text
stringlengths 2
1.05M
| repo_name
stringlengths 5
101
| path
stringlengths 4
991
| language
stringclasses 3
values | license
stringclasses 5
values | size
int64 2
1.05M
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The choice of professional fitness instructors and gyms across the world for higher intensity workouts. See videos! Almost fully assembled! Be bouncing in minutes of opening the box. Just attach the easy-on legs and go. The 250 series comes with our strongest frame, providing a roomy safe exercise platform. Built extra tough for the rigors of group fitness and personal training, as seen in gyms everywhere. You get 30 of our premium (8mm) EnduroLast cords cycle-tested to 400 thousand bounces, 3× to 4× longer life than all competitive products. You gain unmatched reliability and an industry leading warranty.
Also includes our patented No-Tip arched leg design — letting you jump safely and with confidence. Frame is sealed and protected with a tough, durable 2-coat, striking black finish for lasting durability. These technologies combined to give our smoothest, most cushioned, exhilarating bounce that helps you feel buoyant and happy! The virtually silent bounce allows you to use this anytime, day or night. Maximum user weight rating of 250 pounds.
JumpSport is a small, USA, family-owned, 20-year-old business. Our founder, Mark Publicover, is the inventor of the trampoline safety enclosure that protects millions of bouncing kids around the world every day. JumpSport is the industry-leading innovator in trampolines. Feel good about buying the highest quality products available.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Imposing size, experienced backcourt make Seminoles a team to watch
Florida State’s chances of returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012 are bolstered by a standout backcourt and three shot-blocking centers — the smallest of whom is 7-feet tall.
Devon Bookert, a 6-3 junior, returns at point guard and has a career three-point percentage of 46.6, which currently ranks No. 1 in school history. He averaged 8.5 points last season.
“I’ve never seen him take a bad shot,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “He’s a pass-first point guard, and he isn’t very flashy. But his percentages prove he is pretty accurate.”
Bookert’s backcourt mate is 6-5 junior Aaron Thomas, an honorable mention All-ACC pick last season after leading FSU in scoring (14.5). He didn’t become a starter until February and averaged 18.2 points from that point forward.
Bojanovsky has other uses, of course. He finished fifth in the ACC with 1.9 blocks per game. He also averaged 5.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in 21 minutes.
Turpin averaged 5.4 points and was eighth in the ACC in blocks with 1.3 in 2012-2013. But Turpin, whose father Melvin played five years in the NBA as a 6-11 center, missed last season due to a leg injury and was granted a sixth year of eligibility.
Ojo, regarded as the strongest player in program history, averaged 2.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 1l.9 minutes last season. He started to emerge with some big games against Florida (10 points, six rebounds) and Michigan (eight points, six rebounds).
Hamilton said there might be some occasions when he uses two of his 7-footers simultaneously. But that’s only when he goes zone. Otherwise, Hamilton will rotate his centers.
That leaves two open spots in the starting lineup to go with Bookert, Thomas and (likely) Bojanovsky.
FSU graduated forward Okaro White, who led the team in rebounds (6.8) and averaged 13.6 points, and guard Ian Miller, who averaged 13.7 points.
How they are replaced might determine whether the Seminoles return to the NIT, where they made the semifinals last season, or make the much more desirable NCAA Tournament.
Montay Brandon, a 6-7 junior who averaged 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds last season, is a possibility. But he is not much of a shooter — only 25 percent on three-pointers and 61.5 percent from the foul line.
Phil Cofer, a 6-8, 205-pound freshman from Georgia, figures to step into the lineup at power forward. His forte is rebounding, and he is the son of former 10-year NFL linebacker Michael Cofer.
FSU could also go with three guards, making way for 6-4 redshirt freshman Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who was ruled ineligible by the NCAA last season, 6-0 sophomore Dayshawn Watkins or 6-4 freshman Robbie Berwick.
Hamilton’s teams are known for playing tough defense and being big on the boards, but this season’s squad may have more offensive firepower if Bookert and Thomas continue to develop.
“I’ve never been one to make predictions,” Hamilton said. “But I like the position we’re in as long as we play to our potential.”
FSU men’s basketball
Coach: Leonard Hamilton.
Last season: 22-14, 9-9 ACC, NIT semifinals.
Top players: Aaron Thomas (6-5 Sr. SG); Devon Bookert (6-3 Jr. PG).
Noteworthy: FSU has made the postseason – NCAA or NIT – nine consecutive years.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Article content
If you need to get more active, there’s a chance your doctor could prescribe you a free gym pass.
Alberta’s Prescription To Get Active program is in full swing, with more than 50 recreation facilities partnering with 4,000 health-care providers around the province this year to get people moving.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Alberta doctors prescribing free gym passes Back to video
Launched in 2011 in Leduc as an answer to the rising epidemic of chronic disease, the program became a national not-for-profit in 2015.
The concept is simple: Get a prescription from a doctor or their team, take it to a participating facility and start moving.
Facilities taking part in the program are located across Edmonton, including city recreation centres, YMCAs and private gyms.
Reams of specialist centres for sports, yoga and fitness are also involved, as well as gyms in bedroom communities and all over Northern Alberta.
In a news release, exercise specialist Melanie Fuller said the program helps breaks down some of the barriers for folks trying to become more active.
“A prescription for physical activity is just as important to fight diseases as any other medication,” Fuller said.
“Offering free recreation access affords patients the opportunity to try types of recreation they may not have before.”
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
MOVIE REVIEW: Elysium
(Image: imdb.com)
ELYSIUM--3 STARS
Back in April when I reviewed Joseph Kosinski's Oblivion, it signified the first legitimate contender in what was shaping up to be a banner year of original science-fiction offerings from Hollywood. I said in that review that, on paper, 2013 had a chance to rival the great year of 1982 (E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, Blade Runner, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Tron, and The Thing) for impacting the genre going forward, not just with box office receipts, but with meaningful film experiences. I found Oblivion to be a great starting step, but, since then, the results have been mixed. Just over halfway through the year, I don't think 2013 is going to catch 1982.
Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3, and World War Zall performed admirably as sci-fi hits, but After Earth and (to a lesser degree) Pacific Rimwere summer flops that joined the spring also-rans of Upside Down and The Host. Before the fall and holiday movie seasons arrive with promising films like Gravity, Thor: The Dark World, Ender's Game, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the next big checkpoint for this year's slate of science fiction is Neil Blomkamp's Elysium.
Directed and co-written by District 9's breakout filmmaker Neill Blomkamp, Elysium definitely joins the aforementioned list of admirable efforts. Dynamically designed and well paced, the film offers very good, albeit predictable, entertainment for this slow final month of the summer movie season. Compared to everything else out there, Elysium is a step up, but isn't going to end 2013 as the best science fiction effort of the year.
Oscar winner Matt Damon headlines as Max Da Costa, a locally renowned former car thief working on a factory floor as part of his parole in the year 2154. He lives in a rundown and bleak future version of Los Angeles governed by strict regulation and cruel automated police robots. The city, strikingly portrayed by the modern-day slums of Mexico City, is an urban wasteland of squalor and crime. In 2154, the extremely rich and privileged have vacated the planet to an enormous and decadent space station orbiting the Earth called Elysium. In their floating paradise, the citizens of Elysium reap the benefits of advanced medical technology, secure living, and everything money can buy while the overpopulated planet below them, and its people, slowly rot away.
In an accident at work, Max is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation and has just five days to live. The instantaneous cure would be a Med-Pod on Elysium, a magic wand chamber/MacGuffin that can remove injury and disease as fast as a Xerox machine makes copies and without the hang-ups of jammed paper, ink, or toner. The trouble is any non-citizen transport that approaches the station is shot down, orchestrated by its Secretary of Defense, the ice cold Jessica Delacourt (Academy Award winner Jodie Foster), and her asset operatives on the ground lead by the brutal and maniacal Kruger (District 9 star Sharlto Copley).
Sick, dying, and desperate, Max turns to his former crime boss Spider (Brazilian newcomer Wagner Moura) and calls in a favor. In exchange for apprehending the valuable brain data of a targeted billionaire CEO (professional movie jerk William Fichtner), Spider has a scheme to bring down Elysium's defenses and citizen registry. To pull off the job, Spider retrofits Max with a dangerous exoskeleton implants that increases his strength and stamina, the same kind of tech used by the hunter/assassin Kruger. Along the way, Max reconnects with a childhood friend (I Am Legend's Alice Braga) and agrees to bring her late stage leukemia-stricken daughter with him to Elysium.
Elysium does very little to hide its allegorical and symbolic agenda. Like all good science fiction films, the problems and conflicts they show are almost always a reflection on today's society. I covered a bit of this notion in myOblivionreview four months back stating that science fiction films ask big questions and take the audience to forgivably implausible places. The more fantastical the better. In the same way that all war films are essentially anti-war films, the best science fiction films superimpose today on tomorrow exposing our present errors and mistakes with the hope that they don't carry on into the future. Elysium fits that description. As you will read later in the lessons, the film wields a heavy hand with its direct shots at today's class warfare, immigration, and heath care issues.
I won't argue with the film's technical merits one bit. Neill Blomkamp dazzled us four years ago with District 9's impressive effects and visual palette shot for just $30 million. With a budget triple that this time around, Blomkamp squeezed all effort out of every penny. The two halves of the film's production design style, the L.A. slums of dust and decay and the pristine polished finery of Elysium are incredibly detailed and jaw-dropping. His visual effects are seamless, the makeup is unique, and the camerawork dances across the big screen. No wonder why everyone and their brother wants Blomkamp to say yes to the Halo video game adaptation rumors.
After the film's technical merit, the pieces start to weaken in Elysium. Matt Damon is always likable and dependable as a leading man, but only small peeks of usual charisma shine through. Along the same lines, Jodie Foster is given very little to do, despite second billing, other than gnaw through a few orders and scowl. The only guy having a blast and raising this movie's pulse is Sharlto Copley as Kruger. He's over-the-top in every way and it's a joy to watch. Sure, it's too much when displayed next to everyone else, but it beats something flatter from someone less interesting.
The worst part is every single one of their character arcs are highly predictable. Call me picky, but I needed more twists from the guy who turned the world on its head with District 9. I needed more meaning and depth than a few slaps at heath care and immigration. With issues and comparisons that potentially poignant, I needed more thought-provoking elements that those that were given. While Elysium is solid summer entertainment, it feels like a missed opportunity to be bolder and more important.
LESSON #1: SCIENCE FICTION AS A VESSEL OF PROVIDING FREE UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE-- We witness medical advancements every single day in our rapidly evolving society. Diseases and ailments are getting treated and cured all day by the cutting edge of medical and scientific research. In Elysium's future, that cutting edge cures everything in seconds. However, we all better notice that profit gets in the way. There is a pecking order of price. These saving advancements have costs and people make money off of the sick every day. The affluent, wealthy, and connected are always the first to get these medical benefits because they can afford them, while the rest of the lower classes can't afford the simple things that could save and extend their lives. This is classic liberal Hollywood thinly veiling their stance on today's issues. Obamacare fans, anyone?
LESSON #2: SCIENCE FICTION AS A MOUTHPIECE FOR CLASS WARFARE-- Elysium isn't the first science fiction film to show elitists and the wealthy separating themselves from the decrepit and poor, but it sure gave them the most lavish setting. The whole vision of Elysium elicits hope and a better life to the less fortunate (and less informed) on Earth that see it sparkling above them in the sky. Symbolically, the citizens on the station are right where they want to be, wined and dined, ignoring, and looking down on them in grand fashion. The gap between poor and rich couldn't be made more metaphorically wider.
LESSON #3: SCIENCE FICTION AS A LANDSCAPE FOR DEBATING IMMIGRATION-- To go along with that class discrimination of Lesson #1, Elysium raises plenty of debating eyebrows in comparing the restricted immigration and citizenship of the 22nd century to our own. It's no accident that Latinos play most of the poor Earth citizens, refugees, and criminals while the Elysium citizens are designer clothes-wearing white folks. With a citizenship and migration boundary now extending off into space, the "you people can't come here/don't belong here" vibe is loud, clear, and revolting. While all of this is done on purpose, I honestly can't wait to see some pundit on Fox News attempt to destroy and call out this movie.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
An Evening with Dragons
This past Thursday was Michaelmas, so we celebrated with a shadow puppet play.
Have you ever seen one? They are really quite enchanting.
After the sun went down, we put up a sheet on the laundry line and set up a flashlight behind.
Viggo had a hard time staying in the audience! He was so excited about the flashlight and the puppets, then the neighbor's wandering kitten came for a visit. Then he just wanted to be "behind the scenes". Next time I will include him in the performing part.
I used a story of St. George in which he doesn't slay the dragon, but tells the dragon he will have mercy on him if he stops eating the village. The dragon accepts, and well, as it goes, every one lives happily ever after!
We had a wonderful time with the puppets, and can't wait to have more shows. Daniel and I plan to make puppets for a performance of The Land of Long Ago by Elsa Beskow, one of Viggo's favorite books. And perhaps a story made up by Viggo? Oh yes, so many possibilities!
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
In situ hybridization in the plant Kalanchoë daigremontiana.
Here we describe in detail the detection of gene expression in plant tissues of Kalanchoë daigremontiana by in situ hybridization analyses. Included are methods for making RNA transcript probes, probe-tissue hybridization, and detection of antisense RNA probes. The in situ hybridization technique is used to determine which cells or group of cells in particular tissue(s) express a gene of interest.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
The Pulaski County coroner says two people were killed in a crash Friday night on US 27 in Eubank.
Pulaski County deputies say two motorcycles and an SUV were involved.
"It’s one of the worst accidents I’ve seen involving a motorcycle here in quite a while," said Capt. Troy McLin with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office.
The crash happened at about 7 p.m. at the intersection of US 27 and KY 1247.
Deputies say a white SUV crossed the road and hit the two motorcycles.
The driver of one of the bikes, James Burton, 61, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The other man driving and two women were airlifted to UK Hospital.
According to the Somerset Commonwealth Journals, one of the women, Michelle Cahill, 52, died from her injuries at the hospital.
The two other victims have been identified as Pamela Burton and Walter Hellmueller. Both are still being treated at UK Hospital. Family says both are in critical condition.
The driver of the SUV told deputies he didn't see the two motorcycles as they passed through the intersection. That driver is cooperating with deputies.
Officials say they see an uptick in crashes involving motorcycles during the summer months and they're urging drivers to take extra precautions while on the road.
"Drivers just need to watch their surroundings and motorcycles, they’re not as visible as regular vehicles, so they need to watch out for motorcyclists," said Capt. McLin.
An accident reconstruction team spent hours at the scene.
Deputies do not believe speed or alcohol were factors in the crash.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
Node.JS trigger click event to OS
I'm looking for a way to trigger a click event to the OS from a NodeJS application. All I need is to have control over x/y and mouse button.
Is there anything that does that? I've searched for existing packages but didn't find any...
A:
RobotJS does exactly what you want!
http://github.com/octalmage/robotjs
Try this code:
//Get the mouse position, move it, then click.
var robot = require("robotjs");
//Get the mouse position, returns an object with x and y.
var mouse = robot.getMousePos();
console.log("Mouse is at x:" + mouse.x + " y:" + mouse.y);
//Move the mouse down by 100 pixels.
robot.moveMouse(mouse.x, mouse.y + 100);
//Left click!
robot.mouseClick();
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Provided in partnership with the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging, behavioral health and aging service professionals will learn information about LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) older adults to enhance their ability to deliver services in a supportive, respectful manner. Topics covered include: the culture, needs, and concerns of LGBT older adults, why LGBT older adults are less likely to access health and social services, and best practices and tools for helping LGBT older adults to feel more included.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Legislation -
Became Law Without Governor's Signature
(Executive)
-
May 30, 2012
Legislation -
Bill Passed
(Senate)
(78-20) -
May 15, 2012(Key vote)
Vote Result
Yea Votes
Nay Votes
Vote to pass a bill that reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank for fiscal years 2012 through 2014.
Highlights:
Reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank until the end of fiscal year 2014, whereas existing law authorized the Bank until the end of fiscal year 2011 (Sec. 2).
Increases the lending limit for the Export-Import Bank from $100 billion to $120 billion for fiscal year 2012 and subsequent fiscal years (Sec. 3).
Increases the lending limit from $120 billion to $130 billion for fiscal year 2013 if the Export-Import Bank meets the following requirements (Secs. 3 & 4):
Maintains a default rate of less than 2 percent each quarter; and
Submits a report to Congress by June 1, 2013 that contains all of the following:
A business plan;
An analysis of risk;
An analysis of the Bank's ability to meet its requirements concerning small businesses and sub-Saharan Africa;
An analysis of the Bank's ability to comply with carbon policies; and
An analysis of the Bank's resources, and whether or not those resources are adequate to process, approve, and monitor loan authorizations.
Increases the lending limit to from $120 billion to $140 billion for fiscal year 2014 if the Export-Import Bank meets the following requirements (Secs. 3 & 5):
Maintains a default rate of less than 2 percent each quarter; and
Submits a report to Congress within 10 months of the enactment date of this bill that contains certain items including, but not limited to, the following:
Evaluates the history of the Bank's growth;
Evaluates the “effectiveness” of the Bank's risk management policies; and
Documents the Bank's fees for products and services; and
Evaluates the adequacy of the Bank's loan loss reserves.
Prohibits the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank from approving any transaction with a person who exports any goods or services to Iran, unless the person certifies that he or she does not engage in business transactions with Iran, effective 180 days after the enactment date of this bill (Sec. 18).
Requires the Export-Import Bank to submit a plan to reduce default rates if the rate for any quarter is more than 2 percent (Sec. 6).
Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish negotiations with other exporting countries, including members and non-members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to reduce and eventually eliminate export subsidies (Sec. 11).
Legislation -
Bill Passed
(House)
(330-93) -
May 9, 2012(Key vote)
Vote Result
Yea Votes
Nay Votes
Vote to pass a bill that reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank for fiscal years 2012 through 2014.
Highlights:
Reauthorizes the Export-Import Bank until the end of fiscal year 2014, whereas existing law authorized the Bank until the end of fiscal year 2011 (Sec. 2).
Increases the lending limit for the Export-Import Bank from $100 billion to $120 billion for fiscal year 2012 and subsequent fiscal years (Sec. 3).
Increases the lending limit from $120 billion to $130 billion for fiscal year 2013 if the Export-Import Bank meets the following requirements (Secs. 3 & 4):
Maintains a default rate of less than 2 percent each quarter; and
Submits a report to Congress by June 1, 2013 that contains all of the following:
A business plan;
An analysis of risk;
An analysis of the Bank's ability to meet its requirements concerning small businesses and sub-Saharan Africa;
An analysis of the Bank's ability to comply with carbon policies; and
An analysis of the Bank's resources, and whether or not those resources are adequate to process, approve, and monitor loan authorizations.
Increases the lending limit to from $120 billion to $140 billion for fiscal year 2014 if the Export-Import Bank meets the following requirements (Secs. 3 & 5):
Maintains a default rate of less than 2 percent each quarter; and
Submits a report to Congress within 10 months of the enactment date of this bill that contains certain items including, but not limited to, the following:
Evaluates the history of the Bank's growth;
Evaluates the “effectiveness” of the Bank's risk management policies; and
Documents the Bank's fees for products and services; and
Evaluates the adequacy of the Bank's loan loss reserves.
Prohibits the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank from approving any transaction with a person who exports any goods or services to Iran, unless the person certifies that he or she does not engage in business transactions with Iran, effective 180 days after the enactment date of this bill (Sec. 18).
Requires the Export-Import Bank to submit a plan to reduce default rates if the rate for any quarter is more than 2 percent (Sec. 6).
Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish negotiations with other exporting countries, including members and non-members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to reduce and eventually eliminate export subsidies (Sec. 11).
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation Saturday of two United States prosecutors involved in putting a Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab on trial for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, according to Turkish Anadolu news agency.
The İstanbul prosecutor's office said it was investigating Preet Bharara, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Bharara's successor, Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim. İstanbul prosecutors have opened an investigation against both Bharara and Kim on the grounds that their actions "are clearly against the international and domestic law". It said that the evidence being used in the case against the "Turkish citizens" is "stolen, of fraudulent nature and unidentifiable in origin."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AKP government call the case political motivated. They have accused Bharara of links to U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, one of the masterminds of last year's failed coup attempt.
The move came after NBC in the United States reported Thursday that pro-Erdoğan gold trader Zarrab was now cooperating with prosecutors, raising the prospect that he may be seeking a plea bargain deal and give evidence for the prosecution. Neither Zarrab nor his lawyer attended a court hearing in Manhattan on Thursday to discuss the case ahead of the trial.
Nine people have been criminally charged, but only Zarrab and a banker from Turkey's Halkbank, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, are in U.S. custody. They are to go on trial on November 27, a case some commentators see as potentially damaging for Ankara.
Former Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Cağlayan is also among the nine defendants indicted in the case.
Zarrab was arrested by U.S. authorities in Miami in March 2016 on charges of helping Iran process millions of dollars of transactions when it was under U.S. sanctions for its nuclear program. The case threatens to reopen a case that reached right into Erdoğan’s inner circle. It will also deepen existing tensions between Turkey and the United States. Zarrab was detained and charged in İstanbul in 2013 in a huge corruption case. All charges against Zarrab and those linked to Erdoğan's government were dropped.
The U.S. case was built on work initially performed by pro-Fethullah Gülen Turkish investigators who targeted Erdoğan over gold trader Zarrab in 2013 in a sweeping corruption scandal that allegedly led to Turkish government officials. The evidence of the case, leaked tapes, elicited by the network of the Gülen, which had been organised in the police, judiciary, military and the other states institutions. Gülen had been a close ally of the then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, helping him to redesign and install his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) in power in 2002. But his alliance with the AKP has faltered in recent years, especially in 2013 when police detained dozens of Erdoğan's key business and political allies over bribery allegations.
Erdoğan has repeatedly accused the network of Gülen, which is also an Islamic cult, of engineering the corruption scandal as well as a string of damaging leaks in the media.
"We will enter their caves and... they will pay the price. There won't be a state within a state," Erdoğan had said.
In the PBS interview, Erdoğan said that Gülen and he had had "good relations". "The real problem began after 2011," he said. That was when Erdoğan's government accused the network of Gülen leaking information from secret talks between the Turkish spy agency and armed Kurdish PKK group.
On 15 July 2016, the network of Gülen attempted to topple down Erdoğan by a military coup but it failed. There were more than a few traces of Pentagon and CIA behind the coup attempt. Fethullah Gülen emerged in the arena of politics within the ranks of the "Organization of the Struggle against Communism". This organisation was founded in 1960's by the CIA. Erdoğan, the primary target of the coup, and the coup plotters share the same ideological and political background.
Tensions emerged due to the AKP government's exaggerating Turkey's regional possibilities and failing to meet the expectations of the United States and some other imperialist countries, have reached to the point where it would disrupt relations between Erdoğan and the western countries, and eventually the United States, in order to create a more useful power for itself, stood behind the coup attempt.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Mol Syst Biol. (2017) 13: 960 29242367
Introduction {#msb177589-sec-0001}
============
Despite the long‐standing debate on whether there is a coherent species concept in the prokaryotic world (Achtman & Wagner, [2008](#msb177589-bib-0001){ref-type="ref"}; Doolittle & Zhaxybayeva, [2009](#msb177589-bib-0010){ref-type="ref"}), modern molecular technologies offer multiple operational definitions of species, as well as of subordinate levels, such as ecotypes, that are being successfully applied to aid the discovery process in microbial ecology. Some rely on genome‐wide features, such as DNA--DNA hybridization (Stackebrandt *et al*, [2002](#msb177589-bib-0045){ref-type="ref"}) or pairwise average nucleotide identity (Konstantinidis & Tiedje, [2005](#msb177589-bib-0022){ref-type="ref"}), while others are restricted to a specific marker gene (e.g., 16S rRNA gene, or a variable region therein) or multiple ones (Mende *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0033){ref-type="ref"}), (i.e., multilocus sequence typing). These schemes aim to classify prokaryotic strains or isolates \[which may differ by just a single nucleotide (Viana *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0052){ref-type="ref"})\] into genetically or phenotypically coherent taxa; these either delineate a specific feature of a population (e.g., antibiotic resistance or invasion potential) or are determined in an unsupervised manner following observed population structure (Urwin & Maiden, [2003](#msb177589-bib-0050){ref-type="ref"}). Noting such consistent differences within operationally defined species has prompted the introduction of the subspecies concept as early as the 1950s, when *Bacillus cereus* could be stratified into virulent and non‐virulent types (Davenport & Smith, [1952](#msb177589-bib-0008){ref-type="ref"}). Subspecies showing adaptation to different environments are also referred to as "ecotypes", a prominent example being the ocean‐dwelling *Prochlorococcus* spp. (Johnson *et al*, [2006](#msb177589-bib-0019){ref-type="ref"}), for which specific subspecies are specialized for different environmental conditions (Biller *et al*, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0003){ref-type="ref"}). In regard to the human microbiome, extensive work has been undertaken to characterize population structure and describe subspecies in species that include pathogenic bacteria, such as *Escherichia coli*, different *Salmonella* species, and a few others, for which multiple typing schemes exist (Gordienko *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"}; Chakraborty *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0004){ref-type="ref"}; Bale *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0002){ref-type="ref"}; Sharma *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0043){ref-type="ref"}), but not for the vast majority of human gut commensals.
Current genomic approaches to determine population structure are hampered by their dependence on bacterial isolates and sequenced genomes. Due to limited throughput and biased by growth requirements, cultivation‐based assessments are unviable for the study of complex microbial communities. Recently, the advent of culture‐independent metagenomic approaches and newly developed analysis tools have made it possible to study the population structure and genomic variation of microbes in their natural environment (Luo *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0031){ref-type="ref"}; Nayfach *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0034){ref-type="ref"}; Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}). Here, we devised a novel approach for broadly delineating subspecies in the majority of abundant gut microbes and determined their associated single‐nucleotide variants in order to quantify and characterize them in their natural habitat. We observed consistent functional differences between subspecies with respect to their gene pools suggesting that they likely differ in phenotypic or ecological properties. We discovered that clearly delineated subspecies are the rule rather than the exception in the gut microbiome. When analyzing their global geographic distribution, we found that within a host, they generally persist stably over time and are mutually exclusive. Illustrating the utility of the subspecies concept, we associated particular subspecies with specific genes and host phenotypes, with implications for disease.
Results {#msb177589-sec-0002}
=======
To be able to determine population structure without relying on limited or biased sets of pan‐genomes (Gordienko *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0012){ref-type="ref"}), we explored the natural genomic variation of the human gut microbiome (Schloissnig *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0041){ref-type="ref"}; Luo *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0031){ref-type="ref"}; Nayfach *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0034){ref-type="ref"}; Lloyd‐Price *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0029){ref-type="ref"}; Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}). To this end, we assessed the microbial genetic landscape of 2,144 deeply sequenced human stool metagenomes from nine countries, spanning three continents, including published (Huttenhower *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0018){ref-type="ref"}; Qin *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0040){ref-type="ref"}; Karlsson *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0021){ref-type="ref"}; Le Chatelier *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0025){ref-type="ref"}; Zeller *et al*, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0056){ref-type="ref"}) as well as 298 newly generated ones ([Table EV1](#msb177589-sup-0003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). The newly sequenced samples include a Kazakh cohort as well as three individuals from Germany that have been sampled over an extended period of time (see [Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}). By mapping the respective reads to a set of 1,753 previously determined representative genomes, each one representing one species (Mende *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0033){ref-type="ref"}), and using conservative thresholds for minimal sequencing depth and prevalence, we were able to confidently assess the variation in 71 abundant microbial species (Fig [1](#msb177589-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}, [Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}, and [Table EV2](#msb177589-sup-0004){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). While the latter represent only a small fraction of known gut species, they account for the vast majority of the mapped reads ([Table EV3](#msb177589-sup-0005){ref-type="supplementary-material"}; on average, 95.5% (SD = 6%) of assigned relative abundance per sample; Fig [1](#msb177589-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}B).
{ref-type="ref"}), which splits some named species into multiple specI clusters. Of 71 investigated species, 44 stratify into subspecies (highlighted in blue). Each species\' average abundance across 2,144 human gut metagenomes is proportional to the size of the circles on the cladogram. Bars represent the number of subspecies identified in each, with "1" indicating no subdivision. The black portion of the bar corresponds to subspecies for which no representative genome sequence is available from NCBI. Geographic enrichments of subspecies are displayed as a heat map (showing only significant enrichment, FDR‐corrected Fisher test *P*‐value \< 0.05, per country as maximum log‐odds ratio across conspecific subspecies). Subspecies with a restricted geographic range are predominantly found in the Chinese and Kazakh populations. The 71 investigated species captured an average of 95.5% of sequencing reads that were assigned to any reference genome. The subset of 44 species with identified subspecies accounted for the majority of this abundance (B).](MSB-13-960-g002){#msb177589-fig-0001}
Subspecies delineation {#msb177589-sec-0003}
----------------------
To delineate population structure corresponding to subspecies (referred to as metagenomic subspecies, MGSS, in the following), we used metaSNV (Costea *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0006){ref-type="ref"}) to compute a matrix of genomic allele distances between all samples that allowed variant calling for any given species ([Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}), and identified clusters by applying a very stringent cutoff for separation ([Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}). With this operational definition, we found between two and four subspecies in 44 of the 71 species (accounting for 72% (SD = 15%) of the assigned relative abundance per sample), totaling 112 subspecies ([Table EV2](#msb177589-sup-0004){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). The horizontal coverage over the analyzed genomes was generally above 70% and did not correlate with the existences of subspecies ([Appendix Fig S1](#msb177589-sup-0001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). We thus uncovered extensive population structure reflecting naturally occurring subspecies in the majority of abundant gut microbes.
The 71 gut species investigated represent 28 genera, for 25 of which population structure has never been assessed before ([Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}). Of the other three, for which population genetic studies have been published, one, *Escherichia*, was previously described to have well‐defined structure below the species level (Chakraborty *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0004){ref-type="ref"}). In comparison with the four subspecies of *E. coli* determined here, there is an exact correspondence, such that MGSS1, MGSS2, MGSS3, and MGSS4 recapitulate phylogroups B1, A, D, and B2, respectively ([Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}, [Table EV4](#msb177589-sup-0006){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). For the remaining two genera, a cohesive subspecies scheme has not been established, which precluded a comparison.
To investigate whether the stratification into subspecies is a potentially more broad feature of human‐associated prokaryotes, we further assessed the genomic variation of 676 oral samples, collected from different sites within the oral cavity (buccal mucosa, tongue dorsum, and supragingival plaque) of multiple individuals. Subjecting them to the same procedure as the gut metagenomes, we were able to investigate the existence of subspecies in 62 additional named bacterial species. Of these, 18 could be delineated into two subspecies, which may be found in different habitats of the oral cavity. For example, *Granulicatella adiacens \[1358\]* MGSS1 is only found in plaque, while MGSS2 only lives in the buccal mucosa ([Table EV5](#msb177589-sup-0007){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
We then focused on the human gut metagenome for which a wealth of public datasets exist that could be utilized by our approach. Thus, for each of the subspecies identified in human gut species, we determined a set of unique SNPs that unambiguously identify it; the median number of such "genotyping" positions is 2,133 (with 1,142 and 3,989 being the 25^th^ and 75^th^ quantile, respectively). Using these positions, we could assign subspecies in a substantially expanded set of samples with low sequence coverage (on average, a 60% increase in the number of samples profiled per species; see [Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"} and [Table EV2](#msb177589-sup-0004){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). We found that 47 of the 112 identified subspecies lack a representative reference genome, sometimes even the most prevalent ones (Fig [1](#msb177589-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}A, [Table EV2](#msb177589-sup-0004){ref-type="supplementary-material"}), as similarly noted by independent studies (Lloyd‐Price *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0029){ref-type="ref"}; Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}). Hence, the metagenomic SNP profiles not only increased our power to investigate the relation between subspecies and host properties, but also allowed for subspecies identification and quantification in new samples.
Subspecies biogeography {#msb177589-sec-0004}
-----------------------
Having analyzed metagenomes from nine countries and three continents (China, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, France, Spain, and the United States), we could assess the global geographic distribution of each subspecies. While many subspecies appeared to be distributed without any recognizable geographic pattern, some did show striking regional enrichments (Figs [1](#msb177589-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}A and [EV1](#msb177589-fig-0001ev){ref-type="fig"}), consistent with a recently published, independent study (Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}). Overall, the most restricted geographic ranges across subspecies were observed in the Chinese samples, followed by the ones from Kazakhstan, while European and American samples appeared more similar in their gut subspecies compositions (Fig [1](#msb177589-fig-0001){ref-type="fig"}A). For example, for *Eubacterium rectale*, one subspecies (*E. rectale* MGSS3) was almost exclusive to Chinese samples (see also Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}), while the other two were found in all other countries, including neighboring Kazakhstan (Fig [EV2](#msb177589-fig-0002ev){ref-type="fig"}). Strong geographic segregation might explain why associations between *E. rectale* and host physiology have often proven to be unstable when testing in different cohorts, as these subspecies could not be profiled previously (David *et al*, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0009){ref-type="ref"}). When comparing geographic ranges across bacterial taxa, members of the Firmicutes phylum showed significantly more geographic restrictions compared to all other phyla (Wilcoxon test *P*‐value = 0.002). The regional enrichments among several *Firmicutes* species discovered here might reflect an adaptation to specific environmental factors, many of which are more prevalent in some geographic regions, but not exclusively found there. Alternatively, the observed structure could be the result of drift and differences in dispersal among gut microbial subspecies, though further work is needed to disentangle the two.
{#msb177589-fig-0001ev}
{#msb177589-fig-0002ev}
Subspecies dominance and persistence in individuals {#msb177589-sec-0005}
---------------------------------------------------
We next investigated whether subspecies occurrences are also restricted in individuals and how stable an individual\'s gut subspecies composition is over time. It has been previously shown that overall strain‐level composition is generally stable (Schloissnig *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0041){ref-type="ref"}; Lloyd‐Price *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0029){ref-type="ref"}; Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}), while upon perturbations, such as fecal microbiota transplantation, lasting changes in strain populations can occur (Li *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0028){ref-type="ref"}).
In order to study the population structure of conspecific subspecies, we recorded the frequency of each subspecies in each sample (Fig [2](#msb177589-fig-0002){ref-type="fig"}A--E). For the 44 species with substructure, we generally observed a clear dominance (one subspecies represents more than 90% of the combined abundance in any given individual), and in 83% of the samples even exclusivity, of one conspecific subspecies, with no apparent effect of sequencing depth on deducing subspecies exclusivity (see [Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"} and [Appendix Fig S2](#msb177589-sup-0001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) consistent with a recent independent report (Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}). This observation is in line with the frequency profiles observed in most samples, where the vast majority of alleles are "fixed", indicating the presence of only one dominating strain. Specifically, for 41 of the 44 species with substructure, over 75% of samples have 90% of assessed variants with frequencies below 5 or above 95% ([Appendix Fig S3](#msb177589-sup-0001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Moreover, subspecies exclusion is also in line with ecological theory predicting that for closely related taxa, one outcompetes the others in the same ecological niche (Hardin, [1960](#msb177589-bib-0014){ref-type="ref"}). To analyze temporal stability of conspecific subspecies, we considered individuals for which samples from multiple time points were available and tracked the number of times we observed a change in the dominant one. Considering 74 individuals from the United States, each sampled twice about 200 days apart (Huttenhower *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0018){ref-type="ref"}), as high as 94% of the dominant subspecies were the same at both time points, almost all of them being exclusive. Of the remaining 6%, the vast majority involved individuals that had more than one co‐occurring subspecies at the earlier time point already (in these, subspecies replacement was 17 times more likely than in cases with a single subspecies at baseline, Fisher test *P* = 2.2 × 10^−16^), indicating that mixed subspecies populations are more fragile over time. This is supported by a more in‐depth comparison of three individuals for which we have collected more than 20 samples over more than 2 years, and for which we could monitor 16--18 species across multiple time points spanning at least 1 year. For two individuals, we only found one incidence of switching in each. In both cases, the switching was observed where subspecies coexisted and the most abundant one changed. In the third individual, sampled over the same time period, seven out of the 18 species which we were able to track after an antibiotic intervention showed a subspecies replacement, supporting a strong and long‐lasting impact of treatment on microbial composition (Voigt *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0053){ref-type="ref"}) accompanied by a switch of conspecific subspecies dominance (Fig [2](#msb177589-fig-0002){ref-type="fig"}).
{ref-type="sec"}). The first principal coordinate (PC) explains over 70% of the variation in both cases (panels A and C). Reference genomes have been projected into the same PCoA plots (marked with "×" in A and C; see [Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}). The numbers adjacent to the placed genomes correspond to those shown in parentheses next to NCBI taxonomy identifiers (leaves) on the phylogenetic trees in (B, D), respectively. The sample density for each subspecies is highlighted by the histogram above, and the total number of samples in which the species could be quantified is indicated in headers. Quantification of the frequency of each subspecies (bottom plot in A and C) reveals that for *M. smithii*, only one sample has two subspecies co‐occurring in one individual, while all the others have a single dominating one. In contrast, for *B. vulgatus/dorei*, co‐occurrence is more commonly observed. Phylogenies reconstructed from the reference genomes (NCBI taxonomy identifiers; see [Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}) are fully consistent with the SNP‐based clustering. The representative genome for each species, relative to which genomic variants were called, is highlighted with a box.EIn *B. vulgatus/dorei*, subspecies composition within each individual is generally stable over time, with a change of the dominant subspecies being rare even over a period of up to 1,000 days. An exception (highlighted by purple line) is seen for an individual, in which one dominant subspecies is replaced by another one after antibiotic treatment. The right‐hand panel summarizes subspecies frequency changes, underlining remarkable stability over time.](MSB-13-960-g004){#msb177589-fig-0002}
Our observation of general dominance or exclusivity of a single subspecies adds another layer to gut microbial individuality. That it persists over time under normal conditions highlights the potential of targeted microbial interventions for achieving long‐lasting effects once a desired strain is successfully "implanted" by manipulations such as fecal microbial transplantation (Li *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0028){ref-type="ref"}) or probiotic treatment.
Subspecies functional characterization {#msb177589-sec-0006}
--------------------------------------
In the absence of phenotypic information (Nichols *et al*, [2011](#msb177589-bib-0036){ref-type="ref"}), a way of inferring functional differences between distinct taxa is finding genes that are consistent within, but different between them. Applied to subspecies, we first identified for a given bacterial species core genes (species core, SC), consistently present in all strains, which should encode necessary functions performed by all strains (Vernikos *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0051){ref-type="ref"}). We further determined from the other (accessory) genes of that species a subspecies‐specific core (SSSC). These SSSC genes are shared by all strains of that subspecies, but are distinct from those in any other conspecific subspecies. This set of genes thus encodes the consistent functional differences between them ([Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}). Both SC and SSSC sets were inferred *de novo*, through a newly developed method based on the co‐abundance concept ([Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}), previously used to pool genes into metagenomic species independent of reference genomes (Nielsen *et al*, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0037){ref-type="ref"}). Using the SNP frequencies at the genotyping positions of each subspecies along with the overall species abundance, we could identify genes whose abundance consistently correlated with these (i.e., both SC and SSSC) with high accuracy ([Appendix Fig S4](#msb177589-sup-0001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
For the functional characterization of subspecies, we annotated the genes to functional categories ([Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}) and ascertained whether these were specific to either SC or SSSC, by testing for enrichment of functional annotations such as SEED (Overbeek *et al*, [2005](#msb177589-bib-0038){ref-type="ref"}) pathways, eggNOG (Huerta‐Cepas *et al*, [2016b](#msb177589-bib-0017){ref-type="ref"}) categories, and KEGG (Kanehisa & Goto, [2000](#msb177589-bib-0020){ref-type="ref"}) modules in all the species with subspecies structure (Fig [EV3](#msb177589-fig-0003ev){ref-type="fig"}). Compared to the combined SCs, the combined SSSCs were enriched in genes functionally related to phages (including genes for integration and excision), cell surface protein modifications (such as genes from the sortase pathway), chemotaxis, and motility as well as genes of unknown function ([Table EV6](#msb177589-sup-0008){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Such enrichments are broadly consistent with functional specialization of subspecies to different environmental niches. We next tested for functional differences between the SSSCs of different subspecies. Using homology‐based KEGG annotation as well as SEED functional annotations across all species, we found 9 and 16, respectively, significant enrichments between conspecific subspecies, encoding a wide range of differences (at a cutoff of *P* \< 0.05, corrected for multiple testing within each species; [Table EV7](#msb177589-sup-0009){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). For example, we found significant differences in adhesion genes in two of four *E. coli* subspecies (MGSS3 and MGSS4), suggesting higher virulence potential (Lee *et al*, [2010](#msb177589-bib-0026){ref-type="ref"}). Using reference genomes and pathogenicity annotations from the PATRIC database (Wattam *et al*, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0054){ref-type="ref"}), we noted that these two subspecies were significantly enriched in isolates that caused diseases in the human host. These findings are in line with results on the corresponding phylogroups D and B2 (MGSS3 and MGSS4, respectively), which have been associated with extraintestinal infections in humans (Chakraborty *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0004){ref-type="ref"}). Moreover, metagenomic data from a recent enterohemorrhagic *E. coli* outbreak (Loman *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0030){ref-type="ref"}) indicates that the pathogenic strain comes from one of these two subspecies (Fig [EV4](#msb177589-fig-0004ev){ref-type="fig"}). Even though our analysis is limited by the fact that an average of 70% of the SSSCs were not assigned to any functional category by either KEGG or SEED mappings, the example illustrates the utility of molecular gene content analysis to reveal differences in phenotypes.
{#msb177589-fig-0003ev}
{ref-type="sec"}). In the bottom panel, the PATRIC annotations for the projected genomes are plotted relative to the first principal coordinate (PCo1), showing a clear enrichment of disease annotations in MGSS1 and MGSS2. Moreover, the eHEC outbreak strains (last row) are strongly enriched in MGSS2, suggesting that commensal and highly pathogenic *E. coli* strains can be very similar in terms of genomic variants. Functional annotations of the SSSCs (right panel) specific to the presumably pathogenic subspecies MGSS1 and MGSS2 show an enrichment of adhesion components in the two subspecies more likely to cause disease.](MSB-13-960-g008){#msb177589-fig-0004ev}
Subspecies associations with host phenotypes {#msb177589-sec-0007}
--------------------------------------------
The differences in gene content and the long‐term persistence of subspecies dominance in any individual prompted us to test whether conspecific subspecies differ in their correlations with host phenotypes. Indeed, we found five species with significant subspecies associations with microbial community diversity and two with host body mass index (BMI) (FDR‐corrected *P*‐value \< 0.05, accounting for variation between studies; [Table EV8](#msb177589-sup-0010){ref-type="supplementary-material"} and [Materials and Methods](#msb177589-sec-0009){ref-type="sec"}). In addition to these global associations, separate statistical tests within each study cohort revealed a strong negative association between type 2 diabetes status specifically in Chinese individuals (Qin *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0040){ref-type="ref"}) and *Bacteroides coprocola MGSS3*, which is enriched in healthy individuals (Fisher test *P*‐value 2.98e‐05). This association was, however, not significant in the two type 2 diabetes case--control studies with smaller cohorts (Karlsson *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0021){ref-type="ref"}; Le Chatelier *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0025){ref-type="ref"}).
The strongest subspecies association with host BMI was seen for *E. rectale,* which stratifies into three subspecies, one of which (MGSS3) is almost completely restricted to samples from China. All other humans studied were colonized by one of the other two subspecies, with 25% of samples containing a combination of the two. The observed stratification is in line with previous reports on the variation landscape of this species (Nayfach *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0034){ref-type="ref"}; Scholz *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0042){ref-type="ref"}), though no attempt at delineation or functional characterization was undertaken there. Our reconstruction of the SSSC, as well as analysis of the coverage over the reference genome of this species (Fig [3](#msb177589-fig-0003){ref-type="fig"}A and C), revealed that *E. rectale* MGSS1 is missing at least 27 genes related to bacterial chemotaxis and flagellar assembly. These genes are necessary for bacterial motility and also represent an important signal for host immune activation, though both motility and the presence of these genes in the genome of different *Eubacterium* species are variable (Neville *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0035){ref-type="ref"}). The TLR5 receptor in human epithelial cells (colonocytes) recognizes the flagellum and induces a downstream cascade which results in initiation of pro‐inflammatory pathways and secretion of IL‐8 (Neville *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0035){ref-type="ref"}). Such low‐grade inflammation has been repeatedly linked to obesity, increased insulin resistance, and diabetes (Gregor & Hotamisligil, [2011](#msb177589-bib-0013){ref-type="ref"}) providing a potential explanation for our observation that BMI and insulin resistance are significantly higher in individuals who predominantly harbor the flagellum‐carrying subspecies (MGSS2 and MGSS3) in the Danish (Le Chatelier *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0025){ref-type="ref"}) and Swedish (Karlsson *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0021){ref-type="ref"}) cohorts (Fig [3](#msb177589-fig-0003){ref-type="fig"}D). This association is independent of the specific abundance of the subspecies in the individuals. Furthermore, individuals harboring subspecies MGSS2 and MGSS3 appeared to have lower community diversity (Fig [3](#msb177589-fig-0003){ref-type="fig"}D; Shannon diversity index), in line with previous observations of a negative correlation between community diversity and host BMI (Le Chatelier *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0025){ref-type="ref"}).
{ref-type="sec"}). The same trend is observed for *E. eligens* subspecies in the same studies, though not statistically significant (n.s.). In the boxplots, the median is given as horizontal line and boxes represent the 25^th^ and 75^th^ percentiles. Whiskers extend to the point closest to 1.5 times the interquartile range.](MSB-13-960-g006){#msb177589-fig-0003}
The four subspecies of the closely related *Eubacterium eligens* differ in similar ways (Fig [3](#msb177589-fig-0003){ref-type="fig"}B). At least nine genes related to bacterial chemotaxis and flagellar assembly are specific to *E. eligens* MGSS3. Only 7 and 10% of samples from the Danish (Le Chatelier *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0025){ref-type="ref"}) and the Swedish study contain this subspecies (14 and 4 samples, respectively, however not statistically significant due to small sample size). Such striking functional differences between subspecies and their associations with host phenotypes have implication for disease treatment, which could, for example, aim at replacing the "detrimental" subspecies by one without the respective trait. The examples illustrate that subspecies can reveal associations with host phenotypes that are undetectable at species level. In analogy, we hypothesize that at subspecies resolutions, the currently only weak and inconsistent co‐occurrence patterns between gut microbial species across samples (Faust *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0011){ref-type="ref"}) should become much stronger, possibly revealing further links to host phenotypes and insights into the role of specific subspecies, rather than species, in maintaining gut microbial homeostasis.
Discussion {#msb177589-sec-0008}
==========
We have shown here that the single‐nucleotide variation landscape of most common gut commensals can be decomposed into cohesive units subordinate to species. These provide a meaningful grouping of microbial strains, which correspond to a more fine‐grained level of variation that has been the focus of previous studies (Schloissnig *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0041){ref-type="ref"}; Nayfach *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0034){ref-type="ref"}; Lloyd‐Price *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0029){ref-type="ref"}; Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}). In contrast to gut microbial strains, the vast majority (\> 95%) of which is specific to an individual host (Truong *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0049){ref-type="ref"}), most subspecies can be detected ubiquitously in the global human population and only few appear to be geographically restricted.
Subspecies‐specific gene content can be readily identified, enabling the exploration of the subspecies landscape of the human gut microbiome and its relation to the host. Given our stringent operational definition of subspecies, we expect more to emerge with increasing sample numbers and sequencing depth. Their prevalence is likely to be generalizable to other habitats, and although only a few existing metagenomics datasets have sufficient depth for detailed analysis, we indeed find clear indications for it. For example, in the oral cavity, we observe many subspecies, often with apparent preferences for different sub‐habitats, such as buccal mucosa or gingival plaque ([Table EV5](#msb177589-sup-0007){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
Although it is very difficult to prove phenotypic or ecological differences between the identified conspecific subspecies and we can only infer functional differences using gene pool reconstructions, our findings support the ecotype view of bacterial evolution, suggesting the existence of cohesive clusters of strains with the same ecological properties, each of them subject to their own evolutionary fate (Cohan, [2001](#msb177589-bib-0005){ref-type="ref"}). The partially distinct global dispersal patterns, functional repertoires, and associations with host properties imply that subspecies have an important role in ecology and represent a natural taxonomic level, which can be operationally defined using sequence data. We have shown the practical relevance of subspecies in the human gut microbiome, by their associations with host properties, which remain undetectable when only considering species (or lower resolution entities such as 16S OTUs or genera). As these associations are based on a limited set of genes, they also provide an entry point for mechanistic follow‐up studies.
Materials and Methods {#msb177589-sec-0009}
=====================
Data collection {#msb177589-sec-0010}
---------------
We have used data from multiple published studies, as well as novel data collected for this work. Specifically, we used 239 stool samples from the HMP (Huttenhower *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0018){ref-type="ref"}) collected from 139 US American individuals, as well as 676 oral samples from the same individuals; 156 samples from as many Austrian individuals (Yu *et al*, [2015](#msb177589-bib-0055){ref-type="ref"}); 368 Chinese samples (Qin *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0040){ref-type="ref"}); 387 Danish samples from the MetaHIT cohort; 156 French and 40 German samples (Zeller *et al*, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0056){ref-type="ref"}); 126 novel German samples collected from 26 individuals; 172 novel Kazakh samples from 86 individuals; 359 Spanish samples from MetaHIT; and 145 Swedish samples (Karlsson *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0021){ref-type="ref"}; [Table EV1](#msb177589-sup-0003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Informed consent was obtained from the German individuals through the my.microbes project (<http://my.microbes.eu>). The study protocol was approved by the respective institutional review board (EMBL Bioethics Internal Advisory Board) and is in agreement with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki and the Department of Health and Human Services Belmont Report. Informed consent was also obtained for all Kazakh participants before sample collection. The study protocol and consent documents were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Centre for Life Sciences National Laboratory Astana Nazarbayev University with ethical approval number 311/2537 (IORG0006963) as well as EMBL. All new samples were processed the same way, as described below.
DNA isolation, library preparation, and metagenomic sequencing of novel samples {#msb177589-sec-0011}
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Genomic DNA was extracted from frozen fecal samples as previously described (Zeller *et al*, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0056){ref-type="ref"}) using the GNOME^®^ DNA Isolation Kit (MP Biomedicals).
Library generation and shotgun sequencing were carried out on the Illumina HiSeq 2000/2500 (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) platform. All samples were paired‐end‐sequenced with 100 bp read lengths at the Genomics Core Facility, European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Novel samples have been submitted to NCBI under accession number PRJEB17632.
Data preprocessing and species abundance estimation {#msb177589-sec-0012}
---------------------------------------------------
All samples were processed with the same computational protocol. Reads were quality‐filtered and screened against the human genome sequence for removing contamination as previously described (Zeller *et al*, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0056){ref-type="ref"}). Species abundance was calculated using established MOCAT (Kultima *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0023){ref-type="ref"}) protocols for specI clusters (Mende *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0032){ref-type="ref"}). Throughout the manuscript, we used specI clusters at the species level related via the NCBI taxonomy database as a taxonomic reference. Additionally, mOTU abundances were also determined using standard MOCAT procedures (Sunagawa *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0047){ref-type="ref"}), but exclusively used to estimate species diversity ([Table EV1](#msb177589-sup-0003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}).
For calling genomic variants, all metagenomic sequencing reads were additionally mapped to a reference set consisting of 1,753 genomes (each representative of one specI cluster) (Mende *et al*, [2013](#msb177589-bib-0033){ref-type="ref"}), using MOCAT (Kultima *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0023){ref-type="ref"}) with default parameters. Specifically, reads were mapped at 97% identity and multiple mappers were discarded. Computation of genome coverage for each specI cluster was performed using qaCompute (<https://github.com/CosteaPaul/qaTools>), resulting in estimations of both horizontal and vertical coverage per sample, per genome.
SNP calling {#msb177589-sec-0013}
-----------
Population SNPs were called using metaSNV (Costea *et al*, [2017](#msb177589-bib-0006){ref-type="ref"}), which resulted in 19,221,237 positions over 1,753 genomes.
Determining subspecies {#msb177589-sec-0014}
----------------------
Determination of subspecies structure proceeded through the following steps: Firstly, the set of samples considered for each species was restricted to a high‐confidence discovery set (see below) to ensure accurate variant determination. Based on these variants, a distance was then computed between all samples and subspecies determined on this basis. Finally, variants specific to each subspecies (genotyping positions) were computed and used to expand subspecies assignments to new samples or ones that did not meet the criteria for inclusion in the discovery set.
Discovery set {#msb177589-sec-0015}
-------------
For avoiding issues caused by coverage variation, which hampers comparison between samples, we selected a specific subset of samples for the analysis of each species. For inclusion, we required vertical coverage higher or equal to 5× and horizontal coverage higher or equal to 40%. On this basis, we only considered species in our analysis for which at least 50 samples had sufficient coverage resulting in the set of 71 species reported. For each of these, variant positions were sub‐selected such that only those with 5× coverage in at least half of the samples in the respective discovery set were kept, to ensure that only genomic variation over the core genome is compared across samples thus avoiding ascertainment bias due to missing values with non‐random distribution. Variant positions were eventually encoded as frequency of the non‐reference allele in each of the samples.
Clustering {#msb177589-sec-0016}
----------
To survey genomic (dis)similarity between conspecific strains carried by each individual, we used a modified Manhattan distance to assign a divergence of 0 to a pair of samples with an identical variation profile and 1 to completely different samples: $\sum_{i = 1}^{n}{|{S1_{i}} - {S2_{i}}|}/n$, where S1~*i*~ and S2~*i*~ are the frequencies of SNV "*i*" in one and the other sample, respectively, and "*n*" is the total number of compared positions. Positions only covered in one of the samples were not considered in this distance computation, and at least 1,000 positions are required to compute a valid distance (i.e., *n* \> 1,000). We used partitioning around medoids to determine clustering for any given number of clusters *k*, between 2 and 10. In this clustering step, we only kept one time‐point sample for individuals which have been sampled more than once. Using the prediction strength (PS) (Tibshirani & Walther, [2005](#msb177589-bib-0048){ref-type="ref"}), we determined the support of the clustering for each *k*. The highest number of clusters that have a PS above 0.8 was considered to be the number of subspecies, as recommended by Tibshirani and Walther for determining high‐quality clusters (Tibshirani & Walther, [2005](#msb177589-bib-0048){ref-type="ref"}). If there were no values above, we conservatively assumed this to be insufficient evidence for the existence of distinct subspecies.
Reference genome placement {#msb177589-sec-0017}
--------------------------
In order to place genomes into the variation space, we simulated reads from them (Mende *et al*, [2012](#msb177589-bib-0032){ref-type="ref"}) at 20× coverage and mapped these to the representative genome set at 97% identity, using the exact same parameters as when mapping metagenomic samples to the representative set. We then assessed variation over them in the same way we did for metagenomic samples, resulting in a variation profile that is completely comparable to the sample background. We were thus able to compute a distance from any sample to any genome that mapped to a given species.
Genotyping positions {#msb177589-sec-0018}
--------------------
To determine a subset of variant positions, at which alleles allow for high‐confidence distinction of subspecies, we selected positions where the mean allele frequency difference between one subspecies and the rest was greater than 80%. These are thus positions which occur at high frequency in one subspecies and not any of the others; we denote these as genotyping positions. To quantify subspecies in a new sample, we compute the median allele frequency over all genotyping positions for each subspecies (in exceptional cases, less than 5% of the time, where the individual subspecies frequencies add up to below 80% or to more than 120%, we do not assign any subspecies for that species). Benchmarking these assignments on samples from the discovery set, we did not observe any errors.
Estimating subspecies abundances {#msb177589-sec-0019}
--------------------------------
Subspecies abundance was determined by multiplying the abundance of a species (via standard specI profiling; see above) with the median relative frequency determined for each subspecies based on the genotyping positions.
Exclusivity of subspecies {#msb177589-sec-0020}
-------------------------
Considering species which have more than 50× coverage in at least 50 samples, we illustrate the relation between coverage and abundance of the dominating subspecies in a sample (where this abundance is 100%, we say that subspecies is exclusively present) ([Appendix Fig S2](#msb177589-sup-0001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}) and note that this indicates no relationship between coverage and dominance, even at coverages as high as 1,000×.
We further used a Fisher test to investigate whether there is a significant difference between the number of samples showing exclusively one subspecies, given a coverage above or below 50×. None of the observed differences were significant (*P*‐value ≥ 0.05, without any correction for multiple testing).
Contextualizing metagenomic subspecies delineation {#msb177589-sec-0021}
--------------------------------------------------
To obtain an overview of species whose pan‐genome or population structure has been studied previously, we performed a systematic search of all PubMed titles and abstracts, including the following terms: pangenome, pan‐genome, population, and phylogenetic; and the respective genus name. Manual curation of the search results was performed to exclude publications which were not about population structure of a species, but of structure within the genus.
The subspecies delineations proposed here can be used as a framework for future microbiological research. For example, a pan‐genomic survey of capsule diversity in *Bacteroides fragilis* (Patrick *et al*, [2010](#msb177589-bib-0039){ref-type="ref"}) compared three strains belonging to MGSS1. That this is only one out of four *B. fragilis \[1090\]* subspecies detected here highlights the potential of our culture‐independent metagenomics framework to inform and contextualize microbial (pan‐)genomics studies.
*Escherichia coli* phylogroup determination {#msb177589-sec-0022}
-------------------------------------------
We determined the phylogroups designation of each *E. coli* genome belonging to the specI cluster represented in the samples, by querying the Enterobase database (<http://enterobase.warwick.ac.uk>). Not all genomes had such an annotation and were thus not further considered. The annotation together with the subspecies designation for each genome is presented in [Table EV4](#msb177589-sup-0006){ref-type="supplementary-material"}.
Phylogenetic tree reconstruction {#msb177589-sec-0023}
--------------------------------
Phylogenetic trees (Fig [2](#msb177589-fig-0002){ref-type="fig"}A and B) were based on concatenated sequence alignments of 40 previously described universal marker genes (Creevey *et al*, [2011](#msb177589-bib-0007){ref-type="ref"}). They were constructed using the "sptree_raxml_all" workflow as implemented in ETE3 v3.0.0b36 (Huerta‐Cepas *et al*, [2016a](#msb177589-bib-0016){ref-type="ref"}). In brief, multiple sequence alignments were built for the 40 marker proteins using Clustal Omega v1.2.1 (Sievers *et al*, [2011](#msb177589-bib-0044){ref-type="ref"}), translated into codon alignments, concatenated, and used to infer a phylogeny by RAxML v8.1.20 (Stamatakis, [2014](#msb177589-bib-0046){ref-type="ref"}).
Subspecies gene content {#msb177589-sec-0024}
-----------------------
To approximate the gene complement of each subspecies, we used a correlation‐based inference which linked relative subspecies abundance (estimated as detailed above) to the relative abundance of genes directly identified from shotgun metagenomics datasets. To generate such gene profiles, we mapped all metagenomic reads to the integrated gene catalog (IGC) from Li *et al* ([2014](#msb177589-bib-0027){ref-type="ref"}). Additionally, species abundance was correlated with the IGC. Genes with a Pearson correlation coefficient above 0.8 (computed on log10‐transformed relative abundances) and a Spearman coefficient above 0.6 in either the subspecies correlations or the species ones were considered to belong to the taxa they correlated highest with. This resulted in a set of genes for the core of the species as well as a subspecies core genome, that is, genes that are unique to a given subspecies. To assess the accuracy of these assignments, we used five species for which reference genomes were available so that the gene complement of all subspecies was known and could be used for benchmarking. By mapping the determined species and subspecies cores to a collection of all genes from these benchmarking genomes, we could determine not only the best hit, but also all the ones above a given cutoff. This benchmarking indicates that the best‐hit approach is more than 95% accurate ([Appendix Fig S4](#msb177589-sup-0001){ref-type="supplementary-material"}). Annotation of the reconstructed gene complements was transferred from a published annotation of the IGC (Kultima *et al*, [2016](#msb177589-bib-0024){ref-type="ref"}). From this study, we specifically used annotations to eggNOG (Huerta‐Cepas *et al*, [2016b](#msb177589-bib-0017){ref-type="ref"}), KEGG (Kanehisa & Goto, [2000](#msb177589-bib-0020){ref-type="ref"}), and SEED (Overbeek *et al*, [2005](#msb177589-bib-0038){ref-type="ref"}) as indicated in the main text.
Host associations {#msb177589-sec-0025}
-----------------
To test for associations between subspecies abundance (within one species) and host phenotypes, such as type 2 diabetes status, we employed a testing framework in which we can account for batch effects between studies, by including "study" as a blocking factor \[as implemented in the R coin package (Hothorn *et al*, [2006](#msb177589-bib-0015){ref-type="ref"})\]. Phenotyping data for all samples compared are available from [Table EV1](#msb177589-sup-0003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}. For testing, we only included samples dominated by one specific subspecies (more than 95% abundant). *P*‐values were FDR‐corrected for multiple testing.
Data and software availability {#msb177589-sec-0026}
------------------------------
All samples used in this study are available from ENA, under the following accession numbers: PRJEB1220, PRJEB17632, PRJEB1786, PRJEB4336, PRJEB5224, PRJEB6070, PRJEB7774, PRJEB8347, PRJNA48479, SRP008047, and SRP011011. Specific sample identifiers are available in [Table EV1](#msb177589-sup-0003){ref-type="supplementary-material"}.
Computer code for assessing nucleotide variation is available on the EMBL Git server, under <https://git.embl.de/costea/metaSNV>.
Author contributions {#msb177589-sec-0028}
====================
PIC performed the main analysis, interpreted the data, and wrote the manuscript. PB and GZ designed the study, interpreted the data, and wrote the manuscript. LPC, SS, RM, JH‐C, KF, FH, and AK contributed to data analysis, data interpretation, and manuscript writing. All authors approved the final manuscript.
Conflict of interest {#msb177589-sec-0029}
====================
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Supporting information
======================
######
Appendix
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Expanded View Figures PDF
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Table EV1
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Table EV2
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Table EV3
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Table EV4
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Table EV5
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Table EV6
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Table EV7
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Table EV8
######
Click here for additional data file.
######
Review Process File
######
Click here for additional data file.
The authors are grateful to the EMBL Genomics Core Facility for sequencing services and Yan Ping Yuan and the EMBL Information Technology Core Facility for support with high‐performance computing. They are moreover thankful to the members of the Bork group at EMBL for discussions and assistance. The work was supported by EMBL, CancerBiome (ERC‐2010‐AdG_20100317), Microbios (ERC‐AdG‐669830), MetaHIT (HEALTH‐F4‐2007‐201052), and METACARDIS (FP7‐HEALTH‐2012‐INNOVATION‐I‐305312). S.S. is supported by ETH Zurich and the Helmut Horten Foundation. FH received funding through the European Union\'s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie grant agreement no. 660375. This work was supported by the BMBF‐funded Heidelberg Center for Human Bioinformatics (HD‐HuB) within the German Network for Bioinformatics Infrastructure (de.NBI, \#031A537B).
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Introduction {#s1}
============
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with chronic bronchitis (CB), primarily caused by cigarette smoking, is characterised by cough, and sputum production, with or without airflow obstruction \[[@C1]\]. Mucociliary clearance (MCC) rates are reduced in CB \[[@C2]--[@C4]\] in association with reduced lung function \[[@C5]\] and increased tobacco exposure \[[@C2], [@C6]\]. As MCC declines, CB patients are predisposed to disease exacerbations. To date, mucolytic therapies designed to improve MCC and symptoms in CB have generally proven ineffective \[[@C7]\].
Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) also exhibit impaired MCC from airway surface liquid depletion and mucus hyper-concentration \[[@C8]\]. Consequently, inhaled hyperosmotic solutions are routinely used to hydrate mucus and accelerate MCC \[[@C9]--[@C11]\]. Both single \[[@C12]\] and repetitive \[[@C11]\] dosing of inhaled 7% hypertonic saline (HS) have prolonged effects on MCC in CF and likely mediated the reduction in pulmonary exacerbation rate in a long-term study of HS in CF \[[@C13]\].
We recently reported that CB secretions are moderately hyper-concentrated, with increased sputum % solids and total mucin concentrations \[[@C5], [@C14]\], and that central lung MCC negatively correlated with lower airway mucus sample concentrations \[[@C5]\]. Although the magnitude of hyper-concentration in CB (∼3.5%) is substantially less than in CF (∼8% solids) \[[@C15], [@C16]\] we hypothesised that chronic HS treatment might also benefit CB patients. HS has been shown to acutely stimulate MCC in CB subjects \[[@C17], [@C18]\], but the duration of this effect and its impact on clinical outcomes have not been assessed. We, therefore, performed a study to determine the effects of HS on MCC, lung function, and symptoms in this population. Comparative baseline MCC measurements in healthy, nonsmoking adults were used to define MCC defects observed in CB subjects.
Methods {#s2}
=======
Patient recruitment {#s2a}
-------------------
Inclusion criteria included COPD with CB symptoms \[[@C19]\], age 40--80 years, airways obstruction (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV~1~)/forced vital capacity (FVC)\<0.70) and FEV~1~ 35--80% of predicted. Both former and active smokers (≥10 pack-years) were included. Significant exclusions included a clinical history of asthma or bronchodilator reversibility at screening; daytime oxygen or chronic prednisone (\>10 mg·d^−1^ or equivalent corticosteroid dose) requirement; and recent changes in respiratory medications or health status within 4 weeks prior to study enrolment.
Thirty-three healthy, nonsmoking control subjects underwent a single MCC scan. These data were recently reported but are provided for comparison purposes \[[@C20], [@C21]\].
Study design {#s2b}
------------
CB subjects meeting enrolment criteria were randomised to a treatment sequence in a double-blinded, crossover study. Each treatment period was 2 weeks in duration, with an intervening 2--4-week washout period. Randomisation was performed by the investigational pharmacy in a combined block of four and block of six pattern.
Study agents included inhaled HS (7% NaCl×4 mL) and HS (0.12% NaCl×4 mL) delivered *via* a PARI LC Star nebuliser with Pari PRONEB^®^ Ultra Compressor twice daily ([figure 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). The control hypotonic solution was selected to provide a low osmotic load that was less likely to acutely enhance MCC than isotonic saline \[[@C22]\], while also avoiding the deleterious effects (*e.g.* bronchospasm) that may occur after inhalation of distilled water \[[@C23]\]. MCC and cough clearance (CC) were measured *via* gamma scintigraphy at: 1) baseline; 2) 20--25 min after the first dose of the assigned study treatment; and 3) ∼12 h after the last dose of study treatment ([figure 1](#F1){ref-type="fig"}). A dose of albuterol (four puffs of 90 µg each *via* metered dose inhaler with spacer) was administered during spirometry, approximately 60 min before each MCC/CC study. Patients were instructed to use albuterol prior to HS or control treatment at home.
{#F1}
Safety/tolerability {#s2c}
-------------------
The acute tolerability of each study treatment was assessed by monitoring symptoms, physical exam, pulse oximetry, and spirometry (pre-dose and 2 h post-dose) around the first administered dose. Adverse events were noted at all visits and a phone contact during each treatment. Adverse event severity was graded using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 3.0, with grade 3 or higher events considered as severe.
Clinical end-points {#s2d}
-------------------
Spirometry was performed according to American Thoracic Society standards \[[@C24]\] before administration of study medications at each visit. The St. George\'s respiratory questionnaire for COPD (SGRQ-C) \[[@C25]\] and cough and sputum questionnaire (CASA-Q) \[[@C26]\] assessed patient-reported outcomes. A 6-min walk test was completed before and after each 2-week treatment period.
Mucociliary/cough clearance {#s2e}
---------------------------
A Co^57^ transmission scan was performed prior to radioaerosol inhalation to outline lung margins and generate the central (C) and peripheral (P) regions of interest (ROIs) \[[@C27], [@C28]\] used to assess initial particle deposition (C/P) and subsequent clearance.
Radiolabelled (Tc99m-sulfur colloid) aerosols were inhaled with a SILP (slow inhalation (80 mL·s^−1^), large particle (9.5 μm mass median aerodynamic diameter)) methodology \[[@C20], [@C21]\]. To adjust for the smaller ventilated volume in CB and to reduce dyspnoea during this very slow inspiratory manoeuvre, a 6-s inhalation time was used in CB subjects, rather than the 10-s inhalation previously used in healthy subjects \[[@C20], [@C21]\]. After tracer inhalation, serial 2-min particle retention images were acquired *via* gamma scintigraphy. Subjects were asked to refrain from coughing until the 60--90 min imaging interval, when 20 voluntarily coughs were performed during each 10-min interval. Subjects returned the following day to assess 24-h tracer clearance (± 4 h) (24 h Clr).
Serial measurements of radioactive counts (decay and background corrected) over time in the right lung characterised whole, central, and peripheral lung clearances as a fraction of initial deposited counts. The average rate of clearance through 60 min (AveClr60) in the whole right lung was calculated using clearance values at 10-min intervals \[[@C21]\]. Cough-dominated clearance (60--90 min; Ave60--90Clr) and regional clearance rates were similarly calculated.
Baseline MCC studies in CB subjects were compared to those recently performed in healthy, never-smoking adults with normal lung function (n=33) \[[@C20], [@C21]\]. The identical SILP deposition method was utilised in both studies, except for the above-mentioned differences in inhalation times. Ave60Clr for MCC was used as the primary outcome for this comparison, as controlled coughing during the 60--90-min period was not included in the healthy adult study.
Sputum percentage solids {#s2f}
------------------------
Spontaneous sputum samples were collected prior to each MCC measurement and stored frozen. Wet and dry weights were used to calculate sputum percentage solids content \[[@C29]\].
Statistics {#s2g}
----------
The prespecified primary study outcome was the change in whole lung AveClr60 between baseline and end of treatment. Secondary outcomes included changes in spirometry, patient-reported outcomes, and other MCC outcomes. From previous repeated MCC measures in CB subjects, 24 subjects were determined to sufficiently provide 80% power to detect a 3.75% absolute change in AveClr60 with α set at 0.05 using a paired, two-sided t-test.
Data were analysed using a repeated measure ANOVA per treatment using subjects as a random effect, with visit and treatment period as fixed effects. Comparison between treatments were analysed with paired t-tests if visit was a significant effect. The relationship between specific outcomes was determined by Pearson\'s correlation. Comparisons between CB and healthy subjects were made with independent t-tests. Subgroup comparisons were analysed with paired t-tests. A p-value \<0.05 was considered significant. All statistical analyses were conducted utilising SAS version 9.4 and JMP Pro 14 (SAS, Cary, NC, USA) statistical software.
Study approval {#s2h}
--------------
The study was approved by the University of North Carolina Institutional Review Board, and subjects provided written informed consent. The study was registered at Clinical Trials.gov (NCT01792271).
Results {#s3}
=======
Subject disposition and demographics {#s3a}
------------------------------------
Twenty-five subjects were enrolled at a single academic centre between March 2013 and March 2016 ([Supplement figure 1](http://openres.ersjournals.com/lookup/doi/10.1183/23120541.00269-2020.figures-only#fig-data-supplementary-materials)). The study was stopped after meeting enrolment goals. Twenty-four subjects received more than one dose of study drug and 22 completed the study. One subject withdrew consent due to fatigue related to spirometry. Two subjects withdrew early; one due to chest tightness and oxygen desaturation during the HS test dose, as described below, and one was lost to follow-up due to incarceration.
Demographics for the evaluable CB (n=22) and healthy study populations are shown in [table 1](#TB1){ref-type="table"}. The majority of CB subjects were classified as Gold II by Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease COPD criteria, were current smokers, regularly produced sputum, and exhibited moderate mucus hyper-concentration. The majority of subjects used one or more controller medications (long-acting beta agonist, long-acting anti-muscarinic, or inhaled corticosteroid); 32% regularly used no controller medication.
######
Patient characteristics
**Chronic bronchitis (n=22)** **Healthy volunteers (n=33)**
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------- -------------------------------
**Age years** 62.2±9.7 26.3±5.9
**Female** 13 (59%) 10 (30%)
**Race**
Black 4 (18%) 6 (18%)
White 18 (82%) 27 (82%)
**Current smokers** 57% 0
**FEV~1~ % pred** 57±12 99.5±12.7
**GOLD classification**
GOLD II 17 (77%)
GOLD III 5 (23%)
**Cough and phlegm produced at least several days a week (by SGRQ-C)** 18 (82%) N/A
**Baseline sputum % solids (sample in n=19)** 3.6±1.3% N/A
**Concomitant medications**
Long-acting beta agonist 12 (55%)
Long-acting antimuscarinic 11 (50%)
Inhaled corticosteroid 14 (64%)
Data are presented as mean±[sd]{.smallcaps} or n (%). FEV~1~: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; % pred: % predicted; GOLD: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; SGRQ-C: St. George\'s respiratory questionnaire for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; N/A: not assessed.
Safety assessments {#s3b}
------------------
No significant FEV~1~ changes were observed 2 h after the first dose of either study treatment ([table 2](#TB2){ref-type="table"}) and no individual subject exceeded the predefined stopping criteria of a 20% relative decrease in FEV~1~. One subject reported chest tightness and experienced oxygen desaturation after the initial HS dose, which quickly reversed after two puffs of albuterol, and was withdrawn from the study. No serious or severe adverse events were reported. One pulmonary exacerbation occurred during the washout period; the patient resumed participation after returning to their clinical baseline.
######
Post-bronchodilator FEV~1~ and FEF~25--75~ % predicted
**Baseline** **Acute**^\#^ **2 weeks (sustained**^¶^**)**
------------------ -------------- --------------- -------------------------------- ----------- -----------
**0.12% saline** FEV~1~ 57.9±12.6 59.2±12.3 57.6±13.6 59.4±13.3
FEF~25--75~ 31.6±13.7 33.2±13.0 31.7±13.6 34.5±16.2
**7% saline** FEV~1~ 58.9±13.2 58.0±12.6 58.0±12.5 59.2±12.9
FEF~25--75~ 33.6±14.9 34.6±17.5 31.6±16.5 33.5±15.1
Data are presented as mean±[sd.]{.smallcaps} FEV~1~: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FEF~25--75~: forced expiratory flow at 25--75% of forced vital capacity. ^\#^: acute values were measured immediately before and 2 h after first dose of study treatment; ^¶^: sustained values measured ∼12 h after final dose of 2-week treatment period.
Clinical end-points {#s3c}
-------------------
No changes in spirometry values were observed after 2 weeks of either study treatment ([table 2](#TB2){ref-type="table"}). Similarly, there were no differences in 6-min walk distance (metres) (2.2±107.4 *versus* −1.1±206.6; HS and 0.12% saline, respectively) or change in the SGRQ-C overall score ([supplementary table](http://openres.ersjournals.com/lookup/doi/10.1183/23120541.00269-2020.figures-only#fig-data-supplementary-materials)). The SGRQ-C symptom score subdomain exhibited a nonsignificant improvement from baseline after HS (−5.0±13.9; p=0.10), but not 0.12% saline (1.6±15.9; p=0.65), which exceeded the accepted minimal clinically important difference value of 4 \[[@C30]\]. No effects of HS or control solutions were observed on other SGRQ subdomain or CASA-Q scores ([supplementary table](http://openres.ersjournals.com/lookup/doi/10.1183/23120541.00269-2020.figures-only#fig-data-supplementary-materials)).
Analysis of regional MCC in CB and healthy subjects {#s3d}
---------------------------------------------------
Comparison of baseline MCC measurements in CB subjects at the beginning of periods 1 and 2 revealed moderate intra-subject correlation (mean whole lung AveClr60% ([sd]{.smallcaps}): 8.4±8.2 *versus* 9.8±9.2, respectively; r=0.55, p\<0.01). No carryover effects were detected.
Baseline whole and central lung MCC were significantly lower in CB subjects when compared to healthy nonsmoking adults ([tables 3](#TB3){ref-type="table"} and [4](#TB4){ref-type="table"}). In contrast, peripheral lung MCC was not different ([table 4](#TB4){ref-type="table"}). Regional deposition (C/P ratio) was not different between the groups and, thus, did not confound comparisons of whole lung Ave60Clr. TABLE 3Whole lung MCC/CC and regional particle deposition indices**MCC (Ave60)CC (Ave60--90)C/P24 h ClrHealthy adult baseline n=33**14.3±7.22.30±0.3648±9**CB period 1 baseline n=22**8.4±8.2^\#^2.42±1.1050±16**CB HS (7% saline)** Baseline9.1±6.311.7±11.52.35±0.9051±15 Acute9.6±9.710.9±10.82.23±0.6651±17 2 weeks5.3±6.9^¶^9.6±10.02.50±0.9852±13**Control (0.12% saline)** Baseline9.0±10.69.4±9.92.32±1.0549±15 Acute7.7±9.48.7±9.42.35±0.9451±13 2 weeks6.2±5.78.8±2.72.48±0.8850±16Data are presented as mean±[sd]{.smallcaps}. MCC: mucociliary clearance; CC: cough clearance; Ave60Clr: average rate of clearance through 60 min; C/P: central/peripheral; 24 h Clr: 24-h tracer clearance; CB: chronic bronchitis; HS: hypertonic saline. ^\#^: p\<0.01 compared to healthy adult baseline by t-test.; ^¶^: p\<0.05 compared to CB HS baseline. TABLE 4Regional MCC (Ave60Clr)**Central (%)Peripheral (%)**Healthy adult baseline n=3315.9 (10.5)12.6 (7.2)CB period 1 baseline n=224.7 (11.6)^\#^11.2 (9.3)CB HS (7% saline) Baseline5.7 (10.4)12.3 (7.0) 2 weeks1.5 (10.0)8.4 (9.0)CB control (0.12% saline) Baseline4.1 (15.7)12.6 (11.3) 2 weeks2.7 (9.6)9.3 (7.2)Data are presented as mean±[sd]{.smallcaps}. MCC: mucociliary clearance; Ave60Clr: average rate of clearance through 60 min; CB: chronic bronchitis; HS: hypertonic saline. ^\#^: p\<0.001 compared to healthy adults by t-test.
To further investigate the slow C region clearance in CB, we examined the distribution of baseline Central Lung AveClr60% values in CB (pre-HS baseline) and healthy subjects ([figure 2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}). These distributions revealed an overall slowing of clearance and a distinct subset of CB subjects with absent C region clearance (n=8 in the pre-HS arm) with a net accumulation of particles in the C region during the 60-min period before voluntary coughs. As demonstrated by one CB subject, activity initially deposited in the trachea flowed retrograde into the right lung before eventually being expelled by cough (see [supplementary video](http://openres.ersjournals.com/lookup/doi/10.1183/23120541.00269-2020.figures-only#fig-data-supplementary-materials)). CB cohorts segregated by baseline "absent" *versus* "residual" C region clearance were evaluated in *post hoc* analyses.
{#F2}
Effect of HS on mucociliary/cough clearance in CB {#s3e}
-------------------------------------------------
In CB subjects, neither 7% nor 0.12% saline inhaled 20--25 min before radioaerosol administration had an effect on whole lung MCC or CC ([figure 3](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [table 3](#TB3){ref-type="table"}). Indices of regional deposition (C/P and 24 h Clr) were unchanged post-treatment ([table 3](#TB3){ref-type="table"}), indicating that altered particle deposition probably did not account for the absence of MCC effects. Concomitant use of COPD controller medications also had no effect on this result.
{#F3}
After 2 weeks of twice-daily HS treatment, a significant slowing of whole lung MCC (Ave60Clr) from baseline ([figure 3a](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [table 3](#TB3){ref-type="table"}) was observed 12 h after the last dose of HS. No slowing was observed during the cough interval (Ave60--90Clr), suggesting that cilia, and not cough-driven clearance was reduced by repeated HS treatment. A similar, but nonsignificant pattern of slowed whole lung MCC from baseline was observed after 2 weeks of 0.12% saline use ([figure 3b](#F3){ref-type="fig"} and [table 3](#TB3){ref-type="table"}). Particle deposition indices (C/P and 24Clr; [table 3](#TB3){ref-type="table"}) were well matched across all visits and groups, reducing the risk that altered radioaerosol deposition confounded clearance measurements. The slowing of MCC after HS was driven by subjects not using COPD controller medications (mean difference: −9.9±2.4%) *versus* those using these concomitant treatments (mean difference: −1.1±1.6%; p=0.006).
*Post hoc* subgroup analyses {#s3f}
----------------------------
The striking abnormality in C region clearance in CB subjects ([figure 2](#F2){ref-type="fig"}) is reminiscent of observations made in patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia \[[@C31]\]. We, therefore, hypothesised that ciliary dysfunction may also contribute to the observed MCC defect. We further hypothesised that the clinical response to HS could depend upon whether ciliary function remained intact in CB subjects.
Indeed, CB subjects with residual (Ave60\>0; n=14) C region clearance experienced small but significant improvements from baseline in FEV~1~ % predicted (+2.4±4.0%; p=0.04) and SGRQ symptom scores (−8.2±13.1; p=0.04). No improvement in FEV~1~ (−2.6±5.8%; p=0.24) or symptoms (+0.4±14.3; p=0.94) were observed in the "absent clearance" group (AveClr60\<0; n=8), and no improvements were seen in either subgroup with 0.12% saline treatment. The effects of HS on spirometry and SGRQ were linearly related to baseline C MCC ([supplementary figure 2](http://openres.ersjournals.com/lookup/doi/10.1183/23120541.00269-2020.figures-only#fig-data-supplementary-materials)). Of note, improvements in clinical end-points in the "residual clearance" group were not mirrored by sustained improvement in MCC. In fact, significant slowing of MCC was observed with HS treatment in this group, as was observed in the overall group, and as previously reported in healthy volunteers \[[@C21]\]. Smoking status at the time of enrolment was not associated with the C region MCC phenotype and did not predict treatment responses. Concomitant use of COPD controller medications did not impact the observed effect of HS on FEV~1~ and symptom score.
Discussion {#s4}
==========
Aerosolised HS appeared to be generally safe in CB subjects with moderate obstruction. Only one subject demonstrated acute intolerance to HS but mean FEV~1~ measured 2 h after the first dose was not reduced by HS. However, no sustained improvements in spirometry, 6-min walk distance, or patient-reported outcomes were noted, although a trend toward an improved SGRQ symptom score, which exceeded the minimal clinically important difference value, was observed after 2 weeks of HS.
The absence of an acute MCC effect 20--25 min after inhaling HS is consistent with our previous observations in healthy volunteers \[[@C21]\], but contrasts with observations made in CF adults \[[@C12]\]. This probably reflects a short duration of HS action (*i.e.* \<20--25 min) on MCC in CB. In previous studies that did show an acute stimulation of MCC with HS in CB, HS was administered either immediately before the radiotracer (\<5 min) \[[@C18]\] or afterwards \[[@C17]\], allowing capture of an immediate HS effect on MCC/CC.
The paradoxical slowing of MCC following 2 weeks HS administration in CB subjects was unexpected. We previously observed slowing of MCC 4 h after a single administration of inhaled HS in healthy adults \[[@C21]\], an observation speculated to reflect depletion of mobile mucus on airway surfaces by HS. This postulated mechanism rested on studies by I[ravani]{.smallcaps} and [Van]{.smallcaps} A[s]{.smallcaps} \[[@C32]\], who observed that mobile mucus was normally transported as sparse mucus islands, rather than as a continuous mucus sheet. This model predicts that if the density of mobile mucus islands on airway surfaces was reduced by a preceding stimulus for clearance (*e.g.* HS), clearance of newly deposited tracer molecules would be slowed by increased deposition onto mucus depleted airways. The sustained enhancement of MCC by HS observed in CF \[[@C11]\] may reflect the presence of copious mucus on CF airway surfaces, providing a "reservoir" of mucus to mediate the prolonged acceleration of tracer particles trapped in HS-rehydrated mucus \[[@C10]\]. The failure to observe such an effect in COPD may reflect a lesser mucus burden. The clinical significance of MCC slowing after HS in CB is unknown, as is the mechanism explaining why this reduction was prevented by use of COPD controller medications.
Comparisons of the basal MCC patterns in CB and healthy subjects yielded insights into the multifactorial processes that impair MCC in COPD. Our observation of a striking central airway clearance defect ([table 4](#TB4){ref-type="table"}) and retrograde clearance from the trachea to central airways ([supplementary video](http://openres.ersjournals.com/lookup/doi/10.1183/23120541.00269-2020.figures-only#fig-data-supplementary-materials)) suggested a large airway ciliary abnormality. Preferential slowing of central airway clearance, reduced tracheal mucus velocity, and retrograde mucus flow in CB have also been reported previously \[[@C5], [@C33]--[@C35]\]. A ciliary defect in CB is further supported by reports of reduced numbers and dysfunctional cilia in human subjects with COPD with chronic cigarette smoke exposure \[[@C36]--[@C39]\], as well as animal data from I[ravani]{.smallcaps} and V[an]{.smallcaps} A[s]{.smallcaps} \[[@C32]\], who demonstrated dyssynchronous ciliary beating and disorganised MCC in a rat model of CB. Ciliary dysfunction, in addition to mucus hyper-concentration may, therefore, be a major contributor to abnormal central airways MCC in COPD.
COPD has been shown to involve the small airways *via* histopathology, imaging, and functional assessments \[[@C40]--[@C42]\]. In contrast, our data suggests that MCC is preserved in the peripheral lung ROI, whereas significant clearance defects are seen centrally. It should be emphasised, however, that MCC is only reported from airways where aerosolised radiolabelled tracer deposits. Our peripheral MCC rates, therefore, probably reflect clearance from relatively "healthy" *versus* more obstructed, peripheral airways. A combination of "lost" small airways with reduced large airway clearance may together explain the clinical findings of airflow obstruction, dyspnoea, exercise limitation, and propensity for infectious exacerbations.
Finally, we investigated whether there were differential responses to inhaled HS based on MCC patterns or other clinical features. Indeed, subjects with residual central airway mucus clearance exhibited significant improvements both in lung function and symptoms after HS. We postulate that HS improved the rheologic properties of mucus *via* rehydration, but this was only beneficial when intact ciliary function was present. Collectively, these findings suggest that specific CB patient populations, identifiable by baseline MCC measurements, might benefit from inhaled HS.
We acknowledge a few limitations to this clinical study. First, our sequential treatment periods were limited to 2 weeks duration. This design element was made to reduce variability that may confound longer crossover studies, and to match the treatment duration utilised in our previous HS trial in CF subjects \[[@C11]\]. It is possible that a longer duration trial would have substantiated the positive trends in symptom scores and lung function seen here in a subgroup, and allowed for assessment of exacerbations as an additional clinical end-point. Next, the small sample size reduces our ability to confidently assess the surprising improvements in lung function and symptoms after HS in a subgroup with preserved central ROI clearance at baseline, despite the absence of clinical benefits in the overall population. Finally, substantial lack of sputum data also prevented us from determining whether changes in sputum hydration occurred or predicted MCC or clinical changes.
Conclusion {#s4a}
----------
In summary, MCC rates were significantly reduced in the central airways of CB subjects. Although HS use appeared to be safe, it was not associated with improved spirometry, symptoms, or MCC in the overall CB cohort. MCC studies, however, identified a subset of CB subjects with preserved ciliary function that had improved spirometry and symptoms following 2 weeks of HS administration. The identification of biomarkers that reflect ciliary dysfunction may allow personalised therapy for subjects with the highly heterogeneous COPD syndrome.
Supplementary material {#s5}
======================
10.1183/23120541.00269-2020.Supp1
**Please note:** supplementary material is not edited by the Editorial Office, and is uploaded as it has been supplied by the author.
FIGURE S1 Subject disposition diagram. 00269-2020.figureS1
TABLE S1 Patient reported outcomes using St George's Respiratory Questionnaire for COPD (SGRQ-C) and Cough and Sputum Assessment Questionnaire (CASA-Q). Scores range from 0 to 100, with lower values indicating improvement. 00269-2020.tableS1
VIDEO S1 Posterior view of lungs (right and left as shown), trachea on center line above the lungs and stomach below the left lung. The sequence of 2-min frames in the cine: 1--17 (*i.e.* first 34 min of scanning) followed by frames 21-22, 26-27, 31-32, 36-37 (CC), 41-42 (CC) and 46-47 (CC) (*i.e.* 10-min intervals after the first 34 min through a total of 94 min). Thus, it is not completely linear with time after the first 17 frames and controlled cough (CC) occurred during the last six cine frames. The cine clearly shows retrograde movement of activity from the trachea back into the lungs during the first hour of imaging (through frame 32) with cough enhancing clearance (CC) beyond that time/frame. 00269-2020.videoS1
Author contributions: The study was conceptualised and designed by S.H. Donaldson, A.G. Henderson, R.C. Boucher, and W.D. Bennett. Data were acquired by A.G. Henderson, W.D. Bennett, K.L. Zeman, J. Wu, F. Fuller, S. Gazda, B. Button, and S.H. Donaldson. Data were analysed and interpreted by S.H. Donaldson, A. Ceppe, W.D. Bennett, A.G. Henderson, C. Gladman, and R.C. Boucher. The manuscript was drafted by W.D. Bennett and S.H. Donaldson, and revised by W.D. Bennett, S.H. Donaldson, A. Ceppe, R.C. Boucher, and A.G. Henderson.
This article has supplementary material available from [openres.ersjournals.com](openres.ersjournals.com)
This study is registered at [www.ClinicalTrials.gov](www.ClinicalTrials.gov) with identifier number NCT01792271. We will share individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article after deidentification (text, tables, figures and appendices). The study protocol, statistical analysis plan and analytic code will also be made available. They will be provided to anyone who wishes to access the data for any purpose beginning 3 months and ending 5 years following article publication. Requests for data should be directed to either Scott H. Donaldson (scott_donaldson\@med.unc.edu) or William D. Bennett (william_bennett\@med.unc.edu).
Conflict of interest: W.D. Bennett reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: A.G. Henderson reports grants from National Institutes of Health during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: A. Ceppe reports grants from NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: K.L. Zeman reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: J. Wu reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: C. Gladman reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH), during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: F. Fuller reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: S. Gazda reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: B. Button reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: R.C. Boucher reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study. Parion Sciences is a privately held UNC spin-out company focused on developing therapies for CF. He is chairman of the Board of Parion, has equity in it and has received monetary compensation as Board Chair.
Conflict of interest: S.H. Donaldson reports grants from the NHLBI (NIH) during the conduct of the study.
Support statement: This study was supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant NHLBI/NIH 1 P01 HL 108808. Funding information for this article has been deposited with the [Crossref Funder Registry](https://www.crossref.org/services/funder-registry/).
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
The User Interface for a Question Answering Computing System can produce responses to questions when entered. However, the response to the questions can take some amount of seconds if not minutes. Over time, the amount of time a question takes to answer and the accuracy of the answers can degrade. One reason for degradation could be hardware issues that adversely affect processing but are not severe enough to emerge as node failures. Another degradation mechanism could be incremental ingestion of corpus causing the machine learning state to gradually fall out of alignment, eventually requiring a machine learning retraining process.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
But if the scale of the attacks is roughly similar, the political reaction to them has been dramatically different. On February 15 and 16, reporters asked Trump about rising anti-Semitism in two successive press conferences. When Trump flubbed his answers, CNN reported that, “it was fast becoming politically damaging for Trump not to adopt a stern, public line against the [anti-Semitic] incidents.” Even after Trump specifically and forcefully condemned anti-Semitism on February 21, CNN declared that his words “can’t stop questions about his motives.” An NBC News report wondered whether it was “Too Little, Too Late?”
There’s been no similar pressure on Trump to condemn attacks on American Muslims. The press has certainly covered Trump’s attitudes—and those of his top advisors—toward Islam, particularly since he announced a ban on travel from seven majority-Muslim nations on January 27. But attacks on American mosques have received far less attention than the bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers. As far as I’m aware, no reporter has asked Trump about them at a press conference. And no major network would suggest that Trump’s failure “to adopt a stern, public line” against Islamophobia has been “politically damaging.”
What explains the difference? One answer is assimilation. With the exception of African Americans, American Muslims are a largely immigrant community. By contrast, most American Jews came a century ago. That helps explain why Jews are better represented at elite levels of the press and government, and in a better position to press their community’s concerns. Among the people who appear to have nudged Trump into a condemnation of anti-Semitism are his Jewish-convert daughter, who tweeted about the JCC attacks, and his Jewish son-in-law. If Trump had a Muslim son-in-law and a Muslim-convert daughter, they might have pushed him to publicly condemn attacks on mosques. (In fact, they might have challenged his slandering of Muslims throughout the campaign). But the scenario is hard to imagine because the social distance between American Muslims and elite, native-born, families like the Trumps remains so large.
The second answer concerns the way anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim bigotry are discussed in American politics. In Washington, everyone who matters politically considers anti-Semitism an indefensible sin. If a Jewish reporter or activist claims that it is rising, neither mainstream liberals nor mainstream conservatives are likely to accuse her of ulterior motives. Liberals and conservatives may argue about the reasons for rising anti-Semitism. Liberals are more likely to blame the alt-right. Conservatives often link anti-Semitism to criticism of Israel. But neither side minimizes the problem.
Islamophobia, by contrast, evokes a bitter ideological struggle. It’s not that mainstream conservatives approve of vandalizing mosques. But many believe the left is whitewashing Islam. And they view accusations of Islamophobia as an effort to discredit Islam’s critics, e.g. people like them.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
This invention relates to a flow control unit for accurately controlling the flow of fluid through a length of flexible tubing. More particularly, this invention relates to a combined clamp and flow control member which exerts a compressive force on a length of tubing over a wide area so as to prevent any permanent crimping of the tubing after the force is alleviated. The combined clamp and flow control member can completely compress the walls of the tubing so as to prevent fluid flow.
Clamping devices or fluid flow control units of the type concerned with in this invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,595,511 and 3,099,429. In these units, rollers are employed to exert an increasing or decreasing force upon flexible tubing so as to control the flow of fluid therethrough. The problem in employing clamps or flow regulating devices of these types is in the type of clamping action which a roller effects against a length of flexible tubing. When a roller contacts a length of tubing to compress it against a solid surface, the contact points on the roller compose a very small area at the circumference of the roller. The smaller the roller the more this is of a problem. In constructing a flow control unit to be used in conjunction with a parenteral solution unit large rollers are not practical. The prior art nowhere teaches a flow control device, and particularly of the disposable type, which is relatively small in construction yet can effect precise control of fluid through flexible tubing. Neither is there available a flow control unit which can serve as a combined clamp and flow control means which can be fabricated with a minimum number of parts and without costly molding techniques.
It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a combined clamp and flow control member which can precisely control the flow of fluid through flexible tubing without deforming the tubing for extensive periods of time after the compressive force is discontinued. Other advantages are a flow control unit which is disposable, employs a minimum number of parts, can be readily utilized with a single hand and can be fabricated without expensive molding procedures.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Federal Court Sentences Clinton Man on Threating Communication Charge
Federal Court Sentences Clinton Man on Threating Communication Charge
DAVENPORT, IA—On December 4, 2015, Gerald W. Ledford, age 57, of Clinton, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose to four years’ probation, with the first six months in home confinement, after pleading guilty to transmitting a threatening communication, announced Acting United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. Ledford was also ordered to pay $100 to the Crime Victims Fund, to have no contact with the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center or any of its employees, to allow a search of his residence under certain conditions, and to restrict his possession of a computer or access to the Internet without prior approval by the United States Probation Office.
On October 20, 2014, an employee of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC) discovered two messages posted to the ISBCC’s Facebook page. The ISBCC is located in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and is a member of the New England Muslim community. According to its website, the ISBCC is not just a mosque, but a dynamic cultural center that is designed to serve the entire community by offering a variety of educational, spiritual, and social services. The first post made derogatory statements about “Mohamed,” and made threats to harm Muslims. The second post also made a threat of violence toward Muslims.
The Facebook page posting these two messages displayed the name “Gerry Ledford” and was identified with a unique account identification number. This account was deactivated on November 14, 2014. A “friend” of this account was another Facebook publically viewable page under the name of “Gerry.ledford.3,” also with a unique account identification number. Search warrants were obtained for both of these Facebook accounts. Based on information obtained from these search warrants these accounts had certain personal identifiers, such as date of birth, hometown, current city of residence, educational history and digital photographs that were consistent with the same personally identifiable information about Gerald Ledford. Both accounts logged in from an identified Internet Protocol (IP) address identified to a known family member of Ledford’s. Information obtained from the search warrants showed that one of these identified Facebook accounts conducted a search for the ISBCC on October 19, 2014. A day before the posted messages, one of these Facebook accounts was used to search for information about the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” and two minutes later a search for information on the “Islamic Society of Boson Cultural Center (ISBCC).” Additional searches were conducted on similar topics both before and after October 19, 2014.
Gerald Ledford admitted in his plea proceeding that he was the individual user registered to these Facebook accounts, that on or about October 19, 2014, he knowingly posted these two threatening messages, and that he individually selected this victim because of the religious affiliation of ISBCC. Gerald Ledford further admitted that he knew that these two messages would be viewed as a threat.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Clinton, Iowa, Police Department. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Like this:
Related
Stephen wrote, “Accordingly, anyone who is not an anarchist must maintain either: (a) aggression is justified; or (b) states (in particular, minimal states) do not necessarily employ aggression.
“Proposition (b) is plainly false. States always tax their citizens, which is a form of aggression.”
On the contrary, neither (a) nor (b) is required for a rejection of anarchism. It is not essential to the nature of a government that it tax its citizens. It can get revenue voluntarily in a number of different ways. What is essential to government is not that it tax its citizens but that it have a uniform system of laws over a well-defined geographical area.
Just the opposite: A defense agency uses physical force in defense of its clients. Competing defense agencies would, therefore, use physical force in defense of their clients’ competing claims and interests, which would necessarily entail aggressive force on the part of at least one of the competing agencies.
In order to prevent this kind of civil warfare and corresponding aggression, a uniform code of laws based on individual rights would have to be established with procedural rules guaranteeing its proper administration. This would require a single authorized enforcement agency administering a legitimate form of retaliatory force against those who violate is laws: in other words, a government.
The government would, in turn, require that whoever is enforcing its laws be certified as understanding its enforcement procedures so as to ensure respect for the rights of any accused violators. Accordingly, a civil constitution would have to be established overseeing the administration of the government’s laws and procedures.
Far from ensuring a respect for individual rights, anarcho-capitalism necessarily involves a violation of those rights. It necessarily entails the use of aggressive force on the part of competing defense agencies. Only a government with a monopoly on retaliatory force can ensure a respect for the rights and liberties of its citizens.
William’s comment seems to make some hidden assumptions. Otherwise, I don’t see how his conclusions follow from his premises.
“A defense agency uses physical force in defense of its clients. Competing defense agencies would, therefore, use physical force in defense of their clients’ competing claims and interests, which would necessarily entail aggressive force[…].” A defense agency is an organization to which persons may delegate their right of self-defense. If persons have no right to commit aggression, they cannot delegate such a right to others. If they have a right of self-defense, they may delegate this right. William seems to assume that defense agencies are just thugs for hire who will sound the battle cry at their customers’ whim, rather than peace officers who try to prevent aggression or put an end to it when it occurs. I agree that we cannot merely assume that a DA will perform as we wish, but we have even less reason to believe the state monopoly will perform as we wish.
I’m Stephan, not Stephen. Do you call a girl named Stephanie “Stevenie”?
“On the contrary, neither (a) nor (b) is required for a rejection of anarchism.”
This is a common habit of statists: instead of saying they favor the state and its aggression, they say they “reject anarchism.” It’s a way of avoiding admitting what they really are for. Instead of saying “I favor murder and robbery by the state” they say “Oh, libertarians haven’t come up with a convincing case for their view.” That kind of thing.
“It is not essential to the nature of a government that it tax its citizens.”
Notice he says “government” instead of the more accurate state. And also–if there is an agency that doesn’t tax, well, news for you–anarchists don’t oppose it. But of course statists favor the state and its ability to tax. Sometimes they call it “government” to confuse or equivocate. Sometimes they pretend that it can get its taxes voluntarily. Though funnily enough, it never, ever, does so.
” It can get revenue voluntarily in a number of different ways. What is essential to government is not that it tax its citizens but that it have a uniform system of laws over a well-defined geographical area.”
And if it can outlaw competition and force people to join and force them not to hire competing agencies, it can charge a monopoly price for its services. Hmm, you know, this monopoly price sure sounds like a tax to me!
“Just the opposite: A defense agency uses physical force in defense of its clients. Competing defense agencies would, therefore, use physical force in defense of their clients’ competing claims and interests, which would necessarily entail aggressive force on the part of at least one of the competing agencies.”
“In order to prevent this kind of civil warfare and corresponding aggression, a uniform code of laws based on individual rights would have to be established with procedural rules guaranteeing its proper administration. This would require a single authorized enforcement agency administering a legitimate form of retaliatory force against those who violate is laws: in other words, a government.”
Aaaaand this logic would require a one-world government. Congrats, Randians, welcome to 1984!
“The government would, in turn, require that whoever is enforcing its laws be certified as understanding its enforcement procedures so as to ensure respect for the rights of any accused violators. Accordingly, a civil constitution would have to be established overseeing the administration of the government’s laws and procedures.”
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Not in the idiomatic sense; some guy actually took the team's shirts away. The Worcester Tornadoes played a game wearing jerseys that said "The Grays" because the team's been passing off some bad checks. The uniforms were last used in 2007 by a Can-Am league traveling team.
Several area businesses that support the Tornadoes have sued the team to recover owed money and in the meantime, as some kind of dual-meaning collateral, the team's jerseys have been confiscated by an attorney representing the businesses. The sad part is, Worcester saw this coming.
According to league commissioner Miles Wolff, the uniforms were delivered to the team last week while it was playing games in New Jersey, expecting its Tornadoes jerseys would be taken when it arrived back in Worcester on Wednesday.
Jose Canseco has also been victimized by the Worcester regime—allegedly. Worcester was a stop in his Please Someone, Anyone, Let Me Play Baseball tour that ended around the time Jose had some nagging injuries and the team "want[ed] him to heal." In a suit claiming damages of $360,000, Canseco alleges checks worth approximately $7,000 were from accounts with insufficient funds.
Advertisement
The suit further accuses the team and [Team owner Todd] Breighner of misappropriating Mr. Canseco's name and likeness, causing him severe emotional distress through threats and verbal abuse and affecting his professional reputation through false statements.
Yep. It's entirely possible that Jose Canseco could have it legally declared that someone other than Jose Canseco ruined his professional reputation (Market value: $353,000). Not the best of times for the Worcester Tornadoes.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
---
abstract: 'Recently Chen and Shao developed a Stein-type method to obtain bounds on the closeness of the distribution of a general nonlinear statistic to that of a linear approximation. We generalize these results so as to allow one to use lesser moment restrictions when applied to nonlinear statistics expressed as smooth enough functions of sums of independent random vectors. Our main innovation in the method is the use of a Cramér-type of tilt transform. Other techniques used to obtain improvements include exponential and Rosenthal-type inequalities for sums of random vectors established by Pinelis and Sakhanenko. As applications, Berry-Esséen type bounds are obtained for concrete nonlinear statistics such as the Pearson correlation coefficient and the non-central Student and Hotelling statistics.'
address: |
Department of Mathematical Sciences\
Michigan Technological University\
Houghton, Michigan 49931
author:
- Iosif Pinelis
- Raymond Molzon
bibliography:
- 'citations.bib'
date: '; *file*: .tex'
title: '[Berry-Esséen bounds for general nonlinear statistics, with applications to Pearson’s and non-central Student’s and Hotelling’s]{}'
---
Introduction {#sec:intro}
============
We were interested in studying certain properties of the Pitman asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE) between Pearson’s, Kendall’s, and Spearman’s correlation coefficients. As is well known (see e.g. [@noe55]), the standard expression for the Pitman ARE is applicable when the distributions of the corresponding test statistics are close to normality uniformly over a neighborhood of the null set of distributions. Such uniform closeness can usually be provided by Berry-Esséen (BE) type of bounds.
Kendall’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients are instances of $U$-statistics, for which BE bounds are well known; see e.g. [@kor94]. As for the Pearson statistic (say $R$), we have not been able to find a BE bound in the literature.
This may not be very surprising, considering that an optimal BE bound for the somewhat similar (and, perhaps, somewhat simpler) Student’s statistic was obtained only in 1996, by Bentkus and Götze [@bent96] for independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables (r.v.’s) and by Bentkus, Bloznelis and Götze [@bbg96] in the general, non-i.i.d. case. (A necessary and sufficient condition, in the i.i.d. case, for the Student statistic to be asymptotically standard normal was established only in 1997 by Giné, Götze and Mason [@ggm].) For more recent developments concerning the Student statistic, see e.g. the 2005 paper by Shao [@shao05].
Employing such simple and standard tools as linearization together with the Chebyshev and Rosenthal inequalities, we quickly obtained (in the i.i.d. case) a uniform bound of the form $O(n^{-1/3})$ for the Pearson statistic. Indeed, Pearson’s $R$ can be expressed as $f({{\overline{}}}V)$, a smooth nonlinear function of the sample mean ${{\overline{}}}V=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nV_i$, where the $V_i$’s are independent zero-mean random vectors constructed based on the observations of a random sample; cf. . A natural approximation to $f({{\overline{}}}V)$ is the linear statistic $L({{\overline{}}}V)=\sum_{i=1}^n L(\frac1n V_i)$, where $L$ is the linear functional that is the first derivative of $f$ at the origin. Since BE bounds for linear statistics is a well-studied subject, we are left with estimating the closeness between $f({{\overline{}}}V)$ and $L({{\overline{}}}V)$. Assuming $f$ is smooth enough, one will have $|f({{\overline{}}}V)-L({{\overline{}}}V)|$ on the order of ${\lVert{{\overline{}}}V\rVert}^2$, and so, demonstrating the smallness of this remainder term becomes the main problem.
Using (instead of the mentioned Rosenthal inequality) exponential inequalities for sums of random vectors due to Pinelis and Sakhanenko [@pinsak85] or Pinelis [@pin94; @pin95], for each $p\in(2,3)$, under the assumption of the finiteness of the $p$th moment of the norm of the $V_i$’s, one can obtain a uniform bound of the form $O(1/n^{p/2-1})$, which is similar to the BE bound for a linear statistic with a comparable moment restriction. However, the corresponding constant factor in the $O(1/n^{p/2-1})$ will then explode to infinity as $p\uparrow3$. As for $p{\geqslant}3$, this method produces bounds of order $O((\ln n)^{3/2}/\sqrt n)$ (for $p=3$) and $O((\ln n)/\sqrt n)$ (for $p>3$), with extra logarithmic factors. Concerning this method and the corresponding results, see Proposition \[prop:suboptimal.exp\] in the present paper.
While any of these bounds would have sufficed as far as the ARE is concerned, we became interested in obtaining an optimal-rate BE bound for the Pearson statistic. Soon after that, we came across the recent remarkable paper by Chen and Shao [@chen07]. Suppose that $T$ is any nonlinear statistic and $W$ is any linear one, and let ${\Delta}:=T-W$; then make the simple observation that $$\label{eq:concentr}
-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z-|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z){\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z){\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z+|{\Delta}|)$$ for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$. Chen and Shao [@chen07] offer a Stein-type method to provide relatively simple bounds on the two concentration probabilities in the above inequality, hence bounding the distance between $T$ and $W$; the reader is referred e.g. to [@barbour05] for illustrations of the elegance and power of Stein’s method to a wide array of problems. Chen and Shao provided a number of applications of their general results.
However, in the applications that we desired, such as to Pearson’s $R$, it was difficult to deal with ${\Delta}=T-W$, as defined above. The simple cure applied here was to allow for any ${\Delta}{\geqslant}|T-W|$, so that, for $T=f({{\overline{}}}V)$, $W=L({{\overline{}}}V)$, and smooth enough $f$, the random variable ${\Delta}$ could be taken as ${\lVert{{\overline{}}}V\rVert}^2$ (up to some multiplicative constant). This allowed for a BE bound of order $O(1/\sqrt n)$, though under the excessive moment restriction that $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertV_i\rVert}^4<\infty$.
To obtain a BE bound of the “optimal” order $O(1/\sqrt n)$ using only the assumption $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertV_i\rVert}^3<\infty$, we combine the Chen-Shao technique with a Cramér-type tilt transform, which appears to be the most important and novel modification of the Stein-type method given in the present paper. Yet another modification was made by introducing a second level of truncation, to obtain a bound of order $O(1/n^{p/2-1})$ in the case when $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertV_i\rVert}^p<\infty$ for $p\in[2,3)$. As for the requirement that the observations be identically distributed, it may (and will) be dispensed in general; that is, ${{\overline{}}}V$ will in general be replaced by a sum $S$ of independent but not necessarily identically distributed random vectors.
There are two main groups of results in this paper. One is represented by Theorem \[thm:nub\], which provides a “non-uniform” upper bound on $|{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)|$ (that is, an upper bound which decreases to $0$ in $|z|$), for a general nonlinear statistic $T$ and a general linear statistic $W$; a “uniform” bound on $|{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)|$ is given by Theorem \[thm:ub\]. The other kind of main results, obtained based on Theorems \[thm:ub\] and \[thm:nub\], is represented by Theorem \[thm:f(S).nub\], which provides a non-uniform upper bound on $|{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(f(S){\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(L(S){\leqslant}z)|$; it is the latter bound that took more of our time and effort. Once such a bound is established, it becomes rather straightforward to obtain the desired BE bound for the Pearson statistic — as well as for other similar statistics, including the non-central Student and Hotelling ones.
The paper is organized as follows.
1. In Section \[sec:chen.mod\], we state and discuss the mentioned upper bounds on $|{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)|$ for general $T$ and $W$, as well as certain other related results; in particular, in this section we provide an improvement (Proposition \[prop:osipov\]) of a non-uniform BE bound by Osipov and Petrov for linear statistics.
2. In Section \[sec:f(S)\], the mentioned Theorem \[thm:f(S).nub\] and other results are stated, providing bounds on $|{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(f(S){\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(L(S){\leqslant}z)|$; a certain optimality and other nice properties of these bounds are presented and discussed there.
3. Applications to several commonly used statistics, namely the non-central Student $T$, the Pearson $R$, and the non-central Hotelling $T^2$ are stated in Section \[sec:apps\]. The resulting BE bounds for these statistics appear to be new to the literature.
4. All proofs are deferred to Section \[sec:proofs\].
Approximation of the distributions of nonlinear statistics by the distributions of linear ones {#sec:chen.mod}
==============================================================================================
Let $X_1,\dotsc,X_n$ be independent r.v.’s with values in some measurable space ${\mathfrak{X}}$, and let $T\colon{\mathfrak{X}}^n\to{\mathbb{R}}$ be a statistic of the random sample $(X_i)_{i=1}^n$. Further let $$\label{eq:xi,eta}
\xi_i:=g_i(X_i)
\quad\text{and}\quad
\eta_i:=h_i(X_i)$$ for $i=1,\dotsc,n$, where $g_i\colon{\mathfrak{X}}\to{\mathbb{R}}$ and $h_i\colon{\mathfrak{X}}\to{\mathbb{R}}$ are Borel-measurable functions. Assume that $$\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i=0\text{ for all $i=1,\dotsc,n$, and }\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i^2=1.$$ Consider the linear statistic $$\label{eq:W}
W:=\sum_{i=1}^n\xi_i.$$ Further let ${\delta}$ be any real number such that $$\label{eq:de}
\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|\xi_i|\bigl(\delta\wedge|\xi_i|\bigr){\geqslant}\tfrac12;$$ note that such a number always exists (because the limit of the left-hand side of as ${\delta}\uparrow\infty$ is 1). Necessarily, ${\delta}>0$. Also consider the sum of the mixed second-third moments $$\label{eq:beta}
{\beta}:=\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\bigl(\xi_i^2\wedge|\xi_i|^3\bigr)
=\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i^2{\operatorname{I}\big\{|\xi_i|>1\big\}}
+\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|\xi_i|^3{\operatorname{I}\big\{|\xi_i|{\leqslant}1\big\}}.$$
\[thm:ub\] Let ${\Delta}$ be any r.v. such that ${\lvert{\Delta}\rvert}{\geqslant}{\lvertT-W\rvert}$. For each $i=1,\dotsc,n$, let ${\Delta}_i$ be any r.v. such that $X_i$ and $({\Delta}_i,W-\xi_i)$ are independent. Then for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ $$\label{eq:ub}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}4{\delta}+\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvertW{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\big\rvert}
+\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert\xi_i({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)\big\rvert}
+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\max_i{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)}$$ and $$\label{eq:ub2}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}2{\beta}+\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvertW{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\big\rvert}
+\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert\xi_i({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)\big\rvert}
+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\max_i{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)},$$ where ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}$ is any r.v. such that $$\label{eq:barDe}
{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}={\Delta}\quad\text{on the event}\quad\Bigl\{\max_{1{\leqslant}i{\leqslant}n}{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}{\leqslant}1\Bigr\}.$$ Further, for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ $$\label{eq:ub3}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-\Phi(z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}6.1{\beta}+\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvertW{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\big\rvert}
+\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert\xi_i({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)\big\rvert}
+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\max_i{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)},$$ where $\Phi(z)$ is the standard normal distribution function.
\[re:ub\] Inequalities , , and are the same as ones found in Chen and Shao’s paper [@chen07 Theorem 2.1], with two exceptions. In the first place, there they defined ${\Delta}$ to be *equal* to $T-W$. The second generalization comes from an added truncation level via the inclusion of ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}$ and the subsequent addition of the term ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\max_i{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1)$. As bounding $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|\xi_i(T-W-{\Delta}_i)|$ may be rather cumbersome depending on the form of $T-W$, the first generalization allows one to choose a possibly larger ${\Delta}$ which would be more amenable to analysis. However, if that ${\Delta}$ should happen to be “too large,” (i.e. if it violates some moment assumptions) the second generalization allows one to truncate ${\Delta}$ to within acceptable constraints. This will prove useful in the construction of the Berry-Esséen type bounds of Section \[sec:f(S)\], when $p\in[2,3)$, though it should be noted that a choice of $h_i=0$ (say) and ${\Delta}=T-W$ returns us to the original bounds in [@chen07]. These two generalizations are also used in the non-uniform bounds of Theorem \[thm:nub\] below.
Before stating the “non-uniform” extension of Theorem \[thm:ub\], let us introduce some notation. For arbitrary $p\in[1,\infty)$, let $$\label{eq:si_p}
{\sigma}_p:=\biggl(\sum_{i=1}^n{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p^p\biggr)^{1/p},$$ where ${\lVertX\rVert}_p:=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}^{1/p}|X|^p$ for any real-valued r.v. $X$. Further, for any $n$-tuple $(\zeta_1,\dotsc,\zeta_n)$ of real-valued r.v.’s, let $$G_\zeta(z):=\sum_{i=1}^n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(|\zeta_i|>z)$$ for arbitrary $z{\geqslant}0$, where the subscript $\zeta$ refers to the $\zeta_i$’s.
Let $A$ denote positive absolute constants, possibly different in different instances. Similarly, let $A(p)$ denote positive expressions depending only on $p$, also possibly different in different instances. Additionally let $$a{\leqslant}_p b\quad\text{mean}\quad a{\leqslant}A(p)b,$$ where $a,b$ are nonnegative expressions; the use of this simplifying notation may sometimes result in a loss of information, though the information could be regained by reworking the arguments.
\[thm:nub\] Let ${\Delta}$ be any r.v. such that ${\lvert{\Delta}\rvert}{\geqslant}{\lvertT-W\rvert}$. For each $i=1,\dotsc,n$, let ${\Delta}_i$ be any r.v. such that $X_i$ and $({\Delta}_i,(X_j\colon j\neq i))$ are independent, and assume that the mentioned Borel-measurable functions $g_i$ and $h_i$ are such that ${\lverth_i\rvert}{\geqslant}{\lvertg_i\rvert}$, so that $|\xi_i|{\leqslant}|\eta_i|$ almost surely (a.s). Take any $p{\geqslant}2$ and let $q:=\frac p{p-1}$, so that $\frac1p+\frac1q=1$. Then for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ $$\label{eq:nub}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)\big\rvert}{\leqslant}_p{\gamma}_z+\tau e^{-|z|/3},$$ where $$\begin{gathered}
\label{eq:ga_z}
{\gamma}_z:={{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl({\lvert{\Delta}\rvert}>\tfrac{|z|+1}{3}\Bigr)}
+G_\xi\Bigl(\tfrac{|z|+1}{3}\Bigr)
+\sum_{i=1}^n{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl({\lvertW-\xi_i\rvert}>\tfrac{|z|-2}{3}\Bigr)}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1)},
\\\label{eq:tau}
\tau:= \bigl({\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rVert}_q+{\delta}\bigr)(1+{\sigma}_p)
+\sum_{i=1}^n{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_q
,
$$ and ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}$ is any r.v. satisfying .
As will be made clear in the proof, $\tau$ in could be replaced by $$ \bigl({\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rVert}_{q_1}+{\delta}\bigr)(1+{\sigma}_{p_1})
+{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}\limits_{i=1}^n{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_{p_2}{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_{q_2}
$$ for two different sets of conjugate numbers $(p_1,q_1)$ and $(p_2,q_2)$, with $p_1,p_2{\geqslant}2$ and $p_1\neq p_2$ a distinct possibility; $A(p)$ (suppressed by the “${\leqslant}_p$” notation) would then be replaced by $A(p_1,p_2)$, depending only on $p_1$ and $p_2$.
For $p=2$ (and with $h_i=g_i$ and ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}={\Delta}=T-W$), Theorem \[thm:nub\] was obtained by Chen and Shao [@chen07 Theorem 2.2]. The more general form of the bound given by allows one to lessen moment restrictions. Indeed, in applications of Theorem \[thm:nub\] given in this paper – such as Theorem \[thm:f(S).nub\] – one will have $|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|$ on the order of $\|S\|^2$ and $|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i|$ on the order of $\|X_i\|^2+\|X_i\|\,\|S-X_i\|$, where $S:=\sum_{i=1}^nX_i$ and the $X_i$’s are independent random vectors. So, using Theorem \[thm:nub\] with $p=3$ (and hence $q=\frac32$) in order to obtain a bound of the classical form $O(\frac1{\sqrt n(|z|+1)^3})$, one will need only the 3rd moments of $\|X_i\|$ to be finite. On the other hand, using with $p=2$ to get the same kind of bound would require the finiteness of the 4th moments of $\|X_i\|$.
Bound on the closeness of the distribution of the linear approximation $W$ to that of the original statistic $T$ can be complemented by the following bounds on the closeness of the distribution of the linear statistic $W$ to the standard normal distribution.
\[prop:osipov\] Let $p{\geqslant}2$. Then for $W$ as in , $\xi_i$ and $\eta_i$ as in with $|\xi_i|{\leqslant}|\eta_i|$ a.s. for $i=1,\dotsc,n$, and for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ one has $$\label{eq:B}
{\big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)}-\Phi(z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p B(z,p):=B_1(z)\wedge B_2(z,p),$$ where $$\label{eq:BCS}
B_1(z):=
\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\biggl(\Bigl(\frac{|\xi_i|}{|z|+1}\Bigr)^2\wedge\Bigl(\frac{|\xi_i|}{|z|+1}\Bigr)^3\biggr)$$ and $$\label{eq:os}
B_2(z,p):=
G_\eta\Bigl(\frac{|z|+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{G_\xi(1)}{(|z|+1)^p}+\frac{{\sigma}_3^3}{e^{|z|/2}}\Bigr)
{\operatorname{I}\big\{(|z|+1)^pG_\eta\bigl(\tfrac{|z|+1}{\frac p2+1}\bigr)<1\big\}}.$$
Note that the bound $B_1(z)$ in was obtained in a more general form by Bikelis [@bik66 Theorem 4] (see also [@pet75 Chapter V, Supplement 24]), and also in its present form by Chen and Shao [@chen01 Theorem 2.2]. The more classical non-uniform version of the Berry-Esséen inequality is implied by : $${\big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)}-\Phi(z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p B_1(z)
{\leqslant}\frac{{\sigma}_p^p}{(|z|+1)^p}$$ when $p\in[2,3]$. This was also stated, for $p=3$, in [@chen05]; the case when $p=3$ and the $\xi_i$’s are i.i.d. is due to Nagaev [@nag65].
Similarly, when $g_i=h_i$ (and hence $\xi_i=\eta_i$) for $i=1,\dotsc,n$, and Chebyshev’s inequality imply $${\big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)}-\Phi(z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p B_2(z,p)
{\leqslant}_p\frac{{\sigma}_p^p}{(|z|+1)^p}+\frac{{\sigma}_3^3}{e^{|z|/2}},$$ which is a generalization and improvement of the known Osipov-Petrov theorem (see [@pet75 Theorem 13 of Chapter V] and also Osipov [@osip67]); that theorem was given for $p{\geqslant}3$, i.i.d. $\xi_i$’s, and with $(|z|+1)^p$ in place of $e^{|z|/2}$. While this latter bound may appear more familiar, the accuracy provided by the sum of the tail probabilities $G_\eta$ in (rather than the sum of the absolute moments given by ${\sigma}_p^p$) shall prove useful.
In the remainder of the paper, uniform and non-uniform bounds on the distance between the distributions of the nonlinear statistic $T$ and its linear approximation $W$ shall be stated, with the acknowledgement that Proposition \[prop:osipov\] may be used to place a bound on the distance between the distribution of $T$ and the standard normal distribution. Further, non-uniform bounds shall be stated for $z$ sufficiently far away from the origin, with the understanding that the accompanying uniform bound may be used for the small $|z|$. In anticipation of the results of the next section, let us also state
\[cor:nub\] If the conditions of Theorem \[thm:nub\] are satisfied, then for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ such that $|z|{\geqslant}1$, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:nub2}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(|{\Delta}|>\frac{|z|}{3}\Bigr)}
+G_\eta\Bigl(\frac{2|z|}{3p}\Bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{G_\eta(1)}{|z|^p}+\frac{\tau}{e^{|z|/3}}\Bigr)
\,{\operatorname{I}\big\{|z|^pG_\eta\bigl(\tfrac{2|z|}{3p}\bigr)<1\big\}}.\end{aligned}$$
Berry-Esséen bounds for nonlinear functions of sums of independent random vectors {#sec:f(S)}
=================================================================================
In this section, we shall use results of Section \[sec:chen.mod\]. Assume from hereon that $({\mathfrak{X}},\|\cdot\|)$ is a separable Banach space of type 2; for a definition and properties of such spaces, see e.g. [@hoff76; @pin86]. Let $X_1,\dotsc,X_n$ be independent random vectors in ${\mathfrak{X}}$, with $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X_i=0$ and $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertX_i\rVert}^2<\infty$ for $i=1,\dotsc,n$, and also let $$\begin{gathered}
S:=\sum_{i=1}^nX_i,
\\
\|X_i\|_p:=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}^{1/p}\|X_i\|^p,
\\
s_p:=\Big(\sum\limits_{i=1}^n{\lVertX_i\rVert}_p^p\Big)^{1/p}
=\Big(\sum\limits_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\|X_i\|^p\Big)^{1/p},
\\
G_X(z):=\sum_{i=1}^n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertX_i\rVert}>z),\end{gathered}$$ for any $p{\geqslant}1$ and $z{\geqslant}0$. Under this notation, note the assumption that ${\mathfrak{X}}$ is of type 2 implies the existence of a constant $D:=D({\mathfrak{X}})>0$ such that $$\label{eq:D}
{\lVertS\rVert}_2{\leqslant}D s_2.$$ We shall assume that $D$ is chosen to be minimal with respect to this property; note that $D=1$ (and there is equality in ) whenever ${\mathfrak{X}}$ is a Hilbert space.
\[rem:2-smooth\] The results of this section hold for vector martingales taking values in a 2-smooth separable Banach space; in such a case, one can apply results of [@pin94] instead of the ones of [@pinsak85] used in the present paper. By [@hoff76; @pin94], every 2-smooth Banach space is of type 2. It is known that $L^p$ spaces are $2$-smooth, and hence of type 2, for $p{\geqslant}2$ [@pin94 Proposition 2.1]. In particular, any separable Hilbert space is of type 2.
Let next $f\colon{\mathfrak{X}}\to{\mathbb{R}}$ be a functional with $f(0)=0$, satisfying the following smoothness condition: there exist ${\epsilon}>0$, $M>0$, and nonzero $L\in{\mathfrak{X}}^*$ such that $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:smooth}
{\big\lvertf(x)-L(x)\big\rvert}{\leqslant}\frac M2\,\|x\|^2\quad\text{for all $x\in{\mathfrak{X}}$ such that }\|x\|{\leqslant}{\epsilon}.\end{aligned}$$ Thus, the continuous linear functional $L$ necessarily coincides with the first Fréchet derivative, $f'(0)$, of the function $f$ at $0$. Moreover, for the smoothness condition to hold, it is enough that the second derivative $f''(x)$ exist and be bounded (in the operator norm) by $M$ over all $x\in{\mathfrak{X}}$ with $\|x\|{\leqslant}{\epsilon}$. If ${\mathfrak{X}}$ is a finite-dimensional Euclidian space, the latter condition means that the largest singular value of the Hessian matrix of $f$ be bounded by $M$ over all $x\in{\mathfrak{X}}$ with $\|x\|{\leqslant}{\epsilon}$.
Then we have the following uniform Berry-Esséen type bound on $f(S)$:
\[thm:f(S).ub\] Let $X_1,\dotsc,X_n$ be independent random vectors in ${\mathfrak{X}}$ with $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X_i=0$ and $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\|X_i\|^2<\infty$ for all $i=1,\dotsc,n$. If $f\colon{\mathfrak{X}}\to{\mathbb{R}}$ satisfies and $$\label{eq:si}
{\sigma}:=\sqrt{\operatorname{\mathbb{V}ar}L(S)}=\sqrt{{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_{i=1}^n{\lVertL(X_i)\rVert}_2^2}>0,$$ then for all $p{\geqslant}2$ and $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ one has $$\label{eq:f(S).ub}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f(S)}{{\sigma}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{L(S)}{{\sigma}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon}\bigr)}
+{\lambda}_{p\wedge3}^{p\wedge3}
+G_X\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr)
+\Gamma,$$ where $$\begin{gathered}
\label{eq:la_p}
{\lambda}_{\alpha}:={\lVertL\rVert}\,\frac{s_{\alpha}}{{\sigma}},\\
\label{eq:Ga}
{\Gamma}:=
\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\,\Bigl((u^2+v^2)(1+{\lambda}_p)+{\lambda}_p{\lambda}_qv\Bigr),
\\\label{eq:C1}
C_1:=\frac{M}{2}\vee\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}}{{\epsilon}},
\\\label{eq:u}
u:={\lambda}_{2q}{\operatorname{I}\{p{\geqslant}3\}}+{\lambda}_p^{(p-1)/2}\,{\operatorname{I}\{p<3\}},
\\\label{eq:v}
v:=D{\lambda}_2+{\lambda}_p^p\,{\operatorname{I}\{p<3\}},\end{gathered}$$ and $q:=\frac{p}{p-1}$.
\[re:|S|\] The term ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})$ in can be bounded in a variety of ways. For instance, using Chebyshev’s inequality and , $${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})
{\leqslant}\frac{{\lVertS\rVert}_2^2}{{\epsilon}^2}
{\leqslant}\frac{D^2s_2^2}{{\epsilon}^2},$$ or alternatively $${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})
{\leqslant}\frac{{\lVertS\rVert}_p^p}{{\epsilon}^p}
{\leqslant}_p\frac{s_p^p+D^ps_2^p}{{\epsilon}^p}$$ follows by a Rosenthal-type inequality (see e.g. [@pin86 Theorem 2] or [@pin95 Corollary 1]). A better upper bound can be obtained based on an appropriate exponential inequality; cf. Lemma \[lem:\] in the present paper.
Note that $u<\infty$ whenever $s_p<\infty$ (or hence ${\lambda}_p<\infty$), whether $p{\geqslant}3$ or $2{\leqslant}p<3$, while ${\lambda}_{2q}$ may be infinite for $p\in[2,3)$ even when $s_p<\infty$. It is the additional truncation, with ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}$ instead of ${\Delta}$, in the bounds of Section \[sec:chen.mod\] that allows one to use $u$ instead of ${\lambda}_{2q}$.
The main result of this section is the following non-uniform bound:
\[thm:f(S).nub\] If the conditions of Theorem \[thm:f(S).ub\] are satisfied, then for all $p>2$ and $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ such that $$\label{eq:z}
1{\leqslant}|z|{\leqslant}\frac{3C_1{\epsilon}^2}{{\sigma}},$$ one has $$\begin{gathered}
\label{eq:f(S).nub}
{\Big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Big(\frac{f(S)}{{\sigma}}{\leqslant}z\Big)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Big(\frac{L(S)}{{\sigma}}{\leqslant}z\Big)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p G_X\Bigl(\frac{{\sigma}|z|}{6pC_1{\epsilon}}\Bigr)
+\frac{(D^2C_1s_2^2/{\sigma})^p}{|z|^p}
\\
+\left(\frac{G_X({\sigma}/{\lVertL\rVert})} {|z|^p}
+ \frac{{\Gamma}_1}{e^{|z|/3}}\right)
{\operatorname{I}\big\{|z|^pG_X\bigl(\tfrac{2{\sigma}|z|}{3p{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr)<1\big\}},\end{gathered}$$ where $$\label{eq:Ga1}
{\Gamma}_1:={\Gamma}+{\lambda}_p^{{\tilde q}}\bigl(1+{\lambda}_p\bigr)$$ and ${{\tilde q}}:=\frac p{p-2}$.
\[re:nuisance\] The cause of the restriction is the term ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})$ found in the uniform bound , which in turn arises because the linear approximation is assumed to hold only in an ${\epsilon}$-neighborhood of the origin. Essentially, one needs $|z|{\sigma}=O(1)$, which in an i.i.d. setting translates to $|z|=O(\sqrt n)$ (cf. Corollary \[cor:iid\]). Proposition \[prop:z\] shows that this upper bound on $|z|$ is the best possible, up to a constant factor.
The following corollary of Proposition \[prop:osipov\] is to be used together with Theorems \[thm:f(S).ub\] and \[thm:f(S).nub\].
\[cor:L(S)\] If the conditions of Theorem \[thm:f(S).ub\] are satisfied, then for all $p{\geqslant}2$ and $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ $${\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{L(S)}{{\sigma}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p B(z,p)=B_1(z)\wedge B_2(z,p),$$ where $$\label{eq:B1,L(S)}
B_1(z)
{\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\biggl(\Bigl(\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertX_i\rVert}}{{\sigma}(|z|+1)}\Bigr)^2
\wedge\Bigl(\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertX_i\rVert}} {{\sigma}(|z|+1)}\Bigr)^3\biggr)$$ and $$\label{eq:B2,L(S)}
B_2(z,p)
{\leqslant}G_X\Bigl(\frac{{\sigma}(|z|+1)}{{\lVertL\rVert}(\frac p2+1)}\Bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{G_X({\sigma}/{\lVertL\rVert})}{(|z|+1)^p}+\frac{({\lVertL\rVert}s_3/{\sigma})^3}{e^{|z|/2}}\Bigr)
{\operatorname{I}\big\{(|z|+1)^pG_X\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}(|z|+1)}{{\lVertL\rVert}(\frac p2+1)}\bigr)<1\big\}}.$$
While the expressions for the upper bounds given in Theorems \[thm:f(S).ub\] and \[thm:f(S).nub\] are quite explicit, they may seem complicated (as compared with the classical uniform and non-uniform Berry-Esséen bounds). However, one should realize that here there are a whole host of players: $\|L\|$, $M$, ${\epsilon}$, and $D$ (besides such more traditional terms as $s_p$ and ${\sigma}$) – each with a significant and rather circumscribed role to play.
One way to see this is as follows. Think of the coordinates of the random vectors $X_i$ (in a given basis) as measurements in certain units, say centimeters (${\operatorname{cm}}$). Suppose then that the statistic $f(S)$ has the dimensions of ${\operatorname{cm}}^d$, for some $d\in{\mathbb{R}}$; that is, $f(S)$ is measured using a unit equal to ${\operatorname{cm}}^d$; let us write this as $f(S)\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^d$. (In the applications given later in this paper one will have $d=0$, which makes sense, as one does not want the result of a statistical test to depend on the choice of the units of measurement.) Then $L(S)\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^d$, $\|L\|\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^{d-1}$, ${\sigma}\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^d$, ${\epsilon}\sim{\operatorname{cm}}$, $M\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^{d-2}$, $z\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^0$, $C_1\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^{d-2}$, $D\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^0$, $s_p\sim{\operatorname{cm}}$ for all $p$, and so, the upper bounds in and are unit-free, $\sim{\operatorname{cm}}^0$.
Another nice feature of these bounds is that they do not depend on the dimension of the space ${\mathfrak{X}}$ of type 2 (which may even be infinite-dimensional) – but only on its “smoothness” constant $D$. It is yet another nice feature that the bounds in and do not explicitly depend on $n$. Indeed, $n$ is irrelevant when the $X_i$’s are not identically distributed (because one could e.g. introduce any number of extra zero summands $X_i$). In fact, the bounds in and remain valid when $S$ is the sum of an infinite series of independent zero-mean r.v.’s, i.e. $S=\sum_{i=1}^\infty X_i$, provided that the series converges in an appropriate sense; see e.g. Jain and Marcus [@jain75].
On the other hand, for i.i.d. r.v.’s $X_i$ our bounds have the correct order of magnitude in $n$. Indeed, let $$V,V_1,\dotsc,V_n\text{ be i.i.d.\ random vectors}$$ in ${\mathfrak{X}}$, with $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}V=0$. Here we shall use $${{\overline{}}}V:=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{i=1}^nV_i$$ in place of $S$ (and hence $\frac1nV_i$ in place of $X_i$). Then we have the following
\[cor:iid\] If holds and $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:si_1}
{\sigma}_1:=\|L(V)\|_2>0,\end{aligned}$$ then for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ such that $$\label{eq:z,iid}
1{\leqslant}|z|{\leqslant}\frac{3C_1{\epsilon}^2}{{\sigma}_1}\,\sqrt{n}$$ one has $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:iid}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{L({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}\Big\rvert}
&{\leqslant}_p G_V\Bigl(\sqrt{n}\,\frac{{\sigma}_1|z|}{6pC_1{\epsilon}}\Bigr)
+\frac{(C_1D^2{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2/{\sigma}_1)^p}{n^{p/2}|z|^p}
\\\notag&\qquad
+\biggl(\frac{G_V(\sqrt{n}{\sigma}_1/{\lVertL\rVert})} {|z|^p}
+\frac{{\Gamma}_\ast}{\sqrt{n}e^{|z|/3}}\biggr){\operatorname{I}\big\{|z|^pG_V\bigl(\sqrt{n}\,\tfrac{2{\sigma}_1|z|}{3p{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr)<1\big\}},\end{aligned}$$ where $$\begin{aligned}
G_V(z)&:=n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertV\rVert}>z)\quad\text{for }z{\geqslant}0,\\
{\Gamma}_* & :=
\frac{C_1{\sigma}_1}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\Bigl((u^2+v^2)(1+{\lambda}_p)
+{\lambda}_p{\lambda}_qv\Bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_p}{{\sigma}_1}\Bigr)^{{{\tilde q}}}(1+{\lambda}_p),
\\
{\lambda}_{\alpha}&:=\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_{\alpha}}{{\sigma}_1}\,\frac{1}{n^{1/2-1/{\alpha}}},\end{aligned}$$ and $u$, $v$, $C_1$, ${{\tilde q}}$ are as defined in Theorems \[thm:f(S).ub\] and \[thm:f(S).nub\]. In particular, if ${\lVertV\rVert}_p<\infty$, then $${\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}=O\Bigl(\frac{1}{n^{(p\wedge3)/2-1}|z|^p}\Bigr)$$ for $z$ satisfying .
In the i.i.d. setting, one has a uniform bound of the form $O(1/n^{(p\wedge3-2)/2})$ on the distance to normality of the statistic $\sqrt n\,f({{\overline{}}}V)/{\sigma}_1$ (again, the constant in the $O(\cdot)$ notation will depend on $f$ and the distribution of $V$, and also assumes ${\lVertV\rVert}_p<\infty$). For $p\in(2,3)$, the following proposition provides uniform bounds of the same order, though the corresponding constant factor explodes to infinity as $p\uparrow3$. For $p=3$ the bound is of order $O((\ln n)^{3/2}/\sqrt n)$ and for $p>3$ it is of order $O((\ln n)/\sqrt n)$. While these rates are suboptimal for $p{\geqslant}3$, for moderate values of $n$ the bound given in Proposition \[prop:suboptimal.exp\] may prove to be better than the uniform bound given in Corollary \[cor:iid\], since the methods used in Proposition \[prop:suboptimal.exp\] are less complicated and thus may result in smaller constants.
\[prop:suboptimal.exp\] If and hold, then for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ $$\label{eq:sub.exp}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\begin{cases}
A/n^{p/2-1} & \text{ if }2<p<3,\\
A(\ln n)^{3/2}/\sqrt n & \text{ if }p=3,\\
A(\ln n)/\sqrt n & \text{ if }p>3,
\end{cases}$$ where the constant $A$ depends on $p$, $D$, $f$, and the distribution of $V$.
The following proposition shows that the upper bound on $z$ in , and hence in , is in general optimal up to a constant factor.
\[prop:z\] Let $p>2$, ${\mathfrak{X}}={\mathbb{R}}$, and $f(x)\equiv x+x^2$, so that $L(x)\equiv x$. Let $V,V_1,\dots,V_n$’s be real-valued symmetric i.i.d. r.v.’s with density $$|v|^{-p-1}\ln^{-2}|v|$$ for all $|v|{\geqslant}v_0$, where the real number $v_0$ and the density on $(-v_0,v_0)$ are chosen so that $v_0>1$, ${\lVertV\rVert}_2=1$, and ${\lVertV\rVert}_p<\infty$. Then there is no sequence $(z(n))$ such that $z(n)/\sqrt{n}\to\infty$ and holds for all $n$ and $z=z(n)$.
In the proof of Proposition \[prop:z\] we shall use the following proposition. While the inequalities in are probably well-known, we shall provide a proof of Propositon \[prop:max\] in Section \[sec:proofs\].
\[prop:max\] Let $({\mathfrak{X}},{\lVert\cdot\rVert})$ be any (not necessarily type 2) separable Banach space. Let $X_1,\dotsc,X_n$ be independent symmetric r.v.’s in ${\mathfrak{X}}$. Then $$\label{eq:max}
{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|S\|>x){\geqslant}\tfrac12{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\max_i\|X_i\|>x)
{\geqslant}\frac12\frac{\sum_i{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|X_i\|>x)}{1+\sum_i{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|X_i\|>x)}$$ for all real $x$.
When the sum of the tails, $\sum_i{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|X_i\|>x)$, is subexponential (as it is in Proposition \[prop:z\]), one actually has (in contrast with the inequalities in ) the asymptotic equivalence ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|S\|> x)\sim\sum_i{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|X_i\|>x)$ for $x$ in an appropriate zone; here the symmetry of the $X_i$’s is not needed. See [@pin85] or [@pin02] and the bibliography there, or [@pin81].
\[re:\] Note that, in applications to problems of the asymptotic relative efficiency of statistical tests, usually it is the closeness of the distribution of the test statistic to a normal distribution (in ${\mathbb{R}}$) that is needed or most convenient; in fact, as mentioned before, obtaining uniform bounds on such closeness was our original motivation for this work.
On the other hand, there have been a number of deep results on the closeness of the distribution of $f(S)$, not to the standard normal distribution, but to that of $f(N)$, where $N$ is a normal random vector with the mean and covariance matching those of $S$. In particular, Götze [@gotze91] provided an upper bound of the order $O(1/\sqrt n)$ on the uniform distance between the d.f.’s of the r.v.’s $f(S)$ and $f(N)$ under comparatively mild restrictions on the smoothness of $f$; however, the bound increases linearly with the dimension $k$ of the space ${\mathfrak{X}}$ (which is ${\mathbb{R}}^k$ therein).
On the other hand, one should note here such results as the ones obtained by Götze [@gotze86] (uniform bounds) and Zalesski[ĭ]{} [@zal88; @zal89] (non-uniform bounds), also on the closeness of the distribution of $f(S)$ to that of $f(N)$. There (in an i.i.d. case), ${\mathfrak{X}}$ can be any type 2 Banach space, but $f$ is required to be at least thrice differentiable, with certain conditions on the derivatives. Moreover, Bentkus and Götze [@bent93] provide several examples showing that, in an infinite-dimensional space ${\mathfrak{X}}$, the existence of the first three derivatives (and the associated smoothness conditions on such derivatives) cannot be relaxed in general.
Applications {#sec:apps}
============
To illustrate the use of the Berry-Esséen bounds in Section \[sec:f(S)\], we present some bounds on the rate of convergence to normality for some commonly used statistics. For the sake of simplicity and brevity, we assume only the special case where $p=3$ and the r.v.’s are i.i.d., with the understanding that the reader may apply the results of Section \[sec:f(S)\] in the general non-i.i.d. and/or $p>2$ setting. To this end, let us give the following corollary, which entails some loss of accuracy but is perhaps somewhat easier to parse than Corollary \[cor:iid\]:
\[cor:iid,p=3\] Let $f$ satisfy . Let ${\mathfrak{X}}$ be a Hilbert space, and let $V,V_1,\dotsc,V_n$ be i.i.d. ${\mathfrak{X}}$-valued r.v.’s with $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}V=0$, ${\sigma}_1={\lVertL(V)\rVert}_2>0$ and ${\lVertV\rVert}_3<\infty$. Then for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ $$\label{eq:iid,p=3,uni}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt{n}}\Bigl(A_2+\frac{{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{\sqrt n{\epsilon}^2}\Bigr),$$ and for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ satisfying $$\label{eq:iid,p=3}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt{n}}\Bigl(\frac{A_1}{|z|^3}+\frac{A_2}{e^{|z|/3}}\Bigr),$$ where $$\begin{gathered}
\label{eq:A1}
A_1:=\frac{(C_1{\epsilon})^3{\lVertV\rVert}_3^3+C_1^3{\lVertV\rVert}_2^6/n}{{\sigma}_1^3},
\\\label{eq:A2}
A_2:=\biggl(\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}_1}\,{\lVertV\rVert}_3^2+\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}^3{\lVertV\rVert}_3^3}{{\sigma}_1^3}\biggr)
\biggl(1+\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3}{{\sigma}_1}\biggr),\end{gathered}$$ and $C_1$ is defined in .
In what follows, ${\mathbb{R}}^k$ is equipped with the Euclidean norm ${\lVert\cdot\rVert}$, a vector $x\in{\mathbb{R}}^k$ is treated as a $k\times 1$ column matrix, and a linear operator $B\colon{\mathbb{R}}^k\to{\mathbb{R}}^k$ is treated as a $k\times k$ matrix. There are two matrix norms considered, namely the Frobenius norm $${\lVertB\rVert}_F:=\sqrt{\operatorname{tr}(B{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}B)}=\sqrt{{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}\nolimits_{i,j=1}^k b_{ij}^2}$$ and the spectral norm $${\lVertB\rVert}_2:=\max_{{\lVertx\rVert}=1}{\lVertBx\rVert}$$ for $k\times k$ matrices $B=(b_{ij})$. Note that ${\lVertB\rVert}_2{\leqslant}{\lVertB\rVert}_F{\leqslant}\sqrt{k}{\lVertB\rVert}_2$ for all $k\times k$ matrices $B$ [@horn85].
Non-central Student’s *T*
-------------------------
Let $X,X_1,\dotsc,X_n$ be i.i.d. real-valued r.v.’s, with $$\mu:=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X\quad\text{and}\quad{\sigma}:=\sqrt{\operatorname{\mathbb{V}ar}X}\in(0,\infty).$$ Consider the statistic commonly referred to as Student’s $T$ (or simply $T$): $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:tdef}
T:=\sqrt{n}\ \frac{{{{\overline{}}}X}}{S}=\sqrt{n}\ \frac{{{{\overline{}}}X}}{\sqrt{{{\overline{X^2}}}-{{{\overline{}}}X}^2}},\end{aligned}$$ where $${{{\overline{}}}X}:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nX_i,
\quad {{\overline{X^2}}}:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nX_i^2,
\quad S:=\sqrt{\tfrac1{n}{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_{i=1}^n(X_i-{{{\overline{}}}X})^2}=\sqrt{{{\overline{X^2}}}-{{{\overline{}}}X}^2};$$ let $T$ take arbitrary values when ${{\overline{X^2}}}={{{\overline{}}}X}^2$ just so that $T$ remain a statistic (i.e. measurable), and call $T$ “central” when $\mu=0$ and “non-central” when $\mu\ne0$. Note that $S$ is defined here as the empirical standard deviation of the sample $(X_i)_{i=1}^n$, rather than the sample standard deviation $\sqrt{\frac n{n-1}({{\overline{X^2}}}-{{{\overline{}}}X}^2)}$.
Note that $T$ is invariant under the transformation $X_i\mapsto aX_i$ for arbitrary $a>0$; so, let us assume w.l.o.g. that $${\sigma}=1.$$ Thus, if $X$ follows a normal distribution we see that $\sqrt{\frac{n-1}n}\,T$ follows Student’s non-central $T$ distribution with $n-1$ degrees of freedom and non-centrality parameter $\mu$. Of course, we do not limit ourselves to this specific case, but rather allow $X$ to have any distribution subject to the moment assumptions given in Theorem \[thm:t\].
Much work has been done rather recently concerning the distribution of the central $T$. Bentkus and Götze [@bent96] proved the uniform Berry-Esséen bound on the distribution of $T$ when $\mu=0$: $${\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-\Phi(z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}A\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X^2{\operatorname{I}\{X^2>n\}}+An^{-1/2}\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|X|^3{\operatorname{I}\{X^2{\leqslant}n\}}{\leqslant}A\,\frac{{\lVertX\rVert}_p^p}{n^{p/2-1}}$$ for $p\in[2,3]$ and all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$; Nagaev [@nag03] provided explicit constants for this bound when $p=3$. Bentkus et al. [@bbg96] proved a uniform Berry-Esséen bound when the $X_i$’s are not necessarily i.i.d., and Shao [@shao05] provided explicit constants for this bound. See also Hall [@hall87] concerning the Edgeworth expansion of the distribution of $T$, Novak [@novak00; @novak05] concerning Berry-Esséen bounds on the self-normalized sum, Chistyakov and Götze [@chist03; @chist04] for probabilities of moderate deviations, Shao [@shao97; @shao99] and Nagaev [@nag05] for probabilities of large deviations, or Wang and Jing [@wang99] and Jing et al. [@jing03] for non-uniform Berry-Esséen bounds. This is of course but a sampling of the recent work done concerning asymptotic properties of the central $T$; for work done even earlier, the reader is referred especially to the bibliography in [@bent96].
We contribute to this work by applying the results of Section \[sec:f(S)\] to $T$ (regardless of the value of $\mu$):
\[thm:t\] Suppose that ${\lVertX\rVert}_6<\infty$, and also $$\sigma_1:=\sqrt{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\bigl(\tfrac\mu2(X-\mu)^2-(X-\mu)-\tfrac\mu2\bigr)^2}>0.$$ Then for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ $$\label{eq:t.bound.uni}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{T-\sqrt{n}\mu}{\sigma_1}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt{n}}\Bigl(A_2+\frac{{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{\sqrt n}\Bigr),$$ and for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ satisfying with (say) ${\epsilon}=\frac12$ $$\label{eq:t.bound}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{T-\sqrt{n}\mu}{\sigma_1}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt{n}}\Bigl(\frac{A_1}{|z|^3}+\frac{A_2}{e^{|z|/3}}\Bigr),$$ where $A_1$ and $A_2$ are as defined in and (again with ${\epsilon}=\frac12$), $M<\infty$ is a constant dependent only on $\mu$, ${\lVertL\rVert}=\frac12\sqrt{4+\mu^2}$, and $${\lVertV\rVert}_{\alpha}={\big\lVert(X-\mu)^4-(X-\mu)^2+1\big\rVert}_{{\alpha}/2}^{1/2}
{\leqslant}{\lVertX-\mu\rVert}_{2{\alpha}}^2+{\lVertX-\mu\rVert}_{\alpha}+1$$ for $\alpha\in\{2,3\}$.
\[re:t.si=0\] Note that if $\mu=0$ then ${\sigma}_1\neq0$, and otherwise ${\sigma}_1=0$ if and only if $X$ has a 2-point distribution. Particularly, $${\sigma}_1=0
\quad\iff\quad
\frac{\mu}{2}(X-\mu)^2-(X-\mu)-\frac\mu2=0\ a.s.
\quad\iff\quad
X-\mu=\frac{1}{\mu}\Bigl(1\pm\sqrt{1+\mu^2}\Bigr)\ a.s.$$ That is, ${\sigma}_1=0$ if and only if $$X=\frac{2\sqrt{p(1-p)}}{1-2p}+B_p\ \text{a.s.},$$ where $B_p$ is a standardized Bernoulli($p$) r.v. with $p\in(0,1)\setminus\{\frac12\}$. Bentkus et al. [@bent07] recently showed that if ${\lVertX\rVert}_4<\infty$, then (after some standardization) $T$ has a limit distribution which is either the standard normal distribution or the $\chi^2$ distribution with one degree of freedom; the latter will be the case if and only if $X$ has the two-point distribution described above.
Bounds and appear to be new for the non-central $T$. Bentkus et al. [@bent07] provide a sufficient condition for $(T-\sqrt{n}\mu)/{\sigma}_1$ to converge in distribution to a standard normal r.v.; namely, that ${\lVertX\rVert}_4<\infty$ and ${\sigma}_1\ne0$ (see the previous Remark \[re:t.si=0\] concerning the degeneracy condition ${\sigma}_1=0$). Note that the condition ${\lVertX\rVert}_4<\infty$ is equivalent to ${\lVertV\rVert}_2<\infty$, where $V=(X-\mu,X^2-1-\mu^2)$ — which is what we use to derive Theorem \[thm:t\] from Corollary \[cor:iid,p=3\]. Therefore, it seems rather natural to require that ${\lVertV\rVert}_3<\infty$ or, equivalently, ${\lVertX\rVert}_6<\infty$ to obtain a bound of order $O(1/\sqrt{n})$; cf. the classical Berry-Esséen bound for linear statistics, where the finiteness of the third moment of the summand r.v.’s is usually imposed to achieve a bound of order $O(1/\sqrt{n})$.
Pearson’s *R*
-------------
Let $(X,Y),(X_1,Y_1),\ldots,(X_n,Y_n)$ be a sequence of i.i.d. random points in ${\mathbb{R}}^2$, with $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}(X^2+Y^2)<\infty, \operatorname{\mathbb{V}ar}X>0$, and $\operatorname{\mathbb{V}ar}Y>0$. Recall the definition of Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient: $$\label{eq:Rdef}
R:=\frac{\sum_{i=1}^n(X_i-{{\overline{}}}X)(Y_i-{{\overline{}}}Y)}
{\sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^n(X_i-{{\overline{}}}X)^2}\,
\sqrt{\sum_{i=1}^n(Y_i-{{\overline{}}}Y)^2}}
=\frac{{\overline{XY}}-{{\overline{}}}X\ {{\overline{}}}Y}{\sqrt{{\overline{X^2}}-{{\overline{}}}X^2}\sqrt{{\overline{Y^2}}-{{\overline{}}}Y^2}},$$ where $${{\overline{}}}X:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nX_i,\quad
{{\overline{}}}Y:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nY_i,\quad
{{\overline{}}}{X^2}:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nX_i^2,\quad
{{\overline{}}}{Y^2}:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nY_i^2,\quad
{{\overline{}}}{XY}:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nX_iY_i;$$ let us allow $R$ to take arbitrary values if the denominator in is $0$ — as long as $R$ remains a statistic. Note that $R$ is invariant under all linear transformations of the form $X_i\mapsto a+bX_i$ and $Y_i\mapsto c+dY_i$ with positive $b$ and $d$, so in what follows we may (and shall) assume w.l.o.g. that the r.v.’s $X$ and $Y$ are standardized: $$\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}Y=0\quad\text{and}\quad\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X^2=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}Y^2=1.$$ We then have the following non-uniform bound on the rate of convergence of the statistic $R$ to normality:
\[thm:R\] Let ${\lVertX\rVert}_6+{\lVertY\rVert}_6<\infty$, $$\rho:=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\frac{X-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X}{\sqrt{\operatorname{\mathbb{V}ar}X}}\,\frac{Y-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}Y}{\sqrt{\operatorname{\mathbb{V}ar}Y}}=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}XY,$$ and also $$\begin{aligned}
\sigma_1:=\sqrt{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\bigl(XY-\tfrac{\rho}{2}(X^2+Y^2)\bigr)^2}>0.\end{aligned}$$ Then, for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$, $$\label{eq:R.bound.uni}
{\Big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{R-\rho}{\sigma_1/\sqrt{n}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt{n}}\Bigl(A_2+\frac{{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{\sqrt n}\Bigr),$$ and, for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ satisfying (with ${\epsilon}=\frac12$), $$\label{eq:R.bound}
{\Big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{R-\rho}{\sigma_1/\sqrt{n}}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt{n}}\Bigl(\frac{A_1}{|z|^3}+\frac{A_2}{e^{|z|/3}}\Bigr),$$ where $A_1$ and $A_2$ are defined in and (again with ${\epsilon}=\frac12$), $M<\infty$ is a constant dependent only on $\rho$, ${\lVertL\rVert}=\sqrt{1+\frac{\rho^2}2}$, and $$\begin{split}
{\lVertV\rVert}_{\alpha}& ={\big\lVertX^2+Y^2+(X^2-1)^2+(Y^2-1)^2+(XY-\rho)^2\big\rVert}_{{\alpha}/2}^{1/2}
\\
& {\leqslant}{\lVertX\rVert}_{\alpha}+{\lVertY\rVert}_{\alpha}+{\lVertX^2-1\rVert}_{\alpha}+{\lVertY^2-1\rVert}_{\alpha}+{\lVertXY-\rho\rVert}_{\alpha}\end{split}$$ for ${\alpha}\in\{2,3\}$.
\[re:R.si=0\] Note that the *degeneracy* condition ${\sigma}_1=0$ is equivalent to the following: there exists some ${\kappa}\in{\mathbb{R}}$ such that the random point $(X,Y)$ lies a.s. on the union of the two straight lines through the origin with slopes ${\kappa}$ and $1/{\kappa}$ (for ${\kappa}=0$, these two lines should be understood as the two coordinate axes in the plane ${\mathbb{R}}^2$). Indeed, if ${\sigma}_1=0$, then $XY-\tfrac\rho2(X^2+Y^2)=0$ a.s.; solving this equation for the slope $Y/X$, one obtains two roots, whose product is $1$. Vice versa, if $(X,Y)$ lies a.s. on the union of the two lines through the origin with slopes ${\kappa}$ and $1/{\kappa}$, then $XY=\frac r2(X^2+Y^2)$ a.s. for $r:=2{\kappa}/({\kappa}^2+1)$ and, moreover, $r=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\frac r2(X^2+Y^2)=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}XY=\rho$.
For example, let the random point $(X,Y)$ equal $(cx,{\kappa}cx)$, $(-cx,-{\kappa}cx)$, $({\kappa}cy,cy)$, $(-{\kappa}cy,-cy)$ with probabilities $\frac p2$, $\frac p2$, $\frac q2$, $\frac q2$, respectively, where $x\ne0$, $y\ne0$, ${\kappa}\in{\mathbb{R}}$, $c:=\sqrt{\dfrac{x^{-2}+y^{-2}}{{\kappa}^2+1}}$, $p:=\dfrac{y^2}{x^2+y^2}$, and $q:=1-p$; then ${\sigma}_1=0$ (and the r.v.’s $X$ and $Y$ are standardized). In particular, one can take here $x=y=1$, so that $p=q=\frac12$.
The bounds in and appear to be new. In fact, we have not been able to find in the literature any uniform (or non-uniform) bound on the closeness of the distribution of $R$ to normality. Note that such bounds are important in considerations of the asymptotic relative efficiency of statistical tests; see e.g. Noether [@noe55]. Shen [@shen07] recently provided results concerning probabilities of large deviation for $R$ in the special case when $(X,Y)$ is a bivariate normal r.v. Formal asymptotic expansions for the density of $R$ follow from the paper by Kollo and Ruul [@kollo03].
Non-central Hotelling’s $T^2$ statistic {#subsec:Hotelling}
---------------------------------------
Let $k{\geqslant}2$ be a positive integer, and let $X,X_1,\dotsc,X_n$ be i.i.d. r.v.’s in ${\mathbb{R}}^k$, with $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\|X\|^2<\infty$, $$\mu:=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X,\quad\text{and}\quad
\Sigma:=\operatorname{\mathbb{C}ov}X=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}XX{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}-\mu\mu{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\text{ positive definite}.$$ Consider Hotelling’s $T^2$ statistic $$\label{eq:T^2}
T^2:={{{\overline{}}}{X}}{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}(S^2/n)^{-1}{{{\overline{}}}{X}}=n{{{\overline{}}}{X}}{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\bigl({{\overline{XX{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}}}}-{{{\overline{}}}{X}}\,{{{\overline{}}}{X}}{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\bigr)^{-1}{{{\overline{}}}{X}},
$$ where $${{{\overline{}}}{X}}:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nX_i,\quad
{{\overline{XX{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}}}}:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nX_iX_i{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}},\quad
S^2:=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^n\bigl(X_i-{{{\overline{}}}{X}}\bigr)\bigl(X_i-{{{\overline{}}}{X}}\bigr){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}={{\overline{XX{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}}}}-{{{\overline{}}}{X}}\,{{{\overline{}}}{X}}{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}};$$ note that the generalized inverse is often used in place of the inverse in , though here we may allow $T^2$ to take any value whenever $S^2$ is singular — as long as $T^2$ remains a statistic. Note that $S^2$ is defined as the empirical covariance matrix of the sample $(X_i)_{i=1}^n$, rather than the sample covariance matrix $\frac{n}{n-1}S^2$. Call $T^2$ “central” when $\mu=0$ and “non-central” otherwise.
For any nonsingular matrix $B$, $T^2$ is invariant under the invertible transformation $X_i\mapsto BX_i$; particularly, letting $B=\Sigma^{-1/2}$ allows us to assume w.l.o.g. that $$\operatorname{\mathbb{C}ov}X=I,$$ the $k\times k$ identity matrix.
The form of $T^2$ in is easily seen to yield to a Berry-Esséen type bound via Corollary \[cor:iid,p=3\], being a function of the two sums of random vectors ${{{\overline{}}}{X}}$ and ${{\overline{XX{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}}}}$.
\[thm:T\^2\] Assume that ${\lVertX\rVert}_6<\infty$ and $$\sigma_1:=\sqrt{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\bigl(((X-\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu)^2-2(X-\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu-\mu{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu\bigr)^2}>0.$$ Then for all $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ $$\label{eq:T^2.bound.uni}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{T^2-n\mu{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu}{\sqrt{n}\sigma_1}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt{n}}\Bigl(A_2+\frac{{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{\sqrt n}\Bigr),$$ and for $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$ satisfying (with ${\epsilon}=\frac12$, say) $$\label{eq:T^2.bound}
{\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{T^2-n\mu{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu}{\sqrt{n}\sigma_1}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt{n}}\Bigl(\frac{A_1}{|z|^3}+\frac{A_2}{e^{|z|/3}}\Bigr),$$ where $A_1$ and $A_2$ are defined in and (again, with ${\epsilon}=\frac12$), $M<\infty$ is a constant dependent only on ${\lVert\mu\rVert}$, ${\lVertL\rVert}{\leqslant}{\lVert\mu\rVert}\sqrt{4+{\lVert\mu\rVert}^2}$, and $${\lVertV\rVert}_{\alpha}={\big\lVert{\lVertX-\mu\rVert}^4-{\lVertX-\mu\rVert}^2+k\big\rVert}_{{\alpha}/2}^{1/2}
{\leqslant}{\lVertX-\mu\rVert}_{2{\alpha}}^2+{\lVertX-\mu\rVert}_{\alpha}+\sqrt{k}$$ for ${\alpha}\in\{2,3\}$.
\[re:T\^2.si=0\] The non-degeneracy condition ${\sigma}_1>0$ immediately implies that $\mu\ne0$, so that Theorem \[thm:T\^2\] is applicable only to the non-central $T^2$. If $\mu\ne0$, then ${\sigma}_1=0$ if and only if $(X-\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu=1\pm\sqrt{1+\|\mu\|^2}$ a.s., that is, if and only if ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(X{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu=x_1)=1-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(X{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu=x_2)=p,
$ where $$x_1=1+\|\mu\|^2+\sqrt{1+\|\mu\|^2},\quad x_2=1+\|\mu\|^2-\sqrt{1+\|\mu\|^2},\quad
p=\frac12\Bigl(1-\frac{1}{\sqrt{1+\|\mu\|^2}}\Bigr);$$ in other words, ${\sigma}_1=0$ if and only if $X$ lies a.s. in the two hyperplanes defined by $X{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu=x_1$ or $X{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu=x_2$. Note the similarity to the degeneracy condition of $T$ described in Remark \[re:t.si=0\]. Recalling the conditions $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X=\mu$ and $\operatorname{\mathbb{C}ov}X=I$ , we have ${\sigma}_1=0$ if and only if $$X=\xi
\,\frac{\mu}{{\lVert\mu\rVert}}+\tilde X\ \ \text{a.s.},$$ where $$\xi=\frac{2\sqrt{p(1-p)}}{1-2p}+B_p\ \text{for some }p\in(0,\tfrac12),$$ and $\tilde X$ is a random vector in ${\mathbb{R}}^k$ such that $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\tilde X=0$, $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi\tilde X=0$, $\tilde X{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu=0$ a.s., and $\operatorname{\mathbb{C}ov}\tilde X$ is the orthoprojector onto the hyperplane $\{\mu\}^\perp:=\{{\mathbf{x}}\in{\mathbb{R}}^k\colon{\mathbf{x}}{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu=0\}$.
Again, the bounds in and appear to be new; indeed, we have found no mention of Berry-Esséen bounds for $T^2$ in the literature. Probabilities of moderate and large deviations for the central Hotelling $T^2$ statistic (when $\mu=0$) are considered by Dembo and Shao [@dem06]. Asymptotic expansions for the generalized $T^2$ distribution for *normal populations* were given by Itô [@ito56] (for $\mu=0$), and by Itô [@ito60], Siotani [@sio71], and Muirhead [@muir72] (for any $\mu$).
Proofs {#sec:proofs}
======
Proofs of all theorems, propositions and corollaries stated in the previous sections are provided here.
Proofs of results from Section \[sec:chen.mod\] {#sec:chen.proofs}
-----------------------------------------------
As noted in Remark \[re:ub\], the assertions of Theorem \[thm:ub\] are very similar to those of [@chen07 Theorem 2.1]. From the condition that $|{\Delta}|{\geqslant}|T-W|$ (cf. [@chen07 (5.1)]) $$\label{eq:conc}
-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z-|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z){\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z){\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z+|{\Delta}|)$$ for arbitrary $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$. Replace every instance of ${\Delta}$ in the proof of [@chen07 Theorem 2.1] (from [@chen07 (5.2)] and thereafter) with ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}$; this action proves that $${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z+|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|)
{\leqslant}4\delta+\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|W{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|+\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|\xi_i({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)|.$$ Recalling the condition on ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}$, one has $${{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z+{\lvert{\Delta}\rvert})}
{\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z+{\lvert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rvert})}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\max_i{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)}.$$ Then ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z-|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z)$ is bounded in a similar fashion, using $z-|{\Delta}|$ in place of $z$. Inequality then follows from ; inequalities and follow from and the first few arguments in the proof of [@chen07 Theorem 2.1].
The proof of Theorem \[thm:nub\] largely follows the lines of that of [@chen07 Theorem 2.2]. The extension to $p$ other than 2 is obtained using a Cramér-tilt absolutely continuous transformation of measure along with Rosenthal’s inequality. Assume w.l.o.g. that $z{\geqslant}0$, and let $$\label{eq:barW}
{{\overline{}}}\xi_i:=\xi_i\,{\operatorname{I}\{\xi_i{\leqslant}1\}}\quad\text{and}\quad{{\overline{}}}W:=\sum_{i=1}^n{{\overline{}}}\xi_i.$$ Recalling that ${\lvert\xi_i\rvert}{\leqslant}{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}$ a.s. and also the condition , one has $$\label{eq:mod1}
\begin{split}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(z-|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z\bigr)}
& {\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(|{\Delta}|>\tfrac{z+1}{3}\bigr)}
+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(z-|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z,|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}\tfrac{z+1}{3}\bigr)}
\\
& {\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(|{\Delta}|>\tfrac{z+1}{3}\bigr)}
+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(z-|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z,|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}\tfrac{z+1}{3},\max_i{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)}
\\
& \qquad
+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(z-|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|{\leqslant}{{\overline{}}}W{\leqslant}z,|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|{\leqslant}\tfrac{z+1}{3}\bigr)},
\end{split}$$ and further $$\label{eq:mod2}
\begin{split}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(z-|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z,|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}\tfrac{z+1}{3},\max_i{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)}
& {\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(W{\geqslant}\tfrac{2z-1}{3},{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)}
\\
& {\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\xi_i>\tfrac{z+1}{3}\bigr)}
+\sum_{i=1}^n{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(W{\geqslant}\tfrac{2z-1}{3},\xi_i{\leqslant}\tfrac{z+1}{3},{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)}
\\
& {\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\xi_i>\tfrac{z+1}{3}\bigr)}
+\sum_{i=1}^n{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(W-\xi_i{\geqslant}\tfrac{z-2}{3}\bigr)}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)}.
\end{split}$$
Next, replace every instance of ${\Delta}$ in the statement and proof of [@chen07 Lemma 5.2] as well as [@chen07 (2.8)] with ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}$. After making this replacement, there are two inequalities which need modification. First, [@chen07 (5.21)] is modified to the following: $$\label{eq:mod3}
\begin{split}
\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert\xi_ie^{({{\overline{}}}W-{{\overline{}}}\xi_i)/2}({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)\big\rvert}
& {\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n{\big\lVert\xi_ie^{({{\overline{}}}W-{{\overline{}}}\xi_i)/2}\big\rVert}_p\,{\big\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\big\rVert}_q
\\
& =\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}^{1/p}e^{\frac p2({{\overline{}}}W-{{\overline{}}}\xi_i)}\,\|\xi_i\|_p\|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\|_q
\\
& {\leqslant}\exp\big\{\tfrac1p\big(e^{p/2}-1-\tfrac p2\big)\big\}\sum_{i=1}^n{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_q;
\end{split}$$ the last step above comes from [@chen07 (5.15)].
The final change is to [@chen07 (5.22)]: $$\label{eq:mod4}
\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|W|e^{{{\overline{}}}W/2}(|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|+2{\delta})
{\leqslant}\bigl(\|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\|_q+2{\delta}\bigr){\big\lVertWe^{{{\overline{}}}W/2}\big\rVert}_p;$$ Chen and Shao [@chen07] were able to bound $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}W^2e^{{{\overline{}}}W}$ (corresponding to the case $p=2$) with an absolute constant; here, more work is required to bound the last term in for the general $p$. Specifically, we apply Cramér’s tilt to the $\xi_i$’s.
For any $c>0$, let ${\boldsymbol{\xi}}:=(\xi_1,\dotsc,\xi_n)$, ${{\overline{}}}{{\boldsymbol{\xi}}}:=({{\overline{}}}\xi_1,\dotsc,{{\overline{}}}\xi_n)$, and let $\hat{{\boldsymbol{\xi}}}=:(\hat{\xi}_1,\dotsc,\hat{\xi}_n)$ be a random vector such that $${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\hat{{\boldsymbol{\xi}}}\in A)=\frac{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}e^{c{{\overline{}}}W}{\operatorname{I}\{{\boldsymbol{\xi}}\in A\}}}{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}e^{c{{\overline{}}}W}}$$ for all Borel sets $A\in{\mathbb{R}}^n$; note that the $\hat\xi_i$’s are independent r.v.’s. Further, if $f\colon{\mathbb{R}}^n\to{\mathbb{R}}$ is any nonnegative Borel function, then $$\label{eq:hatxi}
\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}f(\hat{{\boldsymbol{\xi}}})
= \frac{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}f({\boldsymbol{\xi}})e^{c{{\overline{}}}W}}{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}e^{c{{\overline{}}}W}}.$$ Next, $$\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{{\overline{}}}\xi_i
= \operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i{\operatorname{I}\{\xi_i{\leqslant}1\}}
= -\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i{\operatorname{I}\{\xi_i>1\}}
{\geqslant}-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i^2
{\geqslant}-1,$$ so that Jensen’s inequality yields $$\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}e^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}
{\geqslant}e^{c\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}
{\geqslant}e^{-c},$$ and further $$\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lvert\hat\xi_i\rvert}^p
= \frac{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lvert\xi_i\rvert}^pe^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}}{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}e^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}}
{\leqslant}\frac{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lvert\xi_i\rvert}^pe^c}{e^{-c}}
= e^{2c}\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lvert\xi_i\rvert}^p,$$ with $\sum_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\hat\xi_i^2{\leqslant}e^{2c}$ a consequence of this. Also, ${\lverte^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}-1\rvert}{\leqslant}c{\lvert{{\overline{}}}\xi_i\rvert}e^c{\leqslant}c{\lvert\xi_i\rvert}e^c$, so that $${\big\lvert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_ie^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}\big\rvert}
= {\big\lvert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i\big(e^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}-1\big)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|\xi_i|{\big\lverte^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}-1\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}ce^c\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i^2$$ and $${\big\lvert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\hat\xi_i\big\rvert}
= {\biggl\lvert\frac{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_ie^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}}{\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}e^{c{{\overline{}}}\xi_i}}\biggr\rvert}
{\leqslant}ce^{2c}\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i^2,$$ implying ${\lvert\sum_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\hat\xi_i\rvert}{\leqslant}ce^{2c}$. Let now $c:=\frac p2$. Rosenthal’s inequality (see e.g. [@pin94 Theorem 5.2]) yields $$\label{eq:mod4.2}
\begin{split}
{\big\lVert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\hat\xi_i\big\rVert}_p
& {\leqslant}{\big\lVert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i(\hat\xi_i-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\hat\xi_i)\big\rVert}_p
+{\big\lVert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\hat\xi_i\big\rVert}_p
\\
& {\leqslant}_p\Big(\big({\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lvert\hat\xi_i-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\hat\xi_i\rvert}^p\big)^{1/p}
+\big({\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}(\hat\xi_i-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\hat\xi_i)^2\big)^{1/2}\Big)
+\tfrac p2 e^{p}
\\
& {\leqslant}_p\Big(2e\big({\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lvert\xi_i\rvert}^p\big)^{1/p}+e^{p/2}\Big)+\tfrac p2e^p
{\leqslant}_p1+{\sigma}_p.
\end{split}$$ Letting $f(x_1,\dotsc,x_n)=|\sum_ix_i|^p$ in and using [@chen07 (5.15)] again, one has $$\label{eq:mod4.1}
{\big\lVertWe^{{{\overline{}}}W/2}\big\rVert}_p
= \Big(\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\xi_i\big\rvert}^pe^{\frac p2{{\overline{}}}W}\Big)^{1/p}
= \Big(\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}e^{\frac p2{{\overline{}}}W}\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\hat\xi_i\big\rvert}^p\Big)^{1/p}
{\leqslant}\exp\big\{\tfrac1p\big(e^{p/2}-1-\tfrac p2\big)\big\}{\big\lVert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\hat\xi_i\big\rVert}_p.$$ Hence, combining , and , we have $$\label{eq:mod4.3}
\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|W|e^{{{\overline{}}}W/2}(|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|+2{\delta})
{\leqslant}_p\big({\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rVert}_q+{\delta}\big)(1+{\sigma}_p).$$ Replacing inequalities [@chen07 (5.21) and (5.22)] with and , respectively, shows that $$\label{eq:mod5}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(z-|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|{\leqslant}{{\overline{}}}W{\leqslant}z,|{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}|{\leqslant}\tfrac{z+1}{3}\bigr)}
{\leqslant}_p \tau\,e^{-z/3},$$ with $\tau$ as defined in (cf. [@chen07 (5.14) and (2.8)]).
Combining , , and and recalling the definition of ${\gamma}_z$ yields $${{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(z-|{\Delta}|{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z\bigr)}
{\leqslant}_p{\gamma}_z+\tau\,e^{-z/3};$$ in a similar fahsion, one shows ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(z{\leqslant}W{\leqslant}z+|{\Delta}|){\leqslant}_p{\gamma}_z+\tau\,e^{-z/3}$. Referring back to finishes the proof.
We shall prove Proposition \[prop:osipov\] by using a result of [@chen05], based on an appropriate modification of Stein’s method, along with the following corollary of an exponential inequality due to Hoeffding: for all $z{\geqslant}0$ and $t>0$, $$\label{eq:hoeff}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\geqslant}z)}
{\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\xi_i>t)+\Bigl(\frac{e}{1+zt}\Bigr)^{z/t}
{\leqslant}G_\xi(t)+\Bigl(\frac{e}{1+zt}\Bigr)^{z/t};$$ this can be easily obtained by truncation from e.g. [@pin94 Theorem 8.2] (recall that ${\sigma}_2=1$).
Assume w.l.o.g. that $z{\geqslant}0$, and suppose first that $(z+1)^pG_\eta(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}){\geqslant}1$. Then, by with $t:=\frac{z+1}{p/2}$, $$\label{eq:P(W>z)}
\begin{split}
{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z)
& {\leqslant}G_\xi\Bigl(\frac{z+1}{p/2}\Bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{e}{1+\frac 2pz(z+1)}\Bigr)^{\frac p2\,\frac z{z+1}}
{\leqslant}G_\xi\Bigl(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{A(p)}{(z+1)^2}\Bigr)^{\frac p2(1-\frac 1{z+1})}
\\
& {\leqslant}_p G_\xi\Bigl(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr)
+\frac1{(z+1)^p}
{\leqslant}_p G_\eta\Bigl(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr).
\end{split}$$ One also has $$1-\Phi(z){\leqslant}_p\frac1{(z+1)^p}{\leqslant}_p G_\eta\Bigl(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr),$$ which implies $|{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)-\Phi(z)|{\leqslant}_p B_2(z,p)$, and so holds.
It remains to consider the case when $(z+1)^p G_\eta(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1})<1$. As in the proof of [@chen05 Theorem 6.4], write $$0{\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({{\overline{}}}W>z){\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z,\max_i\xi_i>1),$$ with ${{\overline{}}}W$ as defined in . Next, for $z{\geqslant}\frac 2p$, one has $z-\frac{z+1}{p/2+1}{\geqslant}0$, and $$\label{eq:tsi_p<1 case}
\begin{split}
{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z,\max_i\xi_i>1)
& {\leqslant}\sum_i{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\xi_i>\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr)}
+\sum_i{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(W-\xi_i>z-\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr)}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\xi_i>1)
\\
& {\leqslant}G_\xi\Bigl(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr)
+\biggl(G_\xi\Bigl(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr)\
+\Bigl(\frac{A(p)}{(z+1)^2}\Bigr)^{\frac p2-\frac{p/2+1}{z+1}}\biggr)G_\xi(1)
\\
& {\leqslant}_p G_\eta\Bigl(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}\Bigr)
+\frac{G_\xi(1)}{(z+1)^p},
\end{split}$$ with the second inequality following by with $t:=\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}$ (and reasoning similar to ) and the third inequality by the case condition and the assumption that $|\xi_i|{\leqslant}|\eta_i|$ a.s. for $i=1,\dotsc,n$. If $0{\leqslant}z<\frac2p$, then ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W-\xi_i>z-\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1}){\leqslant}_p(z+1)^{-p}$ holds trivially and one still has ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z,\max_i\xi_i>1){\leqslant}_pG_\eta(\frac{z+1}{\frac p2+1})+\frac{G_\xi(1)}{(z+1)^p}$. It remains to refer to inequality (6.15) in Chen and Shao [@chen05]: $$|{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({{\overline{}}}W{\leqslant}z)-\Phi(z)|{\leqslant}A\,\frac{{\sigma}_3^3}{e^{|z|/2}}.$$
The proof is quite similar to that of Proposition \[prop:osipov\]. Assume w.l.o.g. that $z{\geqslant}1$, and consider first the case when $z^pG_\eta(\frac{2z}{3p}){\geqslant}1$. Then $$\begin{aligned}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T> z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T>z)+{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z)
{\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lvert{\Delta}\rvert}>\tfrac{z}3\bigr)}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(W>\tfrac{2z}3\bigr)}+{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z).\end{aligned}$$ Recalling that $|\xi_i|{\leqslant}|\eta_i|$ a.s., so that $G_\xi{\leqslant}G_\eta$, use the case condition to obtain (similarly to and choosing $t:=\frac{4z}{3p}$ in ), $${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z){\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(W>\tfrac{2z}3\bigr)}
{\leqslant}_p G_\xi\bigl(\tfrac{4z}{3p}\bigr)+\tfrac1{z^p}
{\leqslant}_p G_\eta\bigl(\tfrac{2z}{3p}\bigr),$$ which proves the assertion in this case.
In the alternative case, when $z^pG_\eta(\frac{2z}{3p})<1$, we use Theorem \[thm:nub\]. The terms of ${\gamma}_z$ as defined in are bounded below: $$\begin{gathered}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(|{\Delta}|>\tfrac{z+1}3\bigr)}
{\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(|{\Delta}|>\tfrac z3\bigr)},
\\
G_\xi\bigl(\tfrac{z+1}3\bigr)
{\leqslant}G_\xi\bigl(\tfrac{z}3\bigr)
{\leqslant}G_\xi\bigl(\tfrac{2z}{3p}\bigr)
{\leqslant}G_\eta\bigl(\tfrac{2z}{3p}\bigr),
\\
\sum_i{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(|W-\xi_i|>\tfrac{z-2}3\bigr)}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(|\eta_i|>1)
{\leqslant}_p \frac{G_\eta(1)}{z^p};\end{gathered}$$ the second line above uses the fact that $p{\geqslant}2$, and the third line is trivial if $1{\leqslant}z<2$ and otherwise follows similarly to (using $t:=\frac{2z}{3p}$ in and the case condition). Recalling yields the result for this final case.
Proofs of results from Section \[sec:f(S)\] {#sec:f(S).proofs}
-------------------------------------------
The uniform and non-uniform Berry-Esséen type bounds of Theorems \[thm:f(S).ub\] and \[thm:f(S).nub\] rely on the corresponding bounds of Section \[sec:chen.mod\]. Let $f$ be a function satisfying , and also let $X_1,\dotsc,X_n$ be independent, zero-mean ${\mathfrak{X}}$-valued random vectors. For $i=1,\dotsc,n$, let $$g_i(x):=\frac{L(x)}{{\sigma}}\quad\text{and}\quad h_i(x):=\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertx\rVert}}{{\sigma}}$$ for $x\in{\mathfrak{X}}$, so that, in accordance with , $$\xi_i=g_i(X_i)=\frac{L(X_i)}{{\sigma}}\quad\text{and}\quad\eta_i=h_i(X_i)=\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertX_i\rVert}}{{\sigma}},$$ where ${\sigma}={\lVertL(S)\rVert}_2$ is as defined in . Recalling the definitions and , it is easy to see that $$\label{eq:si<la}
{\sigma}_{\alpha}=\bigl({\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}|\xi_i|^{\alpha}\bigr)^{1/{\alpha}}
{\leqslant}\tfrac{{\lVertL\rVert}}{{\sigma}}\,\bigl({\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertX_i\rVert}^{\alpha}\bigr)^{1/{\alpha}}
={\lambda}_{\alpha}.$$ Also, by Chebyshev’s inequality, $$\label{eq:cheby}
G_\xi(z){\leqslant}G_\eta(z)=G_X\Bigl(\frac{{\sigma}z}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\Bigr){\leqslant}\Bigl(\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}s_{\alpha}/{\sigma}}{z}\Bigr)^{\alpha}=\Bigl(\frac{{\lambda}_{\alpha}}{z}\Bigr)^{\alpha}$$ for arbitrary ${\alpha}{\geqslant}1$ and $z>0$. Next, let $$T:=\frac{f(S)}{{\sigma}},\quad W:=\sum_i\xi_i=\frac{L(S)}{{\sigma}},$$ and also $$\label{eq:tT}
\tilde T:=T\,{\operatorname{I}\{{\lVertS\rVert}{\leqslant}{\epsilon}\}}.$$ Finally, let $$\label{eq:De}
{\Delta}:=\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\,{\lVertS\rVert}^2.$$ Then, by and , $$\begin{aligned}
|\tilde T-W|&={\sigma}^{-1}\Bigl(|f(S)-L(S)|\,{\operatorname{I}\{\|S\|{\leqslant}{\epsilon}\}}+|L(S)|\,{\operatorname{I}\{\|S\|>{\epsilon}\}}\Bigr)\\
&{\leqslant}{\sigma}^{-1}\Big(\frac{M}{2}\vee\frac{\|L\|}{{\epsilon}}\Big)\|S\|^2={\Delta}.\end{aligned}$$
Adopt some more notation: $$\label{eq:tX}
{\tilde X}_i:=X_i{\operatorname{I}\big\{{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}{\leqslant}1\big\}}
\quad\text{and}\quad
{\tilde S}:=\sum_i{\tilde X}_i,$$ and then let $$\label{eq:De-bar}
{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}:=\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\Bigl({\lVertS\rVert}^2{\operatorname{I}\{p{\geqslant}3\}}+{\lVert{\tilde S}\rVert}^2{\operatorname{I}\{p<3\}}\Bigr)$$ and $${\Delta}_i:=\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\Bigl({\lVertS-X_i\rVert}^2{\operatorname{I}\{p{\geqslant}3\}}+{\lVert{\tilde S}-{\tilde X}_i\rVert}^2{\operatorname{I}\{p<3\}}\Bigr).$$ With all of this notation in mind, note that the assumptions of Theorems \[thm:ub\] and \[thm:nub\] are satisfied for the nonlinear statistic $\tilde T$ (in place of $T$) and its linear approximation $W$; particularly, $\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\xi_i=0$, $\operatorname{\mathbb{V}ar}W=1$, $|{\Delta}|{\geqslant}|\tilde T-W|$, $|\xi_i|{\leqslant}\eta_i$, ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}$ satisfies and ${\Delta}_i$ satisifes the condition that $X_i$ and $({\Delta}_i,(X_j\colon j\ne i))$ are independent (which further implies $X_i$ and $({\Delta}_i,W-\xi_i)$ are independent).
\[lem:barDe\] If the conditions of Theorem \[thm:f(S).ub\] are satisfied, then $${\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rVert}_q{\leqslant}_p\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\,(u^2+v^2).$$
\[lem:xi(De-De\_i)\] If the conditions of Theorem \[thm:f(S).ub\] are satisfied, then $$\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert\xi_i({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_q
{\leqslant}_p\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\,{\lambda}_p(u^2+v{\lambda}_q).$$
\[lem:\] If the conditions of Theorem \[thm:f(S).nub\] are satisfied, then $$\label{eq:lem}
{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})
{\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}> x)
{\leqslant}G_X\Bigl(\frac x{2p}\Bigr)+\frac{{\Lambda}_1^p}{|z|^p},$$ where $$\label{eq:x}
x:=\sqrt{\frac{{\sigma}|z|}{3C_1}}
\quad\text{and}\quad
{\Lambda}_1:=12e\,pC_1\,\frac{D^2s_2^2}{\sigma}.$$
The proofs of these lemmata are deferred to the end of this subsection.
Take any $z\in{\mathbb{R}}$. In view of and applying from Theorem \[thm:ub\], $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:T-tT}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)\big\rvert}
& {\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})+{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\tilde T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)\big\rvert}
\\\tag{\ref{eq:T-tT}\,a}\label{eq:T-tTa}
& {\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})
+2\beta+\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvertW{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\big\rvert}+\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert\xi_i({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)\big\rvert}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\max_i|\eta_i|>1\bigr)}.\end{aligned}$$ Recalling and using the inequality $x^2\wedge|x|^3{\leqslant}|x|^{p\wedge3}$ for $x\in{\mathbb{R}}$ and $p{\geqslant}2$, and further using , one has $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:be<la}
\beta{\leqslant}{\sigma}_{p\wedge3}^{p\wedge3}{\leqslant}{\lambda}_{p\wedge3}^{p\wedge 3}.\end{aligned}$$ Also, $$\begin{aligned}
\label{eq:eta>1}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\max_i{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\bigr)}
{\leqslant}G_\eta(1)
= G_X\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr).\end{aligned}$$ Using Rosenthal’s inequality (see, e.g. [@pin94 Theorem 5.2]) and recalling that ${\sigma}_2^2=\operatorname{\mathbb{V}ar}W=1$, $${\lVertW\rVert}_p={\big\lVert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\xi_i\big\rVert}_p
{\leqslant}_p{\sigma}_2+{\sigma}_p
{\leqslant}1+{\lambda}_p,$$ and so, $$\label{eq:WDe}
\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvertW{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\big\rvert}{\leqslant}{\lVertW\rVert}_p{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rVert}_q{\leqslant}_p\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\,(u^2+v^2)(1+{\lambda}_p)$$ by Lemma \[lem:barDe\]. It remains to refer to – and Lemma \[lem:xi(De-De\_i)\].
Assume w.l.o.g. that $z{\geqslant}1$. By and , $$\label{eq:T-W}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)\big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p {\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(|{\Delta}|>\tfrac{z}{3}\bigr)}
+G_\eta\bigl(\tfrac{2z}{3p}\bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{G_\eta(1)}{z^p}+\frac{\tau}{e^{z/3}}\Bigr)
{\operatorname{I}\big\{z^pG_\eta\bigl(\tfrac{2z}{3p}\bigr)<1\big\}}.$$ The definition of ${\Delta}$ implies ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(|{\Delta}|>\frac z3)={\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>x)$, where $x$ is as in . Lemma \[lem:\] then implies $$\label{eq:||S||>ep}
{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon})+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(|{\Delta}|>\tfrac z3\bigr)}
{\leqslant}_p G_X\Bigl(\frac{x}{2p}\Bigr)+\frac{(D^2C_1s_2^2/{\sigma})^p}{z^p}
{\leqslant}G_X\Bigl(\frac{{\sigma}z}{6pC_1{\epsilon}}\Bigr)+\frac{(D^2C_1s_2^2/{\sigma})^p}{z^p},$$ because $\frac{x}{2p}{\geqslant}\frac{{\sigma}z}{6pC_1{\epsilon}}$ follows by the condition on $z$. Note that ${\lVertL\rVert}{\leqslant}C_1{\epsilon}$ by , whence $$\label{eq:G_eta(si z)}
G_\eta\Bigl(\frac{2z}{3p}\Bigr)
=G_X\Bigl(\frac{2{\sigma}z}{3p{\lVertL\rVert}}\Bigr)
{\leqslant}G_X\Bigl(\frac{{\sigma}z}{6pC_1{\epsilon}}\Bigr);$$ also, $$\label{eq:G_eta(1)}
G_\eta(1)=G_X\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr).$$ By [@chen07 Remark 2.1] and , $${\delta}{\leqslant}_p{\sigma}_p^{p/(p-2)}={\sigma}_p^{{\tilde q}}{\leqslant}{\lambda}_p^{{\tilde q}};$$ hence, recalling the definition of $\tau$ and also the definition (see also ) of ${\Gamma}_1$, $$\label{eq:tau<Ga1}
\tau=({\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rVert}_q+{\delta})(1+{\sigma}_p)+\sum_i{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_q
{\leqslant}_p\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\bigl((u^2+v^2)(1+{\lambda}_p)+{\lambda}_p{\lambda}_qv\bigr)
+{\lambda}_p^{{\tilde q}}(1+{\lambda}_p)={\Gamma}_1$$ follows from Lemmas \[lem:barDe\] and \[lem:xi(De-De\_i)\], and also . Collecting – into finishes the proof.
Recalling the definition of $B_1(z)$, follows since $|\xi_i|=|L(X_i)|/{\sigma}{\leqslant}{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertX_i\rVert}/{\sigma}$ for $i=1,\dots,n$. Recalling the definition of $B_2(z,p)$, will follow by and .
Let $X_i:=\frac1n V_i$, so that $S=\sum_{i=1}^nX_i={{\overline{}}}V$. Then $${\sigma}^2=\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}L({{\overline{}}}V)^2=\frac{{\sigma}_1^2}{n}, \quad
\xi_i=\frac{L(V_i)}{\sqrt{n}{\sigma}_1}, \quad
\eta_i=\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV_i\rVert}}{\sqrt{n}{\sigma}_1}, \quad
s_{\alpha}=\frac{{\lVertV\rVert}_{\alpha}}{n^{1-1/{\alpha}}},$$ and $$G_X(w)
=n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertV\rVert}>nw)=G_V(nw)$$ for any ${\alpha}{\geqslant}1$ and $w>0$. The result – now follows from –.
Assume w.l.o.g. that $z{\geqslant}0$. Let ${\Delta}:=f({{\overline{}}}V)-L({{\overline{}}}V)$ and ${\delta}>0$ be some quantity dependent on $n$ (and perhaps other constants associated with the distribution $V$), unspecified for the moment. Then (cf. ) $$\label{eq:sub}
\begin{split}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt n}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}&
{\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{L({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt n}{\leqslant}z+{\delta}\Bigr)}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\sqrt n|{\Delta}|>{\sigma}_1{\delta}\bigr)}\\
& {\leqslant}\Phi(z+{\delta})+\frac{A{\lVertL(V)\rVert}_{p\wedge3}^{p\wedge3}}{n^{(p\wedge3-2)/2}{\sigma}_1^{p\wedge3}}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\sqrt n|{\Delta}|>{\sigma}_1{\delta}\bigr)}\\
& {\leqslant}\Phi(z)+\frac{{\delta}}{\sqrt{2\pi}}+\frac{A{\lVertL(V)\rVert}_{p\wedge3}^{p\wedge3}}{n^{(p\wedge3-2)/2}{\sigma}_1^{p\wedge3}}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\sqrt n|{\Delta}|>{\sigma}_1{\delta}\bigr)},
\end{split}$$ where the second inequality follows from the classical Berry-Esséen bound (or using ) Similarly one bounds ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt n}{\leqslant}z)$ from below. So, it remains to bound ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\sqrt n|{\Delta}|>{\sigma}_1{\delta})$, for an appropriate choice of ${\delta}$. Let $S:=\sum_{i=1}^nV_i$. Then, by , $$\label{eq:De>de}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\sqrt n|{\Delta}|>{\sigma}_1{\delta}\bigr)}
{\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVert{{\overline{}}}V\rVert}>{\epsilon}\bigr)}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\sqrt n\,\tfrac M2{\lVert{{\overline{}}}V\rVert}^2>{\sigma}_1{\delta}\Bigr)}
{\leqslant}\frac{{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{n{\epsilon}^2}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVertS\rVert}>x\bigr)},$$ where $$x:=\Bigl(\frac{2{\sigma}_1}{M}\Bigr)^{1/2}\,n^{3/4}{\delta}^{1/2}.$$ Next take any $y>0$ and let $V_{i,y}:=V_i{\operatorname{I}\{{\lVertV_i\rVert}{\leqslant}y\}}$ and $S_y:=\sum_{i=1}^nV_{i,y}$. Note that $$\label{eq:E|S_y|}
\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertS_y\rVert}{\leqslant}{\lVertS_y-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}S_y\rVert}_2+{\lVert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}S_y\rVert}{\leqslant}2D\sqrt n{\lVertV\rVert}_2+\tfrac{n{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{y}{\leqslant}\tfrac x2;$$ the last inequality here will hold by an appropriate choice of ${\delta}$ and $y$ (or, equivalently, $x$ and $y$), to be made at the end of this proof. Using the exponential inequality [@pinsak85 Corollary 2] along with Chebyshev’s inequality, one has $$\label{eq:exp}
\begin{aligned}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVertS\rVert}>x\bigr)}{\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl(\max_i{\lVertV_i\rVert}>y\bigr)}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVertS_y\rVert}>x\bigr)}
&{\leqslant}{\lVertV\rVert}_p^p\,\frac{n}{y^p}+{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVertS_y\rVert}-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertS_y\rVert}>\tfrac x2\bigr)} \\
&{\leqslant}{\lVertV\rVert}_p^p\,\frac{n}{y^p}+\Bigl(\frac{2e\,n{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{xy}\Bigr)^{x/(2y)}.
\end{aligned}$$ Combining , and , and solving for ${\delta}$ in terms of $x$, one obtains $${\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt n}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-\Phi(z)\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}_p\frac M{{\sigma}_1}\,\frac{x^2}{n^{3/2}}+
\frac{{\lVertL(V)\rVert}_{p\wedge3}^{p\wedge3}}{n^{(p\wedge3-2)/2}{\sigma}_1^{p\wedge3}}
+\frac{{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{n{\epsilon}^2}+{\lVertV\rVert}_p^p\,\frac{n}{y^p}
+\Bigl(\frac{2e\,n{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2}{xy}\Bigr)^{x/(2y)}.$$ If $p{\geqslant}3$, let $y:=e{\lVertV\rVert}_2\sqrt{n/\ln n}$ and choose ${\delta}$ so that $x=2e{\lVertV\rVert}_2\sqrt{n\ln n}$. If $p\in(2,3)$, take $x=2e{\lVertV\rVert}_2n^{(5-p)/4}$ and $y=e{\lVertV\rVert}_2\sqrt n$. Then for large enough $n$ one has the last inequality of , as well as ; if $n$ is not large, then is trivial.
If $f=f(n)>0$ and $g=g(n)>0$ are sequences of real numbers, let us use the following standard definitions: $$f=o(g)\quad\iff\quad\lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{f(n)}{g(n)}=0$$ and $$f\asymp g\quad\iff\quad\limsup_{n\to\infty}\Bigl(\frac{f(n)}{g(n)}+\frac{g(n)}{f(n)}\Bigr)<\infty.$$
Let $S:={{\overline{}}}V$, $T:=f(S)/{\sigma}=\sqrt{n}(S+S^2)$, $W:=L(S)/{\sigma}=\sqrt{n}S$ and ${\Delta}:=T-W=\sqrt{n}S^2$ (note that $C_1$ may be taken to be 1 by choosing ${\epsilon}{\geqslant}1$, so that holds). Throughout this proof, let $C$ stand for various positive constants which do not depend on $n$.
To obtain a contradiction, assume that holds for some sequence $z=z(n){\geqslant}1$ such that $$\label{eq:z,ka}
{\kappa}:=z/\sqrt{n}\to\infty;$$ further let $$\label{eq:w}
w:=n^{3/4}z^{1/2}={\kappa}^{1/2}n,$$ so that $w/n={\kappa}^{1/2}\to\infty$. Note that, for $v>v_0$, the tail probability of $V$ is $$\label{eq:tail}
{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>v)=\int_v^\infty\frac{du}{u^{p+1}\ln^2u}
\asymp\frac{1}{v^p\ln^2v},$$ which follows by l’Hospital’s rule. Consider the various terms on the right-hand side of inequality . Now – imply $$\label{eq:e^z}
\frac {{\Gamma}_\ast}{\sqrt n e^{z/3}}
{\leqslant}\frac C{\sqrt{n}e^{z/3}}
=o(nw^{-p-1})
=o\big(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\big),$$ $$\label{eq:La*,s2}
\frac{(C_1D^2{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2/{\sigma}_1)^p}{n^{p/2}|z|^p}
=\frac{Cn}{w^pn{\kappa}^{p/2}}
=o\Bigl(\frac{n}{w^p\ln^2(n{\kappa}^{p/2})}\Bigr)
=o\Bigl(\frac{n}{w^p\ln^2(n{\kappa})}\Bigr)
=o\Bigl(\frac{n}{w^p\ln^2w}\Bigr)
=o\bigl(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\bigr),$$ $$\label{eq:La*,la_p}
G_V\Bigl(\sqrt{n}\,\frac{{\sigma}_1|z|}{6pC_1{\epsilon}}\Bigr)
\asymp\frac{n}{(\sqrt{n}z)^p\ln^2(\sqrt{n}z)}
=\frac{n}{w^p{\kappa}^{p/2}\ln^2(n{\kappa})}
\asymp\frac{n}{{\kappa}^{p/2}w^p\ln^2w}
=o\big(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\big)$$ and $$\label{eq:||V||>sqrt n}
\frac{G_V(\sqrt{n}{\sigma}_1/{\lVertL\rVert})}{|z|^p}
\asymp\frac{n}{(\sqrt{n}z)^p\ln^2n}
=\frac{n}{w^p{\kappa}^{p/2}\ln^2n}
=o\Bigl(\frac{n}{w^p\,\ln^2\!{\kappa}\,\ln^2\!n}\Bigr)
=o\Bigl(\frac{n}{w^p\ln^2(n{\kappa})}\Bigr)
=o\bigl(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\bigr).$$ Collecting the terms – of shows $$\label{eq:T,W,z}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T{\leqslant}z)-{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)\big\rvert}=o\bigl(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\bigr).$$
Next, if $p{\geqslant}3$ then ${\lVertV\rVert}_3<\infty$, and (refer back to ) $$\label{eq:B*,p>3}
B_2(z,p)
{\leqslant}G_V\Bigl(\sqrt{n}\,\frac{{\sigma}_1(|z|+1)}{{\lVertL\rVert}(\frac p2+1)}\Bigr)
+\frac{G_V(\sqrt{n}{\sigma}_1/{\lVertL\rVert})}{(|z|+1)^p}
+\frac{({\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3/{\sigma}_1)^3}{\sqrt{n}e^{|z|/2}}
=o\bigl(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\bigr)$$ by , and . Otherwise, if $p\in(2,3)$ then ${\lVertV\rVert}_p<\infty$, and (see ) $$B_1(z)\asymp\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}z^3}\int_{v_0}^{\sqrt{n}z}\frac{v^{2-p}}{\ln^2v}\,dv
+\frac1{z^2}\int_{\sqrt{n}z}^\infty\frac{v^{1-p}}{\ln^2v}\,dv.$$ Consider the first term above: $$\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}z^3}\int_{v_0}^{\sqrt{n}z}\frac{v^{2-p}}{\ln^2v}\,dv
\asymp\frac{1}{\sqrt{n}z^3}\,\frac{(\sqrt{n}z)^{3-p}}{\ln^2(\sqrt{n}z)}
\asymp\frac{n}{n^{p/2}z^p\ln^2(nz)}
=\frac{n}{w^p{\kappa}^{p/2}\ln^2(nz)}
=o(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)).$$ Similarly, $$\frac1{z^2}\int_{\sqrt{n}z}^\infty\frac{v^{1-p}}{\ln^2v}\,dv
\asymp\frac{(\sqrt{n}z)^{2-p}}{z^2\ln^2(nz)}
=\frac{n}{n^{p/2}z^p\ln^2(nz)}
=o(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w))$$ so that $$\label{eq:B1=o}
B_1(z)=o\bigl(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\bigr).$$ Hence , and imply $$\label{eq:W,Phi,z}
{\big\lvert{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W{\leqslant}z)-\Phi(z)\big\rvert}=o\bigl(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\bigr).$$
Also, $$\label{eq:1-Phi=o}
1-\Phi(z)=o\bigl(e^{-z^2/2}\bigr)=o\bigl(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\bigr).$$ Thus, , , and , along with the symmetry of the distribution of $V$, imply $$\label{eq:De=o(nP(V>v))}
\begin{split}
{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\Delta}>2z)
& {\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T>z)+{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(-W>z)
={\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(T>z)+{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(W>z)
=o\bigl(n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)\bigr).
\end{split}$$ On the other hand, Proposition \[prop:max\] implies $${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\Delta}>2z)
={\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\sqrt nS^2>2z)
={{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\big\lvert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_iV_i\big\rvert}>\sqrt{2}w\bigr)}
{\geqslant}\frac{{\delta}}{2+2{\delta}},$$ where $${\delta}:=n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>\sqrt{2}w).$$ Recalling that $w/n={\kappa}^{1/2}\to\infty$ and the tail probability , eventually ${\delta}{\leqslant}n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>\sqrt2n){\leqslant}_p nn^{-p}\ln^{-2}n\to0$, whence $${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\Delta}>2z){\geqslant}\tfrac{\delta}3=\tfrac13\,n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>\sqrt2w){\geqslant}\tfrac C3\,n{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(V>w)$$ for large enough $n$, which contradicts .
Introduce r.v.’s $T_j:=S-2X_j$ (obtained from $S$ by flipping the sign of $X_j$) and the disjoint events $A_j:=\{\|X_1\|{\leqslant}x,\dots,\|X_{j-1}\|{\leqslant}x,\|X_j\|>x\}$ for $j=1,\dots,n$. Then $X_j=\frac12 S-\frac12 T_j$, and so, $\|X_j\|{\leqslant}\frac12\|S\|+\frac12 \|T_j\|$. Hence, the occurrence of event $A_j$ implies that either $\|S\|>x$ or $\|T_j\|>x$. It follows that ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(A_j){\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(A_j;\|S\|>x)+{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(A_j;\|T_j\|>x)=2{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(A_j;\|S\|>x),
$ by the symmetry. Summing now in $j$, one has $ {\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\max_i\|X_i\|>x)=\sum_j{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(A_j){\leqslant}2{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|S\|>x),
$ so that the first inequality in is proved.
To prove the second one, observe that ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(A_j)= {\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|X_j\|>x){\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\max_{i<j}\|X_i\|{\leqslant}x)
{\geqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|X_j\|>x)\break
\times{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\max_i\|X_i\|{\leqslant}x)$. Summing now in $j$, one has ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\max_i\|X_i\|>x){\geqslant}\sum_i{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|X_i\|>x){\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\max_i\|X_i\|{\leqslant}x)$, from which the second inequality in follows.
Suppose first that $p{\geqslant}3$, so that, in accordance with , ${{\overline{}}}{\Delta}=\frac{C_1}{\sigma}{\lVertS\rVert}^2$. Using the Rosenthal-type inequality [@pin95 Corollary 1] with and recalling the definitions , , and of ${\lambda}_{\alpha}$, $u$, and $v$, respectively, $${\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rVert}_q
=\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\,{\lVertS\rVert}_{2q}^2
{\leqslant}_p \frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\bigl(s_{2q}^2+D^2s_2^2\bigr)
=\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\bigl({\lambda}_{2q}^2+D^2{\lambda}_2^2\bigr)
=\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}(u^2+v^2),$$ which proves the lemma for $p{\geqslant}3$.
Now suppose that $2{\leqslant}p<3$. We have, by two applications of Hölder’s inequality and , $$\label{eq:||EtS||}
\begin{split}
{\lVert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\tilde S}\rVert}
& ={\big\lVert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X_i{\operatorname{I}\{{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\}}\big\rVert}
{\leqslant}{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertX_i\rVert}{\operatorname{I}\{{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\}}
\\
& {\leqslant}{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i{\lVertX_i\rVert}_p{\lVert{\operatorname{I}\{{\lvert\eta_i\rvert}>1\}}\rVert}_q
{\leqslant}s_p\,G_\eta(1)^{1/q}
{\leqslant}s_p{\lambda}_p^{p/q}
=\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,{\lambda}_p^p.
\end{split}$$ Let $$\hat X_i:={\tilde X}_i-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\tilde X}_i
\quad\text{and}\quad
\hat S:=\sum_i\hat X_i={\tilde S}-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\tilde S},$$ so that for all ${\alpha}{\geqslant}1$ $$\label{eq:||hatX||}
{\lVert\hat X_i\rVert}_{\alpha}^{\alpha}{\leqslant}2^{{\alpha}-1}\bigl({\lVert\tilde X_i\rVert}_{\alpha}^{\alpha}+{\lVert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}\tilde X_i\rVert}^{\alpha}\bigr)
{\leqslant}2^{\alpha}{\lVert\tilde X_i\rVert}_{\alpha}^{\alpha}$$ by Jensen’s inequality. With and in mind, and using [@pin95 Corollary 1] with , $$\begin{split}
\frac{{\sigma}}{C_1}\,{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}\rVert}_q
& ={\lVert{\tilde S}\rVert}_{2q}^2
{\leqslant}2\bigl({\lVert\hat S\rVert}_{2q}^2+{\lVert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\tilde S}\rVert}^2\bigr)
\\
& {\leqslant}_p\Bigl(\bigl({\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i{\lVert\hat X_i\rVert}_{2q}^{2q}\bigr)^{1/q}+D^2{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i{\lVert\hat X_i\rVert}_2^2\Bigr)
+\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,{\lambda}_p^p\bigr)^2
\\
& {\leqslant}_p\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr)^{(2q-p)/q}\bigl({\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_i{\lVertX_i\rVert}_p^p\bigr)^{1/q}
+D^2s_2^2+\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,{\lambda}_p^p\bigr)^2
\\
& {\leqslant}_p\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,{\lambda}_p^{p/(2q)}\bigr)^2+\bigl(Ds_2+\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,{\lambda}_p^p\bigr)^2
=\tfrac{{\sigma}^2}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\bigl(u^2+v^2\bigr),
\end{split}$$ where in the penultimate inequality the definition is used. This completes the proof of the lemma.
Suppose first that $p{\geqslant}3$. Then, for $i=1,\dotsc,n$, $$\begin{split}
{\big\lvert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\big\rvert}
& =\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}{\Big\lvert{\lVertS\rVert}^2-{\lVertS-X_i\rVert}^2\Big\rvert}
=\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}{\Big\lvert{\lVertS\rVert}-{\lVertS-X_i\rVert}\Big\rvert}\Bigl({\lVertS\rVert}+{\lVertS-X_i\rVert}\Bigr)
\\
& {\leqslant}\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\,{\lVertX_i\rVert}\Bigl({\lVertX_i\rVert}+2{\lVertS-X_i\rVert}\Bigr)
=\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\Bigl({\lVertX_i\rVert}^2+2{\lVertX_i\rVert}{\lVertS-X_i\rVert}\Bigr),
\end{split}$$ whence $$\label{eq:barDe-De_i}
{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_q
{\leqslant}\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\Bigl({\lVertX_i\rVert}_{2q}^2+2{\lVertX_i\rVert}_q{\lVertS-X_i\rVert}_q\Bigr)
{\leqslant}\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\Bigl({\lVertX_i\rVert}_{2q}^2+\frac{2{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,v{\lVertX_i\rVert}_q\Bigr),$$ since ${\lVertS-X_i\rVert}_q{\leqslant}{\lVertS-X_i\rVert}_2{\leqslant}Ds_2={\sigma}v/{\lVertL\rVert}$ by and . Thus, $$\begin{split}
\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert\xi_i({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)\big\rvert}
& {\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_q
\\
& {\leqslant}\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\sum_{i=1}^n{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p\Bigl({\lVertX_i\rVert}_{2q}^2
+\tfrac{2{\sigma}v}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,{\lVertX_i\rVert}_q\Bigr)
\\
& {\leqslant}\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\,{\sigma}_p\,\bigl(s_{2q}^2+\tfrac{2{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,vs_q\bigr)
{\leqslant}\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\,{\lambda}_p\bigl(u^2+2v{\lambda}_q\bigr),
\end{split}$$ where Hölder’s inequality is used in the first and third inequalities, and and the definitions , , are used in the last. This proves the lemma for $p{\geqslant}3$.
Suppose then that $p\in[2,3)$. Similarly to and using the truncation in the definition , $${\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_q
{\leqslant}\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\bigl({\lVert{\tilde X}_i\rVert}_{2q}^2+2{\lVert{\tilde X}_i\rVert}_q{\lVert{\tilde S}-{\tilde X}_i\rVert}_q\bigr)
{\leqslant}\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\Bigl(\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr)^{2-p/q}{\lVertX_i\rVert}_{p}^{p/q}+2{\lVertX_i\rVert}_q{\lVert{\tilde S}-{\tilde X}_i\rVert}_2\Bigr);$$ also using and , and reasoning as in , one has $$\begin{aligned}
{\lVert{\tilde S}-{\tilde X}_i\rVert}_2
{\leqslant}{\lVert\hat S-\hat X_i\rVert}_2+{\lVert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\tilde S}-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\tilde X}_i\rVert}
{\leqslant}_p Ds_2+\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,{\lambda}_p^p=\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,v.\end{aligned}$$ Thus, $$\begin{split}
\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\big\lvert\xi_i({{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i)\big\rvert}
& {\leqslant}\sum_{i=1}^n\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p{\lVert{{\overline{}}}{\Delta}-{\Delta}_i\rVert}_q
\\
& {\leqslant}_p \frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\sum_{i=1}^n{\lVert\xi_i\rVert}_p\Bigl(
\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr)^{2-p/q}{\lVertX_i\rVert}_p^{p/q}
+\tfrac{{\sigma}v}{{\lVertL\rVert}}{\lVertX_i\rVert}_q\Bigr)
\\
& {\leqslant}\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}}\,{\sigma}_p\Bigl(
\bigl(\tfrac{{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\bigr)^{2-p/q}s_p^{p/q}+\tfrac{{\sigma}v}{{\lVertL\rVert}}\,s_q\Bigr)
\\
& {\leqslant}\frac{C_1{\sigma}}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\,{\lambda}_p\bigl(u^2+v{\lambda}_q\bigr).
\end{split}$$ The lemma is thus proved for $p\in[2,3)$ as well.
W.l.o.g. $z{\geqslant}1$. That ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon}){\leqslant}{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>x)$ follows from $x{\leqslant}{\epsilon}$, which follows by the condition on $|z|$. Write $$\label{eq:1}
{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|S\|{\geqslant}x){\leqslant}G_X(y)+{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}(\|S_y\|{\geqslant}x),$$ where $y:=x/(2p)$, $S_y:=\sum_i X_{i,y}$, and $X_{i,y}:=X_i\operatorname{I}\{\|X_i\|{\leqslant}y\}$. Note that $${\lVert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}S_y\rVert}={\big\lVert{\mathop{{\textstyle\sum}}\nolimits}_iX_i{\operatorname{I}\{{\lVertX_i\rVert}>y\}}\big\rVert}{\leqslant}\frac{s_2^2}{y}{\leqslant}\frac x4,$$ where the last inequality is equivalent to inequality $\frac{{\Lambda}_2}{z}{\leqslant}1$, with ${\Lambda}_2:=24pC_1s_2^2/{\sigma}<{\Lambda}_1$, and $\frac{{\Lambda}_2}{z}{\leqslant}1$ follows because w.l.o.g. $\frac{{\Lambda}_1}{z}{\leqslant}1$ (since otherwise the right-hand side of inequality is greater than 1). Let $\hat X_{i,y}:=X_{i,y}-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}X_{i,y}$ and $\hat S_y:=\sum_i\hat X_{i,y}$, so that implies $$\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVert\hat S_y\rVert}{\leqslant}{\lVert\hat S_y\rVert}_2{\leqslant}Ds_2{\leqslant}\frac x4,$$ with this last inequality equivalent to $\frac{{\Lambda}_3}{z}{\leqslant}1$, with ${\Lambda}_3:=48C_1D^2s_2^2/{\sigma}{\leqslant}{\Lambda}_1$ (as $p{\geqslant}2$). Thus, using the exponential inequality of [@pinsak85 Corollary 2], $$\begin{split}
{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVertS_y\rVert}{\geqslant}x\bigr)}&
{\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVertS_y\rVert}-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertS_y\rVert}{\geqslant}x-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVert\hat S_y\rVert}-{\lVert\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}S_y\rVert}\bigr)}
\\
&{\leqslant}{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\bigl({\lVertS_y\rVert}-\operatorname{\mathbb{E}}{\lVertS_y\rVert}{\geqslant}\tfrac x2\bigr)}
\\
&{\leqslant}\left(\frac{2e\,D^2s_2^2}{xy}\right)^{x/(2y)}
=\frac{{\Lambda}_1^p}{z^p}.
\end{split}$$ Now it remains to recall .
Proofs of results from Section \[sec:apps\] {#sec:app.proofs}
-------------------------------------------
Recall the various simplifications with notation in the i.i.d. case (see the proof of Corollary \[cor:iid\]). Then $$B_2(z,3){\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt n}\,\Bigl(\frac{(C_1{\epsilon})^3{\lVertV\rVert}_3^3}{{\sigma}_1^3|z|^3}+\frac{({\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3/{\sigma}_1)^3}{e^{|z|/2}}\Bigr)
{\leqslant}\frac{A}{\sqrt n}\Bigl(\frac{A_1}{|z|^3}+\frac{A_2}{e^{|z|/3}}\Bigr)$$ follows by , using Chebyshev’s inequality on the tail probabilities $G_V$, and also recalling ${\lVertL\rVert}{\leqslant}C_1{\epsilon}$. Similarly, recalling that $D=1$ (as ${\mathfrak{X}}$ is a Hilbert space) and using Lyapounov’s inequality ${\lVertV\rVert}_{\alpha}{\leqslant}{\lVertV\rVert}_{\beta}$ whenever $0<{\alpha}{\leqslant}{\beta}$, the right-hand side of is bounded by $${\Big\lvert{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt n}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}-{{\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}\Bigl(\frac{L({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1\sqrt n}{\leqslant}z\Bigr)}\Big\rvert}
{\leqslant}\frac A{\sqrt n}\Bigl(\frac{A_1}{|z|^3}+\frac{{\Gamma}_\ast}{e^{|z|/3}}\Bigr),$$ where $$\begin{aligned}
{\Gamma}_\ast
& =\frac{C_1{\sigma}_1}{{\lVertL\rVert}^2}\bigl(({\lambda}_3^2+{\lambda}_2^2)(1+{\lambda}_3)+{\lambda}_3{\lambda}_2{\lambda}_{3/2}\bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3}{{\sigma}_1}\Bigr)^3(1+{\lambda}_3)
\\
& {\leqslant}A\,\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}_1}\Bigl({\lVertV\rVert}_3^2(1+{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3/{\sigma}_1)+{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3^3/{\sigma}_1\Bigr)
+\Bigl(\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3}{{\sigma}_1}\Bigr)^3(1+{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3/{\sigma}_1)
\\
& {\leqslant}A\Bigl(\frac{C_1}{{\sigma}_1}\,{\lVertV\rVert}_3^2+\Bigl(\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3}{{\sigma}_1}\Bigr)^3\Bigr)\Bigl(1+\frac{{\lVertL\rVert}{\lVertV\rVert}_3}{{\sigma}_1}\Bigr)
=AA_2.\end{aligned}$$ The result now follows upon combining and . Concerning , use Theorem \[thm:f(S).ub\] and similar arguments as above; note that ${\operatorname{\mathbb{P}}}({\lVertS\rVert}>{\epsilon}){\leqslant}{\lVertV\rVert}_2^2/(n{\epsilon}^2)$ as per Remark \[re:|S|\].
Let ${\mathfrak{X}}={\mathbb{R}}^2$, and consider the ${\mathfrak{X}}$-valued r.v.’s defined as $$V_i=\bigl(X_i-\mu, (X_i-\mu)^2-1\bigr)
\quad\text{and}\quad
{{\overline{}}}V=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nV_i=\bigl({{\overline{}}}X-\mu, {{\overline{}}}{X^2}-2\mu{{\overline{}}}X+\mu^2-1\bigr).$$ Next let $f\colon{\mathfrak{X}}\to{\mathbb{R}}$ be defined by $$f({{\boldsymbol{x}}})=f(x_1,x_2)=\frac{x_1+\mu}{\sqrt{x_2+1-x_1^2}}-\mu$$ for ${{\boldsymbol{x}}}=(x_1,x_2)\in{\mathfrak{X}}$ with ${\lVert{{\boldsymbol{x}}}\rVert}{\leqslant}\frac12$, so that $x_2+1-x_1^2{\geqslant}\frac14$. Note that $f(0)=0$, $L({{\boldsymbol{x}}}):=f'(0)({{\boldsymbol{x}}})=x_1-\frac\mu2\,x_2$, so that ${\lVertL\rVert}=\sqrt{1+\frac{\mu^2}4}$, and also $${\lVertL(V_1)\rVert}_2={\big\lVert(X-\mu)-\tfrac\mu 2\bigl((X-\mu)^2-1\bigr)\big\rVert}_2
={\big\lVert\tfrac\mu2(X-\mu)^2-(X-\mu)-\tfrac\mu2\big\rVert}_2={\sigma}_1.$$ Recalling the form of $T$ in , one has $$\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}=\frac{T-\sqrt{n}\mu}{{\sigma}_1}$$ on the event $\{{\lVert{{\overline{}}}V\rVert}{\leqslant}\frac12\}$. So, by Corollary \[cor:iid,p=3\] it need only be verified that $f$ satisfies , or that ${\lVertf''({{\boldsymbol{x}}})\rVert}$ is uniformly bounded over all ${{\boldsymbol{x}}}\in{\mathfrak{X}}$ such that ${\lVert{{\boldsymbol{x}}}\rVert}{\leqslant}\frac12$ for some ${\epsilon}>0$, which is obvious.
Let ${\mathfrak{X}}={\mathbb{R}}^5$, and define the ${\mathfrak{X}}$-valued r.v.’s $$V_i=\bigl(X_i,Y_i,X_i^2-1,Y_i^2-1,X_iY_i-\rho\bigr)\quad\text{and}\quad
{{\overline{}}}V=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nV_i=\bigl({{\overline{}}}X,{{\overline{}}}Y,{{\overline{}}}{X^2}-1,{{\overline{}}}{Y^2}-1,{{\overline{}}}{XY}-\rho\bigr).$$ Next let $f\colon{\mathfrak{X}}\to{\mathbb{R}}$ be defined by $$f({{\boldsymbol{x}}})=f(x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4,x_5):=\frac{x_5+\rho-x_1x_2}{\sqrt{x_3+1-x_1^2}\sqrt{x_4+1-x_2^2}}-\rho,$$ for ${{\boldsymbol{x}}}=(x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4,x_5)\in{\mathfrak{X}}$ with ${\lVert{{\boldsymbol{x}}}\rVert}{\leqslant}\frac12$. Then $f(0)=0$ and $L({{\boldsymbol{x}}}):=f'(0)({{\boldsymbol{x}}})=x_5-\frac\rho2(x_3+x_4)$, so that ${\lVertL\rVert}=\sqrt{1+\frac{\rho^2}2}$, and also $${\lVertL(V_1)\rVert}_2={\big\lVertXY-\rho-\tfrac\rho2(X^2+Y^2-2)\big\rVert}_2={\big\lVertXY-\tfrac\rho2(X^2+Y^2)\big\rVert}_2={\sigma}_1.$$ Recalling the form of $R$ in , one has $$\frac{f({{\overline{}}}V)}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}=\frac{R-\rho}{{\sigma}_1/\sqrt{n}}$$ on the event $\{{\lVert{{\overline{}}}V\rVert}{\leqslant}\frac12\}$, and, in view of Corollary \[cor:iid,p=3\], it remains to verify that $f$ satisfies the smoothness condition , which is obvious.
Identify ${\mathfrak{X}}={\mathbb{R}}^{k+k(k+1)/2}$ with the set of ordered pairs ${{\boldsymbol{x}}}=(x_1,x_2)$, where $x_1\in{\mathbb{R}}^k$ and $x_2$ is a symmetric $k\times k$ matrix over ${\mathbb{R}}$; equip ${\mathfrak{X}}$ with the norm $${\lVert{{\boldsymbol{x}}}\rVert}:=\sqrt{{\lVertx_1\rVert}^2+{\lVertx_2\rVert}_F^2}=\sqrt{x_1{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}x_1+\operatorname{tr}(x_2^2)}$$ for $x\in{\mathfrak{X}}$, so that ${\mathfrak{X}}$ is a Hilbert space with this norm. Then let $$V_i:=\bigl(X_i-\mu,(X_i-\mu)(X_i-\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}-I\bigr)\quad\text{and}\quad
{{\overline{}}}V=\frac1n\sum_{i=1}^nV_i.$$ Note that $$ {\lVertV_i\rVert}^2={\lVertX_i-\mu\rVert}^4-{\lVertX_i-\mu\rVert}^2+k.$$ Next let $f\colon{\mathfrak{X}}\to{\mathbb{R}}$ be defined by $$f({{\boldsymbol{x}}})=(x_1+\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\bigl(
I+x_2
-x_1x_1{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\bigr)^{-1}(x_1+\mu)-\mu{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu$$ for ${{\boldsymbol{x}}}=(x_1,x_2)\in{\mathfrak{X}}$ with ${\lVert{{\boldsymbol{x}}}\rVert}{\leqslant}\frac12$, so that ${\lVertI+x_2-x_1x_1{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\rVert}_2{\geqslant}1-{\lVertx_2\rVert}_2-{\lVertx_1x_1{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\rVert}_2{\geqslant}1-{\lVert{{\boldsymbol{x}}}\rVert}-{\lVert{{\boldsymbol{x}}}\rVert}^2{\geqslant}\frac14$ and ${\lVert(I+x_2-x_1x_1{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}})^{-1}\rVert}_2{\leqslant}4$.
Using the obvious identity $(B+{\Delta})^{-1}-B^{-1}=-(B+{\Delta})^{-1}(B+{\Delta}-B)B^{-1}$, one sees that the deriviative of the nonlinear operator $B\mapsto B^{-1}$ at a “point” $B$ is the linear operator ${\Delta}\mapsto-B^{-1}{\Delta}B^{-1}$, where the “point” $B$ is any nonsingular matrix. Hence, the second derivative $f''({{\boldsymbol{x}}})$ is bounded over all ${{\boldsymbol{x}}}\in{\mathfrak{X}}$ with ${\lVert{{\boldsymbol{x}}}\rVert}{\leqslant}\frac12$, and $L({{\boldsymbol{x}}})=f'(0)({{\boldsymbol{x}}})=2x_1{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu-\mu{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}x_2\mu$ for all $x\in{\mathbf{X}}$. Then ${\lVertL\rVert}{\leqslant}\sqrt{4{\lVert\mu\rVert}^2+{\lVert\mu\rVert}^4}={\lVert\mu\rVert}\sqrt{4+{\lVert\mu\rVert}^2}$, and also $${\lVertL(V_1)\rVert}_2={\big\lVert2(X-\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu-\mu{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}((X-\mu)(X-\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}-I)\mu\big\rVert}_2
={\big\lVert\bigl((X-\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu\bigr)^2-2(X-\mu){\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu
-\mu{\ensuremath{^\mathsf{T}}}\mu\big\rVert}_2={\sigma}_1.$$ It remains to refer to Corollary \[cor:iid,p=3\].
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
DK Children's Cookbook
Focusing on favorite meals and snacks to inspire young chefs who are ready to learn new skills, the DK Children's Cookbook is loaded with accessible recipes. Children will learn to enjoy preparing food safely as they experiment with new flavors and have fun in the kitchen!
See more details below
Overview
Focusing on favorite meals and snacks to inspire young chefs who are ready to learn new skills, the DK Children's Cookbook is loaded with accessible recipes. Children will learn to enjoy preparing food safely as they experiment with new flavors and have fun in the kitchen!
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Mall Details
Head to 7051 S. Desert Boulevard and you will find the Outlet Shops at El Paso. Texas is full of a great selection of factory outlet shopping centers, and El Paso is no different. If you are traveling to the area or happen to call El Paso home, then you should certainly check this center out.
While some locations may have a few more stores, Outlet Shops at El Paso still offers the same great quality shoppers need. So what does make it on the directory here is the best of the best. Find your favorite name brands here and get some mega shopping done while saving money.
The Directory Listing
Remember this is just a sample of what you can find at Outlet Shops at El Paso. For a full listing, check out their website. Better yet, go check it out in person and find surprise bargains.
The bottom line is that you surely will not be disappointed. As most people love to shop for clothes first and foremost,, here is an overview of just some of what you will find here in this category. Apparel for the whole family at a fraction of the cost is as close as your next trip to Outlet Shops at El Paso.
Apparel for Women & Men
Love to wear the latest fashions and have more wardrobe changes that a pop rock diva? Or maybe your needs are more basic and you need casual business wear to update your work wardrobe. Whatever the reason, here are a few of the brands you can expect to find:
BCBG MAX AZARIA
Hanes Brand
Dress Barn
Brooks Brothers
Ann Taylor Factory
And so many more
Apparel for Kids
From the minute they are born kids seem to do nothing but outgrow the last outfit they just wore. This can be an expensive hassle, but shopping at factory outlets makes it so much less of a pricing problem.
The Children’s Outlet
Sprockets
Justice
Carters
P.S. from Aeropostale
Plus plenty more
Shoes for Everyone
Of course one cannot neglect to get new shoes to complete the outfit. From trainers to kitten heels to toddlers’ first pair, it is all available right here.
Famous Footwear
Puma
DC Shoes
Rack Room Shoes
Johnston & Murphy
Adidas
Nine West
And that is just the beginning
Shopping for More
You probably intend to shop for more than just clothing and shoes when you head out to Outlet Shops at El Paso. The good news is that there is certainly more to choose from here. See if any of this is what you are looking for.
Looking for housewares and home furnishings? Stop by and check out Tazas Coffee or Kitchen Collection.
If your beauty secret can also be found at factory outlet prices, you’ll probably love stores such as Bath & Body Works, Perfumes 4 U or Lancome Outlet.
For something unique to the state, make it a point to pick out something at the Dallas Cowboys Official Pro Shop.
Need something to satisfy your sugar cravings? Then you will love what’s in store for you at Ripley’s Candy Factory or Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
And of course take good care of your health at a fraction of the cost by including Vitamin World in your trip to Outlet Shops at El Paso.
Want to see something really special? One very unique feature spotlighted at Outlet Shops at El Paso is nothing short of loads of fun for the entire family. Check out Ripley’s Marvelous Mirror Maze and take a break from the shopping daze.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
When using headphones with a portable electronic device, a user may find it cumbersome to control the device in certain situations. For instance, controls for the portable electronic device may not be accessible when, for example, the device is located within a user's pocket. To improve the accessibility of controls, some headphones include in-line media controls. Accessing these controls, however, often requires the user to find and manipulate buttons, knobs, or dials, which may be inconvenient and not necessarily intuitive. Moreover, these controls are often located on an additional component which may have a different form factor than the headphone cord. Accordingly, these, often bulky, components may not conform to the overall aesthetics of the headphone design.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
0*s**3
Let q(d) = -438*d**4 - 7*d**2 - 7*d - 383. Let f(r) = -218*r**4 - 4*r**2 - 4*r - 191. Let w(l) = 7*f(l) - 4*q(l). Differentiate w(s) with respect to s.
904*s**3
Let c(h) be the first derivative of -1 + 0*h**3 + 0*h**4 + 3/5*h**5 - 36*h + 0*h**2. What is the first derivative of c(d) wrt d?
12*d**3
Suppose 3*o - o - 40 = -2*t, 5*o = t + 118. Let x = 26 - o. Find the third derivative of 5*q**2 + 5*q**5 - 18*q**x + 18*q**3 wrt q.
300*q**2
Suppose -4*y + 2068 = u, -y + 554 = 5*u + 37. Find the second derivative of -4*p**2 + 4*p**2 - 14*p**3 - y*p + 508*p wrt p.
-84*p
Let o(l) = -l + 2. Suppose -2*p - 30 = -5*t - 7*p, 10 = -t + 3*p. Let s be o(t). What is the third derivative of -h**3 + s*h**5 - 5*h**2 + h**3 + 3*h**5 wrt h?
180*h**2
Let a be (-706)/(-18) - (-10)/(-45). What is the first derivative of -18 - a*c + 22*c + 23*c wrt c?
6
Suppose -3*t + 5*x + 0*x + 30 = 0, 3*t = 3*x + 24. Suppose -5*r + 5 = 5*g - 15, -13 = -3*r - 4*g. Differentiate -r*m**2 - 4*m**2 + m**2 - t with respect to m.
-12*m
Let s(h) be the first derivative of 287*h**4/4 - 22*h**3 + 298. Find the third derivative of s(w) wrt w.
1722
Let m(y) = 2*y + 2. Let b be m(0). Let l = 0 - -1. What is the third derivative of -l + 2 - p**4 - 1 - 5*p**b wrt p?
-24*p
Let n(g) be the third derivative of g**9/72 - g**6/15 - 19*g**5/60 + 23*g**2 - 1. What is the third derivative of n(j) wrt j?
840*j**3 - 48
Let n(t) be the first derivative of 7*t**4/2 + 11*t**2/2 - 1. Let p(q) = -q**3 - q. Let u(z) = 2*n(z) + 18*p(z). What is the second derivative of u(x) wrt x?
60*x
Let b(u) = u**2. Let f(d) = -20*d**2 - 5. Let o be ((-6)/9)/((-10)/15). Let a(y) = o*f(y) + 5*b(y). What is the first derivative of a(n) wrt n?
-30*n
Let u(t) = 160*t + 331. Let g(m) = m + 4. Let l(f) = 3*g(f) + u(f). What is the first derivative of l(j) wrt j?
163
Let z(w) = 68*w**2 + 3*w - 19. Let f(d) = 135*d**2 + 7*d - 38. Let h(g) = -3*f(g) + 7*z(g). Differentiate h(t) with respect to t.
142*t
Let a be ((-190)/(-20))/((-2)/(-4)). Let p be (-23)/(-2) - a/38. What is the second derivative of -p*t - 3*t**5 + 7*t**5 - 3*t**5 + 15*t wrt t?
20*t**3
Let r(h) be the second derivative of -223*h**7/42 - 100*h**3/3 + 146*h. What is the second derivative of r(j) wrt j?
-4460*j**3
Suppose 0 = 3*w - w - 12. Let u be ((-3)/(-2))/3*w. Find the third derivative of 2*a**2 - 9*a**3 + 9*a**3 + u*a**6 wrt a.
360*a**3
Let j = 125 + -125. Let d(z) = z + 1. Let o be d(-1). Differentiate j + 2*h**3 + 10 + o*h**3 - 4 with respect to h.
6*h**2
Let t(a) = -2*a**3 - 219*a**2 + 219*a**2 - 22. Let u(b) = -3*b**3 - 45. Let v(h) = -5*t(h) + 2*u(h). Differentiate v(k) wrt k.
12*k**2
Let w(a) be the third derivative of -69*a**4/4 + 443*a**3/6 - a**2 + 7*a. Differentiate w(g) wrt g.
-414
Let m(k) be the second derivative of 11*k**7/14 + 3*k**5/10 - 77*k**3/6 + k**2/2 + 17*k - 8. What is the second derivative of m(o) wrt o?
660*o**3 + 36*o
Suppose -f + 0*f = -3. What is the third derivative of 0*u**2 - f*u**5 - 12*u**2 + 9*u**2 wrt u?
-180*u**2
Let h(y) be the third derivative of 277*y**7/210 + 125*y**3/6 - 14*y**2 - 3*y. Differentiate h(g) with respect to g.
1108*g**3
Let d(j) = -106*j**3 + 132. Let l(t) = -849*t**3 + 1056. Let q(f) = 33*d(f) - 4*l(f). Differentiate q(h) with respect to h.
-306*h**2
Let v(r) = -r**3 - 3*r**2 - 2*r - 4. Let w be v(-3). Suppose -6 = -w*q - 0. What is the third derivative of 1010*b - 1010*b - q*b**2 - 11*b**5 wrt b?
-660*b**2
Let n(q) = q - 5. Let c be n(-9). Let s = 16 + c. Differentiate -3 - s*j + 4*j - 5*j wrt j.
-3
Suppose 3*z = -2*z + 10. Suppose -5*l + 2*b + 43 = 0, -4*l + 20 = z*b - 0*b. Find the first derivative of -l - 1 - 2*d**3 + 1 wrt d.
-6*d**2
Let b(a) = -2*a**2 + 11*a + 42. Let i be b(8). What is the second derivative of -10 - 28*p**i + 6*p + 7 + 1 wrt p?
-56
What is the derivative of 588 - 197 - 295 + 83*n**3 wrt n?
249*n**2
Find the second derivative of -69*z**4 + 52*z + 302*z**4 - 110*z**4 wrt z.
1476*z**2
Let p(t) be the first derivative of t**4/4 + 71*t**3/3 - 155*t - 70. What is the first derivative of p(f) wrt f?
3*f**2 + 142*f
Let n(f) be the first derivative of -217*f**4/2 + 251*f**2/2 - 314. What is the second derivative of n(k) wrt k?
-2604*k
Let u = -9 + 13. Let x(q) be the first derivative of -13 - q - 3*q + 5*q + 0*q - u*q**3. Differentiate x(r) with respect to r.
-24*r
Suppose 5*t = 3*h + 5, 0 = -t + 3*h + 1 - 12. Let d be -3*2/3 + t. What is the third derivative of -4*f**d + 2 - 2 + f**5 - 5*f**5 wrt f?
-240*f**2
Let c be ((-8)/32)/(1/(-724)). Differentiate 188 + 4*o + c - 402 - 32*o wrt o.
-28
Suppose 14*y = 10*y + 8. Suppose 0 = q - 1 - 1. What is the third derivative of -y*g**q - g**2 + g**3 + g - g wrt g?
6
Let x(g) be the third derivative of 0*g + 5/12*g**4 + 0 + 0*g**3 + 1/42*g**8 + 0*g**5 - 15*g**2 + 0*g**6 + 0*g**7. What is the second derivative of x(l) wrt l?
160*l**3
Let q(u) = 245*u**2 - 91*u + 11. Let z(s) = 121*s**2 - 46*s + 6. Let w(c) = 6*q(c) - 11*z(c). What is the second derivative of w(a) wrt a?
278
Suppose -2*d + 3*s = 0, 2*d = -2*d - 2*s + 16. Let k be 13/d + (-10)/(-15). Differentiate -6 - 1 - 3 - k*t + 3 with respect to t.
-5
Let u = 23 - 19. Suppose -u*y - 3*m + 2 = 0, y - m = -y + 6. What is the second derivative of 7*o**5 - o + 0*o**5 + 2*o**5 + y*o wrt o?
180*o**3
Find the second derivative of -38*c**3 + 729*c**2 - 729*c**2 - 13 + 2*c wrt c.
-228*c
Let y(j) = 15*j**3 - 13*j + 3. Let r(k) = -k - 1. Let u = 25 - 22. Let p(n) = u*r(n) + y(n). Find the second derivative of p(q) wrt q.
90*q
Let j(v) be the first derivative of 3 + 9 + 9*v**2 + 11 - 3*v**5 - 14*v**2. What is the second derivative of j(u) wrt u?
-180*u**2
Let m(u) = -6*u. Let d = -60 + 63. Let b(v) be the first derivative of v**2/2 - v - 1. Let q(y) = d*b(y) + m(y). Find the first derivative of q(x) wrt x.
-3
Let s(a) = -181*a**2 - 13*a - 3. Let q(z) = -180*z**2 - 15*z - 5. Let u(f) = -4*q(f) + 6*s(f). What is the second derivative of u(i) wrt i?
-732
Let p(h) be the second derivative of 239*h**4/6 - 131*h**2 + h - 144. What is the first derivative of p(n) wrt n?
956*n
Let o(h) be the third derivative of -55*h**8/168 - h**5/30 + h**4/12 + 49*h**3/2 + 8*h**2 + 3*h. Find the second derivative of o(y) wrt y.
-2200*y**3 - 4
Let c = -2753/420 + 46/7. Let l(d) be the third derivative of 5*d**2 + 0 + c*d**5 + 1/6*d**4 + 0*d + 0*d**3. Find the second derivative of l(b) wrt b.
2
Suppose 3 = 5*s - 4*s. What is the second derivative of -u - 5*u + 2*u + u**s - 2*u**3 wrt u?
-6*u
Let c = 13 - 11. Let r be (-4)/(-2) - 0 - c. Find the second derivative of 5*g**4 + r*g**4 - 6*g**4 - 3*g**4 + 3*g wrt g.
-48*g**2
Let l(f) be the third derivative of -4*f**7/105 - f**5/30 - f**4/8 + 5*f**3 - 120*f**2. Find the second derivative of l(t) wrt t.
-96*t**2 - 4
Let y be (-1 + 5)*(-1 + 23/2). What is the third derivative of 58*c**3 - y*c**3 - c**2 + 8*c**2 wrt c?
96
Let n be ((80/(-6))/4 + 5)*3. Let g(y) be the third derivative of -4*y**2 + 0*y**4 - 1/15*y**n + 0*y + 0 - 5/6*y**3. Differentiate g(p) wrt p.
-8*p
Let r(m) = m**4 + m**3 + m**2 - m + 1. Let q(f) = -73*f**4 - 2*f**3 - 2*f**2 + 2*f + 44. Let v(u) = -q(u) - 2*r(u). What is the derivative of v(y) wrt y?
284*y**3
Let z(s) be the third derivative of -s**7/210 + 3*s**5/10 + 263*s**3/6 + 171*s**2. Differentiate z(q) wrt q.
-4*q**3 + 36*q
Let x be ((-10)/4)/(-1 - 4)*6. Find the third derivative of -10*f**2 + f - f + 18*f**3 - 2*f**x wrt f.
96
Let g = -96 + 113. Find the first derivative of 4 + g + 0 + 5 + 27*x wrt x.
27
Let i(q) be the first derivative of 203*q**6/6 - 5*q**2/2 + 14*q - 82. Find the second derivative of i(s) wrt s.
4060*s**3
What is the third derivative of -3*m**2 - 1587*m - 43*m**2 + 184*m**3 + 1587*m wrt m?
1104
Let i(m) = m**2 + 14*m + 44. Let d be i(-6). Let x(c) = c**4 - c**2. Let b(q) = 8*q**4. Let a(u) = d*b(u) + 20*x(u). Find the third derivative of a(y) wrt y.
-288*y
Let r(g) = 391*g**3 - 3*g**2 - g - 23. Let o(i) = -2*i**3 - 2*i**2 - i - 1. Let f(p) = -o(p) + r(p). Find the third derivative of f(k) wrt k.
2358
Let u = -65 + 70. Find the third derivative of -3*s**5 + s**u + 12*s**2 + s**5 - 2*s**5 wrt s.
-180*s**2
Suppose 4*y - 16 = -0*y. Suppose -2*w = -5 - 1. What is the third derivative of 26 - y*l**2 + 4*l**w - 26 wrt l?
24
Differentiate -16*h - 17*h
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
At present, the direct-illuminated panel light on the market generally uses a metal shell power supply with a plurality of wiring holes, and the panel light can be connected to the power source through the metal shell power supply assembly. Different regions have different requirements for the location setting of power components. In the US market, metal shell power components are required to be fixed to the lamp body. The structure of the metal shell power module installed on the US market is to fix an adapter plate on the back of the lamp body, lead the positive and negative lines of the panel lamp, and then mount the metal shell power component on the adapter board. A disadvantage of this construction is that it leads to an excessive thickness of the entire lamp body. Because the thickness of the lamp body of the direct-illuminated panel lamp is generally about 35 mm, if the power component is mounted on the back of the lamp body, the overall thickness of the panel lamp will reach about 70 mm. This is neither aesthetically pleasing nor good for the cost of packaging.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Send to (required)
Send from (required)
Message (optional)
A big, strong man, Jason Schaal experienced big things in his 30s. And as he got older, things kept getting bigger and better, both professionally and personally.
Consider that Grayslake Central's new head football coach was on staff when South Elgin High opened its doors in 2005. He became a head coach in both girls basketball and softball for the first time and served as an assistant football coach, helping build all three programs.
Story Continues Below
Then he met his future wife.
Then the couple had its first child, then its second.
Then the young dad got offered to come to Grayslake Central to be its Life Fitness department chair.
"I need to be active," said Schaal, who doesn't need to drink from a magic fountain to stay young. "I need to be busy."
Grayslake Central's school board approved Schaal's hiring last week. He becomes the Rams' sixth head football coach this century and takes over a squad that went 4-5 in 2013, missing the state playoffs for the second year in a row.
"It's always been a dream to have the opportunity to run a program," Schaal said. "I'm excited about the opportunity here, being my first year in the building. This school year I've had a great time, a great experience. The staff, the students and everyone in the community have been very welcoming."
Schaal is finishing up what he called a great first year at Grayslake Central. The Rams' softball team is 19-8, on the verge of its first 20-win season in nearly 10 years. As a department chair, he says he's learned a lot, especially about himself.
"The last 10 years have been more than excellent for me. I don't know the proper way to say it," said Schaal, the husband of Renee, and the father of Courtney, 3, and Jason Jr., 1. "If the next 10 are as good as this past 10, things will be really good on my side."
Schaal knows the challenges ahead of him, not only on the football field but in his personal life. After all, he doesn't want to be away from his kids when they hit milestones of their own -- first tooth that falls out, first solo ride on a two-wheel bike, first day of school.
Little Jack, for example, is running around more and more and starting to talk.
For now, Daddy doesn't plan on relinquishing his softball duties.
"The balance is going to be a little bit of a challenge," said Schaal, who's replacing Ben Ault as head football coach. "I don't want to miss my kids growing up. I want to be there for them. Over the last 10 years, I haven't missed a family party."
Springs will admittedly be tough for Schaal, since college football coaches are making their rounds, visiting high schools to learn about potential recruits.
"Right now is a very busy time for both sports (football and softball)," Schaal said. "I'm not going to lie: It's a little overwhelming at this point of the season because it's all brand new. I'm getting all the college coaches information from Ben. I'm trying to prepare for the (softball) postseason. But that will be adjusted and fixed with planning."
Schaal served as Ault's offensive and defensive line coach last fall, while also coordinating the special-teams units. When Ault resigned, Schaal expressed interest in taking over the program. He and Renee talked about it.
"It wasn't expected, at all," Schaal said. "Ultimately, when you have opportunities, you need to take them, because they don't come around too often."
A 1991 graduate of Naperville North, Schaal was a three-technique defensive lineman under IHSFCA hall of fame coach Larry McKeon. He played one year at Loras College in Iowa and eventually graduated from Northeastern Illinois University.
"I owe an awful lot to Coach McKeon and all the coaches at Naperville North for what they taught me," Schaal said.
Schaal served six years as South Elgin's defensive coordinator. As Grayslake Central's head coach, however, he's going to the other side. He's going to run the offense.
"I'm going to use my experience as a ‘D' coordinator," Schaal said. "I'm going to make the (offensive) play calls and use my experience as to what drove me crazy as a ‘D' coordinator and hopefully cause a little confusion for our opponents."
While Schaal says the Rams' personnel will dictate what he runs on a year-by-year basis, he wants to spread the field. Under Ault the last two seasons, the Rams ran lots of veer, triple option.
"I foresee us going more spread," Schaal said. "We'll probably get away from the double wing a little bit."
That, after all, is the football age we're in. It's Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III, zone run, one read for the quarterback.
Get ready for Schaal Ball, kids.
"What all the kids are seeing with RG3 and all that is more spread attack," Schaal said. "It allows you to get the ball in your athletes' hands a little quicker, and it can be a little bit more up tempo."
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.
If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the X in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Books for Adopshun
Does you has stacks and stacks of book at your house? Our books (mostly the boy's) woz spilling over into my hidey spot and something had to be done!
So mom founded out about this place online called Paperbackswap.com and she signed us up. Mom posted a bunch of books wot we woz offering for adopshun and that first nite three books gotted homes! We has founded new homes for many of the udder books alreddy and when you find a new home for a book, you gits a credit to git yourself a book for free. Rilly! You has to pay the postal peeples (avg. $2.50) to send your book to it's new home but you pays nottin to get a book for yourself. So we gotted hiking books for free so we can find more hikes to do!When you figger to buy a noo book you spend at least $8, usually more, you is saving lots of monies. For examples, the books above would has costed $48.85. Mom had to send 3 books to noo homes for 3 credits to get these hiking books. She paid the postal peeples about $8.34. She saved over $40! That's a lot of treats and squeakies you could get with the monies your peeples is saving!
My furend Bob did his bloggie bout this today and I thought I should pass on the word too since this is a rilly good thing and you can donate some of your points to pore schools where chilluns need books to read. We did that after we read Bob's bloggie. So hop on over there to visit him if you has a minit, he describes this in more deetale than wot I did. Grate idea you had, Bob!
It mite sound too good to be troo but I has sniffed it out myself and can tell you firstpaw that it is not a scam, it is rilly, rilly legit. So wot is you waiting for? Has you hoomans clean out the bookcases to make room for all the noo books Santa is bringing, click on the logo below and git signed up!
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Loa loa and Onchocerca ochengi miRNAs detected in host circulation.
A combination of deep-sequencing and bioinformatics analysis enabled identification of twenty-two microRNA candidates of potential nematode origin in plasma from Loa loa-infected baboons and a further ten from the plasma of an Onchocerca ochengi-infected cow. The obtained data were compared to results from previous work on miRNA candidates from Dirofilaria immitis and O. volvulus found in host circulating blood, to examine the species specificity of the released miRNA. None of the miRNA candidates was found to be present in all four host-parasite scenarios and most of them were specific to only one of them. Eight candidate miRNAs were found to be identical in the full sequence in at least two different infections, while nine candidate miRNAs were found to be similar but not identical in at least four filarial species.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Yankees pitching has given up some early runs the past two days, but there’s no one to blame here besides the offense. Being 4-28 with RISP against the Rays this series is ridiculous, and it shows that the team has been hitting themselves into outs. The last three outs of the innings are just a small example that highlights just what problems this team has, as they stranded bases loaded and nobody out. They get your hopes up, and then kick you in the pants.
Masahiro had a fine outing, despite his messy 1st inning, and the rest of the pitching staff was fine, as the only other run that was given up came due to an Andujar error. Giancarlo Stanton had a couple of nice hits, Didi and Gleyber battled for their hits in the 9th, but in the end this team folded up again. The Rays have a winning record against the Yankees this year, and it’s a shame on The Bronx Bombers.
GOOD
Stanton’s first at-bat (Double). Feels like Giancarlo doesn’t waste his first inning chances very often while batting 2nd.
Higashioka lead-off hit in the 3rd.
Aaron Hicks’ centerfielding.
Hicks showing Neil Walker how to bunt in the 6th. Stealing 2B without a throw was also impressive.
1-2-3 7th inning from The Oriole.
Tommy Kong’s shutout inning.
BAD
Being down 2-0 before the Yankees even come up to bat.
Aaron Boone cowering in his own dugout, and allowing umpires to do whatever they want in the 1st inning.
Snell’s three K’s in the 1st, especially Andujar/Didi being K’d in three pitches each, while Stanton was in scoring position.
Kay’s take on Marlins/Braves HBP.
John Flaherty’s existence.
Wasting 2 on, 1 out, in the 3rd (Stanton/Andujar ground-outs).
Neil Walker’s bunt attempt in the 4th. Michael Kay claimed it was “a good thought”, but it wasn’t. Yankees needed to get Snell’s pitch count up, not give up an out on 1 pitch. Where’s David Cone when you need him?
Leaving Hicks stranded at 2nd in the 6th.
Miguel Andujar’s error on the bunt in the 8th, which led to a run. I, like Kay, thought the runner was in the basepath, but Aaron Boone didn’t seem to mind.
Ryne Stanek reminding me of T.J. Miller every time I see him on the mound.
Kay saying “Gardnerian at-bat”, directly followed by Gardner flying out.
This umpiring crew getting calls wrong at a ridiculous rate.
Blowing the 9th inning bases loaded opportunity, and getting absolutely nothing out of it, other than signs that Greg Bird is replaceable.
YANKEE
Tanaka picking runners off in back-to-back innings, and the second time it was an inning ending pick-off of a runner in scoring position (5th/6th).
Romine PH single in the 8th inning.
Stanton getting himself a multi-hit game, while breaking the shutout, despite the HR not counting.
Didi lead-off hit in the 9th. Gleyber breaking his 0-17 slide with a bloop single. Neil Walker getting the 4-pitch BB, and him showing a lot of energy.
Yankees 3 Stars of the Game
* Masahiro Tanaka (6 IP, 6 K, 2 ER)
** Giancarlo Stanton (2 H, 1 RBI on an injured hammy)
*** Zach Britton (1-2-3 inning, 1 K)
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
We propose a randomized control trial to test an intervention sponsored by three professional associations to improve the adoption, maintenance, quality and diffusion of cancer early detection activities in rural primary care practices in North Carolina. Sixty-eight randomly chosen primary care practices in two geographic areas of North Carolina will be grouped into similar pairs and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group will receive an intensive "Office System for Preventative Care" (OSPC) program of academic detailing, meetings with physicians and staff, consultation about office systems and educational modules about proper technique of early detection activities. The effect of the OSPC program will be measured by the proportion of eligible patients receiving early detection activities for four cancers before and after the stage of adoption by participating practices. The project will include a phase to diffuse the intervention to practices beyond the study group.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Insurance agents to be barred from selling ponzi plans
In the wake of the Saradha scam, the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) has decided to come out with stricter guidelines for insurance agents in order to prevent them from marketing ponzi schemes.
As part of the new guidelines, both individual as well corporate agents would have to submit written undertakings of having no association with private entities involved in the business of accepting public deposits.
This stricture would be applicable to both public and private insurance companies as well as general and life insurance firms.
According to IRDA sources, the authority will shortly ask insurance companies under its authority to collect the written undertakings from their regular and corporate agents.
After the Saradha bubble burst, it became apparent that several insurance agents, most of who were associated with the country’s biggest insurance firm Life Insurance Corporation of India, were doubling up as collection agents of different chit fund companies, including that of the tainted Saradha Group.
It was also evident that such incidences were rampant mainly in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa, where the activities of such ponzi schemes were the highest.
Last year, IRDA had cancelled Rose Valley Chain Marketing System Ltd’s licence as corporate agent licence of Life Insurance Corporation of India for violating terms and conditions of the licence and also for not abiding by specific provisions of the Insurance Act, 1938.
In fact, both the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the investigation arms of the Union ministry of corporate affairs, are conducting probe against different companies under the Rose Valley Group for their alleged involvement in ponzi activities.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Proteomic analysis of the chicken egg vitelline membrane.
The avian vitelline membrane (VM) is a multilayered proteinaceous structure separating egg white from yolk. The innermost layer of the VM, deposited onto the oocyte plasma membrane in the ovary, corresponds to the mammalian zona pellucida (ZP). The outer layer is produced in the infundibulum, the first section of the oviduct. Using high-throughput, high-end LC-MS(n) 137 proteins were identified, only 13 of which were known previously to be components of the VM. Depending on the washing protocol, two largely overlapping, but not identical, sets of identified proteins were produced from water-washed and salt-washed VMs. Most of the components of the VM were known previously from other egg compartments, such as, for instance, the egg white proteins lysozyme C, ovalbumin, ovotransferrin, and ovomucin. Specific components of the VM not identified previously in other egg compartments included eight ZP proteins, oviductin protease, and two ATPases. The vitelline outer membrane protein (VMO) VMO II was identified as beta-defensin-11. The list of VM proteins presented in this report is by far the most comprehensive dataset available at present and complements proteomic analyses of chicken egg compartments published previously.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
An alarming new trend involving teenagers eating detergent capsules and posting the videos on YouTube could “put them in danger”, health officials have warned.
The concerning 'Tide Pod Challenge' phenomenon has spread across social media since the turn of the year.
Teenagers have filmed themselves biting into Tide laundry detergent capsules, with some of the videos racking up more than 100,000 hits before being removed by YouTube.
The first mention of the 'Tide Pod Challenge' on YouTube dates back to June 2014, while parody website The Onion followed this up with a satirical op-ed about the pods in 2015.
A video by CollegeHumor titled ‘Don't Eat the Laundry Pods’ posted in March 2017 has been viewed more than three million times and towards the end of last year it spread into a popular meme.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
News, notes, and anecdotes on the Fort Wayne TinCaps
Perspective, Please
1. Nobody from the 2009 playoff starting lineup is back. Repeat after me: This is a good thing. Good players move up. New players come in. It’s affiliated Minor League Baseball. Last year was fun, but last year is over. Let’s enjoy a new crop of players.
2. There are seven guys age 20 or under on the roster. Only one of them (Jeudy Valdez) has played full-season baseball before. Be patient with them. It’s a higher level of play, most of them don’t speak a lot of English, they’re not used to the colder weather, and they’ve never played this many games in a season before. They might make some unbelievable plays, good and bad. Bear with them. Consistency comes with time.
3. Donovan Tate, the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s draft, hasn’t been assigned anywhere yet. He hurt his shoulder diving for a fly ball in Spring Training. I haven’t heard when he’ll be ready to go or where he’ll be assigned. You’ll know when we know.
4. In general, just relax. Do you know how many guys from last year’s Opening Day roster were still here at the end of the season? Fifteen. So 40% of the guys you see on the roster today won’t be here by the end of the season. Also, I can just about guarantee nobody in Minor League Baseball will win 101 games this season, so don’t expect it.
…and that’s all I have to say about that.
Friday ramblings:
Alexi Lara is so hot right now. He closed it out last night for the Padres at Angels Stadium and got the save. In a Major League Baseball spring training game. The outing before that, he went 1.2 innings, 5 strikeouts. Really? Let this four-minute audio highlight remind you of where Lara was in early June of last season. Also while listening to that, remember that even the mighty 2009 TinCaps had some pretty pathetic moments… They just didn’t have many. And finally, I’m not usually that big of a jerk on the air, but when a guy makes the same mistake over and over, I get frustrated just like anybody else. I’ll be honest; I thought Lara was pitching for his career. He turned it around after that appearance and was untouchable the rest of the way. So, in less than a year, it’s gone from “this guy can’t get anybody out in A-ball” to “nobody in A-ball can hit this guy” to “ALEXI LARA IS AWESOME.” Baseball is a funny game, isn’t it?
It’s 80+ degrees outside today, so we did a lot of work around the ballpark to get ready for the Open House (which is Saturday, noon-4pm… I’ll be giving tours for part of the time). It’s days like these when I thank the good Lord that I worked as a ticket/concession/cleaning/everything else guy at Conneaut Plaza Theater for two years during high school. I’m a dude. Therefore, I don’t usually notice tiny details when it pertains to cleanliness. But when I go into theater worker mode, I remember my old boss (Jungle Jim, as we called him) getting all curmudgeon-y when the smallest thing wasn’t clean or in order. Today I was in theater worker mode for most of the afternoon cleaning things. Maybe I should invite Jungle Jim to the Open House and see what he thinks of the ballpark. He’ll probably notice some fingerprints on the handrails or something. But that’s the kind of thing I look for now. Maybe Jungle Jim was right all along.
I don’t know how I’ll ever succinctly work some of these sabermetric stats into a broadcast (or if I’ll even try), but Bill Simmons is drinking the Kool-Aid. I agree that they’re useful stats, I just don’t know if there’s a way to present them quickly and in a way that’s easy to understand. I also understand that there’s rarely a stat that’s more interesting than a story. It’s a balancing act, for sure.
Our old pal Terry Byrom is getting absolutely mobbed by media. Not because they’re in a frenzy for his BBQ sauce recipe, but because he’s the media relations guy for the Harrisburg Senators. Also known as the Strasburg Stephens. When the biggest prospect in baseball history is assigned to your team, you just hope you’re not the media relations guy. You will either make somebody in the media mad or want to slam your head into a wall, or both.
The imaginary World Cornhole Tag Team Championship belts are on the line in mere moments. Getcha popcorn ready.
And now, musical guest… Rare Earth!
Have a great weekend!
DW
Like this:
LikeLoading...
Related
1 Comment
thx for the info, but a new team w/ some stragglers is fine. as long as they play hard is ok. 102 wins is not expected. last yr was probaby an exception, padres sending best players here and not LE. their roster this yr is almost all of tincaps. well i want to thank you for the info
The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Reference Material
Disclaimer, Copyright
The U.S.S. Mariner is in no way affiliated with, condoned or given any notice by the Seattle Mariners baseball team, who have their own website. Similarly, we have no association with the ownership group or any businesses related to the Mariners. All article text is written by the authors, all pictures are taken by the authors, who retain copyright to their works. No copying or reproduction of any content here, photographic or otherwise, is authorized. Please email us if you wish to reproduce our work.
Game 127, Mariners at Red Sox
That series in Philadelphia was neither entertaining nor helpful. Now, the M’s head to Fenway, where they’ve lost nine consecutive games. Ahhh, but we’ve got Felix and you’ve got…Joe (checks again) uh, Kelly. The guy with the…(checks) sinker? A guy with a sinker.
So yes, Mr. Kelly, who came over from St. Louis in the John Lackey deal, throws a very hard sinker, a curve, and a change-up. When he first came up in 2012, his primary breaking ball was a slider, but after working on his curve (and looking at his wide platoon splits), he evidently decided to go with the hook instead. And it’s been a good pitch for him – unlike many curve balls, he gets an extraordinary amount of ground ball contact with it. According to BrooksBaseball, his curve’s GB/balls-in-play ratio is over three standard deviations from the mean, which is good, considering his sinker is pretty standard. So he gets over 50% of ground balls, and almost no one can elevate the curve. Is he a great pitcher? Well, no.
In 2013, Kelly posted a brilliant ERA in over 100 innings despite a poor FIP that resulted from his low K% and poor BB%. The grounders helped him avoid HRs (for the most part), but as Dave and others pointed out, what was driving that sparkly ERA wasn’t HRs, it was BABIP, or more accurately, BABIP in certain situations. Everyone talked about the Cardinals’ offense, and their incredible hitting with runners in scoring position. Kelly was the pitching version of Allen Craig last year, running a .224 BABIP with RISP, and thus generating a strand rate over 82%. Just as Craig’s RISP numbers tumbled this season, Kelly’s BABIP with RISP this year is .304, and that’s helped knock his strand rate down to just over 70%. That’s not the ONLY thing that’s changed with Kelly, but it’s another example of why it’s usually a good idea to be skeptical that a small-sample performance is predictive. A year after posting an ERA well over a full run lower than his FIP, his ERA’s now OVER his FIP, and he’s been essentially replacement level on the year.
In his career, he’s yielded a .350 wOBA to lefties and a .295 wOBA to righties. By FIP, it’s about one run higher to lefties than righties. This is a sinkerballer, after all, so it’s not terribly shocking. And he’s faced more RHBs than lefties in his career – another perk of pitching for St. Louis in the NL Central. Since moving to Boston, he’s actually faced two NL Central teams (including, famously, the Cardinals – in his first start in a Boston uniform) and the Astros. This is a pitcher with real problems against lefties, and for whatever reason, those problems weren’t as evident in 2013 thanks to BABIP and all of that. But they’re just as real in 2014 as they were in 2012, and this is a good opportunity for the M’s to use their lefty-heavy line-up to gain a significant advantage…er, even more of an advantage than they had by just starting King Felix.
Kelly’s sinker is a lively one, averaging around 95mph, and that’s something of a worry. The M’s platoon splits against lefties have been discussed quite a bit, and by picking up Jackson/Denorfia, the M’s have tried to address the issue. But their splits against ground-ball pitchers are actually worse. Henderson Alvarez comes to mind, as does Kyle Gibson. Those two had much better control, however. One way for the M’s to avoid 4-3′ing their way to a loss is to be a lot more patient. Kelly’s thrown a below-average percentage of strikes throughout his career, and it’s been quite low this year. He’s not been able to get batters to chase, either, as his slider – the pitch he doesn’t throw much anymore – was the pitch that got him a lot of out-of-zone swings.
Some might wonder if Kelly was always going to struggle after leaving the Cardinals thanks to their incredible pitch-framer Yadier Molina. Catchers adept at picking up the low strike can be extremely beneficial to sinkerballers, and obviously Molina’s adept at essentially every aspect of catching. It’s probably true that a portion of Kelly’s brilliant 2013 shouldn’t be called “luck” – it should be called “Molina.” But there’s a new catcher in the league who’s among the very best pitch framers we’ve yet seen. I…ok, yes, that description might work for Mike Zunino, but I’m talking about Red Sox backstop Christian Vasquez. Jeff’s article at Fangraphs is a good introduction. If you’re in a hurry, 1) why are you reading this game preview (thank you!), and 2) just go to the second gif in that article. If someone doesn’t understand the concept of pitch framing, or what it is that a catcher’s supposed to DO to get a strike call, have them watch that. Maybe part of it is an artifact of the gif itself, but it looks a bit like magic. Vasquez has caught Kelly twice – two games, two wins, two solid-ish performances for a guy without good control or a swing-and-miss pitch. Kelly’s one awful game for Boston came against Houston, and was caught by Daniel Butler. Am I saying…no, I’m not saying anything, I’m just…look at that gif again, would you?
The big story of the baseball world today is the signing of Cuban OF Rusney Castillo by the Red Sox. Boston beat out a number of teams, including the Tigers and M’s, to ink Castillo to a 6-year, $72m contract. It’s back-loaded, so Castillo will make something like the $500,000 this year. Castillo’s contract beats out the $68m the White Sox gave Jose Abreu in the offseason in a deal that’s worked out pretty nicely. The rapidly rising prices paid for international free agents has a few causes – from the quicker-than-expected impact from guys like Yoenis Cespedes, Yasiel Puig, Masahiro Tanaka and Abreu, to the dampening of bonuses paid both to draft-eligible players and the July 2nd international signings. International signings are still discounted, of course, because we’re still not quite sure how they’ll fare in the US (I’m shaking my head at all of the unnamed scouts/executives who questioned Abreu’s batspeed this offseason), but they’re able to produce right away, giving teams bidding on their services more information about their own place on the win curve. Thanks in part to the nearly-instant success of Puig/Abreu, some talked about Castillo moving right into the Boston line-up. I’m not sure that’s going to happen, especially given that Boston’s out of the race in 2014, but he’s probably not long for the minors.
Tacoma’s final homestand of the season continues tonight at 7:05 against Omaha. The red-hot Rainiers send Jimmy Gilheeney to the mound against Aussie control-pitcher/HR-maven Liam Hendriks. Lefty Tyler Pike starts for Jackson. There are always ups and downs as prospects move up the ladder, but I have to say I’ve been especially dismayed by Pike’s 2014. He struggled in High Desert, and that’s understandable, but the walk rate has been absurd. In hindsight, it never really matched up to the “plus pitchability” scouting reports, but it’s gone haywire this year. Pike is talented, and in AA before he can legally drink, so don’t take this as me writing him off. It’s just a statistical line that I would never have guessed we’d see from him.
Speaking of prospects, RP Carson Smith – a guy I thought could make an impact in MLB this season – is locked in for Tacoma right now. He suffered an injury early in the season, and had a very poor April, but in his last 26 innings, going back to June 6th, he’s given up three runs, struck out 29 and walked 7. In the process, he’s knocked his ERA down from 6.00 to 2.93.
Tags:
Comments
116 Responses to “Game 127, Mariners at Red Sox”
Paul B on
August 22nd, 2014 4:24 pm
The promo on 710 AM today was touting this game as one where the Mariners were playing a team in the playoff race.
I don’t think so.
Paul B on
August 22nd, 2014 4:46 pm
So did they have to wake up the replay guy in New York?
What if the guy has to review several games at once?
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 4:50 pm
There is more than one guy, but whoever this guy was sure did like the drama. The replay guys are all former/senior umpires. I thought there was one assigned for each game in progress, but I am not sure about that.
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 4:54 pm
8 umpires and a bunch of technicians – with 30 TV’s – and 12 possible viewing angles at each game – according to a quick google search.
IndianaMike on
August 22nd, 2014 5:05 pm
Felix looks to have settled down after that first inning. Now if the M’s can put a run or two on the board.
Paul B on
August 22nd, 2014 5:07 pm
I guess when there is a day game on the east coast and a night game on the west coast, that could make for a long day.
Other than that, sounds like a pretty good job.
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 5:25 pm
Hell yeah … And they are drawing their senior umpire salary while doing it.
Westside guy on
August 22nd, 2014 5:40 pm
An article I read (but can’t find again) implied that one of Rusney’s years was this year, and the BoSox were paying him $10 million this year because they are currently way below the luxury tax threshold – so it was in their advantage to so?
Plus it sounded like he wanted to make at least a token appearance in the MLB this season.
Oh, wait – it appears what matters for the luxury tax is the average annual value of a contract, and the way the money is distributed may be irrelevant.
G-Man on
August 22nd, 2014 5:48 pm
Wow, a curve to Miller on 3-2. Rather face Jackson?
Seattleguy527 on
August 22nd, 2014 5:52 pm
He probably figured Miller would be looking fastball so he could strike him out with curve. But yeah, certainly looks like he didn’t fear Jackson knowing Miller might draw a walk.
Seattleguy527 on
August 22nd, 2014 6:05 pm
Next inning will be interesting. Will Lloyd let Felix finish the 6th? Or will Beimel be brought in to face Ortiz?
Seattleguy527 on
August 22nd, 2014 6:22 pm
Ballgame. See y’all tomorrow.
WalterNeff on
August 22nd, 2014 6:23 pm
What channel is Seahawks on?
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 6:26 pm
He’s done. Go get him, Lloyd.
californiamariner on
August 22nd, 2014 6:26 pm
Mariners, please don’t go on one of these streaks…
WTF_Ms on
August 22nd, 2014 6:30 pm
Cali, is that 8 game losing streak flashing back??? If that were only a 6 game streak, we’d be solid in the WC race….yet, here we are! I’m glad we are at least in the race. Even if it’s only a 2nd WC spot.
Does it concern anyone else that Felix doesn’t throw over 100 pitches anymore and/or seems to run out of gas when he gets there? I know the bullpen is very solid, but I feel like there’s going to be a game (in the post-season, if we manage to get there) where we’re going to need a heroic 130-pitch outing from him, but I’m not sure he’s capable.
californiamariner on
August 22nd, 2014 6:43 pm
Honestly, I feel like if Felix has to throw 130 pitches, then he hasn’t been very sharp that day anyway and you’re probably better off with the bullpen coming in after everyone in the lineup has seen him 3 times.
Jake on
August 22nd, 2014 6:50 pm
Gee, Jackson comes up with runners on and won’t do anything good. Where have we seen this before?
stevemotivateir on
August 22nd, 2014 6:52 pm
I had a bigger problem with the intentional walk than I did with Felix’s pitching.
WTF_Ms on
August 22nd, 2014 6:54 pm
Detroit?
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 6:54 pm
Great AB, Jackson.
GP20 on
August 22nd, 2014 6:54 pm
Austin Jackson = Al Martin all over again.
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 6:56 pm
Did he play football at USC, too?
Jake on
August 22nd, 2014 6:56 pm
I was thinking the 5th inning, but Detroit is correct also.
WTF_Ms on
August 22nd, 2014 7:06 pm
Good hustle down the line Robby….not.
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 7:10 pm
Wow, Kendrys … You have sure been a pleasure to watch this season.
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 7:26 pm
Zunino!!!
Grayfox3d on
August 22nd, 2014 7:26 pm
I hope I’m wrong but this could very well be the beginning of the end for our fun little run, which really sucks, but again I hope I’m wrong.
Jake on
August 22nd, 2014 7:26 pm
Another good plate discipline day for Zunino. 0-4 4 Ks, nice job.
Jake on
August 22nd, 2014 7:28 pm
Striking out in 36% of his at bats. I understand that he hasn’t had much development time, but this is really ridiculous.
Jake on
August 22nd, 2014 7:31 pm
7 walks, 1 HBP = 0 runs.
Jake on
August 22nd, 2014 7:31 pm
I don’t understand pinch hitting Denorfia for Miller against a right-hander.
msfanmike on
August 22nd, 2014 7:31 pm
Carlos Peguero territory with his strikeout rate. How dumb does that sound. Crimony.
Jake on
August 22nd, 2014 7:33 pm
Yay, the reverse jinx worked. Can Austin Jackson screw up with runners on yet again?
I turned this thing off after the Cespedes HR and been looking at Gameday every few minutes. I’m absolutely shocked. This would be such a huge morale booster, and possibly put them back in the wild card spot.
I’m so glad I got confused and thought this was a late game, otherwise I would have been obsessively checking my phone every five minutes. Instead, I get home and turn on gameday just in time for Austin’s double. Sweet. (Meanwhile, Minnesota with a chance to pad the lead over Detroit…)
Just curious, does anyone have a recording of the game? …what i’m wondering is how many “punch-out pitches” i.e., 2-strikes, 2-outs) did we have in the 9th? I’m guessing 12-15 …Chavez had several in his at-bat before he walked, then a bunch more 2-strike at-bats. Unreal finish!
Hey, don’t you guys know Endy is utterly useless, and he has been utterly useless for years, and the idea that he should be on this team five seconds longer than necessary just proves you don’t understand baseball? I mean, some smartmouth wrote that right here, so it must be true.
Yes, the way you evaluate a baseball player properly should be by looking at one game – not his last several seasons.
And, if a team has a winning record with said player on the roster, it must be that he is the best possible person to fill that roster spot – replacing him with a statistically superior player would obviously result in team getting worse.
As an aside… I believe that’s how Miguel Olivo stayed in the major leagues for so long.
Grayfox3d on
August 23rd, 2014 11:20 am
Who’s the smart guy who sends Kyle Seager home on a ball hit to Cespedes…. I understand being aggressive but the whole league should know who and who not to run on.
And then a 4 pitch walk to the #8 hitter to lead off an inning.
Grayfox3d on
August 23rd, 2014 11:52 am
If your watching the game, that right there is exactly why Endy is a part time player, runner on 2nd and 3rd no outs, and you swing and miss at 3 straight pitches.
msfanmike on
August 23rd, 2014 11:57 am
Sucre in the lineup for his bat!
msfanmike on
August 23rd, 2014 12:02 pm
Perfect!
Ackley squared that one up.
californiamariner on
August 23rd, 2014 12:04 pm
I don’t even know what to do right now. This is fun!
By the way, it was 3-0 when I turned this game on. (YOU’RE WELCOME)
eponymous coward on
August 23rd, 2014 12:05 pm
I wonder if we’ll get daily game threads if we make the playoffs…
Grayfox3d on
August 23rd, 2014 12:07 pm
You would think we could get them daily being that were in the hunt for the playoffs *snicker*
Section329 on
August 23rd, 2014 12:08 pm
Woo! Bet we will get those threads, eponymous.
Grayfox3d on
August 23rd, 2014 12:24 pm
Yes Chris, we want you to strike out the first two hitters and then fall apart after, just to make this interesting.
californiamariner on
August 23rd, 2014 12:28 pm
Big strikeout from the bartender!
Seattleguy527 on
August 23rd, 2014 12:33 pm
I don’t think anyone is focusing on one game with Chavez — coming into today he’s hitting .278 with an OBP of .315. Is he a worldbeater? Nah. Is he even “good?” No, probably not. But it’s funny how the people who are so bent on complaining about him ad nauseum seem to forget that he’s a 36-year-old journeyman OF who we signed to a MINOR LEAGUE contract. Jack decided not to address the OF situation so we got stuck with him playing more than he should. Given the fact that we had no reason to expect anything whatsoever from him, I’m pretty damn ok with the results.
Oh, and he’s making a fraction of what they paid Corey Hart. And yet there are a lot more complaints about Chavez than Hart on here. Sure, that’s rational.
leon0112 on
August 23rd, 2014 12:56 pm
The Twins are killing the Tigers again. If this holds up, the Mariners will be a game and a half ahead of the Tigers. Isn’t scoreboard watching in late August fun?
leon0112 on
August 23rd, 2014 1:10 pm
Twins 12, Tigers 4
Grayfox3d on
August 23rd, 2014 1:35 pm
Those strike calls to Taylor were so horrible! who the hell are these umps and why are they still being paid!
leon0112 on
August 23rd, 2014 1:52 pm
A Red Sox was chucked out for arguing a checked swing call. Why not Llyod?
leon0112 on
August 23rd, 2014 2:06 pm
What a great bullpen.
Dennisss on
August 23rd, 2014 2:44 pm
Bullpen goes 5 and 1/3, 2 hits, 1 walk, 11 strikeouts, no runs. Nice work. Not to mention the 1/3 was with the bases loaded when Wilhelmsen came in.
Woodcutta on
August 23rd, 2014 2:58 pm
Seattleguy,
I’ve been reading the posts on here for almost the entire season and I don’t remember anyone saying Chavez isn’t doing his job or that he hasn’t been better than expected. The issue is he shouldn’t be starting so much and on a playoff team he probably shouldn’t be on the 25-man roster. Also, his below average/average-ness is better than some of the other options Jack Z has forced Lloyd to trot out there this year. That doesn’t mean we should be happy he’s playing so much or on the team.
Seattleguy527 on
August 23rd, 2014 3:22 pm
You’re kidding, right Woodcutta? There are numerous examples of people complaining about Endy’s production. As Ivan mentioned earlier, he has even been called “utterly useless.” Oh, and then there was the time when people were criticizing him because his slugging percentage wasn’t high enough. That was pretty comical. Endy has always been a guy who is more of a slap hitter who relied on his speed more than anything (which is dwindling because he’s now 36). So no, he’s never going to have a high slugging percentage. What’s next? Should we argue that Cano isn’t good because he doesn’t steal enough bases?
For the record, I agree with you and everyone else who doesn’t want to seem him playing so much. It would have been nice if Jack had gone out and gotten somebody so Endy wouldn’t even need to be on the roster. Or, it would be nice if Michael Saunders could actually stay healthy and not live his life on the DL. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened/are happening.
Complaining about him being on the roster at all is a valid complaint, IMO. We should have had better options. But I think people who complain about his production either have unrealistic expectations or they’re complaining just to complain.
ivan on
August 23rd, 2014 3:46 pm
No one is claiming that Endy is good, or that he is the best player available, or that he should be playing as much as he is. If they were to deem Saunders ready to play regularly before the rosters expanded, and someone had to go to clear space, Endy would be the logical choice, and if that was who Lloyd cut, I’d defend it.
I was just pointing out the sheer idiocy of the “utterly useless” label, and the notion that if you think he has any value whatever, you don’t understand baseball. That is every bit as silly, and as much hyperbole, as calling him, from the other end of the spectrum, a “veteran player who knows how to win.”
But hey! That’s exactly what Lloyd called him, over on Shannon Drayer’s blog, saying also that the walk Endy drew was the most important AB of the season.
Whereas Lloyd is the manager and none of us are, my guess is we’re going to see Endy on the playoff roster. Speaking for myself, I’d rather see the team succeed, and my ideas of how a team should be run be trashed, than have my ideas of how a team should be run be validated while the team fails. Almost every team has a “25th man” who might be replaced by someone better.
Having been a daily reader of this blog from the beginning, and a regular follower of Dave, Derek, and Jason since the alt.sports.baseball.seattle-mariners days on Usenet, I can’t help but think that for some people here, it’s exactly the opposite.
Chavez is obviously useless. He’s a true talent sub-replacement level player who has played above his head and is…replacement level. That’s his upside. The organization’s bizarre infatuation with him is is leading them to bury/ignore a useful player in Saunders. That’s very bad, given their current position. A rational organization would see a healthy Saunders as an excuse to be grateful he hasn’t been worse and bring in a real player. I’m glad he’s doing well, but I know enough about baseball to know the organization’s silly attachment to him is decreasing our chances of making the playoffs, as Saunders’ “rehab” approaches two weeks.
One of the most baffling things about Mariners fans is the eagerness with which they convince themselves terrible players aren’t terrible. We’ve seen it over the years with Bloomquist, Peguero, and others. The current infatuation with Chavez is the latest example.
HighlightsAt11 on
August 23rd, 2014 5:36 pm
It appears last nights game number was correctly updated. But no game thread today? You win some and you lose some.
Endy gets a lot of crap on this forum when he fails. But when he succeeds where are the accolades? Quote all the stats you want but I’m glad Endy is available to “fill in”. If he wasn’t “available”, who in the system would be filling in instead?
If you’re unhappy with the outfield roster direct your insults at Jack.
As someone wise previously explained to me on this forum, you go with what (who) you got, at each moment.
I prefer LoMo not be in the outfield. And sounds like Saunders rehab put on temporary hold due to flu-like symptoms. I understand the M’s need to make a decision on him by 8/27.
So what’s the deal with Hart? Went on the 15-day DL on 8/2. Has that been extended? Is he in rehab somewhere? Is he out for the season?
Endy gets a lot of crap on this forum when he fails. But when he succeeds where are the accolades?
No one is “giving Endy crap”. I have no doubt he’s doing his best, and I’m glad when he succeeds. He’s just a contant reminder of the limitations of the current front office, and the chances that front office’s inattention to detail in filling out a roster properly may cost us a one game playoff. He’s below replacement level, Saunders is a league average player, and they don’t get that. It’s incredibly frustrating, but it’s not Endy Chavez’s fault. Who is saying otherwise.
ivan on
August 23rd, 2014 6:02 pm
Unless you are calling Lloyd and the whole front offics a pack of liars — and we have read that here before — Saunders isn’t fit yet. When he is, he’ll be here, and as I said above, if they cut Endy to make room for him, it will be the correct move. So do me a favor, pal, and don’t accuse me of saying things I haven’t said.
mksh21 on
August 23rd, 2014 6:21 pm
Well the optimist says we’ve come this far in spite of the disasters filling out the Outfield. I root hard for Endy, but I know its a useless endeavor. You wouldn’t think it wouldn’t be THAT hard to find a better option.
But hey if he stops playing once Saunders comes back and the M’s have a one or two game lead, i’ll take it. (well maybe if we didnt play endy at all the lead would more )
mksh21 on
August 23rd, 2014 6:50 pm
Ichiro is pretty cheap right now….. Yankees have no use for him… Wouldn’t that be neat?
Will on
August 23rd, 2014 7:43 pm
I’d like to hear some viable reasoning as to why Chavez isn’t completely useless… because he is. What does he do well? Nothing, but we’ve still managed to give him 210 PAs this year. Can’t help but chuckle at somebody arguing that we should keep Chavez because he’s hitting .278.
Guess who else is hitting .278? Munenori Kawasaki… if you’re still evaluating players based on their batting average with all of the advanced data we have now that pretty much downplays its significance, you’re naive.
Grayfox3d on
August 23rd, 2014 8:05 pm
Were 12 games above .500 and fighting for a playoff spot, who the hell cares about Endy Chavez at this point. He’s not going anywhere any time soon.
Ackley started hitting and no one complains about him anymore, what about LoMo hitting .220? where’s his complaints. Hart goes on the DL and everyone shifts their hate towards Chavez.
Will on
August 23rd, 2014 8:16 pm
Were 12 games above .500 and fighting for a playoff spot, who the hell cares about Endy Chavez at this point. He’s not going anywhere any time soon. Ackley started hitting and no one complains about him anymore, what about LoMo hitting .220? where’s his complaints. Hart goes on the DL and everyone shifts their hate towards Chavez.
Because with Chavez we actually have a legitimate, MLB-worthy alternative in Michael Saunders. Who are you going to replace Morrison with at this point, Smoak? The frustration is that our third best position player is waisting away in the minors while we give semi-regular playing time to a 36-year-old scrub.
Will on
August 23rd, 2014 8:20 pm
In other news, Cleveland acquired Chris Gimenez today for some cracker jacks. I’d take him as a backup over Sucre any day.
Grayfox3d on
August 23rd, 2014 8:32 pm
Will,
That’s the thing, Saunders has not been able to stay off the DL this season, and right now he’s sick and according to Lloyd he’s not ready for MLB action. What happens when Saunders get’s hurt again? who do you trust more at this point Endy or Jones?
Seattleguy527 on
August 23rd, 2014 8:42 pm
Nah, I’m not naive, Will. The reason I brought up batting average was because people on this site were using that same stat against him earlier in the season. Goose/gander, right? And I’m all in favor of advanced stats, but I also know that people love to cherry pick advanced stats to suit their own purposes.
I find it funny that for some people on this site if you don’t irrationally hate Endy Chavez or constantly complain about him, you’re somehow a fan of his. Apparently we’ve now moved on to conspiracy theories that the organization has Michael Saunders stuffed in a suitcase somewhere because they think Chavez is the greatest thing since sliced bread? What, no “Ohhhh great, now they’re going to sign Chavez to a 5-year deal!” posts after last night’s game? Personally, I think those are my fave. You guys must be slipping.
There, I think that was hyperbolic enough to be a legitimate USSM post, no?
Seattleguy527 on
August 23rd, 2014 8:47 pm
Haven’t you heard, Grayfox? The reason Saunders is sick is because Jack and Lloyd are slowly introducing arsenic into his protein shakes. Shhhhhhh, this needs to look like an accident. We can’t have this ending up on Forensic Files, ya know?
naviomelo on
August 23rd, 2014 8:52 pm
Chavez isn’t going anywhere. That seemed pretty clear to me when Lloyd made the comment about it being too late in the season to have guys try and figure things out at the big league level. When they’re forced to make a move with Saunders, it would seem that it’s going to mean the end of the eight-man bullpen, not the end of Endy Chavez.
Will on
August 23rd, 2014 9:49 pm
I find it funny that for some people on this site if you don’t irrationally hate Endy Chavez or constantly complain about him, you’re somehow a fan of his.
Never said that you were a fan of his, but please enlighten me as to what you’re trying to argue here…
I don’t understand why you think we shouldn’t complain about playing 36-year-old scrubs like Chavez on a regular basis.
ivan on
August 24th, 2014 2:23 am
Management plays favorites in all walks of life. Baseball is no different. Managers play favorites in baseball, almost with a vengeance. Endy is one of Lloyd’s favorites, and there isn’t jack $hit you can do about it while Lloyd is the manager. That’s why it is silly to complain. Lloyd is going to do things for his reasons and not for yours. It’s his job on the line and not yours. If you refuse to acknowledge this human dynamic, all the advanced stats in the world aren’t doing you any good.
KDawg on
August 24th, 2014 2:38 am
This blog lacks content. But it has for the last 2 years. For a team that is finally in a pennant race for the first time in 7 years, I am truly disappointed. Wish you guys picked up your game.
Endy is one of Lloyd’s favorites, and there isn’t jack $hit you can do about it while Lloyd is the manager. That’s why it is silly to complain.
You can’t be serious. It’s “silly” to talk about the organization’s shortcomings and errors? I can’t believe you’re still reading this blog after all these years, since one of its core themes–arguably its raison d’etre–is “silly”.
Were 12 games above .500 and fighting for a playoff spot, who the hell cares about Endy Chavez at this point.
It’s precisely because we’re fighting for a playoff spot that the organization’s delusions about Chavez are so maddening. Do you really need someone to spell out for you why giving an ancient sub-replacement level scrub with no upside regular playing time isn’t wise for a team trying to win more games than the Detroit Tigers in the next 40 days?
So what’s the deal with Hart? Went on the 15-day DL on 8/2. Has that been extended? Is he in rehab somewhere? Is he out for the season?
He appears to have begun his rehab in Tacoma yesterday.
ivan on
August 24th, 2014 6:40 am
Why can’t you believe I’m still reading this blog after all these years? I read this blog for my reasons and not for yours. I never said sabrmetrics were silly. I’m a SABR member. I don’t think sabrmetrics are silly. I think some of the people who practice them are silly, and that some of the people who practice them are just flat-out dogmatic and arrogant about it (are your ears tingling?)
Why do I think that? Because stats and metrics do not explain everything about baseball, and it’s high time some people quit pretending that they did. Even Bill James has said this. If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.
I read this blog to learn, and every day I learn. I even learn stuff from you sometimes.
eponymous coward on
August 24th, 2014 10:05 am
All told, if Saunders isn’t ready (which wouldn’t be surprising, after having his rehab interrupted by paternity leave AND illness), the M’s don’t have a ton of options in the OF. We already know this.
Now, if Saunders was on the MLB roster and not playing AT ALL, and Chavez was the starter, yeah, we should probably bitch about this. But the M’s starting one of their raft of replacement-level players over the other when there aren’t any other options? Meh.
(And yeah, Jones is probably the younger, worse-fielding version of Chavez, though if he could field as well as Chavez did in his salad days, he’d be an OK 4th OF, like Chavez was. But he’s not at present.)
Seattleguy527 on
August 24th, 2014 10:55 am
Will,
I wasn’t saying people shouldn’t complain that Chavez is playing too much. I completely agree that he’s playing more than he should. In my first post I acknowledged he shouldn’t even be on the roster because Jack should have went out and upgraded the OF, but he didn’t.
What I’m saying is given his limited, if any, skillset, his production is what everyone should have expected. Yet there are people who complain about his production and wring their hands anytime he does something even remotely bad. I assume this is because they are bitter he’s on the roster in the first place. I think some people would rather see a guy fall on his face and be right than see a guy they don’t like help the team (also see: Ibanez, Raul).
Also, for everyone who’s complaining that he’s playing too much — you realize he would be playing a lot less if Saunders could stay healthy, right?
Ok, I’m spending way too much time talking about Endy Chavez. I really need to get out more.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
1. Introduction {#sec0005}
===============
Coronaviruses (CoVs) are found in a wide variety of animals where they cause respiratory, enteric, and neurological diseases with variable severity. Based on genotypic and serological analyses, CoVs are divides into 3 genera; alpha-, beta- and gamma-coronaviruses ([@bib0015]). Alpha- and beta-coronaviruses have been isolated from mammals, while gamma-coronaviruses cause avian infectious bronchitis (IBV), as well as the genetically closely related Turkey coronavirus ([@bib0020], [@bib0045], [@bib0095], [@bib0100]) and pheasant coronavirus ([@bib0050]). Numerous variants and serotypes of IBV continue to be discovered in poultry flocks worldwide ([@bib0035], [@bib0030], [@bib0070], [@bib0080], [@bib0085], [@bib0105], [@bib0235]) that cause infectious bronchitis (IB), which is responsible for mortality in young chickens, economic losses due to poor weight gain, and a reduction in the egg quality and quantity ([@bib0040]).
Like the typical genomic organization found in other gamma-coronaviruses, the 3′ end of the IBV genome contains the main structural genes; the spike glycoprotein (S), the small membrane protein (E), the integral membrane protein (M), and the nucleocapsid protein (N), as well as several accessory genes, usually in the order S-Gene 3-E-M-Gene 5-N ([@bib0010]). The S1 subunit of the S protein carries virus-neutralizing and serotype-specific determinants, but it exhibits high sequence diversity among different IBV serotypes. By contrast, the N protein is highly conserved with 91.0--96.5% similarity in different IBV strains ([@bib0240]). Its primary function is the formation of the viral ribonucleoprotein complex, but it is also considered that the IBV N protein is multifunctional. Its intracellular localization suggests that it is a likely component of the coronavirus replication and transcription complex. Furthermore, the N protein can induce high titers of cross-reactive antibodies and cell-mediated immunity, which protects chickens from acute infections ([@bib0115], [@bib0210], [@bib0215]). Most of the IBV N protein is composed of 409 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 45 kDa. The N protein is a phosphoprotein that can bind viral RNA with high affinity ([@bib0060]) and it is expressed abundantly during infections ([@bib0025]). Thus, it is a target protein when designing infectious bronchitis (IB) vaccines ([@bib0220]) and a frequent target of diagnostic applications ([@bib0055], [@bib0090], [@bib0180]). However, most of the diagnostic assays had been focused on the antibody detection using recombinant N proteins. In the sampling practices in poultry farms in China, it is very common to take tracheal swabs to look for respiratory virus infections, though it is also very common to take blood samples to detect antibody. Hence, new assays focusing on virus detection, such as using mAb(s) against N protein, would be an improvement on current available diagnostic assays.
Naïve B-cells, which are the principal agents of humoral immune responses, are stimulated by the specific recognition and binding of B-cell receptors to a region of the antigen known as the epitope. Together with co-stimulation by T-lymphocytes, naïve B-cells become fully activated then proliferate and differentiate into memory and plasma cells, while the latter act as key engines for producing specific antibodies. The identification and mapping of B-cell epitopes on antigens has been a subject of intense research because knowledge of these markers has profound implications for the development of peptide-based diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. B-cell epitopes may consist of linear, contiguous stretches of amino acids in a protein, or they can be discontinuous stretches of amino acids that are brought together spatially via protein folding. The majority of B-cell epitopes are discontinuous in nature, but difficulties in the design of such epitopes have led to an emphasis on the identification of linear B-cell epitopes. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are used widely as powerful tools for identifying linear epitopes, or for mimicking the epitopes of a variety of infectious agents ([@bib0065], [@bib0135], [@bib0260]). In this study, we prepared mAbs against the N protein of IBV strain tl/CH/LDT3/03I and used them to screen for linear B-cell epitopes. The results provided important insights that could facilitate the development of possible specific diagnostics for IBV infection and that further our understanding of the antigenic structure of N protein.
2. Materials and methods {#sec0010}
========================
2.1. Viruses and their propagation in specific pathogen-free embryonated eggs {#sec0015}
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
IBV strain tl/CH/LDT3/03I was isolated in 2003 from a teal in Guangdong Province, China ([@bib0150]), and it was used for the preparation and identification of mAbs, as well as for N gene cloning and expression. To investigate the reactivity of the 2 mAbs, 25 heterogeneous IBV strains, i.e., 20 field strains and 5 vaccine strains, were used as representatives of different IBV types ([@bib0160], [@bib0170]). The backgrounds of the 25 heterogeneous IBV strains are shown in [Table 1](#tbl0005){ref-type="table"} . All IBV strains were propagated once in 9--11-day-old specific pathogen-free (SPF) embryonated chicken eggs and the presence of viral particles in the allantoic fluids of inoculated eggs was confirmed using a negative contrast electron microscope (JEM-1200, EX) and by RT-PCR, as previously described ([@bib0155]).Table 1Background information of IBV strains used in Western blotting in the present study.IBV strainCountry[a](#tblfn0005){ref-type="table-fn"}Year[b](#tblfn0010){ref-type="table-fn"}TypeGenBank accession numberH120Vaccine--Mass[AY856349](ncbi-n:AY856349)H94Vaccine--Mass[EF602438](ncbi-n:EF602438)IBNVaccine--Mass[AY856349](ncbi-n:AY856349)M41US1965Mass[FJ904720](ncbi-n:FJ904720)CK/CH/LHN/00IChina (Henan)2000N1/62 associated strain[EF602456](ncbi-n:EF602456)JAASVaccine--N1/62 associated strain[AY839138](ncbi-n:AY839138)J9Vaccine--N1/62 associated strain[EF602440](ncbi-n:EF602440)CK/CH/LDL/97IChina (Dalian)1997CK/CH/LDL/97I[EF602445](ncbi-n:EF602445)tl/CH/LDT3/03China (Guangdong)2003tl/CH/LDT3/03[AY702975](ncbi-n:AY702975)CK/CH/LHLJ/04VChina (Heilongjiang)2004LX4[FJ821744](ncbi-n:FJ821744)/[FJ821725](ncbi-n:FJ821725)CK/CH/LSD/03IChina (Shandong)2003LX4[EF602457](ncbi-n:EF602457)CK/CH/LTJ/95IChina (Tianjin)1995LX4[DQ287917](ncbi-n:DQ287917)CK/CH/LGD/04IIChina (Guangdong)2004LX4[EF602444](ncbi-n:EF602444)CK/CH/LXJ/02IChina (Xinjiang)2002LX4[EF602458](ncbi-n:EF602458)CK/CH/LLN/98IChina (Liaoning)1998LX4[EF602451](ncbi-n:EF602451)LX4China (Xinjiang)1999LX4[AY338732](ncbi-n:AY338732)TW2575/98China (Taiwan)1998TW-II[AY606327](ncbi-n:AY606327)CK/CH/LGD/04IIIChina (Guangdong)2004Variant[EF602447](ncbi-n:EF602447)CK/CH/LSD/05IChina (Shandong)2005Variant[EU637854](ncbi-n:EU637854)/[EU637824](ncbi-n:EU637824)[^1][^2]
Newcastle disease virus (NDV) La Sota vaccine strain, infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) ([@bib0225]) and subtype H9 avian influenza virus (AIV) ([@bib0255]) were used for evaluating the cross-reactivity with the 2 mAbs. All these virus strains were propagated once in 9--11-day-old SPF embryonated chicken eggs and the presence of NDV and subtype H9 AIV viral particles in the allantoic fluids of inoculated eggs was confirmed by HI using specific antibodies, respectively ([@bib0175]). The ILTV was confirmed by RT-PCR as previously described ([@bib0225]).
Fertile white Leghorn embryonated SPF chicken eggs were obtained from the Laboratory Animal Center, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China.
2.2. Generation and identification of mAbs {#sec0020}
------------------------------------------
Six 8-week-old BALB/c female mice were immunized subcutaneously with condensed IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03I virus-infected allantoic fluids ([@bib0250]) mixed with Freund\'s complete adjuvant, followed by two booster immunizations. The protocols used for the preparation of mAbs and ascetic fluids were as previously described ([@bib0195], [@bib0230], [@bib0250]). All hybridomas were cloned via at least 3 rounds of limiting dilution. Primary screening of hybridomas was by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using a commercial total antibody ELISA kit (IDEXX Corporation, Westbrook, ME, USA), according to the manufacturer\'s instructions. The mAbs were reacted with both IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03I virus particles and recombinant N protein as coating antigens for ELISA and Western blotting, respectively. The mAb classes and subclasses were determined using an SBA Clonotyping System/HRP kit (Southern Biotechnology Associates, Birmingham, AL, USA). Two mAbs, designated as 6D10 and 4F10, were identified and used for further fine-level epitope mapping.
2.3. Biopanning {#sec0025}
---------------
A Ph.D.12™ Phage Display Peptide Library Kit was purchased from New England BioLabs Inc. The dodecapeptide library contained 2.7 × 10^9^ electroporated sequences (1.5 × 10^13^ pfu/ml). The mAbs were purified from the ascites fluids of mice that had been inoculated with hybridoma cells and that secreted the mAbs 6D10 and 4F10, using affinity chromatography with rProtein G (Sigma, USA), according to the manufacturer\'s instructions, and the concentration was determined. mAbs 6D10 and 4F10 were obtained with high purity (\>90%, as determined by SDS-PAGE) and used for biopanning. Three successive rounds of biopanning were carried out according to the manufacturer\'s instructions. Briefly, one well of a 96-well microtiter plate was coated with 15 μg of each mAb in coating buffer (0.1 M NaHCO~3~, pH 8.6), followed by blocking with blocking buffer (0.1 M NaHCO~3~, pH 8.6, 0.02% NaN~3~, and 5 mg/ml BSA) for 2 h at 4 °C. About 1.5 × 10^11^ pfu (4 × 10^10^ phages, i.e., 10 μl from the original library) were added to a well and incubated for 1 h at room temperature. The unbound phages were removed by successive washes with TBS buffer (50 mM Tris--HCl, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl), which contained gradually increasing concentrations (0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5%) of Tween-20, and the bound phages were eluted using elution buffer (0.2 M glycine--HCl, pH 2.2) containing 1 mg/ml BSA. The eluted phages were amplified in early-log phase *Escherichia coli* ER2738 strain cells.
2.4. Phage ELISA and the sequencing of DNA inserts displayed by phage clones {#sec0030}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
After 3 rounds of biopanning, 10 individual phage clones were selected and assayed for target binding using a sandwich ELISA, according to the manufacturer\'s instructions. Briefly, 96-well microtiter plates were coated overnight with 10 μg of each mAb, while anti-porcine IFN-γ mAb (Sigma, USA) served as the negative control. After 2 h of blocking with blocking buffer at 4 °C, the phage clones were added to the wells (2 × 10^11^ pfu in 100 μl per well) and incubated with agitation for 2 h at room temperature. Bound phages were reacted with horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-conjugated anti-M13 antibody (Pharmacia, USA), followed by color development with substrate solution containing *O*-phenylenediamine (OPD). The positive phage clones detected by the phage ELISA were sequenced using the −96 gIII sequencing primer 5′-TGA GCG GAT AAC AAT TTC AC-3′, as described in the manufacturer\'s instructions.
2.5. Construction of a recombinant plasmid and expression of recombinant proteins {#sec0035}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03I N gene and N gene fragments were cloned and sequenced, as previously described ([@bib0250]). To allow directional cloning into the expression vector pGEX-6p-1, Bam HI and Sal I recognition sites were introduced to the 5′ ends of the forward and reverse primers ([Table 2](#tbl0010){ref-type="table"} ). The directionality of the recombinant plasmid was verified by restriction analysis and nucleotide sequencing. The plasmid was transformed into *E. coli* BL21 (DE3) cells for expression. A series of fusion proteins with the expected molecular weights were induced by 1 mM IPTG, as previously described ([@bib0250]). The cells were harvested by centrifugation and the pellets were suspended in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS; pH 7.4). Recombinant proteins were stained with Coomassie blue after SDS-PAGE, as previously described ([@bib0250]). To prepare the purified proteins, the inclusion body proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE, the proteins of interest were excised, and the gel slices were crushed and added to an appropriate volume of sterilized PBS. The extracted proteins were used for Western blotting and ELISA.Table 2Sequences of the primers used in this study.[^3][^4]
2.6. Western blotting and indirect ELISA {#sec0040}
----------------------------------------
In the Western blotting analysis, the IBV-, NDV-, LITV- and AIV H9-infected allantoic fluids, homogenized tracheal swabs or suspended pellets in PBS were electrophoresed by SDS-PAGE using 10% acrylamide gel and transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane using a mini trans-blot system (Bio-Rad, USA), according to the manufacturer\'s instructions. Nonspecific binding to the membrane was blocked with 5% skim milk in PBS containing 0.05% Tween-20 (PBST) overnight at 4 °C. The membrane was washed three times with PBST and incubated with the 6D10 and 4F10 mAbs for 1 h at 37 °C, respectively. After three washes with PBST, the membrane was incubated with HRP-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG (1:5000 dilution in PBS, pH 7.4) for 1 h at 37 °C. Following another three washes, the mAb binding to the antigen was detected using 3,3-diaminobenzidine tetrahydrochloride (DAB), which was stopped by rinsing the membrane in deionized water, followed by drying of the membrane. In the indirect ELISA, each microplate well was coated with 400 ng of each recombinant GST fusion proteins, blocked with 5% skim milk in PBST for 2 h at 37 °C, and incubated with the 6D10 and 4F10 mAbs for 1 h at 37 °C, followed by incubation with HRP-conjugated anti-mouse IgG for 1 h at 37 °C. The color was developed with TMB (3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine) substrates for 15 min and stopped with 2 M H~2~SO~4~. Sterile allantoic fluids and recombinant GST were used as negative controls.
2.7. Phylogenetic analysis of the IBV N protein genes and a comparison of the conservation of the epitope-containing sequences of IBV strains {#sec0045}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The N protein genes from the 228 IBV strains available in GenBank were aligned and used to construct the phylogenetic trees. The GenBank accession numbers are shown in [Fig. 1](#fig0005){ref-type="fig"} . Nucleotide sequence alignment was conducted using the CLUSTAL method and phylogenetic trees were constructed using the neighboring-joining method. Analysis of the epitope-containing sequences of IBV strains was performed using the MegAlign application in the Lasergene software package.Fig. 1Phylogenetic tree constructed using the N genes from 228 IBV strains in GenBank using the neighbor-joining method. The IBV strains used for reacting with the 2 mAbs, 6D10 and 4F10, are highlighted in bold.
2.8. Virus recovery {#sec0050}
-------------------
The 10 swab samples taken from 8-day-old broilers of a commercial broiler flock and the 5 SPF chicken tracheal swab samples were processed individually and used for virus recovery as previously described ([@bib0150]). Briefly, individual samples were homogenized, diluted 1:4 with PBS, clarified by centrifugation at 300 × *g* for 5 min and filtered with a Teflon membrane. The filtered samples were inoculated into at least four 9-day-old SPF embryonated eggs via the allantoic cavity (0.2 ml per egg). The eggs were candled daily to record embryo mortality. After 7 days, the remaining embryos were chilled at 4 °C and examined for characteristic IBV lesions such as the dwarfing, stunting, or curling of embryos. Embryo mortality recorded in the first 24 h post-inoculation was considered non-specific and a positive sample was recorded if the specific lesions were observed.
3. Results {#sec0055}
==========
3.1. The 2 mAbs were active against IBV N protein {#sec0060}
-------------------------------------------------
Two hybridomas, 6D10 and 4F10, were found to secrete mAbs specifically against the IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03 N protein ([Fig. 2](#fig0010){ref-type="fig"} ). The mAbs recognized recombinant N protein and the native IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03 antigen according to Western blotting ([Fig. 2](#fig0010){ref-type="fig"}A). The reactivity and specificity of the 6D10 and 4F10 mAbs were confirmed using a commercial ELISA and an ELISA where whole IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03 virus particles were used as the coating antigen ([Fig. 2](#fig0010){ref-type="fig"}B). In addition, the 2 mAbs, 6D10 and 4F10, showed no reactions with other respiratory viruses, such as NDV, ILTV and H9 subtype AIV, using Western blotting. The 2 mAbs were determined to be IgG1 (К) and IgG2b (К).Fig. 2Reactivity of the 6D10 and 4F10 mAbs with IBV strain tl/CH/LDT3/03 and recombinant N protein by Western blotting (A) and indirect ELISA (B). Dashes show the S/P ratios. Samples with S/P ratios equal to or above the dashes were considered positive, whereas those below were considered negative.
3.2. Fine level mapping of the epitope of 6D10 by screening the phage display peptide library {#sec0065}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The PhD-12™ Phage display peptide library phage kit (New England Biolabs, USA) was micropanned using the 2 mAbs against the N protein of IBV from the ELISA test. Ten clones were selected randomly from the binding phages of each mAb and sequenced using the dideoxy method. The results showed that that polypeptides displayed by the 10 phage clones using mAb 6D10 were focused on amino acids 242--247 of the N protein ([Fig. 3](#fig0015){ref-type="fig"}A), which clearly demonstrated that the crucial epitopes for mAb 6D10 were located within amino acids 242--247 of the IBV N protein, designated as ^242^FGPRTK^247^. This peptide was expressed and recognized by mAb 6D10 using Western blotting, whereas GPRTK and FGPRT could not be recognized by mAb 6D10 ([Fig. 3](#fig0015){ref-type="fig"}B). By contrast, the sequences of the phage clones screened by mAb 4F10 were all meaningless sequences and no epitopes of 4F10 were determined by biopanning the phage display peptide library.Fig. 3Finely mapping of the epitope for mAb 6D10 in avian infectious bronchitis virus N protein. The sequences of 12 peptides displayed by the selected phage clones were shown. A consensus sequence, 242FGPRTK247, displayed by the 10 phages had a good match with the N protein of IBV at amino acids 242--247 (A). The reactivity of mAb 6D10 with three truncated recombinant N proteins, 242FGPRTK247, 243GPRTK247 and 242FGPRT246, by Western blotting was illustrated (B).
3.3. Fine level mapping of the epitopes of 4F10 by peptide scanning {#sec0070}
-------------------------------------------------------------------
We did not screen the epitopes of mAb 4F10 using the phage display peptide library in this study. This peptide may not be included in this phage display peptide library, although the exact reason is unknown. Thus, a series of 22 partially overlapping fragments covering the N gene of IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03 were expressed with a GST tag and used to screen for the minimal epitope of mAb 4F10. The epitope of 4F10 was mapped by peptide scanning, as previously described ([@bib0250]). The strategy for expressing IBV N and truncated N fragments is shown in [Fig. 4](#fig0020){ref-type="fig"}A. The entire N gene and its truncated fragments were expressed as GST fusion proteins in *E. coli* BL21 (DE3). All of the proteins were expressed successfully and they were tested by SDS-PAGE of the cell lysates after induction with IPTG. The GST fusion proteins were used for fine level mapping of the epitope of the IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03 antigen recognized by 4F10 ([Fig. 4](#fig0020){ref-type="fig"}). Western blotting showed that the minimal recognition sequence was ^195^DLIARAAKI^203^, because a deletion of D195 or I203 destroyed the binding of mAb 4F10 to the GST fusion peptides ([Fig. 4](#fig0020){ref-type="fig"}B). A similar reactivity was observed with ELISA using truncated peptides as coating antigens, which further confirmed that the linear epitope recognized in the N protein of IBV strain tl/CH/LDT3/03 by 4F10 appeared to be localized in ^195^DLIARAAKI^203^.Fig. 4Fine level localization of the mAb 4F10 epitope. The reactivity of mAb 4F10 with truncated recombinant N proteins by Western blotting (upper part of A) and ELISA (lower part of A). The names of the proteins are shown in B. GST was used as a negative control in both assays. The protein molecular markers are indicated by short lines. For the ELISA, the dashed line indicates the S/P ratio. Samples with S/P ratios equal to or above the dashes were considered positive, whereas those below were considered negative.
3.4. Reactivity of the identified epitopes with the anti-IBV antibody {#sec0075}
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The 2 peptides, ^195^DLIARAAKI^203^ and ^242^FGPRTK^247^, which corresponded to the epitopes defined for mAbs 4F10 and 6D10, were used as antigens in Western blotting, which demonstrated that these peptides were also recognized by a chicken anti-IBV antibody. [Fig. 5](#fig0025){ref-type="fig"}A and B show the results for ^195^DLIARAAKI^203^ and ^242^FGPRTK^247^, respectively.Fig. 5Reactivity of epitopes against mAbs 4F10 and 6D10 using a chicken antibody against IBV by Western blotting. The GST fusion proteins were used to react with chicken antibody against IBV, respectively, and SPF chicken sera was used negative control. The recombinant GST was used as a negative antigen control in both assays.
3.5. Phylogenetic analysis of the N genes {#sec0080}
-----------------------------------------
Phylogenetic analysis based on the nucleotide sequences of the N gene were performed to select heterogeneous IBV strains that reacted with the 2 mAbs. The 228 IBV strains were clustered into five distinct groups based on the N gene ([Fig. 1](#fig0005){ref-type="fig"}). Most of the viruses were clustered into group I, which contained most of the IBV strains isolated from all over the world, such as IBV strains from China, US, Japan, South Korea, Israel, European countries, South Africa, and Australia. Viruses in this group could be clustered into several subgroups. All viruses in group II were from China, except 2 IBVs from South Korea. Group III included viruses isolated from the Southwest region of China. Viruses in group IV were all isolated from Taiwan province, China, while all of the viruses in group V were isolated from Australia. The viruses in each group or subgroup were highly genetically related as well as geographically related. Thus, the phylogenetic pattern based on the N genes suggested a common origin for these viruses.
3.6. Conservation of the epitope-containing sequences in IBV strains {#sec0085}
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A comparison was made to determine the conservation of epitope-containing and flank sequences of the 6D10 and 4F10 mAbs in N genes of all IBV strains used in the phylogenetic analysis. As shown in [Fig. 6](#fig0030){ref-type="fig"}A, only 4/228 showed two amino acid changes and seven had one amino acid change, whereas the remaining 221 had identical sequences to the epitope of mAb 6D10, indicating the high conservation of the epitope in IBV genes. With the epitope of mAb 4F10, 59 sequences had one amino acid substitution, one sequence had two, while another had three substitutions the 228 sequences examined in this study ([Fig. 6](#fig0030){ref-type="fig"}B), which also showed that this epitope was conserved in the N gene of most IBVs.Fig. 6Alignment of the epitope motifs and flanking sequences of the 6D10 (A) and 4F10 (B) mAbs for the 228 strains. Epitope sequences are highlighted in grey. Deleted amino acid residues are represented by dashes. The number of viruses that shared the same motif are shown in parentheses. The viruses selected for comparison were the same as those shown in [Fig. 1](#fig0005){ref-type="fig"}.
3.7. Reactivity with heterologous IBV strains {#sec0090}
---------------------------------------------
Eighteen heterogeneous IBV strains were selected to investigate their reactivity with the 6D10 and 4F10 mAbs, based on the phylogenetic analysis of N genes. The respective sequences in the N genes of the 18 IBV strains were identical to those recognized by the mAbs. All of the viruses react with the 2 mAbs in the Western blotting analysis, which further confirmed that the epitopes recognized by the 2 mAbs were conserved among IBVs. [Fig. 7](#fig0035){ref-type="fig"} shows the results for mAb 6D10 and a similar reactivity was observed for mAb 4F10 (data not shown), which suggests that the epitope sequences, and/or mAbs, would be useful in the development of diagnostic reagents to differentiate between IBV and other respiratory viruses.Fig. 7Reactivity of mAb 6D10 with 18 heterogeneous IBV strains by Western blotting. Of the 18 heterogeneous IBV strains, 12 are field isolates and the remaining 6 are vaccine strains. The protein molecular markers were also indicated (in arrowheads).
In addition, sequence comparison showed that all 18 N proteins used for reactivity with mAb 6D10 are of the same sequence over the epitopes. But for the epitope-containing sequence of mAb 4F10, strains CK/CH/LGD/04II and CK/CH/LGD/04II were Asn at position 195, and strains M41 and CK/CH/LSD/03I were Arg at position 202, respectively. The remaining 14 N proteins are of the same sequence over the epitopes.
3.8. Detection of viruses from tracheal swabs using Western blotting and virus recovery {#sec0095}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Of the 10 tracheal swab samples collected from H120 vaccinated broilers, 5 and 6 can be detected by the mAbs 6D10 and 4F10, respectively, by using Western blotting. However, 9 of these samples are positive in virus recovery. The results are showed in [Fig. 8](#fig0040){ref-type="fig"} . No virus had been detected from tracheal swabs of SPF chickens by either Western blotting using the 2 mAbs or by virus recovery.Fig. 8Detection of viruses from tracheal swabs using western blotting and virus recovery. Of the 10 tracheal swab samples collected from H120 vaccinated broilers, 5 and 6 can be detected by the mAbs 6D10 and 4F10, respectively, by using Western blotting, however, 9 of these samples are positive in virus recovery.
4. Discussion {#sec0100}
=============
The identification of B-cell antigenic epitopes for the IBV structural N protein has been limited ([@bib0120], [@bib0205], [@bib0250]). In this study, we generated 2 mAbs against the N protein of IBV and we finely mapped two linear B-cell epitopes, i.e., ^242^FGPRTK^247^ and ^195^DLIARAAKI^203^, of the 2 mAbs by screening a phage display peptide library and peptide scanning, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, these 2 epitopes are the first finely mapped B-cell epitopes for the IBV N protein. In a previous study, [@bib0205] used 12 fragments of the N gene expressed by *E. coli*, which were coupled with chicken convalescent sera against Australia T, China Ch5, Singapore P4, USA M41, and China T3 isolates, to map the linear immunodominant epitopes of N protein into 3 regions that covered amino acid residues 175--241, 310--370, and 360--409, although these epitopes were not finely mapped. The epitope ^195^DLIARAAKI^203^ recognized by mAb 4F10 was included in the first region identified by [@bib0205] but the ^242^FGPRTK^247^ region recognized by mAb 6D10 was not included in these 3 regions. This discrepancy may be because different viruses were used as the antigens for generating convalescent sera or mAbs. The serotype tl/CH/LDT3/03 ([@bib0150]) used in our study was also a different serotype from those used by [@bib0205].
Nucleocapsid protein is produced abundantly in infections and it readily induces antibody so it is the preferred choice for the development of a group-specific diagnostic tool for IBV infections ([@bib0180]). This is also true of other various RNA viruses, such as mumps, rabies, vesicular stomatitis, measles, and Newcastle disease viruses, which have been used as targeted antigens in the development of diagnostic agents ([@bib0140], [@bib0190], [@bib0110], [@bib0005], [@bib0075]). The N protein of IBV contains 409 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 50 kDa ([@bib0010]). Previous work has shown that the N gene of IBVs is highly conserved and they share 94--99% identity among various strains ([@bib0200], [@bib0240]), but genetic diversity has also been observed in IBV strains isolated during recent years ([@bib0145]). To comprehensively analyze the degree of conservation, we carefully compared the two epitope-containing sequences in the N gene of all IBV strains (228 strains) available in GenBank. This showed that the two epitope-containing sequences were conserved among IBV strains, which further confirmed our conclusions.
We selected 18 heterologous IBV strains to test whether they could be recognized by the 2 mAbs by Western blotting, which further highlighted their suitability for the development of a diagnostic method using the mAbs and/or the epitope-containing sequences in the N gene. A large number of IBV N gene sequences were available in GenBank and a phylogenetic tree was constructed, which was used as a criterion for the selection of IBV strains. Remarkably, the phylogenetic relationship among IBV strains based on the N gene did not parallel those based on the S1 genes ([@bib0105]), which may be explained by recombination events in the genomes of IBV strains ([@bib0125]). There was a lack of IBV strains in group V in our laboratory (this group only contained viruses isolated in Australia) and the 18 viruses selected in this study only came from the four remaining groups (groups I--IV). Nevertheless, all of the heterologous IBV strains selected were well recognized by the 2 mAbs, which suggested that the epitopes recognized by the 2 mAbs were conserved among the heterologous IBV strains. However, by using Western blotting, IB viruses can not be detected from some of the tracheal swabs of chickens which recently vaccinated with H120 vaccines, which may be due to the limited viruses.
Viral upper respiratory diseases such as IBV ([@bib0155]), NDV ([@bib0165]), subtype H9 AIV infection ([@bib0130]), and ILTV ([@bib0185]) are a serious problem in farms in China. The detection of IBV infections of poultry flocks is a major challenge because of the difficulty in differentiating this condition from other upper respiratory diseases. Thus, appropriate diagnostic methods are needed and they are an important tool for taking appropriate preventive steps. Another problem that complicates IBV detection and diagnosis is the existence of multiple serotypes of IBV, which co-circulate in vaccinated and non-vaccinated chicken flocks ([@bib0155]). The astonishing diversity of IBV in chickens is probably a result of the higher mutation rate of RNA viruses due to the infidelity of their polymerases and higher opportunity for recombination because of their unique replication mechanism, which suggests that there are probably many other unknown types and that many more will emerge in chickens.
The availability of the mAbs and their corresponding epitope-containing sequences identified in this study will facilitate the development of diagnostic molecular assays to differentiate between IBV and other respiratory viruses, and to identify unknown types of IBVs or future IBV strains. However, because the 2 mAbs can recognize both field isolates and commonly used vaccine strains, they can not be used for developing diagnostic molecular assays to differentiate between field isolates and vaccines. In addition, we have identified a small amount of variations across both epitopes by comparing IBV N gene sequences in the GenBank database. However, because of the limited IBV strains available in our laboratory, we only tested cross-reactivity of 18 heterogeneous IBV strains which contained identical sequences over the epitope regions. In the future study, we will generate a series recombinant N proteins by mutating the GST-N constructs according to the sequence variations across both epitopes to identify the reactivity of the two antibodies to non-identical sequences of N proteins. Nevertheless, the development of these diagnostic assays will be very challenging.
This work was supported by grants from the China Agriculture Research Systerm (No. CARS-41-K12) and Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (No. 201203056).
[^1]: Country (province) where the viruses were isolated.
[^2]: Year when viruses were isolated.
[^3]: ^a^ Underlining indicates restriction enzyme sites (*Bam H*I and *Sal* I) introduced into each primer. The boxed ATGs and TAAs are the start codon and stop codon, respectively, which were introduced into the primers of each N gene fragments.
[^4]: ^b^ The nucleotide positions correspond to those in the sequence of the IBV tl/CH/LDT3/03 N gene with GenBank accession no. [AY702975](ncbi-n:AY702975).
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Pages
Mar 17, 2012
Some Irish Wisdom
Grant me a bit of humor, Lord,
The saving grace to see a joke
To win some happiness from life,
And pass it on to other folks.
**********************************
May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow.
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.
***************************
As you slide down the banisters of life,
may the splinters never point the wrong way.
*******************************
May the blessings of each day
be the blessing you need most.
*************************
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
Slow to make enemies,
And quick to make friends,
But rich or poor, quick or slow,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward
***************************
May you enjoy the four greatest blessings:
Honest work to occupy you.
A hearty appetite to sustain you.
A good woman to love you.
And a wink from the God above.
**************************
If you find yourself on a stony path,
may you have strong shoes.
**********************
May you have the hindsight to know where you've been,
the foresight to know where you're going.
***********************************
Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But never forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.
*********************
May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.
*******************************
Dance as if no one were watching,
Sing as if no one were listening,
And live every day as if it were your first.
******************************
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His Hand.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Bitcoin was dealt a heavy blow last week after troubled Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, once the largest of its kind, filed for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo.
The UK government, however, is reportedly taking steps to welcome the virtual currency. In a meeting with a group of UK traders, Britain’s tax authority, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), said it wouldn’t charge the 20 percent value added tax on Bitcoin trades, the Financial Times reports. The HMRC also mentioned it wouldn’t charge the tax on their margins as well.
HMRC will be issuing guidance “shortly” on the tax treatment of Bitcoin, according to the Financial Times.
With the planned tax ruling, the UK government would follow in the steps of Singapore, which has bucked the trend by recognizing Bitcoin trading and laying out taxation rules governing transactions made in the virtual currency. Typically, governments all over the world have either been rejecting Bitcoin as a legitimate currency or issuing warnings about the use of it.
➤ Britain to scrap VAT on Bitcoin trades [Financial Times]
Image Credit: George Frey/Getty Images
Read next: Ellen DeGeneres's Oscars group selfie tweet becomes most retweeted ever, passing one million RTs
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Con l'arrivo di Spinazzola per il momento bloccato (le ultime), l'Inter spinge per portare in nerazzurro Victor Moses. Il giocatore ha già dato il suo parere a positivo a tornare sotto la guida di Conte e anche il Fenerbahce non si opporrebbe alla cessione dell'esterno nigeriano, che in questa prima parte di stagione ha collezionato soltanto 6 presenze con la squadra turca.
Il Chelsea, proprietario del cartellino, si riprenderebbe il calciatore e sarebbe disposto a girarlo in prestito all'Inter, dopo una richiesta iniziale di poco inferiore ai 10 milioni di euro per la cessione a titolo definitivo. Passi avanti dunque per un calciatore che Conte conosce e che con lui fece benissimo con la maglia dei Blues (78 presenze con 8 gol e 8 assist in due stagioni).
LEGGI ANCHE: MOURINHO: "NON CAPISCO LA FIDUCIA DELL'INTER PER ERIKSEN"
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
What stood out most to me is this: It took Hoda Kotb approximately 13 minutes into her segment to ask 11-year-old Josie Romero of Tucson, Arizona: “Do you feel trapped in the wrong body?”
Whenever this question is posed, I find it to be more of a leading statement rather than a true inquiry or invitation for a trans subject to speak about their life experience or outlook on their relationship with their bodies. Frankly whenever it’s posed it never sits well with me, and I shared my frustration on Twitter, saying: “‘Trapped in the wrong body’ is a convenient, lazy explanation but it fails to describe #trans people & our bodies every time.”
“Trapped in the wrong body” is a convenient, lazy explanation but it fails to describe #trans people & our bodies every time. #girlslikeus
To me, “trapped in the wrong body” is a blanket statement that makes trans* people’s varying journeys and narratives palatable to the masses. It’s helped cis masses understand our plight – to a certain extent. It’s basically a soundbite of struggle, “I was a girl (boy) trapped in a boy’s (girl’s) body,” which aims to humanize trans* folks, who are often seen as alien, as freaks, as less-than-human and other.
Since sharing my story, I admittedly have been faced with unlearning many so-called trans truths that have been passed to me as a woman who’s grown up with an abundance (not meaning diverse) of media portraits on trans lives (or rather trans people’s transitions). I’ve learned to take what is depicted as our truth and analyze them against my actual lived experience as a woman who grew up trans. One so-called truth that I’ve analyzed over and over and over again is the “trapped” narrative. And through this ongoing analysis, I’ve learned to take ownership of how my body is viewed as an “out” trans woman.
After inviting people into my life (I prefer “invite” rather than “come out” because I’ve never hidden who I was a second in my life), I’ve been a subject in many interviews in which I’ve been confronted with this rhetorical “trapped” statement – and others pertaining to my visible and imagined body.
Why don’t I like it? Because it places me in the role of victim, and to those who take mainstream media depictions as truth I’m seen as a human to be pitied because I’m someone who needs to be saved, rather than a self-determined woman with agency and choice and the ability to define who I am in this society and who I will become in spite of it.
I’ve learned in the past year or so that I am not a prisoner of my body despite the obstacles I’ve faced to be fully myself. And I’ve also learned that there are many trans people who view their bodies differently than the way I have viewed mine – and that no monolithic trans narrative exists (despite the 60-year effort of the media to promote one).
Hota Kotb, who hosted Dateline NBC’s “Transgender Children in America”
Last year I wrote of my teenage struggle with my body in Marie Claire: “I was the one who had lived with the sheer torment of inhabiting a body that never matched who I was inside, the one devastated by the quirk of fate that had consigned me to a life of masked misery.”
Dramatic, I know. And it follows the same trapped narrative because at the time of writing it I had a different relationship with my body partly based on the media’s influence and view of it. Yet there is no denying that the first 18 years of my life were overwhelmed with trying to settle this incongruence between who I knew myself to be and who people thought I should be. This goes beyond my body and this goes beyond just being a trans girl coming of age in this modern society, where we’re constantly bombarded with media images on how a woman *should* look.
And I’m still unsure if I learned to view my body as this villain because of how trans* bodies are viewed in the media – or if it could’ve been different if I was taught to love myself wholly despite the limitations my body in this society placed on me. (I’m currently in the midst of writing my memoir Fish Food so I’m currently in the process of learning and unlearning many things.)
Regardless, in sharing my story I wanted to show girls like myself that there is life after transitioning – despite the fact that nearly all media portraits are about transitioning rather than actually living post-transition. I wanted young women specifically to know that good awaited them in this world, and that more is possible in spite of our struggles to love our bodies, which is a connecting theme between all women, regardless of their assigned sex.
And part of that hope is the evolution of our views of ourselves and our bodies which have been up for public debate since Christine Jorgensen stepped off that plane in 1953. I point you to words that have pushed me to reclaim the totality of who I am. They were spoken by transpinay transgender rights activist Sass Rogando Sasot in a speech called “Reclaiming the Wronged Body”:
“I am not trapped by my body. I am trapped by your beliefs. And I want to reclaim this body from those who want it to breathe and be fed by their dogmas.”
I truly wonder how differently we would view ourselves if we were able to truly see ourselves in the media, without the preconceived notions of how our bodies appear to those not living with trans* bodies.
59 Comments
And fwiw, may I also say that the pain shared here by many in comments is not lost on me. I am in tears from reading. I can hardly ever contemplate these issues without a swell and surge of wrenching emotion, protectiveness, cheerleading, and desire to serve, and other feelings I don’t yet have names for. The level of perceptiveness, honesty and intelligence here seems well-fitted to bringing one’s gifts forth into one’s own life, as well as into the world in whatever way & degree each chooses. Blessing. (If my comments don’t get past moderation, I won’t be at all offended. Thanks for the opportunity to be in the discussion in whatever form seems appropriate.)
Spectacular! Thank you (all) for speaking so depthfully to this, and bringing forth the truth about some of the current forced artificial frameworks and unnecessary dichotomies – esp that of lazy, convenient, cis-comforting soundbites/labels/containers vs one’s actual lived experience (and how we can authentically express it, or not, as we each choose). I’m not trans, but am cis/hetero, and a staunch lifelong supporter of my trans friends and anyone involved in any challenging gender experiences. I help develop practices for helping any interested people to perceive, own & speak powerfully from their own authenticity, esp in relationship & community. As far as my trans connections, I listen, learn, stay out of the way or jump in as asked, and am joyful to see how things have changed for better during my lifetime – may they keep on changing for better, with empowered folks like you being real and speaking to your actual experience. Imho that is good & essrntial for everyone.
I often describe my journey as “growing into the trans*man that I am.” I’ve never identified with the “wrong body” narrative, and frankly, it contributed to my own transphobia, confusion, and sense that I didn’t belong in the trans* community/was not trans*.
My “growing up trans” process INCLUDED my everyday struggles to express my gender identity with the body in which I was born. It included identifying with gay boys/men and seeking them out for community; it included frustration and friction re: how to care for and present my body according to society’s standards; it included feeling like I had a secret, internal, WISE identity, and feeling more evolved than poor ol’ regular CIS people! It was a real mix of good and bad — like MOST people, I guess. Except that as a trans* human, I thought, felt, acted/reacted and had to integrate from a more gender-based place than most.
For me, it also included figuring out my sexual orientation. I could never bring myself to identify as a lesbian, because meant I was a “woman attracted to other women.” I had HUGE problems with identifying myself as a woman; I still can’t even SAY the word in relation to myself because it feels so wrong and foreign. It wasn’t until I was exposed to butch/femme culture and actual real, live, breathing trans* folk that I understood that I had the option of loving women without identifying as one! Whew!
Just another couple of decades of a person’s life thrown under the bus by America’s obsession with either/or (male/female; gay/straight; CIS/transsexual; Democrat/Republican; Christian/infidel).
One of the best, most comforting things I’ve heard Janet say (in one of her rebuttal interviews with Piers Morgan) is that she was born a BABY (not a boy), and that as soon as she had the agency/resources to live as herself, she did.
This perfectly describes my experience. It took me 43 years to scrape all of most of my “agencies” together, but I eventually did, and I’m OK now. No “wrong body”; just a long uphill rocky path — like most folks, I’d wager.
Interesting post and interesting perspective. I think that perspective is an important consideration when trying to get an understanding of just how much this experience can vary I think it is important to understand just how different it can be for someone like Janet who had the understanding and support to make those crucial life altering/saving corrections to her body, early on–as compared to those who still struggle day to day after decades of living with this massive incongruity.
Very much like Janet, I was one of those fortunate few able to make those very necessary changes needed to make my body, mind and life whole at a very young age. Unlike Janet, I have not gone public about that painful process and because I see that process of transformation as just that, a process, I feel that I have little to offer on the experience of being ‘trans’. I must have missed that memo.
When I was away on a boy’s camp ,when I was teenager, the leaders decided to put on stage show ,where we did different acts. One boy asked my dress as as a wowan, in a dress and make up on. I felt much much more comfortable in the woman’s dress than the the boy clothes. We stayed in the dresses until we went to bed. The next morning when when I put my normal clothes on, I knew it was not me.My pensis felt so tight,I ws not in the not in the right clothes because the night before was the real me-a woman.
I always a woman’a nighty to bed, wear woman’s skirt’s because since that night I have been of those trapped in a man’s body. If I could have I would had a sex change and became the real me. Some people that I have not known have thought I said IRuth instead because of my female voice
Dear Janet, I forgot to mention..Yes I pretty much agree with you on this issue. Also I would love to recieve an email from you. I read your story in Marie Clair 2yrs? ago. I admire you very much. Peace to you.!!!
The hermeneutics of suspicion is becoming the de facto form of analysis for the trans blogosphere–and, to some extent, for good reason. Given how narrative descriptions of gender dysphoria have been turned into hard templates for determining trans worthiness; given how rehashed and reiterated trans tropes get thrown back at us in shorthand mockery (“I’m a penguin born in the wrong body”); given the facile way in which our experiences get reduced to sudoku puzzles that also connect the dots . . . I understand the disdain.
But come on — how old is she? I wish I was that articulate at her age. I think we are now entering a period in trans articulation in which, while respect the vast array of descriptions people have for the countlessness of their life experience, we are also at risk for a reactionary scepticism that disavows, disallows, and finds theoretical fault pretty much any time a trans person opens up their mouths in public. Yes, we have every right to critique and question, but I do wonder if we’re soon to reach the point that we’ll have run out of expressive potential, given a growing anxiety of silencing, erasing, or excluding. I know that, increasingly, the tendency can be to say nothing, rather than to say ‘the wrong thing’, with the threat of community leader blogs and twitter tirades in response.
I sympathise very strongly that some people do not like this metaphor, that it’s been used to prevent people from access to medical treatment. But I also see how others, especially frightened yet determined children, reach for whatever narrative common ground they have in order to speak outward what is an intensely difficult inner state. And although I wasn’t “trapped in the wrong body” — Jan Morris coined this phrase in /Conundrum/ as far back as the 1970s — I certainly was not dwelling in the right one. And I don’t think that makes me theoretically disqualified as ‘current, hip, trans theorist’ on account of my own portfolio of interpretive conclusions.
Emily – thanks for your thoughtful comment. I, too, understand that we shouldn’t critique a tweenager’s or any trans person’s description of their own experience and relationship with their body. That was not the intent of this piece. The intent was to criticize the media’s framing of this tween’s body. The young trans child wasn’t given a chance or the space to articulate how she felt about her body. The question she was asked was, “Do you feel trapped in your body?” It was a yes or no question. With this piece, I argue that we and the media should give each person the space to describe in their own words how they feel about their body and experience, and that some in fact may say they feel trapped while others, like Sass, whom I quote at the end, may have different words to describe their experience.
i wouldn’t be trapped in this body if they hadn’t already done so much surgery and chemistry to me as a child without my consent and then now that i know what’s going on i can’t even access the health care to deal with the pain scarring & dysphoria. they have more control over my hormones and genitals than i do. i was born this way and they made me undergo surgery. what bathroom is the little intersex kid supposed to use? kick me in the gonads two weeks after genital surgery and then don’t listen to me about how bad everyone at school treated me. i is for intersex is for invisible if i had a chance to find out what my body was really like maybe i wouldn’t be as transsexual as i am? but at this point i can’t be bothered to care or differentiate. my body has been modified by chemicals since before i was born and i’ve been under the knife more than once and it will happen again and this time it will be mine. i do not feel like you are erasing our discourse, i feel like we need more ways to get the word out about how strange and double-edged a lot of these tools are. that the more i come out the more hatred and resistance some people seem willing to spew openly. our society’s gender binary is a festering wound and in its pain it carves its lines onto and into us and at least this time i will be the one in charge of where the scars are, and what for
I will be brief with this due to time that I have, But I can partly agree only. As an editor for print media you were dealing with people that exhibit long attention span. The place where the “wrong body” point is used is generally TV were the attention span is much lower; try around 25 seconds. If they can not get a good idea of what is being said in 25 seconds, you lose them. So, I would say give them something else that is around five seconds to read on air that is better. I can’t think of anything myself, but I haven’t done serious writing for a long time and as sort of out of practice on those skills.
Excerpted from “Video Tape” by Riki Wilchins
from Read My Lips – copyright 1997 by Firebrand Books: “The problem with transsexual women is not that we are trapped in the wrong bodies. The truth is, that is a fairly trivial affair corrected with doctors and sharp scalpels. The problem is that we are trapped in a society which alternates between hating and ignoring or tolerating and exploiting us and our experience, and more importantly, we are trapped in the wrong minds. We have, too many of us for too long, been trapped in too much self-hate: the hate reflected back at us by others who are unwilling to look at the complexity of our lives, dismiss our femaleness, our femininity, and our sense of gender itself and our erotic choices as merely imitative or simply derivative. Wanting desperately to be accepted, and unable to take on the whole world alone, we have too often listened to these voices that were not our own, and forgotten what Alice Walker says when she declares: “…no person is your friend (or kin) who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow and be perceived as fully blossomed as you were intended. Or who belittles in any fashion the gifts you labor so to bring into the world.”
What works for some does not work for others. I actually did feel trapped in the wrong body and do use this term when explaining myself to people. I had to physically change my body to feel “right” it was the best thing I ever did for myself.
As transsexual’s or trans* people we have to understand that our own journey is our own journey and to stop expecting all of us to feel the same way about the “change” .
Janet does amazing work in helping the world to understand what is like to be a transgender person. Thanks for your work.
Thank you for reading and adding your voice, Buck. I, too, believe that we all have various experiences and that one person’s experience doesn’t speak for all trans people’s experience. I hope that by writing this that it doesn’t negate anyone who does in fact feel “trapped.” I just wanted to expand that idea for us all. Thank you again!
I honestly believe you are looking too hard for debate, and taking this “trapped in the wrong body” thing too seriously. Some people genuinely feel that way, so you won’t be effective in making it go away. I’ve always felt trapped, and that won’t change just because someone decides they want to remove “trapped in the wrong body” from the Trans lexicon. My consciousness is feminine, I’ve always gravitated towards feminine, my mind is feminine. My body isn’t “me”, and that’s what this crippled society must learn….that we are NOT our body, we are our mind, our consciousness, our spirit. My consciousness, “ME”, whatever “I” am, is trapped in a physical vessel that does not match my consciousness and my TRUE WILL. Trapped in an incorrect vessel lol. But I still accept my self as a whole. I just feel……trapped, that’s all. The problem with most societies is that they see your body as “you”, they don’t see your CONSCIOUSNESS. It’s the vessel they perceive first. I am more than just my body…
My point is not to negate your experience, but to have media expand the conversation beyond this one soundbite about our bodies. I want there to be more space for all of us to individually define our very varied, diverse experiences, and not have to all adapt to this one idea of being “trapped.”
Indeed, some folks don’t have the resources or the desire to adapt their body. I am not saying that “trapped” should not be used; I’m saying that trans folks who are featured in media should be given the space to define their own experiences, and for some it may not be described as “trapped.”
My 8 year old daughter hates “trapped in a boy’s body”. She also doesn’t like “a girl on the inside, boy on the outside” or “girl brain/boy body”. She says she is a girl everywhere except for one place (if it only were that simple). We say there are many different ways to be a girl and that she is one way to be a girl, and that there are girls like her out there. It sounds like a defect to say you are one thing on the inside and another on the outside, as if you are an alien.
In the months before the official transition, when I strongly suspected this was going to be my child’s road, I read about you, Janet, and it was extremely helpful. I needed to see a happy successful “mainstream” woman to feel hopeful for my daughter. Thank you for this.
Thank you, thank you. There’s so much I could say, but I’ll keep it short: maybe the “trapped in the wrong body” narrative is part of why it took me so long to realize I was trans. I’ve never had any intense or constant sense that my body was wrong. I’ve lived with it most of my life without giving it too many second thoughts. When I was very young I had dreams and wished I was born a girl but it certainly didn’t go so far as trapped in the wrong body. I wonder if, the first few times I encountered trans people, I assumed that this was what defined them as trans, and so didn’t see that in many ways they were JUST LIKE ME. I hope I can learn to explain why I find this narrative problematic; I do feel misunderstood when someone thinks that this is my issue. As someone else said, it’s deeper and not analytical, it’s just something I KNOW about myself, and I suppose most people are uncomfortable with such things, need to pin things down…
Thank you so much for your story — and also thank you to those who left comments! I must admit that I have always been confused by the transgender narrative as it is portrayed in the media. The idea of being “trapped” just never gelled with how I understand my own body and seemed incredibly foreign and difficult to understand. That idea (of being trapped) always seemed to me like it reinforced gender roles & perceptions rather than to allowed us to dispel or reinterpret them. I hope that as time goes on we can have more positive dialogue like this!
As one of the older (by age) transwomen who struggled for sixty odd years with my very existence in a world that somehow did not make sense, I find the concept of being trapped farcical.
I can understand that those who try to make sense of our situation might use the term to describe how they perceive the condition.
The reality for me, but only in respect to who was in the mirror versus who was in my mind was never one of being trapped. People get trapped in a lift, and I have that fear at times, when the lift does not do what is expected. But my life was never like that, certainly I had many questions as to why I was not like I thought I should be but never was I trapped. I believe if I had ever thought I was trapped I would have lost it many years ago. What my life has been possibly would be more accurately described as disordered, trying to make sense of something different, almost illogical.
In fact as an engineer there was nothing logical about who I was, and how could there be when the mind and body image did not match.
Without the wisdom of today’s research, together with the many stories made available by so many people telling their stories, I could do no more than regard my life as just that, my life, something to put up with but never trapped in.
Since I came to realise my life did not have to be the way it was, that I had the ability to make changes, I have moved forward. An issue for all transgender people is not how they see themselves but one of how others see us, the judgements they make about us and how we allow ourselves to be influenced by them.
Having taken control of who I am, I completed my full transition, my life has become finally logical.
Thank you so much for writing this piece. It’s conversation like this that really pushes understandings forward.
As someone newly coming into his own transition, I’ve had to battle through a lot of internal transphobia to get to a place of acceptance. The feeling of being “trapped” just felt so wrong to me and the stereotypes of trans narratives were so hard to relate to that I tried to shut it all out.
Thank you for being a leader in the community and for standing up and showing the real complexity of who you are.
I have many times questioned that if from the moment our mothers are pregnant our society did not insist on pushing us to one side or the other of the binary gender theory and push that gender is all about genitalia then would we and transgendered people ever have a problem with the bodies we were born with. If society gave us the freedom to live who we are inside and did not say there is anything wrong with our bodies and put into boxes and categories according to our body parts we might just be fine if we were loved and respected for who we are inside.
This is what I hear a lot from people who are into feminist theory when I talk to them about my transition. But at least for me, it is not true: I don’t need SRS to conform to society’s ideals of what a woman should look like but to align how my brain expects my body to feel like to the actual body – and to have the kind of sex I would like to have.
FFS is a different issue, though. That’s more about not having as much trouble in society for me.
I’m in total agreement with this piece. The “trapped in the wrong body” narrative is not only far too generalized, but possibly too simplistic to capture ANY trans woman’s experience, let alone the less binary folks in the gender galaxy.
However, a part of it still resonates with me, even though I’ve been about a year and a half on hormones and presenting as female for a little over a year.
It’s not that I feel like there’s a female body stuffed away somewhere in here and I just need to find it and everything will be okay, but I still feel like there’s something “wrong” (wrong for me) with the body I have that can’t really be fixed. It doesn’t feel like an idea born of faulty cultural norms (although I recognize that simply “feeling” like it isn’t doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t), but I do feel somewhat “incomplete” and “broken” somehow and I’m not sure what to do about it. I’m a little bit nauseated by the idea that I should simply accept it and love it as it is.
Part of it might be that there are still parts of physical transition I would like to have done (FFS and GRS, in particular), but even then I feel like my body is just shaped wrong. Like having waited until after puberty has twisted me beyond acceptable repair. I don’t cling to any beauty norms and I recognize that women come in innumerable shapes and sizes, and with innumerable kinds of abilities and disabilities, but I feel like I still fall beyond the pale somehow. I’m not sure whether this looks like internalized transphobia or something like that, but it makes my distaste for the “trapped in the wrong body” narrative all the more confusing.
Sorry for the rambling and verbosity, and possibly vanity, but my thoughts about this are so fuzzy and disjointed that this is the best I can summarize them right now. I hope it’s clear what I’m trying to get out.
I feel the same (or similar) way, and may be the reasons why can clarify it a bit for you as well;
These days I read a lot about women’s bodies, be it in women’s self inspection books, books about Tantra or other self-love/self-respect books. And when I do that, I often need to cry, because a lot of what is described I can relate to and mentally feel the same way, but physically I can never fully have this experience, even with SRS, like when they talk about female erectile tissue (the real clit, that is distributed all over the groin area) or about the menstrual cycle.
Brilliant – thank you so much for blogging on this subject. We have lived in the framework of the Western medical model far too long, and notions of “trapped in the wrong body” and diagnoses of “Gender Identity Disorder” have genuinely undermined trans civil rights by convincing both ourselves and society at large that there is something inherently wrong with us, that we are victims to be pathologized. Personally, I have never experienced myself being the wrong body. My body is still the same body, I have simply modified it to find congruency in my life, and there are many ways people can make bodily modifications to align their mind, body and spirit.
Me, I don’t hate my body, it’s not the wrong one. I’d like it to be different, just like any other human being on the planet can want something different about their body. I just need a little fix here and there, and I’m good to go. My body is fine. Just needs a little tweaking.
I even like most of the plumbing it came with. And just like there are people who like multiple shower heads, I like multiple plumbing options. That’s all there is to it.
At a point in time I also described my experience as being trapped in the wrong body. But I found that as I matured and understood myself better, I was able to better articulate my feelings and conceptualize my reality under truer terms.
“Born in the wrong body” is a generic phrase consistently applied to the trans* experience, and has (unfortunately) become so popular that it is ingrained into our culture and accepted as the universal experience for all of the trans* community.
I really appreciate the insistence on finding more accurate words to describe who we are / who we are becoming / what we’re doing. I have never resonated with The Narratives of “coming out”, “trapped in the wrong body” and others (“FTM”), still I was using them to make sense to my surroundings as a young queer who was trying to self define.
When we choose to not use the prevalent mantra to describe ourselves, we’re creating more possibilities for each other and folks sharing our journeys. … especially as “elder” trans folks for those who are just beginning their journeys to self determination – regardless of their or our age, regardless of where they come to in their own journeys. As you just created more possibilities for me – thank you!
I decided to take a different approach to this issue. I sense that all of the discussion above is heartfelt. Yet, the question implied is, why can’t everyone just understand me for who I think I am?
It seems to me that for most people the whole mixture of genders issue is not the first thing on their plate when they wake up in the morning. The categories they acquired during their growing-up period through adulthood to the present are as natural as the way in which you sense yourselves. Daniel Kahneman in his book Thinking Fast and Slow points out that the human mind is divided into two systems. The System 1 part of our minds operate automatically, quickly, and with little or no effort or voluntary control. It finds and develops answers quickly. System 2 is the analytical portion of our minds which are often associated with our subjective experiences. System 2 wants to slow down and think about it, but System 1 gives such quick and neat answers that System 2 often easily adopts System 1’s rationale and gives in to these quick answers; also because System 2 is lazy. Obviously my description is woefully short, but having said that, it is likely to be an uphill battle to transform human thinking about genders. We have seen this throughout the gay rights issue. What I see in the response to Janet Mock’s article is plethora of approaches being taken by individuals who seek individualized definition. So far, the conceptual scheme of our society(s) has not yet fully awakened to this plight. So, Hoda defines a problem, tries to use words currently in play, without making up a new set of words, and tries to make it simple. That’s so the System 1 part of the mind can tackle the incoming data. Of course, this is all in a proverbial sense, before one has had a cup of coffee.
So, how should the question relating to the gender be asked? One way is to ask, How can humans relate to differences from the norm? Or, How do humans define differences from the duality of male-female? There seems to be a push-pull effect. On one side, the club, tribe, clan, pride, herd, and society have their view and reactions to differentness. Understanding this differentness requires a whole lotta coffee early in the morning. Thus, it is up to the players, sympathizers, critics, and judges to continually make their case. So, with reference to the TV program and article….fire Hoda and laud the program…or is it the other way around? System 2 has not yet enough information. More coffee, please!
I don’t feel “trapped” at all. And fortunately, those in my world don’t view me as such. They see me for what I put out–a heavenly spirit living as I want.
Plain and simple.
Humans need the “trapped in the wrong body” theory because the average person’s intellect does not invite a larger scope of the bigger picture. With so many egos focusing on what defines them, they forget what defines us as a whole. And that us being spirits in the eyes of a greater being sharing/trading different experiences.
I might be able to speak to what Julia just wrote/asked… I had a friend at the beginning who was very much into feminist theory and studies and who couldn’t understand why I was unable to just be…”differently male” (gender roles are constructed by society, there is no either/or, why don’t you be truly revolutionary and defy societal expectations with the body you have, etc.). She felt that I was “selling out”.
My brain. Not the rest of my body. My brain works SO much better on estrogen. I have been back and I have been forward with this (in regards to hormones/amounts/types and a few set-backs). And all I can say is that whatever you want to call it…whatever I am or I am not…my brain was not wired to go through puberty the way I did. I describe it as lights being turned off….*click*….and it took me until I was 21 to begin to address this.
My role…my dress…how I act or don’t. What I like or don’t. Gay or straight. None of this matters to the physical..biological!…fact that hormone therapy could do for me what I wasn’t able to do on my own. No amount of personal growth, feminist theory, societal rebellion or calming meditation could affect me in the way that I needed.
Yes it does require a lot of personal work. A lot of other therapy and growth and acceptance and self-love. Of understanding that you don’t become male or female…you just become your self. And yes I like the changes that these hormones bring to my body… I ENJOY being able to wear what I like and talk and act and be as I like (that is to my own personal tastes and pleasures). I adore the way my body feels now. I cherish it. I am so thankful for the body I have…in ways I could never experience before.
This would not have been possible in centuries gone past. I am not a victim, nor do I have a mental disorder…but I do need medical help and I am so thankful for the doctors who have helped me and for the knowledge and skills that allow me the pills that make my lights turn on. (And I am also thankful and fortunate to have had my “epiphany” at an early age…and for the resources that we’re becoming available and the privilege I enjoy here in Canada. I know this is not the reality for all and I am sorry for that.)
I was born transgendered. I am female. This is a physical and fundamental fact of my existence…not a role or a theory or a transgressive statement against society. But that is my own truth..my own feelings and I would never claim or define this for anyone else.
Thank you Sara! I sometimes wonder if trans folks do need a different discourse, if the feminist discourse can’t always aptly describe the lived experience. And yet, as a feminist I want to include everyone who believes in the equality of humanity. But I appreciate your description, it elevates trans issues above the dichotomy (which the “trapped” narrative only further entrenches – mind/body, he/she, am/am not) and clarified a bit for me what the physical situation can be like. But if anyone else who wants to chime in, please do! (PS, I am always looking for folks to write about queer travel experiences for my blog, so hit me up if you’re interested, this is a very cool group of people!)
Julia one of the big problems with feminism is its helped to confuse what gender originaly meant when first applied and especially first applied to Transsexuals. Gender when originally applied to Transsexuals meant exactly the same thing as sex. So gender identity in the classic sense means sex identity. I have simply always identified as being female albeit one dealt a funky hand. Gender as you know in feminism means the socially constructed roles of men and women, that puts its in conflict with the original intent of gender as just being a polite way of saying sex. I believe there is more to gender than socially constructed roles and a lot of the research into it is shaky when held to a higher standard. I think many feminist are blinded to just how much transsexualism is also a reproductive rights issue. I also think many feminist don’t realize the damage they are doing by tying being female exclusively to reproductive organs and fertility. I’ve sat side with a woman friend that was born infertile while a feminist spoke to our class should she just take one for the team? It also gave her a great insight into how I felt and how I’m also let down by feminism. I wonder how much tying feminism to being fertile as harmed infertile women or drove them to spend thousands and thousands of dollars trying to have a child? You also don’t have to be fertile to be raped even though the consequences of getting pregnant while raped are justifiably higher. There is also the issue of backroom sexchanges and related procedures and backroom abortions and related procedures. Self harm related to being transsexual and self harm related to an unwanted pregnancy. Both sex reasignment and abortion are viewed with equal disdain when considered for federal funding or for insurance coverage of them both are related to reproductive freedom and neither are really cosmetic when applied to a person in desperate need of either. I have to admit I support women’s rights I’m just not so sure of feminism because I see it as having caused a lot of collateral damage to women and definetly to transsexuals. Is there room to come together I’m not sure thats possible at this point. I also know that I don’t need to be feminist approving or need feminist permission to be female.
Hi Lisa, thanks for answering my question so thoughtfully! I just wanted to say how sorry I am that you are feeling excluded from the feminist conversation, it’s a loss for everyone to not know others’ points of view (in my opinion). I just wanted to say that the part of the feminist conversation that I have heard most often is actually very aware that reproductive capability does not define womanhood (I shudder to think what it would mean if it did – I don’t plan on having children, and I don’t want not being a mother to take away from my “womanhood”!). My question is not about sex essentialism (though you’re right that it does bring up a lot of messy issues in itself), but rather I want to ask, “what is gender, to the trans community, IF we acknowledge gender essentialism to be harmful?” Because feminism aims to be inclusive and seeking equality for marginalized people, I want to make sure that trans and genderqueer voices are not only heard, but fully understood! (And thank you to everyone on this blog for helping others to understand better!)
Tina
January 1, 2013 at 7:11 pm ·
“what is gender, to the trans community, IF we acknowledge gender essentialism to be harmful?”
I’ll try to answer that question since now you have pointed out directly what you are asking about. Don’t know, if I can though, but I’ll try:
I think the harmfulness of gender essentialism as fought against by feminism is in the thinking that society thinks that sex creates certain attributes in people (for female e.g. weak, dependent, caring etc.) and that these attributes lead to certain roles in society, usually the “lesser” ones. So, one way to address this problem is to declare that sex doesn’t matter, that there are no sex specific attributes and thus there is no reason for gender roles. And I agree to the point that of course there shouldn’t be any gender roles but I don’t think that sex doesn’t matter, because mine matters a lot to me, which I feel very directly because it’s not the one my mind expects me to have.
Also feminism should have imho two directions of fight:
1. To fight against ascribing gender roles on people according to their perceived sex.
2. To fight against considering personality attributes that are currently connected to femaleness (feminine attributes) less than masculine attributes.
The second part is often overlooked. In fact, in my experience queer feminism is often sexist in that respect: masculinity is often valued higher than femininity, as long as it is expressed by female-assigned-at-birth people.
As a trans person I value my femaleness and my femininity and it is important to me that they both are not necessarily connected. The trans experience itself I describe as “my brain expects a female body”, in that respect my experience is similar to Sara’s. Only hormones could give me piece of mind, neither therapy nor meditation or self exploration could give me that. In earlier centuries I would probably have gotten a castration to achieve part of that effect (provided I’d have figured it out, otherwise I would have been in misery). That I am also feminine is a different issue, although it only really came out after transitioning – before I was probably too afraid of homo-/transphobic reactions to strongly express it. But you don’t have to be female, trans or whatever to be feminine and also just that you identify as female doesn’t require you to be feminine.
Don’t know if that really clarified things. If you want to dig deeper, I recommend the book Whipping Girl by Julia Serano, especially the chapters about subconscious sex and about intrinsic inclinations. Also here http://gayutopia.blogspot.de/2007/12/julia-serano-performance-piece.html is Julia Serano’s piece about her frustration with the “all gender is performance” in queer feminist circles.
Hi Janet, I have a question that’s been on my mind for some time – maybe you or one of your readers could help me out? I always wonder about the how to be inclusive of trans people in feminist conversations (I am a cis woman), because so much of feminism is based on the idea of shunning gender essentialism. It’s a little embarrassing for me to ask what seems like a basic question, but how do trans people (or whatever trans people want to answer this, I know it’s different for everyone!) reconcile this part of feminism with their gender experience? I guess the heart of what I’m asking is really tough – what is gender? How does dysmorphia feel if there is no gender essentialism? Or IS there gender essentialism? – but I’ve been puzzling over it with no luck for a while! (And by the way, thank you for a great article!)
Check out the links at Questioning Transphobia; they should answer your question. But as a quick summary, gender identity and gender roles / expression are not the same thing. Feminism focuses on the latter. Trans identities are about the former.
It does get confusing sometimes. I am something of an activist in queer feminist circles which are very much against any kind of essentialism and in a way I agree with them since it is important to me that gender roles are optional and socially constructed.
On the other hand, often people in these circles try to remove gender roles by removing gender. This goes very much against my trans experience since I have come to realize that gender is an important part of who I am, that transitioning (including physical aspects) is very important for my mental well-being, which wouldn’t be the case if gender/sex would be just a social construct. I can only be myself if I think if myself as a woman – something that is not part of the experience of many of my cis female friends. For them their gender and sex is just a given and not very important to them. For them it is mostly important to escape any expectations society places on them because of their gender and sex but they cannot necessarily see that this is different from rejecting gender altogether.
I can totally identify w/ this line of thinking….”Why don’t I like it? Because it places me in the role of victim, and to those who take mainstream media depictions as truth I’m seen as a human to be pitied because I’m someone who needs to be saved, rather than a self-determined woman with agency and choice and the ability to define who I am in this society and who I will become in spite of it.” As a former sex worker I completely took control of my own agency….from reading books, online articles and from independent workers and interviewing women face-to-face and making up my do’s and don’ts and had some really wonderful and self-affirming moments and great human connections (mentally speaking) and never once did I feel victimized or de-humanized. Thanks for writing such a well-thought-out piece!
You can count me as another voice for the non-“trapped in the wrong body” life story. It was definitely difficult when I was finally sitting down to figure out if I’m trans, realizing that the story that everyone was telling (and in books like True Selves) wasn’t matching with my experiences. It made me doubt whether I was actually trans, because I sure felt like I was. Fortunately, I started to slowly come across other stories of trans women that more closely resembled my own. We need to be telling our alternative stories; the public needs a better understanding, and we need the stories out there so that other questioning trans folk know the diversity of trans experiences.
I’m so glad to have read this. I’m not trans, and I’m definitely guilty of jumping on the “trapped in the wrong body” bandwagon, mostly because I feel that way myself with regards to my blindness, which made me wonder whether my experience had any commonalities with those of trans individuals. I’ve been blind since birth, but feel like I should see, like there are these fragments or parts of me who can see, so when I get lumped into the blind world, I feel like I’m giving up part of myself. I’d even come up with the term “blind dysphoria” to describe my experience, but I’ve been realizing that its harmful to co-opt the trans experience, and though I may resonate with individual people, I can’t make a general statement about how my rleationship to my blindness is similar to a trans persons’s relationship with their body.
I like this segment, because, in my world, although I never actually felt like the woman that society had laid out for me, and felt more similar to male roles, or gender neutral roles, and being born and referred to as female, I just kind of took charge of my life, and wished to not be referred to as any one gender, but rather as a concoction of both, while accepting the body I was given and not allowing media or society to influence how I should look or act based on that. Both my parents didn’t lead typical gender roles in my family, which allowed me to be accepted as I am, however, now in my adulthood, my mother continues to try and force more stereotypical female ways of dress and hairstyles on me, which has annoyed me to no end. I have no desire to have surgery to alter my body to look more like that which the environment would identify as male, however, I am willing to alter my own perceptions of myself within this same light, and accept that sometimes I may be referred to as male, and other times as female…. as those are the perceptions of others, and I can’t control how they have been molded. It’s how I see myself, and how I share of myself to others which really counts.
Yes, yes and more YES! Thank you for putting this into 1s and 0s on the internet! It’s an idea I’ve had trouble with for a long time and it always felt so slightly off-base. It works well-enough as a way creating a picturesque sense of empathy for cis folks, but it leads to them to make such offensive assumptions sometimes.
People want me to tell them how I hated my body, and the truth is, I didn’t. I never did. It just never felt like it was quite right. More like the builders has mucked up the blueprints and installed the wrong fixtures. Nice fixtures, but not the ones that where meant to be there. A little remod though and things are much better.
But really, I never felt ‘trapped’ or resentful.
My parents where good hippies who did the whole peace and love thing and more or less forgot to teach me to hate my body or be ashamed of it. Or push many heavy gender roles on me either for that matter.
I just felt as if I had somehow been miscast at the audition. I was rehearsing the wrong role and the play just never really worked. A little recasting though and it’s Tonys all around!!
Maybe I’m torturing an entirely new analogy here, but, ummmmmmmm, yeah. Thank you for writing this.
Ms. Mock is spot on yet again. I would love to see the media focus their energies on stories of hope, success, and renewel. There are plenty of post-transition life journies that should be covered, as well as non-op trans* people who’s voices are made mute by the sexualization of transgender individuals through the alienation of our transitions. The general public is fascinated by our transitions because that is the only part of our journies and lives that is well-documented. I look forward to learning about the actual lives, careers, families of the people I admire.
the idea of “trapped in the wrong body”, like a lot of things used to talk about being trans*, probably sounded good the first few times the basic concept of transness was explained to someone else. as you put it, Janet, “convenient, lazy”….but then it got really easy to blow out of proportion dramatically in a way that trivializes what we’re dealing with.
what i suppose i’m curious about is how we frame this to people who don’t understand, who’ve never met another trans person…or at least haven’t knowingly met another trans person. people hold and cling to their gender as very innate in many cases and the “trapped” ideal gets it through their head, just in a really flawed and dramatic manner. media controls how people perceive us, and this is why we get so unhappy when media plays to stereotypes or ridicule of trans women, but how do we counter-spin the media? because this is a healthy start, don’t get me wrong, but half the time when explaining my past to someone i’ve “invited in” (i really like that phrase, Janet) i get about 6000 questions about why i don’t look like those trans women you see on television.
…and, yeah, i die a little bit inside, because it’s holding me up to a standard of white/femme/hetero/skinny/able-bodied that i just can’t meet, and it also does remind me why i have all this social invisibility which keeps me safe in many cases, but it also makes me feel like those media images and portrayals are the trans women the media *wants* to validate and not the rest of us who have boring little lives. if we are to change how we are perceived by the media, we must validate the diversity of trans experiences, too, and i think this is a critical part of a larger strategy.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have never been “trapped in the wrong body” and want to scream every time I hear the phrase. If someone chooses to describe their own journey that way, fine. But having that convenient phrase slapped on all trans people is frustrating and limiting. I did just fine in my pre-transition body, and I’m doing just fine in my transitioned body.
Hi Janet. Yours is a post I pretty much wish I had written. Different perspective, same sentiment.
I should tell you I strongly dislike the term “transgender,” as it sounds so clinical. And don’t get me started on “gender dysphoria” … or “gender identity disorder.” (If homosexuality is no longer considered a “disorder.” why is our situation still viewed as one? How are we going to get past perceived stigmas when we’re perceived to have a “disorder”?)
And to that effect, I’ve never felt “trapped in my own body,” either, probably for different reasons than you. Maybe it’s because of my Gemini-variety twin-spiritedness. (It’s no accident Bugs Bunny was one of my role models growing up …) I’ve always felt equal parts of both genders growing up — my love of cars and sports, my unrequited longing to be pretty and take ballet and do things with the girls. If anything, my uneasiness manifested itself more in feeling like a general overall misfit because I didn’t fit into anyone’s world very neatly — and, by the same turn, no one fit neatly into mine, either.
I’ve never felt the need for the surgery, as I still like girls (though now it would be one of either sex). But as someone who came out and started her wild gender trip in her late 40s, I can tell you that, save for needing to drop a lifetime of weight, I’ve never felt more comfortable in my own body. Just being who I truly am at last has taken a lot of stress out of my life — and made me a healthier person physically. After I told one of my dearest friends, a former newspaper colleague I worked with 20 years ago, she told me, “The one thing I’ve always thought of you was ‘never comfortable in his own skin.'”
My entrapment, if you’d call it that, was more psychological, if anything — dealing (or not) with a world that still sees things as binary.
In all, I’m glad of who and what I am. I’m glad I’ve had the chance to see and live life from both genders and take the best elements of both. It’s been a unique trip. It hasn’t been a “disorder” — it’s been a gift.
I don’t watch a lot of TV, and as a lifelong newspaper journalist, I’d probably have a lot less patience with TV people than you seen to have. Keep it up, Janet, and keep educating the Hodas of the world. There are always going to be teaching moments.
I think the trapped in the wrong body meme leads to the Jerry Springer like sayings I was born a man or born male etc. I never ever felt that myself I simply felt mixed right out of the gate. For whatever reason my first memories weren’t of associating with the world as being male only being perceived as such by forces outside my control. That is probably why I am one of the ones that hold a medical view to all this and resent putting Trans anything in front of woman. I have always identified as female first so why shouldn’t I identify as woman first before trans anything? One of the hardest things I’ve personally struggled with is knowing that I will never be 100% female but now I see Transgender as attacking the one thing that I can be which is 100% legally female. That is one of the other things that help to make me the outspoken critic of Transgender that I am. Some of you will get this but many of you might not regardless of my Trans status I was never 100% male either so I very much resent being associated with a listed birth sex. It really burns me that I can take the steps to become legally as I identify as female yet the LGBT and supporters of the use of Transgender have no problems taking that away from me by lobbying to have me labelled Transgender for life. At some point I’d like to be able to move beyond all this or atleast have the option if I so choose. I also believe that just because someone is born same sex attracted or sex and gender diverse does not mean they should have to be associated with the LGBT or its politics they are in fact two very different things.
I mispelled my last name lol it is McDonald. I realize that you shouldn’t answer this openly Janet but doesn’t it bother you like it does me there are post-operative supposedly female identified Transsexual people that have their birth sex listed as male are married to women and claim to be heterosexual? That is another issue I have with Transgender and how it harms those who really were born with a cross sexed identity.
Lisa, can you point out any trans* people who are somehow preventing you from being legally female or lobbying against your rights? Because all I ever see is holier-than-thou women of trans history making it as hard as possible for other trans* people to access legal recognition and protection, as well as medical care.
Lisa, I pretty much share your viewpoint as well. why go down a road, but never have a chance to reach your destination,,,.I do not want to see a third sex designation..My theory is ,you are one or the other….If you cannot comit..then what are you? Who are you?…Those who are “gender confused” so to speak .,do much harm to those, who know who they are, and are just trying to meld in..I of course wish the gender confused all the peace in the world…But I am a woman…That is what I have on my credentials,and my lower anatomy,as well.I do not want that taken away, to be some other, after almost 30 yrs as a a woman.and wife.and medical professional…This is all a serious connundrum…for everyone involved…All I can ultimately say is…To all my sisters out there …I wish you all peace and the love for yourselves and also ,for you to extend love to all humanity…Be the finest ambasedors to the world at large ,that you can be..Always reach out to help another human…Show the world that we are good kind people…
i dont like any of this conversation/speculation;in particular,speculation.as hard as people try,they cant judge whats going on in peoples heads not really.i am a difficult case and rutinely misjudged by even transgender folks(some of them even know have the hair standing up on their backs ready to scratch my eyes out!) i have done all the boy stuff very well-surfing,motorcycle racing,army,navy.and i obviously looked like a boy and i still have a hard time with my voice.but that does not mean i am not a girl.the core stuff likes etc.come from the center somehow and eminate out.i”ll stop talking weird now-but all of u judging just dont knowand i never have talked aboutit to anyone before my wonderfull therapist.the one person who doesnt seem to judge.my mother did not know anything about it and now is in denial.and i bet you-reader are sitting in judgement even now-without sitting in on therapy sessions.its real and u really dont have the put away information.to judge.love god and your neghbor,leave the judging to god-i think thats a quote from someone important.u may want to look it up.-phoenix,az.
Comment Moderation: Comments will only be published if they are about the topic and do not attack, denigrate, diminish or harm an individual or group. Trolling and hijacking the conversation will not be tolerated.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
This invention relates generally to the field of information management and more particularly to a method and system displaying customer information.
Many businesses have customer service representatives (xe2x80x9cCSRxe2x80x9d) to respond to the needs of their customers. For a CSR to assist each customer, the CSR may need information concerning the customer. Each category of information may be stored in a separate database that may require the use of a particular software application for access. Thus, each time a CSR assists a customer, the CSR may be required to separately access different categories of information using the corresponding software applications. The software applications may present information differently from one another. Furthermore, each software application may have its own particular set of procedures that must be performed to accomplish a particular task, such as updating information. Thus, CSRs may be required to switch between categories of information, understand different layouts of information and perform tasks by switching from using one set of procedures to another set of procedures to assist a customer.
The inefficiency resulting from these differences is multiplied when a CSR assists hundreds of customers each day. Also, a substantial amount of time and resources may be required to train CSRs to use the variety of software applications to assist customers.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Top 3 Tips For Workouts In Summer Heat
The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity can make exercising in the summertime challenging, but it doesn’t have to be dangerous. Exercise and fitness experts agree that certain workout practices will help keep you safe and healthy, no matter how hot it gets outside. Here are their top 3 tips. Stay Hydrated Hydration is always…
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Familial dysplasminogenemia with central retinal vein and cilioretinal artery occlusion.
To report a 49-year-old woman with unilateral central retinal vein occlusion and ipsilateral cilioretinal artery occlusion who showed familial dysplasminogenemia associated with elevated lipoprotein(a). Case report. Extensive hemostatic and coagulation studies for causes of thrombosis, as well as family studies, disclosed decreased plasminogen activity without reduction of plasminogen antigen in the patient, her two siblings, and her two children. The patient also showed elevated lipoprotein(a). The combination of decreased plasminogen activity and elevated lipoprotein(a) should be considered as a possible cause of retinal vein and artery occlusion.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
ulate the common denominator of (-834)/l*1/9 and (-3 + -14)*1/4.
12
What is the lowest common multiple of 12 and 0*2/4 + 12 + -3?
36
Let y be (0 + (-54)/(-58))*2. Let d = -1703/58 + y. Calculate the common denominator of d and -31/16.
16
What is the common denominator of 25/27 and (116/40)/((-18)/15)?
108
Suppose -4*q + 19 = s - 0*q, 2*s + 4*q = 22. What is the smallest common multiple of s and (-22)/(-3) + (-8)/24?
21
Suppose -4*c - 6 + 22 = 0. Calculate the lowest common multiple of c and 2.
4
Suppose -3*q = -0*q. Let g(o) = -o**2 + o + 22. Let n = -25 - -29. What is the smallest common multiple of g(q) and n?
44
Suppose 5*i + 2*y = 5*y + 19, -16 = -4*i + 2*y. Let h(d) = -4*d - 57. Calculate the smallest common multiple of i and h(-16).
35
Calculate the common denominator of -25/2 and (-195)/(-924) - 5/35.
44
Let q be (-33)/(-28) + (-1)/(-4). Let i = q - 389/42. Find the common denominator of -65/8 and i.
24
Let a(t) = t - 3. Let b be a(6). Suppose -4*y - p = -74, -b*y + 2*p + 48 = -p. What is the least common multiple of y and 18?
18
Let f = -12 - -21. Suppose 0 = -3*x + 95 + 25. Let h = -29 + x. Calculate the smallest common multiple of f and h.
99
Let d = -41 + 30. Find the common denominator of -1 - (-63)/4 - -3 and d.
4
Let j = -9640 + 6229. Let l = j + 20587/6. Find the common denominator of -123/10 and l.
30
Let j(g) = 18*g**3 + g**2 - g. Suppose o + 5*o - 108 = 0. Let c = -2 + o. What is the lowest common multiple of j(1) and c?
144
Let a(n) = -3*n - 3. Let t be a(-2). Suppose -t*f - i - 2*i + 18 = 0, 5*f + 2*i - 21 = 0. What is the smallest common multiple of f and 9?
9
Suppose 0 = -2*p - 2*p - 964. Let b = -2167/9 - p. Let s = 2115 + -23291/11. What is the common denominator of s and b?
99
Let t be (-6563 - 0)*1*1. Let y = -72247/11 - t. What is the common denominator of 38/3 and y?
33
Let m = 425/4 + -4013/36. Calculate the common denominator of m and -29/2.
18
Suppose -y + 6 = 3. Suppose 4*i - 17 + 1 = 0. Calculate the lowest common multiple of i and y.
12
Let m = 7 + 43. Calculate the least common multiple of m and 15.
150
Suppose -3*x = -2*h + x + 18, h + 9 = -4*x. Suppose h*u = 7 - 4. Calculate the lowest common multiple of u and 4.
4
Let c be -1*(1 + 0 + -12). Suppose -14 = n - 2*n - 4*o, c = 4*n + o. What is the least common multiple of n and 10/3*(-1 + 4)?
10
Let h(d) = -d**2 - 13*d - 6. What is the smallest common multiple of 3 and h(-12)?
6
Let x = -1458 + 23425/16. Let o = -409/6 - -443/3. Let b = o + -299/4. Calculate the common denominator of x and b.
16
Calculate the common denominator of 325/(-30) + (-1)/(-6) and 8/9.
9
Let z(i) = -11*i. Let f be z(-8). Suppose 0*k = 4*k - f. Calculate the least common multiple of 16 and k.
176
Let b be ((-18)/55)/(8/(-12)). Let a = b + 18/5. Calculate the common denominator of 38 and a.
11
Let f(w) = w**2 + 5*w - 3. Suppose 4*c - 16 = -4*k, 5*k = -c + 3*c - 1. Let d be f(c). Suppose -2*s = -d - 3. Calculate the least common multiple of 14 and s.
84
Let g(j) = 2*j. Let a be g(-2). Let q = a - -3. What is the common denominator of q + 87/2 - 0 and 69/4?
4
Let f = 44 + -36. Suppose -3*d + 2*d = 3. What is the least common multiple of f and (-31)/d + (-4)/(-6)?
88
Let t(d) = -4*d - 10. Let r be t(-8). Suppose 82 - r = 3*k. What is the smallest common multiple of 26 and k?
260
Let h = 8506/375 - 2/125. Find the common denominator of 0 - 117/10 - 0 and h.
30
Let r(z) = -1 - 2*z + z**3 - 2 - 4*z**2 - 2*z**3. What is the smallest common multiple of r(-4) and 3?
15
What is the common denominator of 6*(-6)/(-216)*106/(-3) and 73/4?
36
Let w = 61 - 41. Calculate the least common multiple of 2 and w.
20
Calculate the common denominator of -93/26 and (63/189)/((-13)/3 - -1).
130
Let t = -22 + 24. What is the smallest common multiple of t and 8?
8
Let x = -3535992 - -38857859/11. Let q = x - -3462. Find the common denominator of -91/6 and q.
66
Let m(t) = -t**2 - 9*t - 12. Calculate the lowest common multiple of m(-7) and 15.
30
Suppose 6*k = 50 - 8. What is the least common multiple of k and 9?
63
Suppose -48 = -2*g - 2*f, -3*f - 6 = -g + 18. What is the smallest common multiple of 12 and g?
24
Let c = 138 + -1546/11. Calculate the common denominator of c and 151/6.
66
Let b = 4 + -2. Suppose -4 = -4*q + 6*y - b*y, 3 = y. Calculate the common denominator of -17/8 and 27/(-4)*q/14.
56
Find the common denominator of 31/22 and 3*(-327)/(-108) - 3.
132
Let c = -2/98693 + -584953401/493465. Let j = c + 1190. Calculate the common denominator of -89/10 and j.
10
Let x = 8 - 3. Find the common denominator of (x/(-8))/5*-61 and 59/16.
16
Suppose z + 2*z = 33. Suppose -5*i + 30 = s + 4*s, 3*s - 2*i = 28. What is the least common multiple of z and s?
88
Let f = 104/23 + 352/207. Let p = 519/10 - 46. What is the common denominator of f and p?
90
Let n = 103 + -79. Calculate the smallest common multiple of n and 6.
24
Suppose n - 6*n = -55. What is the least common multiple of 11 and n?
11
Let b = 4673/8 - 590. Calculate the common denominator of b and 29/108.
216
Let d = -1078 - -25927/24. What is the common denominator of -21/20 and d?
120
Suppose -3*t + 3*u = -57, -5*u + 12 - 67 = -3*t. Calculate the smallest common multiple of 18 and t.
180
Suppose -19*y + 10*y = -297. What is the least common multiple of 3 and y?
33
Suppose 3*k + 7848 = -8562. Let n = 120299/22 + k. Find the common denominator of 23/10 and n.
110
Suppose k = -2, 2 = -2*w - 5*k + 2*k. Let n = -2 + 5. Suppose -2*s + 8 = 3*q, n*s - s + 22 = w*q. Calculate the smallest common multiple of 4 and q.
12
Let w be (-3)/(-2)*800/6. Calculate the common denominator of ((-42)/(-35))/((-4)/(-135)) and ((-5)/(-24))/((-2)/w).
6
Let k = -1/41 - -133/410. Suppose 0 = 2*c - 5 + 1, -n - 68 = -2*c. Let v = n + 89. What is the common denominator of k and v?
10
Let f = -5/3 - 167/6. Suppose 0 = 2*g + g + 12. Find the common denominator of f and g/(-6) - (-203)/105.
10
Let q = -5080118/87 + 58393. What is the common denominator of q and 4/3?
87
Find the common denominator of (-31)/8*(1 - -1) and 11/10.
20
Suppose 5*h = 2*f + 118, 2*f + 69 = 4*h - 25. Calculate the lowest common multiple of h and 12.
24
Suppose c + 2*v = 7*v + 26, -5*c - 5*v = -10. Calculate the lowest common multiple of c and 9.
18
Let o = -5/3 - 61/21. Let c = 6958 - 55755/8. Calculate the common denominator of c and o.
56
Suppose 5*y = -4*f - 12129, 4*f - 5*y = 6805 - 18884. Let t = 60503/20 + f. What is the common denominator of -11/10 and t?
20
Let t = -50 - -62. What is the least common multiple of 24 and t?
24
Let k = -10 + 13. Suppose -k - 3 = -n. Calculate the lowest common multiple of 5 and n.
30
Let g = 59 + -57. What is the smallest common multiple of g and 133?
266
Suppose 4*y = 4*j - 30 - 18, 2*y = -4*j + 24. Suppose o + 0*o = 8. Calculate the lowest common multiple of o and j.
8
Let r = -544 - -3802/7. What is the common denominator of r and -35/8?
56
Calculate the smallest common multiple of (-14 + 6)/((-2)/4) and 18.
144
Let n = -11380 - -250279/22. Let u be ((-26)/(-68))/(3/169). Let a = u + -216/17. Find the common denominator of n and a.
66
Let a(t) = -t**2 - t + 37. Let d be a(0). Let w = 57 - d. Calculate the least common multiple of 12 and w.
60
Let b = 6 - 0. Let t(a) be the third derivative of a**6/120 - a**5/10 - a**4/24 - 7*a**3/6 + 34*a**2. Calculate the common denominator of t(b) and -36.
1
Let y(u) = u**2 - u - 4. Calculate the smallest common multiple of y(6) and 16.
208
Let g = -8854/9 + 985. Calculate the common denominator of 21/4 and g.
36
Let r(z) = 2*z - 3. Let x be r(4). Suppose -3*a - 25 = -3*h - 2*h, 3*h - x*a = -1. Calculate the lowest common multiple of 11 and h.
88
Let t = 1 + 1. Suppose 0 = d + t - 16. What is the smallest common multiple of -2 + -1 + 2 + 13 and d?
84
Suppose 14*b - 100 = 9*b. Let i = -4 - -6. Suppose 4*k + i = 5*k. What is the smallest common multiple of b and k?
20
Let q be -1*-26*(-431)/2. Let i = -13697868 - -191848635/14. Let f = q + i. What is the common denominator of -97/20 and f?
140
Find the common denominator of (-10)/(-45)*(-6)/(-8) and -56/33.
66
Suppose 0*k - 4*k = -2*a - 126, 0 = 3*k + 5*a - 101. What is the lowest common multiple of 20 and k?
160
Suppose 4*m + q = -51, -q = 2*m + 39 - 16. Let f = m - -22. What is
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Grafted metallocalixarenes as single-site surface organometallic catalysts.
Metallocalixarenes were grafted onto silica using a surface organometallic approach and shown to be active and selective catalysts for epoxidation of alkenes using organic hydroperoxides. Calixarene-Ti(IV) precursors were anchored at surface densities from 0.1 to near-monolayer coverages (0.025-0.25 calixarene nm(-2)). Several spectroscopic methods independently detected calixarene-Ti(IV) connectivity before and after epoxidation catalysis. Kinetic analyses of cyclohexene epoxidation confirmed that the active sites were anchored on the silica surface and were significantly more active than their homogeneous analogues. The steric bulk and multidentate binding of the calixarenes led to structural stability and to single-site behavior during epoxidation catalysis. Rate constants were independent of surface density for cyclohexene epoxidation with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (11.1 +/- 0.3 M(-2) s(-1)) or cumene hydroperoxide (25 +/- 2 M(-2) s(-1)). The materials and methods reported here allow the assembly of robust surface organometallic structures in which the active sites behave as isolated species, even near saturation monolayer coverages. In turn, this makes possible the rational design and synthesis of a class of heterogeneous oxide catalysts with atomic-scale precision at the active site.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Canada
Fishing boats moor around the harbour in the town of Fleur de Lys in Newfoundland, Canada, a pretty destination located along the Dorset Trail.
Fleur de Lys in Newfoundland, Canada is a quaint seaside town with a population of about 300 with the main source of income being fishing. Along the waterfront of the harbour, fishing stages and houses are seen while the docks are lined with fish ...
Declared as a heritage building in March of 1996, the J.T. Swyers General Shop in the town of Bonavista in Newfoundland Labrador in Canada is visited by many tourists every year.
The exterior of the J.T. Swyers General Store in the town of Bonavista in Newfoundland Labrador is adorned in a soft yellow color with a brownish/red shade used for the frame of the window and the writing "The Harbour Quarters". Below the window, ...
The scenery at George Lake in Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada is always breathtaking but during the sunset hours, there are no words to describe its beauty.
The rays of light emitting from the sun at sunset, spread themselves out along the hills bordering George Lake in Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. The sunset lighting spans across to the opposite side of the lake where ancient smoothed ...
A display of colorful Autumn leaves decorate the trees along the Whiskey Rapids Trail in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.
As the trees along the Whiskey Rapids Trail in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada change into their Autumn hues, thousands of people wander the trails to see the beauty of the park. Yellow, brown, red, green and orange leaves draping fr ...
The Autumn colored leaves amongst the flow of the Restoule River in Restoule, Ontario in Canada can be watched for hours as the leaves make their way over each small waterfall.
This waterfall may be a small one along the Restoule River in the town of Restoule, Ontario in Canada but it is beautiful as the Autumn leaves scatter themselves across the landscape. Many leaves get washed downstream as the water cascades over t ...
There are various outdoor activities to enjoy at Sauble Beach in Ontario, Canada which runs for 11 kilometers along the shores of Lake Huron.
Sauble Beach in Ontario, Canada is an extremely popular destination especially during the summer months when locals and tourists come here to enjoy the numerous outdoor activities. Campgrounds are located along Lake Huron as well as cabins, cotta ...
Pink hues blanket the sky over the hills where one of the last remaining ranches has been kept alive in the Big Muddy Badlands in Southern Saskatchewan, Canada.
Surrounded by coulees, buttes and cliffs, this is one of the few ranches in the Big Muddy Badlands in Southern Saskatchewan, Canada which is still operating on a daily basis. The Big Muddy Badlands was once filled with ranches as the landscape wa ...
A great outdoor activity to enjoy while vacationing at Last Mountain Lake in Rowan's Ravine Provincial Park in Saskatchewan, Canada is jet skiing. Two jet skis have been laid to rest on the shores of the lake on a beautiful summer day.
Jet skis are a common sight during the summer months at Last Mountain Lake in Rowan's Ravine Provincial Park in Saskatchewan, Canada as this is a paradise for water enthusiasts. Two jet skis have been parked on the beach, allowing the riders to t ...
The high ranked officers sit on the bench at the presentation area at the RCMP Academy in the City of Regina, Saskatchewan awaiting the start of the graduation ceremony.
At the RCMP Academy in the City of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada, a graduation ceremony is about to take place where the high ranked officers present the awards. Chairs have been set out below the mass of colorful flags where the officers await ...
The soft pastel hues spanning the sky above the railway tracks in the town of Morse, Saskatchewan, light up the prairie landscape with no end in sight.
Green vegetation grows between the long stretch of railway tracks which travel across the prairie landscape, this particular picture taken in the town of Morse, Saskatchewan. These railway tracks are part of the Canadian Pacific Railway which spa ...
Various types of animal pelts hang on the walls in the Master's House at the Last Mountain House Provincial Park in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Hanging on the wall of the Master's House at the Last Mountain House Provincial Park in Saskatchewan, Canada, are a display of animal pelts belonging to various species of animals. These animal pelts come from a badger, wolf, red fox, silver fox ...
Climbing along the rocky coastline near the Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba, a Polar Bear scouts out the area waiting for the temperatures to drop.
The Hudson Bay adorns the backdrop in this picture but it is still not frozen for the polar bears to set out on the ice and search for Ringed Seals. While waiting, this Polar Bear travels along the rocky coastline with ears perked listening for unusual sound ...
A close up picture of a Polar Bear with the sun reflecting off its fur heading towards Camp Nanuq in the Hudson Bay region of Churchill, Manitoba. Wildlife is often seen trying to find scraps of food near the camps but are deterred by cracker guns.
The winter sunlight glistens off the snow white fur coat of a polar bear who was seen near Camp Nanuq in the Hudson Bay region in Churchill, Manitoba. A beautiful species of wildlife, a Polar Bear is one of the world's largest land carnivores and are consid ...
Near the shores of the Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba, a Polar Bear has dragged his meal of Ringed Seal to the surface of a frozen lake to enjoy.
This polar bear has waited many months for the ice to become thick enough along the shores of the Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba in order for him to catch a meal of Ringed Seal. After his catch, he carried the Ringed Seal to a frozen lake where he finds ...
As a group of tourists remain parked on the road and prepare their cameras in Churchill, Manitoba, a Polar Bear crossing the road behind them becomes within close enough range for both the bear and the tourists.
While Polar Bear watching in Churchill, Manitoba, tourists get a close encounter with a polar bear who has emerged from the tundra and decides crossing the gravel road is the next leg of his journey. The tourists are thrilled with being this close to a Pola ...
As the snow begins to blanket the tundra near the shores of the Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba, a Polar Bear sniffs out the area for any signs of food.
The snow has finally begun to cover the barren tundra along the shores of the Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba which is what this Polar Bear has been waiting for. As the colder temperatures bring in the ice and snow, the polar bear will then stop foraging ...
A brightly painted red shed stands behind a couple of old boats and are on display in Hecla Village located along the shores of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada.
While wandering the self-guided trails in Hecla Village which borders Lake Winnipeg on Hecla Island in Manitoba, Canada, visitors can take a step back into the history of the island. Over the years, a shed has been repainted in red and the old fi ...
As the sunset colors adorn the sky over Lake Audy in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada, some people arriving in a camper get set up at their lakeshore campsite.
Brilliant hues of pink, yellow and orange highlight the sky at sunset silhouetting the trees bordering Lake Audy in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada. The sunset colors reflect off the glass like surface of Lake Audy as people arr ...
Throughout the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretative Centre in Manitoba, Canada there are over 30 kilometers of trails, this one with a view of the wetlands of the Teal Cell.
From this lookout point along the trails at the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretative Centre in Manitoba, Canada, one can admire the beauty of the Teal Cell. Numerous trails make their way around the Teal Cell, some being called Wren, Teal, Killdeer a ...
The beach along Clear Lake in Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park in Mantioba, Canada becomes busy during the summer as people come here to enjoy the endless list of outdoor activities.
Boats remain anchored in the deeper water at Clear Lake in Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada as people start to mingle on the beach during the summer months. Some of the activities around Clear Lake which people can ...
A heritage building in the town of Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada houses the Visitor Information Centre.
Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, Canada is protected by the Government of Canada as the sign outside the Visitor Information Centre displays. A heritage building which houses the Visitor Information Centre is set amongst the agricultura ...
A zodiac takes passengers in towards Flowerpot Island in Fathom Five National Marine Park in Ontario, Canada where they can get a closer look at the sea stacks.
The aqua colored waters of Lake Huron are beautiful around Flowerpot Island in Fathom Five National Marine Park in Ontario, Canada where unique sea stacks adorn the shores. A large glass bottom vessel named the Great Blue Heron, takes passengers ...
At Lock 44 of the Trent-Severn Waterway in Ontario, Canada, the newest ship lift built in 1977 is part of the Big Chute Marine Railway.
The Big Chute Marine Railway is a short distance from Coldwater, Ontario and is a ship lift at Lock 44 of the Trent-Severn Waterway. In 1914, the original plans were to build 3 locks to join the Severn River to Georgian Bay at Port Severn, Big Ch ...
Colors explode throughout the forest along the road to Rock Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada as Autumn arrives and prepares the trees for the cold months ahead.
Autumn colored leaves cling on with their last bit of strength to one of the trees in the forest which tourists pass by while venturing to Rock Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. Hanging from the leafless twigs, small drops of ...
The Chippewa Falls in Ontario, Canada increases drastically in size after an Autumn storm which makes the Chippewa River flood and remove anything along the way.
Thundering through the Autumn colored forest in Ontario, Canada, the Chippewa Falls has increased in size as the Chippewa River becomes flooded after a thunder storm. As the Chippewa River rapidly flows, it will take with it anything it finds in ...
Along the shores of Lac Monroe in Parc National du Mont Tremblant in Quebec, Canada, some people have left their canoe to enjoy the picturesque sunset.
After a day of activity on Lac Monroe in Parc National du Mont Tremblant in Quebec, Canada, a canoe is set to rest on the shore amongst the small rocks. With the bright yellow canoe highlighting the foreground of this picture, the sunset hues ado ...
The beautiful colors at sunset reflect off the St. Lawrence River and span the sky over the downtown core of Montreal City in Quebec, making the skyline picturesque from the island of Ile Sainte-Helene.
The St. Lawrence River remains calm as the sunset lighting illuminates the sky above the city skyline of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. Soft pink and yellow hues blanket the sky while the buildings become illuminated as night settles in and the sun ...
The Rue Bonsecours is a historic street in Old Montreal, Quebec with night lights that illuminate the area and highlight this elegant restaurant.
The Rue Bonsecours is one of the oldest streets in Old Montreal, Quebec with a range of 17th to 19th century buildings adorned in French architectural styles. Outside a restaurant, the night lights illuminate the facades of the buildings, with each one having ...
Across from Place du Canada in Montreal City, Quebec stands the historic building home to Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral.
The Cathedral-Basilica of Mary, Queen of the World or Cathedrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde in French, located in Montreal City, is the third largest church in Quebec, Canada. Construction on this cathedral began in 1870 with the first stone being laid ...
A variety of colorful signs displayed above the shopping area along Avenue McGill College in the downtown core of Montreal in Quebec, Canada.
From the terrace of Place Ville Marie in the downtown core of city of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, one can enjoy the view of Avenue McGill College where people spend their time shopping. This street was named for McGill University and was widened in the 1980's. Ma ...
As the sunlight shines off the snow white colored iceberg, the green hues of the water take over the base as it floats around the Strait of Belle Isle in Southern Labrador, Canada.
The water starts to flow across the surface of an iceberg which floats aimlessly about in the Strait of Belle Isle in Southern Labrador during its melting process. Ice chunks slowly start to break away from this iceberg which only has a few remai ...
The stunning scenery of the Mealy Mountains and a waterfall in Southern Labrador, Canada creates the ideal surroundings to enjoy a picnic lunch.
The sound of a waterfall flowing down the Mealy Mountains in Southern Labrador, Canada is one of the only noises heard by these people enjoying a picnic lunch atop the large boulders. This is a well packed picnic basket filled with meats, cheeses ...
The aerial view of Highway 510 as it travels through Southern Labrador in Canada between Cartwright and Mary's Harbour.
This aerial picture shows how Highway 510 meanders across the unique landscape of Southern Labrador in Canada between Cartwright and Mary's Harbour. Highway 500 was the original route of the Trans Labrador Highway and measured 341 miles with the ...
A beautiful sunset over Notre Dame Bay in Twillingate, Newfoundland shows its beautiful reflections across the surface of the tranquil ocean.
From below the Long Point Lighthouse, overlooking Notre Dame Bay in Twilligate, Newfoundland, the coastal scenery is beautiful. The ocean remains calm as the reflections of the orange/yellow colors explode at sunset and span for miles across the ...
Off in the distance, boats pass by the coastal shores of the Cape Burnt Ecological Reserve on Burnt Island in Newfoundland, Canada where various species of wildflowers blossom.
Along the coastal shores at the Cape Burnt Ecological Reserve on Burnt Island on the Great Northern Peninsula in Western Newfoundland, Canada, the water crashes against the limestone rocks. Above the water's edge, a mass of yellow wildflowers blossom which thrive in ...
The historic Cape Spear Lighthouse on the Avalon Peninsula in Saint John, Newfoundland has become a popular tourist attraction for people traveling along the Cape Spear Drive.
A white picket fence marks the border along the rocky cliffs where the Cape Spear Lighthouse overlooks the rough waters off the Avalon Peninsula near St John's, Newfoundland. This historic landmark is the oldest surviving lighthouse throughout Newfoundland, Canada and ...
Coiled to perfection, a rope laid out on the deck of a Germany Navy boat moored in St. John's Harbour on the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, Canada, creates an interesting picture.
The Gorch Fock, a Germany Navy boat moored in St John's Harbour in Newfoundland, Canada was a training sail vessel and the crew aboard knew how to properly leave the rope coiled. When the rope is coiled to perfection, it will easily unwind when being used aboard these ...
A road divides the farmland in the Big Muddy Badlands in Southern Saskatchewan as the sunset hues highlight the area creating picturesque scenery.
At sunset, just before the sun dips below the buttes and cliffs in the Big Muddy Badlands in Saskatchewan, Canada, a bright yellow circle highlights the fiery ball and makes the farmland some of the prettiest as it glows in yellow hues. Most of t ...
The Qu'Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, Canada is beautiful during the summer months when the canola fields are adorned in bright yellow hues.
While traveling through Saskatchewan, Canada in the summer, the Qu'Appelle Valley is one of the brightest places to be as many of the canola fields are adorned in yellow flowers. Each field spans for miles across the Qu'Appelle Valley and on this ...
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Unpredicted aversive stimuli trigger rapid emotional and behavioral reactions, and if persistent, may contribute to the emergence of depressive-like symptoms in both animals and humans (Knoll and Carlezon, 2010). The lateral habenula (LHb) processes aversive stimuli and disappointment and drives aversive behaviors (Matsumoto and Hikosaka, 2007; Stamatakis and Stuber, 2012). The LHb has been implicated in addiction (Lecca, S. et al. 2014).
Aversive stimuli, and more generally stressors, increase the activity of LHb neurons projecting to monoaminergic centers including the ventral tegmental area and the raphe nucleus (Hikosaka, 2010; Matsumoto and Hikosaka, 2007; Proulx et al., 2014). Indeed in mice exposed to foot-shocks, the EPSC paired pulse ratio obtained by optogenetic driven activation of LHb terminals onto midbrain GABA neurons is rapidly decreased indicating a higher glutamate release from LHb axons to midbrain neuronal populations (Stamatakis and Stuber, 2012). The repetitive exposure to aversive environmental stimuli produces instead an aberrant and persistent hyperactivity of LHb neurons, which has been proven instrumental for the emerging of depressive symptoms (Li et al., 2011; Li et al., 2013) (Meye, Valentinova, Lecca et al., 2015).
The underlying mechanisms implicate distinct mechanisms; firstly a CaMKIIβ- and GluA1-dependent strengthening of AMPA-mediated transmission (Li et al., 2013) (Meye, Valentinova, Lecca et al., 2015); and secondly a reduction in the GABA component of GABA-Glutamate co-release typical of the entopeduncular nucleus-to-LHb synapse (Proulx et al., 2014; Shabel et al., 2014). Altogether, these findings indicate that the induction and maintenance of depressive behaviors may require complex and temporally distinct synaptic modifications relying on specific inputs and outputs of LHb neurons (Lecca et al., 2014).
Neuronal excitability throughout the central nervous system relies, at least in part, on the slow GABA-dependent inhibition mediated by GABAB receptors (GABABRs) and G protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK/Kir3) channels (Luscher et al., 1997). Repeated stressfull events lead to the dysregulation of GIRK-dependent signaling (Lemos et al., 2012a; Lemos et al., 2012b). Furthermore, analysis of GIRK gene expression and function in rodents (Cornelisse et al., 2007; Lujan et al., 2014), and polymoprhisms in the GIRK gene in human cohorts provide strong arguments for GABAB-GIRK implications in the development of depressive symptoms (Bagdy et al., 2012).
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
You know it’s been a long day when your eye starts twitching. These annoying little tics are often signs from our body telling us to have healthier habits!
Eye twitching happens when the tiny muscles and nerves around the eye are stimulated. In most cases, minor twitching is painless and will go away on its own. But what causes these random muscle contractions and how can we control them?
Stress Can Induce Eye Twitching
Although everybody reacts differently to stress, a twitching eye is one telltale sign. When you’re in a stressful situation or trying to meet a deadline, try breathing exercises and relaxation techniques. This can help reduce your stress and hopefully reduce any eye twitches along with it!
Consume Caffeine And Alcohol In Moderation
Excessive consumption of caffeine and alcohol has been known to cause eye twitching. Try consuming coffee, energy drinks, soda, and alcohol in small amounts and spread throughout the day.
Get The Rest You Need
Fatigue is a common contributor to a twitching eyelid. Make sure you’re getting adequate rest to keep twitching at bay!
Dry Eyes Often Cause Twitching
Dry eyes often cause eye twitches and involuntary blinking. Dry eyes may result from medications, long hours on the computer or other digital devices, or wearing contact lenses. If your eyes are often dry, try using artificial tears to relieve immediate symptoms and come in and see us if irritation continues.
Try To Relieve Eye Strain
Eyes that work too hard and get tired more quickly than they should can trigger twitching. Eye strain often results from uncorrected vision problems or the need for a new prescription. Another reason for eye strain can be from the overuse of digital devices.
To reduce twitching and strain, consult with us about vision correction. If digital eye strain is an issue, take frequent breaks when working on the computer for long hours and consider talking to us about eyeglasses that minimize strain.
Whole Body Health Is Important
If you are concerned about persistent eye twitching, come in and see us. We can help determine the cause and find a solution.
It’s not just your eyes that concern us. Getting enough rest, reducing stress, and having healthy habits is good for your eyes and your life!
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Adaptive changes in the expression of nuclear and mitochondrial encoded subunits of cytochrome c oxidase and the catalytic activity during hypoxia.
The effects of physiologically relevant hypoxia on the catalytic activity of cytochrome c oxidase (CytOX), mitochondrial gene expression, and both nuclear and mitochondrial encoded CytOX mRNA levels were investigated in murine monocyte macrophages, mouse C2C12 skeletal myocytes and rat adrenal pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. Our results suggest a coordinated down regulation of mitochondrial genome-coded CytOX I and II and nuclear genome-coded CytOX IV and Vb mRNAs during hypoxia. Hypoxia also caused a severe decrease in mitochondrial transcription rates, and associated decrease in mitochondrial transcription factor A. The enzyme from hypoxia exposed cells exhibited altered subunit content as revealed by blue native gel electrophoresis. There was a generalized decline in mitochondrial function that led to a decrease in total cellular heme and ATP pools. We also observed a decrease in mitochondrial heme aa3 content and decreased levels of CytOX subunit I, IV and Vb, though the catalytic efficiency of the enzyme (TN for cytochrome c oxidase) remained nearly the same. Increased glycolytic flux and alterations in the kinetic characteristics of the CytOX might be the two mechanisms by which hypoxic cells maintain adequate ATP levels to sustain life processes. Reoxygenation nearly completely reversed hypoxia-mediated changes in CytOX mRNA contents, rate of mitochondrial transcription, and the catalytic activity of CytOX enzyme. Our results show adaptive changes in CytOX structure and activity during physiological hypoxia.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Evidence that ideal and attractive figures represent different constructs: A replication and extension of Fingeret, Gleaves, and Pearson (2004).
Figure rating scales are commonly used to measure body dissatisfaction through discrepancy indexes (e.g., difference between current and ideal body) and recent methodological work by Fingeret, Gleaves, and Pearson suggests that distinctions between referent bodies (e.g., ideal or most attractive) are unnecessary. The purpose of the current study was to replicate these findings using both male and female figure rating scales and an opposite-sex comparison group. We examined the relationship between three referent figures (Ideal, Most Attractive to the Opposite Sex, and Most Attractive) and attractiveness attributions in 365 undergraduate men (n=164) and women (n=201). Results suggested that referent figures were associated with different attractiveness attributions for both male and female figures, but physical characteristics differed only in male figures. The impact of referent bodies on discrepancy indexes was also explored. Considerations for future research using figure rating scales are discussed.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Business Source License 1.1
Parameters
Licensor: Cockroach Labs, Inc.
Licensed Work: CockroachDB 21.1
The Licensed Work is (c) 2021 Cockroach Labs, Inc.
Additional Use Grant: You may make use of the Licensed Work, provided that
you may not use the Licensed Work for a Database
Service.
A “Database Service” is a commercial offering that
allows third parties (other than your employees and
contractors) to access the functionality of the
Licensed Work by creating tables whose schemas are
controlled by such third parties.
Change Date: 2024-04-01
Change License: Apache License, Version 2.0
For information about alternative licensing arrangements for the Software,
please visit: https://cockroachlabs.com/
Notice
The Business Source License (this document, or the “License”) is not an Open
Source license. However, the Licensed Work will eventually be made available
under an Open Source License, as stated in this License.
License text copyright (c) 2017 MariaDB Corporation Ab, All Rights Reserved.
“Business Source License” is a trademark of MariaDB Corporation Ab.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business Source License 1.1
Terms
The Licensor hereby grants you the right to copy, modify, create derivative
works, redistribute, and make non-production use of the Licensed Work. The
Licensor may make an Additional Use Grant, above, permitting limited
production use.
Effective on the Change Date, or the fourth anniversary of the first publicly
available distribution of a specific version of the Licensed Work under this
License, whichever comes first, the Licensor hereby grants you rights under
the terms of the Change License, and the rights granted in the paragraph
above terminate.
If your use of the Licensed Work does not comply with the requirements
currently in effect as described in this License, you must purchase a
commercial license from the Licensor, its affiliated entities, or authorized
resellers, or you must refrain from using the Licensed Work.
All copies of the original and modified Licensed Work, and derivative works
of the Licensed Work, are subject to this License. This License applies
separately for each version of the Licensed Work and the Change Date may vary
for each version of the Licensed Work released by Licensor.
You must conspicuously display this License on each original or modified copy
of the Licensed Work. If you receive the Licensed Work in original or
modified form from a third party, the terms and conditions set forth in this
License apply to your use of that work.
Any use of the Licensed Work in violation of this License will automatically
terminate your rights under this License for the current and all other
versions of the Licensed Work.
This License does not grant you any right in any trademark or logo of
Licensor or its affiliates (provided that you may use a trademark or logo of
Licensor as expressly required by this License).
TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE LICENSED WORK IS PROVIDED ON
AN “AS IS” BASIS. LICENSOR HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND
TITLE.
MariaDB hereby grants you permission to use this License’s text to license
your works, and to refer to it using the trademark “Business Source License”,
as long as you comply with the Covenants of Licensor below.
Covenants of Licensor
In consideration of the right to use this License’s text and the “Business
Source License” name and trademark, Licensor covenants to MariaDB, and to all
other recipients of the licensed work to be provided by Licensor:
1. To specify as the Change License the GPL Version 2.0 or any later version,
or a license that is compatible with GPL Version 2.0 or a later version,
where “compatible” means that software provided under the Change License can
be included in a program with software provided under GPL Version 2.0 or a
later version. Licensor may specify additional Change Licenses without
limitation.
2. To either: (a) specify an additional grant of rights to use that does not
impose any additional restriction on the right granted in this License, as
the Additional Use Grant; or (b) insert the text “None”.
3. To specify a Change Date.
4. Not to modify this License in any other way.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
How to overcome intermittent Scope 'session' is not active for the current thread for OauthClientContext?
I'm attempting to implement OpenId Connect sign-on in a Spring Boot 1.3.0 application with Spring Security 3.2.5 on Spring Framework 4.2.3. The implementation is very similar to this question: Protecting REST API with OAuth2: Error creating bean with name 'scopedTarget.oauth2ClientContext': Scope 'session' is not active, except that I've implemented the suggested bean for the RequestContextFilter.
@Configuration
@EnableOAuth2Client
public class OpenIdConnectConfig {
@Value("${oidc.clientId}")
private String clientId;
@Value("${oidc.clientSecret}")
private String clientSecret;
@Value("${oidc.accessTokenUrl}")
private String accessTokenUri;
@Value("${oidc.userAuthorizationUri}")
private String userAuthorizationUri;
@Value("${oidc.redirectUri}")
private String redirectUri;
@Value("#{'${oidc.scopes}'.split(',')}")
private List<String> oidcScopes;
@Bean
public OAuth2ProtectedResourceDetails openIdResourceDetails() {
AuthorizationCodeResourceDetails details = new AuthorizationCodeResourceDetails();
details.setClientId(clientId);
details.setClientSecret(clientSecret);
details.setAccessTokenUri(accessTokenUri);
details.setUserAuthorizationUri(userAuthorizationUri);
details.setClientAuthenticationScheme(AuthenticationScheme.form);
details.setScope(oidcScopes);
details.setPreEstablishedRedirectUri(redirectUri);
details.setUseCurrentUri(false);
return details;
}
@Bean(name = "my.company.ui.security.OpenIdRestTemplate")
// ToDo: fix org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'scopedTarget.oauth2ClientContext': Scope 'session' is not active for the current thread
public OAuth2RestTemplate OpenIdRestTemplate(OAuth2ClientContext clientContext) {
return new OAuth2RestTemplate(openIdResourceDetails(), clientContext);
}
@Bean
public RequestContextListener requestContextListener() {
return new RequestContextListener();
}
}
The exception stack trace is likewise similar
Caused by:
org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException:
Error creating bean with name 'scopedTarget.oauth2ClientContext':
Scope 'session' is not active for the current thread; consider
defining a scoped proxy for this bean if you intend to refer to it
from a singleton;
nested exception is java.lang.IllegalStateException: No thread-bound
request found: Are you referring to request attributes outside of an
actual web request, or processing a request outside of the originally
receiving thread? If you are actually operating within a web request
and still receive this message, your code is probably running outside
of DispatcherServlet/DispatcherPortlet: In this case, use
RequestContextListener or RequestContextFilter to expose the current request.
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:355)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:197)
at org.springframework.aop.target.SimpleBeanTargetSource.getTarget(SimpleBeanTargetSource.java:35)
at org.springframework.aop.framework.JdkDynamicAopProxy.invoke(JdkDynamicAopProxy.java:187)
at com.sun.proxy.$Proxy78.getAccessToken(Unknown Source)
at org.springframework.security.oauth2.client.OAuth2RestTemplate.getAccessToken(OAuth2RestTemplate.java:169)
at my.company.ui.security.OpenIdConnectFilter.attemptAuthentication(OpenIdConnectFilter.java:118)
at org.springframework.security.web.authentication.AbstractAuthenticationProcessingFilter.doFilter(AbstractAuthenticationProcessingFilter.java:211)
at my.company.ui.security.OpenIdConnectFilter.doFilter(OpenIdConnectFilter.java:93)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
at org.springframework.security.oauth2.client.filter.OAuth2ClientContextFilter.doFilter(OAuth2ClientContextFilter.java:60)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
at org.springframework.security.web.context.SecurityContextPersistenceFilter.doFilter(SecurityContextPersistenceFilter.java:87)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
at org.springframework.security.web.context.request.async.WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter.doFilterInternal(WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter.java:50)
at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilterInternal(FilterChainProxy.java:192)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:160)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at my.company.ui.security.UserCookieFilter.doFilter(UserCookieFilter.java:29)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at my.company.server.filter.UncaughtExceptionRequestFilter.doFilter(UncaughtExceptionRequestFilter.java:45)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at com.rmn.commons.web.metrics.AbstractInstrumentedFilter.doFilter(AbstractInstrumentedFilter.java:143)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at org.springframework.session.web.http.SessionRepositoryFilter.doFilterInternal(SessionRepositoryFilter.java:167)
at org.springframework.session.web.http.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:80)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler.doHandle(ServletHandler.java:585)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ScopedHandler.handle(ScopedHandler.java:143)
at org.eclipse.jetty.security.SecurityHandler.handle(SecurityHandler.java:577)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.session.SessionHandler.doHandle(SessionHandler.java:223)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandler.doHandle(ContextHandler.java:1127)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandler.doHandle(ContextHandler.java:1127)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler.doScope(ServletHandler.java:515)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.session.SessionHandler.doScope(SessionHandler.java:185)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandler.doScope(ContextHandler.java:1061)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandler.doScope(ContextHandler.java:1061)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ScopedHandler.handle(ScopedHandler.java:141)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandlerCollection.handle(ContextHandlerCollection.java:215)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.HandlerWrapper.handle(HandlerWrapper.java:97)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.Server.handle(Server.java:499)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.HttpChannel.handle(HttpChannel.java:311)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.HttpConnection.onFillable(HttpConnection.java:257)
at org.eclipse.jetty.io.AbstractConnection$2.run(AbstractConnection.java:544)
at org.eclipse.jetty.util.thread.QueuedThreadPool.runJob(QueuedThreadPool.java:635)
at org.eclipse.jetty.util.thread.QueuedThreadPool$3.run(QueuedThreadPool.java:555)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: No thread-bound request found: Are you referring to request attributes outside of an actual web request, or processing a request outside of the originally receiving thread? If you are actually operating within a web request and still receive this message, your code is probably running outside of DispatcherServlet/DispatcherPortlet: In this case, use RequestContextListener or RequestContextFilter to expose the current request.
at org.springframework.web.context.request.RequestContextHolder.currentRequestAttributes(RequestContextHolder.java:131)
at org.springframework.web.context.request.SessionScope.get(SessionScope.java:91)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:340)
... 48 more
Caused by:
java.lang.IllegalStateException: No thread-bound request found: Are you referring to request attributes outside of an actual web request, or processing a request outside of the originally receiving thread? If you are actually operating within a web request and still receive this message, your code is probably running outside of DispatcherServlet/DispatcherPortlet: In this case, use RequestContextListener or RequestContextFilter to expose the current request.
at org.springframework.web.context.request.RequestContextHolder.currentRequestAttributes(RequestContextHolder.java:131)
at org.springframework.web.context.request.SessionScope.get(SessionScope.java:91)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:340)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:197)
at org.springframework.aop.target.SimpleBeanTargetSource.getTarget(SimpleBeanTargetSource.java:35)
at org.springframework.aop.framework.JdkDynamicAopProxy.invoke(JdkDynamicAopProxy.java:187)
at com.sun.proxy.$Proxy78.getAccessToken(Unknown Source)
at org.springframework.security.oauth2.client.OAuth2RestTemplate.getAccessToken(OAuth2RestTemplate.java:169)
at my.company.ui.security.OpenIdConnectFilter.attemptAuthentication(OpenIdConnectFilter.java:118)
at org.springframework.security.web.authentication.AbstractAuthenticationProcessingFilter.doFilter(AbstractAuthenticationProcessingFilter.java:211)
at my.company.ui.security.OpenIdConnectFilter.doFilter(OpenIdConnectFilter.java:93)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
at org.springframework.security.oauth2.client.filter.OAuth2ClientContextFilter.doFilter(OAuth2ClientContextFilter.java:60)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
at org.springframework.security.web.context.SecurityContextPersistenceFilter.doFilter(SecurityContextPersistenceFilter.java:87)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
at org.springframework.security.web.context.request.async.WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter.doFilterInternal(WebAsyncManagerIntegrationFilter.java:50)
at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:342)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilterInternal(FilterChainProxy.java:192)
at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.doFilter(FilterChainProxy.java:160)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at my.company.ui.security.UserCookieFilter.doFilter(UserCookieFilter.java:29)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at my.company.server.filter.UncaughtExceptionRequestFilter.doFilter(UncaughtExceptionRequestFilter.java:45)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at com.rmn.commons.web.metrics.AbstractInstrumentedFilter.doFilter(AbstractInstrumentedFilter.java:143)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at org.springframework.session.web.http.SessionRepositoryFilter.doFilterInternal(SessionRepositoryFilter.java:167)
at org.springframework.session.web.http.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:80)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler$CachedChain.doFilter(ServletHandler.java:1652)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler.doHandle(ServletHandler.java:585)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ScopedHandler.handle(ScopedHandler.java:143)
at org.eclipse.jetty.security.SecurityHandler.handle(SecurityHandler.java:577)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.session.SessionHandler.doHandle(SessionHandler.java:223)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandler.doHandle(ContextHandler.java:1127)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandler.doHandle(ContextHandler.java:1127)
at org.eclipse.jetty.servlet.ServletHandler.doScope(ServletHandler.java:515)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.session.SessionHandler.doScope(SessionHandler.java:185)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandler.doScope(ContextHandler.java:1061)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandler.doScope(ContextHandler.java:1061)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ScopedHandler.handle(ScopedHandler.java:141)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ContextHandlerCollection.handle(ContextHandlerCollection.java:215)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.HandlerWrapper.handle(HandlerWrapper.java:97)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.Server.handle(Server.java:499)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.HttpChannel.handle(HttpChannel.java:311)
at org.eclipse.jetty.server.HttpConnection.onFillable(HttpConnection.java:257)
at org.eclipse.jetty.io.AbstractConnection$2.run(AbstractConnection.java:544)
at org.eclipse.jetty.util.thread.QueuedThreadPool.runJob(QueuedThreadPool.java:635)
at org.eclipse.jetty.util.thread.QueuedThreadPool$3.run(QueuedThreadPool.java:555)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
Powered by Jetty://
You can clearly see that the filter call is part of the Spring Security FilterChainProxy, so I don't know what to make of the error message's suggestion that "your code is probably running outside of DispatcherServlet/DispatcherPortlet". Also, I have tried adding a bean for the suggested alternative RequestContextFilter and the same exception is thrown.
The filter that performs the authentication (some exception handling and user processing code removed):
public class OpenIdConnectFilter extends AbstractAuthenticationProcessingFilter {
public OpenIdConnectFilter(
RequestMatcher requiresAuthenticationRequestMatcher,
AuthenticationService authenticationService
) {
super(requiresAuthenticationRequestMatcher);
setAuthenticationManager(new NoopAuthenticationManager());
}
@SuppressWarnings("RedundantThrows") // Matching overridden method
@Override
public Authentication attemptAuthentication(
HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response
) throws AuthenticationException, IOException, ServletException {
// Required parameters (one-time access code, state) are retrieved from the context
OAuth2AccessToken oAuth2AccessToken = restTemplate.getAccessToken();
// Process the token, get the user details, return an Authentication object.
}
public void setRestTemplate(OAuth2RestTemplate restTemplate) {
this.restTemplate = restTemplate;
}
private static class NoopAuthenticationManager implements AuthenticationManager {
@Override
public Authentication authenticate(Authentication authentication) throws AuthenticationException {
throw new UnsupportedOperationException("No authentication should be done with this AuthenticationManager");
}
}
private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(OpenIdConnectFilter.class);
@Value("${oidc.clientId}")
private String clientId;
@Value("${oidc.issuer}")
private String issuer;
@Value("${oidc.jwt.jwk.url}")
private String jwkUrl;
private final AuthenticationService authenticationService;
private OAuth2RestTemplate restTemplate;
}
And the Security Config that sets up the Spring Security FilterProxyChain:
@Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity
@EnableOAuth2Client
public class SecurityConfig extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter{
@Override
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
protected void configure(HttpSecurity http)
throws Exception {
http
.sessionManagement()
.sessionCreationPolicy(SessionCreationPolicy.IF_REQUIRED)
.and()
.csrf()
.disable()
.authorizeRequests()
.expressionHandler(securityExpressionHandler)
.antMatchers("/asset/**").access("permitAll")
.antMatchers("/ws/ssoEnabled").access("permitAll")
.antMatchers("/**").access("hasRole('ROLE_USER') or hasRole('ROLE_TOKEN_ACCESS')")
.and()
.httpBasic()
.authenticationEntryPoint(ajaxAwareLoginUrlAuthenticationEntryPoint)
.and()
// Handles unauthenticated requests, catching UserRedirectRequiredExceptions and redirecting to OAuth provider
.addFilterAfter(new OAuth2ClientContextFilter(), SecurityContextPersistenceFilter.class)
// Handles the oauth callback, exchanging the one-time code for a durable token
.addFilterAfter(openIdConnectFilter, OAuth2ClientContextFilter.class)
.formLogin()
.loginPage("/login")
.loginProcessingUrl("/logincheck")
.usernameParameter("username")
.passwordParameter("password")
.successHandler(ajaxAwareAuthenticationSuccessHandler)
.failureHandler(ajaxAwareAuthenticationFailureHandler)
.and()
.logout()
.logoutUrl("/logout")
.logoutSuccessUrl("/login")
.and()
.rememberMe()
.rememberMeServices(rememberMeServices)
// Even though this key has been added directly to the rememberMeServices instance, the RememberMeConfigurer
// can instantiate a new RememberMeServices with a made-up key if the same key is not provided.
.key("the key value")
;
// We do not configure a bean for the SessionAuthenticationStrategy. We want to use the Spring default strategy,
// which is configured by the above builder chain. In order to share the correct, configured instance with our
// custom OpenIdConnectFilter, we first tell the builder to perform the configuration (normally this would be
// done long after this method returns)...
http.getConfigurer(SessionManagementConfigurer.class).init(http);
// ... then we get the shared object by interface (SessionAuthenticationStrategy) class name...
final SessionAuthenticationStrategy sessionAuthenticationStrategy = http.getSharedObject(SessionAuthenticationStrategy.class);
// ... then set it in our custom filter.
openIdConnectFilter.setSessionAuthenticationStrategy(sessionAuthenticationStrategy);
}
}
One final wrinkle: I was getting this error while running on my machine. Then, adding the RequestContextListener resolved it. When deploying it to our test environment, the exception message resurfaces. However, after a few hours or days, sometimes after the CI/CD pipeline re-deploys the same version, the problem resolves itself and the OpenID integration works as expected until we make the next change, bugfix or improvement, then it usually reoccurs for a similar short interval.
Questions:
Is DispatcherServlet/DispatcherPortlet a factor at all when running in Spring Boot?
How do you determine if you should use a RequestContextFilter or RequestContextListener? Is there an actual difference? The (linked) documentation isn't much help here, in my opinion.
Servlet listener that exposes the request to the current thread, through both LocaleContextHolder and RequestContextHolder. To be registered as listener in web.xml.
Alternatively, Spring's RequestContextFilter and Spring's DispatcherServlet also expose the same request context to the current thread. In contrast to this listener, advanced options are available there (e.g. "threadContextInheritable").
This listener is mainly for use with third-party servlets, e.g. the JSF FacesServlet. Within Spring's own web support, DispatcherServlet's processing is perfectly sufficient.
Where should the Beans for the RequestContextFilter/Listener be defined in a Spring Boot app? We don't have a web.xml. (My understanding is that web.xml is only for Spring MVC - please correct me if that is wrong.)
What could possibly be causing the context to be found sometimes? Why is it that our app can work after enduring failure for a little while?
A:
Investigating this further, I found that the RequestContextFilter was definitely being executed before the Oauth2ClientContextFilter and OpenIdConnectFilter when running locally. I decide to take a chance on M. Prokhorov's suggestion from the comments and register the RequestContextFilter into Spring Security's filters anyways; it extends the OncePerRequestFilter preventing it from executing more than once anyways.
All said and done, I went with the following modifications:
Removed the declaration of the RequestContextLister bean from the OpenIdConnectConfig. This was registered elsewhere in the application, in a parent module that I verified was getting configuration-scanned.
@Bean
public ServletListenerRegistrationBean<RequestContextListener> requestContextListener() {
return new ServletListenerRegistrationBean<>(new RequestContextListener());
}
Moved the Oauth2ClientContextFilter into a bean declaration. It doesn't seem like there's anything in this filter that relies on being populated as a Spring bean – in testing, the client configuration was attached to the UserRedirectRequiredException that this filter processes before the OAuth2RestTemplate (which does have the client configuration OAuth2ProtectedResourceDetails injected into it by Spring) throws it. However, it felt like defensive programming in case a future version of Spring changes the interplay between this filter, the exceptions it handles, and the OAuth client details.
Adding the filter to the HttpSecurity object in the WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter.configure() call in SecurityConfig.java. The final code for that class looked like this:
@Configuration
@EnableWebSecurity
@EnableOAuth2Client
public class SecurityConfig extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter{
@Override
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
protected void configure(HttpSecurity http)
throws Exception {
http
.sessionManagement()
.sessionCreationPolicy(SessionCreationPolicy.IF_REQUIRED)
.and()
.csrf()
.disable()
.authorizeRequests()
.expressionHandler(securityExpressionHandler)
.antMatchers("/asset/**").access("permitAll")
.antMatchers("/ws/ssoEnabled").access("permitAll")
.antMatchers("/**").access("hasRole('ROLE_USER') or hasRole('ROLE_TOKEN_ACCESS')")
.and()
.httpBasic()
.authenticationEntryPoint(ajaxAwareLoginUrlAuthenticationEntryPoint)
.and()
// OAuth filters
// Explicitly add a RequestContextFilter ahead of the Oauth filters to facilitate retrieval of a session-scoped oauth2ClientContext object
.addFilterAfter(requestContextFilter, SecurityContextPersistenceFilter.class)
// Handles unauthenticated requests, catching UserRedirectRequiredExceptions and redirecting to OAuth provider
.addFilterAfter(oAuth2ClientContextFilter, RequestContextFilter.class)
// Handles the oauth callback, exchanging the one-time code for a durable token
.addFilterAfter(openIdConnectFilter, OAuth2ClientContextFilter.class)
.formLogin()
.loginPage("/login")
.loginProcessingUrl("/logincheck")
.usernameParameter("username")
.passwordParameter("password")
.successHandler(ajaxAwareAuthenticationSuccessHandler)
.failureHandler(ajaxAwareAuthenticationFailureHandler)
.and()
.logout()
.logoutUrl("/logout")
.logoutSuccessUrl("/login")
.and()
.rememberMe()
.rememberMeServices(rememberMeServices)
// Even though this key has been added directly to the rememberMeServices instance, the RememberMeConfigurer
// can instantiate a new RememberMeServices with a made-up key if the same key is not provided.
.key("the key value")
;
// We do not configure a bean for the SessionAuthenticationStrategy. We want to use the Spring default strategy,
// which is configured by the above builder chain. In order to share the correct, configured instance with our
// custom OpenIdConnectFilter, we first tell the builder to perform the configuration (normally this would be
// done long after this method returns)...
http.getConfigurer(SessionManagementConfigurer.class).init(http);
// ... then we get the shared object by interface (SessionAuthenticationStrategy) class name...
final SessionAuthenticationStrategy sessionAuthenticationStrategy = http.getSharedObject(SessionAuthenticationStrategy.class);
// ... then set it in our custom filter.
openIdConnectFilter.setSessionAuthenticationStrategy(sessionAuthenticationStrategy);
}
}
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
The InterWorx Plugin system allows users to extend the functionality of the control panel in a wide variety of ways. With this guide and a bit of scripting experience, any user can leverage the complete InterWorx API to achieve endless possibilities.
A great deal of existing functionality in InterWorx can be leveraged to quickly bring any plugin concept to reality. Adding menu items to the interface, modifying existing input forms, and adding listeners to existing actions are all easily included, and substantially cut down on implementation and development time. Mostly importantly, plugins allow for the open-ended addition of features to customize your users’ experience.
Anything that can be scripted with the InterWorx API can be packaged into a plugin, which means nearly any action that can be performed within NodeWorx and SiteWorx can be performed using our plugin system. Plugins can modify existing behavior, add new features and behavior, or even disable existing behavior of the NodeWorx and/or SiteWorx control panel experience.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
BEFORE all the money turned a little funny, economists were held in some esteem.
Their habit of telling politicians what politicians wanted to hear about the magical disappearance of inflation, risk and consequences won some nice gigs for the dismal scientists. In a normal world, meanwhile, the great crash of 2008 would have reduced economics to the status of voodoo, to poking hopefully at poultry entrails. Not only did economists fail to see the great catastrophe coming, many swore blind that it couldn't happen. Those who picked up big wages on Wall Street and in the City of London made a fine art out of demonstrating that nothing could possibly go wrong.
We no longer take them seriously, of course. No country suffers the hell of infantile austerity thanks to "sound economics". We have all learned how to spot a pseudo-science when we see one. No-one confuses malleable numbers with morality, or snake oil with sustenance. We know better now. We don't trust those soothsayers with their graphs and their seats in the boardroom.
Alternatively: "We still take them seriously. Whole countries suffer the hell of austerity thanks to 'sound economics'. Everyone goes on confusing graphs and dodgy numbers with morality. We know no better. We still trust dodgy soothsayers. If an economist states a case, at the behest of a government or a corporation, that's good enough for us."
In a world with consequences, economists would have been run out of town. Leave it to actual philosophers to define a pseudo-science: the proof of the great intellectual pudding of 2008 is in the gruel we have consumed since.
It wasn't true; it didn't work; it had no basis in reality. What we were told about the nature and tendencies of the globalised economy turned out to be as good as the word of the great and powerful Oz.
For a couple of years after the stuff hit the fan you would hear about this economist or that analyst who "saw it all coming". The claims were supposed to be proof of something. It was as if to say: "Almost all that we told you was rubbish, apart from the warnings by a few brave souls we ignored and told you to ignore. So there's no problem here. Move along."
Extraordinarily, capitalism is in no political trouble in the developed world. The crash has not caused governments to fall. Witness the likes of our own dear George Osborne: they are, beaverishly, still at it. Their simple task, in every corner of the planet, is to shift money from those with no culpability for the crash to those who made it happen. Rich gamblers need to have their bets covered. As they would put it, "or else".
The rest of us still need to know how the world works. We still ask simple, peasant questions. Questions like: "So what happened to all the money amid this global collapse?" Around $35 trillion is still out there, somewhere. Or we ask: "How come the very rich have continued to grow more rich, hand over fist, while countries - where even the rich must live - have tottered?"
When historians come prowling, they will want to know what happened. It already seems obvious that traces of a gigantic fraud, intellectual and political, will be evident. It also seems plain that one of the central "sciences" of the age was corrupted in ideology and methodology.
Why didn't we see it? What was so wrong with our politics, our journalism, and our common sense that we chose to ignore the bags marked "swag" while global capitalism went belly-up, the politicians closed ranks, and the discipline of economics was excused? The great mystery of the age, nevertheless, is that the mass of humanity continues to allow itself to be deceived.
In the advanced economies, the issue of inequality counts as the case in point. Some in the political class are still telling us that it doesn't truly exist, or that it doesn't matter much, or that it is no bad thing, really, in a thriving, competitive society.
Thomas Piketty has no head start in these arguments. First, he's another economist, albeit of the dissident minority. Secondly, he's French, and therefore suspect amid the Anglo-American consensus. Third, he has mined a mountain of facts, chiefly tax records, to make points about the nature of capital, inheritance and inequality. Lastly, Piketty suggests remedies - above all, the redistribution of wealth.
The last detail has caused the most outrage in conservative circles on both sides of the Atlantic. Piketty's book, Capital In The Twenty-First Century, is in part an attempt to show that "capital accumulation" has depressed incomes generally, and that the phenomenon of great wealth for a small minority obstructing progress for the majority is as marked now as it was a century ago. The American phrase "the 1%" explains a lot.
Things are worse in the US than in Europe because, even during the past 40 years, European countries have deployed their tax systems to address the problem. Year by year, however, the difference is fading: wages stagnate, the rich get richer. "Patrimonial capitalism", dynastic inheritance, is back. It qualifies to be described by the old cliche: parasitic.
The reaction to Piketty has been almost comical. He is talking about 80% tax rates, they shriek. This subversive would deprive billionaires of a whole 10% of their wealth. Outrageously, he suggests that taxes be imposed globally, leaving no hiding place for footloose entrepreneurs. My favourite is the claim that we don't "really know" what capital is, so we shouldn't bother our heads with critiques of capitalism.
The reaction amounts to the claim that their tax rates are inviolable and must never be increased; but yours are fair game. It is an insistence that neo-liberalism is the only possible world this side of Stalinism. The fact concealed throughout is simple: the hyper-rich have had an excellent crisis. The idea that they should pay their share and pay their way is anathema.
Piketty's book is a 685-page lump of a thing. It's a bestseller already, as these things are measured, but unlikely to give Dan Brown competition. This is not bedtime reading. Nevertheless, the book's appearance and reception are important. Those who brought us the biggest crisis capitalism has seen go on insisting that nothing fundamental can be changed. Truly?
What are we, in our democracies, if we agree to be fooled twice? Some of us remember the world before the 1% seized power. The point of redistribution was both understood and accepted. It worked. And that imperfect world was a better place than the predatory society we call normal today.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
how to replace standard multiselect options with checkbox dropdown
I want to replace standard multiselect options ( which we have to keep pressed command button and then select multiple options ) with checkbox dropdown (that when i check the item, all the checked items are displayed in the header).
I have the following select options
<select multiple="" class="multimenu">
<option value="a">Playing</option>
<option value="b">Singing</option>
<option value="c">Listening</option>
<option value="d">Sleeping</option>
<option value="e">Chatting</option>
</select>
Now i want to replace the above such that there is a checkbox with each item.. and all the checked item(s), when checked, are displayed in the header.
I just want to transform the functionality, interface just same as normal single select select options but the only difference is, there is a checkbox infront of each item,, and when i tick the checkbox, each of the ticked item(s) is displayed in the header.
How can i attempt the same..??
A:
If you want to handle your form data using a select box, but would prefer to display it to the user as a dropdown list with checkboxes for selecting each option, look no further than Dropdown Check List:
https://code.google.com/p/dropdown-check-list/
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Travel Guide - Must-See Attractions
published:21 Feb 2014
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Travel Guide - Must-See Attractions
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Travel Guide - Must-See Attractions
published:21 Feb 2014
views:436994
http://bookinghunter.com
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the State of Florida, on the Atlantic coast 23 miles (37 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward Count. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census.
The most important places to visit in Fort Lauderdale are: Beaches, Everglades, Museum of Discovery and Science, Butterfly World, Las Olas Riverfront, Secrer Woods Nature Center and many more.
If you want to save time and money, the most important Fort Lauderdale travel tip is to compare prices before booking a hotel room or a flight. You can do this for free on http://bookinghunter.com, a site that searches through hundreds of other travel websites in real time for the best travel deals available....
Fort Lauderdale, Florida Travel Guide - Must-See Attractions
published:21 Feb 2014
views:436994
http://bookinghunter.com
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the State of Florida, on the Atlantic coast 23 miles (37 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward Count. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census.
The most important places to visit in Fort Lauderdale are: Beaches, Everglades, Museum of Discovery and Science, Butterfly World, Las Olas Riverfront, Secrer Woods Nature Center and many more.
If you want to save time and money, the most important Fort Lauderdale travel tip is to compare prices before booking a hotel room or a flight. You can do this for free on http://bookinghunter.com, a site that searches through hundreds of other travel websites in real time for the best travel deals available....
Things To See And Do When You're In Fort Lauderdale, Florida
published:29 Mar 2018
Things To See And Do When You're In Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Things To See And Do When You're In Fort Lauderdale, Florida
published:29 Mar 2018
views:28105
Popular as it is, Fort Lauderdale had always been somewhere we\'d seen as the \"place you stop in before heading on a cruise\". Seeing as we\'ve never actually been on a cruise, we had no idea if this was true or not and so, on a particularly cold month in London, we headed out to Fort Lauderdale for some winter sunshine!
Turns out, Fort Lauderdale is a place to visit in and of itself! The beaches are incredible, the food is amazing and it\'s just the perfect spot to relax, recharge and actually get some much needed Vitamin D and Vitamin Sea! 😉😄...
Things To See And Do When You're In Fort Lauderdale, Florida
published:29 Mar 2018
views:28105
Popular as it is, Fort Lauderdale had always been somewhere we\'d seen as the \"place you stop in before heading on a cruise\". Seeing as we\'ve never actually been on a cruise, we had no idea if this was true or not and so, on a particularly cold month in London, we headed out to Fort Lauderdale for some winter sunshine!
Turns out, Fort Lauderdale is a place to visit in and of itself! The beaches are incredible, the food is amazing and it\'s just the perfect spot to relax, recharge and actually get some much needed Vitamin D and Vitamin Sea! 😉😄...
Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Beach and Boat tour (2018 vlog)
published:23 Sep 2018
Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Beach and Boat tour (2018 vlog)
Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Beach and Boat tour (2018 vlog)
published:23 Sep 2018
views:6723
Fort Lauderdale, Florida! A beach city you should take some time to visit. Fort Lauderdale (Miami metro area) has canals, fantastic beaches, restaurants and more. Watch this video for some of the things to see in town.
Want more?
Miami, Florida travel guide ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh9Gm5UOMpI
Things to do in Miami Beach, Florida | South Beach ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc6XTpJH92M
---
SUBSCRIBE for more travel vlogs ► http://bit.ly/Renata_YouTube
---
MORE ABOUT THE USA: https://goo.gl/bdBjFj
---
This vlog was created for the official Renata Pereira YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/renatapereira_EN.
Liked it? Share it ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kFjEiAu61o
After watching, please take a minute to leave a comment or subscribe. I\'m a travel vlogger, and I really appreciate it! :)
LET\'S CONNECT!
+ BLOG: https://RenataPereira.tv
+ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/renatapereira.tv
+ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/renatapereira.tv
+ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/renatapereiraTV
+ PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/renatapereiraTV
+ YOUTUBE IN PORTUGUESE: https://www.youtube.com/renatapereira (who knows if you have a Brazilian friend!? ;)
---
NEW VIDEO ►►► https://goo.gl/rhM6Pw
---...
Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Beach and Boat tour (2018 vlog)
published:23 Sep 2018
views:6723
Fort Lauderdale, Florida! A beach city you should take some time to visit. Fort Lauderdale (Miami metro area) has canals, fantastic beaches, restaurants and more. Watch this video for some of the things to see in town.
Want more?
Miami, Florida travel guide ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh9Gm5UOMpI
Things to do in Miami Beach, Florida | South Beach ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc6XTpJH92M
---
SUBSCRIBE for more travel vlogs ► http://bit.ly/Renata_YouTube
---
MORE ABOUT THE USA: https://goo.gl/bdBjFj
---
This vlog was created for the official Renata Pereira YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/renatapereira_EN.
Liked it? Share it ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kFjEiAu61o
After watching, please take a minute to leave a comment or subscribe. I\'m a travel vlogger, and I really appreciate it! :)
LET\'S CONNECT!
+ BLOG: https://RenataPereira.tv
+ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/renatapereira.tv
+ INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/renatapereira.tv
+ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/renatapereiraTV
+ PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/renatapereiraTV
+ YOUTUBE IN PORTUGUESE: https://www.youtube.com/renatapereira (who knows if you have a Brazilian friend!? ;)
---
NEW VIDEO ►►► https://goo.gl/rhM6Pw
---...
Driving Downtown - Fort Lauderdale 4K - USA
published:20 Sep 2016
Driving Downtown - Fort Lauderdale 4K - USA
Driving Downtown - Fort Lauderdale 4K - USA
published:20 Sep 2016
views:99780
Driving Downtown - Fort Lauderdale Florida USA - Episode 45.
Starting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/bWBRUExoaqk .
Fort Lauderdale (frequently abbreviated as Ft. Lauderdale) is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami.
The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C), and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% bed tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.
Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named \"Fort Lauderdale\" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, t...
Driving Downtown - Fort Lauderdale 4K - USA
published:20 Sep 2016
views:99780
Driving Downtown - Fort Lauderdale Florida USA - Episode 45.
Starting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/bWBRUExoaqk .
Fort Lauderdale (frequently abbreviated as Ft. Lauderdale) is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami.
The city is a popular tourist destination, with an average year-round temperature of 75.5 °F (24.2 °C), and 3,000 hours of sunshine per year. Greater Fort Lauderdale which takes in all of Broward County hosted 12 million visitors in 2012, including 2.8 million international visitors. The city and county in 2012 collected $43.9 million from the 5% bed tax it charges, after hotels in the area recorded an occupancy rate for the year of 72.7 percent and an average daily rate of $114.48. The district has 561 hotels and motels comprising nearly 35,000 rooms. Forty six cruise ships sailed from Port Everglades in 2012. Greater Fort Lauderdale has over 4,000 restaurants, 63 golf courses, 12 shopping malls, 16 museums, 132 nightclubs, 278 parkland campsites, and 100 marinas housing 45,000 resident yachts.
Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. William Lauderdale was the commander of the detachment of soldiers who built the first fort. However, development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict. Three forts named \"Fort Lauderdale\" were constructed; the first was at the fork of the New River, t...
Fort Lauderdale Travel Guide! 🌴 🐬
published:04 Oct 2017
Fort Lauderdale Travel Guide! 🌴 🐬
Fort Lauderdale Travel Guide! 🌴 🐬
published:04 Oct 2017
views:13582
Check out my UPDATE after watching this! https://youtu.be/m74m6T24l_8
And if you enjoyed this please subscribe to my channel!
Where to stay:
Fort Lauderdale is gorgeous, but trust me - you don\'t want to stay everywhere. My personal favourites are around Hollywood Beach, Central Beach, and if you want an even quieter place I’d recommend where I stayed in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea.
It\'s an adorable little beachfront village full of restaurants, ice cream parlours, and of course, tacky gift shops.
The beach:
No surprise, the beach is the biggest draw here!
I love that the beach here is well cared for, the sand is groomed in the morning to comb out the icky stuff.
Snorkeling:
And if you want to swim with the fishes there\'s 2 places to easily snorkel for free right off the shore, one at Hollywood North Beach Park (A1A at Sheridan Street) and the other near the Pompano Beach Club Recreation Center (100 Briny Avenue, directly off of the Recreation Center).
Why the streetlights so dim near the beach:
If you drive along the beach at night between April and October, you\'ll find some street lighting is pretty dim. This is to help save the endangered sea turtles, because almost 90% of their nesting in the U.S. occurs in Florida.
The sea turtles hatchlings are attracted to the light, so if they see it they\'ll \"go towards the light\" as they say instead of heading toward the water like they should. In fact, 1 in 3 turtle hatchlings will follow the light, so that\'s why dimming the lighting along the coast helps save this endangered species.
Beautiful things that fly:
...
Fort Lauderdale Travel Guide! 🌴 🐬
published:04 Oct 2017
views:13582
Check out my UPDATE after watching this! https://youtu.be/m74m6T24l_8
And if you enjoyed this please subscribe to my channel!
Where to stay:
Fort Lauderdale is gorgeous, but trust me - you don\'t want to stay everywhere. My personal favourites are around Hollywood Beach, Central Beach, and if you want an even quieter place I’d recommend where I stayed in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea.
It\'s an adorable little beachfront village full of restaurants, ice cream parlours, and of course, tacky gift shops.
The beach:
No surprise, the beach is the biggest draw here!
I love that the beach here is well cared for, the sand is groomed in the morning to comb out the icky stuff.
Snorkeling:
And if you want to swim with the fishes there\'s 2 places to easily snorkel for free right off the shore, one at Hollywood North Beach Park (A1A at Sheridan Street) and the other near the Pompano Beach Club Recreation Center (100 Briny Avenue, directly off of the Recreation Center).
Why the streetlights so dim near the beach:
If you drive along the beach at night between April and October, you\'ll find some street lighting is pretty dim. This is to help save the endangered sea turtles, because almost 90% of their nesting in the U.S. occurs in Florida.
The sea turtles hatchlings are attracted to the light, so if they see it they\'ll \"go towards the light\" as they say instead of heading toward the water like they should. In fact, 1 in 3 turtle hatchlings will follow the light, so that\'s why dimming the lighting along the coast helps save this endangered species.
Beautiful things that fly:
...
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2018 │ My travel Journal
published:07 May 2018
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2018 │ My travel Journal
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2018 │ My travel Journal
published:07 May 2018
views:1955
We say goodbye to Europe for now. Fort Lauderdale is a very interesting city, nice beaches, parks, luxury hotels, a lot of restaurants and luxury. We were few days but we know that next time will be more. I hope you enjoy this video, remember to subscribe, live your comments bellow and thumbs up.
Also follow us in our social media:
INSTAGRAM: @mytraveljournalvlog
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/mytraveljournalvlog
If you want to contact us, just live us a comment bellow....
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 2018 │ My travel Journal
published:07 May 2018
views:1955
We say goodbye to Europe for now. Fort Lauderdale is a very interesting city, nice beaches, parks, luxury hotels, a lot of restaurants and luxury. We were few days but we know that next time will be more. I hope you enjoy this video, remember to subscribe, live your comments bellow and thumbs up.
Also follow us in our social media:
INSTAGRAM: @mytraveljournalvlog
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/mytraveljournalvlog
If you want to contact us, just live us a comment bellow....
Welcome to Fort Lauderdale SB2k16
Welcome to Fort Lauderdale SB2k16
Guide to Fort Lauderdale Sightseeing
published:02 May 2013
Guide to Fort Lauderdale Sightseeing
Guide to Fort Lauderdale Sightseeing
published:02 May 2013
views:161879
https://www.expedia.com/Fort-Lauderdale.d601750.Destination-Travel-Guides
Take a look at our travel guide video to discover the best things to do in Fort Lauderdale on your next trip to the Sunshine State.
Sitting on the southeastern coast of Florida, Fort Lauderdale is a warm and sunny vacation destination. The city sprawls across a number of canals and waterways that connect the Everglades to the Atlantic Ocean. Though it seems to have kicked its reputation as a spring break party spot, Fort Lauderdale continues to have a laid-back atmosphere that attracts tourists year-round, especially snowbirds during the winter months. Filled to the brim with seaside attractions, historical memorabilia, and shopping spots, there’s no shortage of excitement in this coastal community.
If the sea and sand are calling your name, you’ve come to the right place. Fort Lauderdale has 23 miles of picturesque coastline, where you can soak up the sunshine and splash in the Atlantic Ocean. Many tourists and snowbirds make a beeline for “The Strip,” a scenic oceanfront stretch, located near the bars and restaurants on Sunrise Boulevard.
There’s more to this enticing location than just the shoreline, though. To get a sense of the city’s history, venture over to the Riverwalk. One of the most popular Fort Lauderdale attractions, the Riverwalk is where you’ll find the Stranahan House, which is considered one of the oldest buildings in town. Originally built as a trading post in 1901, it was converted into a home for the Stranahans, a pioneer family, five years later. Tour a replica 1899 classr...
Guide to Fort Lauderdale Sightseeing
published:02 May 2013
views:161879
https://www.expedia.com/Fort-Lauderdale.d601750.Destination-Travel-Guides
Take a look at our travel guide video to discover the best things to do in Fort Lauderdale on your next trip to the Sunshine State.
Sitting on the southeastern coast of Florida, Fort Lauderdale is a warm and sunny vacation destination. The city sprawls across a number of canals and waterways that connect the Everglades to the Atlantic Ocean. Though it seems to have kicked its reputation as a spring break party spot, Fort Lauderdale continues to have a laid-back atmosphere that attracts tourists year-round, especially snowbirds during the winter months. Filled to the brim with seaside attractions, historical memorabilia, and shopping spots, there’s no shortage of excitement in this coastal community.
If the sea and sand are calling your name, you’ve come to the right place. Fort Lauderdale has 23 miles of picturesque coastline, where you can soak up the sunshine and splash in the Atlantic Ocean. Many tourists and snowbirds make a beeline for “The Strip,” a scenic oceanfront stretch, located near the bars and restaurants on Sunrise Boulevard.
There’s more to this enticing location than just the shoreline, though. To get a sense of the city’s history, venture over to the Riverwalk. One of the most popular Fort Lauderdale attractions, the Riverwalk is where you’ll find the Stranahan House, which is considered one of the oldest buildings in town. Originally built as a trading post in 1901, it was converted into a home for the Stranahans, a pioneer family, five years later. Tour a replica 1899 classr...
http://bookinghunter.com
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the State of Florida, on the Atlantic coast 23 miles (37 km) north of Miami. It is the county seat of Broward Count. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, whic
Popular as it is, Fort Lauderdale had always been somewhere we\'d seen as the \"place you stop in before heading on a cruise\". Seeing as we\'ve never actually been on a cruise, we had no idea if this was true or not and so, on a particularly cold month in London, we headed out to Fort Lauderdale for so
Fort Lauderdale, Florida! A beach city you should take some time to visit. Fort Lauderdale (Miami metro area) has canals, fantastic beaches, restaurants and more. Watch this video for some of the things to see in town.
Want more?
Miami, Florida travel guide ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh9Gm5
Driving Downtown - Fort Lauderdale Florida USA - Episode 45.
Starting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/bWBRUExoaqk .
Fort Lauderdale (frequently abbreviated as Ft. Lauderdale) is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, 28 miles (45 km) north of Miami.
The city is a popular tourist destination, with an ave
Check out my UPDATE after watching this! https://youtu.be/m74m6T24l_8
And if you enjoyed this please subscribe to my channel!
Where to stay:
Fort Lauderdale is gorgeous, but trust me - you don\'t want to stay everywhere. My personal favourites are around Hollywood Beach, Central Beach, and if you
Looking For A Florida Home? http://RealEstateSalesFlorida.com
Fort Lauderdale Top Ten Things To Do, is a tour of the most popular activities and highlights.
Fort Lauderdale is known as the \'Venice of America\' for it\'s yachts, beach and relaxing lifestyle.
Top Ten Things To Do on Vacation:
1) Beac
We say goodbye to Europe for now. Fort Lauderdale is a very interesting city, nice beaches, parks, luxury hotels, a lot of restaurants and luxury. We were few days but we know that next time will be more. I hope you enjoy this video, remember to subscribe, live your comments bellow and thumbs up.
https://www.expedia.com/Fort-Lauderdale.d601750.Destination-Travel-Guides
Take a look at our travel guide video to discover the best things to do in Fort Lauderdale on your next trip to the Sunshine State.
Sitting on the southeastern coast of Florida, Fort Lauderdale is a warm and sunny vacation
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
[Cite as McKenna v. Boyce, 2012-Ohio-5163.]
COURT OF APPEALS
MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
: JUDGES:
KEVIN H. McKENNA AND LINDA S. : W. Scott Gwin, P.J.
(MADDEN) McKENNA : William B. Hoffman, J.
: Julie A. Edwards, J.
Plaintiffs-Appellants :
: Case No. CT 2012-0014
-vs- :
:
: OPINION
JARROD D. BOYCE AND MELISSA
M. BOYCE, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees
CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Civil Appeal from Muskingum County
Court of Common Pleas Case No.
CC2011-0305
JUDGMENT: Affirmed
DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: October 30, 2012
APPEARANCES:
For Plaintiffs-Appellants For Defendants-Appellees
PETER N. CULTICE JAN ALLEN BAUGHMAN
Cultice Law Firm Allen, Baughman & Martin
58 N. Fifth Street 58 N. 5th Street, Heritage Suites
Zanesville, Ohio 43701 Suite 102
Zanesville, Ohio 43701
[Cite as McKenna v. Boyce, 2012-Ohio-5163.]
Edwards, J.
{¶1} Plaintiffs-appellants, Kevin McKenna and Linda (Madden) McKenna,
appeal from the February 1, 2012, Judgment Entry of the Muskingum County Court of
Common Pleas granting the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by defendants-
appellees Jarrod and Melissa Boyce while denying the Motion for Summary Judgment
filed by plaintiff-appellants.
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE
{¶2} Appellants are the owners of real property located at 4885 Adamsville
Road in Zanesville, Ohio. Appellants acquired title to such property in 1980. Appellees
are the owners of real property located at 4855 Adamsville Road in Zanesville, Ohio.
Appellees acquired title to the property in August of 2008.
{¶3} The chain of title to appellees’ property is as follows:
{¶4} Warranty deed recorded August 11, 1976 transferring property from Allan
W. Spencer and Mary A. Spencer to Cecil B. Bennett and Emma Bennett.
{¶5} Warranty deed transferring property on September 22, 2000 from the
Bennetts to Larry and Diane Walls.
{¶6} Warranty deed transferring property on June 13, 2003 from Larry Walls to
James Harris and Lisa Harris.
{¶7} Deed on Decree or Order of Sale transferring property on July 5, 2007,
from Muskingum County Sheriff to U.S. National Bank Association as Trustee for Credit
Suisse First Boston.
{¶8} Special Warranty deed recorded on October 30, 2007 transferring title
from U.S. National Bank Association, as Trustee, to Danny L. and Kathryn L Boyce.
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 3
{¶9} Warranty deed recorded on August 29, 2008 transferring property from
Danny L. and Kathryn L. Boyce to appellees.
{¶10} In turn, the chain of title to appellants’ property is as follows:
{¶11} Warranty deed recorded on June 18, 1957 transferring title from Herbert
Reed and Adda Reed to Earl Schenk.
{¶12} Warranty deed recorded on June 15, 1964 transferring title from Earl and
Dorothy Schenk to Robert and Caterine Ferguson.
{¶13} Warranty deed recorded on September 3, 1980 transferring title from
Robert and Caterine Ferguson to appellants.
{¶14} In 2010, appellees, who were planning on erecting a fence around their
property, hired professional surveyor Peter Dinan to conduct a survey of their property
after an issue arose over the property line. Dinan marked appellees’ property lines,
including the northern property line which is the dividing line between appellants’
property and appellees’ property. Dinan determined that the property line between the
two properties was the same line as described in previous deeds dating back to 1957.
The property had been originally surveyed in 1957 and also in 2003. In his affidavit,
Dinan stated, in relevant part, as follows:
{¶15} “5. On September 7, 2010, I went to the Boyce property to perform the
survey.
{¶16} “6. As is my usual custom, I first drove past the property to see what I
could observe from the road From the road, I noticed that one corner (the front northern
side of the Boyce property) was marked by a 1” x 2” x 4’ lath (tomato stake) visible from
the road. I observed a line of pine trees. I also noticed a distinct line indicating how the
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 4
grass had been mowed by the property owners to the north (the McKennas), from a
telephone pole at the front of the property to a line of pine trees. I saw no evidence of a
mow line from the McKenna side that extended past (or south of) the pine trees.
{¶17} “7. I then pulled into the Boyce property and started my survey work. I
went to the lath that I had observed from the road and established the first point. At the
location of that lath was an axle placed by surveyor A.T. Connor in 1957. The axle was
somewhat covered by sod, but was easy to locate due to the 4 foot lath with a pink
ribbon at its top. Additionally, there was no vegetation or other thing obstructing the
visibility of the lath.
{¶18} “8. From the starting point, I continued counter clockwise around the
property. I took the deed distances and went around the whole circumference of the
Boyce property. I located steel pins and located all 4 axles that had been in place since
being set by surveyor A.T. Connor in 1957. The axle at the northwest corner (between
the McKenna and Boyce properties and opposite the first axle I located at the northeast
corner) was well-marked above ground and had a plastic bucket around it.
{¶19} “9. I had no trouble establishing the property lines, and set approximately
four 4 foot long 1” x 2” lath along the property line between the Boyce and McKenna
properties.
{¶20} “10. The property line that I located and established for Jarrod Boyce
between his and the McKenna property is absolutely the same line as described in
previous deeds dating back to the original split of the property in 1957.
{¶21} “11. The survey monuments as personally located by me are the same
survey monuments as described in previous deeds and as were present and
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 5
established by surveyor A.T. Connor in 1957 (whose name and monuments are
described as well in the current deed of record for Jarrod Boyce and Melissa Boyce).
{¶22} “12. A clearly visible line of pine trees stands between the Boyce and
McKenna residences. With respect to the pine trees and the legally described property
line dividing the Boyce and McKenna properties, the following is true:
{¶23} “a. from the axle at the northeast corner (nearest Adamsville Road) to the
first pine tree, the first pine tree stands upon the deed line (the deed lines goes through
the tree);
{¶24} “b. the remainder of the pine trees, to the back of the property, stand upon
the Boyce property (the deed line is north of the trees; the trees are south of the deed
line);
{¶25} “c. at the back of the property, to the axle at the northwest corner, there
are pine trees again upon the deed line.”
{¶26} The trees that Dinan referred to were planted in the mid 1960’s as a
windbreak by Wayne Burr, Jr. and his father, who resided at 4885 Adamsville Road,
which is now appellant’s property. Burr and his wife held a brief land contract. The row
of trees runs the length of the property.
{¶27} In the Spring of 1981, Cecil Bennett allegedly had indicated to appellants
that an east/westerly line of shrubs that was situated approximately ten (10) feet south
of the southern tree line designated the properly line between the two subject
properties. Appellants asserted that they owned, through adverse possession, the .205
acres located between their property and appellees’ property. The strip extended at its
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 6
widest point 18.9 feet beyond the record property line and tree line onto appellees’
property.
{¶28} On May 27, 2011, appellants filed a “Complaint to Quiet Title, Adverse
Possession, Trespass and Damages” against appellees and against Danny and Kathryn
Boyce. The case was a refiled case. The previous case had been voluntarily dismissed
by appellants after the trial court denied the parties’ respective Motions for Summary
Judgment. Appellant specifically, in their complaint, alleged that they had openly
possessed, maintained and treated as their own all of the property that was located
north of the shrub line, which consists of approximately .205 acres, and that appellees
had actively trespassed on and damaged and destroyed appellants’ property.
Appellees filed an answer and counterclaim on June 28, 2011. Appellees, in their
counterclaim, asked that if they were evicted or turned out of possession of their land,
they be awarded compensation for the value of improvements that they had made to the
same prior to the commencement of appellants’ suit and that they be granted a
prescriptive easement for their septic system.
{¶29} On August 30, 2011, appellants file an amended complaint to add the
mortgage holder of appellees property.
{¶30} On January 6, 2012, appellees filed a Motion for Reconsideration, asking
that the trial court reconsider its denial of the Motion for Summary Judgment that they
had filed in the previous case. On the same date, appellees filed a Motion for Summary
Judgment. On January 24, 2012, appellants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment and
a response to appellees’ motion. Pursuant to a Judgment Entry filed on February 1,
2012, the trial court granted appellees’ Motion for Reconsideration and their Motion for
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 7
Summary Judgment while denying the Motion for Summary Judgment filed by
appellants.
{¶31} Appellants now raise the following assignment of error on appeal:
{¶32} “THE MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO, COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
(TRIAL COURT) ERRED AS A MATTER OF LAW IN ITS DECISION GRANTING
SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES AND IN NOT GRANTING
SUMMARY JUDGMENT TO PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS IN FINDING THAT
DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES ARE THE LEGAL AND RIGHTFUL OWNERS OF .205
ACRES OF GROUND LOCATED BETWEEN THE HOMES OF PLAINTIFFS-
APPELLANTS AND DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES.”
I
{¶33} Appellants, in their sole assignment of error, argue that the trial court erred
in granting summary judgment in favor of appellees while denying appellants’ Motion for
Summary Judgment on appellants’ adverse possession claim. We disagree.
{¶34} Summary judgment proceedings present the appellate court with the
unique opportunity of reviewing the evidence in the same manner as the trial court.
Smiddy v. The Wedding Party, Inc., 30 Ohio St.3d 35, 36, 506 N.E.2d 212, (1987). As
such, we must refer to Civ.R. 56(C) which provides, in pertinent part: “Summary
judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleading, depositions, answers to
interrogatories, written admissions, affidavits, transcripts of evidence in the pending
case and written stipulations of fact, if any, timely filed in the action, show that there is
no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law. * * * A summary judgment shall not be rendered unless it
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 8
appears from such evidence or stipulation and only from the evidence or stipulation, that
reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion and that conclusion is adverse to the
party against whom the motion for summary judgment is made, such party being
entitled to have the evidence or stipulation construed most strongly in the party's favor.”
{¶35} Pursuant to the above rule, a trial court may not enter summary judgment
if it appears a material fact is genuinely disputed. Vahila v. Hall, 77 Ohio St.3d 421, 429,
1997–Ohio–259, 674 N.E.2d 1164, citing Dresher v. Burt, 75 Ohio St.3d 280, 1996-
Ohio-107, 662 N.E.2d 264.
{¶36} “To acquire title by adverse possession, a party must prove, by clear and
convincing evidence, exclusive possession and open, notorious, continuous, and
adverse use for a period of twenty-one years.” Grace v. Koch, 81 Ohio St.3d 577, 692
N.E.2d 1009, syllabus (1981).
{¶37} In order for possession to be considered open, “the use of the disputed
property must be without attempted concealment. * * * To be notorious, a use must be
known to some who might reasonably be expected to communicate their knowledge to
the owner * * * [or] so patent that the true owner of the property could not be deceived
as to the property's use.” Kaufman v. Geisken Enterprises, Ltd., 3rd Dist. No. 12-02-04,
2003-Ohio-1027, ¶ 31.
{¶38} In order for possession to be considered “hostile”, the Ohio Supreme
Court has stated that any use of the land inconsistent with the rights of the titleholder is
adverse or hostile. Kimball v. Anderson, 125 Ohio St. 241, 244, 181 N.E. 17 (1932).
{¶39} In order for use to be considered continuous and exclusive, “‘[u]se of the
property does not have to be exclusive of all individuals. Rather, it must be exclusive of
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 9
the true owner entering onto the land and asserting his right to possession. It must also
be exclusive of third persons entering the land under their own claim of title, or claiming
to have permission to be on the premises from the true title holder. If the title holder
enters onto the land without asserting, by word or act, any right of ownership or
possession, his presence on the land does not amount to an actual possession, and the
possession may properly be attributed to the party who is on the land exercising or
claiming exclusive control thereof. It is not necessary that all persons be excluded from
entering upon and using the premises.’” Kaufman, supra, at ¶ 39, quoting Walls v.
Billingsley, 3rd Dist. No. 1-92-11, 1992 WL 198131 (Aug. 18, 1992), citing 4 Tiffany,
Real Property (1975) 736, Section 1141.
{¶40} In order to establish the necessary twenty-one year period, a party may
add to their own term of adverse use any period of adverse use by prior succeeding
owners in privity with one another. Zipf v. Dalgarn, 114 Ohio St. 291, 151 N.E. 174,
syllabus (1926).
{¶41} Clear and convincing evidence is that proof which establishes in the minds
of the trier of fact a firm conviction as to the allegations sought to be proved. Cross v.
Ledford, 161 Ohio St. 469, 477, 120 N.E.2d 118 (1954). Where a party must prove a
claim by clear and convincing evidence, a reviewing court must examine the record to
determine whether the trier of fact had sufficient evidence before it to satisfy the
requisite degree of proof. State v. Schiebel, 55 Ohio St.3d 71, 74, 564 N.E.2d 54
(1990).
{¶42} Failure of proof on any of the elements of adverse possession results in
failure to acquire title by adverse possession. Grace, supra at 579. “A successful
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 10
adverse possession action results in a legal titleholder forfeiting ownership to an
adverse holder without compensation. Such a doctrine should be disfavored, and that is
why the elements of adverse possession are stringent.” Id., at 580, citing 10 Thompson
on Real Property (Thomas Ed. 1994) 108, Section 87.05.
{¶43} It is the visible and adverse possession with intent to possess which
constitutes the adverse character of the occupancy. Grace, 81 Ohio St.3d at 581. In
other words, “‘there must have been an intention on the part of the person in possession
to claim title, so manifested by his declarations or his acts, that a failure of the owner to
prosecute within the time limited, raises a presumption of an extinguishment or a
surrender of his claim.’ (Emphasis sic.)” Grace, 81 Ohio St.3d at 581, quoting Lane v.
Kennedy, 13 Ohio St. 42, 47, 1861 WL 90 (1861). Courts do not require the title owner
of the property to receive actual notice of adverse possession as long as that owner is
charged with knowledge of adverse use when one enters into open and notorious
possession of the land under a claim of right. Vanasdal v. Brinker, 27 Ohio App.3d 298,
299, 500 N.E.2d 876 (9th Dist. 1985). The adverse occupancy of the land must be
sufficient to notify the real owner of the extent of the adverse claim. Humphries v.
Huffman, 33 Ohio St. 395, 404, 1878 WL 6 (1878).
{¶44} Each case of adverse possession rests on its own peculiar facts. Bullion v.
Gahm, 164 Ohio App.3d 344, 349, 2005-Ohio-5966, 842 N.E.2d 540, citing Oeltjen v.
Akron Associated Invest. Co., 106 Ohio App. 128, 130, 153 N.E.2d 715 (9th Dist. 1958).
{¶45} At issue in the case sub judice is whether or not appellants’ use of the
land was sufficient to establish adverse possession. Mere maintenance of land, such as
mowing grass, cutting weeds, planting a few seedlings, and minor landscaping, is
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 11
generally not sufficient to constitute adverse possession. See Montieth v. Twin Falls
United Methodist Church, 68 Ohio App.2d 219, 428 N.E.2d 870 (9th Dist. 1980);
Robinson v. Armstrong, 5th Dist. No. 03CA12, 2004-Ohio-1463.1 In Grace, supra, the
Ohio Supreme Court found that mowing grass, parking cars, recreational use, and
placement of firewood, oil drums, and a swing set on a strip of land presented a close
case. The Court, in Grace, concluded, however, that the record did not contain clear
and convincing evidence that the Graces, the title owners, were on notice that their
dominions had been invaded and thus that adverse possession had not been
established.
{¶46} In Murphy v. Cromwell, 5th Dist. No. CT2004-0003, 2004-Ohio-6279, this
Court held that the appellants had failed to prove, by clear and convincing evidence,
that their use of the property was sufficiently adverse. The appellants, in Murphy, had
cleaned up branches, mowed and raked the property, walked the dog across the
property and fertilized the same.
{¶47} In the case sub judice, appellants alleged that their possession of the .205
acres at issue commenced in the spring of 1981 when Cecil Bennett allegedly told them
where the property line between their property and appellees’ property was located.
Both appellants, in their affidavits attached to their January 24, 2012 Motion for
Summary Judgment, indicated that since approximately the Spring of 1981, they had
“…openly and exclusively maintained property which lies north of the mutually
respected property boundary specified by a east/west line of shrubs approximately eight
to ten feet south of approximately the entire length of the line of pine trees between the
1 th
See also, Nixon v. Parker, 5 Dist. No. 04 CA 84, 2005-Ohio-2375. In Nixon, this Court held that
mowing and flower gardening were insufficient to constitute adverse possession.
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 12
properties knows as 4855 Adamsville Road and known as 4885 Adamsville Road as our
own property, which includes open and exclusive exercise of dominion over the
notorious ‘landmark’ line of pine trees as property of 4885 Adamsville Road that have
existed approximately eight to ten feet north of that same line of shrubs.”
{¶48} During her deposition, appellant Linda (Madden) McKenna testified as
follows when asked how she had laid claim to the property since 1981:
{¶49} “A. I maintained it. I mowed. I picked up branches, and those pine trees
are - - you know, they’re 45 years old, so they’re big. When the branches come down,
you’re talking 10, 12 feet of branches I would pull over on the side; and my dad would
come over, and we’d load them up and carry them out.
{¶50} “Q. Okay. Did you do anything else to evidence that you believed you
owned that area, anything other than the mowing or the picking up of the branches?
{¶51} “A. We would rake - - oh. When we first - - like a few years after we were
there, the tree roots – dirt needed filled in, so we filled that in to try to make it level and
nice when we was mowing on it.
{¶52} “As the years went by and the trees have aged, the roots are showing
again, which is so big we can’t keep up with. We’d have to bring in a lot of topsoil to fill
it in.
{¶53} “Q. Okay. Anything other than the picking up of the branches or the roots
or the mowing?
{¶54} “A. We would trim, I mean, you know, trim around, and we would - - any
branches that would come down that needed cut off - - you know what I mean? - - that
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 13
wouldn’t break clear off, we would cut them.” Deposition of appellant Linda (Madden)
McKenna at 11-12.
{¶55} When asked what other uses she made of the disputed property, she
testified that, other than maintaining the same, “[n]othing. I mean, it was just like the rest
of the yard. I mean, it was just part of the property.” Id at. 13.
{¶56} In turn, the following testimony was adduced when appellant Kevin
McKenna was asked how he laid claim to the disputed area from 1981 on:
{¶57} “Q. Did you do anything to make it yours?
{¶58} “A. Treated it as every other square foot of property we own.
{¶59} “Q. Okay. And how is that then?
{¶60} “A. Whatever it needed: Mowing grass, trimming limbs, removing limbs,
burying roots, anything and everything that we’ve done to any part of our property that
needs maintenance.
{¶61} “Q. Was there anything specific other than mowing, trimming, removing
limbs, or burying roots in this particular disputed area of the property?
{¶62} “A. I don’t believe so. I think that sums up how we maintained all of our
property.
{¶63} “Q. Did you ever place any fence along that disputed area?
{¶64} “A. No.
{¶65} “Q. Did you ever place any buildings upon that disputed area?
{¶66} “A. No.
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 14
{¶67} “Q. After the conversation with Mr. Bennett and you commenced mowing,
removing limbs, burying roots, is that something you would have done if you had known
Mr. Bennett was mistaken about the property line?
{¶68} “A. No.” Deposition of Kevin McKenna at 24-25.
{¶69} Kevin McKenna further testified that he never did anything to close in the
area, did not erect a fence in the area and did not erect any buildings. Moreover, as
noted by appellees, appellants admitted that they never moved, planted anything or
maintained the land beyond the tree line, which is part of the disputed area. Appellant
Linda (Madden) McKenna, during her deposition testified that such area was allowed to
“grow up.” Deposition of appellant Linda (Madden) McKenna at 57.
{¶70} Based on the foregoing, we find that the trial court correctly held that
appellant failed to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that their use of the subject
property was sufficiently adverse and that, therefore, the trial court did not err in
granting appellees’ Motion for Summary Judgment while denying that filed by
appellants. We find that appellants’ use of the disputed property, as a matter of law,
was insufficient to establish adverse possession.
Muskingum County App. Case No. CT 2012-0014 15
{¶71} Appellants’ sole assignment of error is, therefore, overruled.
{¶72} Accordingly, the judgment of the Muskingum County Court of Common
Pleas is affirmed.
By: Edwards, J.
Gwin, P.J. and
Hoffman, J. concur
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
JUDGES
JAE/d0817
[Cite as McKenna v. Boyce, 2012-Ohio-5163.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO
FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
KEVIN H. McKENNA AND :
LINDA S. (MADDEN) McKENNA :
:
Plaintiffs-Appellants :
:
:
-vs- : JUDGMENT ENTRY
:
JARROD D. BOYCE AND :
MELISSA M. BOYCE, et al., :
:
Defendants-Appellees : CASE NO. CT2012-0014
For the reasons stated in our accompanying Memorandum-Opinion on file, the
judgment of the Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed. Costs
assessed to appellants.
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
JUDGES
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Preparation for Objective Structured Clinical Examination: A student perspective.
The aim of this study was to explore how student Operating Department Practitioners prepared for an Objective Structured Clinical Examination. A mixed methods design was used; questionnaires were used to gather data from a group of student Operating Department Practitioners on their Objective Structured Clinical Examination experience. The study found coping with anxiety and the level of information students receive are important issues in preparing for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. Whilst preparation with the manikin is important, it may not be enough to fully prepare students for an Objective Structured Clinical Examination. Students also need to be given sufficient information so they fully understand the competencies they will be assessed against and receive support to cope with anxiety during the Objective Structured Clinical Examination. Further research is needed to identify mechanisms for coping with anxiety and stress in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
February 23, 2015
It may sound odd for a consumer advocate to ask a company to provide more fine print, but that is exactly what MrConsumer had hoped Costco would do.
Costco has had Tempur-pedic memory foam mattresses on sale for the past several weeks, and seemingly only making them available on its website. It is hard enough making the right decision about a mattress when you can actually try out several in the store. Imagine trying to buy one online almost blindly. That’s why having detailed specifications can help the prospective buyer make a more informed decision.
On Costco’s website, there are four different models of Tempur-pedic mattresses ranging in price from $1399 to $1899. MrConsumer wondered what the difference was between them. So might any purchaser, right? So he clicked the “compare” button on each to create a handy chart to find out.
*MOUSE PRINT:
That was helpful, wasn’t it? Every column has the identical description. The product page for each does have more information, but is mostly marketing mumbo jumbo like “TEMPUR® support layer: A thick TEMPUR® support layer provides body aligning support,” and “millions of individually adjusting TEMPUR® cells that adapt and conform to your unique shape and body weight.” And descriptions similar if not identical to this appear for all the mattresses.
Memory foam mattress shoppers should be given easy access to details like the firmness, overall thickness, composition of each layer, and how thick and dense each one is. A memory foam mattress is not all memory foam. The bottom six or seven inches is often a high density foam that does not have the conforming qualities of memory foam. It is simply a base. That’s why knowing how thick the actual memory foam layers are is so important.
Costco has buried some of this information or just not provided it.
And wouldn’t it be nice if the product names could be referenced at the manufacturer’s website and at competitors’ stores. Just to try find the Tempur-Contour-Select at Tempurpedic.com, for example.
Incidentally, if you think that clicking the specifications tab will reveal everything you need to know, think again. All four beds just say this:
So, Costco, if you are actually interested in selling mattresses, give us some real data to work with and not useless comparison charts.
February 16, 2015
Originally, smart televisions had the ability to display Internet websites because you could switch to a crude built-in browser. Now they can make recommendations of what you might like to watch, and can even understand voice commands.
But, there is potentially a dark side to this technology. A look at Samsung’s privacy policy supplement for smart televisions contains some unexpected surprises.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Samsung may collect and your device may capture voice commands and associated texts so that we can provide you with Voice Recognition features and evaluate and improve the features. Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition. [color emphasis added]
So if you enable voice commands, what you say is captured and is sent to a processing company on the Internet. Be sure not to discuss how you plan to cheat the IRS or commit murder when the TV is on, lest your plans become evidence that could be subpoenaed.
And if you’re watching some steamy pay-per-view movies, Samsung may be tracking your viewing based on what functions you have enabled on the TV.
*MOUSE PRINT:
…if you enable the collection of information about video streams viewed on your SmartTV, we may collect that information and additional information about the network, channels, and programs that you view through the SmartTV.
This data collection is supposedly only used to provide you with a better viewing experience, but who knows what really happens to all that data. And if you opt into “SyncPlus,” advertisers are told what you are watching so they can target ads and offers specifically to you.
So this is the future of television… the big screen that you’re watching is also watching (and listening) to you.
If you enable Voice Recognition, you can interact with your Smart TV using your voice. To provide you the Voice Recognition feature, some interactive voice commands may be transmitted (along with information about your device, including device identifiers) to a third-party service provider (currently, Nuance Communications, Inc.) that converts your interactive voice commands to text and to the extent necessary to provide the Voice Recognition features to you. In addition, Samsung may collect and your device may capture voice commands and associated texts so that we can provide you with Voice Recognition features and evaluate and improve the features. Samsung will collect your interactive voice commands only when you make a specific search request to the Smart TV by clicking the activation button either on the remote control or on your screen and speaking into the microphone on the remote control.
Is that an improvement?
And now Samsung Smart TV owners are complaining that the company is inserting advertisements in the consumer’s own content or content they paid for.
February 9, 2015
McDonald’s unveiled a new promotion at the Super Bowl whereby random customers entering each of their restaurants will be selected to have their meal on the house if they demonstrate a bit of “lovin'” such as by hugging their kids, calling their mother to say I love you, doing a dance, etc.
The official rules state exactly how the promotion works. Each day at the predetermined time, the first customer to enter through a designated door, will be an unofficial winner. After they place their order, they will be approached by a manager who will tell them their order is free if they perform a particular lovin’ act.
As with any sweepstakes where money might change hands, the first rule is always “no purchase necessary.” This is because most sweepstakes are played in the context of a purchase (such getting a Monopoly game piece affixed to drink cups at McDonald’s). So game promoters are required to tell customers how to play the game free such as just by asking for a game piece, or by submitting a request for one by mail.
Paying a price for the chance of a prize is the definition of a lottery, which only the state and charitable organizations are allowed to operate. So how does McDonald’s present the “no purchase necessary” entry rules for this promotion?
*MOUSE PRINT:
The unofficial winner will be notified by the Lovin’ Lead that they are an unofficial winner after placing an order at the counter [emphasis added] or if the unofficial winner begins to leave the restaurant without placing an order at the counter. Participants do not need to make a McDonald’s purchase of any kind to be deemed an unofficial or official winner.
That is certainly a little bit awkward for the person not intending to make a purchase. So to play without paying, you have to go up to the counter, and loiter a little, or place a really big order (since it will be free if you win) but then tell the cashier you were just kidding, and begin to walk out?
From a practical standpoint what non-purchaser is going to go through this ridiculous charade for a chance at a prize? No, not even MrConsumer.
This is a fun and imaginative promotion. And it certainly is understandable why they don’t want to tell a customer when they first walk in that they have won for fear the customer will place an order for dozens of free meals. But McDonald’s really should be offering a more practical no purchase necessary method for playing the game.
Oh, incidentally, just by walking into the store, you have pre-agreed to resolve any disputes by arbitration. What, you didn’t go online before ordering your Big Mac to learn this? And some would (rightfully) say that this part of the rules is more troublesome and surprising than the no purchase necessary part.
January 30, 2015
After three and half weeks of stringing criticism from customers and the media, Intuit, the maker of TurboTax Deluxe, threw in the towel on January 29. The popular tax preparation software had been stripped of key functionality in a ballsy and blatant money-grab to extract an extra $30 to $40 in upgrade fees from regular users. The company is now going to offer free automatic upgrades to TurboTax Premier and Home & Business from within TurboTax Deluxe — the very thing we first called for back on January 6.
The company also vowed to restore all the missing pieces to TurboTax Deluxe next year.
Intuit president Brad Smith posted this apology on his Linked-in page:
Customers who already paid the $30 to $40 upgrade fee or who bought a higher edition of TurboTax will still be able to get a $25 rebate, but in many cases, it may not cover all their extra costs.
Intuit was taught a valuable lesson (again), but its history of practices designed to gouge its customers suggests it probably hasn’t really learned anything.
January 22, 2015
(BOSTON – January 22, 2015) – Following a public outcry from regular TurboTax Deluxe users who learned that the popular tax preparation software’s maker had stripped the program of key functionality this year, Intuit today apologized and somewhat reversed course by offering a $25 rebate to purchasers to partially cover the cost of having to upgrade to a more expensive version.
Without clear advance disclosure that its flagship product had changed and could no longer help users easily report all income from investments, self-employment, and rental property (Schedules C, D, and E), the company had sought $30 to $40 in upgrade fees disclosed partway into the program in order to restore its original functionality.
“Intuit offered a full apology but only a partial refund. They should be providing free automatic upgrades this year, and not requiring users to remember to send in for a rebate possibly months from now after they file their taxes,” commented Consumer World founder Edgar Dworsky. “The rebate doesn’t even cover the full cost of the upgrade in many cases.”
As of today, customers have posted over 1500 one-star reviews of TurboTax Deluxe on Amazon. And competitors like H&R Block have already offered disgruntled TurboTax customers their tax software free.
Dworsky launched a media blitz on January 6 to warn the public about the crippled TurboTax software, and to pressure the company to give all affected customers automatic free upgrades to restore the product’s full functionality. Until now, Intuit was only informally offering free or discounted upgrades to buyers who called to complain.
To save the company money, Intuit has narrowly defined who can get the $25 rebate. To qualify, customers have to had filed their 2013 income taxes using TurboTax Deluxe, and filed their 2014 return using either TurboTax Premier or Home & Business. And by using a rebate that can’t be submitted until one’s taxes are filed, the company will benefit from those who forget or can’t be bothered dealing with rebates.
UPDATE: Intuit has clarified whether you have to e-file or not to qualify for the rebate. If you e-file both the 2013 and 2014 return, their website can automatically validate your rebate request. If you paper filed, they will have to process the request manually by having you call their 800 number.
Intuit is not new to controversy or nickel-and-diming tactics. In 2008, it added a $9.95 fee to print or e-file a second return from TurboTax, but quickly rescinded the charge following a storm of criticism. And for years, it has arbitrarily “sunset” (deactivated) the online downloading and electronic bill payment functions of its popular Quicken checkbook software thus requiring consumers to buy a new version of the program every three years.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Sihanoukville Cambodia : Bars & Nightclubs
There's no shortage of bars and clubs in Sihanoukville from upmarket hotel and casino bars to sports bars with widescreen tvs to beachside shacks where the music gets louder as the night progresses. There's a place to suit every taste and drink prices are cheaper than Phnom Penh. Sihanoukville bars are mainly located in the following areas.
Ochheuteal Beach The busiest beach for visitors also has the widest range of bars and clubs, there's something for everyone here, 24 hours a day.
Victory Hill Located overlooking Victory Beach near the port 'the hill' is home to quite a few sports and hostess bars plus a few good little restaurants.
Downtown Most visitors to Sihanoukville stay and play at the beaches but it's worth making the 5-10 minute trip downtown for a change of pace. Single men looking for company should stop in at Freedom Bar.
The Bayon Pearnik is an independent magazine dedicated to raising beer money as well as encouraging debate over standards of taste, humor and journalistic ethics. Not to be taken seriously or while driving or operating heavy machinery. Always consult your doctor first because we're not responsible for what happens to you.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
It appears that your browser does not support JavaScript, or you have it disabled. This site is best viewed with JavaScript enabled. If JavaScript is disabled in your browser, please turn it back on then reload this page. If your browser does not support JavaScript, click here for a page that doesn't require javascript.
Master Data Services is a new product due for release with SQL Server 2008 R2. This presentation will explain why you may want to use it and what it will help you achieve and some of the challenges you may face.
A step-by-step demo on BIDS of how to build an SSAS cube (DB) from an operational system (normalized database) such as Operational Data Store (ODS) or directly from the transactional business system, without building a star/snowflake schema Data Warehouse/Mart first.
So you heard about the new spatial functionality in SQL Server 2008, rushed back to your database and added geography and geometry columns to all your tables, eager to create the next Google Earth-beating application. You then click the Execute button and wait.
And wait.
And wait some more. (You get the idea).
Spatial data is a rather unique beast, and designing efficient spatial queries requires specific techniques when compared to other, more traditional types of data.
In this session, we look at how the SQL Server database engine satisfies spatial queries, the theory behind spatial indexes, demonstrate the effects of altering the bounding box, use the spatial system DMVs and stored procedures to your spatial database
The new compression features built into the Enterprise Edition of SQL Server 2008 should use less disk space and, perhaps even more important, speed up your system because of reduced disk IO.
In this session we will :
Take a look behind the scenes to see how it works.
Investigate what commands / tools we can use to set it up and maintain it.
Look into some examples of my own day to day experience that I collected so far.
I aim to give an overview of both data compression and backup compression AND some Lessons Learned.
Has the way you present your data become a bit bland? This session will take you through how combining
your location based data on a map using Bing Maps for Enterprise(previously Virtual Earth) can add an
interactive edge to the visualisation of your data.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
12-1270-cv
Great Lakes Bus. Trust v. M/T Orange Sun
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
SUMMARY ORDER
RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A
SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS
GOVERNED BY THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1 AND FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE
PROCEDURE 32.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS
COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC
DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING A SUMMARY
ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL.
At a stated Term of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square,
in the City of New York, on the 30th day of April, two thousand thirteen.
Present: BARRINGTON D. PARKER,
SUSAN L. CARNEY,
Circuit Judges,
JED S. RAKOFF,
District Judge.*
______________________________________________________
|
GREAT LAKES BUSINESS TRUST, No. 1998 - Dtd |
10/10/98, GREAT LAKES DREDGE & DOCK CO. LLC, |
|
Plaintiffs–Appellees, |
|
v. | No. 12-1270-cv
|
M/T ORANGE SUN, her engines, sails, boilers, tackle, |
etc., in rem, ARTIC REEFER CORP., INC., ATLANSHIP |
S.A., in personam, |
|
|
Defendants–Appellants. |
______________________________________________________|
*
The Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New
York, sitting by designation.
FOR DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS: RICHARD CALDARONE, Mayer Brown LLP,
Washington, DC (Andrew L. Frey, Mayer
Brown LLP, New York, NY, Vincent M.
DeOrchis, Montgomery McCracken Walker
& Rhoads LLP, New York, NY, on the brief).
FOR PLAINTIFFS-APPELLEES: GENE C. SHAERR, Winston & Strawn LLP,
Washington, DC (H. Allen Black III, Winston
& Strawn LLP, Washington, DC, Wayne
Meehan, Gina Venezia, Freehill Hogan &
Mahar LLP, New York, NY, on the brief).
Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York (Katherine B. Forrest, Judge).1
UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED,
AND DECREED that the judgment of the District Court is AFFIRMED.
Defendants M/T ORANGE SUN, Arctic Reefer Corp.,2 and Atlanship S.A.
appeal from a March 2, 2012 judgment awarding plaintiffs Great Lakes Business
Trust and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. (collectively, “Great Lakes”) loss of use
damages in the amount of $11,736,645,3 arising from a 2008 allision between the
tanker M/T ORANGE SUN and the dredge NEW YORK (the “Dredge”), a vessel
owned and operated by Great Lakes.4 The allision, for which defendants conceded
1
On stipulation of the parties and by subsequent order of this Court, plaintiffs withdrew
their cross-appeal, No. 12-1480.
2
It appears from defendants’ filings that “Arctic Reefer Corp.” is the correct spelling of this
party’s name, and accordingly, we use that spelling in the text of this order. In the caption of this
order, however, in accordance with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 12(a), we use the spelling
that conforms to the title of the district court action.
3
The judgment also included an award of prejudgment interest.
4
An allision is “a collision between a moving vessel and a stationary object.” Zerega Ave.
Realty Corp. v. Hornbeck Offshore Transp., LLC, 571 F.3d 206, 208 n.1 (2d Cir. 2009) (internal
quotation marks omitted).
2
responsibility, put the Dredge out of service for 194 days while it underwent
repairs. We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts, the
procedural history of the case, and the issues on appeal, to which we refer only as
necessary to explain our decision.
The parties agree that, in admiralty, plaintiffs may recover damages for “the
loss of profits or of the use of a vessel pending repairs, or other detention, arising
from a collision or other maritime tort,” but only when “profits have actually been,
or may be reasonably supposed to have been, lost, and the amount of such profits is
proven with reasonable certainty.” The Conqueror, 166 U.S. 110, 125 (1897). When
determining lost profits, district courts have a “wide range of judgment” in selecting
“the standard to be applied and . . . the method of applying it.” Brooklyn E. Dist.
Terminal v. United States, 287 U.S. 170, 176 (1932).
We review the “district court’s findings of fact for clear error and its
conclusions of law de novo.” Senator Linie GMBH & Co. KG v. Sunway Line, Inc.,
291 F.3d 145, 151 (2d Cir. 2002). “No greater scope of review is exercised by the
appellate tribunals in admiralty cases than they exercise under Rule 52(a) of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” McAllister v. United States, 348 U.S. 19, 20
(1954).
For substantially the reasons stated by the District Court in its thorough and
well-reasoned opinion, we affirm the court’s conclusion that Great Lakes proved its
lost profits with the requisite “reasonable certainty.” See Great Lakes Bus. Trust v.
M/T Orange Sun, 855 F. Supp. 2d 131, 151 (S.D.N.Y. 2012). Plaintiffs were not (as
3
defendants argue) required to demonstrate that the Dredge had lost a specific
contract in order to recover damages, because – as the District Court found after a
three-day bench trial – “there was an active market for the Dredge (both in New
York and in other U.S. locations) at the time of the allision, immediately thereafter,
presently[,] and into the foreseeable future.” Id. at 141. This factual finding is not
clearly erroneous. In light of its finding that there was an “active market” for
services provided by the Dredge, the court permissibly determined that it was
reasonably certain that the Dredge would have found work, or moved on to
additional work sooner, if not for the allision. No more specific finding of particular
lost contracts or opportunities was necessary to sustain an award of damages for
lost profits. See, e.g., Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc. v. The Esso Camden, 244 F.2d
198, 201 (2d Cir. 1957); The Gylfe v. The Trujillo, 209 F.2d 386, 389 (2d Cir. 1954);
The James McWilliams, 42 F.2d 130, 132 (2d Cir. 1930).
We also affirm the District Court’s calculation of the Dredge’s lost profits. Its
analysis was based on its finding that the Dredge would have been utilized about
92% of the time that it lost while undergoing repairs. Defendants contend that this
utilization rate was erroneous because it was derived from an unusually busy
period in the Dredge’s history. But the District Court properly considered the state
of the market in which the Dredge would have been operating if not for the allision.
See The Gylfe, 209 F.2d at 389-90. The court relied on “credible testimony that
demand for the Dredge’s unique capabilities was increasing[,] there was robust
national and international demand [and] . . . competition for the Dredge had
4
declined.” Great Lakes Bus. Trust, 855 F. Supp. 2d at 154-55. The court also did
not clearly err by rejecting the testimony of defendants’ expert, who proposed a
lower utilization rate, since that expert’s calculation “exclude[d] certain contracts
. . . and also [did] not account for increased utilization rates since 2007.” Id. at 155.
We see no reason to disturb these findings.
We have considered defendants’ remaining arguments and find them to be
without merit. Accordingly, we hereby AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.
FOR THE COURT:
Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, Clerk
5
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
RxJS Observables: new request depending on previous result
How can I generate new values to an Observable or Subject depending on received values?
Example:
Let's say I have an Observable that emits one random number thanks to a web API.
If it is an even number, I want the Observable to emit another random number using the first one as a seed... and so on until I get an odd value.
Note that I don't know in advance how many requests I'm going to make.
Until now, I managed to do it with "weird", recursive methods, but I feel like there must be a much proper way to do this.
A:
Seems like you can use expand() for this.
const source$ = /* some API call that returns an Observable */;
source$.pipe(
expand((previous: number) => previous % 2 === 0 ? source$ : EMPTY),
takeLast(1),
).subscribe(console.log);
This gives you only the last value (the first odd). If you want to get all the intermediate values as well just remove that takeLast(1).
Live demo: https://stackblitz.com/edit/rxjs-czomtm
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seat structure in which a combination of a two- or three-dimensional net having a large hysteresis loss and metal springs having a small hysteresis loss is employed to enhance the vibration absorptivity and the posture supporting or holding properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional automobile seats generally include spring members attached to a seat frame, a pad material such as a foam material or cotton placed thereon, and a skin such as a vinyl leather, woven cloth, or leather covered thereon. On the other hand, seats other than automobile seats generally include a pad material placed on the frame and covered with a skin, and some of them also include spring members for enhancing the cushioning characteristics. Although the spring members or the pad material acts to provide desired cushioning characteristics, conventional seats are mostly thick, heavy and costly.
In view of the above, a variety of lightweight, inexpensive and thin seats have recently been proposed, and the inventors of this application have developed thin seats having a lightweight net of a three-dimensional structure that is provided with desired characteristics (spring properties, damping characteristics and the like) sufficient for a cushioning material.
A three-dimensional net (hereinafter referred to as 3-D net) as employed in such thin seats is formed of a three-dimensional knit fabric, which has a ground fabric formed into, for example, a knit texture or a honeycomb-shaped (hexagonal) mesh. The 3-D net has a three-layered solid truss structure in which an upper mesh layer and a lower mesh layer are connected to each other by a pile layer having a large number of piles. Each yarn of the upper mesh layer and the lower mesh layer is formed by twisting a number of fine threads, while each of the piles is formed of a single thick string to provide the three-dimensional knit fabric with rigidity.
However, in the case where the 3-D net is employed in automobile seats, a user sometimes feels a pain or a strong pressure on his or her legs or thighs when getting in or out of the automobile or operating pedals. Even in the case where the 3D net is employed in seats other than the automobile seats, the user sometimes feels a similar pain.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
NMR studies of recombinant cytochrome P450cam mutants.
In the active center of cytochrome P450cam, Thr-252 is one of the conserved amino acid residues in the cytochrome P450 superfamily and plays a key role in the hydroxylation of camphor. T252A mutant, in which Thr-252 is replaced by alanine, consumed O2 at a rate comparable to that of the wild-type enzyme, whereas the amount of exo-5-hydroxycamphor formed was less than 10% of that formed by the wild-typed enzyme and H2O2 is the main product in the hydroxylation reaction. H2O2 was also yielded by the valine mutant and the consumption rate of O2 was much lower than that for the wild-type enzyme (Imai et al (1989) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 86, 7823-7827). On the basis of the 1H- and 15N-NMR spectra, it was revealed that the anionic nature of the axial thiolate and the heme-environmental structures were substantially affected in the absence of d-camphor by the amino acid substitution at 252 Thr. In T252A mutant, however, the binding of camphor reduced these conformational alterations in the heme vicinity, probably due to the formation of interactions between camphor and enzyme. On the other hand, T252V mutant still exhibited large reduction of the anionic nature of the axial ligand in the presence of d-camphor and structural changes around heme were also enhanced, since the affinity of the valine mutant to d-camphor was low. These results imply that the hydrophobic and/or steric effects of the valine residue at 252 interfere with interactions around heme and camphor binding sites, which corresponds to the larger functional defects for T252V mutant.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
The Key Elements of Great Services
As always you want to hire the best person available in the field to either do your roofing, remodeling or home additions. The vast majority don’t randomly pick anybody to do these services for them. This is by virtue of things like material require being done in light of capacity keeping in mind that you will regret when rain strikes due to leakage. Also a thing like home addition also requires professional, this is because home display speaks out a lot to those visiting you. So you will need something decent and presentable. Redesigning also requires expertise, for the most part, it is done when you need a change in the past plan or you are not satisfied by that past outline, so when you rolling out improvements you need the best delivery of the activity.
Due to above issues you might need to have a list of factors that will guide you in making of the best choice for the best personnel. In this article, we will discuss a segment of the clear cut pieces to consider before you utilize any of these personnel.
To begin with, think about their working experience. The best hand in roofing, remodeling and home addition is the one that has done the same job for the longest time. Why experience matters is because they have come across different types of challenges while performing these activities, so they can also handle yours regardless with its diversity. The non-experienced conventionally wager with your property endeavoring to get the experience, however what you want done isn’t a trial.
Furthermore, consult among neighbors to know which specialist is legitimate among them. Family, buddies, relatives, and neighbors will constantly be more than prepared to endorse the best individual to you. Especially if you solicit the people who have as of late endeavored undertakings like yours. Since they have a taste of the services that were delivered to them.
Also, make sure to consider whether you are getting a legal professional or a conman. A legitimate handler of development work ought to be guaranteed and have a personality that distinguishes them with what they do. The absence of alert may influence you to fall under the control of conmen who may ask installment progress and never to be seen or reachable quickly after the progress.
Additionally go for quality. Search for the individual who has completed a praiseworthy work somewhere else and afterward enlists them. They will most probably pass on in the like way. By the day’s end, all we require is the best.
In the event that you consider these tips you can be in a position to get yourself the best person for this work.
Recent Posts
Best Links
Favourite Links
If you are interested in real estate agent hua hin click here .
City of Sunny Isles Beach a popular destination for visitors and vacationers throughout the year. Sunny Isles condos for sale are some of the most popular residences just north of Miami. During the recession real estate market in South Florida and Sunny Isles condo for sale took a hit just like any other area of the country, but since have strongly rebounded and continue to show higher than average growth. New Construction is up and buyers are showing strong interest in Luxury Beachfront Condos. Resale market is strong.
Buy Pinehurst NC Real Estate at www.pinehurstncrealestateforsale.com. Enjoy the advantages of making a profitable deal with experts in this area.
If you are looking for asbestos removal Calgary contact the asbestos professionals at Western Environmental Solutions.
Best Pinehurst NC Real Estate Site www.pinehurstncrealestateforsale.com is your number #1 online website where you can find all valuable information regarding Pinehurst Real Estate.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Crochet Hats and Wristies
I've been having way too much fun lately with my spinning wheel and a crochet hook. I decided that my sweetie and I needed matching hats and wrist warmers to keep us extra toasty on the Playa. I started with two different rovings in lime green, orange, and yellow. The shades of the colors were different in the two rovings, which is how I created these rich color variations. I dyed one of the rovings with Wilton's cake dyes (shown earlier) and purchased the other from Cloudlover69.
I spun four full bobbins of thick-and-thin singles, about 7 ounces total. I used a little more than half for the hat, and the rest for the gloves. I got the idea for the hat from Lexi Boeger's book Intertwined. It's the Urban Hobbit Hat. Lexi's idea for this hat is to assign a different stitch for each color. I used single crochet for green, half double and double crochet for yellow, and bobbles in orange. When I made the gloves, though, I omitted all of the bobbles on the palm of the hand, thought they'd just get in the way.
Here's what the set looks like with the fake fur jacket I made.
My sweetie and I are both quite partial to orange and lime, but I made this set for him. Since he kept claiming I'd wear the hat more than he does, I had to make another set for myself.
This one uses a blue roving from Chimera and an aqua and pink one I died with Wilton's cake dyes that I showed earlier. For this set, I decided to change the texture as well as the color, so I ditched the bobbles, and I instead used puffs in blue and bullions in pink, along with lots of single and half double crochet. I also added some ties to keep it on my head in the wind. To make the ties, I knit I-cord with two stitches in each row, and then switched to a crochet hook to make a big old stuffed bobble at the ends. Now, I need to go back and add ties to the orange hat. What I learned: I finally learned how to make a bullion in crochet. They're super squishy and feel nice. I learned that wristies fit better when you add a few stitches around the thumb before going onto the wrist part. In the orange set, I crocheted back and forth to create the thumb hole, but in the blue pair, I just added a few stitches around the thumb instead. Adding stitches was easier and the glove fits better.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Bonita F. Stanton, MD, *Consulting Editor*Despite much progress in their control, infectious diseases remain a global concern. The number of under-five deaths worldwide has declined from 12.7 million in 1990 to 5.9 million in 2015 (<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs178/en/>). Globally, approximately half of under-five deaths are due to infectious diseases.[@bib1] Although numbers are substantially lower in industrialized nations including the United States, infectious causes remain among the top 10 causes of childhood mortality and cause significant morbidity (<http://www.kidsdata.org/topic/659/childdeathrate-age-cause>). Moreover, infectious diseases are continually emerging as new pathogens, as more virulent pathogens, and/or in new settings. In the past few years, the World Health Organization has noted the appearance of a Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease, Marburg virus, Lassa fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome, severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus diseases, Nipah and Rift Valley fever (<http://www.who.int/medicines/ebola-treatment/WHO-list-of-top-emerging-diseases/en/>). Over the past year, Zika virus has emerged as a major threat in the Americas, including the United States (<https://www.cdc.gov/zika/index.html>).
Thus, there are many reasons it is important for every pediatrician to be familiar with extant and emerging pathogens from across the globe. First, we are a single globe, and health and wellness is our concern worldwide. Second, whether or not the pathogen is currently in the United States, it could easily arrive here---and thrive.
This issue of *Pediatric Clinics of North America* effectively summarizes a vast literature updating the health care provider on familiar infectious diseases and describing those that are newly recognized, emerging, and/or migrating. The issue is both fascinating and very helpful, written by true leaders in the world of childhood infectious diseases.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
First published
in News
Last updated
by Annabal Bagdi, Reporter covering East Oxford and Cowley. Call me on (01865) 425430
IT’S all change on West Oxfordshire’s buses this weekend with new routes and new operators on many services.
And Burford residents are among the big winners, with two buses an hour to and from Witney, from Monday to Saturday, instead of one every 90 minutes, and a new hourly link with Chipping Norton via the Wychwoods villages.
New timetables come into force from Sunday, after Oxfordshire County Council reviewed its subsidies for routes in the district.
Burford’s mayor, John White, said: “The town has been under-served by buses for years and years, with the very infrequent and patchy services to Witney, so we were delighted when the results of this review came out.
"It will give much-needed freedom of choice and it will make an enormous difference to people who do not have access to other forms of transport.”
The new services will be run by Stagecoach and Abingdon-based not-for-profit operator Go Ride.
Stagecoach’s revised 233 service will replace their current irregular service linking Burford with Witney and the Wychwoods, and will now run between Burford, Witney and Woodstock, replacing the current route 242 between Witney and Woodstock.
Go Ride’s X10 service will run hourly between Witney, Burford, the Wychwoods and Chipping Norton.
On Sundays, Go Ride will run a subsidised route 233 service between Witney, Burford and the Wychwoods only.
Hugh Jaeger, the chairman of Bus Users UK’s Oxford branch, said: “To look forward to two buses an hour between Burford and Witney, with one continuing to Chipping Norton and the other to Woodstock, is an even bigger improvement than we hoped for.
“I think this is what Burford has deserved for a very long time.
“It’s really important to provide people with a way to get into the town that does not involve driving a car. We really welcome this improvement.”
Significant cuts in services were avoided as Stagecoach, Go Ride and the Villager community bus service will now run eight of the routes on a commercial basis, without council subsidies.
The council budgeted to spend £1,222,643 in subsidies in 2013-14. From June this will fall to £925,891 a year, a saving of £296,752.
Other changes include the Witney town routes 213, 214 and 215 transferring to Go Ride, which will renumber them as W1, W1A, W2 and W3.
David Nimmo Smith, the county council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “I’m pleased we have been able to maintain the network of buses in West Oxfordshire without major cuts to services.
“There will be some minor changes that reflect low patronage but most passengers should see little change.
“I’m grateful to both Stagecoach and Go Ride, who have taken over some previously-subsidised services on a commercial basis.”
Stagecoach’s S1 and S2 routes between Carterton, Witney and Oxford and the S3 between Chipping Norton, Woodstock and Oxford are already operated on a commercial basis and are not affected by this weekend’s changes.
Changing times
Bus services in West Oxfordshire from Sunday:
11: Witney-Hanborough-Oxford. The 4.35pm bus from Oxford is extended from Freeland to North Leigh on weekdays and Witney on Saturdays. Operated by Stagecoach.
64: Carterton-Filkins-Lechlade-Swindon. Will now be operated by Pulhams Coaches, of Bourton-on-the-Water.
233: Revised to run hourly Burford-Witney-Woodstock, Monday to Saturday, replacing 242 east of Witney, but journeys via Windmill Road (North Leigh) and Freeland withdrawn, operated by Stagecoach. Sunday and bank holiday service, running Witney-Burford-Wychwoods, will be operated by Go Ride.
802: Kingham railway station via Fifield and Idbury or Stow-on-the-Wold to the Rissingtons and Bourton-on-the-Water. Revised and extended service, offering new links connecting with trains and with the X8 Kingham Railbus to Chipping Norton. Replaces X8A journeys to Fifield and Idbury. Operated by Pulhams.
X9: Witney-Charlbury-Chipping Norton. Largely unchanged but service via Ramsden cut to morning and afternoon round trips to/from Witney. New service from Witney to Charlbury at 7.05pm. Late-night Friday and Saturday services withdrawn. Will now be operated by Pulhams.
The situation is, by and large, better than a few years ago with tenders going to RH Travel, Walters, Whites and a whole host of small operators with no transferrability of tickets at all - at least these days most tendered services go to Stagecoach or Go Ahead so you can use passes interchangeably with their commercial services.
I still sympathise with Hudson though.
The situation is, by and large, better than a few years ago with tenders going to RH Travel, Walters, Whites and a whole host of small operators with no transferrability of tickets at all - at least these days most tendered services go to Stagecoach or Go Ahead so you can use passes interchangeably with their commercial services.
I still sympathise with Hudson though.King Joke
I would note that tendered services are required to accept other operator's tickets on common sections of route. However this is not usually reciprocated by the commercial operators.
As our new X10 operates between Chipping Norton and Witney, and our C1 between Charlbury and Witney, there is full interavailability of tickets between ourselves and Pulham's Coaches X9. They accept our tickets (they have to) and we accept theirs (because we're nice).
However unfortunately this generosity can't be extended to the Witney town routes otherwise we wouldn't cover our costs...
I would note that tendered services are required to accept other operator's tickets on common sections of route. However this is not usually reciprocated by the commercial operators.
As our new X10 operates between Chipping Norton and Witney, and our C1 between Charlbury and Witney, there is full interavailability of tickets between ourselves and Pulham's Coaches X9. They accept our tickets (they have to) and we accept theirs (because we're nice).
However unfortunately this generosity can't be extended to the Witney town routes otherwise we wouldn't cover our costs...goridebus
King Joke wrote:
PS... I notice the County don't have a county-wide bus map on their webs hite at the moment - presumably because of the changes. Does anyone know when they will produce a new one?
have you tried asking the County ? they might know sooner than us.
[quote][p][bold]King Joke[/bold] wrote:
PS... I notice the County don't have a county-wide bus map on their webs hite at the moment - presumably because of the changes. Does anyone know when they will produce a new one?[/p][/quote]have you tried asking the County ? they might know sooner than us.H.J.Harris
I would be surprised if they produce a new one - the old one has been offline for ages.
There will however be a new Witney timetable booklet produced by the County. They saved so much money thanks to the reduced tender prices and commercial declarations that they are putting some of it back by paying for new booklets.
We also finally have the timetables up on our website.
I would be surprised if they produce a new one - the old one has been offline for ages.
There will however be a new Witney timetable booklet produced by the County. They saved so much money thanks to the reduced tender prices and commercial declarations that they are putting some of it back by paying for new booklets.
We also finally have the timetables up on our website.goridebus
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
This study is a double-blind, randomized study of MK0991 versus liposomal amphotericin B in the empirical treatment of pediatric patients (ages 2 through 17 years) who have an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) below 500/microliter and who have fever despite broad antibiotic coverage. Such patients would be candidates for empirical therapy with an intravenous anti-fungal agent.
To estimate the proportion of patients treated with caspofungin reporting one or more clinical and/or laboratory drug-related adverse experience(s) during the study drug therapy period plus 14 days posttherapy
Secondary Outcome Measures:
Proportion of patients with a favorable overall response
Enrollment:
100
Study Start Date:
April 2004
Study Completion Date:
October 2006
Primary Completion Date:
October 2006 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Intervention Details:
Drug: caspofungin acetate
Duration of Treatment: 28-90 days
Other Name: MK0991
Drug: Comparator: AmBisome
Duration of Treatment: 28-90 days
Eligibility
Ages Eligible for Study:
2 Years to 17 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:
Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
No
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
Patients who are 2 through 17 years of age
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) is below 500/microliter
Have persistent fever (at least 4 days) despite antibiotic therapy
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00082537
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Introduction {#Sec1}
============
The proportion of the elderly population in the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will increase substantially in the coming years. Knowledge regarding the distribution of per capita health care costs between different age groups is essential in order to forecast future health care expenditures. In this study, we discuss the long-term development of health care expenditures. Even though the long-term developments for the entire population are discussed in detail in several papers \[[@CR1], [@CR2]\], the specific increase for different age groups is poorly covered. This is vital in order to understand the long-term developments in health care expenditures. In this paper, we will investigate the specific growth for different age groups.
When discussing trends in health care expenditures, two concepts are often brought up in the literature: *red herring hypothesis* and *steepening*. The *red herring hypothesis* states that health care expenditures are driven by time to death, not age per se \[[@CR3]\]. *Steepening* states that the growth in per capita health care expenditures for older people is higher than for the rest of the population \[[@CR4]\]. In this paper, we will focus on the latter, but clarify the relation between the terms. The aim of the clarification is threefold. First, in the literature \[[@CR4], [@CR5]\], the connection between *steepening* and the *red herring* is vaguely described, so a clarification will therefore contribute to the *steepening* literature. Second, a discussion of the link between the terms will contribute to further understanding of the concept of *steepening*. Third, several methodological issues discussed in the *red herring* debate also apply in the *steepening* debate, and hence bringing in the *red herring* literature will improve the *steepening* debate.
The aim of this paper is threefold. First, we measure changes in health care expenditures over time, in order to test if *steepening* may be rejected. Second, we present mechanisms that may induce *steepening*, as presented in the literature. Third, we attempt explain the connection between *red herring* and *steepening*.
When testing *steepening*, we apply a complete data set for inpatient hospital expenditures in Norway from 1998 to 2009. We use diagnostic related groups (DRG) weights to measure the hospital expenditures. Norway has a National Health Service similar to the one we find in other Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom (UK). The hospitals are public and financed through general taxation \[[@CR6]\].
The contribution of this paper is that we elaborate on the link between *red herring* and *steepening* more than has previously been done in the literature \[[@CR4], [@CR5]\]. We also summarize the literature on mechanisms that may induce *steepening*. Furthermore, the estimation techniques previously presented in the literature are improved and the previous methods are replicated. The data set applied to test *steepening* is of high quality, with no self-selection over a long period of time.
The paper proceeds as follows: first, we present the terms *steepening* and *red herring* with the present literature, and discuss in detail what may induce *steepening*. Secondly, we explain the link between the two concepts. Thirdly, we test *steepening*. In the third part, we first present the data, then the methods and the results. Fourth, we present the conclusion and discussion.
Background {#Sec2}
==========
"If steepening \[occurs\]..., the future increase of health care costs will even be larger than in the predictions which keep expenditure profiles constant"\[[@CR4]\] p 582.
From the quote above, *steepening* may be seen as a contradiction to the more optimistic future scenarios described in the *red herring* debate \[[@CR2]\], which claim that future health care expenditures will be lower than previously expected, due to an increased length of life. However, as we will return to in the end of this section, both hypotheses may in fact hold at the same time. Before the link between the terms is explained in more detail, we will summarize the literature on the *steepening* and briefly mention the *red herring* literature.
Steepening {#Sec3}
----------
In 2006, a new term regarding health care expenditures and older people was introduced by Buchner and Wasem \[[@CR4]\] that suggested per capita health care expenditures would grow faster for the elderly than for younger people, i.e., a situation characterized by *steepening*. *Steepening* was defined as the increase in the ratio of per capita expenditures for older people (65+) divided by the younger (below 65), over time:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{a \in [65,106],t} /\overline{Y}_{a \in [0,64],t} > \overline{Y}_{a \in [65,106],t - 1} /\overline{Y}_{a \in [0,64],t - 1}$$\end{document}$$where $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{a \in [65,106],t}$$\end{document}$ is the per capita expenditures for the elderly (aged above 65+) in year *t*.
Note that in their regression analysis they defined the young to be between 30 and 64, while the old were between 65 and 79 \[[@CR4]\]. To make the age limits more comparable with the other definition ([2](#Equ2){ref-type=""}) of *steepening* presented in this paper, we will use the age limits as presented in definition ([1](#Equ1){ref-type=""}) throughout this paper. Also note that Buchner and Wasem \[[@CR4]\] include other definitions of *steepening* that we will return to in the "[Methods](#Sec7){ref-type="sec"}" section.
Based on the same definition, but without using the term *steepening*, health data from OECD between 1984 and 1998 indicates *steepening* in several countries, among them the United States (US), Finland and Japan. However, this pattern is not found in the UK \[[@CR7]\], where a decline in the expenditures for the elderly compared to the rest of the population is observed. There are also other studies that suggest health care expenditures grow faster for the elderly than the rest of the population \[[@CR8]--[@CR11]\]. There are, however, methodological issues connected to the simple method (definition) used in these papers, which we will discuss in more detail later. Some of the methodological issues are solved by Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\], who defined *steepening* as a positive cross derivative of per capita health care expenditures with respect to age and time:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\frac{{\partial^{2} \overline{Y}_{g} (a,t)}}{\partial a \partial t} > 0.$$\end{document}$$Note that Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\] included mortality rates in the function of per capita expenditures, in contradiction with the definition by Bucher and Wasem \[[@CR4]\], as they defined *steepening* in three dimensions (age, per capita expenditures and time). Therefore, in the rest of this section we will ignore the impact of mortalities.
Definition ([2](#Equ2){ref-type=""}) forms the basis of this paper, but results based on both definitions ([1](#Equ1){ref-type=""}) and ([2](#Equ2){ref-type=""}) will be presented later. The reason for focusing on the latter definition is that the definition is more flexible with respect to model specification, and in our view it captures the concept as it was originally formulated by Bucher and Wasem \[[@CR4]\]. A wider discussion on the different definitions of *steepening* will be presented in the methods section.
Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\] mention several factors that may lead to *steepening* or reduce the effect of *steepening*. We will give a short summary in the following section. They suggest that *steepening* may arise due to increased "maintenance" costs as length of life increases, or simply as a bias in the technological frontier (more innovations in medical treatments for older people). They also mentioned that, to the contrary, per capita mortality-related expenditures for hospitals are decreasing with age; hence, increased length of life might reduce mortality-related expenditures. This is supported in several studies \[[@CR12]--[@CR14]\]. Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\] also suggest that, due to compression of morbidity, the period of illness will be compressed over time, which will in turn reduce the per capita health care expenditures related to older people \[[@CR15]\].
Another paper discussing the reasons for growth in health care expenditures for the elderly is written by Barer et al. \[[@CR11]\]. They discuss the implications of changes in morbidity and mortality and how that might change utilization for health care. Their study is formed around rectangularization of survival curves over time, compression of mortality \[[@CR16]\], and compression of morbidity \[[@CR15]\]. They argue that based on the preferences of society to either accept "natural death" or use all resources possible to reduce morbidity, the compression of mortality and morbidity will influence health care expenditures in different ways. If society accepted "natural death", health care expenditures for the elderly will drop over time, while if society minimizes morbidity it will increase expenditures for elderly.
In summary, the literature on the causes of increased expenditures for the elderly indicates that there might be a technological bias and changes in biological factors (morbidity). With regard to the first, the technological bias is likely to be driven by some underlying mechanisms that are poorly explained by Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\]. One reason might be biological changes over time, but there could also be other mechanisms driving *steepening*.
Red herring {#Sec4}
-----------
The *red herring hypothesis* was formulated by Zweifel et al. \[[@CR3]\], and states that health care expenditures are driven by time to death and not age per se. A similar idea had previously been presented by Fuchs \[[@CR17]\]. Zweifel et al. \[[@CR3]\] formulated precisely as:
The health care expenditures for an individual (*i*) independent of age:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\frac{{\partial Y_{i} (a,k)}}{\partial a} = 0$$\end{document}$$where *a* is age and *k* is quarters to death.
The health care expenditures are dependent on quarters to death:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\frac{{\partial Y_{i} (a,k)}}{\partial k} \ne 0.$$\end{document}$$
Several studies have tested the *red herring hypothesis* (see, among others, \[[@CR2], [@CR18], [@CR19]\]); i.e., the studies have tested how time to death and age for a sample of the population may explain the observed health care expenditures. Some of the studies reject, while other support, the *red herring hypothesis*.
In the *red herring* debate, several methodological problems have been raised (see. among others. \[[@CR20], [@CR21]\]). The debate is summarized in Häkkinen et al. \[[@CR22]\] by pointing at two econometrical issues: first, multicollinearity between the explanatory variables (age and time to death), and second, endogeneity between health care expenditure and time to death (mortalities). Both these issues will be relevant in the "[Methods](#Sec7){ref-type="sec"}" section in Eqs. [10](#Equ10){ref-type=""}, [11](#Equ11){ref-type=""}, [14](#Equ14){ref-type=""} and [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}. Gregersen and Godager \[[@CR13]\] apply the same data set as we do in this study, and discuss both these issues in detail. In summary, first, the multicollinearity is of minor importance, as the data set is large; second, the assumption that mortalities are exogenous is not rejected.
The link between steepening and red herring {#Sec5}
-------------------------------------------
By definition, *steepening* is defined in three dimensions (age, time, and per capita health care expenditures) as is the *red herring* (age, time to death and individual health care expenditures). As the dimensions in the terms differ with respect to time and time to death, the link between the terms is not obvious, and both hypotheses may hold at once. Furthermore, when comparing ([2](#Equ2){ref-type=""}) (*steepening*) with ([3](#Equ3){ref-type=""}) and ([4](#Equ4){ref-type=""}) (*red herring*), the definitions of the terms do not contradict or support each other. In summary, we therefore conclude that the terms are independent.
Data {#Sec6}
====
For this study, we have repeated cross-sectional data (pseudo-panel) for all hospital admissions in Norway from 1998 until 2009. The data comes from the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR). The data was merged with demographic characteristics from Statistics Norway (SSB). The data from NPR provides a complete registry of all hospital admissions in Norway from January 1998 to December 2009. The dataset contains data on somatic in patient care. Registration in NPR is compulsory for all hospitals, and therefore there is no self-selection in the dataset. Each admission to the hospital (hospital stay) is registered as an observation, and it is not possible to track individuals between admissions. The dataset contains five variables; year of birth, gender, year of hospital stay, DRG-points (diagnostic related group) and place of residence of the patient (municipality). Data on the number of inhabitants (N) are given by SSB (Table [1](#Tab1){ref-type="table"}).Table 1Descriptive statistics: expendituresVariableNumber of observationsMeanStd. dev.MinMaxPer capita expenditures by year: $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{t} = \frac{1}{{N_{t} }}\sum\limits_{i \in t} {Y_{i} }$$\end{document}$127,340.71947.51195,786.218,595.46Per capita expenditures by group: $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{g} = \frac{1}{{N_{g} }}\sum\limits_{i \in g} {Y_{i} }$$\end{document}$995,15810,453.6117,145.9201,006,657
In order to get per capita measures, we aggregated the data by grouping the data so the smallest possible cell is defined by a given age ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$a_{i}$$\end{document}$), gender ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$q_{i}$$\end{document}$), year ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$t_{i}$$\end{document}$) and municipality ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$m_{i}$$\end{document}$). The 430 municipalities, 106 ages, 2 genders and years of observation (1998--2009) gave 1,093,920 unique cells that form the dataset our analysis is based on. We index the cells with the index *g* (*g* = 1, 2...,1,093,920).
The per capita expenditure in one cell is:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{g} = \frac{1}{{N_{g} }}\sum\limits_{i \in g} {Y_{i} }$$\end{document}$$
The per capita hospital expenditures in year (*t*) are defined by:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{t} = \frac{1}{{N_{t} }}\sum\limits_{i \in t} {Y_{i} }$$\end{document}$$
For the rest of this paper, the expenditure will be measured in Norwegian kroner (NOK), inflation adjusted to 2010 NOK {8 NOK = 1 € \[Norwegian Bank (2010)\]}. In Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"} we present per capita expenditures as a function of age. To explore how expenditures have developed over time for different age groups, we compared the per capita expenditures for the first 6 years with the last 6 years in the dataset. We aggregate the total health care expenditures for each age (*a*) and divide by the number of inhabitants with age (*a*), for each of the two time periods (1998--2003 and 2004--2009). If we denote the start of a period by *t*~1~ and the end by *t*~2~ (for example *t*~1~ = 1998 and *t*~2~ = 2003) the health care expenditures for age (*a*) in Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"} is defined by:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{{a,t \in \left[ {t_{1,} t_{2} } \right]}} = \frac{1}{{N_{{a,t \in \left[ {t_{1} ,t_{2} } \right]}} }}\sum\limits_{{i \in \left\{ {a,t \in \left[ {t_{1} ,t_{2} } \right]} \right\}}} {Y_{i} }.$$\end{document}$$Fig. 1Hospital expenditures per capita measured in NOK over age
The figure clearly shows that the per capita health care expenditures for the older people and newborns (0 years of age) have increased substantially over time during the period of observation. Except for newborns, the expenditures for older people increased more than for the rest of the population. If newborns are excluded, the figure shows that the expenditures for older people have grown faster than for the rest of the population, consistent with *steepening*.
One reason for the increase in expenditures for newborns may be increased expenditures for premature infants. Both Bratlid and Nordermoen \[[@CR23]\] and Nordermoen and Bratlid \[[@CR24]\] discusses the increases in treatment expenditures for treatment of premature infants in Norway. In summary, they highlight that more premature infants with low birth weight are treated, and advances in technology not only increase the cost of treatment, but also improve the quality of the treatment.
Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"} compares demographic characteristics for the first 6 years (1998--2003) in the data set with the last 6 years (2004--2009). Comparing the two periods, the average annual number of inhabitants has increased from 4.5 million in the first period to 4.7 million in the last period. The total number of decedents does decline over time, comparing the same two periods from 263,627 to 249,902. The mortality rate (number of decedents divided by the total population) for most age groups is falling over time, apart from the age groups containing the individuals aged between 5 and 14.Table 2Descriptive statistics: demographic characteristicsAge2004--20091998--2003Mortality rate 1--mortality rate 2\#DecedentsInhabitantsMortality rate 1\#DecedentsInhabitantsMortality rate 20943351,7910.0026811,146342,7730.003343−0.00071--43591,390,9340.0002585311,420,4610.000374−0.00015--91921,795,1740.0001072311,827,4220.0001260.000010--141861,868,6040.00012221,752,3130.0001270.000015--196071,834,6450.0003317181,591,9940.000451−0.000120--249951,681,5580.0005921,1681,634,2710.000715−0.000125--291,1731,728,3770.0006791,3781,886,4620.00073−0.000130--341,2521,932,6350.0006481,6812,077,0680.000809−0.000235--391,7912,130,1130.0008412,0842,000,6400.001042−0.000240--442,4162,066,6210.00116927731,903,4770.001457−0.000345--493,6991,931,5640.0019154,0491,835,1130.002206−0.000350--545,7411,847,5090.0031076,5051,807,8160.003598−0.000555--598,6171,776,0230.0048528,6901,550,4390.005605−0.000860--6412,5271,586,8270.007894103951,148,6550.00905−0.001265--6914,3421,137,5070.01260814,8331,004,6960.014764−0.002270--7418,734925,2690.02024724,233989,3350.024494−0.004275--7929,838848,2920.03517439,2169412320.041,665−0.006580--8445,382725,6620.06253950,893716,6810.071012−0.008585--8951,417475,0170.1082449,216405,8850.12126−0.013090+49,691244,9420.2028743,665200,8430.21741−0.0145Sum249,90228,279,064263,62727,037,576−0.053386Average sum by year (sum/6)41,6504,713,17743,9384,506,263
Methods; identifying steeping {#Sec7}
=============================
In Buchner and Wasem \[[@CR4]\], three methods are presented with which to identify *steepening*. The first is based on definition (1); using this approach, they find clear evidence of *steepening*. As they state, the clear advantage of this simple method is that it is transparent and easy to replicate. On the other hand it does not investigate changes within the two age groups---the younger and older people. This is closely related to:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{a \in [65,106],t} /\overline{Y}_{a \in [0,64],t} = \psi_{0} + \psi_{1} *t.$$\end{document}$$
Second, they suggest a slightly modified method, using a benchmark age group, and compare the growth of the other age groups relative to the benchmark age group:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\frac{{\overline{Y}_{a,t} }}{{\overline{Y}_{{{\text{benchmark}},t}} }} = \lambda_{0,a} + \lambda_{1,a} *t.$$\end{document}$$
Finally, they suggested a model with health care expenditures as an exponential function of age. Buchner and Wasem \[[@CR4]\] only had 20 age groups and two genders, each year for 18 years (20 × 18 × 2 = 720 observations). The data limitations put strong limitations on their regression methods. The methods were later significantly improved by Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\]. They had more variation in the data (a larger data set) with 26 regions, both genders, 10 years and 20 age groups, i.e., 10,400 observations. This allowed for a more complex model. They assumed that the health care expenditures are a function of time (*t*) and demographics \[age (*a*), gender (*q*) and mortality rate $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\phi )$$\end{document}$\]:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\begin{gathered} {\text{Per capita health care expenditure }} \hfill \\ \quad = {\text{Constant}} + \beta *{\text{gender}} + \gamma *{\text{age}} + \theta *{\text{time}} + \kappa *{\text{mortality rate}} + \mu *{\text{age}}*{\text{time}} + {\text{error term}} \hfill \\ \quad \leftrightarrow \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$\end{document}$$$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{g} = \alpha_{{}} + \beta *q_{{}} + \gamma *a + \theta *t + \kappa *\phi_{g} + \mu *a*t + \varepsilon_{g}.$$\end{document}$$
In Eqs. [10](#Equ10){ref-type=""} and [11](#Equ11){ref-type=""},[1](#Fn1){ref-type="fn"}$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\beta$$\end{document}$ indicates the marginal increase in cost for females compared to males, and $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\theta$$\end{document}$ captures yearly growth in per capita expenditures, while $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\mu$$\end{document}$ measures the age specific growth rate as deviation from the yearly growth rate ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\theta$$\end{document}$), $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\kappa$$\end{document}$ is the increase in per capita hospital expenditures due to mortality rate, and $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\gamma$$\end{document}$ is the impact of age on per capita expenditures. Finally, $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\varepsilon$$\end{document}$ is the error term. In this setting, *steepening* was defined by (2).
Note that Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\] argue that hospital expenditures grow exponentially over time. To test if an exponential or linear model applies to our data set, we ran two regressions: first, keeping the dependent variable as a linear function of time, and second, keeping the dependent variable as an exponential function of time:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{g} = \theta_{0} + \theta_{1} *t$$\end{document}$$with *R*^2^ = 0.0095 and $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\ln \overline{Y}_{g} = \theta_{0} + \theta_{1} *t$$\end{document}$ with *R*^2^ = 0.0019.
From Eq. [12](#Equ12){ref-type=""} we see that the *R*^2^ is low in both the exponential and linear model, but slightly higher in the linear model. Based on the result, the difference between the two models is small and both models may apply. However, we choose to apply a linear model due to the slightly higher *R*^2^.
Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\], argue that $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\frac{{\partial^{2} \overline{Y} }}{{\partial a_{{}} \partial t}}$$\end{document}$ is a function not only of $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\mu_{a}$$\end{document}$, but also of the mortality rate $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\phi$$\end{document}$. They assume that $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\frac{{\partial^{2} \phi }}{{\partial a_{{}} \partial t}} < 0$$\end{document}$ due to increased length of life. Therefore, we tested the magnitude of changes in mortality rate from changes in age and time:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\phi_{g} = \alpha_{0} + \alpha_{1} *t*a + \alpha_{2} *a + \alpha_{3} *t + \varepsilon_{g}.$$\end{document}$$
In the rest of the methods section, we will ignore the impact of changes in mortalities on *steepening*, but we will come back to this issue in the results section.
Further, as stated earlier, Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\] only had 20 age groups ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$d_{z}$$\end{document}$) in their data set, limiting their analysis to 14. As we have more variation in the age variable, we are not forced to keep the same grouping of the regression parameter. However, per capita expenditure is not a linear function of age (see Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}); therefore, we also treat age as a categorical variable, with 21 groups, respectively. The reasons for keeping age to 21 groups only are twofold. First, it will make the results easier to compare to the methods presented by Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\]. Second, if age is treated with one-year age-groups, the number of observations in each group declines, and therefore the precision of each estimate will drop. In summary, as the estimate of interest here is the differences in growth between the young and old, and not the specific growth rate for each age per se, we therefore find the grouping similar to the one found in Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\] to be sensible in this analysis:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\begin{aligned} \overline{Y}_{g} & = \alpha + \beta *q + \sum\limits_{z = 0}^{20} {\gamma_{z} *d_{z} + \theta *t + \sum\limits_{x = 1}^{4} {\kappa_{x} } *(\phi_{g} )^{x} } \\ \quad + \sum\limits_{z = 11}^{20} {\mu_{z} d_{z} *t + \varepsilon_{g} } \\ \end{aligned}$$\end{document}$$
$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$d_{z}$$\end{document}$ is a dummy for indicating age group (0, 1--4, 5--9, ..., 90+), $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\varepsilon_{m,a,t,q}$$\end{document}$ represents the error term, and $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\mu_{z}$$\end{document}$ measures the deviation in growth rate for age group z compared to the young \[below 50 (*z* \< 11)\]. As $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\mu_{{z \in \{ 1,10\} }}$$\end{document}$ is the benchmark age group, *steepening* is for age group *z* as defined by:
$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\mu_{z} - \mu_{{z \in \{ 1,10\} }} > 0$$\end{document}$ for z \> 10, indicating that the growth rate for the elderly is higher than for the young.
*Steepening* within the 50+ age group is defined by $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\mu_{z + 1} - \mu_{z} > 0$$\end{document}$ for *z* \> 10.
The reasoning for choosing the specific functional form to capture the mortality-related expenditures in Eq. [14](#Equ14){ref-type=""} is poorly described by Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\]. From several papers \[[@CR12]--[@CR14]\], it is known that mortality-related health care expenditures are a decreasing function of age. We therefore include the interaction between age and mortalities $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$({\text{age}}*\phi )$$\end{document}$ in our analysis. Furthermore, we cannot find any studies supporting the inclusion of mortalities to the power of two, three and four (*x* = 2, 3, 4). We therefore choose to only include mortality rate to the power of one (*x* = 1). The number of mortalities, due to compression of morbidity, increases for the highest age groups (see Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}). We would therefore expect, as mortality related expenditures decrease with age, to observe a reduction in the mortality related expenditures over time. To capture the latter effect, we include the interaction between mortalities and time, which we expect to be negative:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\frac{{\partial^{2} \overline{Y}_{g} }}{\partial \phi \partial t} = \lambda < 0.$$\end{document}$$
Finally, we also include the yearly growth rate for all age groups ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\mu_{z}$$\end{document}$, *z* = 0, 1, \..., 20), to identify differences within the young. We are now left with the equation that forms the basis of our analysis:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\begin{aligned} \overline{Y}_{g} & = \alpha + \beta *q + \sum\limits_{z = 0}^{20} {\gamma_{z} *d_{z} + \theta *t + \kappa *\phi_{g} } + \eta *\phi_{g} *a \\ \quad + \sum\limits_{z = 0}^{20} {\mu_{z} *d_{z} *t + \lambda *\phi_{g} *t + \varepsilon_{g} } \\ \end{aligned}.$$\end{document}$$
We note that the error terms in Eqs. [10](#Equ10){ref-type=""}--[16](#Equ16){ref-type=""} are heteroscedastic, due to variation in the size of the cells, $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$N_{g}$$\end{document}$. We therefore weight the regressions by the number of inhabitants in each cell.
Results {#Sec8}
=======
This section will present estimations based on the methods presented in methods section. The share of the per capita health care expenditures used by the elderly (65+) does not increase over time (1998--2009) (Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}). This holds even though we exclude the newborns. On the contrary, the share used by the younger group is highest in 1998. The estimation based on Eq. [1](#Equ1){ref-type=""}, therefore, does not support *steepening*. When running a regression on Table [3](#Tab3){ref-type="table"}, equivalent to (8), we find a negative and significant effect when including all ages $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\psi_{1} = - 0.021$$\end{document}$. Furthermore, when excluding individuals \<1 year of age, we find a positive, not significant effect $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\psi_{1} = 0.003$$\end{document}$. Overall, the estimation effect based on (1) and (8) rejects *steepening*.Table 3The share of total health care expenditures spent on the elderly compared to the rest of the populationYearIncluding all ages $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{a \in [65,106],t} /\overline{Y}_{a \in [0,64],t}$$\end{document}$Excluding age zero $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\overline{Y}_{a \in [65,106],t} /\overline{Y}_{a \in [1,64],t}$$\end{document}$19984.5244.76019994.2044.34620004.2904.44220014.3344.48320024.1174.45220034.1134.43120044.1434.49620054.1644.51020064.0984.44720074.1594.56720084.1074.49020094.2394.648
To identify *steepening* in Eqs. [10](#Equ10){ref-type=""}, [11](#Equ11){ref-type=""}, [14](#Equ14){ref-type=""} and [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}, the magnitude of the changes in mortality over time has to be identified. As discussed in the methods section, mortality rates are decreasing over time, i.e., there is a compression of mortalities (see Table [2](#Tab2){ref-type="table"}). From the regression on ([13](#Equ13){ref-type=""}), we find the effect to be small, significant, and negative ($\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\alpha_{1} = - 0.0000085$$\end{document}$) (see Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}). To also estimate the effect of changes in mortality rates over time in (14), i.e., mortality rate to the power of 1, 2, 3 and 4, we also included regressions with the mortalities to the power of 2, 3, and 4 as the dependent variable in Table [4](#Tab4){ref-type="table"}.Table 4Results from regression analysis based on Eq. [13](#Equ13){ref-type=""}Dependent variableMortality rate $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\left( \phi \right)$$\end{document}$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\left( {\phi^{2} } \right)$$\end{document}$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\left( {\phi^{3} } \right)$$\end{document}$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\left( {\phi^{4} } \right)$$\end{document}$Independent variableCoefficientStd. er.CoefficientStd. er.CoefficientStd. er.CoefficientStd. er.Age0.000708\*\*\*(−0.00000256)0.000126\*\*\*(−0.00000139)0.0000502\*\*\*(−0.00000121)0.0000327\*\*\*(−0.00000116)Time0.000129\*\*\*(−0.0000176)0.0000274\*\*(−0.00000957)0.0000106(−0.0000083)0.00000661(−0.00000798)Age × time−0.00000850\*\*\*(−0.00000039)−0.00000149\*\*\*(−0.000000212)−0.000000546\*\*(−0.000000184)−0.000000336(0.00000017)Constant−0.0169\*\*\*(−0.000115)−0.00339\*\*\*(−0.0000626)−0.00140\*\*\*(−0.0000543)−0.000922\*\*\*(−0.0000522)*N*995,158995,158995,158995,158*R* ^2^0.1940.0250.0050.003
Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"} presents four regressions. The first is based on Eq. [14](#Equ14){ref-type=""} in the "[Methods](#Sec7){ref-type="sec"}" section. As expected, the age coefficient for the younger age group is low (below 25), apart from the 0-year-olds. The age coefficient peaks for the 70--75-year-olds. For the highest age groups, there is a decline compared with the age group 70--75. We may not reject *steepening* in this model based on the analysis:$$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\begin{aligned} \frac{{\partial^{2} \overline{Y} }}{\partial a\partial t} = & \mu + \frac{{\partial^{2} \sum\nolimits_{x = 1}^{4} {\kappa_{x} \left( \phi \right)^{x} } }}{\partial a\partial t} = \mu_{z} - \mu_{{z \in \left\{ {1,10} \right\}}} + \frac{{\partial^{2} \sum\nolimits_{x = 1}^{4} {\kappa_{x} \left( \phi \right)^{x} } }}{\partial a\partial t} = \mu_{z} - \mu_{{z \in \left\{ {1,10} \right\}}} \\ \quad + 131415.8*( - 0.0000085) + ( - 446127.2)*( - 0.00000147) \\ \quad + 640520.0*(0.000000546) + ( - 310920.1)*( - 0.000000336) > 0 \\ \end{aligned}.$$\end{document}$$Table 5Results from regression analysis based on Eqs. [14](#Equ14){ref-type=""} and [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}Dependent variable per capita expenditures $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\overline{Y}_{g} )$$\end{document}$Equation([14](#Equ14){ref-type=""})([16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}) Excluding mortalities([16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}) Excluding the interaction between time and mortalities([16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}) Including the interaction between time and mortalitiesIndependent variableCoefficientStandard er.CoefficientStandard er.CoefficientStandard er.CoefficientStandard er.Year (*t*) *t* = 0 if year = 1998 *t* = 1 if year = 1999 ... *t* = 11 if year = 2009 $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\theta )$$\end{document}$142.1\*\*\*(2.024)*t* × age $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\mu )$$\end{document}$*t* × age 02,700.4\*\*\*(14.75)2,731.0\*\*\*(14.39)2,725.1\*\*\*(14.38)*t* × age 1--476.86\*\*\*(7.365)82.03\*\*\*(7.184)81.43\*\*\*(7.181)*t* × age 5--938.12\*\*\*(6.545)38.74\*\*\*(6.384)38.52\*\*\*(6.381)*t* × age 10--1444.18\*\*\*(6.598)45.24\*\*\*(6.436)45.02\*\*\*(6.433)*t* × age 15--1958.88\*\*\*(6.699)62.99\*\*\*(6.534)62.24\*\*\*(6.531)*t* × age 20--2453.80\*\*\*(6.751)58.96\*\*\*(6.584)57.71\*\*\*(6.581)*t* × age 25--2956.33\*\*\*(6.454)58.06\*\*\*(6.295)56.65\*\*\*(6.292)*t* × age 30--3497.25\*\*\*(6.250)101.9\*\*\*(6.096)100.4\*\*\*(6.093)*t* × age 35--39130.4\*\*\*(6.152)136.8\*\*\*(6.001)135.0\*\*\*(5.999)*t* × age 40--44147.7\*\*\*(6.202)155.7\*\*\*(6.049)153.1\*\*\*(6.047)*t* × age 45--49164.5\*\*\*(6.401)173.0\*\*\*(6.243)168.9\*\*\*(6.242)*t* × age 50--5451.53\*\*\*(6.710)183.3\*\*\*(6.454)195.5\*\*\*(6.295)188.6\*\*\*(6.296)*t* × age 55--59115.2\*\*\*(7.236)243.0\*\*\*(7.008)259.7\*\*\*(6.836)249.3\*\*\*(6.842)*t* × age 60--64247.9\*\*\*(7.741)371.8\*\*\*(7.537)393.0\*\*\*(7.352)375.7\*\*\*(7.372)*t* × age 65--69368.6\*\*\*(8.509)476.6\*\*\*(8.336)509.2\*\*\*(8.132)481.4\*\*\*(8.182)*t* × age 70--74552.0\*\*\*(9.058)625.7\*\*\*(8.901)682.4\*\*\*(8.685)636.8\*\*\*(8.816)*t* × age 75--79741.8\*\*\*(9.417)790.2\*\*\*(9.268)862.5\*\*\*(9.045)783.7\*\*\*(9.421)*t* × age 80--84819.3\*\*\*(10.61)867.9\*\*\*(10.49)948.9\*\*\*(10.24)811.9\*\*\*(11.23)*t* × age 85--89866.5\*\*\*(13.28)939.4\*\*\*(13.22)1,021.8\*\*\*(12.90)787.4\*\*\*(15.12)*t* × age 90+778.4\*\*\*(18.61)913.5\*\*\*(18.64)976.4\*\*\*(18.19)548.5\*\*\*(23.19)Gender $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(q)$$\end{document}$197.4\*\*\*(11.55)−92.59\*\*\*(11.58)222.7\*\*\*(11.38)222.7\*\*\*(11.37)Age $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\gamma )$$\end{document}$023,927.5\*\*\*(57.03)9,705.0\*\*\*(107.8)8,761.0\*\*\*(105.3)8,783.9\*\*\*(105.3)1--4ReferenceReferenceReferenceReference5--9−1,554.6\*\*\*(33.81)−1,368.4\*\*\*(63.77)−1,283.1\*\*\*(62.20)−1,285.0\*\*\*(62.18)10--14−1,847.8\*\*\*(33.81)−1,678.6\*\*\*(64.59)−1,592.9\*\*\*(63.00)−1,594.7\*\*\*(62.97)15--19−1,093.4\*\*\*(34.23)−962.8\*\*\*(65.62)−960.5\*\*\*(64.00)−959.7\*\*\*(63.97)20--24−80.42\*(34.49)96.26(65.16)35.33(63.55)38.47(63.52)25--29956.1\*\*\*(33.83)1,108.1\*\*\*(63.06)1,063.5\*\*\*(61.51)1,067.2\*\*\*(61.48)30--341,368.6\*\*\*(33.09)1,306.3\*\*\*(62.16)1,252.2\*\*\*(60.63)1,256.5\*\*\*(60.61)35--391,011.4\*\*\*(32.89)799.1\*\*\*(62.62)706.4\*\*\*(61.08)713.0\*\*\*(61.05)40--44985.8\*\*\*(33.17)722.4\*\*\*(63.06)569.6\*\*\*(61.51)580.1\*\*\*(61.48)45--491,760.5\*\*\*(33.55)1,496.4\*\*\*(63.69)1,240.6\*\*\*(62.13)1,258.7\*\*\*(62.10)50--542,807.8\*\*\*(50.25)2,885.2\*\*\*(63.74)2,453.2\*\*\*(62.20)2,486.0\*\*\*(62.19)55--594,405.1\*\*\*(54.24)4,731.7\*\*\*(66.91)4,076.6\*\*\*(65.34)4,127.6\*\*\*(65.33)60--646,089.4\*\*\*(59.61)6,813.5\*\*\*(71.24)5,831.2\*\*\*(69.64)5,919.5\*\*\*(69.68)65--698,264.0\*\*\*(62.92)9,649.5\*\*\*(73.68)8,200.5\*\*\*(72.18)8,347.5\*\*\*(72.31)70--7410,326.0\*\*\*(64.89)12,811.1\*\*\*(74.42)10,679.8\*\*\*(73.21)10,929.5\*\*\*(73.66)75--7911,538.5\*\*\*(68.44)15,688.1\*\*\*(75.63)12,646.0\*\*\*(74.99)13,081.9\*\*\*(76.37)80--8410,803.2\*\*\*(79.57)17,176.7\*\*\*(83.18)13,006.6\*\*\*(83.41)13,767.3\*\*\*(87.20)85--898,676.3\*\*\*(101.8)17,490.2\*\*\*(101.3)12,186.2\*\*\*(103.3)13,499.3\*\*\*(112.3)90+4,508.2\*\*\*(141.9)14,703.5\*\*\*(136.1)9,302.3\*\*\*(145.1)11,712.1\*\*\*(166.1)Mortality rate $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\kappa )$$\end{document}$131,415.8\*\*\*(871.7)297,704.7\*\*\*(1,759.7)289,556.8\*\*\*(1,780.1)Mortality rate^2^−446,127.2\*\*\*(7,069.6)Mortality rate^3^640,520.0\*\*\*(16,487.0)Mortality rate^4^−310,920.1\*\*\*(10,454.6)Age × mortality rate $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\eta )$$\end{document}$−2,932.4\*\*\*(19.91)−2,966.2\*\*\*(19.93)Mortality rate × *t* $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\lambda )$$\end{document}$2,045.9\*\*\*(68.79)Constant $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\alpha )$$\end{document}$2,053.2\*\*\*(32.60)2,881.3\*\*\*(50.74)2,291.4\*\*\*(49.57)2,294.2\*\*\*(49.55)*N*995,158995,158995,158995,158R^2^0.6050.5980.6180.618Adjusted R^2^0.6050.5980.6180.618
Within the group of older people (above 50), we find *steepening* for all age groups $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\mu_{z + 1} - \mu_{z} > 0)$$\end{document}$ apart from the highest age group, above 90 $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\mu_{20} - \mu_{19} < 0)$$\end{document}$. Furthermore, the effect of mortalities[2](#Fn2){ref-type="fn"}$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\left( {\frac{{\partial \overline{Y}_{g} }}{\partial \phi } > 0} \right)$$\end{document}$ is positive, and females have higher expenditures than males on average.
Second, the regression output based on Eq. [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""} excludes mortalities. In this regression, the 0-year-olds have the highest yearly growth, of 2,700 NOK $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\left( {\mu_{0} = 2700.4} \right)$$\end{document}$. The second-highest yearly growth is found for the 80--85-year-olds, with 939.4. In comparison, the 5--9-year-olds have a yearly growth rate of 38.12. The annual growth for young individuals (i.e., below age 50) is lower than for those individuals age 50 or greater, that is, apart from the newborns. This does not reject *steepening* if newborns are excluded.
Third, the regression output based on Eq. [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""} is presented, but now including the effect of mortalities, while excluding the interaction between time and mortalities. As expected, the effect of mortalities is positive, and as expected the mortality related cost is a decreasing function of age. Also, the age effect is slightly reduced here for each age group, implying that part of the expenditures for each age group is generated by mortalities. Especially for the highest age groups, there is a decline from a model excluding mortalities. The yearly growth rate for the different age groups are similar to the previous (second) results presented, and the same interpretation regarding *steepening* applies.
Finally, the results from running a regression on Eq. [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""} both including the effect of the interaction of mortalities and time are presented. When the interaction of time and mortalities are included, the yearly growth rate is declining for all age groups, apart from the 1--4 group. The yearly growth for the 90+ was 976.4; after the inclusion of the interaction term it became 548.5, implying that part of the growth for the highest age groups is caused by increased mortality related costs over time $\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$(\lambda = 2045.9)$$\end{document}$.
To summarize the results in Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}, the first regression does not reject *steepening* (based on Eq. [14](#Equ14){ref-type=""}). In the following three regressions presented (based on Eq. [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}), we can also not reject *steepening* if excluding individuals below age 1.
Conclusion and discussion {#Sec9}
=========================
The first part of this paper clarified the connection between *steepening* and the *red herring hypothesis*. We concluded that the terms are independent. Furthermore, the data applied in this study is insufficient to test the *red herring hypothesis*. The reason for the data "insufficiency" is that the data do not contain information on time-to-death at the individual level. Therefore, the data may not reject the hypothesis as formulated by Zweifel et al. \[[@CR3]\], i.e. (3) and (4).
The first part of this paper continued with summarizing causes mentioned in the literature that may induce *steepening*. In summary, the literature is limited and points at biological and technological factors.
The second part of this paper was to test *steepening*. *Steepening* was defined by Buchner and Wasem \[[@CR4]\] in three dimensions: time, age and per capita health care expenditures. In these dimensions, the term states that health care expenditures should grow faster for older people than the rest of the population. In these dimensions, we find evidence of *steepening* with the exception of the 0-year-olds, i.e., Eq. [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}, excluding mortalities. The method is similar to the method found in Felder and Werblow \[[@CR5]\]. When using definitions (1) and (8), similar to the methods suggested by Buchner and Wasem \[[@CR4]\], we find no evidence of *steepening*, including all ages. However, when excluding the individuals aged zero, we find a non-significant effect in (8) in favour of *steepening*. Our results are not directly comparable to Buchner and Wasem \[[@CR4]\], as they only included individuals between 30 and 70 years of age in their study. Regardless of the age limits used, the latter model has little flexibility within the age groups (young and older), as there is only one dummy for each group. From Fig. [1](#Fig1){ref-type="fig"}, it is clear that per capita health care expenditures is not a linear function of age, and a model allowing for more variation is more appropriate. Overall, we therefore find the results based on Eq. [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}, excluding mortalities, to be more reliable.
The second step in our empirical estimations was then to estimate what factors may drive the *steepening* effect. From several studies, among them Zweifel et al. \[[@CR3]\] and Seshamani and Gray \[[@CR25]\], mortalities are an important driver of health care expenditures. We would therefore expect the effect of *steepening* to be reduced in Eq. [16](#Equ16){ref-type=""}, including mortalities. In Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}, it is shown that such a decrease does not occur. However, when including the interaction between mortalities and time, the *steepening* effect strongly declines, i.e., part of the *steepening* effect is driven by increased mortality-related expenditures over time.
Several implications follow from the results. First, as shown in several other studies (see, among others, \[[@CR12], [@CR26]\]) both mortality and age contribute to health care expenditures. Second, per capita health care expenditures are biased towards older individuals over time. Per capita health care expenditures for infants are increasing more than for the rest of the younger population. Third, if the observed trend continues, expenditures for older individuals are likely to increase substantially in the future (both due to increased expenditures towards elderly in general and increased expenditures for decedents \[based on Table [5](#Tab5){ref-type="table"}, last regression\]). However, the implication of the results with regard to predictions of future health care expenditures should be interpreted with care until to the mechanisms that drive *steepening* are detected.
The only health care service included in this study is inpatient in somatic hospitals; this is a limitation to this study. If there is a substitution effect between different health care services, excluding other services could potentially lead to biased results. It may be plausible that *steepening* is observed for inpatients, but the opposite effect is observed in other health care services. Additional research should therefore take place in other parts of the health care sector in order to confirm *steepening* outside inpatient care.
The use of DRG-cost weights to measure expenditure enables the study to investigate costs for different age and gender groups over time. There are, however, some limitations associated with using DRGs as a proxy for costs. DRG-cost weights are the expected cost of a treatment for the average patient and not the actual cost. As mentioned by Melberg et al. \[[@CR12]\], elderly individuals have poorer health than the average patient, and the cost for this group might therefore be underestimated. Conversely, for other healthier groups, the use of DRG-weights may have overestimated actual costs.
In summary, our results clearly do not reject *steepening* in per capita health care expenditures over time for the 50+ age group, with the exception of 0-year-olds. Mortality-related expenditures also increase over time, and the effect of *steepening* is reduced when this effect is taken into account.
Note that g denotes a cell in the data set applied in this study, characterized by age, gender, time and municipality.
$\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\usepackage{amsbsy}
\usepackage{mathrsfs}
\usepackage{upgreek}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}
\begin{document}$$\begin{aligned} \frac{{\partial \overline{Y}_{g} }}{{\partial \phi_{g} }} & = \kappa_{1} + 2\kappa_{2} \phi_{g} + 3\kappa_{3} \phi_{g}^{2} + 4\kappa_{4} \phi_{g}^{3} = 131416 - 2*446127*\phi_{g} \\ & \quad + 3*640520*\phi_{g}^{2} - 4*310920*\phi_{g}^{3} > 0\forall \phi_{g}. \\ \end{aligned}$$\end{document}$
I would like to thank Fredrik A. Dahl, Ph.D., and Geir Godager, Ph.D., for useful comments and suggestions regarding the structure of the paper and applying for data from Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR). Comments regarding the structure of the paper from Søren Toksvig Klitkou and Mathias Barra, Ph.D., are also acknowledged. Funding from the Norwegian Research Council is also greatly acknowledged.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
OBSCENITY WARNING: Extensive use of profanity in the quoted BLM tweets.
The day after a racist monster shot 12 white policemen in Dallas, murdering five of them, in the worst mass shooting of policemen in history, Hillary Clinton went on Wolf Blitzer’s show and blamed the cops.
Asked what she would do to stop police from being targeted for murder, she said: “Remember that, just 24 hours before, we had a killing, with the loss of life in Baton Rouge, in Minneapolis.” As president, she said, she would “have national guidelines about the use of force by police, especially deadly force.”
She couldn’t take ONE DAY to talk about the cops who were murdered in Dallas?
The nicest thing Hillary could think to say about the dead cops was that they were shot while performing their most sacred duty: protecting Black Lives Matter protesters hurling abuse at them. “Those police officers were protecting a peaceful protest, a protest of authority, that is a hallmark of America.”
No matter how Wolf Blitzer framed the question about the cold-blooded murder of five cops, Hillary would not stop lecturing the police for their lack of sensitivity. “It’s going to take a lot of training on the part of our police officers to get back into the communities, to understand what’s happening in neighborhoods.”
There’s a big audience for Hillary’s blame-the-victim approach. Even as the Dallas massacre was happening, and for the next 24 hours, Twitter was ablaze with tweets congratulating the mass murderer for killing “pigs”:
— @alexthecracker: hopefully this boy in dallas is getting kill shots on these pigs
— @baart_T: fuck the police bitch!!!!!!! #dallas I hope them pigs more.
— @AngelBruh_91: They need more shooters in Dallas like the ones who shot two pigs. Before they kill another real nigga who followed his #rns #blm
— @PeterRo42387421: Next time a group wants to oganize a police shoot, do like Dallas tonight, but have extra men/women to flank the Pigs!
— @24BenFrank: Yeah it’s lit in Dallas fuck the pigs !!
— @brimspider: dude hell yeah someone is shooting pigs in dallas. Solidarity
— @radavian: Cops in US. Especially in Texas are savage animals that will shoot you whenever they please. Now in Dallas is payback time, pigs.
— @XenGod: Our brothers in Dallas sniping pigs, Salute them
Kalyn Chapman James, the first black Miss Alabama, said she wasn’t “sad” for the white cops gunned down in Dallas, and expressed admiration for their murderer, saying, “A lot of us feel the same way.”
On CNN, Don Lemon responded to the murder of five cops by complaining that he has to call cops “sir” in order “to stay alive.” He then repeated the insane liberal fantasy about how unfailingly polite black people are to the cops, compared to the abuse heaped on them by white people. “My white counterparts,” Lemon said, “speak to police officers in a way that I would never in a million years do, and that is the reality of it.”
Pro Tip: To avoid being arrested or shot by the police, do not violently attack them, scream expletives at them, throw bottles and rocks at them, or try to grab their guns.
The media love to point out that one out of four civilians shot by the police are black — in combination with the gigantically irrelevant fact that blacks are only 13 percent of the population. They’re hoping no one will mention the awkward fact that blacks punch way above their weight in the percentage of crime they commit.
Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute looked at the FBI statistics for the 75 largest counties in the country and found that although blacks are only 15 percent of the population in those counties, they commit 57 percent of the murders, 45 percent of the assaults and 62 percent of the robberies.
There is not a crime that blacks do not commit at rates higher than whites, Hispanics and Asians, except probably failing to properly extinguish a campfire in a national forest.
According to the FBI, in 2013, 37 percent of cop-killers are black. Policemen are nearly 19 times more likely to be killed by a black person than a black person is to be killed by a cop.
Given these crime rates, the fact that only 26 percent of civilians killed by police are black is astonishing.
In addition to not understanding basic statistical facts, the Black Lives Matter people are crazy. They’re avowedly anti-police, marching through the streets shouting, “What do we want?” “DEAD COPS!” “When do we want it?” “NOW!
There’s very little reason to imagine that most black people think any better of them than the rest of us do. BLM is attractive to college students because it’s not the Black Panthers. BLM is a gay group. It was started by two lesbians and its most prominent spokesman is a gay man.
The BLM activists may gin up violent Panther types to go out and kill police, but there are no “Black Panther” groups on college campuses, whereas nearly every college has a BLM chapter.
BLM is never going to win the hearts of black America. It’s just a vehicle for middle-class, mostly mixed-race college kids to act out because they’re at colleges they never should have been admitted to, or because of their rejection by the black community for being gay. (Former BLM activist Shaun King was exposed as full white, pulling a Rachel Dolezal, by pretending to be black, even winning an Oprah scholarship to a historically black college.)
What we’ve learned from the Dallas police shooting is that Clinton is betting Republicans are too sissified to challenge her on her support for BLM. If Trump has the balls to denounce BLM and demand that Hillary disavow her support of these eunuch cop-killer enablers, he won’t lose a single black vote.
COPYRIGHT 2016 ANN COULTER
DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL UCLICK0
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
This Cockatoo Was Afraid Of The Vet. What He Did Next Was Just Hilarious!
Max the Cockatoo hates the vet. Today, he had to go because he needs something looked at. Out of fear and anger, he keeps on saying gibberish and kept hiding underneath the shoe rack and the table. When he knew things were futile at 1:30, he became hilariously hysterical! It also seemed he was saying “I don’t want to go to the vet!” This is just awesome!
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
News In Brief
The White House announced that the Federal Aviation Administration will act immediately to improve air safety. FAA administrator Dean Hinson was to discuss the steps, including accelerated hiring of 100 additional safety inspectors, in congressional testimony. The move was triggered by the crash of a 27-year-old ValuJet DC-9 in Florida's Everglades. USA Today reported the average US commercial jet was 14 years old in 1995. Also, government investigators are looking into charges that safety officials were pressured to certify ValuJet and other low-fare airlines. And a flight data recorder found in the murky waters was sent to Washington for analysis while searchers continued to look for the cockpit voice recorder and remains of passengers.
President Clinton proposed tougher penalties for youth violence and vowed to put gang members "out of business." He called for more leeway to prosecute juveniles as adults for drug conspiracy, violent crimes, and crimes involving guns. He also proposed longer detention of juveniles and expanded use of juvenile records to provide more information to victims and law-enforcement officials. While the overall crime rate is falling, youth crime has been on the rise since 1985, according to Attorney General Janet Reno.
Secretary of State Warren Christopher was to convene a meeting between leaders of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation in Washington. They are expected to discuss returning refugees, reconstruction, and human rights.
A crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid fraud recovered $42.3 million in funds over the last year, the Department of Heath and Human Services said. That's a return of $10 for every $1 of government spending on the pilot project, which was conducted in five states. Clinton's 1997 budget proposal seeks funds for a nationwide program.
Energy prices took their largest leap in more than five years in April, resulting in a 0.4 percent rise in consumer prices. A surge in gasoline and other energy prices accounted for three-fifths of the total advance last month. Excluding volatile energy and food sectors, the so-called core inflation rate climbed a modest 0.1 percent, analysts said. Retail sales dropped 0.3 percent, reflecting the biggest monthly drop in new-car purchases in 4-1/2 years.
Clinton was to hold a meeting to assess the impact of federal programs on Washington. The city is struggling under a $378 million budget deficit. And supporters welcomed Mayor Marion Barry, who wasn't invited to the meeting, back to Washington. He left town abruptly April 27 to recover from "spiritual relapse and physical exhaustion." At a press conference, Barry denied rumors that he'd relapsed into drug use.
Former CIA Director William Colby was buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Investigators ruled out foul play in his death.
A General Accounting Office report issued on the eve of House debate on a $267-billion defense bill is questioning the need for billions in Pentagon spending on ground attack weapons. The GOP bill adds $13 billion to Clinton's request. Clinton said he would veto the bill because it makes unnecessary additions to military spending.
Clinton still opposes same-sex marriages, the White House said. He might sign a bill outlawing them that Senator Dole backed last week.
The US will import about 20 tons of nuclear waste from research reactors in 41 nations to prevent it from being used for bombs, the Energy Department said. It will take 13 years to import all the waste.
The FBI alerted Oklahoma City officials to "an upcoming terrorist attack" five days before the deadly bombing of a federal building in that city, a lawyer for accused bomber Timothy McVeigh said. Attorney Stephen Jones made the comment in a written argument filed in US District Court in Denver, where McVeigh and codefendant Terry Nichols are awaiting trial.
THE WORLD
The US will slap Chinese textiles and electronics with punitive tariffs today, a senior US official said. The move comes after talks between the two countries on copyright piracy failed. China says it will retaliate "tooth for tooth." And in Geneva, China indicated new flexibility on its position on a worldwide ban on nuclear explosions, giving new hope to flagging negotiations. China had been holding out for a later deadline for the agreement.
The voyage is finally over for about 4,000 Liberian refugees fleeing violence in their homeland. After 10 days spent on a rusty freighter under what the UN called "appalling" conditions, the refugees were allowed to disembark in Takoradi, Ghana. It is not clear how long they will be able to stay. Meanwhile, heavy fighting broke out in Liberia after several days of calm.
The US, Japan, and South Korea offered North Korea massive economic aid if the country agrees to peace talks. However, the US and Japan say they do not plan to provide the impoverished communist country with any additional emergency food. Meanwhile, the food shortage is becoming so desperate, some North Koreans are eating grass and roots, the UN-affiliated World Food Program reported.
Israel hammered suspected Hizbullah guerrilla posts in an apparently preemptive attack to thwart guerrilla activity, security sources said. Also, the main opposition party turned up the heat on Prime Minister Peres after Palestinians killed an Israeli student, who was also a US citizen, in the West Bank. And police arrested a man they said confessed to being a suicide bomber from Syria's Islamic Jihad.
A 1993 tightening of Germany's asylum laws doesn't conflict with the Constitution, Germany's highest court ruled. The court added safeguards to protect foreigners' rights.The controversial changes were put in place to stem an annual tide of 438,000 economic refugees. Refugees coming from "safe countries of origin," or via stopovers in such countries, are automatically denied asylum.
Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein, dismissed reports that the guerrillas may soon call a truce. Top Clinton aide Nancy Soderberg told BBC radio there was "no justification for a continued bombing campaign," as the US continued to urge the IRA to call a cease-fire before June 10 talks on peace in Northern Ireland. If the violence continues, Sinn Fein will not be allowed to attend.
Quebec's separatist leaders backed away from calling an early election. But they took steps to show their anger at the federal government for challenging their right to secede. Their ire was aroused when Ottawa said it would intervene in a court case challenging the province's right to secede unilaterally.
Russia and Belarus are prepared to form a military union if NATO continues with plans to expand eastward, Russia's defense minister said. Separately, Chechen rebels are planning an attack to disrupt President Yeltsin's campaign visit to the republic, military officials said. UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said he won't bring up the war in Chechnya during his state visit to Russia.
A devastating tornado ripped through northern Bangladesh. At least 400 people were killed and more than 33,000 injured.
Dominican President Joaquin Balaguer made surprise changes at the top levels of the armed forces and National Police, two days before tomorrow's presidential election. Balaguer, who has dominated politics for three decades, is constitutionally barred from seeking reelection.
More than 375 people, nearly all Hutus, were massacred May 3 in Burundi, aid agency sources said. Earlier reports estimated 200 people were killed.
ETCETERAS
''We mean to put [gangs] out of business ... to stop you from terrorizing our neighborhoods and our children, to put you away for a very long time." -- President Clinton, proposing tougher penalties for criminal gangs.
A mysterious stone wall deep in an uninhabited New Zealand forest was not built by an ancient civilization, scientists now agree. It's not man-made at all. It's an old lava-flow outcropping.
Ostrich will soon be served for lunch by British Airways. The airline said it would introduce ostrich in first class on flights between London and the US in July.
Hannes Sarkuni, at 14, is about to become the youngest graduate of New Jersey's Rutgers University. He skipped high school. His degree is in computer science and math.
THE DAY'S LIST
Kid Computer Programs
Here's a list of new titles approved by Parents' Choice, a nonprofit consumer guide. Names are followed by manufacturer, suggested age group, price, and phone number. Titles are PC and Mac compatible.
Lamb Chop Loves Music; Philips; 3-7; $19.99; (310) 444-6600
The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight; Random House/ Broderbund, Living Books; 3-8; $39.95; (800) 521-6263
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Check the article at the bottom from one of Stakenet ($XSN) main dev on how it's possible to scale using Lighting Network and Sharding.
Instead of executing a “hard” or “soft” fork of the Bitcoin blockchain -a move that would be difficult and messy to accomplish- many have proposed implementing a second layer protocol to the Bitcoin blockchain. This is essentially what the lightning network is. The term “second-layer” means that the Lightning Network is built on top of the already existing Bitcoin blockchain, the LN is not a chain in and of itself. This network allows users to send their Bitcoin directly, without going through the slow and cluttered Bitcoin network. Some estimates indicate that if implemented correctly, the Lightning Network could support a throughput of 50,000 transactions per second, a number that is comparable to what VISA boasts today. The Lightning Network website boasts that the technology has the potential to support “millions to billions” of transactions per second, blowing away the max throughput of the competition.
Not only will the implementation of the Lightning Network drastically increase transaction speeds, it will also significantly reduce the traffic on the very congested blockchain. Since transactions will be supported through the second layer protocol, recording them on the chain is not necessary, so long as that payment channel remains open. As soon as the direct peer-to-peer channel is closed, the final balances are recorded on the chain. This will hopefully reduce the 300,000 average daily transactions that clutter the Bitcoin chain.
While Stakenet has already begun implementation of the Lightning Network into its protocol as a second-layer to power its DEX and Lightning Swap features, the research team is investigating Sharding to incorporate it into the first layer, as it’s still early stages of implementing Sharding technology in a blockchain. These two technologies will integrate seamlessly to create an incredibly fast, lightweight and virtually infinitely scalable network. Incorporating sharding will also allow the easy implementation of Smart Contracts through a dedicated network shard. Considering that these powerful technologies will be paired with the strictest of privacy protocols, the blockchain behind Stakenet is truly on the cutting edge of the industry.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
My autogenerating xml sitemap code works very slowly, could I improve its performance?
I have written an autogenerating sitemap code below, it is called every 12 hours.
It looks through the mysql database, and then generates the input into the xml file for every row it finds in the mysql table.
I am not the best PHP coder, so I hope you guys can help me improve this below.
It works and does the job, but having over 400thousand ads can make it pretty slow.
function xml_sitemap() {
$website_url="/SV/Sitemap/";
$ads_query_results = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM cars_db ORDER BY insert_date DESC") or die(mysql_error());
$nr_of_sitemaps = count(glob('../../Sitemap/*'));
//$nr_files=1;
$row_data_seek=1;
for ($i=1; $i<$nr_of_sitemaps; $i++){
if ($nr_of_sitemaps!='.' || $nr_of_sitemaps!='..'){
$nr_files++;
}
}
for ($i=1; $i<=$nr_of_sitemaps; $i++){
unlink('../../Sitemap/Sitemap'.$i.'.xml');
}
$number_of_ads = mysql_num_rows($ads_query_results);
$files_needed = ($number_of_ads/49500);
$files_needed = ceil($files_needed);
for ($i=1; $i<=$files_needed; $i++){
$xml_file = fopen ('../../Sitemap/Sitemap'.$i.'.xml','w');
fwrite ($xml_file,"<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file,"<urlset xmlns='http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9'>\n");
for ($z=0; $z<($number_of_ads/$files_needed); $z++){
mysql_data_seek($ads_query_results, $z);
$row_results=mysql_fetch_array($ads_query_results);
$current_ad_id= $website_url.$row_results['ad_category'].'/';
$current_ad_id = $current_ad_id.$row_results['ad_id'].'.htm';
$last_modified = date('Y-m-d', strtotime($row_results['insert_date']));
$change_frequency = 'weekly';
fwrite ($xml_file, "<url>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "<loc>");
fwrite ($xml_file, $current_ad_id);
fwrite ($xml_file, "</loc>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "<lastmod>");
fwrite ($xml_file, $last_modified);
fwrite ($xml_file, "</lastmod>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "<changefreq>");
fwrite ($xml_file, $change_frequency);
fwrite ($xml_file, "</changefreq>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "<priority>");
fwrite ($xml_file, 0.8);
fwrite ($xml_file, "</priority>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "</url>\n");
} //end for
fwrite ($xml_file, "</urlset>");
fclose ($xml_file);
}//end main for
}
A:
From what I can tell, your code is fairly optimized. What kind of build times are you seeing? Minutes? Hours?
There are a few changes you can make outright:
Change this code:
for ($z=0; $z<($number_of_ads/$files_needed); $z++){
to
$count = ($number_of_ads/$files_needed);
for ($z=0; $z<$count; $z++){
Every iteration of your loop will run the termination expression. If you have a lot of records (like 400,000), you'll run into significant slowdowns.
Combine your fwrite statements:
fwrite ($xml_file, "<url>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "<loc>");
fwrite ($xml_file, $current_ad_id);
fwrite ($xml_file, "</loc>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "<lastmod>");
fwrite ($xml_file, $last_modified);
fwrite ($xml_file, "</lastmod>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "<changefreq>");
fwrite ($xml_file, $change_frequency);
fwrite ($xml_file, "</changefreq>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "<priority>");
fwrite ($xml_file, 0.8);
fwrite ($xml_file, "</priority>\n");
fwrite ($xml_file, "</url>\n");
could become:
fwrite($xml_file, "<url><loc>$current_ad_id</loc><lastmod>$last_modified</lastmod><changefreq>$change_frequency</changefreq><priority>0.8</priority></url>");
Sure, it's messier, but one fwrite is better than 10+.
Also, try to avoid using strtotime. It's a slow, dirty function. If you can, try to use some simple logic to get around using it.
Hope this helps!
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
News of two more honour killings has surfaced in Pakistan, a day after President Musharraf called for an end to the practice in which women are killed to defend family or tribal honour.
The killings were of women in rural areas who had eloped with a lover or were suspected of having affairs.
The Pakistani police who disclosed the latest murders said they had caught all suspects involved.
Honour killings are illegal under Pakistani law, but most go unpunished.
The question is whether the full force of the law will be brought to bear on those arrested or whether, like most suspects, they will escape justice.
'Curse'
In one of the latest two cases of honour killings, the police said a villager in central Pakistan shot dead his 21-year-old sister and her husband for marrying without the consent of the woman's family.
Her parents had wanted an arranged marriage.
President Musharraf has urged Pakistanis to show civilised behaviour
In another incident a man reportedly axed to death his 17-year-old sister because he believed she was having an affair.
The police say charges will be filed against all suspects.
That is in line with the wishes of President Musharraf, who on Tuesday launched his latest tirade against what he called the "curse" of honour killings.
Human rights organisations in Pakistan say hundreds of women are killed each year by men seeking to restore family or tribal honour after incidents of adultery, elopement or sex before marriage.
President Musharraf said anyone found guilty of honour killings should be dealt with harshly.
He is trying to fashion Pakistan into a modern, moderate and tolerant nation and he believes honour killings are an obstacle to that.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
i risultati degli studi realizzati grazie a Telethon. Dopo tre anni nessun sintomo
I sei bambini curati con i geni
trasportati dal virus dell'Aids
Rimedi per due rare patologie ereditarie finora mortali
Luigi Naldini con il suo gruppo
Sei bambini, sei «guariti» nei geni che ne minavano la vita invece di proteggerla, sei capitoli dell'evoluzione della scienza. Prima di loro, tante le vittime delle stesse malattie ereditarie. Troppe. Speranze infrante, tra il dolore dei genitori e lo sconforto dei medici frustrati dall'impotenza. La svolta ha le premesse nel 1996, quando un ricercatore italiano ha un'intuizione «geniale». Utilizzare il potente retrovirus dell'Aids. Disattivato della componente maligna, modificato in modo da trasportare il gene sano e, «infettando» le cellule staminali dei bambini, sostituirlo a quello malato causa di una morte scontata. Cellule staminali «curate» nella genetica e iniettate nel sangue dei bambini. E come il virus, quando è dannoso, invadere l'organismo imponendo nel cuore delle cellule il gene sano. Anni di piccoli passi, in vitro, sugli animali, di successi e insuccessi, di tre passi avanti e due indietro. Fino ai sei bambini «infettati» da un virus diventato improvvisamente simpatico.
Naldini spiega la terapia genica
Il successo
Luigi Naldini è l'addestratore del virus, è lo scienziato che ha avuto l'intuizione e la determinazione di portarla avanti. Meritando la pubblicazione di due studi, uno per malattia, su Science. Un doppio riconoscimento ufficiale da parte di una delle più importanti riviste scientifiche internazionali. «I bambini, provenienti da tutto il mondo, dopo tre anni di trattamento stanno bene e mostrano significativi benefici», annuncia Naldini su Science. E per un giorno l'ombelico del mondo, il punto di partenza di nuova avventura scientifica, è l'Istituto San Raffaele Telethon per la terapia genica (Tiget) di Milano. Qui i bambini sono stati curati, seguiti, coccolati geneticamente. I viaggi della speranza da oggi si fanno qui, nell'unico centro al mondo in cui la terapia genica segna successi. Tre bambini ammalati di leucodistrofia metacromatica, tre con la sindrome di Wiskott-Aldrich. Alla base di entrambe le malattie c'è un difetto genetico che si traduce nella carenza di una proteina fondamentale per l'organismo fin dai primi anni di vita. Nel caso della leucodistrofia metacromatica, fino ad oggi incurabile, è il sistema nervoso a essere colpito: questi bambini nascono apparentemente sani, ma a un certo punto iniziano a perdere progressivamente le capacità cognitive e motorie acquisite fino a quel momento, senza alcuna possibilità di arrestare il processo neurodegenerativo. Con la sindrome di Wiskott-Aldrich, invece, è il sistema immunitario ad essere difettoso. Chi ne soffre è più vulnerabile allo sviluppo di infezioni, di malattie autoimmuni e tumori, oltre ad essere esposto a frequenti e rischiose emorragie per un difetto nelle piastrine (componenti del sangue fondamentali per la coagulazione).
Piccoli eroi
Eccoli gli eroi della scienza. I sei «genialmente» curati. Prima i tre con la leucodistrofia metacromatica. Mohammad (4 anni e 4 mesi, libanese), il primo a ricevere la terapia genica al Tiget nel maggio 2010 e il terzo di tre figli con la stessa malattia: morti la sorella Amadi e il fratello Mustafa. La diagnosi quando ha 5 mesi di età, può così prendere parte allo studio Telethon. Giovanni (3 anni e mezzo, americano): quarto di cinque fratelli, ha pochi mesi quando gli viene diagnosticato il male perché scoperto nella sorella maggiore Liviana. Gli altri fratelli (Aria, Miles e Adelina) sono sani. Kamal (3 anni, egiziano): terzo bambino curato, viene da un piccolissimo villaggio egiziano vicino al confine con il Sudan. La sua famiglia parla solo arabo. Per Kamal la diagnosi è precoce, perché malata è la sorella maggiore (morta). Kamal ha un'altra sorella sana. Ed ecco i tre con la sindrome di Wiskott-Aldrich. Samuel (9 anni, romano): in lui la malattia si manifesta all'età di 4 mesi, ma la diagnosi arriva quando ha 5 anni. I genitori scelgono la terapia sperimentale del Tiget, invece del trapianto di midollo. L'intervento nel giugno del 2010. Canalp (4 anni, turco): primo figlio di una coppia molto giovane; fin dalla nascita mostra segni della malattia, come sangue nelle feci e infezioni ricorrenti. Diagnosi a 4 mesi, terapia genica a 18 mesi. Jacob, (3 anni, americano): figlio di una coppia di origine indiana, ma nata e cresciuta sulla East Coast degli Stati Uniti. Diagnosi a quattro mesi, terapia genica a 13 mesi. Giovedì, insieme alla madre, è entrato via Skype nella sala dove, tra lacrime e applausi, sono state annunciate le pubblicazioni su Science.
L'emozione
La vittoria della ricerca italiana. «Dopo 15 anni di sforzi, successi in laboratorio, ma anche frustrazioni, è davvero emozionante poter dare una prima risposta concreta ai pazienti», ripete commosso Naldini. Nella sindrome di Wiskott-Aldrich, «le staminali "corrette" hanno sostituito le cellule malate, dando luogo a un sistema immunitario funzionante e a piastrine normali», spiega Alessandro Aiuti, che ha coordinato lo studio clinico su questi pazienti ed è responsabile dell'unità di Ricerca pediatrica del Tiget. «Nel caso della leucodistrofia metacromatica, invece - dice Alessandra Biffi, a capo dell'altro studio -, le cellule "risanate" raggiungono il cervello attraverso il sangue e lì rilasciano la proteina "corretta" che viene "raccolta" dalle cellule nervose circostanti, contrastando efficacemente il processo neurodegenerativo». Gli studi, che hanno coinvolto oltre 70 ricercatori e clinici, hanno preso il via nella primavera del 2010. Con i fondi della Fondazione Telethon: 19 milioni di euro in totale. E ora? Altri bambini in lista, da tutto il mondo. Il San Raffaele-Telethon per loro è un faro nel buio. E altre malattie genetiche, anche meno rare, già nel mirino del «dottor Aids» di Luigi Naldini.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
Increase the length of textarea
How to increase the length of textarea? Just changing the maxlength will work?
Here is the code snippet:
<textarea name="Testremarks" onchange="CheckValidChars(this);" onblur="CheckValidChars(this);" onkeypress="return isValidChars(event);" id="Testremarks" maxlength="250" cols="40" rows="9" ng-model="vm.TestCycleRemarks"></textarea>
A:
Maxlength regulates the maximum Characters a textarea will hold so
<textarea maxlength="250">
Only allows 250 characters
<textarea maxlength="500">
will hold 500 characters
Hope this is helpfull :)
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Murray Valley encephalitis
Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease of humans, affecting the central nervous system and able to cause death. It occurs naturally throughout the northern half of Australia, Papua New Guinea and eastern Indonesia.
MVE is caused by a Murray Valley encephalitis virus and was previously known as Australian encephalitis. It was first isolated from Culex annulirostris mosquitoes in 1960 and was shown to be a Group B arbovirus related to, but distinct from, Japanese encephalitis virus. MVE virus belongs to the Flaviviridae family of RNA viruses and is spread only by the bite of mosquito that is infected with a virus. Naturally MVE virus is carried mostly by water birds. Mosquitoes become infected by biting birds or other animals.
The Murray Valley encephalitis develops in about 5-15days after the bite of infected mosquito. Although the great majority of infected people will show no symptoms at all, around 20 percent of those who become sick (approximately on person in a thousand will develop disease symptoms), die and further 25 percent may develop major intellectual or neurological complications. Adults who have gown up in areas where MVE virus occurs in the wild are usually immune following infection during childhood.
February to April (wet season rains) usually is the season of most risk of getting the Murray Valley encephalitis and the main areas of risk being the Kimberley and Pilbara regions in Western Australia. There have been seven major outbreaks of MVE in Australia since 1917. The last was in 1974 when 58 cases were reported from all mainland states. Since 1974 nearly all cases of MVE have occurred in north of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
There is no vaccine to prevent Murray Valley encephalitis and there is no medical cure, so the best way of staying healthy is to avoid being bitten. Use of effective mosquito repellents, fly screens, mosquito bed nets or avoiding being outdoors during the dusk or dawn hours when mosquitoes are most active are possible ways of minimizing the risk of getting the MVE.
Voting
Viewed: 4236 |
Votes: 3 |
Rate:
Rate it:
1
2
3
4
5
Favorites, suggestions
Add to Favorites:
Comments
2011-10-09
i think more people especially tourists should know about this disaeseby alicia
2007-06-30
My cousin has just died from a mosquito bite in Australia. Most helpful in discovering why it happened. by chrissyp
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
[The effect of unconscious interoceptive afferentation on the spatial organization of the electrical activity in the human cerebral cortex].
The model of human perception and cortical regulation of unconscious interoceptive signals from the internal organs (heart, lungs, liver, intestines) was created by acupuncture of the corresponding channels. The features of the spatial organization of cortical electrical activity were analysed. A positive effect (for example, a decline of initially high heart rate) was accompanied by a fall in the general level of spatial synchronization, a decrease in the linear and non-linear correlations between potentials led from the anterior areas of the right hemisphere and the left posterior areas, and a growth of coherence in the range of 21.5-23 Hz. Absence of the acupuncture effect (or its negative influence) correlated with less expressed (or of another character) changes in the spatial organization of electrical activity. The conclusion is drawn that reorganization of cortical activity is necessary for perception and regulation of unconscious interoceptive information. Functional significance of this reorganization consists in the restriction of processing of exteroceptive information.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
The present invention relates to a new adhesive eliminating the disadvantages of the adhesives used up to now for the preparation of TLC and HPTLC chromatographic plates and satisfying the special demands of the high pressure single-layer and multilayer chromatographic procedures.
The invention also relates to the preparation of the adhesive.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
Node app is not running on my PC but running fine with other PC of my team (using Git)
Our team makes a project with a Node.js server and use GitHub as source control. The problem is when I will run the server. I use next steps to test if the master will start the application.
git checkout master
git pull
npm update
node .\backend\server.js
The last comment gives me next error.
D:\***\node_modules\passport-oauth2\lib\strategy.js:82
if (!options.clientID) { throw new TypeError('OAuth2Strategy requires a clientID option'); }
^
TypeError: OAuth2Strategy requires a clientID option
at Strategy.OAuth2Strategy (D:\Documenten\WatchFriends\Web\node_modules\passport-oauth2\lib\strategy.js:82:34)
at new Strategy (D:\Documenten\WatchFriends\Web\node_modules\passport-google-oauth20\lib\strategy.js:52:18)
at module.exports.config (D:\Documenten\WatchFriends\Web\backend\data\passport.js:94:18)
at Object.<anonymous> (D:\Documenten\WatchFriends\Web\backend\server.js:16:1)
at Module._compile (module.js:570:32)
at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:579:10)
at Module.load (module.js:487:32)
at tryModuleLoad (module.js:446:12)
at Function.Module._load (module.js:438:3)
at Module.runMain (module.js:604:10)
at run (bootstrap_node.js:394:7)
at startup (bootstrap_node.js:149:9)
at bootstrap_node.js:509:3
Other team partners are also working on the same repository has done the same steps to test if the master will run. The wierd problem is that they haven't any problem. Also the configuration files that are ignore by the .gitignore file are equal.
Question: What is the problem why the code doesn't run on my computer and but will run on other computers?
I've tried to delete and reclone the project from GitHub, reinstall the node modules and added the ignored files. But it doesn't solve the error. I'm woking with node version 6.9.3 and git version 2.10.2.windows.1.
Update:
Here is the link to our GitHub project: github.com/WatchFriends/Web
This is the build status of Travis (Just ckecking some gulp tasks but also npm run build)
Here is the link to Travis: travis-ci.org/WatchFriends/Web
Configuration of Travis: ./.travis.yml on GitHub
install:
- npm install
- npm install -g angular-cli
language: node_js
script:
- gulp html
- gulp scss
- gulp ts
- gulp node
node_js:
- "6.9"
cache:
directories:
- node_modules
- bower_components
A:
That is why you should use continuous integration systems like Travis, Circle or Codeship to run your tests on a clean system - to avoid the situation that the application doesn't work but someone says "it works on my system".
Clearly your system has to be different in some way from the systems that the code works on. You can have different software installed, different services running, different libraries, different environment variables, a different OS or maybe you're doing something different during the installation or starting of the application.
Start using CI and you'll immediately see what's wrong.
Also use npm to start your service:
npm start
so that you know that you are running the same command as everyone else.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Comment from an evangelical presbyterian perspective and an orthodox confessionally reformed outlook.
Tuesday, 10 April 2018
Presbyterian Polity
Presbyterian
Polity
In
recently preaching a sermon on the biblical basis of Presbyterianism I was made
aware by a number of hearers that they had never heard a sermon on church
polity.They had heard plenty of sermons
on the doctrine of the church, but had been left to suppose that Presbyterianism
was just a personal choice for some churches with no solid biblical basis.
This
review by B B Warfield shows the high esteem in which Witherow and his work
were held.I have not edited the review,
despite its over long paragraphs.(The
abbreviation that is used, sq, is
from the Latin sequiturque, which
basically, means “the following (next) page”; much as we would use ff.)
From The Presbyterian Review (1890)
The
Form of the Christian Temple : being a treatise on the Constitution of the New
Testament Church. By Thomas Witherow, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Church History
in Magee College, Londonderry. Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark ; New York :
Scribner & Welford, 1889.
We
welcome this valuable treatise the more heartily that we fear there is a tendency
among us to undervalue the study of Church polity. It may serve to remind us,
in the wise words of its author (p. vii.), " that Church polity is an important
portion of Christianity.” " Its main principles,” he justly continues, "are
divinely revealed ; its design is to conserve and to perpetuate truth, as well as
to secure decency and order in worship, in instruction, and in administration ;
while it is often on the side of Church government, and generally under cover of
indistinct and uncertain notions regarding it, that minute changes have crept into
the Church which have in the course of centuries blossomed out into serious error.”
Led by so just a conception of its importance, he has made a careful study of
the constitution of the New Testament Church, the conclusion of whichmay be expressed in these words (although
they are not put forward as such) : “ Presbyterianism has the true bishop, the
true episcopal ordination, the' true Apostolic Succession, the true commission,
and the true ministry” (p. 386).
The
volume is divided into two very different parts. The first half is a stringently
inductive examination of the New Testament passages bearing on the organization
of the Church, with the intention and effect of discovering exactlywhat the form of the New Testament Church was.
Here the controversial element is relegated to the background, although a hint
of it may obtrude itself in an occasional bit of dry humor (pp. 119, 167, 168,
196) or in an occasional intrusion into the inductive process of minor items of
a more modern flavor. How easy it is to introduce into our speech, regarding the
institutions of the first century, traits and forms of statement drawn from our
present habits or training, Dr. Witherow illustrates by a quotation from the
Tracts for the Times (p.111, note).How hard it is wholly to avoid it, he illustrates by an occasional
slip of his own. Examples are the repeated assertion ( e.g ., p. 18) that Paul
was not appointed apostle until after the death of James of Zebedee ; the statement
that lay prophets were allowed only “ occasionally” to address the Church (p. 34)
; the assumption that Timothy’s work in Ephesus was “ exceptional ” (pp. 38, 40).
These are, however, rare motes on the surface of a generally successful stream
of pure induction. In the second half of the book the controversial element
comes prominently forward, although everywhere kept within due bounds by Dr.
Witherow’s unfailing exegetical insight and sober historical sense. Here we
have not so much a historical study of the origin of the human additions to the
temple, as a polemic examination of the asserted divine sanction for the chief ecclesiastical
growths of later times — the priesthood, penance, prelacy, apostolical succession,
and the papacy. In the multitude of details which are here brought forward, it
is not to be expected that all the opinions expressed will meet universal
acceptance — especially when they concern points of confessed difficulty. We
are most seriously at odds with the author in his denial of the genuineness of
the short Greek Ignatian Epistles, which we consider as unnecessary to hisgeneral position as it is unreasonable in the
present state of the evidence. Nor can we accord with his criticism of Bishop
Lightfoot’s view of the position of James (who we do not believe to have been
an apostle) at Jerusalem. Dr. Witherow is especially to be congratulated on his
correct perception of the Presbyterian drift of the more recent Prelatic arguments.
He does not fall into the trap which some others have not escaped, of seeking
some extreme position from which these arguments may still be refuted. The fact
is that Dr. Lightfoot, for example, in the essay incorporated in his Commentary
on Philippians,has defended the
apostolicity of Presbyterianism ; the threefold ministry, the
apostolic
sanction of which he has set himself, in that famous essay, to render probable,
is distinctly the threefold ministry of the Presbyterian and as distinctly not
that of the Episcopal Churches. To refute his position would be to refute Presbyterianism
; and we are glad to believe it to be irrefutable.
That
there is a divinely appointed polity for the Church, Dr. Witherow has no doubt
; and no one can doubt it who has given his attention to the Scriptural deliverances
in this sphere. “The opinion of all theologians
who have not carefully studied the subject,” he says pointedly, ‘‘is that no
system of Church polity is contained in the New Testament ; that if so, it
cannot be determined with precision ; or if it can be so determined, it is not
obligatory on the Church of after times, and, of course, is practically useless.
This opinion, it will be seen, we dispute in all its parts” (p. 2). It really admits
of no question that God has instituted the ministry (1 Cor. xii. 28, Eph. iv.
11), and this carries with it some elements of a Church polity ; or that the
apostles asserted God's right to order His own Church so as best to secure the
great purpose for which He established it (i Tim. iii. 15), and, acting of course
on Christ’s authority, appointed deacons (Acts vi.) and elders (Acts xiv. 23)
in the churches which they founded, determined their qualifications (1 Tim. iii.
1 sq , Titus i. 5 sq.), and defined their duties (1 Peter v. 1 sq.). In nothing
is the soundness of Dr. Witherow’s judgment more apparent, however, than in the
accuracy with which he draws the line between what in the organization of the
Church may be as-serted to have direct, divine sanction, and what has been left
to a more or less human development. In general we may say that the organization
of the individual Church was imposed upon it by the apostles ; while in all
that belongs to the association of the churches, we are left to a further
application of the principles of government which underlie the directly divine
institutions. To use Dr. Witherow’s well-chosen words : “ Association, whether
of Churches or of rulers, is a Scriptural principle. The association of elders
in the government of a local Church — that is, the congregational presbytery,
is a divine institution ; the association of the rulers of different
congregations for managing matters in common — that is, the district
presbytery, is simply a matter of agreement and consent, but is the outcome of
a principle that has received divine sanction again and again” (p. 187). “When the Christian Church is organized,” he
says, in another place (p. 106), the name of presbytery ” is applied to the
Christian elders of a Church in their associated capacity. That it is not in 1
Tim. iv. 14, the associated elders of different congregations, is known because
there is not in the New Testament any clear example of such association in
ordinary cases.” The reference of the last phrase, ” in ordinary cases,” is not
obvious. Certainly when Dr. Witherow comes to treat formally of the “ council ”
of Acts xv. he has far too clear a historical sense to see in it an extraordinary
instance of such an association. “ There is not a line in the chapter,” he justly
writes, “ leading us to believe that any were present except the deputies from
Antioch along with the apostles, elders, and brethren of Jerusalem. ... To say
that it was a representative body, in the literal sense, is to view the transaction
from the standpoint of later times” (p. 192). If we are to apply to that “
council” language derived from our present usage, we should term it a meeting
of the Church Session of Jerusalem. This is not to belittle it. It was of
epoch-making importance, both at the time, in separating the Church from
Judaism and committing the whole Church to a universalistic policy ; and for
all time as a charter of freedom from the Mosaic law. Dr. Witherow most
admirably says in words which it would do us good to ponder : ” When told by
sceptics that we are bound by the Bible to pay tithes, to execute the idolater
and blasphemer, to put the Sabbath-breaker and witch to death, our answer is
that the apostolic decree sets us entirely free from these and all other peculiarities
of the old Jewish economy. They are not named among the exceptions, and
therefore are of no binding force upon Gentile believers” (p. 193). Whatever we
may think of the binding character of the ‘‘decree” then issued, this use of
the deliberations and conclusion is assuredly legitimate. Nor does this view of
the nature of that “ council ” destroy its normal character as a model Church
court. ” It is,” rather, in Dr. Witherow’s words, ”the true model of all
subsequent synods” (p 196). We are bound
to confess, indeed, our inability to follow him in his method of validating it
as the model of associated Presbyteries and Synods — viz., by speaking of it as
an “ assembly of Church rulers outside the local Church" (p. 198), as “ an
external tribunal of Church rulers, publicly deliberating in Jerusalem upon a
question affecting, in the first instance, the Church of Antioch” (p. 197).
This is artificial. It amounts to little more than setting up an undistributed
middle — “ ex- ternal tribunal ” — as the tertium comparationis between this “
council ” and our Presbyteries —and an undistributed middle, let us add, which
is not a fair designation of either the one or the other. Let us confess that
the New Testament gives us no example of other than congregational presbyteries
; and rest our higher courts on the legitimate application in their formation
of the same principle of association which was divinely enacted in the congregational
government.
Among
the various puzzling questions that concern the organization of the local
churches, Dr. Witherow threads his safe way with his usual judiciousness and
sound exegetical tact. The nature of the eldership as an undifferentiated ruling-teaching
office, the nature of the diaconate as essentially an office of service rather
than of “ ministry” in its higher sense, the nature of the local presbytery and
its functions, the ground and mode of association of the Churches (one of the
best chapters), are all judiciously investigated. The only criticism of any
moment which we could bring against the findings of this whole half of the
volume, would be that the nature of the work of the apostles and the relation to
them of their travelling companions do not seem to be exactly realized. Paul was
not only a divinely appointed and divinely inspired missionary, he was a travelling
missionary-society , and his companions were his helpers in this work. He sent
them forth clothed with his powers and as agents to do his work ; wherever they
went they stood in loco apostoli and acted as his extended hand. Their
commission inhered not in any local organization, not even in the Church at
large, but in the apostle ; and their centre of authority was wherever he was. So
he left Timothy in Ephesus to act for him there ; and withdrew him from Ephesus
when he had other need for him, replacing him with Tychicus (2 Tim. iv. 12). In
like manner he left Titus in Crete and replaced him when he thought well with
Artemas (Titus iii. 12). In this connection, 2 Tim. iv. 9 sq. is a very instructive
passage. Paul desires Timothy to come to him. Not because the Church of Ephesus
had no further need for him ; he carefully provides for a successor to him
there ( v . 12). Not because he is himself lonely ; he is surrounded by Roman
friends ( v . 21). But because, as he states, the most of his helpers are away
— some by desertion, some on commission, and Luke alone of them all is with him
( v . 10 sq.). He needs more help in the work than Luke can render, and so he
calls Timothy, and with him Mark ; and he adds the reason,
“
For he is profitable to me for ministering." This gives us a great outlook
upon Paul's labors as the care of all thechurches rested upon him. Even while
he was in prison, Luke was inadequate for the labors of his office ; he
required at least two secretaries.
About Me
With degrees in both philosophy and theology, I have lived and worked in the UK, West Africa (working in theological education) and the USA. As a Teaching Elder I served for 19 years in the Church of Scotland and 4 years in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (USA). I am a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, and a member in St Andrews Free Church, Fife.
I am married to my wonderful wife Aileen, who has supported and moulded me over 40 years of marriage - an ongoing project that may yet pay dividends, although it requires great patience on her part.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Archives
Categories
Tag: Cron
As part of a tool I am currently creating I needed a way to validate user supplied cron patterns.
Laravel has plenty of built in validators including regex which I could have used, however I found creating the required regex pattern was complicated – and ugly. I wanted to just be able to specify the rule in the model validation rules with something simple like “cron_expression”.
Instead of writing the regex patterns required to detect cron patterns I decided to use the brilliant cron expression library to do the validation for me – all of the validation is already done and any PHP project that is dealing with cron expressions should already be using this parser as it seems to be the best out there by far.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Alaska’s Premier Fishing Lodge
Experience the warmth and hospitality that makes us THE Luxury Alaska Fly Fishing Lodge.
Alaska’s Premier Fishing Lodge
Experience the warmth and hospitality that makes us THE Luxury Alaska Fly Fishing Lodge.
Alaska Fishing Lodge
Looking for an Alaska fishing lodge that offers unspoiled beauty, incredible fishing and prime lodge accommodations? Look no further than the Alaska Rainbow Lodge, the finest, most centrally located Alaska fishing lodge in the Bristol Bay, Alaska region.
The Most Modern In Alaska
Alaska Rainbow Lodge is a 4,600 sq. ft. cedar frame lodge featuring a large living room, kitchen, lounge and dining room, as well as 5 double-occupancy bedrooms with private bath.
After a long day of successful fishing our guests enjoy private bedrooms in one of our 3 duplex cabins. Each plush, carpeted, soundproofed bedroom has a large private bath. Each has a queen and a twin size extra-long bed. Our cozy Alaska fishing lodge has thermostatically controlled forced-air, heat and 24-hour electricity.
If you want trophy Rainbow trout, we invite you to visit our world class wilderness lodge, where we take each guest’s adventure very personally. Experience the warmth and hospitality that makes Alaska Rainbow Lodge so special. Our attention to detail and personalized service helps make us Alaska’s place to visit. Most of all, we provide each guest with freshwater fishing unmatched anywhere on earth.
Making your stay unforgettable is our goal and promise.
Looking at Alaska Fishing Lodges for yourself, a group, or perhaps for a Corporate or Executive Retreat?
Well, look no further. At the Alaska Rainbow Lodge, our Alaska Fishing Trips are one of a kind experiences that create memories to last a lifetime.
Four Star Dining
Alaska Fishing Lodge Food is not all created equal. At the Rainbow Lodge, we serve only the finest food, prepared with great care by our blue ribbon chef. The gourmet meals at Alaska Rainbow Lodge are world famous.
Your day is started with a wake-up call tray of juice and a hot drink served to your room. You then decide on the breakfast choice in the dining room, cooked to order, before departing on your Fly Fishing adventure of the day.
Most Days Afield…
your guide will prepare a hot shore lunch. Your freshly caught Salmon will be sauteed or grilled for your steam side, along with homemade soup and sandwiches. Complimentary wine, beer, and soft drinks are furnished.
Upon returning from your days fishing, a variety of evening hors d’oeuvres will be waiting for you at the lodge. Choice dinner specialties include Alaska king crab, Filet Mignon, Prime Rib, Alaska Shrimp, Alaska Halibut, Chicken, Baby Back Ribs, and many more tasty delicacies to satisfy the hearty fisherman’s appetite. Daily, homemade breads, delicious pastries and gourmet delights are served with each lodge meal.
Each Tastefully Furnished Bedroom Has:
Plush carpeting
A large private bath
Plenty of hot water
Queen and extra-long twin bed
Thermostatically controlled forced air heat
24-hour electricity
Fly tying table and materials
Daily housekeeping
Nightly Equipment drying
Laundry services as needed
Internet (WiFi)
Guest telephone service
CD player and variety of music choices
TV with DVD player
Complete video selection
Variety of reading material
Lodge Accommodations
Alaska Rainbow Lodge is the most modern remotely located Alaska Luxury Fly Fishing Lodge. We have gone to great lengths to assure that your Alaska Fly Fishing trip is comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
We have five double bedrooms inside the lodge plus six single bedrooms in private guest cabins. At the Alaska Rainbow Lodge, you will discover Alaska Fishing Accommodations like no other. Our remote location allows for plenty of solitude and amazing scenery, not to mention our trophy caliber fishing.
After Hours at the Lounge…
The comfortable lounge and bar overlooks the Kvichak River and has a personable atmosphere and ample room for socializing. Grayling and Rainbow Trout can be seen rising to dry flies off the river from the lodges’ front window. It’s not uncommon to see Bear, Moose and Caribou in their natural setting. A great place to relax and enjoy a complimentary drink after an exhilarating day of catching fish.
Liquor & other Beverages
Alaska Rainbow Lodge furnished all liquor which is included in the price of your trip. Our open host bar includes two major brands each of scotch, Canadian whiskey, blended whiskey, vodka, gin and bourbon plus several varieties of liqueurs. We serve house carafes of red & white wine and offer four selections of beer. We have premium wines available at additional charge.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Texas Tower (lighthouse)
A Texas Tower lighthouse is a structure which is similar to an off-shore oil platform. Seven of these structures were built in the 1960s off the shores of the United States. Automation started in the late 1970s, which led to the obsolescence of the housing built for the keepers which resulted in such a large structure. Three of the towers were dismantled over time due to deteriorating structural conditions among other problems, while another one was destroyed in a ship collision. The last Texas Tower was deactivated in 2016 having served for over half a century. Today only three of the former lights remain, one of which was converted into a bed-and-breakfast.
Design and construction
These lights were all constructed at offshore stations previously served by lightships. An attempt to set a caisson light at Diamond Shoals off the North Carolina coast in the late 1880s showed that the techniques of the day were not adequate, and it was not until the 1960s that the Coast Guard attempted to replace the lightships with permanent structures. By that point, experience with offshore oil drilling platforms provided a model.
The six lights were similar in form and, excepting the first, nearly identical in construction. Each consisted of a framework of four steel, concrete-filled piles driven deep into the ocean floor, upon which a square platform was set. This platform contained the living quarters and was assembled from a set of modules. A tower was attached to one corner and housed the light. The roof of the living quarters formed a helipad; a dock was also provided low on the framework. The name of the station was displayed on a large sign on each side of the light, on the side of or just below the platform.
The quarters provided living space for six regular crewmen plus three transients. Normally, four crewmembers were on duty at a time, with regular rotation to shore. In addition to monitoring and maintaining the beacon, the crew also operated weather reporting equipment.
Automation and decommissioning
While these towers have stood against any storms thus far, two of them have fallen victim to ship collisions. In 1996, Ambrose Light was struck by a Greek oil tanker, damaging it severely enough that it was replaced in 1999 by a new, smaller tower (which itself was struck twice before being demolished by the Coast Guard in 2008). A month after the Ambrose accident, Savannah Light was completely demolished when a container ship struck it.
By that time all of these stations had been automated, beginning with the Diamond Shoals Light in 1977. Inspection of the (then) survivors revealed that four out of five showed substantial deterioration. Brenton Reef Light was demolished in 1992 and replaced with a buoy. The Buzzard Bay Light was demolished and replaced with a smaller tower in 1996; the Diamond Shoals and Frying Pan Shoals lights have been extinguished; both towers still stand and are now privately owned. Chesapeake Light was retrofitted with solar panels and was the last tower to be an active navigational aid. In August, 2016 the light was deactivated by NOAA after it was determined that the structure was deteriorating. The design of the Texas tower is now considered obsolete since there is no longer a need for a structure to house the keepers.
Towers built
The first Texas tower in the United States was the Buzzards Bay Light, located in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, which was commissioned on November 1, 1961. In total seven Texas tower lights were constructed over a period of six years. Chesapeake Light was the last to be deactivated in 2016 after it was used for NOAA and NASA to carry out studies.
Further reading
References
Category:Lighthouses in the United States
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Creagh Icefall
Creagh Icefall () is an icefall at the head of Creagh Glacier in the Wilkniss Mountains, Victoria Land. It was named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names in 1994 in association with Creagh Glacier.
References
Category:Icefalls of Antarctica
Category:Landforms of Victoria Land
Category:Scott Coast
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Scorpios are usually very intense, strong-willed, and determined to get what they want. You tend to go to extremes, on one hand being able to rise above it all and achieve great and wonderful things, on the other hand, you can literally scrape the bottom of the barrel of morality so to speak, and give in to the lower energies in your life. Most will fall somewhere in the middle, but the potential for either is always present. In either case, you likely have a secretive and mysterious way about you. You are somewhat introverted, but you generally enjoy company. With your abundant energy, you can usually get much accomplished in a day, however you can procrastinate as well, sometimes to the level of not getting anything done at all! You are strong-willed and tenacious, so with a little push, you can usually get done what you need to. With your excellent powers of will and concentration, and a little self-discipline, you can help you pretty much do anything you want! You have a calm, cool and self-controlled air about you, but with an inner tension somewhat like a volcano just under the surface of a calm sea. You can be withdrawn when in a crowd, but you are always watching people and how they interact, all the while making secret mental notes to yourself. You are resourceful and enjoy researching and investigating topics that interest you, perhaps archaeology, anthropology, and psychology. You are for the most part self-reliant, but you enjoy good company and interesting conversations. You have a secretive side that no one really knows about except you. You are very guarded with respect to your personal privacy, and you are not fond of opening up to people that you aren't very close to.
Scorpions have a very nasty sting if they decide to get you, and you Scorpio, are no different. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to be stung by you will remember the wound for a long time. You can be very blunt and downright cruel to people you do not like, and totally arrogant, aggressive and even sadistic if you choose to be. Brooding resentment often drives your actions when you behave this way. You have a tendency to discard friends when they are no longer useful to you. You certainly have a dangerous way about you, and perhaps part of your thrives on knowing this. It may be a defense mechanism so that people can't get too close to you. Your protective shell can be impenetrable, so any of your secrets stay with you and you alone. On the other hand, you are highly protective of those you love, and will fight courageously in their honor.
Relationships
In a relationship, you like to be in charge, and in control. You have a magnetic quality about you that almost dares others to see what you're all about. You need someone fearless who can stand up to you and match your wits. Although you like a good challenge, there will only be harmony in the relationship if you are the winner. You can certainly express love and devotion, but only on your terms. You have many motivations in a relationship, and most of them are selfish. You only want what is best for you, and you have no reservations about getting it. Your partner will benefit as well, since you wanted the best after all! You are eager to find a strong, understanding, and perceptive partner who will embrace your many facets. Love for you may be challenging, but you really do have a heart of gold under all that armor.
Sexuality
Scorpios are very sexual beings. Your libido is almost hyper-natural and can only be matched by someone with an equally demanding sexuality. You put everything into your sexual escapades, leaving no pillow or blanket unturned! Union with a lover is a sacrament to you, and it fulfills you on all levels. You love giving sensual pleasure to your lover, and expect the same quality in return. You are demanding, but in a good way! If you can make love all night long, with a few surprises thrown in, you are the perfect lover for our prowling Scorpio.
PsychicAccess
FREE 6 Minute Reading! The very talented, professional psychics at PsychicAccess can help you to a happier road to travel in life. No problem is too big or small. Let the very best of the net become your personal advisors. Choose from telephone or live video/chat readings. Be sure to check this site out, you'll be glad you did.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
faster or batch alternative to python's socket.gethostbyaddr()?
Is there a faster or batch alternative to socket.gethostbyaddr() for the purpose of determining the host, given an IP address? Thank you.
A:
You can use dnspython module [1], look from_address function.
Note: It's thread safe.
[1] http://www.dnspython.org/
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 14-0501
Filed November 26, 2014
DEBBIE L. DIERENFELD,
Petitioner-Appellee,
vs.
SCOTT M. STEFFES,
Respondent-Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert A. Hutchison,
Judge.
Scott Steffes challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a
domestic abuse protective order. AFFIRMED.
Eric G. Borseth of Borseth Law Office, Altoona, for appellant.
F. John Spellman of Spellman Law Office, Des Moines, for appellee.
Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Doyle and Tabor, JJ.
2
DOYLE, J.
Scott Steffes appeals from the district court’s final protective order entered
in Iowa Code chapter 236 (2013) proceedings, contending the record is
insufficient to support the district court’s determination he committed domestic
abuse assault against his estranged girlfriend, Debbie Dierenfeld. Because a
preponderance of the record evidence establishes Scott committed domestic
abuse assault against Debbie, we affirm.
I. Background Facts & Proceedings
Debbie and Scott lived together from the early months of 2012 until July
2013. They have one child together, born in April 2012. Debbie filed a petition
for relief from domestic abuse in February 2014 following a string of incidents
involving Scott.
Debbie testified Scott “used to terrorize me at night and not let me sleep,
tell me he would kill me and no one would find out” and that Scott was “violent
and throwing things around.” Debbie stated during one altercation in April 2013,
she tried to call 911, but Scott “smashed” her phone. When Debbie picked up
their child and went to the child’s bedroom, Scott “came in and slammed the crib
against the wall, leaving a hole, and then starting throwing things around in her
room and told me he would kill me if I left.” Debbie was fearful of Scott.
Debbie testified that after she and the child moved out, Scott “would text
me incessantly with threats” “[s]ometimes 20, 30 times a day,” “would call 20, 30
times a day,” and he “showed up at my work.” Exhibits 1 and 2 were entered into
evidence. In Exhibit 1, Scott sent a text message to Debbie, “You lie all the time
. . . I can’t wait to see you. . . . You need to return my medicine and wallet
3
tonight. I have a lot of slundge [sic] hammers.” Debbie testified Scott’s message
was threatening. In Exhibit 2, Scott sent a text message Debbie about property
and a potential settlement, concluding, “And well for everyone, well what going
around comes around. . . . Arson.” Debbie testified she took the word “arson” in
Scott’s text message to mean “[t]hat he would burn the house—houses down.
He had told me that in person before.”
In January 2014, Debbie and the child met Scott and his niece at a Chuck
E. Cheese restaurant. Debbie heard Scott saying derogatory things to their child,
and told him not to talk to the child like that. Scott then “just went nuts in the
middle of Chuck E. Cheese’s and said, Eff you, and, I should just effing kill you
and get it over with, and, This is what I have to deal with all the time.” Debbie
picked up the child and left. Debbie testified he was loud and she was scared.
Debbie testified on February 12, 2014, someone attempted to break into
her home. Debbie stated a window was pushed in when she opened the front
door and there was trash thrown all over the driveway. She called the police.
Debbie testified she is afraid of Scott and in fear of her safety. She stated she
does not know of anyone else that would have attempted to break into her house
and she does not have any enemies.
Scott testified he had never threatened Debbie, had not attempted to
break into her home, and did not know or did not remember sending the text
messages sent from his phone number. Scott further stated Debbie had gotten
upset at him at Chuck E. Cheese, but he denied threatening her.
Ultimately, the district court found this evidence sufficient to justify entry of
a final protective order. Scott appeals.
4
II. Standard of Review
This civil domestic abuse case was heard in equity, and our review is de
novo. See Wilker v. Wilker, 630 N.W.2d 590, 594 (Iowa 2001). “Respectful
consideration is given to the trial court’s factual findings and credibility
determinations, but not to the extent where those holdings are binding upon us.”
Id.
III. Analysis
Scott contends the record is insufficient to support the district court’s
determination he committed domestic abuse assault against Debbie. More
specifically, Scott claims the evidence fails to show he had the specific intent to
commit the underlying assault required for an adjudication of domestic abuse.
He further alleges Debbie tries to limit his contact with the parties’ child, and
Debbie’s motivation in seeking relief under chapter 236 should be considered in
assessing her credibility.
In a chapter 236 domestic abuse proceeding, the party seeking protection
must prove the allegation of domestic abuse by a preponderance of the
evidence. See Iowa Code § 236.4(1). In order to show there has been
“domestic abuse,” the party must show there has been an assault, as defined in
section 708.1. See id. § 236.2(2). Assault under section 708.1 includes:
a. Any act which is intended to cause pain or injury to, or
which is intended to result in physical contact which will be insulting
or offensive to another, coupled with the apparent ability to execute
the act.
b. Any act which is intended to place another in fear of
immediate physical contact which will be painful, injurious, insulting,
or offensive, coupled with the apparent ability to execute the act.
Iowa Code § 708.1(2).
5
Assault under section 708.1 includes an element of specific intent. State
v. Fountain, 786 N.W.2d 260, 266 (Iowa 2010). The court may infer intent from
the normal consequences of a party’s actions. State v. Evans, 671 N.W.2d 720,
724-25 (Iowa 2003). “Intent is a state of mind; it may be established by
circumstantial evidence and by inferences drawn from that evidence.” State v.
Nance, 533 N.W.2d 557, 562 (Iowa 1995).
On our de novo review of all of the evidence presented in this case, we
determine a preponderance of the evidence shows Scott had the specific intent
required to commit an assault under section 708.1. We may infer intent from
Scott’s actions. See Evans, 671 N.W.2d at 724-25. At a minimum, with regard
to the incident in April 2013, Scott’s actions in throwing things, slamming the crib
into the wall, and smashing Debbie’s phone when she tried to call for help, while
threatening to kill Debbie if she left, was an act done by Scott without justification,
intended to place Debbie in fear of immediate physical contact which would be
insulting or offensive to Debbie, and was coupled with the apparent ability to
execute the act. Although Scott denied that this incident occurred or that he had
threatened Debbie, we give weight to the district court’s findings as to credibility
because the trier of fact has a better opportunity to evaluate the credibility of
witnesses. We conclude the record evidence supports a finding that Scott’s
actions, as testified to by Debbie, in fact occurred. We affirm the issuance of the
final domestic abuse protective order.
AFFIRMED.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Despite billions of dollars in related funding, the national campaign against childhood obesity initiated in 2010 by Michelle Obama, perhaps the fittest first lady in history, has apparently moved the needle on America’s weight scale only slightly.
We’re fat, we’re getting fatter and so are our kids, except for the very youngest, according to new studies of obesity in America from the Centers for Disease Control that were just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Related: The 10 Fattest States in America
An editorial in JAMA says that government, nonprofits and business have spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to “stem the tide of the obesity epidemic” but concludes that “the data certainly do not suggest much success.”
The national surveys cited by the CDC found that in 2013-2014 more than 40 percent of American women and 35 percent of American men were obese. That’s up from 38 percent of women and 34 percent of men a decade earlier.
Among children and teens ages 2 to 19, the overall obesity rate from 2011-2014 was 17 percent, with extreme obesity at 5.8 percent. But among teens, obesity is on the rise, growing from 17 percent to 21 percent.
The sliver of hope for reversing the bulking up of the country is younger children. Among kids age 2 to 5, the prevalence of obesity declined from 13.9 percent in 2003-2004 to 9.3 percent in 2013-2014.
Michelle Obama kicked off a program called Let’s Move! in 2010 with much fanfare. Government agencies were enlisted in the effort, Beyoncé made a music video and companies such as Disney signed on to help. The stated goal was to “solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation.” At the same time, President Obama appointed a Task Force on Childhood Obesity and signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which allocated $4.5 billion to implement new nutrition standards in schools.
Related: Obesity Is Now a Bigger Global Problem Than Hunger
But if Michelle Obama’s efforts to make America not so enormous again haven’t made much of a difference, there is scant evidence that the pet projects of other recent first ladies registered much success either.
Decades after Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” to drugs campaign, marijuana is inching toward legalization and the country is beset by an epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse. And Hillary Clinton’s efforts to craft universal health care in Bill Clinton’s first term, dubbed “Hillarycare,” went down to defeat. In her book Living History, Clinton wrote that “I underestimated the resistance I would meet as a first lady with a political mission.”
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Preservation of peritoneal fibrinolysis owing to decreased transcription of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 in peritoneal mesothelial cells suppresses postoperative adhesion formation in laparoscopic surgery.
Postoperative adhesion formation is regulated by peritoneal fibrinolysis, which is determined by tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). This study compared peritoneal fibrinolysis and adhesion formation after laparoscopic surgery (LAP) and open surgery (OP). We divided 154 male rats into 3 groups after cecal cauterization: Control, no treatment; LAP, CO2 pneumoperitoneum at 5 mmHg for 60 minutes; and OP, laparotomy for 60 minutes. Adhesions were quantified at day 7. The activity and mRNA level of tPA and PAI-1 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in plasma and peritoneal lavage and by real-time polymerase chain reaction in peritoneal mesothelial cells from omentum. We also examined peritoneal fibrinolysis in human gastric cancer patients treated with LAP (n = 14) or OP (n = 10). In the animal study, adhesion scores, PAI-1 activity in peritoneal lavage fluid, and PAI-1 mRNA levels in peritoneal mesothelium were significantly greater in the OP group than the control and LAP groups. In the human study, postoperative PAI-1 mRNA levels were significantly greater in the OP group than the LAP group. Additionally, PAI-1 mRNA levels and subsequent adhesion formation were induced by prolonged operative time in the OP group, but not the LAP group. Preservation of peritoneal fibrinolysis owing to decreased PAI-1 expression at the transcriptional level in peritoneal mesothelial cells is associated with suppression of postoperative adhesion formation in LAP. PAI-1 mRNA levels and subsequent adhesion formation were not induced by prolonged operative time in LAP. These results highlight the less invasiveness nature of LAP.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Assessing Packers vs. NFC playoff field
Dec. 18, 2012
Written by
The Packers have clinched the NFC North title and a home playoff game. Now all that needs to be determined is when they play their first post-season game and against which team.
The Packers are still in the running for a first-round playoff bye, but they would need to win their final two games against Tennessee and Minnesota and have one of two things to happen:
*San Francisco loses one of its last two games to either Seattle or Arizona.
*Atlanta loses its final two games to Detroit and Tampa Bay.
Anything is possible in the NFL, but let's assume that the 49ers and Falcons finish strong and the Packers are relegated to the No. 3 seed, which they can clinch with a victory Sunday at home against Tennessee.
That would leave the Packers facing the No. 6 seed in the wild-card round of the playoffs at Lambeau Field. The opponent could be any one of six teams in the crazy NFC playoff race. Let's look at those six potential opponents:
*Redskins: A meeting against Robert Griffin III, assuming he is healthy, is never an enticing prospect.
*Seahawks: A rematch of the infamous Fail Mary game, in which the Packers were robbed of a victory in Seattle by a blown official's call, would make for a great story line. But the Packers should be careful what they wish for in this revenge match because the Seahawks have been coming on strong lately with an explosive offense to go with their solid defense.
*Cowboys: Another revenge match, perhaps? The Packers could finally get back at the Cowboys for all those playoff losses in the 1990s. The return of Tony Romo to Wisconsin would feed the pre-game hype machine.
*Giants: This is one team that has the Packers' number of late, with blowout victories twice during the 2012 calendar year. But the Giants will need help just to qualify for the playoffs.
*Bears: Chicago didn't look like a playoff team in their loss to the Packers on Sunday, but perhaps they'll produce a surge to save Lovie Smith's job. Whether it's true or not, the pundits always say it's difficult to beat the same team three times in one season.
*Vikings: Minnesota came to Lambeau eight years ago with a worse record than the division champion Packers and beat them like a drum in a playoff matchup. That prompted Bob Harlan to replace Mike Sherman as general manager with Ted Thompson. It just goes to show that not all playoff losses end badly.
Here's a look at the remaining schedules of the top 9 teams in the NFC, with the top 6 qualifying for the playoffs:
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
January 4, 2014
My family is very particular about food. On Thanksgiving, my aunt always brings sweet potatoes, and I always bring pie. On Rosh Hashanah, I make my grandmother’s Jewish apple cake. Dinners with my aunt always involve her brisket, made the same way every time. And on Hanukkah and Passover, my mother makes matzah ball soup with chewwy matzah balls, big pieces of chicken and vegetables, and parsley, not dill. And I’m sure some of you are imagining my mother’s chicken soup and protesting in your heads that the soup should be made with clear broth, or with dill, or with big pillowy matzah balls. But matzah ball soup that is different from my mother’s, or brisket that is different from my aunt’s, or any pumpkin pie that I did not make from the recipe in the Silver Palatte cookbook just feels wrong to me, somehow. Every family has their rituals; a particular way of doing things that, if they were to try something different, the holiday or the time of year would just feel wrong.
And this portion, Parshat Bo, is about that very same issue of ritual. This portion is the first time that the Israelites are given a law to follow. A ritual of sacrifice and strange food, of family togetherness and telling of the story. Everything must be prepared just so; the same type of meat, cooked and eaten the same way.
But why are the Israelites commanded to do it? It is a ritual commemorating gratitude to God. God protected us from judgment and pain, and led us out of Egypt, and in exchange we ritualize and memorialize that protection every year throughout the generations.
How do we demonstrate gratitude? It is not enough, sometimes, to say thank you. Sometimes, the only way to properly express the depth of one’s obligation is through our actions, our rituals, our social habits. A gift does not feel like a proper gift unless it is given wrapped in pretty paper. A holiday does not feel like a holiday without that one particular recipe.
I was an anthropology major in college, and a theorist named Marcel Mauss teaches that gift giving, and the obligation that it brings, is what binds a society together. That when we are given a gift, we feel the need to give in return, and that endless cycle of giving and receiving is what helps to foster strong relationships. And these gifts to not only need to be the gift of a new sweater or an iPad. We are obligated in moments of vulnerability, of love, of compassion. When a parent died, and our friends organized food throughout the Shiva. Or when we were sick in the hospital, and our friends came to visit us every day with silly jokes and flowers. Or even when we were having a hard time, and some person took a moment to listen, to share the burden of our grief and anxiety. Those moments of genuine human connection and love are the gifts we give to one another, which keep our society moving.
So, I ask again, how do we express our gratitude? The first step is realizing that we are truly, deeply blessed. Cultivating thanks for our gifts of strength, and talent, and knowledge, and good health when it exists, and loving family when it exists. And the next step is to make use of those gifts. To show through our actions how much we love our community. To use our talents for making the world a better place. And to use our relationship with God, our Jewish community, our ancient teachings, to make the world a better place.
This is what the Israelites are commanded to do. They are given this ritual, in order to express their thanks for their salvation. The ritual of Passover is our gift to God in exchange for protection, love, and relationship. But it is not only one generation that gives God the gift of the Passover sacrifice. It is every generation thereafter. The most important part of the ritual is that it serves as a teachable moment for the children, and the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren, to come into relationship with God and all that God has done for the Jewish people.
And, like the gifts we give to the people around us, our gifts to God also help us to construct societies and relationships. Our gifts to God come in our celebration of Shabbat, in the Passover seder, in the kindling of the Hanukkah candles, in fasting at Yom Kippur. Every penny we give in tzedakah, every line we study of Torah, every mitzvah that we perform, is a gift to God in exchange for the blessing and the gift of life. And as we give those gifts, we give to one another. We form bonds with our families, and our friends, and our broader community, and the world, that make our human society a better place to live.
And so my wish for all of us this Shabbat is for gifts. The gift of seeing the blessings that are in our lives. The gift of feeling profound gratitude. And the gift of using all that we have been given to continue to give back in return.
December 4, 2013
I recently delivered a sermon about Hanukkah for Sermon Slam Philadelphia, an event like a poetry reading or a storytelling contest, but for sermons and other religious works. You can find a podcast of the event here. There were a lot of amazing, creative, and diverse works shared at this event, so please check it out. So many thanks to you guys for letting me share my preaching! And here’s the text of the sermon:
I’d like to start with a Hanukkah story, and one that you have probably never heard. In the days of Jason the High Priest, the days just before Antiochus the tyrant’s merciless attack on Judaism, several Jewish men were sent as representatives of Judea to the Herculean games at Tyre. They were sent with a hefty sum of money to fund sacrifices at the games, sacrifices to the god Hercules.
Imagine being those men. The honor and the privilege of representing Judea to the rest of the Greek world! The thrill of traveling to a new place, seeing the empire, and coming home as heroes, as champions. And yet, they have money in their pockets to sacrifice to Hercules. And so what do they do? What can they do? They can participate in foreign games, but they cannot bring themselves to worship foreign gods. The money never goes to sacrifices. Instead, it goes into the Greek war chest, to fund several new battleships.
I feel very close to the Jewish athletes from this story. Because I know what it means to feel the seductive pull of a broader culture. Those men most certainly spoke Greek, were gymnasia educated, and likely studied Plato and Aristotle. My native language is English, I was educated at Barnard, a secular college, where I majored in anthropology. I watch American TV, I listen to American music. My life, all of our lives, are deeply, strongly, American.
And that pull goes deeper for me than for many, especially future clergy. In this time of year, the time of light in the dark months, is hard for me. Because on Christmas, I’m going to be sitting in a church pew with my Presbyterian grandparents. I’m from an interfaith family, an overlooked but not uncommon occurrence among a new generation of American Jewish leaders.
The Maccabees did not like Jews like me. Their books rail against the Hellenization of their fellow Jews, calling them “evil” and “lawless” and claiming that they “abandoned the holy covenant.” Let alone marrying out.
The war of the Maccabees is not only a war against religious oppression. It is also a culture war, a strong statement against the forces of Hellenization. The Maccabees not only want to remain a free people, they also want to remain a people apart.
Given that, what does it mean to celebrate Hanukkah? How do I keep celebrating a holiday that commemorates a group that would have gladly driven my parents and me out on a rail?
For the answer, I wish to turn to this week’s Torah portion, to a man with many brothers, Joseph. Joseph who lives most of his life in Egypt. Joseph who takes on high positions of political power in court. Joseph who marries and Egyptian woman and has sons by her. And Joseph who, when the time comes, saves his brothers and welcomes them into his home with open arms.
Joseph is a master of “both/ and” thinking. He is a high ranking Egyptian official AND anxious to receive his father’s blessing. He is married to an Egyptian woman AND an interpreter of God’s visions. He straddles both worlds, and through the stretch and the straddling, he manages to save both the Egyptian people and his own family.
And so it is for me. I make one grandmother’s Christmas cookies and the other’s Jewish apple cake. I read Talmud, and then talk to my grandmother about how well I’m doing at my student “church.” I discuss atheism with my Jewish father, and kabbalah with my agnostic mother, and Aramaic with my atheist housemate who once wanted to be a priest. I study the historical context of the Lord’s Prayer, marvel at its similarity to the kaddish, and I can reel it off from memory because I learned it at a church Bible camp with my best friend when I was ten years old. And I am not alone. My Judaism filters down through both sides of my family, and all of my community, both Jewish and not, and it is the stronger for that.
What does this mean for us, we who come together to celebrate the great miracle that happened there? What is the miracle? I would argue that Hanukkah, is not yet another case of “they tried to kill us, we survived let’s eat” (although latkes are delicious). Rather, it is a powerfully complicated story about lines in the sand, and how those lines shift and move as the landscape also shifts, and how we ride that wave to lives rededicated to Judaism.
How do we know when to adapt, and when to stand firm? When can we act as the Jewish athletes, and go forth to the games, and when must we act as the Maccabees, and keep our Temple pure? Both are legitimate Jewish reactions to the same set of circumstances.
As actors in the broader world, we face these challenges every day.
Can we live out the Jewish value of Shabbat, in a world that favors being plugged in 24/7?
Can we live out the Jewish value of welcoming the stranger, when our society remains jingoistic and committed to deporting undocumented teenagers?
Can we live out the Jewish value of pikuach nefesh, in one of the few nations in the developed world that still executes prisoners, and bombs clinics in the name of saving babies?
Can we live out the Jewish value of communal responsibility, when so often our lives drag us away from one another, and make it so very difficult to commit to building a supportive and vibrant Jewish community?
And when should broader human values intercede; the value to protect the poor of all religions, the value to promote peace between all people, the value of honoring family and friends and loved ones, no matter what their religious background?
We must remember that we have tremendous power; the power to include and the power to exclude, the power to celebrate diversity and ecumenicalism and the power to celebrate our unique heritage. We are blessed, and cursed, to live in a world where the choice of where to draw our lines is truly our own. And while our lines in the sand may not be in the same place as the Maccabees, or the Jewish athletes, may we all have the power to stand firm in our convictions, knowing that we do so under the authority and blessing of God.
November 12, 2013
This past weekend I was at a Rabbis Without Borders retreat. This organization is designed to bring rabbinical students from many different denominations together to discuss the issues currently facing the American rabbinate, and to brainstorm creative solutions, with people that we would not ordinarily have a chance to work with. My cohort included everyone from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism to Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a left-wing Modern Orthodox yeshiva in New York. The work was tremendously hard, but also tremendously exciting and freeing.
I came into the conversation feeling a bit defensive, because of my patrilineal status. I was worried that I was going to have to spend the weekend defending myself and my decision to not do mikveh. But. I was so very pleasantly surprised. My cohort went beyond tolerating me in their midst. They welcomed me. They empathized with me. And they saw me as a future colleague and ally towards building a vibrant Jewish community.
The Jewish community of the future needs many voices. And certainly I am not going to agree with all of those voices. Most of those voices will spend lots of time disagreeing with each other. But underneath each of those official positions there are individual human beings with a variety of experiences, and potentially an openness to seeing beyond official positions to the essential humanity of every person. The ability to see down to the humanity of many different types of people is a talent that goes beyond denominational lines. And this weekend, I was in a room full of people who possess that gift and are willing to use it in service of their rabbinate. Knowing that I will have allies outside of my denomination is a really powerful gift.
I think that is really the power of a program like Rabbis Without Borders; it forces the participants to see each other not as “Orthodox” or “Reform” or “Reconstructionist,” but rather as whole people who are really committed to serving the Jewish community. And while we were having the conversation within the context of revitalizing Jewish communal life and empowering our communities to control their own destiny, the program went so far beyond that frame. I have always been interested and invested in building relationships, ownership, and leadership in my future communities. But being able to strategize with people whose communities will need radically different things in the future was, and is, tremendously powerful.
More than anything else, I know that I am not doing this work of building the Jewish community alone. My partners, my allies, radiate out from my movement and throughout the community. There are now eighteen other future colleagues, from all over the Jewish world, that I can rely on in building the sort of Jewish future that I want to see. There is room for all of us, and all of our visions. And I am that much more excited about the future of Judaism because of it.
So I had an idea for an educational program about the varied ways that Jews from interfaith families don’t fit the normative narrative of what is Jewish, and may not want to. I think there is a real lack of conversation about how to confront the reality that there is a whole generation of Jews who were raised in interfaith families, and are now coming into their own Jewish identity, and have a real lack of institutional and communal support around forming that identity. Here are my thoughts (which will have to be WAY fleshed out):
Rabbinic Judaism has certain beings/people that fall between different categories. Sometimes they are one thing, sometimes they are another, sometimes both, and sometimes neither. I have most commonly seen this sort of multiplicity used to talk about categories that would now be called intersex/ genderqueer people.
As a child from an interfaith family, I am both Jew and not-Jew, and different groups read me in different ways at different times.
Different children from interfaith families have different reactions to their multiple heritages, from wanting to be read only as Jewish all the time, to wanting to be read as only not-Jewish all the time, and everything in between.
Any way that a child of an interfaith family wants to be read is valid. No, really. They are all valid. What they do with that identity in the broader Jewish world that may disagree with them is what gets complicated…
Zelig Krymko, one of the Limmud participants who I had a chance to reconnect with this weekend, pointed out that in an interdenominational world, we live on a spectrum that is horizontal, not vertical and we play on these axes, jumping between them, and often ending up at very similar places for very different reasons, or in very different places for similar reasons. How do we embrace and play on that spectrum when not all parts of it recognize our Judaism?
How can we use rabbinic Judaism’s comfort with “queer” categories (meaning categories that encompass and shift between different identity markers in different situations) to create a Judaism that is more comfortable with people who are not interested in strict dichotomies of identity formation?
Jewish friends from interfaith families, what am I missing? What do you wish the broader Jewish world knew about your Jewish identity?
November 14, 2012
My high schoolers know that my mom isn’t Jewish (Or at least, some of them do. I’ve been dropping it into the conversation as it’s relevant). My 4th graders do not know. So, of course, it’s my 4th graders who are interested in talking about intermarriage and patrilineal descent (The big question: can someone with only one Jewish grandparent go to Hebrew School?).
I have my own answers to their questions, which are complicated by the fact that I teach at a Conservative synagogue which has a policy in place that patrilineal Jewish students have to undergo a conversion ceremony to have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. I’ve invited the Education Director and the rabbi to teach about their policies in what, I am sure, will be the kindest and gentlest way possible. I hope my students get something out of it, and feel affirmed by their synagogue at the end of the talk. But I’m still trying to situate myself within this conversation. How can I affirm the policies of my place of work, and affirm the Jewish identities of any students I may have who are patrilineal Jews, while still remaining true to my own beliefs about my Jewish identity?
The funny thing is that I took this job in part because our Education Director is so brilliant about interfaith and other issues of intersectionality. She knows about my heritage, and has been nothing but supportive of my working with these students. But it is still massively challenging to figure how how to work within a situation where my Jewish choices go against organizational culture. I’m kind of at a loss.
August 21, 2012
So, I sort of disappeared for the last month… oops. But! It was for a very good reason! I now have a place to live, and a car, and a bed to sleep in, and jobs! That took a lot of time and effort, and now I’m ready to start putting time and effort into writing again.
I’m renting a house by school with three other women; two of them are fellow rabbinical students and the third is a good friend from High School. All of us have Jewish and non-Jewish ancestry, and the three future rabbis are all straight up patrilineal Jews. And we are not alone at RRC. There are several others in our incoming class alone. This is really really really cool.
I spent some very formative years in terms of Judaism at a school that was hostile to my desire to embrace my halakhic ambiguity. I cannot tell you the number of former professors, rabbinic mentors, etc. who have offered to set up a beit din for my conversion, which I know comes from a place of love, but it bothers me that I would need outside affirmation and confirmation of something that I know to be already true and fundamental to me as a person.That leaves deep marks, psychically. On the one had, it strengthened my desire to be a role model for other Jews from interfaith backgrounds, to show them that they can have a home and even a leadership position in the Jewish community. On the other hand, it left me a bit defensive. Being in a learning environment where a significant chunk of my peers is dealing with some of the same challenges as me is hugely freeing.
That is not to say that we are all on the same page in regards to our patrilineal Judaism and what to do about it. Some of us are thinking about mikveh, others are not, and I am adamantly against it. But we are already starting to have the conversations amongst ourselves. How we relate to our halakhic status. How our mothers’ cultures influenced our Jewish journeys. How we all feel about Christmas (and whether or not to have a tree in our house this year). It is nice to talk to other future Jewish leaders, people who have strong ties to Judaism and have thought very deeply about these issues, and who really get it.
More importantly, I no longer feel the need to be a “model Jewish leader from an interfaith home.” There are so many of us within the student body grappling with these issues, either for themselves or for their children. Instead of needing to speak for all Jews from interfaith backgrounds everywhere, my voice can be just one of many opinions (and I will admit pretty freely that I am not a centrist when it comes to this question).
The broader Jewish community needs what is going on at RRC, and not just along axes of interfaith. When there are few or no Jews from interfaith families, or Jews of color, or QUILTBAG Jews, or Jews from poor or working class backgrounds in communal leadership positions, those who do have those experiences become tokenized, and their opinions and feelings must stand for the feelings of ALL Jews coming from that position. However, it is incredibly difficult to both speak freely and stand as THE representative from one group to the broader community. It is only by opening ourselves up as a community to diversity rather than tokenization that we will really begin to see these traditionally marginalized groups as consisting of people who relate to Judaism in a variety of complex and often conflicting ways.
I’m facing this very interesting situation upon graduation(Who’s a planner? I’m a planner!). Once I have my smicha, I’m going to be a rabbi that about half of the American Jewish community doesn’t consider Jewish. Certainly I’m not the first person in this situation, but it is going to be an interesting dilemma some day.
May 4, 2012
So there was an article in the Huffington Post recently, written by a young Orthodox woman named Rivka Cohen. Her mother converted to Judaism through a Conservative beit din, and her Modern Orthodox community at school now insists on treating her like a Shabbas goy. This article encapsulates perfectly the problems that the contemporary Jewish community faces when dealing with intermarriage, and the miles it has left to go.
In this article in the Daily Kos, author Sara Davies describes in poignant detail the challenge of being caught between often contradictory views that the Jewish community has of children of intermarriage. On the one hand, many Jews rejected her and her family as “not Jewish enough” and “unwelcome.” On the other hand, as a result of her Jewish heritage, there were many in the community who claimed that she was already Jewish but did not provide her with a mechanism, such as conversion, that would allow her to become unambiguously Jewish.
The challenge of growing up with two parents of different religious backgrounds stems from the complexity of managing an often intricate network of family loyalties and ethnic pride. As a child of intermarried parents myself, I often walk the delicate line between honoring both sides of my heritage (see my post last year on attending church on Christmas) and feeling a tremendous affinity for Judaism, while at the same time fending off questions from numerous segments of the Jewish community as to why I don’t plan to convert.
While this article explores the challenges and pain that often come from having a complicated Jewish identity, I would like to assert that children of interfaith families have a tremendous gift to offer the Jewish community. Because we have a multiplicity of identities to choose from, we are in a unique position to question and think critically about what it means for us to be Jews, thus forcing Jewish institutions to think seriously about the question of “why be Jewish?” and to create new and innovative answers to that question.
The challenge is that the Jewish community can only benefit from the gifts that children of intermarriage have to offer if they are willing to reach out and invite them in. As our Jewish community diversifies, we have much to learn, and we should consider the needs of all who wish to join us.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
V8 Trike Choppers
Business Description:
You could pay $ 50,000.00 for a Boss Hoss
Or a v8 Chopper trike,
But with my help you can build your own
V8 powered trike.
I have an old school Chevy chassis and a new school Ford chassis ready to go.
Many options are available .
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Q:
Top, bottom, charm, and strange?
Of course I know about up and down quarks, but I cannot seem to find that much about the other four (of course being eight if we're including antiquarks). Is mass the only difference between the quarks? Can the other quarks form hadrons of their own? Is there some interesting matter or reaction or anything that any of them can make or do, or are they really as boring as the Internet has been telling me?
A:
Wikipedia does a good job of explaining the quarks, but really all you need to know is in the handy Standard Model particle chart:
Quarks come in three generations and two different electrical charges, $+2/3$ and $-1/3$. Like the up and down quarks, which differ in electric charge and therefore in how they can combine to make integer-charge baryons and mesons, the charm/strange and top-bottom quarks work slightly differently with respect to the kinds of combinations they can form. However, that is essentially it, and in particular the up / charm / top and down / strange / bottom triplets behave identically as far as which interactions they're able to take part in.
On the other hand, the masses are different from generation to generation, and that is not just some random property that you jot down and forget: the mass of a particle is (via $E=mc^2$) the energy that it can contribute to a reaction, and the more massive the particle, the more energy it can bring in, and the wider the array of reaction products that can come out.
Thus, if you start with, say, a Lambda baryon, you have enough energy to produce, say, a $\Delta^+$ baryon, which has $uud$ quark content with all their spins aligned (instead of two anti-aligned), and can therefore be seen, roughly, as an excited state of the proton system. On the other hand, if you start with a proton, you would need to provide some significant energy to excite it into the $\Delta^+$ state.
I should also mention that for each of the given quarks there is a quantum number known as flavour, or more specifically strangeness, charm, topness and bottomness, which can be used to characterize the particle content of the reaction at any given state. Unlike electric charge and baryon number, which are always conserved, the individual flavour numbers are only weakly conserved: many processes (and in particular strong-force and electromagnetic interactions) will respect them, but weak-force interactions don't.
Thus, as an example, the strong and electromagnetic interactions forbid the decay of the $\Sigma^+$ baryon (quark content $uus$) into a proton's $uud$, as that would decrease the strangeness of the state, so the process is relatively unlikely, as only weak-force routes can mediate the decay.
A:
First of all, where did you find those "boring materials on the internet" about the quarks? Quarks are not boring at all; in fact they are of a major importance in the Standard Model.
There are 6 types of quarks (plus their anti-quarks): up,down,charm,strange, top and bottom. Each one has different properties, such as electric charge, mass, color charge and spin.
There are so many materials where you can read about them, that I don't even know which one should I recommend, so I'll just go with a safe bet: wikipedia
And as you mentioned, they can form hadron of their own, and they participate in many processes.
I guess the best way to do it is to read about them, and then decide for yourself if they are boring or not.
Peace !
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
You are here
By Jocelyn Noveck The Associated Press
”The Proposal.” It was a 2009 movie starring Sandra Bullock, but now will forever be the informal title of the 2018 Emmys telecast, thanks to a memorable romantic gesture from Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss ‚Äî who summoned the courage to propose to his girlfriend on live TV.
NEW YORK — As presenter Barbra Streisand noted, “tonight our joy is tinged with sorrow” and she wasn’t the only one making reference to the horrific Orlando shootings during the Tony Awards ceremony. But the night was also a celebration of the power of theatre to bring joy. And there much joy for the cast and creators of the wildly popular “Hamilton,” which won a whopping 11 Tonys.
NEW YORK — When Eric Ripert turned 18, he had a crisis of confidence. He was working in Paris at the famed La Tour D’Argent, a grueling first step on the journey from his childhood in the mountains of Andorra to where he is now one of the most admired chefs in the world, leading Manhattan’s elegant Le Bernardin for more than 20 years.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
TOP TEN MK9 Mistakes
Post what you feel are the top ten mistakes Netherrealm has made involving MK9. Hopefully this will serve as a guide to Netherrealm as what NOT to do in the upcoming games.
1. Nerfing Subzero in one of the latest patches
2. Giving Kenshi armor on everything
3. Giving PS3 Kratos and not giving Xbox 360 Masterchief
4. Player 1 advantage
5. Allowing a tournament to happen with Kabal having an infinite.
6. Not being able to have someone from online on your team in a tag match
7. The music in MK9 sucks
8. Not making more DLCs
9. No Hara-Kiris
10. Giving us Scarlett as a DLC instead of Ashrah!
I'll give you a top 5 tbh.
5. Rushed development
4. Poor design choices
3. Horrible resource management
2. Doing it in the console industry instead of making a contract with Valve and launching it over steam
1. And thus fucking their own business over by not being able to patch due to absolutely prehistoric business confines.
Even with all their screw ups this is the best MK since Mk2 for me personally. My major complaints are online lag, input bug, player one advantage, these invincible glitches, unbreakable resets, block infinites and a little bit more balance. But the character roster, stages, story mode are the best from any MK games I've seen. There's no gimmicks like stage traps, falling kombat ect. This one is leagues above anything NRS has done in the last 15 years for a worthy fighter.
Here's what I think:
1) Calling in 5-6 UMK3 players at the last minute expecting them to sieve everything out in less than a week
2) Using a modified version of MKDC's Unreal engine
3) Using Unreal Engine for a fighting game to begin with.
4) Lead developing the game on Xbox 360 dev kits.
5) Random winner for what should be a draw or a double K.O. (it's one thing for a fighting game not to have physical trades, but this is unacceptable, even MK1 had draws, dafuq?)
6) MK3 section of the story mode. Sheer cop-out.
7) Too much buffing/nerfing in patches, not enough bug fixing
8) Completely removing tools from Scorpion because he's a poster boy and thus scrubs will use him yet somehow that didn't matter for Liu Kang, Sub-Zero or Raiden.
9) Turning Sub-Zero into a pure turtle character with gimmicks that got figured out in less than 3 months.
10) Online. Nuff said.
Staff MemberLead Moderator
This is definitely the BEST mk so far, it's not my favorite, but it's a big improvement from the previous installments. Obviously the good out weighs the bad in this game, that's why I play it. And again this isn't an attack, just suggestions of improvement.
One thing I would like to add that is that when you search for a Ranked Match, it should pair you up with someone that is of similar fighting skill. I think right now, searching for an opponent in Ranked Match is completely random.
Staff MemberLead Moderator
#1. 3D properties in a 2D game
#2. Dash nerf
#3. Patching the game too many times in a short period of time. The amount of patching wasn't the problem. It was the fact that it was like every other week. If they were just patching glitches/infinites that would be fine, but they were also balance patches.
1. Kitana's face
2. Killing Motaro offscreen
3. Making Kahn and the Shokans unplayable
4. Blockstun
5. Being able to cancel into military stance
6. Not giving Freddy some one liners
7. Not being able to record moves for the dummy in training
8. Making ex ghost linebacker +7 on fucking block
9. Making SZ's ice blast look completely gimped and full of ass compared to Cyrax net
10. The shitastic online code
Staff MemberModerator
3) Using Unreal Engine for a fighting game to begin with.
Click to expand...
There is nothing wrong with Unreal as an engine, its kind of a weird choice for a fighting game because of how hard it it to maintain 60FPS on a console, but they used some black magic to perform it, so its fine. Its a great looking engine that is very easy to use.
I don't know the specifics but I believe the only real reason they used it was because Midway had a deal with Epic games, Midway published a bunch of there stuff and I would guess gave them discounts on the engine. The ps2 games all used the renderware engine from EA/Criteiron, that engine died during the transition from PS2>PS3 so it was not an option. After all there work too get MKvsDC to run on Unreal it would be a waste to stop using it now, plus WB has a studio wide deal with EPIC for the UE, Rocksteady, Monolith and NRS all use it. They could make there own engine but that would take time, anywhere from a year to three years, and there is no guarantee that what ever they make would be better then UE3.
Useful Searches
About TYM
Since 2009, TestYourMight.com and its staff strives to deliver the very best community platform for NetherRealm Studios' discussion. Our staff derives of competitive players, spectators, community leaders and enthusiasts working day-in and day-out making "testyourmight.com" the reputable name it has become. Our forums are open and growing, and we're waiting for you to join us.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Myanmar’s authorities have been locking up and harassing scores of peaceful activists as part of an intensifying and far-reaching crackdown ahead of November’s elections, according to a statement from Amnesty International on 7 October.
A new Amnesty International briefing – ‘Back to the Old Ways’ – exposes how repression has drastically picked up pace over the past two years, in stark contrast to official claims that not a single person is imprisoned for peacefully exercising their rights.
The organization believes there are at least 91 prisoners of conscience currently behind bars in Myanmar, although the actual number is likely to be higher. This represents a dramatic increase since a wide-ranging presidential pardon at the end of 2013 when Amnesty International was aware of just two prisoners of conscience.
“Myanmar’s government is trying to spin an alternate reality where all is rosy for human rights, which the international community is far too eager to accept. The reality on the ground could not be more different. Authorities have intensified a chilling crackdown on freedom of expression over the past year,” said Laura Haigh, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher.
“The numbers speak for themselves – we believe that almost 100 peaceful activists are currently detained, while hundreds more are facing charges. President Thein Sein must immediately free all prisoners of conscience and put an end to the repressive practices that fuel arbitrary arrests.”
The clampdown has affected a range of people perceived as “threats” to the government, including human rights defenders, lawyers, opposition activists, students, trade unionists and journalists.
The briefing documents seven cases emblematic of Myanmar’s new generation of prisoners of conscience. These include student leader Phyoe Aung, who is facing over nine years in prison for organizing protests in early 2015 against a new law that restricts academic freedom; and Zaw Win, a lawyer currently detained simply for using a megaphone to call for an end to judicial corruption outside a court in Mandalay Region in May 2014.
Amnesty International has also documented a marked surge in repression as Myanmar’s general elections, scheduled for November 8, 2015, have drawn closer. Peaceful activists have been more often charged with offenses without bail and kept in pre-trial detention for extended periods, while prison sentences have become longer.
“Myanmar’s authorities have clearly been playing a long game ahead of the elections, with repression picking up pace at least nine months before the campaigning period started in September. Their goal has been straightforward – take ‘undesirable’ voices off the streets way ahead of the elections and make sure they’re not heard,” said Haigh.
Myanmar relies on a range of draconian laws to arrest and imprison government critics. These laws contain provisions prohibiting, among other things, unlawful assembly, “disturbing state tranquillity” and “insulting religious feelings."
The climate of fear is compounded through other forms of intimidation, which include a pervasive system of monitoring and harassment. Activists are subjected to constant surveillance including being followed, having their photo taken when attending events, midnight “inspections” of their offices and homes, and harassment of family members.
Many prisoners of conscience in Myanmar have faced several previous stints in jail, and are often re-arrested and handed new prison sentences shortly after being released, creating a “revolving door of repression."
One month ahead of the November 8 general elections, Amnesty International calls on the Myanmar government to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience; drop pending charges against those who have simply exercised their human rights peacefully; and repeal or amend all laws that violate human rights.
The organization also urges the international community, which has largely relaxed pressure on Myanmar over the past two years, to step up efforts to push President Thein Sein to release all prisoners of conscience in Myanmar.
“World leaders cannot take at face value Myanmar’s claims to have ended repression. The election offers a crucial opportunity for governments to make clear to Myanmar’s authorities that locking up and silencing peaceful critics is unacceptable. It’s an opportunity that mustn’t be missed,” said Laura Haigh.
| null |
minipile
|
NaturalLanguage
|
mit
| null |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.