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Q:
Open navigation properties are not supported on OpenTypes. Property name: 'DirectoryDataService.changePassword'
Error shown When i try to update user password using Microsoft.Azure.ActiveDirectory.GraphClient
user.ChangePasswordAsync(currentPassword, newPassword);
A:
It works correctly for me with following code.
await activeDirectoryClient.Users["userObjectId"].ChangePasswordAsync("oldPassword", "newPassword");
or
var user = activeDirectoryClient.Users.GetByObjectId("userObjectId")
await user.ChangePasswordAsync("oldPassword", "newPassword");
But I can this reproduce the error information with following code.
var user =(User)activeDirectoryClient.Users.GetByObjectId("userObjectId").ExecuteAsync().Result;
await user.ChangePasswordAsync("oldPassword", "newPassword");
I capture the request with fiddler then I find that 400 error. And the request url is
https://graph.windows.net/{tenantId}/directoryObjects/{userId}/changePassword?api-version=1.6
But the change password Graph API is
https://graph.windows.net/{tenantId}/users/<objectId>/changePassword or /users/userPrincipalName/changePassword
I assume that it is the reason why get that error information.
Note: Call the changePassword action for the signed-in user to change their own password.
We also could use the Microsoft graph SDK to do that. For more information, please refer to another SO thread.
|
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Building Info
123 East 14th Street, 123 E 14th Street, North Vancouver, V7M 2H7 is located in Central Lonsdale of North Vancouver. 123 East 14th Street has 321 Units and 1 Levels. This building was built in 2018. There are 0 active listings in 123 East 14th Street. Building features include exercise centre,guest suite,in suite laundry,pool; outdoor,sauna/steam room,storage.
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About This Vancouver Web Sitebccondos.net/city-vancouver-west is the largest and most comprehensive online source for condo and townhouse listings and sales information. We are a resource for Buyers and Sellers of condos and townhouses by offering a complete building specific database of unique information for every building, every MLS® listing, building rentals, building sales history, building open houses and individual floor plans. |
# Generated by superflore -- DO NOT EDIT
#
# Copyright Open Source Robotics Foundation
inherit ros_distro_eloquent
inherit ros_superflore_generated
DESCRIPTION = "Basic message types for two dimensional navigation, extending from geometry_msgs::Pose2D."
AUTHOR = "David V. Lu!! <davidvlu@gmail.com>"
HOMEPAGE = "https://wiki.ros.org"
SECTION = "devel"
LICENSE = "BSD"
LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://package.xml;beginline=8;endline=8;md5=4633480cdd27d7906aaf3ef4b72014b2"
ROS_CN = "navigation2"
ROS_BPN = "nav_2d_msgs"
ROS_BUILD_DEPENDS = " \
geometry-msgs \
rosidl-default-generators \
std-msgs \
"
ROS_BUILDTOOL_DEPENDS = " \
ament-cmake-native \
"
ROS_EXPORT_DEPENDS = " \
geometry-msgs \
rosidl-default-generators \
rosidl-default-runtime \
std-msgs \
"
ROS_BUILDTOOL_EXPORT_DEPENDS = ""
ROS_EXEC_DEPENDS = " \
geometry-msgs \
rosidl-default-generators \
std-msgs \
"
# Currently informational only -- see http://www.ros.org/reps/rep-0149.html#dependency-tags.
ROS_TEST_DEPENDS = ""
DEPENDS = "${ROS_BUILD_DEPENDS} ${ROS_BUILDTOOL_DEPENDS}"
# Bitbake doesn't support the "export" concept, so build them as if we needed them to build this package (even though we actually
# don't) so that they're guaranteed to have been staged should this package appear in another's DEPENDS.
DEPENDS += "${ROS_EXPORT_DEPENDS} ${ROS_BUILDTOOL_EXPORT_DEPENDS}"
RDEPENDS_${PN} += "${ROS_EXEC_DEPENDS}"
# matches with: https://github.com/SteveMacenski/navigation2-release/archive/release/eloquent/nav_2d_msgs/0.3.5-1.tar.gz
ROS_BRANCH ?= "branch=release/eloquent/nav_2d_msgs"
SRC_URI = "git://github.com/SteveMacenski/navigation2-release;${ROS_BRANCH};protocol=https"
SRCREV = "9f92e0e547a90daa1727423db98e5d9f36ccd675"
S = "${WORKDIR}/git"
ROS_BUILD_TYPE = "ament_cmake"
inherit ros_${ROS_BUILD_TYPE}
|
6.21.2015
Felicia Sanders is MY Hero
Felicia Sanders was the mother of Tywanza Sanders. Both Felicia and her son were in the Bible study with Dylann Roof when he began to shoot the people there with a gun he had brought to the meeting. Tywanza was killed in front of his mother. Felicia survived. At the bail hearing for the shooter, Felicia said the following words:
“We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with welcome arms. You have killed some of the most beautiful people that I know. Every fiber in my body hurts and I’ll, I’ll never be the same. Tywanza Sanders was my son. But Tywanza Sanders was my hero. Tywanza was my hero. … May God have mercy on you.”
Nadine Collier, daughter of victim Ethel Lance, said:
“I forgive you. You took something very precious away from me. I will never get to talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you, and have mercy on your soul. … You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people. If God forgives you, I forgive you.”
Wanda Simmons, granddaughter of Daniel Simmons, said:
“Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof, everyone’s plea for your soul, is proof that they lived in love and their legacies will live in love. So hate won’t win. And I just want to thank the court for making sure that hate doesn’t win.” |
---
abstract: 'Recent experiments on cold atoms in optical lattices allow for a quantitative comparison of the measurements to the conductivity calculations in the square lattice Hubbard model. However, the available calculations do not give consistent results and the question of the exact solution for the conductivity in the Hubbard model remained open. In this letter we employ several complementary state-of-the-art numerical methods to disentangle various contributions to conductivity, and identify the best available result to be compared to experiment. We find that at relevant (high) temperatures, the self-energy is practically local, yet the vertex corrections remain rather important, contrary to expectations. The finite-size effects are small even at the lattice size $4\times 4$ and the corresponding Lanczos diagonalization result is therefore close to the exact result in the thermodynamic limit.'
author:
- 'J. Vučičević'
- 'J. Kokalj'
- 'R. Žitko'
- 'N. Wentzell'
- 'D. Tanasković'
- 'J. Mravlje'
bibliography:
- 'refs.bib'
title: 'Conductivity in the square lattice Hubbard model at high temperatures: importance of vertex corrections'
---
Theoretical study of transport in condensed matter systems with strong interactions is very difficult. In many cases there are no long-lived quasi-particles, and the conventional Boltzmann theory of transport provides little insight. Progress can only be made using bona fide many-body approaches to simplified lattice models or effective field theories, where approximations are made in a controlled manner. [@terletska11; @deng13; @xu13; @Vucicevic2015; @pakhira15; @perepelitsky16; @kokalj17; @huang18; @hartnoll_book] Even then, as only a few specifics of a real system enter the model, the comparison to relevant experiments can only be made at a qualitative level. This changed very recently, when Ref. reported a measurement of transport in a quantum simulator of the fermionic Hubbard model in two dimensions (2D). The experiment is performed on cold lithium atoms in an optical lattice, a controllable setup free from disorder, phonons and other complications of realistic materials. It is well justified to compare *at the quantitative level* such experimental result for conductivity with the Hubbard model calculations.
Ref. found that two state-of-the-art methods namely the finite-temperature Lanczos method (FTLM) and the dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) give conductivities that differ by up to a factor $\frac{3}{2}$, and only FTLM shows a solid agreement with the experiment. At high temperatures $T \gtrsim t$ relevant to these observations (for instance, in cuprates where the hopping parameter $t\approx 0.3$eV the corresponding temperature is well above the melting temperature) one expects the correlation lengths to be short, and the approximations made in the two methods to apply. Our aim is to reveal the physical origin of this discrepancy and to establish a numerically exact solution in the regime $T/t\gtrsim 1$ relevant for optical lattice experiments, as well as other narrow band systems, such as organic superconductors [@powell11], low temperature phase of TaS$_2$ [@rossnagel06], twisted bilayer graphene [@cao18], and monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides [@coleman11], such as 1T-NbSe$_2$ [@nakata16].
It is useful to recall that the mentioned numerical methods belong to two distinct general approaches: $A$) one solves an isolated finite cluster of lattice sites, as representative of the thermodynamic limit; [@Trivedi1996; @kokalj17; @huang18] $B$) one solves an effective, self-consistently determined “embedded” cluster, which provides propagators of infinite range, yet limits the range of electronic correlations. [@Biroli2002; @Maier2005a; @Kotliar2006; @GullRMP2011; @Leblanc2015; @Ayral2016; @Ayral2017a; @Vucicevic2018; @Rohringer2018] The diagrammatic content of the self-energy in the two approaches is sketched in Fig. \[fig:illustration\]a. Approach $B$ captures longer distance quantum fluctuations, and is therefore assumed to converge more quickly with cluster size at the price of an iterative solution of the (embedded) cluster, as opposed to the “single-shot” calculation in the approach $A$. FTLM solves a $4\times 4$ isolated cyclic cluster and belongs to $A$. DMFT is an embedded cluster calculation ($B$) with the cluster size one, and therefore it approximates the self-energy by a purely local quantity.
![ (a) Illustration of the type of self-energy diagrams that are captured by isolated cluster and embedded cluster (in particular cellular DMFT), and the respective difference in the Brillouin zone (discrete vs. continuous). (b) Separation of a susceptibility into the bubble and the vertex corrections part. []{data-label="fig:illustration"}](illustration_new){width="3.2in"}
Therefore, there are three possible sources of discrepancy between the DMFT and FTLM results for resistivity: (i) [*non-local correlations*]{} which are encoded in the non-local corrections to self-energy, present in FTLM but beyond the DMFT approximation; (ii) [*quantum fluctuations*]{} at distances beyond the linear size of the FTLM cluster; DMFT captures them through an effective fermionic bath; (iii) [*vertex corrections*]{}, included within FTLM, but neglected within DMFT where one calculates only the bubble contribution . We recall that the two-particle correlation functions can be split into the disconnected part (“the bubble”) and the connected part (“vertex corrections”), as shown in Fig. \[fig:illustration\]b. The bubble captures only the single-particle scattering off the medium, described by the self-energy which enters the full Green’s function. The collective excitations come from the particle-hole scattering, and are present only in the vertex corrections. Whereas the contribution of the connected part is always important for charge susceptibility [@hafermann14; @nourafkan18; @krien18], in the large dimensionality limit the vertex corrections to conductivity cancel [@khurana90] (the full vertex $F$ loses $\mathbf{k}\mathbf{k}'$-dependence and the current vertex is odd $v_{-\mathbf{k}}=-v_\mathbf{k}$, unlike the charge vertex which is even). In finite dimensions, however, the vertex corrections do contribute to conductivity, as discussed previously in several approximative approaches at low temperatures [@lin09; @lin10; @bergeron11; @sato12; @lin12; @sato16; @Kauch2019]. Based on the Ward identity one could think that when the correlations are approximately local, the vertex corrections become negligible [@bergeron11; @lin09]. We show that this expectation is not satisfied[@comment3], and that despite the non-local self-energy being practically negligible at $T \gtrsim 0.3D$, the vertex corrections still amount for a sizable shift in dc-resistivity. Additionally, we show that long-distance quantum fluctuations have little effect on dc conductivity, thus rendering a $4\times 4$ isolated-cluster calculation sufficient to obtain exact results for the bulk model.
*Model.* We consider the Hubbard model on the square lattice $$H = -t\sum_{\sigma, \langle i,j\rangle} c^\dagger_{\sigma i} c_{\sigma j}+U\sum_{i} n_{\uparrow i}n_{\downarrow i}-\mu\sum_{\sigma, i} n_{\sigma i},$$ where $c^\dagger_{\sigma i}/c_{\sigma i}$ create/annihilate an electron of spin $\sigma$ at the lattice site $i$. The hopping amplitude between the nearest neighbors is denoted $t$, and we set $D=4t$ as the unit of energy. We also take lattice spacing $a=1$, and $\hbar=e=1$. The density operator is $n_{\sigma i}=c^\dagger_{\sigma i}c_{\sigma i}$, the chemical potential $\mu$, and the on-site Hubbard interaction $U$. Throughout the paper, we keep $U=2.5 D$, which corresponds to the (doped) Mott insulator regime, and assume paramagnetic solutions with full lattice symmetry.
{width="6.4in"}
*Formalism.* The conductivity is defined in terms of the current-current correlation function $$\Lambda^{xx}_\mathbf{q}(i\nu_n) \equiv \sum_i e^{-i\mathbf{q}\cdot\mathbf{r}_i} \int d\tau e^{i\nu_n\tau} \langle j^x_i(\tau) j^x_{i=0}(0) \rangle ,$$ where $\tau$ is imaginary time, $i\nu_n=2in\pi T$ is bosonic Matsubara frequency, $\mathbf{r}_i=(x_i,y_i)$ denotes the real-space vector of the site $i$. The current operator $j$ is defined as $ j^x_i = -it\sum_\sigma c^\dagger_{\sigma i} c_{\sigma, \mathrm{n.n.}(i; x)} + \mathrm{h.c.}$ where $\mathrm{n.n.}(i; x)$ denotes the nearest neighbor in the $x$ direction. We are interested in longitudinal, uniform conductivity $\sigma^{xx}_{\mathbf{q}=0}(\omega)$, so we adopt a shorthand notation $\Lambda(i\nu_n) \equiv \Lambda^{xx}_{\mathbf{q}=0}(i\nu_n)$ and $\sigma(\omega) \equiv \sigma^{xx}_{\mathbf{q}=0}(\omega)$. The optical conductivity is given by[@coleman_book] $\sigma(\omega) = -(i/\omega)\left[ \Lambda(\omega) - \Lambda(\omega=0)\right] $, where $\Lambda(\omega)$ is the analytical continuation of $\Lambda(i\nu_n)$ to the real axis, i.e. the inverse of the Hilbert transform
$$\label{eq:hilbert}
\Lambda(i\nu) = \frac{1}{\pi}\int d\omega \frac{\mathrm{Im}\Lambda(\omega)}{\omega-i\nu} = \frac{1}{\pi}\int d\omega \frac{\omega\mathrm{Re}\sigma(\omega)}{\omega-i\nu}.$$
The second equality in Eq. is due to $\mathrm{Im}\Lambda(\omega=0)=0$. The direct-current (dc) conductivity is defined as $\sigma_\mathrm{dc} = \mathrm{Re}\sigma(\omega=0) = \mathrm{Im}\Lambda'(\omega=0)$, and the dc resistivity is then $\rho_\mathrm{dc}=1/\sigma_\mathrm{dc}$.
In order to better identify and understand the importance of various processes for the transport, we also calculate the charge susceptibility $\chi_\mathrm{c} = d \langle n \rangle / d\mu $, which corresponds to the charge-charge correlation function[@comment4]. Both $\chi_\mathrm{c}$ and $\Lambda$ and can be separated into the bubble and the vertex corrections part[@comment5], Fig. \[fig:illustration\]. In all quantities, the superscript “disc” denotes the bubble contribution, and the superscript “conn” the vertex corrections part.
*Methods* $A$. We solve an isolated cyclic $4\times 4$ cluster using the FTLM [@jaklic00; @jaklic95] method and both $4\times 4$ and $8\times 8$ using quantum Monte Carlo (the continuous-time interaction-expansion algorithm, CTINT[@Rubtsov2004; @GullRMP2011]) Both methods yield numerically exact solutions of the representative finite-size model. In FTLM we calculate $\sigma(\omega)$, while CTINT yields $\Lambda(i\nu_n)$, as well as the self-energy $\Sigma_{ij}(i\omega_n)$ and the Green’s function $G_{ij}(i\omega_n)$[@comment2]. Note that both CTINT and FTLM allow for a direct calculation of the full current-current correlation function, and that we need not evaluate the full vertex function $F$ at any stage of the calculation.
In the isolated cluster calculations one faces several finite-size effects stemming from the finite range of the bare electronic propagator[@jaklic95; @jaklic00]. Most importantly, this not only limits the range of electronic correlations, but also affects the diagrammatic content of short range correlations: diagrams with distant interaction vertices are not captured (Fig. \[fig:illustration\]). One may see this equivalently in the $\mathbf{k}$-space as a discretization of the Brillouin zone, which affects the internal momentum summations in all self-energy and full vertex diagrams.
![ All panels: $p=0.1$, $T=0.5D$. a) Benchmark of self-energy and inspection of its leading non-local component. b) Comparison of the optical conductivity between various methods. c) See text. d) Real-space resolution of the vertex corrections along two spatial directions (CTINT $8\times 8$ result). []{data-label="fig:lambda_sigma"}](Fig4){width="3.2in"}
*Methods* $B$. We solve the embedded clusters of size $2\times 1$ and $2\times 2$ within the cellular DMFT scheme (CDMFT)[@Kotliar2001] and the $4\times 4$ cluster within the dynamical cluster approximation (DCA) scheme[@Hettler1998], both using CTINT. (Unlike the isolated cluster case, the bare propagator entering CTINT here takes into account the effective medium.) The single-site DMFT calculations (cluster size $N_\mathrm{c}=1$) are done using both the CTINT and the approximative real-frequency numerical renormalization group method (NRG) as impurity solvers.
In CDMFT, an electron can travel infinitely far between two scatterings, but a self-energy insertion in the corresponding diagrammatic expansion can only be of limited range (see Fig. \[fig:illustration\]). In DCA, the approximation is made in reciprocal space and amounts to allowing the electron to visit $\mathbf{k}$-states otherwise not present in the finite cluster.[@Vucicevic2018]
*Results.* Top panels of Fig. \[fig:chi\_rho\] show the temperature dependence of $\chi_\mathrm{c}$ for several values of doping $p=1-\langle
n\rangle$. One sees that in the high-temperature regime $T\gtrsim
0.3D$, the results of different methods (solid curves) all agree and tend toward the atomic limit, as expected for a thermodynamic quantity.
At lower temperatures, the non-local correlations show up. Away from half-filling, FTLM and DCA yield a charge susceptibility that increases with lowering temperature, yet in DMFT, it saturates instead. The enhancement of charge susceptibility at low $T$ comes from the antiferromagnetic fluctuations [@kokalj17]. The difference between the DCA and the DMFT is used to characterize the importance of non-local correlations (green shading). They manifest themselves also in the growth of non-local self-energy at low $T$ (thin dashed-dotted lines). The DCA and the FTLM result do not completely coincide; the difference (pink shading) comes from the longer-distance quantum fluctuations. The discretization of the Brillouin zone in FTLM can be somewhat ameliorated by the twisted-boundary conditions scheme (TBC) [@poilblanc91]. As expected, TBC is closer to DCA (black line), but one needs a better method to capture the full effect of longer-range processes.
We have also evaluated separately the bubble contribution $\chi^{\mathrm{disc}}$ to $\chi_c$ (dashed lines) and observe it is substantially larger than the full result $\chi_c$.
Bottom panels of Fig. \[fig:chi\_rho\] show the temperature dependence of resistivity $\rho_\mathrm{dc}$ as calculated from the bubble term in the DMFT (dashed line) and the full result from FTLM (solid line). Strikingly, even in the temperature range $T\gtrsim 0.3D$ where the behavior of $\chi_c$ collapsed to that of the atomic limit, the DMFT and FTLM are shown to yield significantly different results with a lower value of resistivity found in the FTLM.
To understand the origin of this difference we take a closer look of the data at $T=0.5$, $p=0.1$ that we show in Fig. \[fig:lambda\_sigma\]. In panel a) we compare the self-energies found in the DMFT, CDMFT 2x1 and the CTINT calculation for the isolated $4\times 4$ and $8\times 8$ clusters. Not only is the nearest neighbor self-energy (top) found to be two orders of magnitude smaller than the local one (bottom), but also the local parts of the self-energies show excellent agreement. Thus, neither non-local correlations (neglected in DMFT) nor long-range processes (neglected in $4 \times 4$) play an important role for the self-energy at this temperature.
Might long-range processes play a more important role for the conductivity? One can readily investigate the role of long-range processes for the bubble part of the conductivity. This is done by calculating the conductivity in the DMFT formulated for the $4\times 4$ lattice, which amounts to discretizing the Brillouin zone (in both the self-consistency condition, and internal bubble summation (Fig. \[fig:illustration\]b). Fig. \[fig:lambda\_sigma\]b compares the optical conductivity obtained in this way (denoted by DMFT $4\times 4$) to the infinite lattice DMFT result and to the FTLM one. The DMFT and the DMFT $4\times 4$ are close: the long-range processes clearly do not account for the discrepancy between the DMFT and the FTLM either. The most of the difference between the DMFT and the FTLM conductivity thus comes from the vertex corrections.
To further verify this result we have evaluated the current-current correlation function $\Lambda(i\nu_n)$ also in CTINT $4\times 4$, and deduced the connected part by $\Lambda^\mathrm{conn}(i\nu_n)=\Lambda(i \nu_n)-
\Lambda^\mathrm{disc}(i\nu_n)$, which is shown by the blue squares in Fig. \[fig:lambda\_sigma\]c. These points fall on the blue line which is obtained by the Hilbert transform to the imaginary axis (Eq. \[eq:hilbert\]) of the difference in $\sigma(\omega)$ between the FTLM and the DMFT $4\times 4$ (see Supplemental Material (SM) for details and other $p, T$). Note that the magnitude of $\Lambda^{\mathrm {conn}}$ at the Matsubara frequencies is rather small, consistent with the Ward identity $\Lambda^\mathrm{conn}(i\nu=0) \sim \sum_\mathbf{k} v_\mathbf{k} \sum_{i\omega_n} G^2_\mathbf{k}(i\omega_n)\partial_{k_x}\Sigma_\mathbf{k}(i\omega_n)$, that associates $\Lambda^{\mathrm {conn}}(i\nu_0)$ with $\partial_{k_x}\Sigma_\mathbf{k}$ (see SM for further discussion). The conductivity is, however, determined by the slope, $-\partial_{\nu}\mathrm{Re}\Lambda(i\nu)|_{\nu=0^+} = \sigma(\omega=0) = \sigma_{\mathrm dc}$, and the contribution from $\Lambda^{\mathrm{conn}}$ is not small, but comparable to the bubble term. The slope of the red line which corresponds to the DMFT $4\times 4$ - DMFT difference is small, reflecting the practically negligible finite-size effects in the bubble.
The shape of $\Lambda^{\mathrm{conn}}$ is difficult to reconstruct with analytical continuation from noisy data at the Matsubara frequencies (see SM), which we circumvented by using FTML.
Might the impact of vertex corrections change if larger systems are considered? The added longer distance components of $\Lambda^\mathrm{conn}_\mathbf{r}$ could be sizeable, and even the short distance components might change due to improved diagrammatic content captured by the bigger cluster. We have performed the CTINT $8\times 8$ computation to address this question. In Fig. \[fig:lambda\_sigma\]c we compare $\Lambda^\mathrm{conn}(i\nu_n)$ between $4\times 4$ and $8\times 8$ clusters (blue squares and black stars) and observe they are equal within the statistical error bars (about the size of the square symbol). As for the longer distance components, we analyze the vertex corrections term as a function of real-space vector $\Lambda^\mathrm{conn}_\mathbf{r}(i\nu_n)$ and present the results in Fig. \[fig:lambda\_sigma\]d. Indeed, the values drop rapidly with distance and the range of $\Lambda^\mathrm{conn}$ is clearly captured by the $4\times 4$ cluster. Furthermore, the difference in the full $\Lambda$ between $4\times 4$ and $8\times 8$ clusters (purple crosses) appears to coincide with the finite size effects in the bubble (red line/dots) obtained entirely independently with DMFT.
Small finite-size effects are also indicated from a comparison of the frequency moments of FTLM $\sigma(\omega)$ in the high-$T$ limit with the exact values from Ref. , where we find an excellent agreement within $\lesssim 0.2$% (see SM).
It is important to note that apart from reducing the dc resistivity, the vertex corrections have a characteristic effect on the frequency dependence of optical conductivity (see Fig. \[fig:lambda\_sigma\]b and SM). The high-frequency peak in $\sigma(\omega)$ obtained from DMFT is centered at precisely $\omega=U=2.5D$. This peak describes single-particle transitions between the Hubbard bands. The inclusion of vertex corrections brings about multi-particle excitations which move this peak towards lower frequencies, as noted previously in a slightly different context (see Refs. ).
*Conclusions.* In the high-temperature $T\gtrsim t$, (doped) Mott insulator regime of the Hubbard model, the single-particle self-energy is almost local, yet the vertex corrections to dc resistivity persist. This finding applies to the optical lattice investigation in Ref. , and explains why the DMFT results disagree with the experiment. On the other hand, we demonstrate that the long-distance quantum fluctuations play a negligible role, and thus the $4\times 4$ isolated cluster becomes representative of the thermodynamic limit. The corresponding FTLM result is therefore close to exact, and is an important benchmark for the experiment in Ref. and future cold atoms experiments.
We cannot access with the same confidence the regime below $T\sim t$. Determinantal Quantum Monte Carlo algorithms in principle allow access to larger lattices and thus lower temperatures (see Ref. ), but the analytical continuation presents a possible source of systematic error which is difficult to detect and estimate (see SM for a detailed analysis using the implementation of Maximum Entropy method taken from Ref. ). Our results highlight the need for developing real-frequency diagrammatic methods, like the one proposed recently in Ref. .
Finally, our results suggest that proper account of the vertex corrections is needed *at all temperatures*. The discrepancies between the experimental observations and the DMFT, such as those observed in the case of hcp-Fe [@Pourovskii2014] or in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ [@deng16] should not be interpreted only in terms of non-local correlations. Very recently[@Kauch2019], this conclusion has been shown to be valid even at much weaker coupling and in various other models.
We acknowledge useful discussions with V. Dobrosavljević, A. Georges, F. Krien, and A. M. Tremblay, and contributions of A. Vranić and J. Skolimowski at early stage of this project. J. K., R. Ž., and J. M. are supported by Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) under Program P1-0044 and Project J1-7259. J. V and D. T. are supported by the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development under Project No. ON171017. Numerical calculations were partially performed on the PARADOX supercomputing facility at the Scientific Computing Laboratory of the Institute of Physics Belgrade. The CTINT algorithm has been implemented using the TRIQS toolbox[@Parcollet2014].
|
Twenty years ago images of Ethiopia were beamed into our living rooms and showed people in poor countries living with overwhelming poverty, disease, and despair. What could they possibly teach us? At least we could offer money, pity, and our clever ideas about eradicating corruption and resurrecting their failed states. When musician Bob Geldof inspired his pop pals to sing for charity we learnt that one man could begin to change the world, provided that man lived in a rich country. “Do they know it's Christmas?” may have been a futile lyric for millions living in poverty, but it captured a mood that said we are no longer willing to tolerate such a divided world.
Now, with a humanitarian crisis in Sudan, sub-Saharan Africa in deep poverty, Asia strangled by child deaths, and Bob Geldof singing his Christmas song again, what have we really learnt and what have we done for the world's poor? Perhaps there are better ways of lifting Africa and Asia out of poverty? Perhaps there are local solutions that—since they work in the most desperate circumstances—might even teach us, the privileged in richer countries, better ways of improving our health care. Why look to the United States for ideas when you might equally adopt pioneering initiatives from Bangladesh (p 1124), Colombia, India, Iran (p 1115, p 1134), Haiti (p 1142), Malawi (p 1164), Pakistan, Tanzania (p 1126), or Zimbabwe?
This is the premise of our theme issue, a celebration of the ingenuity of the human spirit brought to you by Tessa Richards and her team of international advisers (p 1113), who argue that the rich world doesn't have a monopoly on solutions. And there is much to learn, particularly that it will take many millions of women in poor countries to change the world. For states to free themselves of poverty, women's health, education, and employment have to be priorities—another message that has been sung loudly for decades. But what has been the response? Women have become effective agents of change in maternal and child health in the poorest communities (p 1117, p 1166), initiatives for prevention of mother to child transmission are successfully implemented (p 1147), “positive deviance” is a powerful way of promoting beneficial healthcare behaviour (p 1177), and Kangaroo Mother Care, whereby low birthweight infants use their mothers—or fathers—as incubators, can create ideal conditions for infants to thrive (p 1179). A stepdown unit, which involves mothers in the regular care of stable, low birthweight infants, reduces hospital stay (p 1151).
Alongside the power of women we are reminded of the power of community. “As the power of systems grows, the power of community declines, and as control magnifies, consent fades,” say Masamine Jimba and Susumu Wakai (p 1183). “As standardisation is implemented, creativity disappears—to build a healthful society both system and community are needed.” Amen. |
MONEY. AN IT'S PUTTING POLICE ON ALERT. W-L-K-Y'S ANNA-LYSA GAYLE JUST GOT OUT OF A MEETING WITH POLICE. SHE'S LIVE AT LMPD HEADQUARTERS TONIGHT. ANNA-LYSA WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT THE ROBBERIES. GOOD EVENING VICKI, L-M- P-D SAYS IT IS STEPPING UP PATROL AROUND SOME OF THESE FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS TO KEEP CUSTOMERS AND WORKERS SAFE FOLLOWING THE FIFTH ARMED ROBBERY TODAY AT A MCDONALD'S. Joe Dietrich , Customer Clip #8971 10:37:24 "I don't think these robbers are too smart. I think they're kind of randomly hitting these places and I think their luck is going to run out." THAT'S WHAT POLICE ARE COUNTING ON. L-M-P-D RELEASED THESE SURVEILLANCE PICTURES OF TODAY'S ROBBERY SUSPECTS. THE TWO SUSPECTS ARE ACCUSED OF HOLDING UP THE MCDONALDS ON SOUTH HURSTBOURNE PARKWAY AROUND THREE THIS MORNING. POLICE SAY ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES WAS PISTOL- WHIPPED. THAT'S THE THIRD EMPLOYEE HURT DURING THE FIVE INCIDENTS. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS MAP, THIS A LOOK AT WHERE THE FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS WERE TARGETED. A WENDY'S ON HURSTBORNE PARKWAY WAS ROBBED ON JULY FOURTH, FOLLOWED BY THE DAIRY QUEEN ON SHELBYVILLE ROAD LESS THAN TWO WEEKS LATER, JUST LAST WEEK A MCDONALD'S ON PRESTON HIGHWAY AND A HARDEES ON TAYLORSVILLE ROAD. L-M-P-D AND JEFFFERSONTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT ARE NOW INVESTIGATING THE ROBBERIES, THEY BELIEVE AT LEAST FOUR OF THOSE ROBBERIES ARE CONNECTED. Jennifer Coe, LMPD Clip #8987 15:08:53 "The suspects have been covered up in all these robberies. So it's very difficult to see there faces in any of the surveillance pictures." Eric Black, LMPD Clip #8987 Clip #8985 15:11:19 Anna-Lysa: How dangerous do you think these suspects are? Eric: As far as hold ups and as far as crime in general, they are very violent. It's not too often in an armed robbery that someone that someone shoots off a round. 15:11:34" POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR 2 TO 3 SUSPECTS. THEY ARE ASKING FAST FOOD WORKERS TO TAKE PRECAUTION IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN HELP POLICE THE NUMBER TO CALL IS 574-LMPD. REPORTING LIVE, ANNA-LYSA GAYLE, WLKY NEWS. IN A STATEMENT, THE MCDONALD'S RESTAURANTS OF KENTUCKIANA SAID QUOTE... "THESE SERIES OF EVENTS ARE ALARMING AND WE ARE WORKING WITH THE AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT OF THEIR ON-GOING INVESTIGATION. IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE REST ASSURED THAT WE ARE TAKING PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF OUR RESTAURANTS, CUSTOMERS AND CREW". |
--- src/configure.orig 2020-05-20 21:40:21.259601460 +0100
+++ src/configure 2020-05-20 21:41:13.987993770 +0100
@@ -270,8 +270,7 @@
# after they appear there.
isaac_cmake_install_dir="${isaac_build_dir}/bootstrap_cmake"
if [ "x${isaac_cmake}" == "x" ] ; then
- "${isaac_bootstrap_dir}"/installCmake.sh "${isaac_redist_dir}" "${isaac_cmake_install_dir}" "${isaac_parallel}"
- cmake_install_exit_code="$?"
+ cmake_install_exit_code="1"
if [ "$cmake_install_exit_code" == "1" ]; then
isaac_cmake=cmake
echo "Using existing `which cmake`"
|
Introduction {#Sec1}
============
The association of stem-cell factor (SCF, steel factor) with its receptor c-Kit (CD-117, Kit) mediates signaling that is critical for melanocyte survival, proliferation, differentiation, and migration (Alexeev and Yoon [@CR2]; Halaban [@CR10]; Wehrle-Haller [@CR35]). The binding of SCF to c-Kit induces autophosphorylation on tyrosines in the COOH-terminus of c-Kit, which activates its kinase (Mol et al. [@CR22]; Roskoski [@CR29]). In connection with cell survival, c-Kit activates multiple downstream signaling pathways, including the Ras/Raf/mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MAPKK)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway and the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) pathway (Hemesath et al. [@CR11]; Roskoski [@CR29]). Furthermore, the over-expression or mutation of c-Kit has been observed in many human solid tumors (Hirota et al. [@CR13]). Consequently, c-Kit has been extensively studied as a target in anticancer drug development and as a key protein in melanogenesis (Attoub et al. [@CR4]; Kato et al. [@CR18]).
Studies with transgenic mice that carried SCF under the keratin promoter showed that SCF promoted the migration of melanocytes out of niches. When these mice were treated with a c-Kit antibody (ACK2), their progeny had white (unpigmented) skin and hair (Nishimura et al. [@CR25]). Interestingly, a few reports have shown that patients treated with imatinib (Gleevec) exhibited onset of hypopigmentation (Brazzelli et al. [@CR5]; Tsao et al. [@CR34]).
Melanogenesis is generally up-regulated by ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light exerts its effects directly on melanocytes or keratinocyte-derived factors (Hirobe [@CR12]). SCF/c-Kit signaling also plays a key role in the early phase of melanocyte activation during UVB-induced pigmentation (Hachiya et al. [@CR9]; Hosaka et al. [@CR14]; Tobiishi et al. [@CR33]). Exposure to UV or treatment with SCF increases the number of melanocytes in the dermis, mainly through the c-Kit-mediated signaling cascade (Kawaguchi et al. [@CR19]). Once activated, c-Kit phosphorylates the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) via mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK); subsequently, the phosphorylated MITF promotes melanocyte maturation (Hemesath et al. [@CR11]; Tachibana [@CR32]). Therefore, blocking c-Kit signaling can radically prevent pigment formation through inhibition of both melanoblast differentiation and melanogenesis, rather than simply by inhibiting tyrosinase transcription.
Several small molecules have been developed or documented as whitening agents, including hydroquinone, kojic acid, arbutin, ascorbic acid, and retinoic acid. Currently, most whitening agents used in both the cosmetic and medical markets inhibit the activity of tyrosinase (Briganti et al. [@CR6]).
Recently, we isolated emodin as a suppressor of c-Kit signaling by screening a synthetic library based on naturally occurring compounds (Lee et al. [@CR21]). Here, we screened 2,000 plant extracts for c-Kit inhibitory activity and isolated anti-melanogenic flavonoids. Flavonoids are natural polyphenolic compounds that are reported to have anti-oxidative and kinase-inhibitory effects. For example, the flavonoids, quercetin, luteolin, and genistein, were shown to inhibit the kinase activities of epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR), protein kinase C (PKC), and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) (Agullo et al. [@CR1]; Huang et al. [@CR15]; Kandaswami et al. [@CR17]). Several recent reports have also described the diverse effects that flavonoids have on melanogenesis in human skin and other cell lines (An et al. [@CR3]; Nagata et al. [@CR24]; Ohguchi et al. [@CR26]), however, the mechanism of action for c-Kit is unclear. In this study, we investigated whether flavonoids from *Chrysanthemum morifolium* might suppress melanogenesis through specific effects on c-Kit.
Materials and methods {#Sec2}
=====================
Materials {#Sec3}
---------
All the chemicals, except those specifically mentioned, were purchased from either CalBiochem (CA, USA) or Sigma Co. Ltd (MO, USA). The intracellular domain of the c-Kit protein was obtained from ProQinase (Germany). Kinase substrates were purchased from PerkinElmer (MA, USA) and anti-c-Kit antibody (pY719 and total-c-Kit) were obtained from Cell Signaling (MA, USA). The platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor III, 4-(6,7-dimethoxy-4-quinazolinyl)-*N*-(4-phenoxy phenyl)-1-piperazinecarboxamide, (521232, CalBiochem, CA) was used as a reference c-Kit inhibitor.
In vitro time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) kinase assay {#Sec4}
------------------------------------------------------
The inhibition of c-Kit (*N*-terminal GST-tagged recombinant human Kit, amino acid T544-V976 expressed by baculovirus system in *Sf*9 insect cells, ProQinase) was determined in a TRF assay. Briefly, c-Kit (20 ng/well) was incubated for 30 min at room temperature (RT) with 1.5 µM of peptide substrate (Biotin-VEEEAPEDLYKDFLTLEH, synthesized in Peptron, Daejeon, Korea), 10 μM ATP, and compounds to be tested for inhibition in a buffer containing 50 mM Tris (pH 7.5), 5 mM MgCl~2~, 5 mM MnCl~2~, 2 mM DTT, and 0.01 % Tween-20. The reaction mixture was transferred into a streptavidin-coated DELFIA 96-well plate (PerkinElmer) and incubated for 1 h. After washing 3 times with PBS/T (pH 7.0), the plates were further incubated with anti-phosphotyrosine (p-Y-100) antibody for 1 h and with Europium-labeled secondary anti-mouse antibody for 30 min; then the plate was rinsed again three times with PBS/T. Finally, Europium Enhancement Solution (PerkinElmer) was applied, and the TRF signal was measured in a Victor2 microplate reader (PerkinElmer). All experiments were performed in duplicate. IC~50~ values were obtained from a nonlinear regression analysis with GraphPad Prism version 5.0 for Windows (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA).
AlphaBead kinase assay {#Sec5}
----------------------
Kinase activity was also determined using AlphaScreen™ phosphotyrosine (P-Tyr-100) assay kit (PerkinElmer, CT, USA). ALPHA (Amplified Luminescent Proximity Homogeneous Assay) is a bead-based immunoassay monitoring the energy transfer from streptavidin-coated donor bead to anti-phosphotyrosine antibody conjugated acceptor bead. The kinase assay was performed according to the protocol provided by the manufacturer. Briefly, kinase (5 μL, 2.5--10 ng) was incubated with 5 μL of kinase reaction buffer (50 mM Tris--HCl (pH 7.5), 5 mM MgCl~2~, 5 mM MnCl~2~, 2 mM DTT and 0.01 % Tween-20) containing a compound to be tested in a 384-well plate for 15 min at RT. Then, 5 μL of the reaction buffer containing biotinylated poly\[Glu:Tyr\](4:1) substrate (final conc. 5 nM) and ATP (final conc. 10 μM) were added and allowed to stand at RT for 1 h. The reaction was quenched by the addition of the capture buffer containing EDTA 100 mM, NaCl 250 mM, 62.5 mM HEPES, donor-streptavidin and acceptor P-Tyr-100 beads (final conc. 20 μM). After 1 h incubation at RT, AlphaScreen signal was detected in Fusion™ microplate analyzer (PerkinElmer). All the assays were performed in white 384-well plates (Greiner Bio-One, Germany) in a final volume of 25 μL.
Cell culture {#Sec6}
------------
All mammalian cells were grown in an appropriate culture media containing antibiotics (100 U/mL penicillin and 100 μg/mL streptomycin) in a humidified incubator under 5 % CO~2~ at 37 °C. MO7e cells (M-07 human megakaryocytic leukemia cell line) were generously provided by Dr. Young-Hee Lee (Chung-buk National University, Chungju, Korea). Primary melanocytes were obtained from circumcised tissue from a newborn baby. NCCmelan5 cells (mouse melanocyte cell line) were kindly donated by Dr. Mizoguchi and Yoko Kawa (St. Marianna University, Japan (Ooka et al. [@CR27])). MO7e cells were routinely propagated in Iscove's Modified Dulbecco's Medium (GIBCO, CA, USA), supplemented with heat-inactivated 10 % FBS and 1 ng/mL granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). NCCmelan5 cells were grown in Eagle's minimum essential medium (EMEM; GIBCO) supplemented with 15 % FBS, 50 ng/mL murine stem cell factor (mSCF; CHEMICON), and 100 nM endothelin 3 (EDN3). SK-mel2 cells were cultured in RPMI media supplemented with 10 % heat-inactivated FBS. Human primary melanocytes were maintained in MCDB153 media (Sigma, MO, USA) supplemented with 1 % FBS, 10 ng/mL phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (TPA), 5 μg/mL insulin, 0.5 μg/mL hydrocortisone, 1 ng/mL basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), 10 nM alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), and 1 μg/mL transferrin.
Western blot analysis {#Sec7}
---------------------
For Western blot analysis, cells were seeded at 70 % confluence in 6-cm dishes and deprived of cytokines in media supplemented with 1 % FBS for about 16 h. Subsequently, the test compounds were added for 45 min. Then the cells were stimulated with 50 ng/mL SCF for 10 min. To prepare the whole cell lysates, cells were washed twice with PBS and lysed. Then, cell lysates were electrophoretically separated on a 6 % SDS--polyacrylamide gel. Proteins were transferred onto Immobilon P-PVDF membranes (polyvinylidene fluoride, Millipore, MA, USA) overnight at 4 °C. Membranes were blocked with TBS containing 5 % skim milk and 0.1 % Tween 20, pH 7.4 for 1 h and then incubated sequentially with primary and secondary antibodies diluted in blocking buffer. Protein bands were detected with an enhanced chemiluminescence detection system (Cell Signaling, MA, USA) on a LAS-3000 (Fuji, Japan).
Isolation of diosmetin from *C. morifolium* {#Sec8}
-------------------------------------------
The air-dried flowers of *C. morifolium* were treated with 100 % methanol using the reflux method. The resulting methanol extract of *C. morifolium* was successively fractionated with *n*-hexane, chloroform, and *n*-butanol. Then, the *n*-butanol fraction of *C. morifolium* was separated by silica gel column chromatography with chloroform--methanol (20:1 \~ 2:1) to yield ten fractions. Effective fractions were purified by preparative HPLC (MERCK/SEPTECH) using a reverse phase column (CombiHT SB-18, 5 μm, 21.2 mm × 150 mm) and acetonitrile (35 \~ 50 %) to yield four fractions Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4, which were identified as acacetin, diosmetin, apigenin, and luteolin, respectively, by comparing NMR spectroscopic data with the previously reported ones (Cai et al. [@CR7]; Christophoridou et al. [@CR8]; Kraus et al. [@CR20]; Seijas et al. [@CR30])
MTT and \[^3^H\]-thymidine incorporation assays {#Sec9}
-----------------------------------------------
Cytotoxic effects were evaluated with a MTT (3-\[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl\]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; thiazolyl blue) viability assay. The MTT assay is a standard colorimetric assay that measures the activity of enzymes that reduce MTT to insoluble purple formazan crystals. Cells were seeded on 96-well plates at a density of 1 × 10^4^ cells per well and treated with the test compounds at various concentrations for 48 h. Ten microliters of 5 mg/mL MTT solution was added and cells were incubated for 1 h. The medium was aspirated and 100 μL of DMSO was added to each well. After 10 min of incubation, the absorbance was measured at 570 nm.
Changes in cell proliferation were measured with a \[^3^H\]-thymidine incorporation assay. Cells were seeded at a density of 5 × 10^3^ cells per well on a 96-well plate. The next day, cells were pre-incubated with the test compounds for 1 h and then stimulated with SCF (100 ng/mL) for another 6 h. \[^3^H\]-Thymidine was added at 0.05 μCi per well and cells were further incubated for 48 h. After the cells were rinsed three times with PBS, a scintillation cocktail was added. Incorporated radioactive thymidine was counted on a MicroBeta scintillation counter (PerkinElmer).
\[^14^C\]-tyrosine incorporation assay {#Sec10}
--------------------------------------
Melanin content was assessed with radioactive tyrosine. Melanocytes were seeded on 96-well plates at a density of 1 × 10^4^ cells per well. The cells were allowed to stabilize for 24 h, then they were treated with the test compounds for 1 h, and then stimulated with 100 ng/mL of SCF or 30 mJ of UVB (312 nm) with a BIO-SUN irradiator (Vilber Lourmat, France). \[^14^C\]-tyrosine (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, England) was added at 0.03 μCi per well and cells were incubated for 48 h. After the cells were washed with PBS three times, the radioisotope taken up by the cells was measured in a MicroBeta (PerkinElmer).
DOPA assay {#Sec11}
----------
Pigments synthesized from [l]{.smallcaps}-dihydroxyphenyl-alanine (DOPA) were visualized after DOPA supplementation. Melanocytes were serum-starved for 18 h; then, they were either irradiated with 30 mJ UVB or treated with SCF (100 ng/mL). Cells were incubated with the test compound or the reference compound for 48 h. After the medium was exchanged with serum-free media, cells were treated with 10 mM DOPA (Sigma Chemicals Co.) for 3 h at 37 °C. After removing the cell media, crystal mount was dropped on top of the cells and subsequently, cells were dried at 50 °C. Photos were taken in an inverted microscope (40× or 100×). The melanin content (total intensity ±S.D.) in each photo was analyzed with the image program MetaMorph^®^ (Molecular Devices).
MelanoDerm assay {#Sec12}
----------------
MelanoDerm™ (MEL-300-A-LLMM, MatTek, USA) is a human three-dimensional tissue model. This tissue model was used to test the effect of diosmetin against SCF. Melanoderm tissue was transferred into a 6-well plate with a cell culture insert atop a culture stand (MEL-STND). The culture medium contained pre-warmed EPI-100-LLMM (0.9 mL) and was placed below the cell insert to feed the basolateral side of the cells; 100 μl of PBS was placed on top of the cell inserts. EPI-100-LLMM (MatTak) is a commercial DMEM-based medium that contains α-MSH, bFGF, EGFR, insulin, hydrocortisone, and other proprietary stimulators of epidermal differentiation. Cells were incubated in SCF (200 ng/mL) for three days; then, compounds were applied for 2 more weeks. Fresh medium (5 mL) was applied to the basolateral side of the tissue every other day. Melanoderms were fixed with 10 % formalin and photos were taken from the top-view with a phase contrast microscope at 100× magnification.
Results {#Sec13}
=======
Inhibition of c-Kit phosphorylation by *C. morifolium* {#Sec14}
------------------------------------------------------
In search of c-Kit inhibitors, we evaluated 2,000 plant extracts with an enzymatic c-Kit assay. Twenty-one plant extracts showed \>70 % inhibition of c-Kit phosphorylation in vitro (data not shown). These 21 plant extracts were tested to determine whether they could block SCF-induced cellular c-Kit activation in megakaryocytic leukemia (MO7e) cells. Cells were pretreated with the indicated natural extracts and then treated with SCF. Phosphorylated c-Kit (pY719) was assessed in cells treated with or without SCF (Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}). Downstream from c-Kit phosphorylation, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) responded consistently (data not shown). At the initial test concentration (30 ppm), only two extracts (serial numbers 13 and 16; *C. morifolium* and *Panax japonicus*) showed significant inhibition of c-Kit phosphorylation. The *C. morifolium* extract was selected for further purification because it showed the most potent dose-dependent inhibition of cell-based c-Kit phosphorylation in MO7e cells. Among the two fractions separated from the *C. morifolium* extract, the butanol layer (BL) exhibited higher inhibitory activity for c-Kit phosphorylation than the water layer. Therefore, the BL was submitted to chromatography with a silica gel column and then fractions were separated with preparative HPLC in reverse phase.Fig. 1Plant extracts were tested for inhibition of c-Kit phosphorylation in MO7e cells. **a** Twenty-one hit samples selected from a c-Kit enzyme assay were tested on MO7e cells. Cells were pre-treated with the indicated natural extracts for 45 min, and then treated with 50 ng/mL SCF for 10 min. In the immunoblot analysis, phosphorylated c-Kit was detected with anti-phospho (Y719) antibody. **b** The selected *C. morifolium* extract was further tested at the indicated concentrations. *R* is the reference inhibitor (521232, 10 μM)
*Chrysanthemum morifolium* extract suppressed SCF-/UVB-induced pigmentation {#Sec15}
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Pigments like eumelanin and pheomelanin are synthesized from tyrosine and DOPA (Sugumaran [@CR31]). In our study, melanin synthesis was monitored by both tyrosine and DOPA incorporation assays. With exposure to 30 ppm of the BL fraction, SCF-induced melanin synthesis was completely blocked, and total synthesis was reduced by half (Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}a, c). Furthermore, we tested whether the extract of *C. morifolium* could inhibit UVB-induced pigmentation since SCF/c-Kit signaling is activated in the early phase of melanogenesis during UVB irradiation. The increased pigment formation induced by UVB irradiation (30 mJ, a single dose) was also attenuated by treatment with the BL fraction at a concentration of 30 ppm in mouse melanocytes and human melanoma SK-mel2 cells (Fig. [2](#Fig2){ref-type="fig"}b, d).Fig. 2Anti-pigmentation effect of the BL from the *C. morifolium* extract. a \[^14^C\]-tyrosine incorporation was determined in NCCmelan5 cells after 48 h treatments with SCF (100 ng/mL). **b** \[^14^C\]-tyrosine incorporation was determined in NCCmelan5 cells 48 h after UVB-irradiation (30 mJ). **c** Representative data from DOPA assay after UVB-irradiation of NCCmelan5 cells. After exposure to SCF, cells were pretreated with the indicated concentrations of the BL and incubated for 48 h. The DOPA assay was performed, and the photos (×100) were taken with an inverted microscope. **d** DOPA assay in NCCmelan5 cells 18 h after stimulation with 30 mJ of UVB. Cells were incubated with the BL fraction for 48 h. After the medium was exchanged with serum-free media, the DOPA assay was performed and photos were taken at ×40 magnification. The *R* is the reference inhibitor (521232, 3 μM). The pigment areas of melanocytes were quantitated using program MetaMorph from three independent experiments (**c** & **d** *right panels*)
Identification of flavonoids from *C. morifolium* that inhibit c-Kit {#Sec16}
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All four of the compounds (Y1 \~ Y4) isolated from the BL fraction by HPLC showed effective inhibition of c-Kit phosphorylation in mouse melanocytes at 0.3 \~ 1.0 ppm (Fig. [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}a). The separated compounds from the concentrated four fractions were identified as acacetin, diosmetin, apigenin, and luteolin by NMR and mass spectrometry analysis. Enzyme inhibitory activities of the isolated compounds were confirmed with AlphaBead kinase assay in vitro. In enzymatic assay, Luteolin demonstrated the strongest inhibitory potency and the other three showed moderate inhibition: IC~50~ = 1.0, 4.7, 12.1, and 13.3 μM for luteolin, apigenin, diosmetin, and acacetin, respectively (Fig. [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}c). However, the cellular inhibitory potencies of the four flavonoids were determined to be diosmetin (0.8 μM) \> acacetin, apigenin (2.5 μM) \> luteolin (9.2 μM) in cultured NCCmelan5 cells (Fig. [3](#Fig3){ref-type="fig"}d). The first three active flavonoids based on cellular c-Kit inhibition were used in following studies with human melanocytes.Fig. 3Four compounds isolated from *C. morifolium* were tested for inhibition of c-Kit phosphorylation in mouse melanocytes. **a** Cells were pre-treated for 45 min with BL (0.3 ppm) and the four final fractions Y1 \~ Y4 separated from BL. Then, 50 ng/mL of SCF was added for 10 min. Phosphorylated c-Kit was detected with anti-phospho (Y719) antibodies. **b** The structures of four active compounds from fractions Y1 \~ Y4 purified from the BL of the *C. morifolium* extract. **c** c-Kit enzyme inhibition by acacetin, diosmetin, apigenin, and luteolin (AlphaBead assay). **d** Cell based c-Kit inhibition by the four purified compounds in NCCmelan5 cells. *R* is compound 521232 at 3 μM
SCF-induced proliferation of human melanocytes was suppressed by diosmetin, apigenin, and acacetin {#Sec17}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative effects were determined with MTT and \[^3^H\]-thymidine incorporation assays. The three active flavonoids up to 10 μM did not affect cell viability within 48 h, but a reference compound, 521232, showed cytotoxicity at \>3 μM (Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}a). When cells were treated with 100 ng/mL SCF, proliferation was accelerated about 2-fold compared to untreated cells. However, the SCF-stimulated proliferation was nearly blocked by pre-incubations with 3 μM of diosmetin, apigenin, and acacetin (Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}b). Also, c-Kit inhibition experiment of the three flavonoids in human melanocytes gave similar results comparing to mouse melanocytes. Immunoblot analysis of c-Kit phosphorylation showed that diosmetin was the most potent c-Kit inhibitory flavonoid among these three compounds; at 1 μM concentration diosmetin almost removed the phosphorylated c-Kit band (Fig. [4](#Fig4){ref-type="fig"}c). Diosmetin, apigenin, and acacetin also significantly reduced ERK phosphorylation induced by SCF stimulation.Fig. 4The effect of flavonoids on SCF/c-Kit signaling in human melanocytes. **a** The influence of SCF and flavonoids on viability of human melanocytes was determined in 48 h. The MTT assay was performed as described in the "[Materials and Methods](#Sec2){ref-type="sec"}". **b** Proliferation of human melanocytes for 48 h was measured by \[^3^H\]-thymidine incorporation assay. **c** Representative immunoblot analysis of c-Kit and ERK after treatment with inhibitors. Compounds were pretreated at the indicated concentrations for 45 min and 50 ng/mL of SCF was applied for 10 min; then the Western blot was performed. For detection of c-kit phosphorylation, we used anti-phospho-c-Kit (p-Y-719), total-c-Kit, phospho-ERK (T202/Y204), or total-ERK antibodies. R is the compound 521232 at 3 μM; values are expressed as the mean values ±SD of three independent experiments
Inhibition of melanin synthesis by diosmetin in human melanocytes {#Sec18}
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Melanin synthesis of human melanocytes was induced either by SCF treatment or UV irradiation. SCF-stimulated melanin synthesis in human primary melanocytes was remarkably reduced by the addition of diosmetin, apigenin, or acacetin (Fig. [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}a). In particular, diosmetin ≥3 μM) completely blocked SCF-induced \[^14^C\]-tyrosine incorporation; thus, tyrosine was only incorporated at normal (SCF non-treated) levels. Also, melanin synthesis induced by UVB irradiation was partially blocked by these active flavonoids (Fig. [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}b). Diosmetin, apigenin and acacetin showed considerable suppression of the increased tyrosine-incorporation by UVB irradiation. Both the tyrosine and DOPA incorporation assays demonstrated consistent results for the inhibitory potency of diosmetin, reflecting the reduction of melanin content by diosmetin at ≥3 μM (Fig. [5](#Fig5){ref-type="fig"}c). The same pattern was observed in mouse melanocytes (data not shown).Fig. 5Anti-pigmentation effect of flavonoids on human melanocytes. \[^14^C\]-tyrosine incorporation was induced by 100 ng/mL SCF (**a**) or 30 mJ UVB (**b**) in human melanocytes. Cells were sequentially treated with 3 μM of compounds and 0.03 μCi of \[^14^C\]-tyrosine for 48 h, and then processed for analysis. **C**. The SCF-induced pigmentation was blocked by flavonoids in human melanocytes. Cells were pre-treated with compounds, then incubated with 100 ng/mL of SCF for 48 h. The photographs were taken under a microscope (×100)
Diosmetin showed effective anti-pigmentation activity in a human melanoderm model {#Sec19}
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Diosmetin suppressed basal melanin synthesis and SCF-induced pigmentation in the MelanoDerm™ system, a highly differentiated model of human epidermis that consisted of multilayered epidermal keratinocytes and melanocytes (Fig. [6](#Fig6){ref-type="fig"}). Diosmetin considerably lightened the tone of the dermis compared to untreated controls. Kojic acid (1 %), one of the most frequently used depigmentation agents, was applied as a positive control. The concentration of diosmetin and Kojic acid was determined from a preliminary experiment. Diosmetin 60 μM (equal to 0.018 %) showed effective prevention of SCF-induced melanogenesis in a MelanoDerm experiment performed for 2-weeks.Fig. 6MelanoDerm assay. After SCF (200 ng/mL) treatment for three days, diosmetin (60 μM) or kojic acid (1 %) was applied, and cells were incubated for two more weeks. Each melanoderm was fixed with 10 % formalin and photos were taken from the top-view with a phase contrast microscope at ×100 magnification
Discussion {#Sec20}
==========
SCF is an important factor that stimulates the proliferation and melanogenesis of melanocytes and mediates the pigmentation response to UV irradiation (Imokawa [@CR16]; Kawaguchi et al. [@CR19]). Blocking SCF/c-Kit signaling can reduce differentiation of melanoblasts and proliferation of melanocytes (Nishimura et al. [@CR25]). Furthermore, administration of small molecules that specifically inhibited c-Kit showed inhibition of melanogenesis in mice, brown guinea pigs, and human beings (Brazzelli et al. [@CR5]; Na et al. [@CR23]).
To date, tyrosinase has been a major target of whitening agents like hydroquinone and arbutin, but their whitening effects were insufficient and transient. Therefore, in this study, we attempted to discover more effective depigmentation agents by screening plant extracts for novel c-Kit inhibitors. The rational design of synthetic chemicals sometimes yields the most potent and selective inhibitors for therapeutic targets. However, plants and herbs provide invaluable sources in the development of novel medicines and novel scaffolds for therapeutic agents. Many compounds derived from herbs and plants are highly bioactive and merit development as drugs (Pieroni et al. [@CR28]). However, plant extracts typically contain high amounts of fluorescent phytochemicals. Therefore, homogeneous high-throughput screening methods like fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) are improper due to the high background noise. In order to remove the difficulty of internal fluorescence, we adopted a TRF assay that used antibodies labeled with europium; Low backgrounds could be achieved because of the time-difference between excitation and emission fluorescence.
In this study, we found that the accelerated melanin synthesis and proliferation induced by SCF were reduced with the addition of diosmetin. This SCF-inhibitory effect was equivalent to that of the reference compound (521232). The results from the melanoderm tissue model implied that 60 μM diosmetin (0.0018 %) had higher efficacy than the reference inhibitor, kojic acid (1 %), without any toxicity. Furthermore, we assessed the allergenic potential of diosmetin with a local lymph node assay in BALB/C mice. The results showed that diosmetin did not induce an allergic response; Stimulus index (S.I.) were between 0.8 and 1.1 based on the isolated lymph cells from lymph node after 3-day treatment of 10, 20 and 30 % diosmetin (25 μL) on mice ears. In fact, diosmetin is already in use on the market as an anti-oxidative skin stress agent (Kaden Biochemicals GMBH, Germany); thus, its safety in one aspect has been previously approved.
In summary, diosmetin, isolated from a *C. morifolium* extract, showed dose-dependent inhibition of SCF-/UVB-induced pigmentation and c-Kit phosphorylation. In addition, diosmetin effectively blocked increases in proliferation and melanin synthesis induced by SCF in mouse and human cells. Investigations with mouse NCCmelan5 cells, human primary melanocytes, and MelanoDerm tissue showed diosmetin produced consistent anti-pigmentation effects. Therefore, as c-Kit inhibitors diosmetin and *C. morifolium* extracts could be potential candidates of effective whitening agents.
This work was supported by a grant from Korea Research council for Industrial science and Technology (KK-1303-D0) and the Global Frontier Project Grant (NRF-MIAXA002-2010-0029776) of National Research Foundation funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Korea. The NCCmelan5 cells were a generous gift from Dr. Mizoguchi and Dr. Soma (St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan).
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abstract: 'A unified treatment is given of some results of H. Donnelly-P. Li and L. Schwartz concerning the behaviour of heat semigroups on open manifolds with given compactifications, on one hand, and the relationship with the behaviour at infinity of solutions of related stochastic differential equations on the other. A principal tool is the use of certain covers of the manifold: which also gives a non-explosion test. As a corollary we obtain known results about the behaviour of Brownian motions on a complete Riemannian manifold with Ricci curvature decaying at most quadratically in the distance function.'
author:
- 'Xue-Mei LI[^1]'
date:
title: |
[ Properties at infinity of diffusion semigroups\
and stochastic flows via weak uniform covers]{}
---
6.0 in 8.9in 0.1in 0.1in -0.3in
\[section\] \[theorem\][Proposition]{} \[theorem\][Lemma]{} \[theorem\][Corollary]{} \[section\]
[**Key Words:**]{} Brownian motion, diffusion, heat semigroup, Riemannian manifold, compactification, boundary, uniform cover.
Introduction
============
Let $M$ be a manifold, $\{\Omega,{\cal F},{\cal F}_t, P\}$ a filtered probability space. A diffusion process on $M$ is a stochastic process which is path continuous and strongly Markov. These diffusions are often given by solutions to stochastic differential equations of the following type: $$\label{eq: basic}
dx_t=X(x_t)\circ dB_t+A(x_t)dt$$ Here $B_t$ is a $R^m$ valued Brownian motion, $X$ is $C^2$ from $ R^m\times M$ to the tangent bundle $TM$ with $X(x)$: $R^m$ $\to T_xM$ a linear map for each $x$ in $M$, $A$ is a $C^1$ vector field on $M$. Let $u$ be an $M$-valued random variable independent of ${{\cal F}}_0$. Denote by $F_t(u)$ the solution starting from $u$, $\xi(u)$ the explosion time. Then $\{F_t(x)\}$ is a diffusion for each $x\in M$. Associated with $F_t$ there are also the probabilistic semigroup $P_t$ and the corresponding infinitesimal generator ${{\bf \cal A}}$.
[**I. Main results:** ]{} The main aim [@LI89] of this article is to give unified treatment to some of the results from H. Donnelly-P. Li and L. Schwartz. It gives the first a probabilistic interpretation and extends part of the latter. We first introduce weak uniform covers in an analogous way to uniform covers, which gives a nonexplosion test by using estimates on exit times of the diffusion considered. As a corollary this gives the known result on nonexplosion of a Brownian motion on a complete Riemannian manifold with Ricci curvature decaying at most quadratically in the distance function [@IC82II].
One interesting example is that a solution to a stochastic differential equation on $R^n$ whose coefficients have linear growth has no explosion and has the $C_0$ property. Notice under this condition, its associated generator has quadratic growth. On the other hand let $M=R^n$, and let $L$ be an elliptic differential operator : $$L=\sum_{i,j} a_{ij}{{\partial^2}\over {\partial x_i\partial x_j}}
+\sum_i b_i{\partial \over {\partial x_i}}$$ where $a_{ij}$ and $b_i$ are $C^2$. Let $(s_{ij})$ be the positive square root of the matrix $(a_{ij})$. Let $X^i=\sum_j s_{ij}{\partial \over \partial x_j}$, $A=\sum_j b_j {\partial \over {\partial x_j}}$. Then the s.d.e. defined by: $$(It\widehat o) \hskip 20pt dx_t=\sum_iX^i(x_t)dB_t^i +A(x_t)dt$$ has generator $L$. Furthermore if $|(a_{ij})|$ has quadratic growth and $b_i$ has linear growth, then both $X$ and $A$ in the s.d.e. above have linear growth. In this case any solution $u_t$ to the following partial differential equation:
$${{\partial u_t}\over {\partial t}} =Lu_t$$
satisfies : $u_t\in C_0(M)$, if $u_0\in C_0(M)$ (see next part).
[**II. Preliminaries**]{}
A diffusion process is said to be a $C_0$ diffusion if its semigroup leaves invariant $C_0(M)$, the space of continuous functions vanishing at infinity, in which case the semigroup is said to have the $C_0$ property. A Riemannian manifold is said to be stochastically complete if the Brownian motion on it is complete, it is also said to have the $C_0$ property if the Brownian motion on it does. A Brownian motion is, by definition, a path continuous strong Markov process with generator ${1\over 2 } \triangle$, where $\triangle$ denotes the Laplacian Beltrami operator. Equivalently a manifold is stochastically complete if the minimal heat semigroup satisfies: $P_t1\equiv 1$.
One example of a Riemannian manifold which is stochastically complete is a complete manifold with finite volume. See Gaffney [@GA59]. More generally a complete Riemannian manifold with Ricci curvature bounded from below is stochastically complete and has the $C_0$ property as proved by Yau [@Yau78]. See also Ichihara [@IC82II], Dodziuk [@Dodz], Karp-P. Li [@KA-LI], Bakry [@BA86], Grigorýan [@GR87], Hsu[@Hsu89], Davies [@DA89], and Takeda [@TA91] for further discussions in terms of volume growth and bounds on Ricci curvature. For discussions on the behaviour at infinity of diffusion processes, and the $C_0$ property, we refer the reader to Azencott [@AZ74] and Elworthy [@EL82].
Those papers above are on a Riemannian manifold except for the last reference, for a manifold without a Riemannian structure, Elworthy [@ELbook] following It\^ o [@ITO50] showed that the diffusion solution to (1) does not explode if there is a uniform cover for the coefficients of the equation. See also Clarke[@Clark73]. In particular this shows that the s.d.e (1) does not explode on a compact manifold if the coefficients are reasonably smooth. See [@CA-EL83], [@ELflour]. To apply this method to check whether a Riemannian manifold is stochastically complete, we usually construct a stochastic differential equation whose solution is a Brownian motion.
[**III. Heat equations, semigroups, and flows**]{}
Let $\bar M$ be a compactification of $M$, i.e. a compact Hausdorff space. We assume $\bar M$ is first countable. Let $h$ be a continuous function on $\bar M$. Consider the following heat equation with initial boundary conditions: $$\begin{aligned}
\frac {\partial f} {\partial t}&=&{1 \over 2} \Delta f,
\hskip 12pt x\in M \\
f (x,0)&=&h(x), x\in\bar M\\
f(x,t)&=&h(x), x\in \partial M\end{aligned}$$
It is known that there is a unique minimal solution satisfying the first two equations on a stochastically complete manifold, the solution is in fact given by the semigroup associated with Brownian motion on the manifold applied to $h$. So the above equation is not solvable in general. However with a condition imposed on the boundary of the compactification, Donnelly-Li [@DO-LI84] showed that the heat semigroup satisfies (4). Here is the condition and the theorem:
[**The ball convergence criterion:**]{} Let $\{x_n\}$ be a sequence in $M$ converging to a point $\bar x$ on the boundary, then the geodesic balls ${{ \bf \cal B }}_r(x_n)$, centered at $x_n$ of radius $r$, converge to $\bar x$ as $n$ goes to infinity for each fixed $r$.
An example of a manifold which satisfies the ball convergence criterion is $R^n$ with sphere at infinity, but not the compactification of a cylinder with a circle at infinity added at each end. The one point compactification also satisfies the ball convergence criterion.
Let $M$ be a complete Riemannian manifold with Ricci curvature bounded from below. The over determined system (2)-(4) is solvable for any given continuous function $h$ on $\bar M$, if and only if the ball convergence criterion holds for $\bar M$.
Notice if the Brownian motion starting from $x$ converges to some point on the boundary to which $x$ converges, (2)-(4) is clearly solvable. See section 5 for details. We would also like to consider the opposite question: Do we get any information on the diffusion processes if we know the behaviour at infinity of the associated semigroups? This is true for many cases. In particular for the one point compactification, Schwartz has the following theorem[@SC89], which provides a partial converse to [@EL82]:
Let $\bar F_t$ be the standard extension of $F_t$ to $\bar M=M\cup \{\infty\}$, the one point compactification. Then the map $(t,x)\mapsto \bar F_t(x)$ is continuous from $R_+\times \bar M $ to $L^0(\Omega,P, \bar M)$, the space of measurable maps with topology induced from convergence in probability, if and only if the semigroup $P_t$ has the $C_0$ property and the map $t\mapsto P_tf$ is continuous from $R_+$ to $C_0(M)$.
[**[ Acknowledgement:]{}**]{} This paper developed from my Warwick Msc. dissertation. It is a pleasure to thank my supervisor professor D. Elworthy for pointing out the problem and for discussions on the proofs and for critical reading of the paper. I am grateful to professor Zhankan Nie of Xi’an Jiaotong university and for the support of the Sino-British Friendship Scheme. I also benefited from the EC programme SCI-0062-C(EDB). I also like to thank Prof. I. Chavel for helpful comments.
Weak uniform cover and nonexplosion
===================================
[@ELbook] A stochastic dynamical system (1) is said to admit a uniform cover( radius $r>0$, bound $k$), if there are charts $\{\phi_n, U_n\}$ of diffeomorphisms from open sets $U_n$ of the manifold onto open sets $\phi_n(U_n)$ of $R^n$, such that:
1. $B_{3r}\subset \phi_i(U_i)$, each $i$. ($B_\alpha$ denotes the open ball about $0$, radius $\alpha$).
2. The open sets $\{\phi_i^{-1}(B_r)\}$ cover the manifold.
3. If $(\phi_i)_*(X)$ is given by: $$(\phi_i)_*(X)(v)(e)=(D\phi_i)_{\phi_i^{-1}(v)}X(\phi_i^{-1}v)(e)$$ with $(\phi_i)_*(A)$ similarly defined, then both $(\phi_i)_*(X)$ and ${{\bf \cal A}}(\phi_i)$ are bounded by $k$ on $B_{2r}$, here ${{\bf \cal A}}$ is the generator for the dynamical system.
Let $\{e_j\}$ be an orthonormal basis for $R^m$, and define $X^j$ to be $X(x)(e_j)$. Then for Stratonovich equation (\[eq: basic\]) on $M$, $${{\bf \cal A}}(\phi_i)=\sum_{ k,l=1}^m X^kX^l(\phi_i)+d\phi_i(A).$$ Let $M=R^n$. If we replace the Stratonovich differential in (1) by the It\^ o differential, then $${{\bf \cal A}}(\phi_i)(x)={{ {1\over 2} }}\sum_{k,l=1}^m D^2\phi_i(x)(X^k(x),X^l(x)) +
D\phi_i(x)(A(x)),$$ which does not involve any of the derivatives of $X^j$’s.
A diffusion process $\{F_t,\xi\}$ is said to have a weak uniform cover if there are pairs of connected open sets $\{U_n^0, U_n\}$, and a non-increasing sequence $\{\delta_n\}$ with $\delta_n>0$, such that:
1. $U_n^0\subset U_n$, and the open sets $\{U_n^0\}$ cover the manifold. For $x\in U_n^0$ denote by $\tau^n(x)$ the first exit time of $F_t(x)$ from the open set $U_n$. Assume $\tau^n<\xi$ unless $\tau^n=\infty$.
2. There exists $\{K_n\}_{n=1}^\infty$, a family of increasing open subsets of $M$ with $\cup K_n=M$, such that each $U_n$ is contained in one of these sets and intersects at most one boundary from $\{\partial K_m\}_{m=1}^\infty$.
3. Let $x\in U_n^0$ and $U_n\subset K_m$, then for $t<\delta_m$: $$P\{\omega\colon \tau^{n}(x)< t\}\le Ct^2$$
4. $\sum_{n=1}^\infty \delta_n=\infty$.
Notice the introduction of $\{K_n\}$ is only for giving an order to the open sets $\{U_n\}$. This is quite natural when looking at concrete manifolds. In a sense the condition says the geometry of the manifold under consideration changes slowly as far as the diffusion process is concerned. In particular if $\delta_n$ can be taken all equal, we take $K_n=M$; e.g. when the number of open sets in the cover is finite. On a Riemannian manifold the open sets are often taken as geodesic balls.
Assume there is a uniform cover for the stochastic dynamic system(1), then the solution has a weak uniform cover with $\delta_n=1$, all $n$.
[**Proof:**]{} This comes directly from lemma 5 , Page 127 in [@ELbook].
[**Remarks:**]{}
1. Let $T$ be a stopping time, the inequality (5) gives the following from the strong Markov property of the process.:
let $V\subset U_n^0$, and $V\subset K_m$, then when $t<\delta_m$: $$P\{\tau^n(F_T(x))< t| F_T(x)\in V\}\leq Ct^2 ,$$ since $$\begin{aligned}
&P&\{\tau^n(F_T(x))<t, F_T(x)\in V\}\\
&=&\int_{V} P(\tau^n(y)<t)P_T(x,dy)
\leq Ct^2 P\{F_T(x)\in V\},\end{aligned}$$
here $P_T(x,dy)$ denotes the distribution of $F_T(x)$.
2. Denote by $P_t^{U_n}$ the heat solution on $U_n$ with Dirichlet boundary condition, then (6) is equivalent to the following: when $x\in U_n^0$, $$1-P_t^{U_n}(1)(x)\leq Ct^2$$
3. The methods in this article work in infinite dimensions to give analogous results.
[**Exit times:** ]{} Given such a cover, let $x\in U_n^0$. We define stopping times $\{T_k(x)\}$ as follows: Let $T_0=0$. Let $T_1(x)=\inf\{t>0: F_t(x,\omega)\not \in \overline {U_n}\}$ be the first exit time of $F_t(x)$ from the set $U_n$. Then $F_{T_1}(x,\omega)$ must be in one of the open sets $\{U_k^0\}$. Let $$\begin{aligned}
&\Omega_1^1&=\{\omega: F_{T_1}(x)(\omega)\in U_1^0, T_1(x,\omega)<\infty\}\\
&\Omega_k^1&=\{ \omega: F_{T_1}(x)\in U_k^0- \bigcup_{j=1}^{k-1} U_j^0, T_1<\infty\}\end{aligned}$$ Then $\{\Omega_k^1\}$ are disjoint sets such that $\cup \Omega_k^1=\{T_1<\infty\}$. In general we only need to consider the nonempty sets of such. Define further the following: Let $T_2=\infty$, if $T_1=\infty$. Otherwise if $\omega\in\Omega_k^1$, let: $$T_2(x,\omega)=T_1(x,\omega)+\tau^k(F_{T_1}(x,\omega))$$
In a similar way, the whole sequence of stopping times $\{T_j(x)\}$ and sets $\{\Omega_k^j\}_{k=1}^\infty$ are defined for $j=3, 4, \dots$. Clearly $\Omega_k^j$ so defined is measurable with respect to the sub-algebra ${{\cal F}}_{T_j}$.
Given a weak uniform cover as above. Let $x\in U_n^0$ and $U_n\subset K_m$. Let $t< \delta_{m+k}$. Then $$P\{\omega: T_k(x,\omega)-T_{k-1}(x,\omega)< t, T_{k-1}<\infty\}\leq Ct^2$$
[**Proof:**]{} Notice for such $x$, $F_{T_{k}}(x)\in K_{m+k-1}$. Therefore for $t< \delta_{m+k}$ we have: $$\begin{aligned}
&P&\{\omega: T_k(x,\omega)-T_{k-1}(x,\omega)< t, T_{k-1}<\infty\}\\
&=& \sum_{j=1}^\infty P(\{\omega: T_k(x,\omega)-T_{k-1}(x,\omega)< t\}
\cap \Omega^{k-1}_j)\\
&=& \sum_{j=1}^\infty P\{\tau^j(F_{T_{k-1}}(x))<t, \Omega^{k-1}_j\}\\
&\leq& Ct^2\sum_{j=1}^\infty P(\Omega^{k-1}_j)\leq Ct^2, \end{aligned}$$ as in remark 1. Here $\chi_A$ is the characteristic function for a measurable set $A$, and $E$ denotes taking expectation.
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If $\sum_n t_n=\infty$, $t_n>0$ non-increasing. Then there is a non-increasing sequence $\{s_n\}$, such that $0<s_n\le t_n$:
\(i) $\hskip 12pt \sum s_n=\infty$
\(ii) $\hskip 12pt \sum s_n^2 <\infty$
[**Proof:**]{} Assume $t_n\le 1$, all $n$. Group the sequence $\{t_n\}$ in the following way: $$t_1;\ t_2,\ \dots ,\ t_{k_2};\ t_{k_2+1},\ \dots , \ t_{k_3};
\ t_{k_3+1}\ \dots$$ Such that $1\le t_2+\dots+t_{k_2}\le 2$, $1\le t_{k_i+1} +
\dots +t_{k_{i+1}}\le 2$, $i\ge 2$. Let $s_1=t_1$, $s_2=\frac {t_2} 2, \dots $, $s_{k_2}=\frac {t_{k_2}} 2$, $s_{k_2+1}=\frac {t_{k_2+1}} 3,\dots$, $s_{k_3}=\frac {t_{k_3}} 3$, $s_{k_3+1}=\frac {t_{k_3+1}} 4, \dots$. Clearly the $s_n$’s so defined satisfy the requirements.
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So without losing generality, we may assume from now on that the constants $\{\delta_n\}$ for a weak uniform cover fulfill the two conditions in the above lemma. With these established, we can now state the nonexplosion result. Th proof is analogous to the argument of theorem 6 on Page 129 in [@ELbook].
If the solution $F_t(x)$ of the equation $(1)$ has a weak uniform cover, then it is complete(nonexplosion).
[**Proof: **]{} Let $x\in K_n$, $t>0$, $0<\epsilon< 1$. Pick a number $p$ (may be depending on $\epsilon$ and $n$), such that $\sum_{i=n+1}^{n+p}\epsilon\delta_i>t$, which is possible from: $\sum_{i=1}^\infty \delta_i=\infty$. So $$\begin{aligned}
P\{\xi(x)< t\}&\leq& P\{ T_p(x)< t, T_{p-1}<\infty\}\\
&=& P\{\sum_{k=1}^p (T_k(x)-T_{k-1}(x))<t, T_{p-1}<\infty\}\\
&\leq& \sum_{k=1}^p P\{ T_k(x)-T_{k-1}(x)< \epsilon \delta_{n+k}, T_{k-1}<\infty\} \\
&\leq& C\epsilon^2\sum_{k=n}^{n+p} \delta_k^2
\leq C\epsilon^2\sum_{k=1}^{\infty} \delta_k^2.\end{aligned}$$ Let $\epsilon\to 0$, we get: $P\{ \xi(x)<t\}=0$.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[**Remark:** ]{} The argument in the above proof is valid if the definition of a weak uniform cover is changed slightly, i.e. replacing the constant $C$ by $C_n$ (with some slow growth condition) but keep all $\delta_n$ equal.
To understand more of the weak uniform cover, we look into an example:
[**Example 1 :**]{} Let $\{U_n\}$ be a family of relatively compact open (proper) subsets of $M$ such that $U_n\subset U_{n+1}$ and $\cup_{n=1}^\infty U_n=M$. Assume there is a sequence of numbers $\{\delta_n\} $ with $\sum_n \delta_n=\infty$, such that the following inequality holds when $t<\delta_{n-1}$ and $x\in U_{n-1}$: $P\{\tau^{U_n}(x)<t\}\leq ct^2$. Then the diffusion concerned does not explode by taking $\{U_{n+1}-\overline{U_{n-1}},U_n-\overline{U_{n-1}}\}$ to be a weak uniform cover and $K_n=\bar U_n$.
Boundary behaviour of diffusion processes
=========================================
To consider the boundary behaviour of diffusion processes, we introduce the following concept:
A weak uniform cover $\{U_n^0, U_n\}$ is said to be regular (at infinity for $\bar M$), if the following holds: let $\{x_j\}$ be a sequence in $M$ converging to $\bar x\in \partial M$, and $x_j\in U_{n_j}^0\in\{U_n^0\}_{n=1}^\infty$, then the corresponding open sets $\{U_{n_j}\}_{j=1}^\infty \subset \{U_n\}_1^\infty$ converges to $\bar x$ as well. A regular uniform cover can be defined in a similar way.
For a point $x$ in $M$, there are a succession of related open sets $\{W_x^p\}_{p=1}^\infty$, which are defined as follows: Let $W_x^1$ be the union of all open sets from $\{U_n\}$ such that $U_n^0$ contains $x$, and $W_x^2$ be the union of all open sets from $\{U_n\}$ such that $U_n^0$ intersects one of the open sets $U_{n_j}^0$ defining $W_x^1$. The $\{W_{x}^{p}\}$ are defined similarly. These sets are well defined and in fact form an increasing sequence.
Assume $F_t$ has a regular weak uniform cover. Let $\{x_n\}$ be a sequence in $M$ which converges to a point $\bar x \in \partial M$. Then $W_{x_n}^p$ converges to $\bar x$ as well for each fixed $p$.
[**Proof:**]{} We only need to prove the following: let $\{z_k\}$ be a sequence $z_k\in W_{x_k}^p$, then $z_k \to \bar x$, as $n\to \infty$. First let $p=2$.
By definition, for each $x_k$, $z_k$, there are open sets $U_{n_k}^0$ and $U_{m_k}^0$ such that $x_k\in U_{n_k}^0$, $z_k\in U_{m_k}^0$ and $U^0_{n_k}\cap U^0_{m_k}\not = \emptyset$. Furthermore $U_{n_k}\to \bar x$ as $k\to \infty$. Let $\{y_k\}$ be a sequence of points with $y_k\in U_{n_k}^0\cap U_{m_k}^0$. But $y_k\to \bar x$ since $U_{n_k}$ does. So $U_{m_k}\to \bar x$ again from the definition of a regular weak uniform cover. Therefore $z_k$ converges to $\bar x$ as $k\to \infty$, which is what we want. The rest can be proved by induction.
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If the diffusion $F_t$ admits a regular weak uniform cover for $\bar M$, with $\delta_n=\delta$, all $n$, then the map $F_t(-):M\to M$ can be extended to the compactification $\bar M$ continuously in probability with the restriction to the boundary to be the identity map, uniformly in $t$ in finite intervals. (We will say $F_t$ extends.)
[**Proof:**]{} Take $\bar x\in \partial M$ and a sequence $\{x_n\}$ in $M$ converging to $\bar x$. Let $U$ be a neighbourhood of $\bar x$ in $\bar M$. We want to prove for each $t$:
$$\lim_{n\to\infty}P\{\omega:F_s(x_n,\omega)\not\in U,
\hskip 5pt \hbox{for some}\hskip 3pt s<t \}= 0.$$ Since $x_n$ converges to $\bar x$, there is a number $N(p)$ for each $p$, such that if $n>N=N(p)$, $W_{x_n}^p\subset U$. Let $t>0$, choose $p$ such that ${2t \over p}<\delta$. For a number $n>N(p)$ fixed, we have: $$\begin{aligned}
&P&\{\omega: F_s(x_n,\omega)\not \in U,
\hskip 5pt \hbox{for some}\hskip 3pt s< t\}\\
&\subset& P\{\omega: F_s(x_n,\omega)\not\in W_{x_n}^p,
\hskip 5pt \hbox{for some}\hskip 3pt s< t\}\\
&\leq& P\{\omega:T_p(x_n)(\omega)< t,T_{p-1}(x_n)<\infty\}\\
&\leq& \sum_{k=1}^{p} P\{T_k(x_n)-T_{k-1}(x_n)< {t \over p} ,
T_{k-1}(x_n)<\infty\}\\
&\leq& {Ct^2 \over p} \end{aligned}$$ Here $C$ is the constant in the definition of the weak uniform cover. Let $p$ go to infinity to complete the proof.
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[**Remark:**]{} If $\delta_n$ can be taken all equal, theorem 2.4, theorem 3.2 hold if (5) is relaxed to: $$P\{\tau^n(x)<t\}\le f(t),$$ for some nonnegative function $f$ satisfying $\lim_{t\to 0} {f(t) \over t}=0$.
The weak uniform cover condition is not very easy to apply for a general diffusion on a manifold. For a Brownian motion in a Riemannian manifold it is relatively simple. We often start with a uniform cover, ref. lemma 2.1.
[**Example 2: **]{} Let $M=R^n$ with the one point compactification. Consider the following s.d.e.: $$(It\widehat o) \hskip 12pt dx_t=X(x_t)dB_t+A(x_t)dt$$ Then if both $X$ and $A$ have linear growth, the solution has the $C_0$ property.
[**Proof:**]{} There is a well known uniform cover for this system. See [@Clark73], or [@ELbook]. A slight change gives us the following regular uniform cover:
Take a countable set of points $\{p_n\}_{n\ge 0}\subset M$ such that the open sets $U_n^0=\{z:|z-p_n|<{ |p_n| \over 3}\}, n=1,2, \dots$ and $U_0^0=\{ z: |z-p_0|<2\}$ cover $R^n$. Let $U_0=\{ z: |z-p_0|<6\}$; and $U_n=\{z:|z-p_n|<{|p_n|\over 2}\}$, for $n\not = 0$. Let $\phi_n$ be the chart map on $U_n$: $$\phi _n(z)={z-p_n\over |p_n|}.$$ This certainly defines a uniform cover(for details see Example 3 below). Furthermore if $z_n\to \infty$ and $z_n\in U_n^0$, then any $y\in U_n$ satisfies the following: $$|y|>{|p_n| \over 2} >{1\over 3}|z_n| \to \infty,$$ since $|p_n|\ge {{3 |z_n|} \over 4}$. Thus we have a regular uniform cover which gives the required $C_0$ property.
[**Example 3:**]{} Let $M=R^n$, compactified with the sphere at infinity: $\bar M=R^n\cup S^{n-1}$. Consider the same s.d.e as in the example above. Suppose both $X$ and $A$ have sublinear growth of power $\alpha<1$: $$\begin{aligned}
|X(x)|&\le& K(|x|^\alpha+1)\\
|A(x)|& \le& K(|x|^\alpha+1)\end{aligned}$$ for a constant $K$. Then there is no explosion. Moreover the solution $F_t$ extends.
[**Proof:**]{} The proof is as in example 2, we only need to construct a regular uniform cover for the s.d.e.:
Take points $p_0, p_1, p_2, \dots$ in $R^n$ (with $|p_0|=1$, $|p_n|>1$) , such that the open sets $\{U_n^0\}$ defined by : $ U_0=\{ z: |z-p_0|<2\}$, $U_i^0=\{z:|z-p_i|<{|p_i|^\alpha \over 6}\}$ cover $R^n$.
Let $U_0=\{ z: |z-p_0|<6\}$, $U_i=\{z:|z-p_i|<{|p_i|^\alpha\over 2}\}$, and let $\phi_i$ be the chart map from $U_i$ to $R^n$: $$\phi _i(z)={6(z-p_i)\over |p_i|^\alpha}.$$
Then $\{\phi_i, U_i\}$ is a uniform cover for the stochastic dynamical system. In fact, for $i\not = 0$, and $y\in B_3\subset R^n$: $$|(\phi_i)_\ast (X)(y)|\le {K(1+|\phi_i^{-1}(y)|^\alpha) \over |p_i|^\alpha}
\leq {K \over |p_i|^\alpha} (1+2|p_i|^\alpha)<18K$$
Similarly $|(\phi_i)_\ast (A)(y)|\le 18K$, and $D^2\phi_i=0$.
Next we show this cover is regular. Take a sequence $x_k$ converging to $\bar x$ in $\partial R^n$. Assume $x_k\in U_k^0$. Let $z_k\in U_k$. We want to prove $\{z_k\}$ converge to $\bar x$. First the norm of $z_k$ converges to infinity as $k \to \infty$, since $|p_k|>{ {2|x_k|} \over 3}$ and $|z_k|>|p_k|-{1\over 2} |p_k|^\alpha$.
Let $\theta$ be the biggest angle between points in $U_k$, then
$$\hbox{tan}{\theta\over 2} \leq \sup_{z\in U_n} { |z-p_n| \over |p_n|}
\le {|p_n|^\alpha \over 2|p_n|}
\le {|p_n|^{\alpha -1}\over 2} \to 0.$$ Thus $\{U_n, \phi_n\}$ is a uniform cover satisfying the convergence criterion for the sphere compactification. The required result holds from the theorem.
This result is sharp in the sense there is a s.d.e. with coefficients having linear growth but the solution to it does not extend to the sphere at infinity to be identity:
[**Example 4:**]{} Let $B$ be a one dimensional Brownian motion. Consider the following s.d.e on the complex plane $\cal C$: $$dx_t=ix_tdB_t$$ The solution starting from $x$ is in fact $xe^{iB_t+{t\over 2}}$, which does not continuously extend to be the identity on the sphere at infinity.
Boundary behaviour continued
============================
A diffusion process is a $C_0$ diffusion if its semigroup has the $C_0$ property. This is equivalent to the following[@AZ74]: let $K$ be a compact set, and $T_K(x)$ the first entrance time to $K$ of the diffusion starting from $x$, then $\lim_{x\to\infty} P\{T_K(x)<t\}=0$ for each $t>0$, and each compact set $K$.
The following theorem follows from theorem 3.2 when $\delta_n$ in the definition of weak uniform cover can be taken all equal:
Let $\bar M$ be the one point compactification. Then if the diffusion process $F_t(x)$ admits a regular weak uniform cover, it is a $C_0$ diffusion.
[**Proof:**]{} Let $K$ be a compact set with $K\subset K_j$; here $\{K_j\}$ is as in definition 2.2. Let $\epsilon>0$, $t>0$, then there is a number $N=N(\epsilon, t)$ such that:
$$\delta_{j+2} +\delta_{j+4}+\dots+ \delta_{j+2N-2}>{t\over \epsilon}$$
Take $x\not \in K_{j+2N}$. Assume $x\in K_m$, some $m>j+2N$. Let $T_0$ be the first entrance time of $F_{t}(x)$ to $K_{j+2N-1}$, $T_1$ be the first entrance time of $F_{t}(x)$ to $K_{j+2N-3}$ after $T_0$, (if $T_0<\infty$), and so on. But $P\{T_i<t, T_{i-1}<\infty\}\le Ct^2$ for $t<\delta_{j+2N-2i}, i>0$, since any open sets from the cover intersects at most one boundary of sets from $\{K_n\}$. Thus $$\begin{aligned}
P\{T_K(x)<t\}&\leq& P\{\sum_1^{N-1} T_{i}(x)<t, T_{N-2}<\infty\} \\
&\leq& \sum_{i=1}^{N-1} P\{T_i(x)<\epsilon \delta_{j+2N-2i}, T_{i-1}(x)<\infty\}\\
&\le& C\epsilon^2\sum_1^{N-1}\delta_{j+2N-2i}^2 \,
\le C\epsilon^2\sum_1^\infty\delta_{j}^2\end{aligned}$$ The proof is complete by letting $\epsilon \to 0$.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[**Example 5:**]{} \[ex: nonexplosion fo Ricci\] Let $M$ be a complete Riemannian manifold, $p$ a fixed point in $M$. Denote by $\rho(x)$ the distance between $x$ and $p$, ${\cal B}_r(x)$ the geodesic ball centered at $x$ of radius $r$, and Ricci$(x)$ the Ricci curvature at $x$.
[**Assumption A:**]{} $$\int_1^\infty {1\over \sqrt{K(r)}} dr=\infty$$
Here $K$ is defined as follows:
$$K(r)=-\{\inf_{B_r(p)} \hbox{Ricci}(x)\wedge 0\}$$
Let $X_t(x)$ be a Brownian motion on $M$ with $X_0(x)=x$. Consider the first exit time of $X_t(x)$ from $B_1(x)$:
$$T=\inf_t\{t\geq 0: \rho(x ,X_t(x))=1\}.$$
Then we have the following estimate on $T$ from [@Hsu89]:
If $L(x)>\sqrt{K(\rho(x)+1)}$, then $$P\{T(x)\leq {c_1 \over L(x)} \}\leq \exp^{-c_2L(x)}$$ for all $x\in M$. Here $c_1, c_2$ are positive constants independent of $L$.
This can be rephrased into the form we are familiar with: when $0\le t<{c_1 \over \sqrt{K(\rho(x)+1)}}$, $$P\{T(x)\leq t\}\leq \exp^{-{c_1c_2 \over t}}$$ But $\lim_{t\to 0} {e^{-{c_1c_2\over t}} \over t^2}=0$. So there is a $\delta_0>0$, such that: $e^{-{c_1 c_2 \over t}} \leq t^2$, when $t<\delta_0$. Thus:
[**Estimation on exit times:** ]{} when $t<{c_1 \over \sqrt{K(\rho(x)+1)}}\wedge \delta_0 $, $$P\{T(x)<t\}\leq t^2.$$
Let $\delta_n={1\over \sqrt{K(3n+1)}}\wedge \delta_0$, then we also have the following : $$\sum_1^\infty \delta_n
\ge \sum_1^\infty{1\over \sqrt{K(3n+1)}}
\ge \int_1^\infty {1\over \sqrt{K(3r)}}\, dr=\infty$$
with this we may proceed to prove the following from Hsu:
[**Corollary:**]{} \[Hsu\] A complete Riemannian manifold $M$ with Ricci curvature satisfying assumption A is stochastically complete and has the $C_0$ property.
[**Proof:**]{} There is a regular weak uniform cover as follows:
First take any $p\in M$, and let $K_n=\overline{B_{3n}(p)}$. Take points $p_i$ such that $U_i^0=B_1(p_i)$ covers the manifold. Let $U_i=B_2(p_i)$. Then $\{U_i^0,U_i\}$ is a regular weak uniform cover for $M\cup \Delta$.
[**Remark:**]{} Grigoryán has the following volume growth test on nonexplosion. The Brownian motion does not explode on a manifold if there is a function $f$ on $M$ satisfying: $$\int^\infty {r\over \hbox{Ln}(\hbox{Vol}(B_R))}\, dr=\infty.$$ Here $\hbox{Vol}(B_R)$ denotes the volume of a geodesic ball centered at a point $p$ in $M$. This result is stronger than the corollary obtained above by the following comparison theorem on a $n$ dimensional manifold: let $\omega_{n-1}$ denote the volume of the $n-1$ sphere of radius $1$,
$$\hbox{Vol}(B_R) \le \omega_{n-1} \int_0^R\{ \sqrt{{(n-1) \over K(R)}}
\hbox{Sinh}(\sqrt{{K(R)\over (n-1)}} r)\}^{(n-1)}\, dr.$$ Notice $K(R)$ is positive when $R$ is sufficiently big provided the Ricci curvature is not nonnegative everywhere. So Grigoryán’s result is stronger than the one obtained above.
The definition of weak uniform cover is especially suitable for the one point compactification. For general compactifications the following definition explores more of the geometry of the manifolds and gives a better result:
Let $\bar M$ be a compactification of $M$, $\bar x \in \partial M$. A diffusion process $F_t$ is said to have a uniform cover at the point $\bar x$, if there is a sequence $A_n$ of open neighbourhoods of $\bar x$ in $\bar M$ and positive numbers $\delta_n$ and a constant $c>0$, such that:
1. The sequence of $A_n$ is strictly decreasing, with $\cap A_n=\bar x$, and $A_n\supset \partial A_{n+1}$.
2. The sequence of numbers $\delta_n$ is non-increasing with $\sum \delta_n=\infty$ and $\sum\delta^2_n<\infty$.
3. When $t<\delta_{n}$, and $x\in A_{n}-A_{n+1}$, $$P\{\tau^{A_{n-1}}(x)<t\}\leq ct^2$$ Here $\tau^{A_n}(x)$ denotes the first exit time of $F_t(x)$ from the set $A_n$.
If there is a uniform cover for $\bar x \in \partial M$, then $F_t(x)$ converges to $\bar x$ continuously in probability, uniformly in $t$ in finite interval, as $x \to\bar x$.
Proof: The existence of $\{A_n\}$ will ensure $F_{\tau^{A_{n}}}(x)\subset A_{n-1}$, which allows us to apply a similar argument as in the case of the one point compactification. Here we denote by $\tau^A$ the first exit time of the process $F_t(x)$ from a set $A$.
Let $U$ be a neighbourhood of $\bar x$. For this $U$, by compactness of $\bar M$, there is a number $m$ such that $A_m\subset U$, since $\cap_{k=1}^\infty A_k=\bar x$. Let $0<\epsilon<1$, $\bar \epsilon=({\epsilon \over c\sum_k \delta_k^2})^{1\over 2}$. we may assume $\bar \epsilon<1$. Choose $p=p(\epsilon)>0$ such that:
$$\delta_{m}+\delta_{m+1}+\dots +\delta_{m+p-1}>{t \over\bar \epsilon}$$
Let $x\in A_{m+p+2}$. Denote by $T_0(x)$ the first exit time of $F_t(x)$ from $A_{m+p+1}$, $T_1(x)$ the first exit time of $F_{T_0}(x)$ from $A_{m+p}$ where defined. Similarly $T_i, i>1$ are defined.
Notice if $T_i(x)<\infty$, then $F_{T_i(x)}\in A_{m+p-i}-A_{m+p+1-i}$, for $i=0, 1, 2,\dots $. Thus for $i>0$ there is the following inequality from the definition and the Markov property: $$P\{T_i(x)<\bar\epsilon \delta_{m+p-i}\}\leq c\bar\epsilon^2 \delta^2_{m+p-i}$$
Therefore we have: $$\begin{aligned}
P\{\tau^U(x)<t\} &\leq& P\{\tau^{A_m}(x)<t\} \\
&\leq&P\{T_{p}+\dots +T_1<t, T_{p-1}<\infty\}\\
&\leq& \sum_{i=1}^{p} P\{T_i<\bar \epsilon\delta_{m+p-i}, T_{i-1}<\infty\}\\
&\leq& c\bar\epsilon^2\sum_{i=1}^{p}\delta_{m+p-i}^2<\epsilon \end{aligned}$$ This finishes the proof.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Property at infinity of semigroups
==================================
Recall a semigroup is said to have the $C_0$ property, if it sends $C_0(M)$, the space of continuous functions on $M$ vanishing at infinity, to itself. Let $\bar M$ be a compactification of $M$. Denote by $\Delta$ the point at infinity for the one point compactification. Corresponding to the $C_0$ property of semigroups we consider the following $C_*$ property for $\bar M$:
A semigroup $P_t$ is said to have the $C_*\hskip 4pt$ property for $\bar M$, if for each continuous function $f$ on $\bar M$, the following holds: let $\{x_n\}$ be a sequence converging to $\bar x$ in $\partial M$, then $$\lim_{n\to \infty} P_tf(x_n)=f(\bar x),$$
To justify the definition, we notice if $\bar M$ is the one point compactification, condition $C_*\hskip 4pt$ will imply the $C_0\hskip 4pt$ property of the semigroup. On the other hand if $P_t$ has the $C_0$ property, it has the $C_*$ property for $M\cup \Delta$ assuming nonexplosion. This is observed by subtracting a constant function from a continuous function $f$ on $M\cup\Delta$: Let $g(x)=f(x)-f(\Delta)$, then $g\in C_0(M)$. So $P_tg(x)=P_tf(x)-f(\Delta)$. Thus $$\lim_{n \to \infty} P_tf(x_n)
=\lim_{n \to \infty} P_tg(x_n) +f(\Delta)=f(\Delta),$$ if $\lim_{n \to \infty} x_n=\Delta$.
In fact the $C_*$ property holds for the one point compactification if and only if there is no explosion and the $C_0$ property holds. These properties are often possessed by processes, e.g. a Brownian motion on a Riemannian manifold with Ricci curvature which satisfies (10) has this property.
Before proving this claim, we observe first that:
If $P_t$ has the $C_*$ property for any compactification $\bar M$, it must have the $C_*$ property for the one point compactification.
[**Proof: **]{} Let $f\in C(M\cup \Delta)$. Define a map $\beta$ from $\bar M$ to $M\cup \Delta$: $\beta(x)=x $ on the interior of $M$, and $\beta(x)=\Delta$, if $x$ belongs to the boundary. Then $\beta$ is a continuous map from $\bar M$ to $M\cup \Delta$, since for any compact set $K$, the inverse set $\bar M-K=\beta^{-1}(M\cup\Delta-K)$ is open in $\bar M$.
Let $g$ be the composition map of $f$ with $\beta$: $g=f\circ \beta: \bar M\to R$. Thus $g(x)|M=f(x)|M$, and $g(x)|_{\partial M}=f(\Delta)$. So for a sequence $\{x_n\}$ converging to $\bar x\in \partial M$, $\lim_n P_tf(x_n)=\lim_n P_tg(x_n)=g(\bar x)=f(\Delta)$.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are ready to prove the following theorem:
If a semigroup $P_t$ has the $C_* $ property, the associated diffusion process $F_t$ is complete.
Proof: We may assume the compactification under consideration is the one point compactification from the the lemma above. Take $f\equiv 1$, $P_tf(x)=P\{t<\xi(x)\}$. But $P\{t<\xi(x)\}\to 1$ as $x\to \Delta$ from the assumption. More precisely for any $\epsilon>0$, there is a compact set $K_\epsilon$ such that if $x\not\in K_\epsilon$, $P\{t<\xi(x)\}>1-\epsilon$.
Let $K$ be a compact set containing $K_\epsilon$. Denote by $\tau $ the first exit time of $F_t(x)$ from $K$. So $F_\tau(x)\not \in K_\epsilon$ on the set $\{\tau<\infty\}$. Thus: $$\begin{aligned}
P\{t<\xi(x)\}
&\geq& P\{\tau<\infty, t<\xi(F_\tau(x))\}+P\{\tau=\infty\}\\
&=& E\{\chi_{\tau<\infty} E\{\chi_{t<\xi(F_\tau(x))}|{{\cal F}}_\tau\}\}+ P\{\tau=\infty\}\end{aligned}$$ Here $\chi_A$ denotes the characteristic function of set $A$. Applying the strong Markov property of the diffusion we have: $$E\{\chi_{\tau<\infty} E\{\chi_{t<\xi(F_\tau(x))}|{{\cal F}}_\tau\}\}
=E\{\chi_{\tau<\infty} E\{t<\xi(y)|F_\tau=y\}\}.$$ However $$E\{\chi_{t<\xi(y)}|F_\tau=y\}> 1-\epsilon,$$ So $$\begin{aligned}
P\{t<\xi(x)\}&\ge& P\{\tau=\infty\}+E\{\chi_{\tau<\infty}(1-\epsilon)\} \\
&=& 1-\epsilon P\{\tau<\infty\}\end{aligned}$$ Therefore $P\{t<\xi(x)\}=1$, since $\epsilon$ is arbitrary.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the following we examine the the relation between the behaviour at $\infty$ of diffusion processes and the diffusion semigroups.
The semigroup $P_t$ has the $C_*$ property if and only if the diffusion process $F_t$ is complete and can be extended to $\bar M$ continuously in probability with $F_t(x)|_{\partial M}=x$.
Proof: Assume $F_t$ is complete and extends. Take a point $\bar x \in \partial M$, and sequence $\{x_n\}$ converging to $\bar x$. Thus $$\lim_{n\to \infty} P_tf(x_n)=\lim_{n\to \infty} Ef(F_t(x_n))=Ef(x)=f(x)$$ for any continuous function on $\bar M$, by the dominated convergence theorem.
On the other hand $P_t$ does not have the $C_*$ property if the assumption above is not true. In fact let $x_n$ be a sequence converging to $\bar x$, such that for some neighbourhood $U$ of $\bar x$, and a number $\delta>0$: $$\liminf_{n\to \infty} P\{F_t(x_n)\not \in U\}=\delta$$ There is therefore a subsequence $\{x_{n_i}\}$ such that: $$\lim_{i\to \infty} P\{F_t(x_{n_i})\not \in U\}=\delta.$$ Thus there exists $N>0$, such that if $i>N$: $$P\{F_t(x_{n_i}) \in \bar M-U\}>{\delta \over 2}.$$ But since $\bar M$ is a compact Hausdorff space, there is a continuous function $f$ from $M$ to $[0,1]$ such that $f|_{\bar M-U}=1$, and $f(x)|_G=0$, for any open set $G$ in $U$. Therefore
$$\begin{aligned}
P_tf(x_n)&=&Ef(F_t(x_n)) \\
&\geq& \int_{\{\omega: F_t(x_n)\in \bar M-U\}}
f(F_t(x_n))\, P(d\omega)\\
&=&P\{F_t(x_n)\in \bar M-U\} > {\delta \over 2} \end{aligned}$$
So $\lim P_tf(x_n)\not =f(x)=0.$
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assume the diffusion process $F_t$ admits a weak uniform cover regular for $M\cup \Delta$, then its diffusion semigroup $P_t$ has the $C_*$ property for $M\cup\Delta$. The same is true for a general compactification if all $\delta_n$ in the weak uniform cover can be taken equal.
[**Example 7:**]{}[@DO-LI84] Let $M$ be a complete connected Riemannian manifold with Ricci curvature bounded from below. Let $\bar M$ be a compactification such that the ball convergence criterion holds (ref. section 1). In particular the over determined equation (2)-(4) is solvable for any continuous function $f$ on $\bar M$ if the ball convergence criterion holds.
[**Proof:**]{} We keep the notation of example 5 here. Let $K=-\{\inf_x Ricci(x)\wedge 0\}$, $\delta={c_1\over k}$, where $c_1$ is the constant in example 5. Let $p\in M$ be a fixed point, and $K_n=\overline{B_{3n}(p)}$ be compact sets in $M$. Take points $\{p_i\}$ in $M$ such that $\{B_1(p_i)\}$ cover the manifold. Then $\{B_1(p_i), B_2(p_i)\}$ is a weak uniform cover from (11) and (12). Moreover this is a regular cover if the ball convergence criterion holds for the compactification.
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Address:\
Department of Mathematics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4, 7AL, U.K.\
e-mail: xl@maths.warwick.ac.uk
[^1]: AMS 1991 subject classification: 31B25, 60H30, 60J50, 60J60
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Keywords:
Abstract:
Anodic dissolution of 420 stainless steel (Fe‐13Cr alloy) in concentrated phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, and their mixtures has been studied to determine the conditions that lead to electropolishing of the alloy in these electrolytes. A rotating disk electrode system has been employed to study the influence of electrolyte composition, electrode rotation speed, and electrolyte temperature on anodic polarization behavior and the surface finish. Anodic polarization curves in these electrolytes show active‐passive‐transpassive transitions. Concentrated sulfuric acid is found to be unsuitable for electro‐polishing, since metal dissolution is insignificant in this electrolyte, even at very high anode potentials. In phosphoric acid and a mixture of phosphoric and sulfuric acids, electropolishing is observed in the transpassive potential region at or beyond a limiting current plateau. At 90°C, the measured limiting current densities as a function of the rotation speed follow Levich behavior, while at 25°C and 60°C, convective mass transport effects are masked by surface kinetic steps. Highly reflecting and microsmooth surfaces are obtained under conditions where the dissolution reaction is mass transport‐controlled. |
Chaotic model and memory in single calcium-activated potassium channel kinetics.
Ion channels are pores formed by proteins and responsible for carrying ion fluxes through cellular membranes. The ion channels can assume conformational states thereby controlling ion flow. Physically, the conformational transitions from one state to another are associated with energy barriers between them and are dependent on stimulus, such as, electrical field, ligands, second messengers, etc. Several models have been proposed to describe the kinetics of ion channels. The classical Markovian model assumes that a future transition is independent of the time that the ion channel stayed in a previous state. Others models as the fractal and the chaotic assume that the rate of transitions between the states depend on the time that the ionic channel stayed in a previous state. For the calcium activated potassium channels of Leydig cells the R/S Hurst analysis has indicated that the channels are long-term correlated with a Hurst coefficient H around 0.7, showing a persistent memory in this kinetic. Here, we applied the RS analysis to the opening and closing dwell time series obtained from simulated data from a chaotic model proposed by L. Liebovitch and T. Tóth [J. Theor. Biol. 148, 243 (1991)] and we show that this chaotic model or any model that treats the set of channel openings and closings as independent events is inadequate to describe the long-term correlation (memory) already described for the experimental data. |
Base sequence dependence of in vitro translesional DNA replication past a bulky lesion catalyzed by the exo- Klenow fragment of Pol I.
The effects of base sequence, specifically different pyrimidines flanking a bulky DNA adduct, on translesional synthesis in vitro catalyzed by the Klenow fragment of Escherichia coli Pol I (exo(-)) was investigated. The bulky lesion was derived from the binding of a benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide isomer [(+)-anti-BPDE] to N(2)-guanine (G*). Four different 43-base long oligonucleotide templates were constructed with G* at a site 19 bases from the 5'-end. All bases were identical, except for the pyrimidines, X or Y, flanking G* (sequence context 5'-.XGY., with X, Y = C and/or T). In all cases, the adduct G* slows primer extension beyond G* more than it slows the insertion of a dNTP opposite G* (A and G were predominantly inserted opposite G, with A > G). Depending on X or Y, full lesion bypass differed by factors of approximately 1.5-5 ( approximately 0.6-3.0% bypass efficiencies). A downstream T flanking G on the 5'-side instead of C favors full lesion bypass, while an upstream C flanking G* is more favorable than a T. Various deletion products resulting from misaligned template-primer intermediates are particularly dominant ( approximately 5.0-6.0% efficiencies) with an upstream flanking C, while a 3'-flanking T lowers the levels of deletion products ( approximately 0.5-2.5% efficiencies). The kinetics of (1) single dNTP insertion opposite G* and (2) extension of the primer beyond G* by a single dNTP, or in the presence of all four dNTPs, with different 3'-terminal primer bases (Z) opposite G* were investigated. Unusually efficient primer extension efficiencies beyond the adduct (approaching approximately 90%) was found with Z = T in the case of sequences with 3'-flanking upstream C rather than T. These effects are traced to misaligned slipped frameshift intermediates arising from the pairing of pairs of downstream template base sequences (up to 4-6 bases from G*) with the 3'-terminal primer base and its 5'-flanking base. The latter depend on the base Y and on the base preferentially inserted opposite the adduct. Thus, downstream template sequences as well as the bases flanking G* influence DNA translesion synthesis. |
Lately, the issues of pavement maintenance, hazard removal and airport revenues have been in the spotlight.
Areas of the runway and taxiway could use work, according to an evaluation from Ohio Department of Transportation officials. Essex said no pavement improvements have been made in at least eight years.
In year's past, it was widely reported about 27 planes take off and land at the local airport in an average day.
"The average is 1.5 planes a day," Essex said.
Stories about the airport have been published recently in the Norwalk Reflector. So you don't miss stories such as these, you can subscribe to the Norwalk Reflector to receive home delivery and/or the e-paper, which is a complete digital replica of each issue. For more information, call (419) 668-3771 or click HERE.
Comments
J Cooper
Sat, 01/25/2014 - 4:34pm
1.5 landings a day, time to sell it, rich boys can find a place for their hobby.
Windy
Sat, 01/25/2014 - 4:44pm
Does Essex sit out there 24/7/365 and count the planes landing himself, or is he just assuming? I'd like to know how he arrived at that figure.
propman
Sat, 01/25/2014 - 5:09pm
Essex has been on the airport board for almost 4 years and now he, as president, is talking about getting things done?
He has been one of those delaying things before and working against getting FAA grants to fund the needed work. Where are the funds coming from to do it now? Answer the county taxpayers 100%. The last three years there was money available for the match to the FAA grants that would have cost the county taxpayers $0. That would have brought in Nearly a million dollars to the local economy from outside. That is a large gain for the local economy that he worked against.
While doing that Essex as the assistant county engineer and as the village administrator for N. Fairfield he pursued how many grants as being needed for maintaining and improving the infrastructure?
He has also suggested things that would have removed the airports ability to keep the operating income it already has and needs.
Once again Sietz has posted an "article" that is nothing more then an Essex opinion/propaganda piece in order to give it an air of legitimacy.
chevygirl
Sat, 01/25/2014 - 10:35pm
I'm sure the only reason Essex was appointed to the board was to sabotage improvements and make sure the airport continues to deteriorate. He's just another loud mouth political lacky, whether as a county employee, an airport board member, or pretending to administer for N Fairfield. The sooner you get rid of him the better off the county will be.
fedup2
Sun, 01/26/2014 - 12:47am
I would not want to be the one riding in that half a plane that lands daily (:
fedup2
Sun, 01/26/2014 - 1:06am
Maybe Essex could spend a little energy cleaning up that eyesore that he owns on Linwood...the old Outdoorsman building. Broken, half boarded windows..etc
brickley77
Sun, 01/26/2014 - 7:39am
Half a plane, now that's funny.
rickross2
Sun, 01/26/2014 - 7:59am
I assume they have an ultra-light they are counting as the .5 :-)
2sense
Sun, 01/26/2014 - 9:42am
45÷30days=1.5 You won't sustain much with those numbers.
Fibber Mcgee
Sun, 01/26/2014 - 10:59am
Question.. do they count a touch and go as a landing at the airport?
I hope not.
TOPGUN01
Mon, 01/27/2014 - 8:12am
ESSEX CAN NOT RUN HIS OWN LIFE! LOOK AT HIS PROPERTY HE OWNS?OLD MEEKS BAKERY!AND HAIR SHOP ON LINWOOD? |
[Studies on the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus--immunochemical studies with monoclonal islet cell surface antibody using hybridization of spleen lymphocytes from non-obese diabetic mice].
The production of monoclonal antibodies to islet cell surface antigens, using hybridization of spleen lymphocytes from non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice has been reported previously from our laboratory. In the present study, the immunochemical characteristics of the monoclonal antibody (3A4) have been investigated using In-111 cells, a virus-induced insulinoma cell line derived from the Syrian golden hamster as target cells. The antibody 3A4 could be visually detected in the immunoenzymatic labelling of the surface of In-111 cells. To identify the molecular weight of target specific antigens reacting with 3A4, 125I-surface labelled In-111 cells were solubilized and extracts were absorbed with 3A4. The immunoprecipitates were subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. 3A4 recognized two major polypeptides with apparent molecular weights of radioactive 64K and inactive 28K daltons. In order to evaluate antibody-mediated cytotoxic mechanisms of 3A4, complement-dependent antibody-mediated cytotoxicity (C'AMC) and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) were tested, using a method of specific chromium release. In the study for C'AMC, even though over wide ranges of antibody concentration and rabbit complement, purified 3A4 had no apparent cytotoxic effects on In-111 cells. On the other hand, significant ADCC was observed at 10 micrograms/ml antibody concentration and 1:40 target: effector cell ratio. Finally, the effect of 3A4 on glucose-stimulated insulin release in isolated rat islets was examined. At 16.7 mM glucose concentration, 3A4 significantly inhibited the insulin release in the absence or presence of complement. Therefore, 3A4 can not only bind but also be active to the target cells in the cytotoxicity and suppression of insulin release, and it can be a useful tool to clarify the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, these results suggest that the relationship between islet cell surface antibody and cell-mediated immunity, especially immunoresponse against certain antigenic determinants on pancreatic B cells, seems to be important in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes mellitus. |
Q:
Check if JSON contains something C#
Basically I get the current item stock from Supreme in JSON. Then I deserialize it to object. I have been trying to check if the object contains the desired item, and get its id.
A:
Based on the data coming back from that endpoint, you probably need to look a little deeper, which is easiest to do with JObject's SelectToken method.
var shop_object = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<JObject>(shop_json);
Console.WriteLine(shop_object);
try
{
if (shop_object.SelectTokens("$..name").Any(t => t.Value<string>() == DesiredItem))
{
Console.WriteLine("\n \n The desired item is in stock");
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("error keyword");
}
Note that this uses an equality check on the string, so little details like the space at the end of "Reversible Bandana Fleece Jacket " can potentially throw you off.
|
Q:
Foundation grid cannot align
I have this free Philippines texting site and as you can see I can't align the captcha image with the textbox. It is below the captcha image. How can I align the textbox? Here is my code. I am using foundation css framework.
<body>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-12 columns">
<div class="nav-bar right">
<ul class="button-group">
<li><a href="index" class="button">Free SMS</a></li>
<li><a href="contact" class="button">Contact Me</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<img src="img/smsbanner.png">
<hr/>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-4 large-centered columns">
<div class="large-12 columns">
<form action="sendsms.php" method="POST" name="txtform" data-abide>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-12 columns">
<div class="row">
<div class="small-3 columns">
<label for="right-label" class="right">+63</label>
</div>
<div class="small-9 columns">
<input type="text" name="txt_number" placeholder="10 digit number" required pattern="number" maxlength="10"/>
<small class="error">Phone number is required.</small>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-12 columns">
<textarea rows="10" cols="50" placeholder="Message" required maxlength="200" name="txt_body" style="resize:none;"
onKeyDown="limitText(this.form.txt_body,this.form.countdown,200);"
onKeyUp="limitText(this.form.txt_body,this.form.countdown,200);"></textarea>
<small class="error">Your message is required.</small>
<div class="row">
<div class="small-5 columns">
<img id="captcha" src="securimage/securimage_show.php" alt="CAPTCHA Image" />
</div>
<div class="small=7 columns">
<input type="text" name="captcha_code" size="10" maxlength="6" style="width:100px;"/>
<a href="#" onclick="document.getElementById('captcha').src = '/securimage/securimage_show.php?' + Math.random(); return false">[ Different Image ]</a>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="small-4 columns">
<input readonly type="text" name="countdown" size="3" value="200">
</div>
<div class="small-8 columns">
characters left.
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="row">
<div class="large-12 large-centered columns">
<input type="submit" class="button expand" value="Send" name="send_btn"/>
</div>
</div>
</form>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<footer class="row">
<?php include 'footer.php'; ?>
</footer>
<script src="js/vendor/jquery.js"></script>
<script src="js/foundation.min.js"></script>
<script>
$(document).foundation();
</script>
</body>
A:
Looks like a pretty minor problem.
<div class="small=7 columns">
should be
<div class="small-7 columns">
|
2. Archaearium. Showcases artifacts from historic James Fort. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. Included in admission to Colonial National Historical Park ($10 adults, free for children 15 and under). Western end of Colonial Parkway, James City County. 229-1733. historicjamestowne.org/visit
24. Yorktown Victory Center. Exhibits explore the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Yorktown while living history displays recreate a Continental Army encampment and 1780s Tidewater farm. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. $9.75 adults, $5.55 children 6-12. Route 1020 near the Colonial Parkway, York County. 887-1776. historyisfun.org/yorktown/yorktown.cfm
30. Historic Jamestowne. Site of the New World's first permanent English-speaking settlement includes old Jamestown Church, National Park Service Visitor Center and archaeological museum. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily. Included in admission to Colonial National Historical Park ($10 adults, children 15 and under free). Western end of Colonial Parkway, James City County. 229-1733. historicjamestowne.org
•Shirley. The oldest continuous family-owned business and farm in North America dates to 1638. shirleyplantation.com
•Berkeley. Historic 1726 mansion was the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and William Henry Harrison, 9th U.S. president. Colonists celebrated the first official Thanksgiving here in 1619. berkeleyplantation.com
•Sherwood Forest. Home of President John Tyler, Sherwood Forest is the longest frame dwelling in America and is still owned by Tyler's descendants. Historic gardens date to mid-1800s. sherwoodforest.org
•Westover. This premier American example of Georgian architecture was completed by famed Virginia planter, scholar, author and wit William Byrd II around 1730. jamesriverplantations.org/
34. Moore House. Site of negotiations that led to British surrender after the 1781 Battle of Yorktown. Hours vary by season. Admission included in Colonial National Historical Park ticket. $10 adults, children 15 and under free. Highway 238, Yorktown. 898-2410. nps.gov/york/historyculture/moore-house.htm
36. Nelson House. Restored home of Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Nelson. Call for hours. Admission included in Colonial National Historical Park ticket. $10 adults, children 15 and under free. Main Street, Yorktown. 898-2410. nps.gov/york/historyculture/nelson-house.htm
38. Old Courthouse of 1750. Restored brick structure is one of only four surviving arcaded court buildings from Colonial Virginia. 1-4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Saturday March-December with reduced hours in February. Free. 130 Main St., Smithfield. 356-9016. preservationvirginia.org/visit/historic-properties/isle-of-wight-courthouse
39. Poor Potter Archaeological Site. Archaeological remains of the William Rogers pottery factory believed to be the largest known enterprise of its type in Colonial America. Hours vary by season. Admission included in Colonial National Historical Park ticket. $10 adults, children 15 and under free. Read Street, Yorktown. 898-2410. nps.gov/york/historyculture/the-poor-potter-site.htm
44. Smith's Fort Plantation. 18th-century brick house with original woodwork built on land given to John Rolfe as a dowry gift for his marriage to Pocahontas. Noon-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday April 1-October 31 and weekends only in November and March. $8 adults, $5 children 6-17. 217 Smith Fort Lane, Surry (off Highway 31). 294-3872. preservationvirginia.org/visit/historic-properties/smiths-fort-plantation
46. Yorktown Battlefield. Site of the historic 1781 siege that ended the Revolutionary War. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Admission included in Colonial National Historical Park ticket of $10 adults, children 15 and under free). Eastern end of Colonial Parkway, Yorktown. 898-2410. nps.gov/yonb/index.htm |
FIFTH DIVISION
MCFADDEN, P. J.,
BRANCH and BETHEL, JJ.
NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be
physically received in our clerk’s office within ten
days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed.
http://www.gaappeals.us/rules
June 30, 2017
In the Court of Appeals of Georgia
A17A0044. COLUMBUS CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT v.
FRANKLIN WOODY
BETHEL, Judge.
The Columbus Consolidated Government (Columbus) appeals from the denial
of its motion for judgment on the pleadings. Columbus asserts that sovereign
immunity bars the claims of Franklin Woody because the injuries he sustained while
welding a garbage truck belonging to Columbus as part of a prison work detail did
not arise from the negligent use of a motor vehicle.
We agree and reverse because the statute providing wavier of sovereign immunity is
limited in scope and does not allow a plaintiff to bring suit to recover for injuries
arising solely out of maintenance of a covered motor vehicle.
“On appeal, we review de novo the trial court’s decision on a motion for
judgment on the pleadings, and we construe the complaint in a light most favorable
to [Woody], drawing all reasonable inferences in his favor.” Hewell v. Walton Cty,
292 Ga. App. 510, 510-11 (664 SE2d 875) (2008) (citation omitted). So viewed, the
pleadings allege that on October 12, 2011, Franklin Woody was working a prisoner
work detail. Woody was assigned the task of welding spots on the body of a garbage
truck belonging to Columbus. Sparks from the welding ignited Woody’s prison
jumpsuit and he sustained injuries. Woody brought a personal injury action against
Columbus.1 Columbus filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that
Woody’s claims were barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. The trial court
denied Columbus’ motion, and this appeal followed.
“Under Georgia law, sovereign immunity is an immunity from suit, rather than
a mere defense to liability,” and therefore, whether a governmental defendant has
waived its sovereign immunity is a threshold issue. Bd. of Regents, of Univ. Sys. of
Ga. v. Canas, 295 Ga. App. 505, 507 (1) (672 SE2d 471) (2009) overruled on other
grounds by Rivera v. Washington, 298 Ga. 770 (784 SE2d 775) (2016). Sovereign
1
The Georgia Department of Corrections was originally named as a co-
defendant in this suit; however, it was later dismissed without prejudice by order of
the trial court.
2
immunity extends to the county and can only be waived by a legislative act of the
General Assembly specifically providing for the wavier and its extent. Hewell, 292
Ga. App. at 512 (citation omitted); see also Ga. Const. Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX.
Accordingly, “[a] waiver of sovereign immunity must be established by the party
seeking to benefit from that waiver.” McCobb v. Clayton Cty., 309 Ga. App. 217, 218
(1) (a) (710 SE2d 207) (2011) (citation and punctuation omitted).
The sole issue before this Court is whether OCGA §§ 33-24-51 (b) and 36-92-2
waive sovereign immunity for injuries arising from the maintenance work performed
by Woody on the garbage truck. In response to Columbus’s motion for judgment on
the pleadings, Woody argued, and the trial court found, that OCGA §§ 33-24-51 (b)
and 36-92-2 waive Columbus’s sovereign immunity.2 However, an analysis of the
plain language of these statutes as illuminated by their history shows that that
determination was incorrect.
Prior to 2005, subsection (a) of OCGA § 33-24-51 provided that political
subdivisions of the state, including municipalities, were authorized to procure liability
2
We note that Woody, while working as a prisoner, clearly stands in the place
of an involuntary servant under the provisions of OCGA 33-24-51(b). See Chamlee
v. Henry Cty. Bd. of Ed., 239 Ga. App. 183, 189 (521 SE2d 78) (1999) (Eldridge, J.,
concurring specially).
3
and property damage insurance “arising by reason of ownership, maintenance,
operation, or use of any motor vehicle by the political subdivision. . . .” Ga. L. 1960,
p. 289, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1054, § 1. Subsection (b) then provided that when a
political subdivision purchased “the insurance authorized by subsection (a) . . . its
governmental immunity shall be waived to the extent of the amount of insurance so
purchased.” Id. Thus, in Chamlee v. Henry County Bd. of Educ., 239 Ga. App. 183,
188 (2) (521 SE2d 78) (1999), this Court held that subsection (b) “provides for
waiver of sovereign immunity to the extent of the amount of liability insurance
purchased . . . that arises out of either ownership, maintenance, operation, or use of
a motor vehicle.”3
Effective in 2005, however, the legislature amended the statute to change
fundamentally how the waiver of sovereign immunity worked, and it did so largely
by adding a new first sentence to subsection (b) and by adding several related new
code sections, most importantly, OCGA § 36-92-2. As amended, subsections (a) and
(b) of OCGA § 33-24-51, provide as follows:
3
In so concluding, this Court in Chamlee noted that although some Supreme
Court of Georgia cases had stated that under OCGA § 33-24-51, the government
entity waives immunity arising from the use of a motor vehicle, in none of those cases
did the Supreme Court actually address any distinction between the categories of
ownership, operation, maintenance, or use. Chamlee, 239 Ga. App. at 186-187.
4
(a) A municipal corporation, a county, or any other political subdivision
of this state is authorized in its discretion to secure and provide
insurance to cover liability for damages on account of bodily injury or
death resulting from bodily injury to any person or for damage to
property of any person, or for both arising by reason of ownership,
maintenance, operation, or use of any motor vehicle by the municipal
corporation, county, or any other political subdivision of this state under
its management, control, or supervision, whether in a governmental
undertaking or not, and to pay premiums for the insurance coverage.
(b) The sovereign immunity of local government entities for a loss
arising out of claims for the negligent use of a covered motor vehicle is
waived as provided in Code Section 36-92-2. Whenever a municipal
corporation, a county, or any other political subdivision of this state
shall purchase the insurance authorized by subsection (a) of this Code
section to provide liability coverage for the negligence of any duly
authorized officer, agent, servant, attorney, or employee in the
performance of his or her official duties in an amount greater than the
amount of immunity waived as in Code Section 36-92-2, its
governmental immunity shall be waived to the extent of the amount of
insurance so purchased. . . .
OCGA § 33-24-51 (emphasis supplied). Correspondingly, new Code section 36-92-2
established the degree to which immunity was waived under the new first sentence
5
of OCGA § 33-24-51 (b) for “negligent use of a covered motor vehicle.” OCGA § 36-
92-2 (a). And it also provides that
[t]he sovereign immunity of local government entities for a loss arising
out of claims for the negligent use of a covered motor vehicle is waived
only to the extent and in the manner provided in this chapter and only
with respect to actions brought in the courts of this state.
OCGA § 36-92-2 (b). Thus, as the Georgia Supreme Court has summarized, OCGA
§ 33-24-51, as amended, “create[s] a two-tier scheme within which local governments
are deemed to have waived sovereign immunity”:
The first tier . . . requires local entities to waive sovereign
immunity—up to certain prescribed limits—for incidents involving
motor vehicles regardless of whether they procure automobile liability
insurance. The second tier, enacted by OCGA § 33-24-51 (b), and as
revised [effective in 2005], provides for the waiver of sovereign
immunity to the extent a local entity purchases liability insurance in an
amount exceeding the limits prescribed in OCGA § 36-92-2.
Gates v. Glass, 291 Ga. 350, 352-353 (729 SE2d 361) (2012) (emphasis supplied).
The first sentence in OCGA § 33-24-51 (b) and OCGA § 36-92-2 indicate that the
first-tier waiver of immunity does not apply to “ownership, maintenance, [or]
operation” of a motor vehicle, the terms found in subsection (a) of OCGA § 33-24-51.
6
Consequently, cases interpreting the statute, as it existed prior to 2005, are not
relevant to the question before the Court in this case.4 This case thus presents a
question of first impression in Georgia with respect to the amended language of
OCGA § 33-24-51(b) and the language of OCGA § 36-92-2.
In construing this statute, we start and if at all possible end, with the plain
language of the statute.
Under our well-established rules of statutory construction . . . we must
afford the statutory text its plain and ordinary meaning, we must view
the statutory text in the context in which it appears, and we must read
the statutory text in its most natural and reasonable way, as an ordinary
speaker of the English language would. We look to the text of the
provision in question and its context within the larger legal framework
to discern the intent of the legislature in enacting it.
4
See, e.g., Williams v. Whitfield Cty., 289 Ga. App. 301, 303 (656 SE2d 584)
(2008); Chamlee, 239 Ga. App. at 188; see also Blumsack v. Bartow Cty., 223 Ga.
App. 392, 393-396 (1) (477 SE2d 642) (1996). The plain language of OCGA § 33-24-
51 (b) in effect when the events giving rise to Chamlee and Williams occurred
provided for waiver simply because the government had purchased insurance
providing liability coverage. However, as we discuss more fully in the body of this
opinion, the statute authorizing these holdings has been narrowed by the General
Assembly, making the prior interpretation of OCGA § 33-24-51 (b) we articulated in
Chamlee and Williams no longer applicable and contrary to the explicit text of the
currrent statute.
7
West v. State, 300 Ga. 39, 42 (793 SE2d 57) (2016) (citations and punctuation
omitted).
“Statutes should be read according to the natural and most obvious import of
the language, without resorting to subtle and forced constructions, for the purpose of
either limiting or extending their operation.” Integon Indem. Corp. v. Canal Ins. Co.,
256 Ga. 692, 693 (353 SE2d 186) (1987); OCGA § 1-3-1 (b). “It is a basic rule of
construction that a statute or constitutional provision should be construed to make all
its parts harmonize and to give a sensible and intelligent effect to each part, as it is
not presumed that the legislature intended that any part would be without meaning.”
Gilbert v. Richardson, 264 Ga. 744, 747-48 (452 SE2d 476) (1994) (citation and
punctuation omitted). In other words, we always must presume that the General
Assembly “means what its says and says what it means.” Northeast Atlanta Bonding
Co. v. State of Ga., 308 Ga. App. 573, 577 (1) (707 SE2d 921) (2011). Thus when the
General Assembly adds language to the existing code section, it follows that the new
language has meaning, such that the language clarifies, limits, expands, or changes
the meaning of the revised code section.
In the context of the doctrine of sovereign immunity, “statutes . . . providing
for a waiver of sovereign immunity are in derogation of the common law and thus are
8
to be strictly construed against a finding of waiver.” Gish v. Thomas, 302 Ga. App.
854, 860 (691 SE2d 900) (2010); see also Smith v. Chatham County, 264 Ga. App.
566, 568-69 (1) (591 SE2d 388) (2003).”Moreover, the doctrine of sovereign
immunity requires that the conditions and limitations of the statute that waives
immunity be strictly followed.” Bd. of Regents of Univ. Sys. of Ga. v. Brooks, 324 Ga.
App. 15, 17 (749 SE2d 23) (2013) (citation and punctuation omitted).
The plain language of the amended statute shows that the legislature clearly
chose not to use all four terms found in subsection (a) of OCGA § 33-24-51 when it
added the new first sentence to subsection (b) of OCGA § 33-24-51, which it easily
could have. Instead it chose to limit the scope of the first-tier immunity waiver to “a
loss arising out of claims for the negligent use of a covered motor vehicle.” OCGA
§ 33-24-51 (b). Similarly, the second sentence of subsection (b), which was also
amended in 2005 to incorporate the new two-tier structure, shows that the second tier
of waiver still refers to “the insurance authorized by subsection (a)” whereas the first
sentence of subsection (b) refers only to the “negligent use.” Thus, in two separate
ways, when amending OCGA § 33-24-51 to create the new first-tier of waiver, the
legislature chose not to refer to all four categories listed in subsection (a). In addition,
9
the legislature twice used the identical “negligent use” language: first in OCGA § 36-
92-2 and again in OCGA § 33-24-51 (b).
While we recognize that determining whether an event arises from the “use”
of a motor vehicle can depend on the particular circumstances, and a bright-line
definition may be elusive,5 “the question to be answered is whether the injury
originated from, had its origin in, grew out of, or flowed from the use of the motor
vehicle as a vehicle.” Saylor v. Troup Cty., 225 Ga. App. 489, 490 (484 SE2d 298)
(1997) (citation and punctuation omitted). In this case, it is undisputed from the
record that at the time of the welding incident, the garbage truck was immobile and
undergoing maintenance. Based on the plain, unambiguous language of the waiver
provisions of OCGA §§ 33-24-51 (b) and 36-92-2 (a), we find no basis for construing
the term “use” to encompass the maintenance or repair of the garbage truck. If the
legislature intended that the term “use” should be construed to include the
“ownership, maintenance, and operation” of a covered vehicle when determining the
scope of a first-tier waiver of sovereign immunity, it would have included those terms
in the language providing for the second-tier waiver just as it had done in the
provision of OCGA § 33-24-51 (a). Instead we read subsection (b) as providing a
5
Gish, 302 Ga. App. at 861 (citation and punctuation omitted).
10
narrower waiver than that contemplated by subsection (a). With that in mind, we must
conclude that Columbus’ vehicle was not being “used” as a garbage truck when
Woody sustained his injuries.
Accordingly, we hold that waiver of sovereign immunity as contemplated by
OCGA §§ 33-24-51 (b) and 36-92-2 is limited to those claims arising out of the
negligent use of a covered motor vehicle as a vehicle. Thus for the foregoing reasons,
we must conclude that the sovereign immunity of Columbus is not waived with
respect to Woody’s claims as alleged. We therefore reverse.
Judgment reversed. Branch, J., concurs. McFadden, P. J., concurs specially.
A17A0044. COLUMBUS CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT v.
WOODY.
MCFADDEN, Presiding Judge, concurring fully and specially.
I concur fully in the majority opinion. Because the pleadings do not indicate
the existence of a policy, the only waiver of sovereign immunity that could possibly
apply would be the automatic waiver described by the majority and our Supreme
Court as a “first-tier” waiver. See Gates v. Glass, 291 Ga. 350, 352-353 (729 SE2d
361) (2012). The majority holds, and I reluctantly agree, that a first-tier waiver
applies only to losses “arising out of claims for the negligent use of a covered motor
vehicle [up to the limits] provided in Code Section 36-92-2.” OCGA § 33-24-51 (b)
(emphasis supplied). This, the majority holds and I reluctantly agree, is in contrast to
the broader scope of a second-tier waiver, which is effected by the purchase of
insurance. A second-tier waiver extends to losses “arising by reason of ownership,
maintenance, operation, or use of any motor vehicle.” See OCGA § 33-24-51 (a), (b).
Woody’s claim arose out of the maintenance of a motor vehicle — not the use
of a motor vehicle. So his claim is not within the scope of the automatic “first-tier”
1
waiver. And since he did not allege the existence of an insurance policy which would
have effected a second-tier waiver, Columbus was entitled to judgment on the
pleadings.
I write separately to explain my reluctance. I concur reluctantly for two
reasons. First, it is by no means clear that the legislature intended that the scope of
a first-tier waiver differ from the scope of a second-tier waiver. Second, as detailed
below, when a government entity purchases insurance in an amount equal to or less
than the amount of the automatic, first-tier waiver, our analysis would lead to a result
the legislature is unlikely to have intended.
As to my first concern, a close reading of OCGA § 36-92-2 suggests that,
contrary to our holding, the scope of first- and second-tier waivers is the same.
Reading together subsections (a), (b), and (d) (3) of that Code section leads one to the
conclusion that the automatic, first-tier waiver and the second-tier waiver effected by
the “purchase[ of] commercial liability insurance in an amount in excess of the waiver
set forth in th[at] Code section,” OCGA § 36-92-2 (d) (3), are both of immunity from
liability “for a loss arising out of claims for the negligent use of a covered motor
vehicle[.]” OCGA § 36-92-2 (a), (b). On the other hand I agree that a comparison of
subsections (a) and (b) of OCGA § 33-24-51 at least suggests different scopes of
2
waiver for the two different tiers. My doubts about which interpretation we must
adopt are dispelled by the rule that “statutes that provide for a waiver of sovereign
immunity . . . are in derogation of the common law, [and so] are to be strictly
construed against a finding of waiver.” Raw Properties v. Lawson, 335 Ga. App. 802,
806 (1) (783 SE2d 161) (2016) (citations and punctuation omitted; emphasis in
original). But I remain in doubt whether that is the interpretation intended by the
General Assembly.
My second concern is that our analysis appears to lead to an anomaly that the
General Assembly surely did not intend. That anomaly would arise when a
government entity purchases insurance coverage for an amount equal to or less than
the amount of the tier-one waiver, the automatic waiver of sovereign immunity
established by OCGA § 36-92-2 (a).
OCGA § 33-24-51 (a) authorizes certain government entities to purchase
insurance coverage for certain claims “arising by reason of ownership, maintenance,
operation, or use of any motor vehicle[.]” OCGA § 33-24-51 (a) (emphasis supplied).
As mentioned above, subsection (b) of that Code section sets forth two express
waivers of sovereign immunity: the automatic “first-tier” waiver and the “second-tier”
waiver, which applies when the government entity has purchased insurance as
3
authorized by subsection (a) “in an amount greater than the amount of immunity
waived as in Code Section 36-92-2[.]” OCGA § 33-24-51 (b) (emphasis supplied).
Our Supreme Court has interpreted this second-tier to “provide[ ] for the waiver of
sovereign immunity to the extent a local [government] entity purchases liability
insurance in an amount exceeding the limits prescribed in OCGA § 36-92-2.” Gates,
supra, 291 Ga. at 352-353.
My concern with the application of this Code section, as it has been interpreted
in Gates, supra, is the circumstance where a government entity purchases insurance
to cover ownership, maintenance, or operation of a vehicle, as authorized by
subsection (a), but in an amount equal to or less than the amount of the first-tier
waiver of sovereign immunity, the automatic waiver established by OCGA § 36-92-2
(a). If the claim did not arise from negligent use, the anomaly would arise. Sovereign
immunity would not be waived. First-tier immunity would not apply for the reasons
set forth in the majority opinion. Second-tier immunity would not apply because the
amount of insurance purchased by the government entity did not exceed the limits
prescribed in OCGA § 36-92-2 (given the construction of OCGA § 33-24-51 (b) in
Gates, supra).
4
Compare, for example, the following scenarios. “Plaintiff A” asserts a claim
against “County A” for damages of $400,000 arising from the negligent maintenance
of a county vehicle. Pursuant to OCGA § 33-24-51 (a), “County A” has purchased
insurance coverage for claims arising from ownership, maintenance, operation, or use
of a motor vehicle. But the limit of that coverage is $500,000, which does not exceed
the limits prescribed in OCGA § 36-92-2 (a). So although “County A” has insurance
to cover the $400,000 negligent maintenance claim brought by “Plaintiff A,” “County
A” has not waived its sovereign immunity as to that claim. “Plaintiff A” cannot
proceed with his claim.
“Plaintiff B” also asserts a claim for damages of $400,000 arising from the
negligent maintenance of a county vehicle, but his claim is against “County B.” And,
pursuant to OCGA § 33-24-51 (a), “County B” has purchased insurance coverage for
claims arising from ownership, maintenance, operation, or use of a motor vehicle. But
unlike the insurance purchased by “County A,” the insurance purchased by “County
B” has a limit of $500,001 and therefore exceeds the prescribed limits of OCGA § 36-
92-2 (a) (3) by one dollar. “County B” has waived its sovereign immunity to the
negligent maintenance claim under the “second-tier” waiver of OCGA § 33-24-51 (b)
5
for claims up to $500,001. So “Plaintiff B” can proceed against “County B” on his
$400,000 claim for negligent maintenance.
I see no reason for this disparate treatment of “Plaintiff A” and “Plaintiff B.”
Yet the language of OCGA § 33-24-51, as interpreted by our Supreme Court in Gates,
supra, seems to require it.
There is an alternative interpretation of OCGA § 33-24-51 that would avoid
this result. As quoted above, subsection (b) of that Code section provides for a waiver
of sovereign immunity where the governmental entity has purchased insurance
pursuant to OCGA § 33-24-51 (a) “in an amount greater than the amount of immunity
waived as in OCGA § 36-92-2[.]” OCGA § 33-24-51 (b) (emphasis supplied). No
immunity is waived for a claim of negligent maintenance (or ownership, or operation)
under OCGA § 36-92-2 because that Code section concerns the waiver of immunity
only of claims for negligent use. OCGA § 36-92-2 (a). Because no immunity is
waived for such claims under OCGA § 36-92-2, insuring against them for any amount
greater than zero constitutes insuring them “in an amount greater than the amount of
immunity waived” in that statute. And because OCGA § 36-92-2 provides no waiver
of sovereign immunity for claims other than negligent use, a government entity’s
sovereign immunity to a claim for negligent maintenance (or ownership, or operation)
6
arguably is waived under the plain language of OCGA § 33-24-51 (b) to the extent
that the entity has purchased insurance to cover such a claim — whether or not the
amount of that insurance exceeds the dollar amounts prescribed in OCGA § 36-92-2.
But that is not what the Gates decision appears to hold. And statutes relating
to sovereign immunity “are to be strictly construed against a finding of waiver.” Raw
Properties, supra, 335 Ga. App. at 806 (1) (citation and punctuation omitted;
emphasis in original).
I respectfully suggest that the General Assembly reconsider these provisions.
7
|
Efficacy, safety, and acceptability of thermocoagulation for treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in a hospital setting in Brazil.
To analyze the acceptability, safety, and effectiveness of thermocoagulation for the treatment of histologically proven cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 2-3 (CIN2-3) lesions. In a retrospective study, data were obtained for women treated for CIN2-3 lesions by thermocoagulation at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil, between March 6, 2012, and October 29, 2013, and followed up after 1 year. The proportions of women with no evidence of disease, adverse effects, or complications were determined. Among 52 women included, 44 (85%) had no evidence of disease 1year after thermocoagulation. The rate of no disease at follow-up was similar for women treated for CIN2 (17/20 [85%]) and CIN3 (27/32 [84%]). No serious adverse effects or complications requiring hospitalization were observed during the follow-up period. Thermocoagulation is useful in the management of ectocervical CIN and should be integrated into public health services for management of cervical cancer. |
Rig a Downriggerand Get Down Deeper
Some deep-diving plugs will get down to around 30ft (10m), but it
will take a downrigger set-up to get your lure down to greater depths.
This is the crane-like device often seen on the sterns of sports-fishing
boats. Its purpose is to deploy an independent line, taken to depth by a
heavy lead weight.
Your trolling line is attached to the weight by a
quick-release clip, which releases when a fish strike your lure.
The benefit of course is that you can get your trolling lure down to a
much greater depth than you could otherwise achieve, without the
encumberence of any weight on the line.
Three main components go to make up a down rigger oufit:~
The down rigger itself, which usually incorporates at least one rocket-launcher type rod holder;
A wire line;
A down rigger weight, or alternatively a Planer, to which your trolling line is attached by a quick-release clip.
The Downrigger
This can be the complicated bit - everything else is fairly straightforward. The simplest down riggers are manually operated.
It incorporates a cranking handle, a pulley wheel and a line-counter
which ensures that having found the depth at which the fish are feeding,
you can get your lure back down to exactly the same level. A fixed
length boom and a single rodholder completes the outfit
An ideal piece of kit for small fishing boats whose skippers realise the benefits of fishing a lure down deep.
Sailboat skippers may baulk at all this machinery on the stern, just
waiting to mix it with all the running rigging. But there are a couple
of ways of getting an independently weighted line down without having
your stern look like a construction site - click here to see how it's done.
But if you've got a sports-fishing boat with power to spare, then an electrical version is likely to be attractive. |
Q:
How to call a function in an preg_replace?
How can I call a function within preg_replace()?
$template = '<div> [BILD="123"][BILD="246"] </div>';
$pat = '/\[BILD="(.*?)"\]\[BILD ="(.*?)"\]/';
$ret = getImageArea($id, $config, '$1', '$2');
return preg_replace($pat, $rep, $template);
It fails opening the function and doesn't sends 123 or 246.
It just sends $1 and $2.
A:
As I (and many others) told in comments, you have to use preg_replace_callback in this case. One possible approach:
$template = '<div> [BILD="123"][BILD="246"] </div>';
$pat = '/\[BILD="(.*?)"\]\[BILD="(.*?)"\]/';
return preg_replace_callback($pat, function($matches) use($id, $config) {
return getImageArea($id, $config, $matches[1], $matches[2]);
}, $template);
Demo. As you see, it's quite straight-forward; the only catch is making $id and $config variables available inside the callback (which is done with use op).
|
Birmingham Legion FC announced today that it will kickstart its 2020 season in Birmingham with a preseason friendly against MLS powerhouse and 2018 MLS Cup Champions, Atlanta United FC, on Saturday, February 8, at 3:30 pm CT at BBVA Field.
Legion FC standouts Mikey Lopez, Matt VanOekel, Daniel Johnson, Anderson Asiedu and Prosper Kasim will return to lead the team against Atlanta United greats Brad Guzan, Josef Martinez, Ezequiel Barco, Miles Robinson and Pity Martínez, among others. The early February match is set to take place shortly before Atlanta United starts competition in the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League.
“This will be the biggest soccer event in Birmingham since the 1996 Olympics and the U.S. Women’s National Team game in 2015,” said Legion FC President and General Manager Jay Heaps. “Atlanta United has ranked in the top 10 in the world for attendance and have proven to be a top tier MLS Club. We are honored they are coming to the Magic City to play us on our home field.”
In addition to being 2018 MLS Cup Champions, Atlanta United also won the 2019 U.S. Open Cup, were champions of the 2019 Campeones Cup in August, and most recently finished the 2019 MLS regular season as the two-seed in the MLS Eastern Conference.
“Since launching our club ahead of the 2017 season, we’ve prioritized traveling to preseason games in the Southeast,” Atlanta United President Darren Eales said. “From Chattanooga to Charleston to Nashville, and now to Birmingham, we’re proud to play a role in the tremendous growth of soccer in our region. Birmingham Legion FC had a successful inaugural season in USL last year, and we’re excited to help launch their 2020 season at BBVA Field.”
Heaps added, “If you love soccer and want to be a part of a unique piece of Birmingham soccer history, you won’t want to miss this game.”
New and renewed Legion FC season ticket holders will receive exclusive access to the match, in addition to pre-game festivities, a post-game meet-and-greet with players, coaches and staff — and priority for purchasing additional tickets closer to the February event.
Birmingham Legion FC’s 2020 season will officially begin in March, and season tickets are available now. Those interested in purchasing season tickets should contact the Legion FC ticket sales office at 205.791.7145 or email tickets@bhmlegion.com. All season ticket information is available at bhmlegion.com/2020tickets.
All updates on offseason events and a preseason schedule will be announced in the coming months on bhmlegion.com and via Legion FC’s social media channels identified by @bhmlegion. |
Q:
If $x,y,z\in\mathbb R\setminus \{1\}$ and $xyz=1$, prove that $\frac{x^2}{(x-1)^2}+\frac{y^2}{(y-1)^2}+\frac{z^2}{(z-1)^2}\ge 1$.
If $x,y,z\in\mathbb R\setminus \{1\}$ and $xyz=1$, prove that $$\frac{x^2}{(x-1)^2}+\frac{y^2}{(y-1)^2}+\frac{z^2}{(z-1)^2}\ge 1$$
Without using calculus.
There are a few ways I've tried solving this:
$1)$ We could try using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality: $$\frac{x^2}{(x-1)^2}+\frac{y^2}{(y-1)^2}+\frac{z^2}{(z-1)^2}\ge \frac{(x+y+z)^2}{(x-1)^2+(y-1)^2+(z-1)^2}$$
But it's apparent that nothing's useful here.
$2)$ We could use AM-GM as well: $$\frac{x^2}{(x-1)^2}+\frac{y^2}{(y-1)^2}+\frac{z^2}{(z-1)^2}\ge 3\sqrt[3]{\frac{x^2y^2z^2}{(x-1)^2(y-1)^2(z-1)^2}}=\frac{3}{\sqrt[3]{(x-1)^2(y-1)^2(z-1)^2}}$$
So we only have to prove that: $$\sqrt[3]{(x-1)^2(y-1)^2(z-1)^2}\le 3$$
We could raise both sides to the power of 3: $$(x-1)^2(y-1)^2(z-1)^2\le 27$$
But this inequality doesn't hold.
$3)$ We could try cleaning the denominators by multiplying both sides by $(x-1)^2(y-1)^2(z-1)^2$. After a bunch of expanding and simplifying we get that: $$x^2y^2+y^2z^2+x^2z^2-6(xy+yz+xz)+2(x+y+z)+9\ge 0$$
I can't tell so easily whether the inequality is true or not. You could help me out on this one. Just don't forget that $x,y,z\in\mathbb R\setminus\{1\}$ and so we can't just simply use AM-GM, unless we're using it for squares that have to be non-negative.
A:
Other nice solution:
since
$$\dfrac{x^2}{(x-1)^2}+\dfrac{y^2}{(y-1)^2}+\dfrac{z^2}{(z-1)^2}=\left(\dfrac{x}{x-1}
+\dfrac{y}{y-1}+\dfrac{z}{z-1}-1\right)^2+1\ge 1$$
A:
I think I got it:
Substitute $z=\frac{1}{xy}$. Take the left hand side of the inequality and minimize it using calculus. We will show that even when minimum, it will be greater than $1$.
When you minimize and reduce, you should get $-x(1-xy)^3+y(x-1)^3=0$ and $-y(1-xy)^3+x(y-1)^3=0$. Solving we get, $\frac{x^2}{(x-1)^2}=\frac{(x-1)}{(y-1)}\frac{y^2}{(y-1)^2}$. If $x-1$ and $y-1$ are the same sign, then assume WLOG $x-1>y-1$. When you substitute back in you get $\frac{x-1}{y-1}\left(1+\frac{y^2}{(y-1)^2}\right)+\left(\frac{1}{1-xy}\right)^2$, which is greater than 1.
What if $x-1$ and $y-1$ are not the same sign, then $z-1$ must be the same sign as one of those two, so start over that way.
|
Q:
Initialize/Create/Populate a Dict of a Dict of a Dict in Python
I have used dictionaries in python before but I am still new to python. This time I am using a dictionary of a dictionary of a dictionary... i.e., a three layer dict, and wanted to check before programming it.
I want to store all the data in this three-layer dict, and was wondering what'd be an nice pythonic way to initialize, and then read a file and write to such data structure.
The dictionary I want is of the following type:
{'geneid':
{'transcript_id':
{col_name1:col_value1, col_name2:col_value2}
}
}
The data is of this type:
geneid\ttx_id\tcolname1\tcolname2\n
hello\tNR432\t4.5\t6.7
bye\tNR439\t4.5\t6.7
Any ideas on how to do this in a good way?
Thanks!
A:
First, let's start with the csv module to handle parsing the lines:
import csv
with open('mydata.txt', 'rb') as f:
for row in csv.DictReader(f, delimiter='\t'):
print row
This will print:
{'geneid': 'hello', 'tx_id': 'NR432', 'col_name1': '4.5', 'col_name2': 6.7}
{'geneid': 'bye', 'tx_id': 'NR439', 'col_name1': '4.5', 'col_name2': 6.7}
So, now you just need to reorganize that into your preferred structure. This is almost trivial, except that you have to deal with the fact that the first time you see a given geneid you have to create a new empty dict for it, and likewise for the first time you see a given tx_id within a geneid. You can solve that with setdefault:
import csv
genes = {}
with open('mydata.txt', 'rb') as f:
for row in csv.DictReader(f, delimiter='\t'):
gene = genes.setdefault(row['geneid'], {})
transcript = gene.setdefault(row['tx_id'], {})
transcript['colname1'] = row['colname1']
transcript['colname2'] = row['colname2']
You can make this a bit more readable with defaultdict:
import csv
from collections import defaultdict
from functools import partial
genes = defaultdict(partial(defaultdict, dict))
with open('mydata.txt', 'rb') as f:
for row in csv.DictReader(f, delimiter='\t'):
genes[row['geneid']][row['tx_id']]['colname1'] = row['colname1']
genes[row['geneid']][row['tx_id']]['colname2'] = row['colname2']
The trick here is that the top-level dict is a special one that returns an empty dict whenever it first sees a new key… and that empty dict it returns is itself an empty dict. The only hard part is that defaultdict takes a function that returns the right kind of object, and a function that returns a defaultdict(dict) has to be written with a partial, lambda, or explicit functions. (There are recipes on ActiveState and modules on PyPI that will give you an even more general version of this that creates new dictionaries as needed all the way down, if you want.)
|
G07F17/42—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for ticket printing or like apparatus, e.g. apparatus for dispensing of printed paper tickets or payment cards
Abstract
A system and method for an instant online lottery game is disclosed. The system for an instant online lottery game can comprise a server and a plurality of instant online lottery units. The server can store a progressive jackpot that can be won with an instant online lottery number, wherein the progressive jackpot can increase in size based on a portion of ticket sales revenue or the number of tickets sold. The server can have a first random number generator that can generate the instant online lottery number and a second random number generator that generates a plurality of game-play combinations. The instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations can be provided to the player at the time of purchase of the instant online lottery ticket.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/044,427, filed on Jan. 26, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,635,304, entitled MULTIPLE LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION IN A LOTTERY JACKPOT, which is Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/043,913, filed on Jan. 25, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,776, entitled LOTTERY TICKET PROVIDING FOR MULTIPLE GAMES, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. This application is also a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/879,939, filed on Jun. 28, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,635,303, entitled LOTTERY TICKET DISPENSING MACHINE FOR MULTIPLE Priced TICKETS BASED ON VARIABLE RATIOS, which is Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/876,390, filed on Jun. 25, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,635,302, entitled MULTIPLE PRICING IN A LOTTERY BASED ON VARIABLE RATIOS, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. This application is also a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/766,656, filed on Jan. 27, 2004 now abandoned, entitled A SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PROVIDING A GUARANTEE IN A LOTTERY, and is also a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/987,474, filed on Nov. 12, 2004 now abandoned, entitled VIRTUAL LOTTERY, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Disclosure
A system and method are disclosed which generally relate to gaming, and more specifically to lotteries.
2. General Background
A lottery is generally a distribution of tokens such that a subset of the distributed tokens may win a prize. The token can be in the form of a ticket. One of the most popular forms of lottery involves the distribution of lottery tickets. Each lottery ticket includes a lottery number. After the lottery tickets have been distributed to the lottery ticket holders, the winning number is chosen. The usual method of selecting the winning number involves a random selection of the winning number. A random number generator can be used to randomly select the winning number. Some lottery systems require the ticket to have the entire number that is randomly selected while other lottery systems require the ticket to have a subset of an ordered sequence of numbers that are randomly selected.
Online lotteries and games typically require a waiting period for a winning number to be drawn and a prize to be awarded. In some cases, the player must wait a week, or at least several days, to determine the draw results. In addition, higher odds are set for the higher-prized games (i.e. those offering higher minimum and average jackpots), thereby reducing the chance of winning the jackpot. Moreover, higher-prized online lotteries and games generally require longer waiting periods than lower-prized daily draw games or those conducted more than once per day. In addition, traditional online lotteries sell tickets for a single price. Additional customer expenditures permit the purchase of additional tickets or participating numbers, thereby improving the odds of someone winning a prize, but without affecting or increasing the prize which may be won. If there are multiple winners of a jackpot, the winners split the jackpot prize. Players desiring a higher jackpot must defer play until the jackpot builds to a player-acceptable level through the roll-over process. In addition, if a jackpot is won, the jackpot for the next game automatically reverts to the minimum jackpot level.
Furthermore, traditional instant games, such as peel-off or scratch-off-style games, involve pre-determined results reflected by pre-printed tickets. Generally, the results are blocked and the player must scratch off material or pull tabs to reveal the results of the instant game. A traditional instant game is generally offered at a single price, with each game having its own price and independent fixed prize structure. Players seeking higher prizes must choose a different game; typically, a single game does not provide the player with prize and price options.
SUMMARY
A system and method for an instant online lottery game are disclosed. The instant lottery game provides players with the opportunity to purchase an instant online lottery ticket and instantly determine whether a prize has been won. Additionally, an instant game can also be offered to the instant online lottery game players in the same ticket as the instant online lottery game. As such, players are provided with an additional opportunity to win.
Alternatively, a game structure similar to the instant online lottery game can be applied to an online lottery game where there is a predetermined delay between providing the ticket to the player and the drawing of the winning number or numbers. For example, the predetermined delay can be one hour, or one day. Here too, the same ticket can contain an instant game without an additional charge, thereby providing the player with two independent opportunities to win a prize for the same purchase price.
In one aspect, there is an instant online lottery game unit for offering an instant online lottery game to a player. The instant online lottery game unit comprises a price selection input, a communication controller, and an instant online lottery processor. The price selection input receives a selection of an instant online lottery ticket price at which an instant online lottery ticket is to be purchased, wherein the instant online lottery ticket price can be selected from a plurality of instant online lottery ticket prices. Each of the instant online lottery ticket prices can correspond to a distinct known percentage of a progressive jackpot that increases in size based on a portion of ticket sales revenue and that can be won with one of a plurality of game-play combinations.
The communication controller receives an instant online lottery number and a plurality of game-play combinations from a server. The instant online lottery number can be generated by one random number generator at the server. The plurality of game-play combinations can be generated by a separate random number generator at the server. The instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations is provided to the player at the time of purchase of the instant online lottery ticket. Finally, the instant online lottery processor can be configured to compare the instant online lottery number with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations after the instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations is received from the server and before the player can be provided with the instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations. The instant online lottery processor calculates a distribution of the progressive jackpot to the player based upon the distinct known percentage associated with the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player if the instant online lottery number matches any one of the plurality of game-play combinations. A memory, which stores the value of the progressive jackpot, can also be part of the instant online lottery game unit.
In another aspect, the instant online lottery processor can be further configured to compare the instant online lottery number with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations. If the instant online lottery number includes a subset of numbers in any one of the plurality of game-play combinations, the player receives secondary prize distribution based upon the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player. The secondary prize distribution can be guaranteed by a third party.
The plurality of game-play combinations can be printed on an instant online lottery ticket in the form of a matrix. Each of the rows of the matrix can provide a set of numbers that define a game-play combination. Each of the columns of the matrix can provide a set of numbers that define a game-play combination. Each of the diagonals of the matrix can provide a set of numbers that define a game-play combination. The plurality of game-play combinations can be defined by the set of numbers in each of the rows, columns, and diagonals of the matrix.
In another aspect, ticket sales revenue can be accumulated according to identical percentages, each of the identical percentages being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices. In another aspect, ticket sales revenue can be accumulated according to distinct amounts, each of the distinct amounts being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices. Ticket sales revenue can also be accumulated according to identical amounts, each of the identical amounts being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
In yet another aspect, the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player can be the most expensive price, and if the instant online lottery number matches one of the game-play combinations, the player can be awarded with the progressive jackpot. In another aspect, the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player can be less than the most expensive price, and if the instant online lottery number matches in full one of the game-play combinations, the player can be awarded a pre-determined portion of the progressive jackpot. The server can send the decreased value of the progressive jackpot to each one of the plurality of instant online lottery units if the instant online lottery number from the player matches one of the game-play combinations.
In another aspect, the progressive jackpot can be a probabilistic progressive jackpot that has a value which can be greater than revenue generated from the sale of the instant online lottery tickets. The progressive jackpot can be guaranteed by a third party.
In another aspect, the instant online lottery unit can be linked to a plurality of instant online lottery units, the instant online lottery unit and the plurality of instant online lottery units being connected through the server. The server can send the increased value of the progressive jackpot to each one of the plurality of instant online lottery units.
In yet another aspect, an instant game can be provided together with the instant online lottery game. The communication controller further receives a plurality of playing number-symbol combinations and a plurality of winning number-symbol combinations from the server, wherein the instant game processor compares each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize. The instant game prizes are guaranteed by a third party, whether an individual or an entity. In another aspect, the instant online lottery unit can be part of a traditional lottery unit configured to offer future-draw online lottery tickets.
In one aspect, there is a system for an instant online lottery game comprising a server and a plurality of instant online lottery units. The server stores a progressive jackpot that can be won with an instant online lottery number, wherein the progressive jackpot increases in size based on a portion of ticket sales revenue. The server can have a first random number generator that generates the instant online lottery number and a second random number generator that generates a plurality of game-play combinations. The instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations can be provided to the player at the time of purchase of the instant online lottery ticket. The plurality of instant online lottery units can be in communication with the server, with each of the plurality of instant online lottery units receiving the progressive jackpot value from the server. Each of the instant online lottery units can have a price selection input that receives a selection of an instant online lottery ticket price at which an instant online lottery ticket is to be purchased, the instant online lottery ticket price being selected from a plurality of instant online lottery ticket prices. Furthermore, each of the instant online lottery ticket prices corresponds to a distinct known percentage of a progressive jackpot, wherein at least one of the plurality of instant online lottery units receives the plurality of game-play combinations and the instant online lottery number.
In another aspect, the server compares the instant online lottery number with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations to determine if the instant online lottery game has been won by the player. In addition, the server can compare the instant online lottery number with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations. The server can calculate a secondary prize distribution to the player based upon the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player if the instant online lottery number includes a subset of numbers in any one of the plurality of game-play combinations. The secondary prize distribution can be guaranteed by a third party.
In yet another aspect, each of the plurality of instant online lottery units can be part of a traditional lottery unit configured to offer future-draw online lottery tickets. In another aspect, each of the plurality of instant online lottery units can be a traditional lottery online unit configured to offer future-draw online lottery tickets.
In another aspect, the plurality of game-play combinations can be printed on an instant online lottery ticket in the form of a matrix. Each of the rows of the matrix can provide a set of numbers that define a game-play combination. Each of the columns of the matrix can provide a set of numbers that define a game-play combination. Each of the diagonals of the matrix can provide a set of numbers that define a game-play combination. The plurality of game-play combinations can be defined by the set of numbers in each of the rows, columns, and diagonals of the matrix.
In a further aspect, an instant game can be provided together with the instant online lottery game. The server can further utilize a third random number generator that generates a plurality of playing number-symbol combinations for the instant game and a fourth random number generator that generates a plurality of winning number-symbol combinations. The server can compare each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize. The instant game prize can be guaranteed by a third party.
In another aspect, an instant game can be provided together with the instant online lottery game in which the first random number generator can generate a plurality of playing number-symbol combinations for the instant game and the second random number generator can generate a plurality of winning number-symbol combinations. The server can compare each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize. Again, the instant game prize can be guaranteed by a third party.
In a further aspect, after an instant online lottery ticket is purchased at one of the plurality of instant online lottery units, the server can send an increased progressive jackpot value to each of the plurality of instant online lottery units so that each of the plurality of instant online lottery units can provide the player with a current progressive jackpot value. The server can decrease the progressive jackpot value after a player has won an instant online lottery game. In addition, the server can send the decreased progressive jackpot value to each of the instant online lottery units so that the instant online lottery units can provide the player with the current progressive jackpot value.
In one aspect, an exemplary embodiment can be a method of operating an instant online lottery game. A selection of an instant online lottery ticket price can be received, wherein the selection can be made by a player of an instant online lottery game. A percentage of a progressive jackpot value that increases in size based on a portion of instant online lottery ticket sales revenue can be determined. The percentage of the progressive jackpot can be won according to the selection of the instant online lottery ticket price. The first set of numbers can be generated by a first random number generator in a first format. The second set of numbers being generated by a second random number generator in a second format. The first set of numbers can be compared with the second set of numbers to determine if the first set of numbers matches a subset of the second set of numbers. The percentage of the progressive jackpot to be awarded to a player can be determined if the first set of numbers matches a subset of the second set of numbers. The first set of numbers can be displayed on the instant online lottery ticket using the first format. The second set of numbers can be displayed on the instant online lottery ticket using the second format. In addition, the second set of numbers can be arranged as a matrix. The player can be awarded with a secondary prize distribution if a subset of the first set of numbers matches a subset of the second set of numbers. The secondary prize distribution can be guaranteed by a third party.
In another aspect, the second set of numbers can be arranged as a matrix. A subset of the second set of numbers can comprise the numbers in a row of the matrix. The subset of the second set of numbers can also comprise the numbers in a column of the matrix. The subset of the second set of numbers can also comprise the numbers in a diagonal of the matrix.
In yet another aspect, an instant game can be provided together with the instant online lottery game. Here, a plurality of playing number-symbol combinations and a plurality of winning number-symbol combinations can be randomly generated. Each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations can be compared with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize.
In another aspect, there can be a method of operating an online lottery game combined with a second game in the form of an instant game. A selection of a combined game ticket price can be received, wherein the selection can be made by a player of the combined online lottery game and instant game. A percentage of a progressive jackpot value can be determined. The progressive jackpot value can increase in size based on a portion of combined game ticket sales revenue. The percentage of the progressive jackpot can be won in accordance with the selection of the combined game ticket price. A plurality of game-play combinations can be randomly generated and provided to the player at the time of purchase by the player of the combined game ticket. A plurality of playing number-symbol combinations can be randomly generated and provided at the time of purchase by the player of the combined game ticket. A plurality of winning number-symbol combinations can be randomly generated and provided at the time of purchase by the player of the combined game ticket. Each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations can be compared with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize. An online lottery number can be randomly generated and provided through a daily draw. The online lottery number can be compared with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations to determine if the progressive jackpot or any secondary prize has been won by the player in the online lottery game portion of the combined game ticket.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
By way of example, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 32 illustrates a probabilistic software configuration that can be used with the probabilistic lottery system in conjunction with the multiple pricing shared jackpot system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A system and method are disclosed for an instant online lottery game. A lottery player can purchase an online lottery ticket and determine instantly whether the purchased ticket has a winning lottery number, rather than having to wait days or even a week for a drawing with respect to a traditional online lottery game. In essence, the instant online lottery player can be provided with a similar experience to playing an electronic gaming machine at a casino that can be networked with other machines to offer a wide-area progressive jackpot. As such, a player can play a lottery game offering relatively high jackpots every day without having to wait for a drawing.
By way of contrast, in the casino-style game, only the highest-priced ticket holder or maximum-unit player has an opportunity to win the progressive jackpot. In the disclosed system and method, any player, without regard to ticket price or amount spent per play, can win a progressive jackpot prize and can determine through player choice the pre-established percentage of the jackpot for which he or she desires to play. In addition, the participating lottery or lottery operator does not have to invest substantial sums in purchasing new freestanding machines to offer the game. Rather, the lottery operator can use its existing online terminals for game play and can use the existing ticket distribution network to maximize the opportunities for play.
INSTANT ONLINE LOTTERY GAME
FIG. 1 illustrates an instant online lottery game system 100. A lottery operator 102 establishes the lottery. The lottery operator 102 can be a jurisdiction such as a country, state, province, city, town, municipality, or any division or department thereof. Further, the lottery operator 102 can be a private organization that a jurisdiction hires to coordinate the lottery. The lottery operator 102 can also be a private organization independent of any jurisdiction. The lottery operator 102 performs functions such as establishment, maintenance, operation and oversight and/or winnings determination of the lottery games.
The lottery operator 102 can advertise that a lottery game has a prize. For example, the lottery operator 102 can advertise that the lottery game prize can be a minimum of ten million dollars. The lottery operator 102 can provide the largest lottery prize as a jackpot 104. In one embodiment, the jackpot 104 can be a progressive jackpot that increases through allocation of a portion of the ticket sales. The lottery operator 102 can also provide a fixed prize 106. In one embodiment, ticket holders 108 can purchase tickets at a price of $x per ticket from a ticket seller 110. The ticket seller 110 can then send the ticket requests for each of the tickets to the lottery operator 102, typically through a computer network. The lottery operator 102 can transmit randomly generated instant online lottery numbers to the terminal maintained by the ticket seller 110. The numbers can be printed on the ticket that is provided to the ticket holders 108. In another embodiment, the numbers can be displayed on a computer screen. In another embodiment, the numbers can be displayed on a ticket display.
In one embodiment, the lottery operator 102 can use a random number generator (not shown) to determine the winning number. In another embodiment, the lottery operator 102 can use a ball draw machine to randomly select the winning number. If one of the ticket holders 108 wins the lottery, the lottery operator 102 can disburse the jackpot 104 to the ticket holder 108. Typically, in an instant online lottery drawing there is a single winner because the instant online lottery number and the game-play combinations are provided simultaneously.
FIG. 2 illustrates an instant online lottery system 200 with multiple lottery units. In one embodiment, a server 202 can communicate with a first instant online lottery unit 204, a second instant online lottery unit 206, and a third instant online lottery unit 208. The server 202 can communicate with these units through a network 210 such as a Local Area Network (“LAN”), a Wide Area Network (“WAN”), the Internet, cable, satellite, etc. Alternatively, the server 202 can be hardwired to the instant online lottery units.
In one embodiment, the first instant online lottery unit 204, the second instant online lottery unit 206, and the third instant online lottery unit 208 can all be linked to one another. For instance, the server 202 can provide updated jackpot information based on lottery wins and/or losses to the first instant online lottery unit 204, the second instant online lottery unit 206, and the third instant online lottery unit 208. Thus, the jackpot can change in value according to the wins and/or losses of any of the players at the first instant online lottery unit 204, the second instant online lottery unit 206, and the third instant online lottery unit 208. In another embodiment, the server 202 is not needed to update the jackpot information because the instant online lottery units can communicate with one another. When the player at the first instant online lottery unit 204 requests a ticket, the player is essentially purchasing a lottery ticket for a drawing in which that lottery ticket is the only lottery ticket that exists. Accordingly, the player can instantly determine if a winning lottery ticket has been purchased. Each instant online lottery unit may be identical to the units deployed for a lottery's traditional online game.
Similar to a traditional online lottery game, the first instant online lottery unit 204 can provide the player with the opportunity to select an instant online lottery number or to have the first instant online lottery unit 204 randomly generate a “quick pick” for the player. The first instant online lottery unit 204 can then randomly select the game-play combinations or winning instant online lottery numbers. Further, the first instant online lottery unit 204 can compare the instant online lottery number to determine if the player won the instant online lottery game. If the player won the instant online lottery game, then a pre-established portion of the jackpot or the jackpot in its entirety can be provided to the player and can be deducted from the jackpot for future play. On the other hand, if the player does not win the instant online lottery jackpot, the jackpot can remain available to future players of the instant online lottery game. If only a portion is won, the remaining portion can remain available to future players. If there is only a partial match of numbers, non-jackpot secondary prizes can be won, depending on the extent of the match and the amount wagered in the game (e.g. price selection as discussed later).
In yet another embodiment, the player can select the instant online lottery number by entering the number of the instant online lottery ticket without having a quick pick option. In yet another embodiment, the player can select the instant online lottery number by selecting the quick-pick option and does not manually enter the numbers of the instant online lottery tickets. In yet another embodiment, the player does not select game numbers, and the game numbers are only selected by the random number generator or other selection device and are reported automatically to the instant online lottery unit.
In one embodiment, the jackpot 212 can be probabilistic. In other words, a relatively large amount is indicated at the onset as being the jackpot 212 in order to induce the purchase of instant online lottery tickets regardless of whether sufficient sales of instant online lottery tickets have occurred to cover the jackpot 212. Accordingly, there is an increased likelihood that the sales of the instant online lottery tickets can suffice to cover the jackpot 212 because players are more likely to purchase instant online lottery tickets for a large jackpot than for a low jackpot. In one embodiment, prize indemnity insurance can be purchased from a third party to provide a guarantee that the jackpot 212 will be paid in the event that the instant online lottery ticket sales are insufficient to cover the jackpot 212 and fixed secondary prizes.
FIG. 3 illustrates a lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. In one embodiment, instant online lottery units 204, 206 and 208 can be implemented with the use of the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300, which can be positioned at various point-of-sale locations. The lottery ticket dispensing machine can have a housing 302 that stores the internal components of the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. In addition, the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 can also have a user input device 304 on which a user can input data for the sale of a lottery ticket. For instance, the vendor can input the instant online lottery number. In one embodiment, the vendor can also input player price selection. As described below, a player can also select a ticket price category in order to participate in other winning opportunities.
The instant online lottery number that the vendor enters can be displayed on a screen 308 of a display 306. In one embodiment, the display 306 is a graphical user interface. In another embodiment, the display 306 communicates data other than the instant online lottery number such as the jackpot 212. When a player purchases a lottery ticket, the vendor can enter the purchase information into the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 via the user input device 304. In one embodiment, the user input device can be a keyboard. In another embodiment, the user input device can be operated by using a computer mouse. In an alternate embodiment, the user input device can be a touch screen. In yet another embodiment, the user input device can be voice activated. In an alternative embodiment, the display 306 can communicate the purchase information that is entered via the user input device 304.
In one embodiment, the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 can have a payment reception module (not shown) that receives a payment for the purchase of a lottery ticket. In another embodiment, the payment reception module can receive an electronic payment.
After the vendor inputs the data needed to sell a ticket, a ticket 312 can be printed from a lottery ticket printer 310. In one embodiment, the ticket printer 310 can be housed within the housing 302. In another embodiment, the lottery ticket printer 310 can be positioned outside of the housing 302 and can be operably connected to the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. In yet another embodiment, the lottery ticket printer 310 can receive data from the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 through a wireless connection.
FIG. 4 illustrates the internal components of the housing 302 of the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. The housing 302 can include a lottery unit processor 406, a memory 414, a communication controller 410, a number selection input 402, a random number generator 404, and a payment acceptor 412.
The lottery unit processor can coordinate the various operations of the first instant online lottery unit 204. For instance, the lottery unit processor 406 can receive the instant online lottery number from the number selection input 402 that was selected by the player. The lottery unit processor 406 can then store the instant online lottery number in a memory 414. In addition, the lottery unit processor 406 can receive the winning instant online lottery number from the random number generator 404 and can store the winning instant online lottery number in the memory 414. The lottery unit processor 406 can then retrieve the instant online lottery number in the memory 414. The lottery unit processor 406 can then retrieve the instant online lottery number to compare the two numbers. If the two numbers are the same in entirety, then the player wins a known percentage of the instant online lottery prize. If subsets of the two numbers are the same, then the player wins a secondary prize which is a fixed prize.
In one embodiment, a communication controller 410 in the instant online lottery unit 204 can communicate with the server 2402. The communication controller 410 can receive data such as the value of the jackpot. The communication controller 410 can store this value on the memory 414 so that the lottery unit processor 406 can compute a known percentage of the jackpot that can be won by the player. In another embodiment, the lottery unit processor 406 can communicate with the communication controller 410 after data is received by the communication controller 410 from the memory 414. The lottery unit processor 406 can then store the data in the memory 414.
In one embodiment, a payment acceptor 412 can accept payment for an instant online lottery ticket. The lottery unit processor 406 can store the amount provided by the player. In one embodiment, the payment acceptor 412 can be a bill acceptor that accepts paper currency. In another embodiment, the payment acceptor 412 can be a coin acceptor that can accept coins for payment. In yet another embodiment, the payment acceptor can accept cashless payment. Various forms of cashless payment can include a credit card, a smart card, a stored value card purchased at a kiosk, a stored value card received in a promotion, a code such as a number that is printed on a ticket, etc. In yet another embodiment, the payment, in cash or other form, can be received, and deposited independent of the unit, by the vendor, who then can record and confirm the payment and receipt of the payment.
The first instant online lottery unit 204 can be implemented in a number of different combinations. Any type of computing device, such as a personal computer, can be utilized. Further, various displays can be operably attached or integrated into the first instant online lottery unit 204 to provide the player with data such as the jackpot value, the instant online lottery ticket, and the winning instant online lottery number. Other embodiments may provide displays with other pertinent information.
FIG. 5 illustrates an instant online lottery ticket 312. In one embodiment, the instant online lottery ticket can include an instant online lottery number 500, a player's game board 502, a ticket identifier 504 and a timestamp 506. In one embodiment, the instant online lottery number 500 can include a number combination that is utilized to compare against one or more game-play combinations in order to determine whether the player has won. Each game-play combination can be an unordered collection of numbers. The instant online lottery number 500 can also be an unordered collection of numbers.
The instant online lottery number matches the game-play combination in full when all of the numbers in the instant online lottery number are present in the game-play combination. In one example, if the instant online lottery number is {2, 4, 6}, a game-play combination {2, 4, 6} matches in full the instant online lottery number. In another example, if the instant online lottery number is {2, 4, 6}, a game-play combination {4, 2, 6} matches in full the instant online lottery number. In yet another example, if the instant online lottery number is {2, 4, 6}, a game-play combination {6, 4, 2} matches in full the instant online lottery number.
The instant online lottery number matches the game-play combination partially when only some of the numbers in the instant online lottery number are present in the game-play combination. In one example, if the instant online lottery number is {2, 4, 6}, a game-play combination {2, 4} partially matches the instant online lottery number. In another example, if the instant online lottery number is {2, 4, 6}, a game-play combination {4, 6} partially matches the instant online lottery number. In yet another example, if the instant online lottery number is {2, 4, 6}, a game-play combination {6, 2} partially matches the instant online lottery number.
In order to improve the player's odds of winning, the player can be provided multiple game-play combinations. Thus, the player can be provided with a set of game-play combinations.
The ticket identifier 504 can be, for example, a serial number, a bar code, etc., that can uniquely identify the instant online lottery ticket among other instant online lottery tickets. In addition, a time stamp 506 can also be provided on the instant online lottery ticket 312 to display the time at which the ticket was printed and presented to the player. In another embodiment, the time stamp 506 can correspond to the time at which the set of game-play combinations was generated.
In one embodiment, the player's game board 502 can be a matrix or grid containing a set of game-play combinations. In another embodiment, the set of game-play combinations can be printed as a listing on the instant online lottery ticket 312. In another embodiment, the set of game-play combinations can be displayed as a listing on the screen 308 of the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. In one example, the player's game board 502 can be a seven-by-seven matrix that includes forty-nine numbers from a range of one to forty-nine and sixteen play-game combinations of seven numbers. In one embodiment, all of the numbers in the matrix can be unique. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that matrices with other ranges of numbers as well as different numbers of rows and columns can be used. In another embodiment, for example, a seven-by-seven matrix that includes forty-nine numbers can have a range of fifty-one to one-hundred. In another embodiment, an eight-by-eight matrix can be utilized wherein the matrix includes sixty-four numbers having a range of one to sixty-four and provides eighteen combinations of eight numbers.
FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C illustrate a configuration of playlines or number sets or game-play combinations on a seven-by-seven matrix. The configuration of the playlines define the set of game-play combinations. In one embodiment, the playlines are the seven horizontal lines across the rows of the matrix shown in matrix 602, the seven vertical lines across the columns of matrix 604, and the two diagonal playlines across diagonals 608 and 610 of matrix 606.
Thus, a seven-by-seven matrix yields sixteen game-play combinations of numbers or potential winning combinations. Seven of the game-play combinations are defined by the horizontal playlines as illustrated in FIG. 6A. Another seven of the game-play combinations are defined by the vertical playlines as illustrated in FIG. 6b. Finally, two additional game-play combinations are defined by the diagonal playlines 608 and 610 as illustrated in FIG. 6C.
In another example, a six-by-six matrix yields fourteen different sets of game-play combinations. Six of the game-play combinations are defined by the horizontal playlines, another six of the game-play combinations are defined by the vertical playlines, and two additional playlines are defined by the diagonals of the matrix.
FIG. 7 illustrates a set of game-play combinations and an instant online lottery number. In one embodiment, the set of game-play combinations 700 can be presented to the user in a form of a list. The set of game-play combinations 700 can correspond to the sixteen sets of seven numbers derived from a seven-by-seven matrix. The set of game-play combinations 700 illustrates the seven sets of numbers derived from each of the horizontal playlines across seven rows, the seven sets of numbers derived from each of the vertical playlines across the seven columns, and the two sets of seven numbers derived from the diagonal playlines. Thus, the set of game-play combinations 700 can continue to have a matrix relationship of rows, columns, and diagonals, even if the set of game-play combinations 700 is presented in the form of a list.
For example, the first row in the player's game board 502 includes the numbers {10, 38, 4, 28, 44, 16, 30}. The first column of the player's game board 502 includes the numbers {10, 48, 6, 32, 11, 36, 24}. These two sets of numbers have the number ten at the beginning. As such, the sets of seven numbers corresponding to the first row and the first column of the matrix can have the first number in common. Each of the other sets of numbers of the set of game-play combinations can have a number in common with one or more other sets depending on where the game-play combinations are placed in the game-board matrix 700.
In another embodiment, the set of game-play combinations 700 can be a list of numbers that are independent of each other and randomly generated. As such, there would be no matrix relation between each of the randomly generated game-play combinations.
FIG. 8 illustrates a prize distribution in an instant online lottery game. The prize distribution can be stored in a computer memory 800. In one embodiment, the computer memory 800 can be the same as memory 214 in server 202. In another embodiment, the computer memory 800 can be the same as memory 414 in the instant online lottery unit 204. In yet another embodiment, the computer memory 800 can be the same as both memory 214 and memory 414. A jackpot 802 can be stored in memory 800. In one example, the jackpot 802 can be $500,000. The instant online lottery ticket price 804, and prize distributions, 806, 808, 810, and 812, can also be stored in memory.
In one embodiment, the prize distribution can be for a matching of the entirety of the lottery number with any of the game-play combinations. In a seven-by-seven matrix, for example, the jackpot is the prize distribution for matching the entire game-play combination of seven numbers. Thus, if all seven numbers of the lottery number match the seven numbers of one of the game-play combinations, without regard to the order of the numbers, the ticket holder instantly wins the jackpot 802. Thus, a jackpot prize distribution 804 can be awarded to the ticket holder.
In another embodiment, the prize distributions can be for a partial matching of the lottery number with any one or more of the set of game-play combinations. In the seven-by-seven matrix, a secondary prize distribution 808 can be the prize awarded for matching six numbers of any of the game-play combinations. If the lottery number contains six numbers of the seven numbers in the game-play combination, the ticket holder can instantly win a secondary prize distribution 808, by way of example, of one thousand dollars. A secondary prize distribution 810, or a specific amount, can result from matching six numbers of any of the game-play combinations. If the lottery number contains five numbers of the seven numbers in the game-play combination, the ticket holder can instantly win a secondary prize distribution 810, by way of example, of ten dollars. A secondary prize distribution 812, or a specified amount, may result from matching four numbers of any of the game-play combinations. If the lottery number contains four numbers of the seven numbers in the game-play combination, the ticket holder can instantly win a secondary prize distribution 812 of, for example, two dollars. A prize distribution can result from the matching of any subset of numbers and the prizes can vary as determined by the lottery operator to induce play of the game based on the matching combinations. In one embodiment, the prize distribution can be a fixed prize. In another embodiment, the prize distribution can be a percentage of the jackpot or a percentage of ticket sales revenue. In yet another embodiment, the prize distribution can be a fixed prize plus a percentage of the jackpot.
FIG. 9A illustrates an instant online lottery game where the instant online lottery number matches all of the numbers in a game-play combination. In one embodiment, an instant online lottery number 902 is a winning number if the numbers contained in the instant online lottery number 902 match the numbers in any of the game-play combinations. If all the numbers are matched then the instant online lottery number 902 wins the jackpot. For example, the instant online lottery number 902 can be {13, 40, 41, 20, 18, 6, 2}. The third row in the player's game board 502 provides a game-play combination {6, 18, 41, 13, 40, 2, 20}. The instant online lottery number 902 wins the jackpot because all of the numbers in the game-play combination {6, 18, 41, 13, 40, 2, 20} are in the instant online lottery number 902. Thus, the ticket holder can win a prize distribution 806 as shown in FIG. 8.
FIG. 9B illustrates an instant online lottery game where the instant online lottery number partially matches the numbers in a game-play combination. In one embodiment, an instant online lottery number 904 can be a winning number if the numbers contained in the instant online lottery number 904 partially match the numbers in any of the game-play combinations. In a seven-by-seven matrix, if six numbers are matched then the instant online lottery number 904 wins a prize distribution 808. For example, the instant online lottery number 904 can be {25, 40, 42, 30, 34, 24, 2}. A diagonal 906 in the player's game board 502 provides a game-play combination {24, 42, 34, 22, 40, 25, 30}. Six of the seven numbers of this game-play combination are found in the instant online lottery number. Namely, {25, 40, 42, 30, 34, 24} are found in the game-play combination {24, 42, 34, 22, 40, 25, 30}. Thus, the ticket holder can win a prize distribution 808 as shown in FIG. 8.
FIG. 9C illustrates an instant online lottery game where the instant online lottery number partially matches the numbers in a game-play combination. In one embodiment, an instant online lottery number 908 can be a winning number if the numbers contained in the instant online lottery number 908 partially match the numbers in any of the game-play combinations. In a seven-by-seven matrix, if five numbers are matched then the instant online lottery number 908 wins a prize distribution 810. For example, the instant online lottery number 908 can be {16, 7, 49, 20, 31, 24, 2}. The sixth column in the player's game board 502 provides a game-play combination {16, 25, 2, 7, 49, 23, 31}. Five of the seven numbers of this game-play combination are found in the instant online lottery number. Namely, {16, 2, 7, 49, 31} are found in the game-play combination {16, 25, 2, 7, 49, 23, 31}. Thus, the ticket holder can win a prize distribution 810 as shown in FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 illustrates an instant online lottery game where the instant online lottery number partially matches the numbers in a game-play combination. In one embodiment, an instant online lottery number 1002 can be a winning number if the numbers contained in the instant online lottery number 1002 partially match the numbers in any of the game-play combinations. More than one combination can be partially matched. In a seven-by-seven matrix, for example, if four numbers of a first game-play combination are matched then the instant online lottery number 1002 wins a prize distribution 812. If four numbers of a second game-play combination are matched, then the instant online lottery number 1002 wins another prize distribution 812. For example, the instant online lottery number 1002 can be {13, 7, 41, 20, 31, 25, 2}. The sixth column in the player's game board 502 provides a game-play combination {16, 25, 2, 7, 49, 23, 31}. Four of the seven numbers of the game-play combination are found in the instant online lottery number. Namely, {25, 2, 7, 31} are found in the game-play combination {16, 25, 2, 7, 49, 23, 31}. In addition, the third row in the player's game board 502 provides a second game-play combination {6, 18, 41, 13, 40, 2, 20}. Four of the seven numbers of the second game-play combination are found in the instant online lottery number. Namely, {41, 13, 2, 20} are found in the second game-play combination {6, 18, 41, 13, 40, 2, 20}. Thus, the ticket holder can twice receive a prize distribution 812 as shown in FIG. 8. Other secondary prize distributions can be established depending on the number and extent of the matches. For example, a secondary prize distribution can be awarded for matching three numbers of seven. In another example, a secondary distribution can be awarded for matching two numbers of seven. In yet another example, two or more secondary distributions can be awarded in the same game, if the instant online lottery game ticket provides two or more partial matches between the instant online lottery number and subsets of two or more game-play combinations.
FIG. 11 illustrates an instant online lottery game that utilizes an eight-by-eight matrix 1104. In one embodiment, the eight-by-eight matrix 1104 yields a set of eighteen game-play combinations. Eight of the game-play combinations are defined by the horizontal playlines; another eight of the game-play combinations are defined by the vertical playlines, and two additional playlines are defined by the diagonals of the matrix. Furthermore, the winning number 1102 includes eight different numbers that can match any of the eighteen game-play combinations. The player's game board is a grid of sixty-four squares including a number from one to sixty-four in each of the boxes.
As discussed above, the full jackpot can be the prize distribution for matching the entire game-play combination. In an eight-by-eight matrix, each game-play combination has eight numbers. Thus, if all eight numbers of the lottery number 1102 match the eight numbers of one of the eighteen game-play combinations, the ticket holder can instantly win a jackpot. Thus, a jackpot prize distribution can be awarded to the ticket holder. In another embodiment, the prize distributions can be for a partial matching of the lottery number with any one of the set of game-play combinations. For example, matching seven numbers of one of the game-play combinations with seven numbers in the instant online lottery number 1102 would win a secondary prize as discussed above.
FIG. 12 illustrates a configuration in which a server 1202 sends game-play combinations to the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. The server 1202 can include a random number generator 1204. The random number generator 1204 can be utilized to generate the set of game-play combinations while the player can manually select the instant online lottery number. In one embodiment, the server 1202 first receives the instant online lottery number selected by the player such that the game-play combinations can be compared at the server 1202 against the selected instant online lottery number. If there is matching, the server 1202 reduces the jackpot by the prize distribution to the winning player. In another embodiment, the server 1202 does not receive the instant online lottery number and simply transmits the game-play combinations to the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 to be compared against the various instant online lottery number, which can also be transmitted by the server. The lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 can then utilize lottery unit processor 406 to make the comparison. If there is a matching, the lottery unit processor 406 transmits a confirmation of the win, the extent of the match and the applicable prize or prizes to the server 1202.
In another embodiment, the random number generator 1204 can randomly generate a quick pick instant online lottery number. In another embodiment, the random number generator 1204 can randomly generate an instant online lottery number and the set of game-play combinations.
FIG. 13 illustrates a process 1300 for operating the instant online lottery game wherein the player can select the lottery number. At a process block 1302, the player can select an instant online lottery number. The player can manually enter the instant online lottery number through the input module 304 on the instant online lottery machine 300. At a process block 1304, the game-play combinations can be generated. In one embodiment, the instant online lottery unit 204 can generate the set of game-play combinations using the random generator 404. In another embodiment, the server can generate the game-play combinations using the random number generator 1204. In one embodiment, a second random generator can generate the instant online lottery number to be matched against the game-play combinations.
At a process block 1306, a comparison can be made between instant online lottery number and the set of game-play combinations. In one embodiment, the instant online lottery unit 204 can perform this comparison. In another embodiment, the server can perform this comparison. At a process block 1308, a determination can be made if the instant online lottery number matches any one of the game-play combinations partially or entirely. If the instant online lottery number partially or entirely matches one of the game-play combinations, the process 1300 can proceed to a process block 1310 where the winner is provided with the appropriate prize distribution. The process 1300 can then proceed to the end block 1312. If the instant online lottery number does not match any one of the game-play combinations, in whole or in part, the process 1300 can proceed to the end block 1312.
FIG. 14 illustrates a configuration in which a server 1402 sends game-play combinations and the instant online lottery number to the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 through a network 1410. The server 1402 can include a first random number generator 1404 and a second random number generator 1406. The first random number generator 1404 can randomly generate the set of game-play combinations while the second number generator can randomly generate the instant online lottery number. In one embodiment, the game-play combinations can be compared at the server 1402 against the instant online lottery number. If there is complete matching, the server 1402 can reduce the jackpot by the prize distribution to the winning player. In the case of a partial match, where one or more fixed secondary prizes are won, the jackpot is not reduced.
FIG. 15 illustrates a process 1500 for operating the instant online lottery game wherein the server can generate the game-play combinations and the instant online lottery number. At a process block 1502, the game-play combinations can be generated. In one embodiment, the instant online lottery unit 204 can generate the set of game-play combinations using the random number generator 404. In another embodiment, the server 1402 can generate the game-play combinations using the random number generator 1404. At a process block 1504, the instant online lottery number can be randomly generated. In one embodiment, the instant online lottery unit 204 can generate the lottery number using the random number generator 404. In another embodiment, the server 1402 can generate the game-play combinations using the random number generator 1406.
In one embodiment, the player can elect to have an instant online lottery number be randomly generated. The player can choose a quick pick button to have the instant online lottery unit 300 randomly generate the instant online lottery number for the player. In another embodiment, the lottery ticket can be randomly generated by default.
At a process block 1506, a comparison can be made between the instant online lottery number and the set of game-play combinations. In one embodiment, the instant online lottery unit 204 can perform this comparison. In another embodiment, the server can perform this comparison. At a process block 1508, a determination can be made if the instant online lottery number matches any one of the game-play combinations partially or entirely. If the instant online lottery number partially or entirely matches one of the game-play combinations, the process 1500 can proceed to a process block 1510 where the winner is provided with the prize distribution. The process 1500 can then proceed to the end block 1512. If the instant online lottery number does not match any one of the game-play combinations, the process 1500 can proceed to the end block 1512. In one embodiment, a minimum starting jackpot can be offered. Thus, if a jackpot is won, in whole or in part, and is thereby reduced, the balance of the jackpot can be the starting jackpot amount for the next game, or it can be combined with the starting jackpot amount for the next game, so as to provide greater incentive for players to buy tickets for the next game.
MULTIPLE PRICING
An instant online lottery game with multiple levels of participation is provided. Players can select the price of the ticket to be purchased. In one embodiment, the price of the ticket can increase or reduce the odds of winning. In another embodiment, the price of the ticket can increase or reduce the prize distribution but the odds are the same for all ticket holders. All of the above-described features can be applied to a multiple pricing instant online lottery game.
FIG. 16 illustrates an instant online lottery game system 1600 that utilizes multiple pricing. Instant online lottery players can be provided with a selection of price categories and associated prize distributions. In one embodiment, a ticket holder 1604 can purchase a lottery ticket from a ticket seller 1602 in a first price category. The first price category can be for lottery tickets purchased for $w. The instant online lottery ticket in the first price category can be purchased from a ticket seller 1602. The first price category can be associated with a first prize distribution of a lottery prize that can be won. For example, the ticket holder 206 may have purchased the instant online lottery ticket for five dollars in order to play for a chance to win one hundred percent of the jackpot.
In another embodiment, a ticket holder 1606 can purchase an instant online lottery ticket in a second price category. The instant online lottery ticket can be purchased from a ticket seller 1602. For instance, the second price category can be lottery tickets purchased for $x. The second price category can be associated with a second distribution of an instant online lottery prize that can be won. For example, the ticket holder 1606 may have purchased the instant online lottery ticket for four dollars in order to play for a chance to win sixty percent of the jackpot.
In yet another embodiment, a ticket holder 1608 can purchase an instant online lottery ticket in a third price category. The instant online lottery ticket in the third price category can be purchased from a ticket seller 1602. For instance, the third price category can be lottery tickets purchased for $y. The third price category can be associated with a third distribution of an instant online lottery prize that can be won. For example, the ticket holder 1608 may have purchased the instant online lottery ticket for three dollars in order to play for a chance to win forty percent of the jackpot.
In another embodiment, a ticket holder 1610 can purchase an instant online lottery ticket in a fourth price category. The instant online lottery ticket in the fourth price category can be purchased from a ticket seller 1602. For instance, the fourth price category can be lottery tickets purchased for $z. The third price category can be associated with a fourth distribution of an instant online lottery prize that can be won. For example, the ticket holder 1610 may have purchased the instant online lottery ticket for two dollars in order to play for a chance to win twenty percent of the jackpot.
Although, in the above discussion, the first price category was associated with the ticket holder 204, the second price category with the ticket holder 206, and the third price category with the ticket holder 208, the ticket holders can be associated with different price categories. For instance, the first price category can be associated with the ticket holder 204 and the third price category can be associated with the ticket holder 206. Further, the methodologies discussed above can be extended to any number of price categories. For instance, there could be a fifth price category. Any number of price categories can be used. Also, the price categories can represent not only an opportunity to win a distinct pre-established portion of a jackpot but also a differing set of secondary prizes. The secondary prizes can be greater for a winning higher-priced ticket. Furthermore, the holder of a higher-priced ticket can qualify for the award of a secondary prize for the matching of a subset of numbers which would not qualify the holder of a lower-priced ticket for a prize.
FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a winnings table for the instant online lottery game system of FIG. 16. For example, a lottery can have a jackpot of two and a half million dollars. Lottery players can purchase a five-dollar ticket, a four-dollar ticket, a three-dollar ticket, and a two-dollar ticket.
The five-dollar ticket holder could receive the full jackpot of two million five hundred thousand dollars if the instant online lottery number of the five-dollar ticket matches in full any one of the game-play combinations. The four-dollar ticket gives the ticket holder a chance at receiving sixty percent of the jackpot. Therefore, the four-dollar ticket holder could at best receive one million five hundred thousand dollars if the instant online lottery number of the four-dollar ticket matches in full any one of the game-play combinations.
The three-dollar ticket could give the ticket holder a chance at receiving forty percent of the jackpot. Therefore, the three-dollar ticket holder could at best receive one million dollars if the instant online lottery number of the three-dollar ticket matches in full any one of the game-play combinations.
Finally, the two-dollar ticket could give the ticket holder a chance at receiving twenty percent of the jackpot. Therefore, the two-dollar ticket holder could at best receive five hundred thousand dollars if the instant online lottery number of the two-dollar ticket matches in full any one of the game-play combinations.
FIG. 18 illustrates an instant online lottery system. The internal components of the housing 302 of the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 can include a controller 1804, a price category reception module 1806, a user input module 1808, and a lottery ticket printer 1810. The controller 1804 coordinates the operation of these internal components.
The price category reception module 1806 can receive the different price categories in which lottery tickets can be purchased in the instant multi-priced lottery system. In one embodiment, the price category reception module can receive the different price categories and the associated distributions for each of the respective price categories. In one embodiment, a vendor can manually input the different price categories into the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. In another embodiment, the vendor can electronically input the different price categories into the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 by inserting a computer readable medium into the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. In yet another embodiment, the price category reception module 1806 can receive the data related to the price category reception module from a server through a network.
In one embodiment, the user input module 1808 can receive a user input from the user input device 304. The user input module 1808 can communicate with the controller 1504 so that the controller can provide an instruction to the lottery ticket printer 1810 to print the lottery ticket.
In one embodiment, the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 can communicate with a server 1812 to receive a price category and the associated distribution of the price category. The server 1812 can provide a price category through a network 1814 to the price category reception module 1806 in the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. In one embodiment, multiple price categories can be sent simultaneously with their associated distributions. In another embodiment, each price category can be sent by itself with its associated distribution.
The lottery ticket dispensing machine 300 can communicate with a server 1812 to transmit a ticket request. In one embodiment, the housing 302 can also house a lottery ticket purchase transmission module 1816. The lottery ticket purchase transmission module 1816 can determine when a ticket has been purchased and can transmit a ticket request to a server 1812 through a network 1814. The ticket request received at the server 1812 can trigger the server 1812 to randomly generate lottery numbers as well as provide price categories to the lottery dispensing machine 300.
In another embodiment, the server 1812 can send price category information or data to the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. The server 1812 can provide instructions to a price category module 1818 and to a price category transmission module 1820. The price category module 1818 can determine price categories and distributions in a multi-priced instant online lottery distribution as discussed above. The price category transmission module 1820 can then transmit the price category and the associated distribution through the network 1814 to the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. In one embodiment, the price category reception module 1806 can receive information or data with respect to the price categories and associated distributions.
In another embodiment, the server 1812 can send random number ticket data to the lottery ticket dispensing machine 300. The server 1812 can provide instructions to a first random number generator module 1822 and to a second random number generator module 1824. The first random number generator module 1822 can randomly generate the instant online lottery numbers. The second random number generator 1824 can randomly generate a set of game-play combinations. In one embodiment, the controller 1802 can receive the data concerning price categories and associated distributions.
In another embodiment, the server can also send the ticket identifier 504 to be printed on the instant online lottery ticket. Thus, upon a lottery ticket holder winning a distribution, the lottery operator can verify that the ticket holder purchased a valid lottery ticket by confirming that the ticket identifier printed on the ticket matches the ticket identifier stored at the server 1812 and transmitted to the lottery operator.
FIG. 19 illustrates a process 1900 for operating a multi-priced instant online lottery game. At a process block 1902, a selection of an instant online lottery ticket price can be received. A determination of the potential distribution of the jackpot that can be won can be made at a process block 1904. If the lottery ticket price is associated with a percentage of the jackpot, the percentage of the current jackpot can be calculated and displayed to the player. In one embodiment, this calculation can be performed and displayed for all of the price categories prior to the player's selection at the process block 2802. Calculations can be performed to continuously enhance the jackpot based on the ongoing purchase of tickets. Thus, players can always be provided with updated jackpot prize distribution information through the linked instant online lottery units. If the secondary prizes for partial matching are fixed, then a calculation update is not needed for the secondary prizes.
At a process block 1906, an instant online lottery number can be randomly selected. In an alternative embodiment, the player can choose the quick pick button to have the instant online lottery unit 204, or a separate random number generator, randomly generate the instant online lottery number for the player. At a process block 1908, the game-play combinations for the instant online lottery numbers can be generated.
At a process block 1910, a comparison can be made between the instant online lottery number and various game-play combinations printed on the instant online lottery ticket. In one embodiment, the instant online lottery unit 204 can perform this comparison. In another embodiment, the server can perform this comparison.
At a process block 1912, a determination can be made as to whether the instant online lottery number matches a set of game-play combinations. If the instant online lottery number matches in full one of the game-play combinations, the process 19 can proceed to a process block 1914 where the winner can be provided with the percentage of the jackpot associated with the instant online lottery ticket price. Alternatively, if the instant online lottery number partially matches one of the game-play combinations the winner can be provided with a secondary prize which is determined based on the instant online lottery ticket price. Process 1900 can then proceed to the end block 1916. If the instant online lottery number does not match, in full or in part, the winning instant online lottery number, the process 1900 can proceed to the end block 1916.
FIG. 20 illustrates the instant online lottery unit 204. The instant online lottery unit can have a jackpot display 2014 that indicates the jackpot value. In one embodiment, the server 1812 can send the jackpot value to the instant online lottery unit for display on the jackpot display 2014. The instant online lottery unit can also have an instant online lottery price display 2002 that displays prices for instant online lottery tickets and associated known prize distributions for each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
An indication can also be provided as to whether an instant online lottery ticket allows for secondary prizes. In one embodiment, the secondary prizes can vary according to the number of matched numbers and the price of the instant online lottery ticket. In another embodiment, the secondary prices can vary only according to the number of matched numbers between the instant online lottery number and the set of game-play combinations.
In one example, the secondary prize distributions for a seven-by-seven matrix can be provided as part of the lottery ticket price display 2002. A two-dollar instant online lottery ticket can be purchased to potentially win a secondary prize. In one embodiment, the secondary prize value can depend on the partial matching of instant online lottery numbers with one or more of the game-play combinations. As previously discussed, each of the sixteen game-play combinations in a seven-by-seven matrix includes seven numbers. In one example, a two-dollar instant online lottery number matching six numbers of the game-play combination can win one thousand dollars. A two-dollar instant online lottery number matching five numbers of a game-play combination can win ten dollars. Finally, a two-dollar instant online lottery number matching four numbers of a game-play combination can win two dollars.
In another example, a three-dollar instant online lottery ticket can be purchased to potentially win a secondary prize. In a seven-by-seven matrix, a three-dollar instant online lottery number matching six numbers of the game-play combination can win one thousand five hundred dollars. A three-dollar instant online lottery number matching five numbers of a game-play combination can win fifteen dollars. Finally, a three-dollar instant online lottery number matching four numbers of a game-play combination can win three dollars.
In yet another example, a four-dollar instant online lottery ticket can be purchased to potentially win a secondary prize. In a seven-by-seven matrix, a four-dollar instant online lottery number matching six numbers of the game-play combination can win two thousand hundred dollars. A four-dollar instant online lottery number matching five numbers of a game-play combination can win twenty dollars. Finally, a four-dollar instant online lottery number matching four numbers of a game-play combination can win four dollars.
In another example, a five-dollar instant online lottery ticket can be purchased to potentially win a secondary prize. In a seven-by-seven matrix, a five-dollar instant online lottery number matching six numbers of the game-play combination can win two thousand five hundred dollars. A five-dollar instant online lottery number matching five numbers of a game-play combination can win twenty-five dollars. Finally, a five-dollar instant online lottery number matching four numbers of a game-play combination can win five dollars.
A plurality of price selection inputs 2004 can be provided so that the player can select the instant online lottery ticket that the player would like to purchase. For instance, the player can press the two-dollar button if the player would like to purchase the two-dollar instant online lottery ticket to potentially win the jackpot distribution prize of five hundred thousand dollars, which can represent twenty percent of the jackpot, or any of the associated secondary prizes. Further, the player can press the three-dollar button if the player would like to purchase the three-dollar instant online lottery ticket to potentially win the jackpot distribution prize of one million dollars, which can represent forty percent of the jackpot, or any of the associated secondary prizes. In addition, the player can press the four-dollar button if the player would like to purchase the four-dollar instant online lottery ticket to potentially win the jackpot distribution prize of one million five hundred thousand dollar, which can represent sixty percent of the jackpot, or any associated secondary prizes. Finally, the player can press the five-dollar button if the player would like to purchase the five-dollar instant online lottery ticket to potentially win the jackpot of two million five hundred thousand, which can represent one hundred percent of the jackpot, or any of the associated secondary prizes. In a further aspect, in lieu of providing ticket process buttons, the player can inform the ticket vendor of his or her ticket price selection, either orally or through use of a ticket purchase form. The ticket vendor can then enter the appropriate data, including ticket price information.
The player can enter a selection of an instant online lottery number through an input module 2006. In one embodiment, the input module 2006 can be a keypad. In another embodiment, the input module 2006 can be a touch screen. Alternatively, the player can press a quick pick button 2008 to have the instant online lottery unit 204 select the instant online lottery number for the player. The player can press an instant online lottery initiation button 2010 to begin lottery play. Further, the payment module 2012 can receive one of the various forms of payment described above.
In one embodiment, the instant online lottery unit 202 can have the plurality of buttons illustrated, such as the input module 2006 and the quick pick button 2008, to determine the instant online lottery number. In another embodiment, a menu can be provided that provides the player with the ability to make a choice of a manual selection or of a quick pick selection of the instant online lottery number. The menu can be provided on a computerized display such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display.
FIG. 21A illustrates a three-dollar ticket in a multi-priced instant online lottery game ticket, with the ticket having a game-play combination with five matching numbers. The ticket 2100 can include the price designation 2102, the instant online lottery number 2104, and a player's game board 2106. The player's game board can include the game-play combinations (for example sixteen game-play combinations in a seven-by-seven matrix). In one example, the prize distribution can be the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 20. A player that purchases a three-dollar ticket for an instant online lottery game can have the opportunity to win a jackpot percentage of forty percent or one million dollars, or secondary prizes according to the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 20. The instant online lottery ticket 2100 shows that the instant online lottery number matches five numbers of the third row of the players game board 2106. In one embodiment, there can be sixteen game-play combinations. Based on the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 20, the three-dollar instant online lottery number matching five numbers of a game-play combination can win fifteen dollars.
FIG. 21B illustrates a four-dollar ticket in a multi-priced instant online lottery game ticket, with the ticket having a game-play combination with five matching numbers. A player that purchases a four-dollar ticket for an instant online lottery game can have the opportunity to win a percentage of the jackpot that amounts to one million five hundred thousand dollars, or secondary prizes according to the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 20. The instant online lottery ticket 2108 shows that the instant online lottery number matches five numbers of the third row of the player's game board 2106. In one embodiment, there can be sixteen game-play combinations. Based on the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 20, the four-dollar instant online lottery number matching five numbers of a game-play combination can win twenty dollars. As such, the four-dollar ticket holder can win five more dollars in comparison with the three-dollar ticket holder, even when the instant online lottery number and the game-play combinations are the same.
FIG. 22A illustrates a three-dollar ticket in a multi-priced instant online lottery game, with the ticket having a game-play combination with six matching numbers. Ticket 2200 is a three-dollar ticket for an instant online lottery game that can provide the player with the opportunity to win prizes according to the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 20. The instant online lottery ticket 2108 shows that the instant online lottery number matches six numbers of the third row of the player's game board 2106. Thus, the three-dollar instant online lottery number matching six numbers of a game-play combination can win one thousand five hundred dollars.
FIG. 22B illustrates a four dollar-ticket in a multi-priced instant online lottery game, with the ticket having a game-play combination with six matching numbers. A player can likewise purchase a ticket 2202 with the same instant online lottery number and game-play combination numbers for a four-dollar price. Based on the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 20, the player having the four-dollar ticket 2202 with a six-number match can instantly win two thousand dollars. Accordingly, in comparison with the three-dollar ticket holder, the four-dollar ticket holder can win an additional five hundred dollars. Thus, players have an incentive to buy higher-priced tickets, because of the potential of winning higher fixed secondary prizes and/or the potential to win a higher portion of the available jackpot.
PROGRESSIVE JACKPOT
FIG. 23 illustrates an instant online lottery system 2300 with a progressive jackpot 2312. The lottery system 2300 depicted in FIG. 23 is the lottery system depicted in FIG. 2 with a jackpot that is illustrated as being progressive. Because the lottery system of FIG. 23 utilizes a progressive jackpot, the ticket holder can win a larger jackpot than initially advertised. In one embodiment, the jackpot can be increased with a portion of the revenue from each instant online lottery ticket sold.
In one embodiment, the server 202 can communicate with the first instant online lottery unit 204, the second instant online lottery unit 206, and the third instant online lottery unit 208. As players provide payment to enter or initiate an instant online lottery game at one of the units, at least a portion of the payment can be added to a progressive jackpot 2312 stored in the memory 214. As discussed above, the instant online lottery units can be stand-alone terminals configured to interact directly with the players. In another embodiment, the instant online lottery units can be configured within the existing terminals used by a lottery operator to provide the traditional online future-draw lottery games. In another embodiment, the instant online lottery units can be the existing terminals used by a lottery operator to provide the traditional online future-draw lottery games. Utilization of existing infrastructure can allow a lottery operator to avoid costs associated with the creation, acquisition and installation of a new distribution network, terminals and servers.
The networking capability between several instant online lottery units can allow each of the several units to access and report changes in a single progressive jackpot 2312. Furthermore, instant online lottery units can be linked together through a server 202 and network 210 such that data reported by one instant online lottery unit can be broadcasted or communicated to the other instant online lottery units. For example, an increase in the jackpot 202 can be immediately broadcasted or communicated to the rest of the linked instant online lottery units. Thus, the progressive jackpot 2312 can be shared among instant units 204, 206, and 208. In one embodiment, a minimum amount of ticket sales is not required and a starting jackpot can be provided and guaranteed with regard to tickets sales. The lottery prize can be a variable prize from the outset, increasing with each ticket sold. Accordingly, a percentage of each ticket sale can be contributed to the progressive jackpot 2312, with a greater amount contributed by higher-priced tickets.
In one embodiment, a fixed amount of money can be added to the jackpot for each ticket sold regardless of the value of the ticket. This would make the progressive jackpot increase in direct proportion to the number of tickets sold.
In another embodiment, a percentage of the value of each ticket sold can be added to the jackpot. This would make the progressive jackpot increase in direct proportion to the total sales of instant online lottery tickets.
By having the instant online lottery units connected through the network 210, the progressive jackpot 2312 can build up based on the quantity and the utilization of the instant online lottery units. Players do not have the time constraints of having to wait for a lottery drawing with a traditional online lottery game. Further, players do not have to wait for selections of other players. Accordingly, the progressive jackpot can build up quickly through this type of configuration. The progressive jackpot 2312 can also build up in a similar manner and more quickly, so as to create a larger jackpot, if the instant online lottery units are linked to one another.
In addition, the instant online lottery game having a progressive jackpot can be offered by a lottery operator at different ticket prices. Thus, the instant online lottery game can have a progressive jackpot where the tickets are multi-priced. As discussed above, different ticket prices provide a player with the opportunity to play for a pre-determined percentage of the progressive jackpot, or the progressive jackpot in its entirety, with the choice of ticket price and associated prizes being made by the player. For example, a one-dollar ticket holder can participate and play for a lower percentage of the progressive jackpot, while a three-dollar ticket holder can play for a higher percentage or, if the three-dollar ticket is the most expensive ticket, for the entire progressive jackpot. In addition, the offering of multi-priced tickets can afford the opportunity to quickly generate large increasing jackpots if the contribution to the progressive jackpot is a percentage of ticket sales.
Furthermore, the progressive jackpot feature can continue to operate after a prize is distributed to a winning ticket holder and the jackpot need not automatically revert to the minimum or starting jackpot if the winning ticket holder purchased other than the highest-priced ticket. For example, if a one-dollar instant online lottery ticket holder wins, the progressive jackpot distribution can be a portion of the progressive jackpot, leaving the balance of the progressive jackpot for subsequent players. This balance can be enhanced through additional contributions to the jackpot through, for example, an insurance-backed third-party prize guarantee. As such, the progressive jackpot can continue to increase as new instant online lottery tickets are purchased.
In one embodiment, both the one-dollar ticket holder and the three-dollar ticket holder can participate with the same odds but for different prizes. In contrast, traditional online lotteries only offer single-priced tickets.
In one embodiment, the instant online lottery ticket is associated with a percentage of the progressive jackpot 2312 based on the instant online lottery ticket price. For example, instant online lottery tickets can be offered at three different prices: one dollar, two dollars, and three dollars. In another example, a greater or lesser number of ticket price categories can exist. A player with a one-dollar ticket could win twenty-five percent of the progressive jackpot, a player with a two-dollar ticket could win fifty percent of the progressive jackpot, and a player with a three-dollar ticket could win one hundred percent of the progressive jackpot. Consequently, the percentage of the possible jackpot winnings associated with each ticket price can vary. This can afford a player purchasing an instant online lottery ticket at a lower price the benefit of participating in a jackpot where other players purchasing an instant online lottery ticket at higher prices are contributing even more to the progressive jackpot. For example, a player with a one-dollar ticket can have an associated percentage of the progressive jackpot that the player can win, and a player with a two-dollar ticket or a three-dollar ticket can also have an associated and higher percentage of the progressive jackpot that the player can win. If the one-dollar ticket holder wins, the one-dollar ticket holder benefits from the portion of the ticket sales revenues contributed by the purchase of two-dollar tickets and three-dollar tickets to the progressive jackpot. In essence, multiple levels of participation can be allowed in a progressive jackpot. Even though the one-dollar ticket holder is limited to winning a lesser percentage, for example, twenty-five percent, the one-dollar ticket holder can benefit from the increase in the jackpot prize resulting from the sale of higher-priced tickets.
If the majority of potential ticket buyers are induced to purchase three-dollar tickets, the potential ticket holders that can only afford to purchase a one-dollar ticket are still provided with an incentive to participate in the lottery because these ticket holders can still win a portion of a progressive jackpot 2312 that can potentially grow quite large. The growth of the progressive jackpot 2312 can be enhanced further with the percentage contribution from the higher-priced tickets and relatively high starting jackpots resulting from probability-based third-party prize guarantees, as compared with the more traditional pari-mutuel-based single-priced-online lottery model. The potential ticket holders that can afford the higher-priced instant online tickets can be even further induced to purchase higher-priced tickets due to the prospect of winning a larger portion of the progressive jackpot and higher secondary prizes. As stated previously, lottery players have an incentive to buy three-dollar tickets where the more expensive tickets provide the opportunity to win a greater distribution percentage. With a progressive jackpot, players have an even greater incentive to buy tickets that are more expensive because the jackpot keeps increasing and the potential distribution grows larger.
Furthermore, when a multiple pricing scheme is utilized, players are further encouraged to buy instant online lottery tickets. In traditional lotteries, when the jackpot is won, the next game starts anew with a starting-level jackpot that is generally low. When a multiple pricing scheme is utilized, however, the jackpot is on average maintained at higher levels than without a multiple-pricing scheme.
That is, following the matching of the instant online lottery number with any one of the game-play combinations, the progressive jackpot is reduced for ongoing games. For example, instant online lottery tickets can be offered at three different prices: one dollar, two dollars, and three dollars. A player with a one-dollar ticket could win twenty-five percent of the progressive jackpot, a player with a two-dollar ticket could win fifty percent of the progressive jackpot, and a player with a three-dollar ticket could win one hundred percent of the progressive jackpot. If the player with the three-dollar instant online lottery ticket was the winner, the progressive jackpot can be reduced by the full amount of the jackpot. Then, the jackpot can start at zero or at a minimum guaranteed amount. If the player with a one-dollar instant online lottery ticket was the winner, such winner could win only twenty-five percent of the jackpot, and the remaining seventy-five percent could carry over for continuing play. Similarly, if the winner was a purchaser of a two-dollar instant online lottery ticket, such winner could only win fifty percent of the jackpot, and the balance of fifty percent could be carried over for continuing play. In essence, a rollover is provided when no player wins the progressive jackpot, and a limited rollover is provided even when there is a winner, as long as the winner has a lower-denomination or lower-priced ticket. Accordingly, where the jackpot is on average at a significantly higher level potential customers or players can be induced to participate and purchase lottery tickets or to increase the amount spent in the purchase of a ticket. This is in contrast to traditional online lottery games, which only permit the purchase of single-priced tickets and, therefore, do not have the potential for limited rollovers and have jackpots that fall to minimum levels after each jackpot win. Traditional online lottery games do not provide the same inducement to potential lottery ticket holders to purchase or increase the amount spent on lottery tickets as the multi-priced instant online model described herein.
As it is well known in the art, higher jackpots attract more players to the game. An instant online lottery game that has both a progressive jackpot that continuously grows with the instant online lottery ticket sales and a multiple-level pricing scheme can maintain the average progressive jackpot at higher levels. Higher average progressive jackpots can also be achieved through higher-starting jackpot amounts resulting from a probabilistic model and use of third-party prize guarantees. Higher average progressive jackpots further induce play and increase ticket sales revenue.
DAILY ONLINE LOTTERY
The lottery game described in FIGS. 5-11 can alternatively be provided as a daily-draw or delayed draw lottery game, as an alternative to an instant online lottery game. In one embodiment, an instant online lottery number can be selected first when the ticket is purchased and, at the end of the game day, following the last ticket purchase, by a draw of each of the game-play combinations. In another embodiment, an instant draw or selection can be made by a random number generator for all of the game-play combinations in the form of a matrix or grid and set forth in the purchased ticket. Upon the completion of the game there can be a subsequent draw for the selection of the winning lottery number. Two or more ticket holders can have instant online lottery numbers that provide a match and qualify for the jackpot or a percentage of the jackpot. In one embodiment, the jackpot distribution can be shared among the winning ticket holders.
Inter-sharing and intra-sharing methodologies can be implemented in this daily online lottery game. For instance, if two players win a progressive jackpot following the same draw, the two players can intra-share if they purchased daily online lottery tickets for the same price or can inter-share if they purchased daily online lottery tickets for different prices. If multiple players win at the same time, the players can inter-share across price categories and can intra-share within the same price category.
In one example, there can be a three-dollar ticket winner and a one-dollar ticket winner. The jackpot can be for ten million dollars. The three-dollar ticket winner can share the jackpot with the one-dollar ticket winner. The one-dollar ticket winner can receive one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars through an inter-sharing distribution. Further, the three-dollar ticket winner can receive one million two hundred fifty thousand dollars through an inter-sharing distribution formula. Finally, the three-dollar ticket winner can receive seven million five hundred thousand dollars through an intra-shared distribution.
INSTANT GAME—MONEY SQUARES
In one embodiment, a second multi-priced instant game can be provided. The instant game can be similar in certain respects to the traditional instant peel-off or scratch-off games but can be offered and played with a ticket that is printed at a traditional online lottery terminal instead of using a traditional pre-printed instant-style ticket. In addition, the multi-priced instant game can include a multiple pricing scheme that offers ticket purchasers the option of playing for larger prizes if a higher-priced ticket is purchased and for smaller prizes if a lower-priced ticket is purchased. In one embodiment, the instant game can be provided by itself. In another embodiment, the instant game can be offered in combination with the lottery game described in FIGS. 5-11 and without any separate charge. In another embodiment, the instant game can be offered as an add-on game requiring a second or optional purchase.
FIG. 24 illustrates a multi-priced instant game ticket 2400. In one embodiment, the instant game ticket can include a set of winning combinations 2402, a set of playing combinations 2404, a ticket identifier 2406 and a timestamp 2408. In one embodiment, the set of winning combinations 2402 can include squares each having a number and symbol combination that is utilized to compare against the playing combinations 2404. In addition, the set of playing combinations 2404 can each have a number and symbol combination. The symbol utilized in the playing combinations 2404 and the winning combinations 2402 can be a word, a color, a picture, a geometrical figure, a Greek symbol, a Latin symbol, a Hebrew symbol, to name a few. In another embodiment, the combination utilized can be a symbol-symbol combination, etc. The ticket identifier 2406 can be, for example, a serial number, a bar code, etc., that can uniquely identify the instant game ticket among other instant game tickets. In addition, a time stamp 2408 can also be provided on the instant online lottery ticket 2400 to display the time at which the ticket was printed and presented to the player.
In one embodiment, all of the playing combinations in the set of playing combinations can have a number and symbol combination. In another embodiment, only some of the playing combinations in the set of playing combinations can be seeded with number and symbol combinations. For example, only playing combinations 2420, 2422, 2424, 2426, and 2428 are seeded with a number and symbol combination.
In another embodiment, the playing combinations having a number and symbol combination can include a prize designation. For example, playing combination 2420 includes a prize designation of $100, playing combination 2428 includes a prize designation of $200, playing combination 2422 includes a prize designation of $300, playing combination 2424 includes a prize designation of $400, and playing combination 2426 includes a prize designation of $500.
A player can win if one of the squares in the set of playing combinations 2404 matches one of the winning combinations 2402 as to both the number and symbol combination. For example, playing combination 2428 includes a {7, Red} combination. Winning combination 2410 also includes a {7, Red} combination. Therefore, instant game ticket 2400 can win two hundred dollars according to the prize designation in playing combination 2428.
In another example, winning combination 2412 includes a {41, Yellow} combination. “Yellow” only appears in playing combination 2420 which includes a {10, Yellow} combination. Thus, instant game ticket 2400 does not win based on winning combination 2412.
In yet another example, winning combination 2414 includes a {20, Green} combination. The number “30” only appears in playing combination 2430, and has no symbol in combination with this number. Therefore, instant game ticket 2400 does not win based on winning combination 2414 either. In another example, winning combination 2416 includes a {31, Blue} combination. In yet another example, winning combination 2418 includes a {Black, 24} combination.
FIG. 25 illustrates a process 2500 for operating the instant game. At a process block 2502, a selection of an instant game ticket price can be received. A determination of instant prizes that can be won can be made at a process block 2504. In one embodiment, the instant prizes that can be won can be displayed for all of the price categories prior to the player's selection at the process block 2502. The instant prizes that can be won can depend upon the price of the instant game ticket. A higher ticket price can increase the number of instant prizes that can be won, as well as the amount of the prizes.
At a process block 2506, the winning combinations can be randomly selected. In one embodiment, a quick pick can be utilized to randomly select the winning combinations. The player can choose the quick-pick button to have the instant game unit randomly generate the winning combinations for the player. In another embodiment, the instant game unit can receive randomly generated winning combinations from a server. At a process block 2508, the playing combinations can be generated. In one embodiment, the instant game unit can generate the playing combinations. In another embodiment, the server can generate the playing combinations.
At a process block 2510, a comparison can be made between each of the winning combinations and each of the playing combinations. In one embodiment, the instant game unit can perform this comparison. In another embodiment, the server can perform this comparison. At a decision block 2512, a determination can be made if a winning combination matches a playing combination. If there is a match, the process 2500 can proceed to a process block 2514 where the winner can be provided with the instant prize associated with the selected instant game ticket price. In one embodiment, the instant prize awarded to the winning player can be printed in the matching playing combination. The process 2500 can then proceed to the end block 2516. If none of the playing combinations matches any of the winning combinations, process 2500 can proceed to the end block 2516.
FIG. 26 illustrates a table 2600 of prizes in a multi-priced instant game. Each price category can have an associated set of prizes. The associated set of prizes for a first price category 2602 can be, for example, a set of six different prizes. In another embodiment, the number of prizes for the first price category can be any other number of prizes. In one example, the first price category 2602 can be a two-dollar category. The first price category 2602 can have a set of prizes that includes one thousand dollars, one hundred dollars, twenty dollars, ten dollars, five dollars and a free ticket prize. Each of the prizes in the set of prizes can have associated odds. In one embodiment, the odds associated with each of the prizes in the first price category can determine whether the generated winning combinations match the playing combinations. Thus, tickets in the first price category 2602 can be seeded in the appropriate playing combinations according to odds that the lottery operator sets. For example, the odds for a twenty-dollar prize for the first price category can be 1/750.
In another embodiment, there can be second price category 2604. The associated set of prizes for the second price category 2604 can be, for example, a set of seven different prizes. In another embodiment, the number of prizes for the second price category 2604 can be any other number of prizes. In one example, the second price category 2604 can be a three-dollar category. The second price category 2604 can have a set of prizes that includes two thousand five hundred dollars, two hundred fifty dollars, twenty dollars, ten dollars, five dollars and a free ticket prize. Each of the prizes in the set of prizes can have associated odds. In one embodiment, the odds associated with each of the prizes in the second price category 2604 can determine whether the generated winning combinations match the playing combinations. Thus, tickets in the second price category 2604 can be seeded in the appropriate playing combinations according to odds that the lottery operator sets. For example, the odds for a twenty-dollar prize for the second price category 2604 can be 1/750. As a result, ticket holders for a first price category and a second price category can have a chance at winning a twenty-dollar prize based on the same odds. That is, the odds of winning a twenty-dollar prize for a first price category, and the odds of winning a twenty-dollar prize for a second price category, can both be 1/750. In another embodiment, there can be different odds applicable to the same prize for different price categories.
In yet another embodiment, there can be a third price category 2606. The associated set of prizes for the third price category 2606 can be, for example, a set of eight different prizes. In another embodiment, there can be a fourth price category 2608. The associated set of prizes for the fourth price category 2608 can be, for example, a set of nine different prizes. In yet another embodiment, the set of prizes can be the same in number for different price categories but differ in amount or with respect to the odds of winning a prize of a fixed amount.
FIG. 27A illustrates an instant game ticket in a first price category. In one embodiment, the first price category can be a three-dollar ticket price. A playing combination 2420 can include the number-symbol combination {41, Yellow}. An associated prize with the playing combination 2420 can be two thousand five hundred dollars. Therefore, if the ticket includes a matching winning combination of {41, Yellow}, the ticket holder can win the prize of two thousand five hundred dollars. Winning combination 2412 includes the number-symbol combination {41, Yellow}. Accordingly, the three-dollar ticket holder can win two thousand five hundred dollars.
FIG. 27B illustrates an instant game ticket in a second price category. In one embodiment, the second price category can be a four-dollar ticket price. A similar set of winning combinations and playing combinations as those in FIG. 27A can be randomly generated for the four-dollar ticket. A playing combination 2420 can include the number-symbol combination {41, Yellow}. An associated prize with the playing combination 2420 can be ten thousand hundred dollars. Therefore, if the ticket includes a matching winning combination of {41, Yellow}, the ticket holder can win the prize of ten thousand dollars. Winning combination 2412 includes the number-symbol combination {41, Yellow}. Accordingly, the four-dollar ticket holder can win ten thousand dollars.
FIG. 28 illustrates the prize distributions for an instant online lottery game in combination with a separate instant game offered online. The instant online lottery game described in reference to FIGS. 5-11 can be provided in conjunction with the instant game. In one embodiment, the instant game can be provided as a free addition to the instant online lottery game for the same price. In another embodiment, the instant game can be available as an option to players who can choose to pay an additional price for playing the instant game.
The prize distributions 2804 for the instant game can be separate from those attributable to the previously described instant online lottery game referenced in FIGS. 5-11. In the instant online lottery game, a lottery number is provided to the player and compared to a set of game-play combinations. The prize a player can win can depend on the ticket price selected by the player and whether there was a complete or a partial match of the set of numbers with one of the game-play combinations.
On the other hand, the prize distributions 2806 for the instant game can be awarded as described above in reference to FIGS. 24-27. As such, the prize distributions 2804 and 2806 can be based on different odds. An example of a jackpot 2802 is two million five hundred thousand dollars.
In one embodiment, the price categories of the instant online lottery game correspond directly with the price categories of the instant game. In one example, the first price category for the instant online lottery game can correspond directly to the first price category of the instant game. Thus, a two-dollar player, for example, can play an instant online lottery game with a prize distribution of five hundred thousand dollars for a complete match. Further, secondary prizes of one hundred dollars, ten dollars, and two dollars can be available for partial matches. The same two-dollar player can also play the instant game with potential prizes of one thousand dollars, one hundred dollars, twenty dollars, ten dollars five dollars and a free ticket.
In another embodiment, where the instant game is provided at an extra cost, an instant online lottery game can be provided with a set of price categories, and an optional add-on instant game can be provided with a different set of price categories. The price categories for the instant game can be the add-on prices.
FIG. 29 illustrates a three-dollar ticket for an instant online lottery game in combination with an instant game offered online. The instant online lottery game and the instant game can be combined together in a single ticket 2900. In one embodiment, the playing combinations for the instant game can be seeded to reflect a fixed allocation of prizes representing a pre-determined percentage of ticket sales revenues and allocated among the squares in a grid or matrix used for the instant online lottery game. In one example, the ticket price 2902 can be three dollars. An instant online lottery number 2904 can be provided for playing the instant online lottery game. Further, a set of winning combinations 2906 can also be provided for playing the instant game. Finally, a player's game board 2908 can be a seven-by-seven matrix with numbers one to forty-nine randomly placed on the player's game board 2908.
In one example, the fourth column of the player's game board 2908 can include four of the seven numbers in the instant online lottery number 2904. If column four is designated as a playline that includes a winning subset of the lottery numbers, the ticket 2900 can win a prize for matching four numbers. For example, the instant online lottery number {2, 35, 13, 7, 9, 17, 31} matches the numbers {2, 13, 7, 31} in the game-play combination. If the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 28 is used, the three-dollar ticket holder can win two dollars.
In another example, the same three-dollar ticket holder can play the instant game. Only playing combination 2910 matches the winning number-symbol combination. Playing combination 2910 includes the combination {24, Blue}. One of the winning combinations has the combination {24, Blue}. As a result, the three-dollar ticket holder can win the amount indicated in the playing combination 2910, two hundred and fifty dollars.
FIG. 30 illustrates a four-dollar ticket for an instant online lottery game in combination with an instant game. The instant online lottery game and the instant game can be combined together in a single ticket 3000 such that the playing combinations can be seeded in the instant online lottery game matrix. In one example, the ticket price 3002 can be four dollars. Like the three-dollar ticket illustrated in FIG. 31, the four-dollar ticket can include the instant online lottery game as well as the instant game. However, the playing combinations seeded on the player's game board can include higher prizes, and/or present a greater chance of winning a prize as discussed with reference to FIG. 28.
In one example, the fourth column of the player's game board 3008 can include four of the seven numbers in the instant online lottery number 3004. If column four is designated as a playline that includes one of the game-play combinations, the ticket 2900 can win a prize for matching four numbers. Namely, the instant online lottery number {2, 35, 13, 7, 9, 17, 31} matches the numbers {2, 13, 7, 31} in the game-play combination. If the prize distribution illustrated in FIG. 28 is used, the four-dollar ticket holder can win three dollars.
In another example, the same four-dollar ticket holder can play the instant game. Only playing combination 3010 matches the number-symbol combination. Playing combination 3010 includes the combination {24, Blue}, and a winning combination 3006 has the combination {24, Blue}. As a further example, playing combination 3012 has the combination {46, Red}. As a result, the four-dollar ticket holder can win the amount indicated in the playing combination 3010, five hundred dollars.
THIRD-PARTY GUARANTEE
FIG. 31 illustrates a probabilistic instant online lottery game system 3100. The instant online lottery game system with a progressive jackpot 2300 can be used in conjunction with the probabilistic lottery system 3100. In one embodiment, a jackpot guarantor 3102 can assume the risk that would normally not exist in a pure pari-mutuel lottery game. In another embodiment, the risk can be assumed in whole or in part by the lottery operator 3120, or by the sponsoring jurisdiction, government, or quasi-government body. In another embodiment, the jackpot guarantor 3102 can be a privately owned organization other than a jurisdiction. In another embodiment, the jackpot guarantor 3102 can be a publicly held company. In yet other embodiments, the jackpot guarantor 3102 can be an individual or a not-for-profit organization. In another embodiment, the obligation of the jackpot guarantor 3102 can be supported through the purchase and application of prize indemnity insurance provided by an insurance company or reinsurer. The jackpot guarantor 3102 can establish a pre-determined starting jackpot 3140. In one embodiment, the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140 can be a substantial prize that can entice ticket holders 108 that would not normally purchase a lottery ticket to do so. The lottery operator 3120 can advertise the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140 in order to stimulate and increase ticket sales. In one embodiment, the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140 is unfunded. Instead, the jackpot guarantor 3102 can set the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140 at an amount that is large enough so that there is a probability that the allocable prize portion of ticket sales can equal or exceed the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140. If the allocable prize portion of ticket sales is less than the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140, the jackpot guarantor 3102 would assume the risk for paying the differential between the ticket sales, or the allocable portion thereof, and the jackpot 3130.
In one embodiment, the jackpot guarantor 3102 can provide a guarantee to the lottery operator 3120. In one embodiment, the guarantee can provide that the jackpot guarantor 3102 assumes the risk for paying the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140 if the allocable prize portion of ticket sales is not sufficient to cover the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140. In another embodiment, the guarantee can provide that the jackpot guarantor assumes the risk of paying the amount of any secondary prizes that are won, to the extent that the allocable prize portion of ticket sales is not sufficient.
In one embodiment, the jackpot guarantor 3102 can provide the guarantee in exchange for a stipulation. In one embodiment, the stipulation can include an obligation by the lottery operator 3120 to provide a percentage of revenue generated from future ticket sales in exchange for the guarantee. In another embodiment, the stipulation includes an obligation by the lottery operator 3120 to provide a fee in exchange for the guarantee.
The lottery operator 3120 can receive payments for ticket sales from the point of sale 106. Further, the lottery operator 3120 can receive instant online lottery numbers from the tickets sold to the ticket holders 108 from the point of sale 3106. The lottery operator can provide the instant online lottery numbers to the winning number selector 3110 to determine which tickets are the winning tickets.
In one embodiment, the jackpot guarantor 3102 can allocate the funds to the pre-determined starting jackpot 3140 pool. In one embodiment, the entity can set aside the large prize in a protected account to provide for payment. Therefore, the lottery operator can advertise a large prize because another entity actually has set aside the large prize. In another embodiment, the starting jackpot amount is not set aside but payment of the jackpot is assured through prize indemnity insurance, a performance bond or another form of financial insurance or protection which can be provided by a financially secure insurance company through a policy naming the lottery as a beneficiary. In another embodiment, the financial condition of the jackpot guarantor 3102 can be sufficient to provide necessary financial assurance without the need for any bond or other form financial protection.
FIG. 32 illustrates a probabilistic software configuration 3200 that can be used with the probabilistic lottery system in conjunction with the multiple-pricing shared-jackpot system 1800. As can be seen from FIG. 32, the probabilistic software configuration 3200 can include software for establishing a guarantee for a pre-determined lottery prize 3140. A guarantee transmission module 3204 can transmit the guarantee through a network 3208. The network 3208 can be a wide-area network, a local area network, the network, a wireless network, or any other network known to one of ordinary skill in the art. The guarantee transmission module 3204 can transmit the guarantee in exchange for a stipulation. In one embodiment, the stipulation can be an obligation for a percentage of future ticket sales. A stipulation reception module 3206 can receive the stipulation through the network 3208. In one embodiment, after the stipulation reception module 3206 receives the stipulation, the stipulation reception module 3206 can transmit a confirmation that the stipulation was received to the guarantee transmission module 3204.
A guarantee reception module 3210 can receive the guarantee from the network 3208. In one embodiment, upon receiving the guarantee, the guarantee reception module 3210 can provide an instruction to a stipulation transmission module 3212. The stipulation transmission module 3212 can then send the stipulation through the network 3208. As discussed above, the stipulation reception module 3206 can receive the stipulation and send the confirmation to the guarantee transmission module 3204 that the guarantee has been sent and that the stipulation, in exchange for which the guarantee was sent, has been received. The lottery creation module 3214 creates the lottery game, upon receiving the guarantee, with the jackpot 3130.
Although certain illustrative embodiments and methods have been disclosed herein, it will be apparent form the foregoing disclosure to those skilled in the art that variations and modifications of such embodiments and methods can be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the art disclosed. Many other examples of the art disclosed exist, each differing from others in matters of detail only. For instance, various variations of matrices can be utilized, such as a four-by-four matrix, a five-by-five matrix, a six-by-six matrix, a nine-by-nine matrix, etc. Further, different prize distributions, price categories, and the various features of the instant online lottery game and the instant game can be combined into discrete lottery schemes.
Finally, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that other indicia can be printed on a lottery ticket such as advertising, media, news, coupons, passes to events, etc. Accordingly, it is intended that the art disclosed shall be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims and the rules and principles of applicable law.
Claims (69)
1. An instant online lottery game unit to offer an instant online lottery game to a player, comprising:
a price selection input that receives a selection of an instant online lottery ticket price at which an instant online lottery ticket is to be purchased and at which a player is automatically entered into the instant online lottery game, the instant online lottery ticket price being selected from a plurality of a predetermined set of instant online lottery ticket prices, each of the instant online lottery ticket prices corresponding to a distinct known percentage of a progressive jackpot which increases in size based on a portion of ticket sales revenue and that can be won with one of a plurality of game-play combinations;
a communication controller that receives an instant online lottery number and a plurality of game-play combinations from a server, the instant online lottery number being generated by a first random number generator at the server, the plurality of game-play combinations being generated by a second random number generator at the server, wherein the instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations is provided to the player at the time of purchase of the instant online lottery ticket; and
an instant online lottery processor configured to compare the instant online lottery number with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations after the instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations is received from the server and before the player is provided with the instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations, wherein the instant online lottery processor calculates a distribution of the progressive jackpot to the player based upon the distinct known percentage associated with the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player if the instant online lottery number matches in full any one of the plurality of game-play combinations.
2. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to compare the instant online lottery number with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations, the instant online lottery processor calculating a secondary prize distribution to the player based upon the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player if the instant online lottery number includes a subset of numbers in any one of the plurality of game-play combinations.
3. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 2, wherein the secondary prize distribution is guaranteed by a third party.
4. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the plurality of game-play combinations is printed on an instant online lottery ticket in the form of a matrix.
5. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 4, wherein each of the rows of the matrix provides a set of numbers that define a game-play combination.
6. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 4, wherein each of the columns of the matrix provides a set of numbers that define a game-play combination.
7. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 4, wherein each of the diagonals of the matrix provides a set of numbers that define a game-play combination.
8. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 4, wherein the plurality of game-play combinations is defined by the set of numbers in each of the rows, columns, and diagonals of the matrix.
9. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct percentages, each of the distinct percentages being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
10. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical percentages, each of the identical percentages being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
11. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct amounts, each of the distinct amounts being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
12. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical amounts, each of the identical amounts being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
13. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player is the most expensive price, and if the instant online lottery number matches in full one of the game-play combinations, the player is awarded with the progressive jackpot.
14. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 13, wherein the server sends a decreased value of the progressive jackpot to each one of the plurality of instant online lottery units if the instant online lottery number from the player matches in full one of the game-play combinations.
15. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player is less than the most expensive price, and if the instant online lottery number matches in full one of the game-play combinations, the player is awarded a pre-determined portion of the progressive jackpot.
16. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 15, wherein the server sends a decreased value of the progressive jackpot to each one of the plurality of instant online lottery units if the instant online lottery number from the player matches in full one of the game-play combinations.
17. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the progressive jackpot is a probabilistic progressive jackpot that has a value which can be greater than revenue generated from the sale of a plurality of instant online lottery tickets.
18. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 17, wherein the progressive jackpot is guaranteed by a third party.
19. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein a value of the progressive jackpot is received from the server.
20. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, further comprising a memory which stores the value of the progressive jackpot.
21. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the instant online lottery unit is linked to a plurality of instant online lottery units, the instant online lottery unit and the plurality of instant online lottery units being connected through the server.
22. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 21, wherein the server sends an increased value of the progressive jackpot to each one of the plurality of instant online lottery units.
23. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein an instant game is provided together with the instant online lottery game.
24. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 23, wherein the communication controller further receives a plurality of playing number-symbol combinations and a plurality of winning number-symbol combinations from the server, wherein the instant game processor compares each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize.
25. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the instant game prize is guaranteed by a third party.
26. The instant online lottery game unit of claim 1, wherein the instant online lottery unit is part of a traditional lottery unit configured to offer future-draw online lottery tickets.
27. A system for an instant online lottery game, comprising:
a server that stores a progressive jackpot that can be won with an instant online lottery number, wherein the progressive jackpot increases in size based on a portion of ticket sales revenue, the server having a first random number generator that generates the instant online lottery number and a second random number generator that generates a plurality of game-play combinations, wherein the instant online lottery number and the plurality of game-play combinations is provided to the player at the time of purchase of the instant online lottery ticket; and
a plurality of instant online lottery units in communication with the server, each of the plurality of instant online lottery units receiving the progressive jackpot value from the server, each of the instant online lottery units having a price selection input that receives a selection of an instant online lottery ticket price at which an instant online lottery ticket is to be purchased and at which a player is automatically entered into the instant online lottery game, the instant online lottery ticket price being selected from a predetermined set of a plurality of instant online lottery ticket prices, wherein each of the instant online lottery ticket prices corresponds to a distinct known percentage of a progressive jackpot, wherein at least one of the plurality of instant online lottery units receives the plurality of game-play combinations and the instant online lottery number.
28. The system of claim 27, wherein the server compares the instant online lottery number with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations, wherein the server calculates a distribution of the progressive jackpot to the player based upon the distinct known percentage associated with the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player if the instant online lottery number matches in full any one of the plurality of game-play combinations.
29. The system of claim 27, wherein the server further compares the instant online lottery number with each game-play combination in the plurality of game-play combinations, the server calculating a secondary prize distribution to the player based upon the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player if the instant online lottery number includes a subset of numbers in any one of the plurality of game-play combinations.
30. The system of claim 29, wherein the secondary prize distribution is guaranteed by a third party.
31. The system of claim 27, wherein the plurality of game-play combinations is printed on an instant online lottery ticket in the form of a matrix.
32. The system of claim 31, wherein each of the rows of the matrix provides a set of numbers that define a game-play combination.
33. The system of claim 31, wherein each of the columns of the matrix provides a set of numbers that define a game-play combination.
34. The system of claim 31, wherein each of the diagonals of the matrix provides a set of numbers that define a game-play combination.
35. The system of claim 31, wherein the plurality of game-play combinations is defined by the set of numbers in each of the rows, columns, and diagonals of the matrix.
36. The system of claim 27, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct percentages, each of the distinct percentages being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
37. The system of claim 27, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical percentages, each of the identical percentages being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
38. The system of claim 27, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct amounts, each of the distinct amounts being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
39. The system of claim 27, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical amounts, each of the identical amounts being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
40. The system of claim 27, wherein the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player is the most expensive price, and if the instant online lottery number matches in full one of the game-play combinations, the player is awarded with the progressive jackpot.
41. The system of claim 27, wherein the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player is less than the most expensive price, and if the instant online lottery number matches in full one of the game-play combinations, the player is awarded a pre-determined portion of the progressive jackpot.
42. The system of claim 27, wherein an instant game is provided together with the instant online lottery game.
43. The system of claim 42, wherein the server further comprises a third random number generator that generates a plurality of playing number-symbol combinations for the instant game and a fourth random number generator that generates a plurality of winning number-symbol combinations, and wherein server compares each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize.
44. The system of claim 43, wherein the instant game prize is guaranteed by a third party.
45. The system of claim 42, wherein the first random number generator generates a plurality of playing number-symbol combinations for the instant game and the second random number generator generates a plurality of winning number-symbol combinations, and wherein the server compares each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize.
46. The system of claim 27, wherein the instant game prize is guaranteed by a third party.
47. The system of claim 27, wherein after an instant online lottery ticket is purchased at one of the plurality of instant online lottery units, the server sends an increased progressive jackpot value to each of the plurality of instant online lottery units so that each of the plurality of instant online lottery units can provide the player with a current progressive jackpot value.
48. The system of claim 27, wherein the server sends a decreased progressive jackpot value to each of the instant online lottery units so that the instant online lottery units can provide the player with the current progressive jackpot value.
49. The system of claim 27, wherein the server sends the decreased value of the progressive jackpot to each one of the plurality of instant online lottery units if the instant online lottery number from the player matches in full one of the game-play combinations.
50. The system of claim 27, wherein the progressive jackpot is a probabilistic progressive jackpot that has a value which can be greater than revenue generated from the sale of a plurality of instant online lottery tickets.
51. The system of claim 50, wherein the progressive jackpot is guaranteed by a third party.
52. The system of claim 27, wherein each of the plurality of instant online lottery units is part of a traditional lottery unit configured to offer future-draw online lottery tickets.
53. A method of operating an instant online lottery comprising:
receiving, at an instant online lottery unit, a selection of an instant online lottery ticket price from a plurality of a predetermined set of instant online lottery ticket prices and at which a player is automatically entered into the instant online lottery game, wherein the selection is made by a player of an instant online lottery game;
determining a percentage of a progressive jackpot value which increases in size based on a portion of instant online lottery ticket sales revenue, wherein the percentage of the progressive jackpot that can be won is in accordance with the selection of the instant online lottery ticket price;
randomly generating, at the instant online lottery unit, a first set of numbers in a first format, the first set of numbers being generated by a first random number generator;
randomly generating, at the instant online lottery unit, a second set of numbers in a second format, the second set of numbers being generated by a second random number generator;
comparing the first set of numbers with the second set of numbers to determine if the first set of numbers matches a subset of the second set of numbers;
determining the percentage of the progressive jackpot to be awarded to a player if the first set of numbers matches a subset of the second set of numbers; and
printing, with a lottery ticket printer, the first set of numbers on the instant online lottery ticket using the first format, and the second set of numbers on the instant online lottery ticket using the second format.
54. The method of claim 53, wherein the second set of numbers is arranged as a matrix and the subset of the second set of numbers comprises the numbers in a row of the matrix.
55. The method of claim 53, wherein the second set of numbers is arranged as a matrix and the subset of the second set of numbers comprises the numbers in a column of the matrix.
56. The method of claim 53, wherein the second set of numbers is arranged as a matrix and the subset of the second set of numbers comprises the numbers in a diagonal of the matrix.
57. The method of claim 53, wherein the second set of numbers is arranged as a matrix, and the subset of the second set of numbers comprises the numbers in a row, a column, or a diagonal of the matrix.
58. The method of claim 53, wherein the second set of numbers is arranged as a matrix, wherein the player is awarded with a secondary prize distribution if a subset of the first set of numbers matches a subset of the second set of numbers.
59. The method of claim 58, wherein the secondary prize distribution is guaranteed by a third party.
60. The method of claim 53, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct percentages, each of the distinct percentages being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
61. The method of claim 53, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical percentages, each of the identical percentages being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
62. The method of claim 53, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to distinct amounts, each of the distinct amounts being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
63. The method of claim 53, wherein the portion of ticket sales revenue is accumulated according to identical amounts, each of the identical amounts being associated with each of the instant online lottery ticket prices.
64. The method of claim 53, wherein the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player is the most expensive price, and if the instant online lottery number matches in full one of the game-play combinations, the player is awarded with the progressive jackpot.
65. The method of claim 53, wherein the instant online lottery ticket price selected by the player is less than the most expensive price, and if the instant online lottery number matches in full one of the game-play combinations, the player is awarded a pre-determined portion of the progressive jackpot.
66. The method of claim 53, wherein an instant game is provided together with the instant online lottery game.
67. The method of claim 66, further comprising:
randomly generating a plurality of playing number-symbol combinations for the instant game;
randomly generating a plurality of winning number-symbol combinations; and
comparing each one of the plurality of playing number-symbol combinations with each one of the plurality of winning number-symbol combinations to determine if the player has won an instant game prize.
68. The method of claim 53, wherein the progressive jackpot is a probabilistic progressive jackpot that has a value which can be greater than revenue generated from the sale of a plurality of instant online lottery tickets.
69. The method of claim 68, wherein the progressive jackpot is guaranteed by a third party. |
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After selecting a kind of hair cut that you want you’ll also need certainly to decide how short you want to go. when you’ve got thin hair, then keep away from utilizing a razor style. After shampooing the hair on your head, utilize yet another hold gel and fashion your middle hair upwards. |
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Breaking into my 2wire 2701HG-G router
Hi Backtrack users,
I have a 2wire 2701HG-G router (router+modem) and I am trying to have access to the advanced management panel. Let me explain.
This router comes from my ISP (and I bought it, not rented). There is a basic administration panel that I have access to where I can forward ports, setup my WiFi, remote access and more. This panel is available at my gateway address through HTTP.
There's also another administration panel (more advanced) allowing me to bridge connections, increase WiFi signal power, blocking websites and even more. This panel is available at a hidden URL ( http://192.168.1.254/mdc ), but it requires a password (serial number according to the label). I tried the one on my box and it isn't working. 2wire have a couple of keys on their site, but I tried them all. Not working.
Also, I found that my router is accessible remotely by default. This option can only be turned on from the "advanced" panel. It's available through SSL, port 50001. The protection there is an .htaccess.
I'm a bit pissed off to have all these functions unavailable. I read a lot on the Internet, and nobody seems to have accessed this "advanced" panel. The only way to do so (that I found) is to flash the firmware using a firmware from another company (since the 2701HG-G is not available on the Internet). The bad thing about that is that the firmware isn't for this exact model, leaving some functions behind and probably making the router a bit unstable in some cases.
I contacted the tech support of my ISP (Bell Canada) and they don't want to help me out. They told me they don't have this information, but they sure do. They can reboot remotely any router they sold, and the only way the could is through this "backdoor".
The good thing about cracking the HTTP form is that I only have to find the password, so only 1 field to have good. The bad thing is that the router reply after a request is really slow.
The good thing about cracking the .htaccess is that it's kind of fast (3000 tries per minute). The bad thing is that if I have the wrong login, I have to start all over again. I guessed the login to be admin or root. |
Azure SQL Data Warehouse: 4-Day Workshop
BlueGranite
This hands-on, instructor-led training helps data warehouse developers and administrators adopt the MPP architecture found in Azure SQL DW for scalable, high-performance analytics in the cloud.
Attendees will receive expert-led guidance through a complete set of hands-on labs and training modules. After the training, attendees will be able to accurately plan for data warehouse migrations from on-premises to Azure SQL Data Warehouse, effectively write D-SQL queries that are fully distribution compatible, and expertly administer the environment to ensure that your data warehouse is running at peak performance no matter what size it grows to.
TRAINING SUMMARY
Fixed cost for the 4 day training which includes all travel, materials, on-site sessions, and a hosted database for each attendee.
Training materials is intended for data warehouse developers, application developers who interact closely with the data warehouse through queries, and data warehouse administrators.
Training is limited to 10 attendees per session and will be conducted on-site at the client’s facility.
Day 1: Introduction
Learn about massively parallel processing (MPP) architecture. Glance under the hood of Azure SQL DW and understand how it’s put together. Configure development environment and work through hands-on labs.
Day 2: Development Patterns
Learn common development techniques used with Distributed SQL (DSQL) and Azure SQL DW. Load data into the environment and explore how to migrate existing databases to Azure SQL DW.
Day 3: Administration
Scale performance of your Azure SQL DW with Data Warehouse Units (DWUs). Explore concurrency options and the ability to control how many users are able to work at the same time. |
Sock Work Coupon Codes
We have searched all over the internet for the best Sock Work coupon codes but we weren't able to find any :(. We will keep looking for
Sock Work coupon codes but in the mean time, take a look at some of the other coupon codes we have available for Say it with a Sock, Sock Panda and Sock Fancy
Donate %10 of their profits to a different Veteran charity every month
Starting from $20 |
Sockwork is a sock of the month club that offers men’s, women’s, and kid’s’ sock subscriptions and a men’s boxer brief subscription. Sockwork sends two pairs of socks per month and donate’s a part of it’s proceeds to a different Veteran charity every month.
These are the best coupon codes we currently have for sock subscriptions:
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Advertiser Disclosure
The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from which Fun Sock Clubs may receive compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). It is this compensation that enables Fun Sock Clubs to provide you with the most comprehensive review system for sock subscription and sock clubs. Fun Sock Clubs strives to provide a wide array of offers for our members, but our offers do not represent all sock subscription services companies or products. |
Three US senators have introduced a resolution that will force the chamber to vote for the first time on whether the US should continue to support Saudi Arabia in the war in Yemen, a conflict that has led to the deaths of at least 10,000 civilians there and driven the Middle East’s poorest country to the brink of famine.
The joint resolution, sponsored by two senators from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, independent Bernie Sanders, Republican Mike Lee, and Democrat Chris Murphy, is a rare effort by Congress to claw back its war powers from the executive branch. Aides to senators say the resolution, which would trigger a vote over whether to end US participation in the conflict, is unprecedented in the Senate.
The intent of the resolution is to revive the decades-long debate over defining – and in their view, reclaiming – Congress’s constitutional role in declaring war, according to aides to both senators.
“This is about the process,” said an aide to Lee. “What decisions do we make for a country that has been at war constantly for almost 20 years? When do we say that something is worthy of intervening in and when do we make that determination? It’s about the how.
“And it’s about who is involved in that decision. It’s not about who is in the White House but it’s about Congress reasserting its power and having it’s true control to make those authorizations.”
Yemen’s conflict began in 2014, when the Houthis, Shia rebels from the country’s north, seized the nation’s capital and ousted the Saudi-backed ruler, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who lives in exile in Riyadh. In response, a Saudi-led Arab coalition began a bombing campaign in 2015, to restore the exiled government to power.
While the US has not formally backed the Saudi coalition, it has provided targeted intelligence to the bombing campaign and has assisted with refueling coalition bombers. The United Nations has said the nearly three-year civil war has created one of the worst manmade humanitarian disasters, as millions of Yemenis have been displaced and the population faces famine with aid agencies struggling to supply assistance.
As the humanitarian crisis deepens, lawmakers are increasingly questioning support for the Saudis, even as the Trump administration refuses to criticize the kingdom.
The House voted overwhelmingly last year to adopt a resolution that declared the US military had not been authorized to assist Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen. The resolution, however, did not stop America from providing support to Saudi Arabia in its war.
Sanders and Lee are working to win support from colleagues as well as the Senate leadership, aides said, and the White House has been made aware of the forthcoming resolution. If the Senate passed the resolution, the chances of which are very unclear, it would go to the president’s desk.
According to material provided by the Senate offices, the legislation would remove “US armed forces from hostilities between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis in Yemen pursuant to the War Powers Resolution”, a law passed in 1973 as a check on the president’s war-making powers.
The War Powers Resolution, passed in reaction to US involvement in Vietnam, requires the commander-in-chief to consult Congress when sending US combat troops into an armed conflict. But it also enables the president to act unilaterally in the event of “a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces”, a provision successive administrations have expanded – well beyond its limits, critics argue – to confront new international threats.
“Support for this intervention began under a Democratic president and has continued under a Republican president. This is not meant to be a specific critique of either president,” said an aide to Sanders. “It’s about the left and right coming together about very basic questions of Congress’s responsibility in terms of oversight when the United States chooses to make war.”
For decades, members of Congress have wrangled with how to restore its war-making powers from a succession of assertive administrations.
Under the US constitution, the president cannot declare war without the approval of Congress. But recent administrations, through the use of drone strikes and so-called special operators, have expanded the interpretation of when a commander-in-chief can send US troops abroad.
Congress approved an Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) days after 9/11 to justify the war in Afghanistan. Since then, the executive branch has continued to use the 17-year-old authorization to justify new threats in the Middle East and around the globe, although a separate AUMF was passed for Iraq in 2002.
Critics have argued that the powers of the post-9/11 AUMF have been stretched beyond their limits and have long demanded a serious debate over the authorization of US force, especially as it relates to the fight against the Islamic State.
Aides to the senators said the debate over AUMF reauthorization, while important, is separate from the one they want to have over US involvement in the conflict in Yemen. |
The importance and collectability of a first-year issue cannot be overstated. The 1986 American Silver Eagle was popular from the moment it was issued. 1986 is one of the key dates in the series.
Because of the vast improvements in modern minting technology recently issued Silver Eagles can be acquired for less than $100. Coins issued prior to 2003 are scarce in perfect MS70 condition. The certified population in perfect MS70 across all three major coin grading services, ANACS, NGC and PCGS can be counted in hundreds not thousands! |
Recursive identification of an arterial baroreflex model for the evaluation of cardiovascular autonomic modulation.
The evaluation of the time-varying vagal and sympathetic contributions to heart rate remains a challenging task because the observability of the baroreflex is generally limited and the time-varying properties are difficult to take into account, especially in non-stationnary conditions. The objective is to propose a model-based approach to estimate the autonomic modulation during a pharmacological challenge. A recursive parameter identification method is proposed and applied to a mathematical model of the baroreflex, in order to estimate the time-varying vagal and sympathetic contributions to heart rate modulation during autonomic maneuvers. The model-based method was evaluated with data from five newborn lambs, which were acquired during injection of vasodilator and vasoconstrictor drugs, on normal conditions and under beta-blockers, so as to quantify the effect of the pharmacological sympathetic blockade on the estimated parameters. After parameter identification, results show a close match between experimental and simulated signals for the five lambs, as the mean relative root mean squared error is equal to 0.0026 (± 0.003). The error, between simulated and experimental signals, is significantly reduced compared to a batch identification of parameters. The model-based estimation of vagal and sympathetic contributions were consistent with physiological knowledge and, as expected, it was possible to observe an alteration of the sympathetic response under beta-blockers. The simulated vagal modulation illustrates a response similar to traditional heart rate variability markers during the pharmacological maneuver. The model-based method, proposed in the paper, highlights the advantages of using a recursive identification method for the estimation of vagal and sympathetic modulation. |
Precise coulometric titration of sodium thiosulfate and development of potassium iodate as a redox standard.
In this paper, we determine the effective purity of potassium iodate as a redox standard with a certified value linked to the international system of units (SI units). Concentration measurement of sodium thiosulfate solution was performed by precise coulometric titration with electrogenerated iodine, and an assay of potassium iodate was carried out by gravimetric titration based on the reductometric factor of sodium thiosulfate assigned by coulometry. The accuracy of the coulometric titration method was evaluated by examining the current efficiency of iodine electrogeneration, stability of sodium thiosulfate solutions and dependence on the amount of sodium thiosulfate solution used. The measurement procedure for gravimetric titration of potassium iodate with sodium thiosulfate was validated based on determination of a reference material of known purity (potassium dichromate determined by coulometry with electrogenerated ferrous ions) using the same gravimetric method. Solutions of 0.2 and 0.5mol/L sodium thiosulfate were stable over 17 days without stabilizer. Investigation of the dependency of titration results on the amount of sodium thiosulfate solution used showed no significant effects, no evidence of diffusion of the sample, and no effect of contamination appearing during the experiment. Precise coulometric titration of sodium thiosulfate achieved a relative standard deviation of less than 0.005% under repeating conditions (six measurements). For gravimetric titration, the results obtained for the effective purity of potassium dichromate were sufficiently close to its certified value to allow confirmation of the validity of the gravimetric titration was confirmed. The relative standard deviation of gravimetric titration for potassium iodate was less than 0.011% (nine measurements), and a redox standard with a certified value linked to SI units was developed. |
All week the Sharks have been positioned to open up some midseason distance between themselves and their closest Pacific Division rivals. All week they've failed.
The latest example came Thursday night at HP Pavilion. If they beat Dallas, the Sharks would have leapfrogged over the Stars into first place. Instead, San Jose lost 4-2 and fell to third place behind Anaheim.
Both teams had been struggling. The Stars were finishing a five-game trip and hadn't won in three tries. The Sharks were coming off an overtime defeat in Anaheim and a loss in Phoenix.
"Especially with a team like that that's been on the road awhile, you just want to squeeze the life out of them and we gave them one," Sharks Coach Ron Wilson said.
San Jose got goals from its top scorers, Milan Michalek and Joe Thornton. But that wasn't enough to beat Dallas, which got two from Mike Modano and one each from Niklas Hagman and Jeff Halpern.
It's no secret that the Sharks have had more success on the road this season than at home, but their series with Dallas takes things to an extreme. Of the six games, San Jose has won all three at the American Airlines Center and the Stars have won all three at HP Pavilion.
In fact, you have to go back to Oct. 27, 2006, for San Jose's last home victory against Dallas as the Stars also won the past three games played here last season.
"It seems like every time we've played them in our building, they've out-waited us and as the game's gone on, we've found a way to shoot ourselves in the foot," Wilson said.
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San Jose started out strong.
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead when defenseman Alexei Semenov came out of the penalty box, carried the puck deep into the Dallas zone and threw a cross-ice pass that forward Curtis Brown fired at Dallas goalie Marty Turco.
Turco made the save, but the rebound went right to Michalek, who scored his team-leading 16th goal at 6:11.
Dallas pulled even at 10:47 of the first period. San Jose captain Patrick Marleau lost a battle for the puck to Stars forward Joel Lundqvist, giving Dallas an odd-man rush with only Semenov back. Hagman beat Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov.
Just as the Sharks dominated the first period, Dallas controlled the second.
The Stars took a 2-1 lead at 14:51 when Modano slipped into the slot unnoticed and rifled the puck from behind the net past Nabokov, who didn't have a chance.
The Sharks regained momentum early in the third period when Thornton beat Turco at 3:23 to tie the score at 2-2, but Dallas regained the lead when the rebound of a shot from the blue line caromed to Modano, who got his second goal when his shot beat Nabokov at 12:54.
Halpen finished the scoring at 17:51.
"We still need to have a better effort from all 20 guys." Thornton said. "Dallas is a great team . . . and can win in your building or at home."
Players were hard-pressed to explain the difficulty they have beating Dallas and Anaheim on home ice. The Sharks have fared only slightly better against the Ducks at HP Pavilion this season, taking one point in a Nov. 17 shootout defeat and losing two other games in regulation.
"It's a stat, it's a number," forward Joe Pavelski said. "Sometimes it's good to be aware of them, sometimes you have to forget about that and just go out and play."
More important than where the game is played, some said, is the problem the Sharks can have competing on some nights.
"We just did not do enough to win this hockey game tonight," defenseman Craig Rivet said. "They worked harder and they deserved it." |
Over the past several decades, substantial effort has been invested in the design and development of improved internal combustion engines. Design efforts have been, directed toward the creation of smaller, lighter engines with improved fuel efficiency and power. Engines have been characterized by their method of combustion, e.g., compression (diesel) or spark-ignited (gasoline). Further, engines are described and identified by the orientation and/or number of their pistons and cylinders, e.g., V-8, in-line 6, radial, Wankel rotary, horizontal and horizontally-opposed.
Internal combustion engines with horizontally-oriented pistons and cylinders have been the subject of much research over the past several decades. Their inherent low profile offers an opportunity to reduce engine size while maintaining fuel efficiency and power. Various countries have introduced several variations of both four cylinder and six cylinder horizontally-oriented engines.
A typical horizontally-oriented engine configuration includes multiple pairs of horizontal cylinders with a separate piston slidably disposed in each separate cylinder. The top or "crown" of each piston, in combination with the cylinder walls and a separate cylinder head, forms a unique, single combustion chamber. Each cylinder head, also provides a separate surface for intake and exhaust valve assemblies. In the case of spark-ignited engines, each cylinder head also provides a port for installation of some means for igniting the combustible mixture, usually a spark plug. For a typical horizontally oriented engine, each piston is connected to a common crankshaft.
During operation, a mixture of air and fuel is introduced into each combustion chamber. The mixture is then combusted, by either compression (diesel engines) or a spark (gasoline engines). When combusted, the energy generated by the exothermic expansion of the combustible mixture serves to drive the piston away from the cylinder head. In so doing, the piston's linear kinetic energy is delivered to the engine's crankshaft by a connecting rod rotatably attached to the piston. The crankshaft then delivers rotational power to the power train.
Several patents have offered modifications to the typical horizontally-oriented piston and cylinder configuration. Most notably, and of relevance to the present invention, is that prior art which teaches horizontally-oriented engine configurations with one combustion chamber shared between two or more pistons/cylinders. Generally, these types of engines are known as horizontally-opposed engines.
For example, Henry (U.S. Pat. No. 1,533,004) teaches an internal combustion engine with a combustion chamber shared between two cylinders. The shared combustion chamber is formed by the walls of two interconnected cylinders, the crowns of two opposing pistons which slidably reciprocate within the cylinders, and a single cylinder head. In addition to acting as a wall of the shared combustion chamber, the cylinder head provides a surface for intake and exhaust ports as well as spark plug access. In Henry, the pistons simultaneously converge toward each other and then simultaneously diverge away from each other during the various engine cycles.
Other patents, including most notably Feeback (U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,221), Rassey (U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,338), Johnson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,894) and Honkanen (U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,306) have proposed variations on the horizontally-opposed engine configuration. Each of the above include intake and exhaust valve assemblies which are located to the side of each cylinder pair. Consequently, as with Henry discussed above, these engines all require at least one separate cylinder head per cylinder pair.
Other relevant prior art teaches internal combustion engines with shared combustion chambers, but whose converging pistons are not horizontally-oriented. For example, Ascari (U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,818) teaches an engine with at least four cylinders that form two separate shared combustion chambers. Two cylinders and pistons are oriented at angles of approximately ninety degrees to each other, with the crown of each piston oriented toward a shared plane of symmetry. Ascari likens his engine to a "superimposed twin V." Again, the shared combustion chamber is formed by the cylinder wall, two piston crowns and a single cylinder head.
The prior art clearly evidences that the ability to reduce the overall size and weight of opposed piston engines with shared combustion chambers has been hampered by the need to include a suitable surface, i.e. a cylinder head, to accommodate the shared intake and exhaust valve assemblies. As previously indicated, in engines without shared combustion chambers, each cylinder has a cylinder head which provides a surface for the valve assemblies. Engines with shared combustion chambers have generally provided for the placement of the shared intake and exhaust valve assemblies in a separate "cylinder head-like" element that is separately bolted to the side of the cylinder blocks.
The present invention advances the prior art by eliminating the need for a separate cylinder head. Although the prior art teaches reduction in the number of required cylinder heads for dual piston/cylinder engine configurations from two to one, it still struggles with valve design and placement. The intake and exhaust valve assemblies are typically located between the ends of the dual cylinders to serve a common or shared combustion chamber. Consequently, this additional space requirement frequently limited the ability to bring the ends of the cylinders, and hence, the crowns of the pistons, closely together.
The patent to Rassey specifically teaches that "previous attempts to adapt poppet valves [in horizontally-opposed engines] have proven largely unsuccessful since the poppet valves cannot be positioned above the piston head as in the more conventional internal combustion engines."
Accordingly, a need exists for a cylinder/piston configuration of simple and reliable design which includes a combustion chamber shared between two horizontally-opposed cylinder/piston assemblies, yet allows the use of poppet valve assemblies to service the shared combustion chamber, while eliminating the need for a separate cylinder head to house the valve assemblies, thereby minimizing the size, weight and vertical profile of the engine for equivalent power requirements and providing for smoother, more efficient and less polluting operation. |
Logan Township firefighters help those in need
November 19, 2012
Logan Township volunteer firefighters went to work Sunday boxing up and delivering Thanksgiving meals to families in need. The firefighters were able to deliver meals to 69 families representing 285 people, Logan Township Supervisor Ed Frontino said. Frontino said the organization received $3,000 from Xerox, and Giant Eagle and the Marc McKillop family were able to provide the turkey, trimmings and pumpkin pies at cost. In its fourth year, Frontino said the Thanksgiving meal project helped about a dozen more families this year. |
Q:
jQuery ui draggable element gets under other draggable elements
I have a style problem with jQuery Ui draggable elements.
here what i have
FIDDLE
As u can see, i have two droppable areas , in each area elements are draggable, and can drag and drop element from one block to another
The only problem here , that when i am dragging element from top block to below block, the dragging element gets under droppable are elements, but when i am dragging from bottom are to top there is no such problem.
Here is the code for dragging
$(".slide").draggable({
// brings the item back to its place when dragging is over
revert:true,
// once the dragging starts, we decrease the opactiy of other items
// Appending a class as we do that with CSS
start: function(event, ui) { $(this).css("z-index", a++); },
drag:function () {
$(this).removeClass('droped');
},
// adding the CSS classes once dragging is over.
stop:function () {
$(this).addClass('droped');
},
zIndex: 10000,
snapMode: "inner"
});
Can anybody help me please, i am working on it already 2 days, and can't figure out what is the problem, i have tried to change z-index positions of every block, but no result;
A:
I found out that my code only worked the first time - i removed some z-indexes from your JQuery ánd your css, now it is working for me every time:
http://jsfiddle.net/zbo7g5nz/5/
My jFiddle doesnt seem to get updated to share.. Here is working code:
$(".slide").draggable({
// brings the item back to its place when dragging is over
revert:true,
// once the dragging starts, we decrease the opactiy of other items
// Appending a class as we do that with CSS
start: function(event, ui) { $(this).css("z-index", a++); },
drag:function () {
$(this).parent().css('z-index', '10001');
$(this).removeClass('droped');
},
// removing the CSS classes once dragging is over.
stop:function () {
$(this).parent().css('z-index', '10001');
$(this).addClass('droped');
},
zIndex: 10000,
snapMode: "inner"
});
I gave a z-index to the ul holding the li that was higher than the li of the list that was below.
|
Q&A: Cleveland's Craig Breslow
Indians pitcher joined club during Spring Training
In late March, the Indians claimed reliever Craig Breslow off waivers from Boston. The acquisition of the Yale alumnus gave the Indians' bullpen an additional left-hander to go along with Rafael Perez. The 27-year-old, who was out of options, pitched in 49 games, including one start, last year with Triple-A Pawtucket and struck out 73 batters. He recently answered some questions from MLBPLAYERS.com:
MLBPLAYERS.com: What was it like changing teams during Spring Training?
Breslow: It's been a whirlwind. I've been traveling around quite a bit, and obviously here I have 24 new teammates. Ultimately, and what is most important, is that I have ended up with a good opportunity and I'm happy to be where I am.
MLBPLAYERS.com: Having spent time with different teams in that past, did that experience help you with your adjustment?
Breslow: Every situation is unique, because you just don't know what kind of clubhouse you are going to. It was pretty apparent to me, however, and pretty apparent early on that they are a close-knit group here. I was welcomed right away and I've felt very comfortable since I arrived.
MLBPLAYERS.com: What went through your mind when you heard that Cleveland had claimed you?
Breslow: Given the situation I was in -- being out of options -- I was pretty excited. The logistics in Boston were that I had to make that team out of Spring Training or get exposed to waivers again. Having talked to some guys here, I understood that they wanted me here. The emotions were a combination of relief and joy and excitement.
MLBPLAYERS.com: How nice was it to go from one winner to another?
Breslow: It's a lot of fun to go from one winning team to another. Boston had a tremendous amount of success last year, obviously, and they are a perennial power. These guys have built a lot of momentum over the past few years and look to keep going forward. It's pretty exciting.
MLBPLAYERS.com: When you came here, how did you evaluate the bullpen situation?
Breslow: I try not to get too bogged down in who is doing what and who throws with what hand. I don't pay attention to too many statistics. If you worry about those types of things, you will run yourself into some deep trouble. I try and focus on the execution of my pitches. That should be enough.
MLBPLAYERS.com: How good is your new club's starting staff?
Breslow: I think we're very strong. A great example was the other night when Cliff Lee went out and threw a great game. He is our fifth starter, and I think that speaks to our depth and our talent. When he does that, it just gives us more of an edge. The strength of any team is in that team's starting pitching. We have guys in the staff and in the bullpen who will help lead us to a lot of success.
MLBPLAYERS.com: What is your role right now in the 'pen?
Breslow: I am left-handed, so along with that comes the expectation to get left-handed hitters out. Beyond that I think I can be successful in getting righties out as well. That might come along when I am asked to throw a couple of innings at a time. I don't think I have that truly defined role of lefty specialist, but I think that sort of speaks to my versatility. I can face one hitter or a number of hitters. I am ready for any situation.
MLBPLAYERS.com: After pitching for the Sox in 2006 you spent the whole 2007 season in Triple-A. When you factor in that Boston won the World Series, how did it feel not to be a part of that?
Breslow: I watched on TV, and it was kind of frustrating. Those were guys I had spent time with for a few years as a teammate and as a friend, so I obviously wished them well. At the same time, I thought there was going to be an opportunity to contribute myself and I wasn't able to do so. Personally, from a business standpoint, I was disappointed.
MLBPLAYERS.com: You spent a lot of time in the weight room this offseason. How has that helped you so far?
Breslow: I was a little disappointed last year with my second half. I come from that school that says all you can do is work hard. I spent some more time getting bigger and stronger, since I don't know how much fatigue hurt me late last year. I want to be sure that doesn't happen again this year.
Jeff Moeller is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles.
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. |
First of all, if you haven’t checked out Mike Russo’s blog and you’re a Wild fan, shame on you. It’s one of the best resources for all things Wild out there. Click here to go there. Bookmark it, scour it daily and above all thank him for his amazing coverage of the Wild!
Anyway, off my soapbox for the moment.
Looking at this depth chart, the thing that immediately jumps out at me is not the center position. A lot has been made of our depth (or lack thereof) down the middle. In looking at the team, however, we’ve got five potential pivots on our roster, and that’s not including Colton Gillies, Owen Nolan or Benoit Pouliot. Throw those two into the mix and we could have as many as eight players on the opening day that could be capable of anchoring a line in the middle.
The thing that really jumps out at me is our lack of depth at left wing. After Nolan, Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen, the talent level really drops off. This isn’t a knock on Gillies; however, we have a serious lack of skill and depth on the left side and, honestly, on the wing in general.
To no one’s surprise, I’m sure, is our talent on defense and in nets. Our top-six defensemen could be the best top-six that the team has had. The additions of Zanon and Hnidy give the team two reliable, physical anchors on the blueline and will force opposing teams to keep their heads up. Meanwhile, expect Scott and Sifers to compete for the seventh spot in camp, most likely with Scott winning the battle. That’s not to say, however, that our youth could not come in and surprise. With Cuma, Falk, Stoner and Scandella in the wings, there is a good chance that Scott and Sifers may not be foregone conclusions at the 7 and 8 slot. It will take a lot for any of these four to make the squad, however. Of the four, Stoner probably has the best shot as this could be his make it or break it year, but make no mistake — the Wild’s top 7 are pretty much set.
Olvecky Signs in NashvilleJoel Ward, Ryan Jones and now Olvecky? Those Tennessee boys sure do like Wild prospects.
In all honesty, I think that Olvecky has a fantastic chance to make the Nashville squad next season right out of camp. Olvecky is a big body with a lot of untapped talent to boot, and he performed admirably for the Wild in a limited role with the team in the handful of games he played for us last season.
He really started to come into his own last season and seems like he could be the type of player that Barry Trotz will really love. For $600K and a two-way contract, I’d take Olvecky any day of the week. A good depth pick up by the Preds.
Qualifying Offers SignedThe Wild had a few players of their own signed as well.
Restricted free agents Benoit Pouliot, Clayton Stoner, Danny Irmen and Robbie Earl all signed their qualifying offers and it seems as if the lot of them (with the exception of Pouliot) could see another year playing in the minors. Earl and Irmen both have too many players in front of them to have a shot at making the squad (that is, barring a spectacular camp from either) and Stoner will have to do some serious damage in camp to work his way up the depth chart.
Injuries do happen, though, and we could very easily see one of them get a cup of coffee in the NHL and do what Cal Clutterbuck did last season and not let go.
In addition, Russo reports that the Wild could be close to signing Duncan Milroy and Joe DiSalvatore to plug some holes in their minor league system.
Fletcher Working Trade MarketThere are a lot of people who are getting scared by the Wild’s seeming lack of movement this off season.
Those fans are the Chicken Littles of the fanbase.
While there are some quality players out there, there really aren’t any players that would meet any immediate needs for us. I mentioned Mats Sundin, Robert Lang and Mike Comrie previously, but Sundin likely doesn’t have much more tread on his tires, Lang is rumored (or already has) to jump ship to the KHL and Comrie, well, let’s just say I don’t want to sign a player for his girlfriend. In addition to those players, there are players such as Alex Tanguay and Petr Sykora left over. Undoubtedly, these players could make an impact on the Wild roster, but would they really fit?
In the case of Tanguay, he’s a tremendous talent, but he’s also been pigeonholed as a playmaker — of which, the Wild have many. Sykora would be a cheap, effective sniper, but do the Wild want to sink the money it would take to get him on an aging player?
Bottom line is that the best route for the team to improve, at this point, is the route that Fletcher is taking — trades.
There are many top flight forwards that have been presumed available via trade. Phil Kessel of the Boston Bruins, Dany Heatley of the Ottawa Senators, Jonathan Cheechoo of the San Jose Sharks, even Chicago’s Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Kane have always been rumored to be available.
To be honest, the names remaining in free agency don’t even hold a candle to a lot of these names. I’d much rather have a Kessel, Heatley, Sharp or Kane over any of those available — regardless of the assets we have to give up for them.
The bottom line is that the Wild are far from done, in my opinion. But Fletcher has said all along that he’s not afraid to go late into the summer with a less than full roster to give himself the flexibility that he needs to get the players it takes to make this a winning team.
So…
Fear not Chicken Little. The sky is not falling. With a little patience, we could have a playoff team yet. |
/**
* Copyright (C) 2012 10gen Inc.
*
* This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3,
* as published by the Free Software Foundation.
*
* 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/>.
*
* As a special exception, the copyright holders give permission to link the
* code of portions of this program with the OpenSSL library under certain
* conditions as described in each individual source file and distribute
* linked combinations including the program with the OpenSSL library. You
* must comply with the GNU Affero General Public License in all respects for
* all of the code used other than as permitted herein. If you modify file(s)
* with this exception, you may extend this exception to your version of the
* file(s), but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so,
* delete this exception statement from your version. If you delete this
* exception statement from all source files in the program, then also delete
* it in the license file.
*/
#include "mongo/db/commands/rename_collection.h"
#include <string>
#include <vector>
#include "mongo/db/auth/action_set.h"
#include "mongo/db/auth/action_type.h"
#include "mongo/db/auth/authorization_session.h"
#include "mongo/db/auth/privilege.h"
#include "mongo/db/client.h"
#include "mongo/db/jsobj.h"
#include "mongo/db/namespace_string.h"
namespace mongo {
namespace rename_collection {
Status checkAuthForRenameCollectionCommand(Client* client,
const std::string& dbname,
const BSONObj& cmdObj) {
const auto sourceNsElt = cmdObj["renameCollection"];
const auto targetNsElt = cmdObj["to"];
uassert(ErrorCodes::TypeMismatch,
"'renameCollection' must be of type String",
sourceNsElt.type() == BSONType::String);
uassert(ErrorCodes::TypeMismatch,
"'to' must be of type String",
targetNsElt.type() == BSONType::String);
const NamespaceString sourceNS(sourceNsElt.valueStringData());
const NamespaceString targetNS(targetNsElt.valueStringData());
bool dropTarget = cmdObj["dropTarget"].trueValue();
if (sourceNS.db() == targetNS.db() && !sourceNS.isSystem() && !targetNS.isSystem()) {
bool canRename = AuthorizationSession::get(client)->isAuthorizedForActionsOnResource(
ResourcePattern::forDatabaseName(sourceNS.db()), ActionType::renameCollectionSameDB);
bool canDropTargetIfNeeded = true;
if (dropTarget) {
canDropTargetIfNeeded =
AuthorizationSession::get(client)->isAuthorizedForActionsOnResource(
ResourcePattern::forExactNamespace(targetNS), ActionType::dropCollection);
}
bool canReadSrc = AuthorizationSession::get(client)->isAuthorizedForActionsOnResource(
ResourcePattern::forExactNamespace(sourceNS), ActionType::find);
bool canReadDest = AuthorizationSession::get(client)->isAuthorizedForActionsOnResource(
ResourcePattern::forExactNamespace(targetNS), ActionType::find);
// Even if the user can rename collections and can drop the target collection,
// the user should not be able to rename a collection from one they can't read
// to one they can.
if (canRename && canDropTargetIfNeeded && (canReadSrc || !canReadDest)) {
return Status::OK();
}
}
// Check privileges on source collection
ActionSet actions;
actions.addAction(ActionType::find);
actions.addAction(ActionType::dropCollection);
if (!AuthorizationSession::get(client)->isAuthorizedForActionsOnResource(
ResourcePattern::forExactNamespace(sourceNS), actions)) {
return Status(ErrorCodes::Unauthorized, "Unauthorized");
}
// Check privileges on dest collection
actions.removeAllActions();
actions.addAction(ActionType::insert);
actions.addAction(ActionType::createIndex);
if (dropTarget) {
actions.addAction(ActionType::dropCollection);
}
if (!AuthorizationSession::get(client)->isAuthorizedForActionsOnResource(
ResourcePattern::forExactNamespace(targetNS), actions)) {
return Status(ErrorCodes::Unauthorized, "Unauthorized");
}
return Status::OK();
}
} // namespace rename_collection
} // namespace mongo
|
Henry Chung
Toronto, Canada
Henry Chung
Toronto, Canada
About
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Hello! I'm Henry and I'd like to help you reach your fitness goals. Coming from a career in Engineering, I know what it's like to sit at a desk all day long. If you'd like to improve your mood, concentration, uplift your energy while shedding body fat and gaining muscle, then you've come to the right place. Come train with me!
About
This user has not entered any info yet.
Hello! I'm Henry and I'd like to help you reach your fitness goals. Coming from a career in Engineering, I know what it's like to sit at a desk all day long. If you'd like to improve your mood, concentration, uplift your energy while shedding body fat and gaining muscle, then you've come to the right place. Come train with me! |
Antibodies against synthetic peptides as a tool for functional analysis of the transforming protein pp60src.
To study the function of pp60src, the transforming protein encoded for by Rous sarcoma virus, we have raised antibodies against synthetic oligopeptides corresponding to the primary structure of pp60src. All eight investigated peptides were immunogenic in rabbits, and four induced pp60src-specific antibodies. We screened tumor-bearing rabbit (TBR) sera for antibodies against the peptides; this revealed that five out of six of the peptides, chosen according to a high hydrophilicity plot, were related to epitopes of native pp60src, in contrast to two peptides of low hydrophilicity, which contained a cleavage site for protease. Antibodies against three of the peptides appeared to react with the kinase-active site of pp60src, as these antibodies were phosphorylated in their heavy chain upon immune precipitation. Antibodies against two of the peptides, in contrast to the others, did not precipitate pp60src when this molecule was complexed with two cellular proteins, pp50 and pp90. This observation allows speculation about the location of the pp60src site involved in the formation of this complex. |
I've long been fond of the Blue Mosque because it is where, many years ago, I attended my first Friday prayers. Last Friday, though, I felt uncomfortable in the prayer hall, where I found myself in front of God but next to Ahmadinejad, who turned the ritual into a political show.
Departing from established practice of having visiting Muslim heads of state pray in a smaller mosque in Istanbul, the government allowed Ahmadinejad to pray in the Blue Mosque, Turkey's symbol of tolerant Ottoman Islam. With permission from Turkish authorities, he also allowed Iranian television to videotape him during the entire prayer, in violation of Islamic tradition, which requires quiet and intimate communion between God and the faithful. There was so much commotion around Ahmadinejad that the imam had to chide the congregants. Then, as he left the mosque, Ahmadinejad got out of his car to encourage a crowd of about 300 to chant, "Death to Israel! Death to America!"
Even without this behavior, any visit from a leader representing an authoritarian, anti-Western autocracy would have created controversy in Turkey just a few years ago. Not today. The ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government not only opened the Blue Mosque to Ahmadinejad but accommodated his refusal to pay respects at the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern, secular Turkey -- a major violation of protocol for an official visit...
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan asked the Turkish public to ignore the snub and instead "focus on the big picture." It is the "big picture," though, that is most disconcerting. By extending an invitation to Ahmadinejad, the first such move by any NATO or European Union member country, Turkey has broken ranks with the West. The West can no longer take Turkey for granted as a staunch ally against Tehran.
In a large balcony above the beautiful main hall at Regent's Park Mosque in London - widely considered the most important mosque in Britain - I am filming undercover as the woman preacher gives her talk.
What should be done to a Muslim who converts to another faith? "We kill him," she says, "kill him, kill, kill…You have to kill him, you understand?"
Adulterers, she says, are to be stoned to death - and as for homosexuals, and women who "make themselves like a man, a woman like a man ... the punishment is kill, kill them, throw them from the highest place".
These punishments, the preacher says, are to be implemented in a future Islamic state. "This is not to tell you to start killing people," she continues. "There must be a Muslim leader, when the Muslim army becomes stronger, when Islam has grown enough."
A young female student from the group interrupts her: the punishment should also be to stone the homosexuals to death, once they have been thrown from a high place.
These are teachings I never expected to hear inside Regent's Park Mosque, which is supposedly committed to interfaith dialogue and moderation, and was set up more than 60 years ago, to represent British Muslims to the Government. And many of those listening were teenage British girls or, even more disturbingly, young children.
My investigation for Channel 4's Dispatches came after last year's Undercover Mosque, which investigated claims that teachings of intolerance and fundamentalism were spreading through Britain's mosques from the Saudi Arabian religious establishment - which is closely linked to the Saudi Arabian government. In response, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia denied it was spreading intolerance, while Regent's Park Mosque, which featured in the film, urged all mosques to be "vigilant" and monitor what was taught on their premises.
So earlier this year, dressed in a full Islamic jilbaab, I went back to Regent's Park Mosque to see what was being taught there. As a woman, I had to go to the main female section, where I found this circle preaching every Saturday and Sunday, eight hours at a time, to any woman who has come to pray.
The mosque is meant to promote moderation and integration. But although the circle does preach against terrorism and does not incite Muslims to break British laws, it teaches Muslims to "keep away" and segregate themselves from disbelievers: "Islam is keeping away from disbelief and from the disbelievers, the people who disbelieve." ...The reporter's name has been changed. 'Dispatches: Undercover Mosque - The Return' will be broadcast on Channel 4 at 8pm on Monday
When we surveyed an average street in Hurstville, NSW, we gained a unique insight into the cultural mix that is Australia today ...
It's 7pm on Australia Street in Hurstville, a fast-growing suburb in the south-west of Sydney. At Number 11, Chinese-born Solan Tan and his Japanese-born wife Emi are steaming prawn dumplings for their young son Toshi, who is playing on his bike in the road. The family can smell the smoky aroma of marinated lamb and sweet potatoes wallowing over the fences from the Maori family at Number five who are cooking a Hangi - a traditional meal cooked in their garden over hot stones. Meanwhile, it's impossible for Toshi not to hear the gentle din of different languages and accents drifting out of the open windows and terraces - from South Africa and America to Italy and Sri Lanka, almost every continent is represented.
When we set out to discover exactly where all the residents in the road were from we expected to find a degree of mixed heritages, but were to be surprised by actually how extremely varied Australia's cultural melting pot has recently become. Except for just four people out of 150 adults living on the street they were all first generation immigrants from 16 different nations around the world.
Yet this is far from an extraordinary street or an unusual demographic but serves as a multi-cultural snapshot of modern Australia today. Since 1945, over six million people from 200 countries have come to live in this country. And what Australia Street represents, according to immigration expert Dr Alison Bashford, from the University of Sydney, is the "realistic picture" of the country's increasingly culturally diverse population. "Migrants have made a major contribution to shaping modern Australia," she says, "But this diversity isn't always correctly represented in things such as adverts and films and certainly does not match the way Australia's image is presented to the rest of the world." ...
Ethnic and racial minorities will comprise a majority of the nation’s population in a little more than a generation, according to new Census Bureau projections, a transformation that is occurring faster than anticipated just a few years ago.
The census calculates that by 2042, Americans who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites. Four years ago, officials had projected the shift would come in 2050.
The main reason for the accelerating change is significantly higher birthrates among immigrants. Another factor is the influx of foreigners, rising from about 1.3 million annually today to more than 2 million a year by midcentury, according to projections based on current immigration policies.
“No other country has experienced such rapid racial and ethnic change,” said Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a research organization in Washington ...
I do not believe that there is such a thing as a moderate Islam, and have been quite clear about that since I started writing. I disagree with observers such as Dr. Daniel Pipes on this particular point. I'd like to say to Pipes that I enjoy much of his work. I have linked to it a number of times before and intend to do so in the future as well. However, I get increasingly disturbed by how many people keep repeating the mantra of reaching out to "moderate Islam" when I have yet to see a single piece of evidence that a moderate Islam actually exists.
When asked about where to find a moderate Islam, Daniel Pipes has repeatedly referred to the late Sudanese scholar Mahmud Muhammud Taha, whose ideas are available in English in the book The Second Message of Islam. Taha's disciple and translator Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'Im, author of the book Toward an Islamic Reformation, has this to say about the ideas of his teacher:
"[T]he Medina message is not the fundamental, universal, eternal message of Islam. That founding message is from Mecca. So, the reformation of Islam must be based on a return to the Mecca message. In order to reconcile the Mecca and Medina messages into a single system, Muslim jurists have said that some of the Medina verses have abrogated the corresponding earlier verses from Mecca. Although the abrogation did take place, and it was logical and valid jurisprudence at one time, it was a postponement, not a permanent abrogation."
Because of this, An-Na'Im thinks that "The Mecca verses should now be made the basis of the law and the Medina verses should be abrogated. This counter-abrogation will result in the total conciliation between Islamic law and the modern development of human rights and civil liberties. In this sense we reformers are superfundamentalists."
I have read the books of both Taha and An-Na'Im closely. I find that their writing sounds better the first time you read it than it does the second time. For instance, Taha suggests that the reason why Muhammad and the early Muslims "had to" murder so many people was because these individuals didn't accept Islam peacefully. Not only does Taha not indicate that he thinks this was wrong, he describes armed Jihad as a "surgical tool" which can be used to implement true Islam. He hints that this hopefully won't be needed now because people are "mature" enough to know that Islam is good for them and will submit without coercion.
What happens to those who don't like Islam and have no intention of submitting? Taha doesn't say, but judging from his writings, he seems to believe that violence is justified against such people. It is hard to see in what way this is supposed to represent a "reformist" way of thinking. According to orthodox Islamic theology, Muslims are not allowed to physically attack non-Muslims unless these have first been invited to embrace Islam yet have failed to do so, in which case they are fair game. In other words, Muslims should try to convert people peacefully first and then start killing them afterwards if they refuse. Taha thus advocates a traditional concept of Jihad, one not qualitatively different from that espoused by Jihadist terrorists such as Osama bin Laden.
Although Taha resembles an apologist for Jihadist violence, he was still considered so unorthodox by traditional Muslims that he was executed as an apostate. Besides, his ideas are built on questionable "truths" about the Koran. Consider what the German professor Christoph Luxenberg claims in his pioneering work:
"In its origin, the Koran is a Syro-Aramaic liturgical book, with hymns and extracts from Scriptures which might have been used in sacred Christian services. In the second place, one may see in the Koran the beginning of a preaching directed toward transmitting the belief in the Sacred Scriptures to the pagans of Mecca, in the Arabic language. Its socio-political sections, which are not especially related to the original Koran, were added later in Medina. At its beginning, the Koran was not conceived as the foundation of a new religion. It presupposes belief in the Scriptures, and thus functioned merely as an inroad into Arabic society."
In other words, if Mr. Luxenberg is correct, what we now call the Meccan chapters of the Koran are peaceful precisely because they aren't "Islamic" at all, they are based on Christian texts. The "authentic" texts related to Muhammad and his companions, whoever the historical Muhammad really was, are the much more violent and aggressive chapters we classify as Medinan. This is precisely the opposite of what Taha and An-Na'Im suggest. From a secular point of view, their ideas are thus extremely vulnerable to historical criticism, and from an Islamic point of view, it's difficult to see how their ideas can be implemented.
After reading through much of the literature on the subject, I would divide "Muslim reformers" into three categories. The first, and by far the largest category, consists of liars, opportunists and taqiyya artists; people who want to infiltrate our societies rather than reform Islam. The second category consists of people who may be well-meaning but simply don't understand the issues involved. Irshad Manji, for instance, is not a bad person, but she just doesn't know very much about Islamic history. The third and smallest category consists of people who are knowledgeable and genuinely desire reform. The German-Syrian scholar Bassam Tibi could be placed here. I find some of his work interesting, but even he is incoherent and unconvincing in presenting the case for how a moderate Islam should look like.
Where does Taha belong in this picture? Frankly, I suspect it's among category 1. He is theologically unconvincing, and some of the passages he writes are outright disturbing if you read them closely and analyze what he's actually saying. The following quotes, with page references, are from the book The Second Message of Islam by Mahmud Muhammud Taha ...
Page 134:"In this way, all the verses of persuasion, though they constitute the primary or original principle, were abrogated or repealed by the verses of compulsion (jihad). This exception was necessitated by the circumstances of the time and the inadequacy of the human capability to discharge properly the duty of freedom at that time."
"Some Muslim scholars believe that Islamic wars were purely defensive wars, a mistaken belief prompted by their keenness to refute claims by the Orientalists that Islam spread by means of the sword. In fact, the sword was used to curtail the abuse of freedom. Islam used persuasion for thirteen years in propagating its clearly valid message for the individual and the community. When the addressees failed to discharge properly the duties of their freedom, they lost this freedom, and the Prophet was appointed as their guardian until they came of age. However, once they embraced the new religion and observed the sanctity of life and property, and the social claims of their kith and kin, as they had been instructed, the sword was suspended, and abuses of freedom were penalized according to new laws. Hence the development of Islamic Shari'a law, and the establishment of a new type of government. In justifying the use of the sword, we may describe it as a surgeon's lancet and not a butcher's knife. When used with sufficient wisdom, mercy, and knowledge, it uplifted the individual and purified society."
Page 135:"Suffering death by the sword in this life is really an aspect of suffering hell in the next life, since both are punishments for disbelief. Whoever adds to his own disbelief by inciting others to disbelief or to shun the path of God must be suppressed before he takes up arms in the cause of disbelief."
Page 136:"Islam's original principle is freedom. But the Islamic religion was revealed to a society in which slavery was an integral part of the socioeconomic order. It was also a society that was shown in practice to be incapable of properly exercising its freedom, and therefore its individual members needed guidance; hence the consequent enactment of jihad. In Islamic jihad, the Muslims first had to offer to the unbelievers the new religion. If they refused to accept it, they had the second option of paying jizyah and living under Muslim government, while practicing their own religion and enjoying personal security. If they also refused the option of jizyah, the Muslims would fight them and if victorious take some of them as slaves, thereby adding to the number of those already in slavery."
"If an individual is invited to become the slave of God but refuses, such refusal is symptomatic of ignorance that calls for a period of training. The individual prepares to submit voluntarily to the servitude of God by becoming the slave of another person, thereby learning obedience and humility, which are becoming of a slave. Reciprocity (al-mu'awadah) here rules that if a free person refuses to become the slave of God, he may be subjugated and made the slave of a slave of God, in fair and just retribution: 'And whoso does an atom's weight of evil will also see it.' (99:8)"
My comment: The above passage is one of the most disturbing quotes from the entire book. Taha was from the Sudan, a country where chattel slavery is still being practiced today. If Taha had said that slavery once existed in most human societies, I could perhaps have accepted that. But he goes further than that. He indicates that slavery can in fact be morally good because it is a "training period" for becoming a slave of Allah, as all human beings should be ...
All things summed up, I agree with Daniel Pipes: Mahmud Muhammud Taha is indeed an interesting case, but for precisely the opposite reason of what Mr. Pipes claims. Taha supports the idea of slavery on a moral basis, not just as an historical fact. "Freedom" is identical with sharia and being a slave of Allah. Those who don't want to accept Islam or Islamic rule should face armed Jihad, and the sword should be used as a "surgical tool" to cut them off from the body of society. And this is moderate…..how, exactly?
If Taha is the great hope for a moderate Islam, we can conclude that a moderate Islam supports slavery, stoning people to death for adultery, whipping those who enjoy a glass of wine or beer and massacring those who disagree with the above mentioned policies. Taha openly supported many of the most appalling aspects of sharia, yet was still considered so controversial that he was executed as an apostate.
The story of Mahmud Muhammud Taha is the ultimate, definitive and final proof that there is no moderate Islam. There never has been and there never will be. It's a myth. We should not base our domestic or foreign policies on the existence of a moderate Islam just like we should not base them on the existence of other mythical creatures such as the yeti or the tooth fairy.
It is unpleasant to conclude that Islam cannot be reformed. I don't like it either, and would much have preferred a different answer. But I see no practical indications that a tolerant Islam is emerging and have great difficulty in envisioning how such an entity could look like. There are several ways Islam could conceivably be reformed, yet none of them are very likely to succeed.
I have reviewed and criticized Irshad Manji's work before. Although she never says so explicitly in her book, I get the impression that Manji largely agrees with the mantra that "Islam is whatever Muslims make of it." I don't share this view. Why do those who behead Buddhist teachers in Thailand, burn churches in Nigeria, persecute Hindus in Pakistan or blow bombs in the London subway always "misunderstand" Islamic texts? Why don't they feel this urge to kill people after reading about, say, Winnie the Pooh?
If any text was infinitely elastic, we could replace the Koran with any other book and get the same result. That's obviously not the case. If you have a text that repeatedly calls for killing, death and mayhem, more people are going to "interpret" this text in aggressive ways. Islam is the most aggressive and violent religion on earth in practice because its texts are more aggressive than those of any other major religion, and because the example of Muhammad is vastly more violent than that of any other religious founder. If you return to the original Islam, which Manji claims to seek, you get Jihad, since that's what the original Islam was all about.
The dozens of explicit Jihad verses in the Koran won't all magically disappear. As long as they exist, somebody is bound to take them seriously. And since any "reformed" Islam must ultimately be rooted in Islamic texts, this probably means that Islam cannot be reformed.
The process of change is anyway not our job. Muslims should do that themselves. They are adults and should take care of their own problems just like everybody else does. For this reason, I dislike Manji's suggestion that infidels should spend money on sponsoring Muslims.
Muslims will not feel much gratitude if we fund their hospitals or schools. To them, everything good that happens is the will of Allah. Infidels are supposed to pay the jizya to Muslims anyway, so many of them will see payments from us as a sign of submission. They will thus become more arrogant and aggressive by such acts rather than feeling grateful.
As long as infidels keep bailing them out, Muslims have no incentives to change. They will only reform or abandon Islam once they are forced to deal with the backwardness brought by Islamic teachings. For this reason, we need a strategy for containment of the Islamic world. It's the very minimum we can live with. If Muslims need money, let them ask their Saudi brothers for it. If the Saudis have to finance hospitals in Gaza or Pakistan, this means they have less of it to finance terrorism, which is good. I agree with Hugh Fitzgerald on this one.
It is possible that some schools or branches within Islam are more tolerant than others. Yes, there are theological differences between Sunnis and Shi'a Muslims. These can be significant enough for Muslims, but for non-Muslims they are usually not important. Shia Islam is not more peaceful than Sunni Islam, nor is it more tolerant, with the possible exception of the Ismaili branch, but they are far less numerous than the adherents of Twelver Shi`ism. Since the Shi'a constitute a tiny minority of the world's Muslims, the Ismailis are a minority of a minority and quite marginal in the greater scheme of things.
My view is that as long as you start out with the texts used by orthodox Muslims - the Koran, the hadith and the sira - it is more or less impossible to come up with a peaceful and tolerant version of Islam. In principle it might be possible to change things by either adding more religious texts or ignoring some of those that already exist. Both options are problematic.
Since Muhammad was supposed to be final messenger of Allah, the "seal of the prophets," any person later claiming to bring new revelations to mankind will invariably be viewed as a fraud and a heretic by orthodox Muslims. This is what happened to the Ahmadiyya movement, who are viewed as unbelievers by most others Muslims, including many in "moderate" Indonesia.
Another example is the Bahá'í faith, which is indeed more peaceful than mainstream Islam, but their view of history, where the Buddha is seen as a messenger alongside Muhammad, differs so radically from traditional Islam that it is usually classified as a separate religion. Bahá'ís are ruthlessly persecuted in the Islamic world, particularly in Iran where the movement originated. They are viewed as apostate Muslims since they challenge the concept of the finality of Muhammad's prophethood. Ironically, their supreme governing institution is situated in Haifa, in the evil, racist apartheid state of Israel. So they get persecuted by "tolerant" Muslim, yet are treated with decency by the "intolerant" Israelis.
There are also the "Koran only" Muslims, who, from what I can gather, currently constitute a very small group of people. They advocate that Muslims should ignore the hadith and the sira and rely solely on the Koran for guidance. In order to achieve this, they will first have to defy mounting opposition from other Muslims who will have some rather powerful theological arguments in their favor. The Koran itself says repeatedly that you should obey both the Koran and the example of Muhammad. But the personal example of Muhammad and his companions, his Sunna, is mainly recorded in extra-Koranical material such as the hadith and the sira. If you remove them, you remove the main sources of information for how to conduct prayer, pilgrimage etc., which is usually not recorded in any great detail in the Koran.
"Koran only" reformers, and indeed all aspiring reformers, will have to face the possibility of being branded as heretics and apostates, a crime which potentially carries the death penalty according to traditional sharia law. On top of this, there are more than enough verses in the Koran itself advocating Jihad and intolerance for this alternative to remain problematic, too. For these reasons, it is unlikely that a "Koran only" version of Islam can ever constitute a viable long-term reform path.
A researcher from Denmark, Tina Magaard, has spent years analyzing the original texts of different religions, from Buddhism to Sikhism, and concludes that the Islamic texts are by far the most warlike among the major religions of the world. They encourage terror and fighting to a far larger degree than the original texts of other religions. "The texts in Islam distinguish themselves from the texts of other religions by encouraging violence and aggression against people with other religious beliefs to a larger degree. There are also straightforward calls for terror. This has long been a taboo in the research into Islam, but it is a fact that we need to deal with," says Magaard. Moreover, there are hundreds of calls in the Koran for fighting against people of other faiths. "If it is correct that many Muslims view the Koran as the literal words of God, which cannot be interpreted or rephrased, then we have a problem. It is indisputable that the texts encourage terror and violence. Consequently, it must be reasonable to ask Muslims themselves how they relate to the text, if they read it as it is," she says.
It has been suggested that some regional versions of Islam, for instance "Southeast Asian Islam," are more peaceful than "Arab Islam." First of all, in this age of globalization and international sponsorship of conservative theology by Saudi Arabia and others, regional interpretations are likely to diminish, not increase. And second of all, I'm not convinced that Southeast Asian Islam is more tolerant than other forms of the religion.
It is true that Muslims in some parts of Indonesia have perhaps been less strict than Muslims in, say, Egypt, but this was because Indonesia was Islamized at a later date and still contained living residues of its pre-Islamic culture. In such cases, we are dealing with "less Islam" or "diluted Islam," which isn't quite the same as "moderate Islam" even if some observers claim that it is. Moreover, numerous churches have been burnt down or destroyed in that country only during the last decade, which hardly indicates that Indonesia is a beacon of tolerance.
In Thailand and the Philippines, where Muslims constitute a minority, non-Muslims have been murdered or chased away from certain areas by Islamic groups who wage a constant Jihad against the authorities. The city-state of Singapore is surrounded by several hundred million Muslims and can only manage to avoid outside attacks by curtailing the freedom of speech of its citizens and banning public criticism of Islam.
Malaysia has been a moderate economic success story because it has had a large and dynamic non-Muslim population and only recently became majority Muslim. This corresponds to some extent to the early phases of Islamization in the Middle East. The Golden Age of Islam was in reality the twilight of the pre-Islamic cultures. The scientific achievements during this period are exaggerated, and those that did take place happened overwhelmingly during the early phases of Islamic rule when there were still large non-Muslim populations. When these communities declined due to Muslim harassment, the Middle East, home to some of the oldest civilizations on earth, slowly declined into a backwardness from which it has never recovered.
Lebanon was a reasonably successful and civilized country while it still had a slim Christian majority, but has rapidly declined into Jihad and sharia barbarism in recent decades due to higher Muslim birth rates and non-Muslims leaving the country. It is possible that something similar will happen to Malaysia, as Muslims become more confident and aggressive.
Lastly, you can try to constrain Islam and keep it down by brute force. This kind of muscular secularism, enforced with methods no Western country would even contemplate supporting at the present time, has been tried under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey. Yet Turkey has never been a beacon of tolerance, and the very few non-Muslims who remain in the country still face harassment. Kemalism has kept Islam at bay but has never really reformed it. Even after almost a century, Islam is in the process of making a comeback. There are serious cracks in the façade of secularism, and some observers fear an Islamic revolution in the country.
The Turkish example is not altogether promising. We should remember that Iran, too, was perceived as a moderate and modern country until the revolution brought the Ayatollah Khomeini to power in 1979. The lesson we can draw from this is that Islam can lie dormant for generations, yet strike again with renewed vigour when the opportunity arises.
The debate about a "reformed" Islam is inappropriately colored by a Western historical perspective, with references to the Protestant Reformation in sixteenth century Europe. This indirectly implies that there is some form of equivalence between Christianity and Islam. I don't think there is, even though I am not a Christian. Christianity with its concept of the Trinity is akin to soft-polytheism from an Islamic point of view. The religious texts are clearly different, not to mention the personal examples of the founders of the two religions, Jesus and Muhammad. Islam became a major world religion through armed conquest and the creation of an empire. Christianity became a major world religion by gradually taking over an already established empire, the Roman Empire.
Christianity's slow growth within a Greco-Roman context made it possible for Christians to assimilate Greek philosophy and Roman law to an extent that never happened among Muslims, even in the Mediterranean world which had been dominated by the Romans. This had major consequences for further scientific and political developments in Europe and in the Middle East. Exposure to Greek and other scientific traditions did lead to some advances in the earliest centuries of Islamic rule, but Greek natural philosophy was never accepted into the core curriculum of Islamic madrasas as it was in European universities.
When the American Founding Fathers in the eighteenth century discussed how the shape of their young Republic should be, they were influenced by, in addition to modern thinkers and the British parliamentary system, descriptions of democratic Athens and the Roman Republic, through Aristotle's political texts and Cicero's writings. None of these texts were ever available in Arabic or Persian translations. They were rejected by Muslims, but preserved, translated, and studied with interest by Christians. The artistic legacy of the Greeks was also largely rejected by Muslims. In short, Westerners have no shared "Greco-Roman legacy" with Muslims. They cared mainly for one part of this great legacy, the scientific-philosophical part, and even that part they failed to assimilate.
The theological differences between Christianity and Judaism vs. Islam are huge. As Robert Spencer explains in his excellent little book Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't, in Christianity the central tenet is that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). While acknowledging that any human being is capable of evil, the Koran says that Muslims are "the best of peoples" (3:110) while the unbelievers are the "vilest of creatures" (98:6). In such a worldview, it is easy to see evil in others but difficult to locate it in oneself. The Koran also says that the followers of Muhammad are "ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another" (48:29), and that the unbelievers are the "worst of created beings" (98:6). One may exercise the Golden Rule in relation to a fellow Muslim, but according to the laws of Islam, the same courtesy is not to be extended to unbelievers.
Yes, you can find violent passages in the Hebrew Bible, such as in the book of Joshua regarding the conquest of Jericho, but "throughout history, rather than celebrating such biblical passages, Jews and Christians have regarded them as a problem to be solved. While interpretations of these passages differ widely among Jews and Christians, from the beginning of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity one understanding has remained dominant among virtually all believers: these passages are not commands for all generations to follow, and if they have any applicability, it is only in a spiritualized, parabolic sense."
As Spencer says, "the consensus view among Jews and Christians for many centuries is that unless you happen to be a Hittite, Girgashite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, or Jebusite, these biblical passages simply do not apply to you. The scriptures record God's commands to the Israelites to make war against particular people only. However this may be understood, and however jarring it may be to modern sensibilities, it does not amount to any kind of marching orders for believers. That's one principal reason why Jews and Christians haven't formed terror groups around the world that quote the Bible to justify killing non-combatants."
The main problem with Islam isn't that it is a stupid religion, as some people say, but that it is a violent and aggressive one. I consider Scientology to be an incredibly stupid creed, but I haven't heard about many people living in fear that Tom Cruise will cut off their head while quoting poems of L. Ron Hubbard and then post a video of the deed on the Internet.
Yes, religions do evolve. Stoning people to death was once practiced by Jews, but they progressed and left this practice behind because they considered it to be cruel, which it is. The problem is that there are literally dozens - more than one hundred, depending on how you count - verses calling for Jihad in the Koran, and additional ones in the hadith. Any "tolerant" form of Islam would have to reject all of these verses, permanently, in addition to the personal example of Muhammad and his followers as well as a large body of secondary literature by more than a thousand years of sharia scholars. That's a tall order. We should also remember that Jihad is not the end goal of Islam. Sharia is. Jihad is a tool used to achieve sharia and the rule of Islamic law extended to all of mankind.
As I have explained in my earlier essay Do we want an Islamic Reformation? and in the online booklet Is Islam Compatible With Democracy?, the question of whether Islam is compatible with democracy largely hinges upon your definition of "democracy." If this simply means voting, with no freedom of speech or safeguards for individual rights or minorities then yes, it can, as a vehicle for imposing sharia on society. But such a "pure" democracy isn't necessarily a good system even without Islam, as critics from Plato to Thomas Jefferson have convincingly argued.
Likewise, the question of whether or not Islam can be reformed largely hinges upon your definition of "Reformation." I usually say that Islam cannot be reformed, and by "reformed" I thus implicitly understand this as meaning something along the lines of "peaceful, non-sharia based with respect for individual choice and freedom of speech." In other words: "Reform" is vaguely taken to mean less Islam.
However, Robert Spencer and others have argued that there are similarities between Martin Luther and the Christian Reformation in 16th century Europe and the reform movement started by Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab in the Arabian Peninsula in the 18th century. Wahhab's alliance with regional ruler Muhammad bin Saud and his family later led to the creation of Saudi Arabia. There was another modern "reform" movement, the so-called Salafism of 19th century thinkers such as Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh. Whereas the former was an internal reform movement triggered by calls for removing "corruption" from society, the latter was clearly a response to external, Western pressures.
Although Abduh's ideas were continued in a secular direction by individuals such as Egyptian writer Taha Hussein, clearly the most successful strands were those developed into what was later termed "Islamic fundamentalism" in the 20th century. Muhammad Abduh's pupil Rashid Rida inspired Hassan al-Banna when he formed the Muslim Brotherhood. Rida urged Muslims not to imitate infidels, but return to the Golden Age of early Islam, as did Abduh. Rida also recommended reestablishing the Caliphate, and applauded when the Wahhabists conquered Mecca and Medina and established modern Saudi Arabia. The two reform movements thus partly merged in the 20th century, into organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The fact that two initially separate calls for reform, started under different circumstances and for different reasons, produced somewhat similar results is worth contemplating. Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin also called for returning to the Golden Age of early Christianity. Although the Reformation was a turbulent period while it lasted, it did pave the way for more tolerance and religious freedom in Christian Europe in the long run. This was, in my view, at least partly because Christians could return to the example, as contained in the Gospels, of an early age where the founder of their religion and his disciples led a largely peaceful movement separate from the state. Muslims, on the other hand, can find a similar example only in the Mecca period. As long as the writings from the violent Medina period are still in force, a return to the "early, Golden Age" of Islam will mean a return to intolerance and Jihad violence.
Some Western observers are searching for a "Muslim Martin Luther" who is expected to end the resurgent Islamic Jihad. But one could argue that we already have a Muslim Martin Luther: He's called Osama bin Laden, deeply inspired by the teachings of Muslim Brotherhood thinker Sayyid Qutb. If "reform" is taken to mean a return to the historical period of the religious founder, Muhammad, and his followers, it will lead to an inevitable upsurge of Jihadist violence, since that was what Muhammad and his followers were all about.
The question of whether Islam is reformable is an important one. But perhaps an even more crucial one is whether an Islamic Reformation would be desirable from a non-Muslim point of view, and the likely answer to that is "no."
So jihad is a not a "butcher's knife", but a "surgeon's lancet" that "when used with sufficient wisdom, mercy, and knowledge, it uplifted the individual and purified society". Jihad is really Islamic Medicare. I feel better now ...
(I edited out some of the Taha quotes. The full article is at Atlas Shrugs)
Ministers hope that listening to and addressing concerns that affect Muslims could ease tensions in multi-cultural communities and cut the risk of them becoming radicalised by extremists.
The Young Muslim Advisory Group, to be launched in October, will also work with Arts Council England and Sport England.
The aim is see how cultural and sporting opportunities, such as the use of football tournaments or music gigs, can reduce tensions within different communities...
Ministers recently announced £12.5million for Muslim communities to fund projects which aim to 'undermine extremist ideology'.
This sounds like something Rudd would do i.e. watch the problem instead of fixing it, like fuel watch and grocery watch. Now it's young Muslim watch. You can't fix an ideology (a) by watching Muslims, and (b) by dealing with young people. It's the same ridiculous level of debate that sees our media talking to Fadi Rahman who, whilst doing good work at the street level, is powerless against Islamic ideology. All this money and endless running around skirting the problem: Islamic ideology. Let's do everything under the sun except what needs to be done, confront the extremist nature of Islam itself.
Muslim council chiefs ban ALL members from eating in meetings during Ramadan29th August 2008, Daily Mail:
Councillors have been ordered not to eat during town hall meetings while Muslim colleagues fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
All elected members at Left-wing Tower Hamlets Council in East London have been sent an email asking them to follow strict Islamic fasting during September no matter what their faith.
As well as restricting food and drink until after sunset, the authority's leaders have decided to reduce the number of meetings throughout the month so they do not clash with the requirements of Ramadan.
The seven remaining meetings scheduled to take place will also include special prayer breaks to accommodate Muslim councillors.
But some members of the Labour-run council say the demands favour one religious group over the others.
Dr Stephanie Eaton, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said she would ignore the restrictions ...
Sounds like something Leichhardt Council would do. From diversity to division to devolution to disaster. It all starts with diversity.
The Pakistani Taleban have "the upper hand" and should be put on the list of banned organisations in Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto's widower has said.
Asif Ali Zardari said, in a BBC interview, that the world and Pakistan were losing the war on terror.
"It is an insurgency", he said, "and an ideological war. It is our country and we will defend it.
"The world is losing the war. I think at the moment they (the Taleban) definitely have the upper hand.
"The issue, which is not just a bad case scenario as far as Pakistan is concerned or as Afghanistan is concerned but it is going to be spreading further. The whole world is going to be affected by it."
Mr Zardari's strong remarks came shortly after the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) put his name forward as its presidential nominee.
Quote:
AAZ: Obviously whatever the world has been doing for the last ten years, it's not working. I'm not ashamed to tell you that the world is losing the war.
OBJ: Pakistan is losing the war?
AAZ: The world is losing the war, Pakistan being among it.
OBJ: The truth is that the insurgents are getting more territory, and they're laying on more suicide bomb attacks, week by week. Do you think they're winning at the moment.
AAZ: I think at the moment they definitely have the upper hand, and we need to do something better...
OBJ: Some people are saying you might lose part of your territory permanently to an Islamic state. Do you think that's possible?
AAZ: No, I don't think that's possible because we shan't let it happen.
Random House paid $100,000 for Sherry Jones’ racy historical novel about Muhammad and his nine-year-old wife, Aisha, The Jewel of Medina, only to withdraw the book just days before its scheduled August 12 publication date. Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry explained that they decided to drop the book after receiving, “from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.” They decided “to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel.”
Sherry Jones is an unlikely candidate to be the next Salman Rushdie, and her novel is hardly in the same league as Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ film Fitna, which vividly depicted Muslims acting upon the dictates of the Qur’an’s violent passages. The Jewel of Medina, by contrast, is a Harlequin Romance-level trivialization of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, luridly depicting the child as finding, at the moment of the consummation of her marriage to Muhammad, “the bliss I had longed for all my life” – yes, her entire nine years.
But Islamic jihadists seem to have little patience for semi-erotic children’s fiction. They are indignant over Jones’s book not because its depiction of the prophet of Islam having sex with a child is inaccurate – the most respected sources of Islamic tradition say he did that. Rather, what apparently angers them is that the novel makes this known. The ordinary understanding of slander in the West is that it involves making false charges that defame another person. But in Islamic law, the definition of slander doesn’t involve falsehood.The Shafi’i manual of Islamic law ‘Umdat al-Salik defines “slander” as “to mention anything concerning a person that he would dislike.” Nothing is said about whether or not what is said is true -- only that the person would dislike it. And this is based on a statement of Muhammad to the same effect.
It’s a shame that each time a clash of interests involves Muslim hurt, the West raises the white flag with increasing alacrity. When does Western surrender end? Fencing off Islam from critique and curtailing the West’s long-cherished right to freedom of expression won’t help anyone. If aspects of Islam need to confront modernity, it won’t happen by tiptoeing around Muslim sensibilities, treating them like children too vulnerable to deal with the tough questions. That treatment will only encourage victimhood and more censorship ...
... let Ms Jones write about Muhammad’s child bride. If not for the sake of Islam, then for the sake of the West.
RELATIVES of an armed robbery suspect shot dead by security guards say he was "the best guy in the world", the Daily Telegraph reported today.
Kaled Dib, 25, died after a shoot-out in one of the busiest streets in western Sydney last night after masked bandits tried to hold up Armaguard security guards delivering cash to the National Australia Bank on George St in Parramatta yesterday evening.
A post-mortem examination has confirmed he died from the wound to his chest.
Mr Dib was allegedly carrying a gun and running directly towards the security guard who fired one shot, hitting him in the chest.
He also had unlicensed driving convictions from 2007 and police intelligence reports linked him to the drug trade, armed robberies and to criminals linked to armed robberies, police sources have confirmed.
"Hilary Hahn and Josh Ritter seem like a musical odd couple — she’s a violin prodigy who’s grown into one of the world’s foremost classical soloists, he's a scruffy folk singer compared to Dylan and known for his epic, literary-leaning songs."
And, just like Bob Dylan, I don't have a clue what he's singing about. But they make a good pair anyway. Click to watch ...
Hirsi Ali ... lives with death threats because she has chosen to debate Islam. Sweet-sounding words such as multiculturalism and tolerance are used to repress open debate. She has no problem with people who worship the prophet Mohammed. "But I want to be able to say that Mohammed had some reprehensible qualities without being thrown in jail, without being demonised," she says. This must be allowed in a society committed to Enlightenment values of inquiry and reason because people progress by using reason to challenge ideas.
"We are, of course, fully aware of the possibility that people may fear that this temporary period of high inflation could, in fact, turn out to be persistent," ...
Australia is in the middle of its biggest export price boom since the Korean War, when the economy still rode the sheep's back and the price of wool jumped 140 per cent in nine months from mid-1950.
Such booms typically bust. And the inflation threat has been building for several years, obscured by cheap manufactured imports from China's low-cost factories, made even cheaper by a strengthening Australian dollar.
But a tipping point was reached last year and China switched from being a force for disinflation (through cheap manufactured imports) to a source of inflation (by pushing up global energy, steel and food prices). The Australian version of this global story contains an extra inflationary twist: the billions of dollars of national income from our commodity exports have pushed spending beyond the economy's supply capacity.
Now Stevens is deliberately squeezing the expendable domestic economy to make room for the unstoppable export-oriented resources boom to bring back demand within the economy's supply capacity. That shows up in the two-speed economy, with mining boom town Perth in the fast lane and Sydney's western suburbs' battler belt doing it tough. This week's figures showed that, while retail volumes have fallen during the year to June, export receipts are up nearly 30 per cent, producing a trade surplus. It's a volatile economic and political cocktail.
"There is a bit to be worried about," Treasury secretary and RBA board member Ken Henry warned just after the May federal budget in a speech devoted to defending the RBA's inflation target. "Present macro-economic circumstances are as testing as anything we've seen since the mid to late 1980s."
Everyone agrees with Henry that this is the biggest test yet of the inflation target regime, of which Australia was an early adopter and which now is the norm in most developed economies other than the US and Japan ...
While Hewson has been one vocal critic of Stevens's RBA, so has Peter Jonson, the RBA's head of economic research in the '80s, who writes under the pseudonym Henry Thornton. On Anzac Day, Jonson wrote in The Australian that "we may now be witnessing the death of inflation targeting", arguing that trying to keep overall inflation within or close to the 2 per cent to 3 per cent band in the face of surging oil and food prices from abroad would risk throwing the economy into an unnecessary recession ...
Pointing to "sky-high global oil prices", Swan says the Government can "deal (only) with those matters within our control". "It is certainly going to take a significant amount of time to deal with the inflationary pressures in the Australian economy that have been developing for a long period," he says.
Huh? If China's demand for oil and food is causing inflation here then can't we just slow China's growth by ceasing exports to them? So aren't these matters somewhat within our control? Can't we stuff the exports to China and go back to a one-speed economy? Aren't all the so-called gains of comparative advantage and economies-of-scale negated if we've hit the limits of supply of oil and food? Are pensioners struggling to afford food here because of our exports to China?
But it is not only petrol that is jacking up the cost of everything from bricks to bagels.
Creeping interest rates, the drought, a global food shortage and upwardly mobile Asians hungry for Western foods and fads all are feeding into Australia's spiralling cost of living. Kevin Rudd chose three f-words to sum up the global inflation situation this week: food, fuel and finance.
Can't we help return these upwardly mobile Asians back to their peasant life by stopping exports of minerals and food to them? Ploise uxplain ...
Most people are now aware that Sonny Bill Williams, a high profile Sydney rugby league player, has controversially walked out early on his five year contract with the Bulldogs club and signed with a French rugby club - leaving without saying a word to anyone.
Many reasons have been suggested for his departure, including money, pressure and other players leaving his club. I won't try and play psycho-analyst too much, considering he has loose cannons in his ear like Muslims Anthony Mundine and Khoder Nasser. But here is some background information about Sonny Bill to explain in part his motives.
Sonny is a poster-child of the global village melting pot: born in New Zealand, with Samoan father, white New Zealand mother, white Australian grandmother, and he has lived in Australia since he was 15-years-old. He was eligible to play football for New Zealand, Australia and Samoa - he chose New Zealand. His club is located in the heart of Middle Eastern and Muslim territory. He lives near Cronulla, a white enclave, for now.
Since signing his contract, the Bulldogs recruitment has shifted away from a Polynesian base back towards pro-white. Willie Mason left for another club. Willie Tonga is leaving next year. Reni Maitua is rumoured to quit. Roy Asotasi left in 2006. A new coach was appointed, another white guy. The Bulldogs recruiting for next year is pro-white: Brett Kimmorley, Michael Ennis, Ben Hannant, Michael Hodgson and Josh Morris. Though, like most league clubs, there is a wave of Polynesians coming up in the juniors. Anyway, the blokes Williams would have to put his arm around next year and pack into scrums with are mostly white.
Williams identifies himself as a Polynesian. He has covered himself in traditional Islander tattoos - probably a case of over-identifying to make up for his half-blood. He recently claimed that Polynesian players don't get the respect they deserve in the game. He recently got his club to allow Polynesian fans free entry into a Bulldogs game. He said he wanted to be a leader for the Polynesian community.
And then he left and signed with French rugby club Toulon. A look at their current squad shows plenty of Polynesians there. His coach there will be Tana Umaga, also of Samoan descent. The coach usually controls the recruiting. The Bulldogs coaching staff had shown their hand by recruiting pro-white.
Sonny said:
"I want to see myself as a leader and I want to be a leader of the Polynesian people," the Bulldogs player said.
And then he got on a plane and left. I think he's a confused individual. And so he should be, because he has no strong identity. He can't be a leader because he's a half-blood who was taken from his home and family at 15. He's still struggling for identity. Sure the kids look up to him, but kids are kids.
Another factor was that white Australian coach Wayne Bennett was appointed to the coaching staff of the New Zealand rugby league team. Not a comforting move for a kid craving identity.
Williams always looks uncomfortable in interviews. Australians would try to make him laugh and he would start to and then catch himself as if he shouldn't be laughing.
Sonny, although growing up in Sydney since he was 15, was also unable to qualify for rugby league's pinnacle the State of Origin series (NSW versus Queensland).
“The one this that's always burned inside of me, deep down, is not being able to play State of Origin," he told Phil Gould in an interview aired on last night's Footy Show.
He's a nowhere man. Sydney, unfortunately, is also a nowhere land. South-west Sydney especially is devoid of any unifying culture. Sonny's a nowhere man, living in a nowhere land. A misfit that finds a home in the French Foreign Legion? Something like that. Ain't globalisation grand? Nah.
One of the more in-depth conversations he had with Folkes was when the coach approached him after an article incorrectly speculated that he was set to become a muslim after dumping his agent Gavin Orr for Anthony Mundine's manager Khoder Nasser. After asking if the story was true, Folkes told Williams it would be a "joke" if he converted to Islam and advised him to stay away from Mundine ...
With Folkes announcing earlier in the year that he would stand down at the end of the season, Williams hoped Stephen Kearney would be appointed as his replacement and if the New Zealand coach had been given the job there was a good chance he would still be at the club.
The opportunity to play under the coaching of Tana Umaga, the first player of Samoan heritage to skipper the All Blacks, was a significant factor in his decision to quit the Bulldogs to play rugby union for Toulon.
FORMER rugby league champions and current NSW selectors last night described player manager Khoder Nasser as "un-Australian" and an "absolute disgrace" for his criticism of former Test captain Laurie Daley.
Nasser yesterday questioned how his client, star player Sonny Bill Williams, was overlooked for Dally M Medal points by judge Daley in the match between the Roosters and Bulldogs last Friday week.
When the sparks start to fly, identity shines through. If you're lucky enough to have one.
Black youths are suspected of more than half of knife crime among children in the capital, according to confidential Scotland Yard figures.
A highly-sensitive report reveals that 124 of the 225 under-18s legally 'proceeded against' for knife offences in the past three months are from the black community.
Yet in the overwhelming majority of reported cases of knife crime involving young people, the victims are white.
In cases where ethnicity was logged by police, 222 of the 345 under-18s attacked or threatened with a blade since April 1 were white. Sixty-one were black ...
Since January 1, 16 teenagers have been stabbed to death in London, forcing Scotland Yard to launch a high-profile campaign targeting youngsters and hot-spots of knife crime ...
This month Scotland Yard Deputy Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson suggested knife crime has overtaken terrorism as the top priority for London police ...
The article also says "one in eight of the London population is black". Blacks are clearly over-represented in knife crime. This is what Kevin Andrews warned us about. None of this reality is acknowledged by the Rudd government. Lindsay Tanner, the latest of the tall poppy African immigration supporters, never mentions this reality as he recently bent over backwards to welcome this chaos to Australia. Barking mad. |
Vice-Chancellor of Austria
The Vice-Chancellor of Austria (German: Vizekanzler) is a member of the Federal Government and the deputy of the Chancellor.
Description of the office
Art. 69(2) of the Constitution of Austria states:
The Vice-Chancellor stands in for the Federal Chancellor in his complete field of functions. If both Federal Chancellor and Vice Chancellor are hindered, the Federal President appoints a member of the government to represent the Federal Chancellor.
In practice, the Vice-Chancellor is normally the leading member of the junior party within the current coalition government, frequently the party chairman. If only one party is represented in the government, the Vice Chancellor is often the Chancellor's presumed successor.
List of officeholders (1919–present)
Vice-Chancellors of Austria during the Interwar period
Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 (see Austria under National Socialism for details). Independence was restored in 1945.
Vice-Chancellors of Austria after the end of World War II
See also
Chancellor of Austria
References
Austria, Vice-Chancellors |
---
abstract: 'This paper proposes a method for utilizing thermal features of the hand for the purpose of presentation attack detection (PAD) that can be employed in a hand biometrics system’s pipeline. By envisaging two different operational modes of our system, and by employing a DCNN-based classifiers fine-tuned with a dataset of real and fake hand representations captured in both visible and thermal spectrum, we were able to bring two important deliverables. First, a PAD method operating in an open-set mode, capable of correctly discerning 100% of fake thermal samples, achieving Attack Presentation Classification Error Rate (APCER) and Bona-Fide Presentation Classification Error Rate (BPCER) equal to 0%, which can be easily implemented into any existing system as a separate component. Second, a hand biometrics system operating in a closed-set mode, that has PAD built right into the recognition pipeline, and operating simultaneously with the user-wise classification, achieving rank-1 recognition accuracy of up to 99.75%. We also show that thermal images of the human hand, in addition to liveness features they carry, can also improve classification accuracy of a biometric system, when coupled with visible light images. To follow the reproducibility guidelines and to stimulate further research in this area, we share the trained model weights, source codes, and a newly created dataset of fake hand representations with interested researchers. [^1]'
author:
- |
Ewelina Bartuzi\
Biometrics and Machine Intelligence Lab\
Research and Academic Computer Network\
Kolska 12, 01-145 Warsaw, Poland\
[ewelina.bartuzi@nask.pl]{}
- |
Mateusz Trokielewicz\
Institute of Control and Computation Engineering\
Warsaw University of Technology\
Nowowiejska 15/19, 00-665 Warsaw, Poland\
[m.trokielewicz@elka.pw.edu.pl]{}
bibliography:
- 'refs.bib'
title: Thermal Features for Presentation Attack Detection in Hand Biometrics
---
Introduction {#sec:intro}
============
Personal features of the hand have been employed for the authentication of humans since the early days of modern biometrics, in the form of fingerprint minutiae introduced as early as 1892 by Galton [@galton1892finger], geometric features [@HandGeometryStasiak2006; @HandGeometryYoruk2006], palmprints [@PalmprintZhang2003; @Pamlprint2017_Tiwari; @PalmprintFei2018; @PalmprintKumar2018], and finger and hand vein patterns [@HandVein2006; @HandVein2011; @HandVein2017]. Recently, thermal features of the hand have gained some attention in the biometric community with the work of Bartuzi [[*et al.*]{} ]{}[@EwelinkaHandIWBF2018], showing that heat distributions carry discriminatory information and allow to build a biometric method based solely on the thermal hand representations.
Imaging of the human hand for biometric purposes is rather straightforward, and in cases when only texture features, such as principal lines or minutiae of the palmprint are used, does not require a specialized equipment. However, what makes it easy to collect a biometric sample, usually also reveals a presentation attack (PA) vulnerability, which may involve presenting the system with a fake representation of the hand, such as a paper printout, prosthetics, displays, or using a genuine hand in a non-conformant scenario (, use under coercion, or presentation improper enough to compromise the system).
Thus, an important piece in every well-designed biometric system’s pipeline is a way to mitigate such attempts, , presentation attack detection (PAD). Although thermal features of the hand have been used as cues for determining a person’s identity, we are not aware of any PAD method that would employ such traits for counteracting fake representation attacks. This paper thus offers the following **contributions to the state-of-the-art:**
- a presentation attack detection method employing thermal features, using a static image of the hand, based on a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) model trained in both identity-driven (closed set) and authenticity-driven (open-set) approaches,
- a dataset of fake hand representations collected in the visible and thermal infrared wavelength rages, complementary to the existing dataset of genuine hand samples from the *MobiBits* database,
- trained model weights and source codes for the offered solution.
Model weights, source codes and a complementary dataset of fake visible light and thermal infrared hand representations can be obtained at: <http://zbum.ia.pw.edu.pl/EN/node/46>.
This article is laid out as follows. In Sec. \[sec:related\] we review the existing PAD methods for alleviating spoof attacks in palmprint and dorsal hand vein biometrics. Sec. \[sec:data\] describes a subset of the *MobiBits* database used for the purpose of this study and details the process of creating a complementary set of fake hand representations for training and evaluating our PAD method, which is introduced in Sec. \[sec:methods\]. Finally, experimental results are reported and discussed in Sec. \[sec:results\], whereas Sec. \[sec:conclusions\] provides relevant conclusions.
Related work {#sec:related}
============
Kanhangad and Kumar explored local binary pattern features for discerning genuine palmprint samples from paper printouts, reaching over 97% accuracy [@KanhangadHandPAD2013]. Kanhangad [[*et al.*]{} ]{}pointed to a high, almost 80% risk of accepting fake palmprint samples as genuine ones using one of the existing academic methods, and proposed an anti-spoofing mechanism that analyzes the reflectance of the palmprint samples, and is said to be able to correctly classify 99% of the genuine samples, paper printouts, and computer display photographs into either *real* or *fake* subsets [@KanhangadHandPAD2015]. A method for detecting presentation attacks in dorsal hand-vein biometrics is introduced by Bhilare [[*et al.*]{} ]{}in [@BhilareHandPAD2017], employing a histogram of oriented gradients performed on LoG-filtered images and an SVM with majority voting for image classification, reaching EER from 0.16% to 0.8%. A fusion of texture-based approaches and image quality assessment for face and palmprint PAD is introduced by Farmanbar and Toygar in [@FarmanbarHandPAD2017], and tested on several publicly available datasets of face and palmprint samples. Bhilare [[*et al.*]{} ]{}followed up on their earlier work in [@PADhand2018], introduing a spoof sample database – ’PALMspoof’, and a PAD method that is said to outperform their earlier LBP-based approach by 12.73 percentage points in classification error rate.
All of the methods reviewed above employ hand-crafted texture features or image statistics of visible light or near infrared images for determining PAD cues. However, to our knowledge, there are no prior papers or published research that would employ thermal imaging for the purpose of presentation attack detection of hand samples, despite this being perhaps the most natural choice for building a PAD method, as replicating the exact heat distribution of the human hand seems a dubious and difficult task for an attacker to perform.
Experimental data {#sec:data}
=================
Dataset of visible light and thermal hand images
------------------------------------------------
For the purpose of this work we use a subset of the *MobiBits*, a multimodal mobile biometric database including images of palm side of the hand [@Mobibits]. The data were collected from 53 volunteers (20 female and 33 male, both hands, bringing a total of 106 classes). The age of subjects ranged from 14 to 71 years. The data were collected in three different acquisition sessions organized during three following months, twice in each session, approximately 15 minutes apart. All samples were acquired in typical office conditions with air conditioning on and ambient temperature set to $24^o$C.
The discussed subset, containing [**hand images**]{} can be categorized into two sample types:
- [**RGB**]{} – images taken with a rear camera of the CAT s60 mobile phone (480 $\times$ 640 pixels) in three sessions: with no temperature influence, after warming with a hot pillow, and after cooling with a cold compress. Additionally, measurement included unconstrained acquisition (raised hand) and acquisition stabilized by a glass stand.
- [**TH**]{} – thermal images, taken simultaneously with the images in visible light, constituting the fourth layer of the image: RGB + TH, but with lower resolution of 240 $\times$ 320 pixels).
Creating fake hand representations
----------------------------------
As a part of the experimentation performed in this work, we have extended the [*MobiBits–Hand*]{} subset with fake samples (two images per class). Hand images were printed and then photographed in a similar way as real hands were when creating the database, and with the use of a same CAT s60 device. Heat distribution of hand was imitated by the hand of a living human placed under the printout during data collection to make the presentation attack more plausible. Example hand images from the MobiBits-Hand subset together with their respective fake representations are shown in Fig. \[creating\_fakes\].
![[**From left to right:**]{} an example real hand image in visible light, under thermal imaging, and respective fake representations.[]{data-label="creating_fakes"}](hand_images_and_fakes_VISTH){width="1\linewidth"}
Proposed methodology {#sec:methods}
====================
Model architecture
------------------
Two popular DCNN architectures were used in our experiments, namely the VGG-19 model introduced by Simonyan [@VGGSimonyanCNNsForRecognition2014], and a shallower AlexNet model proposed by Krizhevsky [@AlexNet2014]. VGG-19, called ’very deep’ at the time of publication, consists of 16 convolutional layers – which serve as feature extractor, followed by three fully connected (FC) layers, constituting a classifier. AlexNet, on the other hand, comprises only 5 convolutional layers, followed by a similar, three-layer fully-connected classifier. Both networks participated in the ILSVRC competition [@ILSVRC] and are pre-trained on the ImageNet database [@imagenet] for the task of classifying natural images.
[ |>m[0.2]{}|>m[0.27]{}|>m[0.27]{}|]{} & &\
& &\
&\
&\
&\
&\
& RGB: 12 epochs & RGB: 10 epochs\
& TH: 11 epochs & TH: 7 epochs\
&\
&\
&\
&\
& RGB: 45 epochs & RGB: 25 epochs\
& TH: 75 epochs & TH: 36 epochs\
These pre-trained models were then altered by modifying the bottleneck layers of the classifier stage to fit the task investigated in this paper, and fine-tuned with a database of genuine and fake, visible light and thermal hand images. These experiments were performed twofold, namely in an [**authenticity-driven open-set**]{} scenario, and [**identity-driven closed-set**]{} scenario. These are described in detail in the following sections.
Authenticity-driven mode
------------------------
First, the DCNNs were used as binary classifiers, yielding a decision related to the authenticity of the sample being processed by the network, regardless of its claimed identity. The result here is assigning the sample either a *real* or *fake* label, together with a probability score obtained from one of the two output softmax neurons of the model.
The DCNN operating in this mode can serve as an additional security element in any biometric system’s pipeline, without introducing modifications to its architecture.
Identity-driven mode
--------------------
In the second part of the experiments reported in this paper, the DCNNs were fitted to operate in a closed-set scenario, where detection of fake hand representations is carried out simultaneously with providing a class-wise prediction of the probe sample. The last FC layers of each model were modified so that the number of output softmax neurons is $N+1$, where $N$ is the number of classes, and the additional neuron represents the *fake* class. If a sample is classified as genuine, a typical prediction of the target class is given, together with a probability score obtained from the softmax layer. If, however, a fake is detected, then the sample is assigned a *fake* label with a probability score.
For a biometric system expected to operate in a closed-set mode only, this simplifies the integration of the PAD component into the recognition pipeline with little additional cost.
Training and evaluation
-----------------------
For the network training and testing procedure, 10 subject-disjoint train/validation/test data splits were created. They were made with replacement, making them statistically independent and allowing us to assess the variance of the estimated error rates. The network was then trained with each train subset independently for each split, with the training being automatically stopped after achieving a non-increasing accuracy on the validation subset with patience of 10, and evaluated on the corresponding test subset. The training was performed with stochastic gradient descent as the minimization method with momentum $m=0.9$ and learning rate of 0.0001, with the data being passed through the network in mini batches of 16 images. Additionally, the training data were shuffled before each training epoch.
For the authenticity-driven, open-set mode, the data were divided in a subject-disjoint manner, so that classes chosen randomly for each of the train/validation/test splits do not overlap subject-wise. For the identity driven closed-set mode, subject-disjoint division is not possible, therefore for the second experiment the samples for each of the train/validation/test subsets were chosen randomly from each class to approximately meet the 60:20:20 criterion. Table \[table:trainingDetails\] summarizes details of the experiments performed for each network and each scenario.
In each mode, the networks were trained separately with RGB (visible light) and TH (thermal) images. Then, a score fusion at the softmax level was performed, so that in each mode three score distributions for each DCNN model were available:
- scores obtained from RGB images only,
- scores obtained from TH images only,
- scores obtained by averaging the above scores.
Results and discussion {#sec:results}
======================
Authenticity-driven mode
------------------------
Figure \[fig:authenticity-boxplots\] presents the accuracy of classifying hand representations into either the *real* or the *fake* class, for both the AlexNet and VGG-19 models. Both classifiers achieve perfect accuracy when confronted with thermal samples, but even with only the visible light samples, we can still expect a very high, more than 98% classification accuracy provided by the larger VGG-19, and slightly less than 96% obtained from the much shallower AlexNet model. Since employing thermal features yield a perfect accuracy alone, we do not report on the score fusion results here.
![Boxplots representing differences in accuracy of classification into real and fake classes for thermal (TH) and visible light (RGB) hand representations for two DCNN models. Median values are shown in red, whereas mean values are shown in blue. Height of each box denotes an inter-quartile range (IQR), spanning from the first (Q1) to the third (Q3) quartile, whereas whiskers span from Q1-1.5\*IQR to Q3+1.5\*IQR.[]{data-label="fig:authenticity-boxplots"}](Acc_AlexNet_VGG19_boxplot_PAD){width="48.00000%"}
Identity-driven mode
--------------------
Classification accuracies obtained from the experiments performed using the identity-driven operational mode, in which the networks were given the task of not only detecting *fake* representations, but also classifying the hand sample into one of the *real* classes in a closed-set scenario, are shown in Fig. \[fig:identity-boxplots\].
![Same as in Fig. \[fig:authenticity-boxplots\], but showing accuracies for the identity-driven operational mode on a closed set of *real* identities complemented by a *fake* class. Scores obtained from thermal (TH) and visible light (RGB) hand representations, and scores obtained by averaging the TH and RGB scores (TH+RGB).[]{data-label="fig:identity-boxplots"}](Acc_AlexNet_VGG19_boxplot_classification){width="48.00000%"}
In addition to classification accuracies, we also report the distributions of the scores used to generate boxplots shown in Fig. \[fig:identity-boxplots\]. These are shown in Figures \[fig:identity-barplots-alexnet\] and \[fig:identity-barplots-vgg19\], for scores obtained using the AlexNet and VGG-19 models, respectively. Notably, whereas some overlapping of the bins denoting scores corresponding to *genuine* and *fake* comparisons when RGB and TH images are used separately, this is almost completely rectified when a score fusion by arithmetical averaging is performed.
![Score distributions generated with the AlexNet model for visible light images, thermal images, and a fusion of both. Smaller plots in the middle of each larger plot is a close-up of the lower registers of the ordinate axis.[]{data-label="fig:identity-barplots-alexnet"}](hist_AlexNet_RGB "fig:"){width="52.00000%"}\
![Score distributions generated with the AlexNet model for visible light images, thermal images, and a fusion of both. Smaller plots in the middle of each larger plot is a close-up of the lower registers of the ordinate axis.[]{data-label="fig:identity-barplots-alexnet"}](hist_AlexNet_TH "fig:"){width="52.00000%"}\
![Score distributions generated with the AlexNet model for visible light images, thermal images, and a fusion of both. Smaller plots in the middle of each larger plot is a close-up of the lower registers of the ordinate axis.[]{data-label="fig:identity-barplots-alexnet"}](hist_AlexNet_RGBTH "fig:"){width="52.00000%"}
![Same as in Fig. \[fig:identity-barplots-alexnet\], but for the VGG-19 model[]{data-label="fig:identity-barplots-vgg19"}](hist_VGG19_RGB "fig:"){width="52.00000%"}\
![Same as in Fig. \[fig:identity-barplots-alexnet\], but for the VGG-19 model[]{data-label="fig:identity-barplots-vgg19"}](hist_VGG19_TH "fig:"){width="52.00000%"}\
![Same as in Fig. \[fig:identity-barplots-alexnet\], but for the VGG-19 model[]{data-label="fig:identity-barplots-vgg19"}](hist_VGG19_RGBTH "fig:"){width="52.00000%"}
Conclusions {#sec:conclusions}
===========
This paper is the first known to us work that explores thermal features of the hand for the purpose of assessing sample liveness for presentation attack detection, and employs deep convolutional neural networks adapted to two different operational scenarios and fine-tuned with a dataset of real and fake representations of hands imaged in both visible light and thermal spectrum.
For the authenticity-driven mode, in which the algorithm’s task is to discern *fake* representations from *real* ones, we were able to achieve perfect, 100% accuracy averaged over 10 subject-disjoint, statistically independent train/validation/test data splits when thermal images are used with both the AlexNet and VGG-19 models. This translates to $APCER=0\%$ and $BPCER=0\%$. Also, surprisingly good performance can be expected for visible light images as well, with mean *real* vs *fake* classification accuracies equaling 98.83% and 99.70% for the AlexNet and VGG-19, respectively, averaged over the same training and testing procedure. These in turn allow to obtain low $APCER=0.87\%$ and $BPCER=0.55\%$ for the AlexNet, and $APCER=0.29\%$ and $BPCER=0.97\%$ for VGG-19. Since the much shallower AlexNet model reaches the same perfect performance with thermal images, we may hazard a guess that further optimization of the network architecture can bring down the computational cost, while maintaining the same 100% accuracy.
In the second operational scenario, namely the identity-driven closed-set mode, the solutions presented in this paper were able to offer 99.41% and 99.75% rank-1 recognition accuracy on the set of identities joined by a class of fake representations, for AlexNet and VGG-19, respectively. Although the VGG-19 model allows for a slightly better accuracy than AlexNet, it is also much more computationally complex. Therefore, here as well we may argue that with further architecture optimizations, most of the recognition performance accuracy can be retained, while significantly reducing the cost of the solution.
A second interesting observation that this experiment delivers, is that thermal features alone carry enough personal information to allow for over 92% rank-1 recognition accuracy, and, when coupled with visible light features, are able to raise the overall performance of the system to an almost ideal accuracy of 99.75%. Thus, **utilizing thermal features of the human hand appears not only to be a perfect method for a robust presentation attack detection method, but also a way to improve the overall performance of the biometrics system**, provided that both types of data are collected at both the enrollment, and the verification stages.
This work follows the IEEE guidelines for research reproducibility by offering the following contributions together with the paper: a) trained DCNN model weights and example source codes, and b) a dataset of fake hand representations that is complementary to the corresponding subset of the *MobiBits* database [@Mobibits].
[^1]: Paper accepted for the BTAS 2018 Special Session on Image and Video Forensics In Biometrics, 22-25 Oct, 2018, Los Angeles, USA
|
#!../env.py
# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
# Copyright 2019-2020, Intel Corporation
#
import testframework as t
class NormalFile(t.Test):
test_type = t.Short
def run(self, ctx):
filepath = ctx.create_holey_file(self.size, 'testfile')
ctx.exec('pmem2_source_size', self.test_case,
filepath, self.size)
class TEST0(NormalFile):
test_case = 'test_normal_file_fd'
size = 0
@t.windows_only
class TEST1(NormalFile):
test_case = 'test_normal_file_handle'
size = 0
class TEST2(NormalFile):
test_case = 'test_normal_file_fd'
size = 16 * t.MiB
@t.windows_only
class TEST3(NormalFile):
test_case = 'test_normal_file_handle'
size = 16 * t.MiB
# On Windows fd interface doesn't support temporary files
# FreeBSD doesn't support O_TMPFILE
@t.linux_only
class TEST4(t.Test):
test_type = t.Short
def run(self, ctx):
ctx.exec('pmem2_source_size', 'test_tmpfile_fd',
ctx.testdir, 16 * t.MiB)
# XXX doesn't work
# @t.windows_only
# class TEST5(t.Test):
# test_type = t.Short
#
# def run(self, ctx):
# ctx.exec('pmem2_source_size', 'tmp_file_handle',
# ctx.testdir, str(16 * t.MiB))
@t.windows_exclude
@t.require_devdax(t.DevDax('devdax1'))
class TEST6(t.Test):
test_type = t.Short
def run(self, ctx):
dd = ctx.devdaxes.devdax1
ctx.exec('pmem2_source_size',
'test_normal_file_fd', dd.path, dd.size)
|
Argentine Law 1420
The Law 1420 of General Common Education of Argentina was a landmark national law that dictated public, compulsory, free, and secular education. It was passed in 1884 during the administration of President Julio Argentino Roca, after a number of similar laws of provincial scope and the conclusions of the Pedagogical Congress of 1882.
The nonreligious education mandated by the law was controversial and caused a conflict between the Argentine government and the Catholic Church. The Papal Nuncio, Luis Mattera, spoke against the law.
The government replied that Mattera was free to expose his ideas privately but not to interfere in government matters. Mattera tried to stop the arrival of school teachers hired by the Argentine authorities in the United States for the direction of public secular establishments. Opposition to the law came also from priests' sermons, Church newspapers, documents by bishops, and demonstrations supported by the clergy.
When the first Normal School was established in Córdoba, the Capitular Vicar, Gerónimo Clara, and priests denounced it from the pulpits as anathema. Clara was arrested and charged by the national authorities.
Mattera spoke to the head of the school and asked for a number of conditions to be met, including the teaching of the Catholic religion in the establishment. Those requirements were conveyed to the provincial government and, in turn, to the national authorities, which rejected them as interference by a foreign agent. Mattera ended up apologizing through a particular missive to Roca.
References
In Spanish unless otherwise noted.
Herbón, A.; Román, C.; Rubio, M. E. Transformación del sistema educativo en Argentina a partir de la nueva Ley Federal de Educación.
Historia General de las Relaciones Exteriores de la República Argentina. La oposición del nuncio papal monseñor Mattera a la ley 1420 de educación común, laica y obligatoria.
See also
Church–state relations in Argentina
Education in Argentina
Law 1420
Law 1420
Category:1884 in Argentina
Category:1884 in law
Category:Education law
Category:History of education in Argentina |
East Valley man arrested on charges of animal abuse
PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man on animal-abuse charges in Guadalupe.
According to a sheriff’s office press release, the owner, Francisco Valencia, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of failing to provide medical attention and three counts of failing to provide food and shelter for a pair of dogs.
Authorities found the dogs about two weeks ago at 5426 E. Calle Magdalena in the East Valley community near Tempe. Valencia, 47, no longer lived there.
One dog, named Billy, about 7 years old, had no motor functions in his back legs and was underfed. Bacon, the other dog, around 2 years old, was also undernourished. |
---
# required metadata
title: Associate a fuel index with a carrier as an accessorial charge
description: This guide shows how to create an accessorial assignment, carrier accessorial charge, accessorial master for fuel surcharge, and associate a carrier fuel index with a carrier.
author: ShylaThompson
manager: tfehr
ms.date: 11/14/2016
ms.topic: business-process
ms.prod:
ms.service: dynamics-ax-applications
ms.technology:
# optional metadata
# ms.search.form:
audience: Application User
# ms.devlang:
ms.reviewer: kamaybac
ms.search.scope: Operations
# ms.tgt_pltfrm:
# ms.custom:
ms.search.region: Global
ms.search.industry: Distribution
ms.author: shylaw
ms.search.validFrom: 2016-06-30
ms.dyn365.ops.version: AX 7.0.0
---
# Associate a fuel index with a carrier as an accessorial charge
[!include [banner](../../includes/banner.md)]
This guide shows how to create an accessorial assignment, carrier accessorial charge, accessorial master for fuel surcharge, and associate a carrier fuel index with a carrier. You need to have set up a carrier fuel index before you run this guide. You can use the "Set up a carrier fuel index" guide to do this. These setup tasks are typically done by a Logistics manager. The demo data used to create this procedure is USMF.
## Create an accessorial master
1. Go to Transportation management > Setup > Rating > Accessorial masters.
2. Click New.
3. In the Accessorial master field, type a value.
4. In the Name field, type a value.
5. Click Save.
## Create a carrier accessorial charge
1. Go to Transportation management > Setup > Rating > Carrier accessorial charges.
2. Click New.
3. In the Carrier accessorial ID field, type a value.
4. In the Shipping carrier field, click the drop-down button to open the lookup.
5. In the list, find and select the desired record.
* In this example, choose Truck Carrier.
6. In the list, click the link in the selected row.
7. In the Carrier service field, click the drop-down button to open the lookup.
8. In the list, click the link in the selected row.
9. In the Accessorial master field, click the drop-down button to open the lookup.
10. In the list, find and select the desired record.
* In this example, choose the newly created Accessorial master.
11. Click Save.
## Create an accessorial assignment
1. Click Accessorial assignments.
2. Click New.
3. In the Name field, type a value.
4. Toggle the expansion of the Criteria section.
* In the criteria, you can choose to always apply the fuel surcharge or for this example choose that it only applies within a certain region.
5. In the ZIP/postal code from field, type a value.
6. In the ZIP/postal code to field, type a value.
7. Toggle the expansion of the Calculation section.
* In the calculation section you can specify how to calculate the fuel surcharge. This calculation depends on the Accessorial unit that you chose as the base for your calculation.
8. In the Accessorial fee type field, select 'Fuel surcharge'.
9. In the Accessorial unit field, select 'Mileage'.
10. In the Region field, click the drop-down button to open the lookup.
11. In the list, click the link in the selected row.
12. Click Save.
## Update the carrier rating profile
1. Go to Transportation management > Setup > Carriers > Shipping carriers.
2. In the list, find and select the desired record.
3. Toggle the expansion of the Rating profiles section.
4. Click Edit.
5. In the Carrier fuel index field, click the drop-down button to open the lookup.
6. In the list, click the link in the selected row.
7. Click Save.
|
Q:
locating the "send item" on outlook Office using Chromedriver
hi I am trying to click the New Group on the menu on office365
on chromedriver using selenium
but when I run the script I made it doesn't work
here is how and where the "New Group" button located http://prntscr.com/od9pec
from selenium import webdriver
import time
#after login and browsing to the home page
time.sleep(3)
nwgroup=driver.find_element_by_link_text('New group')
time.sleep(4)
nwgroup.click()
please help
A:
There is no such a link text for this element. Use xpath for New Group, works 100% checked with me personal office(see screenshot)
driver.find_element(By.XPATH, '//div[@title='New group']')
|
Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: a clinical and sleep EEG study.
Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is characterized by myoclonic jerks on awakening, generalized tonic--clonic seizures (GTCS) and is associated with absence seizures in more than one third of cases. Fifteen patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy were studied with regard to their clinical profile, EEG data and sleep EEG findings. There was a delay in the diagnosis of JME (mean of 3.5 years) due to various reasons. Sleep deprivation was the most common precipitating factor for triggering seizures, followed by fatigue. Routine EEGs were abnormal in 73.33% of cases only and had misleading findings in 6.66%. Sleep EEGs were abnormal in 100% of cases with generalized spikes, polyspikes and slow wave discharges. Discharge rates on sleep EEGs typically increased significantly during the transition phase (i.e. the asleep to awakening stage) and we consider this to be a specific finding in appropriate clinical setting. Sleep EEGs are a more sensitive and specific tool for the diagnosis of JME while routine awake EEGs may miss or mislead. |
1.. Introduction {#s1}
================
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were discovered by Sumio Iijima in 1991 \[[@C1]\] and since then, they have received high attention due to their extraordinary mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. Besides that, CNTs have very low density \[[@C2]\] and very high aspect ratio. CNTs consist of graphene sheets coaxially rolled into hollow cylinders, and can be single-walled or multi-walled depending on the number of graphene sheets. Moreover, CNTs can be metallic or semiconducting depending on the twist of the tubes.
In contrast to CNTs, carbon nanofibers (CNFs) comprise cone-shaped graphene layers stacked on top of each other creating completely filled cylinders, which also have excellent mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. At 400 and 7 GPa, the Young modulus and tensile strength of CNFs are higher than those of steel \[[@C3]\]. The thermal conductivity of CNFs (about 1900 W mK^−1^) is five times higher than copper \[[@C4]\] and can carry current density of about 12 MA cm^−2^ which is three times higher than copper \[[@C5], [@C6]\]. CNFs exhibit many significant advantages over CNTs, since they can be grown at lower temperatures and they are 100% metallic, whereas 2/3 of CNTs are semiconducting when grown in bulk \[[@C7]\]. Because of these excellent properties CNFs have potential applications in electrical interconnects \[[@C8]\], as thermal interface materials, as reinforcement additives in polymer composites and as electrodes for supercapacitors.
The carbon nanostructures, including CNFs, can be synthesized in several ways including electrospinning, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), laser ablation and arc discharge. There are different types of CVD and these are classified on the basis of energy type used during deposition: microwave plasma enhanced CVD, thermal CVD and direct current plasma enhanced CVD (DC-PECVD) \[[@C9]--[@C11]\]. Depending on the catalyst and the CVD growth method used, different types of carbon nanostructures are obtained. The DC-PECVD method has an advantage over the other growth methods in that it provides high purity and vertical alignment of the produced CNFs \[[@C12]\].
To grow CNFs using CVD, the deposition of catalytic particles on a substrate is required. Transition metals such as iron, cobalt, palladium and nickel are often used as catalysts \[[@C11], [@C13]--[@C15]\]. The catalysts can be deposited in different ways onto the substrate such as deposition of a pure metal film using sputtering or e-beam evaporation techniques and deposition of a nanoparticle (NP)-containing solution via spin coating, dip-coating or spraying methods \[[@C16]--[@C18]\]. The physical vapor deposition (PVD) deposition methods, such as sputtering or evaporation, require expensive equipment, a metal target, clean room laboratory facilities and costly equipment maintenance.
In the present study, catalytic palladium NPs are deposited on silicon substrate via spin-coating using highly stable and inexpensive polymer--Pd colloidal solutions. CNFs are then grown on these catalyst particles at complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process-compatible temperature thus allowing CNFs to be used in on-chip thermal, electrical and energy storage solutions.
Two types of polymer--Pd NPs solutions were used to deposit the palladium catalyst particles: (1) poly(vinylpyrro1idone)-Pd (PVP--Pd) NPs stabilized in methanol solution and (2) poly(lauryl methacrylate)-block-poly(2-(acetoacetoxy)ethyl methacrylate) (LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~/Pd) micellar nanohybrids stabilized in *n*-hexane. Different types of polymers are used due to their different thermal stabilization temperatures. The polymers are stable up to certain temperature and burn off when heated to higher temperature thus leaving Pd NPs on the surface of the substrate. The stabilization temperature of LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~ and PVP polymers is around 200 °C and 400 °C respectively \[[@C19]\]. The synthesis and characterization of the aforementioned polymer-stabilized Pd NPs has been reported in other studies \[[@C20]--[@C23]\]; however, in this work these polymer-metal nanohybrids have been employed for the growth of CNFs. The use of such catalyst-containing solutions is advantageous since those are nontoxic, cheap and can be easily prepared using low-cost wet-chemistry procedures. In addition, their deposition onto selected substrates does not require the use of expensive equipment. Moreover, the polymers can be easily washed away and the substrate can be reused in case of process failure during NPs deposition. This is a rapid and industry compatible deposition method that can be used to grow a film of CNFs at the backside of a chip for heat sink applications.
Three different PVP--Pd nanohybrid solutions were prepared in methanol, in which the polymer content was kept constant and only the palladium content varied. In the case of the LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~/Pd micellar systems stabilized in *n*-hexane, two different block copolymers (polymer A: *x* = 120, *y* = 67; polymer B: *x* = 50, *y* = 9) are employed as the palladium NPs stabilizing agents. The CNFs were grown using the DC-PECVD technique at different temperatures i.e. at a high temperature (550 °C), at a CMOS compatible temperature (390 °C) and even at 40 °C lower (350 °C). The specific capacitance and cyclability of the CNFs were measured using cyclic voltammetry to demonstrate the electrical properties and applicability of these nanostructures as supercapacitor electrodes directly built on CMOS chips.
2.. Fabrication, characterization and measurements {#s2}
==================================================
The synthetic methodologies followed for the preparation of the PVP--Pd and the LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~-Pd hybrid solutions are described below.(1)A typical synthetic methodology followed for the synthesis of the PVP--Pd nanohybrid colloidal systems (moles vinyl pyridine units/moles palladium salt = 9:1) is described as follows \[[@C19], [@C23]\]: in a round bottom flask equipped with a magnetic stirrer, PVP (1 g, 9 × 10^−3^ moles of vinylpyrridine units) (Sigma-Aldrich, MW = 1300 000) was dissolved in methanol (10 mL). Subsequently, palladium acetate (0.22 g, 1 × 10^−3^ moles) (Pd(OAc)~2~, Sigma-Aldrich, 98%) was added to the polymer solution and the reaction flask was placed under reflux for 2 h. During this period, the color of the solution changed from yellow to dark brown indicating the formation of palladium NPs. After the completion of the reaction, the brown-colored solution was left to cool down to room temperature and it was then stored in sealed glass vials. The solutions were highly stable and no precipitation was observed even after several months.The above-mentioned methodology was employed for synthesizing two more PVP--Pd nanohybrid colloidal systems stabilized in methanol, in which the polymer content was kept the same and only the metallic (Pd) content varied i.e. the molar ratio of the vinyl pyridine units to the palladium salt was 18:1 and 38:1.(2)The Pd-containing LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~ micellar hybrids have been prepared in *n*-hexane by following a previously reported methodology \[[@C20], [@C22]\]. Exemplarily, the procedure followed for the synthesis of the LauMA~120~-b-AEMA~67~/Pd micellar nanohybrids is described as follows: LauMA~120~-b-AEMA~67~ (20 mg, 0.03 mmoles of AEMA units) was dissolved in *n*-hexane (5 mL). After complete dissolution of the polymer, triethylamine (0.021 mL, 0.15 mmoles ) was added. Subsequently, the polymer solution was transferred into a glass vial containing Pd(OAc)~2~ (3.40 mg, 0.015 mmoles) and the mixture was left to stir at room temperature until complete solubilization of the salt. Upon complexation and solubilization, the color of the solution changed from white to yellow transparent. Finally, the reducing agent namely hydrazine monohydrate (1.46 *μ*L, 0.03 mmoles) was added to the solution upon stirring. This was accompanied by a color change of the solution from yellow to dark brown indicating the reduction of palladium (II) ions into metallic palladium (0) NPs. The resulting solution was left to stir for 24 h at room temperature. The size of the palladium NPs generated within the micellar cores has been already reported \[[@C22]\]. The average diameter of the palladium NPs is 2.3 ± 0.3 nm for the LauMA~50~-b-AEMA~9~/Pd(solution A) and 8.8 ± 1.7 nm for LauMA~120~-b-AEMA~67~/Pd(solution B).
A 2 inch n-type silicon wafer was used as a substrate for the uniform deposition of the polymer-palladium solutions. Titanium/titanium nitride (Ti/TiN) of thicknesses 50 and 100 nm were sputtered on each side of the chip using FHR MS 150 sputter machine in order to have better electrical contact between back and front side of the sample, because of backside probing of the chip for measurements. The polymer-palladium NPs solutions were later spun using standard resist spinners. Vertically aligned CNFs were grown at different temperatures by the DC-PECVD method as described in \[[@C8], [@C24]\]. A mixture of acetylene and ammonia gases was used where the acetylene is the source gas and the ammonia is a carrier gas. The growth was executed for 2 h on all samples. The temperature of the heater is measured and regulated during the whole growth process to an accuracy of ±2° using a built-in thermocouple inside the grounded heating plate.
The chips were weighed before the deposition of the palladium NPs and after the growth of CNFs for determining the weight of the CNFs including catalyst, a parameter used in evaluating the capacitance per gram of such electrodes. The weight measurements were performed using a high precision balance 'Sartorius Analytical Balance BP211D' with a resolution of 10 *μ*g. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis performed on the LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~/Pd (solution A) system was carried out on a 1010 JEOL microscope (200 kV). The suspension of MNPs was dried on a carbon coated copper grid to allow the TEM investigation. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the CNFs was conducted using JEOL JSM-6301F. In order to see the morphology of the CNFs, images were taken at 40° tilt angle as well as top view images at zero tilt.
Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was performed to evaluate the capacitance. A three electrode setup was used with a silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrode as the reference electrode and platinum mesh as the counter electrode. The electrolyte used was 1M KOH (99.99%, Aldrich). The limit of measuring the electrode cell was one centimeter diameter disk. The samples were mounted and dipped in the electrolyte solution for a few minutes while nitrogen gas was blowing to wet the CNFs. The CV curve was obtained using Gamry Instruments Reference 600 (Framework 6.1). The voltage sweep ranging from −0.2 to 0.3 V was applied and different voltage scan rates were used. The voltammetry using 10 mV s^−1^ scan rate was carried out for 18 cycles to exclude the doubt of initial surface reactions whereas 5 cycles were run for other scan rates. The same measurement was also performed for 1000 cycles to measure the cyclability at 20 mV s^−1^ scan rate while keeping the other parameters the same. The ideal double layer capacitance behavior is the rectangular shape of the voltammetry characteristics drawn between current and voltage \[[@C25]\].
3.. Results and discussion {#s3}
==========================
Information on the palladium NPs content (provided as the molar ratio of the metal-binding units of the polymer to the palladium salt precursor), growth temperature, weight of CNFs and capacitance is provided in table [1](#TB1){ref-type="table"}, whereas the specific capacitance measured at different voltage scan rates is given in table [2](#TB2){ref-type="table"}.
######
Properties of the CNFs grown using different polymer-palladium NPs solutions at different temperatures, their capacitance and specific capacitance mF cm^−2^ (per footprint area).
\[vinyl pyridine\]/\[Pd(OAc)~2~\] Growth temperature (°C) Weight (*μ*g) Length (*μ*m) Capacitance (mF) Specific capacitance (mF cm^−2^)
----------------------------------- ------------------------- --------------- --------------- ------------------ ----------------------------------
Bare chip 0.1 0.12
38:1 550 53 14 0.8 1
18:1 550 245 9 3.1 4
9:1 550 916 5 7.1 9
9:1 390 612 1 2.6 3.3
\[AEMA\]/\[Pd(OAc)~2~\]
\[LauMA~120~-b-AEMA~67~\] 2:1 390 654 1 2.1 2.7
\[LauMA~50~-b-AEMA~9~\] 2:1 390 115 2 1.4 1.8
\[LauMA~120~-b-AEMA~67~\] 2:1 350 250 1.4 3.1 4
\[LauMA~50~-b-AEMA~9~\] 2:1 350 115 1.6 0.2 0.2
######
Specific capacitance mF cm^−2^ (per footprint area) measured at different voltage scan rates.
\[vinyl pyridine\]/\[Pd(OAc)~2~\] *T* (°C) 10 mV s^−1^ 20 mV s^−1^ 50 mV s^−1^ 100 mV s^−1^
----------------------------------- ---------- ------------- ------------- ------------- --------------
PVP/Pd 38:1 550 1 0.8 0.7 0.6
PVP:Pd 18:1 550 4 2.4 1.6 1.2
PVP/Pd 9:1 550 9\. 6 4.6 4
PVP/Pd 9:1 390 3.3 2.6 2 2
\[AEMA\]/\[Pd(OAc)~2~\]
Solution A 350 0.2 0.2 0.15 0.14
Solution B 390 2.7 2 1.5 1.3
Solution B 350 4 3 2.3 2
Solution A 390 1.8 1.41 1.1 1
A representative TEM image of the solution A system is provided in figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}. As seen in the image, tiny, spherical palladium NPs can be visualized with average diameters in the range 2.3 ± 0.3 nm. The presence of a few larger aggregates may be due to drying-induced aggregation during TEM sample preparation. In the case of the PVP/Pd systems, HRTEM analysis revealed that the palladium NPs are nanocrystals with average diameters below 10 nm. The crystalline planes (111) and (200) of palladium NP could be visualized with characteristic interplanar distances of 2.27 and 1.97 Å, respectively \[[@C26]\]. Tilted view and top view (inset on each picture) SEM images of CNFs grown at 550 °C using three PVP/Pd solutions having different metallic (palladium) content are shown in figures [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}(a)--(c) whereas SEM images of the CNFs grown at 390 °C using the PVP/Pd (1:9) solution is provided in figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}(d).
{#F1}
{#F2}
Similarly, the tilted view and top view (inset on each picture) SEM images of the CNFs grown at 390 and 350 °C using solution A and solution B are shown in figures [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}(b), (d) and (a), (c).
{#F3}
It is clear from the SEM images that the CNFs grown at lower temperature 350 °C are vertically aligned similar to those grown at the highest temperature (550 °C) as shown in figures [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"} and [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}. In addition, inset of figures [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"} and [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} also show the uniform growth of CNFs confirming the uniform deposition of palladium catalyst NPs using spin-coating, which is in line with \[[@C26]\].
Moreover, in the case of the PVP--Pd systems, the CNF density increases significantly by increasing the palladium content within the PVP--Pd colloidal hybrid solutions i.e. from 38:1 to 18:1 and to 9:1 (figures [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}(a)--(c) respectively) thus resulting in an increase in CNF weight, as shown in table [1](#TB1){ref-type="table"}. In addition, SEM analysis also reveals that under identical growth conditions, the CNFs grown using the highest palladium-containing system (9:1) are shorter in length compared to those grown using the lowest palladium-containing system (38:1). By using the same palladium-containing system (9:1) the CNFs grown at higher (550 °C) temperatures are much longer than those grown at 390 °C, in line with the weight measurements, although less dense than the CNFs grown at 390 °C.
In the case of the LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~/Pd solutions, the average diameter of the palladium nanocatalyst is 2.3 ± 0.3 nm for solution A and 8.8 ± 1.7 nm for solution B. Despite their size differences both systems are found within the optimum size range enabling CNF growth at a low temperature (350 °C) as seen in the SEM images provided in figures [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}(c) and (d). The top view SEM images (inset in figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}) clearly show that under identical growth temperature, the CNFs grown using solution B are denser and heavier than those grown using solution A, but shorter in length compared to those obtained from solution A, as shown in table [1](#TB1){ref-type="table"}. Furthermore, when the growth is performed at different temperatures, solution B gives longer but less dense CNFs at low temperature 350 °C. On the other hand, solution A gives denser and shorter CNFs at the same growth temperature.
The CV curves for the electrical characterization of the CNFs grown using the PVP--Pd and the LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~-Pd solutions are provided in figures [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(a), (b) and [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(a). The specific capacitance (mF cm^−2^ footprint area) curves measured at difference voltage scan rate are shown in figures [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(c) and [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(b). The cyclability curves for 1000 cycles are shown in figures [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(d) and [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(c) whereas magnified images of the last 20 cycles from 980 to 999 are shown in figures [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(e) and [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(d).
{#F4}
{#F5}
The voltammograms given in figures [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(a), (b) and [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(a) are fairly rectangular showing the double layer capacitive behavior of the CNFs obtained using both types of polymer--Pd catalyst solutions, however, the peaks at extreme sweep voltages show some pseudocapacitive charge storage which may arise from the reaction of underlayer with aqueous electrolyte.
At 550 °C growth temperature and 10 mV s^−1^ scan rate, the specific capacitance (per cm^−2^ foot print area) is larger (9 mF cm^−2^) for higher concentration (9:1) of palladium NPs in the PVP--Pd solution and lower (1 mF cm^−2^) for lower concentration (38:1) confirming the active capacitive role of CNFs. In fact, shorter but denser CNFs for the (9:1) solution give a higher surface area accessible to electrolyte than longer but less dense CNFs for the (38:1) solution, and the higher surface area results in higher current on voltammogram and hence higher specific capacitance as shown in figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(a) and table [1](#TB1){ref-type="table"}. In addition the specific capacitance is 3.3 mF cm^−2^ for the CNFs grown at 390 °C using the PVP--Pd (9:1) solution.
In the case of the LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~/Pd solutions the specific capacitance is higher (2.7 and 4 mF cm^−2^) for CNFs synthesized using solution B than solution A when grown at corresponding temperatures 350 °C and 390 °C which is in line with the weight of the CNFs. Moreover, for the same solution, the longer CNFs give a higher surface area which results in higher current on the voltammogram and hence higher specific capacitance, as shown in figure [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(a) and table [1](#TB1){ref-type="table"}. The capacitive behavior indicates the similar electrical behavior of CNFs grown at both low and high temperatures.
The specific capacitance at 100 mV s^−1^ ranges from 3.9 to 0.140 mF cm^−2^. This specific capacitance is many folds higher than the recently reported capacitance obtained from the CVD grown vertically aligned CNFs \[[@C27]\]. Furthermore, the maximum specific capacitance at 100 mV s^−1^ scan rate is 3.9 mF cm^−2^ obtained from the CNFs grown at 550 °C, table [2](#TB2){ref-type="table"}, which is almost equal to the maximum reported capacitance obtained from graphene-CNT based microcapacitors (3.93 mF cm^−2^) synthesized on a similar silicon substrate but using a longer voltage scan range \[[@C28]\]. Moreover, the specific capacitance obtained from CNFs grown at low temperature 350 °C and 390 °C, table [2](#TB2){ref-type="table"}, is 1.9--2 mF cm^−2^, half of the reported specific capacitance mentioned above, nevertheless the growth temperature of CNFs here is below the CMOS process-compatible temperature. In addition, the cyclic voltammetry at different voltage scan rates shows that specific capacitance decreases by increasing the scan rate from 10 to 100 mV s^−1^ for both polymer--Pd types used, figures [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(c) and [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(b), due to a kinetically slow faradaic reaction on the electrode surface which does not take place at high scan rate[^5^](#stam508704fn1){ref-type="fn"} [^1].
Moreover, the cycle life curves of both polymer--Pd solution types show the decrease in specific capacitance with increase in cycles, figures [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(d) and [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(c), which eventually becomes uniform and remains unchanged as shown in the plots of the last 20 cycles, given in figures [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}(e) and [5](#F5){ref-type="fig"}(d). The more than 90% capacitance retention for CNFs grown from the PVP--Pd solution and 80% for the CNFs grown from solution B after 1000 cycles of cyclic voltammetry proves the long cycle life of these materials as supercapacitor electrodes. Due to the lower density of CNFs for solution B the electrolyte damages the metal underlayer in between the CNFs thus resulting in lower capacitance after 1000 cycles.
The above results indicate that the CNFs grown from all types of polymer-stabilized Pd nanocatalysts are vertically aligned similar to CNFs grown from a PVD deposited catalyst film. Moreover the density and weight of the CNFs grown from a PVP--Pd solution can be controlled by controlling the palladium contents in the PVP--Pd solution in the tested concentration range. Furthermore CNFs of different diameters can be grown from LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~/Pd solutions. Finally, the electrical characterization proves that electrical properties of all the CNFs are the same; however, the low capacitance in solution A is due to the lower density of CNFs in the footprint area.
The CNF growth performed at this temperature has created the opportunity to grow the CNFs directly on CMOS chips. The possibility of CNF growth at temperatures lower (350 °C) than CMOS temperature ensures their usage even if the CMOS temperature drops further.
4.. Conclusions {#s4}
===============
Catalytic palladium NPs of various sizes were deposited on a silicon substrate via spin-coating using two types of highly stable and cost-effective polymer--Pd colloidal solutions. More precisely, PVP or methacrylate-based diblock copolymers of the type LauMA~*x*~-b-AEMA~*y*~ were employed as steric stabilizers for palladium NPs in organic solvents. Vertically aligned CNFs were synthesized on these palladium nanocatalysts using the direct plasma enhanced CVD technique at different temperatures ranging from 550 °C down to 350 °C, which can be considered as a CMOS-compatible temperature. The SEM characterization had shown that the CNFs grown at low temperature were vertically aligned similar to those generated at high temperature. The capacitive behavior and long cyclability had proven not only the suitability of the as-grown CNFs as electrodes for supercapacitors but also that the CNFs grown at low and high temperatures had similar electrical behavior. We have demonstrated a CMOS compatible process to build efficient heat sink, interconnects or supercapacitor electrodes directly on the chip based on vertically aligned CNFs as the active material.
This work has been performed within the MNT-ERA.NET Carpolcap project supported by Vinnova, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems and the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation (Grant No. KOINA/MNT-ERA.NET/0311/01). The authors thank Dr Rodica Paula Turcu (National Institute for Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) for performing the TEM characterization on the LauMA~50~-b-AEMA~9~/Pd system and Dr Maria Demetriou for the synthesis of the LauMA-b-AEMA block copolymers used in the present study.
[^1]: [www.gamry.com/application-notes/testing-electrochemical-capacitors-part-1-cyclic-voltammetry-and-leakage-current/](http://www.gamry.com/application-notes/testing-electrochemical-capacitors-part-1-cyclic-voltammetry-and-leakage-current/), accessed successfully on 06-10-2014.
|
package com.nepxion.thunder.common.entity;
/**
* <p>Title: Nepxion Thunder</p>
* <p>Description: Nepxion Thunder For Distribution</p>
* <p>Copyright: Copyright (c) 2017-2050</p>
* <p>Company: Nepxion</p>
* @author Haojun Ren
* @version 1.0
*/
import java.io.Serializable;
import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
import com.nepxion.thunder.common.callback.ThunderCallback;
public class MethodEntity implements Serializable {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 510490348802294208L;
private String method;
private String parameterTypes;
private int traceIdIndex = 0;
private boolean async;
private long timeout;
private boolean broadcast;
private ThunderCallback<?> callback;
private CallbackType callbackType;
public String getMethod() {
return method;
}
public void setMethod(String method) {
this.method = method;
}
public String getParameterTypes() {
return parameterTypes;
}
public void setParameterTypes(String parameterTypes) {
if (StringUtils.isNotEmpty(parameterTypes)) {
parameterTypes = parameterTypes.replace(" ", "");
}
this.parameterTypes = parameterTypes;
}
public int getTraceIdIndex() {
return traceIdIndex;
}
public void setTraceIdIndex(int traceIdIndex) {
this.traceIdIndex = traceIdIndex;
}
public boolean isAsync() {
return async;
}
public void setAsync(boolean async) {
this.async = async;
}
public long getTimeout() {
return timeout;
}
public void setTimeout(long timeout) {
this.timeout = timeout;
}
public boolean isBroadcast() {
return broadcast;
}
public void setBroadcast(boolean broadcast) {
this.broadcast = broadcast;
}
public ThunderCallback<?> getCallback() {
return callback;
}
public void setCallback(ThunderCallback<?> callback) {
this.callback = callback;
}
public CallbackType getCallbackType() {
return callbackType;
}
public void setCallbackType(CallbackType callbackType) {
this.callbackType = callbackType;
}
public boolean isCallback() {
return callback != null || callbackType != null;
}
public MethodEntity clone() {
MethodEntity methodEntity = new MethodEntity();
methodEntity.setMethod(method);
methodEntity.setParameterTypes(parameterTypes);
methodEntity.setTraceIdIndex(traceIdIndex);
methodEntity.setAsync(async);
methodEntity.setTimeout(timeout);
methodEntity.setBroadcast(broadcast);
methodEntity.setCallback(callback);
methodEntity.setCallbackType(callbackType);
return methodEntity;
}
@Override
public int hashCode() {
int result = 17;
if (method != null) {
result = 37 * result + method.hashCode();
}
if (parameterTypes != null) {
result = 37 * result + parameterTypes.hashCode();
}
result = 37 * result + traceIdIndex;
result = 37 * result + (async ? Boolean.TRUE.hashCode() : Boolean.FALSE.hashCode());
result = 37 * result + String.valueOf(timeout).hashCode();
result = 37 * result + (broadcast ? Boolean.TRUE.hashCode() : Boolean.FALSE.hashCode());
if (callbackType != null) {
result = 37 * result + callbackType.hashCode();
}
return result;
}
@Override
public boolean equals(Object object) {
if (!(object instanceof MethodEntity)) {
return false;
}
MethodEntity methodEntity = (MethodEntity) object;
if (StringUtils.equals(this.method, methodEntity.method)
&& StringUtils.equals(this.parameterTypes, methodEntity.parameterTypes)
&& this.traceIdIndex == methodEntity.traceIdIndex
&& Boolean.valueOf(this.async).equals(Boolean.valueOf(methodEntity.async))
&& this.timeout == methodEntity.timeout
&& Boolean.valueOf(this.broadcast).equals(Boolean.valueOf(methodEntity.broadcast))
&& this.callbackType == methodEntity.callbackType) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
@Override
public String toString() {
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
builder.append("method=");
builder.append(method);
builder.append(", parameterTypes=");
builder.append(parameterTypes);
builder.append(", traceIdIndex=");
builder.append(traceIdIndex);
builder.append(", async=");
builder.append(async);
builder.append(", timeout=");
builder.append(timeout);
builder.append(", broadcast=");
builder.append(broadcast);
builder.append(", callback=");
builder.append(callback);
builder.append(", callbackType=");
builder.append(callbackType);
return builder.toString();
}
} |
REPRESENTATIVE Queensland U20s Halfback: Jake Clifford
Queensland U20s halfback and man of the match, Jake Clifford, speaks with QRL Media after the U20s State of Origin win. |
591 F.2d 537
14 ERC 1299, 9 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,137
STATE OF ALASKA & Mauneluk Association, Appellants,v.Cecil D. ANDRUS, Secretary of the Interior, Appellee,v.DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE et al., Intervenors.STATE OF ALASKA & Mauneluk Association, Appellees,v.Cecil D. ANDRUS, Secretary of the Interior, Defendant,v.DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE et al., Appellants.
Nos. 77-3169, 77-3408.
United States Court of Appeals,Ninth Circuit.
Feb. 22, 1979.
William T. Council, Asst. Atty. Gen. (argued), Juneau, Alaska, for State of Alaska.
Karin P. Sheldon (argued), Thomas B. Stoel, Jr., Washington, D. C., for Defenders of Wildlife.
James W. Moorman, Robert L. Klarquist (argued) of Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., G. Kenneth Gilleland, Tallahassee, Fla., for Secretary of the Interior.
Appeal from the United States District for the District of Alaska.
Before WRIGHT and GOODWIN, Circuit Judges, and JAMESON*, District Judge.
GOODWIN, Circuit Judge:
1
This appeal presents the question whether the Secretary of Interior's nonexercise of executive power (which he may or may not possess) to regulate wildlife on federal land in Alaska requires him to file an environmental impact statement. Because we hold that the nonexercise of power by an executive-branch officer does not call for compliance with NEPA1 we do not reach the intriguing questions of statutory construction and application that would lurk in defining the Secretary's power to supersede the State in managing wildlife. We affirm the judgment which declared that the statement was not necessary.
2
The legal contest has bounced back and forth between the courts of the District of Columbia Circuit and this circuit. In the District of Columbia, on February 4, 1977, Defenders of Wildlife and several other animal-welfare groups (Defenders) filed an action against Cecil D. Andrus, Secretary of Interior. The action prayed the District Court to order the Secretary to halt a program of the State of Alaska in which State-licensed gunmen were killing from the air numbers of wolves that roam federal lands within the State's borders.
3
The wolf-killing had been designed to relieve pressure upon the caribou herd in the affected region. The caribou population had decreased, according to State estimates, from more than 240,000 in 1970 to about 60,000 in 1976. By killing the wolves, which prey on caribou, and curtailing subsistence hunting of caribou by Alaska natives, the State hoped to reverse the shrinkage of the herd.
4
Defenders based its theory on the contention that two federal statutes empower the Secretary to close the federal lands to the wolf-kill program: the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C.A. § 1701 Et seq. (1978 Pocket Supp.) (also known as "the BLM Organic Act" and "FLPMA"), and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1601 Et seq. (Supp. V 1975). Because the Secretary has the power, Defenders argued, the Secretary was required by NEPA to prepare an environmental impact statement before choosing to exercise or to refrain from exercising the power.
5
The District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction which compelled the Secretary to order the State to halt the program. The Secretary issued a directive that the State halt the kill. The State stopped killing wolves, and the Secretary appealed the preliminary injunction to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. That case is now pending.
6
The State of Alaska was not a party to the D.C. litigation, however, and shortly after the Secretary had the State stop killing the wolves, the State filed its own action this one in the District Court for the District of Alaska.
7
In this action, the State asked the court to declare that the Secretary had no power to stop the wolf kill. The State also asked the court to hold that even if the Secretary did possess that authority he was not required to prepare an environmental impact statement. In addition to the desired declaratory judgment, the State sought an order that the Secretary "take all steps necessary to rescind" his "request" that the wolf-kill program be halted.
8
The Secretary, as he had in the District of Columbia case, protested that he had no power to stop the killing; he told the Alaska district court that he had issued his directive to the State only because he had been ordered to do so by the District of Columbia court. Defenders then intervened in the Alaska case, making the same arguments it had made with initial success in the District of Columbia.
9
On April 11, 1977, the district court in Alaska, on motions for summary judgment, held that the Secretary had the power to halt the wolf-kill program, but that, nonetheless, no environmental impact statement was necessary if he refrained from exercising that power. Other than this declaratory relief, the "final judgment" granted no relief to any party.
10
The State and Defenders of Wildlife then brought these appeals from the Alaska district court judgment. The State contends that the Secretary has no power to stop the wolf kill. In this stand the State is joined by amici curiae: officials of 11 states and the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Meanwhile, Defenders seeks affirmance of the declaration that the Secretary does have the power to stop the killing, but reversal of the ruling that he need not file an environmental impact statement. The Secretary also appealed, but after reversing his earlier stand and "conceding" that he Does have power to stop the wolf kill, he withdrew the appeal.
I.
11
Before reaching the merits, we note jurisdiction. Defenders suggests that the "final judgment" filed by the district court in Alaska is not a " final decision" on the State's claim within the meaning of28 U.S.C. § 1291, under which jurisdiction is claimed here. Although the document embodying the "final judgment" does not contain an express rejection of the State's prayer for permanent injunctive relief, two orders filed by the district court show that it had rejected injunctive relief. In its orders dated March 16, 1977, and April 11, 1977, the court gave clear evidence of its intent that the "final judgment" of April 11 be the last decision in this case. The opinions show an unwillingness by the Alaska judge to order the Secretary to do anything inconsistent with the injunction from the District of Columbia court. Denial of the permanent injunction sought by the State against the Secretary can fairly be inferred from these documents. Under the "common-sense" approach of Bankers Trust Co. v. Mallis, 435 U.S. 381, 387, 98 S.Ct. 1117, 55 L.Ed.2d 357 (1978), the judgment rendered April 11, 1977, (and from which Defenders of Wildlife appeals) was a "final decision" reviewable by this court.
II.
12
Under the prior decisions of this court, even if the Secretary had some power under a delegation by Congress to stop the wolf-kill program, his failure to exercise that power in effect, his inaction was not the type of conduct that requires an environmental impact statement.
13
NEPA mandates that federal agencies file impact statements when they propose to take a leading role in activity affecting the environment. For example, the Federal Aviation Administration, which operates Washington National Airport, was required to file an impact statement before a planned $26-million expansion of that airport to handle booming operations. Virginians for Dulles v. Volpe, 541 F.2d 442 (4th Cir. 1976).
14
There can be major federal action when the primary actors are not federal agencies, but rather state or local governments, or private parties. Most courts agree that significant federal funding turns what would otherwise be a local project into a major federal action. See Homeowners Emergency Life Protection Committee v. Lynn, 541 F.2d 814 (9th Cir. 1976) (per curiam) (federal disaster-relief funding for municipal dam and reservoir project).
15
Even when federal funding is absent, some courts find major federal action where federal agencies issue permits, approve plans, or give other "go-ahead" signals. In Davis v. Morton, 469 F.2d 593 (10th Cir. 1972), the court held that the Secretary of Interior should have filed an environmental impact statement before approving a lease of lands by Indians to a private developer. The court cited the Secretary's fiduciary duties over the Indians' land as the source of the major action. A federal statute, 25 U.S.C. § 415, required the Secretary's approval before the lease could become effective, and the lease itself required his approval before the land could be encumbered. But the Secretary's role as "trustee" was the factor crucial to the court's decision.
16
The Tenth Circuit again found major federal action in Scenic Rivers Association of Oklahoma v. Lynn, 520 F.2d 240, 244 (10th Cir. 1975). There, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development was held to have taken major federal action in fulfilling his duties under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act. Those duties were modest. The Act required disclosure statements by developers, and the Secretary merely checked the filings for adequacy and frankness before they became "of record". He had no power to evaluate the substance of the developer's plans. Nonetheless, the court declared that the approval of the statements constituted major federal action. The Supreme Court reversed on other grounds. Flint Ridge Development Co. v. Scenic Rivers Association of Oklahoma, 426 U.S. 776, 96 S.Ct. 2430, 49 L.Ed.2d 205 (1976).
17
In Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Morton, 388 F.Supp. 829 (D.D.C.1974), Aff'd mem., 174 U.S.App.D.C. 77, 527 F.2d 1386 (D.C. Cir.), Cert. denied, 427 U.S. 913, 96 S.Ct. 3201, 49 L.Ed.2d 1204 (1976), the court held that the Bureau of Land Management could not fulfill its duties under NEPA by issuing only one environmental impact statement for its livestock grazing permit program, which covered 11 western states. The court required the BLM to consider the environmental effects of the program in each of the 52 districts in which it was to issue grazing permits. The court stated:
18
"The term 'actions' refers not only to actions taken by federal agencies, but also to decisions made by the agencies, such as the decision to grant a license, which allow another party to take an action affecting the environment." Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Morton, 388 F.Supp. at 834.
19
Jones v. Lynn, 477 F.2d 885 (1st Cir. 1973), took this notion even further. The court began with the proposition that an urban-renewal contract signed before the effective date of NEPA could not trigger the need for an impact statement. It ruled, however, that later amendments to the contract, between federal and local governments, could be major federal actions. The key questions of fact on remand turned out to be whether the amendments gave the Secretary discretion to alter the future course of the project, and whether future assistance from the federal government was likely. The mere likelihood of federal action to alter the plan was said to create major federal action for the purposes of that case.
20
The Ninth Circuit, however, has not been receptive to arguments that impact statements must accompany inaction, or actions that are only marginally federal. Where federal funding is not present, this court has generally been unwilling to impose the NEPA requirement. E. g., Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Coleman, 518 F.2d 323 (9th Cir. 1975) (mere federal approval of aspects of airport expansion insufficient).
21
This court's reluctance to adopt an expansive view of the NEPA provision is also illustrated by Molokai Homesteaders Cooperative Association v. Morton, 506 F.2d 572 (9th Cir. 1974). There, the Secretary of Interior had loaned funds to a state land board before NEPA was effective. When the board sought to rent water facilities to a resort developer, homesteaders charged that the contract was a major federal action under NEPA, but this court disagreed:
22
"The right of the federal government to object to violations of its loan agreements, or its determination not to object, cannot realistically be classified as 'Federal action,' much less 'major' federal action." Molokai Homesteaders Cooperative Association v. Morton, 506 F.2d at 580.
23
San Francisco Tomorrow v. Romney, 472 F.2d 1021 (9th Cir. 1973), is another case inconsistent with the position of Defenders. In that case, this court held that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had completed its "action" in funding an urban development project before NEPA, when it signed a loan and grant contract. On the agency's continuing role in the project, we rejected the argument that HUD's "contractual right to monitor the project as it develops to assure compliance with statutory and contractual requirements" constituted major federal action. 472 F.2d at 1025. See also Named Individual Members of San Antonio Conservation Society v. Texas Highway Department, 496 F.2d 1017 (5th Cir. 1974) (federal officials had no jurisdiction over highway project, and all federal funds for road had been returned; held, no federal action).
24
No federal funds are to be spent, nor federal agents employed, in the wolf-kill program. The Secretary's nonexercise of any authorities and duties he may possess in the field of wildlife management was, at most, a nonuse of a power of supervision akin to those at issue in Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Coleman, Molokai Homesteaders Cooperative Association v. Morton, and San Francisco Tomorrow v. Romney.
25
We hold that the district court was correct in declaring that no environmental impact statement was necessary before the Secretary could stay his hand and allow the State of Alaska to manage its own wildlife. It is unnecessary for us to decide the exact scope, if any, of the Secretary's power to stop the program. Even if it is a broad power, the decision not to exercise it here does not trigger the NEPA requirement that an environmental impact statement be prepared.2
26
The judgment, insofar as it declares that an environmental impact statement was not required, is affirmed. We express no opinion on the other terms of the judgment, as they do not presently affect the rights of any party.
27
Affirmed.
*
The Honorable William J. Jameson, United States District Judge for the District of Montana, sitting by designation
1
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, particularly 42 U.S.C. § 4332(C)
2
While this appeal was pending, the Council on Environmental Quality issued its final regulations implementing the procedural requirements of NEPA. 43 Fed.Reg. 55978-56007 (Nov. 29, 1978). We have read these regulations, and the comments thereto, and do not believe they compel a ruling that the executive officer's inactivity here was a major federal action, or that there was a "proposal" for such action
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Discovery of Methyl (5 Z)-[2-(2,4,5-Trioxopyrrolidin-3-ylidene)-4-oxo-1,3-thiazolidin-5-ylidene]acetates as Antifungal Agents against Potato Diseases.
Synthesis, isomerism, and fungicidal activity against potato diseases of new (5 Z)-[2-(2,4,5-trioxopyrrolidin-3-ylidene)-4-oxo-1,3-thiazolidin-5-ylidene]acetate derivatives with 1,3-thiazolidine-4-one and pyrrolidine-2,3,5-trione moieties linked by an exocyclic C═C bond were described. Their structures were clearly confirmed by spectroscopic and spectrometric data (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectrometry), elemental analysis, and X-ray diffraction crystallography. A bioassay for antifungal activity in vitro against Phytophthora infestans, Fusariun solani, Alternaria solani, Rhizoctonia solani, and Colletotrichum coccodes demonstrated that 2,4,5-trioxopyrrolidin-1,3-thiazolidine derivatives exhibited a relatively broad spectrum of antifungal activity. One of the compounds showed considerable activity against all of the strains; in the case of F. solani, P. infestans, and A. solani, it possesses comparable or better fungicidal efficacy than the positive control Consento. Consequently, this compound is a promising fungicidal candidate for plant protection. |
TEXT {#sec1}
====
The long treatment time required to cure tuberculosis is due to the ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to persist in its human host despite extensive chemotherapy. Persister bacilli are thought to be non-drug-susceptible nonreplicating organisms ([@B1], [@B2]). To study persister mycobacteria, a culture model based on nutrient deprivation, known as the Loebel model, was developed ([@B3]). When exponentially growing tubercle bacilli are transferred to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), the bacteria stop replicating but maintain viability for extended periods ([@B4], [@B5]). Drug susceptibility studies revealed that antitubercular drugs show strongly reduced bactericidal activities against these nonreplicating starved bacilli ([@B6][@B7][@B8]).
To facilitate the analyses of the molecular mechanisms underlying this nutrient starvation-induced mycobacterial dormancy response, we demonstrated previously that the fast-growing and nonpathogenic relative of the tubercle bacillus Mycobacterium smegmatis mc^2^155 is also capable of surviving starvation in PBS and thus may be a useful model for the dissection of this process (M.-L. Wu and T. Dick, unpublished data).
Here, we carried out a comparative analysis of the bactericidal activities of antimycobacterials against nongrowing M. smegmatis that were starved for 14 days in PBS versus exponentially growing bacteria to characterize the susceptibility of the nonreplicating form of the organism. To generate starved M. smegmatis culture, the saprophyte was grown in 7H9 liquid medium to an optical density at 600 nm of 0.5, and cells were collected by centrifugation, washed, and resuspended in PBS with 0.025% Tween80 at 10^7^ CFU/ml and incubated in roller bottles at 2 rpm for 14 days. The cultures were then diluted to 10^6^ CFU/ml and treated with 100 μM of various antimycobacterials for 1 day, and the effect on viability was determined via CFU enumeration on 7H10 agar ([@B4]). In parallel, exponentially growing cultures in 7H9 medium adjusted to 10^6^ CFU/ml were exposed to the same drugs at the same concentration and for the same time to determine the bactericidal effect on replicating cells. [Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"} shows that most drugs lost their bactericidal activity against nonreplicators, as expected. However, two drug classes, aminoglycosides and fluoroquinolones, retained a significant level of activity against the otherwise nonsusceptible bacilli.
######
Drug susceptibility of 14-day-old starved versus exponentially growing M. smegmatis cultures
Drug Fold kill in[^*a*^](#T1F1){ref-type="table-fn"}:
-------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ----------
Isoniazid 60 1
Rifampin 40 1
Ethambutol 20 1
Linezolid 30 1
Tetracycline 22 1
Clarithromycin 14 1
Chloramphenicol 8 1
Erythromycin 6 1
Ciprofloxacin[^*b*^](#T1F2){ref-type="table-fn"} \>10,000 100
Ofloxacin \>10,000 30
Moxifloxacin[^*b*^](#T1F2){ref-type="table-fn"} \>10,000 16
Streptomycin \>10,000 \>10,000
Kanamycin \>10,000 \>10,000
Amikacin \>10,000 \>10,000
Cultures were exposed to the drugs at 100 μM for 1 day, and survival was determined via CFU enumeration. Fold kill was calculated as the ratio of initial CFU/ml (10^6^)/surviving CFU/ml after 1 day of drug treatment. 1, no kill; \>10,000, surviving CFU/ml for the particular drug was below the limit of detection (10^2^ CFU/ml).
See [Fig. 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"} for a higher resolution of lethal activities of ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin.
To characterize the bactericidal activity of these two drug classes against nongrowing bacteria, comparative dose-response experiments were carried out in which exponentially growing and 14-day-old starved cultures were exposed to 1 to 100 μM streptomycin and ciprofloxacin, respectively.
Streptomycin (MIC = 0.6 μM) displayed monophasic kill curves; i.e., higher concentrations of the aminoglycoside drug killed more bacilli in exponentially growing and nonreplicating starved cultures. Exposure to 5 μM streptomycin resulted in a 3-log CFU reduction under both culture conditions. Other translation inhibitors, including linezolid, tetracycline, clarithromycin, and chloramphenicol, did not show this behavior ([Table 1](#T1){ref-type="table"}), indicating that this aminoglycoside effect might be due to their property of inducing mistranslation or might be protein synthesis independent.
We then characterized the microbicidal activities of ciprofloxacin. [Figure 1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"} (−Cm) shows the concentration-kill curve of the drug (MIC = 0.6 μM) for growing M. smegmatis. Exposure to 5 μM fluoroquinolone resulted in a 2-log CFU reduction compared to the initial inoculum. Higher concentrations of ciprofloxacin (50 to 100 μM) killed the growing culture down to the limit of detection, i.e., \>4 logs.
{#F1}
Surprisingly, starved nonreplicating mycobacterial cultures showed a triphasic concentration-kill curve ([Fig. 1B](#F1){ref-type="fig"}, −Cm). Ciprofloxacin concentrations of up to 10 μM showed only a mild effect on M. smegmatis viability, while the same concentrations caused a loss of viability of 2 logs in growing cultures. At 25 μM, a 3-log kill was observed. A further increase in ciprofloxacin concentration to 50 μM resulted in less kill. Exposure to 100 μM ciprofloxacin further increased survival by 1 log relative to the 25 μM exposure experiment; i.e., more drug killed less. This paradoxical concentration-kill effect was not observed for exponentially growing cultures ([Fig. 1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"}, −Cm).
Previously, Malik and colleagues ([@B9], [@B10]) studied the effect of fluoroquinolones on nonreplicating mycobacteria employing the protein synthesis inhibitor chloramphenicol at static concentrations to halt growth. To determine whether the paradoxical kill effect of ciprofloxacin observed for starvation-induced nonreplicating M. smegmatis can also be observed for drug-induced nonreplicating bacilli, we exposed exponentially growing cultures to a growth-inhibitory (nonmicrobicidal) concentration of 45 μM chloramphenicol for 1 h to halt growth ([@B10]) and then treated the nongrowing culture with 1 to 100 μM ciprofloxacin. [Figure 1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"} (+Cm) shows a monophasic kill curve of the fluoroquinolone for the growth-arrested cultures: higher concentrations of ciprofloxacin killed more; i.e., the paradoxical kill effect observed for starvation-induced nonreplicating bacilli was not seen against chloramphenicol-pretreated log-phase cultures. Consistent with data reported by Malik and colleagues ([@B9], [@B10]), inhibition of protein synthesis had a strong attenuating effect on the lethal activity of ciprofloxacin; i.e., 5 μM of fluoroquinolone, the concentration that killed 2 logs of growing culture, reduced viability of the chloramphenicol-halted culture by merely 1 log ([Fig. 1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"}, +Cm).
To determine whether inhibition of protein synthesis also affects the ciprofloxacin-induced killing of starvation-induced nongrowing culture, we pretreated 14-day-old starved cultures with 45 μM chloramphenicol (nonmicrobicidal) for 1 h and then added 1 to 100 μM ciprofloxacin. [Figure 1B](#F1){ref-type="fig"} (+Cm) shows that inhibition of protein synthesis almost completely abolished the lethal activity of ciprofloxacin against starved cultures, suggesting that the 3-log kill observed with 25 μM ciprofloxacin in starved (chloramphenicol-free) cultures required protein synthesis.
Malik et al. ([@B10]) reported intriguing differences between the cell death mechanism of ciprofloxacin (a C-8-H fluoroquinolone) and moxifloxacin (a C-8-methoxy fluoroquinolone). Whereas inhibition of protein synthesis of growing M. smegmatis cultures via pretreatment with chloramphenicol had a strong attenuating effect on the microbicidal activity of ciprofloxacin, the lethal effect of moxifloxacin was almost unaffected by the translation inhibitor. [Figure 1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"} (−Cm/+Cm) shows that this behavior was reproduced under our culture assay conditions. Pretreatment of growing cultures with chloramphenicol had only a minor attenuating effect on the lethal activity of moxifloxacin (MIC = 0.1 μM), thus supporting previous reports that moxifloxacin, in contrast to ciprofloxacin (and gatifloxacin with M. tuberculosis \[[@B9]\]), kills mostly via a protein synthesis-independent pathway ([@B10]).
To determine whether the triphasic concentration-kill curve observed for ciprofloxacin in starvation-induced cultures can also be observed for moxifloxacin, we treated starved cultures with the C-8-methoxy fluoroquinolone and measured CFU. [Figure 1B](#F1){ref-type="fig"} (−Cm) shows that moxifloxacin treatment also generated a triphasic kill curve. However, the concentration-kill curve was somewhat compressed along the *y* axis (CFU/ml) compared to the curve generated by ciprofloxacin. Although the optimum microbicidal concentration for moxifloxacin was lower than that for ciprofloxacin (5 μM versus 25 μM), the drug killed fewer bacilli at this concentration (1 log versus 3 logs). [Figure 1B](#F1){ref-type="fig"} (+Cm) shows that pretreatment of nutrient-starved cultures with chloramphenicol reduced the lethal effect of moxifloxacin. However, the impact of protein synthesis inhibition on the lethal activity of moxifloxacin appeared to be less pronounced than that of ciprofloxacin.
Taken together, our results suggest that the motto "the more, the better" does not apply to fluoroquinolones against starvation-induced nonreplicating M. smegmatis; i.e., increasing the concentration of fluoroquinolones beyond an optimum bactericidal concentration did not increase the kill but actually increased survival. This phenomenon appears to be drug class specific, as it was not observed for aminoglycosides.
The paradoxical less-kills-more bactericidal phenomenon is termed the Eagle effect, according to Harry Eagle, who first described this phenomenon in 1948 ([@B11]). Eagle found that penicillin showed an optimum bactericidal concentration beyond which the rate of bacterial death was reduced against many strains of streptococci and staphylococci ([@B11], [@B12]). The observation Eagle made was later expanded to various Gram-negative bacteria, such as Haemophilus influenzae and Proteus species ([@B13]). Furthermore, drugs other than β-lactams, including colistin, exhibit this paradoxical effect ([@B14]). Interestingly, fluoroquinolones were shown to have an Eagle effect against staphylococci and Escherichia coli ([@B15][@B16][@B18]).
It is important to note that Drlica et al. ([@B19]) and Dong et al. ([@B20]) observed a fluoroquinolone-induced Eagle effect in growing cultures of Mycobacterium bovis BCG. We did not observe this effect in our fluoroquinolone treatments of growing M. smegmatis. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that Malik et al. ([@B17]) observed an Eagle effect of quinolones for chloramphenicol-treated E. coli cultures. We did not observe this effect in chloramphenicol-halted M. smegmatis cultures ([Fig. 1A](#F1){ref-type="fig"}, +Cm). The reason for these discrepancies is not clear; differences in incubation time may be involved, since they are known to affect the mechanism of quinolone-mediated killing ([@B21]). The fact that we did not see an Eagle effect in growing and chloramphenicol-halted M. smegmatis cultures does not necessarily mean that this phenomenon does not occur under these culture conditions. The extensive killing we observed may have obscured such an effect.
What is known about the cell death mechanisms triggered by the fluoroquinolones in bacteria? The quinolones trap type II topoisomerases on DNA as a complex in which DNA is broken but constrained by protein. A consequence of drug-enzyme-DNA complex formation is a reversible inhibition of DNA replication and growth arrest, not death. Cell death arises from poorly understood subsequent protein synthesis-dependent and -independent events in which bacterial chromosomes are fragmented and toxic reactive oxygen species may be generated ([@B22][@B23][@B29]).
The observed killing of starved nonreplicating M. smegmatis reported here confirms previous observations that fluoroquinolones can cause cell death without concurrent DNA replication ([@B23], [@B25]). This appears to be true across bacterial species. Zhao et al. ([@B30]) used a temperature-sensitive *dnaB* mutant of E. coli to show that stopping replication had little effect on the lethal activity of quinolones.
How the fluoroquinolones precisely kill starved nonreplicating mycobacteria and how they block this apparently protein synthesis-dependent cell death pathway at elevated concentrations are under investigation. It appears that induction of efflux pumps as an explanation for the drug-induced nonsusceptibility can be excluded, as the pump inhibitors reserpine and verapamil ([@B31], [@B32]) did not eliminate the observed Eagle effect (data not shown). In contrast to most bacteria, which possess two type II topoisomerases (topoisomerase IV and DNA gyrase, both targets for fluoroquinolones), mycobacteria possess only DNA gyrase ([@B33]), which should simplify the molecular dissection of the fluoroquinolone-induced kill-and-rescue phenomenon.
This work was supported by the Singapore Ministry of Health\'s National Medical Research Council under its TCR flagship grant NMRC/TCR/011-NUHS/2014 to T.D. and is part of the Singapore Programme of Research Investigating New Approaches to Treatment of Tuberculosis (SPRINT-TB; [www.sprinttb.org](http://www.sprinttb.org)) led by Nick Paton. M.-L.W. received a research scholarship from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.
We thank Jansy Sarathy, Public Health Research Institute, Newark, NJ, for discussion. We also thank the anonymous reviewer for his very insightful and useful comments.
M.-L.W. and T.D. conceived the project, M.-L.W. and J.T. carried out the experiments, and M.-L.W. and T.D. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript.
We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.
[^1]: Present address: Jasmie Tan, Laboratory of Virus Evolution, Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore.
[^2]: **Citation** Wu M-L, Tan J, Dick T. 2015. Eagle effect in nonreplicating persister mycobacteria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 59:7786--7789. doi:[10.1128/AAC.01476-15](http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AAC.01476-15).
|
Q:
Can someone tell me how to return to start of game?
This is a game I coded.
It is a word guessing game.
from random import randint
from tkinter import *
def umm():
continue
def quit():
master.destroy()
answer = randint(0,16)
wrong_answer = randint(0,16)
wrong_answer1 = randint(0,16)
s_list = ["apple","book","phone","sheep","ruler","pen","eraser","knife","cement","Google","file","stapler","thermometer","box","glue","yes","no"]
hint_list = ["Fruit","Read","Technology","Animal","Measure Length","Writing","Stationary","Cut food", "Building Material","Search Engine","Paper organizer","Binding papers together","Temperature","Storage","Attach things together","Approval","Disapproval"]
secret_word = s_list[answer]
hint = f'Hint:{hint_list[answer]}'
incorrect = s_list[wrong_answer]
incorrect1 = s_list[wrong_answer1]
master = Tk()
master.title("2 Players Guessing Game!")
master.geometry('700x900+90+90')
def random1():
label["text"] = "Player 1 won!"
def random2():
label["text"] = "Player 2 won!"
def random3():
label["text"] = "Player 2 won!"
def random4():
label["text"] = "Player 1 won!"
label = Label(master, text="2 Player Guessing Game!", font = "Arial 14")
label2 = Label(master, text="<- P1 P2 ->", font = "Arial 14")
button = Button(master, text=secret_word, font = "Arial 14", command=random1)
button2 = Button(master, text=incorrect, font = "Arial 14", command=random2)
button3 = Button(master, text=incorrect1, font = "Arial 14", command=random2)
button4 = Button(master, text=secret_word, font = "Arial 14", command=random3)
button5 = Button(master, text=incorrect, font = "Arial 14", command=random4)
button6 = Button(master, text=incorrect1, font = "Arial 14", command=random4)
label4 = Label(master, text=hint, font = "Arial 14")
button7 = Button(master, text="Again?", font = "Arial 14", command = umm)
button8 = Button(master, text="Quit", font = "Arial 14", command = quit)
label.pack()
label2.pack()
label4.pack()
button.pack(side=LEFT)
button2.pack(side=LEFT)
button3.pack(side=LEFT)
button4.pack(side=RIGHT)
button5.pack(side=RIGHT)
button6.pack(side=RIGHT)
button7.pack()
button8.pack()
master.mainloop()
Currently, my code shows that if Player 1 clicks the correct button on his or her side, it will print Player 1 won and vice versa. Now, I added in additional buttons, "Again?" and "Quit".
I also added "continue". However, it now says continue is not properly in loop. I thought that because it is in mainloop(), this is why I can use it. But it now shows the message. Why?
A:
Two suggestions:
You could get those word by random.choice(),it could be more easy.
It is not recommended to use from tkinter import *.
just like reset the whole code.
In your Application,reset means:change the Player x won! to 2 Player Guessing Game!.And use random.choice() to generate a new string and show it in the button.
Code:
from random import choice
from tkinter import *
def generateRandomWord(): # at first I don't know you need to use index.
secret_word.set(choice(s_list))
hint.set(final_dict[secret_word.get()]) # use dict to get the value.
incorrect.set(choice(s_list))
incorrect1.set(choice(s_list))
def umm():
label['text'] = "2 Player Guessing Game!"
generateRandomWord()
def quit():
master.destroy()
master = Tk()
secret_word = StringVar() # use StringVar
incorrect = StringVar()
incorrect1 = StringVar()
hint = StringVar()
s_list = ["apple","book","phone","sheep","ruler","pen","eraser","knife","cement","Google","file","stapler","thermometer","box","glue","yes","no"]
hint_list = ["Fruit","Read","Technology","Animal","Measure Length","Writing","Stationary","Cut food", "Building Material","Search Engine","Paper organizer","Binding papers together","Temperature","Storage","Attach things together","Approval","Disapproval"]
final_dict = dict(zip(s_list,hint_list)) # generate a dict.
generateRandomWord()
master.title("2 Players Guessing Game!")
master.geometry('700x900+90+90')
def random1():
label["text"] = "Player 1 won!"
def random2():
label["text"] = "Player 2 won!"
def random3():
label["text"] = "Player 2 won!"
def random4():
label["text"] = "Player 1 won!"
label = Label(master, text="2 Player Guessing Game!", font = "Arial 14")
label2 = Label(master, text="<- P1 P2 ->", font = "Arial 14")
button = Button(master, textvariable=secret_word, font = "Arial 14", command=random1) # bind textvariable
button2 = Button(master, textvariable=incorrect, font = "Arial 14", command=random2)
button3 = Button(master, textvariable=incorrect1, font = "Arial 14", command=random2)
button4 = Button(master, textvariable=secret_word, font = "Arial 14", command=random3)
button5 = Button(master, textvariable=incorrect, font = "Arial 14", command=random4)
button6 = Button(master, textvariable=incorrect1, font = "Arial 14", command=random4)
label4 = Label(master, textvariable=hint, font = "Arial 14")
button7 = Button(master, text="Again?", font = "Arial 14", command = umm)
button8 = Button(master, text="Quit", font = "Arial 14", command = quit)
label.pack()
label2.pack()
label4.pack()
button.pack(side=LEFT)
button2.pack(side=LEFT)
button3.pack(side=LEFT)
button4.pack(side=RIGHT)
button5.pack(side=RIGHT)
button6.pack(side=RIGHT)
button7.pack()
button8.pack()
master.mainloop()
You also could use a list to save those variables,buttons and labels.That's will reduce the quantity of code.
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Just over half of Canadian respondents say they believe religion does more harm than good in the world, according to a new survey.
The Ipsos poll, conducted for Global News, showed that 51 per cent of respondents agreed with the above statement.
READ MORE: Sikh community aiming to educate Albertans about religion
“There’s a lot that’s happening in the world right now in the name of religion,” Sean Simpson, vice-president of Ipsos Affairs, said. “Of course, ISIL being the primary example that’s using religion to justify what they’re doing.”
Simpson explained that the number is rising; when Ipsos asked the same question in 2011, 44 per cent of respondents agreed.
“But I think we hear about these incidents more often, not just because they may be happening more often but because of the information age.
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“We’ve got 24-hour news cycles and social media and Twitter where we hear about every incident so it’s not surprising to me that a growing number of Canadians believe it does more harm than good.” Tweet This
What he did find surprising was that Quebec, once considered to be Canada’s most religious province, is now the most secular.
Compared to the rest of Canada, Quebecers are significantly more likely than residents of other provinces to feel religion does more harm than good (62 per cent). They’re also more inclined (18 per cent) to lose respect for people when they find out they are religious.
WATCH: Russia moves to ban certain religions
2:08 Russia moves to ban certain religions Russia moves to ban certain religions
Conversely, fewer people believe that people who are religious have the higher moral ground — in fact, most disagree with that, Simpson said.
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Only 24 per cent of respondents said they believed religious people are better citizens, down eight points from 2011.
The poll also found that despite their views on whether or not it’s harmful, Canadians are very tolerant of others’ religions. Nine out of 10 respondents said they were “completely comfortable being around people who have different religious beliefs than me.”
Only 13 per cent of respondents said they lose respect for someone when they find out they are religious. That number jumps to 18 per cent when you look specifically at Quebec.
Religion and politics
Continuing the trend, there’s also a declining view that religion should play a role in politics. Twenty years ago, 45 per cent of respondents to a similar poll said that religion should play an important part in political life.
In this year’s poll, that number was down 11 points; only 34 per cent say religion and politics should intersect.
The Ipsos poll was conducted on behalf of Global News between March 20-23, 2017 using a sample of 1,001 Canadians from Ipsos I-Say panel. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/ – 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled.
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Q:
Solving the equation $n\log n = 10^9$
This seems very basic (I guess my calculus needs brushing up). Is there a way to find n without a calculator in this one?
$10^{9} = n\log(n)$
My Attempt
(log is base 2 base on the book convention.)
$10^9 = n\log n(n)\\
2^{10^9} = 2^{\log(n^n)}\\
2^{10^9} = n^n$
Currently I'm tempted to use Newton's method on
$n^n-2^{10^9}=0$
but that seems to be an overkill.
A:
Let us consider the more general case of the equation $$x \log(x)=n$$ As mentioned by user1337, almost from definition, the solution is given by Lambert function $$x=\frac{n}{W(n)}$$ Now, let us consider the case where $n$ is just huge as in your case. There are quite good approximations of Lambert function for such a case. For example, $$W(n) \simeq L_1-L_2+\frac{L_2}{L_1}+\frac{L_2(L_2-2)}{2L_1^2}+...$$ where $L_1=\log(n)$ and $L_2=\log\Big(\log(n)\Big)$.
Let us try with your number $n=10^9$; this gives the approximation $W(10^9)\simeq 17.84192146$ and so $x \simeq 5.604777502\times 10^7$ while the exact answer is $x \simeq 5.604838914\times 10^7$.
Let us try with $n=10^{99}$; this gives the approximation $W(10^{99})\simeq 222.5507677$ and so $x \simeq 4.493356775 \times 10^{96}$ while the exact answer is $x \simeq 4.493356750 \times 10^{96}$.
Let us try with $n=10^{999}$; this gives the approximation $W(10^{999})\simeq 2292.545090$ and so $x \simeq 4.361964370 \times 10^{995}$ while the exact answer is $x \simeq 4.361964370 \times 10^{995}$.
We can better approximate the result using more terms.
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Dear Abby: Online affairs with pupils put teacher's job at risk
Wednesday
Jan 9, 2013 at 2:00 AM
Dear Abby: My husband is now involved in his third computer affair. He's a teacher, and his first one was with a student. He was almost fired over it. He apologized to me and to his supervisor, said it was an "error in judgment" and promised it would never happen again.
Dear Abby: My husband is now involved in his third computer affair. He's a teacher, and his first one was with a student. He was almost fired over it. He apologized to me and to his supervisor, said it was an "error in judgment" and promised it would never happen again.
Last week I found an email he had sent to another former student, and the things he said to her were disgusting. The current one is a student, too.
I have a nice home and my husband is good to me except for his wandering eye. He gives me anything I want and takes me with him whenever he travels. But he is a Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to a computer and young girls — all younger than his daughter, I might add.
I know if this gets back to his boss he'll be fired. He's a brilliant man and an excellent teacher. So what do I do? I have considered doing nothing, and if he gets caught let him suffer the consequences. Or, I can confront him and try to get him to see a counselor before he ruins his career, and makes me a laughingstock of the community.
We're financially comfortable and I hate to give it up, but I don't want to live the rest of my life like this, either. Any suggestions would be appreciated. — Not Laughing in Washington State
Dear Not Laughing: Your husband has a serious problem. He is playing Russian roulette with his career — and it's only a matter of time until he acts inappropriately with the wrong student.
If you love him at all, confront him and insist that he talk to a counselor and learn to strengthen his impulse control. When his activities become public knowledge, as is sure to happen, you won't be the laughingstock of the community, but your husband WILL be scorned and jobless. If you want to protect your lifestyle as well as your husband's female students, insist he get professional help NOW.
Dear Abby: I'm a divorced "empty nester" who would like to meet a nice man to spend time with. I'm attractive, slim and active.
A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. I have excellent medical care and my doctor is optimistic. She told me she has treated many women who have survived 10 years and are still doing fine. I intend to do everything in my power to be one of those women.
I have tried meeting men on the Internet or through groups I belong to. I explain on the first date about my health issues because I don't want anyone to think I'm dishonest. Unfortunately, several men I would have liked to see again told me flat-out that they "can't deal with the cancer thing."
I don't want to spend the rest of my life — however long it may be — alone. Should I wait to tell a man about my illness until we've seen each other a few times? Or should I continue as I have, and hope I eventually find someone with enough compassion willing to take the chance? — Healthy Now in Wisconsin
Dear Healthy Now: Compassion? How about someone intelligent enough to grasp that nobody has a guarantee about how long someone will live — including him? The appropriate time to discuss your medical history is after you have gotten to know someone well enough that you can talk frankly about it, and the relationship is beyond casual. First dates do not fall into that category.
No man who cares about you would ever walk away. And any man who would isn't worth having, so consider yourself lucky.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069. |
Mesenchymal stromal cells producing TNFα lack inhibitory effect against A375 experimental lung metastases.
Cell-based anticancer therapy using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) engineered to express therapeutic genes has a potential to target the cancer cells in vivo. Metastatic dissemination of melanoma remains a serious problem in the treatment. In our previous work we used MSCs overexpressing gene for tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα; MSCs/TNFα), and we achieved inhibition of melanoma xenograft growth when engineered MCSs/TNFα were coinjected with tumor cells subcutaneously. The TNFα as a pleiotropic cytokine induces apoptosis of tumor cells, creates "tumor resistant" microenvironment, enhances immune response and can have tumor destructive capacity in selected tumor types, especially in tumors of mesodermal origin.In this study we investigated the possibility of intravenously administered MCSs/TNFα to inhibit metastatic spread of A375 melanoma cells in the lungs. We confirmed elevated expression of TNFα transgene in the lung tissue 20 days after MCSs/TNFα intravenous infusion. We also documented that constitutive expression of TNFα transgene is able to neutralize the supportive effect of MSCs on melanoma cells growth. Metastatic spread of A375 melanoma cells in the lung was inhibited approximately to 50% after MCSs/TNFα i.v. administration in comparison to control group with parental MSCs supporting tumor growth. In conclusion, engineered MCSs/TNFα administered intravenously did not demonstrate significant antitumor effect against experimental melanoma lung metastases in this model settings. |
Chronic rejection with sclerosing peritonitis following pediatric intestinal transplantation.
Intestinal transplantation is considered the usual treatment for patients with permanent intestinal failure when parenteral nutrition has failed. Chronic rejection is a complication difficult to diagnose because of the scarcity and lack of specificity in the symptoms and the characteristics of typical histological findings. We report the case of a four-yr-old patient who received an isolated intestinal transplant. After developing a chronic rejection he presented an intestinal obstruction secondary to a sclerosing peritonitis that required the surgical removal of the graft. |
eso1544 — Science Release
The Glowing Halo of a Zombie Star
VLT maps out remains of white dwarf’s meal
The remains of a fatal interaction between a dead star and its asteroid supper have been studied in detail for the first time by an international team of astronomers using the Very Large Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. This gives a glimpse of the far-future fate of the Solar System.
Led by Christopher Manser, a PhD student at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, the team used data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and other observatories to study the shattered remains of an asteroid around a stellar remnant — a white dwarf called SDSS J1228+1040 [1].
Using several instruments, including the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) and X-shooter, both attached to the VLT, the team obtained detailed observations of the light coming from the white dwarf and its surrounding material over an unprecedented period of twelve years between 2003 and 2015. Observations over periods of years were needed to probe the system from multiple viewpoints [2].
“The image we get from the processed data shows us that these systems are truly disc-like, and reveals many structures that we cannot detect in a single snapshot,” explained lead author Christopher Manser.
The team used a technique called Doppler tomography — similar in principle to medical tomographic scans of the human body — which allowed them to map out in detail the structure of the glowing gaseous remains of the dead star’s meal orbiting J1228+1040 for the first time.
While large stars — those more massive than around ten times the mass of the Sun — suffer a spectacularly violent climax as a supernova explosion at the ends of their lives, smaller stars are spared such dramatic fates. When stars like the Sun come to the ends of their lives they exhaust their fuel, expand as red giants and later expel their outer layers into space. The hot and very dense core of the former star — a white dwarf — is all that remains.
But would the planets, asteroids and other bodies in such a system survive this trial by fire? What would be left? The new observations help to answer these questions.
It is rare for white dwarfs to be surrounded by orbiting discs of gaseous material — only seven have ever been found. The team concluded that an asteroid had strayed dangerously close to the dead star and been ripped apart by the immense tidal forces it experienced to form the disc of material that is now visible.
The orbiting disc was formed in similar ways to the photogenic rings seen around planets closer to home, such as Saturn. However, while J1228+1040 is more than seven times smaller in diameter than the ringed planet, it has a mass over 2500 times greater. The team learned that the distance between the white dwarf and its disc is also quite different — Saturn and its rings could comfortably sit in the gap between them [3].
The new long-term study with the VLT has now allowed the team to watch the disc precess under the influence of the very strong gravitational field of the white dwarf. They also find that the disc is somewhat lopsided and has not yet become circular.
“When we discovered this debris disc orbiting the white dwarf back in 2006, we could not have imagined the exquisite details that are now visible in this image, constructed from twelve years of data — it was definitely worth the wait,” added Boris Gänsicke, a co-author of the study.
Remnants such as J1228+1040 can provide key clues to understanding the environments that exist as stars reach the ends of their lives. This can help astronomers to understand the processes that occur in exoplanetary systems and even forecast the fate of the Solar System when the Sun meets its demise in about seven billion years.
Notes
[1] The white dwarf’s full designation is SDSS J122859.93+104032.9.
[2] The team identified the unmistakable trident-like spectral signature from ionised calcium, called the calcium (Ca II) triplet. The difference between the observed and known wavelengths of these three lines can determine the velocity of the gas with considerable precision.
[3] Although the disc around this white dwarf is much bigger than Saturn’s ring system in the Solar System, it is tiny compared to the debris discs that form planets around young stars.
More information
This research was presented in a paper entitled “Doppler-imaging of the planetary debris disc at the white dwarf SDSS J122859.93+104032.9”, by C. Manser et al., to appear in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The team is composed of Christopher Manser (University of Warwick, UK), Boris Gaensicke (University of Warwick), Tom Marsh (University of Warwick), Dimitri Veras (University of Warwick, UK), Detlev Koester (University of Kiel, Germany), Elmé Breedt (University of Warwick), Anna Pala (University of Warwick), Steven Parsons (Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile) and John Southworth (Keele University, UK).
ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world’s largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.
Links
Contacts
Christopher Manser
University of Warwick
United Kingdom
Email: C.Manser@warwick.ac.uk
Boris Gänsicke
University of Warwick
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)2476574741
Email: Boris.Gaensicke@warwick.ac.uk
Tom Frew
International Press Officer, University of Warwick
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)24 7657 5910
Cell: +44 (0)7785 433 155
Email: a.t.frew@warwick.ac.uk
Richard Hook
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
Cell: +49 151 1537 3591
Email: rhook@eso.org
Connect with ESO on social media |
Spectrum of structural abnormalities in floppy mitral valve echocardiographic evaluation.
Posterior displacement of the mitral valve with billowing into the left atrium has been the major echocardiographic criterion used for the diagnosis of mitral valve prolapse (MVP). However, the current criteria are limited by the influence of hemodynamic factors on the degree of prolapse, whereas complications such as mitral regurgitation, endocarditis, and need for surgery have been associated with redundancy or thickening of the leaflets. Sixty-eight normal subjects (mean age, 40 years; range, 18 to 76 years) were compared with 58 patients with MVP (mean age, 37 years, range, 18 to 83 years). Leaflet displacement across the annular plane in the parasternal long-axis view was mandatory for the diagnosis of MVP. Transthoracic echocardiographic measurements of anterior and posterior leaflet thickness, leaflet length, and chordal length were made from the parasternal long-axis view and the mitral annular diameter, from the apical four-chamber and two-chamber views. The MVP group had greater anterior thickness (4.1 +/- 0.4 mm vs 5.3 +/- 0.7 mm; p = 0.0001), posterior thickness (3.2 +/- 0.4 mm vs 4.7 +/- 0.9 mm; p = 0.0001), anterior length (22.8 +/- 2.0 mm vs 25.7 +/- 1.7 mm; p = 0.0001), posterior length (12.8 +/- 1.0 mm vs 15.7 +/- 2.5 mm; p = 0.0001), chordal length (25.6 +/- 2.7 mm vs 28.0 +/- 2.5 mm; p = 0.0001), and annular diameter (29.1 +/- 1.5 mm vs 31.3 +/- 2.6 mm; p = 0.0001). Of the MVP group, >80% had at least one abnormality identified and >50% had at least two abnormalities. In addition, patients with MVP with significant regurgitation had greater anterior thickness (5.2 +/- 0.7 mm vs 5.8 +/- 0.8 mm; p = 0.015), posterior thickness (4.5 +/- 0.9 mm vs 5.3 +/- 0.7 mm; p = 0.024), posterior length (15.1 +/- 1.6 mm vs 17.9 +/- 4.2 mm; p = 0.004), and annular diameter (36.0 +/- 2.0 mm vs 33.3 +/- 2.1 mm; p = 0.0001). The majority of patients with floppy mitral valves resulting in MVP have structural abnormalities that may be defined by echocardiography. A spectrum of floppy valve structure is demonstrated by echocardiography, with mitral regurgitation occurring more frequently in patients with multiple and more severe anatomic abnormalities. In addition to the presence of prolapse and regurgitation, the assessment of leaflet thickness, leaflet length, annular diameter, and chordal length is fundamental to the definition and stratification of patients with MVP associated with the floppy mitral valve. |
/*global exports */
const generatePolicy = function (authToken, methodArn) {
'use strict';
const tmp = methodArn.split(':'),
apiGatewayArnTmp = tmp[5].split('/'),
awsAccountId = tmp[4],
region = tmp[3],
restApiId = apiGatewayArnTmp[0],
stage = apiGatewayArnTmp[1];
return {
'principalId': authToken.split('-')[0],
'policyDocument': {
'Version': '2012-10-17',
'Statement': [{
'Effect': 'Allow',
'Action': [
'execute-api:Invoke'
],
'Resource': [
'arn:aws:execute-api:' + region + ':' + awsAccountId + ':' + restApiId + '/' + stage + '/GET/unlocked'
]
}]
}
};
};
exports.auth = function testAuth(event, context, callback) {
'use strict';
if (event && event.authorizationToken && event.methodArn) {
callback(null, generatePolicy(event.authorizationToken, event.methodArn));
} else {
callback('Unauthorized');
}
};
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Q:
Fill variable in exported file
I am trying to export a file with email information and a variable of 'name' that will be replaced when importing it to another javascript file.
const emailTemplate = {
subject: 'test',
body_html: `
<html>
<title>
hey guys
</title>
<body>
Hey ${name}
</html>
`
}
module.exports = {
emailTemplate
}
However, I am not sure how I can fill the name variable when importing it somewhere else, and haven't been really able to look it up. Any ideas on what I could do in this case? Thanks!
This is how I import it in the other file.
const emailTemplate = require('./email/template')
A:
You can export a function to output the html instead.
function getBodyHtml(name) {
// your desired content
return `
<html>
<title>
hey guys
</title>
<body>
Hey ${name}
</html>`
}
const emailTemplate = {
subject: 'test',
getBodyHtml,
}
module.exports = {
emailTemplate,
};
Then, call the function in another file.
// anotherFile.js
const emailTemplate = require('./email/template');
// call the function with the `name` variable in order to get the template
const myTemplate = emailTemplate.getBodyHtml('insert name here');
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Q:
How to use array values in SQL query in PHP_MySQL
I am taking multiple values from user from a drop down list. I stored those values in an array in php. Everything is fine. Now I want to use these array values to query my database to give the desired results.
My html code is
<select multiple name="equipment[]">
<option value="all">ALL</option>
<option value="helmet">HEMLMET</option>
<option value="boots">BOOTS</option>
<option value="jacket">JACKET</option>
<option value="flask">FLASK</option>
</select>
$equipment=$_POST['equipment'];
I used this piece to store values.
Now based on one or more values in the array; I want filter my query.
Select w,x,y,z from table_a inner join table_b where table_a.w="the values in array";
I tried using foreach to loop through, but its taking only the last value.
thank you for your help.
A:
Keep in mind that HTML, PHP, and MySQL are three different processing environments, so none of them share the same memory (variables) or code (e.g. loops).
Roughly in order:
HTML can "pass" values to PHP through URLs and form posts (and other HTTP methods)
PHP can "pass" values to MySQL by printing its variables into the MySQL "query string" (beware of MySQL string injection)
MySQL returns its data to PHP, based on the query string, through the query engine.
PHP can "pass" values to HTML by printing its variables into the HTML output.
So, to get the variable selections to MySQL from PHP, you need to compose a "query string" that looks for all of the answers.
It will look something like this:
SELECT w,x,y,z
FROM table_a
INNER JOIN table_b
WHERE table_a.w IN ('helmet', 'boots', 'jacket');
See MySQL Expression syntax for more help on this.
To build it, you will need to be VERY CAREFUL to read the "MySQL string injection" (where a person using your web page can change the calls your database makes) question linked above, since you are taking the values from the "user"/"client" (through a URL or form post).
The answers to Can I bind an array to an IN() condition? have some good suggestions for how to build a query string with array values while preventing injection attacks.
A:
It's the IN clause you are looking for:
select * from tableA inner join on tableB on ... where tableA.w in ('value1', 'value2')
You can use a loop or implode() function in php to generate the in clause. Just be mindful that if you select only 1 item in the control, then $_POST['equipment'] will be a string, not an array. So, use is_array() to determine if multiple values were selected.
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Police are looking for two suspects involved in an alleged hate crime after a California Sikh man was brutally beaten as he placed campaign signs for a Republican congressman along the road.
Surjit Malhi, 50, has been instrumental in his community with helping the homeless, serving victims of fires and supporting the Stanislaus County GOP, KOVR-TV reported.
But last week, while Malhi was placing campaign signs for Rep. Jeff Denham, R-California, along the side of a road in Keyes, two men approached him, throwing sand into his eyes and beating him in the head and chest, police said.
The assailants allegedly told Malhi to “go back to your country” and even spray painted that message onto the side of Malhi’s white truck.
“It was very scary,” Malhi told KOVR, adding he was afraid the men were going to shoot him.
Casey Joyce Musgrave, who said she is a friend of Malhi’s child, posted a photo of the truck on Facebook.
“Go back to ur country,” the paint says, along with what a symbol the Anti-Defamation League has identified as a “white supremacist version of the Celtic Cross.”
“Just so everyone knows, violent acts of racism are happening in your area,” Musgrave said on social media, adding that Malhi has done “a lot to help his community” since he’s lived in it for the past 35 years.
Malhi credited his turban, worn as a symbol of faith among Sikhs, for “saving” him from further injuries. However, he said he suffers from headaches and dizzy spells since the attack.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson told the Modesto Bee that police are looking into the attack as a potential hate crime and assault with a deadly weapon.
“This is a random despicable criminal act against a member of the Sikh community,” Christianson told the newspaper.
The suspects are white men who wore black hooded sweatshirts during the assault, police said. There is no known relationship between the suspects and Malhi, according to police.
“This is a heinous crime, and we are actively investigating it,” Sheriff Sgt. Tom Letras told the Modesto Bee.
Since the attack, Malhi told KOVR that others in the community have banded together to help him – including members of CrossFit ParaBellum.
Scott and Renee Sedgwick got a group of their gym members to meet Sunday afternoon and help wash Malhi’s truck and clean up his yard. Malhi has been a member of the CrossFit ParaBellum gym for almost two years, and Renee Sedgwick said she wanted to make sure he knows he is welcome in their community.
The Sedgwicks also recruited members from their local Mormon church to assist in the cleanup.
“It was great to see everyone laughing alongside another human being,” Renee Sedgwick told Fox News. “Race isn’t a part of it. Religion shouldn’t be a part of it. We’re all human beings.”
The group was able to get all of the paint residue off of Malhi’s truck – leaving behind no trace of the hateful message that was once painted on it.
As for his assailants, Malhi said their actions are “not the American way.”
“If you’re a real American, if you love America, you should not do that,” he said.
Keyes is more than 80 miles south of Sacramento. |
C'mon Get Happy: 95 year old on Diving Board for a Cool Reason
Jul 16, 2018
95-year-old Michael Bliss, an Air Force veteran who served in World War II and Korea and can barely walk without a cane, recently struggled to step up onto a diving board and then dove into the deep end.
Bliss was not trying to show off his physique or impress some female nonagenarians. He did it to show a five-year-old boy that there was nothing to be afraid of.
After hearing that the young boy was too afraid to jump off the diving board, Bliss assured him there was no reason to be scared and to prove it, he would show him how it's done.
So after family members helped him onto the diving board and then right up to the edge, Bliss slowly leaned over and performed a perfect half-dive, half-belly flop into the pool.
Michael's daughter, Christine Ross, wasn't surprised by what her father did. She says, "He is very spry for his age." She also shared a video of the dive that has since gone viral. |
Q: Do you have any bonus in your contract for serving as assistant general manager?
Irvin: “I’m just trying to win, baby, that’s it. (laughing)”
Q: On social media, you seem to be really excited about making the move to join the Raiders. Are you and defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. going to have competitions to see who is more energetic?
Irvin: “Ken Norton, that’s what he does. He’s a great guy, one of the main reasons that I decided to get here. I wanted to get back with him. Like I said before, that guy, he’s done a lot for me, not only on the field, but off the field. He saved my career by bringing me from defensive end to a linebacker, so I have the utmost respect for that guy.”
Q: Why do you think linebacker suits you better?
Irvin: “First off, like I said, it was a pounding every play and then I would be an undersized D-end at 255, 260, so I just felt like playing in more space will allow me to showcase my talents and really help my team, really help Seattle out.”
Q: How much of a pull was the opportunity to play opposite Khalil Mack?
Irvin: “Besides Norton, that was the next biggest thing, playing with Khalil. The guy is a premier rusher. He’s on his way to being one of the best rushers in the league. [Denver Broncos OLBs] DeMarcus [Ware] and Von [Miller] laid the blueprint out in the Super Bowl – you’ve got to have rushers and tandem rushers at that. The AFC West, man, I look at it, it’s a lot of tandem rushers. You’ve got [Kansas City Chiefs LBs Justin] Houston and Tamba [Hali]. You’ve got Ware and Von. You’ve got me and Mack. I’m looking forward to playing with him and benefiting off of him, because I know he’s going to draw so much attention, it’s going to leave me a lot of one-on-one situations, so I’ve got to make the best of them.”
Q: You’ve played on a team that’s been a Super Bowl contender the last two years. What do you see from the Raiders that makes you believe they can reach that level?
Irvin: “It’s a young team. A young, up-and-coming team. They went from [3-13] to 7-9 last year. That’s a major improvement. The players that they’ve brought in in K.O. [Kelechi Osemele], me and Sean [Smith], you can see that the program is really on the up, and turning around. I also feel like I can come out here and be a voice. It’s a younger team. In Seattle, you’ve got guys over there like [Richard] Sherman, Earl Thomas, who are the leaders in that locker room. I can come over here and I’ve been to Super Bowls, I’ve been to Championships, so I know what it takes to get there. I kind of feel like I can be a voice to these younger guys and lead the way.”
Q: Coming into this Raiders system, just in speaking with Coach Norton, Jr., do you feel like it’s going to be pretty familiar to you from what you did back in Seattle?
Irvin: “I was talking to him earlier and there are a lot of similar calls and similar concepts. It shouldn’t be too hard to grasp. I just want to get on the field with Mack and make as many plays as I can and help get this thing turned around up here.”
Q: Has the thought occurred to you yet that it could be you, Khalil Mack and also Aldon Smith as pass rushers?
Irvin: “Yeah, that’s scary, and then potentially Mario Edwards Jr. too. So, pass rush is the key to winning in this league – running the ball and rushing the passer. Me and Mack is scary, but then you add Aldon into that, that’s even scarier. I am just happy to be a part of it and be in a great situation in a great town that’s just waiting for success. I feel like we’re really on the verge of really taking off and turning this thing around up here.”
Q: What does it mean to you to have strong defensive backs behind you?
Irvin: “Being in Seattle the past four years, I kind of know that the pass rush and the secondary go hand in hand. You don’t want to have your corners and your DBs out there covering for eight, nine seconds and you also don’t want to let a team be able to quick game you the whole game to prevent the rushers, so it’s hand in hand. I feel like you have to have a great set of DBs to complement great rushers, so that’s the main reason for me pushing for Eric [Weddle]. He’s a great player, a three-time All-Pro. He’s done a lot of great things in this league, understands what it takes to be a winner. We need more of those guys around here, so that’s the biggest thing. I’m just trying to get as many players over here [who] kind of want to be in and be a part of what’s going to happen because it’s about to be something special that really happens here.” |
Friday, March 25, 2016
Cindi Leive edits a magazine called Glamour. I have never
read it but I can guess what it’s about. Surely, she was the right woman to
review Peggy Orenstein’s new book about teenage girls and sex.
She opens with a scene that sums it all up, though in ways
that escape her:
There’s
a moment midway through Peggy Orenstein’s latest book that seems to sum up what
it’s like to be a teenage girl right now. An economics major taking a gender
studies class is getting dressed in her college dorm room for a night out,
cheerfully discussing sexual stereotyping in advertising with Orenstein — while
at the same time grabbing a miniskirt and a bottle of vodka, the better to
achieve her evening goal: to “get really drunk and make out with someone.” “You
look hot,” her friend tells her — and the student, apparently registering the
oddness of the scene, turns to Orenstein. “In my gender class I’m all, ‘That
damned patriarchy,’” she says. “But ...
what’s the
point of a night if you aren’t
getting attention from guys?” Her
ambition, she explains, “is to
be just slutty enough, where you’re not
a prude but you’re not a whore. ... Finding that balance is every college
girl’s
dream, you know what I mean?”
This is not new. Tufts professor Nancy Bauer described a
similar scene in a Times article several years ago.
The difference is: Bauer
understands that she is describing what happens to women when they drink the
feminist Kool-Aid. Leive does not understand that one of the major cultural
forces making these girls do as they do is feminism.
And yet, the woman whose idea of a great evening is getting
drunk out of her mind on vodka—vodka that she, liberated woman, supplies
herself—and then making out—surely a euphemism for what she can only do when she is blind
drunk—with a guy who she just met. She is living the feminist
dream, but is too drunk and too brainwashed to know it.
For reasons that do not require too much exposition feminism
seems to instill in young women a pathological anxiety about their ability to
attract men. These women so completely lack confidence in their
femininity that they are willing to do literally almost anything to gain male
attention, or, as Amy Schumer famously declared, to catch some dick. If that's your standard of success, you have a problem.
After all, if you have spent all of your time learning how
to lean in, to be assertive and aggressive very few men are going to find you
all that attractive. They might be willing to use you for sex, if you insist,
but that is usually as far as it goes.
Today’s liberated woman, fresh from her class in woman’s
studies might, if she is sufficiently intelligent, figure out that feminists
have been pimping her out to the patriarchy:
For
guys, she says, there is fun and pleasure; for girls (at least the straight
ones), too little physical joy, too much regret and a general sense that the
boys are in charge. Fully half the girls in Orenstein’s book say they’ve been
coerced into sex, and many had been raped — among them, by the way, that econ
major, who was so confused that when her assailant dropped her off the next
morning, she told him, “Thanks, I had fun.” The sexual playing field Orenstein
describes is so tilted no girl could win.
To be fair, Leive offers Orenstein’s list of all of the
factors that have produced this situation. I do not disagree with any of them. But,
why is feminism not on the list and why do these women not understand that
feminism has robbed young women of their self-esteem as women.
When you are blaming pornography, you should also recall
that feminists have encouraged women to be open and free and sexually
liberated. And that feminism for decades now has promoted a graphic awareness
of the female genitalia. Recently, feminists started having a national
conversation about periods.
Any woman who feels sexually exposed will also feel that she
does not have any self-respect. As for the last shred of her dignity… she will
drown it in vodka.
Leive lists some of the problem:
There’s
pornography, which teaches boys to expect constantly willing, fully waxed
partners, and girls to imitate all those arched backs and movie-perfect moans.
(Sorry, male college students, but studies show that the percentage of your
female peers who fake orgasm has been steadily rising.) There are the abstinence-only
sex-ed programs of the last two decades, which she argues encourage shame and
misinformation; and the unhelpful tendency of even liberal parents to go mute
with their daughters on the subject of what they deserve in bed. (“Once parents
stopped saying ‘Don’t,’” Orenstein observes, “many didn’t know
what to say.”) There’s alcohol, so much alcohol, a
judgment-dulling menu of Jäger
bombs and tequila shots. There’s
selfie culture, which Orenstein charges encourages girls to see themselves as
objects to be “liked” (or not) — a simple-sounding phenomenon with surprisingly
profound implications, since self-objectification has been linked with
everything from depression to risky sexual behavior. There are the constant
images of naked, writhing women, as well as the idea that taking your clothes
off is a sign of power.
However much girls feel abused or worse in hookups, they
prefer hookups to having feelings or having a relationship. Because the latter
might make them feel like girls and might make them want something other than
to be down on their knees servicing a guy they just met.
To be more explicit, feelings might lead to a relationship
and a relationship might lead to a commitment and a commitment might lead to a
marriage and that, my friends, would sidetrack the woman’s career. And we know,
for feminists that only thing that matters is the career track:
… girls
share that while an endless string of hookups can bum them out, many of them
prefer it to “catching feelings” for a guy, which would make them more
vulnerable. (The interviews also reveal an almost comical generation gap. When
one recent high school graduate explains to Orenstein that performing oral sex
is “like money or some kind of currency. ... It’s how
you make friends with the popular guys. ... It’s more
impersonal than sex,”
Orenstein writes, “I may
be of a different generation, but, frankly, it’s hard
for me to consider a penis in my mouth as ‘impersonal.’”)
Unfortunately, Leive and Orenstein think that it can all be
solved with more therapy and more sex education. A sad conclusion. It would be
better if older feminists took some responsibility for the situation they
created.
7 comments:
I admire a (not overly religous) father who told me when his only daughter was going off to college that he'd pay 100% of her college costs if she agreed to refrain from all sexual activity until she graduates, and he said she said "Deal, that was my plan anyway."
I wonder if it really works for a 20-year old woman to say "I'd really like to make out with you, but my dad won't let me, and he's paying for my college. Would you like to pay instead? I only have two years left, at $20k/year after my scholarships."
One thing that would help a lot: if people would avoid drunken sex. Not talking about a couple of glasses of wine, but about really inebriated.
Several years ago, a female friend had just wrapped up an unpleasant legal proceeding. I asked her what she was going to do to celebrate.
She: Get drunk and get laidMe: Hmm, bad combination. It would be sad if the lay-ing was good and you were so tanked you couldn't even remember it.Me: Why don't you get laid one night and get drunk a different night?She: Huh, never thought of it that way
Now she wasn't talking about going to the bar and hooking up. The planned lay-ing was by a guy she'd been dating for several months and she later married. This is an extremely intelligent woman (didn't go to college, though) who seems to have a real sense of fairness and integrity.
From an evolutionary fitness perspective, the female chauvinist's indoctrination of women and girls to greedily adopt a promiscuous orientation, to eagerly become taxable commodities of the state, and to voluntarily abort their Posterity for wealth, pleasure, leisure, and ego, is a rarely achieved victory for a master class.
That said, to be fair, the opiate of a pro-choice religion, and elixir of liberal behavior, are first-order anthropogenic causes of dysfunction in progressive societies.
Feminism is like the democrat war on poverty. If either of them had any sense they would have surrendered a long while ago. We have gotten more poverty and young women who are becoming the providers of young men's wishes.In both cases people have become what they protested they did not want. You have come a long way baby. |
mother! type Movie
Not even Jennifer Lawrence could win over CinemaScore audiences with mother! Her new ‘WTF’ film with director (and current boyfriend) Darren Aronofsky earned a dreaded F from the movie polling company after Friday night screenings.
mother! had a positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes (69 percent of critics gave the film a positive review), but audiences revolted against Aronofsky’s film, which mixes broad religious allegory with home-invasion horror and ends with a sequence of shocking, R-rated violence. The overall rejection might have something to do with how the film was marketed, as CinemaScore founder Ed Mintz explained in a 2016 interview about his company.
“A’s generally are good, B’s generally are shaky, and C’s are terrible. D’s and F’s, they shouldn’t have made the movie, or they promoted it funny and the absolute wrong crowd got into it,” he said.
CinemaScore grades films based on reactions from moviegoers at the start of opening weekend at theaters across North America and Canada with a ballot of six questions. Other movies with an F grade include Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly, Richard Kelly’s The Box, I Know Who Killed Me with Lindsay Lohan, William Friedkin’s Bug, Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek, Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris, and Robert Altman’s Dr. T and the Women.
So, mother!‘s F grade doesn’t necessarily mean it’s dead in the water upon arrival, but rather it’s a reflection of how the first audiences are responding to the work’s high concepts compared with the movie promised via its trailer. Critics are still figuring it all out.
mother! stars Lawrence and Javier Bardem as a newlywed couple living in the middle of nowhere. Their marital bliss is interrupted when two unexpected guests — a man (Ed Harris) and his wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) — arrive at their doorstep. What ensues is “Rosemary’s Baby amped up into a fugue state of self-indulgent solipsism,” EW’s Chris Nashawaty writes.
“I’ve been a fan, so once he told me the ideas floating around in his head I said yes,” Lawrence said of Aronofksy. “Then I got a script and when I read it I threw it across the room and told him he had severe psychological problems. But it’s a masterpiece.”
mother! is now playing in theaters. |
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Q:
What's the difference between java.lang.String.getBytes() and java.nio.charset.CharsetEncoder.encode()?
I was reading through the source code of java.lang.String, specifically getBytes():
public byte[] getBytes(Charset charset) {
if (charset == null) throw new NullPointerException();
return StringCoding.encode(charset, value, offset, count);
}
However, I couldn't find the StringCoding.encode() method in the Java API. I'd like to be able to compare it with java.nio.charset.CharsetEncoder.encode(), since that class/method is referenced as an alternative in the String.getBytes() javadoc. How do I find the StringCoding class, and it's source code? And what is the difference between the respective .encode() methods?
A:
The difference is that with a CharsetEncoder you can choose how to fail; this is the CodingErrorAction class.
By default, String's .getBytes() uses REPLACE. Most uses of CharsetEncoder however will REPORT insead.
You can see an example of CodingErrorAction usage at the end of this page.
One such example of REPORT usage is in java.nio.file. At least on Unix systems, a pathname which you created from a String will be encoded before it is written to disks; if the encoding fails (for instance, you use ö and system charset US-ASCII), the JDK will refuse to create the file and you will be greeted with an (unchecked!) InvalidPathException.
This is unlike File which will create who knows what as a file name, and one more reason to ditch it...
|
=================
Glance User Guide
=================
.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 2
identifiers
statuses
formats
common-image-properties
metadefs-concepts
glanceapi
glanceclient
glancemetadefcatalogapi
signature
|
Marcas
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Tuesday, June 3, 2014
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---
abstract: 'We study the collective quark excitations in an extremely anisotropic system of two interpenetrating streams of the quark-gluon plasma. In contrast to the gluon modes, all quark ones appear to be stable in such a system. Even more, the quark modes in the two-stream system are very similar to those in the isotropic plasma.'
address: |
Sołtan Institute for Nuclear Studies\
ul. Hoża 69, PL - 00-681 Warsaw, Poland\
and Institute of Physics, Świȩtokrzyska Academy\
ul. Konopnickiej 15, PL - 25-406 Kielce, Poland
author:
- 'Stanisław Mr'' owczy'' nski[^1]'
date: '25-th April 2002'
title: Quasiquarks in two stream system
---
PACS: 12.38.Mh, 11.10.Wx
[*Keywords:*]{} Quark-gluon plasma; Thermal field theory; Collective modes
The quark-gluon plasma exhibits a rich spectrum of collective excitations. During the last two decades a lot of efforts has been paid to study the equilibrium plasma and the excitations are rather well understood in this case, see [@Bla01] for an extensive review. Much less is known about the collective modes in the nonequilibrium quark-gluon plasma such as the parton system generated at the early stage of ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC or LHC. The parton momentum distribution is not istotropic but strongly elongated along the beam [@Gei95; @Wan97]. Therefore, specific color fluctuations, instead of being damped, can exponentially grow and noticeably influence the temporal evolution of the whole system. In a series our papers [@Mro88; @Mro93; @Mro94] it has been argued that there are indeed very fast unstable transverse gluon modes in such a parton system. The analysis [@Mro93; @Mro94] has been performed within the semiclassical transport theory [@Elz89; @Mro89]. However, it has been later shown that one gets the equivalent results within the hard loop approach [@Bra90a] extended to the anisotropic systems [@Mro00]. In the same paper [@Mro00], the quark self energy for an arbitrary momentum distribution has been computed at one loop level and the dispersion relation of quarks in the anisotropic plasma has been also briefly discussed.
The aim of this note is to consider for the first time the quark modes in the anisotropic plasma. We start with an extremely anisotropic system of two interpenetrating parton streams. The gluon modes have been discussed in such a system in the several papers [@Mro88; @Pok88; @Pok90a; @Pok90b; @Pav92] and the instabilities have been found. We show here that in contrast to the gluon excitations all quasiquark modes in the two-stream system are stable and rather similar to those in the isotropic plasma. At the end we argue that our results obtained for two streams approximately hold for any system of strongly elongated momentum distribution.
The quark dispersion relations are determined by the poles of quark propagator or equivalently are found as solutions of the equation $$\label{dispersion-eq1}
{\rm det}\Big[ k\!\!\!/\, - \Sigma (k^{\mu}) \Big] = 0 \;,$$ where $k^{\mu} = (\omega, {\bf k})$ is the mode’s four momentum; the mass of the bare quark is assumed to vanish. The quark self energy $\Sigma (k^{\mu})$ has been found [@Mro00] within the Hard Loop approximation at one loop level in the following form: $$\label{self}
\Sigma (k^{\mu}) = \frac{g^2}{16}C_F \int \frac{d^3p}{(2\pi )^3}\:
\frac{f({\bf p})}{|{\bf p}| }\:
\frac{\gamma _0 - {\bf v}\cdot {\mbox{\boldmath$\gamma$}}}
{\omega - {\bf v}\cdot {\bf k}+i0^+}\; ,$$ where $g$ is the coupling constant of QCD with $N_c$ colors and $C_F \equiv (N_c^2 - 1)/N_c$; ${\bf v} \equiv {\bf p}/ |{\bf p}|$ is the parton velocity and $\gamma^{\mu}=(\gamma^0, {\mbox{\boldmath$\gamma$}})$ are Dirac matrices; $f({\bf p}) \equiv n({\bf p}) + \bar n({\bf p}) + 2 n_g({\bf p})$ and $n({\bf p})$, $\bar n({\bf p})$, and $n_g({\bf p})$ denote distribution functions of, respectively, quarks, antiquarks and gluons. The effective distribution function $f$ is arbitrary though symmetric i.e. $f(-{\bf p}) = f({\bf p})$.
Since the spinor structure of $\Sigma$ given by Eq. (\[self\]) is very simple i.e. $\Sigma (k^{\mu}) = \gamma^0 \Sigma^0(\omega,{\bf k})
- {\mbox{\boldmath$\gamma$}}{\mbox{\boldmath$\Sigma$}}(\omega,{\bf k})$, the dispersion equation (\[dispersion-eq1\]) simplifies to $$\label{dispersion-eq2}
\big( \omega - \Sigma^0(\omega, {\bf k}) \big)^2
- \big({\bf k} - {\mbox{\boldmath$\Sigma$}}(\omega, {\bf k}) \big)^2 =0 \;.$$
Let us now consider an extremely anisotropic system of two interpenetrating streams with the distribution function of the form $$\label{distribution-f}
f({\bf p}) = (2\pi)^3 \rho \: [ \delta^{(3)}({\bf p}-{\bf q})
+ \delta^{(3)}({\bf p}+{\bf q}) ] \;,$$ where the parameter $\rho$ is related to the parton density in the stream. The vector ${\bf q}$ is assumed to be parallel to $z-$axis. Substituting (\[distribution-f\]) into Eq. (\[self\]) one immediately finds the self energies $$\begin{aligned}
\label{self2}
\Sigma^0(\omega, {\bf k}) = m^2 {\omega \over \omega^2 - k_z^2}\;,
\\ [2mm] \nonumber
\Sigma^x(\omega, {\bf k}) = \Sigma^y(\omega, {\bf k}) = 0 \;,
\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;\;
\Sigma^z(\omega, {\bf k}) = m^2 {k_z \over \omega^2 - k_z^2} \;,
\nonumber\end{aligned}$$ where $m^2 \equiv g^2 C_F \rho /(8|{\bf q}|)$, and gets the following dispersion equation: $$\label{dispersion-eq3}
{\omega^2 (\omega^2 - k_z^2 - m^2)^2 \over (\omega^2 - k_z^2)^2}
- k_T^2
-{k_z^2 (\omega^2 - k_z^2 - m^2)^2 \over (\omega^2 - k_z^2)^2} = 0 \;,$$ with $k_T \equiv \sqrt{k_x^2 + k_y^2}$. Eq. (\[dispersion-eq3\]) is easily solved providing two quark ($\omega_{\pm} > 0$) and two antiquark ($\omega_{\pm} < 0$) modes: $$\label{modes-2s}
\omega_{\pm}^2(k_T,k_z) = m^2 + k_z^2 + {1 \over 2} k_T^2
\pm \sqrt{m^2 k_T^2 + {1\over 4}k_T^4 }
\cong m^2 + k_z^2 + {1 \over 2} k_T^2 \pm m \, k_T \;,$$ where the second approximate equality holds for $m \gg k_T$. Since the modes are pure real, there is no instability. The dispersion relations (\[modes-2s\]) are illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.
We are going to compare now the quark modes in the two-stream system (\[modes-2s\]) to those in the isotropic plasma studied, in particular, in [@Wel82; @Bla93]. In contrast to the derivations in [@Wel82; @Bla93], we do not assume that the system is in the thermodynamic equilibrium. We only demand the isotropy of the parton momentum distribution i.e. the distribution function which enters the self energy (\[self\]) is of the form $f({\bf p})
= f(|{\bf p}|)$. Then, the angular and momentum integrals in Eq. (\[self\]) factorize and one finds $$\begin{aligned}
\label{self0-eq}
\Sigma^0(\omega, {\bf k}) &=& { M^2 \over 2k} \Big[ \,
{\rm ln}\Big| {\omega + k \over \omega -k} \Big|
-i \pi \Theta (k - \omega) \Big]
= {M^2 \over \omega} \big( 1 + {\cal O}(k^2/\omega^2) \big) \;, \\ [3mm]
\label{selfv-eq}
{\mbox{\boldmath$\Sigma$}}(\omega,{\bf k}) &=& { M^2 \over k^2} \; {\bf k}
- { M^2 \omega \over 2k^3 } \Big[ \,
{\rm ln}\Big| {\omega + k \over \omega -k} \Big|
-i \pi \Theta (k - \omega) \Big] \; {\bf k}
= {\cal O}(k^2/\omega^2) \; { M^2 \over k^2} \; {\bf k} \;,\end{aligned}$$ where $k \equiv |{\bf k}|$ and $$M^2 \equiv \frac{g^2}{32 \pi^2}C_F \int_0^{\infty} dp p \, f(p) \;.$$ In the case of massless baryonless plasma in thermal equilibrium $M$ is proportional to the system’s temperature.
Substituting the self energies (\[self0-eq\],\[selfv-eq\]) into the dispersion equation (\[dispersion-eq2\]), one finds the quark modes which in the long wavelength limit ($ \omega \gg k$) can be computed analytically and read $$\label{modes-eq}
\omega_{\pm}^2(k) \cong M^2 + {1 \over 2} k^2 \pm M \, k \;.$$ As seen, the quark long wavelength modes in the two-stream system (\[modes-2s\]) and in the isotropic plasma (\[modes-eq\]) are very similar to each other. The $\omega_+$ mode is nearly the same in the two systems for any wavelength. However, there is a qualitative difference in the case of the $\omega_-$ mode. In equilibrium, $\omega_-$ initially decreases with $k$ according to Eq. (\[modes-eq\]), then there is a shallow minimum at $k \approx M$ and further $\omega_-$ monotonically grows. In the two-stream system, $\omega_-$ is monotonically decreasing function of $k_T$. Since the phase velocity of the $\omega_-$ mode is greater than the velocity of light for sufficiently large $k_T$, the quasiquarks can emit gluons due to the Cherenkov mechanism. The relevance of the phenomenon for the nonequilibrium plasma from the early stage of heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC is under study.
One observes that the form of the quark self energy (\[self2\]) and consequently the dispersion relations (\[modes-2s\]) hold not only for a highly simplified distribution function (\[distribution-f\]) but for any strongly elongated momentum distribution. Indeed, if $\langle p_z^2 \rangle \gg \langle p_T^2 \rangle$ the velocities under the integral (\[self\]) can be approximated as $v_z \cong 1$ and $v_{x,y} \cong 0$. Then, one immediately gets the formulas (\[self2\]) with $$m^2 = \frac{g^2}{16}C_F \int \frac{d^3p}{(2\pi )^3}\:
\frac{f({\bf p})}{|{\bf p}| } \;.$$
We conclude our considerations as follows. In contrast to the gluon modes, the quark ones are all stable in the two-stream system. In the long wavelength limit, the quasi quark properties in the strongly anisotropic and isotropic systems are qualitatively the same. The $\omega_-$ mode can be responsible for the Cherenkov radiation.
[99]{}
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[^1]: Electronic address: mrow@fuw.edu.pl
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// https://github.com/tmpvar/jsdom/issues/317
// https://github.com/w3c/web-platform-tests/tree/master/dom/traversal
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Q:
PHP password-resetting page
I am producing a PHP code and I want to implement it in my server to do its function. My question is, are there any vulnerabilities that I should correct?
I tried to establish the session first then I will initiate a SQL connection and I will ask the user to enter his email. Also I added the reset function of his email.
<?php
if ($_SESSION['admin'] !== true) {
header('Location: /login.php?');
}
$conn = new mysqli("localhost","admin","password","db");
if ($conn->connect_error) {
die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}
$msg = '';
if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {
$email = $_POST['email'];
$sql = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = $email;";
$result = @$conn->query($sql);
if ($result->num_rows == 0) {
die("This email: $email is incorrect");
}
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
$id = $row["id"];
$surename = $row["surename"];
$sql = "SELECT * from users JOIN password_resets ON (password_resets.user_id=users.id) WHERE id=$id;";
$result = @$conn->query($query);
if ($result->num_rows == 0) {
$insert_sql = "INSERT INTO password_resets (user_id, reset_timestamp) VALUES ($id, unix_timestamp());";
if ($conn->query($insert_sql) !== TRUE) {
die("Error: " . $insert_sql . "<br>" . $conn->error);
}
}
$result = $conn->query($query);
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
$link = "https://".$_SERVER['SERVER_NAME']."/reset.php?id=".$row['id'] ."×tamp=".$row['reset_timestamp'];
$message = "Hi, $surename,
Here's your password reset link: $link";
$headers = "From: ".$_SESSION['first_name']." ".$_SESSION['last_name']." <".$_SESSION['email'].">";
mail($email,"Your password reset link",$message,$headers);
$msg = "Password reset for $email sent!";
?>
<html>
<head><title>Reset password for a user</title></head>
<body>
<form>
<div class="message"><?=$msg ?></div>
<input type="text" width=80 name="email">
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Send">
</form>
</body>
</html>
<?php
}
A:
Your code is wide open to SQL Injection which is the most dangerous web vulnerability. This occurs when you execute SQL queries with unsanitized user data. By placing the raw $_POST variable directly in your query you are allowing an attacker to inject their own SQL into your query and execute it. They can do anything from stealing data to deleting your database.
To combat this you must use parameterized queries. Stack Overflow covers this very well but here's what your code would like if you use mysqli with prepared statements:
$stmt = $dbConnection->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = ?');
$stmt->bind_param('s', $email); // 's' specifies the variable type => 'string'
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
You also are wide open to Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks which is the #7 web vulnerability. This occurs because you take raw $_POST data and output it directly into your HTML. An attacker can place malicious code in this value and attack your users and site once it is rendered by the browser.
When outputting user data, always escape that data. Stack Overflow covers this as well. In PHP you can do this by using htmlspecialchars().
<?= htmlspecialchars($msg, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8'); ?>
You will notice that the one $_POST variable, $_POST['email'], has left your site wide open to attack. Before you even attempt to use it you should validate it indeed is a valid email address. If it is not, you should report an error and not attempt to use it as it obviously is invalid and useless anyway.
PHP offers an easy way to validate an email addresses. filter_var() with the FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL flag will validate if an email address is valid.
$email = $_POST['email'];
if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
// email is invalid. report error and abort.
}
On a different note, you start your script off by checking to see if a user is an admin. If they are not you use header() to do a redirect away from that page. That's usually okay but you should follow it with a call to exit() to ensure the script stops executing. If not, the code below may still execute and, combined with other vulnerabilities in the page, leave you open to attack.
if ($_SESSION['admin'] !== true) {
header('Location: /login.php?');
exit;
}
|
Q:
Блок try/catch в цикле
Мой код:
import java.util.Scanner;
public class Main {
private static int x;
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
try {
x = in.nextInt();
}
catch (java.util.InputMismatchException e) {
System.out.println("Вы точно ввели целое число?");
}
for (int i = 1; i <= x; i++) {
if ((i % 2) == 0) {
System.out.println("SD");
} else {
System.out.println("DS");
}
}
}
}
Я хочу, чтобы выводилось сообщение "Вы точно ввели целое число?", пока пользователь не введёт целое число. И дальше код продолжил работать. Как мне это сделать?
Пытался зациклить и в catch использовать continue, но безрезультатно.
A:
Ориентируйтесь на x == 0
while (x == 0) {
try {
x = in.nextInt();
}
catch (java.util.InputMismatchException e) {
System.out.println("Вы точно ввели целое число?");
}
}
После успешного nextInt x станет не 0 и цикл завершится. Если можно будет вводить 0 то этот способ не подойдет. Или укажите изначально x числом, которое вводить нельзя (например отрицательное). Если вводить можно любое число, то поменяйте переменную на Integer и проверяйте в условии цикла то что она null. Или создайте цикл так:
while (true) {
try {
x = in.nextInt();
break;
}
catch (java.util.InputMismatchException e) {
System.out.println("Вы точно ввели целое число?");
}
}
|
Q:
Compute $E(\sqrt{X+Y})$ given that $X,Y$ are iid
Compute $E(\sqrt{X+Y})$ given that $X,Y$ are iid.
Assume $X,Y$ are iid both having an Exp($\lambda=1)$ distribution.
Although this is the only information provided in the question, I know that since they are independent, then the joint distribution must be $$f_{X,Y}(X,Y)=e^{-x} e^{-y}$$
Then we must integrate:
$$\int_{0}^{\infty}\int_{0}^{\infty}e^{-x}e^{-y}(x+y)^{1/2}dxdy=\int_{0}^{\infty}e^{-y}\int_{0}^{\infty}e^{-x}(x+y)^{1/2}dxdy$$
This integral seems complicated to evaluate. I tried it out and it seems like I'll have to do parts atleast twice. Wolfram says the answer is $1.32934$ and I have $1.33$ as one of the options to this question.
I want to know if there's an easier way to evaluate this. Do I even need the integral? Or perhaps is there some trick to get the answer with this integral?
A:
One way of getting the integral slightly faster is to see that everything is in terms of $x+y$ only.
So let $z=x+y$, which ranges from $0$ to $\infty$, and then given $z$ we have $x$ ranges from $0$ to $z$. The Jacobian for this is just $1$.
Then the double integral becomes
$$
\int_0^{\infty}\int_0^ze^{-z}z^{\frac{1}{2}}\,\mathrm{d}x\,\mathrm{d}z=\int_0^{\infty}e^{-z}z^{\frac{3}{2}}\,\mathrm{d}z=\Gamma\left(\frac{5}{2}\right)=\frac{3\sqrt{\pi}}{4}$$
|
On Tue, 22 Mar 2005, Benjamin Herrenschmidt wrote:
> On Mon, 2005-03-21 at 15:19 +0200, Martin-Éric Racine wrote:
> > Regarding overall pmac ALSA support, is there a table that shows what
> > works and what is broken for each supported sound hardware? Such a table
> > could go a long way towards helping whoever will pocket the $500 Ubuntu
> > bounty for fixing ALSA for all pmac sound hardware variants.
>
> Not exactly, you are welcome to start such a table though :)
This is what I have so far:
------works y/n------
CHIPSET MODELS BEEP ALSA
awacs
burgundy G3 iMac no no
daca
keywest
tumbler
Other people are quite welcome to contribute additional data, especially
which PowerMac models use which chipset. Tools that can be used to find
the info include 'lspci' 'dmesg' and 'hwinfo' - just to name a few.
--
Martin-Éric Racine
http://www.iki.fi/q-funk/ |
United States Court of Appeals
FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT
___________
Nos. 98-4087/99-2057
___________
Margaret Holmes, *
*
Appellee/Cross Appellant, * Appeals from the United States
* District Court for the
v. * Eastern District of Arkansas.
*
Delta Memorial Hospital, * [UNPUBLISHED]
*
Appellant/Cross Appellee. *
___________
Submitted: August 3, 2000
Filed: August 8, 2000
___________
Before McMILLIAN, LOKEN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
___________
PER CURIAM.
After thirty-four years of satisfactory service, Margaret Holmes, an African-
American, was terminated from her position as a certified nurse’s assistant at Delta
Memorial Hospital because she failed to clock out before leaving the hospital for ten
minutes during her lunch break for a legitimate reason. Two days prior to her
termination, Holmes had criticized two white nurses, one of whom was her immediate
supervisor, for their treatment of an African-American patient, and these two nurses
were influential in persuading Delta’s Chief Nursing Officer to terminate Holmes.
Holmes filed this action against Delta, claiming it violated 42 U.S.C. § 1981 by
terminating her because of her race. Following a bench trial, the district court1 found
that Holmes had proved a prima facie case of race discrimination, that Delta’s stated
reason for the termination was pretextual, and that Delta had intentionally discriminated
against Holmes because of her race. The court awarded Holmes $15,000 in
compensatory damages and attorney’s fees of $5,750.
Delta appeals the verdict for Holmes, and Holmes cross-appeals the fee award.
After careful review of the record, we conclude the evidence was more than sufficient
to support the district court’s ultimate finding of intentional discrimination. See Reeves
v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 120 S. Ct. 2097, 2108 (2000); Sanders v. Alliance
Home Health Care, Inc., 200 F.3d 1174, 1176 (8th Cir. 2000). As to the fee award, the
district court applied the familiar lodestar analysis, determining a reasonable hourly rate
and the number of hours reasonably expended for a case of this difficulty and
complexity. Although Holmes’s counsel requested a higher hourly rate and argued that
more hours were reasonably expended, we conclude the district court’s fee award was
not an abuse of its substantial discretion. See Thorne v. Welk Inv., Inc., 197 F.3d
1205, 1213 (8th Cir. 1999) (standard of review); Polacco v. Curators of Univ. of Mo.,
37 F.3d 366, 370 (8th Cir. 1994). Accordingly, we affirm.
A true copy.
Attest:
CLERK, U. S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.
1
The HONORABLE JAMES MAXWELL MOODY, United States District
Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
-2-
|
Q:
Why doesn't grep using pipe work here?
I have the following command:
find / -name libGL.so.1
Which returns lots of lines with "Permission denied". I want to exclude such lines, so I added the following:
find / -name libGL.so.1 | grep -v 'denied'
But the output is the same - my grep -v 'denied' is not filtering out the lines with Permission denied. I've tried many variations, looked over grep tutorials, but I cannot figure out the problem. Any suggestions?
A:
That's nothing to do with grep - it's because the pipe | redirects the standard output stream stdout whereas the Permission denied messages are in the standard error stream stderr. You could achieve the result you want by combining the streams using 2>&1 (redirect the stream whose file descriptor is 2 to the stream whose file descriptor is 1) so that stderr as well as stdout gets piped to the input of the grep command
find / -name libGL.so.1 2>&1 | grep -v 'denied'
but it would be more usual to simply discard stderr altogether by redirecting it to /dev/null
find / -name libGL.so.1 2>/dev/null
Using |& instead of 2>&1 |
If you take a look at the Bash man page you'll likely notice this blurb:
If |& is used, the standard error of command is connected to command2's standard input through the pipe; it is shorthand for 2>&1 |.
So you can also use this construct as well if you want to join STDERR and STDOUT:
find / -name libGL.so.1 |& grep -v 'denied'
A:
Your command should be:
find / -name libGL.so.1 2>/dev/null
Find is complaining about permissions on standard error (fd2). In order to eliminate those lines, redirect (>) standard out to the bit bucket (/dev/null).
A:
The "permission denied" lines are going to the stderr (standard error) stream, but you are piping stdout (standard out) through grep.
You can redirect away stderr entirely with
find / -name libGL.so.1 2> /dev/null
|
Q:
using c++11 with ndk
i am trying to use some dnn features from dlib in https://github.com/tzutalin/dlib-android but i am always getting errors like
error: no member named 'to_string' in
namespace 'std'
and many more syntax errors
my application.mk file is like this
NDK_TOOLCHAIN_VERSION := clang
APP_ABI := armeabi-v7a arm64-v8a x86 x86_64
APP_CPPFLAGS := -std=c++11 -frtti -fexceptions
APP_PLATFORM := android-8
APP_STL := gnustl_static
#APP_CFLAGS+=-DDLIB_NO_GUI_SUPPORT=on
#APP_CFLAGS+=-DDLIB_PNG_SUPPORT=off
APP_CFLAGS+=-DDLIB_JPEG_SUPPORT=on
APP_CFLAGS+=-DDLIB_JPEG_STATIC=on
According to me c++11 should be working ..I dont get where's the problem
A:
This is https://github.com/android-ndk/ndk/issues/82
The fix for this is to switch from gnustl to libc++, but note that libc++ isn't as stable as gnustl is yet (working on fixing this ASAP, should be ready by the time r15 hits stable).
EDIT: As of NDK r16 libc++ is the recommended STL. Switch to using libc++ (see our docs) for full C++11 (and beyond) support.
|
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Julie & Julia (2009)
We watched Julie & Julia last night. This was an entertaining story and a well-made movie.
Meryl Streep was very endearing as Julia Child. Even though I've only seen the briefest of snippets from Child's television show, she seems like a highly likeable person: genuinely enthusiastic about the joy of food and preparing it.
I continue to be interested in people who have passions, and the movie is the story of two passions: Julia Child's discovery of her passion for cooking, and Julie Powell's discovery (by way of working through all the recipes in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and then blogging about them) of her passions for cooking and writing about it. Now that I'm thinking about it, the parts of the movie about Child do not focus as much on the writing of the cookbook, although there are a number of scenes about her relationships with her two French collaborators.
395. What are the similarities and differences between writing and cooking? I guess one similarity is that both are primarily solo activities, but a difference is that cooking is more tactile whereas writing occurs more in the mind.
396. I see that this movie was nominated for Best Musical/Comedy by the Golden Globes and that Streep is nominated for Best Actress. Which movies and actors/actresses will be the primary contenders for the Golden Globes and Actors? On Slate's Culture Gabfest, they've said that The Hurt Locker will get a nomination for Best Picture, and I think that's right-on -- it was my favorite movie of the year. I imagine that Morgan Freeman will get a nod for Invictus.
397. Did Julia Child really discover her passion for cooking as accidentally as it's portrayed in the movie? Or was that a bit of dramatic license -- was she in reality a more ambitious person than the film makes out?
398. Is Rachael Ray the top-selling cookbook writer at the moment? There's a great piece in this morning's New York Times where they have essays about each year of the decade, and Anthony Bourdain's essay for 2007 (here) talks about the way in which chefs' newfound celebrity enables them to -- at long last -- refute the claim that the customer is always right:
The best news of 2007 was that chefs, as a social class somehow empowered by the strange and terrible glare of celebrity, were finally free to rid themselves of the time-honored dictum of “the customer is always right.” If experience had taught chefs anything, it was that this is very rarely the case. Chefs were now trusted enough to persuade customers to try what they themselves loved to eat. |
Q:
Could CouchDB benefit significantly from the use of BERT instead of JSON?
I appreciate a lot CouchDB attempt to use universal web formats in everything it does: RESTFUL HTTP methods in every interaction, JSON objects, javascript code to customize database and documents.
CouchDB seems to scale pretty well, but the individual cost to make a request usually makes 'relational' people afraid of.
Many small business applications should deal with only one machine and that's all. In this case the scalability talk doesn't say too much, we need more performance per request, or people will not use it.
BERT (Binary ERlang Term http://bert-rpc.org/ ) has proven to be a faster and lighter format than JSON and it is native for Erlang, the language in which CouchDB is written. Could we benefit from that, using BERT documents instead of JSON ones?
I'm not saying just for retrieving in views, but for everything CouchDB does, including syncing. And, as a consequence of it, use Erlang functions instead of javascript ones.
This would modify some original CouchDB principles, because today it is very web oriented. Considering I imagine few people would make their database API public and usually its data is accessed by the users through an application, it would be a good deal to have the ability to configure CouchDB for working faster. HTTP+JSON calls could still be handled by CouchDB, considering an extra cost in these cases because of parsing.
A:
You can have a look at hovercraft. It provides a native Erlang interface to CouchDB. Combining this with Erlang views, which CouchDB already supports, you can have an sort-of all-Erlang CouchDB (some external libraries, such as ICU, will still need to be installed).
|
Q:
NativeScript - Cannot fit requested classes in a single dex file
I am working on an app using the latest version of NativeScript with Angular. I have added most of the pro-ui plugins to my project and added the Firbase plugin.
When I run “tns run android” I get the error:
“D8: Cannot fit requested classes in a single dex file. Try supplying a main-dex list.”
Also, it takes over 5 minutes to build. I have been doing some searching but I cannot find what is causing this problem. Does anyone know what is wrong?
A:
After much trial and error I have finally come to a solution. All other answers I've read have said that the multiDexEnabled property must be set to true in the android project's build.gradle file.
I wasn't sure how to do this for NativeScript though since the platforms folder is not committed to version control and can be potentially overwritten.
However, in your_project_root/app/App_resources/Android there are two files, settings.gradle and settings.json.
settings.gradle is used to generate your projects's build.gradle file from the properties you set in settings.json.
So, to the defaultConfig string template in settings.gradle I added:
if(__multiDexEnabled__) {
multiDexEnabled = __multiDexEnabled__
}
And to the JSON object defined in settings.json I added:
"multiDexEnabled": true
After that I deleted my project's platforms folder and ran:
> tns platforms add android
> tns run android
And my app started up on my phone with no problems.
|
This invention relates to drywall finishing, and more particularly to a method of reducing the time required to finish drywall joints and to a compound for sealing drywall joints.
The building industry widely uses gypsum board in the construction of residential homes, commercial buildings, and other structures. The gypsum board, also known as sheetrock or drywall is usually pre-cut in flat sheets of 4xc3x978 or 4xc3x9712 foot, having a thickness of xc2xd or ⅝xe2x80x3. The sheets of the gypsum board are hung on wood or metal studs to form an interior wall of the building. Typical walls have joints between the sheetrock segments that must be covered to form a smooth surface for application of the wallpaper or paint.
A conventional method of finishing the drywall comprises a number of steps. First, a drywall joint compound is deposited along the joint as a thin bead. The drywall joint compound usually has limestone, water, mica, vinyl acetate polymer and may also have talc. The limestone may be substituted by dolomite or gypsum. If the compound comes as a dry powder, it is mixed with the necessary amount of water, stirred and then applied with a six-inch joint finishing knife to the joint. Immediately after that, a drywall tape is placed over the bead of the drywall joint compound and the joint finishing knife is run over the tape to press the tape and cause it to adhere to the compound.
The first coat of the compound with the tape is allowed to dry for 24 hours. Then a second coat of the joint compound is applied over the first coat to cover the tape completely and to cover the interface between the tape and the wall. The second coat is allowed to dry for 24 hours. Then a third coat is applied with a 10-inch joint finishing knife to make a wide strip of the joint compound on the wall that would entirely cover the tape as well as the first two coats. When the final coat dries, again for about 24 hours, it is sanded to remove imperfections and achieve a smooth finish. The dust is wiped off or blown off to make the wall ready for wallpaper or paint application.
The disadvantage of the conventional method is that it requires 3-4 days to finish one wall, with a 24-hour drying period between joint compound applications. The drywall finisher has to come back to the same job several times before the walls are finished. The time spent on finishing the walls directly translates into the cost of the building construction. It would be therefore a considerable advantage to provide a method that would reduce the labor time in finishing the drywall and thereby reduce the overall cost of construction.
The present invention contemplates provision of such a method and a novel compound for finishing a drywall that would reduce the curing time and eliminate the need for multiple joint compound applications.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method of finishing a drywall by eliminating the number of coats necessary to finish a drywall.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a drywall joint compound that has reduced curing time and is strong enough even with one application.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved through the provision of a method of finishing a drywall, which includes the steps of mixing a drywall joint compound with a predetermined amount of water and a synthetic fiber, such as Columbian fiber. An optional liquid wallpaper adhesive may be added to the mixture. The mixed compound is then applied to the joint between the drywall sheets and allowed to dry for 24 hours. No further applications of the compound are necessary. The drywall joint becomes sealed with a smooth, strong seal.
The composition of the present invention contains between about 97.68% to about 98.8% of sheetrock compound, between about 0.247% to about 0.97% of water, between about 0.494% to about 0.73% of synthetic fiber, and between about 0.37% to about 0.61% by weight of the vinyl adhesive. The adhesive is selected from the family of vegetable adhesives
The presence of the synthetic fiber reduces the chance of the joint cracking, making the sealed joint somewhat xe2x80x9cflexible.xe2x80x9d At the same time, the joint seal is stable, capable of withstanding settling of the house, while preserving the even, smooth surface for the application of a wallpaper or paint. The same compound may be used for repairing the drywall and covering holes or punctures in the wall. The compound of the present invention eliminates the need for mesh fabric, which is conventionally used when repairing a drywall. |
gcm2 promotes glial cell differentiation and is required with glial cells missing for macrophage development in Drosophila.
glial cells missing (gcm) is the primary regulator of glial cell fate in Drosophila. In addition, gcm has a role in the differentiation of the plasmatocyte/macrophage lineage of hemocytes. Since mutation of gcm causes only a decrease in plasmatocyte numbers without changing their ability to convert into macrophages, gcm cannot be the sole determinant of plasmatocyte/macrophage differentiation. We have characterized a gcm homolog, gcm2. gcm2 is expressed at low levels in glial cells and hemocyte precursors. We show that gcm2 has redundant functions with gcm and has a minor role promoting glial cell differentiation. More significant, like gcm, mutation of gcm2 leads to reduced plasmatocyte numbers. A deletion removing both genes has allowed us to clarify the role of these redundant genes in plasmatocyte development. Animals deficient for both gcm and gcm2 fail to express the macrophage receptor Croquemort. Plasmatocytes are reduced in number, but still express the early marker Peroxidasin. These Peroxidasin-expressing hemocytes fail to migrate to their normal locations and do not complete their conversion into macrophages. Our results suggest that both gcm and gcm2 are required together for the proliferation of plasmatocyte precursors, the expression of Croquemort protein, and the ability of plasmatocytes to convert into macrophages. |
/**
* Copyright (c) 2015 NAVER Corp.
* egjs projects are licensed under the MIT license
*/
import State from "./State";
import { EVENTS, STATE_TYPE } from "../consts";
import { FlickingContext } from "../types";
class IdleState extends State {
public readonly type = STATE_TYPE.IDLE;
public readonly holding = false;
public readonly playing = false;
public onEnter() {
this.direction = null;
this.targetPanel = null;
this.delta = 0;
this.lastPosition = 0;
}
public onHold(e: any, { flicking, viewport, triggerEvent, transitTo }: FlickingContext): void {
// Shouldn't do any action until any panels on flicking area
if (flicking.getPanelCount() <= 0) {
if (viewport.options.infinite) {
viewport.moveCamera(viewport.getCameraPosition(), e);
}
transitTo(STATE_TYPE.DISABLED);
return;
}
this.lastPosition = viewport.getCameraPosition();
triggerEvent(EVENTS.HOLD_START, e, true)
.onSuccess(() => {
transitTo(STATE_TYPE.HOLDING);
})
.onStopped(() => {
transitTo(STATE_TYPE.DISABLED);
});
}
// By methods call
public onChange(e: any, context: FlickingContext): void {
const { triggerEvent, transitTo } = context;
triggerEvent(EVENTS.MOVE_START, e, false)
.onSuccess(() => {
// Trigger AnimatingState's onChange, to trigger "move" event immediately
transitTo(STATE_TYPE.ANIMATING)
.onChange(e, context);
})
.onStopped(() => {
transitTo(STATE_TYPE.DISABLED);
});
}
}
export default IdleState;
|
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an end effector, a robot, and a robot control apparatus.
2. Related Art
Robots including end effectors connected to robot main body units are known (for example, see Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2015-24473)). In the robot shown in Patent Document 1, a cable for supplying air for driving the end effector is provided, for example.
In the robot of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to connect the cable to the end effector and the robot main body unit for driving the end effector. Accordingly, there is a problem that time and effort are required for attachment of the end effector and replacement of the end effector.
On the other hand, for example, in the case where an operation unit for operation is provided in the end effector itself, it is considered that the end effector is grasped by a hand of a robot as shown in Patent Document 2 (JP-A-2013-166215) and the end effector is operated by pushing and pulling the operation unit. However, when the operation unit is pushed and pulled, the position of the end effector may change with respect to the hand and a work using the end effector may not appropriately be performed. Further, the end effector may be detached from the hand. |
Q:
Trouble passing arguments to controller class in JavaFx
I'm trying to build a simple Login panel in JavaFX. I've reviewed several other posts about this same problem using nearly the same approach here on stackoverflow but, as of yet, have not been able to figure out what I've done wrong. I'm using eclipse.
This part of my code works until I try to access login variable in my LoginController class. With in the initLogon method, the variable has data and is assigning it but when I try to access the variable from elsewhere it's null. My guess is that I'm somehow working in 2 separate instances of the LoginController class, one that is getting initialized by initdata and the other that is not, but I can't to figure out where I've failed to connect the dots.
Here are the relevant portions of my code:
Login class:
public class Login {
private Scene scene;
private GsonBuilder gsonBuilder;
private Config config;
private Token token; //auth token from json server
public Login(Scene scene, GsonBuilder gsonBuilder, Config config, Token token){
this.scene = scene;
this.gsonBuilder = gsonBuilder;
this.config = config;
this.token = token;
}
public void showLoginScreen(){
try {
FXMLLoader loader = new FXMLLoader(getClass().getResource("LoginScreen.fxml"));
scene.setRoot((Parent) loader.load());
LoginController controller = loader.<LoginController>getController();
controller.initLogin(this);
} catch (Exception ex) {
Logger.getLogger(Login.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
public Config getConfig(){ return this.config; }
public Token getToken(){ return this.token; }
public GsonBuilder getGsonBuilder(){ return this.gsonBuilder; }
}
LoginController class:
public class LoginController implements Initializable {
//Removed FXML stuff for brevity
private Login login;
public void initLogin(final Login login){
this.login = login;
//Troubleshooting line **works**
System.out.println("After initLogin, but from initLogin " +
this.login.getConfig().getAppUsername());
}
@Override
public void initialize(URL location, ResourceBundle resources) {
assert txtUsername != null : "fx:id=\"txtUsername\" was not injected: check your FXML file 'LoginScreen.fxml'.";
assert txtPassword != null : "fx:id=\"txtPassword\" was not injected: check your FXML file 'LoginScreen.fxml'.";
assert btnLogin != null : "fx:id=\"btnLogin\" was not injected: check your FXML file 'LoginScreen.fxml'.";
assert btnCancel != null : "fx:id=\"btnCancel\" was not injected: check your FXML file 'LoginScreen.fxml'.";
System.out.println(this.getClass().getSimpleName() + ".initialize");
// Troubleshoot line **Does not work**
System.out.println("During initialization " +
this.login.getConfig().getAppUsername());
//other stuff happens below here
}
// Other functions are here
}
TestApplication class:
// class extends Application above this (removed for brevity)
Stage loginStage = new Stage(StageStyle.UNDECORATED);
Scene scene = new Scene(new AnchorPane());
Login appLogin = new Login(scene, this.gsonBuilder, this.config, this.token);
appLogin.showLoginScreen();
loginStage.setScene(scene);
loginStage.show();
A:
The issue lies solely in the order things happen.
When you call FXMLLoader.load(), the FXMLLoader loads and parses the fxml, creates the controller instance, injects the @FXML-annotated fields, and calls initialize() on the controller instance. Then it returns.
In your code, you are (necessarily) calling controller.initLogin() after the load method completes, and consequently after the initialize() method has been invoked. So login is null in the initialize() method.
A quick fix is just to perform the initialization that depends on login in the initLogin() method.
Possibly a more robust fix is to control the instantiation of the controller. You can do this by removing the fx:controller attribute from the FXML file, instantiating the controller yourself, and setting the controller on the FXMLLoader:
public void showLoginScreen(){
try {
FXMLLoader loader = new FXMLLoader(getClass().getResource("LoginScreen.fxml"));
LoginController controller = new LoginController();
controller.initLogin(this);
loader.setController(controller);
scene.setRoot((Parent) loader.load());
} catch (Exception ex) {
Logger.getLogger(Login.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
Alternatively, keep the fx:controller attribute in the FXML file and use a controller factory. This approach is more useful if you want to reflectively inspect the controller class and set a value if an appropriate method or constructor exists. However, for this simple case it might look like:
public void showLoginScreen(){
try {
FXMLLoader loader = new FXMLLoader(getClass().getResource("LoginScreen.fxml"));
loader.setControllerFactory((Class<?> controllerType) -> {
if (controllerType == LoginController.class) {
LoginController controller = new LoginController();
controller.initLogin(this);
return controller ;
} else {
try {
return controllerType.newInstance();
} catch (Exception e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
}
});
scene.setRoot((Parent) loader.load());
LoginController controller = loader.<LoginController>getController();
controller.initLogin(this);
} catch (Exception ex) {
Logger.getLogger(Login.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
}
}
Note that both of these examples allow you to define LoginController with a constructor parameter, instead of with a method specifically initializing the Login, which can lead to more robust code.
|
Alcohol use in women 65 years of age and older.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between depression, codependency, self-coherence, and alcohol use and health outcomes in women 65 years of age and older. The framework is Erikson's ego-development theory. A convenience sample of 238 women was obtained from women attending flu shot clinics. This cross-sectional field study used survey methodology. Measures included the Beck Depression Inventory, Codependency Assessment Tool, Self-Coherence Survey Form C, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, Alcohol Use Questionnaire, Self-Rated Health Tool, Quality of Life Visual Analogue Scale, Functional Ability Scale, Illness Prevention Screening Behaviors Checklist, and Sociodemographic Data. Results indicate a low consumption and little variation in use of alcohol. There were no significant associations between alcohol consumption and the dependent variables. Depression was significantly related to all the health outcomes; codependency was significantly related to all health outcomes except perceived quality of life; and self-coherence was significantly related to all health outcomes except illness prevention behavior. These findings have important implications for those providing care for older women. |
Trifunctional somatostatin-based derivatives designed for targeted radiotherapy using auger electron emitters.
Auger electron-emitting radionuclides have potential for the therapy of small-size cancers because of their high level of cytotoxicity, low-energy, high linear energy transfer, and short-range biologic effectiveness. Biologic effects are critically dependent on the subcellular (and even subnuclear) localization of these radionuclides. Our goals were the design, synthesis, and in vitro preclinical assessment of new trifunctional conjugates of somatostatin that should aim at the nucleus and, therefore, ensure a longer retention time in the cell, a close approximation to the DNA, and the success of Auger electron emitters in targeted radionuclide therapy as well as also improve other targeted therapy strategies. Three trifunctional derivatives of [(1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid)0,Tyr3]octreotide (DOTA-TOC) bearing the nuclear localization signal (NLS) (of simian virus 40 large-T antigen) PKKKRKV in 3 different positions relative to the somatostatin analog sequence were synthesized using solid and solution phase peptide synthesis. These compounds together with DOTA-TOC and DOTA-NLS derivatives were labeled with 111In and tested for binding affinity, internalization, externalization, and nuclei localization on AR4-2J cells and on human embryonic cells stably transfected with sst2A. The two N-terminal derivatives preserved the sstr2A binding affinity. Their rate of internalization in all tested sstr-expressing cell lines was always superior for the trifunctional derivatives in comparison with the parent compound. A 6-fold increase in cellular retention from the total internalized activity and a 45-fold higher accumulation in the cell nuclei were found for one of the N-terminally modified compounds compared with [111In]-DOTA-TOC. The C-terminal conjugate was inferior in all tests compared with the parent compound. These encouraging results support our hypothesis that an additional NLS sequence to the DOTA-TOC could not only provide a better carrier for Auger electron-emitting radionuclides but also ensure a longer radioactivity retention time in the tumor cell. |
[The effect of obzidan on the duodenogastric dyskinesia induced by the ulcerogenic action of pentagastrin].
The effects of pentagastrin on gastroduodenal myoelectric activity were investigated in chronic experiments on rabbits before and after beta adrenoceptor blocking by propranolol. Ulcerogenic dose of pentagastrin (0.2 mg/kg) leads to bilateral duodenogastric dyskinesia, during which duodenal activity increased, and gastric one decreased. Propranolol (2 mg/kg) provoked a more significant pentagastrin-induced disfunction, retrograde duodenogastric dyskinesia. The results indicate a protective effect of the adrenergic mechanisms during pentagastrin ulcerogenesis. |
Seriously, with the way Peyton is playing this year I don't think there is a team in the league who can beat us. And once we get Von and Champ back...
The Chiefs are much better than I thought they'd be, but the Broncos would have to play pretty badly to lose to KC. Not saying that the Chiefs are a bad team, they're not, they just aren't on the Broncos level.
Your secondary cannot cover our receivers and TE's. The only hope the Chiefs have is if they can get a pass rush going, which is unlikely because Denver has one of the best pass blocking lines in the league.
The Chiefs will be lucky to hold us to 30 points, and your offense poses no threat whatsoever to our defense.
did you know facts and you posts have nothing in common?
__________________
Psyko Tek
Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
Seriously, with the way Peyton is playing this year I don't think there is a team in the league who can beat us. And once we get Von and Champ back...
The Chiefs are much better than I thought they'd be, but the Broncos would have to play pretty badly to lose to KC. Not saying that the Chiefs are a bad team, they're not, they just aren't on the Broncos level.
What level would that be? You mean the ravens cant win on the road? Because they lost to the Bills today.
Or that the Chiefs cant beat the eagles? Wait, did that already.
So what exactly have you done, that the chiefs haven't done that has you say they have no chance?
Seriously, with the way Peyton is playing this year I don't think there is a team in the league who can beat us. And once we get Von and Champ back...
The Chiefs are much better than I thought they'd be, but the Broncos would have to play pretty badly to lose to KC. Not saying that the Chiefs are a bad team, they're not, they just aren't on the Broncos level.
Seriously, with the way Peyton is playing this year I don't think there is a team in the league who can beat us. And once we get Von and Champ back...
The Chiefs are much better than I thought they'd be, but the Broncos would have to play pretty badly to lose to KC. Not saying that the Chiefs are a bad team, they're not, they just aren't on the Broncos level.
You might be a fan of a good team who bought a really good quarterback, but you will always be a massive fair-wether tool who lives vicariously through his team.
You add nothing to this board, or society for that matter. You are just an epic ****ing douche.
Seriously, with the way Peyton is playing this year I don't think there is a team in the league who can beat us. And once we get Von and Champ back...
The Chiefs are much better than I thought they'd be, but the Broncos would have to play pretty badly to lose to KC. Not saying that the Chiefs are a bad team, they're not, they just aren't on the Broncos level.
You could be 0-4 right now and you'd be on here talking about how there's no one that can beat Peyton Manning moving forward.
Peyton Manning has lost regular season games before. You haven't played a defense 1/10th near the caliber of the Chiefs. You haven't faced any teams with a real pass rush, nor have you played any teams that can cover in the secondary. |