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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "https://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <title>FreeType-2.9.1 API Reference</title> <style type="text/css"> a:link { color: #0000EF; } a:visited { color: #51188E; } a:hover { color: #FF0000; } body { font-family: Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, serif; color: #000000; background: #FFFFFF; width: 87%; margin: auto; } div.section { width: 75%; margin: auto; } div.section hr { margin: 4ex 0 1ex 0; } div.section h4 { background-color: #EEEEFF; font-size: medium; font-style: oblique; font-weight: bold; margin: 3ex 0 1.5ex 9%; padding: 0.3ex 0 0.3ex 1%; } div.section p { margin: 1.5ex 0 1.5ex 10%; } div.section pre { margin: 3ex 0 3ex 9%; background-color: #D6E8FF; padding: 2ex 0 2ex 1%; } div.section table.fields { width: 90%; margin: 1.5ex 0 1.5ex 10%; } div.section table.toc { width: 95%; margin: 1.5ex 0 1.5ex 5%; } div.timestamp { text-align: center; font-size: 69%; margin: 1.5ex 0 1.5ex 0; } h1 { text-align: center; } h3 { font-size: medium; margin: 4ex 0 1.5ex 0; } p { text-align: justify; } pre.colored { color: blue; } span.keyword { font-family: monospace; text-align: left; white-space: pre; color: darkblue; } table.fields td.val { font-weight: bold; text-align: right; width: 30%; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 1ex 1em 1ex 0; } table.fields td.desc { vertical-align: baseline; padding: 1ex 0 1ex 1em; } table.fields td.desc p:first-child { margin: 0; } table.fields td.desc p { margin: 1.5ex 0 0 0; } table.index { margin: 6ex auto 6ex auto; border: 0; border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 1em 0.3ex; } table.index tr { padding: 0; } table.index td { padding: 0; } table.index-toc-link { width: 100%; border: 0; border-spacing: 0; margin: 1ex 0 1ex 0; } table.index-toc-link td.left { padding: 0 0.5em 0 0.5em; font-size: 83%; text-align: left; } table.index-toc-link td.middle { padding: 0 0.5em 0 0.5em; font-size: 83%; text-align: center; } table.index-toc-link td.right { padding: 0 0.5em 0 0.5em; font-size: 83%; text-align: right; } table.synopsis { margin: 6ex auto 6ex auto; border: 0; border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 2em 0.6ex; } table.synopsis tr { padding: 0; } table.synopsis td { padding: 0; } table.toc td.link { width: 30%; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 1ex 1em 1ex 0; } table.toc td.desc { vertical-align: baseline; padding: 1ex 0 1ex 1em; text-align: left; } table.toc td.desc p:first-child { margin: 0; text-align: left; } table.toc td.desc p { margin: 1.5ex 0 0 0; text-align: left; } </style> </head> <body> <table class="index-toc-link"><tr><td class="left">[<a href="ft2-index.html">Index</a>]</td><td class="right">[<a href="ft2-toc.html">TOC</a>]</td></tr></table> <h1>FreeType-2.9.1 API Reference</h1> <h1 id="pcf_driver">The PCF driver</h1> <p>While FreeType's PCF driver doesn't expose API functions by itself, it is possible to control its behaviour with <a href="ft2-module_management.html#FT_Property_Set">FT_Property_Set</a> and <a href="ft2-module_management.html#FT_Property_Get">FT_Property_Get</a>. Right now, there is a single property <a href="ft2-properties.html#no-long-family-names">no-long-family-names</a> available if FreeType is compiled with PCF_CONFIG_OPTION_LONG_FAMILY_NAMES.</p> <p>The PCF driver's module name is ‘pcf’.</p> </body> </html> | Low | [
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Mr. Speaker, today I rise to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of Collège Lionel-Groulx, a public institution dedicated to college-level and adult education in Sainte-Thérèse. Collège Lionel-Groulx stands out in the Lower Laurentian region for its special relationship with its partners and for its contribution to the economy. It is known throughout Quebec for the quality of its education programs, for instance in theatre. Some famous people graduated from there, including Sophie Desmarais, Simon Boulerice, and Julie Le Breton. I am also pleased to acknowledge the excellent work of the leadership of the college and its director general, Michel Louis Beauchamp, and its chairman of the board, Samuel Bergeron, as well as the work done by the Fondation du Collège, led by Jocelyne Roch and backed by Paul Paré, chairman of the board. This passionate team is working for the benefit of our young people and our future. Mr. Speaker, last week Peter Stoffer courageously shared his recent prostate cancer diagnosis. As the former member of Parliament for Sackville—Eastern Shore, Peter Stoffer is a leader in our community and continues to advocate for veterans across Canada. I want to thank him for his tireless work and also wish him well. On average, 58 Canadians will be diagnosed with prostate cancer daily. Many of us have men in our lives who courageously fight this disease. This includes my colleague from Cumberland—Colchester, who did not let his 2008 diagnosis stop him in his determination to fight for his community. I am so proud to sit in the House with him today, because he is strong and healthy. I hope that all members of the House will join me in wishing Peter Stoffer the absolute best and a speedy recovery. As Movember quickly approaches, let us all encourage the men in our lives to get checked early, because that is the key. They should contact their doctors as soon as possible. Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning, sad and forlorn, As all of Wiarton continues to mourn.Sadly, good things do not forever last: Wiarton's finest citizen has passed.For 13 years, on a morning so chilly Out of his burrow came Wiarton Willie. The world waited for his prediction; He gave it with accuracy and conviction. Beyond a shadow of a doubt He did his job with zest and clout, He took his job seriously, he did not guess; That's why Willie stood out from the rest. Punxsutawney Phil, Shubenacadie Sam, and Balzac Billy— They are mere rookies compared to Willie. One of a kind, an albino from head to toe, His white fur glistened like fresh February snow. At 8 a.m. he'd whisper to the mayor Whether the day was snowy or fair. His life on earth was only 13 yrs long; He was always right and never wrong. Hearts will be heavy, eyes full of mist, Wiarton Willie will be Willie Willie missed. His time with us now has ceased; Wiarton Willie, rest in peace. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an organization in my riding that encourages creativity. Artists of Stonebridge is a nonprofit organization dedicated to increased awareness, appreciation, and promotion of original art in the communities of Stonebridge, Barrhaven, and Nepean. It provides local artists with the opportunity to interact, learn, and form their own art exhibits. Since I took office, Artists of Stonebridge have provided my constituency and parliamentary offices with fantastic pieces of art. I would like to thank Sylvia Langlois, Nicole Parent, Tony Mihok, and Richard Pell for their ongoing generosity. I invite all residents of Nepean and Ottawa to attend the Artists of Stonebridge's eighth annual art show on November 4 and 5, at the Stonebridge Golf Club in Nepean. Mr. Speaker, Ontario francophones will be celebrating Franco-Ontarian Day on September 25. This summer, I travelled around Ontario talking to community groups about the importance of francophone immigration. Francophone immigrants strengthen our communities and sustain the French language. In Toronto, I met with many francophones who want to help support francophone immigrants and integrate them into the local economy. In Sudbury, the community came up with all kinds of great ideas for attracting and welcoming newcomers to our communities and encouraging them to stay. Ottawa francophones want the government to not only meet its francophone immigration target but exceed it. That is exactly what we are going to do. Acadie—Bathurst has a francophone majority, and as its representative, I appreciated the opportunity to meet with Ontario francophone communities. I wish all Ontario francophones a wonderful Franco-Ontarian Day. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to honour a man who has dedicated his life to helping his fellow veterans, a man who personally served his country on several overseas missions and who now has to live with the psychological scars caused by the horrors he witnessed on those missions. Very soon, upon my recommendation, which I was proud to give, retired sergeant Daniel Lafontaine, known as “Fonfon” to his friends, will be receiving a Veterans Ombudsman Commendation. This well-deserved honour marks the culmination of his years of tireless work calling on governments to recognize the problems our veterans have to deal with. It is also a tribute to the effort Mr. Lafontaine has invested in establishing the annual ceremony honouring peacekeepers that is held in Quebec City every August 9. Thank you, Fonfon, for your exceptional dedication and your tenacity in advocating for your brothers and sisters in arms. You are someone we can all look up to. Mr. Speaker, last week I attended the celebrations for the 10th anniversary of Moisson Outaouais, which is a vital organization in our region. The event included a draw held as part of Loto-Moisson, the organization's biggest fundraising campaign so far. I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who is or has been working to make this organization a success, including its chair, Sylvie Turnbull, and its executive director, Sonia Latulippe, as well as the many volunteers and employees involved in its work every day. In the midst of these celebrations, however, we must not lose sight of the mission of Moisson Outaouais, which is to combat food insecurity. I invite all of my colleagues and all Canadians to get involved, both individually and collectively, in the fight against poverty and hunger by meeting with local stakeholders to find out what they need and by participating in fundraising campaigns. Mr. Speaker, it is the last day of summer. Students are back in school reporting on what they did over the summer, and I would like to do the same. I spent the summer knocking on more than 8,000 doors to meet and hear from my constituents, and often from their dogs as well. As part of this canvassing, we invited residents to free community barbeques in Albert Park, Harbour Landing, Lakeview, Rosemont, and Walsh Acres, where my staff served more than 3,000 hamburgers and hotdogs. The people of Regina—Lewvan are also hungry for policy. On the doorsteps and at events, more than 4,000 residents eagerly signed our petition calling on the federal government to use its regulatory power over telecommunications to help keep SaskTel public. I look forward to representing my constituents on that and other issues as Parliament resumes. Mr. Speaker, next week Canada welcomes military members and veterans from around the world for the third annual Invictus Games in Toronto. Invictus means unconquerable. The games allow injured veterans to use friendly competition and support from family, friends, and their country to help them on their journey back to wellness. I want to welcome all competitors to Canada, and wish them luck. Good luck to all the veterans competing in the games. These games would not be possible without the support of loving families, sponsors, and volunteers. I want to thank them all for their passion. I also want to thank my good friend Michael Burns, who has dedicated the last decade of his life to military families and veterans. From True Patriot Love to running the Invictus Games, Michael is making such a positive impact on the lives of military families. I am proud that our alma mater, Dalhousie University, is recognizing his work with an honorary degree. Congratulations to Dr. Burns. I would like to thank the volunteers at the Invictus games. Go Canada go. Mr. Speaker, today marks 20 years that Hugo Dompierre has been in the House leader's office. He has served eight House leaders with distinction, and has survived 10 House leader shuffles. That is not only a testament to his talent as a proceduralist, but also his professionalism and easy-going manner. Hugo honed his procedural skills under the tutelage of his mentor Jerry Yanover, and is an indispensable member and a key procedural expert of the House leadership team. In addition to serving House leaders, Hugo is always ready to assist caucus members in navigating the somewhat byzantine procedures of the House. Hugo is a lover of film, music, and literature, never failing to impress with his movie references and his deep admiration for the French language and Franco-Ontarian culture. As an excellent drummer in his own right, he always has a handle on the beat of this place. Keeping him grounded are his lovely wife Nancy, and his two beautiful sons Antoine and Justin. On behalf of the Liberal caucus, and I expect on behalf of the whole House, I wish Hugo a very happy 20th anniversary. We love Hugo. Mr. Speaker, former Liberal finance minister John Manley is saying that the damage is already being done. Manley says business owners are moving assets outside of Canada to avoid these Liberal tax hikes. In his words: You won’t know about it because they’re not going to buy ads or report it—they’ll just go. Since we know that the Minister of Finance is not listening or believing middle-class Canadians, will he at least believe John Manley and scrap these devastating tax increases? Mr. Speaker, I thank the opposition member for her question. I was hoping that I would not be forgotten today and that I would be asked at least one question. This gives me the opportunity to rise for the first time as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and remind the opposition that our government's objective is a fairer tax system. The current system is inherently unfair and allows wealthy Canadians to incorporate so they pay a lower rate of tax than the middle class. We think that we need to keep taxes low for the middle class and SMEs, while asking all Canadians to pay their fair share. Mr. Speaker, we were elected on a very clear promise to the middle class. That is why the first thing we did was to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% and cut them for nine million Canadians. That is why we moved forward with the Canada child benefit, which will lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. That is also why we are proposing to make our tax system a little fairer so that a Canadian who earns $300,000 a year and decides to incorporate to save $48,000, the average income in Canada, does not have access to more benefits than the middle class. We want the tax system to be fairer. Mr. Speaker, it is unbelievable how tone deaf they are to what is going on out there. Throughout this week, we have heard countless stories of small business owners, entrepreneurs, farmers, and their employers who will be devastated by these Liberal tax increases. We know that these tax increases have been designed to specifically protect the family fortunes of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House recognize that small and medium enterprises are crucial to the vitality of the Canadian economy. That is why the small business tax rate, the lowest in the G7, is not changing. We are on side with farmers. We are on side with small businesses. We have their backs. We want to make our tax system a little fairer. That is why we put forward our proposals and why we are holding consultations about those proposals now. We are listening to Canadians because we want to make sure we are doing things properly. We are not trying to go after small businesses or the middle class. All we want is a fairer tax system. Mr. Speaker, Canadians small business owners and their employees are worried because the Liberal government is calling them spoiled rich people who use their businesses to avoid paying taxes. All week, the Minister of Finance has been trying to demonize these men and women by suggesting that they are tax cheats. This despite the fact that Canadian small businesses are the reason Canada was able to withstand the last economic crisis. Why is the Minister of Finance punishing them for things that his own Prime Minister has done to shelter his family fortune without creating a single job? That is not fair. Mr. Speaker, the fact is, our current tax system has some inherent inequities that we want and need to address. That is why we have brought forward these proposals and why we are listening to Canadians. We want to do this right. Yes, it is and was legal, but we do not think it is necessarily fair that someone who makes $300,000 a year can save $48,000 a year simply by creating a private company, especially when that is the average salary in Canada. We think we can do better and we can a have a fairer, more equitable system for all Canadians. Mr. Speaker, 95% of small businesses believe that the reform will have a negative impact on them. In Saskatoon yesterday, dozens of people hit the streets to protest a reform that is going to jeopardize their business, their farm, their practice, their retirement, or the transfer of their business to their children. Mr. Speaker, we will always stand behind our farmers and small business owners. That is why we are maintaining the lowest tax rate in the G7. We recognize how important SMEs are to the Canadian economy. That is all we want, and that is why we have brought forward proposals to create a tax system that is fairer and more equitable, one that asks everyone to pay their fair share, while keeping tax rates low for small businesses and for the middle class. That is our goal, and we are continuing our consultations to make sure we get this right. Any time the department experiences an incident, we follow a systematic approach to immediately contain the breach and implement corrective measures, including notifying the Privacy Commissioner and affected employees. This process was followed after privacy breaches related to Phoenix and we have implemented recommendations from the Privacy Commissioner to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem to think that throwing money at the problem is going to fix it. Well, so far, it is not working. Not only has the Privacy Commissioner found 11 cases in which employees names and salaries have been leaked, but we also learned this week that the cost to fix Phoenix has now tripled and that has still not been fixed. The NDP has repeatedly demanded that the government fix the issue and there is no end in sight. Mr. Speaker, it is unacceptable that hard-working public servants are not being paid the money they are owed, and resolving this is definitely a priority for our government. We have taken a number of steps toward resolving this issue, including investing $142 million to recruit, hire, and train more employees; initiating emergency pay advances; implementing technological solutions; improving business processes; and taking a whole-of-government approach by creating a working group of ministers. Make no mistake, this will be fixed and we will leave no stone unturned. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the third round of NAFTA renegotiations start in Ottawa. Just this week, an Ekos poll found that 76% of Canadians said that we should not accept a bad deal if negotiations result in worse conditions for Canadians and our environment, and 80% said that NAFTA clauses that leave our water vulnerable to export and privatization should be removed. We agree. Bulk exports of our water resources do not serve the public interest. | Mid | [
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Satellite images reveal Earth’s natural art The images below were taken by NASA satellites and a joint NASA/U.S. Geological Survey satellite, which orbit about 440 miles above Earth collecting data that are used to study changes in land cover, forest growth, water resources and the atmosphere. The satellites’ instruments can take in a much broader range of light than is visible to the human eye; some of the images here were made using infrared, red and blue wavelengths that bring out details in the terrain. Seventy-five of the images — which span the globe and cover a wide range of terrain — are collected in “Earth As Art,” (NASA, $44); they are also available free as an iPad app or an e-book. | High | [
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Dexamethasone-induced cardiac deterioration is associated with both calcium handling abnormalities and calcineurin signaling pathway activation. Dexamethasone is a potent and widely used anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drug. However, recent evidences suggest that dexamethasone cause pathologic cardiac remodeling, which later impairs cardiac function. The mechanism behind the cardiotoxic effect of dexamethasone is elusive. The present study aimed to verify if dexamethasone-induced cardiotoxicity would be associated with changes in the cardiac net balance of calcium handling protein and calcineurin signaling pathway activation. Wistar rats (~400 g) were treated with dexamethasone (35 µg/g) in drinking water for 15 days. After dexamethasone treatment, we analyzed cardiac function, cardiomyocyte diameter, cardiac fibrosis, and the expression of proteins involved in calcium handling and calcineurin signaling pathway. Dexamethasone-treated rats showed several cardiovascular abnormalities, including elevated blood pressure, diastolic dysfunction, cardiac fibrosis, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Regarding the expression of proteins involved in calcium handling, dexamethasone increased phosphorylation of phospholamban at threonine 17, reduced protein levels of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, and had no effect on protein expression of Serca2a. Protein levels of NFAT and GATA-4 were increased in both cytoplasmic and nuclear faction. In addition, dexamethasone increased nuclear protein levels of calcineurin. Altogether our findings suggest that dexamethasone causes pathologic cardiac remodeling and diastolic dysfunction, which is associated with impaired calcium handling and calcineurin signaling pathway activation. | High | [
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The good and the bad On Saturday June 3 we came to a lovely little castle (Kasteel Amerongen) which once housed the Kaiser who sat out his final years in Holland – a controversial move from the Dutch government but what can you do when the royal family ties are so deeply intertwined with Germany. Despite the expectation of rain during our 9 day vacation in Holland, it was a glorious day and we celebrated my sister and brother-in-law’s 50th anniversary. Some 140 people joined us for this festive event, representing various phases of the couple’s life: family, high school friends, study friends, fellow bureaucrats from Den Haag and Brussels and friends from their brief stay in Washington DC. We continued to stay at their summer house in the center of Holland and do mostly nothing other than sleep in, eat all the goodies that springtime Holland has to offer and sit outside in the sun and talk. And then we got the call from Sita that Tessa was in the ICU of Elliott Hospital in Manchester (NH) with what turned out to be Acute Transverse Myelitis. We shortened our stay in Holland by one day and rushed home to be with her. She is leaving the hospital today for an acute rehab center closer to her home. I am posting updates on her condition at this website and will not repeat them here. | Low | [
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What we learned from Shrine Game Day 2: Penn star best of QBs By Chase Goodbread College Football 24/7 writer Published: Jan. 17, 2017 at 05:56 p.m. Updated: Jan. 17, 2017 at 07:23 p.m. Hunter Martin/Penn Athletics ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- There are plenty of NFL scouts on hand this week for the East-West Shrine Game, and those looking for a quarterback might leave feeling disappointed. What is expected to be a weak talent pool at quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft has deposited six passers onto Shrine rosters, only one of whom -- a relative unknown in Penn QB Alek Torgersen -- has done much to impress NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein, who was on hand for the second day of Shrine Game practices on Tuesday. 2017 NFL Draft coverage: "Torgersen looked the part and threw the ball with some zip. He's clearly the most talented of the quarterbacks out here to me. Torgersen played a lower level of competition, but he has some size, some arm strength, some mobility. You can see he has some projectable talent," Zierlein said. "Out of these guys, Torgersen has the best shot to (increase his draft stock) here. The rest of these guys, I see too many physical deficiencies. Torgersen has a chance to go in the first five or six rounds." Torgersen (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) completed 198 of 296 passes (67 percent) for 2,231 yards for the Quakers this season, with 17 TDs and four interceptions. He'll play for the East squad in Saturday's Shrine Game, which will be broadcast exclusively on NFL Network (3 p.m. ET). Some thoughts from Zierlein on the other quarterbacks in attendance: Illinois' Wes Lunt: "He's is going to look the part in a uniform, and he'll make some beautiful throws in drills, and he can throw the deep ball with some touch, but when you speed things up, he's inconsistent." Western Michigan's Zach Terrell: "He struggled, and he's even smaller than I thought he was. His arm isn't the best, and he got picked a couple times." Cincinnati's Gunner Kiel: "If you ask him to dink and dunk and do some quick, snap-and-throw stuff, he can do that. But when he's throwing past the first level, into more challenging windows downfield, that's where he struggles on tape and that's where he struggled (Tuesday)." Central Michigan's Cooper Rush: "This setting isn't going to be very good for Cooper Rush, because he's a timing-based quarterback who reads defenses and is highly intelligent. He can manipulate the field. But an all-star week isn't the kind of environment for that because he doesn't know the receivers and he doesn't have a big arm. He'll struggle out here, but I think he has some really good intangibles." Here are six other things we learned Tuesday at East-West Shrine Game practices: 2. Garrett the Great. The freakish athleticism of Texas A&M DE Myles Garrett is readily apparent in the weight room or on the football field. But according to Shrine Game East OT Avery Gennesy, who blocked Garrett plenty in practice at Texas A&M, his prowess on the basketball court is something to behold as well. Garrett has announced he intends to enter the 2017 NFL Draft as a junior, and NFL.com analyst Daniel Jeremiah ranks him the No. 1 prospect in the draft. "When he goes to the (NFL Scouting Combine in February), you'll see. He can run in the 4.4s," Gennesy said of Garrett (6-5, 262). "Maybe 4.5. And he's so twitchy, I've seen him dunk a basketball putting the ball between his legs on a standing jump before. With no running or anything, just stand there, jump, switch hands between his legs and jam it. It's unreal." 3. No more neck roll. When Atlanta Falcons defensive line coach Bryan Cox played for the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, the neck roll pad protruding from the top of his shoulder pads was signature equipment for the former Pro Bowler. His son of the same name wore one in tribute when he was a Gators freshman, but don't look for him to bring it back again when he enters the NFL. "I tried to bring it back in style for a period of time, but that didn't work out," Cox said with a laugh. "I didn't like it too much. It was very restrictive." 4. Owls sleeper. Florida Atlantic DE Trey Hendrickson (6-4, 265) has wreaked havoc on Shrine East offensive linemen for two days, showing a combination of quickness and power that has impressed East coach Brentson Buckner, a defensive line coach for the Arizona Cardinals. "He has a motor. I don't like to name guys, but he has a motor and you can tell the game is not too big for him," Buckner said. "He has some power. Speed equals power if you learn how to use it, and you don't want to be a one-trick pony. He's had great coaching, and he has a belief in himself. Some guys from smaller schools think 'Uh oh, I'm out here with Alabama and Auburn guys,' but he stepped out and said 'Hey, these pads are an equalizer. They have the same pads I have,' and he's gone to work. He's making a name for himself." College Football 24/7 Hot Topics: 5.Myrick flashing. An NFC scout told CFB 24/7 that Minnesota CB Jalen Myrick shows NFL potential playing "off" coverage, noting his speed is pro-caliber, but questioned if he'll be big enough to consistently jam NFL receivers in a press coverage role. "He's 195 (pounds) and that can be enough, but he doesn't always play big," the scout said. 6. Notable: FSU WR Kermit Whitfield and Auburn WR Tony Stevens took turns fielding punts Tuesday, but look for Whitfield to handle the role on Saturday. He looked the more comfortable of the two and has the kind of explosive speed scouts would like to see in an all-star setting. ... Arkansas DL Deatrich Wise showed a lot of hustle Tuesday in pursuing ball carriers downfield and to the opposite side, even chasing a receiver until the whistle blew on one particular play. ... Air Force WR Jalen Robinette's size (6-4, 220) has been a big problem for West cornerbacks the last two days. He knows how to shield defenders from the ball to make catches in traffic, and has surprising quickness to gain some separation out of his breaks. 7. Who's talking to who? NFL clubs don't wait around to interview potential draft choices at the NFL Scouting Combine when they can begin that process at the East-West Shrine Game and, next week, at the Reese's Senior Bowl. Here are just of few of the conversations between clubs and players that College Football 24/7 took note of following Tuesday's practices: | Mid | [
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727 F.2d 1109 Long (Michael Wayne)v.Hendricks (R.), Fox (J.), Sowders (Dewey) NO. 83-5344 United States Court of Appeals,sixth Circuit. JAN 11, 1984 1 Appeal From: W.D.Ky. 2 AFFIRMED. | Low | [
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Q: Does Averaging Always Increase Concentration? Let $X_1,X_2,\ldots$ be i.i.d zero-mean real random variables and $\epsilon>0$. Is there a simple argument that shows $$\mathbb{P}(|X_1 + X_2 + \dots + X_n| > n\epsilon) \geq \mathbb{P}(|X_1 + X_2 + \dots + X_m| > m\epsilon)$$ whenever $n<m$? The normal case says yes. Assuming $X_i$ has a finite first moment is fine with me. A: Community wiki answer so the question doesn't remain unanswered: As was shown in the comments, this inequality doesn't hold in general. If the variables are $X_i=\pm1$ with probability $\frac12$ each, for $\epsilon\lt\frac13$ we have $\mathsf P(|X_1+X_2|\gt2\epsilon)=\frac12\lt1=\mathsf P(|X_1+X_2+X_3|\gt3\epsilon)$. | Low | [
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Category Archives: Tour of Mont Blanc Katrina & I had an amazing week walking around the Tour of Mont Blanc. As you might expect I took lots of photos and videos and I’ve put a diary of our trip together. Hopefully it will give you a … Continue reading → | Mid | [
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Summary: It has sometimes been argued that the covering law model in philosophy of science is too permissive about what gets to count as an explanation. This paper, by contrast, argues that it lets in too little, since there are far too few covering laws to account for all of our explanations. In fact, we rely on ceteris paribus laws that are literally false. Though these are not a true description of nature, they do a good job of allowing us to explain phenomena, so we should be careful to keep those two functions of science separate. Comment: This relatively brief article offers a good illustration of how, contrary to some preconceptions, science does not always aim at absolute or universal truths, and instead allows pragmatic considerations to play a large role. Useful as part of an examination of what scientific laws really are and what their role is. | Mid | [
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The 18 Most Memorable Steve Jobs Quotes of All Time One of the biggest companies in the world, Apple, is responsible for the current tidal wave of mobile technology (iphone, ipad, mac). Like a sudden mole that appears out of nowhere, unless you laser that thing it won’t go away, mobile technology is here to stay. The visionary mind behind this is none other than Steve Jobs. Despite the fact he has passed away, his legacy remains. He has changed the world and his masterpiece is still being experienced by billions of people around the world and will continue to be experienced many years into the future. Even though some would not approve of his personal approach, there is no doubt he has achieved something amazing due to his sheer determination to succeed. Here are the 18 most memorable Steve Jobs quotes of all time. 1. “Everyone here has the sense that right now is one of those moments when we are influencing the future.” 2. “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.” 3. “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” 4. “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” 6. “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” 7. “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” 8. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” 9. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” 10. “My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” 11. “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” 12. “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.” 13. “Bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was 00 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence.” 14. “Things don’t have to change the world to be important.” 15. “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works.” 16. “Computers themselves, and software yet to be developed, will revolutionize the way we learn.” 17. “I have a great respect for incremental improvement, and I’ve done that sort of thing in my life, but I’ve always been attracted to the more revolutionary changes. I don’t know why. Because they’re harder. They’re much more stressful emotionally. And you usually go through a period where everybody tells you that you’ve completely failed.” 18. “I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.” Please consider sharing this post on the social media platform of your choice. It lets us know we are creating content you are interested in. You can choose facebook, twitter, google plus, pinterest, tumblr or stumbleupon in the Spread the Yawn section below. Follow me @MrCloud101 if you have any questions or just want to see some interesting positive tweets. Consider subscribing for instant post updates whenever a new post is released. I hope you enjoy your visit at Yawncentral. | Mid | [
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F.A.Q.Frequently Asked Questions We accept cash on delivery for all products EXCEPT customised jerseys which has to be prepaid,if you prefer to pay in cash, please make sure you have the exact amount as our delivery men do not carry petty cash We have had situations whereby we customised jerseys for buyers and upon delivery they are no where to receive them with no plausible reason,to mitigate these and further occurrences is why we adopted this policy. There is a track my order tab on our website, where you can enter the order code we will send to you in an email when your order is made and shipped. You can also send a mail to [email protected] or [email protected] to enable us provide you with adequate updates on the status of your order. If you are located outside our COD regions, we will send a tracking code to enable you confirm the status of your order from our logistics partners We endeavour to send out products readily available as most of our customers appreciate prompt deliveries. If your orders do not come in a single package, be rest assured that the remaining item(s) will also be delivered to you within the delivery timeline. We currently have a returns policy of 7 days from the date of delivery to return the product(s) and this applies to all fashion and general merchandise products. If you are dissatisfied with any product you receive, you can request for a replacement as long as it meets our conditions. You can return this product to us; as long as it is in the same state it was delivered. If it is within our 7 days return policy timeline, (and it does not fall under the category of products not eligible for return) we will accept this return. Please call or send us an email to schedule a retrieval of the item. For the item to be returned, it must be in an ‘as new’ state with all the seals and tags intact. We will work on retrieving this product and processing a replacement once this claim is validated, as long as it is within our 7 days returns policy. After an item is retrieved, *we refund the full cost of eligible purchases by: 1. Pre-paid orders are refunded via card reversal. 2. COD orders are refunded via bank transfer. 3. There is also the possibility of a voucher if the customer desires. *Note extra added cost and logistics cost will be deducted from refund. You will receive an email once your refund has been processed. Refunds to bank accounts are posted the same day. However, for some banks, there may be delay depending on the bank’s processing business days. If you have not received an email regarding your returns after 8 days from retrievals in Lagos and 14 days from retrievals outside Lagos, please email us at [email protected] or [email protected] Click on the category name on the left of the homepage to view the products we have within those categories. You can also use the search bar located at the top of our homepage to find your preferred products. Once you have found your preferred product, just follow the steps below: • Select a preferred colour/size and then click on ‘buy this now’, to add this product into your cart. • Click on the ‘proceed to checkout’ tab to complete your order process • At checkout, you will need to fill in your personal details and shipping address if you are a new customer. • Click on your preferred payment option before clicking the ‘Place order’ button If you encounter any problems while placing your order, do not hesitate to contact us on 08079717456 / 07080206957 or email us at jerseygramm101@ gmail.com contact us on Facebook, Twitter and instagramm If we do not currently have your particular item, please inform us (contact our customer service team [email protected] or call us on 08079717456 / 07080206957 as we are always looking to broaden our product selection and keep our customers satisfied. However, we have a variety of other products that are similar to what you want. Our standard delivery timeline 1-6 days in Lagos and 3-8 days for regions outside Lagos. As soon as your order is dispatched from our warehouse, you will receive an email to confirm that your package is on its way. You will also be contacted by our dispatch personnel on the day of delivery. Jerseygramm and Brandings offers delivery services because of the goal of convenience. We do not encourage our customers to come to our office since products can be brought to their door steps. However, we have several pickup stations for details please contact us on 07080206957 or 08079817456 Our dispatch personnel would call you before making the delivery. If you are unavailable to receive your item, a re-delivery will be scheduled within 3 days. Please note that your order will be cancelled after 2 re-delivery attempts. If you haven’t received your items after the 5th day, kindly contact us on 07080206957 / 08079717456 or send an email to [email protected] quoting your order number). If you are located outside our COD regions (central areas of Lagos, Benin, Warri, Kaduna, Abuja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Abeokuta), we urge you to track the progress of your order using your tracking number on: jerseygramm tracking portal. at https://jerseygramm.com/mainsite/order-tracking/ Jerseygramm has two payment options to choose from: Pay on Delivery or prepay via local and international Mastercard, VISA and Interswitch Verve cards. When you place your order on our website, these options are displayed and you can choose an option that is suitable for you. Our prices have already been discounted to make them as competitive as possible.and also the quality commands the appropriate prices as we offer strictly legit merchandise and fully authentic too The prices are not negotiable. It is the latest fraud prevention initiative launched by the card schemes as a more secure method for authenticating the cardholder at the time of the transaction. The instructions that you see on the pages within our site are coming directly from your card issuing banks (e.g. GTB, Zenith, Access, etc.) and any information you submit on these authentication screens are securely passed to your bank. No information will be captured, stored or viewed on any Jerseygramm Nigerian system. | Mid | [
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Q: C printf %c character printing The following code prints (compiled with clang) Output [A][?][?] Code #include <stdio.h> int main(){ char a = "A"; printf("[A]"); printf("[%c]", a); printf("[%c]", "A"); } Gives a warning (clang does) test.c:4:10: warning: incompatible pointer to integer conversion initializing 'char' with an expression of type 'char [2]' [-Wint-conversion] char a = "A"; ^ ~~~ test.c:7:20: warning: format specifies type 'int' but the argument has type 'char *' [-Wformat] printf("[%c]", "A"); ~~ ^~~ %s However Output [A][z][z]Characters: a A Code int main(){ char a = "A"; printf("[A]"); printf("[%c]", a); printf("[%c]", "A"); printf ("Characters: %c %c \n", 'a', 65); } I'm thinking it has something to do with the memory and integers (both because of the warning and because the "A" that is rendered as a "?" goes to a "z", that is "A"--). A: That's because "A" is a const char[2] string of 'A' and '\0'. Use: char a = 'A'; to get what you appear to be after. | Low | [
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Indonesia- Earthquake- Tsunami Death Toll Rises Alarmingly, Now Over 1200 Indonesia have stated that more than 1,200 people are now known to have died in the quake-tsunami that smashed into Sulawesi. The police too pledged to clamp down on looting by survivors taking advantage of the chaos, reported the news agency AFP. There were reports of officers firing warning shots and tear gas to ward off people ransacking shops in Palu, a coastal city ravaged by a 7.5-magnitude quake and the tsunami it spawned. Almost 200,000 people are in need of urgent help, the United Nations says, among them thousands of children. Survivors are battling thirst and hunger, with food and clean water in short supply, and local hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of injured. Police said that they had previously tolerated desperate survivors taking food and water from closed shops, but had now arrested 35 people for stealing computers and cash. Survivors are battling thirst and hunger, with food and clean water in short supply, and local hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of injured. | Mid | [
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[Neonatal systemic candidiasis]. We analysed 7 cases of systemic candida sp. infection diagnosed between 1986 to 1989. Clinical presentation was of sepsis. Evolution was favorable in all, excepting two cases that died due to a candidiasic meningitis and a candidiasic aortic thrombosis, respectively. Almost all patients were treated with amphotericin B only. A newborn had signs of toxicity (thrombocytopenia). We emphasize the importance of a prompt diagnosis and treatment and the effectivity of amphotericin B for systemic candidiasis, besides of its rare toxicity in newborns. | High | [
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HOLLAND, MI — Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration has eliminated the Michigan Business Tax and endeavored to secure a new bridge crossing to Canada. This year, he aims to raise gas taxes to improve Michigan roads, install an Emergency Manager in Detroit and bring the state into compliance with President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley was in Holland Tuesday to explain what’s on the state agenda and build support from the business community at a meeting of the Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce. Snyder faces an appeal from the Detroit City Council to stop the appointment of an emergency manager. “Detroit has reached the point where the state has to partner with the city. Someone has to be there for the people who live in Detroit, who deserve to have basic government services and efficient operation,” Calley said. He praised Holland and West Michigan for growth in the community and local businesses. “This is what it looks like when we all come together and everything works well.” Calley also explained Michigan's role in "Obamacare": “I don’t like the Affordable Care Act any more than you do, but it’s gone through all three branches of government and it’s upon us,” said Calley, noting federal funding is provided to support the act. More than 320,000 Michigan residents will receive health care coverage under Medicaid and the state will receive about $200 million from the federal government in 2014 through 2016. Funding shifts to 95 percent of Medicare expansion costs in 2017 and to 90 percent from 2018 to 2021. Michigan is one of about two-dozen states that have signed on so far. “This is not a political decision. We’re making a rational economic decision based on facts,” Calley said. Calley said unpaid emergency room visits by low-income families will decline, Michigan businesses will face lower federal fines if they choose not to provide employees health care benefits and residents will be allowed to keep Medicaid coverage if they take a job. “The system today encourages people not to work," Calley said. "If an unemployed person takes a job, they lose medical coverage for their family because they no long qualify for Medicaid.” Calley also made the Snyder administration's case for increasing gas taxes. “With a fixed cents per gallon, the tax stagnates when prices go up and actually drops because of inflation. Right now, we are operating at 1997 buying power (on road) appropriations,” Calley said. He said an increase in the gas tax and putting that money to work repairing roads and bridges would add about 12,000 construction jobs. Better roads also would likely decrease individual repair costs from road damage by $80 per vehicle each year. “What I like about the governor is that he doesn’t sweep things under the rug or kick the can down the road," James Storey said after the meeting. "He tackles the tough issues and, given his track record, I believe he can get these things done.” “This is a stark contrast to how they deal with things in Washington,” he added. | Mid | [
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// NeL - MMORPG Framework <http://dev.ryzom.com/projects/nel/> // Copyright (C) 2010 Winch Gate Property Limited // // This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify // it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as // published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 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 Affero General Public License for more details. // // You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License // along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. #ifndef NL_SHEET_ID_H #define NL_SHEET_ID_H // misc #include "types_nl.h" #include "stream.h" #include "static_map.h" // std #include <string> #include <map> namespace NLMISC { #ifdef NL_DEBUG # define NL_DEBUG_SHEET_ID #endif // Use 24 bits id and 8 bits file types #define NL_SHEET_ID_ID_BITS 24 #define NL_SHEET_ID_TYPE_BITS 32 - NL_SHEET_ID_ID_BITS /** * CSheetId * * \author Stephane Coutelas * \author Nevrax France * \date 2002 */ class CSheetId { public : /// Unknow CSheetId is similar as an NULL pointer. static const CSheetId Unknown; /** * Constructor */ explicit CSheetId( uint32 sheetRef = 0 ); /** * Constructor */ explicit CSheetId( const std::string& sheetName ); /** * Constructor, uses defaultType as extension when sheetName * contains no file extension. */ explicit CSheetId( const std::string& sheetName, const std::string &defaultType ); // build from a string and returns true if the build succeed bool buildSheetId(const std::string& sheetName); // build from a SubSheetId and a type void buildSheetId(uint32 shortId, uint32 type); /** * Load the association sheet ref / sheet name */ static void init(bool removeUnknownSheet = true); /** * Init the sheet id to work without knowlege of sheet name */ static void initWithoutSheet(); /** * Remove all allocated memory */ static void uninit(); /** * Return the **whole** sheet id (id+type) */ uint32 asInt() const { return _Id.Id; } /** * Return the sheet type (sub part of the sheetid) */ uint32 getSheetType() const { return _Id.IdInfos.Type; } /** * Return the sheet sub id (sub part of the sheetid) */ uint32 getShortId() const { return _Id.IdInfos.Id; } /** * Operator= */ CSheetId& operator=( const CSheetId& sheetId ); /** * Operator= */ CSheetId& operator=( const std::string& sheetName ); /** * Operator= */ CSheetId& operator=( uint32 sheetRef ); /** * Operator< */ bool operator < (const CSheetId& sheetRef ) const; /** * Operator== */ inline bool operator == (const CSheetId& sheetRef ) const { return ( _Id.Id == sheetRef._Id.Id) ; } /** * Operator != */ inline bool operator != (const CSheetId& sheetRef ) const { return (_Id.Id != sheetRef._Id.Id) ; } /** * Return the sheet id as a string * If the sheet id is not found, then: * - if 'ifNotFoundUseNumericId==false' the returned string is "<Sheet %d not found in sheet_id.bin>" with the id in %d * - if 'ifNotFoundUseNumericId==tue' the returned string is "#%u" with the id in %u */ std::string toString(bool ifNotFoundUseNumericId=false) const; /** * Serial */ void serial(NLMISC::IStream &f) throw(NLMISC::EStream); void serialString(NLMISC::IStream &f, const std::string &defaultType = "") throw(NLMISC::EStream); /** * Display the list of valid sheet ids with their associated file names * if (type != -1) then restrict list to given type */ static void display(); static void display(uint32 type); /** * Generate a vector of all the sheet ids of a given type * This operation is non-destructive, the new entries are appended to the result vector * note: fileExtension *not* include the '.' eg "bla" and *not* ".bla" **/ static void buildIdVector(std::vector <CSheetId> &result); static void buildIdVector(std::vector <CSheetId> &result, uint32 type); static void buildIdVector(std::vector <CSheetId> &result, std::vector <std::string> &resultFilenames, uint32 type); static void buildIdVector(std::vector <CSheetId> &result, const std::string &fileExtension); static void buildIdVector(std::vector <CSheetId> &result, std::vector <std::string> &resultFilenames, const std::string &fileExtension); /** * Convert between file extensions and numeric sheet types * note: fileExtension *not* include the '.' eg "bla" and *not* ".bla" **/ static const std::string &fileExtensionFromType(uint32 type); static uint32 typeFromFileExtension(const std::string &fileExtension); private : /// sheet id union TSheetId { uint32 Id; struct { uint32 Type : NL_SHEET_ID_TYPE_BITS; uint32 Id : NL_SHEET_ID_ID_BITS; } IdInfos; }; TSheetId _Id; #ifdef NL_DEBUG_SHEET_ID // Add some valuable debug information to sheetId const char *_DebugSheetName; #endif /// associate sheet id and sheet name //static std::map<uint32,std::string> _SheetIdToName; //static std::map<std::string,uint32> _SheetNameToId; class CChar { public: char *Ptr; CChar() { Ptr = NULL; } CChar(const CChar& c) { Ptr = c.Ptr; } // WARNING : Share Pointer }; class CCharComp { public: bool operator()(CChar x, CChar y) const { return strcmp(x.Ptr, y.Ptr) < 0; } }; static CChar _AllStrings; static CStaticMap<uint32, CChar> _SheetIdToName; static CStaticMap<CChar,uint32, CCharComp> _SheetNameToId; static std::vector<std::string> _FileExtensions; static bool _Initialised; static bool _RemoveUnknownSheet; static void loadSheetId (); static void loadSheetAlias (); static void cbFileChange (const std::string &filename); /** * When initialized without sheet_id.bin, the sheet id are assigned * dynamically. Separate maps are used, because in sheet_id.bin * mode it uses static maps optimized during load. */ static bool _DontHaveSheetKnowledge; static std::map<std::string, uint32> _DevTypeNameToId; /// outer vector is type, inner vector is sheet id static std::vector<std::vector<std::string> > _DevSheetIdToName; static std::map<std::string, uint32> _DevSheetNameToId; }; /** * Class to be used as a hash traits for a hash_map accessed by CSheetId * Ex: hash_map< CSheetId, CMyData, CSheetIdHashMapTraits> _MyHashMap; */ class CSheetIdHashMapTraits { public: enum { bucket_size = 4, min_buckets = 8, }; inline size_t operator() ( const CSheetId& sheetId ) const { return sheetId.asInt() >> 5; } bool operator() (const CSheetId &strId1, const CSheetId &strId2) const { return strId1.asInt() < strId2.asInt(); } }; } // NLMISC #endif // NL_SHEET_ID_H /* End of sheet_id.h */ | Low | [
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<tool id="interactive_tool_cellxgene" tool_type="interactive" name="Interactive CellXgene Environment" version="0.1"> <requirements> <container type="docker">quay.io/galaxy/cellxgene-galaxy-ie:ie2</container> </requirements> <entry_points> <entry_point name="Cellxgene Single Cell Visualisation on $infile.display_name" requires_domain="True"> <port>80</port> </entry_point> </entry_points> <command><![CDATA[ #import re #set $fancy_name = '/tmp/galaxy_cellxgene_' + re.sub('[^\w\-_]', '_', $infile.element_identifier) + '.h5ad' cp '${infile}' '${fancy_name}' && cellxgene launch --host 0.0.0.0 --port 80 '${fancy_name}' ]]> </command> <inputs> <param name="infile" type="data" format="h5ad" label="Concatenate Dataset"/> </inputs> <outputs> <data name="out_file1" format="txt" /> </outputs> <tests> </tests> <help> Interactive tool for visualising AnnData. </help> </tool> | Mid | [
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// Copyright 2018-2020 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license. use crate::diagnostics::Diagnostics; use crate::source_maps::get_orig_position; use crate::source_maps::CachedMaps; use deno_core::error::AnyError; use deno_core::serde_json; use deno_core::serde_json::json; use deno_core::serde_json::Value; use deno_core::OpState; use deno_core::ZeroCopyBuf; use serde::Deserialize; use std::collections::HashMap; pub fn init(rt: &mut deno_core::JsRuntime) { super::reg_json_sync(rt, "op_apply_source_map", op_apply_source_map); super::reg_json_sync(rt, "op_format_diagnostic", op_format_diagnostic); } #[derive(Deserialize)] #[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")] struct ApplySourceMap { file_name: String, line_number: i32, column_number: i32, } fn op_apply_source_map( state: &mut OpState, args: Value, _zero_copy: &mut [ZeroCopyBuf], ) -> Result<Value, AnyError> { let args: ApplySourceMap = serde_json::from_value(args)?; let mut mappings_map: CachedMaps = HashMap::new(); let (orig_file_name, orig_line_number, orig_column_number) = get_orig_position( args.file_name, args.line_number.into(), args.column_number.into(), &mut mappings_map, &super::global_state(state).ts_compiler, ); Ok(json!({ "fileName": orig_file_name, "lineNumber": orig_line_number as u32, "columnNumber": orig_column_number as u32, })) } fn op_format_diagnostic( _state: &mut OpState, args: Value, _zero_copy: &mut [ZeroCopyBuf], ) -> Result<Value, AnyError> { let diagnostic: Diagnostics = serde_json::from_value(args)?; Ok(json!(diagnostic.to_string())) } | Mid | [
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The Logan Sawyer Brand The Logan Sawyer brand is more than a brand. It’s a lifestyle. Logan Sawyer brings us all closer to adventure and experience. It pushes us all to be the best we can be. The brand builds a community with purpose. Logan Sawyer gives back. Ourmission will always be what drives us. We donate a percentage of our profits to different ocean conservation projects. We listen to our customers’ ideas and try to get involved with various new projects. We will clean our beaches, fund research, and help save ocean creatures. Logan Sawyer inspires us all to change. We educate and provide learning resources that everyone can use to help the ocean. There are so many little changes that we can all make at home that can change the health of the ocean. Logan Sawyer shows us what the power of community and compassion can do for our ocean. From educating about plastic alternatives to releasing a once injured sea turtle back into the wild healthy, and free, Logan Sawyer will make a difference. Purpose. Dedication. Compassion. Teamwork. Logan Sawyer is a devotion for the health of the ocean. Let’s save the ocean together. | High | [
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A respiratory CO2 detector (10) comprising an infrared lamp source (44) and an infrared detector (50) responsive thereto forming an optical path for detecting the change in CO2 concentration, or an obstruction in a cuvette (42). The output of the infrared detector (50) provides a high and low voltage...http://www.google.ca/patents/US4955946?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US4955946 - Respiratory CO2 detector circuit with high quality waveform Respiratory CO2 detector circuit with high quality waveformUS 4955946 A Abstract A respiratory CO2 detector (10) comprising an infrared lamp source (44) and an infrared detector (50) responsive thereto forming an optical path for detecting the change in CO2 concentration, or an obstruction in a cuvette (42). The output of the infrared detector (50) provides a high and low voltage signal to be applied to a feedback control loop (12) and to an output circuit (14). The feedback control loop (12) includes a peak detector (22), a contamination detector (24), a pulse-width modulator (26) and a low pass filter (28), the latter providing a DC bias on the infrared lamp (44). The peak detector (22) is connected to the pulse-width modulator (26) to maintain the lamp voltage constant and is connected to comparators (56,62) to compare both outputs of the peak and contamination detectors (22,24). The contamination detector (24) will respond to blockage in the cuvette (42). The output control circuit (14) includes a sample-and-hold circuit (30) and a subtractor (32) connected to the output of said infrared detector to receive the high and low voltage signal from the infrared detector, the outputs of which produce an output signal without the DC bias which is then inverted to provide a high quality waveform. Images(1) Claims(7) We claim: 1. A CO2 detector for monitoring a patient's breath inhalation and exhalation directed through a cuvette, comprising, an infrared lamp having an input and responsive to a lamp voltage applied thereto, a circuit including a pulse-width modulator and a lowpass filter connected to said lamp input to provide said lamp input voltage, an infrared detector, a preamplifier having an input and an output, said input being connected to said infrared detector, said lamp being positioned to provide an optical path through a cuvette and impinge on said infrared detector, said infrared detector and said preamplifier being constructed and arranged so that the output of the infrared detector and preamplifier will produce an electrical waveform representative of the quantity of CO2 in said cuvette, said waveform having high voltage peaks representing low CO2 and low voltage valleys representing high CO2, said infrared lamp being constructed and arranged to be responsive to the output of said pulse-width modulator and lowpass filter which causes the preamplifier to have a reference (baseline) DC level, a peak detector including a first RC network having an input and an output, said first RC network having a predetermined discharge time constant, a first switch connected between said preamplifier and said first RC network so that when said first switch is closed the output of said preamplifier will charge said first RC network and when said first switch is open said first RC network will discharge, and a first comparator having an output connected to operate said switch and having a first input connected directly to the output of said preamplifier and having a second input connected to the output of said first RC network to compare the voltage level at the output of said preamplifier with the voltage level at the output of said RC network so that said first switch will be opened or closed depending upon the compared voltages, wherein the output from said first RC network will apply a voltage so said pulse-width modulator and said lowpass filter to control the lamp input voltage, a contamination detector including a second comparator having an output and two inputs, a second RC network having an input connected to the output of said preamplifier and having an output connected to one input of said second comparator, said second RC network having a discharge time constant shorter than said discharge time constant of said first RC network, a DC voltage source having a positive terminal and a negative terminal, said negative terminal being connected to a second input of said second comparator and the positive terminal being connected to said second input of said first comparator, the output of said second comparator being connected to operate said first switch to connect the input of said first RC network with the preamplifier output at a preselected value of compared voltages, whereby said contamination detector will override the peak detector and raise the voltage on the lamp in the event of contamination of the cuvette. 2. The CO2 detector as claimed in claim 1, further including a subtractor having a first input coupled to said preamplifier output, and having a second input, a sample-and-hold circuit having an input connectable to said preamplifier output through a second switch and an output connected to said second input of said subtractor, said second switch being constructed and arranged to open and close concurrently with said first switch, whereby the waveform output from said subtractor will produce a waveform representative of the concentration of CO2 in said cuvette, but inverted. 3. The CO2 detector as claimed in claim 2 further including means for inverting said subtractor output waveform for producing a high quality waveform output. 4. The CO2 detector as claimed in claim 3 wherein said lamp input voltage is utilizable for triggering an alarm representative of an obstruction in said cuvette. 5. In a CO2 detector including a cuvette, a circuit including an infrared lamp responsive to a voltage applied to an input thereof, a lamp input circuit, and an infrared detector and detector preamplifier coupled thereto, said preamplifier having an output with a reference (baseline) voltage level, said lamp being positioned to illuminate an optical path through said cuvette so that the infrared detector and detector preamplifier will produce an output signal voltage representative of the quantity of CO2 in said cuvette, that is, said reference voltage level for minimum CO2 concentration and a second voltage level for maximum CO2 concentration, the improvement comprising a feedback gain control loop and an output circuit, said feedback control loop being defined by first means and second means, and said output circuit being defined by third means, said first means comprising a peak detector having a first input connected to said detector preamplifier output so as to be responsive to said output signal voltage, and, a second input connectable to said detector preamplifier output through a first switch, and an output connected to said infrared lamp input circuit, said first means further including a first capacitive timing means including a ground connection and having an input connected to said switch and having an output defining said output of said peak detector, said timing means having a predetermined discharge time constant, whereby said first capacitive timing means is changed by said preamplifier output signal voltage when said first switch is closed and discharges through said ground connection when said first switch is open, and, comparing means having a first input connected to said detector preamplifier output and a second input connected to the output of said first capacitive timing means for comparing said preamplifier output signal voltage and the voltage at the output of said first capacitive timing means, said comparing means having an output constructed and arranged to open and close the first switch in response to the compared voltages so that said first capacitive timing means will discharge when said first switch is open and thus apply its voltage to said lamp input circuit to maintain the reference (baseline) voltage of the detector preamplifier output at a nearly constant value, said second means comprising a contamination detector having an output coupled to operate said first switch, said contamination detector further including a second capacitive timing means having an input charged by said preamplifier output signal voltage, said second capacitive timing means having a shorter discharge time constant than said first capacitive timing means, and further having an output, a second comparing means with one input coupled to the output of said second capacitive timing means and with a second input coupled to the output of said first capacitive timing means for comparing the output voltages of said first and second capacitive timing means, said second comparing means having an output defining said output of the contamination detector which is constructed and arranged to close the first switch in response to compared voltages indicative of blocking of said cuvette, wherein said first capacitive timing means causes said lamp input circuit to drive the lamp with a higher voltage level to maintain the reference voltage level substantially constant; and said third means including a subtracter having one input coupled to the output of said detector preamplifier so as to be responsive to its output signal voltage, a sample-and-hold circuit having an input coupled to said detector preamplifier through a second switch, said second switch being constructed and arranged so as to be opened and closed simultaneously with said first switch, said sample and hold circuit having an output connected to a second input of said subtracter for eliminating the reference (baseline) voltage in said preamplifier output signal voltage, thereby providing an output signal waveform corresponding to the CO2 concentration changes occurring within said cuvette and of such quality that the output signal may be useful for diagnostic purposes. 6. The improved detector as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lamp input circuit includes a pulse-width modulator and a lowpass filter between the output of said peak detector and said lamp. 7. The improved detector as claimed in claim 6, wherein said lowpass filter has an output connection utilizable as a contamination warning signal. Description This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 939,992, filed Dec. 11, 1986, now abandoned. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to CO2 detectors for use as part of a respiratory breath monitoring system for patients, usually in a hospital environment, and is specifically directed to a respiratory CO2 detector circuit which produces a high quality waveform from a cuvette for diagnostic purposes. Still more specifically, this invention is an improvement over a respiratory CO2 detector disclosed by D. Raemer in a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 730,158, entitled "Respiration Detector" filed May 3, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,369. The Raemer patent application disclosed a respiratory CO2 detector which included a sensor with a cuvette, a lamp as an infrared source, an infrared detector and amplifier for detecting the quantity of CO2 gas in the cuvette, and suitable electronic amplification circuitry. In this system, an increase concentration of CO2 gas in the cuvette resulted in an increased amount of energy absorption and less output from the infrared detector. A waveform of CO2 gas in the cuvette looks similar to a square wave. The high peaks represent approximately 5% concentration on exhalation and the valleys represent zero percent concentration on inhalation. The resulting detector output should closely approximate the inverse of the CO2 gas waveform, however, due to reasons to be described, the actual waveform was greatly distorted. Power for the infrared source was adjusted in the circuitry automatically depending upon the amount of attenuation in the optical path. In this prior art scheme, no chopper or other reference was employed in order to keep manufacturing costs low. No attempt was made to preserve the quality of the CO2 output waveform because only an alarm signal level was desired to indicate low CO2 for the detection of apnea. Since no reference was employed, an artificial reference was developed by sensing the minimum CO2 concentration from each breath and controlling the lamp voltage to maintain a constant voltage output from the detector amplifier. Thus, more lamp voltage was applied when the optical path was attenuated due to water vapor and/or particulate contamination from the gas sample which tended to maintain the output voltage sensitivity to CO2 concentration in the dynamic breath waveform constant. The quality of the breath waveform was degraded because the system was designed to follow slow changes in CO2 concentration and slow changes in optical path contamination. This caused a "droop" in the CO2 waveform which was especially noticeable at lower breath rates of approximately four to six breaths per minute. In order to refer the waveform generated by the Baemen instrument to a baseline-suitable for reliable operation of a threshold detector, the waveform was connected to a high pass filter, which caused further distortion. This rendered the output waveform useless for diagnostic purposes. Nonetheless, the Raemer instrument did accomplish the purposes intended which were to (1) indicate by a flashing light when each expiratory breath occurred, and (2) sound an alarm when expiratory breaths were not present for a predetermined time. When monitoring the concentration of CO2 in a patient's expired respiratory breath, it is important to have a high quality output waveform for diagnostic purposes. This invention maintains the advantage of low manufacturing cost made possible by the Raemer invention, but enables the high quality CO2 waveform to be obtained for diagnostic purposes. Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a respiratory CO2 detector with (1) a high quality waveform without additional requirements for references for zero CO2 or full scale CO2, (2) a high quality waveform in which the minimum CO2 concentration is referred to a stable zero baseline, (4) the ability to compensate for slow changes in optical path transmission with minimal waveform distortion. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The respiratory CO2 detector which meets the foregoing object comprises an infrared lamp source and an infrared detector responsive thereto forming an optical path for detecting the presence or absence of CO2, or, an obstruction in a cuvette. The output of the infrared detector provides a voltage signal which is applied to a feedback control loop and to an output circuit. The feedback control loop includes a preamplifier, a lowpass filter, a peak detector, a contamination detector and a pulse-width modulator, the latter providing a DC bias on the infrared lamp. The output of the peak detector is connected to the pulse-width modulator to maintain the lamp voltage constant and to comparators, one of which is necessary for operation of the peak detector, and the other is part of the contamination detector. The contamination detector will respond to blockage in the cuvette by readjusting the feedback loop to a normal condition. The output control circuit includes a sample-and-hold circuit activated by the peak detector to direct the high and low voltage signal to a subtractor where the bias from the preamplifier output is eliminated. The output of the subtractor is then inverted to provide a high quality output waveform representative of the concentration of the CO2 gas in the cuvette. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The sole FIGURE is a block diagram of the respiratory CO2 detector whose output is a high quality waveform useful for diagnostics. DETAILED DESCRIPTIONCircuit Description In The drawing it can be seen that the CO2 detector circuit of this invention includes a sensor 10 connected to a feedback control loop 12 and to an output circuit 4. The feedback control loop 12 includes a preamplifier 16, a low pass filter 20, a peak detector 22, a contamination detector 24 and a pulse-width modulator 26 and a second low pass filter 28. The output circuit 14, which is connected to the output of the low pass filter 20 includes a sample-and-hold circuit 30, a subtractor 32, an amplifier 34, a low pass filter 36 and an analog-to-digital converter 40. The output of the latter is the high quality output waveform. The sensor 10 comprises a cuvette 42, a lamp 44 defining an optical path by radiating infrared energy transversely through the cuvette, through an optical bandpass and onto an infrared CO2 detector 50. The output of the lowpass filter 36 is the high quality waveform in analog form, while the analog digital converter is the digitized form of the waveform for acceptance by a microprocessor. The output of the infrared detector 50 is connected to the preamplifier 16 whose output is connected to the low pass filter 20. The output of the low pass filter 20 is connected at point B to the peak detector 22, to the negative input of the subtractor 32, to the sample-and-hold circuit 30 and to the contamination detector 24 The peak detector 22 is connected at point B in two places. First, an analog switch 52 is connected to point B. This switch 52 connects an RC network comprising resistor R1, capacitors C1 and CZ and resistor R4. Capacitor C2 is connected in parallel with resistor R1 and capacitor C1 is connected in series with resistor R2 and to ground. Resistor R4 is also connected to ground and in parallel with capacitor C1. The output of the RC network is connected to a buffer amplifier 54 and the output of the latter is connected to one input (-) of a comparator 56 and to the pulse-width modulator 26. The output of the pulse-width modulator is connected to the second low pass filter 28. The second connection of the peak detector 22 to point B is directly to the other input (+) of the comparator 56. The contamination detector 24 is also connected to point B and comprises a second RC network comprising resistor R2, R3, diode D1, and capacitor C3. Resistor R3 is connected in series with the capacitor C3 and the latter is connected to ground. A second resistor R2 and diode D1 are connected in parallel with resistor R3 and the output of this network is connected to the input of an amplifier 60. The output of amplifier 60 is connected to one input (-) of a second comparator 62. The other input (+) of comparator 62 is connected to the other input (-) of comparator 56 through a negative bias 64. The output of both comparators are connected to an OR gate 66 whose output is connected back to the switch 52 and to switch 70 of the sample-and-hold circuit 30 to be responsive thereto. The output circuit 14 is connected to the low pass filter 20 at point B in two places. First, the analog switch 70 of the sample-and-hold circuit 30 connects point B to one side of a capacitor C4 and to the input of amplifier 72. The other side of capacitor C4 is connected to ground. Switch 70 is ganged with switch 52 and both are responsive to the output of the OR gate 66. The output of amplifier 72 is connected to one input of the subtractor 32. The other input of the subtractor is connected directly to point B. Again, the output of the subtractor 32 is connected to an input of inverting amplifier 34. The output of amplifier 34 is connected to low pass filter 36 and analog-to-digital converter 40. Circuit-Operation Conventionally, the cuvette 42 is connected to a patient's breathing circuit to measure the CO2 concentration of the expired breaths. A gas sample is drawn through the cuvette via a capillary tube from the cuvette to a vacuum source, and another capillary tube is connected from the cuvette to an adapter inserted in series with a conventional airway tube which is in turn connected from a respiratory ventilation device to the patient's airway. A typical respiratory CO2 concentration waveform can be represented by a somewhat rounded square wave. The baseline (valley of the square wave) represents inhalation (typically 0% CO2) and the peak of the waveform represents exhilation (typically 5% CO2) by a patient. The pulse-width modulator 26 has an internal reference voltage of +5 VDC which is internally compared to the voltage at point C (the output of amplifier 54) to maintain a DC level at point B. The low pass filter 28 provides DC voltage to lamp 44. The bandwidth of the optical bandpass filter 46 is optimized to be within the energy absorption band of CO2 gas. The output voltage of the infrared detector 50 is proportional to the amount of radiation received from the lamp 44. This voltage decreases when CO2 is present, or the optical path is obstructed such as by water droplets or particulate matter, and increases when the optical path is free of CO2. Breathing, therefore, is represented at point "B" by an inverted (and offset) version of the actual CO2 concentration waveform passing through the cuvette. Thus, CO2 gas in the cuvette is detected by the detector 50. The above-mentioned feedback control loop 12 is actually a gain control for the voltage at lamp 44 to keep the DC bias at print B constant. When the percentage of CO2 is zero, or when the optical path is not otherwise obstructed, the output voltage at point B is a positive voltage of approximately +4 VDC. This voltage is applied directly to the positive input of the comparator 56. The output of the comparator 56 is applied to the OR gate 66 which momentarily closes the switch 52. (This is the situation also when the circuit is originally placed in operation). The closing of this switch allows the DC voltage at point B to charge the capacitors C1 and C2 in the peak detector 22 to the minimum CO2 concentration voltage (or maximum DC voltage). The switches open when the CO2 concentration begins to increase above zero percent (voltage at point "B" decreases). During the increase of the percentage of CO2 to a peak the voltage at point B gradually drops to a low voltage. This drop in voltage is applied to the positive input of the comparator 56 which voltage level is less than the voltage at the negative input to this comparator 56 by reason of the fact that the RC network of the peak detector maintained a high voltage (with a slight gradual drop) at the output of the amplifier 54. This same voltage, being applied to the input of the pulse-width modulator 26, provides only a gradual decrease in voltage at the lamp 44. When the CO2 decreases with a consequent increase in voltage, this voltage increase is again applied to the comparator 56, momentarily closing the switch 52 and again charging the RC network as before. This cyclical operation of the feedback control loop maintains the voltage on the lamp 44 and the DC reference at point B constant so that the waveform at point B is representative of the condition of the cuvette. During the same cyclical operation, capacitor C4 in the sample-and-hold circuit 30 is charged when the switch 70 is closed and is allowed to discharge when the switch 70 is open. This provides an output signal at the positive input of the subtractor 32. Since the negative input of the subtractor 32 is connected directly to point B, the subtractor serves to subtract the DC bias at point B to provide a zero VDC baseline for the waveform. Since this waveform is inverted, the output of the subtractor 32 is applied to the inverting amplifier 34, the output of which ultimately shows a high quality waveform referred to a zero baseline. During the cyclical operation of the feedback control loop, the high and low voltages at point 8 are also applied to the RC network of the contamination detector 24. The capacitor C3 is charged during high voltage at point B and allowed to discharge during low voltage at point B and the output of the RC network is applied to amplifier 60 and then to the negative input of comparator 62. The positive input of comparator 62 is the output from amplifier 54 of the peak detector 22, less a negative DC bias 64. Therefore, when the DC output of the contamination detector amplifier 60 falls below the DC voltage at comparator 62 positive input, the output of the comparator 62 will switch from zero VDC to +12 VDC, causing switches 70 and 52 to close momentarily until capacitor C3 again charges to a higher DC voltage, bringing comparator 62 negative input more positive than the positive input. Since the discharge time constant of the RC network of the peak detector is many times longer than the discharge time constant of the RC network of the contamination detector 24, the function of the contamination detector 24 is muted until such time as the contamination in the cuvette causes the voltage at point B to remain lower than the output of the peak detector amplifier 54, minus a DC bias, for a period of time beyond the time constant of the contamination detector whereupon the contamination detector will close the switches 52 and 70 driving the voltage at the output of the peak detector amplifier 54 to a low level. At this time, the feedback loop automatically tries to increase the lamp voltage to maintain the voltage at point B at +4 volts. If the lamp voltage increases beyond a predetermined level due to excessive contamination, external processing circuitry can be employed to sound an alarm. The peak detector RC network charge time constant is approximately 13 sec and the discharge time constant is approximately 20,000 sec. The contamination detector RC network charge time constant is a few milliseconds and the discharge time constant is approximately 100 sec. The system response time when blockage occurs in the cuvette is at least equal to or less than 30 sec. It should be apparent that the high quality waveform of this invention can be analyzed by computer processing to provide alarms when the expired breath CO2 concentration falls below a predetermined level, for example, 1% to 2%. | Mid | [
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News Carlo Segre, Duchossois Leadership Professor of Physics and interim chair of the Department of Chemistry, recently had his endowed chair renewed for another three-year term. The chair honors faculty who are exemplary in scholarship, education, and service. As Duchossois Leadership Professor, Segre... The research groups of Oscar Juarez, assistant professor of biology, and David Minh, assistant professor of chemistry, have discovered a new structural motif in an essential Vibrio cholerae enzyme that could lead to important drug development. The increasing threat from multi-drug-... Andrey Rogachev, assistant professor of chemistry, and his research group discovered an efficient tool for fine-tuning magnetic coupling between delocalized radicals. This research is a continuation of previous research the group has done on quantum chemical investigations of fullerene fragments or... The College of Science has chosen eight students to receive this year’s CoS undergraduate summer research stipends. The selected students, nominated by Illinois Tech faculty, will each earn $5,000 for 10 weeks of research with Illinois Tech faculty members this summer. The stipends are funded... Chen Li, a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry working with Assistant Professor David Minh, was selected as a “CBSB2017 Outstanding Young Researcher” for the workshop “From Computational Biophysics to Systems Biology (CBSB2017)” at the University of Cincinnati, May 18-20. The award comes with free... On March 6 in the Robert A. Pritzker Science Center Auditorium, more than 60 people joined the Department of Chemistry to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Professional Master’s program in Analytical Chemistry. Walter Eisenberg, professor emeritus and former chair of chemistry, was awarded a... Breakthrough research into the structure of non-planar polyaromatic molecules by the research group of Andrey Rogachev, assistant professor of chemistry, is featured on the frontispiece of the January issue of Angewandte Chemie International Edition (impact factor 12). This study... A company founded by Illinois Tech scientists has received $225,000 to build an innovative nanoelectrofuel (NEF) flow battery that will store 1.5 times the energy of lithium ion batteries or three times the energy of lead acid batteries in the same volume. It also will offer the option of rapid... Research conducted by Andrey Rogachev, assistant professor of chemistry, along with his graduate students, has been published in a recent issue of the journal Organometallics. The project, which is a collaboration with experimentalists from University at Albany, University of Erlangen-Nurnberg... A recent APS Highlight by Argonne National Laboratory explores innovative catalysis research by Adam Hock, associate professor of chemistry; David Gidalevitz, associate professor of physics; and their graduate students and collaborators. The researchers used the Advanced Photon Source (... | Mid | [
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--TEST-- errmsg: cannot redeclare property --FILE-- <?php class test { var $var; var $var; } echo "Done\n"; ?> --EXPECTF-- Fatal error: Cannot redeclare test::$var in %s on line %d | Low | [
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Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome with thrombotic microangiopathy-related changes after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS), defined as widespread alveolar injury, is a severe complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and a clinical syndrome with variable histopathologic correlates and multiple etiologies. Transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is another severe complication of HSCT. TMA occurs when endothelial injury causes thrombosis and fibrin deposition in the organ microcirculation. We present a case of IPS with TMA-related changes in the lungs following HSCT. A 54-year-old woman underwent an allogeneic HSCT for refractory multiple myeloma. During transplantation, cyclosporine was administered for prophylaxis against graft-versus-host disease, but she developed respiratory failure after she was weaned off the drug. A computed tomography scan revealed ground-glass attenuation and reticular opacity in the bilateral whole-lung fields. Bronchoscopy indicated no evidence of infection, and IPS was diagnosed. High-dose steroids and etanercept were ineffective, and she died 1 month after the onset of IPS. Autopsy revealed diffuse alveolar damage, and stenosis or obstruction due to intimal thickening and thrombi resulting from endothelial injury in the arterioles of both lungs. We retrospectively diagnosed TMA based on the histological and clinical findings. To our knowledge, this is the first report suggesting the possible role of TMA in the clinical course of IPS. | High | [
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Q: Python string letter substitution using zip() I was going through some Python challenges and this particular one has been bugging my mind and thought it would be worth getting some explaining. It reads: Have the function LetterChanges(str) take the str parameter being passed and modify it using the following algorithm. Replace every letter in the string with the letter following it in the alphabet (ie. c becomes d, z becomes a). Then capitalize every vowel in this new string (a, e, i, o, u) and finally return this modified string. Example: Input: "fun times!" Output: gvO Ujnft! The code: def LetterChanges(str): letters = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW" changes = "bcdEfghIjklmnOpqrstUvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWZ" mapping = { k:v for (k,v) in zip(str+letters,str+changes) } return "".join([ mapping[c] for c in str ]) I understand that it takes two strings, letters and changes. It uses the zip() function that takes iterators and 'zips' them, forming an iterator in the form of a dictionary. k:v for (k,v) It's a dict comprehension. My doubts are: What exactly is happening with str+letters,str+changes and why it had to be done? [ mapping[c] for c in str ] Why is it that by doing this, we accomplish the replacement of every key with its value or has it says in the challenge description: "Replace every letter in the string with the letter following it in the alphabet" A: This line: mapping = { k:v for (k,v) in zip(str+letters,str+changes) } As you already observed, creates a dictionary using dictionary comprehension syntax. The resulting dictionary will associate each letter with the "new" letter to be used when translating the string. Usually, it would be done like this: mapping = {k: v for k, v in zip(source, destination)} Or even shorter: mapping = dict(zip(source, destination)) However, the next line does the following: "".join([ mapping[c] for c in str ]) It blindly transforms every single character in str doing a lookup in the dictionary that was just created. If the string contains any character that is not in the mapping, this fails. To get around this issue, whoever wrote the above code used the silly trick of first adding every single character of the string to the map, associating it with itself, and then adding the corresponding mapping for characters to be replaced. So here: mapping = { k:v for (k,v) in zip(str+letters,str+changes) } The str+ before letters and before changes prepends the whole content of the string to both the originals and the replacements, creating a mapping for each character of the string that is not in letters. This is the same as: mapping = {k: k for k in str} mapping.update({k: v for k, v in zip(letters, changes)}) Which is anyway both awful and slow, so to answer your question: why it had to be done? Because whoever wrote the code decided to. There's no need for it, it takes O(len(str)) time to build the mapping, going through the whole string, when there really is no need to. No Python programmer would have wrote it that way. The 'good' way of doing it would have been: mapping = dict(zip(source, destination)) return ''.join(mapping.get(c, c) for c in str) All in all, the above code is pretty awkward and IMHO accomplishes the task in a very messy way. Easy to spot problems are: The mapping iterates over the whole string, which is totally unneeded. A mapping is created to replace characters, but does not take advantage of the already existing str.maketrans() and str.translate() built-in methods available in Python. The letters X, Y, Z are missing from the letters string, and therefore not transformed. The list comprehension inside join is totally unneeded, it could be done without the square brackets []. The variable name str overrides the global type name str, which is bad and should not be done. A better solution would be: def LetterChanges(s): old = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ' new = 'bcdEfghIjklmnOpqrstUvwxyzAZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY' table = str.maketrans(old, new) return s.translate(table) Even better would be to pre-calculate the table only one time and then use the already created one on successive calls: def LetterChanges(s, table={}): if not table: old = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ' new = 'bcdEfghIjklmnOpqrstUvwxyzAZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY' table.update(str.maketrans(old, new)) return s.translate(table) Performance: Original: 1.081s for 100k translations of Hello World!. Updated: 0.400s for 100k translations of Hello World! (4.5x speedup). Updated with caching: 0.082s for 100k translations of Hello World! (22.5x speedup). | Low | [
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Introduction ============ Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a serious threat to human health, ranking as the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in females, with an estimated 1.4 million new cases and 693 900 deaths occurring in 2012 worldwide^[@bib1]^. In the clinic, the most common therapy for CRC is surgery combined with chemotherapy^[@bib2]^. In particular, the use of anticancer drugs in monotherapy or in combined regimens has significantly improved the survival rate in CRC stages III and IV in the past decade^[@bib3]^. The median survival among patients with metastatic CRC has been extended to \>20 months^[@bib4]^. Despite this progress, the response rate to current systemic therapies is only approximately 50%, and resistance is almost unavoidable in all patients^[@bib5]^. Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the primary obstacles to effective cancer treatment, and ATP transporter-driven drug efflux is the major mechanism responsible for MDR^[@bib6]^. P-glycoprotein (P-gp), encoded by the MDR1 gene, is the most widely investigated transporter in chemoresistance^[@bib7]^. P-gp is the main barrier against effective intracellular drug accumulation, which is associated with clinical therapeutic failure in over 90% of patients with metastatic cancer^[@bib8],[@bib9]^. P-gp inhibitors have been used to overcome MDR in clinical trials, but treatment benefits have been found to be very limited due to significant side toxicity^[@bib10]^. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop new approaches that could improve the current chemotherapeutic regimen to overcome MDR. Nanotechnology is considered a promising strategy to combat cancer multidrug resistance, and nano drugs can be resistant to drug efflux due to the size-exclusion effect and subcellular distribution pattern (*eg*, nucleic-preferential accumulation)^[@bib11],[@bib12]^. Of note, the efflux subtracts of P-gp is size dependent, limited to small drugs (300--2000 kDa)^[@bib13]^. The polymeric drug conjugates are also beneficial for anti-MDR therapy due to their increased size. Poly(amino acids) are biodegradable and have been investigated for drug delivery in oncology^[@bib14]^. For example, several poly(*L*-glutamic acid)-based drug conjugates (*eg*, paclitaxel, cisplatin) are in the advanced development stage. Here, we developed a novel peptidyl structure-based drug conjugate system for enhanced drug delivery against MDR cancer ([Scheme 1](#fig11){ref-type="fig"}). Poly(aspartic acid) was synthesized by solid-phase synthesis and then conjugated to the cell-penetrating TAT peptide-polyethylene glycol (TAT-PEG) through a disulfide bond, thus forming the triblock material TAT-PEG-Asp~8~. Doxorubicin (Dox) molecules were further coupled to the Asp~8~ segments, and the ASP~8~-Dox can self-assemble as a hydrophobic body, whereas the hydrophilic TAT-PEG chains extend outward, forming a nanostructured system ([Scheme 2](#fig12){ref-type="fig"}). Materials and methods ===================== Materials --------- Fmoc-Asp(OtBu)-OH, 2-chlorotrityl chloride resin, and Fmoc-Cys(OtBu)-OH were purchased from GL Biochem Co, Ltd (Shanghai, China); 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC), N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), ethyldiisopropylamine (DIEA), 2-(1*H*-benzotriazole-1-yl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HBTU), glutathione (GSH), Verapamil, diethyl ether, 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt), and triisopropylsilane were purchased from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co, Ltd (Shanghai, China); Ellman\'s reagent, propidium iodide and 4\',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) were purchased from J&K Scientific (Beijing, China); annexin V-FITC was purchased from BioVision Inc (Mountain View, CA, USA). TAT-PEG~5000~-SH (TAT sequence YGRKKRRQRRR) was synthesized by Qufu Liyang Biochem Co, Ltd (Qufu, China). Cell lines ---------- The human colon cancer parental cell line HCT8 and the drug-resistant version, HCT8/ADR, were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and antibiotics (100 μg/mL streptomycin and 100 U/mL penicillin) at 37 °C in a humidified incubator with 5% CO~2~. Synthesis of Asp~8~-Cys and TAT-PEG-Asp~8~ ------------------------------------------ Thiolated octo-aspartic acid (Asp~8~-Cys) was synthesized using a standard solid-phase synthesis procedure. Asp~8~-Cys was then conjugated to TAT-PEG~5000~-SH via the thiol/disulfide exchange reaction^[@bib15]^. Briefly, the TAT-PEG~5000~-SH was dissolved in PBS (pH 8), with the addition of Ellman\'s reagent. The mixture was stirred for 1 h and was then purified by heparin affinity column to remove excessive Ellman\'s reagent. The resultant was reacted with Asp~8~-Cys to form TAT-PEG-Asp~8~ via the disulfide bond. This purified product was confirmed by ^1^H NMR spectroscopy. Preparation of TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox conjugates -------------------------------------------- TAT-PEG-Asp~8~ and doxorubicin conjugates were prepared based on a carboxyl-to-amine crosslinking method with EDC/NHS. Briefly, NHS and EDC were added to the methanol solution of TAT-PEG-Asp~8~ to activate the carboxyl groups of Asp~8~. The doxorubicin methanol solution was then added dropwise to the activated TAT-PEG-Asp~8~, stirring overnight at room temperature. The polymer-drug conjugates of TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox were precipitated by adding excess cool ether. The Dox content in the conjugates was measured by fluorescence spectrophotometry (λex 485 nm and λem 590 nm). Preparation and Characterization of TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs ---------------------------------------------------------- The TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox was dissolved in water and self-assembled into nanoparticles. The particle size and zeta potential were measured using a Zeta Sizer Nanoparticle Analyzer (Malvern, UK). The morphology imaging of TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs was conducted by JEM-200CX transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with negative staining using uranyl acetate. Critical micelle concentration and stability of TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox nanoparticles (NPs) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The critical micelle concentration (CMC) was determined by fluorescence spectroscopy using pyrene as a hydrophobic fluorescent probe as previously described^[@bib16]^. Briefly, the sample was prepared at a concentration ranging from 4 to 2×10^−3^ mg/mL and was mixed thoroughly with pyrene solution (2.4×10^−6^ mol/L) at a volume ratio of 1:1. The fluorescence intensity was recorded at Ex 338 nm and 333 nm, and Em 390 nm (F-4600 Fluorescence Spectrophotometer; Hitachi, Japan). The intensity ratio (*I*~338~/*I*~333~) was plotted against the logarithm of the sample concentration. The TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs were GSH-responsive vehicles due to the disulfide bridge linkage between TAT-PEG and Asp~8.~ The size change of the NPs treated with GSH (1 μmol/L, 10 mmol/L) at room temperature was measured at different time intervals to evaluate the redox-responsive property of the NPs. Intracellular and intranuclear delivery of the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs --------------------------------------------------------------------- HCT8 (human colon cancer cell line) and HCT8/ADR (human colon cancer drug-resistant cell line) cells were seeded in 24-well plates at a density of 2×10^4^ cells per well and were incubated for 24 h before use. For cellular internalization observation, the cells were incubated with the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs at an equivalent Dox concentration of 10 μg/mL in fresh culture medium with 10% FBS. After incubation for 4 h, the cellular uptake efficiency was determined by flow cytometry analysis (Becton Dickinson, USA). For the intranuclear distribution study, after incubation with the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs or free Dox for 4 h, the cells were washed twice with ice-cold PBS and were fixed with fresh 4% paraformaldehyde for 15 min at room temperature. The cell nuclei were counterstained with DAPI, and imaging was performed using confocal laser scanning microscopy (Olympus FV1000, Japan). Resistance to drug efflux ------------------------- Intracellular drug retention in the drug-resistant HCT8/ADR tumor cells was investigated by incubation with free Dox or TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs for 2 h. After replacement with fresh culture medium supplemented with 10% FBS and further incubation for varying times (0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h), the cells were harvested in 200 μL of DMSO after treatment with RIPA lysis buffer for 10 min. The cell lysate was centrifuged at 8000 rounds per minute, and the supernatant was used to measure the Dox content by fluorescence spectrophotometry. Effect of verapamil on drug efflux ---------------------------------- Verapamil is a commonly used P-gp inhibitor. HCT8/ADR cells were seeded in 24-well plates and were incubated for 24 h before use. The HCT8/ADR cells were pretreated with verapamil (50 μmol/L) for 2 h and then were incubated with free Dox or TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs. After incubation for 1 h or 2 h, the cellular Dox intensity was measured by flow cytometry analysis. *In vitro* cytotoxicity study ----------------------------- The cytotoxicity of the NPs in the HCT8 and HCT8/ADR cell lines was investigated using the standard MTT assay. Cells were seeded at a density of 5×10^3^ cells per well in 96-well plates and were cultured for 24 h before analysis. The cells were incubated with varying concentrations of TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs or free Dox for 48 h. MTT (20 μL, 5 mg/mL) was added to each well, and the samples were incubated for another 4 h. After removal of the medium, 200 μL of DMSO was added to each well, and the absorbance was measured at 490 nm using a microplate reader (Multiskan; Thermo Fisher, USA). The cell viability was calculated. Cell apoptosis assay -------------------- The apoptotic cells were detected by flow cytometry. Briefly, the HCT8/ADR cells were seeded in a 6-well plate at a concentration of 2×10^5^ cells/well and were cultured for 24 h before analysis. The cells were treated with the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs or Dox at a concentration of 10 μg/mL. After 48 h of treatment, the cells were harvested, washed, and stained with annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) according to the manufacturer\'s instructions. The apoptotic cells were measured by flow cytometry analysis (Becton Dickinson, USA). Western blot assay ------------------ P-gp expression in the cells was detected by Western blotting as previously described^[@bib17]^. Briefly, the cells were lysed, and proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE and were transferred to nitrocellulose membranes using semidry blotting. Primary antibodies, including anti-mouse P-gp (Abcam) and anti-mouse GAPDH (Sigma), were used for Western blotting analysis for overnight incubation at 4 °C. *In vivo* cytotoxicity study ---------------------------- The animal study procedures were approved by the IACUC. The studies were conducted on female BALB/c-nu nude mice aged 3--4 weeks. Drug-resistant HCT8/ADR cells were subcutaneously implanted (1×10^6^ cells/mouse) on the back. The mice were divided into five groups randomly (six per group): PBS, TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox (peritumoral injection, pi), Dox (pi), TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox (intravenous injection, iv), Dox (iv). When the tumor reached approximately 100 mm^3^, the animals were treated with the NPs equal to a Dox dose of 2 mg/kg per two days over a period of 22 d. The tumor volume and body weight were monitored throughout the study. The tumor volume was calculated using the following formula: At the experimental endpoint, the mice were sacrificed, and the tumors and major organs were harvested and weighed. Histological examination of the major organs was conducted. The organ coefficient was calculated using the following formula: Tumor penetration ----------------- BALB/c-nu nude mice harboring HCT8/ADR breast tumors were treated with Dox or TAT-PEG-Asp8-Dox NPs. After 4 h, the mice were sacrificed, and the tumor tissues were collected for cryosection. The frozen slides were observed using a fluorescence microscope. Statistics analysis ------------------- Data analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism 6. Statistical differences between groups were determined by one-way ANOVA. The Student\'s *t*-test was used when two parameters were evaluated. The cellular tests were run in triplicate, and animal studies were with six per group. *P*\<0.05 was considered significant. Results ======= Polymeric drug conjugates have been widely explored. To increase the cell penetration efficiency of such conjugates, cell-penetrating peptide-modified poly(Asp) was synthesized. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are a class of relatively short peptides that can penetrate the cell membrane and deliver various types of large cargoes (*eg*, proteins, nucleic acids, nanoparticles) into cells^[@bib18]^. Moreover, the arginine-rich CPP has also been demonstrated to be able to preferentially target the nucleus, where Dox can intercalate with DNA and thus inhibit cell proliferation^[@bib19]^. Importantly, cell nucleus-targeting delivery has become an emerging method for combating MDR^[@bib12],[@bib20]^. The synthesized TAT-PEG-Asp~8~ was confirmed by ^1^H NMR ([Figure 1A](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}). The self-assembling TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs are approximately 150 nm with a narrow particle size distribution (PDI 0.102), indicating good homogeneity ([Figure 1B](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}). It is worth noting that NPs with a favorable size (less than 200 nm) could lead to an enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect for passive targeting and increase the drug accumulation at tumor sites^[@bib21],[@bib22]^. TEM was subsequently carried out to investigate the morphology ([Figure 1C](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Owing to the vacuum working conditions of TEM, the observed size on TEM was smaller than that from dynamic light scattering measurements. The zeta potential was approximately +15 mV ([Figure 1D](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}) owing to the modification of cationic TAT. Generally, poly(Asp) NPs have a low efficiency of cell internalization because of their negatively charged nature^[@bib23]^. TAT was used in this system to improve the intracellular delivery efficiency. Disulfide bonds were strategically applied to conjugate TAT-PEG to Asp~8~. Owing to the highly reducing environment inside tumor cells, the NPs dissembled very quickly. As shown in [Figure 2B](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}, the diameter of GSH-treated (10 mmol/L) NPs increased dramatically, reaching approximately 600 nm within 1 h. Further incubation resulted in microsized particles and severe aggregation. However, without GSH treatment (in water) or at a very low GSH concentration, there was merely minor size variation within the same period. To investigate the cellular internalization, the NPs were incubated with the HCT8 or HCT8/ADR cells for 24 h at an equivalent Dox concentration of 10 μg/mL and were analyzed by flow cytometry. In the non-resistant HCT8 cells, the NPs showed increased intracellular delivery efficiency compared with the free Dox (86.3% *vs* 57.8%, respectively) ([Figure 3A](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}). A more significant improvement was seen in the HCT8/ADR cells, which were resistant to drug uptake with a mere 20% positive rate for the free Dox group. However, the NPs were not affected and showed 4.3-fold higher intracellular accumulation than the free Dox. These results demonstrated that the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs could overcome drug efflux in HCT8/ADR cells and improve the intracellular accumulation of Dox. P-gp overexpression in the tumor cell membrane is the major mechanism responsible for MDR. P-gp can actively pump out anticancer drugs, leading to an insufficient intracellular drug concentration to kill tumor cells. Western blot analysis confirmed the high expression of P-gp in HCT8/ADR cells ([Figure 3B](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}). Interestingly, it was found that the NPs could enhance the intranuclear delivery ([Figure 4](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}). In the free Dox-treated HCT8/ADR cells, Dox-related red fluorescence was hardly observed due to active drug efflux and consequent poor accumulation. By contrast, intensive red fluorescence was observed in the nuclei in the NP group, indicating the efficient TAT-mediated nuclear localization. The results demonstrated that the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs enhanced not only the cellular uptake but also the intranuclear disposition of drug. The increased intracellular and intranuclear delivery provided a potential solution to overcome MDR in cancer cells, leading to improved therapeutic efficacy. The intracellular retention results further revealed the advantages of the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs for anti-MDR. The area under the curve (AUC) of the intracellular Dox concentration at 4 h was calculated to be 1183 and 463 h·ng·mL^−1^ for the NP group and free Dox group, respectively ([Figure 5](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}). The intracellular drug concentration in the free Dox group was dramatically decreased (merely 45% remaining after 4 h), demonstrating active drug efflux, whereas the NP group was effectively retained inside the cells (76% of the drug remained) because of the resistance to drug efflux. Verapamil is a commonly used P-gp inhibitor. As shown in [Figure 6](#fig6){ref-type="fig"}, there was a clearly increased uptake efficiency in the free Dox group due to the inhibition of drug efflux. However, no significant difference was found in the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NP group, indicating that TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs were not affected by the P-gp-mediated drug efflux. The cytotoxicity of the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs was investigated in HCT8 and HCT8/ADR cells ([Figure 7A](#fig7){ref-type="fig"}). In the HCT8 cells, the NPs displayed slightly better antitumor activity than free Dox, and both of them were potent to inhibit cell proliferation with an IC~50~ of approximately 1 μg/mL. However, the NPs still demonstrated high antitumor activity in HCT8/ADR cells, whereas free Dox was ineffective against HCT8/ADR cells even at a concentration up to 20 μg/mL. These results indicated that TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs could reverse MDR. There are three possible reasons responsible for enhanced cytotoxicity of the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs: TAT-mediated enhanced cellular uptake, TAT-mediated intranuclear delivery and enhanced intracellular retention. Annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI) were used as indicators of early and late apoptosis, respectively. For example, the dual labeling method can indicate intact cells (FITC^−^/PI^−^), cells in early apoptosis (FITC^+^/PI^−^) or late apoptosis (FITC^+^/PI^+^), and necrotic cells (FITC^−^/PI^+^). In HCT8/ADR cells, the late apoptosis rate was determined by flow cytometry, showing 94.6% in the NP group and 38.9% in the free Dox group ([Figure 7B](#fig7){ref-type="fig"}), indicating that TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs could induce apoptosis more efficiently than free Dox in the drug-resistant cells. The results further demonstrated the improved antitumor effect of the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs. The subcutaneous HCT8/ADR tumor model was employed. The tumor growth curves of each group are presented in [Figure 8A](#fig8){ref-type="fig"}. The treatment of the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs resulted in a much smaller tumor volume compared with free Dox therapy. In contrast to an inhibition rate of 71.8% in the iv Dox group, the iv TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs exhibited an enhanced efficacy (84.2%), while pi treatment slightly improved the therapeutic efficacy, displaying 89.5% for the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs and 79.1% for free Dox. Therefore, the NPs significantly improved the MDR cancer treatment. It should be mentioned that the free Dox-treated mice sustained remarkable body weight loss ([Figure 9A](#fig9){ref-type="fig"}), and there were two deaths in the iv Dox-treated group ([Figure 9B](#fig9){ref-type="fig"}), suggesting the severe side toxicity. However, the animal body weight in the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NP group underwent minor changes. In addition, at the endpoint, the major organs were collected and weighed to calculate the organ coefficients. In the liver and spleen, the organ coefficient of the iv Dox group was reduced markedly ([Figure 9C](#fig9){ref-type="fig"}). Histological examination ([Figure 9D](#fig9){ref-type="fig"}) showed degeneration and edema and focal cytolysis necrosis in the liver and spleen in the Dox-treated group. These results indicated that the TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs improved the therapeutic efficacy with reduced side toxicity. In addition, intra-tumoral distribution analysis showed that TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox NPs could improve the penetration ability inside tumors compared with free Dox ([Figure 10](#fig10){ref-type="fig"}), a finding that was in accordance with our previous studies of CPP-mediated tumor penetration^[@bib12]^. Discussion ========== Polymer-drug conjugate strategies have been widely used to improve druggability profiles and therapeutic efficacy. Drug conjugates benefit from increased size when used in MDR cancer therapy to circumvent P-gp-mediated drug efflux. The polymeric drug TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox is characterized by its amphiphilic structure: Dox, which is hydrophobic, can form the core, with the peptide-PEG chains, which are hydrophilic, extending from this core, and the drug molecules thereby self-assemble into nanoparticle form. TAT, which has a similar sequence to a nuclear localization signal (NLS), has demonstrated nuclear-targeting ability^[@bib19]^. The TAT, which is on the outside of the nanoparticles, can facilitate cellular uptake and intranuclear delivery. Therefore, in addition to the size effect-related resistance to drug efflux, deposit into the nuclei prevents the drugs from being subject to cell membrane-associated P-gp. Additionally, the CPP-mediated intratumoral penetration could further improve MDR cancer treatment outcomes^[@bib12]^. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the bio-fate of efficient intratumoral accumulation, penetration, and internalization plays an essential role in cancer drug delivery^[@bib24],[@bib25]^. TAT-based nano drug delivery provides a useful strategy for enhanced intratumoral drug delivery and treatment. Concerns regarding nonselective distribution are often raised in CPP-based drug delivery^[@bib18]^. Recently, however, it has been discovered that CPP can preferentially bind to the tumor cells via certain overexpressed receptors (*eg*, heparan sulfate proteoglycans and neuropilin-1)^[@bib26],[@bib27]^. We previously also found that CPP-mediated cellular uptake in tumor cells was much higher than that in nontumoral cells (*eg*, human umbilical vein endothelial cells)^[@bib12]^. These findings suggested that the extravasation of CPP could be minor in normal blood vessels, in contrast to the leaky tumor vessels that are critical to the EPR effect of the nano drugs. Conclusion ========== In this study, a TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox nanoassembly system was developed to sensitize drug-resistant colon cancer to chemotherapy. The TAT-PEG-Asp~8~-Dox nanoparticles effectively increase cellular drug uptake and intranuclear drug delivery, thus retaining effective drug accumulation inside the cells. The nanoparticles significantly enhanced cytotoxicity toward drug-resistant cells and efficiently induced apoptosis. Therefore, our study reveals a promising method for the efficient intracellular delivery of anticancer drugs and MDR reversal. Author contribution =================== Zhen-zhen PAN performed most experiments and wrote the manuscript; Hui-yuan WANG participated the cellular and animal studies; Meng ZHANG, Wen-yuan ZHANG, and Ting-ting LIN helped conducted chemical synthesis; Peng-fei ZHAO and Yi-si TANG helped the animal studies; Yong XIONG helped developed the experimental design and reviewed the data; Yuan-er ZENG and Yong-zhuo HUANG designed the study; Yong-zhuo HUANG wrote the final manuscript. We are thankful for the support from 973 Program, China (2014CB931900 and 2013CB932503) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (81172996, 81373357, 81422048, 81402883, and 81521005). We also thank National Center for Protein Science Shanghai, CAS, for the technical support at Electron Microscopy Facility. {#fig1} {#fig2} {#fig3} {#fig4} {#fig5} {#fig6} {#fig7} {#fig8} {#fig9} {#fig10} {#fig11} {#fig12} | Mid | [
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As originally posted on Japanator Yes, please. King of Fighters XIII is finally going to get released over here, so I can finally jump into the series exactly where I want to. Atlus claims to have improved the netcode signi... [Update: the software for these two games will work together in some undisclosed fashion. Thanks Nick Chester!] A new Smash Bros. games is in development that will be playable on Nintendo's 3DS handheld and new Wii U console. There are no details at the moment, but we will add them as soon as we get them. Begin character speculation now! Reggie Fils Aime, the head of Nintendo of America, has just announced Mario 3D for the 3DS, claiming that it is the first 3D Mario game created from scratch for portable systems. This is part of a big push to re-introduce man... Shigeru Miyamoto, the executive producer of just about everything at Nintendo, has just announced a series of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword concerts that will occur at various regions around the world this fall. For a series with the musical history of Zelda, this should be pretty mind-blowing. More details about the exact dates and locations of these concerts will be available soon. | Mid | [
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[Late results of resection treatment of bronchiectases with special reference to functional studies]. In 83 patients an unilateral pulmonary resection because of bronchiectasis was performed. The indication was unsuccessful medical treatment. Forty seven patients were re-examined clinically and radiologically and with spirometry and ergooxytensiometry 13.2 years (average) after operation. Good functional results were found in 72.1% of the patients. This justifies pulmonary resection for bronchiectasis even in the era of potent antibiotics. We preferred lobectomy because of its low postoperative complication rate and good functional late results. In bilateral bronchiectasis we operated upon the side with the advanced disease. | High | [
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1. Introduction {#sec1} =============== In many studies, alpaca (*lama pacos*) has been used for production of antigen-specific single domain antibodies (nanobodies) \[[@bib1], [@bib2], [@bib3]\]. In contrast, membrane proteins of alpaca have not been investigated due to the lack of specific antibodies. The type I transmembrane glycoprotein, podoplanin (PDPN)/T1alpha/Aggrus, is expressed in normal tissues, including type I lung alveolar cells, renal podocytes, and lymphatic endothelial cells \[[@bib4], [@bib5], [@bib6]\]. The interaction between PDPN on lymphatic endothelial cells and C-type lectin-like receptor-2 (CLEC-2) on platelets facilitates embryonic blood/lymphatic vessel separation \[[@bib4],[@bib6], [@bib7], [@bib8], [@bib9], [@bib10], [@bib11], [@bib12], [@bib13]\]. The expression of human PDPN (hPDPN) has been reported in several malignant tumors, including malignant brain tumors \[[@bib14], [@bib15], [@bib16], [@bib17]\], malignant mesotheliomas \[[@bib18],[@bib19]\], oral squamous cell carcinomas \[[@bib20]\], esophageal cancers \[[@bib21]\], lung cancers \[[@bib22]\], osteosarcomas \[[@bib23], [@bib24], [@bib25]\], chondrosarcomas \[[@bib24]\], and testicular tumors \[[@bib26]\]. The expression of hPDPN is associated with malignant progression and cancer metastasis \[[@bib9],[@bib14],[@bib27]\]. We have developed monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against human \[[@bib28]\], mouse \[[@bib28]\], rat \[[@bib29]\], rabbit \[[@bib30]\], dog \[[@bib31]\], cat \[[@bib32]\], bovine \[[@bib33]\], pig \[[@bib34]\], and horse \[[@bib35]\] PDPNs. However, mAbs against alpaca PDPN (aPDPN), useful for immunohistochemical analysis, remain to be developed. Sensitive and specific mAbs against aPDPN are necessary to investigate the expression and function of aPDPN. In the present study, we immunized mice with CHO/aPDPN cells and established hybridomas to produce mAbs against aPDPN. 2. Materials and methods {#sec2} ======================== 2.1. Cell lines {#sec2.1} --------------- CHO-K1 and P3X63Ag8U.1 (P3U1) cells were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA). The coding sequence of aPDPN bearing an *N*-terminal RAP16 tag (RAP16-aPDPN) was inserted into a pCAG-Neo vector (FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation, Osaka, Japan). The RAP16 tag comprises 16 amino acids (GPGDDMVNPGLEDRIE). CHO-K1 cells were transfected with pCAG-Neo/RAP16-aPDPN using Lipofectamine LTX with Plus Reagent (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Waltham, MA, USA). Stable transfectants were selected by limiting dilution and cultivating in a medium containing 0.5 mg/mL of G418 (Nacalai Tesque, Inc., Kyoto, Japan). P3U1, CHO-K1, and CHO/aPDPN cells were cultured in Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI) 1640 medium (Nacalai Tesque, Inc.). All the media were supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.), 100 units/mL of penicillin, 100 μg/mL of streptomycin, and 25 μg/mL of amphotericin B (Nacalai Tesque, Inc.). Cells were grown at 37 °C in a humidified environment with an atmosphere of 5% CO~2~ and 95% air. 2.2. Hybridoma production {#sec2.2} ------------------------- Female BALB/c mice (6 weeks old) were purchased from CLEA Japan (Tokyo, Japan). Animals were housed under specific pathogen-free conditions. The Animal Care and Use Committee of Tohoku University approved all the animal experiments. Two BALB/c mice were immunized with CHO/aPDPN cells (1 × 10^8^) intraperitoneally (i.p.) administered together with Imject Alum (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.). The procedure included three additional immunizations, followed by a final booster injection administered i.p. two days prior to the harvest of spleen cells, amounting to a total of five immunizations. These spleen cells were subsequently fused with P3U1 cells using PEG1500 (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, IN, USA), and the hybridomas were grown in RPMI medium supplemented with hypoxanthine, aminopterin, and thymidine for selection (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.). The cultured supernatants were screened using flow cytometry. 2.3. Flow cytometry {#sec2.3} ------------------- The cells were harvested following brief exposure to 0.25% trypsin/1 mM ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA; Nacalai Tesque, Inc.), washed with 0.1% bovine serum albumin (BSA)/phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and treated with primary mAbs for 30 min at 4 °C. Thereafter, the cells were treated with Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated anti-mouse IgG (1:2000; Cell Signaling Technology, Inc., Danvers, MA, USA). Fluorescence data were collected using a SA3800 Cell Analyzer (Sony Corp., Tokyo, Japan). 2.4. Determination of binding affinity using flow cytometry {#sec2.4} ----------------------------------------------------------- CHO/aPDPN was suspended in 100 μL of serially diluted PMab-225, followed by the addition of Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated anti-mouse IgG (1:200; Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.). Fluorescence data were collected using EC800 Cell Analyzer (Sony Corp.). The dissociation constant (*K*~D~) was obtained by fitting the binding isotherms to built-in one-site binding models in GraphPad PRISM 6 (GraphPad Software, Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA). 2.5. Western blotting {#sec2.5} --------------------- Cell lysates (10 μg) were boiled in sodium dodecyl sulfate sample buffer (Nacalai Tesque, Inc.). The proteins were subjected to electrophoresis on 5%--20% polyacrylamide gels (FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation) and subsequently transferred onto a polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane (Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany). After blocking with 4% skim milk (Nacalai Tesque, Inc.), each membrane was incubated with primary mouse mAbs, such as 1 μg/mL of PMab-225, anti-RAP16 tag (PMab-2), or *anti*-*β*-actin (AC-15; Sigma-Aldrich Corp., St. Louis, MO, USA), and subsequently with peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse IgG (1:1000; Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Bands were visualized using ImmunoStar LD (FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation) using a Sayaca-Imager (DRC Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). 2.6. Immunohistochemical analyses {#sec2.6} --------------------------------- Normal alpaca tissues were collected after autopsy at Hokkaido University, fixed in 10% neutral-buffered formalin \[[@bib36]\], and routinely processed to make paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Histological sections of 4 μm thickness were directly autoclaved in citrate buffer (pH 6.0; Nichirei Biosciences, Inc., Tokyo, Japan) or EnVision FLEX Target Retrieval Solution High pH (Agilent Technologies Inc.) for 20 min. These tissue sections were blocked using SuperBlock T20 (PBS) Blocking Buffer (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.), incubated with PMab-225 (1 μg/mL or 5 μg/mL) for 1 h at room temperature, and treated using an Envision + Kit (Agilent Technologies Inc.) for 30 min. Color was developed using 3,3′-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride (Agilent Technologies Inc.) for 2 min, and counterstaining was performed using hematoxylin (FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemical Corporation). 3. Results {#sec3} ========== In this study, two mice were immunized with CHO/aPDPN cells ([Fig. 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Developed hybridomas were seeded into 96-well plates and cultivated for 8 days (first mouse) or 9 days (second mouse). Wells positive for CHO/aPDPN and negative for CHO-K1 were selected using flow cytometry. Screening identified strong signals against CHO/aPDPN cells and weak or no signals against CHO-K1 cells in 83 of 960 wells (8.6%). Of these 83 wells, two hybridomas were developed. One of these two clones, PMab-225 (IgG~2b~, kappa), was selected for immunohistochemistry against alpaca tissues.Fig. 1**Schematic illustration of the Cell-Based Immunization and Screening (CBIS) method.** Stable transfectants expressing the protein of interest are used as immunogens with no purification procedure. The selection of hybridomas secreting specific mAbs is performed by flow cytometry using parental and transfectant cells.Fig. 1 PMab-225 recognized CHO/aPDPN but showed no reaction with CHO-K1, as assessed using flow cytometry ([Fig. 2](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}). Additionally, a kinetic analysis performed using flow cytometry assessed the interaction of PMab-225 with CHO/aPDPN. *K*~D~ of PMab-225 for CHO/aPDPN cells was determined to be 2.4 × 10^−9^, indicating high affinity for CHO/aPDPN cells.Fig. 2**Detection of aPDPN via flow cytometry using PMab-225.** CHO/aPDPN CHO-K1 cells were treated with 10 μg/mL of PMab-225 (red line) or 1 μg/mL of anti-RAP16 tag (PMab-2; blue line) or 0.1% BSA in PBS (gray) for 30 min, followed by incubation with secondary antibodies.Fig. 2 Western blotting performed using PMab-225 ([Fig. 3](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}) demonstrated that PMab-225 detects aPDPN in CHO/aPDPN cells. PMab-2, an anti-RAP16 tag mAb, also detected aPDPN bands in CHO/aPDPN cells. Several bands were obtained that might represent highly glycosylated forms.Fig. 3**Detection of aPDPN via Western blotting.** Cell lysates of CHO-K1 and CHO/aPDPN (10 μg) were electrophoresed and transferred onto PVDF membranes. The membranes were incubated with l μg/mL of PMab-225, anti-RAP16 tag (PMab-2), or *anti*-*β*-actin and subsequently with peroxidase-conjugated anti-mouse IgG.Fig. 3 The immunohistochemical analyses using antigen retrieval with citrate buffer (pH 6.0) revealed that PMab-225 strongly stained type I alveolar cells in the alpaca lung ([Fig. 4](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}) and lymphatic endothelial cells in alpaca colon tissues ([Fig. 5](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}). Podocytes and Bowman\'s capsule of alpaca kidney were stained using antigen retrieval with EnVision FLEX Target Retrieval Solution High pH ([Fig. 6](#fig6){ref-type="fig"}). These results indicate that PMab-225 will be useful to elucidate the pathophysiological functions of aPDPN in alpaca tissues in the future.Fig. 4**Immunohistochemical analyses against alpaca lung.** Tissue sections of alpaca lung were directly autoclaved in citrate buffer and incubated with 1 μg/mL of PMab-225 (A, D) or with blocking buffer (B, E). Type I alveolar cells were stained. (C, F) Hematoxylin and eosin staining. Scale bar = 100 μm.Fig. 4Fig. 5**Immunohistochemical analyses against alpaca colon.** Tissue sections of alpaca colon were directly autoclaved in citrate buffer and incubated with 1 μg/mL of PMab-225 (A, D) or with blocking buffer (B, E). Lymphatic endothelial cells were stained. (C, F) Hematoxylin and eosin staining. Scale bar = 100 μm.Fig. 5Fig. 6**Immunohistochemical analyses against alpaca kidney.** Tissue sections of alpaca kidney were directly autoclaved in EnVision FLEX Target Retrieval Solution High pH and incubated with 5 μg/mL of PMab-225 (A, D) or with blocking buffer (B, E). Podocytes and Bowman\'s capsule were stained (C, F) Hematoxylin and eosin staining. Scale bar = 100 μm.Fig. 6 4. Discussion {#sec4} ============= In our previous studies, we established a cancer-specific monoclonal antibody (CasMab) technology to produce CasMabs, such as LpMab-2 and LpMab-23 against hPDPN, in several studies \[[@bib17],[@bib37]\]. Those CasMabs against hPDPN can detect only hPDPN-expressing cancer cells, not normal cells, including lymphatic endothelial cells and pulmonary type I alveolar cells. Although LpMab-2 might bind to both a peptide and glycans of hPDPN \[[@bib17]\], LpMab-23 could detect the conformational change of hPDPN peptides, which might be induced by cancer-specific glycans \[[@bib38]\]. Both LpMab-2 and LpMab-23 possess high antitumor activities by those antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicities (ADCC) \[[@bib38],[@bib39]\]. Furthermore, LpMab-23-recognizing cancer-type podoplanin could be a novel predictor for a poor prognosis of early stage tongue cancer \[[@bib40]\]. Recently, we also utilized a Cell-Based Immunization and Screening (CBIS) method to establish mAbs against various membrane proteins, such as CD133 \[[@bib41]\], CD44 \[[@bib42]\], PD-L1 \[[@bib43]\], pig PDPN \[[@bib34]\], horse PDPN \[[@bib44]\], and cat PDPN \[[@bib32]\]. Importantly, those mAbs are very useful for flow cytometry, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry. In contrast, we could not develop useful mAbs by immunizing synthetic peptides (data not shown). Using selecting one method or the combination of those methods such as CasMab technology and CIBS method, we could produce sensitive and specific mAbs against membrane proteins, which are very useful for not only flow cytometry, but also Western blot and immunohistochemistry when we could not develop mAbs by immunizing synthetic peptides or recombinant proteins. Indeed, we first tried to produce *anti*-aPDPN mAbs by immunizing synthetic peptides, which are corresponding to PLAG domains of aPDPN; however, we could not obtain any mAbs, which are applicable for Western blot or immunohistochemistry (data not shown). Then, we employed the CBIS method in this study to develop sensitive and specific mAbs against aPDPN for the immunohistochemical analysis of paraffin-embedded tissue sections ([Fig. 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Finally, PMab-225, which is very useful for flow cytometry ([Fig. 2](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}), Western blot ([Fig. 3](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}), and immunohistochemical analyses ([Fig. 4](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}, [Fig. 5](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}, [Fig. 6](#fig6){ref-type="fig"}), was developed. Interestingly, PMab-225 cross-reacted with human, bovine, tiger, bear, goat, sheep, and whale PDPNs, which were overexpressed in CHO-K1 cells (data not shown), although the percentage of homology of aPDPN with hPDPN is only 66%. In contrast, PMab-225 did not react with mouse, rat, rabbit, dog, cat, pig, Tasmanian devil, and horse PDPNs (data not shown). In future study, we should determine the critical epitope of PMab-225; then, we might uncover the mechanism of cross-reactivity against many species. In immunohistochemical analysis, PMab-225 stained lymphatic endothelial cells ([Fig. 5](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}) and pulmonary type I alveolar cells using antigen retrieval with citrate buffer ([Fig. 4](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}). However, PMab-225 did not stain alpaca kidney in this condition (data not shown). In contrast, alpaca kidney was stained using antigen retrieval with EnVision FLEX Target Retrieval Solution High pH ([Fig. 6](#fig6){ref-type="fig"}). In the future study, we should clarify the molecular difference of aPDPNs, including post-translational modifications in several tissues. In conclusion, we have established a mAb against aPDPN, PMab-225, which is suitable for use in flow cytometry, Western blotting, and immunohistochemical analyses. PMab-225 should prove useful to elucidate the pathophysiological functions of aPDPN in future studies. In contrast, sensitive and specific mAbs against membrane proteins for alpaca have not been established; therefore, we should develop many mAbs against alpaca membrane proteins, such as CD31 or LYVE-1 for investigation of vascular endothelial cells or lymphatic endothelial cells. Conflicts of interest {#sec5} ===================== The authors declare no conflicts of interest involving this article. Funding {#sec6} ======= This research was supported in part by AMED under Grant Numbers: JP18am0101078 (Y.K.), JP18am0301010 (Y.K.), and JP18ae0101028 (Y.K.), and by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 17K07299(M.K.K.) and Grant Number 16K10748(Y.K.). We thank Takuro Nakamura, Miyuki Yanaka, Kayo Hisamatsu, Saori Handa, and Yoshimi Nakamura^**.**^ for their excellent technical assistance. | High | [
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Łukasz Załuska Łukasz Załuska (; born 16 June 1982) is a Polish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Miedź Legnica. After playing for Stomil Olsztyn, Legia Warsaw, Jagiellonia Białystok (on loan) and Korona Kielce in Poland, Załuska continued his career in Scotland, joining Dundee United in 2007. He then signed for Celtic in 2009, spending six years mainly as a back-up goalkeeper, before joining Darmstadt in 2015. He has made one international appearance for Poland, in 2009. Club career In Poland Born in Wysokie Mazowieckie, Załuska began his career in 1997 with Ruch Wysokie Mazowieckie but left within a few months to join MSP Szamotuły. After a year, he moved on to Sparta Oborniki, before spending time with Zryw Zielona Góra. In 2001, Załuska moved to Stomil Olsztyn and made his first appearance in the Ekstraklasa in August 2001. In 2002, he joined Legia Warsaw but made no appearances for the club. From here, he had two loan spells with Jagiellonia Białystok before joining Korona Kielce in 2004. Załuska spent two years with Kielce, culminating in a Polish Cup runners-up medal in just before moving to Scotland in May 2007. Dundee United Załuska joined Scottish Premier League team Dundee United on a two-year contract on 30 May 2007. He played in pre-season for United but suffered a broken foot before the start of the domestic season, prompting the club to sign countryman Grzegorz Szamotulski as a short-term replacement. After returning to training in late October, it was feared Załuska had broken his foot a second time in early November. Załuska finally made his competitive debut for United on 26 January 2008, just days before Szamotulski's departure. United won 2–1 in what was captain Barry Robson's final match for the club. In February 2008, after helping United beat Aberdeen in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup, Załuska was reported to the Scottish Football Association (SFA) for making gestures to the Aberdeen fans. In the match, both keepers faced missiles thrown by sets of opposing fans, including plastic cups, chocolate and £1 coins. Referee Iain Brines was also hit by a coin thrown from the Aberdeen supporters' end. A month later, Załuska received a £500 fine and a warning from the SFA for his actions. On 17 December 2008, it was reported that he had declined a new contract and would be leaving the club at the end of the season after the current one expires. Celtic On 23 December 2008, Załuska signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic and would be joining at the start of the 2009–10 season. He officially became a Celtic player on 1 June 2009. He made his debut on 21 September 2009, in a 4–0 League Cup victory over Falkirk. On 25 October 2009, he made his league debut for the Hoops against Hamilton Academical as a replacement for his injured compatriot Artur Boruc and pulled off several saves in a 2–1 win. On 10 April 2010, Zaluska played in a Scottish Cup semi final for Celtic at Hampden Park which they lost 2–0 to Ross County. At the start of the 2010–11 season Załuska became Celtic's first choice goalkeeper after Boruc left for Italian side Fiorentina. However Celtic signed Fraser Forster on loan from Newcastle United and Załuska once again became second choice goalkeeper. At the start of the 2011–12 season Załuska became Celtic's first choice goalkeeper after Forster returned to Newcastle United. He started the opening SPL game against Hibernian, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory. However, Celtic's re-signing of Forster on loan again pushed Zaluska down the pecking order. On 29 September Zaluska started in the Europa League against Udinese. Although Zaluska played well and made several good saves, the match finished 1–1 with Udinese scoring from a penalty. After Forster was sold to Southampton, the recently acquired Craig Gordon established himself as first choice for season 2014–15. In October 2014, Załuska was injured in an apparent assault in Ashton Lane, in Glasgow's West End. Having only made two league starts by October, Zaluska kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 league defeat of Inverness CT on 1 November 2014. Zaluska, an used substitute in the 2015 Scottish League Cup Final victory, did come off the bench in a Scottish Cup semi final defeat to Inverness on 19 April 2015. With Craig Gordon sent off in the second half for a last man challenge, Zaluska couldn't stop the resulting penalty to make it 1–1, Celtic would go on to lose 3–2 in extra time. He next played at McDiarmid Park keeping a clean sheet with a string of fine saves in a 0–0 league draw. He left Celtic in June 2015. SV Darmstadt 98 On 31 August 2015, Załuska joined the German Bundesliga newly promoted SV Darmstadt 98 until 30 June 2016 as their third keeper behind Christian Mathenia and Patrick Platins. Pogoń Szczecin On 9 June 2017 he signed a contract with Pogoń Szczecin. International career Załuska was called up to the Poland squad for the first time in August 2008, following Artur Boruc's suspension, although he remained unused. He was called up again in November, with Boruc missing due to injury. He won his first international cap on 6 June 2009, against South Africa. Honours Celtic Scottish Premier League (2): 2011–12, 2012–13 Scottish Premiership (2): 2013–14, 2014–15 Scottish Cup (2): 2011, 2013 Scottish League Cup (1): 2015 References External links Łukasz Załuska at Kicker Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:People from Wysokie Mazowieckie Category:Sportspeople from Podlaskie Voivodeship Category:Polish footballers Category:Poland international footballers Category:Polish expatriate footballers Category:Association football goalkeepers Category:Stomil Olsztyn players Category:Legia Warsaw players Category:Jagiellonia Białystok players Category:Korona Kielce players Category:Dundee United F.C. players Category:Celtic F.C. players Category:SV Darmstadt 98 players Category:Wisła Kraków players Category:Pogoń Szczecin players Category:Miedź Legnica players Category:Ekstraklasa players Category:I liga players Category:Scottish Premier League players Category:Bundesliga players Category:Expatriate footballers in Scotland Category:Polish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Category:Expatriate footballers in Germany Category:Polish expatriate sportspeople in Germany | Low | [
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Clubs and parties test Country by country they will all march into the stadium, bringing the colours of the world to Cologne. You can spend your day at the Ipanema gay beach and watch all the boys. Welcome reception at Axel Hotel, warm up party at Connection Club. Popular, advanced Filters, upload Date: All time, categories: Duration. Video Removed Undo, video Removed Undo useing my phone as i cum on the floor in public bathroom. The annual Mardi Gras is one of the biggest gay events in the worlds. Island gay guide Istanbul Mysterious Istanbul, the city where West meets East and which is becoming more and more popular with gay visitors. City gay guide Mykonos Mykonos is one of the most famous Greek plan cul pour demain bonne bite de rebeu gay islands known for its picturesque white painted villages. | Low | [
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Articles of a treaty made and concluded at the Forks of the Wabash in the State of Indiana, between the United States of America, by her Commissioner Abel C. Pepper, and the Miami tribe of Indians on the sixth day of November in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty-eight. ARTICLE 1. The Miami tribe of Indians hereby cede to the United States all that tract of land lying south of the Wabash river and included within the following bounds to wit: Commencing at a point on said river where the western boundary line of the Miami reserve intersects the same, near the mouth of Pipe creek; thence south two miles; thence west one mile; thence south along said boundary line, three miles; thence east to the Mississinnewa river; thence up the said river with the meanders thereof to the eastern boundary line of the said Miami reserve; thence north along said eastern boundary line to the Wabash river; thence down the said last named river with the meanders thereof to the place of beginning.The said Miami tribe of Indians do also hereby cede to the United States, the three following reservations of land made for the use of the Miami nation of Indians by the 2d article of a treaty made and concluded at St. Mary's in the State of Ohio, on the 6th of October 1818 to wit:The reservation on the Wabash river, below the forks thereof:The residue of the reservation opposite the mouth of the river Abouette:The reservation at the mouth of a creek called Flat Rock, where the road to White river crosses the same.Also one other reservation of land made for the use of said tribe at Seeks village on Eel river, by the 2d article of a treaty made and concluded on the 23d October 1826. ARTICLE 2. From the cession aforesaid, the Miami tribe reserve for the band of Me-to-sin-ia, the following tract of land to wit: Beginning on the eastern boundary line of the big reserve, where the Mississinnewa river crosses the same; thence down said river with the meanders thereof to the mouth of the creek called Forked Branch; thence north two miles; thence in a direct line to a point on the eastern boundary line two miles north of the place of beginning; thence south to the place of beginning, supposed to contain ten square miles. ARTICLE 3. In consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States agree to pay the Miami tribe of Indians three hundred and thirty-five thousand six hundred and eighty dollars; sixty thousand dollars of which to be paid immediately after the ratification of this treaty and the appropriation to carry its provisions into effect; and the residue of said sum after the payment of claims hereinafter stipulated to be paid, in ten yearly instalments of twelve thousand five hundred and sixty-eight dollars per year. ARTICLE 4. It is further stipulated that the sum of six thousand eight hundred dollars, be paid John B. Richardville; and the sum of two thousand six hundred and twelve dollars be paid Francis Godfroy; which said sums are their respective claims against said tribe prior to October 23, 1834, excluded from investigation by the late commissioner of the United States, by reason of their being Indians of said tribe. ARTICLE 5. The said Miami tribe of Indians being anxious to pay all their just debts, at their request it is stipulated, that immediately after the ratification of this treaty, the United States shall appoint a commissioner or commissioners, who shall be authorized to investigate all claims against said tribe which have accrued since the 23d day of October 1834, without regard to distinction of blood in the claimants; and to pay such debts as, having accrued since the said period, shall be proved to his or their satisfaction, to be legal and just. ARTICLE 6. It is further stipulated that the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars out of the amount agreed to be paid said tribe in the third article of this treaty, shall be set apart for the payment of the claims under the provisions of the fourth and fifth articles of this treaty, as well as for the payment of any balance ascertained to be due from said tribe by the investigation under the provisions of the treaty of 1834; and should there be an unexpended balance in the hands of said commissioner or commissioners after the payment of said claims, the same shall be paid over to the said tribe at the payment of their next subsequent annuity; but should the said sum so set apart for the purpose aforesaid, be found insufficient to pay the same, then the ascertained balance due on said claims shall be paid in three equal instalments from the annuities of said tribe.And the said Miami tribe of Indians through this public instrument proclaim to all concerned, that no debt or debts that any Indian or Indians of said tribe may contract with any person or persons, shall operate as a lien on the annuity or annuities, nor on the land of the said tribe for legal enforcement. Nor shall any person or persons other than the members of said Miami tribe, who may by sufferance live on the land of, or intermarry in, said tribe, have any right to the land or any interest in the annuities of said tribe, until such person or persons shall have been by general council adopted into their tribe. ARTICLE 7. It is further stipulated, that the United States will cause the buildings and improvements on the land hereby ceded, to be appraised, and have buildings and improvements of a corresponding value made at such places as the chiefs of said tribe may designate: and the Indians of said tribe are to remain in the peaceable occupation of their present improvements, until the United States shall make the said corresponding improvements. ARTICLE 8. It is further stipulated that the United States patent to Beaver, the five sections of land, and to Chapine the one section of land, reserved to them respectively in the second article of the treaty made Anno Domino 1826, between the parties to the present treaty. ARTICLE 9. The United States agree to cause the boundary lines of the land of said tribe in the State of Indiana, to be surveyed and marked within the period of one year after the ratification of this treaty. ARTICLE 10. The United States stipulate to possess, the Miami tribe of Indians of, and guarranty to them forever, a country west of the Mississippi river, to remove to and settle on, when the said tribe may be disposed to emigrate from their present country, and that guarranty is hereby pledged: And the said country shall be sufficient in extent, and suited to their wants and condition and be in a region contiguous to that in the occupation of the tribes which emigrated from the States of Ohio and Indiana. And when the said tribe shall have emigrated, the United States shall protect the said tribe and the people thereof, in their rights and possessions, against the injuries, encroachments and oppressions of any person or persons, tribe or tribes whatsoever. ARTICLE 11. It is further stipulated, that the United States will defray the expenses of a deputation of six chiefs or headmen, to explore the country to be assigned to said tribe, west of the Mississippi river. Said deputation to be selected by said tribe in general council. ARTICLE 12. The United States agree to grant by patent to each of the Miami Indians named in the schedule hereunto annexed, the tracts of land therein respectively designated.And the said tribe in general council request, that the patents for the grants in said schedule contained, shall be transmitted to the principal chief of said tribe, to be by him distributed to the respective grantees. ARTICLE 13. It is further stipulated, that should this treaty not be ratified at the next session of the Congress of the United States, then it shall be null and void to all intents and purposes between the parties. ARTICLE 14. And whereas John B. Richardville, the principal chief of said tribe, is very old and infirm, and not well able to endure the fatigue of a long journey, it is agreed that the United States will pay to him and his family the proportion of the annuity of said tribe which their number shall indicate to be due to them, at Fort Wayne whenever the said tribe shall emigrate to the country to be assigned them west, as a future residence. ARTICLE 15. It is further stipulated that as long as the Congress of the United States shall in its discretion make an appropriation under the sixth article of the treaty made between the United States and said tribe in the year 1826 for the support of the infirm and the education of the youth of said tribe one half of the amount so appropriated shall be paid to the chiefs, to be by them applied to the support of the poor and infirm of said tribe, in such manner as shall be most beneficial. ARTICLE 16. This treaty after the same shall be ratified by the President and Senate of the United States, shall be binding on the contracting parties. In testimony whereof the said Abel C. Pepper commissioner as aforesaid, and the chiefs, headmen and warriors of the Miami tribe of Indians, have hereunto set their hands at the forks of the Wabash the sixth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty eight. Abel C. Pepper, Commissioner. J. B. Richardville, Minjenickeaw, Paw-lawn-zo-aw, Ne-we-lang-guaung-gaw, O-zan-de-ah, Waw-pa-pin-shaw, Nac-kaw-guaung-gaw, Kaw-tah-maung-guaw, Kah-wah-zay, To-pe-yaw, Pe-waw-pe-yaw, Me-shing-go-me-jaw, Nac-kon-zaw, Ne-kon-zaw, Waw-pe-maung-guaw, Ching-guaw-ke-aw, Aw-koo-te-aw, Ke-mo-te-aw, Kil-so-aw, Taw-we-ke-juc, Waw-paw-ko-se-aw, Mac-quaw-ko-naung, Maw-yauc-que-yaw. Signed in presence of— John T. Douglass, Sub-Agent. Allen Hamilton, Secretary to Commissioner. Danl. D. Pratt, Assistant Secretary to Commissioner. J. B. Duret, H. Lasselle, Wm. Hulbert, Indian Agent. (To the Indian names are subjoined marks.) Schedule of grants referred to in the foregoing treaty article twelve. To John B. Richardville, principal chief.Two sections of land, to include and command the principal falls of Pipe creek.Three sections of land, commencing at the mouth of the Salamania river, thence running three miles down the Wabash river, and one mile up the Salamania river.Two sections of land, commencing at the mouth of the Mississinnewa river, thence down the Wabash river two miles and up the Mississinnewa river, one mile.One and one half section of land on the Wabash river at the mouth of Flat Rock (creek) to include his mills and the privileges thereof.One section of land on the Wabash river opposite the town of Wabash:All of which said tracts of land are to be surveyed as directed by the said grantee.To Francis Godfroy a chief one section of land opposite the town of Peru and on the Wabash river.One section of land on Little Pipe creek, to include his mill and the privileges thereof.Four sections of land where he now lives.All which said tracts of land are to be surveyed as directed by the said grantee.To Po-qua Godfroy one section of land to run one mile on the Wabash river and to include the improvements where he now lives.To Catherine Godfroy, daughter of Francis Godfroy and her children one section of land to run one mile on the Wabash river, and to include the improvement where she now lives. To Kah-tah-mong-quah, son of Susan Richardville one half section of land on the Wabash river below and adjoining the three sections granted to John B. Richardville.To Mong-go-sah, son of La Blonde one-half section of land on the Wabash river below and adjoining the half section granted to Kah-tah-mong-quah.To Peter Gouin one section of land on the Sixth mile reserve, commencing where the northern line of said reserve intersects the Wabash river; thence down said river one mile and back for quantity.To Mais-shil-gouin-mi-zah, one section of land to include the “Deer Lick,” alias La Saline, on the creek that enters the Wabash river nearly opposite the town of Wabash.To O-zah-shin-quah and the wife of Bronilette, daughters of the “Deaf Man” as tenants in common one section of land on the Mississinnewa river to include the improvements where they now live.To O-san-di ah one section of land where he now lives on the Mississinnewa river, to include his improvements.To Wah-pi-pin-cha one section of land on the Mississinnewa river, directly opposite the section granted to O-san-di-ah.To Mais-zi-quah one section of land on the Wabash river, commencing at the lower part of the improvement of Old Sally, thence up said river one mile and back for quantity.To Tah-ko-nong one section of land where he now lives on the Mississinnewa river.To Cha-pine one section of land where he now lives on the Ten mile reserve.To White Loon one section of land, at the crossing of Longlois's creek, on the Ten mile reserve, to run up said creek.To Francis Godfroy one section of land, to be located where he shall direct.To Neh-wah-ling-quah one section of land where he now lives on the Ten mile reserve.To La Fountain one section of land south of the section he now lives on and adjoining the same, on the Ten mile reserve.To Seek one section of land south of the section of land granted to Wa-pa-se-pah by the treaty of 1834 on the Ten mile reserve.To Black Loon one section of land on the Six mile reserve, commencing at a line which will divide his field on the Wabash river, thence up the river one mile and back for quantity.To Duck one section of land on the Wabash river below and adjoining the section granted to Black Loon, and one mile down said river, and back for quantity.To Me-cha-ne-qua a chief, alias Gros-mis one section of land where he now lives;One section to include his field on the Salamania river;One and one-half section commencing at the Wabash river where the road crosses the same from John B. Richardville, jr.'s; thence down the said river to the high bank on Mill creek; thence back so as to include a part of the prairie, to be surveyed as directed by said chief.To Tow-wah-keo-shee, wife of Old Pish-a-wa one section of land on the Wabash river below and adjoining the half section granted to Mon-go-sah.To Ko-was-see a chief one section of land now Seeks reserve, to include his orchard and improvements.To Black Loon one section of land on the Six mile reserve and on the Salamania river, to include his improvements.To the wife of Benjamin, Ah-mac-kon-zee-quah one section of land where she now lives, near the prairie and to include her improvements, she being commonly known as Pichoux's sister. To Pe-she-wah one section of land above and adjoining the section and a half granted to John B. Richardville on Flat Rock (creek) and to run one mile on the Wabash river.To White Raccoon one section of land on the Ten mile reserve where he may wish locate the same.To La Blonde, the chiefs daughter one section of land on the Wabash river below and adjoining the section of land granted to Francis Godfroy, to be surveyed as she may direct.To Ni-con-zah one section of land on the Mississinnewa river a little above the section of land granted to the Deaf Man's daughters, and on the opposite side of the river, to include the pine or evergreen tree, and to be surveyed as the may direct.To John B. Richardville one section of land to include the Osage village on the Mississinewa river as well as burying ground of his family, to be surveyed as he may direct.To Kee-ki-lash-e-we-ah alias Godfroy one half section of land back of the section granted to the principal chief opposite the town of Wabash, to include the creek;One-half section of land commencing at the lower corner of the section granted to Mais-zi-quah, thence half a mile down the Wabash river.To Al-lo-lah one section of land above and adjoining the section granted to Mais-shie-gouin-mi-zah and on the same creek.To John B. Richardville, jr. one section of land on Pipe creek above and adjoining the two sections of land granted to the principal chief, to be surveyed as he may direct.To John B. Richardville, one section of land wherever he may choose to have the same located.It is understood that all the foregoing grants are to be located and surveyed so as to correspond with the public surveys as near as may be to include the points designated in each grant respectively. | Mid | [
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Global Economy: On a firmer footing awaiting the Fed LONDON (Reuters) - More bricks in the global recovery wall are likely to slot into place in a week that could also yield more clues as to when the Federal Reserve will start unwinding its exceptional monetary stimulus. But with the timetable for Fed ‘tapering' dependent on the flow of data, any upward revision to U.S. second-quarter GDP growth can only strengthen the hand of those who expect the central bank to move as early as its September 17/18 policy meeting. Economists polled by Reuters reckon GDP expanded at a 2.2 percent clip between April and June, up from an initial estimate of 1.7 percent thanks to a bigger contribution from net exports. The U.S. economy is far from firing on all cylinders. But last week home sales for July jumped to a three-year high and the four-week moving average for new jobless claims fell to the lowest level in nearly six years. Sam Bullard, an economist with Wells Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina, said he still thought, after the minutes of July's policy-making Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke would start to ease off next month. "At least on the economic data front, the numbers are gradually improving and the plan that Bernanke laid out at the June FOMC meeting for potential tapering in the second half of this year still looks as though it's on pace. We're still in that September camp," Bullard said. HEADWINDS AND TAILWINDS To be sure, the Fed has to take account of plenty of headwinds. Bullard cited the risk of a U.S. government shutdown due to wrangling over next year's budget. Congress also needs to raise the federal debt ceiling by November, raising the specter of a repeat of the brinkmanship that rocked markets two years ago. "If the Fed goes for September, they have to have some faith that there'll be some resolution to these federal fiscal issues and that they won't throw their economic growth projections off course," Bullard said. "It's not a slam dunk." Figures this week are also likely to show U.S. inflation according to the Fed's preferred measure, the core deflator for personal consumption expenditure, remained stuck last month near June's uncomfortably low annual rate of 1.2 percent. And financial conditions have tightened since the Fed met in July, with mortgage rates yanked higher by rising bond yields. But Jerry Webman, chief economist with OppenheimerFunds, said the Fed had talked itself into a position where it would arouse suspicions if it did not start buying fewer bonds in September, say $75 billion a month instead of $85 billion. "At the moment, expect tapering to begin in the middle of September; don't expect it to be terribly disruptive to financial markets," New York-based Webman said. JAPAN AND GERMANY LOOKING UP Statistics this week from developed economies should partly allay another concern voiced in the Fed minutes - that America's export markets were sluggish. Japan, responding to aggressive monetary stimulus and a weaker yen, is forecast to report a rebound in industrial output and household spending alongside an acceleration in consumer price inflation - just as the Bank of Japan wishes. In Germany, economists are penciling in a rise in the IFO business climate index for August to 107.0 from 106.2 as well as a solid rise in retail sales and a dip in the number of jobless. After data on Friday showed Germany's 0.7 percent rise in second-quarter GDP was driven by domestic demand, including a rebound in business spending, Thomas Harjes with Barclays in Frankfurt said he expected Europe's largest economy to maintain its underlying 2 percent annualized growth rate through 2014. "Corporate capital investment should continue a moderate recovery unless the euro area crisis intensifies again, or global demand, especially from China, is significantly weaker than expected," Harjes said in a note. The data flow from China has in fact improved lately, and economists expect a modest rise in the official manufacturing purchasing managers' index, due on September 1, to 50.5 from 50.3. That would be welcome news to China's emerging-market trading partners. The currencies of India, Brazil and Indonesia among others have tumbled due to growth worries and a looming end to ever more cheap dollars printed by the Fed - opening up a negative feedback loop for Bernanke to bear in mind. Derry Pickford, a macro analyst with Ashburton in London, said investors might be underestimating the potential impact of emerging-market woes on U.S. and European profitability. "The fact that country-specific emerging market shocks have coincided with tapering talk has created a bit of a perfect storm for emerging markets," he said. | Mid | [
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Study protocol: a single-blind, multi-center, randomized controlled trial comparing dynamic intraligamentary stabilization, internal brace ligament augmentation and reconstruction in individuals with an acute anterior cruciate ligament rupture: LIBRƎ study. The current gold standard for the treatment of an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is reconstruction with tendon graft. Recently, two surgical ACL repair techniques have been developed for treating an acute ACL rupture: Dynamic Intraligamentary Stabilization (DIS, Ligamys®) and Internal Brace Ligament Augmentation (IBLA, InternalBrace™). We will conduct a single-blind, multi-center, randomized controlled trial which compares DIS, IBLA and reconstruction for relative clinical efficacy and economic benefit. Subjects, aged 18-50 years, with a proximal, primary and repairable ACL rupture will be included. DIS is preferably performed within 4 weeks post-rupture, IBLA within 12 weeks and reconstruction after 4 weeks post-rupture. Patients are included in study 1 if they present within 0-4 weeks post-rupture and surgery is feasible within 4 weeks post-rupture. Patients of study 1 will be randomized to either DIS or IBLA. Patients are included in study 2 if they present after 4 weeks post-rupture and surgery is feasible between 5 and 12 weeks post-rupture. Patients of study 2 will be randomized to either IBLA or reconstruction. A total of 96 patients will be included, with 48 patients per study and 24 patients per study arm. Patients will be followed-up for 2 years. The primary outcome is change from baseline (pre-rupture) in International Knee Documentation Committee score to 6 months post-operatively. The main secondary outcomes are the EQ-5D-5 L, Tegner score, Lysholm score, Lachman test, isokinetic and proprioceptive measurements, magnetic resonance imaging outcome, return to work and sports, and re-rupture/failure rates. The statistical analysis will be based on the intention-to-treat principle. The economic impact of the surgery techniques will be evaluated by the cost-utility analysis. The LIBRƎ study is to be conducted between 2018 and 2022. This LIBRƎ study protocol is the first study to compare DIS, IBLA and ACL reconstruction for relative clinical efficacy and economic benefit. The outcomes of this study will provide data which could aid orthopaedic surgeons to choose between the different treatment options for the surgical treatment of an acute ACL rupture. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT03441295. Date registered 13.02.2018. | High | [
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Q: How do I close() .executeUpdate? I am wondering, how do I close an executeUpdate statement in JAVA(JDBC)? For example: String sql = "UPDATE. .. . .. Whatever..."; ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql); rs.close(); But I couldn't do this to update. So I googled and found out that I need to use executeUpdate but how do I close the statement after? String sql = "UPDATE. .. . .. Whatever..."; int rs = stmt.executeUpdate(sql); rs.close(); ??? <------ A: You don't close the executeUpdate, you close the Statement: rs.close(); // Closes the ResultSet stmt.close(); // Closes the Statement Usually best to do that with a try-with-resources statement: String sql = "UPDATE. .. . .. Whatever..."; try ( Statement stmt = conn.createStatement(); ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(sql); ) { // Process results } try-with-resources will close both the Statement and the ResultSet for you. It was added in Java 7 (in 2011). Side note: You've shown that you're using Statement and calling executeUpdate(String). That's fine as long as there's no externally-sourced information in the SQL (nothing you've received from user input or another system, etc.). In the more common case, though, you'd want to use a PreparedStatement, call setXyz to set parameters, and then call executeUpdate() (the zero-args version). This habit keeps you safe from SQL injection. More explanation and examples on this useful site: http://bobby-tables.com/. | High | [
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import * as $ from 'jquery'; import 'easy-pie-chart/dist/jquery.easypiechart.min.js'; export default (function () { if ($('.easy-pie-chart').length > 0) { $('.easy-pie-chart').easyPieChart({ onStep(from, to, percent) { this.el.children[0].innerHTML = `${Math.round(percent)} %`; }, }); } }()) | Low | [
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Prince Harry Applauds Parents Caring for Their Sick Children During the Coronavirus Prince Harry joined a video conference call with parents and members of his charity WellChild, discussing the complex challenges many families are facing during the COVID-19 crisis, from social isolation to accessing supplies, and the medical support those caring for sick children are in need of. “Full respect to every single one of you. This is hard on everyone, but it is especially hard on you. I know that WellChild are doing everything they can to support you” the Duke of Sussex said. Prince Harry, who is adjusting to life in isolation with Meghan noted the challenge of “having one kid, an eleven month old” saying “it’s a whole different ballgame when you have kids,” praising those caring for seriously ill children or "super parents,” as he said. “The resilience and strength you guys have is absolutely incredible and you must never, ever, ever forget that. Of course there are going to be hard days but I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it is for you.” The Duke of Sussex said thanking the parents for their devotion. Prince Harry’s conversation took place over the Easter weekend with the CEO of WellChild Colin Dyer, a WellChild Nurse and two parents trying to cope through the crisis. It was the first time Harry, dressed in a casual blue polo short, had been seen since he and Meghan stepped down as senior Royals on March 31st. Prince Harry on a video conference call with his charity, WellChild When asked how he was, Harry shared, "I’m not too bad. I think it’s suddenly strange times, everyone is suddenly experiencing the same thing in a very unique way," but in a sober moment he said the challenges were even greater for families dealing with high risk and vulnerable children. "The longer this goes on for, the harder this is for each and everyone one of you." When Harry asked what people could do to show their support to families in duress, Dyer said, "Families need us more than ever," adding, "basic supplies are needed, from food, to cleaning products. A lot of families are finding it difficult getting themselves included on 'vulnerable lists.'" The Duke and Duchess of Sussex may have relocated but they are still wholeheartedly committed to their charities. Prince Harry, who has been patron of WellChild since 2007, attended their awards ceremony in October to pay tribute to the children who show exceptional bravery despite their illnesses. 2019 Well Child Awards WPA PoolGetty Images During the ceremony, Harry made a moving speech. “My wife and I feel incredibly privileged to join you tonight, to be in a room with such amazing human beings,” he said. “This year resonates in different ways because I’m a father." He added that the previous year, when they first attended as a couple, they knew they were pregnant, but no one else did. "I remember squeezing Meghan's hand so tight, and wondering what it would be like to have a child born with such immediate challenges. Being around these parents pulls at my heartstrings,” Prince Harry reflected. “In a way I could have never understood before I was a parent myself.” The couple who have been isolating themselves with Baby Archie in California have been working behind the scenes, taking part in meetings as they begin in the process of formulating their new non-profit which will be named Archewell. In a poignant moment on the video call, The Duke of Sussex encouraged the children to stay hopeful and focused on their future. “It is really nice to see you all smiling and happy. Keep going, keep the morale up, keep busy, keep being creative, dare yourself to try new hobbies and I hope to see you all again very, very soon!” The Duke of Sussex also shared that there have been benefits being at home with his wife and son. “Having so much family time...you’ve got to celebrate those moments where you are just on the floor rolling around in hysterics." This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site. A Part of Hearst Digital Media Oprah Magazine participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. | Mid | [
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baby Maine state Rep. Lawrence Lockman is awful. Like, really, really awful. Blogger Mike Tipping put together a post of quotes pulled from the course of Lockman’s career about rape, the LGBT community and AIDS, and abortion. I know, you’re shocked… Read More › Thank you, Pro-Life Action League! I always enjoy when the opposition commentary proves my point. The fixation on one sub point from my last piece – Picketers vs Patients – is just the latest example of anti-choice activists knowing their… Read More › | Low | [
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Postoperative bleeding after diathermy and dissection tonsillectomy. To analyze the incidence and pattern of bleeding after tonsillectomy performed by either cold dissection or diathermy. A prospective, nonrandomized cohort study of postoperative hemorrhage after tonsillectomy. Monthly reporting of the number of tonsillectomies and postoperative bleeds from otolaryngologists working in rural areas of Victoria, Australia over a 2.5 year period. Criteria for bleeding were either 1) repeat anesthesia and surgery because of hemorrhage (including return to theater from the recovery room), or 2) readmission to hospital because of bleeding, or 3) blood transfusion to replace blood loss. Main outcome measures were the incidence, volume, and time course of postoperative hemorrhage. The number of bilateral tonsillectomies with removal by cold-blunt dissection was 3,087. In this group, there were 57 (1.85%) bleeds. The number of bilateral tonsillectomies with removal by diathermy dissection was 1,557. In this group, there were 37 (2.38%) bleeds. If cold dissection is taken as the "control" and diathermy tonsillectomy as the "treatment" group, the relative risk of bleeding after diathermy tonsillectomy is 1.30 (95% confidence interval 0.88-1.93). The pattern of bleeding after each technique differs significantly over time, with more reactionary bleeds in the dissection group and more bleeds between 4 to 7 postoperative days after diathermy. When bleeding occurred, it was in excess of 500 mL in 16% of dissection cases and 43% of diathermy tonsillectomies. The difference in the risk of bleeding after each technique did not reach statistical significance, but the temporal pattern of hemorrhage differed, and more bleeds exceeding 500 mL were seen in the diathermy group. | High | [
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Q: How can you improve accessibility in Visual Studio for visually impaired people? My friend has a with a visual impairment. He is interested in learning and programming in VB.NET. He's currently using Narrator in Windows for his regular activities when using his computer. But is there any tool better than Narrator, which can assist him in programming in Visual Studio? for e.g consider the following code: for i=0 to 10 msgbox"hi"; end sub. In the above piece of code there was an error and the narrator cant able to demonstrate there's an error in this line1 ,as normal people we can simple see the debugger and correct it,as he is visually impaired and the narrator fails to read the debugger error, so i seek the help from this community is it there any tool to help him better than narrator? A: You might want to look at the things listed on this page. While it does not appear that there is one setting for making visual studio easier to use for the visually impaired, and Narrator will not do very much, there are a variety of things that you can to make things bigger, etc. You might also want to take a look at the answers to this question for a different type of solution (though something like Jaws may either be something that you have already or way out of your price range). | High | [
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[Anomalies of lipid metabolism in diabetes mellitus]. Atheroma is by far the most common cause of mortality in diabetic patients (66 to 75% of deaths). Several physiopathological mechanisms are suspected to account for the greater frequency and severity of atheroma in diabetes. Among these, lipid abnormalities hold first rank and include not only quantitative but also qualitative abnormalities of lipoproteins altering their kinetics and bindings to membrane receptors. The main quantitative abnormalities are an increase of triglycerides and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and a fall in high density lipoproteins (HDL) and their HDL2 subfraction. Qualitative abnormalities include non-enzymatic glucosylation of apoproteins, changes in lipoprotein size and increase in their triglyceride content, and excessive oxidation of low density lipoproteins (LDL). Both quantitative and qualitative abnormalities of lipoproteins are present in non-insulin-dependent diabetes, whereas only qualitative abnormalities are observed, as a rule, in treated insulin-dependent diabetes. The physiopathology of lipid metabolism disorders is complex, possibly multifactorial and still imperfectly known. However, such factors as modification of insulin status, hyperglycaemia and obesity frequently associated with diabetes, are thought to be involved. | High | [
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What the experts are saying about IIP.UN-T All apartment REITs now are beasts--don't sell them. They keep going up. IIP owns great properties in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, many apartments which have little supply but strong demand. The IIP valuation is too high for him, but it will generate good cash flow growth at 10% a year. The only thing to stop this is a recession which he doesn't expect. All apartment REITs now are beasts--don't sell them. They keep going up. IIP owns great properties in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, many apartments which have little supply but strong demand. The IIP valuation is too high for him, but it will generate good cash flow growth at 10% a year. The only thing to stop this is a recession which he doesn't expect. He missed this and kicks himself for it. They own multi-dwelling apartments in Ontario and Quebec. They have executed incredibly well and have record occupancy. The only problem is that it trades at a 25% premium to NAV -- just too expensive. He missed this and kicks himself for it. They own multi-dwelling apartments in Ontario and Quebec. They have executed incredibly well and have record occupancy. The only problem is that it trades at a 25% premium to NAV -- just too expensive. Entry into Montreal? The management team is one of the best out there. They buy undervalued properties and get big uplifts. They have perfected in Ottawa and the GTO. Montreal is not a new market to them. Overall the residential market space is well favoured. The tech industry has spawned in Toronto and it is spreading across the country. There is a shortage of good quality housing across the country. The yield just above 3%, but you are really buying this for their growth opportunities. Entry into Montreal? The management team is one of the best out there. They buy undervalued properties and get big uplifts. They have perfected in Ottawa and the GTO. Montreal is not a new market to them. Overall the residential market space is well favoured. The tech industry has spawned in Toronto and it is spreading across the country. There is a shortage of good quality housing across the country. The yield just above 3%, but you are really buying this for their growth opportunities. Rental properties in Ontario. One of the best performing REITs. He kicks himself for not owning it. What he got wrong is that Ontario Government went into rent control he didn't have to deal with that, but they didn't have any hiccup with that at all. They are very good at what they do. It is expensive now. Rental properties in Ontario. One of the best performing REITs. He kicks himself for not owning it. What he got wrong is that Ontario Government went into rent control he didn't have to deal with that, but they didn't have any hiccup with that at all. They are very good at what they do. It is expensive now. (A Top Pick Oct 01/18, Up 25%) It's apartments in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. They've done an excellent job buying properities and refurbishing them. Margins are way up. They bought some apartments in Montreal recently. Pays only a 2% yield, but they consistently raise it. (A Top Pick Oct 01/18, Up 25%) It's apartments in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. They've done an excellent job buying properities and refurbishing them. Margins are way up. They bought some apartments in Montreal recently. Pays only a 2% yield, but they consistently raise it. Apartments in Southern Ontario and Montreal. They had a good 2018. The fundamentals for apartments are quite good. There is a lot of immigration into Southern Ontario. 67% payout ratio. Expect dividend increases in coming years. They will not do as well in 2019 as 2018. Apartments in Southern Ontario and Montreal. They had a good 2018. The fundamentals for apartments are quite good. There is a lot of immigration into Southern Ontario. 67% payout ratio. Expect dividend increases in coming years. They will not do as well in 2019 as 2018. Apartment in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. It's not exposed to tariffs. Management has done a good job and their chart looks good. They internalized management which will boost earnings. They continue to pick up rental units outside the urban core in the GTA. It helps that few rentals are being built. Stock price has risen a lot, but this is a good long-term play. (2.3% dividend, Analysts' price target: $12.10) Apartment in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. It's not exposed to tariffs. Management has done a good job and their chart looks good. They internalized management which will boost earnings. They continue to pick up rental units outside the urban core in the GTA. It helps that few rentals are being built. Stock price has risen a lot, but this is a good long-term play. (2.3% dividend, Analysts' price target: $12.10) He likes management. Their ability to increase distributions will be there as their more aggressive development plan starts kicking in. They have a number of large-scale developments, which have taken a bit longer, but the dividend will increase over time. More importantly is the amount of growth you can get in earnings when you are able to buy something broken and fix it. You are paying for broken, but you are getting fixed in the end. Returns are very strong. Thinks this will be issuing equity sometime in 2017, so you may want to wait for the equity deal. Dividend yield of 3.1%. He likes management. Their ability to increase distributions will be there as their more aggressive development plan starts kicking in. They have a number of large-scale developments, which have taken a bit longer, but the dividend will increase over time. More importantly is the amount of growth you can get in earnings when you are able to buy something broken and fix it. You are paying for broken, but you are getting fixed in the end. Returns are very strong. Thinks this will be issuing equity sometime in 2017, so you may want to wait for the equity deal. Dividend yield of 3.1%. Immigration significantly contributed to population growth in Canada. In the last year, it has probably accounted for about three quarters of it. There is a benefit to owning apartment REITs if you think the cost of housing is relatively high, and you have an influx of immigrants. This REIT has a fantastic management team that tends to be more focused on “value add”. They will buy a property that is not necessarily maximizing its income possibility. They will gussy it up, increase rents, which will drive a significant increase in the share price and the value proposition. He likes this very much. Immigration significantly contributed to population growth in Canada. In the last year, it has probably accounted for about three quarters of it. There is a benefit to owning apartment REITs if you think the cost of housing is relatively high, and you have an influx of immigrants. This REIT has a fantastic management team that tends to be more focused on “value add”. They will buy a property that is not necessarily maximizing its income possibility. They will gussy it up, increase rents, which will drive a significant increase in the share price and the value proposition. He likes this very much. (A Top Pick March 19/15. Up 19.04%.)An apartment REIT based in Eastern Canada. Most properties are in Ontario where rents are regulated, but they tend to focus more on “value add”, where they buy a property that is not really achieving its full potential, put a little bit of money into it, and try to ramp up the occupancy, which has certainly worked out well for them. (A Top Pick March 19/15. Up 19.04%.)An apartment REIT based in Eastern Canada. Most properties are in Ontario where rents are regulated, but they tend to focus more on “value add”, where they buy a property that is not really achieving its full potential, put a little bit of money into it, and try to ramp up the occupancy, which has certainly worked out well for them. (A Top Pick March 19/15. Up 8.46%.)Has exposure to Eastern Canada, so low income Housing. No exposure to Western Canada, strong balance sheet and good management has really helped. Dividend yield of 3.5%. (A Top Pick March 19/15. Up 8.46%.)Has exposure to Eastern Canada, so low income Housing. No exposure to Western Canada, strong balance sheet and good management has really helped. Dividend yield of 3.5%. He is a big fan of this company. They have a very entrepreneurial style. Dividend payout is very low and very sustainable. Sees more than average growth potential, so continues to like it. Good management. He is a big fan of this company. They have a very entrepreneurial style. Dividend payout is very low and very sustainable. Sees more than average growth potential, so continues to like it. Good management. Comments Stockchase, in its reporting on what has been discussed by individuals on business television programs (in particular Business News Network), neither recommends nor promotes any investment strategies. We paraphrase the experts by hand, we watch the shows and write down what we understood from the experts’ comments. We are human and can make mistakes, help us fix any errors. If you see something that you know is not right or if there is a problem with the site, feel free to email us at : [email protected]. | Mid | [
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New Investment to Help Struggling Anaerobic Digestion Plants Many anaerobic digestion plants are struggling to make a profit, but landowners, plant owners and operators can now turn to a specialist investment fund for help. Aether Energy, which has the backing of institutional investors, is working with a leading anaerobic digestion operator to acquire and refinance struggling plants to boost their performance. “The AD sector is in a difficult place right now,” explains portfolio director Scott Hunt. “Many plants were set up at high capital cost, with unsustainable debt levels and sub-standard operational efficiencies. But these plants can still have a bright future, and we have both the technical know-how and the financial backing to help them achieve that.” Scott Hunt Given the relative infancy – and therefore risk - of the sector, many plants were very costly to install, and were financed on short-term loans with high interest rates. In addition, the physical construction and technical understanding of how they operate has advanced significantly in recent years, says Mr Hunt. “According to the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association, [ADBA] which represents the sector in the UK, the average operational efficiency of plants is just 73%. Some are running at below 50% efficiency, and there’s no way you can make money at those levels in the short or long-term.” This leaves landowners and operators in a difficult position. “The asset is unlikely to be worth what it cost, and owners may need to invest to improve operational efficiency, or refinance loans over a longer period. However, because the plant isn’t profitable, it’s almost impossible to do either.” Fortunately, Aether Energy can help, by buying out under-performing plants or partnering with owners and existing operators to boost efficiencies. “Typically, we can restructure finance over the life of the Feed-in Tariff or Renewable Heat Incentive, backed by large, well-respected institutions,” explains Mr Hunt. “And we have arguably one of the best private AD operators to address the pre-existing practical difficulties, boosting operational efficiencies towards and beyond 90%.” The firm is seeking sites of 0.5MW upwards across Great Britain, and is offering free long-term financial modelling and valuation, based on actual performance to interested parties. Its initial funding is £50m but that can be extended to accommodate larger plants or portfolios depending on uptake. All investors have agreed to an open-ended fund structure. “Whether you are an owner-operator or in partnership with a large investor, it is highly possible to negotiate new contracts,” adds Mr Hunt. “Many AD plants need to re-structure to become efficient in the medium to long term. It is exciting to be able to offer this lifeline to struggling plant owners and at the same time maximise the productivity of the nation’s AD plants.” | Mid | [
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--- abstract: 'Variation of intensity of the flux at the cores of large features and spectral lines of the classical magnetic CP star $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn in the ultraviolet spectral region from 1150 to 3200 Å is investigated. This study is based on the archival [*International Ultraviolet Explorer*]{} data obtained at different phases of the rotational cycle. The shapes of two light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1375 and 1415 Å at the core of large feature at $\lambda$ 1400 Å curves significantly differ. The light curve at $\lambda$ 1375 Å show similar shape as in the ’pseudo-continuum’. The same behavior of the flux is at the cores of Si II resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64 and 1485 Å. While, the light curve at $\lambda$ 1415 Å show the phase displacement of minimum of the flux. The phase displacement also is presented at the cores of Si II resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1304–09 and 1485 Å. The minimal values of the amplitude of the flux variations are reached at the cores of the large features at $\lambda\lambda$ 1560 and 1770 Å and at the cores of the strong Si II resonance lines. The flux at the cores of large feature at $\lambda$ 1770 Å and Fe II resonance line at $\lambda$ 1725–31 Å, within errors measurements, does not vary. The investigation of variability of the flux in the wings of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line indicate that the fluxes, which formed in inner layers of atmosphere, are redistributed into outer layers of atmosphere of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn.' author: - 'N. A. Sokolov' title: 'Variations of Flux Intensity in Large Features and Spectral Lines of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn in Ultraviolet [^1]' --- Introduction ============ The magnetic Chemically Peculiar (mCP) star $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn (HD 112413, HR 4915) displays strong line profile variations in the visual spectral region, attributable to the non-uniform chemical abundance distribution on stellar surface, particularly of the lines of Fe, Cr and Ti (Khokhlova & Pavlova 1984), Eu, Cr and Si (Goncharskii et al. 1983) and O (Gonzalez & Artru 1994). Ryabchikova et al. (1999) report the first identification of the Eu III $\lambda$ 6666.347 line in spectrum $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. Later Kochukhov et al. (2002) used the new magnetic Doppler Imaging code to reconstruct the magnetic field geometry and surface abundance distributions for six chemical elements of this star. The study in the ultraviolet have been restricted to much lower resolution, usually without resolving individual stellar lines (e.g., Leckrone & Snijders 1979). Hensberge et al. (1986) identified the ions Mg II Si II, Cr II, Mn II, Fe II, Fe III, Co II, Ni II, Yb II and W II in the mid-ultraviolet spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn, which has been obtained with the BUSS (Balloon-Borne Ultraviolet Spectrograph). High-dispersion IUE observations of the two resonance lines of Mg II, at $\lambda\lambda$ 1650 and 1942 Å, were investigated by Leckrone (1984) for two normal stars, six HgMn stars and for the magnetic variable $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. The last star possesses moderately strong Hg II resonance lines, confirming its classification as Hg-rich, but its magnesium anomaly is less pronounced than that of the MgMn stars. Fuhrmann (1989) investigated the high-resolution spectra of the CP star HR 465. For comparison purposes, the spectra of some other stars, including $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn, were discussed as well. The author have noted that the C II resonance doublet at $\lambda$ 1334.5–1335.7 Å are comparatively weak in the spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. To quantify the ultraviolet variations of the C IV doublet at $\lambda\lambda$ 1548, 1550 Å, Shore et al. (1987) have formed the photometric line index, expressed in magnitudes. Later, Sokolov (2000, 2006) had introduced the analogous photometric indices in order to derive the variations of the total absorption in the broad features at far-UV spectral region. Unfortunately, these indices depends strongly upon the stability of the intensity of the near continuum. Based on the fact that the Newly Extracted Spectra (INES) data are presented in absolute units, it is possible to investigate the variations of the fluxes at the cores of the large features and spectral lines. Recently, such attempt was made by Sokolov (2010) for mCP star 56 Ari. Another mCP star is $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn for which there are enough data in order to investigate the variability of the flux at the cores of the large features and spectral lines. This is done in the present paper. Observational Data and Analysis =============================== spectra -------- The spectra used in this study are low-resolution echelle spectra obtained with a resolution of about 6 Å. Additionally, the ’rebinned’ spectra from high-dispersion images of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn were used, as well. In all cases, the spectra were obtained through the large aperture (9.5$\arcsec$ $\times$ 22$\arcsec$). Finally, we analyzed 22 SWP, 10 LWR and 6 LWP spectra, distributed quite smoothly over the period of rotation. The description of these spectra in detail is done by Sokolov (2011). Data analysis ------------- To analyze the spectra of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn we used the linearized least-squares method. An attempt was made to describe the light curves in a quantitative way by adjusting a Fourier series. The method has already applied to the data of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn and has shown the very good descriptions of the monochromatic light curves in the ’pseudo-continuum’ (Sokolov 2011). Thus, the observations were also fitted by a simple cosine wave: $$F(\lambda,\,t)=A_{0}(\lambda) + A_{1}(\lambda)\cos(2\pi(t-T_{0})/P +\phi(\lambda)), \label{equation_2}$$ where $F(\lambda,\,t)$ is a flux for the given $\lambda$ and the $t$ is Julian date of the observation. The $T_{0}$ and $P$ are zero epoch and rotational period of Farnsworth (1932) ephemeris, respectively. The coefficients $A_{0}(\lambda)$ of the fitted curves define the average distribution of energy over the cycle of the variability while the coefficients $A_{1}(\lambda)$ define the semi-amplitude of the flux variations for the given $\lambda$. Identification of Large Features and Spectral Lines in the Spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn {#sect_3} =========================================================================================== In the far-UV spectral region silicon appears as the main absorber with the strong resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64, 1304–09, 1485, 1526–33 Å (see Fig. 2 of Sokolov 2011). It should be noted that the blend at $\lambda$1304–09 Å has two major contributors: the resonance doublet and the autoionising multiplets (Artru & Lanz 1987). According to Artru & Lanz (1987), the strong lines in the spectrum of CP stars appear from C II at $\lambda$ 1334 Å and Al II at $\lambda$ 1671 Å, which is close to a strong C I at $\lambda$ 1657 Å line. Fe II form a depression at $\lambda$ 1725–31 Å and Cr II produces line at $\lambda$ 1434 Å. Although in the case of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn the line from C II at $\lambda$ 1334 Å is not detectable at this resolution. Moreover, the C II resonance doublet at $\lambda$ 1334.5–1335.7 Å are comparatively weak at the high-resolution spectrum of this star (Fuhrmann 1989). In previous study of the star 56 Ari we identified which elements are responsible for depressions of the flux centered at $\lambda\lambda$ 2140, 2250, 2540, 2607, 2624 and 2747 Å (Sokolov 2010). The synthetic spectrum calculation showed that Fe II appears as the main absorber for these depressions. On the other hand, the same synthetic spectrum calculation showed that mainly Fe, Cr and Ni are responsible for depression of the flux at $\lambda$ 2140 Å. Comparison of the average energy distribution of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn with the average energy distribution of 56 Ari showed that the depressions of the flux centered at $\lambda\lambda$ 2140, 2250, 2540, 2607, 2624 and 2747 Å also is presented in the spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. It is well known that Mg II resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 2795, 2798 and 2803 Å are responsible for depression of the flux at $\lambda$ 2800 Å. This depression is not detectable at low-resolution mode in the spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. Prominent depressions of the flux in the near-UV spectral region are indicated in Fig. \[mean\_lw\] with their identification. In order to compare the average distributions of energy of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn and 56 Ari, the fluxes of 56 Ari were increased by the factor ten on Fig. \[mean\_lw\]. {width="150mm"} Four large features at $\lambda\lambda$ 1400, 1560, 1770 and 2350–2400 Å, which are strongly enhanced in the spectrum of CP stars, are well seen in spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. Lanz et al. (1996) have given strong arguments supporting the idea that the intense autoionization resonanses of Si II could explain the features at $\lambda$ 1400 and 1560 Å in the spectrum of CP stars. On the other hand, they were unable to identify the depression of the flux at $\lambda$ 1770 Å. Another element may cause this strong depression. Comparison of the high resolution spectrum of 56 Ari with the full synthetic spectrum as well as those including lines from only one element showed that the iron is responsible for depression of the flux at $\lambda$ 1770 Å (see Fig. 9 of Sokolov 2006). It is necessary to note that this depression is considerably increased in spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn than in spectrum of 56 Ari. The large feature at $\lambda$ 2350–2400 Å which are strongly enhanced in the spectrum of CP stars, are well seen in spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. The lines of iron peak elements have a particularly important contribution to opacity at $\lambda$ 2350–2400 Å. Adelman et al. (1993) have given strong arguments supporting the idea that a large number the lines of iron can explain the feature at $\lambda$ 2350–2400 Å. Many CP stars have here a very pronounced depression of the flux compared to normal stars (Stepie[' n]{} & Czechowski 1993). Average Flux Determination at the Cores of Large Features and Spectral Lines in the Spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn ==================================================================================================================== To measure the absorption at the cores of large features, the spectra were processed using the spectral reduction software [spe]{} developed by S. Sergeev at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO). The program allows measuring the average intensity of the flux and corresponding error in any selected rectangular spectral region. For the large features at $\lambda$ 1560 and 1770 Å spectral regions are $\sim$10 Å wide, while for the largest feature at $\lambda$ 1400 Å two spectral regions were selected and centered at $\lambda$ 1375 and 1415 Å. On the other hand, for the large feature at $\lambda$ 2350–2400 Å the spectral region was used with $\sim$50 Å wide and centered at $\lambda$ 2375 Å. The resonance doublets of Si II and Fe II lines are looked as depressions in the low-resolution spectrum of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn, as illustrated by Fig. \[a0\_1725\]. Thus, the average intensity of the flux at the cores of the spectral lines was computed by averaging five nearest fluxes for a given $\lambda$: $$F(\lambda) = \frac{1}{5}\sum_{i=1}^{5} F(\lambda-\lambda_{step\cdot(i-3)}) \label{equation_2}$$ where $\lambda_{step}$ is equal 1.676 Å for SWP camera and is equal 2.669 Åfor LWR and LWP cameras. As far as the errors in $F(\lambda)$ are concerned, we computed them by taking into account the the errors in the fluxes as presented in INES $Catalog$, according to the standard propagation theory of errors. In order to check reliability of the average intensity of the flux at the cores of the spectral lines, the spectra were also processed using program [spe]{}. Experience showed that within errors of measurements the average intensity of the fluxes computed by program [spe]{} and by using equation \[equation\_2\] are the same. ![The spectral region of Fe II doublet at $\lambda$ 1725-31 Å of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. The rectangle shows the selected spectral region for calculation of the average intensity at the core of this doublet.[]{data-label="a0_1725"}](a0_1725.eps){width="85mm"} Variations of Large Features ---------------------------- Figure \[features\] exhibits the variations of the average intensity of the fluxes at the cores of large features versus the rotational phase. First of all, the shapes of two light curves at the core of large feature at $\lambda$ 1400 Å significantly differ. The minimum of the light curve at $\lambda$ 1375 Å is reached at phase 0.05 while the minimum of the light curve at $\lambda$ 1415 Å is at phase 0.26. Although, the amplitudes of two light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1375 and 1415 Å are approximately the same and are equal to 0.41 and 0.32 $\times$ , respectively. According to the model computation of Lanz et al. (1996), two features at $\lambda\lambda$ 1400 and 1560 Å are connected with the intense autoionization resonance of Si II. Qualitative comparison of the light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1375 and 1560 Åshows the good agreement. The minimum of the light curve at $\lambda$ 1375 Å is reached at phase 0.05 while the minimum of the light curve at $\lambda$ 1560 Å is at phase 0.10. Also, the amplitudes of two light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1375 and 1560 Åare approximately the same and are equal to 0.41 and 0.38 $\times$ , as illustrated by Fig. \[features\]. The identification of two features at $\lambda\lambda$ 1770 and 2375 Åare connected with a large concentration of iron lines (see Sect. \[sect\_3\]). The flux variations at the cores of the features at $\lambda\lambda$ 1770 and 2375 Å also significantly differ. Thus, the amplitude of the light curve at the core of the feature at $\lambda$ 1770 Å is equal to 0.11 $\times$ . Practically, the flux at the core of this feature, within errors measurements, does not vary. On the other hand, the amplitude of the light curve at the core of the feature at $\lambda$ 2375 Å is equal to 0.43 $\times$ . Although, the shapes of light curves are approximately the same, as illustrated by Fig. \[features\]. One can see, that the behavior of the flux is different at the cores of large features, even if the same element is responsible for the features. This puzzling situation was one of the incentives for studying the variations of the flux at the cores of the Si II resonance lines and the depressions for which is responsible a concentration of Fe II lines. Variations of Si II Resonance Lines ----------------------------------- Even for the normal stars, Si II appears as the main absorber with the strongest resonance lines recognizable at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64, 1304–09, 1485, 1526–33 Å (Artru & Lanz 1987). Figure \[features\] exhibits the variations of the flux at the cores of these depressions versus the rotational phase. Note that the vertical scales are the same for each part of the figure. One can see from Fig. \[features\], the light curves have the similar shapes in cores of resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64 and 1526–33 Å. The minima of the light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64 and 1526–33 Å are reached at phases 0.05 and 0.02, respectively. The similar behavior also shows the nearest monochromatic light curves in the ’pseudo-continuum’ (see Fig. 3 of Sokolov 2011). Also, the amplitudes of the light curves at the cores of the depressions at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64 and 1526–33 Å are in the good agreement and are equal to 0.49 and 0.63 $\times$ , respectively. It should be noted that the similar shape shows the light curve at $\lambda$ 1375 Å. On the other hand, the minima of the light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1304–09 and 1485 Å are reached at phases 0.12 and 0.30, as illustrated by Fig. \[features\]. Although, the minima of the monochromatic light curves are reached at phase $\sim$0.0 in the nearest ’pseudo-continuum’. Moreover, the amplitudes of the light curves are different at $\lambda\lambda$ 1304–09 and 1485 Å and are equal 0.38 and 0.64 $\times$ , respectively. It should be noted that the similar shape shows the light curve at $\lambda$ 1415 Å. The monochromatic light curves in the near-UV spectral region with $\lambda$ $>$ 2505 Å in the ’pseudo-continuum’ also shows such behavior. The near-UV spectral region is quite important in order to investigate the variability of the flux at the cores of Fe II lines. {width="170mm"} Variations of Fe II Lines ------------------------- In the far-UV spectral region Fe II doublet at $\lambda$ 1725–31 Å gives only one depression of the flux (Artru & Lanz 1987). The synthetic spectrum calculation showed that Fe II appears as the main absorber of the flux at $\lambda\lambda$ 2250, 2540, 2607, 2624 and 2747 Å(see Sect. \[sect\_3\]). Additionally, the depression of the flux at $\lambda$ 2140 Å was included in our investigation. On the other hand, two depressions of the flux at $\lambda\lambda$ 2607 and 2624 Å showed the same behavior. Thus, we have included in our investigation only the depression of the flux at $\lambda$ 2607 Å. Figure \[iron\] exhibits the variations of the average intensity of the flux at the cores of Fe II lines versus the rotational phase. Note that the vertical scales are the same for each part of the figure. As can be seen on the graphs of Fig. \[iron\], the variability of the flux at the cores of Fe II lines shows by about the same behavior as the monochromatic light curves with $\lambda$ $>$ 2505 Å in the ’pseudo-continuum’ (see. Fig. 3 of Sokolov 2011). The light curves at the cores of of Fe II lines are showing the phase displacement of the minimum of the flux from 0.07 at $\lambda$ 2250 Åto 0.31 at $\lambda$ 2747 Å. Additionally, the minimum of the light curve at the core of of Fe II lines at $\lambda$ 2140 Å is at phase 0.16. Although, the amplitude of the light curve at $\lambda$ 2140 Å is big enough and is equal to 0.69 $\times$ . Possibly, it is because mainly three chemical elements (Fe, Cr, Ni) are responsible for this depression. The monochromatic light curves in the ’pseudo-continuum’ only with $\lambda$ $>$ 2505 Å shows the same phase displacement of the minimum of the flux. It should be noted that the amplitudes of the light curves here are bigger than at the cores of Fe II lines. On the other hand, the light curve at the core of Fe II resonance line at $\lambda$ 1725–31 Å where the amplitude is equal to 0.13 $\times$ . As at the core of large feature at $\lambda$ 1770 Å, the flux does not vary at the core of this line. Although, the variability of the flux in the nearest ’pseudo-continuum’ is significant. Thus, the amplitudes of the monochromatic light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1690 and 1794 Å are equal 0.41 and 0.51 $\times$ , respectively. ![Phase diagrams of the light curves in in the wings of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line for $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. Upper and lower panels show short-wavelength and long-wavelength sides of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line, respectively. Solid lines denote the fit according to equation \[equation\_2\].[]{data-label="laim_com"}](laim_com.eps){width="95mm"} Variations of Lyman-Alpha Line ------------------------------ Leckrone & Snijders (1979) have compared Lyman-alpha (${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$) profiles of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn at two phases 0.0 and 0.5, using $Copernicus$ data. The authors have drawn the conclusion that brightness variations at the core of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line are anomalous with respect to the adjacent ultraviolet regions. In addition, they noted that coverage of the complete cycle by a future space instrument will be necessary to establish the specific phasing of these variations. Based on the fact that the star is enough bright ($m_{\rm v}$ = 2.90), the data have allowed to investigate behavior of the monochromatic light curves in short-wavelength and long-wavelength sides from the core of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line. Several monochromatic light curves in the wings of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line at different wavelengths were formed. Figure \[laim\_com\] exhibits the variations of the flux in short-wavelength and long-wavelength sides of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line versus the rotational phase. As can be seen on the graphs of Fig. \[laim\_com\] the monochromatic light curves have identical shapes in short-wavelength and long-wavelength sides of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line. The light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1187 and 1246 Å show the minimum and maximum of the flux at phases 0.0 and 0.5, respectively. Note that the monochromatic light curves in the ’pseudo-continuum’ show the same behavior in the far-UV spectral region. These monochromatic light curves are most removed from the line center of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ at $\lambda$ 1215 Å. On the other hand, the monochromatic light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1202 and 1234 Å show the minimum and maximum of the flux at phases 0.5 and 0.0, respectively. Also, the light curve in the $V$ filter shows the same behavior in the visual spectral region (Pyper 1969). While, the variation of the flux at $\lambda\lambda$ 1190 and 1239 Å is practically zero over the period of rotation. In other words, the so-called ’null wavelength regions’ is also disposed in these wavelengths. It should be noted that the fluxes at the cores of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line varies with the small amplitudes at $\lambda$ 1213 Å for two CP stars CU Vir and 56 Ari (Sokolov 2000, 2006). ![Two spectral regions of the broad feature at $\lambda$ 1400 Å for $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. The high-dispersion spectra in the region of $\lambda$ 1375 Å (top panel) and the high-dispersion spectra in the region of $\lambda$ 1415 Å (bottom panel) (see the text).[]{data-label="1400n"}](1400n.eps){width="100mm"} Discussion ========== Our result indicate that the variations of average intensity of the flux at the cores of large features and spectral lines show different behavior. First of all, the shapes of two light curves at $\lambda\lambda$ 1375 and 1415 Å at the core of large feature at $\lambda$ 1400 Å curves significantly differ. The minimum of the light curve at $\lambda$ 1375 Å is reached at phase 0.05 while the minimum of the light curve at $\lambda$ 1415 Å is at phase 0.26. Although, the difference in wavelength between these spectral regions is equal 40 Å. This puzzling situation was one of the incentives for studying the high-dispersion spectra of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn in these spectral regions. In the top panel of Fig. \[1400n\] two high-dispersion spectra are plotted in the spectral region near $\lambda$ 1375 Å. These spectra SWP27894 and SWP15828 were obtained at the phases 0.064 (dashed line) and 0.524 (full line), respectively. From Fig. \[1400n\] we see that the fluxes of the spectrum SWP27894 systematically lower than the fluxes of the spectrum SWP15828. In the bottom panel of Fig. \[1400n\] two high-dispersion spectra are plotted in the spectral region near $\lambda$ 1415 Å. These spectra SWP04813 and SWP27880 were obtained at the phases 0.204 (dashed line) and 0.702 (full line), respectively. Again, we can see that the fluxes of the spectrum SWP04813 lower than the fluxes of the spectrum SWP27880. The comparisons of the high-dispersion spectra in the spectral regions of the broad feature at $\lambda$ 1400 Å are in agreement with phase diagrams obtained from the low-dispersion spectra (see Fig. \[features\]). Although, the nature of such behavior of the fluxes in the spectral regions at $\lambda\lambda$ 1375 and 1415 Å still unclear. Possibly, the influence of different species of spectral lines can play a some role. The light curves at the cores of Si II resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64 and 1526–33 Å show the similar shapes as in the ’pseudo-continuum’. While, the light curves at the cores of Si II resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1304–09 and 1485 Å show the phase displacement of minimum of the flux. On the other hand, the flux at the cores of large feature at $\lambda$ 1770 Åand Fe II resonance line at $\lambda$ 1725–31 Å, within errors measurements, does not vary. Moreover, the light curves at the cores of of Fe II lines show the phase displacement of minimum of the flux from 0.07 at $\lambda$ 2250 Åto 0.31 at $\lambda$ 2747 Å. The vertically dependent abundance stratification in CP stars are suggested by many authors (e.g., Ryabchikova 2008, and references therein). This effect may influence our results, because the effective depth at which the fluxes is formed at $\lambda$ $<$ 2000 Å can differs from the effective depth at which the fluxes is formed at $\lambda$ $>$ 2505 Å. We can expect that the flux comes from upper layers of atmosphere at the cores of some large features and depressions than the flux coming from the nearest ’pseudo-continuum’ in the spectral region with $\lambda$ $<$ 2000 Å. Therefore, possibly, some large features and depressions show the displacement of position of minimum of the flux, though the flux in the nearest ’pseudo-continuum’ does not show such displacement. Although, the spectrum in the ’pseudo-continuum’ is also blocked by a great number of spectral lines of various chemical elements. The main thing is that the energy blocking by silicon bound-free transitions and iron bound-bound transitions decreases the flux in the UV spectral region. The blocked flux appears in the visual and the red parts of the spectrum. Such an explanation is supported by the anti-phase relationship of light curves in the visual and the UV spectral regions. Probably, our investigation indicates that not only this mechanism may influence on the redistribution of the flux in atmosphere of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. The fluxes, situated in the wings of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line at different distances from its center, and hence formed at different depths in stellar atmosphere. The investigation of variability of the flux in the wings of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line indicate that the fluxes, which formed in inner layers of atmosphere, are redistributed into outer layers of atmosphere of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. Therefore, it should be some layer in atmosphere of the star where the fluxes do not vary over the period of rotation. Although, the independent investigation of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line variations for others CP stars is needed in order to confirm our result. Conclusions =========== The archival spectrophotometric data of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn have permitted to analyze the light variations at the cores of large features and spectral lines. The variations of intensity of the flux at the cores of large features and spectral lines show different behavior. The influence of different species of spectral lines play a some role in the different regions at $\lambda\lambda$ 1375 and 1415 Å of the large feature $\lambda$ 1400 Å. The light curve at $\lambda$ 1375 Å show similar shape as in the ’pseudo-continuum’. The same behavior of the flux is at the cores of Si II resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64 and 1485 Å. While, the light curve at $\lambda$ 1415 Å show the phase displacement of minimum of the flux. The phase displacement also is presented at the cores of Si II resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1304–09 and 1485 Å. The same phase displacement is at the cores of the Fe II depressions in the spectral region with $\lambda$ $>$ 2505 Å. But, the variability of the flux at the cores of the Fe II depressions in this spectral region is the same as in the ’pseudo-continuum’. The minimal values of the amplitude of the flux variations are reached at the cores of the large features at $\lambda\lambda$ 1560 and 1770 Å and at the cores of the strong Si II resonance lines at $\lambda\lambda$ 1260–64, 1304–09 and 1485 Å. The flux at the cores of large feature at $\lambda$ 1770 Åand Fe II resonance line at $\lambda$ 1725–31 Å, within errors measurements, does not vary. The investigation of variability of the flux in the wings of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line indicate that the fluxes, which formed in inner layers of atmosphere, are redistributed into outer layers of atmosphere of $\alpha^{\rm 2}$ CVn. Although, the independent investigation of ${\rm Ly}_{\alpha}$ line variations in the high-resolution mode is needed in order to confirm our result. [References]{} S.J. Adelman, C.R. Cowley, D.S. Leckrone, S.W. Roby, G.M. Wahlgren, 1993, , 419, 276, M.-C. Artru, T. Lanz, 1987, , 182, 273, G. Farnsworth, 1932, , 75, 364, K. Fuhrmann, 1989, , 80, 399, A.V. Goncharskii, T.A. Ryabchikova, V.V. Stepanov, V.L. Khokholova, A.G. Yagola, 1983, Soviet Astr., 14, 652, J.F. Gonzalez, M.-C. Artru, 1994, , 289, 209, H. Hensberge, J. Van Santvoort, K.A. Van der Hucht, T.H. Morgan, 1986, , 158, 113, V.L. Khokhlova, V.M. Pavlova, 1984, PAZh, 10, 337, O. Kochukhov, N. Piskunov, I. Ilyin, I. Tuominen, 2002, , 389, 420, T. Lanz, M.-C. Artru, M. Le Dourneuf, T. Hubeny, 1996, , 309, 218, D.S. Leckrone, M.A.J. Snijders, 1979, , 39, 549, D.S. Leckrone, 1984, , 286, 725, D.M. Pyper, 1969, , 18, 347, T. Ryabchikova, N. Piskunov, I. Savanov, F. Kupka, V. Malanushenko, 1999, , 343, 229, T. Ryabchikova, 2008, Cont. Ast. Obs. Skalnaté Pleso, 38, 257, S.N. Shore, D.N. Brown, G. Sonneborn, 1987, , 94, 737, N.A. Sokolov, 2000, , 353, 707, N.A. Sokolov, 2006, , 373, 666, N.A. Sokolov, 2010, , 330, 37, N.A. Sokolov, 2011, this issue, p. 390 K. Stepie[' n]{}, W. Czechowski, 1993, , 268, 187, [^1]: Based on $INES$ data from the $IUE$ satellite. | Mid | [
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Ferry Sydney is well known as a large, busy and modern city, but many don’t realise just how many amazing beaches and coastal walks there are around the city. We managed to explore just a small handful of those within range of the cities public transport and discovered some absolutely pristine coastline. It’s that Aussie lifestyle Travelling between the islands of Indonesia is pretty easy with most of the most visited being close enough to comfortably take the ferry. However there are many options and booking them can be confusing and often the most irritating part of the journey is organising transport once on the island as public transport in Indonesia The tiny island of Coron off the north end of Palawan might seem quite remote and hard to get to. However for such a small and unassuming place the sheer beauty that can be found here means many flock to its turquoise waters and powder white sand beaches for a slice of paradise! However, depending Follow us and join 25k others: Search Meet The Roaming Renegades We are Nic and Paul, The Roaming Renegades! A married couple who are quitting the 9-5 for a life of travel & adventure. We are leaving behind the "normal" way of living in which we are conditioned into giving away our best years for a retirement which may never happen. Live for today we say! Our travelling style is to see the world through alternative perspectives, getting off the beaten track, going on wild adventures and participating in some "Dark Tourism!" Follow our crazy adventures around the world! Read more if you are intrigued!. | Low | [
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[Laparoscopic ultrasonography in laparoscopic surgery and diagnosis]. The authors report their experience with 101 patients examined with laparoscopic ultrasound (LU) using a dedicated 7.5-MHz linear probe which can be introduced through the 10-mm surgical trocars. In the patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy (77 cases), LU adequately demonstrated gallbladder wall and contents in all cases and visualized the main bile duct in 93.5% of cases; stones of the CBD or cystic duct were demonstrated in two cases. The liver was studied in 18 patients undergoing diagnostic laparoscopy or laparoscopic colonic resection: secondary lesions were identified in two cases, while benign lesions (cysts or angiomas) were seen in 6 cases. In the patients operated on for colonic resection (8 cases), LU was successfully used to localize the enteric tract affected by the tumor and to mark safety margins for excision. The technical features of the exam are reported and the main imaging findings discussed. The authors conclude that LU is a safe method which is easy to perform and does not significantly increase the operating time; the indications of this laparoscopic application of ultrasound are not yet defined but the application area will certainly widen in the future, as operative and diagnostic laparoscopy are more and more frequently used by surgeons. | High | [
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2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma The 2006 congressional elections in Oklahoma were held on November 7, 2006 to determine who would represent the state of Oklahoma in the United States House of Representatives. Oklahoma has five seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States Census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 110th Congress from January 4, 2009 until January 3, 2011. Overview District 1 Seeking a fourth term in Congress, incumbent Republican Congressman John Sullivan faced no difficulty against Democratic nominee Alan Gentges and independent Bill Wortman in this staunchly conservative district based in the Tulsa metropolitan area. District 2 Incumbent Democratic Congressman Dan Boren, the son of former Governor and U.S. Senator David Boren, easily dispatched with his Republican opponent, Patrick Miller, in this district based in eastern Oklahoma, or "Little Dixie." This district, strongly conservative at the national level, tends to favor Democrats at the local level. District 3 Incumbent Republican Congressman Frank Lucas sought and won an eighth term in Congress from this district, the most conservative district in Oklahoma and the eleventh-most conservative district nationwide. District 4 In this conservative district, based in south-central Oklahoma, incumbent Republican Congressman Tom Cole easily defeated Democratic opponent Hal Spake to win a third term. District 5 Incumbent Republican Congressman Ernest Istook declined to seek an eighth term in Congress, instead opting to run for Governor, creating an open seat. Mary Fallin, the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, won the Republican primary and was favored to win the general election in this largely conservative district based in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Though Fallin was victorious on election day, her margin of victory over Democratic opponent David Hunter was the thinnest margin of any member of the Oklahoma congressional delegation. References See also Oklahoma Congressional Districts Politics of Oklahoma Oklahoma Democratic Party Oklahoma Republican Party United States House elections, 2006 Oklahoma state elections, 2006 Okla 2006 Category:2006 Oklahoma elections | Mid | [
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The House is likely to take up Rep. Al Green’s privileged impeachment resolution against President Donald Trump during a Wednesday evening vote series, two Democratic aides confirmed after the Texas Democrat told reporters the vote would occur then. Democratic leaders had not yet decided how to dispense with the measure as of midday Wednesday, but several members said they expect a motion to refer it to the Judiciary Committee or to table it rather than a direct vote. Green said such moves are “a means to get around impeachment,” and that Democrats are close to “paralysis by analysis.” He is able to force consideration of his articles of impeachment because he filed it as a privileged resolution. Green introduced his articles on the floor Tuesday evening, a move called giving notice that triggers a two-day time clock in which leadership must consider it. | Low | [
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Oesophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related mortality and the eighth most common cancer worldwide[@b1]. The so-called Asian belt, which encompasses Turkey, northeastern Iran, Kazakhstan, and northern and central China, has a very high incidence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). There are more than 100 cases per 100,000 individuals in this population annually, and the incidence is equal in men and women[@b2]. In the USA, 16,980 new oesophageal cancer cases were diagnosed in 2015 and 15,590 deaths were estimated to occur in the same year[@b3]. The overall 5-year survival rate of oesophageal cancer patients ranges from 15% to 25%, even with the development of new diagnostic and treatment methods in recent years[@b4]. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify novel biomarkers that will provide better prognoses and individualization of treatment. The Notch pathway has emerged as one of the major signalling cascades activated throughout development, and its misregulation has been associated with many diseases[@b5]. In total, mammals express four Notch receptors: Notch1, Notch2, Notch3 and Notch4. The dysregulation of Notch2 has been reported in human haematological malignancies and various solid tumours. Indeed, Notch2 mutations play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of splenic marginal zone lymphoma and are associated with poor prognoses[@b6]. A truncate mutation of Notch2 was shown to enhance cell proliferation by activating the NF-κB signal pathway in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma[@b7]. Notch2 has also been reported to be overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma[@b8], glioma[@b9], cervical cancer[@b10][@b11], hepatoblastoma[@b12], gastric cancer[@b13][@b14] and salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma[@b15]. By contrast, Notch2 is down-regulated and plays suppressive roles in bladder cancer[@b16], lung cancer[@b17], breast cancer[@b18][@b19] and colorectal cancer[@b20]. Notably, its expression in ovarian cancer depends on the histological type. Papillary serous, endometrioid and clear cell ovarian cancers show negative or low Notch2 expression, while mucinous carcinomas show a high expression level[@b21]. As a result, the role of Notch2 in tumourigenesis remains controversial. Song Y *et al*.[@b22] conducted whole-genome sequencing and whole-exome sequencing in ESCC patients and identified significantly mutated genes, including genes involved in Notch signalling. Similarly, Notch2 was reported to be more frequently altered in ESCC compared with oesophageal adenocarcinoma via a comprehensive genomic profiling method[@b23][@b24][@b25] and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining[@b26]. At present, the precise association between Notch2 and ESCC prognosis has yet to be elucidated. The present study used IHC, qRT-PCR and western blot to examine the expression of Notch2 in human ESCC tissues and paracancerous tissues. In addition, the association between Notch2 and various clinicopathological characteristics was investigated, along with the predictive potential of Notch2 in ESCC. Further *in vitro* assays were used to verify its effects in proliferation and survival of ESCC cells. Results ======= Notch2 expression in frozen ESCC tissues ---------------------------------------- We investigated the Notch2 mRNA and protein expression levels in 30 paired cancerous tissues and matched paracancerous tissues using qRT-PCR, IHC and western blot analysis. As shown in [Fig. 1](#f1){ref-type="fig"}, Notch2 expression was primarily localized to the cytoplasm of cancer cells. IHC staining revealed that Notch2 was overexpressed in 63.3% (19/30) of cancerous tissues and 26.7% (8/30) of paracancerous tissues, and the difference between these levels was statistically significant (*P* = 0.004, [Table 1](#t1){ref-type="table"}). The qRT-PCR analysis revealed that Notch2 was up-regulated in cancerous tissues compared with matched paracancerous tissues in 19 (63.3%) cases (*P* \< 0.0001). The mean fold increase in Notch2 mRNA in cancerous tissues was 4.71 ± 1.19 vs 1.04 ± 0.11 ([Fig. 2A](#f2){ref-type="fig"}). Furthermore, we randomly selected 8 pairs of cancerous and paracancerous tissues to identify the Notch2 protein level using western blot analysis ([Fig. 2B](#f2){ref-type="fig"}). The results showed higher Notch2 protein expression in cancerous tissues than in adjacent tissues (Notch2/β-actin: 0.70 ± 0.20 vs. 0.51 ± 0.14, *P* = 0.021, [Fig. 2C,D](#f2){ref-type="fig"}). The prognostic value of Notch2 in ESCC -------------------------------------- Of the 115 patients who provided formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) cancer tissues, 43 (37.4%) survived more than 5 years after subtotal esophagectomy and 72 (62.6%) died during the follow-up period. The mean survival time for all patients was 45.5 ± 19.1 months (range 12--80). Notch2 was overexpressed in 59 (51.3%) patients, although no significant relationship was identified with clinicopathological features such as age, gender, smoking, drinking, T stage, N stage and differentiation ([Table 2](#t2){ref-type="table"}). Kaplan-Meier analyses using the log-rank test were performed to calculate the effect of these clinicopathologic factors on the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates. The log-rank analysis demonstrated that high Notch2 protein expression significantly predicted decreased 5-year OS (29.1% vs. 49.1%; *P* = 0.013) and PFS (15.3% vs. 34.4%; *P* = 0.006) ([Fig. 3A,B](#f3){ref-type="fig"}, [Table 3](#t3){ref-type="table"}). Furthermore, multivariate analysis identified Notch2 overexpression as an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR (95%CI): 2.266 (1.367--3.756), *P* = 0.002) as well as PFS (HR (95%CI): 2.160 (1.374--3.396), *P* = 0.006, [Table 3](#t3){ref-type="table"}). We also conducted receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, and the area under the curve (AUC) value of Notch2 was 0.63 ± 0.06 (*P* = 0.044) according to the OS prediction and 0.61 ± 0.54 (*P* = 0.044) according to the PFS prediction ([Fig. 3C,D](#f3){ref-type="fig"}). Notch2 inhibition with shRNA decreased EC-9706 cell proliferation and survival ability -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESCC cell lines (Eca 109 and EC 9706) were firstly transfected with shRNA- Notch2. qRT-PCR and western blot were used to test the efficacy of transfection. As shown in [Fig. 4A,B](#f4){ref-type="fig"}, Notch2 mRNA level in test group were significantly induced compared with the control group (Notch2/β-actin: 0.26 ± 0.04 vs 1.01 ± 0.10, *P* \< 0.0001 and 0.30 ± 0.04 vs 1.03 ± 0.08, *P* \< 0.0001, resp.). [Fig 4C,D](#f4){ref-type="fig"} showed that the protein level of Notch2 was also decreased in transfection group (Notch2/β-actin: 0.24 ± 0.01 vs 0.57 ± 0.02, *P* \< 0.0001, and 0.20 ± 0.02 vs 0.50 ± 0.04, *P* \< 0.0001, resp.). To determine if knock-down of Notch2 expression by shRNA could lead to a decrease in the proliferation and survival of ESCC cells, CCK8 and clonogenic assay were conducted. The OD450 values of the Eca 109 and EC 9706 cells transfected with shRNA-Notch2 showed significant decrease at 24, 48, and 72 h (all *P* \< 0.0001), compared with those cells in the control groups ([Fig. 5A,B](#f5){ref-type="fig"}). The colony formations of transfected Eca 109 and EC 9706 were also significantly reduced compared with the control groups (all *P* \< 0.0001, [Fig. 5C,D](#f5){ref-type="fig"}). Discussion ========== Notch signalling has several demonstrated essential roles in the regulation of tumour growth, invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis[@b27]. Furthermore, the overexpression and oncogenic role of Notch2 have been observed in numerous human cancer types, such as lung adenocarcinoma[@b8], glioma[@b9], cervical cancer[@b10][@b11], hepatoblastoma[@b12], gastric cancer[@b13][@b14] and salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma[@b15]. By contrast, there is evidence supporting a suppressive role for Notch2 in bladder cancer[@b16], lung cancer[@b17], breast cancer[@b19] and colorectal cancer[@b20]. In the present study, we investigated the Notch2 expression level in ESCC tissues and analysed its prognostic value. For the first time, via qRT-PCR, IHC and western blot analyses, we found that Notch2 was up-regulated in frozen cancerous tissues compared with paracancerous tissues at the mRNA (*P* \< 0.0001) and protein (IHC: *P* = 0.004; western blot: *P* = 0.021) levels. Similarly, Notch2 was overexpressed in 51.3% of FFPE tissues. Additionally, IHC staining revealed that Notch2 was primarily localized to the cytoplasm of cancer cells. These findings suggest an oncogene role for Notch2 in ESCC. However, Notch2 expression showed no significant relationship with clinicopathological features, such as the age, gender, smoking, drinking, T stage, N stage and differentiation, which may be due to the small quantity of sampling. Notch2 has the potential to serve as a predictive biomarker in a variety of cancers. Accordingly, Notch2 mutations have been associated with a poor prognosis in splenic marginal zone lymphoma[@b6], and the loss of Notch2 positively predicts survival in subgroups of patients with glial brain tumours[@b28]. A similar prognostic value was also demonstrated for Notch2 in liver cancer[@b29]. By contrast, a synergistic effect of positive Notch1 and negative Notch2 coexpression in predicting poor overall survival has been demonstrated[@b30], and high Notch2 expression was shown to predict good survival for breast cancer patients[@b19]. In the present study, log-rank and multivariate analyses demonstrated that Notch2 expression in cancer tissues served as an independent prognostic factor for OS and PFS in ESCC patients. In particular, high Notch2 protein expression significantly predicted decreased 5-year OS and PFS; the T and N stages were also identified as prognostic indicators. The ROC-AUC was provided for the Cox regression models. It is a value that indicates the concordance level between observed and expected ordering of the data, and represents the percentage of concordance of all pairs of data with different outcome values, with concordance defined as occurring within a pair when the observation with the higher outcome value also has the higher predicted probability of the outcome. The AUC value for Notch2 was significant according to the OS and PFS predictions. Furthermore, CCK8 and clonogenic assay were conducted to determine if Notch2 inhibition could lead to a decrease in the proliferation and survival of ESCC cells. As expected, the results indicated that OD values and colony formations were significantly reduced in transfected group. Thus, we can conclude that Notch2 can be used as a biomarker for predicting ESCC survival in patients who underwent surgery. Besides, Notch1 has been widely reported in esophageal cancer[@b22][@b23]. It is also a novel potential prognostic biomarker for ESCC patients[@b31][@b32]. Further studies are necessary to investigate associations of Notch pathway signal molecules and synergistic effect of Notch1 and Notch2 coexpression in predicting survival of ESCC. The detailed mechanisms of Notch2 have been studied and reported in several tumours. The silencing of Notch2 inhibits glioma cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis *in vitro* and *in vivo*[@b9][@b33]. Constitutive Notch2 signalling in neural stem cells has been reported to promote tumorigenic features and astroglial lineage entry[@b34]. As a target gene of miR-107[@b35], miR-204-5p[@b10] and miR-23b[@b13], Notch2 may also regulate cell migration and tumour invasion. In particular, Notch2 may negatively regulate cell invasion by inhibiting the PI3K-Akt signalling pathway in gastric cancer[@b36]. In salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma tissues, Notch2 may target HEY2 and CCND1 to regulate cell proliferation, invasion, and migration. Furthermore, the loss of the Notch pathway was shown to promote the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in bladder cancer cells, which was partially mediated by the loss of HES1[@b16]. Moreover, Notch2 activation by ZER inhibits its proapoptotic and anti-migratory response in breast cancer cells[@b37]. However, the mechanisms governing the role of Notch2 in ESCC have not been reported, and further studies are necessary to elucidate these cellular processes. In conclusion, Notch2 is up-regulated in ESCC tissue compared to matched paracancerous tissue, and its overexpression could serve as a promising biomarker to identify individuals with poor prognostic potential. Methods ======= Patient recruitment and data collection --------------------------------------- Thirty pairs of ESCC and paracancerous tissue from patients were collected from October 2014 to March 2015 from Qilu Hospital of Shandong University. In addition, 140 FFPE cancer tissue samples from patients who underwent subtotal esophagectomy and esophagogastric anastomosis plus regional lymph node dissection in Qilu Hospital during 2009 were collected. Because 25 patients were lost to follow-up, we included 115 cases in the prognostic analysis. All cases were pathologically confirmed as ESCC. Patients did not receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy before surgery. We obtained the relevant data, including age, sex, smoking and drinking habits, histologic grade, invasion depth (T stage), lymph node metastasis (N stage), distant metastasis (M stage), differentiation degree and number of dissected lymph nodes, from clinical or pathologic records. The tumour, node, metastasis (TNM) classification was performed according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging manual (7th edition, 2010). The study protocol was approved by the ethics boards of Qilu Hospital, and tissue specimen acquisition was performed in accordance with the institutional guidelines. The written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. Culture of ESCC cell lines -------------------------- Two established human ESCC cell lines (Eca109 and Eca9706) were used for this study. Both of the two cell lines were cultured in RPMI 1640 (Gibco BRL, Gaithersburg, MD) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, Gibco), 100 U/ml penicillin G and streptomycin in a 37 °C incubator with humidified atmosphere and 5% CO~2~. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) ---------------------------------------------------------- Surgical specimens were processed immediately after surgery. Total RNA was extracted from tissues using TRIzol reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, USA) according to the manufacturer's protocol. Complementary DNA (cDNA) was generated using qPCR RT Kit (Toyobo, Osaka, Japan) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Primers were made by Sangon Biotech (Sangon Biotech, Shanghai, China). The primer sequences were as follows: Notch2 Forward primer: 5′-GGGACCCTGTCATACCCTCT-3′ and Reverse primer: 5′-GAGCCATGCTTACGCTTTCG-3′; β-actin Forward primer:5′-CAAAGGCCAACAGAGAGAAGAT-3′ and Reverse primer: 5′-TGAGACACACCATCACCAGAAT-3′. PCR was performed at 95 °C for 1 min and 40 cycles of 95 °C for 15 s, 58 °C for 15 s and 72 °C for 45 s. Notch2 expression was quantified using a Bio-Rad Single Color Real-Time PCR system (Bio-Rad, Hercules, California, USA) and calculated according to the mathematical model R = 2^−ΔΔCT^, where ΔCT = CT~Notch2~ − CT~β-actin~, and ΔΔCT = ΔCT~test~ −ΔCT~control~. All RT-PCRs were performed in triplicate, and the data are presented as the mean ± SD. IHC staining ------------ All fresh specimens were collected during surgery, fixed with 10% formalin and embedded in paraffin. The FFPE cancerous tissues from 2009 were collected from the Department of Pathology of Qilu Hospital. These tissues were cut as 4-mm serial sections. Following deparaffinization with xylene and rehydration, the sections were retrieved in 10 mM citrate buffer. Then, incubation in 3% H~2~O~2~ in methanol for 20 min at room temperature was used to block the endogenous peroxidase enzyme activity. The slides were then incubated with primary rabbit anti-Notch2 polyclonal antibody (1:100, Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA) overnight at 4 °C in a high humidity chamber, followed by incubation for 30 min at 37 °C with biotinylated secondary antibodies and streptavidin-peroxidase complex. Finally, a 3,3′-diaminobenzidine solution was added, and the slides were counterstained with haematoxylin and mounted with neutral balsam. For negative controls, sections were incubated with PBS instead of the primary antibodies. The sections were observed under a light microscope and independently scored by three investigators. Conflicting scores were resolved by selecting the value that was consistent between two observers or the average of the scores. The final score was determined by multiplying the staining intensity (scored as: 0, no staining; 1, weak staining; 2, moderate staining and 3, strong staining) by the percentage of positive cells (scored as: 0, 0--10% positive cells; 1, 10--25% positive cells; 2, 26--50% positive cells; 3, 51--75% positive cells; and 4, 76--100% positive cells). The final staining score was the sum of the staining intensity and percentage of positive cells, and it was further graded as follows: 0--1, (−); 2--3, (+); 4--5, (++); and 6--7, (+++). The expression of Notch2 was divided into a non-overexpressed group (− or +) and an overexpressed group (++ or +++). Protein extraction and western blot ----------------------------------- Protein was extracted from tissues. Tissues were pestled in liquid nitrogen and added to RIPA Lysis Buffer (50 mM Tris, 150 mM NaCl, 1% Triton X-100, 1% sodium deoxycholate, 0.1% SDS, sodium orthovanadate, sodium fluoride, EDTA, leupeptin) and PMSF (Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, Beyotime,China), that the ratio is 100:1. Protein extracts were electrophoresed on 10% SDS polyacrylamide gels and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. Membranes were blocked with 5% non-fat dried milk and incubated overnight with an appropriate primary Notch2 antibody (1:1,000, Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA) and β-actin antibody (1:1,000, Abcam, Cambridge, MA, USA). Then, horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies were added. Bands were subsequently visualized using a chemiluminescence detection system (EMD Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA) and density was determined using an image analyzer. β-actin was used to ensure equivalent protein loading. Transfection ------------ The Eca 109 and EC 9706 cells were transfected with specific Notch2 shRNA (Genechem, Shanghai, China) for 72 h using Lipofectamine™ reagent in serum-free 1640 medium according to the manufacture's instruction. The multiplicity of infection was 20 for Eca 109, and 40 for EC 9706 cells. Untreated cells were used as a negative control. The efficacy of transfection was tested by qRT-PCR and western blot. CCK8 assay ---------- The Eca 109 and EC 9706 cells proliferation was detected using 2-(4-indophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulphophenyl)-2 Htetrazolium monosodium salt (cell counting kit-8 (CCK8)). After transfection, the logarithmically growing cells were seeded in 96-well plates at a cell density of 5 × 10^4^/well and incubated for 0, 24, 48, and 72 h. At different time intervals, the cells were incubated with CCK8 reagent for 1 h at 37 °C. The absorbance of each well was measured at 450 nm using Thermo Scientific Varioskan Flash (Thermo Scientific, Finland). Percentage of viable cells = (OD450 of treated sample −OD450 of blank sample)/(OD450 of control sample −OD450 of blank sample) ×100%. The results shown were mean values of three independent experiments. Clonogenic assay ---------------- Clonogenic assay was also used to evaluate the function of Notch2. Transfected cells were trypsinized to generate a single cell suspension and seeded in 6-well plates at 500 cells per well. 14 days after seeding, colonies were stained with crystal violet, and the number of colonies containing at least 50 cells was counted. The colony survival fraction was calculated for each treatment. Statistical analysis -------------------- The difference in the Notch2 mRNA and protein level between cancerous and paired paracancerous tissues, as well as difference in Notch2 level, OD450 value and colony formation between shRNA-Notch2 and control group was compared using a paired Student's t-test. The chi-square test was used to test the correlation between Notch2 expression and clinicopathological factors. The Kaplan--Meier method was used to calculate the survival curves, and the log-rank test was used to compare the survival difference between patient subgroups. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to identify significant independent prognostic factors. The ROC-AUC was also provided for the Cox regression models. AUC values are calculated for each of the adjusted models to illustrate the predictive ability of the independent variables. Differences between groups were considered significant for *P* values \< 0.05. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 17.0 statistical software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Additional Information ====================== **How to cite this article**: Wang, C. *et al*. Notch2 as a promising prognostic biomarker for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. *Sci. Rep.* **6**, 25722; doi: 10.1038/srep25722 (2016). This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 81572958). **Author Contributions** W.C. and C.Y.F conceived and designed the experiments. W.C., L.Q.B., L.F., C.X., L.B.W., H.L.H., W.X.T. and T.B.X. performed the experiments and analysed the data. All authors helped with the writing, review, and approval of this paper for submission. {#f1} {#f2} {#f3} {#f4} {#f5} ###### Quantification of the expression of Notch2 in cancerous and paracancerous tissues via IHC staining. Group n Overexpression (n) Overexpression rate (%) χ^2^ *P*value ---------------------- ---- -------------------- ------------------------- ------- ---------- Cancerous tissue 30 19 63.3% 8.148 0.004 Paracancerous tissue 30 8 26.7% Abbreviation: IHC, immunohistochemical. ###### The correlation of ESCC clinicopathologic variables with Notch2 expression in FFPE cancerous tissues. Clinicopathological features Notch2 overexpression *P*^a^ value ------------------------------ ----------------------- -------------- ------- Age 0.530 \<65 30 31 ≥65 26 28 Gender 0.454 Female 25 28 Male 31 31 Smoking 0.381 No 45 45 Yes 11 14 Drinking 0.209 No 40 47 Yes 16 12 Differentiation 0.066 Well 27 21 Moderate 10 22 Poor 19 16 T stage 0.363 T1 10 5 T2 17 25 T3 20 19 T4 9 10 N stage 0.323 N0 23 24 N1 11 16 N2 11 14 N3 11 5 TNM stage 0.238 I 19 15 II 9 17 III 28 27 *P*^a^: Chi-square test. Abbreviation: FFPE, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded. ###### Univariate and multivariate analyses of prognostic variables. Variable OS Univariate analysis OS Multivariate analysis PFS Univariate analysis PFS Multivariate analysis ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------ -------------------------- ------------------------- --------------------------- ---------------------- --------- Gender (Male vs. Female) 0.880 0.796 (0.494--1.281) 0.347 0.807 0.816 (0.530--1.257) 0.357 Age (\<65 vs. ≥65) 0.656 0.839 (0.504--1.396) 0.498 0.676 0.892 (0.565--1.407) 0.622 Smoking (Yes vs. No) 0.497 1.226 (0.655--2.292) 0.524 0.922 0.994 (0.557--1.774) 0.985 Drinking (Yes vs. No) 0.105 1.222 (0.643--2.324) 0.541 0.134 1.230 (0.682--2.217) 0.491 T stage (T3 and T4 vs. T1 and T2) \<0001\* 1.430 (1.094--1.869) 0.009\* 0.002 1.489 (1.154--1.922) 0.002\* N stage (N2 and N3 vs. N0 and N1) 0.001\* 1.442 (1.122--1.853) 0.004\* 0.001\* 1.308 (1.042--1.643) 0.021\* Differentiation (Well vs. Moderate and Poor) 0.079 0.881 (0.655--1.184) 0.402 0.100 0.946 (0.725--1.235) 0.682 Notch2 (Overpression vs. nonexpression) 0.013\* 2.266 (1.367--3.756) 0.002\* 0.006\* 2.160 (1.374--3.396) 0.006\* Abbreviations: OS, overall survival; PFS, progression-free survival; CI: confidence interval. | Mid | [
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USS Abele USS Abele (AN-58) was a in the service of the United States Navy, named after Populus alba, commonly called abele, silver poplar, or white poplar. Construction She was laid down on 8 January 1943 at New Bern, North Carolina, by the Barbour Boat Works; launched on 19 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. G. B. Waters; and commissioned at Morehead, North Carolina, on 2 June 1944, with Lieutenant Commander J. H. Bloodworth in command. War service Following brief shakedown training out of Norfolk, Virginia and Boston, Massachusetts, the net laying ship sailed on 11 August for the Pacific Ocean. She made stops at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Panama Canal Zone, Manzanillo, Mexico; and San Diego. On 27 September, she reached Pearl Harbor and reported to Commander, Minecraft, Pacific Fleet, who assigned her to target towing and net defense duty. On 24 January 1945, Abele left Pearl Harbor, bound for Iwo Jima. After sailing via Eniwetok and Guam with Task Group 51.5, the ship arrived off Iwo Jima on 20 February and began laying a torpedo net. She remained in the area for eight days laying nets and fleet moorings before getting underway on the 28th and heading for Saipan to prepare for the upcoming Okinawa invasion. After a brief period spent in the Leyte Gulf staging area, Abele arrived off Kerama Retto on 26 March to begin laying net defenses. Although she was attacked by Japanese suicide boats and aircraft during the next seven weeks, she suffered no damage. On 18 April, the ship assisted in the downing of one enemy aircraft. On 12 May, she sailed to Nakagusuku Wan, Okinawa, and assisted in laying of heavy anti-torpedo nets across the harbor entrance. She also claimed credit for downing one Japanese "Val" on 11 June. Abele was ordered to Tinian on 5 August to recover the anti-torpedo net located there. Following the formal Japanese surrender early in September, the ship got underway to return to the west coast of the United States. She reached San Francisco in late November. Abele was decommissioned on 1 March 1946, her name was struck from the Navy list on 28 March 1946, and the vessel was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 7 May 1947. Abele won one battle star for her World War II service. Civilian service Delivered to Great Lakes Lumber and Shipping Company, Fort William, Ontario, 29 April 1947, as Abele. At some point she was converted to a tug. Sold to Straits Towing Ltd., Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1953 and changing her name to Superior Straits in 1954. She was withdrawn from service with her engines removed in the 1960s, reducing her to a barge. In 1971 she was bought by P & B Towing Ltd., North Vancouver, British Columbia. Dubarry Investments Ltd., Vancouver, acquired her in 1973 until 2006. Notes References Online sources External links Category:Ailanthus-class net laying ships of the United States Navy Category:Ships built in North Carolina Category:1943 ships Category:World War II net laying ships of the United States | Mid | [
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Receive the latest national-international updates in your inbox Men clinch curling gold The United States won its first gold medal in Olympic curling, beating Sweden 10-7. After starting 2-4, the U.S. won its last five games. With the win, the U.S. earned a medal in its 11th different sport in Pyeongchang. Eleven medals sets a record for any nation at a single Winter Olympics. It was also the U.S.’ ninth gold medal in Pyeongchang, which matches the U.S.’ total from each of the last three Winter Olympics. Curling fever caught on in the U.S., and despite the late start, curling was the top trending hashtag in the U.S. on Twitter, and Shuster was second. The match was close from the start. The lead changed three times. However, the U.S. sealed the game by scoring five points in the eighth end. Skip John Shuster, playing in his fourth Olympics, used his final shot to remove two Swedish stones from the house, leaving five American stones and clinching the win. Primetime spotlight Ester Ledecka made history winning the snowboarding women’s parallel giant slalom. She becomes the first woman to win gold in two different sports at the same Winter Olympics. Exactly one week after shocking everyone by winning the super-G, Ledecka won in her better sport. She is the third athlete ever, and first since 1928, to accomplish the feat. Two events made their Olympic debut: men’s big air and the Alpine team event. American Kyle Mack took home the silver in the debut of the men’s big air. Canada’s Sebastien Toutant won the gold. Americans Chris Corning and Red Gerard finished fourth and fifth, respectively. In an event where everyone was using their big tricks to get 1600s, Mack used style and finesse to win the silver. The men’s 1000m speed skating final was on display. Kjeld Nuis won his second gold medal of the 2018 Games. It marks a comeback for Nuis, who dealt with psychological hurdles (anxiety and nerves) earlier in his career that caused him to miss the 2010 and 2014 Games. He worked with a sports psychologist, which helped him have a strong showing in Pyeongchang. It marks the seventh speed skating gold medal for the Netherlands. South Korean Kim Tae-Yun earned the bronze medal. The home crowd advantage was definitely a factor, as medaling was not expected for Kim. He finished 30th in Sochi and has not been a factor at international events. Norway’s Havard Lorentzen, the 500m gold medalist, took home the silver. American Joey Mantia just missed out on the podium, finishing fourth. Teammate Mitch Whitmore finished tenth. It is likely the last race for the three-time Olympian. Shani Davis finished seventh overall, in what is likely his last race. He is a two-time gold medalist but knows making the Olympics in four years at the age of 39 would be challenging. Sweden won its first-ever men’s 4x7.5 relay in the men’s biathlon event. It all came down to the final shooting range, where Fredrik Lindstroem managed to avoid the gusting wind and have a clean shoot. The team of Peppe Femling, Jesper Nelin, Sebastian Samuelsson and Lindstroem won by 55.5 seconds over Norway. Norway’s silver medal was its 37th medal of the Games, which tied the U.S. record of 37 in Vancouver. Exactly one week after winning gold in the super-G, Ledecka won in her primary sport. Unlike last time, her gold isn’t a huge upset. She is the No. 1 ranked athlete in women’s parallel giant slalom. She qualified with the fastest time, then won four straight head-to-head races to win gold. Big air debut Canada’s Sebastien Toutant won the snowboarding big air event in its Olympic debut. Everyone thought a Canadian would win, but they thought it would be Max Parrot or Mark McMorris. The big air gold was Canada’s first gold medal in snowboarding at these Games. The U.S. contingent was all considered medal contenders heading into the event. Kyle Mack ended up winning silver, his first Olympic medal. Unlike some competitors who went for the biggest spins, Mack used stylish and creative grabs on his tricks to earn a combined score of 168.75 for silver. In the final, each of the 12 riders had three attempts to try a trick. The worst score would be tossed, and the top two scores combined for a total score. The top two scores for a rider had to come from different tricks, meaning you couldn’t do the same trick over and over. Toutant put together his winning combo by landing a cab triple cork 1620 on his first run. His second trick was a backside 1620, which ended up being the highest-scoring attempt of the day. His teammates, Parrot and McMorris, are heavy hitters in the snowboarding world. They have also excelled at the big air event, winning the last five X Games between themselves. Neither favorite could land two solid tricks to put them in medal contention. Parrot and McMorris both leave Pyeongchang with silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the snowboarding slopestyle event. Mack did not attempt 1620s like most of the other riders. Instead, he embellished two 1440s. On his first jump, he landed a backside triple cork 1440 with a Japan grab. On the following run, he landed a frontside 1440 with a two-handed grab known as a “Bloody Dracula” grab. It was enough to win silver by .75 of a point. Team USA's Chris Corning finished in fourth. He landed a frontside 1440 melon and a backside triple cork 1440 melon on his first two runs. On his final run, Corning was sitting in fourth, so he knew he had nothing to lose. He went for a backside quad cork 1800. No one else attempted a quad in the contest, but Corning couldn’t lad it cleanly, resulting in him staying put in fourth. Red Gerard was still flying high after his gold medal in slopestyle. Big air isn’t really his specialty. After flying to the United States and back for a media tour, he put down two solid runs but didn’t have as high of a score because he didn’t try any big tricks. The U.S. ends Pyeongchang with seven medals in snowboarding. Seven medals is the largest total by a sport for the U.S. The four gold medals in snowboarding is also the best among the Americans. Alpine team event Switzerland won the inaugural Alpine team event. Austria claimed the silver, and Norway takes home the bronze. The team event featured 16 teams of four athletes, with two men and two women. The event is bracket-style: lose and the team is done. It’s a race of head-to-head slalom races. The U.S. lost to Great Britain in the opening round. Both teams had two points, but the tiebreaker of combined time gave Great Britain the advantage. Megan McJames, Nolan Kasper, Tricia Mangan and David Chodounsky represented the U.S. Many of the top competitors opted out of the team event because they have a world cup race next week in Slovenia. Germany leads the charge Germany’s Francesco Friedrich’s sled is in first after the first two runs of the 4-man event. Friedrich could win his second gold after winning gold in the 2-man. The German sled leads by .29 seconds with two runs remaining. The South Koreans are in a strong position to challenge for Gold. Yunjong Won piloted the sled to second. Nico Walther’s German sled is in third, .35 seconds back of the lead. Codie Bascue piloted the top American sled. They currently are in ninth place, .53 out of medal contention. Nick Cunningham’s sled is 20th and Justin Olsen’s sled is in 21st for Team USA. Olsen notoriously needed an emergency appendectomy before finishing as the top American sled in the 2-man event. It’s a marathon, not a sprint Finland’s Iivo Niskanen won the men’s 50km mass start. He led from the 17km mark and kept the lead for most of the race. He temporarily relinquished it to Alexander Bolshunov, an Olympic Athlete from Russia. The two men were ahead of the pack and in a race of their own from the 17km mark. Ultimately, Niskanen made a decision to change his skies with 8km to go. The change in skies helped give him a boost, and he took back the lead in the final 2km. He crossed the finish line with a time of 2:08:22.1. Olympic Athlete from Russia Andrey Larkov managed to hold off a pack of four medal favorites to claim the bronze. American Scott Patterson led the charge for Team USA. He finished 11th overall with a time of 2:13:14.2. It is the 26 year old's best finish of the season. Fellow Americans Noah Hoffman finished in 33rd place, and Tyle Kornfield finished 48th overall. | Mid | [
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You've Got Mail!: Oldschool Computer Mailbox Who the hell still rocks those oldschool CRT monitors? You do? Oh, sorry. Truthfully, I still rock a 21-incher myself. HIYO! Anyway, this is a $230 computer mailbox fabricated out of wood and a traditional mailbox so that some punkass teenagers can come bat the shit out of it. I don't recommend them. But I do recommend you paying me $100 to make you a modern flatscreen monitor mailbox. Sure it'll just be an unpainted piece of particleboard with a whole cut in the middle, but what did you expect? Watch your bills just blow away! But not into my yard, I'll call the cops. | Low | [
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It is a surprising item that says something important about the aspirations of its owner. She's been homeless in Melbourne for almost three years, but Alicia*, 19, is studying Year 11 at RMIT University. Alicia's two-piece suit hangs in a homeless camp under an inner-Melbourne bridge. Not many high school students start their day at a soup kitchen. But Alicia does. She and her boyfriend walk to a North Melbourne drop-in centre for a warm breakfast before Alicia travels into the city. She attends classes Monday to Friday at RMIT's Melbourne campus, which offers Year 11 and 12 subjects. Unlike a traditional high school, the students who attend RMIT do not have to take part in extracurricular activities or subject themselves to long, boring assemblies with the school principal. Most of Alicia's school work is done in class, otherwise she will go to the State Library, Youth Projects homeless service, or study alongside her tent by lamplight. Her favourite subject is legal studies and she dreams of becoming a criminologist. "I'm not one of those people who want to be married and have kids," Alicia says. "I want to start my career first." In recent months she has been taken under the wing of Youth Projects chair Melanie Raymond, who was shocked to find Alicia in a drop-in centre doing homework among a throng of homeless men one afternoon. "All she asked me for that night was a couple of highlighter pens, some folders and some paperclips," Ms Raymond said. Alicia was doing homework in a drop-in centre when Youth Projects chair Melanie Raymond met her. Since that first meeting, Alicia has been helping Youth Projects establish a new youth advisory group. She also attended a women's leadership camp while living on the streets. Ms Raymond says Alicia is a young woman with "huge potential". "If you can stick at Year 11 (which is tough for most teenagers) from under a bridge, you're as tough as nails. I would employ anyone that has overcome that adversity," she said. But as the days march on and Alicia remains living under a bridge, she is statistically more likely to stay homeless and lose grip of her dream of a professional life. The rough-sleeping student is currently surviving on a budget of $360 a fortnight, shared between four homeless people. "I always run out," she says. "I'm dead broke now." Unbelievably, Ms Raymond said Alicia was recently told she was ineligible for a grant for financial assistance for "at-risk youth" to finish their education because she was already homeless. Over the last seven months, Alicia and her friends have been camping in overgrown and tucked-away corners of the city. They constructed a shanty among giant weeds and a pair of willow trees on the edge of an unused industrial paddock in North Melbourne. Using liquid nails, they built their own "lounge room" and were in the process of adding a second bedroom to the hut when the site's owner discovered them. They were literally chased away, threatened with trespass and Alicia was forced to leave her school books behind. The hut Alicia and her friends built in an unused paddock in North Melbourne. That day, they walked for hours until they finally found a new place to stay – a concrete bridge shelter alongside a creek a short distance from the CBD. Protected on both sides by long grass and bushes, it is prime squatting real estate. Only dog walkers and the occasional graffiti tagger ever venture down the overgrown riverbank. Sometimes Alicia and her boyfriend set up their camp chairs in the gentle winter sun and watch the ducks paddle along the slow brown creek. IT is at this almost-scenic location that it becomes easier to understand something about Alicia that will probably frustrate some who read this story. In the past year, she turned down a number of offers to stay in youth refuges or share houses. She says her previous experience of living in shelters with other young people escaping homelessness were so traumatic, she would rather live on the streets until she is able to get a unit of her own. "I know it probably sounds pig-headed because it is a house," Alicia says. "But I have been to a youth refuge and it was horrible. You got stuff taken. There were drug and alcohol issues. It's not like here where you can come home and relax. There are always police at the door." Alicia's current camp under the bridge is more of a home than the place she grew up, with parents who were not poor but refused to buy her new school shoes, even when the old ones had so many holes they had to be patched with silver duct tape. She was just eight or nine years old when she first spent nights sleeping on the streets (often in a cabin of an old boat moored at a marina) seeking a temporary refuge from her violent family home. And her tent is cosier than the peeling weatherboard cottage she stayed in with seven others in Brunswick, which was infested with rats and had an abandoned methamphetamine laboratory out the back. A cottage that Alicia squatted at on Mountfield Street in Brunswick. It has since been demolished. And it is a world away from Southern Cross Station, where Alicia resided for more than a year when she first moved to Melbourne. She spent days flicking through the free newspapers discarded around the terminal, but could not stave off the crippling boredom. "Pretty much every day was the same day. It was like there was no tomorrow," she says. At night she would sleep at the station in the waiting room with the padded seats and heating, before a security guard would come and close the room after trains stopped running. She would then move to the bus terminal, where the seats were metal and the room often cold. Sometimes, the security guards would tell her "this train you're waiting for is never coming". While living homeless, Alicia usually wears track pants or jeans and a woolly jumper. She wears little makeup and her brown hair is cut short, just below the ears, adding to the impression she is a bit of a tomboy. But appearances can be deceiving. The black two-piece suit that hangs in Alicia's riverside camp was donated to her about two months ago to use when she was invited to go on a business tour of the Melbourne Magistrates' Court – a day she was repeatedly mistaken for a lawyer. Alicia may be no "girly girl", but she says she loves being able to get dolled up in her suit, heels and some costume jewellery. It is the only time she does not feel homeless. "It's an incredible difference. The way you're looked at is different," she says. "You feel so much better." *Name has been changed at request of the subject. If you want to make a donation to the young woman featured in this story - supermarket vouchers are most practical - you can contact Youth Projects direct at [email protected] You can also make a cash donation to Youth Projects to assist all their clients. | Mid | [
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Warneford Hospital Warneford Hospital The Warneford Hospital opened as the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum and subsequently (but no longer) named the Warneford Lunatic Asylum is a hospital in Oxford, England. The Warneford and the Littlemore Hos… Warneford Hospital The Warneford Hospital opened as the Radcliffe Lunatic Asylum and subsequently (but no longer) named the Warneford Lunatic Asylum is a hospital in Oxford, England. The Warneford and the Littlemore Hos… | Low | [
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Q: Possible outcomes of "four of kind" I have been working on my probability. I have "possibly" memorized how to solve but, I really like to understand it with my heart. But.. I am kinda stuck. I am trying to find out the possible outcomes of four of kind (unordered) Here is my intuition: $$\frac{52 \cdot 3 \cdot 2 \cdot 1 \cdot 48}{5!}$$ I do not see why this is wrong. Please help me out! A: I suppose that you are playing poker with a deck of 52 cards and you're asking what is the probability of dealing a hand $$ xxxxy\qquad\qquad\qquad\qquad(\star) $$ where $x$ is just any card from $2$ to $A$ and $y$ is any (and $y\neq x$ since there are only four $x$ in the deck). Since the order of dealing is unimportant, you're just counting how many subsets with $5$ elements of the form ($\star$) you can form out of $52$ cards. To form any such set you have to choose $x$, for which you have $13$ choices, and any of these choice can be coupled with any $y$ for which you have $52-4=48$ possibilities. Thus you have $13\cdot48=624$ subsets of the form ($\star$). Since there are alltogether $\binom{52}5$ possible hands dealt (the number of all subsets with $5$ elements chosen out of $52$) the probability to be dealt a Four of a Kind in poker is $$ \frac{624}{\binom{52}5}=624\frac{5!\cdot47!}{52!}. $$ I'll leave to you the task to come with the actual number. | Mid | [
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Pages Thursday, May 15, 2008 I'm an exerciser. Not necessarily the "did and IronMan" kind of exerciser like my Tee's stud teacher Roni, but an exerciser all the same. There is something wonderful about getting up before dawn and having some time to get my thoughts together and blood pumping before entering the busyness of life. Odd as it may sound, I feel like the hour I spend helps me to be a better wife, mother, and friend. I've been going to the YMCA every morning at 5:45 with Hannah. Dea and Darius have amazingly and voluntarily gotten up with me each morning to play basketball in the gym while I'm working out. For 14 and 17 year old boys who could definitely sleep in a little, it's impressed me beyond belief. I'm hoping they're learning a kind of discipline that will serve them their whole lives. On Friday's, my little boys like to get up as well and shoot hoops with their new big brothers. It's pretty cute. Darius plays a lot of basketball in addition to his early mornings and has been complaining of sore muscles. The other night he said, "Mama Melissa, could you get me some Epsom Salt next time you go to the store?" I giggled. "Darius, what in the world are you going to use Epsom Salt for?" "I'm gonna soak in it. It helps your muscles relax." This time, I laughed out loud. "Oh, Honey! You sound like you're 80!" He insisted, so yesterday at the store I picked up some good old fashioned Epsom Salt for that boy. It was $1.86 so I figured I had minimal financial risk. When Darius got home from basketball and saw that carton sitting on the counter, he jumped for joy and practically ran to the bathtub. About 30 minutes later he came out beaming saying he felt like a million bucks. I teased him a little but deep down wondered if the stuff really did work. You see, yesterday morning, Hannah made me do 4,786 walking lunges and I was so sore this morning I could barely walk. (I don't know what I did to her but if she's reading this, Hannah, I'm so so very sorry. Please forgive me and don't ever make me do those again. Well, until tomorrow morning and then make me do 4,787. Thank you.) So a while ago, I tiptoed into the boys' bathroom and under the sink found that big carton of Epsom Salt. Now, they weren't home to see me but the shame I felt was enough to make me sneak. I poured and poured that manna from heaven into a hot bath and I'm a big liar if I don't admit I feel tons better. I can actually sit down to write this without tears rolling down my face and can get up without help. But, before I would eat a big slice of humble pie a la mode, I had to find out for myself if there was any truth to the whole 'Epsom Salt helps sore muscles' folklore. I spent the better part of the morning delving into the vast ocean of information that is Epsom Salt. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it's the rebellious child in me just wanting it to be summer. Maybe it's my passive aggressive way of not cleaning my very dirty house. And maybe I just long for knowledge on a variety of subjects. Ok, no. It's for sure not that. After my extensive research on Google,(does that qualify?) I decided to go with Wikipedia's description which stated "Magnesium sulfate (Epsom Salt) when used through soaking, can soothe muscle pains..." because in the words of my good friend Michael Scott - “Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world, can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.” The very best. Darius, I owe you an apology. And a new thing of Epsom Salt. I used all of your's. 8 comments: You failed to include that it was your ancient mother-in-law who directed you out of the spices and into the first-aid section at Target to even find the epsom salts; which proves it isn't an "old wives' tale" but an old mother-in-law tale which is actually TRUE!Great blog!Love,CandyP.S. Bill knows how I love being first to comment!!! Funny, I associate Epsom Salt with my grandmother, but I'm not sure why; my dad always soaked his feet in it, too, to soften his nails before cutting (tmi?) :). Some very sweet about a TEEN using it for "medicinal purposes" :). Ooooo, and I've visited your blog several time over the past several days after reading your TITLE at the Blogged-in Network. I was a Theta a thousand years ago (Clemson, Delta Phi) and I got a kick out of the title. I guess Theta IS for a lifetime ;). Also according to my friend Emily if you have a particularly sore area you can put some ES on a hot washcloth and wrap it around the sore spot...I guess I (we) would need a bath towel to soak our backsides. First, I had to say that I had to come visit when I saw your post on Missy's blog...love meeting other Melissa's...Ha! Second, yep, we bought into the whole Epsom Salt thing ourselves years ago when the pediatrician said it would help our boys (now 12 and 14) relax their muscles after playing sports. It worked and we bought into it! Now we have a bag of Epsom Salt in their bathroom for whenever they might need it! I'm with you...I would HAVE to search out the information BEFORE I cleaned my house too! | Mid | [
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This still from a video shot by astronauts aboard the International Space Station in early 2012 shows brilliant aurora displays dancing above Earth. If you've ever been awestruck by the sight of the northern lights dancing overhead, imagine what it would be like to fly right through them. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station don't have to imagine. They've zipped through some powerful geomagnetic storms recently, getting an up-close look at the auroras, which are also known as the northern and southern lights, amd captured the celestial light show in a dazzling new video. "We can actually fly into the auroras," said NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a flight engineer for the orbiting lab's current Expedition 30. "It’s like being shrunk down and put inside of a neon sign." One such experience came this past January, when a series of solar storms sparked intense light shows that Pettit said will be burned into his memory for years to come. He and his crewmates beamed a video of the spectacular space aurora display back to Earth for everyone to enjoy. "The auroras could be seen [as brightly as] city lights on the Earth below, and even in the day-night terminator of the rising and setting sun," Pettit said. "It was simply amazing." Auroras are caused when charged particles ejected from the sun slam into Earth's atmosphere. These particles are usually guided along Earth's magnetic field lines to the polar regions, which is why skywatchers in higher latitudes see them much more often than folks in more temperate climes do. But big solar storms called coronal mass ejections can make the auroras visible to broad swathes of the planet. Coronal mass ejections can be triggered during the most intense solar storms and blast out huge clouds of solar plasma into space at 3 million mph (5 million kph) or more. If these clouds are aimed at Earth, they can pose a potential threat to the station's crew, as well as disrupt GPS signals, radio communications and power grids — and supercharge aurora displays. [Photos: Northern Lights of February 2012] Pettit and other astronauts aboard the orbiting lab have been chronicling these light shows on video, recording auroras that range from red and green to many shades of purple. The colors correspond to different quantum transitions in excited oxygen and nitrogen atoms. "Red auroras reach all the way up to our altitude 400 kilometers [240 miles] above Earth," Pettit said. "Sometimes you feel like you can reach out and touch them." "Green emissions, on the other hand, tend to stay below the space station," he added. "We fly right over them." It may seem weird to see auroras underfoot, but it's not as strange as looking down and seeing meteors, according to Pettit. "Occasionally we see a meteor burning up in the atmosphere below, and this does look strange," he said. "You should be looking up for meteors, not down." Pettit and his crewmates should have more chances to see — and fly through — spectacular auroras. Solar activity waxes and wanes on an 11-year cycle, and scientists think the current one, known as Solar Cycle 24, will peak in 2013. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. | High | [
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LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Raul DeJesus has nerve damage in his arm. The pain is so debilitating that he needs several powerful medications. “Oxycondones, hydrocondones, the list goes on,” said Raul. Debbie Russo needed surgery to fix the damage to her shoulder. “I knew something was wrong because I couldn’t move my arm,” she said. “It was a lot of pain.” Both Raul and Debbie suffered serious shoulder damage, not from an injury or something they did, but from flu shots. Infectious disease specialist Robert Duncan says while these injuries aren’t common, they can happen, usually because the shot is given too high in the arm. “It can really be quite a significant problem,” said Duncan. Vaccine injury attorney Paul Brazil says shoulder injury related to vaccine administration, or SIRVA, only recently started to become recognized. “Most cases fall somewhere in the $20,000 to $150,000 range,” according to Brazil. Under a government deal with manufacturers, they pay a tax into a federal fund, which can then be used to pay vaccine-injury claims. The program recently added shoulder injuries to the list of injuries eligible for cash damage awards. While any vaccine can cause damage, Brazil says, most of his cases involved the flu shot, and adds he has clients all over the country, including here in Southern California. “In my personal experience, it seems that a lot of vaccine petitioners get the vaccine at a pharmacy,” he said. Debbie got her shot from a pharmacy, and was later awarded $108,000. “I tell everyone, do not get a shot of any kind at a pharmacy,” she said. The Journal of the American Pharmacists Association published an article last year outlining this danger and giving pharmacists tips on proper procedure, including the ideal spot for an injection. Brazil says this kind of education is key. “I think it’s lack of awareness,” said Brazil. “I think if people knew about SIRVA, if it was publicized more, then people administering vaccines might be more careful.” Raul said he wishes that was the case at the clinic where he got his shot. His case is still pending. “This has affected every single aspect of my life, not to be able to do the things that I was able to do because of a simple flu shot,” Raul said. While doctors say a little soreness after a flu shot is perfectly normal, these victims developed serious orthopedic injuries. If you suspect you’ve suffered a vaccine injury, click here to visit the Health Resources and Services Administration’s website to file a claim. | Mid | [
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Ken (Lakewood CA): Thanks for the chat. Thinking Hayes may be the Pirate 3B as early as sometime in 2020? Are we realistically looking at a very good glove that hits 10 to 15 HR a year with a .270 to .280 average? Or are the Pirates optimistic his hitting stats can be better than that? Perhaps a better real life player than fantasy? Tim Williams: Thanks for joining me, and thanks to Baseball America for the opportunity to put this year's list together! I could see Hayes arriving in 2020. I think your assessment is realistic. Hayes will lead the way with his defensive skills. He's got the reactions, range, glove work, and arm strength to be a Gold Glove defender at the position in the majors. He also has a compact, smooth swing that projects for an average in the .270-.280 range or higher. The big variable will be the power. I think it's safe to project 10-15 homers. Hayes also has a lot of room to add muscle to his frame, without losing a lot of defensive value at third. That could jump him up to a 20 home run hitter, which combined with the defense and the hitting, makes him a key figure to follow for the Pirates' future chances at contending. Tommy (New York): What is Mojica's upside? Tim Williams: Alexander Mojica had an impressive season at age 16 in the DSL, hitting for a .351/.468/.580 line with eight homers and a .230 ISO. Those numbers at that age at any level will be eye-opening. They also make Mojica one of my most anticipated guys to watch as he jumps to the US next year. My concern with projecting him right now is the uncertainty with his position. He's at third base now, and can handle the position so far. He does have a thicker frame, which could move him to first base as he grows and fills out. That puts more emphasis on his bat. He's going to either need to show that the bat can provide enough value for first base, or he's going to need to show that he can stick at a more valuable position over the long-term before his upside becomes clear. Right now I just love the offense and the reports we've received on his hitting tools. Karl of Delaware (Georgetown, Delaware): Of the pitchers moving up to Greensboro from the short season teams - who are your favorites? Tim Williams: I love that potential Greensboro rotation next year. The best and most realistic prospect group you could have there would include Tahnaj Thomas, Quinn Priester, Braxton Ashcraft, Michael Burrows, and Santiago Florez. I have all five as top 20 prospects in the system. To answer your question of who I'm most looking forward to, let's just say I might be making the hour drive to Greensboro a LOT next year to see Thomas and Priester. It's rare to see two guys with the makings of top of the rotation stuff at the same level. Karl of Delaware (Georgetown, Delaware): Greensboro outfielder Fabricio Macias seems to have had a pretty good bat in 2019 - is he a prospect or an organization guy in your eyes? Tim Williams: He's more a prospect than an organizational guy, but ultimately a fringe-prospect. I've got his likely upside right now at 30, but there's chance to improve to 35-40 if the bat continues to show positive signs. His defensive skills are strong in center, and drive a lot of his value and future upside right now. I'm a bit skeptical of his 2019 offense, just because he's already played in leagues with players more advanced than who he'd face in Low-A. I want to see what he can do at higher levels. Zac (NYC): Is there room for Cruz to advance his hit tool? And if he does, do you think he could become a play-anywhere, top of the order type like DJ LeMahieu (another uncommonly tall infielder)? Tim Williams: I projected Cruz for right field in 2023. I am not ruling out him sticking in the infield, either at shortstop or third base. I don't think he's going to be a defender who provides positive value at either of those spots. He definitely has the offensive potential to play anywhere. I thought it was interesting that we got a Gregory Polanco comp for Cruz. It's not what you want to hear, based on what Polanco has done so far. It does make sense. They're both highly athletic guys with tons of tools, but some obvious concerns, specifically with their swing length. I think Cruz will hit for power easier than Polanco has done. He does need to find a way to shorten his swing to improve the average and strikeouts, all without losing some of that power. I also see him as more of a middle of the order bat. Karl of Delaware (Georgetown, Delaware): Two high draft choices (2nd and 3rd round) Gorski and Fraizer seemed to flounder at short season last year. What do you expect from them this coming season and beyond? Tim Williams: I wasn't high on Gorski because his profile is not one the Pirates have had success with in the past. He's got plus raw power, but some serious swing and miss issues to his game. The Pirates didn't have success with similar guys in the past. Casey Hughston is the biggest example who comes to mind. Plus raw power/too many strikeouts is a common profile and hard to develop. It will be interesting to see if the Pirates have better results with this type of hitter under Ben Cherington. Fraizer is the opposite end of the spectrum, with plus speed, and gap power upside. The Pirates didn't have good results with mid-round college hitters in general, so once again, we'll see how they do under BC. Norm C (Connecticut): Jack Herman seems to be making himself relevant in the lower minors. Did he make the book this year? Warren (New London): Jack Herman hit 13 home runs in 265 AB, but 9 of them were in his very friendly home park. How much power does he project to have, and what's the rest of his game like? Will he be in the 30? Tim Williams: Spoiler alert: He's in the 30. I have the same concerns as you about his power distribution. Nine homers and a .563 slugging at home versus four and .374 on the road. But he was also doing that at age 19 when power isn't the most consistent tool. He has enough speed to play center, and enough arm strength to play right field if he moves to a corner. He added some muscle last offseason to improve his power production, but he also doubled his strikeout rate in the process. He could make it as a fourth outfielder who can play all three spots and hit for power off the bench. He's got plenty of time to improve that upside going forward, but will need to address the concerns above with his power and strikeouts. Warren (New London): Mason Martin had a big year after a disappointing 2018. Is he close to the top 10? While Swaggerty and Siani are a lot more athletic, it seems to me that he has a case to be ahead of them. Tim Williams: I really like the raw power from Martin. He also has a great eye. My concern is that he's gotten too selective in the past, letting some hittable pitches go early in counts to try and crush a pitch later. He worked this year to get more aggressive early in the counts. I'd like to see how that plays out in higher levels, where his eye will really be tested, and there will be fewer pitches to crush. I wouldn't make an argument for Martin over either of those guys yet, but he has the ability to put himself ahead of both of those guys by this time next year. Chris (Pittsburgh): Does Yerry de los santos rank in top 30 Tim Williams: Not yet, but he's a great story to follow. Signed in 2014, made his debut in the DSL in 2015, then pitched 27 innings over the next three seasons due to Tommy John and setbacks. He's now sitting 95, reaching upper 90s, and pairing the fastball with a slider that led to a 38% strikeout rate in Low-A this year. He's a future reliever, and a guy who could move quickly through the system next year. Sean (Pittsburgh): Does Juan Pie rank in top 30 John (PA): Where does Juan Pie start the season next year Tim Williams: I could see Pie starting off in extended Spring Training and moving up to one of the short-season teams by the summer. Right now he's a line drive hitter with average speed and a fringe-average arm. He seems more likely as a left fielder in the future. He hit .231/.314/.347 in the GCL this year, with much better results against lefties than right-handers (Pie is a lefty). He's a lower level project right now who needs to see his power develop. Dan (SoCal): Was Jared Oliva close to the list? He looked great in the AFL. Ke'Bryan Mays Hayes (Queens): Jared Oliva had a nice year and has got some interesting tools - when and how do you see him contributing at the Major League level, if it all? Tim Williams: I thought the most apt comp we got for Oliva was Rocco Baldelli. That's perfect for how I see him. He's a guy who can be a good fourth outfielder, can play all three outfield positions, and might even be able to put up a year or two with a WAR around 2.0, making him a good second division starter in those years. Greg (Rainy Cincinnati): What are your and your sources opinions about the pirates ability to identify and develop amateur talent as an organization, both historically and going forward, and in comparison to similar market size NL central rivals ? Thanks! Tim Williams: Historically they have done well to identify talent and to develop them into top prospects. They've had some clear issues with turning top prospects into top players in the majors. That's why Pirates fans cringe every time they hear about Gerrit Cole, Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows, and others who are reaching their upsides elsewhere. The new group needs to identify guys like Cole and Meadows in the first round like the old guys. They need to identify fifth round prep sleepers like Glasnow. They need to develop them all to where they're top prospects in the league. But this time they need to make sure the next Cole, Glasnow, Meadows, or anyone else sees their impact MLB production in Pittsburgh. WTM (Silver Spring, MD): So if you’re Cherington looking at this right now, what are you thinking? Tim Williams: This chat? Or this system? If I'm Cherington, I like the upside of the system, but want to add to the depth, as it really falls off in several areas. I'd also want to update the pitching and hitting philosophies throughout the system to modernize them for what we're seeing in today's MLB. And I'd pour all of my efforts into developing that Greensboro rotation. If I'm Cherington looking at this chat, I'd be thinking about how I'm not looking forward to answering all of the development-related questions I have for him over the next year. Greg (Cincy): So where do the pirates go from here ? Rebuilding? Tim Williams: That would be my pick. They're not contenders as it stands right now for 2020, and they're not close. They only have key players like Marte under control for a few more seasons. And they've got a good group of prospects developing in the lower levels. All signs point to their best chance of winning being in the future, with very little chance in the next two years. Timmy (Work): Please speculate on the prospect return for trading Taillon. Tim Williams: He's going to need to return from his second Tommy John surgery and show what kind of value he's got before he can be moved. No sense trading him before he returns. Murray (Carlsbad, CA): I'm excited about the new front office. We keep hearing about major leaguers like Marte and Bell being dealt, but can you see Cherington dealing from the farm to bring in different prospects that maybe he's had his eye on while in Toronto? If so, who might be most likely to go? Tim Williams: Prospect for prospect trades are rare. I could see him turning to the Blue Jays system for some guys. I don't know who he'd target. I do know that the weakest spot in the system is catcher, and he needs to find a way to get a long-term option from some team. JL (Charlotte): How long are we going to ride with Stallings as a catcher? Tim Williams: I think they should go with him splitting time in 2020, along with an upside guy in hopes of finding the next Russell Martin or Francisco Cervelli. Stallings is good managing pitchers, and the Pirates have some young pitchers to work with who can benefit from throwing to him in the next year or two. I don't see them as contenders during this time, so I'd at least give him a year to split as a starter, and keep him as a backup after that. Mike C. (Lynchburg, Va.): Thanks for the chat! How much is a concern is Keller's rough big league start last year? Tim Williams: I'm less concerned after two developments. Number one is that he started throwing his fastball less, and the secondary stuff more. I think he's got the makings of two plus breaking pitches. His new slider already looked like a weapon in his first year using it, and I aggressively graded it as the best slider in the system based on the limited results. I think he's going to benefit most from an updated pitching philosophy. I loved what Ray Searage did in Pittsburgh, but it was clear the last few years that he and the Pirates had fallen behind. In four years the situation went from watching to see who the next reclamation project would be for Searage, to seeing who would be the next pitcher to benefit from leaving Pittsburgh for a more advanced organization. I think Keller will see a big boost with a new philosophy built in. That's coming from someone who has been asking him about his strategy to reduce extreme fastball usage since Keller was in High-A. Bryan (Illinois): Can we get a quick blurb on Cal Mitchell, Steven Jennings, and Gage Hinsz? Tim Williams: Mitchell is my favorite of the three. I see plus raw power and a good hit tool, but he's raw. Jennings hasn't shown much velocity and has been disappointing so far for a high pick. Part of that is due to a broken rib that led to a lot of weight loss. That happened prior to 2018, and his velocity hasn't developed since. Hinsz has seen the worst luck the last few years. He's had shoulder issues, open heart surgery that cost him 2018, and a forearm strain that cost him 2019. He was sitting mid-90s before he went down, while tying to develop his curve into a consistent out pitch. It's hard to say where he's at now, all things considered. I will say that I don't think there's a player who I'm pulling for more to reach the majors after everything he's been through. Andrew (Atlanta, GA): Are there any unprotected Rule 5 Pirates Prospects that you could see being taken in the upcoming Rule 5 draft? Tim Williams: I don't really see any strong chances. They added Blake Cederlind and Cody Ponce, who I thought were fringe guys to be added to the 40-man, and risks to be selected if they weren't added. Sam (Pittsburgh): Given the Pirates farm today - could you project a starting lineup of all prospects in, say, 2023-24? Who do you think has realistic shots of being impact players in MLB? Tim Williams: I could project an all-prospects group, but it wouldn't be very good. The impact guys I see, who could arrive by 2023-24, include Mitch Keller, Ke'Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, and you might even see Tahnaj Thomas and Quinn Priester joining that group in those years. That's a good group for Cherington to improve upon. Buried in Snow (Duluth): Lolo Sanchez got dominated in High-A; any thoughts on his 2020 outlook? Tim Williams: Sanchez is a guy who I really like. A lot of tools, but way too inconsistent. He could have 50 tools or better across the board. He's tried to hit for power too much in the past, taking away from the stronger parts of his game. I think he'd be fine as a speedy, leadoff hitting, defensive center fielder without much power. The focus on improving the power seems to be derailing the rest of his game. Stephen (Pittsburgh): As you prepared this list, with whom were you most surprised? Positive or negative. You follow the team closely but I am sure as you took a step back to get the big picture, someone stood out. "Wow, I did not realize this guy is blossoming into someone sneaky good" type observation Tim Williams: Throughout the season, Tahnaj Thomas was the guy who made the biggest rise on my list. We were high on him heading into the season at Pirates Prospects, but the reports we got throughout the year were enough for me to feel comfortable ranking him ahead of a first round prep pitcher like Quinn Priester. For a deeper sleeper, I really liked what Nick Mears has done this year. I think he's got a shot to be a future late inning reliever in the majors. John (CT): What are your thoughts on the catching prospects of the Pirates now that Diaz is gone. I know they will get a free agent, but futures for Jason Delay, Deon Stafford, Grant Koch, Zac Susi and Kyle Wilkie. Tim Williams: The best guys from that group profile as defensive backups if they reach the majors. I didn't go that deep for my rankings here, but we have Delay, Stafford, and Arden Pabst as 30 upsides, making them more number three catchers out of Triple-A. The Pirates desperately need starting catching prospects throughout their system. Buried in Snow (Duluth): Where would Cole Tucker have fit in? Thoughts on his future outlook? Tim Williams: I'd probably have him in that group with Thomas, Priester, and Bae. I'm still high on him and think he's the shortstop of the future. Better defense and power potential than Kevin Newman, and he's got a good hit tool, with a line drive stroke and good plate patience. As I've said, the Pirates didn't do a good job transitioning top prospects over to the majors. I saw Tucker with average to above-average starting shortstop potential in the past. I want to see if the new group can get him there. Jacob (Wilmington): Thoughts on Jasiah Dixon? 2020 starting assignment: short season ball or Greensboro? Tim Williams: I love the speed and the chance to stick in center field. The offense, in a small sample size, was also nice to see. The old group would have probably pushed him to Greensboro. We'll see if the new group does the same. It might all depend on how he looks throughout Spring Training. Jim (Louisville, KY): Travis Swaggerty is coming off a very average year in A+. Has that tempered your expectations from him and what is that you are going to look for most out of him in 2020? Tim Williams: I haven't been high on Swaggerty. He hasn't lived up to his pre-draft reports. The power isn't there, and there's are some swing and miss concerns that haven't fully shown up in the stats in A-ball. Right now I see him with average starter upside. Buried in Snow (Duluth): Any commentary on Kevin Kramer and Pablo Reyes? Tim Williams: I see Reyes as a utility player, probably less likely than Josh Harrison or Adam Frazier to transition to being a starter. I've been high on Kramer, but he took a step back this year. He's got above-average power for a middle infielder, and good contact skills. He's yet to consistently translate that to games, his numbers declined in a year when the ball was juiced in Triple-A, and the Pirates didn't call him up at the end of the year. I'm not writing him off, but he's got to work his way back into the picture at this point. Paul Ivice (Jensen Beach, FL): What do you project the Pirates will get from Blake Cederlind in 2020? Tim Williams: In 2020 alone? A Triple-A reliever who can hit triple digits, with control issues and the need to improve his out pitch. If he does well enough on those last two things, he could arrive by the end of 2020. Matt (Pittsburgh): Do you see Will Craig getting any MLB action this season? Tim Williams: I could see that happening if Josh Bell gets injured, or for any other reason Bell might not be available. Craig needs the Pirates to trade Bell, or the NL to add the DH in order for him to start in Pittsburgh in the next year or two. I'd go Bell as the DH in that scenario. Mike (Altoona): Could you rank Bell, Will Craig and Mason Martin on 20-80 scale on 1B defense? Thanks Tim Williams: Bell 25, Martin 35, Craig 50. Buried in Snow (Duluth): Who's the best hope for a future .300/.400/.500 line in the system? Not seeing many well-balanced offensive profiles here - any hope on the horizon? Tim Williams: Josh Bell, if we're including current MLB players. Oneil Cruz, if we're not. Possum (Connecticut): Tim, What’s your gut feeling on how the management changes and the de-emphasis on pitch-to-contact will impact the development of the pitchers in the Top 10? Tim Williams: It's going to be an interesting look, because we'll see how it plays out across a lot of levels. Keller in the majors, Bolton in the upper minors, Thomas and Priester in the lower levels. The strength of this organization is pitching, and it will only help to modernize the pitching approach. I think that should be the biggest priority, considering the makeup of the system. Coach (New England): Nice to see them cleaning house and making changes. My son is in organization and I hear of the concerns first hand. Have they hired a new director on the minor league system, and if so what are your thoughts of him. Tim Williams: They just hired Steve Sanders from the Blue Jays to be the new assistant GM. He oversaw a lot of big improvements to the farm system in Toronto, and it sounds like he'll be playing a big role here. Joel Martin (Hamilton, Ontario): What did you make of the Pirates AFL selections? Oliva was obviously a star. Beau Sulser has put together two solid seasons in the minors. Do you think he has the stuff to be in Pittsburgh in the next year or so? Tim Williams: I think he could make it as a depth option, but his upside is limited to middle relief at best until he becomes more than a finesse pitcher. Oliva's performance was encouraging. Nick Mears was another encouraging guy with his performance carrying over strong from the end of the regular season. Jake hurts (FL): So many good middle infielders in the system. Where do you see tucker starting the year possibly MLB? And once he’s up where does Newman go? Also Cruz makes to many errors at short but his bat is amazing and you hVe bae coming up behind them also what you have on Alemais feel like he’s always hurt. Let’s say if he were to produce better power numbers and bat in his .280 like he did with altoona are we looking at someone that can take a job? In the upper levels? Where does he start the year? Coming off an injury.? Tim Williams: My projection for the future is Tucker at short, Newman at second, and Cruz in the outfield. Alemais has the best defense of the group, but I question if he'll hit enough to be more than a September callup at best. Oneil Cruz (The Unicorn!): Thanks for chatting with us today. My collection of tools might be one of the most exciting in all of minor league baseball. After proving I could more than hold my own in AA to end the 2019 season, are scouts more convinced that I can make my long levers work? Do you see me as a potential massive breakout prospect that could rocket all the way into the top 10 prospects in all of baseball if I continue to put everything together offensively and defensively in 2020? Tim Williams: So many Oneil Cruz questions. Alex (Pitt): Oneil Cruz has been lauded for his 80 raw power but has had trouble getting to it consistently in games due to his large frame and long swing. He showed the ability to tap into that power more in HiA in 2019. What does he have to do to continue to evolve into one of the truly elite prospects in baseball in 2020? Tim Williams: You guys are excited about him. And it's easy to see why. Matt (PA): Everyone knows about Oneil Cruz's incredible raw power for someone that is built more like an NBA SF. However, what % of scouts are believers in his bat and that he can consistently tap into that power as he matures. It was quite encouraging to see him sine in HiA and hold his own after being promoted to AA as a still raw 20 year old. Do you think he's on the cusp of putting everything together and exploding in 2020? Tim Williams: I saved all of these questions for the end, because I am also excited by Oneil Cruz's upside, but also have some concerns. Oneil Cruz Fan (Pitt): Oneil Cruz showed he could make his long levers work in his first taste of full season ball in 2018. He continued to build on that in 2019 and climbed all the way to AA. I'm cautiously optimistic he's on the brink of putting everything together and becoming an uber prospect in 2020. Am I crazy? Tim Williams: So we'll wrap this up with a final answer on Cruz. He's the toughest guy to evaluate and project in my 11 seasons covering the Pirates. He's got the best raw power in the system. He's the most athletic player in the system. He might have a shot at playing the infield, but that's a luxury. It won't be a problem for his bat to play in right field. The issue with Cruz is that he's such a high beta prospect. He could be a star, or he could wash out in the upper levels due to issues with a longer swing. Honestly, I comfortably project him as a future MLB player. The tools are just too good for him to totally bust. The question I have is: How good can he be? I think this is another Gregory Polanco situation, where if Cruz disappoints in the majors, it's because he's an average starter at best, and not an impact player like everyone hopes. But I love his chances at being an impact guy. I see Pedro Alvarez power and Gregory Polanco's athleticism (without the awkward looking plays that happen too often), plus the downsides that come with Polanco's long levers. If he can improve that last aspect, the first two will take him far. Thanks so much for the chat everyone! | Mid | [
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Lower extremity reconstruction using a long-cryopreserved venous allograft for free flap venous outflow. Vein grafts are used frequently in microvascular surgery, but an adequate supply of autogenous veins is not always available. The search for an ideal substitute for autogenous vein continues. We present a case of lower extremity reconstruction made difficult by lack of suitable autogenous vein for venous outflow from a rectus abdominus free flap. A 36 cm cryopreserved allograft saphenous vein was used on an emergency basis for this problem. | High | [
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Please note changes in date and timings for Bangalore and Chennaievents Overview: More than the presentation of the Union Budget by the Honorable Finance Minister - GOI, it is the post budget analysis, which has assumed greater significance, as CEOs, CFOs and the Finance Specialists of India Inc want to understand the impact of the budget on different sectors. With increasing intricacies on the budget, the India Inc. looks upon the leading minds of the industry to unravel the mysteries surrounding the budget and present the true picture. The corporate today look for credible forums to have one-on-one interaction with the domain experts to get both the macro as well as micro issues addressed. The Forum: Economictimes.com - the online edition of The Economic Times, India’s No. 1 and world’s no. 2 financial daily has been presenting the annual event – Budget Analysis Forum for the last few years in association with PricewaterhouseCoopers. With the backing of two such forces, the Budget Analysis Forum has become the most credible and sought after event by the top echelons of the Corporate India. The ET.com - PwC Budget Analysis Forumhas been a platform to bring forth critical issues likely to impact the Indian Economy post the budget announcement. It also endeavors to debate and discuss the implications of the budget and its ramifications across various industries. The forum has had Keynote Sessions by leading bureaucrats and economists of the Country. In the past we had people such as Swaminathan Aiyar, Jairam Ramesh, Bibek Debroy and Dr. Narender Pani as Key Note Speakers. Analysis Session 2008: The Budget Analysis session is being organised at Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad in the first week of March 2008. | Mid | [
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A Turkish decision to “fill the gap” created by Russia’s ban on EU food exports has provoked strong words from Athens, which blames Ankara for participating à la carte in European policy. EURACTIV Greece reports. Russia President Vladimir Putin last week banned fruit and vegetable imports from the EU – and all food imports from the US – in retaliation for Western sanctions against Moscow. The move was considered a huge blow to Greek farmers, as 41% of Greek exports to Russia concern agricultural products. Ankara reacted to the ban by extending an olive branch to Moscow. The Turkish finance minister, Nihat Zeybekci, said that the ongoing crisis between Russia and the West was an “opportunity” for Ankara. “Amid a deadlock among Russia, Ukraine, EU and USA […] we will approach even more Russia”, he said, adding that Ankara would draw a comparative advantage from the Russian embargo. The Greek foreign ministry issued a statement on Saturday (9 August) saying that Greek farmers would be compensated for losses incurred by Russian sanctions, hinting simultaneously that Turkey, an associate member of the EU, was complying selectively with European policy. “The EU and Euroatlantic partners also need to make the speedy realization that we cannot have countries that are candidates for accession to the EU – countries that are in fact members of the Alliance – participating a la carte in European policy and benefitting from the cost being paid by the member states”, it said. Syriza against EU sanctions The leftist main opposition Syriza opposed the Greek government’s decision to take part in the sanctions against Russia and urged the Greek PM to support its local ‘victims’. “After it disagrees with the EU measures [against Russia], the Greek government has to make it clear to Russia that the peoples of Europe, and especially in this case, the weakest part of the farmers should not be victims of conflicts expediency”, said Syriza MP Vangelis Apostolou. The head of Syriza and then candidate for the presidency of the EU executive, Alexis Tsipras, made his position on the Ukrainian crisis clear even before the EU elections. During the European Commission’s presidential debate, he argued that Ukraine should be a “bridge” between Russia and the EU and opposed talk of sanctions. “The EU is making experiments again with the materials of the Cold War […] A new wound is opening in the heart of Europe and ahead of this threat, no threats and sanctions but dialogue and diplomacy should dominate”, he said. “We don’t change alliances” Greek coalition government spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi, reiterated today (11 August) that Greek farmers would receive compensation for their losses but made clear that Athens would not change its foreign policy alliances under pressure from its farmers. “Peaches and nectarines will be compensated; Greek farmers will not be affected by the foreign policy of the European Union”, she said, adding that it would be “ridiculous” for Athens to take “unilateral actions” with Russia, especially as the country’s European partners “are holding our loans and this is something Russian are aware of”. Comparing the Crimean issue with the occupied territories in Cyprus by Turkey, she underlined that such a model of “secession” would irreparably undermine the position of Greece in Cyprus, setting a precedent for the loss of Northern Cyprus. “What shall we say then? We gave half of Cyprus but we saved the peaches”, she wondered aloud. | Low | [
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WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - A state lawsuit against elders of a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation has prompted a judge to question the constitutionality of a Delaware law mandating the reporting of suspected child abuse. The attorney general’s office is suing elders of the Sussex County congregation for not reporting an unlawful sexual relationship between a woman and a 14-year-old boy, both of whom were congregation members. State law requires any person, agency, organization or entity who knows or in good faith suspects that a child is being abused or neglected to call a 24-hour hotline. The law specifically states that the reporting requirements apply to health care workers and organizations, school employees, social workers, psychologists and law enforcement officials. But the law also contains exemptions for attorney-client conversations and communications “between priest and penitent in a sacramental confession.” Francis McNamara, an attorney for the Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation, argued Monday that they are covered by the clergy exemption, and that the judge should end the lawsuit before it goes to trial by ruling in their favor. “The effectiveness of this statute cannot be limited to Catholic priests,” he told Superior Court Judge Mary Johnston. McNamara said he wasn’t challenging the constitutionality of the law, but that in order to maintain its constitutionality, it must be read to protect any confidential conversation between a church member and a cleric acting in a ministerial role - not just the confessional booth in a Catholic Church. “Which religion do we pick as having the proper confession?” McNamara asked. Johnston wrestled with why a non-Catholic who confesses confidentially to a spiritual adviser that he or she did something wrong would not be covered by the law simply because that particular religion does not define congregational leaders as “priests” or include “confession” among its sacraments. “How can that be constitutional?” asked the judge, who described the statute as “problematic” and suggested that it was “sloppily written.” “What does “sacramental” mean for purposes of the state?” Johnston asked deputy attorney general Janice Tigani. Tigani conceded that the law could be unconstitutional if read as favoring a certain religion, but that Delaware lawmakers could have chosen other language had they wanted. She also said she was unaware of any similar law in any other state with the same wording. Tigani, nevertheless, argued that there was no “confession” by the boy, who was taken to congregation elders by his mother after revealing the sexual relationship. “They weren’t confessing anything, at least within the eyes of the law … because this was a victim,” she said. The conversations between congregation elders and the woman also are not covered by the confessional exemption, Tigani added, because the woman did not voluntarily seek out spiritual guidance but was instead approached by elders after they met with the boy and his mother. But the judge noted that the woman, Katheryn Harris Carmean White, could have confessed while being interviewed by the elders, and that both she and the boy were excommunicated, suggesting that the boy may have been subjected to church punishment for “confessing” his own wrongdoing. Department of Justice authorities say the boy reported to his mother in January 2013 that he and Carmean White, who worked as a teacher’s aide at Seaford Middle School, had engaged in a sexual relationship. According to the complaint, the boy and his mother met that same day with two congregation elders. Carmean White was arrested in February 2013 after the boy’s mother went to authorities. She was sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of third-degree rape, fourth-degree rape and child endangerment. This story has been corrected to show the first name of the Jehovah’s Witnesses lawyer is Francis, not Frank. Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. | Mid | [
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Standing in a metal bar just three days after Trump’s election, the American flag should’ve been a clear sign that the show I was at was about to get weird. The place was a stickered and dimly lit dive where I’d gone for the first time to see a friend’s band. Over the course of a life lived in metal, I’d set foot in hundreds of places just like it. That night, I’d worn my battle gear: Earth trucker-hat, Mayhem t-shirt, black hoodie. My wife was out of town for work. With my son babysat, I’d be good until midnight. Uncommonly warm out, it still felt like winter. Daily life was poised and tense. The day before the show, at a nearby café, my wife and I had argued with a vocal Trump-supporter; a debonair man with a coif of white hair who’d been airing his views to a wary barista. The encounter between us banked steeply on rage when the man turned to me, telling me to, “Fuck off.” The American flag, which was massively draped behind the small stage where the band would perform, didn’t mean anything out of sorts on the surface. I do live in Louisiana. The American flag, in some parts of New Orleans, is as common as the Fleur-de-lis. And anyway, metal has always been playful. It’s forever reclaiming and repurposing symbols to augment its thematic ends. Psychedelic black metal band Wolves in the Throne Room play in front of black banners with twisted trees on them not because they’re sylvan kings enacting the rites of some Wicker Man-cult; they’re organic farmers from Washington state cultivating an aura of terrified awe. It’s a given that some bands step over the line such as black metal veterans, Taake, from Norway, who were hounded by scandal in 2007 when singer Hoest appeared on stage with a swastika painted on his chest. Hoest’s public response to the blowup was weak-sauce. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “we are definitely not Nazis. We only used that symbol as another symbol for evil. The usual symbols, the pentagram and inverted cross, don’t invoke reactions anymore.” While his antics were risky, in terrible taste, they were also fairly par for course. As a Jew and a liberal, I keep this in mind whenever I engage with metal. Nine times out of ten, metal’s appropriation of certain kinds of charged imagery or ideology isn’t meant to preach or indoctrinate so much as to shock, to immerse in aesthetics. Bowie had his “Thin White Duke” years, and Joy Division—well, just look. The band started up. To be honest, they rocked: like Queens of the Stone Age trade bong-rips with Melvins while Hawkwind and Trouble look on, nodding sagely. Ignoring the flag, I bobbed my head. A few songs in the band’s leader singer, a dark-haired, rangy guy with a handlebar ‘stache, started spouting some shit about how psyched he was about the events of the last couple days. “Things are finally going our way for once!” he announced. There might’ve been a few thin claps. Then the singer followed that with something about how anyone who disagreed with him was welcome to come take it up with him out in the parking lot. I felt myself growing acutely aware of a frown on my face that I couldn’t control; of the way I was standing, hips awkwardly canted and not at all sure what to do with my hands; of my visibly Semitic features. I grew paranoid, quickly. Was it on me to show my dissent and walk out? Or was it on me to stand there and bear witness? Or wasn’t I maybe just overreacting, still tender from Election Night, hurt and appalled and unsure of the future? These guys were hardly neo-Nazis; one of them was my close friend. So maybe a few of them voted for Trump. That’s not a crime, and not my business. But the singer’s announcement had filled me with dread. Because even though playing against stars-and-stripes in this or any other age is a far cry from slapping on Swastika chest-paint, in the wake of his words the flag felt charged, like the sinister ensign of some new world order. It’s a feeling I’d imagine that many Americans of color have experienced for generations. Yet that moment of dread in the club was my first. And—I cringe at my naivete—it shocked me. Thanks in no little part to a few speedy beers, I remained where I was through the band’s final song. A few minutes later my buddy came out and immediately made a beeline for me. My son, two-and-a-half, and his, three, are best friends. “Thanks for coming, brother,” he said. We shook hands. “Sorry about the rant.” With an hour of paid babysitting to spare, I went for a solo cocktail to chill out. On my way to the bar two college girls passed me, assessed me as friendly and called back: “Fuck trump!” They’d also been drinking. “Fuck Trump, right?” I might’ve over-compensated. “Double fuck him!” I called back. As a left-leaning hesher, that night at the bar is far from the only FMS (Fraught Metal Situation) I’ve experienced. I recently went to see Taake play live at a club not unlike where I saw my friend’s band. Before going to see most metal bands, especially black metal bands from Norway, I always try to do my research. What are the band’s politics? Hmm: not great. Are they not-great enough that their music rocks less? If the answer is yes, then I probably won’t go. With Taake, I was on the verge, especially given the Swastika story, but then I saw another pic that, frankly, put that one to shame. It’s a photo of lead-singer Hoest in corpse-paint on stage at some show shrieking into the mike. He’s wearing black jeans full of holes. His cock-and-balls poke out the bottom. It’s perhaps the most un-metal pose in existence—certainly far from the “evil” Hoest courts, like so many “trve kvlt” black metal outfits: Darkthrone, Emperor, Carpathian Forest. “Trve kvlt” (read: true kevelt, which now that I write it sounds passably Yiddish) is the truest iteration of the black metal sound and the amoral, blasphemous lifestyle that girds it, like a Euro-centric version of Original Gangster. But the dic-pic allowed me to go to the show with what would amount to a mostly clean conscience; it was far too absurd to be actually threatening—anyway I told myself. Live, Taake was fucking awesome. No Swastikas and veiled hate-speech, just tremolo riffage, blast-beats and death-shrieking. Withered and shirtless, in runny corpse-paint, wind-milling their hair, Taake looked the part, too. “Those opening bands look like they just spent twelve hours on a tour bus,” said the friend who I’d gone to the show with that night, “but Taake looks like they just emerged from a fucking fissure in the earth.” They were dyed-in-the-wool, “trve kvlt” black metal. But I couldn’t escape a post-show shame that that ignoble dick-pic of Hoest had excused him; that by going to see the band play live, by paying them tribute and, partially, money, I’d been somehow complicit in what the band stood for, even if it wasn’t clear. I felt like a coward, a self-hating Jew. And maybe in some way I’m both, given what I’ve always known: retrograde views are no stranger to metal. I don’t know really why they are or why, to this day, they continue to be. It might have something to do with the fact that the aesthetics and thematic content of many metal bands are so strongly allied with the hateful and macabre side of life, they embrace bigotry as a natural extension. Or, that the scene as a whole is so protective of its philosophical mandate to “freedom”—living your life on your terms, will or nil—that even the most outre views get a pass, though encouraging hate based on gender, sexual orientation or race is probably the least rebel stance I can think of. Or simply because, like many subcultures, metal tends toward tribalism; the largely white, male crowds at shows and in the studio together is how it’s been these many years and metal is partial to keeping it that way. Whatever the cause, it’s a thing in the scene. And not just black metal, the genre’s “extreme,” where avowed neo-Nazi Varg Vikernes of Burzum (released from prison in 2010 where he was serving a 16-year jail sentence for murder) was convicted in 2014 of publishing bigoted attacks against Jews and Muslims on his blog. Or where Jan Axel Blomburg, the drummer of Mayhem, has been quoted as saying, ““I’ll put it this way, we don’t like black people [in Norway] Black metal is for white people.” Blomburg’s sentiments have been echoed by New Orleans’ own Phil Anselmo (formerly of Pantera, currently Down and Superjoint Ritual), who in March of 1995 at a Pantera show in Montreal went on a whackadoo rant wherein he claimed that while “Pantera are not a racist band,” it rubbed him the wrong way when rappers “[pissed] all over white culture,” and that white people in general need to take more pride in what unites them. “Tonight,” he said, presumably referring to the show itself, “is a white thing.” And as early as 2016, at a festival appearance with Down, Anselmo threw up a Nazi salute while yelling, “White Power!” Anselmo’s subsequent defense of his actions, although less adamant than Hoest of Taake’s, was on some level more telling when it comes to metal’s philosophy of equal-opportunity misanthropy. “There’s plenty of fuckers to pick on with a more realistic agenda,” he said. “I fucking love everyone, I fucking loathe everyone, and that’s that.” Though in interviews Anselmo has been justifiably cagey about who he supported in the 2016 presidential election, Slayer vocalist Tom Araya has made his alliance with Trumpism clear. When he’s not making jokes about Mike Pence’s gay conversion therapy “turning fruits into vegetables,” Araya has been working hard at policing anti-Trump sentiment among his fans. “…I never would have guessed there were so many snowflakes commenting their distaste for the new president,” Araya said. For a band that in its early days adopted an unwashed, go-fuck-yourself stance toward the Reagan administration, Araya’s pronouncements are deeply ironic. Because, in spite of campaign bluster selling Trump as the anti-establishment pick, Trump is the establishment. Always has been. Just as America long has clung fast to hetero-normative, patriarchal, white supremacy. You can’t rebel against what is by failing to recognize what always has been. But politics aren’t uniform, especially among band-mates; case in point my drummer-friend, who’s got no love for “45.” Which is why heavy metal’s are hard to pin down. Slayer guitarist Kerry King, as vital to Slayer’s legend-status as Araya, has publicly called Trump “a sideshow,” “the biggest liar I’ve ever seen in politics.” And politics and taste are seldom mutually exclusive. I swear by the movies of Roman Polanksi. Roald Dahl’s twisted novels are dear to my heart. H.P. Lovecraft intrigues me—like, really intrigues me, to the point where I’ve written Lovecraftian stories and more than one essay debating his legacy. R. Kelly’s “Ignition” is pure sunny joy. Joseph Conrad was a genius. A lot of the time, I’m content to acknowledge what makes the artist problematic, confront where these views show themselves in the work, and once I have to journey past it. Indeed, there can even be something rewarding in grappling with fucked-up art, because when you’re done grappling, you’ve earned your enjoyment, My ongoing quest to interrogate metal has now become a book I’m writing. It’s a homoerotic black metal crime novel that alludes to The Great Gatsby’s plot architecture, except in my book the doomed lovers are men. In it, a New Orleans-based black metal band’s front-man has been murdered. All the surviving band member’s are suspects. The bassist, who’s also the novel’s narrator—a nerdy Jew not unlike me when I was in my early 20’s—is arrested at first for committing the crime, but released when the evidence turns circumstantial. Working against a grand jury indictment, he finds himself caught in the role of detective; he must find out who killed his friend before the DA can arrest him again and make the gruesome charges stick. If I’m doing it right, not only will the novel be steeped in the wrathful iciness of black metal music and culture but it will also seek to interrogate and subvert that same music and culture by putting it in conflict with its more extreme viewpoints. Thus, the inclusion of characters who in real life have traditionally existed on the outskirts of the scene, yet have always been there. In my novel, an African-American keyboardist, a woman guitarist, gender-queer men, and a whole bunch of Jews. And, because it’s set in post-Katrina New Orleans, specifically the hyper-gentrifying Bywater neighborhood with its legions of crusties and hipsters on fixies displacing the folks who have lived there for decades, the novel will also seek to reckon with the roles of, well, people like me in changing New Orleans in unforeseen ways. In these many respects, it’s a personal novel and draws heavily from my life as I’ve lived it. I grew up in San Diego, an experience I’ve often likened to trying to adhere to a slick windowpane. As my wife who grew up there as well likes to say: “There isn’t any there-there, really.” (Perhaps that’s why I’ve landed here, where the “there-there” is nothing if not unmistakable) Whatever San Diego lacks, in the 90’s it had an amazing punk-scene; Three Mile Pilot, Drive Like Jehu, Heroin, Antioch Arrow, The Locust, Run For Your Fucking Life, Cattle Decapitation, Durga —all of them from San Diego. All, together, forged its sound. As a teen, I grew addicted to it. Most weekends, there was a show and I usually made it my business to be there. In his mesmerizing essay for Defiant, “Punching Nazis Totally Works,” Darien Cavanaugh uses the frame of the Richard Spencer Inauguration Day-face punch to interrogate his own experience physically combatting Nazi-punks in the Florida hardcore scene. “It took several years of fighting,” Cavanaugh writes, “but we had created a safer?—?though still not perfect?—?space for our community. Yes, we used violence, but that violence was already there. We simply redirected it back at the source until the source relented and the violence dissipated.” While there might’ve been the occasional skirmish between red-laces (non-racist) and white-laces (racist) skinheads at the local coffee shop, or minor dust-ups in the pit, not to mention a scene that, while culturally diverse, in gender makeup skewed toward men, San Diego’s hardcore/metal/punk scene was pretty progressive. It was mostly, already, the kind of safe space that Cavanaugh had to punch dudes to carve out. Indeed, upon asking a friend from back in the day if he could recall any shitty behavior toward women or queer folk or people of color, all that came to mind was that “one metal band who came through—you know, the one from Louisiana with the super-misogynistic lyrics who we hotboxed your Volvo with?” My friend was referring to the band Soilent Green, who came to San Diego in 1999 as part of the Relapse Records Contamination Tour. Though Soilent Green is now defunct, their legacy in New Orleans metal lives on. They’re part of a tightly knit scene of sludge bands (the signature New Orleans sound) that includes Down, Crowbar, Corrosion of Conformity, Superjoint Ritual, and genre-titans Eyehategod. Among them, there’s pervasive incest. Jimmy Bower, for instance, has played drums in Crowbar and Down, and guitar in Eyehategod and Superjoint Ritual, while Soilent Green and Eyehategod share guitarist Brian Patton. Sludge metal, like anything made in New Orleans, really has its own thing going: enormous blues riffs that could be used for fracking vie with punk breakaways under heavy distortion. It’s like smoking a blunt overlooking a swamp when—buzzkill!—your toes get chewed off by a gator. Though these days the O.G. sludge-maestros are scarce, there’s a host of new bands on the scene just as awesome. Mountain of Wizard, Fat Stupid Ugly People, Thou, Mehenet, Barghest (from Baton Rouge) and sui generis Cauche Mar (who have to be seen to be believed) are just some of the new generation of bands who I strong-arm myself to come out for on week-nights. Much like in San Diego, the scene in New Orleans seems fine, at a glance. Predictably, it skews toward men, and most of those you see are white. But the treacherously provocative and exuberantly un-PC nihilism of Soilent Green, Eyehategod and Anselmo’s side-projects have drained into something that’s more self-aware—more attuned to the vast, tangled web of our world. Which isn’t to say Eyehategod still don’t rock. I saw them play live for the first time, in fact, just a few months ago at a benefit show for the singer Mike “IX” Williams, who recently had a liver transplant. The festival-bill, several days in duration, read like some hesher cream-dream of New Orleans metal: Goatwhore, Down, Crowbar, Superjoint Ritual, Thou and, that night, Eyehategod. I’d gone to the show with two buddies of mine, one of them the drummer from the band at the dive. We all had drinks and shot the shit. The show, at a venue on St. Claude, was packed. Masses of metal t-shirts swarmed the curb; we took our place among the throng. We’d been talking about the Muslim ban, which all of us thought was an inhumane mess when our talk shifted gears, naturally, to Anselmo, his “white power” statements and Nazi salute. Superjoint Ritual with Anselmo on vocals was just about to take the stage. “If he tries to pull any of that bullshit tonight,” said the other friend I’d come with, “I’ll probably walk out.” Like the Hydra or Cerberus, Cthulhu or Kraken, metal is a complex beast—an obliterating force of art that sometimes oversteps what’s just. With fascism on every tongue, vigilance starts to feel that much more urgent. Symbols, language—these things matter, even when they’re half in earnest, or yelled in a mic when you’re half in the bag. In particular now with Jewish graves being toppled, immigrant families ripped apart, trans people, already afraid for their lives, being gradually stripped of the merest protections—when a sitting, U.S. Congressman, Iowa’s Steve King, can publicly air that “demographics are our destiny. We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies.” In a recent essay for the A.V. Club, “Metal Music Still Has an Unaddressed Nazi Problem,” David Anthony writes: “…at a time when fascism and Nazism aren’t just things kids play with for shock value—when they are, hard as it is to believe, actual growing concerns here in America and abroad—metal bands should no longer get a pass on this stuff.” I believe we can take this resolve a step further. We never choose the art that grips us. What we can choose, however, is how to discern it—how to reclaim that art when it outright rejects us, or rejects how we’re trying to be in this world. Just as metal embraces ideas and aesthetics that may drive us outside ourselves, it’s up to us to reclaim metal, to make it our own in a manner that suits us. And the first step toward this is acknowledging our complicity in a genre of art that can be indefensible. I’m a Jew and a lefty, a feminist and an activist. I’m the husband of a woman progressive faith leader. I’m also a head-banging, weed-smoking, beer-drinking, illegible-long-sleeved-black-t-shirt-clad hesher. Always have been, will continue to be. Will continue to worsen my chronic tinnitus, continue to rock my inverted cross necklace, continue to holler while throwing the goat in dives from New Orleans to Oslo, Norway. And so if metal wants to grow while still remaining loyal to its disaffected roots, it needs to see plainly that what might appear to be non-status-quo is the opposite, really. It needs to embrace those that dwell at its edges, and the complex connections that govern our lives. At a time in our history when hate is a given, love is way more “trve kvlt.” | Mid | [
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--- ./include/elf/mips.h.orig 2010-11-11 10:23:38.000000000 +0000 +++ ./include/elf/mips.h 2012-01-25 22:24:29.000000000 +0000 @@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ #define E_MIPS_MACH_5400 0x00910000 #define E_MIPS_MACH_5500 0x00980000 #define E_MIPS_MACH_9000 0x00990000 +#define E_MIPS_MACH_ALLEGREX 0x00A20000 #define E_MIPS_MACH_LS2E 0x00A00000 #define E_MIPS_MACH_LS2F 0x00A10000 #define E_MIPS_MACH_LS3A 0x00A20000 | Low | [
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Burton (steamboat) Burton was a steamboat built in 1905 in Tacoma, Washington and which was in service on Puget Sound until 1924. Career Burton was built for the Tacoma and Burton Navigation Company, whose principals had once been partners with the owners of a rival steamer Norwood on runs from Tacoma to points on Vashon Island. Burton was intended to compete with Norwood. Once Burton was completed, daily competition for fares meant both steamers were racing each other from landing to landing. Norwood was soon replaced with the faster and newer Vashon, and the racing continued with Burton every day until 1907, when Burton was replaced on the route by Magnolia. Burton was sold to the Kitsap County Transportation Company (KCTC) in 1912. By 1924, Burton had been taken out of service, and was laid up in Gig Harbor, and in that year a fire started on board and destroyed the vessel. Burton is reported to have been owned by KCTC from 1907 to 1911 and from 1912 to 1923. Notes References Findlay, Jean Cammon and Paterson, Robin, Mosquito Fleet of Southern Puget Sound, (2008) Arcadia Publishing Kline, Mary S., and Bayless, G.A., Ferryboats -- A Legend on Puget Sound, Bayless Books, Seattle, WA 1983 Newell, Gordon, Ships of the Inland Sea, Binford and Mort, Portland, OR (2nd Ed. 1960) Newell, Gordon, and Williamson, Joe, Pacific Steamboats, Bonanza Books, New York, NY (1963) See also Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet Category:1905 ships Category:Propeller-driven steamboats of Washington (state) Category:Steamboats built in Tacoma, Washington Category:Kitsap County Transportation Company | Mid | [
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RSS News Feeds Food 101 The Acid Test By Robert L. Wolke Wednesday, November 10, 2004; Page F01 Your column on raw fish and sushi reminded me of something I've always wondered about: seviche, the Latin American seafood dish. Books say the fish is "cooked" just by marinating it in lime juice. Is it really "cooked," or is it still raw? Those quotation marks around "cooked" have been driving me nuts for years. Virtually every mention of ceviche (seh-VEE-chay; I'll use the Spanish spelling) by food writers is accompanied by a gratuitous statement to the effect that lime juice does to protein what heat does to protein, and therefore that the fish is essentially "cooked" by the lime juice. But before I serve up your mini-course in protein chemistry, here's a bit of an appetizer. Ceviche is made from small pieces of any of several kinds of raw saltwater fish, or from scallops or other shellfish, or squid or octopus, all marinated in lime juice for several hours in the refrigerator, after which some oil, usually chopped vegetables and sometimes spices are added before the dish is served cold. If the fish is fresh to begin with -- and it absolutely must be -- it is safe to marinate it for up to five or six hours, because the lime's acidity is more than strong enough to prevent bacterial growth. But is it cooked? The citric acid in lime juice changes the proteins in fish by a process called denaturation. The normally twisted and folded protein molecules are unraveled or unfolded into less convoluted shapes, and the shapes of molecules, especially proteins, are responsible for most of their physical and chemical properties. In other words, they have lost their original natures: They have been denatured. And yes, cooking also denatures proteins. But besides acids and heat, a variety of other kinds of situations can denature proteins. High concentrations of salts, including table salt (sodium chloride) can do it. Air can do it, as happens in the bubbles formed when cream is whipped. Even alkalis, the opposite of acids, and low temperatures, the opposite of heat, can do it, but less commonly. The cooking analogy comes only from the fact that heat is the most familiar protein-denaturing agent in the kitchen. Denaturing or unwinding protein molecules is no great trick, because the bonds that keep them twisted and folded aren't very strong. Evolution may supply a rationale for that fact: Over the eons, specific proteins have evolved to do specific jobs in specific living organisms, so they have no need to be stable under conditions vastly different from those that prevail in the organisms they serve. Thus, meat and fish proteins can be destabilized when subjected to higher acidities and higher temperatures than those in the animal's muscles. Animal muscle is normally only slightly acidic, while body temperatures are relatively low, especially in the case of sea creatures. That's why in making ceviche, fish protein can be denatured by an acid no stronger than lime juice, and even at refrigerator temperatures. The different denaturing methods complement and enhance one another. For example, the stronger the acid that a protein is subjected to, the lower the temperature at which it will be denatured by heat. That's why meat or fish bathed in a marinade containing lemon or lime juice (citric acid), vinegar (acetic acid) or wine (primarily tartaric and malic acids) will require less cooking time than an unmarinated sample. And if you want to explain that by saying the acid has partially "cooked" the meat, I can't stop you. The Nature of Denaturing After the protein molecules in a food have been unraveled or unfolded by any of these denaturing environments, they may not stay that way. For one thing, if the conditions should change, they can re-ravel back into their original shapes or something similar. But usually this doesn't happen, because as they unfold or disrobe, so to speak, the protein molecules expose sections of themselves that had previously been concealed in the folds, and these sections can react with other chemicals in the environment that change their shapes more or less permanently. Or the newly denuded sections can bond to one another, making so-called cross-links that knit the molecules together into tighter structures. That's why when you either cook a piece of fish or soak it in lime juice to make ceviche, it develops a firmer texture. You'll notice also that it becomes more opaque, because light rays can't penetrate the tightly balled-up, cross-linked protein molecules. (The same thing happens to the protein in egg white; when cooked it turns from transparent to opaque white.) And under the right conditions, acidified, unfolded protein molecules will stick together and the protein will coagulate, as when cheese curds are formed when lactic acid denatures the casein in milk. | Mid | [
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Fifteen-month follow-up results of a school-based life-skills approach to smoking prevention. The life-skills approach to smoking prevention was tested in this study. In total, 1024 pupils (mean age 11.4 years, SD = 0.90) from Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg and Germany were recruited as an experimental group, and a sample of 834 matched pupils served as a control group. While the pupils from the control group received no specific intervention, the pupils in the experimental group participated in an intervention programme which was based on the life-skills approach and consisted of 21 sessions. The aims of the programme were to promote fundamental social competencies and coping skills. In addition, specific information on cigarette smoking was given and skills for resisting social influences to smoke were rehearsed. The programme was conducted by trained school teachers during a course of 4 months. Anonymous questionnaires were administrated (1) before the programme was implemented and (2) 15 months after the programme had started. Teachers as well as pupils showed a high level of satisfaction with the programme idea and the materials. With regard to the outcome variables, the programme had no differential effect on current smoking (4-week prevalence). The programme showed a weak effect (P < 0.1) on lifetime smoking prevalence and experimental smoking. There was also an effect of the programme on smoking knowledge, on the social competences of the pupils as well as on the classroom climate. No effects were found on susceptibility to smoking among never-smokers, attitudes towards smoking and the perceived positive consequences of smoking. The results indicate that prevention programmes that are run for only a few months can have a positive impact on variables considered to be protective with regard to smoking uptake. | High | [
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The Drupal Gettext Component Thanks for using this Drupal component. You can participate in its development on Drupal.org, through our issue system: https://www.drupal.org/project/issues/drupal You can get the full Drupal repo here: https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/git-instructions You can browse the full Drupal repo here: https://git.drupalcode.org/project/drupal | Mid | [
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Writer Designer Director Executive Producer Navigation Previous episode Next episode Contents Annie collects signatures for the 'Perfect Landlady' competition. Dickie skives off tech. The Flemings row as Ray spends time with Audrey. Dickie meets a girl called Sandra at an amusement arcade. She tells him that she could get him a job on £25 a week, repairing the machines. Annie installs a suggestion box in the Rovers. Val has trouble with her knee. Bill Blakeley offers Dickie a job at the arcade. | Mid | [
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Thoughts on the Apple Credit Card - Nextgrid https://rjevski.io/thoughts-on-the-apple-card ====== Nextgrid Author here - any feedback or constructive criticism is more than welcome! ~~~ foobarbazetc I agree with you in general, but even at its core there’s nothing interesting here. Simple did this whole categorized transaction, friendly in app chat customer service, blah blah thing years ago. But it was also a current account. It still exists after being bought by BBVA. Capital One has been doing this sort of thing too in their mobile apps for credit cards. The cash back is standard, even inadequate as you can get a flat 2% on any transaction card from Citibank and Fidelity. But... the average American is terrible at money management. Apple is huge. The titanium card is shiny and free. So I think this will get some traction, but there’s really nothing interesting about it from a finance or fintech perspective. I actually think this is a bad product for Apple to so deeply brand (it is going to just be run by GS anyway). How does Apple deal with charge offs? Does the friendly, upscale brand turn up at your door and demand their titanium card back? How does this effect the relationship between Apple customers and Apple? I can’t say I’m a fan of Apple’s conglomerization. There’s just something weird about this. I don’t know quite what that is. | Low | [
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RUN HOME JACK wrote:i dont think i can watch the warriors at all this season anymore... its just that bad I agree, for the first time since I moved to Sac from the Bay I didnt buy the NBA package. I'm realizing more and more that it was a good decision. I was actually looking forward to being able to watch this team tonite. WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER? honestly it would be like detox for me to stop watching this team but i really think i need to do it. Im stressing myself out for no reason haha. Even if they win 10 in a row... the only thing that will bring me back is big change metalface wrote:This is just gross. I hope Nelson really really needs these 12 million that he is stealing because if he had any dignity he would resign and let someone else that wants to win take over. Nelsons all about the money. You can fire him, I'm sure he's fine with that.......as long as you pay him to leave. But he won't quit no matter how disgraceful our situatuon becomes. And Cohan won't fire him and pay money he dosn't have to. As long as Cohan makes a profit he dosn't care where the franchise sits in the standings. He has no passion invested in this team. It's business for him, that's the bottom line. The Warriors are owned and run by people who don't actually care about the Warriors. Our franchise is rotton from the inside out. | Low | [
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Hemihydrate A hemihydrate, or semihydrate, is a hydrate whose solid contains one molecule of water of crystallization per two molecules, or per two unit cells. References Category:Hydrates | High | [
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Bell's current offense occurred on April 19, 1998, a dispositive plea was entered on August 21, 2000, and sentence was imposed on December 15, 2000. Bell's criminal history included prior DUI convictions on July 6, 1995, and April 16, 1998. K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 8-1567(k) provides, in material part: "(k) For the purpose of determining whether a conviction is a first, second, third or subsequent conviction in sentencing under this section: . . . (3) only convictions occurring in the immediately preceding five years, including prior to the effective date of this act, shall be taken into account . . . . (4) it is irrelevant whether an offense occurred before or after conviction for a previous offense." Bell contends she was improperly sentenced as a felony offender under K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 8-1567(f). She points out her prior conviction on July 6, 1995, is not within 5 years of her current conviction on August 21, 2000. According to Bell, K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 8-1567(k)(3) requires counting from the date of the current conviction rather than from the date the crime was committed to determine prior convictions for sentencing enhancement purposes. The State argues the 5-year retrospection begins on the date of the occurrence rather than the date of the current conviction--under the facts of this case, from April 19, 1998. If the State's interpretation of K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 8-1567(k)(3) is correct, Bell concedes her felony sentence should stand. In City of Chanute v. Wilson, 10 Kan. App. 2d 498, 704 P.2d 392, rev. denied 238 Kan. 877 (1985), the defendant was arrested on August 25, 1983, for DUI and convicted in district court on June 29, 1984. Wilson had two prior DUI convictions, one on February 8, 1979, and the other on April 1, 1982. He argued a felony sentence should not be imposed because the February 8, 1979, conviction was more than 5 years before his June 29, 1984, conviction. In upholding the trial court's imposition of a felony sentence, this court held that the 5-year window under K.S.A. 1997 Supp. 8-1567(k)(3) [then K.S.A. 1983 Supp. 8-1567(i)], runs from the date of the current offense to the date or dates of prior convictions. 10 Kan. App. 2d at 500. The court reasoned: "Although defendant would have us consider only those convictions occurring within the five-year period preceding the district court conviction, we believe consideration of convictions occurring within a five-year period preceding the present offense is more consistent with existing case law. In State v. Wilson, 6 Kan. App. 2d 302, Syl. ¶ 1, 627 P.2d 1185, aff'd 230 Kan. 287, 634 P.2d 1078 (1981), the court held the enhancement of a defendant's sentence as a third offender under K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 21-4504(2) required each succeeding offense be committed after the conviction for the preceding offense. Throughout its opinion, the court keyed its analysis of defendant's offender status to the sequential relationship of preceding conviction to subsequent commission of an offense. "Again, in State v. Osoba, 234 Kan. 443, 672 P.2d 1098 (1983), the court addressed which convictions could be considered at sentencing. In Osoba the defendant claimed first offender status under K.S.A. 8-1567, alleging conviction of her first offense of driving while under the influence of alcohol must precede her commission of a second offense before the first conviction can be counted for sentencing purposes. The court agreed with the defendant and concluded the sequential relationship applied in Wilson should be extended by analogy to K.S.A. 8-1567(d). The court held K.S.A. 8-1567(d) requires that each succeeding offense be committed after conviction of the preceding offense." 10 Kan. App. 2d at 499-500. Bell argues the 1985 legislature amended 8-1567 to add subsection (k)(4), effectively overturning City of Chanute v. Wilson. Although the amendment does appear to modify the holding in Wilson that prior convictions must occur before the date of the current offense, left untouched is the holding that it is the date of the offense and not conviction that triggers the 5-year window. We agree with the reasoning of the Wilson court that under 8-1567(k)(3), prior convictions are counted as of the date of the current offense, not the date of conviction. Here, when Bell's prior convictions are counted as of the date of her present offense, she has two prior convictions within the preceding 5 years. The district court properly sentenced Bell as a felony offender. | Low | [
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Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page says National Defence's process to buy equipment is broken if the way it handled the F-35 fighter jet program is normal. In an interview with Evan Solomon, host of CBC's Power & Politics, Page pointed to committee testimony by top department officials who said the way they handled the process to buy the F-35 is the way they usually do it. If that process is normal, Page said, then it's "broken. Completely broken. And wrong." Officials gave one estimate to cabinet, he said, that included the full costs of the plane for the complete lifespan, but gave another estimate to MPs. "To tell Parliament, effectively, to tell Canadians, that, well, actually it's a much smaller number, that's wrong," Page said. Earlier in the day, Page testified at a committee that National Defence withheld information when he was preparing his controversial report on the costs of the F-35s, and he later indicated he thinks Canadians were misled about the true costs of buying the fighter jets. Opposition MPs, including interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae, reacted to testimony from Page and other officials at the public accounts committee meeting by saying the government "lied" to the Canadian people about the F-35 costs and didn't share its own internal cost estimates with the public. During his hour of testimony, Page told MPs he has now learned in the wake of Auditor General Michael Ferguson's report released in April that his office didn't get all the information it asked DND for when he was trying to calculate the full life cycle costs of the planes the government is considering buying to replace the CF-18 fleet. Page's report was done in response to a request from the Commons finance committee. When asked why he didn't get everything he asked for, Page responded, "We don’t know the reason for that." "We also asked for information on their methodology and did not receive it," Page said. Public should be given same numbers as cabinet Conservative MP Chris Alexander, parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister Peter MacKay, had a tense exchange with Page during the meeting when he challenged the budget officer to explain why he calculated costs over 30 years while DND uses a 20-year cycle. "I see actually no logic as a budget officer to use 20 years when we know that the real life cycle is going to be 30 years, potentially more," Page said, adding that the CF-18 life cycle is turning out to be around 40 years. Just because the government has used the 20-year estimate for decades doesn't mean it's right, Page said. Alexander suggested Page should be using the same time period as DND, since it is the department buying the plane, but Page shot back that taxpayers are the ones picking up the tab and that it is his job to provide independent analysis of government spending. When he spoke to reporters after his testimony, Page was asked about comments he made on CBC's The House on Saturday when he said it looked as if the government kept two sets of books for F-35 estimates — one for internal use and one for the public. Ferguson's report showed that cabinet was told in 2010 the planes would cost $25 billion. But in response to Page's report in March 2011, DND said the price tag was $15 billion. The difference in numbers is what has prompted opposition MPs to accuse the government of hiding the true costs of buying the planes. "I don't think we should be providing different numbers," Page said Thursday. It would enhance trust in Parliament if the same numbers that were given to cabinet were given to the public, he said. When asked if the government wanted Canadians to think the planes would cost less than was internally estimated, Page said yes. NDP MP Malcolm Allen said after the meeting that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and MacKay both chose to communicate the lower number to Canadians. "They tried to minimize the cost, to make it look as if it was a better program and a cheaper program than it was. Mr. Page is absolutely correct," he said. 'They lied to the people of Canada' Rae, who doesn't normally sit on the public accounts committee, said Harper and his government also chose to attack Page and the opposition when they said the figure must be higher than the $15 billion instead of revealing its $25-billion estimate. "They lied to the people of Canada before the election and they lied to them during the election about the real cost of the plane," said Rae. Harper did "not tell the people of Canada the truth that he knew about the potential cost of this project," according to Rae. In his opening statement, Page said he wanted to make it clear that his office did take operating costs into account when it calculated that the full life cycle costs for 65 F-35s would be close to $30 billion. DND officials testified earlier in the week that they didn't think his report included operating costs when the department responded to it and gave its $15-billion figure. Page also said that his office understood it had been given all relevant information on the life cycle costs from DND, as per the request from the finance committee, but that "it has since become evident that the government's public figures did not include components of full life cycle costs" as required by the motion. The budget officer also told MPs that the figures in Ferguson's report, confirmed by DND and its minister, MacKay, bring DND's estimates for full life cycle costs in line with his own. Deputy ministers testify again Page appeared at the committee for one hour, ahead of the same department officials who testified on Tuesday and who were back for a second time. On Tuesday, the deputy minister of the Department of National Defence, Robert Fonberg, and other DND officials criticized the methodology Page used in his report. That report sparked controversy because Page's estimates for buying 65 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin as part of the U.S.-led Joint Strike Fighter program were more than double the government's estimates. Fonberg was asked Thursday to respond to Page's statements earlier in the morning and he told MPs he stands by his belief that the PBO did not include operating costs in his calculations. He said DND has found no evidence that he did and that Page has been asked for clarification but hasn't provided it yet. He also told the committee that he's unsure why Page drew the conclusion that he only received partial information from DND. "To the best of my knowledge we fully responded to the PBO's request," Fonberg said. Michelle d'Auray, secretary of the Treasury Board, told the committee that when her department considers requests from the government to buy new assets, it uses a 20-year time frame for estimated costs in order to make a decision. Treasury Board has not received an approval request for the funds to buy the F-35, she said. François Guimont, deputy minister of public works and government services, again expressed his confidence in the new secretariat that is being set up in response to Ferguson's findings to oversee the purchase of a new fleet of planes. The government said that DND would continue to evaluate options for replacing the CF-18s but at the same time it named the new oversight body the F-35 Secretariat, which opposition MPs said made it clear the government is intent on buying the Lockeed Martin model. Public Works and Government Services Minister Rona Ambrose confirmed on Wednesday that the government has now dropped "F-35" from the group's name. Lt-Gen. André Deschamps, who on Tuesday said the air force is preparing to acquire F-35s, told MPs that when DND was analyzing options for new planes it looked at what technology is needed to respond to future threats. He said those threats include the proliferation of advanced surface-to-air missile systems in some countries, he didn't name which ones, and said today's aircraft aren't well-equipped to respond to the "deadly" systems. Read Kady O'Malley's live blog. Mobile-friendly feed here. | Mid | [
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Temperature sensitivity of cardiac function in pelagic fishes with different vertical mobilities: yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), mahimahi (Coryphaena hippurus), and swordfish (Xiphias gladius). We measured the temperature sensitivity, adrenergic sensitivity, and dependence on sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+) of ventricular muscle from pelagic fishes with different vertical mobility patterns: bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), and mahimahi (Coryphaena hippurus) and a single specimen from swordfish (Xiphias gladius). Ventricular muscle from the bigeye tuna and mahimahi exhibited a biphasic response to an acute decrease in temperature (from 26 degrees to 7 degrees C); twitch force and kinetic parameters initially increased and then declined. The magnitude of this response was larger in the bigeye tuna than in the mahimahi. Under steady state conditions at 26 degrees C, inhibition of SR Ca(2+) release and reuptake with ryanodine and thapsigargin decreased twitch force and kinetic parameters, respectively, in the bigeye tuna only. However, the initial inotropy associated with decreasing temperature was abolished by SR inhibition in both the bigeye tuna and the mahimahi. Application of adrenaline completely reversed the effects of ryanodine and thapsigargin, but this effect was diminished at cold temperatures. In the yellowfin tuna, temperature and SR inhibition had minor effects on twitch force and kinetics, while adrenaline significantly increased these parameters. Limited data suggest that swordfish ventricular muscle responds to acute temperature reduction, SR inhibition, and adrenergic stimulation in a manner similar to that of bigeye tuna ventricular muscle. In aggregate, our results show that the temperature sensitivity, SR dependence, and adrenergic sensitivity of pelagic fish hearts are species specific and that these differences reflect species-specific vertical mobility patterns. | High | [
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Towards immunotherapeutic drugs and vaccines against multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Numerous treatment options are available to MS patients; however, these options need to be improved. Herein, we review the current drugs and therapeutic approaches available to MS patients, preclinical trial interventions and recent animal model studies for the potential therapy of MS. Since the current treatment of MS remains elusive and is limited, animal studies and clinical research offers an optimistic outlook. | High | [
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An opinionated guide to Munki manifests 5 minutes I’ve been using Munki to manage Macs in enterprise environments for at least three years now, and frequently hang out in the #munki channel on the MacAdmins Slack. A few times a week there’s someone new who comes in to ask about Munki, and inevitably, the question of how to structure manifests comes up. What follows is an opinionated list of “best practices” that you should follow as a Munki beginner. Manifests are just XML Property Lists First, let’s get this out of the way. There’s nothing special about a manifest. It’s a text file. Here’s what a typical manifest might look like: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version= "1.0" > <dict> <key> catalogs </key> <array> <string> production </string> </array> <key> included_manifests </key> <array> <string> labs-nh </string> </array> </dict> </plist> Why is it important to know that manifests are just text files? It means that you can use grep / sed / awk / python or even search&replace in TextEdit to edit one or more of these. Create a unique manifest for each Mac in your ogranization …and name the manifest with either the serial_number or hostname of the device that the manifest is intended for. From the munki wiki: Key Type Default ClientIdentifier string Identifier for munki client. Usually is the same as a manifest name on the munki server. If this is empty or undefined, Munki will attempt the following identifiers, in order: fully-qualified hostname, “short” hostname, serial number and finally, “site_default” Munki has pretty good default settings, and the usefulness of the above default cannot be overstated. Here’s another way to say the same thing, which might make it clearer: When Munki checks with the server, it will use the ClientIdentifier setting as the name of the maifest it’s looking for. You’re probably thinking of setting it to student or faculty or lab101 , but what if you didn’t configure that setting at all? First thing the client will do is contact the server looking for FQDN, ex my_hostname.mycopany.com . If it doesn’t find one, the client will then ask the server for the hostname, ex my_hostname . If it cannot find that, it will search for the device serial number, which could be something like YM94209V4PC or whatever the device serial number is. Finally, if it can’t find any of the above, it will check for site_default (name this manifest exactly that – site_default ). You might think that it’s tedious to create 100-5000+ unique manifests, but it’s not. You can cp in a loop in bash. Once you figure out what one student manifest looks like, you can figure out how to duplicate a thousand copies in a few minutes. I tend to also create some templates for myself like student_template , faculty_template etc that I duplicate whenever we get a new Mac. You should follow this advice, because it’s much more tedious to figure out how to change your initial setup when you must have some unique settings for a specific device in a group. You can include a manifest inside a manifest I told you that you must have a unique manifest for each device, which sounds like too much work. The truth is, that most of your “top level manifests”(the ones you make with the hostname or serial number) just have a list of included_manifests and a catalog. The included manifests, or “group manifests” have the actual list of applications which you want to manage. Let’s see what this structure might look like: C02K503BFS7J └── lab-101 └── labs-common └── common In the example above, we have 4 nested manifest. The top level one, is the C02K503BFS7J , which has the catalog set to production . This manifest includes the lab-101 manifest, which has some applications specific to that lab, and include labs-common , which in turn has a list of common software for all the labs. Finally, the labs-common includes a common manifest which is common across all my devices. Never set a catalog on group manifests In the example above, only the C02K503BFS7J manifest should have a catalog set. All the included manifests, will source from that catalog. This is not a best practice, but rather an often missed part of the documentation. If your included manifests have a catalog which is different from the top level one, you will have a bad time. Don’t use munki-enroll Remember, I said this would be an opinionated blog post. munki-enroll is a server/client tool which aims to automate some of the things I’ve described above. If you already know how it works, and know Munki well, then it might be useful to you. But, I see a lot of new users who are already confused about setting up Munki, get themselves deeper into trouble with this tool. My advice is to skip it until you’re comfortable doing things on your own, and then evaluate it for yourself later on. Use a custom manifest for testing Finally, a useful tip that I’ve only found out myself after about ~2 years of using Munki. Say you have some package in your repo that you would like to only install once, or only on a few machines, but don’t want to add it to the production catalog. Maybe you’re doing this to test how a package behaves with a particular CPU. managedsoftwareupdate has a useful --id=ID Alternate identifier for manifest retrieval option. sudo managedsoftwareupdate -vvv --checkonly --munkipkgsonly --id=testonly This let’s you add your package to a custom manifest like testonly , and then use it on the client to install that package just once, without changing any settings. Watch this video Getting Started with Munki - Greg Neagle | High | [
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/* * Tencent is pleased to support the open source community by making Angel available. * * Copyright (C) 2017-2018 THL A29 Limited, a Tencent company. All rights reserved. * * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in * compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at * * https://opensource.org/licenses/Apache-2.0 * * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License * is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express * or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under * the License. * */ package com.tencent.angel.spark.ml.tree.gbdt.histogram; import com.tencent.angel.spark.ml.tree.param.GBDTParam; public interface GradPair { void plusBy(GradPair gradPair); void subtractBy(GradPair gradPair); GradPair plus(GradPair gradPair); GradPair subtract(GradPair gradPair); void timesBy(double x); float calcGain(GBDTParam param); boolean satisfyWeight(GBDTParam param); GradPair copy(); } | Mid | [
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Herscher High School Herscher High School is a public coeducational high school in Herscher, Illinois. The school's mascot is the Tiger and the school colors are gold and black. History Herscher High School's 1st graduating class in 1904 numbered 7 students. Athletics Herscher is a member of the Interstate Eight Conference and participates in state tournaments sponsored by the Illinois High School Association. The school sponsors interscholastic sports teams for both men and women in basketball, bowling, cross country, soccer, and track and field. The school sponsors baseball, football, and wrestling for men, while sponsoring cheerleading, softball, and volleyball for women. The following teams have placed in the top four of their respective state tournament sponsored by the Illinois High School Association: Men's Baseball •• State Champion (1999); 3rd place (2012) Men's Basketball •• 3rd place (1981–1982) Men's Cross Country •• 4th place (1986–1987) Men's Football •• 2nd place (1988–1989) Men's Soccer 2nd place (2013) 3rd place (2014) Women's Cross Country •• 3rd place (1989–1990, 1997–1998); State Champion (1991–1992, 1992–1993, 1996–1997); 4th place (1993–1994, 1995–1996) Women's Soccer •• 4th place (2007–2008) 2nd place (2010–11) Women's Softball •• 4th place (1995–1996) Women's Track and Field •• State Champion (1996) Music Herscher High sponsors the following musical activities: chamber choir, colorguard, concert band, concert choir, jazz band, marching band, orchestra, pep band, and show choir. Their music program has won the Illinois High School Association Music Sweepstakes title a record 32 times. This record is more than any other school, outpacing its nearest competitor by at least double as of the 2009-10 school year. They compete in class B. In 1982, the marching band won the overall title for the Bands Of America (then known as Marching Bands Of America) Summer National Championship. The Marching Tigers have also won the overall title of the Illinois State University Invitational Marching Band Championship 3 times (1980, 1981 and 1982). Other activities The school also sponsors a computer club, class plays, FFA, a math team, National Honor Society, a scholastic bowl team, a Spanish club, a speech team, and student council. Notable alumni Kerry Schall, competed on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter 2, retired professional MMA fighter Steve Reick, Illinois Representative for the 63rd District. Helen Nethercutt, Vice Chairman of Merle Norman Cosmetics and co-owner of the Nethercutt Collection References External links Herscher High School Alumni Association Illinois High School Association, Herscher Category:Public high schools in Illinois Category:Schools in Kankakee County, Illinois | High | [
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Q: is there any PyQt 5.10 for raspberry pi 3 for pip3 instal? I installed PyQt5 to my raspberry pi 3 B+ via apt-get.. But it is looks like PyQt5.7 not 5.10. Which I need to use out.setVersion(qt.QDataStream.Qt_5_10) but this PyQt5 only has Qt_5_7. Is there any PyQt5.10 or above there install able with pip3 or apt ? A: To use PyQt5.11 properly you need to compile from the source for Raspberry pi . First of all : SIP must be installed before building and using PyQt5. You can get the latest release of the SIP source code from https://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/sip/download. The SIP installation instructions can be found at http://pyqt.sourceforge.net/Docs/sip4/installation.html. Note When building PyQt5 v5.11 or later you must configure SIP to create a private copy of the sip module using a command line similar to the following: python configure.py --sip-module PyQt5.sip --no-tools Thank download PyQt5.11 and : python3 configure.py after that: make sudo make install You need to have installed Qt5.10 or later before this. And be aware that which Qt is configure before above all commands. Best | High | [
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Federal Judge Dismisses DNC Lawsuit Against Trump Campaign (ANTIWAR.COM) — A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Tuesday from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) against members of President Trump’s campaign, WikiLeaks and the Russian government. The lawsuit claimed that these parties conspired together to hack the DNC emails and sabotage the 2016 election. The dismissal comes after Robert Mueller’s testimony before congress, the Senate Intelligence report that found no concrete evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election and Dan Coats’ resignation as Director of National Intelligence. Coats was a firm believer in the idea that Russia attacked our democracy in 2016. Judge John Koeltl, a Clinton appointee, said, “In short, the DNC raises a number of connections and communications between the defendants and with people loosely connected to the Russian Federation, but at no point does the DNC allege any facts … to show that any of the defendants — other than the Russian Federation — participated in the theft of the DNC’s information.” Koeltl also pointed out the danger of holding a publisher like WikiLeaks liable, “If WikiLeaks could be held liable for publishing documents concerning the DNC’s political financial and voter-engagement strategies simply because the DNC labels them ‘secret’ and trade secrets, then so could any newspaper or other media outlet.” Koeltl cited the infamous Pentagon Papers in his ruling, the case when the Supreme Court ruled The New York Times and The Washington Post were protected by the first amendment for publishing information leaked to them by Daniel Ellsberg about the US government’s role in the Vietnam War. This ruling by Koeltl could be helpful to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who may be extradited to the US and charged under the Espionage Act for publishing classified material. Although Koeltl does believe it was the Russian government who hacked the DNC, he holds firm that federal law prohibits suits against foreign governments except in “highly specific circumstances.” Koeltl also said even if Trump’s campaign did obtain these documents from the Russian government, they would be breaking no laws if they published them. These articles were chosen for republication based on the interest of our readers. Anti-Media republishes stories from a number of other independent news sources. The views expressed in these articles are the author’s own and do not reflect Anti-Media editorial policy. …We have a small favor to ask. Fewer and fewer people are seeing Anti-Media articles as social media sites crack down on us, and advertising revenues across the board are quickly declining. However, unlike many news organizations, we haven’t put up a paywall because we value open and accessible journalism over profit — but at this point, we’re barely even breaking even. Hopefully, you can see why we need to ask for your help. Anti-Media’s independent journalism and analysis takes substantial time, resources, and effort to produce, but we do it because we believe in our message and hope you do, too. If everyone who reads our reporting and finds value in it helps fund it, our future can be much more secure. For as little as $1 and a minute of your time, you can support Anti-Media. Thank you. Click here to support us | Mid | [
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The Billet Connection See Through Oil Filter Assembly is designed for technicians who want to filter dust and microscopic particles out of oil and be able to visually inspect the larger, filtered particles. This assembly allows visual inspection of... | High | [
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ALERT COVID-19 Info: In light of the current Covid-19 situation, we are now pursuing both Online and Onsite ministries, including resuming our Sunday morning worship services onsite. For more information click on our “Continuity of Ministries” link. You can find videos of our recent worship services and Sunday school classes for various ages on our church Youtube channel. I recently challenged our congregation to take just a few minutes a week (or a few minutes a day if you want to be on the fast track!) to respond to God’s loving, but also correcting, hand in the Covid-19 situation, by learning more about the Bible. I will plan to post a blog each week with a video link for each of the videos in this helpful series produced by The Bible Project. As we watch this very short intro video, let’s ask ourselves some important questions: – What am I most familiar with in the Bible? – What do I understand the least? – What do I think is the overarching theme of the Bible? – How do the sections of the Bible relate to each other? – If I have doubts about the Bible’s truth and reliability, what steps will I take to get answers? A few nights ago, I made the mistake of watching a short Washington Post news video documenting the tragic conditions of those dying from COVID-19 in one of New York’s overwhelmed hospitals. I had a restless night and woke early, troubled. As a pastor I’ve encountered death, I’ve visited hospital rooms where I had to put on a complicated hazmat suit to enter, I’ve sat with a family as they disconnected life support, I’ve been to funerals with coffins just slightly larger than a shoebox, and I’ve even had a couple of my own near-misses. But seeing those ICU rooms with precious human beings straining to breathe their last breaths haunted me more than I thought it would. The few medical personnel who had time to enter patient rooms did so as rarely as possible, separated by layers of protective gear. Even more tragic, the severely sick could have no family or friends with them and no pastor or chaplain holding a hand. They were alone in this world, as they passed from it. Maybe a few were spiritually well-prepared for that moment. Whatever kind of life they had lived, they certainly seemed to be undergoing a very BAD DEATH. A GOOD DEATH? – As we face COVID-19, even if we only experience the lowest estimated death tolls, we are all thinking more about health and sickness, life and death than we were 2 months ago. Of course it is fitting to mourn this loss, to be concerned for our wellbeing and that of loved ones, and to be stressed by the new framework of daily life into which we have been thrown. None of these seems particularly “good.” If we do see any good in the global pandemic it is in the sense of commonality we experience, or the blessing of added family time. Perhaps, we also have taken time to reflect on what is happening from a Christian posture, no doubt considering afresh the general truth that we are not in control as much as we thought. And this Easter season our pastor will probably help us to realize how the resurrection can have special meaning at this time. These are reasonable Christian thoughts. Yet they may lead us away too quickly from the powerful message God could want us to hear – about the hard-cold reality of death and the error of our normal practice of pushing it out of our sight. What if we are being beckoned to look head-on at what we could learn about the longstanding powerful perspective on death – the ARS MORIENDI – the “art of dying” – or as everyday Christians used to commonly understand – the GOOD DEATH. THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING – Most academic histories probably do not end up the subject of light-hearted dinner parties or casual water-cooler discussions at work. But merely the title of Drew Gilpin Faust’s This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, would be unwelcome at any carefree social engagement. These are not “carefree” days though, and maybe our current “distancing” will allow us the context to give Faust due attention. In any event, Faust, was the first woman president of Harvard, the first from the South, and the first since 1672 who did not have a degree from Harvard. So maybe she does not have to care if her writings would be a big hit at our social gatherings or not. She wrote, “The concept of the Good Death was central to mid-nineteenth-century America, as it had long been at the core of Christian practice. Dying was an art, and the tradition of ars moriendi had provided rules of conduct for the moribund and their attendants since at least the fifteenth century: how to give up one’s soul “gladlye and wilfully”; how to meet the devil’s temptations of unbelief, despair, and impatience, and worldly attachment; how to pattern one’s dying on that of Christ; how to pray.” (Page 6 of the abovementioned) What can we learn from Faust’s account of how American’s, from both North and South, generally viewed their “man-made” wave of death, one that took over 600,000 American lives, or what today would be 6 million deaths? And how can this help us with COVID-19? OUR MORTALITY REALITY – Prior to the Civil War, most Americans faced their mortality much more regularly than we do. Today we have vaccines for many of the illnesses that threatened them daily, we have a massive medical infrastructure and they had almost no medical care. Infant mortality rates were so high that in any given family the number of children that died commonly outweighed the number who survived. But just as we have gotten used to the fact that most of us won’t make it past age 95, and we might get in a car wreck, and terrorist threats could take us out, the believers of the 1800s had grown used to “typical” mortality. The Civil War carnage changed all that, and forced them to reconsider not only human frailty, but how they processed death. Maybe this pandemic could do that for us. ELEMENTS OF “THE ART” – Since most Americans before 1860 rarely traveled more than a day’s horseback ride from home, when a loved one took gravely ill, the family was customarily nearby. For Christian’s who sensed they were nearing death, they would have initiated the normative steps to ready themselves to give up their soul. In a time when “secular” would have been a perplexing concept to most, Christians recognized the devil was real and were particularly sensitive to how he might work through the threat of death. They guarded against discouragement, doubt and worldliness, to protect their final witness. Many of them, in a far less busy time than our own, had learned to pray, in greater depth and dependence. As the Civil War threatened to disrupt their patterns for encountering their day of reckoning, they, and their loved ones fought hard to keep hold of those practices. In short, they embraced a GOOD DEATH as a central concept for all Christians and prepared for it just as we spend hours with the school guidance counselor to help our child take the steps for college or we gather at least annually with our financial planner to organize our affairs for retirement. THROUGH DEATH TO RESURRECTION – In our time, the threat of death from COVID-19 is not just redefining how we live, but maybe it could have the potential to recalibrate how our culture, including many Christians, comprehend death. We have all heard the saying, “He’s too heavenly minded, to be of any earthly good.” As Christians, we know the reverse is actually true. The more we “set our minds on things above,” the better we are equipped to live now. But how can we as 21st Century First-World Christians begin to have the heavenly mindset if we don’t first embrace our mortality? What if we don’t just take a quick glance at it, but a hard stare and even a sobering preparation for “giving up our soul?” What if we if we put on God’s armor through much deeper prayer lives so we can face COVID-19, or whatever will one day be our demise? What if we learned the art of walking in step with our Savior the path he took when He died, on that “good” Friday, that we might better appreciate the glorious resurrection He grants to us?! In addition, as each of us personally works through this situation, I invite you to make use of the numerous great articles at The Gospel Coalition. As I’m sure we are all aware, the health situation in our country and community continues to fluctuate daily. Unless some further action is taken by our state or other major developments occur, we plan to continue with 8:45 am Worship Service tomorrow (with the instructions below in place). We will not meet for Sunday school since it is of secondary importance, and would involve kids and adults in smaller spaces. This week our church elders and deacons organized a committee to make recommendations regarding the Coronavirus. They, along with myself, certainly wrestle with two aspects of our Christian faith. One is that we need the encouragement of weekly worship at all times and especially in times of anxiety and difficulty. We are in one sense, a spiritual hospital, so we feel we should stay open to be physically present with each other if we can reasonably do so. The Church has weathered many storms over the centuries and been the source of strength, hope and love. The other side of the coin is that we want to be good neighbors. We are mindful of members in our own church who are most vulnerable, the elderly and any with preexisting conditions and want them to be safe, as well as the membership of Lake Crest PCA, and our whole community, in terms of playing our part to restrain, not spread the virus. Below is a plan to pursue that tomorrow, and we will re-evaluate this week, for future Sundays. At present our community schools remain in session thru Wednesday and the Governor has recommended no gathering larger than 500. We think those are also good guidelines. THERE IS ZERO PRESSURE OR EXPECTATION ON ANYONE TO ATTEND WORSHIP TOMORROW. SO EACH HOUSEHOLD CAN MAKE ITS OWN DECISION AND WE SUPPORT EACH OTHER AS A CHURCH BODY. Update on our Plan for Tomorrow: 1) If you are feeling sick or believe you have been exposed to the virus, please seek medical attention and stay at home. Particularly if you have fever, cough or shortness of breath. 2) We believe we will have the technology and connectivity in place to LIVE STREAM the service tomorrow. This is our first attempt. Thanks to William Monroe for his help. Go to the above link to find our youtube channel (great time to subscribe if you never have!). If for some reason this does not work, we will also aim to record the service and upload it in segments later in the day. 4) We will not have hospitality table, pass the worship registry, or serve communion. Offering plates will be placed at the back on a table for any contributions to be made. As always giving can be done in a variety of ways including digitally. 5) It is fine and in fact we recommend some other greeting beside shaking hands or hugging. 6) We will add extra seating if needed so people can maintain 6 ft buffer if they prefer and please try to respect that with others. 7) Stay tuned to your email. If we make any further changes we will notify everyone as soon as possible and at the latest Sunday by 730 am. 8) See the Creek Week this week for further info. I’m encouraging all our Groups leaders to make their best decision about whether to meet or not, but with Spring Break on the horizon it would probably be wise for groups to wait til April to see where we stand. As we saw in our recent sermon series in Colossians we are called to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is…to set your minds on things that are above…For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (3:1-3) Later in the same chapter we read, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…and whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.” How do we fulfill this? Through the daily Christian 3-step dance of repenting, believing, and striving, in the Gospel. The past several years, all in our church family have been encouraged to join in this dance of spiritual growth individually or as a household, which is also linked to readings in our weekly church worship service. With our lives often scattered and our attention easily distracted, carving out even just 10 minutes a day to learn something new from God’s Word or remind ourselves of things we forget, is vital. Having resources in hand to pursue that teaching during the week, is as important as it ever was. To that end, in the past, we have invited everyone to walk together through the Westminster Shorter Catechism (English from 1640s) and the Heidelberg Catechism (German from 1563), using the daily readings from Starr Meade, as well as the Read Scripture app for daily bible reading, and last year the New City Catechism (American from recent years!). This year we are doing something similar and different. Similar in daily content that is easily accessible, but different because it is not in the question and answer format of a catechism. I hope everyone in our church will take a moment right now to purchase the book “New Morning Mercies” by Paul David Tripp through Christianbook.com or Amazon, in good ole fashion paper, or e-book if you prefer. If you have children old enough to read a one page devotional each day or several days a week, you may want to purchase extra copies for them as well. See video for an introduction. The devotion runs Jan 1 – Dec 31, daily, but each stands on its own, so no worries if you missed the Jan 1 kickoff. (Our family has been on vacation so will be getting a start a few days late, while we are on the road). If you are a highly disciplined family, you may want to read the devotionals as a family, once a day and discuss, perhaps in the morning before the days activities or around the dinner table. Or it may make sense to block out 3-4 times a week to read together as a family and allow for individual reading the other days of the week. For those with children, I would encourage you not to be the least bit surprised if your children are not excited about this! Ha. Just like us adults, they are not always enthusiastic about the means of grace we know we need for spiritual growth. As children do not usually love to eat a healthy meal, or go to the dentist, or yield their precious screen time, they will not necessarily see why they should read for spiritual growth on their own, or join in family devotional time, or for that matter, go to worship service or youth activities! Ha. They will need loving but clear direction from parents who care about them, and are okay with not always being perfectly liked by their children. If you have another devotional plan for the year, this certainly does not need to replace that, but it would be awesome if everyone in our church engaged with this process at some level, beyond our Sunday morning worship. As we do, we will look for the truth of God’s Word to transform us, and make us a blessing to those around us for God’s Kingdom. John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” “Clear!” the nurse shouted to the array of other medical personnel who had rushed into the room where they had been performing a “routine” arteriogram on me. It was May 11, 2018, and she would yell that echoing word two more times, followed each time by what can only be described as feeling like my body was being exploded – internally detonated. I honestly still don’t know a year later, whether they had 10 more tricks up their sleeve to try and get my heart back going, or only one more. But, the doctor was able to figure out it was a blood flow issue and not just an electrical rhythm problem, and thankfully that approach proved successful. The doctors don’t have a good answer for why I had blockage there to begin with, in only one artery, somewhat unusually shaped, in a man of my age and health, but I’m thankful for the stint they were able to insert, and for good reports that I’m an otherwise healthy dude. (If you would like to know more about all that happened last year, go here.) KISS THE WAVE – A book my wife, Patience, has been reading to us, bit by bit, the last 6-7 months, quotes Charles Spurgeon, the preacher of the 1800s in London, who endured personal chronic suffering, as well as tragedies in his congregation. He said, “They who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.” The same man said, “I have learned to kiss the wave, that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” I have thought a lot and prayed a lot through those statements, which I recognize are absolutely in line with Biblical teaching, despite what the TV preachers might try to tell us. God uses struggle in our lives. (For my messages from last fall on this theme, begin with Aug 12 in our sermon archive, here) RARE PEARLS – In the weeks following my incident last year, I wrote a good bit, not necessarily to share with anyone but just to process and record what I sensed the Lord was teaching me. I’m thankful to be able to write some more, now one year later, and hope the Lord plans to give me a good number more years. As I recovered, some good friends from our church came by and the husband said that I would not believe this at the time, but I would one day see the whole experience as a gift. I’m still sorting through that for sure. But in my clear moments, I am seeing his point. The Lord has given me some “rare pearls.” HEAVENLY MINDED? – One of those pearls is seeing that one can be worldly, even as a pastor. Pastors, like everyone else, have sin patterns that hound us daily. But in general I’d say most of us are a bit less likely than others to chase after the material things of this life. It kinda comes with the job description. But one can be worldly in other ways. This past year it has definitely been no fun to have a heightened, sometimes overly acute, sense of my mortality. Yet this has really helped me to see that I had preached to others about the blessings of living “heavenly minded” but I had not progressed very far toward that myself. I might not have been worldly in trying to stockpile material stuff in this life, or acquire the latest sportscar, but my attention, my focus, my hopes in many areas, were rooted in the here and now, not in the life to come. TRUST IN THE LORD – When I came to faith in Christ during my high school years the passage that resonated so mightily in my soul was Prov 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your path.” Fact is, I like my own understanding. I like thinking I can plan out the next 40 years of my life and I have control over it. I don’t like James 4:13 “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ – yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” I like trusting in myself. I don’t like losing my life to save it. I don’t know all that the Lord is doing in my life and those around me through the struggles I faced, and their continued effect on me, but I know that even if I have made some progress in applying these passages the last 27 years since I first began my spiritual journey, I still have a long way to go. CHRIST THE SUFFERING ONE – Another spiritual lesson the Lord gave me, especially right after my struggles, was the contrast between the struggle I faced and that of Jesus. I’m not sure why this particular reality of my situation has stood out to me, but maybe it will help someone, somehow to read and consider it. Without Christ, I deserve God’s wrath and separation from Him. Jesus does not deserve any pain or separation. Yet he accepted it for us. A year ago today, I was surrounded by people trying to help me and the pain they inflicted was momentary and for my restoration. The people around Jesus were trying to hurt him, badly…so badly…and his pain was ongoing, comprehensive. CHRIST THE RESURRECTED ONE – My heart will one day sputter again, and then stop completely, unless Jesus returns sooner. And so will yours, and your spouse’s and your children’s. But Jesus has a resurrected heart, and he will give you and me such a heart one day, if we are found in him, by faith and repentance. I’m more excited about that than I have ever been. And I hoped to be used in God’s hands to help others discover that resurrected life in Christ. SUSTAINED BY GOD’S WORD – As I mentioned, my wife and I have been carving out time weekly, or close to it, for us to read a book together. I like listening to her read to me. As a preacher I’m always speaking stuff, and when folks speak to me, I’m sure like other professions, it is often because they are looking for something from me. My wife just reads to me, to help me…to help us. We’ve worked through an excellent book Kiss the Wave, by David Furman. He has suffered immensely and chronically. Others around me have as well. The book has been an invitation to dive deeper into the truths of God’s word about struggles and his grace to be found in them. Whatever challenges we face, certainly all are opportunities to live more dependent on the Rock of Ages. THE WAY FORWARD – Thanks for taking time to read this far and let me share these matters with you. Maybe it will bless or challenge others in some God-glorifying way. Pray for me when you can. And redeem the time. Not in an anxious way, but in a heaven-focused way. Get yourself ready for heaven, not just by professing Christ as some kind of fire insurance but by plunging fully into the local body of Christ, a bit of heaven here on earth. Seek help from that body for your journey and offer what help you can to others along the path. Pray. Hug your wife or kids or friend. Pray. Embrace the first catechism question…what is the chief end of man…to glorify and enjoy God forever. And tell others the way to finding that “end.” And pray… John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The past three or four years, all in our church family have been encouraged to pursue a pathway for spiritual growth individually or as a household, which is linked with our weekly church worship service. The goal has been to grow in spirit and truth. With our lives often scattered and our attention easily distracted, repeating a passage of the Bible or from a historic teaching tool, like a catechism, and then having resources in hand to pursue that teaching during the week, is as important as it ever was. To that end, in the past, we have invited everyone to walk together through the Westminster Shorter Catechism (English from 1640s) and the Heidelberg Catechism (German from 1563), using the daily readings from Starr Meade, and this last year, using the Read Scripture app for daily bible reading and helpful summary videos. This year we are doing something similar and different. Similar in the catechism format (it just means using short questions and answers to learn important stuff), but different because it uses contemporary wording accessible in an app format. I hope everyone in our church will take a moment right now to download “New City Catechism” from your app store. Best of all, it is free. We will start the journey on Sun, Jan 6. As you look at the app you will see 52 questions total…so, you guessed it…one question/answer per week. You will also see that for each question you can view a supporting scripture reference, read a short section from a helpful commentary, and listen to a little song. The songs can help everyone of any age, but in particular could be useful for moms and dads of young ones as they drive around town to activities, or spend time around the house. Even better, if you permit your child to have a device, let them download the app. I know at our house this last year we set a simple concept in place for our boys – 10-15 min of Read Scripture app each day, before any video game time. Can’t remember if you call that positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement, but it sure worked like a charm! You can also find the videos here on a Youtube channel if you want to watch them as a family on a laptop or smart TV. We will have samples of several books for adults and kids that accompany the New City Catechism app. These are helpful for those who like to have an ole fashioned dead tree in their hand (like me), and because they provide supplemental content. They can be ordered here. The large one with the white cover replicates the exact content of the app. One way to approach it might be to pursue a different element of the material Mon-Fri. Mon read the question and answer that you will have heard on Sun, Tues read the accompanying scripture passage, Wed pray over the application of the truth in your life, Thu read the first commentary entry and Fri the second. If you use a calendar on your device you could program these in as repeated weekly activities with a daily reminder to help. If you are doing it as a family or couple, your could each share questions it raises for you, or how you hope to apply it, or something new you learned. If you have another devotional plan for the year, this certainly does not need to replace that, but it would be awesome if everyone in our church engaged with this process at some level, beyond our Sunday morning worship. As we do, we will look for the truth of God’s Word to transform us, and make a blessing to those around us for God’s Kingdom. John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.” Most of us in the West enjoy relative protection as we live out and express our faith. No doubt challenges are brewing and have come for many Christians. But even if we have not faced particular attacks or losses as a result of our commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we have certainly all encountered a culture that is sometimes at best ambivalent about Jesus and the things of His Kingdom. In case we think we can gird ourselves with the buckle of the Bible belt, we would have to have blinders on to not see the shifting winds even in the American Deep South. If we know our Bible, we know that God can bring revival as He wills, so we should be cautious about doomsday scenarios, and if we know our history, we will also be cautious about envisioning an idealized past 50 or 200 years. Some things are worse now, but others probably better, as we live out the Gospel. But whether we find our neighbor critical of a Biblical worldview, or work in corporate America where certain aspects of Biblical teaching are taboo, or serve in the military where expressions of personal faith have recently been curtailed, or attend a school where other students embrace an entirely different religious system, we know that as believers we are called to walk in faithfulness in a world that may not be cheering us on. As we look at the book of Daniel over the next weeks, I’m excited that we can get back to an Old Testament book of Scripture, and also happy to return to more expository preaching from a narrative/wisdom/prophetic book. Topical series are needed as well, but it is good to get back to our bread and butter! Daniel was one of the Old Testament people of God, a Jew, who was hauled off from the wayward nation-state of Israel to a completely foreign environment. The Hebrew people of the time had wandered from faithfulness to God, but their society still remained generally God-directed and many were Biblically focused. In Babylon, things were quite different. How did Daniel make his way? What was God doing in the famous stories about the Fiery Furnace and the Lion’s Den and then Handwriting on the Wall? What does it mean for us today? In preparation, I would encourage each person in our church body to carve out some time to either listen to Daniel on your bible app while driving or working out, or better yet, to sit down and read it all (takes about 40 minutes). Hope to see you this Sunday morning as we kick things off. Just over 8 weeks ago we began a journey through what the Bible teaches about not wasting our struggles. Another title for the series could have been “How to Harness Our Struggles.” If you missed the blog I wrote about my personal struggles and how I felt God was leading and preparing me to preach that series, you can find it here. If you missed a message or live out of town or just want to go back over where we have been, you can connect to the podcast here. I’ve also found the following two versions of the same song personally encouraging in times of struggle (introduced to me by Jeff Koonce) This upcoming Sunday we will start a new series, but I know many have shared with me how “Don’t Waste Your Struggles” affected them. For further growth in these areas I recommend these resources. Several copies of each will be available on the welcome table at church this Sunday. A Bruised Reed – a classic on struggle from a Puritan writer that is very accessible Kiss the Wave – written recently by a man who struggles with severe physical limitations and serves as a pastor in Dubai. Based on a quote by Spurgeon that in suffering we learn to “kiss the wave that crashes us against the Rock of Ages.” As some may know, this has been a summer of struggle for me and our family. Even as I begin to write about the challenges we have faced, I’m immediately aware, perhaps in a special way as a pastor, of the acute and chronic burdens many in our church and community face. My heart goes out to those ones in a fresh way, as I seek to make my way through what the doctors tell me is largely resolved. But for me and for others who face struggles, short-term or chronic, the effects carry forward. Daily we all have opportunity for negative obsessing, or positive maturing in Christ. I’m also cognizant in a new way of the variety of difficulties people face. Mine was one of physical health, but others deal with struggles in marriage, parenting, addictive patterns (themselves or with a loved one), financial, employment, divorce, church conflict, mental illness, miscarriage, past choices. If you know our story of the last few months, you may want to just scroll down to the summary of the upcoming sermon series I’ll be sharing. If not, here goes: In late April, I was awakened one morning around 4:30 am by some chest discomfort. I assumed it was some kind of heartburn, but since I felt a bit nauseous and my skin got clammy, I decided to call two M.D. friends. Both said essentially the same thing, that it was likely a gastro issue, but since I was now headed toward my mid-forties, if I wanted to get a cardio workup, it would not be a terrible idea. On May 9, I went in for that testing, expecting just to rule some things out and at least get a thorough checkup. Since I was hospitalized in 2014 with a pulmonary embolism which I got by failing to move around enough on a flight back from a Peru Mission trip, I have learned to at least be a bit more aware of my health! On May 10, I got a call first thing in the morning from my cardiologist, who also happens to be a friend and church member, and to my surprise, and perhaps his as well, the results showed potential blockage in a coronary artery. He encouraged me that it might be a false positive, but when he said I should get in for an arteriogram to confirm, and if necessary get a stent, the next day, I understood clearly that it might be a significant concern. I had a busy day, so was not able to speak face to face with my wife, Patience, until that evening. That was a tough conversation, but just that morning, she had shared with me a passage from Psalm 16 that she had been meditating upon. It brought us comfort. “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.” We would need it in the next 24 hours. May 11, I went in for the procedure. It was sobering to be the only guy under 60 in the waiting room. Patience and I prayed several times, but as the kind nurses assured us, the docs do these procedures every day. I won’t go into great detail about what happened during my procedure, but I was awake for the entire time and recall it vividly. The doctor and support staff walked me through their video analysis, and all looked good…except indeed for notable blockage in the suspected artery. The doctor doing the procedure was finishing explaining to me that it was not quite severe enough to need a stent, and that they would treat with medicine. Then something happened. I let the medical folks know something felt very wrong. All the personnel rushed back into the room and assessed that ventricular tachycardia had been triggered, the spasming of the lower part of my heart, a life-threatening event. After several rounds of chest thumping and electrical defibrillating, I was quite honestly not sure if they were going to figure things out and whether the Lord might be taking me home much earlier than I certainly expected to go. At just about that same moment they resolved the issue, and not surprisingly, the doctor decided a stent might be worth doing after all. I have been told later that this happens one in so many thousand times during these procedures. I certainly did not expect it to happen to me. After several days of recovery in the hospital, I was released, with a promising prognosis, and several new medicines I’ll be taking for life. In my youth I was hit one time by a car while riding my dad’s ten-speed bike, but walked away without a scratch – my dad’s bike was not so lucky! When I was in college I was rescued from a rock face in North Carolina, while foolishly attempting to climb without the right gear. Nine years ago, Patience, me and Clement (in utero) were rear-ended doing 70 on the interstate while headed to the first step in our church planting journey, producing significant injuries for Patience. And I already mentioned the pulmonary embolism. But I have certainly never been more scared for my life than I was on May 11. Our family and our church body, and friends have a been a great support as I have been working my way back to health, in the Lord’s strength. It has been 2 steps forward and one step back at a few points. But as you can image, God has been gracious to use this season to draw me closer to Him, and Patience as well, and to link us closer, as husband and wife. It is not easy to be the care receiver or the caregiver. Even when physical things seem fine, the mental impact takes its own time to heal. One of the things that has helped me, and I hope will be a help to others, whatever type of struggle they may face, or have faced or will face, is looking to Scripture. In particular, a booklet that I uncovered through our Hoover library Hoopla app, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” by John Piper, has helped me frame up what God is doing, and how I can align with it, even if I don’t do so as much as I would like. I don’t know all that the Lord may want to do with this experience in my life, with this difficulty, suffering, struggle. But at least one way I am pursuing is to preach an 8-week series, based on some of Piper’s key points, with a modified title, “Don’t Waste Your Struggle.” We will start on Aug 12, at our 8:45 am worship service at a church building we currently share with another congregation at 560 Lake Crest Drive. I look forward to how God is going to meet me as I continue to process my struggles in light of His gracious Word, and I look for God to meet his people through these messages, for those who can be present, or who may listen later through our podcast. If you want a glimpse of where we are headed, here is our series outline. August 12 – Hope-Filled Groaning – Romans 8:18-25 – Carrying and delivering a baby is painful and difficult, but a mother endures it, and even welcomes it, because of the result. So too, may we view the struggles of this life, as opportunity for increased hope in the heavenly deliverance, which is to come, for all who are in Christ. August 19 – God Ordained Gift – Job – This is a tough one. When we struggle, we feel cursed. Sometimes God is disciplining us but as a loving father. Whether that is the case in all instances or not, God invites us to see our difficulties as designed by a sovereign and good being. August 26 – Comfort from Odds or God? – Psalm 20:7, 2 Corinthians 1:9 – Especially with physical illness but also with other struggles, we can incorrectly hope in our odds. Odds of getting another job soon, or our child relinquishing their problematic behavior, or of the stock market recovering. God desires for us to trust in Him, even as we may choose to remain aware of any helpful statistics. September 2 – Researching Our Redeemer – Psalm 1 – We waste our struggles if we spend countless hours studying…books on divorce recovery, articles on church conflict dynamics, blogs about breaking from addiction – but do not direct equal attention to studying God. September 9 – Contemplating a Good Death – Psalm 90:12 – When we struggle, we do not always think of it as a reminder of our fallen world. But it is. We waste our difficulty if we resist thinking about the limitations of this life and learning to hope more in heaven. We are not called to seek escape through death, but we are invited to be those who are aware of life’s limitations and are preparing ourselves for heaven, as well as usefulness in this life. September 16 – Deepening Human Relationships – Whether we are introverted or extroverted, one way we miss what God is doing in our seasons of difficulties, is if we move away from others rather than toward them. Numerous passages of Scripture invite us to be both givers and receivers of comfort from other people. September 23 – Growing Godliness – Luke 9:25 – One thing struggles do, if you will excuse my innuendo, is to scare the sin out of us! Whether we have brought the challenges on ourselves or God has determined them for us, we are invited to seize the moment to grow in righteousness, and reject our sin. September 30 – Glorify God in Our Struggle – Philippians 4:19 – Lastly, and maybe somewhat obvious, we are encouraged by the Lord to have our eyes on His glory in all things. If we can move away from “why is this happening to me?” we can begin to see “how is this a chance to magnify God?” Tough, but vital. | Mid | [
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Diablo creator David Brevik is back with a new game: It Lurks Below - mountainplus https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/31/16952652/david-brevik-it-lurks-below-announcement ====== zawerf I thought it was weird to credit someone as Diablo's "creator" since there must've been a large team given how long I remember the credits being. But indeed if you look at the wiki he seems to be the main programmer listed: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_(video_game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_\(video_game\)) Some other team members such as Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer (co-designers of Diablo and Diablo II) went on to make Torchlight so many consider it to be Diablo's spiritual successor: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torchlight) ~~~ taneq I agree with your first line. I'm a coder (sometimes a game coder, even) and I'm all for giving credit where credit is due, but the main programmer on a game isn't the game's "creator". The software which renders the sprites and plays the sound effects is the game _engine_ , and Brevik is undoubtedly the _game engine creator_ , but the actual _game_ itself is in the story and characters and game mechanics and challenges that the player experiences while playing the game. These are created by the game designers (both gameplay and artwork), and it's these people, if anyone, who are the "creators" of a game. ~~~ benjaminjackman If you read the back story of Diablo, Brevik was definitely involved in the decisions one would typically attribute to one credited with creating the game, it was certainly a team effort so he definitely wasn’t the only creator. Keep in mind this was a different time and everyone was generally expected to wear more hats back then and blizzard north wasn’t that big of a company at that time regardless. Particularly he had a lot of experience with the rogues which heavily inspired the original Diablo. Because of this he was initially opposed to making the game real-time as opposed to the traditional turn based, enemies only move when you do rogue style. However as he tells the story he programmed real time movement in a few hours on a Friday night just to see what it would be like. When he tried it out for the first time and clicked the mouse; almost magically the warrior walked over and smashed a skeleton into a pile of bones. He was convinced right then that real-time was the right choice. That moment may have been the birth of the ARPG genre. ~~~ electricslpnsld > That moment may have been the birth of the ARPG genre. Gauntlet (1985) had real-time combat, and predated Diablo by at least a decade. If that isn't RPGish enough, Ultima Underworld came four years before Diablo. Diablo definitely perfected the ARPG, though. ~~~ e12e I'm also mindful of an amiga game I only played the demo of, "Shadowlands" from 1992: [http://hol.abime.net/1898](http://hol.abime.net/1898) The first graphical game I played that leveraged the need for a lightsource similar to Moria. Not sure if you also needed food for your team. Like a mix of rouge-likes and isometric/3d real-time with a pinch of "eye of the beholder". ------ kbenson _It Lurks Below combines Diablo-style dungeon-plumbing mechanics with sandbox- style worlds that let players dig and construct, à la Terraria and Minecraft. In an interview with Polygon, Brevik said he’s a big fan of those games (and Starbound), but wanted to add something of his own to the genre. “I wanted more of a point to a lot of those games,” Brevik said. “I wanted to make an RPG, with classes and leveling up, random items, where you get more and more powerful as you go down into the core of the world and fight baddies.”_ Oh, that sounds _right_ up my alley. I might have to look up the twitch stream of it he's doing this weekend later when I have time. ------ passivepinetree Is there any resources for those interested in making these kinds of games? I'm relatively confident with programming in general, but I don't know where to start with something like this. Did he use an existing engine or framework like Unity? Is that the best place to start game development? This game looks amazing and I'd like to try to draw some inspiration from it. ~~~ banachtarski > I'm relatively confident with programming in general Out of curiosity, why do you bother writing a statement like this? Is it to assuage your ego? If you haven't done game development before, it's safe to assume there are gaps in your knowledge and you're better off admitting it outright. ~~~ dang Could you please follow the site guideline that asks you to "respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize"? [https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html) ------ wdr1 I loved his Diablo postmortem: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VscdPA6sUkc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VscdPA6sUkc) ------ nwhatt Marvel Heroes was pretty fun in its time - but recently closed down. [http://www.pcgamer.com/marvel-heroes-is-closing- down/](http://www.pcgamer.com/marvel-heroes-is-closing-down/) ------ ebullientocelot Stay a while and listen... I loved Diablo 1! ~~~ germinalphrase As did I. I wish it would be re-released. ------ krylon That looks like a fun game! And of course I am a sucker for that retro-pixely look. I hope it is released soon! ------ 0xdeadbeefbabe Was Starbound boring for anyone else? ~~~ nyolfen it can be a lot of fun with a small group of friends but it's almost pointless to play it single player ------ codingdave "is back with a new game" !== "will release later this year" ~~~ dragonwriter He's back, he's got a new game, and he's not giving it to you yet. Works for me. ------ dexwiz Looks like a Terraria clone. ~~~ sleepybrett You should read the article, he wanted to give terraria and starbound more of a point. "It Lurks Below combines Diablo-style dungeon-plumbing mechanics with sandbox- style worlds that let players dig and construct, à la Terraria and Minecraft. In an interview with Polygon, Brevik said he’s a big fan of those games (and Starbound), but wanted to add something of his own to the genre. “I wanted more of a point to a lot of those games,” Brevik said. “I wanted to make an RPG, with classes and leveling up, random items, where you get more and more powerful as you go down into the core of the world and fight baddies.”" | Low | [
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"We are What We Pay Attention to" October 23, 2017 Bridger Layton In Port Townsend, we spent a morning strolling the beach and learning from Scott Brinton, a naturalist with the Cedar Root Folk School. Scott talked to us about the importance of observing the world around you with a critical eye and asking questions about how things came to be. It’s easy to live your life with blinders on, and in so doing to miss out on a deeper understanding of the world in which you live. For instance, the average person can come bowling down a forest trail and see nothing but plants. The naturalist might meander down that same trail and witness a complete set of relationships between flora and fauna. They might hear the warning call of birds as a predator traverses the area. They might watch as a deer reacts cautiously to that alarm, and perhaps even glimpse the bobcat that caused the commotion as it slinks by. Of course, from time to time any person might find some luck and catch sight of a deer or a bobcat, but they will almost certainly miss the grander sequence of relationships before them. By virtue of careful curiosity, the naturalist has learned to fill a different role in the landscape and sees a completely different place Later into our morning with Scott Brinton, he made a statement in relation to all this that was rather thought-provoking. “We are what we pay attention to,” he said. I thought this was a nice way to say that daring to examine things beyond their surface is important. It’s important because looking closely at almost anything will reveal a whole host of complexities that are easy to miss. For me, this is an emerging theme of the expedition. Beneath the surface, everything is complicated. A dam is never just a dam. A salmon is not just a fish. A wolf is more than a wild dog, and the cow it ate for lunch is much more than calories for a hungry populace. Each and every one of these items has powerful connections both to ecological systems and to human ideologies. Dams create huge amounts of carbon-free energy, but they also affect salmon populations, displace entire towns, and drown fisheries and sacred locations that native populations have utilized for centuries. Salmon are a fish, but they are also a keystone species to numerous river ecosystems, providing an abundant and much needed source of nutrients to the inhabitants of the place. They are also a fish to which native populations in the Pacific-Northwest have a deep cultural connection. Wolves are a species that provide numerous services to their ecosystem. Perhaps most notably they maintain ungulate populations, protecting land from overgrazing. For some, wolves are a symbol of ecological interrelation, highlighting the ways in which one species’ absence or presence shapes an entire ecological system. Yet for others they are a symbol of death and destruction, wreaking havoc on cattle in the West and threatening a profession, ranching, that has impressive cultural power in rural America The items highlighted above are just beginning to expose some of the texture that the West reveals when you look beyond the surface. With that in mind, we can see how the approach of the naturalist to examine the world with careful curiosity applies well in many contexts. In a sense, it is the approach of the naturalist that is guiding our studies on the road. We’re striving to see the West as more than an image of John Wayne on a horse. We’re striving to understand the diversity of people, landscape, and issues that have defined the West historically and continue to define it today. We’re striving to pay attention, and in so doing we’re beginning to see the West as a much richer place than we did on August 23rd when our studies began. During the 2017 Fall Semester, 14 students, two professors, and a program coordinator will load books, camping gear, and themselves into a couple of vans and hit the road for a semester-long tour of the American West. The trip is designed as an exploration into the issues at the heart of the contemporary West. Students will earn 16 credits in environmental studies and history as they study Environmental Cooperation and Conflict, Landscape and Meaning, the History of Public Lands, and the Native West. This prolonged journey into the field will allow us to learn directly from landscapes and ecosystems, as well as from people who live, work, and study in those places. Together, we expect to build a cohort of impassioned scholars with a particular breadth and depth of experiential knowledge who are equipped to build a better future for the West. We will visit iconic, protected sites like Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, contentious places like the Little Bighorn and the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, working landscapes like the Butte Copper Mines, and communities from present-day Native nations to "New West" towns like Bend, Twisp, and Moab. Meet the Expedition Read the Latest Journal Entry "We are What We Pay Attention to" October 23, 2017 Bridger Layton In Port Townsend, we spent a morning strolling the beach and learning from Scott Brinton, a naturalist with the Cedar Root Folk School. Scott talked to us about the importance of observing the world around you with a critical eye and asking questions about how things came to be. It’s easy to live your life with blinders on, and in so doing to miss out on a deeper understanding of the world in which you live. For instance, the average person can come bowling down a forest trail and see nothing but plants. The naturalist might meander down that same trail and witness a complete set of relationships between flora and fauna. They might hear the warning call of birds as a predator traverses the area. They might watch as a deer reacts cautiously to that alarm, and perhaps even glimpse the bobcat that caused the commotion as it slinks by. Of course, from time to time any person might find some luck and catch sight of a deer or a bobcat, but they will almost certainly miss the grander sequence of relationships before them. By virtue of careful curiosity, the naturalist has learned to fill a different role in the landscape and sees a completely different place Later into our morning with Scott Brinton, he made a statement in relation to all this that was rather thought-provoking. “We are what we pay attention to,” he said. I thought this was a nice way to say that daring to examine things beyond their surface is important. It’s important because looking closely at almost anything will reveal a whole host of complexities that are easy to miss. For me, this is an emerging theme of the expedition. Beneath the surface, everything is complicated. A dam is never just a dam. A salmon is not just a fish. A wolf is more than a wild dog, and the cow it ate for lunch is much more than calories for a hungry populace. Each and every one of these items has powerful connections both to ecological systems and to human ideologies. Dams create huge amounts of carbon-free energy, but they also affect salmon populations, displace entire towns, and drown fisheries and sacred locations that native populations have utilized for centuries. Salmon are a fish, but they are also a keystone species to numerous river ecosystems, providing an abundant and much needed source of nutrients to the inhabitants of the place. They are also a fish to which native populations in the Pacific-Northwest have a deep cultural connection. Wolves are a species that provide numerous services to their ecosystem. Perhaps most notably they maintain ungulate populations, protecting land from overgrazing. For some, wolves are a symbol of ecological interrelation, highlighting the ways in which one species’ absence or presence shapes an entire ecological system. Yet for others they are a symbol of death and destruction, wreaking havoc on cattle in the West and threatening a profession, ranching, that has impressive cultural power in rural America The items highlighted above are just beginning to expose some of the texture that the West reveals when you look beyond the surface. With that in mind, we can see how the approach of the naturalist to examine the world with careful curiosity applies well in many contexts. In a sense, it is the approach of the naturalist that is guiding our studies on the road. We’re striving to see the West as more than an image of John Wayne on a horse. We’re striving to understand the diversity of people, landscape, and issues that have defined the West historically and continue to define it today. We’re striving to pay attention, and in so doing we’re beginning to see the West as a much richer place than we did on August 23rd when our studies began. | High | [
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VSD 2 (trimaran) VSD 2 was a 54ft trimaran designed by Derek Kelsall and built in 1979 for French yachtsman Eugène Riguidel who sailed her in the 1981 TwoSTAR, in which he achieved eighth place. Dimensions Load Waterline Length: Load Waterline Length: 46 ft See also List of multihulls References Category:Trimarans Category:1970s sailing yachts | Mid | [
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Gloryhole Thank you! We appreciate your help. Description: Videos: 34 Views: 5 936 Updated: 2 years ago by Lovecock2 Link to this playlist BB code: 01 02 03 04 05 06 Next Page 1 / 6 Next | Low | [
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Education Reform Inching Forward RIA-Novosti Archive / Wikimedia CommonsA new bill aims to cut the number of higher educational institutions, leaving a smaller group of better-funded universities. Above, students sitting in front of the main building of Moscow State University. As thousands of high school graduates enter universities on Saturday, a hotly debated bill to reform the nation's education system is inching forward. A controversial plan already three years in the making, the bill promises the biggest shake-up of schools and universities since the 1990s, giving students more choice over the subjects they study and changing how universities are funded. In late July, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev sent the bill to the State Duma. It is expected to be signed into law by the end of the year. "The law must not only resolve the problems of education, but become the basis for the development of human capital in the country," Medvedev said in a recent blog post. The bill aims to cut the number of higher educational institutions, leaving a smaller cadre of better-funded universities that pack a more powerful punch in international rankings. Currently, Russia features nowhere in the world's top 100 universities on benchmark rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds, or QS, and Times Higher Education. Only on the Shanghai Jiao Tong listing does Moscow State University rate 77th, but even this reflects past Nobel glory rather than citations in academic journals, the currency of modern academia. The education bill has been knocked by the University Professors Union for failing to increase teachers' salaries and criticized by Communists for narrowing the curriculum, allowing students to drop subjects in the ninth grade. Many gripe about the Unified State Exam, the common university entrance exam introduced in the last decade with the intention of giving every student an equal chance at the best institutions. But the bill has supporters among those seeking to modernize higher education. It is very good that the government is trying to make higher education more open to competition and more modern, although it is not going to be easy, Sergei Guriev, rector of the New Economic School, said in an interview. The bill legitimizes many progressive practices that some universities have already been experimenting with, he said, such as online teaching and joint programs between universities. Skepticism About Reform Ivan Kurilla, head of the international relations department at Volgograd State University, is skeptical about the government's ability to achieve its goals. "When [President Vladimir] Putin speaks about education he usually speaks in the same vein as he speaks about pensions. For him, [education] is a burden," Kurilla said. "I think that education should be considered part of the economy if you want to ensure that Russia is more than an oil and gas exporter." Kurilla worries that the reforms will fracture society and deepen regional divisions. Plans to reduce the number of students mean that poorer children will be less able to go to university, thus increasing social tensions, he said. Meanwhile, focusing on top-tier universities means that some good departments could close and some regions risk losing their institutions altogether. "There are a lot of regions with neither federal universities nor national research institutes," Kurilla said. "We have 80-something regions in Russia, but we don't have 80-something with universities that meet all the criteria." "To get a better education people will leave the region," he added, "and it is unlikely that they will come back." Problems in Russian universities mirror the story of the last two decades: falling student numbers reflecting demographic decline, corruption, low wages and resulting brain drain, over-weening central management, as well as hyper-dominant Moscow attracting talented people from poorer regions. Russia spends less on education than the European average and even less than its BRIC peer Brazil — 4.7 percent of national income compared with 5.3 percent spent by its South American peer — although it still outspends China. Corruption Many argue that professors' salaries will have to rise if universities are to attract the best people. The average wage for a Russian academic is $617 a month, while peers in Canada and the United States earn almost 10 times more, according to research by Boston University and the Higher School of Economics. In that survey of 28 countries, Russia's professors were the poorest, only slightly better off than their counterparts in Armenia. Low salaries make it harder to root out corruption. Bribes to gain entry to an educational institution, including grade schools, or for better marks amounted to about $1 billion in 2009, according to the Higher School of Economics. Corruption "is a great problem for universities, which cannot trust their students' grades," said Professor Mark Levin, head of macroeconomics at the Higher School of Economics. "If students bribe in one field they will continue after university, and if knowledge is bad we will get bad doctors, government engineers and professors — it is the reproduction of inefficiency," he said. "It is necessary to reduce corruption in the whole country. If the atmosphere is corruptible, it is very difficult to eliminate corruption in one field." The success of Russia's educational reforms will depend not only on the quality of the legislation and its implementation, but also on the social and political climate. "The new education minister, Dmitry Livanov, is progressive, reform-minded and very motivated to do the right thing," said Guriev at the New Economic School. But "the record of this government in general, though, has so far not been good when it comes to openness and competition." "This government doesn't seem to like freedom of speech, this government is not known for its international cooperation, this government doesn't like feedback from society, so we don't know [whether it can achieve its educational reforms]." Breaking Into the Top 100 When not a single Russian university was included on the Times Higher Education list for the second year in a row, Russia's then-education minister said it was time to come up with a new system of ranking universities. Now the universities rather than the list-makers are back in focus, after Putin announced in May that five Russian institutions were expected to break into the top 100 by 2020. Few doubt the goal is in reach, but many question the timing. "Everybody, including Putin himself, understands that it is not realistic," said Zoya Zaitseva, director of Central Europe and Central Asia at QS. Seven years is not enough time to implement all the things that need to be done, she said, although four or five institutions could be in contention for spots in the top 200. Russian universities are relatively low in the QS rankings because those institutes lack kudos among their international peers and do not have their research cited often enough in academic journals, two of the criteria that QS uses to rank universities. Russian professors need to learn English and participate in international conferences to share their ideas, Zaitseva said. "Russian academics have a lot of good things to say," she said. "They have good labs and good projects, but they don't know how to promote themselves." Russian oil output fell to 10.65 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, down from 10.71 million bpd in June, falling from post-Soviet highs maintained since March, Energy Ministry data showed on Sunday. In an office building in Russia's northern city of Petrozavodsk, chance encounters between representatives of the mayor's office and the local legislature who share the building are avoided at all costs. Back in April, the hottest topic in the Russian media and blogosphere was the news that the controversial director Nikita Mikhalkov and his brother, the director Andrei Konchalovsky, had applied for government funding of nearly a billion rubles ($16.5 million) to open a fast food chain that would be a healthier Russian alternative to McDonald's. | Mid | [
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CAUSE OF ACTION INSTITUTE, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 16-871 (CKK) W. NEIL EGGLESTON, et al., Defendants MEMORANDUM OPINION (December 15, 2016) This case arises from several Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests Plaintiff has made to various executive agencies that, Plaintiff alleges, have been delayed as a result of agency consultation with the Office of White House Counsel (“OWHC”). Plaintiff alleges that this delay is caused by agencies complying with a memorandum issued by the OWHC in 2009 that calls for consultation with the OWHC on FOIA requests that implicate “White House equities.” Plaintiff claims that such consultation is unnecessary and engaged in to delay politically sensitive or embarrassing FOIA requests. Presently before the Court is Defendants’ [16] Partial Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). Upon consideration of the pleadings, 1 the relevant legal authorities, and the record for purposes of this motion, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ motion. The Court dismisses, without prejudice, Plaintiff’s FOIA claim to the 1 The Court’s consideration has focused on the following documents: • Pl.’s Compl. for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Compl.”), ECF No. 1; • Defs.’ Mem. in Support of Partial Mot. to Dismiss (“Defs.’ Mem.”), ECF No. 16-1; • Pl.’s Mem. in Opp’n to Defs.’ Partial Mot. to Dismiss (“Pl.’s Opp’n”), ECF No. 17; and • Defs.’ Reply in Support of Defs.’ Partial Mot. to Dismiss (“Defs.’ Reply”), ECF No. 19. In an exercise of its discretion, the Court finds that holding oral argument in this action would not be of assistance in rendering a decision. See LCvR 7(f). 1 extent that it includes a “policy or practice” claim under Payne Enterprises, Inc. v. United States, 837 F.2d 486 (D.C. Cir. 1988). Plaintiff has not pled sufficient facts that establish that the agencies at issue have pursued a policy of violating FOIA that would be actionable under Payne Enterprises. Plaintiff’s FOIA claim is not dismissed to the extent that it seeks the documents requested in the FOIA requests at issue. The Court also dismisses Plaintiff’s Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The APA does not provide a waiver of sovereign immunity in this case because an adequate remedy for the conduct about which Plaintiff complains is available under FOIA. Finally, the Court also dismisses Plaintiff’s claim for non-statutory review of ultra vires action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The Court does not have jurisdiction under this narrow doctrine because FOIA provides an adequate alternative remedy and because Plaintiff has not pled the type of unlawful conduct that warrants non-statutory review. I. BACKGROUND For the purposes of this motion, the Court accepts as true the allegations in the Complaint. The Court does “not accept as true, however, the plaintiff’s legal conclusions or inferences that are unsupported by the facts alleged.” Ralls Corp. v. Comm. on Foreign Inv. in U.S., 758 F.3d 296, 315 (D.C. Cir. 2014). A. The Parties Plaintiff Cause of Action Institute is a nonprofit organization that files dozens of FOIA requests each year seeking access to various government records. Compl. ¶ 1. Defendants in this case include various executive agencies to whom Plaintiff has submitted FOIA requests, including: the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), the United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), the United States 2 Department of Defense (“DOD”), the United States Department of Energy (“DOE”), the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the United States Department of State (“DOS”), the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), the United States Department of the Interior (“DOI”), the United States Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”), and the United States Department of Transportation (“DOT”) (collectively, “Agency Defendants”). Id. ¶ 14. Defendants also include the OWHC and White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston (collectively, “OWHC Defendants”). Id. ¶¶ 12-13. B. Plaintiff’s FOIA Requests At issue in this case are several FOIA requests made by Plaintiff to the Agency Defendants since August 2013. First, on August 6, 2013, Plaintiff submitted a FOIA request to HHS requesting the “work calendars of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Chief of Staff.” Id. ¶ 61. Shortly thereafter, Plaintiff made two additional FOIA requests to HHS seeking records related to “Early Innovator Grants” awarded by HHS, and records related to incidents of unauthorized disclosure of “Personally Identifiable Information” by health insurance exchanges. Id. ¶ 62. Next, on June 29, 2015, Plaintiff simultaneously sent similar FOIA requests to ten of the Agency Defendants. Id. ¶ 66. Each of the requests sought: a) “All travel records of [the agency head or heads] related to travel (1) on Air Force One, (2) with the President or Vice President, or (3) to or from meetings with the President or Vice President outside of Washington, D.C., from January 1, 2014 to the present”; b) “All work calendars of [the agency head or heads] related to meetings that (1) occurred at the White House or (2) included representatives of the Executive Office of the President, from January 1, 2014 to the present”; c) “All records of correspondence received by the Office of the Secretary or the Office of Congressional Relations from (1) Senator Barack Obama, or any member of Senator Obama’s congressional staff, or (2) Senator Joseph Biden, or 3 any member of Senator Biden’s congressional staff, from January 3, 2005 to November 3, 2008.” Id. Plaintiff alleges that, at the time its complaint was filed, none of the Agency Defendants had provided Plaintiff with a final determination regarding these requests. Id. ¶ 71. Plaintiff claims that final determinations with respect to its requests have been delayed as a result of consultation between Agency Defendants and the OWHC. Id. ¶ 80. C. OWHC Review of FOIA Requests to Executive Agencies The OWHC has a long history of consulting with executive agencies regarding FOIA requests. 2 OWHC intermittently issues new memoranda instructing executive agencies on the types of requests and records about which OWHC should be consulted. Beginning in 1988, the OWHC, pursuant to a memorandum issued by then-Assistant Attorney General Stephen J. Markman (“Markman Memorandum”), required agencies responding to FOIA requests to provide for OWHC review “[r]ecords originating with or involving the ‘White House’ Office.” 3 The Markman Memorandum defined the term “White House Office” broadly to include “all offices over which the Office of the Chief of Staff directly presides” including, for example, the office of the First Lady. Id. at n.1. In 1992, the Markman Memorandum was superseded by a memorandum written by Steven R. Schlesinger of the DOJ Office of Policy Development 2 In the following portion of this Memorandum Opinion, the Court references OWHC memoranda not expressly pled in Plaintiff’s complaint. However, “[w]hen reviewing a challenge pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), the Court may consider documents outside the pleadings to assure itself that it has jurisdiction.” Al-Owhali v. Ashcroft, 279 F. Supp. 2d 13, 21 (D.D.C. 2003). The Court may also take judicial notice of OWHC memoranda discussed herein pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 201. See Sanders v. Kerry, 180 F. Supp. 3d 35, 41 (D.D.C. 2016) (public records are subject to judicial notice). 3 Stephen J. Markman, White House Records in Agency Files: Referrals and Consultations (Sept. 1, 1988), available at http://causeofaction.org/assets/uploads/2014/04/1988-memo.pdf. 4 (“Schlesinger Memorandum”). 4 The Schlesinger Memorandum, while refining the procedures to be used by agencies in certain situations, by in large retained the Markman Memorandum’s structure as well as its broad definition of “White House Office.” Id. In 1993, then-Associate Attorney General Webster L. Hubbell issued a memorandum that superseded the Schlesinger Memorandum (“Hubbell Memorandum”). 5 Under the Hubbell Memorandum, agencies were required to consult with the OWHC when a FOIA request sought “White House-originated records (or records containing White House-originated information).” Id. In 2009, White House Counsel Gregory Craig circulated a new memorandum (“Craig Memorandum”) regarding consultation with the OWHC on FOIA requests. Compl., Ex. 1. The Craig Memorandum is quite brief and does not purport to supersede the Hubbell Memorandum. Id. It simply states that it is a “reminder that executive agencies should consult with the White House Counsel’s Office on all document requests that may involve documents with White House equities.” Id. The memorandum asks that “such consultation take place well in advance of the deadline for responding.” Id. The term “White House equities” is not defined in the Craig Memorandum, but the memorandum states that it includes, at least, “all documents and records, whether in oral, paper or electronic form, that relate to communications to and from the White House.” Id. Plaintiff alleges that “[b]ecause the term ‘White House equities’ is vague and undefined, agency FOIA officers interpret it broadly, referring FOIA requests to White House review whenever the subject matter might be of ‘interest’ to the White House.” Id. ¶ 39. Plaintiff 4 Steven R. Schlesinger, White House Records in Agency Files: Referral and Consultations (Jan. 28, 1992), available at http://causeofaction.org/assets/uploads/2014/04/1992-memo.pdf. 5 Webster L. Hubbell, Memorandum Regarding FOIA Consultation Procedures Required For Any White House-Originated Record or Information Found in Agency Files (Nov. 3, 1993), available at https://www.justice.gov/oip/blog/foia-update-foia-memo-white-house-records. 5 alleges that, as a result, OWHC reviews requests in cases where such review does “not serve any legitimate FOIA purpose” and that this “review is directed in particular at FOIA requests that the administration finds politically sensitive or embarrassing.” Id. ¶¶ 53, 55. Accordingly, Plaintiff alleges that the Craig Memorandum “inappropriately delays final determinations and production of responsive documents until OWHC grants clearance.” Id. ¶ 53. D. Plaintiff’s Claims in This Lawsuit Plaintiff brought this lawsuit on May 9, 2016. “The gravamen of the Complaint is that the White House cannot cause delay in producing the requested documents that is separate and apart from the delays caused by the normal FOIA process within the agencies.” Pl.’s Opp’n at 15 n.8. Plaintiff asserts causes of action under the FOIA, APA and the Court’s “authority to enjoin ultra vires actions by agents and organs of the federal government.” Id. ¶¶ 75-101. As relief, Plaintiff requests that the Court order Agency Defendants to make final determinations regarding Plaintiff’s FOIA requests and produce the requested documents. Id. at 32. Plaintiff also requests that the Court enjoin OWHC consultation on FOIA requests under the Craig Memorandum to the extent it causes any delay in the production of documents requested under FOIA. Id. On July 15, 2016, Defendants moved for partial dismissal of Plaintiff’s Complaint under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). II. LEGAL STANDARDS A. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) To survive a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), plaintiff bears the burden of establishing that the court has subject matter jurisdiction over its claim. See Moms Against Mercury v. FDA, 483 F.3d 824, 828 (D.C. Cir. 2007). In determining whether there is jurisdiction, the Court may “consider the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts evidenced 6 in the record, or the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts plus the court’s resolution of disputed facts.” Coal. for Underground Expansion v. Mineta, 333 F.3d 193, 198 (D.C. Cir. 2003) (citations omitted). “Although a court must accept as true all factual allegations contained in the complaint when reviewing a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1),” the factual allegations in the complaint “will bear closer scrutiny in resolving a 12(b)(1) motion than in resolving a 12(b)(6) motion for failure to state a claim.” Wright v. Foreign Serv. Grievance Bd., 503 F. Supp. 2d 163, 170 (D.D.C.2007) (citations omitted). B. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a party may move to dismiss a complaint on the grounds that it “fail[s] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require that a complaint contain “‘a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,’ in order to ‘give the defendant fair notice of what the . . . claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.’” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007) (quoting Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47 (1957)). “[A] complaint [does not] suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertion[s]’ devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557). Rather, a complaint must contain sufficient factual allegations that, if true, “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. In evaluating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, a court must construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and accept as true all reasonable factual inferences drawn from well-pleaded factual allegations. See In re United 7 Mine Workers of Am. Employee Benefit Plans Litig., 854 F. Supp. 914, 915 (D.D.C. 1994). “That said, [the Court] accept[s] neither ‘inferences drawn by plaintiffs if such inferences are unsupported by the facts set out in the complaint,’ nor ‘legal conclusions cast in the form of factual allegations.’” Browning v. Clinton, 292 F.3d 235, 242 (D.C. Cir. 2002) (quoting Kowal v. MCI Commc’ns Corp., 16 F.3d 1271, 1276 (D.C. Cir. 1994)). Finally, in deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a court may consider “the facts alleged in the complaint, documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the complaint,” or “documents upon which the plaintiff’s complaint necessarily relies even if the document is produced not by the plaintiff in the complaint but by the defendant in a motion to dismiss.” Ward v. D.C. Dep’t of Youth Rehab. Servs., 768 F. Supp. 2d 117, 119 (D.D.C. 2011) (citations omitted). III. DISCUSSION The Court will grant Defendants’ motion to partially dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint in three respects: (A) the Court dismisses Plaintiff’s FOIA cause of action to the extent it alleges a “policy or practice” claim because Plaintiff has not plausibly alleged facts showing that Defendants have followed a policy or practice of violating FOIA, beyond the fact that final determinations of several of Plaintiff’s FOIA requests are delayed; (B) the Court dismisses Plaintiff’s APA claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because an adequate alternative remedy is available under FOIA and accordingly the APA does not provide a waiver of sovereign immunity; and (C) the Court also dismisses Plaintiff’s ultra vires claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because FOIA provides an adequate alternative remedy and because Plaintiff has not pled the type of unlawful conduct that warrants such non-statutory review. 8 A. The Court Dismisses Plaintiff’s “Policy or Practice” Claim Under FOIA For Failure to State a Claim First, the Court will dismiss Plaintiff’s FOIA claim to the extent that it alleges that Agency Defendants’ compliance with the Craig Memorandum is a “policy or practice” of violating FOIA actionable under Payne Enterprises, Inc. v. United States, 837 F.2d 486 (D.C. Cir. 1988). In Payne Enterprises, officers of the Air Force Logistics Command had routinely refused to release records sought by plaintiff despite the fact that there was “no justification” for doing so, forcing plaintiff to repeatedly pursue “frustrating” and “costly” administrative appeals to obtain the records. Id. at 490, 494. Plaintiff filed suit to challenge this practice, but its case was dismissed as moot because plaintiff had eventually “received all of the material it had requested.” Id. at 488. The D.C. Circuit reversed, holding that “even though a party may have obtained relief as to a specific request under the FOIA, this will not moot a claim that an agency policy or practice will impair the party’s lawful access to information in the future.” Id. at 491. Accordingly, if adequately pled, a “policy or practice” claim under Payne Enterprises represents an exception to the general rule that a “plaintiff’s specific claim regarding a FOIA request is moot [once] the requested documents have been released.” Muttitt v. U.S. Cent. Command, 813 F. Supp. 2d 221, 228 (D.D.C. 2011). “To state a claim for relief under the ‘policy or practice’ doctrine articulated in Payne . . . a plaintiff must allege, inter alia, facts establishing that the agency has adopted, endorsed, or implemented some policy or practice that constitutes an ongoing ‘failure to abide by the terms of the FOIA.’” Muttitt v. Dep’t of State, 926 F. Supp. 2d 284, 293 (D.D.C. 2013) (quoting Payne Enterprises, 837 F.2d at 491). Here, Plaintiff alleges that Agency Defendants have engaged in an unlawful policy or practice of “submitting politically sensitive FOIA productions to the [OWHC] for pre-production review, even when no applicable FOIA exemption or recognized 9 interest justifies White House involvement.” Pl.’s Opp’n at 12. Plaintiff alleges that this is done to delay requests for “politically sensitive or embarrassing” records. Compl. ¶ 55. The Court finds that Plaintiff’s allegations are insufficient to state a claim for such a “policy or practice.” The Court begins by noting that Plaintiff’s Complaint is largely reliant on allegations, newspaper articles and emails regarding FOIA requests that are not at issue in this case, many of which appear to have been made by other groups or individuals. To have standing to challenge an alleged “policy or practice,” a plaintiff must allege that it was subject to the practice challenged. See Nat’l Sec. Counselors v. C.I.A., 931 F. Supp. 2d 77, 92 (D.D.C. 2013) (“even assuming that an alleged policy or practice exists and some FOIA requesters may have been subject to that policy, FOIA plaintiffs must establish that they have personally been subject to the alleged policy to have standing to challenge it.”); Quick v. U.S. Dep’t of Commerce, Nat. Inst. of Standards & Tech., 775 F. Supp. 2d 174, 187 (D.D.C. 2011) (“even assuming that individuals other than Quick may have been subject to the alleged ‘pattern or practice,’ the record is clear that Quick was not. That being the case, Quick lacks standing to pursue such a claim in this action.”). Accordingly, the Court must focus its attention on Plaintiff’s allegations of a policy or practice of violating FOIA with regard to the FOIA requests submitted by Plaintiff actually at issue in this case. With regard to these requests, Plaintiff falls short of pleading any “policy or practice” of violating FOIA under Payne Enterprises. First, of the various FOIA requests at issue in this case, Plaintiff only alleges facts showing that one has been sent to the OWHC for review at all. With respect to all of Plaintiff’s other requests that are at issue, Plaintiff concedes that it is possible that “Agency Defendants are delaying for reasons having nothing to do with the Craig Memo[random] and have not sought to consult with the White House on any documents.” 10 Compl. ¶ 81. Plaintiff cannot state a “policy or practice” claim based on a single incident. See Swan View Coal. v. Dep’t of Agric., 39 F. Supp. 2d 42, 46 (D.D.C. 1999) (noting that a policy or practice claim is alleged when “plaintiff challenges not just an isolated action”). Second, unlike the plaintiff in Payne Enterprises, Plaintiff does not allege that the Agency Defendants have decided, even initially, to not produce any records that should be produced. Plaintiff merely alleges that the Agency Defendants’ responses to its requests have been delayed. This distinction is significant. “[R]ecogniz[ing] that agencies may not always be able to adhere to the timelines,” the D.C. Circuit has held that the only “penalty” for delay is “that the agency cannot rely on the administrative exhaustion requirement to keep cases from getting into court.” Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 711 F.3d 180, 189 (D.C. Cir. 2013). Accordingly, delay alone, even repeated delay, is not the type of illegal policy or practice that is actionable under Payne Enterprises. See Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., No. 15-1983, 2016 WL 5660233, at *3 (D.D.C. Sept. 29, 2016) (policy or practice claims involve “more egregious, intentional agency conduct than mere delay”); Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. v. United States, 706 F. Supp. 2d 116, 120 (D.D.C. 2010) (“Payne Enterprises regards the repeated denial of Freedom of Information requests based on invocation of inapplicable statutory exemptions rather than the delay of an action over which the agency had discretion.”); Rocky Mountain Wild, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Serv., No. 15-CV-0127-WJM-CBS, 2016 WL 362459, at *11 (D. Colo. Jan. 29, 2016) (granting summary judgment to agency on policy or practice claim because “a failure to make a ‘determination’ within 20 days—even a repeated failure—already contains a statutory remedy: the right to sue. It is not properly comparable to the behavior exhibited in . . . Payne, where the agencies continually and intentionally invoked 11 spurious reasons for nondisclosure”). The Court finds that Plaintiff must plead something more than a mere failure to meet statutory deadlines to move forward on its policy or practice claim. Finally, with regard to Plaintiff’s attempt to plead something more than mere delay, the Court is not required to, and does not, accept Plaintiff’s conclusory and unsupported allegation that its requests have been delayed for illicit purposes and not as a result of legitimate efforts to review requested records. Plaintiff does not dispute that some degree of OWHC review of FOIA requests is acceptable. Pl.’s Opp’n at 18 (Plaintiff “does not suggest that White House consultation is per se unavailable under FOIA”); id. at 21 (FOIA “should not be interpreted so literally as to preclude White House review”). To the contrary, Plaintiff acknowledges that “the President may require that agencies . . . keep him informed of FOIA requests directed to them,” that “[t]he President may also require that agencies consult about production of White House documents or documents over which the President has statutory responsibility,” and that “[t]he President may even require agency consultation more broadly.” Compl. ¶ 8. Plaintiff additionally acknowledges that there are various FOIA exemptions that “relate specifically to Presidential determinations or records,” Pl.’s Opp’n at 5, including 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(1), which relates to records “specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy,” and § 552(b)(5), which relates to “inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters that would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency.” Plaintiff even concedes that the White House can “direct consultation in violation of statutory deadlines” so long as it is “vital to the application of a presidential privilege.” Pl.’s Opp’n at 19-20, n.11. Plaintiff is clearly correct to concede that White House consultation is not “per se” unlawful or unnecessary. Indeed, as one example, White House consultation may be necessary 12 to determine the applicability of FOIA Exemption 5, because that exemption “incorporate[s] the presidential communications privilege,” and therefore its applicability depends in part on whether the “‘President believes [a document] should remain confidential.’” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1113 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (quoting In re Sealed Case, 121 F.3d 729, 744 (D.C. Cir. 1997)). In light of this concession that OWHC review is not “per se” unlawful, Plaintiff’s claim that the delays in this case are actionable is quite narrow. It is dependent not only on the allegation that the delays in this case are caused by OWHC review, but also on the allegation that such review is unlawful under the circumstances because it is “unnecessary,” Compl. ¶ 80, and merely used to “control[ ] political messages and avoid[ ] political embarrassment,” Pl.’s Opp’n at 19. This latter allegation, however, is conclusory and unsupported by the facts alleged. Instead of supporting it with factual allegations, Plaintiff asks the Court to accept this claim based on legal conclusions and inferences drawn from the nature of Plaintiff’s FOIA requests and past instances of OWHC review. But the Court does not accept as true legal conclusions or “inferences drawn by plaintiffs” where, as here, “such inferences are unsupported by the facts set out in the complaint.” Browning, 292 F.3d at 242 (quoting Kowal, 16 F.3d at 1276). The Court finds that the FOIA requests at issue in this case, and the past instances of OWHC review documented in Plaintiff’s exhibits, do not support Plaintiff’s conclusory allegation that the OWHC engages in “unnecessary” or politically-motivated review of FOIA requests. To the contrary, the Court finds that the FOIA requests OWHC has allegedly reviewed plausibly implicate records that either come from the White House or could reasonably call for White House input to determine the applicability of FOIA exemptions. For example, a number of the requests explicitly implicate White House records or correspondence, which even Plaintiff 13 concedes makes OWHC review reasonable. See, e.g., Compl., Ex. 7 (sending “a collection of letters that the WH wrote”); id. Ex. 8 (giving notice of a release of “joint DOI-White House records”); id., Ex. 24 (forwarding a “White House memo”); id., Ex. 27 (forwarding materials including e-mails that originated with individuals who “are currently with the White House”). Other FOIA requests that have been sent to the OWHC for consultation, as well as Plaintiff’s own requests, implicate the travel plans or meetings of the President, Vice President, First Lady or White House staff. See, e.g., id. ¶ 66 (requesting travel records related to “travel on Air Force One” or “with the President or Vice President”); id., Ex. 9 (forwarding an invitation to a meeting of the Domestic Policy Council, which coordinates the domestic policy-making process in the White House); id., Ex. 25 (discussing request related to “the First Lady’s trip to Spain”). Still others, again including Plaintiff’s requests, involve calendars or travel records for Cabinet members. Id. ¶ 66 (requesting “[a]ll work calendars” of agency heads “related to meetings that occurred at the White House”); id., Ex. 17 (forwarding request related to “Secretary Chu’s travel on Air Force One”); id., Ex. 19 (“WH Counsel has asked that all FOIA’s related to Cabinet members’ schedules/travel be sent to their office . . . for review prior to release due to WH meetings, calls, etc.”). Defendant argues, and the Court finds reasonable, that the OWHC seeks to be consulted on these requests because the records requested could reference White House meetings and therefore potentially contain communications protected by the executive privilege, which extends to “key White House advisers in the Office of the President and their staff.” Judicial Watch, 365 F.3d at 1116. Having reviewed all of the facts alleged, including the sixty-five exhibits attached to Plaintiff’s Complaint, the Court finds no factual support for Plaintiff’s conclusions that OWHC review has been used as a politically-driven delay tactic divorced from legitimate review. The 14 requests are not nearly so far removed from legitimate reasons the White House might have to review FOIA requests to support this conclusion. Even if the OWHC has been consulted with on FOIA requests that, as it turned out, did not in fact implicate White House records or records that were protected by an executive-related FOIA exemption, the focus of the “policy or practice” doctrine is conduct that is “wholly unjustified.” Payne Enterprises, 837 F.2d at 489 (emphasis added). Plaintiff falls far short of alleging that OWHC’s mere review of the requests to determine whether they might implicate such records is so “unnecessary” as to be “wholly unjustified.” Id. Accordingly, the Court DISMISSES Plaintiff’s FOIA claim to the extent that it alleges a “policy or practice” claim under Payne Enterprises, WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Plaintiff has not pled facts supporting its claim that Agency Defendants are engaged in a practice of delaying Plaintiff’s FOIA requests by sending them to the OWHC for unnecessary or otherwise inappropriate review. Plaintiff has pled that Agency Defendants’ responses to its FOIA requests are delayed, but delay alone is insufficient. B. The Court Dismisses Plaintiff’s APA Claim For Lack Of Subject Matter Jurisdiction Next, the Court dismisses Plaintiff’s claim under the APA for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. “‘[A] plaintiff must overcome the defense of sovereign immunity in order to establish the jurisdiction necessary to survive a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss.’” Stone v. Holder, 859 F. Supp. 2d 48, 51 (D.D.C. 2012) (quoting Jackson v. Bush, 448 F. Supp. 2d 198, 200 (D.D.C. 2006)). The APA waives sovereign immunity for certain claims against the Government, but “there is no waiver of sovereign immunity where [plaintiffs] have an adequate alternative remedy in court.” Nat’l Wrestling Coaches Ass’n v. Dep’t of Educ., 366 F.3d 930, 947 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see also 5 U.S.C. § 704 (“[a]gency action made reviewable by statute and 15 final agency action for which there is no other adequate remedy in a court are subject to judicial review” under the APA) (emphasis added). In particular, “[w]here a statute affords an opportunity for de novo district-court review,” APA review is “precluded because ‘Congress did not intend to permit a litigant challenging an administrative denial . . . to utilize simultaneously both [the review provision] and the APA.’” El Rio Santa Cruz Neighborhood Health Ctr., Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 396 F.3d 1265, 1270 (D.C. Cir. 2005) (quoting Envtl. Def. Fund v. Reilly, 909 F.2d 1497, 1501 (D.C. Cir. 1990)). Although courts analyzing the adequacy of an alternative remedy “must give the APA a hospitable interpretation,” Garcia v. Vilsack, 563 F.3d 519, 523 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (quoting El Rio Santa Cruz, 396 F.3d at 1272) (internal quotation marks omitted), dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is required where relief of the “same genre” as the relief sought under the APA is available to plaintiff, El Rio Santa Cruz, 396 F.3d at 1272. In this case, the relief Plaintiff seeks under the APA—preventing Agency Defendants from complying with the Craig Memorandum and accordingly delaying FOIA productions—is available under FOIA. Indeed, Plaintiff itself has asked for that same relief under the FOIA count in its Complaint. Compl. ¶ 83 (“This Court should use its authority to enjoin agency practices and procedures that violate the mandates of FOIA and order the prompt production of all documents delayed by White House review.”). FOIA provides an avenue for Plaintiff to complain of delayed determinations, and, as discussed above, FOIA also provides an avenue for Plaintiff to challenge policies or practices regarding FOIA compliance. Payne Enterprises, 837 F.2d at 491. Courts in this circuit have “have uniformly declined jurisdiction over APA claims that sought remedies made available by FOIA,” including the equitable power of courts described in 16 Payne Enterprises. Feinman v. FBI, 713 F. Supp. 2d 70, 76-77 (D.D.C. 2010); see also Harvey v. Lynch, 123 F. Supp. 3d 3, 7-8 (D.D.C. 2015) (holding that the court lacked jurisdiction over an APA claim because it was “predicated on [an agency’s] failure to comply with FOIA deadlines” for which there is a remedy under FOIA); Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. Nat’l Sec. Agency, 795 F. Supp. 2d 85, 95 (D.D.C. 2011) (“APA claims arising out of an agency’s response to a FOIA request must be dismissed when they seek relief that can be obtained through a FOIA claim itself.”); Muttitt, 813 F. Supp. 2d at 229 (“APA relief is foreclosed here because the Court concludes that in this case—where a plaintiff challenges an alleged pattern and practice of violating procedural requirements of FOIA in connection with the processing of the plaintiff’s FOIA requests—the Court has the power under FOIA and Payne to provide the requested declaratory and injunctive remedies.”). Plaintiff seeks to avoid this result by advancing two arguments, neither of which the Court finds persuasive. First, Plaintiff argues that it cannot obtain complete relief under FOIA because compliance with the Craig Memorandum may constitute a violation of certain FOIA regulations promulgated by Agency Defendants, and FOIA review “does not cover agency violation of” such regulations. Pl.’s Opp’n at 24-26. Although Plaintiff expounds on this argument at length in its Opposition, the Complaint is completely devoid of any allegation that any Agency Defendant has violated their own FOIA regulations by coordinating with the OWHC regarding FOIA requests. As such, Agency Defendants’ alleged violations of their own FOIA regulations are not properly before the Court. Second, Plaintiff argues that its APA claim is related to a “peripheral practice unconnected to the disclosure of documents” and therefore “may be pursued under the APA rather than under FOIA itself.” Pl.’s Opp’n at 26 (quoting Defs.’ Mem. at 25). Both parties 17 agree that some FOIA actions that are “outside the scope of § 552(a)(4)(B)” can be reviewed under the APA. Pub. Citizen, Inc. v. Lew, 127 F. Supp. 2d 1, 9 (D.D.C. 2000). This is not, however, such an action. The policy or practice of consulting with OWHC on particular FOIA requests which results in a delay of the disclosure of the requested documents is not a “peripheral practice unconnected to the disclosure of documents.” Pl.’s Opp’n at 26. It is fundamentally connected to such disclosure. The cases cited by Plaintiff on this point are inapposite. The Court considers the alleged practice complained of here far more central to the “disclosure of documents” sought by Plaintiff than an agency’s “determination of which information systems qualify as major,” which was the practice at issue in Pub. Citizen, Inc., 127 F. Supp. 2d at 8. Moreover, the court in Reliance Electric Co. v. Consumer Prod. Safety Comm’n, 924 F.2d 274 (D.C. Cir. 1991) merely held that judicial review of an agency’s decision to release information in a “reverse-FOIA action” is pursuant to the APA. Id. at 277. This is not a “reverse-FOIA action.” Id. In sum, an adequate alternative remedy is available under FOIA with respect to all of the relief Plaintiff seeks in its APA claim, and therefore the APA does not provide a waiver of Defendants’ sovereign immunity. The Court accordingly DISMISSES Plaintiff’s APA claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. C. The Court Dismisses Plaintiff’s Ultra Vires Claim For Lack Of Subject Matter Jurisdiction Finally, the Court also grants Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s ultra vires claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The doctrine of non-statutory review of ultra vires actions allows a plaintiff in certain limited circumstances to challenge government action in court even if the “plaintiff is unable to bring his case predicated on either a specific or a general statutory review provision.” Chamber of Commerce of U.S. v. Reich, 74 F.3d 1322, 1327 (D.C. Cir. 18 1996). Sovereign immunity is not a bar to such a claim because “sovereign immunity does not bar a suit challenging the actions of a federal officer who has acted in excess of his legal authority.” Royster-Clark Agribusiness, Inc. v. Johnson, 391 F. Supp. 2d 21, 24 (D.D.C. 2005). However, it is well-settled that this doctrine is narrow: “[t]here certainly is no question that nonstatutory review ‘is intended to be of extremely limited scope.’” Trudeau v. Fed. Trade Comm’n, 456 F.3d 178, 190 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (quoting Griffith v. Fed. Labor Relations Auth., 842 F.2d 487, 493 (D.C. Cir. 1988)); Schroer v. Billington, 525 F. Supp. 2d 58, 65 (D.D.C. 2007) (“Non-statutory review is a doctrine of last resort”). Plaintiff’s claim fails to fit within this narrow doctrine. First, Plaintiff’s claim fails because Plaintiff has not alleged that OWHC Defendants have taken any action that is clearly and completely outside of their authority or in violation of any statute. See Larson v. Domestic & Foreign Commerce Corp., 337 U.S. 682, 689 (1949) (a suit against an executive officer is not barred as a suit against the sovereign if “[t]he officer is not doing the business which the sovereign has empowered him to do or he is doing it in a way which the sovereign has forbidden.”). Under the doctrine of non-statutory review, an “officer may be said to act ultra vires only when he acts ‘without any authority whatever.’” Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 101 n.11 (1984) (quoting Florida Dep’t of State v. Treasure Salvors, Inc., 458 U.S. 670, 697 (1982)). Here, Plaintiff alleges that OWHC Defendants have issued a memorandum that “remind[s] . . . executive agencies [to] consult with the White House Counsel’s Office on all document requests that may involve documents with White House equities,” and asks that “such consultation take place well in advance of the deadline for responding.” Compl., Ex. 1. Plaintiff does not allege that OWHC Defendants have no authority to review FOIA requests made to federal agencies, or to issue memoranda regarding the same. 19 In fact, Plaintiff concedes that “White House consultation is [not] per se unavailable under FOIA,” Pl.’s Opp’n at 18, and that, at least under certain circumstances, the White House can even “direct consultation in violation of statutory deadlines,” id. at 19-20, n.11. Accordingly, even though Plaintiff claims that OWHC has used this authority erroneously or inappropriately, and that “[a]mbiguities in FOIA, in this respect, should be construed against Defendants,” id., this is simply not the sort of completely unauthorized or illegal conduct that would allow the Court to engage in ultra vires review. See Florida Health Scis. Ctr., Inc. v. Sec’y of Health & Human Servs., 830 F.3d 515, 522 (D.C. Cir. 2016) (holding that plaintiff could not challenge agency action on the ground that it was ultra vires because disagreement over appropriateness of action was insufficient to demonstrate an “obvious” or “patent violation of agency authority”); Royster-Clark, 391 F. Supp. 2d at 24 (because ultra vires claims are based on “‘the officer’s lack of delegated power,” a mere “claim of error in the exercise of that power is . . . not sufficient.”) (quoting Larson, 337 U.S. at 690). Moreover, even if such conduct were reviewable under the non-statutory review doctrine, such review would nonetheless be inappropriate here because Plaintiff has not adequately alleged such conduct. See Int’l Ass’n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, Dist. Lodge 166, AFL-CIO v. Griffin, 590 F. Supp. 2d 171, 174-80 (D.D.C. 2008) (“The scarcity of factual support is especially problematic where, as here, Plaintiffs seek non-statutory review, because the Court cannot find, based on this sole conclusory allegation, that NASA implemented a ‘policy and practice’ that represents such an extreme error as to warrant non-statutory review.”); Texas All. for Home Care Servs. v. Sebelius, 811 F. Supp. 2d 76, 94 (D.D.C. 2011), aff’d, 681 F.3d 402 (D.C. Cir. 2012) (declining to conduct ultra vires review where “plaintiffs’ allegations of ultra vires action” were “conclusory” and based on unsupported inferences). As discussed supra § 20 III.A, the aspect of OWHC review that Plaintiff claims is inappropriate—that it is unnecessary and engaged in to delay FOIA requests for political reasons—is pled with only conclusory statements and unfounded inferences. Finally, to the extent that Plaintiff’s ultra vires claim against OWHC Defendants is premised on Agency Defendants’ delays in responding to Plaintiff’s FOIA requests, Compl. ¶ 97 (alleging that OWHC Defendants “have no authority to require federal agencies to delay production of documents past statutory deadlines”), this claim fails for a number of reasons. First, FOIA places no obligation on OWHC Defendants with respect to deadlines for responding to FOIA requests made to Agency Defendants. Second, the Court notes that Plaintiff’s claim that OWHC Defendants “require federal agencies to delay production,” id., is expressly contradicted by the Craig Memorandum upon which Plaintiff’s claim is based. The Craig Memorandum does not require delay, and in fact requests consultation occur “well in advance of the deadline for responding.” Compl., Ex. 1. Finally, even if Plaintiff had alleged that OWHC Defendants were somehow violating Agency Defendants’ FOIA deadlines, Plaintiff’s ultra vires claim would have to be dismissed because Plaintiff has “a meaningful and adequate opportunity for judicial review of the validity of” this action. Bd. of Governors of Fed. Reserve Sys. v. MCorp Fin. Inc., 502 U.S. 32, 43 (1991); Wise v. Glickman, 257 F. Supp. 2d 123, 127 n.1 (D.D.C. 2003) (“Non-statutory review actions may be proper only when a plaintiff is unable to bring his case predicated on either a specific or a general statutory review provision.”) (citation and internal quotation omitted); Schroer v. Billington, 525 F. Supp. 2d 58, 65 (D.D.C. 2007) (“The doctrine does not apply in a case such as this one, where the injury the plaintiff alleges may be fully remedied under a statutorily provided cause of action”). For the reasons described 21 above, supra § III.B, the Court has already determined that FOIA provides Plaintiff with an adequate alternative opportunity for judicial review of delays in responding to FOIA requests. Plaintiff’s arguments to the contrary are speculative and unpersuasive. Plaintiff claims that review under FOIA is an insufficient alternative because OWHC Defendants could evade a FOIA remedy by issuing a different memorandum in the future, or by continuing to apply the Craig Memorandum to different agencies who are not a party to this lawsuit. Pl.’s Opp’n at 32. These issues do not alter the Court’s conclusion because they are not before the Court in this case. It is sufficient to say that there is a meaningful opportunity for review and redress of the harm Plaintiff actually alleges it suffers in this case—delays in responses to FOIA requests made to the Agency Defendants based on OWHC review pursuant to the Craig Memorandum. To the extent the eventualities about which Plaintiff is concerned come to pass, Plaintiff could bring additional suits under FOIA to challenge new practices and resulting delays. Accord Women’s Equity Action League v. Cavazos, 906 F.2d 742, 751 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (holding in analogous context that “situation-specific litigation affords an adequate, even if imperfect, remedy.”). In sum, the Court DISMISSES Plaintiff’s claim for non-statutory review of ultra vires action. The Court does not have jurisdiction under this doctrine because Plaintiff does not allege that Defendants acted without any authority at all in reviewing agency FOIA requests, and, with regard to the only statutory provision Plaintiff references in this claim, Plaintiff has a meaningful and adequate alternative opportunity for review. 6 6 Because the Court determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s ultra vires claim due to Defendants’ sovereign immunity, it does not reach Plaintiff’s other arguments for dismissing the claim, including that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction for the additional reason that Plaintiff does not have standing, and that Plaintiff has failed to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6). 22 IV. CONCLUSION In light of the foregoing the Court hereby GRANTS Defendants’ [16] Partial Motion to Dismiss. The Court dismisses Plaintiff’s FOIA claim to the extent that it purports to allege a “policy or practice” under Payne Enterprises for failure to factually plead such a policy or practice. The Court does not dismiss Plaintiff’s FOIA claim in any other respect. The Court dismisses Plaintiff’s APA and ultra vires claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because Plaintiff has not overcome the bar of sovereign immunity. An appropriate order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion. __ /s/______________________ COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY United States District Judge 23 | Low | [
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2020 Seattle Sounders FC season The 2020 Seattle Sounders FC season is the club's forty-sixth season of existence, and their twelfth in Major League Soccer, the top flight of American soccer. The team is under the management of Brian Schmetzer in his fourth full MLS season as head coach of the Sounders. Seattle are the reigning MLS Cup champions, having defeated Toronto FC 3–1 in the 2019 final at their home stadium, CenturyLink Field. Background The Sounders won the MLS Cup at CenturyLink Field by defeating Toronto FC 3–1. The team is set to play in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League and 2020 Campeones Cup, along with regular MLS and U.S. Open Cup matches. Recap Prior to the start of the season, Sounders backup goalkeeper Bryan Meredith was selected by Inter Miami CF in the 2019 MLS Expansion Draft. Due to the expansion of the league and the resulting unbalanced schedule, the Sounders will not play the following three Eastern Conference teams in regular season play: FC Cincinnati, Orlando City SC, and the Philadelphia Union. Current roster Out on loan Competitions Preseason Friendlies Major League Soccer League tables Western Conference Overall Results CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 U.S. Open Cup Campeones Cup Statistics Appearances and goals Numbers after plus-sign(+) denote appearances as a substitute. [TAC] – Defiance player Top scorers {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- !width=30|Rank !width=30|Position !width=30|Number !width=175|Name !width=75| !width=75| !width=75| !width=75| !width=75| !width=75|Total |- |rowspan="1"|1 |FW |13 |align="left"| Jordan Morris |2 |0 |0 |1 |0 |3 |- |rowspan="1"|2 |MF |6 |align="left"| João Paulo |0 |0 |0 |2 |0 |2 |- |rowspan="1"|3 |MF |7 |align="left"| Cristian Roldan |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |1 |- Top assists {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- !width=30|Rank !width=30|Position !width=30|Number !width=175|Name !width=75| !width=75| !width=75| !width=75| !width=75| !width=75|Total |- |rowspan="1"|1 |MF |7 |align="left"| Cristian Roldan |2 |0 |0 |1 |0 |3 |- |rowspan="1"|2 |MF |6 |align="left"| João Paulo |1 |0 |0 |1 |0 |2 |- |rowspan="2"|3 ||FW |13 |align="left"| Jordan Morris |0 |0 |0 |1 |0 |1 |- ||DF |18 |align="left"| Kelvin Leerdam |1 |0 |0 |0 |0 |1 |- Disciplinary record {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- | rowspan="2" !width=15| | rowspan="2" !width=15| | rowspan="2" !width=120|Player | colspan="3"|MLS | colspan="3"|U.S. Open Cup | colspan="3"|MLS Playoffs | colspan="3"|Champions League | colspan="3"|Campeones Cup | colspan="3"|Total |- !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#ff8888;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#ff8888;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#ff8888;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#ff8888;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#ff8888;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#fe9;| !width=34; background:#ff8888;| |- |- || 3 || |DF ||align=left| Xavier Arreaga || |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |1|| |0|| |0|||0|| |0|| |0|| |1|| |0|| |0 |- |- || 5 || |DF ||align=left| Nouhou || |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |1|| |0|| |0|||0|| |0|| |0|| |1|| |0|| |0 |- |- || 6 || |MF ||align=left| João Paulo || |1|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|||0|| |0|| |0|| |1|| |0|| |0 |- |- || 8 || |MF ||align=left| Jordy Delem || |1|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |1|| |0|| |0|||0|| |0|| |0|| |2|| |0|| |0 |- |- || 24 || |GK ||align=left| Stefan Frei || |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |0|| |1|| |0|| |0|||0|| |0|| |0|| |1|| |0|| |0 |- |- !colspan=3|Total !!2!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!4!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!6!!0!!0 Honors and awards Transfers For transfers in, dates listed are when Sounders FC officially signed the players to the roster. Transactions where only the rights to the players are acquired are not listed. For transfers out, dates listed are when Sounders FC officially removed the players from its roster, not when they signed with another club. If a player later signed with another club, his new club will be noted, but the date listed here remains the one when he was officially removed from Sounders FC roster. In Draft picks Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed after the start of 2020 MLS SuperDraft will be listed in the notes. Out Notes A. Players who are under contract with Tacoma Defiance. References Category:Seattle Sounders FC seasons Seattle Sounders Seattle Seattle Category:2020 CONCACAF Champions League participants | Mid | [
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Phosphorylation of rat kidney pyruvate kinase type L by cyclic 3',5'-AMP-dependent protein kinase. Pyruvate kinase (ATP:pyruvate 2-O-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.40) type L was partly purified from rat kidney. During the last two purification steps, the incorporation of [32P]phosphate into protein on incubation with [32P]ATP and cyclic 3',5'-AMP-dependent protein kinase was found to parallel the pyruvate kinase activity. After phosphorylation of the enzyme, a major radioactive band with a molecular weight of 57 000 was found on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis [32P]Phosphorylserine was isolated from the kidney pyruvate kinase. Immunological identity was found between the liver and kidney pyruvate kinases type L. By autoradiography of high-voltage electropherograms after partial acid hydrolysis of the phosphorylated rat liver and kidney pyruvate kinases type L, identical results were obtained. The affinity for phosphoenolpyruvate was found to be decreased by phosphorylation of the enzyme with a change in the apparent Km from 0.15 mM to 0.35 mM. After incubation of the phosphorylated kidney pyruvate kinase with phosphatase the phosphoenolpyruvate saturation curve was found to be identical to that for the unphosphorylated enzyme. Thus, the activity of the rat kidney pyruvate kinase type L is with all probability regulated by a reversible phosphorylation-dephosphorylation reaction, thereby indicating that hormonal regulation of gluconeogenesis via cyclic AMP may be of importance in the renal cortex. | High | [
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UDG UDG may refer to: Universities University of Girona, a university located in the city of Girona, Spain. University of Granma, a university located in Bayamo, Cuba. University of Guadalajara, a university located in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico University of Donja Gorica, a university located in the city of Podgorica, Montenegro Science Uracil-DNA glycosylase, an enzyme which excises uracils from DNA Double-stranded uracil-DNA glycosylase, an enzyme Ultra diffuse galaxy Unit disk graph from geometric graph theory Others udg, the ISO 639-3 code for the Muduga language UDG (band), Czech pop rock band from town Ústí nad Labem. UTMC Development Group, a UK local authority led UTMC management group User-defined graphic: on early home computers, a small graphic created by the user and added to the character set. | Mid | [
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The Giants’ running back situation just went from bad to worse. Wayne Gallman suffered a concussion during the first half of Sunday’s game against the Vikings and has been ruled out for the rest of the game. Gallman was getting a chance as the feature back with Saquon Barkley recovering from a high ankle sprain. Gallman had two carries for 14 yards before departing. Last week against the Redskins, Gallman had 118 total yards with two touchdowns. Jon Hilliman takes over as the Giants’ running back. Fullback Eli Penny is another option in the backfield. The Giants play Thursday night against the Patriots. It’s unclear if Barkley will be ready to play in time. | Low | [
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lennartkoopmann/nzyme uber/AthenaX | Low | [
0.5187032418952611,
26,
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aRedirectDepth - The redirect depth provides the count of HTTP-Request and HTTP-Response cycles where the response represents a redirect as of HttpStatusCode.isRedirectStatus(). A value of -1 represents the default behavior, e.g. using HttpURLConnection's redirection means. aRedirectDepth - The redirect depth provides the count of HTTP-Request and HTTP-Response cycles where the response represents a redirect as of HttpStatusCode.isRedirectStatus(). A value of -1 represents the default behavior, e.g. using HttpURLConnection's redirection means. aRedirectDepth - The redirect depth provides the count of HTTP-Request and HTTP-Response cycles where the response represents a redirect as of HttpStatusCode.isRedirectStatus(). A value of -1 represents the default behavior, e.g. using HttpURLConnection's redirection means. | Low | [
0.48235294117647004,
30.75,
33
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Ash is described as looking like a very lazy cat. He has ash-blonde colored hair and eyes that change color depending on his mood. This is a trait he inherited from his ancestor Maya, the first lamia vampire. Ash has appeared in numerous Night World tales, more than any other character. He has appeared in Secret Vampire,Daughters of Darkness, Dark Angel, and Soulmate. He will appear in the upcoming novel and conclusion to the series Strange Fate.=== Contents Secret Vampire In Secret VampireAsh Redfern is introduced as a sneaky bad-boy. He first appears in Poppy North's dream while she is being turned into a vampire. Ash is wearing a mask with the face of James Rasmussen, his cousin and also Poppy's soulmate. In the dream he tells Poppy that 'Bad magic happens" and then disappears. Later when Poppy wakes up and is staying in James's apartment he finds Poppy knowing nothing of the dream. He kidnaps Poppy by telling her that if she stays with James the Night People will hunt him down and kill him. Poppy, not wanting to hurt James, goes with Ash to Las Vegas. In Vegas, Ash takes Poppy to his cross-kin witch family Thea and Blaise Harman. Poppy feeds on Thea, who remains oblivious to the fact that Poppy is an illegal vampire. Blaise however is suspicious and tells Ash about the Solstice party at Thierry Descouedres's house. Ash says no to the party knowing Thierry would dispose of Poppy. Instead he takes Poppy to the Volcano Hotel where he tries to put the moves on her. Poppy, disgusted, tells Ash of the Soulmate Principle and how she will always love James and no one else. Ash recognizing defeat, decides to take her to Thierry's party to turn her in. Before he can do so, he is ambushed by James and Poppy's brother, Phil. James forgives Ash and tells him "Someday you'll fall in love with someone, and it's going to hurt." Ash pays the advice no attention and goes back to the party, promising to never tell about the Night World about James and Poppy. Daughters of Darkness In Daughters of DarknessAsh's part begins with him having a conversation with a made-vampire named Quinn. Quinn is telling Ash that his sisters Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade have run away from home and that Ash has to persuade them to go back. Ash decides to make a tab of all the people his sisters have met to see how well they are managing to keep their Night World secrets. Ash is next seen at Mary-Lynnette Carter's house questioning her step-mother. Mary-Lynnette then questions Ash in return. Not wanting her to get suspicious, Ash tries to flirt and dazzle Mary-Lynnette. He tickles her under her chin but the skin-to-skin contact shocks them both and Mary-Lynnette kicks him in the shin. He leaves the house planning to never see her again. But Ash's wishes don't come true when he meets Mary-Lynnette on her way to go star-watching. She bosses him around and shows him the sky through her binoculars. He pays attention but doesn't seem to mind being bossed around by Mary-Lynnette. He leaves her and goes to spy on his sisters. Mary-Lynnette and her brother Mark, now knowing about the Night World and its laws, perform a kinship ceremony with Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade. Back in the girls' house they try to figure out who killed the girl's Aunt Opal. Ash breaks into the house and is found by the Carters and the sisters. He tells them he knows that the Carters know all about the Night World. He tells them he didn't kill Aunt Opal and he doesn't know who did. At this point a goat from the barn out back is thrown onto the front porch and the children inspect it. The goat has been staked over and over with tiny pieces of wood and in the goats mouth is a black iris. They think it represents the Black Iris Club, a vampire club that welcomes various members from the Night World. Ash also belongs to this club. The next morning the sisters, Ash, and the Carters go into town to ask the local gas station employee, Jeremy Lovett if he saw anything suspicious the previous night. Marry-Lynnette, who had been friends with him since childhood, figures out that Jeremy is actually a werewolf. Ash knows this too and verbally abuses Jeremy, as werewolves are considered low class citizens in the Night World. This makes Mary-Lynnette angry and she pulls Ash behind the gas station to tell him so. She says she is embarrassed that Ash can say those prejudiced things to Jeremy. Ash feels bad and realizes that he cares what she thinks about him. He stops making unkind werewolf jokes. Ash and the sisters realize that they need to hunt so they go and Mary-Lynnette and Mark play "List the Suspects" to determine if they have a lead on who killed Aunt Opal. Ash and the sisters return and Mary-Lynnette decides to clear her mind by going star-watching. Ash joins her and Mary-Lynnette leads them to a discrete place. There Ash asks her if they can stop fighting and admits he loves Mary-Lynnette. Mary-Lynnette is in denial until she kisses him and asks to be made into a vampire. They do the first exchange of blood and head back to Aunt Opal's but they are cut off. Mary-Lynnette's station wagon caught fire and was blowing up so they decide to walk back when Ash is hit in the head with a club made of yew wood (wood hurts and kills vampires) and is knocked out. Mary-Lynnette is tied up by Jeremy who reveals that he was the one who killed Aunt Opal. Mary-Lynnette gets free and kills Jeremy with a silver knife. She checks Ash and they both go back to the house. Quinn returns and Ash covers for the whole thing saying his aunt betrayed Night World Law so he killed her and that he found a rouge werewolf and killed him too. He also says Rowan, Kestrel, and Jade had only run away because they wanted to learn to hunt. Since Ash is head of the family on the west coast he says the sisters can stay there as long as they like. Quinn accepts this story and leaves. But there's still Mary-Lynnette. She says she's not as ready as she thought she was to become a vampire. Ash also realizes that his past is too dark for him to be with Mary-Lynnette. He leaves telling her that he will make up for all of his faults before he returns the following year. Dark Angel Ash is seen in this story when Gillian Lennox (a lost witch) wanders into the Black Iris club. The goons of the Night World there are about to kill Gillian because they don't believe her when she says she is a daughter of Hellewise. Ash grabs her from behind and leads her out of the club telling her to not come back because the Night People will kill her. When asked why he doesn't kill her Ash tells her about meeting a human girl the previous summer. Gillian obeys Ash and goes back to her car. Soulmate In SoulmateAsh is seen at the Circle Daybreak meeting at Thierry Descoudres's house and the only one without their soulmate there. Later in the night, Hannah Snow, Thierry's soulmate, asks about Ash's soulmate. He explains he left her in Oregon because he had faults to make up for. He tells Hannah she reminds him of Mary-Lynnette and then leaves Hannah in a quizzical state. Strange Fate Based on short-stories on L.J. Smith's website, during Strange Fatethe Apocalypse has been delayed and Ash is desperate to save Mary-Lynnette from the bombs shooting down on Harvard, where Mary-Lynnette is currently studying. Ash asks Thierry Descoudres if he can use one of his helicopters to get to Mary-Lynnette fast. Thierry tells him he must ask Sarah Strange because he had loaned his helicopters to her so she could fly her family to a safe house. Ash begs Sarah for the helicopter and Sarah asks Ash to tell her about Mary-Lynnette. Ash tells Sarah how eccentric and smart and stubborn Mary-Lynnette is. After Ash is done Sarah asks Ash to tell her what Mary-Lynnette looks like. Ash then tells her about Mary-Lynette's beauty. Sarah lets him have the helicopter because when she asked about Mary-Lynnette, Ash talked about her personality before beauty. Ash sets out for Harvard in the helicopter with many backups. They find Mary-Lynnette with another girl and her and Ash are reunited. It has been said that 7 favorite Night World soulmates come together to fight the Apocalypse, but it is unknown who those couples are and how Ash and Mary-Lynette help in the final story. | Low | [
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