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import React, { PureComponent, MouseEvent, TouchEvent } from 'react'; import { Props, SupportedEvent, EventType, CustomEventType, WrapperElement } from './types'; import { defaultProps } from './defaultProps'; import { Tilt } from '../features/tilt/Tilt'; import { Glare } from '../features/glare/Glare'; import { setTransition, constrainToRange } from '../common/utils'; class ReactParallaxTilt extends PureComponent<Props> { public static defaultProps = defaultProps; private wrapperEl: WrapperElement<HTMLDivElement> = { node: null, size: { width: 0, height: 0, left: 0, top: 0, }, clientPosition: { x: null, y: null, xPercentage: 0, yPercentage: 0, }, transitionTimeoutId: undefined, updateAnimationId: null, childrenImgsCounter: 0, childrenImgsLength: 0, scale: 1, }; private tilt: Tilt<HTMLDivElement> | null = null; private glare: Glare | null = null; public componentDidMount() { this.loadWrapperAndChildElements(); this.tilt = new Tilt<HTMLDivElement>(); this.initGlare(); this.addEventListeners(); const autoreset = new CustomEvent<CustomEventType>('autoreset' as CustomEventType); this.mainLoop(autoreset); const initialEvent = new CustomEvent<CustomEventType>('initial' as CustomEventType); this.emitOnMove(initialEvent); } public componentWillUnmount() { clearTimeout(this.wrapperEl.transitionTimeoutId); if (this.wrapperEl.updateAnimationId !== null) { cancelAnimationFrame(this.wrapperEl.updateAnimationId); } this.removeEventListeners(); } private addEventListeners() { const { trackOnWindow, gyroscope } = this.props; window.addEventListener('resize', this.setSize); if (trackOnWindow) { window.addEventListener('mouseenter', this.onEnter); window.addEventListener('mousemove', this.onMove); window.addEventListener('mouseout', this.onLeave); window.addEventListener('touchstart', this.onEnter); window.addEventListener('touchmove', this.onMove); window.addEventListener('touchend', this.onLeave); } if (gyroscope) { this.addDeviceOrientationEventListener(); } } /* istanbul ignore next */ private addDeviceOrientationEventListener = async () => { if (!window.DeviceOrientationEvent) { if (!process.env.NODE_ENV || process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') { console.warn("Browser doesn't support Device Orientation."); } return; } const iOS13OrHigherDevice = typeof DeviceMotionEvent.requestPermission === 'function'; if (iOS13OrHigherDevice) { try { const response = await DeviceOrientationEvent.requestPermission(); if (response === 'granted') { window.addEventListener('deviceorientation', this.onMove); } return; } catch (err) { console.error(err); return; } } window.addEventListener('deviceorientation', this.onMove); }; private removeEventListeners() { const { trackOnWindow, gyroscope } = this.props; window.removeEventListener('resize', this.setSize); if (trackOnWindow) { window.removeEventListener('mouseenter', this.onEnter); window.removeEventListener('mousemove', this.onMove); window.removeEventListener('mouseout', this.onLeave); window.removeEventListener('touchstart', this.onEnter); window.removeEventListener('touchmove', this.onMove); window.removeEventListener('touchend', this.onLeave); } // jest - instance of DeviceOrientationEvent not possible /* istanbul ignore next */ if (gyroscope && window.DeviceOrientationEvent) { window.removeEventListener('deviceorientation', this.onMove); } } private loadWrapperAndChildElements = () => { const imgs = Array.from(this.wrapperEl.node!.getElementsByTagName('img')); this.wrapperEl.childrenImgsLength = imgs.length; if (this.wrapperEl.childrenImgsLength === 0) { this.setSize(); return; } imgs.forEach((img) => { // jest - images are not preloaded /* istanbul ignore next */ if (img.complete) { this.allImagesLoaded(); } else { img.addEventListener('load', this.allImagesLoaded); } }); }; public allImagesLoaded = () => { this.wrapperEl.childrenImgsCounter++; if (this.wrapperEl.childrenImgsCounter === this.wrapperEl.childrenImgsLength) { this.setSize(); } }; public setSize = () => { this.setWrapperElSize(); if (this.glare) { this.glare.setSize(this.wrapperEl.size); } }; private setWrapperElSize() { const rect = this.wrapperEl.node!.getBoundingClientRect(); this.wrapperEl.size.width = this.wrapperEl.node!.offsetWidth; this.wrapperEl.size.height = this.wrapperEl.node!.offsetHeight; this.wrapperEl.size.left = rect.left + window.scrollX; this.wrapperEl.size.top = rect.top + window.scrollY; } private initGlare() { const { glareEnable } = this.props; if (!glareEnable) { return; } this.glare = new Glare(this.wrapperEl.size); this.wrapperEl.node!.appendChild(this.glare.glareWrapperEl); } public mainLoop = (event: SupportedEvent) => { if (this.wrapperEl.updateAnimationId !== null) { cancelAnimationFrame(this.wrapperEl.updateAnimationId); } this.processInput(event); this.update(event.type); this.wrapperEl.updateAnimationId = requestAnimationFrame(this.renderFrame); }; private onEnter = (event: SupportedEvent) => { const { onEnter } = this.props; // increase performance by notifying browser 'transform' property is just about to get changed this.wrapperEl.node!.style.willChange = 'transform'; this.setTransition(); if (onEnter) { onEnter(event.type); } }; private onMove = (event: SupportedEvent): void => { this.mainLoop(event); this.emitOnMove(event); }; private emitOnMove(event: SupportedEvent) { const { onMove } = this.props; if (!onMove) { return; } let glareAngle = 0; let glareOpacity = 0; if (this.glare) { glareAngle = this.glare.glareAngle; glareOpacity = this.glare.glareOpacity; } onMove( this.tilt!.tiltAngleX!, this.tilt!.tiltAngleY!, this.tilt!.tiltAngleXPercentage!, this.tilt!.tiltAngleYPercentage!, glareAngle, glareOpacity, event.type, ); } private onLeave = (event: SupportedEvent) => { const { onLeave } = this.props; this.setTransition(); if (onLeave) { onLeave(event.type); } if (this.props.reset) { const autoResetEvent = new CustomEvent<CustomEventType>('autoreset' as CustomEventType); this.onMove(autoResetEvent); } }; private processInput = (event: SupportedEvent): void => { const { scale } = this.props; switch (event.type as EventType) { case 'mousemove': this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.x = (event as MouseEvent).pageX; this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.y = (event as MouseEvent).pageY; this.wrapperEl.scale = scale!; break; case 'touchmove': this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.x = (event as TouchEvent).touches[0].pageX; this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.y = (event as TouchEvent).touches[0].pageY; this.wrapperEl.scale = scale!; break; // jest - instance of DeviceOrientationEvent not possible /* istanbul ignore next */ case 'deviceorientation': this.processInputDeviceOrientation(event as DeviceOrientationEvent); this.wrapperEl.scale = scale!; break; case 'autoreset': const { tiltAngleXInitial, tiltAngleYInitial, tiltMaxAngleX, tiltMaxAngleY } = this.props; const xPercentage = (tiltAngleXInitial! / tiltMaxAngleX!) * 100; const yPercentage = (tiltAngleYInitial! / tiltMaxAngleY!) * 100; this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.xPercentage = constrainToRange(xPercentage, -100, 100); this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.yPercentage = constrainToRange(yPercentage, -100, 100); this.wrapperEl.scale = 1; break; } }; // jest - instance of DeviceOrientationEvent not possible /* istanbul ignore next */ private processInputDeviceOrientation = (event: DeviceOrientationEvent): void => { if (!event.gamma || !event.beta || !this.props.gyroscope) { return; } const { tiltMaxAngleX, tiltMaxAngleY } = this.props; const angleX = event.beta; // motion of the device around the x axis in degree in the range:[-180,180] const angleY = event.gamma; // motion of the device around the y axis in degree in the range:[-90,90] this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.xPercentage = (angleX! / tiltMaxAngleX!) * 100; this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.yPercentage = (angleY! / tiltMaxAngleY!) * 100; this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.xPercentage = constrainToRange( this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.xPercentage, -100, 100, ); this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.yPercentage = constrainToRange( this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.yPercentage, -100, 100, ); }; private update = (eventType: EventType | string): void => { const { tiltEnable, flipVertically, flipHorizontally } = this.props; this.updateClientInput(eventType); if (tiltEnable) { this.tilt!.update(this.wrapperEl.clientPosition, this.props); } this.updateFlip(); this.tilt!.updateTiltAnglesPercentage(this.props); if (this.glare) { this.glare.update(this.wrapperEl.clientPosition, this.props, flipVertically!, flipHorizontally!); } }; private updateClientInput = (eventType: EventType | string): void => { // on 'autoreset' event - nothing to update, everything set to default already // on 'deviceorientation' event - don't calculate tilt angle, retrieved from gyroscope if (eventType === 'autoreset' || eventType === 'deviceorientation') { return; } const { trackOnWindow } = this.props; let xTemp; let yTemp; if (trackOnWindow) { const { x, y } = this.wrapperEl.clientPosition; xTemp = (y! / window.innerHeight) * 200 - 100; yTemp = (x! / window.innerWidth) * 200 - 100; } else { const { size: { width, height, left, top }, clientPosition: { x, y }, } = this.wrapperEl; xTemp = ((y! - top!) / height!) * 200 - 100; yTemp = ((x! - left!) / width!) * 200 - 100; } this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.xPercentage = constrainToRange(xTemp, -100, 100); this.wrapperEl.clientPosition.yPercentage = constrainToRange(yTemp, -100, 100); }; private updateFlip = (): void => { const { flipVertically, flipHorizontally } = this.props; if (flipVertically) { this.tilt!.tiltAngleX += 180; this.tilt!.tiltAngleY *= -1; } if (flipHorizontally) { this.tilt!.tiltAngleY += 180; } }; public renderFrame = (): void => { this.resetWrapperElTransform(); this.renderPerspective(); this.tilt!.render(this.wrapperEl.node!); this.renderScale(); if (this.glare) { this.glare.render(this.props); } }; private resetWrapperElTransform(): void { this.wrapperEl.node!.style.transform = ''; } private renderPerspective(): void { const { perspective } = this.props; this.wrapperEl.node!.style.transform += `perspective(${perspective}px) `; } private renderScale(): void { const { scale } = this.wrapperEl; this.wrapperEl.node!.style.transform += `scale3d(${scale},${scale},${scale})`; } private setTransition() { const { transitionSpeed, transitionEasing } = this.props; this.wrapperEl.transitionTimeoutId = setTransition<HTMLDivElement>( this.wrapperEl.node!, 'all', transitionSpeed!, transitionEasing!, this.wrapperEl.transitionTimeoutId, ); if (this.glare) { this.glare.transitionTimeoutId = setTransition<HTMLDivElement>( this.glare.glareEl, 'opacity', transitionSpeed!, transitionEasing!, this.glare.transitionTimeoutId, ); } } public render() { const { children, className, style } = this.props; return ( <div ref={(el) => (this.wrapperEl.node = el)} onMouseEnter={this.onEnter} onMouseMove={this.onMove} onMouseLeave={this.onLeave} onTouchStart={this.onEnter} onTouchMove={this.onMove} onTouchEnd={this.onLeave} className={className} style={style} > {children} </div> ); } } export default ReactParallaxTilt; | Low | [
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Next month, even more Mormons than usual will descend on Salt Lake City for the LDS general conference in Utah’s capital. About a mile away, the state’s top gay bar, Club Jam, will be filled with its own quorum of the 12 apostles, “sacrament shots” and, likely, church prophet Moroni in the buff. While the conservative Mormon church permeates Utah culture, it has spawned an equally vocal counterculture. This spectrum is playing out in the state legislature, where conservative Utah lawmakers last week passed a bill to resurrect firing squads a legal form of execution – and also saw Gary Herbert, the governor, sign one of the country’s most progressive anti-discrimination bills into law. Club Jam manager Megan Risbon, a lifelong Utah resident, described the state’s dichotomy: “Wherever you have a really strong culture, you have a deeply strong counterculture,” Risbon said. “I think in Utah, especially Salt Lake, we’ve really developed that.” There’s a thriving music and arts scene, and from 2000 to 2008, Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson was a progressive champion of LGBT rights, an opponent of the Iraq war and an advocate for impeaching George W Bush. And with the anti-discrimination law, the state is showing that the Utah-brand of conservatism is not a cut-and-dry, strict adherence to Mormon tenets. Governor Herbert made a point of holding a ceremony to sign the anti-discrimination bill last week. It makes illegal for people to make employment and housing decisions based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The influential – and traditionally conservative – Mormon church has been credited for helping fast-track the bill through the legislature, which has many Mormon members. The bill grants exemptions to religious groups or places like schools and hospitals affiliated with a religion. The Mormon church announced their support for the legislation in January in a rare public address. In the announcement, the church reiterated that it supports homosexuals, just not homosexual sex acts. Dallin Oaks, one of the church’s 12 apostles, also criticized LGBT groups for challenging the church. “When religious people are publicly intimidated, retaliated against, forced from employment or made to suffer personal loss because they’ve raised their voice, donated to a cause or participated in an election,” Oaks said, “our democracy is the loser.” Risbon, who was an active member of the state’s Democratic party, said that there is a movement in the church, especially its younger members, to become more welcoming. And she thinks moves like this are a part of that change. “At least I hope it is,” she said. Then, of course, there is the Wild West-seeming firing squad bill, which passed in the legislature last week as well. The measure is not as outdated as it seems – Utah inmates could choose to die this way before 3 May 2004, and if they did, they have the right to die that way still. Ronnie Lee Gardner chose to die that way and was executed in 2010. Anti-death penalty campaigners have pointed out that the new law draws attention to the brutal nature of executions. “This particularly barbaric method does draw attention to the barbaric nature of the practice,” Anna Brower, a public policy advocate with the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, told the LA Times. Though ultimately campaigners oppose this law: “We’ve rushed to make sure we have a way to kill people instead of questioning whether the death penalty is a responsible way to handle criminals in Utah,” said Brower. The church said in a statement that it will “neither promote nor oppose capital punishment.” Meanwhile, Republican state senator Mark Madsen is sponsoring a medical marijuana bill that is the first introduced in the state to propose a network of licensed dispensaries. Madsen is the grandson of the former president of the Mormon Church, Ezra Taft Benson. Madsen recently sampled cannabis in Colorado, where it has been legalized for recreational use, on the advice of his doctor who suggested it as a possible remedy for the senator’s back pain. “Reefer Madness’ is neither medical research nor public policy, it’s propaganda, and we can’t be basing our policy on propaganda,” Madsen said. | Low | [
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234 S.E.2d 580 (1977) 292 N.C. 580 STATE of North Carolina v. Benjamin Franklin HOPPER. No. 17. Supreme Court of North Carolina. May 10, 1977. *582 Rufus L. Edmisten, Atty. Gen., by Henry H. Burgwyn, Associate Atty., Raleigh, for the State of North Carolina. John E. Gehring, Walnut Cove, and Ronald M. Price, Madison, for defendant appellant. HUSKINS, Justice: Defendant contends that the district attorney's argument to the jury was improper and that the court erred in permitting the prosecutor to comment on defendant's failure to testify. The challenged argument is apparently located on pages 79, 80 and 92 of the record. We note at the outset that defense counsel did not object to the challenged remarks at the time nor was the attention of the court called to them. It has long been the law that: "[E]xception to improper remarks of counsel during the argument must be taken before verdict. [Citations omitted.] The rationale for this rule, which has been frequently quoted, . . . is thus stated in Knight v. Houghtalling, 85 N.C. 17: `A party cannot be allowed. . . to speculate upon his chances for a verdict, and then complain because counsel were not arrested in their comments upon the case. Such exceptions, like those to the admission of incompetent evidence, must be made in apt time, or else be lost.' We have modified this general rule in recent years so that it does not apply to death cases, when the argument of counsel is so prejudicial to the defendant that in this Court's opinion, it is doubted that the prejudicial effect of such argument could have been removed from the jurors' minds by any instruction the trial judge might have given." State v. Smith, 240 N.C. 631, 83 S.E.2d 656 (1954); accord, State v. White, 286 N.C. 395, 211 S.E.2d 445 (1975); State v. Little, 228 N.C. 417, 45 S.E.2d 542 (1947). We further note that defendant, having offered no evidence, had the closing argument to the jury. This afforded counsel an opportunity to answer effectively any and all remarks of the prosecuting attorney. The argument of defense counsel is not contained in the record on appeal, as it should be when the district attorney's argument is challenged, State v. Miller, 288 N.C. 582, 220 S.E.2d 326 (1975), but it is reasonable *583 to assume that counsel took full advantage of that opportunity. See State v. Smith and Foster, 291 N.C. 505, 231 S.E.2d 663 (1977); State v. Smith, 290 N.C. 148, 226 S.E.2d 10 (1976). Notwithstanding defendant's failure to object or otherwise bring to the court's attention the alleged improper argument now complained of, we have examined the challenged remarks of the prosecutor appearing at pages 79, 80 and 92 of the record and find no gross impropriety which required the court, even in the absence of objection, to correct ex mero motu. The argument appearing on page 92 is entirely proper and so innocuous it merits no comment. The argument appearing on pages 79-80 reads as follows: "Let me at this point say again, as I will later, that by the defendant's plea of `not guilty' he is presumed to be innocent and the burden is on the State to satisfy you beyond a reasonable doubt of his guilt and the State assumed that burden in this case and the defendant's plea of `not guilty' denies every single thing that the State says in this case. Denies every particle of evidence that the State has offered but let me point out the difference between a denial and a contradiction. There is not a single witness brought here by the defendant to contradict a single piece of evidence that the State has offered in this case. Now I may come back to that. Now what is missing here, well if Benjamin Hopper was not driving that truck, if he was not the man who was managing the motions and movements of that crowd and that after if he did not have anything to do with it where was he? Where was he? Where had he been when he showed up there at his brother-in-law? Had he been killing hogs somewhere? Somebody knows where he was but no witness came here to tell you that Benjamin Hopper was not driving that Dodge truck back and forth between the sandhole and Wes Ray's place and over across the Lindsey Bridge. It is simply another indication that Randy Dalton was telling the truth and there is not a witness that contradicts anything that Randy Dalton had to say." Had the quoted argument been brought to the court's attention by timely objection that it violated G.S. 8-54, the trial judge could have given immediately a mild curative instruction to remove all possibility that the jury might have been prejudiced by the argument. This was not done. The impropriety, if such it be, was not gross and the court was not required to censure the argument and give curative instructions ex mero motu. The law on this point has been fully discussed in recent cases, including State v. Smith, 290 N.C. 148, 226 S.E.2d 10 (1976); State v. Peplinski, 290 N.C. 236, 225 S.E.2d 568 (1976); State v. Britt, 288 N.C. 699, 220 S.E.2d 283 (1975). Moreover, the record discloses that the court's charge to the jury contained the following admonition: "The defendant in this case has not testified. Any defendant may or may not testify in his own behalf and his failure to testify shall not create any presumption against him.. . . Now, members of the jury, in this case the defendant has not offered evidence as I have just stated and that shall not be used against him, therefore you must be careful not to let his silence influence your decision." This instruction was sufficient to remove any prejudice that might have resulted from the challenged remarks of the prosecuting attorney. See State v. Monk, 286 N.C. 509, 212 S.E.2d 125 (1975); State v. Lindsay, 278 N.C. 293, 179 S.E.2d 364 (1971). The first assignment discussed in defendant's brief is overruled. The second assignment of error discussed in defendant's brief is based on Exceptions 24A and 25A appearing, respectively, on pages 104 and 117 of the record. Defendant contends the trial judge in his charge to the jury expressed an opinion as to the weight and credibility of the evidence in violation of G.S. 1-180. Exception No. 24A relates to a portion of the charge in which the judge is recapitulating *584 the testimony of the witnesses. In connection with the testimony of Randy Dalton, the court said: "Randy Dalton is named as a co-defendant and is charged with first degree murder and he testified or it was brought out in the trial that prior to going on the stand that he entered into a plea negotiation through his attorney, Mr. Vernon Cardwell, with the District Attorney. The Supreme Court of the United States has said that plea bargaining may be entered into and is proper and he said the plea bargaining was that he was to plead guilty to second degree murder and the Solicitor or District Attorney would recommend that he receive a punishment within the range of voluntary manslaughter which carries punishment up to twenty years and he said that he understood that." Defendant argues the quoted language, although a true statement, refers to a matter that should not have been brought before the jury and permits the jury to conclude that the trial judge is endorsing the testimony of the witness. This contention has no merit. The witness Randy Dalton had testified on both direct and cross-examination that he had entered into a plea-bargaining arrangement and gave the details. G.S. 15A-1054 and 15A-1055 sanction plea arrangements and provide that the bargain reached may be brought out at the trial by any party. Here, the court was simply summarizing such testimony of the witness Randy Dalton before applying the law to the different factual aspects of the case. Moreover, no prejudice to defendant occurred in any event. Insofar as the plea arrangement is concerned, the challenged language of the judge merely accentuated defendant's argument that Randy Dalton's credibility was suspect in that he was testifying to protect his own interest. Exception No. 25A challenges the sentence in parentheses appearing in the following portion of the judge's charge: "I charge for you to find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree by the killing of a human being by a person committing or attempting to commit a robbery, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt first, that the defendant stabbed or cut the deceased Earl Junior Manuel with a knife while he was engagedWhile he, the defendant, was engaged either by himself or in concert with Randy Dalton in committing or attempting to commit the felony of robbery. Robbery, as I have heretofore stated, common law robbery is the taking and carrying away of the personal property of another from the person's presence and without his consent by endangering or threatening that person's life. (In this case by threatening him with a knife, the taker, that is the defendants Ben Hopper and Randy Dalton knowing that they were not entitled to take the property and intending to deprive the owner of its use permanently.)" Defendant's only argument with respect to this exception is that "the court in attempting to explain common law robbery stated affirmatively, where it should have stated hypothetically the matter." This contention is obviously without merit. G.S. 1-180 "requires the court, in both criminal and civil actions, to declare and explain the law arising on the evidence in the particular case and not upon a set of hypothetical facts." State v. Street, 241 N.C. 689, 86 S.E.2d 277 (1955); accord, State v. Campbell, 251 N.C. 317, 111 S.E.2d 198 (1959). This assignment is overruled. Defendant next contends the trial court erred by unreasonably restricting his right to examine prospective jurors and cross-examine witnesses. During selection of the jury defense counsel posed the following questions to prospective jurors Barker and Shelton respectively: 1. "Let me ask you what is your opinion of our court system in North Carolina today, do you think that justice is done?" OBJECTION SUSTAINED. EXCEPTION NO. 3 2. "Mr. Shelton, what comes to your mind when someone is indicted for a crime, do you form any opinion?" *585 OBJECTION SUSTAINED. EXCEPTION No. 4 Notwithstanding that the State's objection to the second question was sustained, the following answer appears in the record: "I would make up my mind according to the evidence that I heard and vote according to my conscience. If the State did not prove their case I don't know if I would vote not guilty. I don't know how I would vote the case." The record further discloses that the defendant excused both jurors to whom the questions had been addressed. We find no merit in these exceptions. The first question is clearly improper and the second was answered. Since defendant excused both prospective jurors and only exhausted eleven of his fourteen peremptory challenges, it is not perceived how he has been prejudiced. With respect to his contention that he was not allowed to fully examine witnesses, defendant's only argument in his brief is that "trial counsel should have been allowed to delve more deeply into the prior lies of Randy Dalton, upon whose testimony [the State] had built its case." During cross-examination of State's witness Randy Dalton, the witness stated: "I had my first meeting with the law enforcement officers four days after the stabbing. At one of the meetings I lied to the officers." Objection was then sustained to the next question: "So you lied to them?" The witness on further cross-examination stated that he was pleading guilty to second degree murder. Counsel then asked: "Are you guilty of second degree murder?" The State's objection thereto was sustained. This exchange apparently forms the basis for defendant's contention that he was not permitted to fully examine the witnesses. It suffices to say that neither prejudice nor error is shown. The assignment of error grounded on these matters is overruled. William A. Anderson, Sheriff of Richmond County, Georgia, testified that he received a message from the Sheriff of Rockingham County, North Carolina, on 10 March 1976 informing him that defendant Benjamin Franklin Hopper was wanted for the murder of Earl Junior Manuel and that Hopper was staying in Room 8 at a motel on U.S. 1 in Augusta, Georgia. After giving some details respecting the motor vehicle Hopper was driving, the message closed with this statement: "[H]e is armed with a .38 caliber pistol and is extremely dangerous." Upon objection by defendant, the court said: "Sustained. The jury is not to consider that portion of the letter about him being dangerous." (Exception No. 14) Defendant contends that the entire message was hearsay and irrelevant and that the closing statement in the letter was highly prejudicial to him. The record shows that no objection was lodged until the entire message from the Rockingham County Sheriff had been read to the jury. ". . [I]f it be conceded that the testimony offered is incompetent, objection thereto should have been interposed to the question at the time it was asked as well as to the answer when given. An objection to testimony not taken in apt time is waived." State v. Hunt, 223 N.C. 173, 25 S.E.2d 598 (1943); accord, State v. Merrick, 172 N.C. 870, 90 S.E. 257 (1916). Even if admission of the message be error, in our view the limiting instruction given by the court was sufficient to erase any possible prejudice. The law presumes that the jury follows the judge's instructions. State v. Long, 280 N.C. 633, 187 S.E.2d 47 (1972). If defendant desired a different, more limiting instruction, he should have requested it at that time. Included in this assignment is defendant's contention that the court erred "in allowing repeated evidence of former statements of Randy Dalton into evidence which may have given the jury the impression the judge gave weight to Randy Dalton's testimony. . . . The court allowed the original statement of Dalton into evidence as well as three supplemental statements." The record discloses that at the time each of the challenged pretrial *586 statements by Randy Dalton was admitted into evidence the court instructed the jury: "This is allowed only for the purpose of corroborating Randy Dalton, this and any statement that he made to this officer, is allowed only for the purpose of corroborating Randy Dalton, if it does corroborate him and for no other purpose," or similar wording. Prior consistent statements of the witness are competent for corroborative purposes. State v. Warren, 289 N.C. 551, 223 S.E.2d 317 (1976); State v. Miller, 288 N.C. 582, 220 S.E.2d 326 (1975); State v. Bryant, 282 N.C. 92, 191 S.E.2d 745 (1972); State v. Rose, 270 N.C. 406, 154 S.E.2d 492 (1967). See 1 Stansbury's North Carolina Evidence (Brandis rev. 1973) § 51. And an examination of the record reveals that the statements do in fact corroborate Randy Dalton's testimony given at the trial. Moreover, in the body of the judge's charge to the jury he again restricted the admissibility of these statements to corroborative purposes only. There is no merit in the assignment of error challenging their admission. Denial of defendant's motion for nonsuit on the capital charge at the close of all the evidence constitutes his next assignment of error. He contends there was no evidence to show that "any money or other property" was taken from the deceased and that the felony murder rule therefore does not apply. We note that the bill of indictment is drawn under G.S. 15:144 and the State, as it had a right to do, proceeded on both the theory of felony murder and murder committed after premeditation and deliberation. State v. Haynes, 276 N.C. 150, 171 S.E.2d 435 (1970). See State v. Duncan, 282 N.C. 412, 193 S.E.2d 65 (1972). The jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder and it is not clear upon which theory the jury reached its verdict. It makes no difference here. There is evidence of premeditation and deliberation as well as evidence of murder committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate a robbery in violation of G.S. 14-17. Completion of the robbery or other felony is not required to sustain a conviction under the felony murder rule. See State v. Carey, 285 N.C. 509, 206 S.E.2d 222 (1974); State v. Fox, 277 N.C. 1, 175 S.E.2d 561 (1970). There was evidence tending to show that robbery was the motive for the killing. Thus the judge was well within the law when he submitted first degree murder as a permissible verdict, and the jury was well within the evidence when it found defendant guilty. This assignment is overruled. The next assignment of error discussed in defendant's brief is addressed to denial of his motion for a change of venue or, in the alternative, for a special venire from another county. G.S. 1-84; G.S. 9-12. Motions for change of venue or special venire are addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge and, absent abuse of discretion, his rulings thereon will not be disturbed on appeal. State v. Thompson, 287 N.C. 303, 214 S.E.2d 742 (1975); State v. Blackmon, 280 N.C. 42, 185 S.E.2d 123 (1971). Defendant argues that the public might have been inflamed by this murder but cites nothing in support of that assertion. No abuse of discretion having been shown, this assignment is without merit and is overruled. Defendant's final assignment of error challenges the validity of the death sentence imposed. This assignment is well taken and must be sustained. On 2 July 1976 the Supreme Court of the United States in Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, 96 S.Ct. 2978, 49 L.Ed.2d 944, invalidated the death penalty provisions of G.S. 14-17 (Cum.Supp.1975), the statute under which defendant was indicted, convicted and sentenced to death. A sentence of life imprisonment is therefore substituted in this case in lieu of the death penalty by authority of the provisions of section 7, chapter 1201 of the 1973 Session Laws (1974 Session). Our examination of the entire record discloses no error affecting the validity of the verdict returned by the jury. The trial and verdict must therefore be upheld. To the end that a sentence of life imprisonment *587 may be substituted in lieu of the death sentence heretofore imposed, the case is remanded to the Superior Court of Rockingham County with directions (1) that the presiding judge, without requiring the presence of defendant, enter judgment imposing life imprisonment for the first degree murder of which defendant has been convicted; and (2) that in accordance with said judgment the clerk of superior court issue commitment in substitution for the commitment heretofore issued. It is further ordered that the clerk furnish to the defendant and his counsel a copy of the judgment and commitment as revised in accordance with this opinion. NO ERROR IN THE VERDICT. DEATH SENTENCE VACATED. | Mid | [
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This invention relates to an expression vector and its use to elicit a complete immune response in a mammal. More particularly it relates the processing of an endogenous antigen as an exogenous antigen for presentation on MHC-II. This invention also relates to a vaccine and its method of use to immunize a mammal. Inadequate antigen presentation in humans results in the failure of human immune system to control and clear many pathogenic infections and malignant cell growth. Successful therapeutic vaccines and immunotherapies for chronic infection and cancer rely on the development of new approaches for efficient antigen presentation to induce a vigorous immune. response which is capable of controlling and clearing the offensive antigens. The ability of T cells to recognize an antigen is dependent on association of the antigen with either MHC Class I (MHC-I) or Class II (MCH-II) proteins. For example, cytotoxic T cells respond to an antigen in association with MHC-I proteins. Thus, a cytotoxic T cell that kills a virus-infected cell will not kill a cell infected with the same virus if the cell does not also express the appropriate MHC-I protein. Helper T cells recognize MHC-II proteins. Helper T cell activity depends in general on both the recognition of the antigen on antigen presenting cells and the presence on these cells of xe2x80x9cselfxe2x80x9d MHC-II proteins. This requirement to recognize an antigen in association with a self-MHC protein is called MHC restriction. MHC-I proteins are found on the surface of virtually all nucleated cells. MHC-II proteins are found on the surface of certain cells including macrophages, B cells, and dendritic cells of the spleen and Langerhans cells of the skin. A crucial step in mounting an immune response in mammals, is the activation of CD4+ helper T-cells that recognize major histocompatibility complexes (MHC)-II restricted exogenous antigens. These antigens are captured and processed in the cellular endosomal pathway in antigen presenting cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs) (Zajac et al., 1998; Bona et al., 1998; Kalams et al., 1998; Mellman et al., 1998; Banchereau et al., 1998). In the endosome and lysosome, the antigen is processed into small antigenic peptides that are presented onto the MHC-II in the Golgi compartment to form an antigen-MHC-II complex. This complex is expressed on the cell surface, which expression induces the activation of CD4+ T cells. Other crucial events in the induction of an effective immune response in an animal involve the activation of CD8+ T-cells and B cells. CD8+ cells are activated when the desired protein is routed through the cell in such a manner so as to be presented on the cell surface as processed proteins, which are complexed with MHC-I antigens. B cells can interact with the antigen via their surface immunoglobulins (IgM and IgD) without the need for MHC proteins. However, the activation of the CD4+ T-cells stimulates all arms of the immune system. Upon activation, CD4+ T-cells (helper T cells) produce interleukins. These interleukins help activate the other arms of the immune system. For example, helper T cells produce interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-5 (IL-5), which help B cells produce antibodies; interleukin-2 (IL-2), which activates CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells; and gamma interferon, which activates macrophages. Since helper T-cells that recognize MHC-II restricted antigens play a central role in the activation and clonal expansion of cytotoxic T-cells, macrophages, natural killer cells and B cells, the initial event of activating the helper T cells in response to an antigen is crucial for the induction of an effective immune response directed against that antigen. Attempts to stimulate helper T-cell activation using a sequence derived from the lysosomal transmembrane proteins have been reported (Wu, 1995). However, these attempts did not result in the induction of effective immune responses with respect to CD8+ T-cells and B cells in the mammals being tested. Thus, there is a long felt need in the art for efficient and directed means of eliciting an immune response for the treatment of diseases in mammals. The present invention satisfies this need. An embodiment of the present invention is an expression vector comprising a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence all operatively linked. In specific embodiments of the present invention, the polynucleotide promoter sequence is selected from the group consisting of a constitutive promoter, an inducible promoter and a tissue specific promoter. In another specific embodiment of the present invention, the polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence is selected from the group consisting of a hepatitis B virus E antigen signal sequence, an immunoglobulin heavy chain leader sequence, and a cytokine leader sequence. An embodiment of the present invention is an expression vector wherein the polynucleotide encoding an antigen comprises a polynucleotide sequence for at least one epitope, wherein said at least one epitope induces a B cell response in a mammal. A further embodiment of the present invention is an expression vector wherein the polynucleotide encoding an antigen comprises a polynucleotide sequence for at least one epitope, wherein said at least one epitope induces a CD4+ T-cell response in a mammal. Another embodiment of the present invention is an expression vector wherein the polynucleotide encoding an antigen comprises a polynucleotide sequence for at least one epitope, wherein said at least one epitope induces a CD8+ T-cell response in a mammal. A specific embodiment of the present invention is an expression vector wherein the polynucleotide sequence encoding an antigen comprises a polynucleotide sequence for at least one epitope, wherein said at least one epitope induces a B cell response, a CD4+ T-cell response and a CD8+ T-cell response in a mammal into which said antigen is introduced. A further specific embodiment of the present invention is an expression vector wherein the polynucleotide sequence encoding an antigen comprises a polynucleotide sequence for a plurality of epitopes, wherein said plurality of epitopes induces a B cell response, a CD4+ T-cell response and a CD8+ T-cell response in a mammal into which said antigen is introduced. A further embodiment of the present invention is an expression vector wherein the polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element is a polynucleotide sequence of a ligand which binds to a cell surface receptor. In specific embodiments, the cell binding element sequence is selected from the group consisting of polynucleotide sequences which encode a Fc fragment, a toxin cell binding domain, a cytokine, a small peptide and an antibody. In specific embodiments, the polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element is a homologous polynucleotide sequence or a heterologous polynucleotide sequence. An additional embodiment of the present invention is a transformed cell comprising an expression vector wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence all operatively linked. Another specific embodiment of the present invention is a fusion protein wherein the fusion protein comprises a signal sequence, an antigen and a cell binding element. In specific embodiments, antigen presenting cells have been transduced with the fusion protein in vitro. In further embodiments, the fusion protein is administered directly to a mammal. A specific embodiment of the present invention is a vaccine comprising an expression vector wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence all operatively linked. In specific embodiments, a vaccine comprises antigen presenting cells, wherein said antigen presenting cells are transduced in vitro with the expression vector. In further embodiments, a vaccine comprises antigen presenting cells, wherein said antigen presenting cells are transduced in vitro with the fusion protein. Another specific embodiment of the present invention is an expression vector comprising at least a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an antigen and a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element. A further embodiment of the present invention is a method to elicit an immune response directed against an antigen, comprising the steps of: introducing an expression vector into a cell, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked; and expressing said vector to produce an antigen under conditions wherein said antigen is secreted from the cell; said secreted antigen is endocytosed into the cell; said endocytosed antigen is processed inside the cell; and said processed antigen is presented to a cell surface protein, to elicit a T-cell mediated immune response. In specific embodiments, the antigen is secreted by a first cell and internalized by a second cell wherein the first and second cells are antigen presenting cells. In further embodiments, the first cells is a non-antigen presenting cell and the second cell is an antigen presenting cell. Another specific embodiment of the present invention is a method to identify a polynucleotide sequence which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope that is capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells, said method comprising the steps of: introducing an expression vector into an antigen presenting cell to produce a transduced antigen presenting cell, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked; contacting said transduced antigen presenting cell with naive or primed T-cells; and assessing whether any naive T-cells or primed T-cells are activated upon contact with said transduced antigen presenting cell, wherein activation of any of said T-cells indicates that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells. In specific embodiments, the polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide is selected from the group of cDNA libraries consisting of viral genomes, bacterial genomes, parasitic genomes and human genomes. Another embodiment of the present invention is a method to identify a polynucleotide sequence which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope that is capable of eliciting an immune response in vivo, said method comprising the steps of: introducing an expression vector into antigen presenting cells to produce transduced antigen presenting cells, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked; administering said transduced antigen presenting cells to a mammal via a parenteral route; collecting T-cells from splenocytes and co-culturing with dendritic cells; and assessing activation of T-cells, wherein said activation of T-cells indicate that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells. In specific embodiments, the polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide is selected from the group of cDNA libraries consisting of viral genomes, bacterial genomes, parasitic genomes and human genomes. A specific embodiment of the present invention is a method to identify a polynucleotide sequence which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope that is capable of eliciting an immune response in vivo, said method comprising the steps of: administering to a mammal via parenteral route an expression vector, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked; administering said transduced antigen presenting cells to a mammal via a parenteral route; collecting T-cells from splenocytes and co-culturing with dendritic cells; and assessing activation of T-cells, wherein said activation of T-cells indicate that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells. In specific embodiments, the polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide is selected from the group of cDNA libraries consisting of viral genomes, bacterial genomes, parasitic genomes and human genomes. A specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of treating cancer comprising the steps of identifying a test polypeptide which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope, wherein said polypeptide is identified under the conditions of transducing antigen presenting cells with an expression vector into antigen presenting cells to produce transduced antigen presenting cells, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and assessing activation of T-cells, wherein said activation of T-cells indicate that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells; and administering antigen presenting cells to a mammal via a parenteral route, wherein said antigen presenting cells are transduced with the test polypeptide. Another specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of treating cancer comprising the steps of identifying a test polypeptide which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope, wherein said polypeptide is identified under the conditions of transducing antigen presenting cells with an expression vector into antigen presenting cells to produce transduced antigen presenting cells, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and assessing activation of T-cells, wherein said activation of T-cells indicate that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells; and administering to a mammal via a parenteral route an expression vector, wherein said expression vector comprises at least the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide and a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element said antigen presenting cells are transduced with the test polypeptide. A further specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of treating a viral infection comprising the steps of identifying a test polypeptide which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope, wherein said polypeptide is identified under the conditions of transducing antigen presenting cells with an expression vector into antigen presenting cells to produce transduced antigen presenting cells, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and assessing activation of T-cells, wherein said activation of T-cells indicate that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells; and administering antigen presenting cells to a mammal via a parenteral route, wherein said antigen presenting cells are transduced with the test polypeptide. Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of treating a viral infection comprising the steps of identifying a test polypeptide which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope, wherein said polypeptide is identified under the conditions of transducing antigen presenting cells with an expression vector into antigen presenting cells to produce transduced antigen presenting cells, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and assessing activation of T-cells, wherein said activation of T-cells indicate that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells; and administering to a mammal via a parenteral route an expression vector, wherein said expression vector comprises at least the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide and a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element said antigen presenting cells are transduced with the test polypeptide. Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of treating an autoimmune disease comprising the steps of identifying a test polypeptide which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope, wherein said polypeptide is identified under the conditions of transducing antigen presenting cells with an expression vector into antigen presenting cells to produce transduced antigen presenting cells, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and assessing activation of T-cells, wherein said activation of T-cells indicate that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells; and administering antigen presenting cells to a mammal via a parenteral route, wherein said antigen presenting cells are transduced with the test polypeptide. A specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of treating an autoimmune disease comprising the steps of identifying a test polypeptide which encodes at least one MHC-II restricted epitope, wherein said polypeptide is identified under the conditions of transducing antigen presenting cells with an expression vector into antigen presenting cells to produce transduced antigen presenting cells, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a test polypeptide, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and assessing activation of T-cells, wherein said activation of T-cells indicate that the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide is a gene or fragment thereof capable of activating CD4+ helper T-cells; and administering to a mammal via a parenteral route an expression vector, wherein said expression vector comprises at least the polynucleotide encoding the test polypeptide and a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element said antigen presenting cells are transduced with the test polypeptide. A further embodiment of the present invention is a method of producing a vaccine to immunize a mammal comprising the steps of: transducing antigen presenting cell by introducing an expression vector into a cell, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked; and expressing said vector to produce an antigen under conditions wherein said antigen is secreted from the cell. In specific embodiments, antigen presenting cells are transduced with the antigen in vitro or ex vivo prior to administering the antigen presenting cells to the mammal. Another specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of inducing an immune response comprising the steps of co-administering to a mammal a cytokine expression vector and a retrogen expression vector, wherein the retrogen expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence all operatively linked. A further embodiment of the present invention is a method of inducing an immune response comprising the steps of co-administering to a mammal one expression vector, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide sequence encoding a cytokine protein and a polynucleotide sequence encoding a fusion protein under transcriptional control of one promoter, wherein said fusion protein comprises an antigen and a cell binding element. In specific embodiments, the polynucleotide sequence encoding the cytokine protein and the polynucleotide sequence encoding the fusion protein are under separate transcriptional control, and wherein the polynucleotide sequence encoding the cytokine protein and the polynucleotide sequence encoding the fusion protein are in tandem in the one expression vector. Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of inducing an immune response comprising the steps of co-administering to a mammal two different retrogen expression vectors, wherein a first retrogen expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a first antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence all operatively linked; and a second retrogen expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a second antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence all operatively. Another specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of inducing an immune response comprising the steps of administering to a mammal one expression vector, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide sequence encoding a first fusion protein and a polynucleotide sequence encoding a second fusion protein under transcriptional control of one promoter, wherein said first fusion protein comprises a first antigen and a first cell binding element and said second fusion protein comprises a second antigen and a first cell binding element. In specific embodiments, the first and second antigens are different antigens and the cell binding elements is a Fc fragment. In further embodiments, the first and second antigens are different antigens and the first and second cell binding elements are different cell binding elements. An additional embodiment includes that the polynucleotide sequence encoding the first fusion protein and the polynucleotide sequence encoding the second fusion protein are under separate transcriptional control, and wherein the polynucleotide sequence encoding the first fusion protein and the polynucleotide sequence encoding the second fusion protein are in tandem in one expression vector. A specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of simultaneously inducing both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells comprising the steps of administering a fusion protein wherein the protein comprises both a MHC-I and MHC-II epitope fused to a cell binding element. A further embodiment of the present invention is a method of producing a fusion protein comprising the steps of introducing an expression vector into a cell, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an antigen, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and expressing said vector to produce a fusion protein under conditions wherein said fusion protein is secreted from the cell. In specific embodiments, antigen presenting cells are transduced with the fusion protein in vitro. A specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of secreting an intracellular protein comprising the steps of introducing an expression vector into a cell, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding an intracellular protein, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and expressing said vector to produce a fusion protein under conditions wherein said fusion protein is secreted from the cell. More specifically, the polynucleotide sequence encoding the intracellular protein is truncated or mutated to increase efficiency of secretion. Another specific embodiment of the present invention is a method of secreting a membrane protein comprising the steps of introducing an expression vector into a cell, wherein said expression vector comprises a polynucleotide promoter sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a signal sequence, a polynucleotide encoding a membrane protein, a polynucleotide encoding a cell binding element, and a polynucleotide polyadenylation sequence, all operatively linked and expressing said vector to produce a fusion protein under conditions wherein said fusion protein is secreted from the cell. More specifically, the polynucleotide sequence encoding the membrane protein is truncated or mutated to increase efficiency of secretion. | High | [
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Grief Threatens to Tear the Team Apart on Arrow With Oliver's fate unknown, Team Arrow struggles to stay together in "Those Left Behind," Arrow's winter premiere. Arrow is back, and Felicity, John, and Roy are keeping the Arrow Cave warm while waiting for any word from Oliver. Crime in Starling City doesn't stop just because Oliver Queen isn't in town, and the team is on the trail of a new criminal boss. Danny "Brick" Brickwell, an imposing and unrelenting underworld tough guy, is up to something shady. He was about to face trial, but all of the witnesses met a sudden and unfortunate demise. The team starts looking into Brick after one of his men shoots a cop. Trying to track down Brick and his gang helps keep the team moving forward, but the question of Oliver's fate continues to gnaw at them. "Those Left Behind" is all about how Arrow Team handles the crushing unknown of Oliver's absence. Worry, fear, guilt, and grief accompany Roy, John, and Felicity as they face the mundane reality that life goes on. Roy, as Arsenal, finally gets a chance to really show off his fighting skills. His parkour acrobatics are presented as effective and, honestly, bad-ass, a welcome change from being limited to a cool flourish beside Oliver or played for laughs. Still, he's obviously uncomfortable as the lead masked vigilante. John dons the green hood for a brief (but delightful) moment, but it's clearly not a fit. John couldn't become The Arrow any more than Roy could take over for Felicity. Each member of Team Arrow has their own role, but without Oliver as a focal point things get shaky, and then start to fall apart. Oliver's absence also has an effect on Malcolm Merlyn and Thea Queen. Malcolm's plotting is what sent Oliver to face Ra's Al Ghul, and he's just as impatient as Team Arrow when it comes to knowing the outcome of their duel. The League of Assassins wants Merlyn dead, and Oliver was the only thing keeping Merlyn safe in Starling City. Sparring with Thea, Malcolm tells her, "When your opponent is the mountain, you must be the sea. When he is the sea, you must be the mountain." It's good advice, and something that Oliver could have used. Malcolm manipulated him into facing Ra's Al Ghul, and then he went to face the League on their own terms, mountain to mountain, ocean to ocean. A hooded someone seems to be watching over Oliver, but it may be some time until Starling City learns his fate. Arrow airs Wednesday nights at 8/7c on The CW. You can also watch the latest episodes on The CW's website and Hulu. Read on for speculation about Oliver's fate and Merlyn's plans, but be warned: huge spoilers follow for both this episode and the fall finale. Colton Haynes as Arsenal and David Ramsey as John Diggle. Photo Credit: The CW. | Mid | [
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It is well known in the art that the properties of lubricating oils for internal combustion engines can be improved by the addition of molybdenum-containing materials having anti-wear and/or friction-reducing properties. Anti-wear materials prevent or slow down the wear that occurs between metal surfaces which are in close rubbing contact, particularly in the boundary lubrication regime where metal to metal contact occurs. They are known to work by forming a permanent film on the surface metal which protects it from wear phenomena which would otherwise lead to removal of metal, loss of performance and eventual welding together of metal parts. Friction-reducing materials act by reducing the friction between metal surfaces when they rub together, resulting in improved fuel economy. They are known to give benefit in both the hydrodynamic and boundary lubrication regimes. These molybdenum-containing materials typically contain a source of active sulphur. In Column 1, line 53 to Column 2, line 2 of US-A-4,692,256 it is stated: "It has been considered essential that organic molybdenum compounds useful as lubricant additives should contain sulfur atoms in the molecules of the compounds. That is, it has been considered that the lubricating performance can be obtained by the formation of molybdenum disulfide on the lubricating surface by molybdenum and sulfur contained in the molecules. However, the present inventors have assumed that active sulfur atoms contained in the molecules may have undesirable effects in view of the metal corrosion and have made an earnest study in order to overcome the contraction. As a result, it has surprisingly been found that although the product obtained by the reaction between a molybdenum compound and an amino compound has no substantial performance when used alone as a lubricant additive, it exhibits extremely satisfactory lubricating performance when combined with a sulfur-containing compound". Examples of such sulphur-containing compounds are said in Column 4, lines 11 to 19 to include sulphurised fatty acids, sulphurised oils and fats, sulphurised olefins, disulphide compound such as dibenzyl sulphide, dithiocarbamate such as butylphenyl thiocarbamate disulphide, phosphorous- and sulphur-containing compounds such as tetraalkylthioperoxy phosphate, molybdenum dithiocarbamate, molybdenum dithiophosphate and zinc dithiophosphate. US-A-4,266,945 discloses, as extreme-pressure and friction modifying additives in lubricants and fuels, molybdenum-containing compositions substantially free of Group IA and IIA metals which are prepared by reacting, at a temperature up to about 200.degree. C., a mixture comprising (A) at least one acid of molybdenum, or salt thereof; (B) at least one phenol, or condensation product of said phenol and at least one lower aidehyde; and (C) at least one compound selected from the group consisting of (1) amines having the formula R.sup.1 (R.sup.2)NH wherein R.sup.1 is an aliphatic hydrocarbon-based radical and R.sup.2 is hydrogen or an aliphatic hydrocarbon-based radical; (2) condensation products of said amines with at least one lower aidehyde; and (3) salts of (1) or (2). The molybdenum-containing compositions may be used in conjunction with at least one compound containing active sulphur, e.g. a sulphurised olefin, a sulphurised mercaptan, a sulphurised phenol, or a dialkyl xanthate or carbamate. The reagent (B) can be a phenol. The term "phenol" is defined as a compound containing a hydroxyl group bound directly to an aromatic ring and is said to include compounds having more than one hydroxyl group bound to an aromatic ring, and also alkylalkenyl phenols. No other phenols are mentioned. Preferred are phenols containing at least one alkyl substituent containing about 3 to 100 and especially about 6 to 20 carbon atoms, with monoalkylphenols being particularly preferred. A reference to US-A-4,266,945 can be found in Column 1, lines 30 to 34 of US-A-4,466,901 which discloses a lubricating oil anti-friction additive composition prepared by reacting a phenolic compound, with a molybdenum compound, an amine compound and sulphur or a sulphur-yielding compound. In Column 1, lines 52 to 56 of US-A-4,466,901, it is stated that molybdenum compounds produced by prior art methods including that of US-A-4,266,945 potentially suffer from either economic inefficiencies or from changing product requirements, i.e. they do not meet current environmental standards. Furthermore, in Column 2, lines 4 to 10, it is stated that whilst these molybdenum compounds can improve the characteristics of lubricating oils, they suffer the additional drawbacks in that they are often uneconomical or difficult to prepare, cannot be prepared in a batch process, and may or may not have sufficient amounts of sulphur incorporated within the additive to benefit fully from the molybdenum contained therein. SU-A-1143767 discloses a lubricating composition containing (a) 1.5 to 1.53% w 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (anti-wear and anti-scuff additive), (b) 0.201 to 0.204% w p-hydroxyphenylene diamine (antioxidant additive), (c) 0.5 to 2% w molybdenyl chloride of the formula MoO.sub.2 Cl.sub.2.HL where HL is salicylaldehyde/2,4,6-trimethyl- aniline or salicylaldehyde/tert-butylamine (each of these being a Schiff base and therefore containing the group CH.dbd.N--), and (d) the balance being a synthetic oil based on an ester of pentaerythritol and C.sub.5 -C.sub.9 aliphatic acids. Test data in the Table in Columns 5 and 6 of SU-A-1143767 (particularly the results for Composition 2 compared with those for Compositions 3 to 6) show that the anti-wear and anti-scuff properties of a lubricating composition containing components (a), (b) and (d) were enhanced by the addition of the molybdenyl chloride (c). There is no test data on any lubricating compositions containing components (c) and (d) only and therefore there is no suggestion of any anti-wear or friction-reducing capabilities of the molybdenyl chloride (c) per se. SU-A-1054406 discloses a lubricating composition with improved lubricity containing, as anti-wear additive, 0.05 to 0.25% w molybdenyl chloride bis(salicylaldehyde anilinate), 0.45 to 2.25% w thioglycolic acid, and the balance being a synthetic oil based on an ester of pentaerythritol and C.sub.5 -C.sub.9 aliphatic acids. The composition is referred to in SU-A-143767 discussed above where it is mentioned that the use of molybdenyl chloride bis(salicylaldehyde anilinate) is problematic since it can only be incorporated into the synthetic oil after it has first been dissolved in thioglycolic acid, which leads to the formation of sediment in the oil during long-term operation. It has now surprisingly been found possible to prepare molybdenum-containing complexes from carboxylic compounds, being free of active sulphur, which show advantageous friction-reducing properties. | High | [
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Q: How to scrape whole lines of html I am using the following to scrape a html document: <?php $html = file_get_contents('http://www.atletiek.co.za/atletiek.co.za/uitslae/2016ASASASeniors/160415F004.htm'); $tags = explode(' ',$html); foreach ($tags as $tag) { // skip scripts if (strpos($tag,'script') !== FALSE) continue; if (strpos($tag,'head') !== FALSE) continue; if (strpos($tag,'body') !== FALSE) continue; if (strpos($tag,'FORM') !== FALSE) continue; if (strpos($tag,'p') !== FALSE) continue; if (strpos($tag,'bgcolor') !== FALSE) continue; if (strpos($tag,'TYPE') !== FALSE) continue; if (strpos($tag,'onClick') !== FALSE) continue; if (strpos($tag,'=') !== FALSE) continue; // get text $text = strip_tags(' '.$tag); // only if text present remember if (trim($text) != '') $texts[] = $text; } print_r($texts); ?> The html page looks like this: <html> <head> <script language="JavaScript"> function myprint() { window.parent.main.focus(); window.print(); } </script> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> <FORM> <INPUT TYPE="button" onClick="history.go(0)" VALUE="Refresh"> </FORM> <p> <pre> 4/16/2016 - 20:28 PM 2016 ASA SA Seniors - 4/15/2016 to 4/16/2016 www.liveresults.co.za Coetzenburg Event 136 Men 200 Meter Sprint ============================================================================ SA Best: R 19.87 2015 Anaso Jobodwana Africa Best: C 19.68 1996 Frank Fredericks, NAM Olympics QS: O 20.50 Africa Sen Q: A 21.24 World Lead: W 20.16 Name Age Team Finals Wind Points ============================================================================ Finals 1 Clarence Munyai 18 Agn 20.73A 0.4 8 2 Ncincilli Titi 23 Agn-Ind 20.89A 0.4 7 3 Hendrik Maartens 20 Afs 21.02A 0.4 6 4 Roscoe Engel 27 Wpa 21.07A 0.4 5 5 Malasela Senona 17 Agn 21.20A 0.4 4 6 Kyle Appel 18 Wpa 21.33 0.4 3 7 Ethan Noble 18 Wpa 21.38 0.4 2 8 France Ntene 28 Lima 21.43 0.4 1 </pre> </p> </body> </html> I use the // skip scripts part to ignore all the tags except the <pre> section, which is all I want to extract. I then use a space to seperate the different text parts. The output is then put into fixed positions in a table. The problem is that the data in the html file is dynamically generated and constantly changes. Not a lot but some of the words change or extra spaces are inserted. The numbers are then displayed in the wrong places in the table. I need to find a way to keep some lines togeteher and break up others like shown below. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. [1] => 2016 ASA SA Seniors [2]=> Event 136 Men 200 Meter Sprint [3] =>SA Best: R 19.87 2015 Anaso Jobodwana [4] =>Africa Best: C 19.68 1996 Frank Fredericks, NAM [5] =>Olympics QS: O 20.50 [6] =>Africa Sen Q: A 21.24 [7] =>World Lead: W 20.16 [8] => Name [9] => Age [10] => Team [11] =>Finals [12] => Wind [13] => Points [14] => 1 [15] => Clarence Munyai [16] => 18 [17] => Agn [18] => 20.73A [19] => 0.4 [20] => 8 [21] => 2 [22] => Ncincilli Titi [23] => 23 [24] => Agn-Ind [25] => 20.89A [26] => 0.4 [27] => 7 [28] => 3 [29] => Hendrik Maartens [30] => 20 [31] => Afs [32] => 21.02A [33] => 0.4 [34] => 6 [35] => 4 [36] => Roscoe Engel [37] => 27 [38] => Wpa [39] => 21.07A [40] => 0.4 [41] => 5 [42] => 5 [43] => Malasela Senona [44] => 17 [45] => Agn [46] => 21.20A [47] => 0.4 [48] => 4 [49] => 6 [50] => Kyle Appel [51] => 18 [52] => Wpa [53] => 21.33 [54] => 0.4 [55] => 3 [56] => 7 [57] => Ethan Noble [58] => 18 [59] => Wpa [60] => 21.38 [61] => 0.4 [62] => 2 [63] => 8 [64] => France Ntene [65] => 28 [66] => Lima [67] => 21.43 [68] => 0.4 [69] => 1 A: Use xPath: $url = 'http://www.atletiek.co.za/atletiek.co.za/uitslae/2016ASASASeniors/160415F004.htm'; $handle = curl_init($url); curl_setopt($handle, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true); $html = curl_exec($handle); libxml_use_internal_errors(true); // Prevent HTML errors from displaying $doc = new DOMDocument(); $doc->loadHTML($html); // get the DOM $xpath = new DOMXPath($doc); // start a new xPath on our DOM Object $preBlock = $xpath->query('//pre'); // find all pre (we only got one here) in case you only wanted to embed the info: echo '<pre>'.$preBlock->item(0)->nodeValue.'</pre>'; if you want to extract the data: // get the first of all the pre objects // get the 'inner value' // split them by newlines $preBlockString = explode("\n",$preBlock->item(0)->nodeValue); $startResultBlock = false; $i = 0; // traverse all rows foreach ($preBlockString as $line){ // if we found the 'Finals' marker within the last row start fetching the results if($startResultBlock){ $result = explode(' ', $line); // kill all empty entries (originating from all the space characters) foreach ($result as $key => $value) if (empty($value)) unset($result[$key]); $results[] = $result; // my first idea to use list does not work because of all the space characters // list($results[$i]['number'], $results[$i]['name'], $results[$i]['age'], $results[$i]['team'], $results[$i]['finals'], $results[$i]['wind'], $results[$i]['points']) = explode(" ", $line); $i++; } // if we found the word 'Finals' we set a marker for the upcoming rows if(trim($line) == 'Finals'){ $startResultBlock = true; } } var_dump($results); This results in an array of entries like: array(8) { [2]=> string(1) "1" [3]=> string(8) "Clarence" [4]=> string(6) "Munyai" [15]=> string(2) "18" [16]=> string(3) "Agn" [38]=> string(6) "20.73A" [40]=> string(3) "0.4" [43]=> string(1) "8" } | Low | [
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[Purification by affinity chromatography and properties of the acetylcholinesterase of formosan cobra (Naja naja atra) venom (author's transl)]. The acetylcholinesterase was purified by CM-Sephadex chromatography and affinity chromatography on Sepharose bound m-[6-(6-aminocaproylamino)caproylamino]phenyltrimethylammonium bromide. The purified enzyme was obtained with a specific activity of 5470 U/mg (1160-fold purification) and a 89% yield. The molecular weight of the native enzyme was estimated to be 144,000. The enzyme is split into two subunits of approximately equal molecular weight (Mr 69,000) by SDS treatment. It is a glycoprotein and can be resolved by disc gel electrophoresis into seven and by isoelectric focusing into more than ten multiple forms. The N-terminal amino acid is serine. | Mid | [
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World first Hybrid Condor at Tivoli Gardens January 2016 German amusement ride manufacturer Huss Park Attractions GmbH has announced a world first installation at the famous Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen, Denmark. Due to open for the 2016 season is a new HUSS® Condor 2GH, the first such ride to be installed anywhere in the world and an attraction that provides guests with a choice of two ride experiences in different types of passenger gondola. To be called Fatamorgana, the new attraction is situated in the oriental area of the park and is heavily themed and beautifully decorated with oriental floral and graphic ornamentation made of nicely painted sheet metal to complement adjacent attractions. The designs and decoration used were inspired by the celebratory oriental architecture of Tivoli and feature careful attention to detail which utilises bright oriental colouring and gold highlights to set a wonderful scene for riders. The gondolas are also a key element of the theming and decoration. Passengers will ride in gilded winged lions and winged oryx flying on illuminated magic carpets which, coupled to spectacular lighting effects throughout the attraction provided by hundreds of LED lights, create an enchanting ‘Thousand and One Nights’ impression. Incorporating hybrid gondolas, the Condor 2GH provides unique ride experiences, offering a choice of soft thrill ride and panoramic ride. Passengers will be taken to a height of 30m above the ground on a structure that will reach in total to 45m. Four arms are attached to the central tower, at the end of which are gyro frames, two of which will carry six, double-seater gondolas themed as lion and oryx while the other two will feature 14 suspended outward facing single seats. During the ride each gyro frame counter rotates against the central rotation while the gondolas also swing outwards as they go round. The attraction provides totally different experiences in either seating option - while the outward facing seats offer a more thrilling experience, the lion & oryx styled gondolas provide a calmer, smoother ride. Expressing his delight at working with one of the most well-known amusement parks in the world, Huss Park Attractions CEO Mirko J. Schulze said: “It is an intriguing project and what we have created, in conjunction with the park’s own designers, is testament to what HUSS® is capable of. As well as an excellent ride for the whole family, the decoration and lighting effects will truly add a magical aura to the attraction, which is a wonderful addition to the park. It is an honour to work with Tivoli Gardens and we look forward to seeing Fatamorgana in operation in April.” | High | [
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The death of hitchBOT took the internet by storm yesterday with real life human beings getting legitimately upset over the “death” of a robot. Crazy, I know, but that’s the world we live in now. Well there was some surveillance video released of the alleged iMurderer which showed a man in an Eagles Randall Cunningham jersey beating the shit out of hitchBOT because that’s what you do on the hard streets of Philadelphia at 5:45 in the morning. It was just so perfectly Philly. Almost too perfect… Well now that seems a little weird… I wonder.. if maybe…well let’s just check in on the last person who was seen with hitchBOT to see if he knows anything about this fake surveillance video. Oh, nope. Definitely couldn’t be this guy. For a moment I thought this was Ed Bassmaster. YouTube prank star with nearly 2 million subscribers, makes pretty regular appearances on 93.3 WMMR and the Howard Stern Show, and a new hoax show on CMT coming out in November. But nope, this is just Philadelphia resident Always Teste. Good thing 6 ABC really has their finger on the pulse of the city… But credit where credit is due, Ed Bassmaster and his buddy Jesse Wellen duped us all. We should have really seen this coming the moment that we realized Ed Bassmaster was the last guy seen with hitchBOT but I just wanted this story to be true so badly that I was blinded. I really wanted this to just be some scum off the Philly streets putting this stupid little robot out of his misery instead of yet another internet hoax. But I guess this is why we can’t have nice things anymore. Either way, hitchBOT is actually dead and I’m still happy about that. I hate everything that little piece of shit stood for and hated that he was Canadian. So was the hoax all still worth it? Yeah, maybe a little. But it’s still a sad day when a Canadian hitch-hiking robot can’t even be killed without it being some planned publicity stunt to promote a show on CMT. For people outside of the city who may not be as familiar with Ed Bassmaster, here are some videos. He’s a funny dude so we’ll give him a free pass on this one. And of course, some Always Teste… | Low | [
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The cover of the cookbook makes a clear promise, almost too good to be true: "One pan, one meal, no fuss." Inside Sheet Pan Magic, by Sue Quinn, is a hodgepodge of recipes – cheeseburgers, fish and chips, full English breakfast, risotto with peas. The fuss-saving gimmick is that every dish is cooked in the oven using a single baking tray. It makes sense in the way that putting all of your clothes onto one foot will cut down your morning commute time. Even the cover illustration, a tray of squash, mushroom and lentils, glistening as no tinned bean ever has, not at all dried-out from their time in the oven, betrays the con of the premise. Next to the tray sits a bowl of basil oil, which the recipe requires you to purée in a food processor, certainly exceeding the one-tray and no-fuss mandate. And yet there are enough books on this trend (The Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer, One-Pan Wonders by Cook's Country, Sheet Pan Suppers Meatless by Raquel Pelzel, A Man, a Pan, a Plan by Paul Kita) to fill a table display at your local bookshop. Molly Gilbert, the doyenne of sheet-pan cooking, has so far published both Sheet Pan Suppers and One Pan & Done, with a third book, One Pan Perfect, on the way. There are plenty more, all wrapped around the central premise – what if you used a baking pan in your oven instead of a frying pan on your stove? Story continues below advertisement "That's just cooking," Naomi Duguid says. The author of eight cookbooks (including Burma: Rivers of Flavor and Taste of Persia), who typically spends months travelling for her research, dismisses the sheet-pan trend as a hustle, selling consumers a basic cooking technique packaged as a time-saving trick. "Mostly the one-pot meal is because people don't want to do more dishes. The slow-cooker is not ready immediately. It's not instant gratification." But no matter our method of cooking, we still have to choose recipes, gather ingredients, chop and stir. In truth, sheet-pan cooking (and before that, Instant Pots and slow cookers and sous-vide machines and Magic Bullets) is just the latest chapter in our quest to cheat our way out of cooking. Before becoming an instructor at George Brown College, Alison Fryer operated The Cookbook Store in Toronto for 31 years. And while she says that home cooks have always been trying to find ways to get meals out as quickly as possible, she can trace the origins of these fads back to one significant, cultural shift. "This started in earnest when women went to work in droves, starting in the 1970s, but more like the start of the 1980s, when young women were graduating in ever-increasing numbers from college and university and working full-time." Fryer recalls a wave of popular "quick and easy" cookbooks during in the 1980s. "They were not books to aspire to. Rather they were functional," she says. But in the smartphone era, books and magazines aimed at having dinner on the table in 20 minutes have given rise to shortcuts such as "kitchen hacks." Story continues below advertisement Story continues below advertisement I hadn't heard of a kitchen hack before an editor requested I write some. When I looked up examples online, I found that many of them were just basic cooking techniques and tips, rephrased to sound like secret cheat codes. Slice bananas before freezing! Eat a salad with chopsticks! Mince garlic on a microplane! Fake day-old bread by toasting cubes of fresh bread! These ideas are just common sense (what idiot puts a whole frozen banana in the blender?), cutlery preference (would it be a hack to tell an Asian audience to eat noodles with a fork?), basic tool use (grating food is literally what a microplane is for) and a recipe for croutons. The ostensible purpose of all these shortcuts is that we are all busier than ever, with no time to cook. To a certain extent that's true. Most of us work past 5 and on the weekend, our non-office hours eaten up by daily transit, gathering our children from their extracurricular activities or the constant demand from our addictive, electronic devices. But to say that people don't have time is less accurate than that we choose to spend it on other activities. Anyone who's seen a Fast and/or Furious movie, or an episode of The Bachelor (or The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise or Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise) has more free time than they're admitting. "I think we have managed to convince ourselves we have no time to cook," Fryer says. Part of the problem is that we're not taught to cook in school, that we view making a meal as a self-contained achievement rather than an expected portion of everyday life. In her 1995 book Roasting: A Simple Art, Barbara Kafka captured this phenomenon through a cooking mindset she called "the continuous kitchen." "It seems to me that less cooking is done today than used to be and that when it is done, it is so much more work because we have lost the habit of the continuous kitchen. We start each meal from scratch with fresh shopping and a brand-new, independent recipe. Our predecessors didn't, and we can save ourselves a great deal of work and have better, more economical food with greater depth of flavour by seeing cooking as an ongoing process. Leftovers have gotten a bad name. Having good leftovers is like having a good sous-chef in the kitchen, someone who has done half the work before I turn up for the finishing touches." Story continues below advertisement Treating food as entertainment instead of part of our public-school curriculum, it's natural that we have no kitchen literacy. Of course we don't know how to improvise with ingredients. And our gullible appetite for instant gratification has only gotten worse thanks to social media. Our collective will to commit to anything ended with Facebook's "maybe" button (which they changed to the even less-committal "interested" in 2015). Since then, social plans now mean "unless something better comes along." In such a landscape, what hope does meal planning stand? "People don't know if they might go out to dinner tomorrow night," Duguid says. "They might get a better offer. Or they might order in. So it's all last-minute. People aren't planning because they have the luxury of living contingently in a continual way." And our allergy to commitment, our eagerness for a way out of doing necessary work, makes us rubes ready to be fleeced. "Food preparation is very complex. But our minds like simplicity to preserve energy," says Dr. Barbel Knauper, professor of psychology at McGill University. "These tricks or hacks sound so simple and promise to solve a very complex, exhausting issue. No surprise it is so appealing to our mind. Almost more an emotional than a cognitive judgment. A mental shortcut." Knauper says the appeal of these tricks is a problem of cognitive fluency, a measure of how easy or difficult it is to think about something. We fall for quick-fix meal-prep hustles because we're disinclined to invest the mental energy to think about their obvious limitations. "People want a magic solution for feeding themselves," she says. Story continues below advertisement In other words, we're dumb. Chef Matt DeMille has a recipe and technique to pull off a sous-vide steak, without the need for an intense immersion circulator machine or vacuum pack. We have closed comments on this story for legal reasons or for abuse. For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions. Due to technical reasons, we have temporarily removed commenting from our articles. We hope to have this fixed soon. Thank you for your patience. If you are looking to give feedback on our new site, please send it along to [email protected]. If you want to write a letter to the editor, please forward to [email protected]. | Low | [
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Structural studies of imidazole-cytochrome c: resonance assignments and structural comparison with cytochrome c. Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (2D NMR) was used to obtain extensive proton resonance assignments of Im-cyt c complex which is a possible analog of a late folding intermediate of cytochrome c. Assignments were made nearly completely for the main-chain and the side-chain protons (all except Gly29). As starting points for the assignment of the Im-cyt c, a limited set of protons was initially assigned by use of 2D NMR magnetization transfer methods to correlated resonances in the Im-cyt c with assigned resonances in the native cyt c. The subsequent search focused on recognition of main-chain NOE connectivity patterns, with use of previously assigned residues to place NOE-connected segments within the amino acid sequence. The observed patterns of main-chain NOEs provided some structural information and suggested potentially significant differences between Im-cyt c and the native cyt c. Differences in NOEs involving side-chain protons were reported and analyzed. There was evidence for conformational changes induced by the breakage of Fe-S bond. It was concluded that the Im-cyt c had undergone a rearrangement of several regions forming the heme pocket of the protein. The structural understanding of these effects of the mutation may be essential to elucidate the changes in function and kinetic mechanism of cyt c folding. | High | [
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Stir fried rice noodles, sauteed with choice of meat and touch of green and red peppers, in house gourmet sauce. (Order with or without) 6. Seafood Singapore Chow Mein $27.95 Stir fried rice noodles with shrimps, scallop and lobster meat, sauteed with green and red peppers, in a house gourmet sauce. (Order with or without curry) 7. Lo Mein (Beef, Pork or Chicken) $22.95 Stir fried thick rice noodles, sauteed with choice of meat with a touch of red and green peppers in a spicy soya bean sauce. 8. Seafood Lo Mein $27.95 Shrimp, scallops and lobster, stir fried with thick rice noodles. A Note About our Food Variety is not only the spice of life, it is the secret of a good Chinese dinner. When dining in a group of four to eight or larger you may order the same soup and appetizers but let each one select one dish and everyone shares in those dishes. Chinese food is almost infinite in it’s cariety. Do not limit your pleasure to old favorites. Try one new dish each time you dine. A Chinese dinner has several entrees. Do not order the same basic meats or the same basic seasonings more than once in the same dinner. Many dishes require hours, even days of preparation. Give it time to give you pleasure. Plan and order ahead whenever you can. We are happy to have you as our guests and sincerely hope you will enjoy the dining experience the House of LAM has to offer. | Mid | [
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Separation of origin recognition complex functions by cross-species complementation. Transcriptional silencing at the HMRa locus of Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the function of the origin recognition complex (ORC), the replication initiator of yeast. Expression of a Drosophila melanogaster Orc2 complementary DNA in the yeast orc2-1 strain, which is defective for replication and silencing, complemented the silencing defect but not the replication defect; this result indicated that the replication and silencing functions of ORC were separable. The orc2-1 mutation mapped to the region of greatest homology between the Drosophila and yeast proteins. The silent state mediated by DmOrc2 was epigenetic; it was propagated during mitotic divisions in a relatively stable way, whereas the nonsilent state was metastable. In contrast, the silent state was erased during meiosis. | Mid | [
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Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel could become just the second two-time winner of the award, joining former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin. Heck, why stop there? Manziel can do anything. Maybe, just for kicks, he’ll try to win his fourth Heisman playing only at placekicker. Look, Manziel’s awesome—but you’d better believe we’ll take the field against him in 2013, thank you very much. 3. Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina (30/1). Manti Te’o proved that a defensive star doesn’t even have to have great stats to have a shot at winning. Clowney—who’ll enter the season as the consensus No. 1 defensive player in the country—could take a run at 20 sacks. We suggest a two-step sack dance for him in 2013: stand and stiffarm. 4. Marcus Mariota, Oregon (no line). Don’t even try to tell us this guy’s any less talented than Manziel. Mariota’s numbers will be spectacular in the fall. And, let’s be honest, this is a quarterback’s award; Mariota has a better shot at it than teammate Thomas. | Mid | [
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Courtney Jackson volunteers with Meals on Wheels As Courtney Jackson walked down a hall at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital Thursday morning, several Meals on Wheels volunteers stopped to talk to her. Jessica Seibel As Courtney Jackson walked down a hall at Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital Thursday morning, several Meals on Wheels volunteers stopped to talk to her. Those who spoke with Jackson told her they had enjoyed getting to know her and would miss her. "This is my last day," said Jackson, the Meals on Wheels program's youngest volunteer. After attending the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) camp at K-State earlier this summer, she was looking for ways to start accumulating the 100 volunteer hours required by the HOBY program. One of her mom's co-workers suggested Meals on Wheels. Jackson, who will be a junior at Flinthills High School this year, decided to give it a try. The regular Meals on Wheels volunteers, who are all much older than Jackson, were surprised to see her. "I think they like seeing younger kids," she said. "There's no one younger (delivering). It's just them. I get here around 10:30 because that's when the normal volunteers get coffee. It's fun to sit and listen to them talk." Although she was nervous at first, one woman on her route made the task a little easier. "The first time I did it she talked with me and helped," said Jackson. "She was so nice. All of them enjoy chatting a lot. It's fun." Jackson, who spent about a month volunteering for Meals on Wheels this summer, plans to come back during school breaks and again next summer. "I have a permanent route Wednesday, Thursday and Friday," she said. "I sub on Tuesday when they need me." Her summer route included eight stops to deliver nine meals. "I like the interaction with all the new people I've met," she said. "It's taught me a lot of responsibility." Jackson, who is involved with 4-H and plans to start volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters, hopes to see more young volunteers for Meals on Wheels. "Maybe college kids when they're not in school could volunteer," she said. "They do need a lot of help." "We always need more volunteers," she said. "This week we sent out a memo to everybody at the hospital, 'Hey do you want to give your lunch to Meals on Wheels.'" Meals on Wheels has 11 routes, which requires a minimum of 11 volunteers each day. "I think it's really important for the community because of the people that we serve," said Heilman-Felt. "We do a survey for our clients and 90 percent of them say if it wasn't for Meals on Wheels, they wouldn't be able to stay in their home." Meals on Wheels delivers anywhere from 85 to 100 meals a day to elderly El Dorado residents. "It provides them with one nutritious meal five days a week and face to face contact with another human," Heilman-Felt said, "which I think is really important." For more information about the Meals on Wheels volunteer application process, call 316-322-4573. | Mid | [
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Q: Exception on calling wait() method of Object class The below code doesn't execute even after notifying the current thread (using this). public synchronized void test() { String str = new String(); try { System.out.println("Test1"); this.wait(); this.notifyAll(); System.out.println("Test2"); } catch (Exception e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block System.out.println("Inside exception"); e.printStackTrace(); } } I get only Test1 as output on the console. In, the second case I get the exception if I call the wait method on string object. The reason is because the string class object str doesn't hold lock on current object. But I wonder what does str.wait() actually means ? public synchronized void test() { String str = "ABC"; try { System.out.println("Test1"); str.wait(); str.notifyAll(); System.out.println("Test2"); } catch (Exception e) { // TODO Auto-generated catch block System.out.println("Ins"); e.printStackTrace(); } } Console Output: > Test1 java.lang.IllegalMonitorStateException A: Not sure what you expected from that code: In your first example, wait does what it says: it waits, so notifyAll is never called In the second example, you can't call wait on an object without holding the monitor of that object first. So you would need to be in a synchronized(str) block to avoid the exception. But you would still have the same issue as in 1. The main use case of wait and notify is inter-thread communication, i.e. one thread waits and another thread notifies that waiting threads can wake up. In your case the same thread is at both ends of the communication channel which does not work. A: you should not call wait and notify one after the other in the same thread. They should be executed from different threads. If you wait for something, the control is not going further in that thread until some other thread is going to notify it A: You should learn how to use wait() and notify() properly : from Effective Java (Josh Bloch) : // The standard idiom for using the wait method synchronized (obj) { while (<condition does not hold>) obj.wait(); // (Releases lock, and reacquires on wakeup) ... // Perform action appropriate to condition } This makes the current thread properly wait for a condition to become true. Other threads should call notify() or notifyAll() when this condition becomes true. Yet the more important advice from Josh is : Prefer concurrency utilities to waitand notify | Low | [
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This site uses cookies to deliver our services and to show you relevant ads and job listings. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and our Terms of Service. Your use of Stack Overflow’s Products and Services, including the Stack Overflow Network, is subject to these policies and terms. Join us in building a kind, collaborative learning community via our updated Code of Conduct. A recent question on this site led to some discussion which provoked the following comment by one of our community members: UG is "controversial in the latter interpretation" only insofar as there are linguists who are sure there must be domain-independent explanations for all the phenomena of language. I've actually never seen an actual domain-independent explanation for any problem explored by generative grammarians. Usually these non-generative linguists either discuss different phenomena entirely or else deal with relevant issues so superficially (e.g. word order) that they don't even engage the key data In the current question I'd like to solicit examples of problems explored by generative grammarians which are considered to rely most heavily on an assumption of FLN (faculté de langage, narrowly defined, i.e. a domain-specific human endowment which permits the learning and computation of natural languages), and for which the correctness of the analysis is generally accepted within the tradition. If community members can provide good examples, then a worthwhile follow-up question (that I or anyone else could ask) might explore whether there are good candidates for actual, relevant, non-superficial, alternative analyses which do not rely on FLN. 2 Answers 2 First there's the phrase "and for which the correctness of the analysis is generally accepted within the tradition". So if someone comes with an example, you can always dip into the vast literature of linguists exploring alternatives to each other's ideas - to characterize the example as not "generally accepted". Then there's the reference to "FLN", which will allow you to reject all sorts of examples for which there isn't an analysis compatible with Chomsky's recent hyper-minmalist speculation that the only component of UG is Merge (i.e. FLN). Chomsky may be famous, but these recent speculations do not drive the field - precisely because it is so hard to explain anything real within their strictures. (Some people might find this a bracing challenge, but the other possibility is that it's a blind alley.) Then there's your reference to "domain-specific". No one's going to be able to prove that a principle relevant to grammar might not turn out to be domain-general. Maybe the Case Filter reflects some abstract property of the mind that is also used in vision. That would actually be a very exciting result for everyone, generative grammarians included. My point (I'm the author of the quote) is that I've never seen any demonstration of this sort that's real, not that we know for a fact that the principles underlying human language are all domain-specific. That said, have a go at: the existence of obligatory verb-initial and obligatory verb-second languages, and the non-existence of obligatory verb-third, verb-fourth, etc. languages the Cinque hierarchy the complement/non-complement asymmetry in Incorporation and compounding (Baker's standard example) island conditions as they apply to wh-phrases like "why" and "how", both overtly displaced and in situ The Person-Case Constraint These are examples that come to my mind. I imagine others can supply other relevant examples from different areas of linguistics Edit: In response to the request for references, a first stab: "the existence of obligatory verb-initial and obligatory verb-second languages, and the non-existence of obligatory verb-third, verb-fourth, etc. languages" Maybe start with this survey article by Holmberg and follow the references he gives. "the complement/non-complement asymmetry in Incorporation and compounding (Baker's standard example)" Discussed for lay audiences in Baker's Atoms of Language, based on research first reported in his book Incorporation. "island conditions as they apply to wh-phrases like "why" and "how", both overtly displaced and in situ". Lots of sources. Probably the references in this article will be a good start. The Person-Case Constraint. Simple Googling is probably good enough to show the nature of the condition, proposed accounts, and the languages across the globe that show its effects. If you think it's possible to rephrase the question in a less tendentious way, would you consider editing the question? also could you provide representative citations for the phenomena you've cited? – jlovegrenMar 2 '12 at 14:13 Perhaps you might edit your own question. I would feel more comfortable about that way of proceeding. I will try to come back with references as you ask -- but we're talking about topics that one needs some background in the field to understand, so there isn't always one single place to go (and this is a website that we visit casually -- I don't have the time to give you a carefully constructed syllabus as I would in planning a class). Googling will bring up lots of relevant citations, and anyone in the field will be familiar with these topics. – pensatorMar 2 '12 at 14:52 I am sensing that you don't find the question appropriate, so I'll go ahead and vote to close it. Though I asked it in good faith I could have made a better approach at it. – jlovegrenMar 2 '12 at 15:38 I think this argument might be misconstrued. The latest incarnation of generative syntax, Minimalist Program, doesn't purport to explain cross-linguistic variation. Its sole goal is to find out how this optimal system works, from the point of view of cognitive science (see more on biolinguistics). UG turned out to be primarily recursion and nothing else. That is why Cedric Boeckx has consistently argued that there is no such thing as parametric syntax. – Alex B.Mar 2 '12 at 17:10 FLN is a retrenchement of a much stronger claim, which is the claim of universal grammar. Since you asked about Universal Grammar, not just FLN, I will try to answer the UG question. The claim of universal grammar is that any sentence, no matter how complex or embedded, can be translated between any two languages with essentially the same kind of embedding structure. This would mean that aside from superficial differences in vocabulary and word order, that all languages share a deeply isomorphic stack-parsed tree grammar at their core. To show you that this makes nontrivial predictions, here is a super-embedded English sentence: I cut the tree which held the girl which put the frog which swallowed the fly in its throat in her pocket down quickly. This translation is word for word, with the exact same recursive structure, except the final "down" in English is omitted (since cut-down is a peculiar English structure). The embedding clause structure and the general sentence pattern is exactly the same, even though the two languages are not particularly related. The recursion works exactly the same. Hebrew is a revived language, but you can do this with Chinese, with French, with any old-world language, basically, and you will produce a sentence with essentially the same nesting structure, with perhaps some word order or clause-order differences, but which can be recognized to be basically the same sentence, because the parse-tree structure is largely isomorphic, with the same levels of nesting. That's the key prediction of UG. Made up constructions that violate UG The statement that all languages recurse in this way is to be contrasted with made-up recursive structures which never ever occur in natural languages: Here are sentences in a made-up language, with the same vocabulary as English, but where the following sentence is grammatical: "I walked to the store is green." The intended semantics of this construction are (I walked to the store) and (the store is green). Since "the store" repeats in both sentences, one could imagine a culture where you could say: "I walked to the store is green is my favorite color looks better than Nancy's favorite color is yellow." "I walked to the store which is green which is my favorite color which looks better than Nancy's favorite color which is yellow." Those "which"es are necessary, and something like it is necessary in all the world's languages. The reason is that you are not allowed to make overlapping constructions (I walked to the store) is green I walked to (the store is green) you can see that without the "which", the parentheses overlap. When parentheses overlap, the language is not parsable by a stack automaton, meaning that it isn't the type of context-free grammar that Chomsky identified as central to human language grammatical embedding. The "which" makes the stuff that follows subordinate to the preceding stuff, so you get (I walked to (the store which is (green which is (my favorite color which is better than (Nancy's favorite color which is yellow))))) notice that the units don't overlap, so this is ok. That's a major nontrivial prediction of UG: all language embedding must be non-overlapping. Exceptions when languages have complex case systems, they sometimes have a freer word order, which allows units which are grouped together to slide apart because no ambiguity is possible, because of the case markings. Such things might lead structures to partially overlap, which contradicts UG. This is not so terrible, because you can usually figure out how to translate any such thing back and forth with the same "deep structure", essentially the same parse tree description. The more serious challenge is from Piraha and Warlpiri, which do not allow complex embedding at all. You couldn't even translate the Boy-frog-tree sentence to Piraha, you would need many separate sentences. These are counterexamples to the claims of UG. Why stacks? So UG is a predictive, powerful, statement. It just happens to be wrong, despite the fact that you have to go to the far corners of the Earth for a true counterexample. That's weird. Why should it be true of almost all languages, with a few isolated exceptions? One hypothesis you could make is that bilingual speakers and the need for translation were able to homogenize the grammar between neighboring languages over time, leading the world's grammars to standardize on essentially the same tree recursive form. But from my experience with mathematical formalisms, and with artificial languages, I have noticed that human beings are just "hard wired" to parse stack languages naturally. This is most notable in computer languages, where PASCAL (which is rigidly structured and very heirarchical) is considered super-elegant, LISP (which is essentially all nested parentheses) is considered the king of elegance, while "C" (which has side effects) is considered ugly. Despite its ugliness C wins. The same is true in mathematics, where index notation for tensors is considered "ugly", and function notation is preferred, with nested parentheses. This despite the obvious fact that index notation is a language that perfectly fits the domain, and parentheses notation does not. The same problems occur in Fregian semantics, in biochemical modeling langauges, in Aristotelian philosophy (where categories are not allowed to overlap), in object oriented languages (no multiple inheritence), and basically everywhere the humans try to design rules for natural things: they almost always make nonoverlapping structures, even when these are wrong for the intended domain. I speculate that the human brain is just hard-wired for tree grammars because of some biochemistry. If memory is encoded in specific RNA chains in the brain, as I am sure it is, it is possible that sliding certain RNA chains in one direction makes a "push" operation on a stack, while sliding them in the other direction makes a pop. Then the one-dimensional linear stack structure of language would reflect the biochemistry of the memory storing RNA in the brain, as the ears respond to the input. The existence of a stack in the brain, an actual biochemical stack, would explain this peculiarity. But this is just speculation at this point. | Low | [
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Internet-based interaction among brain tumour patients. Analysis of a medical mailing list. Patients and their care providers are increasingly turning to the internet for information. Being faced with this information of very heterogeneous quality, the physician would do well to be informed about the common internet information sources. We investigated the e-mails of a mailing list (or "support group") serving about 380 brain tumour patients and their care providers. The mails were obtained from an archive and grouped according to their topic. Within 6 months, 3,272 e-mails were distributed to every group member. Alternative treatments were the most frequently discussed topics (15 %). These discussions dealt with serious new strategies as well as dubious drugs and methods. A critical attitude towards "quacks" was common, but not the rule. More than 10 % of the mails dealt with debates about therapeutic strategy and about symptoms. The individual course of the participants' illness was often reported very frankly. Emotional support between members played another great role in the support group. Criticism of physicians was rare compared to recommendations of specific therapists (3 % vs. 4 %) and included lack of empathy or sensibility and poor communication between physicians. The brain tumour mailing list is a communication medium for brain tumour patients and their care providers, which distributes and reproduces information of heterogeneous quality. The physician faced with this information should be unbiased but cautious. | Mid | [
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I/m A Sucker for a Crab Cake - My wife Ally will tell you that I'm probably addicted them. I have no idea why, it's an craving that pops up on a regular basis. When the urge for a crab cake hits me I have to have a crab cake right then or in the next hour, or day or two. The downside is that we live in East Tennessee... not known to be prime crab cake territory. | Low | [
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Kenya's quarrelling leaders have pulled back from the brink KOFI ANNAN, the UN's former secretary-general, is a patient man, but not that patient. After spending a month overseeing agonisingly slow negotiations between Kenya's government and opposition, he was close to a power-sharing deal to save the country from more killing and instability. But once all the peripheral issues had been tidied up and the negotiators were left to share out raw power, the talks stalled yet again. On February 26th Mr Annan suspended them: it was time, he said, for the disputed president, Mwai Kibaki, and the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, to face up to their responsibilities and cut a deal themselves. Mr Annan's guile worked. Two days after the suspension, the hitherto obdurate Kenyan rivals, aided by the African Union's new chairman, Jakaya Kikwete, who is also president of neighbouring Tanzania, did Mr Annan's bidding. They struck a deal which all Kenyans hope will stick. Mr Odinga will become prime minister, with wide-ranging executive powers; Mr Kibaki will stay as president. Cabinet posts will be shared between their nominees. Parliament will entrench some constitutional amendments to shift the balance of power between president and prime minister. It remains to be seen how the sharing of power will work in practice, especially after all the bad blood that has been spilt between the pair over many years. But the creation of the post of prime minister, which had not existed, was a victory for Mr Odinga. Mr Kibaki's people had previously insisted that, if there were to be a prime minister, he should have limited executive powers. This, it seems, will not be the case. The other most ticklish issue was whether the presidential election, which most independent observers reckoned was rigged, would be run again—and, if so, when. It is unlikely to be held in the near future. But it remained unclear whether Mr Kibaki would serve a full five-year presidential term. It will take time for confidence to be rebuilt. Well over 1,000 people have been killed in the post-election violence. At least 300,000 people have been displaced by ethnic cleansing. Many of them will be wary of returning to their old homes soon. Kenya's economy has taken a bad knock. Above all, the country's reputation as a hub of stability and moderation in a volatile region has been sorely damaged. Even if the agreement signed this week holds, things will not easily return to normal. | Mid | [
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Tennis at the 2010 South American Games – Women's doubles The women's doubles event at the 2010 South American Games was held on 24–27 March. Medalists Draw Finals Top half Bottom half References Draw Women's Doubles South | Mid | [
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The present invention relates to a system for mounting a pre-vaporizing bowl to the upstream end of a combustion chamber wall in a gas turbine engine. Most present day gas turbine engines, particularly those turbojet engines designed for aircraft use, are equipped with annular combustion chambers extending around a longitudinal axis of the engine. Such engines also have a pre-vaporizing bowl around each fuel injection nozzle interposed between the nozzle and an upstream end wall of the combustion chamber. As is well known in the art, the pre-vaporizing bowls generate air turbulence around the point where the fuel is injected into the combustion chamber to optimize the vaporization of the fuel. Examples of such pre-vaporizing bowls may be found in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,726,182; 4,696,157; and 4,754,600; as well as French Patent 2,585,770. Since the combustion chamber walls are subjected to very high temperatures during operation of the gas turbine engine, they undergo a generally radial expansion when heated and a generally radial contraction when they are cooled. In order to accommodate the relative radial movement between the combustion chamber walls and the fuel injection nozzle, the pre-vaporizing bowl must be mounted between these elements in such a manner as to allow it to move relative to the combustion chamber wall. Typical examples of such mounting may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,955 as well as French Patents 1,547,843 and 2,479,952. Today's turbojet engines are designed as a series of modules which are subsequently assembled to form the engine. The assembly sequence for the combustion chambers is usually accomplished by assembling the combustion chamber (fitted with its pre-vaporizing bowls) to a subassembly that has been equipped with the fuel injector nozzles. The assembly takes place while the engine is in a horizontal orientation and usually involves sliding the combustion chamber subassembly horizontally until it is mated with the subassembly having the fuel injection nozzles. In this position, gravity urges the radially moveable pre-vaporizing bowls downwardly to a position wherein their centers are slightly eccentric with respect to the centers of the openings through the combustion chamber wall. As a result, the pre-vaporizing bowls may be misaligned with the fuel injection nozzle which presents the danger of damaging contact between the pre-vaporizing bowl and the fuel injection nozzle during the assembly process. | Low | [
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While they surely don’t need the help, the world’s two richest men can now eat for free at Hooters restaurants. On Friday October 20, 2006 Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were presented with Hooters VIP Cards at a Hooters Restaurant in Kansas City, Kansas. The Cards entitle the gentlemen, who currently rank numbers 1 and 2 on the list of worlds richest, to free food at any of the chains 435 locations in 46 states and 20 countries exclusive of tip and alcohol. The pair made a stop at the Hooters Restaurant along with members of the Board of Directors for Berkshire Hathaway. The visit came at the request of Buffet so the group could pose for a Christmas Card photo with the chain’s beautiful Hooters girls. Indeed. The Christmas Card photo is available at either of the links. I guess it’s another instance of the old aphorism, “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. If you give a man a Hooters VIP Card, he will eat for a lifetime served by young women in skimpy outfits.” | Low | [
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Dissociation of aggregated IgG and denaturation of monomeric IgG by acid treatment. Conditions for obtaining a large quantity of monomeric IgG which can be used for intravenous injections in humans was successfully established with human serum IgG preparation obtained using the ethanol fractionation method. When dissociation of IgG aggregates and denaturation of IgG monomers contained in the starting material were examined at various pH values, the treatment for 60 min at 28 degrees C at pH 3.8-4.0 was found to be optimum for obtaining such monomeric IgG. At this pH range, the dissociation of IgG aggregates into monomeric IgG reached maximum, without producing polymeric IgG. When monomeric IgG was treated at this acidic pH condition, its biological and physicochemical properties such as acid difference spectrum, molecular weight, plasmic digestion ratio, and complement-, antigen- and protein A-binding activities remained unchanged. The fact that large scale production of monomeric IgG can be easily performed under such conditions is discussed. | Mid | [
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Cooper Spur-Government Camp Land Exchange The Forest Service would convey 120 acres of property at Government Camp and acquire 770 acres of private land at Cooper Spur. This land exchange was mandated by Congress in the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. | Mid | [
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Apex Remix Apex Remix Apex Remix leaders go around to all elementary classrooms giving lessons about being a leader and staying fit, Jan. 10. It’s that time of year again when our elementary students are gearing up to participate in the annual Apex Remix event. Apex Team Leader Kickin’ it Kaylie talks to students about the event getting them excited for participating in an event to help their school, Jan. 10. The students in grade K-6th will be asking peers to donate to the school for classroom supplies and funds. This event is a fun way to get the kids excited to contribute to the school while also staying active. The goal of the Apex Remix is to bring value to elementary schools across the nation by helping the students with their leadership skills, fitness program and encouraging kids to donate to the school. Fresno Christian has partnered with Apex for 4 years. Last year elementary made 22,000 dollars towards the school, and the goal for this year is exceeding last years earnings. The Apex Remix event comes to a close on the day of the event coming up on, Jan. 17. Make sure to donate in time! Share This Story, Choose Your Platform! First year photojournalist, Danielle Foster ‘20, joined The Feather to further her writing and photography skills. She plans to go to a private university majoring in mechanical engineering, continuing her love of math and sciences. Foster maintains a 4.2+ GPA while serving in student leadership for two years and volunteering for school events. She is a member of CSF and mentors junior high peers in the Sister to Sister program. Foster went to South Africa this past summer on a missions trip; she was impacted by her visit to a squatter camp. Her photos will never be the same after watching children playing in gray water, people living in shacks with dirt floors that are the size of an average bedroom, wanting to capture the emotion in every picture. Tips for Writing a Column Know your audience: The Feather Online is created by and for high school students. It is a forum for teens to express what is important to them and their community. Consider age, interest, focus and reason to engage with this age group when writing a column. First paragraph: The opening two sentences should express a reason and theme for the column. Use active sentences, including a focus on word choice and grammar. The hook needs to draw a reader’s attention to the topic or issue. Also please limit the use of “I” in the column and write statements rather than overusing personal pronouns. Body: Analyze the topic, issue and/or conflict. While the author should give the reader a reason for the ‘other side’, build the column with support, providing stronger reasons for the issue as the column concludes. Do not just raise an issue but also provide a call to action. Conclusion: The final paragraph should not just be a summary of the column but offer a solution to an issue and/or a call to action. Tips for column writing: 1) Write about interesting topics or angles that draw a reader into the column. 2) Provide anecdotes and/or analogies which support a point, humanizing the story and/or issue. 3) Consider issues and conflicts students and adults share. Show how they affect the reader and results of the issue. Make opinion relatable. A good rule of thumb is offer three main discussion points that are supported with verifiable facts. 4) Research the facts about the issue and provide at least three links for readers to click on to confirm main points. Make sure facts are represented in the column. Links should be to recognized outside sources but often can/will be from The Feather Online. 5) Be clear as to who the expert is and name them in the column. Provide a link to them as well. 6) Do not plagiarize 7) Write with passion and conviction. No one wants to read a lukewarm piece. However, never attack a person, leader or school. Write about the issue not a personal rant. Sometimes understating can also be as powerful but be careful not to exaggerate or go overboard. Allow room for readers to respond. 8) Column length will vary but consider 300-500 words as appropriate. 9) Author should submit a personal photo so The Feather Online can further highlight him/her and personalize the published work. 10) Author should add a two-line caption of themselves stating their name, their high school and graduation year, current career or college they attend. | Low | [
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Raising and educating kids with dyslexia Posts tagged ‘brain research’ We now have some cool images of my son’s brain thanks to his participation in the study on reading and reading difficulties by the Gabrieli Lab at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Part of the study involves an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) of the brain to understand brain basis of reading and language. I cannot say that I even begin to understand this. Even the few questions I did ask about the research made me realize the complexity of the subject and the knowledge of neuroscience of the technicians conducting the testing. Yet, it felt good to be participating in some research that will lead to a better understanding of dyslexia. The MIT campus in Cambridge is always fascinating to visit. From our designated parking spot, we made our way to the McGovern Institute for Brain Research that took us alongside a railroad track. People sat in the building above us as we walked through an underpass noisy with the sound of air being sucked through large vents and the humming of air-conditioners. Even on a Sunday afternoon it seemed that the MRI scanner was in constant use as one appointment ended and our appointment began. For nearly two hours, my son laid head first in the scanner. The lower half of his body protruded out of the scanner. The only thing I could clearly see was the bottom of his sock-clad feet. As a mother, I was not impressed with the state of the bottom of his socks, but I was impressed by his cooperation and perseverance to remain still during the specific tasks he was given to complete and to enable good quality images of his brain to be obtained. At $30 an hour, he had some incentive. We were informed that my son’s brain is one of the last five brains to be scanned in this study. The study, with 500 children and adults taking part, which began three years ago, is nearing its end. This is good news for us as we can expect to see a report from the study in six months time, rather than waiting over three years like those who participated earlier in the study. The only concern, my son pointed out, was that his twin brother would not be taking part in the fMRI part of the study and would therefore miss out on the remuneration. It seems we equate being able to read with intelligence. Maryanne Wolf raised this notion in the recent HBO documentary Journey Into Dyslexia. This does not make sense. What I could understand more is if we equated being able to read with being educated. But, even that’s not true. HBO’s synopsis of Journey into Dyslexia quotes a recent poll that indicates eighty percent of Americans equate dyslexia with mental retardation. Mental retardation is a very loaded term. On one hand, the term implies a lack of intellectual ability to learn or the lack of skills for daily living. On the other hand, the term is used to make fun of other people. The term should not be used, especially to label a person. Perhaps it was used in this instance deliberately, because it is charged with meaning and it does get a reaction. Instead, adults and children need to be fairly and honestly educated about dyslexia. On the surface, someone who is dyslexic may look like they do not have intellectual ability. Cognitive testing reveals that, with dyslexia, the ability to read has nothing to do with intelligence. I can vouch for this because testing, using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), has shown that my dyslexic children are intelligent and have well above average IQs. So, let’s get it out there – dyslexic people are intelligent. Brain research has found, and the HBO documentary Journey Into Dyslexic testified to this, that reading in people with dyslexia activates areas of the brain that are different from the area of the brain usually activated by reading in people without dyslexia. We should equate knowledge, learning more and not making assumptions about dyslexia with intelligence and being educated. Does a person diagnosed with dyslexia in English experience dyslexia in another language, such as Mandarin? Once my children had been diagnosed with dyslexia and placed on Individualized Education Plans by the school system, my experience has been that the schools remove foreign language from the schedule to free-up time for support services to be inserted. In addition, the presumption is that learning another language will be difficult as they already experience difficulties with the English language. There does not seem to be much research into dyslexia and learning different languages. The most recent research I did find from 2010 contradicts previous research in 2008 that suggested if a person were dyslexic in one language they would not be dyslexic in another language such as Chinese. But, according to the 2010 research, reported by Dyslexia Research Today, that involved using fMRI to study the brain activity of dyslexic readers of both English and Chinese, there was common brain activity in both types of readers that indicates dyslexia would manifest itself if both languages were learned. This is disappointing. With our trip to Hong Kong and China coming up this summer, my daughter is showing an interest in learning Mandarin. Perhaps her enthusiasm will overcome her dyslexia. The following is an interview with my dyslexic son following his three-hour assessment at the Gabrieli Lab in Cambridge, MA to assist in their research on reading and the dyslexic brain: G: Mom, why don’t you blog about my testing. Mom: Okay. How was the testing? What did you do first? G: I forget! Oh, they asked me which hand I wrote with and which hand I used for my fork and which hand I hold a spoon in. I was mostly right-handed but I was in between right and left for some things. Mom: Did they ask if your parents were right or left-handed? G: Ask Dad because he had fill out a packet. Mom: Then what? G: She [The technical research assistant] took me to a room. There was a board with numbers placed randomly. I had to connect the numbers in order. Then I did the same with the alphabet and then I had to put numbers and letters together – like 1A, 2B. It was difficult. That took a while. Mom: Then? G: We did regular testing like I’ve had at school. I had to read words. I had to tell her a sentence for what the person was doing in a picture. Mom: How long did that take? G: That took a while. There were many different things. Mom: Then what? G:I had to spit in a cup. Mom: Did she tell you why you had to do this? G: No Mom: She didn’t say anything about it? Did you know what it was for? G: Yes, DNA. Mom: How did you know that? [Dad interjected at this point saying the research assistant had explained the spit was for DNA when they arrived for the testing.] G: She told me she got spat on by tons of five year olds. She gave me an easy story to read. I read it and she timed me. At the beginning I had to read as many words as I could. R; How well did you do? G: Pretty good. I also had to answer yes and no questions. I got them mixed up. Mom: What do you mean? G: Does March come before June? Mom: Does… you got that wrong? G: Yes, it was confusing. Mom: That’s fine. Was that the end? G: No, then I read a harder story and filled out questions. The stories kept getting harder. Mom: How many stories? G: I did about five. The last story was full of words I didn’t know so I couldn’t answer the questions. I guessed. Mom: Was that the end? G: Yes, I got paid $50, which you still owe me. [Payment was in the form of Border’s gift cards. We, as parents, have agreed to give cash in exchange for the gift cards.] We’re participating in research on reading and reading difficulties performed by the Gabrieli Lab at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Well, the kids are participating. The Gabrieli Lab’s studies are designed to investigate the behavioral and neural basis of reading and reading impairments. My understanding of what that means is vague. They hope the results of their studies will help them to better understand dyslexia and benefit people with dyslexia in the future. I can understand this purpose. I really do hope the studies will benefit people with dyslexia in the future – perhaps my grandchildren or great grandchildren. For the kids, the incentive for participating in the studies: payment – although this comes in the form of Borders or Barnes and Noble gift cards! The drawback: books or bookstores do not motivate my dyslexic kids! The solution: parents give cash in exchange for gift cards. The result: happy kids! Books purchased so far: Frommer’s Hong Kong – an up-to-date guide published in 2001. It looks good. Books to be purchased very soon: Frommer’s China or other guides. Guess where we’re headed this summer for an educational summer vacation! As the Gabrieli Lab’s studies are looking at people with and without reading and language difficulties, all three of our children are involved. We provided information for eligibility. The studies involve two trips to the Gabrieli Lab at MIT. The first trip requires giving developmental history details, between 2-4 hours of diagnostic testing and providing spit in a cup for DNA collection. The second trip entails MRI and/or EEG brain imaging – fMRI that captures images of the brain painlessly & non-invasively using magnetic fields – that also take two hours. A stop at Chipolte, added to either trip, on the way home is preferable! | Mid | [
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Share this Thiénot Brut N.V., 12.5% vol, 75cl “Founded in 1985, Champagne Thiénot is the new kid on the champagne block and something of a trade secret. I came across the Brut NV the other day and was immediately smitten. A blend of 45% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir and 20% Pinot Meunier, it is light, delicate and fresh with hints of apple and quince – the perfect apéritif.” | Mid | [
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753 P.2d 505 (1988) Ronald Dean LANCASTER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Gerald COOK, Warden, Utah State Prison, Defendants and Respondents. No. 870431. Supreme Court of Utah. April 7, 1988. Rehearing Denied April 26, 1988. *506 Ronald Dean Lancaster, pro se. David L. Wilkinson, Kimberly Hornak, Salt Lake City, for defendants and respondents. PER CURIAM: Plaintiff filed, in propria persona, a petition for post-conviction relief in the trial court with respect to his guilty plea to and subsequent conviction of second degree murder. The trial court dismissed the petition as inappropriate, as plaintiff had not brought a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and a collateral attack under rule 65B of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure was therefore not permissible. We reverse and remand for entry of findings on the merits. In response to plaintiff's petition, the State brought a motion to dismiss on the ground that under the rationale of State v. Gibbons, 740 P.2d 1309 (Utah 1987), plaintiff was precluded from bringing a motion for post-conviction relief until he had first brought a motion to set aside his guilty plea. The trial court adopted that rationale in its order denying writ of habeas corpus, and the State repeats it before this Court in challenging the merits of plaintiff's habeas corpus petition. State v. Gibbons is inapposite here. Gibbons pleaded guilty to several charges and then appealed directly after the trial court had sentenced him to consecutive terms of imprisonment. He did not file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea before perfecting his appeal, and the State argued that this Court should decline to consider the guilty plea issue because it was not raised below, 740 P.2d at 1311. This Court declined to follow the State's request and remanded the case to enable Gibbons to file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, retaining jurisdiction over the case for further action. State v. Gibbons did not represent a collateral attack on the guilty plea. Conversely here, plaintiff filed a post-conviction petition to challenge the validity of his guilty plea some nine years after the time for a direct appeal had run. It appears from his handwritten pleadings that he was originally charged with first degree murder, but pleaded to second degree murder when the prosecution was unable to prove the aggravating circumstances with which he had been charged. In his habeas corpus petition, plaintiff appears to allege that he thought he had pleaded to "unintentional murder" and that he should have been sentenced to one to fifteen years' imprisonment instead of five years to life. Plaintiff stated that he was innocent of knowingly and intentionally committing the offense and was therefore unlawfully imprisoned and that he had been denied due process and effective assistance of counsel. In addition, plaintiff challenged the constitutionality of the statutes under which he was charged and sentenced. This Court has repeatedly stated that habeas corpus is not a substitute for and cannot be used to perform the function of regular appellate review. Porter v. Cook, 747 P.2d 1031, 1032 (Utah 1987); Codianna v. Morris, 660 P.2d 1101, 1104 (Utah 1983); Martinez v. Smith, 602 P.2d 700, 702 (Utah 1979). But it has also recognized that review by habeas corpus is appropriate in unusual circumstances to assure fundamental fairness and to reexamine a conviction when the nature of the alleged error is such that it would be unconscionable not to reexamine. Codianna, 660 P.2d at 1115 (Stewart, J., concurring in result). Moreover, rule 65B(i) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure specifically provides that a prisoner who asserts a substantial denial of his constitutional rights "may institute a proceeding under this rule." See also Martinez v. Smith, supra, where this Court held a petition for habeas corpus reviewable without first requiring the withdrawal of a guilty plea. Given the allegations plaintiff made in his petition, it was therefore error for the trial court to dismiss the petition without granting a hearing. Without the benefit of findings, this Court is in no position to review the validity of plaintiff's claims. It is safe to assume that trial courts prefer to give short shrift to the many post-conviction petitions which they decide lack merit. It is equally safe to assume that an appellate court will be unable to review the case in a vacuum *507 and will have to remand it where no rationale for dismissal or denial is given. A simple finding, on the other hand, will suffice in the vast majority of cases to limit the judicial process to one review. The trial court's basis for dismissing plaintiff's petition in this case was erroneous, as stated. The record is too sparse for this Court to determine whether the issues raised by the pleadings were legal, so that it could affirm the trial court on the ground that the claims were properly resolved as a matter of law. See Gonzales v. Morris, 610 P.2d 1285, 1286 (Utah 1980). Instead, it appears that plaintiff claims irregularity in the reception of his guilty plea, an issue that should have been considered by the trial court. The case is remanded for entry of findings on the merits. | Mid | [
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Filling Station for Sale in Abuja 2017 Updated Previously I have written about fuel stations available in Abuja for sale, but in this article Filling station for sale in Abuja 2017 Updated is the most recent information about petrol stations or fuel stations or gas stations for sale in Abuja and surrounding. I also made a video about it check it out on YouTube Zondre E! I want to reecho an idea and that which is: filling station irrespective of if you are buying as a company is very indispensible asset. Especially in a growing economy; well on this topic I have a detailed explanation on this article best time to buy a filling station check out what I mean by that. Moving straight to the reason for this article, there are lots of filling station for sale in Abuja. Investors know that filling station is a viable asset in Nigeria. All the filling station listed on this site is available and is situated on the roads where there is an easy drive in for the customers; a viable market for the owners/operators and finally it’s in a situation where upgrades can be done. The lists of filling Station for sale in Abuja 2017 Updated are as follows #1 Filling station for sale in Abuja 2017 updated Located at Kubwa Abuja; It has 10 pumps, two-one storey building, over 200,000 liters of storage tanks, with a high market viability and also a projected income of about N250Million (naira) annually (depends on the operation it can be up to or less). The asking price is N2.5 Billion Naira. This is a very large filling station. #2 Filling Station for sale in Abuja 2017 updated Located at Lugbe Abuja it has about 8 pumps, over 150,000 liters storage of petroleum products, with a projected income of about N133million naira annually. Within the station there are also a functional car wash, retail shops, lubrication and service bay For the asking price of N300 Million Naira #3 Filling Station for sale in Abuja 2017 updated Located at Abuja-Kaduna express way, it consists of 8 pumps, 33,000 liters storage tanks of DPK, AGO and PMS (for each). With a projected income of over N100 million naira annually(depending on the operation), it is going for the asking price of N300 million naira. #4 Filling Station for sale in Abuja 2017 updated Located also at Abuja-Kaduna express way, with only 6 pimps and also a same storage capacity as #3 above and goes for the asking price of N250 million naira #5 Filling Station for sal in Abuja 2017 updated Located near Jehre, with 8 pumps and a good market viability and over 100,000 liters of storage tanks and with an asking price of N280 illion naira Are you interested? Are you or your company interested in the purchase of any of these filling stations? Or do you want to go into partnership by renting and operating any of these filling stations for 5years or more? If yes, then contact us here or call the phone number right Now 08063084876. So that we can begin the process of showing you these filling stations and leave you to make your choice but before you make your choice I want to you to go through this article the best time to buy a filling station. Watch us on our YouTube Channel. Don’t forget to follow us on our various social media platforms @zondrealestate on facebook and instagram @zondrealestates on @twitter. Please leave your comments and questions below so that we can discuss more. Thank you for visiting my site hope you found it informing? Comments Zondre My name is Uzondu Chigozie a.k.a Zondre. I am a real estate entrepreneur and Entertainer. In the world of Real estate, Entertainment, Motivation and in Life, I hope to be a positive contributor to you, so join me explore the world and make it better than we've found it. Thank you for checking me out!!! LATEST VIDEOS SOCIAL ABOUT Zondrealesate.com is a multi-content blog that features Real Estate, Motivation, Entertainment and others. On Real estate business, investment Market and service including properties related information. Motivation is the other aspect you get from this site, because we all need to be sharpened from time to time to enable us achieve our full potentials in life so that we can be the best we can be. Finally, Entertainment is another great content of the zondrealestate.com featuring comedy and Music. our team are dedicated to feed you with the finest content in all of our category: Real estate, Motivation and Entertainment. | Mid | [
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276 F.3d 716 (5th Cir. 2002) JAMES R. WATERS, Plaintiff-Appellant,v.JO ANNE B. BARNHART, COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant-Appellee. No. 00-41432 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, FIFTH CIRCUIT January 8, 2002 Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Before JOLLY and PARKER, Circuit Judges, and SPARKS,1 District Judge. E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge: 1 Waters sought disability benefits from the Social Security Administration based on a broken ankle and other related injuries. An Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") awarded Waters disability for a closed period - that is, between November 27, 1993 and November 5, 1996. In determining the cessation date for the period, the ALJ principally placed the burden on Waters to show that his disability continued past this date. Following the lead of a number of our sister circuits, we adopt the "medical improvement" standard in these closed period cases. This standard places the initial burden on the government to show that the claimant's disability has ended as of the cessation date. We thus reverse and remand to the district court with instruction to remand to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. 2 * On March 1, 1995, Waters applied for both disability benefits and supplemental security income based on an ankle injury he suffered when he slipped on some ice while using a sledge hammer. The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration denied Waters benefits. Waters requested a hearing before an administrative law judge. At the hearing, the ALJ decided to send Waters to a doctor for a conclusive evaluation. Waters agreed to see the doctor. The next month, Dr. James Harris examined Waters on behalf of the ALJ. Dr. Harris reported that Waters' broken ankle was healing nicely, and that Waters "has many signs and symptoms that appear to be nonphysiologic." Based on this report, the ALJ issued a partially favorable ruling -- effectively finding that Waters had no continuing disability but that he did have a disability for the closed period between the time of his ankle injury on November 27, 1993 and his visit to Dr. Harris on November 5, 1996. The Appeals Council denied Waters' request for review. Waters then acquired representation and filed a complaint in the district court. The complaint alleged, inter alia, that the ALJ had applied the wrong legal standard to evaluate the cessation date for his closed period of benefits. This is the only issue we address in this appeal. 3 The district court, adopting the magistrate judge's recommendation, affirmed the Commissioner. Waters now appeals. II 4 In Social Security disability cases, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) governs the standard of review. Frith v. Celebrezze, 333 F.2d 557, 560 (5th Cir. 1964). In the Fifth Circuit, appellate review is limited to (1) whether the Commissioner applied the proper legal standard; and (2) whether the Commissioner's decision is supported by substantial evidence. See Estate of Morris v. Shalala, 207 F.3d 744, 745 (5th Cir. 2000)(citations omitted). In this case, the ALJ used a five-step sequential analysis to determine the beginning and the end date for the "closed period" of Waters' disability. Courts and the Social Security Administration typically use this type of analysis to decide whether -- as a threshold matter -- a person is disabled. The five-step analysis is: 5 First, the claimant must not be presently working. Second, a claimant must establish that he has an impairment or combination of impairments which significantly limit [his] physical or mental ability to do basic work activities. Third, to secure a finding of disability without consideration of age, education, and work experience, a claimant must establish that his impairment meets or equals an impairment in the appendix to the regulations. Fourth, a claimant must establish that his impairment prevents him from doing past relevant work. Finally, the burden shifts to the Secretary to establish that the claimant can perform the relevant work. If the Secretary meets this burden, the claimant must then prove that he cannot in fact perform the work suggested. 6 Muse v. Sullivan, 925 F.2d 785, 789 (5th Cir. 1991)(internal citations and quotation marks omitted). It is important to note that the claimant bears the burden of proof with respect to the first four steps of the analysis, with the burden shifting to the Commissioner for the final step. Jones v. Bowen, 829 F.2d 524, 526 (5th Cir. 1987). In the instant case, the ALJ terminated the analysis at step four, finding that "subsequent to November 5, 1996, the claimant retains the residual functional capacity to perform the exertional demands of light work, or work which requires maximum lifting of twenty pounds and frequent lifting of ten pounds." Basically the ALJ found that Waters had failed to prove that his ankle injury prevented him from doing past relevant work after November 5, 1996, the date of his visit with Dr. Harris. Accordingly, he was not disabled after this date. 7 Waters argues that the government should have to prove "medical improvement" when defining the cessation date for a closed period of benefits. The primary difference between the standard employed by the ALJ and the "medical improvement" standard advocated by Waters is the allocation of the burden of proof. Under the medical improvement standard, the government must, in all relevant respects, prove that the person is no longer disabled. See 42 U.S.C. § 423(f); Griego v. Sullivan, 940 F.2d 942, 943-44 (5th Cir. 1991). In contrast, as noted above, the ALJ in this case placed the burden on Waters to show that his ankle injury prevented him from doing past relevant work after November 5, 1997 (to prove step four in the five-step disability threshold analysis). 8 A number of the circuits have adopted the "medical improvement" standard in cases similar to the case before us. See Shepherd v. Apfel, 184 F.3d 1196, 1200 (10th Cir. 1999) ("We are persuaded by these other circuits that applying the medical improvement standard to cases involving a closed period of disability is consistent with the language and legislative purpose in the Reform Act."); Jones v. Shalala, 10 F.3d 522 (7th Cir. 1993) (applying the medical improvement standard in the review of closed period case); Chrupcala v. Heckler, 829 F.2d 1269, 1274 (3d Cir. 1987) ("Fairness would certainly seem to require an adequate showing of medical improvement whenever an ALJ determines that disability should be limited to a specified period."); Pickett v. Bowen, 833 F.2d 288, 292 (11th Cir. 1987) ("Consequently, we discern from the broad remedial policies underlying the Disability Amendments that Congress intended to reach 'closed period' claimants.").2 9 The Fifth Circuit, however, has stated in dicta that the medical improvement standard applies only in termination cases - that is, where the government seeks to halt the ongoing payment of benefits. See Richardson v. Bowen, 807 F.2d 444, 445 (5th Cir. 1987). In Richardson, at a disability review hearing, an ALJ terminated the claimant's disability payments. Rather than timely appealing this ruling, the claimant filed a new application asking the Commissioner to reopen his case. This request was denied. Id. at 445. The Richardson court was thus confronted with deciding the conditions under which the Commissioner could refuse to reopen a case; the issue of the applicability of the medical improvement standard to closed period cases was not squarely before the court. See Shepherd, 184 F.3d at 1200 n.4. Thus, any statements in Richardson regarding the limitations on the use of the medical improvement standard are not binding with respect to the issue in this case.3 10 Approaching the issue as one of first impression, we think that our sister circuits' approach is more persuasive than that suggested by the Richardson dicta. Through the Reform Amendments, Congress explicitly required a showing of medical improvement before the Commissioner could halt the payment of benefits in a termination case. See 42 U.S.C. § 423(f)(1); Griego v. Sullivan, 940 F.2d at 943-44. In the typical disability case, a claimant's application for benefits is decided while he is under a continuing disability. Once the application is granted, payments continue in accord with that decision. Termination of the benefits then involves a subsequent hearing -- a termination case -- in which the Commissioner reviews (and decides whether to terminate) the continued payment of benefits. In contrast, in a closed period case, "the decision-maker determines that a new applicant for disability benefits was disabled for a finite period of time which started and stopped prior to the date of his decision." Pickett v. Bowen, 833 F.2d at 289 n.1. Thus, in closed period cases, the ALJ engages in the same decision-making process as in termination cases, that is, deciding whether (or, more aptly, when) the payments of benefits should be terminated. Accordingly, we follow the Tenth, Seventh, Eleventh, and Third Circuits in holding that the medical improvement standard applies to the cessation date in closed period cases.4 The district court'sjudgment is reversed and the case is remanded with instruction to remand to the Social Security Administration for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. REVERSED AND REMANDED Notes: 1 District Judge of the Western District of Texas, sitting by designation. 2 In fact, at oral argument the government conceded that this was the appropriate standard for finding the cessation date in closed period cases. 3 In Bowling v. Shalala, 36 F.3d 431 (5th Cir. 1994), a panel of the Fifth Circuit applied, without any analysis, the five-step sequential analysis for determining disability in a closed period case. Because the Bowling court was not confronted with the issue of what was the appropriate standard of review in closed period cases (there is no discussion of this issue), the case does not stand for the proposition that the medical improvement standard is inappropriate. 4 Because we are reversing the district court and remanding for further consideration, the government's motion for remand is denied on grounds of mootness. Furthermore - also essentially for reasons of mootness -- we see no need to address Waters' due process claims that he was effectively denied counsel and that he signed a constitutionally impermissible waiver of his right to examine post-hearing medical evidence. He is now represented by counsel and, in the light of this appeal that remands for a rehearing, there is no indication that he has suffered any injury as a result of these alleged constitutional violations. To further assure this fact, we hold that any waivers made prior to this appeal are not binding in any proceeding conducted in accordance with this remand. | Low | [
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Tag: art This is one of my occasional “grab bag” or “miscellany” posts, simply sharing sites and images I have come across and tagged for one reason or another. • Films for Action (http://www.filmsforaction.org) is a site which documents activist movies, much more methodically than I did in my Greenie Moviesposts last year. The page which first caught my attention is their wall of films (above) but they have some interesting articles as well (I particularly liked their overview of worldwide moves towards reducing wage inequality) and a useful list of “independent media” in a sidebar on the article index page. • These hyper-stylised Renaissance-inspired insect drawings might hardly rate a mention after the calendar but they do do something with insect forms that I have never seen before, and I do like anything that encourages a positive attitude towards insects and, in fact, the whole biosphere in which we are so intricately embedded. • Finally I will share a Facebook page. I can hardly believe I’m doing this – I dismissed FB entirely for years as a waste of time and bandwidth, a horrible fad which pandered to lowest-common-denominator narcissism, a time-sink … and it is still, in fact, all of those if we allow it to be. On the other hand, it has become a useful means of spreading independent news and generating grass-roots crowd energy; and it has spawned its own visual language which, as I said in earlierposts, is sometimes beautiful and often fun. Trust Me, I’m an “Eco-designer”https://www.facebook.com/GreenSetGo enjoys the possibilities to the full. Reading the “About” info reveals the FB page is run by a real eco-design business … and there is nothing wrong with that, either. Innovation 2 – Studio2 Exhibition OpeningMarch 1 at 7pm In a collaboration between Finlay Homes and Artcetera Studio2, local artists were invited to choose waste materials from the building of Finlay Homes new ‘Innovation’ home, to create artworks for the display home. A range of materials from steel to plasterboard, wiring to tiles, and even lowly rust was swooped up eagerly for transformation into art. The ‘Innovation’ home will be an educational and interactive example of sustainable living for the tropics. Not only is it designed with sustainability in mind, but it will have monitoring systems running to allow visitors to see just how much energy is being saved. As part of that environmental commitment, and in an attempt to reduce the staggering amount of building waste that heads for landfill, the furniture and artwork will be made from offcuts, recycled and waste materials. I missed the opening but got there with my camera on the Sunday. It’s a small show but with a wide variety of good works; the two pictured here are from the two ends of the art-to-craft spectrum on display. Ephemera in the Mist is an environmental art festival featuring installations in the rainforest of Paluma between August 25th and September 9th. I went to the inaugural festival last year and enjoyed it – see this report. This year’s event follows the same format. It has two key components: Rainforest Organic Art Trail, a series of site-specific ephemeral installations built in the rainforest around Paluma. The artworks will be created within strict environmental guidelines and will be left in situ to gradually disintegrate back into the forest floor. Village Sculpture Walk, a separate show in Paluma Village of enduring sculptural works with an environmental theme, created predominantly from recycled materials. Cash prizes will be awarded for the People’s Choice in each of these two exhibitions. Complementary activities include an exhibition of small artworks in the Community Hall; an artists’ marketplace on the village green; free art workshops with guest and local tutors; nature walks guided by a resident naturalist; artist talks; and a display of environmentally proactive products and organisations. Official opening: August 25thWorkshops & Artists Market: August 15th & 26th. Entry is free.Sculpture trail will be on show until Sept 9thMore information: 0418 750 854 (Sue Tilley) or http://www.ephemerainthemist.com/ ‘Photography’ means ‘writing with light’ and that’s what we do with the camera – write or (better) draw on the film or sensor with the light coming through the lens. There’s nothing to say the picture must be realistic or even representational, and these few don’t try to be. Gesture 1Gesture 2Gesture 3 Sitting on Picnic Bay beach on Magnetic Island on Sunday evening I liked the lights of Townsville across the bay. My camera told me it wanted a very long exposure to capture them – four or five seconds – so I thought I would make a virtue of necessity and move the camera around deliberately while the shutter was open. Two different gestures with the camera produced the first two images. On the ferry approaching the brightly-lit docks a little later I did the same sort of thing with a rather shorter exposure to produce the third image above. Climate change is a science-heavy issue with enormous social and political implications so it makes sense that responses to it come from all sorts of people in all sorts of media. This little collection looks at visual art. There was an excellent exhibition of art inspired by climate change in Melbourne a couple of months ago. It was reported on ABC TV’s 7.30 and that report is now available as video and transcript at http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3416543.htm. (The video is also on YouTube.) Metro Gallery’s page about its show, here, doesn’t add much but does mention a film of the project, which could be worth tracking down, too. Looking for it a few minutes ago, I came across an American sculptor, Nathalie Miebach, who translates climate numbers into colourful artworks which look more like intriguingly complicated toys than anything else. Read the article here and, if you like, click through to the associated photo gallery. I have known the work of street artist Banksy for quite a long time but I haven’t mentioned it on Green Path before. Here is his graphic comment on global warming. Political cartoons are also art, of a kind, and that is my excuse for squeezing Climatesight’s collection of cartoons http://climatesight.org/image-collection/ into this post. Here’s a sample from it to encourage you to investigate further: P.S. (27.3.12) Just found a couple more here – scroll down to the bottom of the page. Insects of Townsville Many of my older posts link to Graeme Cocks’ excellent “Insects of Townsville.” Late in 2016 it moved to http://kooka.info/orders.html. The new site is still incomplete but is your best hope of finding the information or photo. | Mid | [
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Ambohimanga Ambohimanga is a hill and traditional fortified royal settlement (rova) in Madagascar, located approximately northeast of the capital city of Antananarivo. The hill and the rova that stands on top are considered the most significant symbol of the cultural identity of the Merina people and the most important and best-preserved monument of the precolonial Merina Kingdom. The walled historic village includes residences and burial sites of several key monarchs. The site, one of the twelve sacred hills of Imerina, is associated with strong feelings of national identity and has maintained its spiritual and sacred character both in ritual practice and the popular imagination for at least four hundred years. It remains a place of worship to which pilgrims come from Madagascar and elsewhere. The site has been politically important since the early 18th century, when King Andriamasinavalona (1675–1710) divided the Kingdom of Imerina into four quadrants and assigned his son Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana to govern the northeastern quadrant, Avaradrano, from its newly designated capital at Ambohimanga. The division of Imerina led to 77 years of civil war, during which time the successive rulers of Avaradrano led military campaigns to expand their territory while undertaking modifications to the defenses at Ambohimanga to better protect it against attacks. The war was ended from Ambohimanga by King Andrianampoinimerina, who successfully undertook negotiations and military campaigns that reunited Imerina under his rule by 1793. Upon capturing the historic capital of Imerina at Antananarivo, Andrianampoinimerina shifted his royal court and all political functions back to its original locus at Antananarivo's royal compound and declared the two cities of equal importance, with Ambohimanga as the kingdom's spiritual capital. He and later rulers in his line continued to conduct royal rituals at the site and regularly inhabited and remodeled Ambohimanga until French colonization of the kingdom and the exile of the royal family in 1897. The significance of historical events here and the presence of royal tombs have given the hill a sacred character that is further enhanced at Ambohimanga by the burial sites of several Vazimba, the island's earliest inhabitants. The royal compound on the hilltop is surrounded by a complex system of defensive ditches and stone walls and is accessed by 14 gateways, of which many were sealed by stone disc barriers. The gateways and construction of buildings within the compound are arranged according to two overlaid cosmological systems that value the four cardinal points radiating from a unifying center, and attach sacred importance to the northeastern direction. The complex inside the wall is subdivided into three smaller rova. Mahandrihono, the largest compound, was established between 1710 and 1730 by King Andriambelomasina; it remains largely intact and contains the royal tombs, house of King Andrianampoinimerina, summer palace of Queen Ranavalona II, and sites that figured in key royal rituals such as the sacrificial zebu pen, royal bath and main courtyard. Original buildings no longer remain in the compound of Bevato, established before 1710 by Andriamborona, and the Nanjakana compound, built for King Andrianjafy in the late 19th century. The hill and its royal fortified city were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2001 and represent Madagascar's only cultural site following the destruction by fire in 1995 of its historic sister city, the Rova of Antananarivo, shortly before the latter's intended inscription to the list. Numerous governmental and civil society organizations support the conservation of Ambohimanga by restoring damaged features and preventing further degradation. Etymology The name Ambohimanga is a noun-adjective compound in the standard Malagasy language composed of two parts: ambohi, meaning "hill", and manga, which can mean "sacred", "blue", "beautiful" or "good". The earliest known name for the hill was Tsimadilo. It was renamed Ambohitrakanga ("hill of the guinea fowls") around 1700 by a dethroned prince named Andriamborona who, according to oral history, was the first to settle on the hilltop with his family. The hill received its current name from King Andriamasinavalona in the early 18th century. History Madagascar's central highlands, including the area around Ambohimanga, were first inhabited between 200 BCE–300 CE by the island's earliest settlers, the Vazimba, who appear to have arrived by pirogue from southeastern Borneo to establish simple villages in the island's dense forests. By the 15th century the Merina ethnic group from the southeastern coast had gradually migrated into the central highlands where they established hilltop villages interspersed among the existing Vazimba settlements, which were ruled by local kings. The tombs of at least four Vazimba are located on or around Ambohimanga hill and are sites of pilgrimage, including the tombs of Ingorikelisahiloza, Andriantsidonina, Ramomba and Kotosarotra. In the mid-16th century the disparate Merina principalities were united as the Kingdom of Imerina under the rule of King Andriamanelo (1540–1575), who initiated military campaigns to expel or assimilate the Vazimba population. Conflict with the Vazimba led Andriamanelo to fortify his hill town using earthen walls, stone gateways and deep defensive trenches. This fortified town model, called a rova, was propagated by the noble class throughout Imerina until French colonization of Madagascar in 1895. The earliest settlement at the height of Ambohimanga was most likely established in the 15th century, coinciding with the arrival of the Merina in the highlands. Rice paddies took the place of the original valley forests by the 16th century, and the growing population near the valleys around Ambohimanga became known by the clan name Tantsaha ("people of the cultivated land"). According to oral history, however, the first to settle the site of the Ambohimanga rova was Andriamborona, the dethroned prince of the highland territory of Imamo, who relocated to the then-unpopulated hilltop in around 1700 accompanied by his nephew, his wife, and his mother, Ratompobe. Merina king Andriamasinavalona (1675–1710), who reigned over Imerina from his royal compound in Antananarivo, noticed a bonfire lit by the family on the southern face of the hill 24 kilometers away. The visibility of the site from his capital led Andriamasinavalona to desire Ambohimanga as a residence for his son, Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana. Andriamborona and his family agreed to shift three times to different parts of the hill, including the future site of the royal compound of Bevato, in response to consecutive requests from the king. For a short time he and the prince lived in neighboring houses at Bevato before Andriamborona and his family finally left the hill for the distant highland village of Ambatolampy, where he lived the rest of his life; the king retrieved their bodies for burial at Ambohimanga. In 1710, Andriamasinavalona divided the Kingdom of Imerina into four quadrants, which were given to his four favorite sons to rule. Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana received the eastern quadrant, Avaradrano, and transformed his rova at Ambohimanga into its capital. As the first king of Avaradrano (1710–1730), Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana also built the site's defensive walls and its first set of seven gates. Rather than rule their respective territories peacefully as Andriamasinavalona had intended, his four sons began a series of wars to seize control of neighboring territory, causing famine and suffering among the peasant population of Imerina. Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana spent much of his reign strengthening the authority of his governance at Ambohimanga and attracting residents to settle in the surrounding villages while battling his brothers to increase the land under his control. He was succeeded by his adopted son, Andriambelomasina (1730–1770), who continued to rule Avaradrano from Ambohimanga in the Mahandrihono compound he built beside the original compound of Besakana. Andriambelomasina significantly expanded Ambohimanga and strengthened its defenses, enabling him to successfully repel an attack against the rova by a band of Sakalava warriors employed by his chief rival, the ruler of Antananarivo. He named as his successor his eldest son, Andrianjafy (1770–1787), and designated his grandson Andrianampoinimerina to follow Andrianjafy in the order of succession. Andrianjafy, a weak and unjust ruler, maintained his capital at Ambohimanga where he built a new private compound called Nanjakana, but often resided in the nearby village of Ilafy. Andrianampoinimerina dethroned Andrianjafy in a violent conflict that ended in 1787. The king then used Ambohimanga as a launching point for a successful campaign to bring the twelve sacred hills of Imerina under his rule, including the hill city of Antananarivo, thereby reuniting the four quadrants of the divided Kingdom of Imerina under his sovereignty and putting an end to 77 years of civil war. To consolidate support for his rule, Andrianampoinimerina mobilized representatives of the numerous noble castes to participate in the most extensive effort yet to expand and fortify Ambohimanga. He ordered the construction of new city walls, gates and defensive trenches, as well as a rosewood palace called Mahandrihono, which he had built in the traditional style. Following the conquest of Antananarivo in 1793, Andrianampoinimerina shifted the political capital of Imerina from Ambohimanga to its original site at Antananarivo, while pronouncing Ambohimanga the kingdom's spiritual capital. Important traditional rituals continued to be held at Ambohimanga, and Andrianampoinimerina regularly stayed in its Mahandrihono palace. His son, Radama I, inhabited Ambohimanga's Nanjakana compound as a youth before relocating to Antananarivo, and visited Ambohimanga frequently after the move. Radama's widow and successor, Ranavalona I, renovated the Mahandrihono compound and moved several buildings from the sister rova at Antananarivo to Ambohimanga. She also forbade swine at Ambohimanga due to their association with Europeans, who had propagated pork as a food source in the decade prior. Subsequent queens made their own mark on the site, including the reconstruction of Nanjakana by Rasoherina, and Ranavalona II's addition of two large pavilions to the Mahandrihono compound that reflected a syncretism of traditional and Western architectural styles. Throughout much of the 19th century and particularly under the reign of Queen Ranavalona I (1828–1861), Ambohimanga was forbidden to visiting foreigners, contributing to its mystique as a "forbidden city". This status remained until 1897 when the French colonial administration transferred all the relics and significant belongings of the royal family from Ambohimanga to Antananarivo to break the spirit of resistance and ethnic identity that these symbols inspired in the Malagasy people, particularly in the highlands. In the early 20th century, the area was further changed when the French removed the sacred forests remaining on the neighboring hilltops in the early 20th century. The city nonetheless retains its symbolic significance in Imerina to this day. Layout Ambohimanga is located in the central highlands of Madagascar, approximately northeast of the capital city of Antananarivo. The hill rises steeply approximately 450 feet from the surrounding terrain on its eastern side and gradually slopes downward toward the west. The royal city of the same name, situated at the peak of the hill, has panoramic views of the surrounding hills and valleys, and is surrounded on the hill's slopes and the valley floor by the houses of residents of Ambohimanga village. The terraced rice paddies that cover the hillsides to the north and south of the royal city were created in the 17th and 18th centuries to provide a staple food source to the inhabitants of the hill and its surrounding villages. The crest of Ambohimanga is higher than the surrounding hills and others among the traditionally designated twelve sacred hills of Imerina, symbolically indicative of the site's political significance relative to other similar hill towns. This elevation also offered an excellent vantage point for surveying the surrounding areas for advancing enemy troops. Rising from among the surrounding valleys and terraced rice paddies, the hill is topped with a forest that was exempted from the widespread deforestation of the highlands due to its sacred nature. The UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing the hill and the royal city at its peak extends over a surface area of 59 hectares, with a buffer zone of 425 hectares. Symbolism The layout of Ambohimanga's three compounds and the structures within them followed a traditional design established by the earliest Merina highland settlers by the 15th century. According to custom, a rova could only be established by an andriana (noble). Its foundation was built to raise the rova higher than the surrounding buildings outside its walls. Contained within the rova was at least one lapa (royal palace or residence) as well as the fasana (tomb) of one or more of the site's founders and family members. It also enclosed a kianja (courtyard) marked by a vatomasina (sacred stone) that elevated the sovereign above the people for the delivery of kabary (royal speeches or decrees). The sovereign's lodgings typically stood in the northern part of the rova, while the spouse or spouses lived in the southern part. At Ambohimanga, as in other rova sites, the cardinal and vertical layout of these various traditional components embodies two cosmological notions of space that coexisted in traditional Imerina. The older system governed sociopolitical order and was based on the concept of the four cardinal points radiating from a unifying center. A more recent system introduced through the astrology of seafaring Arabs governed the spiritual order and placed special significance on the northeast. The sacred eastern portions of Ambohimanga contained structures associated with the veneration of the ancestors, including the royal tombs, basins of holy water used in royal rituals, and numerous Ficus and Draceana trees, which were symbolic of royalty. The northern portion of the site is the location of a courtyard where royal judgments were handed down from atop a prominent granite boulder, in line with the Malagasy association between the northern cardinal point, masculinity, and political power. The houses of the royal wives were formerly located in the southern portion of the site, a cardinal point traditionally associated with femininity and spiritual power. These competing cosmological systems are also reflected in the placement of the city's main gates at cardinal points, as well as the northeastern gates reserved for use by the sovereign and dedicated to their role in sacred rituals. The orientation and placement of many structures within Ambohimanga were copied from Ambohimanga's older twin city, the rova at Antananarivo, which likewise embodies both traditional notions of space. The placement of the city of Ambohimanga relative to Antananarivo also reflects these systems. Centrally located Antananarivo is the nation's political capital today, and Ambohimanga to its northeast is regarded as the spiritual capital. Between these two systems, that of the political order predominates in the layout of Ambohimanga, and the sacredness of the city was historically more explicitly associated with its role as a political rather than an astrological center. The forbidding of foreigners from the site in the 19th century, for instance, was enacted to preserve the sanctity of the social and political order, rather than the religious order. By respecting these systems of symbolism, successive rulers sought to ensure the benediction of the ancestors, strengthen the legitimacy of their rule and ensure the protection and stability of their kingdom. However, adherence to cardinal division and symbolism of space is weaker at Ambohimanga than its embodiment of the significance of vertical space and elevation as an indicator of rank. The site of each new compound within the royal city was selected less for its cardinal direction than for the extent to which it was located on higher ground than the compound that predated it. Fortifications A series of protective trenches (hadivory) and stone walls, typical of fortified royal cities in Imerina since the 15th century, surround the village of Ambohimanga. The trenches vary in depth to a maximum of . The oldest trenches at the site, called Mazavatokana, are located behind the modern-day rova and appear to predate the reign of the hill's first known king, Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana; local tradition maintains that they were dug in the early 16th century on the command of King Andrianjaka, who may have used the site as a launching point for military offensives in his war against the Vazimba. Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana was the first to systematically establish a network of defenses around the hilltop settlement. This first king of Ambohimanga dug trenches around his Bevato compound, which was initially only accessible through a gateway he named Ambavahadikely. The settlement was expanded by the construction of trenches bordering a second adjoining space to the northeast with two additional access points named Ampanidinamporona and Ambavahaditsiombiomby, the latter a natural gateway formed by two boulders. This latter entrance was most likely used to access the space even before the formal establishment of a royal city there, and is therefore considered by archaeologists to be the oldest gateway at the site. After the establishment of the rova, this entrance was reserved for use by the sovereign, a reflection of the spiritual significance of the northeastern direction and its association with the ancestors, whose benediction and hasina provided the basis for the sovereign's power and legitimacy. It was also used to bring sacrificial cattle into the compound. Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana then expanded toward the west to a series of natural defenses, including stony cliffs and steep forested slopes that obviated the need to dig defensive trenches, and he constructed several additional gates that he named Ambavahadimahazaza, Andranomboahangy and Ambavahadiantandranomasina. Andrianampoinimerina expanded the trenches around the city using fanampoana labor. During his reign, a trench was dug that entirely encircles the hill, and a series of trenches was dug alongside existing ones to further protect the city against enemies. The current defensive wall was reconstructed around 1830 during the reign of Queen Ranavalona I. An estimated sixteen million egg whites were mixed with lime to produce the whitewash for the compound's exterior and interior walls. Until French colonization in 1897 and at least as early as the reign of Radama I, foreigners and non-residents were not allowed to enter the royal city without authorization from the sovereign. The royal compound can be accessed through fourteen stone gateways in total. In addition to the inner seven gateways constructed by Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana in the early 18th century, there exists an exterior wall and second set of seven gates that were built before 1794 during the reign of Andrianampoinimerina, an act that symbolically marked the completion of the king's reunification of Imerina. The largest and principal gate is also the most well-preserved and is known as Ambatomitsangana ("standing stone"). Every morning and evening, a team of twenty soldiers would work together to roll into place an enormous stone disk, 4.5 meters in diameter and 30 cm thick, weighing about 12 tons, to open or seal off the doorway. This form of gate (vavahady in the Malagasy language), typical of most walled royal villages of Imerina built between 1525 and 1897, protected the villagers from marauders.The gateway is topped by an observation post. The second main entrance, called Andakana, is situated in the western wall. Its stone disk is also intact, and the path leading to it is paved with cut stones. Both Ambatomitsangana and Andakana were considered the gateways of the living; cadavers could not be transported through them, and passage was denied to anyone who had recently come into contact with the dead. A northern gateway called Miandrivahiny retains its well-preserved stone disk and was one of two entrances used whenever it was necessary to transport corpses in or out of the site; the second gateway for corpses was called Amboara. The stone disk at the southern Andranomatsatso gateway is also in good condition. This gateway, as well as Antsolatra and Ampitsaharana, were primarily used as lookout points. In the late 18th century Andrianampoinimerina replaced the Ambavahadiantandranomasina gate with another made of wood instead of stone and renamed it Ambavahadimasina. He and his successors shaved a small piece of wood from this lintel to light the sacred hearth fire that played a ritual role in the traditional circumcision ceremony. The red soil inside the gate and a series of wooden boards that paneled the approach to the gate were both considered sacred, and soldiers or others who anticipated a voyage away from Imerina would take handfuls of the soil and pieces of the wooden boards with them before departing in the belief that it would ensure their safe return. Several large stones are set in the ground near gates or at points outside the walls of Ambohimanga. Rulers would stand atop these stones, each identified by distinct names, to deliver speeches to the public. To the south were the stones called Ambatomasina and Ambatomenaloha, while Ambatorangotina was situated to the northwest. The latter stone was of particular importance: here the twelve leaders of the Ambatofotsy clan first declared their rejection of Andrianjafy's rule and their allegiance to his nephew, Andrianampoinimerina. Upon taking the throne, Andrianampoinimerina used this site to first declare new laws and decrees that would later be announced throughout the kingdom. This was also the main site at Ambohimanga for dispensing justice. After Andrianampoinimerina's succession to the throne, he sacrificed a black zebu whose mother had died, named Lemainty ("black one"), with repeated spear thrusts; after its death, the animal was cut into pieces and buried on the site. Lemainty was thereafter regularly invoked in royal speeches and decrees to allude to the fate of those who misguidedly sought to forsake the protection of their guardian, the sovereign, and his laws. Natural features Two sanctified, stone-covered springs nearby feed a stream that is believed to hold powers of purification and flows through the buffer zone surrounding the royal city. Their water was used to form the sacred lake of Amparihy, artificially created by at least the 18th century to provide water to fill two ceremonial pools constructed within the Ambohimanga compound. Oral history attributes the creation of the lake to Andrianampoinimerina. He reportedly engaged the labor of surrounding villagers to dig the lake at the site of the spring-fed swamp at the base of the hill. Before initially filling the lake with water carried in baked earthen jars from the sacred sites of Alasora, Antsahatsiroa and Anosibe, the lake's creation was sanctified by sacrificing zebu at the site; Andrianampoinimerina is also said to have thrown pearls and silver rings into the lake to inaugurate it. The forest at Ambohimanga benefited from customary protection and today represents the largest of the last remaining fragments of primary forest that formerly covered the highlands. It contains a representative assortment of native tree and plant species, in particular the endemic tree zahana (phyllarthron madagascariensis) and a variety of indigenous medicinal plants, many possessing traditional or spiritual importance. Examples include the native bush Anthocleista, traditionally believed to attract lightning and often planted in clusters beside villages; the Dracaena plant, traditionally used for hedges and planted at sacred sites in valleys or other natural features where people would come to communicate with ancestral spirits; and the Phyllarthron vine, which was planted in sacred thickets and harvested for its wood, which was traditionally used to fashion handles for diverse tools. The recent and growing presence of two foreign species (golden bamboo and lantana) threaten the integrity of the site's ecosystem. The local management authority is currently engaged in activities to eradicate the encroaching vegetation. Villages The villages surrounding the royal city date back to at least the 16th century, when the valleys around Ambohimanga hill were first transformed into rice paddies. Following the establishment of a royal city on the hilltop, successive rulers put in place regulations to govern the development of these villages and manage the subjects inhabiting them. Under Andrianampoinimerina, quotas established a set number of houses for members of influential clans in designated neighborhoods around the hill. This king also established rules to improve sanitation, including standards of cleanliness in domestic courtyards and the quarantine of people suffering from certain illnesses. Ranavalona I specified the physical characteristics of newly constructed houses, including their size and decorative features. In 1862 Radama II gave permission to a group of Christians to negotiate with Tsimahafotsy elders to construct the village's first church, but the Tsimahafotsy initially rejected the request. The king's successor, Queen Rasoherina, later requested the Christians not to gather indoors for services at Ambohimanga in honor of the sanctity of the ancestors. The court was Christianized by Ranavalona II in 1869, and a small chapel was built outside the city's eastern gate, but a permanent church at Ambohimanga was not built until 1883. Following a fire that occurred in 1870 during a visit of Ranavalona II to Ambohimanga, the queen decreed that houses in the village could be constructed in brick, a material previously reserved for tomb and wall construction. A series of ancestral fady (taboos) decreed by Andrianampoinimerina continue to apply in the village, and include prohibitions against corn, pumpkins, pigs, onions, hedgehogs and snails; the use of reeds for cooking; and the cutting or collecting of wood from the sacred forests on the hill. Compounds Each of the three compounds built within the rova by successive Merina rulers bears distinct architectural styles that reflect the dramatic changes experienced in Imerina over the reign of the 19th century Kingdom of Madagascar, which saw the arrival and rapid expansion of European influence at the royal court. The site contains a blend of traditional Merina and European styles and construction methods. The predominant architectural features and layout of the royal city follow the traditional model of rova construction that predominated in the Highlands from the 15th century. Following tradition, the homes of the living are constructed of wood and vegetation (living materials), while the tombs of the dead are built in stone (cold, inert material). The selection of specific wood and plant materials used in construction, each of which were imbued with distinct symbolic meaning, reflected traditional social norms and spiritual beliefs. Since 1996, many of the buildings have undergone restoration using traditional materials and construction practices appropriate to the era in which the buildings were first erected. Bevato compound The earliest of the royal compounds at Ambohimanga, Bevato ("many stones", also called Fidasiana-Bevato), was first established by Andriamborona, who built houses there for himself and his family in the late 17th century. It was inhabited by Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana from 1710 to 1730, during which time he expanded the compound on three occasions. The compound was originally surrounded by a low rock wall that was replaced under Andriambelomasina by a wooden palisade. Ranavalona I expanded the compound toward the west by relocating a small house containing the royal idol Rafantaka; further westward expansion was completed under Ranavalona II. Under Ranavalona I and her successors, Besakana served as the residence of the sovereign's relatives during their visits to Ambohimanga. All buildings on the compound were destroyed by the French, who constructed a school on the site (Ecole Officiel), later followed by the Ambohimanga town hall (Tranompokonolona), which was razed after Madagascar regained independence. Andriamborona, the first inhabitant of the hill, built a tomb for his mother in Bevato. When the king asked him to relocate, Andriamborona agreed to move both his houses and his mother's tomb. In acknowledgement of this consideration, the king marked the site of the tomb with a large stone and nearby he built the first royal residence at the rova as his home. The stone was thereafter considered sacred: Andrianampoinimerina was enthroned while standing atop this stone, and slaves were brought there to swear allegiance to their masters. It was used in the ritual sacrifice of volavita zebu during the Fandroana Malagasy New Year (a festival also known as the "royal bath"). Sovereigns traveling on horseback would stand upon it to aid in mounting or dismounting, and after the Christianization of the court under Ranavalona II in 1869, religious services took place here. The royal tombs were relocated to the Mahandrihono compound under Ranavalona I to expand the courtyard. According to the Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagasikara transcription of Merina oral histories, the first house built by Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana was called Bevato. It was located at the southern extreme of the compound and housed the king and his wives. Andriambelomasina built and occupied a second house, called Manatsaralehibe ("large and great"). This house was highly venerated by Andrianampoinimerina: escaped convicts who managed to reach the building were pardoned, and this was the only historic house in the compound that Ranavalona I did not remove. According to a second source, the two oldest houses in the compound were called Mahitsielafanjaka ("one who is upright rules long") and Manatsarakely ("small and great"). These were reportedly built by either Andriamborona or Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana in the early 18th century and were occupied by Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana and his 12 wives. Another account states that Manatsarakely was inhabited by Andrianjafy and later by the wives of Andrianampoinimerina; this house and Mahitsielafanjaka were renovated under Ranavalona I using wood from the region of Sihanaka to repanel the walls. Oral history credits Andrianampoinimerina with the construction of a second pair of houses in the compound. Beginning with his reign, Bevato became the second most important compound after Mahandrihono and enclosed four houses for royal wives and their servants. He also kept the royal idol Ifantaka here in a small house surrounded by a wooden palisade, which remained until the Christian convert Ranavalona II symbolically destroyed the royal idols in a bonfire in 1869. After removing the historic Tsararay in the Mahandrihono compound, Andrianampoinimerina built a new house with the same name in the Bevato compound. Tsararay was the residence of his wives when they would make the journey to Ambohimanga. The Bevato compound in Antananarivo was likewise reserved for the sovereign's wives under the reign of Andrianampoinimerina, but featured many more houses to enable each wife her own residence. When wives would travel to Ambohimanga they were obliged to share the houses, and those who preferred not to share typically stayed at the houses of villagers beyond the city walls. Ranavalona I planted a pair of royal fig trees at the far end of the Bevato compound and stood between them when addressing the public. These were later complemented by additional fig trees planted all around the courtyard by Ranavalona II and jacarandas planted by the French during the colonial period. The figs that shade the esplanade are believed to be imbued with hasina enhanced by the bones and skulls of sacrificed zebu and special marking stones that pilgrims from across Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion and Comoros have come to place around them. Pilgrims gather in this courtyard to celebrate the Fandroana ceremony, during which time the sovereign historically engaged in a ritual bath to wash away the sins of the nation and restore order and harmony to society. Today, pilgrims celebrate by offering sacrifices or prayers to honor, appease or commune with their ancestors. While Bevato was the location of larger gatherings and royal festivals, royal edicts and public judgments were handed down in the sacred courtyard (kianja) of Ambarangotina at the base of the hill leading to the Bevato compound. From the kianja sovereigns delivered kabary to announce new laws and decrees and administer justice. The sovereign would stand atop the kianja's vatomasina (a large granite boulder), which is surrounded by a brick half-wall and accessed by a set of steps. Mahandrihono compound The compound Mahandrihono ("knows how to wait") is the most expansive and well-preserved of the rova structures at Ambohimanga. It lies to the east of the central courtyard and sits at a higher elevation than Bevato, symbolically representing its greater political significance. It was first established by Andriambelomasina in the early 18th century during the reign of his father, Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana. Andriambelomasina surrounded the compound with a stone wall and within it built three houses as residences for his children—two twin houses (tranokambana) set side by side named Mahandry ("knows how to wait") and Tsararay ("has a good father"), and a third named Manandraimanjaka ("has a father who rules")—taking pains to illustrate through the names of these houses that he had no intention of usurping his father. When Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana eventually died, Andriambelomasina entombed him behind the twin houses. In Andrianampoinimerina's time this compound corresponded with the Mahandrihono compound at the rova in Antananarivo, being reserved for the king alone with his residence positioned beside the tombs of the ancestors. Andrianampoinimerina removed the twin houses to build his much larger Mahandrihono residence, which was decorated with silver birds and chains. He also expanded the compound and added a second enclosure of voafotsy wood (replaced annually) around the exterior of the stone walls. Mandraimanjaka was removed and in its place Andrianampoinimerina built a house with a small tower, which he named Manjakamiadana ("where it is good to rule"), designating it as the residence for the royal sampy (idol) called Imanjakatsiroa and the guardians assigned to protect it. Two other idols were kept nearby: Ifantaka, kept in a house in the Bevato compound, and Kelimalaza, guarded in its house at the Ambohimanga neighborhood of Ambohimirary. Under Radama I, the stone wall was reinforced with palisades that enclosed three houses, two of which were twin houses like those that Andriambelomasina had built. Ranavalona I enlarged the compound's courtyard and expanded Manjakamiadana. She constructed the stone walls that currently enclose the compound, as well as its two stone gateways. Ranavalona II re-added palisades to the compound's stone walls. She demolished Manjakamiadana and in its place constructed two hybrid Malagasy-European pavilions using wood from the historic and spiritually significant Masoandro house, which had been removed from the royal compound of Antananarivo by Ranavalona I. French general Joseph Gallieni used these European-influenced buildings as his summer residence in the early years of the French colonial period. In 2013, Andrianampoinimerina's original house, the reconstructed tombs, and the two royal pavilions are preserved in the compound, which also includes a watchtower, a pen for sacrificial zebu, and two pools constructed during the reign of Ranavalona I. Mahandrihono palace Among the buildings extant at the royal city during the time of King Andrianampoinimerina (1787–1810), only the original Mahandrihono palace remains intact. The Mahandrihono palace, which served as the home of Andrianampoinimerina before he relocated the political capital of Imerina to Antananarivo, has been preserved in its original state since construction, excepting the replacement of the original roof thatch with wooden shingles. The simple wooden structure is constructed in the traditional style of the aristocracy of Imerina: the walls are made of solid rosewood and topped by a peaked roof that is supported by 10-meter central rosewood pillar, much like the one that had originally supported the roof of the Rova Manjakamiadana of Antananarivo before it was destroyed by fire in 1995. The roof horns (tandrotrano) formed at each end of the roof peak by the crossing of the gable beams were originally silver-plated, and a silver eagle was affixed in the middle of the roof peak. Silver ornaments were also hung from the corners of the roof in the interior of the house. The building's name is inscribed on a white marble plaque affixed to an exterior wall near one of the building's two entrances. This house contains a number of items that belonged to Andrianampoinimerina, including weapons, drums, talismans and a bed raised on stilts. During Andrianampoinimerina's time, his wives were allowed to visit this building but not allowed to sleep there overnight. The site is highly sacred: Queen Rasoherina and her successors often sat on the stepping stone at its threshold to address their audience, and many pilgrims come here to connect with the spirits of Andrianampoinimerina and his ancestors. Visitors are asked to enter the house by stepping in with their right foot and exiting backwards, according to custom, in order to show respect for the spirit of Andrianampoinimerina. Royal pavilions Two ornate palace buildings were built of rosewood in this compound in 1871 on the former site of the Manjakamiadana royal idol residence. The first and larger of the two, Fandriampahalemana, features a room for receiving visitors and a large salon on the ground floor, and the bedrooms of Queen Ranavalona II and her serving lady on the second floor. The original European furnishings have been preserved, and the many gifts given by foreign dignitaries to the queen are on display here. The queen's bedroom is considered a sacred place and many visitors come on pilgrimage to pray to her spirit. The second, smaller pavilion is known as the Tranofitaratra ("house of glass") and was constructed in 1862 under the orders of Ranavalona II. The queen would gather her ministers for counsel in this building, and the large windows on all four sides of the building provided a view of the countryside below, enabling the queen to ascertain the security of her surroundings. The glass used in the construction was imported by an Englishman named Parrett in 1862. Royal tombs The compound originally housed twelve royal tombs constructed in the style of Merina nobles, with a stone crypt topped by a small, windowless wooden house (tranomasina) indicative of aristocratic rank. The peaks of these tombs were aligned from north to south. Sovereigns originally buried in the four largest tombs, situated to the north of the others, included Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana, Andriambelomasina, Andriampoinimerina, Ranavalona I and Ranavalona II, while the wives and relatives of sovereigns were buried in the smaller tombs. According to oral histories, at its 19th-century peak the Ambohimanga compound contained 12 tombs. The tranomasina were destroyed in March 1897 by French authorities who removed the bodies of the sovereigns interred here and relocated them to the royal tombs at the Rova of Antananarivo. The rich collection of funerary objects enclosed within the tombs was also removed for display in the Manjakamiadana palace on the Antananarivo rova grounds, which the Colonial Authority transformed into an ethnological museum. This was done in an effort to desanctify the city of Ambohimanga and break the spirit of the Menalamba resistance fighters who had been rebelling against French colonization for the past year, break popular belief in the power of the royal ancestors, and relegate Malagasy sovereignty under the Merina rulers to a relic of an unenlightened past. A French garrison was housed within the royal city and military buildings were erected on top of the stone tomb foundations. A kitchen and military canteen were built on top of the tombs of Andrianampoinimerina and Andriamasinavalona. By 1904, the military buildings were likewise demolished, leaving the stone tomb foundations intact. The desecration of the two most sacred sites of Merina royalty represented a calculated political move intended to establish the political and cultural superiority of the French colonial power. In the popular view, the link between Ambohimanga and the ancestors (Andrianampoinimerina in particular) rendered the royal city an even more potent symbol and source of legitimate power than the capital of Antananarivo, which was seen as having become a locus of corrupt politics and deviance from ancestral tradition. Believing that the presence of the ancestors within the tombs sanctified the earth upon which the rova was built, Menalamba resistance fighters would come to Ambohimanga to collect handfuls of dirt from the base of the tombs to carry with them in their offensives against the French; the French authority intended by the removal of the sovereigns' bodies from the tombs to undermine the fighters' confidence and solidarity. Although the tombs were desecrated and the Menalamba fighters were ultimately defeated, Ambohimanga has retained its sacred character. The royal tombs were reconstructed in 2008 by the government of Madagascar under the Ravalomanana administration. During the 1995 fire that destroyed the tombs and other structures at the Rova of Antananarivo, the lamba-wrapped remains of only one sovereign—Ranavalona III—could be saved from the flames. The queen has since been re-interred in the royal tombs at Ambohimanga. Other features Two large basins have been carved from the stone foundation of the compound. Both constructed under Ranavalona I, one was a pool built in honor of the wives of soldiers of the ennobled Hova Tsimahafotsy clan of Ambohimanga, while the other was built for the wives of members of the elite military corps known as "the 500". The pools were strictly forbidden for public bathing or drinking and contained fish from Lake Itasy and specially consecrated water. Ranavalona I and her successors Radama I and Rasoherina used the larger royal pool for ritual purification during the annual fandroana new year festival. Sacred zebu were kept in a sunken cattle pen (fahimasina) to the west of the kianja courtyard before sacrifice at royal events such as circumcisions and the fandroana festival. Only the two most highly prized types of zebu were kept here: black zebu with white markings on the forehead, called volavita, and entirely reddish-brown zebu, called malaza. In this way, the cattle were made to walk from the west toward the east (the direction of the ancestors and sanctity) before being slaughtered. Another large pen for sacrificial zebu was located to the northeast of this courtyard before being filled in by the French Colonial Authority in the late 19th century. Nanjakana compound The Nanjakana compound is the most highly elevated of the three compounds in the rova at Ambohimanga. Located to the northeast of Mahandrinoro, this compound is believed to have been first constructed by Andrianjafy in the late eighteenth century. To the north of the compound is a stone esplanade that offers a clear view of the surrounding areas where Andrianampoinimerina reportedly came to reflect on his military strategy for bringing Imerina under his control. During the 1861 funeral of Queen Ranavalona I held in the Nanjakana compound, a spark accidentally ignited a nearby barrel of gunpowder destined for use in the ceremony, causing an explosion and fire that killed a number of bystanders and destroyed three of the compound's historic royal residences. During the reign of Andrianampoinimerina, Nanjakana enclosed five houses that served as residences for his children. The house called Nanjakana ("place of royalty") was built by Andriambelomasina and renovated by Andrianampoinimerina, who moved it into the compound and lived in it before succeeding to the throne. He renovated it for use by his son, Radama I, who slept here during visits to Ambohimanga after succeeding his father as King of Madagascar. According to oral history, a large stone near the Nanjakana house was used as a seat by Andriambelomasina and Andrianampoinimerina when reflecting on governance decisions. Andrianampoinimerina added a two-story house called Manambitana ("favored by fate") that was the largest of all the traditional houses at Ambohimanga. The king's children slept on the upper floor during visits to the royal city, while the ground floor housed such royal property as palanquins and storage chests. This house was destroyed in the 1861 fire and was reconstructed under Rasoherina, who used it as a residence. After removing the historic Manandraimanjaka house from the Mahandrihono compound, Andrianampoinimerina built a new house with the same name in the Nanjakana compound. This was likewise destroyed in the 1861 fire, and was later rebuilt by Ranavalona II. Also destroyed in the fire was a house called Fohiloha ("short") that Ranavalona I had relocated from the royal compound in Antananarivo to the Nanjakana compound at Ambohimanga in 1845; Fohiloha was later rebuilt by Rasoherina. Other buildings that Ranavalona I moved from the rova at Antananarivo to the Nanjakana compound at Ambohimanga included Kelisoa ("beautiful little one") and Manantsara. Conservation and management A popular tourist destination, Ambohimanga received 97,847 visitors in 2011. Visitors to the World Heritage Site are charged a fee (10,000 ariary for foreigners and 400 ariary for locals), which is largely used to pay for the preservation of the site. The commune of Ambohimanga Rova is a small but thriving rural village that lives on agriculture and services provided to tourists and pilgrims who visit the royal city. Multilingual tour guides can be hired at the site to provide detailed descriptions of its features and history. Photographs are permitted outdoors but prohibited inside the historic buildings. Tourism has been negatively affected at the site as a consequence of the 2009 Malagasy political crisis; management of the site has also been hampered by political instability and reduced revenues since 2009. The extent of the area currently classified a World Heritage Site was under restricted access and protection during the imperial era and has been under some form of legal recognition and protection since French colonization, having been incorporated into the Colony Domains Service in 1897 and the National Inventory in 1939. It has since benefited from legal municipal protection and two national laws (passed in 1982 and 1983) protecting sites of historical and national interest. The Office of the Cultural Site of Ambohimanga (OSCAR), created by the Ministry of Culture, has managed the site and its entrance fees and state subventions since 2006, when a five-year management plan was developed for implementation by the group's 30 employees. These management and conservation activities are conducted in cooperation with the local population within the Rural Commune of Ambohimanga Rova. The Village Committee, comprising representatives of all the adjacent quarters and the local community, are also involved in the protection of the site. Conservation of Ambohimanga is further supported by a private association, Mamelomaso, which has also been active in campaigning for awareness and protection of cultural heritage and has contributed to the preservation of numerous other sites of cultural and historic significance in the highlands. In addition to helping replant the Ambohimanga woodlands, Mamelomaso has contributed to the restoration of the stones around the source of the spring, erected informational plaques around the hill, and paved a number of footpaths within the site. UNESCO contributed special financial support to restore historic structures at Ambohimanga threatened by exceptionally heavy rainfall and landslides. Ambohimanga has been viewed by many Merina since the late 19th century as the embodiment of an ideal social order blessed by the ancestors. The significance attached to the site in Imerina increased further when its sister rova in Antananarivo was destroyed by fire in 1995, contributing to a sense that Ambohimanga was the last remaining physical link to this sanctified past. A small intellectual elite among the Tsimahafotsy clan of Ambohimanga and the nobles (andriana) believe that only Ambohimanga possesses the ancestral benediction (hasina) to serve as the national capital and imbue national leaders with the legitimacy and wisdom needed to rightly govern the country. The descendants of the andriana have consequently been key in promoting and protecting Ambohimanga, such as by playing a significant role in successfully lobbying UNESCO to list Ambohimanga as a World Heritage Site. Despite these measures, the conservation of Ambohimanga is challenged by human and natural factors. The rapidly growing but relatively impoverished population around Ambohimanga occasionally engages in illegal harvesting of plants and trees from the surrounding forests, threatening the integrity of the natural environment. The forests and wooden structures on the site are also susceptible to fire. Following the 1995 destruction by fire of Ambohimanga's sister rova at Antananarivo, widely believed to have been a politically motivated arson, rumors have circulated that Ambohimanga could suffer a similar fate. Cyclone Giovanna, which passed over Madagascar in February 2012, caused considerable damage at the site. The wooden shingles of Andrianampoinimerina's house were torn off by the wind, exposing the historic objects inside to damage from the elements. The wooden fence surrounding the Mahandrihono compound was also badly damaged. Worst affected are the plants and trees at the site. Large swaths of endemic medicinal plants and trees in the forest were destroyed. Many of the sacred trees shading the royal city were uprooted, including sacred fig trees around the Fidasiana courtyard and inside the zebu pen. Two of the uprooted trees were of particular symbolic significance, having served as physical anchors for certain royal rituals since the 17th century. Shortly after the storm, OSCAR unveiled plans to plant a substitute fig for the uprooted one that had shaded the sacred stone in the Fidasiana courtyard. Most of the historic jacarandas planted over a century ago under French colonial rule were also destroyed. The extent of damage to the site has prompted traditionalists to demand renewed respect for the sanctity of the site by requesting adherence to traditional taboos put in place by Merina monarchs. These include banning pigs at the site, as well as the consumption of pork, tobacco, alcohol and cannabis on the grounds of the royal city. See also List of World Heritage Sites in Madagascar Notes References External links UNESCO World Heritage Site information Category:Antananarivo Province Category:Archaeological sites in Madagascar Category:History of Madagascar Category:World Heritage Sites in Madagascar Category:Hills of Africa Category:Landforms of Madagascar | Mid | [
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Corneal mosaic patterns--morphology and epidemiology. The corneas of 1485 consecutive patients were examined for the presence of a mosaic pattern. One hundred and ninety-nine peripheral mosaic patterns, ten posterior crocodile shagreens and two cloudy dystrophies were found. Peripheral mosaic pattern is age related and distinct from corneal arcus. Posterior crocodile shagreen is also age related and in one case was found to be unilateral. The morphology of the mosaic patterns is discussed. | High | [
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Shoplifting suspects sought in Stafford A shoplifting spree plaguing Stafford Township's Target store brings investigators to a group of suspects. If they, or their car, look familliar, police want to hear from you. In a Facebook posting, police offered no indication of when the incidents were reported, the number of instances, the types and estimated value of goods allegedly taken, of how they have turned their focus to the individuals and auto excerpted from surveillance footage. Anyone with information that can advance the investigation is urged to e-mail [email protected]. | Low | [
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x? False Let m = -0.247 - 126.753. Let n = -136 - m. Is 5/2 at most as big as n? False Let z = 3 + -4.2. Let h = 0.2 + z. Let i = 55897 - 55899.2. Which is smaller: i or h? i Let t = -96 + 54. Let x = t + 32. Is -23 > x? False Let n = 31.77 + -36.77. Which is smaller: n or 357? n Let s(q) = -9*q + 29. Let p be s(5). Let l be (-6)/p - 112/128. Suppose -2*x - x - 80 = h, 3*h - 60 = 3*x. Is l smaller than x? False Let k(f) = 844*f + 2. Let a be k(-2). Let r = a + 18588/11. Suppose -13*x + 360 = 59*x. Which is smaller: x or r? r Let d(s) = 67*s**3 + 40*s**2 + 9*s + 17. Let k be d(7). Are 25020 and k unequal? True Suppose -247 = 2*z + 1385. Let d be z - (-3 - 20/(-4)). Let y be d/(-522) - 14/63 - 1. Which is greater: -1 or y? y Let l = -3.44 + 3. Let k = -0.33 - l. Let f = 1.998 - -0.002. Which is bigger: k or f? f Let f(g) = 6*g**2 - 3*g - 2. Let z be 33/(-27) - 16/(-72). Let y be f(z). Are y and 6 equal? False Let i = 762 + -754.87. Let a = -7.33 + i. Which is smaller: a or 0.16? a Let z(a) = -32*a - a**3 + 2*a + 9*a + 5*a - 15*a**2. Let o be z(-14). Are -0.06 and o equal? False Let x be 43/(-175) + 28/(-700). Which is greater: 1379 or x? 1379 Let r be 3573/9 - (-6 - -6). Suppose -8*n - 1191 = -11*n. Is r less than n? False Let n = 52 + -198. Let a be n/465 - (40/24 + -2). Which is bigger: 0 or a? a Let v = -3/2693 - -8202/110413. Which is bigger: -2 or v? v Let m be -4 + -5 + 2271/207. Let r = m - 30/23. Is r >= 64? False Suppose 0 = -13*o + 14*o - 9*y - 17, 3*o = -4*y - 11. Is o equal to 3/1663? False Let h = -874774096/1950559 - 15/102661. Let g = -449 - h. Which is greater: 0.2 or g? 0.2 Let l = -115.4 + 84. Let i = l - -32. Let x = i - 1. Is -3 greater than x? False Let l(x) = x**2 + 5*x - 7. Suppose 2*g + 18 = -g. Let y be l(g). Let s = 9/10 + -79/110. Which is smaller: y or s? y Let n = 1928 + -1928. Does -3/955 = n? False Let f = 0.271 + -131.871. Let k = f + 131. Which is bigger: k or -4/17? -4/17 Suppose 3*y - 11*y = -448. Suppose 4*n = 3*n + y. Let u = n + -56. Do u and 0.36 have different values? True Suppose 5*s + 11*t = 16*t - 125, -2*t = -5*s - 113. Is s > -77? True Let v be 28/2706*9*10/(-75). Let g = v - -2/41. Which is smaller: -0.3 or g? -0.3 Let m = -125 - -37. Let t = -68 - m. Which is greater: t or -3/4? t Let z = -4.911 - -1.911. Let k(i) = 5*i - 2. Let p be k(-2). Is z less than or equal to p? False Let f = -220 + 281. Suppose -4*i - 4*z = -3*i + f, 305 = -5*i - 2*z. Is i greater than -61? False Suppose 0*i = i. Let q = 588 + -585. Suppose -q*z - 1 = -13, -3*u + 2*z + 46 = i. Which is greater: u or 16? u Let i(n) be the third derivative of 0 - 2*n**3 + 8*n**2 + 0*n + 1/12*n**4. Let p be i(-5). Which is greater: p or -21? -21 Let k be 8/(-40)*0/(-2). Suppose 2*w - 4*y - 415 + 43 = 0, 3*y = k. Which is greater: w or 187? 187 Let u be 6 + -17 + 7 - -552. Let o = 141 - u. Is -408 greater than or equal to o? False Suppose -283 - 82 = -4*u + 227. Which is bigger: 150 or u? 150 Suppose 0 = 4*q + 3*q - 1043. Which is bigger: q or 152? 152 Let i = -204.43 - -138.43. Which is smaller: 9 or i? i Let h be -37 + 58 + 0*(-2)/4. Let w be ((-180)/(-105))/((-39)/h + 2). Which is bigger: 10 or w? w Let k be (-2)/(-15) - 10/75. Let d = 29/11 - 743/286. Which is greater: d or k? d Let d = -15 - -38. Let l = -161811 + 161808. Which is greater: l or d? d Let h be (-2 + 1)/(-2 - -3). Let d be (0 + -1)/h + 2496/192. Which is bigger: 10 or d? d Let n = -1 + 5. Suppose -27*p + 103 = 49. Let s be ((-3)/p)/((-3)/n). Is s at most -1? False Let a(f) = -41*f + 1721. Let t be a(42). Is t smaller than 60/157? True Let w = 116 - 76. Let m be (w/(-24))/(-2 + 5/3). Suppose 4*x + 16 = 3*r - 1, -m*x = 2*r + 4. Which is bigger: x or 5? 5 Let t = 0.11387 - 2458.11387. Which is smaller: t or -9? t Let u = 13 + -7. Suppose 0 = 4*v - 3*h + 3745, 610 + 336 = -v + 4*h. Let b = -931 - v. Is b > u? False Let o = 0.038 - 0.04. Let s = 1.4954 - 0.0974. Let q = o - s. Are 0.2 and q equal? False Let u = 349 - 317. Suppose 6*r - 8 + u = 0. Is r greater than -4? False Let c = 1904.9 + -1829. Let l = 363.9 - c. Which is greater: l or -0.1? l Let n = 240.86 + -186.8. Let x = -54 + n. Which is smaller: x or 1.3? x Let k = -3441/544 + 61/34. Is -5 at most as big as k? True Let h = 28 - 18. Let n(f) = f**2 - 20*f - 249. Suppose -11*k + 13*k = 3*c + 52, 2*c - 4 = 0. Let p be n(k). Is p smaller than h? False Let i be 12/(-2) + (484 - 479). Which is smaller: i or 12/1531? i Let z be (-86)/645 + 34/(-20) + (-2)/12. Is z at least -10? True Suppose 7*q + 2*y - 42 = 3*q, 6 = 2*q - 2*y. Let j be (q/(-24))/(3/18) - -3. Let x be (-216)/160*(-4)/6. Is x at most j? True Suppose -v + 5*u + 4 = 0, 114 - 4 = 5*v + 5*u. Let l = v + -14. Suppose -h + 2*q + 7 = 2, 25 = l*h - 3*q. Which is smaller: -1 or h? -1 Suppose 668*q = 572*q + 1458281 + 175831. Which is bigger: 17020 or q? q Let f(v) be the first derivative of v**4/4 + 16*v**3/3 - 15*v**2/2 + 30*v + 27. Let w be f(-17). Which is bigger: -7 or w? w Suppose 0 = -24*a + 1084 - 158308. Do 1/4 and a have different values? True Let o = 72.7 - 99. Let y = -101.3 - o. Which is smaller: y or -2? y Suppose 74 = 4*t - 22. Suppose 0*h = -7*h. Let a(y) = y**3 - 2*y**2 - 2*y + 25. Let q be a(h). Is t not equal to q? True Let u be ((-2)/(-90))/(2/5). Let y(i) = -i**2 - 50*i - 504. Let c be y(-36). Is c at least as big as u? False Let o = 8100 + 851. Is o at least as big as 8951? True Let s be 1*10/2 + -1. Let y be (-224)/(-21) - 3/(18/s). Let m be (2 + (-16)/10)*y/(-422). Which is greater: m or 0? 0 Suppose 0 = 8*v - 11*v - 63. Let o(c) = -3 + 44*c**2 - 52*c**2 - 2 - 7 - 6*c - c**3. Let w be o(-7). Is v at most w? True Let x(w) = -w**3 + 5*w**2 + 13*w + 16. Let m be x(7). Suppose 8*n - 5*z + 61 = m*n, -n - 3*z + 69 = 0. Let h = -73 + n. Is h less than 8? False Let q = 2287 + -2370. Is -84 at least q? False Let h = 4289 - 784889/183. Suppose -2 = -j + 5*v, j + v = -0*v + 14. Let f = 12 - j. Which is greater: f or h? f Let x = 1578 + -1579. Which is smaller: x or -6/109? x Let k = -251/9 + 904/45. Suppose 2*n = 2*m + 24, 31 = -4*m + 3*n - 13. Is k > m? True Suppose 32 = 4*n + 4*f, 0*f = -2*n + 2*f. Suppose -231 = -n*k + 89. Is 80 at most as big as k? True Let i = 1727 + 2130. Which is greater: 3853 or i? i Let x = 32143 - 55963. Is -23821 < x? True Let h(q) = -5*q**3 + 2*q**2 - 1. Let y be h(-1). Let x(b) = -b**3 + 8*b**2 - 8*b - 6. Let d be x(y). Let m(a) = 8*a + 140. Let l be m(-15). Is l at least d? True Let m = 11040 + -11023. Which is smaller: -7 or m? -7 Let u = -22 - -257. Let n = u - 232. Which is smaller: -5.9 or n? -5.9 Let u = -1078/3 + 363. Let o = -737 + 756. Suppose -92 = -37*x + o. Is x < u? True Let q = -33770 + 482303143/14282. Which is smaller: q or 1? q Suppose 1185*a + 836 = 1109*a. Let c be (-2)/9 - (-212)/(-18). Which is greater: c or a? a Let p = 0.06 + -0.16. Let g be ((-912)/40)/(3/(-10)). Which is smaller: g or p? p Suppose -43*k + 55*k + 12 = 0. Is k at most -1362? False Let p = 815176/3 - 275218. Let n = p + 3440. Which is smaller: n or -53? -53 Let r = -1526/75 + 244529/300. Which is smaller: r or 795? r Let w(c) = c**3 - 5*c**2 - c + 53. Let h be w(6). Let g be 0 + 9 - (26 + h). Is -100 at most g? True Let i = 286 - -157.7. Let l = i + -444. Let w be 4 + -4 + (-2)/(-5). Which is greater: w or l? w Let k = 55425/14 - 3961. Let f = k + 73/42. Which is smaller: f or -0.58? -0.58 Suppose -5*k = -q - 13, -2*k + 14 - 4 = -2*q. Suppose 2*i - 3*z + 207 = 8*i, 0 = 3*i + 5*z - 121. Suppose 4*l - 36 = -i. Which is greater: q or l? l Suppose -15*b + 21*b = 62*b + 1288. Let o be 0 + 0/(-2) + 66. Suppose 0 = 3*a - 4*n + 6*n + o, 0 = 3*a - 5*n + 66. Is b less than a? True Let p = -3 + 7. Let q = -16 + 26. Suppose 27 = 7*n - q*n. Is n at most as big as p? True Let q(m) = m**3 - 11*m**2 - 2*m + 52. Let a be q(11). Let l be 2238/a - 15/25. Which is smaller: 73 or l? 73 Let g = 134.03877 - 0.03877. Let d = -72 + 267. Let j = d - g. Which is smaller: j or -2/5? -2/5 Suppose -t + 1 = -1. Suppose 0 = -t*z - 2*z. Let v = 779/6 - 22603/174. Is z greater than v? True Suppose -5*a = -15*a + 100. Let w(b) = 0 + 1 + 0*b**2 + b**2 - a*b + 2*b. Let l be w(6). Is l at most as big as -98/9? True Let u be 2/3*(1 + 5). Let m be (2/u)/(7/4). Let g = -5.2 - | Low | [
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Background {#Sec1} ========== Cancer is one of the leading reasons of death that results in More than one-fourth of the world's deaths \[[@CR1]\]. The management of disseminated cancer have lately been done by molecular targeting strategies, based on the examinations of the oncogenes and tumor suppressors contributed in the development of human cancers \[[@CR2]\]. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are an imperative novel class of targeted therapy which interfere with specific cell signalling pathways and hence permit target specific therapy for selected malignancies \[[@CR3]\]. VNT (Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}) is a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR) inhibitor \[[@CR4]\]. VEGFR has gained importance as pharmacologic targets as a Tyrosine kinase receptors \[[@CR5]\]. In 2011, VNT (Caprelsa^®^ tablets; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP) was approved by the USFDA for management of various types of medullary thyroid cancer. It was the first drug approved for this case. Its toxicity profile includes prolongation of the QT interval and sudden death \[[@CR6]\].Fig. 1Chemical structure of Vandetanib and Ponatinib (IS) The goal of our work is to study the metabolic stability and clearance of VNT, and accordingly a new LC--MS/MS method was established. Examining the literature showed that there were three reported methods to quantify VNT in human plasma by LC--ESI--MS/MS \[[@CR7]\], HPLC--UV \[[@CR8]\] and spectrofluorometry. In the LC--ESI--MS/MS method, the linearity was 1.0--3000 ng/mL but the recovery % of VNT was around 80%. In the HPLC--UV method, the linearity range was from 80 to 4000 ng/mL. In the third one, the linearity was ranged from 20 to 600 ng/mL \[[@CR9]\]. No publication was reported about quantification of VNT in RLMs matrix or the study of VNT metabolic stability. Therefore, these results motivated us for development of an efficient and validated method for estimation of VNT level with high accuracy and precision. Accordingly, an LC--MS/MS technique was adopted for measurement of VNT concentration in human plasma and RLMs matrices. The current procedure gave higher recovery than the reported LC--MS/MS (around 99% compared with 80% for the reported one), additionally, our method sensitivity is higher than the other two reported methods as our linearity range was 5--500 ng/mL. The proposed method is applied for assessing the metabolic stability of in RLMs depending on the rate of disappearance of the drug during its incubation with RLMs. In vitro half-life (t~1/2~) and intrinsic clearance (CL~int~) were utilized for expressing of metabolic stability and hence hepatic clearance (CL~H~), bioavailability and in vivo t~1/2~ can be calculated. If a test compound is rapidly metabolized, its in vivo bioavailability will probably be low \[[@CR10]\]. Experimental {#Sec2} ============ Chemicals and reagents {#Sec3} ---------------------- All solvents were of HPLC grade and reference powders were of analytical grade. Vandetanib and ponatinib were procured from LC Laboratories (Woburn, MA, USA). Formic acid, ammonium formate, and ACN were procured from Sigma-Aldrich (West Chester, PA, USA). HPLC water grade was generated by in house Milli-Q plus purification system (Millipore, Waters, USA). Preparation of RLMs was done in house using Sprague Dawely rats \[[@CR11]\]. Human plasma was kindly gifted by King Khalid University Hospital (Riyadh, KSA). After informed consent was gotten, fasting blood samples were taken and plasma was separated and stored at −70 °C. Chromatographic conditions {#Sec4} -------------------------- An Agilent 6410 LC--MS/MS (Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA, USA) was utilized for separation of VNT (analyte) and IS. HPLC was Agilent 1200 LC system. Mass analyzer was Agilent 6410 triple quadrupole (QqQ MS) with an ESI interface. Separation of VNT and IS was done using C~18~ column (Agilent eclipse plus) with 50 mm length, 2.1 mm internal diameter and 1.8 μm particle size. Temperature of the column was adjusted at 22 ± 1 °C. All chromatographic parameters were adjusted to attain the best resolution in a short time. A pH value was adjusted at 4.1 as above this value a remarked increase in retention time and a tailing were observed. The ratio of ACN to aqueous phase was adjusted to 1: 1, as increasing ACN led to bad separation and overlapped peaks. On contrary, decreasing ACN percent lead to unnecessary delayed retention time. Different columns such as Hilic column were tested and the cited analytes were not retained. The best results were accomplished using C~18~ column and isocratic mobile phase composed of binary system of 10 mM ammonium formate (*p*H: 4.1) and acetonitrile (ACN) in a ratio of 1:1. The flow rate was set at 0.25 mL/min and total run time was 4 min with injection volume of 5 µL. Mass parameters were optimized for VNT and IS. Ions were generated in positive ESI source, analyzed by 6410 QqQ mass spectrometer and detected by mass detector. Nitrogen gas was utilized for drying (flow rate = 11 L/min) and nitrogen of high purity was used as a collision gas in the collision cell (pressure = 50 psi). Source temperature and capillary voltage were kept at 350 °C and 4000 V, respectively. Mass Hunter software was utilized for data acquisition. Quantitation was accomplished using multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) for the transition 475→112 in case of VNT, and for transitions 533→433 and 533→260 in case of IS. Fragmentor voltage was adjusted at 145 V with collision energy of 15 eV for VNT and 140 and 145 V with collision energy of 16, 15 eV for IS. Preparation of standard solutions {#Sec5} --------------------------------- One mg/mL stock solution of VNT was prepared in DMSO then diluted 10-folds with the mobile phase to give working solution 1 (WK1, 100 µg/mL). One mL of WK1 was diluted 10-folds with mobile phase to give working solution 2 (WK2, 10 µg/mL). Stock solution (100 µg/mL) of IS was prepared in DMSO then 200 µL of this solution was diluted to 10 mL with the mobile phase to give working solution 3 (WK3, 2 µg/mL). Preparation of RLMs matrix {#Sec6} -------------------------- Four rats (Sprague--dawley) were supplied by the experimental animal care center at college of pharmacy, King Saud University (Riyadh, KSA). The animal experimental protocol was approved by the University's Ethics Review Committee. First, cervical dislocation of the rats was done then an incision was made in the peritoneal cavity. The rats' livers were then removed and transferred to clean beaker and weighed. Ice-cold KCl/sucrose buffer (containing 0.04 M KH~2~PO~4~/NaH~2~PO~4~, 0.25 M sucrose, 0.15 M KCl, pH 7.4) was added to the rat liver in a ratio of 1/4 W/V. Liver was cut to small pieces then homogenized using OMNI homogenizer. Two steps of centrifugation were done for the liver homogenate. The first step of centrifugation was done at 9000*g* for 25 min at 4 °C to get S9 which is the supernatant. The second step for centrifugation was done for the supernatant at a 100,000*g* for 65 min. Then, the supernatant was removed while pellets (RLMs) were suspended in KCl/sucrose buffer. Storing of RLMs suspension was done in a deep freezer at −76 °C. Lowry method \[[@CR12]\] was adopted for protein content determination of RLMs. Sample preparation and generation of the calibration curve {#Sec7} ---------------------------------------------------------- Human plasma or RLMs matrix was spiked with proper volumes of VNT WK2 (10 µg/mL) to produce two sets of twelve concentrations: 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 80, 100, 150, 300, 400 and 500 ng/mL. Three concentrations (20, 150 and 400 ng/mL) were selected as low quality control (LQC), medium quality control (MQC) and high quality control (HQC), respectively. One mL of 0.1 M NaOH/glycine buffer (pH 9.5) was added to all samples followed by vortexing for 30 s then 2 mL of ACN was added for protein precipitation. Centrifugation at 14,000 rpm (12 min at 4 °C) was done to get rid of precipitated proteins. Filtration of the supernatants was done through 0.22 µm syringe filter. IS (50 µL) was added to 1 mL of the filtered standards and 5 µL were injected into LC--MS/MS. The same procedure was applied to prepare blank using mobile phase instead to confirm the absence of any interference at the retention time of VNT and IS. Two Calibration curve (5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 80, 100, 150, 300, 400 and 500 ng/mL) were created for spiked human plasma and RLMs samples by drawing the peak area ratio of VNT to IS (*y* axis) versus VNT concentrations (*x* axis). Different parameters including slope, intercept, and r^2^ values were computed for expressing linear regression. Method validation {#Sec8} ----------------- Validation of the analytical method was done following the general recommendations of International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) \[[@CR13]\] and the guidelines for analytical procedures and methods validation by the FDA \[[@CR14]\]. Specificity {#Sec9} ----------- To study the specificity of the suggested analytical method, six separate blank RLMs and human plasma matrices samples were treated with the proposed extraction technique. Those samples were then analyzed for any interfering peaks at retention time of VNT or IS and comparing the chromatogram with VNT and IS spiked human plasma and RLMs matrices samples. MRM mode in the mass analyzer was used to minimize carryover effects. Linearity and sensitivity {#Sec10} ------------------------- Six various calibration curves in each matrix were established to calculate linearity and sensitivity of the suggested method. Calibration samples were freshly prepared daily at twelve concentration levels ranging from 5 to 500 ng/mL. Analysis of results were done using statistical least square method. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were computed following the ICH guidelines \[[@CR13]\]. Precision and accuracy {#Sec11} ---------------------- Intra-day precision and accuracy were calculated by the analysis of different matrices samples spiked with VNT and QC levels in 1 day. Additionally, inter-day measurements were done on three consecutive days. Percentages accuracy (100---% RE) and percentages relative standard deviation (% RSD) were used to express accuracy and precision of the established methods, respectively. Assay recovery {#Sec12} -------------- Extraction recovery of VNT was evaluated by comparing the mean peak area of VNT in the QC samples with the mean peak area of VNT extracted from blank plasma or blank RLM that spiked with correspondent VNT reference solutions (n = 5). Stability {#Sec13} --------- For determination of VNT stability in different matrices, analysis of six replicates of QC samples were performed under various storage conditions. Accuracy and precision values were computed using data generated form fresh prepared human plasma and RLMs calibration curves were u. VNT QC samples were kept at room temperature for 8 h to estimate VNT bench-top stability. Three freeze--thaw cycles were done to determine VNT stability of spiked QC samples after freezing them at −76 °C and thawing them at room temperature. Additionally, determination of VNT stability was achieved by analyzing the spiked QC samples after keeping them at 4 °C for 1 day and after their storage at −20 °C for 30 days. Metabolic stability of VNT {#Sec14} -------------------------- The decrease in VNT concentration after incubation with RLMs matrix was utilized to study the metabolic stability of VNT. Incubations of 1 µM VNT with 1 mg/mL microsomal proteins were done in triplicates. Pre incubation for all samples was done for 10 min to attain 37 °C. The metabolic reaction was initiated by adding 1 mM NADPH in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) containing 3.3 mM MgCl~2~ and terminated by adding 2 mL of ACN at time intervals of 0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, 50, 70, 90 and 120 min. The extraction of VNT was done following the same sample preparation procedure as above. Concentrations of VNT in RLMs matrix were computed from the regression equation of freshly prepared calibration curve of VNT. Results and discussion {#Sec15} ====================== Chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry {#Sec16} ------------------------------------------------ Chromatographic and mass spectrometric parameters were adjusted to attain the most stable mass response and increase the resolution and sensitivity. *p*H of solvent A (aqueous portion) enhanced VNT ionization and helped in the adjustment of peak shape. Different percentages of the mobile phase were examined. Binary isocratic mobile phase system was used for separation of VNT and IS. System composition was ACN and 10 mM ammonium formate buffer (pH \~4.1 adjusted by addition of formic acid) in a ratio of 1:1. VNT and IS were eluted at retention times of 1.3 and 2.5 min, respectively. MRM mode was utilized in our work to remove any probable interference from matrices components and elevate the method sensitivity. MS scan spectra of VNT and IS consisted mainly of a single molecular ion (MI) at m/z 475 (VNT) and at m/z 533 (IS). Fragmentation of VNT MI at m/z 475 gave one product ion at m/z 112. Similarly, fragmentation of IS MI at m/z 533 gave product ions at m/z 433 and 260. Those ions were chosen for the MRM mode for VNT and IS in the quantification method (Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}).Fig. 2MRM mass spectra of (**a**) VNT and (**b**) IS The separation of VNT and IS was attained in 4 min. VNT and IS peaks were well separated, with no carryover in any blank matrix (RLMs or plasma) sample or VNT-free standard (blank + internal standard). Figure [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"} showed overlayed MRM chromatograms of calibration standard solutions.Fig. 3Overlayed TIC chromatograms of MRM of VNT (5--500 ng/mL) and IS (50 ng/mL) Method validation {#Sec17} ================= Specificity {#Sec18} ----------- The established LC--MS/MS method was specific as there were no interference from constituents of both matrices at the elution time of VNT and/or IS (Figs. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}, [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}). No carry over effect of analytes was noticed in the MS detector. VNT and IS chromatographic peaks were well separated under the adjusted conditions with retention times of 1.3 and 2.5 min, respectively.Fig. 4Overlayed MRM chromatogram of VNT LQC in plasma and blank plasma showing no interference from plasma matrix Fig. 5Overlayed MRM chromatogram of VNT LQC in RLMs and blank RLMs showing no interference from RLMs matrix Linearity and sensitivity {#Sec19} ------------------------- The established LC--MS/MS was rugged and sensitive for VNT analysis in human plasma and RLMs matrices. The least-square method was utilized for analyzing the linear regression results. Linearity range was 5--500 ng/mL, and the correlation coefficients (r^2^) ≥ 0.9996 in human plasma and RLMs matrices. The regression equations of calibration curves of VNT in human plasma and RLMs were y = 2.726x + 2.227 and y = 2.747x + 2.133, respectively. LOD and LOQ were equal to 2.48 and 7.52 ng/mL, and 2.14 and 6.49 ng/mL in human plasma and RLMS matrices, respectively. The RSD values of each concentration point (six repeats) did not exceed 6.4 and 3.99% in human plasma and RLMs matrices, respectively. Calibration and QC samples of VNT in both matrices (twelve points) were back-calculated to ensure the best performance of the developed method. The precision and accuracy were 1.07--4.82% and 98.9 ± 2.54%, in human plasma matrix, respectively (Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}), while were ranged from 0.28 to 4.32% and 99.4 ± 2.56% in RLMs matrix, respectively. The mean recoveries percent of VNT were 98.9 ± 2.5% and 99.12 ± 4.48% in human plasma and RLMs matrices, respectively.Table 1Data of back-calculated VNT concentration of the calibration standards from human plasma and RLMs matricesNominal concentration (ng/mL)Human plasmaRLMsMean^a^ ± SDPrecision (% RSD)% AccuracyMean^a^ ± SDPrecision (% RSD)% Accuracy54.77 ± 0.193.8995.404.79 ± 0.173.4595.80109.49 ± 0.252.6694.909.54 ± 0.192.0295.402019.36 ± 0.432.2296.8019.47 ± 0.311.6197.353029.27 ± 0.481.6397.5729.43 ± 0.592.0198.104041.00 ± 1.263.06102.5041.22 ± 1.182.85103.055051.05 ± 2.464.82102.1051.31 ± 2.224.32102.628079.32 ± 1.612.0399.1579.74 ± 1.211.5299.68100100.92 ± 1.321.31100.92101.46 ± 0.910.90101.46150150.78 ± 1.290.86100.52151.59 ± 0.500.33101.06300290.64 ± 3.311.1496.88292.22 ± 3.991.3797.41400400.38 ± 6.401.60100.10402.51 ± 3.470.86100.63500499.05 ± 5.341.0799.81501.72 ± 1.410.28100.34^a^Average of six determinations Precision and accuracy {#Sec20} ---------------------- Reproducibility was confirmed by intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy at QC concentrations. Accuracy and precision values lied into the allowed range following ICH guidelines \[[@CR15], [@CR16]\] as seen in Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}.Table 2Intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy of the proposed methodsLQC (20 ng/mL)MQC (150 ng/mL)HQC (400 ng/mL)Intra-day assay^a^Inter-day assay^b^Intra-day assayInter-day assayIntra-day assayInter-day assayHuman plasma matrix Mean19.0119.22148.71148.59397.28396.68 Standard deviation (SD)0.500.451.541.552.613.02 Precision (% RSD)2.662.361.041.040.660.76 % Accuracy95.0596.199.1499.0699.3299.17RLMs matrix Mean19.1619.27149.80150.14398.55399.02 Standard deviation (SD)0.590.471.841.455.365.42 Precision (% RSD)3.082.441.230.971.341.36 % Accuracy95.8096.3599.87100.0999.6499.76^a^Average of twelve determinations of day 1^b^Average of six determinations in three consecutive days Extraction recovery and matrix effects {#Sec21} -------------------------------------- QC samples extraction recoveries were shown in Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}. The recoveries of VNT were 99.14 ± 2.04% (human plasma) and 99.68 ± 2.03% (RLMs). To confirm the lack of matrix effect on the VNT analysis, 6 various batches of both matrices were extracted and spiked with 20 ng/mL of VNT (LQC) and IS as set 1. Similarly, preparation of set 2 was performed, which consisted of 6 replicates of same concentrations of VNT and IS but solubilized in mobile phase. For estimation of matrix effect, mean peak area ratio of set 1/set 2 × 100 was calculated. The studied plasma and RLMs matrices containing VNT showed 95.63 ± 2.55% and 96.9 ± 1.12%, respectively. Accordingly, these results exhibited that plasma and RLMs matrices have little impact on the ionization of VNT and PNT (IS).Table 3Recovery of quality control samples for determining the concentration of VNT in human plasma and RLMs matricesNominal concentration (ng/mL)Human plasmaRLMs20 ng/mL150 ng/mL400 ng/mL20 ng/mL150 ng/mL400 ng/mLMean^a^19.36150.78400.3819.47151.59402.51Recovery (%)96.80100.52100.1097.35101.06100.63Standard deviation (SD)0.431.296.40.310.53.47Precision (% RSD)2.220.861.61.610.330.86^a^Average of six determinations Stability {#Sec22} --------- Stability experiments were done using QC samples. Stability of VNT was tested under various conditions. SD of the results from the average value of samples of human plasma and RLMs matrices was less than 4.82 and 4.32%, respectively. No observed loss of VNT happened during sample storage and handling under the examined conditions. Stability results (Tables [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}, [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}) approved that matrices samples (human plasma or RLMs) containing VNT can be retained under laboratory conditions with no noticeable change of its concentration.Table 4VNT stability data in plasma matrix under different conditionsNominal concentration (ng/mL)Mean (ng/mL)Recovery %Precision (% RSD)Room temp. for 8 h 2018.77 ± 0.5893.843.08 150148.23 ± 1.8498.821.24 400396.81 ± 5.5599.201.40Three freeze--thaw cycles 2018.98 ± 0.4294.892.22 150150.03 ± 1.28100.020.86 400397.17 ± 6.3599.291.60Stored at 4 °C for 24 h 2019.00 ± 0.3295.021.70 150149.06 ± 1.5599.371.04 400397.22 ± 5.9299.311.49Stored at −20 °C for 30 days 2019.00 ± 0.3294.981.67 150147.82 ± 0.9698.550.65 400395.48 ± 4.6998.871.19 Table 5VNT stability data in RLMs matrix under different conditionsNominal concentration (ng/mL)Mean (ng/mL)Recovery %Precision (% RSD)Room temp. for 8 h 2019.35 ± 0.2896.751.45 150148.71 ± 1.6299.141.09 400396.96 ± 3.1599.240.79Three freeze--thaw cycles 2019.46 ± 0.3697.311.86 150150.47 ± 1.16100.320.77 400399.58 ± 6.0299.891.51Stored at 4 °C for 24 h 2019.43 ± 0.3397.141.70 150150.26 ± 0.98100.170.65 400398.08 ± 4.7399.521.19Stored at −20 °C for 30 days 2019.16 ± 0.5995.783.08 150149.80 ± 1.8499.871.23 400398.55 ± 5.3699.641.34 Metabolic stability {#Sec23} ------------------- The metabolic reaction of VNT and RLMs was quenched at specific time points. The ln of the % remaining of VNT concentration (comparing to zero-time concentration) was plotted against time of incubation as shown in Fig. [6](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}. In vitro t~1/2~ was computed from the regression equation of the linear part of the curve \[[@CR15]\]. The slope was 0.017 so in vitro t~1/2~ was 39.85 min according to the following formula.$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\text{In vitro}}\;t _{1/2} = {\raise0.7ex\hbox{${ln2}$} \!\mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{ln2} {Slope}}}\right.\kern-0pt} \!\lower0.7ex\hbox{${Slope}$}}$$\end{document}$$ $$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$${\text{In vitro}} \;t _{1/2} = 39.85\; min.$$\end{document}$$ Fig. 6The metabolic stability profile of VNT Consequently, CL~int~ (3.92 ± 0.28) was computed according to in vitro t~1/2~ method \[[@CR10]\] as anticipated in the next formula:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\begin{aligned} CL_{int, app} = \frac{0.693}{{{\text{in vitro}}\; t _{1/2} }} & . \frac{\text{mL incubation}}{\text{mg microsomes}} \\ & .\frac{{45\,{\text{mg microsome}}}}{\text{g liver}} .\frac{{20\, {\text{g liver}}}}{\text{kg per body weight}} \\ \end{aligned}$$\end{document}$$ $$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$CL_{int, app} = \frac{0.693}{39.85} . \frac{1}{1} .\frac{45}{12.5} .\frac{20 }{0.32}$$\end{document}$$ $$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$CL_{int, app} = 3.91\; {\text{mL}}/{ \hbox{min} }/{\text{kg}}$$\end{document}$$ The low intrinsic capacity of RLMs to metabolize VNT (CL~int~ = 3.91 mL/min/kg) with long in vitro t~1/2~ (approximately 40 min) suggested that VNT is slowly cleared from the blood by the liver and thus considered as low extraction ratio drug. The low intrinsic capacity of liver to metabolize VNT is a specific character for the cited drug not a general feature to similar TKIs as when we investigated the CL~int~ and in vitro t~1/2~ of ponatinib in our previous article \[[@CR16]\], we found that CL~int~ was 15 mL/min/kg with short in vitro t~1/2~ of approximately 6 min. Conclusions {#Sec24} =========== LC--MS/MS method was established for estimation of VNT concentration in different matrices including human plasma and RLMs. This method is simple, sensitive, and rapid with linearity range of 5--500 ng/mL and LOD of 2.48 and 2.14 ng/mL in human plasma and RLMs, respectively. The established procedure characterized by consumption of small volume of solvents (flow rate = 0.25 mL/min.) and fast run time (4 min.). The recovery of VNT from human plasma and RLMs was 99.14 ± 2.04% and 99.68 ± 2.03%. The established procedure was useful for the assessment of VNT metabolic stability. In vitro t~1/2~ (39.85 min) and intrinsic clearance (3.91 mL/min/kg) were utilized to express VNT metabolic stability. The low intrinsic capacity of RLMs to metabolize VNT (CL~int~ = 3.91) with longer in vitro t~1/2~ of approximately 40 min suggests that VNT is slowly cleared from the blood by the liver and thus considered as low extraction ratio drug. SAM, AAK and HWD were involved in designing the research and supervision of the experimental work. HWD and MWA conducted the optimization and assay validation studies and writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Acknowledgements {#FPar1} ================ "The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at the King Saud University for funding this work through the Research Group Project No. RGP-322." Competing interests {#FPar2} =================== The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Publisher's Note {#FPar3} ================ Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. | Mid | [
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The Real Adventure eBook She would have to wait. Accepted, root and branch, as Rose was forced by her husband’s attitude to accept it, a conclusion of that sort can be a wonderful anodyne. And so it proved in her ease. Indeed, within a day after her talk with Rodney, though it had ended in total defeat, she felt like a person awakened out of a nightmare. There had taken place, somehow, an enormous letting-off of strain—a heavenly relaxation of spiritual muscles. It was so good just to have him know; to have others know, as all her world did within the next week! Ultimately nothing was changed, of course. The great thing that she had promised Portia she wouldn’t fail in getting—the real thing that should solve the problem, equalize the disparity between her husband and herself and give them a life together in satisfying completeness beyond the joys of a pair of lovers;—that was still to be fought for. She’d have to make that fight alone. Rodney wouldn’t help her. He wouldn’t know how to help her. Indeed, interpreting from the way he winced under her questions and suggestions, as if they wounded some essentially masculine, primitive element of pride in him, it seemed rather more likely that he’d resist her efforts—fight blindly against her. She must be more careful about that when she took up the fight again; must avoid hurting him if she could. She hadn’t an idea on what lines the fight was to be made. Perhaps before the time for its beginning, a way would appear. The point was that for the present, she’d have to wait—coolly and thoughtfully, not fritter her strength away on futile struggles or harassments. The tonic effect of that resolution was really wonderful. She got her color back—I mean more than just the pink bloom in her cheeks—and her old, irresistible, wide slow smile. She’d never been so beautiful as she was during the next six months. People who thought they loved her before—Frederica for example, found they hadn’t really, until now. She dropped in on Eleanor Randolph one day, after a morning spent with Rose, simply because she was bursting with this idea and had to talk to somebody. That was very like Frederica. She found Eleanor doing her month’s bills, but glad to shovel them into her desk, light up a cigarette, and have a chat; a little rueful though, when she found that Rose was to be the subject of it. “She’s perfectly wonderful,” Frederica said. “There’s a sort of look about her ...” “Oh, I know,” Eleanor said. “We dined there last night.” “Well, didn’t it just—get you?” insisted Frederica. “It did,” said Eleanor. “It also got Jim. He was still talking about her when I went to sleep, about one o’clock. I don’t a bit blame him for being perfectly maudlin about her. As I say, I was a good deal that way myself, though a half-hour’s steady raving was enough for me. But poor old Jim! She isn’t one little bit crazy about him, either—unfortunately.” | Low | [
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Tagua Nut Beads Had you ever considered that palm tree nuts could be turned into beads? Tagua nut beads are just that! Once dried, these palm tree nut beads offer an environmentally-friendly option for people seeking ivory. In fact, Tagua nuts are commonly referred to as vegetable ivory due to their milky color. Providing employment for tens of thousands of South Americans, Tagua nut beads are truly having an effect on life from an economic, environmental, and humanitarian standpoint. Click here to learn more about our Tagua Nut Beads and to see a picture of the raw nut. Once polished and dyed, Tagua beads can be shaped and cut into a variety of styles and colors to fit any beading design. They're especially beautiful as the centerpiece for a simplistic necklace or bracelet. Try them out today and share your creations with us! | High | [
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Search form You are here 5 ways to make your business more customer-centric Technology is shaking up how customer experiences are delivered, but as Steve Jobs once said, that shouldn’t be your starting point... If you take a look on YouTube (once you’ve finished reading this blog, naturally), you can find a video from Apple’s 1997 developer conference. In the clip, Steve Jobs responds to a provocative audience question by outlining his approach to customer experience (CX). “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around,” he says. This approach, which was the cornerstone of Apple’s success, still rings true today, according to Nathan Pearce of Capgemini. Speaking at the SAP Hybris Live: Digital Summit this week, Pearce – SAP digital engagement lead at the firm – outlined five rules to follow to develop a more customer-centric business. Although the examples he used were drawn from the B2C world, the following are equally applicable to B2B marketing. 1. Really listen to your customers There's a huge wealth of info out there about customers – not only on social media, but also in isolated silos. Companies need to bring all this data together, and understand it to form a comprehensive picture to enable them to become more customer-centric. 2. Start with interaction before you move on to the transaction Customers need to be surprised and delighted with new ways of interacting before they're prepared to do business with you. Technology such as virtual and augmented reality will play its part in this - in both the consumer world (placing a sofa to see how it looks in your room, for example) and industry (used by technicians to work out complex repairs). 3. Remember that wearable tech will greatly expand customer insight “The internet of things is going to be massive,” says Peace, citing four billion connected devices by 2020 generating $4 trillion in revenue. Wearable devices will go beyond fitness apps - they'll be used by hotels to allow entry to rooms or to make a payment. 4. Make the experience personalised One consequence of having all this data will be the increasing need to drive personalised experiences for customers. Pearce cites the example of airport travellers – the excited family travelling once a year will need a different experience to the weary business traveller whose flight has just been delayed. 5. Prepare for the fact that keyboards will become redundant Technology such as the voice-controlled Amazon Echo assistant, as well as the rise of AI-powered bots that assist customers with everything from ordering a pizza to providing a medical diagnosis, will become increasingly common and customers will become used to this keyboard-free experience. CX is something B2B brands can no longer afford to ignore. Successful CX is becoming a defining element of successful marketing. We surveyed B2B buyers and marketers to find out exactly when CX matters most, and where your focus should be. | Mid | [
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Overview The storyline is a mixture of the Wolverine back-story, which is explained in the film, and additional story material created by Raven Software. Lead developer Dan Vondrak indicates that roughly 90% of the movie storyline is in the game. However, that content comprises less than half of the overall video game story, with the balance being exclusive to the game. The primary storyline is Wolverine's origin, hence the title. In the game, Wolverine experiences the events leading up to, and immediately following, his recruitment to Col. William Stryker's Weapon X program. Raven Software didn't hide the fact that you're playing as one of the biggest bad-asses in the Marvel Universe in X-Men Origins, as evidenced by the opening cinematic, in which Wolverine stabs his claws straight through a wall and into the skull of an enemy on the other side. He repeats this brutal impalement on other enemies unfortunate enough to stand in his way. When the player controls Wolverine, he or she can utilize the aforementioned impalement attack, or many others, by attacking with a light or heavy attacked mapped to two different buttons. While the combat foundations are simple, basic attacks can be linked together in devastating combos. Gameplay A man on a mission. Wolverine's basic combat is built on a scheme of light punches, heavy punches, and grabs. Mixing these provides unique combos, but doesn't require the player to learn long strings of combos. This allows Wolverine to play fast and loose with group combat situations, as well as allowing for tighter control over 1:1 encounters. Grabbing an enemy allows Wolverine a variety of violent opportunities. He may attack the enemy with a variety of light attacks. He may perform an instant kill with the heavy attack. He may, also, throw enemies. Contextual environments provide Wolverine with any number of things to impale his foes upon. On the flip side, he may also be impaled on these same objects and will have to pull himself off with a quick time event. A lock on mechanic opens up three additional movement/attack options. Wolverine can dash at enemies to close the distance and attack, he can dodge, and he can, most dramatically, leap long distances to plunge his claws into an enemies chest. These three movements work to provide Wolverine with additional attack options, as well as maintaining the momentum of a fight. Dashing and dodging may also be performed without being locked on to an enemy. Origins also features a level-up system. This manifests in two seperate systems: Character Traits and Reflexes. Character Traits can be purchased using skill points the player is awarded after leveling up Wolverine (which occurs after the player collects enough experience points), Traits include extra damage to all enemies, an increase in the amount of health Wolverine has, an increase in the amount of Rage Wolverine can hold, and various perks to Rage attacks. Reflexes increase the amount of damage Wolverine does to specific enemy types. Reflexes are increased by fighting the respective enemy types. There are also quicktime events, one of which involves Wolverine mounting and destroying a helicopter. In addition to the health bar in the game, you see actual damage to Wolverine's body. Everything from bullet holes, cuts, bruises, exposed organs and even bones, are apparent. This damage is healed in real-time. As with titles that inspired Origins, such as God of War and Devil May Cry, the game will also feature a large amount of blood and gore. Training Room This can't end well. For those that pre-ordered the game, there will be a special bit of downloadable content called the Dismemberment room where you will be able to practice fighting various enemies from the game. The room will most likely be available for download for a small cost for those that didn't pre-order the game. Special Abilities Wolverine also has special abilities like Feral Sense, which allows him to locate hidden foes, or a whirlwind attack that destroy anyone in the radius of his claws. He also has his trademark healing ability. As Wolverine gets shot and beat up, it will show up on his body with gashes and blood, which are eventually expunged by his healing ability, but after getting too beat up, Wolverine's 'vital organs' are on show, being his only weakness. Plot The game starts with a prologue that shows Wolverine hunting and being hunted by a group of soldiers in a bleak urban setting. Wolverine's costume is shown to be similar to the costume in the recent X-Men films which indicate the game may take place later in the time line. As he is fighting the soldiers, his memories drift back to the past when he was a part of Team X, a group of mutants that worked for the US military. The flashbacks show Wolverine fighting soldiers in Africa while he was a part of Team X and the flashbacks chronicle the events that lead Wolverine to leave Team X for moral reasons as he does not want to hurt innocent people. Three years later, the game shows that Wolverine has settled in Canada with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox. While in Canada, Wolverine's brother Victor Creed attacks Wolverine in a local bar. Creed defeats Wolverine, breaks his bone claws and knocks Wolverine unconscious. Logan wakes up and finds his girlfriend dead. Col. William Stryker, who lead Team X, then approaches Wolverine and offers him a chance to get revenge against Creed by signing up for a prototype weapons program named Weapon X. To get his revenge, Wolverine is bonded to adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal processed from meteorite deposits which replace his broken bone claws. Nearing the end of the process, Wolverine overhears Stryker requesting that Wolverine's memory be erased. This enrages Wolverine who breaks out of the lab and kills many of Stryker's soldiers including Agent Zero, a former member of Team X. Unlockables From the start menu, players can select to play one of several "bonus" fights against other versions of Wolverine. These fights are made accessible by collecting a pair of figurines from various hidden locations within the main game. When players have collected a matching pair, they will unlock the chance to fight a new Wolverine. If players are victorious, they will unlock a new costume (that of the vanquished Wolverine) which they may elect to wear during the main game. Though the new costumes perform much like the in-game clothing, they will not be rendered in all of the cut-scenes. Development Raven Software developed this video game based on the film of the same name, which Activision Blizzard has published. Marc Guggenheim wrote the script. Raven Software was originally working on a different Wolverine title before being called on to make this game. Easter Egg Achievements There are three achievements spread throughout the game worth 15 points each which pay homage to other properties. Thanks, we're checking your submission. Whoah, whoah... slow down there. Thanks! Your changes are live! Some of your changes are live Because you're new to wiki editing, we sent your submission off to our moderators to check it over. Most changes are approved within a few hours. We'll send an email when it is. Once you've earned over points you'll be able to bypass this step and make live edits to our system. Until then, gain points by continuing to edit pages. No changes were submitted, nothing was done! Please make changes to the wiki! Thanks for continuing to improve the site. Some of your changes are now live. However, some of your changes were sent to moderation because you do not have enough points to make those live edits. You need points to live edit the changes you commited. For the changes that went through, our robot math gave you points for this submission. Thanks for continuing to improve the site. Your changes are now live. Our robot math gave you points for this submission. | High | [
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# $NetBSD: Makefile,v 1.2 2004/06/30 03:37:50 jmc Exp $ SUBDIR+=base SUBDIR+=comp SUBDIR+=etc SUBDIR+=games SUBDIR+=man SUBDIR+=misc SUBDIR+=text TARGETS+=package TARGETS+=register .include <bsd.subdir.mk> | Low | [
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Trail of the Month: October 2017 “Springfield is beginning to define itself with great outdoor opportunities." Western Ohio’s Simon Kenton Trail, named for an 18th-century frontiersman (and friend of Daniel Boone), offers the perfect opportunity for today’s travelers to do their own exploring of the state’s scenic woodlands and rural landscapes on a 35-mile adventure stretching from Springfield to Bellefontaine. For an even more epic experience, the trail is seamlessly integrated into the expansive Miami Valley trails network, which offers 340 miles of paved trails coalescing in and around the Dayton metro area. “Springfield is a Midwest town—an urban area in the middle of a rural county,” says Louis Agresta, a bicycle/pedestrian planner with the Clark County-Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee. “It’s very dynamic to have downtown Springfield only 10 miles away from farming and agriculture. It’s an old manufacturing place trying to find its way with a wonderful parks and trail system. Springfield is really beginning to define itself with great outdoor opportunities.” The trail ends at the Heritage Center in Springfield | Photo by Brian Housh To dig into the region’s rich history and culture, there’s no better place to begin your journey than the Heritage Center at the trail’s southern end in downtown Springfield. Spanning a city block, the beautiful brick and stone building was constructed in 1890 and once housed a city hall and marketplace. Inside, you’ll find a charming café and exhibits from the Clark County Historical Society. It’s also worth noting that you can pick up the Little Miami Scenic Trail from here and go all the way to Cincinnati’s doorstep, a distance of 78 miles, all on paved trail. From the Heritage Center, it’s only a half-mile before you reach an opportunity to diverge a few blocks off the trail to tour another of the city’s historical treasures, the unique Westcott House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1906 and the only Prairie Style home in the state. A mile farther north, the trail’s railroad history is on display with a refurbished 1916 bridge over Buck Creek. Another trail meets the Simon Kenton here and follows the creek eastward to Buck Creek State Park, which offers camping and lots of recreational activities in and around the massive lake at its center. Agresta notes that this is a key juncture as the Simon Kenton is an important north-south thoroughfare in the region, while the Buck Creek goes east-west. Simon Kenton Trail with the Buck Creek Trail veering off to the right. | Photo by Louis Agresta “There’s wildlife all along Buck Creek,” notes Leann Castillo, director of the National Trail Parks & Recreation District, which maintains the Simon Kenton Trail within Clark County and is headquartered at this trail intersection. “You’ll see lots of deer, foxes, snakes, turtles, owls and great blue herons flying up and down the trail. There are even bald eagles nesting here.” As the trail heads north out of Clark County and into Champaign County, it becomes more open, passing through farm fields and meadows of wildflowers. Agresta adds that as you approach Urbana, the old rail corridor is elevated, so it’s like a “sky ride through town; you’re way above the surface roads.” In Urbana, travelers will have another connection to the trail’s railroad past, coming upon a restored 1850s Pennsylvania Railroad depot. The Depot Coffeehouse in Urbana is a highlight of the Simon Kenton Trail | Photo by Eli Griffen “Right in Urbana, there’s an old train depot that has a coffee shop and café inside it, plus a fix-it station outside,” says Eric Oberg, RTC’s trail development director for the Midwest Regional Office. “It makes for a killer trailhead and is a real focal point for the trail. It’s such an awesome reuse of a cool old building in the center of town.” From Urbana northward to its end in Bellefontaine, the trail parallels still-active though infrequently used tracks in a configuration known as rail-with-trail. Along the way, the trail skirts West Liberty, which, though small in population, is not short on charm. The village just celebrated its bicentennial this summer and offers several unique attractions within a short distance of the pathway, including the Ohio Caverns, marketed as “America’s Most Colorful Caverns,” and Marie’s Candies, a chocolate factory housed in a historical train depot. The northern half of the Simon Kenton Trail is rail-with-trail | Photo by Brian Housh But this part of the trail almost didn’t open. In a fiscally tight, rural county, it took the fundraising might of the Simon Kenton Pathfinders—a volunteer-run organization headed by founding member Nancy Lokai-Baldwin, whom Oberg calls, “a force of nature”—to make the trail a reality. All the funds for the project were provided through grants and private donations raised by these dedicated citizens. “The Pathfinders didn’t stop at the initial trail connecting Springfield to Urbana,” says Oberg. “The first stretch of the trail was opened 15 years before. Building a trail is so much work, and they could have just stopped there with the first phase and said, ‘job well done.’ It still would have been fabulous if that’s all they ever did, but they went all in to do more, and the year before last, they opened the Urbana to Bellefontaine stretch.” “The Springfield to Urbana section is paved, but with this new extension they couldn’t afford to pave it,” says Oberg. “They had to make a choice whether or not to construct the trail and open it with a natural surface or wait until they had enough money to pave it. They heard some negative feedback because people out here are used to pavement, but they did the best they could with what they had.” The Pathfinders are listening to the trail community and have raised enough money to surface a test section spanning a couple of miles with chip seal, which, while not as firm as pavement, is closer to that experience than the current stone surface. “They’re an organization that does a lot with a little,” says Agresta of the Pathfinders group, which celebrated their 20th anniversary this year. The trail has been a catalyst for other groups as well, like the Trail Riders and the Trail Walkers, which meet weekly for outings on the trail, and the Trail Ambassadors, which patrol the trail in distinctive shirts to answer visitor questions, provide directions and distribute trail literature. All three groups are supported by the National Trail Parks and Recreation District. Connecting several schools, and kid-friendly attractions like Springfield’s Splash Zone Aquatic Center and a soccer complex, the Simon Kenton Trail is truly a well loved and well used community asset. Tagged with: Laura Stark is the content manager for TrailLink.com and a lead writer and editor for Rails to Trails magazine, responsible for highlighting trails and the people working hard to support them across America. Related Links Trail Facts Used railroad corridor: The rail-trail follows the former Pennsylvania Railroad route. The northern section of the trail is also a rail-with-trail as it parallels a still-active rail line for 16 miles from Urbana to Bellefontaine. Difficulty: The paved, southern end of the trail, from Springfield to Urbana, is easy. For the unpaved northern end of the trail, between Urbana and Bellefontaine, trail users may prefer to use a hybrid or mountain bike. Getting there: The closest major airport to Springfield is Dayton International Airport (3600 Terminal Drive, Dayton), located about 26 miles from the trail’s southern end. Access and parking: Here we’ve listed parking directions for the northern and southern ends of the trail. For additional options in between, please use TrailLink.com or trail maps available from the websites of the local organizations listed above. To reach the northern endpoint in Bellefontaine from I-75, take Exit 110. Head east on US 33, and go 11.6 miles. Turn right to remain on US 33, and go 12.9 miles to the exit for County Road 37. Turn right onto CR 37, and in 0.1 mile, turn left onto CR 130. In 4.8 miles, turn right onto Troy Road, and go 1 mile. Turn left onto Plumvalley Street, and in 0.3 mile, turn right onto Carter Avenue. The trailhead is located on the right, 0.2 mile ahead. The southern endpoint is located at the Heritage Center in downtown Springfield, but parking there is limited. Instead, park at the trailhead on Villa Road north of downtown. To reach the trailhead, take I-70 to Exit 52B. Head north on US 68, and go 7 miles to the exit for OH 334. Turn right onto OH 334, stay in the right lane, and in 0.2 mile take the first ramp onto OH 72, heading south. After 1 mile, turn left onto Villa Road. Parking is located on the right after 0.3 mile. To navigate the area with an interactive GIS map, and to see more photos, user reviews and ratings, plus loads of other trip-planning information, visit TrailLink.com, RTC’s free trail-finder website. Rentals: Your best bet for bike rentals is Xenia, Ohio, which lies 20 miles south of Springfield and serves as a major hub of the Miami Valley trail system. You can even cover that distance by bike instead of by car as the Little Miami Scenic Trail runs between Xenia and Springfield, where it seamlessly connects to the Simon Kenton Trail. Xenia’s K&G Bike Center (594 North Detroit St.; 937.372.2555) is located across the street from the Little Miami and offers all types of bikes, including tandems and options for kids, on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. | Mid | [
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Cytofluorometric analysis of metastases from lung adenocarcinoma with special reference to the difference between hematogenous and lymphatic metastases. Metastatic tumors in the brain, liver, and regional lymph nodes (20 cases each) from patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung were examined by cytofluorometric analysis, and compared with the respective primary lung tumors. The nuclear DNA content of tumor cells was significantly increased in metastatic tumors in the brain and liver compared with the primary (P less than 0.01). However, the DNA content of metastatic tumors in regional lymph nodes was almost identical to that of the primary tumor in many instances. From the viewpoint of the nuclear DNA content of lung adenocarcinoma, blood-borne tumor cells in the brain and liver were considered likely to constitute a discrete tumor cell subpopulation, i.e., probably a more malignant one, different from the major subpopulation in the primary tumor, whereas lymphatic metastases in regional lymph nodes were similar to the primary. The subpopulation with an increased DNA content in hematogenous metastases were thought to have originated from a minor subpopulation in the primary tumor or to have developed at the metastatic site. | High | [
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The present invention relates to a system and device for pumping molten metal and, in particular, a monolithic rotor that does not include separate bearing members. A number of submersible pumps used to pump molten metal (referred to herein as molten metal pumps) are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,948,524 to Sweeney et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,584 to Mangalick, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,681 to Cooper, and pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/439,739 to Cooper, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, all disclose molten metal pumps. The term submersible means that when the pump is in use, its base is submerged in a bath of molten metal. Three basic types of pumps for pumping molten metal, such as aluminum, are utilized, circulation pumps, transfer pumps and gas-release pumps. Circulation pumps are used to circulate the molten metal within a bath, thereby equalizing the temperature of the molten metal and creating a uniformly consistent alloy. Most often, as is known by those skilled in the art, circulation pumps are used in conjunction with a reverbatory furnace having an external well. The well is usually an extension of the charging well where scrap metal is charged (i.e., added). Transfer pumps are generally used to transfer molten metal from the external well of the furnace to a different location such as a ladle or another furnace. Gas-release pumps, such as gas-injection pumps, circulate the molten metal while adding a gas into the flow of molten metal in order to xe2x80x9cdemagxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdegasxe2x80x9d the molten metal. In the purification of molten metals, particularly aluminum, it is frequently desired to remove dissolved gases such as hydrogen, or dissolved metals, such as magnesium. As is known by those skilled in the art, the removing of dissolved gas is known as xe2x80x9cdegassingxe2x80x9d while the removal of magnesium is known as xe2x80x9cdemagging.xe2x80x9d All molten-metal pumps include a pump base that comprises a housing, also called a casing, a pump chamber, which is an open area formed within the housing, and a discharge, which is a channel or conduit communicating with the chamber and leading from the chamber to an outlet formed in the exterior of the casing. A rotor, also called an impeller, is mounted in the pump chamber and connected to a drive system, which is typically one or more vertical shafts that eventually connect to a motor. As the drive system turns the rotor, the rotor pushes molten metal out of the pump chamber, through the discharge, out of the outlet and into the molten metal bath. A bearing member is added to the pump casing, which is preferably a ceramic ring attached to the bottom edge of the chamber. The inner perimeter of the ring forms a first bearing surface. A corresponding bearing member, which is a ceramic ring (sometimes referred to as a rotor ring), is attached to the rotor, and its outer perimeter forms a second bearing surface. The rotor is vertically aligned in the pump chamber so that the second bearing surface of the rotor aligns with the first bearing surface of the pump chamber. When the rotor turns, the first bearing surface keeps the second bearing surface centered, which in turn keeps the rotor centered in the pump chamber. A problem encountered with this arrangement is that the ceramic ring attached to the rotor is fragile and often breaks. It breaks during operation of the pump because of impact against the bearing surface or because pieces of solid material, such as brick or dross present within the aluminum bath, become wedged between the bearing surface and the second bearing surface. The ceramic ring attached to the rotor also breaks during start up because of thermal expansion. In this respect, whenever a rotor including a rotor ring is placed in the pump, the ring is quickly heated from the ambient air temperature within the factory to the temperature of molten aluminum. The ring then expands and can crack. To alleviate cracking due to thermal expansion, the furnace operator may slowly heat the entire furnace to prevent thermal shock to the ring, but this results in downtime and lost production. Finally, the rings are easily damaged during shipping. The present invention solves these and other problems by providing a bearing system, which includes a plurality of bearing pins or wedges (collectively referred to herein as bearing members, bearing pins or pins), that are less prone to fracture than a bearing ring. The geometry of each pin allows for thermal expansion without breaking. Generally, the present invention is a plurality of solid, heat-resistant (preferably refractory material) pins that attached to a molten-metal pump rotor. The perimeter of the rotor containing the pins is called a bearing perimeter. The surfaces of the pins that align with the first bearing surface of the pump casing collectively form a second bearing surface. The material forming each bearing pin is harder than the material forming the rotor, so as to provide a wear-resistant bearing surface. Preferably, a system according to the invention will include a rotor having a plurality of bearing pins equally radially spaced about the rotor. In use, the rotor is mounted within the pump chamber of a molten metal pump so that the bearing pins form a second bearing surface that aligns with the first bearing surface provided in the pump casing. In another aspect of the invention, a first bearing surface consists of a plug of heat resistant material formed in the base of the molten metal pump chamber and the second bearing surface is formed by a surface of a bore or recess formed in the bottom of the rotor. When the rotor is placed in the pump chamber it is seated on the plug, which is received in the bore or recess in the rotor base. This configuration not only centers the rotor, it vertically aligns the rotor in the pump chamber as well. Furthermore, this arrangement can be reversed, with a plug extending from the bottom of the rotor and forming a second bearing surface. A recess or bore is then formed in the base of the pump chamber. The plug is received in the recess and a surface of the recess forms the first bearing surface. Also disclosed is a rotor especially designed to receive the bearing pins and a molten metal pump including a rotor with bearing pins. Furthermore, disclosed herein is a monolithic rotor that does not include a separate bearing member attached to it. This monolithic rotor has a second bearing surface, but has no separate bearing member such as a pin, plug or ring. The advantage of such a monolithic rotor is reduced manufacturing costs because machining the rotor can be accomplished in a simple operation; no bores, grooves or recesses must be formed in the rotor to receive separate bearing member(s). In addition, no cementing of separate bearing members is required. Such a monolithic rotor is preferably formed of a single material, such as graphite. A monolithic rotor as disclosed herein is preferably used in conjunction with a rigid rotor shaft to motor shaft coupling, which keeps the rotor centered in the pump chamber. Additionally, a monolithic rotor may be used with a monolithic pump casing, wherein the casing has a first bearing surface formed of, and preferably integral with, the same material forming the rest of the pump casing. | Low | [
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Saudi Aramco contract secured by Wood Group Wood Group has secured a five year, multi-million dollar framework agreement to continue to provide engineering and project management services to Saudi Aramco's onshore capital programmes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Effective immediately, the contract also includes three, one year extension options and will be delivered locally in Saudi Arabia. First awarded in 2010, the General Engineering Service Plus (GES+) contract extension will be supported by Wood Group's office in Al Khobar. Dave Stewart, CEO for Wood Group's Asset Life Cycle Solutions business in the Eastern Hemisphere, said: "This contract renewal demonstrates Wood Group's proven technical and engineering capabilities in working with Saudi Aramco to deliver projects and modifications, automation and control, pipeline and industrial engineering over the last five years. "Wood Group sees significant growth opportunities in the Saudi Arabian market which is reflected in our continued investment in our people in the region; establishing a dedicated training facility and employing 750 people to support our business. "We will use our strong asset knowledge and experience of working collaboratively with Saudi Aramco as we continue this contract, where our focus will remain on delivering technical solutions which meet their challenges and add value to their onshore portfolio in the region." In 2015, Wood Group was awarded an offshore maintain potential programme (OMP) contract with Saudi Aramco for greenfield and brownfield engineering services, procurement, and construction management support for new facilities in the Arabian Gulf. | High | [
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Q: Multiple IP ranges at DC, how do I set this up? I have been tasked with a DC installation of ten servers. I myself, am a software engineer and not a network engineer (welcome to enterprise!), so I am a bit puzzled over this. I have been assigned the IP ranges, but these are two separate ones. To be precise (where the first 3 octets are the same for each): xxx.xxx.xxx.32/29 xxx.xxx.xxx.48/29 I have been told the usable range in each of these is: .33 – .38 .49 - .54 My question: Presumably, do I now have two default gateways that I need to configure. Some servers connected to xxx.xxx.xxx.32 and others xxx.xxx.xxx.48? The only network equipment at my disposal is an L2 switch. Is it just as simple as linking my equipment up to the L2 switch (some servers configured on one gateway and some another) and then on to the upstream switch/router? Will my switch support what is essentially 2 different subnets? I sense I am missing a piece of crucial information to get this question answered. A: The configuration on the switch depends on the router configuration. If the router is configured with a logical interface (sub-interface) for each subnet, then you need to configure a VLAN for each subnet and trunk both VLANs to the router. That means the uplink to the router will have both VLANs on it, using tagging to keep them separate. On the other hand, if the router interface is configured with a primary and secondary IP address, then you do not need any configuration on the switch - a single VLAN will do. In either case, there will be a default gateway for each subnet. The advantage of the first method is that it gives you a mechanism to handle the two subnets differently. For example, perhaps you want to apply a different security or QoS policy for each subnet. If that's not the case (nor ever will be), then it really doesn't matter. | High | [
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700 P.2d 76 (1985) 108 Idaho 454 STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Andy ANDERSON, Defendant-Appellant. No. 15096. Court of Appeals of Idaho. April 16, 1985. *78 Alan E. Trimming and August H. Cahill, Jr. (argued), Ada County Public Defender's Office, Boise, for defendant-appellant. Jim Jones, Atty. Gen., Lynn E. Thomas, Sol. Gen., Boise, for plaintiff-respondent. WALTERS, Chief Judge. We are asked to review the second degree murder conviction of Andy Anderson. Anderson asserts on appeal that the charge against him should have been transferred to juvenile court or dismissed. He also contends the sentence imposed was unduly harsh and thus constitutes an abuse of sentencing discretion. We affirm. Anderson and four other juveniles were originally charged with first degree murder, resulting from the death of Christopher Peterman while the six youths including Peterman were incarcerated at the Ada County Jail. Peterman had been placed in a cell, which already contained the other five adolescents, on Friday, May 28, 1982. He was subjected to torture and beatings throughout the following weekend and on Monday, May 31, Chris Peterman died. Anderson entered a plea of not guilty to the first degree murder charge, but on April 1, 1983, pursuant to a plea arrangement with the state, he entered a plea of guilty to murder in the second degree. Following an evidentiary hearing, Anderson was sentenced to the custody of the State Board of Correction for an indeterminate term not to exceed twenty-one years. I The first issue on this appeal is whether the district court erred by denying Anderson's motion to either dismiss the murder charge, or in the alternative, to transfer his case to juvenile court.[1] By this motion, Anderson contended that the charge against him should be dismissed because I.C. § 16-1806A, the statute requiring Anderson to be tried as an adult, violated Anderson's due process and equal protection rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Alternatively, the motion asserted that section 16-1806A conflicts with I.C. § 16-1804, a provision of Idaho's Youth Rehabilitation Act (YRA), which should have controlled the jurisdiction of the charge against Anderson. After a hearing and extensive briefing were completed, the district court upheld section 16-1806A and retained jurisdiction of the cause. We find no error in the district court's decision. A I.C. § 16-1806A provides that any person aged fourteen years to age eighteen years who is alleged to have committed murder of any degree "shall be charged, arrested and proceeded against by complaint, indictment or information as an adult." Under I.C. § 18-216, a person may not be tried or convicted of an offense if he was fourteen to eighteen years old when the offense was committed unless the juvenile court has no jurisdiction under the YRA or juvenile court jurisdiction has been waived. I.C. *79 § 16-1803 grants to the juvenile court "exclusive, original jurisdiction over any child and over any adult who is a child at a time of any act, omission or status, found or living within the county ..." who commits enumerated unlawful acts. Because the applicability of sections 18-216 and 16-1803 turns on the person's age at the time an offense is committed, Anderson believes those sections create an expectation, which attaches at the time any unlawful act occurs, that a youthful offender will be dealt with under the YRA. He argues that section 16-1806A, on the other hand, does not apply unless a person is alleged to have committed one or more enumerated offenses. Because he was under age eighteen when the offense occurred and thus subject to YRA jurisdiction, but was subsequently charged with an offense outside YRA jurisdiction under section 16-1806A, Anderson contends section 16-1806A constitutes a waiver of a vested right without satisfying due process requirements. We disagree. A principal rule governing statute interpretation requires the courts to give effect to the legislative intent and purpose. Gumprecht v. City of Coeur d'Alene, 104 Idaho 615, 661 P.2d 1214 (1983). A statute will be interpreted reasonably in order to give effect to the legislative intent. State v. Rawson, 100 Idaho 308, 597 P.2d 31 (1979). We believe that, by enacting I.C. § 16-1806A, the legislature clearly intended certain violent criminal acts, when committed by minors, should be excluded from YRA jurisdiction. The statute, reasonably interpreted, applies to persons who are age fourteen years to age eighteen years at the time the act is committed. Accordingly, like I.C. § 18-216 and I.C. § 16-1803, the applicability of section 16-1806A turns on the age of the person at the time the crime is committed. Because the statutes are triggered at the same instant, no lapse occurs between the time of the criminal conduct and the application of section 16-1806A. Anderson's conduct was excepted from YRA jurisdiction at its occurrence; he had no statutory right to be proceeded against as a minor. Anderson acquired no expectation, from either legislation or state conduct furthering prosecution of the crime, that he would be charged in juvenile court.[2] Accordingly, his right to due process was not infringed when he was charged with a crime excluded from YRA jurisdiction. Anderson also argues that section 16-1806A violates the due process clause by creating an irrebutable presumption regarding his ability to be rehabilitated. The state's primary interest in dealing with most minor offenders is rehabilitation rather than punishment. See State v. Gibbs, 94 Idaho 908, 500 P.2d 209 (1972). Anderson believes section 16-1806A, by excepting his conduct from YRA jurisdiction, in effect creates an irrebutable presumption that he cannot be rehabilitated. He argues that such a presumption, by foreclosing his opportunity to demonstrate a rehabilitative character, infringes upon rights guaranteed by the due process clause. We are not persuaded. The cases cited by Anderson Vlandis v. Kline, 412 U.S. 441, 93 S.Ct. 2230, 37 L.Ed.2d 63 (1973) and United States Department of Agriculture v. Murry, 413 U.S. 508, 93 S.Ct. 2832, 37 L.Ed.2d 767 (1973) do not support his proposition. In Vlandis, a Connecticut statute prevented certain students from proving their residency, making them ineligible for the favored registration status granted to state residents attending colleges and universities. The plaintiff in Murry attacked a provision of the 1964 Food Stamp Act that denied food stamps to anyone claimed as a dependent on another's income tax filing. The presumptions created in Vlandis and Murry prevented the plaintiffs from demonstrating their eligibility for an advantaged *80 position granted to them by a government entity. As we have already discussed, Anderson never was entitled in this case to the advantaged position granted to those within the purview of the YRA. A demonstration by Anderson that he can be rehabilitated would not entitle him to a YRA proceeding. We find no infringement of the rights accorded Anderson under the due process clause. Nor are we convinced that section 16-1806A violates the fourteenth amendment's equal protection clause. The United States Supreme Court in McGown v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 81 S.Ct. 1101, 6 L.Ed.2d 395 (1961), stated the standard for testing this type of equal protection violation claim: Although no precise formula has been developed, the court has held that the fourteenth amendment permits the states a wide scope of discretion in enacting laws which affect some groups of citizens differently than others. The constitutional safeguard is offended only if the classification rests on grounds wholely irrelevant to the achievement of the state's objective. State legislatures are presumed to have acted within their constitutional power despite the fact that, in practice, their laws result in some inequality. A statutory discrimination will not be set aside if any state of facts reasonably may be conceived to justify it. (Citations omitted.) 366 U.S. at 425-26, 81 S.Ct. at 1105. Other courts have upheld legislation similar to I.C. § 16-1806A in the face of an equal protection challenge. See e.g., Woodard v. Wainwright, 556 F.2d 781 (5th Cir.1977), cert. denied 434 U.S. 1088, 98 S.Ct. 1285, 55 L.Ed.2d 794; United States v. Bland, 472 F.2d 1329 (D.C. Cir.1972); State v. Sherk, 217 Kan. 726, 538 P.2d 1399 (1975); State ex rel. Coats v. Rakestraw, 610 P.2d 256 (Okla. App. 1980); State v. Doe, 91 N.M. 506, 576 P.2d 1137 (N.M.App. 1978). Anderson has not demonstrated that the classification created by the legislature is wholely irrelevant to the achievement of the state's objective. We believe the classification bears a rational relationship to an important legislative objective. B Next, Anderson contends section 16-1806A irreconcilably conflicts with I.C. § 16-1804 and that the latter section, which provides for transfer of a case to juvenile court, controls the jurisdiction issue. Because rules of statutory construction favor the latest enactment when legislation conflicts, Jordan v. Pearce, 91 Idaho 687, 429 P.2d 419 (1967), and because section 16-1804 was amended after section 16-1806A was enacted, Anderson suggests that section 16-1804 in effect repeals section 16-1806A and thus controls the jurisdiction issue. However, "where earlier and later acts are not necessarily in conflict and may be reconciled by reasonable construction no repeal will result." County of Ada v. State, 93 Idaho 830, 831, 475 P.2d 367, 368 (1970). Section 16-1804 must be viewed as operative only when the juvenile court has jurisdiction to proceed and, because section 16-1806A excludes certain crimes ab initio from juvenile court jurisdiction, section 16-1804 is not applicable to those cases coming within section 16-1806A. Thus, we believe a reasonable construction of the statutes eliminates the conflict suggested by Anderson. II Anderson also challenges his sentence, contending it is excessive. He believes the twenty-one year indeterminate sentence amounts to an abuse of discretion because the sentencing judge did not give sufficient weight to Anderson's age or to the motivation that incarceration in the Ada County Jail had on his conduct. He points to evidence presented at the sentencing hearing demonstrating that Anderson is not a pathological criminal or a threat to society and that a lengthy prison term would be psychologically harmful to him. Anderson believes these mitigating factors, if considered fully by the sentencing judge, should have resulted in a lesser sentence than the one imposed. *81 The sentence to be imposed following a criminal conviction is within the discretion of the trial court. State v. Cotton, 100 Idaho 573, 602 P.2d 71 (1979). Ordinarily, a sentence within the maximum allowed by statute will not be considered an abuse of discretion, Id., but an abuse of discretion occurs if the sentence is unreasonable. State v. Toohill, 103 Idaho 565, 650 P.2d 707 (Ct.App. 1982). A sentence of confinement is unreasonable if it is longer than is necessary to accomplish the primary objective of protecting society and to achieve any or all of the related goals of deterrence, rehabilitation and retribution. Id. Because the period of actual confinement under an indeterminate sentence is decided by the commission of pardons and parole, for the purpose of appellate review we deem one-third of the indeterminate sentence to be an appropriate measure of the term of confinement. Id. Thus, in reviewing Anderson's sentence, we consider whether confinement for seven years amounts to an abuse of sentencing discretion. The record of the sentencing hearing indicates the judge diligently considered the mitigating factors presented by Anderson. The sentencing judge was mindful of the harsh environment of the jail cell; the judge characterized that environment as "austere, brutal" and one "where macho toughness was the rule of law and violence was a way of life." The judge also considered the senseless, brutal nature of the crime and the fatal effect on the victim. Although protecting society from Anderson's future criminal conduct was not of paramount concern, the sentencing judge believed retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation all would be furthered by imposition of the indeterminate sentence. Anderson has not shown that, "under any reasonable view of the facts, his sentence was excessive... ." State v. Toohill, 103 Idaho at 568, 650 P.2d at 710. Anderson strenuously argues that his conduct is less culpable, justifying a lighter sentence, because of the environment in which the beating of Peterman occurred. He points out that six adolescents, some with aggressive dispositions, were placed in a small holding cell. He contends the youths were unsupervised, had no access to radio or television, had only minimal access to an exercise yard, and had nothing else to provide mental or physical diversion. We agree with Anderson that the circumstances surrounding criminal conduct should be considered, as they were here, when determining an appropriate sentence. We do not agree, however, that the circumstances in this case justify ignoring the principle of personal responsibility which underlies our criminal justice system. Boredom does not excuse a brutal crime. The judgment of conviction and the sentence are affirmed. SWANSTROM, J., concurs. BURNETT, J., joins in Part I-B of the Court's opinion and concurs in the result with respect to Parts I-A and II. NOTES [1] The term "juvenile court" as used in this opinion simply means a judge, usually a magistrate, sitting to hear proceedings under the Youth Rehabilitation Act, I.C. §§ 16-1801 to -1845. [2] This is not a case where the state first proceeded against the accused as a minor and subsequently sought prosecution of the accused as an adult. It is established that relinquishment of juvenile court jurisdiction in such a case must be pursuant to procedures mandated by the due process clause. See Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541, 86 S.Ct. 1045, 16 L.Ed.2d 84 (1966); State v. Gibbs, 94 Idaho 908, 500 P.2d 209 (1972). | Low | [
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/* * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License * as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 * of the License, or (at your option) any later version. * * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the * GNU General Public License for more details. * * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, * Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA. * * The Original Code is Copyright (C) 2016 by Mike Erwin. * All rights reserved. */ /** \file * \ingroup gpu * * GPU vertex buffer */ #include "MEM_guardedalloc.h" #include "GPU_vertex_buffer.h" #include "gpu_context_private.h" #include "gpu_vertex_format_private.h" #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> #define KEEP_SINGLE_COPY 1 static uint vbo_memory_usage; static GLenum convert_usage_type_to_gl(GPUUsageType type) { static const GLenum table[] = { [GPU_USAGE_STREAM] = GL_STREAM_DRAW, [GPU_USAGE_STATIC] = GL_STATIC_DRAW, [GPU_USAGE_DYNAMIC] = GL_DYNAMIC_DRAW, }; return table[type]; } GPUVertBuf *GPU_vertbuf_create(GPUUsageType usage) { GPUVertBuf *verts = MEM_mallocN(sizeof(GPUVertBuf), "GPUVertBuf"); GPU_vertbuf_init(verts, usage); return verts; } GPUVertBuf *GPU_vertbuf_create_with_format_ex(const GPUVertFormat *format, GPUUsageType usage) { GPUVertBuf *verts = GPU_vertbuf_create(usage); GPU_vertformat_copy(&verts->format, format); if (!format->packed) { VertexFormat_pack(&verts->format); } return verts; /* this function might seem redundant, but there is potential for memory savings here... */ /* TODO: implement those memory savings */ } void GPU_vertbuf_init(GPUVertBuf *verts, GPUUsageType usage) { memset(verts, 0, sizeof(GPUVertBuf)); verts->usage = usage; verts->dirty = true; } void GPU_vertbuf_init_with_format_ex(GPUVertBuf *verts, const GPUVertFormat *format, GPUUsageType usage) { GPU_vertbuf_init(verts, usage); GPU_vertformat_copy(&verts->format, format); if (!format->packed) { VertexFormat_pack(&verts->format); } } /** Same as discard but does not free. */ void GPU_vertbuf_clear(GPUVertBuf *verts) { if (verts->vbo_id) { GPU_buf_free(verts->vbo_id); verts->vbo_id = 0; #if VRAM_USAGE vbo_memory_usage -= GPU_vertbuf_size_get(verts); #endif } if (verts->data) { MEM_SAFE_FREE(verts->data); } } void GPU_vertbuf_discard(GPUVertBuf *verts) { GPU_vertbuf_clear(verts); MEM_freeN(verts); } uint GPU_vertbuf_size_get(const GPUVertBuf *verts) { return vertex_buffer_size(&verts->format, verts->vertex_len); } /* create a new allocation, discarding any existing data */ void GPU_vertbuf_data_alloc(GPUVertBuf *verts, uint v_len) { GPUVertFormat *format = &verts->format; if (!format->packed) { VertexFormat_pack(format); } #if TRUST_NO_ONE /* catch any unnecessary use */ assert(verts->vertex_alloc != v_len || verts->data == NULL); #endif /* discard previous data if any */ if (verts->data) { MEM_freeN(verts->data); } #if VRAM_USAGE uint new_size = vertex_buffer_size(&verts->format, v_len); vbo_memory_usage += new_size - GPU_vertbuf_size_get(verts); #endif verts->dirty = true; verts->vertex_len = verts->vertex_alloc = v_len; verts->data = MEM_mallocN(sizeof(GLubyte) * GPU_vertbuf_size_get(verts), "GPUVertBuf data"); } /* resize buffer keeping existing data */ void GPU_vertbuf_data_resize(GPUVertBuf *verts, uint v_len) { #if TRUST_NO_ONE assert(verts->data != NULL); assert(verts->vertex_alloc != v_len); #endif #if VRAM_USAGE uint new_size = vertex_buffer_size(&verts->format, v_len); vbo_memory_usage += new_size - GPU_vertbuf_size_get(verts); #endif verts->dirty = true; verts->vertex_len = verts->vertex_alloc = v_len; verts->data = MEM_reallocN(verts->data, sizeof(GLubyte) * GPU_vertbuf_size_get(verts)); } /* Set vertex count but does not change allocation. * Only this many verts will be uploaded to the GPU and rendered. * This is useful for streaming data. */ void GPU_vertbuf_data_len_set(GPUVertBuf *verts, uint v_len) { #if TRUST_NO_ONE assert(verts->data != NULL); /* only for dynamic data */ assert(v_len <= verts->vertex_alloc); #endif #if VRAM_USAGE uint new_size = vertex_buffer_size(&verts->format, v_len); vbo_memory_usage += new_size - GPU_vertbuf_size_get(verts); #endif verts->vertex_len = v_len; } void GPU_vertbuf_attr_set(GPUVertBuf *verts, uint a_idx, uint v_idx, const void *data) { const GPUVertFormat *format = &verts->format; const GPUVertAttr *a = &format->attrs[a_idx]; #if TRUST_NO_ONE assert(a_idx < format->attr_len); assert(v_idx < verts->vertex_alloc); assert(verts->data != NULL); #endif verts->dirty = true; memcpy((GLubyte *)verts->data + a->offset + v_idx * format->stride, data, a->sz); } void GPU_vertbuf_attr_fill(GPUVertBuf *verts, uint a_idx, const void *data) { const GPUVertFormat *format = &verts->format; const GPUVertAttr *a = &format->attrs[a_idx]; #if TRUST_NO_ONE assert(a_idx < format->attr_len); #endif const uint stride = a->sz; /* tightly packed input data */ GPU_vertbuf_attr_fill_stride(verts, a_idx, stride, data); } /** Fills a whole vertex (all attribs). Data must match packed layout. */ void GPU_vertbuf_vert_set(GPUVertBuf *verts, uint v_idx, const void *data) { const GPUVertFormat *format = &verts->format; #if TRUST_NO_ONE assert(v_idx < verts->vertex_alloc); assert(verts->data != NULL); #endif verts->dirty = true; memcpy((GLubyte *)verts->data + v_idx * format->stride, data, format->stride); } void GPU_vertbuf_attr_fill_stride(GPUVertBuf *verts, uint a_idx, uint stride, const void *data) { const GPUVertFormat *format = &verts->format; const GPUVertAttr *a = &format->attrs[a_idx]; #if TRUST_NO_ONE assert(a_idx < format->attr_len); assert(verts->data != NULL); #endif verts->dirty = true; const uint vertex_len = verts->vertex_len; if (format->attr_len == 1 && stride == format->stride) { /* we can copy it all at once */ memcpy(verts->data, data, vertex_len * a->sz); } else { /* we must copy it per vertex */ for (uint v = 0; v < vertex_len; v++) { memcpy((GLubyte *)verts->data + a->offset + v * format->stride, (const GLubyte *)data + v * stride, a->sz); } } } void GPU_vertbuf_attr_get_raw_data(GPUVertBuf *verts, uint a_idx, GPUVertBufRaw *access) { const GPUVertFormat *format = &verts->format; const GPUVertAttr *a = &format->attrs[a_idx]; #if TRUST_NO_ONE assert(a_idx < format->attr_len); assert(verts->data != NULL); #endif verts->dirty = true; access->size = a->sz; access->stride = format->stride; access->data = (GLubyte *)verts->data + a->offset; access->data_init = access->data; #if TRUST_NO_ONE access->_data_end = access->data_init + (size_t)(verts->vertex_alloc * format->stride); #endif } static void VertBuffer_upload_data(GPUVertBuf *verts) { uint buffer_sz = GPU_vertbuf_size_get(verts); /* orphan the vbo to avoid sync */ glBufferData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, buffer_sz, NULL, convert_usage_type_to_gl(verts->usage)); /* upload data */ glBufferSubData(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, 0, buffer_sz, verts->data); if (verts->usage == GPU_USAGE_STATIC) { MEM_freeN(verts->data); verts->data = NULL; } verts->dirty = false; } void GPU_vertbuf_use(GPUVertBuf *verts) { /* only create the buffer the 1st time */ if (verts->vbo_id == 0) { verts->vbo_id = GPU_buf_alloc(); } glBindBuffer(GL_ARRAY_BUFFER, verts->vbo_id); if (verts->dirty) { VertBuffer_upload_data(verts); } } uint GPU_vertbuf_get_memory_usage(void) { return vbo_memory_usage; } | Mid | [
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Last week, it was noted in certain quarters that the Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton as was) had a few grey hairs in her parting. Cue some faux concern about how pregnancy can sometimes do this to hair, along with a ripple of cooing about how this showed Kate to be "one of us" – too busy and knackered to sort her hair out. Don't most people get a couple of white hairs by their 30s? I started getting them when I was a 15-year-old wannabe rock chick (I was told by a hairdresser that it was a Celtic thing). By now, I must resemble the Bride of Catweazle beneath all the dye. Is the Duchess of Cambridge simply not allowed to change and age – does she have to beg for permission to be mortal? Or is this (a faint twinkle of silver) just another example of the relentless grubbing for new territories and battlegrounds in the ongoing micro-inspection of the female? Of late, I've noticed female hair becoming a thing. Not a big thing, but still a thing. Never mind Kate's grey, mainly it's women being "outed" for losing their hair; women with traction damage from hair extensions (Naomi Campbell); women who are shedding because they are stressed (Kristen Stewart), or just shot from specific angles so that their parting looks a mile wide (Nigella Lawson). When Jennifer Aniston recently had her hair cut off because of a bad reaction to a Brazilian (keratin) treatment, I empathised (I once did similar and spent several mortifying weeks resembling the Joshua Tree). However, unlike Aniston, at least no one bullied and humiliated me by zooming a camera right on to my scalp as if my blitzed follicles were of the gravest concern to international security. This isn't really about hair (shedding, greying, or otherwise), this is about the relentless scramble to find not only new ways to torture women about their appearance, but also new areas to focus on – institutionalised sexism one body part at a time! While female objectification is eons old, it is also evolving. Most of us will have noticed how increasingly the attack is not directed at a woman's body as a whole, but, rather, just parts of the body. It's as if a whole female body is so disturbing and overwhelming, it has to be criticised one bit at a time. Muffin tops, fat arses, double chins, no thigh gap, bulging hips, bingo wings, sagging knees, bushy brows, non-designer vaginas and, my personal favourite, overlong toes! These days, The Female Eunuch's cover would not feature a suit of the female torso, rather several chopped-up female body parts, resembling a serial killer's dumping ground. Now there's hair, preferably thinning in some devastating fashion. Does this matter, beyond celebrities? I'd say so. What happens to people in the public eye has a trickle-down effect until you come inevitably to a 14-year-old schoolgirl crying alone in her bedroom, wondering which part of her body to despise next, the result of a culture that encourages her to think of herself not as a whole person, but as a series of flesh-and-blood problem zones. Men endure nothing on the same scale. They get the nasty bald thing, and their demand for plastic surgery is said to be growing, but don't tell me that they're worrying about their cankles (where the calf meets the foot, don't you know?), non-designer testicles or, indeed, overlong toes. They are not encouraged to think of themselves as a series of problematic zones, crudely stitched into a functional flesh onesie. What a contrast with women, where the only real question is which body part is going to be singled out for sustained hostile critique next. If you'd asked me even five years ago, I would have confidently declared that we'd definitely run out of new parts to scrutinise and criticise. Now I'm starting to wonder whether we ever will. I've a bad case of Xmas ad nausea The John Lewis Christmas advert is leaving my tears defiantly unjerked. If the mere idea of a Keane song doesn't make you want to claw out your own eardrums and dissolve them in acid, Lily Allen's take on Somewhere Only We Knowcorrect is sweet. However, the cartoon stuff with the hare and the bear leaves me as cold as the snow the badly drawn animals are pretending to scamper about in. Looking at other Christmas ads, Marks & Spencer has Helena Bonham Carter and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in a frankly tedious Alice in Wonderland/Wizard of Oz mash-up. Morrisons, meanwhile, has paired Ant and Dec with a dancing gingerbread man; the Boots advert, featuring a hoodie with a heart of gold, deserves special mention for its intriguing misuse of Bronksi Beat's atmospheric gay anthem, Smalltown Boy". I'd love to have been in the meeting where someone said: "This song is about the suffering of a young gay man coming out to a hostile world – let's use it to sell bath bombs!" Why didn't these companies ask me for help? For a mere couple of million, I could have told them the truth – that the British public doesn't want cartoon hares or supermodel boreathons at Christmas. Instead of retail, think metail. These days, and especially at Christmas, we're all so narcissistic we only react emotionally to adverts that remind us of us. Hence, the tear-jerk reaction to the John Lewis classic that featured a little boy desperate to give his parents presents, to the strains of Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want. That wasn't our child but we wanted it to be. Now that was a classy piece of cynical, corporate, mass-emotional manipulation – is it too much to ask for it to happen again? Blackadder has a cunning plan to tell us about war Defence minister – and one-time Royal Navy surgeon commander – Dr Andrew Murrison has complained that film and television comedies have left the British public with little understanding of the First World War. Murrison said that the satirical takes such as those offered by the likes of Richard Curtis and Ben Elton's Blackadder have been in the ascendant for way too long. Which echoes Jeremy Paxman's recent observation that showing schoolchildren Blackadder Goes Forth to teach them about the First World War was "astonishing". Really? Obviously, there is always room for more in-depth studies of the First World War. However, shouldn't Blackadder be commended for keeping this war fresh in people's minds, especially the minds of younger people? Along with the humour, there was a lot of pathos in Blackadder Goes Forth – the final scene where they go over the top was unforgettable, as was Baldrick's "German Guns" poem ("Boom. Boom. Boom."). If I were a pupil, with little knowledge of the First World War, and these episodes were shown, they would whet my interest rather than warp it. What's so wrong with humour being employed as a learning aid and a gateway to a more thorough understanding? | Mid | [
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Q: Linear search vs Octree (Frustum cull) I am wondering whether I should look into implementing an octree of some kind. I have a very simple game which consists of a 3d plane for the floor. There are multiple objects scattered around on the ground, each one has an aabb in world space. Currently I just do a loop through the list of all these objects and check if its bounding box intersects with the frustum, it works great but I am wondering if if it would be a good investment in an octree. I only have max 512 of these objects on the map and they all contain bounding boxes. I am not sure if an octree would make it faster since I have so little objects in the scene. A: http://publications.dice.se/attachments/CullingTheBattlefield.pdf Linear brute force frustum culling is... Simpler: Easier to code Easier to debug Easier to maintain Easier to optimize /** * Returns wheter the given sphere is in the frustum * @param center The center of the sphere * @param radius The radius of the sphere * @return Wheter the sphere is in the frustum */ public boolean sphereInFrustum(Vector3 center, float radius) { for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) if ((planes[i].normal.x * center.x + planes[i].normal.y * center.y + planes[i].normal.z * center.z) < (radius + planes[i].d)) return false; return true; } Faster: Easier to multithread Memory is bottleneck 512 is so little amount of objects that you are just wasting your time to even thinking this problem. My java implementation use about 2ms for 1000 objects on cheap android phone. Just testing against bounding sphere is good enough and lot simpler. Code: http://pastebin.com/7i4wknx7 | Low | [
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Q: How to display parent model with its child model in a template Here is my structure: model.py class Doctor(models.Model): name = models.CharField(max_length=50) room_no = models.IntegerField() floor_no = models.IntegerField() contact_no = models.CharField(max_length=50, blank=True, null=True) notes = models.CharField(max_length=70, blank=True, null=True) class Meta: managed = False db_table = 'doctor' class DoctorSpecialization(models.Model): doc = models.ForeignKey(Doctor, models.DO_NOTHING) spec = models.ForeignKey('Specialization', models.DO_NOTHING) class Meta: managed = False db_table = 'doctor_specialization' class Specialization(models.Model): title = models.CharField(unique=True, max_length=45) class Meta: managed = False db_table = 'specialization' I would like to display this on my template just like on this post: In django How to display parent model data with child model data in change list view? Internal Medicine - Joanne Doe M.D. - Andrew Fuller M.D. - Nancy Davolio M.D. OB-Gyne - John Doe M.D. - Janet Leverling M.D. ENT - Margaret Peacock M.D. - Steven Buchanan M.D. - Laura Callahan M.D. - Michael Suyama M.D. But the problem is i have many to many relationship structure. I am new to django please your help is highly appreciated. A: You have to render your structure with doctors = {} for spec in Specialization.objects.all(): doctors[spec.title] = [doc_spec.doc.name for doc_spec in DoctorSpecialization.objects.filter(spec=spec)] then pass this dict to template: from django.template import Context, loader template = loader.get_template('<path_to_your_template>') context = Context({"doctors": doctors}) template.render(context) or you can use render shortcut for this part: render(request, '<path_to_your_template>', {"doctors": doctors}) and render it using double for loop: {% for title, doc_list in doctors.items %} <strong>{{ title }}:</strong><br> <ul> {% for doc in doc_list %} <li>{{ doc }}</li> {% endfor %} </ul> {% endfor %} | High | [
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Anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced psoriasis. We describe a patient with rheumatoid arthritis who developed psoriasis during treatment with etanercept; psoriatic lesions resolved completely after the drug was discontinued, but returned on rechallenge. No such adverse skin reaction occurred after switching therapy to infliximab. Through a Medline search we identified 11 reports involving 32 patients who developed psoriasis/psoriasiform eruptions during therapy with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitors. All TNF-alpha blocking agents have been reported to lead to or exacerbate psoriasis. In some cases skin changes were severe enough to discontinue the medication. | Mid | [
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“This is working, the ground game. Let’s keep going to it.” Fox NFL analyst Charles Davis said these words at the end of a third-quarter soliloquy about the virtues of running the ball in the Chiefs’ 34-30 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. His overall point, which he made multiple times throughout the course of the game, was that the Lions were working a good game plan against the Chiefs by running the ball early and often. By controlling the clock and slowing the game down, they were able to push the Chiefs to the limit and almost pull off a massive upset. That’s the narrative that has been pushed since the game ended as well, and it’s a very common one throughout the league. The problem: It’s not accurate. The Chiefs’ run defense had very little to do with why that game was close, and hasn’t really impacted the Chiefs so far this season. That may be hard to believe, but it’s what the... | Low | [
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package org.allenai.scienceparse import java.security.MessageDigest object Utilities { private val sha1HexLength = 40 def toHex(bytes: Array[Byte]): String = { val sb = new scala.collection.mutable.StringBuilder(sha1HexLength) bytes.foreach { byte => sb.append(f"$byte%02x") } sb.toString } def shaForBytes(bytes: Array[Byte]): String = { val digest = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-1") digest.reset() digest.update(bytes) toHex(digest.digest()) } } | Low | [
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Q: Problems With Opening Room Gamemaker In Gamemaker, I have a main menu room, and hitting start takes you to the gameplay room. When testing it, it did not take me to the gameplay room. I made it load into the problem room first, and all it loaded was a black screen. I also noticed when I looked in the console it was said: RequestStats - failed: 2 What's causing this and how do I fix it? Here is my game: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xWota0WfzcwvYGHY4zFVwS0vXDwNQfDp A: I have not found out what caused the problem, but I deleted the room, then created it again and readded all the objects, and it fixed the issue. The error in the console has not gone away, but the room loads properly. | Mid | [
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100 Bullets #10 $1.99 100 Bullets #10 Mild-mannered ice cream man Cole Burns made a major mistake when he underestimated Agent Graves. Now local gangster Goldy Petrovic intends to take out Cole, just like he took out Cole's grandmother years ago. But Cole's got a disturbing secret to share... | Low | [
0.42857142857142805,
22.875,
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Eureka Lands Six on All-UMAC Team ST. PAUL, Minn. – Six Eureka College football players have received All-Upper Midwest Athletic Conference honors, according to an announcement from the league office Thursday afternoon. Four of the six recipients are repeat choices from a year ago, including First Team selections for senior free safety Mike Minehan (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S./McKendree) and senior wide receiver Wes Schmidgall (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S./Culver-Stockton). In addition to the First Team selections, Eureka placed four on the All-UMAC Second Team. Junior quarterback Sam Durley (Roanoke, Ill./Roanoke-Benson H.S.) and senior tight end Alex Hess (Washington, Ill./Washington H.S.) were repeat selections on the offensive side of the ball, while sophomore linebacker Jacob Carls (El Paso, Ill./El Paso-Gridley H.S.) and junior punter Jordan Jefferson (Normal, Ill./Normal West H.S.) were first-time recipients on the Second Team. Minehan started all 10 games in the Eureka secondary in 2011 despite a broken hand suffered Oct. 8 at Martin Luther. He led the UMAC with 111 tackles in 2011, adding 1.0 sack, 5.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and eight pass breakups. He was also named UMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 20 of this season, the third weekly UMAC award of his career. He brought his three-year Eureka career to a close last Saturday with 314 tackles, the most by any defensive back in program history. His final career totals also include five interceptions and 1,462 return yards. Minehan was an All-UMAC South Division Second Team choice as a sophomore in 2009 and an All-UMAC First Team selection last season. Schimdgall joins Minehan as repeat First Team selections and has now received First Team accolades in each of his three seasons as a Red Devil. This season, he led the UMAC and ranked fifth nationally in Division III with 1,247 receiving yards. His 73 receptions ranked second in the league and his 16 touchdowns ranked tied for first. For his four-year collegiate career that includes numbers from his freshman season at NAIA Culver-Stockton, Schimdgall made 196 catches for 3,631 yards and 43 touchdowns. Following his 18-catch, 273-yard performance on Oct. 22, he was named to the D3Football.com national Team of the Week and received UMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career. Durley turned in his best individual season yet and one of the most productive seasons under center in program history. He finished the campaign 203-for-390 for a UMAC-best 2,869 yards and 26 touchdowns. His final average of 286.9 passing yards per game ranked 12th in Division III and his 277.3 yards of total offense ranked 22nd. Durley broke a single-game school record on four different occasions in 2011 and owns the program's single-game marks in completions (35 vs. Greenville on Oct. 22), passing yards (478 at Presentation on Sept. 24 and passing touchdowns (eight at Presentation on Sept. 24). He originally broke the completions record on Sept. 24 at Presentation with 29. Durley's effort at Presenation earned him UMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in his career. He also earned All-UMAC Second Team accolades as a sophomore in 2010. Hess gave Eureka a versatile weapon on offense, contributing as a tight end, slot receiver and fullback as part of the Red Devils' spread attack. He finished the season with 41 receptions for 560 yards and two touchdowns, all single-season career-bests. He also carried the ball 11 times for 24 yards and two touchdowns as a short-yardage specialist. Hess, who joined Minehan and Schimdgall as preseason Division III All-America selections by D3Proday.com, finished his three-year Eureka career with 100 catches for 1,254 yards and five touchdowns. He also scored six touchdowns on the ground. Hess was also a two-time all-conference choice in baseball at Eureka and was the only male student-athlete from a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member school to earn all-conference First Team honors in two different sports in 2010. Carls is on the postseason All-UMAC Team for the first time after finishing his sophomore campaign with 87 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions. Carls, who has started all 20 games since joining the program prior to the 2010 season, made 10 tackles or more on three different occasions in 2010, including a career-high 15 stops in a win at Martin Luther on Oct. 8. His first interception of the season came in the final minute of Eureka's homecoming game against Westminster on Oct. 1, securing Eureka's 22-18 come-from-behind victory in front of an overflow crowd at McKinzie Field. Jefferson, starting for the third consecutive season, emerged as one of the league's best punters in 2011. He averaged 37.6 yards on 55 punts during the year, putting 14 kicks inside the opponent's 20-yard line. His season-long punt of 61 yards was booted in Eureka's homecoming victory over Westminster on Oct. 1, and 14 of his punts resulted in fair catches. Jefferson was a two-time UMAC Special Teams Player of the Week in 2011, earning the award on Sept. 20 and again on Oct. 25. Jefferson also added depth at quarterback and various special teams for the Red Devils. Eureka junior defensive tackle Josh Girard (Pekin, Ill./Pekin H.S.) also received postseason recognition from the UMAC on Thursday as Eureka's recipient of the league's Individual Sportsmanship Award. Each of the 10 conference teams had one player receive the award, and Crown received the UMAC's Team Sportsmanship Award. Undefeated league champion St. Scholastica earned four of the five individual postseason specialty awards from the UMAC. Quarterback Alex Thiry was the Offensive Player of the Year, linebacker Sean Graskey was chosen as Defensive Player of the Year, kicker Mike Theismann received Special Teams Player of the Year and fourth-year head coach Greg Carlson was named the league's Coach of the Year. Northwestern junior Josh Swore was named Lineman of the Year. St. Scholastica will represent the UMAC in the 32-team NCAA Division III playoffs beginning this Saturday at #3 St. Thomas (Minn.) at noon in St. Paul, Minn. Eureka finished the 2011 season with a 4-6 overall record and a 4-5 UMAC record to finish sixth in the 10-team league. | Mid | [
0.6485260770975051,
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package gen; // Code generated by colf(1); DO NOT EDIT. // The compiler used schema file test.colf. import static java.lang.String.format; import java.io.IOException; import java.io.InputStream; import java.io.ObjectInputStream; import java.io.ObjectOutputStream; import java.io.ObjectStreamException; import java.io.OutputStream; import java.io.Serializable; import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets; import java.util.InputMismatchException; import java.nio.BufferOverflowException; import java.nio.BufferUnderflowException; /** * Data bean with built-in serialization support. * DromedaryCase oposes name casings. * @author generated by colf(1) * @see <a href="https://github.com/pascaldekloe/colfer">Colfer's home</a> */ @SuppressWarnings( value = "fallthrough" ) public class DromedaryCase implements Serializable { /** The upper limit for serial byte sizes. */ public static int colferSizeMax = 16 * 1024 * 1024; @Deprecated(forRemoval=true) // @javax.validation.constraints.NotNull public String pascalCase; /** Default constructor */ public DromedaryCase() { init(); } /** Colfer zero values. */ private void init() { pascalCase = ""; } /** * {@link #reset(InputStream) Reusable} deserialization of Colfer streams. */ public static class Unmarshaller { /** The data source. */ protected InputStream in; /** The read buffer. */ public byte[] buf; /** The {@link #buf buffer}'s data start index, inclusive. */ protected int offset; /** The {@link #buf buffer}'s data end index, exclusive. */ protected int i; /** * @param in the data source or {@code null}. * @param buf the initial buffer or {@code null}. */ public Unmarshaller(InputStream in, byte[] buf) { if (buf == null || buf.length == 0) buf = new byte[Math.min(DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax, 2048)]; this.buf = buf; reset(in); } /** * Reuses the marshaller. * @param in the data source or {@code null}. * @throws IllegalStateException on pending data. */ public void reset(InputStream in) { if (this.i != this.offset) throw new IllegalStateException("colfer: pending data"); this.in = in; this.offset = 0; this.i = 0; } /** * Deserializes the following object. * @return the result or {@code null} when EOF. * @throws IOException from the input stream. * @throws SecurityException on an upper limit breach defined by {@link #colferSizeMax}. * @throws InputMismatchException when the data does not match this object's schema. */ public DromedaryCase next() throws IOException { if (in == null) return null; while (true) { if (this.i > this.offset) { try { DromedaryCase o = new DromedaryCase(); this.offset = o.unmarshal(this.buf, this.offset, this.i); return o; } catch (BufferUnderflowException e) { } } // not enough data if (this.i <= this.offset) { this.offset = 0; this.i = 0; } else if (i == buf.length) { byte[] src = this.buf; if (offset == 0) this.buf = new byte[Math.min(DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax, this.buf.length * 4)]; System.arraycopy(src, this.offset, this.buf, 0, this.i - this.offset); this.i -= this.offset; this.offset = 0; } assert this.i < this.buf.length; int n = in.read(buf, i, buf.length - i); if (n < 0) { if (this.i > this.offset) throw new InputMismatchException("colfer: pending data with EOF"); return null; } assert n > 0; i += n; } } } /** * Gets the serial size estimate as an upper boundary, whereby * {@link #marshal(byte[],int)} ≤ {@link #marshalFit()} ≤ {@link #colferSizeMax}. * @return the number of bytes. */ public int marshalFit() { long n = 1L + 6 + (long)this.pascalCase.length() * 3; if (n < 0 || n > (long)DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax) return DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax; return (int) n; } /** * Serializes the object. * @param out the data destination. * @param buf the initial buffer or {@code null}. * @return the final buffer. When the serial fits into {@code buf} then the return is {@code buf}. * Otherwise the return is a new buffer, large enough to hold the whole serial. * @throws IOException from {@code out}. * @throws IllegalStateException on an upper limit breach defined by {@link #colferSizeMax}. */ public byte[] marshal(OutputStream out, byte[] buf) throws IOException { int n = 0; if (buf != null && buf.length != 0) try { n = marshal(buf, 0); } catch (BufferOverflowException e) {} if (n == 0) { buf = new byte[marshalFit()]; n = marshal(buf, 0); } out.write(buf, 0, n); return buf; } /** * Serializes the object. * @param buf the data destination. * @param offset the initial index for {@code buf}, inclusive. * @return the final index for {@code buf}, exclusive. * @throws BufferOverflowException when {@code buf} is too small. * @throws IllegalStateException on an upper limit breach defined by {@link #colferSizeMax}. */ public int marshal(byte[] buf, int offset) { int i = offset; try { if (! this.pascalCase.isEmpty()) { buf[i++] = (byte) 0; int start = ++i; String s = this.pascalCase; for (int sIndex = 0, sLength = s.length(); sIndex < sLength; sIndex++) { char c = s.charAt(sIndex); if (c < '\u0080') { buf[i++] = (byte) c; } else if (c < '\u0800') { buf[i++] = (byte) (192 | c >>> 6); buf[i++] = (byte) (128 | c & 63); } else if (c < '\ud800' || c > '\udfff') { buf[i++] = (byte) (224 | c >>> 12); buf[i++] = (byte) (128 | c >>> 6 & 63); buf[i++] = (byte) (128 | c & 63); } else { int cp = 0; if (++sIndex < sLength) cp = Character.toCodePoint(c, s.charAt(sIndex)); if ((cp >= 1 << 16) && (cp < 1 << 21)) { buf[i++] = (byte) (240 | cp >>> 18); buf[i++] = (byte) (128 | cp >>> 12 & 63); buf[i++] = (byte) (128 | cp >>> 6 & 63); buf[i++] = (byte) (128 | cp & 63); } else buf[i++] = (byte) '?'; } } int size = i - start; if (size > DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax) throw new IllegalStateException(format("colfer: gen.dromedaryCase.PascalCase size %d exceeds %d UTF-8 bytes", size, DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax)); int ii = start - 1; if (size > 0x7f) { i++; for (int x = size; x >= 1 << 14; x >>>= 7) i++; System.arraycopy(buf, start, buf, i - size, size); do { buf[ii++] = (byte) (size | 0x80); size >>>= 7; } while (size > 0x7f); } buf[ii] = (byte) size; } buf[i++] = (byte) 0x7f; return i; } catch (ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException e) { if (i - offset > DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax) throw new IllegalStateException(format("colfer: gen.dromedaryCase exceeds %d bytes", DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax)); if (i > buf.length) throw new BufferOverflowException(); throw e; } } /** * Deserializes the object. * @param buf the data source. * @param offset the initial index for {@code buf}, inclusive. * @return the final index for {@code buf}, exclusive. * @throws BufferUnderflowException when {@code buf} is incomplete. (EOF) * @throws SecurityException on an upper limit breach defined by {@link #colferSizeMax}. * @throws InputMismatchException when the data does not match this object's schema. */ public int unmarshal(byte[] buf, int offset) { return unmarshal(buf, offset, buf.length); } /** * Deserializes the object. * @param buf the data source. * @param offset the initial index for {@code buf}, inclusive. * @param end the index limit for {@code buf}, exclusive. * @return the final index for {@code buf}, exclusive. * @throws BufferUnderflowException when {@code buf} is incomplete. (EOF) * @throws SecurityException on an upper limit breach defined by {@link #colferSizeMax}. * @throws InputMismatchException when the data does not match this object's schema. */ public int unmarshal(byte[] buf, int offset, int end) { if (end > buf.length) end = buf.length; int i = offset; try { byte header = buf[i++]; if (header == (byte) 0) { int size = 0; for (int shift = 0; true; shift += 7) { byte b = buf[i++]; size |= (b & 0x7f) << shift; if (shift == 28 || b >= 0) break; } if (size < 0 || size > DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax) throw new SecurityException(format("colfer: gen.dromedaryCase.PascalCase size %d exceeds %d UTF-8 bytes", size, DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax)); int start = i; i += size; this.pascalCase = new String(buf, start, size, StandardCharsets.UTF_8); header = buf[i++]; } if (header != (byte) 0x7f) throw new InputMismatchException(format("colfer: unknown header at byte %d", i - 1)); } finally { if (i > end && end - offset < DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax) throw new BufferUnderflowException(); if (i < 0 || i - offset > DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax) throw new SecurityException(format("colfer: gen.dromedaryCase exceeds %d bytes", DromedaryCase.colferSizeMax)); if (i > end) throw new BufferUnderflowException(); } return i; } // {@link Serializable} version number. private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L; // {@link Serializable} Colfer extension. private void writeObject(ObjectOutputStream out) throws IOException { byte[] buf = new byte[marshalFit()]; int n = marshal(buf, 0); out.writeInt(n); out.write(buf, 0, n); } // {@link Serializable} Colfer extension. private void readObject(ObjectInputStream in) throws ClassNotFoundException, IOException { init(); int n = in.readInt(); byte[] buf = new byte[n]; in.readFully(buf); unmarshal(buf, 0); } // {@link Serializable} Colfer extension. private void readObjectNoData() throws ObjectStreamException { init(); } /** * Gets gen.dromedaryCase.PascalCase. * @return the value. */ public String getPascalCase() { return this.pascalCase; } /** * Sets gen.dromedaryCase.PascalCase. * @param value the replacement. */ public void setPascalCase(String value) { this.pascalCase = value; } /** * Sets gen.dromedaryCase.PascalCase. * @param value the replacement. * @return {@code this}. */ public DromedaryCase withPascalCase(String value) { this.pascalCase = value; return this; } @Override public final int hashCode() { int h = 1; if (this.pascalCase != null) h = 31 * h + this.pascalCase.hashCode(); return h; } @Override public final boolean equals(Object o) { return o instanceof DromedaryCase && equals((DromedaryCase) o); } public final boolean equals(DromedaryCase o) { if (o == null) return false; if (o == this) return true; return (this.pascalCase == null ? o.pascalCase == null : this.pascalCase.equals(o.pascalCase)); } } | Low | [
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Q: Hibernate creating N+1 queries for @ManyToOne JPA annotated property I have these classes: @Entity public class Invoice implements Serializable { @Id @Basic(optional = false) private Integer number; private BigDecimal value; //Getters and setters } @Entity public class InvoiceItem implements Serializable { @EmbeddedId protected InvoiceItemPK invoiceItemPk; @ManyToOne @JoinColumn(name = "invoice_number", insertable = false, updatable = false) private Invoice invoice; //Getters and setters } When i run this query: session.createQuery("select i from InvoiceItem i").list(); It executes one query to select the records from InvoiceItem, and if I have 10000 invoice items, it generates 10000 additional queries to select the Invoice from each InvoiceItem. I think it would be a lot better if all the records could be fetched in a single sql. Actually, I find it weird why it is not the default behavior. So, how can I do it? A: The problem here is not related to Hibernate, but to JPA. Prior to JPA 1.0, Hibernate 3 used lazy loading for all associations. However, the JPA 1.0 specification uses FetchType.LAZY only for collection associations: @OneToMany, @ManyToMany @ElementCollection) The @ManyToOne and @OneToOne associations use FetchType.EAGER by default, and that's very bad from a performance perspective. The behavior described here is called the N+1 query issue, and it happens because Hibernate needs to make sure that the @ManyToOne association is initialized prior to returning the result to the user. Now, if you are using direct fetching via entityManager.find, Hibernate can use a LEFT JOIN to initialize the FetchTYpe.EAGER associations. However, when executing a query that does not explicitly use a JOIN FETCH clause, Hibernate will not use a JOIN to fetch the FetchTYpe.EAGER associations, as it cannot alter the query that you already specified how to be constructed. So, it can only use secondary queries. The fix is simple. Just use FetchType.LAZY for all associations: @ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.LAZY) @JoinColumn(name = "invoice_number", insertable = false, updatable = false) private Invoice invoice; More, you should use the db-util project to assert the number of statements executed by JPA and Hibernate. For more details, check out this article. A: Try with session.createQuery("select i from InvoiceItem i join fetch i.invoice inv").list(); It should get all the data in a single SQL query by using joins. | Mid | [
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import { combineReducersWithPersistence } from 'state/utils'; combineReducersWithPersistence( { foo, bar, } ); | Low | [
0.49756097560975604,
25.5,
25.75
] |
Thank God we are not stuck with simply printed editions of the Talmud and that we have manuscripts, as well, otherwise, we would be missing a statement of Rabbi Akiva‘s. Found on bArakhin 16b, there is a beraita about the difficulty of employing the commandment to reprove (Lev. 19:17), yet the printed editions omit the following line found in some of the manuscripts: אמר לו רבי עקיבא: תמיהני אם יש בדור הזה שמקבל תוכחה Rabbi Akiva said to him, “I would be surprised if there was someone in this generation who received reproof!” Synoptic presentation of the tannaitic text from bArakhin 16b of manuscripts and printed editions To this, some people would point to the printed edition and say, “Wait, doesn’t Rabbi Tarfon say that at the outset of the beraita?” Yes, that’s true, that this aforementioned statement is attributed to him in the printed editions; however, in some of the manuscripts, it seems that he actually stated something else: Rabbi Tarfon said: “I would be surprised if there would be someone in this generation who would be able to reprove. If someone said to him, ‘Remove the chip of wood from between your eyes’, he would tell him: ‘Remove the beam from between your eyes’!” Now, instead of missing Rabbi Akiva’s statement altogether, we are able to understand not only that he would be surprised if someone could accept reproof in his day, but also that Rabbi Tarfon expresses concern about the ability for people to dispense reproof to their fellow, rather than Rabbi Akiva’s concern about accepting it. Here is a re-worked version of this beraita, based primarily off of MS Munich 95: It was taught: Rabbi Tarfon said: “I would be surprised if there would be someone in this generation who would be able to reprove. If someone said to him, ‘Remove the chip of wood from between your eyes’, he would tell him: ‘Remove the beam from between your eyes’!” Rabbi Elazar, son Azariah, said: “I would be surprised if there would be someone in this generation who knows how to reprove!” Rabbi Akiva said to him, “I would be surprised if there was someone in this generation who received reproof!” Rabbi Yohanan, son of Nuri, said: “May heaven and earth testify upon me that many times, Akiva was punished because of me because I used to complain against him before Rabban Gamaliel. And all the more, he showered love upon me, to make true what has been said: ‘Do not reprove a scorner, lest he hate you; reprove a wise man and he will love you’ (Prov. 9.8).” | High | [
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Introduction ============ Photoredox catalysis has recently emerged as a mild and efficient method for the generation of radicals, as it is possible to take advantage of the photophysical properties^[@cit1]^ of suitable organic dyes^[@cit2]^ and transition metal complexes exhibiting tailored electrochemical and photophysical properties.^[@cit3],[@cit4]^ In particular, MacMillan *et al.* investigated 1,4-conjugate addition (Michael reaction)^[@cit5]^ of radicals^[@cit6]^ in connection with a series of electrophilic olefins. In these reactions a photoredox-mediated CO~2~-extrusion mechanism is operative and a broad array of Michael acceptors have been used. Simple or α-functionalized (N; O) carboxylic acids are employed as Michael donors without the need for organometallic mediated activation or propagation. Recently, Overman *et al.* have also explored *N*-phthalimidoyl oxalate derivatives of tertiary alcohols for reductive coupling of tertiary radicals with Michael acceptors, using visible light and \[Ru(bpy)~3~\]\[PF~6~\]~2~.^[@cit7]^ The key relevant characteristics of both the Overman and MacMillan radical generation methodologies were recently merged in a new powerful protocol.^[@cit8]^ A typical procedure entails the addition of 1--2 mol% of the photocatalyst Ir\[dF(CF~3~)ppy\]~2~(*t*Bu-bpy)\[PF~6~\] (**1**, [Fig. 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}), which acts as a strong oxidant in the first step of the photocatalytic cycle. {#fig1} Although these methodologies are extremely effective and use cheap and abundant starting materials, there are still some inherent limitations. Primarily, the commercially available iridium photocatalyst **1** is expensive and a Suzuki coupling is necessary for its preparation.^[@cit9]^ Furthermore, the generation of primary radicals under photocatalytic conditions after extrusion of CO~2~ is challenging, and just one example where primary radicals are intercepted by fluorinating agents is reported in the literature.^[@cit10]^ However, to the best of our knowledge, the generation and reaction of primary radicals is still an open issue in photocatalytic Michael reactions. Furthermore, addition of methyl radicals, recently reported using an ambitious methodology based on a Minisci type reaction,^[@cit11],[@cit12]^ has still not been developed in the area of photocatalysis. In the above described context, the present study has two main goals: (i) to demonstrate the use of an alternative, simply prepared and tunable iridium([iii]{.smallcaps}) photocatalyst (**2**, [Fig. 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}) for radical reactions, and (ii) to propose a new methodology for effective photocatalytic methylation. Notably, Baran has recently shown that zinc bis\[(phenylsulfonyl)methanesulfinate\] can be effectively used for introducing a methyl group through a two-step synthetic procedure, in which a radical mediated process is involved in the first step.^[@cit13]^ As a possible synthetic equivalent for a methyl group, we propose herein the chameleonic dithiane group, opening a route to the use of dithianecarboxylate as a Michael donor in photoredox catalysis. A secondary radical is formed, which is stabilized by the presence of two sulfur atoms, and can be used as a versatile synthetic equivalent. Remarkably, the dithiane can be not only replaced by a methyl group by treatment with RANEY®-nickel, but it is also possible to take advantage of its flexibility, allowing the installation of different functional groups such as aldehydes and ketones, upon the radical reaction. Optimization of the photocatalytic reaction and scope ===================================================== Dithianes, introduced by Corey and Seebach^[@cit14]^ are widely used in the synthesis of natural products.^[@cit15]^ For instance, they were exploited by Smith for the application of linchpins in the synthesis of complex natural molecules.^[@cit16]^ However, the radical reactivity of dithianes has been only rarely reported in the literature, mainly through the installation of a radical initiator group (phenylseleno, xanthate, TEMPO or chloro) at the 2-position for the generation of C-2 centred radicals.^[@cit17]^ Direct radical addition of 1,3-dithianes to alkenes was shown to occur in an intramolecular fashion. Quite interestingly, Nishida and co-workers reported an intramolecular photocatalytic addition for the 1,3-dithiane, and this reaction has also been reported with other radical initiators.^[@cit18]^ Recently, Leow and co-workers reported the photocatalytic addition of 1,3-benzodithioles to several Michael acceptors.^[@cit19]^ However, only aryl or alkyl C2-substituted benzodithiole could be used, while aryl dithiane was found to be completely unreactive. On the other hand, Koike and Akita reported the reaction of potassium 1,3-dithian-2-yl trifluoroborate with terminal olefins bearing electron withdrawing groups^[@cit20]^ which act as a synthetic equivalent of carbonyl groups. Based on the previous work by MacMillan^[@cit5]^ and on the basis of the recent report on the practical use of commercially available dithiane carboxylate in organocatalytic reactions,^[@cit21]^ we used this cheap and commercially available starting material as a suitable reagent for installing various unsubstituted or substituted dithianes by photocatalytic reactions. Accordingly, we have carefully investigated the addition of dithiane carboxylate (**4a**) to alkylidene malonate (**3a**) ([Scheme 1](#sch1){ref-type="fig"}) in the presence of different photocatalysts, by varying the solvent and other reaction conditions (see ESI for all complexes tested and full details[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"}). Although the commercially available iridium catalyst **1** was found to be effective, we have investigated the catalytic activity of alternative iridium complexes, which can be more easily prepared, such as phenyl-tetrazole and pyridyl-triazole derivatives (see ESI[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"}), without any Suzuki coupling. Only complexes containing phenyl tetrazoles as cyclometalating ligands showed an efficiency comparable to catalyst **1**. These compounds were recently reported by some of us^[@cit22]^ as emitting materials in electroluminescent devices and here we show that they can also be successfully utilized to promote photocatalytic reactions. {#sch1} Notably, by careful tuning of the pristine ligand structure, this class of complexes may provide remarkable opportunities to enhance reaction selectivity (*vide infra*). The photoredox radical conjugate addition of dithiane-2-carboxylate has been used to test our approach, giving full conversions and high isolated yields when the reaction is conducted in DMSO and in the presence of K~2~HPO~4~ as an inorganic base (see ESI for details[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"}). MacMillan has shown that the presence of the latter is crucial to form the carboxylate, allowing oxidation and affording the release of CO~2~; the use of organic bases gave poorer results. Among all of the iridium catalysts tested (see ESI for full details,[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"} and for the results obtained with catalyst **1**), complex \[Ir(ptrz)~2~(*t*Bu-bpy)\]\[BF~4~\] (**2**, [Fig. 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}) gave the best results under the optimized reaction conditions ([Scheme 1](#sch1){ref-type="fig"}), also proving to be highly photostable in DMSO after prolonged irradiation (see ESI[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"}). Specifically, complex **2** is easily obtained through a two-step synthesis^[@cit22]^ involving a facile silver-assisted cyclometalation reaction of 2-methyl-5-phenyl-2*H*-tetrazole with IrCl~3~ and, notably, the solvato complex intermediate can be a useful precursor for other appropriately designed iridium([iii]{.smallcaps}) complexes. To test the general validity of our approach, we investigated a variety of Michael acceptors and the results obtained are summarized in [Scheme 2](#sch2){ref-type="fig"}. Differently substituted Michael acceptors can participate in the dithiane conjugate addition protocol. The mild reaction conditions reported in [Scheme 2](#sch2){ref-type="fig"} are compatible with a wide range of functional groups (*e.g.*, malonates, esters, amides, ketones, aldehydes, sulfones, *etc.*), which together provide a versatile group for further functionalization and transformation. Unsaturated ketones and aldehydes are well tolerated in both cyclic and acyclic forms (*e.g.*, products **5n--q**). In addition, this protocol could be further applied to other electrophilic alkenes, including α,β-unsaturated amides, sulfones, and malonates, as well as acrylates and fumarates, to afford a variety of alkylated dithianes in good to excellent yields. In terms of substituents present in the Michael acceptors, β-substituents are tolerated, as well as α-aryl and α-alkyl groups. It is also worth noting that the tailored synthesis of 2-substituted dithiane-2-carboxylates is possible (see ESI for details[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"}) with a wide range of products (*e.g.*, products **5r--t**). In addition, it was possible to scale up the reaction without any problem from 0.2 mmol to 2.4 mmol. {#sch2} This protocol avoids the use of strong bases and allows the direct addition of a versatile dithiane under very mild reaction conditions. The methodology, by coupling the reaction with RANEY®-nickel desulfurization realized on the crude reaction mixture, gave direct access to the corresponding methyl group in a straightforward way ([Scheme 3](#sch3){ref-type="fig"}). When ketones are present, the direct treatment can lead to their reduction, as observed for **5q** and **5s**. Moderate to good diastereoselection is observed for the reaction. On the other hand, it is possible to transform the dithiane with the corresponding carbonyl group by an easy deprotection reaction under well-established conditions^[@cit23]^ as is reported with selected examples, giving the desired products in high yields ([Scheme 4](#sch4){ref-type="fig"}). Eventually, substituted or unsubstituted dithiane can be used for further modifications. {#sch3} {#sch4} Photocatalyst selectivity ========================= An interesting feature of the catalyst **2** is its selectivity towards oxidation of substrates. In fact, while the photocatalyst **1** is not able to discriminate between functionalized or unfunctionalized carboxylic acids, the complex **2** is able to selectively oxidize only α-functionalized acids (*e.g.*, **4a** and **15** in [Scheme 5](#sch5){ref-type="fig"}). Accordingly, no photo-generated radicals can be formed from unfunctionalized derivatives like, for instance, cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (**13** in [Scheme 5](#sch5){ref-type="fig"}).^[@cit24]^ {#sch5} Electrochemical and photophysical studies of the catalytic system ================================================================= The photo-oxidation selectivity of the complex **2**, compared to the iridium catalyst **1**, can be easily understood by comparing the excited-state redox potentials, estimated by combining photophysical and electrochemical data (see ESI for details[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"}). The redox potentials of the two above mentioned iridium photocatalysts (*i.e.*, **1** and **2**), together with those of the tetrabutylammonium carboxylates of selected carboxylic acids ([Fig. 2](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}) are gathered in [Fig. 2](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}, Fig. S3[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"} and [Table 1](#tab1){ref-type="table"}. {#fig2} ###### Electrochemical data determined by cyclic voltammetry and square-wave voltammetry *E* ~ox~ \[V\] *E* ~red~ \[V\] Δ*E* ~redox~ [^*c*^](#tab1fnc){ref-type="table-fn"} \[V\] {#ugt1} [^*d*^](#tab1fnd){ref-type="table-fn"} \[V\] {#ugt2} [^*d*^](#tab1fnd){ref-type="table-fn"} \[V\] ----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- **17** +0.39[^*a*^](#tab1fna){ref-type="table-fn"} --- --- --- --- **18** +0.58[^*a*^](#tab1fna){ref-type="table-fn"} --- --- --- --- **19** +0.37[^*a*^](#tab1fna){ref-type="table-fn"} --- --- --- --- **3a** [^*b*^](#tab1fnb){ref-type="table-fn"} --- --2.42[^*b*^](#tab1fnb){ref-type="table-fn"} --- --- --- **1** +1.32 --1.73 3.05 ≈--1.1 ≈+0.7 **2** +1.11 --1.89 3.00 ≈--1.2 ≈+0.4 ^*a*^All of the measurements were performed in room-temperature acetonitrile solution + 0.1 M TBAPF~6~. All of the redox potentials are referenced to the ferrocene/ferrocenium couple, which was used as an internal standard. ^*b*^An irreversible redox process with an estimated error of ±0.05 V. ^*c*^Δ*E* ~redox~ = *E* ~ox~ -- Δ*E* ~red~. ^*d*^ {#ugt3} where *E* ~00~ is the energy gap between the ground and excited states determined spectroscopically using the data reported in Fig. S4. Estimated error: ±0.1 V. The electrochemical and photophysical experiments were carried out on carboxylates -- instead of pristine carboxylic acids -- because only after deprotonation by K~2~HPO~4~ are the acid derivatives oxidized by the iridium photocatalyst, leading to CO~2~ release and their subsequent radical addition of Michael acceptors.^[@cit5]--[@cit7]^ Tetrabutylammonium was selected as the counterion to increase the solubility of the carboxylates in acetonitrile and in order to have the same cation as that of the supporting electrolyte used for the electrochemical experiments.^[@cit25]^ The oxidation potential of the unfunctionalized cyclohexanecarboxylate **18** is approx. 0.2 V higher when compared to that of the more electron-rich heterocyclic compounds **17** and **19** (see [Table 1](#tab1){ref-type="table"}). Therefore, a stronger oxidant is required to activate **18**, while the two functionalized derivatives **17** and **19** are more prone to oxidation. It is worth noting that, despite both iridium complexes having virtually the same redox gap (of around 3 eV), the oxidation and reduction processes of **2** occur at more positive potentials (approx. +0.2 V) when compared to the polyfluorinated **1** complex. This is due to the lack of electron-withdrawing fluorine substituents in the new tetrazole-based complex. It is well-known that iridium-based photocatalysts (*e.g.*, **1** and **2**) are strongly oxidizing species once excited to their lowest excited state.^[@cit5]--[@cit7]^ The excited-state redox potential of these molecules {#ugt7} can be roughly estimated using a simplified version of the so-called Rehm--Weller equation:^[@cit26]^ {#ugt4}where *E* ~00~ is the energy gap between the ground and excited states determined spectroscopically (see Fig. S4[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"} for details about its determination). Despite the fact that this approach can lead only to estimates with uncertainties of 0.1 V or more,^[@cit27]^ the {#ugt5} values of **1** and **2** ([Table 1](#tab1){ref-type="table"}) do provide an explanation for the photo-oxidation selectivity of the complex **2**, compared to the commercially available iridium catalyst **1**. In fact, while the excited-state reduction potential of **2** is not high enough to oxidize **18** (*i.e.*, +0.4 V \< +0.58 V), this is not the case for the complex **1**, having {#ugt6} (*i.e.*, well above the oxidation potential of **18**; see [Table 1](#tab1){ref-type="table"}). Stern--Volmer experiments ========================= This scenario is also corroborated by the Stern--Volmer quenching experiments which were carried out to explore in more detail the intramolecular reductive quenching of the photocatalyst phosphorescence operated by the carboxylate substrates. The results are summarized in [Table 2](#tab2){ref-type="table"} and depicted in [Fig. 3](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}. As expected, both **1** and **2** are quenched by the presence of **17** due to a bimolecular quenching process having approximately the same rate constant for both photocatalysts (*k* ~q~ ≈ 7 × 10^8^ M^--1^ s^--1^, see [Table 2](#tab2){ref-type="table"}). ###### Stern--Volmer experiments performed with the photocatalysts[^*a*^](#tab2fna){ref-type="fn"} Photocatalyst **1** [^*a*^](#tab2fna){ref-type="table-fn"} Photocatalyst **2** [^*a*^](#tab2fna){ref-type="table-fn"} -------- -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- ------------- **17** 1.56 ± 0.05 6.4 ± 0.2 0.89 ± 0.07 7.6 ± 0.6 **18** 0.24 ± 0.03 1.0 ± 0.1 0.039 ± 0.006 0.32 ± 0.05 **3a** Quenching not observed[^*c*^](#tab2fnc){ref-type="table-fn"} Quenching not observed[^*c*^](#tab2fnc){ref-type="table-fn"} ^*a*^All of the experiments were carried out in oxygen-free acetonitrile at 298 K with a photocatalyst concentration of 0.015 mM, with excitation at 330 nm. Data are reported with a ±95% confidence interval. In all cases, the quality of the fitting is assured by a *R* ^2^ \> 0.98. ^*b*^ *k* ~q~ = *K* ~SV~/*τ* ~0~, where *τ* ~0~ is the unquenched excited-state lifetime of the photocatalyst. ^*c*^There is no evidence of there being correlation between the excited-state quenching of the photocatalyst and the increasing amounts of **3a** up to a concentration of 4 mM. {#fig3} On the other hand, the unsubstituted carboxylate **18** is able to quench the excited state of **1** with a *k* ~q~ that is more than three times higher than in the case of **2** (*i.e.*, 1.0 *vs.* 0.3 × 10^8^ M^--1^ s^--1^, see [Table 2](#tab2){ref-type="table"}). As shown in [Fig. 4](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}, the excited-state lifetime of both **1** and **2** is virtually unaffected by the presence of the Michael acceptor **3a** (at least for concentrations up to 3.75 mM). This evidence is in accordance with the electrochemical data reported in [Table 1](#tab1){ref-type="table"}, showing that the excited-state redox potentials of both of the iridium photocatalysts cannot promote any redox process on **3a**. {#fig4} Determination of quantum yield ============================== In order to estimate the efficiency of our photocatalyst **2** and to assess the potential presence of an important radical chain contribution to the catalytic cycle, we evaluated the quantum yield of the reaction between the Michael acceptor **3a** and the carboxylate **17**, under the optimized conditions reported in the ESI.[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"} The reaction was irradiated at 334 nm with a 100 W Hg lamp; see the Experimental section for further details. The choice of such an excitation wavelength was dictated by: (i) the higher molar absorptivity of the photocatalyst compared to 450 nm blue LED excitation;^[@cit22]^ (ii) the high reliability of the potassium ferrioxalate actinometer in this spectral region, which is not the case for *λ* \> 450 nm;^[@cit28]^ (iii) the still high selectivity of excitation, since all the reagents are optically transparent for *λ* \> 300 nm (see Fig. S6[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"}). The determined quantum yield of the reaction is 0.28 ± 0.05. This value indicates that a radical chain mechanism is unlikely in our reaction; however, it could not be totally ruled out.^[@cit29]^ Proposed reaction mechanism =========================== The above illustrated experimental findings corroborate the reaction mechanism depicted in [Fig. 5](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}. Upon light absorption in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the iridium photocatalyst (Ir^III^) is excited to its lowest electronic excited state (\*Ir^III^). This initial event is the only one possible, since all of the other molecules are transparent to visible light (see Fig. S5 and S6[†](#fn1){ref-type="fn"}). Next, the photoexcited complex is able to oxidize a suitable carboxylate derivative (**I**) inducing its decarboxylation and the formation of the corresponding radical species (**II**). Subsequently, the addition of this radical to the Michael acceptor (**III**) affords the radical intermediate **IV**, which undergoes a second SET event from the reduced iridium complex (Ir^II^). The photocatalyst is then restored and **IV** is converted into the carbanionic intermediate **V**. The latter can be easily protonated, leading to the final reaction products. {#fig5} Conclusions =========== In conclusion, we have developed a practical and effective photocatalytic addition of dithiane-2-carboxylates to Michael-type acceptors promoted by the iridium([iii]{.smallcaps}) complex **2**, which is used for the first time as a powerful photocatalyst. The reaction has broad scope and allows the introduction of dithiane in a variety of Michael acceptors (unsaturated ketones, esters, amides, malonates, *etc.*) in high yields. The adducts can be further functionalized with established chemistry by oxidative deprotection or alkylation. In particular, this photocatalytic reaction can be used to introduce a methyl group to unsaturated compounds, after elimination of dithiane by RANEY®-nickel. The photocatalyst **2** is easily accessible and its redox properties can be finely tuned by chemical modification of the ligands, affording a brand new class of new Ir([iii]{.smallcaps}) photocatalysts. The electrochemical potential of **2** allows tailored oxidation and this opens the way to its selective use in photocatalysis to activate substrates. Studies on a stereoselective variant of the reaction proposed here are under active investigation in our laboratories. Experimental section ==================== General procedure ----------------- In a Schlenk tube with a rotaflo® stopcock under an argon atmosphere at r.t., catalyst **2** (1.7 mg, 0.002 mmol), 1,3-dithiane-2-carboxylic acid **4a** (0.2 mmol, 0.032 g) and K~2~HPO~4~ (0.2 mmol, 0.034 g) were dissolved in 400 μL of DMSO. After 2 min, the Michael acceptor (0.4 mmol) was added. The reaction mixture was carefully degassed *via* freeze--pump--thaw (three times), and the vessel was refilled with argon. The Schlenk tube was stirred and irradiated with a blue LED positioned approximately at a 10 cm distance from the reaction vessel. After 16 h of irradiation, NaHCO~3~ sat. solution (2 mL) was added and the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate (4 × 5 mL). The collected organic layers were dried over Na~2~SO~4~, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure to give the crude products. Column chromatography on silica (cyclohexane:ethyl acetate or cyclohexane:Et~2~O) afforded pure compounds. Electrochemistry ---------------- Voltammetric experiments were performed using a Metrohm AutoLab PGSTAT 302 electrochemical workstation in combination with the NOVA software package. All of the measurements were carried out at room temperature in acetonitrile solutions with a sample concentration of approx. 1 mM using 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (electrochemical grade, TBAPF~6~) as the supporting electrolyte. Oxygen was removed from the solutions by bubbling them with argon for 20 minutes. All of the experiments were carried out using a three-electrode setup (BioLogic VC-4 cell, with a cell volume of 5 mL) with a glassy-carbon working electrode (1.6 mm diameter), the Ag/AgNO~3~ redox couple (0.01 M in acetonitrile with 0.1 M TBAClO~4~ supporting electrolyte) as the reference electrode and a platinum wire as the counter electrode. At the end of each measurement, ferrocene was added as the internal reference. Cyclic voltammograms (CV) were typically recorded at a scan rate of 200 mV s^--1^, but several rates were used to check reversibility (in the range between 50 and 2000 mV s^--1^). Osteryoung square-wave voltammograms (OSWV) were recorded with a scan rate of 100 mV s^--1^, a SW amplitude of ±20 mV and a frequency of 25 Hz. Photophysical measurements -------------------------- All of the spectroscopic investigations were carried out in spectrofluorimetric grade acetonitrile using fluorimetric Suprasil® quartz cuvettes with a 10.00 mm path length. Absorption spectra were recorded with a Perkin-Elmer Lambda 950 spectrophotometer. All photoluminescence experiments were performed in oxygen-free solution, by removing oxygen through argon bubbling for 20 minutes. The uncorrected emission spectra were obtained with an Edinburgh Instruments FLS920 spectrometer equipped with a Peltier-cooled Hamamatsu R928 photomultiplier tube (PMT) (185--850 nm). An Edinburgh Xe 900 (450 W xenon arc lamp) was used as the excitation light source. The corrected spectra were obtained *via* a calibration curve supplied with the instrument. The photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) in solution were obtained from the corrected spectra on a wavelength scale (nm) and measured according to the approach described by Demas and Crosby^[@cit30]^ using an air-equilibrated water solution of quinine sulfate in 1 N H~2~SO~4~ as the reference (PLQY = 0.546).^[@cit31]^ The emission lifetimes (*τ*) were measured through the time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) technique using an HORIBA Jobin Yvon IBH FluoroHub controlling a spectrometer equipped with a pulsed NanoLED (*λ* ~exc~ = 330 nm; FWHM = 11 nm) as the excitation source and a red-sensitive Hamamatsu R-3237-01 PMT (185--850 nm) as the detector. Analysis of the luminescence decay profiles was accomplished with DAS6 Decay Analysis Software provided by the manufacturer, and the quality of the fitting was assessed with the *χ* ^2^ value close to unity and with the residuals regularly distributed along the time axis. Samples were excited at 340 nm for the evaluation of PLQYs and at 330 nm for *τ* determination. Experimental uncertainties are estimated to be ±10% for *τ* determinations, ±20% for PLQY, and ±2 nm and ±5 nm for absorption and emission peaks, respectively. Stern--Volmer quenching experiments were performed at room-temperature under oxygen-free conditions (in an argon-saturated environment) using 3 mL of acetonitrile solution containing the appropriate iridium photocatalyst (with a concentration of 1.5 × 10^--5^ M) and increasing amounts of quencher. For determination of the photocatalytic quantum yield, the reaction was carried out in spectrofluorimetric grade DMSO and placed in a Suprasil® quartz cuvette with a 2.00 mm path length. The reaction mixture was excited at 334 nm, using a 100 W Hg lamp equipped with an appropriate dichroic filter. The photon flux was estimated using a ferrioxalate actinometer, following the procedure reported by Montalti *et al.* ^[@cit28]^ The conversion of the reaction was determined by ^1^H-NMR. A. G. and P. G. C. are grateful to Fondazione Del Monte, Farb funds University of Bologna (project SLAMM to A. G.) and EU-Foundation through the TEC FP7 ICT-Molarnet project (318516) for partial financial support of this research. N. A. and F. M. thank the CNR for financial support through the projects PHEEL, N-CHEM, and bilateral CNR-CONICET. We are grateful to Giandomenico Magagnano for preliminary results and Daniele Mazzarella for the preparation of tetrabutylammonium salts. [^1]: †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental procedures, product characterizations, NMR spectra, compound preparation procedures, screening tests, and photophysical and electrochemical data. See DOI: [10.1039/c6sc03374a](10.1039/c6sc03374a) Click here for additional data file. | High | [
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Q: How can I have a Parse background job loop through a function for every User? What I want to do is have the Parse background job loop through a function repeatedly for every User in the database, using that Users respective matchCenterItem, MComparisonArray, and other object instances as criteria. When I run this, what happens is that rather than doing what I just described, it runs the function once, using all instances of things like matchCenterItem and MComparisonArray, so that functions aren't able to differentiate between users. How can I properly associate all the functions within this query to each individual user, so that when they save a new object for instance: var mComparisonArray = Parse.Object.extend("MComparisonArray"); var newMComparisonArray = new mComparisonArray(); newMComparisonArray.set('Name', 'MatchCenter'); newMComparisonArray.set('MCItems', eBayResults); newMComparisonArray.set("parent", Parse.User()); it'll show that user as the parent, rather than it saving it without a parent. Parse.Cloud.job("MatchCenterBackground", function(request, status) { console.log('background task started'); //Query through all users var usersQuery = new Parse.Query(Parse.User); //For every user, do the following: usersQuery.each(function(user) { //query through all their matchCenterItems var matchCenterItem = Parse.Object.extend("matchCenterItem"); var query = new Parse.Query(matchCenterItem); // promise and searchterm arrays to be filled var promises = []; var searchTerms = []; //setting the limit of items at 10 for now query.limit(10); console.log('about to start the matchCenterItem query'); return query.find().then(function(results) { console.log('matchCenterItem query results:' + results); if (results.length > 0) { console.log('we have entered the matchcenteritem query'); for (i = 0; i < results.length; i++) { console.log('we have also entered the loop inside the matchCenterItem query'); // later in your loop where you populate promises: var searchTerm = results[i].get('searchTerm'); // add it to the array just like you add the promises: searchTerms.push(searchTerm); url = 'http://svcs.ebay.com/services/search/FindingService/v1'; //push function containing criteria for every matchCenterItem into promises array promises.push((function() { if (results[i].get('itemLocation') == 'US') { console.log('americuh!'); var httpRequestPromise = Parse.Cloud.httpRequest({ url: url, params: { 'OPERATION-NAME': 'findItemsByKeywords', 'SERVICE-VERSION': '1.12.0', 'SECURITY-APPNAME': '*APP ID GOES HERE*', 'GLOBAL-ID': 'EBAY-US', 'RESPONSE-DATA-FORMAT': 'JSON', 'REST-PAYLOAD&sortOrder': 'BestMatch', 'paginationInput.entriesPerPage': '3', 'outputSelector=AspectHistogram&itemFilter(0).name=Condition&itemFilter(0).value(0)': 'New', 'itemFilter(0).value(1)': results[i].get('itemCondition'), 'itemFilter(1).name=MaxPrice&itemFilter(1).value': results[i].get('maxPrice'), 'itemFilter(1).paramName=Currency&itemFilter(1).paramValue': 'USD', 'itemFilter(2).name=MinPrice&itemFilter(2).value': results[i].get('minPrice'), 'itemFilter(2).paramName=Currency&itemFilter(2).paramValue': 'USD', 'itemFilter(3).name=LocatedIn&itemFilter(3).value': 'US', 'itemFilter(4).name=ListingType&itemFilter(4).value': 'FixedPrice', 'keywords': results[i].get('searchTerm'), } }); } else if (results[i].get('itemLocation') == 'WorldWide') { console.log('Mr worlwide!'); var httpRequestPromise = Parse.Cloud.httpRequest({ url: url, params: { 'OPERATION-NAME': 'findItemsByKeywords', 'SERVICE-VERSION': '1.12.0', 'SECURITY-APPNAME': '*APP ID GOES HERE*', 'GLOBAL-ID': 'EBAY-US', 'RESPONSE-DATA-FORMAT': 'JSON', 'REST-PAYLOAD&sortOrder': 'BestMatch', 'paginationInput.entriesPerPage': '3', 'outputSelector=AspectHistogram&itemFilter(0).name=Condition&itemFilter(0).value(0)': 'New', 'itemFilter(0).value(1)': results[i].get('itemCondition'), 'itemFilter(1).name=MaxPrice&itemFilter(1).value': results[i].get('maxPrice'), 'itemFilter(1).paramName=Currency&itemFilter(1).paramValue': 'USD', 'itemFilter(2).name=MinPrice&itemFilter(2).value': results[i].get('minPrice'), 'itemFilter(2).paramName=Currency&itemFilter(2).paramValue': 'USD', // 'itemFilter(3).name=LocatedIn&itemFilter(3).value' : 'US', 'itemFilter(3).name=ListingType&itemFilter(3).value': 'FixedPrice', 'keywords': results[i].get('searchTerm'), } }); } return httpRequestPromise; })()); } } //when finished pushing all the httpRequest functions into promise array, do the following return Parse.Promise.when(promises).then(function(results) { console.log('were in the when.then of promise'); var eBayResults = []; // piece together eBayResults for (var i = 0; i < arguments.length; i++) { var httpResponse = arguments[i]; // since they're in the same order, this is OK: var searchTerm = searchTerms[i]; // pass it as a param: var top3 = collectEbayResults(httpResponse.text, searchTerm); eBayResults.push(top3); } // collects ebay responses for every item in the form of top3 function collectEbayResults(eBayResponseText, searchTerm) { var ebayResponse = JSON.parse(eBayResponseText); //console.log('lets check eBayResults here:' + eBayResults); var matchCenterItems = []; //Parses through ebay's response, pushes each individual item and its properties into an array ebayResponse.findItemsByKeywordsResponse.forEach(function(itemByKeywordsResponse) { itemByKeywordsResponse.searchResult.forEach(function(result) { result.item.forEach(function(item) { matchCenterItems.push(item); }); }); }); var top3Titles = []; var top3Prices = []; var top3ImgURLS = []; var top3ItemURLS = []; //where the title, price, and img url are sent over to the app matchCenterItems.forEach(function(item) { var title = item.title[0]; var price = item.sellingStatus[0].convertedCurrentPrice[0].__value__; var imgURL = item.galleryURL[0]; var itemURL = item.viewItemURL[0]; top3Titles.push(title); top3Prices.push(price); top3ImgURLS.push(imgURL); top3ItemURLS.push(itemURL); }); console.log('about to define top3 value'); console.log('btw ebay results is:' + eBayResults); var top3 = { "Top 3": [{ "Title": top3Titles[0], "Price": top3Prices[0], "Image URL": top3ImgURLS[0], "Item URL": top3ItemURLS[0] }, { "Title": top3Titles[1], "Price": top3Prices[1], "Image URL": top3ImgURLS[1], "Item URL": top3ItemURLS[1] }, { "Title": top3Titles[2], "Price": top3Prices[2], "Image URL": top3ImgURLS[2], "Item URL": top3ItemURLS[2] }, { "Search Term": searchTerm } ] }; // return top3 } //After all the above is done, eBayResults has presumably been constructed, and we will now make the comparisons //MatchCenter update checking goes here: console.log('the eBayResults length is:' + eBayResults.length); console.log('the eBayResults are:' + eBayResults); // Only check for new matches if user has matchCenterItems if (eBayResults.length > 0) { console.log('yes the ebay results be longer than 0'); //Query users MComparisonArray with the following criteria: var mComparisonArray = Parse.Object.extend("MComparisonArray"); var mComparisonQuery = new Parse.Query(mComparisonArray); mComparisonQuery.contains('Name', 'MatchCenter'); // mComparisonQuery.contains("MCItems", eBayResults); console.log('setup query criteria, about to run it'); return mComparisonQuery.find().then(function(results) { console.log('eh2:' + results); // No new items if (results.length > 0) { console.log("No new items, you're good to go!"); } // New items found else if (results.length == 0) { console.log('no matching mComparisonArray, lets push some new shit'); //replace MCItems array with contents of eBayResults Parse.Object.destroyAll(mComparisonArray); var newMComparisonArray = new mComparisonArray(); newMComparisonArray.set('Name', 'MatchCenter'); newMComparisonArray.set('MCItems', eBayResults); newMComparisonArray.set("parent", Parse.User()); console.log('yala han save il hagat'); // Save updated MComparisonArray newMComparisonArray.save().then({ success: function() { console.log('MComparisonArray successfully created!'); //status.success('MComparisonArray successfully created!'); }, error: function() { console.log('MComparisonArray error!!!'); //status.error('Request failed'); } }); //send push notification } // status.success('MatchCenter Comparison Success!'); }, function(err) { console.log('nah no results for you bro:' + err); }); } }); }); }).then(function() { // Set the job's success status status.success("background job worked brah!"); }, function(error) { // Set the job's error status status.error('DAMN IT MAN'); }); }); A: At a quick glance I would guess it is an issue with closures, I see you've protected part of your code with the inline function but not all of it. I would suggest breaking your code into functions and calling them, not only does this make your code easier to read and maintain, it has the side-benefit of also protecting you from issues with closures, e.g.: Parse.Cloud.job("MatchCenterBackground", function(request, status) { // ... other code to setup usersQuery ... usersQuery.each(function (user) { return processUser(user); }).then(function() { status.success("background job worked brah!"); }, function(error) { status.error(error); }); }); // process user, return promise function processUser(user) { // ... code to setup per-user query ... // easy way to share multiple arrays var shared = { promises: [], searchTerms: [], }; return query.find().then(function(results) { // process results, populate shared data (promises and searchTerms) buildEbayRequestPromises(results, shared); }).then(function() { // process promises, return query promise return Parse.Promise.when(shared.promises).then(function() { // process the results of the promises, returning a query promise // ... code here ... }); }); } // process matchCenterItem results to build eBay promises function buildEbayRequestPromises(results, shared) { // ... code that pushes items into shared.promises and shared.searchTerms ... } I haven't included all the levels, but you should be able to get an idea from that sample of how to make it easier to work out what is going on. As a general rule I like to keep each function to no more than one screen full of code, if it gets to be more than that I try to break it up into functions. | Mid | [
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Use HHVM to speed up Composer The new and ultra fast HHVM compiler for PHP is out for some time now. The guys at Facebook are doing great work and really making progress. Now they pass tests with 100% for a growing number of frameworks, with Laravel being one of the first few. At this moment I wouldn't recommend to use HHVM on a production server. You can use it in a fastcgi mode which works the same way as PHP-FPM, but it's a little to early for that to use on your precious websites and applications. | Mid | [
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31.625,
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Meet The Roasted Bean Brian Gomez Every Sunday morning, Brian Gomez of The Roasted Bean in San Dimas, California spends 5 hours in front of his Toper 5kg Roaster, turning out flavorful coffee from all over the world. What started as a hobby in 2011 developed into a full fledged business in 2015. And it’s been growing ever since. Fun Belly caught up with Brian to discuss the origins of The Roasted Bean LLC, the company’s values and how he views the emerging 3rd wave coffee culture in Los Angeles. What prompted you to start The Roasted Bean? I had a spinal cord injury in 2011. Before my injury, I was into motocross and bike riding. After my injury, I wanted to keep my competitive fire burning. Coffee roasting allowed that and I dove right in. I bought a table top roaster, smoked out my house a few times and entered some competitions. It turns out, I was pretty damn good. After sharing beans with my friends and family, they encouraged me to go deeper, so I did. After about two years of tabletop roasting and 6 months of window shopping , I decided to buy a Toper 5k, which allows me to roast 10 lbs of coffee at a time. After that, my business really started developing. Tell me more about your business. It’s definitely a family affair. My Dad, Angel, is a successful businessman in his own right. When he’s not running his business, he’s my hands, legs and voice. He helps coordinate purchases and sales, lends a hand with the roasting and knows how to fix everything. My mom and girlfriend help with the packing, shipping and handling while my cousin is regular at the Farmer’s Markets. If you see him at Victoria Gardens, tell’em what’s up?! What do you think about the issue of diversity in the 3rd Wave coffee movement? I’ve found it to be a super-inclusive, judgement-free zone. The industry attracts a bunch of personalities–from artisans to activists to marketers. It’s important to us to run a fair business which is why we only work with coffee brokers who set price standards that allow for a livable wage for the growers. We pride ourselves on these values. What are some of your most popular coffees and where can Fun Belly readers find it? Our top sellers are our coffees from Guatemala and Ethiopia. Currently, the Claremont Club, 4th St Mill in La Verne and the Village Eatery in Glendora carry TRB Coffee. We sell our coffee online at theroastedbeanllc.com. We’re grateful to have loyal customers in Nevada, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania. What’s the future hold? More coffee. More relationships. More fun. And our new Nitro Cold Brew! Follow me on Instagram and I’ll tell you all about it! I’ll hook up your Fun Belly readers with a 5% on any pound of coffee. | Mid | [
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[Wutiko] New York -Wutiko in association with Pace University Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems organizes Opportunities in Africa #NYC19 on September 27th at Pace University's Manhattan campus. (AllAfrica) [The Conversation Africa] The secretary general of Senegal's Socialist Party, Ousmane Tanor Dieng, died in July this year. There are concerns that his death will intensify divides in the Party's leadership. This threatens the future of a party that has shaped Senegalese politics since 1948, before independence. (AllAfrica) [Thomson Reuters Foundation] Dakar -Djalika wants to divorce her abusive husband. Her best friend Dior escaped a forced marriage and moved to the city, and her colleague Mareme is brazenly having fun with a married man. (AllAfrica) [allAfrica] Accra -Uganda's Dr. Emma Naluyima and Senegal's Baba Dioum have been honoured with the prestigious 2019 Africa Food Prize for their commendable effort in demonstrating and promoting innovative and sustainable growth in Africa's agriculture through improved resource use and market links. (AllAfrica) [VOA] Plastic bags, bottles, cigarette butts and other debris lap against the shore of Virage Beach in northwest Dakar, Senegal. Workers from beachside restaurants and surf shops rake the sand to try to capture the waste, but the garbage always returns. (AllAfrica) [Rwanda Govt] President Kagame today has arrived in Biarritz, France where he joins other African and world leaders for this year's G7 Summit. Rwanda joins Australia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, India, Senegal, and South Africa as the eight non-member states taking part in this year's G7 summit. (AllAfrica) [UNFPA in WCA] Dakar, Senegal -- 9 August 2019: The official visit of UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem was marked by her participation in the "25 Hours of Dakar", organized by AfriYAN, the African network of youth and adolescents in population and development with the presence of delegates from the 23 countries of West and Central Africa. (AllAfrica) [The Conversation Africa] The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament is the most important sporting event on the continent. It attracts media attention, sponsors and draws significant global viewership. Organised every two years, it is also considered one of the most difficult to win based on a large qualification pool. (AllAfrica) [Innovation in Africa] Marieme Diop is in a really interesting position. As one of the people behind Orange Digital Ventures she has a really good view of the big three African investment countries. But coming from Senegal, she's been a moving force behind setting up Dakar Network Angels to address growth issues in Francophone Africa. (AllAfrica) [Capital FM] Nairobi -The national women's basketball team currently in Dakar, Senegal for the FIBA Afrobasket has now asked the Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) and the government to release funds that were meant to cater for their allowances. (AllAfrica) [ISS] One year ago, 13 Senegalese nationals were convicted for acts of terrorism by criminal association. Twelve of them had joined Boko Haram in Nigeria. The 13th joined Katiba al-Furqane, a branch of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Mali. (AllAfrica) [Balancing Act] London -Three countries in West Africa have chosen to go the local route for the DTT switchover: Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal. All of them have suffered teething problems or contractual disputes but both Ghana and Senegal are close to completion. It shows that the process can be handled locally and does not always need to be in the hands of international suppliers like Star Times. Russell Southwood talks to Sidy Diagne, CEO, Excaf about the lessons learned. (AllAfrica) [FrontPageAfrica] Dakar -A 29-man Liberia Football Association (LFA) delegation finally arrived in Dakar, Senegal on August 1 following hours of delays at the Robert International Airport (RIA). (AllAfrica) [Nation] Even as Kenya basks in the glory of the history-making national men basketball team in the Fiba AfroCan Championship, a basketball prodigy from Kisumu is carrying the national flag high in Senegal. (AllAfrica) [Ghanaian Times] BAGHDAD Bounedjah's early goal propelled Algeria to a first Africa Cup of Nations title in 29 years after a fiery 1-0 victory over Sadio Mane's Senegal yesterday's final in Cairo. (AllAfrica) [CAF] Cairo -Baghdad Bounedjah's first minute deflected effort handed Algeria their second Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title after a 29-year wait with a 1-0 victory over Senegal in a highly charged final at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday night. (AllAfrica) [allAfrica] Dakar -An African scientific conference this week was "a platform for this young generation to express their views about how they perceive the future of science in Africa. We will leave here with new motivations and more opportunities." - Aminata Kone (AllAfrica) [Premium Times] FIFA ranks Senegal as the best footballing nation in Africa and they have proved their ranking by making their first final since 2002. Algeria, ranked 12th, have played the best football in Egypt and look like champions in waiting. (AllAfrica) [RFI] Algeria and Senegal are going head-to-head in Cairo for the Africa Cup of Nations final on Friday as both home-grown African coaches are preparing their teams for the first time in 21 years. (AllAfrica) [CAF] When Algeria locks horns with Senegal at the Cairo International Stadium this Friday (19 July 2019) to determine the new king of African football, there would be a historic milestone on the sidelines. (AllAfrica) | Mid | [
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Q: Calling web-services internally within the server I have a web-service getEmployee() which gets the employee detais for a single employee, when an id is passed. Another web-service on the same server getEmployeeList() which gets the whole list of employees, when a department is passed. This gets the id's for the departments and then calls the getEmployee() service to get all the details. The response of the web-service getEmployeeList() is basically a collection of the responses of getEmployee(). My question here is how best to implement it? Is it better to call getEmployee() multiple times from getEmployeeList() internally, or to just call the process method of getEmployee() each time ( there is a process method in getEmployee() which takes as input an xml and returns the response xml) A: The exact answer is going to depend on the internals of your application is structured, but generally I would not invoke another web service API running on the same server in order to service a request. That's going to be inefficient and ties one implementation to another. If you need to return a list of employees, your front-end REST layer should invoke a method from the business or middle layer to retrieve the relevant information, usually in the form of a set of domain objects. This middle layer would be responsible for getting the actual data from a persistence layer or some sort - i.e. getting the proper list of employees from a database of some sort, though that exact implementation detail should not be relevant. These can then be converted into the proper format for building the response to the client - i.e. JAXB objects for XML. (Your middle layer could also directly return these JAXB objects, but there are pros/cons of this approach) | Mid | [
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Q: Imagemagick convert to name tiles as row/column doesn't work as expected with -extent I have an image, 5120 × 4352 that I crop into 2048x2048 tiles. I want to name my cropped tiles like tile_0_0.png tile_0_1.png tile_0_2.png tile_1_0.png tile_1_1.png tile_1_2.png ... But this command: convert image.png -crop 2048x2048 -gravity northwest \ -extent 2048x2048 -transparent white \ -set 'filename:tile' '%[fx:page.x/2048]_%[fx:page.y/2048]' \ +repage +adjoin 'tile_%[filename:tile].png' Gives me this result: tile_0_0.png tile_0_1.png tile_0_16.png tile_1_0.png tile_1_1.png tile_1_16.png tile_4_0.png tile_4_1.png tile_4_16.png I suspect it has do with the tiles on the last row and column aren't fully 2048x2048, but the extent command makes the end result still 2048, but how can I use this with tiles and file names? My current workaround is to first resize the original image like this, and then run the above command: convert image.png -gravity northwest \ -extent 2048x2048 -transparent white bigger.png But it would be nice to do it in one swoop :) A: Using ImageMagick you could set a viewport that is just enough larger than the input image so it divides evenly by 2048. Then a no-op distort will enlarge the viewport to that size. That way the "-crop 2048x2048" will create pieces that are already 2048 square. Here's a sample command I worked up in Windows, and I'm pretty sure I translated it to work correctly as a *nix command. convert image.png \ -set option:distort:viewport '%[fx:w-(w%2048)+2048]x%[fx:h-(h%2048)+2048]' \ -virtual-pixel none -distort SRT 0 +repage -crop 2048x2048 \ -set 'filename:tile' '%[fx:page.x/2048]_%[fx:page.y/2048]' \ +repage +adjoin 'tile_%[filename:tile].png' The "-distort SRT" operation does nothing except expand the viewport to dimensions that divide evenly by 2048, with a result just like doing an "-extent" before the crop. And "-virtual-pixel none" will leave a transparent background in the overflow areas. Edited to add: The formula for extending the viewport in the above command will incorrectly add another 2048 pixels even if the dimension is already divisible by 2048. It also gives an incorrect result if the dimension is less than 2048. Consider using a formula like this for setting the viewport to handle those conditions... '%[fx:w+(w%2048?2048-w%2048:0)]x%[fx:h+(h%2048?2048-h%2048:0)]' | Mid | [
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AnimeNova for your Android devices free download Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Titles: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ Description: The Empire of Britannia has invaded Japan using giant robot weapons called Knightmare Frames. Japan is now referred to as Area 11, and its people the 11's. A Britannian who was living in Japan at the time, Lelouch, vowed to his Japanese friend Suzaku that he'd destroy Britannia. Years later, Lelouch is in high school, but regularly skips out of sch… moreThe Empire of Britannia has invaded Japan using giant robot weapons called Knightmare Frames. Japan is now referred to as Area 11, and its people the 11's. A Britannian who was living in Japan at the time, Lelouch, vowed to his Japanese friend Suzaku that he'd destroy Britannia. Years later, Lelouch is in high school, but regularly skips out of school to go play chess and gamble on himself. One day, he stumbles on terrorists 11's who've stolen a military secret and is caught by a member of the Britannian task force sent after them, who is Suzaku. As the rest of the squad arrives, Suzaku is shot for disobeying orders, while the military secret, a young girl, gives Lelouch the power of Geass, which makes anyone obey any order. While Suzaku is secretly made the pilot of Britannia's brand new prototype Knightmare, Lancelot, Lelouch becomes the masked Zero to lead the rebellion to destroy Britannia once and for all. less | Mid | [
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UOSSM Participates in Geneva Conference posted by UOSSM Canada- Saving Lives In Syria | 18sc UOSSM participated at the Protecting Hospital and Healthcare Workers Conference in Geneva on Dec. 11, 2015, hosted by UOSSM Switzerland. Alongside a presentation by UOSSM-Canada's Dr. Anas Al Kassem, four other medical relief organizations (SEMA, Sham, SAMS, PAC) also presented about the alarming attacks on healthcare in Syria and the extensive loss of medical infrastructure and medical personnel. Present at the conference were UN-OCHA and WHO, who participated in the discussions on strategies to overcome these enormous challenges. After continuous and extensive attacks on healthcare in Syria, UOSSM's hospital surveys (completed in areas accessible to UOSSM) were able to verify that only 113 hospitals remain in Syria, served by only 119 surgeons and 153 certified nurses. This points to an urgent shortage of medical staff and facilities, one of the challenges UOSSM, and partnering organizations, helped bring to light at this conference. | High | [
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Sitting at the front bar of Molly Malone’s Irish pub in Devonport, Tasmania, Scott Morrison is at ease. He is talking to Mac Jago, a worker at Cement Australia, one of the north-west’s big employers. The pair sink a couple of Boag’s ales, and make small talk. “We had a pretty decent chat, normal stuff, as you do,” Jago tells Guardian Australia. “Footy, my girlfriend, his missus. He seemed like not a bad bloke.” Morrison is on the offensive, campaigning in the Labor-held seat of Braddon, one of a clutch of marginal seats the government hopes it can wrest back at the 18 May election. It is a sign of his confidence, or at least his belief, that the Coalition can cling on to government. A few months ago, the prospect of the Coalition hanging on to power seemed an absurdity, but now strategists on both sides are gearing up for a fierce contest. However, it’s still early days in the campaign. Ultimate compromise candidate Morrison’s first order of business once he assumed the role of leader last August was to patch up a bruised and battered party. Leadership tensions have plagued the Liberals for a decade as the party swung from moderate Malcolm Turnbull to conservative Tony Abbott and back again, running the gamut of the Liberals’ extreme left and right flanks. Morrison managed to emerge through the centre of the party as the ultimate compromise candidate – moderate MPs joined Morrison’s centre-right faction to block conservative warrior Peter Dutton from taking the role. “The good thing about Scott is he is able to walk through the middle,” one MP who supported Dutton says. “We needed someone to heal our party and he could do that. He studied at the altar of John Howard and he understands he has got to lead the team and he has got to inspire.” Morrison’s capacity to work across the factional divide has allowed him to steady the ship. Immediately after the leadership change, the polls showed Labor had consolidated its position, ahead 56%-44% two-party-preferred. It appeared unassailable. Morale among Coalition MPs was at rock bottom. Even Scott Morrison’s detractors within the party – from both the Dutton and Turnbull camps – acknowledge that he is doing well to connect with middle Australians. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Colleagues are reluctant to put their name to either praise or criticism of Morrison during the election campaign, but one Liberal called his work since taking over as leader “miraculous”. “The party was in rack and ruin and he has had to put it back together with his bare hands. “People are quite surprised to believe that the ship might float again. People can just form a victory narrative – just – it is just enough to believe in it.” Others say the Liberal party is more united than it has been since John Howard’s days, playing down the backlash from voters about the coup culture that has gripped Canberra for more than a decade. “I honestly believe that we are in a much better position as a result of the change of leadership, because of who Morrison is, how he relates to people.” As a creature of the NSW Liberal party – he was state director from 2000 to 2004 – Morrison’s political career has been forged in the fire of factional warfare. The manner of his preselection for the seat of Cook still stokes fury within the party’s conservative wing, more than a decade on, after its candidate Michael Towke was brutally knocked off following a series of damaging stories in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, despite initially winning by 82 votes to eight. Party figures remember when an “indexed shit file” on Towke, prepared by Labor’s Sam Dastyari, was wheeled into a meeting of the state executive on a removalist trolley. Dastyari has revealed that he handed over the material to “Morrison’s factional lieutenants” at the Golden Century Chinese restaurant on Sussex Street in Sydney. “I would never underestimate Scott Morrison because I would never underestimate a guy who would turn to one of his political opponents to take out one of his own ... a guy who will do that will do anything,” Dastyari told Sydney radio last year. The factional dealing in the NSW branch of the party has made enemies for Morrison’s centre-right faction, and particularly his close ally Alex Hawke. One party figure derides them as the “rent by the hour” faction, because they will do deals with anyone. But the middle way has proved successful for Morrison. The centre right is a small faction, but has been able to position itself as the fulcrum of power, switching as needed from the left to the right and vice-versa to yield results. That dynamic was at play to install Morrison as leader, with six crucial votes – MPs Lucy Wicks, Stuart Robert, Ben Morton, Hawke, Steve Irons and Bert van Manen – ultimately deciding the leadership. “Scott Morrison is one of the few people who could follow you into a revolving door and come out first,” one senior NSW Liberal moderate says. “He is a master of the middle and he has the capacity to do these crab-like pincer movements to shimmy his way into the right place at the right time. It is quite impressive.” Morrison emerged victorious last August after conservatives in the party put the wheels in motion to end Turnbull’s leadership. Once the moderates realised Turnbull’s time was up, they worked assiduously with Morrison’s faction to cruel any chance of a Dutton victory. But it was the shrewd operators of Morrison’s faction, led by Hawke, who sealed Turnbull’s fate by bringing on the leadership spill in the first place. Loyalists to Morrison dismiss suggestions that this was a calculated Morrison-for-PM project, saying that in a contest between Turnbull and Dutton, some of his people preferred Dutton – no big deal. Scott Morrison with Malcolm Turnbull, whom he embraced as “my leader” amid the leadership crisis. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA But after the judgment had been made to remove Turnbull – whom Morrison embraced as “my leader” amid the crisis – the machinations allowed Morrison to take the top job without the baggage of being the instigator. Some conservatives in the party outflanked by Morrison remain livid at what they see as the prime minister’s double dealing, claiming he had been positioning himself “for years” for the job. “He has tried to give the impression this all fell into his lap, but that is crap,” one senior conservative MP says. “Anyone who knows anything about what happened knows that is not the case. This was careful, it was planned, it was clinical.” A natural politician? Morrison understands intimately factional power play. When state director, he took the unusual step of appointing two deputies – the head of the right and the head of the left faction. His supporters say this is a sign of his political nous. “A leader must understand that you can’t have victory for one side – victory for one side means defeat for the party – Scott knows that in his bones,” one MP says. But this willingness to do deals, to compromise, has also made Morrison appear something of a political chameleon; someone notoriously hard to pin down. The right highlights his position on same-sex marriage to make this point. While Morrison is an evangelical Christian and opposed to same-sex marriage, he chose to work on protecting religious freedoms in the enabling legislation rather than “getting out there and fighting it”. “He knew that if he became a warrior in the marriage case it would cruel his chances of attracting left votes. So what is Scott Morrison prepared to compromise for? He is prepared to compromise for political ambition.” Others are even harsher, saying Morrison is ambitious, aggressive and intemperate, and hasmanoeuvred himself into the top job by getting Hawke and others to do his dirty work. “He is the be-all, end-all know it all.” His supporters dismiss the criticism, saying some colleagues dislike him because he doesn’t buy into “internal factional political crap.” “They [conservatives] dislike him because he has been a loyal servant of the party who has never put an internal factional fight above the best interests of the party as a whole and the nation,” one MP says. “He is centrist, he is a mainstream Liberal, and he cares about the values that he has articulated in this campaign. He is not a warrior, he is not a spear carrier.” Many see Morrison as a natural politician. He is a hard worker and has successfully tackled substantial areas of reform: he was the architect of the controversial Operation Sovereign Borders policy, and has made significant changes in thornier policy areas such as welfare reform, the GST and superannuation. But his critics find him smug and arrogant. “I think when he is in full flight and he knows what’s best, he can be very abrasive – how he handles that could probably improve,” one MP says. Scott Morrison’s willingness to do deals, to compromise, has sometimes made him appear as something of a political chameleon. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images Morrison may have mastered the middle of his party and tamed internal dissent, but is he the right man to win back middle Australia, the fabled Howard battlers? Soon after becoming leader, Morrison told the party room he had been chosen to lead, and he expected MPs to follow him. The election campaign has begun with Morrison closing in on Bill Shorten and unsettling the Labor leader, who still remains the firm favourite to win next month’s poll. In the first week of the campaign, Morrison has proved himself to be a formidable contender, and even his detractors within the party – from the Dutton and Turnbull camps – acknowledge he is doing well to connect with middle Australians. With tax cuts to sell and Labor’s sweeping policy platform to target, Morrison is needling Labor strategists, who know they are up against a wily operator. There has been a shift in the dynamic – Labor and Shorten have come under pressure for the first time in a long time. “Scott has wrong-footed Bill more times than I have had hot breakfasts in the past six months,” one MP says. “He is agile, and he can see around corners and he gets the politics of everything.” But MPs, however hopeful, need the polls to tighten further before getting too carried away. It is a long road ahead. The Coalition starts from behind. It needs to win seats to maintain the status quo and is dealing with spot fires in seats such as Wentworth, Warringah, Kooyong and Farrer that will divert resources needed in marginal seats. Unlike in 2016, Morrison is helped by the weight of expectations resting firmly on Labor. Scrutiny is focused on the government in waiting, rather than the current government, which has shed itself of the unpopular corporate tax cut policy it took to the last election. But this is still Shorten’s election to lose. ‘A bit of an inbetweener’ Morrison’s pitch to middle Australia is centred on his own suburban Australian story. He speaks fondly of his childhood in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where his parents, John and Marion, ran the Boys and Girls Brigade at the local church. His father was a policeman and mayor of Waverley Council, exposing Morrison to politics from a young age. Morrison won a place at the academically selective Sydney Boys high school, where he had a close-knit group of friends that he still socialises with more than 30 years later. A trawl of his old school yearbooks shows he was into sport and music. In his second year at the school in 1982, he was cast as the Artful Dodger in a production of Oliver! The role of a skilful and cunning pickpocket was relished by the eager young Morrison, who also played the saxophone in the school concert band and orchestra. His musical interests soon gave way to sport, with Morrison progressing steadily up the ranks to be in the school’s rowing 1st VIII and rugby 1st XV by year 12. As a 15-year-old, he was affectionately teased as “ciggies” because of his skinny legs. His rowing mates wrote one year that he was a “rabble-rousing schizophrenic” with a “sound style and a nice singlet”. When profiling himself as the captain of his year 10 rowing four, Morrison said he was “known for his psyche-up sessions and aggravating coaching suggestions. He was “the brains of the crew, plotting the race strategies”. A rugby teammate from the time, Christian Rabatsch, says Morrison was “a bit of an inbetweener” at school. Academically solid, but not a standout. “There were some people in our year who stood out and you thought, “they have got something special”, but that wasn’t him,” Rabatsch tells Guardian Australia. Scott Morrison and his wife, Jenny, at Good Friday services at St Charbel’s Catholic Maronite Church at Punchbowl in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP “You get some kids who have got a strong personality, who were really out there, you knew they were in the room – I wouldn’t say Scott was like that. He just put his head down and worked hard … he floated under the radar and just did his thing.” Scott Mason, a good schoolmate of Morrison’s, says he was a “popular, fun, and funny” teenager, who became more serious once he met his wife-to-be, Jenny, while still at school. But he says no one would have expected him to become prime minister. He wasn’t on the debating team, he wasn’t interested in studying politics or law. “We were all amazed where he ended up,” Mason says. When they catch up as adults, politics is not on the agenda. “He doesn’t want to talk about it, we are a reminder of his fun teenage youth, he much prefers to talk to us about what we are doing, our families, that sort of stuff.” Morrison lists his family and faith as the most significant influences on his life. He is a Pentecostal Christian and has credited senior Hillsong pastors as being among his most important mentors. But he is private about his faith, telling parliament in his first speech: “My personal faith in Jesus Christ is not a political agenda.” His instincts on this are again political – he knows that Australians don’t like people forcing their religious views on others. “Super normal”, is how one MP describes Morrison. His home life in Sydney’s shire is like something out of Australia’s first reality TV series, Sylvania Waters. “It is blokes sitting around drinking beer and talking about footy. That is what he loves.” Peter Verwer, a former head of the Property Council who was a mentor of Morrison’s before he entered politics, says the prime minister has “continued as he began” after he made the transition from the corporate sector to politics. “His great virtue is his no-fuss approach and he was very quick to grasp all the dimensions of an issue. I think he is a very rare individual, he is good at both strategy and tactics; he sees the long arc of an issue, but is willing to calibrate those views in order to deal with the reality of circumstances. “He instinctively understands the aspirations of middle Australians, because he is one of them. There is no need to play it as a game – this is his nature.” After becoming leader, Morrison told the party room he had always been a fan of rowing. His favourite bit of the race was the final 500 metres. His old rowing buddy, Mason, says Morrison will want to make sure he leaves “no question unanswered” in the final run-up to 18 May. “The last 500 metres is the sprint to the finish, it is when you leave nothing on the table. You want to finish with nothing left in the tank – you completely drain yourself and you have nothing left at the finish.” | Mid | [
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The top attractions in Mendoza The Aconcagua is the highest peak in South America. It is a top destination for international climbers and can also be accessed (at a safe distance) by the ordinary traveller. The tour starts in the capital Mendoza and takes you close It is the central square of the city .. Clean, big and very active. It is quite easy to reach as it is situated in the center of the city and next to it are the tram stops, perfect to rest as it has sinks that can cool you down. In San Martin Park is the largest park in the city, and has several acres where one can go to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy the zoo, many beautiful streets filled with rees, extensive landscaping, lagoon, Plaza España was part of the redesign of Mendoza which took place after the 1861 earthquake. It was designed in 1863, and is one of the four squares that surround the Plaza Independencia. It's had a number of names over the years, We visited the beautiful valley of La Leñas in Malargüe during April 2012 when there was still a lot of snow. The main season begins in June and ends in October and includes sports such as skiing, snowboarding and the famous "coolie I came across a place called 'Penitentes' on one of my excursions of "High Mountain" from the city of Mendoza. It's a ski slope that has a stunning panoramic range. There I saw snow for the first time. Although I didn't actually see We passed through amazing landscapes like something from a dream, with ancient glaciers, breathtaking forests and gorgeous lakes - the other side of Argentina, a world away from the cosmopolitan culture and energy of the cities. A Mendoza is a place with many attractions for example: it has very nice tours near the mountains, in the city there are many activities and the best of the wines of the area. There are many wine shops as well as large companies and all Thank God I have had the opportunity to live this experience in both Mendoza and Río Diamante River, in San Rafael. Both adventures are spectacular. Perhaps the rapids of Mendoza, in any time of year are stronger and a more adrenaline It's a typical party of Mendoza, where the locals celebrate the harvest. The party takes place in the amphitheater, a place that if they see before they assemble the set it's impossible to imagine that a great feast is celebrated This passage, leading directly to the Plaza Independencia, is full of cafes, restaurants, and pubs - a real tourist trap. Sunny during the day, it's a vibrant place with plenty of options to relax. Be warned that beggars and hawkers It is one of the most beautiful areas of Mendoza, with very well known sedan stores that have well known designers in the center of the city as well as craft shops, libraries etc. .. There is everything. It is very clean and shady, I have always loved reptiles since a very young age. I remember that when I had just learned to walk, I surprised my mom came in the courtyard with a green snake in my hands. She almost died of fright ... that was my first experience We invite you to visit Vallecitos. Its a beautiful mountain shelter. San Antonio is located at 2550 msnm. It offers rooms with private bathroom or shared and you can go trekking rafting, horseback riding, mountain biking and canopy. Jorge is 100 years old and since 1984 he lives in the Aquarium of the City of Mendoza, he is a male of the species Caretta, a turtle's belonging to the warm tropical seas that was found injured and numb from the cold in the South The Wine Museum is located inside the Bodega La Rural, opposite the family home of Don Felipe Rutini, founder of the winery. In 1945 his son, Francisco Rutini, had the idea of creating this museum, and his dream was realised by his Upon arriving in this city, you will find that the thing it is most well-known for is its zoo. It is easy to find - in the main city park - and there is a huge selection of animals. Some of the most imprtessive are the hippos, and the This small square is one that you'll probably pass through on your way from the bus terminal to the city centre. It offers a rest area, benches and flowers, and some shelter from the sun, which can hit hard, even in winter. A nice Being one of the most amazing sensations, I would el Caracol the biggest and most majestic. It is amazing to see it from above, and it is a little scary going down, but there are no words to describe it. When it is a national holiday in Chile, you can travel to Mendoza, I quite enjoyed it, perhaps better than in my own country, and I could see cueca dancing, singing and the sharing of traditional foods such as kebabs, empanadas, Attractions in Mendoza The best things to do in Mendoza The number of things to do in Mendoza is amazing. This city has an incredible number of historic sites, museums, parks, and other places to visit in Mendoza of interest. The city presents a curious mixture of ancient and modern places like the Gómez building, the symbol of the city, or the Piazza building, which includes an elegant gallery. Other important attractions in Mendoza are the Casamagna Complex, Banco Francés, and the Augustinian Torres, among others. Many religious buildings also make up the many Mendoza attractions, like the Temple of Our Lady of Mercy, which should definitely be on your list of stuff to do in Mendoza. As one of the most important temples in the city, it's a building of monumental scale with a large tiled dome coated with Marian colors. The Basilica of San Francisco is another building of the same style. Parks to visit include General San Martin Park, located near the Monument of Glory Hill, which pays tribute to the liberator of San Martin, and the Provincial Zoo. Central Park and the O'Higgins Park are also important. Other things to see in Mendoza of great importance are its squares: Spain, Plaza Italia, Plaza San Martin, and Plaza de la Independencia, with its beautiful iron frieze where the Municipal Museum of Modern Art and Teatro Quintanilla are located. Finally, make sure to leave time to relax and don't forget that this city is deeply rooted in the culture of wine, so one of the many Mendoza activities include visiting a typical bar to enjoy the local fare and, especially, the good wine. Still wondering about what to do in Mendoza? Look no further than the experiences shared by minube users to discover all Mendoza has to offer. | Low | [
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NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 05a0471n.06 Filed: June 7, 2005 Case Nos. 03-2592, 04-1115, 04-1282 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES of AMERICA, ) ) Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, ) ) ON APPEAL FROM THE v. ) UNITED STATES DISTRICT ) COURT FOR THE EASTERN PHILIP ZABAWA, ) DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN ) Defendant-Appellant/Cross-Appellee. ) ) _______________________________________ ) ) ) BEFORE: NORRIS and BATCHELDER, Circuit Judges; MILLS*, District Judge. ALICE M. BATCHELDER, Circuit Judge. Defendant Philip Zabawa appeals his conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, assigning as error the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence. The United States cross-appeals the district court’s ruling that Zabawa is not an “armed career criminal” for the purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) and the district court’s amended judgment specifying that Zabawa’s federal sentence should run concurrently with previously imposed state sentences. Because the police officers who seized the evidence entered against Zabawa had reasonable suspicion supporting their stop of his vehicle, we will AFFIRM the district court’s denial of Zabawa’s motion to suppress. We will VACATE Zabawa’s sentence and REMAND for resentencing because Zabawa is an “armed * The Honorable Richard Mills, United States District Judge for the Central District of Illinois, sitting by designation. career criminal” for the purposes of the ACCA and because the district court lacked jurisdiction to amend Zabawa’s sentence to run concurrently with his state conviction. I. On May 3, 2001, Officer Paul Kasperski observed a pickup truck driven by Zabawa swerve across the fog line and onto the shoulder of the road. Officer Kasperski, who believed that the driver was drunk, activated his lights and siren, intending to pull Zabawa over to investigate. After activating his lights, Officer Kasperski observed Zabawa swerve a second time before stopping this vehicle. Zabawa submitted to a field sobriety test, on which he did poorly, and Officer Kasperski arrested him and administered a field breath test. This test indicated that Zabawa’s blood alcohol level was .151. Officer Kasperski then conducted a search of his person, which yielded a loaded pistol. Officers also observed an AK-47 rifle lying in plain view upon the floor of Zabawa’s car, and a subsequent search of the vehicle at the police impound lot yielded a virtual arsenal of weapons. Zabawa was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He filed a motion to suppress the weapons found during the search of his vehicle, claiming that Officer Kasperski’s stopping of his truck was not supported by reasonable suspicion. The district court denied the motion to suppress, and the case went to trial, resulting in a verdict of guilty. At the sentencing hearing, the district court concluded that Zabawa was not an “armed career criminal” for the purposes of the ACCA, a classification that carries a mandatory 15-year sentence, and sentenced Zabawa to 137 months’ imprisonment. Six weeks after the initial pronouncement of the sentence, and five weeks after the entry of judgment and sentence, the district court entered an amended judgment and companion order, which ruled that Zabawa’s federal sentence should run concurrently 2 with state sentences previously imposed.1 Zabawa timely appealed his conviction and the government cross-appealed. II. Zabawa argues that the district court erroneously denied his motion to suppress because Officer Kasperski’s stop of Zabawa’s vehicle was not supported by reasonable suspicion. We review the district court’s denial of a suppression motion under a mixed standard. United States v. Akridge, 346 F.3d 618, 622-23 (6th Cir. 2003). “We reverse the district court’s findings of fact only if they are clearly erroneous, but review de novo the district court’s legal conclusions. Where, as here, the district court has denied a motion to suppress, we review the evidence in a light most favorable to the Government.” Id. (internal citations omitted). Police officers may detain a vehicle and question its occupants where the officers have a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity “may be afoot.” United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273 (2002) (quoting Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 30 (1968)). Arvizu stated “the likelihood of criminal activity need not rise to the level required for probable cause, and it falls considerably short of satisfying a preponderance of the evidence standard.” Id. at 273. Reasonable suspicion to stop depends on “the totality of the circumstances—the whole picture . . . .” United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 417 (1981). The reasonable suspicion analysis proceeds with various objective observations, information from police reports, if such are available, and consideration of the modes or patterns of operation of certain kinds of lawbreakers. From these data, a trained officer draws inferences and makes deductions-- inferences and deductions that might well elude an untrained person. The process does not deal with hard certainties, but with probabilities. Long before 1 While on bond for the instant offense, Zabawa rammed his car into a car driven by a police officer who was trying to arrest him. He was convicted in state court on charges of fleeing a police officer and malicious destruction of property. He was sentenced on those charges prior to the imposition of the sentence in the instant matter. 3 the law of probabilities was articulated as such, practical people formulated certain common sense conclusions about human behavior; jurors as factfinders are permitted to do the same--and so are law enforcement officers. Finally, the evidence thus collected must be seen and weighed not in terms of library analysis by scholars, but as understood by those versed in the field of law enforcement. Id. at 418. Applying this standard, we conclude that Officer Kasperski’s stop of Zabawa’s vehicle was supported by reasonable suspicion. The officer testified that he observed Zabawa’s vehicle swerve over the fog line and onto the shoulder of the road. The district judge stated that a video tape of the incident, which was shot from a camera mounted on Officer Kasperski’s car, shows that Zabawa’s vehicle “crossed the white fog line for an appreciable distance.” Based on his experience as a police officer, Officer Kasperski inferred that Zabawa’s car was swerving because the driver was intoxicated. The officer further testified that after he activated his lights, he saw Zabawa swerve a second time, although this time the truck did not cross the fog line. Zabawa argues that an isolated instance of swerving does not constitute reasonable suspicion to make a stop. Indeed, this court has stated that “briefly entering the emergency lane is insufficient to give rise to probable cause of a traffic violation and warrant an invasion of [the drivers’] Fourth Amendment rights.” United States v. Freeman, 209 F.3d 464, 466 (6th Cir. 2000). Zabawa’s deviation, however, was not “brief.” The district court observed that Zabawa’s vehicle crossed the line “for an appreciable distance.” Nor was this an isolated instance; Officer Kasperski observed Zabawa swerve twice within a quarter mile. Nor was there any apparent extrinsic reason for Zabawa’s swerving; there is no evidence suggesting that the driving conditions at the time were less than optimal. See Gaddis v. Redford Township, 364 F.3d 763, 771 (6th Cir. 2004) (holding that officer had reasonable suspicion to stop a motorist who swerved twice was present and 4 distinguishing Freeman on the ground that “the suspect vehicle swerved only once, and there were no other significant facts to suggest drunk driving”); see also United States v. Ozbirn, 189 F.3d 1194, 1198 (10th Cir. 1999) (“the circumstances of this case persuade us [that the officer] had probable cause to stop Mr. Ozbirn after he saw the motor home drift onto the shoulder twice within a quarter mile under optimal road, weather, and traffic conditions”). Although Zabawa appears to argue that the second swerve observed by Officer Kasperski is not relevant to the determination of reasonable suspicion, we find that contention to be without merit. Zabawa had not yet been “seized” when he swerved for the second time, even though Officer Kasperski had already activated his lights. A seizure does not take place until the suspect is physically apprehended or he actually submits to an officer’s authority. California v. Hodari D., 499 U.S. 621, 625-26 (1991). A motorist who continues driving after a police officer has activated his sirens has not been “seized” under the Fourth Amendment. See Watkins v. City of Southfield, 221 F.3d 883, 888-89 (6th Cir. 2000). Because Zabawa’s second swerve occurred before he submitted to the officer’s authority, it may properly be considered in determining whether Officer Kaperski had reasonable suspicion that Zabawa was intoxicated. Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the United States, we conclude that Officer Kasperski’s decision to stop Zabawa was supported by reasonable suspicion. III. The United States challenges the district court’s decision not to sentence Zabawa as an armed career criminal, as defined by the ACCA. We review de novo the district court’s interpretation of the ACCA. United States v. Seaton, 45 F.3d 108, 111 (6th Cir. 1995). The ACCA mandates a minimum fifteen-year sentence for a defendant who is convicted of being in unlawful possession 5 of a firearm and who has “three previous convictions . . . for a violent felony.” 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(1). Zabawa’s indictment lists three prior state convictions as ACCA predicate convictions: an Arkansas conviction for terroristic threatening, a conviction for drug possession with intent to distribute and a Michigan conviction for “attempted involuntary manslaughter,” which stems from the death of his 4-month-old baby. Zabawa objected to the PSR’s characterization of him as an armed career criminal, but the district court initially agreed with the PSR and held that Zabawa’s conviction for attempted involuntary manslaughter was a “violent felony.” Before judgment was entered on the district court’s oral pronouncement that Zabawa should receive the fifteen-year minimum sentence, the district court reversed itself and held that attempted involuntary manslaughter was not a “violent felony” and that Zabawa was not an armed career criminal. Accordingly, the district court sentenced Zabawa to 137 months, the high end of the guideline range. At issue is whether attempted involuntary manslaughter is a “violent felony” for the purposes of the ACCA. Under that statute, a “violent felony” is any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year . . . that- (i) has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another; or (ii) is burglary, arson, or extortion, involves use of explosives, or otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another . . . . 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). Given that attempt is a specific intent crime under Michigan law, People v. Nickens, 685 N.W.2d 657, 663 n.7 (Mich. 2004), the crime of attempted involuntary manslaughter appears, at first blush, something of an oxymoron. But, although there is technically no such thing as attempted involuntary manslaughter under Michigan law, “a plea to attempted manslaughter may be accepted 6 even when the only possible theory is involuntary manslaughter.” People v. Genes, 227 N.W.2d 241, 243 (Mich. App. 1975); see also People v. Hall, 436 N.W.2d 446, 447-48 (Mich. App. 1989). In Michigan, the penalty for involuntary manslaughter is codified, but the definition is left to the common law. People v. Datema, 533 N.W.2d 272, 276 (Mich. 1995). Involuntary manslaughter is defined as, the killing of another without malice and unintentionally, but in doing some unlawful act not amounting to a felony nor naturally tending to cause death or great bodily harm, or in negligently doing some act lawful in itself, or by the negligent omission to perform a legal duty. Id. (quoting People v. Ryczek, 194 N.W. 609 (Mich. 1923)). Involuntary manslaughter does not fall within 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(i) because the use of force against another is not an element. Nor is involuntary manslaughter one of the crimes specifically included in 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B)(ii). Thus, if attempted involuntary manslaughter is a “violent felony” for the purposes of the ACCA, it must be because it “otherwise involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” In Taylor v. United States, the Supreme Court articulated a “categorical approach” for determining the application of the “otherwise” clause, instructing the sentencing court to focus on the statutory definition of the crime charged rather than the actual facts underlying the conviction. 495 U.S. 575, 601 (1990); see also Shepard v. United States, 125 S. Ct. 1254, 1257-58 (2005). If the statute in question “generally proscribes conduct ‘that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another,’ then the ‘otherwise’ clause of § 924(e) applies.” United States v. Cooper, 302 F.3d 592, 595 (6th Cir. 2002) (quoting Taylor, 495 U.S. at 602). Conviction under an involuntary manslaughter statute that requires death to be a proximate result of the defendant’s unlawful conduct, therefore, is a conviction for a “violent felony” under § 924's “otherwise” clause. 7 See United States v. Sanders, 97 F.3d 856, 860 (6th Cir. 1996) (holding that conviction under Ohio’s involuntary manslaughter statute is a “violent felony” conviction under the ACCA’s “otherwise” clause); United States v. Williams, 67 F.3d 527, 528 (4th Cir. 1995) (involuntary manslaughter under South Carolina’s involuntary manslaughter statute is a “violent felony” because that statute proscribes “[c]onduct that involves ‘the reckless disregard for the safety of others’ (and which results in someone’s death) [and thus] clearly presents a ‘serious potential risk of physical injury to another’”); United States v. O’Neal, 937 F.2d 1369, 1372 (9th Cir. 1990) (California’s vehicular manslaughter statute is encompassed by § 924(e)(2)’s “otherwise” clause because the conduct it proscribes “involves the death of another person and is highly likely to be the result of violence”) (quotation omitted). We recognize that the Taylor categorical approach is not squarely applicable here, because the Michigan law does not define the offense of involuntary manslaughter in the statute proscribing that offense, but looks to the common law for the definition. This circuit has not yet addressed the question of whether a court may look to the common law definition of a crime to determine if it is a violent felony for the purposes of the ACCA. The Ninth Circuit, however, has held that “[w]here, as here, the state crime is defined by specific and identifiable common law elements, rather than by a specific statute, the common law definition of a crime serves as a functional equivalent of a statutory definition.” United States v. Melton, 344 F.3d 1021, 1026 (9th Cir. 2003). Similarly, the Fourth Circuit has held that Virginia’s robbery statute, which penalizes the crime of robbery but looks to the common law for the definition of that offense, defines a violent felony for purposes of the ACCA. United States v. Presley, 52 F.3d 64, 69 (4th Cir. 1995). We find the reasoning in Melton persuasive: 8 This common-sense approach is consistent with Congress’s emphasis on using criminal elements, as opposed to statutory labels, to trigger the ACCA’s enhancement provisions. It also makes sense in light of the second step of Taylor, which permits courts to look beyond the fact of conviction to determine the elements used to convict a defendant of a given offense. Melton, 344 F.3d at 1026 (internal citations and quotations omitted). And we think that it is worth noting that looking to the common law definition of the crime, where the statute itself does not define it, does not frustrate the purposes of Taylor. We have held that Taylor’s categorical approach “avoids the impracticability and unfairness of allowing a sentencing court to engage in a broad factfinding inquiry related to the defendant’s prior offenses.” United States v. Arnold, 58 F.3d 1117, 1121 (6th Cir. 1995). We avoid those difficulties as effectively by looking at the common law definition of the crime to determine its elements as we do by looking at a statutory definition of the crime. Accordingly, we will undertake the Taylor analysis by using Michigan’s common law definition of involuntary manslaughter. Involuntary manslaughter in Michigan, by definition, requires “the killing of another.” Datema, 533 N.W.2d at 276 (quoting Ryczek, 194 N.W. 609). Though Datema’s definition of involuntary manslaughter sets forth three different theories under which a defendant could be charged, all of the theories require that death result from the defendant’s unlawful act. Because involuntary manslaughter in Michigan requires death to be the proximate result of the defendant’s unlawful conduct, it is a “violent felony” under § 924(e)’s “otherwise” clause. The fact that Zabawa was convicted of attempted involuntary manslaughter rather than the completed crime is of no consequence. Where the crime itself is a “violent felony” under the ACCA, an attempt to commit that crime will also qualify as a “violent felony” under the “otherwise” clause if the state’s attempt statute requires a “substantial step” toward completion of the offense. 9 United States v. McKinney, 328 F.3d 993, 995 (8th Cir. 2003); see also United States v. Lane, 909 F.2d 895, 903 (6th Cir. 1990) (holding that the ACCA’s “otherwise” clause includes a conviction for attempted burglary because, under state law “an attempt to commit a particular crime requires the mens rea of purpose or knowledge and conduct toward the commission of that crime”). In Michigan, a person who acts with the specific intent to commit a crime is guilty of attempt when he “purposely does or omits to do anything which, under the circumstances as he believes them to be, is an act or omission constituting a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in his commission of the crime.” People v. Thousand, 631 N.W.2d 694, 700 (Mich. 2001). Zabawa pled guilty to attempted involuntary manslaughter. He necessarily, therefore, admitted to taking a substantial step toward the commission of involuntary manslaughter, a “violent felony,” with the specific intent to commit that crime, and his conviction for attempted involuntary manslaughter is a “violent felony” for the purposes of the ACCA. Zabawa also argues that enhancing his sentence for his conviction for attempted involuntary manslaughter pursuant to the ACCA would violate Blakely v. Washington, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004). The Supreme Court’s intervening decision in United States v. Booker, however, holds that “[a]ny fact (other than a prior conviction) which is necessary to support a sentence exceeding the maximum sentence authorized by the facts established by a plea of guilt or a jury verdict must be admitted by the defendant or proved to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt.” 125 S. Ct. 738, 756 (2005) (emphasis added). In United States v. Barnett, we expressly held that a district court’s characterization of a prior conviction as a “violent felony” as defined by the ACCA did not violate the defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights under Booker. 398 F.3d 516, 524-25 (6th Cir. 2005). IV. 10 The United States appeals the district court’s order amending Zabawa’s sentence to run concurrently with a state sentence that he was serving. We review de novo a district court’s determination that it has the authority to amend a sentence. United States v. Ross, 245 F.3d 577, 585 (6th Cir. 2001). While awaiting sentencing before the district court, Zabawa was tried on pending state charges and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 58 months to 25 years. On December 2, 2003, the district court sentenced Zabawa to 137 months’ incarceration and judgment was entered on December 8. This judgment is silent as to whether Zabawa’s federal sentence is to run concurrently with his state sentence. Because “[t]here is a presumption that a federal sentence imposed after a prior state sentence will be served consecutively to the state sentence,” Weeks v. L.E. Fleming, 301 F.3d 1175, 1179 (10th Cir. 2002) (citing 18 U.S.C. § 3584(a)), we interpret the judgment’s silence as imposing a federal sentence to run consecutively with Zabawa’s state sentence. See 18 U.S.C. § 3584(a) (“Multiple terms of imprisonment imposed at different times run consecutively unless the court orders that the terms are to run concurrently.”) On December 9, 2003, defense counsel gave the district court judge a note requesting that the judgment be amended to provide that Zabawa’s federal sentence should run concurrently with his state sentence. Three days later, defense counsel filed a “Motion to Amend the Judgment,” which repeated the request to run the sentences concurrently. On January 14, 2004, the district court issued an order and amended judgment specifying that the “term of 137 months [is] to run concurrently with the State sentence defendant is serving.” The United States argues that the district court lacked jurisdiction to amend Zabawa’s sentence. We agree. Title 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(B) provides that “the court may modify an 11 imposed term of imprisonment to the extent otherwise expressly permitted by statute or by Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.” Only two statutory provisions permit such a modification: 28 U.S.C. §§ 2106 and 2255, both of which are plainly inapplicable here. Therefore, if the district court had the authority to amend Zabawa’s sentence, it must be because FED. R. CRIM. P. 35(a) permits it. Rule 35(a) provides that “[w]ithin 7 days after sentencing, the court may correct a sentence that resulted from arithmetical, technical, or other clear error.” Rule 35(a)’s seven-day time period is jurisdictional. United States v. Diaz-Clark, 292 F.3d 1310, 1317 (11th Cir. 2002) (citing cases from the Second, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits); accord Word v. United States, 109 Fed.Appx. 772 (6th Cir. 2004) (unpublished). Whether the seven-day period runs from the date the sentence is imposed or from the date of the judgment is unsettled in our circuit, see United States v. Galvan-Perez, 291 F.3d 401, 405 (6th Cir. 2002), but we need not address this question. Even assuming that the seven-day period runs from the date of the judgment, the judgment in this case was entered on December 8, 2003, and the order amending that sentence was entered on January 14, 2004, well beyond the seven-day period. Finally , a court also has jurisdiction to amend a sentence in conformity with FED R. CRIM. P. 36, which provides “the court may at any time correct a clerical error in a judgment, order or other part of the record, or correct an error in the record arising from oversight or omission.” United States v. Robinson, 368 F.3d 653, 655 (6th Cir. 2004). Like a scrivener’s error, “a clerical error must not be one of judgment or even misidentification, but merely of recitation, of the sort that a clerk or amanuensis might commit, mechanical in nature. Rule 36 has been consistently interpreted as dealing only with clerical errors, not with mistakes by the courts.” Id at 656 (internal citations and quotations omitted). The Robinson court stated “Rule 36 authorizes a court to correct only clerical 12 errors in the transcription of judgments, not to effectuate its unexpressed intentions at the time of sentencing.” Id. at 656-57 (quoting United States v. Werber, 51 F.3d 342, 343 (2d Cir. 1995)). Because the district court’s order amending sentence expressly stated that it “merely [put] in writing what [the district court] would have done expressly had it been apprized of [Zabawa’s state court conviction] at the time of defendant’s sentencing,” Rule 36 does not apply here. For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s denial of Zabawa’s motion to suppress, VACATE his sentence, and REMAND this case to the district court for re-sentencing consistent with this opinion. 13 | Low | [
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Targeted therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a highly lethal disease that is resistant to traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy. The last 30 years of chemotherapy clinical trials for advanced HCC have repeatedly failed to demonstrate any survival benefit for a long list of drugs. However a survival advantage was recently established for sorafenib, instituting a new standard of care for unresectable HCC. Here we review recent and ongoing studies of new therapeutic agents for HCC, including the small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and combinations of these drugs. | High | [
0.678217821782178,
34.25,
16.25
] |
Predicting the likelihood of additional lymph node metastasis in sentinel lymph node positive breast cancer: validation of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) nomogram. To identify important clinicopathological parameters that are most helpful in predicting additional non-sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis among patients with a positive SLN biopsy in the Singapore breast cancer population. A total of 1409 patients who underwent SLN biopsy were reviewed over a 5 year period from July 2004 to October 2009. A Singapore General Hospital (SGH) nomogram was developed from predictors in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) nomogram using 266 patients with primary invasive breast cancer and a positive SLN biopsy who subsequently had an axillary lymph node dissection. The SGH nomogram was calibrated using bootstrapped data, while the MSKCC nomogram was calibrated using SGH data. The performance of these two nomograms was compared with the calculation of the area under the receiver-operator characteristics curve and adequacy indices. The MSKCC nomogram achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.716 (range 0.653-0.779) in our study population, while the SGH nomogram, which used only three pathological parameters, lymphovascular invasion, number of positive and negative SLN biopsies, achieved an AUC of 0.750 (range 0.691-0.808). The SGH nomogram with a higher adequacy index (0.969) provided better estimates compared with the MSKCC nomogram (0.689). The use of the MSKCC nomogram was validated in our local patient population. The SGH nomogram showed promise to be equally, if not, more predictive as a model in our own population, while using only three pathological parameters. | High | [
0.7123287671232871,
35.75,
14.4375
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A double mutant of highly purified Geobacillus stearothermophilus lactate dehydrogenase recognises l-mandelic acid as a substrate. Lactate dehydrogenase from the thermophilic organism Geobacillus stearothermophilus (formerly Bacillus stearothermophilus) (bsLDH) has a crucial role in producing chirally pure hydroxyl compounds. α-Hydroxy acids are used in many industrial situations, ranging from pharmaceutical to cosmetic dermatology products. One drawback of this enzyme is its limited substrate specificity. For instance, l-lactate dehydrogenase exhibits no detectable activity towards the large side chain of 2-hydroxy acid l-mandelic acid, an α-hydroxy acid with anti-bacterial activity. Despite many attempts to engineer bsLDH to accept α-hydroxy acid substrates, there have been no attempts to introduce the industrially important l-mandelic acid to bsLDH. Herein, we describe attempts to change the reactivity of bsLDH towards l-mandelic acid. Using the Insight II molecular modelling programme (except 'program' in computers) and protein engineering techniques, we have successfully introduced substantial mandelate dehydrogenase activity to the enzyme. Energy minimisation modelling studies suggested that two mutations, T246G and I240A, would allow the enzyme to utilise l-mandelic acid as a substrate. Genes encoding for the wild-type and mutant enzymes were constructed, and the resulting bsLDH proteins were overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified using the TAGZyme system. Enzyme assays showed that insertion of this double mutation into highly purified bsLDH switched the substrate specificity from lactate to l-mandelic acid. | High | [
0.680497925311203,
30.75,
14.4375
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Why Should My Child Visit a Pediatric Dentist? Pediatric dentistry is extremely important and should be taken seriously by parents. Pediatric dentistry is and good habits at home are what sets your child up for a lifelong of healthy teeth. It’s best to take your child to a pediatric dentist for many reasons, one being, a pediatric dentist is required to do additional education in order to classify as a pediatric dentist. Luckily. Dr. Gohard at A Healthy Smile Dentistry in Florham Park is a pediatric dentist. The additional education completed teaches dentists how to treat children differently than they would adults when it comes to treatment and how they treat the patient to make them feel as comfortable as possible. Learn more about pediatric dentistry in Florham Park below. Why is Pediatric Dentistry Important? You’re probably wondering why pediatric dentistry is even important for your child’s health? Just because they are baby teeth doesn’t mean that their hygiene and health shouldn’t be taken seriously. Pediatric dentistry ensures your child is brushing and flossing properly, addresses any problems that may be arising or that can be fixed early on, and also teaches your child that the dentist shouldn’t be feared and they should continue visiting regularly throughout their life for the best dental health possible. When you bring your child to the dentist regularly as young as 3, this teaches your child to not be afraid of the dentist and to start taking their dental health seriously at a young age. Dr. Gohard will take care of your child and make sure they are comfortable throughout the entire experience. Parents who don’t take their children to the dentist regularly may end up with children who suffer from dental anxiety or a fear of the dentist, which can result in them avoiding cleanings and treatments in the future which will leave them with poor dental health for life. Pediatric dentistry in Florham Park is important for your child’s health. What is my Child’s First Dental Visit Like? As soon as you arrive with your young one, we recommend starting regular visits as once their first teeth have come in. Teeth can start decaying as soon as they come in, so it’s important for your child to be seen as soon as teeth start coming in. In order to make your child feel comfortable, when you first arrive, we will let them wander around and explore the office in order to feel comfortable. We will also provide some toys and child activities to keep them occupied until the dentist is ready. Once your short wait is over, we will call both of you into the back where we will let your child explore the exam room, check out the instruments and ask any questions they might have. During the visit, we will be taking x-rays using our digital x-ray machine to look for any cavities, crooked teeth, or other dental problems that may arise in the near future or need immediate attention. We will also perform a cleaning and fluoride treatment as well as teach your child how to properly brush and floss so they can take those habits home with them. Our dentist will let you know if there are any problems or if there is anything you should look out for as a parent. If your child needs treatment, we may recommend giving them some laughing gas (nitrous oxide) to help them relax and make it a little easier for us to perform the treatment. After the visit is complete, we will give your child a prize for being brave and a toothbrush kit and send you on your way. Please be sure to schedule their next cleaning before you leave so you don’t forget to schedule it in the future. Making sure your child comes in twice a year for cleanings sets up a routine for optimal oral health for life. Tips for Child Care at Home In order for your child to be healthy at home, here are a few tips you can use at home for good oral health. First, if your child has a thumb sucking or sucking habit, it’s important to stop this immediately as it can lead to tooth misalignment. It’s also important to not let your child use sippy cups for an extended period of time. It’s a good starter cup, but it can warp your child’s teeth if the use is continuous throughout toddler years. Switch to a straw cup if needed. If your child is too young to be brushing their own teeth, you can take a small kid’s toothbrush and a very tiny amount of toothpaste and brush your baby’s teeth yourself, twice a day. It’s important to start brushing your baby’s teeth for them to ensure that no decay happens. You wouldn’t want them to go to their first dental visit and have to get 5 cavities filled. Your child should be using a soft kid-sized toothbrush. We recommend electric toothbrushes if possible as they usually have a timer that shuts the toothbrush off after two minutes. This helps ensure your child is brushing for the recommended amount of time. Make sure you are replacing the toothbrush or toothbrush head every 3 months. This is to ensure the toothbrush is working properly and to avoid the spread of germs. When it comes to children, don’t use more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste on their toothbrush in case they swallow it. Since toothpaste contains fluoride, it isn’t safe to consume otherwise fluorosis can occur which is a damaging oral condition that is caused by an over-ingestion of fluoride. Help your child brush twice a day, after breakfast and before bedtime. Make sure you are watching them closely to ensure they are brushing correctly. Also, make sure they are flossing daily to get them into the habit of doing it. This will be a great habit to build since most adults don’t even floss every day. Flossing is beneficial for fighting gum disease and cavities and should be taken seriously during childhood as much as adulthood. Another tip for home tooth care is to avoid starchy and sugary snacks regularly. It’s okay for your child to have candy, soda, and chips every once in a while, but it’s not healthy for their teeth, or body, to have these kinds of foods regularly. Even with fruit, your child should rinse their mouth out with water to help get some of the sugar off their teeth. You should also avoid giving your child juice all the time. Juice contains just as much sugar as soda, and should only be given occasionally. Try giving your child water to sip on, and if they are not happy about it, at least water down the juice. Your child should be rinsing their mouth with water after every meal. This will help remove any food or sugar from the teeth until it’s time to brush them. Talk to your pediatric dentist in Florham Park about fluoridating your child’s teeth. Check with your local water department to find out if your water supply contains fluoride. If your child drinks filtered or bottled water, you should consider investing in a daily fluoride mouthwash to ensure your child has enough daily fluoride to protect against cavities and tooth decay. Kids’ mouthwash and toothpaste come in fun flavors like bubblegum so at least your child can enjoy the flavor! Fluoride works by strengthening the enamel which ultimately protects against cavities. Implementing regular fluoride treatments in your child’s daily routine can help protect him/her from potentially bad oral health. But, I Thought Baby Teeth Aren’t Important? Yes, the baby teeth are temporary, but they are just as important as the permanent adult teeth. Most children don’t finish losing all of their baby teeth until around age 12 which means these teeth will be around the most of their childhood. Most dentists will not just pull the teeth if there are problems with them because that can cause further problems with the adult teeth coming in. When a tooth is lost too early, it can cause the other teeth to shift which can prevent enough room for adult teeth to come in. Another reason baby teeth are important is that your child needs them to eat and talk correctly. Without the baby teeth, your child may face speech problems like having trouble saying sounds like “l,” “th” and “sh.” Myth: Children Under Two Shouldn’t Have Fluoride Toothpaste Experts today are advising parents to give their children, regardless of age, fluoride toothpaste because it’s been found that toothpaste without fluoride doesn’t protect the teeth from decay and cavities. If you want to go down the anti-fluoride route, you might as well just brush your child’s teeth white just water and a toothbrush. The fluoride in toothpaste is only harmful when large quantities are swallowed. As long as only put a small dab of toothpaste on the toothbrush, your child will be fine if some gets swallowed. Fluoride in toothpaste reaches all areas of the tooth and helps strengthen the enamel to fight off tartar and decay. Your child will be safe if you only use the advised amount of toothpaste listed above. I Thought Babies Didn’t Get Cavities? Yes, babies can get cavities. Any living being with teeth is able to get a cavity. Therefore it’s important to brush even your baby’s teeth. It’s possible for a tooth to get infected or abscessed, causing your child pain and force them to endure a scary and painful dental treatment. Studies have found that children who had cavities in their baby teeth were three times as likely to develop cavities in their adult teeth. In order to prevent cavities, we advise parents not give their children a bottle of formula or juice for them to suck on before bedtime. This will let them go to sleep with teeth covered in sugar which is a thriving component in cavities. Keep Your Own Mouth Clean Tooth decay can begin as soon as your child’s teeth grow in. The germs that cause tooth decay are called mutans streptococcus. This type of bacteria feeds on sugar and is known to produce acid that eats away at the tooth structure by depleting calcium. Babies are not born with this bacteria in their mouths. It is transferred from parents’ own saliva transferred into the baby’s mouth by sharing utensils or a toothbrush or simply from letting your child stick their fingers in your mouth. If the parent has a lot of cavities, this is how the bacteria is passed on. This can result in cavities as well as potentially expose your child to more germs that can result in colds or other sicknesses. We recommend that parents keep their mouths just as clean as their child’s and to resist sharing utensils or spreading mouth bacteria in any way. During pregnancy, it’s also important to maintain a nutritious diet as this can give the child a stronger enamel development while in the womb. Schedule Your Child’s Dental Exam Today Whether you child’s first tooth has just erupted, or they have never been to the dentist, please contact our pediatric dentist in Florham Park to schedule your child’s next dental exam. Dr. Gohard will treat your child in a calm manner to ensure they have a comfortable visit without developing dental anxiety or a fear of the dentist. We can help treat your child for any potential dental problems as well as provide them with a complete dental cleaning. Schedule a visit with A Healthy Smile Dentistry in Florham Park by calling us at (973) 377-2222 or by visiting our online contact form on our contact page. We will ensure your child has a pleasant visit! | High | [
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“There is no failure. It’s only unfinished success”. These are the words of one of the most celebrated painters and the father of modern Indian art, Raja Ravi Varma. Undoubtedly, he was a genius and his paintings are a work of marvel whichadorns the beauty of Indian art. He plays a major role and has contributed significantly in bringing modern art paintings of India to the attention of rest of the world. There is no denial to the fact that he acted as a linking pin between the traditional Indian art and the new age art. Though his works showed a lot of uniqueness but one thing which makes his artworks extremely special is his portrayal of beautiful sari clad women who were an indispensable part of his paintings. The depiction of these women was extremely graceful, yet powerful, and they energetic vivacious personalities. Early Life of Raja Ravi Varma: Born on April 29 1848, in the royal palace of Kilimanoor, Raja Ravi Varmastarted drawing at an extremely early age of seven on the palace walls using charcoals. When he turned fourteen, he was sent to Travancore Palace where he gained the knowledge of water painting by Rama Swamy Naidu. In the later years, he received painting lessons from Theodor Jenson, a British painter. In the year 1873, this marvellous creator of Indian art was rewarded with the first prize at the Madras Painting Exhibition. By each passing day he was turning into a mature artist in the genre of modern art paintings and soon enough the brightness of his talent was shining across the entire world. He got worldwide acclamation after he won multiple international awards. Some of these honours include, but are not limited to, an award at an exhibition in Vienna in 1873 and three gold medals at World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. His source of inspiration: Raja Ravi Varma travelled a lot in search of his subjects for his upcoming artworks. A vast majority of his work revolves around Hindu Goddesses and south Indian women as he considered them attractive and beautiful. Along with this, some of his famous modern art paintings include the depiction of various events from the fable of Dushyanta and Shakuntala from the mythological saga of Mahabharata. Indeed, his representation of the mythical figures has paved the way for the creations of today’s artists. His work is criticised on the ground of extreme revelation but still his creations are considered as the gems of Indian art. Raja Ravi Varma’s fascination towards European paintings is quite evident in his stylised Indian art paintings. His creations of modern art paintings are a perfect blend of Indian traditions mixed with European academic art. Lesser Known Facts about Raja Ravi Varma: The Kilimanoor Palace was forced to establish a personal post office with the objective to take care of the innumerable painting requests that arrived on a day-to-day basis from all over the world. Raja Ravi Varma was in close relation to the royal family of Travancore. He was the first artist in the history of Indian art who made his artworks available to the masses, irrespective of the stature and status being held by them in the society. Without a doubt, his artworks are so unique due to the incomparableblend of Indian style of painting along with European techniques. He made affordable lithographs of his splendid modern art paintings for the public. The theme generally revolved around the Hindu deities and other mythological figures along with the depiction of certain episodes from the Puranas. Till now, four movies have been documented on the life of this marvellous artist. The Guinness Book of World Records has noted that the most expensive saree in the world weighs 8 kilograms and is priced at a whooping INR 40 lakh which pays tribute to the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma. The saree is called ‘VivahPatu’ and is bordered with eleven of the beautiful creations of his. The saree is designed by the director of Chennai Silks. Raja Ravi Varma’s modern art paintings are irreplaceable and his name has been carved in the history of splendid Indian Art. In order to honour his marvellous creations, a fine arts college has been established in Mavelikara, Kerala. As a token of respect towards this notable artist, the Government of Keralahas founded an award called “Raja Ravi VarmaPuraskaram”. This award is given to those artists who exhibit spectacular talent on the genre of art and culture. | Mid | [
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An unusual presentation of gas gangrene complicated by penicillin allergy. A case is reported of non-clostridial gas gangrene that presented in a similar way to deep venous thrombosis and then developed into septic shock. Management was complicated by penicillin allergy. | Mid | [
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http://dev.withsix.com/2011-10-01T11:25:01+00:00DH: (ARMA) Development UnraveledARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1117652011-10-01T11:25:01+00:[email protected] <ul><li><strong>Category</strong> set to <i>Multiplayer</i></li><li><strong>Status</strong> changed from <i>New</i> to <i>Assigned</i></li><li><strong>Assignee</strong> set to <i>Dwarden</i></li><li><strong>Affected ArmA II version</strong> changed from <i>Please select...</i> to <i>1.60 BETA</i></li><li><strong>Reproducible for you</strong> changed from <i>No</i> to <i>Yes</i></li><li><strong>First affected ArmA II version</strong> changed from <i>Please select...</i> to <i>1.60 BETA</i></li></ul> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1119122011-10-02T21:56:07+00:00Suma <ul></ul><p>I doubt this is a problem specific to 1.60 beta. Can someone test with 1.59?</p> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1119142011-10-02T22:23:00+00:00Xeno <ul></ul><p>Like I wrote, only tested with the latest beta and not with 1.59.<br />I guess it's the same in 1.59.</p> <p>Just a few centimeter would be ok, but several meters is simply not ok.</p> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1119312011-10-03T00:35:59+00:00Fireball <ul><li><strong>Status</strong> changed from <i>Assigned</i> to <i>Feedback</i></li></ul><p>Needs testing on 1.59.</p> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1119402011-10-03T05:50:23+00:[email protected] <ul><li><strong>Due date</strong> set to <i>12/01/2011</i></li><li><strong>Reproduced by another DH user</strong> changed from <i>No</i> to <i>Yes</i></li><li><strong>First affected ArmA II version</strong> changed from <i>1.60 BETA</i> to <i>1.59.79384</i></li></ul><p>Yep also true for 1.59. Probably for a lot longer.</p> It seems two parts are not transfered correctly: <ol> <li>The strength the smokegrenades is thrown - at remote is seems always be thrown a lot further</li> <li>However at remote the bouncing of the smokegrenade on impact seems not simulated/the position update not transfered</li> </ol> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1119422011-10-03T05:56:17+00:00Fireball <ul><li><strong>Status</strong> changed from <i>Feedback</i> to <i>Assigned</i></li></ul><p>Cheers.</p> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1260152012-02-03T09:18:46+00:00Xeno <ul></ul><p>Still the same...</p> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1260172012-02-03T09:31:56+00:[email protected] <ul><li><strong>Affected ArmA II version</strong> changed from <i>1.60 BETA</i> to <i>1.61 Beta</i></li></ul> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1261162012-02-04T15:45:24+00:00rocko <ul></ul><p>Confirmed, still the same</p> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1261192012-02-04T16:06:25+00:00Dwarden <ul><li><strong>Target version</strong> set to <i>1.61 BETA</i></li><li><strong>Single / Multi Player?</strong> set to <i>MP Only</i></li></ul> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1410642012-07-24T17:43:36+00:[email protected] <ul><li><strong>Target version</strong> changed from <i>1.61 BETA</i> to <i>1.63 BETA</i></li></ul> ARMA2 Community Issue Tracker - Bug #25053: Positions of thrown smokeshells differs on different clientshttp://dev.withsix.com/issues/25053?journal_id=1412032012-07-25T04:54:42+00:[email protected] <ul><li><strong>Affected ArmA II version</strong> changed from <i>1.61 Beta</i> to <i>1.62.95248</i></li></ul> | Low | [
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New findings on inhibitor development: from registries to clinical studies. The high incidence of inhibitors against factor VIII (FVIII) concentrates in patients with haemophilia A has encouraged debate as to whether product-type plays a role. There is debate in the literature as to whether rFVIII concentrates are associated with a higher incidence of inhibitors compared to pdFVIII products. The management of haemophilia in patients with inhibitors includes on-demand/prophylaxis treatment with bypassing agents, and/or immune tolerance induction (ITI). However, these options create an economic and emotional burden on patients, their families and healthcare practitioners. Although ITI eliminates inhibitors successfully in 60-80% of cases, it is costly. Despite high costs, preliminary data from a decision analytical model have indicated that ITI is economically advantageous compared with on-demand/prophylactic treatment with bypassing agents. In patients with persistent inhibitors and those who are not candidates for ITI or have failed ITI, bleeding-related mortality and morbidity increase and quality of life decreases, compared with non-inhibitor patients. This article provides an update on the risk of inhibitor development and discusses best management approaches for patients with high-risk factors for inhibitor development. | Mid | [
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Predators, Freddy and Kick-Ass 2 weaponry are headed out this week! Have a quick gander at the NECA Events Calendar (http://necaonline.com/events) and you’ll see it’s a busy week. We’re shipping out the latest 1/4 scale Predators, the next series of A Nightmare on Elm Street 7″ Action Figures, and three awesome prop replicas from Kick-Ass 2. Just because they’re shipping to retailers now doesn’t mean they’ll be on shelves this week — check with your favorite retailer for that info — but here’s a quick rundown of everything that’s headed out from our warehouse starting this week: Predators 1/4 Scale Action Figures Series 3 One of the most popular 8″ Predator figures released in 2012 was the Series 7 Big Red from the classic fan film, Dead End. This summer marks the 10th Anniversary of that fan-made movie milestone and we’re celebrating with a 19″ tall 1/4 scale version of Big Red. Adorned with his unique red helmet, red armor, golden wrist blades, and samurai swords, the Big Red Predator is an impressive sight to behold. Includes 2 pairs of hands and 2 swords with sheaths with incredible detail and decoration along with separate fabric body netting. The Elder (aka Greyback, the leader of the Lost Tribe of Predators as seen in Predator 2) finally receives the deluxe 1/4 scale treatment. Featuring new and improved detail and sculpting, we have gone back in and improved on our original Elder sculpt in every way to make this 19″ version even more special. Elder includes interchangeable hands, sword and pistol along with a new shoulder cannon, belts and straps. Incredible detail and decoration bring Elder to life along with the use of separate body netting. A Nightmare on Elm Street 7″ Action Figures Series 4 For the first time ever from Freddy’s Dead, we proudly present “Powerglove Freddy,” complete with brand new head sculpt, powerglove right arm and removable hat. Also from Freddy’s Dead, we have “Fred Krueger: The Springwood Slasher” featuring the likeness of actor Robert Englund as Freddy before the burns, in his human form with photo-realistic portrait, gloved right hand, unburned left hand, and removable hat. This is how Freddy looked before he became the monster that haunts your dreams. Eisenhower Dog Mask An exact replica of the mask worn by Eisenhower, Col. Star & Stripes’ canine sidekick! Elastic cord tie; will fit most medium and large sized dogs. Manmade with painted deco is easy to wipe clean. Approximately 9.5″ at widest point. Colonel Stars & Stripes Ax Handle “Betsy Ross” was modeled on the actual prop used on screen by Jim Carrey in Kick-Ass 2. Foam with detailed paint deco looks just like the real thing, but is perfectly safe. Measures 28″ long and 8″ around at its thickest end. Stay tuned for more shipping updates from NECA! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for behind-the-scenes exclusives, contests, and more! Related News News from San Diego Comic-Con 2015! Comic Con’s in full swing, and so are our announcements! Check out some of the brand new figures we revealed yesterday — or visit booth #3145 and see them for yourself. Predator – 1/4 Scale Action Figure – Jungle Hunter with LED Lights Info and images —> Predator – […] #Prednesday Peek In honor of both #prednesday and SDCC Preview Night, enjoy a closer look at the deadly members of Predator Series 14 as they lay waste to some unsuspecting Xenomorphs! Celtic, Scar, and Chopper are set to arrive in late September — in the meantime, check out the photo gallery below, or swing by […] Flash Sale on Wednesday! Great news for fans who can’t make it to San Diego Comic-Con! We will be selling a limited quantity of our convention exclusives Wednesday evening on NECAClub.com. Keep reading for important details and checkout instructions. Sale begins at 6:00 pm PT (9:00 pm ET) on Wednesday, July 8 and ends when […] Contact Us Newest Blog Posts Coming soon to retailers! Later this week, two highly anticipated releases will begin shipping to retailers from the NECA warehouse: the 1/4 scale Batman: Arkham Knight action figure based on the new video game, and a limited edition retro set from Interstellar! Look for them in stores in the coming weeks. More info and images […] Coming soon to retailers! It’s a week of horror at the NECA warehouse! We’re shipping out the latest video game tribute figure (Mohawk from Gremlins 2); the retro Jason Lives clothed figure (from Friday the 13th Part 6); and for all you metal fans out there, the super-limited edition Iron Maiden Powerslave bust! Check the […] | Mid | [
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Planning for the Cost of an MRI, CT Scan, or Other Diagnostic Procedure Health care isn’t cheap in America, nor is it very transparent, and diagnostic procedures are no exception to this rule. X-rays, CT scans, and echocardiograms are going to cost you a pile of money before you even start getting around to fixing whatever problems they might find — and the cost of these procedures can vary tremendously. The cost of an MRI, for example, can run anywhere from $400 to $3,500, according to Angie’s List — making it both expensive and unpredictable. What’s more, if the doctor doesn’t find anything wrong from the diagnostic procedure, you might have to get another one because he still won’t know how to treat you. The cost of CT scans and other diagnostic procedures can start adding up very quickly. Here’s how to plan and pay for yours. You may be really stressed out, but the fact is that if you’re planning ahead, you’re probably in a much better position than a lot of other people. So relax. Take a deep breath. And read our guide on planning and paying for diagnostic procedures. Step 1: Check Your Insurance The first question you need to ask is, What does your health insurance cover? And the second is, What is your network like? Who can do the procedure? Do you have to go through several primary care appointments before you can get the procedure done? Many Americans have little or no coverage when they go outside of their HMO network, so you need to make sure that wherever you go falls within your network if possible. That can take a big chunk out of what you’re going to owe. You can also offer to pay up front in cash — especially if you end up out-of-network. Sometimes that upfront cash discount is as much as 30% of the total cost of the procedure. Step 2: Shop Around Remember what we said about your network and cash discounts? Well, not all facilities are created equally. So call around, shop around, and see what’s out there in terms of pricing. Some places are going to charge more than others. You don’t necessarily want to bargain shop when it comes to a diagnostic procedure — you always want to get the best quality of care. However, even with that as a given, you might find that some places are going to charge much less than others for what amounts to the same thing. And the “less” that they charge can be significant – hundreds or even thousands of dollars – when it comes to being able to reasonably afford the procedure. Ask for estimates based on insurance coverage as well as cash payments. Write them down, compare, and then negotiate with the top three, asking each to try and beat the others’ estimates. Step 3: Don’t Forget to Get Prior Authorization If you’re going through your insurance company, it’s important to get prior authorization. If you don’t, you might end up paying for the whole thing out of pocket. Not fun. Step 4: How Much Did That MRI Cost? Get a Fully Itemized Bill Before you pay a dime, get an itemized bill. You should be able to see everything that you’re paying for and have it explained to you. Otherwise, you might be paying for stuff that makes no sense, that shouldn’t be on the bill, or that you just don’t understand. You have a right to an itemized bill and it’s just common courtesy to have it explained to you by someone who understands it. You wouldn’t be the first person to see confusing or questionable items on your bill that make no sense to you. And anything that shouldn’t be on your bill can be taken off, saving you even more money. Follow these steps, and don’t be surprised if you end up paying hundreds of dollars less for a diagnostic procedure than you might have otherwise expected to. That will make saving up for the procedure far less daunting, allowing you more energy to rest up. Company Our Brands Advertising Disclosure: TheSimpleDollar.com has an advertising relationship with some of the offers included on this page. However, the rankings and listings of our reviews, tools and all other content are based on objective analysis. The Simple Dollar does not include all card/financial services companies or all card/financial services offers available in the marketplace. For more information and a complete list of our advertising partners, please check out our full Advertising Disclosure. TheSimpleDollar.com strives to keep its information accurate and up to date. The information in our reviews could be different from what you find when visiting a financial institution, service provider or a specific product's website. All products are presented without warranty. | High | [
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/* * Copyright (c) 2013-2015 Mellanox Technologies, Inc. * All rights reserved. * $COPYRIGHT$ * * Additional copyrights may follow * * $HEADER$ */ #include "oshmem_config.h" #include "oshmem/constants.h" #include "oshmem/include/shmem.h" #include "oshmem/shmem/shmem_api_logger.h" #include "oshmem/runtime/runtime.h" #include "oshmem/mca/memheap/memheap.h" #if OSHMEM_PROFILING #include "oshmem/include/pshmem.h" #pragma weak shmem_align = pshmem_align #pragma weak shmemalign = pshmemalign #include "oshmem/shmem/c/profile/defines.h" #endif static inline void* _shmemalign(size_t align, size_t size); void* shmem_align(size_t align, size_t size) { return _shmemalign(align, size); } void* shmemalign(size_t align, size_t size) { return _shmemalign(align, size); } static inline void* _shmemalign(size_t align, size_t size) { int rc; void* pBuff = NULL; RUNTIME_CHECK_INIT(); SHMEM_MUTEX_LOCK(shmem_internal_mutex_alloc); rc = MCA_MEMHEAP_CALL(memalign(align, size, &pBuff)); SHMEM_MUTEX_UNLOCK(shmem_internal_mutex_alloc); if (OSHMEM_SUCCESS != rc) { SHMEM_API_VERBOSE(1, "Allocation with shmemalign(align=%lu, size=%lu) failed.", (unsigned long)align, (unsigned long)size); return NULL ; } #if OSHMEM_SPEC_COMPAT == 1 shmem_barrier_all(); #endif return pBuff; } | Mid | [
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Eighteen-year-old Lee Jeong-wook doesn’t know where he was born. From the first moment he can recall from his childhood, he has lived in Busan Boystown, a children’s shelter where 700 orphaned children from toddlers to high school students live together. But unlike many other Korean teenagers undecided about their career path after high school graduation, Lee is more than certain about what he wants to do for the rest of his life ― classical music. Classical music has helped him and his friends fight poverty and also the prejudice that only the wealthy can excell in the art form on the back of expensive musical instruments and top-class lessons. But he could not have taken on this fight alone, said Lee, now leader of the 60-member Aloysius Orchestra, formerly known as the Busan Boystown Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra consists of students of Aloysius Middle School and Aloysius Technical High School, which are affiliated with Busan Boystown. The name Aloysius comes from the shelter’s founder Monsignor Aloysius Schwartz. “When we participated in several classical music competitions in the past, I could often sense that people were laughing at us, probably wondering how poor high school students like us would do classical music,” Lee told The Korea Herald. “And I could see other ‘normal’ music students using much better and more expensive instruments than ours. But sometimes we won the first prize and that really made us confident and proud.” Not only did they win several competitions but even held a benefit concert at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York last year. Conductor Chung Min, son of maestro Chung Myung-whun, joined them on stage, receiving a thunderous ovation after performing Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5. Aloysius Orchestra consists of 60 students of Aloysius Middle School and Aloysius Technical High School, which are affiliated with Busan Boystown. (Busan Boystown) “Since the performance in New York, the orchestra members have started to feel really confident. We’re now preparing for a concert at the Seoul Arts Center in July and conductor Chung Min comes to us every week to practice together,” Lee said. The Aloysius Orchestra members do not receive music lessons. Senior members teach juniors, and hand their musical instruments to juniors when graduating from high school. That’s how the system has worked for the past 32 years since the orchestra’s founding in 1979, according to Sister Park Pulcheria, 63, manager of the orchestra. Park has been with the orchestra since its inception. “They get together after school to practice on weekdays. They practice on the weekends for hours as well. Altogether, they spend about 10 hours a week for group practice,” Park said. “Although the orchestra has grown very successfully, it is still somewhat heartbreaking when I see a few students continue to become music majors in college with not-so-good musical instruments,” she said. Most of the funds come from Miracle of Music, a non-profit foundation conceived by conductor Chung Myung-whun, but the orchestra still needs more donations, she said. “We did receive sponsorship at that time, but I wish people could change their prejudice that classical music is something only rich people can enjoy,” Park said. The system of the Aloysius Orchestra is similar to “El Sistema (The System),” a music education program in Venezuela dedicated to teaching juvenile delinquents and children from low-income households to hold musical instruments instead of guns. Jose Antonio Abreu, a Venezuelan composer, began teaching classical music to youths living in poverty in 1975 at a garage in the slums of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, where crime and drug abuse were prevalent. He later received the Venezuelan government’s support for the music education program, expanding the opportunity to more Venezuelan juveniles and poor children. The Korean government has started recognizing the positive effect of “El Sistema” in recent years, applying the music-cures-underprivilege formula to welfare and education policies. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has begun using both classical music education and psychotherapy to help poor children with physical disabilities or emotional development problems, under a program called “Emotional Development Service for Children” since 2007. Children, aged between 8 and 13, living in a household with an income of less than 3.9 million won a month for a four-member family, are eligible for the music education and psychotherapy service. Normally, the service involves a 60-minute musical instrument lesson per week and matching 60-minute therapy per week. The music teacher should be at least a university graduate who majored in classical music and the counselor should be certified in either in psychotherapy or music therapy. Per child, it costs 150,000 won to 200,000 won but the child only pays 10,000 won to 20,000 won. The rest is covered by the government. In 2010, a total of 2,440 children received the service per month across the nation. “Local autonomous governments individually develop necessary services and the Welfare Ministry selects services and supports them,” said Paek Young-ha, an official at the social services department at the Welfare Ministry. “Service providers include community orchestras and music schools, which makes services very practical and effective,” she said. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology joined the move recently. The ministry has decided to spend 5 billion won this year to support practice rooms, musical instruments and instructor recruitment for orchestral music education for 36 elementary schools, 22 middle schools and seven high schools across the nation. More than 30 percent of the orchestra members should come from low-income households, according to the ministry. However, Lee of the Aloysius Orchestra said the Korean version of El Sistema, in general, has a long way to go. “El Sistema fever in Korea? Not yet,” Lee said. Miracle of Music spokesperson Lee Gyu-rae said continuous sponsorship is more important than one-off donations. “It’s not always about money. Some sponsors donate their musical instruments, some bus drivers offer a free ride from Busan to Seoul for the Aloysius Orchestra and some people offer to repair instruments for free. The point is what kind of help you’re willing to give,” she said. In addition, Miracle of Music keeps looking to help hidden musical aspirants who are too poor to get lessons or buy instruments. “Auditions are always available. We are still looking for more,” she stressed. | Mid | [
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Isolation of cell surface-specific human monoclonal antibodies using phage display and magnetically-activated cell sorting: applications in immunohematology. A method is described for the isolation of filamentous phage-displayed human monoclonal antibodies directed at unpurifiable cell surface-expressed molecules. To optimize the capture of antigen-specific phage and minimize the binding of irrelevant phage antibodies, a simultaneous positive and negative selection strategy is employed. Cells bearing the antigen of interest are pre-coated with magnetic beads and diluted into an excess of unmodified antigen-negative cells. Following incubation of the cell admixture with a Fab/phage library, the antigen-positive cell population is retrieved using magnetically-activated cell sorting and antigen-specific Fab/phage are eluted and propagated in bacterial culture. Utilizing this protocol with magnetically-labeled Rh(D)-positive and excess unlabeled Rh(D)-negative human red blood cells and a Fab/phage library constructed from human peripheral blood lymphocytes, dozens of unique clinically-useful gamma 1 kappa and gamma 1 lambda anti-Rh(D) antibodies were isolated from a single alloimmunized individual. This cell-surface selection method is readily adaptable for use in other systems, such as for the identification of putative tumor-specific antigens and provides a rapid (< 1 month), high-yield approach for isolating self-replicative antibody reagents directed at novel or conformationally-dependent cell-surface epitopes. | High | [
0.6847090663058181,
31.625,
14.5625
] |
190 Va. 398 (1950) CITY OF RICHMOND, ET ALS. v. MARY J. DERVISHIAN, ET ALS. Record No. 3545. Supreme Court of Virginia. January 16, 1950. J. Elliott Drinard and W. S. Cudlipp, Jr., for the appellants. Wilmer L. O'Flaherty and Harold H. Dervishian, for the appellees. Present, Hudgins, C.J., and Gregory, Eggleston, Spratley, Buchanan and 1. The enumeration in a charter provision authorizing a municipality to acquire and maintain property for public uses, of the purposes for which such municipality may exercise the power so conferred, is an express declaration by the legislature that the uses contemplated are public ones. While such declaration is not conclusive and is subject to judicial review, it is presumed to be right. 2. The stopping or parking of vehicles along the street is a legitimate use thereof. 3. If a city may condemn property adjacent to an existing street for the purpose of widening it so as to accommodate the parking of vehicles as well as to facilitate the flow of traffic thereon, it follows that a city may also take land adjacent to an existing street to provide such parking space away from the street. The purpose is the same and is a public one in either instance. 4. In congested areas of a city the proper regulation of traffic in the interest and safety of the public may require that vehicles be parked in off-street locations set aside for the purpose rather than in the streets themselves. The acquisition by the city of the necessary property to provide such parking areas is a proper incident to its right and duty to regulate the use of its streets. 5. Plaintiffs sought to enjoin the condemnation of their property by a municipality for an off-street parking area on the ground that the taking was not for a public use, since the facilities provided would primarily benefit two near-by department stores, but the fact that property acquired to serve the public may also incidentally benefit some private individuals does not destroy the public character of the use. 6. A municipality's charter provided that, in exercising its power of eminent domain, upon the filing of a petition by the municipality in a specified court, setting forth the interest or estate to be taken and the uses for which the property was wanted, together with a description of the property taken and the names of the owners, and the deposit of the funds estimated to compensate them, the interest or estate of the owner of the property should terminate and the title should be absolutely vested in the municipality in fee simple. The charter section also provided for subsequent notice and hearing. The trial court granted plaintiffs an injunction against condemnation of their property under this procedure, on the ground that this method permitted the municipality to acquire an indefeasible title to and possession of an owner's property prior to notice to him and in advance of a hearing on its right to do so, and that for this reason it lacked the due process of law guaranteed by section 11 of the Virginia Constitution. This was error. The charter provision, correctly interpreted, met the requirements of due process in that upon the filing of the petition and the payment into court of the amount estimated to be due the owner, the municipality acquired only a defeasible title to and right of possession of the property, both to be defeated upon a showing that the taking was not for a public use; and that the owner was afforded a hearing following the taking, both as to the validity of the taking and the amount of just compensation to be paid him for the loss of his property. 7. The mode of exercising the right of eminent domain is within the unlimited discretion of the legislature, so long as the landowner's constitutional rights are protected. 8. Where a municipality has been granted an unlimited alternative right of procedure, in exercising its power of eminent domain, it is for its legislative body to say which method is to be pursued in a particular case. 9. The requirements of due process do not inhibit the sovereign from taking physical possession of private property for public use in a condemnation proceeding prior to notice to the owner and in advance of a judicial determination of the validity of such taking. 10. Due process of law is satisfied, in eminent domain proceedings, by a hearing subsequent to the taking, as to the validity of the taking, where the condemnor, at the time of the taking, acquires only a defeasible title to and right of possession of the property. 11. If a particular taking, under an eminent domain statute which vests a defeasible title in the condemnor at the time of the taking, should be found not to have been for a public use, only the taking and not the statute would be invalid. In such event the property owner would be entitled to maintain an action of trespass against the condemnor to recover his damages. 12. Under the facts of headnote 6, the language of the charter section complained of was not designed or intended to prevent the owner from contesting the validity of the taking, but to define the quality of the estate which the municipality acquired in the property should the use be admittedly a public one or should the municipality prevail in the proceeding in which the validity of the taking was in issue. 13. Under the facts of headnote 6, the charter section complained of contained no express provision giving the property owner the right to contest the validity of the taking, but such right of defense was implied and might be asserted just as it is with respect to the general condemnation statutes (section 4360 ff of the Code of 1942 (Michie)), which contain no such provision. 14. Under the facts of headnote 6, the charter section complained of provided for agreement between the municipality and the property owner, after the filing of the petition, as to compensation, and if no agreement was effected, for the appointment of commissioners to fix the amount thereof. The contention of plaintiffs that the condemnation proceedings should be enjoined because the municipality had made no bona fide effort to acquire the property by purchase, as provided in section 4363 of the Code of 1942 (Michie), was thus without merit. The charter section contemplated that the municipality would negotiate for the purchase of the property after the filing of the petition for acquisition and not before, for if it had contemplated negotiations prior to the filing of the petition there would be no point in requiring further negotiations after the proceedings had been instituted as a condition precedent to the appointment of commissioners. The charter section, having been enacted subsequent to section 4363, was controlling. 15. Unless required by constitutional or statutory provision, an attempt to reach an agreement with the owner for a purchase of the land is not a condition precedent to the institution of condemnation proceedings. In Virginia there is no constitutional provision and the matter is governed by statute. 16. Under the facts of headnote 14, if the municipality had contemplated acting under that section of its charter which authorized the institution of condemnation proceedings under the general law, it would have been necessary that a bona fide effort to acquire the property by purchase be made prior to the institution of the proceeding. 17. Under the facts of headnote 6, the resolution by which the municipality authorized the institution of the condemnation proceedings described the property to be taken as being in "the block" bounded by four designated streets, as "substantially shown" on a plan in the office of its department of public works. The individual owners were not named and their properties were not described separately and the resolution merely fixed the total amount necessary to compensate the owners, without specifying the estimated amounts due each. The resolution was thus fatally defective. The property was not adequately described. The individual parcels embraced within the block should have been described separately, and the several owners thereof, their respective interests, and the estimated amounts to be paid each, should have been detailed in the resolution. 18. Under the facts of headnote 17, the adoption of the resolution, or a similar ordinance, was required by the municipality's charter and was a condition precedent to the maintenance of the condemnation proceedings. 19. It is generally held that in the absence of a contrary statutory provision the property and the interest therein to be acquired must be described or designated with reasonable certainty in the ordinance by which a municipality initiates condemnation proceedings. 20. Under the facts of headnote 17, while the municipality's charter authorized its council to provide by "such ordinance or resolution" "a lump sum" representing the total estimated necessary funds to compensate the owners thereof for the property to be acquired, this indicated only that the matter might be dealt with in a single ordinance, and the several properties acquired in one proceeding, but did not dispense with the other fundamental requirements of such local legislation. Each owner was also entitled to know at the outset what amount the municipality's officials estimated would be necessary to compensate him, and fixing the estimated amounts, besides being the council's primary duty, would serve as a guide to the officials to whom the duty was delegated. 21. Under the facts of headnotes 6 and 17, the fact that the petition to be filed was to contain a description of the property and a memorandum showing the names and residences of the owners did not dispense with the necessity of incorporating such matters in the ordinance or resolution. Appeal from a decree of the Hustings Court of the city of Richmond, Part II. Hon. M. Ray Doubles, judge presiding. The opinion states the case. EGGLESTON EGGLESTON, J., delivered the opinion of the court. On August 10, 1948, the council of the city of Richmond adopted a joint resolution authorizing and directing the city attorney to institute condemnation proceedings, under section 22(b) [1] of the charter of the city, to acquire the property in the block bounded by Marshall, Clay, Seventh and Eighth streets, for the parking or storage thereon of vehicles by the public. The resolution recited that the city had been authorized by an act of the General Assembly, approved January 31, 1947 (Acts 1947, Ex. Sess., ch. 80, p. 145), to acquire property for that purpose when the city council deemed it necessary to do so in order "to relieve congestion in the use of streets and to reduce hazards incident to such use;" and that in the opinion of the council there was a public necessity that this property be acquired for that purpose. By the further terms of the resolution the sum of $275,000 was stated to be the estimated amount necessary to compensate the owners and was thereby appropriated for the purpose. Two days later the complainant below, Mrs. Mary J. Dervishian, who owns a two-story brick building on a lot *404 within the block sought to be condemned, filed a bill in equity in the lower court seeking an injunction against the city of Richmond and certain of its officials to restrain them from instituting any action or proceeding under the resolution of the city council, or under section 22(b) of the city charter, for the condemnation of her property. She alleged among other things, (1) that section 22(b) was unconstitutional and void in that it permitted the taking of her property without due process of law, in violation of section 11 of the Constitution of Virginia, and (2) that the purported taking was not for a public use. The complainant was awarded an ex parte temporary injunction enjoining the city and its agents from proceeding with the condemnation of her property. Subsequently certain other persons who owned property in the block sought to be condemned were allowed to intervene as parties complainant and a similar temporary injunction was issued restraining the city and its agents from instituting condemnation proceedings with respect to their properties. The city and its agents filed demurrers to the bill and intervening petitions testing their legal sufficiency. In a written opinion the lower court held that the taking of private property by the city for the purpose of parking vehicles of the public thereon was a public use, but that section 22(b) of the city charter, under which the city proposed to condemn the property, was unconstitutional and void for the reasons asserted by the complainant landowners. Accordingly, a decree was entered overruling the demurrers and perpetually enjoining and restraining the city and its agents from instituting any action or proceeding pursuant to the provisions or direction of the resolution of the city council. From this decree the city of Richmond and its officials have appealed, asserting that the lower court erred in holding section 22(b) of the city charter to be unconstitutional, and in enjoining and restraining the institution of proceedings *405 for the purpose of acquiring the property, as directed by the resolution. Mrs. Dervishian and the other intervening property owners assign cross-error to the action of the lower court in holding that the proposed acquisition of the property by the city for parking purposes is a public use. We shall dispose of the latter issue first. By Acts of 1947, Ex. Sess., ch. 80, pp. 145, 146, section 19-c of the charter of the city of Richmond was amended to authorize and permit the city to acquire and maintain property for public uses. Included in such delegation of authority is the power "To acquire places for the parking or storage of vehicles by the public, which shall include but shall not be limited to parking lots, garages, buildings and other land, structures, equipment and facilities, when in the opinion of the council they are necessary to relieve congestion in the use of streets and to reduce hazards incident to such use; to operate and maintain such places; to authorize or permit others to use, operate or maintain such places upon such terms and conditions as the council may prescribe; to charge or authorize the charging of compensation for the parking or storage of vehicles at or in such places; and to accept donations of money or other property or the right to use such property from others to aid in whole or in part in the acquisition, maintenance and operation of such places." This is an express declaration by the General Assembly that the contemplated use is a public one. While such declaration is not conclusive and is subject to judicial review ( Light Danville, 168 Va. 181, 208, 190 S.E. 276, 287; Mumpower Housing Authority, 176 Va. 426, 448, 11 S.E.(2d) 732, 740), it is presumed to be right. 18 Am. Jur., Eminent Domain, sec. 46, p. 675; 29 C.J.S., Eminent Domain, sec. 30, p. 822. [2, 3] The stopping or parking of vehicles along the street is, of course, a legitimate use thereof. No one questions the authority of a city to condemn property adjacent to an existing *406 street for the purpose of widening it so as to accommodate the parking of vehicles as well as to facilitate the flow of traffic thereon. If a municipality may, for the purpose of providing parking space for vehicles, take land adjacent to an existing street, we know of no reason why it should not provide such parking space away from the street. The purpose is the same and is a public one in either instance. Moreover, in congested areas of a city the proper regulation of traffic in the interest and safety of the public may require that vehicles be parked in off-street locations set aside for the purpose rather than in the streets themselves. The acquisition by the city of the necessary property to provide such parking areas is a proper incident to its right and duty to regulate the use of its streets, and the use of the property for such purpose is a public one. Our view of the matter is sustained by decisions in other jurisdictions. In Miller Georgetown, 301 Ky. 241, 191 S.W.(2d) 403, it was held that the taking of a tract of land abutting a street for parking lot facilities was a proper municipal purpose and incident to the municipality's right to regulate traffic. In Whittier Dixon, 24 Cal.(2d) 664, 151 P.(2d) 5, 153 A.L.R. 956, it was held that the acquisition and operation of public parking places were for a public purpose and that property therefor could be acquired by condemnation and paid for by special assessment. The following quotation from that opinion is peculiarly applicable to the situation now before us; "Respondent contends that public parking places are not public improvements. The Legislature, however, has expressly authorized the acquisition of parking places to serve the public, and the legislation is valid so long as it serves some public purpose. (Citing cases.) Just as public streets can be used for the parking of motor vehicles, property can be acquired for the same use. Moreover, public parking places relieve congestion and reduce traffic *407 hazards and therefore serve a public purpose." (151 P.(2d) p. 7, 153 A.L.R. p. 960.) See also, Ambassador Management Corp. Incorporated Village of Hempstead, 58 N.Y.S.(2d) 880, affirmed 62 N.Y.S.(2d) 165 (appeal dismissed, 296 N.Y. 666, 69 N.E.(2d) 819; cert. denied, 330 U.S. 835, 67 S.Ct. 971, 91 L.ed. 1282). The appellees argue in their brief that the acquisition of the property here in question for a parking lot will primarily benefit two near-by department stores and will, therefore, not be for a public use. This contention is beside the point. The fact that property acquired to serve the public may also incidentally benefit some private individuals does not destroy the public character of the use. See Mumpower Housing Authority, supra (176 Va., p. 449, 11 S.E.(2d) p. 741), and cases there cited. Nor are we concerned in the present proceeding with the allegation in the bill and the argument in the brief that the city "is considering a proposal" to lease the property, after it has been acquired, to a private corporation for operation at a profit, and that this will destroy its public use. There is nothing in the joint resolution of the council authorizing the acquisition of the property to sustain this allegation and argument, and consequently we express no opinion thereon. We agree with the trial court that the contemplated acquisition of the land is for a public use. Is section 22(b) of the city charter constitutional? By the Acts of 1942, ch. 252, pp. 372, 373, 374, the General Assembly amended section 22 of the city charter, as found in the Acts of 1926, ch. 318, p. 557, and delegated to the city the power to acquire property by eminent domain for its public use by alternative methods of procedure. By section 22(a) the city is authorized and empowered *408 to institute such proceedings under the general law. Code, sec. 4360 ff. [2] Section 22(b) of the city charter provides: "In addition to the procedure prescribed by general law for the exercise of the power of eminent domain, the council of the city may, by such ordinance or resolution, direct the acquisition of such property and provide therein in a lump sum the total estimated necessary funds to compensate the owners thereof for the property or properties to be acquired or damaged. Upon the adoption of such ordinance or resolution the city may file a petition in the clerk's office of any of the courts hereinbefore enumerated, which shall be signed by the mayor and shall set forth the interest or estate to be taken in the property and the uses and purposes for which the property or the interest or estate therein is wanted, or when no property is to be taken but is likely to be damaged, the necessity for the work of improvement which will cause or is likely to cause damage to the property or estate of any person." The section then requires that there be filed with the petition a plat and description of the property which "is sought to be taken or likely to be damaged and a memorandum showing the names and residences of the owners of the property, if known, and showing also the quantity of property which, or an interest or estate in which, is sought to be taken or will be or is likely to be damaged." Continuing, the section reads: "There shall be filed also with said petition a notice directed to the owners of the property, if known, copies of which shall be served on such owners or on tenants of the freehold of such property, if known." Provision is made for an order of publication against "such owner or tenant" who may be unknown or a nonresident or cannot with reasonable diligence be found in this State. "Upon the filing of said petition and the deposit of the *409 funds, provided by the council for the purpose, in a bank to the credit of the court in such proceedings and the filing of a certificate of deposit therefor, the interest or estate of the owner of such property shall terminate and the title to such property or interest or estate of the owner shall be absolutely vested in the city in fee simple and such owner shall have such interest or estate in the funds so deposited as he had in the property taken or damaged and all liens by deed of trust, judgment or otherwise upon said property or estate shall be transferred to such funds and the city shall have the right to enter upon and take possession of such property for its uses and purposes and to construct its works of improvement." (Emphasis added.) Provision is made for recording and indexing the necessary documents to show the transfer of the title to the property from the owner to the city. "If the city and the owner of property so taken or damaged agree upon compensation therefor" they may file in the clerk's office a written agreement to this effect and the fund may be distributed accordingly. "If the city and the owner cannot agree upon the compensation for the property taken or damaged" either may file in the clerk's office a memorandum to that effect, whereupon "the court shall appoint commissioners provided for in section forty-three hundred and sixty-six of the Code of Virginia or as provided for in this section and all proceedings thereafter shall be had as provided in section forty-three hundred and sixty-six through forty-three hundred and eighty-one of the Code of Virginia in so far as they are then applicable * * *." It is further provided that "the court shall order the deposit in bank to the credit of the court such additional funds as appear to be necessary to cover the award of the commissioners or shall order the return to the city of such funds deposited that are not necessary to compensate such owners for property taken or damaged." The lower court in its written opinion held that this *410 section was lacking in the due process of law guaranteed to the owner by section 11 of the Constitution of Virginia, in that it "provides a method" whereby the city may acquire an indefeasible title to and possession of the owner's property prior to notice to him and in advance of a hearing on its right to do so. The city, on the other hand, contends that the due process clause of the Constitution does not require notice to the owner and a judicial determination of the validity of the taking in advance of the taking; that section 22(b) meets the requirements of the due process clause in that upon the filing of the petition and the payment into court of the amount estimated to be due the owner, the city acquires only a defeasible title to and right of possession of the property, both to be defeated upon a showing that the taking is not for a public use; and that under the section the owner is afforded a hearing, which follows the taking, both as to the validity of the taking and the amount of just compensation to be paid him for the loss of his property. In our opinion the city's contention is sound and in accord with the correct interpretation of the section. It should be remembered that the wisdom and expediency of the legislation involved is not before us. There are indications in the opinion [3] of the lower court that it took *411 the view that the delegation by the General Assembly of the authority to the city to proceed to acquire property for its needs in such a "summary action" should have been conditioned upon the existence of a "public emergency," or that the city council should not have so proceeded in the absence of an emergency. [7, 8] But these were matters to be decided by the state and city legislatures respectively. The mode of exercising the right of eminent domain is within the unlimited discretion of the General Assembly, so long as the landowner's constitutional rights are protected. Moreover, where a municipality has been granted an unlimited alternative right of procedure, it is for the local legislature to say which method is to be pursued in a particular case. The inquiries directed to us here are, (1) whether the legislation meets the constitutional requirements of due process, and (2) whether the procedure therein prescribed has been followed. That the requirements of due process do not inhibit the sovereign from taking physical possession of private property for public use in a condemnation proceeding prior to notice to the owner and in advance of a judicial determination of the validity of such taking has been settled by the decisions of the Supreme Court and the rulings of this court. Bragg Weaver, 251 U.S. 57, 40 S.Ct. 62, 64 L.ed. 135, decided in 1919, involved the validity of subsections 21 and 22 of section 944a of Pollard's Code of 1904 (Acts 1904, ch. 106, p. 198), which authorized and permitted the superintendent of county roads to "take from the most convenient *412 lands so much wood, stone, gravel, or earth as may be necessary to be used in constructing or repairing any road, bridge, or causeway therein." There was no provision in the statute for notice to the owner before the soil and other materials were to be taken from his property, but this and the related statutes provided a method whereby subsequent to the taking the amount of compensation due to the owner could be judicially determined. Bragg, a property owner, filed a suit in equity in the Circuit Court of Lunenburg county to enjoin Weaver and the other road officials from trespassing on his land for the purpose of taking soil therefrom under the provisions of this statute, claiming that it violated the due process clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions. The circuit court refused an injunction and the Supreme Court of Appeals denied an appeal to Bragg. He appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, reasserting the claim that the statute violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That court affirmed the decree of the highest court of Virginia, and held that since the taking was for a public use and adequate provision was made for a judicial determination of the amount of just compensation due the property owner, the requirements of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment had been met, although under the statute the contemplated hearing was to be instituted and conducted subsequent to the taking. In the course of the opinion it was said: "The claim is made that this opportunity (for a hearing) comes after the taking, and therefore is too late. But it is settled by the decisions of this court that where adequate provision is made for the certain payment of the compensation without unreasonable delay, the taking does not contravene due process of law in the sense of the 14th Amendment merely because it precedes the ascertainment of what compensation is just." (251 U.S., p. 62.) Bailey Anderson, 326 U.S. 203, 66 S.Ct. 66, 90 L.ed. 3, decided in 1945, involved the validity of section 1969j(4) *413 of Michie's Code of 1942 (Acts 1940, ch. 380, sec. 4, p. 669), which authorized the State Highway Commissioner to enter upon and take possession of property necessary for highway purposes, and, "within sixty days after the completion of the construction of such highway," to institute condemnation proceedings to acquire title to the property so taken. There was no provision in the statute requiring notice to the owner prior to the taking of his property. Bailey, a property owner, claimed in the Circuit Court of Fairfax county that this statute violated the due process clauses of section 11 of the Virginia Constitution and of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution. Being unsuccessful there, he applied to the Supreme Court of Appeals for a writ of error which was denied. On appeal the Supreme Court of the United States held that upon the authority of Bragg Weaver, supra, the statute did not violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The trial court's written opinion holds that neither of these cases is controlling here, because, it is said, in each the nature of the use was not in dispute, was clearly a public one, and hence the Supreme Court did not pass upon the precise point here involved, namely, whether due process requires that prior to the taking the owner be given notice and a judicial hearing on the validity of the taking. Inasmuch as it has been determined that the use is a public one, the present case is within the influence of the two above cases, for here, as in those cases, the only remaining issue is the ascertainment of the amount of just compensation due for which the section makes adequate provision. But aside from this, if due process of law is satisfied by a hearing on the issue and the amount of just compensation due, in a proceeding instituted and conducted subsequent to the taking, we perceive no valid reason why it is not likewise satisfied by a subsequent hearing as to the validity of the taking where under a proper interpretation of the statute the condemnor, at the time of the taking, acquires only a defeasible title to and right of possession of the property. *414 Should it develop on the hearing that the particular taking was not for a public use, only the taking and not the statute would be invalid. In such event the property owner would be entitled to maintain an action of trespass against the city to recover his damages. 30 C.J.S., Eminent Domain, sec. 400, p. 118; 18 Am. Jur., Eminent Domain, sec. 385, p. 1030; Nelson County Coleman, 126 Va. 275, 282, 101 S.E. 413. The city's position is further supported by decisions upholding the validity of the Federal Declaration of Taking Act of 1931. (46 Stat. 1421, 40 U.S.C.A., secs. 258a-258e.) The procedure there outlined is quite similar to that in section 22(b) of the city charter. Indeed, it is said that the charter provision is modeled after this federal statute. In substance, the federal statute provides that in a condemnation proceeding the government may expedite the acquisition of title and possession by filing a declaration that the lands involved are thereby taken for the use of the United States and the payment into court of the amount of estimated compensation due the owner or owners. The declaration must contain (1) a statement of the authority under which and the public use for which the lands are taken, (2) a description of the lands taken, (3) a statement of the estate or interest in the lands taken for public use, (4) a plan showing the lands taken, and (5) a statement of the sum of money estimated by the acquiring authority to be just compensation for the lands taken. The statute then provides: "Upon the filing said declaration of taking and of the deposit in the court, to the use of the persons entitled thereto, of the amount of the estimated compensation stated in said declaration, title to the said lands in fee simple absolute, * * * shall vest in the United States of America, and said lands shall be deemed to be condemned and taken for the use of the United States, and the right to just compensation for the same shall vest in the persons entitled thereto; * * *." Continuing, the statute provides: "Upon the filing of a *415 declaration of taking, the court shall have power to fix the time within which and the terms upon which the parties in possession shall be required to surrender possession to the petitioner." The statute makes no provision for notice to the landowner prior to the taking or as to the entry of the order fixing the time within which possession shall be surrendered, and, as the reported cases indicate, such order is usually entered ex parte on the motion of the government. In Oakland United States, C.C.A.9, 124 F.(2d) 959, [4] it was held that the procedure under this statute and the entry of an ex parte order fixing the time within which the government should take possession of the property did not violate the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment, because the property owner was thereafter afforded an opportunity of testing the validity of the taking. In Catlin United States, 324 U.S. 229, 65 S.Ct. 631, 89 L.ed. 911, the interpretation of the Declaration of Taking Act was before the Supreme Court. One of the questions involved was whether the statute contemplated that the owner should have the right to contest the validity of the taking in proceedings to be had after the government had entered into possession of the property. Of this the court said: "While the language and the wording of the act are not wholly free from doubt, we see no necessary inconsistency between the provisions for transfer of title upon filing of the declaration and making of the deposit and at the same time preserving the owner's preexisting right to question the validity of the taking as not being for a purpose authorized by the statute under which the main proceeding is brought. That result may be reached if the statute is construed to confer upon the Government, upon occurrence of the events specified, only a defeasible title in cases where an issue concerning the validity of the taking arises. So to construe the act would accomplish fully the purposes for which it was *416 adopted in the large number of cases where no such issue is made. In others this would go far toward doing so, for not all such issues will be followed through to final decision or, if so followed, will turn out adversely to the Government. The alternative construction, that title passes irrevocably, leaving the owner no opportunity to question the taking's validity or one for which the only remedy would be to accept the compensation which would be just if the taking were valid, would raise serious question concerning the statute's validity. In any event we think it would run counter to what reasonable construction requires." (Emphasis added.) (324 U.S., p. 241.) The reasoning of that opinion is, we think peculiarly applicable to the situation before us. The language of section 22(b) of the city charter, that upon the filing of the petition and the payment of the necessary fund into court the interest or estate of the owner "shall be absolutely vested in the city in fee simple," was not designed or intended to prevent the owner from contesting the validity of the taking. It merely defines the quality of the estate which the city acquires in the property should the use be admittedly a public one or should the city prevail in the proceeding in which the validity of the taking is in issue. It may be noted in passing that the language defining the quality of the estate to be acquired by the city is almost identical with that found in Code, sec. 4369, defining the quality of the estate acquired by the condemnor under the general condemnation statute. It is true that section 22(b) of the charter contains no express provision giving the property owner the right to contest the validity of the taking. This is not necessary. Neither do the general condemnation statutes (Code, sec. 4360 ff. ) contain such a provision, and yet we have repeatedly held that such right of defense is implied and may be asserted. Light Danville, supra; Mumpower Housing Authority, supra. The same is true here. The appellees argue that the lower court was correct in *417 enjoining the proposed condemnation proceedings because the city has made no bona fide effort to acquire the property by purchase, as is required by Code, sec. 4363. [14-16] While this question was raised in the bill of complaint the trial court found it unnecessary to pass on it. There is no merit in this contention. "Unless required by constitutional or statutory provision, an attempt to reach an agreement with the owner for a purchase of the land * * * is not a condition precedent to the institution of condemnation proceedings." 29 C.J.S., Eminent Domain, sec. 224, p. 1163, and cases there cited. See also, 18 Am. Jur., Eminent Domain, sec. 319, p. 962. In this State there is no constitutional provision on the subject and the matter is governed by statute. Had the city contemplated acting under section 22(a) of the charter, which authorizes the institution of condemnation proceedings under the general law, it would be necessary that such bona fide effort to acquire the property by purchase be made prior to the institution of the proceeding. Charles Big Sandy, etc., R. Co., 142 Va. 512, 129 S.E. 384. But here the contemplated procedure is under the alternative method prescribed by section 22(b). Clearly, we think, this latter section contemplates that the city will negotiate for the purchase of the property after the filing of the petition for acquisition and not before. As will be seen from the portions of the statute quoted above, if, after the petition has been filed, the city and the property owner agree upon compensation, they may file in the clerk's office a written agreement to this effect and the fund may be distributed accordingly. If, on the other hand, they cannot agree, the court is directed to appoint commissioners to fix the amount of compensation due the property owner. Had the section contemplated negotiations prior to the filing of the petition there would be no point in requiring further negotiations after the proceedings had been instituted as a condition precedent to the appointment of commissioners. *418 Section 22(b) of the charter, having been enacted subsequent to the general statute (Code, sec. 4363), is controlling with respect to condemnation proceedings instituted and conducted by the city of Richmond. Fonticello Mineral Springs Co. Richmond, 147 Va. 355, 359, 360, 137 S.E. 458; Chambers Roanoke, 114 Va. 766, 768, 78 S.E. 407. The joint resolution which authorized the institution of the condemnation proceedings merely describes the entire property to be acquired as being "in the block" bounded by Marshall, Clay, Seventh and Eighth streets, as is "substantially shown" on a plan on file in the office of the Department of Public Works of the city. The individual owners are not named, nor are their properties described separately. The resolution fixes the total amount estimated to be necessary to compensate the owners for the whole property to be taken at $275,000, without specifying the estimated amounts to be due to each. While the matter does not seem to have been raised below and is not discussed in the briefs, at the oral argument before us it was suggested that the resolution is fatally defective in that this is not an adequate description of the property to be acquired, that the several individually owned parcels embraced within the block should have been described separately, and that the several owners thereof, their respective interests in the properties to be acquired, and the estimated amounts to be paid each should have been detailed in the resolution. In our opinion the point is well made. The adoption of "such ordinance or resolution" is required by section 22(b) and is a condition precedent to the maintenance of the condemnation proceedings. 18 Am. Jur., Eminent Domain, sec. 317, p. 961; 29 C.J.S., Eminent Domain, sec. 223, p. 1154. It is generally held that in the absence of a contrary statutory provision the property and the interest therein to be acquired must be described or designated with reasonable certainty in the basic ordinance. 29 C.J.S., Eminent Domain, *419 sec. 223, p. 1159. The cases there cited support the text. [20, 21] While the statutory provision here authorizes the council to provide by such ordinance or resolution "a lump sum" representing "the total estimated necessary funds to compensate the owners thereof for the property or properties to be acquired," which indicates that the matter may be dealt with in a single ordinance, and the several properties acquired in one proceeding, [5] it does not dispense with the other fundamental requirements of the local legislation. Neither does the fact that the section requires that the petition shall contain "a description of the property which, or an interest or estate in which, is sought to be taken or likely to be damaged and a memorandum showing the names and residences of the owners of the property if known," dispense with the necessity of incorporating such matters in the ordinance or resolution. Moreover, we think, each owner is entitled to know at the outset what amount the city officials estimate will be necessary to compensate him for the acquisition of or damage to his property. The estimated amount specified in the ordinance or resolution to be paid to a particular property owner may be such as to save him the trouble and expense of contesting the contemplated condemnation proceeding. Again, the primary duty of fixing the estimated amounts to be paid to the several property owners is on the council, and while this duty may be delegated to the proper official or officials, fixing such amounts in the ordinance or resolution will serve as a guide to the representatives of the city in their later efforts to agree upon the compensation to be paid. Under the resolution adopted, there is no limit as to what amount or amounts may be paid to the respective *420 owners, other than that the total shall not exceed the appropriation of $275,000. Because of these defects in the basic resolution we are of opinion that the lower court was correct in entering the decree enjoining the institution of the condemnation proceedings. The decree appealed from will be modified to provide that the procedure set forth in section 22(b) of the charter is valid and not violative of the due process clause of section 11 of the Virginia Constitution; that because of the defects outlined above in the joint resolution of August 10, 1948, the defendants below are perpetually enjoined and restrained from instituting any action or proceeding pursuant to such resolution, such injunction, however, to be without prejudice to the right of the council of the city of Richmond to adopt a proper resolution or ordinance, if it be so advised, authorizing the acquisition by condemnation proceedings of the property mentioned in the joint resolution of August 10, 1948. As so modified the decree appealed from will be affirmed. Modified and affirmed. NOTES [1] Acts 1926, ch. 318, p. 533, as amended by Acts 1942, ch. 252, p. 372. [2] For a slight difference between the procedure under this section of the charter and that under the general law, see Fonticello Mineral Springs Co. Richmond, 147 Va. 355, 137 S.E. 458. [3] "It is only where the exigencies of the particular case, whether it be in the exercise of the police power, eminent domain, or any other power of the state, demand that prompt action be taken in the immediate interest of public good, that the state is permitted to act in a summary fashion. These particular and extreme situations are usually provided for by special legislation which permits a hearing on the merits and validity of the summary action at a later date. On the other hand, routine situations unaccompanied by a conditional demanding summary action, are governed by general legislation which contemplates the usual demands of due process, viz. notice and an opportunity to be heard prior to action. It would be an anomaly indeed if all state action were declared to be emergency action necessitating the same type of summary taking statute to govern all cases of eminent domain, -- and yet it seems that section 22b of the city charter does just that. It permits in every type of case the absolute taking of title and possession by legislative and executive fiat prior to any notice to the condemnee or opportunity for him to be heard on any question in any forum or tribunal. Even assuming that the federal government or the state government in the exercise of their sovereign rights respectively might be justified in enacting such an extreme uniform statute to govern all types of takings, we are not dealing in this case with a sovereign power. The city of Richmond is dependent upon power delegated to it by the sovereign, and by the very nature of the case, the exigencies surrounding municipal needs for property can rarely be extreme. The vast majority of instances in which a municipality needs to take summary action arise in connection with its use of police power delegated to it by the state. It is difficult to see how general summary action is needed by a municipality in all types of condemnation cases." [4] Cert. denied, 316 U.S. 679, 62 S.Ct. 1106, 86 L.ed. 1753. [5] In Virginia, there being no statute requiring a separate proceeding as to each landowner, several owners of land sought to be condemned may be convened in one proceeding. Hannah Roanoke, 148 Va. 554, 564, 139 S.E. 303; Rudacille State Commission, etc., 155 Va. 808, 814, 156 S.E. 829. | Mid | [
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The Buffalo Bills season may be over, but the boys still have plenty to be excited about. Not only do we have a new coach coming to town, but they also have some great new swag to wear for next season! Introducing Pudin’s Paw! Pudin’s Paw reached out to us on Twitter to see if we would be interested in reviewing their Homemade dog collars and leashes. They even said they would love to make us some “Bills inspired” accessories. Harley and Charlie are huge football fans, so needless to say that got their attention! We headed on over to their website to learn a little more about Pudin’s Paw… Pudin’s Paw makes custom paracord dog collars and leashes from their home in Seattle, Washington. What began as a hobby making dog accessories for family and friends, has since grown a business in and of itself! And best of all, the company gets its name from their adorable labrador puppy Pudin! Oh the Possibilities! Pick any one of the dog collar or leash options you see on their site and start customizing away! You can choose from different braid options, dozens of center and edge colors and even have it built to your dog’s exact neck size! Pudin’s Paw was kind enough to send us a paracord dog leash and paracord dog collar, in signature Buffalo Bills colors! Lets take a closer look! Boy am I a sucker for that Red and Blue! I loved the look of these paracord collars as soon as we opened the package. It was clear that a lot of passion and skill went into the beautiful cobra braiding. We couldn’t wait to get it on Harley! Striking against that Golden fur, don’t you think! Our custom collar was a perfect fit! (It is important to note that these collars are made to size, so there are no adjustments. Make sure to measure twice before ordering!) So how do they Perform? Pudin’s Paw uses military grade #550 paracord in their products. This means that the paracord is capable of supporting a 550 lb static load. Braid multiple strands together and you have one seriously strong leash! What is also cool is that the leash has a bit of stretch to it. This helps to absorb some of the sudden pulling force you may encounter from time to time. (I know, I know, not YOUR dog!) You can do more than just watch the game in this leash/collar combo, we thought that this collar would be great for outdoor activities too! Paracord’s durability and strength is rivaled by few and could certainly handle a few dips in the pond and a day of hiking! Why MyDogLikes Pudin’s Paw Dog Collars and Leashes Who doesn’t love a custom dog collar? Pudin’s Paw makes beautiful, handmade dog accessories just to your specifications. Even enough to lift the spirits of a perennially disappointed Bills fan! Now, thanks to Pudin’s Paw we are all ready to go for next season! Want one of these awesome dog collars and leashes for yourself? Get off the bench and head on over to Pudin’s Paw to start putting together your very own creation! Pudin’s Paw Additionally, Pudin’s Paw is offering a gift basket of custom dog collars and leashes to one lucky MyDogLikes reader! Get in the game and enter through the Rafflecopter form below! Go Bills! a Rafflecopter giveaway | Mid | [
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Q: c# regex - groups and nested groups The structure is a list of playlists. A playlist consists of: - A static text and the date; - 1-n tracks consisting of an index, an author, a title STATICTEXT 2011-06-18 --------------------- 01. author - title 02. author - title STATICTEXT 2011-06-19 --------------------- 01. author - title 02. author - title 03. author - title 04. author - title I'd like to capture a list of playlist. Inside a playlist block, I'd like to captue other information, such as author and title. To me this is an example of nested groups: each playlist is a group containing 2 nested groups (author, title). How can I achieve this? Thanks in advance. R. A: Regular expressions are great at certain things, but not for all things. Writing a parser for this file is simple and straight forward. playlists = new List() for line in file if line is blank continue if line starts with "STATICTEXT" playslists.add(playlist) playlist = new Playlist() song = parse song //this is something that regex does good playlist.add(song) | High | [
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Q: Unknown class [A Collection View Controller] in Interface Builder file I wish to run iOS 6 programs on my iOS 5.1.1 iPad 1st generation, and all the UICollectionViews are all disappeared and debug console says Unknown class collectionViewController in Interface Builder file Is it because of incompatibility with UICollectionViews in iOS 5? A: Correct. According to the documentation for the UICollectionView class, its availability is marked as "Available in iOS 6.0 and later." which means it does not exist in iOS 5. | Mid | [
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Formica to run for re-election as East Lyme first selectman East Lyme — Paul Formica said Thursday he intends to seek a fourth term as the town’s first selectman. “It’s been an incredible honor and privilege to serve in this capacity, and I’d like to continue to move the town forward in a bipartisan manner without focus on party, but with focus on process and people,” he announced at a news conference. Formica ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for the congressional 2nd District against incumbent Joe Courtney in 2012. If re-elected, Formica, first elected in 2007, said he would continue to work on the interconnection project to carry water between the town and New London, finish repairing the Niantic Bay Boardwalk and further revitalize downtown, among other endeavors. The town is using a Small Town Economic Assistance Program grant awarded last year to improve lighting and sidewalks on parts of Route 161 for better access to downtown and is anticipating another STEAP grant for the boardwalk, he said. He is encouraging continued work on the town’s 20/20 Facilities Committee, which studies improvements for future town buildings. He said he would work to ensure a decision on elementary school facilities that is mindful of the tax base and best for the community. Formica said he is proud to be first selectman of the town where he raised his family and where this year he commemorated the 30th anniversary of Flanders Fish Market, the restaurant and retail store he owns. Reflecting on recent accomplishments, including finding a permanent location for the Care & Share food pantry and acquiring the Samuel Smith House and Darrow Pond property, he praised East Lyme residents for a town where “everyone is pulling in the same direction.” He said that with Board of Finance leadership, the town has had about a 1.2 percent annual tax increase over the last five years. Formica, the chairman of the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, supported continuing to work with the council to improve regional transportation and cooperation among towns and cities, especially in light of the proposed Coast Guard Museum in New London. The town’s Democratic caucus will take place 7:30 p.m. July 18 at Town Hall, and the Republican caucus will meet at 7:30 p.m. July 22 at the senior center. | Low | [
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Q: What is the most effective way to manage time zones in a PHP/MySQL application? I'm developing a web application that involves the use of timestamps. I would like the timestamps to display in the user's time zone with as little configuration as possible. Facebook and Google Calendar both update their displayed time automatically when logged into from different time zones. What is the most effective method you've used to deal with time zones in your web apps? If at all possible, I would like to require no additional input from the user. Here's what I'm thinking so far: Store all timestamps in the database in UTC Keep a database table that correlates time zones to UTC offsets, and whether daylight savings time is observed in that time zone Given client information (IP address?), find the user's current time zone. This information can be cached in a session variable to prevent repeated reads to the table. Whenever a timestamp from the database is to be displayed, convert it using the UTC offset I find it hard to believe that there's nothing out there already that does this. If you have any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. A: I'd propose another solution: Store all the dates in mysql timestamp column type Right after connect to mysql - specify current user's timezone with SET time_zone='<tz>' where <tz> can be either +01:00 offset or timezone name Asia/Vladivostok (for the latter special timezones db should be imported by DBA) The benefit of using timestamp is that it automatically converts the date to and from UTC, according to the time_zone you've specified in the current connection. More details about timestamp: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.1/en/timestamp.html About retrieving current user's timezone (even though there are a lot of answers here on SO about this topic, let's do that once again): As long as there is a TZ value in cookies (look at step 4) - use it. For registered/authenticated users - you can ask to specify their timezone and store it permanently in DB. For guests you can retrieve the timezone from javascript (Date.getTimezoneOffset()) and send it with ajax If it is the first request/nothing passed from ajax - guess it by IP For each step (1-3) - save timezone to a cookie. | High | [
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It hasn’t been a memorable outing for India in the Test series against New Zealand. Even as Ishant Sharma returned to action with a five-wicket haul, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah claimed lone wickets apiece as New Zealand drubbed India by 10 wickets. However, Australia pace legend, Glenn McGrath isn’t in a mood to think too much about the defeat. For the 50-year-old, the Indian fast bowling unit still remains a ‘world class’ attack. “I still have total faith in the Indian (bowling) lineup. They had a few injuries off late. Ishant is coming back and he did get five wickets. Bumrah had a couple of injuries and he is coming back. So, I think the Indian bowling attack is world class and there is no doubt about that,” McGrath said on the sidelines of an event organised by Tourism Australia. Read: Despite Prithvi Shaw's flaws, captain Kohli wants to wait Analysing India’s defeat in the first Test, McGrath agreed that toss played a key role. “Conditions in New Zealand are different to that they are in Australia. In Australia, it's quicker, bouncier pitches. In New Zealand, it swings more, seams a little bit more. It’s more like English conditions than Australian. That first pitch had grass on the deck and India lost the toss. That's how it goes. You have got to bat really well,” McGrath said, adding: “I don’t have any issues with the bowling attack, you don’t lose form overnight.” Talking about Ishant, who returned from an injury, McGrath said: “Ishant has a lot of experience, the way he’s comeback in the last couple years, its been impressive. I thought his career might have been finished at international level, but he has reinvented himself and he is bowling well.” The Aussie pace icon was also all praise for Shami and Bumrah. “Shami bowls good pace and is deceptive in the pace he bowls, he can move the ball around and is very experienced, just knows the game so well. Jasprit is unique with the way he goes about it short run up, powers through the crease, can swing the ball, good control and good pace (in) second third spells. And then on top of that the other quicks and spinner.” With T20 World Cup scheduled later this year, McGrath even picked his top teams. “It would be Australia, India, England and Pakistan,” McGrath said, making it clear that the other two teams in the contention could be New Zealand and West Indies. Last year, England won the World Cup on the count of boundaries and McGrath found that decision a bit strange. “You wanted to be a clear winner, always. I didn't even know that you can pick a winner on the boundary counts,” McGrath said, admitting that ideally a Super Over would have been a better option to decide on the winner. | Mid | [
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News Center READING, PA – The Morrisville State College women’s basketball team outlasted host Penn State Berks Sunday afternoon, stunning the Nittany Lions with an 83-78 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) victory in overtime in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Mustangs by as many as 12 in the second half, but the Nittany Lions battled back and hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining in the contest to force the overtime period. Morrisville State opened the extra period with an 11-3 run, to take an eight point lead with just under two minutes remaining and hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Keyla Arce (Bronx, NY) led Morrisville State with a collegiate best 22 points, 12 rebounds and three assists while teammate Nijee Scott (Bronx, NY) came off the bench to add 20 points, 10 boards and five assists, including seven in the overtime period. Nijah Townsend (Bronx, NY) and Jenna March (Munnsville, NY) rounded out top scoring for Morrisville State, netting 15 and 14 respectively, while each adding eight boards. Dyshea Smiley (Harlem, NY) dished out a collegiate best 15 assists in the win. Shakiyla Stone led Berks with 18 points and seven assists. Morrisville State improves to 4-16 overall, 4-13 in conference action, and return to the court Wednesday, hosting Wells College at 5 p.m. Morrisville State College sets the world in motion for students. Curriculums are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology. Visit www.morrisville.edu to experience, Morrisville in motion. | Mid | [
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Robert Fowler (cyclist) Robert Fowler (5 December 1931 – 27 December 2001) was a South African cyclist. He competed at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics. At the 1952 Olympics, he won a silver medal in the 4,000 metres team pursuit event. References External links Category:1931 births Category:2001 deaths Category:South African male cyclists Category:Olympic cyclists of South Africa Category:Cyclists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Category:Cyclists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Category:Cyclists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic silver medalists for South Africa Category:Olympic medalists in cycling Category:Cyclists at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa Category:People from Krugersdorp Category:Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling | High | [
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Fad Diets Will Seem Even Crazier After You See This The 7-Day Color Diet: An attempt to get people to eat more fruits and vegetables, this diet requires followers to eat foods of just a single color each day. It ends with a day in which you "eat the rainbow," so to speak. Here's Gonot's cheeky take on orange day. The Baby Food Diet: This diet calls for replacing several meals and snacks with tiny jars of baby food, plus a healthful dinner. The diet was widely attributed to Tracy Anderson, trainer to celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, though Anderson has since reportedly denied endorsing it. The Master Cleanse: Adherents are required to avoid any food and just drink a concoction of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper to "detoxify" their bodies. As Piper in Orange Is The New Blackproves, it's tough to make it through on this meager meal. The Hollywood or Grapefruit Diet: Followers eat half a grapefruit with every meal in the belief that enzymes in the fruit somehow magically break down fat (no, they don't). It's a low-carb diet that calls for lots of dietary fat and protein. Pass the bacon. The Model Diet: This was Gonot's tongue-in-cheek take on popular perception of how models keep their appetites in check. "You hear that models drink coffee and smoke cigarettes all day, or you see them holding a Diet Coke behind the scenes," Gonot says. Stephanie Gonot / Courtesy of the photographer Originally published on September 10, 2013 12:52 pm On one level, it's easy to understand the allure of a fad diet: Eat this, not that and you'll lose weight, guaranteed. Who doesn't want an easy way to shed unwanted pounds? It was that sort of thinking that first prompted photographer Stephanie Gonot to investigate many current fad diets. "I had tried Weight Watchers — and it works," the Los Angeles-based freelancer tells The Salt. "And then you kind of slip off of that, and then you think, 'What else can you do that is easier than counting points?' ... So I started researching [other diets] and thought, 'These do not sound healthy.' " Healthful they may not be. But visually stirring? Absolutely. Looking at what such diets require you to subsist on — lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne for the Master Cleanse, for example— helps crystallize just how absurd (for most people) they are. "I think it's funny to see exactly what these diets entail visually instead of reading about them," Gonot says. The series, called "Fad Diets," is really a reflection of a culture that's become overly obsessed with dieting in general. "There's all this stuff in the media about fad diets," she says, "and I think we need to eat better and watch what you eat, but you don't necessarily need these diets to take care of that." That's a point the medical community is making as well. In a commentary published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers Sherry Pagoto of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Bradley Appelhans of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago issued a call for an end to fad dieting. Pagoto and Appelhans argue that our obsession with macronutrients — carbs and fat, among them — misses the point that the best diet is the one you actually stick with. And no diet, they argue, can truly be effective without an overhaul in lifestyle as well. Pagoto notes that multiple studies have compared diets that vary by how many carbs, protein grams and fat grams they require you to eat. "A lot of times, it's a draw: No diet is better than the other," she says in a video press release. "When a diet does outdo another diet in terms of weight loss, it's by a very small amount." (Not all obesity researchers would agree. As we've reported, one study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2012 found that a low-carb diet was a clear winner over a low-fat diet and low-glycemic diet.) Still, Pagoto has hit on something that has stymied many dieters forever: the challenge of sticking with a weight-loss plan that's both healthful and effective. "We really need to shift our conversation away from what exactly people should be eating to how do you change their behavior, how do you get people to make long-term changes," Pagoto says. "We give students advice about why fad diets don't provide the nutrients they need," Pilewski tells The Salt. "But seeing [these diets] in photos is really striking and makes them look much less appealing than hearing that Beyonce did it." | Mid | [
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