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RENDERED: FEBRUARY 18, 2016 TO BE PUBLISHED oSuprrittr Caurf TArttfurhu 2015-SC-000086-CL IN RE: F ROBERT A. WINTER, JR., PLAINTIFF AND CAMERON BLAU AND HONORABLE ALLISON JONES, INTERVENING PLAINTIFFS THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY, NORTHERN DIVISION COVINGTON, CIVIL NO. 14-119-ART HONORABLE STEPHEN D. WOLNITZEK, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS CHAIR, JUDICIAL CONDUCT COMMISSION, ET AL. OPINION OF THE COURT BY JUSTICE VENTERS CERTIFYING THE LAW Pursuant to CR 76.37(1), we granted the certification request of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (District Court), to provide the answer under Kentucky law to the following three questions and the associated sub-questions: Question 1: Canon 5A(1)(a) states that a judge or judicial candidate shall not "campaign as a member of a political organization." What constitutes "campaign[ing] as a member of a political  organization"? As applied to this case, would it include a candidate's statements in mailers identifying his political party, such as "I am the only Republican candidate for Judge" or "I am the Conservative Republican candidate for Judge"? Would a candidate's statement that his opponent was "the Democrat candidate for Judge" or the "Liberal Democrat for Judge" violate the Canon? Question 2: Canon 5A(1)(b) states that a judge or judicial candidate shall not "act as a leader or hold any office in a political organization." What constitutes "act[ing] as a leader or hold[ing] any office"? As applied to this case, would hosting events for a political party violate the Canon? Question 3: Canon 5B(1)(c) states that a judge or judicial candidate "shall not knowingly, or with reckless disregard for the truth, misrepresent any candidate's identity, qualifications, present position, or make any other false or misleading statements." What constitutes a false statement? As applied to this case, would it include a candidate who asks voters to "re-elect" her to a second term even though she was appointed to her first term? These canons were promulgated by this Court with the objective of complying with Section 117 of our Constitution requiring that "Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Court of Appeals, Circuit and District Court shall be elected from their respective districts or circuits on a nonpartisan basis as provided by law." (Emphasis added.) We interpret this provision of the Kentucky Constitution as directing that Kentucky's judicial elections be nonpartisan in truth and substance, and not merely in process and procedure by the superficial omission of a political party designation on the voting ballot. Accordingly, we provide the following certification of Kentucky law in response to the District Court's questions. 2  I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Robert A. Winter, Jr., filed to run in the May 2014 primary election as a candidate for circuit court judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit (Campbell County). As part of his campaign strategy, Winter mailed brochures to registered Republican voters identifying himself as a registered Republican and, conversely, identifying his opponents as registered Democrats. After the brochures were sent out, the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission (JCC) notified Winter that it had received complaints that his brochures violated the Kentucky Code of Judicial Conduct. Winter responded in June 2014 by filing suit in the District Court against the JCC challenging the constitutionality of Canons 5A(1)(a) (prohibiting judges and judicial candidates from campaigning as a member of a political organization) and 5B(1)(c) (prohibiting judges or judicial candidates from making "false" or "misleading" statements). During the same election cycle, Cameron Blau entered the race as a candidate for district court judge in the 17th Judicial District (Campbell County). Because Blau likewise intended to openly campaign as a Republican and send brochures likewise identifying himself as a Republican, in October 2014, Blau filed an intervening complaint to join Winter's challenge to Canons 5A(1)(a) and 5B(1)(c). As relevant here, Blau also challenged the constitutionality of Canon 5A(1)(b) (a judicial candidate shall not "act as a leader or hold any office in a political organization"). In his complaint, Blau stated that he wanted to send out brochures to potential voters identifying himself as "the only Republican candidate for Judge," or "the Conservative 3 Republican candidate for Judge" and identifying his opponent as "the Democrat candidate" or the "Liberal Democrat for Judge." Blau also indicated in his complaint that he wanted to seek the endorsement of the local Republican Party, host events for the local Republican Party, and make political donations to members of the Republican Party.' In a lengthy order preliminarily addressing the constitutionality of the canons under review (the Injunction Order), the District Court concluded that there was a likelihood that each of the canons at issue was unconstitutional, and granted Blau's motion to prevent the JCC from enforcing the canons against him in the November 2014 election. Allison Jones was appointed by Governor Steve Beshear to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in July 2013. To retain the office to which she was appointed, Jones became a candidate in the November 2014 General Election. In October 2014, the JCC received a complaint alleging that Judge Jones had made false and misleading statements in speeches and campaign materials. The "false and misleading statements" referred to Jones' use of the word "re-elect" to describe her effort to retain the judicial position to which she had been appointed rather than "elected." Jones then intervened in Winter's District Court action, contending that Canon 5B(1)(c) (prohibiting false statements) was unconstitutional. The only issue presented in Jones' portion of the case is whether an incumbent judge who was appointed to office may properly use the 1 Blau also raised constitutional challenges to other judicial canons not at issue in the questions of law presently before us. 4 word "re-elect" to describe her effort to retain the office to which she was appointed but not elected. It is within the context of this litigation that the District Court requested that we certify the law on the questions addressed herein. II. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS We begin with a few general considerations that guide our examination of the questions presented by the District Court. First, pursuant to the Kentucky Constitution, all judges and justices at every level of the state judiciary are selected by ballots cast by the people of Kentucky. Ky. Const. § 117. Thus, we recognize that the judicial canons we address in this decision were designed to serve the state's compelling interest of encouraging an unbiased and impartial judiciary for the Commonwealth, and that the Commonwealth's interest is offset by restricting the political speech of only the few who volunteer to be a candidate for office, not their supporters, advocates, and non-candidate adversaries. The ultimate objective of our system of judicial selection is to achieve a delicate balance. On one side of the scales, we must foster and protect the people's prerogative to choose by direct vote the judges that preside locally and statewide. On the other side of the scales, we must create a political environment in which judges selected by the citizens are not tethered, or beholden to partisan political factions and their associated creeds. And, we must do so in a way that preserves the judiciary as an institution that is not partial to or biased against any political faction. 5  The federal judicial system achieves this balance by an effective but different approach. Rather than selecting judges by popular election, the federal system selects judges by the collaborative effort of the political branches, the executive and the legislative, based upon any and all factors including the nominee's political ties, beliefs, and political ideologies. The federal system achieves its assurance that judges are not beholden to political interests and factions by appointing them for life. With the lifetime tenure, federal judges are liberated from any ties or allegiance to the political factions that supported their ascension, and that might otherwise seek to influence them. The federal system secures the government's vital interest in an independent judiciary at the expense of the people's ability to choose and replace their judges. Kentuckians, like the citizens of most states, chose to achieve the same balance by alternate means. We have judges who must earn the public's respect and maintain the public's confidence by periodically entering and re-entering the arena of elective politics. Kentucky, like most states, assures the impartiality and integrity of the judiciary, not with a lifetime appointment, but through moderate restrictions on partisan activities set out in canons of conduct. The judicial canons at issue in this case perform the same function of keeping judges free from the potentially corruptive influences and appearances of partisan politics accomplished in the federal system by the lifetime tenure of judges. As such, the canons that make up our Code Judicial 6 Conduct advance a laudable and necessary goal that serves a vital interest of this Commonwealth. In the discussions of the judicial canons at hand, we are mindful that the public's trust in, and respect for, its judiciary is at stake. We accordingly are constrained to undertake a narrow view of those canons as we answer the questions posed by the District Court. At the same time we provide an interpretation that complies with controlling First Amendment case authorities, strict scrutiny, and other relevant, constitutional principles relating to vagueness, overinclusiveness, and underinclusiveness. III. STANDARDS OF REVIEW Our canons of judicial conduct are set forth in Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 4.300. The preamble to the canons states in part: The Code of Judicial Conduct is intended to establish standards for ethical conduct of judges. It [of necessity] consists of broad statements . . . . The Canons and Sections are rules of reason. They should be applied consistent with constitutional requirements, statutes, other court rules and decisional law and in the context of all relevant circumstances . . . . This litigation concerns the restrictions on the speech of judicial candidates in judicial elections. Because the First Amendment 2 reviles 2 The First Amendment provides that Congress "shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech." The Fourteenth Amendment makes that prohibition applicable to the States. Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359, 368 (1931). 7  restrictions on core political speech, 3 such restrictions are subject to the strict scrutiny standard. Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar, 135 S. Ct. 1656, 1665 (2015). 4 Under the strict scrutiny standard, "[a] State may restrict the speech of a judicial candidate only if the restriction is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling interest." Id. Prior authorities have identified and held that there is a compelling governmental interest in encouraging an unbiased and impartial judiciary and in maintaining the integrity of the judiciary. See id. at 1666 (States have a compelling interest in preserving public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary). Those are precisely the interests addressed in the canons under review. We interpret the law, including the judicial canons now under review, by applying the plain and ordinary meaning of relevant text. Pearce v. University of Louisville, by & through its Board of Trustees, 448 S.W.3d 746, 749 (Ky. 2014). 5 We fundamentally undertake to construe the law so as to avoid an unconstitutional result. Caneyville Volunteer Fire Department v. Green's Motorcycle Salvage, Inc., 286 S.W.3d 790, 806 (Ky. 2009); Ballinger v. 3 Speech concerning public issues and the qualifications of candidates for elective office commands the highest level of First Amendment protection. See Eu v. San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee., 489 U.S. 214, 223 (1989). 4 This holding appears in Section II of Williams-Yulee, which was joined by only four Justices. However, the four dissenters likewise agree that strict scrutiny is the proper standard of review of laws constraining judicial campaign speech. Accordingly, it is now definitively established that strict scrutiny is the proper standard of review in judicial electioneering cases. 5 Of course, there is an obvious difference between our interpretation of legislative acts, in which our principal objective is to determine the intent of another body; here, the judicial canons we interpret were promulgated by this Court, and thus in this sense we are interpreting our own work. 8  Commonwealth, 459 S.W.3d 349, 354 (Ky. 2015) (citations omitted). Of course this fundamental rule of construction also applies to the interpretation of the rules we promulgate. Summe v. Judicial Retirement and Removal Commission, 947(S.W.2d 42, 47 (Ky. 1997). Moreover, we accede to the decisions of the federal courts addressing important First Amendment issues relating to judicial candidate electioneering. Because recent federal decisions guide our interpretation of the canons at issue, we begin with a brief overview of their central holdings. In Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, 536 U.S. 765 (2002), the Supreme Court struck down a Minnesota judicial canon which prohibited candidates for judicial election from announcing their views on disputed legal or political issues. Proponents of the canon argued that it survived the strict scrutiny test because it served the compelling governmental interest of preserving the appearance of an impartial judiciary. The Court, however, concluded that the canon failed the strict scrutiny test because it did not advance the proffered interest. The Court held that the canon did not preserve the appearance of an impartial judiciary because it did not restrict speech advocating for or against particular parties or political factions; rather, it restricted candidates from expressing their own personal opinions on popular issues. The Court found no compelling state interest in suppressing judicial candidates' views on such issues. 6 6 See also J.C.J.D. v. R.J.C.R., 803 S.W.2d 953 (Ky. 1991) (Panel of Special Justices) (Code of Judicial Conduct provision prohibiting all discussion of judicial 9  In Family Trust Foundation of Kentucky v. Wolnitzek, 345 F. Supp. 2d 672 (E.D. Ky. 2004), the District Court considered Kentucky's Judicial Canon 5B(1)(c), which provided, in relevant part, that a judge or candidate to judicial office "shall not make pledges or promises of conduct in office other than the faithful and impartial performance of the duties of the office; [and] shall not make statements that commit or appear to commit the candidate with respect to cases, controversies or issues that are likely to come before the court[.]" In striking down the canon, the District Court held that the canon was unconstitutionally overbroad in that it was not limited to a ban on promises or commitments by candidates to rule a certain way on cases likely to come before them (which would be sustainable as furthering a compelling government interest in securing judicial open mindedness), and it consequently stifled the right of judges and candidates to speak out on issues and the corresponding right of voters to hear their views. Consistent with that determination the decision further held that judicial candidates cannot be prohibited from responding to election issue questionnaires inquiring into their positions on public issues. In Carey v. Wolnitzek, 614 F.3d 189 (6th Cir. 2010), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a former version of Kentucky Judicial Canon 5A(2), which prohibited judges and judicial candidates from disclosing their party candidate's views on disputed legal or political issues unnecessarily violated constitutional free speech rights of judicial candidates). 10 affiliation in any form of advertising, or when speaking to a gathering, except in answer to a direct question by a voter in one-on-one or very small private informal settings, was unconstitutional because it was not narrowly tailored to advance the Commonwealth's interest in preventing a biased judiciary, or diminishing the role of political parties in judicial selection, and thus the canon facially violated free speech and associational rights. The Sixth Circuit reasoned that by prohibiting candidates from disclosing their party affiliations, the clause effectively prevented candidates from announcing their individual views on many issues to the extent that a party identification signals the judicial candidate's alignment with the views incorporated into a political party's platform. The decision further held that the canon was underinclusive for these additional reasons: the identification of the candidate's party affiliation was forbidden only when the candidate raised the point and could otherwise be disclosed by the candidate's supporters; judicial candidates were not restrained from disclosing their memberships or affiliations with other types of organizations that advocated political opinions, such as the Federalist Society or the ACLU, which may be more telling than one's actual party identification itself; and the canon did not prohibit judicial candidates from being members of a political party. Rather, it only prohibited them from announcing their particular party membership.? 7 Carey also held that our canon prohibiting a judicial candidate from personally soliciting funds was unconstitutional; however, that holding has been superseded by Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar, 135 S. Ct. 1656 (2015) (upholding restrictions on a judicial candidate's personal solicitation of campaign funds). 11  Most recently, and perhaps most importantly, the Supreme Court decided in Williams-Yulee that a Florida judicial canon restricting a judicial candidate's personal solicitation of campaign funds was constitutional because it was narrowly tailored to serve the compelling governmental interest in obviating the indecorous practice of an attorney who regularly practiced before a judge, or a litigant with a case pending before a judge, personally handing cash to the judge or being placed in the untenable position of rebuffing the judge's personal solicitation. See also Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc., 556 U.S. 868, 889 (2009) (holding that there is serious risk of actual bias, based on objective and reasonable perceptions, when a person with a personal stake in a particular case has significant and disproportionate influence in placing a judge on the case by raising funds, or by directing a judge's election campaign, when the case was pending or imminent). With the above standards and constitutional limitations in mind, we now turn to the particular questions posed by the District Court in its certification of law request. IV. QUESTION I - CANON 5A(1)(A) The District Court's first question seeks certification of a broadly-stated question along with two more specific subparts. Canon 5A(1)(a) states as follows: Canon 5. A judge or judicial candidate shall refrain from inappropriate political activity. A. Political Conduct in General. 12  (1) Except as permitted by law, a judge or a candidate for election to judicial office shall not: (a) campaign as a member of a political organization[.] (Emphasis added.) The section is further clarified by the following official commentary: A judge or a candidate for election to judicial office retains the right to participate in the political process as a voter. A judge or a candidate for election to judicial office may publicly affiliate with a political organization but may not campaign as a member of a political organization. Because the specific prohibition contained in Canon 5A(1)(a) (shall not . . . campaign as a member of a political organization) is limited by the introductory clause "except as permitted by law," our interpretation of the section is guided by the various First Amendment court decisions addressing judicial campaign issues as referenced above. A. Answer to Question 1: What constitutes "campaign[ing] as a member of a political organization"? The Terminology Section of SCR 4.300 defines a "political organization" as "denot[ing] a political party or other group, the principal purpose of which is to further the election or appointment of candidates to political office." The Democrat and Republican parties clearly fall within this definition. Carey held that a judicial candidate cannot be restrained from identifying himself as a member of a political party, and our current version of Canon 5 was promulgated in response to that decision. It follows that the canon does not, and indeed could not, reach that activity. In summary, a judicial candidate may identify himself to the public as a member of a political party. Carey v. 13 Wolnitzek, 614 F.3d 189; Commentary to Canon 5 ("a candidate for election to judicial office may publicly affiliate with a political organization"). Nevertheless, there is a vast difference between the permissible speech of a judicial candidate identifying herself as a member of a political party and the impermissibly deceptive conduct of representing herself as the nominee of a political party. The former statement would be true; the latter is by any standard, blatantly false. Canon 5A(1)(a) draws that distinction. The Canon 5 provision proscribing "campaigning as a member of a political organization" prohibits the dissemination of campaign materials and other public representations suggesting to the voters that the candidate is the endorsed judicial nominee of a political party. For example, a campaign representation such as "I am the Republican candidate for the 16th Judicial Circuit Court" is impermissible. There is no "Republican candidate" for that office; the assertion is materially false and misleading. See Canon 5B(1)(c) (prohibiting materially false statements). Political parties and factions do not select or nominate candidates for judicial office in Kentucky. Canon 5A(1)(a) merely recognizes and faithfully codifies this Constitutional reality. B. Answer to Question 1A: As applied to this case, would it include a candidate's statements in mailers identifying his political party, such as "I am the only Republican candidate for Judge" or "I am the Conservative Republican candidate for Judge"? As noted above, pursuant to Carey, prohibiting a judicial candidate from identifying himself as a member of a political party is unconstitutional and the present version of Canon 5A(1)(a) was drawn to comply with Carey. Therefore, the statement "I am the only Republican candidate for Judge" is permissible, as 14 long as it is true, because the message merely identifies the candidate as a Republican who is a candidate for judge, albeit the only one. It does not imply that the candidate is the nominee of the Republican Party, which would be prohibited. In contrast, the statement "I am the Conservative Republican candidate for Judge," transmits the message that the candidate is the formal nominee for the Republican Party. As discussed above, this is an impermissible depiction by the candidate of his status in the judicial race; the insertion of the modifier "Conservative" into the statement does not, in our view, dispel the disingenuousness of the statement. Under the current state of affairs of modern American politics, the Republican Party is commonly regarded as occupying the conservative side of the political spectrum, and so the addition of the modifier "Conservative" is surplusage, doing nothing to dispel the implied falsehood that the candidate is running for Kentucky judicial office as the formal candidate of the Republican Party. C. Answer to Question 1B: Would a candidate's statement that his opponent was "the Democrat candidate for Judge" or the "Liberal Democrat for Judge" violate the Canon? The statement by a candidate that his opponent is "the Democrat candidate for Judge" is an impermissible message to the voters. His opponent is not, in fact, the Democrat candidate for Judge. As previously explained, such candidates do not exist in Kentucky, and such a campaign message would therefore amount to a blatant falsehood. See Canon 5B(1)(c) (prohibiting materially false statements). 15  Similarly, a statement by a candidate that his opponent is "the Liberal Democrat for Judge" is likewise impermissible. For the identical reasons discussed above, the modern Democratic Party is widely acknowledged as falling within the liberal segment of the political spectrum. There is no meaningful difference between stating that someone is "the Liberal Democrat for Judge" as opposed to "the Democrat for Judge." Both phrasings imply the false and misleading message that the opponent is the Democratic Party nominee for judge. D. Summary In summary, judicial candidates may "affiliate," 8 that is "portray" themselves as members of a political party without restriction; what they may not do under Canon 5A(1)(b), in tandem with Canon 5B(1)(c), is portray themselves, either directly or by implication, as the official nominee of a political party. V. QUESTION 2 - CANON 5A(1)(B) The second question concerns Canon 5A(1)(b). This Canon states as follows: Canon 5. A judge or judicial candidate shall refrain from inappropriate political activity. A. Political Conduct in General (1) Except as permitted by law, a judge or a candidate for election to judicial office shall not: 8 Merriam Webster defines "affiliate" as "to closely connect (something or - yourself) with or to something (such as a program or organization) as a member or partner[.1" http://www.merriam-webster.corn/dictionary/affiliate (January 2016). 16  (b) act as a leader or hold any office in a political organization. A. Answer to Question 2: Canon 5A(1)(b) states that a judge or judicial candidate shall not "act as a leader or hold any office in a political organization." What constitutes "act[ing] as a leader or hold[ing] any office"? "Holding any office" in a political organization means occupying a formal position with a recognized title or performing a function within the established organizational structure of an association whose principal purpose is to further the election or appointment of candidates to political office. An "office" in such an organization includes recognized titles such as chairman, director, secretary, treasurer, press secretary, precinct leader, membership recruiter, youth coordinator, and the like. "Acting as a leader" encompasses a less formal but broader range of participation. Matter of Disciplinary Proceeding Against Blauvelt, 801 P.2d 235, 238 (1990), 9 notes that Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1283 (1986), defines leader, among other ways, as "a person who by force of example, talents, or qualities of leadership plays a directing role, wields commanding influence, or has a following in any sphere of activity or thought." "Acting as a leader," therefore, captures efforts to advance the political agenda of the party in a less formal way through proactive planning, organizing, 9 Blauvelt addressed a judicial canon substantially identical to Canon 5A(1)(b) and held that a judge serving as a delegate to political party's county convention was a "leader" within meaning of the canon's prohibition against a judge acting as a "leader" in a political organization. 17 directing, and controlling of party functions with the goal of achieving success for the political party. These less formalized, leader-without-title, positions would include, for example, acting formally or informally as a party spokesperson; organizing, managing, or recruiting new members; organizing or managing campaigns; fundraising; and performing other roles exerting influence or authority over the rank and file membership albeit without a formal title, including as further discussed below, hosting political events. B. Answer to Question 2A: As applied to this case, would hosting events for a political party violate the Canon? Consistent with the definition of "acting as a leader," as just discussed, one who hosts an event for a political party is "acting as a leader" for the party. Merriam-Webster defines "host" as: "1 a: one that receives or entertains guests socially, commercially, or officially; b: one that provides facilities for an event or function . . . ." 1-0 Therefore, someone who provides the facilities for an event of a political party or officially receives the political party attendees is, indeed, acting as a "leader" of a political party. The "host" of an event, political or otherwise, uses the prestige of his or her name to promote the event and exerts a significant measure of control and authority over the event, more so, in our view, than the more passive political delegate function in Blauvelt. Perforce, a judicial candidate hosting a political event acts as a leader of that event and is, in turn, acting as a leader of the political party on whose behalf the political event is being held. Under Canon 5A(1)(b) that is prohibited conduct. 10 http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/host (January 2016). 18  VI. QUESTION III - CANON 5B(1)(C) The final questions posed by the District Court concern the misleading speech prohibition by a judicial candidate contained in Canon 5B(1)(c). Canon 5B(1)(c) provides, in relevant part, as follows: B. Campaign Conduct. (1) A judge or candidate for election to judicial office: (c) shall not . . . with reckless disregard for the truth, misrepresent any candidate's identity, qualifications, present position, or make any other false or misleading statements. A. Answer to Question 3: Canon 5B(1)(c) states that a judge or judicial candidate "shall not knowingly, or with reckless disregard for the truth, misrepresent any candidate's identity, qualifications, present position, or make any other false or misleading statements." What constitutes a false statement? A falser statement is a statement that is not factually true in the normal sense; that is, an untrue utterance. For example, it would include such statements as: "I graduated first in my class" when the candidate did not; "I have won all of my cases as an attorney" when the candidate had not; "I was an officer in the military" when the candidate was not; or "my opponent was convicted of a drug offense" when the opponent was not. 12 11 Merriam-Webster defines false as "not real or genuine: not true or accurate; especially: deliberately untrue: done or said to fool or deceive someone." http:/ / www.merriam-web sten com/ +dictionary/ false (January 2016) . 12 In United States v. Alvarez, 132 S. Ct. 2537 (2012), the Supreme Court held that false statements generally are not a category of unprotected speech exempt from the normal prohibition on content-based restrictions. Id. at 2547 (striking down a federal statute which prohibited lying about military awards). (Per opinion of Justice Kennedy, with three Justices concurring and two Justices concurring in the 19  The provision does not, however, cover expressions of opinion because expressions of an opinion do not implicate a statement that is not factually true. For example such statements as "Justice Stevens was the best Justice ever"; "Citizens United was the best decision ever"; or "my opponent is too liberal" are all expressions of opinion and not subject to Canon 5B(1)(c). In summary, Canon 5B(1)(c) extends only to statements made during a campaign which are objectively factually untrue and do not extend to expressions of subjective opinions or innocuous campaign-trail "puffing" ("I am the most qualified candidate in the state."). B. Answer to Question 3A: As applied to this case, would it include a candidate who asks voters to "re-elect" her to a second term even though she was appointed to her first term? The prefix "re" affixed to a verb implies that the action described in the verb has occurred on a previous occasion. 13 For example, if a television network announces that it will rerun a particular program, it has implicitly but definitively asserted that the program had been run on a prior occasion; it is implied that a soldier who re-enlists in the army had enlisted in the military on a prior occasion; and something can be reasserted only if it has previously been asserted. judgment). However, the Court pointedly exempted from the scope of the decision laws aimed at "maintain[ing] the general good repute and dignity of . . . government . . . service itself." Id. at 2546 (citing United States v. Lepowitch, 318 U.S. 702, 704, 63 S. Ct. 914, 87 L.Ed. 1091 (1943)). Because the canons we address fall squarely within this exception, we are persuaded that Alvarez does not apply here. 13 See generally http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/re (January 2016). 20  Given this universally accepted convention of the English language, a candidate's request for voters to re elect her to a judicial office is an affirmative - assertion that she had been elected by voters to the same office on a prior occasion. A judge who holds her office by way of a gubernatorial appointment cannot honestly claim that she was elected to the office, and if she seeks to retain the office at the next election, she cannot honestly assert that she seeks to be re elected. Such an assertion would be a materially false statement, - deceptive to the public, and would run afoul of Canon 5B(1)(c). The opponents of the canon cite to various court decisions and news articles where the term "re-elect" was used to describe a judge who was seeking to retain an office attained by appointment rather than election. Using the term in news articles and other narratives to chronicle historic events is an informal and idiomatic phrasing, but it is nonetheless inaccurate. In contrast, when an incumbent judge uses the word "re-elect" as campaign stratagem to persuade the public that she acquired the office by the popular vote of the people rather than as the appointee of a governor, its use is calculated to mislead and deceive the voters. Accordingly, we distinguish these informal, idiomatic usages and regard these journalistic references as irrelevant to our review. VII. CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW The closing step to interpreting a statute or other legal authority, such as the canons interpreted herein, is undertaking a final examination to ascertain that our interpretation complies with any existing constitutional mandates. We 21 have undertaken that review and are satisfied that our interpretations as expressed above fall well within the requirements of White, Carey, Williams- Yulee, and other applicable First Amendment authorities. Nevertheless, we are attentive that in its Injunction Order, the District Court expressed its skepticism regarding the constitutionality of each of the canons under review. In response to that skepticism, we emphasize that we are persuaded that Williams-Yulee resolves the District Court's criticism in favor of the interpretations expressed herein. For example, the District Court criticizes our campaign limitation, expressed in Canon 5A(1)(a), as being underinclusive 14 because it fails to address the practical reality that, in lieu of the candidate directly portraying himself as the favored candidate of a political party, his supporters and surrogates may undertake that same function. The District Court is correct; we do not purport to limit the campaign conduct of supporters and surrogates. But the Court's criticism ignores the fact that the compelling interest served by our canon is to insulate the judge personally from behaviors that directly undermine the impartiality and objectivity of the Kentucky Court of Justice. That others outside the judiciary may pursue these political objectives on behalf of the judge or judicial candidate does not in any way diminish our objective. If anything, it is a factor that favors the constitutionality of our canon by emphasizing its limited impact on political 14"[U]nderindusiveness can raise 'doubts about whether the government is in fact pursuing the interest it invokes, rather than disfavoring a particular speaker or viewpoint.' Williams Yulee, 135 S. Ct. at 1668. - 22 discourse. The objective is not to keep information hidden from the public; the objective is to keep the judge from compromising his or her integrity and impartiality by engaging in deceptive and misleading conduct. Williams-Yulee presented a very similar situation. While the Florida rules prohibited a judge from personally soliciting funds, responsible representatives were permitted to do so on her behalf. Against the underinclusiveness argument, the United States Supreme Court noted: "A State need not address all aspects of a problem in one fell swoop; policymakers may focus on their most pressing concerns. We have accordingly upheld laws—even under strict scrutiny—that conceivably could have restricted even greater amounts of speech in service of their stated interests." 135 S. Ct. at 1668. By the same force of reasoning, our Canon 5A(1)(a) is not underinclusive; 15 nor are the other judicial canons we have discussed. The District Court likewise criticizes our canons as overbroad in that they may be construed to extend beyond the range of prohibitable speech and reach non-prohibitable speech. 16 In drafting our canons, we strived to avoid overbreadth and the clarifications expressed herein should obviate that concern. In any event, Williams-Yulee addressed the same point and the same 15 And further, of course we have no jurisdiction over the judicial candidate's supporters and surrogates; however that does not mean we are powerless over those whom we do have jurisdiction from misleading the public into believing that they are the officially sanctioned nominee of a political party. 16 The overbreadth doctrine "is predicated on the danger that an overly broad statute, if left in place, may cause persons whose expression is constitutionally protected to refrain from exercising their rights for fear of criminal sanctions." Massachusetts v. Oakes, 491 U.S. 576, 581 (1989). 23 compelling interests were at stake. There, the Supreme Court observed that "The First Amendment requires that [the personal solicitation canon] be narrowly tailored, not that it be 'perfectly tailored.' The impossibility of perfect tailoring is especially apparent when the State's compelling interest is as intangible as public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary." 135 S. Ct. at 1671 (citation omitted). The same principle applies in this situation as we strive to protect the democratic ideal of citizens choosing their judges and, at the same time, preserve the neutrality of the judicial branch by insulating judges from detrimental influences of partisan politics. Perhaps we have not achieved the ideal-but-elusive "perfect tailoring," but nevertheless our tailoring comports with the standard prescribed in Williams-Yulee. The District Court also suggests in its Injunction Order that the canons at issue are unconstitutionally vague; 17 however, as we discuss herein, a plain, ordinary, and common sense application of the language of the canons gives accurate guidance to a judicial candidate of what he may or may not do in a political campaign: he may not campaign as the nominee of a political party; he may not act as an office holder or leader, in the traditional sense of those terms, of a political party and he may not lie to the public on the campaign trail, although he is free to otherwise express his opinion on matters relating to himself, his opponent, and matters of public interest. It bears emphasis as 17 "[The void-for-vagueness doctrine requires that a penal statute define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement." Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 357 (1983). 24 well that Kentucky's Judicial Conduct Commission maintains an ethics advisory structure which is available to judicial candidates seeking specific advice or guidance on campaign matters. VIII. CONCLUSION The law as set forth above is hereby certified to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. All sitting. Minton, C.J.; Cunningham, Hughes, Keller, and Venters, JJ., concur. Noble, J., concurs in part and dissents in part by separate opinion in which Wright, J., joins. NOBLE, J., CONCURRING IN PART AND DISSENTING IN PART: I concur with Justice Venters' excellent analysis on all the issues in this case except for his answer to question IA, as to whether the statement "I am the only Republican candidate for judge" is permissible. I do not think it is. In the same discussion, he concludes that it is NOT permissible to say, "I am the conservative Republican candidate for judge." Both the term "only" and the term "conservative" are modifiers and immediately precede the phrase "Republican candidate." Thus, whatever the modifier may be, both sentences are discussing "the...Republican candidate." As the majority explains, Republicans (Democrats) do not have a party candidate in non-partisan judicial elections, and saying that one is "the Republican candidate" is inappropriate and misleading. I can make no distinction between the two sentences at issue, and thus would find that neither is permissible. Our Constitution requires that judicial candidates be non-partisan candidates, and declaring oneself to be any 25 kind of Republican (or Democratic) candidate adds partisanship to the actual candidacy, rather than stating in which political party one has membership. Wright, J., joins. 26 COUNSEL FOR CAMERON BLAU: Jack Scott Gatlin Freund, Freeze, and Arnold Christopher D. Wiest Chris Wiest, Attorney at Law, PLLC COUNSEL FOR ALLISON JONES: Lucinda C. Shirooni Thomas B Bruns Jack Scott Gatlin Freund, Freeze & Arnold COUNSEL FOR HON. STEVEN D. WOLNITZEK, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS CHAIR, JUDICIAL CONDUCT COMMISSION: Jeffrey C. Mando Louis Kelly Adams, Stepner, Woltermann & Dusing, PLLC Mark Richard Overstreet Bethany A. Breetz Stites & Harbison, PLLC 27 

Q: How do you use list properties in Google App Engine datastore in Java? An object to be placed in the datastore will have a set of tags. public class Model { List<String> tagList ... } In Python, the Google App Engine has the notion of list properties. What is the equivalent notion in Java (if it exists) and how would you use list properties in Java, in JPA and/or in JDO? A: See my blog post exactly on this: Efficient Keyword Search with Relation Index Entities and Objectify for Google Datastore. It talks about implementing search with list properties using Relation Index Entities and Objectify. To summarize: Query<DocumentKeywords> query = ofy.query(DocumentKeywords.class); for (String keyword : keywords) { query = query.filter("keywords", keyword); } Set<Key<Document>> keys = query.<Document>fetchParentKeys(); Collection<Document> documents = ofy.get(keys).values(); where DocumentKeywords contains a list property (collection) of all keywords for its Document entity, and Document entity is a parent for DocumentKeywords. A: In JDO use @Persistent private List<ContactInfo> contactInfoSets;

Q: My rails stylesheets are not loading/working It's been a while since I've developed in Rails and I'm having trouble getting any scss stylesheet to work on my freshly created rails app. layouts/application.html.erb has the default <%= stylesheet_link_tag 'application', media: 'all', 'data-turbolinks-track' => true %> at the top. For testing purposes, I created a main.scss file in assets/stylesheets/ that looks like this: * { border: 1px solid black; } I thought the application.scss file is supposed to grab all the stylesheets in it's folder and child folders but it's not. (Oddly, the .js files load just fine.) I've tried RAILS_ENV=production rake assets:precompile but it didn't do anything. Could someone explain what it even does? I've tried adding *= require main and *= require main.scss to application.scss. I even changed the file ext to css for both files. The only way I've gotten any css to render is by directly adding the code to application.scss, which I don't want to do. Please help me with this. EDIT 1 I'm going to add some more info since I'm getting generic answers. I mentioned that it's a fresh rails app so the basic things are already pre-generated. This is how my application.scss looks: /* * This is a manifest file that'll be compiled into application.css, which will include all the files * listed below. * * Any CSS and SCSS file within this directory, lib/assets/stylesheets, vendor/assets/stylesheets, * or any plugin's vendor/assets/stylesheets directory can be referenced here using a relative path. * * You're free to add application-wide styles to this file and they'll appear at the bottom of the * compiled file so the styles you add here take precedence over styles defined in any styles * defined in the other CSS/SCSS files in this directory. It is generally better to create a new * file per style scope. * *= require_tree . *= require main *= require_self */ Still, nothing works A: /* *= require_tree . *= require_self */ Add the above to your application.scss or application.css.scss file A: Looks like the only way I can get it to work is by adding @import main; to application.scss. It seems like the styles end up being used on every page (is this the default in rails?). This is not my ideal solution but it's the only thing I've been able to do to get any styles to work via requiring methods.

1. Field of the Invention This invention relates in general to fuel cells and electrical motors and, more particularly, to a fuel cell powered electrical motor. 2. Description of the Related Prior Art The use of fuel cells to actuate electrical motors depends upon several factors. Among them efficiency and compactness are essential. Attempts have been made in the past to introduce a better fuel cell powered electrical motor. Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,647 dated Oct. 21, 1997 and granted to Wolfe et al. for a xe2x80x9cFuel Cell Powered Propulsion Systemxe2x80x9d describes a system for powering a vehicle. This system comprises an electrical motor for powering a vehicle, a fuel cell stack for providing fuel cell power and a turbine-generator unit. The latter includes a generator for supplying power output and a turbine for driving the generator. This system is believed to have an important disadvantage that resides in its lack of compactness, the components of the system being connected functionally, rather than structurally. U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,106, dated Jul. 13, 1999 and granted to Isaak et al. for an xe2x80x9cIntegrated Fuel Cell Electrical Motor with Static Fuel Cell and Rotating Magnetsxe2x80x9d describes a fuel cell with an electrical output integrated within a cylindrical form monopole electric motor. A rotor and a shaft are supported by a bearing attached to the top of the main body of the electrical motor, by another bearing attached to the cover of the body and by a third bearing attached to the bottom of the body. This motor has an important shortcoming. Structurally, the motor is not well engineered, since an accurate coaxiality of the three bearings mounted separately in three different components cannot be easily obtained. U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,322 dated Dec. 21, 1999 and granted to Isaak et al. for an xe2x80x9cIntegrated Fuel Cell Electric Motorxe2x80x9d relates to a motor similar to that described in the above United States Patent, wherein the cell is rotating. Besides the shortcoming of above United States Patent, the use of a rotating cell increases the mass to be balanced. Thus, it is more difficult to obtain and, especially, to maintain. the balancing of the rotating part of the system. There is accordingly a need for a fuel cell powered electrical motor which is well engineered, so that the components are easy to manufacture and reliable in operation. It is further desirable to have a compact, versatile and efficient fuel cell powered electrical motor. Broadly described, the present invention is directed to a fuel cell powered electrical motor which comprises an electrical motor including shaft means, stator means encircling the shaft means and rotor means encircling the stator means. Furthermore, the electrical motor incorporates a base plate means, located perpendicularly to the shaft means at a low part of the latter, and a flywheel means located perpendicularly to the shaft means at a top part of the latter. Fuel cell stack means are circularly disposed on the base plate means between the shaft and stator means, concentrically with both. The shaft means basically revolves together with the flywheel and rotor means with respect to the base plate means, while the fuel cell stack and stator means are attached to the base plate means. In one aspect of this invention, the fuel cell powered motor includes a commutator located under and attached to the flywheel means. The commutator is electrically connected to the fuel cell stack and rotor means. In another aspect of this invention, the fuel cell powered motor includes an annular brush disk attached to a top of the fuel cell stack means. The annular brush disk is provided at its upper surface with a plurality of brushes. The latter are adapted to be connected to an outside source of electrical power. In yet another aspect of this invention, the shaft assembly comprises: a main shaft having an upper flange provided with several apertures, equally spaced and circularly disposed; a flanged sleeve having a low flange provided with several openings, equally spaced and circularly disposed; and a bearing housing internally provided at both ends with a bearing. The bearing housing is mounted on the flanged sleeve. The upper flange is attached to the flywheel means and the bearing housing. The lower flange is attached to the flanged sleeve. In a further aspect of this invention, the base plate means incorporates a manifold and a sealing plate. The latter is disposed on top of the manifold plate. The manifold plate has a circular recess wherein the sealing plate is lodged. The circular recess is provided at its center with a shaft hole for a main shaft of the shaft assembly. Concentrical channel means is located coaxially with the shaft hole, while notch means extends radially from each of the concentrical channel means. Several downwardly extending apertures start from each of the concentric channel means and communicate with the exterior. Several manifold plate openings are located proximate to a periphery of the circular recess. The sealing plate is provided at its center with a passage hole, while four-hole row means are concentrically disposed around the passage hole. Each hole row means has a series of notch hole means, which correspond, with the notch means in the manifold plate. Both manifold and sealing plates are provided with a pair of coinciding slots: a first slot adapted for an electrical power output from the fuel cell stack means to an external controller and a second slot adapted for an electrical power input from the external controller to the stator and rotor means.

Will my confidentiality be protected at MRS? Federal law protects client confidentiality. From the first time you call and ask about our program, all of your information is protected by the Federal Regulations pertaining to confidentiality and privacy. No staff member at MRS will release any information about any client, past or present, to anyone without the client's written permission. If we do have a release of information for an individual or an agency, which the client can revoke at anytime and no further information will be given to that individual or agency. What is Methadone ? Methadone is a long-acting synthetic narcotic, used primarily in the treatment of opiate addiction. It suppresses withdrawal symptoms, allowing methadone patients to lead normal lives.With innumerable successes over the past 40 years, methadone maintenance is recognized by the medical community as the most successful way of treating people addicted to opiates. How to use Methadone Safely: U.S. Department of Health & Human ServicesSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Food and Drug Administration Methadone provides relief for patients who do not respond to non-narcotic pain medicines and has also been used for decades to treat individuals who suffer from addiction and dependence on heroin and narcotic pain medicines. When taken as prescribed, methadone is safe and effective. But all medicines have risks. Patients and healthcare providers need to understand the power and physical effects of methadone in order to get the maximum benefits.A Proven Road to ReliefWhether known by Dolophine, Methadose or its generic name, methadone has provided relief to millions of patients. Methadone works by changing how the brain and nervous system respond to pain. It is also used in drug detoxification and treatment programs to lessen the symptoms of withdrawal and to block the effects of opiate drugs. Methadone allows individuals to recover from their addiction and to reclaim active and meaningful lives. Patients being treated for pain generally receive a prescription from their doctor and take the medication at home. Patients taking methadone for addiction receive their doses at accredited programs under supervision. After a period of stability, these patients are given methadone to take at home between program visits. In all cases, if not taken correctly, methadone can be dangerous.The Dangers of Overdose Pain relief from a dose of methadone lasts about four to eight hours. But there are big differences in how each patient reacts to methadone. Even after the pain relief effects wear off, methadone remains in the body for much longer. Taking more methadone to relieve the pain can cause unintentional overdose. Navigate the Risks: Two Simple Steps 1. Take Methadone exactly as prescribed. To be safe, people must take only the dose prescribed, at the times prescribed. Methadone can build up in the body to a toxic level if taken too often, if the dose is too high, or if it is taken with certain other medicines or supplements. 2. Know—and share—your complete health history. People who take methadone need to give health professionals every detail of what they are taking. This is especially important for a firsttime user of methadone. A long list of medications can interact with methadone: Methadone may be more hazardous when used with alcohol, other opioids (opium-like substances) or illicit drugs that depress the central nervous system. Be especially careful about other medicines that may make you sleepy, such as other pain medicines, antidepressant medicines, sleeping pills, anxiety medicines, antihistamines, or tranquilizers. Other medicines to watch out for include diuretics, antibiotics, heart or blood pressure medication, HIV medicines and MAO inhibitors. If you are taking medicine that may cause disruptions in your heartbeat (known as arrhythmias), you should be especially cautious taking methadone. Even if a medication is not on this list, it could still be dangerous. Older adults and people with debilitating conditions may be more sensitive to methadone's effects. To avoid danger, people should tell health professionals about any illnesses or conditions. Here are just a few that doctors must know about: A history of drug or alcohol addiction Pregnancy and nursing (current or planned) Seizure disorders, such as epilepsy Cardiac conditions such as low blood pressure or long QT syndrome (racing heart) Use Methadone only as directed: Methadone can be addictive. Patients should take care not to abuse it. Never use more methadone than the amount prescribed. If you miss a dose or if you feel it is not working, do not take extra. For pain management patients, take only the recommended dose at the recommended time. For patients in methadone maintenance treatment for addiction, contact your clinic for instructions. No one should use methadone if it has not been prescribed for them. Be especially careful if taking methadone for the first time. When Taking Methadone: Do not consume alcohol or medicines that contain alcohol. Be careful when driving, operating heavy machinery or doing anything that requires you to be alert. Methadone, like many other medications, can slow thinking and reaction time and make you drowsy. Store methadone at room temperature and away from light. Always take methadone in the exact dosage amount and form you have been prescribed. Take steps to prevent children from accidentally taking methadone. Never give methadone to anyone else even if the person has similar symptoms or suffers from the same condition as you because it can be dangerous. Dispose of unused methadone by flushing it down the toilet. Suddenly stopping or going off methadone treatment can be dangerous. Patients should talk to their doctors first. To minimize withdrawal symptoms, health professionals can work out a plan to gradually reduce the medication. Take Side Effects Seriously: Some side effects are emergencies. Patients should contact a physician or emergency services right away—if they: Have difficulty breathing or shallow breathing Feel light-headed or faint Get hives or a rash; have swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat Feel chest pain Have a fast or pounding heartbeat Have hallucinations or confusion Make sure your family members and members of your household know what symptoms to look for, especially signs of shallow breathing or loud snoring. Other side effects are not life threatening, but can still be cause for concern.Patients should immediately talk to health professionals if they have: severe or persistent nausea, vomiting, constipation, loss of appetite, weight gain, stomach pain, sweating, mood changes, vision problems, flush or red skin, sleep difficulties, decreased sexual desire or ability or missed menstrual periods. Feel Lost? Here's Help Patients who develop a problem with methadone or have questions should speak with a physician or contact 1-800-662-HELP.

Search This Blog Thursday, 30 April 2015 Swaziland police have said they will decide who can and who cannot take part in May Day celebrations on Friday. According to them only ‘recognised’ workers unions will be allowed to take part. This is seen as a deliberate snub to the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA), the labour federation that has organized a rally in Manzini, the major commercial city in the kingdom, for Friday (1 May 2015). After a long and continuing dispute with the Swaziland state, TUCOSWA is not registered as a recognised federation in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. In Swaziland all political parties are banned from taking part in elections and organisations that advocate for democracy have been outlawed as ‘terrorist’ organisations under the Suppression of Terrorism Act. In a statement to media, Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Khulani Mamba said only recognised unions would be allowed to celebrate the Workers Day. He added, ‘Having said this, as a police service, we wish to point out as previously stated, that we will be present at the celebrations for the purpose of making sure that law and order is maintained. However, this is on the premise and understanding that the Labour Day is to be commemorated by recognised workers’ unions in the country,’ Mamba said. Previously, Mamba had told media since May Day was an internationally recognised day police would not hinder the celebrations by workers but they would arrest people who uttered ‘defamatory statements about authorities’. As workers and pro-democracy activists prepare to mark Workers’ Day on Friday (1 May 2015) many will remember Sipho Jele who was killed by Swaziland state forces five years ago. The 35-year-old Jele was arrested and charged under the Suppression of Terrorism Act on 1 May 2010 for wearing a T-shirt supporting the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), an organisation banned in the kingdom, ruled by King Mswati, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. He was taken to Manzini Police Station and then to Sidwashini Remand Correctional Institution. He was found hanging from a beam in a shower block on 3 May. The inquest verdict delivered in March 2011 said in effect that Jele levitated to the ceiling unaided, tied an old piece of blanket around a beam and then around his own neck and then allowed himself to fall to the ground, thereby killing himself by hanging. Coroner Nondumiso Simelane reported, ‘Further, although there was nothing found at the scene which the deceased could have used as a platform on which to stand to commit the suicide; upon closer examination of the scene and the photos of the deceased captured at the scene, and the pathologists concluding that “it is possible for the deceased to have mounted himself upwards from the floor and then suspended himself without the use of a platform,” and that “after the ligature was applied to the beam and neck he could have lowered himself and the feet would still be above the floor.” According to a report in the Swazi News, an independent newspaper in Swaziland, Perumal said, ‘In this case there is no evidence of being hung. The perplexing thing is how he got suspended as there was no object on which he stood. In most cases the object is kicked away for the body to remain suspended. There was no such object that was found. That is the only feature that doesn’t confirm suicide. It is an enigma how he hung without standing on an object.’ Questioned by attorney Leo Gama on whether it was possible that Jele had tied the rope around his neck while seated on the beam he was found hanging from, and then threw himself down for the rope to tighten around his neck, Dr Perumal entirely ruled out this possibility. ‘In that case there would be stretching of the skin and moreover there would be problem with the spine. Looking at the findings, we can exclude that scenario. There are no features to suggest that,’ he said. It emerged at the inquest that Swazi police and prison warders lied a number of times about the circumstances up to the time of the death. They had claimed that they interviewed people who were in the same cell as Jele about the circumstances of his death; Perumal told the inquest that the cell mates denied being interviewed. Perumal said, ‘I asked if any of the inmates had been interviewed to see if they had seen him and if any fight had ensued during the night of his death but none had been interviewed.’ This was not the first time that the police had been found out lying to the inquest. Previously, it was discovered that police had recorded in an official journal that Jele was in good health when he arrived at Manzini police station. The official record – called the RSP 3 book – said the entry was made by Constable David Tsabedze, but he told the inquest that he never made the entry. This led to Attorney Leo Gama concluding that Tsabedze never made such entries and left the space vacant, but when the police heard that there was to be an inquest into the matter, someone filled up those spaces without telling Tsabedze. This was so they could show Jele was in good health when he left the police station. Another anomaly was that although Jele was brought to the police station at 5.30pm on 1 May, he was only placed in a police cell at 11pm and no one could come forward to state what happened in the meantime. In a bizarre twist the inquest heard that Jele asked to be sent to Sidwashini because he feared being ‘tubed’ (tortured and suffocated) if he was sent back to police custody. The Swaziland Director of Public Prosecutions Mumcy Dlamini said she was pleased to hear this because it meant Jele had not yet been tortured while at the police station. Dlamini told the inquest as far as she knew the only reason why Jele wanted to go to Sidvwashini was his fear of torture by police. The inquest was told Jele was taken out of the Manzini Police Station’s cell for interrogation purposes for hours on different occasions, but one officer said it was unclear whether they also took him out of the building. A jailor, Assistant Superintendent Richard Mthukutheli Fakudze,told the inquest he found Jele hanging from a concrete bar in the bathroom of his prison cell at about 5am on 3 May and he just knew Jele had killed himself. While he gave his testimony, he was interrupted by Prosecutor Phila Dlamini who warned him to only say what he observed and desist from giving an opinion. Fakudze had conclusively said Jele hanged himself yet he found him hanging. Said Dlamini, ‘If you insist that he hanged himself, you are actually saying that you saw him tying the blanket around his neck and hanging himself.’ Jele was charged under S19 (1) (a) of the Suppression of terrorism Act for wearing a T-shirt with PUDEMO written on it. S19 (1) (a) of the STA states, ‘A person who is a member of a terrorist group commits an offence and shall on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten (10) years.’ Wearing a PUDEMO T-Shirt does not make you a member of PUDEMO and therefore the police had no reason to arrest Jele. But after police arrested him they then took him to his home and searched it and later alleged they had found materials linking him to the banned political organisation. Amnesty International suspected that Jele might have been targeted for arrest at the May Day rally. Jele was one of 16 prodemocracy activists awaiting trial after they were charged with treason in 2005. In a public statement, Amnesty said, ‘Mr Jele had been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in police custody in the past. He was detained by police in December 2005 and subsequently charged with treason along with 15 others. Mr Jele alleged that while in custody he was beaten around the head causing long-term damage to his hearing, for which Amnesty International was able to obtain independent medical corroboration. He also alleged that he was subjected to suffocation torture while forcibly held down on a bench by six police officers at Sigodvweni police station. Some of his co-defendants made similar allegations of torture by the police. ‘The presiding High Court judge hearing their bail application in March 2006 was sufficiently concerned to call on the government to establish an independent inquiry into their claims. An inquiry was established under a single commissioner who subsequently reported his findings to the then Prime Minister. To Amnesty International’s knowledge this inquiry report was never made public. Mr Jele and his co-defendants had still not been brought to trial on the treason charge by the time of his death.’ At the time of Jele’s death, PUDEMO said in a statement, ‘The Swaziland royal regime has always been giving the international community the wrong information that political dissenters are not imprisoned, harassed and killed. And that Swaziland is a peaceful country. But here is a political activist getting killed for attending Workers Day and wearing a PUDEMO T-shirt.’ Wednesday, 29 April 2015 It is hard to believe the police in Swaziland are serious in their intent to get the kingdom’s Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi to leave the house he has been holed up in for 11 days after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Ramodibedi who is in his luxury mansion in Mbabane with his wife and two adult children was allowed to send one of his sons out for food last Friday (24 April 2015) and it was reported that on Wednesday (28 April 2015) his maid delivered food to the family. Ramodibedi, a native of Lesotho, reportedly faces 23 charges, including abuse of power. Two High Court Judges, Mpendulo Simelane and Jacobus Annandale, and the High Court Registrar, Fikile Nhlabatsi, have also been charged in connection with Ramodibedi’s case. They have appeared in court and been bailed. The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, reported on Wednesday, ‘The movement, with ease, of some members of the CJ’s family in and out of his residence has left journalists wondering why the police were not using such opportunities to enter the house and arrest the CJ.’ Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Khulani Mamba told the newspaper they were still waiting for negotiations between, Lesotho and Swaziland, to be concluded. It is not known who is negotiating and about what. Police officers have been camping outside the CJ’s house since Friday 17 April 2015. They said they would arrest Ramodibedi as soon as he came out of the house. There has been no attempt to enter the house forcibly, despite the comings-and-goings of people from the house. The lack of action by the police is unusual. They have a deserved reputation for smashing their way into the homes of pro-democracy activists, often without warrants. There is speculation within Swaziland and on social media about the reasoning for the delay in effecting the arrest warrant. On Sunday (26 April 2015), the Times Sunday, an independent newspaper in the kingdom, speculated that Ramodibedi was waiting until King Mswati returned to Swaziland from a trip to the Bandung Conference for Asian and African countries. The newspaper reported, ‘The chief justice is said to have stated that the only person he trusts was His Majesty the King.’ The newspaper did not say so but it is assumed that Ramodibedi thinks King Mswati will cancel the arrest warrant. It is true that King Mswati personally appointed and re-appointed Ramodibedi to the post of Chief Justice and that Ramodibedi has been a loyal and vocal supporter of the King. But, it is not so clear that Ramodibedi still enjoys the King’s favour. The King rules over the judiciary and the Swazi Government which he hand-picks and it is inconceivable that the arrest warrant would have been issued without his permission. One speculation is that the Chief Justice will be allowed to leave his house at the dead of night and escape into neighbouring South Africa. Many observers find it hard to imagine that Ramodibedi, a personal appointee of the King, will be allowed to be tried in a court of law. The main charges against him are of abuse of power, but international observers will note that the (for now) alleged abuses were made on behalf of and for the benefit of the King. If the spotlight is allowed to shine on Ramodibedi, it will shine also on the King. Tuesday, 28 April 2015 Police in Swaziland said they would arrest anyone at this week’s May Day celebrations who ‘utter defamatory statements about authorities’. But, they said they would to allow people to mark the day on 1 May. The Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, who rules Swaziland as an absolute monarch, reported on Tuesday (28 April 2015) , ‘Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Khulani Mamba said since this was an internationally recognised day, they would not hinder the celebrations by workers but would deal with those that would utter statements against authority.’ He added, ‘However, those that will utter defamatory statements about authorities will be arrested.’ This warning was aimed at people who advocate for democracy in Swaziland where no political parties are allowed to contest elections and opposition groups are banned as ‘terrorists’ under the controversial Suppression of Terrorism Act 2008. At the May Day celebrations in 2014, People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) President Mario Masuku and the party’s youth congress leader Maxwell Dlamini were arrested and charged with uttering seditious statements. They have been in jail for a year awaiting trial. Monday, 27 April 2015 The Swaziland Tourist Authority (STA) falsified statistics on the number of passengers using the new King Msawati III Airport (KMIII) to make it look a success when it was not. And, the deception is part of an ongoing mission of misinformation about the success of the airport that has spanned several year. Figures for January 2015 were used by Swaziland Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA), aided by the Swazi Observer, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati, to state that the airport had defied its critics and was a success. The STA reported that there were 10,138 passengers departing the airport in January 2015 and 6,592 passengers arriving, making a total of 16,730 passengers. But these figures were entirely bogus. There are only three flights per day departing the airport and another three arriving. The airport serves only one route – to OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. Swaziland Airlink is the only passenger airline that uses the airport. Airlink uses the Embraer J135 aircraft which has a maximum seating capacity of 50. If every flight was full a maximum of 150 people per day could depart the airport, which would make a maximum of 4,500 per month. The 4,500 is only 44 per cent of the numbers of passengers claimed by STA. The total possible number of passengers either departing or arriving at the airport could not be more than 9,000 in a month: 53 per cent of the figure claimed. No true figure for the actual number of people travelling by plane is available publically but anecdotal evidence suggests that the planes are rarely much more than two-thirds full, and often a lot less. King Mswati III Airport was built in a wilderness in Swaziland on the whim of King Mswati, who rules as sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch. No research was undertaken to determine the need for the airport. Critics of the airport argued for years that there was no potential for the airport. Major airports already existed less than an hour’s flying time away in South Africa with connecting routes to Swaziland and there was no reason to suspect passengers would want to use KMIII airport as an alternative. During the 11 years it took to build, the airport was called Sikhuphe, but the name was changed in honour of the King when it officially opened in March 2014. The airport cost an estimated E2.5 billion (US$250 million) to build. The Observer on Saturdayreported at the time of the opening, ‘The King stated unflinchingly that the airport was not a joke as some pessimists had already hinted that the country does not need such extravagance. He said the completion and commissioning of the airport had proved all doubting Thomases wrong.’ The newspaper added, ‘One thing was clear throughout the King’s address that he was extremely passionate about the project and that it was very close to his heart.’ When it was opened the international media derided the airport as a ‘white elephant’, meaning it was of little use. Since it opened only one commercial passenger airline, Swaziland Airlink, which is part-owned by the Swazi Government, has used the Airport. The airline was forced to move from the Matsapha Airport, even though an independent business analysis predicted the airline would go out of business as a result. No other airline has publically said it wanted to use the airport. Matsapha airport which handled about 70,000 passengers a year is close to Manzini and Mbabane, the two main cities in Swaziland. The new airport was built in a wilderness about 70km from Mbabane. Once it opened to traffic in September 2014, Matsapha was closed for commercial business. It is now mainly used by King Mswati when he travels in his private luxury jet. SWACAA had said the KMIII airport would attract 300,000 passengers per year (820 per day on average), raising E7 million (US$700,000) per year in service charges. In the present situation where only a maximum 300 people could travel per day, the total it could ever hope to achieve would be 109,500; only 36 percent of the numbers needed for the airport to reach its target. The Swazi Observer, which was described as a ‘pure propaganda machine for the royal family’ by the Media Institute of Southern Africa in a report on media freedom in the kingdom, used the bogus figure to talk up the airport’s supposed success. The newspaper was determined to mislead its readers about the success of the airport. The Sunday Observer, for example, in a report headlined ‘KMIII Airport surpasses expectations’ said, ‘When it started operating, sceptics were of the view that people would opt to travel by road because of, among other reasons, the distant location of the airport, which is situated about 70 kilometres from Mbabane. ‘However, passengers going through KMIII International Airport have surpassed the numbers that were recorded at the Matsapha Airport.’ The newspaper quoted SWACAA Marketing and Corporate Affairs Director Sabelo Dlamini saying, ‘We are noting that the figures are rising and for us, it points to a brighter future in aviation. It is also an affirmation of the massive work the government of Swaziland has done over the past five years to do right in the civil aviation industry, in particular the construction of an airport facility travellers are happy with.’ The newspaper reported, ‘Dlamini further noted that the drop in numbers that had been projected by critics had not happened at all.’ There has been a long history of misinformation about the potential for success of the airport. It was controversial from the moment the construction was announced in 2003. The International Monetary Fund said the airport should not be built because it would divert funds away from much needed projects to fight poverty in Swaziland. Today, about seven in ten of King Mswati’s 1.3 million subjects live in abject poverty, with incomes less than US$2 per day, three in ten are so hungry they are medically diagnosed as malnourished and the kingdom has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world. The false promises made about the airport are legion. In November 2013, SWACAA said that the Swazi Government was ready to recreate the defunct Royal Swazi National Airways Corporation (RSNAC0) and would set about purchasing a 100-seater jet, at a cost estimated by the Times of Swaziland of E700 million (US$70 million). This compared to the E125 million budgeted for free primary school education in Swaziland that year. It was never explained where the money to buy the aircraft would come from. SWACAA said RSNAC would fly to 10 destinations in Africa and Asia. Observers estimated RSNAC would probably need a minimum of 10 aircraft to service the routes. For that to happen, Swaziland would have to spend about E7 billion on aircraft. Such a sum of money would bankrupt the kingdom. To put the cost in context the Central Bank of Swaziland has estimated the kingdom’s gross official reserves were E8.24 billion at the month ended November 2013. The people were regularly misled about the opening date of the airport. At one time the King confidently announced it would be open in March 2010. Then his Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini said it would be ready for the FIFA World Cup in neighbouring South Africa in June 2010, but this deadline came and went. SWACAA continued to issue fresh completion dates but these were never met. Bertram Stewart, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development also misled about the readiness of the airport to open. In October 2010, Stewart said the airport would be open by the end of that year, but it was not. He misled again in February 2011 when he confidently told media the airport would be completed by June 2011. It was not. He also said a number of top world airlines (that he declined to name) were negotiating to use the airport, but nothing happened. There has also been constant misinformation about the prospect of airlines choosing to use the airport. In October 2009, King Mswati claimed Etihad Airways from the Gulf State of Abu Dhabi was showing ‘deep interest’ in using the airport. Nothing has been heard since. In May 2011, the Swazi Observer reported Sabelo Dlamini saying, ‘We have established possible routes which we want to market to the operators. Some of the proposed routes from Sikhuphe are Durban, Cape Town, Lanseria Airport in Sandton, Harare and Mozambique.’ In June 2012, he told Swazi media that at least three airlines from different countries had ‘shown interest’ in using the airport, but he declined to name them. He remained optimistic about the prospects for the future and said SWACAA was talking to airlines in other countries as well. Then in February 2013 SWACAA Director Solomon Dube told media in Swaziland, ‘We are talking to some including Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airline and various Gulf airlines.’ In March 2013 SWACAA claimed five airlines had signed deals to use the airport when it eventually opened, but an investigation by Swazi media Commentary revealed that two of the airlines named did not exist. It also said Botswana Airways would use the airport, but it has not. In October 2013 SWACAA claimed it had targeted small and medium business travellers to use the airport. It said low-cost airlines were interested in using Sikhuphe for business travellers who might want to fly to nearby countries ‘on a daily basis’. Now, in April 2015, there are still no prospects of airlines other than Swazi Airlink using the airport. Saturday, 25 April 2015 Trade unionists and democracy campaigners in Swaziland are on a collision course with the police and state security after they refused to seek formal permission to hold a May Day rally. The Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) has confirmed that commemorations of the workers’ day will take place at the Salesian Sports Ground in Manzini, the commercial capital of Swaziland, on 1 May 2015. Vincent Ncongwane, TUCOSWA Secretary General, said his federation had informed the police of its decision to host the event. The Times of Swaziland, the only independent daily newspaper in the kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, reported him saying, ‘We will not be seeking permission from the police to host the event, it is unlawful to be forced to seek permission and there is no statute in the labour laws that allows the police to demand us to seek permission from them to host Workers Day.’ He added the fact that they had informed the police was sufficient and that they would not be seeking permission as police had instructed them to do in past years. The decision not to seek permission will almost certainly put TUCOSWA on a collision course with the police and the state security apparatus. Public gatherings are routinely disrupted by police unless they are sanctioned by the state. On Thursday (23 April 2015), for example, a newly-formed group called Swaziland Anti-Xenophobia Movement had a gathering broken up by police because they did not have permission from the Municipal Council of Mbabane to meet. They were trying to show their support for victims of Xenophobic attacks in neighbouring South Africa and tried to march to the South African High Commission in the Swazi capital, Mbabane. At May Day celebrations last year (2014), Mario Masuku, President of the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO), and Maxwell Dlamini, Secretary-General of the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), were charged with ‘uttering seditious statements’. One year later they are still in prison awaiting trial. The two were arrested following a pro-democracy rally at the Salesian Sports Ground, the proposed venue for this year’s rally. PUDEMO has been banned in Swaziland as a ‘terrorist’ organisation since 2008, under the controversial Suppression of Terrorism Act. In May 2013, Muzi Mhlanga, the secretary general of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT), was illegally placed under house arrest by police who wanted to prevent him attending a May Day rally. They had neither a court order nor warrant to place him under house arrest. Arrests were reported across the kingdom as democracy leaders refused police instructions to say at home and not attend May Day events.

Meteorologist Jim Cantore Defends Himself From Attack on Live TV with a Swift Knee to the Nuts [VIDEO] Seems like Jim Cantore would be one of the last people you would want to try and tackle. He’s fought hurricanes, fires, floods, tornadoes, and on live TV a guy decided to try and tackle him and ruin a live report… NEVER under estimate a good knee to the crotch! Seriously, Cantore is like a Weather Channel Ninja. He’s reported in Floods, Wild Fires, Hurricanes, Tornadoes and more. Sometimes he appears to be fearless (or maybe crazy). Jim was doing a live piece from Charleston College to cover the winter weather, when a guy, thought to be a student, comes running at him screaming, Jim keeps talking, sees the guy, then knees the guy in the junk, and keeps on talking like it’s no big deal. Watch this… Welcome back to Eagle VIP Club It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on . To keep your personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you. To activate your account, please confirm your password. When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites. *Please note that your prizes and activities will not be shared between programs within our VIP network. Welcome back to Eagle VIP Club It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://kygl.com using your original account information.

NUMBER 13-00-389-CV COURT OF APPEALS THIRTEENTH DISTRICT OF TEXAS CORPUS CHRISTI __________________________________________________________________ DAVID B. MOORE , Appellant, v. ARTHUR ANDERSEN, L.L.P. AND LAURA MAWHINNEY , Appellees. __________________________________________________________________ On appeal from the 44th District Court of Dallas County, Texas. __________________________________________________________________ O P I N I O N Before Justices Hinojosa, Rodriguez, and Hill (1) Opinion by Justice Hill David Moore appeals from a summary judgment that he take nothing in his claims of sex discrimination and harassment, wrongful discharge, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Arthur Andersen, L.L.P., and Laura Mawhinney. He contends in four points that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment as to each of those four claims. We affirm because the trial court did not err by granting summary judgment as to Moore's claims. Moore sued appellees after he was fired by Andersen. His claims for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress were made against both appellees, while his claims for sex discrimination and harassment and wrongful discharge were directed solely against Andersen. In response to his claims as they are outlined above, Appellees filed a motion for summary judgment, a motion to which Moore responded. As previously noted, the trial court granted summary judgment that Moore take nothing as to all of his claims. Appellees' motion for summary judgment reflects that it is brought both as a traditional and as a no-evidence motion for summary judgment because it states that it is brought under Texas Rules of Civil Procedure 166a(b) and 166a(i). Further, as to each cause of action brought by Moore, it alleges that there is no evidence as to an essential element of each claim, as required by Rule 166a(i). See Tex. R. Civ. P. 166a(i). Rule 166a(i) of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure provides that: After adequate time for discovery, a party without presenting summary judgment evidence may move for summary judgment on the ground that there is no evidence of one or more essential elements of a claim or defense on which an adverse party would have the burden of proof at trial. The motion must state the elements as to which there is no evidence. The court must grant the motion unless the respondent produces summary judgment evidence raising a genuine issue of material fact. Id. When such a motion is presented, the movant does not bear the burden of establishing each element of its own claim or defense. See Ford v. City State Bank of Palacios, 44 S.W.3d 121, 128 (Tex. App.--Corpus Christi 2001, no pet.). The burden then shifts to the nonmovant to present enough evidence to be entitled to a trial: evidence that raises a genuine fact issue on the challenged elements. Id. If the nonmovant is unable to present enough evidence, the trial judge must grant the motion. Id. A no-evidence motion for summary judgment is improperly granted if the nonmovant presents more than a scintilla of probative evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact. Id. Less than a scintilla of evidence exists when the evidence is so weak as to do no more than create a mere surmise or suspicion of a fact. Id. More than a scintilla of evidence exists when the evidence rises to a level that would enable reasonable and fair-minded people to differ in their conclusions. Id. We first consider whether Appellees were entitled to a no-evidence motion for summary judgment. SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND DISCRIMINATION With respect to Moore's claim of sexual harassment and sex discrimination, Andersen maintains in its motion for summary judgment that Moore can produce no evidence that Mawhinney created a sexually hostile work environment or discriminated against him because of his sex. Moore's claim is a statutory claim based upon the Texas Human Rights Act, Texas Labor Code section 21.001, et seq., which provides in section 21.051 as follows: An employer commits an unlawful employment practice if because of race, color, disability, religion, sex, national origin, or age the employer: 1. fails or refuses to hire an individual, discharges an individual, or discriminates in any other manner against an individual in connection with compensation or the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment; or 2. limits, segregates, or classifies an employee or applicant for employment in a manner that would deprive or tend to deprive an individual of any employment opportunity or adversely affect in any other manner the status of an employee. Tex. Lab. Code ANN.§ 21.051 (Vernon 1996). We will first consider Moore's contentions as they relate to his claim against Andersen for sex discrimination and harassment. According to Moore's affidavit, attached to his response, Mawhinney, his project manager at Andersen, gave him a memorandum that she had prepared for the file. In that memorandum, Mawhinney discussed observations of Moore's work and behavior. She observed that Moore spent "too much time 'chatting' with multiple female client personnel at the client site. This was perceived as flirtatious behavior by both the client and Barry's project team member and was brought to the attention of the project manager at a client dinner meeting." In addition to her observation, Mawhinney's memo contained the following under the heading "Action" with respect to that observation: On Wednesday, July 1st, 1998, Laura discussed this issue with Barry at the New Orleans airport. I emphasized the importance of Barry maintaining professional relationships with client personnel and focusing on project tasks, (which is what the client is paying AA to do). Additionally, I told Barry, that while developing client relationships are important, that he should be focusing mainly on tasks at his level, and when working on relationship-building, that it should occur more often with the client's managers, rather than the accounting clerks. It was reported to me that Barry's behavior changed in the right direction after our discussion. Mawhinney further stated in the memo that: Throughout the week, I observed Barry engaged in multiple conversations with multiple female employees, sometimes lasting 20-30 minutes at a time. In the course of one day, I would suspect that he worked six of eight hours. Barry should have had a full week's worth of work to do, but if for some reason he did not, he never bothered to offer assistance to his project team member with demo scripts, or ask for additional work. The bulk of the memo was directed to other types of examples of poor job performance on Moore's part. As can be seen, Mawhinney referred to Moore as Barry in the memorandum. Moore states in his affidavit that on the next working day, Monday, July 27, 1998, he went to Andersen's office of human resources and talked to Linda Ferguson. He indicates that after telling her he wanted to talk to her about sexual harassment, he complained that Mawhinney was directing agitated and antagonistic behavior toward him and was creating a hostile work environment. Moore says that he prepared a detailed rebuttal of the charges in Mawhinney's memo and followed the instructions given him by Ferguson. The affidavit reflects that on the following Friday, July 31, 1998, Moore was called to the office of Andersen's Director of Human Resources, Scott Wilson, who advised him that it "appears you are a flirt." According to Moore, Wilson then summarily fired him for sexual harassment. Moore observed in his deposition that several employees at Andersen declined to read his response to Mawhinney's memo, including Jeff Valentine and Paul Shultz. Andersen, in a letter to the Texas Workforce Commission, stated that Moore was fired for sexual harassment and forwarded its sexual harassment policy to the commission, but Wilson, Andersen's Director of Human Resources, indicated he had told the person who wrote the letter that it was incorrect and should have read that he was terminated for unprofessional conduct. Wilson stated that the person who wrote the information got it from the file by looking at the notes he prepared, but that he did not know how she concluded that Moore was terminated for sexual harassment. Wilson acknowledged that Andersen has no code number for termination for sexual harassment. Wilson indicated that the employee who made the error is a competent employee and that he was not aware of it ever happening before. In a telephone conversation between Wilson and Moore after Moore's termination, Wilson related to Moore that he had interviewed seven women. He told Moore that they had indicated that Moore asked them about whom they were dating and whether they were dating anyone. Wilson told Moore that all of them felt very uncomfortable in that situation. Moore denied the accusations, but Wilson told him that he knew of at least two instances in which there were others who overheard the conversation. Although Wilson did not, in his notes, put the word "uncomfortable" in quotes, he indicated that one or more of the women used that term, that it was not just his term. Wilson also indicated in his deposition that he, Schultz, and Ja Chriesman, another Andersen employee, would have read Mawhinney's memo. He stated that he had read Moore's response, that he thought Shultz read it, and that he would have thought that Chriesman and Mawhinney read it. However, he acknowledged that he did not know for sure that they had read it. In her deposition, Mawhinney testified that, prior to working on the Friede Goldman project with Moore, she had never observed him engaging in flirtatious behavior and no one had told her that he had. As to her observations on the project, Mawhinney indicated that she would not say whether she had or had not observed flirtatious behavior. She stated that she suspected that flirtatious behavior was occurring. Mawhinney testified concerning a meeting she had with Wilson and Chriesman on Thursday prior to Moore's termination. She had learned of the meeting while out of town through an urgent voice mail from Wilson's office assistant wanting to know when she and Chriesman would be returning to the office. When they returned to town, she and Chriesman went directly to Wilson's office. She indicated that she did not, after the meeting, give any names of complaining females to Nancy Werner, the Andersen employee who investigated the matters involved here, because she thought that "[T]hey already had most of all the evidence they apparently needed." Mawhinney stated in the deposition that she played no role whatsoever in Moore being fired. Werner investigated the complaints concerning Moore prior to his termination and verified that Moore made inappropriate comments to female employees that made them feel uncomfortable and that at least one employee indicated that she would never staff her projects with a female who was subordinate to him. At Moore's request, Wilson personally investigated the allegations after he terminated Moore. Moore contends that a memo from Werner "states unequivocally" that she got the names of complaining women from Mawhinney, but our review of that memo shows that it does not reflect that Mawhinney gave her the names, only that she began her investigation after meeting with Mawhinney, Chriesman, and Wilson. In support of his conclusion that he filed a sexual harassment complaint, Moore refers us to his deposition testimony that he went to talk to Linda Ferguson about sexual harassment, then told her that Mawhinney was acting very antagonistically toward him. Moore could not recall if he had given Ferguson any examples. Moore stated in his deposition that he was replaced by a female whose qualifications were not as good as his for the job. He did not elaborate as to how she was less qualified nor give any source of his knowledge as to her qualifications. Under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual with respect to compensation or the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of race, color, disability, religion, sex, or national origin. Tex. Lab. Code Ann. § 21.051 (Vernon 1996) (formerly Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 5221k, § 5.01(1)); Garcia v. Schwab, 967 S.W.2d 883, 885 (Tex. App.--Corpus Christi 1998, no pet.). The Human Rights Act is modeled after federal law for the purpose of executing the policies embodied in Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. See Tex. Labor Code Ann. § 21.001 (Vernon 1996); Garcia, 967 S.W.2d at 885. One form of employment discrimination is sexual harassment. Garcia, 967 S.W.2d at 885. Moore's sexual harassment claim is a hostile work environment form of sexual harassment. Such a claim includes the following elements: (1) the plaintiff belongs to a protected group; (2) the plaintiff was subject to unwelcome sexual harassment; (3) the harassment complained of was based upon sex; (4) the harassment complained of affected a "term, condition, or privilege" of employment; and (5) the employer knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take remedial action. Id. Title VII is violated when the workplace is permeated with discriminatory intimidation, ridicule, and insult that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a discriminatorily hostile or abusive working environment. Meritor Sav. Bank FSB v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 64, 67 (1986). Conduct that is not severe enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive will not trigger Title VII or its Texas equivalent. Harris v. Forklift Sys., Inc., 510 U.S. 17, 21 (1993); Garcia, 967 S.W.2d at 885. Whether an environment is "hostile" or "abusive" can be determined only by reviewing all the circumstances, which may include the frequency of the conduct; its severity; whether it is physically threatening or humiliating, or a mere offensive utterance; and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee's work performance. Harris, 510 U.S. at 23; Garcia, 967 S.W.2d at 885-86. Considering all of the summary judgment evidence, including that we have outlined above, we hold that Moore has failed to present evidence showing that he was subjected to a hostile work environment of the severity required to maintain his claim for sexual harassment. We now turn to Moore's claim of sexual discrimination. The plaintiff in a Title VII trial must carry the initial burden of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination. McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 803 (1973). Such a prima facie case requires a showing that (1) he is a member of a protected class; (2) he was otherwise qualified for his position; (3) he was discharged by the defendant; and (4) the respondent replaced him with someone outside his protected class. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 142 (2000). We hold that Moore presented a prima facie case. Once Moore presented a prima facie case, it was appellees' burden to produce evidence that the plaintiff was rejected, or someone else was preferred, for a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason. Id. Andersen and Mawhinney presented evidence that Moore was terminated because of speaking with women in an inappropriate way that made them feel uncomfortable. Once the appellees met that burden, the presumptions and burdens discussed in McDonnell Douglas disappeared. Id. at 142-43. The ultimate burden of persuading the trier of fact that the defendant intentionally discriminated against the plaintiff remains at all times with the plaintiff. Id. at 143. Whether judgment as a matter of law is appropriate depends on a number of factors, including the strength of the plaintiff's prima facie case, the probative value of the proof that the employer's explanation is false, and any other evidence that supports the employer's case that might properly be considered on a motion for judgment as a matter of law. Id. at 148-49. In making that determination we are to review the record as a whole. Id. at 150. In this case there is nothing particularly remarkable about Moore's prima facie case. He merely established that he was a male, was otherwise qualified for his job, was terminated, and was replaced by a female. He was terminated following an investigation showing that he engaged in conversations with specified individuals in which he made statements and asked questions that were inappropriate in a business setting and that made women uncomfortable. Moore never presented evidence showing that these specific accusations were untrue or that such information was not in fact presented to Andersen. Therefore, he presented no evidence showing that the nondiscriminatory reason for firing him was pretextual. In urging that he presented evidence showing that Andersen's reason was pretextual, Moore refers to evidence showing that Andersen initially reported he was fired for sexual harassment, then changed the reason to unprofessional conduct, asserting that the original report was a mistake. Regardless of whether Andersen chose to call it sexual harassment or unprofessional conduct, evidence showed Andersen terminated Moore based on certain conduct on his part that Moore never denied. Inasmuch as Moore never denied that conduct, he presented no evidence that the reason for his firing was pretextual. Moore cites several examples of discrimination on the part of Andersen. We will consider all of these individually. First, Moore argues that Andersen fired him for sexual harassment, without a shred of evidence to support the firing. During his discussion, he refers to the investigation by Werner, but does not mention that her investigation substantiated the observations made by Mawhinney in her memo. He indicates that there never was a proper investigation, but does not explain why Werner's investigation was improper. Moore complains that Andersen immediately acted upon Mawhinney's memo to discharge him. He does not mention that he was not fired until Werner's investigation confirmed the observations in Mawhinney's memo. He also suggests that his claim of sexual harassment against Mawhinney was ignored. While an investigation showed the justification for his being fired for a nondiscriminatory reason, Moore has not shown that he ever indicated to Andersen in what way, if any, Mawhinney was supposed to have been guilty of sexual harassment or discrimination against him. Further, there is no evidence in the record indicating that she discriminated against Moore in any way on the basis of his gender or committed any other act that was improper under the Texas Labor Code or Title VII. Moore states that he was replaced by a female, a female who he says is not as qualified as he for the position. As previously noted, he never says in what way she was less qualified or what the source of his knowledge as to her qualifications might be. Moore relates that Andersen retaliated against him by firing him only four days after he filed sexual harassment charges against Mawhinney, in violation of Andersen's own policy. Other than Moore's conclusory statement that he filed a sexual harassment complaint, Moore's own affidavit indicates that he talked to Linda Ferguson in Andersen's human resources department about sexual harassment, then proceeded to tell her that Mawhinney was directing agitated and antagonistic behavior toward him and was creating a hostile work environment. Even if Moore did file a claim of sexual harassment against Mawhinney, there is nothing to suggest that he ever indicated to Ferguson or anyone else any facts that would serve as a basis for believing that any antagonistic or hostile behavior on Mawhinney's part was directed at him because of his gender. Finally, Moore urges that Andersen discriminated against him by contesting his application with the Texas Workforce Commission for employment benefits with a letter falsely charging him with sexual harassment. Although Andersen chose to characterize the reason for Moore's termination as unprofessional conduct rather than sexual harassment, the nature of conduct for which it terminated Moore would, if sufficiently severe, constitute sexual harassment. Even if it were not so severe, and even if the letter was not sent in error, as urged by Andersen, there is nothing in the record indicating that the sending of this letter constituted discrimination against Moore based upon his gender. We find that there is no more than a scintilla of evidence that Moore ever actually filed a sexual harassment complaint against Mawhinney, and, even if he did, no more than a scintilla of evidence that Andersen or Mawhinney discriminated against Moore on the basis of gender. We overrule point one. WRONGFUL DISCHARGE Moore urges in point two that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on his claim for wrongful discharge. The appellees urge that he has failed to show a binding contract of employment that would modify Moore's status as an employee at will. The general rule in Texas is that, absent a specific agreement to the contrary, employment may be terminated by the employer or the employee at will, for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all. Montgomery County Hosp. Dist. v. Brown, 965 S.W.2d 501, 502 (Tex. 1998). For such an employment contract to exist, the employer must unequivocally indicate a definite intent to be bound not to terminate the employee except under clearly specified circumstances. Id. In support of his argument that there was such an employment contract, Moore refers to that portion of Andersen's anti-harassment policy that states, "We will support any employee who believes he or she has been unlawfully harassed by his or her supervisor, coworker or third party in a work-related situation." We do not view this as an unequivocal statement by Andersen that it was bound not to terminate an employee except under clearly specified circumstances. Consequently, the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment on this issue. Moore relies upon the cases of Morgan v. Jack Brown Cleaners, Inc., 764 S.W.2d 825 (Tex. App.-Austin 1989, writ denied) and Goodyear Tire and Rubber v. Portilla, 879 S.W.2d 47, 52 (Tex. 1994). We first note that in Morgan the court did not consider whether the employer's promise that if a certain department ever closed, it would find a job for her within the company, was definite enough to constitute an enforceable contract. Brown, 965 S.W.2d at 503. The Supreme Court disapproved of the holding inMorgan to the extent that it was inconsistent with Brown. Id. In Goodyear, which was also decided before Brown, the court relied on Morgan as probably "[The] Texas case closest in point." Goodyear, 879 S.W.2d at 51. In any event, we find both cases distinguishable because in each of those cases there was a specific agreement not to terminate the employee under a specific circumstance, whereas in the case at bar there is no specific agreement not to terminate the employee. We overrule point two. DEFAMATION Moore contends in point three that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment on his claim for defamation. He insists that Mawhinney accused him of flirtatious behavior in her memo. In their motion for summary judgment, appellees contend that there is no evidence that they published a defamatory statement about Moore because the term "flirtatious" is a nonactionable opinion that is not capable of a defamatory meaning. As previously noted, the memo states that too much time spent chatting with female personnel was perceived by the client and Moore's team member as flirtatious behavior. Later in the memo, Mawhinney states that Moore needed to improve his professionalism. She said, "Whether his behavior has been flirtatious or not, if someone perceives that it is, then there is a problem." When one reads the memo as a whole, one sees that the memo does not state that Moore is flirtatious, only that he is perceived to be by some, and that such a perception constitutes a problem. We conclude, therefore, that Mawhinney did not publish a defamatory statement against Moore. Even if Mawhinney did publish a statement that Moore was flirtatious, it has been held that such a statement is too imprecise in nature to be an actionable defamatory statement. Lee v. Metro. Airport Comm., 428 N.W.2d 815, 821 (Minn. App. 1988). In support of his argument that a publication that he was flirtatious would be an actionable defamatory statement, Moore relies upon the case of Scribner v. Waffle House, Inc., 14 F. Supp.2d 873, 915 (ND 1998), vacated at 62 F. Supp.2d 1186 (1999). Under the heading "Defamatory Meaning" Moore states that "A charge that the Plaintiff was "vulgar and flirtatious" was found to be untrue, and supported (together with other facts) a judgment in excess of $6 million for the Plaintiff for sexual harassment, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress." Unlike Moore, Therese Scribner, the plaintiff in that case, was a victim of pervasive sexual harassment by a number of individuals over an extended period of time. Scribner, 14 F.Supp.2d at 891. Although the trial court found that witnesses in the trial lied when they accused Scribner of being vulgar and flirtatious, Scribner's claim of defamation did not involve any statements accusing her of being a flirt or being flirtatious. Id. at 935. Furthermore, as noted in the citation, the opinion in Scribner has been vacated. Scribner v. Waffle House, Inc., 62 F.Supp.2d 1186 (N.D. 1999). We overrule point three. INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS Moore argues in point four that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment on his claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. In response to Moore's claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, the appellees contend in their motion for summary judgment that there was no evidence that they engaged in any conduct that constitutes intentional infliction of emotional distress. To recover damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, a plaintiff must prove that: (1) the defendant acted intentionally or recklessly; (2) the conduct was extreme and outrageous; (3) the actions of the defendant caused the plaintiff emotional distress; and (4) the resulting emotional distress was severe. GTE Southwest, Inc. v. Bruce, 998 S.W.2d 605, 611 (Tex. 1999) To be extreme and outrageous, conduct must be "so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. Id. Generally, insensitive or even rude behavior does not constitute extreme and outrageous conduct. Id. at 612. Mere insults, indignities, threats, annoyances, petty oppressions, or other trivialities do not rise to the level of extreme and outrageous conduct. Id. Texas courts have adopted a strict approach to intentional infliction of emotional distress claims arising in the workplace, relying on the fact that, to properly manage its business, an employer must be able to supervise, review, criticize, demote, transfer, and discipline employees. Id. Although many of these acts are necessarily unpleasant for the employee, an employer must have latitude to exercise these rights in a permissible way, even though emotional distress results. Id. Consequently, in Texas, a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress does not lie for ordinary employment disputes. Id. The extreme and outrageous conduct required in such a cause of action in the workplace exists only in the most unusual of circumstances. Id. at 613. The evidence Moore has presented in response to the appellees' motion for summary judgment is evidence of an ordinary employment dispute, not of extreme and outrageous conduct of such a nature as is required to maintain a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress. Moore claims that the facts in this case are similar to those in GTE Southwest. To the contrary, the facts in GTE Southwest show a much more extreme situation. The supervisor in GTE Southwest was a former U. S. Army supply sergeant who committed ongoing acts of harassment, intimidation and humiliation and who engaged in daily obscene and vulgar behavior. Id. at 608, 617. The supervisor created a workplace that was a "den of terror" for the employees, purposefully humiliating and intimidating the employees, repeatedly putting them in fear of their physical well-being. Id. His abusive conduct was common, not rare. Id. Our opinion does not conflict with GTE Southwest. Moore also relies upon the case of Bushell v. Dean, 781 S.W.2d 652 (Tex. App.--Austin 1989), rev'd in part on other grounds, 803 S.W.2d 711 (Tex. 1991). In that case Dean's supervisor, Bushell, over a four-month period brought her things for breakfast, called her "My Sweet Mary," and told off-color jokes and talked about his marital sex problems with her and other employees. Id. at 657-58. He told Dean that he liked her split skirt and remarked about the shape of her body. Id. at 658. Bushell touched her several times. Id. Dean claimed that once, when Dean hugged him to thank him for a favor, Bushell tried to kiss her. Id. The next month, Bushell rubbed her neck although she did not ask him to and he had made no offer to do so. Id. He stopped when she asked him to. Id. During the next two months Bushell poked Dean in the ribs two or three times. Id. Bushell told Dean he loved her and desired a sexual encounter. Id. Subsequently, on two separate occasions, Bushell told her of his love and desire for sexual relations. Id. When Dean publicly rejected his advances, Bushell became very formal toward Dean, referring to her as "Mrs. Dean" and speaking to her only of business matters. Id. Later, when Bushell shouted at Dean during a dispute regarding a trucker's strike, she resigned. Id. at 654. The court held that it was for the jury to determine whether Bushell's conduct was extreme and outrageous. Even ifBushell was correctly decided, it is distinguishable because it involved overt sexual harassment over an extended period of time, whereas the evidence presented by Moore does not. Moore states that Bushell was cited with approval by the Texas Supreme Court in Wornick Co. v. Casas, 856 S.W.2d 732 (Tex. 1993). In Wornick, Casas's employer, Right Away Foods Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wornick Company, terminated her and had her escorted off the premises by a security guard. Id. at 734. This was not standard company policy for salaried employees such as Casas. Id. Casas spoke to the president of Right Away on her way out. Id. When Casas told him she disputed the allegations against her, he promised her a later meeting to discuss the matter, but he never set up the meeting. Id. He led her to believe that she would be on leave of absence rather than terminated. Id. An amicus curiae, the National Employment Lawyers Association, cited Bushell as a case where courts had found outrageous conduct in the employment setting. Id. at 735-36. Holding that the evidence was insufficient to show that Right Away's conduct was extreme or outrageous, the court distinguishedBushell, just as we have done, on the basis that it involved repeated or ongoing harassment of an employee. Id. at 736. We disagree with Moore that this constitutes citing Bushell with approval. We overrule point four. In view of our determination that Appellees were entitled to a no-evidence summary judgment, we need not consider whether they were entitled to a traditional motion for summary judgment. The judgment is affirmed. ______________________________ JOHN HILL, Senior Justice Do not publish . Tex. R. App. P. 47.3(b). Opinion delivered and filed this 23rd day of August, 2001. 1. Senior Justice John Hill assigned to this court by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas pursuant to Tex. Gov't Code Ann. § 74.003 (Vernon 1998).

type=driver plumed_needs=boost_serialization plumed_modules=drr arg="--plumed plumed.dat --trajectory-stride 1 --timestep 0.005 --ixyz ala12_trajectory.xyz --dump-forces forces --dump-forces-fmt=%10.6f"

Synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of potent and selective 2-(3-alkoxy-1-azetidinyl) quinolines as novel PDE10A inhibitors with improved solubility. We report the discovery of a novel series of 2-(3-alkoxy-1-azetidinyl) quinolines as potent and selective PDE10A inhibitors. Structure-activity studies improved the solubility (pH 7.4) and maintained high PDE10A activity compared to initial lead compound 3, with select compounds demonstrating good oral bioavailability. X-ray crystallographic studies revealed two distinct binding modes to the catalytic site of the PDE10A enzyme. An ex vivo receptor occupancy assay in rats demonstrated that this series of compounds covered the target within the striatum.

Cheater Payback-Chapter Seven Cathy told Bill to get her another towel, there was no need to say why because the old one was getting pretty soggy, to say the least. She folded it once and then got back into position. With open legs she reached over and grabbed hold of Rick’s pecker and pulled him with it, placing it at her cunt’s entrance. When Bill plunged into the very wet, well-lubricated, private place, her vaginal walls fluttered around it as he slid in, balls deep. It felt wonderful, and he could feel Cathy’s flesh spread while at the same time she was squeezing him with it. Cathy gave out a little laugh and asked, “Do you like that?” He answered her with a slap, slap, slap, slap noise of a dick and a wet pussy banging together. After a good long minute or so he was still going at her with his body. Cathy said “Rick, honey, take it easy, you aren’t going to wear my pussy out, you are just wearing yourself out. But, oh God your cock feels so good in there.” Bill was watching everything and did exactly what Cathy was hoping he would do, that being taking one of her legs and holding it up, pointing towards the ceiling. This allowed Rick better access and provided Bill a better scene for his perverted eyes. Cathy opened her legs wider and did what she had just been taught, that being pulling Rick into him hard and allowing his cock more penetration to squirt her deep inside her eggbox. She was also going to do this with her husband next chance he got. Anyway, Cathy was squirming and bouncing around, her tits jammed into his chest and her nails digging into his back like some sort of wildcat in heat. She was also cussing worse than a sailor with a lot of F, C, S, and P words. The nasty woman was an exciting and talented fuck. She had years of experience screwing and making babies in the marriage bed. As well as a few other places. She was nearing climax so she told Rick, “Don’t stop fucking me you S.O.B., faster, faster, fuck me hard, honey!” Slamming her naked body at him violently working on her orgasm. Bill was also helping her by pulling on her leg to meet their crotch slamming lewdness. Poor Rick was just along for the ride as he tried to keep his cum inside his balls for her. Cathy became limp as her body shivered and shuttered in pleasure as her jets inside released a load of girl cum soaking Rick’s already wet dick. With a smile of a satisfied woman on Cathy’s beautiful face she gave Rick a sexy kiss on the lips, and like a high school kid also gave him a hickey on his neck as her whole body continued to rock with sexual satisfaction. She said weakly, Go ahead Rick shoot your load in me now.” Rick went stiff as he shot off, he felt his cock going fwt fwt fwt fwt fwt, as five bolts of sperm went into her. He lied atop her as the two sweaty bodies hugged each other, exhausted and spent. Bill slowly eased Cathy’s leg down onto Rick and she rested it on his bottom. Bill had to wait patiently for Cathy to regurgitate so he could fuck her again. End of chapter seven.

Lets sing! ♫♪♬♩ Eat food 🍅🍕

import sqlite3 import time import datetime conn = sqlite3.connect('master.db') c = conn.cursor() def create_table(): c.execute('CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS tennis(player TEXT, Pinnacle REAL, WillHill REAL, betThreeSixFive REAL, Bookmaker REAL, BetOnline REAL, TheGreekSportsbook REAL, JustBet REAL, SportsInteraction REAL, WagerWeb REAL, FiveDimes REAL)') """ Columns are: player betfairBack betfairLay williamhill ladbrokes """ def dynamic_data_entry(column,entry): c.execute("INSERT INTO tennis(" + column + ") VALUES(?)", (str(entry),)) conn.commit() #The real function will have to be "updating" def update(player,column,entry): c.execute('SELECT * FROM tennis') c.execute("UPDATE tennis SET " + column + " = " + str(entry) + " WHERE player = '" + player + "'") conn.commit() def read_from_db(player): c.execute("SELECT * FROM tennis WHERE player = '" + player + "'") # data = c.fetchone() # print data #for row in c.fetchall(): # print row[1:] return list(c.fetchall()) create_table() #c.close() #conn.close()

Project Summary Postpartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a disease of unknown etiology that arises as a complication of pregnancy in women with no prior heart disease. It occurs in 1:1800 to 1:3500 births in the United States and is characterized by an acute onset of heart failure during the last month of pregnancy or within five months postpartum. PPCM is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality with no PPCM-specific treatment options available. During pregnancy, pregnancy-associated hypertrophy initiates the activation of cardiomyocyte protective signaling pathways that block stress-mediated apoptosis. In PPCM patients there is an increase in cardiomyocyte apoptosis that leads to irreversible dysfunction and heart failure. The cellular mechanisms driving cardiomyocyte apoptosis are not fully understood. We have identified a gene PTRH2 (also called Bit-1) that is evolutionarily conserved, mediates integrin regulated cell survival and apoptosis, and mutations in this gene promote multisystem disease in humans. We hypothesize that PTRH2 is essential for cardioprotection from peripartum stresses in the maternal heart. To study this we developed a cardiomyocyte-specific deletion of PTRH2 (CKO). CKO male and never- pregnant female mice demonstrate no heart defects and live to old age. However, 100% of CKO pregnant female mice develop PPCM in a dose-dependent manner (CKO>HET). We will use cell and molecular biology and our CKO mice to determine how PTRH2 mediates cardioprotection, test whether PTRH2 associated proteins abrogate the PPCM phenotype in CKO pregnant mice, determine whether PTRH2 expression blocks hypertrophy and examine PPCM patient heart samples for PTRH2 gene mutations. The proposed project has the potential to identify an essential survival pathway that is activated in pregnancy-associated hypertrophy, test PTRH2 directed therapeutic strategies in a preclinical mouse model of PPCM and determine whether mutations in PTRH2 promote PPCM.

TY - RPRT T1 - Weak looking-ahead and its application in computer-integrated process planning T3 - Kaiserslautern ; Saarbrücken : DFKI, 1993 A1 - Meyer,Manfred A. A1 - Müller,Jörg P. Y1 - 2011/06/27 N2 - Constraint logic programming has been shown to be a very useful tool for knowledge representation and problem-solving in different areas. Finite Domain extensions of PROLOG together with efficient consistency techniques such as forward-checking and looking-ahead make it possible to solve many discrete combinatorial problems within a short development time. In this paper we present the weak looking-ahead strategy (WLA), a new consistency technique on finite domains combining the computational efficiency of forward-checking with the pruning power of looking-ahead. Moreover, incorporating weak looking-ahead into PROLOG's SLD resolution gives a sound and complete inference rule whereas standard looking-ahead itself has been shown to be incomplete. Finally, we will show how to use weak looking-ahead in a real-world application to obtain an early search-space pruning while avoiding the control overhead involved by standard looking-ahead. KW - Künstliche Intelligenz CY - Saarbrücken PB - Saarländische Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek AD - Postfach 151141, 66041 Saarbrücken UR - http://scidok.sulb.uni-saarland.de/volltexte/2011/3654 ER -

2 Comments: Men with high mate quality (e.g. handsome, rich, etc.) tend to do less parental investment (because they have greater mating opportunity costs). Their mates put up with it, as it were, because of the trade-off for high mate quality. These men tend to have greater facial symmetry and testosterone, and women are more likely to have sex with them. The men themselves, might provide positive feedback here as well (e.g. greater testosterone leads to greater sex drive). Its based on principles for Parentla Investment and Sexual Selection theory. Seems like they could easily be confusing cause and correlation. Seems entirely possible to me that men that are more prone to do "womens's chores" could easily be men with lesser sexual drives--or they simply have less direct and forward mentalities so they're less likely to initiate...activities...to begin with.

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Q: how to throttle file copy I need to duplicate a 3TB disk by copying from one to another. They're housed in separate docks (no fan). It will take at least 8hrs to copy this much data through USB 2.0 and im concerned about disks overheating. Is there any utils to throttle the rate of files or MB/second copied? A: Software called UltraCopier allows you to limit the speed of the copy.

Mutual benefits. Hospital-business wellness partnerships yield. Hospitals and employers see a strong business case for developing wellness partnerships.

(J Am Heart Assoc. 2017;6:e007026 DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.117.007026.)29042422 Clinical PerspectiveWhat Is New?In this nonrandomized, retrospective, observational study of patients undergoing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) with quadripolar (QUAD) and non‐QUAD left ventricular leads, programmed to biventricular, single‐site left ventricular pacing, QUAD was associated with a lower total mortality, cardiac mortality, and heart failure hospitalization.These benefits were observed after both CRT‐defibrillation and CRT‐pacing, after adjustment for heart failure etiology.Re‐interventions for left ventricular displacement or phrenic nerve stimulation, which were lower with QUAD, were associated with worse outcomes.What Are the Clinical Implications?The markedly better outcomes after CRT observed with QUAD supports their preferential use over non‐QUAD in clinical practice.The relative benefits of CRT‐defibrillation over CRT‐pacing requires further evaluation in the QUAD era. Introduction {#jah32587-sec-0008} ============ Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), with CRT‐defibrillation (CRT‐D) or without (CRT‐pacing \[CRT‐P\]) defibrillation, is a standard treatment for selected patients with heart failure (HF) with severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and a wide QRS complex.[1](#jah32587-bib-0001){ref-type="ref"} Since the first transvenous CRT implantations were undertaken in the 1990s,[2](#jah32587-bib-0002){ref-type="ref"}, [3](#jah32587-bib-0003){ref-type="ref"} improvements in delivery catheter and LV lead design, as well as implantation techniques using venoplasty and snaring, have helped to improve implantation success. Prominent among the challenges still encountered at implantation and thereafter is achieving acceptable LV pacing thresholds without phrenic nerve stimulation (PNS).[4](#jah32587-bib-0004){ref-type="ref"} Deactivation of the LV lead mainly occurs as a result of LV lead displacement which, in studies using unipolar and bipolar leads, occurs more frequently than with atrial or right ventricular leads.[5](#jah32587-bib-0005){ref-type="ref"}, [6](#jah32587-bib-0006){ref-type="ref"}, [7](#jah32587-bib-0007){ref-type="ref"}, [8](#jah32587-bib-0008){ref-type="ref"}, [9](#jah32587-bib-0009){ref-type="ref"} Since their launch in 2010, quadripolar LV leads (QUAD) have been considered by implanters as a "game‐changer," even before robust clinical evidence emerged in their favor. Observational studies and a randomized, controlled trial[10](#jah32587-bib-0010){ref-type="ref"} have since shown that QUAD is associated with higher implant success rates and lower rates of re‐interventions for LV lead displacement or PNS.[11](#jah32587-bib-0011){ref-type="ref"}, [12](#jah32587-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"} Some observational studies have suggested that CRT‐D using QUAD programmed to single‐site LV pacing also improves survival.[12](#jah32587-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"}, [13](#jah32587-bib-0013){ref-type="ref"}, [14](#jah32587-bib-0014){ref-type="ref"} These findings, however, are not consistent,[15](#jah32587-bib-0015){ref-type="ref"} and there is uncertainty as to whether they also apply to CRT‐P. Moreover, the possible influence of HF etiology and the effects of QUAD on HF hospitalization and mode of death remain largely unexplored. Methods {#jah32587-sec-0009} ------- This is a nonrandomized, retrospective, observational study comparing clinical outcomes of patients undergoing CRT‐D and CRT‐P device implantation using unipolar, bipolar, and quadripolar leads in a single center (Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom) from February 2010 to January 2017. The study was approved by the Clinical Audit Department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which does not require informed consent for audit of clinical care delivery. The study conforms to the Declaration of Helsinki. Implantation {#jah32587-sec-0010} ------------ Device implantation was undertaken using standard techniques with patients under local anesthesia and intravenous sedation. Access was gained via subclavian, axillary, and cephalic veins. The LV pacing site was chosen by the implanter on the basis of lead stability, absence of PNS, and adequate pacing parameters. An implant was considered a failure in the event of failure to deploy all desired leads and device at the index procedure. The first QUAD was implanted in February 2010. The following QUAD leads were used: Quartet 1458Q (St. Jude Medical, Sylmar, CA), Attain Performa (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN), and Acuity X4 (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA). The choice of vector was made at implantation and was made on the basis of presence or absence of PNS. Follow‐Up {#jah32587-sec-0011} --------- Patients were followed up in dedicated device therapy clinics. Before 2013, patients underwent systematic echocardiographic optimization. To this end, patients in sinus rhythm underwent transmitral Doppler‐directed optimization of atrioventricular delay using an iterative technique before discharge and at every scheduled visit thereafter. In patients with sinus rhythm, atrial pacing was set at 60 beats/min, and the pacing mode was set to DDDR with an interventricular delay of 0 to 4 ms, according to the manufacturer. In patients with permanent atrial fibrillation, right ventricular and LV leads were implanted and a CRT generator was used, plugging the atrial port and programming the generator to a ventricular triggered mode. In patients with uncontrolled atrial fibrillation despite medical therapy with suboptimal biventricular pacing capture (\<98%), atrioventricular junction ablation was undertaken, according to the individual clinician\'s decision. After 2013, echocardiographic optimization was only undertaken in symptomatic nonresponders. End Points {#jah32587-sec-0012} ---------- The primary end point was total mortality, which included cardiac transplantation. Secondary end points included cardiac mortality and unplanned HF hospitalization. The first event was included in the analysis. With respect to mode of death, sudden cardiac death was defined as a "natural, unexpected death due to cardiac causes, heralded by an abrupt loss of consciousness within 1 hour of the onset of acute symptoms,"[16](#jah32587-bib-0016){ref-type="ref"} whereas death from pump failure was defined as "death after a period of clinical deterioration in signs and symptoms of heart failure despite medical treatment"[17](#jah32587-bib-0017){ref-type="ref"} or cardiac transplantation. Mortality data were collected through medical records every 3 months by investigators who were blinded to all other patient data. Mortality and event data were collected by separate investigators who were blinded to all other data, except patient identifiers. Statistical Analysis {#jah32587-sec-0013} -------------------- In preliminary analyses, no differences in outcomes emerged between unipolar and bipolar LV leads (data not shown). On this basis, the latter were classified as "non‐QUAD" in statistical analyses. Normality was tested using the Shapiro--Wilk test. Continuous variables are expressed as mean (±SD) and compared using the Student *t* test. Categorical variables were compared using the χ^2^ tests. Kaplan--Meier curves and the log‐rank tests were used to assess observed cumulative survival and to test for differences in survival, respectively. Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare hazard rates of subgroups. Variables reaching a *P*\<0.10 on univariable analyses were entered in multivariable models, and further backward elimination was applied for the final multivariable models. Confounders included in final models were the following: quadripolar lead, sex (male), age at implantation, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, creatinine, QRS duration, and medication of angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers. Proportionality hypotheses were verified by visual examination of log (survival) graphs to ensure parallel slopes, and by examining Schoenfeld residuals. Statistical analyses were undertaken using Stata 14 (StataCorp, Houston, TX). A 2‐sided *P*≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results {#jah32587-sec-0014} ======= Baseline Characteristics {#jah32587-sec-0015} ------------------------ Over the study period of 6.9 years, 847 patients underwent CRT (CRT‐D: 436 \[51.5%\]; CRT‐P: 411 \[48.5%\]), using QUAD (287 \[33.9%\]), unipolar (63 \[7.43%\]), or bipolar (497 \[58.7%\]) leads. Implantations using unipolar and bipolar leads were classified as non‐QUAD. As shown in Table [1](#jah32587-tbl-0001){ref-type="table"}, the groups were well matched for age, sex, cause of cardiomyopathy, comorbidities, proportion of upgrades from pacemaker, atrial rhythm (sinus rhythm or atrial fibrillation), QRS morphology, QRS duration, and left ventricular ejection fraction. Compared with the non‐QUAD group, QUAD were more likely to be in NYHA class I and II (*P*\<0.001) and to undergo CRT‐D (62.0% versus 46.1%, *P*\<0.001). In addition, QUAD had a lower uptake of loop diuretics (*P*=0.003) and a higher uptake of β‐blockers (*P*=0.004). ###### Characteristics of the Study Group QUAD Non‐QUAD *P* Value[a](#jah32587-note-0002){ref-type="fn"} ------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------------- -------------------------------------------------- N 287 560 Sex (male), n (%) 209 (72.8) 398 (71.1) 0.592 Age, y 72.5±12.2 73.2±11.3 0.517 NYHA class, n (%) I 40 (14.3) 32 (5.8) \<0.001 II 87 (31.1) 66 (11.9) III 148 (52.9) 419 (75.5) IV 5 (1.79) 38 (6.9) Cause of cardiomyopathy, n (%) Ischemic 151 (52.6) 279 (49.8) 0.442 Nonischemic 136 (47.4) 281 (50.2) Device type, n (%) CRT‐D 178 (62.0) 258 (46.1) \<0.001 CRT‐P 109 (38.0) 302 (53.9) Comorbidities, n (%) Diabetes mellitus 80 (28.1) 127 (22.9) 0.099 Hypertension 87 (30.5) 165 (29.7) 0.811 CABG 48 (16.7) 102 (18.2) 0.591 Upgrade from pacemaker 56 (19.5) 119 (21.6) 0.554 ECG variables Sinus rhythm, n (%) 195 (67.9) 356 (63.6) 0.206 Atrial fibrillation, n (%)[b](#jah32587-note-0003){ref-type="fn"} 92 (32.1) 204 (36.4) QRS morphology (LBBB), n (%) 228 (79.4) 438 (78.2) 0.680 QRS duration, ms[c](#jah32587-note-0004){ref-type="fn"} 152.6±24.0 152.4±25.0 0.896 Medication, n (%) Loop diuretics 274 (95.5) 553 (98.8) 0.003 ACEIs/ARA 257 (89.6) 489 (87.3) 0.344  β‐Blockers 227 (79.1) 391 (69.2) 0.004 MRA 124 (43.2) 244 (43.6) 0.919 LVEF, % 24.9±9.1 25.8±11.2 0.249 Creatinine, μmol/L[d](#jah32587-note-0005){ref-type="fn"} 106 (89--129) 104 (87--132) 0.727 Variables are expressed as mean±SD, unless indicated otherwise. ACEI indicates angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors; ARA, angiotensin receptor blockers; CABG, coronary artery bypass grafting; CRT‐D, cardiac resynchronization therapy‐defibrillation; CRT‐P, cardiac resynchronization therapy‐pacing; LBBB, left bundle branch block; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; MRA, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists; NYHA, New York Heart Association; QUAD, quadripolar left ventricular lead. Refers to differences between the groups from ANOVA for continuous variables and from χ^2^ tests for categorical variables. Includes permanent, persistent, and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Excludes upgrades to pacemaker. Log‐transformed for statistical analyses. Total Mortality {#jah32587-sec-0016} --------------- Over a follow‐up period of 3.2 years (median \[interquartile range,1.90 to 5.0; 1.8 years \[interquartile range, 1.0--2.6\] for QUAD; 4.7 years \[interquartile range, 3.4--5.7\] for non‐QUAD), QUAD was associated with a lower total mortality in Kaplan--Meier survival analyses (log rank *P*\<0.001, Figure [1](#jah32587-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}). The annualized total mortality rate was 3.6% (n=19) for QUAD and 10.9% (n=218) for non‐QUAD. Event rates are shown in Table [2](#jah32587-tbl-0002){ref-type="table"}. Univariable Cox proportional hazards analyses are shown in Table [3](#jah32587-tbl-0003){ref-type="table"}. In multivariable analyses (Table [4](#jah32587-tbl-0004){ref-type="table"}), QUAD was associated with a lower mortality (adjusted hazard ratio \[aHR\]: 0.32, 95% confidence interval \[CI\], 0.20--0.52), after adjustment for age, sex, NYHA class, and creatinine. Other confounders failed to reach significance in multivariable models. In order to exclude a possible time‐related bias, we explored whether date of implant emerged as a predictor of total mortality. In multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis, date of implant did not predict total mortality (HR: 1.46, 95% CI, 0.95--2.26). {#jah32587-fig-0001} ###### Event Rates According to Lead Type QUAD (n=287) Non‐QUAD (n=560) ------------------------- -------------- ------------------ ----- ------ Total mortality 19 3.6 218 10.9 Cardiac mortality 13 2.4 136 6.0 HF hospitalization 22 4.4 104 5.6 Death from pump failure 11 2.1 122 5.4 SCD 2 0.4 13 0.6 HF indicates heart failure; QUAD, quadripolar left ventricular lead; SCD, sudden cardiac death. Data are expressed in terms of annualized event rates. ###### Univariable Cox Proportional Hazards Analyses of Baseline Variables in Relation to Clinical Outcomes   Total Mortality Cardiac Mortality HF Hospitalization ------------------------ ----------------- ------------------- -------------------- --------- ------ ------ ------- --------- ------ ------ ------ --------- Lead type (QUAD) 0.31 0.19 0.49 \<0.001 0.35 0.20 0.63 \<0.001 0.60 0.37 0.95 0.030 Sex (male) 1.76 1.28 2.42 0.001 1.99 1.30 3.04 0.001 1.23 0.82 1.84 0.309 Age 1.04 1.02 1.05 \<0.001 1.02 1.00 1.03 0.029 1.03 1.01 1.04 0.004 NYHA class III 1.50 1.04 2.18 0.031 1.41 0.90 2.21 0.138 1.25 0.80 1.94 0.329 IV 3.74 2.25 6.21 \<0.001 2.40 1.25 4.61 0.009 1.24 0.51 3.03 0.634 Cause (ischemic) 1.23 0.95 1.59 0.112 1.21 0.88 1.67 0.249 1.31 0.92 1.87 0.130 Device type (CRT‐D) 0.81 0.63 1.04 0.100 0.96 0.70 1.33 0.810 0.98 0.69 1.39 0.922 Comorbidities Diabetes mellitus 1.33 1.00 1.77 0.050 1.57 1.11 2.22 0.010 1.48 1.02 2.16 0.042 Hypertension 1.10 0.83 1.45 0.509 0.91 0.63 1.31 0.620 0.96 0.65 1.41 0.820 CABG 1.16 0.85 1.60 0.352 1.05 0.70 1.59 0.801 1.04 0.66 1.63 0.872 ECG variables Atrial fibrillation 1.36 1.05 1.76 0.019 1.26 0.91 1.74 0.171 0.94 0.65 1.36 0.741 QRS morphology (LBBB) 0.81 0.60 1.09 0.161 0.71 0.50 1.02 0.064 0.57 0.39 0.84 0.004 QRS duration, ms 1.00 0.99 1.00 0.115 0.99 0.99 1.00 0.041 0.99 0.98 0.99 \<0.001 Medication Loop diuretics 1.38 0.44 4.32 0.578 2.73 0.38 19.51 0.317 ACEIs/ARA 0.54 0.39 0.76 \<0.001 0.52 0.35 0.79 0.002 1.28 0.69 2.39 0.428 β‐Blockers 0.87 0.66 1.14 0.309 0.81 0.57 1.13 0.215 0.91 0.62 1.33 0.612 MRA 0.90 0.69 1.16 0.410 1.01 0.73 1.40 0.949 1.25 0.88 1.77 0.210 LVEF, % 1.00 0.98 1.01 0.462 0.99 0.97 1.01 0.211 1.01 0.99 1.02 0.404 Creatinine, log μmol/L 2.20 1.72 2.82 \<0.001 1.92 1.38 2.67 \<0.001 1.93 1.34 2.76 \<0.001 ACEIs indicates angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors; ARA, angiotensin receptor blockers; CABG, coronary artery bypass grafting; CRT‐D, cardiac resynchronization therapy‐defibrillation; HF, heart failure; LBBB, left bundle branch block; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; MRA, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists; NYHA, New York Heart Association; QUAD, quadripolar left ventricular lead. Results are expressed as hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from Cox proportional hazards analyses. ###### Multivariable Analyses of Baseline Variables in Relation to Clinical Outcomes Total Mortality Cardiac Mortality HF Hospitalization ------------------------ ----------------- ------------------- -------------------- --------- ------ ------ ------ ------- ------ ------ ------ --------- Lead type (QUAD) 0.32 0.20 0.52 \<0.001 0.36 0.20 0.65 0.001 0.62 0.39 0.99 0.047 Sex, male 1.65 1.18 2.31 0.003 1.74 1.13 2.70 0.013 ··· ··· ··· ··· Age, y 1.03 1.02 1.05 \<0.001 1.02 1.00 1.03 0.043 1.03 1.01 1.05 0.001 NYHA class (IV) 1.89 1.25 2.86 0.003 ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· ··· QRS duration, ms ··· ··· ··· ··· 0.99 0.99 1.00 0.019 0.99 0.98 0.99 \<0.001 ACEIs/ARAs ··· ··· ··· ··· 0.64 0.42 0.99 0.044 ··· ··· ··· ··· Creatinine, log μmol/L 1.68 1.25 2.25 0.001 1.50 1.04 2.16 0.030 1.91 1.30 2.80 0.001 Only variables with *P*\<0.10 on univariable analyses were included in multivariable models. ACEI, angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors; ARA, angiotensin receptor blockers; HF, heart failure; NYHA, New York Heart Association; QUAD, quadripolar left ventricular lead. Results are expressed as hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from Cox proportional hazards analyses. Cardiac Mortality {#jah32587-sec-0017} ----------------- The annualized cardiac mortality rate was 2.40% (n=13) for QUAD and 6.0% (n=136) for non‐QUAD (Table [2](#jah32587-tbl-0002){ref-type="table"}). In Kaplan--Meier survival analyses, QUAD was associated with a lower cardiac mortality (log rank *P*\<0.001, Figure [1](#jah32587-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}). In multivariable analyses (Table [4](#jah32587-tbl-0004){ref-type="table"}), QUAD was associated with a lower cardiac mortality (aHR: 0.36, 95% CI, 0.20--0.65), after adjustment for known confounders. HF Hospitalization {#jah32587-sec-0018} ------------------ The annualized HF hospitalization rate was 4.40% for QUAD (n=22) and 5.6% (n=104) for non‐QUAD (Table [2](#jah32587-tbl-0002){ref-type="table"}). In Kaplan--Meier survival analyses, QUAD was associated with a lower risk of HF hospitalization (log rank *P*=0.028, Figure [1](#jah32587-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}). In multivariable analyses (Table [4](#jah32587-tbl-0004){ref-type="table"}), QUAD was associated with a lower risk of HF hospitalization (aHR: 0.62, 95% CI, 0.39--0.99), after adjustment for potential confounders. QUAD and Device Type {#jah32587-sec-0019} -------------------- In univariable (Table [3](#jah32587-tbl-0003){ref-type="table"}) and mutivariable (Table [4](#jah32587-tbl-0004){ref-type="table"}) analyses, CRT‐D did not emerge as a predictor of any end point. Separate analyses according to device type were also undertaken. As shown in Figure [2](#jah32587-fig-0002){ref-type="fig"}, QUAD was superior to non‐QUAD with respect to all end points in Kaplan--Meier survival analyses. In univariable analyses including CRT‐D patients only, QUAD was superior to non‐QUAD with respect to total mortality (HR: 0.44, 95% CI, 0.25--0.76) and cardiac mortality (HR: 0.43, 95% CI, 0.22--0.85). A lower, albeit nonsignificant reduction with QUAD was observed in HF hospitalization (HR: 0.54, 95% CI, 0.29--1.01). In univariable analyses including CRT‐P patients only, QUAD was superior to non‐QUAD with respect to total mortality (HR: 0.16, 95% CI, 0.06--0.45) and cardiac mortality (HR: 0.23, 95% CI, 0.07--0.73), but no differences emerged in HF hospitalization (HR: 0.67, 95% CI, 0.32--1.37). {#jah32587-fig-0002} Mode of Death {#jah32587-sec-0020} ------------- Over the follow‐up period, there were 11/287 (3.83%) deaths because of pump failure with QUAD and 122/558 (21.8%) with non‐QUAD. There were 2/287 (0.70%) sudden cardiac deaths with QUAD and 13/560 (2.32%) with non‐QUAD. Noncardiac deaths accounted for 3/287 (1.04%) deaths with QUAD and 42/560 (7.5%) deaths with non‐QUAD. The cause and mode of death was unknown in 3 (1.04%) patients with QUAD and in 40 (7.14%) patients with non‐QUAD. Excluding these patients, QUAD was associated with a lower mortality from pump failure (log rank *P*\<0.001; aHR: 0.33; 95% CI, 0.18--0.62), but no differences emerged with respect to sudden cardiac death (aHR: 0.58; 95% CI, 0.13--2.68, Figure [3](#jah32587-fig-0003){ref-type="fig"}). {#jah32587-fig-0003} Implantation {#jah32587-sec-0021} ------------ There were 856 first attempts at CRT device implantation, 833 (97.3%) of which were successful at the first attempt and 847 (98.9%) after ≥1 attempts. Re‐interventions for LV displacement or PNS were lower with QUAD than with non‐QUAD (Table [5](#jah32587-tbl-0005){ref-type="table"}, Figure [4](#jah32587-fig-0004){ref-type="fig"}). In univariable analyses, re‐interventions for LV displacement or PNS predicted total mortality (aHR: 1.68, 95% CI, 1.11--2.54), cardiac mortality (aHR: 2.61, 95% CI, 1.66--4.11), and HF hospitalization (aHR: 2.09, 95% CI, 1.22--3.58). ###### Implant‐Related Complications and Re‐Interventions All QUAD Non‐QUAD *P* Value[a](#jah32587-note-0013){ref-type="fn"} ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------- ----------- ----------- -------------------------------------------------- Implant‐related complications, n (%) Hematoma treated conservatively 23 (2.72) 10 (3.48) 14 (2.50) 0.390 Hematoma requiring evacuation 4 (0.47) 0 4 (0.71) Pneumothorax treated conservatively 5 (0.59) 2 (0.70) 3 (0.54) Pneumothorax requiring drainage 1 (0.12) 0 1 (0.18) Perforation by RV lead 2 (0.24) 1 (0.35) 1 (0.18) Coronary sinus dissection[b](#jah32587-note-0014){ref-type="fn"} 5 (0.59) 4 (1.39) 3 (0.54) Subclavian artery aneurysm 1 (0.12) 1 (0.35) 0 Arrhythmia requiring cardioversion 1 (0.12) 1 (0.35) 0 Anemia postprocedure 1 (0.12) 0 1 (0.18) Pulmonary edema 1 (0.12) 0 1 (0.18) Total, n (%) 44 (5.19) 19 (6.62) 28 (5.00) Extractions for infection Within 1 y 8 (1.43) 3 (1.05) 5 (0.89) 0.297 After 1 y 3 (0.53) 0 3 (0.54) Total, n (%) 11 (1.96) 3 (1.05) 8 (1.43) LV lead re‐interventions LV lead displacement 34 (4.01) 6 (2.09) 28 (5.0) 0.007 Phrenic nerve stimulation 19 (2.24) 3 (1.05) 16 (2.86) Total 53 (6.26) 9 (3.14) 44 (7.86) RV indicates right ventricular. Refers to χ^2^ tests of quadripolar (QUAD) compared with non‐QUAD left ventricular (LV) leads. No coronary sinus dissections required re‐interventions. {#jah32587-fig-0004} Other Complications {#jah32587-sec-0022} ------------------- As shown in Table [5](#jah32587-tbl-0005){ref-type="table"}, implant‐related complications were similar for QUAD and non‐QUAD (odds ratio: 1.30, 95% CI, 0.71--2.36). A total of 8 extractions for system infection were undertaken within 1 year of implantation (QUAD: 3 (1.05%); non‐QUAD: 5 (0.90%; *P*=0.828) and 3 after 1 year (QUAD: 0); non‐QUAD: 3 (0.54%; *P*=0.214). No device‐related infection or subsequent extraction led to death. Lead Design {#jah32587-sec-0023} ----------- Three LV lead families from 3 manufacturers were used, namely, Quartet (n=189, St. Jude Medical, Sylmar, CA), Attain Performa (n=87, Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN), and Acuity X4 (n=11, Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA). Compared with non‐QUAD leads, Quartet leads (aHR: 0.36, 95% CI, 0.21--0.6; sample size: 560 non‐QUAD and 189 Quartet leads) as well as the Attain Performa leads (aHR: 0.11, 95% CI, 0.03--0.45; sample size: 560 non‐QUAD and 87 Attain Performa) were associated with lower total mortality. Comparison of Quartet (n=189) with Attain Performa (n=87) revealed no difference in total mortality (Quartet HR: 3.06, 95% CI, 0.70--13.38). Boston Scientific Acuity X4 leads were excluded from these analysis because of the small numbers involved (n=11). Discussion {#jah32587-sec-0024} ========== In this study, we have compared clinical outcomes after CRT using QUAD and non‐QUAD, programmed to biventricular, single‐site LV pacing. Several findings have emerged. First, QUAD was associated with a 68% lower total mortality. Second, QUAD was associated with a marked reduction in cardiac mortality (by 64%) and in HF hospitalization (by 38%). Third, QUAD was associated with a lower mortality from pump failure, while no differences emerged in sudden cardiac death. Fourth, HF cause did not impact on the superior outcomes of QUAD over non‐QUAD. Fifth, QUAD was superior to non‐QUAD after both CRT‐D and CRT‐P. Sixth, no group differences emerged in implant complications, but QUAD was associated with fewer re‐interventions for LV lead displacement or PNS. Seventh, re‐interventions for LV displacement or PNS predicted total mortality, cardiac mortality, and HF hospitalization. Mortality {#jah32587-sec-0025} --------- A recent retrospective study comparing QUAD with bipolar leads showed no difference in survival at 12 months (mean follow‐up 256 days for QUAD).[15](#jah32587-bib-0015){ref-type="ref"} In contrast, a US‐wide study based on data from device implant records and telemonitoring showed that CRT‐D using QUAD was associated with a better survival than CRT‐D using bipolar leads.[13](#jah32587-bib-0013){ref-type="ref"} Observational data from 3 centers in the United Kingdom showed similar findings.[12](#jah32587-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"} Our annualized total mortality rate for non‐QUAD (10.9%) is comparable to that found in randomized, controlled trials using non‐QUAD, which amounted to 9.7% in CARE‐HF (Cardiac Resynchronization Heart Failure)[18](#jah32587-bib-0018){ref-type="ref"} and 15% in COMPANION (Comparison of Medical Therapy, Pacing and Defibrillation in heart failure)[19](#jah32587-bib-0019){ref-type="ref"}, [20](#jah32587-bib-0020){ref-type="ref"} after CRT‐P. In the CRT‐D arm of COMPANION, the annualized total mortality rate was 12%.[20](#jah32587-bib-0020){ref-type="ref"} In contrast, the annualized total mortality rate in the present study was 3.6% with QUAD. HF Hospitalization {#jah32587-sec-0026} ------------------ This is the first study to explore HF hospitalization after CRT using QUAD. Survival free from cardiovascular hospitalization at 1 and 2 years with QUAD was 94% and 91%, respectively. Among the few studies to address the long‐term effects of CRT on HF hospitalizations in the non‐QUAD LV lead era, van Bommel et al found survival free from cardiovascular hospitalization at 1 and 2 years was 80% and 70%, respectively.[21](#jah32587-bib-0021){ref-type="ref"} The reasons for reduced HF hospitalizations with QUAD are not entirely clear. Several cofounders, however, could potentially explain our findings. In the telemonitoring study of Turakhia et al, potential confounders for a benefit of QUAD was limited to age, sex, remote monitoring enrollment, and socioeconomic status.[13](#jah32587-bib-0013){ref-type="ref"} Behar et al did not adjust for NYHA class, QRS duration, left ventricular ejection fraction, HF medication, or comorbidities.[12](#jah32587-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"} In the present study, which comprises a longer follow‐up period, the survival advantage of QUAD versus bipolar LV leads was observed after adjustment for age, sex, device type (CRT‐P or CRT‐D), NYHA class, QRS duration, QRS morphology, left ventricular ejection fraction, HF cause, medication, or history of hypertension, coronary artery bypass grafting, or diabetes mellitus. Lower rates of LV lead re‐interventions may also be relevant. In this respect, we observed that no LV lead revision led to death and that LV lead re‐interventions were lower for QUAD than for non‐QUAD. On the other hand, LV lead re‐interventions were associated with an increased risk of total mortality, cardiac mortality, and HF hospitalization. These findings suggest that LV lead deactivation and the associated re‐intervention contributed to a higher risk of HF hospitalization. This, however, does not explain the lower risk of total mortality observed with QUAD. It would appear that the survival benefit of QUAD relates to the lead itself. CRT‐D and CRT‐P {#jah32587-sec-0027} --------------- Previous studies on QUAD[12](#jah32587-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"}, [13](#jah32587-bib-0013){ref-type="ref"} have exclusively focused on CRT‐D. We have shown better outcomes for QUAD after both CRT‐D and CRT‐P. In fact, the magnitude of the survival benefit of QUAD over non‐QUAD after CRT‐P (by 84%) was higher than after CRT‐D (by 56%). While we should be careful with overinterpreting the results of a retrospective study, such marked differences raise the possibility that the benefit of QUAD is proportionally higher after CRT‐P than after CRT‐D. If that is the case, we should reconsider the findings of COMPANION, which was underpowered to compare CRT‐D and CRT‐P. At the low event rates observed in the present study, proof of superiority of CRT‐D over CRT‐P may require much higher numbers of patients than those included in COMPANION. Meta‐analyses of CRT‐D versus CRT‐P may need to be revisited in the QUAD era. LV Lead Re‐Interventions {#jah32587-sec-0028} ------------------------ In the MORE‐CRT (More Options Available With a Quadripolar LV Lead Provide In‐Clinic Solutions to CRT Challenges) trial, 1074 patients undergoing CRT‐D were randomized in 1:2 ratio to bipolar leads or QUAD. Freedom from the composite end point of intraoperative and postoperative LV lead--related events at 6 months was greater with QUAD than with bipolar leads (83.0% versus 74.4%, *P*=0.0002), but this was because of differences in the intraoperative rather than postoperative events.[10](#jah32587-bib-0010){ref-type="ref"} In the present study, which involved a longer follow‐up period, QUAD was associated with a lower incidence of PNS and LV lead displacement. This might be expected in view of the fact that vector optimization almost invariably eliminates PNS in patients who initially have PNS with QUAD.[12](#jah32587-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"} HF Cause {#jah32587-sec-0029} -------- In the QUAD era, Forleo et al[22](#jah32587-bib-0022){ref-type="ref"} showed that the cause of cardiomyopathy did not influence the LV reverse remodeling response to CRT‐D using QUAD. Similarly, Behar et al found no interaction between HF cause and the survival benefit of CRT‐D using QUAD, compared with bipolar leads.[12](#jah32587-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"} We have also found that HF cause has no bearing on survival benefit of QUAD over non‐QUAD. Importantly, however, the event rate with QUAD is much lower than with non‐QUAD. It is possible that with QUAD, higher numbers of patients are needed to show a HF cause‐specific difference in outcomes after CRT. Single‐Site and Multipoint Pacing {#jah32587-sec-0030} --------------------------------- In this study, multipoint pacing was not activated in any patient, suggesting that the survival advantage of QUAD is simply because of lead design or availability of multiple pacing vector configurations. We should also consider that electrical stimulation over a dipole in a QUAD could depolarize the myocardium at the anodal pole if this has a comparatively low threshold.[23](#jah32587-bib-0023){ref-type="ref"} We cannot determine whether anodal capture (and effectively multipoint pacing) could account for some of the observed effects of QUAD. These questions could not be addressed in the present study. Limitations {#jah32587-sec-0031} ----------- This study has the typical limitations of a single‐center, nonrandomized, retrospective study and therefore we cannot discount the possible influence of unobserved variables. While we adjusted for potential confounders, only randomization could fully correct for their biological effects. In particular, we should stress that, despite covariate adjustment, the better outcomes observed with QUAD might be because, at least in part, of different patient characteristics towards the end of the recruitment period, rather than primarily or uniquely to the utilization of QUAD. The greater proportion of patients in NYHA class I and II and in sinus rhythm as well as higher uptake of angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers and β‐blockers may still contribute to better outcomes with QUAD. Moreover, we cannot exclude the possibility that the time interval from actual LV lead displacement (deactivation) to re‐intervention may have adversely influenced outcomes. As we did not use telemonitoring, we cannot quantify the duration of LV lead deactivation before re‐intervention. A further possibility is that allowing programming over a wider range of vectors, QUAD could have converted nonresponders to responders.[24](#jah32587-bib-0024){ref-type="ref"} Unfortunately, the present study does not address vector locations or how vector configurations changed during follow‐up. It is hoped that ongoing prospective studies[25](#jah32587-bib-0025){ref-type="ref"} may shed further light on this issue. We did not collect data as on Q‐LV as an aid for targeting LV lead positions, but it is possible that this approach could influence outcomes. Conclusions {#jah32587-sec-0032} =========== In this study of real‐world clinical practice, we have shown that CRT using QUAD, programmed to biventricular, single‐site LV pacing, was associated with a dramatic reduction in total mortality, cardiac mortality, and HF hospitalization, compared with non‐QUAD. These findings emerged after both CRT‐D and CRT‐P, after adjustment for HF etiology and other potential confounders. The remarkably low event rate observed with QUAD in this study has implications for clinical practice and the design of future CRT trials. Disclosures {#jah32587-sec-0033} =========== Leyva is a consultant and has received research support from Medtronic Inc, St Jude Medical, Boston Scientific, and LivaNova. Marshall is a consultant for Spectranetics. The other authors report no conflicts of interest.

Carlo Buscaglia Carlo Buscaglia (9 February 1909 – 15 August 1981) was an Italian footballer from Bastia di Balocco in the Province of Vercelli who played as a midfielder. Career Buscaglia played club football most notably for Napoli. He spent a decade at Napoli, also serving as the team's captain, and wrote himself into the appearance records books at the club; today he is sixth in the club's all-time appearance records for the league. After leaving Napoli in 1938, he spent two year spells at Juventus and Savona. References Category:1909 births Category:1981 deaths Category:Italian footballers Category:Serie A players Category:Casale F.B.C. players Category:Juventus F.C. players Category:S.S.C. Napoli players Category:Savona F.B.C. players Category:Sportspeople from Turin Category:Association football midfielders Category:People from the Province of Vercelli

1. Field The present disclosure is directed to a method and apparatus for distinguishing cells with the same physical cell identifier. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to distinguishing cells with the same physical cell identifier by using a radio frame timing offset. 2. Introduction Presently, in a cellular network, cells use physical cell identifiers to distinguish themselves from each other. An operator ensures that a physical cell identifier unambiguously identifies a base station. However, Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) base stations, such as access points, may use the same physical cell identifiers, which can result in physical cell identifier confusion. For example, CSG cells can be a collection of cells used for deployment in a campus or can be individual cells used for deployment in users' homes. The CSG cells co-exist with macro cells on the same carrier frequency. CSG cells have a smaller coverage area than macro cells. Unlike macro cells, the CSG cells are un-planned, in that the operator has much less control over their placement and configuration than with macro cells. Thus, two CSG cells that are located within the coverage of the same macro cell can use the same physical cell identifiers. Unfortunately, this results in physical cell identifier confusion. To elaborate, a mobile station uses physical cell identifiers (PCID) during synchronization and during cell ranking. The mobile station ranks cells by measuring the received signal strength and then uses the ranking to facilitate handover and reselection. If a PCID is not guaranteed to be unique within a macro cell, then PCIDs cannot be used for reselection and handover. If PCIDs cannot be used for reselection and handover, a mobile terminal would need to read system information of the target cell and acquire the cell global identity to determine if it is allowed to access the cell. Unfortunately, this requires considerable additional battery usage in idle mode and can seriously impact battery life. Another problem with using the same PCIDs is that mobile station cell handover will fail when there is more than one cell with the same PCID and a network cannot determine which cell is the right one for handover. A range of PCIDs can be reserved for CSG cells. Also, a mobile terminal can have a list of CSG PCIDs, such as a CSG white-list of cells that it is allowed to access. These restrictions limit the problem in the reselection case to when the target cell is a CSG cell in the CSG white-list. However, PCID confusion can still frequently occur in metropolitan areas where more CSG cells are deployed. Even in cases where the spatial likelihood of PCID confusion is low, when confusion occurs, it affects the same mobile terminal repeatedly. For example, if two homes within the coverage of the same macro cell use CSG cells with the same PCID, the corresponding users will experience handover failures when entering their homes and they will have substantially higher battery drain. In order to resolve the PCID confusion, a mobile terminal could read additional system information of a cell, which contains a unique cell identifier, which the mobile terminal could rely on to determine if the cell is suitable. Unfortunately, reading the additional system information in connected mode would cause substantial delay which negatively impacts handover performance. Also, a mobile terminal would have to read the additional system information every time it encounters a CSG PCID, because different encounters with the same PCID could correspond to different cells. Furthermore, the mobile terminal would lose data being sent through the serving cell as a result of reading the additional system information because the mobile terminal would have to synchronize to the target cell. It is also possible to ignore a cell based on the PCID if it has been found to be unsuitable after previously reading additional system information. However, this would not resolve the PCID confusion problem because a cell encountered later may be suitable to the mobile terminal but would be ignored if it has same PCID as a previously unsuitable cell. Furthermore, in connected mode, a mobile terminal would not measure and report the ignored PCIDs and the network would not know when interference from the PCID is significant and would not be able to take measures to prevent disruption of service. Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus for distinguishing cells with the same physical cell identifier.

package com.tencent.mm.ui.chatting; import android.view.View; import android.view.ViewStub; import android.view.animation.AnimationUtils; import android.widget.ListView; import com.tencent.mm.e.a.nq; import com.tencent.mm.plugin.sight.encode.ui.ChattingSightContainerView.a; import com.tencent.mm.sdk.c.a; import com.tencent.mm.sdk.platformtools.ac; import com.tencent.mm.ui.j; import com.tencent.mm.ui.o; final class ChattingUI$a$84$2 implements ChattingSightContainerView.a { View lBB = null; ChattingUI$a$84$2(ChattingUI.a.84 param84) {} public final void azd() { nq localnq = new nq(); avS.type = 6; a.kug.y(localnq); lBA.lAY.setRequestedOrientation(1); lBA.lAY.Xk(); lBA.lAY.bkT(); lBA.lAY.blj(); if (lBB == null) { lBB = ((ViewStub)lBA.lAY.findViewById(2131755932)).inflate(); } lBB.setVisibility(0); lBB.startAnimation(AnimationUtils.loadAnimation(lBA.lAY.kNN.kOg, 2130968612)); } public final void onHide() { lBA.lAY.setRequestedOrientation(-1); lBA.lAY.bkT(); if ((lBB != null) && (lBB.getVisibility() == 0)) { lBB.setVisibility(8); lBB.startAnimation(AnimationUtils.loadAnimation(lBA.lAY.kNN.kOg, 2130968613)); } new ac().post(new Runnable() { public final void run() { nq localnq = new nq(); avS.type = 7; avS.avT = ChattingUI.a.e(lBA.lAY).getFirstVisiblePosition(); avS.avU = ChattingUI.a.e(lBA.lAY).getLastVisiblePosition(); avS.avV = ChattingUI.a.e(lBA.lAY).getHeaderViewsCount(); a.kug.y(localnq); } }); } } /* Location: * Qualified Name: com.tencent.mm.ui.chatting.ChattingUI.a.84.2 * Java Class Version: 6 (50.0) * JD-Core Version: 0.7.1 */

Neural crest cells (NCCs) are pluripotent cells that migrate from the developing neural tube to populate various tissues including craniofacial structures, neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system, and pigment cells. Improper migration and development of NCCs can lead to a variety of birth defects collectively termed neurocristopathies. To become migratory, NCCs undergo epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMTs at the wrong place and time are associated with cancer progression, invasion, and metastasis among other pathological events. Thus, it is critically important to have a complete understanding of the biology of EMT. While some work has focused on identifying signals that induce EMT, much of it was done in cells outside of their natural environment, which has a great effect on cell signaling and behavior. I have focused on the physical behaviors NCCs use to carry out EMT in vivo and this proposal will test how specific molecules, namely the GTPase Rho and Cadherin-6, control these behaviors. My specific aims are to 1.) Image the distribution and level of active Rho during NCC EMT 2.) Determine the effects of Rho manipulation on dynamic cell behavior and F-actin. 3.) Determine whether Rho and Cad-6 cooperate to promote NCC EMT. These experiments will begin to define molecular pathways that control EMT in vivo and have the potential inform therapies for treatment of pathologies involving abnormal cell migration and EMT. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Improper development of neural crest cell (NCC) derived structures, including craniofacial bone and cartilage, leads to a class of birth defects called neurocristopathies. To populate their targets NCCs must become migratory, which involves undergoing epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMTs are important events in development that also drive pathologies such as fibrosis, chronic inflammation, and cancer metastasis. The experiments proposed here have the potential to explain how specific molecules control these critical events and inform therapies in diseases involving EMT and abnormal cell migration.

Copy the link below At Sunday night’s (August 7) Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles, it was the battle of the bespectacled boy wizard vs. the vampire, and to our enjoyment, it was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that came out on top over Twilight: Eclipse. Part One picked up the Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy gong, while its finale was crowned Choice Summer Movie. Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson picked up a couple of awards, including one for Choice Movie Liplock, while handsome Tom Felton was hailed Choice Movie Villian. (via The Guardian) • John Barrowman recently revealed to The Daily Mirror that legions of female admirers go to great lengths when professing their fan devotion. “Sometimes I get sent knickers and occasionally I get requests to send some of my own underwear back,” the Torchwood: Miracle Day star said. “I always politely decline. It’s not going to happen. I get sent some seriously raunchy photographs too. They really don’t hold back, some of these women. The photographs are filthy but they’re not really my thing to be honest. All I’ll say is I appreciate the loyalty. So thank you.” • Boy George has been describing his reception when he arrived in prison in 2009, ready to start a four month sentence. It seems (and this may shock some of you) that the introduction of a gay pop star to a tense environment did not bring out the best in some of his fellow inmates. (via Pink News) • This probably won’t come as a surprise, but when Dionne Bromfield, Amy Winehouse‘s goddaughter, attempted to pay tribute by singing the most devastating song in her godmum’s catalogue – “Love Is a Losing Game” – at The Big Chill on Saturday (August 6), well, she could barely sing for crying. And you can imagine what kind of effect that had on her audience… (via Marie Claire UK) • Ever the gentleman, Simon Cowell is now attempting to fall on his sword, saying he probably shouldn’t have sacked Cheryl Cole, or try to move her back across to the UK version of The X Factor, but he’s sure their friendship will survive. (via Evening Echo) • But should he even be talking about Cheryl at all? I mean, we’ve all experienced a few pangs of outright disinterest since this story first started to play out, and now even Hollywood’s paparazzi, a gang who surely must be able to swallow down their boredom with whomsoever in the public eye they’ve got their lenses pointed at, have decided Cheryl’s too boring to bother with. She’s in L.A. right now, and apparently all she does is eat oatmeal and go to the gym. (via Heat) • Come hell or high water, Cowell was going to have Adele involved with the UK X Factor this season. And after trying to get the best-selling songstress to appear as a guest judge, he’s apparently landed her for the show’s finale at Wembley. It’ll be epic, no doubt. (via Daily Star) • Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) and her boyfriend of two and a half years, Henry Beckwith, have called it quits. (via The Sun) • In better Spice Girls news, Melanie Brown a.k.a. Sporty Spice is prepping for the arrival of her first child with Stephen Belafonte. But coaching her at her beside may be her two daughters, Phoenix and Angel, as her hubby might be passed out on the floor from all the excitement. (via Hello!) • Suede‘s Brett Anderson has fourth solo LP coming this fall. Black Rainbows, which he says is “restless, noisy and dynamic,” will be released September 26 in the UK. Fingers crossed that the U.S. gets it the very next day! (via Digital Spy) • Pirates of the Caribbean star Naomie Harris — who is thought to be bringing M’s secretary, Miss Moneypenny, to life in Bond 23 — has some friendly words of advice for aspiring actors: a “steely determination” is a definite must and expect to deal with “plenty of knocks along the way.” Oh and one more thing: “never take no for an answer.” (via The Daily Telegraph)

Pulsatile luteinizing hormone secretion in hypothalamic amenorrhea, anorexia nervosa, and polycystic ovarian disease during naltrexone treatment. To determine if chronic treatment with the long-acting oral opioid antagonist naltrexone can increase luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) secretion in women with secondary amenorrhea. Prospective. Large reproductive endocrinology unit of an academic hospital. Three groups of women with oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea: (1) hypothalamic amenorrhea; (2) anorexia nervosa; and (3) polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD). Naltrexone 50 mg every day for 4 days. Luteinizing hormone pulse pattern, frequency and amplitude, mean LH and FSH levels, measured by serial blood sampling over a 6-hour period before and after naltrexone. Naltrexone caused a significant increase (P less than 0.05) of the LH pulse frequency in patients with hypothalamic amenorrhea and in PCOD but not in anorexia nervosa. The mean levels of LH and FSH and LH pulse amplitudes were not significantly changed by naltrexone. The naltrexone nonresponders were underweight either because of simple weight loss or anorexia nervosa and had low levels of estradiol and an LH pulse pattern similar to the luteal one. The luteal LH pulse pattern in weight loss-related amenorrhea is caused by a nonopioid, undernutrition-linked factor.

Inhibition of retroviral pathogenesis by RNA interference. RNA interference (RNAi) is a newly discovered cellular defense system that is known to suppress replication of genomic parasites in model organisms. It has been widely conjectured that RNAi may also serve as an antiviral system in vertebrates. Retroviral infection could be initiated by electroporation of cloned Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) proviral DNA into the developing chick neural tube. Coelectroporation of proviral DNA and short double-stranded RNAs matching sequences of avain retroviruses, which were designed to induce RNAi against RSV, inhibited viral replication. Replication of RSV after electroporation resulted in disruption of embryonic development and early death, but this, too, could be suppressed by RNAi against the RSV genome. RNAi could also inhibit the growth of RSV and HIV in cell culture. Analysis of the step of the retroviral life cycle that is inhibited by RNAi revealed that it primarily prevented accumulation of the viral RNAs synthesized late during infection. RNA genomes introduced in viral particles early during infection were less sensitive. RNAi can block retroviral infection in vertebrates. The tissue electroporation method described here should allow RNAi to be used widely to study gene function and control of infection in vertebrate animals.

Rationalization of the selection of tracheal tubes. The problems of selection of tracheal tubes, and the need for a rationale, are outlined. Tracheal tubes of 7.5 mm and 8.5 mm i.d. are recommended for female and male patients, respectively. Tracheal size was determined using high pressure-low volume cuffs as measuring devices. The average diameter of the cuff at seal point was 16.2 mm (SD 1.2 mm) for female, and 20.8 mm (SD 2.3 mm) for male patients. To provide a seal with low pressure-high volume cuffed tubes, cuff sizes of 20.5 mm and 27.5 mm are recommended for female and male patients, respectively. The mechanism of sealing with low pressure-high volume cuffs is reviewed.

Rh-Catalyzed Cyclization of 3-Aryloxycarbonyldiazonaphthoquinones for the Synthesis of β-Phenylnaphthalene Lactones and Formal Synthesis of Pradimicinone. In this study, we developed a novel method for the synthesis of β-phenylnaphthalene lactones. The diazo-transfer reactions of 2-azido-1,3-dimethylimidazolinium chlorides to 3-aryloxycarbonyl-1-naphthols proceeded smoothly to give corresponding 3-aryloxycarbonyldiazonaphthoquinones in high yields. These intermediates were further transformed to β-phenylnaphthalene lactones through a Rh-catalyzed intramolecular formal C-H insertion reaction. This method of lactone formation was efficiently applied to the formal total synthesis of pradimicinone.

The collective hysteria over fake news, Russia’s alleged role in the DNC hack, and the unsubstantiated kompramat that supposedly links Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin has reached a fever pitch. But mainstream cable news and the Washington intelligentsia have somehow neglected to connect it to a crucial piece of the US history: its long-standing tradition, euphemistically known as the Truman Doctrine, of intervening in democratic elections abroad to promote its commercial and ideological interests. Truman’s doctrine would “support free peoples,” he proclaimed in March 1947, “who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” Indeed, he and his successors would go to great lengths to keep this promise during the Cold War. American presidents repeatedly directed the CIA to overthrow freely elected leaders in Iran, Guatemala, the Congo, and Chile because they nationalized industries, threatened corporate interests, and obstructed the United States’ imperial ambitions. American officials falsely branded these leaders as Communists, framed them as threats to national security, and authorized covert operations to replace them with dictators who would serve US interests. Omission of this history from today’s discourse on Russia and our adversaries prevents our leaders, and especially the American public, from realizing the same tools the United States used to interfere in others’ affairs are now being used against us. Shielded by this ignorance, it is easy for US officials to portray us as the victims of attacks rather than the inventors of the weapons. When Senator John McCain, for example, says, “If you’re able to change the results of an election, then you have undermined the very fundamentals of democracy,” he forgets to mention this is precisely what the United States did in Iran, Guatemala, the Congo, and Chile when they were just beginning to experience democracy. In 1953, a US-backed military coup overthrew Iran’s first democratically elected leader, Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, in response to his decision to nationalize the highly lucrative oil industry, cutting off the gravy train the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company had been riding since 1909. Time had honored the Western-educated leader the year before the coup as its man of the year, hailing him as “the most world-renowned man his ancient race had produced for centuries.” Suddenly, because he wanted to use Iran’s oil wealth to benefit his country, he was deemed a pinko. Using American tax dollars to develop a network of Iranian agents and to bribe the regime’s opponents, the CIA launched political warfare against Mossadegh. It distributed fake news via posters and newspapers that called him corrupt, anti-Islam, and the Soviet Union’s ally, it encouraged religious leaders to criticize the prime minister from inside their mosques, and it enlisted street mobs to incite riots across Tehran. Success finally came on August 19. Paid infiltrators played both sides: some posed as Tudeh party members attempting to foment revolution while others convinced the citizens to rise up against this threat. Eventually, amid growing anarchy, General Fazlollah Zahedi, paid off by the CIA, ordered his bribed military units to seize government facilities and Radio Tehran. He proclaimed himself “the lawful prime minister by the Shah’s orders” and collected $1 million in cash from the CIA. Soon after, the Shah — Washington’s chosen dictator — assumed the throne, American oil companies moved in, and US-Iranian relations quickly warmed as the new regime squashed dissent, imprisoned opponents, and received unprecedented US arms shipments, American assistance to create the Monarchy’s secret police, and US support to develop Iran’s civilian nuclear program. The American recipe for overthrow continued to evolve. Guatemala’s freely elected president Jacobo Arbenz became the next target when his New Deal-style programs threatened the interests of American corporations. The powerful United Fruit Company, whose executives were in bed with a number of influential American officials — some of whom were former employees and some of whom had financial interests in the corporation — found Arbenz’s policies especially worrying. The Agrarian Reform Law of 1952 authorized the Guatemalan government to seize vast tracts of United Fruit’s uncultivated acres. The next December, the CIA’s Operation SUCCESS set in motion a six-month coup. CIA agents used Voice of Liberation radio to broadcast fake news describing an impending communist takeover and civilian uprisings, recruited a rebel army to sow unrest, distributed religious leaflets calling Catholics to revolt, and coordinated air raids that dropped bombs on military installations and other targets across Guatemala City. These efforts turned popular and military support against Arbenz, forcing his resignation and paving the way for Castillo Armas — the United States’ handpicked dictator — to become president. This established a long line of dictators, death squads, oppression, and near-genocide that wreaked havoc across Guatemala for the next four decades. In 1960, American meddling escalated. President Eisenhower decided to skip the coup and go straight to assassination. He ordered — once again using the false pretense of an impending communist threat — the CIA to assassinate Congo’s democratically elected prime minister Patrice Lumumba, the young nationalist who ended seven decades of brutal Belgian rule and promised Congolese citizens a better future with greater control over the country’s natural resources. When the plot to poison Lumumba failed, the CIA outsourced the job to Congolese accomplices and Belgian officers. With the help of Joseph Mobutu, the repressive military dictator installed by the United States who would rule for three decades, they eventually captured him and handed him over to his enemies. They tortured Lumumba, then murdered him by firing squad on January 17, 1961 — just three days before John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the freely elected president of the United States. During the early 1970s, commercial interests once again required CIA assistance. When Chile elected Salvador Allende, the anti-imperialist, working-class champion, he nationalized profitable American-dominated industries such as communications and copper, the resource gem for which Chile was the world’s leading supplier. President Nixon, who believed the false reports of Soviet influence he received from American and Chilean industrial titans, authorized the CIA to overthrow Allende, setting in motion a ferocious propaganda campaign that included distributing fake news, strangling economic development, conspiring with disgruntled Chilean officers, indirectly assassinating a senior military leader, and staging anti-government protests. On the climactic day of the coup, September 11, 1973, Allende gave his last words over the radio while barricaded inside the presidential palace. He indicted foreign capital and imperialism as the causes that “created the climate for the Army to break with their tradition” by carrying out American covert action. Moments before he died, he proclaimed, “Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!” It is slightly ironic, given the country’s record of international meddling, that American officials are whining about the “tradition in Russia of interfering in elections,” as Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently said. Or to hear McCain say Russia’s actions are “the sign of a possible unraveling of the world order that was established after World War II… one of the most peaceful periods in the history of the world” — the same period when the United States intervened in Iran, Guatemala, the Congo, and Chile. Or to hear Representative Elijah Cummings say, “Russia’s attacks on our election are an attempt to degrade our democracy and should chill every American.” Our electoral integrity is a legitimate concern, and American officials should express outrage at Russia’s alleged actions (should they turn out to be true). But every American should feel equally chilled by our history of undemocratic electoral interference around the world. Millions of Iranians, Guatemalans, Congolese, and Chileans suffered under the iron grips of unelected dictators the United States installed. Hundreds of thousands died in the aftermath of these coups, countries split into civil wars, untold natural riches were stolen, and countless others endured unspeakable trauma and loss. Unforeseen blowback in response to these actions will likely continue in the years ahead. Whether it was Russian spies or American couch potatoes who convinced Podesta to give up his password, the United States has not suffered the way other countries have — at least not yet. As the tools of American power proliferate and fall into the hands of our supposed adversaries — arms, nuclear weapons, coups, drones, and cyber-warfare — we must confront the reality that as long as the United States continues its habit of meddling abroad, other countries will be tempted to use these and other forms of covert action against us.

Well, I'm Tony. I live in Taichung, Taiwan, but I come from Nova Scotia, Canada. Like most expatriates here, I teach English to pay the bills. I'm married to a Taiwanese woman and plan on staying here. I started gaming around the time the Wilderness Survival Guide was released. As a player, my most fondly remembered game is a very competitive Dark Sun one shot throne war. As a GM, I ran what still looks to me like a very narrativist Vampire game for two years. I still haven't had a chance to play any of the games from this circle, although I've read a few. My current gaming group is also doing a rotating GMing thing with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I've been trying to do it thematically and with real player control and despite some system troubles it's working quite well. I stumbled on the Indie RPG movement after a very frustrating experience with another group here - the theory really helped me understand what was going wrong and what I needed to do about it. It's still an ongoing process. Beyond that, I'm very interested in the application of RPGs and game mechanics to other fields such as ESL and business consulting.

Stuck with You (Zones song) "Stuck With You" is the debut disc and 7" single of punk band Zones, released by Zoom Records on February 17, 1978. It contained its eponymous song, "Stuck With You", which was backed with "No Angels"; both songs were a combination of punk rock and power pop, although more punk than the group's subsequent singles and the album, which were more new wave-oriented. The single was played a lot by DJ John Peel, who shortly afterwards recorded and broadcast sessions with the band, and garnered the attention of Arista Records, who signed the group. The band comprised vocalist and guitarist Willie Gardner (previously in Hot Valves), and ex-PVC2 members, bassist Russell Webb, keyboardist Billy McIsaac and drummer Kenny Hyslop. Their next single, "Sign of the Times" was released shortly afterwards in Arista Records. Track list Side A: "Stuck With You" Side B: "No Angels" Personnel Willie Gardner: lead vocals, lead guitar. Russell Webb: bass guitar. Billy McIsaac: keyboards. Kenny Hyslop: drums. References Category:1978 singles Category:Zones (band) songs Category:Debut singles Category:1978 songs

Computer systems typically comprise a combination of hardware, such as semiconductors, transistors, chips, and circuit boards, and computer programs. As increasing numbers of smaller and faster transistors can be integrated on a single chip, new processors are designed to use these transistors effectively to increase performance. Currently, many computer designers opt to use the increasing transistor budget to build ever bigger and more complex uni-processors. Alternatively, multiple smaller processor cores can be placed on a single chip, which is beneficial because a single, simple processor core is less complex to design and verify. This results in a less costly and complex verification process, as a once verified module, the processor, is repeated multiple times on a chip. Techniques known as multiple logical partitions take advantage of multi-processors. A logically partitioned computer comprises multiple logical partitions that implement virtual computers, which execute in separate memory spaces, may execute separate operating systems, and may use shared resources. Examples of shared resources are processors, memory, co-processors, network bandwidth, or secondary storage. Partitions are often implemented on computer systems that include multiple processors and/or on multiple computer systems (often called compute nodes or simply nodes) that comprise processors, which run the multiple partitions to accomplish tasks.

/* -*- Mode: C++; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 4 -*- * vim: set ts=4 sw=4 et tw=99: * * ***** BEGIN LICENSE BLOCK ***** * Version: MPL 1.1/GPL 2.0/LGPL 2.1 * * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version * 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at * http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ * * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, * WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License * for the specific language governing rights and limitations under the * License. * * The Original Code is Mozilla SpiderMonkey JavaScript 1.9 code, released * May 28, 2008. * * The Initial Developer of the Original Code is * Brendan Eich <brendan@mozilla.org> * * Contributor(s): * David Anderson <danderson@mozilla.com> * David Mandelin <dmandelin@mozilla.com> * * Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the terms of * either of the GNU General Public License Version 2 or later (the "GPL"), * or the GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1 or later (the "LGPL"), * in which case the provisions of the GPL or the LGPL are applicable instead * of those above. If you wish to allow use of your version of this file only * under the terms of either the GPL or the LGPL, and not to allow others to * use your version of this file under the terms of the MPL, indicate your * decision by deleting the provisions above and replace them with the notice * and other provisions required by the GPL or the LGPL. If you do not delete * the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of this file under * the terms of any one of the MPL, the GPL or the LGPL. * * ***** END LICENSE BLOCK ***** */ #if !defined jsjaeger_methodjit_inl_h__ && defined JS_METHODJIT #define jsjaeger_methodjit_inl_h__ namespace js { namespace mjit { enum CompileRequest { CompileRequest_Interpreter, CompileRequest_JIT }; /* Number of times a script must be called before we run it in the methodjit. */ static const size_t CALLS_BEFORE_COMPILE = 16; /* Number of loop back-edges we execute in the interpreter before methodjitting. */ static const size_t BACKEDGES_BEFORE_COMPILE = 16; static inline CompileStatus CanMethodJIT(JSContext *cx, JSScript *script, JSStackFrame *fp, CompileRequest request) { if (!cx->methodJitEnabled) return Compile_Abort; JITScriptStatus status = script->getJITStatus(fp->isConstructing()); if (status == JITScript_Invalid) return Compile_Abort; if (request == CompileRequest_Interpreter && status == JITScript_None && !cx->hasRunOption(JSOPTION_METHODJIT_ALWAYS) && script->incCallCount() <= CALLS_BEFORE_COMPILE) { return Compile_Skipped; } if (status == JITScript_None) return TryCompile(cx, fp); return Compile_Okay; } /* * Called from a backedge in the interpreter to decide if we should transition to the * methodjit. If so, we compile the given function. */ static inline CompileStatus CanMethodJITAtBranch(JSContext *cx, JSScript *script, JSStackFrame *fp, jsbytecode *pc) { if (!cx->methodJitEnabled) return Compile_Abort; JITScriptStatus status = script->getJITStatus(fp->isConstructing()); if (status == JITScript_Invalid) return Compile_Abort; if (status == JITScript_None && !cx->hasRunOption(JSOPTION_METHODJIT_ALWAYS) && cx->compartment->incBackEdgeCount(pc) <= BACKEDGES_BEFORE_COMPILE) { return Compile_Skipped; } if (status == JITScript_None) return TryCompile(cx, fp); return Compile_Okay; } } } #endif

Q: Need a hint evaluating $ \lim\limits_{x\to 0}\frac{x\ln{(\frac{\sin (x)}{x})}}{\sin (x) - x} $ I'm stuck with this. I've tried substituting $t$ for $\frac{\sin (x)}{x}$ and $\sin (x) - x$ but it doesn't work at all. A small hint would be greatly appreciated. A: $$\lim_{x\to 0}\frac{x\ln{(\frac{\sin (x)}{x})}}{\sin (x) - x} = \lim_{x\to 0}\frac{\ln{(1+\frac{\sin (x)-x}{x})}}{\frac{\sin (x) - x}{x}} =1 $$ Because $$\lim_{x\to0}\frac{\sin x-x}{x}=\lim_{x\to0}\frac{\sin x}{x}-1=1-1=0$$ and $$\lim_{t\to0}\frac{\ln(1+t)}{t}=1.$$

Q: If we use a sinusoidal signal as an input signal to a linear transmission path, then we always get out a sine wave of the same period/frequency An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise, by John R. Pierce, says the following: With the very surprising property of linearity in mind, let us return to the transmission of signals over electrical circuits. We have noted that the output signal corresponding to most input signals has a different shape or variation with time from the input signal. Figures II-1 and II-2 illustrate this. However, it can be shown mathematically (but not here) that, if we use a sinusoidal signal, such as that of Figure II-4, as an input signal to a linear transmission path, we always get out a sine wave of the same period, or frequency. The amplitude of the output sine wave may be less than that of the input sine wave; we call this attenuation of the sinusoidal signal. The output sine wave, may rise to a peak later than the input sine wave; we call this phase shift, or delay of the sinusoidal signal. I'm trying to find the aforementioned proof that, if we use a sinusoidal signal as an input signal to a linear transmission path, then we always get out a sine wave of the same period, or frequency. During my research, the closest thing to this that I have come across is slide 30 of this presentation: I would greatly appreciate it if people could please take the time to either prove this or redirect me somewhere that has the proof. A: $y=G(x)$ is translation invariant, $G\Bigl(T_sx\Bigr)(t)=(T_sy)(t)=y(t+s)$ Together with the linearity this has the consequence that also differential operators are preserved, $$\dot y(t)=\lim_{s\to 0}\frac{(T_sy)(t)-y(t)}s=\lim_{s\to 0}\frac{G\bigl(T_sx\bigr)(t)-G\bigl(x\bigr)(t)}{s}=G\left(\lim_{s\to 0}\frac{T_sx-x}s\right)(t)=G\bigl(\dot x\bigr)(t).$$ Now you can also apply this to the oscillator equation, $G(\ddot x+\omega^2x)=\ddot y+ω^2y$ and if $x$ is sinusoid with frequency $ω$, then so is $y$. With $$G(\cos(ω\,\cdot\,))(t)=a\cos(ωt)+b\sin(ωt)$$ you also get the shifted $$ G(\sin(ω\,\cdot\,))=G(\cos(ω\,\cdot\,-\tfrac\pi2))(t)=a\sin(ωt)-b\cos(ωt) $$ so that indeed there are only two free parameters per frequency. To get the attenuation and phase, you only need to compute the polar coordinates $(A,\varphi)$ of the point $(a,-b)$.

Use of the radial maze in studies of phencyclidine and other drugs of abuse. Effects of drugs known to disrupt performance in an 8-arm radial maze are reported in terms of changes caused in the pattern of arm entry. Phencyclidine (PCP) and N-allyl-N-normetazocine (SKF-10,047) alter the pattern of arm entry in a way which distinguishes their actions from those of scopolamine and certain serotonergic agonists. The apparent rank order of potencies for causing this effect is (+)SKF-10,047 greater than PCP greater than (-)SKF-10,047. Results of previous radial maze studies evaluating the interactions of clonidine and verapamil with PCP are summarized. Data are reported which indicate that the ability of verapamil to potentiate PCP's behavioral effects stems from an alteration of the pharmacokinetics of PCP; when verapamil (20 mg/kg, IP) was administered 15 minutes before [3H]PCP (40 microCi/kg, IP), brain levels of tritium were increased by 154 to 225 percent. Finally, possible advantages of using a 4-arm radial maze in studies of PCP and related drugs are discussed.

Q: How was Bifrost Bridge shattered in Ragnarok? In the Ragnarok events (Marvel Comics), Bifrost Bridge is shattered. How did this happen? Also, providing Bifrost isn't used to travel across realms in comics, what's the significance of this? A: In the comic universe, the Bifrost is what anchors Asgard and Midgard together. It's the primary means of travelling between those two worlds. There are other portals in Asgard to various other realms, including places like Olympus that are not part of the Nine Realms. The Bridge was the only permanent one, and allowed free passage in both directions (assuming you could get past Heimdall.) It should be noted that, in the comics, it's explicit that Asgard is a different dimensional plane than Midgard; some of the Nine Realms are on the same plane as Asgard, and thus can be reached via normal travel. Others, like Midgard and Jontunheim, are on their own planes, and need portals to reach them. In the MCU, there are strong indications that all Nine Realms exist in the same dimension, just different regions of the universe. In keeping with the mythological meaning of Ragnarok, meaning the end of the world, the shattering of the Bifrost was part of the total desctruction of the Asgardian realm, sending all of the Asgardians into eternal sleep. Some, like Thor, are eventually reawakened, but the believe that Midgard is the only one of the Nine Realms left. I suspect that's not literally true, since Ragnarok is a cycle, not an event, though it's been claimed that Thor "broke" the cycle this last time. At the very least, though, Asgard as we knew it is unreachable from the Earth side.

Background ========== Diamond holds a variety of extraordinary physical and chemical properties, facilitating its possible applications in novel functional devices \[[@B1]-[@B7]\]. As a semiconductor with a wide bandgap of 5.47 eV, it is a promising candidate for short-wavelength optoelectronic devices such as ultraviolet light-emitting diodes. The extreme mechanical hardness of diamond endows it with potential applications in nanomechanical devices. When doped with boron, it was found to display superconductivity around liquid helium temperature. To utilize the qualities of diamond, it is imperative to grow high-quality materials. Chemical vapor deposition is an efficient and versatile technique for the growth of diamond. A large body of experiments and theories are dedicated to understanding the growth process \[[@B8]\]. Graphitic-like surface reconstructions on stepped C(111) surfaces are predicated by first-principles calculations \[[@B9]\]. Surface graphitization of diamond nanoparticles is investigated from an experimental viewpoint \[[@B10]\]. A unique character of diamond growth is the existence of *sp*^2^-hybridized bonds in the graphitic-like layer of diamond surfaces, in contrast to other group IV element semiconductors (Si and Ge), which do not exhibit energetically favorable *sp*^2^ bonding configurations. This may account for different surface reconstructions on Si and diamond surfaces \[[@B11]\]. Besides low-index surfaces, high-index Si surfaces are extensively investigated to unveil their atomic and electronic structures \[[@B12],[@B13]\], whereas less attention has been paid to the study of high-index diamond surfaces. The graphite-like *sp*^2^ bonding is expected to give rise to the significant difference between high-index diamond and Si surfaces. Graphene, a two-dimensional atomic crystal with graphite-like *sp*^2^ bonding, has attracted considerable interests due to its novel physical and chemical properties and its potential applications in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics \[[@B14]\]. Large-scale graphenes are grown on metal substrates \[[@B15]\]. Here, we explore the formation of graphene-like stripes on a reconstructed high-index diamond C(331) surface using first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. During the structural relaxation of the bulk-terminated surface, the terrace C atoms in the first layer delaminate from the second layer, leading to local *sp*^3^ to *sp*^2^ rehybridization and the formation of graphene-like stripes on the surface. The driving force for the graphitic-like reconstruction is the presence of high-density dangling bonds on the surface, which gives rise to the rebonding of top-layer atoms. The comparison of the calculated absolute surface energies of C(331), C(111), and C(110) demonstrates the relative stability of the C(331) surface with the graphitic-like reconstruction. Local density of electronic states (LDOS) analysis reveals the occurrence of localized electronic states near the Fermi level (FL), which may play an essential role in determining the surface conductivity \[[@B16],[@B17]\]. Methods ======= The calculations are conducted in the framework of the DFT method by DMol^3^ codes \[[@B18]\]. We use the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation \[[@B19]\]. A double numeric basis set including *d*-polarization function, all electron treatment, and an 8 × 2 × 1 Monkhorst-Pack *k-*point mesh for the Brillouin zone sampling \[[@B20]\] are employed to carry out geometry optimization and electronic band structure calculations. Spin-unpolarized self-consistent field calculations are performed with a convergence criterion of 2.0 × 10^−5^ hartree (1 hartree = 27.2114 eV) for total energies. The maximum force tolerance is 0.004 hartree Å^−1^, and the maximum displacement tolerance is 0.005 Å. The periodically repeated slabs separated by approximately 10 Å of vacuum are used to represent the surface structures. Each slab of C(331) surface is composed of 11 atomic layers with 40 C atoms and 6 H atoms per unit cell. The H atoms are used to passivate the surface C atoms at the bottom of the slabs to make the calculation more efficient. The dashed lines in Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}a and the dashed box in Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}b indicate the supercell used for the calculation. Each slab of H-passivated C(331) surface is composed of 12 atomic layers with 40 C atoms and 12 H atoms per unit cell. The dashed lines in Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"} indicate the supercell used for the calculations. ![**Calculated atomic structure of diamond C(331) surface with graphene-like stripes.** (**a**) The dashed lines indicate the supercell viewed from the $\left\lbrack {0\overline{1}1} \right\rbrack$ direction. The large circles denote the C atoms, and the small circles denote the H atoms. (**b**) The dashed box indicates the supercell viewed from the \[331\] direction, and the bottom is viewed from the $\left\lbrack {0\overline{1}1} \right\rbrack$ direction. The large circles denote the C atoms of the graphitic layer, and the smaller circles indicate the *sp*^3^-bonded C atoms in the outmost surface. The other C and H atoms are represented by the smallest circles.](1556-276X-7-460-1){#F1} {#F2} Results and discussion ====================== Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"} shows the atomic structure of the graphene-like stripes formed on the reconstructed diamond C(331) surface calculated after the structural relaxation of the bulk-terminated surface. We allow this surface to relax using a steepest descent algorithm. The top-layer C atoms exhibit the *sp*^2^ bonding configuration in the graphene-like structure, as shown in Figure [1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}b. Upon structural relaxation, the terrace C atoms (see 4 and 10 C atoms in Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}) delaminate from the subsurface diamond and form the graphene-like stripes along the $\left\lbrack {0\overline{1}1} \right\rbrack$ direction. The energetically favorable hexagonal rings are found to emerge in the graphitic layer on the reconstructed surface. The driving force for the graphitic-like reconstruction on the surface is the presence of high-density dangling bonds which have unpaired electrons. This situation is similar to the reconstruction of the C(111) surface, where the top-layer C atoms are rearranged to make the dangling bonds become the nearest neighbors and form the π bonding \[[@B21]\]. For the C(331) surface, the delamination of the terrace C atoms can lead to the formation of graphite-like *sp*^2^ bonds, thereby reducing the energetically unfavorable dangling bonds. {#F3} The representative C-C bond lengths for the graphitic-like reconstructed C(331) surface are shown in Figure [3](#F3){ref-type="fig"}. The distance between the delaminated C atom and the subsurface C atom increases to approximately 2.51 Å, much larger than the bond length of diamond (1.54 Å). The bond lengths for the C atoms in the graphitic structure decrease to 1.44 and 1.46 Å. These values are quite close to the bond length of graphite (1.42 Å), whereas much smaller than that of diamond. The C atoms with the unsatu-rated dangling bonds at the subsurface positions remain *sp*^3^-hybridized in character, although they have stretched by almost 34%. The C-C bonds are stretched to 1.62 and 1.57 Å for the outmost C atoms attached to the second-layer C atoms. The severe subsurface rebonding increases the elastic strain, which is energetically unfavorable. The competition between the favorable *sp*^2^ bonding in the graphitic layer and the unfavorable strain energy leads to the graphitic-like reconstruction of the C(331) surface. The energetic stability of the C(331) surface is studied by comparing its absolute surface energy (ASE) with those of low-index diamond C(111) and C(110) surfaces \[[@B21]-[@B23]\]. In the centrosymmetric slab used for computing the ASE, the top and bottom surfaces are physically equivalent. After full structural relaxation, the same *n* × *m* surface reconstruction is observed to occur on both sides of the slab. Therefore, it allows calculating directly the ASE. For the slab with *N* atoms at the atomic configuration $\left\{ R_{i} \right\}$, the surface energy per 1 × 1 surface cell, $E_{\text{surf}}^{n \times m}$, can be calculated from the total energy $E_{\text{tot}}\left( {N,\left\{ R_{i} \right\}} \right)$ of the slab subtracted by *N* times the bulk diamond energy μ per atom. The surface energy is expressed as $$E_{\text{surf}}^{n \times m} = \frac{1}{2nm}\left\{ {E_{\text{tot}}\left( {N,\left\{ R_{i} \right\}} \right) - N\mu} \right\}\text{.}$$ Since two equivalent surfaces are involved in the calculations for a slab, a prefactor, $\frac{1}{2}$, is added in Equation 1. For the *n* × *m* surface reconstruction, the *nm* gives the number of the 1 × 1 surface cell. The surface energy per unit area is as follows: $$\gamma^{n \times m} = \frac{E_{\text{surf}}^{n \times m}}{A}\text{,}$$ where *A* is the area of a 1 × 1 surface cell for a given surface orientation *n*. For the H-covered C(331) surface, the surface energy per 1 × 1 surface cell is given by $$E_{\text{surf}}^{\text{H}} = \frac{1}{2}\left\{ {E_{\text{tot}}\left( {N,N_{\text{H}},\left\{ R_{i} \right\}} \right) - N\mu - N_{H}\mu_{H}} \right\},$$ where $E_{\text{tot}}\left( {N,N_{\text{H}},\left\{ R_{i} \right\}} \right)$ is the total energy of the slab, N~H~ is the number of H atoms, and μ~H~ is the chemical potential of the H atom in the reservoir that is defined in \[[@B21]\]. Table [1](#T1){ref-type="table"} collected the surface energies $E_{\text{surf}}^{n \times m}$, $\gamma^{n \times m}$, and $E_{\text{surf}}^{H}$ for various orientations and reconstructions. The computed energies for low-index C(111) and C(110) surfaces agree well with the previous investigation \[[@B21]\]. The graphitic-like reconstructed C(331) surface is found to have lower $\gamma^{n \times m}$ than low-index C(111) and C(110) surfaces, indicating that the C(331) surface is one of the stable crystalline diamond surfaces. ###### **Absolute surface energies**$\mathbf{E}_{\textbf{surf}}^{\mathbf{n} \times \mathbf{m}}$**and**$\mathbf{\gamma}^{\mathbf{n} \times \mathbf{m}}$**for various orientations and reconstructions** **Orientation** **Reconstruction** ***E***~**surf**~**(eV/1 × 1 cell)** ***γ*(J/m**^**2**^**)** ----------------- -------------------- -------------------------------------- ------------------------- \(111\) 2 × 1 0.993 2.91 (1.369) (4.06) H-covered −1.903 −5.57 (−2.760) (−8.19) \(110\) 1 × 1 relaxed 1.824 3.27 (3.264) (5.93) H-covered −4.971 −8.91 (−5.496) (−9.99) \(331\) 1 × 1 graphitic 2.040 2.31 H-covered −5.808 −6.58 The values in parentheses from \[[@B21]\] are listed for comparison. The H adsorption on the graphitic-like reconstructed C(331) surface is found to give rise to the reversion of *sp*^2^ hybridization back to *sp*^3^ hybridization. Figure [2](#F2){ref-type="fig"} shows the calculated atomic structure of the H-covered C(331) (1 × 1) surface. The top-layer C atoms display *sp*^3^ bonding configuration. Thus, the H atoms can give rise to the dereconstruction of the graphitic-like C(331) surface. Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}a shows the LDOS of the H-passivated diamond (331) surface. The zero energy corresponds to the FL which is at the position of the top valence band. An energy bandgap of 4.2 eV is obtained from the calculated electronic band structure. Figure [4](#F4){ref-type="fig"}b shows the LDOS of the reconstructed C(331) surface with the graphene-like stripes. The zero energy corresponds to the FL, which lifts up to a position in the bulk bandgap. The peak near the FL in the LDOS curve is attributed to the localized electronic states at the graphitic surface and subsurface regions, which may give rise to the semimetallic or metallic conduction along the surface. Further partial electronic density of states (PDOS) analysis reveals that the localized electronic states near the FL is predominant with the *p* character for the graphitic-like reconstructed C(331) surface. {#F4} Conclusions =========== We carry out first-principles DFT calculations to study the spontaneous formation of graphene-like stripes on the reconstructed diamond C(331) surface. The *sp*^2^-hybridized bonding in the graphitic layer on the surface plays a central role in reducing the energetically unfavorable dangling bonds on the bulk-terminated surface, thereby lowering the surface free energy. A sharp peak is found to occur near the FL in the LDOS curve, which arises from the localized electronic states at the surface and subsurface regions. These states may have a significant impact on the surface conductivity. The graphene-like stripes directly formed on a semiconductor surface may be used for nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices. Abbreviations ============= ASE: absolute surface energy; DFT: density functional theory; FL: Fermi level; LDOS: local density of electronic states; PDOS: partial electronic density of states. Competing interests =================== The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors' contributions ====================== MJX did the calculations and wrote the manuscript. YFZ conceived and suggested the calculations. YZZ, JZ, BJQ, JYL, DJL, LW, XSC, and HS discussed about the calculations and revised the final manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Authors' information ==================== Dr. MJX obtained his Ph.D. from University of Tsukuba, Japan, and is currently working with Prof. YFZ as postdoctoral research fellow in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. Mr. YZZ, Ms. JZ, Mr. BJQ, Mr. JYL, and Mr. DJL are currently postgraduate students in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Dr. YFZ obtained his Ph.D. from Lanzhou University, China, and is currently working as a professor in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Dr. LW obtained his Ph.D. from Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, and is working with Prof. YFZ as postdoctoral research fellow. Dr. XSC obtained his Ph.D. from Nanjing University, China, and is currently working as a professor in Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. Dr. HS obtained his Ph.D. from Tokyo University, Japan, and is currently working as a professor in University of Tsukuba, Japan. Acknowledgments =============== This work is supported by the National High-Tech R&D Program (863 Program) of China under contract no. 2011AA050504, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 61006002), the U-M/SJTU Collaborative Research Program and the Analytical and Testing Center of SJTU.

Q: How to capture the prints of a python script being executed from another python script? I have 2 scripts script1.py and script2.py in the same folder ,script1.py calls script2.py using Popen(See code below for details),issue is that the prints coming from script2.py is not being captured in script1.py,print output and print error doesn't print a thing in the code below? what am I missing here? how do I capture the prints from script2.py? script1.py import subprocess from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT def func1 (): cmd = "python script2.py" proc = Popen(cmd.split(' '), stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE) (output, error) = proc.communicate() print output print error func1() print "Done.." script2.py import sys print "ERROR:port not detected" sys.exit(29) OUTPUT:- C:\Dropbox>python script1.py ERROR:port not detected Done.. A: Edited answer based on comments Looks like after the edits you made to the original question, Your code is working correctly. I just put output= in front of print statement to check that. import subprocess from subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT def func1 (): cmd = "python script2.py" proc = Popen(cmd.split(' '), stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE) (output, error) = proc.communicate() print "output=",output print error func1() print "Done.." ** OUTPUT: ** Python 2.7.9 (default, Dec 10 2014, 12:24:55) [MSC v.1500 32 bit (Intel)] on win32 Type "copyright", "credits" or "license()" for more information. >>> ================================ RESTART ================================ >>> output= ERROR:port not detected Done.. >>>

Initiating the T Cell Response to Liver-Stage Malaria. Kurup et al. (Cell Host Microbe 2019;25:565-577.e6) define the liver-based antigen-presenting cell driving CD8 T cell responses to mosquito transmission of Plasmodium spp., and show direct interaction of CD11c+ cells with infected hepatocytes. We discuss this work in context, highlighting gaps and new approaches suggested by the work to target liver-stage vaccine antigens.

Q: Extremely slow model load with keras I have a set of Keras models (30) that I trained and saved using: model.save('model{0}.h5'.format(n_model)) When I try to load them, using load_model, the time required for each model is quite large and incremental. The loading is done as: models = {} for i in range(30): start = time.time() models[i] = load_model('model{0}.h5'.format(ix)) end = time.time() print "Model {0}: seconds {1}".format(ix, end - start) And the output is: ... Model 9: seconds 7.38966012001 Model 10: seconds 9.99283003807 Model 11: seconds 9.7262301445 Model 12: seconds 9.17000102997 Model 13: seconds 10.1657290459 Model 14: seconds 12.5914049149 Model 15: seconds 11.652477026 Model 16: seconds 12.0126030445 Model 17: seconds 14.3402299881 Model 18: seconds 14.3761711121 ... Each model is really simple: 2 hidden layers with 10 neurons each (size ~50Kb). Why is the loading taking so much and why is the time increasing? Am I missing something (e.g. close function for the model?) SOLUTION I found out that to speed up the loading of the model is better to store the structure of the networks and the weights into two distinct files: The saving part: model.save_weights('model.h5') model_json = model.to_json() with open('model.json', "w") as json_file: json_file.write(model_json) json_file.close() The loading part: from keras.models import model_from_json json_file = open("model.json", 'r') loaded_model_json = json_file.read() json_file.close() model = model_from_json(loaded_model_json) model.load_weights("model.h5") A: I solved the problem by clearing the keras session before each load from keras import backend as K for i in range(...): K.clear_session() model = load_model(...) A: I tried with K.clear_session(), and it does boost the loading time each time. However, my models loaded in this way are not able to use model.predict function due to the following error: ValueError: Tensor Tensor("Sigmoid_2:0", shape=(?, 17), dtype=float32) is not an element of this graph. Github #2397 provide a detailed discussion for this. The best solution for now is to predict the data right after loading the model, instead of loading a dozens of models at the same time. After predicting each time you can use K.clear_session() to release the GPU, so that next loading won't take more time.

1. Introduction {#sec1} =============== Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR, or MRS) has enormous potential for the study of biochemical and physiological changes in cancer tissues, due to its noninvasive nature and the large quantity of specific molecular information it can generate. Despite the sensitivity limitations of the technique, the inherent complexity of the spectra, and inevitable presence of overlapping resonances, there have been several successful NMR-metabonomics studies of cell tissue culture and culture extracts. The focus has been on elucidating the physiopathology of tumors and tumor cells, their drug toxicology and drug resistance, often with a view to identifying diagnostic markers \[[@B1]--[@B8]\]. A further significant complication in such studies arises from variability in the metabolite profile from sample to sample. This reflects many factors \[[@B9]\] including minor variations in growing conditions, the biochemical heterogeneity of the growing cells, the effect of different batches of sera (if used), and variations in cell and sample preparation. These additional factors may mask the inherent metabolite distribution, which may be diagnostic of the pathophysiological state of interest. Experimental complications and difficulties also compromise the extraction of critical information from *in vivo* MRS experiments. In this case, the problems arise from the use of different MR-protocols, which affect the quality of the water suppression, differences in echo time and in the baseline, and so forth. While the causes are different in origin, they have a similar effect on the application. For both forms of magnetic resonance, many of these issues can, in principle, be addressed by improved experimental design, however, it is common for additional sources of variance to be identifiable only after extensive experimentation. In addition to technical issues are the natural physiological variability and the individual treatment history of the subject. As a result, there is an ongoing requirement for the development of magnetic resonance-based diagnostics using advanced statistical-, or other data-, analysis techniques which can reduce or compensate for additional sources of variability. ^1^H NMR spectra of intact tissues or whole-cell samples are inherently complex due to the large number of contributing species which results in significantly overlapping resonance signals. Cell membranes also produce magnetic field inhomogeneity, further broadening the spectra \[[@B10]\]. In the case of cancer cells, a significant proportion of the lipids reside in a fluid environment and hence appear in the liquid-state ^1^H spectra as strong "mobile-lipid" resonances \[[@B7], [@B8], [@B11]\]. Although the identification of the major resonances in ^1^H NMR spectra can be used to characterise the metabolite profile, the complexity of the data sets usually necessitates the use of data reduction and pattern recognition techniques. These can provide information on the biochemical and physiological changes in cancer tissues, related to their physiopathology, drug toxicology, and drug resistance \[[@B12], [@B13]\]. Prominent amongst such techniques is principal component analysis (PCA), \[[@B14], [@B15]\] which involves diagonalisation of the spectral correlation or covariance matrix to identify independent sources of variance (principal components) across the set of spectra, and ranking of the components by their contribution to the overall variance. Thus, PCA is an unsupervised approach to data reprojection that can reveal the presence of classes, it has been applied to a variety of problems in biological science \[[@B16], [@B17]\]. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) belong to the so-called Artificial Intelligence group of methods, which were inspired by neurobiology and by the architecture of the human brain \[[@B18]\]. In recent times, these approaches have found applications in many branches of science. For example, they have been used in chemotaxonomy to classify limpets \[[@B19]\] from HPLC mass spectrometric data and in the identification of insect species from morphological measurements \[[@B20]\]. ANNs can be used to model data where the relations, or functions, are not known. There have been some reports of the use of artificial intelligence and network methods in medical diagnostics which have involved analysis of magnetic resonance spectroscopic data. El-Deredy et al. \[[@B21]\] used ANNs to achieve reasonable prediction of the measured *in vitro* chemotherapeutic response from ^1^H NMR of glioma biopsy extracts. More recently, Suna et al. \[[@B22]\] demonstrated the diagnostic potential of unsupervised approaches to classification by successfully analysing simulated ^1^H NMR spectra using self-organising maps. This approach allowed the identification of stages along a metabolic pathway ranging from "normolipidaemic" to "metabolic syndrome". Tate and coworkers \[[@B23]\] reported the trial of an automated decision support system for classification of brain tumors from *in vivo* MRS, which showed a small but significant improvement in diagnostic accuracy over spectroscopy used and interpreted on its own. In recent work \[[@B24]\], we reported PCA of   ^1^H NMR spectra recorded for a group of human lung carcinoma cell lines in culture and ^1^H NMR analysis of extracts from the same samples. The samples studied were cells of lung tumor origin with differing chemotherapy drug resistance patterns. For whole-cell samples, it was found that the statistically significant causes of spectral variation were an increase in the choline and a decrease in the methylene and mobile lipid ^1^H resonance intensities, which were correlated with our knowledge of the level of resistance displayed by the different cell lines. In this paper, we investigate the use of artificial neural network (ANN), a supervised method, to classify lung carcinoma. Two sets of whole-cell ^1^H NMR spectra will be examined. These were recorded for two groups of human lung carcinoma cell lines, these were grown in culture and characterised over two different periods by two different groups of researchers (each consisting of a biologist and a spectroscopist), who both adhered to the same experimental protocol and used the same spectrometer. The cell lines studied include (i) the parent cell line DLKP, a human squamous nonsmall cell lung carcinoma; (ii) DLKP-A; (iii) DLKP-A5F, two resistant daughter lines; (iv) A549, a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line. The study also examines the capability of supervised techniques to compensate for experimental sources of variance, which may include operator bias and the cell culture growth process and in particular provide a test case for the application of ANN architectures in the identification and monitoring of resistance states in cancer tissue by MRS. 2. Experimental {#sec2} =============== 2.1. Cell Samples {#sec2.1} ----------------- The cell lines DLKP \[[@B25], [@B26]\], DLKP-A \[[@B27]\], DLKP-A5F \[[@B28]\], and A549 were grown in culture to approximately 70--80% confluency in 175 cm^2^ tissue culture flasks. Culture conditions were as follows: DLKP, DLKP-A, and DLKP-A5F and were cultured in minimal essential medium/Hams F12 (1 : 1, v/v) supplemented with 5% fetal calf serum and 2 mM L-glutamine. A549 was cultured in Dulbecco\'s modified Eagle\'s medium/Hams F12 (1 : 1, v/v) supplemented with 5% fetal calf serum. Cells were cultured as monolayers in tissue culture flasks and incubated at 37°C. A cell count was performed and c. 5 × 10^7^ cells were separated and pelleted. These were then resuspended in deuterated PBS buffer and were kept in a container at 37°C before the start of the NMR measurements. The methods used were described in detail previously \[[@B24]\]. DLKP cells express a small amount of the multidrug resistance protein-1 (MRP-1) MDR drug efflux pump \[[@B25], [@B26]\]. DLKP-A \[[@B27]\] is a highly resistant clone of DLKP, which overexpresses the P-gp drug efflux pump. DLKP-A5F \[[@B28]\] was derived from DLKP by a different drug exposure profile, it is also highly drug resistant. A549 is an unrelated human lung adenocarcinoma cell line which was obtained from the American Type Culture Collection. The first group of 13 samples, G1_13_21, were grown by a biologist during a six-month period, they were analysed by a first NMR spectroscopist. G1_13_21 contained 21 spectra and so was relatively sparse, it comprised DLKP \[4 samples, 6 spectra\], DLKP-A \[[@B4], [@B6]\], DLKP-A5F \[[@B3], [@B5]\], and A549 \[[@B2], [@B4]\]. The second group of 17 samples, G2_17_33, was grown independently, by a second biologist during a later six-month period and was analysed by a second spectroscopist \[[@B24]\]. G2_17_33 contained 33 spectra, it comprised DLKP \[[@B3], [@B6]\], DLKP-A \[[@B5], [@B10]\], DLKP-A5F \[[@B5], [@B9]\], and A549 \[[@B4], [@B8]\]. Thus for the integrated study presented here, a total of 30 samples were prepared and 54 ^1^H spectra was recorded. The same protocols and methods were used by all the researchers for cell growth and NMR spectroscopy. The biologist and spectroscopist who produced G1_13_21 will be collectively referred to as R1, and the biologist and spectroscopist who produced G2_17_33 will be referred to as R2. Due to the significant work involved in producing the large number of cells required for each spectrum, the number of samples in the study is inevitably somewhat limited. However, the total data set is larger than those usually reported in the analysis of NMR data by pattern recognition methods \[[@B16], [@B17], [@B29]\]. 2.2. ^1^H NMR Spectroscopy of Intact Cells {#sec2.2} ------------------------------------------ NMR spectra of the intact cell samples were recorded in deuterated PBS buffer on a Bruker DPX 400 spectrometer operating at 400.13 MHz for ^1^H. Before all NMR experiments, the sample temperature was calibrated and controlled at 36.4 ± 0.2°C using an internal ethylene glycol thermometer (80% solution of ethane-1,2-diol in dimethyl sulfoxide-d^6^). ^1^H NMR spectra were acquired, without spinning, using WET \[[@B30]\] solvent suppression, with two Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) echoes appended, using an echo delay of 1 ms \[[@B10]\]. Chemical shifts were referenced to an external 0.1% solution of sodium trimethylsilyl-\[2,2,3,3-d~4~\]-propionate (TSP) in D~2~O. All experiments were performed with a spectral width of 5200 Hz, an acquisition time of 3.15 s, and relaxation delay of 2 s. Three acquisition schemes were used to record the one-dimensional ^1^H NMR spectra, all amounting to 128 scans. The first scheme (I) employed cycles of 16 dummy scans followed by four acquisition scans, (16,4)~32~, giving an acquisition time of 3/4 hour. In the second scheme (II), 16 dummy scans were applied once prior to acquisition 16((0,16)~8~), giving an acquisition time of 13 minutes. In the third scheme (III), 16 dummy scans and 128 acquisition scans were collected into 32 K data points, giving an acquisition time of 15 minutes. The time taken from resuspension to the start of data acquisition was typically less than 3/4 hour, and never more than 1 hour. All the data presented were recorded within 1 hour. For the first group of 13 samples (G1_13_21) in the study, the acquisition schemes (I) and (II) were used for each sample. For the second group of 17 samples (G2_17_33), all three schemes were tested for each sample. Hence, the greater number of repeat spectra is for the second group. The inclusion of multiple spectra in the analysis from the same sample tests the stability of the samples over the time of the analysis. The insensitivity of the spectra to the sampling scheme used demonstrates that the samples do not change, for example, due to sedimentation, over the timescale that a single spectrum is acquired. 2.3. PCA Analysis {#sec2.3} ----------------- In the spectral region from 1.08 to 1.20 ppm, ethanol was observed, which was probably the result of endogenous processes. However, its intensity was highly variable, even within the same cell line, so this region was excluded from the analysis. The region containing the residual water resonance signal (3.56--6.05 ppm) was also excluded. The region above 6.05 ppm contained no features of sufficient intensity for reliable quantification, given the linewidth. For this study, we chose, as descriptors, the integrals over chemical shift regions (bins) of size 0.04 ppm \[[@B12]\] which was found to produce the clearest separation of the cell types in the scores plots and the least noise in the corresponding loadings plots. Thus, the NMR spectra were reduced to 71 descriptors, with bin centres in the range 0.60--1.04, 1.24--3.56 ppm. We adopted the conventional approach \[[@B31]\] of normalisation relative to the total sum of the bin intensities in the region of interest. All the measures were implemented through writing an MATLAB (version 6.5.1, The Mathworks Inc.) code making use of the built in eigensolver. 2.4. ANN Analysis {#sec2.4} ----------------- ANNs are a sophisticated computational modelling tool, which can be used to solve a wide variety of complex problems. The attractiveness of ANNs comes from their capability to "learn" and/or model very complex systems and from the possibility of using them in classification. An ANN is a computational model formed from a certain number of single units, artificial neurons, or nodes, connected with coefficients (weights), *w*~*ij*~, which constitute the neural structure. Many different neural network architectures can be used. One of the most common is the feed forward neural network of multilayer perceptions. The network is conventionally constructed with three or more layers, that is, input, output, and hidden layers, [Figure 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}. Each layer has a different number of nodes. The input layer receives the information about the system (the nodes of this layer are simple distributive nodes, which do not alter the input value at all). The hidden layer processes the information initiated at the input, while the output layer is the observable response or behaviour. The inputs, input~i~, multiplied by connection weights *w*~*ij*~ are first summed and then passed through a transfer function to produce the output, out~i~. The determination of the appropriate number of hidden layers and number of hidden nodes in each layer is one of the most critical tasks in ANN design. Unlike the input and output layers, one starts with no prior knowledge of the number and size of hidden layers. The use of ANN consists of two steps: "*Training*" and "Prediction". The "*Training*" consists first of selecting input and output data for the network. This data is referred to as the training set. In the training phase, where actual data must be used, the optimum structure, weight coefficients and biases of the network are identified. Training is considered complete when the neural networks achieve the desired statistical accuracy, that is, when they produce the required outputs for a given sequence of inputs. A good criterion to find the correct network structure and therefore to stop the learning process is to minimise the root mean square (RMS) error as follows: $$\text{RMS} = \sqrt{\frac{\sum_{i = 1}^{N}{\sum_{j - 1}^{M}\left( {y_{ij} - \text{out}_{ij}} \right)^{2}}}{N \times M}},$$ where *y*~*ij*~ is the element of the matrix (*N* × *M*) for the training set or test set, and out~*ij*~ is the element of the output matrix (*N* × *M*) of the neural network, where *N* is the number of variables in the pattern, and *M* is the number of samples. RMS gives a single number, which summarises the overall error. After a supervised network performs well on training data, it is important to check its performance with data that has not been used in training. This process is called *verification*. This testing is critical to insure that the network has not simply memorised the training set but has learned the general patterns involved within an application. At this stage, other input data are submitted to the network in order to evaluate if it can predict the outputs. In this case, the outputs are already known, but they are not shown to the network. The predicted value is compared to the experimental one to see how well the network is performing. If the system does not give reasonable outputs for this test set, the training period is not over or the network is able to model the data but cannot predict them. In this work, ANN was used as a supervised method where a training data set was created from the library of NMR spectra, and the lung carcinoma classification of this training data set was known. The backpropagation method was used throughout. Firstly, the optimal ANN architecture was searched for and when the correct classification in the training phase was obtained, the usefulness of the created database and the prediction power of the networks were validated using an independent verification set. For the ANN analysis, we used 72 inputs; the 71 binned NMR intensities and the identity of the pairs of researchers (R1 and R2) as numbers 1 and 2. For output 4, nominal values were used, these identify the four cell lines, DLKP, DLKPA, DLKP-A5F, and A549, for which there were 12, 16, 14, and 12 spectra, respectively. All calculations were performed using the software Trajan Neural Network Simulator, Release 3.0 D. (Trajan Software Ltd 1996--1998, UK), on a standard PC computer running Microsoft Windows Professional XP 2000. 3. Results {#sec3} ========== 3.1. ^1^H NMR Spectroscopy of Whole Cells {#sec3.1} ----------------------------------------- A typical ^1^H NMR spectrum of intact DLKP cells is shown in [Figure 2](#fig2){ref-type="fig"}. The appearance of the spectra and the assignment suggested below are broadly similar for all the cell samples analysed. A tentative assignment which is consistent with the literature \[[@B2], [@B4], [@B32], [@B33]\] is included in the figure \[[@B24]\]. Direct quantitative analysis of the whole-cell spectra is hampered by the potential multiple contributions from different metabolites to any given resonance line by the nonlorentzian lineshapes and by the broadness of the resonance lines. The resonances in the downfield region arise from species that are at low concentration, so quantification is precluded by the sensitivity limitations of the NMR measurement. 3.2. PCA Visualization of Whole-Cell Spectra {#sec3.2} -------------------------------------------- The binned NMR spectra of the intact cells were analysed using PCA. The scores plots are shown in [Figure 3](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}. Separation of the four cell types, within each of the two data sets, is apparent using the first two PCs, demonstrating that resistance type can be classified by PCA. It also demonstrates that the samples were stable over the course of the experiment and that the spectra are insensitive to the NMR sampling scheme. Loadings analysis shows that, for each data set, the spectral regions that contribute significantly to the first two principal components are from 1.24 to 1.50 ppm, corresponding to overlapped resonances from lipid methylenes and lactate methyls, and from 2.90 to 3.40 ppm, corresponding to overlapped resonances from N-methyl signals in the choline moieties of phosphatidylcholine, phosphocholine, and glycerophosphocholine. The contribution from other spectral regions to these two principal components is marginal. Despite the fact that the same spectral regions allow separation within each data set, separation using PCA fails when the two sets of spectra are combined into one; see Supplementary Material available at doi:10.1155/2011/158094. It is apparent that, in addition to the metabolite differences of biological interest, there are subtle differences between G1_13_21 and G2_17_33 in the distribution of metabolites, which prevent classification of the entire (54 spectra) data set. The loadings analysis indicates contributions from across the spectral range, which may suggest variations in more than one metabolite. These spectral differences arise despite stringent efforts of the second group of researchers to adhere to the original experimental protocols and are reflected in the fact that there is not a simple correspondence between the orientation of the first two principal components between the two sets of spectra, [Figure 3](#fig3){ref-type="fig"}. 3.3. ANN Analysis of Whole-Cell Spectra {#sec3.3} --------------------------------------- ANN analysis consists of separate training and verification steps. For this study, we adopted the strategy of choosing multiple verification sets of spectra at random from the 54 spectra available. In training, the first aim is to find an optimal ANN architecture to enable classification of the training data set. Several architectures of three up to four layered structures were examined for this purpose. 3.4. 3-Layers Architecture {#sec3.4} -------------------------- Initially we adopted the simplest 3 layers architecture, in which case the search of the optimal architecture consists of optimising the number of nodes in the single hidden layer, effectively determining the corresponding weights, *w*~*ij*~, to minimize the RMS (root mean square error) value according to ([1](#EEq1){ref-type="disp-formula"}). For our analysis, the RMS value ceases to decrease significantly above 5 to 6 nodes, [Figure 4](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}, we therefore used networks with 6 hidden nodes for verification. This optimal architecture will be labelled (72, 6, 4), with it we obtained an RMS = 1.38 × 10^−3^. [Figure 4](#fig4){ref-type="fig"}illustrates the process of searching for the optimal network architecture. In spite of the fact that very low values for the residual mean squares were achieved using the (72, 6, 4) architecture, the appropriateness of the architecture and of the training set was then tested with various verification sets, that is, a "cross-validation" procedure was undertaken. Initially, five spectra were randomly chosen and excluded from the training set and used then as the verification set. From 10 combinations and 10 independent networks trained, in only two cases were any of the 5 spectra classified as unknown, [Table 1](#tab1){ref-type="table"}. These results are encouraging; two cases represent \~4% of the total, so for (72, 6, 4) the classification was verified as 96% successful. The failures may have arisen due to an insufficient number of spectra in the training set or because networks with three layers have insufficient complexity for 100% prediction accuracy, in this case. 3.5. 4-Layers Architecture {#sec3.5} -------------------------- We then examined networks with four layers (2 hidden). From several cases examined, it was found that four-layer ANN architectures performed similarly to simpler three layers architectures. Networks of the form (72, 4, 3, 4) or (72, 5, 4, 4) were investigated, note that the numbers in brackets refer to the number of inputs, the number of nodes in the first and in the second hidden layers, and the number of outputs. Acceptable RMS values, of 1.22 × 10^−3^ and 1.41 × 10^−3^ were obtained for (72, 4, 3, 4) and (72, 5, 4, 4), respectively, which are similar to the values obtained using the optimal three-layer architecture. Networks with the architecture (72, 4, 3, 4) performed very similarly to (72, 5, 4, 4) and require fewer unknowns (or weights, *w*~*ij*~), 312 as opposed to 396. As a result, (72, 4, 3, 4) was found to converge faster and to be less sensitive to the number of spectra excluded from training to form the verification set. In fact, we found that 5 to 10 samples could be used for verification with 100% correct classification of the spectra, see [Table 1](#tab1){ref-type="table"}. So in summary, the optimal 3- and 4-layer architectures were found to be (72, 6, 4) and (72, 4, 3, 4), respectively, [Figure 5](#fig5){ref-type="fig"}. 4. Discussion {#sec4} ============= The ^1^H NMR spectra of intact cells for both G1_13_21 and G2_17_33 have similar general appearance with severe signal overlap and line broadening. Reprojection of either data set, using PCA, demonstrates that separation by cell types is possible due to systematic differences in the lipid methylene and lactate methyl resonances and the overlapped N-methyl ^1^H nuclei of the choline-containing species \[[@B24]\]. Alterations in signal intensity and chemical shift from such cellular metabolites and biochemical intermediates have been described by other researchers in the area \[[@B6], [@B11]\]. However, because of the complex biochemical role played by these substances, we cannot ascribe a particular functional role to the findings, what is more the alterations appear to correlate and associate with particular phenotypic changes, for example, drug resistance. On the basis of the principal component analysis of either group, one could speculate that metabolite profiling by *in vivo* MRS has potential applications in monitoring the development of resistance in a given cancerous tissue. However, for the full data set such a possibility is effectively prevented by other influences on the metabolite distribution, which are comparable to, and nonorthogonal with, the "relevant" biochemical variation. We have shown that this significant obstacle can be eliminated, at least for *in vitro* studies of cell culture, by using a suitable ANN architecture. The most successful network was a four-layer structure with two hidden layers. After appropriate training, the (72, 4, 3, 4) architecture enabled 100% successful classification. Our approach may, in time, be expanded to the classification of larger data sets of spectra which have been recorded with less stringent control over sources of variance unrelated to the classification of interest. This result is encouraging and it is, to our knowledge, the first reported application of the use of ANNs specifically to correctly classify ^1^H NMR spectra in a data set when additional "nonrelevant" sources of variance are included. Other related examples of the combination of supervised and unsupervised methods include a report by Griffiths and coworkers \[[@B34]\], who obtained 85% accurate classification of meningiomas from nonmeningiomas, by initially using PCA to reduce the dimensionality of ^1^H NMR spectra recorded for tumor biopsy extracts. The first thirty PCs from this first stage of analysis were then classified using a network. More recently, the performance of lineshape fitting and quantitative ANN analyses were compared by Hiltunen et al. \[[@B35]\] for both *in vivo* and simulated ^1^H spectra. The good correlation obtained with these two approaches, for simulated data at least, suggested that ANNs have potential for quantification of *in vivo* MRS long echo time spectra. A further advantage of ANNs in the development of analysis methods for *in vivo* MRS is that they require less processing time than line fitting or other computational approaches \[[@B36]\]. Thus, our study adds to the growing number of applications of supervised techniques for exploiting the diagnostic potential of ^1^H NMR spectra for biomedical purposes. 5. Conclusions {#sec5} ============== We have found that NMR data recorded for human lung carcinoma whole-cell culture samples can be used for analysis and classification. When sources of variation not directly related to the biological state of interest (drug resistance) are minimised or kept constant, visual separation of the cell type can be achieved using unsupervised pattern recognition techniques, such as PCA. On the other hand, when this condition is not met, in our case when different researchers were responsible for cell culture and spectroscopy, successful classification of the cell type could be achieved using artificial neural networks. The experimental and ANN methodology developed are a step towards the goal of robust and reliable diagnostics based on magnetic resonance spectral data. Furthermore, as similar experimental problems may be encountered in metabolomics applications using other spectroscopic techniques, biological classification using ANNs of data sets that include "nonbiological" sources of variance may be generally possible. Supplementary Material {#supplementary-material-sec} ====================== ###### Supplementary figure 1: Scores plot for the entire data set; group 1 solid markers, group 2 open markers. ###### Click here for additional data file. The authors acknowledge the support of the Higher Education Authority of Ireland, under the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI3). D. Brougham, M. Gottschalk, and G. Ivanova acknowledge the financial support of the National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology, at DCU. They would like to thank the School of Chemical Sciences for its provision of spectrometer time. J. Havel would like to acknowledge the support of the EU Erasmus/Socrates exchange program between DCU and Masaryk University and to thank the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Czech Republic, Project LC 0635. {#fig1} {#fig2} ![PCA scores plots for A549, DLKP, DLKPA, and DLKP-A5F, whole-cell data. Analysis is shown for G1_13_21 (a), G2_17_33 (b). The right hand panel is reproduced from \[[@B24]\] with permission.](JBB2011-158094.003){#fig3} {#fig4} {#fig5} ###### Results of cross-validation verification process for the three- and four-layer ANN networks. Architecture (72, 6, 4)\* ---------------------------- --------------------------------------- --------------------------------  1 2, 13, 17, 27, 38 all correct  2 21, 24, 31, 35, 51 all correct  3 4, 12, 22, 35, 44 spec. 35 classified as unknown  4 16, 17, 22, 25, 52 all correct  5 15, 16, 17, 23, 54 all correct  6 9, 15, 20, 24, 43 spec. 9 classified as unknown  7 3, 12, 15, 25, 51 all correct  8 19, 21, 43, 47, 54 all correct  9 16, 36, 37, 47, 48 all correct  10 12, 42, 44, 48, 50 all correct Architecture (72, 4, 3, 4)  1 5, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 31, 51, 54 all correct  2 5, 8, 12, 15, 16, 29, 35, 36, 42, 49 all correct  3 8, 10, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 39, 40, 53 all correct  4 3, 5, 7, 9, 17, 27, 41, 45, 50, 52 all correct  5 5, 11, 16, 14, 20, 22, 24, 26, 44, 50 all correct \*where (72, 6, 4) refers to (the no. of inputs, the number of nodes in the hidden layer(s), the number of outputs). [^1]: Academic Editor: Mika Ala-Korpela

--- abstract: | Flexible and performant Persistency Service is a necessary component of any HEP Software Framework. The building of a modular, non-intrusive and performant persistency component have been shown to be very difficult task. In the past, it was very often necessary to sacrifice modularity to achieve acceptable performance. This resulted in the strong dependency of the overall Frameworks on their Persistency subsystems. Recent development in software technology has made possible to build a Persistency Service which can be transparently used from other Frameworks. Such Service doesn’t force a strong architectural constraints on the overall Framework Architecture, while satisfying high performance requirements. Java Data Object standard (JDO) has been already implemented for almost all major databases. It provides truly transparent persistency for any Java object (both internal and external). Objects in other languages can be handled via transparent proxies. Being only a thin layer on top of a used database, JDO doesn’t introduce any significant performance degradation. Also Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) makes possible to treat persistency as an orthogonal Aspect of the Application Framework, without polluting it with persistence-specific concepts. All these techniques have been developed primarily (or only) for the Java environment. It is, however, possible to interface them transparently to Frameworks built in other languages, like for example C++. Fully functional prototypes of flexible and non-intrusive persistency modules have been build for several other packages, as for example FreeHEP AIDA and LCG Pool AttributeSet (package Indicium). author: - Julius Hřivnáč title: Transparent Persistence with Java Data Objects --- JDO === Requirements on Transparent Persistence --------------------------------------- The Java Data Object (JDO) [@JDO1],[@JDO2],[@Standard],[@Portal] standard has been created to satisfy several requirements on the object persistence in Java: - [**Object Model independence on persistency**]{}: - Java types are automatically mapped to native storage types. - 3rd party objects can be persistified (even when their source is not available). - The source of the persistent class is the same as the source of the transient class. No additional code is needed to make a class persistent. - All classes can be made persistent (if it has a sense). - [**Illusion of in-memory access to data**]{}: - Dirty instances (i.e. objects which have been changed after they have been read) are implicitly updated in the database. - Catching, synchronization, retrieval and lazy loading are done automatically. - All objects, referenced from a persistent object, are automatically persistent ([*Persistence by reachability*]{}). - [**Portability across technologies**]{}: - A wide range of storage technologies (relational databases, object-oriented databases, files,…) can be transparently used. - All JDO implementations are exchangeable. - [**Portability across platforms**]{} is automatically available in Java. - [**No need for a different language**]{} (DDL, SQL,…) to handle persistency (incl. queries). - [**Interoperability with Application Servers**]{} (EJB [@EJB],…). Architecture of Java Data Objects --------------------------------- The Java Data Objects standard (Java Community Process Open Standard JSR-12) [@Standard] has been created to satisfy the requirements listed in the previous paragraph. {width="135mm"} The persistence capability is added to a class by the Enhancer (as shown in Figure \[Enhancement\]): - Enhancer makes a transient class PersistenceCapable by adding it all data and methods needed to provide the persistence functionality. After enhancement, the class implements PersistenceCapable interface (as shown in Figure \[PersistenceCapable\]). - Enhancer is generally applied to a class-file, but it can be also part of a compiler or a loader. - Enhancing effects can be modified via Persistence Descriptor (XML file). - All enhancers are compatible. Classes enhanced with one JDO implementation will work automatically with all other implementations. ![Enhancer makes any class PersistenceCapable.[]{data-label="PersistenceCapable"}](PersistenceCapable.eps){width="80mm"} The main object, a user interacts with, is the PersistenceManager. It mediates all interactions with the database, it manages instances lifecycle and it serves as a factory for Transactions, Queries and Extents (as described in Figure \[PersistenceManager\]). ![All interactions with JDO are mediated by PersistenceManager.[]{data-label="PersistenceManager"}](PersistenceManager.eps){width="80mm"} Available Implementations ------------------------- After about a year since the JDO standardization, there are already many implementations available supporting all existing storage technologies. JDO Implementations ------------------- ### Commercial JDO Implementations Following commercial implementations of JDO standard exist: enJin(Versant), FastObjects(Poet), FrontierSuit(ObjectFrontier), IntelliBO (Signsoft), JDOGenie(Hemisphere), JRelay(Object Industries), KODO(SolarMetric), LiDO(LIBeLIS), OpenFusion(Prism), Orient(Orient), PE:J(HYWY), … These implementation often have a free community license available. ### Open JDO Implementations There are already several open JDO implementations available: - [**JDORI**]{} [@JDORI] (Sun) is the reference and standard implementation. It currently only works with the FOStore files. Support for a relational database via JDBC implementation is under development. It is the most standard, but not the most performant implementation. - [**TJDO**]{} [@TJDO] (SourceForge) is a high quality implementation originally written by the TreeActive company, later put on the GPL license. It supports all important relational databases. It supports an automatic creation of the database schema. It implements full JDO standard. - [**XORM**]{} [@XORM] (SourceForge) does not yet support full JDO standard. It does not automatically generate a database schema, on the other hand, it allows a reuse of existing schemas. - [**JORM**]{} [@JORM] (JOnAS/ObjectWeb) has a fully functional object-relational mapping, the full JDO implementation is under development. - [**OJB**]{} [@OJB] (Apache) has a mature object-relational engine. Full JDO interface is not yet provided. Supported Databases ------------------- All widely used databases are already supported either by their provider or by a third party: - [**RDBS and ODBS**]{}: Oracle, MS SQL Server, DB2, PointBase, Cloudscape, MS Access, JDBC/ODBC Bridge, Sybase, Interbase, InstantDB, Informix, SAPDB, Postgress, MySQL, Hypersonic SQL, Versant,… - [**Files**]{}: XML, FOSTORE, flat, C-ISAM,… The performance of JDO implementations is determined by the native performance of a database. JDO itself introduces a very small overhead. HEP Applications using JDO ========================== Trivial Application ------------------- A simple application using JDO to write and read data is shown in Listing \[Trivial\]. [|l|]{} $//\ Initialization$\ $PersistenceManagerFactory\ pmf = JDOHelper.getPersistenceManagerFactory(properties);$\ $PersistenceManager\ pm = pmf.getPersistenceManager();$\ $Transaction\ tx = pm.currentTransaction();$\ \ $//\ Writing$\ $tx.begin();$\ $\dots$\ $Event\ event = \dots;$\ $pm.makePersistent(event);$\ $\dots$\ $tx.commit();$\ \ $//\ Searching\ using\ Java-like\ query\ language\ translated\ internally\ to\ DB\ native\ query\ language$\ $//\ (SQL\ available\ too\ for\ RDBS)$\ $tx.begin();$\ $Extent\ extent = pm.getExtent(Track.class, true);$\ $String\ filter = "pt > 20.0";$\ $Query\ query = pm.newQuery(extent, filter);$\ $Collection\ results = query.execute();$\ $\dots$\ $tx.commit();$\ Indicium -------- Indicium [@Indicium] has been created to satisfy the LCG [@LCG] Pool [@Pool] requirements on the Metadata management: “To define, accumulate, search, filter and manage Attributes (Metadata) external/additional to existing (Event) data.” Those metadata are a generalization of the traditional Paw ntuple concept. They are used in the first phase of the analysis process to make a pre-selection of Event for further processing. They should be efficient. They are apparently closely related to Collections (of Events). The Indicium package provides an implementation of the AttributeSet (Event Metadata, Tags) for the LCG/Pool project in Java and C++ (with the same API). The core of Indicium is implemented in Java. All expressed requirements can only be well satisfied by the system which allows in principle any object to act as an AttributeSet. Such system can be easily built when we realize that mentioned requirements are satisfied by JDO: - [**AttributeSet**]{} is simply any Object with a reference to another (Event) Object. - [**Explicit Collection**]{} is just any standard Java Collection. - [**Implicit Collection**]{} (i.e. all objects of some type T within a Database) is directly the JDO Extent. Indicium works with any JDO/DB implementation. As all the requirements are directly satisfied by the JDO itself, the Indicium only implements a simple wrapper and a code for database management (database creation, opening, …). That is in fact the only database-specific code. It is easy to switch between various JDO/DB implementations via a simple properties file. The default Indicium implementation contains configuration for JDORI with FOStore file format and TJDO with Cloudscape or MySQL databases, others are simple to add. The data stored by Indicium are accessible also via native database protocols (like JDBC or SQL) and tools using them. As it has been already mentioned, Indicium provides just a simple convenience layer on top of JDO trying to capture standard AttributeSet usage patterns. There are four ways how AttributeSet can be defined: - [**Assembled**]{} AttributeSet is fully constructed at run-time in a way similar to classical Paw ntuples. - [**Generated**]{} AttributeSet class is generated from a simple XML specification. - [**Implementing**]{} AttributeSet can be written by hand to implement the standard AttributeSet Interface. - [**FreeStyle**]{} AttributeSet can be just about any class. It can be managed by the Indicium infrastructure, only some convenience functionality may be lost. To satisfy also the requirements of C++ users, the C++ interface of Indicium has been created in the form of JACE [@JACE] proxies. This way, C++ users can directly use Indicium Java classes from a C++ program. CIndicium Architecture is shown in Figure \[AttributeSet\], an example of its use is shown in Listing \[CIndicium\]. {width="135mm"} [|l|]{} $//\ Construct\ Signature$\ $Signature\ signature("AssembledClass");$\ $signature.add("j", "int", "Some Integer Number");$\ $signature.add("y", "double", "Some Double Number");$\ $signature.add("s", "String", "Some String");$\ \ $//\ Obtain\ Accessor\ to\ database$\ $Accessor\ accessor = AccessorFactory::createAccessor("MyDB.properties");$\ \ $//\ Create\ Collection$\ $accessor.createCollection("MyCollection", signature, true);$\ \ $//\ Write\ AttributeSets\ into\ database$\ $AssembledAttributeSet*\ as;$\ $for (int\ i = 0; i < 100; i++) \{$\ $\ \ as = new\ AssembledAttributeSet(signature);$\ $\ \ as->set("j", ...);$\ $\ \ as->set("y", ...);$\ $\ \ as->set("s", ...);$\ $\ \ accessor.write(*as);$\ $\ \ \}$\ \ $//\ Search\ database$\ $std::string\ filter = "y > 0.5";$\ $Query\ query = accessor.newQuery(filter);$\ $Collection\ collection = query.execute();$\ $std::cout << "First: " << collection.toArray()[0].toString() << std::endl;$\ AIDA Persistence ---------------- JDO has been used to provide a basic persistency service for the FreeHEP [@FreeHEP] reference implementation of AIDA [@AIDA]. Three kinds of extension to the existing implementation have been required: - Implementation of the IStore interface as AidaJDOStore. - Creation of the XML description for each AIDA class (for example see Listing \[AIDA\]). - Several small changes to exiting classes, like creation of wrappers around arrays of primitive types, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ $<jdo>$ $\ \ <package\ name="hep.aida.ref.histogram">$ $\ \ \ \ <class\ name="Histogram2D"$ $\ \ \ \ \ \ \ persistence-capable-superclass="hep.aida.ref.histogram.Histogram">$ $\ \ \ \ \ \ \ </class>$ $\ \ \ \ </package>$ $\ \ </jdo>$ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It has become clear, that the AIDA persistence API is not sufficient and it has to be made richer to allow more control over persistent objects, better searching capabilities, etc. Minerva ------- Minerva [@Minerva] is a lightweight Java Framework which implements main Architectural principles of the ATLAS C++ Framework Athena [@Athena]: - [**Algorithm - Data Separation**]{}: Algorithmic code is separated from the data on which it operates. Algorithms can be explicitly called and don’t a have persistent state (except for parameters). Data are potentially persistent and processed by Algorithms. - [**Persistent - Transient Separation**]{}: The Persistency mechanism is implemented by specified components and have no impact on the definition of the transient Interfaces. Low-level Persistence technologies can be replaced without changing the other Framework components (except for possible configuration). A specific definition of Transient-Persistent mapping is possible, but is not required. - [**Implementation Independence**]{}: There are no implementation-specific constructs in the definition of the interfaces. In particular, all Interfaces are defined in an implementation independent way. Also all public objects (i.e. all objects which are exchanged between components and which subsequently appear in the Interface’ definitions) are identifiable by implementation independent Identifiers. - [**Modularity**]{}: All components are explicitly designed with interchangeability in mind. This implies that the main deliverables are simple and precisely defined general interfaces and existing implementation of various modules serves mainly as a Reference implementation. Minerva scheduling is based on InfoBus \[InfoBus\] Architecture: - Algorithms are [*Data Producers*]{} or [*Data Consumers*]{} (or both). - Algorithm declare their supported I/O types. - Scheduling is done implicitly. An Algorithm runs when it has all its inputs ready. - Both Algorithms and Services run as (static or dynamic) Servers. - The environment is naturally multi-threaded. Overview of the Minerva Architecture is shown in Figure \[InfoBus\]. {width="135mm"} It is very easy to configure and run Minerva. For example, one can create a Minerva run with 5 parallel Servers. Two of them are reading Events from two independent databases, one is processing each Event and two last write new processed Events on two new databases depending on the Event characteristics. (See Figure \[Minerva\] for a schema of such run and Listing \[MinervaScript\] for its steering script.) ![Example of a Minerva run.[]{data-label="Minerva"}](Minerva.eps){width="80mm"} --------------------------------------------------- $new\ Algorithm(<Algorithm\ properties>);$ $new\ ObjectOutput(<db3>, <Event\ properties1>);$ $new\ ObjectOutput(<db4>, <Event\ properties2>);$ $new\ ObjectInput(<db1>);$ $new\ ObjectInput(<db2>);$ --------------------------------------------------- : Example of steering script for a Minerva run.[]{data-label="MinervaScript"} Minerva has also simple but powerful modular Graphical User Interface which allows to plug in easily other components as the BeanShell [@BeanShell] command-line interface, the JAS [@JAS] histogramming, the ObjectBrowser [@ObjectBrowser], etc. Figure \[GUI\] and Figure \[ObjectBrowser\] show examples of running Minerva with various interactive plugins loaded. {width="135mm"} {width="135mm"} Prototypes using JDO ==================== Object Evolution ---------------- It is often necessary to change object’ shape while keeping its content and identity. This functionality is especially needed in the persistency domain to satisfy [*Schema Evolution*]{} (Versioning) or [*Object Mapping*]{} (DB Projection), i.e. retrieving an Object of type A dressed as an Object of another type B. This functionality is not addressed by JDO. In practice, it is handled either on the lower lever (in a database) or on the higher level (in the overall framework, for example EJB). It is, however, possible to implement an Object Evolution for JDO with the help of Dynamic Proxies and Aspects. Let’s suppose that a user wants to read an Object of a type A (of an Interface IA) dressed as an Object of another Interface IB. To enable that, four components should co-operate (as shown in Fig \[Evolution\]): - JDO Enhancer enhances class A so it is PersistenceCapable and it is managed by JDO PersistenceManager. - AspectJ [@AspectJ] adds read-callback with the mapping A $\rightarrow$ IB. This is called automatically when JDO reads an object A. - A simple database of mappers provides a suitable mapping between A and IB. - DynamicProxy delivers the content of the Object A with the interfaces IB:\ $IB\ b = (IB)DynamicProxy.newInstance(A, IB);$. All those manipulations are of course hidden from the End User. ![Support for Object Evolution.[]{data-label="Evolution"}](Evolution.eps){width="80mm"} Foreign References ------------------ HEP data are often stored in sets of independent databases, each one managed independently. This architectures do not directly support references between objects from different databases (while references inside one database are managed directly by the JDO support for Persistence by Reachability). As in the case of the Object Evolution, foreign references are usually resolved either on the lower level (i.e. all databases are managed by one storage manager and JDO operates on top) or on the higher level (for example by the EJB framework). Another possibility is to use a similar Architecture as in the case of Object Evolution with Dynamic Proxy delivering foreign Objects. Let’s suppose, that a User reads an object A, which contains a reference to another object B, which is actually stored in a different database (and thus managed by a different PersistenceManager). The database with the object A doesn’t in fact in this case contain an object B, but a DynamicProxy object. The object B can be transparently retrieved using three co-operating components (as shown on Fig \[References\]): - When reference from an object A to an object B is requested, JDO delivers DynamicProxy instead. - The DynamicProxy asks PersistenceManagerFactory for a PersistenceManager which handles the object B. It then uses that PersistenceManager to get the object B and casts itself into it. - PersistenceManagerFactory gives this information by interrogating DBcatalog (possibly a Grid Service). All those manipulations are of course hidden from the End User. ![Support for Foreign References.[]{data-label="References"}](References.eps){width="80mm"} Summary ======= It has been shown that JDO standard provides suitable foundation of the persistence service for HEP applications. Two major characteristics of persistence solutions based on JDO are: - Not intrusiveness. - Wide range of available JDO implementations, both commercial and free, giving access to all major databases. JDO profits from the native databases functionality and performance (SQL queries,...), but presents it to users in a native Java API. [99]{} More details talk about JDO:\ [http://hrivnac.home.cern.ch/hrivnac/Activities/2002/June/JDO]{} More details talk about JDO:\ [http://hrivnac.home.cern.ch/hrivnac/Activities/2002/November/Indicium]{} Java Data Objects Standard:\ [http://java.sun.com/products/jdo]{} Java Data Objects Portal:\ [http://www.jdocentral.com]{} JDO Reference Implementation (JDORI):\ [http://access1.sun.com/jdo]{} TJDO:\ [http://tjdo.sourceforge.net]{} XORM:\ [http://xorm.sourceforge.net]{} JORM:\ [http://jorm.objectweb.org]{} OJB:\ [http://db.apache.org/ojb/]{} Indicium:\ [http://hrivnac.home.cern.ch/hrivnac/Activities/Packages/Indicium]{} AIDA:\ [http://aida.freehep.org]{} FreeHEP Library:\ [http://java.freehep.org]{} Minerva:\ [http://hrivnac.home.cern.ch/hrivnac/Activities/Packages/Minerva]{} JACE:\ [http://reyelts.dyndns.org:8080/jace/release/docs/index.html]{} Lightweight Scripting for Java (BeanShell):\ [http://www.beanshell.org]{} InfoBus:\ [http://java.sun.com/products/javabeans/infobus/]{} Java Analysis Studio (JAS):\ [http://jas.freehep.org]{} Object Browser:\ [http://hrivnac.home.cern.ch/hrivnac/Activities/Packages/ObjectBrowser/]{} AspectJ:\ [http://www.eclipse.org/aspectj/]{} Enterprise Java Beans (EJB):\ [http://java.sun.com/products/ejb]{} ATLAS C++ Framework (Athena):\ [http://atlas.web.cern.ch/ATLAS/GROUPS/SOFTWARE/OO/architecture/General/index.html]{} LCG Computing Grid Project (LCG):\ [http://wenaus.home.cern.ch/wenaus/peb-app]{} LCG Persistency Framework (Pool):\ [http://lcgapp.cern.ch/project/persist]{}

Assisted and unassisted suicide in men and women: longitudinal study of the Swiss population. In Switzerland assisted suicide is legal if no self-interest is involved. To compare the strength and direction of associations with sociodemographic factors between assisted and unassisted suicides. We calculated rates and used Cox and logistic regression models in a longitudinal study of the Swiss population. Analyses were based on 5 004 403 people, 1301 assisted and 5708 unassisted suicides from 2003 to 2008. The rate of unassisted suicides was higher in men than in women, rates of assisted suicides were similar in men and women. Higher education was positively associated with assisted suicide, but negatively with unassisted. Living alone, having no children and no religious affiliation were associated with higher rates of both. Some situations that indicate greater vulnerability such as living alone were associated with both assisted and unassisted suicide. Among the terminally ill, women were more likely to choose assisted suicide, whereas men died more often by unassisted suicide.

Politics FILE PHOTO. President Donald Trump's tweets calling for a probe of widespread voter fraud but providing no evidence that it actually took place have rankled California elections officials. Pool/Getty Images In the wake of President Donald Trump's call Wednesday for an investigation into widespread voter fraud, a claim widely seen as without merit, California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla pushed back sharply, calling the contention "a flat-out lie." Trump repeated his previous criticism of the voting process on Twitter saying he may move to strengthen voting procedures depending on the investigation's results. I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and.... Padilla said officials have been hearing for several months about Trump's allegations of rampant voter fraud across the country, especially in California, which voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. "But despite our request for any information he may have, they have yet to provide any evidence, any proof to back up their claims," Padilla said. "It's frankly dangerous to people's faith in our democratic system." Trump's insistence that there was massive voter fraud has confounded political observers who say he may be undermining his own election and that of other Republicans on 2016 voter ballots. Trump's yet unsubstantiated claim was also dismissed by Democrats and some Republicans. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that he has “seen no evidence to that effect.” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a news conference Wednesday that she cannot understand why the newly installed president is “so insecure.” “To suggest and to undermine the integrity of our voter system is really strange,” Pelosi said. “... On top of it, he wants to investigate something that can clearly be proven to be false, but he resists investigations of a Russian disruption of our election and any connection to his campaign. All we want is the truth for the American people.” On Tuesday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer fielded questions during a press briefing about President Trump's views on voter fraud. Spicer did not provide specifics on what evidence the president based his statements on. "I think he stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign and he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him," Spicer said. Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan said he is concerned about the impression that Trump's tweets are sending to voters. "What I think is important is that we don't send a message to our electorate that their vote is in question or that their vote doesn't have value," he said. Logan acknowledged that in Los Angeles County duplicate registrations do occur, usually when voters move addresses. Logan also said sometimes people who have died are still on the voter rolls after their death. But he said there's no evidence that those situations have led to incorrect votes. "The voter registration list is a fluid list," he said. "There is going to be a timing issue." Logan said voters should be confident in the system. "I believe that there are safeguards in place to ensure the integrity of the election," Logan said.

Serum alpha-tocopherol, lipids, potassium, and creatine phosphokinase in normal and malabsorption patients. Serum alpha-tocopherol, lipids, potassium, and creatine phosphokinase levels were measured in 20 adult male control patients and eight malabsorption patients. The malabsorption group had significantly lower serum alpha-tocopherol levels than the control group. This change was independent of serum total lipid levels that were not significantly different among the two groups. Serum potassium and creatine phosphokinase levels that are normally used to assess muscle pathology in man did not correlate with serum alpha-tocopherol levels in either the control of the malabsorption groups. Body mass indices that are directly related to adiposity of the individuals were calculated. Among the control patients, there was a significant increase in serum alpha-tocopherol and serum total lipids with increase in body mass index. Similar correlations did not exist in the malabsorption group. In the latter group serum alpha-tocopherol levels may have reached low enough levels to be independent of factors such as adiposity and serum total lipids.

Q: How to return a non-editable PDF as a response? I have a URL: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf It contains an editable PDF. I have make it non-editable. I did so and kept it in the temp directory of a folder. Now i want to send the non-editable PDF as a response, when the user clicks this url, he must get the non-editable pdf. This is what I have done till now: String strDirectoy ="C:\\Temp"; boolean success = ( new File(strDirectoy)).mkdir(); if (success) { System.out.println("Directory: " + strDirectoy + " created"); } PdfReader reader = new PdfReader("http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf");//C:\\fw4.pdf PdfStamper stamp2 = new PdfStamper(reader, new FileOutputStream("C:\\Temp\\Flattened.pdf")); AcroFields form2 = stamp2.getAcroFields(); stamp2.setFormFlattening(true); stamp2.close(); Now i need to delete the temp folder as if it never existed and return the non-editable PDF as the response for the above specified URL. How can i do this? A: Write a Servlet. Flatten your pdf in a temporary file (using the createTempFile() and deleteOnExit() methods of java.io.File). Use the setContentType of the HttpServletResponse to set the MIME type of the pdf. Write the contents of the temporary pdf file to the outputstream of the http response

Unihemispheric slow-wave sleep in the Amazonian dolphin, Inia geoffrensis. An electroencephalographic study of sleep in Amazonian dolphins, Inia geoffrensis, revealed that unihemispheric slow-wave sleep is the dominant sleep type in this species, as in the other two dolphin species that were studied earlier.

// Code generated by go-swagger; DO NOT EDIT. package models // This file was generated by the swagger tool. // Editing this file might prove futile when you re-run the swagger generate command import ( "github.com/go-openapi/errors" "github.com/go-openapi/strfmt" "github.com/go-openapi/swag" "github.com/go-openapi/validate" ) // RegistrationViaAPIResponse The Response for Registration Flows via API // // swagger:model registrationViaApiResponse type RegistrationViaAPIResponse struct { // identity // Required: true Identity *Identity `json:"identity"` // session Session *Session `json:"session,omitempty"` // The Session Token // // This field is only set when the session hook is configured as a post-registration hook. // // A session token is equivalent to a session cookie, but it can be sent in the HTTP Authorization // Header: // // Authorization: bearer ${session-token} // // The session token is only issued for API flows, not for Browser flows! // Required: true SessionToken *string `json:"session_token"` } // Validate validates this registration via Api response func (m *RegistrationViaAPIResponse) Validate(formats strfmt.Registry) error { var res []error if err := m.validateIdentity(formats); err != nil { res = append(res, err) } if err := m.validateSession(formats); err != nil { res = append(res, err) } if err := m.validateSessionToken(formats); err != nil { res = append(res, err) } if len(res) > 0 { return errors.CompositeValidationError(res...) } return nil } func (m *RegistrationViaAPIResponse) validateIdentity(formats strfmt.Registry) error { if err := validate.Required("identity", "body", m.Identity); err != nil { return err } if m.Identity != nil { if err := m.Identity.Validate(formats); err != nil { if ve, ok := err.(*errors.Validation); ok { return ve.ValidateName("identity") } return err } } return nil } func (m *RegistrationViaAPIResponse) validateSession(formats strfmt.Registry) error { if swag.IsZero(m.Session) { // not required return nil } if m.Session != nil { if err := m.Session.Validate(formats); err != nil { if ve, ok := err.(*errors.Validation); ok { return ve.ValidateName("session") } return err } } return nil } func (m *RegistrationViaAPIResponse) validateSessionToken(formats strfmt.Registry) error { if err := validate.Required("session_token", "body", m.SessionToken); err != nil { return err } return nil } // MarshalBinary interface implementation func (m *RegistrationViaAPIResponse) MarshalBinary() ([]byte, error) { if m == nil { return nil, nil } return swag.WriteJSON(m) } // UnmarshalBinary interface implementation func (m *RegistrationViaAPIResponse) UnmarshalBinary(b []byte) error { var res RegistrationViaAPIResponse if err := swag.ReadJSON(b, &res); err != nil { return err } *m = res return nil }

Menu SELECT HowTo FROM WriteSQLSyntax Part 1 : DML In my years working in BPM, SQL syntax has played a part in almost every peice of work. The ‘long running’ characteristic of BPM requires that process and state data be persisted to a long term data store because this will ultimatley outlast the hosting server in terms of lenth of operation (some processes could go on for years). As well as using databases for peristing BPM state, almost every application that exists these days, including applications or systems that utilise BPM have a data store of some kind that will need to be queried for user or process data. It’s a given that you know SQL in this day and age. For the experienced developer, this article is not for you. SQL is a standard that allows for the general interaction with database data. We have the commands that manipulation existing data and the commands that build the structure of the data (tables, schemas etc). Microsoft have a flavour of standard SQL-92 that they name Transact-SQL and split this language into 2 main categories. DML (data manipulation language) are the statements used to manipulate your data using common statements such as SELECT and UPDATE. DDL (Data Definition Language) represents the TSQL statements that assist the management and maintenance of your database objects (ALTER PROCEDURE, DROP TABLE etc). SQL skills are seen as a basic essential requirement these days in the fields of software development, BPM, EAI, web site design and even scripting and so having a this under your belt is a must. I’ve tried to create a ‘cheat sheet’ of sorts for the DML side of the TSQL language which can be used as a quick reference, starting with the basics : SELECT (* means ALL columns) SELECT * FROM POItems | SELECT POL_RowID, POL_OrderNo FROM POItems DISTINCT(Unique values, non duplicates returned) SELECT DISTINCT POL_InvApproverName FROM POItems SELECT INTO (selects from one table and inserts into the other) SELECT * INTO NewPOItems FROM POItems SELECT POL_OrderNo, POL_Description INTO NewPOItems FROM POItems

Q: Large form crashing on second opening I have this problem where I have a very large form (winforms) that is loaded through the Activation.CreateInstance(Type) method, because the loading container is used for different forms. It opens fine the first time, but if I close it and then reopen it, it will always crash halfway through the InitializeComponent() method, where it 'jumps' to the Dispose() method, crashing on a NullReferenceException. My current theory is that the Dispose() call is from the previous instance of the form that did not have the time to finish and is now trying to dispose of the current form. (does that make any sense?) On the other hand, I think that maybe it's the Activation.CreateInstance() that is causing the problem, but it's the first time I see that class so I'm not so sure about that either. I did a test earlier today while debugging, and if I waited a few seconds on each line in the crashing InitializeComponent(), I got through without error. A: Finally I found the origin of the bug : the loading form has hundreds of grids with little toolbars each having 5-6 icons on them. And, the resource manager being a little daft, instead of reusing the same icon each time (the toolbars are instances of the same usercontrol), it instantiates a new bitmap each time, running out-of-memory. But, instead of failing with an obvious error, it squirrels it away and starts disposing of the calling objects, therefore disposing incompletely created objects. So the solution here is to make sure to load images only once when using the resource manager. Not only will it resolve the crash, it also loads faster.

s [ ] w [a-z0-9A-Z] W [^a-z0-9A-Z] d [0-9] %% ((MERGE.*USING{s}*\()|(EXECUTE{s}*IMMEDIATE{s}*\")|({W}+{d}{s}+HAVING{s}+{d})|(MATCH{s}*[a-zA-Z\\(\\),+\-]+{s}*AGAINST{s}*\()) printf('attack detected'); %%

Derek Duncan Derek Henry Junior Duncan (born 23 April 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a winger or as a left back for VCD Athletic . Career Duncan was signed by Grays Athletic on a one-year contract on 25 May 2007, following his release by Leyton Orient. The left-winger left Grays Athletic by mutual consent, just a month after he signed, after his agent offered him to other Football League clubs. Duncan was signed by Paul Lambert in the summer of 2007 and joined Wycombe Wanderers, where he failed to make a league appearance before having his contract terminated by mutual consent in January 2009. On the same day it was announced that he had left Wycombe Wanderers, it was announced that the winger had signed for Ebbsfleet United until the end of the 2008–09 season. The following day Duncan made his debut for Ebbsfleet in their 1–0 home league win over Rushden & Diamonds. Duncan signed for AFC Wimbledon on 15 June 2009, but after one season at Kingsmeadow he signed for former club Ebbsfleet, on 6 July 2010. On 29 July 2011, it was announced he had signed for Conference South side Woking. At the start of 2012–13 season he signed for Conference South side Maidenhead United. Isthmian League side VCD Athletic recruited Duncan for the 2016-17 season. He featured throughout the first part of the season, before picking up a straight-red card sending off on 1 January 2017 versus local rivals Phoenix Sports. References External links Category:1987 births Category:Living people Category:English footballers Category:Association football wingers Category:Leyton Orient F.C. players Category:Lewes F.C. players Category:Grays Athletic F.C. players Category:Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Category:Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Category:AFC Wimbledon players Category:Woking F.C. players Category:Maidenhead United F.C. players Category:Thamesmead Town F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:National League (English football) players Category:Isthmian League players Category:Footballers from Upton Park, London

Comparative recovery of 50-Hz and 100-Hz posttetanic twitch following profound neuromuscular block. To determine if posttetanic twitch following 100-Hz tetanic stimulation enables titration of a nondepolarizing relaxant infusion to a greater depth of block than that achieved with posttetanic twitch following 50 Hz. Prospective, observational study. Operating rooms of a university tertiary care center. 10 ASA physical status II and III patients free of known neuromuscular disease and undergoing general endotracheal anesthesia for routine elective surgery. Following induction of general anesthesia, neuromuscular block was maintained with a continuous intravenous vecuronium infusion. Depth of neuromuscular block was assessed by tactile evaluation of the evoked responses of the adductor pollicis muscle following supramaximal stimulation of the ulnar nerve via surface electrodes. The vecuronium infusion was titrated to loss of posttetanic twitch following 100-Hz tetanic stimulation, at which point the infusion was discontinued. 100-Hz tetanic stimulation was repeated every two minutes until recovery of the first posttetanic twitch, at which point 50-Hz tetanic stimulation was repeated every two minutes until recovery of the first posttetanic twitch. The median time (interquartile range) from discontinuation of the vecuronium infusion to recovery of the first posttetanic twitch following 100-Hz tetanic stimulation was 27% faster than the corresponding time to recovery of the first posttetanic twitch following 50-Hz tetanic stimulation [19 (10 to 24) min and 26 (20 to 30) min respectively, p < 0.002]. Posttetanic twitch following 100-Hz tetanic stimulation enables titration of a vecuronium infusion to a greater depth of block than posttetanic twitch following 50-Hz tetanic stimulation. The present findings should enable more effective titration of this relaxant, thereby reducing the likelihood of unwanted patient movement or unduly prolonged recovery due to relaxant overdosing.

Guy Fouché Guy Fouché (17 June 1921 – 28 May 1998) was a French operatic tenor. Life Born in Bordeaux, Fouché graduated from the Conservatoire de Bordeaux with the First Prize in Opera and opéra comique. He began his career at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in 1942 in Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de perles. He also obtained a second prize at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1943. From 1945 to 1953, he performed in French opera houses, including those of Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nantes, Rennes and Bordeaux. In 1953, he was in Oran. From 1954 to 1956, he was part of the troupe of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège before being, for six seasons, the first tenor at La Monnaie in Brussels. Back in Oran, he sang the title role of Faust. In 1961, he moved to Toulon where he ended his career two years later. Quotes Discography Complete Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust (Faust) with Ninon Vallin - Pléiade P3082 (33 rpm) with Régine Crespin, Michel Roux, Peter Van Der Bilt - BellaVoce BLV107.202 (CD) Donizetti's La Favorite (Fernand), with Simone Couderc, Charles Cambon, choir and Pasdeloup Orchestra, Jean Allain (dir.) - Pléiade P3071 / Vega 28000 - recorded in 1962 Massenet's Hérodiade (Jean), with Andréa Guiot, Mimi Aarden, Charles Cambon, Germain Guislain, Jos Burcksen, Corneluis Kalkman - Malibran CDRG 191 (CD). Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots (Raoul de Nangis), with Renée Doria, Jeanne Rinella, Henri Médus, Adrien Legros, Académie chorale de Paris, Pasdeloup Orchestra, Jean Allain (dir.) - Pléiade P3085/86 (33 rpm) - recorded in 1953 at the Théâtre de l'Apollo reissued CD Accord 204592 Verdi's Rigoletto (Duke of Mantoue), with Renée Doria, Ernest Blanc, Denise Scharley, Gérard Bourreli, Maria Valetti, Maurice Faure, André Dumas, Pierre Cruchon director - Pléiade P3076 (33 rpm) - French version Extracts Puccini's La Bohème, aria of Rodolphe Que cette main est froide (act I) - Pléiade P45152 (Extended play) - French version Verdi's Rigoletto, arias of the Duke of Mantoue Qu'une belle (act I) and Comme la plume au vent (act III) - Pléiade P45152 (45 rpm) - French version References External links Guy Fouché on Forgotten opera singer Les Huguenots, Acte II, Scène 1: Ô ciel, où suis-je ? Beauté divine et enchanteresse (YouTube) Category:1921 births Category:1998 deaths Category:People from Bordeaux Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni Category:French operatic tenors Category:20th-century French singers Category:20th-century male singers

This invention relates generally to carbon-to-liquids systems, and more specifically to methods and systems for minimizing liquid product variation from a reactor portion of a system. The terms C5+ and “liquid hydrocarbons” are used synonymously to refer to hydrocarbons or oxygenated compounds having five (5) or greater number of carbons, including for example pentane, hexane, heptane, pentanol, pentene, and which are liquid at normal atmospheric conditions. The terms C4− and “gaseous hydrocarbons” are used synonymously to refer to hydrocarbons or oxygenated compounds having four (4) or fewer number of carbons, including for example methane, ethane, propane, butane, butanol, butene, propene, and which are gaseous at normal atmospheric conditions. At least some known Fischer-Tropsch (FT) units have been optimized to produce synthesis gas (syngas) from natural gas, also known as Gas-to-Liquids process (GTL). Typically, syngas refers to a mixture of H2, CO and some CO2 at various proportions. To improve C5+ selectivity and minimize selectivity to C4−, i.e. natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production in known units, a FT reactor is operated with relatively high residence times, with relatively high per pass conversion, and with hydrogen to carbon monoxide (H2/CO) ratios below the consumption ratio. The remote location of most carbon-to-liquids plants makes natural gas and LPG co-production economically unattractive because of the relatively high transportation costs. Minimizing natural gas and LPG production generally results in a significant fraction (30-40%) of the FT liquids being over-converted to wax. The wax formed must then be converted back to a diesel range, typically C10-C20 hydrocarbons, using a separate hydrocracking reactor. Also, the relatively high per pass conversion that is used to increase C5+ production generally adversely limits the pressure of the FT reactor, and the byproduct water partial pressure increases with conversion and total pressure. As the water partial pressure is increased the catalyst can be generally deactivated through oxidation of the active catalyst sites. Low water partial pressure may cause competitive adsorption of water, CO, and H2 molecules on the catalyst active site, thus reducing syngas conversion. Iron-based FT catalysts in particular can be greatly affected by water. Cobalt-based FT catalysts are generally more resistant to oxidation by water. Other carbonaceous fuels may also be used to provide the syngas input to the FT process. However, undesirable product variations may be caused by the operating characteristics of the known FT gas-to-liquids systems described above.

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Ocular melanoma. Intraocular melanoma of the ciliary body and choroid is the most common primary ocular malignant tumor in adults and the most common noncutaneous melanoma. To describe the most salient clinical features, histopathologic findings, and treatment modalities of intraocular melanoma, as well as the novel therapies currently being tested. Clinically, it is important to determine which lesions carry a worse prognosis so as to offer patients the best treatment modalities available. Tumor location, size, histopathology, cytogenetic abnormalities, and tumor profiling are all used in determining the risk of death from metastatic disease of uveal melanocytic lesions. Despite successful local tumor control, up to 50% of patients have metastatic disease within 15 years of diagnosis; there is no effective treatment for metastatic disease. Pathologists should be aware of the importance of tumor gross description, cellular histopathology classification, the use of fine-needle aspiration biopsy coupled with cytogenetics, and the new classification of uveal malignant melanomas that is based on chromosome 3 status.

Achilles tendinitis as a rare extraintestinal manifestation of ulcerative colitis. Patients with inflammatory bowel disease often have extraintestinal manifestations (EIMs) involving almost all organ systems, but little has been reported on Achilles tendinitis. Herein, we present a unique case of Achilles tendinitis, which manifested shortly after initiation of mesalazine therapy for ulcerative colitis. A 26-year-old Japanese woman with bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps lasting for 7 days was referred to our hospital. The Lichtiger clinical activity index (CAI) score was 9 at the first visit. Based on the clinical symptoms and examination results, she was diagnosed with ulcerative pancolitis in the active phase, and treatment with mesalazine (2.4 g/day) and probiotics was initiated. Her symptoms resolved within 7 days of treatment (CAI 3). However, she then developed bilateral Achilles tendinitis without any apparent cause. The Achilles tendinitis subsided with conservative management within 2 weeks, despite continuation of mesalazine therapy. This case instructively suggests that Achilles tendinitis should be noted as an EIM of ulcerative colitis.

Massive immune hemolysis due to minor ABO incompatibility is an underappreciated, potentially fatal complication of allogeneic hematopoietic transplantation. The increased lymphoid content and rapid engraftment seen with peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplants may increase the frequency and severity of this event. In addition, nonmyeloablative conditioning regimens favor rapid and vigorous donor-type immune reconstitution, relying on donor lymphocytes to mediate both an anti-tumor effect and durable myeloid engraftment. To further the graft versus tumor effect, antiproliferative agents such as methotrexate are frequently omitted from posttransplant anti-GVHD regimens. We observed abrupt, catastrophic hemolysis in the first NIH patient to receive a nonmyeloablative PBSC transplant involving minor ABO incompatibility. We established a protocol for close clinical and laboratory monitoring of the next nine consecutive minor ABO-incompatible, nonmyeloablative PBSC transplants performed on NHLBI and NCI services. Cyclosporine alone was employed to prevent GVHD in all nine cases. Two additional cases of massive immune hemolysis were detected. Hemolysis began 7 to 11 days following stem cell infusion. Both cases responded rapidly to vigorous hydration and prompt donor-compatible red cell transfusions, without adverse clinical consequences. All patients with hemolysis demonstrated a positive direct antiglobulin test (DAT), with eluate reactivity against the relevant recipient blood group (anti-A in two cases, anti-B in one). However, neither the intensity of the DAT nor the donor isohemagglutinin titer distinguished cases with from those without hemolysis. These results demonstrate that isohemagglutinins produced by donor passenger B lymphocytes in minor ABO incompatible, PBSC transplants utilizing cyclosporine alone for GVHD prophylaxis can mediate massive immune hemolysis in a considerable proportion of subjects at risk. In view of this high risk, anti-GVHD regimens in NHLBI protocols were changed to include mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), an antiproliferative agent. None of the next 10 consecutive minor ABO incompatible nonmyeloablative stem cell transplants was accompanied by significant immune hemolysis, although serologic abnormalities were seen. GVHD regimens continue to be modified to maximize graft anti-tumor immune effects while minimizing other immune complications of transplant, and MMF doses are being reduced in an effort to increase complete remission rates posttransplant. We continue to monitor daily blood counts and red cell serologic studies (DAT, IAT) during the period at risk (day 6 to 11 posttransplant) and to promptly administer donor-compatible red cell transfusions in these cases. Improved awareness can avert serious complications due to minor ABO incompatibility following stem cell transplant and should be practiced in all such cases.

Q: Not able to find element by partial link text using Java and Selenium Using geckodriver 0.23.0, firefox 64.0.2, selenium 3.12, java 8 I'm not able to find the element by partial link text. A frame is not used. Link text is "Accounts (1)". There is only one other instance of the same text on the page "View All Accounts" html: <li> <a href="/accounting/view_all_accounts?_t=039f18daf35b4a00f0093dd17aa70730be385f6f&amp;to_render=account" class="first accounting_page_menu ">Accounts (1)</a> <ul> <li> <a href="/accounting/details?_t=e3d4ea94f5ed862d95196a620f1147be13b02979&amp;to_render=account" class="first accounting_page_menu ">Primary</a> </li> <li> <a onclick="javascript: ModalUtil.loadEditableModal('/accounting/details_new_account', false, false, true);" class="add-accounts">Add New Account...</a> </li> <li> <a href="/accounting/view_all_accounts?_t=039f18daf35b4a00f0093dd17aa70730be385f6f&amp;to_render=account" class="first accounting_page_menu ">View All Accounts</a> </li> </ul> </li> The code I'm using to find the element: "Accounts (n)" where n = 1, 2, 3 ... driver.findElement(By.partialLinkText("Accounts (")).click(); I tried with "Accounts " and with "Accounts (" and they both return the same 404 not found - no such element error Console log: 1547499923019 webdriver::server DEBUG -> POST /session/bed7e7d2-d849-4bd0-ab17-fdca3fb080f9/element { "value": "Accounts ", "using": "partial link text" } 1547499923020 Marionette TRACE 0 -> [0,315,"WebDriver:FindElement",{"using":"partial link text","value":"Accounts "}] 1547499923241 Marionette TRACE 0 <- [1,315,{"error":"no such element","message":"Unable to locate element: Accounts ","stacktrace":"WebDriverError@chrome://mario ... entError@chrome://marionette/content/error.js:388:5\nelement.find/</<@chrome://marionette/content/element.js:339:16\n"},null] 1547499923240 webdriver::server DEBUG <- 404 Not Found {"value":{"error":"no such element","message":"Unable to locate element: Accounts ","stacktrace":"WebDriverError@chrome://marionette/content/error.js:178:5\nNoSuchElementError@chrome://marionette/content/error.js:388:5\nelement.find/</<@chrome://marionette/content/element.js:339:16\n"}} A: As you mentioned you are trying to find the element with text as Accounts (n) where n = 1, 2, 3 ... and a couple of more elements with linkText as Add New Account and View All Accounts exists, instead of using partialLinkText it would be better to use XPath and you can use the following solution: XPath: new WebDriverWait(driver, 20).until(ExpectedConditions.elementToBeClickable(By.xpath("//li/a[@class='first accounting_page_menu' and starts-with(@href,'/accounting/view_all_accounts?')][starts-with(.,'Accounts')]"))).click(); Update As per the discussion Official locator strategies for the webdriver Partial link text selector is preferred than XPath selector. However as per this usecase due to presence of similar link texts it would be easier to construct a XPath.

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False Which is smaller: 4/1127 or 0? 0 Which is smaller: -822 or -820? -822 Which is smaller: -1330 or -6651/5? -6651/5 Which is greater: -3405 or -10219/3? -3405 Do -344 and -343 have the same value? False Which is smaller: -82 or 0.04? -82 Are 0.24 and 6 equal? False Is -3 < -0.089? True Which is greater: -1 or -6/2297? -6/2297 Which is bigger: -1.18 or -14/9? -1.18 Which is smaller: -7 or -6? -7 Which is greater: 0 or -2/561? 0 Which is smaller: 2/117405 or 0? 0 Which is bigger: -866/3 or -289? -866/3 Is -21 greater than or equal to -21? True Which is greater: 73485 or 73484? 73485 Do 339 and 5/2 have different values? True Is -1465 at least as big as -1465? True Which is smaller: -290 or -42? -290 Are 22 and 178 nonequal? True Which is smaller: -259 or -260? -260 Which is greater: -16/241 or 0? 0 Is -186 >= 0? False Does 55/8 = 8? False Which is greater: 0 or -3/16? 0 Is -6 bigger than -110/21? False Which is smaller: -2348/33 or -71? -2348/33 Is 0 at most as big as -1/7143? False Which is smaller: 537 or 536? 536 Is 137/3 at most -0.1? False Are 38128 and 38128 non-equal? False Does -3 = -24? False Which is smaller: -10/791 or 0? -10/791 Which is bigger: 164 or 163? 164 Is 818 greater than 2455/3? False Is 7/713 not equal to -1? True Which is greater: 3801/29 or 131? 3801/29 Is 2678 at most 2680? True Which is smaller: 12 or 100/9? 100/9 Is -0.3 bigger than -0.02? False Which is smaller: 0 or 3/637? 0 Which is smaller: -1248 or -2/25? -1248 Which is greater: -21/8 or 0.02? 0.02 Which is bigger: -132 or -0.17? -0.17 Do 38 and 25 have the same value? False Is -5 smaller than -114/23? True Which is greater: -22 or -50? -22 Is 1 less than or equal to -3/56? False Is 1/4 >= -0.022? True Which is smaller: -1136 or 3? -1136 Is -172 greater than -165? False Which is greater: -1565 or -1564? -1564 Which is greater: -64 or -70? -64 Which is bigger: 13 or 25? 25 Which is bigger: -37 or -20? -20 Is -1/13 less than -1? False Which is smaller: -0.099 or 15/7? -0.099 Is 3215 > 3217? False Is 4066 less than 4066? False Is -65/622 < 1? True Are 819 and 813 unequal? True Is 10 at least as big as 54/5? False Which is smaller: 18749 or 18751? 18749 Is 1 < 42/25? True Is 7609 greater than or equal to 7613? False Which is bigger: -131 or -129? -129 Which is bigger: -2/11 or -58? -2/11 Which is smaller: -0.3 or -696? -696 Is -233 smaller than -232? True Which is smaller: -0.4 or 7194? -0.4 Is 1 less than -18/529? False Which is smaller: 1 or -4/30331? -4/30331 Which is bigger: 675 or 682? 682 Is 1 at least 1/4110? True Which is bigger: 2054 or 2053? 2054 Does -1 = 44/413? False Which is greater: -3

Waste heat recovery in various types of combustion engines is a way to improve the overall efficiency of these systems. Waste heat recovery systems range from power plants that have bottoming cycles, to thermoelectric systems that generate electricity. Power plants that have bottoming cycles utilize the excess heat in the low pressure exhaust gases from the primary work generating cycle. Thermoelectric systems utilize similar waste heat sources. On piston engines, waste heat recovery systems can consist of a closed loop Rankine Cycle. A Rankine Cycle uses the heat from the exhaust to power the cycle. These systems typically have a separate, dedicated, expander that extracts power from the working fluid and is connected to the crankshaft of the engine.

Monday, August 2, 2010 'AuGusT Has comE..But my MinD sEt Still' Ive intended to post this in the murnin...but it seems im not feeling that well before lunch hehe..gediks kan...after LUNCH i was simply FINE!!! I guess im pretty hungry ek today..huhu...for sure its sounds crazy for me or what...but i just want to admit that todays MOnDay it seems HAPPY+EXCITING for me..(sambil wat Mexican wave uol!!!) coz ive really HATE my Monday's usually..but today it turns out OK!!! as ive come early in the office + seeing my clinical trial patient in the ICU (his conditions turns out okay!!!) and after that back to the office and manage the time to just blogwalking on some of the B2B blogs (before doing my analysis + database update)...it makes u enjoy and do feel the excitement like they do...when some of them share their stories on preparations + theme+door gifts etc2...as im also busy with in that kind of state their goin through!!!huhu...its just that ive did'nt know how to start sometimes in talking about what i did for my weddings prep...heheh...coz there's lot of things that i just want to blurp it out...without stopping...i guess i'll be doin a full post of the vendors after the wedding itself i guess...mcm to lagi thrill la kot...heheh...as for now myb..akan post some of it..tapi tak byk sgtla..(sorry la yerk kwn2..kadang2 takder idea)..anyway some update's..last week when with my 2 besties(Syaz and Mirah) to "Pameran Pengantin KL 2010" at AEON Setiawangsa..what do we manage to find??tadaa...at last we ended up booking a Studio Photoshoot with Creative LiteBoxfor only RM140 for about 1hour and half!!! as we got 30% off.Thanks to Syaz as she mention that she visited their website and also their FB(kalo tak dier bagi 10% diskaun ajer)..tup tap tup tap..dpt harga mcmtu..best2..so as for now..we are thinking of a concept to do that day as the photoshoot will be on the 14/8/2010 at 11.30am(until now still thinking)...consist of me,Mr R (pun join heheh),Syaz and Mirah.Gambar dierong shot mcm best...coz we love it for the 1st sight we ended up want to try it for ourselves...kalo korang nak try tgk..pg kat blog dieorng,www.creativelitebox.blogspot.com ofis dieorng kat Bangi dkt ajer=) meanwhile this Thursday kiterong akan pagi memanjakan diri di TAJIRI spa(after magrib)...heheh...and not to forget this week 7/8/2010 we will be goin to Wani and Son wedding (majlis bertandang) yeahhh will be seeing Cammy to...ok back to work mode uols...XOXO

Q: div toggle show/hide for parent and child relation ship in angular 6 I have list of values in div with parent and child relation ship. When I toggle any specific parent record, all the child records associated with other parents also gets opened. I bind this div from service (API) Please find the sample code used for the above function <div class="table rts-table-parentChild" *ngFor="let userRole of userRoleActions; let i = index"> <div class="table-row table-header"> <div class="table-cell"> <span *ngIf="userRole.userRoleSubActions.length" id="section{{userRole.actionName}}" class="margin-right-5 fa fa-plus-circle" role="button" tabindex="0" [ngClass]="[clickPlus === false ? 'fa fa-plus-circle' : 'fa fa-minus-circle']" (click)="clickPlus=!clickPlus"></span> {{userRole.actionName}} </div> <div class="table-cell"> <input type="checkbox" [ngModelOptions]="{standalone: true}" class="setup-checkbox" id="ChekCreate{{userRole.actionName}}" [(ngModel)]="userRole.isCreateChecked" (click)="selectParentRole(i,'create')"> </div> <div class="table-cell"> <input type="checkbox"[ngModelOptions]="{standalone: true}" class="setup-checkbox" id="ChekDelete{{userRole.actionName}}" [(ngModel)]="userRole.isDeleteChecked" (click)="selectParentRole(i,'delete')"> </div> </div> <ng-container *ngIf="clickPlus"> <div style="display:table-row-group;" *ngFor="let item of userRole.userRoleSubActions; let j = index"> <div class="table-row "> <div class="table-cell" class="subj"> {{item.actionName}}</div> <div class="table-cell"> <input type="checkbox" [ngModelOptions]="{standalone: true}" class="setup-checkbox" [(ngModel)]="item.isCreateChecked" (change)="isCreateChecked(i,'create')"> </div> <div class="table-cell"> <input type="checkbox" [ngModelOptions]="{standalone: true}" class="setup-checkbox" [(ngModel)]="item.isDeleteChecked" (change)="isCreateChecked(i,'delete')"> </div> </div> </div> </ng-container> A: Hi because are toggle on variable clickPlus That's why specific parent record, all parent record is togged. So you have to add show:boolen in model of userRoleActions and in click event you can toggle like (click)="userRole.show=!userRole.show" Hope you understand my point may this will help you.

Phullu Phullu is a 2017 Indian drama film directed by Abhishek Saxena. Produced by Pushpa Chaudhary, Dr. Anmol Kapoor, Kshitij Chaudhary & Raman Kapoor under the Kapoor Film Inc Kc Production Pvt.Ltd banner. The film was released worldwide on June 16, 2017. The film stars Sharib Hashmi, Jyotii Sethi, and Nutan Surya which is inspired from the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist from Tamil Nadu. Phullu is about Phullu, an errand boy who eventually makes low-cost menstruation pads. Plot Phullu the titular character (portrayed by Sharib Hashmi) that's the typical good guy. Phullu's mother sells quilts because he doesn't have a job. He helps out his mom by procuring all the raw material for the quilts from the nearby town. In addition, he also picks up all the other stuff the women in his village may need from there. When Phullu gets married, he realises that his wife keeps taking away pieces of red cloth from the material he gathers for the quilts. He wonders about it, but doesn't connect the dots as he knows nothing about menstruation. Neither his wife or mother explain the concept to him. The women in his life also want Phullu to move to a big city and find work. But he's adamant about staying back in the village. Finally, a turning point in Phullu's life comes when he finds out about menstruation through a female doctor at a chemist's shop on one of his city visits. He finally begins to understand why his wife needs the cloth, and why she suffers from itching every night. He then takes rather drastic step of using all the money reserved for the last installment payment for his sister's jewellery to get a whole lot of sanitary pads. His furious mother kicks him out of the house, saying that he's wasted the money she earned with so much difficulty. When he tries to protest that the sanitary napkins are more important, his mother says her grandmother used wood to get rid of the itching and went on to live for 102 years, so pads are irrelevant. Phullu goes to the city, where he gets in touch with the doctor who'd educated him about menstruation. He manages to create a sanitary napkin of his own. However, his mother and sister refuse to test it, as do the other women in the village for whom he used to run errands in the city. His wife is pregnant at this time, so she can't help him out either but is in how supportive Phullu's wife is, of his endeavour to manufacture low-cost sanitary napkins. See also Pad Man Period. End of Sentence. References External links Category:Indian drama films Category:2017 films

The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to an aircraft deicing system, and more particularly, to a deicing system for a rotor blade of a rotary wing aircraft. Rotary wing aircrafts may encounter atmospheric conditions that cause the formation of ice on rotor blades and other surfaces of the aircraft. Accumulated ice, if not removed can add weight to the aircraft and may alter the airfoil configuration, causing undesirable flying characteristics. A common approach to ice management is thermal deicing. Thermal deicing includes heating portions of the rotor blades, such as the leading edge for example, to loosen accumulated ice. Centrifugal forces acting on the rotor blades, and the airstream passing there over, remove the loosened ice from the rotor blades. Desired portions of the rotor blades are typically heated using electro thermal heating elements arranged at the leading edges of the airfoils, in direct contact with the blade spar. As a result of this direct contact, a malfunction of the electro thermal heating elements, such as by overheating or shorting for example, may damage the spar thereby affecting the structural stability and/or the airfoil of the rotor blade.

Investigation on the heavy metal content of zinc-carbon and alkaline manganese dry cells. The objective of this work was to test the compliance of commercially available batteries with the German Battery Ordinance, a project of the German government that was initiated by the Federal Environment Agency. Different types of commercially available dry cells were analysed for their cadmium, lead and mercury contents. The dry cells underwent mechanical pre-treatment, separation of the different components and microwave-assisted digestion before determination of the heavy metals. Mercury is sometimes added to prevent the generation of gaseous hydrogen from the electrochemical process. Lead could be present since it is sometimes used as an alloying element of zinc. Cadmium has no technical importance and is an undesirable impurity. None of the batteries contained higher heavy metal mass fractions than the permissible limits.

Dog the Bounty Hunter hunts down incredible ratings Meagan Morris is an entertainment and lifestyle journalist living in New York City. In addition to SheKnows, Morris contributes to many publications including The New York Times, Yahoo! News, PopEater, NBC New York and Spinner. Follow he... Dog and family dealing with personal issues Dog the Bounty Hunter is back for 2012! Find out what sort of shenanigans brought in millions of viewers during its Wednesday night debut. Duane "Dog" Chapman and his family of bounty hunters snagged nearly 2.9 million viewers for the first episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter for the new season, according to the network. "The eighth season premiere was cable's most-watched entertainment show in the 10 p.m. hour last night and A&E became the number one entertainment cable network in primetime among adults 25-54 and 18-49 for the night," the network said in a statement. This season is poised to explore some family problems within the large Chapman family — daughter "Baby" Lyssa Chapman's March arrest will air on an episode, as will tensions between Chapman and his oldest son, Duane Lee. "I love you, dad. This is Travis. I want to go home. I don't like it here," the boy told his father also named Travis. They gained custody after an audio recording surfaced that allegedly showed the father beating the child with a belt. "I've told (my grandson) that daddy is not gone forever. Daddy has to go to school and you know what he told me, 'will they really tell him not to hit me anymore?' I said yes they won't just tell him they'll make sure, and he goes (big sigh) 'good,'" Dog said. It sounds like they'll be dealing more with family drama than criminal drama this season. Image courtesy Michael Wright/WENN.com Did you watch Dog the Bounty Hunter Wednesday night? What are your thoughts on the new season?

Off The Wire Goldcorp says protest could halt production at Mexico gold mine MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Canada’s Goldcorp said on Monday an ongoing protest blocking entry to its Penasquito mine, one of Mexico’s biggest gold producers, could force the company to halt output. The mine, in northern Zacatecas state, produced 476,000 ounces of gold last year, comprising 18 percent of Goldcorp’s total production and generating more than 33 percent of its revenue. The demonstration began on June 1, led by local truck-drivers who say the company reneged on promises to hire locally. Local residents also blocked access at the mine last year, protesting for more than a week over a water dispute. The company later said it was able to resume normal operations without a hit to production. Michael Harvey, Goldcorp’s director of corporate affairs, said the current blockade was illegal and had prevented the flow of workers and supplies. “We are still working, but if we can’t let supplies in, at some point we will stop producing,” he said. Ascension Carrillo, one of the protest leaders, said the goal was to get Goldcorp to fulfill its hiring promises. “The only thing we want is the work that was promised to us ... we’re fighting to feed our families,” Carrillo said. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

[The assessment of 99mTc-HMPAO tumor scintigraphy using VX-2 tumors in rabbits]. Tumor scintigraphy using 99mTc-hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) was performed in VX-2 tumors implanted in the muscles of the lower limbs of rabbits to evaluate the possibility that this agent could be used to estimate the blood perfusion of the tumor. The distribution of 99mTc-HMPAO in the tumor immediately after the intravenous injection of this radiopharmaceutical exhibited almost the same distribution on the static image 1 hour after administration. Tumor time-activity curve for 99mTc-HMPAO revealed initial peak after the injection followed by fading of 99mTc-HMPAO activity and subsequent gradual decrease in activity over the next 1 hour. The ratio of 99mTc-HMPAO activity in the tumor to that in normal muscle tissue during this next 1 hour was high and independent of time. These findings indicate that static 99mTc-HMPAO scintigraphy can provide qualitative but not quantitative data useful in the estimation of tumor blood perfusion. Moreover, comparison of distribution of 99mTc-HMPAO on the static images and angiographic, histological findings also suggest that static 99mTc-HMPAO images accurately reflect tumor blood perfusion.

Revision gastric bypass after laparoscopic adjustable gastric band: a 10-year experience at a public teaching hospital. In Australia, there is limited access to public revisional bariatric procedures. However, the need for such procedures is rising. We investigated the safety and efficacy of band-to-bypass procedures in our experience at a public teaching hospital over a period of 10 years. Using a prospectively maintained bariatric surgical database, we analysed 91 consecutive planned band-to-bypass procedures from 2007 to November 2016. All patients had prior laparoscopic adjustable gastric bands removed and formation of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, in one or two stages. Primary outcomes were 30-day complication rate and excess weight loss from 12 months. The impact of fellows as primary operators on these outcomes was assessed. Eighty-two patients met the inclusion criteria. Seventy-one (84.5%) were females. Mean age was 48.8 years (SD: 8.85). Immediate post-operative complications included six (7.3%) patients with gastrojejunostomy leak, three of whom required conversion to laparotomy, with one mortality (1.22%). Fifty-two patients had follow-up of 1 year or more (median: 2.36, range: 1-9.24). Mean excess weight loss at the end of follow-up was 52.79% (SD: 46.46). Twenty-eight (34.14%) cases were performed primarily by a fellow under the guidance of an experienced bariatric surgeon, with equivalent results. Revisional band-to-bypass in the public setting is an effective but complex procedure associated with morbidity. Some risk may be ameliorated by development of selection criteria to exclude certain high-risk groups. We hope discussion amongst other bariatric groups will further refine this approach.

Dave Davis (bowler) Dave Davis (born April 28, 1942) is a former American professional ten-pin bowler and former member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He grew up in Sweet Valley, Pennsylvania, and now resides in Lake Placid, Florida. Beginning his PBA career in 1964, the left-hander won 18 PBA Tour titles, including four majors. He was inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1978. Davis won multiple titles in a season four times, including six titles in the 1967 season alone. The 1967 season would see him win the PBA National Championship on his way to Player of the Year honors. He also won the PBA National Championship in 1965, plus two PBA Tournament of Champions titles (1968 and 1975). As a PBA Senior Tour bowler, Davis won back-to-back titles in the USBC Senior Masters (1995 and 1996). In addition, Davis served the PBA in various positions on the Executive Board and Tournament Committee. He was ranked #19 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years." For a brief period, Davis spent time in the TV broadcast booth, alongside play-by-play announcer Chris Schenkel. After the death of Schenkel's long-time broadcast partner, Billy Welu, in 1974, Davis and Dick Weber shared analyst duties on ABC-TV's Professional Bowlers Tour until Nelson Burton Jr. was hired as a full-time replacement in 1975. Davis also appeared regularly on the 1970s version of Celebrity Bowling as an analyst and cohost. References Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:American ten-pin bowling players Category:Sportspeople from Hackensack, New Jersey Category:Bowling broadcasters

Python swarm Just found out about PyObjC. Talked earlier this week with Corinne Coen, over in the School of Management, who has done some work with Swarm. I played with Swarm a bit while at Santa Fe, and would love to do more work with it, but I fear that writing objects for simulation in Objective C could be a stumbling point for some of our grad students. It seems that there are other efforts under way to simplify the process, but since I am planning on teaching an intro to “Programming for Informaticists” in Python next year, it might be worth looking into how to integrate python objects into Swarm.

Introduction Replace the Oil with Unsweetened Applesauce to make these Waffles perfect in taste as well as Calories and Fat. Replace the Oil with Unsweetened Applesauce to make these Waffles perfect in taste as well as Calories and Fat.

1. Technical Field Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to providing an on-board diagnostic port connector in an automobile with a lockable connection, and specifically to a lockable connection that is discreet and easy to operate. 2. Background of Related Art On-board diagnostic regulations require passenger cars and trucks to be equipped with a standardized connector to provide access to the vehicles diagnostic information. Since 1996, the standard required has been one published in Society of Automotive Engineers paper SAE J1962, known as OBD-II (or OBD2). This standard specifies the signal and message protocols, the pinout of the connector, and the details of the connector itself. This standard connector is the access point for the diagnostic and operational information about the vehicle. The OBD-II port is crucial in such tasks as checking and clearing diagnostic trouble codes, allowing for governmental vehicle inspection, and driver provided supplemental instrumentation and telematics. These applications generally involve temporary, and voluntary, connections to the car's OBD-II port, commonly referred to as plug and remove. In the car rental and fleet vehicle industries, there is often a desire to have a device connected to the vehicle's diagnostics. These devices can be hard-wired into the vehicle's electronics, or they can be plugged into the vehicle's OBD-II port. Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages. Devices that are hard-wired into the vehicle's electronics provide the most secure and least intrusive option. Such devices connect directly to the vehicle control unit or are spliced into the wiring harness of the vehicle. If done properly, these connections will be semi-permanent and very reliable. These devices also allow the OBD-II port to be unobstructed and be available for other devices to connect. Furthermore, since they are made in the vehicles wiring, they are rarely visible or otherwise evident without removing dashboard panels or looking in the engine bay. In a rental or fleet situation, the user not being aware of the device can be helpful to prevent tampering or removal. Though these hard-wired devices offer several advantages, their main drawback is the cost of time and labor associated with their proper installation. Proper installation of a hard-wired device requires a trained technician to first remove interior panels to access the wiring necessary. Once the technician has access to the wiring of the vehicle, great care must be taken to properly tap into the necessary inputs without doing permanent damage to the vehicle. This process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days per vehicle. Additionally, mistakes made during this installation can cost thousands of dollars to repair. Once the vehicles are no longer to be used in the fleet, uninstalling them to be installed in other fleet vehicles (or to provide for the sale of the decommissioned vehicle) is an equally labor intensive process. The alternative to such laborious installation procedures is an OBD-II port connected device. These devices have the advantage of taking only minutes or hours to install and secure in the dash area of the vehicle. Similarly, they are easily uninstalled at the end of a vehicle's service time. Because they are so easily installed and uninstalled, their downside is that they are often disconnected before it is desired by the fleet owner. This could be from vibrations gradually loosening the connection, an operator accidentally knocking the plug out, or a driver intentionally unplugging a device. The standard for OBD-II requires that the port be located within reach of the steering wheel, which typically results in the port being located in or around the foot well of a passenger vehicle. As such, a driver may accidentally contact the plug, loosening or disconnecting the device from the vehicle. Furthermore, potential operators may seek to intentionally remove the devices, either to prevent the collection of vehicle data, or to steal the device. What is needed, therefore, is an OBD-II compliant connector that is easy for a technician to install and uninstall, but difficult for an operator to knock loose or remove without permission. It is to such systems and methods that embodiments of the present invention are primarily directed.

Same-sex marriage legalized in Australia by overwhelmingly public vote Australians at home and abroad are rejoicing because their fellow countrymen & women have made sure their voices are heard regarding same-sex marriage — and they are all unanimously in favor of it! According to the results of a groundbreaking national postal survey that was carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), close to 62 percent of Australians who voted said YES to legalize same-sex marriage with a clear majority in every single state and territory demanding they get marriage equality. The overall turnout of eligible voters nationwide was close to 76 percent. The government, which chose to survey the people instead of conventional methods, will present the results before the parliament to pass the verdict on the issue. Its expected that a bill for the same will pass, with many opponents of same-sex marriage in their parliament surprisingly promising to respect the result and provisions for amendments. Labor MPs are unanimously in favor of the bill along with a large section of cross-benchers expected to support the bill. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (who voted yes), has already pledged to follow through with the popular vote. “We must respect the voice of our people. We asked them for their opinion and they have clearly given it to us. It is overwhelming,” he said at a press conference. The Prime Minister said a decision vote will come sometime before Christmas. The Opposition Labor Party’s leader, Bill Shorten, at a rally in Melbourne, said: “What a fabulous time to be an Australian – because in this survey the Australian population has stated that Australia is absolutely ready for wholesome marriage equality. With this, Australia is en route to become the 25th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage (in at least some jurisdictions and provinces).

Liestal, Switzerland, September 28, 2016 - Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) announces that the first patient has been enrolled at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), Department of Neurology, Kansas (USA) in Santhera's randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III (SIDEROS) trial. The trial will assess the efficacy of Raxone in slowing the rate of respiratory function decline in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients receiving concomitant glucocorticoids. "We first observed the efficacy of Raxone in slowing the rate of respiratory function decline in DMD patients in both glucocorticoid-using and non-using patients in the phase II DELPHI study," commented Thomas Meier , PhD, CEO of Santhera. "The successful Phase III DELOS trial which enrolled glucocorticoid non-using patients then confirmed a clinically relevant and statistically significant benefit of Raxone treatment on pulmonary function. The now initiated Phase III SIDEROS trial is designed to confirm the efficacy of Raxone in patients experiencing respiratory function decline that are currently taking glucocorticoids. If successful, this study will provide data that support use of Raxone in all DMD patients experiencing respiratory decline irrespective of their glucocorticoid use. The high level of interest from investigators and the patient community should allow us to recruit this study quickly." "We are hopeful that this phase III trial is the final step in the development program with Raxone in DMD," said Gunnar Buyse , MD, PhD, Professor of Child Neurology at the University Hospitals Leuven (Belgium) and SIDEROS PI and Lead Investigator for Europe. "Following the exploratory phase II program and the successful phase III DELOS trial, I am grateful that Santhera is committed in exploring the full therapeutic potential of Raxone for patients with DMD." "Maintaining pulmonary function in patients with DMD has only recently become a prominent therapeutic objective in DMD, particularly in non-ambulatory patients," added Oscar Henry Mayer , MD, Medical Director of the Pulmonary Function Testing Laboratory at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Lead Investigator for US. "A patient and caregiver survey conducted by Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy clearly demonstrated that the DMD community highly values treatment options for pulmonary complications." About the SIDEROS Trial SIDEROS is a phase III, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with Raxone in approximately 260 DMD patients receiving concomitant glucocorticoids. Patients with declining respiratory function on any stable glucocorticoid treatment scheme and irrespective of the underlying dystrophin mutation or ambulatory status will be eligible. Study participants will receive either Raxone (900 mg/day; given as 2 tablets 3 times a day with meals) or placebo for 78 weeks (18 months). The primary endpoint of the trial is change from baseline to week 78 in forced vital capacity % predicted (FVC%p). Secondary endpoints include changes from baseline in % predicted peak expiratory flow (PEF%p), time to first 10% decline in FVC and change from baseline in inspiratory flow reserve. Patients completing the trial will be offered the opportunity to enroll in an open label extension study where all patients receive Raxone. The study will be conducted at about 50 centers in the United States and Europe. Patients wishing to enroll in the study should contact their neuromuscular clinic physician. Further information about the study is available under www.clinicaltrials.gov . About Raxone ® (Idebenone) in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Regulatory Status Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is one of the most common and devastating types of muscle degeneration and results in rapidly progressive muscle weakness. DMD is characterized by a loss of the protein dystrophin, leading to cell damage, impaired calcium homeostasis, elevated oxidative stress and reduced energy production in muscle cells. This results in progressive muscle weakness and wasting and early morbidity and mortality due to respiratory failure. Idebenone is a synthetic short-chain benzoquinone and a cofactor for the enzyme NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) capable of stimulating mitochondrial electron transport, reducing and scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and supplementing cellular energy levels. The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) is currently assessing a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for Raxone in DMD patients with respiratory function decline who are not taking concomitant glucocorticoids. The indication would include patients who previously were treated with glucocorticoids or in whom glucocorticoid treatment is not desired, not tolerated or is contraindicated. The MAA was submitted as a Type II variation of the company's existing marketing authorization for Raxone for the treatment of visual impairment in patients with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). About Santhera Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN) is a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical products for the treatment of orphan mitochondrial and neuromuscular diseases. Santhera's lead product Raxone is authorized in the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein for the treatment of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). For Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the second indication for Raxone, Santhera has filed a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) in the European Union. In collaboration with the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Santhera is developing Raxone in a third indication, primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), and omigapil for congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD), all areas of high unmet medical need. For further information, please visit the Company's website www.santhera.com . Disclaimer / Forward-looking statements This communication does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities of Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG. This publication may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the Company and its business. Such statements involve certain risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such statements. Readers should therefore not place undue reliance on these statements, particularly not in connection with any contract or investment decision. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. PharmiWeb.com is Europe's leading industry-sponsored portal for the Pharmaceutical sector, providing the latest jobs, news, features and events listings. The information provided on PharmiWeb.com is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician.

The new documentary Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas proves that democracy can and should be more than casting a ballot every four years. This empowering film gives hopeful and concrete examples from around the Americas of people taking back the reigns of power and governing their own communities. Beyond Elections is a road map for social change, drawing from communal councils in Venezuela and social movements in Bolivia to participatory budgeting in Brazil and worker cooperatives in Argentina. The film gracefully succeeds in demonstrating that these grassroots examples of people’s power can be applied anywhere. Particularly as activists in the US face the challenges of an Obama administration and an economic crisis, this timely documentary shows that the revolution can start today right in your own living room or neighborhood. In this interview, Michael Fox, Co-Producer of Beyond Elections, talks about how the film was created, what its aims were, and what impact the film has had among viewers in the US. Benjamin Dangl: How did you decide on the focus and message of Beyond Elections? Michael Fox: I’ve been living and working in Latin America for many years, studying and reporting on, above all else, the experiences in participatory democracy — cooperatives, communal councils, participatory budgeting, social movements, community radio, etc. . . . Sílvia (my wife, who grew up in Southern Brazil, and who is also Co-director of the film) and I were living in Venezuela in 2006 when the communal councils law was passed, and local communities all across the country began to come together and take on this new form of organizing. You could see how it was empowering people on an individual and local level. In March of 2007, Sílvia and I found ourselves in Porto Alegre, Brazil — where we now live — at the same time that the 2007 Participatory Budgeting cycle was about to begin. We realized that although there have been many local videos on the experiences of participatory budgeting, cooperatives, social movements and even some on the recently-formed communal councils, there was no documentary film that tried to give both the big and local picture of these new participatory concepts of democracy across the hemisphere. This concept is almost completely absent in the United States, and yet, it is absolutely necessarily for people to understand what is going on across Latin America, and also extremely important for activists and people in the United States to understand the failures of our own system and the lack of participation and input from everyday citizens. We originally planned the film to focus only on participatory democracy, but quickly realized that the only people who would want to see it would be activists that are already doing this type of work. We needed to open it up to the very concept of democracy itself. This was important to us, because time and again in the United States, pundits, elected officials, everyday folks, and even journalists use the word “democracy” as an excuse to de-legitimize extremely democratic groups and governments. They say, “Venezuela is threatening democracy in the region,” and yet depending on your definition, Venezuela is perhaps the most democratic country in the region — much more so than the United States. But these realities are very subtle, and if you have never been to Venezuela, or Brazil, or Bolivia, or Ecuador (or if you go and only stay at the resorts and the upper-class part of town), then you’re never going to know what to believe because the mainstream media is quick to repeat the manipulations. There are some mainstream media that actually call Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a dictator, despite the fact that during his ten years in office there have been more than a dozen free and fair elections in Venezuela legitimately recognized by international observers from around the world, and that he has always respected the Venezuelan Constitution and the laws. He may be a very charismatic, domineering, and powerful figure, but he’s not a dictator. Then the real question is, “What is democracy?” And that’s where we wanted to focus our attention — giving people the space to tell their stories across the Hemisphere. As the Portuguese Sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos says, (and you can find the link to more of his work on our website, www.beyondelections.com), the United States has created a monopoly on the definition of democracy — U.S. style hegemonic representative politics. But Sousa Santos points out that, in reality, democracy is a work in progress. As he says, “democracy without end.” His colleague, Leonardo Avritzer, professor from Brazilian Federal University of Minas Gerais, points out in our film, “What we’ve tried to stress is the idea that democracy is an open concept and the frontiers of democracy are always imprecise. For instance, in the 19th century you could say that it’s democratic to expand suffrage. And that’s true. It was democratic at the end of the 19th century to expand suffrage to women. Or at the beginning of the 20th century it could appear democratic to expand democracy to the countries of the global South. So the question today in the Southern countries is how to think about the democratization of things like the budget, health policies, education policies, urban policies, the democratization of life where you live.” Of course, it’s not always easy. Especially when you are trying to make a film for not one audience, but audiences in various languages all across the Hemisphere. But that’s what we set out to do, and I think we succeeded. BD: Could you talk a bit about the process of making your documentary? MF: This is very important, because we wanted the making of the film to reflect as much as possible the “democracy” that we are trying to portray. We used very little narration — only about two and a half minutes worth — because we wanted people to tell the stories in their own words. We tried not to change the scenery where we were filming. We only used music from local musicians, and tried to only use it when it was part of the scene. It is also a testament to what two people can do without any external resources or really expensive equipment. The entire budget came out of our own pockets and Silvia and I filmed nearly the entire film with our Panasonic 3CCD handycam, and edited it all on our aging G4 Powerbook. Of course, we had more than a half a dozen individuals and groups that supported with b-roll, and either shot for us, or allowed us to use footage they had already filmed in areas that we couldn’t make it to like Ecuador, Bolivia, and the Bay Area. The SF-based musician and sound editor, Ben Bernstein, donated his time to post-produce our audio, which came out great. The Venezuela-based film group, Panafilms was a huge support, as were hundreds of folks all across the region. BD: What was the response among viewers during your tour in the US? MF: We did our tour last fall from mid September straight through till two days before the 2008 Presidential elections. We drove from the East Coast to the West Coast and back, covering our costs with donations from the nearly two-dozen showings all across the U.S. It was an amazing experience. Of course, we were organizing the tour ourselves, so our audiences varied from a couple hundred people at some Universities all the way down to a living room showing with a few people in Oklahoma City. But really, the response was the best we could have hoped for, and both Silvia and I were impressed with the diversity of opinions. Some viewers were struck by the amount of local democracy and participation in Venezuela specifically, especially with the negative press that it gets in the United States. Many viewers were impressed with the democratic experiences, and the fact that people all across the region are all participating in similar ways. Others were shocked because so little of this is happening in the U.S. Others felt the movie really put things into a perspective that they had rarely seen or heard of before. This was the case of one gentleman in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans where we showed Beyond Elections with a projector on the side of a building. He said, “Wow, I’ve always known all of this, but I had never understood that everything was connected. I feel like I have a new perspective on things.” Without a doubt, the biggest and only major critique was that it was, and remains, a long documentary — just under two hours, which we’ll keep in mind for our next documentary. The DVD version of the movie is divided into chapters, which can each stand alone, so it can easily be used in university and high school classrooms according to theme. The right hand side of the website www.beyondelections.com has dozens of links to additional information, all also sorted according to the chapter and the theme. We tried to build the film in order to give people an understanding of the realities, and also leave them with a sense of hope. Because these experiences anywhere, be it in Latin America or the United States, in the local government, the community, the office, the school, or the home can only happen if we take the steps to open the democratic spaces of participation. This is the exciting thing about the film and I believe that people could feel it. The film gave people an idea about some of the things that are being done, and some of the things that they can also do. As Sílvia often said in our after-film discussions, “The best thing you can do to support these democratic experiences abroad is to make change in your own communities, attempt to open democracy in your own community.” As a Brazilian, she knows the effect that this can have. In our discussions after nearly all of our showings, we tried to stress this point: how we can open up these democratic experiences in our own lives. After numerous requests, we actually developed a “Beyond Elections Democracy Discussion Guide,” which attempts to help people to do just that, Bring Democracy Home. It is also available to download halfway down the right-hand side of our website, under “Beyond Elections Materials.” Monthly Review Essays Historically, capitalism develops institutions and ideologies that justify surplus extraction and capital accumulation. In the last decades of the twentieth century, the financialization of capitalism initiated a new era of accumulation which is known in academic contexts as finance-capital-driven neoliberalism. Both Sweezy and Dimitrov agree that fascism arises in the middle class and becomes a threat when the bourgeoisie embraces it, but Sweezy’s unique contribution is to demonstrate fascism’s relationship to the postwar transitional period of class equilibrium.

Marie phoned me to request that I send to Lindsay Hamilton, St.Johnstone, 1 pair 036 size 9 and they were sent (No.97). 28th November 1991 10.20 Marie also asked me to send to Nicky Hammond, Swindon, 1 pair 036 size 7.5, and they were sent (No.98). 28th November 1991 11.45 Marie phoned to say that she had forgotten to ask if the 2 pairs of gloves ordered earlier today could be sent today. I told her that they had already been packed. 28th November 1991 2.50 John Burridge, Hibernian, phoned to order some goods and 2 pairs 036 size 9.5 were sent to him (No.99) along with an uhlsport catalogue. He wanted the phone number in Germany which I gave him and he also asked what was new. I told him that Line 7 had seen the new range but that I had not yet seen any of it. I asked him what had happened about the signed gloves and newspaper competitions to win them, and he told me that he had sent off the gloves but had not seen or heard anymore about the competitions. I said that I would try to find out more information. 2nd December 1991 10.25 Marie phoned and asked me to send to Gerry Gallagher of Eurone Management 1 pair 036 size 8.5, 1 pair 040 size 8.5 for Paul Mathers, Dundee, and 1 pair 036 size 8.5, 1 pair 040 size 8.5 for Andy Murdoch. Partick, and they were sent (No.1). I asked Marie if David Spensley was yet available as I had left a message on Thursday, again on Friday, for him to phone me, but had not yet heard from him. She said he was on the phone but would ask him to phone me. 2nd December 1991 4.45 David Spensley called and I asked him about the competitions with John Burridge gloves. He said that he did not think anything had happened yet but Chris Jones was dealing with it. He suggested that if John Burridge really wanted to know he should contact Chris Jones. I asked if he was ready yet to take over promotion goods and he said no, although goods had been ordered from Germany. We then discussed matters in general. 3rd December 1991 Having received a delivery I sent to Theo Snelders, Aberdeen, 1 pair 566 XL (No.2). 3rd December 1991 Having received a delivery I sent to Ludek Miklosko, West Ham, 2 pairs 636 elbow pads Large, 2 pairs 638 knee pads Large (No.3). 3rd December 1991 11.35 John Lukic, Leeds, phoned to see if I could do him a favour. Theo Foley, the manager at Northampton, had asked John for some gloves as Northampton have no money and cannot afford to buy them. I said that this time I would send 2 pairs 073 size 9.5, 1 pair 040 size 9.5 to Theo Foley (No.4) along with details of the special prices scheme. John Lukic was grateful as it enabled him to help his old Arsenal coach Theo Foley. I saw Phil Parkes, coach at QPR, and asked him why Tony Roberts, who had been given uhlsport gloves, wore Reusch in the Zenith Cup match v Crystal Palace. He told me that it was because he had had the uhlsport gloves stolen from the kit room at the ground and only had old Reusch gloves. I said that if he wanted more gloves I needed back the signed 2 year goods only contract, and Phil told me that he would pass it on to Tony Roberts. 10th December 1991 10.15 Pat Jennings, ex Northern Ireland goalkeeper, who still wears uhlsport in the charity matches he plays arouind the world, phoned to ask about gloves for his son. He said that he would pay but I said that I would send them free of charge, and 1 pair 019 size 8, 1 only 010 glove bag were sent to him (No.6). 11th December 1991 4.00 Jochen phoned to ask me what "SHUT OUTS" mean as he had rceived a contract offer from Line 7 regarding Andy Goram, Rangers. I said that it was when he did not concede a goal in a game. He then asked me in general about Andy Goram and I said that he was very much the first choice for Scotland and he had played in every qualifying game for the European Championships in Sweden, and seemed likely to be first choice for Scotland in Sweden. However, I pointed out that he had previously been under contract with uhlsport, arranged by Readers, and there was a problem about the length of his contract. The contract he signed was dated 5th November 1986 and valid for 3 years meaning that it expired in November 1989, was later claimed by Goram to have been signed over a year earlier than it was dated, and in 1988 he changed to Sondico although the written evidence showed he was still under contract to uhlsport. The contract was for £xx , paid in full when the contract was dated and signed. Jochen said that the contract offer was complicated and I warned him to be very careful as playing for Glasgow Rangers, Scotland's most successfull club, they were likely to win most competitions they entered, meaning that uhlsport may have to pay out a lot in bonus's the way the contract is set out. I said that I would do some research and let him know the details. 12th December 1991 9.00-9.05 I phoned Jochen to give him details on Andy Goram including that at the half way stage of this season, 22 League games, he had conceeded 18 goals and had kept 11 "SHUT OUTS". I said that I would put down the information in writing and send it to him with the magazines. 12th December 1991 I bought and sent to Jochen this weeks issues of "Shoot" and "Match". 12th December 1991 1.00 Alan Knight, Portsmouth, phoned for some goods and 2 pairs 036 size 9.5, 2 pairs 040 size 9.5 were sent to him (No.7)

George Vierra Winemaking Monday, June 27, 2011 Get out of the Office and Into the Street When Multicultural is the Culture June 23, 2011 The 2010 Census confirmed something Nielsen has been noting for some time: multicultural consumers are rapidly becoming the majority in the United States and their buying power is significant. Understanding their purchasing and media habits is the next big challenge/opportunity facing marketers and brands today. Taking a deep dive into data and trends within the African American, Asian American and Hispanic communities, Nielsen’s Claudia Pardo laid out compelling statistics and a demographic framework shaping the future. It’s clear that marketers and brands will be forced to rethink their perspective — and their share of spend — when it comes to multicultural groups. “Can anyone in the room honestly say they’re doing everything they can to satisfy the consumption needs of this population?” Pardo asked attendees. “The demographic growth of these groups is simply becoming too great to ignore.” The good news, noted Pardo, is that multicultural groups are actually more loyal to brands and there’s an opportunity to win a consumer for life. In the past multiculturalism was talked about as a melting pot, but it’s really more like a salad bowl where each group stands out and is different in the way they value their culture and traditions. Pardo offered examples of notable distinctions in the way these diverse groups shop and consume media. BUYINGHispanics Spend the most per trip and annually Shop less often, usually with family Blacks/African Americans Shop more frequently than any other ethnicity The most brand loyal; fewer purchases of private label Asian Americans Most likely group to compare prices and shop online Frequent fewer super centers, dollar stores or convenience stores WATCHING Daily Total household TV usage by Race and Origin Hispanics: 4hrs 35min Blacks/African Americans: 7hrs 12min Asian Americans: 3hrs 14min National Average: 5hrs 11min Pardo noted that understanding these and other details (such as understanding that multicultural consumers are actually ahead of the curve when it comes to mobile phone adoption, understanding their different TV viewing and online browsing habits, or ensuring that ethnicities are portrayed more often and more appropriately in ads) is key to seizing the massive market opportunity ahead. “The story here is that within the next five years, multicultural clients will drive 86 percent of the total growth on spending in retail,” Pardo highlighted. “If you look at growth without these groups, you are only addressing 10 percent of the growth.” Pardo suggested a number of key questions organizations should ask before embarking on an effective multi-cultural strategy: What is your share of the multi-cultural market? Do you know this consumer better than your peers? Are you fishing where the fish are? Do you have the depth of consumer insight to ensure you deploy the most effective marketing mix? Is your advertising culturally relevant? Is your organization ready? Are you investing in the right structures and incentives to ensure multi-culturalism remains top of mind? A panel discussion with Roberto Ruiz of Univision, Idaliz Chacon of Procter & Gamble, Angela Joyner of ConAgra Foods and Bill Imada of IW Group followed the presentation and generated the following guidance for organizations looking to engage in effective multicultural strategies: Create Internal Champions: From creating a Center of Excellence for multicultural marketing, through tracking success via executive scorecards, all panelists agreed that a multi-cultural approach must be a top-down business imperative to avoid a transient, “flavor of the month” approach to engagement. Scale Your Investment: Bill Imada advised participants to “start small, get some wings, build confidence and go from there.” He maintained that many companies do not exploit what they already know and have in their historic “corporate inventory.” He advised participants to find which current product lines make the most sense in multi-cultural markets, to pick just one of the population segments with the biggest opportunity and build as much cultural learning and competency as possible before roll-out to other populations as part of an organic growth strategy. Idaliz Chacon said it was important to understand the “size of the prize” to build product category and right-size the investment. To close share gaps faster, she indicated that companies should “invest to win,” even disproportionately if necessary. This view was shared by Angela Joyner who stated that trying to drive brand penetration into new markets would potentially require substantial investment as part of a five year strategy to build brand presence and advocacy. Don’t over-segment: For an effective segmentation strategy, all panelists agreed that it was more important to look for similarities than differences among the focus population and that over-segmentation would decrease the opportunity. Roberto Ruiz stated that the key to effective segmentation is “actionability” and that the nuance of “bi-culturalism” of individuals, for instance being “dominant Hispanic,” while “fascinating,” was completely “worthless” as a segmentation consideration on the basis that people tend to be entirely immersed in both aspects of their culture. Get out of the Office and Into the Street: “Consumer immersion” was considered the most powerful way to energize a company’s multi-cultural strategy and summarized as “the power of being there and seeing what’s going on.” Leveraging employee ethnic groups within organizations was viewed as a unique asset companies could deploy to generate proprietary insight and delight and win with diverse consumers.

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As Seen in Vanity Fair's August 2006 Issue! As Seen in US News & World Report's September 11 Fifth Anniversary Issue! As Seen in Time Magazine's September 11, 2006 Issue! As Seen in Phoenix New Times' August 9, 2007 Issue! Yet another poor "reaching" post. I'm beginning to thing you guys can't actually understand what you read taking quotes and ideas out of context like that. No wonder you think Osama pulled this thing off. You're brain has been turd to mush by the Zionist propaganda mainstream mechanism. Beleiving in Israel is like beleiving in a chair. It's there, it exists, what more is there to say? Why exactly do you feel a need to assign them a name? What's next, calling people who beleive in America "Americanists"? What would you call people who beleive in Palestine? Palestinianists? It wouldn't surprise me at all if there were more christian "zionists" than jewish "zionists". there's certainly more christians in the world than there are jews, and the majority of those christians are reasonable people. They're not going to deny the existance of a country which has been around since the 1940's. That you are a Zionist or have been conned to accept that satanic movement. Satanic? Are we getting religious now? ISRAEL EXISTS AS A COUNTRY. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Jews bought the land, and eventually a narrow strip was given to them by the UN. The land had been abandoned and nobody wanted it till those damn JOOOS came. Last Saturday morning there was a C-span call-in with an Israeli journalist and a Palestinian journalist. The Palestinian journalist stated this and the Israeli journalist made no attempt to object or correct: When the UN partitioned Palestine in 1948, it gave 55% of the land to the Jewish state and 45% of the land to the Arabs, even though, at the time, Jews owned only 10% of the land. So he didn't object, so what? It certainly doesn't make it true. When Israel was created, there was no such thing as Palestine. In addition to that, something like 90% of the land falling under the Brittish mandate went into creating trans-Jordan, which was specificaly intended as an Arab homeland. I don't see you complaining about all the Jews who were displaced from that area. Finaly, the question of land ownership is irrelevant. The UN mandate was passed by some 33 nations. It became binding at that point. Even if it didn't not have the authority of the UN behind it, the Arabs gave up whatever claims they may have made when they attempted to anhilliate Israel militarily. If they had continued to neogtiate diplomaticaly, perhaps they could claim the moral high ground. As it is, they tried to kill off the Jews, they got their asses kicked, and they lost whatever moral superiority they may have had. If the UN came in here and partitioned off 55% (or even 5%) of our country to give it to some ethnic group, I would hope there'd be some Americans who'd stand up and fight. The British were a colonial power ruling over land they had no right to. The proof is in the pudding and the indigenous people have suffered greatly from the League of Nations giving a "mandate" over Palestine to the British. They scrambled planes over New York too. They just got there about 10 minutes too late to do anything. Even if they did get there before impact, what could they have done? Does ANYONE really think that even after the first impact, the Air Force would shoot down commercial airlners over populated areas? Seriously? Could you imagine what the CTers would be doing with that if say after the first hit, the remaining 3 planes were shot down? They'd be screaming that the planes weren't even hijacked and the government shot down planes that posed no threat... Oh, wait, nevermind. If the UN came in here and partitioned off 55% (or even 5%) of our country to give it to some ethnic group, I would hope there'd be some Americans who'd stand up and fight. That's not exactly how it happened little girl... You see, before we even had that tragedy called the Holocaust, Jewish folks had been buying up land in a pretty much useless, abadoned strip of land. When the UN created Israel it didn't suddenly take away Palestinian land (as there were no "Palestinians" at the time), it just gave sovereignty to the area that had been bought up and no one wanted but the Jews. Arabs started moving back after infrastructure had been built up. The British were a colonial power ruling over land they had no right to. The Ottomans lost a war and European powers took control of the area. The proof is in the pudding and the indigenous people have suffered greatly from the League of Nations giving a "mandate" over Palestine to the British. The indigenous people were called Jews (but I digress). I assume you mean the occupants just before Israel was created. Well, as I stated before, the "Palestinians" kept their land (Egypt gobbled up a bit, Jordan some, and Syria the rest). Technically speaking, the creation of Jordan was the creation of the Arab Palestinian nation.

The Hottest NBA Trade Rumors provided daily Blazers preparing offer for Utah's Paul Millsap After a series of trades fell through this week, the Trail Blazers have settled on their next target: Utah power forward Paul Millsap. Although Millsap is a restricted free agent, meaning the Jazz can match any offer, the Blazers are preparing what one source called a "toxic" offer designed to exterminate interest from other teams. Millsap, 24, is a bruising and active player who excels at rebounding. Despite being only 6-foot-8, Millsap last season used his 250-pound frame to average 13.5 points and 8.6 rebounds in 30.1 minutes per game. His 3.3 offensive rebounds per game ranked fourth in the NBA and his 251 offensive rebounds ranked sixth. If Millsap signs an offer sheet accepting the Blazers’ deal, Utah will have seven days to match the offer. The Jazz is already facing the luxury tax next season with a team salary of more than $73 million. Their finances, and prospects of competing with a lucrative offer to Millsap, took a hit last week when Carlos Boozer ($12.6 million), Mehmet Okur ($9 million) and Kyle Korver ($5.1 million) all exercised options to stay in Utah. The Blazers figure to exhaust nearly all of their cap space to lock up Millsap. They are $7.7 million under the cap, but can gain an additional $1.65 million by renouncing the rights to Petteri Koponen and Joel Freeland. However, in the process, the Blazers would be assessed with a roughly $450,000 cap hold for having less than 11 players, thus giving them $8.9 million in cap space. “2015-04-01_19-33-57_ILCE-6000_5372_DxO” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by miguel.discart The Los Angeles Lakers are in a spot of bother: Iconic shooting guard Kobe Bryant, who played for the Lakers for the entirety of Read More »

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Meade incinerator plan criticized Officials decry environmental impact of sewage-burning plant February 07, 2007|By Phillip McGowan | Phillip McGowan,sun reporter Fort Meade is proposing to build a sewage sludge incinerator, a prospect that has drawn outrage among western Anne Arundel County civic leaders and criticism from the county's top health official about the potential environmental and health impacts. The Maryland Department of the Environment is holding a public hearing tonight in Odenton to discuss plans by a Tennessee contractor, Ameresco Federal Solutions, to build the incinerator near the Army post's sewage plant adjacent to the intersection of Routes 32 and 198. The incinerator would run 24 hours a day on weekdays, disposing of hundreds of tons of sewage a year more cheaply than by trucking the waste away, county and Fort Meade officials said. MDE spokesman Robert Ballinger declined to disclose details about the incinerator and did not return a phone call yesterday seeking comment. Ameresco Federal Solutions did not reply to an e-mail request for information. County health officials said that MDE has issued a tentative approval for the incinerator, but a Fort Meade spokeswoman, Summer Barkley, said yesterday in an e-mail that the post will not make a decision about the project for at least six months. She said a series of improvements being made at the post's sewage treatment plant might reduce the volume of sludge. Civic leaders from Russett, Maryland City and Odenton said they learned of the scheduled public hearing Monday. Members of the Restoration Advisory Board, a group of residents and regulators overseeing Fort Meade's Superfund environmental cleanup, learned of the proposal when contacted yesterday by The Sun. "I thought we were past the point of the base trying to sneak things through," said Zoe B. Draughon, co-chairwoman of the Restoration Advisory Board. "I am obviously mistaken." Barkley referred questions about the timing of the public hearing to MDE. There are about 170 sewage sludge incinerators in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The facilities heat the waste to more than 1,500 degrees, turning solid waste into ash, and producing electricity. The Sun reported last summer that the demand for electricity to operate expanding intelligence systems at the National Security Agency, which has its headquarters at Fort Meade, has left the high-tech eavesdropping agency on the verge of exceeding its power supply. Activists questioned the placement of an incinerator at the nexus of impending growth expected to sweep over western Anne Arundel. An estimated 20,000 defense workers are expected to settle at Fort Meade over the next four years, a movement that will spawn billions of dollars of residential and office development from Hanover to Laurel and Odenton. "This is ridiculous," said Ray Smallwood, president of the Maryland City Civic Association. "This is something that needs a lot of study. Haven't they thought about the environmental impact?" Smallwood added: "I can't believe they had the audacity to do this." Several activists called on MDE to schedule a second hearing to allow for broader public comment. According to an advance copy of county Health Officer Frances B. Phillips's testimony to be read tonight, she criticizes MDE for not adequately advertising the hearing on the proposed incinerator. Phillips also raises concerns that an incinerator -- which would emit mercury sulfur, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and lead -- could lead to declining air quality and pollute groundwater. She also points out that there are six public schools on the base, with a combined enrollment of more than 2,000. At least 169 students are known to have asthma, she says. County Councilman G. James "Jamie" Benoit, a Piney Orchard Democrat, decried the incinerator's potential health effect on those children. He is delivering a letter to MDE to voice his displeasure with the project. David A. Tibbetts, vice president of the Greater Odenton Improvement Association and the organization's environmental chairman, said the county has one of the highest ozone levels in the country. "And now we are going to add another source of ozone" Tibbetts said. "It just doesn't make any sense." Phillips in her testimony questions assertions by MDE that incinerator emissions would not exceed air-quality standards set by the EPA. County officials note that MDE does not monitor air quality at Fort Meade. She also noted that at a meeting at MDE headquarters Jan. 31, state officials said that "the combustion process itself generally does not produce odors, but that stored sludge awaiting burning is often a source of noxious odor." phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com The hearing is to begin at 7 p.m. at the West County Area Library, 1325 Annapolis Road.

Q: How can I use a datepicker to set a reminder on a specific date? I have a datepicker which can be used to pick a date and set it to a edittext. how can i set a reminder on the date ?. The program for setting a edittext from the date picker is given below: import android.app.DatePickerDialog; import android.content.DialogInterface; import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity; import android.os.Bundle; import android.view.View; import android.widget.DatePicker; import android.widget.EditText; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; import java.util.Calendar; import java.util.Date; import java.util.Locale; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { Calendar myCalendar= Calendar.getInstance(); private EditText et; @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); et =(EditText)findViewById(R.id.editText3); } DatePickerDialog.OnDateSetListener date =new DatePickerDialog.OnDateSetListener(){ @Override public void onDateSet(DatePicker view, int year, int monthOfYear, int dayOfMonth) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub myCalendar.set(Calendar.YEAR, year); myCalendar.set(Calendar.MONTH, monthOfYear); myCalendar.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, dayOfMonth); updateLabel(); } }; public void onClick(View v) { // TODO Auto-generated method stub new DatePickerDialog(MainActivity.this, date, myCalendar .get(Calendar.YEAR), myCalendar.get(Calendar.MONTH), myCalendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH)).show(); } private void updateLabel() { String myFormat = "MM/dd/yy"; //In which you need put here SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(myFormat, Locale.US); et.setText(sdf.format(myCalendar.getTime())); } } A: Try this: private void setAlarm(Calendar target){ Intent intent = new Intent(getBaseContext(), AlarmReceiver.class); PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getBroadcast(getBaseContext(), 1, intent, 0); AlarmManager alarmManager = (AlarmManager)getSystemService(Context.ALARM_SERVICE); alarmManager.set(AlarmManager.RTC_WAKEUP, target.getTimeInMillis(), pendingIntent); } Let me know if it helped you. UPDATE: And alarmReciever must be something like this: public class AlarmReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver { @Override public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) { Toast.makeText(context, "AlarmReceiver.onReceive()", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show(); } } And add it to your manifest.xml inside the application tag: <receiver android:name=".AlarmReceiver" android:process=":remote" />

Details The new Gameness Flex Board Shorts are the next generation of fight short that combines the comfort of a board short and the toughness of an MMA short. Each pair of shorts is constructed with an advanced 4-Way HyperFlex fabric that makes these shorts ultra-light and moisture wicking. The Gameness Flex Board Shorts feature a 4” side slit for increased mobility, and an MMA inspired Hook & Loop closure with a draw string to ensure the perfect fit.

Graduate of Virginia School of Massage - 637 hour professional course. Skilled in orthopedic massage testing of patients to a ccess and treat with the intent to return them to daily function. Specialize in treating injures and pain... Welcome to my Website! If you’re looking for a professional clinical orthopedic massage therapist, you’ve come to the right place. Hi, my name is Peter Juergensen, NCLMT, CKTP and my goal is to return the client to their fully functional life in the shortest amount of time. I’ m a Nationally Certified State Licensed massage therapist serving Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties of West Virginia. I’m licensed in the states of West Virginia and Virginia, and have an office location at 295 Rock Cliff Drive, Martinsburg West Virginia, 25401-2835. Request an appointment with me today by clicking on the "Request a Session" page. I will call you to confirm the details of your appointment, and also answer any questions you might have.

Q: What's wrong with using sudo? In a comment here I've been told that unnecessarily using sudo should be avoided. While it wasn't needed in that particular case, I don't see any harm in using it. I think that when executing trivial programs like cat as root using sudo, the overall risk of hitting a bug that would somehow compromise system security is very low. So can someone please point out the possible implications, besides typing 4 more characters and a space? A: The risk of a typo is more than the risk of a bug. The risk of gaining a habit of "it doesn't work, stick sudo on it!" is much higher than the risk of a bug. As a sysadmin who's seen people execute all sorts of random commands with sudo that didn't need them, I always caution against superfluous usage of sudo. While cat isn't harmful, the habit that this encourages is. A: I think there is another issue not yet mentioned: sudo status is cached for the shell with a default of 15 minutes. This means you don't have to provide your password in the next 15 minutes in order to execute a potentially dangerous command. I think we all can think of more or less likely security issues that could result from that: Unknown software bugs that exploit this or forgetting to lock the screen with random people or co-workers around come to mind. This is indeed my primary reason for not using sudo when I don't have to and even if I have to, for frequently closing shells after I'm done with sudo work. A: Using sudo excessively is the Linux equivalent of the old Windows habit of running everything under the Administrator account. That one has been discussed and criticized to hell and back, so you can read everything that talks about why a person should not be running their Windows computer as an Administrator, and every single point will apply to habitual use of sudo on Linux.

/* * TupleTypeUtil.java * * This source file is part of the FoundationDB open source project * * Copyright 2015-2019 Apple Inc. and the FoundationDB project authors * * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. * You may obtain a copy of the License at * * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 * * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and * limitations under the License. */ package com.apple.foundationdb.record.metadata; import com.apple.foundationdb.record.provider.foundationdb.FDBRecordVersion; import com.apple.foundationdb.tuple.Tuple; import com.google.protobuf.ByteString; import com.google.protobuf.Descriptors; import com.google.protobuf.ProtocolMessageEnum; import javax.annotation.Nonnull; import javax.annotation.Nullable; import java.math.BigInteger; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.List; /** * Utility class for dealing with {@link Tuple} types. In theory, these methods should live in * {@link com.apple.foundationdb.tuple.TupleHelpers TupleHelpers} except that they use some Protobuf specific things * like the {@link ByteString} class, and {@code TupleHelpers} is defined in the * <a href="https://javadoc.io/doc/org.foundationdb/fdb-extensions/">fdb-extensions</a> sub-project * which does not (and probably should not) take Protobuf as a dependency. */ class TupleTypeUtil { @Nonnull private static final BigInteger BIG_INT_MAX_LONG = BigInteger.valueOf(Long.MAX_VALUE); @Nonnull private static final BigInteger BIG_INT_MIN_LONG = BigInteger.valueOf(Long.MIN_VALUE); /** * Normalize a list of values so that it can be checked for equality with other lists sharing * the same {@link Tuple} representation. In other words, it should be the case that: * * <pre> {@code * toTupleEquivalentValue(list1).equals(toTupleEquivalentValue) * == Arrays.equals(Tuple.fromList(toTupleAppropriateList(list1)).pack(), Tuple.fromList(toTupleAppropriateList(list2)).pack()) * }</pre> * * <p> * for any two lists {@code list1} and {@code list2}. * </p> * * @param values the list of values to normalized * @return a new list containing the normalized elements of {@code values} */ @Nonnull static List<Object> toTupleEquivalentList(@Nonnull List<?> values) { List<Object> tupleEquivalentList = new ArrayList<>(values.size()); for (Object o : values) { tupleEquivalentList.add(toTupleEquivalentValue(o)); } return tupleEquivalentList; } /** * Normalize a value so that it compares equal to anything with the same {@link Tuple} representation. * The value that is returned cannot necessarily be packed by a {@code Tuple} (for example, * a <code>byte[]</code> is returned as a {@link ByteString}), but it does implement {@link Object#equals(Object)} * and {@link Object#hashCode()}, so the value can be used in hash-based data structures like * {@link java.util.HashSet HashSet}s and {@link java.util.HashMap HashMap}s. In other words, it should * bethe case that: * * <pre> {@code * Objects.equals(toTupleEquivalentValue(value1), toTupleEquivalentValue(value2)) * == Arrays.equals(Tuple.from(value1).pack(), Tuple.from(value2).pack()) * }</pre> * * <p> * for any two values {@code value1} and {@code value2}. * </p> * * <p> * This will only return {@code null} if {@link #toTupleAppropriateValue(Object)} would return {@code null} * on the same input. If the object is already in * </p> * * @param obj the value to normalize * @return a value that has the same representation when {@link Tuple}-encoded */ @Nullable static Object toTupleEquivalentValue(@Nullable Object obj) { if (obj == null || obj instanceof Key.Evaluated.NullStandin) { return null; } else if (obj instanceof List<?>) { List<?> list = (List<?>)obj; return toTupleEquivalentList(list); } else if (obj instanceof Tuple) { return toTupleEquivalentList(((Tuple)obj).getItems()); } else if (obj instanceof byte[]) { return ByteString.copyFrom((byte[]) obj); } else if ((obj instanceof Byte) || (obj instanceof Short) || (obj instanceof Integer)) { return ((Number)obj).longValue(); } else if (obj instanceof BigInteger) { BigInteger bigInt = (BigInteger)obj; if (bigInt.compareTo(BIG_INT_MIN_LONG) > 0 && bigInt.compareTo(BIG_INT_MAX_LONG) < 0) { return bigInt.longValue(); } else { return bigInt; } } else if (obj instanceof ProtocolMessageEnum) { return (long)((ProtocolMessageEnum)obj).getNumber(); } else if (obj instanceof Descriptors.EnumValueDescriptor) { return (long)((Descriptors.EnumValueDescriptor)obj).getNumber(); } else if (obj instanceof FDBRecordVersion) { return ((FDBRecordVersion)obj).toVersionstamp(false); } else { return obj; } } /** * Convert a list of values into items that can all be stored within a {@link Tuple}. * * @param values a list of values * @return a new list with {@link Tuple}-encodable versions of the elements of {@code values} */ @Nonnull static List<Object> toTupleAppropriateList(@Nonnull List<?> values) { List<Object> tupleAppropriateList = new ArrayList<>(values.size()); for (Object o : values) { tupleAppropriateList.add(toTupleAppropriateValue(o)); } return tupleAppropriateList; } /** * Convert a value into a type that can be stored within a {@link Tuple}. * * @param obj the value to convert * @return the value converted to some {@link Tuple}-encodable type */ @Nullable static Object toTupleAppropriateValue(@Nullable Object obj) { if (obj instanceof Key.Evaluated.NullStandin) { return null; } else if (obj instanceof ByteString) { return ((ByteString) obj).toByteArray(); } else if (obj instanceof List) { return toTupleAppropriateList((List<?>) obj); // Following two are both Internal.EnumLite, so could use that, too. } else if (obj instanceof ProtocolMessageEnum) { return ((ProtocolMessageEnum) obj).getNumber(); } else if (obj instanceof Descriptors.EnumValueDescriptor) { return ((Descriptors.EnumValueDescriptor) obj).getNumber(); } else if (obj instanceof FDBRecordVersion) { return ((FDBRecordVersion) obj).toVersionstamp(false); } else { return obj; } } private TupleTypeUtil() { } }

If, like many of the Badger team, you first discovered F1 during the nineties, the entry list for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours makes rather nostalgic reading. Consider names like Jean Christophe Bullion, who enjoyed a brief and unspectacular 11 race stint at Sauber in 1995; the entirely forgetable Shinji Nakano; and Christophe Bouchet, a man confirmed as an F1 driver who never got the chance to start a grand prix. They’re names you’d forgotten, careers you thought had ended but continue in the sportscar world. Add to that list a pair of grand prix winners, a Champ Car title-winner turned F1 flop and BBC Radio 5Live’s diminutive driver-cum-commentator and you’ve got a pretty interesting list of former F1 men on the entry list for this year’s enduro classic, and here we’re naming the whole bunch. The #7 Peugeot – probably the favourite to claim outright victory – is made up entirely of former F1 drivers, so what better place to start than with the French marque’s entry. Alright, they’re weren’t particularly successful F1 drivers, but they were grand prix driver none the less. Two-time F1 podium finisher Alex Wurz is effectively leader of the three man squad, the cheery Austrian combining his sportscar commitments with an increasingly prominent role at the FIA (he’ll be president one day and you heard it on Badger first). Alex is joined by former Minardi and Williams man Marc Gene and one-time Super Aguri racer Anthony Davidson in the #7 machine. Nothing less than the win will do for these boys. In the #8 Peugeot we have another ex-grand prix driver Stephane Sarazzin. Don’t remember the lad? We wouldn’t blame you: he started just one race, in a Minardi, at the Brazilian Grand Prix of 1999. Then seen as an F1 racer of the future, Sarazzin was subbing for the injured Luca Badoer at Interlagos, and actually qualified rather well, taking 17th on the grid and thus out-doing his team-mate – which, funnily enough, was the aforementioned Gene. However Sarazzin would exit his one and only race in spectacular fashion – see the video below for proof. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKkwT_4TMVg Spinning Steph is joined by Franck Montagny, who ran seven races for Super Aguri in 2006 after they’d fired the slow-and-dangerous Yuji Ide but before they’d hired the just-plain-slow Sakon Yamamoto. Franck was better than both but, unfortunately, he isn’t Japanese. A talented all-rounder, he has raced Champ Cars, Indycar, Superleague and sportscars since his brief F1 stint. Former F3000 front-runner Nicolas Minassian completes the line-up There are two more ex-F1 drivers in the #9 Peugeot, with Le Mans native Sebastien Bourdais and Pedro Lamy – who had stints with Team Lotus and Minardi in the mid-nineties – completing the French marque’s factory effort. On to the Audi team, who have just one former F1 man in their ranks: Scotsman Allan McNish. Nishy is a two-time Le Mans winner, having triumphed aboard a Porsche in 1998 and then in an Audi ten years later, and will likely be in the running again this year. The fact he shares his #3 machine with eight-time Le Mans winner and all-round endurance racing god Tom Kristensen should help. We’ve a pair of Frenchmen to tell you about now. First up is Olivier Panis, who (effectively) leads the #10 Oreca car’s line-up. The 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner making his fourth appearance at Le Circuit de Sarthe in 2011 and will look to better his best finish of fifth, achieved in 2009. Jean-Christophe Bullion meanwhile will drive the #13 Rebellion Racing entry. The Frenchman drove the majority of the 1995 season for Sauber, scoring a best finish of fifth in Germany, before handing his seat back to Karl Wendlinger, whose place he had taken following the Austrian’s severe injuries at the previous year’s Monaco Grand Prix. Bullion never returned to F1. He’s not quite French, but Olivier Beretta is near enough that we’ve lumped him in with Panis and Bullion. In fact Olivier was the third (and to date last) Monaco-born F1 driver, contesting the first ten races of the 1994 campaign for French squad Larrousse before getting le boot. Veteran Jan Lammers meanwhile will participate in the #5 Hope Racing entry. Competing in F1 mainly between 1979 and 1982, the Dutchman holds the record for the longest gap between starting two grand prix, having been absent from the sport for a full decade before contesting the final two races of the 1992 campaign for the ailing March team. Ultimately he never scored a point and failed to qualify on 18 occasions. Still, there’s always Hope (get it?) Christian Klien is the most recent F1 departee contesting Le Mans this year, having raced sporadically for Hispania last season and now competing for Aston Martin at the Circuit de la Sarthe. The 28-year-old Austrian will be behind the wheel of the British marque’s #007 machine, teamed with Brit Darren Turner and Germany’s Stefan Mucke. Thiago Monteiro is one of the men set to pilot the #15 OAK LMP1 machine. Monteiro drove for Jordan in 2005, landing a podium at the infamous U.S Grand Prix that year, and stayed on as the team became Midland in ’06. He has since raced in the World Touring Car Championship, part-owns the Ocean GP2 team and oversees the career of young countryman Antonio Felix ad Costa. The #49 OAK LMP2 entry meanwhile counts former Prost and Minardi rent-a-driver Shinji Nakano among its pilots. And here’s one for you geeks: Christophe Bouchet, one of the drivers set to run in the #33 Level Five Motorsport entry, never started a grand prix, But, he was named at French minnows Larrouse for the ’95 campaign, only for the team to fold before he’d had a chance to even qualify. You have been hit with the stick of knowledge. The most successful F1 driver in the field is Giancarlo Fisichella, three times a race winner for Jordan and Renault. The Italian will compete in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, the favourite to win the GT class. Victory at last month’s 1000km of Spa cemented that tag, and Fisi’s pursuit of victory is aided no end by another F1 driver – and GT specialist – in the shape of Gianmaria Bruni. The Italian drove for Minardi during the 2004 campaign, taking a best result of 14th at the Malaysian, European and Hungarian Grand Prix. His post-F1 record is far better: three times a GP2 race winner between 2005 and 2006, he has since finished as runner-up in the 2007 FIA World GT championship and won the GT class at Le Mans in 2008. Finally we’ve got Jan Magnussen, who also competes in the GT class. The Dane ran one race for McLaren in 1995 before landing a full-time ride with Stewart Grand Prix in 1997. His time there was no happy however, and he was given the boot mid-way through 1998 – the same weekend he scored his maiden F1 points. Jan will drive the #74 Corvette at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Reasons to like… Le Mans A Guide to life at Le Mans BadgerGP.com is not affiliated with Formula 1, Formula One Management (FOM), Formula One Administration (FOA), or any other subsidiary associated with the official Formula One governing organisations or their shareholders. Efforts have been made to acknowledge credits wherever necessary, however, if you are the copyright holder and believe your material has been used unfairly, please contact us

Kralingse Zoom metro station Kralingse Zoom is a subway station on lines A, B, and C of the Rotterdam Metro, in the Kralingen neighbourhood of eastern Rotterdam. The station is located just west of the A16 motorway on the east side of Kralingse Zoom, the road it is named after. At Kralingse Zoom station, transfer is available to several bus lines, as well as to the ParkShuttle, a people mover to a nearby business district. Kralingse Zoom is an above-ground station and is located just to the east of the metro tunnel in which the trains cross the city center. The station has two centre platforms, each with two tracks running alongside them. For most of the day, only the inner two tracks are used. Kralingse Zoom is the metro stop to get to the Erasmus University and to the University of Applied Sciences (Economic Studies). References External links www.eur.nl www.hr.nl Category:Rotterdam Metro

Javier Hernández Carrera Javier "Javi" Hernández Carrera (born 2 May 1998) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Real Madrid Castilla as either a central defender or a left back. Club career Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Andalusia, Hernández joined Real Madrid's youth setup in 2013, from Sevilla FC. On 17 July 2017, after finishing his formation, he was loaned to Segunda División B side CD El Ejido, for one year. Hernández made his senior debut on 27 August 2017, starting and scoring his team's first in a 3–3 home draw against FC Cartagena. He finished the campaign as an undisputed starter, contributing with two goals in 33 matches. On 13 July 2018, Hernández was loaned to Real Oviedo Vetusta also in the third division, until the end of the season. He made his first-team debut on 11 September, starting in a 0–1 away loss against RCD Mallorca for the season's Copa del Rey. Hernández scored his first professional goal on 7 January 2019, netting the opener in a 3–2 away win against CD Numancia for the Segunda División championship. References External links Real Madrid profile Category:1998 births Category:Living people Category:Sportspeople from Jerez de la Frontera Category:Spanish footballers Category:Andalusian footballers Category:Association football defenders Category:Segunda División players Category:Segunda División B players Category:Real Madrid Castilla footballers Category:Real Oviedo Vetusta players Category:Real Oviedo players

About the Program Faculty (including research faculty) participating in the program receive 40 percent salary support from the VPR Office and are released from all teaching obligations during the term of the appointment. Departments/Schools retain the released salary to provide resources to cover the Fellow’s teaching load during the term of the appointment. Appointments are for one year with the possibility of renewal for a second year pending Department/School approval. Areas of Appointment For the 2015–2016 academic year (beginning Fall 2015), there are four possible Fellow appointment areas: How to Apply Faculty (including research faculty) wishing to be considered should submit a one-to-two-page letter of interest to the Dave Reed by February 19, 2015. Letters should specify one of the four possible areas of appointment, particular project ideas (actual assignments will be developed through discussion with VPR and appropriate administrative units), relevance of the Fellow appointment to the individual’s career goals, and any other relevant information. Relevant Department Chair or School Dean letters of support should also be attached. How to Reapply For Faculty Fellows considering a second year Fellowship, a short [2-3 page] description of a specific project idea that would both deepen the value of the experience to the Fellow and address an institutional issue identified during the first Fellowship year should be submitted by the same deadline date for first-year Fellowship applicants. Project ideas can be developed in cooperation with relevant administrative units. This application should be accompanied by a letter of support from the relevant Chair or School Dean. Second year Fellowships will be awarded based on the availability of funds and the project idea submitted. One or two appointments will be offered by March 16, 2015, with an anticipated Fall 2015 start date.

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Diet is believed to be the single most important contributor to colonic carcinogenesis ([Tomatis *et al*, 1990](#bib25){ref-type="other"}). Experimental data have shown that saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have tumour-enhancing properties in the colon ([Reddy and Maeura, 1984](#bib18){ref-type="other"}; [Zhao *et al*, 1991](#bib28){ref-type="other"}, [Woutersen *et al*, 1999](#bib26){ref-type="other"}). Epidemiological data suggest that increased consumption of all meat or red meat, which contains high levels of SFAs, is strongly associated with colorectal cancer ([Giovannucci and Goldin, 1997](#bib10){ref-type="other"}; [Sandhu *et al*, 2001](#bib19){ref-type="other"}), but there is only limited evidence on the role of dietary n-6 PUFAs ([Zock and Katan, 1998](#bib29){ref-type="other"}; [Flood *et al*, 2003](#bib9){ref-type="other"}). The putative mechanism through which dietary n-6 PUFAs may enhance colonic carcinogenesis is the increased formation of prostaglandins, with the rate-limiting and committal step being mediated by the cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 enzyme ([Dubois *et al*, 1998](#bib7){ref-type="other"}). Prostaglandins possess a wide spectrum of procarcinogenic properties ([Handler *et al*, 1990](#bib11){ref-type="other"}; [Cowlen and Eling, 1993](#bib5){ref-type="other"}; [Coffey *et al*, 1997](#bib4){ref-type="other"}; [Dermott *et al*, 1999](#bib6){ref-type="other"}). We therefore hypothesised that functional *COX-2* gene polymorphisms may impact on the conversion of n-6 PUFAs into prostaglandins, with consequent change in level of cancer risk. A single nucleotide polymorphism (−*765G*\>*C)* in the promoter region of the *COX-2* gene was recently described ([Papafili *et al*, 2002](#bib16){ref-type="other"}). We therefore investigated whether this *COX-2* gene polymorphism was related to colorectal cancer risk within a population-based, prospective cohort of middle-aged and older Chinese men and women in Singapore. MATERIALS AND METHODS ===================== Study subjects -------------- The study design and subject recruitment of the Singapore Chinese Health Study have been described ([Hankin *et al*, 2001](#bib12){ref-type="other"}). Briefly, 63 257 Chinese women and men aged 45--74 years belonging to the Hokkien or Cantonese dialect group were enrolled in the study between April 1993 and December 1998. At recruitment, information on lifestyle factors and usual diet over the last year was obtained through in-person interviews. The dietary component of the questionnaire was validated through a series of 24-h food recalls ([Hankin *et al*, 2001](#bib12){ref-type="other"}). Respondents were asked to choose from predefined frequency and portion size categories for each of the 165 listed food/beverage items that he/she consumed during the past 12 months. We used the Singapore Food Composition Table to estimate average daily intake of 96 nutrient and non-nutrient compounds for each study subject ([Hankin *et al*, 2001](#bib12){ref-type="other"}). The Institutional Review Boards at the University of Southern California and the National University of Singapore had approved this study. We identified incident colorectal cancer cases through the population-based cancer registry in Singapore ([Chia *et al*, 2000](#bib3){ref-type="other"}). As of 30 April 2002, 592 colorectal cancer cases had occurred among cohort participants. All cases (including one carcinoid tumour and two *in situ* cancers) were histologically confirmed except three (ascertained by death records and clinical evidence). Details of the biospecimen collection, processing and storage procedures have been described ([Koh *et al*, 2003](#bib14){ref-type="other"}). Briefly, we attempted to collect blood and single-void urine specimens from a random 3% sample of cohort enrollees. If the subject refused to donate blood, he/she was asked to donate buccal cells. We collected blood/buccal cell samples from 1194 subjects during April 1994--July 1999. Of these subjects, 13 developed colorectal cancer by 30 April 2002, and the remaining 1181 subjects constituted the referent group for the present study. We also attempted to collect blood/buccal cell and urine samples from all incident colorectal cancer cases. Of the 592 colorectal cancer cases, 312 (53%) donated blood/buccal cell samples. COX-2 genotyping ---------------- Genomic DNA was extracted from buffy coats (228 cases and 895 controls) and buccal cell samples (84 cases and 286 controls) using a QIAamp 96 DNA Blood Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA, USA). A TaqMan assay for the −*765G*\>*C COX-2* polymorphism was developed using a TaqMan PCR Core Reagent kit (Applied Biosystems Inc., Foster City, CA, USA). The oligonucleotide primers for amplification of the polymorphic region of *COX-2* were GC093 for (5′-CATTAACTATTTACAGGGTAACTGCTTAGG-3′) and GC093rev (5′-CCCCCTCCTTGTTTCTTGGA-3′). In addition, the fluorogenic oligonucleotide probes (TaqMan MGB Probes; ABI) used to detect each of the alleles were GC093F (5′-CTTTCCCGCCTCTCT-3′) labelled with 6-FAM to detect the *G* allele and GC093V (5′-CTTTCCCCCCTCTCT-3′) labelled with VIC to detect the *C* allele. Experimental samples were compared to 12 controls to identify the three genotypes at each locus (*GG, GC, CC*). All samples were processed without knowledge of their case/control status. Any samples that were outside the parameters defined by the controls were identified as noninformative and were retested. Four controls and two cases had noninformative *COX-2* genotypes and were excluded from the present analysis. Statistical analysis -------------------- Data were analysed by standard methods for unmatched case--control studies ([Breslow and Day, 1980](#bib1){ref-type="other"}). Unconditional logistic regression models were used to examine the associations between *COX-2* genotypes and risk of colorectal cancer, and their possible modification by n-6 PUFA intake. The associations were measured by odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and *P*-values (two-sided). Limited by the very low frequency of the *CC* genotype (0.003), the *GC* and *CC* genotypes were combined when compared with the *GG* genotype. All ORs were adjusted for age (year) at recruitment, year of recruitment, gender, dialect group (Cantonese, Hokkien), level of education (no formal schooling, primary school, secondary school and higher), body mass index (\<20, 20 to \<24, 24 to \<28, 28+ kg m^−2^), smoking status (never, exsmoker, current smoker), frequency of alcohol consumption (nondrinker, monthly drinker, weekly drinker, daily drinker), and familial history of colorectal cancer (yes, no). RESULTS ======= Of the 592 incident colorectal cancer cases, 282 were excluded from the present analysis due to unavailable blood/buccal cell samples (*n*=280) or noninformative *COX-2* genotype (*n*=2). Cases included in the present study (*n*=310) were comparable to those excluded in terms of age (mean: 65.4 *vs* 66.1 years), but slightly different in gender (57 *vs* 49% male), dialect group (45 *vs* 37% Cantonese) and level of education (69 *vs* 60% attaining primary school education or higher). In total, 180 (58%) cases had colon cancer, and the remaining cases had either rectal or rectosigmoid cancers. [Table 1](#tbl1){ref-type="table"} Table 1Selected characteristics of colorectal cancer cases and controls, the Singapore Chinese Health Study**CharacteristicsControls (*n*=1177)Cases (*n*=310)*P*-value^a^** Mean age±s.d.^b^ (years)56.5±8.161.3±7.5\<0.001     Number (%) *Sex*    Males509 (43.2)178 (57.4)\<0.001 Females668 (56.8)132 (42.6)     *Dialect group*    Cantonese571 (48.5)138 (44.5)0.23 Hokkien606 (51.5)172 (55.5)     *Level of education*    No formal schooling318 (27.0)95 (30.6)0.01 Primary school504 (42.8)151 (48.7)  Secondary school288 (24.5)54 (17.4)  A level/university67 (5.7)10 (3.2)     *Body mass index* (*kg* *m*^−*2*^)    ⩽20187 (15.9)46 (14.8)0.04 20−\<24659 (56.0)151 (48.7)  24−\<28267 (22.7)92 (29.7)  28+64 (5.4)21 (6.8)     *Cigarette smoking*    Never smokers853 (72.5)184 (59.4)\<0.001 Former smokers131 (11.1)52 (16.8)  Current smokers193 (16.4)74 (23.9)     *Frequency of alcohol consumption*    Nondrinkers964 (81.9)243 (78.4)0.14 Monthly85 (7.2)21 (6.8)  Weekly93 (7.9)29 (9.4)  Daily35 (3.0)17 (5.5)     *Familial history of colorectal cancer*    No1149 (97.6)297 (95.8)0.12 Yes^c^28 (2.4)13 (4.2)     *Median (5th percentile, 95th percentile)*Total calories (kcal day^−1^)1483.5 (829.9, 2477.5)1494.0 (819.3, 2589.2)0.54Total fat (g day^−1^)40.5 (19.6, 81.7)39.8 (19.0, 77.1)0.66SFAs (g day^−1^)14.0 (5.9, 30.0)13.7 (5.8, 29.2)0.62MUFAs (g day^−1^)13.6 (6.3, 28.0)13.4 (6.1, 26.5)0.88PUFAs (g day^−1^)8.1 (3.3, 18.6)7.9 (3.4, 16.5)0.74N-3 PUFAs (g day^−1^)0.8 (0.4, 1.7)0.8 (0.4, 1.7)0.94N-6 PUFAs (g day^−1^)7.2 (2.9, 16.8)7.0 (3.0, 14.9)0.75Fiber (g day^−1^)12.2 (5.0, 23.1)11.9 (4.3, 22.5)0.83Calcium (mg day^−1^)373.5 (156.7, 853.5)363.4 (158.8, 773.6)0.56Folate (*μ*g day^−1^)146.0 (64.1, 277.7)147.1 (57.9, 286.9)0.65[^1][^2][^3] shows the distributions of selected characteristics of colorectal cases and controls. Cases were older, less educated, more obese and more likely to smoke cigarettes than controls. Intakes of total calories, total fat, SFAs, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), PUFAs, n-3 PUFAs, n-6 PUFAs, fibre, calcium or folate were comparable between cases and controls. Among control subjects, the *G* and *C* allele frequencies of the *COX-2* genotype were 0.952 and 0.048, respectively, and the *GG*, *GC* and *CC* genotype frequencies were 0.907, 0.090 and 0.003, respectively. These genotypic distributions were in Hardy--Weinberg equilibrium (*P*=0.43). Overall, there was no association between colorectal cancer risk and *COX-2* −*765G*\>*C* genotype or n-6 PUFA intake ([Table 2](#tbl2){ref-type="table"} Table 2*COX-2* −*765G*\>*C* genotype and dietary intake of n-6 PUFAs in relation to risk of colorectal cancer, the Singapore Chinese Health Study  **Colorectal cancerColon cancerRectal cancer** **Controls**align=\"center\"**CasesOR (95% CI)^a^CasesOR (95% CI)^a^CasesOR (95% CI)^a^***COX-2 genotype*        GG10672731.001551.001181.00 GC/CC110371.18 (0.77--1.79)251.50 (0.92--2.47)120.87 (0.45--1.66)        *Dietary n-6 PUFAs in quartile*^b^        1st (low)260701.00421.00281.00 2nd297831.08 (0.72--1.60)481.15 (0.70--1.87)350.97 (0.55--1.71) 3rd312721.00 (0.65--1.53)451.09 (0.64--1.83)270.82 (0.44--1.54) 4th (high)308851.04 (0.63--1.70)451.04 (0.56--1.92)400.99 (0.49--1.99)[^4][^5]). When subjects were stratified into high (above median) *vs* low (below median) intake levels of n-6 PUFAs, a borderline statistically significant association between genotype and risk was observed among high consumers of n-6 PUFAs (OR=1.65, 95% CI=0.95--2.87), which was mainly confined to colon cancer (OR=2.38, 95% CI=1.23--4.59) ([Table 3](#tbl3){ref-type="table"} Table 3*COX-2* −*765G*\>*C* genotype in relation to risk of colorectal cancer stratified by level of dietary n-6 PUFAs, the Singapore Chinese Health Study  **Colorectal cancerColon cancerRectal cancer** **ControlsCasesOR (95% CI)^a^CasesOR (95% CI)^a^CasesOR (95% CI)^a^***Low dietary n-6 PUFAs*^b^        GG5081391.00811.00581.00 GC/CC49140.82 (0.42--1.59)90.95 (0.43--2.09)50.68 (0.25--1.89)        *High dietary n-6 PUFAs*^b^        GG5591341.00741.00601.00 GC/CC61231.65 (0.95--2.87)162.38 (1.23--4.59)71.09 (0.46--2.59)[^6][^7]). There was no association between genotype and rectal cancer risk regardless of dietary n-6 PUFA intake levels. There was indication of an interaction effect between *COX-2* genotype and dietary n-6 PUFAs in colon cancer (*P*=0.07), which was absent in rectal cancer (*P*=0.51). The corresponding *P*-value for the gene--diet interaction effect in colorectal cancer combined was 0.10. DISCUSSION ========== In this cohort of Singapore Chinese, we reported a statistically significant effect of the *COX-2* −*765G*\>*C* gene polymorphism on colon cancer risk among subjects with high intake of dietary n-6 PUFAs. Our data support the hypothesis that COX-2 exerts its effects on colon carcinogenesis through its influence on prostaglandin synthesis from n-6 PUFAs. The current study has several strengths. (1) Our prospective study design precludes the possibility of recall bias. Furthermore, reliable dietary nutrient estimates including n-6 PUFAs were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. (2) The nationwide cancer registry has been in place in Singapore since 1968 ([Parkin *et al*, 2002](#bib17){ref-type="other"}), and migration out of Singapore has been negligible since inception of the study. This relatively complete ascertainment of cancer and death outcomes eliminates a concern for potential selection bias. (3) Study subjects originated from two contiguous regions in Southern China, resulting in a genetically homogeneous study population that facilitated the investigation of gene--disease associations. (4) Exposure information on other known/suspected risk factors for colorectal cancer was collected and accounted for in all analyses of gene--diet--cancer risk associations. The chief limitation of our study is the lack of information on use of COX-2 inhibitors, which may bias the effect of *COX-2* genotype on risk. However, if use of COX-2 inhibitors were to exert a confounding effect on the observed COX-2 genotype/colon cancer association, our inability to control for such confounding is likely to lead to an underestimation, rather than an overestimation, of the risk associated with the putative high-activity genotype. This is because use of COX-2 inhibitors is likely to be more common among subjects with more severe symptoms of inflammation, possibly due to the possession of the high activity *COX-2* genotype. Another weakness of the present study is our relatively small number of cancer cases, which may result in less precise estimation of risk factor--disease associations. The major n-6 PUFA in most diet is linoleic acid, the precursor of arachidonic acid. The latter is consequently converted to various prostaglandins, and COX is the crucial and rate-limiting enzyme for this conversion. There is compelling evidence that prostaglandins play important roles in colorectal carcinogenesis by enhancing cell proliferation and growth, promoting angiogenesis and inhibiting apoptosis ([Cao and Prescott, 2002](#bib2){ref-type="other"}; [Stoehlmacher and Lenz, 2003](#bib23){ref-type="other"}). *COX-2* gene expression and its mRNA and protein levels were markedly elevated in most human colorectal cancers relative to adjacent normal mucosa ([Kargman *et al*, 1995](#bib13){ref-type="other"}; [Sano *et al*, 1995](#bib20){ref-type="other"}). It is hypothesised that the COX-2-associated effect on colorectal carcinogenesis is due to the increased production of prostaglandins from dietary n-6 PUFAs ([Eberhart and Dubois, 1995](#bib8){ref-type="other"}). In support of this hypothesis, high dietary n-6 PUFAs has been shown to promote colon tumorigenesis by upregulating COX-2 expression in animal studies ([Singh *et al*, 1997](#bib22){ref-type="other"}). The human *COX-2* gene is mapped to chromosome 1q25.2--q25.3 and spans about 8.3 kb pairs with 10 exons ([Kosaka *et al*, 1994](#bib15){ref-type="other"}). Previous studies on the 5′ flanking region of the human *COX-2* gene show that this region contains a canonical TATA box as well as several putative factor elements that are critical in inducing *COX-2* gene transcription, such as Sp1, NF-*κ*B, GRE (glucocorticoid) and IRE (insulin) elements ([Tazawa *et al*, 1994](#bib24){ref-type="other"}; [Yang *et al*, 1997](#bib27){ref-type="other"}). The region from nucleotide −827 to −454 has been described as a negative region since deletion of this region led to increased luciferase activity in reporter expression studies. The −*765G*\>*C* mutation lies within this region, and is also within one of the five putative Sp1 elements ([Yang *et al*, 1997](#bib27){ref-type="other"}). At present, data on the functionality of the −*765G*\>*C* polymorphism and the direction/magnitude of change in protein expression/activity between the *C* and *G* alleles are limited and mixed ([Papafili *et al*, 2002](#bib16){ref-type="other"}; [Schneider *et al*, 2003](#bib21){ref-type="other"}). In summary, the present study provides the first epidemiological evidence for a possible cause-and-effect connection between the production of prostaglandins from n-6 PUFAs through the enzymatic activity of COX-2, and increased risk of tumour development in the colon. Our novel findings require confirmation in larger studies with varying levels of substrate intake and genotype frequency. We thank Ms Siew-Hong Low of the National University of Singapore for supervising the field work of the Singapore Chinese Health Study, and Ms Kazuko Arakawa of the University of Southern California for the development and management of the cohort study database. The Singapore Chinese Health Study has been supported by Grants R01 CA55069, R35 CA53890 and R01 CA80205 from the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD. [^1]: Two-sided *P*-values derived from *t*-test (for age), *χ*^2^ test (for categorical variables) or Wilcoxon rank sum test (for nutrient intakes). [^2]: Mean age at recruitment into the cohort, s.d.=standard deviation. [^3]: Any of first-degree relatives had colorectal cancer. [^4]: ORs were adjusted for age at recruitment, year of recruitment, gender, dialect group, level of education, body mass index, smoking status, frequency of alcohol consumption, and familial history of colorectal cancer; CI=confidence interval. [^5]: In addition to all variables listed above, OR were adjusted for total energy intake. [^6]: ORs were adjusted for age at recruitment, year of recruitment, gender, dialect group, level of education, body mass index, smoking status, frequency of alcohol consumption, and familial history of colorectal cancer; CI=confidence interval. [^7]: Defined as less than or equal to the median ('low') and greater than the median ('high') intake level (6.96 g day^−1^) of dietary n-6 PUFAs among all cohort members.

1. Introduction {#sec1} =============== Stroke is the second most common cause of death in developed countries and thus is a major health problem \[[@B1]\]. According to the 2009 Annual Public Health Report by the Korean National Statistical Office, cerebrovascular disease, or stroke, was the second-leading cause of disease-related deaths in Korea, after cancer \[[@B2]\]. In Korea, many stroke patients receive traditional medical care because the country has its own system of traditional alternative medicine called Traditional korean medicine (TKM), the role of which has been emphasized in stroke management \[[@B3]\]. The Korean medical diagnosis system has unique characteristics similar to the traditional Chinese medical diagnosis system. One such feature is pattern identification (PI), which is based on information obtained from four diagnostic processes including inspection, listening and smelling, inquiry, and palpation \[[@B4]\]. PI is a diagnostic system that entails a comprehensive analysis of symptoms and signs, with implications for determining the cause, nature, and location of the illness, the patient\'s physical condition, and the patient\'s treatment \[[@B3], [@B5]\]. The inspection process involves the examination of the patient\'s symptoms or disease by observing his or her shape, expression, and tongue \[[@B6]\], among others. Observation of the tongue, also known as tongue diagnosis, is an important procedure in diagnosis by inspection in TKM. The status of the tongue is an important indicator in the diagnosis of one\'s condition, including the physiological and clinicopathological changes of internal organs in the body \[[@B7]\]. A number of studies have shown that tongue diagnosis plays an important role in clinical prognosis and treatment \[[@B8]--[@B15]\], specifically in patients with a history of stroke. However, the clinical competence of tongue diagnosis was determined by the experience and knowledge of the clinicians who used tongue diagnosis. Environmental factors, such as differences between light sources and levels of brightness also had significant influences on clinicians and their diagnostic decisions using the tongue. Unfortunately, much of the experiences in traditional tongue diagnosis have not been verified scientifically or quantitatively. Therefore, it is necessary to build an objective diagnostic standard for tongue diagnosis \[[@B7]\]. We investigated the reliability of TKM tongue diagnosis in stroke patients by evaluating interobserver reliability regarding tongue indicators as achieved by TKM practitioners. 2. Methods {#sec2} ========== 2.1. Study Subjects {#sec2.1} ------------------- The data for this analysis were collected as part of the project named the Fundamental Study for the Standardization and Objectification of Pattern Identification in TKM for Stroke (SOPI-Stroke). Stroke patients admitted to the following oriental medical university hospitals, Kyung Hee Oriental Medical Center (Seoul), Kyung Hee East-West Neo Medical Center (Seoul), Dong Guk International Hospital (Kyunggi-do), Kyung Won Oriental Medical Hospital (Incheon), Dae Jeon Oriental Medical Hospital (Daejeon), Dong Sin Oriental Medical Hospital (Gwangju), Won Kwang Oriental Medical Hospital (Jeollabuk-do), Dae Gu Hanny University Medical Center (Daegu), and Sang Ji Oriental Medical Hospital (Gangwon-do), participated in this study between February 2010 and December 2010 ([Figure 1](#fig1){ref-type="fig"}). All patients provided written informed consent under procedures approved by institutional review boards (IRB). Eligibility inclusion criteria were that participants had to be enrolled within 30 days of the onset of their symptoms as confirmed by imaging diagnosis, such as computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Exclusion criteria were traumatic stroke patients, such as those with subarachnoid, subdural, or epidural hemorrhage. 2.2. Data Processing and Analysis {#sec2.2} --------------------------------- All patients were seen by two experts from the same department in each site, who were well trained in standard operation procedures (SOPs) \[Appendix\] and were subjected to an examination of the status of the tongue, tongue color (pale, red, and bluish purple), fur color (white fur, yellow fur), fur quality (thick fur, thin fur, moist fur, and dry fur), and special tongue appearance (teeth marked, enlarged, mirror, and spotted). The examination parameters were extracted from parts of a case report form (CRF) for the standardization of stroke diagnosis that had been developed by an expert committee organized by the Korean Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM). These assessments were given individually without discussions among the clinicians. Descriptions of the grading severity for each variable were scored as the following: 1 = very much so, 2 = Much so, and 3 = Not so much. In particular, the clinicians had to measure the stroke PI of each patient following the fire-heat pattern, the phlegm-dampness pattern, the blood stasis pattern, the qi deficiency pattern, and the Yin deficiency pattern, as suggested by the KIOM \[[@B3], [@B16]--[@B18]\]. Interobserver reliability was measured in three ways, using simple percentage agreements, Cohen\'s kappa coefficient and Gwet\'s AC~1~ statistic, as well as via the corresponding confidence intervals (CI). Kappa, the preferred measure of rater reliability for nominal data, measures the reliability of agreement between two or more independent raters using a rating scheme with mutually exclusive categories. In general, definitive kappa interpretations have been proposed \[[@B19]--[@B24]\]. For most purposes, however, values ≤0.40 represent poor agreement, values between 0.40 and 0.75 represent moderate to good agreement, and values ≥0.75 indicate excellent agreement \[[@B24]\]. The AC~1~ statistic is not vulnerable to the well-known paradoxes that make Kappa appear ineffective \[[@B25]--[@B27]\]. First, interobserver reliability for the tongue indicator among all subjects was calculated via simple percentage agreements, Cohen\'s kappa coefficient, and Gwet\'s AC~1~ statistic. Later, interobserver reliability regarding PI with same opinions between the raters was calculated in the same way. The blood stasis pattern was omitted because the sample size was too small (*n* = 1). The data were statistically analyzed with SAS software, version 9.1.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). 2.3. Ethical Approval {#sec2.3} --------------------- This study was approved by institutional review board of the KIOM and by each of the oriental medical university hospitals. 3. Results {#sec3} ========== A total of 658 stroke patients were enrolled in the study. Thirty patients were excluded from analysis due to PI omitted by any one of 2 TKM clinicians. The interobserver reliability results regarding tongue indicators for all subjects (*n* = 628) are shown in [Table 1](#tab1){ref-type="table"}. The kappa measure of agreement between the two experts was generally moderate to good for the tongue indicators, ranging from 0.42 to 0.69, except for moist fur (*κ* = 0.29) and spotted (*κ* = 0.37). Moreover, the AC~1~ measure of agreement between the two experts was generally high for the tongue indicators, ranging from "moderate" (AC~1~ = 0.43) to "excellent" (AC~1~ = 0.97). Agreement, as assessed by the kappa values, was considerably lower than the AC~1~ values in most cases. The results of interobserver reliability for subjects of PI with the same opinion between the raters are shown in [Table 2](#tab2){ref-type="table"}. A total of 451 stroke patients received PI with the following same resulting opinions by the raters: Fire-Heat Pattern (*n* = 147), Phlegm-Dampness Pattern (*n* = 158), Yin Deficiency Pattern (*n* = 80), and Qi Deficiency Pattern (*n* = 66). The blood stasis pattern was excluded because the sample size was too small (*n* = 1). The kappa measure of agreement for the subjects of PI was generally moderate to good for the tongue indicators, ranging from 0.40 to 0.72, except for moist fur (*κ* = 0.31). Moreover, the AC~1~ measure of agreement between the two experts was generally high for the tongue indicators, ranging from "moderate" (AC~1~ = 0.5) to "excellent" (AC~1~ = 0.98) ([Table 2](#tab2){ref-type="table"}). 4. Discussion {#sec4} ============= Inspection of the tongue in TKM diagnosis, as well as in western medicine \[[@B28]\], is one of the most important approaches for obtaining significant evidence in diagnosing the patient\'s health conditions \[[@B7]\]. It is used to observe the color, coating, and body of the tongue, among other features, in rendering a disease diagnosis. Also, as tongue diagnosis has played a prominent role in the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of stroke patients, it has attracted an increasing amount of attention in oriental medicine \[[@B8]--[@B15]\]. Park et al. \[[@B12]\] analyzed markers that classified tongue body color, fur, fur quality, dryness, and shape to standardize tongue diagnosis and PI for stroke patients. Choi et al. \[[@B14]\], to assess the usefulness of tongue diagnosis in evaluating PI, observed the coating of the tongue and compared it with PI in acute stroke stage patients within 72 hours from the onset of stroke. In his study, a red tongue was significantly related to the fire-heat pattern and the yin deficiency pattern, while a faint white tongue was related to the phlegm-dampness pattern. Thin fur was related to the Wind and fire-heat pattern, and thick fur was related to the phlegm-dampness and blood stasis patterns. Another study \[[@B15]\] by the same author found that a stroke patient\'s motor recovery might be related to tongue diagnosis. In Kim et al.\'s recent study \[[@B3]\], the authors attempted to standardize the oriental medical PI for stroke patients using logistic regressions. An interesting finding was that all of the patterns in their study basically included tongue and pulse diagnoses in their final equations. This result shows that TKM clinicians tongue and pulse diagnosis are seriously considered in their patient management. However, traditional tongue diagnosis does have its inevitable limitations because the clinical skill involved in tongue diagnosis depends on the clinician\'s experience and knowledge as well as on environmental factors that can exert a significant influence on the diagnostic results. Therefore, it is necessary to build an objective diagnostic standard for tongue diagnosis. To date, only a few studies have reached wide consensus among TKM clinicians, while many studies have investigated agreement measures for western medical diagnosis \[[@B29]\]. An evaluation of interobserver reliability is important when one is interested in the "true" differences among observers that often report different values for the same quantity. In other words, interobserver reliability, rather than the total observer reliability, should be used to explore the causes of the disagreements among observers. The total observer reliability masks these sources of disagreement because it contains both interobserver reliability (true differences) and intraobserver reliability (random error among the observations) made by the same observer for the same subject \[[@B30]\]. Li et al. \[[@B32]\] used the kappa value to evaluate the consistency of tongue and pulse signs for 55 patients as observed by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinicians. Zhang et al. \[[@B33]\] analyzed the effect of training on improved agreement in TCM diagnosis among its practitioners based on a sample of 42 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Mist et al. \[[@B34]\], using interrater correlations and kappa values, assessed whether a training process that focused on a questionnaire-based diagnosis would improve agreement in traditional Chinese medicine TCM diagnosis. Finally, Kim et al. \[[@B35]\] examined the reliability of TCM tongue inspection by evaluating inter- and intrapractitioner agreement levels for specific tongue characteristics. The data for this analysis were collected as parts of a multicenter study of standardization of stroke diagnosis in Korea. In this study, the evaluation of interobserver reliability in tongue status in stroke patients, as achieved by TKM clinicians, as well as interobserver reliability in all subjects (or subjects of PI with same the opinions between the raters), was calculated as simple percentage agreements, kappa values and AC~1~ measures. When investigating agreement between observers, clinicians have long used kappa and other chance-adjusted measures. A commonly used scale used to interpret kappa derives from the work of Landis and Koch in 1977 \[[@B20]\]. However, the appropriateness of kappa as a measure of agreement has recently been debated \[[@B26], [@B27]\]. A relatively new statistic, the AC~1~, has been suggested by Gwet to adjust for chance in agreement studies \[[@B25], [@B31]\]. According to our results, interobserver agreement in tongue diagnosis between the raters was generally moderate to good. The AC~1~ measure of agreement between the two experts was generally moderate to good for the tongue indicators, ranging from 0.43 to 0.97. In particular, the AC~1~ measure of agreement was nearly perfect in mirror, spotted, and bluish purple tongue. These tongue indicators are certain signs of special tongue appearance. Mirror tongue means that the surface of tongue is smooth and shiny like a mirror, without fur. Spotted tongue means that there are purple spots on the whole tongue and bluish purple tongue means that the color of tongue body is bluish purple, or bluish purple spots appear on the surface of the tongue. It is thought that a description of these indicators is relatively objective, that agreement is very high. Whereas the AC~1~ of pale, thin fur, moist fur is lower than 0.5. The reason why the AC~1~ of these indicators is low is that perception of quality and color of tongue vary markedly from person to person. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the validity and reliability of tongue diagnosis through the development of detail-oriented criteria and enhanced training of clinicians. One limitation of our study is the fact that we did not analyze the impact of the each site participated in this study. All patients were allocated into two experts among the eighteen clinicians in each site. While the large number of clinicians who participated in the study increased the generalizability of the results, it is possible that the variety of experiences offered by these clinicians was another limitation to the study. All clinicians who had at least more than three years of clinical experience in the field took regular SOPs training twice a year, therefore we assumed all clinicians have equal ability to take information from the patients. But, in reality it is certain that this assumption is not true. We will consider the subject carefully in the future work. Furthermore, this study has a limitation in that the actual diagnosis process in TKM is carried out not only through tongue diagnosis but also through other three diagnostic processes. Further studies may be necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis considering all the four diagnostic processes. Tongue diagnosis is a very important diagnostic procedure in TKM, despite its inevitable limitations associated with clinician experience and knowledge. However, this study shows that interobserver reliability in tongue status in stroke patients between the raters was considerably high. This may help to alleviate the lack of objectivity and reproducibility in tongue diagnosis in TKM. We expect that future studies will help to further establish tongue diagnosis as a useful oriental medicine diagnostic tool in the clinical management of stroke patients. M. M. Ko, and J. A. Lee contributed equally to this work. This research was supported by a Grant from the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (K11131). {#fig1} ###### Agreement between raters for all subjects. Variables \% Agreement Kappa (*κ*) CI of *κ* AC~1~ CI of AC~1~ ---------------------------- -------------- ------------- -------------- ------- -------------- Tongue color:  Pale 71.38 0.42 (0.35, 0.49) 0.43 (0.36, 0.51)  Red 75.84 0.51 (0.44, 0.58) 0.52 (0.45, 0.59)  Bluish purple 91.99 0.42 (0.35, 0.49) 0.9 (0.87, 0.93) Fur color:  White fur 75.17 0.49 (0.42, 0.56) 0.51 (0.44, 0.59)  Yellow fur 85.29 0.69 (0.63, 0.75) 0.71 (0.66, 0.78) Fur quality:  Thick fur 81.15 0.60 (0.54, 0.67) 0.63 (0.57, 0.70)  Thin fur 74.61 0.49 (0.41, 0.56) 0.49 (0.42, 0.57)  Moist fur 70.27 0.29 (0.21, 0.37) 0.49 (0.42, 0.57)  Dry fur 80.5 0.48 (0.40, 0.56) 0.68 (0.63, 0.75) Special tongue appearance:  Teeth marked 87.68 0.46 (0.36, 0.56) 0.84 (0.80, 0.88)  Enlarged 89.63 0.51 (0.41, 0.61) 0.86 (0.83, 0.90)  Mirror 97.44 0.60 (0.42, 0.78) 0.97 (0.95, 0.99)  Spotted 96.96 0.37 (0.15, 0.59) 0.96 (0.95, 0.98) CI: confidence interval. ###### Agreement measures in PI with the same opinions between the raters. Variables \% Agreement Kappa (*κ*) CI of *κ* AC~1~ CI of AC~1~ ---------------------------- -------------- ------------- -------------- ------- -------------- Tongue color:  Pale 75.00 0.49 (0.41, 0.58) 0.51 (0.42, 0.59)  Red 76.67 0.53 (0.45, 0.61) 0.54 (0.46, 0.62)  bluish purple 94.09 0.57 (0.42, 0.72) 0.93 (0.90, 0.96) Fur color:  White fur 77.05 0.52 (0.44, 0.60) 0.56 (0.48, 0.64)  Yellow fur 86.37 0.71 (0.64, 0.78) 0.74 (0.68, 0.81) Fur quality:  Thick fur 83.25 0.65 (0.58, 0.73) 0.68 (0.61, 0.75)  Thin fur 75.18 0.50 (0.42, 0.58) 0.51 (0.42, 0.59)  Moist fur 70.53 0.31 (0.22, 0.40) 0.5 (0.41, 0.58)  Dry fur 82.46 0.52 (0.42, 0.61) 0.72 (0.66, 0.79) Special tongue appearance:  Teeth marked 89.06 0.53 (0.42, 0.64) 0.86 (0.82, 0.90)  Enlarged 90.67 0.57 (0.46, 0.69) 0.88 (0.84, 0.92)  Mirror 97.99 0.72 (0.54, 0.89) 0.98 (0.96, 0.99)  Spotted 96.88 0.40 (0.15, 0.65) 0.97 (0.95, 0.99) PI: pattern identification; CI: confidence interval. [^1]: Academic Editor: Wolfgang Weidenhammer

News Auburn Public Theater will welcome a pair of high-profile musicians within a week of each other. Performing first at the downtown theater will be John Waite at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30. On his 40th anniversary tour, the Lancaster, England-born rocker reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart with “Missing You” in 1984, and revisited the spot with supergroup Bad English in 1989 with the song “When I See You Smile.” Waite resumed his solo career in 1995, adding six albums since then to his millions-selling, Grammy-nominated catalogue. Singer-songwriter Jason Sinay will open the show. Tickets are $45-$50.