k-4,h}^0 f\|_{L_2(\Omega)} \|w-\Pi_{1,h}^0 w\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\\ &\apprle& h^{2+l}|f|_{H^l(\Omega)} |w|_{H^2(\Omega)}\end{aligned}$$ \[klm-h3\] With , we have $$\label{klm-h3-1} (f,I_{k,h}w-\Xi_h I_{k,h}w) \apprle h^{3+l}|f|_{H^l(\Omega)} |w|_{H^3(\Omega)}, \quad \forall f\in H^{l}(\Omega),\ w\in H^3(\Omega),\ k\geq 2,$$ $$\label{fik=3h} (f,I_{k,h}w-\Xi_h I_{k,h}w) \apprle h^{3+s+l}|f|_{H^l(\Omega)} \|w\|_{H^{3+s}(\Omega)}, \quad \forall f\in H^{l}(\Omega),\ w\in H^{3+s}(\Omega),\ k\geq 3, \ 0<s\leq 1.$$ Follow the proof in Lemma \[klm-h2\] with Lemma \[pikd0-bound\] and Lemma \[interpolation\_error\]. For $k\geq 2$, $w\in H^3(\Omega)$, we have $$\begin{aligned} (f,I_{k,h} w -\Xi_h I_{k,h} w) &=& (f-\Pi_{k-4,h}^0f,I_{k,h} w -\Xi_h I_{k,h} w)\\ &=& (f-\Pi_{k-4,h}^0f,I_{k,h} w -w + w-\Xi_h w + \Xi_h (w-I_{k,h} w) ),\end{aligned}$$ then with Corollary \[corollary\_3\], we can get , so as $k\geq 3$ and $w\in H^{3+s}(\Omega)$. Error Estimate in $|\cdot|_{H^2(\Omega)}$ Norm ---------------------------------------------- Firstly, the error estimate in $|\cdot|_{H^2(\Omega)}$ norm for $u-u_h$ is given in Theorem \[theorem1\]. \[theorem1\] With , we have $$|u-u_h|_{H^2(\Omega)} \apprle \inf_{v_h\in\mathcal{Q}_h^k}|u-v_h|_{H^2(\Omega)} + \inf_{p\in\mathcal{P}_h^k}|u-p|_{2,h} + h^m|f|_{H^l(\Omega)}.$$ Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$|u-u_h|_{H^2(\Omega)} \apprle h^{k-1}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}).$$ Similar as in [@Brenner17], for any given $v_h\in \mathcal{Q}_h^k$, from , we have $$|u_h-v_h|_{H^2(\Omega)}\apprle \max_{w_h\in\mathcal{Q}_h^k} \frac{a_h(v_h-u_h,w_h)} {|w_h|_{H^2(\Omega)}},$$ and by , $$a_h(v_h-u_h,w_h) = a_h(v_h,w_h)-(f,\Xi_h w_h).$$ Then from to , by , , we have $$\begin{aligned} a_h(v_h-u_h,w_h) &=& \sum_{D\in\mathcal{T}_h} a^D(\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta (v_h -u)+(\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta u-u),w_h) + (f,w_h-\Xi_h w_h)\\ &&+ \sum_{D\in\mathcal{T}_h} S^D( (I-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta )(v_h-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta u),(I-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta )w_h ),\end{aligned}$$ with Lemma \[klm-h2\], Remark \[S\^Dbound\] or Lemma \[S\^Dbound2\] and Corollary \[corollary\_3\], the estimate is obtained. Error Estimate in $|\cdot|_{H^1(\Omega)}$ and $\|\cdot\|_{L_2(\Omega)}$ Norm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- We suppose $\Omega$ is also convex and start with a consistency result. Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$\label{h166} a(u-u_h,I_{k,h}\xi)\apprle h^{k}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)})|\xi|_{H^3(\Omega)} ,\quad \forall \xi\in H^3(\Omega)\cap H^2_0(\Omega),\ k\geq 2,$$ $$\label{l267} a(u-u_h,I_{k,h}\xi)\apprle h^{k+s}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)})\|\xi\|_{H^{3+s}(\Omega)} ,\quad \forall \xi\in H^{3+s}(\Omega)\cap H^2_0(\Omega),\ k\geq 3,$$ where $l$ is defined in . Similar as in [@Brenner17], we have $$\begin{aligned} a(u-u_h,I_{k,h}\xi) &=& \sum_{D\in\mathcal{T}_h} a^D(u-u_h, I_{k,D}\xi - \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta I_{k,D}\xi) + \sum_{D\in\mathcal{T}_h} a^D(\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta u-u, I_{k,D}\xi - \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta I_{k,D}\xi)\\ &&\quad + (f,I_{k,h}\xi-\Xi I_{k,h}\xi) + \sum_{D\in\mathcal{T}_h} S^D( (I-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta )u_h,(I-\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta )I_{k,D}\xi )\\ &\apprle& \left( |u-u_h|_{H^2(\Omega)}+|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u|_{2,h} \right) |I_{k,h}\xi - \Pi_{k,h}^\Delta I_{k,h}\xi|_{2,h}+(f,I_{k,h}\xi-\Xi I_{k,h}\xi).\end{aligned}$$ Then by Lemma \[klm-h3\], Corollary \[corollary\_3\], and Theorem \[theorem1\], we get the estimate. From the regularity results of , see [@Grisvard92], we have $$\label{regularity-h1} \|u\|_{H^3(\Omega)} \apprle \|f\|_{H^{-1}(\Omega)},\quad \forall f\in {H^{-1}(\Omega)}.$$ $$\label{regularity-l2} \|u\|_{H^{3+s}(\Omega)} \apprle \|f\|_{L_2(\Omega)},\quad \forall f\in {L_2(\Omega)}, \ 0<s\leq 1.$$ \[theorem2\] Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$|u-u_h|_{H^1(\Omega)}\apprle h^{k}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}),$$ where $l$ is defined in . Using the duality arguments and , let $f=-\Delta(u-u_h),$ and $\phi\in H_0^2(\Omega)$ be the solution of , then we get $$\begin{aligned} |u-u_h|^2_{H^1(\Omega)} &=&(\Delta^2\phi,u-u_h)\\ &=&a(u-u_h,\phi-I_{k,h}\phi)+a(u-u_h,I_{k,h}\phi)\\ &\apprle& h^{k}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)})|\phi|_{H^3(\Omega)},\end{aligned}$$ by , we have $|\phi|_{H^3(\Omega)}\apprle |u-u_h|_{H^1(\Omega)}$, then the result is obtained. \[theorem3\] Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$\label{l2k=2} \|u-u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\apprle h^{2}(|u|_{H^{3}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{L_2(\Omega)}), \ k=2,$$ $$\|u-u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\apprle h^{k+s}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}),\ k\geq 3, \ 0<s\leq 1,$$ where $l$ is defined in . For $k=2,$ by Theorem \[theorem2\] and Poincar$\acute{\rm e}$ inequality, is obtained. For $k\geq 3$, using the duality arguments and , let $f=u-u_h,$ and $\phi\in H_0^2(\Omega)$ be the solution of , then we get $$\begin{aligned} \|u-u_h\|^2_{L_2(\Omega)} &=&(\Delta^2\phi,u-u_h)\\ &=&a(u-u_h,\phi-I_{k,h}\phi)+a(u-u_h,I_{k,h}\phi)\\ &\apprle& h^{k+s}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)})\|\phi\|_{H^{3+s}(\Omega)}, \end{aligned}$$ by , we have $\|\phi\|_{H^{3+s}(\Omega)}\apprle \|u-u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}$, then the result is obtained. Error Estimates for $\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h$ ------------------------------------------ We also have an error estimate for the computable $\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h$. Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h|_{2,h} \apprle h^{k-1}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}).$$ By , Theorem \[theorem1\], Corollary \[corollary\_3\], and $$|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u|_{2,h}\leq \inf_{p\in\mathcal{P}_h^k}|u-p|_{2,h}, \ \forall u\in H^2(\Omega),$$ the estimate is obtained. \[coh1\] Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h|_{1,h} \apprle h^{k}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}),$$ where $l$ is defined in . By Corollary \[corollary\_1\], Corollary \[corollary\_3\], Theorem \[theorem2\], Lemma \[leq-semi-norm\] and $$|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h|_{1,h}\leq |u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u|_{1,h}+|\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h|_{1,h}.$$ Suppose $\xi = u-u_h,$ and $\bar{\xi}$ is defined as in Lemma \[friedrichs\], the second term is estimated as $$h_D|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi|_{H^1(D)}= h_D|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta (\xi-\bar{\xi})|_{H^1(D)}\apprle |||\xi-\bar{\xi}|||_{k,D}\apprle h_D^2|\xi|_{H^2(D)},$$ so that $$|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta (u-u_h)|_{H^1(D)}^2\apprle h^2_D|u-u_h|^2_{H^2(D)}$$ sum them up then the estimate is obtained. Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$\label{hl2k=2} \|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\apprle h^{2}(|u|_{H^{3}(\Omega)}+ \|f\|_{L_2(\Omega)}), \ k=2,$$ $$\|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\apprle h^{k+s}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}),\ k\geq 3, \ 0<s\leq 1,$$ where $l$ is defined in . By Corollary \[corollary\_1\], Corollary \[corollary\_3\], Theorem \[theorem2\], Theorem \[theorem3\], Lemma \[leq-semi-norm\] and $$\|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\leq \|u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u\|_{L_2(\Omega)}+\|\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u-\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}.$$ From Lemma \[friedrichs\], the second term is estimated as $$\|\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta (u-u_h)\|_{L_2(D)}^2 \apprle \|u-u_h\|_{L_2(D)}^2+ h_D^2|u-u_h|_{H^1(D)}^2 +h_D^4|u-u_h|_{H^2(D)}^2,$$ sum them up then, the estimate is obtained. Error Estimates for $\Pi_{k,h}^0u_h$ ------------------------------------ Since $\Pi_{k,h}^0u_h$ can be computed explicitly, we can also get the similar error estimates between $u$ and $\Pi_{k,h}^0u_h$. \[coh2pik0\] Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$|u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u_h|_{2,h} \apprle h^{k-1}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}).$$ By Lemma \[pikd0-bound\], Theorem \[theorem1\], and $$|u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u_h|_{2,h}\leq |u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u|_{2,h} +|\Pi_{k,h}^0 (u-u_h)|_{2,h}, \ \forall u\in H^2(\Omega),$$ the estimate is obtained. \[coh1-pik0\] Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$|u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u_h|_{1,h} \apprle h^{k}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}),$$ where $l$ is defined in . By , , Theorem \[theorem2\], and $$|u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u_h|_{1,h}\leq |u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u|_{1,h}+|\Pi_{k,h}^0 (u-u_h)|_{1,h},$$ for the second term, we have $$|\Pi_{k,D}^0 (u-u_h)|_{H^1(D)}^2\apprle |u-u_h|^2_{H^1(D)}$$ sum them up then the estimate is obtained. \[copik0l2\] Suppose $u\in H^{k+1}(\Omega)$ then $$\label{hl2k=2-pik0} \|u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\apprle h^{2}(|u|_{H^{3}(\Omega)}+ \|f\|_{L_2(\Omega)}), \ k=2,$$ $$\|u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\apprle h^{k+s}(|u|_{H^{k+1}(\Omega)}+ |f|_{H^{l}(\Omega)}),\ k\geq 3, \ 0<s\leq 1,$$ where $l$ is defined in . By Theorem \[theorem3\], and $$\|u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)}\leq \|u-\Pi_{k,h}^0 u\|_{L_2(\Omega)}+\|\Pi_{k,h}^0 (u-u_h)\|_{L_2(\Omega)},$$ the second term is estimated as $$\|\Pi_{k,D}^0 (u-u_h)\|_{L_2(\Omega)} \apprle \|u-u_h\|_{L_2(\Omega)},$$ so the results are obtained. Conclusion ========== We have extended the works done in [@Brenner17] to forth order problems in two dimension. Similar basic estimates for local projections $\Pi_{k,D}^\Delta$, $\Pi_{k,D}^0$, $I_{k,D}$ and the improved error analysis of modified virtual element method for biharmonic equation are obtained. The computable piecewise polynomials $\Pi_{k,h}^\Delta u_h$ and $\Pi_{k,h}^0 u_h$ are more efficient to use. We can replace by $$\label{pikd4} \int_D \nabla \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi\ dx = \int_D \nabla \xi\ dx,$$ To compute , we have $$\int_D\frac{\partial \xi }{\partial x_i}\ dx = \int_{\partial D}{\xi }n_i\ ds.$$ For $k\geq 4$, can replace by $$\label{pikd5} \int_{D} \Pi_{k,D}^\Delta \xi\ ds = \int_{D} \xi\ dx.$$ And the replacements attain same estimates for projections and error analysis. There is a potential to extend the work here to three dimensional fourth order problems. [99]{} L. Beir${\rm \tilde{a}}$o da Veiga, F. Brezzi, A. Cangiani, G. Manzini, L. D. Marini, and A. Russo. “Basic principles of virtual element methods." Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences 23, no. 01 (2013): 199-214. F. Brezzi, Richard S. Falk, and L. D. Marini. “Basic principles of mixed virtual element methods." ESAIM: Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Analysis 48, no. 4 (2014): 1227-1240. L. Beir${\rm \tilde{a}}$o da Veiga, F. Brezzi, L. D. Marini, and A. Russo. “Virtual Element Method for general second-order elliptic problems on polygonal meshes." Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences 26, no. 04 (2016): 729-750. L. Beir${\rm \tilde{a}}$o da Veiga, F. Brezzi, L. D. Marini, and A. Russo. “Mixed virtual element methods for general second order elliptic problems on polygonal meshes." ESAIM: Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Analysis 50, no. 3 (2016): 727-747. L. Beir${\rm \tilde{a}}$o da Veiga, F. Brezzi, L. D. Marini, and A. Russo. “Virtual Element Implementation for General Elliptic Equations." In Building Bridges: Connections and Challenges in Modern Approaches to Numerical Partial Differential Equations, pp. 39-71. Springer International Publishing, 2016. S.C. Brenner, Q. Guan, and L.-Y. Sung. “On some estimates for virtual element methods”, [*Computational Methods in Applied Mathematics*]{}, ISSN (Online) 1609-9389. F. Brezzi and L.D. Marini. “Virtual Element Methods for plate bending problems”, Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 253 (2013) 455–462 C. Chinosi and L.D. Marini. Virtual element method for fourth order problems: $L_2$ estimates. Comput. Math. Appl., 72:1959–1967, 2016. Douglas Jim Jr., Dupont Todd, Percell Peter, and Scott Ridgway “A family of $C^1$ finite elements with optimal approximation properties for various Galerkin methods for 2nd and 4th order problems” ESAIM: Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Analysis, Volume 13 (1979) no. 3 , p. 227–255 S.C. Brenner and L.R. Scott. The Mathematical Theory of Finite Element Methods (Third Edition). Springer-Verlag, New York, 2008. J.H. Bramble and S.R. Hilbert. Estimation of linear functionals on Sobolev spaces with applications to Fourier transforms and spline interpolation. SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 7:113–124, 1970. Adams, Robert A., and John J.F. Fournier. Sobolev spaces. Vol. 140. Academic press, 2003. P. Grisvard, Singularities in Boundary Value Problems, in: Recherches en Math$\acute{\rm e}$matiques Appliqu$\acute{\rm e}$es (Research in Applied Mathematics), vol. 22, Masson, Springer-Verlag, Paris, Berlin, 1992. Jind$\check{\rm r}$ich Ne$\check{\rm c}$as, Direct Methods in the Theory of Elliptic Equations, Springer Science & Business Media, 2011. | Mid | [
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A car chase turned deadly in Northern San Bernardino on Friday, when police shot and killed their suspect from a chopper. During a news conference at the scene Friday afternoon, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Deputy Olivia Bozek said that the unnamed driver was a robbery suspect who police had attempted to take into custody during a traffic stop around 12:49 PM. When the driver refused to stop, he was chased through Fontana on the 215 freeway until reaching northern San Bernardino. The driver was going the wrong way on the freeway when he got out of his Chevrolet Tahoe. He failed to park the vehicle properly, and it crashed head-on into another vehicle. The driver was then shot by officers who hovered above the scene in a helicopter. The three passengers in the vehicle his car hit were taken to the hospital and their condition remains unknown. "It’s a public safety issue once he starts going the wrong way,” Bozek said. “Obviously, he doesn’t care about passengers or pedestrians or other cars." — Melissa Pamer (@mpamer) September 19, 2015 Bozek continued on to assert that because the pursuit had reached speeds of over 100 miles per hour on surface streets, the shooting was needed to prevent "more injuries to the public," despite the fact that the suspect had already exited his vehicle. | Low | [
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The Trump administration blocked Obama-era rules that would have saddled employers with hundreds of millions of dollars in compliance costs and increased paperwork loads by millions of hours each year. The Office of Management and Budget instructed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to shelve a rule change that would have required employers to submit 20 times as much data to the agency as previously required. The Obama administration called for the new standards, which would have affected 61,000 American companies with more than 100 workers and federal contractors with more than 50 workers, to demonstrate his commitment to closing the much-disputed "gender wage gap." Obama's EEOC called for businesses to provide 3,660 different data points about each employee and their pay structure, up from the 188 points. OMB issued the stay because of its concerns that the new forms would prove "unnecessarily burdensome" on businesses, while not achieving its desired goal of eliminating purposeful discrimination. It also said the EEOC rules could invade the privacy of individual workers without adequate protections in place. "OMB is concerned that some aspects of the revised collection of information lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues," Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Neomi Rao said in an Aug. 29 memo. The agency conducted a review of the rules, but did not provide all of the specifics of its data collection methods during public comment period to get feedback from employers. OMB said the EEOC's omission could have led it to vastly underestimating the costs associated with adding nearly 3,500 new data points to the existing forms. The agency estimated the new regulations would cost employers $53.5 million and take about 1.9 million hours to complete. Those numbers paled in comparison to the findings of a survey conducted by the Chamber of Commerce, which estimated the regulations would cost $400 million and increase work hours by 8 million—if additional overhead is taken into account the rules could cost up to $1.3 billion. "The public did not receive an opportunity to provide comment on the method of data submission to EEOC. In addition, EEOC's burden estimates did not account for the use of these particular data file specifications, which may have changed the initial burden estimate," the memo said. The Chamber of Commerce said that the EEOC did not do its due diligence to assess the cost associated with the rule. "The fact that the burden estimates were so defective was particularly unacceptable given the lack of utility of the information being collected by EEOC," Chamber Senior Vice President Randy Johnson said in a release. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, called on the Trump administration to block the rules in an April letter. He welcomed the OMB decision in a statement, saying the EEOC should use its resources to address a "backlog of more than 73,000 unresolved complaints of discrimination," rather than engage in new rulemaking. "This agency is supposed to be protecting American workers from discrimination. Instead the EEOC came up with an absurd mandate forcing employers to submit new pay data on 63 million private sector employees," Alexander said in a statement. "The Trump administration has done the right thing today so EEOC can think critically about what data it should require of employers and begin to work through its backlog of more than 73,000 unresolved complaints of discrimination." The move drew criticism from feminist groups. Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of UltraViolet and a veteran of MoveOn.org, called the roll back a "setback for equality." "The Trump administration's announcement is a setback for equality and will worsen this country's pay gap," she said in a statement. "The very purpose of pay data collection is to ensure against wage discrimination targeting women and people of color." Acting EEOC Chairman Victoria Lipnic said the agency remains committed to fighting pay discrimination and pledged to work with Congress and businesses to address the issue of pay. "The EEOC remains committed to strong enforcement of our federal equal pay laws, a position I have long advocated," she said in a statement. "I do hope that this decision will prompt a discussion of other more effective solutions to encourage employers to review their compensation practices to ensure equal pay and close the wage gap." Employers will still have to submit data focusing on race and gender using the 188-point forms by March 31, 2018, six months after the originally scheduled Sept. 30 deadline. | Low | [
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Ransomware belongs to the family of malware used to take control of users’ machines and the users get back control of the machine when the victim pays a ransom to the attackers. There are a number of preventive steps that a user can take to avoid ransomware attack. But before delving depth into the ransomware prevention technique, you need to know a bit about types of ransomware and how they spread. How does ransomware spread? Your computer may get infected with ransomware in several ways such as via email attachment, via compromised website, Trojan horses, by clicking pop up ads, etc. [Read more…] Though malware may take many forms, they have only one purpose to -disturb your computing environment. We can broadly classify malware depending on how the replicate and function. Remember that any codes that have evil intentions can be called a malware. That is why a virus, worm or even a backdoor program can be considered as a malware. But there is a distinct difference between a malware and an exploit that we will discuss in another post. [Read more…] Advanced malwares are extremely stealthy and attack targeted protocols and applications. In most cases, the attackers use these malwares to steal sensitive information from the governmental institutes financial institutes, especially the credit card service providers . Major Concerns about Advanced Malware: They are discovered after the attack has been taken place. So, you do not have a clue what is going on with your sensitive data unless you detect the presence of advanced malware in your system. When you are planning against advanced malware your primary target should be detect it as soon as possible. By using Garter’s 5 styles of advanced defence framework, you can apply the following five defence mechanism in your network: Syras is a telecommunication and IT security professional with over 10 years of experience in this field. He has been running his personal blog Securitywing.com since 2010. He has the following certifications: CISA(Certified Information Systems Auditor) CCNP(Cisco Certified Network Professional) Prince2( Project Management) Machine Learning Copyrights Securitywing.com reserves the copyrights of all of its published articles.No contents of this site is permitted to be published to anywhere else in the Internet.If any contents are found in any other websites, securitywing reserves the rights to file a DMCA complaint. But you have the right to use the link of any relevant article of this site to point from your website if you consider that it might improve the quality of your article. | High | [
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1. Introduction {#s1} =============== Consciousness science has been the subject of considerable research effort in recent decades, and this has led to the creation of very many theories about consciousness, but none has broad acceptance within the scientific community (Pereira et al., [@B124]; Katz, [@B86]). Katz commented that the profusion of theoretical approaches suggests there is a profound problem in this domain. A central problem in consciousness science is that we still do not know the biological function of consciousness[^1^](#fn0001){ref-type="fn"} ---we do not know why we have experiences (Bayne, [@B14]; de Gardelle and Kouider, [@B37]; Seth, [@B149]). When the function of consciousness is known, that knowledge is likely to have a significant effect on our understanding of consciousness, and on future directions in research. Of the very many theories of consciousness proposed in recent decades, most attempt to explain how consciousness arises. Some examples are: higher-order thought (Rosenthal, [@B139], [@B140]), integrated information (Tononi et al., [@B170]; Tononi, [@B169]), neural correlates of consciousness (Crick and Koch, [@B32]; Koch, [@B91]), re-entrant interaction (Edelman, [@B44], [@B45]), quantum coherence (Hameroff, [@B68]; Hameroff and Penrose, [@B69]), and sensorimotor (O\'Regan and Noë, [@B121]) theories. All of these theories, and many others, are concerned primarily with how consciousness arises, and only secondarily, if at all, with the biological function of consciousness. The other main category of consciousness theories is those that describe how consciousness and its associated neural processes interact with other systems in the brain. Examples are global workspace theory (Baars, [@B5], [@B6]), and supramodular interaction theory (Morsella, [@B114]). Each of these two theories also includes a statement of how consciousness arises. Several of these theories refer to the biological function of consciousness, with statements ranging from the general comment that consciousness is adaptive, to statements that consciousness functions as a form of workspace with input from and output to various kinds of unconscious processing (Baars, [@B6]), or that its function is to produce a single representation and make it available to the parts of the brain that choose between different plans for action (Crick and Koch, [@B33]). These and many other theories have proposed a similar function for consciousness to the present paper; to contribute to responding more flexibly when automatic actions are unsuitable. What is new about the approach presented here is that I have examined the properties of consciousness and concluded from them that consciousness can only have biological value as input to a mechanism, or mechanisms, that determine behavior. Consciousness can only have biological value if it benefits the organism by changing its behavior. In general, an evolved property of an organism can be adaptive as a result of changes to its body, or its behavior, or both its body and its behavior, that enhance the organism\'s ability to survive, reproduce, and perpetuate its genetic material through subsequent generations. Such changes may assist in the avoidance of predators, getting food, digestion, healing injuries, sexual function, and so on. The evolution of conscious neural structures[^2^](#fn0002){ref-type="fn"} did not involve physical changes outside of the nervous system that could confer physical advantages such as improved camouflage, quicker movement, or improved organ function. Therefore, if consciousness is adaptive, its biological value must result from allowing improved behavioral choices for its possessors. Hence, consciousness can only have adaptive value and a biological function by virtue of its being able to influence behavior. The purpose of this research was to establish the biological function of consciousness---the actual role of consciousness in the selection and control of certain behaviors---and then to demonstrate that this biological function leads to an explanation for the known properties of consciousness. The research begins with consideration of three topics: the evidence that one experiences no mental[^3^](#fn0003){ref-type="fn"} processes[^4^](#fn0004){ref-type="fn"}, the evidence that consciousness is adaptive, and the evidence that consciousness is solely information[^5^](#fn0005){ref-type="fn"}. The logical sequence of this research, and the principal lines of evidence and conclusions are represented in the flowchart (**Figure 1**). {#d35e225} The research has two parts. The first part, shown above the broken line in the flowchart, is concerned with establishing that consciousness has a biological function, and that its function must consist in being the data input to processes for determining behavior. The second part of the research, represented below the broken line in the flowchart, is a collection of evidence pointing to consciousness being the input to a mechanism for manipulating data to generate responses in situations where automatic programs are likely to produce less than optimal behavior. This mechanism, the *flexible response mechanism* (FRM), is the source of thoughts, intentional actions, decisions, plans, daydreams, and so on. 2. Evidence that consciousness has no executive function ======================================================== Some of the many published claims that consciousness incorporates no processing at all, or is not involved in particular kinds of processing, are listed in Section 2.1. In Section 2.2, I provide evidence from introspection and experiments that demonstrates, in relation to the principal mental activities, that there is no processing of information in consciousness. 2.1. Published claims that consciousness includes no mental processes --------------------------------------------------------------------- Lashley ([@B92], p. 4) wrote that "*No activity of mind is ever conscious*" (emphasis in original). His examples were that we do not experience how our perceptions are created, or how sentences are produced. He also wrote that acts of will, decisions, logic, and the formation and manipulation of abstractions, are all nonconscious neural processes. Miller ([@B112]) also made an early contribution to arguments that none of the processes of the conscious mind are experienced. He wrote that thinking is a preconscious process, for example when one recalls something from memory "consciousness gives no clue as to where the answer comes from; the processes that produce it are unconscious. It is the *result* of thinking, not the process of thinking, that appears spontaneously in consciousness" (p. 72, emphasis in original). Miller wrote that processes leading to perception are complex, and we have no awareness of them; perception is an unconscious process. "What is true of thinking and of perceiving is true in general. We can state it as a general rule: No activity of mind is ever conscious" (p. 72). Nisbett and Wilson ([@B117]) were the first to provide evidence, based on a review of published experimental work, that we never really know why we do the things we do, why we choose the things we choose, or why we prefer the things we prefer. When people are questioned about these matters, both the questioner and the questioned are ordinarily unaware that the answers given are necessarily fabrications. The conclusions of Nisbett and Wilson were supported by the research of Johansson et al. ([@B81], [@B82]). In a now classic study, Velmans ([@B175]) examined information from a variety of sources in search of evidence of processing in consciousness, and found none. After reviewing the relevant literature, and other considerations, Velmans reported that: - Analysis and selection of information for entry to consciousness is unconscious---one is not aware of any of this analysis as it happens. - Control of attention is unconscious---consciousness cannot select what is to enter itself. - Learning and memory are unconscious processes---processes that create and retrieve memories are not accessible to introspection. - Planning---for example, formulating ideas and translating them into a suitable form for speech are not conscious---one is only aware of exactly what one is going to say after one has said it. - Creativity is not a conscious process. - Organizing our responses is unconscious---we respond to a skin stimulus long before it has entered consciousness. - Determining priorities is unconscious---what is important at any given moment requires continuous updating in a constantly changing world, and we are not aware of this occurring. - Production of voluntary responses is unconscious---there is no awareness of any of the processing needed to execute a response. Velmans concluded that data for entry into experience are preselected unconsciously; there was no direct evidence of data processing in consciousness---no choices or control of behavior occur in consciousness; and, post-conscious data processing is entirely unconscious---behavior that follows on from events in consciousness is under automatic control. Smith ([@B156]) stated that it is logically impossible to consciously choose one\'s next word or one\'s next experience, because they would have to be conscious already. Therefore, they are not consciously determined and must be generated by processes in the brain of which one is not conscious. And, when trying to think of the next word to write, one is occasionally conscious of a "waiting period for the next word that will appear... an *unconscious* 'incubation' process takes place ending when the next word appears" (Smith, [@B156], p. 426). And, one is not conscious of the computations done by the brain, but only of its decisions or plans; Smith wrote that consciousness has no computational powers. Edelman and Tononi ([@B43], p. 58) wrote, "when we consciously add two numbers together, it seems that we simply pass a request to our brain, the brain carries it out, and the answer is delivered.... When we search for an item in memory, we formulate the question in our consciousness. Unbeknownst to us, the brain seems to search for a while, and suddenly the response is made available to consciousness." Dehaene and Naccache ([@B38], p. 16) wrote that "we can never be conscious of the inner workings of our cerebral processes, but only of their outputs. A classical example is syntax: we can become conscious that a sentence is not grammatical, but we have no introspection on the inner workings of the syntactical apparatus that underlies this judgment." Wegner ([@B178]) wrote that creative insights are unexpected and appear to be involuntary; adding two numbers occurs unconsciously; highly skilled actions happen without involving consciousness (driving a car, playing a musical instrument). He stated that "unconscious and inscrutable mechanisms create both conscious thought about action and the action, and also produce the sense of will we experience by perceiving the thought as the cause of the action" (p. 98). Pockett ([@B127]) wrote that problem solving is unconscious---only the solution is presented to the conscious mind, and "the creator tends to have the eerie feeling that 'It wasn't me who did it"\' (p. 31); "I know what I think only when I see what I write" (p. 31); and that the experience of volition is not necessary for the performance of actions that would normally be considered volitional. Umiltá([@B174], p. 328) wrote that "we are never conscious of the inner workings of our cognitive processes, but only of their outputs." In summary, according to these researchers: The processes leading to perception are nonconscious[^6^](#fn0006){ref-type="fn"} (Lashley, [@B92]; Miller, [@B112]). Control of attention, and analysis and selection of information for entry to consciousness are nonconscious (Velmans, [@B175]; Smith, [@B156]). Intentional actions are under nonconscious control (Velmans, [@B175]; Wegner, [@B178]). Choices and decisions are nonconscious processes (Lashley, [@B92]; Nisbett and Wilson, [@B117]; Velmans, [@B175]; Smith, [@B156]; Johansson et al., [@B81], [@B82]). Thoughts are determined nonconsciously (Miller, [@B112]; Velmans, [@B175]; Smith, [@B156]; Wegner, [@B178]; Pockett, [@B127]). Before speaking or writing, one may know what one is going to speak or write about, because the thought has already been nonconsciously determined, but the selection and articulation of the words are nonconscious processes (Lashley, [@B92]; Smith, [@B156]; Velmans, [@B176]; Libet, [@B99]; Pockett, [@B127]). Problem solving and creativity are nonconscious (Velmans, [@B175]; Wegner, [@B178]; Pockett, [@B127]). Skilled actions are nonconsciously controlled (Wegner, [@B178]). Numerical addition is a nonconscious process (Edelman and Tononi, [@B43]; Wegner, [@B178]). Memory storage and recall are nonconscious processes (Miller, [@B112]; Velmans, [@B175]; Edelman and Tononi, [@B43]). Logic, and the formation and manipulation of abstractions, are nonconscious processes (Lashley, [@B92]). There is no evidence of any data[^7^](#fn0007){ref-type="fn"} processing in consciousness (Miller, [@B112]; Velmans, [@B175]; Smith, [@B156]; Dehaene and Naccache, [@B38]; Umiltá, [@B174]). This is not a complete list of such claims, but I hope it is sufficient to establish that many researchers have come to the conclusion either that one experiences no mental processes, or that at least some of what are regarded, according to commonsense, as mental processing functions of consciousness are, in reality, never experienced. In what follows, I examine a number of these claims in more detail. My aim is to present evidence that supports these claims, and refutes other claims, which continue to appear in scientific and philosophical publications, that our thoughts or feelings choose, initiate or control our actions, or that one can observe every stage in a "conscious" choice or decision. 2.2. Introspective and experimental evidence that one experiences no mental processes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rosenthal ([@B139], p. 356) commented that "relative to what we now know about other natural phenomena, we still have strikingly scant understanding of the nature of the mental. So introspection looms large as a source of information, just as sense perception was a more central source of knowledge about physical reality before the flourishing of the relevant systematic sciences." For those who have developed the necessary skills, introspection can be an important source of information about consciousness, and such information is especially valuable when there is a convergence between subjective and objective measures (Jack and Shallice, [@B79]; Jack, [@B78]). In the following subsections, I describe evidence from both introspection and experiments and, as will be apparent, these two lines of evidence are mutually confirmatory whenever both are available for similar situations. This evidence supports the view of the researchers listed in the previous section who stated that one does not experience the actual mental process during any mental activity, and it demonstrates that consciousness cannot have an executive role. One may experience the starting conditions, stages during processing, or the final outcome of mental processes, but there are always gaps in one\'s experience, and one never experiences the actual data manipulation that generates the outcome. ### 2.2.1. Intentionally initiating an action is a nonconscious process When I decide to pick up a cup and do so, I may believe that my thought initiates my action, but what I observe is I have the thought of picking up the cup and then reach out and take the cup. I do not experience the information manipulations that must occur to initiate my action, and I have no evidence that my action is consciously initiated. One tends to assume one\'s intentional actions are consciously initiated, but as Wegner and Wheatley ([@B180]) reported, we may perceive our actions as consciously caused if the thought occurs before the act and is consistent with the act, and there are no other likely causes. Libet and coworkers (Libet et al., [@B101]; Libet, [@B98]) described a series of experiments in which subjects were instructed to move a finger at a moment of their own choosing, and to note the time of awareness of "wanting," "urge," "intention," or "decision" to move. Libet and coworkers recorded the time of intention to move and the time of onset of the related readiness potential (RP), a scalp-recorded negative potential, which was known to precede physical actions. They found that the RP preceded the conscious intention to act by about 350 ms. They wrote that, "the brain evidently 'decides' to initiate or, at the least, prepare to initiate the act at a time before there is any reportable subjective awareness that such a decision has taken place. It is concluded that cerebral initiation even of a spontaneous voluntary act, of the kind studied here, can and usually does begin *unconsciously*" (p. 640, emphasis in original). Keller and Heckhausen ([@B88]) replicated the experiment of Libet and co-workers and confirmed their conclusions. Haggard and Eimer ([@B67]) repeated the Libet experiments but, in some trials, they allowed free choice which index finger to move. They also recorded the lateral readiness potential (LRP), which is a measure of the difference between levels of premotor activation on the active and inactive sides. Their data showed that the LRP was a more appropriate observation than the RP, and that the LRP preceded the intention to move, but by less time. They claimed that the experienced intention to move reflected neural events associated with implementation of the movement. Haggard ([@B66]) wrote that the frontal and parietal lobes prepare motor actions and produce the experience of intention. Trevena and Miller ([@B171]) measured RPs and LRPs, and employed statistical methods to analyze their measurements. They found that LRP is the relevant indicator, and that some perceived decisions occurred before the LRP, though on average they were after the LRP. They concluded that "inferring the direction of mind-body causation on the basis of temporal discrepancy alone is complicated by the difficulty of precisely timing both neural onsets and subjective experiences" (p. 132). Banks and Pockett ([@B8]) reviewed all these studies, and other relevant work, and concluded that the evidence appeared to support the view that the decision to act is prepared nonconsciously before the conscious decision. Thus, the evidence from introspection and experiments supports the view that consciousness does not cause the action, but merely indicates what the action will be (Wegner and Bargh, [@B179]; Pockett, [@B128]). Evidence from experiments that involve the subjective timing of decisions always has an element of inconclusiveness because of the difficulty of determining the exact moment of the decision. However, the conclusion from them that actions are always initiated nonconsciously is supported by the results of Hansen and Skavensky ([@B70]), discussed below, and it is supported by introspective observations, and from the fact that a decision when to act is similar in character to other decisions for which there is evidence they are nonconsciously determined. ### 2.2.2. Intentional control of actions is a nonconscious process When I slowly and attentively reach out and pick up a book, I may believe my movements are consciously controlled, but what I experience is an intention to control the movements plus consciously monitoring my arm movements (Smith, [@B156]). There is no experience of consciously controlling the movement. For example, if I see my hand is reaching toward the wrong book my hand moves to the correct location, but the processes that adjust its movement are unknown to me; control of the motor systems is not accessible to consciousness. When one strikes a nail with a hammer, one pays close attention to the task and might think the movement of the hammer is under conscious control. However, Hansen and Skavensky ([@B70]) reported evidence that the hammer is controlled nonconsciously. They described an experiment in which they used a hammer to hit a briefly illuminated point of light arranged to occur somewhere on a line from left to right in front of them. At the same time, their saccadic eye movements were recorded. During saccades, they were not consciously aware of seeing the light but they swung the hammer in response to the light, and their hits were as fast and accurate as when they reported they had seen the light. Since their speed and accuracy were the same, the mechanism would appear to have been the same whether or not they were conscious of the light. The initiation and control of the hammer movement were both nonconscious processes. Correct adjustment of hand movement toward a target that has changed position can occur under conditions where participants are not consciously aware the target has moved, and therefore their hand movement could not be under conscious control (Bridgeman et al., [@B22]; Goodale et al., [@B57]; Pélisson et al., [@B123]; Prablanc and Martin, [@B131]). Intentional movement toward a target object is corrected within 100--120 ms after hand movement begins, or after the target has changed position (Smith and Bowen, [@B157]; Soechting and Lacquaniti, [@B158]; Zelaznik et al., [@B184]; Castiello et al., [@B25]; Prablanc and Martin, [@B131]), but this is less than the time taken to experience movement of the hand or target, which is about 150--300 ms for most adults at ordinary stimulus intensities (Libet et al., [@B100], [@B102]; Libet, [@B96], [@B97]; Meador et al., [@B110]; Ray et al., [@B133], [@B134]). Therefore, these intentional actions must be nonconsciously controlled. Nonconscious visual systems can accurately control intentional behavior even when the conscious visual representation is in error, because behavior is controlled on the basis of nonconscious representations that are generally less prone to error than our perceptual representations (Bridgeman et al., [@B23]; Rossetti, [@B141]; Bridgeman, [@B21]; Umiltá, [@B174]). The vast majority of experiments investigating the control of behavior related to whether conscious or nonconscious *visual* information was employed to control behavior, and they consistently found that control is nonconscious. However, Paillard et al. ([@B122]) showed that unperceived *tactile* information could also control behavior. They studied a person who had suffered neurological damage that resulted in the total loss of experienced sensation on her right side. They described an experiment in which the woman was blindfolded and then touched at points on her right hand. She had no conscious awareness of the contact, but when asked to touch the point of contact with her left hand was able to do so without difficulty. The woman\'s action in touching the point of contact was a voluntary movement, which ordinarily would be assumed to be under conscious control. But the fact that she was unable to experience the contact showed that her movement was controlled nonconsciously. Since she had no difficulty using her nonconscious tactile information for controlling her movements it is likely that she was using the same system as she used before her injury (see Rossetti, [@B141], for evidence on tactile and proprioceptive data for action). It seems that action control is always nonconscious, whatever the data source. Evidence that consciousness does not directly control actions has been reviewed (for example, Rossetti, [@B141]; Rossetti and Pisella, [@B142]; Goodale and Humphrey, [@B55]; Umiltá, [@B174]). ### 2.2.3. Choices and decisions are nonconscious processes As an example of a "conscious" decision followed by action, I am engrossed in a particularly interesting article when a sound momentarily distracts me. Having broken the spell of the article, I ask myself whether I will return to it immediately, or have a coffee first. Shall I continue reading to find where the article is taking me, or shall I stop and enjoy a drink? I am aware of a kind of tension, of opposing impulses. Then I get up from my chair and make myself a coffee. I know the choice has been made, but I experienced no decision process. Another way one becomes aware of the outcome of one\'s decision is by one\'s feelings about the issue under consideration. Depending on the nature of the choice that one faces, one\'s feeling of knowing the outcome may come quickly, or there may be an intervening period of uncomfortable uncertainty or indecision. And the feeling of decision may come suddenly or it may be a slow realization. When it comes, the feeling could be of preference for a particular object, or an inclination toward a particular action. One may have thought about an issue long and hard, working through all the various considerations, perhaps even writing them down. Then, at some point, one knows one\'s "conscious" choice. When making a choice or decision, the step from awareness of the various options to one\'s decision is a nonconscious process (Nisbett and Wilson, [@B117]; Johansson et al., [@B81], [@B82]). In an investigation of the decision process, Petitmengin et al. ([@B126]), enhanced their subjects\' recollection of decisions by an elicitation interview method, so as to access their decision processes. Their subjects recovered much of the sequence of events surrounding their decisions, but there was no reference to their reporting all the data manipulations central to a decision. Their reports are much as one observes when taking careful note of events during the course of a decision; experiencing the sensory and emotional information prior to the decision, followed, perhaps after some delay, by an awareness of one\'s decision (which has been nonconsciously determined). The experience of becoming aware of the outcome of the nonconscious decision process may be what Petitmengin et al. were reporting (p. 665) when they referred to "an internal criterion informing the subject of the fact that his decision has been made (sense of relief, of determination...)." Petitmengin et al. did not report the actual mental process central to their subjects\' decisions, and therefore their research results do not contradict the evidence that the core process of making a decision is not experienced; only events before and after this process are accessible to consciousness. Haggard and Eimer ([@B67]) investigated the relationship between the timing of neural events and the perceived time of choosing to make one of two alternative voluntary actions (whether to move the left or right index finger). They demonstrated that the decision, "left or right" was apparent from the LRP before the perceived intention to move. They wrote (p. 132) that "the LRP is a relatively late event in the physiological chain leading to action," but it appeared to precede conscious awareness of an intention to move, therefore the decision was made nonconsciously. In a report of functional magnetic resonance imaging studies during decision processes, Soon et al. ([@B159], p. 545) wrote that "two specific regions in the frontal and parietal cortex of the human brain had considerable information that predicted the outcome of a motor decision the subject had not yet consciously made." Both these reports support the view that decisions are nonconscious processes. ### 2.2.4. The control of attention is always nonconscious There are two forms of attention control: exogenous automatic orienting, and endogenous voluntary control. Orienting is automatic and nonconscious, but voluntary control of attention must also be nonconscious because we have no awareness of choosing what we will attend to Velmans ([@B175]). Velmans ([@B175], [@B177]) wrote that it is logically impossible for consciousness to select what enters itself, unless it is already being experienced. This argument must be valid for the very many occasions when our attention moves to something that was not already in mind, but it is not valid for some of our movements of attention. For example, I am hearing a noise, and I attend to it because I am curious where it is coming from; or I look more closely at an insect on a wall; or my attention moves from one flower to an adjacent one in the garden. I was experiencing these things before I chose to focus on them, so are these movements of attention consciously determined? First, it is likely that the same mechanisms of selection apply whether or not the object was being perceived prior to the movement of attention, which would suggest they are nonconscious. Second, voluntary control of attention amounts to intentionally choosing which information will be experienced and adjusting one\'s attention accordingly. In relation to the control of attention (just as with other choices, decisions, and control of action) some aspects of the prior information may be conscious, but the crucial decision and control processes are never observed. Voluntary and involuntary movements of attention are both controlled nonconsciously. 2.3. Summary and conclusions ---------------------------- In any intentional action, one never experiences the complete sequence of events from the starting conditions to completing the action. Bowers ([@B20], p. 249) wrote that "one can introspectively notice and/or recall antecedents of one\'s behavior but the causal connection linking the determining antecedents and the behavior to be explained is simply not directly accessible to introspection. Rather, the causal link between antecedents and their consequences is provided by an inference, however implicit and invisible." There are gaps in every experience of intentional choice, intentional initiation of responses, intentional control of attention or behavior, and in thinking, speaking, problem solving, creativity, and every other action with which consciousness is associated; and in each of these activities the executive mental process is missing from consciousness. However, since we never experience mental processes, we cannot know what it would be like to experience them. One can only know that one does not experience these processes by the fact that a stage in the events is absent, though, in the ordinary course of events, one generally does not notice this. All the "real work" associated with consciousness is actually not conscious; all behavior (and experiences) of conscious organisms are under nonconscious control. The absence of data processing in consciousness was assumed by Velmans ([@B175], [@B176]) and others (Pockett, [@B127]; Robinson, [@B138]) to imply that consciousness had no biological function. However, in the words of Smith ([@B156], p. 426), "being unable to 'act'... does not, however, imply serving no purpose." Or as Gomes ([@B53], p. 78) wrote, "consciousness may usefully be considered to influence the other brain systems that directly cause behavior." Consciousness could be biologically valuable in a non-executive role associated with the generation of behavior. In fact, the evidence that consciousness does have biological value is strong, and this is detailed in the next section. 3. Evidence that consciousness has biological value =================================================== An issue that is important when assessing the evidence for consciousness being adaptive, is whether or not consciousness could be considered as functionally separable from the conscious neural structure of which it is a property. This question is important because much of the evidence that consciousness is adaptive depends upon information that is common to consciousness and the conscious neural structure. There have been claims that the conscious neural structure has biological value but consciousness is functionless (Pockett, [@B127]; Blakemore, [@B18]; Robinson, [@B137]). This amounts to a claim that, in terms of its functioning, consciousness is separable from the conscious neural structure. There have also been counter claims that consciousness is integral to the conscious neural structure (for example, Gomes, [@B53]). There are reasons to believe that consciousness cannot exist without the conscious neural structure, and that the neural structure by its nature produces consciousness, so one cannot have the neural structure without having consciousness (Loorits, [@B103]). Therefore, the conscious neural structure and consciousness, as its property, are functionally inseparable, and any evidence that consciousness is adaptive is evidence that both consciousness and the conscious neural structure are adaptive. 3.1. The complexity argument that consciousness is adaptive ----------------------------------------------------------- A number of scientists have commented that consciousness appears to be so complex it must be adaptive (for example, Gray, [@B61], [@B62]; Nichols and Grantham, [@B116]). Consciousness is certainly complex, incorporating several sensory modalities, each with a number of variants, interrelated with various felt experiences. When one considers the complexity of visual perception, one appreciates that this aspect of consciousness must have evolved in many stages, sufficient to establish that visual consciousness does have biological value. According to Reber ([@B136]), cerebral achromaticity is rare, but dark--light blindness is much rarer, and Jackson\'s Principle states that evolutionarily older functions are more robust than more recent functions. This suggests that dark--light experience developed separately and earlier than color experience. Additionally, a system has evolved whereby the colors that one experiences are adjusted so as to give maximum differentiation between objects (Gouras and Zrenner, [@B59]; Gouras, [@B58]; Thompson, [@B165]). Light--dark contrast, in combination with the color spectrum, as it is employed in consciousness, is a rather complex method for differentiating objects within our visual experience. This almost certainly arose in stages over a significant period of evolutionary time, which could not have occurred without it offering survival advantages. If visual experience provides survival advantages, consciousness, of which visual experience is an integral part, must also provide survival advantages. But, the total complexity of consciousness is much greater because it includes many other interrelated components[^8^](#fn0008){ref-type="fn"}: auditory experiences of pitch and loudness; tastes and odors representing chemical information; internal awareness of contact with objects; awareness of one\'s own bodily position and movements; perception of one\'s emotions and other internal states, and one\'s feelings about people objects, and events. And each of these is normally appropriately positioned within a three-dimensional array. Consciousness is an extremely complex phenomenon that could not have evolved without having an important biological function. 3.2. Evidence from the evolution of accessory systems associated with consciousness ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The existence of accessory systems that have evolved in association with consciousness is evidence that consciousness has biological value and can influence behavior: 1. The vision for perception system has evolved in addition to the vision for action system (reviewed in Rossetti and Pisella, [@B142]; Glover, [@B52]; Goodale and Milner, [@B56]; Goodale and Humphrey, [@B55]; Goodale, [@B54]; Umiltá, [@B174]). The fact that a second visual system with different properties has evolved to provide suitable information for conscious perception must mean there is biological value in perceptual systems. 2. "Explicit" or "declarative" memory, associated with consciousness, has evolved in addition to "implicit" or "nondeclarative" memory systems that serve fully nonconscious mechanisms (Graf and Schacter, [@B60]; Schacter, [@B143]; Berry, [@B16]; Zola-Morgan and Squire, [@B185]; Eichenbaum, [@B46]; Squire, [@B160]), and this could only have occurred because consciousness is adaptive. 3. Experimental evidence that nonconscious systems have evolved for extraction of suitable external data for consciousness (McCauley et al., [@B109]; Marcel, [@B107]; Groeger, [@B64], [@B65]). This could only have occurred because consciousness has biological value. 3.3. Evidence from the correlation between consciousness and actuality ---------------------------------------------------------------------- James ([@B80]) wrote that we evolved pleasant feelings toward what is generally good for us and unpleasant feelings toward what is generally bad for us. He said that if consciousness had no effects, we could quite easily have evolved with pleasant feelings toward what harms us and unpleasant feelings toward what is good for us, but we did not, therefore it is likely these feelings, and hence all experiences, are adaptive. James\' argument can be extended from feelings to all of our experiences. When we are about to do something, if it is not a fully automatic response, we are conscious of our intended action. Why would it be necessary to know our intentions unless our experiences have some influence on our behavior? Also, whenever we are actively involved with events, consciousness is fairly well correlated with the facts of the situation. This is ensured by a mechanism for reality monitoring of experiences in our ordinary waking states, whenever that is necessary (Johnson and Raye, [@B83]). If consciousness had no effects on behavior, it would not matter if our experiences were completely fantastical and had no correlation with reality. But our experiences have evolved so as to represent reality fairly accurately whenever that is necessary, and this is evidence that consciousness can influence behavior, and is adaptive. 3.4. Evidence from the special treatment of self-related information in consciousness ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In general, there is a very clear separation between self-related information and external sense information in consciousness. Bodily sensations like pain, coldness, hunger or tiredness; emotional and other feelings, like anger, confidence or pleasure; knowledge of our own choices; and awareness of our own physical boundaries, are normally well differentiated from exogenous information. In normal conditions, self-related information from diverse internal sensors is always perceived as self-related, and always located together. If consciousness had no biological function, it could easily have been otherwise---it would have made no difference in terms of one\'s survival if self-related information were scattered across one\'s experience. The fact that the perception of self-related information has evolved so as to be experienced as grouped together, and to have the special quality of personally relating to oneself, is evidence that consciousness has biological value. 3.5. Consciousness can directly influence actions ------------------------------------------------- Conscious information can have a dominant influence on responses. We tell others about our experiences, write about our experiences, and think about our experiences, so consciousness must contribute to the generation of these behaviors (for example, Blackmore, [@B17]; Gomes, [@B53]). In everyday situations, one is aware of an intention to do something, and then does it. Or our feelings may interrupt our thoughts and alert us to another priority, and we may change what we are doing. REM atonia---the blocking of messages to major muscles during REM dreams, when reality monitoring is switched off---prevents us acting out our dreams (Hobson, [@B72]; Jouvert, [@B84]), and could only have evolved because our experiences can provoke actions. Persaud and Cowey ([@B125]) reported experiments with a blindsight patient, GW, in which he was asked to report on a stimulus present either in his blind field or his normal field. GW was asked to say "Up" if the stimulus was in a lower quadrant of his visual field, or his blindsight field; or "Down" if it was in an upper quadrant. He correctly reported the opposite location to that of the stimulus in his sighted field, but significantly more often than chance he incorrectly reported the actual quadrant when the stimulus was in his blind field. He was only able to do as instructed, and override his automatic tendency to report the actual quadrant the stimulus was in, when the stimulus was consciously detected. There is considerable experimental evidence for the dominance of conscious events over automatic action programs (for example, the experimental data in McCauley et al., [@B109]; Marcel, [@B107]; Groeger, [@B64], [@B65]; Merikle and Joordens, [@B111]; Rossetti, [@B141]; Haggard and Johnson, [@B67a]). In each of these experiments, when non-conscious processes extracted multiple interpretations, the single interpretation that consciousness was able to access had a dominant influence on subjects\' responses. 3.6. Evidence from the existence and rareness of qualia[^9^](#fn0009){ref-type="fn"} ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Important evidence that consciousness has biological value is provided by the existence of qualia. Consciousness evolved as an array of qualia of various kinds that has the capability to represent visual properties such as relative size, location, movement, shape and texture, and quantitative and qualitative properties of information from other sensory modalities. This contributes to the breadth of conscious information, and thereby to the complexity argument. If qualia were a property of all neural states, every neural event would be conscious, which is obviously not so. Qualia are a very rare property of neural states; and how they arise is, at present, unknown. The fact that qualia exist but are such a rare phenomenon indicates that they have evolved with special properties for a particular function (see Section 4.2). 3.7. Summary of evidence that consciousness has biological value ---------------------------------------------------------------- Consciousness is a function of living organisms, and it is unsurprising that it is adaptive, since most functions of organisms have evolved to enhance their biological fitness. In summary, the evidence that consciousness has biological value is: 1. Consciousness is very complex. 2. Various ancillary systems have evolved in association with consciousness. 3. Whenever one is actively involved with events, one\'s experiences are representations of them. 4. Self-related information, which is obviously very relevant to survival, is treated differently from all non-self information. 5. Consciousness appears to directly influence behavior. 6. We have consciousness because we have qualia, which are very unusual properties of neural states and appear to have evolved for their ability to convey important information. We can conclude that consciousness does have biological value, though it includes no mental processes. Therefore, consciousness must have a nonexecutive biological function---a secondary or supporting role to associated neural mechanisms that do have executive functions. In the next section, I demonstrate that consciousness is a changing array of various types of information, and, incidentally, that when we analyze consciousness into its components, we find no processes of any kind. 4. Evidence that consciousness is solely information ==================================================== 4.1. The components of consciousness are all forms of information ----------------------------------------------------------------- A number of researchers have claimed that consciousness---one\'s experience from moment to moment---consists of information in various forms (Battista, [@B12]; Dretske, [@B41], [@B42]; Tye, [@B172]; Chalmers, [@B26]; Lycan, [@B104]; Mangan, [@B106]; Armstrong, [@B2]; Smith, [@B156]). In this section, I discuss the interrelated components of consciousness that together constitute one\'s experiences. Analysis of the components (listed in **Table 1**) and the way they are structured, demonstrates they are all information and that consciousness is solely information of various kinds in a continuously changing array. ###### **The components of conscious experience**. **Component** **Example experiences** --------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- External sense experiences Visual, auditory, olfactory Felt experiences Transitional Touch, weight, hardness Physical state Hunger, pain, proprioception Emotional Anger, joy, fear Mood Happiness, sadness Evaluative Liking, doubt, comprehension Associated information without qualia Intentions, identities of things As noted previously (in Footnote 5), I use the term "information" to mean data or facts, which is a broader meaning than the usage in information theory as reduction in uncertainty. Some examples should help clarify my usage: The fact that I know something is information, and what I know is information. The fact that I am in pain is information, but the pain itself is information about possible bodily damage (Chapman and Nakamura, [@B28]). The fact that I am angry is information, but my feeling angry is itself information about my own response to events (Schwarz and Clore, [@B147]). Each of these statements does more than simply reduce uncertainty; it establishes the meaning or context of the information. *External sense experiences* are information about real, imagined, or remembered external objects or events, represented as colors, shapes, sounds, smells, and so on. *Transitional feelings* are based upon external sense data detected via sensors in the skin or musculature. Experiences such as contact with surfaces, awareness of surface texture, and awareness of the hardness or weight of an object, are primarily based upon exogenous data, but they are mediated by cutaneous and muscle receptors. These feelings incorporate both exogenous and endogenous information; to varying degrees they convey information about the external situation and information about the associated internal state (Katz, [@B87]). *Physical state feelings* represent information about internal physical conditions (Schwarz and Clore, [@B147]). For example, pain is a representation of bodily disturbance (Tye, [@B173]); it is normally a "message of peripheral tissue trauma" (Chapman and Nakamura, [@B28], p. 392); and hunger informs consciousness of a need or desire for food. *Emotional feelings* are representations (Damasio, [@B35])---information (Schwarz and Clore, [@B147])---concerning our state of physical and psychological responding to actual events, or to memories, thoughts, or imaginings (Kleinginna and Kleinginna, [@B90]; Scherer, [@B144]; Lazarus, [@B93]; Izard, [@B77]). *Mood feelings* represent emotional states that are not tied to a particular situation, and are less well differentiated than other emotional feelings (Clore and Bar-Anan, [@B29]; Isbell and Burns, [@B76]). They inform consciousness concerning one\'s pre-existing psychological state or response bias (Schwarz, [@B146]). Therefore, these feelings are information (Schwarz and Clore, [@B147]). *Evaluative feelings* are based upon nonconscious evaluations of things, and innate responses or learned associations in relation to them (Zajonc, [@B183]; Tesser and Martin, [@B163]; Smith and DeCoster, [@B155]; Seager, [@B148]; Slovic et al., [@B154]; Velmans, [@B176]; Northoff, [@B120]). These feelings qualify objects, events, people, ideas, and so on, with regard to their meaning for us, our attitudes to them, or our judgments about them, and result from nonconscious and immediate evaluation processes (Arnold, [@B3], [@B4]; Dixon, [@B40]; LeDoux, [@B94]; Lazarus, [@B93]; Tesser and Martin, [@B163]; Bargh and Ferguson, [@B11]). "People\'s feelings inform them about what they like, want and value" (Clore and Bar-Anan, [@B29], p. 14), but also what they understand, distrust, are familiar with, and so on; they are information about one\'s personal valuation of things (Schwarz and Clore, [@B147]). *Information that lacks qualia*, such as the identities of objects or knowledge of one\'s own intentions, constitutes another component of experience. Evidence for conscious information without associated qualia is discussed in Section 4.3. We can draw two conclusions about the components of consciousness from these observations: 1. All the components of consciousness are solely information in various forms; consciousness is a changing three-dimensional perceptual array of information. It follows that, since consciousness is solely information but is adaptive, and therefore can influence behavior, it must function as input data to a process, or processes, that determine behavior. 2. Consciousness includes no mental processes; we experience the results of mental processes, we do not experience the actual processes. The only experiences that might superficially seem like processes are transitions from one group of sensations to the next, from one feeling to the next, from one experienced emotion or mood to the next, or from one thought to the next. But each of these is merely a change in the experienced information, which is generated by processes outside of consciousness. These transitions correspond to changing information in conscious neural structures, and result from nonconscious processes. They are analogous to events on a TV screen that merely reflect the changing outputs of unseen electronic processes elsewhere in the TV. Consciousness includes no processes. 4.2. Qualia incorporate qualitative and quantitative information into consciousness ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consciousness is information, and the information of consciousness is represented or encoded as qualia; as sounds, colors, feelings, and so on. Because we have a perceptual array of qualia, we are conscious and this is important to us. But (as noted in Section 3.6), qualia are also important because they permit information about various qualitative properties, such as color or texture, and quantitative properties, such as relative size and location, to be incorporated into the information of consciousness. The ability to incorporate these properties is a feature of qualia; and no qualia have evolved to represent data that do not have these properties (Section 4.3). Therefore, the ability to incorporate qualitative and quantitative properties would seem to be the reason that qualia evolved. 4.3. Information lacking qualia that is experienced --------------------------------------------------- There appears to be information associated with consciousness, such as the identities or functions of things, and our own intentions, which has no qualitative or quantitative properties, lacks qualia, and has no location in the perceptual array. If I am given an object whose function is unknown to me, and I examine its colors, shape and size, I learn about its qualia. Perhaps I also recognize that it is made of timber and metal. The qualia array gives me clues to the identities of the materials from which it is made, but my recognition of these materials depends upon my past experience and is not a property of the qualia, as such. When someone informs me of the purpose of the object, I learn something new about it, but its qualia remain unchanged. Initially, its purpose is represented in words, but later I know what it is for without putting that knowledge into words. The function of the object and the materials from which it is constructed are knowledge that is additional to what is directly conveyed by the qualia array, and when these facts are well known they cease to be represented by words, so they are no longer represented by qualia of any kind. The existence of agnosias supports the view that the identities of people and objects are normally associated with consciousness. Agnosias are defects of awareness, failure of certain forms of information to be experienced (Farah, [@B50], [@B51]; Behrmann and Nishimura, [@B15]). In the associative agnosias, certain information associated with items being experienced, such as the meanings of words or the identities of objects or faces, are not consciously accessible, though there is evidence they are nonconsciously known. Since those of us with normal perceptual systems are able to consciously remember and tell others about the identities of objects or people, these facts are normally associated with consciousness when necessary. There have been previous reports that some thoughts lack qualia. Siewert ([@B151]) gave examples of what he called "noniconic thinking," everyday events when he considered his thoughts were neither expressed in pictures nor in words: suddenly realizing he might have missed an appointment; discovering he did not have his house key in its usual pocket, then remembering he had transferred it to his coat pocket; or approaching a green traffic light, and wondering if it was about to change. If thoughts are not expressed in words or pictures; in sounds or images; and if they have no associated feelings of any kind, they lack qualia. Hurlburt, Heavey and Akhter (Heavey and Hurlburt, [@B71]; Hurlburt and Akhter, [@B74],[@B75]) state there are well-defined experiences, such as unspoken thoughts, wonderings, musings, and unspoken knowledge of where we are, or what we are looking at, that are conscious without qualia. They refer to these experiences as "unsymbolized thinking," and reported that about one quarter of the randomly sampled experiences of 30 students included unsymbolized thinking. Qualia incorporate quantitative and qualitative properties of things into consciousness, and that appears to be their function. Unsymbolized thought, such as knowledge of the identities of objects or people, one\'s location, what one is doing, where one is going, or one\'s intentions, solutions to problems, and so on, often have no associated quantitative and qualitative properties, and no qualia. One experiences such information by "just knowing it," because it has none of the properties that information represented by qualia have. Various unsymbolized thoughts may be experienced, depending on what one is attending to, in much the same way as, for example, various sensory information may be experienced, depending on what one is attending to. 5. Evidence that consciousness is the input data to a flexible response mechanism ================================================================================= Consciousness is information, it is adaptive, and it is associated with intentional behavior. In this section I present evidence that the biological function of consciousness is input data to a mechanism that generates flexible, intentional responses. 5.1. Consciousness is associated with a flexible response mechanism ------------------------------------------------------------------- A list of various consciousness-related mental activities is provided in **Table 2**. Inevitably, there are some overlaps between the listed categories, and not every activity may be included, but they cover the great majority of activities associated with consciousness, sufficient to provide a basis for investigating the biological role of consciousness. When we examine this range of intentional behaviors associated with consciousness, we find that consciousness is primarily associated with flexibility of behavior. ###### **Mental activities associated with consciousness**. **Function** **Category of mental event** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- Responding to current situations Interacting with people Attending to a sudden or unexpected event Close attention to a task Alertness in unusual, interesting, or unpredictable situations Observing events as they occur Initiating an action that is contrary to habit Learning a skill Preparing for expected future actions Mentally processing instructions Remembering or reviewing events Thinking through an expected event, or preparing actions by mental rehearsal Choices and decisions Acquiring background to possible future actions Gaining special or general knowledge Thinking about problems for creative resolution over time Abstract thought and logical reasoning Metacognition Anomalous processes Mind wandering Dreams during sleep The last two categories in **Table 2**, mind wandering and dreams during sleep, are anomalous because they do not have the volitional or controlled quality of the other activities in the table, and are generally disconnected from any definite tasks. The anomalous processes have no obvious behavior-related function, though it has been reported that various functions related to preparation for future adaptive behavior are associated with dreaming (Hobson, [@B73]) and passive mental states, such as mind wandering (Greicius et al., [@B63]; Buckner and Vincent, [@B24]). At this stage, the anomalous processes seem unlikely to contribute to our understanding the biological role of consciousness. All of the activities in **Table 2**, apart from the anomalous processes, are associated with generation of, or preparation for, nonautomatic behaviors to deal with current, expected, or possible future situations. The situations may be internal or external physical conditions, or social conditions, so the actions could be related to personal safety, social status, homeostasis, or other considerations. These activities are all relatively flexible compared to the stimulus-response structure of automatic actions such as the orienting reflex or looming reflex (Schiff, [@B145]; Ball and Tronick, [@B7]), fixed action patterns (for example, Raven and Johnson, [@B132]), unintended motor mimicry (Bavelas et al., [@B13]; Chartrand and Bargh, [@B27]), classically or instrumentally conditioned responses, and learned behavior that has become automatized. Consciousness is associated with relatively flexible responding (Baars, [@B5]), that is, with a flexible response mechanism, or possibly a combination of such mechanisms (the FRM). The FRM selects or devises responses to current situations, causes the automatic initiation and control of behavior (Bargh, [@B9]), prepares for possible future events, solves problems, and makes choices. Each of these must be achieved by integration and manipulation of relevant data. The FRM must arrive at nonautomatic solutions to problems and determine behavior by information processing of some kind, and therefore must consist of a processor operating with relevant data. 5.2. The flexible response mechanism operates with selected information ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Automatic programs determine most of our responses, and initiate and control all of our actions (Bargh, [@B9]; Bargh and Chartrand, [@B10]). The FRM is an alternative system for determining behavior that functions quite differently from automatic programs. An example of the operation of automatic and intentional systems is the two modes of attention control: automatic detection and orienting, and controlled search (Posner and Snyder, [@B130]; Shiffrin and Schneider, [@B150]; Posner, [@B129]; Norman and Shallice, [@B119]). A second example of the operation of these systems is the two processes that contribute to reasoning: automatic, intuitive or associative processes; and deliberative or controlled processes (Sloman, [@B153]; Bargh and Ferguson, [@B11]; Smith and DeCoster, [@B155]; Stanovich and West, [@B161]; Kahneman and Frederick, [@B85]; Evans, [@B47]; Evans and Stanovich, [@B49]). The duality of mechanisms for attention control and reasoning are aspects of the broader duality of mechanisms for generating all our behavior: automatic action programs and the FRM. As noted in Section 5.1, automatic action programs include innate responses, conditioned responses, and action sequences that were once intentional but have become automatized, and each of these is released by a specific stimulus. Thus, when driving, if a child runs into the road, one\'s foot hits the brake automatically and very quickly; the automatized driving program ignores all other information, and responds to the external sense data about the emergency. The same principle applies, though less obviously, as we automatically and continuously respond to sense data indicating some more minor adjustments to our driving are needed. In general, automatic action programs, whether innate or learned, respond very rapidly to a relevant stimulus and ignore all other information (Bargh, [@B9]; Kihlstrom, [@B89]), and this involves minimal processing of the sense data. The flexible response mechanism operates differently from automatic programs; it manipulates a selection of relevant information in search of an appropriate response to a particular event or problem. The input to the FRM has to include all essential information so as to maximize the possibility of an optimal response, but must exclude or inhibit information that is irrelevant to the task (Tipper, [@B167]; Allport, [@B1]; Tipper et al., [@B168]; Wühr and Frings, [@B182]). Exclusion of irrelevant information minimizes unproductive information manipulations that might increase the time taken to arrive at a response, or cause the FRM to switch to a different task. The need to control its input data means the FRM must employ an information selection system of some kind. The operations of the FRM use the selected information, and are generally isolated from all other information. The suggestion that there is a mechanism associated with the FRM that selects its input data is supported by the work of Leopold and Logothetis ([@B95]). In their review of research on multistable perception, they found evidence of "direct intervention in the processing of the sensory input by brain structures associated with planning and motor programming" (p. 254), and concluded that the brain areas involved are "those that ultimately use and act upon the perceptual representations" (p. 261). A more recent review of multistable perception by Sterzer et al. ([@B162], p. 317) agreed; they wrote that "high-level frontoparietal processes continuously re-evaluate the current interpretation of the sensory input and initiate changes in subjective perception." Subjectively, perceptual switches during multistable perception appear to be automatic, and one might not expect that systems associated with planning and motor programming, which use and act upon the perceptual representations, would be involved in sensory data selection or interpretation, were it not for the fact that these operations are necessary for the FRM, which logically must have an associated mechanism for selecting its input data. Therefore, these reviews provide some support for the view that consciousness is the data input to the FRM. In concluding his review of studies of attentional responses to visual data, Theeuwes ([@B164], p. 97) wrote, "during the first sweep of information through the brain (\<150 ms) visual selection is completely stimulus-driven. Initial selection is based on the salience of objects present in the visual field.... Only later in time (\>150 ms)... volitional control based on expectancy and goal set will bias visual selection in a top--down manner." The sequence and timing Theeuwes reported are as would be expected on the basis that a mechanism associated with the FRM selects data for attention but, because the FRM operates by manipulating relevant data, it is slower than automatically triggered responses. 5.3. The input data requirements of the flexible response mechanism correspond to the properties of consciousness ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The flexible response mechanism requires a restricted data input, and consciousness, which is closely associated with operations of the FRM, is a limited information flow. This suggests that consciousness could be the input data to the FRM. Support for this view is provided by the fact that the properties of consciousness correspond to the necessary properties of the input data to the FRM: 1. In order to select or devise responses to events, the FRM requires access to relevant exogenous and endogenous data. Consciousness incorporates these as sights, sounds, etc., feelings of various kinds, and unsymbolized thoughts. 2. The FRM requires knowledge of various qualitative and quantitative properties of things, such as size, shape and location; and the qualia array of consciousness has apparently evolved to meet this need (Section 4.2). 3. The FRM requires input data that is a restricted representation of events, because information that is irrelevant to its computations has to be excluded. Any actions following on from the work of the FRM are controlled by sensorimotor systems specialized for those actions, which employ accurate and continuously updated data for action (Rossetti and Pisella, [@B142]; Goodale and Milner, [@B56]; Goodale and Humphrey, [@B55]; Goodale, [@B54]; Umiltá, [@B174]). Consciousness is an incomplete representation of events, as is demonstrated by inattentional blindness (Neisser, [@B115]; Mack and Rock, [@B105]; Simons and Chabris, [@B152]). The fact that our experiences are incomplete representations of reality is sometimes noticeable in ordinary life. 4. Some operations of the FRM require information to be held longer than the brief period that data for action are held. In order to make a complex choice or decision, the input data may need to be retained for some time whilst the FRM processes the options and arrives at an outcome. And, when an intended action is delayed, when an action extends over time, or when there is an intended sequence of actions, the input to the FRM may need to be held for an extended period to ensure the action is completed appropriately. Complex decisions and complex intentional actions may require that relevant data be held much longer than the very brief period that data for action are held, and this is a characteristic of consciousness (Darwin and Turvey, [@B36]; Tiitinen et al., [@B166]; Damasio, [@B34]; Rossetti, [@B141]; Dehaene and Naccache, [@B38]). 5. Bridgeman et al. ([@B23], p. 468) found that the "cognitive map," that is visual consciousness, "can achieve great sensitivity to small motions or translations of objects in the visual world by using relative motion or relative position as a cue." By comparison, data driving visually guided action "does not have the resolution and sensitivity to fine-grained spatial relationships that the cognitive map has." Input data allowing increased sensitivity to movement would be an asset to the FRM, in that it could permit enhanced responding in situations of slowly emerging danger or opportunity, in unusual or unpredictable situations, or in some social interactions. 6. The data input to the FRM needs to have a variable correlation with current reality. When responding to a current external situation, the input information has to be closely aligned with the actual events, but when the FRM is reviewing past events, planning future actions, or solving a problem, the required information may have little or no correspondence with current external reality. Consciousness can be information about one\'s current situation, or it can be information about something quite different that is receiving one\'s attention. 7. Input to the FRM needs to be primarily context-related unlike data for action, which are self-related. For example, planning future action requires that the context be specified. When driving on an unfamiliar route I need to know the contextual features of a particular side road that I must take to reach my destination. However, at the road junction, I will need to make movements that take into account external factors but are determined in relation to the relevant parts of my own body; the data for action system must precisely determine my limb movements to control the vehicle. Data for action are instructions to automatic programs that move parts of the body, whereas input to the FRM needs to be a representation of the event that includes the context of the perceiver (Rossetti and Pisella, [@B142]; Goodale and Milner, [@B56]; Milner and Goodale, [@B113]). Consciousness has sensory data in context as would be expected of the input to the FRM. Thus, there is a correlation between the properties of consciousness and the properties required of input data that will allow the FRM to compute responses to a range of actual or expected situations. For this situation to have arisen, mechanisms that determine the various properties of consciousness and of the FRM (and its data selection mechanism), must have evolved in a complementary manner over very long evolutionary time. This could only have occurred because consciousness is the data input to the FRM. 5.4. Information missing from consciousness may adversely affect the output of the flexible response mechanism -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whenever any important information relevant to the computations of the FRM is missing from consciousness, the output from the FRM tends to be adversely affected: 1. People with blindsight do not spontaneously respond to data in their blindfield, even though they have nonconscious knowledge of it (Marcel, [@B108]; Weiskrantz, [@B181]; Dietrich, [@B39]; Persaud and Cowey, [@B125]). Blindsight patients lack visual consciousness in their blindfield, and therefore lack the necessary inputs to the FRM for making spontaneous intentional responses. The blindsight patient who worked with Persaud and Cowey ([@B125]) was unable to follow instructions in relation to data in his blindfield. Analogously, "Dee," in Goodale and Milner ([@B56]), who has visual agnosia, cannot state the orientation of a slot but she can post a letter through it, and cannot state the shapes of obstacles but can walk up a rough track. Intentional action, in the form of responses to questions, is not possible for her because the necessary visual properties of objects are missing from consciousness, though they are nonconsciously known and acted upon. 2. Damasio ([@B34]) reported that patients with damage to brain regions involved in the generation of emotional and other feelings consistently exhibit dysfunctional reasoning, decision-making and behavior. This would be expected if consciousness is input to the FRM, because people who lack emotional and other feelings lack the nonconscious evaluations these feelings represent, which are sometimes needed to get the best outcomes from complex or difficult decisions (Clore et al., [@B30]; Clore and Huntsinger, [@B31]). 3. If one intends a non-habitual action, one is only able to act on one\'s intention if it is remembered, if it is experienced, at the appropriate time. And, if one begins an intended non-habitual sequence of actions but starts thinking about something else part way through, one may end up completing an unintended habitual action sequence if part of the non-habitual action sequence coincides with it (Reason, [@B135]; Norman, [@B118]). Without the necessary input data at each stage, the FRM may not keep the action sequence on track. The adverse effect on the output of the FRM when significant information is missing from consciousness is further evidence that consciousness is input data to the FRM. 5.5. Consciousness is input to the flexible response mechanism -------------------------------------------------------------- In summary, consciousness has biological value and therefore must influence behavior. But consciousness is solely information in various forms, and, as such, can only influence behavior if it is input to processes that determine behavior. Evidence supporting the proposition that consciousness is the input data to the FRM is provided by the following facts: 1. Consciousness is associated with actions of the FRM. 2. To function effectively, the FRM requires a selected data input, and the properties of consciousness correspond to the requirements for the input data to the FRM. 3. There is experimental evidence that experienced information influences the outputs of the FRM. 4. When important information relevant to the task of the FRM is missing from consciousness the FRM tends to malfunction in some way. 5. Our subjective experience is that when we are attending to a novel or interesting event, paying close attention to a task, interacting with people, learning a skill, or thinking about a problem or an expected event, our perceptions are knowledge about events that activates mental processes which devise, prepare, initiate, adjust, or control our actions, or determine the direction of our thoughts. However, it is common experience that consciousness can be stages in processing by the FRM, such as when one is thinking through a problem or mentally rehearsing an expected future event. A stage in processing is both output from one stage and input to the next stage, but the functional role of consciousness can only be as input to further processing. One sometimes perceives that consciousness is the output from decisions, planning, creative processes, or logical thought, but these are probably always inputs to further processing, such as thoughts, determining present actions or intended future action, telling other people, or committing to memory for possible future use. Consciousness is inevitably output from some process of data selection or manipulation, but its biological function is the data input to subsequent processes of data manipulation, determining action, interaction with people, and so on, and it would appear that is why it evolved. 6. Central to the theory are three claims that may be testable ============================================================== This theory makes three claims that may prove to be testable, and if any of these claims were shown to be wrong, the theory, in its present form, would have been disproved. First, the theory states that consciousness is the data input to a nonconscious mechanism, or combination of mechanisms, (the FRM) which determines every aspect of one\'s life that is not determined by an automatic program or mechanism. (In some circumstances, conscious information may become input data to automatic programs. It is also possible that nonconscious information may influence the processes of the FRM directly, and not just via its effects on consciousness, but I have been unable to find any evidence of this). Second, consciousness functions solely as input data; every component of consciousness is information in some form, and no part of one\'s experience is ever not information. Third, all mental processing is nonconscious; one does not experience any mental process. Therefore, one cannot have direct knowledge of the reasons for one\'s actions, intentions, choices, or decisions; or of how one\'s thoughts or feelings originated. According to the theory, direct knowledge of these is not possible because consciousness has no access to the processes that determine them. One can only know the reason for any of one\'s actions, intentions, choices, decisions, feelings and thoughts, by indirect means such as an inference or a guess. 7. Conclusions {#s2} ============== The behavior of all organisms is principally determined by automatic response programs: innate responses such as orienting and fixed action patterns, classical and operant conditioning, and other learned behaviors. Each of these is automatically released, or triggered, by a predetermined type of stimulus. However, organisms that possess only automatic responses may sometimes have no response to match a situation that confronts them, and some kind of best choice response, no response, or a random response is used, any of which could result in a missed opportunity or a risk to the organism. Because of this vulnerability, a flexible response mechanism (FRM), which may perhaps be a combination of mechanisms, has evolved to generate responses to novel situations, and consciousness is a component of this mechanism. The FRM manipulates relevant incoming data, in conjunction with previous learning, in search of an appropriate response to a situation. This can result in suitable behavior being generated, which, if it is repeated, may eventually become automatized (Shiffrin and Schneider, [@B150]; Bargh and Chartrand, [@B10]). The FRM needs access to all information relevant to the situation to which it is seeking to respond, but any information that is unnecessary or irrelevant to the task needs to be excluded from its input because it could increase the complexity of operations and the time taken to achieve an outcome. Hence, a data selection system appears to have evolved, in conjunction with the FRM, which permits access to necessary information and inhibits access to irrelevant information. The operations of the FRM are generally isolated from information that has not been selected. In order for the FRM to function optimally, its input data need to include qualitative and quantitative information, such as the size, shape, location, and movement of objects. Qualia as a perceptual array allow such information to be incorporated into the input data, and they make the input data conscious. Other forms of information (unsymbolized thoughts) that are relevant to the task of the FRM but do not have quantitative or qualitative properties, such as knowledge of the identities or functions of objects, or of one\'s own intentions, are also included in the input data, but without qualia. The FRM utilizes consciousness as its input data and generally cannot access other information, therefore relevant endogenous information has to be included in consciousness. Endogenous information may be experienced as felt sensations, emotions, moods, and evaluative feelings, such as liking or disbelief. And when endogenous or exogenous information is particularly important, a measure of its importance is included in consciousness as experienced emotionality or affect strength. One\'s ongoing experience is often an intermediate stage of processing or an output from processing in the FRM, but it is possible that in every case these are inputs to further processing or to other tasks of the FRM. When the FRM has no definite task, it continues to be active with dreams, fantasies and mind wandering. Whether these operations have biological value, and in what way consciousness might contribute, is not yet clear. The theory that consciousness is input data to a mechanism for generating nonautomatic responses, leads to explanations for the following central features of consciousness, experimental observations, and everyday properties of consciousness: 1. The existence of consciousness as a qualia array (Section 4.2) plus unsymbolized thoughts (Section 4.3). 2. The representation of endogenous information as experienced sensations and feelings of various types (Section 4.1). 3. The experience of the importance of events as affect strength or emotionality. 4. Consciousness is an incomplete representation because irrelevant information is excluded from the input to the FRM, and this explains experimental observations of inattentional blindness (Section 5.3). 5. Distractions interfere with efforts to solve a difficult problem because they represent information that is irrelevant to the problem, which may slow the operations of the FRM, or provoke a task switch away from the topic it is working on (Section 5.2). 6. The FRM is generally isolated from nonconscious information, leading to observations that blindsight patients do not intentionally and spontaneously initiate responses to events in their blind field; and to the everyday observation that an intended counter-habitual action is only possible when the intention is in mind (Section 5.4). 7. If one is distracted during a non-habitual action sequence, one\'s actions may be captured by a habitual action sequence and completed in an unintended way. This can be understood in terms of the FRM needing appropriate input to continue the intentional action whenever part of the new sequence coincides with an established habitual action (Section 5.4). 8. Damage to brain regions involved in the generation of emotional and other feelings is consistently associated with dysfunctional reasoning, decision-making and behavior. Because these feelings are missing, the input to the FRM is incomplete, and dysfunctional responses are likely when information that would have been represented by the missing feelings is necessary for an appropriate outcome (Section 5.4). Prior to the first appearance of the FRM in organisms, all of their systems for selecting and initiating behavior were entirely nonconscious, automatic programs (Reber, [@B136]; Evans, [@B48]). The FRM is also a functionally nonconscious response system, but with its information input mostly in the form of an array of qualia that provides its possessors with experiences. The material presented here constitutes the essential elements of a theory that consciousness is the data input to a flexible response mechanism, but there remain many unanswered questions: What is the relationship of the FRM with automatic response programs and with action control systems; what are the mechanics of information selection and data manipulation in the FRM; is the FRM a unitary system or a number of "flexible modules" for decisions, oversight of intentional actions, planning, problem solving, and so on, which separately access consciousness as their input; and why did an array of qualia evolve as the method for qualitative and quantitative data entry to the processes of the FRM? One would like to know how the FRM operates in non-human species, how its presence can be detected with confidence in non-human species, and whether the FRM has independently evolved in different taxonomic groups (such as cephalopods), which one might expect, since the FRM is a valuable asset that enhances biological fitness. If the FRM has independently evolved in different taxonomic groups, it is possible, though perhaps unlikely, that the problem of representing quantitative and qualitative data may have been solved in ways that do not require a qualia array and do not confer consciousness on their possessors. When we better understand how the FRM evolved and how it functions, we may have more insight into such matters. It is my hope that this research will open up new directions in the study of the minds of humans and other animals, and that the FRM theory of consciousness may be of use to some of the many researchers who seek to alleviate mental disability and suffering. Conflict of interest statement ------------------------------ The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. My sincere thanks to the associate editor Jeffrey Yoshimi, and the review editors, for their many comments and suggestions, which led to significant improvements in my presentation, and especially for the associate editor\'s suggestion that I include a flowchart of the research. I am grateful to Max Jory, of Monash University, for his unwavering support, and to the School of Psychological Sciences at Monash University, for granting access to the university library services for this research. Special thanks to my wife Nina Earl for encouraging my research over many years, and for her detailed comments on various drafts of this document. ^1^*Consciousness* is used in the sense of phenomenal consciousness (Block, [@B19]); one\'s ongoing experience. ^2^*Conscious neural structure:* Consciousness is a property of neurons in a certain state or a certain structure, and I refer to this neural structure as a "conscious neural structure." ^3^*Mental* refers to events or information in the mind; and *mind* refers to what thinks, feels, reasons, and so on, and which is the seat of consciousness. Mind includes consciousness, the conscious neural structure of which consciousness is a property, and nonconscious mechanisms that manipulate information in reasoning, planning, and determining behavior. I assume all these components of mind are physical properties of events in the brain, based on the view, standard across the natural sciences, that all phenomena are physical phenomena. ^4^*Process* is used in the sense of an action, or actions, that lead to a change in something. Any change in what one experiences is a result of mental processes, that is, the action of manipulating information in the brain. ^5^*Information*, as used here, is data, or facts; it may include data or facts from physical and other measurements or observations, or from any other source, and the results of calculations, inferences, and mental processes, or outputs from other data processing, and their conscious or nonconscious representations. (This usage of "information" is different from the information theory usage as reduction in uncertainty, which is the quantification of a property of information, as I use the term. "Information" as I use it is a broader term; the difference could be expressed by saying that as used here, information also has meaning, or each piece of information establishes a context within which it may reduce uncertainty). ^6^*Nonconscious* refers to information or events in the brain that are not being experienced, some of which are experienceable, some not; it is synonymous with one meaning of "unconscious." ^7^*Data*, as used here, are primary information, such as information from the external senses; or are information that is input to, being processed in, or output from a mechanism for manipulating, or processing, information. ^8^I use the expression *components of consciousness* rather than the commonly used *contents of consciousness* for two reasons. First, components suggests parts that contribute to some structure or whole, which seems appropriate in a metaphor for consciousness, whereas contents does not imply any connection or structure between the parts. Second, contents implies the existence of some sort of container, which must be "empty consciousness." Consciousness is one\'s experiences, but empty consciousness would be consciousness with no experiences, which is a contradiction in terms. Therefore, it would seem that contents of consciousness is not a good metaphor, and components of consciousness is preferable. ^9^*Qualia* are the elements that together constitute ones experiences: sensory experiences, such as colors or sounds; bodily sensations, such as pain, hotness, or thirst; experienced emotions; felt moods; and evaluative feelings, such as belief or liking. [^1]: Edited by: Jeffrey K. Yoshimi, UC Merced, USA [^2]: Reviewed by: Tomer Fekete, The Weizmann Institute, Israel; Michael C. Wiest, Wellesley College, USA [^3]: This article was submitted to Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology. | High | [
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Application of high resolution melt (HRM) analysis for duplex detection of Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and extra small virus (XSV) in shrimp. In this work, a probe-free, multiplex RT-PCR was combined with high resolution melt (HRM) analysis for the simultaneous detection of Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) and extra small virus (XSV) infection in the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. This first application of HRM multiplex RT-PCR in shrimp reveals a new potential for rapid and sensitive detection of multiple pathogens. In addition, sequence variation in XSV could be observed from the high resolution melt peaks, as confirmed by sequence analysis. In 19 field samples of the freshwater prawn M. rosenbergii the technique revealed samples negative for both viruses, positive for both viruses or positive for MrNV alone. No sample was found positive for XSV alone. Comparison of these results to those obtained using the same samples in analysis by traditional nested RT-PCR combined with gel electrophoresis revealed that HRM multiplex RT-PCR was more sensitive. Thus, the latter technique allows for rapid and sensitive, simultaneous detection of MrNV and XSV and also has the potential to be adapted for simultaneous detection of other mixed viral infections in shrimp. | High | [
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Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 Reason Papers 36, no. 1 (July 2014): 143-161. Copyright © 2014 Review Essay: Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux's The Ethics of Business: A Concise Introduction Gary James Jason California State University, Fullerton Those who teach introductory business ethics with some regularity often find that choosing an appropriate text is difficult. To be blunt, many business ethics texts have a tone of skepticism toward (if not downright suspicion of) the very institution they seek to analyze ethically. The result is often analogous to what one might expect of a text on the philosophy of sex and love written by a religious celibate. There is now a nice little text that doesn't suffer from that flaw. The Ethics of Business, by Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux (hereafter, Gini/Marcoux), is a spirited and insightful introduction to this widely taught subject. 1 In the first chapter, the authors discuss both the layout of the text and their perspective in writing it. They point to James Rachels's classic short text (The Elements of Moral Philosophy 2 ) as a model. Just as Rachels tried to define what ethics is about and sketch a "minimal" conception of morality (which he defined as an effort to guide your conduct by reason), Gini/Marcoux want not to survey the burgeoning field of business ethics, but to define the field and sketch a minimal conception of how to do business ethically. The authors trace the origins of the field to Raymond Baumhart's text, An Honest Profit: What Businessmen Say about Ethics in Business. 3 While the field of business ethics grew in a way Baumhart never imagined, the authors approve of his original idea of putting the focus on individuals rather than institutions. Parenthetically, I am not sure that this is the best approach. The institution of business, like that of the family or government, is very much defined, shaped, and constrained by the specific legal and economic structures 1 Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux, The Ethics of Business: A Concise Introduction (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2012). 2 James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986). 3 Raymond Baumhart, An Honest Profit: What Businessmen Say about Ethics in Business (Boston, MA: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1968). Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 144 which actors in that institution are constantly considering in decision making. In other words, business activity is like a game in one major sense: it is conducted in accordance with rules, rules generally not set by the players in the game. Gini/Marcoux then note that their book differs from other ethics texts. The authors note that most contemporary texts almost exclusively discuss big business, as if every business ethics student will be a top executive at a Fortune 500 company. The authors nicely point out that most businesspeople work at small businesses, and that the principles of business ethics should be applicable to businesses of all sizes. In this the authors are correct, but it would have been useful if they had made two further points here. To begin with, not just "most" businesses are small, but virtually all of them are. Looking at the federal Small Business Administration's (SBA's) data, there were roughly 28 million businesses in the U.S. in 2010. 4 Under the SBA definition of "small business" (one employing fewer than 500 employees), about 99.7% of all American businesses are small-27.9 million small businesses, versus less than 20,000 large firms. Small business creates nearly two-thirds of all net new private sector jobs. More strikingly, in firms that produce a high number of patents (fifteen or more over four years), small firms produced about sixteen times the patents per employee than large firms did. Moreover, a point that the authors don't make is that failure is the norm in business. Again, citing the SBA's own data, only about half of all new businesses survive for five years or more, and only a third survive for ten years or more. Gini/Marcoux also make the point that the typical business ethics text is reformist in tone, that is, it usually pushes various policy prescriptions for regulatory and legal changes to control business activity. As the authors note, this suggests to the student the bizarre message that business is inherently immoral and needs profound reform. (This is usually reinforced by case studies-such as Enron-of wickedly bad business behavior.) But there is a more important reason to be wary of the reformist weltanschauung of the typical business ethics text: "reform" invariably means "reform by government." There is a Hegelian cast of mind informing most business ethics texts that views business as the realm of unfettered egoism, while government is the realm of disinterested altruism. This view was always naive, but after the extensive work done by economists in what has come to be called "Public Choice Theory" (not mentioned in any business ethics text of which I am aware, even the one under review), the view is empirically simply untenable. Government is no less a realm of self-interest than business is itself. The authors add that rather than dwelling on moral dilemmas in business (often with no resolution offered), they want to set out "action- 4 Accessed online at: http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/FAQ_Sept_2012.pdf. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 145 guiding principles"-principles that seek to tell us what we ought to do-as opposed to principles of justification of why we should do it. And those action-guiding principles should not have to rest upon any single ethical theory. Moreover, rather than take a "topical" approach (examining, say, first worker rights, then worker responsibilities, then ethical issues in production, then in marketing, and so on), the authors aim at examining the moral features of business generally. So, for example, they have a chapter on trust and truth in business, which is an issue that arises no less in the human resources department than in the marketing and sales departments. Having set out their general perspective, Gini/Marcoux then take up particular issues. In Chapter 2, they take up the fundamental question of what "business" is. They point out that "business" is a noun-a business is an entity, a firm. But "business" is also a verb-it refers to an activity, and that it is more useful first to focus on the activity. Just as a hospital is an entity supporting medical activity, a firm is an entity supporting business activity. "Doing business" they define most centrally as executing exchange transactions, that is, the act of trading. But business activity is not limited merely to engaging in exchange transactions. Not all trading opportunities are obvious and immediate. They often have to be sought out, like finding a convenient store or (more creatively) identifying a potential market, that is, a potential demand for a product not yet invented or well known. Not only is creativity involved in inventing new products or services, but it is involved in imagining the customer, that is, developing the customer base. This leads Gini/Marcoux to make the Schumpeterian point that business is an entrepreneurial activity, one that isn't just a transactionexecuting, but a transaction-seeking one. Besides exchange transactions, business activity involves bargaining or negotiation. Businesspeople negotiate with consumers when they set (and change) prices, with suppliers when they buy inputs, and with employees when they determine compensation for labor. Now, transaction-seeking, negotiation, and transaction-execution aren't activities exclusive to business, the authors concede. Private charitable organizations, for example, also engage in these activities. So do people engaged in hobbies. I would add that from the perspective of Public Choice Theory (mentioned above), politics also involves these activities, as does family life (if economists like Gary Becker are right). But the authors note that what makes a business in the sense they intend it is that the organization engaging in these activities aims at being self-sustaining, that is, covering its costs by its business activities. That means that the exchanges must be profitable ones. This is an admirably fresh way to define business, but it doesn't seem to me quite to work. What is the difference between (say) a private non-profit hospital and a for-profit one? None under this definition-both aim at making Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 146 a profit, at least at the level of sustaining themselves. They only differ in what the owners may want to do with the profits. And even there, as the authors themselves note, for-profit business owners many not want money just for its own sake, but perhaps as a tool to accomplish social ends. I suggest that to distinguish charities or other non-profit companies from ordinary for-profit businesses, there is no getting around mentioning the intentions of the owners. While the owners of a typical non-profit corporation want at least some of the individual transactions to show a profit-otherwise, unless the owners can cover the operating losses indefinitely (which is rare), the enterprise will collapse-the owners of a non-profit don't intend that it turn an overall profit. But the owners of a for-profit business intend that it not merely be self-sustaining, but turn an overall profit. In Chapter 3, Gini/Marcoux take up the task of defining ethics. Again, they aim to put the focus on the question of what it is for a person to be ethical, rather than the firm. They take a character or virtue ethics stance, giving a brief sketch of the concepts of character, Aristotle's notion of the Golden Mean, and integrity. The authors distinguish between what they call "act-based" versus "character-based" ethics, discussing in turn utilitarianism and Kantian ethics. Their sketch of utilitarianism is especially brief. The authors hold that both utilitarianism and Kantianism share three basic features. Both ethical theories focus on actions and decisions, rather than persons. Both posit one ultimate value (i.e., happiness or rationality), and both aim to posit one or two basic principles that will tell us what we ought to do (either one principle of utility or two formulations of the Categorical Imperative). Gini/Marcoux justify their focus on character/virtue ethics because the moral character of an act reveals the character of the agent, and an act-based ethics encourages the false notion that an agent can be good even while doing bad things. Yet this strikes me as problematic. To start, yes, utilitarians posit happiness as the one ultimate value-but then, so did Aristotle, the Ur-virtueethicist. 5 Moreover, the claim that the moral character of an act is an "indication" of the moral character of a person is debatable: as the utilitarians point out, a person acting out of a good motive or character trait can do something wrong (e.g., spoil a child out of love), and someone can do what is morally right from immoral motives or character traits (e.g., cure AIDS out of a desire for fame). Moreover, this quite misstates act-based ethics. A utilitarian, for example, need never say that an agent's motives or character are ethically 5 One might reply that happiness for Aristotle was exercising virtue, while for the utilitarians, it was mere pleasure. But while that was true for Bentham, already in Mill you see a move to "pleasure" as including higher-level pleasures such as learning and appreciation of art. And by G. E. Moore, hedonism was completely conceptually decoupled from utilitarianism. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 147 irrelevant, only that they are irrelevant to assessing the moral rightness of the agent's act. Of course, the moral worth of the agent (i.e., the praiseworthiness or blameworthiness of his or her motives/character) is quite important in judging the agent. Also troublesome is the authors' discussion of narcissism. Gini/Marcoux tell the reader, "One need not be a scholar of Thomas Hobbes' work or an admirer of Herbert Spencer's to recognize that we are by nature self-absorbed creatures. In the language of virtue ethics we are habitually selfcentered and self-absorbed-in a word, narcissistic" (p. 44). The authors go on to discuss the narcissistic personality disorder, lack of moral imagination (due to lack of empathy and sympathy), and the callousness of the narcissist. Now, I don't doubt that most white-collar criminals, both in private industry and in government, are narcissists indifferent to the rights and welfare of others. (In this, they don't differ from ordinary criminals.) But as the authors themselves already rightly noted, most businesspeople are neither immoral nor routinely bad actors. The problem here, I would argue, is that in taking so thoroughly a virtue ethics perspective as the unproblematic starting point for their ethical inquiry, they set themselves on a path to disregarding the important and commonly constructive force that egoism plays in the economic system particularly and in human life generally. In fact, neither psychological nor ethical egoism is even mentioned in the text. You don't have to be Adam Smith (much less Ayn Rand) to suspect that talking at length about narcissism and not discussing reasonable egoism may blind the reader to how business succeeds in actually doing good things (producing, as economists put it, positive externalities). 6 To put the point another way: If we are all "by nature" self-absorbed, might that be because psychological egoism has survival value? One other problem with this virtue ethics approach is that it leads the student to think that it is or should be the primary responsibility of business to form moral character, to instill virtue, in people. This is seriously misleading, in my view. Certainly, the structure or "culture" of a business may enhance or diminish the moral virtue of the employees at the margin, so to say. For example, a sales company that compensated salespeople only for initial sales and did not penalize those salespeople for customer complaints, would likely make their sales force more aggressive over time-though, it must be added, it is even more likely that such a company would over time attract salespeople who were overly aggressive to begin with. But surely the role of forming virtuous and caring people most centrally belongs to the mediating structures 6 This may be due to Gini/Marcoux's particular brand of virtue ethics. It seems common among contemporary virtue ethicists to view overcoming self-interest as what virtue is all about. But in both ancient and medieval virtue ethics, prudence (i.e., the reasonable attention to self-interest) is not just a virtue, but a cardinal (basic) one. Tellingly, there is no entry for "prudence" in the index. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 148 of society: family, religious organizations, school, social organizations, community groups, and friendship circles. In Chapter 4, Gini/Marcoux take up the task of defining business ethics as a form of applied ethics. They note that many philosophers view applied ethics as taking an ethical theory (utilitarianism, Kantianism, naturalrights ethics, or whatever) and "applying" it to various situations. The problem the authors note is that the search for a perfect ethical theory is centuries old-actually, I would note, it is millennia old-so it is unlikely that we will anytime soon have a universally acceptable ethical theory. Any "application" to a given business situation will just result in a recapitulation of the criticisms of the theory itself. The authors then consider the approach taken by many ethicists to applied ethics, of constructing an ethical theory of corporate social responsibility, such as the stakeholder model (which seems to be the favorite model of most business ethics texts). But as the authors note, this stakeholder model is no less contentious than are the various ethical theories themselves. They mention as a competitor Tom Donaldson's and Tom Dunfell's "integrated social contracts theory" (ISCT). Under this model, the explicit and tacit social contracts of business set the moral limits of business behavior. So while the stakeholder model and the ISCT both might agree that insider trading is unethical in America, they would disagree on the ethics of insider trading in New Zealand (where it is legal). One could add here that there are a number of other models of corporate ethics as well. For example, Desjardins's popular text discusses a number of other ethical models of business: the economic model (of Milton Friedman), the philanthropic model, the moral-minimum model (of Norman Bowie), and the strategic or sustainability model. 7 Gini/Marcoux suggest a different tack, one that follows Mill's approach in Utilitarianism. They suggest that ethical theory consists of fundamental or higher-level ethical principles that explain why lower-level principles are valid. So a moral "rule of thumb" or "secondary" moral principle like "Keep your promises" can be justified by all high-level principles. But the authors aver, "Notice that this common sense principle tells you what to do, not why you should do it. It's not a principle of justification. Instead, it's an action-guiding principle. It doesn't argue; it just directs" (p. 55). Kant as well had a two-level structure to his ethical system, they add. Why, then, do we need to have the high-level principles? We need them to "test and verify" (p. 56) the secondary ones. Here Gini/Marcoux use an analogy from physics. The laws of motion (I assume that the authors have in mind Newton's laws) make the simplifying assumption that there is no friction. This assumption allows us to derive 7 Joseph Desjardins, An Introduction to Business Ethics, 4th ed. (New York: McGrawHill, 2011); see chap. 3. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 149 observational (astronomical) predictions that are highly accurate, because while friction does exist, it is negligible. But in "applied physics," say, designing an automobile engine, friction must be accounted for. If you build an engine with no lubrication system because you assume there will be no friction, it will blow up. Similarly, applied ethics is about finding action-guiding principles that are the best you can devise in the context of application, rather than the most consistent ethical theory. And the authors say that in business ethics, this means viewing people with whom one is doing business as both being a locus of moral worth and as responsible agents. Gini/Marcoux's view of applied ethics in general and business ethics in particular is certainly interesting, but it faces some issues. First, it tells us that our focus should be on the secondary moral principles for business, because there is no agreed-upon high-level ethical theory. But why, then, do the authors begin by giving priority to virtue ethics? Indeed, given that secondary moral principles often conflict in particular situations, perhaps we should go with a more modern ethical theory that explicitly recognizes that duties can conflict. I refer here to W. D. Ross's oft-neglected theory, sometimes called multiple-rule deontologism. There is in fact one book that does just this, namely, Robert Audi's recent text. 8 Another problem is that the authors' account of business ethics as laying out the secondary ethical rules for the "practice" or "venue" of business is that business isn't just a practice. It is more properly viewed as an institution in the sociological sense, like the institution of the family-a wellestablished welter of relationships and patterns of behavior that is a basic part of a culture. The analogy that drives Gini/Marcoux's analysis-applied physics-is what I suspect misleads them. In Chapter 5, Gini/Marcoux take up the notion of trust and truth as they apply in business. They argue that there are three ways to deal with others in business: courtesy, contracts, and trust. Courtesy (manners and etiquette) they note (with David Hume) is not ethics, though both involve socially established rules for dealing with others. While courtesy plays a role in business (and hence business ethics), contracts are more important. Contracts involve promises exchanged between two people. The authors note in passing that since business contracts typically extend beyond one's circle of family and friends, the existence of contract law helps to ensure that contracts will be adhered to by all parties. But besides relying on courtesy and governmentally enforced contracts, business requires a general environment of mutual trust. 8 Robert Audi, Business Ethics and Ethical Business (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009). Actually, while Audi's admirable book is based upon Ross's moral theory, it includes a fudge: when ethical principles conflict, we turn to universalizability to resolve the conflict-in effect, we use Kant to bail out Ross in cases where the rules conflict (p. 42). Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 150 Yet defining this crucial concept of "trust" isn't easy. Gini/Marcoux turn to the work of sociologist James S. Coleman, who considers trust the byproduct of social capital, which is "those shared ideas, morals, values, beliefs and behaviors that make life easier and add value (capital) to our interactions with other members of our social network" (p. 70). All of this, alas, seems somewhat tautological. No doubt the authors are right when they claim that values such as truthfulness, reliability and responsibility help to support mutually beneficial cooperation, and they do note that they come from our experiences within our family, community, and religious and secular organizations-in short, to use a phrase that I used above, the mediating structures of society. The authors add that trust and social capital form a reciprocally causal relationship. They also add the point made by Robert Solomon that the key economic function of trust is to reduce the transaction costs of doing business (as a quick aside, it would have been helpful if the authors had defined the crucial economics concept of "transaction cost" here). Gini/Marcoux rightly point out that trust can also be dangerous, citing the examples of Charles Ponzi and Bernard Madoff. Both used the trust of many people in their networks of friends, family, and acquaintances to commit frauds. The authors should have added that both cases are examples of "affinity scams," that is, frauds facilitated by exploiting the trust created by a common identity-such as same ethnicity, gender, religion, or whatever. Gini/Marcoux finish the chapter by noting that honesty is the key to trust. Of course, this rules out false promises and fraudulently misrepresenting your products. But the authors note that there are business situations in which participants aren't morally required to tell the truth, or at least the whole truth. An employee doesn't have to reveal to a customer the company's trade secrets. And in bargaining, neither side is required to tell the other his or her true "reservation price" (the minimum the seller will accept and still feel better off selling than not, or the maximum the buyer will pay and still feel better off buying than not). We might think that the ethical thing for each side is to state his true reservation price and split the difference, but (here Gini/Marcoux follow Howard Raiffa's analysis) this would tempt the participants to lie in such a way that the deal would never get off the ground, to the detriment of both sides. The authors finish the discussion by defending the notion that it is morally permissible to lie to hide your true reservation price, as when I say to the buyer of my car that my wife won't let me sell for less than $13,000 (whereas in fact my wife said no such thing, or I have no wife at all). The authors conclude that it is morally defensible, because (borrowing a concept of common law) the lie is not material to the transaction. The buyer is not being deceived in a way that diminishes his ability to reach a rational choice on the purchase (as he would have been had I understated the mileage on the car, or covered up a known defect in it). In this I think they are spot on. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 151 In all, however, I confess that I found this chapter to be one of the weakest in the book, and I think the weakness is due to the virtue ethics stance the authors take. The first problem I see is that while it is true that trust undergirds community, and business always takes place in a community, this doesn't mean that business plays a major role in instilling or fostering virtue generally-or trust in particular-in people. As I suggested above, instilling virtue and shaping character are surely the job primarily of the mediating structures of society. More importantly, I think Gini/Marcoux overstate the role that trust plays in business. Certainly, trust supports business between family members, friends, and acquaintances at least in a small community. If I am loaning money to my sister, say, I may well not ask for a written contract. (However, my sister had better be an honest woman, for cheating and dishonesty occur even in the closest families and friendship circles.) But, in large societies, much more is needed than trust (and courtesy and contracts, for that matter). In saying that the three major factors structuring business activity are courtesy, contracts, and trust, the authors overlook what seems to me to be the major factor (or factors) controlling or governing business behavior, namely, what I shall term "the disciplinary matrix." Let's imagine what would happen if, say, I were the owner of a restaurant, and I have decided to prepare and serve food in unsanitary conditions. What would likely occur? To begin with, as customers became sick, word would spread. Newspapers would write stories about the sickened, elaborated in, well, sickening detail. Websites such as Yelp would hammer my restaurant critically until, well, I yelped. Quickly, organizations such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and consumer watchdog groups would start negatively rating my company. As word spread that my food was making people sick, my customer base would rapidly flee to the many other restaurants the free market furnishes. I would be driven to the wall by my competitors. Naturally, a host of inspectors would descend upon my establishment, writing me up for all kinds of citations, bringing not just fines, but potential criminal charges as well. And the customers who became sick from the food would waste no time in suing me, and would undoubtedly be awarded both compensatory and punitive damages. Here, it is well worth noting, it wouldn't be contract law that would come after me, but the more pervasive tort law. If one thinks about this simple case of bad business behavior, one sees that in any well-ordered advanced capitalistic system, there is a large matrix of mechanisms that serve to deter bad behavior and encourage good behavior in business by disciplining (i.e., sanctioning) the business engaging in bad behavior. Trust is the least of it. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 152 In Chapter 6, Gini/Marcoux take up the topic of competition in business. They note that competition plays a vital role in human life, and the paradigm of competition is athletic competition. Athletic competition builds character-it instills such virtues as courage, temperance, self-respect, good temper, friendliness, and so on. But the authors hasten to add that there is often bad behavior in sports. Here they give another Aristotelian golden-mean analysis: the virtuous sportsman is justly proud of a good performance, whether he wins or loses, whereas the sore loser is excessively vain, as is the swollen (i.e., boastful) winner. Now, business is certainly competitive. The question is, however, whether it is analogous to athletic contests or games. Gini/Marcoux suggest some major differences. Most games are "zero-sum" (i.e., someone must win and someone must lose), whereas a number of companies can compete successfully in a given market niche and all make money (a "positive-sum game"). Competition in athletic games is limited to the field, while competition between companies continues constantly. Moreover, athletic games can never devastate people the way business can (as when a company dumps toxic waste in a community). And the competition between athletic teams is for a short period of time, with a set endpoint, whereas the competition between businesses can continue indefinitely. Gini/Marcoux then ask whether business is like war. Here the authors give a brief review of Joseph Schumpeter's theory of "creative destruction," namely, that economic progress is driven by innovation, that innovation is typically produced by entrepreneurs, and that this produces the destruction of older, less efficient industries through replacement by newer, more productive ones. 9 The authors argue that this destruction is utterly unlike war, because typically the old industry survives, but is just diminished by the newer one. Their example is of transportation by horse and buggy. While the automobile displaced the horse and buggy, people still use horses and buggies. They conclude that in business, competition is both normal and positive. Again, I think that this chapter could have been stronger, and its weakness stems in part from the virtue ethics approach. Start with Gini/Marcoux's treatment of Schumpeter's theory of creative destruction. Their treatment downplays (if not trivializes) a process that Schumpeter himself viewed as having a tragic side. The auto industry really did eliminate horse-powered transportation-horses and buggies are now primarily a hobby. The effects upon hundreds of thousands of workers was profound and (at least in the short term) negative. This negative consequence of innovation needs to 9 Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1942). Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 153 be frankly acknowledged. Yes, unlike battle (though perhaps not of all war), 10 where there is only destruction of value, in innovation, this is destruction of value accompanied by creation of greater new value. But there is at least a short-term negative impact on some people. This recognition would allow the instructor to talk, say, about the use of safety-net programs in all modern market economies to mitigate the impact on the losing industry, and the dangers of moral hazard in those programs. 11 What's worse, the key idea-that competition is generally virtuous- needs to be clarified. For example, consider the phenomenon economists term "rent-seeking." Reverting to the sports analogy, wouldn't we consider any attempt by one team to change the rules of the game to disfavor the opposing team to be poor sportsmanship? However, businesses often seek to prevail over competing firms not by providing a better or cheaper product, but by getting government agencies to impose regulations on their competitors. In Chapter 7-one of the best chapters in their text-Gini/Marcoux take up the topic of partiality and loyalty. It is a very useful chapter, perhaps because it relies less on the virtue ethics approach. The authors rightly point out that the notion of impartiality (treating people equally, not being partial to some) is central to most ethical theories, certainly the major ones such as utilitarianism, Kantianism, and social-contract ethics. But the notion of impartiality is tricky. We expect a referee in a sports event not to favor anyone or any team in the game, but we impartially agree that a parent should be partial to his or her child. The authors frame the key question nicely: "Is ethical business practice like being in a basketball game or like a mother raising a child?" (p. 103) It can be both, of course, depending upon the specific business situation. We consider impartiality to be morally obligatory, for example, when the government awards a contract; the companies bidding for it have a right to expect fair consideration according to pre-established rules (such as lowest bidder wins). But this is an exceptional case. Here the authors engage in an insightful analysis of Norman Bowie's view that business ethics should focus on impartiality. 12 Specifically, Bowie calls for "arms-length transactions" in business, so (for example), a manager 10 I have in mind here, for example, World War II, in which the Allies destroyed the fascist regimes (and much of the infrastructure) of Germany, Italy, and Japan, but later helped to install democratic governance and stable, prosperous economies. 11 In this context, "moral hazard" would refer to the chance that government safety-net programs would tempt people into bad or counterproductive behavior. For example, extended unemployment benefits may lead some workers to delay looking for new work, making them for a period of time a drain on the taxpayers, and in the end less attractive to potential employers. 12 Norman Bowie, Business Ethics: A Kantian Perspective (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1990). Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 154 who gives special consideration to family or friends is behaving unethically, and may even be a violation of fiduciary duty. Gini/Marcoux (employing an implicitly egoist perspective) reply that what appears to be "arms-length" negotiating is typically bargaining out of self-interest. That is, the negotiator is trying to get the best deal possible, and only makes those concessions necessary to get the other party to agree. So if I am looking out for my self-interest (or that of my principals) in negotiating for a new roof for the factory, then I am not going to be partial. I'll take the lowest bidder, though I might take advice from friends on who did a good job for them. But is this impartiality in the Kantian sense? It doesn't seem so. Furthermore, what would be wrong if the sole owner of a company hired a relative for a make-work position? Nothing, it would seem. If the owner falsely advertised for the job (stating that it is open to all qualified applicants), when in fact it was reserved for his relative, or if the person hiring his/her relative wasn't the sole owner (or was only a high-level manager), that would be unethical, but otherwise, it isn't. The owner is, in effect, spending part of his own profit in a way that reflects one of his preferences (viz., aiding his family). So, as the authors note, the times when a person is duty-bound to "bargain at arm's-length" are most often cases of a principal/agent (or "agency") relationship. If a salesperson sells the company product to a friend at a lower price than is offered to other customers, that salesperson is not acting morally toward his employer-the salesperson is disloyal. The authors conclude by noting that agency relations are pervasive in business, as are fiduciary duties-consider the obligations that pension-fund managers and full-service brokers owe their clients, as well as the obligation of the managers of a company to its owners (stockholders). They note that many business ethicists are suspicious of agent loyalties to principals, fearing that it may lead those agents to mistreat people who are not principals. To this they give the excellent reply that as the law recognizes, an agent's duty to the principals does not negate all other ethical obligations. Ross couldn't have put the point better. Chapter 8 is on work-life balance. It tells us that work has value beyond just allowing us to afford life's necessities, by defining our identities and shaping our characters. But the authors also hold that the main problem we face is that while work is central to our identity and creative flourishing, we are overworked. The rest of the chapter essentially elaborates this view. Gini/Marcoux here raise the criticisms that excessive focus on work can cost us in human relationships, and that our workaholism is geared toward conspicuous consumption. Here they cite the view of Diane Fassel, who holds that workaholism is quite distinct from "the American/Protestant work ethic," in that the former is self-absorbed and compulsive, while the latter is "about God's calling to work, the dignity and duty of work, the value and purpose of work" (p. 123). Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 155 The conclusion is that we need more play time and time away from work. This strikes me as too vague to be of use. First, even given the attempt to distinguish evil "workaholism" from good "American/Protestant work ethic," it is difficult to see how we can all inherently be narcissists (as the text earlier proclaimed) and workaholics at the same time. Worse, the authors don't take the time to talk about the different reasons people work. Consider, for example, a poor immigrant couple who own a small dry-cleaning business, and who have to be there twelve hours a day for seven days a week, just to cover their costs, pay their taxes, and put their kids through decent schools. For (presumably tenured) professors to tell them that they are self-absorbed and need to take time off seems beyond insensitive-it smacks of blaming the victims. The authors should have done as Joseph Desjardins does in his text 13 in considering various models of why people work, and then (perhaps from a Rossian perspective) discussed the various conflicts of duty to oneself and others. Chapter 9 is on big business and the global marketplace. The chapter has some useful material, but the structure presents problems. Gini/Marcoux begin with the fair observation that just as it is a mistake for a business ethics text to view all business as big business (a mistake prevalent among existing texts), it would also be a mistake to overlook big business. But here they add that any big business started as a small one. Now, if big business is just successful small business matured, and few of us will be executives at a big business, why devote special attention to it? Here the authors suggest that businesses like Wal-Mart, which employs 2.1 million people worldwide, and ExxonMobil, with revenues of $358 billion, have a greater potential to do harm because of their scale and their global presences. The authors then briefly discuss the stakeholder model (first articulated by Evan and Freeman). 14 They suggest that this model is rather outdated in the modern American economy, where workers no longer work for life at one job, and there is a dizzying array of consumer choices. As an aside: while I agree that the stakeholder model is inadequate, I think there are more compelling critiques of it than this. One most obvious problem of the model is that it treats as equals people who aren't, in terms of risk. Owners risk loss of assets in a way that no other "stakeholders" do. That is, most new businesses fail. When a firm fails (goes bankrupt, say), any unpaid employees are early in the line of claimants to be paid off; so are 13 Desjardins, An Introduction to Business Ethics, chap. 5. 14 William Evan and R. Edward Freeman, "A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation: Kantian Capitalism," in Contemporary Issues in Business Ethics, 4th ed., ed. Joseph R. Desjardins and John McCall (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005). Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 156 secured investors. Owners are always at the back of the line, and typically receive nothing. Gini/Marcoux then talk about market failures, including negative externalities, and how they call for government regulation, but also call for virtuous businesspeople. Like every other business ethics text of which I am aware, this text never mentions government failure or the problems of regulation, such as regulatory capture and rent-seeking. Those insights only come when you do as economists do and take egoism seriously. The authors then take up the issue of globalization. Showing economic common sense, a sense lacking in some other texts-they observe that since globalization has already occurred, we no longer need to ask whether it is good, but what the ethical implications are. This, parenthetically, seems a bit quick. Sexually transmitted diseases have grown worldwide in the modern era, but we can still ask whether that is a good thing. Specifically, it would have been a valuable discussion to explore the degree to which global trade has grown. In the modern era, this is tied not with the collapse of communism, but with the establishment of international organizations that will enable and promote it (such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organization). It would also be valuable to explore why economists are nearly unanimous in viewing it as a good thing. Be that as it may, the authors conclude the chapter by noting that there are some ethical issues that arise in international business, such as whether one should follow the norms of one's own country, or norms prevailing in each country within which one does business. One typical answer is to invoke the norms of (say) the UN Global Compact, or some particular code (say, Richard De George's guidelines). As Gini/Marcoux note, these two approaches face the same three problems. First, they seem to ignore competitive reality: if my company refuses to bribe officials in a country where bribery is common, I will lose business to my competitors. Second, these approaches just recycle the question of which norms are correct. Third, both of these approaches impose our own Western-style morality on others. The authors finish the chapter by briefly discussing the contentious case of "sweatshop" labor. They review Ian Maitland's arguments that sweatshops in fact are beneficial for a developing country: so-called sweatshops typically pay their workers much more than local companies; those shops have better working conditions than indigenous ones; they allow workers in that developing country to prove their competence; they raise local wages by competing for local talent; and they stimulate the local economy. Maitland's critics hold that despite these good effects, sweatshops are unethical, often arguing that a Kantian respect for the workers entails a living wage (though seldom specifying quantitatively what that means). Conspicuously missing here (as is the case in most other texts) is a crucial distinction. You can make a strong argument when dealing with a democratically governed developing country that if the government allows low-wage factories, it is a trade-off that the people are making to take the Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 157 lower paying work rather than face unemployment. That is their choice, and a Kantian respect for autonomy would seem to suggest that we should honor that choice. But the argument is much harder to make when dealing with a dictatorially governed developing country. For in that case, the people have no chance to make the choice for themselves-the ruling clique makes it for them. This chapter suffers from two flaws. First, it mixes together two topics that really should be given separate chapters. There are many big businesses that are not global, and many small businesses that are. (Try searching for "Greek olive oil" on your favorite search engine, and you will find a lot of small producers advertising their wares. Websites are easy to design and maintain the world over.) A second flaw in this chapter is that the authors' explanation of why big business merits special attention seems to me to be insufficient. I would point to two issues that are ubiquitous in big business, but typically absent in small business. To start, big businesses involve large, hierarchically organized groups of people, and the organizational behavior of the employees is thus more complex than it is in small businesses. Moreover, the greater the number of employees, the harder it is to deal with the agency problem efficiently. That is, in a large corporation, the owners/stockholders tend to have less power and information, while the managers have more of both, and so are more able to act in their own (rather than the stockholders') interest. The final chapter in the book is the weakest, and again the virtue ethics orientation seems to be the problem. Gini/Marcoux take up the topic of leadership in business. The authors hold that while our fascination with leadership is excessive, leadership is central to business and thus important ethically. In keeping with their virtue ethics perspective, they claim that workers take management and the culture of the firm as their ethical models. The authors do allow that this doesn't mean workers are never responsible for the actions of a business, but that leadership matters. The authors define leadership as "a power-and-value relationship, among leaders and followers/constituents who share a common vision and intend real changes that reflect their mutual purpose and goals" (p. 152). They try to define the key terms carefully. Power, for example, is defined as the ability to direct change. It can be used coercively but also non-coercively as well. They naively add that, ideally, people with power would wield it for the common good, not for personal gain. However, they tell us little about what makes a good leader. They claim that it is good moral character, and cite the case of Richard Nixon, whose presidency failed because (they imply) he lacked character. Most important in character is moral courage-the courage to face dangers to put principles into effect. But all of this is very unconvincing. First-to repeat-businesses can reinforce or weaken character, but our basic characters are formed much earlier in life than when we move into adult work. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 158 Second, what evidence do the authors offer that moral character is typically present among effective leaders, other than citing the case of Nixon? Indeed, one can think of any number of recent effective presidents, for example, who don't seem to have been men of exceptional moral character- John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Bill Clinton come to mind here. Conversely, personal rectitude hardly translated into effective leadership for Jimmy Carter. It seems more likely that competency in leadership usually has more to do with the skills and practical intelligence of the leader. In the case of a potential leader, it is skill in communication and political judgment. In a business leader, it is skill in communication and economic judgment, and a good deal of luck figures in as well. Let me turn now to some general comments about the Gini/Marcoux text. First, Gini/Marcoux work hard early to distinguish for-profit from non-profit companies, and they put their subsequent focus on for-profit enterprises. In this regard, they follow every other text I have ever examined. But it is questionable whether this universally exclusive focus of business ethics texts on for-profit enterprises is justified. Specifically, I suspect that it reveals a bias against for-profits that leads to blindness concerning ethical issues in non-profits. An ideal business ethics text would have at least one chapter on ethical issues in non-profit businesses. Second, the brevity of the text results in the omission of some interesting issues in business ethics that the authors' own perspective could have helped to analyze in an enlightening way. Consider this example. The authors rightly note that entrepreneurs don't just passively take orders from customers, but "imagine lifestyles that people may be attracted to, once the possibility is presented to them" (p. 24). They illustrate this briefly by citing the case of the personal computer, which had little early demand in the market. But entrepreneurs conceived (and continue to conceive to this day) of ways people could find the device useful, and created software to enable the realization of those hitherto potential applications. They could have amplified this and illustrated it more fully in a whole separate chapter. And it would have been a useful chapter, indeed. For in some (if not most) business ethics texts 15 one finds a critique of advertising in particular (and by extension, free-market economics in general) that goes back in recent American history to John Kenneth Galbraith's 1958 best-seller, The Affluent Society. 16 (In fact, this critique has its roots in Karl Marx, and even earlier in Jean-Jacques Rousseau.) This critique attacks advertising for manipulating people into desiring and buying trivial or useless things, and engaging in "therapeutic shopping" (where consumers go to shopping malls and buy 15 See, e.g., Desjardins An Introduction to Business Ethics, pp. 183 and 201-16. 16 John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1958). Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 159 things just to feel better, often regretting it later). This then is said to lead to "affluenza," the alleged social malady affecting economically advanced countries, a malady that includes spiritual emptiness and intellectual shallowness caused by pervasive advertising for things people don't really need. The point that Gini/Marcoux could have explored (and defended) is that entrepreneurs are generally creating markets in the positive sense of imagining new ways that existing products and services (as well as imagining new products and services) can meet fundamental pre-existing consumer desires, as opposed to creating shallow new desires. For example, consider recent advances in cell phone technology. People-young people in particular-love talking to and showing pictures of each other. A grim Galbraith may intone that the desire to own these silly picture phones was implanted in those consumers' empty heads by manipulative advertising, and a rigid Rousseau may judge the young people using these phones as silly and shallow for wasting their time networking in this way. But this behavior is neither the result of unnatural desire nor is it psychologically shallow. On the contrary, wanting to communicate and bond with your circle of friends is a deep, innate desire of human beings. It is how we maintain our social cohesion, a key feature in our flourishing as a species. An ideal business ethics text would directly address the Rousseau/Galbraith line of attack on business in general and advertising in particular. Third, the authors focus on individuals and their behavior in business. I certainly think that is a good counterpoint to the tendency of most texts to focus just on business behavior. But we shouldn't overlook the fact that people in groups often collectively behave differently from the way they behave individually. A corporation-which is recognized in American law as a legally separate person-has goals that will usually affect the thinking and behavior of the individuals in it. An ideal business ethics text would discuss issues surrounding corporate culture and how it affects individual behavior. Fourth, I think that Gini/Marcoux's text doesn't convey the degree to which business-in America or any other country-is an externally rulegoverned institution. Even less does the text survey some of the legal structure that governs American business. It would have been helpful to have a brief chapter surveying the sources of American law (statutory, regulatory, and common), the concept of a limited-liability corporation, and the tax law differences between for-profit and non-profit enterprises. It is difficult to discuss ethical issues in product safety, for example, without such a background. An ideal business ethics text would include a brief survey of the laws that structure American business, and use that material in discussions of ethical issues. Finally, more troubling is Gini/Marcoux's view of applied ethics. They view applied ethics as being analogous to applied physics. However, I think that the analogy is inherently flawed, and this helps to explain some of the flaws in the text I discussed above. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 160 Start with the analogue, applied physics. One doesn't "apply" the Newtonian laws of motion in building a car engine, but to predicting and explaining the motion of large bodies (planets, say, or cannon shells). Let's consider a more accurate case of applied physics. Hydraulics (i.e., fluid mechanics) is a well-established branch-a theory, in the sense of a detailed set of laws and concepts that are empirically well-established in a domain-of physics whose domain is the behavior of fluids in motion. To "apply it" is to take the web of those laws, principles, and concepts, which together are true (or highly approximately true) in its domain, and use it to explain phenomena or to guide the construction of various devices, as when a biophysicist uses fluid mechanics to explain the motion of blood in an animal or a mechanical engineer uses the theory to design a piping system for a power plant. But if you look at the ethical theories that philosophers have considered the most compelling-which I would list as ethical egoism, utilitarianism, natural-rights ethics, Kantianism, virtue ethics, and Rossian ethical theory-none of them seems to be true, or even highly approximately true, of the "domain" of accepted moral judgments. Worse, it is not even clear there is such a domain of universally accepted moral judgments; that is, moral relativism remains an issue in moral theory generally. I suggest that an ideal business ethics text would take the view that each of these theories has some merit, that is, none is so deeply mistaken that it deserves to be skipped entirely. This is even true of ethical egoism, a view most business ethics (in fact, most ethics texts) dismiss out of hand before trying to discuss issues arising in for-profit business-an institution the essence of which involves mutually beneficial exchanges conducted in a way that increases the wealth of the owners. Instead-again, avowedly, in my view-an ideal business text would view all of these theories as "thinking caps," that is, conceptual lenses which help us to focus on different aspects of a complex institution (business, the family, medical practice, technology, or whatever). Focusing on business, each of the ethical theories has a role to play. 17 Egoism helps us to see that seeking your own benefit is to be expected in business, and is the whole point of for-profit business (and is clearly involved in non-profits and government as well). That is, psychological egoism helps us to understand the agency problem, moral hazard, public choice theory, regulatory capture, rent-seeking, and many other economic concepts so crucial to business ethics generally. Utilitarianism allows us to ask of different rules we might design to constrain and structure business, which leads to the best results. We need this perspective (as did Adam Smith) to understand why the free market has proven so generally beneficial. But the natural-rights perspective adds a corrective that individual rights trump collective good. 17 Indeed, one of the useful things about Gini/Marcoux's text is that despite its obvious preference for the presently regnant virtue ethics, which weakens the discussion of some issues, in the stronger chapters the authors implicitly invoke the egoist, Kantian, utilitarian, and even Rossian ones. Reason Papers Vol. 36, no. 1 161 The Kantian perspective allows us to inquire into consistency and dignity of the people in business. The virtue ethics perspective helps us to examine the effects of a business practice on the character of the participants. And the Rossian perspective helps us to analyze conflicts among duties for participants in business. Another problem with Gini/Marcoux's analogy between "applied ethics" and applied physics is that it overlooks a key thesis from philosophy of science, to wit, the Duhem/Quine Thesis. This thesis holds that a scientific hypothesis cannot be empirically tested in isolation from other auxiliary ("background") assumptions. This was first recognized explicitly by historian of science Pierre Duhem, and featured prominently in W. V. O. Quine's epistemology. 18 Something like this thesis holds in applying high-level ethical theories to render particular moral judgments. My point here is that even if there were a "correct" (or "highly approximately true") ethical theory, it wouldn't by itself entail any "secondary" moral principles, much less answer particular issues in business ethics (such as whether employees should be given a minimum wage). Ethical theories only entail prescriptions via background assumptions, which are often themselves hypotheses from legal studies, economics, history, psychology, or other disciplines. An ideal business ethics text would frankly acknowledge that highlevel ethical theories only suggest ethical judgments against background assumptions, and should where possible explicitly indicate those assumptions. In short, while the text under review has a number of fine features that other business ethics texts lack, it unfortunately is not quite an ideal one. 18 Duhem's thesis is nicely covered in Roger Ariew's entry on Duhem in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed online at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/duhem/. Quine's views on the matter appear in his "Two Dogmas of Empiricism," The Philosophical Review 60 (1951), pp. 20-43. | Mid | [
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The voltage-dependent nature of the GABA-induced conductance change recorded from the ganglion cell of Aplysia. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) produces 2 types of hyperpolarizing responses in Aplysia ganglion cells: One is fast and Cl(-)-dependent whereas the other is slow and K+-dependent. This experiment was performed only on the cells which showed the fast, Cl(-)-dependent receptor activity. GABA-induced increase in membrane conductance (delta G) was evaluated under the voltage clamp at different potential levels of the resting membrane. The delta G was found to decrease when the membrane was hyperpolarized. The more the membrane was hyperpolarized, the greater was the decrease. The dose-response curve shifted to the right when the resting membrane was hyperpolarized, a fact suggesting an increase in apparent dissociation constant (Kapparent) of the receptor-GABA complex. In fact, Kapparent increased e-fold for every 11-mV hyperpolarization of the resting membrane. In contrast, neither parameter of other receptor activities, such as the rate of desensitization, the intrinsic activity, and the Hill coefficient, was altered by hyperpolarization of the receptor membrane. It was concluded that the voltage dependent nature observed in this type of GABA receptor might be due to the change in stability of the Cl(-)-channel in an open state at the receptor membrane. | Mid | [
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#!/bin/sh set -eux . "$( cd "$(dirname "$0")" ; pwd -P )/../ghcup_env" mkdir -p "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"/.local/bin cp ./ghcup "$CI_PROJECT_DIR"/.local/bin/ghcup ghcup --version ghcup -v install ${GHC_VERSION} ghcup -v set ${GHC_VERSION} ghcup -v install-cabal cabal --version ghcup -v debug-info ghcup -v list ghcup -v list -t ghc ghcup -v list -t cabal-install ghc --version ghci --version ghc-$(ghc --numeric-version) --version ghci-$(ghc --numeric-version) --version ghcup -v upgrade ghcup -v rm -f ${GHC_VERSION} | Low | [
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Those worried that it’s essentially a 100-minute advert for Lego have nothing to fear – it’s an affectionate and wacky slice of nostalgia that has plenty to offer both kids and adults, which also works as a smart corporate satire. It has superheroes galore Batman’s an arrogant poseur, Superman has issues with a clingy Green Lantern and Wonder Woman pops up too. The Justice League film (if it ever happens) is going to have a lot to live up if it wants to match up to The Lego Movie. | Mid | [
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Last show Ive attempted to watch is "Ballers", by far the weakest show Ive seen in years. It really, really sucks. It has Dwayne The Rock Johnson in the lead, so that explains a bit. That man is so insecure, it is oozing off the screen. Plus he can not act. And the show is about footballers and their managers, and has a lot of scantily clad and very repulsive whores in it. No women, just whores. It sucks. Ballers: just sucks. The show I watched before that is the last season of Silicon Valley, which is one of my favourite shows. It is created by Mike Judge who also did Beavis And Butthead. Behind the scenes of Silicon Valley Ive further tried the shows Taboo, The Crown, Game of Thrones, Harlots, these all suck. The best of all these shows that Ive seen is The Shield. The story of a police department in Los Angeles, in particular focusing on an out of bounds "Strike Team" headed by a cop that is rather thorough in applying pressures where he sees it fit. Vic Mackey, The Shield Unlike any other show Ive watched, The Shield is a single narrative, one giant story-arc that has no sideshows. It consists of seven seasons, all of them riveting, and the end of the last episode is a pitch perfect consequence of the beginning of the first. It surpasses Renaissance art; it is Greek. Perhaps not coincidentally, the leading actor, Michael Chiklis, is of Greek descent. For anyone who has watched the show I can recommend the making of - this shows you how emotionally involved the actors and the writers were with this show. It had become absolutely indistinguishable from reality for them. One great discovery of this show is Walton Goggins, who as hillbilly cop Shane Vendrell gives the performance of the century. Well, I was debating on whether I should start watching Game of Thones or not (I’m not sure if I’m up to the task, or whether it’s even worth it, despite the ravings), but decided for now to give McMafia a try (also came with high ratings). This show reminded me of Dexter, in that it draws the viewer to sympathize with essentially a fucked up character. Does rot run in the family? Apparently it does. Not for a single second did I believe that Alex started as an innocent angel who got mired in filth by circumstances beyond his control. And this is an important detail, which can be brought up in the second season (or any time, for that matter). Remember, Alex is supposedly a good person who’s drawn into the crime world through noble and “justified” revenge; he’s really just a pretty poster child for all the ugliness that stands behind him. But what happens when he accomplishes his task, what excuse will he have for whitewashing himself while he continues down his family path? Because, after all, he started as an innocent angel? On what grounds should the viewer continue to sympathize with him?Anyway, this is what I predict may happen in this series if they continue with Alex down this line: by season 3 or 4 Alex will probably graduate to arms dealing, or have large politicians involved (and will eventually become a glorified Scarface character of the series); he will expand his international criminal network; gain/lose new allies/enemies; Kleiman, if they let him live, may outplay them all, or become the main competitor in the long run; and the gift-giving Mexican will eventually turn on him.Another recurrent troublesome theme - family. What purpose or value does it have in the crime world? Leverage? Liability? Excuse? For now, I am going to rate it 5/10. I'm not a big TV person. But I can tell you that the show "shameless" is pretty entertaining. When you start to watch it, you think, "this is unrealistic nonsense". Then as it goes on you think, "wait, this is actually more true to life than most people want to believe". You see...a pimp's love is very different from that of a square.Dating a stripper is like eating a noisy bag of chips in church. Everyone looks at you in disgust, but deep down they want some too. Breaking bad, though I lost some interest after a certain 'bad' guy died.Game of ThronesWalking DeadSopranosThe WireTop of the LakeTrue DetectiveNarcos - not as good as the others, but his character is so extreme and interesting, I put it inThe Handmaid's Tale -only seen one seasonTaboo - one season I liked it. I’d give it 8/10. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled after 1st season. Reverie. 7/10 What I like the most about this show is the idea itself, which is not only potentially realistic, but quite scary as well; specifically the part in which an implanted AI, acting as a surrogate subconscious of sorts, learns the individual’s reactions and adjusts accordingly, thereby, essentially, facilitating a psychosis (or derealization, as they call it in the series), so not only does one go into his dream world, but the dream world comes out into the real word, thus blurring the distinctions between the two. The Terror.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l328p5sSEmcI thought it was well-done. I liked the main actors in this series. It got me thinking: how do we go about imagining what it must have been like, in real life? (btw, Erebus was finally found in 2014, and Terror in 2016) | Mid | [
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Thomas Rutherforth Thomas Rutherforth (also Rutherford) (1712–1771) was an English churchman and academic, Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge from 1745, and Archdeacon of Essex from 1752. Life He was the son of Thomas Rutherforth, rector of Papworth Everard, Cambridgeshire, an antiquarian who made collections for a county history. He was born at Papworth St. Agnes, Cambridgeshire, on 3 October 1712, received his education at Huntingdon school under Mr. Matthews, and was admitted a sizar of St John's College, Cambridge, 6 April 1726. He proceeded B.A. in 1729, and commenced M.A. in 1733; he served the office of junior taxor or moderator in the schools in 1736, and graduated B.D. in 1740. On 28 January 1742 he was elected a member of the Gentlemen's Society at Spalding, and on 27 January 1743 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He taught physical science privately at Cambridge, and issued in 1743 Ordo Institutionum Physicarum. In 1745 he was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, and created D.D. He became chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and afterwards to the dowager Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. He also became rector of Shenfield, Essex, and was instituted to the rectory of Barley, Hertfordshire, 13 April 1751. On 28 November 1752 he was presented to the archdeaconry of Essex. He died in the house of his wife's brother, Sir Anthony Abdy, on 5 October 1771, and was buried in the chancel of Barley church; a memorial slab placed over his tomb was removed in 1871 to the west wall of the south aisle. Works Rutherforth was "at the heart of Cambridge latitudinarianism". His dissertation for D.D., concerning the sacrifice of Isaac as a type of Christ's death, was published in Latin, and elicited a reply from Joseph Edwards, M.A. Besides sermons, tracts, charges, and a paper read before the Gentlemen's Society at Spalding, on Plutarch's description of the instrument used to renew the Vestal fire, Rutherforth published: ‘An Essay on the Nature and Obligations of Virtue,’ Cambridge, 1744. Thomas Chubb attacked this in The Ground and Foundation of Morality Considered (1745). Catherine Cockburn also wrote a confutation, which William Warburton published with a preface of his own as ‘Remarks upon … Dr. Rutherforth's Essay … in Vindication of the contrary Principles and Reasonings inforced in the Writings of the late Dr. Samuel Clarke,’ 1747. ‘A System of Natural Philosophy, being a Course of Lectures in Mechanics, Optics, Hydrostatics, and Astronomy,’ 2 vols. Cambridge, 1748. ‘A Defence of the Bishop of London's Discourses concerning the use and intent of Prophecy; in a Letter to Dr. Middleton;’ 2nd edit. London, 1750. On behalf of Thomas Sherlock, against Conyers Middleton. ‘The Credibility of Miracles defended against the Author of Philosophical Essays,’ Cambridge, 1751. Against David Hume. ‘Institutes of Natural Law; being the substance of a Course of Lectures on Grotius de Jure Belli et Pacis,’ 2 vols. Cambridge, 1754–6, 8vo; second American edition, revised, Baltimore, 1832. ‘A Letter to … Mr. Kennicott, in which his Defence of the Samaritan Pentateuch is examined, and his second Dissertation on the State of the printed Hebrew Text of the Old Testament is shewn to be in many instances Injudicious and Inaccurate,’ Cambridge, 1761. Benjamin Kennicott published in 1762 an answer, to which Rutherforth retorted in ‘A Second Letter.’ ‘A Vindication of the Right of Protestant Churches to require the Clergy to subscribe to an established Confession of Faith and Doctrines, in a Charge delivered at a Visitation in July 1766,’ Cambridge [1766]. ‘An Examination’ of this charge ‘by a Clergyman of the Church of England’ (Benjamin Dawson) reached a fifth edition in 1767. ‘A Second Vindication of the Right of Protestant Churches,’ &c., Cambridge, 1766. This was also answered anonymously by Dawson. ‘A Defence of a Charge concerning Subscriptions, in a Letter to the Author of the Confessional,’ Cambridge, 1767. Against Francis Blackburne, this caused further controversy. Family He married Charlotte Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Abdy, 4th Baronet, and left one son, Thomas Abdy Rutherforth, who became rector of Theydon Garnon, Essex, and died on 14 October 1798. References Notes External links thepeerage.com Attribution Category:1712 births Category:1771 deaths Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:Archdeacons of Essex Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge | Mid | [
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Archive | January 2015 Her nerves shook both her hands and her confidence, yet Clarisa smiled at the woman in the reflection. Time hadn’t been kind to her – you need only look at the wrinkles, bags under her eyes, and expanding mid-section to see the result – yet she still saw a beautiful woman reflected in the image before her. Opening night always meant excitement, jitters, and anticipation even when she wasn’t the one on stage. Tonight, she would cheer on her former colleagues with as much joy as she could muster. Oh, how she had hoped to be a part of it all. This could have been her opportunity to return to the stage that she loved so well. She had rehearsed her monologues again and again, studied up on the role for which she was auditioning, and walked into the casting office with her head held high. “‘Twas not to be”, she supposed after much contemplation. Yet it didn’t take away the sting every time she saw another positive critique about the show that could’ve catapulted her back on top. She’d made her choice, left a successful career in order to raise her children away from the hustle and bustle of the city. She’d expected a welcome return once she’d decided to come home, but too much time had gone by. Friends of old retired to make way for fresh faces and ideas. She didn’t have a connection left to introduce her to a public that wasn’t waiting. She’d chosen a burgundy dress that showed off her best feature – tall, muscular legs – and accented it with a caramel-colored cashmere scarf that had been a gift from her former mentor. She wrapped the gift around her bare shoulders and let the frayed edges accentuate her hips. She clasped the Rainbow Agate stone pendant that hung around her neck and closed her eyes. “Please let tonight be a new start.” Clarisa heard her husband call for her and knew she was ready to make an entrance. | Mid | [
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When Is It in a Child's Best Interests to Withhold or Withdraw Life-sustaining Treatment? An Evolving Australian Jurisprudence. Decisions about whether to withdraw or withhold life-sustaining medical treatment from children give rise to complex and value-laden judgments. While recourse to the courts is uncommon, judicial decisions provide an important source of guidance for the children (where they can participate), families and health and medical professionals involved in these decisions. Yet, there has been remarkably little consideration of the Australian jurisprudence on this issue. This article addresses that gap by undertaking the first comprehensive analysis of all publicly available Australian cases that consider whether or not it is in a child's best interests to receive life-sustaining treatment. A total of 25 cases were located and the judicial consideration of best interests was thematically analysed. Key considerations (to varying degrees) when assessing best interests included the likelihood of treatment curing or improving the child's health, medical views about diagnosis, prognosis and treatment and the child's and parents' views and wishes. The article concludes that the law requires greater certainty and transparency in decision-making. Given the significance of these cases, judgments should describe the factors that the court considers relevant and important, and those that are less influential, as well as the weight ascribed to those various factors and the reasoning that underpins an assessment that treatment is or is not in a child's best interests. | High | [
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<?php /** * File containing the eZTemplateForFunction class. * * @copyright Copyright (C) eZ Systems AS. All rights reserved. * @license For full copyright and license information view LICENSE file distributed with this source code. * @version //autogentag// * @package lib */ /*! \class eZTemplateForFunction eztemplateforfunction.php \ingroup eZTemplateFunctions \brief FOR loop Syntax: \code {for <number> to <number> as $itemVar [sequence <array> as $seqVar]} [{delimiter}...{/delimiter}] [{break}] [{continue}] [{skip}] {/for} \endcode Examples: \code {for 1 to 5 as $i} i: {$i}<br/> {/for} {for 5 to 1 as $i} i: {$i}<br/> {/for} \endcode */ class eZTemplateForFunction { const FUNCTION_NAME = 'for'; /*! * Returns an array of the function names, required for eZTemplate::registerFunctions. */ function functionList() { $functionList = array( eZTemplateForFunction::FUNCTION_NAME ); return $functionList; } /*! * Returns the attribute list. * key: parameter name * value: can have children */ function attributeList() { return array( 'delimiter' => true, 'break' => false, 'continue' => false, 'skip' => false ); } /*! * Returns the array with hits for the template compiler. */ function functionTemplateHints() { return array( eZTemplateForFunction::FUNCTION_NAME => array( 'parameters' => true, 'static' => false, 'transform-parameters' => true, 'tree-transformation' => true ) ); } /*! * Compiles the function and its children into PHP code. */ function templateNodeTransformation( $functionName, &$node, $tpl, $parameters, $privateData ) { // {for <first_val> to <last_val> as $<loop_var> [sequence <sequence_array> as $<sequence_var>]} $newNodes = array(); $tpl->ForCounter++; $nodePlacement = eZTemplateNodeTool::extractFunctionNodePlacement( $node ); $uniqid = md5( $nodePlacement[2] ) . "_" . $tpl->ForCounter; $loop = new eZTemplateCompiledLoop( eZTemplateForFunction::FUNCTION_NAME, $newNodes, $parameters, $nodePlacement, $uniqid, $node, $tpl, $privateData ); $variableStack = "for_variable_stack_$uniqid"; $namesArray = array( "for_firstval_$uniqid", "for_lastval_$uniqid", "for_i_$uniqid" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "// for begins" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "if ( !isset( \$$variableStack ) ) \$$variableStack = [];" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "\$" . $variableStack ."[] = @compact( '" . implode( "', '", $namesArray ) . "' );" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createVariableNode( false, $parameters['first_val'], $nodePlacement, array( 'treat-value-as-non-object' => true ), "for_firstval_$uniqid" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createVariableNode( false, $parameters['last_val'], $nodePlacement, array( 'treat-value-as-non-object' => true ), "for_lastval_$uniqid" ); $loop->initVars(); // loop header $modifyLoopCounterCode = "\$for_firstval_$uniqid < \$for_lastval_$uniqid ? \$for_i_${uniqid}++ : \$for_i_${uniqid}--"; // . ";\n"; $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "for ( \$for_i_$uniqid = \$for_firstval_$uniqid ; ; $modifyLoopCounterCode )\n{" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createSpacingIncreaseNode(); // Check for index $indexArray = isset( $parameters['loop_var'][0][1] ) ? $parameters['loop_var'][0][1] : array( "", 2, "default_index_$uniqid" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createVariableNode( false, "for_i_$uniqid", $nodePlacement, array( 'text-result' => true ), $indexArray, false, true, true ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "if ( !( \$for_firstval_$uniqid < \$for_lastval_$uniqid ? " . "\$for_i_$uniqid <= \$for_lastval_$uniqid : " . "\$for_i_$uniqid >= \$for_lastval_$uniqid ) )\n" . " break;\n" ); $loop->processBody(); // loop footer $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createSpacingDecreaseNode(); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "} // for" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "if ( count( \$$variableStack ) ) extract( array_pop( \$$variableStack ) );\n" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "else\n{\n" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createVariableUnsetNode( $indexArray ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createVariableUnsetNode( "for_firstval_$uniqid" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createVariableUnsetNode( "for_lastval_$uniqid" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createVariableUnsetNode( "for_i_$uniqid" ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createVariableUnsetNode( $variableStack ); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "}\n" ); $loop->cleanup(); $newNodes[] = eZTemplateNodeTool::createCodePieceNode( "// for ends\n" ); return $newNodes; } /*! * Actually executes the function and its children (in processed mode). */ function process( $tpl, &$textElements, $functionName, $functionChildren, $functionParameters, $functionPlacement, $rootNamespace, $currentNamespace ) { /* * Check function parameters */ $loop = new eZTemplateLoop( eZTemplateForFunction::FUNCTION_NAME, $functionParameters, $functionChildren, $functionPlacement, $tpl, $textElements, $rootNamespace, $currentNamespace ); if ( !$loop->initialized() ) return; $loop->parseScalarParamValue( 'first_val', $firstVal, $firstValIsProxy ); $loop->parseScalarParamValue( 'last_val', $lastVal, $lastValIsProxy ); if ( $firstValIsProxy || $lastValIsProxy ) { $tpl->error( eZTemplateForFunction::FUNCTION_NAME, "Proxy objects ({section} loop iterators) cannot be used to specify the range \n" . "(this will lead to indefinite loops in compiled mode).\n" . "Please explicitly dereference the proxy object like this: \$current_node.item." ); return; } $loop->parseParamVarName( 'loop_var' , $loopVarName ); if ( $firstVal === null || $lastVal === null || !$loopVarName ) { $tpl->error( eZTemplateForFunction::FUNCTION_NAME, "Wrong arguments passed." ); return; } if ( !is_numeric( $firstVal ) || !is_numeric( $lastVal ) ) { $tpl->error( eZTemplateForFunction::FUNCTION_NAME, "Both 'from' and 'to' values can only be numeric." ); return; } $loop->initLoopVariable( $loopVarName ); /* * Everything is ok, run the 'for' loop itself */ for ( $i = $firstVal; $firstVal < $lastVal ? $i <= $lastVal : $i >= $lastVal; ) { // set loop variable $tpl->setVariable( $loopVarName, $i, $rootNamespace ); $loop->setSequenceVar(); // set sequence variable (if specified) $loop->processDelimiter(); $loop->resetIteration(); if ( $loop->processChildren() ) break; // increment loop variable here for delimiter to be processed correctly $firstVal < $lastVal ? $i++ : $i--; $loop->incrementSequence(); } // for $loop->cleanup(); } /*! * Returns true, telling the template parser that the function can have children. */ function hasChildren() { return true; } } ?> | Mid | [
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Selective expansion of the newly evolved genomic variants of retrotransposon 1731 in the Drosophila genomes. The structural variants of the regulatory and coding regions of the LTR-retrotransposon 1731 are described. Two classes of genomic copies of retrotransposon 1731, with and without frameshifting strategy to express Gag and Pol proteins, were earlier revealed in the D. melanogaster genome. Copies without frameshifting are shown to be evolved from an ancient variant with frameshifting and are widespread in the genomes of the melanogaster complex species. Position of a rare codon responsible for ribosome pausing and efficient frameshifting is identified. Two structural variants of 1731 LTRs were detected in the melanogaster complex species: the predominant structural variant A1A2 of 1731 LTR in the D. melanogaster, D. simulans, and D. sechellia genomes contains duplicated and diverged copies of 28 bp in the U3 region, whereas A1 variant lacking this duplication is expanded in the D. mauritiana genome. Selective expansion of the A1A2 variant was detected in the independently established D. melanogaster cell cultures. A1A2 variant is expressed in embryos, cell culture, and testes, whereas A1 is expressed only in testes of D. melanogaster. Relief of expression of the A1A2 but not A1 variant in the ovaries as a result of mutation in the RNA interference (RNAi) spn-E gene is shown. Thus, expansion of the recently evolved genomic variants of the LTR retrotransposon 1731 possessing a new translation strategy, duplication in the U3 region, and extended profile of expression is revealed. | High | [
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1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to nonmechanical printers and copiers and more particularly to a recording carrier transport device for use in association with side margin punched recording carrier webs to move the same past a cylindrical intermediate carrier in cooperation with the recording carrier feed assembly. p 2. Prior Art Nonmechanical high speed printers and copiers which apply characters or images to a recording carrier by a transfer method from an intermediate carrier are known to the art. Such printers and copiers frequently work by electrostatic techniques and involve the transfer of a toner image from an intermediate carrier on which the image is formed to a recording carrier on which the image is to be printed. The recording carrier may, for example, be a paper sheet or web. In such devices means are provided for moving the recording carrier to the transfer station and withdrawing it from the transfer station when a print has been made. Such devices include both means for transporting or moving the paper and feed means for presenting it to, and withdrawing it from, the surface of the intermediate carrier. The intermediate carrier is normally a drum. An appropriate feed assembly for presenting the recording carrier to and withdrawing it from the drum surface is shown in German Patent Application P 26 36 326.8, U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 820,216, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,358, the teachings of which are herein incorporated by reference. In that construction the feed assembly includes two moving gripping arms which can present the recording carrier to the intermediate carrier and can lift the recording carrier away from the intermediate carrier while simultaneously taking up any length of recording carrier released in the process. In order for the feed assembly to function, the recording carrier transport assembly must be disposed both upstream, (in front of) and downstream, (behind) the feed assembly. The transport assembly thus functions to feed the recording carrier in a suitable manner to the feed assembly and to thereafter remove the printed recording carrier fromm the feed assembly. Such transport devices can, for example, comprise feed tracks which are positioned both upstream and downstream of the feed assembly. | Mid | [
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The need for improving communications in radiology is well understood, but optimizing interactions with referring physicians is where it gets tricky. In a 772-bed tertiary-care teaching hospital and level I trauma center, the call for increased face time must be balanced, supported, and made optimal through the smart use of electronic tools. At Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Terence Matalon, MD, FACR, FSIR, is chair of the radiology department, multiple strategies are used to give referrers the information they need, in the format they prefer, in an appropriate time frame. “Communication is a critical part of the work product of the radiologist. It’s not simply our job to interpret the images, but to ensure that the study that is being done is actually the correct exam, and that the message that we are trying to deliver is actually delivered to the appropriate person.” —Terence Matalon, MD, FACR, FSIR The 24-radiologist department reads about 280,000 exams annually—a figure that will jump to 350,000 in September, when the Einstein Healthcare Network (EHN) absorbs a smaller community hospital. Department radiologists currently interact with approximately 600 employed staff physicians and at least another 600 community physicians. At the center of EHN radiology communications is an electronic system for communicating critical and significant results that has been optimized by referrer and for severity. Other key communications strategies include a movement toward using report templates, participation in hospital committees, and various initiatives by which radiologists insert themselves in the diagnostic evaluation of the patient. The Nerve Center While many sites use three levels of acuteness to comply with Joint Commission requirements for critical-results communications, Matalon and his team chose to proceed with two levels: emergency-level results that must be communicated within one hour and significant results that must be communicated within three days. Last month, the team communicated approximately 600 significant results and 40 emergency-level results. “We felt there was some simplicity in distinguishing between something that needed to be done right away versus something that could be communicated within three days,” Matalon explains. “Based on that criterion as a function of our Joint Commission requirement to monitor compliance, we have about a 98% compliance rate for significant messages (because the leeway there is pretty long, at three days), and we have about a 70% or so compliance rate for emergency-level messages.” Not only is the communication of important results a regulatory issue, but it also is a crucible in malpractice defense. “If one looks at malpractice suits that involve radiologists, communication is a very frequent theme as the underlying root cause for the suit,” Matalon emphasizes. “Historically, its been reported to be a central issue in 30% to 40% of malpractice cases, so its unlikely that people overcommunicate findings.” Nonetheless, determining whether a finding should be communicated is up to the discretion of the radiologist, and knowing when and how to intrude into another physician’s workflow is an important call. “I hope that they would not bother somebody for something that is already a known fact,” Matalon says. “If there is pneumothorax that is well known, and we are just monitoring a chest radiograph, over time, that shows a static, nonchanging pneumothorax, unless there is a dramatic decrease or increase in that pneumothorax, there would be no reason to reach out to the clinician to let him or her know that there was a pneumothorax there. If the pneumothorax became larger, though, that might warrant a change in the management and therapy of the patient—and it would be significant.” The Right Touch Not all physicians are communicated with in the same way, and the primary differences are seen for two classes of physicians at Einstein Medical Center: emergency physicians and trauma surgeons in the emergency department, who almost always receive a phone call that is then documented within the critical-results–communication system used at Einstein Medical Center. A significant finding, on the other hand, is one that could affect the patient’s treatment. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a critical result, and it doesn’t have to be a life-threatening result, but it might have an impact on a decision to change or institute therapy, and that represents something that we would always communicate,” Matalon explains. “We adhere to the ACR® standard from the standpoint of the requisite criteria for communication.” There are multiple ways to communicate critical results to referring physicians, and their preferred method is registered during the enrollment process: cell-phone number, office number, or 24-hour office line. “Some people choose to use a fax, which we strongly discourage, because if there is no one to receive a fax, then the fax is not going to get acted upon,” Matalon says. The process works like this: When a referring physician receives a result, he or she dials a toll-free number, punches in a case number, and is required to listen to the message dictated by the radiologist, in its entirety, in order to close the message. “At the conclusion of listening to the message, the referring physician has a number of options, if he or she chooses to exercise them,” Matalon explains. “The referrer can accept the message and close it; can reject the message and say, ‘This isn’t my patient’; or can ask the radiologist a question, and that would then be directed to the radiologist using the same application. The process is entirely electronic.” Escalation Opportunity Remarkably, 97% of the time that a significant result is communicated to the referring physician, there is absolutely no human intervention required on the sending end, other than the click of a button. Einstein Medical Center’s compliance rates of 97% for significant results and about 70% for emergency-level results, however, were not achieved immediately upon the system’s implementation, six years ago. “In general, over time, we have developed the ability to get to these physicians very directly,” Matalon says. “We hope to become more intimate with our referring physicians as time goes on, and as they see the value of improving our ability to communicate with them. Unfortunately—or fortunately—what generally causes change is an adverse event.” Every time someone goes out of town, and there is a significant result that he or she does not receive, it triggers what Matalon calls an escalation opportunity to improve communications. When a message reaches noncompliance (beyond one hour for emergency-level results and beyond three days for significant results), that is the signal to reach out physically to that clinician, the clinician’s office, or the clinician’s partner to ensure that the communication is made (even if it is out of compliance, from a time perspective). “At that point, it may become evident why the clinician did not respond,” Matalon explains. “It may be because of a changed cell number that he or she didn’t give us or a fax-number change; whatever it was, at that point, corrective action can be taken.” The Acceptance Process While Matalon reports that overall, satisfaction with the process is very high in the referring-physician community, it did not start out that way. “Initially, and occasionally even now, we will receive feedback that someone doesn’t want to participate,” Matalon says. If, after the patient-care benefits and Joint Commission requirements have been explained, the physician still refuses to participate, Matalon lets the referrer know that he is certain that he or she can find an alternative provider of imaging services that is less committed to quality than Einstein Medical Center’s radiologists are. “Once they hear that, they know we are serious,” he says. “We may have lost some business over the years, but I don’t think that’s really the case.” Matalon also makes the key point that the large majority of findings that must be communicated are not emergency-level findings, and that clinicians can pick up those findings at their convenience. “If I were reading the case and had no other system, I would have to insist on interrupting a referrer who is with a patient or doing a procedure to communicate something that is really not vital to communicate at that moment,” Matalon notes. “The ability to receive significant messages at their leisure is very well received by the clinicians.” Improving the Product Another communications strategy employed at Einstein Medical Center is moving to the use of report templates (for 70% to 80% of complex studies) to produce a final report that is more repeatable and consistent, from the standpoint of presentation of the information about a particular exam. “This format (as opposed to a long, dense paragraph about a particular or multiple different aspects of a case, which is the way we would previously dictate something) improves the ability of a clinician to extract the relevant information from a report,” Matalon says. For a CT exam of the abdomen and pelvis, there is a section on technique, history, and signs/symptoms, followed by sections on the lower chest, the liver, the gallbladder and biliary tree, the pancreas, the spleen, the adrenal glands, the kidneys, and the bowel. “Each of those sections will represent a separate area within the report, so that a clinician could easily focus on a particular organ, if he or she had a concern about it,” he says. “They are templates that are continuously evolving. They probably came from somewhere, but we have modified them, over time, and we continue to modify them as we see opportunities to improve the way that we can set up information for people.” Practicing Human Interaction Still, Matalon says, the department struggles with the increasing distance that technology has imposed on radiologists. “The PACS and these electronic communications systems, to some degree, distance us from our clinical colleagues,” he says. For that reason, when Matalon sends messages within the critical-results–communication system, he tries to be as personal with physicians as possible, perhaps calling them by their first names. Einstein Medical Center’s radiologists participate in dozens of weekly conferences for other subspecialty organizations in the network and, on a one-to-one basis, frequently answer questions about the proposed diagnostic workup of a particular clinical problem. In addition, Einstein Medical Center’s radiologists have launched multiple initiatives through which they insert themselves into the diagnostic evaluation of the patient, including a quality initiative to reduce radiation dose in the pediatric population. “Any exam in the pediatric population must be prescreened by a radiologist,” Matalon says. “During that process, we evaluate the appropriateness of the radiation dose, as compared with replacing it with a diagnostic procedure that does not use ionizing radiation and that might yield similar (or even better) information, based on the indications for the study.” In the department’s main reading area, a clinician-review area features a simulated reading station with a very large screen that is suitable for use by groups of 10 to 20 people; there, the ICU team, the neurologists, and the neurosurgeons can look through all of their patients’ images as part of their rounds procedures, with the support of a designated radiologist. Communications is not an afterthought at Einstein Medical Center, but is a central part of the radiology product. “It is something increasing attention is being focused on, both from a regulatory perspective and from a value perspective (it’s always been there, from a legal perspective),” Matalon notes. “To some degree, our value in the equation is going to be weighed by how well we communicate.” Cheryl Proval is the editorial director of Radinformatics.com and the editor of Radiology Business Journal. | High | [
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Effect of acute and chronic psychogenic stress on corticoadrenal and pituitary-thyroid hormones in male rats. The effects of acute and chronic stress on serum corticosterone and pituitary-thyroid hormones were studied in male Wistar rats. Acute noise activated both the pituitary-adrenal and pituitary-thyroid axes. Chronic noise did not modify the basal serum levels of either corticosterone or pituitary-thyroid hormones. A decreased corticosterone response to noise was observed in chronically stressed rats, but the pituitary-thyroid response was the same in control and chronically stressed rats, suggesting that the mechanisms which control the responsiveness of both axes to a repeated stimulus are dissociated. | Mid | [
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LOS ANGELES -- In the hunt for a second baseman and a leadoff man, the Dodgers found both in Logan Forsythe, whom they acquired Monday from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for highly regarded pitching prospect Jose De Leon. The trade wasn't well received by Rays third baseman Evan Longoria. "I'm surprised and upset at losing a player, clubhouse presence and friend like Logan," Longoria told the Tampa Bay Times. "He's a rare player." Forsythe will be counted on to help the Dodgers overcome their deficiencies against left-handed pitching, an issue that reached historic proportions in 2016. The Dodgers were not only last in baseball this past season in on-base percentage (.290) and OPS (.622), their .213 batting average against lefties was the worst of any playoff team in the past 100 years. "He's a grinder. A professional hitter," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Can really handle left-handed pitching, as well as right-handed. Has some versatility. Is a good baserunner. We felt like he was the type of player that we needed to be aggressive and go out and add to our current group." Forsythe had a .333 on-base percentage against lefties last season and a .359 mark in 2015. Of the six Dodgers players who had at least 100 at-bats against left-handers last season, only one had a better OBP than .313, and that was Howie Kendrick (.333), who was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies this winter. Forsythe, 30, was a former first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2008. He is a career .255 hitter, with a .328 OBP. He has 55 career home runs, including a career-best 20 last season for the Rays. The Dodgers started last season without a true leadoff man, but Chase Utley adapted to the role. Forsythe's most games at any lineup spot are his 150 as a leadoff man, with the fifth spot next at 86 games. The Dodgers had reportedly been in discussions to acquire slugging second baseman Brian Dozier from the Minnesota Twins, but any chance at that deal fell through earlier this month. De Leon was also reported to be a key piece in that deal. The 24-year-old De Leon, a right-hander, made his major league debut in 2016, going 2-0 with a 6.35 ERA in four starts (17 innings). He entered the season as the Dodgers' No. 3 prospect, according to Baseball America. He went 7-1 with a 2.61 ERA in 16 starts at the Triple-A level last season. "The way we have him evaluated and his proximity to the big leagues, it was an opportunity we felt we couldn't pass up as an organization," Rays general manager Erik Neander said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. | Mid | [
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Ahhhhh. I would have done a blue velvet cupcake with a cream cheese frosting dyed a deep blue or red or possibly even a chocolate or strawberry whipped cream frosting(: They do look good though, well done. | Low | [
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A new ‘Destiny’ for non-sequel video games at E3 The recent success of “Titanfall” and “Watch Dogs” has laid the foundation for several new video games that don’t contain numbers in their names to be hyped at next week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry’s annual trade show. With anticipation building for several all-new titles, have game developers finally found the cure for sequelitis? The industry has long mined popular games like “Call of Duty,” ”Super Mario Bros.” and “Final Fantasy” for a chain of spinoffs and sequels, but change is afoot ahead of this year’s E3. The flashy trade show, expected to draw more than 48,000 attendees, will be populated by more original titles than in recent years. The sci-fi shooter “Destiny,” alternate history adventure “The Order: 1886,” cartoony shoot-’em-up “Sunset Overdrive” and man-versus-monster match-up “Evolve” could steal attention away from the latest crop of “Call of Duty,” ”Halo” and “Assassin’s Creed” games, the same way that then unheard-of “Watch Dogs” and “Titanfall” did the past two years at E3. Despite such triumphs, original games likely won’t outnumber sequels at E3. There’s a plethora of new installments scheduled to be promoted across the cavernous halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center, including the latest editions of “The Sims,” ”Fable,” ”Call of Duty,” ”Far Cry,” ”Metal Gear Solid,” ”Dragon Age” and “Assassin’s Creed” series. “We’re at the beginning of a hardware cycle, and we’ll be at our annual show where we love to introduce new brands, so I think that means we’ll have a higher combination of new brands than what you might have seen at E3 over the past three or four years,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at “Watch Dogs” publisher Ubisoft. “Watch Dogs,” an open-world action game that casts players as a vigilante hacker roaming around Chicago, sold 4 million copies after it debuted last week, becoming gaming’s best-selling “new IP.” That’s industry-speak for original intellectual property — essentially a game that’s not a sequel or licensed from an existing entertainment franchise. By showcasing the game’s unique ability to “hack” into the virtual city’s infrastructure, as well as other players’ sessions, “Watch Dogs” cemented itself as the most talked-about game of E3 when Ubisoft unveiled it two years ago. Bungie, the studio responsible for the original “Halo” games, hopes for similar buzz for “Destiny.” “We have a new IP,” said Eric Osborne, community and marketing relations manager at “Destiny” developer Bungie. “We’re not forgetting that we have a lot of people to convince that what we’re building is amazing. We’re convinced over here, which is why we’re gonna roll a ‘beta’ (test version) out in July and let people experience a huge chunk of the game for themselves.” Similar to the “Halo” games, “Destiny” is a first-person shooter set in a sprawling sci-fi galaxy, but unlike the developer’s previous series, “Destiny” requires gamers to always play online and team up to take down foes. Activision Blizzard Inc. is spending $500 million to market and develop the game — an unprecedented monumental bet on a title with no proven track record. | Mid | [
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Inactivation of Clostridium difficile cytotoxin by the neutrophil myeloperoxidase system. The cytotoxin of Clostridium difficile was examined for sensitivity to oxidant secretory products of neutrophils. Exposure to myeloperoxidase, H2O2, and a halide resulted in loss of toxin activity measured by tissue-culture cytotoxicity. The peroxide requirement was provided by reagent H2O2, a peroxide-generating enzyme (glucose oxidase), or a peroxide-producing intestinal microorganism, Lactobacillus acidophilus. Human neutrophils stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate caused similar toxin inactivation. In both the cell-free and the neutrophil systems, inactivation of toxin required halides and was abrogated by azide, cyanide, or catalase. Neutrophils from patients with lack of myeloperoxidase or failure to produce H2O2 were impaired in toxin inactivation unless myeloperoxidase or H2O2, respectively, was added. The reducing agent 2-mercaptoethanol enhanced toxin activity. These data suggest a similarity between C difficile cytotoxin and the classic thiol-activated cytolysins. Moreover, they raise the possibility that neutrophils are involved in oxidative detoxification of microbial products. | Mid | [
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Q: Comparing a sequence of numbers in a python list I would like to make a loop to take a number, compare with the next number and if the condition is true, replace this number by the next number and compare this number to the next until this number not fits more in the condition. I tried this code but the looping does not work. list = [9,4,3,1,8,10,4,3,2] for i,item in enumerate(list): p = item while p > list[i+1]: p = list[i+1] else: print(p) A: You can find the local minima (I want the output the number: 1 and 2. (the minimal point in a wave)) for your list: >>> data = [9, 4, 3, 1, 8, 10, 4, 3, 2] by adding infinity to both end so that the first and the last element will also be found as a minimum: >>> padded = [float('inf')] + data + [float('inf')] and comparing a value with the one to its left and its right: >>> [v2 for v1, v2, v3 in zip(padded[:-2], padded[1:-1], padded[2:]) if v1 > v2 < v3] [1, 2] | Mid | [
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De Meghan Murphy. No voy intencionalmente a muchos shows de drag. No lo hago como una decisión política o personal; de hecho, no es algo en lo que piense mucho. Supongo que esa forma de entretenimiento nunca me ha interesado lo suficiente. Dicho esto, el drag ha existido y por tantos años que este tipo de performance es considerado prácticamente parte de la cultura popular: hay muchos documentales acerca de la cultura del drag y los drag queens, hay shows de drag en bares gay, en las colectas de fondos y otros eventos. Es casi imposible uno no sepa qué es. Pero porque no es una gran parte de mi mundo, había escapado mi radar en términos de un análisis feminista. La otra noche estuve en un bar y una porción de la velada tuvo un show con drag queens. Mientras miraba, me di cuenta de lo aceptado que es el drag por liberales y progresistas– gente que sin miramientos denunciarán cosas como el “blackface” (pintarse la cara de negro para imitar a una persona afrodescendiente) o “yellowface” (pintarse la cara para imitar a una persona de raza asiática), lo cual es totalmente entendible por la mayoría de la gente como un acto racista. ¿Por qué el drag es distinto? Pregunto en serio. Quizás hay algo de lo que no me estoy dando cuenta. Para mi, es lo mismo que una apropiación cultural o el modo en que la gente de raza blanca se ha mofado de la gente negra, de gente asiática, de grupos indígenas y, básicamente, cualquier otra raza que no sea la suya propia, bajo la excusa del “performance” o la “sátira”. ¿Por qué es lindo o entretenido cuando son hombres los que se mofan de las mujeres a través del drag? ¿Por qué no se considera un modo de apropiación en relación al género? ¿Por qué los progresistas y feministas mainstream no han hecho una crítica de estos shows, en general? Me imagino que la defensa de estos shows de drag incluyen argumentos diciendo que la imitación de la feminidad es tan exagerada que no se mofa de las mujeres, sino que se mofa de una versión caricaturesca de feminidad extrema. Sin embargo, no me convence que eso de convertir a las mujeres en caricaturas extremas para reírnos de ellas sea de algún modo “progresista”. Al contrario, me parece regresivo. Debe haber una razón por la cual las mujeres no le hacen esto a los hombres: lo de convertir la masculinidad en entretenimiento o en una broma. ¿Por qué es gracioso que los hombres se vistan como mujeres y no que las mujeres se vistan cho hombres? Hay algo en todo esto que dice que la feminidad –y por lo tanto, las mujeres– son un chiste (tal como cuando personas de raza blanca se disfrazan de “indios” en Halloween convirtiendo a los grupos indígenas y sus culturas en un chiste o un disfraz que uno se quita o se pone cuando quiera). Si ser mujer fuera tan fácil como quitarse y ponerse un disfraz… El año pasado, un drag queen llamado Daytona Bitch fue expulsado de un evento de orgullo gay en Toronto por pintarse la cara de negro. Laura Kane reportó: “Ella se vistió como Miss Cleo, una psíquica cliché de los años 90s, con todo y pintura negra”. “Después de poner su foto en Twitter, recibió varios comentarios de indignación por parte de otros miembros de la comunidad LGBTQ”. Y bien hecho que fue así. Pero qué dice la comunidad LGBTQ del drag? Por qué entiende que la apropiación de una etnia, raza o cultura marginada por el privilegio de raza blanca es ofensivo, pero no entiende que los mismos argumentos pueden aplicarse a un grupo de hombres (que se benefician de privilegio masculino) que se apropian de la feminidad como una forma de entretenimiento? En un ensayo del 2006 titulado “Imitando a los demás como una forma de control: ¿es el drag sexista/racista?”, Kirsten Anderberg escribe: “Cuando los hombres se visten en drag y supuestamente imitan a las mujeres, es usualmente sexista en un modo notablemente similar al modo en que los blancos imitan a las minorías raciales… Todos los aspectos que he rehuido como parte de ese antiquísimo “culto de lo que es la mujer”; todos los aspectos falsos, superficiales, comercializados de la ‘feminidad’ de la cual he intentado liberarme, estos hombres lo estaban apropiando como su “condición de mujer”! Toneladas de maquillaje, pelucas y peinados enormes, lencería lacerante, tacones, pantymedias, depilación… y estos hombres en drag dicen que actúan como mujeres también actuaban de manera frívola, estúpida y superficial… me resulta extraño que esto no se vea como puro sexismo.” Aunque han habido críticas aquí y allá, he visto poco del feminismo mainstream y de la comunidad LGTBQ acerca del sexismo del drag. En un artículo del 2011 llamado “¿Es el drag sexista?”, Kelly Kleiman pregunta: ¿Por qué odiamos el performance cuando se trata de ‘blackface’ pero celebramos la performance en el drag? ¿Es el blackface considerado un insulto y el drag un chiste porque hay alguna diferencia inherente entre éstos, o porque los afro-estadounidenses no tolerarán este ridículo mientras que el movimiento de las mujeres está constantemente preocupado por demostrar que tiene sentido del humor? Y no puedo dejar de preguntarme lo mismo. A las feministas se nos acusa siempre de no ser “divertidas”, de no tener sentido del humor y, generalmente, de odiarlo todo. Como mujeres, nos esforzamos mucho para ser “parte del chiste”. Fingimos que nos gusta la pornografía, o nos reímos de chistes acerca de la violación, nos auto-cosificamos mientras decimos que nuestra propia opresión nos empodera — estamos apropiándonos de ella y, por lo tanto, está bien. Post-feminismo ingenuo, lo llamaría yo. Kleiman escribe: “Cuando se ridiculizaba a los afro-estadounidenses se decía ‘¡Mira que tontos que son! Mira como ríen! Eso acaso no prueba que son felices en el enclaustramiento en el que los hemos puesto?’ De la misma manera, los hombres que se visten como mujeres y adoptan comportamientos femeninos estereotipados son graciosos por su comportamiento estereotipado y la audiencia infiere que no son los estereotipos los que son graciosos, sino las mujeres en sí”. Más allá de todo esto, parece que a los drag queens se les da rienda libre para insultar a las mujeres y adoptar lenguaje sexista (perra, puta, etc), además de dar una imagen cosificada de la mujer de maneras que no se nos perdonan a nosotras, las mujeres, dentro de un contexto feminista. Después de ver un documental acerca de la famosa drag queen Divine, Julie Bindel escribió: “El interpretó, según dijo su manager, roles de mujeres que eran ‘vulgares’, ‘sucias’ y que eran ‘absolutamente obscenas’. Pero Divine nació en una casa de clase media, conservadora e interpretaba estereotipos asquerosos de mujeres de clase baja para reírse. En sus films Divine llama a sus co-protagonistas mujeres ‘putas'”. Por lo tanto, un hombre privilegiado tiene el derecho de mofarse de las mujeres y usar lenguaje sexista porque…¿qué? ¿Arte del performance? ¿Humor? Explíquenmelo por favor. Para aclarar, no creo que todos los drag queens están trabajando intencionalmente a favor de la subordinación de las mujeres (pero quién sabe, no le he preguntado a ninguno), tampoco creo que si usted disfruta de drag shows lo convierta automáticamente en una persona mala y misógina. Pero sí pienso que es significante la falta de voluntad de la comunidad LGTBQ y el feminismo mainstream para hablar acerca del drag como algo que no es más aceptable que cualquier tipo de apropiación cultural o más que los esfuerzos de mucha gente blanca de convertir la etnicidad y la raza en un estereotipo. Después de que Daytona Bitch fue expulsada, el director ejecutivo del evento, Kevin Beaulieu dijo acerca que la performance “no tiene nada que ver con nuestra misión y nuestro mandato, el cual es celebrar la diversidad de la comunidad LGBTQ en Toronto”. Y esta declaración me lleva a esta pregunta: ¿En dónde están las mujeres dentro de esa “celebración” de “diversidad”? ¿Importamos? ¿O somos sólo un chiste? http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/feminist-current/2014/04/why-has-drag-escaped-critique-feminists-and-lgbtq-community | Low | [
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Rumanian Government Appoints First Two Members of Its Diplomatic Mission in Israel The Rumanian Government this week-end appointed the first two members of its diplomatic mission in Israel, five months after the establishment of the Israeli legation here. The top leader in the Jewish Democratic Committee, Paul Davidovici, was named counsellor to the Rumanian legation in Tel Aviv, while Barbu Dianu was appointed consul. | Mid | [
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This invention relates to the art of tray type containers commonly constructed of corrugated paperboard suitable for produce such as cauliflower and the like. More particularly, the invention relates to a container tray having a reinforced corner construction wherein a multiple of such trays may be loaded with produce, stacked in sizeable number and thereupon be transported and stored as necessary in handling the product while protecting it incident such transportation, storage, etc. Rectangular trays folded from suitably cut and scored paperboard blanks have gained wide acceptance in the packaging industry for handling and merchandising a wide variety of products. Trays of this type incorporating various reinforced corner constructions have been proposed as being better able to withstand high stacking loads during storage, shipping and other handling of goods contained within a number of stacked trays. While several such paperboard tray constructions with reinforced corners are known and employed commercially, the folded tray construction embodied in the instant invention is believed to offer greater load carrying capability in multiple stacking environments. The invention offers a highly simple and efficient form such that lighter weight and thus more economical paperboard can be employed to gain the same tray strength in the corner construction as the tray constructions heretofore known in the industry. Prior art solutions to the problems of providing a produce tray that may be easily assembled at the field site from a paperboard blank into a strong tray which can be stacked in multiples with the produce contained therein have been overly complex or required unduly heavy and expensive paperboard to achieve the requisite tray strength. | Mid | [
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List of shipwrecks in January 1865 The list of shipwrecks in January 1865 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during January 1865. 1 January 2 January 3 January 4 January 6 January 10 January 12 January 13 January 14 January 15 January 17 January 20 January 21 January 22 January 23 January 24 January 25 January 26 January 27 January Unknown date References Notes Bibliography Gaines, W. Craig, Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks, Louisiana State University Press, 2008, . Ingram, C. W. N., and Wheatley, P. O., (1936) Shipwrecks: New Zealand disasters 1795–1936. Dunedin, NZ: Dunedin Book Publishing Association. 1865-01 Shipwrecks01 Shipwrecks | High | [
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World stocks advanced for a fourth straight day on Friday on expectations of broad-based global growth, while the dollar was on course for its worst week in five as investors awaited U.S. inflation data. MSCI`s world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, was up 0.1 percent after hitting record highs on Thursday. European shares rose to their highest level in nearly four months, helped by some well-received earnings updates. The pan-European STOXX600 rose 0.3 percent and was set for its fifth straight week of gains as were world stocks. Germany`s DAX index was up 0.1 percent, just below an all-time high hit in the previous session, while Britain`s FTSE eased back 0.1 percent after a record close on Thursday. Wall Street futures indicated a positive open for the S&P 500 index. "We`re seeing positive economic news even in the midst of so called geopolitical risk, I think investors are generally more optimistic right now," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, referring to strong corporate earnings. "Earnings in the second quarter were very positive, and looking beyond the impact of hurricanes, it seems like there`s improved fundamentals in the U.S. and Europe." Emerging market stocks were buoyant too as another 0.2 percent rise set their latest 6-year peak. In currencies, the dollar stayed on the defensive after minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting showed policymakers remained divided on U.S. inflation prospects. The index which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies was flat ahead of consumer price inflation data, due at 1230 GMT. "Abating political risks in the U.S. and growing Fed rate hike bets have pushed the dollar higher in recent weeks," Credit Agricole strategists said in a note. "With a December rate hike almost fully priced in by now, however, investors are starting to focus on the Fed`s still cautious forward guidance and hence the limited scope for a further increase of the dollar`s rate advantage."NEW FED CHIEF On top of the near-term inflation readings, investors are looking at whom U.S. President Donald Trump will nominate as successor to Fed Chair Janet Yellen, whose term expires next February. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said on Thursday that Trump was "some time away" from making a decision, while another official said Trump had met with Stanford University economist John Taylor -- of economics text book Taylor-rule fame -- to discuss the job. Meanwhile, the euro was flat but still set for its biggest weekly rise in a month. European Central Bank policymakers broadly agreed to extend asset purchases at a lower volume at their October policy meeting with views converging on a nine-month extension, sources at the central bank told Reuters. Britain`s pound rose to a 10-day high, boosted by a report in Germany`s Handelsblatt newspaper that the European Union could offer Britain a two-year transitional Brexit deal. The most eye-catching move, however, was from digital currency Bitcoin as it soared by as much as 7.4 percent after Thursday`s 13 percent gain, to hit a record high of $5,846. It is up more than 450 percent this year. The chief financial officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co said the firm was open-minded about the future potential use of digital currencies, appearing to dial back comments last month from his boss, Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who said bitcoin was a "fraud". Among commodities, copper prices held firm after hitting a one-month high on Thursday as optimism over the demand outlook from major consumer China fuelled buying. London copper futures were at $6,898.50 a tonne, up 0.2 percent on the day. Oil prices also climbed after data showed both U.S. crude production and inventories had declined. Crude was set for its sixth weekly rise in the last seven weeks. U.S. crude jumped 2 percent to $51.59 a barrel. Brent crude rose 2.2 percent to $57.50 a barrel. (This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.) | Mid | [
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[Rationale for a diagnostic approach in non-Graves' orbital inflammation--Report of 61 patients]. Orbital inflammatory syndromes include a wide variety of inflammatory intraorbital processes which are very different in terms of clinical presentation and prognosis. We currently prefer to differentiate so-called "specific" inflammations, for which an etiology is able to be identified, from idiopathic orbital inflammatory syndromes (IOIS), for which the etiology remains unknown and the histology is nonspecific. To propose an efficient diagnostic approach for clinicians managing patients with non-Graves' orbital inflammations. This is a retrospective and prospective study concerning 61 patients managed by the medical team for non-Graves' orbital inflammations between May, 1999 and May, 2013 in the ophthalmology departments of Nice and Limoges university hospitals in France. Seventeen specific inflammations, 19 orbital lymphomas and 25 idiopathic orbital inflammatory syndromes were included. Patients were divided into two groups. Thirty-six patients (group 1) underwent primary biopsy, while for the other 25 (group 2), therapy was begun empirically without biopsy. We could therefore compare both approaches in terms of diagnostic efficiency and time until identification of a specific etiology. Our statistical results show that an approach without primary biopsy leads to a number of specific diagnoses statistically much lower than that obtained by the approach with primary biopsy. Also, the risk of missing a specific inflammation (with as a consequence an inappropriate treatment and a risk of functional sequelae as well as a fatal risk of missing a lymphoproliferative pathology) is very clearly higher in the case of not performing primary biopsy. Finally, the average time elapsed between the initial consultation with the ophthalmologist and a specific diagnosis was one month in the case of the first approach, while this delay was almost three times higher with the second approach, with a mean of 2.91 months (P<0.01). Our study shows that biopsy should be the mainstay of diagnostic management. A trial of empiric treatment is only performed first in myositis or in locations where biopsy could jeopardize functional prognosis. It should only be done after biopsy in all other cases. Of course, in all cases of relapse or recurrence after treatment, biopsy should be performed or repeated. The diagnostic work-up of a patient with an orbital inflammatory process must of course include blood testing and orbital imaging, but also a systematic primary biopsy for histological examination in the vast majority of cases. It must be repeated at least in the case of any doubt about the diagnosis or in the case of any recurrence or resistance to treatment. | High | [
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Q: Get selected Java Element from editor in eclipse I am working on an eclipse plugin, and I need to get the selected element from the active editor. I have already figured out (one way) to do this. Here are the key lines: ITypeRoot root = EditorUtility.getEditorInputJavaElement(activeJavaEditor, false); selectedElement = root.getElementAt(offset); (This is similar to the answer the question Eclipse plugin : Get the enclosing class and member name) But the problem that I'm having is that this will only return declared methods, types, fields, etc, and never invoked ones. For example, given this code in the active editor: public void foo() { ClassA.run(); } even if the caret is positioned over "ClassA" or "run," my code still returns the method "foo." Does anyone know how to also get invoked methods? A: Try ITypeRoot#codeSelect() instead. | High | [
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Q: How do I adjust alsamixer? How I chage alsamixer in the command line so that I can fine tune alsamixer and get rid of some white noise? Right now it looks like this. But from what I have read I need it to look like this. Thank you in advance for anyone who can help me. A: Here some of the commands can help you. Use the right and left arrow keys to navigate through the sliders. At the bottom of each slider you see either 00 or MM. Toggle these with the M key. MM means muted, 00 is enabled. Use the up and down arrow keys or the Page Up/Page Down keys to control the sliders. Page Up/Page Down move the sliders in increments of five, and the End key resets to zero. When there are two channels controlled by one slider, Q increases the left channel and Z decreases. E increases the right channel, and C decreases. Press F2 to see all the system information on your sound cards. If you have more than one sound card press F6 to display a sound card chooser. Source | Mid | [
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## DBsubject(Calculus - multivariable) ## DBchapter(Calculus of vector valued functions) ## DBsection(Parameterized curves) ## Institution(W.H.Freeman) ## Author(JustAsk - Vladimir Finkelshtein) ## MLT(pc_circles_in_intersections) ## Level(2) ## MO(1) ## TitleText1('Calculus: Early Transcendentals') ## AuthorText1('Rogawski') ## EditionText1('2') ## Section1('13.1') ## Problem1('27') ## KEYWORDS('calculus') DOCUMENT(); loadMacros( "PGstandard.pl", "Parser.pl", "freemanMacros.pl", "parserMultiAnswer.pl", "PGcourse.pl" ); TEXT(beginproblem()); $a=random(2,9,1); $a2=$a**2; $z=random(2,8,1); $zpow=random(2,4,1); $context = Context(); $context->variables->add(t=>'Real'); $ansx=Formula("$a*cos(t)"); $ansy=Formula("$a*sin(t)"); $anszc=Formula("$z*($a*cos(t))^($zpow)"); $anszs=Formula("$z*($a*sin(t))^($zpow)"); $multipart = MultiAnswer($ansx, $ansy, $anszc)->with( singleResult => 1, checker => sub { my($correct, $student, $self) = @_; my($fx, $fy, $fzc) = @{$correct}; my($sx, $sy, $sz) = @{$student}; return (($fx == $sx && $fy == $sy && $fzc == $sz) || ($fx == $sy && $fy == $sx && $anszs == $sz)); } ); Context()->texStrings; BEGIN_TEXT \{ textbook_ref_exact("Rogawski ET 2e", "13.1","27") \} $PAR Use \(\cos(t)\) and \(\sin(t)\), with positive coefficients, to parametrize the intersection of the surfaces \(x^2+y^2=$a2\) and \(z=$z x^{$zpow}\). $PAR \(\bf r\it (t)=\left< \right.\) \{$multipart->ans_rule()\}, \{$multipart->ans_rule()\}, \{$multipart->ans_rule()\} \(\left. \right>\) $PAR END_TEXT Context()->normalStrings; ANS($multipart->cmp()); Context()->texStrings; SOLUTION(EV3(<<'END_SOLUTION')); $PAR $SOL $BR The points on the cylinder \(x^2+y^2=$a2\) and on \(z=$z x^{$zpow}\) can be written in the form: $BR \(x^2+y^2=$a2 \rightarrow \left($a \cos t, $a \sin t, z\right)\) $BR \(z=$z x^{$zpow} \rightarrow \left(x,y,$z x^{$zpow} \right)\) $PAR The points \((x,y,z)\) on the intersection curve must satisfy the following equations: $BR \(x=$a\cos t\)$BR \(y=$a\sin t\) $BR \(z=$z x^{$zpow}=$z ($a \cos t)^{$zpow}\) $PAR We obtain the vector parametrization: $BR \( \bf r\it (t)=\left< $a \cos t, $a \sin t, $z($a \cos t)^{$zpow} \right> \) $BR END_SOLUTION ENDDOCUMENT(); | Mid | [
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Share this on: Kate Krader (@kkrader on Twitter) is Food & Wine's restaurant editor. When she tells us where to find our culinary heart's desire, we listen up. Recently - and just in time for St. Patrick’s Day - Nerdwallet.com released a study on the cheapest cities for beer drinkers. Based on some fancy math that involves a six-pack of Heineken, median incomes, beer tax and beer demand, the site determined that Washington, DC, is the least expensive city for beer drinkers. (If you’re earning the median income, you could buy more than 30,000 Heinekens a year!) Of course, now you want to know the most expensive city for beer drinkers; according to Nerdwallet, that’s Chicago. Now you know where your income is best spent on Heineken. Also good to know for St. Patrick’s Day are these outrageously good new breweries around the country, specializing in excellent beers, stouts and ales. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!Dangerous Man - Minneapolis, Minnesota (@dangerousman7) Set in an old bank in Northeast Minneapolis, Dangerous Man Brewing Co. has a taproom made partially from reclaimed wood and decorated with works by local artists. Highlights of Dangerous Man’s small-batch beers include Chocolate Milk Stout, Smoked Porter and Triple IPA (hops, hops, hops!). If you’re drinking at Dangerous Man, you can bring in food from nearby restaurants to complement your brew; if you’re on the move, you can buy the beers by the growler. Tennessee Brew Works - Nashville, Tennessee (@TNBrewWorks) At this two-story brewery and taproom, owners Christian Spears and Garr Schwartz serve seasonally changing beers that spotlight local produce. Their headliner brews include Basil Ryeman (a saison/farmhouse ale brewed with rye and basil) and Country Roots (a sweet potato stout, made by mashing the baked potatoes right into the grains). This being Nashville, they have live music every Thursday through Sunday. Trillium Brewing Co. - Boston, Massachusetts (@Trilliumbrewing) Located in Boston’s up-and-coming Fort Point hood, Trillium is one of only a handful of production breweries in the city (two of the others, whose names you might recognize, are Harpoon and Samuel Adams). Trillium offers four signature beers: Wakerobin, a farmhouse rye red ale; Pot&Kettle, an oatmeal stout; Fort Point Pale Ale; and the brewery’s signature Trillium, a barley and wheat farmhouse ale. There’s also a list of rotating seasonal beers, like their first bottled brew, the barrel-aged Pot&Kettle porter, offered with a two-bottle max limit. Ecliptic Brewing - Portland, Oregon (@EclipticBrewing) Named for the Earth’s orbit around the sun, Ecliptic was launched by one of Portland’s most well-known brewers, John Harris. 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--- abstract: 'Low-frequency Raman coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ of 11 different glasses is evaluated. It is shown that the coupling coefficient demonstrates a universal linear frequency behavior $C(\nu )\propto (\nu /\nu _{BP}+B)$ near the boson peak maximum, $\nu _{BP}$. Frequency dependence of $C(\nu )$ allows to separate the glasses studied into two groups: the first group has a frequency independent contribution $B$0.5, while the second one has $B\symbol{126}0$. It was found that $C(\nu )$ demonstrates a superlinear behavior at very low frequencies. This observation suggests vanishing of the coupling coefficient when frequency tends to zero. The results are discussed in terms of the vibration wavefunction that combines features of localized and extended modes.' address: | $^1$ Institute of Automation and Electrometry, Russian Academy of Sciences,\ pr.Ak.Koptyuga 1, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia\ $^2$Department of Polymer Science, University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325 -\ 3909 author: - 'N.V. Surovtsev$^1$, A.P. Sokolov$^2$' title: Frequency behavior of Raman coupling coefficient in glasses --- Introduction ============ One of the most interesting topics in solid state physics is the nature of the low-frequency (0.1-3 THz) collective vibrations in glasses. While these frequencies are in the range of acoustic excitations, there are experimental evidences that the vibrations are not pure acoustic plane waves and their density of vibrational states $g(\nu )$ does not follow the Debye behavior ($% \propto \nu ^{2}$, where $\nu $ is a frequency). A maximum in $g(\nu )/\nu ^{2}$ that appears at some frequency $\nu _{BP}$ is usually called the boson peak. Vibrations around the boson peak can be studied by several experimental techniques: low-temperature specific heat and thermal conductivity [@lo1], inelastic neutron [@bu2] and X-ray [@ix1; @ix2] scattering, infrared absorption [@st1] and Raman scattering [@ja1]. In the case of the low-frequency Raman spectroscopy, the density of vibrational states appears in the light scattering spectrum via the so-called light-vibration coupling coefficient, $C(\nu )$, [@sh1] $$I\left( \nu \right) =C\left( \nu \right) g\left( \nu \right) \frac{n+1}{\nu } \label{eq1}$$ where $I(\nu )$ is the Raman intensity for the Stokes side of the spectrum, and $n$ is the Bose factor. A knowledge of $C(\nu )$ and an understanding of its frequency dependence have significant importance for the topic of the low-frequency vibrations. First of all, a knowledge of $C(\nu )$ provides a relatively simple method to extract the vibrational density of states from a Raman experiment. Secondly, the light-vibration coupling coefficient contains information on the vibrational wavefunction [@sh1] and, therefore, can be used as a test of different models. Two classical models suggested for the description of $C(\nu )$ lead to different predictions: (i) Shuker and Gammon [@sh1] assumed that vibrations are localized on a distance much shorter than the light wavelength and predicted $C(\nu )=const$, while (ii) Martin and Brenig [@mar1] have demonstrated that a polarizability disorder mechanism applied to slightly damped acoustic waves leads to $C(\nu )\symbol{126}\nu ^2$ behavior at low frequencies and a peak at higher frequencies, related to a correlation length of the polarizability fluctuations. It was shown that quasi-plane acoustic waves with finite mean free path, $\ell $, will also contribute to the low-frequency Raman spectrum with $C(\nu )\symbol{126}\nu ^2$, when $\ell ^{-1}\propto \nu ^4$, Ref.[@ja1; @duv3], or with $C(\nu )=const$, when $\ell ^{-1}\propto \nu ^2$, Ref.[@duv3; @sav1]. There are a few challenges for experimental evaluation of the true vibration coupling coefficient: Very low temperature data for both - Raman spectra and $g(\nu )$ - should be used in order to avoid a quasielastic contribution (fast relaxation) [@ja1; @win1]; it is not obvious whether all vibrations at one frequency contribute to the Raman spectra with the same $C(\nu )$, or there are different kinds of vibrations and each contributes with its own $% C(\nu )$. A comparison of the low-temperature low-frequency Raman spectra of glasses with the total $g(\nu )$ obtained from low-temperature specific heat or inelastic neutron data has demonstrated that the coupling coefficient appears to vary nearly linearly with frequency [@sok1; @sok2; @ahm1; @ahm2; @fon2]. However, this comparison did not consider the possibility that two different kinds of vibrational excitations could co-exist around the boson peak. Although most of the authors at present accept the idea that the vibrations around the boson peak are strongly hybridized and can not be easily separated, the question is not yet completely settled. This question became especially important in the light of the results of Hyper-Raman scattering experiments [@heh1]. The existence of differences in the behavior of THz spectra in Raman and Hyper-Raman scattering experiments was interpreted as evidence of the co-existence of two types of vibrational excitations. Also, there are theoretical approaches describing the THz dynamics of glasses as a co-existence of two different types of vibrations in this spectral range (for example, [@eng1; @kar1]). In this case, the Raman coupling coefficient can lose its good physical meaning [@cou1]. One of the strong arguments in favor of the existence of a single type of vibrational excitation could be the universal behavior of $C(\nu )$ for glasses with various structures. This universality suggests that the two hypothetical types of vibrations are interrelated. A detailed analysis performed for silica glass has shown that $C(\nu )$ varies linearly with frequency, $$C(\nu )=A(\nu /\nu _{BP}+B) \label{eq2}$$ in the range 10-50 cm$^{-1}$ [@fon1]. This result was interpreted in [@fon1] as an evidence that the coupling coefficient extrapolates to a nonvanishing value in the limit $\nu \rightarrow 0$. However, it was shown in [@sur1] that the coupling coefficient demonstrates a superlinear behavior just below 10 cm$^{-1}$, i.e. the observed linear behavior can not be extrapolated to zero frequency. It would be very important to know whether this behavior is general also for other glasses. The present contribution analyzes the frequency behavior of the coupling coefficient in a broad set of different glasses, strong and fragile, covalently and ionically bonded, low molecular weight and polymeric. It is shown that all glasses demonstrate the linear behavior of $C(\nu )$ (eq.(\[eq2\])) around the boson peak frequency. One of the most striking results is that there are two groups of glasses. One has a frequency independent contribution $B$ with a universal value $\symbol{126}0.5$, while the second group of glasses has $B\approx 0$. An interpretation of the results is proposed and a correlation with low-temperature thermal conductivity is found. Results ======= The density of vibrational states must be known in order to extract the Raman coupling coefficient (see, eq.(\[eq1\])). It has been shown [@ja1; @win1; @sur7] that relaxation-like processes give significant contribution to the Raman spectra and $g(\nu )$ at frequencies below the boson peak even at temperatures as low as 50 K. Thus, experimental data obtained at $T$ below 50 K should be used for extracting vibrational $g(\nu )$. Two experimental techniques provide information on $g(\nu )$: inelastic neutron scattering [@bu2] and measurements of low-temperature specific heat [@lo1]. The latter has a few advantages: (i) the number of glasses for which specific heat data are available is much larger than the number of glasses for which inelastic neutron scattering data are available; (ii) the density of states calculated from low-temperature specific heat data corresponds to a very low temperature, where usually no neutron data are available. While in the past only a phenomenological analysis was available for extraction of the coupling coefficient from the comparison of the specific heat and Raman data (for example, [@sok2; @fon3]), recently it was shown that the integral equation for specific heat temperature dependence can be solved numerically and therefore the density of vibrational states may now be obtained from heat capacity measurements [@sur1]. [**SiO**]{}$_{{\bf 2}}$[**.**]{} The low-temperature density of states of Heralux silica glass was calculated from the specific heat data published in [@ina1] using the procedure described in details in [@sur1]. It was shown in this work that the density of states obtained from the specific heat data is in excellent agreement with the one measured by inelastic neutron scattering [@fon1; @buh1]. Low-temperature polarized Raman data from Heralux glass were taken from [@sur2] ($T$= 7 K) and depolarized data taken from [@sok3] ($T$= 10 K). The Raman coupling coefficient for the density of states evaluated from the specific heat data is in good agreement with that calculated from comparison of the Raman and neutron data [@sok1; @fon1] (Fig.1). Note that the deviation of $C(\nu )$ of Ref.[@fon1] in the high-frequency part is related to different kinds of silica glasses used for light and neutron scattering. The difference between the results reported in [@sok1] and those reported in [@sur1] at very low-frequencies is related to the presence of a quasielastic contribution at $T$= 50 K (lowest temperature used in Ref. [@sok1]) in the range $\nu <$ 10 cm$^{-1}$. This difference stresses the importance of using very low temperature data for estimates of the vibrational $C(\nu )$. Fig.1 demonstrates (see also the inset) that in the frequency range 10-40 cm$% ^{-1}$ the coupling coefficient varies linearly with frequency, $C(\nu )\propto (\nu /\nu _{BP}+B)$. The coupling coefficient is proportional to frequency in the range from 40 cm$^{-1}$ up to 120 cm$^{-1}$. A superlinear behavior is observed below 10 cm$^{-1}$. In the Raman experiment of Ref. [@sur2], the signal in the range 7-8 cm$^{-1}$ was so weak that it was not possible to detect it. In this case only an estimate of the upper limit of the signal is available. This estimate was used for the calculation of the upper limit for $C(\nu )$ at frequencies 7-8 cm$^{-1}$. The open circles in Fig. 1 show the upper limit of the coupling coefficient (for the polarized spectrum). Thus, it is very likely, that the linear behavior of $C(\nu )$ observed in [@fon1] is restricted to frequencies above 10 cm$^{-1}$, but the coupling coefficient has another frequency dependence for $\nu $ 10 cm$^{-1}$. Also it follows from the data of [@sok1] that $C(\nu )$ increases faster than linear at $\nu $ 10 cm$^{-1}$. Further measurements of Raman scattering in silica glass at low frequencies and low temperatures ( 10 K) are needed in order to clarify the frequency behavior of the coupling coefficient at $\nu $ 10 cm$^{-1}$. [**B**]{}$_2$[**O**]{}$_3$[**.**]{} The density of states was calculated from the specific heat data of the D5 sample published in [@ram1]. The specific heat data of [@ram1] were extended above $T$= 20 K by the results published in [@whi1] (the results of [@ram1] show that the specific heat data of different boron oxide glasses collapse to a single curve above 15 K). Raman data measured at $T$= 15 K were taken from [@sur3] (the sample used in [@sur3] is identical to D5 from [@ram1] as it follows from Ref.[@sur4]). The calculated coupling coefficient (Fig.2) is in good agreement with the one published in [@eng1]. Fig2. shows that the frequency behavior of the coupling coefficient in B$_2$O$_3$ glass is linear below 30 cm$^{-1}$ and is proportional to $\nu ^{0.5}$ above 30 cm$^{-1}$. [**Se.**]{} The density of vibrational states of Se glass was calculated from specific heat data published in [@las1; @zel1]. In the range 10-60 cm$% ^{-1} $, this calculation is in fair agreement with the results of neutron scattering at $T$=100 K published in [@phi1]. The depolarized Raman spectrum of Se glass at $T$=6 K was taken from [@sok2]. The coupling coefficient (Figure 3) was calculated using density of states evaluated from both, specific heat and neutron scattering data. It is linear in the range 5-20 cm$^{-1}$ and varies more strongly than linearly above this range. The superlinear behavior of $C(\nu )$ also appears below 5 cm$^{-1}$. [**CKN.**]{} The vibrational density of states was calculated from the specific heat data published in [@sok4]. The specific heat in this work was measured up to 8.5 K. It is expected that the vibrational density of states found will be valid in a frequency range up to about 20 cm$^{-1}$ (see [@sur1]). The low-frequency Raman spectrum at $T$= 6 K was taken from [@sur5]. The density of states at $T$= 252 K of CKN glass was measured in [@rus1]. Since the density of states does not demonstrate significant temperature variations for $\nu >10$ cm$^{-1}$ Ref.[@rus1], the coupling coefficient at $T$=200 K was calculated using the Raman data at $T$= 200 K (data from [@sur5]) and neutron scattering data of [@rus1] (no correction for the Debye-Waller factor was done for $S(Q,\nu )$). The two estimates of the coupling coefficient (from neutron and specific heat experiments, Fig.3) show good agreement in the range 10-30 cm$^{-1}$, while the presence of the fast relaxation below 10 cm$^{-1}$ is clear at $T$= 200 K. The coupling coefficient reveals a linear frequency behavior in the range 10-22 cm$^{-1}$ and the stronger dependencies below 10 cm$^{-1}$ and above 35 cm$^{-1}$. [**As**]{}$_{2}$[**S**]{}$_{3}$[**.**]{} The density of states was calculated from the specific heat data published in [@ahm1] (data for the annealed sample). The evaluated density of states in the range 10-60 cm$^{-1}$ is in fair agreement with $g(\nu )$ obtained from inelastic neutron scattering measurements [@mal1] at room temperature. A low-temperature depolarized Raman spectrum of the As$_{2}$S$_{3}$ glass was measured in [@sok2]. The values of $C(\nu )$ from that work (Fig.4) show that the coupling coefficient is proportional to $\nu $ in the range 5-60 cm$^{-1}$. [**GeO**]{}$_{2}$[**.**]{} Low-temperature low-frequency Raman data and specific heat data for GeO$_{2}$ glass were taken from [@car1]. The density of states was calculated from the specific heat. The values of $C(\nu )$ (Fig.4) derived from that data show that $C(\nu )$ is nearly proportional to $\nu $ for the whole frequency range 10-50 cm$^{-1}$. [**GeSe**]{}$_2$[**.**]{} Inelastic neutron scattering data and low-temperature specific heat data for GeSe$_2$ glass are presented in [@kam1]. Our evaluation of the vibrational density of states from the low-temperature specific heat (measured up to 18 K) is in good agreement with room temperature neutron data in the range 10-50 cm$^{-1}$. This agreement suggests that a contribution of the fast relaxation in this frequency range is negligible already at ambient conditions. A room temperature Raman spectrum of GeSe$_2$ glass was taken from [@sug1]. The spectrum measured in this work shows a well defined peak already at room temperature, supporting the contention that the quasielastic contribution is well suppressed at frequencies corresponding to the boson peak maximum. The coupling coefficient was calculated from a comparison of Raman and neutron scattering data at room temperature (Fig.4). This calculation demonstrates nearly linear frequency behavior of $C(\nu )$ in the whole frequency range 8-90 cm$^{-1}$. [**(Ag**]{}$_{{\bf 2}}$[**O)**]{}$_{{\bf 0.14}}$[**(B**]{}$_{{\bf 2}}$[**O**]{}$_{% {\bf 3}}$[**)**]{}$_{{\bf 0.86}}$[**.**]{} Vibrational density of states of a (Ag$_{{\bf 2}}$O)$_{{\bf 0.14}}$(B$_{{\bf 2}}$O$_{{\bf 3}}$)$_{{\bf 0.86}}$ glass was calculated from the specific heat data of [@tri1]. Specific heat data were measured up to 18 K in this work. Since the low-temperature specific heat coincides with that of B$_2$O$_3$ glass for $T$ 10 K [@tri1], we extended the data of the (Ag$_{{\bf 2}}$O)$_{{\bf 0.14}% } $(B$_{{\bf 2}}$O$_{{\bf 3}}$)$_{{\bf 0.86}}$ glass to higher temperature using the data from the B$_2$O$_3$ glass. The extended data allowed us to calculate the density of states for higher frequency. A low-temperature depolarized Raman spectrum recorded at $T$= 20 K was taken from [@tri1]. The derived coupling coefficient of (Ag$_{{\bf 2}}$O)$_{{\bf 0.14}}$(B$_{% {\bf 2}}$O$_{{\bf 3}}$)$_{{\bf 0.86}}$ glass (Fig.4) is linear in the range 10-60 cm$^{-1}$ and slightly superlinear above this range. [**Polystyrene (PS).**]{} The density of vibrational states of PS glass was calculated from the specific heat data published in [@whi1; @leb1]. A low-temperature depolarized Raman spectrum (at $T$=6 K) was taken from [@nov1]. In the frequency range 8-90 cm$^{-1}$, $C(\nu )$ calculated from these data (Fig.5) agrees well with the coupling coefficient obtained earlier by direct comparison of neutron and Raman scattering data at $T$= 35 K (from [@sok1]). The contribution of the fast relaxation[@nov1] at $% T$= 35 K is responsible for the difference between the two estimates of coupling coefficient at frequencies below 8 cm$^{-1}$. The coupling coefficient in PS glass (Fig.5) varies linearly with $\nu $ in the range 5-40 cm$^{-1}$ and superlinear above and below this range. [**Polycarbonate (PC).**]{} The coupling coefficient at $T$= 15 K for PC glass was found in [@sav1] by direct comparison of neutron and Raman scattering spectra. It is linear in the range 5-50 cm$^{-1}$ and superlinear above this range (Fig.5). [**Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA).**]{} Calculation of vibrational density of states of PMMA glass was done from the specific heat data published in [@whi1]. A low-temperature Raman spectrum was measured in [@sur6]. $C(\nu )$ obtained from that data (Fig.5) agrees well with the coupling coefficient found in [@mer1] from comparison of neutron and Raman scattering spectra at $T$= 30 K. $C(\nu )$ varies linearly with $\nu $ in the range 7-30 cm$% ^{-1}$ and has a stronger frequency dependence above this range. General features of $C(\nu )$ ============================= In this section some general properties of the Raman coupling coefficient will be discussed. The goal is to reveal features that are universal or different for the glasses analyzed. The results presented in the previous section indicate that the frequency behavior of coupling coefficient can be considered in three frequency ranges: significantly below the frequency of the boson peak maximum, $\nu _{BP}$; around $\nu _{BP}$ and significantly above $\nu _{BP}$. The comparison will be done with the frequency axis scaled to $\nu _{BP}$. The frequency $\nu _{BP}$ was defined as the position of the maximum in the curve $g(\nu )/\nu ^{2}$. Table 1 presents for the glasses under discussion the values of $\nu _{BP}$ defined in this way. [**Linear dependence of** ]{}$C(\nu )$[** near** ]{}$\nu _{BP}$[**.**]{} A linear behavior of $C(\nu )$ for frequencies near that corresponding to the boson peak maximum can be seen for all the glasses. This linear behavior can be described by eq.(\[eq2\]). The constant $B$ characterizes the relative contribution of two additive terms in eq.(\[eq2\]). Fig.6 presents a plot of $C(\nu )$ for seven glasses (SiO$_{2}$, B$_{2}$O$_{3}$, Se, CKN, (Ag$% _{2} $O)$_{0.14}$(B$_{2}$O$_{3}$)$_{0.86}$, PS, PC) plotted against scaled frequency (amplitudes of the $C(\nu )$ were normalized near $\nu /\nu _{BP}=1 $). For clarity, only data above $0.5\nu _{BP}$ are presented in this figure. Clear differences in $C(\nu )$ of the different glasses are observed at high frequencies. However, $C(\nu )$ tends to a master curve (universal frequency dependence) at frequencies below $1.5\nu _{BP}$. The universal behavior shown by the dashed line presents the dependence $$C\left( \nu \right) \propto \nu /\nu _{BP}+0.5 \label{eq3}$$ The linear frequency dependence describes well the behavior of $C(\nu )$ found experimentally starting from the frequency $\sim $0.5$\nu _{BP}$. The high frequency limit of this behavior varies from 1.5$\nu _{BP}$ for SiO$% _{2} $ and Se up to about 4$\nu _{BP}$ for the PC glass. However, there exists another group of glasses that does not follow the frequency behavior highlighted in Fig.6. The results for the other four glasses (PMMA, As$_{2}$S$_{3}$, GeSe$_{2}$, GeO$_{2}$) are presented in Fig.7. $C(\nu )$ for these glasses can be well described by a simple linear dependence with the constant $B$ in eq.(\[eq2\]) having a value of zero. Thus, all the glasses analyzed here are separated into two groups: those with $C\left( \nu \right) \propto \nu /\nu _{BP}+0.5$ near the boson peak maximum (Fig.6), and another group with $C(\nu )\propto \nu $ (Fig.7). In the following we will refer to these two groups with the designation of ”type-I” and ”type-II”, respectively. [**Low-frequency behavior of** ]{}$C(\nu )$[** (**]{}$\nu <0.5\nu _{BP}$[**).**]{} At least four glasses (SiO$_2$, Se, PS and CKN) demonstrate superlinear frequency dependence in this spectral range. The low-frequency portions of $% C(\nu )$[** **]{}for these glasses are presented in Fig.8 on a log-log scale together with the function $C\left( \nu \right) \propto \nu /\nu _{BP}+$0.5. The coupling coefficient varies superlinearly below some frequency $0.5\nu _{BP}$, deviating strongly from the extrapolation of linear behavior (Fig.8). The crossover frequency of a transition to superlinear behavior appears to be $\sim $0.3$\nu _{BP}$ for SiO$_2$ and $\sim $0.5$\nu _{BP}$ for Se, PS and CKN. It is remarkable that these systems have significantly different microstructure and fragility. This suggests that superlinear frequency behavior for $\nu <($0.3$\div $0.5$)\nu _{BP}$ may be general for various glasses. The fact that we did not observe the superlinear frequency behavior of $C(\nu )$ in other glasses can be explained by two reasons: either the experimental data are not extended to low enough frequencies, or they are measured at temperatures that are not low enough and the presence of the fast relaxation at low frequencies masks the true vibrational behavior. The importance of the relaxation contribution even at temperature as low as $T$= 15 K can be demonstrated in the case of the B$_2$O$_3$ glass. Indeed, from Fig.1 of [@sur3] it is evident that the fast relaxation is not negligible at $T$= 15 K and dominates for $\nu <$3 cm$^{-1}$. Since the spectral shape of the fast relaxation spectrum in B$_2$O$_3$ does not depend on temperature [@sur3], we can subtract it from the Raman spectrum at $T$= 15 K using the spectrum of the fast relaxation determined in [@sur3]. The Raman spectrum of B$_2$O$_3$ glass corrected in this way (by adjusting amplitude of the relaxational spectrum at the lowest points of the spectrum in Fig.1 of Ref.[@sur3]) gives the coupling coefficient shown by the dotted line in Fig.8. This revised coupling coefficient depicts the superlinear behavior at $\nu <0.5\nu _{BP}$. [**High-frequency behavior of** ]{}$C(\nu )$[** (**]{}$\nu >2\nu _{BP}$[**).**]{} Figs.6 and 7 show no universal behavior of the coupling coefficient in this frequency range. It varies from sublinear to strongly superlinear behavior for different glasses. Discussion ========== The observation of the superlinear behavior of the coupling coefficient below some frequency $\nu <($0.3$\div $0.5$)\nu _{BP}$ is very important. It has been shown that $C(\nu )$ for acoustic-like vibrations should increase [****]{}$\nu ^2$. This prediction was obtained in the framework of different model approximations (see, for example, Refs. [@ja1; @mar1; @duv3]). Basing on their experimental observations, the authors of Ref.[@fon1] suggested that the linear behavior of $C(\nu )$[** **]{}can be extrapolated to the limit $\nu \rightarrow 0$ and $C(\nu =0)$ has a nonvanishing value. The results of the present work show that this extrapolation is not correct and the character of the frequency dependence changes at lower $\nu $, corresponding to the expectation that $C(\nu )\rightarrow 0$ when $\nu \rightarrow 0$. However, the existing experimental data do not allow one to establish the exact frequency dependence, and this topic still requires further investigation. At higher frequencies, $C(\nu )$ demonstrates the universal linear behavior for type-I glasses (Fig.6). The glasses in this class vary significantly in structure, fragility, and ratio of the excess vibrations to the Debye level. There are many models that assume two different kinds of vibrations coexisting at frequencies around the boson peak: propagating and localized or quasilocal. For example, in the framework of the soft potential model [@SPM] it is assumed that propagating waves have a Debye-like density of states and do not contribute to the Raman spectra, while excess vibrations are localized and have $C(\nu )=const$. The ratio of the excess vibrational density of states to the Debye level around the boson peak is 4 in SiO$_{2}$ and 0.4 in CKN [@sok4], i.e. it differs up to 10 times. In that respect, the observed universality of $C(\nu )$, obtained using the total density of vibrational states (Figures 6,7), supports an alternative idea that all vibrations around the boson peak are hybridized and can not be separated into propagating and localized. In order to explain the observed universality of $C(\nu )$, significant theoretical work should be done. There are two complications in this problem: (i) there is no good approximation for the wavefunction of the vibrations around the boson peak; (ii) the scattering mechanism, i.e. the way how the vibrations modulate polarizability of the material, is not clear and might be different for different glasses. Below we consider a very simplistic model that might provide a qualitative description of the observed universal behavior of $C(\nu )$. One possible explanation for this behavior can be found in the framework of the approach of non-continuous glass nanostructure [@sok5; @duv1; @ell1]. The model assumes that the boson peak vibrations combine properties of both localized and extended excitations. At short distances (inside of a nanocluster), displacements of atoms are coherent and the wavefunction is similar to a vibration localized in the cluster. At longer distances, however, the vibrations start to have diffusive character (probably as in [@fab1]). Note that the spirit of this consideration is very similar to that of the model in [@duv2]. For simplicity of discussion we will follow continuous medium approximation [@ja1]. In this case the inelastic light scattering is caused by acoustic vibrations via the elasto-optic effect. The coupling coefficients for the Raman scattering of acoustic-type excitations is written as[@ja1; @sh1]: $$C\left( \nu \right) \propto \int \partial \overrightarrow{r}\left\langle P\left( 0\right) P^{\ast }(\overrightarrow{r})\right\rangle \left\langle s^{\nu }(0)s^{\nu \ast }(\overrightarrow{r})\right\rangle \label{eq4}$$ Here $s^{\nu }(\overrightarrow{r})$ is the strain of an acoustic vibration with frequency $\nu $, $\left\langle ...\right\rangle $ means configurational and statistical averaging, and $P(\overrightarrow{r})$ is the elasto-optic constant. Cross-correlations of $P(\overrightarrow{r})$ and $s^{\nu }(\overrightarrow{r})$ fluctuations are neglected for simplicity. Since the phonon mean free path is much shorter than the light wavelength, the exponential $exp(i\overrightarrow{q}\overrightarrow{r})$ (where $% \overrightarrow{q}$ is the scattering wavevector of the experiment) is also neglected. The polarization indices are omitted for simplicity. We assume $% \left\langle P\left( 0\right) P^{\ast }(\overrightarrow{r})\right\rangle \approx P^{2}$ and neglect contribution of the fluctuating part of the elasto-optic constant in the Raman coupling coefficient. In the framework of the model considered, the integral of eq.(\[eq4\]) can be separated into two parts: the first is for the short distances, where the wavefunction of the vibration mimics the localized feature; the second one is for longer distances, where the wave function has diffusive character: $$C(\nu )\propto \int_{0}^{\left| \overrightarrow{r}\right| =R}\partial \overrightarrow{r}\left\langle s^{\nu }(0)s^{\nu \ast }(\overrightarrow{r}% )\right\rangle +\int_{\left| \overrightarrow{r}\right| =R}^{\infty }\partial r\left\langle s^{\nu }(0)s^{\nu \ast }(\overrightarrow{r})\right\rangle \label{eq5}$$ Here, $R$ is the radius of the nanocluster. The wavefuction in the first term behaves as a localized vibration and this is the case described in the Shuker-Gammon model [@sh1]. Therefore, the first term is frequency independent. The diffusive character of the boson peak vibrations determines the frequency behavior of the second term in eq.(\[eq5\]). In Ref.[@nov2], it was shown that the diffusive feature of acoustic vibrations leads to $C(\nu )\propto \nu $. Therefore, the second term in eq.(\[eq5\]) is proportional to frequency. Thus, the localized-extended character of the boson peak vibrations may be the reason for the linear frequency dependence of the Raman coupling coefficient. According to eq.(\[eq5\]), the relative contributions to $C(\nu )$ of a frequency independent term and a term proportional to frequency reflects the relative weights of localized and extended part of the boson peak vibration. The result of Fig.6 means that at the boson peak maximum the ratio of the localized and extended parts is the same for these glasses. However, the frequency independent contribution to $C(\nu )$ for some of glasses is negligibly small (Fig.7). In the framework of the considered model, it means that for these glasses either the vibrations have diffusive-like character even inside a nanocluster or this part of the wavefunction does not contribute to light scattering due to selection rules. We do not have a clear explanation for the observed difference and it remains a challenge for future investigations. At present we only show another hint that the peculiarity of type-II glasses may be related to localization of the vibrations. Indeed, if this is true one should expect that boson peak vibrations of type-II glasses are more extended than those of type-I glasses. This difference has to show up in vibration transport properties. Figure 9 presents the thermal conductivity of SiO$_{2}$, PS, Se, GeO$_{2}$, PMMA and As$_{2}$S$_{3}$ glasses (data from Refs.[@yu1; @gra1; @cah1]). The first three glasses are type-I and the next three are type-II. It is convenient to compare the pairs of glasses in which the two members of the pair have closely similar chemical nature but belong to different classes, for example, SiO$_{2}$ and GeO$_{2}$, PS and PMMA, As$% _{2} $S$_{3}$ and Se. It appears (Fig.9) that glasses of different type (but of similar chemical nature) have comparable thermal conductivity at higher T but type-II glasses have higher thermal conductivity at the plateau. It is known that the plateau region in thermal conductivity corresponds to conductivity by vibrations around the boson peak. Thus, this comparison reveals weaker localization of the boson peak vibrations in type-II glasses and supports the above speculations. However, the question is far from settled and further investigations are needed in order to provide a microscopic explanation of the difference between the two types of glasses. There are no universalities in the frequency dependence of $C(\nu )$ for $% \nu >2\nu _{BP}$. The high-frequency vibrations depend strongly on a particular atomic organization of a glass, its microstructure. A relation to peculiar microstructure may be a reason for different behaviors of $C(\nu )$ in this frequency range. Conclusion ========== The Raman coupling coefficient, $C(\nu )$, is analyzed for the large number of glasses strongly different in their chemical structure and fragility. It is demonstrated that $C(\nu )$ has a universal linear frequency dependence near the boson peak maximum: $C\left( \nu \right) \propto \nu /\nu _{BP}+B$, with $B\symbol{126}$0.5 for one group of glasses and $B\symbol{126}$0 for the second group. The observed universality suggests that the vibrations around the boson peak have some universal properties for glasses with different structure. An explanation for the observed $C(\nu )$ is formulated in the framework of a model describing the vibrational wavefunction as a combination of localized and extended parts. We relate the difference in the behavior of $C(\nu )$ in the two groups of glasses to different localization properties of the vibrations on a short length scale. This suggestion agrees with the observation of different behavior of thermal conductivity in these two types of glasses. It is also shown that $C(\nu )$ has a superlinear behavior at frequencies below 0.3$\div $0.5$% \nu _{BP}$. A sharp rise in mean free path of the vibrations with decrease in $\nu $ may be a reason for this fast decrease in $C(\nu )$. No universality is observed at higher frequencies (above 2$\nu _{BP} $) suggesting that the particular atomic organization of glasses is important in this spectral range. Acknowledgments --------------- Help of S. Adichtchev in literature search is appreciated. This work was supported by RFFI Grants No 01-05-65066, 02-02-16112. 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Boson peak position, defined as the position of maximum of $g/\nu ^2 $. glass BP position \[cm$^{-1}$\] ---- ----------------------------------------- --------------------------- 1 SiO$_2$ 33.5 2 B$_2$O$_3$ 18 3 (Ag$_2$O)$_{0.14}$(B$_2$O$_3$)$_{0.86}$ 22.5 4 Se 12 5 As$_2$S$_3$ 16.5 6 CKN 20.5 7 GeSe$_2$ 10 8 GeO$_2$ 27 9 PC 11 10 PS 11.5 11 PMMA 12.5 Figure captions [**Figure 1.**]{} Frequency dependence of the coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ for SiO$_2$ glass. Closed circles are polarized Raman scattering data from Ref. [@sur2] (open circles are explained in the text), thick solid line is the coupling coefficient for depolarized Raman data of Ref.[@sok3]. Thin line is $\propto \nu $ behavior. Triangles are $C(\nu )$ data from Ref. [@fon1]. Squares are $C(\nu )$ data from Ref.[@sok1]. Inset shows the low-frequency (10-40 cm$^{-1}$) part of $C(\nu )$ in details. [**Figure 2.**]{} Frequency dependence of the coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ for B$_{2}$O$_{3}$ glass. Solid line is $C(\nu )$ found for the density of states evaluated from the specific heat data. Circles are $C(\nu )$ from Ref. [@eng1]. Inset shows the low-frequency ( 30 cm$^{-1}$) part of $C(\nu )$ in details. [**Figure 3.**]{} Frequency dependence of the coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ for CKN and Se glasses: triangles and circles correspond to density of states evaluated from specific heat data, dotted and solid lines is for density of states from inelastic neutron scattering (CKN and Se, respectively). Inset shows the low frequency range in details. [**Figure 4.**]{} Frequency dependence of the coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ for As$_{2}$S$_{3}$ (circles), GeO$_{2}$ (triangles), GeSe$_{2}$ (thin line) and (Ag$_{{\bf 2}}$O)$_{{\bf 0.14}}$(B$_{{\bf 2}}$O$_{{\bf 3}}$)$_{{\bf 0.86}% }$ (thick line) glasses. Inset shows the low-frequency part of $C(\nu )$ in details. [**Figure 5.**]{} Frequency dependence of the coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ for polymeric glasses: PS - thin line corresponds to the density of states from neutron scattering experiment (data from Ref.[@sok1]), circles to the one evaluated from specific heat data; PC - triangles (data from Ref. [@sav1]), PMMA - thick solid line corresponds to the density of states from neutron scattering experiment (data from Ref.[@mer1]), squares to the one evaluated from specific heat data. Inset shows the low-frequency part of $C(\nu )$ in details. [**Figure 6.**]{} Frequency dependence of the coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ for glasses: SiO$_{2}$, B$_{2}$O$_{3}$, Se, CKN, (Ag$_{2}$O)$_{0.14}$(B$_{2}$O$_{3}$)$_{0.86}$, PS, PC, versus scaled frequency $\nu /\nu _{BP}$. Only region above 0.5$\nu _{BP}$ is presented. Numbers of lines correspond to the numbers in the Table 1. Triangles are (Ag$_{2}$O)$_{0.14}$(B$_{2}$O$_{3}$)$% _{0.86}$, circles are CKN data. Dashed line is a fit $C(\nu )\propto \nu /\nu _{BP}+$0.5. Inset shows the low-frequency part of $C(\nu )$ in details. [**Figure 7.**]{} Frequency dependence of the coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ for glasses: PMMA (dotted line), As$_{2}$S$_{3}$ (triangles), GeSe$_{2}$ (solid line), GeO$_{2}$ (circles) versus scaled frequency $\nu /\nu _{BP}$. Dashed line is a fit $C(\nu )\propto \nu $. Inset shows the low-frequency part of $C(\nu )$ in details. [**Figure 8.**]{} The low-frequency part of the coupling coefficient $C(\nu )$ for glasses: SiO$_{2}$ (solid line), Se (triangles), PS (squares), CKN (circles) in logarithmic scale. Dashed line is $C(\nu )\propto \nu /\nu _{BP}+$0.5. Dotted line is $C(\nu )$ for the corrected Raman spectrum of B$% _{2}$O$_{3}$ glass as explained in the text. [**Figure 9.**]{} Thermal conductivity of SiO$_2$ (solid line), GeO$_2$ (dotted line), PMMA (open circles), PS (solid circles), As$_2$S$_3$ (open triangles), Se (solid triangles). Data are taken from Refs.[@yu1; @gra1; @cah1]. | Mid | [
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Q: How to return Anonymous Type while using Linq Possible Duplicate: LINQ to SQL: Return anonymous type? Do any one know how to return an anonymous type. I am using Linq where i need to return the following code private <What's the return type to be provided here> SampleLinq(Int32 Num) { var query = (from dept in obj.DeptTable where dept.Id == Num select new { dept.DeptName, dept.DeptId }); return (query) } A: Sorry to say but you cannot return anonymous type out side the scope of method. This is the alternate way to get anonmous type // Method that returns anonymous type as object object ReturnAnonymous() { return new { City="Prague", Name="Tomas" }; } // Application entry-point void Main() { // Get instance of anonymous type with 'City' and 'Name' properties object o = ReturnAnonymous(); // This call to 'Cast' method converts first parameter (object) to the // same type as the type of second parameter - which is in this case // anonymous type with 'City' and 'Name' properties var typed = Cast(o, new { City="", Name="" }); Console.WriteLine("Name={0}, City={1}", typed.Name, typed.City); } // Cast method - thanks to type inference when calling methods it // is possible to cast object to type without knowing the type name T Cast<T>(object obj, T type) { return (T)obj; } you can use it only for types in one assembly (two anonymous types from two different assemblies will be internally compiled to two different types that can't be converted using this trick). A: Return Dynamic type: public static dynamic getCustomer() { ..... var x = from c in customers select new {Fname = c.FirstName}; return x; } static void Main(string[] args) { dynamic x = getCustomer(); Console.WriteLine(Enumerable.First(x).Fname); Console.ReadKey(); } | Low | [
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Episode 12 - Hearing You Loud and Clear Episode 12 – Hearing You Loud and Clear The first regular season Door 14 Hockey podcast for 2017-18 is here and we’re coming in loud and clear! Here’s a taste of what we talk about on this episode. Click the pictures to read more on the source websites. We chat at length about the ‘newbies’ to the EIHL, the Guildford Flames and the Milton Keynes Lightning (why not see how we thought they’d do in our Patton Conference Preview) and how they got on in their first full weekend of games against the League’s old-guard in the form of the Belfast Giants and the Cardiff Devils. The Flames came to Belfast to face the Giants, as the latter opened their EIHL home season with a 6-4 win. This game saw the guys pick all 3 of our ‘Stars’ for this episode, Mark Garside (Giants), Colin Shields (Giants) and Mike Will (Flames). Belfast Giants v Guildford Flames Highlights, Sat 9th September Credit: Belfast Giants/Giants TV The Lightning headed to Cardiff Bay as the Devils open their own domestic season with a Challenge Cup victory after raising their 2016-17 championship banners. Credit: Cardiff Devils/Icetime TV On Sunday, the Giants travelled to Milton Keynes for the first time to face brand new opposition With some familiar faces in the mix. Credit: Milton Keynes Lightning/Lightning TV Also on Sunday, the Flames welcomed reigning Champions the Cardiff Devils as they opened their Elite League home season in style. Credit: Guildford Flames Is George Parros the man to lead the NHL’s Department of Player Safety? We chat about the +/- of such a move by the League. George Parros, coming down hard for DOPS? The NHL also announced their new ‘Declaration of Principles’, but does it really do what it says on the tin or is it the wrong tin to start with? A declaration of mediocrity or real change in the game? The Wild announce an interesting new fan initiative and invite the State of Hockey to say, “This is Our Ice”. The Minnesota Wild want fans to help them get wet for the coming season! The Swedes get in on this episode too, with one great, and one not so great story: Swedish officials will show their pride this season. Swede referee loses finger in bizarre accident during game! Finally, DOPS get their first job this season, and it’s…..an interesting, but predictable one! | Mid | [
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Cytokines and growth factors in atherogenesis. The development of laboratory techniques for the culturing of vascular endothelial and smooth-muscle cells during the 1970s, followed by the rapid advances in molecular and cell biology during the 1980s, provided the foundation for the identification of growth factor and cytokine networks involved in maintenance of the normal vasculature as well as participating in diverse pathologic processes involving blood vessels. Vascular cells can produce and respond to a vast array of biochemical messengers that control cell replication, differentiation, and many specific cell functions. Investigators are beginning to explore the changes in the patterns of messengers exchanged between the vascular cells and infiltrating leukocytes during the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. A variety of in vitro and in vivo studies have indicated that growth factors and cytokines that mediate the critical processes of inflammation and wound healing also play a central role in vascular disease. Indeed, many view atherosclerosis as the result of excessive or prolonged chronic inflammation and wound healing in response to diverse injurious stimuli to cells of the vessel wall. Vascular injury may result from many varied and interacting forces, including nutritional and metabolic abnormalities such as hyperlipidemias or elevated homocysteine, mechanical forces associated with hypertension, exogenous toxins including those found in cigarette smoke, abnormally glycated proteins associated with diabetes mellitus, oxidatively modified lipids or proteins, and, possibly, viral infections. Ultimately, a greater understanding of the activated cytokine and growth factor networks within the vascular wall following injury and during atherogenesis will allow clinical scientists to identify steps susceptible to therapeutic intervention using recombinant cytokines, antibodies, soluble receptors, or receptor antagonists. Other therapeutic strategies may involve the transfection of specific genes, which may inhibit atherosclerosis, into vascular cells at sites prone to lesion formation. | High | [
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1. Field The following description relates to an apparatus and method for stabilizing operation of a wavelength tunable laser, and more particularly, to an apparatus and operating method thereof that may perform stabilization using feedback from a tunable Fabry-Perot filter of the center of a wavelength of a high speed wavelength tunable laser. 2. Description of Related Art A high speed wavelength tunable laser including a tunable Fabry-Perot filter can be used as a light source for medical imaging. In one example, a high speed wavelength tunable laser including a tunable Fabry-Perot filter may be used as a light source for a second generation optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. Since the tunable Fabry-Perot filter may be affected by factors of a peripheral environment, for example, temperature, the center of a tuned wavelength may change over time and stabilization of the laser may be difficult as a result. An operating value of a tunable Fabry-Perot filter may be manually controlled by a user during the process of adjusting the wavelength center. As a result, the process of adjusting a wavelength center of conventional high speed wavelength tunable laser using a tunable Fabry-Perot filter requires a relatively long adjustment time. The manual adjusting of a parameter by the user may result in a time delay while using a device. In addition, manual adjustment may cause difficulty in manipulation of the device resulting in inconvenience to a user unskilled in such manipulation, for example, a medical technician using a medical device and/or an imaging system. Accordingly, there is a desire for a method of stabilizing a wavelength of a laser without the difficulty presented by manual control. | Mid | [
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It began with a geriatric black-Lab mix who’d been picked up as a stray and locked in a cage at the South Los Angeles animal shelter. Hillary Rosen was trolling the shelter for dogs to save last summer when she spotted the woebegone mutt. “She was horrible-looking and she barked at me from her kennel,” Rosen recalled. “But there was something about that damn dog…. She was like ‘Get me out of here right now and figure it out later.’” So Rosen bailed her out and planned to hand her off to a friend in San Diego, who knew the dog was at risk of being euthanized and thought she could line up a new owner. But it’s not easy to find a home for a crotchety, horrible-looking, abandoned 12-year-old dog. So the dog stayed at Rosen’s home for days that turned into weeks — long enough for Rosen to fall in love, decide to keep her and become obsessed with finding homes for other senior dogs. “I can’t even explain it,” Rosen told me, as the dog that shelter volunteers named Betsy waited patiently for a scrap from her owner’s dinner plate. “They’re grateful. They just want to be with you. They know what’s going on. “They look bad in the shelter,” she said. Of course they do. They’re abandoned, frightened, lonely and heartbroken. :: It’s an adage that rescue groups understand: People want puppies. They’re blank slates; irresistibly cute and impossibly charming. Rosen used to be a puppy person too. Then her “puppy” Talullah died last year, just before she would have turned 13. Rosen was consumed by grief — and her routine rescue forays through animal shelters took on a whole new meaning. “I started seeing Talullah in every old dog,” she said. “I tried to imagine her in a shelter at the end of her life.” Public shelters are loaded with elderly dogs. Some are strays, but others are surrendered by owners who can’t afford their care or aren’t inclined to tolerate the inconvenience of canine old age. Many will decline in shelters and have to be put to death. Shelters have seen an increase in older dogs because of the recession. So volunteers are stepping up efforts to retrieve and place them. “We just don’t believe a senior dog should die alone in a shelter,” said Lauren Dube, whose San Diego-based rescue Labradors and Friends paid for Betsy’s release and medical exams. “To wind up in a cold, noisy crate when you’ve been loved all your life, that’s a horrible, horrible end.” Some people shy away from senior adoptions because the dogs may not live long. “But there’s something wonderful,” Dube said, “about being there and loving them when their families have forsaken them.” Others believe that shelter dogs are damaged goods. “They think they’re discarded or they’re bad or they’re abused,” Rosen said. But many older dogs are like Betsy: healthy, well-mannered and ready to rock ‘n’ roll. She’s been like a mother hen to Rosen’s rambunctious pack of young rescue dogs. “The seniors are housebroken, they know the rules, they’ve been around,” Rosen said. “Betsy knew how to sit, stay, shake. Somebody else taught her that.” :: Old dogs do bring challenges that younger dogs don’t. They may not need to be walked every day, but they might need special diets or more attention from the vet. Many rescue groups cover those expenses when they place old dogs in new homes. Some rescue groups are strictly devoted to senior dogs, like Muttville in San Francisco. Locally, Ventura County’s Health Care Agency promotes adoptions through a “Senior Dogs for Seniors Program” with the county’s Animal Services Department. Other groups are shifting resources or setting up special accounts to cover the costs of senior animal care — from medical care before an adoption to humane euthanasia at the end of a dog’s life. “It’s scary as a rescuer. One dog could break my bank,” said Rosen, whose tiny nonprofit A Purposeful Rescue has pulled dozens of dogs from shelters and found permanent homes for eight seniors in the last five months. She pays for their medical care from her Manny Fund, a cache of small donations that poured in from around the country after the story of one of her early rescues went viral. Manny was an elderly golden retriever she sprung from the Lancaster shelter last spring, after watching a heart-wrenching video of him trembling in his kennel. The video was shared thousands of times on social media. When Rosen stepped up to free him, contributions flowed in. But on his first night of freedom, “Manny passed away in his sleep. He was sick and old and overweight, and the stress of the shelter was just too much,” Rosen said. “But he died in a home, on a soft dog bed, with his foster mom sleeping next to him on a couch. People were grateful for that. They were sending in $5, $10 ... whatever they could. They wanted their money to help other seniors. It was amazing,” she said. Now Rosen is using that fund not only to rescue seniors, but to help owners pay for medical treatment of elderly pets and educate children about the needs of older dogs. “Everybody knows about puppies,” she said. “But no one talks about what happens when dogs get old. It’s like looking in a mirror. People are so afraid of old dogs; people are afraid of getting old.” [email protected] Twitter: @SandyBanksLAT | High | [
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Alcohol screening and brief interventions for college freshmen. This study examined the effectiveness of the Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students using theory-driven harm reduction brief motivational interviewing (BMI) for decreasing high-risk drinking and negative consequences. Three surveys were administered to 102 volunteer freshmen college students at baseline and 3 months postintervention. The BMI intervention was administered at baseline and 2 weeks later. Descriptive statistics and summary graphs were used to determine longitudinal changes in drinking quantity, frequency, and negative outcomes. Number of drinks, hours of drinking, and negative consequences decreased, indicating a significant decrease in alcohol consumption and negative consequences. This study contributes valuable implications for the design of theory-driven harm reduction, evidence-based interventions for high-risk drinking among freshmen college students. | High | [
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Collagen hydrolysate intake improves the loss of epidermal barrier function and skin elasticity induced by UVB irradiation in hairless mice. Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation induces serious damage to the skin. Collagen hydrolysate and collagen-derived peptides have effects on skin function in vivo and in vitro. However, few studies have investigated changes in the epidermal barrier or dermal elasticity caused by UVB. Here, we investigated the loss of epidermal barrier function and skin elasticity induced by UVB irradiation in hairless mice fed collagen hydrolysate. Mice were orally administered collagen hydrolysate, in a single dose (20 mJ/cm(2) ) or repeated doses (10-30 mJ/cm(2) , 3 times/week for 6 weeks), and the dorsal skin was exposed to UVB. Skin measurements and histological and analytical studies were performed. In control mice, a single UVB irradiation induced epidermal barrier dysfunction including an increase in transepidermal water loss (TEWL), epidermal hyperplasia, and a decrease in stratum corneum water content. Administration of collagen hydrolysate significantly decreased TEWL and epidermal thickness and increased stratum corneum water content. Repeated UVB irradiation decreased skin elasticity and dermal hyaluronic acid (HA) content in control mice, whereas collagen hydrolysate significantly suppressed both the increase in TEWL and the decrease in stratum corneum water content and improved skin elasticity and dermal HA content. Collagen hydrolysate administration affects epidermal barrier function and dermal skin elasticity. | High | [
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A coupling device for joining plastic pipe is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,735, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,261 also discloses the coupling device in the '735 patent. The coupling device disclosed in the '735 and '261 patents includes a pair of tubular insert members which are inserted into opposed ends of plastic pipe sections, a pair of semi-circular retaining clips which fit over abutting flanges of the insert members, a tubular coupling member which fits over the outer surfaces of the pipe sections and a pair of rigid rings which slide toward each other and over the outer surface of the coupling member to plastically deform the inside of the plastic pipe sections into interlocking relationship with serrations on the outer surfaces of the insert members. The inserts, clips and rigid rings are formed of metal and the coupling member is made of a deformable plastic. The coupling member described above suffers certain drawbacks. For instance, when the rigid rings are pressed toward each other to complete the coupling, the direction of plastic flow of the plastic pipe sections is the same as the rigid ring motion. That is, the plastic pipe sections tend to flow toward each other. However, due to lack of free space between the ends of the pipe sections and the retaining clips, a large force is required to slide the rigid rings toward each other. That is, since there is no free space to accommodate flow of the plastic pipe sections, a large insertion force is necessary to compress the deformable coupling member and deform the plastic pipe between the rigid rings and the insert members. The worst side effect of this design is the phenomenon called "bunching" and excessive ring stress could lead to corrosion failure of the coupling. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a coupling member which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art coupling. | Mid | [
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Walmart will close its claims management center in Bartlesville, a company spokesperson said Thursday. The company will move the customer and workers compensation claims handled by the Bartlesville office to the company’s central claims office in Rogers, Ark., Walmart Director of Communications Anne Hatfield said. Bartlesville has been home to the claims management center for about 20 years. “Combining operations will allow our claims operations to run more efficiently,” she said. “Right now, our main focus is on our associates." The company’s decision will impact the 130 associates at the Bartlesville Claims Center, she said. Some positions are open at the Rogers, Ark. center, she said. Associates also will be allowed to apply for openings at the Bartlesville SuperCenter or the Walmart Distribution Center south of Bartlesville, she said. Regional Walmart and Sam’s Club stores may also have open positions, she added. Approximately 300 associates are employed at the Bartlesville SuperCenter, and the distribution center employs 630. Walmart, Hatfield said, also will hold a job fair in early October for claims management associates who don’t want to relocate. Walmart has contacted major employers in Bartlesville, and is asking them to attend the job fair to talk to the claims management associates about job openings at their operations. The associates will be paid through Nov. 10, and eligible associates will receive severance packages, she said. | Mid | [
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Q: UITableViewCell with images in different dimensions I'm trying to use my ReusableCell for cells with images in different dimensions. The images are put inside a 220x150 black box with with scaling UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFit. - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"NewsTableViewCell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; } NewsItem *item = [self.fetchedResultsController objectAtIndexPath:indexPath]; NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:[NSURL URLWithString:item.imageUrl]]; [cell.imageView setImage:[[UIImage alloc] initWithData:data]]; [cell.imageView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor blackColor]]; [cell.imageView setContentMode:UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFit]; CGRect imageViewFrame = cell.imageView.frame; imageViewFrame.size.width = 220; imageViewFrame.size.height = 150 [cell.imageView setFrame:imageViewFrame]; [cell.textLabel setText:item.title]; return cell; } The above code results in a layout like below and the images are sometimes changing when scrolling in the table view. Instead of this unstructured layout, I would like the images to be aligned like this: What am I doing wrong with this ReusableCell? EDIT1: I'm trying to create an imageView and add this imageView as a superview to cell.contentView. - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"NewsTableViewCell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; } NewsItem *item = [self.fetchedResultsController objectAtIndexPath:indexPath]; UIImage *placeholderImage = [UIImage imageNamed:@"ImagePlaceholderThumb"]; //220x150 UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:placeholderImage]; NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:[NSURL URLWithString:item.imageUrl]]; [imageView setImage:[[UIImage alloc] initWithData:data]]; [imageView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor blackColor]]; [imageView setContentMode:UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFit]; CGRect imageViewFrame = imageView.frame; imageViewFrame.size.width = placeholderImage.size.width; imageViewFrame.size.height = placeholderImage.size.height; [imageView setFrame:imageViewFrame]; [cell.contentView addSubview:imageView]; [cell.textLabel setText:item.title]; return cell; } The above code results in the following: It is like some of the images are visible in two cells. It seems that they are not keeping the size I've set in the imageViewFrame. Do you know why? A: A quick fix would be using content mode UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFill. Images will be stretched in one or both dimensions to fill up the whole image view bounds. You really need subclassing UITableViewCell to do this right. Thre is a lazy solution adding a new UIImageView and using a spacer, as Keller told you in his answer (feel free to accept his answer, this is just the missing code). Extract of tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath:: ... cell.textLabel.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Cell #%i", indexPath.row]; cell.imageView.image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"spacer.png"]; /* spacer is 64 x 44 */ /* image view width should be ~ 64 px, otherwise it will overlap the text */ UIImageView *iv = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:(CGRect){.size={64, tableView.rowHeight}}]; switch (indexPath.row) { case 0: iv.image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"waterfall.png"]; break; /* etc... */ } if (indexPath.row < 3) { /* add black bg to cell w/ images */ iv.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor]; } iv.contentMode = UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFit; [cell.contentView addSubview:iv]; ... The table will look like this: You need to set the placeholder (spacer.png above) in the existing cell image view. It will push the text label to the right. You can use aspect fill and remove the background color bit: iv.contentMode = UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFill; The table will look wrong because the image is drawn outsite the bounds: Just clip to bounds to get a better result: iv.clipsToBounds = YES; | Mid | [
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Q: Read multiple tables with relations with t-sql into DataSet Is it possible to select data with one t-sql statement from multiple tables (join) into a string representation and directly insert this text into a data set (DataSet.ReadXml(...)). I need to preserve the relations, of course. I have seen some complex examples using FOR XML, but is there a simple way? A: well, I did it myself: SQL = "SELECT table1.x, table2.z FROM table1 INNER JOIN table2 ON table1.ID = table2.SubID FOR XML AUTO, XMLDATA"; and DataSet data = new DataSet(); DbCommand cmd = conn.CreateCommand(); cmd.CommandText = SQL; data.ReadXml(((System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand)cmd).ExecuteXmlReader(), xmlReadMode.Fragment); that's it | High | [
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Q: APNS device tokens combined with Login/logout system I have an iOS application where users can log in and out with different accounts. (These accounts are specific to our Service). I am also using APNs to push notifications from my backend server to the application, when something intreresting has happened. The following scenario describes my problem: User A starts the App and Logs in. A Device token is generated and sent to the server. User A logs out of the App User B Logs in to the App The Backend Server sends out a notification to the device that "belongs" to user A. However, User B is logged in to that device now. (They share the same device token) User B "receives" the notification. (I.e the phone shows the notification despite that it's not applicable to the current account). Has anyone solved a similar problem? I can think of several solutions such as: Refreshing the device Token manually. (I don't know if it's possible) Receive the notification - Butonly showing it if the intented user is logged in. However, I don't think this is possible, since the system is in charge of showing the notification and not my app. Change the backend so that the user has to tell it when it's online and offline and not send notifications when it's offline. (This solution would cause many problems and I don't think it would work completely either, so I want to avoid this). None of these solutions seems optimal and I haven't found anything better. I think that for example Facebook must have solved a similar problem and probably many others too. Thankful for some input on this. FYI. I will face the exact same problem on Android, but I have chosen to separate the Questions here on Stack Overflow. A: did you find the silver bullet for the issue? The way we resolved the problem is the following: A logs in and uploads its token to our backend and store it in the keychain (or userdefaults). If A logs out correctly, we invalidate its token. If the app was deleted APNS will notify our backend that the token is invalid. (when a notification is sent) When B logs in we upload the token to the server since it already exists in the keychain (or userdefaults) then the server makes sure that the token only belongs to a single user. When logging out we unregister from remote notifications to make sure no push notifications will be received. UIApplication.shared.unregisterForRemoteNotifications() P.S.: The Android part is easier because you can access the token at any time through the lifecycle of the app, therefore, you don't have to store it manually. A: The 3rd solution is the good one. You just need to delete the installation object in your backend when the user logs out, and create a new one at log in. | Mid | [
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Amore Skin - Organic Cream: Smooth Wrinkles & Brighten ... Anti Wrinkle Cream | Walgreens End of dialog content Anti-wrinkle cream Taking care of your face is a top priority. Preserve your youthful look with the aid of anti-wrinkle creams that can help soften lines and diminish wrinkles. Anti-aging products may even delay or eliminate the need for more drastic treatments. Help rejuvenate your... [more...] Night Cream for Sensitive Skin | Anti-Aging Cream for ... or to prevent premature aging. Your sensitive skin can quickly become dry, flaky and itchy if not cared for daily. Unfortunately, ingredients in face creams and moisturizers for aging, dry sensitive skin can make the... [more...] Abella Mayfair Canada | Wrinkle Cream | Reviews | Risk ... Order Abella Mayfair Wrinkle Cream The popularity of anti wrinkle creams like Abella Mayfair Wrinkle Cream have increased significantly over the last few years because of the advancements of effective ingredients like retinoids. Abella Mayfair Wrinkle Cream is only available to order online with the risk free trial which allows you to try the anti-aging cream for free. Let's see how a retinoid... [more...] Borealis Deep Sea - Clinically Proven Skin Perfecting Anti ... Borealis Deep Sea Face Cream is a non-oily cream that aids in wrinkle reduction. This fast acting cream is clinically proven to reverse the signs of aging and damaged skin in as little as one month of consistent use! Click Here For FREE 14-Day Trial Borealis Deep Sea Face Cream contains powerful retinoids and antioxidants that repair and protect skin at a cellular level. If you're in need of a skin treatment that relaxes wrinkles, corrects skin tone and firms skin elasticity, this product is right for you!... [more...] To help repair damage that leads to aging, use a skin repair cream daily. Apply creams that minimize the effects of skin damage and improve lines, wrinkles, splotches, and slack skin. Devote a few... [more...] Patanajli Tejas Anti Wrinkle Cream Review - WiseShe Patanjali Tejas anti wrinkle cream - I got this for my mom and for myself. I used it for a week and left it but then few of you asked me to review it which did surprise me because initially I was hesitant in reviewing patanjali products. Now I read a few more bloggers who too are reviewing these products and showing faith in Baba Ramdev. I strongly believe that if a product or a company is good... [more...] Wrinkle Cream: Helpful Vs. Harmful Ingredients There are thousands of wrinkle creams on the market today; however, not all of them will give you the same great results. It is important to recognize some of the common ingredients in creams and their effectiveness. Here are some common ingredients found in wrinkle creams: Retinol - a vitamin A compound. Hydroxy acids - these acids are exfoliants, which means they remove dead skin and stimulate... [more...] Beauty Instant Wrinkle Reducer - Beauty & Health | Offers ... Beauty Instant Wrinkle Reducer Posted By: Jessica J October 12, 2016 Skincare need not always be expensive. Many luxury brands have known to be using synthetically produced collagen. You may be wondering why collagen is so important for skin? It is the foundation on which the skin's health depends. Collagen is the protein which provides firmness and smoothness to the skin. Your skin's health is... [more...] Best Drugstore Skincare Products | SELF Picture it: You walk into the drugstore to grab some new moisturizer and find nearly 100 options staring back at you. Nowadays, there are product options for every skin type, texture, and tone. But how do you know which one is right for you? It can be so overwhelming when you're just looking for something... [more...] L'Oreal RevitaLift Moisturizer, Anti-Wrinkle + Firming ... See the intensive firming action of L'Oreal RevitaLift Moisturizing Night Cream. Specially designed to work while you sleep, L'Oreal RevitaLift Cream firms skin and lessens the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Elastin fibers paired with pro-retinol A, give immediate results and make skin look beautifully brighter and younger looking. See what L'Oreal can do for you. Envie Anti Wrinkle Cream - Make Skin Look Years Younger ... Envie Anti Wrinkle Cream - It's time to put aging skin in the past where it belongs. Skincare has come a long way, and now the latest crop of products contains more powerful ingredients and better results. And, this cream stands out among the crowd because it can erase wrinkles without irritating your skin. A lot of anti-aging products are too harsh. Now, this formula contains the same powerful... Letoile Cream - This Cream Will Nourish Your Skin Back To ... 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Abella Mayfair Wrinkle Cream is only available to order online with the risk free trial which allows you to try the anti-aging cream for free. Let's see how a retinoid... Lucienne Skin Cream | Risk FREE Trial Offer Lucienne Skin Cream Review Aging is a natural phenomenon but premature aging is not. Premature aging skin, has become a major concern in the skin care community resulting in many quick fix skin care products flooding the market. Fortunately, there are indeed some diamonds in the sand, like Lucienne Skin Cream . With the hydrating effect of cream compared to other products along with a strong... Illum Cream - Natural Anti Aging Skin Care | Claim A Free ... Does Illum Cream Work? The Illum Anti-Aging Skin Cream formula is unique among other anti-wrinkle skin care products. Most are stuck using archaic anti-aging methods. One example is the use of hydrolyzed collagen fragments with molecules too large to pass through the skin. 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Your skin starts aging after 30 years of age and it needs special care to stay young and glowing. To protect the skin from aging, you need a special formula that can fight off all the signs of aging to keep it young and supple. One such amazing formula is Abella Mayfair face cream which helps in keeping away your skin from the... Wrinkle Cream: Helpful Vs. Harmful Ingredients There are thousands of wrinkle creams on the market today; however, not all of them will give you the same great results. It is important to recognize some of the common ingredients in creams and their effectiveness. Here are some common ingredients found in wrinkle creams: Retinol - a vitamin A compound. Hydroxy acids - these acids are exfoliants, which means they remove dead skin and stimulate... trynewageskin.com - NewAge Face Cream Seventy five percent of our skin is comprised of water and collagen. Our skin is exposed to harsh UVA and UVB radiation resulting in age spots, fine lines, and wrinkles. 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You may start seeing signs like wrinkles, fine lines, dark spots, dark circles, puffiness and saggy skin. All these signs of aging can be reduced by increasing the production of a protein called collagen. This protein... Wrinkle Removal and Treatment - NYC Cosmetic Dermatology Wrinkle Removal and Treatment There are many options for treatment of removing wrinkles.� Lasers, such as the Fractional CO2 and the Fraxel Re:Store laser , are the most effective wrinkle treatments.� Treatments such as photofacials, chemical peels and microdermabrasions are also used to remove wrinkles. Deep wrinkles, such as "smile lines", can be treated with wrinkle fillers known as dermal... LuxDerma - Anti-Aging Face Therapy | Claim Skin Cream ... LuxDerma Skin Cream can rejuvenate your skin and make you appear years younger. Do you have an on-the-go diet? Is your work week hectic and stressful? Spend hours a day in front of the glare of a digital screen via the television, computer or your smart phone? These things can accelerate aging, causing premature wrinkles, bags and dark circles to form. If you are seeking a solution, LuxDerma... Wrinkle creams: Your guide to younger looking skin - Mayo ... Sign up now No guarantees: Assessing safety and effectiveness The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies creams and lotions as cosmetics, which are defined as having no medical value. So the FDA regulates them less strictly than it does drugs. This means that cosmetic products don't undergo the same rigorous testing for safety and effectiveness that topically applied medications undergo.... 10 Best Collagen Creams for Face - Face Care Talks Buy it from amazon.com NeuCeutica Retinol IP6 Collagen Moisturizer Cream for Face The main ingredients of this cream are collagen, retinol, resveratrol, and vitamin C. It is a white, thick, non-sticky, and fragrance-free cream. The skin absorbs the cream quickly without any irritation. NeuCeutica Retinol Moisturizer Collagen Cream fights the long term effects of the sun exposure and aging by... Best Anti Wrinkle Creams 2014 Aging Skin Causes and Effects Posted ��04, Apr 2013 Many individuals whine about the noticeable signs of their aging skin. Many skin product manufacturers made plenty of money because of the desire of these people to attain and sustain younger looking skin. Such products remove age spots, fine lines and wrinkles. They tone skin that is sagging. Aside from buying such skin care ... dermagen anti wrinkle patches,dr. oz wrinkle cream dermagen anti wrinkle patches,dr. oz wrinkle cream Posted by admin dermagen anti wrinkle patches Any product used on your body has to cover a lot more epidermis than a face cream. dermagen anti wrinkle patches Firming up more skin means make use of more cream -- there is no making your way around that. So it's very tempting to a manufacturer to cut back on the... Organic Wrinkle Creams Organic Wrinkle Creams For those of you who want to avoid all of the chemical ingredients in many of the wrinkle reducers on the market, you may want to consider an organic wrinkle cream. There are several advantages to an organic wrinkle cream if you can find one; I say that because there aren't many of them out there. First, an organic wrinkle cream product is least likely to react with any of... Night Cream for Sensitive Skin | Anti-Aging Cream for ... or to prevent premature aging. Your sensitive skin can quickly become dry, flaky and itchy if not cared for daily. Unfortunately, ingredients in face creams and moisturizers for aging, dry sensitive skin can make the... Beauty Instant Wrinkle Reducer - Reduce The Appearance Of ... Beauty Instant Wrinkle Reducer is! Beauty Instant Wrinkle Reducer is a clinically proven, side effect free, natural skin cream that will remove wrinkles from your face! You will be amazed at the results you see after just two weeks. And the best part, Beauty Instant Wrinkle Reducer is offering free trials! Click on the image to the left to claim your free trial bottle! Best Anti-Wrinkle Cream That Work You Are Here: Home » Best Anti-Wrinkle Cream That Work Best Anti-Wrinkle Cream That Work Work Here! There are a number of anti-aging creams available in the market nowadays. Does any of those ointments really work? It is very hard to pick the best Anti-Wrinkle Cream that Work. You must know that all the anti-aging creams do not work because they are not made equal. | Low | [
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Posts Tagged ‘old etonians’ Some economic panto at PMQs today. David Cameron asked Gordon Brown why Britain is now the last G20 country in recesssion. Oh no it's not, countered Mr Brown. He cited Spain, which is indeed still in ... Read More | Low | [
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Two years ago, a factory in Bangladesh that sews jeans for Levi Strauss & Co. partnered with the company in a new experiment: Working with experts from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s lending arm, it looked for ways to save energy, from swapping lightbulbs to installing new washing machines. In a year, the factory and five others that took part in the pilot in India, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam cut carbon emissions by an average of around 20% and collectively saved $1 million. It’s work that Levi’s now plans to scale up as it aims for a new goal–cutting its emissions as a company in line with the Paris climate agreement, as the latest corporation to set targets under the Science Based Targets Initiative, a nonprofit-led project that helps companies set climate goals. By 2025, the company plans to use 100% renewable energy in all of its own facilities, cut emissions in those buildings by 90% compared to Levi’s footprint in 2016 and–in a move no company has tried before–it also plans to cut the emissions in its supply chain by 40%. The last goal–which will require working with suppliers, not just internal mandates–will have the biggest impact. “The supplier side of this is what I would consider the most interesting part of our new approach to climate change,” says Michael Kobori, vice president of social and environmental sustainability at Levi Strauss & Co. The company’s retail stores, distribution centers, offices, and the two remaining factories it still owns only account for 1% of its total carbon footprint. Growing cotton is 10% of the footprint. But making fabric and sewing clothing, respectively, are 31% and 9%. Without working with suppliers, the company is limited in the amount of its emissions it can reduce. But convincing suppliers to take emission reduction seriously is not necessarily easy to do. “It’s much easier to say ‘for our own facilities we’re going to get to 90%,’ and then they just hold themselves accountable,” says Mindy Lubber, CEO and president of Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit that has worked with Levi’s. “I think you have to be more clever, more creative, more entrepreneurial, to get your suppliers to do it, because you don’t own them, and while you have an economic incentive for them to do it, you can’t make them do it.” A 40% emissions reduction of supplier emissions, she says, is an ambitious goal, and one that hasn’t been attempted in the past. Still, Levi’s believes that it is possible. In the pilot with six suppliers and the IFC, part of the Partnership for Cleaner Textiles, the manufacturers tackled “only the low-hanging fruit,” Kobori says, but still saw significant drops in energy use. Now Levi’s will also work with suppliers to assess the possibility of shifting to renewable energy, and will work with IFC to help finance onsite renewables when that makes sense. It will also expand the program to work not only with factories sewing clothes but with facilities that make the fabric–which have a carbon footprint three times larger. Though farmers aren’t included in the new plan to address the supply chain, the company also plans to continue working with the Better Cotton Initiative, a program that helps farmers cut their carbon footprints by using less chemical fertilizer and pesticide, and shifting to practices like planting cover crops. Levi’s is also continuing to look for ways to help consumers reduce impact, since consumers are responsible for around one-third of the company’s total footprint. Care tags in the company’s clothing say “wash less, wash cold, line dry, donate when no longer needed,” for example, since laundry is one of the biggest areas of consumer impact, and tailors in retail stores offer repairs so jeans last longer. Levi’s is the first apparel company in the U.S. to set targets under the Science Based Targets Initiative, though others, including Gap and Nike, have committed to do the same. Since apparel brands often share the same suppliers, as Levi’s helps suppliers improve, other brands will benefit, and the company hopes that others will follow with targets of their own. “We wanted to show folks in the industry what is possible,” says Kobori. | Mid | [
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Cold winter weather outside has me looking fondly at warm, sunny spaces like this one — the Barcelona home of transplanted Australians Crick King and Tommy Tang, founders of Federal Café. Love how welcoming and personal their house is — and the pretty courtyard is a wonderful added bonus, too. More here on Nuevo Estilo. | Low | [
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In order to comply with the legal emission limits, modern motor vehicles with a petrol engine have a tank venting device by means of which fuel vapors escaping from the fuel tank are collected and stored in a suitable storage tank (generally an activated carbon canister). From time to time, it is necessary to regenerate the storage container. To this end, the storage container is connected to an inlet manifold of the internal combustion engine by means of a venting pipe. The controlled opening of a tank venting valve located in the venting pipe pneumatically connects the storage container with the inlet manifold. Due to the negative pressure prevailing in the inlet manifold, the fuel vapors stored in the storage container are sucked into the inlet manifold and then participate in the combustion process. The combustible mixture changes depending on the concentration of the hydrocarbons in this regeneration gas flow. It is however necessary to set the air/fuel ratio of the combustible mixture to a defined value in order to ensure a sufficient combustion quality (running smoothness) and optimum exhaust gas treatment. Without further measures, the introduction of the regeneration gas into the inlet manifold would result in a deterioration of the exhaust gas quality or impairment of the combustion stability. In order to prevent this, the quantity of fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine by means of an injection valve is adapted to the quantity of fuel that is additionally supplied by the regeneration gas flow. For this, however, the fuel concentration in the regeneration gas flow must be known as precisely as possible. According to a known method, the fuel concentration in the regeneration gas flow can be determined by measuring the exhaust gas composition with a lambda sensor when the tank venting valve is closed and storing this as a reference variable. The tank venting valve is then gradually opened and the change that this causes in the exhaust gas composition is determined. Based on the difference in the exhaust gas composition, the fuel concentration in the regeneration gas flow can be determined. If it is determined during an executed tank venting process that the value for the fuel concentration in the regeneration gas flow has been incorrectly ascertained or has changed, the tank venting valve must be closed, a constant operating point of the internal combustion engine waited for and the fuel concentration in the regeneration gas flow determined once again. This very time-consuming process considerably restricts the number of possible tank venting processes and the flexibility of their execution. | Mid | [
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“A man who is full of the love of God is not content with blessing his family only, but thinks about all of the people in the world, anxious to bless the whole human race.” - Joseph Smith Saturday, May 3, 2014 Another short email...I'm real busy with class and things... Hey mom! How is everything? Thank you for your encouraging messages. This weeks email will be short because my companion has a dentist's appointment, but just a real quick recap, we had D. Todd Christofferson speak to us this week in regards to how important it is that the Lord trusts us. It was really good. I'm also a district leader now, so my time as a zone leader is over, but I do love my district, so this is no problem whatsoever. I also got my travel plans today, so a week from Monday, I fly out from Salt Lake at 7 AM and will get to Merida by 7 PM. Long day. Haha. Well, I'm sorry this was short, but I do have to go now. I'll try to write home this week so I can share some spiritual experiences and let you know all is well, so please tell dad to be patient since I'm real busy with class and things. I hope all is well and I love you so much. Just So You Know... I am Jessica, Manuel's cousin, he asked me to create this blog for him while he is on his mission. I will update it weekly with letters from him and any other information he wants me to share. I will update his address as needed. Feel free to leave comments, Manuel will not be able to read them until he gets home but I'm sure he will appreciate them. | Mid | [
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PHOENIX (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors said on Tuesday they will seek a criminal contempt charge against Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, known for his tough stance on illegal immigration, for violating a court order in a 2007 racial profiling case. Darryl Webb / Reuters John Keller, a trial attorney with the Public Integrity section of the U.S. Department of Justice, told Judge Susan Bolton in U.S. District Court in Phoenix that Arpaio, who did not attend the hearing, should be criminally charged. Keller said they are seeking no more than six months incarceration for 84-year-old Republican Arizona lawman, citing his age and other factors. Bolton directed Keller to file a formal complaint against Arpaio by Wednesday. The case centers on U.S. District Judge Murray Snow’s ruling that Arpaio intentionally violated a 2011 court order barring the sheriff’s office from stopping and detaining drivers solely based on the suspicion that they were in the country illegally. The stops continued for another 18 months. In August, Snow recommended Arpaio face criminal charges for ignoring court orders arising out of the judge’s ruling that the sheriff and his deputies were guilty of racial profiling of Latino motorists. The case was assigned to a different judge after the recommendation. Arpaio’s criminal defense attorney, Mel McDonald, said outside the courthouse that he was not surprised by the prosecutor’s intentions. “I expected the government would want to proceed so we will be ready and proceed and defend the sheriff,” he told Reuters. Keller said prosecutors will seek a bench trial rather than a jury trial. He declined to comment further after the hearing. Bolton set a trial date of Dec. 6. Prosecutors said it was not appropriate to pursue contempt charges against three people who worked with Arpaio, cited in Snow’s criminal contempt recommendation. However, prosecutors left open the possibility of other charges being filed against Arpaio, as well as his second-in-command Gerard Sheridan, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Captain Steve Bailey and an Arpaio attorney, Michele Iafrate. Arpaio, famous for keeping jail inmates in tents, is seeking election to a seventh term as the top lawman for the area around Phoenix, the most populous county in the state. Arpaio, who styles himself as America’s toughest sheriff, previously said his legal battles had no effect on his reelection chances. He has admitted to civil contempt in the case, but maintains his conduct was not willful or intentional, key standards for criminal prosecution. (Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Chris Reese, Jeffrey Benkoe and Bill Rigby) | Mid | [
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Numerous attempts have been made to attach sail assemblies to bicycles for the purpose of achieving a useful vehicle generating propulsion from the wind as well as from pedal power. The difficulties commonly encountered by such designs include the inherent lateral instability of a bicycle as well as the need to control the sail assembly while also controlling the direction of the vehicle, i.e. by steering. It is necessary to control the angular rotation of the sail relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle for maximum drive from the sail, a process known as trimming the sail. In a conventional sailboard both hands are commonly used to control the sail and steering is done by the manipulation of the position of the sail in relation to the underwater foils. In the case of a one person sailboat, steering requires one hand on a tiller and occasionally both hands are required to participate in the control of the sail which is ordinarily controlled by means of a rope sheeting arrangement. An example of prior attempt at a sail-powered bicycle is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,460 to Alexander which describes a means for mounting a sail on the rider of a bicycle; the sail angle being controlled by a sail lever requiring the operator to devote one hand to the constant operation of the sail and attempt to steer solely with the other hand. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,722 to Patterson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,495 to Kindermann both require the operator to use one hand to constantly attend to the trim of the sail. Another attempt to solve this problem is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,429 to Beck which shows a sail mounted behind the seat of a conventional bicycle which allows no manual control of the sail, the sail being basically controlled by a spring loaded mechanism constantly urging the sail back to a central position with respect to the boom. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,508 to Danner describes a method of controlling the sail for mounting on a bicycle which is essentially a flexible but rigidly positioned boom relying on the flexibility and resilience of the boom to control the sail trim. All of these inventions require the operator to substantially constantly attempt to steer with one hand which is difficult, frequently dangerous and prevents the operator from operating two hand brakes when necessary. In addition, none of the designs provide any righting moment which is necessary to counteract the lateral force of the wind on the sail. | Mid | [
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[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /viewtopic.php on line 943: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone.[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /viewtopic.php on line 943: getdate(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone.Satyajit Ray Org • View topic - Chess Players Hi, this is the only Ray movie I've seen ..and I like the film making in the movie that is so easily visible..or distinguishable..from other filmmakers...something like ..any good directors..the only..problem that I face is finding Ray's old movies..and in good quality.. Second that: Saeed Jaffery was very good in this movie. I thought that the scene with Aquil and Begum was quite funny. A friend of mine noticed that Wajid Ali Shah hugged (royal embrace) Gen Outram twice and not thrice (which according to my friend was customary). My question is: is it traditional that one hugs a guest thrice and was the third hug omitted by Wajid Ali Shah to express displeasure with Gen. Outram? | Low | [
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Senate Republicans are punting two ObamaCare bills into next year as lawmakers scramble to avoid a government shutdown. GOP Sens. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsClub for Growth to spend million in ads for Trump Supreme Court nominee Maryland's GOP governor says Republicans shouldn't rush SCOTUS vote before election The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November MORE (Maine) and Lamar Alexander Andrew (Lamar) Lamar AlexanderGraham: GOP has votes to confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Washington on edge amid SCOTUS vacancy This week: Supreme Court fight over Ginsburg's seat upends Congress's agenda MORE (Tenn.) said they have asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellFEC flags McConnell campaign over suspected accounting errors Poll: 59 percent think president elected in November should name next Supreme Court justice Mark Kelly: Arizona Senate race winner should be sworn in 'promptly' MORE (R-Ky.) to not bring the bills up this week. “Rather than considering a broad year-end funding agreement as we expected, it has become clear that Congress will only be able to pass another short-term extension to prevent a government shutdown and to continue a few essential programs. For this reason, we have asked Senator McConnell not to offer this week our legislation," they said in a joint statement. ADVERTISEMENT Collins and Alexander said the ObamaCare legislation could wait until the Senate considers a slate of must-pass bills, including a full-year funding deal, in January. "Instead, we will offer it after the first of the year when the Senate will consider the omnibus spending bill, the Children’s Health Insurance Program reauthorization, funding for Community Health Centers, and other legislation that was to have been enacted this week," they said. Their comments come after Senate Republicans said they were considering whether to drop their plan to attach the health-care bills to a continuing resolution (CR) needed to avert a government shutdown. "I support what they're trying to do but I think the CR is a little up in the air because we don't know what the House is going to be able to pass," Sen. John Cornyn John CornynThe Hill's Campaign Report: GOP set to ask SCOTUS to limit mail-in voting Liberal super PAC launches ads targeting vulnerable GOP senators over SCOTUS fight Senate GOP faces pivotal moment on pick for Supreme Court MORE (R-Texas) told reporters on Wednesday. Cornyn added that if the two bills don't end up in this week's stopgap spending bill, needed to prevent a government shutdown starting at midnight Friday, they could be attached to the full-year funding bill that is expected to come up for a vote in January. "One possibility is we would put it on the CR. The other possibility is it would be part of the omnibus on Jan. 19," he said, while stressing Senate Republicans are deferring to Alexander and Collins. ADVERTISEMENT Collins told reporters late last month that she had gotten a promise from McConnell to include the two bills in a "must-pass bill" this year, which she said was necessary after GOP leadership agreed to repeal ObamaCare's individual mandate in the tax bill. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said earlier this month that repealing the individual mandate would result in an additional 13 million people becoming uninsured by 2027. Despite widespread skepticism that the health-care bills would be able to pass the House, Collins remained confident that the two bills, one by Alexander and Sen. Patty Murray Patricia (Patty) Lynn MurraySenate Democrats introduce legislation to probe politicization of pandemic response Trump health officials grilled over reports of politics in COVID-19 response CDC director pushes back on Caputo claim of 'resistance unit' at agency MORE (D-Wash.) and the second by Collins and Sen. Bill Nelson Clarence (Bill) William NelsonDemocrats sound alarm on possible election chaos Trump, facing trouble in Florida, goes all in NASA names DC headquarters after agency's first Black female engineer Mary W. Jackson MORE (D-Fla.), would be included in the legislation this year. "The vice president and I had a discussion yesterday that reinforced that agreement that the bills will be considered before the end of the year," Collins told reporters late last week, referring to a call with Vice President Pence. She said at the time that the Dec. 22 continuing resolution was the "likely" vehicle for the two pieces of legislation. Collins and Alexander added on Thursday that McConnell remained committed to trying to move the two bills this year, but it became clear they wouldn't pass. “Also, in order to succeed, our legislation must be bipartisan, and the Senate Democratic leader said on Tuesday that Democrats would not support it in the current environment even though as recently as October he said that all Democrats would," they said. Democrats had warned they wouldn't support the Alexander-Murray bill if it was tied to the tax bill's repeal of the individual mandate. And the idea of including the two bills — one ensuring cost sharing reduction payments to insurers and the second providing funding for "reinsurance" programs aimed at bringing down premiums — generated a backlash among House conservatives. Republicans said on Tuesday that the two ObamaCare measures had to include the Hyde Amendment language prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortion. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthyMcCarthy threatens motion to oust Pelosi if she moves forward with impeachment Kate Schroder in Ohio among Democratic challengers squelching GOP hopes for the House McCarthy's Democratic challenger to launch first TV ad highlighting Air Force service as single mother MORE (R-Calif.) separately told The Washington Post on Wednesday that he didn't expect the House to vote on the Alexander-Murray bill this year. Republicans are racing to avoid a shutdown on Friday at midnight. ADVERTISEMENT House Republicans had been expected to force a vote on a package linking a full year of defense to a short-term fix for the rest of the government. That plan, however, appeared to fall apart late Tuesday. Now it appears Republicans will instead pass a "clean" continuing resolution that funds the government into January. Collins noted that she had spoken to Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 At indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates MORE (R-Wis.) as of Wednesday and he told her that the House "remains committed to passing legislation to provide for high-risk pools and other reinsurance mechanisms similar to the bipartisan legislation I have introduced." "He pointed out that by waiting until early next year, we will be able to use a new CBO baseline that will result in more funding being available for reinsurance programs that have been proven effective in lowering premiums while protecting people with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis," she said. | Low | [
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The present invention relates to a device that provides a conduit through which intra-thoracic pressures can be monitored and measured. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved esophageal balloon catheter device that is used to obtain esophageal pressure data for evaluating, treating and diagnosing patients with various respiratory conditions and diseases. Esophageal balloon catheter devices are commonly used as a research or clinical tool in the study of lung mechanics. Specifically, many investigators have utilized esophageal balloons to characterize the mechanical properties of the lung in both health and in disease as well as in determining the work or effort of breathing. More recently, esophageal balloon catheter devices have been used as part of monitoring systems for diagnosing sleep disorders, the clinical management of ventilator patients, as well as a part of pulmonary function systems in the measurement of lung mechanics. Typical esophageal balloon catheter devices employ an air-containing balloon sealed over the distal or near distal end of a catheter that transmits balloon pressure to a pressure transducer attached to the proximal end of the catheter. A pressure transducer in this context converts mechanical energy (balloon pressure) into electrical signals and units of measurement. The balloon of the catheter is usually positioned in the lower or middle third of the esophagus to monitor esophageal pressure to determine lung compliance and respiratory effort. As is known; during inhalation the pressure in the esophagus and thorax decreases, while it increases in the viscera below the diaphragm and during exhalation the pressure in the esophagus and thorax increases while it decreases in the viscera below the diaphragm. The catheter used in these devices is sometimes constructed to be stiff and rigid enough to allow insertion through the nasal passage and down into the esophagus. A serious disadvantage of these devices is that they are uncomfortable to patients being monitored to an extent that the pressure data may be affected as well as the patient""s ability to sleep. The catheter used in these devices may also be constructed to be limp and flaccid to provide comfort during overnight esophageal pressure testing. However, the limp and flaccid nature of the catheter makes it virtually impossible to insert it into the esophagus. Accordingly, such a catheter device includes a removable stylet assembly, which consists of a wire that is inserted into the lumen of the catheter at the proximal end thereof to stiffen the catheter so that it can be inserted into the esophagus and the balloon properly positioned therein. Once the balloon of the catheter device is positioned in the esophagus, the stylet assembly needs to be removed so the pressure transducer can be attached to the proximal end of the catheter. A major disadvantage of these devices is that it is very difficult to position the balloon correctly in the esophagus. There is an advantage in being able to monitor esophageal pressure oscillation while positioning the balloon in the esophagus. This is possible with the stiffer more rigid catheters but not with the more comfortable soft and flaccid catheters. Once the stylet is removed and the pressure transducer attached, it is often discovered that the balloon is not properly positioned in the esophagus. Because the catheter is so soft and flaccid this necessitates removing the pressure transducer and reinserting the stylet into the catheter to stiffen it so that the position of the balloon can be corrected. Unfortunately, reinserting the stylet assembly into the catheter is extremely dangerous as it can puncture the catheter and the esophagus. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved esophageal balloon catheter device, which is soft and flaccid for comfort and yet allows for monitoring esophageal pressure oscillation to aid proper positioning of the balloon. Such a device would avoid the need for removal of the stylet to attach the pressure transducer and the subsequent risk of reinserting the stylet assembly for balloon repositioning. An esophageal catheter device comprises a catheter with a balloon as pressure sensor affixed to an exterior surface of the catheter, and a stylet assembly including a stylet for preventing bending and flexing of the catheter during insertion in the esophagus and a port for removably attaching a pressure transducer. | Low | [
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COUP D'ETAT Dog Jacket Fully functional winter dog coat will help your dog overthrow winter by staying warm and dry. lightweight polyester shell will repel snow and rain. Faux-fur lined hood is removable or held in place by unique hood strap. Features easy-on open sleeves, snap closures underneath, and drawstring to cinch up coat tail. Eyelet hole for leash to reach your dog's collar. Multiple sizes for small to medium-sized dogs. Video: Puppia Dog Coat Coup D'etat (best viewed in 720p or 1080p HD) If this video helped you better judge the item, please give it a "thumbs up" and share. Thank You! Customer ReviewsGreat doggie coat November 11, 2012 | By Michael Anzola I honestly think this is very high quality and great looking! Problem is the XXL was too big for my 15lb jack russell and the XL was too small around!!!:( :( His little legs wouldn't fit into the openings (he is a little fatty ) Other than that, highly recommend.Boys love their jackets! November 16, 2011 | By Connie S. I purchased these jackets for Jack & Daniel who live in Northern NJ. They needed something warm for the cold winter. My daughter loved their jackets. We had to exchange for a bigger size with no program, the service was excellent. Thank youcute as a button March 16, 2011 | By Denise DeGrazia My dogs love this warm coat that is easy to get on.READ MORE REVIEWS »»»» | Mid | [
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Identification of a possible biomarker for colophony exposure. Colophony is known to cause occupational asthma and dermatitis. Biological monitoring may be useful in assessing exposure. This paper describes a method for the analysis of dehydroabietic acid in urine and its potential use as a marker of colophony exposure. The method involves hydrolysis, solvent extraction, derivatization and analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Twenty-eight workers from a soldering factory in South Africa were monitored. Results showed that levels of dehydroabietic acid in urine may be correlated with a subjective assessment of exposure. | High | [
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Daughter Mary Graham 1819 married 1840 Archibald MacDougall.( married as McLullick). May be in Oban 1841 but in 1851 1861 in Greenock - Mary a widow 1868 - 1901. Mary died 4 Jul 1901 Greenock Archibald died 3 Oct 1868 in Calcutta. 7 known children born Greenock. Further Greenock data if required. Could this Arch MacDougall(McLullick) be son b 1806 of Archibald McLullich and Janet McLean(McLaine). | Low | [
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Q: Is there such a thing as a class that shares aspects of both control and entity stereotypes? I have a class called 'Inventory' that has two subclasses, 'Drink' and 'Condiment'. They are a part of a software system being developed for use in a hot drinks vending machine. Note that this isn't really going to be implemented, rather it is a piece of coursework for my Software Engineering class. Anyway, I'm having trouble deciding what stereotype to apply to 'Inventory', as I can see it having aspects of both a control class (managing the drinks and condiments during a transaction), and of an entity class (noting the quantities of each item in its subclasses, but it also is the sole manager of the water water levels, as hot water is common to all drinks dispenses from this machine). I'm basically looking for some guidance on how to classify this class. Thanks a lot. A: You might consider that since you are unsure how to classify it, perhaps you could design separate control and entity classes. First rule of software engineering: if the design feels wrong then it probably is. Come to think of it, the zeroth rule is: know when to ignore the other rules, especially the ones about stereotypes and design patterns. | Mid | [
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Tabor East Tabor East Apartments Completely renovated 72 units Recipient of Federal Water Pollution Prevention Award In 1996 we were recognized by the City of Portland and were awarded the Federal Water Pollution Prevention Award for our work on this 72 unit apartment property in close in SE Portland. We voluntarily built a series of swales to recycle all of the roof and surface water into the ground thereby diverting 5,000,000 gallons of water from going into the city sewer system. We continue this focus on the environment to this day. | High | [
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Netflix drops sharply after report of slower growth Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced Monday that the company expects slow growth in the next quarter as it shifts from DVD-by-mail to online TV streaming. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Netflix stock dropped almost 14 percent Tuesday morning after the company reported its streaming subscriber growth is likely to slow this quarter. Netflix picked up 3 million new online streaming subscribers last quarter, but it expects slow growth next quarter as it tries to expand TV streaming and retain DVD-by-mail subscribers. In a letter to shareholders, executives at the Los Gatos company projected that it would only gain between 200,000 and 800,000 net streaming subscribers in the second quarter, compared to a net gain of 1.7 million in the previous quarter. Shareholders balked at the announcement, and stock dropped in after-hours trading and continued Tuesday morning. The company’s stock is down 65 percent in the last year. The company is still recovering from last fall’s snafu when the company raised prices without adding services and unsuccessfully tried to spin off its DVD-by-mail program into Qwikster. DVD-by-mail services still account for 46 percent of the company’s profits despite having less than half as many subscribers as the streaming service. And while the mail service is dropping subscribers like flies as customers shift to streaming, the loss rate is declining: 2.8 million subscribers left two quarters ago, but only 1.1 million left last quarter. Streaming services, on the other hand, only accounted for 13 percent of profits for last quarter. Still, the letter noted, “the trend towards watching episodic TV, like ‘Breaking Bad,’ on Netflix continues to grow.” The company lost $5 million last quarter but expects to return to profitability this quarter. Its projected profits for the quarter range from a loss of $6 million to a gain of $8 million. Internationally, the company gained 1.2 new subscribers and saw success with its launches in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but faced difficulties with expanding in Latin America because of cultural distrust of e-commerce and underdeveloped internet infrastructure, the letter said. | Mid | [
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